The dim sunlight shined down on the wooden cross. The rotunda metal roof barely allowed light to pass. The burnt incense stood in front of the grave, while the small blue bundle of flowers sat beside the pot. Her pale-blue eyes were locked on the items, while his brown eyes did the same. He gripped his pale yellow beanie, and lowered it to his eyes.

"So, Drake was here?" asked Kota.

Alisa turned her head to the fellow member. "Yes, he was; after he left the party."

Kota released his beanie, and hanged his head. Gloom loomed on his face underneath his hat. He sighed remorsefully, thinking back to the party. Alisa spoke up and questioned, "Are you still bothered by what you did?"

Kota nodded with a painful expression. "I shouldn't have thrown that party for him."

Alisa shook her head at Kota. "None of us knew that Drake was planning to pay his respects to the deceased. Don't put yourself down."

"Yeah." He said miserably. "Hey, Alisa,"

"Yes?"

"Before the party, you said that you saw Drake's glare when he came into the main hall, right?"

She grimly answered, "…I did."

"I…see." Kota recollected the murderous cast. That dead, empty look in Drake's eyes; that heartless ice-cold sensation, the deep glowing crimson as he stared down Ricardo, and the slight blood dripping out of his mouth. Kota's teeth rattled a bit, as the image laid heavily on his head. He spoke up, trying to get it off. "Whose grave is this, Alisa?"

"From what I generally heard, this grave belongs to a person named, Clara Vincenzo. Unfortunately, I don't know who this person is."

"…"

"…"

The heavy silence continued for a few more minutes. The two young God Eaters gazed at the single lone grave. Breaking the tense atmosphere, Kota's phone vibrated. He pulled it out, finding a text message. "It's from Sakuya." he said.

"What did she say?"

"She says we need to head back to the den. The others want to share their findings. They're in doc's lab."

"Okay…"

The two young God Eaters trudged back to the secret entrance of the hidden tomb. Each crunching step inside the secret grave broke the quiet air. Alisa stopped, and looked back to the grave. All day we've been searching for Drake, and yet we still can't find anything that leads to him. All of us involved are trying to find clues to his whereabouts; however, the more we clues we find, the more questions are raised. Especially, how he sustained that wound back there… We need to find him, and quick…Without his armlet, the oracle cells…

"Alisa! What are you doing over there?" called Kota.

"Sorry Kota! I'm coming!" Alisa quickly left the hidden tomb. As she stepped out, the bright sunset entered her vision. She glanced over to the red-orange sky, while a light wind gently blows her silver hair. Drake…please be okay…

Alisa and Kota entered Sakaki's lab. As they entered, Soma and Federico were sitting on the couch, while Sakuya and Lindow were standing beside Sakaki. The first one to greet them was Sakaki. He sat on his chair, surrounded by the computers and keyboards.

"Ah, there you are. Did you happen to find anything while you were there?"

Alisa shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. No traces or any new signs in the area. We even asked a few of the civilians if they have seen Drake, but no one has."

"I see...Alisa; you mentioned that that place is some sort of secret grave. Exactly whose is it?"

"A person named Clara Vincenzo. A woman, I believe." she answered. "Before Drake spotted me, I overheard him saying that it has been eighteen years since she has passed away."

Federico's ears jerked at that statement.

"18 years…but that's inconsistent with his age. Drake is 17." said Sakaki.

All of a sudden, Federico jumped up from his seat. With a shocked face, he nervously reaffirms Alisa's words. "Wait a minute. Did you just say…Vincenzo?"

Bewildered by Federico's expression, Alisa responded, "Yes. Do you know about Clara Vincenzo?"

Federico lowered his head. Anxiety slowly materialized on his face. His lips trembled, his face stated to sweat, while his eyes widened by what he just he heard. He muttered to himself, "Oh my god…this is absurd…"

"Federico, what's wrong?" called Alisa.

He stayed silent for bit. With a pained expression, he sighed deeply, and with a cold hard voice, he replied, "Clara Vincenzo is the daughter of the Vincenzo family."

"Who are the Vincenzo's?" asked Soma.

"They're the most ruthless mafia family in Italy. Almost nobody at my home country talks about them, or even dares to gossip about it. The Vincenzo's are the head of an international, underground economy. A black market in this case."

