Yaggo my child...

Boots drummed rapidly against polished marble floors as Team 1 scurried into position. Across the empty hallway, amongst abandoned office cubicles and beside the sad looking corporate plant, Team 2's leader motioned for them to proceed. Teams Three and Four were clearing the second floor via the Northern stairwell, whilst Teams One and Two - a force of twenty men collectively - were tasked with Southern stairwell, and the odd Floors. They'd continue to alternate until they reached floor twenty.

The team captain had insisted on this sort of arrangement, such that in the unlikely event that twenty painfully well armed men needed support, another twenty could come in and crush the defending force in a pincer movement. It was a foolproof plan, and although they knew their opponent wasn't to be underestimated, each had a certain confidence in the overwhelming firepower they'd brought to this fight.

Considering the resistance they'd met outside the building was minimal (there were five or six Howard Connection corpses lying outside, and three more beside the elevators on Floor 1), the vigilante force's spirits were buoyed, and many were already considering what they were going to do with the money afterwards. At this point, they couldn't even imagine a situation where they'd fail in their mission, especially with such simple instructions. Sweep.

Kain had given them strict orders to kill whoever they saw. There were to be no survivors. There were no hostages to extract. Nothing that needed to be preserved. It was a rare, rare case where the 'run-and-gun' philosophy was appropriate, and the mercenaries weren't particularly opposed to it. After all, who grumbled at an easy job?

*Clear, hit the elevators in 3, then take a left to the South stairs. Up we go.*

*Roger*

Team 1 cleared the hallway, and peeked around a corner into the elevator's foyer, and the two stairwell besides. Every single floor had somebody guarding the elevators, but typically they were armed, didn't look beaten to shit...and awake. Who the hell is that? Is he lost or something?

Team 1's Captain crackled in over the comms to answer.

*Big -fucking- fish caught sleeping. Member of the Yagami clan, not sure who. I hate dealing with these guys. Look sharp. I'm gonna snipe him. Nobody move.*

*Affirmative.*

There was a moment of silence, then the *pop* rang out in the dark.

After a moment, the thud of a body hitting the floor.

*Headshot. Gott'em.*

*Nice.*

The two teams seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief, then proceeded. The Yagami family, the highest ranking party of the Japanese Yakuza, were famous for their battlefield versatility. They were notoriously hard to kill, and could easily upset well laid plans. Obviously this particular Yagami member must have been a combat rookie - considering how easily he went down. Who the hell falls asleep on a battlefield? Probably some young kid…

Team 1 proceeded into the foyer first. Team 2 followed closely on their heels and began filing up the narrow southern stairwell, turning their backs to the third floor threat. The captain went to check the body. Killing 'Yagamis' were like killing dragons. The Mercenary probably wanted to find out who he'd slain so he could put it on his resume.

He lowered his firearm, and rolled his victim's crumpled form onto it's back with his boot. The young man had been sitting on an office chair holding his hand in his cheek, and sleeping. The impact from a bullet through the forehead knocked him off the chair, and he lay facedown where he fell. The Captain expected the boy to be laying in a pool of blood, but was too elated to be suspicious. The only thing on his mind was identifying the kill for future bragging. He didn't consider checking if his victim was actually dead.

It was his last regret.

Because when he rolled the red-haired man over, he found himself face-to-face with the most experienced military combatant of the Yagami clan, who immediately sat up and sank bandaged fingers through his windpipe. Iori Yagami's forehead was bruised where the bullet hit him, but there was no puncture. Instead, glowing molten lead dribbled from his face, and off the tip of his nose. He bared his gums in a deranged smile. One of his eyes had rolled into the back of his head. He cackled and crooned, his voice came out like two men speaking at once.

"M-m-morning, S-sunshine! Kakakaka!"

Oh fuck… oh fuck… (shink-plulp)...

At the stairwell entrance, somebody raised alarm, but before he could shoot, the captain's dead body was hurled at him with great force. He raised his arms to defend, but found his firearm had exploded in his grasp, blasting away everything past his wrist. Behind him, the rest of the force heard the commotion and wrestled with each other in panic. Some soldiers tried to clear to the next floor, and others tried to turn and face the threat. It was no use. Iori Yagami had caught them with their backs turned. They were all dead, and they all knew it.

"W-which one of you… Big M-man…. Say it!"

Because before them, wreathed in blazing purple, crouched the wretched form of a monster. His eyes bugged out of his head. His face, smeared in blood, was twisted into a joyful ecstasy as he slowly filled the room with blazing fire. With impossible strength, he seized the handless soldier and hurled him against a wall where his skull was crushed like a ripe fruit. Even so, Iori picked him up and shook his collar to question him. It was a very important question.

"A-are you Big Man? Say it… Say, Mornin' Sunshine~"

Yeah he's a nutjob slasher. You thought he died? lmao.

He's got a ton of combat experience, even if his brain not much smart.

Rip Mercs

Also wtf happened to billy lmao?

Riot keck