The beast out at sea roars once more then slowly starts making its way towards the mainland.  Sirens from nearby towns and villages start blaring in the distance, warning the people of the oncoming threat.

“I think Doc's right!  But…  We have the T.E.A.M., right?!-”

“Jimmy, for fucks sake, shut the fuck up!”

Jimmy has a point, my friends!  We do have a robot.

"Slather my a*s with gravy and put it on some biscuits, he's right!  But don't we need it fer War Games?  Not that I question my trade or workmanship…  but that's f*cking Godziller, man!  What if he gets all f*ckered up?!"

Jenny, er, the Red Trash Panda, steps forward.

"I will fight the beast!"

The entire team looks over to the five foot nothing cloaked in a bloody panda pelt Jenny, as she wipes blood from her feral face.

Mad Dog has a point, but if we allow it to destroy the city then War Games won't be happening anyway.  I say, we attack it with the robot.

“We could use this as a trial run. I mean, if our robot can kill the King of Monsters then surely a genie, cute kitty machine, a giant spider, and a knock off, not as good as ours, robot would stand a chance!”

Doc claps his hands and lands an excited, swift slap to Jimmy's back.

It's settled then!

Doc approaches the T.E.A.M. who is over, seemingly playing "dolls" with the dead bodies of the soldiers and ninjas.

You there!  Hello, my friend!

The mech ignores the doctor.

Excuse me!  Robot!

“Hey, fuck machine, it’s time to grab Godzilla by the pussy and fuck this ho!”

TK picks up a rock and throws it at the mech, striking it on its shoulder. 

“That there weren’t so bright, you gone MAD?”

The T.E.A.M. drops the corpses and walks over toward the team.  Doc is the closest one, so it reaches down and picks him up.

No!  NO!  Robot!

Doc points out to sea towards the beast.

That!  Kill THAT!

The T.E.A.M. appears to look out to sea, then to the doctor in its grasp.  Without further hesitation, it winds up and throws Doc out to sea!

"Aw hell naw!"

"Oh, get fucked! Now IT'S gone MAD!! Jimmy!  Get your goddamn robot under control!"

The robot then turns to TK.

“Nope. Get the hell away from me, motherfucker.”

The robot reaches down to pick up TK when Jimmy yells out!

"ストップ!"

The robot stands back upright and does nothing.  Jimmy is holding the instruction booklet that the team had while building it and was reading off of it.  TK looks at Jimmy dumbfounded.

"What the fuck was that, Jimmy?!"

"The ninjas showed me a little Japanese."

"You were only with them for, like, four hours!  What the fuck?!"

Jimmy looks away bashfully.

“Like I was saying earlier, I fell in love, and when you fall in love-”

"I swear to fuck, Jimmy, if I wasn’t trying to be better… I’d kick you square in the dick right now. Can you get it to go get King BoB?  It fucking threw him out in the ocean!" 

"He's probably Godzilla food by now."

Jenny reaches down to a corpse, cuts off the mustache, and sticks it above her own upper lip.

“Yep. That there seals it. Girl’s damaged. Mmhmm."

In the background, Godzilla lets out another long, squeal, but stumbles in its step.  It flails its head around and roars some more, like it's agitated by something!

"Whatchu think it's doin'?"

"Is something wrong with it?"

Mad Dog and Sonny both scratch their heads.

Little did the team know, when the T.E.A.M. threw Doc out in the ocean, it had excellent accuracy to where Doc pointed.  Directly at Godzilla!

Doc soared through the air, cursing the robot on his way, but gracefully guiding himself like a homing missile towards the beast.  He slightly misjudged his landing, but managed to grab one of the scaly plates protruding from its back.  He carefully used each one that lined its back to pull himself all the way up to the beast's head, then shuffled around to the face where he was directly in front of an eyeball.  Godzilla grew irritated and started swinging its head and body around.  Doc grabbed a hold of a pocket of skin and stuck his hand inside as the beast flung him about.

Back at the coast…

"Alright, Jimmy!  Fuck that thing!  Kill Godzilla, then find King BoB!"

Jimmy confidently nods and looks down at the paper.  He finds and reads the commands off as loud as he can.  The T.E.A.M. responds and starts marching towards the water!

