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More from Rupeemerchant
The next picture; featuring Mr. Wesker posing in his summer tee. Those moobs aren't gonna stare at themselves you know!
On with the story!
First Part: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6985449
Part Three: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6987234/
Part Four: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6988723/
---
And now he felt...warmth?
It became warm? Had he reached the afterlife?
Arnold's eyes slowly opened to the surrounding area. He was in a room, and it was covered in what appeared to be memorabilia from Mexico. This didn't seem to be the gates of Heaven, or the throne of Hell. As his eyes adjusted to the room, a woman had walked in.
Even with his limited vision, he could tell this woman was the most incredible thing he had ever set his eyes on.
The woman had supposedly taken care of Arnold for an indeterminate amount of time. He didn't feel cold and apparently she had rescued him from the icy depths of the ocean. She would come into Arnold's room and smile every day, it seemed like. Time didn't seem to operate normally in...wherever he was. Minutes seemed like hours, hours were like days, and somehow, the days passed by like seconds. Arnold didn't care; this beautiful woman was the only thing he could care about now. Over some unknown length of time, Arnold had fully recovered. He asked the woman who she was, where she was from, and how she had rescued him many times, but she didn't speak. At least, using her mouth. The way she moved and the way she stared at people, that seemed to express everything about her, somehow. Now that Arnold was back to normal, she gave him a smile. It didn't seem to give a sense of acceptance or sorrow, just that she was satisfied with something.
She walked to him, and Her lips closed in on his head. She muttered something incomprehensible, and then kissed him on the forehead. A tingling sensation erupted within him, and it seemed like time and space fell apart in one fell swoop. Dazed and confused, Arnold awoke to find himself on the sidewalk, outside of an old apartment building. Did She live here? Her residence was too large to fit in a place like this. But it didn't seem to matter much to him now. He had to find Her again.
Managing to find his way home, he noticed that there were still Christmas decorations littering the streets. He couldn't have been out for too long, he thought. He asked a jolly passerby what day it was, and he replied that it was Christmas Eve. How could that be? Had he somehow gone back in time? He checked a calendar in the store next to him. It was wishing a Happy New Year...of the next year. Arnold had been with the woman for almost a whole year. Somehow this didn't bother him. It actually made him feel glad, as if he received a whole year's worth of loving embrace that his even his mother couldn't offer him.
Inside his house, he entered upon a group of squatters that had taken over his residence while he was asleep. They were members of the Yu Chen Po, a criminal organization from the Far East who were very "impressed" with Arnold's supercomputer, and planned to borrow it indefinitely. They showed Arnold their gratitude by throwing him outside on the pavement. If Arnold was going to get his place back, he was going to have to fight fire with fire.
Traveling back to Santa Monica the next day, Arnold stared out into the ocean. A year ago, he had defeated his brother in a battle, although it had only seemed like a few days ago. The cool ocean breeze wasn't as harsh as the previous year, but his heart was still frozen. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. "So, you've returned to this place, it seems." Arnold looked behind him, and spotted a man wearing a fine business suit, but at the same time, he had on a pair of reflective goggles. This man, who introduced himself as "The Lifeguard", was a member of a syndicate that could make use of his abilities. In return, they would evict the Yu Chen Po from his home. Arnold had no choice, so he agreed.
The Lifeguard took Arnold to a small man-made island a few miles off the coast. On the island was a small house, well kept for being difficult to get to. On the inside, a computer awaited them. The Lifeguard instructed Arnold to gather some "confidentials" from a Chinese company called the Su Ai Corporation. It was no trouble for Arnold; he passed through their data infrastructures and fragwalls with relative ease, and was able to secure plans for a number of computation devices. The Lifeguard was on the phone with another party for the entire ten minutes it took Arnold to finish. He said they were very pleased with his work, and soon, the Yu Chen Po were thrown from his home.
On the way back to his house, The Lifeguard mentioned how difficult it was to revive him after they had rescued him from the ocean depths. Arnold was confused; what did he mean by that? The Lifeguard told him that he was leading some of the syndicate researchers who were investigating "a rampaging behemoth with more stopping power than the Kool-Aid Man" who had drowned in the ocean, and had found his near-lifeless body while looking for the corpse of Roland. Afterwards, they performed intensive care on him and sent him to a nearby hospital to recover. Arnold mentioned he had only just been out of the streets; The Lifeguard was confused, he should've only been in the hospital for a few weeks. Arnold asked if they had knowledge of Her.
