Thunder cracked overhead with enough force to send a tremor through the concrete structure as rain hammered the exposed levels of the parking garage. Cold mid-autumn wind swept through the open sides, carrying with it the mingled scent of wet pavement, dirt, exhaust, and city smog, while Fenomeno slowly circled the hulking uma standing across from her.
Her tail lashed once behind her as deep violet eyes remained fixed on Yamino, her jaw clenched tightly while a bead of sweat traced down her cheek despite the chill in the air. Her chest still throbbed from the opening impact, and judging by the state of the van they had crashed into, there was no question that Yamino possessed frightening strength, perhaps more raw physical power than any uma Fenomeno had ever encountered during her years in the Twinkle Series.
Street-racing tactics had been only one part of what C.H.A.S.E. had drilled into Fenomeno and her fellow agents over the past several months. They had trained with firearms, studied arrest procedures, practiced close-quarters combat, and spent countless hours preparing themselves for the kind of violent resistance they might encounter once they began operating against the MRA.
Until tonight, most of that preparation had seemed more than adequate. The racers Fenomeno had arrested were largely amateurs, thrill seekers, or girls drawn into the scene by its fashion and reputation, and while some had fought back, none had given her any reason to doubt her training.
Yamino was different.
Fenomeno could see it in the way the larger uma carried herself, in the thick muscle pressing against the material of her motorcycle jumpsuit and the easy confidence behind every movement. Her shoulders, arms, thighs, and core were built with a density that had nothing to do with simply running fast, and every instinct Fenomeno possessed warned her that Yamino Breaker had spent just as much time learning how to hurt people as she had learning how to race.
Fenomeno exhaled sharply and raised her fists as she lowered into a guarded stance. "As an agent of C.H.A.S.E. operating alongside the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, I'm placing you under arrest," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Get on your knees, put your hands behind your back, and don't make this any harder than it already is."
Yamino rolled her shoulders before cracking her knuckles and taking another step forward. "God, if I had a yen for every time I heard that stupid line," she muttered, swinging her arms loosely before drawing them close to her body. "It's always the last damned thing they say before I cave their skulls in." A cruel smile pulled beneath her mask. "That's one thing I love about killing pigs. No matter how tough they act, they all squeal the same when they realize they're gonna die."
Her upper body began weaving from side to side with the loose rhythm of an experienced boxer as she studied Fenomeno. "But a Twinkle Series champion trading the turf for a pig pen?" Her smile widened. "That's a new one for me, so now I'm curious whether you'll squeal like the rest of them."
Yamino lunged. Fenomeno stepped forward and whipped a hook toward her head, but Yamino slipped underneath it with startling speed for someone her size, weaving inside the arc before burying a fist into Fenomeno's side. The shot landed clean against her liver, sending a bolt of agony through her torso that folded her forward before she could stop herself, and Yamino immediately followed with a crushing right hand to the face.
Knuckles slammed into Fenomeno's cheek with enough force to snap her head sideways. Blood sprayed through the rain as her vision dimmed around the edges, but when Yamino drove another straight toward her face, Fenomeno forced herself beneath it and rammed an elbow deep into the larger uma's abdomen.
Yamino choked as the air left her lungs, and Fenomeno followed by whipping the same elbow upward beneath her chin. The strike snapped Yamino's head back and sent a streak of blood into the air, forcing her several steps away before Fenomeno surged forward to capitalize.
Their fists began flying almost immediately.
Yamino ducked, slipped, and weaved around several punches while absorbing others against her shoulders and guard, then answered with heavy hooks that felt less like punches and more like being struck with a sledgehammer. Fenomeno returned everything she could, driving sharp combinations into Yamino's ribs, jaw, and torso, but the larger uma seemed built to absorb punishment. Every clean hit staggered her only slightly before she came forward again, grinning beneath the blood smeared across her mask.
Fenomeno pivoted and spun, swinging the back of her heel toward Yamino's head, but Yamino caught her leg beneath one arm before the kick could connect. Fenomeno barely had time to react before Yamino twisted her hips and hurled her bodily across the parking lane.
Fenomeno crashed into the rear of a parked car hard enough to buckle the steel inward and explode the back window. Glass scattered across the wet concrete as she dropped beside the ruined bumper, pain flashing through her ribs and shoulders.
"Get up," Yamino growled, gesturing impatiently as she stepped backward and gave Fenomeno room. "I ain't done with you yet, so get up!"
Fenomeno spat a mouthful of blood onto the concrete and glared at her through strands of her hair. Her hand settled among the shattered remains of the window beside her, and without taking her eyes off Yamino, she closed her fingers around a fistful of broken glass. She forced herself upright and hurled it.
Yamino cried out as the fragments scattered across her mask and face, instinctively bringing both hands upward, and Fenomeno rushed her before she could recover. She drove her shoulder into Yamino's center mass and carried them both into the front of another parked vehicle, where their combined weight crushed the hood downward and shattered the windshield beneath the impact.
Fenomeno seized Yamino by the collar of her jumpsuit and started hammering punches into her face, each blow jerking the larger uma's head sideways as blood smeared across her mask and Fenomeno's knuckles. Yet even beneath the punishment, Yamino's mouth slowly stretched into a bloody grin.
When Fenomeno drew her arm back for another strike, Yamino caught her fist in one enormous hand. Her fingers tightened.
Fenomeno cried out as pressure crushed painfully through her knuckles and wrist, but Yamino only laughed. "God, every last one of you hits like a bunch of goddamned pussies."
Before Fenomeno could wrench herself free, Yamino grabbed the front of her tactical vest with her other hand, hauled her forward, and smashed her face-first into the hood of the car.
The steel buckled beneath the impact. Yamino yanked her back and slammed her down again, deepening the dent as blood streaked across the metal. "You walk around acting tough because somebody handed you a badge," she snarled before dragging Fenomeno upright and driving her face into the hood once more. "Like that little piece of metal suddenly makes you powerful."
Another impact crumpled the hood beneath them as Fenomeno's legs nearly gave out.
"Like it makes you better than the rest of us," Yamino continued, hauling her upright again. "Like we're supposed to look at you and believe you're the people who are gonna save us."
She stopped this time and held Fenomeno by the vest, forcing her bloodied face upward until their eyes met. "And when we actually need you?" Yamino asked. "You're nowhere to be found."
Fenomeno glared back through blurred vision, but Yamino's grip only tightened.
"'I'm sorry, we can't help you.' 'I'm sorry, we did everything we could.' 'I'm sorry, the case went cold.'" Yamino spat the words with bitter contempt before jerking her head toward the restrained racers nearby. "Life taught me something, and it taught every one of those girls the same damned lesson. There ain't nobody out there looking out for us. The pigs protect the people who matter, and everybody else gets an apology when it's already too late. That's why the only good pig…"
Yamino released Fenomeno just long enough to twist her entire body into the next strike, every muscle tightening as she drove a vicious hook across her face.
"Is a dead pig!"
The punch snapped Fenomeno's head violently to the side and launched her off her feet, sending her crashing into the concrete with enough force to fracture the surface beneath her as rain continued pouring through the shattered silence around them.
****
"Meno!" Ace cried, her pale blue eyes widening at the sight of Fenomeno lying motionless on the ground, but before she could move toward her, instinct made her throw both arms up as a boot whipped toward the side of her head.
"Uh-uh, eyes over here, Ace-chan," Rekka said with a wide grin as she pulled the kick back and settled into position. "You don't have time to be worrying about your friend right now." Her expression sharpened into something far more dangerous. "Not unless you're planning on losing your head while you're at it."
