important(?)
Possibly because of WM/renegades past?
Also yaay cordax growing up joining the crew proper
Also also what plane what
3 Likes
If someone had read the rest of the story this would make sense 
Bro didn’t even read the last chapter 
5 Likes
Wait did I miss one or did I just forget after oh how long was that again?
3 Likes
oh noooo, you’ll have to read it all from the top again
3 Likes
I mean hey theres worse things to read
3 Likes
I know, I wrote several of them 
uhhh I mean, thanks for the compliment? 
5 Likes
This is not related to the latest chapter, but this image is too perfect to not use it…
Ren: exists
Kohaku:
Writer’s block? More like- more like, uhhhh more like, reader’s… uhhhhh… sphere 
I'm heavy weapons guy I make puny babies cry You want to live Rule one Don't touch my gun
I cannot believe that you did not continue the funny red hot chili peppers song 
You’re so evil and bad
How did both of my gifs in that message break?
Don’t you lecture me with your 0 dollar haircut 
I ate chickey nuggies… with hot sauce
Mashed potatoes
Salad
And Dr Pepper
And then I cooked perfect medium well beef steaks the day after
I prefer it when my chicken is actually made of chicken
When life gives you lemons 
Make lemonade 
And by that I mean review the chapter so that the next one gets released quicker
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Doctor, what do you mean I have dementia?
Hey he literally repeated my sentiment
It’s so sad that Ren tragically passed away
He will be missed
The beans are about to be spilled, I can feel it
So the guy who suffered a screwdriver related death is the creator of special doll bodies, one of which is operated by Rook
I still stand by my point that Kahn is Krelikan
And the screwdriver user with a rhythm-related ability is one of the Pangolins who didn’t get any kind of description during their meeting
So, this happened on their way. back to Japan…
Skill issue, what can I say. Couldn’t even get there prorerly 
Infinite car glitch
NOOOOO ghid I had an entire theory about how he is a mask user who has a smoke related ability
0/10, will never read again
Well… I guess the last passengers in the plane didn’t get saved after all
There is still too little info to determine who or what attacked the plane, so I’m gonna theorise that it was Joe
maybe it’s the flying member of the Pangolins because he, well, flies and also doesn’t feel pain and is very durable, so he could absolutely lodge himself in a plane turbine. But he said that he wasn’t going to do anything for now, so I doubt it is him. The other option is Pak because his ability seems to be like throwing things or something, but he’s also a weak loser, so idk)
Oh you have no idea…
I thought that this was an absolutely wild statement, but then I remembered that the TF2 stuff is almost never brought up outside of a couple PMs
4 Likes
I know he’s played (because he shows up in the friends tab on steam), but I had to make a joke there.
4 Likes
—
Chapter Sixteen
Prognosis
—
“Thanks again for this.” The inhuman hand smashed into the bag. “You know how hard it is for me to go out and about like this, so I really appreciate it.”
The assassin touched the brim of his hat in reply. “Think nothing of it, master Odgu. We must all look out for one another, after all.”
“I told you, the whole master thing is getting really old.” Odgu groaned, finally finding the styrofoam container he was searching for as his fingerless limb drew it out. “It’s just easier to call me Odgu. Less hassle that way.”
“It comes with the position.” The assassin said, his face suddenly darkening. “You accepted it, which means you must accept the title as well.”
“Oh, very well.” Odgu huffed, ignoring the threatening undertones the message had carried. “You want to be like that about it, then whatever. But I’m only here because of getting Rikuto back.”
“Because of Pakka, you mean.”
There was a long pause as the vertical oval-shaped pupils housed inside the red eyes of Odgu stared with a dangerous air towards their ominous target. “How well could you see if I broke your glasses?”
“Not at all.” He replied, producing a small cloth from his shirt pocket to clean them with. “That’s the point of these, you know — helping people see things they normally would be unable to.”
Odgu growled out an exceptionally weary sigh, throwing the bag on the floor as he cradled the styrofoam container in his arm. “Okay, okay, fine, you can stop beating around the bush. If Know was still alive I’m sure he would’ve told you about it, or maybe he already did. Well, whatever. It’s not like it’s a massive secret or anything.”
“When did it happen?”
“Years ago.” Odgu flipped the lid open, revealing the samosa inside. “I don’t know how long exactly, since I kind of had to relearn how to measure time. Or perhaps I mean learn it for the first time; there’s an uncertainty about a lot of things that gets in the way now and then.”
“Nobody’s come looking for you?” He inquired. “If it’s been years, surely someone would have tried to hunt you down during that time.”
“It would be easier if I knew for sure I was or wasn’t ever somebody else.” A large piece of samosa was smashed into the inhuman mouth. “I only remember waking up in an alley, with the… Remains of whoever I was before splattered about me like some kind of horrible art piece. It took me a while to find this apartment that he or I apparently obtained, and I’ve lived here ever since, making just enough to get by.”
“Is that why the carpet’s so… Organic?” The assassin poked the crab grass growing out of the floor with his shoe.
“I like it that way.” Odgu grumbled, setting the styrofoam container aside. “Since you’re still here, want to watch something? I can only get so many stations with this outdated antenna, and the lonicera japonica definitely doesn’t help its signal.”
“No, I have another stop to make.” The assassin sighed, checking his watch. “Good to see you, though. I saw Ren on the bus the other day.”
“Ren Fukushi?” Odgu sounded mildly interested as he sunk into his customized seat. “Did he sit next to anybody, anyone that might be connected with things?”
The assassin had turned to the door, and now stood with his hand on the knob, looking back towards the leader of the Pangolins with an ominous side eye. “Did you know Rikuto dispersed his private collection of valuable artworks across Tokyo, so they would be even harder to locate?”
“Yes, and I know about Ren’s seeming to have made off with each and every one of them,” Odgu replied. “save the marble tiger. But that one’s massive; it would take ten of them just to slide it around.”
“Well, it’s the one he hasn’t got his hands on.” The assassin replied. “Tell me, where is that one located?”
Odgu was silent in reply. His inhuman hands touched together in contemplation, and for a moment the sounds of Tokyo pierced the thick walls.
“Be seeing you later, then.” The assassin tapped the brim of his hat and closed the door. Wearily, Odgu pressed a button on the remote at his side, and glared into the television screen for a moment as he felt about for another bite of samosa. However, it was not meant to last, as with a violent start he jumped up, grabbed an old felt hat, threw on a trenchcoat, and barely had time to scoop up a throw pillow in his arms before flying out the door.
—
“If you’re going to smoke do it somewhere away from the mic, please.”
The visibly offended Shou trudged off to enjoy his cancerous delicacies elsewhere. Race climbed back up to where Ren was sitting, taking a seat next to him and staring out at the boats coming to and from the wreckage.
“How many died?”
“Six.” She sighed, leaning forwards on her knees after a long pause in which Ren said nothing. “Might be seven tomorrow; copilot’s in rough shape. Four died in the fall and two more when the plane hit the water.”
“Ren?” Her head turned towards him, eyeing his tired gaze as it stared out across the sea. “We saved lives here. Without Rook, nobody would have survived.”
