About twenty minutes have passed since he was put into custody. Mr. Dolph, despite already realized that his own son betrayed him, was still in a heavy shock. He couldn't believe why did he do such a thing to his father! The cell that he was imprisoned in wasn't yet his definitive accommodation. But it was dark enough to make him feel like he had been there forever. With nearly a million thoughts, and explanations running through his dazed mind, the hopeless Candy-Man felt as though he wasn't alone. He sensed faint steps that were getting closer slowly. Could that be his son? Could he come to rescue him?! But at the moment they stopped, Mr. Dolph heard something like a pointed gun. Once he raised his head to see, he didn't find his son. He didn't find anyone he recognized. His eyes saw a mysterious cloaked person with a dark skull mask. "W—what...what are you?!" Mr. Dolph hesitantly asked. The mysterious cloaked man pushed his hands through the metallic strands. He pulled the trigger as he said "It's. Show. Time.." ~BANG! The morning following the Homecoming dance, the Maplewood Highschool was closed for a week due to the incident that occurred during the dance. All classes were canceled, and the campus was full of police officers instead of students or faculty members. Most of the Southeren students were sent to interrogation, while most of the Northerens were sent to the emergency room. Eugene was one of those at the hospital, but he wasn't hurt. He was sleeping in a chair next to a hospital bed that Julia was in. She wasn't apparently conscious, and there were two catheters attached to both arms. The oximeter that was beeping woke him up. "Huh..!" he opened his eyes. "She's still asleep.." Eugene rubbed his eyes, and then got up to hit the washroom. As he was splashing his face with cold water, Eugene remembered how did the previous night had dramatically ended. Back when Chico was about to hurt Julia and Kym. He said something about Julia being originally from the Southside. . . "It's such a shame, but it's ironic.." Chico said. "How someone like you who belong with us become a Northie bitch!" . . Flashback were still coming back to Eugene. How Chico ended up tossing Julia to the side so hard that she lost consciousness. But then, Jaden jumped behind him and punched him fast. That hit was capable of knocking him down until Principal Cory arrived. The principal brought with him some officers whom thanks to, that nightmare was over. Eugene went back to see Julia. When he got closer to her face, he notice that she started to wake up. "Ehmmm.." she moaned as she opened her eyes. She gazed at Eugene who was looking directly at her face in relief. "Julia! You're up!" he said happily. "Ehh—— Eu—" she tried to speak. "Yeah, it's Eugene!" he said. "Don't tire yourself! Do you feel any pain?" Julia wrestled with her agony, and tried to adjust herself in bed. "Where am I?.." she mumbled. "We're in the hospital. You had a mild concussion" Eugene replied. "Kym and Blake are here as well, but I don't think they're awake yet.." "Does..my dad.. know?" she managed to say. "Yes, he was here all last night! He was worried sick, though.. but he went to the Sheriff's Department with Jaden." "Okay.." she muttered. The nurse entered the room few seconds later and checked Julia's vitals and administrate her medications. Eugene stepped away, and stood near the window. ——— 'She can't be trusted for now, so keep your eyes over her'— huh!, Eugene wondered about what Jaden had told him. What're you thinking, Mado?.. The Sheriff's department was crowding with officers when Jaden arrived. The crime scene, which in this case was the department's cell, was horrifying. The dead body of Mr. Dolph had already vanished, leaving behind his punched-in mask. As he was walking around, and looking for any useful hidden clue, Jaden saw both the Sheriff and Mr. Park. "All the cameras were still working when it happened." Sheriff. Scott said. "And it was the same person who murdered Derek!" Mr. Park replied in concern. "I'm afraid so." said the Sheriff. "According to his son's description, that is.." When they walked by him, Jaden noticed that the Sheriff was holding something that could have belonged to the Candy-Man. So he decided to join them. "Ohh, hello— sir! I came to ask about what could've been left out of the Candy-Man before the incident.." he hesitated. "And why would you want that?!" Mr. Park intervened. "These are crime scene evidence." Sheriff Scott held the small transparent sack with his right hand. "We can't just let it get contaminated before the investigations are over." "But sir, I'm a reporter at the school newspaper!" Jaden tried to persuade him. "The Candy-Man incident is obviously related to