A/N: WARNING: Sexual content in the middle and GRISLY/GRAPHIC/GORE scene near the end.


Chapter 2

Shadow

A cat hisses in their direction as they pass by. Its fur was extended on ends and its back was raised in an arch almost twice of its original form. Tadashi gulped as he looked up at it. Monstrous yellow eyes glaring menacingly at him. And black like the shadows around them, ever present and swallowing every light that came its way.

He tried to shake off the foreboding feeling, trying instead to look in front of him and focus mainly on the person ahead of him.

The hooded boy hadn't once let go of Tadashi's hand since they had started running but even if Tadashi tried to rip his hand out of his grip, he wouldn't be able to. The smaller boy's grip was just too powerful, completely vice-like. It was almost like he was a machine...yet he still couldn't help but notice how soft the boy's hands were. They were so gentle and warm while at the same time...not.

But the notion flew by as quickly as it came.

Even if they weren't in their current predicament, being chased by a group of yakuza and all, Tadashi would have still tried to brush off those strange feelings he had gotten.

"I think I saw 'em go this way!" Someone bellow out in the distance behind them. By the sounds of it, it was far away but that didn't help to calm Tadashi's nerves. He swallowed his tongue when the roars of rusty engines perked up his ears.

"Keep running!" The other boy whispered, not looking back to see if Tadashi was complying. It was amazing how despite pulling the extra weight (especially one that was doubled his) the boy didn't seem to be slowed down at all. Not losing any of his fluid motions.

The way the boy moved was almost...enchanting. Like a mystical fae in its lair.

They rounded several corners. And just kept running. It didn't look like there was going to be an end to the chase! The buildings were turning into a mind-boggling maze that soon melted into a blur.

Large bright white lights were coming up from behind them and it made it harder for him to keep his vision. It only got bigger and bigger. Soon it was right over them when...

The lights disappeared. Only to be replaced by the red humming lights of the street they had found themselves in.

Tadashi kept looking behind him to see if their chasers were still after them but only saw a few pedestrians and such who paid them no mind. He saw a woman hugging an older man, at first thinking nothing of it but then his eyes flashed when he spotted what seemed to be her hands digging into his pants.

He tried to wipe the image from his head, turning to look back at the other boy only to see that he was no longer holding his hand, skipping ahead of him.

"Come on, Mr. Necro, keep up! It's getting late, unless you don't care." The hooded boy laughed, almost singing the nickname, no longer seeming distressed. He stopped where he was and was waving an arm high over his head, ignoring the stares coming from the people around them.

It was a strange sight to see the young boy act like...well a young boy. Especially in the darkness of the night and under the red glow of flickering lights, surrounded by more than shady individuals. Many (including Tadashi) would have regarded the boy's behavior, especially after the fiasco of only half an hour ago, as too naive or troublesome and ill fated.

Tadashi walked up to the beckoning boy, one foot slowly in front of the other until he found his hand intertwining with the other boy's once again, except this time they weren't running.

He was reminded of his family back home when their hands were connected.

"One night," the hooded boy said sharply, not wasting any time. He handed the person from across the counter a few balled up bills before snatching the key out of their hands and dragging Tadashi with him.

The scrawny girl didn't look all too friendly, especially after she was treated so rudely but Tadashi couldn't help it and stared at her. Tattoos, much too underweight and multiple piercings. Her skin looked very malnourished and she was really bony. He really felt her plight.

He blinked when he saw her give him two middle fingers crossed in an 'X' before she disappeared from his vision as he and the other boy rounded a corner and went up the stairs.

"That was rude..." Tadashi said to himself, both at the hooded boy's and the counter girl's actions.

"Whatev's just a skank no one gives a rat ass over," the other boy stated, nonchalantly adding, "She'll just be a dead corpse tomorrow and no one will even remember or care that she ever existed."

Tadashi flinched at the harsh words.

Everyone is precious to someone...someone will definitely miss her if that happened.