“Without Rook and you, nobody would’ve attacked the plane.” Ren replied, refusing to break his vision from the horizon.“This tragedy is because of us and I’m responsible for the six people who died here.”
“Nobody knows what hit the plane.” Race retorted, laying a hand on Ren’s knee, which he turned away from. “There’s no way to know this wasn’t just some random accident. And you can’t go blaming yourself for what this group did just because some of us happened to exist there.”
“Then what do I do?” Ren’s gaze suddenly rounded on Race, twisted brows framing the reddened lids hiding underneath. “How do I know some other major attack won’t be next? There’s no telling what this group will do, where they will strike or how. What assurance do I have that everything’s going to be okay until Saturday?”
“I think you already know.” Race answered.
“There’s too much risk.” Ren brushed some of his silver hair out of his line of sight, glancing back at the shore. “I don’t want to gamble on what that thing might do when it’s out. If you aren’t specific enough-”
“Ren.” A hand was laid on his knee. “They already know where Corey goes to school. You think Tone can handle whatever might occur alone?”
The sun reflected sharply off the surface of the water. Ren closed his eyes in retaliation, unwilling to verbally admit that deep down, he knew Race was right.
—
“What if he died or something?”
“Kohaku,” Fred groaned, sending an exceptionally weary glare in her direction. “Just cut the crab please.”
“Wait,” Kohaku dropped her knife, struggling out of her gloves and sending one hand down the inside of her rubber uniform. “I’m gonna have to use that. Cut… the… Right!” She returned the notebook to her pants pocket and started putting her gloves back on. “Y’know, cuz it sounds like cut the cra-”
Fred’s sharp throat-clearing sound cut her off as he quickly turned his attentions to the counter. “Nani ka hitsuyōdesu ka?”
“English is fine, thanks.” The old man that approached waved Fred off, blinking repeatedly as he eyed the glass in front of him. “I’ve just been low on snow crab and wondered if you had any at this time of night.”
“We’re all sold out of that one.” Fred gestured to the glass he leaned on. “But I can offer you some king crab, brought in fresh as of today.”
“No, thanks,” The old man smiled, adjusting his grip on the long fabric case tucked under his arm. “I’ve just been doing some thinking. That young man that works here, I forget his name-”
“Ren, you mean?” Fred’s face did not show the level of concern that his hands did as they rested against the glass countertop. Kohaku made a note of the change, slowly resting her hand on the large knife on the cutting board.
“First time I’ve ever seen him take the bus.” The old man continued, seemingly unaware of the shift in tone. “He was there a few days ago, and I’ve been trying to place where I had seen him ever since. Well, I just remembered that he worked here, and I just wanted to let you know.”
Fred nodded with a blink and his typical small smile, refusing to let his true reaction to the inquiry be shown. “Well, I’d better get going; hopefully they’ll be back in stock soon. Goodnight Fred, and you too, ma’am.” With his liver spot-riddled skin glowing in the warmth of his smile, the old man trudged off, running a finger alongside his long moustache as he went.
“I’ve never seen that man shop here in my life.” Fred frowned. “He’s never ordered anything at this counter and he would have no idea who Ren is. Take care of locking up tonight, would you?”
“What?” Kohaku turned towards Fred as he slipped out of the rubber overalls with surprising dexterity and threw on his coat. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know what Ren’s up against here.” Fred felt for his keys. “But I’m not sitting around and letting the net get drawn in any closer to him. There’s an opportunity to do good here, Kohaku, and it’s worth the risk no matter what. I’m gonna go see the boss and let him know what he’s up against.”
“Wait!” Kohaku retorted, setting the knife back down on the counter and rounding on Fred. “I, I… I was there with them monday night. There were men with guns, wooden masks and stuff. One of them could fly and they captured a little kid. You could really get hurt, Fred. Don’t go out there alone.”
Fred looked back at her in silence for what felt like an hour.
“Close up.” He slipped out of the counter loop and quickly strode off, leaving Kohaku all alone in the almost completely empty store. Her saddened brows never cleared enough to draw her attention to the small stand of sunglasses, which hid the perfectly round pair aside them.
—
“I’m sure he’ll apologize profusely in person when the opportunity arises. Now c’mon, we’ve got work to do.”
“I worked so hard on these.” Corey looked towards Tone with a pitiful expression, holding the ruined artwork in his hands. “They were due tomorrow, too.”
“Look, I’ll find a way to whip something else up for you to take.” Tone crouched down and laid a hand on Corey’s shoulder. “Okay? Now we’ve got some work that needs doing, and you’re the only one who can do it.”
“Why am I the only one?” Corey inquired, dropping his backpack in the middle of the room.
“It’s Wild Mask policy never to wear another member’s mask. And since that one’s yours, it’s up to you to fulfill that responsibility.” Tone patted his shoulder, standing back up as he did so. “Go ahead and change, and then we’ll get started.”
“That’s not true.” Rook said as soon as the restroom door had closed. “There’s no such rule in place about mask usage between members.”
“Would you prefer I have insulted his intelligence by reminding him the only other people here are ones that physically can’t wear it?” Tone grumbled, slumping into the computer chair. “Kid’s going to have enough of a time dealing with the plane crash after he hears about it; I don’t need to be the one to make things harder for him right now.”
“Why weren’t you ever the leader on any of the missions?”
Tone turned his head towards Rook with a puzzled air. “Because Wild always chose someone else for it. Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know, I just… It always seemed like you were much more accustomed to that sort of thing than Ren ever was.” Rook’s eyes glanced down at the pillow his mask rested upon. “You’re always so much more prepared than Ren is. You’ve always got backup plans, you’re able to strategize better… I just don’t understand-”
“I know.” Tone spoke solemnly, slowly rising from the chair he had collapsed into. “No doubt you also noticed me falling into line and backing Ren up when he was undoubtedly in the wrong, or completely ceding my objections just to help him save face in front of others. And that’s because he’s in charge; I give him my loyalty whether or not I think he’s deserving of it.”
“Sure, perhaps I could be better at some of the things he’s doing. But he’s the one in the position. Wild had him set up as deputy leader for his own reasons, and that was his decision on the matter. But I don’t follow Ren because of Wild’s decision making; I’m following him because he’s the one in charge.”
“Still.” Rook sighed, oblivious to the restroom door opening as he spoke. “Everyone knows you’re deputy leader; I think it’s high time he properly announced it.”
“Perhaps when there’s less going on. You ready?” Tone said, forcing the focus onto the newly-returned Corey, adorned in his royal robes of sweat pants and oversized purple hoodie. “Won’t be too much longer til Ren gets back, and we should probably make some progress before he does.”
“Yeah.” Corey dropped the pile of his school clothes next to the wall without the slightest attempt at cleanliness, trudging over to the computer chair with a sad glance at his finger painting. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Now, try to determine what’s about to happen in the next fifteen seconds.” Tone tried to restrain his grin as his hand crept towards a cup of water. “We’ll see if you can predict it or not.”
“This mask feels so weird.” Corey adjusted the smooth mask over his eyes with some uncertainty. “It’s like it’d fall off at any point. How do you guys keep these things on your faces all the time?”
“…Sorry.” Corey lifted the mask and looked away ashamedly. “I forget sometimes.”