the fight that occured at the dance! Besides, the Candy-Man has been also seen on school grounds at that same night. So, the students are terrified to think about going back to classes if some things didn't get cleared up." "Hmmm.." the Sheriff stroked his chin. "You only need to see them to finish your report, isn't that right?" "Yes, I'll only need to look." Jaden replied. The Sheriff accepted, and permitted him to take a look. When Jaden opened the sack, he found few things that didn't have any value. Most of what was there were some necessities. There's nothing here that could be beneficial, he thought to himself while trying to keep up the thorough act. But as he was looking at every item in front of him, Jaden noticed something else. "...What is that—?" Jaden picked up an old small key labeling tag that was written on it using a marker. 'T.L. Spensen, Mapplewood High Staff', he was surprised. How did he have a school locker key?! "Found anything interesting?" Mr. Park asked. "Could the Candy-Man been secretly working at school?" Jaden asked Mr. Park who didn't seem delighted hearing that question. "Okay, that's enough, kid!" Mr. Park pushed Jaden away, and signaled the officers to lead him out. "Huh?! What?!" he was confused as the two officers carried him out of the department. After he got shamefully kicked out of the building, Jaden stood motionless for few seconds. His stream of thought had finally reached a conclusion. "..I guess, I'll need more hands on deck for this one.." he whispered to himself. During that time at El Vatos villa on the Southside, Chico returned home after his supposed talk with the principal. "Yo, Chico, how did it go?" Frankie and the rest of the his gang were worried sick. "Nothing happened, Frank." Chico replied with a smug. "Wait!" one of Chico's gang said. "Why is there blood on your hands?!" "There's blood on your coat too!" another one pointed. "...What is all this—?" Frankie asked. Chico smirked, "It's all right now.." "How's that?! Look how drenched in blood your whole body is!" he said. "Chico, what happened with the principal?.." "Where's Carmen?" Chico asked, completely ignoring his question. "Both Petra and Carmen are in their rooms—" one of his gang answered. "I ONLY ASKED WHERE CARMEN IS!!" Chico yelled. "I DIDN'T MENTION ANY PETRA!!" Chico's shouting dropped the entire room quiet. He then, walked towards Carmen's room. "Chico, please don't go hard on her. She's still———!" Frankie tried to tell him, but Chico threw his knife against him. ~Thwip! "Geuahh!" Frankie agonized from the hit, and blood started to come out from his right shoulder. The rest of the Sato Vatos gathered to aid injured Frankie, and Chico continued. He open the door and entered immediately without knocking. Carmen who was sitting on her bed startled. "Huh?!" she said. "Baby, what are you doing here?!" "I love it when you call me baby," Chico said as he got closer and sat next to her. "I love it when you wear this night gown, but I really love what's underneath that gown.." Chico bit Carmen's ear as she pushed him away. But determined, Chico didn't back down. He held her arms tightly and pushed her across the bed. "Chico, no! Please!" she tried to overcome him, but for some reason, he was way too powerful. Chico removed his clothes and threw them on the ground. "Oh Calente— Frio! It's time to taste the cherry!" Chico's hands managed to go under Carmen's night gown. "MY TREAT!!" The others right outside the room were shocked, ashamed, and heartbroken. They were able to almost hear everything, most notably, Carmen's screaming. "STOP, CHICO NOOO!!" When the sun was about to set, Eugene who still was with Julia at the hospital, wanted to excuse himself and head home. "Okay, I guess this was fun actually! Thank you for taking care of me." Julia said. "Don't mention it!" Eugene got flustered. "We're friends after all..." "..." Julia looked the other way with widened eyes. Eugene was about to rip his heart out of regret, but then Julia said "Well, since we're friends, I need your help walking me to the rest room." "Eh, sure!" Eugene got up immediately. He held her soft delicate arm, and supported her as she walked steadily. After getting near the door, Eugene halted. "That's the farthest I can reach." he said. "Ohho, I thought you'd help me all the way through!" Julia teased him. "Stop being crazy!" Eugene laughed a little. "Can you handle the rest?" "I think so.." she stood up straight and went inside. "Okay, you can leave now! See ya!" Eugene stood by the door as it was closed. He thought about heading home already, but he hesitated. Julia is a really nice girl, he thought. The way Mado made me suspicious of her was bad! . . 