"Ken Kaneki will make a world fit for him. Ragnarok approaches!"

Kuzo stands next to Urie atop one of the many sky bridges of the CCG's Headquarters on Rue Island. With the sun rising in the East and the moon falling in the west, a fantastical array of multi-coloured light danced on their skin from the high glass walls behind them. Urie is leaning on the railing and Kuzo is standing with his hands in the deep pockets of his Investigators trench coat.

"Kuzo… After all of this is done… I'm going to retire". Kuzo's eyes dart to his superior. "Retire? Director you know you can't do that. The CCG will need your skill in order to keep this world in the possession of humanity". Urie snickers and lights a cigarette, offering one to the Special Class. Kuzo shakes his head. "Can you honestly protest that you care about humanity that much even though you're a ghoul? Kuzo, you're the son of Ken Kaneki, the One Eyed King. And now you want us to focus our efforts on taking him down?"

Kuzo nods hesitantly. "There's a lot that I don't know about my family… I do know that the King knows a lot more about this world than we do, knows the truth behind the origins of my kind… But he's a danger to what I've come to hold dear. He can't be reasoned with". Urie sighs, his eyed dropping to the gardens far below. "Have you ever tried? I know Kaneki… He was my mentor for a long time… Whatever he's doing may not be beneficial to humanity, but he always has a reason". He glances at the young Special Class standing next to him. So much potential right in front of him…

"All I'm saying is that hard times are coming and if I die, then I want you to step up as Director in my place…" Kuzo's eyes widen a fraction, betraying the surprise he felt at this comment. "Me? A Ghoul as the Director?" Urie laughs. "Of course. I'm half ghoul myself and I've been Director for nearly 20 years now. Amon too, and he for 10 years himself. You have what it takes. You have the ideology to make the best Director the CCG has ever seen Kuzo. Remember this talk, because I feel that we won't be able to speak so casually ever again…"

Suddenly some crackling voice message comes over the Director's belt radio. "Sir- Krrrrr Chinese Airspace- Krrrr Wary". Kuzo raises an eyebrow and Urie shrugs. "It came over on the public line so it can't be a threat to security". As they turn to leave, a collective outburst of shouting and gasping from the park below catches Kuzo's attention. A small group of masked figures had suddenly dropped from the sky and one more figure descended from the sky, Centipede like Kagune coiling around his body. The ghoul wore a robe and a headscarf, so his single Kakugan stood out easily. Kuzo swears, and Urie shakes his head sadly. "Kaneki… What are you doing here?"

As soon as the long range threat detectors had picked up the ghouls approaching, several squads of Investigators had entered the now closed off park and were all in position, rifles aimed at the entourage of the One Eyed King… Kaneki drops down in front of the Clowns, staring at the main entrance as Special Class Hiyori Arima approached them.

"Ken Kaneki. It's been a long time since we've met like this. What brings you here?" Kaneki smiles behind his headscarf and looks around, not feeling that which he had been seeking. He turns fractionally towards Uta at his left. "Damn it all… We've been had. The Keeper was never here in the first place". Hiyori frowns, tightening her grip on the hilt of IXA Mark II. "What are you talking about, Ghoul?"

Kuzo and Urie take this time to vault over the railing of the Sky Bridge and drop to the grass of the park. Dusting himself off, Urie approaches the scene with Kuzo right behind him. "I know what he's talking about. You came here because you thought the Keeper was on Rushima didn't you?" Kuzo frowns as Kaneki nods. "Keeper? You know about the Keeper?" Urie sneers. "I'm not the Director for no reason you know. I know of this unseen individual who's played with both humans and ghouls since the beginning…"

Kaneki ignores the Investigators, and instead promptly thrusts his Kagune into the earth, burrowing deep down below the island, until he finds what he wants. He senses that his Kagune has burrowed into a tunnel, and attaches itself to the wall of that tunnel. At last he was connected to the 24th Ward, using it as a means to carry his voice across the entire city of Tokyo.

"Since the very beginning, all these wars that were caused by the conflict between Ghoul and Human, that natural need to kill one another. It's not as natural as you might believe…" This causes a stir within the surrounding Investigators, even Hiyori frowns, listening. The entire population, both ghoul and human, of Tokyo was listening, including the Keeper, who looks outside his expansive window onto the cityscape below.