Rekka charged before Ace could answer, coming at her with a barrage that was fierce, powerful, and almost deliberately chaotic. Her fists flew from awkward angles before suddenly giving way to kicks, spinning strikes, and leaping attacks that seemed to have no rhythm until Ace realized the lack of rhythm was the point. It was wild and erratic, but not unfamiliar.
After Japan's Great Dissolution of Delinquency tore the old gangs apart and forced countless schools back toward what they had originally been meant to be, the survivors scattered across the country and slipped into the shadows. Former gang members regrouped in small pockets, drifting toward the quieter and more rural parts of Japan where they could disappear more easily. Ace was still a child when the government began referring to them as "Strays," a name many of them eventually embraced as their own, and because G.A.R.O. and the law remained focused on the major cities, smaller towns soon became convenient hunting grounds for boys looking to rebuild what they had lost.
Growing up, Ace tangled with more than a few of them. They were boys who had no problem trading blows with her, and the more often she won, the more often they came back in groups. She was still in middle school when one of those fights nearly went too far, after she stepped in to protect several of her classmates and found herself cornered by almost twenty Strays. That was when two young men appeared.
The memory returned with startling clarity, two boys in black motorcycle jackets walking into the middle of the chaos and tearing through the entire group with a kind of ruthless precision Ace had never seen before. They dismantled the Strays almost effortlessly, and afterward they stayed around Shinhidaka long enough to drive out most of the remnants that had been causing trouble in the area.
They were known as the Amamiya Brothers, and over time, Ace grew close to both of them. They treated her like the little sister they had never had, looking out for her when she needed it and teaching her how to fight the way they did, not like a mindless delinquent throwing wild punches, but like someone who understood how to stay standing when things turned ugly. It was only years later, after Ace finally came to Tokyo, that she learned who the brothers truly were and just how much of their past they had never told her.
It had been years since Ace had last seen Hiroto and Masaki, but there was something in the way Rekka moved that reminded her of them.
When Rekka drove a punch toward her face, Ace surged forward instead of retreating and slammed an elbow into her chest. Rekka's features twisted as the air was knocked from her lungs, but when Ace followed with a straight, she recovered quickly enough to slip around the punch and leap upward. Her legs hooked around Ace's shoulders as she swung herself into position, straddling them just long enough to hammer two punches into Ace's face.
Ace flinched beneath the first two impacts and caught the third wrist before it could connect, but Rekka immediately spread her fingers and locked them through Ace's. Her other fist came forward at once, only for Ace to catch that wrist as well before wrenching her body sideways and throwing Rekka from her shoulders.
Rekka hit the concrete and instantly whipped one leg upward, the heel passing so close beneath Ace's chin that she felt the air move against her skin. Rekka rolled back onto her feet and threw another kick, but Ace blocked it with her forearm before pivoting into a spinning back kick of her own. Rekka crossed both arms over her chest just before the heel landed, absorbing most of the impact, yet the force still sent her skidding backward across the concrete. She rolled with the momentum and spun smoothly onto one knee before looking up with a delighted grin.
"Wow, I'm impressed," Rekka said, clapping her hands as she rose back to her feet. "Who would've thought Katsuragi Ace knew how to throw down with the best of us?" Her gaze narrowed with renewed interest. "You fight like a hoodlum. You spend much time around Toarushi?"
"Nope, just a simple country girl through and through," Ace replied, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet as she kept both fists raised, a crooked smirk tugging at her lips. "Though I've tangled with my fair share of Strays. Mostly stragglers from Suzuran, Front of Armament, you know, that sort of crowd."
"Oh?" Rekka raised an eyebrow before her grin widened again. "So, you've danced with the Strays too, huh? Guess that tracks. I heard those knuckleheads used to pick fights with umas just to see how tough they really were." She rolled one shoulder as though remembering better days. "Housen, Rindow, Kurotaki, all of them made for some damned good practice."
Rekka sighed dramatically and lifted both hands. "Too bad G.A.R.O. had to come along and ruin all the fun for the rest of us. You were probably still sucking on your thumb when it happened." Her smirk sharpened as something mischievous flashed in her eyes. "Still, I wouldn't mind trying my luck with Commander Sakura someday. Heard those Furin boys are tough as nails."
She dragged her tongue across her lips, the grin on her face turning completely shameless. "And after we're done beating each other bloody, I wouldn't exactly complain if he pinned me against a wall, grabbed me by the tail, and rut my brains out."
"Oh, God, ew!" Ace recoiled, her entire face twisting with disgust. "Ew, ew, ew! What the hell is wrong with you? That's disgusting!"
Rekka let out a slow breath, and the playful expression vanished so quickly that Ace barely registered the change before she lunged.
Ace's eyes widened as she realized, a heartbeat too late, that disgust had made her drop her guard. Rekka crashed into the opening with both fists already moving, hammering punches toward her head and torso while Ace scrambled to bring her arms back up. She blocked the first few strikes and fired back, forcing Rekka to slip sideways before spinning into a sharp side kick. Ace kicked forward at almost the same moment, both attacks missing by inches as they twisted past one another beneath the low concrete ceiling and immediately turned back into the exchange.
From there, the fight dissolved into a relentless blur of fists, boots, and bodies moving between rows of parked cars. Rain blew through the open sides of the parking level in sheets whenever the wind shifted, speckling the concrete. Rekka attacked with the same erratic rhythm as before, switching between punches and kicks without warning before suddenly launching herself into the air and whipping a spinning heel toward Ace's head. Ace leaned away from it, stepped back in, and answered with a hook that Rekka slipped beneath before both of them began trading at close range.
Some strikes cracked against raised forearms and shoulders while others landed clean, each impact forcing one of them backward only for the distance to close again almost immediately. A hard fist caught Ace across the mouth and sent her staggering sideways as blood sprayed from her lips, but she planted her foot and drove a knee into Rekka's stomach before the other uma could follow.
Rekka doubled forward with a strangled gasp, spit and blood spilling from her mouth, yet even after the punishment she had already taken in her fight with Barbarossa, including the swelling that had nearly closed one eye, there was no sign that she intended to slow down.
Rekka slipped around another kick from Ace and pivoted hard on one foot, whipping a roundhouse across with enough force to catch Ace flush in the face. Blood burst from Ace's nose as her head snapped sideways, and the impact sent her flying backward into the side of a parked car. The door buckled inward beneath her body and the window shattered around her, spraying glass across the concrete as she slumped against the mangled steel.
Rekka rushed in immediately with her knee raised, but Ace saw it coming just in time and jerked her head aside as the strike smashed into the car door beside her, crushing the metal even farther inward. Before Rekka could pull away, Ace grabbed fistfuls of her jacket and yanked her forward, slamming her face into the exposed edge of the doorframe. Blood splattered across the steel as Rekka stumbled backward in a daze, and Ace forced herself upright before spinning on one foot and driving a roundhouse into the side of her head.
Rekka's head snapped violently to the side as the blow knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing onto the concrete, where she skidded several feet before finally coming to a stop beneath the harsh fluorescent lights.
Throughout the entire exchange, the three restrained umas could do little more than stare from where they sat near one of the concrete support columns, their eyes wide and their earlier commentary completely forgotten as they watched the two umas tear into each other while rain continued blowing through the open sides of the parking structure.
****
Yaeno sprang backward as Barbarossa's heel carved through the space barely a breath from her face, the tricorn-wearing uma pressing forward with a style that was as fluid as it was relentless. Every twist of Barbarossa's hips flowed into another strike, every vault became a setup for a high kick, and every drop toward the floor threatened to turn into a sweeping heel aimed at taking Yaeno's legs out from under her. Yaeno absorbed the first few attacks against her forearms, stepped inside the next opening, and fired back with a rapid series of punches, but Barbarossa deflected each one with practiced ease before spinning away and sending another kick toward her head.