'The only person who knew about our plan was Julia... Nobody else could have informed Death Gun..' . . Yeah, well—— I guess Mado was wrong, and I feel guilty now!, Eugene gazed at the bathroom door. The moment she comes out, I have to appologize.. Eugene sat by the door waiting for Julia to come out. "She sure is taking her time.." he sighed. He looked at the sky through the hallway window as it was almost getting dark. Do girls really take this long in a bathroom?, he thought and started to get a bad feeling about this. Eugene got up, preparing to open the door. This is because Julia's life might be in danger, and not to violate the Azerrak Almanac.. The light-brown haired boy pushed the door open. The moment he gazed forward, he saw Julia standing in front of him— completely terrified. And she wasn't in there alone. Black Cloak, black mask!, he thought. "Death Gun!" he said as he wanted to call for help. "Better be quiet.." Death Gun said. "We're in a middle of a discussion here.." Eugene felt a gun was pressing on his head from behind. Dammit, he got me!, he was fully stuck. "Now, now, Julia.." Death Gun continued. "Since it's been a while now since we're working together, my patience is getting less and less tolerable.." "Working together?!" Eugene exclaimed. "Not what—" she tried to say. "Yes, we're working together!" Death Gun replied. "That's how both our dreams will come true.." "..That's not true..." Julia mumbled. "Well then," he glared with his yellow glowing eyes. "It's time for a new sinner to face justice! Time to choose, hehehe!" "B—but it's been only a day!" she said. "What?!" Eugene said. "What does that mean?! You're really going along with this?!" "Are you, Julia?" Death Gun taunted her. "I— I can't handle this anymore.." she fell to her knees. "Are you sure about this?" Death Gun's tone got more monstrous. His gun pressed harder on Eugene's head. "You scum!" Eugene insulted him. "I can just blow his head right here and now! It's your call, Julia..." Death Gun uttered. Julia gasped, and said "I have someone for you!" "Julia, no!" Eugene yelled. "His name is Ch—Chico!" Julia's expression went dark for a second. "Chico Vatos! He lives on the Southside.." "That's my partner for ya, heheh!" he laughed out loud, and disappeared for a moment. Then he opened the small portal behind Eugene wide, and kicked the boy down on the floor before vanishing. "Eugene!" Julia held him. "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry!" "No, don't be! It's not your fault that he was threatening you.." he replied. Then, he got himself up, and dusted off his yellow hoodie. "Come on, let's go!" he said. "But where?" she asked hopelessly. "We have to go save Chico.." Eugene replied assertively. When the sky was already black, Jaden went to the highschool to look for Mr. Spensen. The place was filled with police officers. He went straight to the newspaper office. While on his way, he noticed a larger number of officers near the principal's office. He then felt curious and decided to ask around. "What's going on here?" "One of the students attacked Principal Cory.." said the officer as he pushed Jaden farther from the door. "I see, thanks.." Jaden backed off, and continued his way. That must've been Chico's doing, he theorized. He's the only one who could be this rotten. Once he opened the door of the office, Jaden immediately snooped through the papers that were on Kym's desk. There were nothing worth second guessing over, but for one small notice board behind the door. It indicated which janitor would take charge of the room for the night. His name isn't checked in for tonight, Jaden realized. "He was here two nights before.." he sighed. Jaden then left the room, and headed for the faculty room. "Sorry, but night classes are all canceled till further notice." said the motherly bright secretary. "Oh, not like that! I'm not here for night school!" Jaden scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm actually looking for Mr. Spensen, the janitor.." "Is there something wrong?" she asked in concern. "Oh well, I sort of— lost my phone in school two days ago.." Jaden explained. "I tried to look in the Lost & Found, but didn't find anything, so..." "Oh, I see.." she snooped through the log list of the last two days. "It's indeed that Mr. Spensen was on duty at that time.. Have you tried calling your phone?" "Yeah, but it was off.." Jaden replied. "Hehh, alright then, let's call him!" the secretary finally succumbed to Jaden's wish. "You want me to talk to him for you?" "No need, I can handle it, thanks!" Jaden took the phone, and waited for Mr. Spensen to answer. "..Spensen!.." he answered. "..Hello Mr. Spensen!" Jaden started. "I'm from the school newspaper. I'm calling from school right-now!" "..What's the problem?" he sounded annoyed for some reason. "There is something that I've lost, but I didn't find it within the Lost & Found box. Can you remember if you found anything at the office that's still somehow with you?" Jaden asked in an innocent voice. "...No, I don't remember anything like that. AND YOU MIGHT AS WELL WAIT TILL MONDAY, GODDAMIT!!" he was definitely annoyed. Jaden looked out as the nosy secretary had already gone to the other side of the office. "... Also, I found this locker key that looks so special!