Chapter 17
The Terror of 8PM, Part III
Kaneki hadn't feel so alive over these months. The gap between raids could take away his fighting senses if he didn't have his own gym in the penthouse, Kaneki could take some random human's life on the street.
The Centipede's kagune swung ferociously around his surrounding. He slashed the petty humans who wore useless protection on top of their chest, as if those could possibly stop his mighty red rinkaku from killing them. The riot was at its highest ever since he arrived. They were even more scared, hoping for some stronger Doves to protect them from leaving away their families forever.
Everything around Kaneki was empty. Only soulless bodies and pool of blood. Nobody, nobody dared to go near him. They didn't want to ended up having the same fate. They all realized they were being cowards, but wanting to stay alive had always been inside the human nature.
"Haha, come on," The leader cracked his finger, "this is not nearly enough. Where are the higher ups, hm?" Kaneki smirked.
All humans in front of him shivered in fear. They slowly stepped back with their useless guns in their hands, they knew better not to mess with the crazy strong ghoul. They still wanted to go home, still wanted meet their loved ones.
"Aw... Running away? Where to?" Kaneki chuckled, "How about we play chase, hm?" He proposed with a creepy smile, his rinkaku kagune swayed gracefully yet deadly. "I'll give you 10 seconds to run, I'll stay put. After that, pray I won't catch you."
"There's no need for that."
"...Hm?"
Suddenly a tall man with short raven hair and a big quinque shaped like a cylinder on its end stepped forward. The other soldiers behind his broad back smiled, they thanked the God for giving them a slight hope for survival.
"I'll be your opponent." He said with his deep voice and got ready with his fighting stance.
"You're..." Kaneki muttered. Remembering this man, he amusedly smirked. "Koutarou Amon."
Kaneki cracked his finger. His kagune turned stiff as they pointed their sharp ends onto the new opponent. The leader was more than interested to see what this man was capable of.
"You better not let me down."
"Nishiki!"
The snake stabbed another beating heart with his sharp 'tail' before he turned over the voice who's calling him. "What is it, Giro-san?"
"Boss is here already, have you seen him?"
"Yeah, I have." Nishiki looked around him, "With his help here things wouldn't go any faster, to be honest." Nishiki scowled.
"Ah... Yamori, right?"
"Yeah. If Kaneki's not there to put the beast to sleep then it'll take longer to destroy the base, and it'll take longer for us to retreat. He should've joined the raid team, instead." Nishiki tutted. The brunette looked around him once again, a lot of humans died around yet Nishiki couldn't see the end of those people coming. Seeing some of his comrades died also didn't make him feel any better.
"Well... I can't say that you're wrong. But Yamori going berserk inside the building is out from our plan. Boss wouldn't like this at all." Said Giro as he shook his head. He could already foresaw what was going to happen after this mess.
"Rather than that, how's your team doing, Giro-san?"
Giro shrugged, "We're done. Our spot is clear. Thanks to Banjou's help. They're busy tiding up our fallen comrades' corpses."
Behind his snake mask, Nishiki raised his eyebrows. He was quite surprised. "Wow, that's fast. So you only have to wait for them, huh?"
"Yep. I've already called Kirishima. They'll be here shortly."
Suddenly, the two ghouls heard the said ghoul was talking on their earset.
"Attention to all team leaders. This is an emergency!"
Both Nishiki and Giro looked at each other after that last word. Emergency? That would be anything but good.
"A second wave of reinforcements is coming. They're coming from the 21st ward!"
"Motherfucker!" Nishiki clucked his tongue venomously and quickly ran towards where his team fighting.
Giro, knowing that his spot before might not be so safe anymore, also began to run back as fast as he could. "Well, thank heaven we have the boss here."
The Binge Eater swirled her body around like a ballet dancer on stage. However, this one's like a rose. Beautiful, yet deadly. Her four tentacles cut the last standing humans around her, and successfully ended their lifes.
The humans in her area had decreased significantly because of her and her team. But mostly because of Kaneki who just arrived here around twelve minutes ago.
"It's been more an hour already... When are they going to blow up the damn building?" Rize scowled.
The vice-leader heard the news about her troublesome... friend. Jason went into Kakuja mode in raid, which is something that's absolutely not allowed. It could jeopardize the whole mission, and this just happened. Tonight took longer than usual.
She looked towards where the rest of her team was, and they were busy piling up their comrades' corpses. Wanting know the situation, Rize walked towards those messy pile of dead bodies to meet the rest of her survived members.
"Oji, have you called Touka?"
One of them, an eccentric looking blonde guy answered, "Yeah. The boys will be here shortly. We just hafta wait."
"Attention to all team leaders. This is an emergency!"
"Huh?" Rize turned towards her earset, "What the hell? An emergency?"
"A second wave of reinforcements is coming. They're coming from the 21st ward!"
"Shit," Rize quickly turned her around to see the empty road ahead of her. She widened her eyes, as she saw a blinking light coming from that direction. "We're taking too long here."
"What's wrong, boss?" Oji asked with concern.
Rize turned on her heels around to face the rest of her team. She estimated there were still around 70 members left. All of them were looking at their restless leader, wanting to hear what she was about to say.
"A second wave of reinforcement is coming." The Binge Eater's eyes turned into the authentic black sclera and red pupil every ghouls had, "So get ready."
Sry to interrupt. Itori already finished killing Genji at this point to make things faster. Ok continue
"A second wave of reinforcements is coming. They're coming from the 21st ward!"
"...We need to get this done quickly." The Myrmidon got back on his stance, "Itori, back me up."
"Count on me, sir!" Itori grinned as she walked towards his side.
