The Noh

“There is nothing more to be done, at least we escaped at time.” Her voice felt distant even if she was just in front of him now.

“Heh, at least the heroes came at the end if only too late, but there is no one doing enough.” Kojiro answered without looking back at her as she tended to his wounds, Aoi stared at his wounded back in apprehension, really wishing to put her gaze away.

“That doesn´t mean it has to be us, even if the heroes had simply returned back to their countries, we should let the government handle this.” He waved at her with his huge palm. “No we have plenty of cash even if its dirty, in moments like this everyone has to throw their weight around… even if that´s a bad joke for a yakuza to do it.” Aoi shrugged. “It wouldn´t be the first time they did it Kojiro, if anything you are the one who is too old fashioned.”

“I’m just so angry, this place was our mess and our crappy lives our business, they had no right to intrude on that, but we didn´t have any strength to deny them from doing so. What a worthless boss I was ‘couldn’t keep my territory from a bunch of crappy punks. Honestly we were just children fighting it at the backyard till now; we were never anything that special, nothing but ants for them.” Aoi walked in front of him still hesitating with her every step, but he reached him her expression still clearly red from the tears was quite firm.

“I hate them too, but we are alive thanks to you so don´t say you did nothing.” Kojiro showed a slight bitter smile. “Haha I didn´t even reach grandpa in time, even if he wasn´t the best I still promised, he wasn´t the only family we lost so many our boys were taken away as well, spirited away to that thing in the sky.” She knew what he had said to be true. “I failed as well Kojiro, but we are alive they tried their best so we could. So we should think now what we are going to do from now on, the sun is still going to raise tomorrow little brother.” She scolded him still very annoyed with herself.

“We failed them, but the two of us are a team so it doesn´t matter if the enemy was too much for us or not, we must think together of how to amend to them.” She finished her speech while down at her hands.

Kojiro scratched his neck barely feeling his countless wound as always as he stared at her as he always did when she was being a nuisance. “¿Well, I guess not all of our brothers died right? Aoi accented with her head. “They will much likely be put to work; the Salvatore´s Empire does hold slavery as legal with government approval.” Kojiro spitted to the ground “Well we at least need to get them home, even if that´s all we can do, at least let’s come through with our promise to those poor fools.” Aoi looked down; she knew he was going to say something like that. “Yes, but I need you to be aware of something, I will go too. You know you need me.” Kojiro looked at her with an even sourer expression. “Really you saw that, even I can´t do a thing against them, it’s just not possible.”

“¿So what? ¡Are you just going there to die! No you won´t, besides don´t say it’s impossible, we have always managed to surpass anyone if we worked together and we both know there are no limits to your strength, think of them as well Kojiro this will never be as easy as just punching Salvatore in the face, but I will find a way so we can all return back here again… I won´t fail again, I’ll make a plan to get us all back home just you wait.” Kojiro sighed staring into his feet.

“I can´t promise I can protect you, not after what I saw…” She stepped forward standing eye to eye with the man who sat at the floor. “Then let´s make another promise that even if one of us dies the other one must never give up on living.” Kojiro breathed slowly and looked back at her with tired eyes. “Till when…” She smiled back.

“Till the sun ceases to rise on the morning so of course there will be no giving up for either of us, so… so please don´t go on your own…” She begged him about to cry while he was looking at the floor not daring to see her face.

“Fine, I don´t have much confidence to do it alone either, Heh besides I don´t even know how to speak anything other than Japanese.” She seemed to relax a little and smiled even if her smile was just as forced. “Guess I have much too teach you then and you better pay attention, because this is all serious stuff too.”

We barely understood who we were picking a fight with even if we saw our city burning upon their hands, but at that moment it felt just like that cold night. I felt that somehow if she was there nothing would be impossible for me…and I still feel that is what I lacked.

I wanted confidence as the head of the clan, I needed it, I wanted to be like her so I who couldn´t even come close to people could still give them strength, that I felt was what a leader should be, someone whose radiance alone make others feel strong.

She really was like the sun if only for me and I could only hope I could be someone that could give her some of that light back to her, that´s who I really wanted to become… now isn´t it everything far too bright. ¿What Am I seeing?

