Web tipped CD cases forwards and backwards as he scanned through the large collections, his head moving along with the beat being played through a pair of large earphones playing sample music. The fast upbeat mixed with a semi-slow jazz tune was a great combination to Web, however, the rapper's lyrics was the same old generic rhymes that sounded as if there was no meaning behind the words, and was more about the money and not the music itself. In all honesty, Web really only listened to the music, and usually ignored most rappers' rhymes.

Souji had wandered somewhere into the R&B/Modern Soul section for a while before making his way to the small coffee shop that was set up near the back of the store. Souji had already finished searching and buying music, he was basically waiting for Web to finish. Souji didn't care too much for coffee as he did for pre-made tea, mainly because he thought most "mainstream" coffee and coffee shops tasted pretty much the same, overly sweet followed instantly by a bad bitter. But this shop was an exception, everything was home grown and made, and he could actually taste a nice combination, minus the bitter after taste he usually gets.

"Yo, Souji." Souji's eyes wandered up towards Web, who held a fairly large bag, mostly CDs. "I'm pretty much through, what about you?"

Souji closed the book he was reading and tossed the empty paper coffee cup into the recycle bin with ease. "Yeah, we should probably get back anyways," he replied as he stood. As they walked out of the of the store, they both saw a large limo shoot past them. Neither thought much of it, probably just some dope who sipped a little too much wine before getting behind the wheel. But as they turned their heads towards the location the limo came from, a young, blond teen shot past them.

Both Souji and Web had blank looks on their faces. "Was that," Souji started.

"Why do I get the feeling this nice and quiet day just got shot to hell?"

Orca's feet padded against the pavement as he chased the limo another three blocks. His body was starting give him warning signals that if he'd kept up the pace, keeping track of the limo would be the least of his worries. Orca came to an halt and clung on to a nearby fire hydrant as he dropped to his knees.

'damn,' he thought, 'that wasted too much energy... I don't know how Souji-kun nor Web-kun run so far with such ease. I'm not out of shape, but still...' Orca stood up and regulated his breathing. 'Calm down and get a hold of yourself Orca.' The blond scanned the streets in front of him, seeing a four way not too far ahead made it easy for Orca to guess that the limo had made a turn since he didn't see anything directly up ahead. Which direction it headed, however, was beyond him. 'Crap! I lost it,' he yelled at himself as he ran up to the forked road.

Orca turned towards both directions, but didn't see the limo on either paths, most likely long gone, from his viewpoint at least. 'Not good... I need to get back on track quick... Or she could be in real danger... Ok, I have to focus. Why did they take her?' Orca paused at the question. He knew the answer was probably the most obvious. A rich girl, apparently looking like a sitting duck, just knock out the driver get the girl in the ride and you're pretty much home free, high paying ransoms ahoy! An idea not only simple, but a common threat to Bark's "elite" class families that didn't think about it. Orca used to hear reports about it all the time. 'Alright... bad question... Wait. Wasn't there a common spot in this city where kidnappers would take their hostages?' Orca crossed his arms and looked to the sky, an blank expression on his face. 'I think it was the storage block section of town. It's a bit risky to say it's the first spot I should look, seeing it's a common spot to hold hostages. But I don't think these guys were smart enough to think that far ahead, plus they didn't seem to take in the fact that I was right there when they picked her up, nor did they notice me chasing them for who knows how long. The Storage block is also considered the most secure spot for watch outs... They just have to be there!'

Orca again looked at the two directions. His thoughts wandered his mind at a quick pace as he pulled out the mental images of the city's road layout. His feet again lifted and dragged him towards the right direction.

The door quietly shut as one of the inside guards looked out the small crack in the boarded up window for safety. The room was dark, slate grey, and dusty. Though it was large, it was heavily cluttered by large wooden crates. Water dripped from broken pipes once connected to a large sink. And in the center of the room, sat a, frightened, rather adorable girl tied to an old wooden chair with shredded, dirty blanket strips, her mouth however covered by a clean piece of cloth. The room wasn't very dark, more than visible enough, but very little light came through the windows thanks to the wood covering, and the one tiny light bulb swinging back and forth directly above her gave even less. She couldn't remember how long she has been there, nor did she have any clue as to why.

Emily heard one of the inside guards close the blinds he was looking through, and shuffle his feet towards somebody behind her. "He just made another quick scan around the area, everything's clear."

"Good," another voice answered. Emily could hear the man's feet walk around her left side, before a calm looking man stood in front of her. "If everything goes according to plan, we'll get what we want," the man trailed off as he bent his legs and dropped to Emily's eye level before lifting her chin gently, "and you'll get to go home, safe and sound, in your comfy, undoubtedly expensive bed..." The man grinned as he saw the fear in her eyes. "Awwwww, don't worry, we won't hurt you..." His gentle grip on Emily's chin suddenly became painfully tight, forcing a squeak out of the girl's muffled mouth. "That's assuming he does what WE say without hesitation!"

Emily's eyes widened in fear, the man's sudden change of attitude upon mentioning the name of her father was terrifying.

"Yo' Zan, we got the old man on the line," a person clad in black and olive green called out from another, smaller room.

Zan turned his head to the man and nodded. "Cool, I'll be right there." Zan turned back to Emily, his kind and gentle smile returning to his face. "This should all be over soon," he said as he stood up and made his way to the other room.

