Tatsuo groaned as he slowly found himself waking up, remembering that he was going after Milky when she called for help and said that she was in danger, and then he woke up to find himself surrounded. Milky, the Batting Cage Lady, the Futo Momo Manager, and...Ushijima. Tatsuo could only grit his teeth at what he was seeing before him.
"Ushijima?" Tatsuo said in disbelief as Ushijima got off the phone with someone and turned to him with a resigned look on his face.
"We got orders to take you out Shinada." Ushijima sighed out. "It's your fault for not heeding the warnings sent for you."
Tatsuo can only grit his teeth at that. "Ushijima…" He said bitterly.
Milky sighed looking sad as well. "If only you'd gotten scared away from all those incidents in town...it would never have come to this."
"You wanted to know about the Nagoya Family so bad?" Ushijima then spoke up. "Well here's your answer."
"What kind of bullshit is this?" Tatsuo said in disbelief.
Ushijima continued. "We've known each other all for fifteen years, at the very least I can listen to your last words and will." He said solemnly.
Tatsuo sighed before he looked up defiantly. "Stop lying to yourselves, I know you're all good people on the inside. I may have sucked at school but I definitely learned how to read people. And I know that none of your actions weren't full of shit. That's why this crap doesn't make sense!" Tatsuo shouted at them.
Though to his dismay, none of them looked really troubled save for some minor wincing from Milky.
"Those accidents, Sakai's death, you're telling me you're behind that? That all of you sold out to the Nagoya Family!?" He shouted at them.
"Tatsuo." Ushijima interrupted. "We never sold out to the Nagoya Family, we are the Nagoya Family, a group of ordinary civilians dedicate to the Cause." He stated to Tatsuo's surprise. "I personally don't like the idea of being considered Yakuza, but that's how it goes, I guess." He muttered.
"Then why wait?" Tatsuo questioned desperately. "Why kill me after all this time? Why now?!" The lack of words from Ushijima made Tatsuo push further. "Someone's forcing you, right?" He begged. "And you're only doing this to follow their orders right?" He pleaded. "Tell me who it is!"
The Futo Momo Manager spoke up. "Milky, just do it already." He ordered causing Milky to flinch.
"What are you talking about? You're going to make a girl do it?" She said in a shaky tone.
The guy flinched and turned to Ushijima. "Um, how about you, Ushijima?" He quickly asked.
"...Fine then, I'll end it." Ushijima said in a voice full of resignation as he took out his knife and approached Tatsuo with a nervous look and simply held his knife at him as Tatsuo stared him down.
But the time it took, allowed more people to walk in as Tatsuo's eyes widened at the sight of Kubota and his men.
"What's taking so long?" He groaned out. "Just finish him already." He said coldly.
"Kubota." Ushijima muttered as the others backed away from him.
"This is for Kineicho, remember." Kubota reminded Ushijima as he took the knife from his hand. "No point hesitating." He said as he glared at Tatsuo and raised his arm ready to strike until noises were heard from outside making them all look to the shutter doors in confusion.
And then they all flinched as they heard screams of people falling to the ground and bones either breaking or bodies being smashed against something, and the very sense of danger caused Kubota to get ready for a conflict while Ushijima and the others backed away.
Then to everyone's shock a forklift busted through with one man driving and one man holding onto one of the forklift's back and soon the man on the back dropped down and got to them as the man on the Forklift got Tatsuo closer to them now.
Tatsuo looked closer and he gasped. "Markus! Koichi!" He called out in surprise and relief.
"Listen up assholes! You don't kill a man with no life insurance, especially when that guy's my client!" Koichi shouted at the group.
"Basically." Markus spoke up holding a bag in his hand. "Step away from the idiot, or there will be trouble." He warned as his eyes narrowed at them.
Kubota wasn't having any of it as he growled at Markus. "Back off, of you're dead meat!" He threatened waving the knife threateningly at him. "If you stay still, we can give you a quick death!"
"...So is there no other option?" Markus said in a strange tone that unnerved Tatsuo a bit. "Do we really need to do this?"
"You're only one man, and we all came armed!" Kubota shouted as his men had pipes in their hands and the likes.
