Chapter 8: Relatives and Rejects
Oh god why am I doing this again? What possessed me to get involved in these matters? I personally hate this crap. You know what screw it I'm just going to blame you and throw a fit, that usually works. Here I am trying to make the world a better place and here you are saying I'm a bad person. Well excuse me for trying to help god knows you could use it. You know people are secretly cheering me on. Even some of the council members have asked what wrong have I done? Times are changing my mortal enemy, where will you stand when everything falls? Sincerely, the one peering from outside the looking glass, The Welder.
-From the perspective of the female resident in Atlas-
The morning came with an abrupt awakening as something hit the ground with a large thud. Not again, I thought getting putting on my bathrobe. Walking down my stairs I tied my long hair into a ponytail leaving at the side of my face. At the bottom of the stairs I looked at the man who came to me in the middle of the night. He had rolled off the couch I laid him on once he fell asleep. His armor laid against the closet door still with his blood smeared across it. The small streak of blood was gone but a small heap of dried blood layed under his short brown hair. He slowly got up propping himself on my coffee table. The man nursed the area where the blood used to be closing one of his green eyes. With a groan he began to stand up but nearly fell over until I grabbed him by the arm and let him lean on me.
-From the Takeda's perspective-
I woke up with the worst feeling of pain I've experienced in my life, including the time I fought with The Welder. The last thing I remembered was knocking on a random door in the middle of a stormy night and everything went black. For some reason I felt the softness of fabric against my face and body. Where is my armor? I asked myself noticing it had been stripped. I opened my eyes to be in a small apartment, the bright light was a bit blinding to my eyes. I saw my armor across the room smeared in what I assumed my blood after what I had been through the previous nights. Preparing myself to stand I shifted my weight onto my stomach and began to push upwards. My body didn't agree as my right arm gave out in pain and I rolled right off and hit my head on a corner of the nearby coffee table. Ow, was the only thing I could think off before hearing quick but quiet footsteps coming from above my position. With my left arm I placed my arm on the table and felt my head throb. With my right hand I rotated the skin and felt dried blood near my hairline. The footsteps had stopped, I assume whoever it was had reached the final step. I decided to try to stand once more once my head began to settle down. Slowly, limb by limb, I stood up but this did not last long. I felt my knees and legs give out and I began to fall. My mind had gone into a wavering state and everything went fuzzy. Expecting a hard crash I was surprised that no such thing came. Instead I felt the soft touch of another person up against my chest and arm. After my eyes finally decided to open I saw one of the most beautiful sights in my entire life. A woman with long black hair was leaning against me holding me up. Her eyes were filled with a certain care and nurturing that I had seldom seen in another person. She then looked at me and caught me staring into her beautiful blue eyes. Embarrassed by this I quickly turned my head away looking in the complete opposite directions.
"You shouldn't be walking," she told me beginning to set me back on the couch placing a hand on my forehead.
I waved her hand off and I tried to stand back up, but then my body took control and forced my legs to ignore my mind. After a few seconds I replied. "I have to go. I have to finished what I started."
"Is it so important that you have to go and kill yourself? Look at you, you're in no condition to even walk let alone fight. If my assumption that's what you go do?" She questioned sitting me back down.
I looked at her straight not afraid of what I had to say. "I have to avenge them." I then began to stand up only to be stopped ber her hand on my chest.
Her eyes now filled with authority and anger as she sat me back down. "Listen here you big oaf. You are not going anywhere. So you can either try and fail in try to open the door or you could sit here and rest."
The woman now was scaring me and taking in my injuries I eased myself back onto the couch seat. She then gave a sigh of relief and stood back up. "Well glad to see you didn't get the sense knocked out of you. I'll go make us some breakfast. Is there anything you want?"
"I would like to know your name?" I asked seeing as how she did save me.
"Allison," Allison cheerfully told me, "what's yours?"
"Takeda," I replied with a smaller smile.
"Well then Takeda, would you like to explain to me why you were at my doorstep in the darkest hours of night?" Allison asked while walking towards the kitchen.
"It's a long story…." I began.