A loud click snapped Tadashi out of his mind and he watches as the boy kicks open the door, practically throwing Tadashi in the room.

Before he could chastise the boy for being so rough with him, he turned back to see the boy shutting the door, locking it.

Thinking nothing of it, he turned back to take in his surroundings.

Everything looked so expensive!

Like one of those super fancy hotel rooms.

The rug was a nice shade of white and black, in a tiger pattern. In the center of the room, there was a huge round bed covered in a see-through white curtain, it even had a cute little bed chest at the foot of it with a matching cushion on top. A small lamp hung just above the head of the bed, giving an electric blue glow.

Opposite of the bed there was a huge flat screen HDTV plastered to the wall. A stack of complimentary DVDs sat atop the DVD player (how nice of them) readily to be watched. Over to the side, he saw the bathroom, which caught his attention a bit when he noticed that the bathroom didn't have a wall separating the bedroom, instead open for all to see. Even the shower walls were really clear instead of the usual frosted glass that he was used to.

It was hard to believe that there was such an interesting hotel in this side of the city. Wait. Why were they at a hotel? The gears in Tadashi's mind started to turn but unfortunately, they were too slow as he felt a sudden draft flow between his legs.

Tadashi looked down to see his pants fallen around his ankle. His face burned crimson red and he turned to look at the source of his 'pantsing', eyes wide.

"Hmm, cute," the hooded boy said flatly, clicking his tongue. Tadashi burned even redder in the face when, trying to cover his hands over his white briefs which had a bunch of cartoony cupcakes smiling and waving. "I think I personally prefer the pandas but I can make do with this."

"What are you doing?!" Tadashi asked.

"What do you think? Wasn't this what you were after? It's your reward for the little help you gave me." The tone in the hooded boy's voice was sultry and teasing, making Tadashi gulp. "Oh I forgot, didn't Mr. Necro have a little incest complex? You told that Yama fucker that I was your little brother earlier." He gives a light laugh that would've been cute under different circumstances. "Isn't that right, onii-chan, you like that doncha?" The other boy chuckled, unzipping his shorts before chucking it off in the distance. "So what wou—" He reached up and slowly pulled down his hood, finally revealing his face.

Tadashi became speechless, his ears no longer registering the rest of the words that the boy was saying. He knew the boy was young but not that young. He was possibly 14 years old, maybe younger. Almost 5 years younger than he was.

His face was small and round, giving a cute boyish charm. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown, light and fluttery. His hair (it was amazing the hoody was able to hold it all in) covered most of his ears in a thick and messy black, completely unmanageable. And he had a big gap between the upper part of his teeth, straight in the middle that was completely adorable! Adorable! It was hard to believe that that rugged kid from earlier was someone so...innocent looking.

Innocent...

The half-naked boy walks over to Tadashi, standing in front of him for a moment before he wraps his tiny arms around his waist, pressing his head against his upper torso, snapping Tadashi back to the present.

"Hmm, you feel nice. Well I haven't had a good lay in a while, let's hope your looks aren't the only thing you got going for you." He said.

"Wait-What?!" Tadashi backs away, out of the other boy's grasps, until he trips over the bed. Falling backwards onto the mattress.

The smaller boy starts ripping off his hoody and boxers till he was stark naked. His penis was hanging for all to see, already rigid and firm. Tadashi bled a full crimson at the sight. It wasn't the first time he's seen a naked body (thanks to medical books and taking care of his little brother) but not under these dire circumstances!

The smaller boy crawled over the bed towards Tadashi. Every time he moved an inch towards Tadashi, Tadashi moved an inch back. It seemed to go on forever until his head finally hit headboard, trapping him completely and signaling his doom.

"This is too soon for me!" Tadashi screeches. He shakes his head at his own words. This shouldn't be happening now or later anyway! He feels the boy's small petite hands wrap around his waists. One hand pulling at the waistband of his white briefs and the other pushing his shirt up. "I don't even know your name!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the messy haired boy seem to fortunately stop in his prodding. A few seconds ticked by but then the boy just went back to his advances without a word.

