Schwarz immediately began coughing violently, having never smoked a cigar before.

"Ugh… I don't know how you guys smoke these death sticks…"

"Can I… help you, sir?" Beegyoven asked as Schwarz snuffed his cigar,

"I'll cut to the chase. I'm sure you know why I'm here," Schwarz said, sitting up straight. "My name is Johann Schwarz. I've come representing Worldwide Smoke for this… 'hostile takeover'. My associates are currently having words with your colleagues."

Beegyoven flicked ash off his cigar and exclaimed "how did you even get in here?!"

"I have my methods," Schwarz replied.

"I-I n-need you t-to l-l-leave…" Clara stammered, gun trembling in her hand.

Zinnia wiped the blood off her cheek, then stepped forward and cracked her knuckles.

"Zinnia, wait!" Schwarz exclaimed.

"Why, Mister Schwarz? This mermaid is obviously hostile," Zinnia responded, turning toward Schwarz, but not making eye contact with him.

"Look at how scared she is! She doesn't want to be here!"

"I-It's t-true…" said Clara. "I'm a new hire. M-Mister Beegyoven just g-gave me a gun and told me to 'hold down the f-fort'… nobody told me w-why you guys are attacking. I'm just supposed to protect Mister Beegyoven's office. All of us s-secretaries are…"

"Hm. I'm guessing this Beegyoven has some dangerous materials in his office that he doesn't want anyone seeing," said Ren.

"I don't know!" Clara exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "Please, just let me live! I have three kids at home!"

"No need to worry," said Schwarz, teleporting behind her. "I'm just gonna have a look around. Maybe find some incriminating evidence of malfeasance so I don't have to fight."

He turned to Zinnia and Ren and said "you two go check out the other offices. Might be something worthwhile there."

"So, wanna tell me what this is about?" Schwarz asked, holding up the papers from Minus World. "I'm surprised this wasn't even encrypted or anything. Just stuck in a filing cabinet."

"What do you want, sir?" Beegyoven asked, sweating.

"I wanna know what a business like Kemurchant Enterprises is siding with an insane revolutionary cult like Minus World."

"That's quite simple. The leader, Balthasar von Esens has promised us a state-enforced monopoly and high-ranking positions in the new world order in exchange for using our worldwide supply lines," Beegyoven said matter-of-factly.

Schwarz looked surprised by this. "Oh. I wasn't expecting you to spill it so easily."

He stood up and began to leave. "Well, pleasure doing business with you. I'm gonna go tell my boss this info now."

As Schwarz walked past Beegyoven, the latter swiveled around and pointed a gun at Schwarz's head.

"And just where do you think you're going, Mister Johann Schwarz? I never said I'd let you leave alive with that info!"

Schwarz looked unimpressed, and quicker than Beegyoven could react, he fell through a portal that he spawned under his feet and landed right behind Beegyoven, sword drawn. He then held the edge of the sword against what he could only assume was Beegyoven's throat (he had a hard time telling due to Beegyoven's odd, flounder-like body).

"Listen, there's two ways this ends: either you let me go, or you wind up with your throat slit and I leave anyway. Which sounds better to you?"

"Pfft. Just try it, pretty boy," was all Beegyoven said before Schwarz slashed his throat wide open. Beegyoven promptly collapsed, and Schwarz went on his way… that is, until he heard a strange buzzing sound emanating from Beegyoven's "corpse".

"What the hell…?" Schwarz wondered as he turned around. His wonder turned to shock and disgust as he saw a huge swarm of bees fly at him.

—-

Zinnia opened the door to Gershfin's office, where a young lobster fishwoman greeted her, sweating.

"G-good afternoon, ma'am. How may I help you…?"

"I am here to see Mister Gershfin. I am sure you must have heard the commotion outside?"

The fishwoman pulled out a gun, but Zinnia closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye. She proceeded to grab and crush the fishwoman's wrist, making her drop the gun. The carapace around the wrist was broken, but the bone underneath was intact.

"Miss secretary, please do not test me," Zinnia calmly said. "I am a master of several different martial arts. Please, is Mister Gershfin in his office?"

The secretary sheepishly nodded and reached for the transponder snail on her desk with one of her free hands, but Zinnia grabbed that too.

"I do not know if you will attempt to call security or not, but be aware that my friends and coworkers are already fighting downstairs," Zinnia said.

"I was just l-letting Mister Gershfin kn-" the secretary tried to say, but Zinnia released her hands and simply walked past her to the office door.