Kojiro´s eyes began open as he felt the strong rays of the sun upon him, his vision was foggy and his body couldn´t move so he tried to raise his head upwards and what he saw was the figure a man standing tall, his eyes settled on to him as he tried to make sense of his shape.

“Glad to see you awake it would have been a pity for you to sleep through your own execution.” The man spoke, his voice grim and old, but with great vigor as if speaking proudly into a crowd.

Kojiro finally saw him that single man that looked down at him who still lay upon his knees.

A man in a black suit, a formal military uniform, with gloved white hands that remained upon his hip atop of his swords; They were three golden slim swords in a row at both sides of his hips, all of them with a rose design upon their handles. The man´s uniform shined with a dozen medals and a red rose upon his chest, his shoulders had huge golden pads from where a tall red cape fell behind him. His figure was tall and robust; he was someone build like an ox, but his neck showed wrinkles and a pale skin that revealed him to be far past his prime. He wore a mask. An elegant silver mask that revealed only his mouth and a bushy gray mustache, the mask along with a black tricorne hat hide everything else about his face from sight.

There was a glim upon his eyes, a purple flicker in the open holes of the mask.

¡So this is it, I have heard his name for year and finally for the first time he is here in the flesh and upon the reach of my arms!

“¡Domingooooooo Salvatoreeee!”

Kojiro Adachi roared forcing all of his muscles to move, but he remained chain, still on the hold of those terrible black handcuffs that now where placed upon the ground forcing his spine to bend down, there were chains upon his legs as well, but they were already struggling to remain fixed, it was only the handcuffs that truly forbidden him from standing, his body as well since it remained in a terrible shape and none of his wounds had been treated, his skin was coated on his own blood, none the less Kojiro screamed as he remained on his knees in front of that man.

The two standing alone, on top of a huge platform made of elegant white marble on the middle of the school´s plaza and above them a huge screen showed his struggle, to the hundreds of expectations that had reunited around them to witness the empire´s justice. A mob of thousands, all within the inside of the school plaza wishing to see what could happen.

“¡So the beast struggles on, see, it cannot even show dignity even at the very end!”

Domingo Salvatore turned his back on his as he raised his arm towards the skies looking at the screen above them, the scream of the crowd answered wildly, they ask for his death, they laughed, and they cheered as they all enjoyed the show.

“All of this is so obnoxiously tacky; I bet he will be throwing flowers into the air again soon.” A woman scoffed far below the execution platform.

She was an old woman in a gigantic robotic chair, she dressed in a black leather vest with a long red skirt and a tall cowboy hat, her scrawny shape recoiling as she spitted into a can at the bottom of her chair, she was a teacher and member of the teacher association at the school, a woman well known as the great American storm, Angelica storm.

“Huh, this is really angering me at least he should have let me have a go at him once, bet I could have broken him a teeth or two.” A buff man who wore only a brown pair of overalls stood at her side with his arms crossed, with short hair and a pair of thick wide glassed he would have looked like a rather dapper gentleman if he didn´t show his bright red muscles to all the world or if his teeth weren´t pointy like those of a shark, he was the berserker of London a world renown villainous mutant and another member of the school´s teacher association.

“Well they expended a lot, to pump him with enough drugs to keep him sleeping for two days, you can´t blame them for wanting to get this over as quickly as possible, a pity though he could have been of use with a little mental tinkering.” Close to them a woman came to take her seat, she was an elegant lady wearing a bright pink formal dress outfit with just the correct tone of red to not look childish; she had a small red choker upon her neck and a pair of brown sunglasses that covered most of her face, she looked very properly dressed for a ball but, her long skirt had a huge heart shaped bag strapped upon her hip that looked to inelegant.

She was known simply as Madame Adessa, a member of the schools teacher association and unpleasant company even for those reunited here. “Though I´m glad to see you show up again, General Lí.”

The man sitting at her side ignored her, a man of medium complexion who whore a green suit with a black tie simply continue reading a book in silence, he was balding with only hair over his ears, and wore a pair simple small reading glasses, he looked like a very average middle aged man of slim complexion, but under his suit he was in excellent form.

