Disclaimer: Persona 5 Characters except Fujin Katsuo belongs to Atlus, this fanfic has no commercial purpose.


Ryuji: When're we gonna send the calling card? We should hurry it up.
Ann: I have to agree, the earlier, the better in my book.
Yusuke: There is no assurance he will keep his promise, after all.
Yusuke: What are your thoughts on the matter, Makoto?
Makoto: Honestly, I can't wait to send it.
Makoto: I want to put an end to his nasty crimes as soon as possible.
Katsuo: Ditto, I want to make him cry already.
Akira: I agree.
Ryuji: Damn, I gotta step up my game. You guys are super passionate.
Ann: We'll be ready to go whenever you are!

I lied on my bed, checking my messages while resting after a long day in the Palace. Somehow, I felt the weight of my shoulders stopped being heavy. I didn't know why I was so calm despite we still had to deal with Kaneshiro.

We should be planning with the calling card for the next day. The good news was we wouldn't go back there until the heist. I could finally stretch my limbs and relax for a whole day. After a day of fighting Shadows, I thought if I should go back in shape in Proteins Lover. Just in case. However, one thing couldn't tell for sure if I would ever work with them again after the job.

You know. Those guys were working as Phantom Thieves since April, right? That meant they got a lot of money from their previous heists. I always said that there is no such thing as easy money in life. I imagined such work had its high-risk-high-reward deal. I was wondering if only sticking with them for the money. I shouldn't sound greedy, but it was not a reason. Punching Kaneshiro in the whole face would be a bonus. How many times did I say that? Not damn enough until I could do the deed.

One thing that turned my off was that everyone was still teenagers, not much professionalism. But If I ever want to learn more about this Metaverse, I should stick with them anyway. What or how that place was? What was the purpose of it? Questions, questions, questions. I looked at my apartment's ceiling, wondering.

My cellphone buzzed next to me. Who was sending me a text message?

Lala-chan: Darling, how are you doing? You didn't come to work lately. Is everything alright?

Oh crap, I knew she would be worried after not going to work after three consecutive nights.

Katsuo: Sorry, Lala-chan, I got caught up with some personal issues. Don't worry. I will come back sooner for work.
Katsuo: I promise.
Lala-chan: It is good to hear it. I know you are having a stressful week. Your health is more important than anybody else.
Katsuo: What about Ohya-san?
Lala-chan: She is a grown-up woman, which is different.
Katsuo: True, I guess, thank you for worrying about me.
Lala-chan: No problem, take care, my dear boy.

From all people, I expected Lala-chan to be the one who would be worried about my well-being. Japan's suicidal rate is pretty high due to stress and other factors. I got the feeling if nobody would notice if I were gone. It is not in the sense of death, but more like if whatever I do in this life should be worth it.

For six years, I always wished to be forgotten.

That was before meeting people from Shinjuku: Lala-chan, Ohya-san, and Mifune-san. I wondered why I didn't have more friends of my age. I had few long time ago. During High-School, I didn't know any other student from there. Or when I worked as a tutor before graduating from Shujin.

I had to rest for tomorrow's plans.


It was a rainy day in Shibuya. We reunited at our non-suspiciously-useless-hideout for our next move. "All that's left is the calling card, right? We should send it out at once." Makoto was the first to speak about it.

"I would agree, but it will not be an easy task this time." Kitagawa did sound concerned for some reason.

"Why is everyone with the long faces?" I asked after noticing their frowns.

"Because nobody actually knows him…" Takamaki was in the same mood.

"There's so goddamn much I wanna write on the calling card too…" Sakamoto wasn't in his best, not even for his usual loud tone.

We were standing there while looking to rain outside of Shibuya. I heard the weather affects people's mood, but that was downright depressing seeing everybody like that on an important day. After 7 minutes of doing nothing, Kurusu finally gave us the order to send the calling card to Kaneshiro.

"I guess we should send out the calling card." Sakamoto's mood still didn't improve.

"Now, the question is, how do we deliver the calling card to him?" Kitagawa was wondering about the deal with this issue.

"Yeah, we don't know where he lives." Takamaki wasn't sure about it either.

"Hm? Why not use the same method as before?" Makoto was making a suggestion. I didn't like what she meant for it.