Tone relented from trying to discreetly acquire the water and relapsed into a casual shrug. “I forget it too half the time, don’t worry about it. It’s something in the way the masks operate, from what I understand; only people can remove them once they’re in place.”
“I think mine’s stuck.” Rook commented, causing the room to fall into a dead silence as both Corey and Tone united together to glare at him in disappointment.
“…Anyway,” Corey returned the mask to his head as Tone tapped his chin. “You were able to predict events fairly easily, but it seemed like the mask could tell the user just about anything. How about-”
“A PLANE CRASH??” Corey suddenly blurted out, ripping the mask off his face as he spoke. “Rook, you didn’t tell me you were in a PLANE CRASH!!”
“Ren said not to-” Rook began, but paused under the angry scowl of Tone. “Uh… That is, he wanted to be the one to tell you about that. Everyone’s okay, except for I think about six people and pretty much anyone making a living off of fishing off the coast there, and a lot of families are traumatized now, and they have to de-pollute the water-”
“Stop. Talking.” Tone gripped his forehead with a growl. “Yes, there was a plane crash. The authorities are unclear what exactly caused it, although some eyewitness reports claim a fast-moving object-”
“Him!!” Corey interrupted once more, having returned the mask to his face. “The flying guy who attacked you at the train station! He- his name is Hawk.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Tone grinned, pulling a loose piece of paper out from under the computer monitor and scribbling down what Corey had relayed. “Tell me, where did this guy- hold up, that’s Ren now. Surely he’d like to hear this all in person.”
The door slowly crawled open, and Ren escorted Race inside with a furtive glance down the hall. “Busy day today. Lots of people trying to talk to Race about, um… Ah, I see you’re testing things out?”
“Why does he have a VR headset on?” Race pointed at the smooth mask Corey wore. “I thought you didn’t like those things.”
“It’s that one mask I was telling you about.” Tone jabbed a thumb towards Corey. “He just found out about the crash on his own, and even figured out who was responsible for it.”
“Good.” Ren’s jaw clenched as he spoke. “Tomorrow I’m going to visit someone I haven’t had to deal with in a long time… Before I do that, I want a list of all the individuals involved, where they get their finances from, why Koi Blood was involved-”
“What?” Rook almost managed to move from the shock. “Koi Blood’s involved? But I thought that he- Oisim, I mean, didn’t he-”
“Oisim’s meeting with them all right now.” Corey said, lifting the mask above his eyes for a moment. “Something there is… Making things fuzzy, I… I can’t really make out intent. Nothing bad’s going to happen, I think… Can’t really see all that’s going on at the moment. But I know what the cause of the disturbance is.”
“They’ve got one of the Demon eyes.”
Tone caught Ren’s impulsive glance towards his bedroom door. The tense air in the room grew more and more strained for a moment, finally clearing with Tone crossing his arms. “What do we do, boss?”
Ren’s darkened face slowly cleared into a sinister grin. “Tomorrow we’re going to scare the pants off these Pangolins. And then…”
—
“Insane! Absolutely insane!”
“Collateral.” Oisim scowled, his muscular hands folding atop his desk with a powerful air. “I do not count six deaths as so great a crime.”
“Oh, of course you’d condone it!” Odgu snarled, slamming one of his inhuman hands on the desk. “This is a direct defiance of my orders here. Now either you stepped out of line and ordered him to do it, or he got smart and thought causing an international incident was a good way to spend his time. Well?”
“Get your hand off of my desk, little man.” Oisim growled, his face becoming ferocious as he spoke. “Now. Or I will remind you what happens to those who raise their voices around me.”
“OH, AM I TOO LOUD FOR YOU, BALD MAN?!” Odgu screeched, the trenchcoat atop his body fluttering violent as he spoke. “Then get down from your mighty throne and I’ll rearrange your SKULL a little! THAT should fix your hearing!!”
The inhuman limb was carving a gash into the wood, and at the sight of it Oisim’s face scowled even further, his suit tightened, and the veins in his head began to pop out. Just before the situation could turn horribly violent, the door opened, and in stepped the stranger from before, with a few massive gashes across his body all traveling in the same direction.
“I surely hope you weren’t talking about me behind my back.” His teeth shone in the limited light. “Odgu, Pakka. Where’s Usul? Is he not back from his-”
“Hawk, YOU IDIOT.” Odgu snapped, darting across the floor with impressive speed and sticking his arm in the general direction of the stranger’s face. “Because of you, an ENTIRE SEAPORT is now CLOSED, six people are DEAD, and you’ve given every member of the Pangolins great justification in the cause of removing you PERMANENTLY from the group. Well?? What have you to say for your behavior?”
“I suppose I’d have to rescind the eye, in that case…” Hawk replied, lifting his mask up enough to reveal the rest of his grey face, with the deep twisting wounds scrawled across his whole body, all originating from his right eye socket, which glowed with a furious orange light that swirled out like smoke from the socket it sat in. “Care to try removing it?”
“You’re a pretentious cadaver, you are.” Odgu continued, unfazed by the performance. “There are six people dead — DEAD, you moron — and sooner or later people are going to get suspicious of your antics and start looking into things. This saturday is our last chance to get the remaining eye before we have to acquire that demon mask, and YOU are the key to that. YOU are our heaviest hitter, and our most important asset — but so help me, I’ll wipe you off the face of Tokyo myself if you cross me again!” Odgu had to restrain himself to stop from lunging at Hawk as he spoke.
“Your orders are to acquire the demon mask. It’s being held here,” He shoved a roll of paper into Hawk’s tightened fist, the glowing smile of the recipient shrinking throughout the dressing-down until it vanished entirely. “If you kill anyone else — ANYONE AT ALL — I’ll have Usul rip that precious little bead out of your head before you know what’s happened. And don’t think he can’t, big man.”
“Yes sir.” Hawk’s smile did not return. There was no fear or respect present in either his voice or his face, but both still radiated danger in all directions.
“Then get out.” Odgu waved him off and stalked towards the desk again. “I trust you and your master have concocted a plan together?”
“Yes.” Oisim frowned almost perpetually, it seemed. “There will be an effort made to eliminate all the key members of the Wild Masks on saturday. To ensure an efficient execution of the operation, we will require Hawk, Pakka, and- and him.”
Odgu turned towards the door. In the place of Hawk the assassin now stood, smoke curling out from under his brim menacingly. “Good to see you back so soon.” Odgu hobbled over and gratefully shook the assassin’s hand, which he seemed used to, as it did not move him at all. “I trust that everything went well?”
“Almost.” The assassin glanced at his watch. “I was tailed out of the grocery store by that Fred character, but I popped his tire before he left the parking lot, and that seemed to slow him down.” The round sunglasses set themselves towards Oisim. “He mentioned coming to see you.”
“Hmph.” Oisim slowly stood, resting his fingertips atop the desk. “Then we had better depart. He will likely keep going until he arrives. Through the factory way; we will reconvene Saturday morning at the hotel. Our plans will be set then. Farewell.” He did not raise his eyelids until everyone, Odgu leaning on Pakka’s hand, had departed out the back.
“We are alone.”