He was one of the tree great generals of the empire and head of the teachers association, a former world hero now turned traitor, the grand general Shang Lí. “This stuff is rather crude, so I’m just waiting for it to be over Adessa, please ignore me till then.” The woman smiled looking at him with her clear green eyes, but her sight was caught by something else behind him. “Oh, looks like someone just as strange has come to today’s show. ¿Two grand generals in a single place, who would have imagined? Now, that is worth seeing” As soon as he heard her Shang closed his book and stood up to look back at the stair case of the VIP section of the execution grounds.

“¿Why would you even come here General Maximillian?” He spoke firmly to the unexpected guess.

“¿Who, me?”

The woman walked up the stairs slowly, her silhouette almost looking like a vague shadow to his eyes, she wore a pure black outfit from head to toe, a winter coat with long boats underneath it even under this scorching sun, both of her hands with black gloves disappearing within her coat and a mask, a rather old looking gas mask with the eyes sockets covered with thick black glass, her blond hair falling behind her, in a pale almost white color, she felt like a ghost, her shape fragile and distance and yet unnerving to look at, there was only one piece of color upon her outfit, a yellow and black stripped tie.

She was the grand General Aria Maximillian.

“Well I´m simply here on a stroll….” She said cheerfully putting her gloved hands together in a cute gesture. “And I thought that something really fun was about to happen so I might as well give it a look.” The general returned to his sit seeing her from the side in silence and she walked to stand at his side while the two of them stare at Salvatore upon the huge screen above.

“Mr. Adachi you sure have unleashed a terrible incident on our docks, the people are still frightened from your bestial rampage and a good hard working man who gave much to our empire was robbed of his live in vain by your design.” Domingo Salvatore walked from one side of the platform to the other giving his speech to the chained man, but his voice was clearly directed to the crowds around them. Kojiro wasn’t struggling anymore a bored look very clear on his face.

As the applause continued Salvatore urged to stop by raising his hand and turned back to look at him, the glow within his mask that simple purple light, unnerved Kojiro for reasons he couldn´t quite explain.

“¡Now I have heard that many have come to call you, Isla Franca strongest man, even though we have our glorious shield of the empire living here, even though we have two of the great pillars our nation among us, even though I Domingo Salvatore have my very throne upon this island and yet, so many have been foolish enough to call you the strongest of all Isla Franca, ´perish the thought I say, you will all be witness now to this man´s real nature!”

“¿Hah, are you seriously bitter for something that petty?” Kojiro spoke with mockery his face clearly showing his confusion, but the man ignored it as he kept present to the crowd.

“So today he will be executed and through that it will be proved that the enemies of our way of living lack the power to truly threaten us, that empire has strength, so come I say again to our enemies, this is a free nation, so challenge us as you see fit, but know that we will answer in kind. ¡Come forth and dare to threaten the strongest man in Isla Franca, Domingo Salvatore!” As if hearing his challenge the sound of the crowds were cut short by the sound of an explosion.

“Hmm.” Kojiro stirred but he couldn´t turn back to see behind him in search of the noise.

Domingo Salvatore stared back at him and saw beyond him a pillar of smoke rising from the school´s gate his mouth turned down for a moment, but he ignored that anger and raised his voice again. “¡Seems like the world´s strongest have begged for rescue, worry not you all, they will never pass our gates as our walls are the strongest, so remain sited and look as our enemies kill themselves to rescue their helpless leader. This execution is not stoping” Domigo Salvatore finally looked at Kojiro to the face for the first time, the eyes underneath his mask seemed to be burning with purple flames dancing within them.

“Don´t look at me, those imbeciles always do whatever they want.” Kojiro said laughing at the end. As the smoke rose far behind him was accompanied by the familiar sound of bullets that began to ring again.

“¡One last job you guys!” Those of the burning Sun screamed.

From the collapsed school gate an army ran forward all armed and with a clear if not maddening conviction upon their eyes, all of them sharing, but a single thing, a black sun painted upon their very skin. The Scorching sun began to shot upon Salvatores guard men in black military attire, that all shot back in response, they were simple the local guard the real enemies will be showing themselves soon those that give pride to the prestigious school, but the rebels ignored that fact and ran forward as they had one but one foolish thought in their minds, to be with Kojiro Adachi if only one last time.