"This whole world is a chessboard, and we are all but pawns in the designs of one person… The Keeper is what he is called. Have none of you stopped even once to consider why you were fighting? Considered why the world was this fucked up? Well that's because it wasn't always like this. And now I implore my brethren, not humans, and not all of ghoul kind either. This is for all the One Eyed Ghouls out there, the people blessed with the power to make a difference. I implore you to take up arms and fight one last time. Fight for a better world as I make my way to do battle with the enemy. The enemy is cunning, and is thousands of years ahead of us. He has built entire modern empires solely for the purpose of stopping us from reaching him, but he cannot see the future. The difference you make right now is up to you and you alone! FIGHT!"

As One Eyed Ghouls everywhere leaped up from their hiding places in righteous fury, Kaneki's Kagune had now completely fused with the 24th Ward. He smiles and gets to his full height. "There's something I recently learnt about the 24th Ward. It's labyrinth spreads out far across Tokyo, in reality forming a giant circle…" As he says this, a sound like distant thunder is accompanied by the sea crashing up against the walls of the CCG's HQ, and tremors to shake everyone to their very soul. As one, countless tendrils of giant Kagune form skyscrapers, all of them interlocking and weaving in and out until they form a complete dome over the entire city and surrounding land and ocean…

"I know you can hear me, Keeper. Stop me if you can…. This is my birdcage, and you're the floundering sparrow within…" Hiyori suddenly leaps forward, IXA swinging but Arima steps forward and counters the Quinque with its original counterpart. Hiyori looks up into the eyes of her older brother and a tear leaks from her left eye. "I don't understand, Kishou. Why do you work with the enemy?" Arima sighs. "There is a lot that I've never told you about my past, and the future…." He grasps the IXA Mark II in his bare hand and immediately shatters it, rendering the Veteran Special Class helpless in an instant. She drops to her knees as Arima steps back towards the Clowns.

Kaneki detaches his Kagune from the tunnels, his task done and his Kagune retracts to its normal length. As he turns to leave however, a cry of pain issues from the left flank of Investigators as the whole flank is gunned down from behind. From the bushes and down from the rooftops come a whole armed division of soldiers, surrounding both the Investigators and the Ghouls. Urie looks around them in outrage as Kuzo frowns. "Humans? But why?" Urie grits his teeth. "It's the Delta Force. Americans!"

A distant boom causes Kaneki to look over to the rising sun in the east, witnessing a massive explosion ripping a hole in his "Birdcage". He swears. "What the fuck are the Americans using Nukes in Japan for?!" As the Investigators begin engaging the Delta Force soldiers in a firefight, one Marine steps forward to bow towards Urie. "Kuki Urie, the Japanese Government has given permission for your organisation to be eliminated as traitors to your country. You have been harbouring an American fugitive, the most dangerous man on earth!"

He points his gun at Kaneki but blinks in surprise as the One Eyed Ghoul seems to sense something from the inner city and jets away across the bridge, the Clowns following, leaving only Arima behind. He then aims at Urie and prepares to fire when he pauses upon seeing the expression of pure, animalistic rage on the Director's face.

Urie laughs through gritted teeth. "I see now. So the Keeper truly does influence everything in this world… Well then, I suppose the only way I can stop you is by killing you right?" The Delta force leader frowns, taking a small step back. "You are defenceless. Surrender now and you'll be given a fair trial…"

He trails off as Urie's Kagune slowly inches from his shoulder blade to cover his arm in a sword like shape. Urie grins menacingly as he looks at Kuzo and nods. "You go on ahead boy. I'll take care of things here while you go and get your dad". He leaps forward and is about to behead the American when the solider produces a Kagune of his own, locking the both of them in a two way deadlock.

Kuzo splutters. "But I'm not going to him because he's my dad! I'm going to kill him!" He watches for a moment as the ghoulish Delta Forces and the CCG's Investigators spread out into the rest of the CCG's Complex as they all deploy their Quinques. This was turning into an all-out war. Any One Eyed Ghouls would be putting up a fight now, with other ghouls following their strength. He swears. This was going to turn into a very big problem if he didn't get to Kaneki soon.

He looks out over the bay to the city as he struggles to imagine where his father had gone, then it hits him. "The Keeper… Sitting atop his throne in a place where he could observe all in his domain… A Skyscraper!" Kuzo is suddenly joined by Suzuya, Ito, Erashi and Takashi and with only a simple nod of understanding between them, the CCG's last hope set off across the bridge, leaving their comrades and Urie behind to defend Rue Island.