Zinnia opened the door, but the office was empty. It was a large room, filled to the brim with all sorts of books on business, along with an aquarium and a large window overlooking Fishverly Hills. Oddly enough, there was a piano, too.

She scratched the back of her head, but then the main door opened, and in walked Gershfin.

"Good afternoon, Hilda. And…"

He noticed Zinnia, and his eyes turned into hearts.

"Well, hello there, miss… who might you be?" he asked, casually slinking up next to her.

"My name is Zinnia, and I come representing Worldwide Smoke. If you are Mister Gershfin, I am supposed to defeat you so Miss Shaska can reestablish her control over this company."

Gershfin's expression soured at this. "Why, I was taught to never raise my hand to a lady, especially one as lovely as you."

"I have no such compunctions," Zinnia bluntly responded. She delivered a swift punch to Gershfin's gut (making him spit out his cigar), followed by a roundhouse kick to his chin.

As Gershin reeled from this, he drew his swords and said, "hmm. Strong and gorgeous. A deadly combination. Especially for a human. Fine then, bird, come at me!"

"I am a person, not a bird," was Zinnia's only response as she swung Ruth helmet-first at him.

—

Ren wandered through the halls of the tenth floor, guns drawn, her rifle strapped to her back. She came to Shostagyovich's office, the only one on the floor that was still closed. She opened the door and, like her coworkers, was greeted with a secretary, this time a young blue-haired shark merman.

"I'm here to see Shostagyovich," Ren said.

"Do you have an appointment?" the merman asked.

"I have guns drawn and belt full of grenades, do I really need appoint-"

"Yes. You need an appointment to see Mister Shostagyovich. Would you like to make one now?"

"Uh… I guess…?" Ren said, confused.

"I have one available in thirty minutes. When are you available, miss?" the secretary asked.

"…thirty minutes from now works…"

Ren holstered her guns and sat down in one of the lobby's empty chairs. She picked up a magazine on the table and started thumbing through it.

A few moments passed before Ren shot to her feet and drew her guns again, pointing one at the secretary.

"Wait for minute!" she exclaimed. "I am one holding cards here! Tell me where Shostagyovich is!"

"Mister Shostagyovich gave me express orders to not do that to any intruders," said the secretary, pulling out a gun of his own. "Especially humans."

It was then that Shostagyovich entered the office. Ren and the secretary reflexively turned and shot at him, but thankfully(?) the bullets didn't penetrate his carapace.

"Ah… I'd expect that kind of greeting from our human intruder, but you need to work on your trigger discipline, Dmitri," Shostagyovich said with an air of disappointment.

"Sorry, Mister Shostagyovich," Dmitri said, lowering his gun.

Shostagyovich flicked ash off his cigar and said "how can I help you, short, purple haired human?"

"I am not short! I am average height!" Ren protested. "I'm here to hurt you so you re-elect Shaska as CEO of this business!"

"Yes, the other executives and I were discussing the possibility of this happening. But, do you really think someone with as checkered a past as Shaska would be a good business leader? She-"

"She may be one of most abrasive people I've ever met, but she still built business from ground up! And despite what papers say, she did not kill city! I was there!"

Shostagyovich blew smoke at that. "We know."

Ren lowered her guns a bit. "What?"

"Of course we know! We've known Shaska for decades! We know she's not the type to commit mass murder," Shostagyovich explained.

"Then why didn't you speak out?! Your word could have saved us all from getting bounties!"

"Because Shaska's name was already PR poison due to her tax fraud and book cooking. There's more to that, but you'll have to beat it out of me, girl," he said, raising his eight boxing glove-covered fists.

Ren raised her guns again. Shostagyovich punched lightning fast; he punched so fast the air exploded right in front of him. A startled Ren only barely managed to dodge.

—

"Let's go, rank and file darlings," said Lulupo over Puerco's moaning. "We should rendezvous with Shaska on the top floor. If I were a betting queen, I'd bet she needs the help."

"Shaska's tough. I think we should try and negotiate with this manager a bit more," said Johnson.

Puerco continued to whine about the bullet in his shoulder, which caused Johnson to say "hey, Gyozart! Any chance we can use your infirmary while we're here?"

Gyozart was nonplussed by this. "You… you're an invading force! Why would I let you do that?!"

"Because once Shaska's done cleaning your boss's clock, we're gonna be coworkers," Johnson explained. "Don't want a hostile work environment, do we?"

"Heh. You're really confident in Shaska, aren't you?" Gyozart asked.

"If nothing else, she knows how to kick ass."

"Tell me, how does beating up our employees make you the new leaders?"