"What's the name of the black market?" asked Sakuya.

"Dalarik." replied Federico.

"Dala-what?" questioned Kota.

"Dah-lair-ick." he pronounced. "And it's not just your typical deals on the side. In Italy, this underground economy is known to trade, sell, or smuggle any kind of dangerous services or items. And by any kind, I mean any kind of illegal trades."

"Such as...?"

"Drugs, weapons, restricted info, assassination projects, terrorist bombing; the list goes on and on. What's more, it gets more ghastly as it does. Any kind of illegal or dangerous trades are shared and sold among that underground economy. I can't even imagine the most horrible ones in there."

Kota mumbled to himself, "I've never heard of anything like this…"

"Neither have I." added Sakuya.

Sakaki listened closer to Federico's explanation, silent.

Lindow spoke up, asking what everyone is thinking, "If it's that dangerous and illegal as you say, how come almost all of us never heard of Dalarik?"

"That's mainly because Dalarik hides its trail. All evidence that leads to their tracks are demolished. Even the smallest shred of evidence are destroyed, and is never to be seen again. That includes people as well, if they are unaware of the dangers."

"If? What do you mean?" Lindow raised an eyebrow.

"Let me give you an example….We know that all merchants record their sold items, correct?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, business purposes, right?"

Federico nodded. "Right, however, what if the merchant is not allowed to personally record the sold merchandise, but send it by word only to the Vincenzo's. However, the merchant writes down a list of his traded items. And if, IF there was a soldier searching for a clue on Dalarik, what would happen if that soldier finds the recorded sold merchandise? What do you think the Vincenzo's would do, once they find that tiny illegal info is leaked out?"

Lindow began to process Federico's question. He recollected his words, trying to figure out the hints. As he found the solution, his eyes widened. "…..Wait! You don't mean!"

Federico nodded with a solemn face. "Yes. They silently assassinate the merchant and along with the soldier. What's more, their deaths would be covered up as well."

Almost everyone in the room gasped at Federico's answer. The room came into a stiff silence, unable to process their heads on what they just heard. A few began to picture the situation; they shuddered at the image in their head.

Alisa then broke the dead air, "But, that's insane!" she commented. "If they're that dangerous, how come nobody, not even Fenrir, has noticed the Vincenzo's and Dalarik?"

"Your wrong about that Alisa." answered Sakaki. She turned her head, facing him. "There have been rumors in HQ about an international black market in Italy. Some say that the Fenrir headquarters have been 'hounding' at them to arrest them, however…"

"However?" echoed Alisa.

"The Fenrir headquarters were unable to continue their pursuit. As Federico mentioned before, there was lack of evidence. There's no doubt that the Vincenzo family, denied any accusations that Fenrir threw at them. Because of that, the headquarters were unable to back up their claims."

Kota growled at Sakaki, "So what? Because they're unable to find anything on Dala-whatever, Fenrir can't arrest them?"

"Unfortunately, yes. You can't accuse someone without proving it. If there is nothing to back up their claim, Fenrir HQ would just be a hit and run arsonist."

"…." Kota hanged his head, powerless to counter Sakaki's words.

Sakaki pushed up his glasses. "Let's not worry about that for now. What we need are clues on Drake's whereabouts. Federico, is there anything else you can tell us about Clara Vincenzo?"

Federico began to contemplate. After a few seconds, he responded, "I only know rumors about her death. From what I heard, she died due to a heart attack. Nobody knows how though."

"Okay, and who is the current CEO of Dalarik?"

"A man who goes by the name, Mario Vincenzo; I don't know anything about him though." shrugged Federico.

"…I think that will do for now. Also, one more thing… what did you find out during the conversation between Drake and Ricardo?"

"I heard Ricardo talking about something called, 'Pulsation of the Infinite.' He also mentioned about the oracle cells failing to destroy it. Other than that, those two were cursing at each other."

"I see…Thank you, Federico." nodded Sakaki. He turned his shifty-eyed face to Lindow and Soma. "Lindow, Soma? Did you find anything during your investigation?"