A roaring fire burst into existence atop Oisim’s desk. He lowered himself back into his seat and folded his arms as the figure in the flames slowly became more and more apparent. Two dark eyes glared down at the seated figure, and the scowling face of an old man with a balding head and sharp, pointed beard and moustache were seen thrust forward on their respective neck like a furious chicken.
“̷O̷̷i̷̷s̷̷i̷̷m̷, ̷y̷̷o̷̷u̷ ̷f̷̷o̷̷o̷̷l̷!” The figure in the flames was barely discernable. “W̷̷e̷ ̷m̷̷us̷̷t̷ ̷g̷̷e̷̷t̷ ̷t̷̷h̷a̷̷t̷ ̷e̷̷y̷̷e̷ ̷b̷a̷̷c̷̷k̷ ̷i̷̷m̷̷m̷̷e̷̷d̷̷i̷a̷̷t̷̷e̷̷l̷̷y̷; ̷w̷̷h̷̷y̷ ̷w̷a̷̷s̷̷t̷̷e̷ ̷t̷̷i̷̷m̷̷e̷ ̷w̷̷i̷̷t̷̷h̷ ̷e̷̷l̷̷i̷̷m̷̷i̷̷n̷a̷̷t̷̷i̷̷n̷̷g̷ ̷t̷̷h̷̷e̷̷s̷̷e̷ ̷W̷̷i̷̷l̷̷d̷ ̷M̷a̷̷s̷̷k̷̷s̷? ̷T̷̷h̷̷e̷̷y̷ a̷̷r̷̷e̷ ̷i̷̷n̷̷s̷̷i̷̷g̷̷n̷̷i̷̷f̷̷i̷̷c̷a̷̷n̷̷t̷ - ̷N̷̷o̷̷t̷̷h̷̷i̷̷n̷̷g̷!!”
“That nothing killed you once before, Rikuto.” Oisim murmured, not bothering to look up at him. “No group is better equipped to stop our plans than they are. They have the demon mask itself; do you realize how much more powerful they would be if they acquired one of the eyes as well?”
“̷A̷̷l̷̷l̷ ̷t̷̷he ̷m̷̷o̷re̷ ̷r̷̷e̷as̷̷o̷̷n̷ ̷w̷̷h̷̷y̷ ̷we̷ ̷m̷̷us̷̷t̷ ̷g̷̷et̷ ̷i̷̷t̷ ̷fi̷̷r̷̷st̷!!” Rikuto retorted, his upper body becoming visible, hands folded behind his back. “H̷̷ow ̷w̷̷i̷̷ll̷ y̷̷o̷̷u̷ ̷s̷̷to̷̷p̷ ̷t̷̷he̷̷m̷ ̷o̷̷n̷̷c̷̷e̷ t̷̷h̷̷ey̷ a̷̷re̷ a̷̷t̷ y̷̷o̷̷u̷̷r ̷f̷̷ro̷̷nt̷ ̷d̷̷oo̷̷r? ̷We̷ ̷m̷̷us̷̷t̷ g̷̷e̷t ̷t̷̷he̷ ̷ot̷̷h̷̷er e̷̷y̷̷e̷ an̷̷d t̷̷h̷̷e̷ ̷ma̷̷s̷̷k ̷— ̷I̷ c̷an̷ b̷̷e ̷r̷̷es̷̷t̷̷o̷̷r̷̷e̷d̷, a̷n̷̷d-”
“And then Tone can split you right down the middle in a single move.” Oisim glared up at the flaming figure. “No, they must be eliminated first. Now, while they are overconfident, secure in their ability… Now, while the iron is hot.”
—
“Tone.”
Tone paused just before the mouthwash tipped out of the bottle he held, lowering it from the funnel his other hand steadied. “Yeah?”
The senior member of the Wild Masks sighed internally as Ren very softly closed the restroom door and looked back over his shoulder with a furtive air. “I want your actual opinion about this. You know what I alluded to earlier.”
“Correct.” Tone pulled the straw out from between his mask and his face just enough to allow it to leave his mouth. “I don’t approve, not even a tiny bit.”
“But it’s the only way to be sure.” Ren protested, taking his fingers off the handle of the door as he spoke. “There’s no other way we can be certain these attacks will stop. You heard the same Hawk person who attacked you before tell you nothing would happen just yesterday, and now six people-”
“Ren, stop trying to convince me.” Tone turned back towards the mirror, readjusting the straw and lifting the bottle of mouthwash towards the funnel again. “I know your mind is made up, and you know I will not be compromising on the issue. So let’s not waste time debating it.”
Ren’s despondent glance downwards was met with an extremely dramatic eye roll from Tone, who removed the straw from behind his mask and laid it next to the faucet along with the bottle of mouthwash. “What’s the number one rule we abide by?”
“To not look in my bedroom.” Ren tried and failed to hide a smile. “I’m definitely plotting something nefarious in there and it’s not just a giant mess.”
“We don’t kill unless we have no other choice.” Tone continued, undeterred by the attempt at humor. “If you decide there’s no other way, then I’ll support whatever course of action you take. Before that happens, however, I retain my opinion on the matter.”
“Whatever made you so… Y’know,” Ren rubbed his forearm, leaning slightly against the wall as his eyes tried to find the word floating somewhere in the ether. “Hard-boiled, I guess?”
Tone finally let a nasal exhale escape his lungs, eyeing the floor for a brief moment. “Keep what you have, don’t keep what you don’t. My old man’s words.” He picked the straw and bottle back up, carefully balancing the funnel with one finger. “To live you have to be willing to let things go. Otherwise you end up surrounding yourself with expired waste.”
He sniffed at the air. “No offense, ablutophobe.”
Ren’s smile disappeared into a flat glare as Tone tried to hide the very obvious grin he was wearing under his mask. “I have to gaslight myself into thinking this is as good as brushing my teeth would be, if you don’t mind.”
“Don’t drown yourself.” Ren lightly punched his shoulder in reply and exited the restroom, slowly closing the door behind him. Tone stared into the eyes which looked back at him through the mirror as the room grew still.
“…Where the hope our souls shall have no blight…”
—
Fred felt his sore fingers as he walked from the bus station. It had not been easy for someone as out of shape as he was to quickly scale the back of a bus, hold on for dear life until the assassin exited it, and then take the kind of fall necessary to hide him from the driver’s view, but it had been worth it. His joints ached from inaction, but he reminded them they would get the chance to rest later.
Outside of the metal shed the assassin entered was a very large bouncer, and assuredly he would not simply let Fred walk in as if it was nothing. But he had to get in; Ren’s safety was counting on him informing Oisim about developments, and this was the direct route to the only office he had ever seen him use. Assuredly it lead into the rest of the factory sitting a ways behind it, despite the heavy wood surrounding it on either sides making it appear abandoned.
“Is he in?” Fred asked the silhouette as he approached, who jolted and turned towards him suddenly. “Need to talk to him about someone I saw at the market. I assume that character that just entered was his private security, although I didn’t get a very good look at him outside of his back and hat.”
“You here to see Oisim?” The figure replied.