Itou honestly didn't know what to do. With his strongest comrades dying one by one, it was a high chance for him to die tonight. To top that, no one's guarding the control room above. He felt totally failed as the man whose responsible of this base. Countless bases had fallen since these past four years. He was trusted in guarding this place, but he failed. Even if Itou survived tonight, he couldn't possibly face the higher-ups. He'd rather die and bring his failure to his grave.
Itou gripped his damaged Senza harder. Even if the man defeated today, he could at least bring one of those cursed ghouls in front of him together to hell.
"Second reinforcement, huh?" The Centipede chuckled after he heard the news, "No wonder you're here. We're really taking too long playing around." For a second he frowned knowing the main reason behind it."Because of one imbecile ghoul who turned into his unstable kakuja form. I'll beat that guy later."
Amon steadied his grand quinque on both of his rough hands. One slight movement from that Centipede, the first special rank investigator would swing it right away. The man heard the report about this new threat in front of him. A hooded ghoul with boots and red stripes mask. It was really dangerous, beyond strong. Different than the other ghouls what ever seen.
When the man heard that report the whole team from the 21st ward went restless. They needed to get here fast before any more of them wiped out. His reliable partner, Akira, was on the other area. Both of them agreed to disperse and search for this one threat. However, Amon didn't expect himself to encounter this new ghoul but whatever happened, he had to stop him.
"I'm going to eliminate you." Said Amon intimidatingly.
Kaneki cracked his finger, and taunted by using his index one.
Taking that as his cue to start, Amon's strong limbs brought him running towards the still standing ghoul. No fear, he didn't hesitate. An investigator was his role, making humanity safe was his job.
With one strong motion from his right arm, Amon's quinque made contact with Kaneki's red tentacle kagune. The impact sound echoed through out the dark street, it even surprised the last remaining troops behind.
"He doesn't even flinch!?" Amon widened his eyes. He could swear that one attack he did already could make the other ghouls he had met so far at least stunned for a second, then he would take that chance to use his combo nonstop. But this one ghoul didn't even move.
This wouldn't be easy at all. Not like he expected it to be like that.
Kaneki pushed him back away with the tentacle that shielded him. Before he could be vulnerable, Amon quickly used his feet to back away further. Then what happened next obviously fueled his anger. The ghoul smirked as he used his hand to taunt him, saying 'Come at me.'
The tough human knew more than to give up. That was still nothing. He just started. Heck, giving up was a foreign word for Amon.
Amon charged again with the same speed than before. However, more power channeled through the veins in his arms. He began from attacking The Centipede's side, but the ghoul shifted his body easily away from the round quinque. Then next the deadly steel attacked his head, but Kaneki ducked just at the right time.
"Tch!" With his leg, Amon kicked the agile ghoul who was below him.
Like it was nothing, Kaneki used his bare hand to receive that kick, holding the ankle firmly in his palm.
From his hooded face, Kaneki shifted his one visible eye towards the man, "...Is this really all you got?" He asked, obviously not amused.
"Shit!"
The special investigator tried to pull back his ankle from that grip, but he didn't succeed. That bare hand was really strong, like a steel handcuff.
"What strength...!" Amon gritted his teeth.
With his one ankle held like that, he was completely defenseless. He couldn't possibly twisted his own leg and just continued the fight, because the chance of him dead would be close to 100 percent.
Much to his surprise, the ghoul merely chuckled, but still hadn't let go his ankle. The investigator raised his eyebrow, confused by that reaction, and at the same time nervous thinking if his ankle would get twisted any second.
"You sure I'll let go?" An evil grin formed on his face.
Kaneki was thinking already thinking about killing this man. When he saw him on that meeting at his cafe, he got that strong aura coming from the man's body itself. When he shook his hand, he felt it even greater. That's why The Centipede was curious to know the ability of his current opponent. But to be honest, Amon was nothing. He could kill him easily right now. Breaking his ankle would be easy like breaking a twig.
"Don't get so cocky."
"...Huh?"
Amon finally used his trump card. His quinque that was on his right grip, divided into two. When the steel separated it was like a ripped flesh. The vibrant crimson color shone for a moment, and Kaneki could see the light's tail when the two separated quinque swung fast toward his head and lower body.
The ghoul clucked his tongue. That guy was smart. By attacking both of his head and stomach, he wouldn't get the chance to attack first. He had to back down. Knowing better than stay locking that ankle and getting beheaded, Kaneki quickly released his grip and jumped back.
Kaneki landed on his boots with a tud. He put a measured distance between himself and the investigator where he wasn't too far yet close enough to identify the new form of that weapon.
"Oh... Interesting. I didn't see that coming."
"Getting scared, Centipede?" Amon taunted with a smirk. He was ready and not letting his focus gone away by firmly holding his quinques.
Hearing that made Kaneki chuckled. This guy just used a cheap taunt against him. What an interesting guy he mused. "Scared? You're one to talk."
"I would never be scared over fighting monsters like you. Our fight isn't over yet." The special investigator reverted back on his offensive stance.
Kaneki zipped his mouth. It was time for him to get serious. No more smiling, no more playing.
In a blink of an eye, The Centipede fluttered fast, confusing the enemy with his quick movement. In that moment, Amon was astounded. His onyx eyes shifted right and left, his eyebrows creased sharply, trying to figure out where that ghoul would attack him.
Then at one point, Amon completely lost track of him. He couldn't see where those swaying rinkaku kagune were. Amon quickly looked around him yet he kept himself away from panic.
"CAPTAIN KOUTAROU! ABOVE YOU!"
Quickly after hearing one of his men shouted to let him know where did the ghoul disappeared to, Amon jerked up his head. There it was.
"Don't get so cocky."
"Tch!"