"Go get 'em Tiny!"

Mad Dog yells out proudly!  He looks over to Jenny, but notices some flies have started to gather around her new pelt and decides to lean the other way instead.

"I named 'im, 'Tiny'," he said to TK.

The robot makes its way down the beach, but then stops when it reaches the water and looks back to Jimmy.  TK, looking confused, walks that way and shouts out to it.

"What the fuck are you waiting for?  Go stupid!  Go fight!"

"Ain't it waterproofed?"

Jimmy's confidence left him like he pissed it out of him standing there.  He starts flipping through the pages of the manual for something about possible water damage.

"Oh, bullshit!  King BoB brought the damn thing to life in a goddamn thunderstorm for fuck's sake!"

TK looks back to the machine, who is still standing on the edge of the beach looking back.

"Get going!"

"Maybe he can't swi–?"

"Jimmy! For the LOVE of THE BASTARDLY FA—"


"Well, maybe he's ontuh sumthin'..."

"What?!"

"Maybe the thing just don't like water.  Or, maybe, he can't swim.  He's a heavy sumbitch.  What if he knows he'll sink?"

TK rubs his face in frustration.

"Bullshit.  Then what good is he?"

"Well, Godziller will eventually make his way over, won't he?  I mean, aint' his thing destroyin' Tokyo–"

“オートターゲット・ゴジラ 火をつける！”

Jimmy shouts some more Japanese commands out from the instructions and a rocket compartment opens up on the robot's shoulder.  It leans over a little bit and in a few seconds it blasts off and soars away!  It does a couple of loopty-loops before smacking Godzilla on the back and exploding!  It lets out another scream and directs its attention their way!

“What the actual fuck was that Jimmy?! King BoB is over there!”

“Well, I had to do something!”

“HIYAAAAAA!”

Doc saw the missile projected out of the robot and, when he did, he scurried around Godzilla's face like a spider and into its nose.  Doc "shawshanked" himself through the beast's nasal cavity and down into its throat all the way to its acidic, radioactive inner-belly.

The missile attack must've gotten the beast's attention, because as Doc is swimming around in its guts, it turned and made a b-line towards the T.E.A.M.!

“Yeah boy he comin’ our way now.”

Jenny’s still picking up body parts licking them.

“Jimmy…”

Jimmy’s still flipping through pages reading the manual as fast as he can.

“I know, shut the fuck up. Got it.”

"No, mutherfucker! You need to get that robot to understand goddamn English, and I mean fucking fast.”

“Ah! Here we go! Settings.”

“You have to shitting me, right?”

Jenny starts clapping like she’s on bath salts.

“Yep. I hate to be the titty twister that made Marigold the milk cow not produce, but that there water is getting closer.”

The water has not stopped rising up the coast from the tidal wave and was threatening the ground they stood on.  It wasn't what you would call 'the high ground', but they seemed far enough inland that they thought would've been safe. 

Jimmy continues shuffling back and forth between two of the pages before spouting off,

初期設定の上書き、パスワード

As Jimmy screams the password for anyone within earshot to hear Godzilla belts out another soul curdling roar, thus luckily censoring the password on TV.





When we hooked it up to the laptop earlier we already assigned the robot to listen to anyone on the team. So-

Shut the fuck up and get it to work!

主要言語を英語に切り替える。パスワード

An explosion in to background once again cause any of the viewers at home hear the password.



Get it a try now.

Finally Jenny speaks up.

"Stand on one leg!"  Jenny shouts excitedly!

The T.E.A.M. instantaneously picks up one leg and Jenny over-excitedly jumps for joy.

"YAAAAAY!!!!!!"

TK and Mad Dog look at each other as Jimmy shrugs.

"Well, it works, right?"

"Shut the fuck up, Jimmy."

TK steps forward and waves up at the robot.

"Robot!  Put your fucking foot down!"

The robot follows TK's order and brings its foot down to the ground.

TK proudly turns around to face the incoming threat and points it’s direction.

Get in the water and fucking kill Godzkilla!

TK waits a couple seconds.

Water. Go!

Regardless of TK's demands, the robot refused to take to the water.  So the T.E.A.M. and the team waited several more minutes, which seemed like hours, for the King of Monsters to reach the mainland.  As it did, the robot appeared to be readying itself; bouncing back and forth in place and shadow boxing.

