Chapter 8: The Ballad Of Loubouton

Loubouton (Narrating): I was walking through the neighborhood to get back home from school and I took a quick look at my neighbor's fence door that was cracked open. I saw strange movements through the opening so I walked closer to take a look. I eventually peeked through the crack. I was horrified to see my own father tearing my neighbor limb from limb.

Dolche (Narrating): Jeez...

Loubouton (Narrating): I had to sneak away quietly so I could get away. Once I was far away enough, I bolted home. Eventually, my father came back home and I had to pretend as if nothing ever happened but a part of me felt like he knew that I saw him. I thought about everything that happened that day and I decided that I was gonna follow him later that night.

Dolche (Narrating): What made you want to follow him to wherever he goes at late hours?

Loubouton (Narrating): The way he casually killed someone in broad daylight led me to believe it had something to do with where he goes during the night. So I devised a plan that would help me follow him without getting caught. Step 1: I set up a cassette player and recorded snoring so I could play it later. Step 2: Stuff my bed sheet with extra pillows to act as a decoy. Step 3: Sneak out of the window and hop into the trunk of his car. I held the trunk door very slightly open so I could get out when I needed to.

Dolche (Narrating): Did it work?

Loubouton (Narrating): *Chuckles* I thought I wouldn't pull it off but it worked. He got in the car and drove off like everything was normal. We drove for about 10 minutes until we finally stopped. I heard him close the car door and walk somewhere. I quietly opened the trunk door to peek out of the car and I saw him walk into a bar. I waited a couple minutes before going in myself. To my surprise, the bar was completely empty. I looked everywhere around the place but I couldn't find anything. Eventually, I gave up my search. I wanted to go take some alcohol that was behind the counter on the shelf because I thought it'd be cool to show my friends at school.

Loubouton (Past): Everyone's gonna think I'm so cool!

Loubouton (Narrating): I hopped over the counter to grab the first bottle I could see. When I landed back on the floor, I heard a strange thump below my feet. When I looked down, I saw a wooden hatch that blended in with the floor. I hesitated before I pulled up on the handle.

Loubouton (Past): What's this? Is my dad in there?

*Creakkkk*

Past Loubouton opened the hatch and walked down the long set of stairs.

Loubouton (Past): This might be one of those sex dungeons my friends talked about that one day. I might see some boobies! Or even lose my virginity! Awesome!

Loubouton (Narrating): I kid you not, my dumb ass thought I was going to a sex dungeon. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a door in front of me.

Loubouton (Past): Ladies, here I come!

Loubouton (Narrating): I opened the door and surprise surprise, it wasn't a sex dungeon. It was a lair full of hitmen walking around and some were carrying papers. I looked a little to my right and immediately noticed my dad.

Dad (Past): Lou!? What are you doing here!?

Loubouton (Past): Dad, I-

??? (Past): Hey, get that kid!

??? (Past): On it!

Dad (Past): Wait!

*SLASH!*

Loubouton (Narrating): *Points to eyes* One of the guys jumped in front of me, pulled 2 knives from his pockets, and sliced both of my eyes. Surprised my ass can still see.

Dad (Past): Damn it! That's my son!

??? (Past): Shit, man! I'm sorry!

Loubouton (Past): *Hyperventilating*

Dad (Past): It's fine. Come on, Lou!

Loubouton (Narrating): He took me right outside of the room and closed the door behind me. He sat me down on one of the stairs and explained it all to me.

Dad (Past): Lou, what were you thinking!? Why'd you follow me!?

Loubouton (Past): I-I just wanted to see where you always go at night.

Dad (Past): I avoided telling you that for a reason, Lou! You could've gotten killed!

Loubouton (Past): I know what you told me and I was going to move past it. But I felt like I had to investigate after I saw...

Dad (Past): Ah, I see now.

Loubouton (Past): What?

Dad (Past): I knew you saw me kill Mr. Towns. I caught a glimpse of you running away. You know, if I didn't see you run away, I would've never thought you'd seen anything in the first place. You're a good actor. I don't know how you managed to follow me but you did a good job.

Loubouton (Past): So what's really going on?

Dad (Past): What you ran into was an organization of hitmen.

Loubouton (Past): Hitmen?

Dad (Past): We get paid to kill people, Lou. Our nice house, clothes, wonderful food, everything, was bought with death money. I'm able to do such a job because I haven't cared for anyone outside of our family ever since your mother passed away.

Loubouton (Past): Oh... Well, who runs the organization?

