chapter 2: “Reservoir Dogs”

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Neon Lies and Digital Chains

Kansai never slept.

Its holographic billboards flickered endlessly, broadcasting government warnings and propaganda, masking the blood that ran beneath the city’s neon glow.

Somewhere above the slums, a wanted poster refreshed on a colossal screen. A new face appeared alongside the most feared criminals of the underworld.

Swindler – Status: Akudama – Bounty: Pending Evaluation.

She wasn’t a criminal. She wasn’t dangerous.

But now the whole city believed she was.

And that was all that mattered.

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The Mission That Never Ends

The black cat sat motionless on a steel crate, its eyes glowing in the dim light of an abandoned warehouse. The room was filled with Akudama, fresh from their prison break—bloodied, bruised, but alive.

Courier leaned against his motorcycle, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

Brawler laughed, flexing his fists, still high off the thrill of combat.

Doctor checked her nails, unimpressed. Hacker adjusted his goggles.

Cutthroat stared at Swindler, his lips curled in a permanent, eerie smile.

And Hoodlum… well, Hoodlum was just trying not to die.

The cat’s voice crackled through unseen speakers, smooth and emotionless.

“Mission complete. Cutthroat is free. But your real job begins now.”

The silence was thick. Tension buzzed through the air.

“Real job?” Brawler scoffed. “You mean that was a warm-up?”

The cat blinked.

“In three days, you will infiltrate the Kansai Central Bank and steal an item from its vault.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Brawler let out a booming laugh.

“A BANK ROBBERY? HELL YEAH!”

Doctor smirked. “Not a bad job. A little cliché, but I do love a challenge.”

Hacker’s fingers twitched with interest. “Their security is top-tier. Should be fun.”

Courier remained silent. No job was too big for him. If there was a delivery, he would make it happen.

Swindler?

She wanted to run.

But the collar around her neck blinked, reminding her of the explosive reality of her situation.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

The mission was set.

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Executioners on the Hunt

Across the city, the Execution Bureau was in chaos.

The prison attack had been an unprecedented disaster.

Master sat at the control desk, watching security footage of the Akudama massacre. His expression didn’t change, his posture still, his breathing calm.

But his eyes burned with something cold and lethal.

Beside him, his apprentice—Pupil—fidgeted. Young, eager, and desperate to prove herself.

“We need to mobilize,” she said, barely containing her anger. “They’re out there laughing at us!”

Master finally spoke.

“We don’t chase criminals.”

His voice was smooth. Heavy. Unshaken.

“We eradicate them.”

Pupil clenched her fists.

“Then let me handle this.”

Master finally turned to look at her. Studied her.

A long pause.

“…Fine.”

She didn’t hesitate.

In the next hour, the streets of Kansai would bleed.

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The Akudama’s Night Out

It should have been simple. Three days to prepare. Three days to survive.

But Akudama didn’t do “simple.”

Hoodlum, eager to act like he belonged, suggested they celebrate their successful prison break with a night out.

To his surprise, Brawler and Cutthroat agreed immediately.

“Can’t fight on an empty stomach!” Brawler grinned.

“Ooooh, I like food,” Cutthroat giggled. “Red food. Bloody food.”

Doctor rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. “Fine. As long as someone else pays.”

Swindler?

She wanted no part of it.

But she was already in too deep.

So they walked the streets of Kansai like they weren’t some of the most wanted criminals in the city, neon lights casting their shadows long and distorted.

It was a terrible idea.

They did it anyway.

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Blood and Takoyaki

The food stalls of Kansai were crowded. People drank. Laughed. Pretended the world wasn’t a dying husk of steel and control.

Swindler clung to the illusion.

She sat quietly, watching Brawler inhale his twelfth skewer of grilled meat.

Cutthroat licked Takoyaki sauce off his fingers, eyes twinkling like a child at a birthday party.

Doctor sipped sake. Hacker typed away on his portable console.

Courier, of course, refused to sit. He was always on the move.

And Hoodlum?

He was running his mouth.

“We’re untouchable, y’know,” he boasted, waving his drink. “Kansai’s biggest dogs now! The Executioners don’t stand a—”

The neon lights above them flickered.

The air grew heavy.

And then the Executioners arrived.

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A Hunt in the Dark

The first bullet missed by inches.

A spray of Takoyaki sauce splattered against the wall as Swindler ducked instinctively, her heart hammering against her ribs.

The second shot wasn’t a bullet—it was a blade.

It tore through the table, splitting it in half.

Then she saw them.

Executioners.

Two of them.

One was a girl with fiery eyes and an eager stance.

The other—a shadow at her back.

Pupil grinned.

“Found you.”

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The Fight Begins

Brawler was the first to react.

He moved like lightning, his fist colliding with Pupil’s sword. Steel met flesh.

And the steel lost.

The sheer force of the impact sent shockwaves through the street, cracking pavement, knocking over food stalls.

Pupil stumbled, her expression flickering between shock and exhilaration.

“…Finally,” she whispered, licking her lips. “A real fight.”

Master remained still, watching. Calculating. Waiting.

Then he moved.

He didn’t sprint.

He glided.

And in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Courier.

The motorcycle engine roared, but Master’s blade was faster.

Courier barely dodged. The tip of the Executioner’s blade grazed his shoulder.

A single cut.

Deep. Precise. Intentional.

Master was testing them.

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Swindler Runs

She couldn’t breathe.

This was too much.

The mission. The Akudama. The Executioners.

She needed to get out.

So she did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Dodging the debris. Weaving between bodies.

Her lungs burned. Her legs screamed. But she kept running.

And then—a hand grabbed her wrist.

She spun around, heart pounding.

It was Cutthroat.

His red eyes glowed under the neon haze.

His smile wasn’t human.

“You almost left me behind,” he whispered.

His grip tightened.

“…Don’t do that again.”

Swindler couldn’t speak.

Because in that moment, she realized something terrifying.

Cutthroat wasn’t protecting her.

He was claiming her.

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The Fight Ends, But the War Begins

The battle didn’t end in victory.

It ended in retreat.

Master and Pupil didn’t pursue.

They didn’t have to.

They had learned enough.

Master wiped his blade, his face unreadable.

Pupil—panting, bruised, but thrilled—grinned.

“They’re strong,” she admitted.

Master nodded. “They won’t last.”

She smirked.

“Want to bet?”

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The Job Ahead

The Akudama escaped, but the night had changed everything.

Swindler knew she wasn’t getting out of this alive.

Not unless she became something else.

Something stronger.

Something dangerous.

The heist was in two days.

And the Executioners would be waiting.

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To Be Continued…

The streets of Kansai were restless.

The neon signs flickered.

The countdown to the biggest job in history had begun.

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