"Are you serious? I don't want to be the bad news messenger, but what you did wasn't your smartest move you would come up with." I said, unconvinced since that wouldn't work twice.

"You will see what I mean. For now, everyone should go back to home. Leave it to me with this." Makoto sounded so confident about her idea. I got the feeling that would involve physical activity. After everyone dismissed, Makoto requested only Sakamoto and me to stay.

"Mhh, what do you want us here, Makoto?" Sakamoto asked her about what she was planning.

"I needed you two for calling card," Makoto replied.

"That is obvious, but why you need me for this?" I asked because I doubt Sakamoto would need me to write it unless he needed grammatical corrections.

"We are going to decorate all Shibuya with posters and cards about Kaneshiro, even put it on some cars." Sakamoto and I were shocked by what she was planning to do. "Besides the crafting supplies, we needed clothes to go around without drawing attention."

"Oh, I see. So we are going to make our prey leave its nest. Not bad." I was being impressed by her idea.

"But that means a lot of exercise for us. I don't like it." Sakamoto complained.

"It can't be that bad, have you ever tried something like cleaning parks or streets during a school trip?"

"We did it this year. It was a chore..." Sakamoto sounded displeased. Those kids were becoming slackers for each school year.

"Katsuo, bring the supplies from the bookstore at Central Street. Ryuji, could you bring us some clothes? It doesn't matter if they are old. We can't let anyone seeing us." Makoto sounded bossy as always. At least I got the easy job before putting the posters. Before Sakamoto and I went to our separate ways, Makoto stopped me once more time. "Hey, do you have a minute?"

"Mhhh? What is it now?" I said.

"I wanted to apologize."

"What?"

"You heard me well. I wanted to say sorry for misjudging you days ago," she said with honesty.

"Oh, that? That doesn't matter anymore." I said while remembering the warnings. "I mean, none of us would guess what kind of trouble we would run into."

"I know. However, last night I got that weird thought about what you told me before trying to find Kaneshiro. Why did you want to help me out? I thought you didn't like me that much." She asked while looking me directly at the eyes.

"I have no idea. Maybe it was instinct." I replied, turning my head and looking somewhere else.

"Are you sure it's the reason?"

"Who knows? I just... I didn't want to witness someone else dying because of me."

"Because of you? But you didn't do anything."

"That's exactly it. Doing nothing is just as bad as interfering, maybe even worse." I rubbed my neck. "Look, I don't expect much to help anyone right now, I want to get over with Kaneshiro's issue."

"I want it as well, but after thinking carefully, I realized that I should stay with the Phantom Thieves for good," she seemed determined by her choice.

"For real?" I chuckled. "Well, I guess that's the path you chose."

"Also, I want you to consider the offer as well."

"You're joking, right?" I rose an eyebrow.

"I'm not." Makoto's eyes looked serious. I was unsure of the choice—too many things in my life at the moment. I tapped my head with the index finger once again.

"Look, I will think it over after you steal Kaneshiro's heart." I sighed.

"Sure. Let's continue with tonight's work," after a long civilized conversation, Makoto and I started to work on the posters and cards.

Sakamoto brought us the clothes and wrote the message for the calling cards. We got separated to cover terrain faster. It was relaxing doing those kinds of activities, except that I had to hear Sakamoto whining all the damn time until he gave me a headache. We kept working until 8:32 pm. That should be enough for the calling card. We left Shibuya while being unnoticed by anyone.


June 24th: The Big Day.

Right in the afternoon, Shibuya felt pretty heated, with people being curious and excited about what the Phantom Thieves are going to do. I wished to see fatso's reaction to the calling card. We were standing on the usual spot.

"The calling card's been posted all over Shibuya…" Morgana commented about our well-done job.

"A good idea, no? Given the theatrical nature of this one, Kaneshiro must surely have been contacted about it." Makoto looked angry for some reason.

"You truly are the brains of this Phantom Thieves operation! Ryuji, you should follow her example!" Morgana stared at Sakamoto with a sassy tone.

"Y'know I'm the one who went postin' it everywhere, right!?" Sakamoto was mad about how he felt underappreciated. "I even had to get all dressed up so they wouldn't notice me!"