Orca watched from inside a large row of bushes on a small slope in front of the building carefully. The outside guards were rotating their positions every ten minutes, often allowing at least an one minute space of time for him to dash across the area. Getting in, however, was a different story. The one spot he need for them to be weak at, being the door, they were not. Orca rolled onto his back silently huffed in frustration, he figured it wasn't going to be as easy as he hoped, but his mind still clung onto the slim possibility. He preferred getting through this without much hassle, which apparently looked as if there was no possibility of happening. Orca rolled back onto his stomach and slid his way to the other end of the set of bushes, closer to the left side of the building. There was a boarded up window, with one plank in the middle swaying in the wind, the nail on the left side bent and broken, while the plank below it was coming loose.

Orca again rolled on his back and looked towards the bush leaves above him.

'It's really the only shot I got,' Orca mentally informed himself. The teen subconsciously pushed his hair back as he closed his eyes. The main issue with going through the window was that there was a guard standing right by the window. He would have to knock him out, drag him somewhere hidden, and get in before the next guard change. The only real advantage to that strategy was that it seemed as if the guard really wasn't taking his job too seriously, he was constantly looking around with a bored look, and was yawning quite a bit.

Orca wasn't much of a fighter, he knew that all too well. Like many things, he blamed his lack of defensive talent due to his upbringing, which was one that of pure inner cotton ball cushioned egg shelled comfort. It wasn't until an incident during his early drumming days did he start to learn how to defend himself.

Souji stood at the kitchen sink. He had turned the water on to its coldest setting, and cupped his hands under the cold flow. The blue haired teen sunk his head in the sink and splashed the water onto his forehead, the cool liquid stun a little as it collided with the small cut. It had long since stopped bleeding, Souji however still wanted to make sure it was clean.

"Soujiro-kun."

Souji lifted his head and calmly turned a full 180. Orca gave him an silent, determined stare through his open left eye, his right in too much pain to open, and was beginning to swell. He had various scrapes and bruises on his body, the right side of his T-shirt from abdomen down was nearly torn off, only hanging by an inch in the middle, front and back, his baggy black pants, though torn in certain spots, faired better than his shirt.

Orca had gotten in a three against one fight between himself and three Olivin town boys, though it was more like he was forced into the fight. The three had supposedly found out somehow that Orca was actually a rich, Oak town boy. Orca had heard Oak Town kids were considered nothing but stuck up children that had everything given to them hand and foot by underpaid servants. Most of what they said were true, but Orca avoided that life style as much as he could. It didn't matter to the boys however, all his kindness and friendly attitude was thrown out the window. If Souji wasn't heading back from the market, there was no telling how badly they would have beaten him.

"Hmm," Souji asked in his monotone fashion.

Orca lowered his head, the question in his mind was clear; but, he felt so out of place asking Souji such a question. Orca lifted his head and stared Souji directly in the eye. "Teach me how to fight."

Souji remained silent for a moment, before turning around, and ran another towel under the cold water. "I can't."

"Why no-"

"Orca, my skills a based too much on whether I'm holding a sword or not... In order for you to learn just about anything I know, you would first have to learn how to swing a sword."

"Then teach me how!"

Souji shook his head, he knew all too well Orca was going to ask that. "I can't do that either." Souji turned off the water and rung out the towel. He turned and leaned over as he used the towel to clean off the wounds around Orca's swollen eye. "Learning how to use a sword is learning how to use a blade; essentially, it's learning how to kill. That's something I do not, nor will I ever intend to teach anybody." There was a short silent pause from the two, before Orca nodded. Souji didn't know if Orca understood what he was saying or if he just nodded to silently say "I won't ask again." Souji honestly hoped for both.

The blue haired teen grabbed another clean towel and opened the freezer side of the refrigerator. "Why not ask Web? He's pretty good at fighting."

Orca gave Souji a bewildered look. "Webber can fight," the drummer asked, he never once seen Web even put up an actual fight before, probably because Souji was quick to defensive response and easily took down any threat with one swing. "How good is he," he asked as his open eye narrowed with skeptism.

"Almost killed me once," Souji muttered.

"W- what?"

"Huh?" Souji pulled his head out of the freezer, an blank look on his face. "Said something?"

Orca looked down and shook his head. "Ah, no... I must have been hearing things."

Souji went back into the freezer, and Orca could have swore he heard Souji let out a relieved sigh. "Here," Souji called out as he tossed a bag of ice wrapped inside the towel. "Keep the swelling down."

Orca's heavy breathing echoed across the room, the humid room temperature wasn't much help either. If it wasn't for the fact that the gym's floor was covered with thick protective mats, he probably wouldn't even be standing at the particular moment. Web leaned against an protected column, one sparring glove off as he scratched the exposed parts of his head, his head gear making it hard to do.

"Well, I guess that's it for now. Can't do anything if you're out of breath, AGAIN," Web muttered.

Orca suddenly slumped to his knees, his legs slightly spread out and his arms barely holding his upper body up.

Souji had been sitting at the top of a set of wooden bleachers until Web had called off the "training session." Though from what Souji viewed, it was more like a game of "rag doll."

"Guess it's time to go home."

"Hang on," Souji called out as he jumped down from the side of the bleachers, and made his way over to the two.

"So what's u-" Web's question was cut short as Souji placed his hand on his shoulder, and passed him by.

