Gene slept through the night and he woke up early that morning, he saw everybody else was already awake,
"Good morning, Gene." Melfina said,
"Morning." Gene replied, and he ate fried eggs for breakfast and drank coffee, he thought about the gang he ran with as a teenager while he had his meal,
"You're awfully quiet today, Gene." Jim stated,
"Yeah, I still have a lot on my mind." Gene responded,
"I guess going back to Earth was very nostalgic for you." Suzuka spoke,
"Yeah, it was, brought back many memories, too." Gene stated,
"Maybe I'll be the same when I go back to the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire." Aisha said,
"But you mentioned the possibility of them not taking you back." Jim replied,
"Yeah, that's always possible, if that happens, that's going to mean I can't even go back to my home and see my family." Aisha explained,
"You're always welcome here if you need a place to stay, Aisha." Melfina stated,
"Why, thank you, Melfina, you always rub me the right way." Aisha responded, Melfina blushed and chuckled as she smiled,
"Did you meet any old faces on Earth, Gene?" Suzuka asked,
"Yeah, I met a few." Gene replied, he then drank his coffee,
"Here." Gene stated as he gave his plate to Melfina,
"Gene, you rarely touched your meal." Melfina stated,
"I'm not that hungry right now." Gene replied, and he walked away and went to go sit on a couch while the other four watched him.
Gene sat and thought about Vincent's impact on his life since he realized that Vincent plotting to kill him is what caused him to meet his crewmates,
"Gene?" Suzuka asked as she walked over and sat across from him,
"What's on your mind?" Suzuka questioned,
"I got a warning during my time on Earth, I was told to watch my back in case some guy called the Tendo King decides to come after me and try to avenge Hazanko." Gene explained,
"Hmm, I see, yes, you should, the Tendo King is extremely dangerous, he's more powerful than the Anten Seven and Hazanko combined, our chances of winning against him would be slim if he does choose to come after us." Suzuka answered,
"Did you ever meet him?" Gene asked,
"No, I only heard of him through Hitoriga, I never met him in person." Suzuka replied,
"I also got another warning to watch out for a guy called the Tempa Emperor." Gene said, he noticed Jim, Melfina, and Aisha look at him with concern,
"You should, Gene, his empire often collaborates with the Kei Pirates, if you were told that he is more powerful than the Tendo King, then I'm afraid to say that's true, too, he's probably the most dangerous person in the entire galaxy." Suzuka explained,
"I'm no stranger to dangerous people, Suzuka, but those Kei Pirates took it to a whole new level." Gene said,
"Many people say that, I was lucky that I was actually trained to deal with them from a young age." Suzuka replied,
"I guess, I just need some time to relax now." Gene stated, and he sat on the couch while the others went on with their days. Gene sat and thought about the gang while wondering what to do with his life, knocking was heard at the door later that morning,
"I'm coming." Melfina said as she walked over, she opened the door and they all saw it was Cindy,
"Is Gene here?" Cindy asked,
"What? Don't tell me you got in trouble with the cops." Jim fumed,
"No, it's not that, I actually brought several things here for him." Cindy replied,
"Oh, sure, come on in." Melfina stated, and she entered. Cindy went to Gene and he saw it was the pictures from John's cabin and the unlabelled video tapes in the cardboard box from Velvet's house,
"Since you're the only one of the gang I could track down, I decided to give these to you since the others are nowhere to be found." Cindy said,
"How's the search on Vincent going?" Gene questioned,
"Nothing yet, there's not a single clue on where he could be." Cindy replied,
"Wow, so he really did just disappear." Gene commented,
"Yeah, some of us have thought about declaring him dead." Cindy responded,
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Gene stated,
"Well, I have to get back to work, I'll call you if we need your help again." Cindy replied, and she left.
