GRUDGE BURST - Urban Fantasy Multi Protag Downward Spiral

Earlier in the night, right before the squad headed over to the harbor.

11:09 PM

Saizo and Ken walk down the halls towards Saizo's room.

"I had that dream again." Starts Saizo.

"What dream?" Asks Ken.

"It was about Nakayama."

"Oh? What happened?"

"We were with the boys, having a good time. For once, I didn't feel so negative about things. Its odd feeling this comfortable and...happy? I guess that's the word I'd use. I didn't have to think about 'collecting debt' or... yeah I can't sugarcoat it, burn a building down. It's weird though. It's alien to me. But I'm glad that I can find comfort in someone else."

Ken smiles, turns to Saizo, and says a single word while pointing.

"Gay."

Saizo pumps his fist. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, or else I'd pummel you again."

Ken sighs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But anyway, I'm happy for you. If this guy really is as peaceful as you say he is, then I'd think a lot of people would get along with you quickly."

They eventually arrive at Saizo's dorm. They enter. The first thing Ken sees are a bunch of empty and unopened bottles, littering the floor. There's nothing except a half-made bed and an empty desk in the room.

"What are we here for?" Asks Ken.

"I'm preparing a gift." Says Saizo, rummaging through the full bottles.

After a couple minutes, Saizo eventually finds the bottle. "Ahah! Roku Gin. Nakayama's favorite."

Ken tilts his head. "It's only been a bit over a week. You're acting like you haven't seen him at all in the after life."

Saizo shakes his head. "Call it, a celebration. A new era. Damn if we're owned by the government, at least we'll be happy as long as we got each other, ya know?" He eventually grabs a small backpack, puts the bottle inside, and slings the bag on his shoulder.

Ken shakes his head. "I see."

They eventually leave the room.

"Say," starts Saizo. "Why are you helping me out?"

Ken stays silent for a bit, before eventually responding. "Because I'm bored, duh!"

Saizo stares at him before responding. "And then you wonder why people don't take you seriously."

"Funny thing is, I never said that," responds Ken.

Saizo turns around and gives him a look.

Ken smiles, yet the rest of his face is blank.

They continue walking.

Ken deduces Saizo's behavior.

.

.

.

Warm breeze. Pleasant shade. The boys are out grilling. A beautiful day at the park.

"Nakayama," Saizo calls out to me.

I wake up. "What's up bro?"

"I get this is a great day and all, but isn't there something we should be doing? The rival gangs might get stronger while we're here wasting time."

I laugh at him. "You've got it all wrong. We're not wasting time."

"Then what are we doing?"

"We're enjoying life. Come now, let's share a drink."

I pull the portable cooler closer to me. I grab cold beers for me and Saizo. He licks his lips. He immediately loosens up as he opens the bottle.

I shake my head. "I appreciate your concern for the gang, but we've got things under control. Territory dispute this, gang war that. What's the point of life if we're going to be stressing about it every day?"

Saizo tenses up again. "I see."

Silence.

"You're not going to argue back?" I ask. "What's with you now?"

Saizo sighs. "I love you bro, but recently, I just realized we're two ultimately different people. I appreciate the way you think. But we can't change each other's minds." He sips his beer.

I shake my head.

It saddens me to see him like this. He's a rough guy, but I get why he's like this. We can't do anything about the past, and I won't lie, its not like I'm his savior. We can't and shouldn't depend on others for salvation. Likewise, we shouldn't force our help onto those who don't want it.

But it still sucks.

To see my little brother constantly stir around in constant rage. How can you live like that? It's one thing if the other gangs mess with our little brothers. Its another to punch a hole in the wall after the smallest inconvenience. Its unfortunate.

And yet I still try.

What a fool I am.

"Saizo...I'm not telling you how to live your life. But honestly bro, what good does being angry do you? Do you find joy in it?"

He chugs half the bottle before responding. "What brings this up?"

"I'm just confused bro. There's so much to life. There's so much joy to be had. Why waste it all in negativity? Hell, as much as I love my family, I'm not going to be here forever."

"...I suppose we all die eventually."

I laugh. "Not even in that way. You think I'm going to be the leader forever?"

"...Won't you?"

"No! Hell no, what? You think 40 year old me is going to be hanging around teenagers, telling them what to do? We all have to grow up eventually. I'm going to be spending time with my future kids and wife. I have better shit to look forward to."

Saizo grumbles before finishing his bottle. "What about our dead brothers. Are you going to disgrace them like that?"

