"Ah! That's the stuff!"
At that, Mikazuki snorted a little in amusement as he watched Shino down his third cup of alcohol, smirking quite a bit as he stood behind the counter he was apparently manning whilst both Mika and Akihiro sat on the other side of the bar in front of him, both with amused expressions on their face as they watched him slam the empty glass down onto the table.
After the initial shock of reuniting with Akihiro and Shino had faded, Mikazuki was quick to return to his usual, emotionless self, with the only indication of him being happy with their presence being the minor upward twitch of the edge of his lips. Likewise, Akihiro didn't seem too enthused with Mika's unexpected presence, though there was an undeniable aura of familial happiness resonating from the guy as he sat shoulder to head with his fellow (former) pilot.
"You sure you don't want a shot?" inquired Shino with a smirk, only for Mikazuki to shake a hand dismissively. Turning to Akihiro, Norba was somewhat disappointed when the buff demon turned down his offer as well, though he quickly shook it off before shrugging and downing another shot. "More for me I guess."
"Should you be doing that?" inquired Mikazuki, raising a brow as he watched his magenta loving friend down another shot of alcohol. In response to that, Shino snickered and simply poured another shot while Akihiro smirked a little, ignoring the yells of various demons around them complaining about Shino, eliciting some shouts from the aforementioned demon in his own defense, and explained Norba's situation.
"Shino has… special privileges around here. The owner of Klub Kaiju took a shine to him," explained Akihiro, short and simple as always while Shino smirked and placed another empty shot onto the bar as he smirked.
"Hey, you're just jealous that the owner gave me the better job between the two of us!" retorted Shino, smirking as Akihiro rolled his eyes in apprehension. Mikazuki appeared rather confused at this whole situation as he raised a brow at the duo, prompting Shino to explain himself. "So, erm, when I died, I kinda dropped down near Klub Kaiju. The owner of this place's pretty chill… by Hell's standards at least, so she basically swooped in, tried to kill me, failed and offered me a job here because she thought I'd be good by her side!"
If he were still alive, Mika probably wouldn't have believed that ridiculous claim made by Norba. Of course, they were all dead, and Hell, as Mikazuki had learnt countless times in the past, was much more… unpredictable, for the lack of a better term, than the mortal realm, so hearing that the owner of Klub Kaiju tried to kill Shino, failed and hired him wasn't too much of a shock at this point, and with that acknowledgement, the former pilot ended up nodding.
"Oi Akihiro, what's with the long face? Just because Otachi fell for the Norba Charm doesn't mean you gotta be sour about it!" quipped Shino with a smirk as he took note of an eye roll from Atland off. In response to that claim, Akihiro rolled his eyes before propping his elbows up on the countertop.
"Charm, you say?" retorted Akihiro dismissively as he rolled his eyes, reminding Shino of the times where he actively flinched whenever he saw Klub Kaiju owner. Shino may have had some charm, just not as much as he'd like to think, but even he knew that some people, be they a purebred demon, sinner or even a normal human, were not worth charming, and Otachi was amongst this crowd.
Not that he'd ever tell that demoness that, especially if he valued his life.
"Oh shush you," grumbled Shino, with him shaking his Flauros arm dismissively as he spoke. "Besides, you took the offer when I recommended you, hm?"
"Only because she threatened to spit acid at me and looked like she could swallow my head all in one go," defended Akihiro, prompting Mikazuki to raise a brow as he began wondering how threatening this Otachi demon was. Considering how she set Akihiro on edge, she was probably bad news. "Besides, I'm just working as the bouncer because I don't have much of a choice at this point, and you're only serving as Klub Kaiju's bartender just to get free drinks."
"Pisses everyone off something fierce, but I'd be a damn fool to ignore all this free stuff!" defended Shino, smirking as he wiped his lips, a sight and comment that almost made Mikazuki smile. Never change, Shino. Never change… "But enough of that, I didn't bring over the best stuff we had in Klub Kaiju just to have you say I'm doing my job wrong!"
"But you are," pointed out Mikazuki and Akihiro in perfect sync, prompting Shino to wave a hand at them dismissively while the Tekkadan heavyweights quickly exchanged glances, surprised at how perfectly timed that was, though they were quick to crack some smiles at that odd coincidence as they dismissed it.
"Yeah yeah whatever," dismissed Shino with a frown as he continued on. "Point is… Mika, where the Hell have you been this whole time?! Me and Aki have been waiting for you for the past half-plus-year!"
Upon finishing, Shino downed another shot, and once it was drained, the pink demon slammed the shot down and leaned forwards to look Augus in the eye expectantly. Likewise, Akihiro glanced at his fellow pilot with a raised brow, and at that, Mikazuki shrugged before he replied.