The Lifeguard gave Arnold an inquisitive look. He asked Arnold to describe the woman who had taken care of him; Arnold replied that the woman was probably Hispanic, had shoulder-length hair, and was like the living incarnation of Aphrodite.
The Lifeguard asked him, "So, you're talking about A-" He shut his mouth as fast as he could. "I'm sorry...I can't say her name. But I know who you're talking about. She is incredibly bad news, Arnold. Stay far, far, away from Her. She's already stolen a year of your time from you, don't let any more of yours go to waste." The Lifeguard remained silent for the rest of the trip, not answering any of Arnold's further questions. The two arrived at Arnold's now empty and re-renovated home a few minutes later, and The Lifeguard handed a business card to him, with the letters "EBS" engraved on it. After The Lifeguard left, Arnold returned to his quarters. He was thinking about what he said, about the Woman who had saved him, and whether or not The Lifeguard was telling the truth. He decided that there would be no harm in continuing to pursue the woman. Little did Arnold know, he didn't have to try very hard at all to find her again.
A few days later, Arnold went to the store to stock up on the essentials for a hardcore database upgrade: Slim Jims, Mountain Dew, and a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream. On his way back, he saw Her again. She was being escorted up to a fancy apartment by an Asian-looking fellow, dressed to the nine's and with a smile that could cut a baby in half. She took no notice of Arnold, who was in plain sight, but the Asian man glared at him in a way that told him to "fuck right off". He drove off in his gold-plated Rolls Royce, leaving Arnold in the dust. What was She doing? He decided to return to her apartment complex, which was somehow not the one he awoke in front of, the next day.
That day, New Year's Day, Arnold arrived at Her apartment. He banged on Her door; nothing. He asked the other residents if they knew anything about the Woman, they had either never taken notice of her or remarked that she "came and went like the wind". Arnold knew he had to catch Her so that he could confess his feelings. He made a daily routine of waking up, stalking outside her apartment, compiling data, eating a huge lunch, midday stalking, performing his daily queue of "hits", a dinner that would make any health nut kill themselves, and stalking until he got tired and went to bed. This went on for around a year or so (although to the locals it seemed like six), and no matter if the area was in a heat wave or a cold snap, Arnold would still wait outside the apartment. The only times Arnold saw Her was when the Asian was was driving Her home. Come to think of it, he had never actually seen her leave...but that didn't matter. He had to become even more successful than this man, whoever he was, and get him out of the picture.
But before that he needed to perfect Excelsior V.2, which would simulate an "ultimate paradise" (using the Xanadu protocol Mr. Redfield had concepted decades ago) for him and Her. At the computer shop, Arnold had run into the proprietor of a newly-opened music store in town, who was looking for a tech guy to help manage his business. Arnold volunteered, and the two quickly became friends from their shared interest of the musical "Autism on Ice" [4]. The man's name was Julius Romo, who had recently been chased out of the northern town of Antioch by a drug lord named Brenton Escaroso.
Julius invited Arnold to his headquarters, where he revealed that he ran the gang "Borough Knees", who specialized in money laundering, racketeering, and all around territory control. But he needed a secondary tech expert to help him hack into other businesses and mainfringe their firedrives if they didn't pay a monthly fee to them, and he asked the infamous Auto-Static to aid him. In return, Julius offered Arnold a large sum of money, but Arnold wasn't ready to join just yet. He knew Julius, being a crime lord and all, probably had eyes and ears everywhere, and asked Julius three questions.
But he refrained from asking directly about Her, lest Julius become attracted to her as well. If there was one thing Arnold didn't want, it was competition.
His first question was if he had any involvement with the Yu Chen Po, the gang that had invaded his home. Julius had previous conflicts with the Yu Chen Po, back when he only ran a small music store (that had now been turned into a front for his money laundering business). They had robbed his store numerous times, leaving him in great debt. He eventually had to get help from a group of "mysterious benefactors" to chase them off. So no, Julius wasn't a big fan of the Yu Chen Po.
