Fanart by: DemiGboss

Musky fumes choked out the stuffy room. The sound of modern music reverberated off the walls bursting their already exploded ear drums. Cigarette smoke and liquor stained the floors. The posters on the walls were peeling, the blinds were drawn shut, and the door had a hundred locks to hide their activities.

Sitting in a room just off the main hallway was a group of five men. Two sat in opposing chairs with a deck of cards between them. They were playing a game and drinking with money on the line. Another sat in the furthest corner with his beanie pulled over his eyes. Though he seemed unencumbered as he continued to scroll through his smartphone.

The final two were sitting at the largest desk. They each had a stack of coins and gems they were working through. One was scribbling away while the other counted. The heaps and loads of dosh were getting sectioned off into separate briefcases. They were planning on moving soon and needed a count of inventory.

While they handled this pressing business the two players from the side began to stir. "Ey! I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"I saw you swipe a card." His burgundy bangs lurched about as he shouted, "You're a pig eatin' cheata'."

"Oh, blow it up your dick, eye shadow." His opponent was an older gentleman with a black buzzcut. His chocolate skin was covered in wrinkles. The ear piercings he sported had sagged with age. They drooped like a basset hound's ears as he spoke, "I don't need to cheat to beat your sorry ass."

"Is that so?"

"It is." He pointed to his younger opponent's hand. "You've been bluffing that 2 pair since we started."

The young man looked down at the accurate call and scoffed, "Like you've got anything better."

A set of cards hit the table with a kind smack, "Trip Queens." He snickered along with a grated gaunt as he raked in his rewards, "Read them, then weep-"

The young man slammed his hands down, "Cheater!"

"Get off me, emo!"

"I ain't given you shit!"

His elder reached into his pockets, "I said hands off."

*!BANG!*

The two lackeys froze suddenly, "Shonzo! Louey!" They both turned to their boss with meek expressions. He had a baseball cap on and dark blue shades. The pistol he aimed at the sky was big enough to count as a cannon. Its impact made a golf ball-sized entry wound in the upper floor. A few wood chips sprinkled across his right shoulder, "Enough outta you two."

Boss Gulliver. Don't let the name fool you, he wasn't a portly man discovering a land of miniature men. Though he certainly was a bit heftier than most. He was, however, a dangerous vagabond looking to subjugate every town he landed in. His dealings in the latest flavor of narcotics always kept officers on their toes. He'd recently fled from a town called Doe Eyes to this little blast from the past known as Retropolis. He had grown rather accustomed to the colorful nightlife and nearly lawless wonderland. However, he quickly realized that this place had already been claimed. An 'uphill battle' wouldn't be justice. It was more like Hannibal climbing the Alps on donkeys instead of elephants.

After hearing his stern scolding the subordinates sat down and resumed playing as normal. Gulliver returned to writing down his notes and checking an ancient laptop on his left. His right-hand man, Tao, continued counting the profits as they returned to bathing in verbal silence.

A trepidatious arrival caught the boss's attention. A young boy with bright blond hair and a button for a nose. He had a noticeable overbite which added to his mouse-like meekness. He fumbled with his jeans pockets and tugged on his hoodie nervously. "Chaino." The mention of his name made the boy jump. He got to attention like a soldier at roll call, "Put ya hands down, boy."

Chaino whimpered, "S-s-sorry sir."

Gulliver rolled the pen across his fingers, "Why so jumpy?"

The question from the causally dressed mafioso felt like a threat, "It's just... I've never been outta country before."

Tao turned around to look the runt over. His older eyes cut clean through the weakling's belly, "Get over it. Get used to-" He turned back around to finish off the final stack of gems- "life on the run."

The other spectators hadn't given any input upon the interaction. Nor did the conclusion interrupt their events. They sat in their respective corners playing, browsing, or counting while Chaino struggled to find a seat. That is until something interrupted their music.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

All eyes shot to the hallway. The front door was a metal gate with a wire mesh cover. It didn't just suddenly start to bang from a strong gust of wind. Shonzo quickly began to rise and retrieve a firearm from his waistband. An action that the boss quickly halted with a wave of the hand. He had a better idea for the emo.

