Mic Drop

“The sand will be my biggest advantage, as it’s hard to fight on unstable ground, and it will certainly reduce any kind of speed this guy has. My best bet will be to get hits in while he positions himself.”

Xiomazu had not become more intelligent, but rather used his current intellect more efficiently, now able to devise multiple strategies at once, and evaluate their chances of success.

“However, a strategy means nothing against a Junkie. As quick as I might be, one unprotected punch from this guy is going to rattle me. I need to focus on defense…”
He thought this to himself, remembering the days when Kazue trained in Buff’s ring. Buff had recommended the same defensive priority.

“I also have to keep an eye on the other two guys. Akuma might aid me if trouble arises, but I don’t want help. This girl behind me will be protected by me alone.”

The two broke off from each other, and Xiomazu was thankful that the man’s scent had faded.

A fast closeline came his way from the brigand’s left arm, just as predicted. Not only this, but Xiomazu was already prepared as he’d been studying the man’s feet, awaiting the soonest sand grain’s motion.

Xiomazu didn’t even need to dodge, and readied his counter attack, bending the man’s arm over his shoulder, and tossing him to the ground.

The brigand swatted at Xiomazu’s feet, and Xiomazu lept over this with a subtle hop, landing with a smirk.

“URGGGH! I’ve skewered slimeyer fish den you!” the brigand said.

“Don’t get caught in your own net,” Xiomazu said back.

“SHUDUP SWINE!”

The brigand scrambled up to his feet, and slammed his right arm with his left, causing his right arm to emit the same kind of electric sparks as inside it.

“Kehkehkeh. Was gonna toy witchu, but I’m thinkin we speed dis up a bit!”

“Oh man! Boss is goin in real hard ain’t he?” one of the groupies turned to say to the other.

“WATCH AND LEARN BOYZ!” the brigand shouted, throwing a right punch in Xiomazu’s direction, directly connecting with his chest, and sending a loud shock as Xiomazu flew backwards into the sand.

Xiomazu coughed several times, having the wind sucked right out from him.

His shirt now contained a ripped print where the punch connected.

“Damnit, what was that?! He moved faster than I could anticipate!”

He looked over to Akuma, shaking no, indicating he hadn’t needed help, then stood up to clear the sand off himself.

His heart beat faster than ever.

“Side effects, maybe from the zap.”

His fist tightened.

“Contain your emotions,” he thought as he attempted to steady his breathing.

“Awww. Poor fishy isn’t feelin so fresh, eh? Shocked ain’tcha?” the man cackled as he flexed his glowing right arm.

“That blow’s speed came from the static energy emitting from it, not his strength. It must still be exploitable, but I couldn’t see its movement. He’ll probably swing with it again, so I’ll keep my distance.”

Xiomazu carved a line in the sand with his foot.

“Shocked? I’d be impressed if you could cross this line without me stopping you,” he said as calmly as he could. He held back further coughs to maintain his cocky presentation.

The brigand grinned, and charged forward with a battlecry, crossing just as Xiomazu had dared.

“Exactly as I wanted,” Xiomazu smiled.

His opponent came with a lunging strike, but Xiomazu kept his distance, so that the attack was just out of reach.

Xiomazu kicked up into the man’s right elbow, causing it to jam upwards and stay fixated this way.

He followed this up with rapid punches anywhere he could deliver them as the man stumbled backwards, panicking with his stuck arm.

A punch against his face, followed up by a chop against his neck, and a dropkick that sent the brigand down to his knees.

The finishing blow was a running knee against his jaw, knocking the man out cold, and sending him to the ground.

“He…he beat up da boss, Budro,” one of the two remaining men said, turning to the other with fear.

“Bundah, if da boss wakes up and we ain’t avengin him, he’s gonna kick our asses!” the other said back frantically.

“But da boss won’t know if he ain’t awake, Bundro!”

“Da boss can hear us, he's just pretendin to sleep, Bundah! He’s testin us!”

Both remaining grunts pointed their harpoon guns at Xiomazu.

“Really?” he sighed out loud.

As confident as he could be on the outside, Xiomazu did not want to be on the receiving end of a harpoon. This was a whole different fight, and one he didn’t sign up for.

He turned to signal Akuma for help, but she was gone. Only the girl was behind him.

“Need help?” she asked shyly, while beginning to take off her diving gear.

“No. I’m protecting you, so stay there,” he said quickly as he turned his attention to the harpoons.

“They aren’t really going to shoot those at me, are they?” he thought.

“FIRE!” Both men shouted as the projectiles flew in Xiomazu's direction.

One missile flew towards his legs, while the other was coming towards his head. It would be impossible to dodge both at once.

Xiomazu felt pressure atop his back, as the girl he was supposed to be protecting suddenly leapfrogged over him. While she spun around in a circle, she caught a harpoon in each hand, and faced Xiomazu.

Her eyes were shut tightly.

“WHADA HELL WAZ DAT!?” Bundro turned to Bundah, shouting.

Xiomazu thought the same thing, just quieter.

“I-I DUNNO! LET’S GET HER!” Bundah said back, scrambling after the girl in front of them.