Yaeno slipped beneath it and stepped forward again, her hands moving faster now as she tried to break through Barbarossa's rhythm. Her fists cut through empty air as Barbarossa leaned, twisted, and shifted around each strike, but when the pirate queen finally committed to a punch of her own, Yaeno closed the distance and drove a knee hard into her stomach. Barbarossa folded slightly from the impact, and Yaeno followed immediately with another combination, forcing her to block high before snapping a kick into her thigh. As Barbarossa's balance faltered, Yaeno raised her right leg high and brought it down in a crushing axe kick.
Barbarossa sidestepped at the last possible moment, letting the heel smash harmlessly into the concrete before dropping low and sweeping Yaeno's legs out from under her. Yaeno's eyes widened as she hit the ground on her back, but before Barbarossa could capitalize, she twisted her hips and whipped a kick upward. Barbarossa crossed both arms over her body to absorb it, the impact forcing her several steps back even as the grin on her face sharpened and her body never stopped moving.
"I gotta say, lass, outta all the scallywags I've crossed steel and traded blows with over the years, ye might be the finest fighter of the lot," Barbarossa said, her eyes narrowing with genuine appreciation. "Yer grandfather taught ye damned well." Her grin widened as she tilted her head. "Shame ye spent all that talent runnin' the Classics and came away with so little treasure to show for it. Got yer tail handed to ye by that gray beast more than once, didn't ye? With skills like yours, ye could've been sittin' atop a mountain of doubloons in the MRA by now."
Yaeno curled her body and sprang back onto her feet in one smooth motion, settling immediately into her stance. "Once again, I have no idea what half of that was supposed to mean, but I understood enough." Her gaze narrowed. "My racing career may not have been as illustrious as some of my peers, but I would never throw in with the MRA. Not for fame, not for money, and certainly not because I was bitter about losing."
"Then ye be a fool," Barbarossa replied, still swaying lightly from side to side. "Ye've got a ship armed with cannons big enough to punch holes through a galleon, yet ye spent yer whole life afraid to sail beyond sight of the shore." She scoffed softly and rolled one shoulder. "Suppose that's the fate of some, though. They sink beneath the waves before they ever figure out what they were truly meant for, and before long, nobody remembers they were there at all."
Her expression sharpened as she looked Yaeno over. "That's the cruel part, lass. Ye and every other uma who spent her life runnin' in the shadow of the greats get swallowed whole by their legends. They'll remember Oguri Cap forever. The Gray Beast, the champion, the name every tavern from here to the ends of the damned earth will still be talkin' about long after we're dust."
Barbarossa's smile turned almost sympathetic. "But Yaeno Muteki? What do ye think they'll say over their ale and rum when yer name comes up? Not that ye were a champion or somebody who changed the world, but that ye were the girl who spent her career trapped beneath Oguri's shadow."
"Breaks me heart, that it does," Barbarossa said, tilting her head as though Yaeno's disappointment genuinely saddened her. "Then again, ye can blame the tides, the sea, the wind, or every damned bird circlin' overhead if it makes ye feel better. Fate's a fickle thing, lass, and crueler than any storm." Her smirk sharpened as she studied Yaeno's face. "Maybe ye were simply born in the wrong era."
Yaeno's expression went slack.
The words struck deeper than Barbarossa could have known, dragging something old and painful back to the surface before Yaeno had any chance to stop it. Her grandfather had once said the same thing, and hearing it now reopened every doubt she had spent years trying to bury. No matter how hard she had trained, how far she had run, or how much of herself she had poured into becoming better, there had always been someone ahead of her, someone stronger, faster, brighter, and more worthy of being remembered. The burden of that truth had followed her long after the races ended, settling across her shoulders like a weight she had never quite managed to put down.
Her lips trembled faintly as Barbarossa watched the reaction and let out a soft chuckle.
"Breaks me heart," she repeated, though the sympathy in her words were gone now. "But not every cannon needs to be pointed at the bow." Barbarossa suddenly launched herself forward, her grin widening as Yaeno's focus faltered. "Sometimes, lass, ye aim straight for the mast!"
Barbarossa surged forward with her stance lowered, her legs whipping toward Yaeno's face in a rapid succession of sweeping kicks that forced the karateka backward. Yaeno's silver eyes widened as she slipped away from the first strike, twisted past the second, and finally brought both forearms up to catch the third, but Barbarossa used the block as momentum rather than resistance. Planting both hands against the concrete, she kicked herself into a handstand and drove both boots squarely into Yaeno's chest.
The impact knocked the breath from Yaeno's lungs and sent her staggering backward, pain spreading through her ribs as she forced herself to stay upright. Her face tightened as she retaliated with a kick of her own, but Barbarossa dropped beneath it with one hand planted against the ground and swept her leg upward in a vicious arc. Her heel cracked across Yaeno's face and snapped her head sideways, then Barbarossa flowed directly into a cartwheel and brought the other leg around before Yaeno could recover. The second heel caught her even harder, sending a spray of blood across the concrete beneath the harsh halogen lights.
Barbarossa spun smoothly back onto her feet, caught Yaeno before she could regain her balance, and hurled her toward one of the parked cars. Yaeno twisted in midair and threw both legs forward, planting her boots against the door instead of allowing her body to slam into it. The metal buckled deeply beneath the impact, and Yaeno immediately used the crumpled door as leverage, bracing against Barbarossa's grip before kicking away and flipping backward over her.
She landed behind the pirate queen and turned with her momentum just as Barbarossa spun around. Yaeno's leg came around in a tight arc, the back of her ankle smashing across Barbarossa's face hard enough to snap her head sideways and send blood spraying from her mouth. Barbarossa nearly went down, but she caught herself with one hand and cartwheeled away from the follow-up, landing back on her feet before a sudden stab of pain in her injured leg made her stumble. She grimaced, steadied herself, and forced the familiar swaying rhythm back into her stance.
"Ye recover damned quick," Barbarossa said, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth as a pained smile spread across her face. "Seems that bow o' yers be forged from iron and steel after all."
Yaeno settled back into her stance, her breathing heavy but controlled. "You're right about one thing," she said, her gaze hardening as the overhead light caught the red pinwheel in her hair. "I'll never be the champion Oguri was, and I'll probably never be remembered among the great legends of the Classics. I've already made my peace with that." Her fists tightened as she steadied herself. "My victories taught me pride, and my losses taught me humility, but neither one gets to decide who I am or what I become after the track."
She drew a slow breath, refusing to let the ache in her body pull her posture down. "Every time I fell, I learned how to get back up stronger than before. My legs once carried me across the turf, but now my fists serve justice. My time in the Classics is over, and this is where I've chosen to stand now."
Yaeno's eyes narrowed with renewed conviction. "I may have spent my racing career beneath Oguri's shadow, but out here, I'll make sure the name Yaeno Muteki casts a shadow over the MRA just as long and just as dark."
For several seconds, Barbarossa simply stared at her, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and disbelief before the corners of her mouth began twitching. She tried to hold it back, failed spectacularly, and burst into laughter hard enough that she had to clutch her stomach.
"Oh, that was…" Barbarossa managed between laughs, wagging one finger toward Yaeno as she struggled to catch her breath. "Forgive me, lass, I swear I don't mean to jeer."