His second question was about the business card received from The Lifeguard. Julius told Arnold that "EBS" stood for the "Electric Birth Syndicate", a collection of high-class crime overlords that had hands in pretty much every shady operation all over the globe. He had previous business with the EBS when he was first starting out, as they were the ones who offered protection from the Yu Chen Po. But as his business grew, he lacked a need of their help, and cut off ties with them.
The final question was about the well dressed Asian man he saw escorting Her around. Julius told him that his name was Kaijuro Faruko. He was the first son of Kento Faruko; the leader of a multinational business conglomerate based in Japan known as the Faruko Group. It worked with everything from electronics to land leasing, and supposedly had ties with the Yakuza. It was a multibillion dollar corporation, and this made both Kento and his son very rich and powerful. Arnold determined that he was going to have to pull out all the stops in order to get Kaijuro out of the picture. Kaijuro may have the money and power, but he could not beat Arnold's technique.
Arnold searched the internet for more information about the Fakuro Group; and he discovered that their main rival in the market was in fact, the Su Ai Corporation. However, Su Ai wouldn't be too keen on having the person who previously sabotaged their company as an ally. Regardless, Arnold met with West Xu, a Su Ai representative in America, and they discussed a contract between them. Arnold proved that he would be loyal to the Su Ai Corporation by stealing valuable files from the Faruko group. After that, the two parties became business associates, each helping the other become more powerful.
On the street, Julius had welcomed Arnold into his ranks as one of his homies. He introduced him to Sabre, his main advisor and tech repair guy, and Unmanly, his bodyguard and meathead. Arnold was assigned to manage the various 'clientele' of the Borough Knees, using his newly released Excelsior V.2.5 OmniBrain OS. Managing the group from the inside, Arnold proved to be a vital asset to controlling the many operations the Borough Knees had set up. However, Arnold still knew what had to be done. Between repaying the Su Ai corporation (and making a pretty penny off of them) and smurfing money for Julius, Arnold took up his own training regime.
It didn't start off well for Arnold. The well-toned bodies that frequented the Compton Gym turned a blind eye to the flabby, pasty lump attempting to do squats. It was an embarrassing experience for everyone, and Arnold was kicked out after he failed the test of being able to bench 100 pounds. Saddened, he thought of other methods he could get more in shape. That was when a cloaked woman appeared before Arnold, emitting a cold, fierce aura that overwhelmed all other stimuli in the area. The woman, impressed with Arnold's diligence, offered to become his mentor. The trainer's name was Phandra Wulf, a former member of the same "Power's Tome" that Walter had become a part of. She was expelled from the group after she "sold out" some of her secrets [5], which was and still is viewed as one of the most dire of offenses. She didn't mind; the group's strict rules and practices prevented her from doing her job effectively, and searched the western U.S. for students to train. Arnold was just the latest of many, but she could feel an inner power within him, and he would certainly be an interesting pupil.
For months, Arnold trained under Phandra, who taught him the Xen-Jan Vestra sword arts. Xen-Jan Vestra was a series of techniques that were perfected using different styles from all over Asia, which were picked up by two travelers from Japan: Dorita and Chieto. The two combined the katana arts they had mastered with the various martial arts they had learned while traveling, creating a blend of both nimbleness and ferocity. Phandra had picked up on the art from her teacher, Paul Stone, who was still with Power's Tome as the wise elder who taught new recruits the art of assassination. Arnold picked up on the technique quickly, and soon mastered both the katana and Xen-Jan Vestra. A bond was created between master and student in such a short time.
It was not to last, however. Arnold, after his graduation ceremony [6], was notified that Julius had been gravely injured by the Rancorous Chavs; a rival gang in the area. Phandra originally was hesitant to let Arnold go, but she remembered who the leader of the Chavs were: Destana Wulf, her estranged sister who had taken a "less noble" path of life when they were only children. Phandra, having finally found her sister, told Arnold she could no longer be his master. Arnold became depressed; not only was one of his bros injured, but now another woman in his life was leaving him. Phandra told Arnold to buck up, and that she would be with him in spirit. She handed Arnold a parting gift: a folded Damascus Steel katana created by the legendary swordsmith Charles Fultz. Before she completely departed, she told Arnold of a young recruit named Walter who had told her stories of one named "Arnold", and was correct in assuming he was the right one. With all things said, Phandra disappeared into the night, never to return.
Arnold was sad, but this was no time for such distracting emotions. He had to end this.