"Don't just fucking stand there dancing like a goddamn dumbass!”

“Yeah, Tiny, Kill that sumb*tch!"

The giant reptile beast finally, FINALLY reaches the shoreline and the robot looks down to TK as the beast approaches.

"What are you waiting for, dumbass?!  Hit him!"

The robot takes a new fighting stance and buries a robotic fist into the beast's gut!

"Hell yeah!  Git 'em!"

The beast doubles over and pukes up some radioactive ooze burning a hole deep into the ground!

"Where the fuck is, King BoB?!"

The robot looks down at TK then back to Godzilla.  It reaches back then swings again, penetrating its fist into the beast's belly!

“Oh, fuck! Rip out its guts!”

Meanwhile, inside Godzilla's radioactive belly, Doc looks around for anything useful and perhaps weighs his options on means to an exit.

With War Games nearly upon us, it's at this time that the teams finally rally together for one last push to get under our skin, gain the upperhand, and get their final say out there before the big event goes down!  Just look at them all!  Dolly Waters has proved once again that she can't handle herself, let alone, manage a team.  Let alone further, one at War Games.  Not shocked that Corey Smith has basically taken the reins here and seems to be the head of the spear heading into the match.  Corey didn't let anyone down, though.  He'll likely last to the very end, with my entire team surrounding him, and to add insult to injury…  I'll let Jenny Myst pin him in the end.  She's been a good girl the past couple of weeks, so she deserves a little recognition for her efforts.  Watching Corey get knocked down about seven pegs taken one from her will be something I will not pass up.

What's Mark Flynn been up to, you ask?  Heh, it's a lot like the Dolly/Corey scenario.  We all know Ned is unable to handle things when they get too heavy, it's common knowledge.  Like we spoke about before; when the going gets tough, Ned loses.  And again, none of us could've blamed Ned for choosing a guy like Flynn on his team.  There's no way.  Hell, I would've picked the crazy SOB up for myself, right?  Not to mention the fellow is a self-proclaimed 'Master of War Games'.  Well, I suppose you could say that.  Didn't he steal a victory from that Korean man that he used to follow around all the time?  Regardless, he can call himself whatever he wants coming into this thing.  I don't remember him ever being a captain, unless it predates me, I could be wrong, but his success from War Games can't be solely based on just him, right?  I mean, he would've been drafted by someone…  Eh!  Flynn showed signs of taking over this team of Good Boi's the second the gates opened and we all came together.  Yet, his focus has remained on this obsession of being looked at differently by everyone else.  An image of goodness and heroism.  I am, indeed, curious about what this new obsession is all about.  The fellow already has the world by the ass and all eyes on him.  Is he bored?  I can understand that, I suppose, having to look across the first match at Sidney Grey's Drunken Donkeys…

Doc pauses.

I'm sorry?

He listens for a second.

My apologies, 'Drunky Kong.'

The words managed to escape his mouth but by the look on his face didn't register upstairs.

We all know that it takes a special kind of person to win the crown here in the XWF, so I can't run Sidney Grey down in the dirt too awful much.  After all, she is our Lady King.  She may be a bit confused as to what exactly I'm known for practicing, but it wouldn't be the first or last time someone has done such a thing.  The poor old girl has her hands full after drafting what everyone considers the worst team this year.  People compare it to one of the worst of all time, but let me tell you, the talent in this fine federation these days makes it damn near impossible to do that.  I, myself, have seen some rough looking teams in my day, hehe..  Anyway…  It's a shame that Sid Grey's little hot streak came to an end the way it did.  I know she turned some heads when she won the crown a few months back, which, in turn, awarded her a match with Bobby Bourbon for the Universal Title the same night.  I'm not sure what Mister Bourbon ate that night or what his end goal actually was, but Sid Grey left looking like absolute gold.  It didn't take a few weeks to go back to one of those Real Housewife statuses, though, after Raion Kido ended her reign and made the entire tournament she won nearly irrelevant.

Doc stews a bit.

