With the sun rising over the Broox on the next day, Ankh and Hades stood on the small porch they had at their hideout, the half breeds gazing at the rising ball of fire across the horizon. "Are you sure about this one?" Hades asked, and Ankh nodded. "Right before you woke up, Flame Swordsman pulled up and said that there was an odd energy source coming from the southern port where they get shipments in. It was something weird he said, kind of like us." he said, and Hades narrowed his eyes. He noticed through his days in the city that most of the smaller gangs he'd dealt with were normally on the south end of the city.
Meaning that whatever their friend sensed was likely involved with the increased number of small gangs they'd encountered. "So you think that if we chase whatever that is that he sensed out of town, we'll be able to go home?" he asked, and Ankh hummed. He was hoping so, because he really did want to go home. He'd already had his friends talking about how they were going to deal with running the gang. The half breed duo would help of course, but they didn't really desire the responsibility of being in charge.
The decision was made that the group would function on a totem pole, with Selena being at the top, followed by Remmy and the cousins, and then Lars. Lars' primary function was publicity, giving the gang a more positive image outside of the Broox, making them something of a glorified club, kind of like a fraternity or something. Then, he'd return once or twice a year when Remmy or Selena wanted to travel or take a vacation. Selena was in charge of the whole thing, and Remmy was her second, and the primary enforcer of the gang.
Sure, he wasn't anywhere near as effective or strong as the two half breeds, but he was perfectly capable of using other means to accomplish the same goals. Infact, he wagered that he'd be more effective than his female counterpart, the duo almost ready to compete over who was the bigger goon. This brought Ankh and Hades a sense of comfort, because if the duo were going to go down, they would go down together trying to one up the other in grandiose shows of swagger and glory.
This left the duo themselves. Ankh and Hades had families and lives back in New Domino, so they wanted to structure everything just right so that they wouldn't have to travel back and forth as much. With the help of Lars and Ankh's cut of the Card Shoppe, the gang would have plenty of clean, on the books money that could make them seem more like an organization and less like a bunch of murderous rabble rousing children, which was the idea. The Black Magicians wanted to cleanse the Broox and then become it's bounty hunters, legal private contractors that took down criminals and the like.
This is why Hades and Ankh worked alone today. They scoured the city, shaking down gang after gang as the hours passed on, and trying to get as much info as possible. As the day whittled away, they continued to learn little things. Gang after gang fell to the two of them, their minds closed off to the bloodshed when they couldn't talk to their targets civilly. They learned that the south port was being used by something to import more random people, orphaned young men and women and drugs and guns alike, something that caught their attention.
They couldn't get any names or anything, but they were convinced that it was being run by one man or something similar. With the odd energy signature their ally sensed, Ankh and Hades could only surmise that this man, or being, was either a Duel Spirit, or half Duel Spirit much like them. They were infact hesitant about this, because they wanted to cleanse the place, sure, but they weren't looking to expose what they were, especially since they had Duel Spirits in their homes.
When they reached the south port by sundown, they had wiped out every other gang in their path. It was a hard fought day, but when they jumped the men driving a boat up to the dock, they found that they were able to get some kind of information. "Who the fuck is yo boss!?" Hades had screamed, his enraged eyes glaring at the driver as he pressed the steel of his gun against his face.
Ankh spent the time freeing anyone who was meant to be trafficked, and by destroying the drugs and guns aboard, finding it rather odd at how incredibly well put together this was. These shipments were well rationed, calculated and such. The shorter Spellcaster knew for a fact that these shipments were the work of someone with experience, possibly a war veteran or experienced member of a cartel or something. Someone that was far beyond the anarchists and disobedient rabble they'd dealt with today.
The man yelped, screaming in shock and fear at the lethal weapon pressed against his flesh. "Hold on! Please!" he screamed, his hands quivering in front of his face as he felt Hades press the weapon against him harder. "Talk bitch!" he screamed, in no mood to beat around the bush or play games with this man. "Alright alright! Chill dawg, chill!" he screamed, trying to diffuse his attacker a tiny bit, the incensed half breed removing the gun from against his face, training it right between his eyes. The man wasn't stupid, and he knew that one wrong action would be the end of him.