…

The Keeper sat at the desk in his penthouse office in the highest building in Tokyo, watching as the Delta Forces he had borrowed off the American Government attack the CCG's Headquarters and break open Ken Kaneki's cage over the city. In the distance he could see the fleet of the Chinese Navy approaching, they too tipped off about the Japanese Government harbouring a dangerous fugitive. He smiles. At the flick of his wrist, he had made Kaneki the most wanted person on earth. And now, his fresh batch of soldiers was approaching.

As this happens, his manservant approaches and bows deeply. The Keepr smiles. "Ah Fujikisho I was wondering where you had been. Kindly go greet the rest of the guests group will you? If Ken Kaneki really wants to meet me, he'll be alone". The manservant bows silently again before retreating from the room, his single Kakugan glinting menacingly.

The Keeper fiddles with a strange looking device attached to the underside of his desk, his trump card one might say, and grins openly. "Colour me curious, Ken Kaneki. I await your arrival with exhilaration. Let's see if you can topple my millennium long rule… If not, then the One Eyed King has lost, and so will end all resistance to my power for the rest of eternity…

…

Uta and the other Clowns were actively raining down hell upon the newly arrived Chinese marines as they travelled down one of the city's busiest streets, abandoned now because of the fighting. Kaneki wondered how Urie and the others were doing in holding down Rue Island. He wondered how far behind his son was and if he had been bogged down by enemies. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focuses on the mission. The Keeper had finally made his move as soon as Kaneki had inadvertently helped him confirm that Urie was on the Island. He frowns. That bastard wanted to take out Urie so that the CCG had no leadership, then it could easily be destroyed. Then there would go the only organised force Kaneki could even possibly hope to sway to his side.

As he ponders this, Uta suddenly taps him on the shoulder as they hide from a patrol of Chinese Infantry armed with Q – Bullets. "I'm worried about the boss. He hasn't contacted the rest of us for well over 25 years now…" Kaneki sighs. Possibly the most elusive person on the planet, the leader of the Clowns, "Crown Clown", was supposedly going to contact them soon. That had not happened yet. "Look, there's a lot of beefed up goons running around out there sent here by the Keeper. He told me himself that he would try to stop me from even reaching him. We need to split up…" Itori raises an eyebrow as she ducks into the alley they were in, hauling Roma with her as Nico drops down from above.

Uta sighs. "Are you sure? What about Arima and Kanou? Where are they if we won't be here to protect you?" Kaneki shakes his head. "Don't worry about them. I left Kishou on Rue to help the CCG, and Kanou is out trying to contact an old friend of mine… Look. I need you guys to try and loosen the security around Hakka Tower so I can get inside… Can you manage that?" As one the Clown Troupe smile maliciously. No more words were needed as they moved out to carry out their task. Kaneki peeks his head out onto the street, noticing that a group of both Delta Force and Chinese soldiers had surrounded a smaller group of Investigators. He turns away and heads north, leaving his son behind to make his own way…

…

Kuzo's pace skips a beat and then halts completely as the soldiers encircle their group. Suzuya immediately leaps forward, cleaving half of them into pieces using Jason. Erashi brings out Shino and Ito pulls out his own Kakuja Defence armour, Arata Prota. From somewhere in the crowd comes a crisply dressed man with decorated red hair. He smiles in a friendly manner as he removes his gloves and inserts them into his back pocket. "Greetings, Special Class Kuzo Alexander. My master asked that I… greet you".

Kuzo frowns, his hand reaching for his Quinque Case. "What do you want? If you're here to stop me then save yourself the trouble and move aside… I don't want to hurt an innocent man if I don't have to…" He waves Erashi and Takashi to the right where they immediately begin to engage the enemy, with Suzuya continuing to do the same to the left. It left the butler and him alone in the centre of the street…

Fujikisho cracks his knuckles as his single Kakugan materialises and a Bikkaku Kagune manifests itself around his legs. He grins evilly, lashing out at Kuzo but the Special Class deflects the blow with his Quinque case, destroying it in the process. "What's wrong? Oh dear it seems I've broken the Owl Quinque… I guess this means you'll have to use your Kagune am I right? Don't give me that look. Of course my master knew all about you…" He trails off as the look on Kuzo's face shifts to something more threatening. "So you're a Ghoul huh… Ghouls are the enemy of the CCG, so you've just given me a reason to exterminate you…" Fujikisho laughs as he thrusts forward again with his Kagune, Kuzo's own Rinkakku and Ukkaku Kagune unleashing themselves and locking with the enemy's mid-air. "Come one Kuzo… Is this all you've got?" He crouches lower on the ground as the tell-tale Kakuja armour forms around his body, growing in size until he was in the form of a giant grotesque version of his humanity over three times bigger than Kuzo. "Come get me now Investigator! You can't possibly hope to win this battle now that I've activated my Kakuja! Perish at the master's command!"