Johnson thought for a second, then said "I'm sure you know what a hostile takeover is. Worldwide Smoke is-"

"That's not what a hostile takeover is," Gyozart interrupted, rolling his eyes.

"I think it is," said Johnson. "Who are the shareholders he-"

Puerco's moaning grew progressively louder.

"Puerco! Stop! Look, I think it's in the shareholders' best interest that the physically stronger crew leads this bounty hunting enterprise through a world of superpowered weirdos," Johnson explained.

He assumed a fighting stance in his half-ostrich form, then said "show us to your infirmary so we can heal our medic. Or we'll beat it out of you."

Gyozart responded by assuming a fighting stance of his own. "Big talk, bird."

—

"You want me to do what?" asked a bemused Roxanne.

"Switch sides. Right now. One million berries if you do," Miwagyo said casually.

"Please tell me you don't need to think about it, Roxanne!" Shaska shouted. Zeimaru seized on this opportunity and kneed his mother in the gut, causing her to hack up blood.

"Not enough?" Miwagyo asked. She reached into her desk and pulled out several more stacks of cash, laying them at Roxanne's feet.

"Five million!"

"Roxanne!" Shaska cried.

"Pfft…" Roxanne choked out. "Pfffft… NAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Roxanne started to bust a gut with laughter. Shaska and Zeimaru stopped their fighting, while Miwagyo sat there with a sour expression on her face.

"I don't like Shaska. Not one bit. She's absolutely awful to work for," Roxanne explained, flicking ash off her cigarette. "That being said, she's my best shot at getting back at the creepy princess who killed my husband six months ago!"

"Creepy princess?" Miwagyo asked.

"Ever hear of Balthasar von Rusila? She's the creepy sister of the guy who's trying to take over the world."

"I know of the Balthasars, yes," Miwagyo said, leaning back in her chair.

"So, why would I go with you, when as far as I know, you're not trying to fight them?" Roxanne asked, tapping her foot on Miwagyo's desk.

"Perhaps best to not let her know we've allied with Minus World, then," Miwagyo thought.

Miwagyo blew smoke and said "shame. This office will be your grave, girl. Crystal Coffin."

She grabbed Roxanne's ankle faster than Roxanne could react, then turned into glass. Glass shards pierced her ankle, causing her to howl in pain. Glass continued to creep up her leg, spikes stabbing into her and blood pooling on Miwagyo's desk. Roxanne tried to break free, but due to her leg being completely encased in the glass, there was nowhere she could bend it,

Shaska noticed this while she had Zeimaru in a headlock, and told him "hold on, brat, I gotta go save my employee."

She dropped him and bolted over to Miwagyo's desk, tentacle feet being shredded on the broken glass shards that covered the floor. However, she was interrupted by Zeimaru using his Shave technique to teleport right in front of her and kick her into another wall.

"Let go of me, you bitch!" Roxanne shouted.

"No," was Miwagyo's blunt reply as she flicked ash off her cigar. "You honestly thought you could stand up to the CEO of the biggest bounty hunting firm in the world? You? You fight like you haven't even trained for a full year! You don't even know basic Haki!"

"Haki!" Shaska thought as she pulled herself up. As Zeimaru charged at her again, she held her hand up and blasted an invisible shockwave at Roxanne's glass-encased leg. The glass shattered, giving Roxanne the opportunity to move freely.

"Pay attention, mother!" Zeimaru called as he punched her in the cheek, sending her back through the new hole in the wall. Shaska managed to catch herself and was now dangling eleven stories off the ground by a single hand.

Zeimaru walked over to the edge and began stomping on her fingers.

"Absolutely pathetic, mom! I can't even begin to imagine how you beat Zeiko!"

The pain in her hand caused Shaska to let go, sending her plummeting to the ground. Zeimaru stood and watched as she fell, then thought "oh, right, she's worth more alive than dead," and promptly jumped out after her, using his Moon Walk technique to bounce off the air and catch up to her quicker.

Zeimaru caught up with Shaska and grabbed her by her collar. He then lifted her above his head and stuck his knee out. The two landed with a loud crash, Shaska's back being driven into her son's knee. Her eyes whited out, and she hacked up blood.

Shaska dropped to the ground, seemingly unconscious, and Zeimaru stood up. He looked down at his mother's body, then stayed a moment to check to see if she was still breathing. She was.

"Good. Stay right there, mom," Zeimaru said, turning around. "I'll be back for you after I finish up with the rest of your crew."

He slowly Moon Walked back up to the top floor of the building.

TO BE CONTINUED