I shake my head. "We make it even with the gang wars. After that, we let them rest in peace and continue with our lives."

Oh boy. I can see it. He's pissed. Yet he doesn't say anything.

"Look," I continue. "We all have to let go eventually. Living our lives stuck on what happened won't undo the past. Neither will it make you feel better. Letting that negativity linger in your stomach will only burn more and more, until you're consumed by it. You're getting yourself killed. That's why we have to find peace and live in the moment. That's what being free is. Freedom is the greatest feeling in the world. Remember that."

I turn to him and smile. "Be free, Saizo."

It takes him a couple minutes before he faces me.

He responds.

I don't think I like his answer.

I wake up.

Oh right. I'm dead.

How long ago was that... six years ago? Hm.

I look at the phone I stole a couple days ago. It's 11:28 PM.

Wait... I hear someone. I feel their presence too. No, presences? Who would be out here in the docks late at night? Nobody really works at nighttime.

...I should probably investigate. It's probably just a couple of civilians walking by... wait no.

Is that...Ki I sense? A fuck ton of it too.

...I might have to take care of that.

.

.

.

11:36

Saizo, Viral, Ken, Makoto, and Naoki eventually arrive at the edge of the harbor. The gate is open; not that it really matters since anyone can just walk in. The edge of the harbor is populated with smaller buildings and wooden docks. As they go on towards the heart of the harbor, the buildings grow larger. From small offices to the large factories. It reeks of fish, rust and salt. The harbor is dimly lit, with only a few lights illuminating the roads. The air is humid and warm.

They all look around. Saizo can barely hold himself from jumping up and down.

"Alright so, let's split up into two groups." Starts Saizo.

"(Uh oh)," thinks Naoki to himself.

"Ken and I will be in one group."

"(Please no no wait don't-)"

"Meanwhile the three of you will make the other group."

"(FUCKKKKK.)"

Makoto shoots an annoyed glare at Naoki. Naoki can feel the back of his skull melt from her piercing gaze.

Viral stands idly by, in a quiet chipper mood.

Quietly, they all sense something. That loud "presence" that they felt on their way here. It was faint then, but now the pressure is getting stronger.

Viral says to Saizo, "is that your friend we're sensing?"

"Eh... yeah! Who else would it be? I'm a little surprised he grew this much stronger this quickly, but even then its sorta familiar. Tch, that just goes to show he grew stronger because he missed me." His big grin stays permanent.

"Mmmkay," says Ken, doubtful.

"(Is this a trap?)" Thinks Makoto. "(No...that would be the quickest way to get yourself reverse-jumped. That's too stupid, even for Saizo. I guess his friend really is just as strong as he made him out to be.)"

They split off. Saizo and Ken towards the far end of the harbor, whereas the other three scouted near the edge of the harbor. Naoki's group is surrounded by cargo.

A couple minutes pass. Both parties try to track down the presence.

For a majority of the walk, Naoki, Makoto, and Viral are silent. Makoto then lets out a deep sigh. "Naoki."

Naoki doesn't say anything.

Annoyed, Makoto calls out Naoki's name again.

He doesn't respond.

"Hey, you're the last person to give me a silent treatment," she says in a gruff tone.

"I'm not giving you the silent treatment." He responds. "I can hear you loud and clear. Go ahead, I'm letting you speak."

"Well I would at least appreciate if you could announce that you're listening."

"I just did."

Makoto looks visibly annoyed. "Here we go again with you acting all smart."

Viral in the middle of course, looks uncomfortable.

Naoki sighs. "What is..." He then stops. "What is that?"

"Don't you mean 'what is it?'"

"No, don't you hear it? What is that?"

Eventually, Naoki's group sense it coming towards them. Faster. Faster.

And then they hear it.

rrrrr

A low murmering

rrrrRRRRRRR

"Is that from the road? No..." Clarifies Viral. "The cargo?"

Everyone hears a loud screech.

Makoto glances down the cramped intersections of the shipments. Seeing the visage of a flaming motorcycle rush towards them, Makoto immediately uses [Kaze] to push Naoki. The gust of wind smacks Naoki against the wall of the shipment, before falling down. Viral and Makoto both jump the side, whereas the motorcycle blurs past them, down the middle of the path.

"Sorry Naoki, its just-"

"It's ok Makoto," says Naoki, catching his breathe. "I know why you did it. At least we finally found him."