Kuzo sighs as he easily catches one of Fujikisho's giant claws in his bare hand, crushing it and causing the One Eyed Ghoul to cry out in pain and anger. He removes his trench coat, letting it drop to the floor as he stares at both of his hands. "I wonder if I can do it now that I ate her?... Is that what you were talking about, mother?" A mask forms around his own face as his limbs elongate and flesh out, giant arms and claws for feet forming as they support his growing frame. As the single eye and teeth emerge from the bubbling mass of Rc Cells, Kuzo stares down at the One Eyed Ghoul, his own Kakuja dwarfing that of Fujikisho.

"What… What the hell are you? Some sort of monster?" Kuzo grins behind the face of his Kakuja as he rises to his full 10 metres of height. "I am the One Eyed Owl…Now perish at my own behest…"

…

Urie stands back to back with Kishou Arima as the two of them fend off the horde of Ghoulified Delta Force agents and the newly arrived Chinese marines. The rest of the Investigators who had been in the park had either been killed or ordered to retreat within the safety of the complex, now in lockdown. Only the three of them remained, Arima, Urie and Hiyori who had lost her Narukami Mark II to severe damage. Urie uses his Kagune to tear through countless enemies in a never ending onslaught. But still they came. He stops for breath, again facing the commander of the Delta Force, whose name was Adam.

The Director grins, suddenly making a decision and plunging his own hand through his chest, grasping the Quinque Frame inside him and breaking it open. Suddenly he feels the oncoming rush of insanity, but it almost immediately subsides. He glances behind him. Mutsuki and Saiko had joined him in the park and were removing their own Frames. Urie laughs out loud, feeling the exhilarating rush of the full power of a One Eyed Ghoul and engages Adam in combat again, this time his Kagune morphing and bursting through the ground behind the American, impaling him and killing the man instantly.

He watches as Arima tears through the last of the enemies in their immediate surroundings, while Mutsuki protects Saiko as the First Class delivers a devastating long range attack with her own Kagune, the power now amplified to a frightening level. They all stop fighting and turn to look at each other, the sudden silence unnerving. Hiyori looks at her brother. "You died… We all saw your body… So why? How are you here right now?" Arima smiles and pats her lovingly on the head, the display of emotion from the infamous Reaper causing Urie to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm here now thanks to Akhira Kanou… He's done a lot more good for this world, the same as Ken Kaneki, as you realize…" He looks around them. "Director Urie I assume now? It's been a long time, and you all look like adults now". He smiles wistfully, and in that moment Urie sees that Kishou Arima had at last been freed from his despair… The Island was safe for now. All that was left to do was wait until Kaneki had made his last move…

…

Kaneki stands in front of two large double doors upon the highest floor in the Hakka Tower in Tokyo's city centre. After the Clowns had eliminated the hidden snipers loaded with Q-Bullets, he had fought his way through the towers 300 floors, easily taking down the weak human guards stationed in every hallway. At last he had arrived. He pushes through into the lair of the Keeper…

He was waiting for the One Eyed Ghoul, sitting casually at his desk. The Keeper was a healthy looking ordinary human with clean cut brown and wavy hair, no wrinkles and looking around 33 years old. For someone who had lived over ten thousand years he was surprisingly spry. "Ken Kaneki. Welcome to my domain… I trust you had a pleasant journey yes?" Kaneki glares at the Keeper, tensing up and preparing to just decapitate the villainous politician right then and there. "Don't you think you've done enough already? If all you wanted was for me to come here then what was our last conversation even about? And why go to this length of invading the city? I guess none of that matters now. Your army is gone, and all that remain are my own men. You're finished, Keeper…"

The Keeper suddenly stops smiling and stares at Kaneki with a serious expression. "I believe you're mistaken Ken Kaneki. This is over when I say it's over, for I control every aspect of this world. I am above the Gods themselves! Can you really think yourself able to bring down a God?" He paces around to the back of his desk, slowly pressing the button on the strange device strapped to the underside. Kaneki frowns as the man pulls the device out into view. It looked like some kind of energy cell, but with pulsing red light and a button on top. As the One Eye looks on the Keeper presses the button with his thumb, an unseen shockwave immediately knocking Kaneki back a few steps. He hears a distant clap of thunder and from the wide window he could see a fine red mist rising from the city streets.