Gene looked at the pictures while his crewmates went to him, they saw Gene as a teenager in one picture with Arnold, Peter, Klaus, Arthur, John, Sarah, Violet, Velvet, Vincent, Chelsea, and Shirley in it, everybody except Vincent was smiling,
"Who are they, Gene?" Melfina asked,
"They're the people who took me in after my father was killed." Gene replied,
"What about your mother?" Jim questioned,
"My mother died when I was a baby." Gene responded,
"Birth complications?" Jim asked,
"No, she was killed by assassins, we still don't know who hired them." Gene replied,
"Wow, so both of your parents were assassinated." Suzuka commented,
"Yeah, I don't know who hired the MacDougall brothers to kill my father, either." Gene responded,
"Do you have an idea who?" Melfina questioned,
"They think it could've been this guy here." Gene replied as he pointed to Vincent,
"Who is that?" Aisha questioned,
"His name's Vincent, he was our leader, he also knew my parents ever since they were kids, I learned that he and my dad never got along." Gene replied,
"Who are the others?" Jim asked,
"That's Arnold, that's Klaus right there, that's Arthur, that's Peter, that's John, he's the one who looked after me the most, that's Sarah, that's Violet, that's Velvet, she acted as my surrogate mother, that's Chelsea, and that's Shirley, those two were taken in with me, they're my surrogate younger sisters." Gene explained,
"They look like twins." Melfina commented,
"I know, but they're not, Chelsea's the older of the two." Gene responded,
"Your surrogate mother doesn't look like a responsible person, Gene." Suzuka stated, they all saw Velvet's piercings, tattoo, and scar on the picture,
"Yeah, I thought that, too, she was in love with my dad once, too, so there was a possibility she could've been my biological mother." Gene replied, Melfina exclaimed at the thought of Velvet being Gene's mother,
"Well, I'll put them up later, I have to label these tapes." Gene stated, and he put the pictures down and went to the TV.
Gene put a tape in the VCR and watched it, he saw the gang with Norman, Sharon, and Neil,
"My treat, guys, let's have fun." John said, and they all drank beer and Sharon quickly began acting out of control, she began flirting with the male members of the gang while they laughed,
"Wow, what a woman." Neil commented,
"Trust us, Neil, Sharon here is a party animal, you should see her when she's in the mood for flirting." Norman replied, and Sharon continued flirting with the male members of the gang as they all laughed, Gene noticed Vincent was not there, the video ended and Gene then labelled the tape. Gene watched it while his crewmates stood by him and saw Norman and Sharon with a baby,
"Here's our son, John." Norman said as he held it up to the camera,
"Wow, he's actually healthy, considering your lifestyle, Sharon, that's an achievement." John stated,
"*chuckle* I know, but I'm proud." Sharon replied,
"Have you two decided on a name?" John asked,
"Yeah, we're going to call him Gene." Norman answered,
"I like that name." John said, Norman and Sharon smiled and the video ended. Gene played the next video and saw himself as a baby and Norman in a small condo,
"Thanks for coming by, Velvet, taking care of Gene on my own has been a hassle." Norman said,
"You're welcome, John and I are currently investigating on who hired those assassins to kill you two." Velvet replied,
"I'm wondering myself, it's still a shame Sharon didn't make it, she's not going to see her son grow up into a man." Norman stated,
"That's why I'm here, Norman, since you and I have thought about having a child, I might as well be the babysitter." Velvet replied,
"Thanks, it would've nice if John came, since Sharon thought about having a child with him, too." Norman responded,
"Well, John and the others have their hands full right now, I won't be able to come every day, either." Velvet said,
"Still, thanks for the help." Norman stated,
"I also brought a gift for Gene." Velvet replied, and she reached into her pocket and took out a porn magazine, Aisha laughed while Jim, Melfina, and Suzuka exclaimed,
"I'll give it to him when he gets older." Norman said, and the video ended,
"So that's where my dad got that porn magazine from." Gene stated,
"He actually gave it to you?!" Jim questioned,
"Yeah, that magazine was my birthday present for my thirteenth birthday." Gene replied, Aisha laughed while Jim, Melfina, and Suzuka looked at him with shocked expressions,
"So your lecherous ways wasn't just made by you." Aisha commented,
"Yeah, drinking and sleeping with other people kind of runs in my family." Gene replied,
"Your father drank and slept with girls just like you?" Melfina asked,
"Not just him, my mom was like that, too." Gene responded,
"What? How disgraceful." Suzuka stated,
"Well, I'll go ahead and continue labeling the tapes." Gene said, and he did. Gene played the next video and saw himself with Velvet, he read Norman's letter and began crying while Velvet comforted him. Gene played the next tapes and saw they were all on John training him, Chelsea, and Shirley in combat, Gene saw most of the videos were on them being trained in combat and they saw John teach them how to use weapons,
