Welcome to the second chapter of Friend of Joker. I hope that you will all enjoy this chapter because I introduce lots of people and add Akabane in.

Chapter 2: A friend returns

5 days later

Bon, Ginji, and Shido had dragged Emishi out of the hospital and to the Honky Tonk. He needed to eat something or he would starve. As soon as Emishi sat down 5 hours ago he had passed out from exhaustion. He hadn't slept at all in 5 days.

After sleep and lunch they had returned to the hospital to find Mortimer had woken up and jumped out of the 4th floor window and actually landed safely to run down the street. Currently they were on the way back to the Honky Tonk.

"You don't seem upset Emishi." Stated Bon

"I'm happy just to know he's ok and I know he'll come find me when he wants to." Said Emishi as they turned the corner and saw Paul and Natsumi on the street looking scared.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you inside?" asked Ginji

"Well," said Natsumi, "Akabane came in while you were gone. He was drinking coffee when someone bumped into him causing Akabane to spill coffee on them. He tried to say sorry by the guy wouldn't drop it and then…"

A window broke as a chair came flying threw it. Emishi, Bon, Ginji, and Shido ran inside to help the guy and save him from Akabane. They were shocked to see that Akabane was the one who needed help. He was glued to the wall with some weird goop. His arms and legs were spread eagled. A man in a hoodie with the hood pulled up was slowly walking toward him, a hunting knife in his hand. At the sound of footsteps the person turned and the hood slid off as the figure jumped threw the air yelling.

"EMISHI"

Emishi jumped into the air at the man yelling, "MORT"

They collided midair in a giant hug. And everyone except for Shido said, "What the Hell?"

Flashback 7 years ago.

Emishi was practicing his whip one afternoon. He was getting really good at it to. He was only 14 and he could already beat all the local punks. Today he was watching the food store building with four others. He walked around the corner and saw one of the guards lying on the ground with some blood around them. As he approached Emishi realized that the man was just knocked out and the blood was not his. That meant that the attacker was the one who was injured. He noticed a trail of blood leading to the broken door into the building.

Emishi had gathered the others and one of them took the injured man back to his home. This left Emishi and two others. They entered the building and Emishi turned the light on. They saw a trail of blood leading to the corner were sugar was stored. Emishi hated that section because it was full of rats.

As he and the two others approached they herd a squeak and saw about 20 rats run past them in fear of something. Emishi turned the corner first and backed up into the two behind him and they all froze in shock.

Huddled in the shadows was a small boy. He was crouched over and eating a rat. The boy was covered in scratches and his left arm and right shoulder were bleeding badly. Then the boy fainted.

End of Flashback

"Mort, I thought you were dead. What the Hell happened to you? Where did you go?" Emishi asked as he pulled back with his hands on Mort's shoulders. Mort was doing the same.

"Emishi, don't call me Mort anymore. The name is Toad now ok. And I can't tell you where I went for your own safety. Can't you just be happy for me being back?" Toad replied, "So, how has your life been Emishi?"

"I'm fine. I've become a recoverer with Shido as my partner. But that aside, can't you tell me who hurt you like that at least?" Emishi's eyes grew concerned and sad behind his sunglasses.

"Listen, that doesn't matter now. What matters is that they'll never find me here, But that aside, I thought Shido was a member of the Four Kings. What happened?" Toad asked

"I promise to tell you the whole story later but for now all you need to know is the VOLTZ are no longer needed. I also want to introduce you to some people." Emishi moved over and hung off Toad's shoulder and pointed as he said each name, "That guy over there you already know as Shido the Beast Master. Those two on the street are Paul, the owner of this place, and Natsumi, the waitress. That man with the sunglasses is Bon Midou the Jagan user and competing recoverer. And most important of all is Ginji Amano the Lightning Emperor." Emishi waved his hands dramatically but froze when a throat cleared, "And the guy you glued to the wall is Akabane. And he should be let down before he kills us all."

1 hour later

Emishi and Toad were walking threw the park as Emishi explained everything, "And that's how we all got where we are now. But enough about me lets hear about you. What happened to that weak scared kid I used to hang out with?"

Before Toad could answer Shido, Bon, and Ginji ran around the corner yelling, "Emishi, get away from him."

"He's a dangerous assassin and a fugitive." Yelled Ginji

"He tried to kill the whole city of New York in America a few months ago." Yelled Bon

Emishi turned to see Toad running away in the opposite direction. He was about to go after him when a large man tackled him. The man was huge and wild looking, almost like a wild cat. The man had claws, solid black eyes, and large fangs.

Toad flew back and hit a tree so hard it fell over. The man spoke in a voice that sounded like sandpaper, "Did you really think you could run from us Toad? No matter where you go, I'll find you. Give up and come back or I get the pleasure of killing you so choose."

Then Toad did the strangest thing Sabertooth (For that was who it was) had ever seen him do.

Toad struggled to his feet and stared at Sabertooth with cold eyes and said, "No, I don't want to kill innocent people anymore. I only did it because Eric would kill me if I didn't. But he's gone now and I'm free."

"After all he did for you whelp? After…"

"Did for me? Did for me?! Ha, that's a laugh. That bastard threatened all of my friend's lives. If I didn't come with him he said he would kill them all." Then Toad fell into a battle stance and smiled evilly, "And now that he's gone from my life I can finally declaw you for good." Toad lunged

Emishi was frozen to the spot. Toad, his best friend, the kid he used to protect, was emitting a giant wave of bloodlust. Ginji, Ban, and Shido stopped next to Emishi and he asked, "What did you say he did? Who did you say he worked for?"

"Paul did a search on Toad right after you left and found out that he was a mutant assassin for the feared mutant Magneto. A few months ago a mission they were on failed and he was never found. But from what he just said he was forced to do all of that killing. And he did it to save all of us from getting killed." Said Shido as they all watched the fight.

Fight was not the best word to describe it. Onesided, slaughter, or unfair would have described it better. Sabertooth was pummeling Toad into the ground. Toad was bleeding badly and breathing heavily. He was on his hands and knees spitting blood onto the ground.

"You know what? As soon as I'm done with you I think I'll start on your friends. That way you can all meet in Hell." Sabertooth lunged forward to bite Toad's throat but made contact with nothing. He turned to see a man in a vest and headband holding Toad as three people stood around him, "Stand down, I'll get to you soon enough."

The man with the ponytail stepped forward holding a whip, "Sorry, cant do that. You messed with a citizen of the Limitless Fortress. We protect the citizens, so you're dead kittycat."

"Yeah, so prepare yourself for pain kitty litter." Said a blond haired boy.

"You guys do that. Me and Midou will take Toad to my house to be cared for." The man with the headband and the man with purple sunglasses ran off.