-From the perspective of The Welder still on the Atlasian boat-
I hurt….a lot, was my only thought as a pain shot through my arm when I quickly rose in reaction from the bed I was sleeping on. For a moment I forgot where I was, then the memories of the previous night shot their way back into my mind. The pirates, Ms. Hamelin, the bullet I took for her, the horrific thing I did to my body to stop the bleeding. Standing up with ease I rotated the arm that had been shot and winced only slightly in the pain. I was always a tough cookie growing up but bullets still hurt. Cracking my bones as per my usual routine I soon heard a knock on the door followed by a female voice that took me a minute to recognized.
"Welder are you up?" Came the voice of Petra Hamelin, the faunas Atlasian sniper who had worked with me in getting rid of the pirate problem. She soon cracked the door open disregarding her usual patience seeing me up and around cracking my knuckles.
"Yes Ms. Hamelin?" I asked already expecting the following conversation.
She swung a pair of handcuffs around her finger. "We had a deal Welder," she said placing other hand on her hip. "Time for you to come with me. We'll be in Atlas water in ten minutes and I've already told them about you. They're bringing a second boat to get you transported to the maximum security prison. "
While I didn't like the sound of 'maximum security' I had to comply. I frankly didn't wish to fight a whole boat of Atlas military then have to evade another boat filled with more soldiers (never really was the best swimmer as well). I placed my two hands out front and let the bulky hand restraints cover my entire wrists, including the torches. Damn they thought about what they were doing, I chuckled to myself.
"Okay let's go," Petra told me grabbing me by the cuffs and walking me out the door.
We walked out to the deck where all the soldiers from last night were there, their guns raised into attention in case I made a false move. Petra motioned them to lower the weapons and slowly, and with caution, the rifles and pistols went down. Nobody said a word aloud just whispers between the soldiers. One by one the soldiers turned their attention to a large white and gray ship with an Atlasian emblem on the side. I sighed deciding to break the silence.
"So this is how it ends for me," I stated looking at my future.
"It's what you deserve," she replied, "for what you did you should get worse."
"And what exactly do you think I did?" I asked. This was a common question I asked people usually giving me different response.
"You took it upon yourself to do what other took years to train for. You took it upon yourself to sentence people to death without a chance to explain them. You took it upon yourself to be a judge, jury, and an executioner. No man should ever have that much power."
That was one probably one of my favorite responses I had heard in a long time. It made me a little sad as to what I had to do next. "I must apologise in advance Ms. Hamelin."
"For what? Your crimes?"
"No. For this," I told her as I flipped body upward using the cuffs to choke out the faunas girl then landing behind her. The choking caught the attention of the soldiers who suddenly pulled up their guns. "Ah, ah, ah," I told them in a playful manner, "currently behind my coat is a single grenade ready to blow. You shoot me, you not only risk the life of your dear precious commanding officer, but this whole boat will go up."
They all looked at each other confused as to what they should do. Then they looked toward Petra who quickly gave a small nod and the group lowered their weapons once more.
"That's more like it," I said lifting my arms above her head and kicking her forward making a run for the side. The group then began to shoot me and while still cuffed I used it as a bulky and unwieldy weapon knocking out several troops. Over time you could it cracked from hitting the helmets of the soldiers. Getting to the edge of the deck I smashed the cuffs into pieces by slamming them into the hull.. Twitching my fingers into freedom I made a run for the door that I had entered in followed by Petra and a small group of soldiers.
"Stop him!" She ordered, "Don't let him get away!"