— It got your name on it!" Jaden's tone became serious. "..What?! I ain't got nothing like that with my name on it!" he replied. "..Are you sure about that?!" Jaden bluffed. "I pretty much obtained it from a VERY reliable source, Mr. Spensen.. Or shall I say Mr. Mail-Man.." "...." Mr. Spensen didn't say a word for sometime. "Mr. Theodore Dolph, the Candy-Man had it before he got arrested, and then murdered by Death Gun.." Jaden continued. "Unless you wish to meet the same fate, you gotta help me.." "...I— I'm no longer who I used to be... I don't know if I can do anything!" Mr. Spensen finally gave in. "Don't worry about it, all I need from you is concrete information. That's all!" Jaden's voice went innocent again. "Just help me understand— why the Expedition Team got disbanded?.." Mr. Spensen agreed to help Jaden, but stated that school wasn't a place to talk about this matter; so Jaden agreed to give him an urgent visit. Mr. Spensen informed Jaden of his home address. "..Okay, that sounds doable, right?" Jaden told Mr. Spensen one last thing. "And I'm on my way, so prepare everything!" "…Of course…" he replied before hanging up. Afterwards, Jaden thanked the secretary for her smothering kindness, and took off. The moment he stepped out of the office, Jaden bumped into Mr. Park. "Oh, sorry Mr. Park!" he said. "But what are you doing here?" "Who were you talking to on the phone?" he asked. How did he know that I was talking to someone on the phone?!, he thought. Was he following me?! "It was just the janitor! I lost my phone during the dance, so I thought he might've taken it.." Jaden answered. "How's Julia? Did she wake up?" "Yes, her nurse told me that she's recovering well." Mr. Park answered. "That's great news! Now excuse me, I'll have to go check up on her! After your permission of course.." Jaden said. "Granted.." he sighed. "But don't go anywhere else, okay?" "Uhh, okay.." Jaden replied, and walked away. After almost running, Jaden got out of the school, and decided to walk his way to Mr. Spensen house. But once he walked few meters, he found Doulchry. "Yo, mate, I need Anthem!" he grabbed Jaden tightly. "I need it NOW!!" "Easy, man!" Jaden pushed him away. "That was weird!" "I think— I think I'm through, Jaden!" Doulchry was wobbling. "Since Chico had given me all that Anthem, my mind can't think of anything else.." "Is that so?.." Jaden thought for a bit. "How about I help you get some?" "But how?" Doulchry collapsed to his knees. "Candy-Man is gone for good! There's no way other retailers will sell us any.." "But what about his right hand, the Mail-Man?" Jaden persuaded him. "He sure got plenty!" "Yeah, I bet that bastard got some.." he got up and stood with a straight back. "I have his home address!" Jaden told him. "Then what are you waiting for, asshole?! Let's go!!" Doulchry grabbed Jaden's hand and started running. Meanwhile, in the Vatos's villa, The previously knocked out Petra had just woken up. She felt as though her body had become ten times heavier. She looked around her room as she slowly left her body up. "...Am I home?!..." she muttered. With gradual prudent steps, Petra walked outside of her bedroom and into the main living-room. When she gazed down at the floor, she noticed blood stains on the small central carpet. What the hell happened here?, she wondered. Where is everybody?! "CASSANDRA!!" she called for the maids. "PAULO!!" Petra kept turning around, looking for anybody that might show up greeting her with 'Oh, Petra-miha, good heavens, you're all right!', but there were no people in sight. She then noticed the door of Carmen's room being ajar; so she went towards it to check if there was anybody in there. Once she pushed slightly open to get inside, Petra gasped out of great shock. "HUH?!! CARMEN!" She found her friend completely collapsed on her bed in such inhumane fashion. With her nightgown completely torn apart, her arm full of bruises, and her face was frozen in a terrified expression. It was more than just a sight for sore eyes. "What happened to you?! Carmen, answer me!" she tried to wake her up, but Carmen's body was too limp that made Petra scared. "Who... did this to you..?" "It was Chico.." somebody stood by the door. When Petra