She finally drew in a long breath and exhaled, though the grin on her face remained broad. "It's just been many a tide since I heard someone deliver somethin' so gloriously hackneyed with that much damned conviction." Her smile sharpened as she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. "Yer an uma after me own heart, I'll give ye that."
Barbarossa lowered herself once more, the playful amusement in her eyes giving way to predatory focus as her weight shifted carefully around the injured leg. "Still, I reckon we've spent enough time waggin' our tongues. I've been sailin' these waters long enough, and it's about time I made port." Her grin widened beneath the brim of her tricorn. "As for ye, lass, I'm afraid it's time ye learned how it feels to drown."
"Then, how about we bring this to a close?" Yaeno said as she drove one fist forward and settled firmly back into her stance, every line of her posture tightening with renewed focus.
"Aye, let's," Barbarossa replied, easing back into the same loose, swaying rhythm as her weight shifted carefully from one leg to the other.
For a brief moment, neither uma moved. Their eyes remained locked across the concrete, Yaeno's boots grinding against the floor as she rooted herself in place while Barbarossa's motions grew quicker and more fluid by the second. Then, without another word, both of them exploded forward.
Barbarossa spun into the attack first, whipping one leg around before twisting through the air and sending her heel straight toward Yaeno's head. A sharp cry tore from Yaeno's throat as she committed to her own strike at the same instant, pivoting hard and driving a roundhouse toward Barbarossa with everything she had left.
****
Yamino's dark blue eyes snapped toward Rekka and Ace, who were still locked in combat near the edge of the parking level, and her gaze narrowed as she started toward them. She barely made it a step before a hand clamped around her ankle with enough force to stop her cold.
Her shrunken irises dropped.
Fenomeno was still on the ground, blood running down her face in thin streams, but her expression remained hard as she tightened her grip around Yamino's leg.
"Where do you think you're going?" Fenomeno growled through clenched teeth. "I said you were under arrest."
Yamino exhaled sharply, closing her eyes for a brief moment as though forcing herself to stay calm, but when they opened again, fury had twisted across her face. She raised her free leg and brought her boot down toward Fenomeno's head with enough force to crush it. Fenomeno rolled aside at the last second.
The stomp slammed into the concrete hard enough to fracture the surface beneath Yamino's heel, sending cracks spiderwebbing outward as the impact reverberated through the parking structure. Fenomeno twisted onto her knees and wrapped both hands around Yamino's ankle before yanking hard, pulling the larger uma off balance and sending her crashing flat onto her back.
Fenomeno moved with her.
She spun around Yamino's leg, trapped the ankle and knee between her own legs, and leaned backward into the lock. Yamino let out a sharp cry as the pressure increased, her face contorting before she started hammering punches into Fenomeno's thigh. The first blow made Fenomeno flinch, the second forced a cry from her throat, and by the third she had no choice but to release the hold.
Both umas rolled apart and forced themselves back to their feet, breathing hard. Yamino rose with a noticeable limp, glancing down at the injured leg before slowly putting weight on it again. Pain flashed across her face when she straightened it, but she buried the reaction almost immediately and looked back at Fenomeno.
"You're not like the rest of those Twinkle Series pussies," Yamino said, her gaze levelling on her. "Most of them run a little too hard and spend the next few months in a cast. They trip wrong and suddenly they're in a sling, or they push themselves too far and get written off with some bullshit condition that keeps them off the track for good."
She hooked a finger beneath the edge of her mask, lifted it just enough to spit a mixture of blood and saliva onto the concrete, then let it fall back into place. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's weakness. They get the lights, the sponsors, the praise, the whole damned red carpet, and half of them run around like they're made of glass."
Her smirk returned as she looked Fenomeno over. "But you? You can actually take a beating and still keep coming." Yamino rolled one shoulder despite the ache running through her body. "I'm almost impressed."
Fenomeno spat blood onto the floor and wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. "Justice doesn't fall, and it doesn't falter just because things get hard," she said, a bloody smirk pulling at her lips. "Most of all, it doesn't stay down."
She straightened as much as her battered body would allow, her gaze never leaving Yamino.
"When I took this badge, I took the same vow my father did, and my grandfather before him. I swore to serve the public, protect the innocent, and uphold the law, no matter what it cost me." Fenomeno tightened her fists. "That's a promise I intend to keep all the way to the end."
"Cute," Yamino scoffed as she leaned forward, one foot already sliding into position. "I'll make sure they carve that on your tombstone when they finally put you in the ground, assuming there's enough of you left to scrape off the floor when I'm done!"
She lunged before the words had fully left her mouth, her arms tucked tight and her weight driving forward. Fenomeno bared her teeth and surged to meet her, and the space between them disappeared beneath a brutal exchange of punches.
Yamino slipped and weaved through Fenomeno's straights and hooks, answering with heavy blows of her own as knuckles hammered into flesh with enough force to send shock through bone. Every impact rippled through both of them, lighting up nerves already raw from everything they had taken, but neither gave ground willingly. Yamino was hurting more than she wanted to admit, her body already battered from the fall and every movement sending fresh pain through her joints and ribs, yet whatever agony remained had long since been buried beneath adrenaline and rage.
Fenomeno was in no better shape, though she refused to show it. She kept pressing forward with punches, elbows, hooks, and straights, landing enough clean shots to send blood across the concrete while Yamino continued forcing her way inside. When Fenomeno committed to another straight, Yamino ducked beneath it, caught her across the shoulder and hip, and hurled her hard onto the floor.
Fenomeno hit the concrete on her back with a cry, but as Yamino dropped toward one knee to follow with another strike, she twisted up in one motion, wrapped both arms around Yamino's waist from behind, and heaved her off her feet. The larger uma went over backward in a suplex and crashed spine-first into the concrete, the impact knocking the air from her lungs as both of them tumbled apart and rolled across the floor.
They staggered back to their feet almost at the same time, breaths ragged and shoulders heaving, but Yamino recovered first and drove forward again. She tackled Fenomeno into the side of a parked car, their combined weight slamming into the steel hard enough to buckle the panel inward, then pinned her there and hammered one punch into her face, followed by a second.
On the third, Fenomeno slipped out from under the strike.
She sprang upward, twisted through the air, and drove a flying punch straight between Yamino's eyes. The hit snapped Yamino's head back and left her dazed for a fraction of a second, but before Fenomeno's boots could fully touch the ground, Yamino caught her around the body and dragged her forward into a crushing knee.
The blow folded Fenomeno around it, her violet eyes flying wide as the air tore from her lungs.
Yamino pulled her upright again and drove her forehead into the bridge of Fenomeno's nose. Bone gave beneath the impact, blood pouring instantly from both nostrils as Fenomeno reeled backward into the car. A raw cry tore from Yamino's throat as she ripped the police cap from Fenomeno's head, seized a fistful of her hair, and started punching.
Again, and again, her fist crashed into Fenomeno's face, each blow jerking her head sideways and sending fresh blood across the steel and concrete. Fenomeno tried to stay upright, tried to keep her arms moving, but the strength drained out of her with every hit until the resistance disappeared altogether and her body sagged back against the car.
Yamino drew her fist back one more time, then stopped. Fenomeno's eyes had gone unfocused, her body completely limp despite the slow, heavy rise and fall of her chest. Yamino stood there breathing hard for a moment, blood running down her own face as she stared at the unconscious agent in front of her, then released her grip. Fenomeno slid down the side of the car and collapsed onto the concrete.