The Faruko Group had certainly fallen on hard times. Due to Arnold's meddling, their stocks had plummeted and business was in the gutter. Many employees were either being laid off or having their pay drastically cut, and Kento Faruko has committed seppuku out of shame. Kaijuro was to inherent the company from his father, being the oldest, but at this rate it seemed to be more of a liability. Sure, Kaijuro had secretly hoped for his father to pass away, so that he could sell it to the Electric Birth Syndicate and live the easy life, but now he would probably have to work his ass off just trying to recover from the bounds. If anything, his problems had started when he met Her. He was only doing the generous thing of taking Her from place to place, even though She seemed to materialize in spots and only notify him to escort Her back to the apartment. Her beauty captivated him, but not like most others under Her spell; only a sense of duty, not amorousness. But he had an idea of who was responsible for this whole mess. It wasn't Su Ai; while they were secretly an organization of cybercriminals and scammers, they weren't as precise as this. It must've been that weird pizza faced kid, he thought, the one he told to fuck off when he was staring at him on that cold night. Whoever that faggot was, he had to pay. Badly.
So he turned around, his father's sword [7] clutched in hand, and found Arnold standing in the entrance of his room.
The two both exuded an aura of death, both glaring at the other. A glance away spelled certain death. The two methodically drew their blades; Arnold's sword, the Anubis, pulsated with a dark glow of jealousy. Kaijuro's sword (inherented from his father), the Masamune Kickflip Dodecahedron Burning Orphanage Jesterfuck, seemed to tear at the air itself as it hungered for Arnold's blood. Finally, without hesitation, the two rushed at each other. The two swords, one forged of efficiency and the other from history, clashed in a flurry of steel, sweat, and strength. The two rhythmically danced around each other, slicing and swinging, looking for any gap in the others defenses. For a whole hour, the two swung as hard as they could, both blades becoming riddled with nicks and scratches. Eventually, the two took a few steps back. Their power was equally matched, and like this, there would be no true victor.
The two knew it would have to end soon, and they both silently agreed on preforming a final strike on each other. Like old samurai movies, the two were to rush straight ahead, and swing as they passed by the other. Whoever was left standing, won. Arnold and Kaijuro gripped their swords as hard as they could muster; this was the final attack between the two of them. Acting on a silent timer, the two rushed forward moments later. Adrenaline and sweat fueled the room, and everything else became drowned out by the two unstoppable forces about to collide. And then...
SHWINGG!
The two reached the other ends of the room. Kaijuro gasped...he felt nothing. Did he win? He was certain that something was sliced through the bone, from the sound of it. He turned around, and saw Arnold clutching his chest. Blood was dripping everywhere, and Arnold was hunched over, gasping. He had done it! He had finally defeated the man who ruined his family and his dreams of an easy life. But...why was Arnold laughing? Good god, he was laughing so hard. Was this guy insane? Had the immense wound in his chest finally make him realize how futile his quest was? And then Arnold turned around. What he was holding was Kaijuro's left arm, blood dripping out of it like drool from a hungry dog. Horrified, he looked down...and he wasn't imagining anything. Arnold had-
And just as he thought that, Arnold stepped in and finished the job, swinging Anubis like a sideways guillotine. And Kaijuro's head went flying.
Arnold stood over Kaijuro's headless and one-armed body for a long time. He sat there, musing about what he had done. Really, it was the first time he's actually killed a person. While he had always hoped for Roland to be the man he was to kill, that opportunity was long past. It didn't matter; with Kaijuro out of the picture, he was finally free to claim Her as his one true love.
---
[4] A less-than-successful show that was borderline shock art. It featured hordes of people on ice skates, not trained in the slightest, ramming into each other or attempting to discuss their favorite episode of Sonic the Hedgehog. It was universally condemned by critics, but became a cult classic in the more artsy groups.
[5] The secret art known as "scanning", which used the body's inner energy to transform a physical object into a digital representation of itself, and the "Eraser's Smudge", which could blur light around an object and make the contents inside impossible to define.
[6] The ceremony involved both master and student drinking vials of the other's blood and tears, as a form of commitment and honor. Then they went to Chuck E. Cheese's and Arnold got scared of the animatronic mouses.
[7] The Faruko family was originally a powerful feudal family until the reformation caused by Ryota Sakamoto. However, Faruko-donno's expertly crafted blades were carried onto his descendants, with Kaijuro inheriting his father's sword after his suicide.