Another loud clash between the kagune steel and kagune flesh was heard loud and clear. Kaneki sent four of his tentacles down attacking the human, sending a heavy force strong enough to make the man's arms wobbled.
"Who... are you...!?"
Didn't even bother to respond, Kaneki who was still in the air front-flipped and leaped acrossed the investigator's head. His eye never left its target, always locking on vital parts where it would be easy for him to kill.
Kaneki landed with his body leaned a bit forward. The moment his boots' touched the ground, Kaneki used his strong feet to brought himself dashing with all four of his tentacles were facing forward like sharp needles. The distance was pretty short from where he landed, so Amon had to quickly change his gears.
The moment their weapons clash again, it didn't stop. Amon got some few scratches on his arms but it didn't stop him from parrying and countering any attacks coming from the ghoul. It was different for The Centipede. He didn't get any damage at all. Everytime the blade of the quinques tried to hurt him, his body turned like a paper. Able to swiftly move around avoiding it accurately.
But still, Kaneki could not deny this man put some work on his movement as well. It had been awhile to meet a decent opponent. Unconsciously, he smirked.
"Sante to Kaneki-san. This is sniper 3."
A man voice came into his earset. A sniper was contacting him.
In the middle of the hectic fight, Kaneki responded that call. "What is it Sante?"
"Huh?" Amon raised his eyebrow in confusion. Who was he talking to?
"I'm on top of the building in front of you, behind the investigator's back. Currently aiming for his head and waiting for your cue."
Kaneki countered another attack that was coming for his abdomen. The ghoul turned his body clock-wised, and used two of his tentacles to slapped the man away with a heavy force to his side.
"UGH!" Amon was able to protect himself with his two blades. Nonetheless, that one strong hit still hurt his upper arm.
Seeing that his enemy was already far enough and in no condition to immediately attack him back, Kaneki looked towards the building Sante was talking about. It was hard for him to see since it was quite dark, but Kaneki could tell there was someone up there.
"Sante, where are the other snipers?"
"One of us is also here. Hani, she's one block away from me."
"Who's taking care of Yamori?"
"Teri-san, sir. He should be done taking care of Jason by now."
"Alright. Listen to me, Sante." Kaneki glanced towards the struggling investigator who tried to stand up right again, "Don't kill this human. Tell that to Hani as well. You both may kill the others who try to interfere and also, pour down the oil over here 3 minutes before the building blows up."
"Understood."
Kaneki watched the wounded man struggling to hold his other quinque right. He could see that arm trembling because of his hit. The Centipede felt proud over that.
"It's not broken, well, maybe a bit fractured, but painful enough to numb you right?" Kaneki chuckled. "Why don't you give it up?" He asked as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Numb? This much woul-GUH!" Amon flinched over the sudden pain coming from his upper arm. He didn't feel it before. The pain was something bearable, but he couldn't move his arm at all. Whenever he tried to move it, the sharp pain immediately attack his nerves, forcing him to stop his attempt for justice.
"...I still have my other arm. This won't stop me from killing you, Centipede." He said between his greeted teeth. His will to fight was still there. The fire still hadn't fade away from his onyx eyes.
Kaneki could see it. The will to live. The will to fight.
And that disgusted him so much.
He was fighting so hard even though he was the only special investigator around here. He was fighting so hard even though his men were standing still cowardly in fear. The leader dared to say himself as the strongest being in this whole chaos. And a mere human from the CCG still hadn't back down from fighting him.
"...How foolish." Kaneki spat. His kagune swayed behind his back. His irritation influenced the aura around his killing intent, and he was deadly serious. "Learn your place."
The human scoffed, "Learn my place?" Then it soon quickly turned into anger, "YOU GHOULS ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE!"
As if that scream fueled his energy, Amon threw away one of his quinque that wouldn't be usable with his injured hand. His prime hand was ready with the other pair. Then, his strong legs began to run towards his target.
Amon used his one hand to attack the ghoul. The power was not as strong as before, but Kaneki didn't expect him to have this much with one hand only. His agility was also the same like before. Then Kaneki decided, this man was strong.
"Enough of this."
Kaneki used the same technique he did when he wounded Amon's upper arm. This time, he hit Amon's leg.
"GUAH!"
The human Instantly fell down on his knees. The pain on his leg was serious, he couldn't move it at all.
"CAPTAIN AMON!" The moment the captain fell, one of his subordinate pointed up his gun to shoot the responsible ghoul. However, the poor man didn't even get to pull the trigger, and his brain-nest got shot.
"A-a sniper!?"
Amon who saw the scene widened his eyes in horror. That place was not safe at all for all of them. There was a friggin' sniper, ready to shot his head whenever he could. Slowly, his onyx eyes shifted towards the standing ghoul, glaring at him, showing hatred and anger.
"CENTIPEDE!" He screamed, and he was only answered with a cold glare.
"Just a little more, Uta-san!"
Just one more bait for calling the kakuja to attack him, Yamori finally showed his broad back to the window.
"AGH-!"
In a split second, Yamori stopped his movement. Three seductive bullets made especially for that guy were shot deep in his red hard armor. It managed to stuck its tips in Yamori's skin, and the shot ghoul immediately fallen to the floor. His kakuja armor slowly gone away, and the sedated ghoul showed his normal physical-self.
Uta let out a long sigh. He looked towards the window that just gained three holes from the sniper. Uta made an 'ok' sign and smiled.
"Good job."
"Anytime, sir!"
"Now..." Uta looked towards his other friend. The Gourmet seemed to be busy handling the nameless investigator. They were fighting fiercely. Traces of stretches from the blades were visible on the floor around them.