Going farther and farther below deck I reached the lifeboats. Besides the boat was a small patrol boat which was standard issue on all Atlas boats, even the party boats. Pressing multiple knobs and flipping a ton of switches the back hatch of the boat slowly opened with the speed of a snail. I hopped into the smaller vessel and started the boat with relative ease. Well at least they make it easy for me to escape. The sounds of the hatch opening alerted the other soldiers to my position. A whole slew of people made their way downstairs beginning to fire haphazardly. When the hatch stopped moving it was now in the perfect position to let out a small vessel, all it needed was a push. While the push seemed easy it wasn't (don't know about you but trying to push an object while being shot at is no simple task). I looked at my belt and saw one of the grenades I used in my bluff and threw in the middle of both parties. My apologies Ms. Petra Hamelin, but I have a friend to save perhaps next time, I said to myself blowing the explosive pushing everything in the
room back. I ducked underneath as the blast broke the glass windshield and damaged the front but it did launch the vessel into the open ocean. Well, as open as an ocean can be with a second Atlasian ship in the water. Driving quickly away from the two large ships the boat bounced off the waves kicking up water. The second boat began to fire its weapons at me. Damn, they're serious about getting me, I thought while weaving in and out of the incoming fire. Geysers of water erupted as the sounds of whatever they used for ammunition zipped past me and the small vessel I commandeered. Looking back down to increase the speed of the boat I began to see the mainland of the continent. In a daring move I charged the larger boat head on. A game of chicken is how it must go, I told myself. When I got close enough to the ship I lept off the side of the patrol boat and latched onto a large chunk of its hull. The vessel I rode on crashed into the side of the large prison ship and exploded in a ball of flames. Activating my semblance so my grey clothed body didn't contrast with the white hull of the ship I turned invisible and kept staring at the burning wreckage of the patrol ship. Let's hope they assume that I sank to the bottom. After hours of surveying the ocean the large prison ship turned its position and went back to Atlas. The ship docked at the entrance to the city of Atlas, a technological paradise. Advanced weapons, breathtaking technology, and I far as I knew was a certain samurai companion who needed my help. Nursing my two arms which had grown tired of hanging off the hull of another ship I lept down, while still invisible mind you, with a thud that caught the attention of two dockworkers. Aw shit, I thought stopping where I was. They began to walk themselves over before a large monitor lit up catching the attention of all the dockworkers.
"Attention," the new anchor who appeared on it, "The Welder, notorious criminal, murderer, and bounty hunter is dead. He crashed into the side of a ship whilst trying to escape Atlas military. While his body has not been found we are certain that he is deceased. We will have more details for you later along with the story: Puppy and Moose become unlikely friends at eleven."
When the breaking news had stopped and the screen went back to normal programming a sudden cheer was heard from several dockworkers. "Yeah that asshole is gone!", "Good riddance I say!", "Wish I could've done it myself!" were just some of the things that were said. While I did have half a mind to kill the dockworkers I decided it might be best to stay hidden. At least the police wouldn't be searching for me high and low while I tried to find Takeda. When I got to the streets I must have never really realized how infamous I was. People were in the streets, dancing, celebrating, and being happy. Was this how I was to be remember when I'm gone, I asked myself. Don't get me wrong I want to be remembered but seeing the celebration got me a tad depressed. Well then before I leave I will have to install fear back into the masses before I leave. I then continued to walk down the Atlas streets looking for Takeda.
-From the perspective of Takeda-
I was watching some stupid knitting show with this Allison girl when a breaking news report came in. The headlines read: "Scoundrel of Authorities Dies in Boat Crash".
After the broadcast was over I felt a tad defeated, and incredibly depressed. The Welder had been killed. That can't be right. I had asked him to help me and now he's dead. It was Allison's next comment that threw me off the ledge.
"Well good riddance to that guy. He was scum of the earth." She said.
I stood up, my injuries were healed after hours of sitting and went to my armor. "You don't know The Welder like I do." I began to put on my armor when Allison stopped me.
"What do you know about The Welder? The guy's killed many good people." Allison replied angrily, "a friend of mine lost her uncle because he working a case on helping faunas rights."
"I have faced The Welder before," I simply told her as revealing that I was his friend might upset her even more. I then attached my arm guards and shin guards, "and that guy doesn't know when to stay down. He's like a festering sore."
"Kind of like you?" She retorted stopping all of my movement.
It was true I was trying to get out quickly. I am a man of action, and what I did could possibly hurt this nice woman who helped me if they found out I was still alive. "Allison you're a nice woman, but I must go. If the people who attacked me know I'm still alive then they could come for you and I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
"Do you really mean that?" She asked touched putting her hands on her chest.
"Naga's word," I told her placing my right clenched fist over my heart as I finished putting on my armor.
She looked at me surprised with me in my old armor still lined with blood smears still on the sides. I finished with spinning my chains around my arms until they locked into place. I was about to walk out until something felt off, something was missing. I looked at my belt and saw my katana was gone. I turned to Allison who was holding it in her hands waiting for me to take it.