"And the one complaining all the damn time, I already heard you like the first twenty times. I did more work than you, anyways." I was getting tired of keep hearing him like that.

"Come now. We don't have the time for idle chitchat. Let us get moving." With determination coming out of Makoto's mouth, we felt so pumped up for what is coming to him.

"We're going up against a truly horrible criminal this time..." Takamaki was feeling ready too.

"That dick ain't gonna stop us now that we got our new members! Makoto! Katsuo! You remember how all this works?" Sakamoto was doing a quick reminder of how the calling card works.

"Once we steal the Treasure, the Palace will crumble, and the Palace ruler's heart will change." Makoto gave a summary to us.

"And if the Ruler tries to stop us from stealing his Treasure, we give him a good old beat down. Regardless of the outcome, the main priority is the Treasure and nothing else." I was finally able to understand how that works.

"Wow, you two got that quick! I think Ryuji's still struggling to comprehend it all..." Sure, keep bashing on Sakamoto, Morgana.

"The old me is dead. Makoto, the sycophant is gone... and the corrupt adults who controlled her are next!" Makoto was on the mood.

"Sounds like you're fired up!" Morgana commented about our mood of the moment.

"We don't sound. We are!" I said as my blood was pumping with the rush.

"All right, Joker! Give us the signal!" Morgana asked the leader.

"Is everyone ready? It's Showtime!" After his command, we got transported to the Metaverse.

We moved directly to the elevator where the Treasure was. After reaching our destination, the glowing thing wasn't anywhere else—only an unusually large safe.

"What the hell!?" Skull said with shock.

"A safe!? This wasn't here the last time we came!" Mona couldn't believe it either. "He changed the entire room so quickly... Tch, I guess this Palace isn't a bank for nothing."

Things got a lot more worse as Kaneshiro walked towards us with his goons.

"Greetings, Welcome to my private city bank." He was mocking us while his goons were getting closer to him. "I'm surprised you made it here alive. It seems you are quite lucky."

"Lucky? Don't be ridiculous." Queen replied to him with disdain.

"I doubt someone like you without skills could understand it." I looked at Kaneshiro with nothing but pure hatred.

"We're gonna change your heart and make you confess everything you've done." Skull was getting ready to kick his ass. "That'll save all those people who're sufferin' 'cause of your shitty actions. Even the police're strugglin' to deal with you, so this'll make the public believe in us too!" Skull's words were full of cockiness.

"Those in power work the ones below them to the bone for money. Such is the hierarchy of the world." Kaneshiro pretended to lecture us about Darwinism. I bet he did even know how to read. "Just accept your fate as a source of my wealth!"

"We'll never agree to that!" Well said, Fox.

"And hierarchy? You have to be out of your mind." Even Panther knew that whatever he said was BS.

"All of that was forced on me too, you know! I went through shit until I crawled my way out of the dregs! Now it's my turn to profit on everyone and the people who threw me like trash, such as Fujin Marou!" So Kaneshiro compared himself with a cockroach, I wasn't surprised though.

"Excuses, excuses… Do you think you could ever have the audacity to achieve all that? Don't make me laugh!" I was annoyed by his voice.

"Still! Don't you think you're getting back at the wrong people?" Panther got the point.

"What a pitiful man," Queen said.

"It doesn't matter whether you're clean or dirty! Only the clever come out on top! The strong and the smart devour the weak. That is the natural order of things. You damn brats who think you know the world through the shit you read online will make perfect prey." Kaneshiro was getting pissed.

"Wow, have you ever heard yourself saying all that? I wasn't hoping to hear someone saying so many contradictions in just 3 seconds. What do you think, Queen?" I was looking at her for a quick answer.

"Hmph. He is utterly hopeless." She nodded at me.

"It's always the fools who get tricked! Fools who have to pay for their foolishness. And if those fools don't learn, well, they have to suck it up and stay as plain, stupid fools!" Somebody should tell me it wasn't right what Kaneshiro said.

"Will you just shut it already!?" Skull was feeling annoying too.

"Yeah, seriously! Foolish this, foolish that. Somebody throw him a dictionary!" Hearing him just gave me a migraine.

"I guess there's not much point saying to you fools!" Gaaaaaaahg, I started to hate that word, especially coming from him. "This is where my gracious lecture ends. Now then, I hope you're ready to work as slaves here for the rest of your lives."