The armed guards shoot them merciless carrying shields and protective gear, but their forces received a rocket launcher from beyond the gate, as the yakuza´s more well-armed people remained hidden in the explosions curtain. To the side another group of Yakuza ran forward lead by a man in a black trench coat that shot with two handguns the rows of soldiers from the side, they had move there so fast the guard never saw them coming out of the smoke. The man in black charged into them and quickly holstered his guns and pulled out a katana from his back, he jumped amidst the gun fire and cut the first guard in the neck with a tremendous speed then side step and lunged at the next one

“Sorry, but I need to get my sunglasses back.” He mumbled as the rest of his men reached him and began shooting back at the guards that wanted to overwhelm them as they ran together as another explosion happened in front of them opening their way towards a grand execution platform.

“We may be able to breach through to the spectators, if we do that, they won´t be able to attack us so freely. Honestly it’s our luck Salvatore is more of a showman than a politician otherwise a chance like this would never have come…” A woman spoke to herself as she looked at the chaos with a pair of binoculars from far away. Aoi Adachi was staring at her brother from on top a building with a clear look at the plaza and the execution platform, she did it with only one hand as her other hand remained gravely wounded and was completely bandaged.

“Sorry Kojiro, but there really is nowhere for that boat to take us, there is just no home for us without you, till the moment you die none us can give up on you.” She looked at the battlefield from above, her long black hair dancing on the wind, but there was nothing but sadness on her eyes, she had none of that determination that made their warriors fight, Aoi Adachi was simply hoping.

“¡Damn it…arrggggggggg!” Kojiro raised his head screaming into the air, but he couldn´t raise his arms regardless how much he tried. Domingo Salvatore walked towards him looking at his struggle in silence.

“¡If you are so sure to be the strongest prove it, just you try and fight me here and now, Salvatore!”

“Quiet, you couldn´t even defeat a mere hound, you are not worthy of my swords, the execution axe will be enough.” Domingo Salvatore looked at him completely calm as he struggled so fiercely the ground cracked underneath him. Kojiro´s face almost looked like that of a demon his skin completely red as he mustered all the strength he had.

“Worry not the executioner is on his way child.”

“¡You imbeciles, because you lot came I can´t stand still anymore!”

He gritted his teeth, feeling his wounds began to open again from the excess, but he pay it no mind only hearing the distant explosions and gunshots, imagining the many faces that could been amidst that cloud of smoke and remembering what It felt too have fail them once before. Kojiro Adachi wished more than ever for the strength his body had, just for this once, he wished for no body than the one he was given, he wished for that strength more than anything and yet the black handcuffs refused to break.

“Those are Hiroshi´s legacy they will outlast you. ¿I wonder though how did you even break through his wall to begin with?” Kojiro smiled at his words without stopping from trying to break free. ¡Hell I wish I knew, come one just break!” Domingo coughed lightly and looked back at the far away smoke. “Well, no matter.”

“¡Break, break, breaaaak!” Kojiro screamed so intensely the platform itself shook from his voice and Salvatore finally stared at him, the light on his eyes glowing brighter as his expression began to darken and turn into anger.

“¿How can this be?” Salvatore asked a terrible unnerved as he stepped back away from him with a short a hop, his hands moving to the hilt of the swords upon his hips.

Within the inside of the handcuffs a small miniature bomb was set off, it blinked twice and then imploded quietly, it was a small explosion no one could even notice it, but it released a green liquid from inside the bomb, that began to slip down towards the center of the handcuffs to corrode the unbreakable metal even if slightly, but that was enough for it was already under an incredible pressure and that slight moment of weakness made the handcuffs snap at the center were the two of them connected.

“¡HAHAHA, BREAK!” Kojiro smiled as his entire body raised, his bloodied hands going up above his head as he felt the great joy of freedom in a moment he crouched back and broke the chains with both arms, his eyes staring at Salvatore who remained at the ready with his hand upon two swords.

“¡Go now, Kojiro Adachi!”

From far away on top of the wall that surrounded the school, Irvin Maximillian screamed raising his hands to the skies with joy. “¡I cannot apologize for all that I took from you, but here and now I will give you one chance at your dream!” In Irvin´s excitement he stepped over the fence of the wall raising his bandaged arm again as he cheered him on.

