A new family

The days passed by while the scorpion gang was preparing for the big coup. Although some more than others. The door to the inventors' workplace burst open.

*BLAM*

"Wolfyyy♪♪♪ Coyote♪♪♪ I brought you guys some chicken rice from a nearby store!" Mai said.

Wow... I see old Tom is still in the same place as usual.

"Hey, dummy!!! I've told you a thousand times not to barge in like that when I'm building stuff!!!! One slight mistake can be fatal!!!" Coyote said angrily.

"And I've told you I don't know what you're doing if you have the door closed!!!"

The leader and the coyote put their foreheads together as they looked at each other with hatred. With hatred, but a hatred filled with love.

"Okay dorky, I'll give your ration to Ulf-chan!!!" She said as she stuck her tongue out at Coyote to taunt him.

"Whatever!!! I'll buy some food later myself!!!"

"Take your ration, Wolf. If you keep up the hard work, I'll promote you to chief inventor."

"We don't even have a chief now!!!" Coyote retorted.

"Ulf-chaaaaan ♪♪ look what I brought for youuuuu!!!"

The leader left the room as she continued to taunt and grimace at the coyote.

"Damn rude!!! Someday I'll teach you some manners!" Continued the coyote.

"If it bothers you so much, why don't you leave the crew?"

Coyote was silent. He was finishing the last details of a key component. Once he finished, he answered Ano's question.

"I don't hate her, you know, nor does she hate me. It's just that affection is complicated. It manifests itself in the weirdest ways possible."

"I repeat. If you resent her affection, why don't you leave?"

"It bothers me, but she's a good person. All of us here are family. She brought us all together. She's like a metaphorical mother to us." Said the coyote wistfully.

"I see. I never knew what a mother's love is."

The coyote watched his companion. His cold gaze did not even change a bit as he said those words. At that moment, he realized that the boy's heart was crying for help from inside his body. Then, he approached him and answered.

"A mother is someone who doesn't want anything bad to happen to you. She doesn't want you to sacrifice for her. Someone who is able to starve and give up to everything just so that her child will be happy. Her greatest wish is for her child to be happy forever."

"I don't mind going hungry every day."

"I don't mind being poor."

"ALL I CARE ABOUT IS FOR YOU TO BE HAPPY FOREVER!!!"

Hana...?

The coyote patted the wolf on the back and left the room on his way to buy his dinner, although deep down he knew that Mai had already saved food for him.

So that's what a mother is.

****

The next day, the young inventors continued to prepare the devices they would need. Some ground drones that projected holograms as they moved; remote detonators; a hang glider with camouflage function for flight; but what they spent the most time on was a giant device.

"Wolf!" The coyote shouted. "Come here."

The wolf got up and approached his companion. The latter handed him a key and gave him a command.

"Build this part."

The wolf smiled. At last, he proved that he was better than the coyote. However, when he tried to build that part, he couldn't.

What's wrong? Why can't I assemble it? Damn it...

"You've made a rookie mistake. Look at your blueprints. It's as if you haven't done the simplest jobs for years. Has being in that company made you rusty?"

"It must be because some piece isn't the right size. Let me find a better one..."

*BLAM!!!*

Coyote slammed the table, and the silence filled the room. After a short pause, he continued.

"There's nothing wrong with the pieces, you know. The scorpion leader talked a lot about a little inventor prodigy. He said he was 100 times better than her overbearing brother. Looking at these blueprints, it's obvious that she was referring to you. However, these little mistakes you make in the most basic things show that you are distracted."

There was again a short silence until the coyote spoke again.

"If you need to talk about something, feel free to do so."

As if I would. Thought the wolf.

The coyote wanted the wolf to open his heart for once. He knew those eyes. Eyes fueled by hatred, they were like his before he met Mai. He had to get Ano’s true self out of that dark pit inside his heart before the mission began.

*BLAM!!!*

The door opened suddenly. The leader, Mai, had news about operation [Blossom].

"I come to inform you that the first phase of operation [Blossom] has been a success. We have confirmed over 200 attendees at each of our locations. That's over 1000 people!!!"

"You mean over 1200." Coyote said.

"Who cares about that?! And it's all thanks to Ryuko!!!! Eh? Don't just stand back there and come in, little woman!!!"

"Kya!" Blushed the girl. "Fi...First phase complete...aaaah...aa...ahhah!"

Ryuko fainted due to the social embarrassment she was suffering from.

"Ryuko-chan? Ryuko-chan!!! HANG IN THERE!!!!! DON’T DIEEEE!!!!!" Shouted the leader.

What kind of circus have I put myself into…!!!

****

After several days of work, most of the operation's vital devices were finished. Coyote continued to put the finishing touches on each of the mission devices, while the wolf set about building something he had been dreaming of for years. Coyote saw the young wolf having trouble building something in a leather jacket.

"Hey Wolf. What are you building in that fierce leather jacket?"

"It's my suit, the B.U.T.H.O. With it, I'll be able to keep a promise I made to an old friend." Also I’ll get rid of all the rotten apples of this world!!

"Man. Don't you get tired of having to spell all that out every time you mention it? Why don't you just call it BUTHO. It sounds more carbonara."

"Carbonara? What are you talking about now?"

"That's what the kids in district A say when they think something's cool. I don't know, I don't get it either."

BUTHO... doesn't sound bad...

"So, do you need help with that?"

"No, I don't need anything. You can get on with your mission preparations."

"But this thing you're doing is also for the mission, am I right? This leather jacket looks amazing. You're adding a lot of stuff to it. But this textile hologram is far from perfect."

