The Downer

After Shido came Kazuki and Juubei.

Tsunade pointedly stared at the pair, her intuition sensing what only Juubei knows as of now.

'Kazuki...if you're willing to take 1 billion from me to fix his eyes, you can still save it within the week, you know.' she piped up as she earned incredulous looks.

'1 Billion?!' Kazuki yelped in a high-pitched voice at the horror of the amount she's willing to give away. 'And his eyes aren't hit...wait...' he quickly looked at Juubei. 'Juubei?!'

Given the man's knowledge of the human anatomy and his fighting style, that's possible!

'Ahaha, I hit a pressure point that causes blindness...'

'YOU MOROOON!' was Kazuki's horrified outburst.

'...he's our samurai boy alright. A true moron.' Shido scratched his head. 'I guess that means its Kazuki's turn to play in the casino for you to earn his money for those eyes.'

'Sigh...traditional folks sure are a pain.' Tsunade shook her head.

Suddenly, the gramps' computer went on a fritz with a powerful electric surge. 'Wah?!'

That, was no ordinary surge and they recognize that bolt anywhere...

'That surge...no mistaking it...its Raitei.' Emishi shuddered as he had several memory flashbacks on how dangerous the man is when against you. 'Ginji-han's back to his old self now, nobody can stop him now...' he murmured in terror.

Its not just him. They all had horrifying memories that they were glad Ginji was on their side.

'Looks like we got a job.' Shido grunted as he and Tsunade stood up and got around the shop's furniture to head to the door. 'Only one man can stop him now but the thing is he's being stalled.'

'No shit, we break up their date now so he can stop Raitei or he'll be the one to toast us first before Makubex gets to use his gizmo!' Tsunade gasped out. 'Eyepatch-kun clearly has a history with him...ride me on my back Shido! I'm gonna fly!'

'Right!'

'...does she have any idea how weird that sounded?' Emishi sputtered, red-faced as the two are outside. 'Ride her on her back, she says! She could have just said 'let's fly'!'

'...I can see why.' said Ren, looking out the windows. 'He's on her back like a magic carpet. I knew she could fly but seeing it first-hand...wow...' she crowed in amazement.

'Can they really stop him?' Emishi wondered helplessly. 'If he's that same Raitei, he's nigh unstoppable until all he deems an enemy is dead.'

'But one man stopped him.' said Kazuki softly. 'They'll give that man a chance. Only he can stop Raitei.' he said. 'I think I'm starting to understand now...why Mido Ban took him away.'

xxx

Back in the Underground...

'Mido! Reinforcements are here!' Tsunade yelled as she and Shido arrived. 'Stop Raitei now!' she cried frantically.

'Thanks! I can't get away from this bastard!' Ban yelled back.

'LOOK AT ME AND ONLY ME MIDOOO!' Fudou howled as he was about to stab him with the remains of his prosthetic blades as Ban festroyed his entire prosthetic arm and broke some organs in the process but Shido and Tsunade jumped on him. 'AAAARGH!'

Ban bolted for it.

'Let's stop this rampaging beast, shall we?' Shido grinned as he and Tsunade utilized the Wolf Form to utterly kill him. 'Hmm, you're learning well Tsunade.' he said, seeing her version. 'You'll be a clansmen in all but blood in no time flat.'

'Really?' Tsunade perked up, happy that Shido considered her family.

'Really.' Shido chuckled, ruffling her hair. 'Well, we have little time left till your thirteenth birthday, lets work a bit harder because your Independence Age is coming soon.'

'Independence Age...huh...?'

In the Mariudo Tribe, you're considered a young adult. You are to move out of home, and live your own life as you perfect skills taught to you. At 15, you must marry and create a family. Life was simple: women looks after the nest, men provides for the family with goods enough for living. There are also festivals once in a while but in the now-destroyed Mariudo Clan, that is now impossible...so Shido takes her out to festivals in Tokyo instead to compensate.

Tsunade wanted to stay with Shido forever but given how things work...at least, she supposed, he gave her the happy family she wanted that those four years...were a bliss to her.

They proceeded for the next room but...

Fudou multiplied. So did his insane obsession for Ban.

'Uhhh...?' Tsunade gawked. 'Do I let loose now?'

'You should because we got no time for this.'

Cue a powerful tornado of fire that melted the walls and the ceiling of the room they were in, destroying the illusions. 'There! With no way to project his illusions in this room, we need not worry at all!' Tsunade grinned.

