Chapter 1

Kaneki stood in front of a tall mirror, shirtless. He was alone in the bedroom of his modest house. Touka was busy playing with their daughter, Ichika. And he had things to ponder. He needed to be alone.

He looked at the bruise across his right ribs. He normally had fast healing abilities, but this injury was taking a little longer to heal. And rightfully so, his daughter had a hard punch.

But Ken knew she hadn't meant it, his daughter had been under the influence of the Shadow Lord. The leader of a new Ghoul syndicate, simply called "LORD", who wanted to dethrone "The One-Eye King", namely Kaneki.

Fuck them, Ken thought, as his ghoul eyes glowered red hot. And no one touches my family!

His tentacles began to emerge from his lower back, but he quickly kept his emotions in check. He could get pretty hot when it came to protecting his family and friends.

He shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, then let out a heavy breath, then took another, and his tentacles returned to within his body. Sometimes, his body would move on its own and attack. Touka told him he was overprotective.

Something else flooded his mind, as he slowly opened his eyes, as the memory of what transpired prior filled his conscious thoughts—and he was never going to forget it.

Betrayal! One of his own from GOAT had betrayed him to the Shadow Lord.

Just then, he heard the doorbell. He knew Touka would answer it, and he knew who it would be, his best friend Hide. And just then, he felt a pang of guilt.
Thanks to him, Hide's face has been brutally mangled. Hide bore no grudge, but Ken still felt he had to redeem himself.

He put on a black t-shirt, and went down to the main floor to greet his friend, who had his daughter nestled in his arms. Hide wore a mask over his face to cover up his deformity. Every time Ken saw it, his heart sank. It was a consistent reminder of what he did, how many lives were affected, even wiped out when his transformation took place—destroying a great deal of Tokyo, unconsciously sending him into a frenzy. And almost killing Hide!

Ken faked a smile, but he was glad to see his friend. He was glad that he was alive. They had been through so much together.

"Hey, buddy," Hide said unceremoniously. He was the only who didn't bow before the One-Eye King, or offer officious greeting. And Ken accepted it. Hide was family, and a brother by friendship and by blood. "Boy, Ichika's gotten big, or maybe I'm getting weaker." He laughed. "Where's the other tike?" Hide put Ken's daughter down, looked around.

Touka put a finger to her mouth. "Sleeping," she said.

"Oh," Hide said with a nod.

"You're stronger than I'll ever be, Hide." And Ken gave his friend a hug, padded his hands on his back. The Shadow Lord had almost killed him, too. Ken held onto him a moment longer, then let go. Ken pulled back with tears in his eyes.

"Oh boy, he comes the water works again," Hide said sarcastically.

Ken wiped his eyes, as Touka smiled. "He's always doing that," she said.

"Touka," Ken said embarrassed, wiping his face with an arm. "Even a King as feelings."

Touka smiled. "That he does." She picked up their daughter, when she held out her arms. "Its time for someone's bath."

"Oh, you lucky dog!" Hide elbowed Ken. "A king's privilege, no doubt."

Touka shook her head. "I meant our daughter. You have a dirty mind, Hide."

Hide shrugged with what looked like a smile under his mask.

"I'll let you two scheme a bit, then you can tell me what you have in mind for that SOB, the Shadow Lord," Touka said with a serious tone. "I want his ass on a platter."

"So do I," Ken said, with a nod. "He tried to kill Hide and Ichika to get to me, to get my kinship." His eyes glowered. "But he's going to find out just how dangerous I can be."

Touka went upstairs as Hide and Ken sat down in the living room of the house. There was a big screen over the stone built fireplace with a muted program of some cartoon his daughter had been watching. Ken switched it off and sat down in a single chair, crossing one leg.

Hide brought out a laptop from a shoulder pouch he brought with him and opened it. His fingers danced over the keyboard for a few seconds, then he swivelled it to face Ken. "I've managed to map Seidou's last couple of sightings in and around the criminal underworld. I, and others, have been busy."

Ken leaned in, uncrossing his leg. "Indeed, you have. We'll get that traitor."

"The 'Owl' normally comes out at night, but lately he's been hiding in the shadows."

"As he should be."

He took the computer in hand and made a mental map with the information, then cross referenced it with the city grid. Back in the day, his intelligence was more of a hindrance than an asset, he got picked on. Now, he used his finely tuned mind to his advantage.