"What the hell did you just do?!" The Keeper shrugs. "I didn't really tell you everything about the origins of ghoul kind to tell the truth. Thing is… ten thousand years ago I wanted to make humanity suffer for its eternal sin against those of its own race. So I… forcibly divided them. I turned half the human race into what are now called Ghouls. Humanity had to turn on each other just to survive. And they spent ten thousand years warring with the others without even stopping to think about the truth?" He laughs gleefully. "This device is what I used to turn 47% of humanity into Ghouls. What I did just now was finish what I started back then…" Kaneki's eyes widen as the shocking reality dawns on him.

"I have just mutated the Rc Cells of all humans on earth by releasing this Rc Chemical Shockwave into the Atmosphere. That army that you just defeated? Look again…" Kaneki runs to the window and takes in the full view of Tokyo below them. The bodies of the dead Chinses soldiers and the Ghoulified Delta Force agents now rose to their feet, large Kagune coiling about their bodies as they leapt upon any other "ex-human" or Investigator in sight. People who had been walking the streets now lashed out at each other with Kagune in a blind panic. Screams of fear and anguish carried up to his ears.

Cracking his fingers Kaneki slowly turns to the Keeper, his eyes hidden by his messy white hair. "You will pay for what you have done, all of it… Prepare yourself, Keeper. For you are still a human!" He lunges towards the Keeper, his Kagune poised to stab in in the heart, but the politician raises his arm and before he can think, Kaneki is impaled on his arm, the Keepers fingers closing around his Kakahou.

"I won't accept just any mutated Kakahou… If I take yours, then that means that I become the One Eyed King… Farewell, Ken Kaneki, for this is the end for you…" He rips Kaneki's Kakahou right out of his body as he flings the One Eyed Ghoul through the window. Kaneki's vision pulses black as he falls through the sky, the Keeper staring impassively back down at him.

An insurmountable difference in power…

It felt like an eternity before Kaneki crashes onto the flagstones at the base of Hakka Tower, most of his bones breaking from the impact. And so there he lies in a pool of his own blood, despair threatening to accompany him through the Doors of Death for the last time…

…

Fujikisho had been revived by the Rc Chemical Bomb and was now more than twice his former size, Kakuja grossly overflowing in the form of countless limbs from his body. Kuzo's half eaten Kakuja lay at the One Eyes feet, Kuzo himself barely standing before him…

…

Urie had been taken by surprise when Adam had suddenly gotten back up and impaled him with his Kagune. If it hadn't been for Arima leaping in front of him, he would have been ripped in half, just as Arima now lay in two pieces in the grass. He grits his teeth in pain as he clutches his wounded chest and faces Adam smirking down at him as Hiyori wailed in despair…

Despair ran rampant throughout Tokyo that moment. The enemy was back, and stronger than ever. Humanity was a thing of the past as former friends tore into each other in a natural hunger for flesh. The One Eyed King lay dying at the steps to the tower of the Keeper. All was lost…

It all happened so fast.

One moment, Adam and his American Ghouls had been closing in for the kill, the next, they were all smoking carcasses as masked and robed assailants fell from the sky. Hiyori sniffs and stares in fear at the newcomers. "Aogiri Tree?" Urie shakes his head. "No. This is something else…"

One moment Fujikisho was holding Kuzo up by his neck, the next his Kakuja had been split down the middle, his real face emerging from the face of the Kakuja as it too split in half as he dropped Kuzo's body to the ground…

…

Kaneki is about to step into the Doors of Death as he hears faint echoing footsteps behind him. Suddenly he's thrown back into the world of the living, opening his eyes and struggling to turn his broken body so that he could see the group of newcomers floating down like angels. A familiar face leans over to stare at Kaneki in the face as he grins. "They messed you up good didn't they, Kaneki Ken?" It was Hanzo, of the Ghoul Sanctuary, and he had more than fifty Sentinels falling around him, joined by his brother Tashi, Damien Li and the Lords of the Sanctuary. Hanzo places a hand on Kaneki's chest. "You feel that? That's the life continuing to pump through your veins. Look here". He points to the hold in Kaneki's chest, which had already begun to heal over.

"How? He took my Kakahou…" Hanzo grins, clapping his hands. "Of course it's healing you idiot. You're the One Eyed King. Your whole body is your Kakahou… Who needs that lump of flesh anyway? Oh, and yeah…" He jerks a thumb behind him indicating the falling Sentinels of the Sanctuary.

"I brought some reinforcements"

"Sanctuary has entered the battle! Have the tables turned at last?"

End Tokyo Ghoul: Crimson 10

Next Time: Like Father like Son