"A funny thing about that though." Markus said as he pulled his bag away from him and revealed a menacingly large pistol, that made all of them go bug eyed in shock at its appearance. "Gun beats melee in range." Markus said as he aimed and fired.
BLAM!
And Kubota start sweating as he slowly turned to his side to find one of his men shot in the throat, bleeding and coughing out blood before he collapsed.
"Think I'm fucking around, you shitheads?" Markus questioned as Tatsuo, in that moment, prayed for Ushijima and the others' welfare.
The moment that Markus shot the first thug, that's when the seedy looking woman started screaming in terror, acting like a bell to knock back everyone into their senses. Markus took advantage of the shock that he created and opened fire on another thug, which shot into his shoulder and sent him to the ground screaming in pain.
The other thugs tried to rush him in desperation in hopes of removing him. While their boss seemed to have his wits about and jumped instantly into cover as Markus fired more shots into the three remaining thugs.
Counting his rounds, he had two more left and those three shots he fired killed two of the thugs, while the last one got shot in his kneecap screaming in pain.
Markus turned his attention to Tatsuo, who was paled and Koichi who grimaced, they still had enough sense to get away as Markus aimed his gun at the four seemingly unarmed civilians, and all four of them whimpered in fear.
It was something that both disgusted and infuriated Markus, the absolute rule of the Wasteland is that you're ready to kill or be killed. When you take up arms against anyone, you also most prepare yourself to die as well.
The fact that those four were, likely, part of the Nagoya Family, meaning they had to have killed people before, showing no spine annoyed his Wasteland Sensibilities at their hypocritical actions.
"All of you should really consider the consequences of imitating a criminal organization." Markus said to them as Koichi and Tatsuo got through the entrance that Koichi made. "Because sooner or later, you're going to get into a gang war with some actual dangerous people." Markus warned as he made his way through now.
Taking one last shot at the boss thug behind cover, and then firing a shot at the Forklift to render it useless. Markus quickly reloaded and went after Koichi and Tatsuo calmly and methodically keeping an eye out for any more Nagoya Family members after them.
Occasionally Markus would take a look back and see several thugs after them and he would fire back, and either kill one of them, kneecap them, making them freak out. Markus honestly did not care at this point, on how he treated them. But more often than not, he would keep his eyes ahead and focused on Tatsuo and Koichi.
And once every while or so, he would see some opportunistic idiot try to bash in their heads, only to yelp, freak, and scream when Markus fires at them and either shoot out their weapons out of their hands, or he was delivering some nasty crippling shots to them. And those that he passed by, if he was close enough, he would punch straight in the throat, to make sure less idiots followed after them.
And then Markus would catch up to Tatsuo and Koichi getting caught up in a fight. When he appeared though, none of them didn't expect Markus or his gun. And quickly taking aim, he opened fire on them, killing more of them, and wounding several more as he ducked and rolled under a swing coming for him, in attempt to kill him and then grabbed one of his Brass Knuckles out of his pocket and then rushed in to punch one idiot in the jaw, dislocating it.
As he quickly swapped out his magazine, he rushed in and slammed his leg into another guy's crotch trying to get Tatsuo, making him collapse in pain. And for good measure, Markus stomped on him as he finished reloading and opened fire multiple times at the thugs as every shot was either lethal or crippling.
As Markus left a pile of blood and agony, Tatsuo and Koichi grimaced at the sight and Markus turned to them. "Keep moving." He ordered and the two of them complied as Markus quickly reloaded his gun and trailed after them, keeping an eye out for any potential followers or ambushes.
He moved even faster and ahead of the group, just in time to stop in ambush and blocked it with his Brass Knuckle and gut shot him, before opening fire on the others with him, as Koichi and Tatsuo moved on ahead to safety.
And then he heard noises coming from behind and quickly turned to see several logs rolling towards Tatsuo and Koichi, which they barely dodged by luck. And then the boss thug came out with two iron pipes ready to strike them only to recoil at seeing him as Markus opened fire, and he quickly fled back into his safe spot as Markus moved and jumped on the log and ran across it.
Hearing more yelling men coming far from the back, and saw a group of them running fast towards them. Markus looked around and then up and saw a bunch of logs being held up by some chains. Raising his gun, he fired a nearly impossible shot and destroyed the chain and sent the logs crashing into the ground right before the thugs as they screamed in terror or pain.