She opened her eyes.

“Hit ‘em after I trip ‘em,” she said swiftly.

“W-wait!” Xiomazu tried to warn her.

She then dropped the harpoons, and backflipped through the air just as the brigands arrived, landing directly behind them, and kicking behind their knees.

Both men fell, and Xiomazu followed this up by dropping his elbows onto both their heads, knocking them out.

“Nice one,” she said, stepping over the prone brigands, and holding up her hand for a high five.

Xiomazu met this reluctantly, embarrassed over the fact he was saved by the one he was supposed to protect.

“Name’s Sheru Otonabe. You?”

“Just Xiomazu. Where’d you learn to do that?”

She retrieved the harpoons and the guns, and walked with him to the car, placing them into the bag.

“Well, just Xiomazu, if I say I know Donburi, will that answer your questions?”

“Daimyo Donburi, Tuff Buff’s brother,” he thought.

“Yeah. Several of them actually,” he said, helping her also carry the deployable lights back to her car.

“Then you must know-”

“Akuma? I see her all the time. We’re pretty close,” Sheru said casually.

“I know that you’re her heir too.”

“No. You’ve got that wrong, I’m just training under her since she’s still the heir,” Xiomazu told her. He was surprised that Sheru didn’t understand that.

“Oh,” she simply said in return. “Right..”

She hopped into the driver’s seat, and started up the car.

It took a few tries to get the engine going.

“You coming?” Sheru then said to him.

The passenger door was still open.

He looked around to see no sight of Akuma.

“Guess so.”

They drove for a little while.

The car constantly made noise, from both the noise of its old frame, and the constant shuffling of equipment and piles of sand.

She turned on the radio, knocking her fist against it a few times to stop the static.

A small holographic stage appeared above the dashboard.

“Okay with rap?” Sheru asked.

“Sure,” Xiomazu said back, studying the stage.

“His concert is starting soon. What’s your favorite song by him?” she then asked.

“Huh? I don’t listen to rap really, so I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Sheru looked over, seemingly offended.

“What?” he asked back.

“Thought you knew Donburi too. Guess you were lying,” she said with disappointment.

“I do. He’s the Daimyo of Kanto, right? I know he’s probably strong, and he’s blind.”

“But you didn’t know he performed?”

“As what?”

“A rapper.”

“A rapper? Is she serious?”

The radio then began to speak.

“Boys and girls, and all you cyber freaks! Let me see you put your hands in the air for DJ DONBURI!” a voice announced.

On the dashboard the holographic stage was updated to show Donburi with a mic in his hand, appearing the same as Xiomazu had seen him several months ago. Sheru was serious.

A beat followed Donburi's voice.

“YO! Ain’t you worry.”

“Now we all gonna listen to DJ Donburi!”

“Act like you know, or go with the flow,”

“Nobody can stand a voice that ain’t my echo.”

“Cause a young brotha is the public enemy,”

“My fight,”

“Show ‘em the bite,”

“Hand with sleight might, bring you tight blight,”

“Got the floor all full with impolite white knights that wanna be my acolytes.”

“Big bro always sweatin,”

“Oh no’s, Donburi’s bettin!”

“Daimyo for ten years, and the reign never ends,”

“Lil bitches all ‘round pretendin to be friends.”

“To all my fans, you heard that,”

“Tsunami ain’t nothin. Ain’t no shit.”

“Put ‘em down like some sick pussy cat,”

“Blow ‘em back to his shitty habitat.”

“Yo size? Bro, yo waves ain’t nothin,”

“My gucci backstroke gonna surf you while blind.”

“Cause I ain’t sweatin over some fuckin tidal wave,”

“Brother, go sit back down in yo bubble bath and behave.”

“And Shinobi? Ah, I know you’re lookin to steal.”

“Everyday I’m spittin rhymes,”

“More times than my old crimes,”

“Sometimes,”

“You gotta gotta gotta let ‘em know Joe.”

“Why you always hidin yo face?”

“Probably looks like a fat man’s hairy foot, nutcase.”

“Listen up you grown ass clown,”

“I’d rather burn Kanto down than hand you my fuckin crown.”

“Sick freeeeeeeeeeeeeeak! Ahahaha!”

“Heyo, Akuma! Hit me up lil fox!”

“Show you a real trick that Kitsune ain’t teachin,”

“Cause,”

“Master ain’t around doin his sad ass preachin,”

“What?”

“Open yo ears kid, his crumbs ain’t worth leachin,”

“Huh?”

“Take my hands already, you know I’ve been reachin,”

“Cause,”

“Bitch, you know I’ve already heard yo sad ass screachin!”

“Ha. Hahaha. She’s fine though, daaaamn! Hahaha.”

“Bet you all thinkin Donburi was done,”

“But gather all ‘round for my story ‘bout madam Obake from Chugoku, son.”

“You know your boy Donburi has got beef with ghosts,”

“So she ain’t free when I stick her on the grill with my roasts,”

“Cause I take oaths,”

“I rock bedposts.”