"How did you notice it? No one else in the group has noticed."

"Well, I was the one who designed the hologram for our lair. Don’t take me wrong, but the eyes of someone inexperienced couldn't detect the hologram covering you. Well, even experts couldn't. I think I'm the only one in the world who can notice it."

The young inventor spent his nights working on his suit for the mission. The day was approaching quickly, and the assembly was getting complicated for him.

"Let me help you improve it."

If I let him improve my textile hologram, he would leave me alone and I could focus on finishing the suit."Sure, take it."

It took the coyote barely 10 minutes to turn that hologram into a perfect one.

"That's it. Now let me help you with the other parts of your suit, Wolf.” Said Coyote with a big smile on his lips.

The young inventor looked at Coyote. His intentions were sincere, and his smile was that of someone who wanted the best for the people he cared about. At that moment, the young boy seemed to have been transported back to the moment when his master and Hana helped him build that little explosive detection dog.

"Look for friends to fill the emptiness in your heart."

"It's better to work as a team."

Ano thought he had finally found those friends his master told him about.

"Hey Coyote, how about giving me a hand with this kinetic shield? I can't get it to set up to its full potential and I'm at 90%."

"Well sure, that and more!"

*BLAM!!!!!!!!*

The door swung open again. This time, Kaboom was the one who opened the door.

"KABOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!"

"HEY BRAT, YOU'RE SO LOUD!!!! Can't you see we are working!!!?" Ano said.

*BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM*

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa..." Ryuko shouted. "One of Kaboom's bombs has exploded, and there are flames everywhere! Where's the fire extinguisher!?" The young girl was rolling on the floor with her eyes rolling as she tried not to faint.

Damn brat…!!!

"KABOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!! HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHHA!!!!”

Ano ran desperately to put out the fire in the most dangerous room of the lodge-to-be. While this was happening, the coyote couldn't stop laughing.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. This is fantastic!!!" Laughed the coyote.

Despite being invisible to the human eye, the little yellow figure that manifested at their base was starting to become much more visible and much more powerful thanks to the friendly and warm atmosphere emitted by those people.

*Huhu.*

****

After a long day saving the base from an explosive cataclysm and preparing and finalizing the tools that would be used tomorrow, young Ano decided to create something he had never done before. Those days he spent with his new family changed something inside the young boy. The coyote saw the young wolf working late on something and decided to approach.

"Wow!!! So you’re making a ring, eh? And who's the lucky lady?"

"A very dear friend."

"WHAT? Seriously? I can't believe the wolf is getting married!!! Despite having that killer face, I see you're successful with the ladies!" Coyote exclaimed cheerfully.

"I'm not getting married, Coyote."

"Well, but I can see the love you're putting into making that ring. You sure are in love."

"Something like that."

"Then you have something to stay alive for."

Young Ano began to regain the empathy he had lost over the past 2 years. When he heard those words, he became worried about his new friend.

"You don't have anything to come back for?"

"Well... I have some. My inventions, some women and men... You know, hahahaha. And next week I'm turning 18."

Next week? He's 1 week older than me.

"Aren't you afraid of death?" Ano asked.

The coyote looked at the young wolf with sincere eyes full of kindness. As he went back to work on one of the detonators for the explosives, he replied.

"No one knows what lies beyond the threshold called death."

His expression changed completely to a very serious one. His body emitted a reassuring aura. Those words he was saying came straight from his heart, just like a flower about to bloom.

"Just know that after you die, the eternal rest comes for everyone. No worries or troubles, except for those you have left behind."

After saying those words, he completed the detonator. And looking back at the wolf, as if he were his best friend, he said the best words anyone could say in the world they lived in.

"If you get in trouble tomorrow, I'll come help you right away, Wolf. You just give me the call and I'll throw that overbearing Yu on the ground for you myself."

That week, while working at his makeshift base, made him realize the most important thing in life. The people who filled his heart. The friends. Family.

"Look for friends to fill the void in your heart, Mi-kun."

You were right, master. This was what I was looking for.

Thanks to the time he spent with his new family, the demonic presence that used to invade his body began to lose strength. However, his heart would continue to be gripped by an evil presence called vengeance for a little while longer.

"Dude...are you sure we need this beast?" Coyote said.

In front of them stood the contraption they built over the course of the week. A huge one.

"I don't know. It's a secret card in case we need it to subjugate Yu Asu."

"And it won't affect us? Gunner would turn into a statue if you activate this."

"Don't worry about Gunner. I created this for him."

Ano showed an unfamiliar device to the coyote. However, the coyote knew exactly what it was.

"I see, Wolf. You are amazing."

Both inventors bro-fisted in a signal of friendship.

****

The day of the assault had finally arrived. The group was ready to hit the streets and start the operation. The group, led by their leader, the scorpion, began to equip themselves with all the materials they needed. Coyote and Gunner loaded the explosives into each of their trucks. Mai distributed the communicators among his entire gang. Gunner loaded a large backpack on his back. Ryuko set up her PDA and social media accounts. Kaboom... Well, Kaboom shouted.

"KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!."

The coyote kissed his pendant; and the wolf put on for the first time his masterpiece, the B.U.T.H.O, under a textile hologram that camouflaged his suit as an unmodified leather jacket. Meanwhile, the chameleon did not move a single muscle in the whole week.

"Alright guys! Your leader speaking!!! We are the justice of the poor!! We are the defenders of truth and reason!! We are the hope of the people!!! Tonight we will change this city, and tomorrow the world!!!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!" Shouted her band in unison.

Prepare yourself Yu Asu!! We are coming for you!!