Tadashi tried to fight back, flailing about, but it only ended with their arms getting entangled together with the sheets. Forcing their bodies closer so that he could feel the other boy's soft skin on his, making the other giggle playfully.

He almost went blind from all of the red he was seeing and feeling.

To make matters even worse, while he and the boy were 'embracing' on the bed, their tangled limbs accidentally touch the remote control to the TV and the screen lights up with a buzz. Tadashi almost shattered like glass when he heard the moaning and sloppy wet clash of skin on skin.

Both he and the boy's eyes darted over to the TV behind them and watched as a pornographic movie was playing before them. One panicked even further while the other only smirked.

"Wanted to get in the mood, huh?" The younger boy whispered into his ears, pulling both hands away and placing his palms over Tadashi's clothed chest. He pressed his fingertips deeper, enjoying the sensation of Tadashi's flesh despite the shirt covering it, also eliciting a slight moan from the older boy beneath him.

The messy haired teen turned his head around, eying the petite woman on the screen, her voluptuous chest bouncing in fluid but slow motions. She was a pretty blonde but it didn't fit his tastes. He bit his lower lips, looking at Tadashi with piercing eyes, contemplating getting off of him, though somewhat enjoying their current position.

After a long moment he finally relents and gets himself off of Tadashi.

"Wait right there," he tells Tadashi, jumping off of the bed. He skips over to the player with a sashay of his hip. He stops and ejects the DVD, to Tadashi's relief but then he starts looking through the DVD stack and unfortunately Tadashi could now clearly were more porn! The other boy was merely looking for his own hell to replace it. "You don't strike me as someone who's into BDSM..." He skims over a certain disc before tossing it aside, quickly grabbing another one.

Tadashi laid there, huffing and puffing, at a lost for words, unsure of what to do next. He eyed the articles of clothing that were scattered all about on the floor and tried to mentally measure how long it would take for him to snatch them and dress back up before the boy returned but his plan was already dashed as he heard the young boy exclaim excitedly.

"This is perfect!"

The clicking sounds of the disc being inserted and playing made Tadashi wince.

He didn't want to know what the boy had chosen for their 'viewing pleasure'.

The black screen was lit up again but this time instead of a woman and man having sexual intercourse, it showed a group of boys, who were around the messy black-haired boy's age and height. They were surrounding an older boy, possibly a few years older than Tadashi but not by much, in a circle.

He tried ignore it but the moans and cries were a bit too loud to ignore, even if he shut his eyes tightly. When his gaze fell a little lower, he gasped when he took note of the boys' length and girth! They were huge! It made him temporarily question his own masculinity when boys younger than him were bigger but he immediately put it aside to worry about more pressing matters as the bed shifted a bit.

The other boy was already back on top of him.

"Wanna do what they're doing?" He asked, cheekily, pointing at the screen behind him without looking back. One hand already wrapped around his hardened appendage. His smile got wider as he started to rub his dick against Tadashi's clothed chest, bending over so he could take a nibble out of Tadashi's ear.

"It's been such a long while for me...I hope you can entertain me all night long."

It's been a while? Entertain all night long? All Tadashi could think about in his panic was how early has this boy been doing these kind of things?! Kids his age should be playing video games or hanging out with friends, not having sex!

Tadashi's breath hitched when he felt tiny fingers dig under his underwear and grab at his penis and he let out a loud choked squeal, his hands shooting up to push back the boy in reflex but he didn't budge, even giggling at the action.

"Niiiiiice, so you like to play, huh, babe?" The younger boy said. He licked his lips slowly and he gave a slight tug on Tadashi's penis from under his underwear to garner another reaction. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, moaning loudly. "I think I'm going to enjoy eating this..."

He started moving over Tadashi and licking at his bare flesh, starting from his cheeks and going lower. It continued for some time before the boy finally released his penis from out of his underwear and he gasped when he felt the cold air hit his bare skin.