"Just stay there will ya?" Souji passed Orca as well, and whispered to him, "keep an close eye." Souji walked until there was a ten foot distance between him and Web, who was just as lost as Orca as to what Souji was doing.

"Yo, Samurai-boy, what's the d- HURK!"

Web's words were quickly cut short as he felt sudden pressure around his neck and collar-bone lift him up, and combined with a quick sweep, slam him into the mat. While physically Web wasn't harmed, the sudden shock factor had rendered him frozen both mentally and nearly physically if it wasn't for his uncontrollable shiver. Souji knelt over Web, his right arm still holding Web up, just enough to avoid a full impact slam to the mat, and his quiet expression unchanged.

Orca was frozen solid. He only saw Souji turn heel to face Web, then until gray haired teen was lifted off the mat, everything looked as if it was a artistically blurred comic action sequence. "What... Was..."

"There's quite a few names for it," Souji started, as he slowly let Web's upper body slid onto the mat. "The common name for it these days is the STO." Souji stood and stretched his neck by moving it to the left and right. "Its... kinda of a standard defensive move."

Web sprung up, his face deep red in the shape of an angry peach, eyes glaring daggers towards Souji. "Mind warning me when you're going to use me as an rag doll?!"

"Think of it this way, at least I wasn't using you as a sword training mannequin."

The guard let out a audible yawn. He was bored out of his mind, and would be cloud gazing if it wasn't for the fact he thought the clouds were just as, if not more boring than keeping guard. He again let another loud yawn, whish was interrupted by the sound of a large beach ball bouncing past him.

"The hell?"

The guard walked towards the ball, wondering why, a beach ball of all things, was bouncing around their spot. While it was true their base was a storage area, it was still odd a fully inflated beach ball was lying around. As the guard leaned over to pick up the ball, a figure casting an eclipsing shadow over him raised his arms, an led pipe reflecting the sun at it's tip, before slamming down into the back of the guard's neck.

Orca grunted as he pulled himself through the boarded up window, as well as dragged the unconscious guard through and into a hidden corner behind a carelessly set up pile of crates. Orca slowly moved away from the unconscious guard and hid behind another crate. As he poked his head out to check that everything was clear, Orca noticed the pile of pizza boxes littering the room.

'Looks as if they've been camping here for a while now... Damn, not good.'

Orca quietly stood up and grabbed one of the old pizza boxes. He mindlessly hooked it under his arm as he left the room and quietly snuck down the old dusty hallway. The building was pretty much what he expected. Sets of large storage rooms connected by long hallways in case two rooms linked together were needed. Historically, nobody actually used the rooms for storage anymore, most of the items there were basically abandoned by those too lazy to go to the proper faculties to give items that may have been of use to others.

Orca soon exited the hallway into a larger room, that had far more boxes and crates than the smaller room he left the now knocked out guard in. It was like a human maze made of boxes. As he neared the center of the room, he noticed that all of the box built maze walls had a stack of boxes in the middle of a wall was crooked, and slightly swung in the wind caused by a broken window nearby. Orca quietly took one end of the boxes and pulled, the whole stack swinging out like a door. The wall of boxes in front of him now had the same exact crooked stack in the middle, and Orca figured there was going to be a pattern of these leading to the next room. "They've been planning this for a while," Orca muttered to himself as he followed the pattern.

Soon enough he was in another room. This time, there were very few boxes which looked as if they were used as chairs. Orca passed the boxes as he continued to carefully look around.

"Hey!"

Orca paused, his heart skipping beats as he froze. His head slowly twisted towards the voice. Three men, all holding blunt weapons, glared at the bond boy roaming around in their base of operations.

"Who the hell are you runt?"

Orca's mind race for an answer, preferably one the wouldn't end result with him sinking at the bottom of a river with makeshift weighted shoes. He took a long, deep breath as he straightened up and turned on his heels, an ignorant grin plastered on his face as he held the pizza box in his hand.

"So sorry," Orca called out in an heavy accent, "Pizza delivery! Nobody answer, let myself in to deliver!"

Two of the three grinned and licked their lips in unison as they neared Orca's empty pizza box. The man in the middle's eyes narrowed and his facial expression contorted into a confused look. "We never had delivery here. We always picked up our pizza."

'Crap!'

"Really?! New guy on phone, must have got orders wrong! So sorry!"

The middle man grimaced. "How'd you get in... There's only one opening."

Orca nervously chuckled, his accent acting now broken as the two were now standing in front of him, deadly glares imbedded in their eyes. "Well... Y'see..."

WHUD!

Orca's free hand suddenly imbedded itself in the sternum of the man on his right. The pizza box floated in the air and opened above the man on Orca's left, who looked up, not knowing Orca has secretly collected dust in the box. The man yelled in pain as the dust dropped into his eyes, while Orca twisted quickly slammed his fist into the man's nose.

The middle man was quick enough to get behind Orca and put him into a full nelson. The hold, however, wasn't locked on Orca for very long as the blond pushed his right leg out, and swiftly swung it backwards. The sudden groan of agony and the release of the man's hold signified Orca had hit his mark, he then sharply turned around and lifted his knee into the jaw of the hunched over man.

