author's Note: Hello Lads and Ladies

An era is soon coming to an end. I am currently in the process of typing up Chapter 26, chapter 27, 28 and maybe if the scenes are that elaborate, chapter 29 will be the epilogue chapters. Chapter 30 will be the authors addendum. Great time, you guys enjoy reading.

Song Rec: Komm Suesser Tod - End of Evangelion
When Legosi Reaches Home.

Edited by: SuperAverageFoxyboy, The Dude who likes Tanks
Enjoy!
-Portal

They opened the outside door with their hands raised, Carol and Legosi helping hold Juno up. The parking lot gate was blocked by two tanks standing with their guns aimed at the facility. Another was standing further up the road serving as backup. Even now the government was shit scared of the actual offensive capability that Omnivora could theoretically hold.

The soldiers at the edge of the tarmac looked about in confusion when they saw the young Beastars among the group.

"Identify yourself!" The major shouted. Although harboring quite a few muscles under his feathers, he was still a smaller-than-average eagle standing at the end of the lineup.

The group stood quietly for a moment, all without any inkling what their justification for being here was.

"Good samaritans, " Tokugawa said.

"We tried to save as many as we could. We were too late..."

The soldiers looked them up and down and the major adjusted his cap upwards and eyed the cougar.

"Why is a mob boss playing good samaritan?"

Tokugawa chuckled with little breath and looked off into the distance, weighing the options of the proceeding.

"How much does Yahya shell out for this operation? 200 thousand yen per soldier sent?"

The lineup's eyes widened. The major's face contorted into an angry sneer.

"What are you implying you criminal scum! That we are corrupt?! Preposterous!"

"Oh, I'm not implying." Tokugawa chuckled again.

"Me and my business partners bought protection from the Self-Defence Force quite a lot over the years and we also know that government wages are dirt cheap. Even if Yahya is offering you double your usual salary, double of nothing is still nothing." Tokugawa paused for a moment to gauge the reactions of the group.

Looks of uncertainty, that hint of shame, and that smell in the air of stress sweat. The first responder when nervous, the body's natural defense.

Jackpot

"A million each and you take your tanks back up the road to your secret depot in Kaminokawa."

Now the nervousness turned into shock and straight fear. Tokugawa smiled slyly and took a step forward, motioning for the others to follow.

"You really gonna pass up a life-changing amount of money simply because it's wrong? You've done much worse for the Sublime Beastars. So go on, go. Take the cash and renovate your parent's house, get married, and live full lives."

They remained affixed to their posts still and Tokugawa looked at them all disapprovingly.

"I know for a fact that all of you take bribes; I also know that the bribes coming from state officials themselves are so extraordinarily lackluster that most soldiers jump at the chance for an actual payday. Are you really going to pretend that morals are a concern now? None of you care as long as you get paid. Your major here." Tokugawa pointed at the Eagle and his eyes widened.

"No Tokugawa, please."

"Oh yes, Major Katai. Your major took bribes and allowed for truckloads of livestock slaves to be smuggled across the border during the less enlightened times. And I know that several of you worked under him at the time. I even know that some of you found out and didn't do anything because the pay was that good. Are you really going to pretend you are morally superior now? Take the bribe and go back! Don't defend someone who, in all honesty, doesn't care about any of you."

Another fifteen seconds or so of completely standing still before the ground shook as the tanks began turning around for the highway up north. A few moments after the first tank had left the soldiers walked back to their vehicles. Two or so minutes later the entire street was empty.

"Lay her down over here." Tokugawa walked over to the gatehouse and motioned for them to lay Juno against the wall.

"Extract the bullet and then bandage her up, we got to talk shop now." He turned away from Carol and rested his hands on his waists.

"What comes next is an important question that needs to be answered. Edobutsu's citizenship is still firmly on the side of Yahya. If Omnivora is half as smart as they acted since they might be open for a deal."

"You call bombs smart?" Said Bill while looking straight up at Tokugawa.

