ehehehe, I was wondering why this took forever...

It's cuz it's 3k words.

gg. get fked yaggo. Lots of boys screaming at each other.

Rock's vision swam as the scent of ash and death filled his nostrils. Powdered dust was scattered about his feet and lifted to disperse into the air with the slightest disturbance. From the eastern window, beams of sunlight illuminated the swirling white ash, and the closer Rock looked, the more figures he saw outlined there… because that dead ash was once forty-one living, breathing men.

… boss, what the hell did you do?!"

Forty-one men had been cut down and cremated where they stood. They weren't just any men. These soldiers - as scary and violent as they could be - were Rock's lifeline. Their success was the deciding factor in whether Rock would live at ease, or die at the hands of his father's wretched legacy. The mercenary coalition was Kain's best and only play against the might of Howard Connection, and if Rock wanted to survive, HCon needed to fall… didn't you know that, Boss? Are you… are you trying to destroy me?

He wanted to say the words, but couldn't squeeze them out. All he could do was stare in horror as, with the flash of purple flames, the last bits of soldier #42 - Kain's bodyguard -evaporated into nothingness. Iori didn't look apologetic for killing nearly fifty people. He didn't even look perturbed. His expression was that of utter indifference. His eyes were emotionless, like an insect's.

He could do this all fucking day.

Is he… is he serious? Is this some kind of sick joke?

It wasn't that Rock hadn't seen his employer kill… he had, just once - while the two of them were fighting for their lives in the alleyways of ShangHai's slums. At the time, Iori had been quite literally dying from the rifle rounds shot through his gut. He'd been acting out of clear and obvious desperation. So although, Iori had killed some people… he clearly wasn't a monster. He wasn't the Blood Riot. He didn't cut people down with that sort of cold expression.

Of course not.

Rock knew this man. He'd seen him almost every day for the past 9 months. He'd endured hours of listening to him sleeptalk on the airplane. They'd even ended up being roommates for a week in Chizuru Kagura's hospital (where Iori was so annoying, Rock truly lost all residual fear for him). Rock had seen him cry. He'd seen him paralyzed in terror. He'd seen him on his deathbed. He'd even been violently tongue-kissed (bleah). Although Iori worked very hard to give off the impression he was something wild and otherworldly, it was all an illusion. He was very strange, but still very human. And Rock thought he knew how he ticked…

Iori hated touching people. He didn't like to be touched. He hated watching people cry. He never showed affection directly. He was always embarrassed if you caught him doing something nice. All of his death threats were fake. He barely had a concept of money. He loved to eat frozen bacon. He bought you a tub of whatever ice-cream he thought you liked on your birthday (Rock's was rainbow sherbet. He hated it). He couldn't be convinced of anything once he'd made up his mind. He loved conspiracy theories. He carved excellently. He sent Riot to play laser tag every Thursday. He did a lot of drugs. He-

"Howard, stop spacing out and move your scrawny ass. I need to murder that Kain fucker."

… and he could calmly kill fifty people before 7AM, and barely blink in remorse.

And now that very same man was standing before him, encroaching on Rock's personal space - as was his custom when he wanted to prompt people to action. His voice was even. There was no wild passion driving him. No fear clouding his judgment. No desperation motivating him, and none of the Riot fighting to usurp control. He looked tired, even bored. He was dressed better than Rock had seen him in months. There was blood on his shirt and a bruise on his forehead. A streak of metal flakes trailed down the side of his nose.

Just normal, old, boss being his normal, old self. This was his natural state.

"... hello? Damn, you're actually really scrawny. I told you, your dumbass vegetarian diet will kill you. Now step aside... and cover your ears if you don't want nightmares tonight."

Iori tried to step around him, but Rock instinctively moved to block his path. The rapid motion caused the human dust to swirl up about their ankles. Behind him, Kain Heinlein was crouched, tense and ready for action. However, even as he took a battle stance, his expression was that of naked terror. Rock could feel the air trembling. Was it Kain's fear? Perhaps it was the spirits of the deceased soldiers… maybe it was his own boiling rage.

Because… because Iori had always been his loyal benefactor. Iori had never tried to injure him. Iori had promised to do good by him, and for once in his life - Rock had seized that promise. He hung his life on it. The funding Iori had sworn to deliver, without it, Kain would have killed him immediately upon outset. Without it, he might have died during an operation. That money was Rock's lifeline, and Iori damn well knew it.

But still... the money stopped.