"Hmm, your trainer is kind of relaxed, Gene." Suzuka said,
"What was yours like?" Gene asked,
"Very strict." Suzuka replied, and he continued watching and saw some of the videos were John training Chelsea and Shirley, he watched more videos and saw himself fighting the other gang members alongside John, Arnold punched Gene and he flew across the yard and into a wall, it put a crater on it while Gene fell and was unconscious. Aisha laughed when she saw the footage,
"He's still very weak when compared to a Ctarl-Ctarl child." Aisha stated,
"Really? You were never able to knock me unconscious, Aisha." Gene replied,
"Nya?" Aisha exclaimed as she remembered, she became speechless at realizing he was right. Gene watched the next video and saw it was him in a tournament and they all watched him fight and kill Sharpshooter Jake, Bullwhip Billy, Speedster, and Axel,
"Wow, Velvet actually recorded it." Gene commented,
"Can you tell us why you're in a tournament?" Melfina asked,
"We needed money since it was getting low." Gene replied,
"I still wish I was there to analyze Sharpshooter Jake's guns." Jim commented,
"Never seen a gun like that?" Gene questioned,
"No." Jim replied,
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen a gun like that before or after I met him, either." Gene added, and he then labeled the tape and watched the next one. Gene watched the next videos and they were all him and the other gang members arguing with Vincent over money and his behavior,
"Wow, your leader's a jerk." Aisha stated,
"Don't get me started, Aisha." Gene replied, and they watch one video and it was Vincent making Gene touch Shirley's breast, Melfina and Suzuka exclaimed,
"That was when my lust for girls truly awakened." Gene spoke,
"So he made you that way." Jim replied,
"Not just him, my dad gave me the porn magazine, so he was partially responsible as well." Gene reminded,
"I assume your way of flirting with girls is because of Vincent as well." Suzuka said,
"Oh no, trust me, Suzuka, I would never treat a woman like how Vincent treated them." Gene replied,
"What was he like?" Melfina asked, Gene remembered Vincent hitting and killing the women he brought back to the mansion, he looked down with discomfort and his eyes closed,
"That's not a good sign." Jim stated, and the video finished. Gene labeled the tape and watched the next ones, they saw John paying the cashier that he, Chelsea, and Shirley visited,
"Here, I'm paying for that red-headed boy and the two girls that were with him." John said,
"I remember, he said he'd pay me when he made it big." the cashier replied,
"Well, he's been working hard to make the money, he was going to pay today, but he's sick, so I'm doing it in his place." John stated,
"Okay, that's fine, at least he tried to keep his promise." the cashier replied, and they walked out as Velvet finished filming,
"You've been saying that ever since you were a teen?" Jim asked,
"Yup." Gene responded,
"Where does that 'I'll pay you when I make it big' excuse come from anyway?" Aisha questioned,
"My dad, he said it all the time when he didn't have enough money to pay for something." Gene replied,
"So your father was like that, too." Suzuka commented,
"Did he ever get in trouble, Gene?" Melfina asked,
"Yeah, he got arrested one time." Gene answered, and he took the tape out and labeled it. Gene watched the next videos as the sun began to set and he saw the next videos were when Vincent brought home several women, he beat and killed them and Melfina and Suzuka exclaimed, Melfina clutched her hands together as she watched Vincent beat the women alongside one woman's daughter, they also saw Gene watching with discomfort on the couch and in the recordings,
"Gene?" Melfina asked,
"Vincent is why I don't like fighting and hitting girls." Gene stated, and they continued watching Vincent hit, insult, and kill the women he brought home with him,
"Wow, I don't like your lecherous behavior, Gene, but at least you never beat up and hit any women who slept with you." Jim said,
"Yeah, when I watched Vincent, I made a vow to myself to not do the same thing." Gene responded,
"That's good, Gene, I'd take a lech like you over an abuser any day." Suzuka said,
"Me too, I'd kill Vincent if he tried that with me." Aisha added, and the tape ended. Gene watched the next video and saw Arnold, Klaus, Arthur, Peter, John, Sarah, Violet, and Velvet visiting the dog Shirley liked,
"So this is the dog Shirley's been seeing." Sarah spoke,
"Yup, she's been seeing it and giving it food every day." John replied,
"I guess we should adopt it." Violet said,
"No, we can't, Vincent will get mad." Velvet replied,
"Maybe we can feed it, ourselves." Arnold suggested,
"I agree, it seems friendly, too." Klaus responded,
"No signs of rabies, either." Peter added,
"I guess it's settled, then, we can feed it, ourselves." Arthur spoke, the others agreed,