"If you believe that everyone is out to get you then there is no such thing as a civilian. The only goal then is destruction." Tokugawa finished speaking and took a look at the group.

"Well, now it's your political expertise that's of use, Louis."

"I.. can't think of anything. I'm a wanted criminal, there's nothing I can do... and I have no idea how to get them on my side..." Louis's eyes gazed off into the distance left barren of hope.

"Here they come," said Tokugawa and the rest looked at the clinic.

The rest of Omnivora carried their incapacitated friends and brethren and at the front walked Zass with Melon in his arms. They looked cautiously up the road and then some of the brows furrowed.

"Was this a fucking trick all along!"

"The fact that you believed us is testament enough that you know this is a losing fight. Be silent and come on, none of us are fighting you." Tokugawa's voice was dry, but they followed its command even if they were more suspicious now.

"The only reason you aren't being gunned down by a tank is that we got out of the building fast enough. They were here a minute ago, bribed them off. But now you settle down while we deliberate for a minute here."

"I have an idea." Legosi stepped forward and leaned over to Louis.

He whispered something in the deer's ear and Zass's anger grew.

"Prison? What the fuck are you little shit talking about."

Legosi ignored him completely and looked at Louis who himself looked unsure for a moment before nodding his head.

Legosi stepped past Louis and in front of the group.

"I know how to get the citizenry on my side, but to do that I need something to bargain with... If we want to show them that the stories about hybrids are untrue, we must prove to them that you can be trusted."

"You want to send us to prison for being terrorists... fucking asshole." The clicking of a gun being loaded sounded through the group and Legosi's tail bushed up violently.

"Is that a lie?" Yajuu jolted from his place to the front of the door, flashing an angry look at them.

"What's been done to you is not fair, but you nearly blew up the city. You played right into Yahya's hands..." His eyes went from animal to animal, mitigating the anger for at least some of them.

"Now let him finish, Rex damnit."

Begrudgingly the group relented and eased up, listening quietly. They really had no other choice really.

"Your families did nothing wrong, we can guarantee them safety and new chances at life. But for us to convince the city... and more or less the world, you must prove that you believe in justice."

"And what about Yahya? He just gets to walk free?" A member of Omnivora spoke out.

Before Legosi could answer, Tokugawa held onto his shoulder and stepped forward.

"I promise you, like I promised and delivered to Melon the safety of your families beyond the city borders. I promise you on the continued servitude to this city that Yahya will pay for what he has done."

"And how are we supposed to believe that?" Zass's voice trilled through his bird vocal cords.

"I'll make sure you get pictures. That is my word." Tokugawa smiled.

Zass's eyes radiated anger at him. But like everyone knew, they didn't have any other choice, did they?

A car drove down the street and pivoted towards the gatehouse. Omnivora immediately tensed up and grabbed their weapons yet froze when Tokugawa held out his palm and then turned towards the car.

The Trans Am Pontiac rolled over the asphalt of the parking lot and slowed to a halt when the cougar approached. The doors opened, and from them, a well-dressed, bespectacled lion emerged.

Legosi watched Ibuki and Tokugawa exchange words and then turned his head to look at Omnivora again.

"I promise you all that you will be treated fairly and Just. I promise to you that you will never get treated like monsters ever again." Legosi held his hand on his chest and noticed the black armor he was still wearing.

"And I promise to never put on his insignia ever again." He grabbed onto the armor plating and let it loose.

After his armor plates fell from his tactical clothing he managed to look again a little more like an animal. The armor plating had concealed his biological nature and turned him into a machine. Now, in front of Omnivora, he finally looked like a wolf again.

"What about him? We broke him out of prison, does he get to walk free." One of them pointed at Louis.

"No." Louis walked forward.

"As a pledge, I will return and serve the rest of my sentence. I'm part of the bargaining chip."

There was silence for a moment, and soon after, the group started dropping to the ground and sat down. Zass looked over Melon, who was still lost in his drug-induced sleep.