“Yeah; I figure you’ve gotta frisk me and whatnot, but do make it quick; it’s serious.” Fred held his arms out, waiting for the silhouette’s inspection. In reply, the burly figure walked over and stood only two feet from the senior fishmonger, resting one hand on his shoulder.
“Friend, I’d have to do more than that. Any other day there’d be questions to have answered, like how you managed to get all the way out here without being noticed, how you knew Oisim was out here in the first place, and a whole bunch of other questions. Then I’d need to have you thoroughly screened, cleared by my boss, and only then could you talk to Oisim about whatever’s troubling you.”
“But tonight?” The shining grin reappeared, the only identifiable feature in the black silhouette. “I’m just in such a bad mood.”
—
4 Likes
“…Usul, the base of the pillar.” – Stilgar, Dune, 1953.
4 Likes
Tonight on Top Gear
I contemplate my existence
James spills the beans
And Hammond tells us the moral of the story
May be slow, no need to rush ya When I'm rolling with Natascha Fill you dead with holes, we crush ya Leave you cold like snow in Russia
https://www.funny-emoticons.com/files/smileys-emoticons/love-emoticons/401-smug-grin.png
Are those the steaks where they personally chew up the hamburger meat and then turn them into burgers and then sell them in france? 
So’s this 
It uses protein powder and chickpea flower for the breading I’m pretty sure, it has zero carbs from what I recall and it tastes unironically based
haha I wish that worked that well on my end haha 
Whaaaaaaaaat? Nooooooooooooo 
Bingo
Have fun with that
Bingo
Couldn’t even spell properly properly
Cry about it
Ooh, you almost had it
You trusted him at face value? Him?? Mister trolling???
Wow okay sheesh
let’s see your exercise sheet then mister perfect just kidding I know french people can’t be perfect
Hey, hey, I’m hip with it, I know the maymays and stuff, I follow the funny 
Who the heck is Frank Sherbert
3 Likes
oh boy I am part of the story now
I also still don’t know what’s going on just that I am a bad guy and my eye hurts
6 Likes
Read it from the top for more cohesion (brain loss)
But to sum up, you destroyed an entire airliner, you got hit by a train, and you have proven too tough for any of the wild masks to deal with
Also your posting cringe on main has gotten HR very mad at you
4 Likes
He also acquired a prosthetic eye of dubious morality.
1 Like
—
Chapter Seventeen
Treatment
—
“Corey!!”
The heavy eyelids slowly dragged themselves upwards, having a difficult time bringing the rest of Corey’s head with them. “Hmm? OH-” He suddenly straightened himself, brushing the wrinkles out of his uniform and sliding about in his seat. “My presentation, right.”
“What I asked you was,” The teacher sternly reiterated, with her tiny glasses pushed towards the end of her nose. “I want to know who it was that made this for you. Well?” She scowled at him from across the classroom, the naive faces of his peers all turned to see his reply. “You dropped out of sculpting because you didn’t like it, and now you show up with an immaculate sculpture of a guarding lion expertly crafted out of fresh clay. Who made this for you, Corey?”
“Uh,” Corey gulped, shakily picking up his pencil and nervously drawing three lines next to each other. “Well, y’see, I uh- I followed a tutorial. Online. For how to do it.”
“I see,” His teacher crossed her arms and leaned onto one leg with an amused expression. “And what was the name of the person who made the tutorial?”
There was the noise of a bell from further down the hall, and the door suddenly opened, the wild-eyed face of the janitor peering around it. He rattled something off in Japanese to the teacher, and the entirety of the class scrambled out of their seats in response.
“Alright, orderly lines now, come along.” The teacher pushed and prodded her students out the door. “Corey, come along, you can pack up your stuff later.”
Scrambling out the front door, Corey’s class joined the growing crowd of children gathered directly outside the school, waiting until they were all evacuated before moving across the street. Weaving through the crowd of his schoolmates, he finally reached the line of grass aside the road, and slid his hands into his pockets.
I’ll call the school in a moment to get you out of there.
“I wasn’t expecting you to throw the fire alarm.” Corey murmured.
You gave me the signal. I wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t important.
“Yeah, they called my bluff about the art,” Corey sighed. “We’ll need to think of some way for you to-”
WHAT?!
Corey winced, covering his right ear. “A little quieter, please.”
YOU THREW THE EMERGENCY SIGN BECAUSE OF AN ART PROJECT???
“Corey!!” The teacher snapped, having finally spotted his blonde head hiding amongst the crowd. “Get back over with your group now! I don’t want to see you wandering off again, understand?”
Corey shrugged one shoulder at the buildings opposite the school and returned to the conglomerate of his classmates, listening intently for the sound of any approaching fire engines. The rest of the students were fairly panicked by the suddenness of it all, but Corey dove immediately into facts and statistics about fires that he mostly made up in the moment to put them at ease.
We are SO having a talk about this later.
—
“I hate every single thing about this.”
Race didn’t comment, silently holding the folded pile of Ren’s clothes. She also didn’t make any comment on how silly he looked in his wetsuit, or how they had to hurry up lest someone question why a random foreigner was about to dive into a garden pond. But the thoughts still slipped through despite her silence, and Ren pushed himself forward with a sigh.
“I’ve only ever done this once before.” He sat down at the edge of the pond, letting his legs dangle in and disrupt the peaceful staring at the wall the koi were involved in. “That was back when Wild was alive. I think I cried for maybe three hours afterwards; it was awful.”
“Welp,” Ren turned back towards the pond, not wanting to see what Race’s reaction was. “I would suggest not standing too close to the pond for a little bit. Might get clobbered if you’re not careful.”
Practically falling into the pond, Ren held his breath as he descended downwards, the depths of the water below him seeming to draw him further and further into the murky blackness. The pressure barely increased as he descended, but the urge to exhale grew significantly stronger, forcing him to mentally double his efforts to keep his breath in.
It was less than a minute before he had to triple them. The terror of drowning suddenly and violently set its fangs on him, and for a moment it seemed like he might give up. But clenching his jaw, he looked upwards at the light which barely penetrated the water around him, hoping that by its solace he might find the strength to go on.
Then the light faded. Darkness completely surrounded him, and utter desperation at the situation set in, but he refused to budge. This was the fate he had chosen. Even in what felt like his last moments he refused to surrender.
His eyes shut and opened again. A massive glassy eye was now inches from his face, reading every detail of his entire body, as it was almost as large as he was tall. The next moment there was a violent rushing, and Ren spilled out in front of the pond, gasping and choking violently.
“Ren!!” Race stumbled over and landed on her knees next to him. “Are… You’re okay, right? You’re gonna be okay, c’mon, look at me…”
“C-Can’t.” Ren turned his soaked head towards Race, his eyes now blank and lifeless, glazed over with a silvery fog. “Not until it is done. He’s on his course now, and there’s- ghkkkauh” A gagging cough interrupted his explanation. “There’s nothing in the world that can stop him.”
Race looked upwards with something akin to an accusatory glare at the sudden dark clouds which quickly began to gather. “We have to run,” Ren shuddered as he staggered upwards, feeling about for Race’s hand to guide him. “The rain is coming.”
—
Odgu slowly peeked out from the door of his apartment. The hall was empty, save for a cat which loitered at the door, hoping to escape into the wild outside world.
