The Dragon Goes Clubbing

“Alright, boys. Get ready for round 2!”

Ozaki looked around the room at his underlings, most wearing fancy waiter uniforms that had become ruffled and bloodied by the recent encounter with the Shindou Family. He clicked his tongue and nudged one of them on the ground with his foot.

“Oy, get your ass up. It’s no time to be sleeping on the job! The boss is going to give us all a hand.”

That returned a bit of spark to the group’s eyes. Frankly, they had been low on morale at the thought of the Tenjou Clan’s largest family swinging by to rid them. The reports from Morinaga and Awano being wiped out had already dragged them down.

Ozaki grinned as he psyched himself up to head out again. He had never liked that jerk Shindou in the first place, lording over the clan like his family was its backbone.

“We ain’t letting no other family sully the rep of the Yama Ryu, ya hear that! We’re a family of tough ones, quality over quantity! So ya either follow me into battle, or I’ll have your pinkies to go with the balls ya be missing!”

Not a single person backed down after that. Regardless if it was the encouragement or the threat, Ozaki knew that each of them could take down at least 5 or 6 Shindou goons.

Ozaki walked over to a mirror, brushing back his hair as he peered at the bruises on his face. He touched them endearingly and blew them each a kiss. He patted his suit jacket, not even caring that it was all dirty and unfit for his role as club manager. Unlike the others, Ozaki was actually giddy to go right back to brawling.

“I’m heading out first. Make sure the girls are safe. If someone has any wise ideas of targeting them, holler and I’ll make sure they have their heads on straight.”

“Yes, boss!”

Ozaki stepped out the front door of Club Elegant, a hostess bar that he managed for the Yamaoka Family. A row of cars had clogged the entire city block around it, hordes of Shindou goons coming out to take revenge on the first batch that they sent packing. A quick glance at them numbered easily over a hundred, enough for Ozaki to admit to his Aniki that his place was in trouble.

Of course, bowing his head and begging for his aniki’s help was part of being the dutiful follower that he was. But that didn’t mean he was afraid of this fight. More than anything, his legs twitched in anticipation of it.

Several came forward in an instant, causing Ozaki to ready up in a boxing stance and throw out counters. While his fists smashed into the first two, another two went low and kicked him in the shins.

A rush of pain shot through Ozaki’s legs and up to his face, where his grin grew even wider. He reached down by reflex and scooped up the two attackers by the leg, shifting to a low stance to start a spin. Before either of them could react, they were sent twirling in the air before crashing into the car doors.

Another goon took the chance to swing a golf club at his open back after the throw, which Ozaki felt right away. But rather than moving away, he pushed into it, forcing the club back toward its holder. With one quick turn, he grabbed the shaft, person and all, before doing a shoulder throw that sent the guy into a windshield. He quickly snatched the disarmed club that was still midair.

More goons came forward to chip away at his vitality, this time aiming for a low blow right between the pants. But as someone’s foot caught Ozaki’s balls, his legs instinctively clenched like a vise.

Ozaki looked disapprovingly at him, who now felt like an animal caught in a bear trap.

“What’s with these young ones? Can’t even go hard enough to give ‘it’ a tingle. If you’re trying to flirt with me that directly, you better beef up enough to make it hurt.”

With that, Ozaki clenched his thighs and grabbed a nearby pole. With both feet kicking off, he launched himself horizontal, bringing the goon with him. Ozaki added a flashy wave of the club to show off to his spectators, letting his leg grip slip just enough to have centrifugal force fling the man into the gawking crowd.

Landing on the ground with the golf club brandished, Ozaki had a funny idea.

“It looks like balls are fair play. And I just so happen to have a driver. It’s time to smash some wood!”

An eerie chill went through the air, and soon enough, the first victim verified it. The 2-wood driver in Ozaki’s hands went on a vengeance between his legs, and in an instant, the goon’s face turned purple as he crumpled over.

A wave of panic spread through the group as Ozaki paraded through the crowd, shrugging off attacks with a blissful glee while sending each one to the ground with a hard drive to the nuts.

“S-Someone! Stop him already!”

“Ain’t no way, boss! Hurt Me Ozaki just gets stronger unless you knock him out in one blow!”

The Yama Ryu’s right-hand man, Ozaki Shun, hardly walked in the shadow of his feared aniki. He became a follower to the sole person that could give and take so much pain that even Ozaki found his limit. How could he not devote himself to someone that would never fail to light a fire in him?

Ozaki plowed through the mobs of enemies, looking over his shoulder to see that his underlings had now joined in the fight as well. Maybe, seeing their boss charging straight into the fray gave them courage. Some were probably just idiots like him. But regardless, Shindou’s ‘army’ was far from the invincible armada they made themselves out to be. A padding of numbers only went so far.