Nodding to himself as he blocked off the entrance where most of the attackers are coming from, Markus continued on his way.
And just as they were about to make the home stretch to escape, Markus felt someone striking his head, causing him to grunt and then someone smacking his gun out of his hand. Turning to see the same guy with the two iron pipes, he got struck hard across his chest and Markus growled at he picked up his other stolen Brass Knuckle.
"I'm getting really sick of your shit, you Nagoya Fuckers." Markus said as he readied himself for a fight.
And the thug charged at him screaming as he expertly used his dual pipe usage like they were blades as Markus clashed each and rapidly attacked every pipe swing he can hit, while trying to get close to smash his face in.
Taking a risk, he feinted the man into attacking first, and leaving himself undefended as he rushed in and punched his right cheek in and tried to do the same but was able to block it with his pipes and kick Markus away from him to get some distance.
Markus narrowed his eyes, this guy was not an amateur, he clearly knew how to fight for one, and he was positioning himself in front of his gun on the ground, to make sure he can't use it against him.
This guy was actually the first real fighter he faced since getting here in this world in Melee Combat.
He had to end this quickly.
Rushing in, Markus jabbed at the thug as he retaliated with one pipe but kept the other as a defensive weapon, and soon they entered a duel of speed and force Markus weaved under the pipe and tried to uppercut him in the chin bone, but suddenly he went for a bear hug, and to Markus's own surprise, lifted him up and flipped him over head first into the ground.
Markus grunted as he suddenly rolled over to the side as the thug tried to smash his head in and barely got out of dodge as he swung his leg into his side, causing him pain and allowing Markus to jump back up. Pressing his advantage, he rushed in and smashed his pipes out of his hands to disarm him. Now without his weapons, Markus could press his advantage.
Smashing his Knuckles into his face, and breaking every part of it. Markus kept pummeling him until he was a bloody bruised broken mess of the man. With a good number of his teeth punched out, his jaw dislocated and shattered, and Markus is pretty sure he cracked his skull in a bit.
Panting at the sight, Markus punched in his throat to kill him, and then walked over to grab his gun that was on the ground and move to where Koichi and Tatsuo are. And they were right there, right around the corner, relatively okay, all things considered.
"Oi, Tatsuo." Markus called out as Tatsuo looked back to Markus in surprise as he was panting out of breath from running as hard as he did. "You okay?" he asked with some concern in his voice.
That might have triggered some kind bad response as Tatsuo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists looking both distraught and angry beyond words. Though Markus had no idea why he was acting like this. "You know, I'm surprised that the Nagoya Family is made out of regular town people." Koichi soon spoke up. "No wonder it was a mystery." He sighed out.
Markus scoffed. "Regular town people?" He said with disdain as Koichi and Tatsuo turned to him. "They kept this shit up for over a decade, they went out of their fucking way to try and kill Tatsuo." He said as Tatsuo looked down. "And then when two of their guys failed, they killed them without question. They're about as much of regular folks as fucking Serial Killers are." Markus said angrily as Tatsuo and Koichi flinched.
That shit reminded him far too much of that absolute fucking monster Clanden, the sick fucking psycho who documents his kills and tortures. Markus would admit he took a certain joy to removing his very existence from the world, all at the hands of his own knife once he sneaked up on him in the bathroom and then proceeded to slit his throat in the bathroom before leaving to deal with the Weapon Shipment that the Omertas had.
"At any rate." Koichi continued on. "We're close now." He said with determination. "If we find out who their boss is, we win." Markus nodded at that, and then it's a matter if he can remove him or not. And then suddenly Tatsuo turned around and started walking away, to the befuddlement of both men.
"Tatsuo, where are you heading off to now?" Markus asked curiously as Tatsuo paused.
"...I'm leaving this rotten town." He said angrily sounding close to tears.
"Where to?" Koichi asked.
"Somewhere I don't know, and this time...I'll make sure that they don't know me either?" He said as Markus blinked in confusion.
"Are you crazy? The truth's practically dangling right in front of us." Koichi replied.
"Then who the hell am I suppose to suspect then?!" Tatsuo retorted angrily. "My saint of a landlord? You? Markus?" Tatsuo said pointing at both men. "I'm done with this shit. I thought I'd found somewhere I actually belonged!" He said in distress.