"Please!" Tadashi whined, continuing to push at the boy. Why couldn't he push the boy away? It was like he was made of stone! "Don't!"

"Come on babe, I think that's enough role-playing. It's almost like you really are a virg..."

The boy stopped mid-sentence and just stared at Tadashi.

He looked down at his penis, which were clenched tightly in between his fingers, then back at Tadashi's panicked face. His naughty smirk was now looking forced. A look of realization filled his eyes and slowly, his lips turned into a thin neutral line before turning agape in shock.

The boy seemed to panic for a second but then his gaze turned hard and he bit his lower lip, frowning hard.

"Oh my god, you really are a virgin, aren't you?!"

Tadashi's silence only further confirmed his suspicions.

"Oh geez! I-I thought that you were just playing around!"

He quickly got off of Tadashi and started pacing back and forth on the floor, his hands on his head.

"So you're not going to rape me?" Tadashi asked, letting out a breath of relief.

"Wow...I-I thought you were playing around but man, this is really beyond stupidity!" The other boy was ripping at his hair now, as he continued his pacing. His naked form made it seem almost silly if it weren't for the situation they were in.

"You!" He pointed an offending finger at Tadashi, almost snarling. "I-I-I, I can't believe this! Argh! Stay there! I...I need to jack off." Then the boy rushed over to the bathroom area, jumping into the showers with a loud crash of the doors shutting.

After a long set of angry and powerful groans, the young boy finally got out of the shower. What the boy did in the showers was possibly a hundred folds more erotic and rougher than the anything movie had done. Easily making Tadashi's whole body turn blood red.

He came back into the bedroom and starting picking up his discarded clothes, bending over to grab his boxers and shorts from the floor, turning a bit to glare at Tadashi in annoyance.

"I see you took the time to get dressed, Mr. Necro." The boy huffed, slightly annoyed that his evening was ruined in more than a couple ways. First he was being stalked, then he lost most of his winnings, and now the sexy piece of stalker candy turned out to be nothing more than an old lady's cough drop.

The only good thing was that the day was over so there couldn't be anything else to disappoint him...

"Tadashi."

He stood straight and turned around to stare at Tadashi in scrutiny.

"Huh?"

"Please stop calling me that. My name is—"

"Don't care!" The boy roared, tossing the clothes in his arms in the air.

For some reason, the words gave off a deep sense of déjà vu to Tadashi but the boy continues, shaking his head. "You know, you really ruined my night. If this wasn't the ghettos, you'd be arrested for stalking me. Mr. Necro Freak Stalker Guy Who Has An Incest Complex, I'll call you whatever the fuck I want, got it?"

Tadashi went silent.

"You're lucky I was able to shoot a few off, otherwise I'd have just killed you and left you here as a bloody mess." The younger boy said, rubbing his bangs against his forehead. He decided not to add that he used a certain cap-wearing idiot to help him masturbate. "Now..." he starts, "Why the fuck were you following me all this time? Especially since you didn't take my offer for some good old fashioned fuckin'?"

His eyes flash open and Tadashi could swear he thought he saw red eyes glaring back at him.

Tadashi loosens the collar of his shirt a bit, gulping. The only thing he was thankful for at the moment was that the other boy was (for the most part) no longer naked. What would his little brother think of him if he found out about this?

"You looked like you were in danger." Tadashi says slowly.

"I what?" The other boy blinks incredulously at his words.

"It's too dangerous around here for a kid your age." Tadashi reasoned.

"What? Really?" The younger boy crossed his arms, drawling his tongue out, completely stupefied.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding but I just wanted to help out." Tadashi shakes his head. "That's all I can say. I'm sorry." He gets up, glancing at the boy in apology but then something caught his eyes, making them widen.

Why didn't he catch that earlier?

He rushed over to the boy in one fell swoop, grabbing him roughly by the cheeks with a hand. Manhandling the younger boy.