Climbing down the side of the stairwell, he landed softly on the aged carpet of the main below and adjusted the pillow atop his back. An attempt to pet the elderly feline resulted in several hisses and a scratch, which tore through the cuff of his sleeve and deflected off his immovable exterior. Sighing bitterly, he turned towards the door and propped it slightly open with his cane.
“Oh!” Pakka started, having raised his hand to turn the knob. “Are you heading out?”
“Yes.” Odgu whispered, slinking out the door and closing it softly behind him. “You need to keep your voice down in there. If the landlady hears me going out and about she’ll beat me with a poker, or call the police if those old cataracts manage to get a good enough look at me. And I shudder to think of what that poor poker would look like after it’s either beaten against me head or slammed through the hood of a police car.”
“Wait.” Odgu turned his bulbous eyes on Pakka with a sharp glare. “You’re not here for that, are you? In the middle of the day?”
“It’s been getting worse.” Pakka gripped one hand around its opposite arm. “I can feel it reaching down at night. I don’t know what to do.”
“Fight it!” Odgu snapped, curing an inhuman hand in irritation at the now quite startled lad. “Come on, man, what do you think it is I do? I don’t conjure up any sort of magical power that lets me reshape people into whatever I choose!”
“I… I know,” Pakka’s resistance to the dressing down crumpled. “It’s just… It’s so hard to fight back. It feels inevitable. Like it can’t be stopped or avoided, just… Postponed.”
“Yes, that is what inevitable means…” The leader of the Pangolins sighed, backing down. “Alright, but keep at it, kid. It’s not going to get better if you don’t actively fight it at all times.”
“Yeah…” Pakka sighed, then flinched. “Yeesh, what’s… Raindrop just hit me. When’d it get so dark and cloudy? It was clear walking over here.”
Odgu glanced up at the almost black clouds which seemed to blanket the sky. A sneaking suspicion that crossed his mind was almost immediately confirmed the moment he looked back down, with the massive eye that stared back at him threatening to engulf him whole.
There was more that unnerved him than the distended jaw of the creature, with its gaping holes that revealed how the jaws could lunge forwards out of the skull, or the wickedly curved teeth which seemed to glow with their transparency, or even the bristling and lightning-like hairs which traveled the length of the creature’s spine. The whole thing seemed to possess an ethereal quality which froze the air around it, and while the face and eyes seemed fully bestial, with no intelligence of any note present, there seemed a clear and unrelenting purpose behind its dead gaze and guttural breaths which rattled the trees in front of it.
Pakka didn’t seem to notice the terror in his boss’ eyes. The inhuman hand gripped tightly around the head of the cane. “Move.”
“What?” His wooden face looked about slightly. “Is there something-”
“MOVE!!” Odgu roared, suddenly gripping him by the collar and throwing him a great distance down the street. He had barely released Pakka from his grip before a torrent of water erupted from the beast’s mouth with blinding speed, smashing him back inside the apartment building he had just exited. The water rushed back out the open wall as quickly as it had entered, and as he gripped his cane with both hands to rise to his feet once more the sodden body of the cat caught his eye, crushed to death in an instant by the terrific force which had clobbered him.
“Stupid eel.” Odgu growled, slipping off his trenchcoat and pillow. “Leave it alone! You want me, you dish-eyed tapeworm? Well come and-”
It instantly agreed to the proposition, charging forward with speed almost impossible to track, smashing through the rest of the building with Odgu caught between its teeth. Pakka watched in horror as the massive creature wormed its way throughout multiple apartments until it was thoroughly tied into the whole complex, then suddenly rocketed upwards, bringing most of the structure along with it, and ripping the building apart in the air.
Move. Odgu’s words came back to him suddenly, vibrating through the air. Move.
Scrambling to his feet, he barely made it a block away before the creature rocketed down the street, tearing up the road as it went, Odgu holding the beast’s jaws open with his hooked hands. The rain was growing quite violent, massive droplets smashing into the sidewalk before him, and he stood motionlessly watching the terrible creature thrash about before suddenly breaking away, curling up into the sky and shaking its head around with some violence.
“I think I know who’s behind this.” Odgu panted, his voice suddenly quite gravely, as he gripped one of the translucent teeth in his hands. “Tomorrow you’re going to go back there and get my trenchcoat, but for now just take my cane and run to Oisim.”
“What?” Pakka stammered, catching the cane clumsily in his arms. “Are you gonna be okay?”
“Whatever it takes to keep you safe, kid.” Odgu glanced back at him, still panting heavily. “Now move. See if Oisim has anything on two-hundred-meter dragonfish that can fly and-”
A brilliant flash suddenly occurred, scaring Pakka backwards and bringing Odgu to his knees. Steam rose off his body as he staggered back to his feet.
“…And summon lightning.” His voice rattled. “I’m going to buy you as much time as I can, but you have to go.”
“I- I can’t-” Pakka protested, but the sharp stare of Odgu forced him to run, trying his best not to slip in the heavy rain. The former hunchback’s eyes turned towards the massive creature, blanketed in water, curled into a figure eight in the sky.
“Okay, ugly.” He gripped the monster’s broken fang with a growl. "If there’s no more interruptions, then come and get some!"
—
“Come on, come on… Pick up, you…”
“DANG IT!!” Kohaku hurled her phone at the bed in rage. “The ONE time I try to call him and he won’t pick up. Maybe… Maybe he’s…”
“Oh thank goodness.” She sighed as a large silhouette landed on her balcony. “Do you have any idea how badly it is raining out there?? Well I guess you do, since you were out in it, but like, I was sure it would start leaking in here any second now. Get in here and get yourself dried off.”
“Thank you,” The massive palm of Hawk smothered Kohaku’s entire face as he stepped through the curtain, grinning as he looked about the room. “I can never fault you for a lack of hospitality.”
Kohaku gasped heavily as the lumbering giant suddenly dropped her and walked to her closet. Sliding open the door, he lifted up a cardboard box and grinned at her. “Ren told you to keep this for him, and without even telling you what it was, I’ll bet.”
“What are you going to do to him?” She stared, unable to take her eyes off of him from her position on the floor. “What are you planning?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged in reply. “He’s not really that important, so it doesn’t matter. This matters.” He hefted the box under his arm. “Now I hope you have an excellent day, ma’am. It’s a little windy out so I suggest you stay inside.”
His free hand touched the curtain just before a massive blast of wind ripped through the room, the tail end of the unholy monster whipping around and scraping across the building, easily ripping the balcony clean off. “Ah. I think you should probably move in just a second.”
Before Kohaku could respond, Hawk suddenly lifted her off the floor and strode to the opposite side of the room. The sliding door abruptly shattered, a round black object smashing through it and into the wall on the opposite side. It unfolded itself, uncrinkling its crumpled wings and trading a translucent stub of bone in its inhuman hands for a standing lamp.
“IS THAT A GIANT CMMmmph!!”
“He’s very sensitive about it.” Hawk cautioned as he once again smothered her.