“¡Are you nuts, you are about to fall!” Dino and Yong grabbed him from his lab coat as he screamed madly into the air from the border of the wall and towards the tall execution platform in front of them, where the screen now displayed a black sun upon the chest of the man that now stood overwhelmingly tall.

“¡Make all the sacrifices worthy, you who are the only man who ever could!” Irvin screamed even if his word would never reach him. “¡HahaHahaHahaha, it has happened, we have raised hell for this moment alone! Irvin screamed as both of his companions dragged him back from the edge by force and making him fall to his back, but his laugh never ended.

“It seems there must have been a devil looking out for you, very well Kojiro Adachi.”

Salvatore unsheathed the front swords from both sides, as he looked at him with a bored expression, the purple glow in his eyes growing so intense his turned white.

“¡SALVATORE!” Like an enraged beast, Kojiro leaped forward slaying the entire distance between them with his bleeding fist straight into his face; he looked at Salvatore´s eyes as he reached him, those ghostly lights flickered as he finally had him within the reach of his fist.

“¡Ole!”

Salvatore spoke loudly and vanished from his sight, all Kojiro saw was the dancing red cape that followed and then blood spitting out of his own chest, Kojiro landed confused feeling a deep cut in his breast, he turned back to see Salvatore wielding two swords upon his hands as he raised one above to the skies, a blade of pure black color tainted in red blood.

“¡You shall all be witness now, to the strength of the only man who has the right to rule over this world!” He lowered his blade throwing Kojiro´s blood through the floor as he once more ignored him and spoke only to the crowds that began to cheer anew.

“¡Enjoy this display, this beast is powerful, but it’s still just that, a beast that has no rights amongs men!” Salvatore turned back to look at Kojiro´s furious expression.

“¡You have your wish beast, so come forth if you dare, at the very least be entertaining!” Salvatore pointed at him with his long saber and Kojiro answered his dare by rushing forward.

Salvatore stood his ground till the moment the giant reached for him with his overwhelming size and threw his fist on the sights the audience, the camera on the execution platform displayed their movements for all the empire to see, his arm failed to reach Salvatore as he simply dodged to the side, he followed through with his left fist and that he ducked below and disappeared again from Kojiro´s eyes.

“¡Ole!”

Kojiro felt something pierce him from behind, without even realizing it the long black saber had stabbed him on his right calve and was forced deeper inside him by Salvatore, He turned his back trying to swing his arm against him and Salvatore let go of his sword evading his reach by a simple inch and yet, Salvatore stared at him with indifference, not a trace of fear upon his face from almost dying there.

The blade had been place deeply into Kojiro´s back and he couldn´t reach it from such a position, the long blade remained impaled and he had no choice, but to ignore it and continue moving. The old emperor pulled another blade from his hip to replace the one he had abandoned on his enemies back.

“You are a monster indeed, bull, but your horns cannot reach me.” Salvatore rushed forward with both of his blades unleashed, the man was incredible fast for someone of such and old age and soon enough he was upon Kojiro´s face, who answered with a mighty blow as he always did and the emperor dodged it close by barely moving his head out of the way without even losing his hat his expression unmoved.

Kojiro groaned as he felt the blades cut him on the knees deep enough to made him stumble forward and fell upon his knee and immediately felt his upper back being pierced.

“Hoho.”

Salvatore landed on top of his back inserting one of his blades deeper below his shoulders remaining perched on top of him, Kojiro reacted moved his arm to his back and the old man jumped away by kicking him both feet and landing away from his reach having left another blade placed deep within his enemies skin.

Kojiro could feel it, the blood loss was getting to him again as he tried to regain his footing, the blades upon his back both bleeding him fast and yet he could not reach the handle of either of them.

“The last blade is for your heart.” Salvatore pulled out another sable from his hip and raised it into the skies as the cheering of the crowd grew wilder.

Kojiro jumped to strike him with his fist from above, his fist crashed cracking the platform as Salvatore moved away cutting through his arm, he followed him enraged sending a barraged of fists each of them unleashing a gust of wind just by the strength of his movements, but Salvatore remained untouched and simply raised a sword and lunged it straight into the giants stomach.

“Agg…”Kojiro began to bleed from his mouth.