"Are you really that worried about me?" I asked her beginning to grab my sword.
When I placed my hand on the sheath I was immediately pulled by Allison ho then hugged me. "Please don't leave, you'll die," she said while her face was up against the part of my neck not covered by armor, "just stay one more night, please."
Had she fallen for me? I believe the term is the Florence Nightingale effect. If this was the case then I will not only hear it from The Welder but when I explain my relationship that me and The Welder share to Allison I might be killed (by Allison but maybe The Welder for making him come all the out here). "Fine," I told the now crying girl, "one more night." The night was then summed up in a single thought: What had I gotten myself into.
-From The Welder's Perspective-
Night had fallen along with most of the celebrations ending. I was still ticked by that (I am a very sensitive person after all). It was eleven and angling my ear into the window of a nearby pub the news had come on with everybody shushing one another trying to listen. The monitor had changed to a field reporter near the docks where they were interviewing a certain faunas soldier.
"So what experience had led you to capturing The Welder before he escaped?" The reporter question pushing the microphone into Petra's face.
"Well we were attacked by a group of pirates while sailing from Vale. For some reason he was there, when we interrogated him we found out he had business in Atlas to attend to. We agreed to a contract where we gave him passage to Atlas if he helped us. However we noted that he had to be in handcuffs and take him to prison the moment he would enter Atlas waters."
"Yet he managed to escape your confinement?"
"Yes unfortunately he managed to break free after using me as a hostage. From there he stole a patrol boat and tried to make his exit, you know the rest from there."
"Do you think he could've been working with the pirates to gain some false sense of security?"
"The Welder has been known to work alone so we have no reason to believe he working with a second party."
"Thank you for your time Ms. Hamelin."
"Anytime," she said before turning back towards the docks.
Well that was depressing, I thought to myself, she could have had a bit more bravado or at least the Mistrallan Standoff we had with the captain. I continued walking without my cloak on since it seemed redundant since I was already dark clothed and pretty well camouflaged. I rested my arms above my head and walked down an alleyway that seemed to litter the town of Atlas. Out of the corner of my goggles I saw a few shady looking people doing the shady business that shady people usually divulge in. getting close you could see a younger man, maybe in his late twenties smoking a cigar and dressed in a pinstriped suit talking to a second older gentleman carrying a briefcase just standing outside of a fancy black car. The younger man had the sides of his bright blonde hair shaved and the top combed over in a suave style the older just had a bad case of the male pattern baldness.
"Do you have it?" The younger man said pulling his cigar out and placing back in with a devilish older man didn't say anything but just opened the briefcase revealing a large stash of lien to the younger man whose smile grew larger. "Good, the Don's going to appreciate the gift and your service." The younger person took the briefcase and the older simply went back into the car. Then because the world hates me I stepped closer to get a better look but accidently kicked a metal can letting the sound echo for what seemed like hours. The younger man took out his cigar and snapped two of his fingers while knocking his ash from his cigar. "Go see what that was," he told two larger men in suits that had been hidden behind the building.
They were large dark skinned with many tattoos. Their coats stopped midway through their arms showing off their massive forearms. The two big oafs looked at both walls of the alley until they reached where I was laying in wait. I launched myself from the wall and gave a wicked punch to the jaw of one of the bulky brutes knocking him down. The other then swung his fist at me only to miss due to my reflexes. I raised my left arm and brought my elbow down on his exposed arm. You could hear the cracking of bones as my elbow slammed down. As he yelped in pain I lumped up and kicked him in the front of his face. The brute who was now bloodied and broken stayed down while the first pulled out a common pistol and shot at me. Quickly dodging the shots ricocheted rang off in the night. This caught the attention of the two dealers who were still at the mouth of the alley. Well they were at least as the sounds of tires screeching against the pavement and the sound of a second pistol went off this time from the younger more gaunt dealer. He sneered as all three of us stood in the crowded alleyway.
"You just caused me a great deal. The Don ain't going to be happy about this," he hissed in such a stereotypical gangster voice it wasn't even funny.