I was King once.  Well, twice actually.  The Universal King, too, in fact.  It's quite a feat and, as I said, it's a shame for Sidney Grey that she ran into a brick wall with basically no support behind her in the first match.  Raion Kido, I believed, was in the same boat as Miss Grey…  but as the week comes to a close I'm not as sure as I was before.  On paper, a team featuring Bobby Bourbon, Noah Jackson, and Sarah Lacklan just sounds like a powerhouse.  But, after observing them all week and seeing them come together at the end…  I'm not so sure they have what it takes to stop the Universal Champion.  If it's the only thing the kid has going for him, it's heart.  That little burning torch inside of him burns brighter than ever these days and there's a lot of thanks to Sid Grey for that.  Regardless of what he thinks, my flame still burns bright deep within me, as well!  My star did not die off a long time ago and I am NO quitter, my friends.  I've been here for a very long time and I've BEEN here.  Just because you cannot see me and JUST because I don't have my grip tightly wrapped around your throat doesn't mean that I'm dead.  It doesn't mean that I'm still not a threat.  It doesn't mean that I've lost anything.  A shadow of what I used to be?  That doesn't even make sense!  I've always been that looming dark cloud, the monkey on your shoulder, the big bad wolf, and not just any shadow…  but THE shadow.  The boy, this Lion, has enough pride that would take TEN Mr. Oz's out from the dank pits of obscurity that he's always dwelled in.  It's very respectable, indeed, but we've all been witness to what happens when that pride isn't the fuel for his success, but the dagger that draws blood after every failure.  We've seen the fall of Raion Kido a couple of times.  We've seen this pride of his get in the way and trip him up several times.  Underestimating the likes of me is a mistake that's going to lead to chalking up another failure on that list of never could's for him.  Did he not get the memo?  Has he not seen the flyers?  Is he blind by his own self-admiration here?  I'm Doctor Louis D'Ville, my friends, and I am here to take my place back atop this UNIVERSE.  Oh, and I've had my fair share of failures, myself, BUT..  Nothing's ever slowed me down.  I'm coming full force into this event with the intent to remind everyone just what the good doctor is capable of.  And you know the best part?  It's not going to stop here.  So, those of you who are going to be missing out on the main event tomorrow night, fear not.  The good doctor won't be going anywhere and you will all have your own fair opportunity to get some office time.  Remember, my friends, as they've been forever and always will be…  The doctor's doors are always---

In that instant, the sidewall of the belly is ripped open and a giant hand reaches in and grabs Doc!  He's ripped out of the inside of the monster and held up to the delight of his team below.  The robot looks down at TK with Doc tightly in its grasp.

"Well?  Put him down stupid!  And keep kicking the wound til it's' nothing but mush, motherfucker!

The robot looks around distraught for a moment, like it didn't know what the heck to do, then quickly yet carefully places Doc down on the ground before taking a tail whip from the beast!  The T.E.A.M. stumbles to its side and almost goes down, but manages to keep its balance and fire back a shot to the beast's jaw!  The team realizes that they are in some serious danger, and should get the heck out of dodge so they don't get trampled in this fight.

Jenny makes a break for the forest nearby.  She hops against the trunk of a tree and scurries up to one of the branches.  Through her beady eyes, she watches the epic battle from a safe distance. 

“Fuck me for being confident, but this might be the best War Games I have been a part of. Fuck me for being confident, but why wouldn’t I be? Not only am I on the team with some great dudes, but I made some new furry friends in the process! Plus, I saw the majority of the East Coast! Not to mention that collective lump in-throats when they found out it was me that was a mystery entrant. They can say all they want to the contrary, but they are lying to you. Except Corey, because Corey is never wrong. Everything Corey says is fact, of course, and you all eat it up like a fat bitch with a coupon to Denny’s. The Golden Boy is basically Vinnie’s son, and the clouds open and the sun comes out whenever he opens that overbite. The TRUTH is, Corey is just a whiny child who whines with such conviction and a mediocre grasp of English vocabulary that you all believe it–but the truth is he lies more than the government. Has anyone ever called him on anything he spews? Has anyone ever done any research, or just take him completely at his word because after all its #CoreyIsGod. I’ve had about enough as I can stomach talking about him, but if you are interested in exactly WHAT happened, you can reach out to anyone at OCW HQ and they would be glad to tell you.

Smile face.

