Tak-Tak, the leader of the Zeroes, was digging up some rüt, a starchy vegetable: twenty percent starch, eighty percent water, or something like that. Not much of a delicacy, but natives enjoy it nonetheless. Zigarat, a tall figure with broad shoulders. All he had were some trousers that matched his sweat glistened hair. "How much longer?" he asked.
"Captain says 'till the time is right,'" replied Le Suo. Soil marked his hands, thick boots and back clamping overalls took over his lower half. The rest of the crew was out working on Tak's farm, though to some it was rather a decently large garden.
"This is fucking ridiculous! We're workin' on a damn farm rather than racing out on the streets, shit! No one is even looking after our own districts. This isn't what I signed up for. I joined so I can do what I want when I want, not to become some slave on a farm!"
"Can it Zig! You're being rude again," Razal remarked.
"Rude! If this is what you—"
Tak raised a finger and all six of his members stopped moving. "They have arrived…"
Rad walked to the entry gate of the land, a couple lashings of the bell, and soon a young boy approached. Wiping his hands with a neat cloth, the boy, about a head shorter than Rad with a bit of a meek face, but rather large eyes asked, "What business do you have here?"
"I heard this place sells vegetables, so I was wondering if I could buy some."
Urnna glanced at him, looking him over, down and up. "I see, well come this way, the boss is in the back."
Five minutes of walking led them to an open stall between rows of growing fruit and veg. There Rad saw him, sitting on an upside down tin bucket. Shaved eyebrows, frizzy bleached hair, dark eyes that circled more than his pupils. Zeroes dotted under both of his eyes as his pale skin reflected the beaming sphere of radiating heat above. Spinning a sign he flicked with his foot, the "menu" was now abruptly in Rad's face.
"You can purchase anything on here," Urnna said meekly, pointing to a poorly laminated list.
"Then I'll just get a…" After a satchel of rüt, two rolls of herbs, and a sack of bright red fruits. Rad dropped a few dozen coins and turned on his way. In moments of the exchange, Zigarat could only be held back by Razal, as Urnna did the communicating and Tak did the packaging. As the exchange was going on, Baghdad and Koga, were still working in the back, given no chance to grace their eyes with Rad's presence.
Urnna took Rad back through the path, there Rad could see 07 on the boy's right wrist. With Rad gone, Tak asked, "Did you get anything?"
"It seems he knows nothing," Urnna answered, "I looked all around him, but saw no fluctuations. Either he didn't recognise you, or something is amiss."
Tak sat silently as the sky turned orange.
Rad began to boil the starches first in a cold pot of water, approximately an hour later. They let them rest in a nice bath of iced water. He then simmered some red veg and their by-product in a little bit of lard. Adding some bones from down the street gives body, of course you take them out after a couple of hours. A starchy and sweet aroma roamed the complex. Rad sat to listen in on the radio, Dante laid out his map. Kojiro never bothered with what was written up, laying with his eyes closed on his partner's lap. Grease held a grim expression as confusion plagued him.
"Why are we writing up a heist in a hospital kitchen?" Grease asked.
"It's actually a breakroom," Lev, a lanky lad with a profligate look replied.
"Zip it playboy. Dante, what is going on?"
"Rad wanted to cook some food, so we are having our meeting here."
"This is ridiculous."
"Well, think of it this way. Free food and a plan that will help expand your power."
"Didn't you say I will die in the near future?"
"We will all die someday, near or not."
"You…"
"There are five trails into the base of Myu Mountain, four are locked and are usually guarded by the four generals of the Zeroes. Not much is known about them, but they can't be too strong. The safest bet is to get around them."
"What about the fifth?" Musashi asked.
"Lava, at least that is what is rumored. I will send Rad there whilst we try going around. Unlike a proper entrance it is more so a shaft I found after scouting the area."
Grease looked dumbfounded. "You checked the whole mountain side? Impossible."
"Question what you like. Once we get in there we will have to drive fast, as the security inside is insane. Once we hit the safe, we snatch the prints and run out, cut the lines and let the place collapse in on itself."
Kojiro stood up as everyone stared at Dante. "You're insane. Actually insane… Lost yo damn mind! What's so important that you would destroy a whole mountain? You know how many could die because of your dumbass plan."
"Relax, comb your hair, you're lookin' like a mess. We ain't taking the mountain, the safety system is. I have no clue how to stop it, so what's most important is we take the blueprints and get out, no matter the cost."
Kojiro had a dreary expression as he asked. "Will you rely on me? If so I want no part in this charade. I am aware of your knowledge Dante, and I find what you are trying to do as foolhardy. Inevitably you may be all that is left. How shall you repay me for my efforts if I am dead without my own volition. I am not your tool no matter what fate decides, the being above can choose how my life ends all they like, but I will not submit to the road that leads me there."
"Then I shall die before you. If you wish not for your end, then I will step in and take it…"
"You forget to listen, it is not the end I concern myself with, it is how. Why must I align with you and no one else? If death is in my future, what reason should my life belong to you? Where should my sword's allegiance lie? I speak not for my truth, I know my end and how I will obtain the way of my blade."
"…"
"Silence, expected," Kojiro placed his head gently on Musashi's lap. His vice-captain placed a silk cloth over Kojiro's eyes.
