The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 17: There Will Be Bloodshed

"Over my rotten corpse," Sasha hissed through her teeth. Rojo smirked, his eyes stopping on Vao.

"... You're Vao, right? What a cutie."

Vao didn't like that compliment. It filled him with disgust. Rojo chuckled, continuing.

"Sadly, femboys aren't exactly my fetish," he stated. "Verde's little alcoholic boyfriend. Betcha feel real shitty, huh? Drinking in front of Verde, knowing about me. That's real scummy."

"Don't want to hear that from a nonce," Vao growled. "Besides, I don't drink in front of Verde. I take breath mints so she don't have to smell shit."

"How considerate... It's gonna be real hard on her, losing you." Rojo sighed, removing his hands from his pockets and shrugging his massive shoulders. "Well, I tried. Gave you a chance, spat in my face. Guess we'll do this my way, then."

Vao nudged Verde from behind, leaning back to whisper something to her. "Piss off, mate. Hide, and wait for us to finish this!"

Verde clutched his shirt tightly, looking up at him. Her lip was quivering.

"V-Vao... You can't beat him... H-he's going to kill you... Don't... D-don't do this!" She was begging him. But Vao pushed her away.

"We ain't gonna lose. There's three of us, only one of him. Plus, we have Sasha. Hide, now!"

Verde looked down, her vision blurry. She knew the truth about Rojo. About his Semblance. She knew this would be the last time she saw them alive. For the final time, she wrapped her arms around Vao, catching him off guard. Shaking, she squeezed him as tight as she could before letting him go and sprinting into an alley. Rojo cracked his neck, his smile stretching into a malevolent smirk. His foot raised high into the air - and cracked the pavement underneath his heel.

"What the hell!?" Y/N shouted. He had no time to think about it. Rojo was already charging at them. In the blink of an eye, he was already standing in front of Y/N with his fist in full swing.

CRACK!

Y/N felt his feet leave the ground as he was sent flying. Bouncing across the road, he could hear the screams of bystanders, who watched in horror as the fight began. The katana-wielder rolled to his knees, touching his mouth. His teeth were missing, and he was bleeding. He focused his Semblance, turning back to the battle.

Vao was swinging is axe at Rojo, screaming a slew of insults.

"Stay fucking still, you nonce! I'm going to cripple you, fucking cun-" Vao stopped when Rojo stepped forward, closing the gap between them and grabbing his weapon by the handle. Rojo brought his knee into Vao's gut, elbowed him in the face, and finally kicked him across the street and into the wall of a building. Y/N was finally beginning to understand why Ironwood told them not to fight him - Rojo was a master at combat. With decades of experience, and military training, their chances of beating him down were slim to none. But that didn't matter to Y/N, nor Vao or Sasha. They had to protect Verde, even if it killed them. Gripping the handle of his katana, he drew it. The blade glinted in the sun as he dashed forward, joining Sasha as she swung her scimitar.

Rojo laughed as he ducked and weaved, not even breaking a sweat. He even started insulting them.

"This is the next line of Hunters! What a fuckin' joke!" He shouted. He shoved Y/N to the ground, turning his attention to Sasha. The giantess screamed in fury, her veins beginning to grow until they looked like they were about to explode. She was activating her Semblance, enhancing her strength tenfold. She swung her weapon, Rojo stepping off to the side as the blade cracked the ground where he once stood. Squaring his shoulders, he punched Sasha in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.