The man reeled back and stumbled into a wall as he landed on the ground. His nose was now crooked and turning purple as blood poured out of his nose like a broken sink. Orca stood over him, his fist tightening to the point his fingers had cut into his palm, and his knuckles audibly popped. "Where is she?"

The front gate of the storage complex was right in front of the only entrance that wasn't barricaded, hence so many men with blunt weaponry guarding the place. Yet with all the barricades, all the men, all the weapons capable of caving an average human's skull in with one decent swing of the bat, two teens walked past the fence without so much as a second thought.

One guard, who was sitting on a wooden crate, stood up, his hand tightly wrapped around a monkey wrench. "Hey," he called out. "This place is off limits!"

"Really now," the teen called back with a calm, and somewhat cocky voice. "Shame, we heard there was a party going down!"

"Party?" The man grimaced. The other men stood up tightening their grips on their weapons as well. "Who are you kids?"

"There's something we've haven't been called in a while," the other teen muttered as his hand moved to the weapon wrapped inside the shirt tied around his waist.

"Give it a few minutes. They usually stop calling us that after we beaten them to a pulp," the teen replied as he cracked his knuckles.

The two teens stopped, now a mere ten feet away from the group.

"If you really must know who we are," the blue haired teen started.

"It's a fairly simple answer," the grey haired teen finished, his grin turning dark.

The gray haired teen opened his mouth, but closed it only a second later as the blue haired teen dashed forward, and with one swift shot, sent three at the lead man's right, flying back. The teen jumped back a couple of times, back at the side of the gray haired teen.

"If that didn't answer your question, I can simplify it even more," said the gray hair teen, "we're simply the kidnapping recovery squad!"

Both teens shot forward into the crowd, without a hint of hesitation, or thought of the possible consequences.

"He's over he-"

CRACK!

The sickening sound of wood breaking over the back of a man's head sickened Orca for some reason. Yet he kept his already empty stomach in check as he ducked under a man's right hook, and returned the attack with an full body forced uppercut to the base of the jaw.

Orca side stepped the now unconscious duo and ran for the nearest door. Orca cursed as he saw that the door only lead to a closet holding cleaning supplies.

"This way!"

The approaching voices and footsteps alarmed Orca, who grabbed a mop and slammed the door shut as he ran toward the hall's end. The door at the end of the hall swung open, more men with weapons filing out. Orca cursed under his breath as he moved forward, slightly shifting side to side to make sure his plan of attack wasn't easy to figure out. The group seemed to have unwittingly shaped into a reverse ten pin set, making it easy for Orca to mow down the largest group first, as well as shove the stunned men into the row behind them, making it hard for the group to take advantage of Orca. The blond teen stepped on the back of a hunched over guard and slammed the mop head end of the stick into the face of the last guard, then shoved him to the ground with the ball of his foot.

Orca huffed, not used to exerting so much energy, especially in a fight. He wondered how many more guards would he have to deal with, it seemed as if whoever was controlling the group had plenty of back up for his operations. It also bothered Orca that these men didn't look like the average thug out for money. They were mostly middle aged some in the mid 20s, and even some near his age; and strong looking, but it was as if their strength was built by jobs involving heavy labor. What bothered him most was how the older men hesitated, mostly when they saw his face. Did he remind these people of somebody?

"There!"

'Crap. Such observations should be saved for AFTER I do what I came here for,' Orca mentally stated as he ran through the door a slammed it shut, locking it with the mop stick.

This room was considerably darker, the other rooms had standard facility lights, or decent sun lighting. This room however only and a dim light and a few sun streaks through board cracks. If Orca wasn't on alert, he'd be creeped out by the eerie setting.

Orca's eyes scanned the area, particularly following the one swinging light, below it a figure sitting in a chair. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust enough to see that the figure was tied up, and another to figure out it was Emily.

"Emily," Orca called out in a whispering tone as he cautiously rushed over to the side of the chair. "Hang on... I'll get you out of here," he muttered as he knelt down and began searching for a knot. It was frustrating, whoever tied Emily to the chair was smart enough to hide the knot inside the layer of rope. Orca had no means of cutting material, and the rope was no where near brittle enough for him to pull apart like a man wastefully tearing into a shirt just to show off his muscles. The nuisance was annoying enough to nearly prompt him into biting into the rope to cut it away.

Orca's continuous battle with the rope was abruptly interrupted however, as the sound of a nearby toilet echoed across the room. Light soon filled the room from a opening door in the left corner of the room, near the same entrance Orca walked through. The man whistled as he rubbed his hands on a light blue hand towel to dry his hands off. The man had messy black hair that hung down past his ears, he had a calm, rather kind expression on face and in his eyes, though the darkening bags under his golden browns eyes told of the lack of sleep he's had. He wore a black, baggy t-shirt down was long to go past his pockets of his navy blue pants.

The man looked towards Orca, who's hands were still on the rope. "So," he stated with an haunting smile, "ya made it... I've heard from the others that somebody had broken in and was knocking everybody around."

Orca stood up, his attention now on the man. "And you are?"

"Rude of me not to introduce myself. It's Zan."

"Zan... Why are you doing this?"

Zan looked straight up, though his eyes were staring towards the swaying light. "Have you heard of the 'Shidarezakura Project' from a little while ago?"