He flicked his wrist towards the newby. Little orphan Chaino. Shonzo fiercely opposed with shut lips and bulging eyes but the boss made it clear that wasn't a suggestion. He walked over to the small blond and placed the gun in his hands. Feeling the cold metal against his smooth palms, Chaino protested like an overwhelmed infant.

Gulliver's cold frown shut up any further discussion. The boy shivered as he arose to slide the firearm into his pants. He carefully disappeared behind the wall to address the unexpected visitor. While he was gone Gulliver signalled for Shonzo to get closer. The burgundy bloke stood at attention as the boss leaned forward to whisper, "If ya brotha doesn't figure out where he lies..." His tan knuckles made a cutting motion across the throat.

Shonzo audibly swallowed.

They were quickly greeted by Chaino's quiet call, "It's alright. Just a girl scout." He came around the corner later with a small smile, "She was just looking to sell cookies." The pressure quickly fell after his confirmation. They all resumed their previous activities.

The beanie-bearing bot quickly raised his head to expose the single concave purple eye, "Buy any Samoas?"

Louey and Tao actually turned for a response. He stammered out, "I-I uh... didn't think about that."

Old man Louey grumbled, "Come on, man! You gotta support the tiny hustlers."

"I didn't..."

Gulliver threw up a hand, "Focus." The gang returned to their menial tasks. Chaino decided to take a seat on the couch beside his robotic senior, Robacn.

The rustic yellow bot's indigo eye continued to scan his blue light screen. He noticed that Chaino's skinny legs wouldn't stop bouncing. He placed his phone into the white hoodie pocket to ask, "What's wrong with you?"

He jumped before attempting to respond, "W-well umm... it's. Uh. Ummm..."

Robacn rolled his singular eye, "Moving?"

"N-No well... yes. But no." The music was so loud that he had to yell to be heard despite the proximity. Chaino fiddled with his nails as he spoke, "It's just the girl scout." The droid's interest was mildly piqued now. "It's just... her cart was f-f-filled with money."

Louey chimed in from the side, "Sounds like she's a regular Wolf of Wall Street." Shonzo snickered at Louey's jaded response.

"Right... e-except. It's just that... it was all gems."

Tao and Gulliver were paying attention now.

Chaino started biting his fingernails, "And well... her clothes were weird."

The older brother slipped a card from the deck while Louey was looking away, "Weird how?"

"Well... she had this blue leather jacket on. And was kind of demand-ding for my m-m-money."

Any previous activities were put on halt now. All eyes and ears were on him as his voice could be singled out in a rave.

Then he racked his brain to remember this last detail, "And she had on this weird hat. It was like... a bear."

Tao dropped his coin. Shonzo and Louey's cards crumbled under their grip. Robacn accidentally crushed his phone with his metal claws. Yet despite losing his favorite tool he still had to ask, "What kind of bear?"

*CRACK!*

Splintered wood slid across the floor after the massive metal rectangle was blown off its hinges. The fractured debris knocked their radio to the floor. Its tape started skipping as a set of footsteps playfully ran through the hall.

All except Chaino immediately went on red alert. They didn't say a word but all knew to ready their weapons. Shonzo cursed under his tongue when he had no gun to draw. Gulliver held his hand cannon to the sky as they watched the hallway's entrance. What was previously a six-man rave now turned into a stakeout.

When they heard the steps suddenly stop Gulliver made a snapping motion with his fingers. He silently ordered the four cronies to check the house. Robacn yanked Chaino by his arm and pushed him forward. When Shonzo reached for an old bat he was quickly stopped by a sharp whistle.

