"So, partner," Yamikaze said, adjusting his gear. "You heading straight back to your squadron for a meeting?"
"No," Tarako replied. "I want to gauge the atmosphere first. There's a chance the opposition is small enough that we won't even need to mobilize. It's better to see which way the wind is blowing."
"Got it. Let's hit up our respective contacts and compare notes later."
"Yeah. And keep your head down. Let's not do anything reckless."
"Copy that."
Tarako's first stop was a tavern known to be a haunt for Dyne and his crew.
"Yo, Dyne. Long time no see."
Dyne looked up, his face instantly souring. "Hah? You... you've got some nerve showing your face here, Tarako!"
Tarako raised an eyebrow. "What's with the hostility? You're acting like I just kicked your dog."
"Shut it and get lost! I don't associate with guys who help kidnap and torture women!"
I see... Tarako thought.
"If I've offended you, my bad," Tarako said with an exaggerated shrug. "I'll see myself out. Here—take this as an apology for the intrusion."
Tarako surreptitiously handed Dyne a small Message Cube. After leaving the tavern, he sent a quick ping to a private coordinates and headed to a small, secluded bar he often used as a safehouse. It wasn't long before Dyne arrived, with Ginrou shadowing him.
"Thanks for coming," Tarako said as they entered the private room. "Glad you brought Ginrou too."
"I wasn't about to come here alone and let you bushwhack me," Dyne growled.
"I have no intention of doing that, but Ginrou's welcome to listen. Sit."
Dyne crossed his arms. "Fine. Start talking. Why the hell did you call me to this hole in the wall?"
"Fair enough," Tarako said. "First, tell me: why do you hate me all of a sudden? What exactly have you heard about today's events?"
Dyne's eyes flared with anger. "Word is that members of your squadron spearheaded the kidnapping of Shana's friend, Rosaria. That you guys threatened to cut her tendons and blind her unless Shana made a public apology to every female player in GGO. And then, when Shana refused to negotiate and attacked, you guys actually went through with it and hurt her under the guise of 'the greater good.' Then Shana went berserk and wiped you all out. That about cover it?"
"And you've confirmed this?" Tarako asked.
"Damn right I did!" Dyne snapped. "As soon as I heard, we grabbed a few of your guys and squeezed them. One of them admitted it! He said, 'We took Rosaria hostage and Shana slaughtered us. We had no choice but to hurt her for the sake of our cause.' Isn't that right, Ginrou?"
"That's exactly what he said," Ginrou nodded. "I was right there."
"So, you admitted your guys did it. What's your excuse?" Dyne demanded.
Tarako leaned back. "I'm not making excuses for my members. They did what they did." Then, he leaned forward. "But did that guy say anything specific about Rosaria's injuries? About her eyes or her tendons?"
"Hah? No, he denied that part. Probably because he was too much of a coward to admit how sick he really is."
"I see..." Tarako said. "Dyne, listen to me. Today, I fought alongside Shana and Yamikaze. I helped slaughter my own squadron members."
Dyne froze. "Come again?"
"Tarako-san... are you serious?" Ginrou asked, his voice trembling.
"I've got a witness coming. I didn't think I could convince you on my own, so I asked them to meet us here."
"A witness? Who, Shana himself?" Dyne scoffed.
"Precisely," a voice said from the doorway. "And Ginrou, it's been a while."
Dyne spun around as the hooded figure stepped into the room and lowered his cowl.
"Yo," Shana said, giving a small wave.
"S-Shana! And Rosaria too!"
"Shana-san! It's been ages!" Ginrou shouted, his face lighting up.
"H-hello," Rosaria added with a polite nod.
Shana and Rosaria sat down next to Tarako, and for the next thirty minutes, they laid out the raw truth of the kidnapping and the subsequent skirmish.
"So that's how it was..." Dyne muttered, slamming a fist onto the table. "Damn those bastards and their fake rumors."
"Yeah. Sorry for making you worry," Shana said.
"No, no! You don't apologize, Shana! I'm the one who needs to apologize to Tarako... I doubted you without even hearing your side. I'm sorry, man."
Tarako waved it off. "Don't worry about it. It just shows how well the enemy mixed truth with lies. It was a nasty bit of psy-ops. It made me look like the mastermind, so I don't blame you for reacting that way. We're on the same side of this now, right Dyne?"
"Damn right," Dyne grinned. "We're allies to the end!"
Shana looked at them, appearing genuinely relieved. "I'm glad you guys are on our side. If we were enemies, my heart would have ached for at least a second before I put a bullet in your heads."
"Wait, so you were definitely going to shoot us?! No hesitation?!" Dyne barked.
"Shana-san, you're the best!" Ginrou cheered.
"Well, I'm just glad it didn't come to that," Shana smirked.
"Of course it didn't," Dyne said. "Unlike those other idiots, we've fought beside you. We've seen how Sinon looks at you. We know you aren't the kind of guy who would be the villain in some trashy rumor."
"Is that so...? Thanks, Dyne."
Dyne paused, looking a bit sheepish. "I'll admit, I wavered for a second. The voices against you are getting really loud, Shana. It's a bit intimidating."
"That many people hate me?"
"Yeah. Aside from us, the squadrons you can actually call 'allies' can be counted on one hand."
"I see."
"But," Dyne continued, gesturing to Ginrou, "this idiot here gave a massive speech during our meeting. He yelled, 'Have you all forgotten how Shana fought for us? You ungrateful bastards! A man who sacrifices himself for others can't be a villain!' That settled it. Our squadron decided right then and there: no neutrality. We're with Shana."
Shana looked at Ginrou, stunned. "Ginrou... why go that far for me?"