Tadashi glared down at him. Staring intensely at his dark greyish brown eyes. He wanted to yell at the boy because of how furious he was but most of all he was furious at himself for not noticing it just because of his embarrassment!

Then, it happened in a flash! The only thing he could recall were those eyes staring back at him, turning dark and cruel before he found himself thrown back and a giant gash appeared across his arm.

He hissed in pain and looked back up to see the boy suddenly wielding a black dagger in his hand.

"You muther fuckin' asshole! What are you—" The young boy tried to say but Tadashi didn't flinch, interrupting him with his own retort.

"You idiot!" He yelled back, catching the other boy, who didn't expect that reaction out of him, off guard. He ignored the stinging in his torn arm and pointed accusingly at the boy with his other hand. "Look at you! There's a giant cut across your face! You need to get that disinfected and treated right away!"

Dark brown eyes widened at the accusation. The boy slowly reached his hand over where Tadashi was pointing at only to flinch when he felt a long trail of open flesh. It was deep but no blood came out. At least not of the red kind. He touched it several more times, trying to figure out when he had gotten it but nothing came to mind.

The boy looked back at Tadashi, his eyes no longer fierce but not exactly forgiving either.

Tadashi was reaching into his backpack and pulled something out, tossing it over at the boy.

"Here, put this on," he said.

The boy looked at the capsule in his hand suspiciously for a minute before opening it. Inside, there was a strange white gel, almost like putty-like. It was squishy and cool to the touch. He looked back at Tadashi again, silently glaring.

"Lightly place it over your wound before peeling it off like a sticker, it'll seal it up while disinfecting it at the same time," Tadashi sighed, scratching his head.

It took some time but the boy finally did as he was told, gasping a bit as the stinging pain in his cheek quickly evaporated. Within moments the white putty turned more solid and harder, before turning into ashy soot.

The boy ran his hand over the wound again only to be surprised to feel nothing, as if he never had a cut in the first place. A chalky-substance covering his hand. He ran over to look in the mirror and looked all over his face but no matter how closely he looked, he couldn't find a scar or anything of the sort that would give away the spot where the wound used to be besides the soot-like substance over his face.

"It's a special nano-flesh healing salve from the Ouroboros Pharmaceutical Corps. An instant bandage." Tadashi explained. "The nanobots inside it eat the protein inside the gel when they make contact with your skin and use it to seal back your cut and remove any contaminates. It doesn't even leave a scar."

He reaches over in his bag again and pulls something like a razor or scanner out and hovers it over his cut arm.

The boy turns around and watches in awe and slight confusion as the device turns red, shooting a million streams of dancing light into his arm. He watches silently as the room was filled with Tadashi's muffled groans as he slowly closed his flesh back in place though unlike the nano-gel there was still an obvious line where his skin closed.

He narrows his eyes a bit and quickly realizes that the light stabbing into Tadashi's arm were actually solid, literally sewing his flesh in stitches instead of regenerating them. It was silent for a few minutes as Tadashi was working on his arm.

The boy frowns a bit, vaguely recognizing the name Ouroboros. There was something eerily familiar about that name that was becoming a horrible itch as he was trying to remember what special meaning it had. After a few slightly agonizing mental straining, it hit him.

Ouroboros Pharmaceutical was a very influential and powerful medical company, though they only offered their products to the most prestigious of men and women who lived in the better parts of the city. That's why he could barely recognize the tech and company name.

Rich arrogant assholes... he thought with a snarl. Briefly he glances back down at Tadashi, tapping his fingers over his arm. Though, Mr. Necro here doesn't look like Mr. Privileged...

When Tadashi finished, he looked back up at the silent boy who was still brooding in his thoughts.

"This is why bot-fighting is illegal, there's too many unsavory characters! You have to learn to take care of yourself. Please don't go bot-fighting again. Next time you might not get off so easily!" Tadashi tells the boy.

"I can take care of myself fine, onii-chan." The boy huffs in sarcastic venom, blowing a stray hair out of his eyes.