I am honestly surprised that people didn’t come at me harder. Surprised, and disappointed. I have been a pariah and easily the most hated person on this roster for YEARS and the only person who took the gloves off is Corey? And that’s only because I touched a nerve like a root canal. People! I am disappointed. You can do better, XWF. You’ve been torturing me for years, and now when the fruit is the ripest you decide to put it back on the shelf.

Lame.

You probably all thought that Jenny was just gonna go do Jenny things. She wasn’t gonna play well with others, she was gonna go off on some tangent and make Doc facepalm harder than he does watch a Jay Omega promo, but oh how sadly mistaken you all were. I am more focused than ever. This isn’t the Jenny you know, it's the Jenny you hate. Oh wait……..

My point exactly.

The Jenny Myst that had Mark Flynn in her crosshairs. The Jenny Myst who was screwed on Anarchy (that’s like being screwed in the parking lot of an actual program people actually watch) to a man who got lucky once at this very event last year and got lucky again because he spread his asshole for the right people. I guess being a “good guy” has its perks, doesn’t it Mark? Let me ask, while I am here, how does it feel jerking management off to make sure you don’t get obliterated at every turn? I bet it feels good for you. I feel bad for Vin, though. He already has to wake up next to Roxy, and I  bet handjobs from you feel like running sideways with your boner against a chain-link fence.

Calloused hands. Sign of a hard working man.

I see Big D is back! Is this really a replacement for Lexi? You go from one disappointment to another, and apparently he's a Big one! Great job Theo! You must REALLY be bored of those Mark Flynn handjobs. I am just glad you took Corey’s dick out of your mouth long enough to make the announcement. I was worried! I kinda feel bad for Sarah, and not just because of how she looks. Usually when there is a replacement in War Games, it’s someone worth announcing. This is the most underwhelming thing I’ve seen since I returned to see Dionysus holding the title I gifted Dolly. Loud sigh, eye roll so deep it hurts. Why are we the “best fed on the planet” with the worst champions? Why, the MOMENT I LEAVE, Isaiah King rips off my entire gimmick with the Kings Court thing when he spent the entire time I was here (kicking his ass at every turn, may I add), telling me how bad I was? Maybe, JUSSSSSSSST maybe, he realizes royalty when he sees it. I won’t even take it as a diss, I’ll take it as paying homage. You're welcome for being your inspiration.

But for real, Tiger Woods looks like shit. Must be popping pills again. Shame.

I will be coming into WAR GAMES 2023 as a member of this TEAM, and I will give it my all, best believe that. These three believed in me, and I refuse to let them down. I know that can’t be said with everyone in this little shindig, as yet again there are more teams working as solo units to get themselves over than as an actual team.

It feels like beating a dead horse because every team says the same thing every year, but it never fucking changes. Until someone does something about it, it will stay as predictable as a Raion Kido ‘promo’ (I use that term loosely).”

The T.E.A.M. continued it's battle against Godzilla as TK, Mad Dog, Sonny, and Jimmy all managed to hide in the rubble created when the robot destroyed the loading dock area of the site.  The water from the tidal wave began receding, back into the ocean creating a beach again.  The two behemoths followed the water line, as if the robot was trying to take the fight away from his little friends.  You can almost see the fight's reflection in TK's eyes as he watches his killer robot go nuts.

June 4th, 2023 The Red Trash Panda Jenny Myst, “MAD DOG” Mark Wright, your boy ‘Ol Thunder Knuckles, and the legendary King BoB aka Doctor Lewis D’Ville are coming into Tokyo with one mission. Victory and our victory has come online! With the help of our mech, forged with iron and sweat by Mad Dog himself, no fucking Kaiju stands a chance. It just killed Godzilla, that bitch ass lizard just got gutted like a fish just like we’re going to do at War Games. Sure, they say this War Games has more talent than ever, but they say that shit every year to boast their own egos. No ego here, nope, I could give a flying fuck if I advance. It’s about my team fucking  winning. Whether it be Mark Wright, Jenny, or Doc, we will overcome War Games. I will deliver as many goddamn Thunder Strikes as I can to insure it. I will fight until there is no more fucking fight left in me. They’re going to have to scrap my damn body from the canvas before I give up on this team. I might not have drafted them but they have shown me something that I haven’t seen in a long time. People actually working toward a common goal. Maybe, just maybe, BoB has lost its way and this is the lesson they need to learn, on their own, like I did. The selfish don’t succeed in War Games and that's what this team has taught me. I couldn’t imagine going into this without them. Jenny’s a goddamn mess, but on the 4th, I’ll bleed for her. King BoB and Mark Wright, we’re going to dine on our opponents. Shit, I've been frying them from the jump. All these fucking teams trying to show off proof of why they’re right and why they’re going to win. Sometimes having proof just makes you look like an asshole.