****
Ace and Rekka continued tearing into each other across the parking level, the older uma alternating between punches and high kicks while Ace ducked, slipped, and answered with hooks, roundhouses, and leaping kicks of her own. Rekka matched her movement with the same acrobatic flair, twisting around strikes and springing off the concrete whenever Ace tried to close the distance. Their fists collided more than once, knuckles cracking against knuckles as blood sprayed from split lips and reopened cuts, while bruises spread across their skin like ugly blossoms beneath the harsh overhead lights. Sweat mingled with blood and rainwater blown in from the open sides of the structure, and every breath came harder as the damp, cold air burned in their lungs.
"I can't believe you're still keeping up with me. You're full of surprises, Ace-chan!" Rekka exclaimed as she spun and hooked an ankle toward Ace's face. Ace ducked beneath it and rushed inside, swinging an arm toward Rekka's head, but the older uma leaned back just far enough for Ace's knuckles to miss by an inch before retreating another step. "Most girls can't even last five minutes with me, and you're still standing. You, a washed-up Twinkle Series bum, and—"
A sudden stream of blood ran from Rekka's nostrils.
Her amber eyes widened slightly as she touched two fingers beneath her nose and pulled them away slick with red. Ace's smirk sharpened at the sight, but Rekka merely stared at the blood for a moment before sighing and wiping it across the front of her shirt.
"Well, I guess I've had my fun."
Ace's smirk slowly faded as she noticed the change in Rekka's demeanor. The playful energy had vanished from her posture, replaced by something colder.
"I want you to know something before this gets ugly," Rekka said, rolling her neck until it cracked. "When you finally wake up, wherever that ends up being, I really am sorry this is how it had to go. I don't like beating the hell out of kids, especially when they've got no business sticking their noses into things that can get them killed." Her gaze hardened. "But you're old enough to make your own choices now, and you made one tonight."
She paused, studying Ace more carefully.
"So, here's some advice from your big sister. Take off that vest, toss the badge in the trash, and walk away while you still can. Maybe then you'll live long enough to grow old, settle down, and give your parents something to smile about." Rekka's expression darkened. "Because if you keep doing this, sooner or later they're gonna be the ones putting you in the ground."
"Thanks, but I'm good," Ace scoffed, her covered ears twitching as her tail whipped once behind her. "Besides, we put our bodies, our hearts, and sometimes our whole damned careers on the line every time we stepped onto the track. This isn't all that different." Her fists tightened as she reset her stance. "I knew what I was signing up for."
Rekka's smirk returned, but this time there was nothing playful about it.
"Oh, kid, no," she said quietly. "No, you freakin' don't."
She lunged. Ace stepped into the attack with one fist already coming forward, but Rekka suddenly dropped low and slid across the concrete between Ace's spread legs. She came back onto her feet behind her in one smooth motion, and Ace barely had time to turn before Rekka caught her and drove a knee hard into the center of her back.
Ace's expression went slack as the air exploded from her lungs. Rekka seized the back of her head and slammed her face-first into the car beside them, driving her through the side window in a burst of shattered glass. Fragments sprayed across the seats and dashboard before Rekka dragged her back out and smashed the side of her head into the door. The metal folded inward beneath the impact, blood streaking across the metallic gray paint, and before Ace could recover, Rekka drove a knee into her head and crushed her against the same panel again, deepening the dent in the steel.
The ringing in Ace's ears grew louder as her vision began to swim, shapes and lights blurring together while numbness crept through her limbs. Rekka hauled her upright and released her just long enough for Ace to stumble forward, then sprang into the air, twisting through a full rotation before whipping the back of her ankle across Ace's face.
The blow snapped Ace's head violently to the side. Whatever strength remained in her legs vanished as she was hurled backward into one of the concrete support walls. The impact cracked the surface behind her, fractures spreading outward from where her body struck before she slid down and collapsed into a seated position, her head hanging forward as she went completely still.
The three restrained umas could only stare from where they sat nearby. The first looked horrified, her earlier excitement gone entirely, while the second watched with her mouth hanging slightly open in stunned silence. The third, however, wore a slow, malicious grin as she took in the sight of Ace motionless against the fractured concrete.
Rekka landed lightly and rolled one shoulder before letting out a long sigh. "Shit, now I'm gonna have every Katsuragi Ace fan in Tokyo on my ass." She shook her head and glanced toward the unconscious uma. "Oh, well."
****
A cry tore from Yaeno's throat with every punch she threw, her form remaining tight and disciplined even as exhaustion began to weigh on her limbs. Every block, kick, and step carried the precision drilled into her through years of training, and when her strikes found their mark, the force of them drove deep into Barbarossa's body.
The pirate answered with power of her own, ducking and weaving around Yaeno's counters before slipping into cartwheels and low spins, each kick coming faster and more viciously than the last. Yaeno could feel the punishment accumulating with every exchange, pain spreading through her ribs, shoulders, and legs while bruises and cuts marked her face and blood trickled from her lip and along the side of her head.
They continued trading at close range, catching punches against forearms, redirecting strikes, and answering every opening with something equally punishing. Yaeno stepped into one of Barbarossa's punches and knocked it aside with her arm before driving a fist into the pirate's chest. Barbarossa staggered, and Yaeno immediately slipped beneath her arm, chopped the edge of her hand into Barbarossa's throat, and followed with a roundhouse to the stomach that forced a strangled gasp from her.
Yaeno moved in to capitalize, but Barbarossa recovered faster than expected and kicked her squarely in the abdomen. The blow drove Yaeno backward as Barbarossa flipped into a handstand, one leg snapping upward toward her head. Yaeno leaned away just in time, the heel slicing through the air inches from her face, but Barbarossa was already flowing into the next attack before Yaeno could reset.
Staying low to the ground, Barbarossa swept one leg toward Yaeno's knee, and when Yaeno pulled clear, the pirate planted a hand against the concrete and whipped her other leg upward. Her heel slammed across Yaeno's face and sent blood scattering through the air before Barbarossa twisted through the momentum and struck again. The second kick caught Yaeno across the cheek even harder, sending her staggering backward into one of the parked cars, where she folded over the hood with a metallic clatter.
Yaeno spat blood onto the faded white paint, the dark red streak standing out sharply against the weathered surface.
Barbarossa never stopped moving.
"Need a breather, lass?" she asked, swaying lightly from side to side as her smirk sharpened. "Perhaps a wee rest beneath a palm tree, cold coconut in hand, bendy straw and one o' them tiny little umbrellas stickin' outta the top?" Her grin widened. "Ye be a fine fighter, I'll grant ye that, but there be whole oceans between yer skill and mine."
Yaeno slowly straightened and wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, forcing herself upright despite the ache running through her body.
"There be a mighty thin line between scrappin' in a dojo and fightin' for yer life in the streets," Barbarossa continued, her body still rocking with that loose, unpredictable rhythm. "Ye can memorize every clever trick in every book ever written, but without the scars to go with 'em, they're little more than pretty pictures rattlin' around in yer skull. When real danger comes callin' and death be starin' ye square in the face, the mind has a nasty habit of forgettin' what practice told it to do."
Her eyes narrowed as she looked Yaeno over.
"Ye've spent years breakin' boards and tradin' blows with students who know when to stop, and somewhere along the way, ye started mistakin' practice for the real thing." Barbarossa's grin faded into something colder as she rolled one shoulder. "Me, though?" She lifted her fists again, already in motion. "These cannons have seen more battles than ye could ever imagine, lass."
Yaeno shifted back into her stance, forcing her battered body to settle. "Keep talking, Barbarossa," she said as she drew in a deep breath and pushed it out slowly. "As long as I'm still standing, I'm not going to stop fighting."
The corner of Barbarossa's mouth curled upward, but the amusement in her expression darkened into something more dangerous. "Poor choice o' words, lass," she said as the rhythm of her stance quickened and her steps widened. "A very poor choice indeed."