Before he could fire a second shot a grey blur jumped from above him. I was quite relieved to see Takeda when he stood on top of the young asshole. The second brute fried his gun again this time at the samurai who deflected the bullets by spinning his chains (because that's how logic works). Takeda then threw one of the chains that wrapped around the neck of the big brute and pulled him to Takeda. With a punch to the face the large man fell to the floor and the person Takeda was standing decided to speak.
"Oh not you again," he breathed out, "can't you take a hint?"
"Oh come now Reginald we have much to discuss," Takeda replied in tone that didn't remind me of the samurai before.
Something seemed off about what was going on. Takeda was not one who would act in this kind of manner. Usually I act in this kind of manner, that manner being an asshole. "Takeda," I said catching the attention of both of them, "what is going on here?"
"This doesn't concern you right now Welder," Takeda hissed as he brought up the kunai tip of his chain and was about to lower it.
"Well apparently you needed me so bad you had me travel a whole ocean to get here. So if you please I would like to know what the HELL is going on?!"
He didn't even look at me, he just stared at the so called 'Reginald' his kunai still in hand. He was about to bring it down before I stepped in. Holding his arm about two feet above the gangster's head I held his arm with just my hand. "What are you doing?!" Takeda growled, "Let. Go. Welder!"
I flipped him off the gangster who then began to stand up and dust himself off. "Whew thanks buddy," the gangster said in his cocky tone, "if you didn't help then he might have *hngh*!"
I didn't let the fool finished as I picked him up by his collar lifting him a few inches of the ground and looked directly into his eyes. I turned him around so he was facing Takeda while holding him by his neck. He struggled to move out of my hold as I just stood there while Takeda got up from the ground. "Now let's try this again," I told Takeda, "you're going to tell me why you want this man dead and why I am here."
Looking at me he began to contemplate his options. He could either kill the gangster where he stood where I personally would beat the shit out of him then or he could tell me the truth. He decided on the latter. "That guy right there is my half-brother."
Through my goggles you could see me looking at Takeda, then Reginald, back to Takeda, and then Reginald once more. "I'm going t o need a bit more than that."
"Let him down and I promise to tell you everything later," Takeda pleaded.
"Fine but you don't get to kill the poor bastard at least not yet."
I set the half-brother (still sounds weird) back down he gasped for air while kneeling on the ground. From a distance the sounds of sirens were shrieking in the night. Looks like we caught ourselves some attention. I looked to Takeda who looked back and nodded in response. Before we fled from the street I gave a swift kick to Reginald's head knocking him unconscious. We fled from the street weaving in and out through alleys before we reached a complex that Takeda began to walk up to. I grabbed his arm in a 'are you sure about this'.
"It's fine Welder," Takeda told me, "well possibly."
He opened a door to the sudden movement of a woman with black hair hugging Takeda. She was so focused on the samurai that I scared the absolute crap out of her when I spoke.
"So what'd I miss?" I asked the two.
"Ah yes where are my manners?" Takeda asked himself, "This is Allison," he paused for a bit trying to think of something to say then, "Allison this is The Welder." Her blue eyes grew wider then I think should be feasibly possible by anybody. Quickly she ran towards what I assumed to be the kitchen because when she came back she was holding a frying pan and would've hit me had Takeda stop her. "Allison wait! The Welder is a friend of mine." This prompted the woman to give him a look of pure distrust and almost hatred. "I know it seems bad but I trust The Welder, and you should trust him too."
She really didn't say much except for: "I need to go lie down for a while." When she left the room I remained standing while Takeda sat on a couch. "You have a lot to explain here Takeda. One: why am I here? Two: what was that about your half-brother? Three: how long has that (imagine me pointing to where Allison had walked out of) been going on?"