TK pulls out a picture and shows it to the camera.





TK chuckles to himself, thinking about the fact Corey is about to have an aneurysm in his brain, causing Binary to start running.

But I'm used to it. Nah, the proof will come Sunday Night in Tokyo when we pin shoulders to mats. Armbars, Backdrops, High-risk maneuvers, and most definitely Thunder Strikes. I could continue to verbally abuse our opponents but the time of talk has long passed fucking ended, while they’re all struggling to keep up. Now it’s time for action and my fucking team is ready for it. There isn’t a team tighter than this one and that’s why we won’t just win. We’re going to make it look goddamn easy.  What do you think about all this Mad Dog?

Mad Dog looks around seeing the amount of work everyone has put in.

“Dang on, man, I think you guys pretty much cover’d it.”





Just then, Godzilla let out a whiny, screeching squeal that made everyone within a ten mile radius cover their ears!  The entire team looks up to see the T.E.A.M. pulling on the beast's tail!  It pulls and pulls on it like a spring causing the beast to roar over and over in agony!  It turns to the team on the ground and opens its mouth….  It sucks in a bunch of air which causes a massive energy ball to build up in its mouth….

"Holy shit!  What the fuck is it doing?!"

Doc appears out of nowhere with the group.  The T.E.A.M.  keeps a hold of Godzilla's tail, then reaches up and grabs it around the head… but it's too late!  The beast fires a blast towards the team on the ground, decimating and burning everything in its path!  As it works its way up towards the team, Doc throws out his hands and meets the blast with a blast of his own!

"Get 'em, Docker!"

The blasts are a stalemate, and gain no ground either which way!  It was then, that the robot grabbed Godzilla around the neck, causing the blast to stop!  He pulls on the tail some more, twirling the beast around in a circle.  Around and around it goes until it releases…  Sending the radioactive beast flying back into the ocean in which it came.  If this is any sign as to what's to come, this team is going to fuck the world to pieces.

G00D-B01

Curious.

Ned and his lady… Walking into The Mecha Museum.

…Isaiah had made a habit of tailing Ned, every which way he went.

The master hunter stalks his prey at every turn.

Comes to understand his prey. The way he moves.

The way he thinks.

Even down to the way he breathes…

Isaiah tailed from a safe distance… So as not to alert his quarry…

…Ned and… Darcy, Isaiah believed her name was… Walked through the museum, glancing at the exhibits… The gargantuan model robots of days past. Kaye tugged uncomfortably at his suit. It didn’t take a hunter of King’s caliber to note that Kaye hated anything that wasn’t his combat attire.

Kaye was a warrior, first and foremost. He looked as uncomfortable in a suit-and-tie as a bear might in a pair of blue jeans…

…Still, despite his discomfort. Or, rather, maybe because his discomfort provided a distraction… King felt he was watching a truer, more real Ned.

…It was a fascinating exercise. There was a false Ned. One making casual in-jokes, putting his love at-ease…

But, every once in a while, *he* would come out.

The real Ned.

The one that beat King.

Scanning the placards of each robot.

In seconds, Kaye would skim documentation manuals… Examine schematics… He’d walk past a robot and visually would walk himself through entry and control procedures…

Then, realize Darcy was looking and ask her a question that she could look up on the placard… That it might seemed he was casually perusing. Capable of fun.

Kaye had beaten King once. It was humbling.

As a hunter, a pursuer… King enjoyed a sensation of control. Of power.

But, two sensations shake a hunter’s vision.

The prey becoming predator… As was the case with Mister Kaye…

And losing track of one’s quarry.