"What if we just run?"

"They'll hunt you down and we won't have anything to bargain with..." said Legosi in dull tones.

"You were all ready to die for him... This is an equal measure of self-sacrifice."

"Shut the fuck up, Louis." Zass glared up.

"You went into the herbivore block as a political prisoner. You don't know what it was like in prison... I mean, damn, that's where we met. In prison was where Omnivora was born..." Zass patted Melon's shoulder and then stared off in thought for a moment.

"Alright." He turned around to the group and stood up.

"Do we run or go with the kid's plan? Those in favor of running raise your hand, those in favor of the kid leave your hand in your lap."

Some stuck their hands up yet dwindled after a few seconds.

"That's the cruelest of it all. They don't have a choice... they never had," Louis whispered to Legosi who grabbed his shoulder in response.

"So let's fix the world so we can give them one in the future."

As the vote concluded Tokugawa returned to the two groups.

"So what first, Legosi? You call the shots on this one."

"Call some trucks, I need to get somebody." Legosi walked over to the truck, leaving Tokugawa puzzled.

"Who?"

Legosi turned back and smiled.

"My family."





The old apartment, the old home. Here there was peace for twelve and a half years. Before the world convinced his mother that no one would love her if she grew scales. She was convinced that the testament of love that Grandma Toki and Grandpa Gosha had for each other was a mistake that needed to be corrected faster than anything else.

Legosi didn't need to knock long before Gosha opened and he fell inside and embraced his grandfather. The Komodo dragon hugged him back, at first confused and then content.

"I need you to do something with me, Grandpa."

"Anything, Legosi."

He broke the hug and looked him in the eyes.

"I can save this city but only with your help. I know that you'd like to leave your Beastar days behind. But I need you. Otherwise, everything that happens today is pointless." Legosi paused and wiped at his running nose, stifling his cries.

"I need you to go out there and stand tall as my grandpa. If they learn that their hero is a hybrid maybe they'll see reason. It's the only idea I have..." He held him close again.

"I know that after all that happened you'd rather stay here, leave that world behind... but maybe you can help me save it... make it better for everyone else."

He broke the hug and looked him in the eyes, seeing pain from a whole life lived. But even though he knew it would hurt him, he knew it was much to ask; he also knew that if anybody was going to help, then it was Grandpa Gosha.

"You're the strongest animal I know."

"Oh stop it. You're way stronger than me." Gosha laughed and then looked back into Legosi's eyes. They were Leano's eyes, even when they had lost their blue color.

"Alright... Let me grab my coat." Gosha turned around and froze as he stared past the corner of the opening hallway.

"What's wrong?" Legosi walked forward and peaked past the corner.

The television was on. Yahya was standing on display in the conference hall at the state building. The bright red banner graphic at the bottom of the screen read [Sublime Beastar Yahya Gives Statement About Hybrid Terrorist Attacks]

"Let's go," Legosi said while Gosha stood motionless for a second, his coat clutched in his hand.

"Yeah." He looked away from the screen, the two sharing the same feeling of disgust.

They shut the door a moment later. A minute after they hit the road at full speed.

Yahya leaned on the podium, his wounds itching underneath the makeup.

"The state's attempts for help have been ignored and outright refused. And attempts at understanding their complex biology to build an environment fit for them have been reacted to with violence and wrath! We have tried to appeal to them and treat them right, but they refused and answered in increasingly violent ways. This morning the remaining special forces of the police raided the finally localized headquarters of Omnivora under the illegal meat market district. Crates loaded with weapons, detonators, and chemical residue of plastic explosives were found." Yahya paused to order his papers on the podium.

The citizenry that had come here to save itself was unanimously angry. Two housing districts had fallen in on themselves and in the rubble suffocated many friends and family members. This whole deal was personal to them now. Omnivora was no longer some news article threat, now they had become as real as the Nippon Hoso explosion by the mob.