"I've been working for people. Things have been busy for me, very busy," answered Augus, short and sweet, prompting Akihiro to raise a brow.
"Huh. But didn't we die at about the same time… and in the same general area?" inquired Akihiro, raising a brow as Shino nodded a little, downing another shot in the process. To his knowledge, those that died at the same time and in the same general area would usually arrive in Hell at the same general time and place, so for him to not drop down in an area close to Augus confused him to a certain extent. "Why haven't we seen you till now?"
"... Barbatos said he took my soul, so I guess that's why," said Mikazuki offhandedly with a shrug, and right as those words left his mouth, Shino felt himself choke on his shot while Akihiro raised his brows in shock, with the former catching many a demons eye with his dramatic coughing fit.
As he recomposed himself, steam poured out of the centermost segment of Shino's Flauros backpack while Akihiro's Gusion Rebake Full City sub arms drooped out of his back binders, with that being the most obvious indication of his shock, though before long, the two regained their marbles and calmed themselves down.
"A-Alright, so… lemme get this straight," began Shino, accidentally crushing the shot glass in his Ryusei Go III hand before clearing his throat as he sighed, tossing the remains of the glass over his shoulder in the process. "When you died, Barbatos… the Barbatos, the Eighth Duke of Hell, the dude that your Barbatos was named after, snagged your soul and pulled you to his massive palace on the Sin Ring and asked you to work for him?"
"Yeah," Mikazuki confirmed with a shrug, not seeming surprised in the least that Shino had more or less guessed everything correctly. Norba, on the other hand, didn't seem too happy that he was correct, as evident by how he aggressively downed a shot from a new shot glass.
"The fuck, man…" mumbled Shino, slamming his head into the countertop as soon as he finished the shot and processed all that new info. Meanwhile, Akihiro simply shrugged as he poured himself a shot and took a sip, holding the shot glass between his Rebake fingers gingerly.
"Eh, I've seen and heard weirder," quipped Akihiro, shrugging as he downed the shot and made a face that showed that he really didn't like it. Placing it down, Atland sighed as Shino removed his head from the countertop and eyed Mika curiously, his apparent envy having disappeared by then as he rubbed his chin.
"So, erm, Mika, what's it like to work for a high ranking demon, anyways?" inquired Shino, smirking as he leaned forward to look Mika in the eye. Akihiro turned at that, seeming curious as well, prompting Mika to shrug. "Any interesting tasks? Do you work with papers or dig some graves? Met any good looking demons? Got any in bed?"
At that, Mika lowered his brows in apparent irritation before shaking his head. Good to see that he didn't change much, Mikazuki supposed, though Akihiro seemed to find this amusing as he chuckled to himself.
"Barbatos is irritating," explained Mika, surprising both Akihiro and Shino quite a bit, though they quickly went back to normal after chuckling briefly. High ranking humans were already rather pompous, with the most obvious case being Jansley Dominikos, and the two reckoned that it was the same in Hell, though it was probably way worse down here. "The pay is good, though."
"Well at least you got good compensation," quipped Akihiro, with him flexing the fingers of his Full City arm as he spoke. "The pay here is terrible…"
"Hey I think it's pretty good," argued Shino, holding a finger up as he smirked proudly, prompting Akihiro to roll his eyes.
"Try saying that when your job is to stop fights between demons, drunk or not, on an hourly basis," spat Akihiro with a frown, and as if on cue, the four armed demon jerked a thumb behind him as a demon suplexed another onto a table, shattering it in the process, to which Shino laughed a little before smirking. Atland rolled his eyes, appearing rather irritated as he did so, though there was no real malice behind the gesture as the buff guy smirked not long after.
And at that, Mikazuki couldn't help but smile just a little at this oddly… familiar setting. Though it wasn't completely perfect, the inclusion of Akihiro and Shino in his afterlife managed to fill a hole that was in his chest that was present ever since he got down to Hell.
A mildly noticeable yell from the other side of Klub Kaiju interrupted Mikazuki's thoughts rather prematurely, however, prompting him and Shino to glance at the source, an oddly grey demon with the vague appearance of a gorilla. As for Akihiro, however, he sighed and buried his face in his Full City hand whilst his Rebake hand clenched into a fist and slammed into the countertop in a fit of irritation.
"Great, it's him again," grumbled Akihiro, sighing as he stood up and cracked his mechanical knuckles. That in itself was probably impossible, but hey, this was Hell, where the impossible seemed to happen all the time. Without much more than a snort, Akihiro walked off towards where the yells came from, with Shino and Mika watching as he did so.