Dad (Past): It's an entire hierarchy, son. We work under a lady who runs our division. But she works under another person who operates the entire network of hitmen. They are under the person who controls everything illegal in the world. The thing is, nobody knows who sits at the top of the ladder. It's a dangerous world out here, Lou, know exactly where you want to stand.

Loubouton (Past): I actually think that's cool, dad!

Dad (Past): That's... not the reaction I expected.

Loubouton (Past): I wanna be at the top! Let me in the organization, dad, please!

Dad (Past): Hell no! You're still a kid!

Loubouton (Past): But dad, I don't have a problem with killing people for money. I should start making money this young anyway.

Dad (Past): I like the thought but I'm not doing it.

Loubouton (Past): If you don't let me in, I'll tell the police.

Dad (Past): *Chuckles* I'll kill you if I have to, son.

Loubouton (Narrating): My dad looked me dead in my eyes and threaten to murder his own son. Crazy, huh? But I was a stubborn kid so I gave my dad a serious look right back.

Loubouton (Past): Go for it.

*Pause*

Dad (Past): *Sigh* I admit it, you've got the spirit. *Smiles* If you work hard, I'll get you in by your first year of high school.

Loubouton (Past): Really, dad!? Thanks!

Dad (Past): Yeah yeah... Come on, I'll take you back home.

Loubouton (Past): Alright!

Loubouton (Narrating): From then on, I worked my ass off and by high school, I was taking lives for dimes. I worked myself up all the way up until now. I went from a stubborn kid to finally reaching the apex of the hierarchy.

*Flashback ends*

Loubouton: You see, Dolche, in any social structure, there's always a bigger fish. Whether it's law, religion, or economy, someone's always above another person, whether you know it or not. Your goal in this life; to be the biggest fish. The one at the end of the cycle. Only then, will you truly be at the top. And getting to the top is half the battle! But that's a story for later.

Dolche: *Claps* That was beautiful, man!

Loubouton: *Chuckles* You're really something, Dolche.

Dolche gets up and walks towards the door he came in.

Dolche: Good night, Loubouton!

Loubouton: Alright, I'll see you tomorrow.

Dolche leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

Loubouton: *Sighs* Hopefully, he'll be able to survive the "Artificial". Oh! I still gotta call "Val" about the animals. They'll be essential for next week...

Later that night...

*SLASH* *SLASH* SLASH*

Dionte cackles in his backyard as he slashes his entire body with the same pocket knife he first cut himself with before.

Dionte: *Laughs* One day! One day! One day! The day I see them, I can finally do it! HAHA! I can't wait!

He continues to laugh as he stares up at the moon.

Dionte: You can't run away from me!

The next day...

It is currently Friday, March 24th at 3:58pm.

The 6 office workers are discussing something at a table.

#6: Guys! I just got word that all of the tournament invitations were sent out!

#2: Looks like we're done here!

#4: What about those who don't show up?

#6: Don't worry, we're stacked up on backup fighters.

#3: Then that's it.

#1: Our job here is done!

#5: Hey, #6, do you think we could... go out for dinner?

#6: B-But I'm a guy. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner...

#5 grabs #6 by his shoulders.

#5: It doesn't matter, 6, I still wanna be closer to you!

#6: *Smiles* Then it's a date!

Everyone else in the room applauds as 5 and 6 embrace each other.

Currently, Morgan, Felisha's mom, is fixing the kitchen sink.

Morgan: Felisha! Can you get the mail? There should be a package for me!

Felisha: Yeah, I got it!

Felisha comes running downstairs and walks out of the house to the mailbox. She opens the mailbox and pulls out her mom's package along with some other mail. Felisha walks back in the house and spreads the mail over the kitchen table. She instantly notices the envelope with her name written in bold, graphic font on the front.

Felisha: What's this?

Morgan: Hey, was my stuff in the mail?

Felisha: Y-Yeah.

Morgan: Okay, thanks.

Felisha: No problem.

Felisha rushes to her room with the envelope and sits down on the bed. She flips it over to take off the stamp with a design of the Earth. She pulls out a letter and points her eyes towards a small picture of her face in the bottom right corner. Then, she begins to read what's on the letter.

Felisha: "TOTWA, Tournament Of The World Association. All 75 fighters for the tournament have been selected. Felisha, our observers have recognized your offensive capabilities and therefore, you've been selected to fight in the very first Tournament Of The World. If you can assemble a team of 4 other fighters and win the tournament, you and your team will be granted supreme authority over everyone on Earth. The participation prize is set at $100,000,000. This tournament is completely optional and you won't be forced to fight. If you decide to fight, on July 5th, go to the nearest airport and show a worker your special pass. They'll board you on a plane that will fly you to Peru for the first day of the tournament. Additional information will be given at Estadio Monumental "U". For now, good luck, and train hard." I gotta talk to Jahruno and Dionte about this!