"I don't know where he came from, but he's been running shit for a month or so. We never learned his name, but he's some bad mothafucker in a red suit. He tells us where to drive the boat and we listen, alright? I've only met 'em once man, swear on my mom." he said, and Hades narrowed his eyes. "Where'd you meet him?" he asked, and the man hesitated. He realized that if he told, he'd likely be taken out covertly, should anyone learn that he did infact snitch. However, if he didn't, he'd be taken out right here by this monstrous young man.
"New Domino. Please don't kill me dawg, he just pays way more than anyone else would for driving a damn boat." he said, and Hades narrowed his eyes. He inhaled, remembering that him and Ankh were supposed to be reformed, better than they were and trying to make this place peaceful. You can't make a place peaceful if you simply kill everyone in your path. Then it'd just be empty and miserable. He closed his eyes. "You keep yo mouth shut and never contact anyone from this guy again, you hear me? One fuckin' word and I'll have yo ass." he said.
"What's the word?" Ankh asked when they regrouped, and he could see the look on his cousin's face. He wasn't happy. It was like something was grating at his nerves and he couldn't tell what. "He says that he met the guy in charge in New Domino. That son of a bitch played us." he said, and Ankh frowned.
If this man was really after them, or at the least had Axel and Pierre, and he was in New Domino, he had played the duo, convincing them to come back to this place that brought out the worst in them, having them kill off small, artificial gangs to stall them from figuring out who and where he was. He could have taken out anyone in New Domino, and neither of the young men liked that. "I'll get everything together. You finish taking everyone out." Hades said, and Ankh nodded. Normally he gave the orders, his ability to think clearly in stressful situations something Hades normally lacked.
However, in this moment, Ankh could see that Hades was in complete control. He wasn't happy, and as much as he wanted to go home and pretend that everything was alright, he couldn't. He dragged the Signers and their children, his classmates and his idols, all the way to this horrible place, the group barred up in some hotel for no reason, only to learn that the one responsible was in New Domino the entire time. He had to apologize to their faces, and he had to admit that he was outsmarted. He didn't want to waste time killing people.
When he reached the hotel, he realized that it was about to be nightfall. He looked to the parking garage where he knew the Signers kept their things. His eyes scanned each Duel Runner, looking over the machines to see if anyone had damaged them. Nothing had, and he was glad that they'd at the least stayed put and stayed safe in these times where neither cousin was watching over them. However, he noticed something.
There was a Duel Runner missing. It wasn't Philips, and oddly enough it wasn't Jack's. He knew that one of his idols, Jack Atlas, was one of the strongest duelists of all time, and he had even heard tales of Jack's physical strength as well. If anyone would be safe in the streets alone, it was the Master of Faster. But, he shook his head, a frown crossing over his features when he realized that the Duel Runner missing was infact Okami's.
The girl he'd fallen for wasn't here, and that meant that she was on the streets at night, alone. Sure, the two half breeds had done a lot of work to make the Broox safer, but the few smaller gangs that they had yet to get to would be lashing out, fearful of their wrath and looking for something to bolster their prominence and power. Having the daughter of Yusei Fudo as a hostage would make a great bargaining chip.
When Shurit sat at the table with the rest of the Kodomo family, he found that he was met with smiles. He was worried about how he'd be received to be honest, and he was a little glad that they all had a smile on their faces. As much as there was a part of him that was really, really worried about opening up to them, he had found that they treated him like a member of their family. It was incredibly odd, but as the days passed on, he found himself less and less bothered by it.
He knew that he'd never be able to truly forgive Ankh for what he did, but as he slept the night before, he had a dream about Exa, and about something the dragon man had told him. He had said that you shouldn't punish the tribe for something the chief did. He couldn't be spiteful, or ungrateful to these people for their hospitality just because they were the loved ones of someone he had a grudge against. He knew that now, and as he ate with the Kodomo clan, he had an odd thought.
Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't so bad. Even though his family was gone, these people were almost like a family to him. They were people that reached out to him, helped him and nursed him back to health. He felt better every day he spent here, and he couldn't be mad about that. When he arrived here, he was a weak, frail skeleton of a man, unable to do anything physically, magickally or mentally. He was a disgrace to the family he so sorely missed.
Now, he could move on his own, talk to strangers, and his body was back in shape. He was still a few pounds lighter than he was before, but he'd taken to rhythmic motions throughout the day to tone the lean body he had. Even his magick was starting to return, something that he was rather happy about. He'd soon have the power he lost a while back after his fight with Ankh. The question was, what would he do with that power?