"And so I find it reasonable to declare all Hybrid citizens as fugitives that need to be incarcerated and subjected to further scientific analysis."

Those that were normal, those that were clean, cheered. Yahya kept his stoic facade up, but on the inside, he was beaming. He had his pure sanctum after all. The gamble had worked flawlessly.

He looked over the group victorious when he noticed a single citizen starting with confusion at the stage beside him. He scanned the crowd and saw more and more faces looking up, some wide-eyed in anticipation, others with curiosity, and some didn't look up at all, too busy crying over the loss.

Yahya turned his head, and his facial features went from stoic solidarity to shell-shocked looseness.

"I love her, Yahya. I don't share your dream of ruling the country."

There stood Gosha beside Beastar Legosi. He looked between their two faces and remembered a long-forgotten fact.

The woman he betrayed me over was a wolf... I burned Legosi's files... He can't be... he's his grandson!

"You..." Yahya tried to muster up anger but all that followed was a single tear, thankfully on the side of his face turned away from the stage. Yahya realized why. The one thing he wished for more than anything else was someone to share his great dream with. And the only person great enough was a hybrid siring species defiler. "I'm praised as a hero for stopping the Cherryton Killer. Praised by the city, the people, and even Sublime Beastar Yahya... Now, what if I told you that I'm one-fourth Komodo dragon?" The citizenry gasped; the paparazzi's cameras exploded flashes at the second-generation hybrid standing on the stage. Legosi pulled Gosha close to himself, the Komodo dragon blinking through the bright light."This is my Grandpa Gosha. He fell in love with a wolf and his daughter was my mother..." Legosi held a hand in front of his face and wiped tears from his eyes."My mother was born like a pure-blooded wolf. She was beautiful and loved by everyone... but when she was 19 she discovered scales on her back... So she searched for another wolf as quickly as she could in order to correct what she thought to be deviancy... I only knew my mother through a hole in a door because she was convinced she was a monster... And when I was twelve years old, my mother came into my room and cuddled me close for the last time..." Legosi paused as a tear fell from his face, and Gosha held him close. Yahya watched the two defilers hug each other closer and felt deep within himself a streak of envy. He pushed the thought away as quickly as he could, but the resulting vacuum of thought was filled with fear instead. They will ruin it."Now that is really a sad story-" His voice wasn't being amplified by the speakers anymore. He tapped the microphone and checked the cables leading down the podium. They cut me out."Give me the microphone," Yahya spoke through gritted teeth and took a step towards the two."You take another step and I'll spit venom in your face in front of the entire room." Gosha's eyes glared back with true rage and Yahya felt himself stand still. As hard as he had tried to hate Gosha he found now he could do no such thing. To see hate from a Komodo dragon he had loved and cherished for so long was like he had been stabbed in the heart. "We could've been sublime beastars together..." Yahya spoke."Go to hell... You arrogant bastard made this city hate my daughter... you stole a mother from my grandson." Gosha spoke quiet yet brutal words. "She killed herself..." Legoso continued. "That's how it goes... Those who believe themselves too weak to fight kill themselves and the rest grow angry that everyone hates them... The clinic wasn't made to help, it was to lock those away that Sublime Beastar Yahya didn't want to have in his pure city anymore... And inevitably you all helped him..." He wiped away tears and grabbed the microphone close. Yahya looked at the microphone and Gosha glared at him worse than his venomous teeth could ever sting and poison. "How would you all feel if the people closest to you had no escape but to commit suicide in order to feel relief? How would you feel if your mothers, sisters, or daughters killed themselves because everyone hated them?... What you lost today they lose every day. Brothers, friends, the chance to look at the sun in the morning..." Legosi wept some more.He couldn't see the faces in the crowd, obscured by light. He also found that he couldn't care less. "Through my efforts, without any support from Yahya or the state, I managed to talk to Omnivora. No one had ever tried to go to them as animals before... And they see the error of their ways... All they want is for