"Okay, okay," he said, "fine I'll tell you everything. Are you familiar with the Donati family? (this prompted a nod) Well Don Donati, the head of the household, happens to be my father. (I just about fainted after hearing this. I mean really this guy was the son of the most notorious crime bosses in Remnant?) I was born after he took liking of a woman from Mistral, a very common thing since you met my half-brother. Seeing as how he had enough children to deal with he sent me to die when I was a baby and killed my mother. I still remember that day…. (the mood grew rather depressing and I almost told him to stop but he kept going). Before I was dead though I was apparently picked up by a woman who found me. She took me home and had me brought into the Naga family. They trained me to fight honorably like their ancestors. What I didn't know was that the Naga family was another mob-style family, only they were called a yakuza. Overtime I had forgotten about my previous life, wasn't really hard to, that was until 'dad' decided to pay a visit. The two families were arguing over territory in Mistral and the Naga clan told the Donatis to basically screw off (again after this he paused taking off his helmet to wipe away tears that were hidden from me). I still remember the first shots being fired. I hid, scared as I saw my adopted brothers and sisters being shot down like. The man who I considered to be my real dad came to me, bullets were still riddled in his chest and told me to come with him. He took me to a room below the mansion that housed the sacred armor and sword of the Naga family (it was at this point he pulled his sword away from his belt holding it in both his hands and paused for a longer time)."
"Takeda I-I'm sorry," I told him trying to console him.
"They slaughtered them Welder…. just laughing not knowing the lives they were ruining," he sniffed between tears, "I was so close to getting rid of another one of those rats and then you had to show up and ruin it."
It was rather hurtful to hear Takeda say that but I still understood why he was acting the way he was. "Tell me about the girl now," I told the weeping samurai sitting back down in the chair.
"Last night I found some Donati thugs out at a warehouse so I decided to go take them out. There were so many of them. I did it though, I was beaten and bruised, and bloodied but I did it. I could barely move, my body telling me to stop. I was going to die so I knocked on the first door I saw and then she let me in. However what happened today was not what I was expecting."
"What happened?" I asked a tad bit afraid of the answer.
"Do you know the Florence Nightingale effect?"
"OH GOD!" I yelled standing up.
"Yeah I think she fell for me….you want to know the worst part?"
"Do I want to know the answer?"
"I think I fell for her too," Takeda said looking down at the floor.
"OH COME ON!" I repeated then followed by a smack to the back of Takeda's lover boy head, "Get a damn grip! So she saved you! That doesn't mean that you can fall in love with the first person who saves you. Listen you want my help, you got it. Let's go kill some Donati shits and maybe put this behind you."
"You just don't get love do you Welder?" He said standing back up tying his sword back to waist side and putting his helmet back on, "But it will be nice to have you on my side." He looked back towards the stairs, probably still thinking about the girl who nearly hit me with a frying pan.
We walked back out the door into the street where darkness had completely overtaken the city of Atlas. The only things giving light were the lampposts with their small cone of light. Takeda told me about another warehouse that was a front for the Donati family business. Located in the farthest of the docking sector it was secluded and discreet. The perfect place for a transaction of illegal goods. When we arrived at the meeting place two groups stood opposite of each other. From one end stood the elderly gentleman from earlier with Reginald on the other side, it seemed they were doing the same deal from earlier. Multiple men in suits stood in a circle looking away from the two men doing their deal. Takeda tapped my shoulder and whispered into my ear.
"Okay here's what we're going to do," he quietly uttered, "I'm going uptop to surprise them from above while you get in close to take out the guards." I was about to move before he grabbed my shoulder forcefully pulling me back. "Reginald is mine," he said in a dark tone that gave the samurai a bit more respect in my opinion.
Stealthily he climbed the grates while under the cover of darkness since windows were seldom in numbers. I cloaked and slowly walked towards the men. The usual, cut and dry mob henchmen. Glasses, suits, shiny shoes, and an array of facial hair were all that made the each of them a little different. From above I could barely see the samurai except for the careful movements he did trying to avoid being seen. Luckily all the guards were focused on what was directly in front of them instead of what was above them. I could barely see him raise his arm with a kunai in hand and launched it at an unsuspecting henchman. Wrapping around his leg the sound of the metal links of the chain caught the attention of all the men. The henchman target by said chain let out a "huh" before being lifted into the air. Takeda dropped the man and he landed with a *thud* that made me avert my eyes. Reginald turned around and motioned three henchmen to where the chain had came from. The three guards went up the stairs only to be thrown off the guardrail with Takeda landing on top of one of them seeming to break the back.
"Hello Reginald," he simply said.
"Good god don't you know how to leave me alone!" He yelled.
"I'll leave you alone when I see your cold corpse being ran by my blade."
After this all the guards lifted pistols and pointed them at Takeda's face followed by laughter from Reginald. "You know you should have killed me earlier in the day when that big fella let me go."