“Get her out of here.” Odgu’s voice trembled. “This thing is killing everyone. I think it won’t stop until it kills me. I have to take it somewhere else, somewhere it won’t be able to hurt anybody. That idiot Ren doesn’t realize-”
He suddenly braced as the leviathan tore through the apartment and smashed through the wall on the opposite side, leaving a massive hole all the way through the building. Kohaku barely had time to snatch her phone off of the bed before Hawk suddenly flew out of the open hole, lifting her by the arm as he soared upwards.
“Stop it!!” Kohaku cried as she pulled herself up on the motionless wrist, freezing in place as she got a good look at the city below her. The creature was in a frenzy, thrashing as it knocked the skyscraper she had previously lived in to the ground before tunneling through two more buildings and veering away violently.
“There’s a nice coffee shop a couple of kilos away from this noise.” Hawk grinned at her horrified expression, the water streaming down the hooked beak at the end of his mask. “No, it’s quite alright. What else would I spend the cash on? Parking?”
—
6 Likes
Yeah I kinda know but sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s something that is not explained yet or if my brain blew up in the middle of reading a sentence.
Uh oh I have to catch up again
5 Likes
—
Chapter Eighteen
Recovery
—
“Did you have to give me the double eye pads?”
Race didn’t respond, happy that she could smile to herself without being observed for the slight amusement she had at her superior’s expense. “Turn coming up in a couple seconds. You gonna be okay to walk in there?”
“Maybe you’d better go in and talk to her first.” Ren sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know what could’ve happened to make her leave such a panicked voice message, but knowing how my eyes are right now might spook her further.”
“I’ll be sure to keep you posted.” Race felt about for the umbrella on the back seat. “Awful nice of Oisim to replace this old thing, even if he is working on the other side. Maybe you’ll be able to get an answer out of him after tomorrow in regards to what he’s up to.”
Ren didn’t answer. His sightless gaze was staring directly through the eye pads and into the floor. He stayed in the same position even as Race exited the vehicle and strolled to the door of the building.
“Sorry it took so long,” She began, lightly touching Kohaku on the shoulder, startling her from the cradled position she had entered on the cushioned seat. Before Race could complete her sentence, Kohaku jumped up and nearly crushed her to death in a hug.
“Oh, you don’t know what this means to me.” She gulped. “I’ve been through so much today, I-I thought it couldn’t get much worse… Where’s Ren? He is here, isn’t he?”
“…Ribs…” Race gasped, leaning on the back of the chair and breathing heavily after Kohaku released her grip. “Uhh… Yeah, he’s in the car at the moment, he isn’t doing too well. Nothing that won’t be better in a day or two, though. What exactly happened?”
“Are you BLIND??” Kohaku gasped, her jaw nearly hitting the floor. “THERE’S A-”
The other denizens of the cafe turned away from the wall-mounted television with dismissive glares at the interruption, slowly returning to the steady stream of footage which detailed the destruction caused by the monstrous rampage. The miniscule form of Odgu was entirely indiscernible from the crashing of debris captured by the street-level phone cameras and high-flying helicopters that desperately tried to keep up.
“That.” She glanced at Race, who had turned towards the window. “Ren didn’t get caught by that, did he? He’s okay?”
Her eyes caught Race’s reflection in the glass. The tears that escaped from her tired eyes and ran down her face matched the raindrops on the window, both framing the fatigued form of Ren inside the vehicle.
She softly rested her forehead against the pane. The leader of the Wild Masks lifted his covered eyes towards the building, surrounded by the soft sounds of rain colliding with the vehicle. Kohaku could not help but interpret the silent message Race could not bring herself to speak.
“What did Ren do?”
—
“Yeah?”
“This matter is becoming most indelicate.” The voice crackled. “I expect you have noticed these most recent events. We’re becoming less capable of countering these absurd maneuvers.”
“I noticed.” The assassin mumbled.
“We cannot allow this to be tolerated. You will visit the news station that girl works at and eliminate the assigned name. I will inform Odgu of the hit.”
“Understood, Makuei.” Another spiraling trail of smoke crept out from under the wide brim. “Master Odgu was locked pretty thoroughly in conflict with that thing… Where is he now?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “He is nearing Mt. Fuji, it seems. Whether that is of his own accord or the machinations of this foul beast is unclear.”
“Sir,” Pakka nervously interjected as Oisim hung up the phone. “He said- Odgu, said something about you maybe having information on this creature. That it can summon lightning and rain, and shoot water from its mouth.”
“His way of telling me where to look.” Oisim scowled even further than normal. “He already knew I was familiar with the creature. It is ancient, almost as old as the mask you now wear, and is said to have ripped itself from the bottom of the sea along the South American coast.”
His fingertips tapped together as his face darkened further. “It makes deals with those who have lost all hope. I suspect this Ren character managed some kind of swindle to utilize its power, although his actions have caused the death of countless innocent people.”
“But… What is it?” Pakka leaned forwards, his eyes nervously reading Oisim’s features for any indicator of offense. “What is this awful thing, that’s done so much damage in such a short amount of time?”
“Chubasco.” Oisim’s eyes rotated towards Pakka with a venomous stare. “The Devil fish. It cannot be stopped until the cause for which it was summoned is fulfilled… And it could only be after one thing.”
—
The rain whipped against his back.
“Two hundred.” Ren shuddered over and over, his shivering hands turned upwards to barely touch against the waterlogged eye pads he wore. His shins ached as they rested against the parking lot, the rest of his body flat against his folded legs as the massive droplets beat him down. “Two hundred. T-Two hundred.”
Kohaku was crouched in front of him, her hand nervously floating about, unwilling to actually touch him. Race stood a pace away, her tears trying their best to blend in with the rain, as her flat brow creased in the middle. “I killed them all. I killed them.”
“Ren.” Kohaku mumbled, putting all her strength into stopping any tears from emerging. “You… You didn’t. That monster did, the giant fish that-”
“I did it.” Ren protested, shaking his head even as it trembled right alongside his upturned fingers. “I killed two hundred people, Kohaku. I knew what that thing was capable of and I did it anyway. I’ve murdered them all.”
“That’s not you.” Kohaku swallowed, trying to ignore the fire building up behind her eyes. “You didn’t want any of this.”
“Stop giving me an out.” He growled, rearing up his spine just enough to allow his hands to clench into fists. “Am I not guilty enough by this that I can just brush it away? I killed them, Kohaku — there’s more blood than rain. There is no monster in the sky so much as there is a monster in me.” He scraped the outside of his hands against the asphalt for little reason other than the pain. "I should’ve… I should’ve drowned in that stupid pond-
“That’s ENOUGH.” Kohaku hissed, grabbing the front of Ren’s hairline and pulling his head upwards. “You’re acting real sorry for yourself right now in between all this blaming over something you didn’t do. When exactly did you tell this thing to kill everyone?”
“I let it loose-”
“LISTEN to me.” Kohaku snapped, bringing her face only a few inches from his as she descended to her knees. “Did you at any point TELL IT to do this?”
“It did it.” Ren winced as Kohaku pulled on his hair even harder. “I brought it out. I killed those people.”