That wasn't enough for Tadashi and he immediately whips out his cell phone, getting up.

"Tell me the number of your parents' cell and I'll call them. We can't have you staying over here."

"News flash, asshole. I'm an orphan!" The boy says with a huff, gesturing to his run down clothing. "My parents are dead! There's no one to call."

Tadashi freezes, he didn't mean to open up deep wounds.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He chews on the inside of his cheeks, turning away. "I'm an orphan, too... I didn't mean to make you remember painful memories."

This time it was the other boy's turn to be caught off guard. His mouth hung open, speechless but he then he quickly swallowed the stone in his throat and gave Tadashi an angry glare.

"Don't give me that bullshit! So, what? You're an orphan, too? You think you can relate to me or understand what I've been through?! Don't you fuckin' dare! You obviously never had to do the things I had to do to live! You didn't have to struggle like I did!" The boy started to bare his fangs. "Don't think me and you are even in the same category! 'Cause we're not, you piece of shit!"

A shadow fell over Tadashi's eyes as he stared at the phone in his hand, ignoring the other boy's harsh tone. At least that explained why the kid was doing what he did. Forget going to school, he probably didn't even have a place he could call home.

"Then give me your phone number." Tadashi orders the boy.

"I don't have a phone, either! What would I need a phone for, bonehead? Suicide hotline?" The boy asked, sharply.

"Then, take mines." Tadashi reasons, pushing his phone into the smaller boy's hands. "We can keep contact through this."

Now he definitely can't leave this boy alone. He'll have to give up on looking for Yokai for a while, at least until he gets this boy into safe hands.

"Why the fuck would I want to keep contact with you?"

"I wish I could do more to help but that's all I can do for now." Tadashi said, ignoring the boy's comment.

He walks over to the shorter boy and runs a hand over his head, ruffling his hair. At first the boy looked like he was going to go wild and attack him but he just stood there with glaring eyes, begrudgingly accepting the gesture.

Tadashi picks up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders and just as he is about to head out the door, he stops. "Oh, and one more thing!"

He reaches a hand into his backpack, taking a moment to find something before finally pulling it out.

"Please take this and stop bot-fighting for me?" Tadashi asked, giving him a weak humble smile.

The boy looks at him before looking at the neat bundle that was suddenly placed into his hands. He eyed Tadashi suspiciously, not saying a word.

"Well then, hopefully we can see each other again." Tadashi shakes his head, looking down. Just as he takes a step out the door, he hears the boy call out to him. "Sorry for being such a bother."

"Hey! Um, ah...I...my name is...my name is..Hi—Shadow," The boy tells him, chewing on his lower lip. "And! You can't order me what to do! I'll do whatever the fuck I want, Mr. Ne—Tadashi!"

Tadashi pulls his cap over his eyes and smiles somberly before giving the boy a gentle wave as he headed out the door.

When the door shut, the boy who referred to himself as 'Shadow' looked back at the huge stack of dollar bills in his hand. It was a lot more than anything he's ever earned from bot-fighting! He looked back at the closed door and wondered: Exactly just who was that older boy?

Then, he remembered something...

"Yama..."

"Found him!" A deep voice chuckled menacingly.

Tadashi found himself being thrown across the air and into a few trashcans. His cap fell, landing nearby on the sidewalk before it was run over by a passing car.

He looked up to see Yama and his gang standing over him with vicious gazes, each wielding a make-shift weapon.

"Now where the fuck is that brat?" Yama growled, petting the two metal dogs at his sides, giving Tadashi a small glance from the corners of his eyes.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Tadashi says, spitting out blood. His head was hanging low as he lacked the strength to straighten himself up.

"Don't lie to me, pretty boy or you won't be so pretty after this!" The large thick man growled, going over and grabbing Tadashi's entire head with one hand, dragging his lifeless body across the floor to his two robot dogs.