Jahruno can be seen in his living room hanging up his new scythe he got from the weapon shop on his wall.

Jahruno: Perfect!

*Knock* Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

There's someone at Jahruno's door.

Jahruno: Who's that?

He opened the door to Felisha holding up a similar envelope with Jahruno's name on it.

Felisha: You got one too...

Jahruno: You went through my mail? What is it?

Felisha: It's an invitation for this tournament. I got mine earlier.

Jahruno: Nice! You got invited too!

Felisha: Wait, you knew about this already?

Jahruno: Yeah, my trainer told me after he "tested my abilities" the day I got suspended from school. I learned I was selected prior to the invites being sent out.

Felisha: So am I gonna be tested too?

Jahruno: Not sure.

Felisha: Well, come on. We gotta talk to Dionte about this.

Jahruno: Oh yeah, I also told him I was selected.

Felisha: He knew about the tournament too?

Jahruno: Yeah... Hehe...

Felisha: Whatever... Let's go see Dionte.

Jahruno: Alright.

Dionte is still laying down in his backyard, covered in scars. He wakes up to the sun beaming directly upon him.

Dionte: Sheesh, what happened last night?

*Ring!*

He hears his doorbell ring from the backyard.

Dionte: Coming!

He hurries to grab a long sleeved shirt and quickly opens the door to see Jahruno and Felisha holding their tournament invites.

Dionte: Oh, it's you guys. What's going on?

Jahruno: You won't believe this. You know that tournament I told you about?

Dionte: Yeah. What about it?

Felisha holds up her invitation and Jahruno holds up his and Dionte's.

Jahruno: *Smiles* We all got invited!

Dionte: *Smiles* Alright! That's what the fuck I'm talkin' about!

Felisha: You guys actually wanna fight in this thing?

Jahruno & Dionte: Hell yeah!

Felisha: Why???

Jahruno: Mainly, so we can change the world.

Dionte: Plus, I have a few personal things I need to take care of.

Felisha: Well the participation prize is $100,000,000 so I guess I'll fight. All 3 of us could be a team.

Jahruno: Perfect!

Dionte: Then we're all ready!

Felisha: Yeah, whatever. You guys better train hard!

Jahruno: I'm going down south to train tomorrow.

Dionte: And you know we always go hard at Rocky's, Felisha.

Felisha: You're right. Let's do this shit!

Jahruno & Dionte: Yeah!

At Mariya's house, Freddy, her dad, is going through mail at the kitchen counter. He sees a tournament invitation with Mariya's name on it.

Freddy: Mariya! There's something in the mail for you!

No response.

Freddy: Mariya!

Still no response.

He decides to walk upstairs and go to Mariya's room. He opens the door and sees Mariya fast asleep. Freddy quietly sets the envelope on the nightstand and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Warui is painting in a room.

*RINGGG*

His phone rings and he stops painting.

Warui: Hello?

???: One more day... You still bringing that Jahruno kid through?

Warui: Yeah. What is it with you guys and Jahruno anyway? You suggested he get the special test and now you want him to train at Benbow Crescent? What's going on?

???: Don't worry, you'll know when it happens.

Warui: *Chuckles* You guys are so weird. Alright, I'll catch y'all later.

*Hangs up*

Warui: I just know they know something I don't! And damn it, I'll figure it out!

Four unknown figures in four separate locations can be seen holding tournament invites.

The first figure picked up the invite that said "Shishiei" on the front. They opened it.

???: Wow, who would've thought I'd be selected for something this important?

The second figure's invite said "Giovanni". They also opened it.

???: *Scoffs* Well, of course they would pick me for a major event like this.

The third figure's invite said "2nd Pick: Yubo Yamagishi". They opened the invite in excitement.

???: No way! I can't believe I made it! This is gonna be so fun!

The fourth and final figure picked up their invite that said "1st Pick: Hasuke Bando". They laughed as they opened the invite.

???: Finally, now I can get what I truly desire from this world...

That same night, Dionte goes to his backyard and stares at the moon once again. Holding his knife, he lifts up his hand.

Just as he's about to cut himself, a mysterious hand grabs his arm from behind.

???: My poor baby, please don't do this to yourself.

Dionte: M-Mom?