looked behind her, it was Frankie. "I couldn't stop him— No one could...I'm sorry.." said Frankie in shame and regret. After few moments of silence, Petra stood up. "Where is he?" she asked. "There's no use, Petra! You might as we—" he tried to say, but she interjected. "I SAID.WHERE. IS. HE?" "Uhh—" Frankie hesitated. "..He went to the river bank by the school.." Petra walked outside the moment Frankie finished talking. "H—hey," he tried to stop her. "What're you think you're doin' ?!" "What needs to be done.." she replied to him, and continued her way. As she walked outside, Petra saw several television screens streaming breaking news. "THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT HAS ISSUED AN ALL OUT ARREST FORM AGAINST THE RESIDENTS OF THE SOUTH SIDE OF MAPLEWOOD." "NEWS ABOUT POSSIBLE ETERNAL KINGHT INVOLVEMENT IN THE DEATH GUN & SOUTH SIDE ISSUES." The media, and general public of Lucis have turned on us, she thought desperately. What am I supposed to do?!.. Around that time, Kym began to retrieve his consciousness. "Hey buddy, you're awake!" Blake said. "Bl—ake!" Kym spoke heavily. "What's... happening?" "You don't have to worry about anything now! You just take it easy." Blake replied, but Kym pushed himself into a semi-sitting position. "Don't lie to me, Blake— Is everyone okay?" he managed to say. "Yes, yeah— everybody is doing good!" Blake reassured him. "And that bastard, Chico— he got himself and all of the Southerns into hell with him!" "..Is that so?" Kym mumbled, and looked his friend in the eye. "What about Julia?" Julia and Eugene took a cap, and they were already on their way to the Southside. Eugene looked at Julia's face as it was more relieved now for some reason. "How do you feel now?" he asked. "No worries, I'm good." she replied in a cold tone. "You should've told us," Eugene said. "About you being blackmailed by Death Gun like that." "He would've killed you.." she replied. "C'mon! You've seen what I'm capable of!" he replied sarcastically. Julia didn't reply or say a word afterwards, and the two of them remained quiet the whole way. Near the river, Chico was all by himself. The weather was very cold and windy, and made the trees and grass dance back and forth. Chico was almost too quiet, with hands in his pockets when he felt a presence. "Ch— Chico!" Petra arrived, and she seemed outrageous. "You've always gone too far.. We've always had nonsensical fights.. But we took an oath! Southerns never bite each other!" Chico stood still without saying anything. "Answer me, you rotten bastard!" Petra insisted. "WHY DO YOU KEEP HURTING CARMEN?!" Chico turned to face her, "But I never hurt her.." he said. "I only expose her." "You're ignorant asshole.." Petra clenched her fist. "Carmen is a cheap girl who is after her own pleasure. All the Southside is just the gathering of filth.." Chico said. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Is that what you call your brothers and sisters?! Is that what you consider the people you're supposed to protect?!" "LIKE WE WERE PROTECTED!" Chico yelled. "Like how our father screw the fuck outta us, and threw us on our own like a bag of shit!" "As if your actions have made things better!" Petra argued. "All you ever did was just intoxicate everybody with Anthem and treating Carmen like a—" "Carmen, dad, and all of you!" Chico barked. "You were killing me slow for your selfish purposes... Now it's my turn!" "You were always wrong, Chico.." she replied in contempt. "I'm gonna change this town, Petra!" Chico said. "By eliminating every last one of you, slowly.." "Chico..?" she was shocked as she witnessed her half brother emitting strange white aura. Chico's eyes glowed, and everything around him floated. "It's only then, that this world around us can change.." he said as a white spear that was made of light materialized in his right hand. "And I"ll start this change by eliminating you first!" "No, that's wrong! Giving in to despair would bring more sadness! You're just being delusional.." she said frighteningly. "I'm already desperate.." Chico raised the spear. "But you— are gonna be dead!!" ~SLASH! Petra jumped back to avoid Chico's assault. But then, she noticed something in his left hand. "Is that, Dad's artefact?" she said. "Yes, and it's gonna drop you dead, PETRA!!" Chico attacked with a very high speed which managed to hurt Petra. "Ugh!" Poor Petra couldn't move as she collapsed on the floor. Chico got closer to her in order to finish her off. "This how the world change.. All pests must DIE!!" he raised his arm to strick. "St—stay away!" Petra's hands blasted a small sphere of light which exploded upon touching Chico. "Whow!" he lost balance. I feel like— I can do it better, she thought as she