Seeing them fighting, the artist squinted his black sclera eyes. "...He's good-no, he is strong. He was even on par with Jason-kun." Uta began to contemplate his surroundings. Nobody else was here. The three of them were the only ones who stayed on this floor. "Jason-kun's down. Now there's only that investigator left. Better finish him quick then get outta here."
Tsukiyama still held on his ground. However, he couldn't deny just how much this human took its toll on him. The man was really quick, almost the same as Kane-Tsukiyama quickly banished that thought. He didn't want to compare his ultimate leader, his idol, with anyone else. On top of that, to be compared with a human? Tsukiyama felt ashamed of himself.
That cursed thought completely made a second opening and delayed his movement. Grinning lazily, the investigator used that chance to stabbed Tsukiyama's forearm who was shielding his front.
"You let your guard down for several milliseconds, stupid."
"Tch-!" Tsukiyama used his long leg to kick the human's stomach, sending him away to pull out that quinque that was stuck in his arm, "I'll make you regret for calling me that again, you trash." Tsukiyama spat.
"Oo, scary... Kidding." The nameless man laughed hilariously, "Hahahaha! Sorry, I can't take you seriously, Gourmet! Your mask itself is stupid and you look awfully retarded with that! Hahahaha!"
That hit Tsukiyama's nerves real hard.
"HOW DARE YOU! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THE BEAUTY BEHIND THIS MASK!? HUH!?"
"Hell no! Why would you use a fucking boomerang-shaped mask on your face? It's better if you just use a full face instead!"
"B-BOOMERANG!? THIS IS A MOON! A CRESCENT MOON!"
"...Whatever that is, it still look fucking stupid."
"You, who are merely a lay, wouldn't understand the art of this moon mask. Wearing this brings out the aesthetic value of myself, of my-"
"Uh, the what? A... ais te...tikku? What the fuck is that!?"
"I HAVEN'T FINISHED TALKING! Hmph! Don't talk as if you know everything when you don't even know what aesthetic means, maggot."
"MAGGOT!? I'm not that lo-woAH SHIT!"
A surprise attack came to his back yet he was once again, quick enough to react and raised his quinque to hold the kagune from boring a clean hole on his flesh. He saw those black slera eyes made red afterglows from its crimson pupils, emanating the bloodlust to kill.
"Looks like Jason's down now, huh?" The Dove spoke. His face showed grimace.
"Yeah, and it's only you now." Uta replied nonchalantly.
Uta jumped back, making distance between him and the man. The situation then was where the Dove trapped between two ghouls. The goatee man only sigh. That didn't faze him at all. That sigh managed to annoy the artist a little bit. Well, maybe not so little. But that human was arrogant as hell. Uta didn't like him.
But then, what that human said completely flabbergasted the two ghouls.
"I give up. I'm tired for this."
"...What?" Both Tsukiyama and Uta said in unison.
"You both heard me nice and clear. I give up. This place is pretty much done for anyway. Staying here any longer would just be more problematic for myself. Plus, Jason is pretty much unconscious like a fucking sack of potatoes over there, so I don't have anymore playmate!" The carefree human explained his reason.
For several seconds the two ghouls clammed up. They were trying to process what in the world that... freak investigator had said to them. 'Give up'? Could it be there were more irresponsible Dove other than that guy?
The man began to turned on his loafers and walk away, passing the dumbfounded Tsukiyama, walking towards a broken window, "Welp, I'm off. We'll meet again, Gourmet-oh and you too, uh... Emo." He said as he waved his right hand.
Tsukiyama who just finished re-collecting his thoughts immediately turned back to chase the escaping Dove, "WHAT THE HELL? WE'RE NOT DONE YET, GOATEE! HEY!"
By the moment Tsukiyama ran to try catching the investigator, the chased man jumped down from the window. When he reached the edge, he couldn't see that man anymore. He disappeared.
"W-where did he...?"
"Let him go. We don't have time to deal with him alone." Said Uta suddenly from over his shoulder.
"What do you mean we don't have time?"
"Itori had finished placing all the bombs. We need to get out of here fast."
Tsukiyama tutted. He looked down once again, contemplating where in the world that mysteriously strong Dove had gone. It seemed like magic, it seemed like the brief battle he had with that man was just like a mere passing wind. However, Tsukiyama believed what happened was real. He engraved that man's face on his memory. The Gourmet was sure he would meet him again.
"...You're right. Let's go." Said the purple head as he walked away from the edge.
The team that was lead by Miza had arrived in the main control room. They exterminated the very last ones there easily like flies, because the only ones left in there were only the bureau workers who's responsible in watching the control room.
"Alright put the bombs here quick." Miza commanded to her comrades.
Two guys quickly yet carefully put down the bombs around the corner. After that done, Miza headed to her earset and contacted the leader of the support team.
"Kirishima, we've already placed all the bombs. Secure the way out!"
Upon receiving the news, Touka used her hand sign to tell the other member to switch on the switch that would trigger the bomb within 8 minutes.
"Way out is already secured. We're waiting for you at the checkpoint. Please hurry, Miza!"
Touka was already behind the base which where the escape route was secured. She stood along another four ghouls, making sure that the route was empty and safe for escaping.
She checked upon her watch and set an 8 minutes timer.
"Attention to all leaders. Attention to all leaders. The bomb will explode in 7:52 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
"I repeat! The bomb will explode in 7:46 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
Kazu stayed calm despite that report. The floor where he and Itori were at was pretty much done. Both of their teams were also done with their own share, they even ate some fresh 'snacks' between the idling times.
"You're still standing?" He asked the wounded man. He and Itori had already done a good amount of beating, but the string investigator had not fallen yet. His blood streaming down his face, covering the once dried one again and again.