Mom: Look at all these cuts...

Dionte: Mom!

They hug each other tightly as Dionte sobs on her shoulder.

Mom: There there... It'll be okay... *Pause* Our relatives will be traveling here for your father's funeral. In the past, he told me to only allow people in the family to attend so unfortunately, your friends can't come.

Dionte: I see... *Sniffs*  I'll let them know.

Mother: Alright. Let's get you inside, okay? You can't keep cutting yourself like that.

Dionte: Yes ma'am.

In a dark room, multiple small candles are lit up in roman numerals "XXI". Around the candles are Ravenno and the other 4 Guelfos, silently praying. Loubouton watches them from the corner of the room.

*DING*

A timer sounds. Ravenno blows out all of the candles and everyone stands up.

Ravenno: Hey, Loubouton, I was wondering something.

Loubouton: What's up?

Ravenno: How do you know about "Joshua Bando" anyway? Those texts are ancient.

Loubouton: Since I've gotten to where I am in the world, I wanted to study religions all around Earth. That's when I got my hands on "The Book Of Bando".

Ravenno: How so? There's only 21 copies in the world.

Loubouton: *Snickers* After we first met, can you really be surprised at how I do anything?

Ravenno: Guess not.

Loubouton walks towards the door.

Loubouton: That was my first time seeing someone pray like that. Thanks for the experience.

Ravenno: Yeah, don't mention it. Oh! One more thing!

Loubouton: Hm?

Ravenno: When we finally take over, what are we gonna do about Hasuke Bando?

Loubouton: Don't worry, we'll take care of him just fine. He won't be harmed.

Ravenno: Alright, thank you.

Loubouton: Any time. Good night.

Ravenno: Good night.

Loubouton leaves the room and goes back to his suite.

*RINGGG!*

The phone on his desk rings. He quickly answers it.

Loubouton: What's up?

???: We got the animals ready. They're being transported to you right now and they should be there by Sunday.

Loubouton: That's perfect! What's comin' in the package, Val?

Val: You wanted 4 gorillas, 4 eagles, 4 bulls, 4 lions, and 1 Griffin, is that correct?

Loubouton: All of them are big as hell, right?

Val: Literal giants, Lou.

Loubouton: Great!

Val: You didn't mention Jahruno's last name did you?

Loubouton: Of course not. I can't let them know he's my main target.

Val: Good, because not only will they turn on you, but Dolche's gang too.

Loubouton: Yeah we can't have that...

Val: You're already stacked on the "Artificials" right?

Loubouton: Yeah, I count them every night.

Val: Then you're on your own from this point forward. We'll meet you at the end of the invasion.

Loubouton: Got it. I'll see you on the other side, (mockingly) my love!

Val: *Laughs* Damn it, man!

Val hangs up and Loubouton sets his phone down.

Loubouton: Haha! I'm so excited for this!

Meanwhile, in Jahruno's bedroom, Mariya furiously grows into a beast and undresses. Jahruno lays down in bed and watches with a smile.

Mariya: Are you fucking ready!?

Jahruno: Oh hell yeah... Come on!

Mariya immediately tackles Jahruno. (Yes, this is another sex scene that I won't describe. Visualize it how you want lmao.)

The next morning... On Saturday, March 25th at 11:37am.

Jahruno packs a bag full of many essentials for his trip in the living room. Mariya watches him on the couch.

Mariya: So, you're leaving to train for the tournament?

Jahruno: That's right. I gotta go all the way south.

Mariya: How long are you gonna be gone for?

Jahruno: Not sure. *Smiles* But don't worry, I'll visit every once in a while.

Mariya: *Smiles* I'll be waiting!

Jahruno zips up his bag and they both walk out of the door.

Mariya: Hold on, I'll be right back. I gotta use the bathroom.

Jahruno: Alright, I'll wait by the car for you.

Mariya hurries to the bathroom.

Jahruno loads his stuff in the back seat and closes the door. He walks to the other side and stands by the door next to the driver's seat.

Suddenly, Dionte and Felisha walk up to Jahruno, arm to arm.

Jahruno: Hey, guys! Uh, why are you standing like that?

Dionte: It's a surprise!

Felisha: We thought you'd want to see her before you go down south!

Jahruno: See who? What's going on?

Dionte and Felisha step aside from each other and reveal that Mrs. Hieri, Dionte's mom was standing behind them.

Mrs. Hieri: *Smiles* Guess who's back from the hospital.

Jahruno: M-Mrs. Hieri???

-Chapter 8 End-