Ken had to control himself from crushing Hide's computer in anger. Seidou had sought an advantage with the Shadow Lord, but now Ken wanted him to pay. He took a deep breath.

When he was training with Aogiri Tree, he knew he had to bring all his abilities to bare, including his crisp mind, and in part to his past, he was now able to formulate a plan of attack within moments.

After his daughter and Hide had been kidnapped, he went on a rampage to get them back, eventually locating the Shadow Lord's hideout. The Shadow Lord was a ghoul, but he also half human, and his intention was to rule both world's with fear and intimidation.

Ken remembered how his daughter had become brainwashed and that's how he got the bruise on his ribs. Hide had been encased in a capsule, surrounded with wiggling tentacles, whisking up from the bottom, and they were—

Ken shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. It was disgusting!

Ken blinked, and looked at his friend.

Hide was waving his hands across his face. "Hello, buddy…Earth to Ken. You zoned out there."

Ken smiled, putting the computer down. "Sorry, I had a flashback. Just the mention of the Shadow Lord infuriated me. And the moment I found you in the capsule…"

Hide leaned back on the couch, his eyes glancing up at the ceiling. "Yeah, those 'things' were nasty. The Shadow Lord is sick." He shivered. "Those things were all over me, in places—nothing should ever be! I hate prostate exams!"

Ken chuckled.

"But we survived," Hide said happily, draping his arms across the back of the couch. "And thanks to my best buddy in the world."

"Nothing ever phases you, does it?"

Hide smiled back. "Almost nothing. Hey, why fret? I've been 'almost' dead twice."

Ken sighed sombrely.

"And don't you go blaming yourself, Ken. Both incidents were out of your control. You didn't ask for what happened to you. Life's shit something's, you just gotta roll with it."

Ken laughed.

"What's so funny?"

The image of Hide rolling in shit was just too funny not to laugh at.

Just then, another knock came at the front door. Both of them looked—as a black tentacle suddenly crashed through it, and nearly implied Kaneki in the chest, slicing through the chair he precious sat in, jumping away in the nick of time.

The door burst forth from its hinges as a shadowy figure sent four black tentacles at Kaneki in quick succession, in what appeared to be an assassination coup. Three went for Ken, one for Hide—which Kaneki blocked.

With his own counterattack, Ken thrust his own tentacles at the attacker, which emerged on instinct. His blood red, fat tentacles were fast and stronger, and quickly gutted the assassin in the chest and lower region, ripping his intestines and limbs apart.

Ken then devoured the carcass, sucking up the flesh and juices with his tentacles. His stomach gurgled. Hide emerged unhurt from behind the couch. He had seen enough things of this sort for it not to make him sick anymore.

"What the hell was that?" Touka's voice rang out as she came bounding down the stairs, her hands soaked. Their daughter was obviously in the bath. Crying was heard from upstairs, their second child—from the godawful noise.

"Assassin," Kaneki answered stoically, "but I took care of him." He put his hand to his mouth and let out an involuntary belch.

And he knew of one of many more to come.

"Oh, very nice," Touka said, and looked at the busted door frame. She seemed unconcerned, as if this were a routine occurrence. "Well, fix that door. We don't need some any old ghoul wandering into our home. There are some weirdos out there."

Ken and Hide smiled together, as Toga went back upstairs to deal with the children. "Yes, dear," Kenaki replied smartly with a thin smile.

Hide went to lift the door, but Ken beat him to it, using his tentacles. He positioned the door perfectly, then used some substance he secreted from his tentacles to adhere the door firmly. It would only be temporary.

"Have to admit, those things do come in handy," Hide remarked. "Offensive, defensive, even home DIY." He smiled under his mask, the sides of his eyes told Kenaki that it was a broad one. He wasn't afraid. Ken would always protect him. He was the only human to be a full member of GOAT, and he was respected all around.

Just then, Kaneki leaned over and heaved, feeling his churn. Serious gurgling followed, like he had eaten something past its prime.

"You okay?" Hide asked, bending over him.

"Might be indigestion," Ken answered, wiping his lips. He had a bad, indescribable taste in his mouth. "Not everything a ghoul eats is fine cuisine. A lot is rancid rat droppings. I can't enjoy food like I used to. What I wouldn't give to taste a typical hamburger again."