"Alright, Velvet, go ahead and stop recording, you got your footage for your memories." John said, and it ended, Gene labeled the tape while almost crying, the others noticed and Gene saw he had three more tapes, he played the next one and it was when Vincent killed the dog and gave it to Shirley as her dinner, she screamed and began crying as Gene attacked Vincent in a fit of rage but he overpowered him, they all watched until the recording ended. Gene watched the next video and saw the adults meeting with Vincent,
"I have made my decision final and clear, I'm sick and tired of having that Gene kid in the gang, I want you all to kill him." Vincent stated,
"Why did you come to that decision, Vincent?" Peter asked,
"Isn't it obvious, he's been nothing but trouble, we have to waste our money to feed his mouth, he's stupid, he's weak compared to Chelsea and Shirley, and he's the son of that piece of shit Norman, I can't believe Sharon chose him over me." Vincent explained,
"Don't you think you're letting your hatred cloud your judgement, Vincent?" Arnold questioned,
"My mind is perfectly clear, I never wanted Gene in our gang in the first place, we should've left him to rot in that escape pod." Vincent responded,
"What if we did find him even if he didn't join our gang?" Sarah asked,
"We still kill him." Vincent answered,
"Why?" Violet asked,
"He's an abomination born from Norman, that's more than enough reason to warrant his death." Vincent explained,
"Vincent, we're not comfortable killing the child of our dead friends." Velvet spoke, Vincent aimed a pistol at her,
"Either you all kill him, or I kill you all personally." Vincent threatened, they all became speechless, he put his pistol down,
"That is all, get out, I need to think about what to do with Chelsea and Shirley." Vincent said, and they all left,
"What do we do, John?" Klaus asked,
"We're going to have to send Gene to Neil on Sentinel III, it's the only way for him to prevent Vincent from hunting him and him to make a living." John replied, and the video ended. Gene labeled the video and watched the last one, it was when he was about to leave and Velvet was recording the video, he realized Velvet was recording with cameras built into contact lenses, they all converse and Gene took off in the escape pod, Velvet began to cry as he flew off,
"Let's go, guys." John said, and they left. Gene took out the last tape and labeled it,
"You did work before you became a bounty hunter, Gene?" Suzuka asked,
"Yeah, when I arrived on Sentinel III, I made a living as a mercenary, I worked as one for a year, going from one battlefield to the next, I became a bounty hunter when Neil was killed." Gene replied,
"Um... Gene?" Aisha asked,
"Yeah, Aisha?" Gene responded,
"You weren't among the mercenaries that attacked the Ctarl-Ctarl Embassy on Sentinel III, were you?" Aisha questioned,
"Where is it located?" Gene asked, and Jim activated a hologram of Sentinel III,
"Right here." Aisha replied, and he looked at the area,
"Nope, I operated around here." Gene stated, and he showed her Locus, which was on the other side of the planet,
"Oh, good, I was about to lose it if you did." Aisha spoke,
"Did you kill anyone as a mercenary, Gene?" Melfina asked,
"I killed a lot of people, more people than I did as a bounty hunter." Gene replied,
"How did you get a job?" Melfina questioned,
"Neil would look for any battles around the area and bidders willing to pay us, and I was sent into it and killed people in the battle, the more I killed, the more Neil and I were paid." Gene explained,
"So you were basically an assassin." Melfina stated,
"No, a mercenary is different from an assassin, Melfina." Suzuka replied,
"How so?" Melfina asked,
"An assassin is sent to kill a specific person, usually someone of importance, it's usually for political or religious reasons. A mercenary is a person who fights in a war zone just to make money." Suzuka explained,
"So a mercenary is basically a soldier." Melfina said,
"Yeah, but a soldier is a person who fights for their home country or planet, a mercenary doesn't do that, and a soldier is loyal to their home, a mercenary pledges loyalty to no one, they'll side with whichever side pays them the most." Aisha explained,
"You know, my parents and the other gang members were in the air force before they became a gang, that's where my trainer was taught the moves he taught me." Gene stated,
"Why didn't they go to space?" Aisha asked,
"Space technology was still in its early stages at that time." Gene replied,
"Oh." Aisha said,
"Still, wow, an expert hacker, a Ctarl-Ctarl soldier, an assassin, and a mercenary, this is some group I've come into." Melfina stated, the others chuckled,
"Say, Gene, when did you meet Fred?" Jim asked,
"Neil introduced me to him, while Neil was the one looking for bidders and ones to pay me money for fighting on the battlefield, Fred was the one who provided me my weapons." Gene explained,
"Wow, I'm off to bed, it's late." Jim stated, and he went to bed,
"I think we all should go to bed." Melfina said, and they did.