King had chased every lead he had for this… Kurrashu. Through Japanese’s insidious underbelly… Across various criminal channels. King had just about turned over rock and busted every skull that he thought would reveal Chae’s whereabouts…

Whoever has her? Is clearly leading King. Manipulating him.

Like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

…Speak of the devil, that moment, King’s phone buzzed.

…

King takes one more look toward Kaye…

Ned’s peering at his own phone… Disappointed. He explains something to his love… She doesn’t like it. He takes her by the hand.

…Then, leaves.

…Funny.

Isaiah cuts toward the exit, unseen.

***

Ezekiel had pulled the limo around in record time.

Isaiah quickly communicated their location.

The two drove in silence through Tokyo traffic. In the backseat, Isaiah sips at a water bottle.

…The hunt had worn both of their patience down to their very limits.

“...What’s the plan, man?” Ezekiel breaks the silence.

…Isaiah stares out the window in silence, taking another sip of water.

Ezekiel mean-mugs the steering wheel.

“The yakuza tell you to be at this bank… With no other directions?” Ezekiel shook his head. “I don’t like it. Don’t like it one bit.”

…

…

Ezekiel looks back at Isaiah. Almost as if the silence had gone on so long, he had forgotten King could speak.

…

Isaiah leans forward from the limo’s backseat.

Isaiah runs his hand over his face, frustrated at the cowardly tactics of his prey…

“Okay.” Ezekiel emits, frustrated. “They’re hiding. So, we bust more skulls until they crawl out to sunlight?”

“Only a foolish hunter strikes out of impatience.” Isaiah bites “The yakuza will willingly sacrifice many of its pawns to further drive us toward our end.”

…

KERUNCH! King crushes the bottle.

***

Ezekiel pulls the limo on the other side of the street.

“What now?” Ezekiel glances backwards.

Like clockwork, Isaiah’s phone chirps again.

“Wait for my knock… Then, head north three blocks.” Isaiah nods toward Ezekiel. “Watch your phone closely.”

Ezekiel nods back. Isaiah exits out the limo…

He heads for the trunk… Pops it open.

And retrieves an alumnium baseball bat.

King closes the trunk. And knocks on the rear-hood.

Without a moment’s delay, Ezekiel pulls away.

…King stalks around the side of the bank.

He hadn’t made a final decision yet. But, he was certain he hated Japan.

It was not his environment to thrive in.

When he walked by, the locals naturally stared.

Was it because he towered over the average resident?

Was it because he didn’t look like them?

Was it because he was walking down the street with a baseball bat in his right hand?

…Who could say?

He felt out of place. Constantly seen. Making an effective hunt impossible.

…If he wanted to take the upper-hand, he’d have to learn how to hide here…

…But how?

…Making his way through the crowded streets of Tokyo, he finally arrived at the rear of the bank…

He’d found a door.

Naturally, he tested the knob.

…

Locked.

His pocket chirped once more.

…Typically, repetition is designed to assuage fear. Clearly, this one is designed to keep a fact at the forefront of King’s mind.

Obey or Chae dies.

…In the distance, from this viewpoint, King can see… a large mecha in the parking lot… Quite similar to the ones he had observed Kaye observed at the museum.

Isaiah spun around!

And who did he discover? But an angry gremlin man…

Holding a wrench.

Mark Flynn.

…Flynn glanced down at the bat in King’s hand.

***

Snap! Like one might pluck an apple from its tree, King effortlessly snatched Flynn’s binoculars from his hands…

King raised the binoculars to his eyes…

He could see three teenagers… No, wait. Two teenagers and older-looking biker man.

The girl of the trio was… texting.

Isaiah tightened the view on the binoculars… Perhaps, he could make out her texting…

“What are *you* doing here, Flynn? And how does it involve… those three…” King said, trying to distract Flynn from taking his binoculars ba-

SWACK! Flynn snaps the binos out of King’s grip.

…Drat. Unfortunately, King’s usual tactics involving an amount of etiquette and class had no effect on this cretinous egomanic.

“Nederick and I are on a top-secret HERO mission. HEROES ONLY.” Flynn winks at King. “See? *I* can be mysterious, too! In fact, I’m the BEST at being mysterious.”

