Cain wiped the blood drenched sweat off his forehead, gasping deeply for air. The pipe he held was dented and stained, but it was still in good enough condition. The green dumpster hid him for a little bit, but he knew he couldn't stay. Their numbers kept multiplying, no matter how many he was able to send down, and he sent down a lot. He leaned his back on the cool alloy, trying to catch his breath.

He wasn't afraid, but he knew he'd eventually go down. The word 'retreat' didn't exist.

His lean body seemed to disobeying, unable to keep up with the pace he demanded from it. His head felt light and dizzy. Cain's temple throbbed, his side ached, and his clothes were torn and sticky. Most of the blood wasn't his, but they had caught him outnumbered at a few point. Fists and improvised weapons had hit whatever it could reach, and he had open gashes oozing at various points.

"Come out pretty boy, we know you're there!"

"You can't hide from us!"

"Yeah, we just wanna talk!"

A group of yakuza man laughed, standing at the intersection of an alleyway. They slowly advanced on the dumpster, taking their steps in sync with each other.

"You made the wrong choice, messing with us on our territory."

Cain reached into his pocket and pulled out his box of white Newports. Pulling out one of the unstained rolls of tobacco, he lit it and inhaled. Letting his eyes shut in the moment of temporary smokey bliss, he opened them with a predatory shine.

Cain Heel would go down blazing.

Unfolding his long limbs, he put a pale hand on his knee and stood to his full 190cm (6'2") height. All pain forgotten, he emerged from his hiding place. He walked slowly to the middle of the alleyway, the pipe to his side.

The suited men stopped together, frozen in place. Droplets of blood streaked down an ivory cheek, bare knuckles and off the steel bar it grasped. The rest of the figure was black, except for the glow of a burning cigarette between smiling pearl teeth.

One of the men took a step back, hesitating. "Aniki…"

"Shut up, he's just a man…"

"But…he's growling…"

Indeed, a light roar filled the air. It grew louder and louder, until the pealing of tires squealed around the corner. The alleyway was bathed in light, blinding the Japanese gangsters. Turning around and covering his eyes, he tried to make out the figure above the bike.

"WATCH OUT!"

Cain dived out the way, landing on the hard ground. The wind was knocked out of him as the motorbike slid past, flipped, and crashed along a brick wall. He could feel the heat whip past the dumpster, and him, as the metal automotive ignited into flames.

*********

The end!

Well, thanks for reading guys! I'll have the epilogue up soon.

Talking about ends, does anyone think Skip Beat is reaching its final few arcs? This arc will force Ren & Kyoko much closer together, and seems to bring Ren's past to the forefront. I can see this being the final spontaneous arc, and after that, the final chapters come out.

Of course I've been following Skip Beat since God was two, but it's a bittersweet happiness to think there's a future ending.

(No Skip Beat characters were killed in the making of this fic. I was just kidding!)