On with the story!
First Part: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6985449
Part Three: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6987234/
Part Four: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6988723/
---
And now he felt...warmth?
It became warm? Had he reached the afterlife?
Arnold's eyes slowly opened to the surrounding area. He was in a room, and it was covered in what appeared to be memorabilia from Mexico. This didn't seem to be the gates of Heaven, or the throne of Hell. As his eyes adjusted to the room, a woman had walked in.
Even with his limited vision, he could tell this woman was the most incredible thing he had ever set his eyes on.
The woman had supposedly taken care of Arnold for an indeterminate amount of time. He didn't feel cold and apparently she had rescued him from the icy depths of the ocean. She would come into Arnold's room and smile every day, it seemed like. Time didn't seem to operate normally in...wherever he was. Minutes seemed like hours, hours were like days, and somehow, the days passed by like seconds. Arnold didn't care; this beautiful woman was the only thing he could care about now. Over some unknown length of time, Arnold had fully recovered. He asked the woman who she was, where she was from, and how she had rescued him many times, but she didn't speak. At least, using her mouth. The way she moved and the way she stared at people, that seemed to express everything about her, somehow. Now that Arnold was back to normal, she gave him a smile. It didn't seem to give a sense of acceptance or sorrow, just that she was satisfied with something.
She walked to him, and Her lips closed in on his head. She muttered something incomprehensible, and then kissed him on the forehead. A tingling sensation erupted within him, and it seemed like time and space fell apart in one fell swoop. Dazed and confused, Arnold awoke to find himself on the sidewalk, outside of an old apartment building. Did She live here? Her residence was too large to fit in a place like this. But it didn't seem to matter much to him now. He had to find Her again.
Managing to find his way home, he noticed that there were still Christmas decorations littering the streets. He couldn't have been out for too long, he thought. He asked a jolly passerby what day it was, and he replied that it was Christmas Eve. How could that be? Had he somehow gone back in time? He checked a calendar in the store next to him. It was wishing a Happy New Year...of the next year. Arnold had been with the woman for almost a whole year. Somehow this didn't bother him. It actually made him feel glad, as if he received a whole year's worth of loving embrace that his even his mother couldn't offer him.
Inside his house, he entered upon a group of squatters that had taken over his residence while he was asleep. They were members of the Yu Chen Po, a criminal organization from the Far East who were very "impressed" with Arnold's supercomputer, and planned to borrow it indefinitely. They showed Arnold their gratitude by throwing him outside on the pavement. If Arnold was going to get his place back, he was going to have to fight fire with fire.
Traveling back to Santa Monica the next day, Arnold stared out into the ocean. A year ago, he had defeated his brother in a battle, although it had only seemed like a few days ago. The cool ocean breeze wasn't as harsh as the previous year, but his heart was still frozen. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. "So, you've returned to this place, it seems." Arnold looked behind him, and spotted a man wearing a fine business suit, but at the same time, he had on a pair of reflective goggles. This man, who introduced himself as "The Lifeguard", was a member of a syndicate that could make use of his abilities. In return, they would evict the Yu Chen Po from his home. Arnold had no choice, so he agreed.
The Lifeguard took Arnold to a small man-made island a few miles off the coast. On the island was a small house, well kept for being difficult to get to. On the inside, a computer awaited them. The Lifeguard instructed Arnold to gather some "confidentials" from a Chinese company called the Su Ai Corporation. It was no trouble for Arnold; he passed through their data infrastructures and fragwalls with relative ease, and was able to secure plans for a number of computation devices. The Lifeguard was on the phone with another party for the entire ten minutes it took Arnold to finish. He said they were very pleased with his work, and soon, the Yu Chen Po were thrown from his home.
On the way back to his house, The Lifeguard mentioned how difficult it was to revive him after they had rescued him from the ocean depths. Arnold was confused; what did he mean by that? The Lifeguard told him that he was leading some of the syndicate researchers who were investigating "a rampaging behemoth with more stopping power than the Kool-Aid Man" who had drowned in the ocean, and had found his near-lifeless body while looking for the corpse of Roland. Afterwards, they performed intensive care on him and sent him to a nearby hospital to recover. Arnold mentioned he had only just been out of the streets; The Lifeguard was confused, he should've only been in the hospital for a few weeks. Arnold asked if they had knowledge of Her.