"That's outrageous!" Fox was annoyed too.

"I'm gonna swarm all over you… and squeeze out every last yen!" Kaneshiro snickered, mocking us with his stupid ass monologue, he stopped moving for some reason. Everyone, even his goons, looked afraid of him. From a gruesome transformation, he grew a pair of wings and some large red eyes. How fitting, he just became a fly. "I can take care of myself. Wassup yo!? Now come get some!" Not only his voice changed, but he also became from annoying to repulsive.

"You filthy fly on dirty money… Get the hell out of my face!" Queen reached her limit. She was utterly mad with him. She even summoned Johanna before we could even start fighting him!

"Gyahahaha! Aight, here we go, yeh pieces of shit!" He was ready to fight, and so we.

We were surrounding him, forming like a half-circle with him in the center.

"Hehehehe! Bein' young is such a crime! They're naïve, they're reckless, and top of that, they don't even realize how stupid they are." He was terrible at judging others. "Now I couldn't just sit back and not cash in on those idiots, right? Time to roll out...! Here he is… My guardian robot!"

Uhh, what?

The safe opened, allowing him to fly inside it. The safe began to change, slowly reconfiguring until the wall separated in two. What it revealed the biggest piggy bank I could ever see in my whole life. And Holy Shit! None of us could expect something like that!

"Gyahahahahahaha! Yeh ready to die!?" He laughed maniacally at us through the speakers.

"A pig!?" Mona was shocked as well like everyone else.

"It ain't a pig, yo! This is my Palace's swine-model defensive mechanoid, Piggytron!" Was this guy serious? "Goin' against me's a real bad crime, ya know? It's time for ya all to go to hell!"

"I don't care what the hell is, because I will tear that thing in pieces to get you!" I was getting obnoxious about how things escalated from bad to stupid.

"Dammit! I didn't expect he'd have something like this up to his sleeve!" Mona said as he pulled his cutlass sword.

"Joker! Make sure you have us regroup if you think we're at a disadvantage! That thing's a giant... If it attacks us while we're at low stamina, we won't survive!" Queen's warning was enough to put into positions.

We were preparing to knock the lights out of him. "Get'em, Joker! This moneygrubber's getting a one-way ticket to redemption" Not the most glamorous things Mona could ever say, but Anything was better than hearing Kaneshiro again with his pretentious lectures.

"Metabolic Wave!" He made the first move by securing a considerable jump and crashing against the ground. The impact had shaken the field with a harmful wave that pushed everyone. I received the last of the damage.

"Arsene, Sukunda!" Joker acted quickly by decreasing the mecha's mobility. Things would go nastier if that robot could move fast.

"Johanna, Rakukaja!" Queen gave a boost of defense to Mona. The cat was our top priority for healing.

"Goemon, Sukukaja!" Fox boosted Joker's speed.

"Carmen, Tarunda!" Panther gave support as well.

"Captain Kidd, Tarukaja!" Skull buffed himself for his next attack.

"Faust, Rakunda!" I lowered the robot's defenses. At this point, we were more concerned about preparing ourselves rather than attacking first.

"Missile Party!" A bunch of rockets came from the robot, and the barrage went to us. We tried to avoid most of them, but the explosion caught Fox and me. He already went on his knees while I was burning.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot!" I tried to shut the fire from my cape, but it was useless.

"Ocular Vulcan!" If it wasn't enough, that robot used Gatling guns to shoot wild on us.

"Take cover!" Joker shouted at everyone as we got behind the walls. Skull had to pull Fox out of the way. Queen gave me a small extinguisher to stop the burning.

"Rats! How the hell are we going to stop that thing? It got an arsenal!" I asked anybody if they could come up with a plan.

"Mhh, I got it!" Queen had another idea; Anything she got would be a good plan. "Joker, Fox, Skull, and Maverick: You four go to distract it from the front. Panther, Mona and I are going to use magic from behind. Don't let it get you hurt." Her plan sounded good enough.

We got divided into two groups, while the males were going to distract it with physical attacks; the girls and Mona were going to cause even more damage to it from behind. Everyone was into positions.