"Who knows what diseases that assassin had, we couldn't see his face beneath that shroud."

Ken agreed. When, all of sudden, he folded over and heaved again, regurgitating more of what he had eaten. Hide leapt out of the way as a flood of liquid and chunks of what was once a ghoul spattered all over the floor. It was like a tidal wave of human waste.

"Oh man, I think I'm gonna be sick," Hide said, cupping his mouth, and then he was, and vomited next to the couch—quickly taking off his mask.

Ken vomited a third time and something inorganic came out and onto the floor, covered in organic fluids and other nasty juices. But that seems to have been the end of it.

Hide approached, wiping his face without the mask.

Ken sat back and lifted the item. It looked like a small USB slug, white in colour. Ken turned it over him his hand and without even thinking of what Touka would say, wiped it off on his clean shirt. The smell was awful.

"Play it," Kaneki said, almost as if it were an order, as he quickly cleaned up the mess, using his tentacles to sweep the floor, not ingesting the bits, but picking them up, and then getting a trash bag to eject the contents within, tying it closed.

Hide put his mask back on and popped the protected cap off of the slug, then inserted it into a computer port. Ken ventured over, steadying himself on his feet. The dead ghoul still left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"My guess, that ghoul was some sort of throwaway just to deliver this."

Ken licked his lips. "There are better ways to deliver a message," he said plainly, as he stood next to Hide. Hide clicked on the icon that identified the new device.

A video popped up. The shadowy image of the Shadow Lord filled the screen, dressed all in red. He was bald as an egg with red, penetrating eyes. He looked like a zombified human being, with a deep scar running down the right side of his face. It was a gift from Kaneki from their last encounter. Ken wished he has killed the bastard, but he didn't have time. He had to get his daughter and Hide out of the facility before it exploded.

Kenaki reminded every moment and ounce of guile he had to use to outwit the Shadow Lord to defeat him. He thought the man had died in the explosion, but no such luck.

Ghouls don't die so easily.

"If you watching this, King, then you killed my messenger." The Shadow Lord laughed. There was an old adage: don't kill the messenger, but obviously this was the Shadow Lord's intention. "I offer you a chance at redemption, and I'm sure you'll jump at the chance. By now the entire ghoul community is aware of what transpired between us, and if I'm not mistaken, not being able to kill me gives the One-Eye King of the Ghouls a bad reputation. But of course, there are always limits on revenge."

Ken's eyes burned with rage. But if the Shadow Lord knew him at all, he'd know that he was a more cultivated King. "He can't con me by playing to my emotions," Kaneki said, crossing his arms. But he squeezed his fists, digging his black nails into his palms, anyway.

Hide nodded.

"Kidnapping your daughter was just the tip of the iceberg, as humans say," the Shadow Lord went on. "My real target was someone else entirely, your dear friend Hide. When he was my prisoner, I enjoyed playing with him."

Hide shivered all over. "It wasn't fun for me!"

Ken unfolded his arms.

"When I took him, I implanted a generic code into his body with a tiny explosive marker," the Shadow Lord said wily. "It's the latest in DNA advances, generic-specific. He can be killed at any time. If you wish to save your friend, you'll answer my challenge. The minute this video was viewed, it sent a signal to me via wireless waves. The clock is ticking. You have twelve hours to give me your answer. If you refuse, you can play hide and seek with your friend's Hide's body parts." The Shadow Lord laughed maniacally. "Oh, and if you're looking for Seidou, he's with me. He may be half ghoul, but he is also have human—with human emotions. Unstable he may be, he wants to pay you back ten fold for turning him."

"It wasn't me who turned him," Ken said to the screen, as if the Shadow Lord heard him.

Then the video ended.

"Jesus Christ!" Hide said, feeling himself over, as if the act detect the marker. "The man's a lunatic!"

"Don't worry, Hide," Kaneki said, "you're not going to die. I guarantee it! As for the Shadow Lord and Seidou, in twelve hours, they'll both feel my full wrath!"
His tentacles, still outside of his body, wiggled about, in tune with his emotions, and as he got angry, and his eyes darkened with fury, so did the colour of his appendices—a dark blood red.

Limits on revenge? Ken thought. Fuck them! There are no limits, not with me!

To be continued...