“Ah.” King says, itching his nose, disinterestedly. “And I suppose you and Ned, in your… *heroic* efforts, are collaborating with those stalwart adolescents?” As he speaks, he looks down toward his pocket… Which buzzes.

***

Flynn then spent minutes insisting that those teens in the parking lot were, in fact, secretly insidious.

…

“...Hmmm.” King said, realizing that not giving Mark immediate approval on his conspiracy theories was like pouring salt into an open wound for the goblin man.

Flynn irritatedly grunts, shoving the binoculars up to Isaiah. “Look for yourself! USE YOUR EYES! ANYONE WITH A SPARE BRAINCELL CAN SEE THERE’S SOMETHING OFF ABOUT THOSE INTEGRI-TEENS!”

Finally, the binoculars… King lifts them back to his eyes…

Again, the lass is rapidly texting… Behind her, her two cohorts casually stare straight ahead.

Not day-dreaming. Not disinterested… but laser-focused.

…There’s something off about them.

King proceeds to bat away several of Flynn’s conspiracy theories… Using information he’d picked up at the Mecha Museum…

…Flynn scratches his head, clearly ill-prepared for an encounter of someone with actual intellect. “...Okay… Fair answers. But, WHY are they called the Integri-TEENS… when Oliver Main is like 28 YEARS OLD?!?!”

…

Isaiah scratches his chin. “Okay, that is peculiar.”

…Isaiah takes one last look through the scopes…

The lass just finished texting.

…

Chirp. King’s phone chirps.

…He glances down.

His eyes widen.

There they are.

After weeks of hunting…

The hunter finally has his prey in his sights.

…It took every bit of will power not to strike now…

He reminded himself… A terrible hunter strikes the first instant his prey steps into view.

A skilled marksman does not hit difficult shots.

…Instead, he allows his prey to advance ever further out of his hiding place…

Convinced of its own safety…

Until it’s far too late for the impudent beast to retreat…

King stares at the teenagers…

Finally.

He knows his quarry.

***

After briefly teaching Flynn, a so-called hunter about snakes and idioms… Once more, King’s phone chirps.

Flynn was in the middle of, perhaps, actually learning something. Thus, King disappeared inside the rear of the bank….

He found himself in a thin hallway…

Likely, where the bank conducted its internal affairs… Rooms filled with computers… Ringing cell phones…

A lifetime of wage slavery and hopeless that King the hunter considered himself above.

Suddenly, stepping into the hallway…

King was faced with three men-in-suits wielding katanas…

They raised their blades toward him.

…King smiled.

“Three swords against one bat…?” King points his weapon menacingly at his foes. “An unfair fight… for you.”

…

Suddenly, the three sheathe their blades.

…King’s eyes widen.

…

From the three part ways… a mysterious… samurai luchador steps forth. His face masked, a blade at his waist.

…Isaiah sinks his stance low, prepared to strike. To end this fight quickly.

…

When the swordsman reaches his hand upwards…

And removes his mask.

…Crash Rodriguez.

…

“Ah.” Isaiah mutters in a moment of realization. “Kurasshu…” King shakes his head. “You were under my nose the whole time.” 

[yellow]“KURASSHU! KILL!” The yakuza barks from behind.

….Crash looks at King… King eyes Crash.

The two dip into combat stances.

…

Facing away from the yakuza…

Crash winks.

…

The two charge…

The hallway too thin to do anything but storm directly ahead…

Isaiah reels back his bat…

As Crash…

Bends at the knee!

King leaps up and onto Rodriguez’s shoulders.

Rodriguez twists himself backwards! Launching King towards the yakuza behind him!

KING SWINGS!

***

Moments Later, King and Rodriguez are dragging three, battered-unconcious yakuza into a janitor’s closet.

King is the first to break the silence between the two.

“I take it they have something… precious to you?” 

Rodriguez shakes his head somberly.

…

…

Crash chuckled. “Would’ve made WarGames a lot tougher… Both being one man down and explaining to the other two I’d killed our fourth.”

“...For the same reason, *I* refrained from killing you.” King chuckled.

…Suddenly, a commotion from the bank’s lobby!

Chaos! People marching! Gunfire! A grenade!

…

Crash and Isaiah eye each other.

“...Adds up.” Crash nods.

…

[…King lifts his bat.