Iori wouldn't take any calls. Rock had filled his voice-mailbox, begging his employer to reestablish the cash flow...but Iori never called back. He didn't send another cent. The money dried up and suddenly Rock had nothing left to leverage but himself. Iori had failed him, yes, but Rock wasn't bitter. No… Rock had faith. Iori would never betray me. Iori had all sorts of character faults, but he wasn't lacking in loyalty. "Something must have happened. Something out of his control" - was what Rock thought… Iori would never hang him out to dry.

So… So what's this?

For four long days, radio silence. Not a single dollar. No message. Nothing. Iori had fallen off the face of the Earth when Rock needed him the most, only to return now… and what was he doing? Was he here to help? To apologize? Make amends?

No.

He had come to personally dash to pieces whatever remained of Rock's hope. He'd burned it utterly and completely until there was nothing left but powdery ash. He'd done it without remorse. Without a moment of hesitation…And now, when everything was said and done, he even had the audacity to give orders? To stand there like nothing had happened, and look down at Rock - the one whose faith he'd broken - with those beady, emotionless eyes?

Yagami… Yagami, you snake! You piece of shit! What am I to you? A toy that you can smash to pieces for fun?

Rock gritted his teeth and glared at the red-haired man. Trembling despair was icy in his stomach. He felt the treachery like a blade slid between the ribs. Indignant rage filled his head, and spilled from his eyes. His breath came short. His vision tunneled. Sweat beaded on his clenched palms. Beneath his feet, he pooled the strength of the earth, pulling it up through the concrete foundations. It crackled as it rattled his bones, stinging through his veins like venomous electricity.

Even so, his voice came out broken. An angry tear slid down his cheek and dripped off his chin. He ground his teeth and glared from beneath his shadowed brows.

"Boss… I trusted you… Why, why did you betray me?"

Iori wasn't looking at him. He didn't even care enough to acknowledge the one he'd deceived. Iori had his eyes fixed on Kain, and was talking rapidly into a walkie-talkie he had gingerly pulled out of his pocket. The device was HCon issued. Iori was… Iori was working for Geese?! How… how long was he working for the enemy?

That was the last straw. Rock's blood boiled. He snapped into action and seized Iori's collar, nearly dragging the man off his feet. He drew his head back, and headbutted Iori in the nose, eliciting a surprised yelp from the filthy traitor. Rock filled his lungs and screamed at him.

"Iori, what the hell! Why the hell are you here!? You bastard! You shit! Dammit, dammit damn you!"

The red-haired man gasped at the unexpected attack and accompanying tirade. He yanked himself upright and staggered back, blood trailing from his nose and down his lips. He carefully cupped his face, and lifted his eyes to return Rock's glare.

"Dammit Howard…are you serious? Don't make things difficult. I've had a hell of a week."

"Am -I- serious?! Am -I- fucking serious!?"

Rock was irate. He stalked up Iori, grabbed his collar again, and pinned him against the bullet-ridden elevator doors. Iori seemed more concerned about his nosebleed than anything else, and allowed himself to be manhandled. It was obvious he didn't see Rock as a serious threat. Rock snarled at him.

"Yagami, you fuck! You betrayed me! First you cut the money, and now you kill our men! How dare you! I'll kill you right here!"

He was burning up. He was raging. He gnashed his teeth and glared with all the hate he could muster… and Iori, for perhaps the first time in his life, responded to Rock' threat with an uncanny, calm restraint.

"Really? How did I betray you."

For a brief moment, Rock was certain he'd encountered Iori's doppelganger. Iori didn't control his temper. He never really needed to. He responded to violence with overwhelming violence. He was the most vicious bastard to walk the earth. Later on, when Rock would think back to the incident, he would recognize Iori was only acting so reasonably because his physical condition would make fighting difficult. However, in the heat of the moment, Iori's demeanor threw Rock off so badly, he stuttered into silence.

"... W-what did you say?"

"You just accused me of being a traitor, you little brat. How the hell did I betray you?"

Rock glared. He spat out the words like venom. He wanted to punch somebody, but was being forced to use his brain instead. It wasn't a good feeling.

"Y-you! You promised that…" Rock paused and shook his head. "W-we had a deal, and you didn't uphold your end of it! Now you're here, screwing everything up and-"

Iori narrowed his eyes into a glare. He filled his lungs, and interrupted loudly, drowning Rock into silence.

"And?! What was your half of the deal? Tell me!"

Rock frowned and furrowed his brow in confusion. The rage was still smoldering behind his eyes, but he had at least regained faculty of himself. He pondered. Just what the hell was Iori on about? Still, Rock (perhaps instinctively - he was a student) attempted to answer the question.

"My end?… like, don't participate, or something. I dunno. It's not important. Stop trying to change the topic."

Iori was incredulous, he looked stunned at Rock's statement.