"Rising Slash!" Fox used Goemon to cause heavy damage to it. It barely got scratched.

"Here! Tarakukaja!" Skull boosted Joker's attacks.

"Don't leave me out of the party. Double Fang!" Faust leaped and bit.

"On my mark!" Queen raised her right hand, waiting for them to throw magic at them. "GO!" They launched fire, wind, and nuclear attacks on the Piggytron with all their might. Joker used Swift Strike with Matador, causing a lot of damage from all angles.

"Yeh punks're really pissin' me off! Yeh called my Piggytron a pig earlier, right? Were yeh talkin' about me too when you said that? If you were… Imma tear yeh all to shreds! Go, Piggytron! Super VIP Fooorm!" The giant robot changed into a metallic sphere, with Kanehiro rolling it.

"It transformed!? Don't tell me it's going to roll into us!" Mona said, afraid of it.

What the hell? First, a fly, then a pig, and now is he a dung beetle? How many insignificant animals can this guy be? Despite that ridiculous tactic, he slowly gained momentum to ramp over everyone. We kept attacking like before, but he was increasing speed per each second. Things didn't look good for us.

"March of the Piggy!" Kaneshiro shouted as that piece of junk accelerated.

"It's coming!" After so much speed, Mona shouted on everyone to avoid that thing. We didn't have enough time to react.

"Oh no, you don't!" I summoned Faust; he tried to stop the robot by holding it with his claws while that thing was still rolling. The synergy was way more potent for me. Things didn't help since Faust had no legs to support itself. "Skull, lend me a hand on this!" I couldn't contain it all by myself.

"I'm here! Captain Kidd!" He used his Persona to stop that robot, giving our teammates enough time to move away from its trajectory. Both of us almost reached our limits.

"Move out of the way!" Queen used Johanna to travel across the room. I caught her and mounted her Persona from the back while Panther used her whip to drag Skull out of the way. We both survived the attack.

"How's this!? Can't even speak 'cause of how scary my Piggtron is, huh? Gyahahahaha!" He enjoyed this, that sadistic meat-ball. "Fear Gas!" He released gas fear from… the rear while launching missiles. Everybody retook cover.

"Ok, anyone has another plan? Now I'm getting anxious." I was feeling tired of how things became complicated.

Kaneshiro entered into the VIP form again. I hated when that asshole spams the same attacks.

"Hm!? Is that bastard going to rush us again!? Wait a second… We can attack Kaneshiro directly right now. Shouldn't we be able to stop the rush then? Perhaps we can drop him on it!" Mona noticed a fatal flaw in his attack.

"Nice thinking Mona!" Panther complimented Mona. He got blushed from it.

"Everyone! Same plan as before!" Joker commanded us to the same positions, this time focusing on both the robot and its pilot. Everybody unleashed more attacks from all directions once again. That was too much for that shit-brain that fell and lost control of the robot—ramping on him. Even after getting squashed by it, that wasn't enough to stop Kaneshiro. He decided to fly back inside the robot.

"Dammit… How dare yeh hurt my Piggytron so much…! My Piggytron's gonna lose…? No, that's impossible!" He was losing his mind.

"Accept reality, stupid buffoon! You can't win!" I said to him while being on my guard.

"It's already been decided… You are going down." Queen followed as she was ready for more fighting.

The guy started the VIP form again; I got more annoyed about how he wouldn't stop doing that.

"Hm!? Is that bastard going to rush us again!? What do we do? Should we try distracting Kaneshiro again?" Mona was asking to Joker.

"Another way out?" Joker asked.

"As you know, Kaneshiro is a money monger. Tossing an expensive item his way might draw his attention and serve as a distraction…! Let's give it a try, Joker! It's your call what item we throw!" Morgana came up with one last plan.

Using an item to make him vulnerable was undoubtedly the best option for us; I got in my pocket some Physical Ointment.

"Hey, Joker! I have this! It should be foolproof." I showed him the item. He looked gave me the thumbs up.

"Toss it out now!" I did what Joker told to do, right in front of it. I aimed at it with my sawed-off shotgun for precaution.

"Hm…? What is that!? It's got the shine of somethin' pricey! Go collect it, Piggytron! R-Right away!" He stopped using the VIP form and sucked the valuable item like a vacuum cleaner. "Wh-Whoooaaa! Th-This'll make us a fortune! Damn good find, yo!" He was enjoying that item, freak.

