Chapter 6

4 “Captain! Captaaain!” A scout ran up to the entrance of the prefectural bureau, out of breath. Pawoo was standing there with the rest of the building’s security, arms crossed and grim-faced at the current impasse. She gave an order to the deputy by her side before approaching the young vigilante. “The footprints leading to the bureau were a bluff! Akaboshi is currently near the west gate! It’s like he’s lost his mind, ma’am!” “What happened? What did you see? Somebody get this man some water!” “I saw some guys with rabbit masks take him on, Kurokawa’s men. They outnumbered him, but they still didn’t stand a chance!” Governor. Why are you getting involved…? Pawoo clicked her tongue. As the other members tended to the scout, he continued. “Ma’am. You need to hear this. I suggest you sit down.” “What…?” “I saw a huge mushroom go off in the shopping district,” he said. His teeth were chattering with fear, but he pressed on. “It was at the Panda Clinic! Where your brother…” Pawoo’s blood surged, and her face became a visage of wrath. She clenched her jaw and pushed the man aside. When the deputy saw her striding off, he chased after her. “Captain!” “Lower the threat level for this area. Send squads two, three, and four to the west gate and squad nine to the north.” “Are you going ahead on your own?! We’re dealing with Japan’s most wanted criminal here!” “I don’t recall asking for your opinion,” Pawoo seethed as she hopped astride her huge motorcycle. “You can try telling me what to do once you can land a single hit on me in training. Until then, follow my orders and don’t mess this up. Understood?” “Y-yes, ma’am!” Pawoo sped off on her white motorcycle at top speed without waiting to hear the deputy’s reply. Then she swung her metal staff, striking the ground with such force it launched her vehicle up into the air and onto the rooftops. Milo…! Pawoo grew impatient as she sped toward the towering mushroom, her bike a silver streak across the nightscape of Imihama. From atop the roof, he surveyed the city. The majestic mushrooms stood tall and cast their faint glow on the streets below. The spores fell like powdered snow, gently brushing past Bisco’s cheeks. Following a fierce battle, the rabbit-headed guards had retreated en masse, leaving the bodies of their fallen comrades where they lay. Now, in the center of that bustling city, there was only an eerie silence. I’m worried about Jabi. Gotta get back to the sewers. But where are the Vigilante Corps? Bisco pondered his next move carefully, before sniffing and looking down at his feet, where a particularly petite rabbit-headed guard had been trying to crawl away for some time. With a thud, he brought his foot down on their back. “Gyaaah!” came a high-pitched voice. Bisco grabbed the ears and pulled with all his might, arching the person’s back until the mask came off with a pop, and a flurry of pink braids flopped around the person’s shoulders. It was a woman with pink hair reminiscent of a jellyfish. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it, hold it, hold it! I…was against the whole thing—honest! Such a…kind and gentle man can’t possibly be our enemy, right? It was just, you know, the governor! He forced me to do it!” The young girl looked up at Bisco meekly. Her smile twitched, and she was sweating bullets. “Tell me. Who are you guys? Is this all of you? What about the Vigilante Corps?” “Y-you wouldn’t kill a poor, sweet, innocent young girl like me, would you? Listen, l-let’s make a deal! I’ll quit the force, leave it all behind. I’ll join your side, just…” “You hard of hearing or somethin’? Maybe it’ll help if I crack your skull open, huh?” “Nooo! Please don’t! Not my skull! I need that to live!” Suddenly, Bisco heard the faint buzz of an engine in the night. Straining his ears, he thought he could hear it coming from the direction of the shopping district and growing louder. Something was jumping over the rooftops, coming straight toward him. A motorcycle…? As soon as he was distracted, the jellyfish girl scurried away like a rat. Bisco started to go after her, when suddenly the sound of tires scraping on roof tiles grew much louder, and a huge motorcycle reared up into the dim light across the street. Leaping over the gap, it launched straight toward Bisco. No sooner had he realized a fight was coming than an iron rod came flying down toward him, smashing into the tiles. Bisco leaped back at the very last second and avoided the fatal blow, but the shards of roof tile flew past him, nicking his cheek and drawing blood. Through the dust and rubble, Bisco spotted a glimmering crown of silver, and the woman’s murderous gaze fell upon him. Her curvaceous figure was entirely at odds with the way she swung her heavy iron staff, and she swiveled her motorcycle around to charge at Bisco again. He leaped back from her reckless charge, drawing his bow and loosing an arrow in one smooth motion. The arrow was dead-on, but suddenly her staff ripped through the air, and the arrow was gone. One swing, and she had knocked it out of the sky midflight. Bisco followed up with a second, and a third, but the woman deflected them all in a whirlwind of steel, leaving her without so much as a scratch.