Orca nodded. "You mean the hotel project that was closed down a year ago?" Orca knew more about the project than the public. Partially because in his home, and his father was partially involved with the project, but the hotel's name "Shidarezakura Paradise" seemed to echo in Souji's mind, and the hotels plans included a music hall, which the owner supposedly had planned on booking more local bands rather than the more mainstream, so it had all three interested. "Wasn't the project closed due to the initial planner of the project went bankrupt?

Zan's eyes shifted towards Orca as he lowered and nodded his head to the right. "Is that what the public were informed?"

Orca's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Zan sighed as he lowered his head, letting the dark room cover his expression as he scratched his right cheek. "It wasn't shut down due to bankruptcy," Zan snapped around towards Orca. "It was a corporate slaughter. A sacrifice even."

Orca involuntarily gulped. Being the son of an corporate powerhouse, terms such as "Corporate Slaughter" and "Corporate Sacrifice" were common house hold terms, though it was never easy to stomach.

"The man co-funding the operation so happened to be the same man who opposed the building the most. This was because of 'building violations.' Or that was the public's understanding. Truth was the co-funder owned three of the top five hotels in this city, and he knew the new hotel would be fair competition with its low pricing and large amount of activities." Zan again scratched his right cheek. "So, he started up some lies, all the while, acting as if he was adamantly on the side with the hotel's creator, giving out poor explanations towards the claims. Would be an ingenious plot really... Had he not been so clumsy and open about covering his tracks."

Zan looked back up to the ceiling, his expression was, to a certain degree, sad. "Those... I guess you'd call them a thug for their actions today... Anyways, they were workers in that project. Construction mainly. It was a big project, awesome pay, great benefits, in simpler terms, it was a life-line. Allot of the workers have been scrapping for cash, some even took loans from... Well to be simple, rotten loan sharks. When the project was closed down, they lost their jobs, myself included." Zan sighed. "I lost some of my closest friends because of one man's greed. Some could no longer take the pressure of jobless, scrapping, living. Others simply starved. This world of currency and greed is nothing more than a sadistic ripple effect bound to destroy anything in its path."

"So the man who closed the project..."

"Mmm," was Zan's only reply as he nodded his head towards Emily. "That's girl's daddy."

"So in more simplistic terms. Emily is just a tool of your revenge," Orca asked as he clenched his fist.

"Don't be so blunt about the motive," Zan said as he mindlessly waved his hand, his eyes still wandering. "Th' man's loaded. And I want some of it. Allot of these guys are still scrapping like stray dogs for money, many of them have families..."

"Then it's not so much getting revenge, as it is finding a quick buck for your co-workers?"

"More or less."

Orca shook his head. "This still isn't right."

Zan sighed. "Never said it was kid... In this day and age, you have to be cold blooded as the person next to you just to survive another day." Zan clenched his fist as he stared directly into Orca's eyes. "I'm not sure how it happened, but those guys trusted me as their leader then, and now. I'm not letting them down now."

"Do you honestly think this is the right way of doing things? You're saying that you want nothing more than their well-beings, yet you're turning them into criminals!"

"I know that! But this is the only option we have left. Not unusual for some to not understand-"

Orca's body shifted, his weight pushed more into his back leg as his unconsciously pulled into a defensive stance. "I understand... But still... I can't let you do that..."

Zan gave a long look at Orca, then huffed. "I get it. Even if it for the sake of others, it's still going to hurt somebody else innocent. This has boiled way over... Alright. Might as well get this over with, longer this goes on the less of a chance we'll get what we're demanding." Zan raised his fist, his body shifting into what looked like a boxing stance.

Web wove under a man's fist, and twisted his body as his lifted his fist into the man's jaw. Souji was in a defensive position as two men pressured him onto his knee by pressing their large blunt weapons onto his sword as Souji lifted it above his head. Souji quickly twisted and pulled his body away from the two as he slammed his covered sword into their sternums.

Souji stood and pointed his back to Web's, who did the same to ensure their blind spots were guarded. "How long have we been at this..."

"Long enough."

Souji looked towards the entrance, his mind set on their band mate inside. "Shouldn't we..."

"On any other circumstance, I'd say we bail him out. But this is kinda on a different level Souji."

"Yeah I know..."

"Still tough though... We've gotten used to protecting him."

"All we can do now is take out the lackeys while he beats the boss."

"When the hell did we become supporting cast characters?!"

Web swung his fist into the jaw of another man, as Souji dodged another blunt object and used his sword handle to knock him back.

Orca cried out as he flew into a stack of boxes. The cloud of dust set off a violent fit of coughing as the blond crawled out of the broken boxes, bruises forming on spots where his clothes were shredded, and a large cut pouring out blood on his dirty left cheek.

Zan rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles as he walked over to Orca. He didn't give any sign of regret of remorse as he lifted the wounded drummer and swiftly impaled his fist into Orca's stomach.

Again, Orca involuntarily cried out, but no sound came out as the air had already escaped his lungs. Zan pulled his hand back struck Orca across his face with an open palm. The sudden shock to his cheek snapped Orca out of his daze, and he instinctively punched Zan in his jaw, forcing him to let go. Orca stumbled backwards, and fell on his backside. As he sat up, he carefully attempted to clean off the blood and sweat dripping into his eyes. Zan pulled his right leg back as he aimed for Orca's head, and rushed his knee directly towards the blond's head. Orca instantly rolled onto his stomach and jumped to his feet just as he cleared the kick and Zan's foot landed into another box.