The bots snapped and growled, eyes flashing neon green. They opened their maws to reveal drill-like fangs.

"It'd be unfortunate if something were to happen to you, wouldn't it?" Yama laughed before raising Tadashi up so that the two of them could look at each other eye to eye. "Now, talk. Where is he?!" He spat.

"I...don't know..." Tadashi said again, looking away from the man, crestfallen.

How could he be so stupid and just openly walk the streets without trying to be careful? Completely forgetting about the gangsters that were chasing him and Shadow hours before?

"Is that your final answer?" Yama asked, with a snarl. He was raging madly like a wild bull.

Tadashi looked back up at him through his one good eye and just nodded slowly. He clenched his eyes shut, readying for the final blow, finding himself being tossed into the pavement. The men surrounded him as they each beat him, clubbing and kicking him to death.

The last thing he saw through bloody eyes was a metal toed boot slamming into his face, knocking him unconscious.

His only regret was that he couldn't be there for his brother or Shadow.

The dog bots growled and barked, scaring the thugs. They opened the circle to let the dogs enter as they approached the unconscious teen. Circling Tadashi, they were sniffing the air and pawing the ground for a bit. As they neared him, they opened their mouths and were closing down on his flesh with their sharp drill fangs.

"It's such a shame that his body had to go to the dogs," Yama laughs, his chest rising and falling. He places a hand over his eye patch and stops to growl, "But that's what you piece of shits deserve!"

He turned around and decided to return back to his base, content in at least killing one of the boys involved. He'll find the ass-shit hoody wearing boy later.

"Hey! What do you think you fuckers are doing!" A familiar voice called out.

The fat yakuza stopped in his track, twitching in anger. He turned around with an angry snarl to look at that same hooded boy from before staring at him.

"It's you!" He growled, pointing an accusative finger at the boy who just smirked from under the shadows of his bang.

"Yeah, it's me, watcha gonna do about it, ass face fucker?"

"Well, what are you fools doing? Get him!" Yama ordered his men and they all started charging at the boy who easily dodged, performing a back-flip onto a dumpster nearby.

"Too slow." 'Shadow' laughed, sticking out his tongue.

Yama was starting to throw a tantrum as sweat beaded down his forehead but then he smirked when he remembered about the other boy.

"If you don't give yourself up, we'll just kill your friend!" Yama laughed cockily, waving an arm over at Tadashi's unconscious form as the dog bots wrapped their jaws around his arm and legs, looking ready to tear him limb from limb.

"You're just gonna kill him anyway," 'Shadow' made a bored gesture, shooing the fat man away with a hand.

"What? Aren't you here to save him?" Yama growled, a few strands of hair were falling out of his samurai locks. His face was pure red in fury.

"Nah..." The hooded boy yawned. "That asshole hero-wannabe just gave me a lot of money. I guess I can return the favor by rescuing him but I already got the cash, no need to break my back for him, right?" He laughed, pulling out a huge stack of money and teasing the men around him with it.

Yama bit his lips. He didn't believe the boy one bit. He had to be bluffing!

"Arzo and Damio! Eat Mr. Pretty Boy!" Yama ordered the dogs. He turned around to watch them rip Tadashi apart but they didn't move an inch. His eye was bulging out of his socket and he yelled at the dogs again. "Eat the brat!" He ordered again but still nothing.

Then, in slow motion. The two dog bots started falling to pieces, turning into nothing more than a couple pile of small junk!

"What! When?! How?!"

All of the men turned to look back at the cocky boy who was brandishing two middle fingers at them.

"Get him!" Yama growled and ordered.

Red eyes glowed from under the shadows of the hooded boy's bangs, making all of the men stop in their tracks. He smiled and they couldn't help but cower under that toothy draconic grin of his.

"H-H-He's just a kid! Get him, you ass hats!" Yama sputtered, taking a shaky step back.

Then out of nowhere, a giant black tentacle flung out from one of the shadows and grabbed the nearest man, holding him by the torso before it shot back from whence it came.