focused on her hands. A small light sphere started growing bigger between her nearly touching palms. Pressure dramatically increased within the light sphere that couldn't hold it any longer. Chico readied himself for his last hit. "GHAAAAA!!" he yelled. "Noooooo!!" Petra released the light sphere that emitted an oblique white dashing beam of light that penetrated Chico's torso entirely. ~DSHINN!! "UGHAAAAAAAA!" Chico screamed in agony for a while before collapsing. Right after that, Petra got up on her feet as she witness her brother's body dropped dead on the ground by the river. Chico's body was gradually disintegrating. Letting out flocks of green glowing fragments that floated up and vanished slowly. Petra got a little closer, and saw the dead body gradually fading away. But there was something around that wasn't disappearing. When she got hold of it, her entire body surged with some unknown energy. "So, your source of power was this artefact all along..!" Petra cracked a vicious smile, holding the white crystal ball-like object that Chico used to be holding with him all the time. "Hahahahahaha!" Petra laughed out loud hysterically under the moonlight. But unbeknownst to her, there— behind the trees and bushes, there were yellow glowing eyes watching her carefully. Around sometime past midnight, Jaden had finally reached near the Mail-Man's house. It was placed on top of a hill on the edge of the woods outside of Maplewood. Accompanied by Doulchry, Jaden was able to navigate his way through the dark and deep forest, and together, they stood by a cliff close by. "What time is it already?" Jaden asked. "Almost quarter past three." Doulchry lit up a cigarette. The scenery around them was very distinctive from the rest of what Jaden had seen so far. The cliff was more of a canyon with water running at the bottom. The other side was mostly obscure with higher ground. Jaden gazed at the strangely looking wall. "This part of Maplewood is sure different.." he muttered. Doulchry exhaled before saying "That's because we're technically not in Maplewood anymore, one might argue.." "What's that tall wall?" Jaden pointed forward. "Well, that's <>, mate." he answered in awe. "Legends has it that the <> used to reside there." "Who's that?" Jaden asked in confusion. "What you mean 'WHO'S THAT' ?!" he exhaled abruptly and his face had a perplexed expression. "The Damn god of the Dark Realm, <>!" "A god?! So, you're saying it's an Astral?!" Jaden was surprised that even the Realm of Darkness also has a worshiped figure. There are still so many things that I don't know apparently, he thought to himself. "I'm saying you're wasting my goddam addict mind!" Doulchry smashed the cigarette with his foot, and walked towards the hill with Jaden following. The sky was lighting up as dawn stretched gradually onto the night. Mr. Spensen's home was an old house standing in solitude on the grassy hill. When Jaden and Doulchry arrived at the front doorstep, they noticed a large wooden stick placed on the door from the outside. "..Weired..!" Jaden muttered. "Asshole wants us to break in through windows or what?" Doulchry started to lose his temper and pull the out the front window frame. "Hold up— hold up!" Jaden calmed him down. "Just give your phone for a sec. I'll try calling him." The furious Doulchry handed Jaden his phone. After only very few rings, Mr. Spensen answered. "...Hello..." he said in a raspy voice. "...Mr. Spensen, this Jaden— from Maplewood High newspaper. Are you home right now?" Jaden spoke fast. "…Yeah— yeah, come in through the back door! I'm waiting." he replied. "Okay, thanks." Jaden hung up, and motioned to Doulchry. "Back door!" Doulchry ran as fast as a thousand hungry dog during lunch time. Once he and Jaden reached the back side of the house, the latter noticed how the ground was sloppier due to the mud, and the grass was taller and more branching. "There's the door!" Doulchry pointed as he walked closer to it. "Where's that ding-dong?" Well, he said he's waiting, Jaden thought. But isn't fairly too early for him to expect visitors— — Wait a sec! How did he know we were at the front door?! "STOP! IT'S A TRAP!!" Jaden shouted. ~BANG! At that exact moment, a gunfire sound rose up, and a bullet was just about to land in Doulchry's head, but mistakenly hit the door. "Bloody shit!" Doulchry ducked in split second. "Who's there?" Jaden looked around them in caution. "Fuck this shit! Death Gun have beaten us to him!" Doulchry cried on the ground. Could this be?!, Jaden thought. But again, if it was Death Gun, then we both would've been dead instantly. Shooting in cover is a sight of weakness and caution. Jaden clenched his teeth before saying "SHOW YOURSELF!" He then glimpsed a figure