The next morning came and they all got on with their mornings,
"You seem rather calm this morning, Gene." Gilliam said,
"I just have a lot on my mind right now." Gene replied,
"You seem to have a lot on your mind after coming from a rather mundane job as a gardener." Gilliam stated,
"It was more than just gardening, Gilliam, I also had to defend the home from robbers." Gene reminded,
"Yes, I recall." Gilliam stated,
"Good, now if you don't mind, I wish to be alone for now." Gene responded and Gilliam left. Gene continued thinking about his old gang and he saw Jim in front of him,
"Jim?" Gene asked,
"Yeah?" Jim responded,
"Do you remember Butch back from Sentinel III?" Gene asked,
"Of course I do, what about him?" Jim questioned,
"There was another reason why I killed Butch besides collecting that bounty on his head." Gene replied,
"Really? What is it?" Jim inquired,
"He killed Neil." Gene answered, Jim became speechless for a second,
"So that's why you chose a fight with him during that brawl." Jim said,
"Yeah, I lost my job as a mercenary because of him, but since I was already a seasoned fighter, I was able to use my reputation to become a bounty hunter." Gene replied,
"Wow, that's actually pretty interesting, Gene, but I'm busy right now and have to get back to work." Jim said,
"Alright, go ahead and get to it." Gene responded, and he did. Gene continued drinking and the others soon heard voices outside,
"He lives in here." a woman said,
"Thank you." a familiar male deep voice replied, and knocking was heard on the door,
"Gene, you home?" the man asked, Melfina opened it and they saw a man with short red hair,
"Can I come in? It's urgent." the man stated,
"Oh, sure, Gene's right there." Melfina replied, and he entered. Gene stood up as the man walked to him,
"I just finished checking around the prison, I found Arnold's and Peter's bodies, they're dead." the man stated,
"Damn it, this must be Eddie's doing." Gene replied,
"It is, he tried to kill me, too, I only survived and escaped because Peter sent me a warning." the man said,
"So you got it, too, huh? Wait a minute." Gene commented, and he grabbed the man's hair and face, he realized it was a wig and a mask, he took them off and saw it was John,
"John? What are you doing here?" Gene questioned,
"I came here to inform you what happened to the other members of our gang." John replied,
"I guess Velvet's somewhere safe, right?" Gene assumed,
"Nope, Velvet's dead, too, Eddie killed her as well, you, me, Chelsea, Shirley, and possibly Vincent are the only ones left." John replied, Gene looked down,
"Tell me, Gene, how did you come to hunting us down?" John asked,
"I was drinking at a bar here one night, then the two cops, Eddie and Cindy, approached me and hired me to go back to Earth and hunt you guys down and arrest you all, they even promised me that they would release you all after you guys served your sentences." Gene explained,
"Well, apparently, Cindy really was going to do that with us, but as you saw, Eddie had other plans." John said,
"Yeah, I figured that out after I brought Velvet to them, Eddie called me and said they found you after you escaped, and it was actually an ambush set up by Eddie consisting of the people and their families and friends that we robbed and killed during our heists." Gene explained,
"I see, so that's what that was about." John said,
"Yeah, I also heard Cindy and Eddie arguing, Cindy said that was not part of the deal, and I was to be arrested to put in jail with the rest of you guys, but Eddie lied and said he tried to arrest me but I resisted." Gene continued,
"Hmm, so Eddie is willing to lie as well, I already know he's been suspended since Cindy reported his actions to their superiors, it's possible Eddie might come after you eventually, but it's likely he'll go after Cindy first." John explained,
"What about you, Chelsea, and Shirley?" Gene asked,
"I'm still in hiding, I don't know about Chelsea and Shirley, though." John replied,
"I see, you three can stay here if things get rough back on Earth." Gene stated,
"Thanks, but before I go, I managed to prepare for Eddie because Peter sent me a warning before his final moments saying that Eddie isn't what he appears to be." John stated,
"Yeah, I got that message, too, he said he's somebody in disguise." Gene replied,
"I think Peter is right, Eddie's head did look like a latex mask." John stated,
"I thought there was something strange with him, I had a client once who also disguised herself." Gene replied,
"Yeah, I heard about Hilda doing that, Eddie is likely doing the same thing, well, Gene, I'll be going now, if Eddie does come after you, call me, and I'll hunt him down." John said,
"Alright, see ya, John." Gene replied, and he left. Gene turned around and saw his crew looking at him,
"You lied to us." Jim stated,
"It's because I had to." Gene replied,
"What did you really do back on Earth, Gene?" Suzuka asked,
"I was sent back there to hunt down those former gang members since the police found them too hard for them to catch on their own." Gene answered,
"You never did any gardening, did you?" Aisha asked,
"Nope." Gene replied,
"Why, Gene?" Melfina asked,
"Why what?" Gene asked,
"Why didn't you tell us?" Melfina inquired,
"Since these were people you four never met or even heard of, I was instructed by the police not to get you guys involved." Gene explained,
"Wait, really?" Jim questioned,
"Yup, they said since only I knew them and met them, I was to hunt them down alone." Gene replied,
"You still could've said something." Jim said,
"Well, I figured I'd not get you guys involved since you all would've been confused on what was going on." Gene responded,
"But, Gene..." Melfina said,
"That's enough." Suzuka stated, they all looked at her while exclaiming with confusion,
"This was Gene's fight, this was personal for him, it would've been wrong for us to intervene." Suzuka explained,
"Suzuka..." Melfina commented,
"Well, it's done, and it took a while, I'll look for a job once when I recover." Gene stated,
"Um, Gene, where exactly did you get the money?" Aisha asked,
"Oh, that's from their bounties, they paid me after I caught every member except for Vincent." Gene replied,
"What was your bounty?" Aisha asked,
"I actually don't know, they didn't have my poster with them." Gene replied,
"They could've at least gave you money for that, too." Aisha said,
"I have to turn myself in for that." Gene replied, Aisha chuckled and walked away while Gene sat on the couch. Gene sat on the couch and his phone rang a few minutes later,
"Hello." Gene said as he answered it,
"Gene! Help!" Cindy hollered on the other side,
"Cindy?!" Gene asked as he stood up straight,
"Eddie's come after me!" Cindy exclaimed,
"Where are you?!" Gene questioned,
"I'm heading to where you're at right now!" Cindy replied, and Gene got his weapons and ran outside.