Rad walked through the door from his momentary check on the pots. His eyes hovering over Dante's back, "Dante, what he says is reasonable. I wish not to die yet, but I feel as if my role is already cemented. Especially in your mind. You have given no reason to follow besides threats. No one here is simply a man of simple stature. We all equal you or more. So what do you offer? When we were in purgatory, I almost entered the stream of limbo. My answers are as simple as a drive through the city. I have both nothing and everything to live for. My allegiance with you is of the same weight as Kojiro's. You no longer harbor the same value in my eyes, and it is not as though we were much of friends in the first place."
Grease chimed in as well. "Damn, they're really tearing you apart. Luckily for me you already gave me enough justification for this mission even for how insane it is. As long as none of my men get in any danger. Then me going solo and finding Longwang is good enough. What about you, lover boy?" Grease pointed to Lev.
"Right now the mistress is recuperating and I must give my thanks deeply to sir Rad. We owe him, so it is fair to say whatever he chooses will also be our choice."
"Ya heard him, so what will it be, little lizard. I'm more convinced that everyone here would rather follow Rad than you."
"Rad, how is the food coming along?" Dante asked.
"Probably another hour."
"I see…"
"I will go, just to see the man known as Tak-Tak, but not anything else. I'm not to be some war flag or token to be tributed for your greater cause." Dante said sternly.
"Rad, I know you are different. No one here may know, but I do," Rad stood motionless, his eyes trembled ever so slightly. "This is no threat, but all I wish for you to know is that we are…were friends. Good enough even to die for each other and slay for each other. You are right in your efforts to seek out the leader of the Zeroes. So I hereby change our course. Kojiro will lead the battle effort, Rad will take to the shaft and steal the blueprints. I will be the decoy and gather their attention for as long as I can."
Grease looked dumbfounded once again. "Did you listen to anything they—
"Sounds like a plan," Rad said, cutting Grease off.
Kojiro sat up once again. "Not bad old one, not bad. Long legs, me and you are gonna go on a tear."
"What is happening right now?" Grease said in response to Kojiro.
"Rad, by getting those blueprints, you can have them in any way you like. I was going to leave it out, but most assuredly you will meet him down there. For the rest of us, it doesn't necessarily have to be a battle to the death. They are racers, car enthusiasts, at the end of the day we're just stealing candy from some nerds."
Drinking a cucumber ice, Le Suo stared off into the orange horizon. Tak-Tak sat by the porch of his small cottage, massaging the temples of Urnna's youthful skin. Razal and Zigarat were boxing over a bag of chips. In the calm chaos a lone figure entered their sights. Baghdad, a tanned gentleman with a tint of grey in his hair, for all the thinness of his hair it was rather voluptuous in appearance. His voice was like a dry growl. "Both Heart and Motor are on the move. Your thoughts are probably justified Captain."
"How unfortunate." Koga said, walking behind. Garbs with a busy pattern so detailed it was hard to tell what was solid color or illustrated embroidery. His eyes were all that could be seen as colors wrapped him like an ear pole in the desert.
"War. We settle for their arrival, end them at their appearance, rejoice with minimal spoil. Let us ride." Tak stood up, clipping on his stirrups.
Her hair was a frazzled mess, but her smile was most genuine. Her sister Lou sat beside her on the bed. "He broke up with me, said I took too much. Can you believe it?"
"I can," Janan chuckled, it had been long since she was able to have a comfortable talk with her sister. Death. I have died once, in evidence I must start again. "Will you try to find another poor fool to swindle?"
"I don't know, maybe I will go for broke and see to one of them car dudes. How bout that one who's been comin' in so often. What was his…"
"Rad, his name is Rad. Silly, but no more than some of the other silly ones in this damn country."
"Man you're no fun, I can't even pretend to steal him from you."
"What twisted fun you have. I can't imagine where you got it from."
"Ya know…Janan, for as much as I like the rich guys who come off and on around here. For every fancy factory or business they own outside of here, I have never spent one of their dimes."
Janan's eyes burst open as if someone shot her in the neck. "What do you mean?"
"I have been saving up the last few years, enough to probably buy our own island and live comfortably forever if we liked. Ya know… Me and you, we could just… Ya know, because you're over this racing thing, you're over that no good…Koil. We could move on, you could…and—"
"That's enough Lou. I appreciate it, I really do. But I am already dead." Lou's face grew pale. "They need me, just as much as you do. I have just a little more, and hey in one way or another I have found someone else I can rely on."
"Chips with red berry ketchup," Lou said.
Janan stared blankly after her sister's blunt statement. "What?"
"That's what he's been making since noon. It should be ready by now."
"Understood, and?"
"It is most certainly for you, but I also here it's a favorite of his."
"I hear you, but I still don't understand quite fully why you brought this up."
"They're making it down the hall, that fucker Lev is also with them."
"Don't call him that…"
"Sorry."
"Wait what?!"
"They're cooking down in the kitchen, here, in this building."
Janan placed her face in her palms, in absolute disbelief all she could do was laugh. "Tell him I would love to try some."
Both parties soon to clash would have refreshing beverages, savory sauces, and chips: crisp, salty, and ever so delightful. On an evening with weather most believed was like Heaven. Their nights both rather long came to a close with bellies full and eyes shut as a cool breeze would follow them all through windows and doors. A night more dotted than ever before would appear, La Luna Dos shined close to the level of Sola Ute.