Part 25: Every Murder Needs a Montage

2Yr. 12Mo. 2Wk.

Six weeks. Six fucking weeks. That's how long that demon put half my team out of action. I was scared they'd die. And for what? The sins of people long dead.



The news hasn't been entirely grim. Natsu'd been scheduled for the Offical Grade D tournament before the disaster, and he was able to pull off a win. After that, though, things on the ranch kind of petered out. I kept Natsu and iScream training, but there didn't feel like a whole lot of point to it with what I'd done to Chucky, Titan, and poor little Gourdon. It made for a pretty miserable Thanksgiving, all told.

Then they finally came home, first of the month. Chucky was still weak from his injuries; the others got off lighter, maybe because they're younger and spring back faster. I declared a holiday of sorts for Fight Club: time off all around, the finest meats and fruits.

While they rested, though, I planned. It's too late now to enter the official tournaments in January, but April is viable. Natsu and iScream have what it takes, and Gourdon and Titan? Well, they can dip their toes in the Grade E bouts, see if they're ready.

I made sure not to schedule anything the first week of April, though. That's the week before the tournaments begin. I have something special planned for that week, you see.

I'm going to give the whole team the week off, and then, on the weekend, I'm going to take Chucky, Natsu, and iScream into the jungle again.

I'm going to find that Gaboo.

And I'm going to murder him.