Gene headed out and ran forward, he was a bit far away from Starwind and Hawking Enterprises when he heard running,
"Gene!" Cindy called out as she ran into his sight, she was right in front of them when she got shot in her back and through her heart, she screamed from the pain,
"Cindy!" Gene exclaimed as Cindy fell onto the ground face first and died. Gene glared forward and saw Eddie aiming a pistol and smiling,
"I figured she would try to come here." Eddie said, he then put his pistol back in its holster,
"I know you're wearing a disguise, who the hell are you?" Gene questioned,
"Oh, Gene, slow as always." Eddie stated, and he reached into his shirt and took out a voice changer,
"Convinced now?" Eddie asked in a familiar voice,
"Wait, that voice." Gene exclaimed, Eddie then took off his wig and latex mask and revealed he was Vincent,
"I have to thank you for catching the other members, Gene, it made me getting them much easier, perhaps having Ron and Harry spare you wasn't a completely bad thing after all." Vincent stated,
"What?!" Gene exclaimed as he had flashbacks of his father's death,
"So you're the one who hired them to kill my father!" Gene fumed,
"Your father was a waste of space, I would've gotten rid of him earlier if those stupid assassins were more competent." Vincent spoke, Gene had flashbacks of being told about Sharon's death,
"So you hired the assassins to kill my mother as well." Gene said,
"It was her punishment for choosing that good for nothing Norman over me." Vincent explained,
"I'll kill you here and now." Gene declared,
"Good, killing you was my plan after dealing with Cindy anyway." Vincent replied, and they took their knives out, Gene glared and showed his teeth while Vincent smiled menacingly, the two ran to each other.
Gene and Vincent began swinging their knives around and blocked and deflected one another's attacks, they watched one another carefully while they swung their knives around, the two soon entered a deadlock and grunted as they tried to overpower one another. Vincent took his pistol out and aimed it at Gene while he aimed his own pistol, they shot at one another and dodged each other's bullets, Gene's cheek got grazed by a bullet and blood rolled down, he kicked Vincent in his abdomen and pushed him away. Vincent aimed his pistol and fired at Gene, he ran around while firing his own pistol at him, the two ran in a circle while trying to hit one another, they were soon out of bullets and the two went forward and began using their knives again.
Vincent lunged forward and tried to stab his knife into Gene's eye, he blocked it and his forearm got stabbed, Gene then stabbed Vincent in his heart area but heard a metal clang under his shirt, he cut his shirt a little and saw Vincent was wearing armor under his outfit. Vincent tried to stab his knife into Gene's head and he ducked, he tried to stab his knife down and Gene took his knife out of his shirt and moved back while Vincent landed a slash on his shirt. Vincent lunged forward and swung his knife again, Gene ducked under it and cut Vincent's shirt at his abdomen, he heard metal being scratched and took his knife out, Vincent swung his knife down and Gene held his knife up and the two entered a deadlock, the two wrestled and Gene used all of his strength to make the knife fly out of Vincent's hand.
Gene tried to stab his knife into Vincent's throat but he grabbed Gene's hand and squeezed it, he grunted loudly while Vincent used his other fist to punch him in his face, Gene kicked him in his groin and he fell over and let go of his hand, he tried to stab his knife into his forehead but Vincent parried it and tried to make Gene stab himself, he managed to stop himself and Vincent stood back up. Gene held his knife up while Vincent pulled his shirt up and out of his pants and revealed two bladed weapons tucked into his pants, he took them and then unsheathed them, he held a sword and a dagger. Vincent ran forward and swung his sword around, Gene moved around to dodge it and waited for an opening, he tried to slash Vincent but he blocked his knife with his dagger, he then tried to stab his sword and Gene moved his head to the side to dodge it and Vincent then threw his arm to the side to leave Gene open and tried to stab his dagger into his neck, he ducked and dodged it and Vincent then tried to stab his sword into his head and Gene sidestepped and punched his arm forward, he went over Vincent's arm and punched him in his mouth, he coughed a little while blood came out.