'Melt the next couple of rooms too while you're at it!' Shido yelled as they left.

Minutes later, Emishi and Kazuki arrived to see the melted room.

'What the?!'

'...Tsunade-chan's strong enough to melt concrete now? Scary...'

That, and they were glad she has no split-personality like Ginji does. They prefer electrocution over...what this room went through.

xxx

En route, joining up with Akabane, Ban and Ginji...there's so many Virtual Akabanes all over the place.

'OK? Aren't you honored that Makubex thinks you're the strongest so he's using your copies to deter us?' Shido asked him wryly as they fought the clones.

'Well, its pretty weird that I'm killing myself...' Akabane purred, rather enjoying it. 'But really, I wish he could have done better.' he said as in an instant, the whole room is cleared.

Soon, they arrived at a door with Kagami in front.

'Yo.' he greeted.

'What now, Host-Boy?' Ban frowned. 'You here to pick a fight with us?'

'Ahaha, I'm here to observe, along with one other task.' said Kagami. 'Only one is not allowed entry. The rest may proceed.'

'What?!' Ginji gasped out. 'Who's not allowed in?' he cried indignantly.

'Its me.' said Tsunade. 'If he is the brain, I am the heart. He can never calculate what the heart can do, can't do, will do, won't do, and might do. He wants me out of the way.' she said blandly. 'A special glass prison only the likes of Mido and Akabane can physically break can't contain me, he decided on a human prison next. Honestly...'

'That's how it is so we'll just be spectators for now.' Kagami smiled. 'You may proceed.'

'Maa maa...even without us around, as long as the Get Backers are here, we win, hands down. My being left behind here, is pointless.' Tsunade snorted. 'Go.'

They did.

'They left you just like that?' Kagami pouted.

'Of course. We're professionals. They see me as their equal and I'm capable of taking care of myself so they need not worry about me.' said Tsunade as she took out a box of Apollo Choco-Strawberry and opened it before twitching. 'I-it melted...'

'Well, you use fire after all, of course it'll melt.' Kagami snickered and he dodged said chocolate chucked at him. 'Well now, I'll see your flames another time, ojousan. Watching it through a computer just isn't enough for me.'

'Jeez, aren't you obsessed!'

'They said its beautiful compared to typical fire~'

xxx

Later, there's clearly a hacked broadcast, reason why Makubex did what he did...to the point that it pushed him into creating the bomb.

'Well...that's how it ends, huh?' Kagami mused.

'That's why I said it'll end with our win.' Tsunade smirked. 'So what're you gonna do next?'

'I've seen enough.' Kagami chuckled. 'Next time, I want to see your flames. They make it sound otherworldly ethereal that in a world like Mugenjou...truth is stranger than fiction.' and he walked away.

'...heh...' Tsunade then went inside to join her colleagues.

Later...

'Akabane's mad about something...' Tsunade mused as the last job was for Akabane and Himiko to deliver the goods to the client.

'No kidding, why is he so mad?' Himiko mumbled as they left to meet the client Ban contacted Hevn to contact since they got it back.

'What is it Kazuki?' Shido asked as Kazuki looked behind them.

'Ah, iya...it fet like somebody called me. Must be my imagination.'

'Huh.' Shido scoffed as in reality they heard nothing, someone certainly did call Kazuki in Mugenjou. But they were far enough that they can only be heard by 'imagination'.

They can't hear the voice of a person who is not real.

'So what do you think about the I.L the transporter is carrying?' he said.

'With that disk, anyone can create a Nuclear Bomb.' said Kazuki. 'Having it fall into the hands of the government would ensure Japan will join the Arms Race.'

'I don't like the sound of that.' Shido remarked. 'According to Makubex, that disk has powerful Copy Protection so that's the only I.L there is.'

'Yeah, we can't let it fall into the hands of our clients.' Kazuki agreed as its for Japan's own sake. 'Tsunade, we're going to meet our client but what do you think?'

'They'll try...and fail...to pull a fast one on us.' Tsunade smirked at them.

By the meeting area where Hevn and the masked guys waited for them...

'To do this job in two days...good work.' said one of the masked men. 'Now, give us the disk.'

"Hey Jackal, are you really going to give them it?" Himiko wondered nervously as really, none of them really wanted to give it back...

'Ban-chan, are you sure about this?' Ginji whispered to Ban.

'Shut up.' said Ban. 'Haven't you noticed the bloodlust under our feet?' he said as the men checked its certification.