Especially when real dragons existed.

“The Yama Ryu’s here!”

A wave of eyes turned to the end of the street, where another fight had broken out. Ozaki beamed with the club held high. He pointed high in the sky like he was aiming to send something into the clouds.

“Better hurry up, boys! The dragon’s come down from his mountain, and you can bet that he’s famished. Gobble up all you can before he leaves you with nothing!”

v

Ryuji’s fist collided against someone’s face. The momentum from his running swing spun the man headfirst into the ground, trading places with his feet. He jumped up and did a dropkick into someone’s chest, before looping his arm around another’s neck to slam it down as he fell into a facebuster.

Before others could converge on him, he swept a pair of legs to trip up the closest one, sending the others next to him scrambling as he fell. Several kicks flew towards him, which triggered instantaneous trajectories of where they would land, courtesy of Grace.

The first two messed Ryuji up as he took them in his sides before his eyes could figure out how it worked. But he was quick to adapt. He found openings in the next few and found the perfect moment to bat them away, adding a kick to the back of the knees to each one to send them limping.

Goons with make-shift weapons came charging next, wishing to be the next dragon slayer. Ryuji chuckled at how naïve these ones were, before ducking below a swing and uppercutting one of them.

He grabbed the falling crowbar that he now confiscated and smashed a cheap sword swung by the next guy. The heavy metal shattered the blade and nailed the surprised face of his attacker. A kick and swing took down another that thought a bat would be a better match.

Ryuji grabbed the bat dropping midair and started swinging his two weapons all around him, an intimidating growl accompanying the swirling objects in his hands. The more experienced knew better than to provide him with more tools to wreak havoc.

The sound of an engine roared as Ryuji turned to see some wise guy floor the gas in hopes of running him over. But a strong hurl of the crowbar sent it whizzing dangerously through the air. A loud crack echoed as the claw dug right into the windshield, creating a huge crack that drove immediate panic upon the driver.

Several unlucky Shindou members tried to get away from the wildly veering car, only to get sent flying. As unpredictable as a ride was in such a situation, Ryuji ran forward regardless. He leapt onto the hood and grabbed onto the lodged crowbar, digging it into the car for balance. Grace fed him the driver’s movements, telling him exactly which way it was going to buck. He simply had to hold on while his impromptu ride dealt with several more of the mob.

The streets whirled around him as he scanned the area. The mob had already thinned out greatly, in no small part by Ozaki and crew. The expressions of those that remained had taken a turn for the worse. More than half defeated and hardly any scratches on Yama Ryu and his lackeys. They would need a thousand more to do any real damage.

Finally sick of his ride, Ryuji drove his foot down through the windshield to knock out the driver. The idling engine spoke much to the current heat of the situation. The Shindou Family had run out of gas.

Of course, cutting their losses was already on their minds. It was a fight between angering their family head or getting taken out by the Yama Ryu – many decided that the former was more tolerable.

The sight of people getting in their cars and fleeing was something that would be a huge stain on the Shindou Family, being taken out not once, but twice, in the same assault. Their intention had clearly been to wipe out the Yamaoka Family while Ryuji was hurt, but it had backfired hard.

Still, it didn’t take a genius to see why they would dare to do such a thing in the first place, questions of succession or not. Ryuji had no interest in becoming the next Tenjou Clan head. He had made that perfectly clear. Nonetheless, he was still a hefty prize.

But as Ryuji scanned the disaster area, he couldn’t help but think that his head as a trophy wasn’t the only reason for the Shindou Family to attack. The blatant disregard of secrecy when it came to this offensive meant something more was at stake.

But first, he hopped off the car and walked over to Ozaki, who had turned into an avid cheering fan at his approach.

“Anikiii~~ Way to ride on their asses! Though, I’m a bit disappointed. And here, I thought you were going to get all down and dirty along with me, just like our early days. How I missed the both of us black and blue after a tough brawl.”

“I only ever remember us being like that after fighting each other.”

“How about it? Want to finish up with a round or two, for old times’ sake?”

“C’mon, Ozaki. I didn’t let you join the family so that you can have an outlet for release. Ask one of your girls to bring out the whip.”

“Those petit things? Ha, you jest.”

“I just got out of the hospital. I’m supposed to go easy. Nurse’s orders.”

“Must be some nurse to make you follow so obediently. Care for introductions?”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

Ryuji walked right past Ozaki and into the club. He needed a drink after all that exercise. Fortunately, their efforts had kept the bar open. A Yamaoka-owned establishment was known to keep the booze flowing and the girls servicing, even if they had to send some hotheads packing.