Lindow produced a huge red armlet from his pocket; it was placed in a sealed plastic bag. Lindow gave it to Sakaki, as he examined the red bracelet through the bag. Alisa grimly watched as he did so. "Soma and I found this by the entrance's doors. I had the medical unit do further tests on Drake's armlet."

"And?"

"The only thing they found, were a few scratch marks, and an imprinted dirt mark. I asked Soma to ask a few of the medical team members to check the damages on the main floor." Lindow turned to the veteran beside him.

"Drake's blood on the floor had a trace to the entrance's doors. There was also some sort of imprint on the floor. What's more, that grenade he used back there contained chloroform."

"Chloroform? What's that?" asked Kota.

"Chloroform is a type of molecular compound chemical that is able to temporarily knock out another person for a short duration. It's an anesthetic or a sleeping tool used for surgery purposes. You'll be unconscious by just taking a small whiff of it; a few seconds for a small dose would do." explained Sakaki. "And because of that grenade…"

"…we got knocked out." said Soma, as he finished Sakaki's sentence. "It's the same one Ricardo used when he ambushed us. Also, they gave me this." Soma presented a photo and gave it to Sakaki.

As the doctor examined it, he saw an enlarged bloody hand print on the entrance's doors. The hand print was slightly smeared. The only one who bled heavily was him. "This bloody hand print is Drake's, correct?"

Soma gave a nod.

His shifty-eyed face slightly opened, glaring at the picture. Everyone has mentioned how his eyes glowed after he was shot. But what puzzles me the most is that shot. The odds of enduring that shot, is close to none. I wonder…. "Sakuya, about the security system…For the cameras, did you and Hibari managed to find any recordings?"

"Just one. Since the security system was hacked, the cameras were not able to record the ambush, and we only managed to salvage this." Sakuya pulled out a small silver disk. "Though, the room was a little visually impaired because of the gas." She gave Sakaki the disk.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" With a push of a button on his keyboard, a disk tray from one of his computer hard drives opened. He stood up from his chair, placed the disk. As it closed, Sakaki swiveled one of his monitors, having it face the others.

The screen showed black and grey fuzz; it later cleared up, and showed the main hall. The upper part of the main floor covered itself with a grey, foggy gas. Going through the gas, a familiar figure ran down the stairs. He had his arm over his mouth and was repeatedly coughing. His dark orange dress shirt was sullied with blood, along with his dark grey blazer. As he came down to the lower floor, he placed his hand on a nearby rail. Collapsing to his knees, he showed the back of his dark-blue, spiky hair.

*cough* *cough* "Argh, damn it!" He lifted his face, scarlet eyes shown, with a bloodied mouth. He breathed heavily from his wounds, with sweat dropping from his forehead. Drake turned his head over to the missionary desk, while he awkwardly strode to it and climbed over the counter. He began typing furiously at the computer, panting with a pained expression.

"What's he doing?" asked Kota.

"Damn it! How the hell did he managed to steal the security system?!"

"Impressive trick, Cain." Bellowed a voice.

Drake swiveled his body, as the stifled, sneering voice entered his ears.

The others twitched, and cringed at the all the too familiar voice, as they continued watching. He sluggishly walked down on the stairs; with each footstep nearing, the steps felt louder and louder, heavier and heavier. Horror slithered up everyone's necks, as he finally came into vision on the screen. The trademark mask faced Drake.

"Quite the quick fingers you have back there." he mocked.

"That's because the bones in your body are starting to slow down. Time takes a toll on your age." While confronting Ricardo, Drake pushed two buttons simultaneously on the keyboard. He hurled over the desk, whilst locking his eyes on the masked man.

"That doesn't apply to me." With swift speed, Ricardo closed the short distance, and in mere moments, he spun, kicking Drake on the side of his body, with the use of his heel. Drake got launched by Ricardo's powerful kick, and got sent flying nearby the entrance's doors. He skidded on the metal floor, sprawled on the side of his body.

He was about to get up, only to be interrupted by Ricardo's battle yell. "HYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jumping high in the air, with his fist drawn out, he displayed it at Drake and was about to crush him. Drake rolled to the side, getting up on his feet while doing so. Ricardo smashed his fist on the metal ground, and as he slowly lifted his fist, the metal ground revealed a knuckle imprint. He cracked his knuckles loudly with his other hand.