The Lifeguard gave Arnold an inquisitive look. He asked Arnold to describe the woman who had taken care of him; Arnold replied that the woman was probably Hispanic, had shoulder-length hair, and was like the living incarnation of Aphrodite.
The Lifeguard asked him, "So, you're talking about A-" He shut his mouth as fast as he could. "I'm sorry...I can't say her name. But I know who you're talking about. She is incredibly bad news, Arnold. Stay far, far, away from Her. She's already stolen a year of your time from you, don't let any more of yours go to waste." The Lifeguard remained silent for the rest of the trip, not answering any of Arnold's further questions. The two arrived at Arnold's now empty and re-renovated home a few minutes later, and The Lifeguard handed a business card to him, with the letters "EBS" engraved on it. After The Lifeguard left, Arnold returned to his quarters. He was thinking about what he said, about the Woman who had saved him, and whether or not The Lifeguard was telling the truth. He decided that there would be no harm in continuing to pursue the woman. Little did Arnold know, he didn't have to try very hard at all to find her again.
A few days later, Arnold went to the store to stock up on the essentials for a hardcore database upgrade: Slim Jims, Mountain Dew, and a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream. On his way back, he saw Her again. She was being escorted up to a fancy apartment by an Asian-looking fellow, dressed to the nine's and with a smile that could cut a baby in half. She took no notice of Arnold, who was in plain sight, but the Asian man glared at him in a way that told him to "fuck right off". He drove off in his gold-plated Rolls Royce, leaving Arnold in the dust. What was She doing? He decided to return to her apartment complex, which was somehow not the one he awoke in front of, the next day.
That day, New Year's Day, Arnold arrived at Her apartment. He banged on Her door; nothing. He asked the other residents if they knew anything about the Woman, they had either never taken notice of her or remarked that she "came and went like the wind". Arnold knew he had to catch Her so that he could confess his feelings. He made a daily routine of waking up, stalking outside her apartment, compiling data, eating a huge lunch, midday stalking, performing his daily queue of "hits", a dinner that would make any health nut kill themselves, and stalking until he got tired and went to bed. This went on for around a year or so (although to the locals it seemed like six), and no matter if the area was in a heat wave or a cold snap, Arnold would still wait outside the apartment. The only times Arnold saw Her was when the Asian was was driving Her home. Come to think of it, he had never actually seen her leave...but that didn't matter. He had to become even more successful than this man, whoever he was, and get him out of the picture.
But before that he needed to perfect Excelsior V.2, which would simulate an "ultimate paradise" (using the Xanadu protocol Mr. Redfield had concepted decades ago) for him and Her. At the computer shop, Arnold had run into the proprietor of a newly-opened music store in town, who was looking for a tech guy to help manage his business. Arnold volunteered, and the two quickly became friends from their shared interest of the musical "Autism on Ice" [4]. The man's name was Julius Romo, who had recently been chased out of the northern town of Antioch by a drug lord named Brenton Escaroso.
Julius invited Arnold to his headquarters, where he revealed that he ran the gang "Borough Knees", who specialized in money laundering, racketeering, and all around territory control. But he needed a secondary tech expert to help him hack into other businesses and mainfringe their firedrives if they didn't pay a monthly fee to them, and he asked the infamous Auto-Static to aid him. In return, Julius offered Arnold a large sum of money, but Arnold wasn't ready to join just yet. He knew Julius, being a crime lord and all, probably had eyes and ears everywhere, and asked Julius three questions.
But he refrained from asking directly about Her, lest Julius become attracted to her as well. If there was one thing Arnold didn't want, it was competition.
His first question was if he had any involvement with the Yu Chen Po, the gang that had invaded his home. Julius had previous conflicts with the Yu Chen Po, back when he only ran a small music store (that had now been turned into a front for his money laundering business). They had robbed his store numerous times, leaving him in great debt. He eventually had to get help from a group of "mysterious benefactors" to chase them off. So no, Julius wasn't a big fan of the Yu Chen Po.
His second question was about the business card received from The Lifeguard. Julius told Arnold that "EBS" stood for the "Electric Birth Syndicate", a collection of high-class crime overlords that had hands in pretty much every shady operation all over the globe. He had previous business with the EBS when he was first starting out, as they were the ones who offered protection from the Yu Chen Po. But as his business grew, he lacked a need of their help, and cut off ties with them.