'Mm. This is the real thing...now, time for us to finish our job...' said the leader of the officials darkly. 'Since you all know what I.L is, I'm afraid we can't let you leave alive.'

'I'm afraid its YOU who won't leave here alive.' Tsunade stated coldly as she burned the clients alive as men jumped out of the ground, armed to the teeth.

'UWAAAAAHHHH!'

'H-hey you can't kill our clients!' Hevn cried.

'To be fair they were gonna kill us.' Ban lit up a cigarette. 'Besides...its as they say...' he said as Akabane handled the kill squad after them. 'Those who know of I.L can't leave here alive. We just choose who's gonna die, that's all. Tsunade, make sure they're ashes.'

'Yes yes.' Tsunade burned the corpses to ashes with a snap of her fingers.

'Well, this job was great fun, that's payment enough.' said Akabane as the flames consumed the bodies. 'Perhaps you can find uses for the disk now.' and he walked away.

'Gotta go, I got a next job too.' said Himiko as she left as well.

'Let's go home too.' said Shido. 'In the end, we never got paid or then again, the pay is chump change anyway.'

'Sou ne...and I have to work for Juubei's eyes too...' Kazuki mused but Tsunade's smile is too...creepy...

He found himself feeling the chills, and he gulped nervously.

Kazuki found himself dressed as a classy lady in a casino, flirted at by men left and right as he played for Juubei's hospital money.

"Why do I have to wear a dress?!"

'That's mean of you, Tsunade.' said Shido as they watched from afar.

'But you gotta admit, doesn't he look gorgeous? He looks better than models on runways and catwalks.' Tsunade squealed as she she turned on the radio for relaying instructions.

'Yes but...he's a guy.'

'Who cares?'

By the end of the day, Kazuki earned over one billion yen, and Shido escorted the blinded Juubei with Sakura to a hospital room Tsunade procured. A private room with Cable TV, aircon, and big sofas for Sakura and Kazuki to sleep in at night.

'Well, here we are.' said Kazuki. The place is big enough for about five people to visit at a time. 'Thanks for all this guys.'

'No problem!' Tsunade chirped. 'I got my pay for my help anyway!' she squealed, caressing her cell phone happily that made Kazuki twitch and a strain on his smile showed.

'Eh? How much did Kazuki pay you?' Juubei asked her.

'Well...'

'ITS A SECRET!' Kazuki yelled as he really did NOT want them to know 'how' he paid the Gambling Lord for her help.

xxx

One day, in Madoka's Mansion...

'I wonder why Madoka-chan called us over.' said Tsunade. 'She doesn't need to, you come every day if we don't have jobs.'

'Beats me.' said Shido with a shrug as they made their way in.

Madoka's Mansion since she became Shido's girlfriend, is that she gained a formidable security detail that her mansion also became a zoo somehow, but at least unlike typical zoo animals, these animals know their manners, and actually go out into holes Shido dug up to do the nasty so the servants had no complaints, really.

Their instructions were to protect the mansion and servants. But if anyone were to harm Madoka, even if its a servant or a relative, they're fair game.

'We're here!' Tsunade called out. 'What can we do for you Madoka-chan?'

'Well...I have one request of Shido-san.' said Madoka shyly.

'Request?' Shido blinked.

'Yes...' said Madoka shyly. 'I have a concert tonight...I'd like it if you could come.'

Just say yes and don't make excuses! came the flame-written words in front of Shido.

'Eh? S-sure!' Shido said nervously. 'But are you sure? Someone like me won't fit in among those rich snobs...'

'As long as you can come...its OK.' said Madoka with a beaming smile.

'Well, time to go shopping!' Tsunade chirped. 'For tonight, Shido will be a classy guy for the night!'

'What part of me looks classy?!'

'Change your clothes and hairstyle doofus!'

And so...

'Jeez...I listen to her play in the yard all the time...why'd do I have to go to a concert?' Shido pouted as they browsed for some suits.

'The yard and concert are TWO different things!' Tsunade grunted, bopping him on the head. 'That, and you're her BOYFRIEND! Your presence in her concert is significant to a musician girlfriend! So you're gonna come even if bugs chase you to the venue!'

'Oi oi, that's one joke that's not funny...' Shido frowned.

His tribe and bugs do NOT mix well.

'I'm serious about the bugs part.' Tsunade frowned. 'I felt eyes on you not long ago so leave the garbage to me and be a dutiful man to Madoka as if nothing happened, OK?'

'OK...but nothing better happen, alright?'

'Its me you're talking about!'

That made Shido snort.