She burst forward before Yaeno could answer.
Yaeno drove a straight punch toward her, but Barbarossa slipped back just beyond its reach and snapped a front kick into her abdomen. The impact sent Yaeno crashing backward against the hood of the parked car, but she used the metal beneath her for leverage and swung one leg toward Barbarossa's head. The pirate queen flipped backward, planted one hand against the concrete, and whipped her leg around in the same motion.
Her heel cracked across Yaeno's face and snapped her head violently to the side.
Blood sprayed from Yaeno's mouth as she stumbled, yet she forced her feet beneath her and dropped back into stance. A cut above her eyebrow had opened wider, blood running into her left eye until she was forced to squeeze it shut, but Barbarossa gave her no time to recover.
Another sweeping kick came from the side. Yaeno blocked it against both forearms, then caught the next spinning strike the same way, but the third attack changed level. Barbarossa dipped low and whipped her leg upward, the back of her heel catching Yaeno hard against the side of the head.
The impact spun Yaeno around and drove her back into one of the concrete walls lining the interior of the parking level. Her shoulders struck first, and she stumbled forward again as the world tilted around her.
Her vision swam, and Barbarossa saw it immediately. She lunged, launched herself into the air, and twisted through a violent spin before bringing her leg around with everything she had left. The kick slammed across Yaeno's face with enough force to snap her entire body sideways, and for a brief second, her expression went blank before her legs finally gave out beneath her.
Yaeno fell face-first onto the concrete.
Barbarossa landed on both feet, but the injured leg betrayed her almost immediately. She stumbled, caught herself, and grabbed at her thigh as she drew in several heavy breaths. Blood still marked the corner of her mouth, but the grin slowly returned as she looked down at the motionless Yaeno.
"Don't be too hard on yerself when ye wake, lass," Barbarossa said, straightening as much as her aching body allowed. "Wasn't yer cannons that failed ye, nor yer courage. Ye sailed straight into treacherous waters and took me broadside head-on, and there ain't many who can say the same."
She wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand and tilted her tricorn slightly. "Unfortunately for ye, these seas were just a little too rough." Her grin sharpened. "Better luck next voyage, lass."
"Um…" The restrained uma shifted awkwardly on the concrete as Barbarossa's ears twitched and angled toward her. "A little help here?" she asked, forcing an uneasy grin as she tugged against the restraints.
Barbarossa glanced over, rolled her eyes, and shook her head with a long, exasperated sigh.
****
Rekka cut through the last restraint and tossed the severed plastic zip tie aside. "Alright, that's the last one," she said as she rose and jerked her head toward the exit. "Now get outta here. Find somewhere to lay low for the night, maybe one of those love hotels or something. Take a shower, get some sleep, and wait until sunrise when all this heat starts dying down."
"Thank you, Rekka-san," one of the girls said as she rubbed the soreness from her wrists, then glanced toward Yamino, who stood nearby with her arms crossed. "Yamino-san, too. W-we won't forget this."
The three umas bowed quickly before turning and hurrying from the parking level, disappearing into the rain beyond the open side of the structure. They had barely vanished when hurried footsteps echoed up the ramp from the level below, and a fourth uma came running into view. She cast a confused glance toward the fleeing girls, then froze for half a heartbeat when she noticed Fenomeno slumped beside one of the battered cars and Katsuragi Ace motionless against the fractured concrete wall. Unease passed across her face, but whatever questions she had could wait, and she quickly darted after the others into the rain.
"Man," Rekka groaned as she leaned backward until several vertebrae popped along her spine. "Speaking of showers and a good night's sleep, I could really go for a hot bubble bath, a huge comfy bed, and something hard between my legs before I pass out." She turned toward Yamino with a shamelessly sultry grin.
Yamino groaned loud enough to make her irritation unmistakable. "For frick's sake, can you go five minutes without thinking about that?" she muttered before rolling her shoulders. "I'm with you on the shower and the bed, though. Shit, tonight's probably the longest night I've ever had, and once this adrenaline wears off, I'm gonna be out of commission for the next couple of months." Her expression soured as she thought back to the race. "No thanks to that little bird."
"Aye, she left her mark on me as well."
Both Rekka and Yamino turned as Barbarossa approached, the pirate queen's usual swagger hindered by the noticeable limp in her step. "Blast the little bird," she grumbled. "Left enough holes in me hull that I'll be needin' dry dock before I'm fit to sail proper again."
Rekka looked her up and down before letting out a low whistle. "Shit, understatement of the century. You look like somebody fed you through a wood chipper and changed their mind halfway through." Her ear twitched as she tilted her head. "You take care of little karate girl upstairs?"
"Scuttled her ship, aye," Barbarossa replied, brushing at the front of her coat. "When the lass wakes, she'll feel like she swallowed half the sea and spent the rest o' the night drownin' herself in rum." Her gaze wandered toward Fenomeno and went momentarily slack. "By Davy Jones' locker…" She then looked toward Ace and gave a low whistle of her own. "Seems these two caught the full broadside from yer cannons as well."
Barbarossa rolled one shoulder before continuing. "C.H.A.S.E. ain't unfamiliar waters to me. I've crossed courses with those scallywags once or twice overseas, in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok, and a few other ports besides." Her expression grew more serious. "They're usually well-drilled, disciplined, and damned efficient, which ain't much of a surprise considerin' who helped train 'em. Captain Wild Lightning herself."
"Wild Lightning?" Rekka's amber eyes widened before she barked out a laugh. "Wait, you mean one of the Godly Fifteen?" She tried to hold it in, failed, and doubled over laughing. "Oh, that's rich. That's actually freakin' hilarious. She's one of the people who helped build C.H.A.S.E., and now her own trainer's running around tangled up with the MRA?" Rekka gestured helplessly with one hand. "God, you couldn't write irony that stupid."
"You call it irony, I call it karma," Yamino spat. "Pigs like her don't give a damn why people do what they do or who gets hurt along the way. They call it 'doing their job' because that makes it easier to sleep at night, but all they really do is punish whoever they've decided deserves it." She cracked her knuckles as her mouth twisted beneath the mask. "If she were standing here right now…"
"Yeah, yeah, cool it, gori-chan," Rekka cut in, giving her a level stare as the humor drained from her face. "Believe it or not, we got lucky tonight. Meno, Ace, Yaeno, they're rookies at this kind of work. Give 'em enough time and they'll probably get scary good, but if Lightning had been the one who found us here…" She paused, letting the thought settle. "None of us would've stood a chance."
"Speak for yourself, I'd—"
"I hate to pour seawater on yer fire, lass, but she be right," Barbarossa interrupted, her expression losing its usual playfulness. "Wild Lightning's name carries far across the seven seas, and she earned every damned whisper attached to it. Many an uma has seen the inside of a cell because of her, and more than a few MRA hands have found themselves sleepin' beneath the dirt instead." She looked between Yamino and Rekka before shifting her weight off her injured leg. "In the shape we're in now, we'd either wake in the brig or never wake at all."
Yamino scoffed and looked away. "Well, if we're done sitting around jerking each other off…"
She started toward Fenomeno, her heavy boots echoing through the parking level beneath the rolling thunder and the constant drumming of rain outside. Without warning, she grabbed the unconscious agent by the hair and hauled her upward, then slipped an arm around her neck and locked it tight.
Rekka's eyes widened. "Yami, what the hell are you doing?"
Yamino glanced back over her shoulder as though the answer should have been obvious. "What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied. "I already told you how I feel about pigs."