Orca turned to face Zan after he felt he gained a decent amount of distance. But Zan was again right in front of his, hands locked in tight fist. Zan's hands flew at Orca in jabs, while Orca did his best to side step and dodge the hands. Orca found an opening as Zan threw another jab that Orca pulled away from, then sway ducked under Zan's arm and landed a right jab of his own. Zan groaned in aggravation as he locked his hands together, and brought his arms down full force onto Orca's lower back. Orca wrapped his arms around Zan's waist to regain balance, then began to lift Zan, who in return slammed his arms into Orca's back, then grabbed him by the side of his shirt and hurled him.

Orca's body hit the solid ground with a thud as he rolled to a stop. Orca couldn't move, no command his mind gave received any response from his body. Zan again lifted Orca up by the collar of his shirt, this time just holding him up as Orca's head limped backwards.

"Enough. Just give up," Zan muttered as he balled up his fist for one more punch. Orca's fist balled as well, and as his head involuntarily lifted, his fist connected with Zan's face. Zan paused as he leaned back, then, shot back up and punched Orca back. Orca swayed to his right and paused, before following suit and punching Zan in a similar fashion. The punching contest continued until Zan lifted his leg to knock the wind out of Orca, who quickly caught the knee with both hands, but was unable to dodge Zan's sudden fist.

Orca dropped to his knees, his vision suddenly blurring. He lifted his left fist into the air and swung at Zan, but missed by a clear two inches thanks to his failing vision. Even so, Zan leaned back a little as a safety precaution. It was mid lean back he noticed something terribly wrong. It wasn't how Orca had missed, nor was it how Orca stumbled and fell.

It was how he landed.

Orca's left arm was loose as he fell, somebody in the same position most likely would have had their arm stiff until impact with the ground. Both of Orca's hands cushioned the landing before shooting his body back up and directly in front of Zan. Before Zan could even react, Orca bolted up, his fore-arm impacting with Zan's chin, as his right foot slid behind Zan's legs. Before Zan knew it, air was quickly leaving his lungs, the dull sting of his head bouncing off the concrete floor set in, and he could now feel the weight of Orca's body push him into the ground.

Orca made an attempt to stand, but as his back straightened up, he felt his feet leave the ground and his whole body topple backwards. For a few short seconds, Orca had lost consciousness, but his nagging mind consistently yelled at him to finish what he started. Orca slowly lifted his body off the ground. His right foot slipped on the dusty floor a couple times before he was finally able to get on one knee. He stared at Zan, who has not since moved after the take down.

"The police are coming..."

Orca's eyes widened slightly, not expecting Zan to be conscious. "Yeah," he replied, now hearing the sirens himself.

"There's really no point in fighting then," Zan said as he lifted himself up. Orca instantly vaulted himself into a standing position, but instantly fell to his backside. Was Zan that strong? Was Orca really so weak an takedown head first to the ground couldn't take out Zan? Orca's mind raced with questions as he looked up towards the kidnapper. "Take it easy. Your cause won, my cause lost." Zan dug into his pockets, and pulled out a switch blade. He stared at it for a moment, before tossing it to Orca. "I'm going to turn myself in," said Zan, his voice starting to slur. "Maybe it'll cut some slack for the others. Do me a favor and hang onto that for me until I get out... Thanks."

Orca watched in disbelief as Zan stumbled past Emily towards a shutter door, and with one arm, lifted it open. "I don't what that kid pulled, but it hurt like hell," Zan muttered to himself as he walked out.

Orca slowly stood up, this time able to shakily maintain his balance, and made his way over to Emily. "Hang on," he said as he knelt in front of her. He switched out the blade cut into various knots, yanking at them periodically to snap them apart. As he pulled the last knot out, he could hear quick foot steps behind him. Orca put the blade back inside it's switcher and stood to turn towards the two behind him.

Web and Souji looked back at Orca, scanning over each and every one of his wounds. Orca didn't bother to look at his band mates, their experienced bodies were nearly unphased by their fight.

Web mockingly held his nose. "I dunno what you been rolling in dirt boy, but I ain't letting whatever it was enter my nostrils!"

Orca let out a weak laugh. Either he was too tired argue with Web, or he actually found it funny, either way, the small portion of Orca's brain that was still functioning or normal was terrified at the involuntary laugh.

Orca's head turned slightly as he heard the rope drop and the sound of Emily standing entered his ear. It was a long few seconds that the stared at one another before Orca turned around completely. Web and Souji looked at one another before sighing and moving away. Emily smiled, and Orca would have done so as well, if the muscles in his face didn't hurt like hell. Emily had suddenly began to run towards Orca, who was confused in what to do and stood like a golem, which caused Web to roll his eyes.

Instinctively Orca's arms began to spread out, it was really the only thing he could think of...

Especially after Emily Shot right past him.

Orca had just stood there, 30 seconds of not moving could easily feel like an eternity. When he did turn towards Web and Souji, the two stared at he exit, Web's eyes bugging out, while Souji's were simply narrowed. Orca then looked the same direction they were, and instantly, a look of utter confusion was plastered on his face.

The sight of Emily hugging her driver tightly, was rather dumbfounding. Though, the more he thought about earlier events, the more it was obvious. The smiles Emily gave the driver, the driver's deadly looks towards Orca, the fact he was tied down instead of just being kicked out of the vehicle. To a average person, these wouldn't add up so obviously, but to Orca they were now clear as day.

