angel

In other words! Texas put her own salary on the line to rush back over here, so don't blame her, Boss.

Texas, what'cha got?

You gonna let the girls leave you their messes to clean up like that?

Sigh...

It's whatever.

Ugh. Lame.

Because I'm so magnanimous, I won't make a fuss over y'all being slower than a bad dump. Now, where's my stuff?

Right here.

Now we're talkin'! Yo Exu, I need my chair and those fancy electric specs!

Coming right up, Boss!

What'd you get this time? Huh... This box is pretty heavy. Some kind of machinery?

Oh! I think that logo and the controller shape's givin' me a clue...

That's gotta be the thingy majigger what's all sold outta the markets... some last-generation vidja games console? I heard some rich folks have been buyin' 'em up, top dollar.

Heh, games. Who's to say that life ain't just one big game?

Texas, hook it up.

This line here?

Woah, we got a picture!

Hrmm, oh? Looks like a side-scrolling racing game... direction keys, accelerator...

And then, what's this button here? Is this supposed to be a bomb?

T'ain't no bomb. Looks a bit more like...

An Originium rocket launcher.

I knew it!

Wait a minute, ain't this one of them games, the kind where you dodge obstacles and whatnot 'til you get to the end? Why'd they put in a Originium rocket launcher...?

You damned fool! Like hiding and dodging is the only way to reach the end?

I get it now, you can just charge forward in a straight line and send anything in your way packing! Now that's the kind of game I like, nice and simple rules.

Looks like the controls are working just fine. And I think it's even got a two-player mode!

Say, Boss, wanna give it a shot?

You challengin' me to a match? What's the fun in playin' a game you know you'll win?

Texas, you're up.

Sigh...

I know.

Great, I got full ammo. Watch this!

You went and blew up all them buildings in yer way. Sounds about right fer you, actually...

Hahaha! What's wrong with taking down a building or two? I'm gonna win this round for sure!

...You're wide open!

(Fires an explosive at the opposite lane)

Whoa!

They let'cha shoot at the other player's lane?!

Nobody said you can't.

Indeed, nobody said you can't. But if you're gonna pull that trick on me, don't blame me for what happens next...

As they say, an eye for an eye! What goes around, comes around! Dodge this if you can, I'm gonna blow you away!

Wh-What the heck, you'n just go and shoot the other car too?!

Nobody said you can't, right? Hehe, I'm going for the gold, baby!

Hm? Somebody at the door.

Good afternoon, everyone.

What are you playing? All the yelling and screaming spooked me at the door.

Well, if it ain't Sora! C'mon in, take a seat. Exusiai and Texas're playin' vidja games. Baws got his flippers on an old game console, and he's lettin' us have first go at it.

Wanna play?

Video games? I think I'll pass, I'm no good at those.

Oh, by the way, I grabbed the mail on my way in. Are you sure you can keep this up? There's a whole mountain of bills this month...

And one more thing... here, there's something for you, Exusiai.

Mail, for me? Wonder if it's a bill, or a challenge.

Ehh, I'm sure it's not the diploma that the school was supposed to reissue, right...?

Whassat? You never got yer graduation diploma?

Of course I got it!

It's just, uh, the last time I got in a fight with the gang, I accidentally burnt it all along with the fake bank notes and the fake diploma the Boss made us.

I even reminded you.

Did you now? Sorry, I don't seem to remember that at all!

That does sound like something you'd do.

But this letter looks like a pretty ordinary, personal letter. It probably isn't any of the things you just listed off...

Hard to say.

Hey, Croissant, here's the controller. Take my spot for a bit.

Can do!

Hmm, let's take a look.

...Huh, it's from my sister..

Now that I think about it, I did run into a Laterano Messenger earlier today.

Woah, if she wrote this whole thick stack of stuff, she must really be worried sick...

Exusiai's sister?

Wait, hold on a second, why do I seem to recall that your sister was in some kind of accident...? Isn't that why you came all the way to Lungmen looking for Mostima?

Hm? That sounds right to me.

My sister was in an accident a number of years back, and ended up in a deep coma, in the hospital for a long time...

Then...

But, she had already woken up by the time I left Laterano!

Huh? What's wrong, Sora? Why do you look like you just saw the Boss gyrating while singing some sappy love song?

Huh?!

Where'd you get that overly specific example from anyway? My eyes already hurt just thinking about it!

Uhh... nothing, don't mind me. It's just, I sometimes feel stupid for genuinely worrying about you...

Ah, lemme guess... You didn't happen to misunderstand something before, did you?

Uh...

Huh, really? You serious?

Though my sister did have some pretty severe injuries, she's been gradually recovering. Otherwise, how could I just ditch her and run around the world?!

You do have a point.

Right?

Well, I can't blame you for misunderstanding. After all, things did look pretty dicey back then.

And I thought someone like her never could've gotten hurt like that. But there she was, her bloodied, unconscious body...

B-Bloody?!

Yeah, things got way crazier that time than what we normally get into.

I always thought I was a pretty brave girl, but I clearly remember being scared into a cold sweat. Just thinking about it now still makes my hands shake.

Not even kidding. At the time, I hadn't sorted things through in my head, and I nearly jumped into a fight with the one who brought my sister back.

I can imagine...

But, that person you just mentioned... was that Mostima?

Bingo, the very same. After bringing my sister back, she immediately disappeared to Lord-knows-where.

Even after my sister regained consciousness, she wouldn't tell me what happened...

How could I go on without knowing the whole story?

So basically, I just wanted to find out what happened. I chased Mostima all the way from Laterano to Lungmen, and that's when I met the Boss.

Um, how do I put it... So it's like...

That whole thing with you joining up, plus the fact that you always try to cut the conversation short every time Mostima's name comes up, I just assumed you had some bad blood with her.

If we're talking about how Mostima always dragged my sister into working overtime, and how many times that ended with me getting stood up, then yeah, we do have some bad blood.

Huh? You knew each other as kids?

Hmm... Darn it, I can't paint a mental picture of your sister at all.