"What's with him?" inquired Mika, unused to the sudden shift in demeanor, especially from Akihiro, prompting Shino to snort and offer a shot to him. Augus accepted it and downed the glass in a single gulp, only to spit it out immediately after, prompting Shino to almost fall over laughing.
"Pft…" snorted Shino, smirking as he made eye contact with Mika, where his smirk faltered when he saw that glare of his, prompting him to clear his throat awkwardly. "Erm, well, that guy Akihiro is walking towards? That's Leatherback, a common patron of Klub Kaiju. He comes around often… and Akihiro throws him out very often for being a general nuisance. I know we're in Hell, and the two of us work in a bar, but we still have standards! Or at least Akihiro and I do. I don't think Otachi really cares about the place unless it directly affects her earnings."
Mikazuki opted to shrug at that, having no real opinion on the business side of things. He much preferred to be out in the field rather than actually be behind a desk after all, something Orga could probably sympathise with back in the day. Regardless, the ace couldn't think much on that as he noticed Shino staring at him with a mild smile, prompting him to raise a brow.
"Shino?" muttered Augus, only to pause when Shino gently punched him in the chest with his Ryusei Go III arm. It was a friendly gesture, and Mikazuki didn't think much of it until he noticed how Norba was staring at him.
There was a rather affectionate glint in his eyes as he looked his fellow (former) pilot in the eye, and his smile wavered a little as he chuckled weakly. Opening his mouth, Norba attempted to say something, only to pause briefly before scratching the back of his neck, unsure of how to say what was on his mind. He did this several times, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to speak his mind. It became rather comical after the third time, though by then, Mika could guess what he wanted to say as he offered a lopsided smile.
"It's good to see you too, Shino," offered Mika, and at that, Norba chuckled bitterly before shaking his head.
"Yeah… it's-" began Norba, only to pause when the body of a smaller demon flew over his head and smashed against the wall behind him. Turning towards the thrown demon, Shino blinked before sighing in irritation. "Hey, we were having a moment here, Akihiro!"
"Oh, sorry!" apologised Akihiro over in the distance, holding the demon Mikazuki presumed to be Leatherback above his head with both arms as he waved apologetically at his fellow pilots with his Full City sub arms. Immediately after, one of the sub arms swung off to the side and socked a demon straight in the face, most likely fracturing their skull in the process.
"Jeez, I know he's literally fighting some wankers right now, but he could be a little more considerate!" complained Shino sarcastically as he waved a hand in the air, ignoring the small explosion when Akihiro launched a small missile from his Full City arm. Mikazuki's hair was thrown out of whack by the shockwave, though Shino remained unphased as he continued. "Ack, but either way, it's good to see you again, Hell or not, it's always nice to see a friendly face."
"Ah. Things weren't the same in Tekkadan without you," admitted Mika, to which Shino smirked, though before he replied, the Ryusei Go's pilot raised a brow before he leaned forward a little to allow the Flauros cannon resting against his back to flip forward. Blinking at that, Mika leaned to the side to allow Shino to fire his cannon.
The recoil wasn't as bad as Mika had expected, though Shino did have to stabilize the cannon with his arms before taking the shot. Even so, his Galaxy Cannon found its mark, with the high powered, (presumably) Anti-Demon round removing a demon's entire arm at the shoulder before they could strike Akihiro with a chair.
"You're welcome!" shouted Shino, though Akihiro didn't acknowledge that as he pummeled Leatherback over the head with both arms. At that, Norba rolled his eyes and had his cannon swivel back to rest flat against his back. "Jeez, the nerve of some demons."
"Akihiro didn't hear you," defended Mika, to which Shino rolled his eyes.
"Not that! To use a chair as a weapon! The absolute nerve!" corrected Shino, with Mikazuki rolling his eyes as he lifted his arm up to catch a glass bottle that was thrown in his general direction. Staring at said bottle, he noticed that it was half full and offered it to Shino, who shrugged and took it from Augus. "Psh, Vox Brand Alcohol. Not recommended. Tastes like static."
"Ah," was all Mika could say in response, unsure of how to respond to that due to him not being an active drinker of alcohol. He remained silent while he watched Shino lift the bottle up into the air, gingerly take aim and throw it towards another demon, clocking them over the head with it. "Nice shot."
"Thank you! Not everyone can sling a bottle as good as me, y'know?!" proclaimed Shino proudly as he snickered, only to blink when he heard the sound of a pile on. Turning towards the source, the two Tekkadan pilots saw that Akihiro was being piled on by several demons, though Shino scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
"Should we help him?" inquired Mikazuki, with him flexing his Lupus Rex claws as he spoke, eliciting a shrug from Shino as he flipped a bottle over his back, caught it in his other hand and used his teeth to rip the cap off.