"We don't need to worry about getting rushed now! Nice work, Maverick!" Mona looked happy for the plan's outcome.

"Thank me later. Now, time to bring the noise!" I was getting ready to unleash the pain.

We unleashed a barrage of strikes from all places, that thing started to get even more tarnished and worse. Now with a lot of damage, the robot exploded, making it wasted.

"Noooooooooooooooooo….." We destroyed the robot, but that was just half of the battle. "Wha- My Piggytron!" That fatso said with concern for the machine.

"Glad you decided to ditch that junk and play with us," I said with as I laughed. Kaneshiro's sadness turned into anger.

"That's it! I'll just deal with you busters myself-through the power of cash!"

"What are you going to do? Throw money at us? Oh, I'm so scared!" I mocked him, but I regretted from saying that.

"Special Guard!" Kaneshiro dropped two fortified golden doors, revealing two bodyguard flies: a small guy with a baton and a big guy with two riot shields. Both on each of his sides."Ha, wassup! I paid these guys off, and now they're gonna clean you up! Ya like that? They're super-duper power! And super-duper fly! Heheheh... A totally invincible wall!"

"Ugh, how is this dealing with us yourself?" Mona said with exasperation. "Hey, guys! Their number may be growing, but we can't let that get to us! Let's do this!"

"Glad you said that." I pulled my chain with the hook at hand. "Eat shit, Kaneshiro!" I rushed towards him while ignoring the other two flies. I threw the hook at him with a swift swing, but the Bodyguard-for-Hire stepped up and protected him, getting pitiful damage instead. "Out of my way!" I said with frustration.

"What!? They blocked that?" Mona said with surprise.

"C'mooon, I told you they're an invincible wall, right? Welcome to the power of cash! Booyah!" He said, proud of himself. "Lullaby!" Kaneshiro tried to inflict Sleep on everyone, but I was the only one that got affected. I couldn't move; my body didn't want to react appropriately. I was defenseless. "Snap!" With a simple gun-strike, he knocked me out.

"Son of a... bitch..." I fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

"Maverick is down! We must do something!" Mona told the others as they scattered from two sides. They were trying to attack Kaneshiro from behind, but his bodyguards were relentless on protecting him.

"Power Slash!" Hitman-for-Hire swung his baton at Panther. The little guy was nimble as every trajectory he took while flying made it an unpredictable foe to avoid.

"Captain Kidd, Assault Dive!" Skull tried to retaliate but missed the mark. That little shit had a better advantage.

"Johanna, Freila!" Queen was able to throw a nuclear projectile at that fly but barely did Anything. "This is not good! Both enemies are resistant to every attack!" The advisor said as she examined carefully at the enemies.

"I can concur with you!" Fox said as he and the big guy were battling on his side. The riot shields were clashing against his katanas. They were of equal strength. "Goemon, Bufu!" The artist threw ice, but just didn't do much, not even freezing it.

"Arsene, Eiha!" Joker did his best to support his ally, but Bodyguard-for-Hire drained the attack. Things were just as bad as ever.

"Gyahahahahaahahah! Yeh punks can't do anythin' about it! Imma untouchable!" Kaneshiro kept gloating while being in the middle. Neither side could reach him as the big guy instantly pushed anyone who tried to get near his employer. And that was just the beginning. "Kill Reward! Guard Reward!" The Palace Ruler buffed attack and defense for both of his goons.

"We can't keep going like this." Mona jumped towards me. "Zorro, Recarm!" The swordsman helped me to regain some of my consciousness and stamina.

"Did anyone got the number of that fly?" I said while slowly getting back on my feet.

"No time for jokes! We need your help!"

"How!? I can't even use proper magic attacks!" I yelled, disgruntled of the situation.

"It doesn't matter!" Mona handed me some medicine. "Anything is a good plan! Think!"

It was hopeless for me. Without any other way to damage Kaneshiro was none. Mona was right; I couldn't stand there and do nothing. I hated doing nothing to help anyone.

I had enough.