Her gaze dropped to Fenomeno as her arm tightened around the unconscious girl's throat, drawing a faint choking sound from her. "The only good pig is a dead one."
Yamino's ears suddenly snapped toward the side.
She released Fenomeno just as a boot whipped toward her head, bringing both arms up in time to catch the strike. The impact drove her backward several steps, and when she steadied herself, Barbarossa was standing between her and Fenomeno with her stance lowered, eyes hard beneath the brim of her tricorn.
Yamino stared at her in disbelief before fury twisted across her face. "Did you seriously just…" She strode forward and raised a fist. "Alright, Blackbeard, you wanna take a swim? Then I'll—"
Rekka stepped beside Barbarossa.
Yamino stopped mid-swing, her fist still raised as she stared at both of them. "The hell is this?" she spat. "Move, unless you want me to clobber you too."
"Then do it," Rekka said.
Something in her words made Yamino hesitate. Rekka's amber eyes had hardened in a way they rarely did, all of her usual teasing gone.
"You know me, Yami. I'm usually down for whatever stupid, crazy shit you wanna do, and God knows it's not like me to get between you and a good time." Rekka glanced back toward Fenomeno before meeting Yamino's stare again. "But I'm not letting you kill them."
"You're seriously going to bat for them?" Yamino demanded, gesturing furiously toward Fenomeno and Ace. "Them? They're pigs. Nobody put a gun to their heads and forced them to take the badge. They chose this, which means they chose everything that comes with it."
Her eyes narrowed. "You let them walk away and they'll be right back on their feet hunting us before long. You want to send C.H.A.S.E. a message they'll actually understand? A couple of dead Twinkle Series champions will make it loud and clear."
"Aye, and then what?" Barbarossa asked, her expression remaining unusually grim. "Ye make 'em walk the plank and nail their bodies to the bow o' yer ship so every vessel in the harbor can see what ye've done?" She shook her head. "Ye think that'll spread fear, but it won't. It'll spread anger, rage, and a hunger for vengeance, and once that fire catches, there'll be no puttin' it out. Kill these girls and ye won't merely put a bounty on yer own head, lass. Ye'll paint one across every last one of ours."
"That's your problem," Yamino snapped, pointing between them. "You're too soft. All of you are, and that's why they keep coming back harder every damned time, because they know there's never any real price to pay."
Her voice rose as the rage she had been carrying all night came pouring through. "Why the hell do you think there were assholes out there trying to turn us into luncheon meat? Because they think they can hit us and we won't hit back the same way."
Her gaze dropped toward Fenomeno, fixing on the word C.H.A.S.E. emblazoned across the front of her vest. "And now we've got these clowns after us too, and I'm done playing nice. I'm not just gonna rip their damned heads off, I'm gonna string them up so every—"
"They're freakin' down, Yami!" Rekka's shout cut through the parking level hard enough to stop Yamino cold. Her expression went slack, and she unconsciously took a step backward as Rekka threw both hands outward in frustration.
"I've watched you do some seriously messed-up shit over the years. On the road, off the road, wherever the hell we ended up, you've always been crazy, and I never said a word about it." She gave a humorless little shake of her head. "Hell, half the time I got a kick out of watching because those were the only moments when you actually looked happy."
Rekka pointed toward Fenomeno and then toward Ace, her expression twisting as the anger gave way to something rawer. "But race or not, cop or not, we don't murder umas who're already down and out," she said "That's sick, even for you, and I ain't gonna stand here and let you go through with it."
Beside her, Barbarossa's hands slowly tightened into fists as she gave Yamino a hard stare. "Aye," she said, unusually quiet beneath the rolling thunder. "What she said."
For a long moment, the three umas simply stared one another down, their bodies still tense from the confrontation as thunder rolled through the enclosed parking level and sent a low tremor through the concrete beneath their feet. The rain continued pounding beyond the open sides of the structure, but eventually Yamino straightened, the tension easing from her shoulders as she let out a sharp scoff.
"Fine, you made your point," she muttered, turning toward the exit with a dismissive wave of one hand. "Do whatever the hell you want. I'm outta of here."
Rekka and Barbarossa both remained still for a beat, almost surprised that Yamino had backed down at all, before the stiffness gradually left their posture. Rekka wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes and managed to recover some of her usual grin as she looked toward Yamino's back. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm dying for a good night's sleep. You wanna split a room?"
"I'd rather choke on fugu and die than share a room with you, slut," Yamino replied without looking back
Rekka's grin fall into an offended scowl as she threw both hands outward. "Rude!"
Barbarossa folded her arms and glanced between them with an amused shake of her head. "Well, neither of ye is gettin' very far lookin' like that, not while these waters are still crawlin' with the armada and every damned patrol in Tokyo is out sniffin' for trouble."
She jerked her head toward the exit as both Rekka and Yamino looked back at her. "I've got a port nearby, a safehouse of sorts, with food, drink, a roof over yer heads, and enough supplies to keep us hidden till the tide settles." Rekka's eyes immediately began to brighten, which earned another weary look from Barbarossa before she added, "Aye, lass, there be a bath too, so ye can stop lookin' at me like ye just found buried treasure."
"That's all I needed to hear!" Rekka said, clapping her hands together before turning toward Yamino with renewed enthusiasm. "Come on, I want out of this place before another squad comes storming in."
Yamino finally stopped and turned around, looking between them with disbelief. "You're seriously gonna trust her after she tried to cream your tail earlier tonight?"
"Ease yerself, lass," Barbarossa replied, her tail flicking behind her as she started toward the exit. "What happens at sea stays at sea, and I don't drag every grudge or blood debt back to shore with me. Besides, rum always tastes better when there's company around to share it with."
Yamino scoffed and reluctantly fell in behind them. "Yeah, we're a long, long way from being friends."
Rekka hurried after Barbarossa with a grin already returning to her face. "If you've got Bacardi in that safehouse..."
Barbarossa glanced over her shoulder, clearly pleased with herself. "All the bloody flavors, lass, so pick yer poison."
Rekka's grin widened at once. "All is forgiven!"
Yamino groaned under her breath as the three of them finally stepped out into the rain and disappeared into the night.
****
A stone's throw from Umayamichi Park, rain hammered against the roof of the mobile command center mounted behind a white semi, the downpour running in sheets along its black steel walls and washing over the C.H.A.S.E. emblem painted across the side. Officers in full tactical gear surrounded it in a tight perimeter, water tapping against their helmets, soaking into their vests, and glistening along the carbon finish of their firearms as they watched every approach with weapons ready.
Word had already spread among what remained of the SAT units about O.R.O.C.H.I. and the number of officers the MRA's elite guard had wiped out, leaving everyone on edge as first responders remained scattered throughout Shibuya in an increasingly desperate attempt to contain the chaos. Police personnel had been killed, vehicles reduced to burning wreckage, buildings torn apart, and entire streets transformed into battlegrounds, creating a level of turmoil Japan had not experienced since the lawlessness and bloodshed of the Great Japanese Dissolution of Delinquency.
For the civilians sheltering nearby, as well as the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and medical personnel still working through the storm, there was little they could do beyond carrying on and wondering what would happen when the sun finally rose over Tokyo. By morning, the scale of the disaster would be impossible to conceal, and Governor Omura would find himself facing the scrutiny of a lifetime as every failure, every miscalculation, and every unanswered question came crashing down around his administration faster than any speechwriter could manufacture excuses for them.
Inside the command center, the steady hum of the air-conditioning filled the enclosed compartment while an uma sat before the primary workstation, surrounded by the muted glow of nine computer monitors mounted across the wall in front of her. Each screen carried something different, ranging from live tactical feeds and body-camera footage to location pings, biometric data, police communications, and maps showing the positions of every responding unit still active in the district.