The final question was about the well dressed Asian man he saw escorting Her around. Julius told him that his name was Kaijuro Faruko. He was the first son of Kento Faruko; the leader of a multinational business conglomerate based in Japan known as the Faruko Group. It worked with everything from electronics to land leasing, and supposedly had ties with the Yakuza. It was a multibillion dollar corporation, and this made both Kento and his son very rich and powerful. Arnold determined that he was going to have to pull out all the stops in order to get Kaijuro out of the picture. Kaijuro may have the money and power, but he could not beat Arnold's technique.
Arnold searched the internet for more information about the Fakuro Group; and he discovered that their main rival in the market was in fact, the Su Ai Corporation. However, Su Ai wouldn't be too keen on having the person who previously sabotaged their company as an ally. Regardless, Arnold met with West Xu, a Su Ai representative in America, and they discussed a contract between them. Arnold proved that he would be loyal to the Su Ai Corporation by stealing valuable files from the Faruko group. After that, the two parties became business associates, each helping the other become more powerful.
On the street, Julius had welcomed Arnold into his ranks as one of his homies. He introduced him to Sabre, his main advisor and tech repair guy, and Unmanly, his bodyguard and meathead. Arnold was assigned to manage the various 'clientele' of the Borough Knees, using his newly released Excelsior V.2.5 OmniBrain OS. Managing the group from the inside, Arnold proved to be a vital asset to controlling the many operations the Borough Knees had set up. However, Arnold still knew what had to be done. Between repaying the Su Ai corporation (and making a pretty penny off of them) and smurfing money for Julius, Arnold took up his own training regime.
It didn't start off well for Arnold. The well-toned bodies that frequented the Compton Gym turned a blind eye to the flabby, pasty lump attempting to do squats. It was an embarrassing experience for everyone, and Arnold was kicked out after he failed the test of being able to bench 100 pounds. Saddened, he thought of other methods he could get more in shape. That was when a cloaked woman appeared before Arnold, emitting a cold, fierce aura that overwhelmed all other stimuli in the area. The woman, impressed with Arnold's diligence, offered to become his mentor. The trainer's name was Phandra Wulf, a former member of the same "Power's Tome" that Walter had become a part of. She was expelled from the group after she "sold out" some of her secrets [5], which was and still is viewed as one of the most dire of offenses. She didn't mind; the group's strict rules and practices prevented her from doing her job effectively, and searched the western U.S. for students to train. Arnold was just the latest of many, but she could feel an inner power within him, and he would certainly be an interesting pupil.
For months, Arnold trained under Phandra, who taught him the Xen-Jan Vestra sword arts. Xen-Jan Vestra was a series of techniques that were perfected using different styles from all over Asia, which were picked up by two travelers from Japan: Dorita and Chieto. The two combined the katana arts they had mastered with the various martial arts they had learned while traveling, creating a blend of both nimbleness and ferocity. Phandra had picked up on the art from her teacher, Paul Stone, who was still with Power's Tome as the wise elder who taught new recruits the art of assassination. Arnold picked up on the technique quickly, and soon mastered both the katana and Xen-Jan Vestra. A bond was created between master and student in such a short time.
It was not to last, however. Arnold, after his graduation ceremony [6], was notified that Julius had been gravely injured by the Rancorous Chavs; a rival gang in the area. Phandra originally was hesitant to let Arnold go, but she remembered who the leader of the Chavs were: Destana Wulf, her estranged sister who had taken a "less noble" path of life when they were only children. Phandra, having finally found her sister, told Arnold she could no longer be his master. Arnold became depressed; not only was one of his bros injured, but now another woman in his life was leaving him. Phandra told Arnold to buck up, and that she would be with him in spirit. She handed Arnold a parting gift: a folded Damascus Steel katana created by the legendary swordsmith Charles Fultz. Before she completely departed, she told Arnold of a young recruit named Walter who had told her stories of one named "Arnold", and was correct in assuming he was the right one. With all things said, Phandra disappeared into the night, never to return.
Arnold was sad, but this was no time for such distracting emotions. He had to end this.