"Nah, it's their funeral for tryna dogpile Akihiro, of all people," assured Shino as he filled a cup up, and not a moment after, the entire dogpile exploded, with Akihiro emerging from the mass of demons that once piled atop him, looking more irritated then injured. "See?"
"Ah," was all Mikazuki bothered to say as Shino snickered and took another shot. As he downed it, Norba vaguely heard the sound of metal impacting flesh multiple times and, before long, the sound of something large being thrown out could also be heard, prompting him to smirk as he lowered his glass, looking up just in time to see Akihiro slam the door to Klub Kaiju shut. "Akihiro's done."
"Took him long enough!" proclaimed Shino.
With the big lug gone, Akihiro dusted his hands off and stored his sub arms back in their binders. After a quick crack of his neck, Atland got back to his fellow pilots with a somewhat apologetic expression, especially as Shino picked the demon that Akihiro had thrown towards them and held him up for the big guy to see.
"You could work on your aim," suggested Shino, tossing the unconscious demon off to the side as Akihiro held both hands up apologetically.
"I'll keep that in mind next time," assured Akihiro as he sat back down next to Mika. "So, did I miss anything?"
"Well no," assured Shino sarcastically. "You just interrupted a moment between me and Mika. Thanks for that."
"Ah… sorry," apologised Akihiro, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he chuckled. Before Shino could continue to berate him, however…
"Oi, Akihiro, why didn't you kill him?" inquired Mika, the curiosity rather apparent in his voice as both Atland and Norba looked at him in bewilderment.
"Why bother?" replied Shino, shrugging as he cleaned up the mess that was made after the demon had been thrown into his side of the counter. He didn't like it, but it was his job, and he was paid to do it. "He'll come back anyways, so it's just a waste of energy!"
"Fair enough," muttered Mikazuki, having recalled how demons technically couldn't 'die' through non-exorcist means.
"We killed Leatherback a good few times, actually, but we gave up after the tenth death," sighed Akihiro as he brushed some blood off the gauntlet of his Full City arm. "Turns out, throwing him out of the bar is more entertaining, and it saves us the trouble of having to clean his body and blood off the ground."
And at that, Akihiro and Shino shared a quick laugh with one another, with the two recalling the 'fond' memories of them annihilating Leatherback all those times, with Mikazuki himself just snorting in amusement as he shook his head.
"So, out of general curiosity, what have you been doing recently, anyways?" asked Shino after the laughter died down, to which the pilot responding accordingly.
"Alastor hired me, so I travel with him around Hell now."
And the shocked cry from Shino was so legendary that even from where they were, nearly two miles away from Klub Kaiju, Alastor, Niffty and Husk could hear him.
Night, or at least he thought it was night as it was hard to tell in Hell, had fallen by the time Mikazuki had returned to Alastor's radio station, and a quick glance at the living room showed Augus that Husk had already conked out for the night, with him laying indignantly on his bean bag chair with a bottle of cheap booze laying on the ground, its contents spilt from its lip.
There was a bubble made out of demonic energy encasing Husk's body, presumably put up by Alastor to stop the stench from becoming too overwhelming.
Speaking of Alastor, the Radio Demon's spindly form could be seen sitting atop an armchair not too far from the demonic bubble dome that was set up around Husk' snoozing body. The guy was sitting mostly in the dark, with his only source of light being a lamp shining down above him, illuminating whatever it was he was reading as he hummed a tune to himself. It was a rather common sight for him at this point, and though he did wonder what it was that the Radio Demon was reading, Mikazuki didn't care enough to ask about it.
As he shut the door behind him, Mika caught Alastor's attention, prompting the Radio Demon to lift his head up and make eye contact with the pilot. As per usual, Alastor's smile was present, revealing his jagged yellow fangs at the former pilot as he watched him enter, and yet, there was something… off about it. It seemed less fake, so to speak, and a little more genuine.
"Welcome back, Mikazuki Augus," greeted Alastor as he snapped his book shut and rested it on his lap before adjusting his monocle, to which the former pilot in question nodded and walked towards him. As he did so, the Radio Demon's smile only grew in size as Augus closed the distance between the two of them, and by the time he was in front of him, his smile seemed big enough to split his face in two as he continued speaking. "I take it you enjoyed your little day off?"
Mikazuki didn't know how to reply. All he could do was stare at Alastor with a mixture of thankfulness and suspicion. What was the guy planning…? Surely, he didn't just reunite the three Tekkadan pilots for fun, now… right?