At that, Markus felt his eyes softening a bit at what Tatsuo went through. Now that he thought about it, those people had to have been affiliated with Tatsuo for some time. And there's nothing like betrayal from your own companions that stung as badly.
"Oh, and you want your money right? Here's all my fingers then." Tatsuo said spitefully to Koichi. "I always thought that maybe someday. I'd be able to pick up a bat again, but I was never a Baseball Player." He said angrily. "I was just some stupid scapegoat they picked to sacrifice!" He shouted.
Koichi looked disgusted and knocked aside his hands. "Maybe they used you, and maybe you only had one hit at the Bat. But you were definitely a Pro." Koichi said earnestly as Tatsuo blinked and Markus had no idea what was going on right now. "That home run, you hit? It was inspirational, don't you get it, Moron." He scoffed.
Tatsuo's eyes widened. "It was you, you were that fan." He muttered as Markus still looked confused.
"When you came looking for a loan last year, I couldn't believe my eyes." Koichi started off. "I had ever thought you would ended up looking like that." He said as he walked back and stared out into the waters.
"So...you've known all this time?" Tatsuo asked in confusion.
"Course I have, disgusts me to no end to see how far you fell." He scoffed. "Though it did make it much easier for me, to keep on hounding you for money." Koichi said with an annoying smug smirk.
"...Then the one who gave my home run ball to that masked guy who asked me to investigate this." Tatsuo said.
"It was me." Koichi said as Markus's eyes blinked in surprise. "He came looking for you and landed at my place. "Wouldn't tell me what it was, only that it was a big money job for you." He said. "All I had to do was play along and make sure you do it." He said before he turned around. "But I got to say, I never saw this shit coming, not even in my wildest dreams." He said.
"Wait a minute." Markus interrupted before Tatsuo could get upset. "You mean to tell me you were hired out by some masked, and most likely, shady guy into investigating the Nagoya Family?" Markus said in disbelief.
Koichi shrugged sheepishly. "Not like I knew what was going to happen, you know?"
"What kind of bullshit is this?!" Tatsuo shouted in annoyance. "So everyone besides me and Markus knew about what was going on!?"
"I want it back, you know?" Koichi said solemnly. "The money and the ball. I treasured that thing you know?" He said with wistfulness.
"Also, hate to put it like this, Tatsuo." Markus soon spoke up, after Tatsuo and Koichi got, what Markus, thinks, is their heart to heart chat. "But I doubt that the Nagoya Family is simply going to let you go after this. You're a Security Risk that can potentially squeal on them." Markus pointed out.
"Wouldn't they be going after you considering the number of bodies you just put down?" Koichi pointed out to Markus as he simply scoffed.
"Oh please, you think some idiot thugs are good enough to get me?" Markus pointed out as Koichi and Tatsuo shivered at bit at the sheer number of bodies Markus dropped in their escape.
"Oh yeah, speaking of...you didn't hurt the other ones inside the warehouse now, did you?" Tatsuo asked hesitantly as Markus raised an eyebrow.
"You mean the deadbeats who looked like normal people?" Markus asked for clarification as Tatsuo nodded. "No, scared them a bit, but if they pull this shit again, it's off to the shallow grave with them." Markus stated in no uncertain terms.
"That's kind of harsh." Tatsuo muttered.
"By my reckoning, they just tried to kill you, if not were at the very least compliant with the guys trying to kill you." Markus retorted as Tatsuo looked down at that. "You think I'm going to show any mercy to them after that? Not when I confirmed they're working with a legit criminal organization?" He commented as Koichi and Tatsuo focused on that.
"They were working with another group?" Koichi said in surprise.
"Yeah." Markus nodded. "Called themselves the Institute, they're a group of people I've been trying to track down for a bit." Markus revealed as both men blinked. "And right now, all I know is that the Nagoya Family Higher Ups know who they are, and as much as you may hate this, but we got to keep on moving Tatsuo, we got to know who the boss of the Nagoya Family is, and I do not want to let go of that lead." He said.
"Seems like this Institute is very important to you huh?" Tatsuo noted.