"Heh... Pretty stubborn, aren't I?" The fox-face smiled despite of his pain. He knew very well what would happen to him. He'd certainly... die. But knowing that, he still smiled anyway. He didn't want to show his despair in front of those two.
"I have enough, Kazu. We need to hurry. Let's finish him." Itori bragged. The brunette was fed up with tonight. She wanted to take a nice bath at home and pull in her violet blanket then went straight to the dreaming world.
"Should we help, Itori-san?" A ghoul acrossed the two leaders that seemed to be from Itori's team shouted out nonchalantly.
"No need! You guys escape right ahead!"
"Now? You sure?"
Itori nodded, "All of you including Kazu's team. We're getting out of here soon."
"Understood!"
After seeing the other members ran off towards the checkpoint, Itori looked back to the completely not amused man. She smirked and released her kagune once again.
"I'm going to kill you real quick. You can leave him to me instead." She said to her current stoic partner.
"..." It made Kazu think for awhile. Leaving this human to the other even though he was his first opponent? "...No. I'll finish him. You go on ahead." His pride didn't let him.
Itori smiled. She shouldn't have asked knowing just how prideful The Myrmidon was. "Fine. Just don't play with him anymore. He's heavily wounded now, so just a couple of more hits then you're done. I'm going ahead."
"Hrn." The sleeked haired man only answered with a little grunt.
Itori laughed once again. Before she left, she gave one last glance to the fox-face. The investigator only grinned back. Not exactly the expression Itori hoped for, but she was still amused by that guy's capability of holding on this far. For that, she applauded within her mind.
"Well... there she goes." Kuramoto tighten his grip on his Senza once again, "Let's finish this."
Kazu got back on his stance. His glossy black kagune shone through his arm. He leaned down a bit, his strongest leg on the front, he was ready to end the long fight.
"I had a good time."
Zen had never been feeling so nervous. The eighteen years old teen had killed some people for the past 60 minutes. The young ghoul was seriously exhausted. He had never fought that long before, and keeping yourself alive was tiring enough. However, Zen wouldn't let himself to be so useless. Zen knew the team where he was assigned with was strong, they could help each other. He already trusted everyone within the hour.
But what truely drove his spirit was, Zen felt the responsibility as a member of Mukade. He also had both leader and vice-leader putting expectations on him. He couldn't possibly be so weak. He needed to be strong. Stronger than before.
"Zen!" A hard voice called him.
"Y-yes!?"
"We're done here! We're retreating." The bearded man said briefly.
"Huh? Now?" Zen began to check around his surroundings. Some people from the reinforcement were still there, fighting the others. But the teen didn't see any special investigator around.
"Of course! When else?"
Banjou looked over his shoulders, checking his comrades' little pile of corpses. He creased his eyebrows when he saw that the ghouls from support team began to pouring some oil on the pile. Unknowingly to his youngest member, Banjou bit his lips. He really hated it whenever this happened.
"Banjou-san... Are they... Are they going to...?" Zen widened his eyes when he saw his fallen allies got poured by oil. There was only one possible thing that would happen.
"Getting burned down. The support team is in charge for this." Banjou replied bitterly, "That's why we call it 'cleaning up'. When you're in charge to become support, you would hate it. Definitely. It's a nasty job."
Zen got shocked. He didn't know about that at all. Burning down your own comrades sounded insane enough.
"Why!? Is that Kaneki-san's decision!?"
"Yes. This is to hide Mukade's trademark identity. If CCG managed to get ahold of your body, then you're pretty much fucked. They're going to kill any ghouls with a centipede tattoo, even though it's possible that ghoul isn't one of us."
Zen looked at the red robe with a centipede print he was wearing. It covered his whole body, and he even wore a long pants because Banjou told him to. It was to hide his tattooed calf.
"I-I see..."
Banjou looked at his behind where Zen was standing. He saw the junior's face turned crestfallen. Banjou walked towards his small body, then he put his big calloused hand on top of his shoulder.
"Don't be so doleful, Zen. You're new so I understand. But, hey, it's easy if you don't want to end up like them, right?"
"Huh?" Zen looked up.
Banjou hardened his gaze just as much as he hardened his grip on the teen's shoulder, "Don't die, but keep on fighting. You'll get stronger that way."
Behind his raven mask, Zen blinked his eyes several times. He didn't think Banjou was such a serious and wise person. However, that captain of his had his own moments sometimes. That made him respect the Hawk even more.
"I'll keep that in mind, sir." Replied Zen as he nodded.
A bright orange light shone on their faces. The ones who were responsible to burn down those corpses had finally lit up the fire. The scene was like a huge bonfire . Zen couldn't take his eyes away from it. Between the dark street which only had dim streetlights and the moon to shine on them, that fire shone the brightest. Zen could feel the heat from where he stood, but he didn't want to step back.
"Attention to all leaders. Attention to all leaders. The bomb will explode in 7:52 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
"About time, huh?" Banjou muttered. "Zen! We're getting out of here!"
"U-uh, yes..." The Raven turned around, walking away from the burning corpses that were once his allies.
"I repeat! The bomb will explode in 7:46 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
The leader called the rest of his crew, telling them that it was time to get back to the checkpoint. The bomb would blow up in around 7 minutes, and walking from their location to that checkpoint would take around 5 minutes by running.
The six people from the support team that was in charge burning the corpses from Banjou's team poured lines of oil. They would barricade the road so the investigators wouldn't come chasing them down.
"Snake, squat."
Like he was told, which he didn't actually like, Nishiki squatted down as fast as he could. Rize jumped high and rotated her slender body in the air, giving more force to her red kagune. With a wicked smile that accessorized her face, Rize sent all of her four tentacles down attacking the special investigator they both currently fought.