Makoto uses [Kaze] once again; A miniature spinning top made of wind forms beneath her feet. She sits on it cross-legged, and starts chasing down the motorcyle, like a life sized beyblade. Naoki and Viral release a majority of their Ki to catch up to the motorcycle with their bare legs. Naoki sees Viral zoom past him, but notices that she's moving in pure straight lines, compared to his own swerving motions. The motorcycle screeches down the pathways, where Naoki parkours throughout the cargo, bouncing against the walls and cutting corners to catch up to him. Viral and Makoto on the other hand chase after him directly.

Makoto tries to shoot the flaming rider with wind bullets while she's chasing him. Viral shouts "we're not trying to hurt you!" Yet in her mind, she realized how ironic that really comes across.

Makoto and Viral eventually corner the motorcyclist near the edge of the harbor, where only the sea resides. Trying to swerve past them, the motorcyclist slips through between them. Only for the rider to see a teenager come straight flying at him.

Naoki, jumping directly at the motorcyclist, calculated the angle and jumps down from a crane, going for a pro-wrestling DDT. He catches onto the rider's neck and spirals down, making the rider fall down to the ground.

Naoki then realizes that latching onto a guy who's on fire is a bad idea.

As the both of them fall towards the ground, Naoki rolls over and pats his cloak from the small fire on his arms. Upon the rider getting up, the three students then realize that there is no motorcycle. Rather, the motorcycle is the rider. In front of them stands a muscular Japanese spirit, sporting a tokkofuku (Bosozoku jacket) that doubled as a martial arts Gi. Fire decals embroider his long jacket, along with the illusion of large, flaming, motorcycle exhaust pipes stemming out of his arms and legs. He sports a buzz-cut.

The three of them then notice that he's visibly bleeding.

"We're not trying to hurt you," says Naoki.

"Tch, nice try." Responds the spirit.

The three of them notice the spirit squinting at their clothes.

The spirit then spreads his arms out as if he were riding a motorcycle. The embroidery on his jacket bursts into large flames, pouring out in front of and behind him until it forms a motorcycle. The large exhaust pipes finally elongate and solidify. He swerves around, screeching his tires.

"[Incinerate]" he announces, before radiating so much and bursting forward. Naoki jumps out of the way, and looks at a lamp post near them. He concentrates on them, and grabs ahold of it using PsychoPower. Using [Telekinesis], Naoki flicks the long lamp downwards, hoping he'd knock the rider off again.

The spirit simply burns through the metal. All three of them collectively "tsk" before chasing the biker oncemore.

"You're not killing me today," yells the rider.

"WE'RE NOT TRYING TO," yells Makoto. "(Come to think of it... He was bleeding before we even grazed him.)"

The rider then swerves back towards the main road. While running, Naoki picks up a rock, and infuses it with ki. "(There's no point in using my [Shakuhachi] flute with all the noise. So I'm just gonna have to calm him down like THIS-)" Using a bit of PsychoPower, he combines his ki infused brute strength along with the help of his [Telekinesis] to accurately launch the rock towards the Biker's head.

The biker turns around for a split second, as Naoki tries to telepathically communicate with him "(Saizo is with us.)"

The biker then completely swerves around. He sits there for a couple seconds.

"Well at least that finally calmed him down a bit..." mutters Naoki.

The biker then revs up, louder and louder, aiming directly at Naoki.

The biker's engine roars across the road.

Zooming straight towards Naoki, the biker doesn't let up. Makoto conjures up a thick gust of wind, aiming to throw the biker off-center, only for the biker to disperse the bike mid-air, and let the small whirlwind catch on fire. Fearing that the fire might spread towards herself or the other two students, Makoto cancels the whirlwind. The biker bursts through the remains of the wind, dropkicks Naoki. All of them can see smoke coming out of his mouth, as well as his deep red skin.

"What did you do to him."

Naoki rolls on the ground and disperses the impact. "Calm down you asshole, he's with us we swear!"

Viral charges behind him. The biker sidesteps and tries to counter-attack, only for Viral to dash right past him. Makoto on the other hand makes a finger gun, and starts shooting pulses of air at him. He dodges most of them, before a couple of them start knocking him around. On top of all that, Naoki is pressuring him with hand to hand combat.

"We abducted him," responds Naoki.

The biker gets even more pissed.

Naoki then realizes that despite it being the truth, that still sounds really bad aloud.

Naoki throws a bunch of boxing combinations. Only for most of them to be either dodged or parried by the biker.

"(God damn this guy is annoyingly good. Is this...Karate?)" wonders Naoki. Naoki's punch then gets parried, and receives a meaty, fiery kick to his sternum.