She reached into a bowl beside the keyboard, grabbed a handful of roasted almonds, and tossed them into her mouth, chewing them between jagged, shark-like teeth while her golden eyes moved rapidly from one display to the next. The warm amber lighting caught against her spiky, tousled black hair and flashed across the silver studs piercing her left eyebrow as her fingers danced across the keyboard, every rapid clack falling into rhythm with the streams of green code racing down one of the monitors.
The operation had been a disaster almost from the moment it began, largely because no one had anticipated that the MRA would retaliate with this kind of overwhelming violence. Captain Lightning had not predicted it, Detective Harlow had not predicted it, and neither had Shakur despite years of data that had remained remarkably consistent. There had been occasional anomalies when the MRA struck back with disproportionate force, but those incidents usually involved Diamond-level racers, enormous wagers, or operations where enough money, reputation, and influence were on the line to make such retaliation worthwhile.
The Shibuya Stakes, however, had only been Sapphire Grade, barely pocket change by MRA standards, and yet they had deployed enough firepower to cripple a significant portion of Tokyo P.D. while turning half the district into a war zone. Shakur's jaw tightened as she studied the information moving across her screens, because no matter how many times she compared the numbers, the conclusion remained the same. The response did not fit the value of the race, which meant there were variables operating beneath the surface that neither she nor C.H.A.S.E. had accounted for, and until she identified them, none of the data was going to make sense.
A green phone icon suddenly appeared on one of the monitors, drawing a slight raise of her eyebrow before she clicked it open. "Shakur here, what's the sitch?"
Katsuragi Ace's profile expanded across the center screen, but instead of an immediate answer, Shakur heard several seconds of heavy, uneven breathing followed by a weak cough that instantly wiped the casualness from her expression.
"S-Shakur…"
"Ace-senpai?" Shakur straightened as her fingers began moving across the keyboard, immediately tracing the call and triangulating its location. "Ace-senpai, what's wrong? Talk to me."
"Meno… Yaeno…" Ace's voice came through faint and strained, every word sounding like an effort. "They're down. I'm…"
"Hold on, Ace-senpai, I'm pulling all three of you up now," Shakur said, forcing her voice to stay steady as another window opened across the monitors.
The biometric feeds for Ace, Fenomeno, and Yaeno Muteki appeared at once, blue electrocardiograph lines running across the screen while warning indicators flashed red around all three profiles. Shakur's golden eyes widened as she zoomed in, digital outlines of their bodies filling with injury markers while diagnostic estimates streamed down the side of the display, identifying possible internal bleeding, fractures, severe contusions, concussions, and several other injuries serious enough to make her stomach tighten.
"Ace-senpai, what the hell happened to you?" Shakur asked, panic beginning to push through the control she was trying to maintain.
"Send… help…"
The connection cut out before Ace could say anything more, and Shakur immediately leaned toward the microphone while hammering the reconnect command. "Ace-senpai? Ace-senpai, come in!" When the line remained silent, she shot to her feet so quickly that the chair rolled backward and struck the wall behind her.
"Ace-senpai!"
****
The jagged teeth of the zip tie ratcheted tighter around the wrists of the uma lying face-down on the rain-slick pavement, and she let out a quiet sob as thunder cracked across the sky overhead. Lightning clawed through the clouds in brilliant white streaks, illuminating the street in brief flashes while the taller uma beside her rose to her feet, rainwater dripping from the tiny white top hat pinned neatly into her hair. Mr. C.B. rested one hand against her hip and surveyed the half-dozen racers already in custody, some seated against the storefronts with their heads lowered while others were still being secured by nearby officers. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she took in the scene.
"Ow, hey!"
C.B.'s cyan eyes shifted toward the voice, landing on her fellow C.H.A.S.E. agent. Bamboo Memory's brown hair was plastered against her head by the rain, a bruise had begun to darken one cheek, and an elongated steel baton nearly the length of a shinai rested in her right hand as she dragged another uma forward by the back of her collar, the girl's arms already restrained behind her.
"She got you, didn't she?" C.B. asked with an amused chuckle. "Listening still isn't your strongest suit, huh, Bamboo-chan?"
"Bah!" Bamboo groaned as she shoved the girl against a nearby lamppost.
"Argh! You miserable piece of—" the girl snapped before cutting herself off long enough to spit at Bamboo's boot. "I can't believe I used to look up to you. I'm throwing out every piece of merch I own the second I get home."
"Yeah, yeah, make whatever threats you want," Bamboo replied with a hard glare. "I couldn't care less, and honestly, I don't want someone like you looking up to me anyway." She rested the baton against her shoulder and looked down at her. "Rules and laws exist for a reason. You knew what you were doing was wrong, and you still chose to do it, so don't start blaming everybody else now that the consequences finally caught up with you. What I can't stand is someone who screws up and then acts like it's everybody else's fault."
The girl glared at her, but Bamboo only narrowed her eyes further. "Dad always said a real man oughta learn how to wipe his own ass, and right now you're about to learn what that means the hard way."
The racer scoffed and turned her face away as Bamboo looked back toward C.B., then toward the rest of the detainees scattered around them. "Not bad, C.B.-senpai," she said, a grin beginning to pull at her face. "I saw that drift back there, and your form was amazing."
"I've had a few extra lessons with your trainer, Bamboo-chan," C.B. replied, her ears twitching beneath the rain. "Honestly, I'm still surprised by how quickly he managed to adapt from turf to asphalt. I suppose there's a reason people call him the Wizard of Tracen."
"Yeah, Trainer-san can do just about anything once he puts his mind to it, and that's something I've definitely picked up from—"
Both Bamboo and C.B. froze when Shakur's voice burst through their comms, loud enough and frantic enough to wipe the humor from their faces immediately.
"C.B.-senpai, Bamboo-senpai, I need you both right now!"
"Whoa, whoa, Shakur, slow down," Bamboo said as she pressed a hand to the communicator at her ear. "What happened, and what's the emergency?"
"It's Ace-senpai, and Meno and Yaeno are with her," Shakur replied, the rapid clatter of plastic keys audible behind her voice. "They're hurt, senpai, and I mean really hurt. Their vitals are unstable, and I'm already sending backup to their location."
Bamboo and C.B. exchanged a look, both of their expressions tightening at once.
"I've pinged their position, and you're the closest unit I have right now," Shakur continued. "I've also rerouted emergency personnel to them, Code Three, so they should be moving as fast as they can."
"Send us their location, Shakur-chan, and we'll get there on the double," C.B. replied, all trace of amusement gone from her face. "Also send a transport and more personnel to our position because we've got detainees that need processing, and make sure Lightning-taichō gets word immediately."
"Wilco," Shakur answered.
A sharp beep sounded from both of their smartwatches as the location appeared on-screen. C.B. and Bamboo looked at one another and nodded without another word, and Bamboo collapsed the baton with a practiced flick before sliding it back into its holster. A moment later, both umas launched themselves down the rain-slick street, their footsteps hammering against the pavement as they disappeared into the storm.
****
The heart-rate indicators for all three umas were beginning to slow, the warning markers pulsing more urgently as new alerts populated across the monitors. Shakur swallowed hard and gripped the edge of the desk, forcing herself to keep breathing while she watched the numbers change.
"Come on, Ace-senpai, stay with me," she murmured, her voice tightening as her gaze shifted between all three profiles. "Meno, Yaeno, you two hold on too, because help's already moving and you just need to stay with us a little longer."