"Fufu... How amusing. You're pretty strong aren't you, miss blonde?" Rize grinned, her kagune in contact with the investigator's spine quinque.
The woman only gave a stoic face yet Rize could feel disgust within those pale green eyes.
"Who do you think I am? Why would I find it hard to kill the Binge Eater?" She replied mockingly. "As far as I know, you're getting weak."
Nishiki put both of his palms on the ground, brought up his leg and extended his long blue kagune and used it like a scythe towards the special investigator's legs.
The blonde woman quickly reacted by pushing her own spine quinque to push away The Binge Eater and then jumped backwards avoiding that sharp tail.
As soon as he stood up again, Nishiki rotated his body towards the enemy's direction and ran with a zig-zag pattern. He was met with the extended whip coming to his neck. The Snake avoided it by swiftly moved to the side, and he continued bringing his strong long legs running to kick whatever part of that woman had.
"Don't forget about me, you cunt." Nishiki spat out. His close proximity let him used his strong leg to kick the investigator's stomach.
The woman only smirked. With her exceptional skill, Akira breathlessly retracted her quinque then used it for her shield.
"Your mouth's certainly venomous just like your alias, Serpent."
"Oh, yes I am. I feel very fucking underestimated because you didn't even recognized my presence," Nishiki pushed his leg harder to that pale quinque, sending out his hatred that could make it stronger by anyhow, "You're a bitch who's getting in our way in the last minutes, so go the fuck to hell."
Suddenly, four tentacles appeared from behind Nishiki's back and all of them came to stab the woman like thorns. The woman didn't see it coming at all. She widened her eyes, and she made it safe by jumping backward again. However, that surprise attack managed to grace her forearms.
"It's not only you who's being underestimated, Nishiki," said Rize as she appeared from behind the said man's back, "Why don't we make her regret for underestimating us?"
The Serpent chuckled, "Heh, I agree with you this time."
"Attention to all leaders. Attention to all leaders. The bomb will explode in 7:52 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
Nishiki shifted his head to look at Rize. Like he had expected, he was met with Rize's own purple eyes. Only around 7 minutes they got to retreat. However, with that special investigator busying themselves, Rize and Nishiki wasn't so sure about getting back there in time. Running away would endanger the rest of their teams.
"I repeat! The bomb will explode in 7:46 minutes. Please quickly retreat and go to the designated checkpoint!"
"Very interesting..."
Both Nishiki and Rize looked back towards the voice.
"You both really know how to work together. How could that be when 2 years ago you were just like a pair of stupid cat and dog?"
"Oh, I'm so flattered to hear that. You put so much attention to us, what an honor." Rize replied in sarcasm. "You better stay that way until we finish exterminating you all and hang your heads on the street." The Binge Eater said menacingly.
"Just you wait," said the spine user as she swirled her whip around her body, and got ready back to fight, "I'll find out where are you all hiding. When that time comes, we will be the ones who hang your heads on the street."
"You're free to try. But I can guarantee, you will never be able to."
Rize's eyes turned back to the authentic black sclera and red pupils. She ran ahead with her strong tentacles swaying deadly behind her hips. The spine quinque made its way to its prey, extending the body far enough to reach the ghoul. Rize had to remind herself again that the quinque was really long and it was possible for it to reach Nishiki who was behind her.
Using two of her tentacles, Rize shielded herself from the spine. The clash created a spark like polished iron in the process. But Rize let her guard down. The quinque didn't just stop there, it extended more and shifted its way towards her back.
"!?"
"Got you."
The sharp tips of that quinque successfully cut Rize's back wide and deep enough.
"Ngh-!" Rize that attack slowed down her steps, but she didn't stop. Her back immediately began the process of regenerating, and a cut like that was nothing for her anyway.
"Hey."
"!"
The close proximity between the investigator's face and Rize made the human startled. She was seeing that face she despised up close, yet the vibrant red pupils that shone bright in the middle of that night didn't scare her at all.
"Up this close, you think I wouldn't be able to do it as good as I do it in further distance?" Rize whispered menacingly beside the blonde's ear.
Before she knew it, the woman felt an immense pain on her right shoulder.
"URGH!"
Then when she looked to her right, she saw the vermin was gnawing on her, blood splattered everywhere, and the woman couldn't believe that she was too late to realize. "SHIT!" With force, the bitten investigator used her quinque to attack Rize's side as hard and fast as she could.
By doing so, Rize had to abandon her meal and moved away to avoid that one attack that could slice her body in a half.
"How dare you..." Said the braided blonde as she put her hand on top of her bitten spot, trying to stop the bleeding.
Rize licked her lips, savoring the blood's taste on it, "You're pretty delicious..." The ghoul said as she smiled.
Suddenly, someone tapped on her shoulder. Knowing just who it was, Rize didn't even bother to looked back.
"Rize, we're done here. We don't have much time left." Said The Serpent reminding the vice leader, "Look, the support team is already here ready to block the way."
The violet head looked at her right and left. They were there, waiting in the shadows for the right time.
"Hmph," Rize shrugged away the hand on her shoulder and turned back, "I don't have any choice. I'll eat you later when we meet again." She said with a grin.
Knowing what that meant, the wounded investigator quickly used her quinque again to prevent the two ghouls from running away. "I won't let you get away!"
Suddenly, someone was blocking the attack, holding it between the kagune that came from within his wing blades. It was Giro who came.
"Giro-san!"
"Come out now, boys!"
Immediately after Giro said that, the ghouls who were hiding in the dark jumped out in the air as they carried galons of oil. They poured it out as they jumped, and landed on the other side of the sidewalk again. The oil went over the spine quinque, and seeing that made the user quickly tried to retract her dear weapon back.