“Yo funky ass hides behind some rock hard wall,”

“Just a phone call,

“It’ll fall,”

“You gonna bawl,”

“Your downfall,”

“My eightball,”

“Donburi standin tall,”

“Always my protocol,”

“Even with a belly full of alcohol,”

“My mic drop causin you to fuckin withdraw!”

The holographic Donburi dropped his mic, and fell into a crowd of people on stage.

Xiomazu looked over to see Sheru still bobbing her head to the beat.

Donburi had called out every Daimyo in Japan, and Akuma...

“How does Sheru know this guy?” he could only ask himself. “Or Akuma…”

“So, you dig it or what?” Sheru asked, stopping his thoughts.

“Not sure,” Xiomazu said simply, adding, “I didn’t expect to hear a diss track.”

“It’s exciting, right? A message to everyone out there not to count him out, while also calling everyone out on their shit. He’s got other better tracks, but the shock value of Mic Drop makes it one of my faves. Check out Box Full of Blood Money if you want a good vibe,” she said.

“Akuma hasn’t done anything wrong. I don’t get what he’s calling her out on,” Xiomazu then said. “No, it’s not because she’s training me, so there’s no bias here.”

“Who's the Daimyo of Kansai?” Sheru asked without turning her head.

“Kitsune,” Xiomazu quickly said. “Don’t ask dumb questions.”

“Where is he?” she asked with a grin.

“Why should I know? But just because nobody sees him, doesn’t mean-”

“He’s dead, just Xiomazu. Make sense?”

“No. We would have heard about it then,” he said, squinting his eyes.

“If she wanted you to know, that is,” Sheru said.

Xiomazu said nothing back, and instead thought on that phrase.

“Why wouldn’t she tell us…”

“Because she doesn’t want to believe it either?”

Just when he’d started to believe he was close with Akuma, doubts started to flood his mind.

Somewhere out there, Xiomazu had to believe Kitsune was alive.

Because if he wasn’t, that would mean Akuma was the Daimyo of Kansai.

And that would make Xiomazu her heir.

The rest of the ride was quiet, outside of the rap from the radio, and the car noises.

They eventually arrived at a hotel, or at least what looked like one. It was built inside an aquarium, so that the walls, floors, and ceilings of this building contained water and fish constantly flowing.

Coral reefs were home to many species, just as the hotel was to many people.

The car stopped on a lift that brought it down into an underground garage, lit up with orange lights.

“I never asked where we were going,” Xiomazu mentioned as he stepped outside the car, hoping she would add more.

“Never told you either,” Sheru said back.

“This whole communication thing is a good trait to have, you know,” he said with his arms crossed.

“You gotta earn that first, just like my trust. Need me to explain that too?” she said, tightening her backpack around her as she stepped out of the car.

“So aiding you, briefly fighting with you, and riding with you doesn’t make me remotely trustworthy?” Xiomazu stepped outside as well.

“Think you’re misunderstanding the position you’re in, just Xiomazu. I used you as a distraction so I could remove my diving gear, and I’m kidnapping you.”

Xiomazu blinked twice. She was smiling innocently, luckily joking.

“I could go away anytime I wanted to,” he said calmly.

“Then go. You’ll be lost without me.”

She walked on ahead through the dimly lit parking garage.

Nothing good ever happened around these places at night.

“Why would I join her? After the things she’s said, I honestly don’t want to hang around her.”

He turned around.

“This garage is huge, but I’ll find a way out, even without using the car lift. I’ll just ask for help from someone and-”

“Donburi is here, if you want to meet him that is,” Sheru shouted without looking back.

“Akuma is probably here too, if I’m being honest…”

“Just tell me that next time,” Xiomazu groaned, running to catch up with her.

They both entered a small elevator, taking them up into the aquatic hotel.

Through a series of coordiors Xiomazu saw several men and women in suits, who were each carrying personal bullet shields. These devices were strapped around their waists, and when activated, a few amount of bullets at once could not touch them, but they also could not shoot guns, which explained their holstered katana weaponry.

For whatever reason they had shaved heads too.

While wondering just how they’d find Donburi and Akuma in a place like this, they found a door different from all the rest. It was golden, and had a safe’s wheel locking it.

A large agent opened it for them as Sheru held out a small badge.

Inside the room everything was golden.

The floor, the couches, the lights.

To the left inside the open door to the bathroom was a golden toilet, shower, and sink.

And to the right at the end of the room was a golden bed.

At the foot of it sat Donburi and Akuma, without her mask, sitting a few feet apart from each other.

Donburi looked over to the two that had entered.

“YO! XI-OH-MA-ZU! You’re looking way more confident than the last time I met you, and I’m happy to say we’re meeting on a far better occasion.”

He strolled across the room with a jig in his step, and placed his arm onto Sheru’s shoulder.

“Heir of Kansai, Xiomazu, meet my heir of Kanto, Sheru Otonabe.”

Donburi then moved a hand from each of the two, and stuck them together, forcing a handshake.

Sheru faked a smile.

“Huh…” was all Xiomazu could say in return. He looked across to Akuma, who was still seated. She gave no expression.

He couldn't be the heir. Akuma was.

Kitsune had to be alive.

This was all a misunderstanding, right?