Gulliver reached under his desk to produce a SIG Sauer MCX. A powerful rifle with a design to match. He threw the firearm across the room like a bottle of water. When Shonzo got his hands on it he quickly checked the chamber and smiled at the caliber.

The four henchmen filed into the hall in a clean line. Louey took point with Robacn holding the rear. They could hear something shuffling about within the kitchen. Another room sectioned off by a wall the staircase rested against. It sounded like something was raiding the pantry looking for a meal.

"Eh-he-he-he-he-he-he."

They all snapped to the stairs. They're barrels aimed high as something quickly dashed away. They could hear footsteps rushing overhead. Shonzo was certain that something was in the kitchen as well, so he made a silent call. He pointed out Louey and Robacn, ordering them to make their way upstairs while he and Chaino checked the kitchen.

Louey wanted to argue but Robacn was already heading up. The teams split off with Robacn taking the lead into the unknown. Shonzo stood in front of his brother as they moved further into the house. The kitchen had been turned upside down. There was food spilled all over the floors. Tattered chip bags, ripped-open cracker boxes, and the fridge had been raided.

They stepped over the snacks slowly. Careful not to cause any extra disturbance. *crunch* The duo turned at the sound. Something was hiding behind the living room couch. There was a snail trail of water and snacks leading there. Again they sneak ahead hoping to get the drop on the intruder.

Chaino was shuttering like a leaf in the wind as he tried to take an opposing side. Shonzo pulled back the gun's rack as quietly as possible. Now they could hear something mumbling ahead. The burgundy elder signaled for his bleach-blonde brother to rush.

When the two turned the bend they immediately froze. There was a massive mound of black and white fur with its nose deep underneath the couch. Its tiny tail shook back and forth as it managed to get a hold of whatever it was searching for. The beast slowly pulled its head up not bothering with moving away from the sofa first. The furniture leaned on its head as it munched away on a donut it had been chasing after.

While the bear enjoyed its treat something caught its eye. On the left corner, something was shaking. An object with black steel and as big as a banana. It was being held by a small man with flimsy limbs and sunken eyes. He cocked his head in curiosity which caused the couch he lifted to fall to the floor. The sudden thud must have scared this tiny man because he flinched fiercely.

*BANG*

Then there was a loud noise. Something felt off. The black and white bear looked at his arm, it hurt. Something had hit him. It wasn't like a bee sting. It was something worse. It was starting to bleed. He again stared down at this feeble man.

He hurt him.

This man hurt him. He did nothing wrong. He was just eating. So why would he hurt him?

How dare he hurt him?

HOW DARE HE!

The beast's fangs showed as a harrowing roar shook the walls. He swatted away the gun which caused Chaino to stumble back. Shining black claws prepared to slash away this threat.

*RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT*

Something much worse was attacking him now. It was hurting his back. Like he was getting stabbed by a storm of jagged branches. He put an arm up as someone started yelling at him. There was a bright light flying at him alongside these sharp projectiles. The beast roared and lunged forward. It only took a single swipe to stop the noise. With its disappearance so did the pain.

The bear's white paws were stained red. Its claws were dripping with what he knew was someone else's blood. The man who was hurting him was now plastered against the wall. He wasn't moving anymore which meant he couldn't hurt him.

The bear took note of a strange smell. It wasn't like the snacks he was feasting on earlier. It was something rank. Worse than the scent of smoke in the air. It was foul. Behind him, the tiny baby man was now lying in a pool of nasty liquid. It must have been urine. That was the only thing that stinky.

Again something was visible in the corner of his eye. Another person with a massive metal stick. It was twice as long as the one that the other guy used. It must hurt ten times as much. He needed to avoid that.

The bear quickly ran away behind the kitchen wall. Tao tried to follow with a Remington 870 ready. The buckshot should handle that massive monster nicely. He could see the chaos it had created and felt his stomach turn at the intestines spilling out of Shonzo's gut. Suddenly something came flying at his head. A metal object with a bright purple light collided with his nose, fuzzing his vision.