Gene held his knife ready as he saw Vincent quickly recover and he growled at Gene, he ran forward and tried to put the sword and dagger at the sides of Gene's neck, he ducked as he hit them together and tried to decapitate him. Gene went to Vincent and stabbed his knife into the side of his neck. Vincent groaned as Gene moved his knife across his throat and to the other side of his neck, he tried to grab Gene's arms and stop him, but he grew weaker and he became limp. Gene moved his knife to the other side of his neck and took it out, he watched Vincent try to keep himself alive and did not fall over, Gene shook his head while smiling and walked back a little, he turned around and threw his knife into the center of Vincent's forehead, he remained still for a brief second and fell over dead.
Gene panted a little and he walked over and took his knife out of Vincent's forehead, he cleaned the blood off and sheathed it, he then went over to Cindy's dead body and closed her eyes, he then took his phone out and called the police on Earth,
"What's your emergency?" a woman asked,
"Um, do you know the rookie cop named Cindy?" Gene questioned,
"What? Did Eddie come after her?" the woman asked,
"Yes, she tried to come to me for help, but unfortunately, Eddie killed her before we could meet." Gene replied,
"What? No. This was her first job and she had a lot of potential." the woman stated, Gene heard her cry a little, Gene waited for her to recompose herself,
"What's your name, sir?" the woman asked,
"Gene Starwind." Gene answered,
"Where are you?" the woman questioned,
"Heifong, I'm with Cindy right now." Gene replied,
"Okay, wait a little, we're coming to retrieve her body." the woman said, and she hung up. Gene waited and he saw a police spaceship from Earth arrive, he waved at them and it landed, a middle aged woman and an elderly bearded man ran out,
"Cindy." the man stated, they ran to Gene and they looked at Cindy's corpse, they held her and then put her down, the woman cried while the man took his hat off and closed his eyes,
"The man who killed her is right there." Gene stated as he pointed to Vincent, they looked at him,
"My god, Eddie was Vincent the whole time." the woman stated,
"Yeah, it surprised me, too, he tried to kill me as well, so I had no choice but to kill him in self-defense." Gene explained,
"Wait, weren't you a member of his gang?" the man questioned,
"Yeah." Gene replied,
"We'll let you go this time, we would like it if you attended her funeral." the man stated,
"What's going to happen to her family?" Gene questioned,
"We'll inform them, her parents are going to be devastated, we'll let you know when the funeral is. Let's go." the man answered, and they left. Gene looked at Vincent's corpse and spat on him, he then headed home.
Gene arrived home and the others saw he looked injured,
"Gene!" Melfina exclaimed as she ran to him,
"Gene, what happened?" Melfina questioned,
"That cop who came to see me earlier today just got killed." Gene replied, his crewmates became speechless,
"What happened?" Jim asked,
"Eddie hunted her down, she was coming to me for protection, but he killed her just before we caught one another, he then took off his wig, mask, and voice changer, he was Vincent in disguise the whole time." Gene explained, his crewmates had shocked expressions,
"Um, were you able to confirm anything about your parents' deaths?" Aisha asked,
"Yeah, both of them, when those assassins killed my mom when I was a baby, and when the MacDougall brothers killed my dad, Vincent was the one who hired them." Gene replied,
"So Vincent affected your life ever since you were an infant, you do sound rather sad than angry, Gene." Suzuka said,
"I wish I could've met my mom at least once, and I do miss my dad." Gene responded,
"Come on, Gene, sit and rest, I think you've been enough recently." Melfina said, and she led him to a couch and he sat there for the rest of the day and fell asleep later that night.