Though he was still dumbstruck.

Web closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh how cruel the stars are, as the young cub finds his hopeful one true in the arms of another..." Web's eyes opened, and glared at Souji who seemed to ignore Web as he waved his hand in front of Orca.

"I think he passed out."

Web walked around Orca before staring at his blank face. "Pain and exhaustion? Or..."

"Former." There slight pause between the two. "Possibly a bit of the latter as well..."

Web scratched the back of his head, letting out a huff as he help Souji lift Orca. "Want to make a bet on how postal his parents will be when they see the state he's in?"

"That's pretty much a one-sided bet."

It had been at least an hour since the three had returned to the mansion, Orca's limp body clung onto Web's shoulders. Web's guess was confirmed by 50, when Orca's mother nearly went psychotic at Web as he struggled not to fall over with the young drummer while trying to endure the verbal onslaught. As if his mother's wrath was a wake up call, Orca slowly lowered himself from Web's shoulders, and slowly staggered up the mansion's stairs to his room, without saying but "out of one battle field into another."

Now Web and Souji were in another room, lavished with expensive and exotic items, much like just about every other room in the mansion. The two sat in large, white chairs, with a small, red wood coffee table directly in front of them. And behind the table, were Orca's parents, also sitting in large white chairs. They've been there for only two, possibly three minutes, but the dead silence between the four made it feel like a chess game that lasted at least an hour.

The silence was suddenly broken as an maid walked in with a tray holding four cups of tea. She set the tray down and bowed before exiting the room. Orca's father cleared his throat as he lifted his cup of tea. "I'm sure you're wondering why we asked you here," he said in his stern, yet monotone voice.

Souji opened his mouth to say something, but Web's quick wit interrupted the blue haired teen. "We have our assumptions," Web replied. He looked towards his blue-haired friend, his eyes silently telling Souji to hear the two out first. Souji hesitated, but gave a small nod in understanding.

"To be blunt, Roland is valuable to us. He is our son after all."

"If I were to judge by your choice of wording, I'd assume your 'son' was a rare item won off a auction," said Web as he placed his left cheek on his fist. The father's expression was short, but Souji saw the brief look of shock in his eyes.

Souji knew what was starting to play out. It was like a chess board, Orca's father being one color, and Web being the other. And judging by how the conversation suddenly took a sharp turn, Web had already put his opponent into check.

"Continuing... We feel that our son has been in quite a bit of danger as of late." Queen Takes Knight, out of Check.

"Meaning?"

"We feel Roland has grown irrational as of late," said the mother. Ouch, when did chess allow two on one?

"In other words, you feel we have been a bad influence," Web asked in a blunt tone, again, Orca's parents were surprised by Web's sharpness. Rook takes Queen.

"Anyhow," Orca's father started, "I know Roland was a part of your... Musical group. And we know it may take you some time to find an replacement..." Orca's father quietly dug into his shirt pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. He placed the paper on the tray and leaned back into his chair, staring directly towards Web. "I feel this should be an adequate reparation until you find another. Also, we'll be sure to leave the house in your names, or at least purchase you one of equal value."

Web leaned over and picked up the paper. Just by glancing by the numbers, it was a check with a rather large sum of money. It was as if the King was trying to bribe a Bishop to stay out of the fight. Web sighed, before holding his arm out and handing the check over to Souji, who mindlessly pulled a good two inches of his blade out of its protector and split the check in two without so much as glancing at the numbers.

"I think you confuse us with people who care more about money than a person's choice in what he does," Web stated as he and Souji stood. "If Orca wants to stick around with us, then by all means. We're not going to stop him." Web looked down at his wrist watch. "Wow. Wasted allot of time today. We should have packed and left at least an hour ago."

Web turned and left for his temporary room. Souji stayed for a second longer, but only to bow and follow his friend. "Check Mate," Souji asked in a low tone.

"They would have faired better in a game of checkers if you ask me..."

"Cold and calculating, even for you."

"Hey, you don't poke at a spider and not expect to be bitten. They should just be glad I'm not lethally venomous."

He could hear the old fashion clock's constant ticking. It was almost in sync with his constant desk tapping. The computer monitor's screen was still, aside from a small blinking black bar in the subject section of his email. Orca had already sent the email to his uncle, but he still continued to stare at the screen. He was an impulsive email, with an impulsive request, that was what probably bothered him about it. Or maybe it was the clear fact he was asking his uncle to use his connections, and lighten the sentencing for the men involved in the kidnapping. It may have been the fact that Orca had also convinced his loving uncle to see if he could purchased the lot the Shidarezakura was supposed to be built. It was going to not only be a direct defiance against his father, who was probably involved with the incident, but would also go after one of his business colleagues.

Orca pushed his hair back and walked over to the large window sill, his favorite spot in his room. He was lost in thought, so lost he hadn't notice the ice cold feel of a sealed, soda pumped can shot him up. Orca's head snapped towards the culprit, expecting to verbally admonish the impish Web.

... Yet instead was staring at a sitting Souji.

"You're pretty much out there right now," Souji said as he still held the can out. "Here, my hand's going numb from cold."

"Ah- Thanks," Orca weakly replied as he took the can.