One of the boys each from the sides lit up a match then threw it out on the oil. The fire ran towards the middle point, where the quinque was still held between Giro's kagune.
"LET IT GO!" The woman yelled out loud frantically.
The bald man grinned, "Here you go, missy." He said as he pulled away his kagune. The quinque just barely got back the moment the fire met with each other. However, that successfully blocked the way.
"Well, let's go." Giro turned on his loafers and ran to the checkpoint along with his team and the boys from the support team. Nishiki also brought the rest of his survived team back. Before she followed behind, Rize looked over the mad woman behind the hot fence. Seeing that face amused her to no end. As a farewell greeting, The Binge Eater gave a sweet wink then went away.
3 minutes left to go before the building blows up
One by one, Mukade's members had arrived on the checkpoint. Touka who had been waiting for their arrival felt relieved when she saw there were still a lot of members survived. She also wore her white rabbit mask which also gave the birth of her alias.
The last ones to arrived were Nishiki, Rize, and Giro with their teams. Everyone were already present including the ones from inside the building. Yamori was still unconscious.
"Rize-san!" Zen called out to her name, feeling a slight happiness upon seeing her maskless face. However, the said woman seemed didn't hear his voice but instead she approached The Rabbit.
"Where's Kaneki?"
"I don't know, he hasn't contacted me-"
"Then you CALL him."
"Listen, I already did with that broadcast. I've called him again but I got no response!"
"No response?" Banjou butted it. It wasn't like he was worried about his boss, but anything could happen. Furthermore, this was the first time Kaneki went out to the battlefield frontally.
"That's bad! Are there any members from your team that's in his location?" Tsukiyama asked. Now this one was really worried, while the others just stayed calm, even the leader's girlfriend. They always had faith over the leader's power.
"...The snipers..." Then it suddenly hit Touka. She immediately asked one of the snipers that had arrived on the checkpoint, the one that wore a green mask, "Toshiro, who are the ones that haven't arrived yet?"
Toshiro looked around his other sniper friends. He counted, and it resulted on 10 members including himself, when it was supposed to be 12.
"H-Hani and Sante haven't arrived yet..."
"They're with Kaneki then..." Touka tutted as she muttered lowly. She looked over her digital watch, there was only 2:45 minutes left before the bomb exploded. Staying here longer would be dangerous. She didn't know whether they should wait or not but thinking any longer would waste time. She decided to just tell everyone to go ahead while she waited for the leader's arrival. It was her responsibility as well.
Then when the Kirishima was just about to voice out her decision, a voice that came from her earset halted her action.
"Touka, go on ahead without me."
"K-Kaneki!" That immediately invited wide stares from everyone, "What do you mean 'go on ahead'!?"
"No. NO." Rize completely didn't like that. If she had to go back to where she was before and reconcile with Kaneki then she'd do it.
"Woah what's happening?" Itori blinked twice, also getting a little bit uneasy.
"Exactly like what it sounds. Sante and Hani are with me. We're gonna be a bit late."
"Where are you now?"
"Not that close but not too far. We're gonna take a shortcut so hurry up and go."
Touka turned to the rest of Mukade's members. She told them the order she received from the leader. Everyone was relieved, but they knew they had to act fast. Rize seemed to be reluctant but Nishiki nudged her to convinced her that they really had to go. Uta and Tsukiyama were about to pick up Yamori again when Giro and Kazu both offered their help. Those two's strength were greater.
As she also began to run, Touka continued to contact her leader, hoping that he was still connected on the other line. "Where do we meet?" She asked before her breathing went ragged later.
"11th ward. Tell Rize to drive my car and bring Yamori in there. I'll drive with Hani's car."
"Roger that."
"Are you sure you've blocked the ways for the CCG to break through?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. So far I haven't received any bad news from the others."
"Alright. Good job Touka. We'll see you all there."
Eventually they had gotten closer to the secret place where they all parked their vehicles. All of the ghouls immediately went inside the cars or ride their motorcycles, but they put in their props first, just in case so no one could report their whereabouts with their authentic capes.
"Kazu-san! Giro-san! Please put Yamori inside Kaneki-san's car!" She said to the two bulky ghouls as she opened the back door. They nodded and moved Yamori's heavy body inside.
Rize already stood in front of that car. She crossed her arms, feeling restless. She was waiting for Kaneki but she was battling herself whether or not she followed his order or be selfish and wait for him.
As if it answered her doubt, Touka said, "Rize, your boyfriend said we're going to meet him at the base. Don't worry, he got Hani's car parked alone here."
"Who says I'm worried? I'm not." Said the violet hair in denial.
"Then why are you not getting inside the driver seat immediately when the others have already started their engines? Your car needs to move out first for God sake."
Her worry really distracted her sense of surrounding. She just realized that Giro was inside the car with Yamori in there, and Kazu was on top of his big-ass motorcycle. She facepalmed herself and quickly went inside the black car. She wouldn't want to jeopardize the whole mission just because they were late on escaping.
"Oi, Touka! Get your ass here quick!" Nishiki yelled from the opened window from his own blue car.
"I know, shitty four eyes!" She retorted. Touka went inside his car, sitting on the passenger seat.
The leader's car finally moved out, followed by the others like a carnival. It was 9:20, and they were late 20 minutes far away from the original plan. Rize tutted whenever her mind kept reminding her that the huge guy on the back seat was the main source of the trouble.
She could only hope that Kaneki would do something about him-no, scratch that. The leader would DEFINITELY beat that guy up.
A loud explosion noise echoed through the street. Those who were inside the car were looking at the back glass. Those that were riding the motorcycles heard the explosive sound even clearer, louder. It was almost deafening in their ears, but it was oddly satisfying.