The Faruko Group had certainly fallen on hard times. Due to Arnold's meddling, their stocks had plummeted and business was in the gutter. Many employees were either being laid off or having their pay drastically cut, and Kento Faruko has committed seppuku out of shame. Kaijuro was to inherent the company from his father, being the oldest, but at this rate it seemed to be more of a liability. Sure, Kaijuro had secretly hoped for his father to pass away, so that he could sell it to the Electric Birth Syndicate and live the easy life, but now he would probably have to work his ass off just trying to recover from the bounds. If anything, his problems had started when he met Her. He was only doing the generous thing of taking Her from place to place, even though She seemed to materialize in spots and only notify him to escort Her back to the apartment. Her beauty captivated him, but not like most others under Her spell; only a sense of duty, not amorousness. But he had an idea of who was responsible for this whole mess. It wasn't Su Ai; while they were secretly an organization of cybercriminals and scammers, they weren't as precise as this. It must've been that weird pizza faced kid, he thought, the one he told to fuck off when he was staring at him on that cold night. Whoever that faggot was, he had to pay. Badly.
So he turned around, his father's sword [7] clutched in hand, and found Arnold standing in the entrance of his room.
The two both exuded an aura of death, both glaring at the other. A glance away spelled certain death. The two methodically drew their blades; Arnold's sword, the Anubis, pulsated with a dark glow of jealousy. Kaijuro's sword (inherented from his father), the Masamune Kickflip Dodecahedron Burning Orphanage Jesterfuck, seemed to tear at the air itself as it hungered for Arnold's blood. Finally, without hesitation, the two rushed at each other. The two swords, one forged of efficiency and the other from history, clashed in a flurry of steel, sweat, and strength. The two rhythmically danced around each other, slicing and swinging, looking for any gap in the others defenses. For a whole hour, the two swung as hard as they could, both blades becoming riddled with nicks and scratches. Eventually, the two took a few steps back. Their power was equally matched, and like this, there would be no true victor.
The two knew it would have to end soon, and they both silently agreed on preforming a final strike on each other. Like old samurai movies, the two were to rush straight ahead, and swing as they passed by the other. Whoever was left standing, won. Arnold and Kaijuro gripped their swords as hard as they could muster; this was the final attack between the two of them. Acting on a silent timer, the two rushed forward moments later. Adrenaline and sweat fueled the room, and everything else became drowned out by the two unstoppable forces about to collide. And then...
SHWINGG!
The two reached the other ends of the room. Kaijuro gasped...he felt nothing. Did he win? He was certain that something was sliced through the bone, from the sound of it. He turned around, and saw Arnold clutching his chest. Blood was dripping everywhere, and Arnold was hunched over, gasping. He had done it! He had finally defeated the man who ruined his family and his dreams of an easy life. But...why was Arnold laughing? Good god, he was laughing so hard. Was this guy insane? Had the immense wound in his chest finally make him realize how futile his quest was? And then Arnold turned around. What he was holding was Kaijuro's left arm, blood dripping out of it like drool from a hungry dog. Horrified, he looked down...and he wasn't imagining anything. Arnold had-
And just as he thought that, Arnold stepped in and finished the job, swinging Anubis like a sideways guillotine. And Kaijuro's head went flying.
Arnold stood over Kaijuro's headless and one-armed body for a long time. He sat there, musing about what he had done. Really, it was the first time he's actually killed a person. While he had always hoped for Roland to be the man he was to kill, that opportunity was long past. It didn't matter; with Kaijuro out of the picture, he was finally free to claim Her as his one true love.
---
[4] A less-than-successful show that was borderline shock art. It featured hordes of people on ice skates, not trained in the slightest, ramming into each other or attempting to discuss their favorite episode of Sonic the Hedgehog. It was universally condemned by critics, but became a cult classic in the more artsy groups.
[5] The secret art known as "scanning", which used the body's inner energy to transform a physical object into a digital representation of itself, and the "Eraser's Smudge", which could blur light around an object and make the contents inside impossible to define.
[6] The ceremony involved both master and student drinking vials of the other's blood and tears, as a form of commitment and honor. Then they went to Chuck E. Cheese's and Arnold got scared of the animatronic mouses.
[7] The Faruko family was originally a powerful feudal family until the reformation caused by Ryota Sakamoto. However, Faruko-donno's expertly crafted blades were carried onto his descendants, with Kaijuro inheriting his father's sword after his suicide.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Human
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