Souji pulled out another can and popped it open the same Orca opened his. Aside from the near silent sound of the two downing half of their soda. The two sat in silence again, watching the pale night's sky turn darker by the second, the stars now illuminating the land. "So... What's on your mind?"

Orca turned to Souji, his eyes clearly so surprise. Souji's only reply was a monotone look that silently said, "not that hard to figure out."

Orca took a deep breath, then sighed as he looked out the window. "I don't get this lifestyle... It's nothing but greedy, cut throat business deals that are sure to destroy other people's lives. The kids I grew up with complained how hard their lives were, about how hard it is to find good servants, how tough it was to piss and moan at their parents to get them stuff they wanted."

Orca's head turned to Souji. "I really hated those people." Orca turned back to the window. Souji quirked an eyebrow, this being the first time he's ever heard Orca bluntly say he hated something. "My uncle..." Orca began to trail off.

"The one you said was dead," Souji asked, already guessing as to why Orca had stopped.

Orca nodded. "He's more of the adventurous type. He travels all over the place for the fun of it. Meeting new people to him, regardless weather or not they are rich or poor, is something he cherishes. My father was first born, so he inherited just about everything my grandparents left him. Even so, my uncle wouldn't have to work a day in his life with what he got, yet he still built a business of his own, and became wealthy in his own right. I'm kinda... No, really envious of him. He's not so bound to responsibilities, he has freedom. All I've been doing is trying to escape. Today was just another reminder of the thick black line that separates the job classes in this city."

Orca let out another sigh as he leaned his head back. "How much did they offer you?"

Souji huffed. "Not enough... By the way, I know you're still sore and all, but I think we should get out of here by tonight... Web... Kinda played with their egos... Your father in particular."

Orca lifted his head to look at Souji, his eyes narrow. "How badly?"

"Your dad was clearing his throat every sentence."

"I had to ask..."

Souji shrugged. "Look, not everything in this world is as black and white as we are forced to perceive. You yourself is a good example. You were born in a rich family, you can easily buy out people to lick your shoes. Yet you don't, you're as nice as they come, you don't use money as personal gain, but to help out others." Souji scratched his head, his words apparently only scratching at the surface of Orca, who was again staring out the window. "He'll even Webber's a decent example."

Orca gave Souji a long look. He could just see the question marks forming on a smaller version of Orca's head. Souji could only roll his eyes. "You've seen it yourself. He can act as irrational as they come, a loose cannon at the least, not to mention how he acts around just about any pretty girl in a short skirt walking by. But he's quick witted and wise, he's good at managing things, and can be far more rational than he chooses to be. Far, far more rational." Souji watched as Orca lowered his head, still trying to register the thought of Web being "rational."

"The point is, not everybody has the 'the richer the better you are' mindset. While most people here have obviously forgotten that, people like you haven't. And knowing you, you probably already set the pace to correct the wrongs."

"Wait... How did you- no, never mind," Orca muttered, already knowing the answer. He stared at his can, some time has passed since he list drank out of it, the liquid inside must have turned warm and flat. Even so, he tilted his head back and downed the last of his drink. There was a long pause of silence between the two.

"Something else bothering you?"

Orca looked towards Souji. Both knew what was still bothering Orca, but neither really wanted to say anything. Finally, Souji hummed for a second. "If you really love something, you know when to let it go."

Orca nodded, knowing the old quotation.

"I always hated that old saying."

That, was not expected.

"Sheeze," Souji muttered as his eyes narrowed and he turned his head towards the door. "Where is that grey-haired bone head when you need him...?" Orca's head tilted, in utter confusion. Why would Souji be looking for Web's advice? "He is far better experienced at this rejection stuff than I am..."

There was another pause, followed seconds later by small snickers, which turned into full out laughter. Orca held his sides, and could only take in short breaths of air.

"ACHOO!"

Web sniffed as he rubbed his nose and continued to shove the last box into the van. "Damn allergy season..."

NEXT EPISODE

Web: Shou! A whole week of shows without getting jumped, attacked, or over bearing parents trying to split us up! It's a miracle!

Orca: It's odd...

Souji: It's an omen...

Web: Party poopers! So our next show is in Varis' town festival eh? Guess we can chow down and party down with the locals. Hope there are some cute girls out there.

Orca: Oi... Guess I'll have to keep watch on him again... Hey... Where's Souji.

Clang!

Web: Two swords clashing... That's certainly an Omen...

Web and Orca: Next episode...

...

The Fangs and the Feathers...

Web: Orca, get the first aid kit, now!

Author's Note: I know, it's been quite some time since I've written, anything... The moment my college's semester started, it was all figure and perspective drawing for me. Sorry to keep any of my readers waiting. The hardest thing about this chapter was both the time breaks I've gone through the past months, and the length. The time breaks because there were points where I would stop writing, come back weeks later, and the whole setting idea of the chapter drastically change, and the length because I did not expect this chapter to be so lone. (literally, it's about 14-18 pages.) The other problem was Orca on his own. It's kinda hard to keep Orca's sweet and kind innocence, yet be able to say "ok, he's in my way, I'm gonna kick his ass." Web and Souji are no easy leaps, but Orca can be a really tough character at times.

Anyways, now that the semester is almost over, and I opted not to take summer classes, I can most likely get back to writing Sonic Fangs (and any other story idea I have) more often. See ya soon.