"(Shit,)" thinks the biker to himself. "(With her bouncing around and the other two pressuring me, I have to make things better for my fighting style.)"

Catching Naoki mid-stun, the biker then latches onto Naoki's cloak and judo throws him over to a nearby factory.

Makoto goes up to him, expecting a counter-attack. She makes a large, thin bubble and surrounds herself with it. In her right hand, she twirls the air around it to make a small drill. "(I'm sorry Saizo, but if this asshole doesn't let up, I have no choice.)"

The biker in response, doesn't punch Makoto. Rather, he charges a large cluster of sparks in his hands, and uses both of his palms to fire the clusters straight at Makoto's face.

[Shotgun]

Makoto backpedals, noticing her thin bubble ignited, and is now trying to clear the smoke out of her face.

Viral tries to intercept him once again but he dodges and sacrifices 10% of his ki to catch up to Naoki immediately.

Naoki rolls over on the floor, before using the momentum to stand back up. The biker rushes over and tries to dropkick him again, only for Naoki to sidestep and catch the biker midair, twirling him around before slamming him on the ground. "Yeah, it doesn't feel so good now, does it?" Yells Naoki.

Stunned, the biker realizes something.

"(That... didn't hurt...?)"

The biker looks up at Naoki. "That wasn't infused with Ki. What are you doing?"

"Well if you just give me TWO. FUCKING. MINUTES. MAYBE I CAN TELL YOU WHAT'S GOING ON."

Makoto and Viral arrive behind Naoki. Viral stays by the door, while Makoto stands near Naoki. The biker blinks, panting.

"...Alright." Responds the Biker. His skin eventually stops becoming red, and reverts back to a bluish-grey color.

"We're from the government. We abducted Saizo since he, as a spirit, was making noise. Viral spared his life for WHATEVER reason, and now he's with us. He thought you could join us with the principal's permission and he said go ahead. See? Was that so hard?"

The biker pauses, before quickly getting up. "I see, my bad. But where is Saizo? And more importantly, if that's the case then we all need to get out of here right now."

They hear footsteps behind them. They turn around.

It's Ken and Saizo.

There, Saizo's life flashes before his eyes. A heavy heart, lifted. For the first time in over a week, Saizo forgets what hate is. He chokes a bit. His throat feels dry.

On the other hand, Nakayama sees his brother, in the flesh yet again. He stammers, as if seeing a ghost. Something so life-like yet... it actually is alive. He feels tears well up, but refuses to go that far. He simply stammers.

"Nakayama!" Cries Saizo out.

Nakayama gets up. His heart pounds heavily, yet the reason has changed.

Meanwhile, Ken, Naoki, and Makoto are distracted by something else. They all sensed something here. They all thought it was Nakayama since he was actively fighting, using ki and magic. Yet, now that he's calmed down, the presence is still here. A malicious aura. A want to kill; a want to hunt. As if the entire harbor is a living, breathing, island of dread.

Makoto, Ken, Viral, and Naoki's heart beat faster. Something's off. They look at the door. They don't see anybody. They look out the window. Nothing.

Something's off.

"Why are you bleeding?" Asks Saizo. "Did they rough you up too mu-"

"Saizo, as much as I'd love to talk, we need to get out of here, NOW. There's a group of men wearing tankto-"

KRSSHH

Time stops.

Naoki feels it.

Makoto sees it.

Ken hears it.

Viral smells it.

And unfortunate of all, Saizo tastes it.

There's a hole in the factory's ceiling. Slowly yet surely, the students feel the presence of four other people slowly surround them.

Nakayama is nothing more than a large blotch on the floor. A puddle of spiritual remains and liquid.

On top of those remains, is a large, muscular figure kneeling down on where Nakayama stood. Slowly standing up, the muscular figure opens his eyes and sees the prey in front of him. He's wearing a tanktop, large puffy shorts, and a bandana that casts a shade over his eyes. Ushiyama Kito stands before them, covered in the spiritual remains of his prey.

Before anyone could completely process what just happened, A blur flows past Makoto and Naoki. They then feel a cold, large hand grasp their neck, as well as a warm whisper in their ear.

"You have three seconds to tell me what you're doing here."

Kito then finally scans the two victims in his hands.

He looks at Makoto without much of a thought, and then turns to Naoki.

Naoki, shivering and on the verge of tears, says nothing. It takes a second before Kito finally says something.

"...Kid?"