"Who the hell told you it wasn't important? Did you think I just made you do it for fun? I gave you ten million dollars under a single condition, and you've got the guts to come back and tell me my request wasn't even worth remembering? You're gonna be a stellar negotiator, Howard. I can fucking see it."

Rock gritted his teeth. He responded to shock with anger.

"No! It didn't matter, I wasn't ID'd. Nobody came looking for me. Nobody went after my dad. I'm pretty sure nobody went after my school. This whole mess started once you stopped sending money. You're at fault here!"

"Can you count?"

"What?!"

Iori raised his bandaged hands and Rock shifted back - but didn't let go of his employer's shirt. He blinked in confusion. What was he supposed to count? Iori's fingers were all bandaged and bloodied - but there was nothing weird about that. He'd probably gone tearing through somebody's guts recently. And… wait… he's missing his thumb?

"I lost all my fingernails and my left thumb… but I'm not telling you to make you feel bad. I don't need your fucking sympathy… When you decided to break contract and go trotting around the city with your vigilante fucks - getting caught on every CCTV you could find, I'll tell you right now, Geese Howard was the first person to know. He's the king here, and he knows everything…"

Iori jabbed a mangled finger at him.

"And Geese isn't dumb either! He didn't come after you, because who the fuck are you? He didn't go after Bogard because Bogard's barely owns the shirt on his back. The hell would he go to your school for?"

Rock's anger slowly drained as he realized where the conversation was headed. He dropped his gaze and completed the rest of Iori's sentence.

"...Geese, he came for you."

Iori raised his eyebrows and patted the hands clutching the front of his shirt in mock congratulations. He was being sarcastic. He must be -really- mad.

"Bingo, you little shit. I spent three days suffocating in a concrete box at the bottom of the ocean because you can't follow a Single. Fucking. Direction. If I wasn't the Yakuza heir, I'd be long dead. Instead, I got passed around like a fucking bargaining chip until my handlers were happy. All of this bullshit, because you don't respect me enough to take me seriously. Now you crawl up here and call me a fucking traitor?"

"..."

Iori snarled at him.

"So fuck you. Get your hands off me!"

Rock hesitated, then obeyed and stepped back. His brain spun. At the time, he didn't even consider why Iori had attached such a condition to the money - but now, the reason, and the consequences, were obvious. Iori knew how the mafia worked. Rock didn't. The breach of contract was his fault, his anger had been misplaced, and he'd hurt his employer terribly…

But still…

That didn't change anything.

Because Geese Howard was still at the top of that tower - and Rock still needed to kill him. This was a survival game. A game where Rock had to scale the walls of SouthTown's castle and topple the man who stood atop. Either Geese died, or Rock died. Father, or son. Men warred all about them. Blackwell, Kain, Iori, Terry - all of them had been dragged into this conflict - a conflict which Rock - alone - had enabled. Rock wasn't a leader, no. He wasn't trained in warfare. Nor did he have the wealth or influence to fund such operations. When one looked closely at him, he was nobody.

But in the grand scheme, although he was merely a middleman, it was his hand that finally brought the flame to the powderkeg.

He'd lit the fuse.

This was his war.

He couldn't run from it. The moment he showed his back and fled, he'd have no rest. He'd flee forever. He'd be literally hunted by the blood which had plagued him for so long, until one day he'd find himself poisoned, or sniped from a mile away, or stabbed, or-

I can't let that happen. I've gotta do this.

And he would do it. With soldiers, or without them. With Kain's backing, or without it. If he needed to screw his boss one more time, than so be it.

Iori would (hopefully) forgive him. Geese certainly wouldn't.

So with bitter coldness in his guts, Rock wiped his tears, and watched Iori carefully as he straightened his shirt, leaving streaks of red on the white fabric. He looked tired. Tired enough to drop - but under no circumstances would Rock underestimate him. Even in the state he was in, Iori had taken down 40 mercenaries with nary a scratch, and was confident enough to take on Kain as well. Rock had seen this situation before. He remembered what had happened in Shanghai - when the Triads organized a hit against the two of them. Iori had gotten his intestines scrambled by rifle rounds, spent a week in the hospital, then immediately hit the front lines to spearhead a gang war to conquer ShangHai. He was like a wind-up toy of destruction.

That was what Rock was going up against. Iori was the first defender of this castle. The first enemy Rock had to overcome. A terrifying combatant - one that almost certainly couldn't be taken down with brute force.

But Rock would take him down nevertheless.

Because Rock knew how Iori ticked.

Chiz once told Rocky never to betray bossman, because bossman would fking murder everyone he cared about if he did.

But then again, Chiz might be lying... who knows.

Yag is the tutorial boss lol.