He watched it roll back to his feet and out the front door. Robacn's face was still active as it blinked absently in his direction. Tao turned to the staircase and gasped. Someone was standing at the top. A small body with a blue leather jacket. Black leggings and a bright orange undershirt. Her wrists were adorned with broken handcuffs and she wore no shoes. Though the bright white socks she had on were made from extra thick cotton.

Then atop her head was the calling card. A bear's pelt. One eerily similar to the beast he'd seen slaughter Shonzo in a single swipe.

"Paedaa!"

He wasted no time firing off a red-hot round at the panda-shaped girl above. She suddenly sidestepped and vanished behind the guard rail. The wall behind her shattered from the explosive power of his shotgun.

Tao was careful not to rush up blindly. He signaled for Gulliver to grab the money and leave. The gun's barrel made it up before him. He looked around but nobody was waiting for him around the guard rail. Each step creaked under his weight signalling his arrival. A tactical fact that Tao was fully aware of.

She must have been hiding in one of the rooms ahead. He didn't fully understand how her body worked. He'd heard horror stories about her. She's quick as a roach yet as strong as an ox. She can lift a boulder over her head ten times her size. Her ferocity puts a maternal hippo to shame. But those were just rumors, right?

Something clamored against the door further down the hall. A body fell to the floor with its eyes gouged out. An elder man with deep brown skin and deeper wrinkles. Louey's face was staring at him despite the lack of optics.

They were just stories, right?

"YAAAAH!"

The bathroom door suddenly swung open. Something small swallowed up his head. He didn't know how but his body was being slung forward. He lost his footing. For a moment the world was upside down. Then everything went black.

Gulliver came out of the office with two massive briefcases in hand. He heard the sound of a body falling down the steps. When it finally reached the bottom, its stomach was flat against the floor, and its head was staring at the ceiling. There was a brief moment where Tao managed to blink before succumbing to his broken neck. Gulliver looked back at the staircase. A pair of red eyes looked at him before vanishing once again.

"Fuck that."

The boss hobbled towards the busted down front door. A lumbering white figure was resting in the doorway. It casually pulled on Tao's body as if inspecting whether or not it was still working. Gulliver turned away to rush for the back door. There were two ways to the kitchen so he ran past the stairs and made it to the mess the beast had left. There were a slew of odors assaulting his nostrils. A parade of pungent perfumes knocked him back for a second.

This brief moment of recoil doomed him. He pushed past the pig sty and stumbled against the kitchen counter. *creak* Something above his head was making a racket. He could hear the floorboards breaking under something heavy. *thud* Something was being dropped. *THUD* Something massive was getting lifted.

*KRA-KOOM*

The ceiling collapsed so fast that Gulliver's survival instincts took precedence. He ignored the briefcases and dived back to the hall. A porcelain object just shy of the size of a coup came crashing down. It shattered the island and lodged itself between the door and him.

"The tub?!"

He stumbled about into the main hallway once more. The bear was currently playing around with the beads that Tao had around his neck. Gulliver stumbled back into his main office looking for a way out. He held onto his cannon with a shaky grip. His eyes watched not only the stairs but the ceiling itself.

He fired off a few blind shots above hoping to hit that thing. The windows. He could escape out the windows. That is what he would say if he hadn't barred them off when they first bought the house. At the time it seemed genius. If there was a police raid the windows would be inaccessible. Now he was the one locked inside.

He found himself standing with his back to the wall. He rested his head against the glass and carefully watched the stairs. That bear must be under her order. He hasn't moved despite Gulliver passing him twice now. He'll sit right here where there's only one entrance. If she comes from the ceiling he'll have the advantage. He wasn't dying now, not to some bratty kid.

*CRASH!*

The glass behind him shattered. A pair of tiny ebony mitts latched around his throat. Her fist swung until she was able to grab the cuff chains with their opposing hands. His throat was pulled shut as he flailed about in her arms. Gulliver managed to orient his hand cannon to fire off a few rounds behind him. They never landed on target, he was forced to gurgle on his own saliva as his lungs burned.