Ginrou puffed out his chest. "A man doesn't need a reason to respect another man!"
Dyne and Tarako burst out laughing, slapping Ginrou on the back. Shana gave a small bow.
"Sorry, Ginrou. I don't swing that way..."
"Wait! No! That's not what I meant!" Ginrou turned bright red.
"I know. Just kidding." Shana winked at him, then gave him a solid slap on the back. "I was actually moved by that. I was just hiding my embarrassment. I'm counting on you, Ginrou."
"Yes, sir!" Ginrou beamed.
"Shana," Tarako interrupted, his expression turning serious. "There's something bothering me about Rosaria-chan's injuries."
"What is it?"
"Rosaria, think back. How many people actually knew about what happened to your eyes and your tendons?"
Rosaria thought for a moment. "The guards seemed panicked when it happened. I don't think it was part of the plan. Only the two guards and the man who actually hurt me were there. No one else came up to that floor afterward."
"Exactly," Tarako said. "But Dyne, the rumors you heard... they mentioned the specific injuries, right?"
Dyne and Ginrou both nodded. "I heard it with my own ears," Dyne said. "The rumor in the streets is specifically that her tendons were cut and she was blinded."
"Which means," Tarako concluded, "the person spreading the rumors is the same person who hurt her."
"It's the only possibility," Shana muttered. "Rosaria, did you see his face?"
"I'm sorry. I was blindfolded, and he spoke in a very low whisper. I couldn't identify him."
"Damn. Well, it couldn't be helped. Dyne, Ginrou—give me every detail you have on these rumors."
They spent the next hour dissecting the misinformation.
"I see. So the narrative is that I 'abandoned' Rosaria," Shana mused.
"We didn't buy it, but plenty of others will," Dyne said. "The story being told is that they wanted a dialogue, but you refused to talk and just started shooting even though they had a hostage."
"Everyone's story is slightly different," Ginrou added, "but when you put the pieces together, the 'logic' of the lie holds up just enough to be convincing to outsiders."
"Exactly," Dyne said. "No one could confirm the torture happened, but no one could deny it either. They just say, 'Well, maybe it happened while I wasn't looking.'"
"And the part about the public apology," Tarako noted, "adds a layer of 'justice' to their cause. It makes it look like they were standing up for all female players."
Shana sighed. "It's a clever trap. Once a rumor spreads this far, the truth doesn't matter to the public anymore. They've already made up their minds."
"It's disgusting," Dyne spat. "Frustrating as hell."
"I don't mind being the bad guy," Shana said, his voice turning cold. "But I won't tolerate them touching my friends. If they want a war, I'll give them one. I'll keep breaking them until their spirits snap."
"And if people see the bond between you and your team during the fight, maybe they'll start to question the lies," Ginrou suggested hopefully.
"We'll take it one step at a time. For now, I'm staying in the shadows with M—he hasn't had his face plastered all over the news like I have," Shana said.
They agreed to keep in touch and support each other before parting ways.
Meanwhile, Yamikaze was doing his own scouting, drifting from bar to bar and listening to the chatter.
My name hasn't come up once, Yamikaze noted. It seems no one knows Tarako and I were involved in the actual fight. No one saw us clearly. Tarako's squadron being disbanded will cause a stir, but for now, I can move freely.
He checked off a list of high-profile players in his head. Garret and Pale Rider are confirmed enemies. Richie the Lion King too. Behemoth doesn't seem to care. David... he's a wildcard, but he hates Pitohui, so he might jump in just to spite her.
David was the leader of MMTM, a high-skill tactical squad. His beef with Pitohui was legendary among the veterans.
Almost all the PK squadrons are turning against Shana. Most of them have been humiliated by him at some point, so they're using the rumors as an excuse for revenge. Dyne is the only outlier.
As Yamikaze walked down a side street, a voice caught his attention.
"Dammit... I just got swept up in the moment. Thinking about what we did to that girl's eyes... it makes me sick..."
Yamikaze froze, pressing himself against a wall. He peered around the corner to see a lone player punching the side of a building, muttering to himself.
That voice... was he one of the guards?
"I recorded the whole thing," the player continued, "but it's in third-person mode, so my face is right there in the frame. If I post this to prove Shana is innocent, I'm ruined. I'll be the guy caught on camera torturing a girl. And then Shana kills me in two seconds flat... I'll be the laughingstock of GGO. Screw this. I'm logging out until this all blows over."
A recording?! Yamikaze's heart hammered. I have to stop him—no, I need his face first!
Yamikaze quickly snapped a high-res photo of the player. Just as he moved to call out to him, the man shimmered and vanished. He had logged out.
"Dammit! Too late," Yamikaze hissed. "But I got the photo. That's enough for today."
Yamikaze met up with Tarako shortly after.
"How'd it go, partner?"
"Dyne's in. He's with Shana all the way," Tarako said. "And I just officially disbanded my squadron. Now I just have to see who stays loyal for the rebuild."
"Nice. I did some scouting of my own."
"And?"
"Garret, Pale Rider, and Richie are definitely against us. No other confirmed allies yet. I'd say the server is about 50% neutral, 40% hostile, and 10% on our side."
"Tough numbers," Tarako grimaced.
"Maybe. But I found a golden ticket."
"Seriously? What?"
"I found one of the guys who was guarding Rosaria. He logged out before I could grab him, but he's got a video recording of the whole incident. He's scared to post it because it makes him look bad, and he said he's staying offline for a while."
"Are you kidding me? That's huge!"
"I got his picture. We can track him down. If we get that video, we flip the script on everyone."
"Hell yeah! Let's go tell Shana."
The two men, spirits lifted, headed back toward the skyscraper to deliver the news.
-------------------------------
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