A few days passed and knocking was heard at the door that morning,
"Gene, it's me." John said, Gene opened the door and he entered,
"I heard about what happened, the police managed to track me down, they sent me to inform you that Cindy's funeral is today." John stated,
"Where is it?" Gene asked,
"Back on Earth." John replied,
"Are you the only one who came here?" Gene questioned,
"No." John responded, and Chelsea and Shirley came in,
"See, Chelsea and Shirley came, too." John said,
"We heard about Vincent, you should've called us, we had personal grudges against him, too." Chelsea said,
"Well, I'm sorry, but it was sudden and he attacked me immediately." Gene responded,
"So you didn't have time." Shirley commented,
"Nope, it was right there that he revealed that he was Vincent, too." Gene added,
"We should get going soon, the funeral's going to start in a few hours." John stated,
"That reminds me, John, I figured out that those assassins who killed my parents were hired by Vincent." Gene said,
"Look at that, so it was Vincent after all, Velvet and I had a feeling it was him who hired the assassins to kill your parents." John replied,
"Speaking of Vincent, Gene, we actually found his corpse." Shirley stated, and Chelsea ran outside and dragged him in,
"Wait, the police didn't clean him up, yet?" Gene asked,
"Apparently not." John replied,
"You still could've called us, Gene, Vincent was our abusive father." Shirley stated,
"Wait, did you say father?" Jim asked,
"Yeah, Chelsea and Shirley are two of Vincent's many illegitimate children." John replied,
"Wha... What happened to them?" Melfina asked, Gene looked down,
"When Vincent had a baby, he deliberately killed the mother and abandoned the baby, he sometimes sold them into slavery as well." John explained, Melfina exclaimed, she turned around and began crying while Jim, Aisha, and Suzuka looked on with horror,
"Where are the kids now?" Suzuka questioned,
"Velvet tracked them down and took care of them, but now that she's dead, they've been transferred elsewhere." Gene replied,
"Good, at least they were found." Jim stated,
"It was one of Vincent's ways of making money, since he was our leader, he handled all of our finances." John said,
"You guys didn't have a say in the money?" Aisha asked,
"Nope." Chelsea replied,
"Mm-mm." Shirley said while shaking her head,
"Well, come on, Gene, we'll be late for Cindy's funeral." John said, and they left while the others watched.
Gene went back to Earth with John, Chelsea, and Shirley, they went to Cindy's funeral and saw a picture of her in uniform and smiling,
"Here lies Cindy McDowell, she was still a rookie fresh out of training and this was her first job, she was tasked with tracking down the notorious gang led by Vincent from many years ago, her superior was recently transferred to our unit, too, he went by the name Eddie Harrison. The two, along the other cops, had trouble catching the gang, so they had to enlist the help of former member Gene Starwind, as you all know, is now famous for severely damaging the Kei Pirates. Gene caught the remaining members successfully, and they were going to be reformed into upstanding citizens of society, and the plan was to arrest Gene at the end and have him serve time for all of the robberies he did, but Eddie had other plans, he killed them behind her back and set Gene up to get killed, but he and three members who escaped managed to survive the ambush. Eddie was suspended when his actions were reported, but shortly afterwards, he went after her and killed her, things took a turn for the worst when Gene discovered he was Vincent in disguise the whole time, he then attacked Gene but he managed to win and kill Vincent in self-defense, we will now lay Cindy McDowell to rest and pay our respects to our fallen comrade who was killed on her first job." the officiant spoke, and Cindy's coffin was lowered into the ground.
Gene watched the funeral as the cops fired rifles into the air, music was played while he, John, Chelsea, and Shirley waited for the funeral to end, they noticed that the cops recognized them but ignored them, they continued waiting and the funeral ended after about an hour,
"Come on, it's time for us to pay respects to our fallen comrades." John stated, and they left.
John led the three and they used sticks to make cross shaped headstones for Arnold, Klaus, Peter, Arthur, Sarah, Violet, Velvet, Neil, Sharon, and Norman, they paid their respects to them,
"What happened to their bodies?" Gene asked,
"They were cremated two days ago." John answered,
"What do we do with Vincent's body?" Chelsea asked,
"I say we throw it off the cliff." Shirley replied,
"Yeah, go ahead, let the sharks eat him." John agreed, and Chelsea and Shirley threw Vincent's corpse into the water,
"So, what now?" Gene asked,
"We continue with our lives, but let's stay in touch with one another." John responded,
"I agree, and Gene, Shirley and I might move in with you if things get out of control for us." Chelsea said,
"That's fine." Gene replied while smiling,
"Let's exchange contact now." John said, and they did,
"Well, see you all later." John stated, and they went their separate ways.
Gene went back to Heifong and saw Aisha having a big meal while Jim and Melfina decorated the home, and Suzuka was trying a new tea, he smiled and sat down and drank a beer. About a week passed and Gene continued drinking alcohol and wondered about what to do with his life, their phone rang while he thought,
"Hello, Starwind and Hawking Enterprises." Jim stated as he answered the call,
"Gene, this guy has a job for you." Jim said, Gene put his beer down and went to the phone, he liked the sound of the job and pay, he hung up and headed outside to his new job.