speeding through the grass. "Doulchry, you got any weapon on ya?" he asked. "It's not Death Gun, but we may still have to fight!" "Huh?!" Doulchry got up. "I got my twin knives! Can you manage?" Jaden cracked a smile while keeping his eye on the mysterious attacker that was drawing closer, "You might be surprised.." Jaden and Doulchry readied their knives as the attacker emerged. It was wearing a military-like outfit that Mado resembled it to something Indiana Jones might wear. From his body proportion, he was a middle aged man. He was carrying a rifle, and his face was masked in a black cloth with openings for his eyes. The masked attacker, after getting close enough, tried hitting Jaden up close, but he successfully avoided it. "Yo, Spensen! You better give us some Anthem, or I'm telling the cops!" Doulchry yelled, but he ignored him, and shot at him instead. ~Bang! Bang! Doulchry was dragged down by Jaden. "We gotta knock him first! Think about drugs later!" he scolded him. When he lost sight of them, the mysterious masked attacker took a strange remote with one red button out as though he was examining it. "Huh?!" Jaden gasped. It's definitely a bomb!, he thought. That means he took Mr. Spensen hostage inside his house! Jaden got up and rushed against the masked attacker. "Let him go!" he yelled. Both Jaden and the masked man exchanged blows as Jaden's movements with the knife were slower than usual. With no mana, I have no other choice but depend on my muscle memory, he thought. My enemy isn't any better anyway! "DHIIAAAAAAA!!" he shouted while swinging his knife at him. The masked man swung his rifle with remarkable speed that managed to hit Jaden and drop him to the ground. As he was about to aim at Jaden, Doulchry charged from behind, and restrained him. "How do you like that, you pig anus?!" Jaden took the chance to get himself up. Doulchry was thrown away off of the masked man, but Jaden attacked that instant. His assault was only capable of throwing away the man's rifle. But both him and Jaden were very vigilant. Jaden tried to attack him, but the masked guy countered with mere combat skills that threw him completely off guard. He then dropped Jaden on the ground again, and squeezed his neck, trying to choke him. The helpless Jaden couldn't reach his knife by just few centimeters. Crap!, he stretched his arm the farthest he could. I can't reach it! At this rate— Jaden's overall strength to struggle was quickly fading. The scene of the masked man had started to get blurry. "I can't.... just—" he tried wording while pushing him away. "Guhaaaaa!" Doulchry kicked the masked man away off of Jaden who started coughing and gaging. The moment Doulchry tried to hindered him, the masked guy delivered a quick punch that knocked him down. But before he had noticed, Jaden charged from the rear with the knife in hand. "This is it!" Jaden uttered, and swung fast. The masked man tried parrying, but his right shoulder took a hit. With that, he lost balance. And due to the muddy ground, the man crumbled down the hill, and disappeared towards the cliff. Is it— over?, Jaden was panting. When he got up, Jaden stretched his hand to support Doulchry stand. But the latter jump in an instant. "Out of my way!" he pushed Jaden aside non-thankfully. "Where's my Anthem?!" With super quick steps, Doulchry ran towards Mr. Spensen's old back door. No, this is not good!, Jaden feared. "HEY! NOT LIKE THAY!!" "Oh, shut your pie-hole!" he grabbed the handle, and the moment he twisted it— ~KABOOOOM!! An explosion occured that blew away the entire house. Doulchry was tossed with the flames several meters away. "No!" Jaden took sufficient cover, but when it was already clear to see, the scene before him was horrific. "MR. SPENSEN!! DOULCHRY!!" he shouted from the bottom of his stomach. Jaden got up to look around him. Flamed wood were scattered everywhere around him, and a thick black smoke was yet still coming from the center of explosion. After sometime searching, he was able to find Doulchry. He was very injured to say the least. "Damn, I gotta take him to a hospital, quick!" he complained to himself. The following moment, Jaden gazed around him, and his eyes caught a cut off burned limb laying near him. That's probably Mr. Spensen's, he thought. "Here goes my last clue...." At around 6 am, a ruckus stirred on the Southside's main bar. Rex Cox and his men were fighting bunch of guys from the Sato Vatos. "Hahaha!" Rex laughed out loud. "You rats are nothing without that fucker, Chico!" "Yeah, and now since he and the Candy-Man are dead, Lord. Rex is taking over!" One of Rex's lackeys blurted out. "In your wildest fucking dreams!" a Sato Vato shot back as the rest were wrestling down angrily. "Rex, you