"You… knew they were there?" asked Mikazuki uncertainly, to which the Radio Demon held a hand up to his chest and laughed thrice, eliciting a raised brow from the former pilot.
"Perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't! For now, just assume that I sent you there on a whim, my good egg!" responded Alastor in amusement as he materialised his Microphone Cane and twirled it around in his hand. "Don't forget, Mikazuki Augus, that the world is a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment! But even so, the stage is only as entertaining as those that are on it, and you, my good sir, are among the most entertaining mongrels that I've had the pleasure of meeting down here!
"And it would be a shame, for your spark to be extinguished so soon!"
"..." no comment from Mikazuki on that. He seemed to get what Alastor was getting at, but even so, he didn't care enough to think about it as he simply nodded and turned to take his leave. As he did so, however, he did take note of how his heart, or his soul, he supposed, felt lighter than it once was. It was a good sign, perhaps…
"Oi, Alastor," piped up Mikazuki after a short period of silence, with him stopping his retreat to turn and look at Al', who had went back to reading his book by then. He paused his reading to stare at Mika curiously, and after a few moments of debate, the former pilot allowed what he wished to say to leave his lips.
And the single word that left his mouth took quite a bit of effort for Mika to force out, though to his credit, he said it in a rather genuine way, and though many would think otherwise, he genuinely meant what he had said.
"Thanks."
Right as that single word left his mouth, Mikazuki turned away from Alastor, who appeared beyond surprised, in his own unique way, by him being thanked for doing someone a favor, especially down here in Hell, so much so that his smile faltered just a little, with it almost dipping into a neutral line at one point before he caught himself. Before long, however, the Radio Demon got over it and offered a nod as he clutched his Microphone Cane in his hand just that much tighter.
"Yes…" muttered Alastor as he shut the book he was reading and patted its cover with the flat of his hand, and though he was more than likely imagining it, Mikazuki thought that he heard the distortion in the Radio Demon's voice disappear for the briefest of moments as he responded to his thanks.
"You are very much welcome, Mikazuki Augus."
Who knew Al' could be a nice dude.
Demonic changes to Shino: Flauros (Ryusei Go colours) left arm, Ryusei Go III (Shiden custom) right arm from below the elbow, Flauros back cannon on the right side of his back and the Flauros Machine Gun on the left side of his back.
Demonic changes to Akihiro: Gusion Rebake left arm + shoulder, Gusion Rebake Full City Right arm + shoulder and Gusion Rebake Full City backpack sub arms.
As he walked down the streets of Pentagram City, Mikazuki sighed a little to himself, holding a smile back as he did so.
Reuniting with Akihiro and Shino was quite the experience, and it was sad that it had ended… though he supposed that it was to be expected. All good things had to end eventually, though it didn't mean that they had to end forever. Perhaps he could make room in his schedule to visit Klub Kaiju in the future.
Husk would love that, to be able to enter a club with benefits…
And as he thought of all the issues that cat demon would bring to Klub Kaiju, Mika failed to notice how a somewhat familiar looking figure was staring at him from afar.
The figure in question smiled as it lifted a hand up to its golden venetian mask, adjusting it briefly before turning on its heel and walking off in the opposite direction to Mikazuki. As it walked, however, a pair of imps attempted to get a jump on the figure from both sides, having seen him as easy prey all the while.
Almost immediately, however, the masked figure raised both its arms up, revealing a pair of crimson shields that blocked the weapons that were swung at him. With a simple flick of his wrists, he deflected their attacks, and almost immediately after, a pair of golden blades swung out of the bottom of the shields, and the figure used them to slice both demons in half with a single swing of his arms. However, what he didn't foresee was for a third demon, this one much larger than the first two, to drop in on the action, leaping up into the air in an attempt to pin the masked figure down…
… only to be foiled when a massive blade crashed down upon it. The strike didn't slice the demon in half. No, it had completely pulverised it beneath its edge.
"Brigadier General, are you well?" inquired the voice of the one who had saved the figure in red from its second assailant. As he spoke, the newcomer stepped out of the shadows to reveal a demon, undoubtedly a Sinner, with bulky mechanical attachments coloured green and blue attached to his person. The sinner brought his massive sword up and off the corpse of the demon he had just killed as a segment on his waist swung out, revealing itself to be an arm that he holstered his blade onto, before he saluted his 'Brigadier General, who simply chuckled in response.
"I am, thank you for your assistance," assured the man whom the newcomer referred to as his Brigadier General as he reached his hand up to his mask. Tapping a concealed switch on its side, the glass that shielded his eyes from view disappeared, revealing a pair of green eyes that shone like emeralds.
"I was simply a little taken aback, for I did not expect our paths to cross so soon…"