“To my eyes all you do is useless; you will always be too slow.” He jumped back leaving the sword inside of Kojiro as the gigantic man tried to kick him, Salvatore landed on his feet and pulled out another blade looking back at him patiently.

Kojiro began to bend down, his breathing slow and painful, he couldn´t even bother to remove the sword near his stomach as it will only make him bleed faster. “You are just a fly and as soon as I reach you it’s all over…” Salvatore ignored him and flipped his cape and saluted the audience. “Sorry but your defeat is a fact, all I can see its certain absolute victory ahead of me and my eyes never lie.” He crossed both blades, the strange ghostly light on his eyes shining with a new intensity, but his expression calm and collected; it was unnerving that neither fear nor passion could be seen upon his face.

“The only thing left for you all now is to die. ¡So make it entertaining made the audience feel true joy as only violence can give them!” The emperor that now ruled over half of the world marched forward like the wind, his eye´s staring clearly at his victory.

“Adachi-san, you are fighting hard too.” Far below the execution platform the Yakuza rushed forward, even if fewer in number their desire to reach their boss one more time made them cruise through hell asunder, they had finally reached the inner gate that lead to the schools plaza and simply had to blow it up now.

“Will give them all a surprise, every bastard enjoying the show is gonna regret it” The man in the black trench coat pointed his blade at the door and two men crouched to his sides and aimed rocket launchers at the gigantic wooden door and blew through it unleashing another terrible explosion as the ambient began to get filled with screams.

The man in the black coat ran towards the entrance his face showing a twisted desperate grin, but his feet stopped and he ceased to run just before reaching the door.

“¡Everyone stop!” He screamed an order, but his men ignored it as they rushed forward with that same maddening glee upon their faces and were thrown back from within the veil of smoke. The man watched as his companions flew through the air and crashed on the ground as simple corpses.

“Woooooooooo” A monstrous figure jumped out from within the smoke, a man whose red skin seemed to glow and glisten landed upon the ground with an excited scream, the Yakuza shoot him immediately, but the bullets all ricocheted from his flesh, he was a man with only a pair of overalls for clothing and with a clear sharp teeth upon his mouth and wasted not a second more and rushed straight into the people that shot him.

“¡You must hit harder just like this!” He screamed his fist growing bigger and bigger as till it was a grotesque monstrosity far bigger than he was, and he let that drop over his victim like a hammer, Nicholas Oaks raged his body changing back to normal as he jumped on top of the second shooter and opened his maw to bite down upon his shoulder reaping off the skin till his sharp teeth reached his bones.

The man in the trench coat stared at that and ordered the rocket launches to shot against him and as they came into position a gun shoot rang out and one of the two died on the spot before he could even fire, and he had to out of the way as he saw something huge rushing towards him.

“One” An old lady singed as a tall vehicle breached through the smoke, the old woman sat at its center with a simple revolver upon her hand, she quickly took aim in a single second and pulled the trigger again, shooting the last man with a rocket launcher just after he had fired it towards her. “Two, Haha.” She cackled the huge wheelchair she drove gave a full turn and began to move away backwards evading the rocket completely, her transport was immense, but its mobility was incredible as it danced through the battlefield, she shoot twice more with her revolver making two more victims collapse down into the ground. “Three…fourrr.” She spins through the battlefield as she pulled out a mantle that sat at her side revealing a turret and with glee she made it sing unleashing a machinegun of bullets everywhere she drive through.

“¡Five,six, seven,iigh, nin, ten,elevan! She singed her counting so excitedly her word melted into gibberish as she sang on, the number of corpses rising steadily upon the wake of the great American storm.

It was a nightmare to be sure; that hellish machine blowing through the ground and a beast that jumped from one side of the field the other breaking apart everything that moved and even those here that all had decided to die if they had to had many beginning to turn back.

Among the rubble two men were hiding, within the smoke.

“We have to retire…we can´t do anything against them anymore, if Howard or Aoi where here we could…but if it’s just us we can´t do it.” He was about to turn back and ran, but out of shame he still wanted to hear his companions opinion to know he wasn´t the only who felt such thing. He looked back at the man at his side but his face went pale when he saw the vacant face of his friend whose eyes were completely red unlike a mere moment ago.