He knew that he couldn't forgive Ankh for what he did, but he could see that Ankh was trying to atone for his sins, so he decided that if he was going to use this power against Ankh, he'd wait until he had a chance to speak to Ankh personally, face to face. If Ankh didn't have the same atoning aura and actions that his family's hospitality claimed he would have, then would do whatever he could to strike him down.
"Where are we, Philip?" Okami asked, the duo walking through some abandoned building, taking the girl's Runner as a duo, thinking one Runner would be less suspicious than two. "I told you, we're going to save Axel and Pierre." he said, and she frowned. She had always thought of Philip as a friend, but his attitude did sorely need work. He was always the worst duelist, and he was incredibly insecure about that fact. It wasn't something she could truly relate to, because she was naturally talented at dueling, but even in defeat, the girl had more humility than Philip.
"So you brought her, huh?" they heard, turning to see a man in a red suit, his long black hair tied neatly and tightly in a ponytail, his well cared for locks shining against the dim lights, the waves in his hair making him look even more sophisticated than normal. Flanking him were two men, both wearing similar suits with swords on their hips. Philip quivered a little, but he nodded. "I did. I can't stand being so far beneath them. I hope you can deliver on your promise." he said, and Okami turned to him.
What was going on? Had he really made contact with some gang or something and agreed to hand her over. "What the hell's going on Philip!? Who are these guys!?" she asked, and Philip closed his eyes. He walked away from her, walking passed the two suited, weapon brandishing men and standing by the side of the man with the red suit. "These are the guys that took Axel and Pierre." he said, and she could feel her heart skip a beat.
"What the fuck does that mean!? Why would you help that scumbag!?" she shouted, balling her fists and taking a step back as the two men approached her. Philip clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. "Shut the fuck up! All you ever do is talk down to me! All of you bastards always think you're so much better because of whose balls or pussy you came out of!" he shouted, the man in the red suit beginning to laugh. Okami was shocked at Philip's words. She always assumed that they were friends. Why didn't he say anything about his insecurities?
"Well said, Philip. You see, Ms. Fudo, I seek to rid the world of pretenders and weak snobs such as yourself. Pierre and Axel were taken to draw the Signers away from New Domino so that I could target Darius Khalington the 1st. He is another pretender, daring to brandish Slifer the Sky Dragon like a sports car or a gold chain." he mused with a frown. He looked to Philip. "Those of us like Philip and myself, cast away because we weren't of vaunted bloodlines or innate talent, will not be taken for granted anymore." he mused.
"Which is why after Philip and I depart from this place, my men will tear you to ribbons and bring us your deck, so that your cards might be used by someone with a little less arrogance, someone who would be willing to get to know the cards as if they were the Duel Spirits themselves." he mused, and Okami took another step back.
"Is that it!?" they heard, turning to see Hades approaching, a sickly red aura surrounding his body. Okami watched with her jaw slack as red armor began to clang, forming around his body as he stomped forward. "You're telling me that you did all of this grandiose bullshit just because you're mad at the world for not paying attention to you!? What kind of a bitch are you!?" he screamed, his eyes shifting to Philip as he opened his right hand, Okami watching as a bladed weapon similar to a naginata appeared in his hands.
"Philip! You better run like the bitch you are and never appear again! If I see you again I'm going to tear you apart like livestock!" he screamed, Philip taking a step back as the man in the suit frowned. He narrowed his eyes at the half breed, a scowl on his face as he simply snapped his fingers, the two men surging forward as he faded into the shadows with Philip, Hades enraged at the fact that they got away. He turned to the two men, who were about to draw their swords.
He roared, unable to restrain himself or control his emotions, swinging his weapon and striking one of the men, the blade passing through his arm and underneath his ribcage with ease, tearing him in half as his body erupted in flames. The other swordsman had drawn his weapon and swung, Hades shifting his body so that the blade clattered off of his armor's left shoulder. He jabbed the weapon forward, piercing the man's abdomen and leaning forward, his teeth grit as he narrowed his eyes. "Your job sucks."
The man erupted in flame like the first, Hades throwing his head back and roaring like an unchained beast, his anger overflowing as he slammed his staff into the ground blade first, turning to Okami and inhaling. He was trying to regain control of himself. He needed too if he was going to deal with the Signers anytime soon. "Believe me now?"