their families to live peacefully without harassment or mandatory medical tyranny. All they want is life... in exchange, they all agreed to willingly face justice and take trial for their terrorism." Legosi got ever closer to the microphone and looked beyond the white flashes into the blackness his tiny pupils could hardly make out."It's your choice now... do you want to deny them a peaceful life and keep the murder going? The power is in your hands for the very first time in all of this. I'm calling for an impromptu public voting. Either you give peace back to innocent people, those that haven't laid bombs or disrupted the public systems and in return make Omnivora face justice for its violence... or you can cut them loose to turn Japan into a warzone..." Legosi slinked back from the podium and hugged Gosha close. In each other's arms, they walked away from the podium. Yahya walked up to the podium and held up the microphone. "Japan will not negotiate with Terrorists!" Yahya's words riverbed throughout the room, yet besides the clicking of camera flashes, there was no sign of approval. The game had played itself out, he had no control. The people decided now. Saying anything else would do nothing but make it all worse. Yahya turned around and stomped towards the back doors towards the backstage prep room."Do you have any idea what you've just-" Yahya had walked all the way up to the both of them when Gosha had thrown a punch that Yahya hadn't expected. He reeled back, grasping at his face. "Stay the hell away from my family!" Gosha's voice rang out.Rage sparked and burned underneath the surface and shattered immediately when he turned back around to look at Gosha. He tried his hardest but he couldn't feel any hate for the Komodo dragon. None. He tried as much as he could but he couldn't. He hated his wife. However, he hated his daughter, and he hated the wolf with lizard eyes behind him. "I loved you..." Yahya whispered and Gosha looked back even angrier than before."You greedy, prideful tyrant of a stallion couldn't live with the fact that I fell in love with someone who wasn't you, could you?... No one is as great as you, are they?... You killed my daughter... and your actions nearly killed the only family I have left... If I ever see you again I will kill you." Gosha spat and Yahya awkwardly stepped back to dodge the venom. Yahya looked at his oldest friend and another tear rolled down his cheek. That wolfess ruined everything..."Fuck your family." Yahya stomped onwards to the door and rammed it open, descending the stairs in a mad dash. He looked around the parking lot and walked along until he came to the armored vehicle that had brought him here. He threw open the door and a terrified Soldier looked back at him. "Give me the keys and get out." "But sir." The soldier meekly objected."The keys!" Yahya's voice made the soldier jump and frantically look for the keys. "Into the ignition," Yahya said as he had found them. The soldier followed the command"Now get out." "Sir, I really think-" The soldier yelped as Yahya grabbed onto his shoulders and lifted him from the seat. He whirled him past himself onto the pavement, the soldier tripping in the process.Yahya entered the car, turned the ignition, and slammed the car door shut. By the time he was on the road, he knew where he was going. There were few thoughts in his mind as the feeling of betrayal drowned everything out. He knew it was foolish to feel this way, this betrayal had happened long ago. Gosha had made his choice back then and Yahya himself was by then set in his ways. He had gone over it in his mind, killing that damned wolf bitch over and over again. It had come to the point where he was obsessing over it so much that when she fell sick and died due to complications he felt cheated that it hadn't been him to kill her. At some point, he reached the outskirts of town. He opened the car door of the vehicle and staggered out, stomping along the dirt ground out to the cliff overlooking the ocean. He stood there motionlessly for a while and thought about all the events that would follow in excruciating detail. Legosi had thrown a considerably sized wrench into his political strike plan and fixing this mess to push it back on proper course would take a considerable amount of work. Many sleepless nights that were going to be spent in order to comb through it all.He thought that perhaps he could plant some of the contraband in the evidence locker on them in order to shatter any credibility they might hold. And unfortunately, he would, with a heavy heart, have to finally kill Gosha.A few more tears flowed down his cheeks. As much as hating was the thing he