"Oh don't worry the 'big fellow' is still here. Welder! Now!"
"Not the best signal I will admit but fine," I said from my cloaked body then becoming visible and grabbed the head of one of the henchman with one hand on his forehead and another on his chin. As one tried to swing a punch I snapped the neck of the one I was holding and smacked the other with the momentum that came from snapping a neck. I then started the torched and Takeda went in. As he threw a guard my way I grabbed him by the collar and threw his useless body at another knocking them both down. A point blank shot was fired but thankfully missed because he held it in that awful 'gangster style' shooting position. Grabbing his hand I cut through the pistol like butter that soon caused a small explosion due to the technology in the pistol. From both sides of my face I saw Takeda's two chains zip past me wrapping themselves onto a henchman with ease. Takeda whipped his arm back and the man flew towards me. Nice work, I thought as I delivered an uppercut to the man's gut launching him into the air. Because Takeda really hated this one guy for some reason he still had his chains wrapped around him and swung him across knocking all the leftover henchmen over and unconscious. All that were left was the older man and Reginald who somehow didn't run in the chaos. The old man however stayed stoic for an odd reason. I didn't recognize him from anywhere so I grew curious as Takeda approached Reginald. The stoic man simply glanced over at the quivering Donati spawn and looked at his diamond encrusted watch. Reginald hit the ground after falling from walking backwards.
"He-heh-hey buddy can't we talk about this?" He asked Takeda in a voice that would make most criminals disgusted.
"You don't get to talk," he said delivering punches, "this is for my mother *punch*, my sisters *punch*, my brothers *punch*, my father *punch*." It was at this point he unsheathed his sword holding it above his head. It gleamed in the moonlight from the windows showing off its pristine yet deadly curve. "And this is for me and everything your accursed family has done to me!" He finished by stabbing Reginald in the chest who cried in anguish and pain. His mouth filling with blood moving his arms to try and take the blade it out of his chest. He eventually stopped, his hands and face falling to the side as his body went limp. Takeda stood, the sword still in Reginald's chest. He then pulled it straight out holding it horizontally so the blood dripped off the blade and back onto Reginald. Takeda then flipped the sword around still facing the side and ran his gloved hand against the blade cleaning the Donati filth that ran along it. The stoic man who watched as the samurai had killed in cold blood soon turned and walked over to the side.
"Stop," Takeda spoke with the man who continued to walk not even acknowledging his presence, "who are you?"
It was then at that moment the man stopped and turned to face the samurai. "You don't know who I am Takeda, and you will probably never know who I am. Let's just say, I'm a friend." He then walked out of the building leaving the two of us in silence.
We didn't speak a word until we returned to Allison's place. Where she greeted Takeda with open arms who hugged the girl tightly. She looked at me with a twitch of hostility but less than before. "Well?" She asked, "Is it over?"
"For now," Takeda replied still in the arms of his new lover.
I still stood in the doorway feeling a little out of place before Allison spoke to me. "Thank you for bringing him back safely," she told me prompting a quick tipping of my hat revealing my scarfed dome.
The next morning came with a long night's rest. Me and Takeda stood at the docks in secret while Allison was saying goodbye to Takeda. "Do you really have to go?" She asked in hopes he would stay.
"Don't worry," he told her, "once I help The Welder with whatever crazy plan he needs my help with, I'll come back for you."
Seemingly moved by this she kissed the samurai on uncovered part of his cheek and after that he kissed her hand. After turning away we stole a small air ship that would take us back to Vale. It was some time into the flight as I operated the pilot seat when Takeda came in.
"Alright Welder what are we doing now?" He asked, "You made me walk away from a beautiful woman who wanted me so this better be good."
"We are approaching The Anniversary." I simply told him staying focused on the open skies.
"The Anniversary of what?" He questioned leaning against one of the chairs.
"The Anniversary of when I became The Welder. The day when I realized huntsmen cannot protect everybody. The day I realized that everything I had worked up towards was a lie. The day I realized that I had one mission before leaving this world."
I then turned to Takeda who was giving me looks of confusion and worry. With what I said next his eyes went wide.
"Takeda, we are going to kill Ozpin."