“It’s too late to leave, now that you have angered the master.” His friend said raising his gun towards him and shooting him at point blank, before he could even overcome the surprise; then the man slowly aimed his weapon towards the other members of the yakuza. “I can still be forgiven, please choose me master.” He spoke in a dry manner as he moved to shoot against his companions.

“¡Our own men are betraying us!” A man screamed as he shot back against a red eyed man killing him in a single head shot, he remained with that vacant expression till his death, but that wasn´t the end another yakuza with the black sun upon neck tried to shot him down, he didn’t understand what was happening to them, but he had no choice but to fire back. He killed his companion with a shoot to the chest and ran forward to the inner gate, but he was grabbed by the neck with great force and he ended up throwing out his gun to try to free himself from being suffocated by something.

It was a vine grabbing him by the neck and leaving cuts as the thorns moved though his skin, finally and with great force it pulled him back and he found himself being dragged over the floor without being able to scream, till it ended up letting him go.

He took a deep breath holding his neck as the air returned to his head.

“Now you shouldn´t have shoot two of my new students like that. ¿How in the world will you answer for that little boy?”

A woman stood in the middle of that hell, wearing a beautiful long pink dress with a suit jacket and a pink rose on her breast, smile at him. She had a long summer hat covered half of her face and a bright red lipstick that was all he could tell about her, from where he stood below; but he knew she was dangerous as she held that long vine in her arms like one would do a whip.

He tried to stand up and pull out his knife he could felt; she was the reason he had to kill his friends. Her lips showed a smiled and the vine in her hands stretched hitting his hand with enough strength to break it and let the knife drop. “There is no need to struggle, we are no longer enemies my sweet.” He was about to retort when he felt something painful upon his neck again, he looked to see a rose bud beginning to bloom upon the skin of his neck.

“¡What the hell is this!”

“A gift, from me to you”

The rose opened and its roots entered inside of his skin he tried to scratch it out, but the parasite has nestled inside his neck an began to move towards his head, the man fell to his knees scream for someone to take out of him. “Don´t worry soon enough the pain will be gone and you will feel better than ever my sweet child.” The vine around her hand began to shrink turning into a small wooden wand.

“Now then, sing for master my sweets.”

From the huge heart shaped bag on her waist more monstrous roots emerged like tentacles that trashed around the ground, each carving themselves beneath the harsh asphalt floor and breaking into the soil inside, each spreading in a different direction as she raised her little wand like a conductor in her own orchestra.

The screams of the man ceased as his eyes turned red and the pain of the flower invading him disappeared.

There was no telling what was happening anymore within that hell in front of the school´s gate, and the man in the trench coat was now all alone as he walked past the gate having sneaked his way amidst that chaos, he no longer knew what he hoped to archive at the other side, but he still walked forward with blade in hand.

“We cannot allow you to make a bloodbath within the school grounds.”

In front of him a man in a green suit guarded the huge hole on the inner gate; he looked rather normal, so normal in fact that it was bizarre, a simple middle aged teacher, but when he raised his right arm it revealed a tattoo of a dragon’s claw.

The yakuza entered into a state of panic pulling his gun out towards him, he needed to reach the other side no matter what and the man in the green suit would have to die.

“It seems it’s already too late to talk it out, as president of the teachers association I will remove you myself.”

The man in a trench coat shot at him fist over and over till his gun ran out of bullets, but the man in green didn´t move he stood there letting his right hand move by itself like a perfect machine it grabbed every bullet, his hand hand now covered in green scales and with claws burning red from an intense heat, there were no traces of the bullets left.

“Sorry, but once it feels a killing intent I can no longer control it.” He spoke quietly his eyes quivering in disappointment as he arranged his glasses with his left hand and quickly sprinted forward.

Reaching the face of the other man and landing a kick from below him to his arm forcing him to let go of his weapon, but he still reacted with his blade trying to cut the man in green´s neck, but the blade was stopped by two simple finger of his monstrous hand that held the blade perfectly with great elegance and in a simple gesture shattered it by its center with a move of his fingers.

“It’s not that I don´t understand how you feel, but this was far too reckless…sorry young man, your death it’s my entire fault for not being able to control myself.”