He continued fighting as the massive panda bear made its way toward him. It didn't seem to mind his desperate clawing. It even approached him like a dog, bopping their noses together. It sickened him knowing that this fuzzy duo would be his downfall.

His body went limp soon after. The dark blue blinders he sported fell off his nose and into the bear's lap. The tiny hands relaxed allowing him to fall into a puddle of his own sweat and excrement. Then from the other side came a haunting call...

"Eh-he-he-he-he."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Bull sat in his underground office with a stack of papers on his desk. He'd been munching on cigar butts like chewing gum. The bottle of whiskey was accompanied by a crystal glass that had been left dry as a bone. He tapped his massive thumbs against his temple while he tried to make sense of the dreadful mail.

Bills.

No matter how powerful he's become he can't avoid state and federal income taxes. Then there was the real final boss.

The IRS.

He raked his eyes trying to come to terms with the amount of paperwork. Days like this made him wonder if being a mob boss really was the life for him. He looked to his left hoping to see his portraits but the stack of papers was at eye level. That's his eye level to be clear. Which meant they were an Empire State Building's worth of boredom.

He thought about getting an accountant to handle these problems but asking for too much outside help only caused more problems. Better to keep this in the family.

*knock* *knock*

He straightened up before beckoning them to enter. The door cracked open as a young woman made her presence known. Her name was Emilia but Bull preferred the name Emmy. She had been a waitress for five years now. Evidently, she started working with them after she dropped out of college. She also was the same lady who inadvertently saved his life on the night of the raid.

Obviously, he couldn't leave her as just a waitress. Now she had a much more impressive title. With a bit of training from the best chefs money (and power) could provide, she was now the Sous Chef of Bull's Diner. With the title also came insider knowledge about the inner workings of Bull's empire. She'd essentially become an honorary member of the family.

She brought with her today's lunch.

"Crafted from the finest prime-grade sirloin, hand-ground to the perfect texture, seasoned to enhance natural flavors, grilled evenly over an open flame, and served on a handcrafted artisanal brioche bun. I've topped it with aged cheddar, fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and a trio of house-made condiments. My offering? A symphony of taste and texture, an exquisite celebration of flavors. Each bite is a genuine sensory delight, it is more than a meal; it's a culinary experience that exemplifies the pinnacle of five-star dining."

Bull looked ahead at the sandwich he'd been presented, "It's a steakburger, Emmy."

The girl's pale cheeks immediately went beat red, "Y-yes. But I worked really hard on it, sir." She bowed her head causing her black bangs to dangle with gravity's pull.

The boss shook his head as he took the meal into his massive palms, "What a goober."

Emmy apologized as she tried to move out of the room. Something caught her eye and locked her in place. She longingly stared at the other side of the paper stack. Bull noticed this and added, "Don't you have work to do?"

She again nervously apologized as she shut the door behind her. Bull got up from his seat as he munched on his meal. He managed to maneuver around the documents, now within reach of his original goal.

There was a small photo frame on his desk. It had four people frozen in time. First was himself, he'd been resting against the wall with a grumpy frown as usual. He was staring at his two siblings while they fawned over something between them. Bibi had her face smushed into a black and white child and Crow was ruffling the kid's hat.

In the middle was their adopted daughter. She had on the biggest smile and was reaching out for more hugs from her self-proclaimed mother. He rubbed his thumb over the image. It'd been nearly a year since they met. If only he knew how quickly things would change.

His daydream was interrupted by a ringtone. It sounded like a child growling into a cheap five-dollar microphone. He checked the caller ID. It showed a picture of a cartoon panda bear with the name, Baby Bear, underneath. "Speak of the devil."

He placed his burger on the tray and wiped his fingers off on his pants leg. "Alright, Panda Baby." He placed the phone to his ear and asked, "What'd you do this time?"