Drake hurled himself at Ricardo, preparing to tackle him; however, Ricardo hooked Drake's shoulder. As he did, he flipped over Drake's back, and as he came behind, he pulled Drake, choking him at the neck.

Drake gagged at the sudden, rough, tug at his neck.

Ricardo threw the leader down to the ground, tossing Drake on his front body. As he did so, Drake had his face pinned to the side on the ground, by Ricardo's hand. The two struggled, as Drake forced to lift his head, having Ricardo forcibly push his head down. Ricardo dug in his pocket whilst holding Drake, producing a small silver ball. As he did, he threw it at Drake's neck; it exploded, and ice crystals materialized, trapping Drake's head to the ground.

"What is that?!" gasped Sakuya.

The crystals hardened in just a few seconds, making an ice collar. Drake struggled to lift his head once more, only realizing it got wedged down.

"The hell is this, Ricardo?!" demanded Drake.

"Oh please, do I even need to explain what it is?" he scoffed.

Sakaki whispered to himself, as he observed the video with the others. "Some sort of ice-grenade able to freeze at absolute zero temperature?... No, but that would kill Drake's neck and head when coming in on direct contact; what's more, how is it that ice grenade able to lock him?…"

"I suggest you stop being so difficult Cain; it's better for the missing pup to be back with his master, or the lost property to be handed back to his original owner."

"Awww, what's wrong, Ricardo? Do you miss the little puppy that bit you in the culo?" scorned Drake. Using his arms, he began to lift his body in a push–up like position, attempting to free himself from the ice-collar.

Ricardo, however, stood up; he stepped over to Drake's right wrist, and in the next few seconds, Ricardo stomped on Drake's armlet, firmly crushing it with his foot, and grinding it on the ground. Drake collapsed at the attack.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As the others hear Drake's blood-curdling scream, they grimaced at the very sight. That screeching terror sound, clawed at everyone's eardrums. The team became horrified at the fierce, violent, torture Ricardo inflicted.

Alisa gripped on her arm; Kota instinctively held his armlet; Soma clutched on one of his ears; Sakuya shut her eyes and looked away; Lindow bared his teeth, seething at the video; Federico gave a slight whimper; Sakaki faintly opened his shifty eyes.

Drake's armlet showed sparks of electricity, along with a few black tentacles wrapping a bit of his arm.

*pant* *pant* "…DamMiTT!...RicArdO!.."

Ricardo continued crunching Drake's armlet on the ground. "Did you forget what I said, Cain? I'll pay you back for what you did, only this time, the pain will be 1000 times worse." He began to place more pressure on Drake's armlet.

"UUUURRAAGGGH…" Drake squirmed at the pain; he gritted his teeth as the pain began to chew off the feel of his arm.

"Do tell me Cain, why is it that you're with Fenrir?"

"What do you think I've done all these years, Ricardo?"

Ricardo kicked Drake hard in the stomach.

"Ooof!"

"Even after all these years you still haven't changed one bit. The only thing that has changed is you smiling and laughing like it's nothing. I guess it's true what they say; the greatest people usually bear the most painful emotions."

"Shut…it…Ricardo…."

"I must praise you for your endurance. I wonder if you will still act the same, if there was a repeat."

Repeat? What does he mean? Thought Alisa.

"The young woman with the silver hair…she reminds me of another woman in your life."

"Stop it…" Drake whispered. His body trembled along with his hands clawing at the ground.

"She has the same pale-blue eyes as her. What was her name again? Alisa, was it?"

"Stop it…Ricardo…."

"Maybe she may face the same fate as Clara Vincenzo."

In the next few moments, a cracking sound, like that of a shattered glass, resounded through the air. Ricardo was then sent flying by a tackle in the chest. Being pushed by the strong force, he rolled backwards on the floor; while doing so, he flipped his body, and later gained his balance on his feet.

With pure cold, malice in his eyes, and the faint glow of his crimson orbs, Drake uttered in a low growling voice, "RICARDO, DIE BY MY HAND." Drake charged to Ricardo, appearing in front of his chest. With his left hand, Drake made his fingers close together side by side, making them point straight.

He pulled back his arm, and as he launched it forward, Drake directly stabbed Ricardo in the heart.

End of chapter 8: Bare Your Fangs