“Ahh…” He had no words as he felt his legs give up. ¿Wasn’t he right? That’s all he could think as he saw the tired eyes of General Shang Li. ¿Why in the world did they ever thought they could fight monster like them. The general raised his claw and cut through his entire body with a swipe, his claws were burning so intensely he never bleed as the claws burned his insides and ripped through him letting them out.

“¿Can anyone hear me? ¡Please someone answer me!”

Aoi screamed to her communicator, she could barely tell what was happening at the plaza now, but there seemed to be no one left there to listen to her orders anymore and the weight of such a fact made her collapse on her knees.

“Even Kojiro is in danger now, how could thing has turned against us so fast?” She was crying as she stared at her cased hand, there was nothing she wished more than to prepare her bow, even if it could only be a suicide now. “He is alive, but I can´t reach him, there has to be a way to save him, there just has too….” Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something falling behind her and out of fear she turned around pulling out her dagger.

“Commander…” He had returned again, the figure of a man with a white mask upon his face with countless tattoos’ covering all of his body, to her eyes he looked even more pallid and decrepit than usuall almost as he had turned older since she last saw him.

The Noh walked forward with his arm decayed to his sides.

“¡You are alive… I thought…We can still do something then!” Aoi suddenly got on her feet and turned back to stare at the execution platform where her brother was still fighting a terribly losing battle. “You can reach him, sneaking past them isn´t impossible for you Noh and once you´re there you can kill Salvatore from the back while Kojiro fights him, even my brother can´t object to this, we simply cannot let him die here...” Noh walked behind her as she continued talking her plan as fast as she could, even while stumbling on her words.

“No, we cannot fight anymore.” He spoke without caring to interrupt her, and she just looked back at him confused. His white mask came closer to her and he took her dagger and threw it away from her hands.

“¡I cannot, I won´t give up on him, if I do, he will die just like Howard, you have to help him he needs you now!”

“You have done enough anything more is foolish, one such as you must already know this.”

“¡No, you all are simple unfair, it’s always the same… you all just leave me and decide everything yourselves…Howard just left me in a ship and went to die on his own. ¡You all thought I would just leave like I have anywhere left to go too, I know I’m useless, I already know that, but you all don´t decide get to decide where I live or die!”

“…” The Noh remained silent in front of her, his mask showing her nothing of his thoughts.

“Ahh…I know. I have always been a burden, I knew If I couldn´t do something someday Kojiro was just going to leave me behind again, so I worked hard to be stronger, to be more capable even if it hurt me and then… I tried to pretend to be smarter than I was, but look at this mess, look what happen because I tricked them into believing in me…” She was sobbing not wanting to see the violence upon the screen of the plaza, his invincible brother bleeding down as he barely managed to stood, she could only cry now.” The masked man remained looking at her in silence without judging her or saying a word.

“No, I rather just die with them, I don´t want to be the only one that is not allowed to fight till the end, sorry If I’m being selfish, but I just can´t bear to be alone again.” She turned back towards the plaza; her expression of grief burning with anger as well.

“¡I will go now…to the rest of my family, it’s the only way we will get see each other again!” She pulled a sword she had kept sheathed since long ago and walked to the border of the building. “You can come too, if the sun will set, let’s see it all of us together.”

“Afraid I can´t, after all I’m no longer family.”

She felt a sting on the back of her neck and her whole body went cold and limb, she couldn´t even scream as she felt down upon the rooftop, unable to move her limbs any more, her tears falling as she tried her hardest to even speak at all.

¿Whh…why…” She tried to beg at the empty white mask that came down to greet her below.

“Because the sun will come down that cannot be changed and so I had to shed my skin and walk a path of shame for my own future, sorry but all I do is for us, as it has always has been.” The Noh removed his white mask and threw it away to the streets below, his sharp teeth showing themselves when his mouth opened above her.

“Ah…please…I just need to save him…” Her vision was leaving her as well, all that she could witness was the face of a monster twisting and turning blurry as the poison make her body truly useless.

“But worry not, even if it will mean all of our death’s I still have faith.” The voice of the masked man felt more and more distant, but she still heard those final words.

“Kojiro san will be victorious; he’ll never give up as he is just like his sister.” She saw his long hand reach for her face as it all turned dark.