"Yeah, I've been working with no leads for a bit, and now this city is my first actual lead, and now that I'm on the trail, I simply can't let it go no matter what." Markus affirmed.
Koichi hummed. "If that's the case then the only thing we can do is keep moving forward." Koichi said as he turned to Tatsuo. "So what say you, Tatsuo? You going to quit now and never come back, or are you going to stand your ground and dig your feet in?" He asked.
Tatsuo scoffed. "Like I can go anywhere but forward now after that speech you gave." Tatsuo said with a smile. "No other choice for me then, but to find out." He declared.
"But can you handle the shock of the truth?" An unknown male voice spoke as Markus, Tatsuo, and Koichi quickly reacted to the direction of the voice as a middle-aged man standing at above-average height with muscular arms, with dark brown, slicked-back hair, and a short goatee. Wearing black trousers, black shoes and a white apron, over a white shirt and black, long sleeve top with the sleeves with sleeves rolled up, showed up before them.
Tatsuo's eyes widened. "Kanji Manabe!" He said in surprise before his eyes turned to disappointment. "So you're also a member of the Nagoya Family too?" He said sadly.
"Always have been." Kanji confirmed as he sighed. "But to think you would meet a real killer, that knows what he's doing and then he ends up saving your ass." He scoffed as he had a fond smile on his face. "You always did had that weird ability to simply know a shit ton of random people that always comes back to help you out." He chuckled out.
"Kanji, if you know what Markus can do, then don't fight us." Tatsuo pleaded. "Just tell us who the Boss of the Nagoya Family is, and we can simply let you go and confront the Boss himself." He begged.
Kanji, to Tatsuo's dismay, simply shook his head. "If it was that simple I would have simply given up, however, Tatsuo." He said as he looked firmly into the man. "The Darkness surrounding Kineicho and the Nagoya Family goes back all the way fifteen years, back to that scandal, I don't even know if you're ready to handle such a mess. Hell, I still have some nightmares over the shit I've seen and done." He said.
"Then what will it take then?" Markus spoke up. "You clearly give a shit if you're willing to reveal yourself so openly, but you're worried that Tatsuo wouldn't get it? Then what would it take then? Are you willing to fight me?" He offered.
Kanji shook his head. "This isn't about you, this about Tatsuo, if he wants to know the truth, then he has to see through this affair through the entire end." Kanji said as he turned to Tatsuo. "Beat me, and if you can, then you will learn who the Nagoya Family Head is." He said as he held up a knife. "Beat me solo or let me die, make your choice." He stated.
Markus turned to Tatsuo, who was silent before he spoke. "I'll fight you." He said, to the surprise of Koichi and Markus. "If I can't beat you here, then there's no way I can keep on moving forward." He said as turned to Markus and looked at his Brass Knuckles.
Getting the hint, Markus tossed Tatsuo the Knuckles. "Right now, I'm not just doing this for my sake, I'm doing this for the love of the sport I put my everything into." Tatsuo said as he got into a fighting position. "So let's do this, Kanji!" Tatsuo roared as he and Kanji charged at each other.
As Markus and Koichi can only watch on the side now. This battle was for Tatsuo's sake and he needed this more than anything. Especially if he wanted to keep moving forward.
"Ah excuse me, pardon me." Ai said as she kept on moving forward, after Kan was taken in by the police for being a suspect. Ai wanted to go check up on Haruka, but for some reason, the girl wasn't answering her cellphone, so she had no choice but to go in person to check up on Haruka.
She felt bad about leaving Miyako with the responsibility of watching after Aqua and Ruby, but the woman was okay with it and said to check up on her. So Ai did just that, after letting Ruby and Aqua know and then heading over to where Dyna Chair is and grimaced as she saw the yellow police tape and a lot of police officers looking around and the likes.
Moving on, she needed to check up on Haruka, she didn't know what kind of bond Haruka had with Mirei, but at the very least, she wanted to be there. Soon she found herself entering Dyna Chair. And after taking off her sunglasses, she tried to look for anyone, and then finding the directory, she found the offices and headed up there.
Soon she entered in, and saw Horie looking over some paperwork. "Um excuse me?" Ai spoke up as Horie blinked and turned to Ai and his eyes widened in shock. "Sorry about the sudden entrance, but I heard about what happened to Mirei Park recently, and I was worried for Haruka and how she was handling it." Ai said to Horie.