"Is that so? I will show that stupid fly who's the boss!" Within my heart, Faust was eager and restless to unleash its might. I tore my mask off with both hands in a fit of fury. "Oni Kagura!" Faust started brutally stabbing all opponents sans Kaneshiro with such unexpected speed. Upon landing the strikes, they began acting odd, as if they only cared to attack everyone without much care of themselves. None of them were able to land a hit to the team.

"Wh-what? N-No, yeh idiots! I'm payin' yeh to protect me! The hell is the matter with yeh all!?" Kaneshiro was shaking of seeing his men ignoring him. And I finally realized what was going on: The weren't immune to ailments, and they were going under Rage status.

"Alright! Nice going, Maverick!" Panther cheered me from a distance.

"Well done, dude!" Skull followed as well as he avoided the Hitman-for-Hire's attacks.

"Kaneshiro is vulnerable," Joker said as he examined the situation. "We will handle those guys. Maverick, wouldn't you mind if you take care of Kaneshiro by yourself?"

"Are you kidding? It is going to be my pleasure!" My body was boiling as hell from all that excitement. It was just me and the human meatball. 1-on-1.

"Grrrr... Yeh Fujins are nothin' but pests! I might not profit from the ransom, but I will taste the sweet joy of hangin' yer body as a trophy!"

"Keep dreaming, asshole," I pulled my chain until the hook touched the ground. "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once," I said as nothing was holding me back anymore. I fiercely swung my chain at the Ruler, but he resisted most of the strikes.

"Zionga!" Kaneshiro tried to hit me with lightning, but I rolled out of the way in the last second. I pulled my sawed-off shotgun and shot twice, but did nothing to him. Who would think that a fly was immune to bullets?

I ditched the gun and rushed to throttle him. That guy threw a punch at my guts, I returned the favor with a kick on his back. We traded blows back and forth. It was sort of pointless since both of us resisted physical attacks, and none of them would do much unless we would get tired.

"Why won't just go down, yo?" Kaneshiro asked.

"That's easy. You simply pissed. Me. Off." I spitted.

"F-Fine... It's time for my last trump card!" The fat bastard stood up, trying to look brave by changing his posture. "I'm gonna make it rain and party down! Ya dig!?"

I didn't like what was going to happen.

"Make it Rain!" He said in such nonchalant as he dropped gold bars, gold coins, bills, and who-knows-whats-more upon me and everyone else in the area. Some teammates were able to avoid it, while others had to endure ten consecutive hits of that crap. I wasn't lucky enough. "Gyahahahahaha! How 'bout that, yo!?"

"I got it worse, dumbass..." I said, trying to put an overconfident facade. That was enough to upset Kaneshiro.

"Oh yeah? How 'bout some more? Make it Rain!" Despite how terrifying it would be to make the same attack twice, even at lower health, things were at our favor. A single coin fell to the ground. Only one word to describe it: Pathetic. "Gah! I ran outta cash!" Money wasn't the only thing that ran out too. Both of his bodyguards decided to bail on him since he was dead-ass broke. "Wha- Hey! Where'd everyone go!?" It was just him and us now. "I'm just a little short on funds at the moment! C'mon, come back, yo!"

"Six years, and you haven't learned a single thing of what loyalty means, huh? Do you have something to say about it?" I asked as everyone circled him, with no escape.

"Shit, I screwed up..."

"Exactly, fool."

We jumped at him from every angle possible. Joker swung and dangled his knife with uncanny reflexes.

Skull smacked him in the head and stomach until Kaneshiro couldn't breathe.

Mona swung his cutlass upper head by ruining his suit like cat scratches.

Panther whipped him right on the ass countless times until he couldn't feel anymore.

Fox rushed back and forth with his sharp katana by cutting Kaneshiro's belt until he dropped the pants.

Queen kicked him on the limps and back with enough intensity that sent him flying towards me.

I closed my fist, anticipating until he could get on my range. At just a few inches, he painfully felt my fist crushing his nose and mouth, and his world became slow in his eyes.

My strength exceeded far beyond, more than what I could ever imagine as I sent him back to his mecha. The hatch closed as soon as he went inside. We heard some clanking and short-circuiting from within there. "Wait, what's wrong, Piggytron!?"

It was already too late for him. We began seeing fireworks everywhere in an instant.


-New Skill: Oni Kagura