wanted to do he could never feel any of it for Gosha.He heard the sounds of a car engine rolling down the road and began to realize just how late it had gotten. The sun was about to enter twilight, lying entirely hidden behind the trees and the rocky outcropping that grew into Mount Edo further up north. The van slowed and came to a stop next to the armored vehicle he had driven over here. The van killed its lights and the doors opened. Three figures emerged and it did not take long for him to recognize the one leading the trio. "... Came to hit me while I'm down? Not very honorable of you." He looked at the dressed-to-the-nines cougar holding a silenced pistol in his right hand. To his sides were two lions, one with a mohawk and the other wearing glasses. "No, not really honorable. But you yourself haven't acted with honor for quite a while now..." Said Tokugawa and Yahya shook his head and grabbed at his forehead. "You're not going to do this. Killing a high-ranking political figure would bear too many consequences. You three better leave before you make any more of a fool of yourself." Yahya turned around and walked back to the edge overlooking the sea. He waited a few moments and heard nothing behind him. No movement, no conversation. Beside the wind and the thoughts in his mind, the surroundings were entirely devoid of sound. Yahya turned around and looked on in anger. "What the hell are you doing, go and leave now!" He waved them off yet they remained rooted to the ground. A cold feeling began to spread out in his chest. "I think you at least deserve a chance at proper last words.""Listen-" Yahya's angry stomping was stopped by Tokugawa calmly raising the gun at him.so this is it.Yahya looked around himself and saw nothing but dirt. There was no wisdom to be gained from this, no legacy to call his own. All he would be was a footnote in the history of the acceptance of hybrid relationships... "How are you going to explain my disappearance?" Yahya tried in vain to find an out."The rest of my mob outfit are emptying out the treasury and a considerable part of your files. It's gonna look like you realized you can't win against Legosi and jumped ship." Tokugawa's words made him more and more cold. "My legacy will be that I was a coward?" He spoke through gritted teeth."You were a coward long before that, hiding behind your prestige. You punched down on the ladder and made life a living hell for the lowest bidder on the food chain. And all the while being a hypocrite that's sour over not getting what he wanted.""Don't you dare speak to me like that." Yahya took a step forward yet Tokugawa remained still and cool. they dwelled in silence for a moment, in which the rage subsided, and Yahya began to realize even more that it was over."The gun is a last favor of respect. I could kill you with my bare hands but a bullet is quicker..." Tokugawa sighed and pointed over at a spot between a rock and a tree where leaves were lying in a pile. "We even built you a grave. Instead of eating you and quite literally making you disappear off this earth at least your body will have the honor of remaining as food for the common ground here." He pointed the gun back at Yahya."Anything else left to say? Any last thing you'd like for me to do after you're gone? Unfinished business or unfulfilled promise? What is the last thing you'd like to be done on your behalf." Silence lay in the air while Yahya thought. Minutes passed as he continued to think, and finally, he came up with the perfect thing. He smiled deviously as he looked into Tokugawa's eyes and began to speak:"Kill Le-" The first bullet struck him in the throat, tearing through his vocal cords. The second bullet hit him square in the chest, penetrating his heart. The third struck his liver, and the fourth punctured his left lung. The remaining eleven in the pistol magazine shredded his face, destroyed his other lung, and entered his gut. He fell to the ground like a sack of meat, and that was the thing he became at that moment. The dying thoughts of Yahya, the devil in black, the tyrant in the high tower, the puritan of racial relations... was that all this work had been for nothing. "What a piece of shit." Free said and stuck a cigarette into his mouth. Ibuki looked over and gave a small smirk. "I wasn't aware you could speak the truth." "Fuck off Ibuki." Free's annoyance caused Ibuki to laugh heartily; all the while, Tokugawa looked on without any outwardly given emotion. "You alright, Boss?" Ibuki inquired, carefully gauging him. "I would've preferred a world where he could've gone to the same courts that will soon judge Omnivora men for actions they committed under his