Horie can only sigh in both relief and exhaustion. "Well she's up by the dance floor, but Haruka hasn't said or spoken to anyone...if you can do so, please check up on her." Horie requested as he bowed to her.
"Of course." Ai said as she thanked him and went up to the dance floor and soon found the room and then opened it up to see Haruka sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees looking down. "Haruka?" Ai called out gently as Haruka made a small reaction but didn't move.
This only made Ai move to get closer. "Haruka, it's me, Ai, when I heard about what happened to Mirei Park, I tried to get in touch with you, to check up on you." She said as she ended up standing right next to Haruka before sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry about the loss of your president." Ai said gently to her. "I don't know the kind of relationship you had with her, but I had to imagine that the two of you were close." She said.
Haruka sniffled a bit. "The President and I were close." She confirmed. "While she may have been harsh and demanding, she was also kind and warm to me as well." She said as she turned to Ai with sadness in her eyes. "So why did she have to die?" She questioned.
"I don't know." Ai replied softly as she gently pulled Haruka close to her and had her wrapped in her arms in a hug. "And we may not know at the moment, but right now don't forget that I am here for you." Ai said kindly as Haruka leaned in to her.
"Thank you Ai." Haruka said to her. "It's been a mess this entire time when I found out, and I even heard that the police got some potential suspects." Haruka said as Ai winced. "...Kan was one of them wasn't he?" Haruka stated more than asked.
"...Yeah, they suspect him because of the dodgy contract that Mirei did and how Kan was left out to dry. But I don't believe for a moment that Kan did it." Ai said firmly. "The man just got a second chance at life and he wasn't going to let that chance go, especially not for some foolish notion of revenge." She said as she felt Haruka let out a small sigh of relief.
"That's good." Haruka sighed out in relief. "Kan was harsh and strict, but he was also warm and caring as well. He kept on telling me not to overdo it. And argued countless times with President over how my training went, even if that did get him into a lot of trouble, he was arguing for my welfare, and even though I was silent about it. I was always grateful he was willing to stand up for me." She said.
"Kan sounds like a good man." Ai noted as Haruka nodded and then the door opened and Ai sharply turned her eyes to see a complete stranger. "Who are you?" She questioned as she held Haruka a bit tighter in her arms as if hoping to shield her away from this sketchy looking guy.
A middle aged man of above average height, with a respectable build, slicked back, long black hair, and a short mustache and short goatee. Wearing a pair of black chukka boots, black slacks, and a black silk dress shirt under a maroon pinstripe jacket. With a gold chain necklace with a gold circular pendant and a black crocodile leather belt with a gold buckle, finished off by a silver watch with haphazardly aligned numbers on its face and a brown leather band.
"Um hello there." The man said awkwardly as Haruka stiffened. "I know that I do not appear welcomed but I assure you that I mean no harm, and simply wanted to talk is all." He assured as Ai's eyes narrowed at him.
At least until Haruka turned to him in surprise. "Akiyama?" Haruka called out as the now identified Akiyama blinked in shock and surprise.
"Haruka? What are you doing here?" He said in disbelief. "For that matter, you were the new girl that Park was raving on about? I thought you were still living with Kiryu in Okinawa." He said in shock as Ai blinked in surprise.
"Haruka, do you know this man?" Ai asked as Haruka nodded happily.
"He's Shun Akiyama, a money lender, with a no Interest Policy who's also known as the Lifeline of Kamurocho." Haruka explained. "Don't worry Ai, he's a trustworthy friend." She assured.
"If you say so." Ai said as Akiyama blinked at the sight of her and then his eyes widened in recognition.
"Ah, you're B-Komachi's Star Idol, and Japan's Greatest Idol, Ai!" He said in shock as he turned to Haruka. "I didn't know you knew the Industry's Top Idol, Haruka!" Shun said in amusement as Haruka giggled. "But I'm sorry to cut the amusement short, but I'm here to talk about Mirei Park." He said as the downer aura returned.
"It's okay, Akiyama." Haruka assured. "What about Mirei Park?" She asked.
"I think I have an ideas as to why she was killed." He revealed as both Idols' eyes widened in shock as they listened closely to Akiyama.