better stop this crap, or—" Aksel approached him. "Or what, little princess?!" he smirked with a gun aimed at him. "You're gonna ship me to the pigs too?!" "Wanna bet?!" Aksel was provoked. "Imma send ya straight to Etro!" Rex shot at Aksel, but missed by few centimeter; although, that bullet was able to scratch his face. "Oh, I'd love to see you try!" "You scumbag!" Aksel said. At that exact moment, a bright white knife forcefully landed on Rex's hand. The gun he was holding fell down to the ground as he moan out of agony. "What the?!" Aksel looked at the direction that flying knife came from, and saw her. "Petra?! But how?!" Petra came forward, and took Rex's gun. She stood on top of the dancing stage, and shot it upwards in order to get everyone attention. "LISTEN, MY FELLOW SOUTHRENS!" she shouted. All those who had been fighting in that building stood still, and faced her. "We are in it deep! The entire town wants to take our precious lives, the lives of those we care about! And instead, we're fighting each other!" Petra talked with fire burning in her soul. Her voice echoed so loud that it drew other people from outside. "Those shitty Northerns took away everything from us! Our money, our pride, our peace— just 'cause we're weak, 'cause we're poor, 'cause we didn't win in the lottery of life!" During her speech, Eugene and Julia arrived at that bar. They witnessed Petra holding everybody's attention. "We played by their rules. We let 'em picture us as some monsters they need to tame. But this time— we won't..." she said. "BUT HOW?!" one overweight man with a bald head and a long beard. "WE'RE ALWAYS WEAK ANYWAY! IT'S NOT LIKE WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!" Petra smirked at him, "About that.." Multiple glowing knives appeared floating around her. She grabbed on of them, and tossed it quickly towards him. ~Thwip! The knife pierced the wooden wall next to that man. Everyone else backed off in dread. "This time, we have the power, we have the means, and we have enough pain to no longer hold back!" Petra raised her fist in protest. "WHO'S WITH ME?!" "YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" every leather wearing person roared in agreement. It was official. The Southside were waging war against the Northside. "Perta, violence isn't a solution! We supposed to stop Death Gun!" Julia told her. "We're fighting for our lives, Julia. Don't take it personal.." she replied. "You don't get it! Death Gun is after Chico! He's on his way to kill him!" Eugene cried. "Well, I did beat him to it.." Petra motioned to the artifact Chico used to possess. "Huh?!—" Julia gasped. "No, you didn't..!" Eugene was in a shock. "You better go home, Eugene.." Aksel, who seemed to be on Petra side, told them. "This is it— this is justice.." Julia and Eugene felt helpless as the entirety of the Southside had apparently sided with Petra and her war against the North. They ended up actually leaving. On their way back, the two of them took the bus. Without saying a word to each other, they reached Julia's house. "Eh.." Eugene broke the silence first. "You're sure.. you will be fine, right?" Julia nodded, and smile slightly. "Yes, I think so!" Eugene smiled back, and turned to walk away. "Eugene.." she said. "Huh?" he looked back at her. "Thank you— for everything.." she uttered. "You're really an amazing guy!" "Take care, okay?" Eugene said as he walked away. "Yeah.." Julia muttered. The moment her father opened the door, Julia collapsed in his arms, and cried. "Oh, baby girl, what happened?!" he embraced her and held her tightly. "I'm sorry daddy! I— I let you down.." Julia sobbed. "I couldn't be good.. I failed to make things better... I no longer know what to do!" "It's gonna be alright. Daddy's here, and he'll protect you from the world. Don't worry.." Mr. Park said. When Eugene reached the ship in the middle of the woods, he saw Jaden coming towards him. The two boys sat by the ship, looking at the sky, sighing in desperation. "I took Julia out of the hospital, and returned her home.." Eugene said. "Oh, and Chico's dead. Petra killed him." "I see.." Jaden muttered. "Well, I took Doulchry to the hospital, and Mr. Spensen got killed.." "Julia was the one leaking things to Death Gun just like you suspected.." Eugene admitted. "Maybe you were right from the beginning.. Maybe we can't do anything.." "Don't back down on me now.." Jaden replied. "But it's hard, Mado.." Eugene said. "Maybe we shouldn't get involved from the start—" "Majd..!" Jaden got himself up. "We've reached the end of this, there's no way we're turning back after all of this!" "But how you could be so sure?!" Eugene said. "Did you— figured it out?!" Jaden cracked a smiled, "Time for the last checkmate!"