All of the men and Yama were glued to their feet with wide eyes as big as plates.

"No! No! NO! NO! NO! NoooOOooOooooOOOOOo!" The man cried out in volumes that shattered the human lungs before his cries were deafened by the sounds of something wet and slimy, plik slic plaop. A grinding crunch noise filled the silence that came after for what seemed like forever. It was like bones being ripped from their sinews and grounded into a sticky paste.

All of the men looked fearfully up at the suddenly menacing looking hooded boy in front of them before they all dropped their weapons and started running in every direction (except for Yama who collapsed to the ground where he stood). But it was to no avail as dozens more of those black tentacles shot out from the shadows around them. Each men were screaming and crying as they were carried off to their doom, some being flung about like ragdolls.

One man was stabbed straight through the back, the tentacle almost ripping him in half before it dragged him back. There was another man who was clawing so hard into the pavement that his skin was peeling from the bones, trying to pull himself free from two tentacles that dragged him down into the abyss by his legs. And another man was roaring in horror as two separate tentacles wrapped around his torso, pulling in opposite directions before he exploded like a pinata.

All around Yama, his men were dying left and right with no end seeming to come in sight. The only thing more horrifying than their screams of terror were the constant slick slack sounds of the tentacles slurping at their skin. Only moments before, the dark streets around them were a dirty sludge brown, but now they were painted red.

With all of the screaming and wailing around him, Yama was pulled out of his stupor when he heard the light pitter patter of footsteps (wet sloppy footsteps that slicked on the fleshy cement surface) and looked to his left to see the hooded boy walking up to him, still smirking.

All around him, the streets, the lamps, the pavement, everything was red. Except for him and his companion who were somehow untouched by the bloody rain.

"So...Yama, do you still plan on killing me?" 'Shadow' laughed, his voice almost seemed to be older.

The fat yakuza man looked at the boy fearfully and the sudden realization that everything had gone quiet chilled him to the bones. He looked all around to see dozens of the tentacles hovering around him and the hooded boy. There were no corpses, at least none that his eyes could see. Just a painful red reminder.

"If you promise to stop chasing after the kid, I might consider letting you off." 'Shadow' offered, his mouth opened to reveal fang-like canines that said otherwise.

"Please! Don't kill me! I swear! I won't ever ever bother you again!" Yama fell to his knees and begged, smearing his face into the squishy wet fluids of his former gang.

"Get up," 'Shadow' ordered. Yama did as he was told and weakly looked at him, somehow standing shorter than him despite him being four times his size. "You can run off now." The boy said, patting Yama playfully on the belly.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Yama cheered before backing away. After a few steps he turned around and started running, wanting to get away from the nightmare as soon as possible.

Then, a tentacle shot through his backside and straight into the pavement, embedding itself deep into the cement floor. "Guh!" The fat man spat, blood shooting from his mouth. Another tentacle shot into him by the right shoulder and dug deep into the ground like the first. Then another went through his throat. And another came. And then another.

By now his whole body was stabbed through to the point where he was nothing more than a bloody pin cushion. "Caugh!" He could only make choked sounds from through his torn throat, blood in his mouth bubbling from the air bubbles.

"'He said that I could go!' 'Why did he do this?' 'He promised!'" 'Shadow' started saying with a laugh in a mock impression of Yama's deeper toned voice. "Nawh, I said you can run. Never said I wasn't going to kill you. But first, let me take that last eye of yours."

He waved Yama goodbye just as a single tentacle shot out and ripped out his good eye.

Then the rest of the tentacles started to stir before they exploded out of the man's body, splitting his body into millions of pieces.

'Shadow' started walking away, about to leave but stopped. Turning over his shoulders he looked at Tadashi, frowning. Shaking his head at his actions, he decides to go over to Tadashi.

That Yama character really did a number on Tadashi...

It was doubtful that any of that nano-gel was going to heal him.

He reaches into his hoody and pulls out Tadashi's cellphone.