“STOP IT!!” Kohaku slapped Ren as hard as she could, letting go of his hair and grabbing the sides of his collar instead. The impact tore through one of the eye patches, which dissolved from around its adhesive edge and separated on the ground. “Stop LYING to me! You think you can lie to yourself, but NOT to me!” She forced his body up by the shoulders of his shirt, bearing down on the hazy eye that met her stare. “Now TELL ME the truth! Yes or No!!”
Ren’s eye trembled as it searched the darkness for Kohaku. Unable to find her, it slowly descended towards her knees, dragging the rest of his head along with it. “No.”
Kohaku let out a breath she did not know she held. Her head tipped down for a moment before Ren captured her attention again, pushing himself up with his hands until Kohaku was no longer lifting him up. “But I still enabled it. They’re still all dead. Even if I forgive myself, there’s no one left of them to forgive me for this attack.”
Kohaku had leaned back, pausing in the middle of smearing her sleeve across her face to wipe away the few tears that had freed themselves from between her lids. “Ren.” She breathed, trying to keep her heart out of her throat. “I was there.”
Ren’s head snapped towards Kohaku, the moment of silence that followed making it evident he could not keep his chin from trembling, nor his eyes from welling up with tears. His eye drifted off from Kohaku towards the ground once more, his whole body shuddering as he failed to find a voice to speak aloud the silent cries that escaped his lips.
Kohaku barely processed the tears now streaming down her cheeks as she laid a shivering hand against the back of Ren’s head. “I forgive you.” She hiccoughed, barely able to keep herself from crying louder than Ren ever could. “I f-forgive you.”
Race stood a pace away, her hands cold from the rain. It was painful to watch, more painful to try and conjure up embrace them from a distance. She continued forming a crease in between her brows until, with a sudden clearing of her features, she broke from the scene, reaching out with one tentative hand to the water droplet hanging midair. The surface tension broke as her fingers brushed along it, traveling across her hand and dripping off the base of her palm, while the rest of its kind stayed floating in place all throughout the sky.
“Ren.” She looked upwards, slipping both hands into her pockets. “He’s here.”
Kohaku looked up last, following the purposeless gaze of the blind Ren and jolting at the sight. Twisted about in the sky was the evil form of Chubasco, stopped in the middle of what appeared to be a violent struggle, with a small black dot on its face.
“…Ren?” Kohaku murmured, her eyes flicking across different parts of the creature. “Do you… Hear that?”
It wasn’t a sound that reached his ears, but a hum which reverberated through his mind, like a cello played on the other side of the globe was vibrating through the ground to reach him. It was soft at first, but it dominated his senses until the only thing that he could think of was the message the noise carried.
It was a calm beyond anything he had known before, gently washing over the world with the unrelenting note as its messenger. The presence softly faded, trickling off like a dried-up stream, but not before one final, utterly clear message came through. As the rain slowly began to resume its fall, Ren’s fish-eyed gaze met Kohaku’s with determination shining through the mist across his pupils. “We have to go to Mt. Fuji.”
“Right,” Kohaku nodded, then started suddenly. “Whuh?? Where did I- where did you-”
“I heard that, too,” Race stepped forwards, slipping one hand back into her pocket. “I don’t think it was meant for us, though. Look,” She pointed her free hand at the creature, which now casually weaved through the air in the direction of the ominous mountain.
“What… does this all mean?” Kohaku turned towards Ren. “Is it over?”
“No.” He struggled upwards, losing balance just long enough to require Race to balance him. “We have to get back to Corey.”
—
“What are you going to tell him?”
Ren ruffled his hair, throwing water droplets in all directions. “The truth.”
Race could not help but give Kohaku the slightest of side eyes. In a matter of days, she had become very familiar with the goings-on of the Wild Masks, not to mention very involved with Ren, and to say Race was uncomfortable with the development would be a bit of an understatement. As the elevator doors opened, however, she stuffed it deep into her mind and helped Ren towards the waiting apartment door.
“…which is more important than saving a report card!” Tone angrily shoved his finger into Corey’s dejected face as the door opened. “Now this emergency signal was created by Wild a very long time ago, way before any of us were involved with his little group. That means it’s very special. And THAT means-”
“Corey?” Ren stepped through, feeling the wall as he entered. The youngest member of the Wild Masks leaned around Tone with curled lower lip and puppy dog eyes only to violently start at the sight of Ren with his grey eyeball. “What happened?”
“Not done yet, huh?” Tone stood up, crossing the room and ripping the mostly disintegrated eye pad from off Ren’s other eye without warning. “You got any idea how much longer it’s going to be?”
“Is that really necessary?” Kohaku huffed, her typical attempt at good humor falling flat instantly as her genuine irritation at Tone’s maneuver crept in.
“Tone,” Ren leaned against the wall, patting Race on the shoulder and thereby signaling to her that she could go elsewhere. “What happened with Corey? Is everything okay?”
“…Is he blind? Will he be okay??” Corey very loudly whispered.
“Yes, yes.” Tone waved him away with a flop of his hand. “Ren, look, there’s been a bit of a- oh wait, right, sorry. Lemme describe it to you instead.”
“Hey.” Kohaku’s jaw muscles flexed as she started down Tone. “Knock it off. This isn’t the time for-”
It nearly bowled her over the way Tone rounded on her, his eyes burning with an incontestable fury that rivaled the sun. Corey sunk backwards into the chair, Race turned to face the silent display, and Ren flinched at the gesture. When Tone resumed speaking, his voice carried the charm and pleasant attitude it had before, but his eyes spoke only fire.
“We’ve currently got no idea what’s going on at the party tomorrow, or even any indication whether or not it’s still on. This rampage has undoubtedly caused at least some of the guests to have second thoughts about making an appearance, which might help us get in easier, but would make existing anonymously much more difficult. Roof entry or no, we’re going to need some kind of IDs or invitations if we want to get out safely.”
“Rampage?” Corey peeked out from under the golden mop of hair above him, having drawn his knees up to his chest. “What rampage?”
The fire in Tone’s eyes shut off the moment he turned towards Corey, slipping effortlessly into a casual coolness almost more concerning than the display before. “I’ll tell you about it later. Right now these fine folks have got to hit the showers. I think Ren would probably-”
Tone froze as he turned back towards Ren. The room turned to face him as he blinked several times, slowly processing his sudden restoration of eyesight. Standing up off the wall, he met Tone’s determined gaze with one of his own.
“What…” Kohaku slowly stepped forwards, looking at Ren’s eyes with undisguised concern. “What does that mean?”
Ren looked at her, then at Tone, and to every member of the Wild Masks in turn. Stepping towards the bathroom door, he paused a pace from reaching it to turn back over his shoulder, any of the joy and warmth Tone had forced onto the scene gone from his stoic features.
“The leader of the Pangolins is dead.”
—
6 Likes
Just found out there’s someone called “Kohaku” in my Duolingo league this week
This story just got more interesting. I don’t have the right kind of brain to theorize so I just gotta guess why Mt. Fuji suddenly appeared
6 Likes
Now that’s just quitter talk
You won’t know if you don’t have the right brain (rot ) to theorize until you try
Duolingo league
I think I need to go to the retirement home these kids are moving way too fast for me 
6 Likes
They’ve all been in Tokyo the entire story. It’s been there all along.
5 Likes