tyranny... This was too easy a fate than what he would've truly deserved.""May I give my opinion?" Ibuki asked and Tokugawa, albeit with a pause, nodded. "Beastar Legosi will build one." A cold breeze picked up and the three cats remained still for a moment, Free smoking his cigarette while Ibuki was waiting for Tokugawa to find his way out of being lost in his thoughts."I think I just regret not doing this sooner. The wrong time, no plausible explanation or not wanting to participate in a coup were all excuses I used countless times... My fear of consequences caused a lot more harm than there could've been. And that disappoints me that I used easy excuses because I didn't want to deal with something real." Tokugawa looked over the scene with sorrow deeply painted on his features. "You think too much, Sir Tokugawa. You should just be glad that he's dead." Free puffed smoke into the air and grabbed the camera in his coat.With a few clicks of the camera, this moment was immortalized for the amount of time that the storage card existed. And soon enough it would be even further immortalized in discreetly printed pictures. It was quite ingenious to have a printer operated by a highly skilled, entirely blind mole who lived on the company payroll. Beside him and the two lions present no one would ever know what had occurred to the beloved Sublime Beastar Yahya. If Tokugawa didn't promise the pictures he would've kept it that way."Unfortunately I cannot afford to be carefree or even more so careless. If I was careless, then the black market would've continued to turn and twist into a power-hungry tumor that fed carnivores till they turned dumb and primal." "See? You take care of carnivores just the way they need to be taken care of. And that job you do real good." Free walked over to the covered grave and lifted the rock, pulling the plastic tarp away from the hole. "I never thought you'd say anything so uplifting with your carefree, let-live attitude," Tokugawa said in a confused tone as he moved over to the Yahya, lifting him up with the help of Ibuki. "Hey, the Job's been pretty great with you at the top. Besides looking for bombs in the hospital sewer this might just be the best time I've ever had in the Shishigumi. Happy boss, my job keeps being great. Everybody wins." They threw the horse's corpse down the hole, his body contorting uncomfortably on impact. "Well let's bury the fucker." Free walked back to the van to grab the shovel. Meanwhile, Tokugawa stood over the grave in which the dark horse was nearly invisible to the non-nocturnal eye."I hope divine judgment exacts justice on you." After the last words had been spoken to Yahya the three buried him completely within the hour. They took moss from sporadic spots all over the empty little clearing where Yahya had died and covered the hole with it. "Drive the APC to the nearest airfield. Private owned so no military gets wind of it. Then go up the road and take a taxi at least 5 miles out" He handed Free the keys. "You got it, Boss." Free walked over to the APC, entered it, and drove off down the road. "I'm sure things will get better, Tokugawa. I also think you did the best you could do. You had all the carnivores of Edobtsu to take care of after all." Ibuki smiled at Tokugawa, an obvious attempt to cheer him up. Though, unlike the previous comment, this time, it elicited a smirk from Tokugawa. "Remains quiet and careless all day and then goes up and says wisdom neither of us are capable of... It's the same with Legosi. A daydreamer of all sorts, but at the time you can't keep your head straight, he says the wisest things of all... Rex must surely be laughing at us." Tokugawa followed the car with his eyes down the road and Ibuki simply chuckled."Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I'm sorry if it makes me look arrogant, but I'd rather not call someone who killed five people per day for more than ten years without processing the weight of what he's done as intelligent.""What makes you think that intelligence necessitates compassion?" Tokugawa looked at Ibuki with full focus and the lion smiled back."It's compassion that makes you smart, Tokugawa. Smarter than the entirety of the Gumis. Same with Beastar Legosi. Although he's a naive daydreamer, he cares for everyone all the same. And that's what makes him great." Tokugawa looked over at the grave and thought that all of this hate and arrogance which had corrupted Yahya down to the heart had made him come out here all by himself, allowing for them to covertly follow and finish the job. Because he had no one to tell him how stupid that idea was. "Heh." Tokugawa laughed. "You're absolutely right."