"WE DID IT!" Zen screamed outloud, saying it to Banjou who was driving his car. His brown eyes were sparkling when he watched the red and orange gradient painted the night sky. The building that once a CCG's base, were slowly crumbling into the ground.
"Yeah, we did it." Said Banjou when he checked out the rear-view mirror.
The convoy was finally out from the 15th ward, far away from within the CCG's reach. Some of the members already headed to the other ways, went straight to their own homes. However, the executive members must went to the secret base first to report.
"Now where's your car?" Kaneki asked simply. He also needed to haste.
"Over here, Kaneki-san!" Said Hani, asking the other two to follow her towards her own... sweetly pink car.
"Pink!? Seriously, Hani!?"
"Oh, shut up Sante! You have to be grateful that I bring my car with me or else we're screwed!"
Kaneki could only be silent. Those two snipers of his were bickering over stupid thing. If only they hadn't run as they speak Kaneki would've gotten angry for wasting their energy.
Once the three of them reached the car, Hani opened the back door for her leader, "Kaneki-san, please sit on the back."
"No, I drive."
"Eh?"
"We have to get out of here as fast as we can. I drive." Explained Kaneki briefly. He made his tone sounds like a command, and both Hani and Sante understood. Truthfully he did this because he was afraid those two that sat on the front would bicker non-stop and so they would be distracted. The leader would like to avoid that.
"Okay, got it. Here's the key." Said the ghoul, giving her leader the car key which had both Hello Kitty sticker and charm on it.
"...Hello Kitty." Kaneki mused. His face were kept stoic, hiding his discomfort. But it was pretty stupid he thought himself. It was just a car key, and he didn't have the time to think about that crucial stuff.
Kaneki went inside the driver seat, followed by Hani that sat in the back. Sante was already sitting in the front.
"Damn, even the head cushion is pink-A FRIGGIN' HELLO KITTY DOLL?"
"Could you please stop hating on pink and Hello Kitty, Sante!? It's MY car so shut the heck up already!" Hani retorted as she put away her mask and robe.
Truth to be told, Kaneki wanted to just get the hell away from those two. He would walk if he had too, but the current condition couldn't let him do it. The leader started the engine and didn't even bother to wear the seatbelt. He changed the gear down from P, then his boot followed by stepping on the gas. And right at that moment, the base blew up with a loud boom.
"Holy shit!" Sante screamed when he heard the explosion and automatically turned his head around. He watched the scene in awe as the car drove away from that place. "Pretty loud, huh?" Sante added.
"If we were too late we could also get grilled by that..." Hani muttered, shivered by her own thought.
Kaneki looked towards the tear-view mirror. He made a small smile, both eyes were looking back at the road. He was satisfied with tonight. Mostly, because he met Amon, the male investigator he met two days ago along with that... pesky blonde investigator.
That made the white head wonder, he didn't see her tonight.
"Akira!"
The said woman looked back. Attendants that came late were looking after her shoulder, giving the special investigator the first treatment.
"Amon." She answered back.
"What happened to your shoulders?" He asked worriedly.
"The Binge Eater chewed me. Crazy bitch." Akira cursed under her breath, "What about you? What's wrong with your left side?" She asked when her pair of green windows looked at Amon's bandaged left arm and leg. There wasn't any blood seepage visible from the bandage, the blonde figured it'd must be fractured bones.
"T-this is..." Amon paused, "I fought the new unknown threat. He was The Centipede. Most likely he is the leader of this whole group..."
"You did!?" Akira had to remind herself that she was being treated or else she'd jump from her seat, "What did he looked like?"
"He wore a long black hood jacket, thigh length. Also... black boots and a black mask with red lines that only showed an eye."
"Only covered an eye..." Akira contemplated, "Why would he only cover an eye..."
Amon shook his head, "I don't know." The big man wished he knew why, but he found no importance in knowing that. Maybe it was just his goddamn style or whatever.
"...Is he strong, Amon?"
Amon creased his eyebrows, completely not happy with the battle's outcome. He hardened his fist, his body trembled in rage. He really couldn't deny the fact that The Centipede... was strong. It really embarrassed him so much as an associate special investigator.
"...Yes, he is. He is strong, formidable. I... I have never seen any ghoul like him before."
Akira couldn't reply anything. She just sat still, pondering what she should do over knowing that information. And there was a name that suddenly invaded her thoughts.
"Shi-"
"Damn, you both look like a fucking mess!" A sudden husky, cheery voice ruined her thought. She looked up from the ground, and what she saw surprised her to no end. Her green eyes widened as the figure who came close towards her became clearer.
"Why are you here... Zetsu Toukage?"
The man with goatee grinned. His long wavy black hair waved softly between the cold winds. His white coat was a little bit stained with blood, however it oddly suited his appearance. His slender hand carried his quinque suitcase, while the other did a daily habit which Akira could not ever understand what the meaning of it was.
Cracking a finger.
"What's up, Akira?"
A/N:
I. AM. SO. SORRY. FOR. THE. LONG. LONG. WAIT.
YOU GUYS CAN EXPECT ME TO UPDATE THIS ULTRA SLOW WHENEVER THERE IS A RAID CHAP, OR A SLOW UPDATE FOR AN ACTION CHAP.
Butafastupdateforlemonchap.
THANK YOU FOR THE FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES. I EVEN GOT SOME PMS, ASKING FOR MY PROGRESS. SORRY FOR WAITING Y'ALL!
Btw, I'm in love with Nicolas Brown.
I have written a GANGSTA fanfic with NicolasxAxel as its pairing. Please do check it out!