[attr="class","likedo"]

[attr="class","likedo"]

''Is that so? Aren't you mysterious.'' He grinned, finding the wanderer more interesting by the passing seconds. In a way they were polar opposites. Dante couldn't be tied down, free to roam and see the world on a journey that presumably didn't have an end. Meanwhile, Eiji was born on the streets of Shinjuku and had stayed here to help the people that took care of him and raise the next generation of delinquents that would take over once he became too old for all that nonsense. What kind of sights had the stranger seen? Just how big was his world compared to Eiji's?

''I can get behind that. If anything, rebellion is exactly what we need at times like this.'' He nodded thoughtfully, crossing his arms. Not only did he shred on his guitar and sing with the power of that roaring fire he wanted to start, but Dante was the pure embodiment of rock and rebellion too. ''You think so? I'm glad to hear it! We'd be more than happy to accommodate you. I bet staying here at our park will be different from what you're used to on the road. For one, it's safe. Your equipment won't be stolen.'' He smirked back with his own suggestive glint. ''And I can personally vouch for your safety.'' He motioned for Dante to follow him with his head. ''Come with me.''

Dante

''Yeah I'd believe it. You've got the presentation down to a T!'' It was meant as a compliment, but Eiji definitely didn't know what it was like to be that infamous so he made that statement from a place of ignorance. As he often did about many things. He was a simpleton, but an honest one. Perhaps that was why Ghouligan was trusting him with some level of responsibility within the Undertow network. That, and other Hummingbird members only listened to resident idiots, of which he was one.

''Me?'' He blinked his eyes a couple of times, clearly taken by surprise. ''Sure! I'll do what I can for our cause.'' The pressure was on. Newly elected leader of his gang, now also in charge of getting these safehouses up with Ghouligan's people? Talk about pressure. Thankfully, he excelled when he was racing against the clock and this was no different from what he had been used to all of his life as a delinquent on the streets of Shinjuku. ''That so? I'll make sure to be there to weigh in. Wouldn't miss it for the world. Besides, we've got high ranking officers within our gang, they're all people I can trust, I can give them some of the workload too.'' He grinned and held up a prosthetic thumbs up. ''I'll keep an eye out and make sure my schedule is cleared for that day, then.''

Ghouligan

''Right?'' He chuckled, ''who the hell wakes up and plans to get shot?'' What a sour situation they found themselves in. He should totally have expected it too, busting an operation were they sold illegal weapons and all, why wouldn't they be carrying guns to deter people like them from attacking? Unfortunately for himself, and maybe more so Howie, Eiji wasn't exactly one who planned ahead. He was a man of action, planning and strategizing and all that just made his head hurt. That's why he was the leader of the gang, but he had advisors and stuff like that. Not that any of them had saved him from himself this time around.

''What the hell is that one? He's a monster!'' One of the thugs pointing a gun shouted in response to Howie taking a hostage to use as a meat shield pretty effortlessly. ''Oi. People with mutations are still people, you one of those anti-mutant losers?'' Eiji retorted, but was quickly shouted over. ''Shut up! I'll shoot him, I'll shoot both of you!!'' His aim was getting shakier as he pointed the gun back at Howie. Was he a good enough shot to avoid shooting his colleague? It didn't seem like it from the way he was hesitating. ''I'm just saying life's short, why are you so busy hating?'' Eiji started to slowly inch forward while keeping his arms raised. He might only be able to channel flames safely through his prosthetic arm, but they didn't account for the fact that Eiji...

With a swift kick, he kicked the gun out of the hand of one the two gun wielders, leaving the other one for Howie to deal with.

...They didn't account for the fact that he had legs.

''Pulling a gun? Only cowards resort to cheap tricks!'' He punched the thug he disarmed in the face, before slamming him into the nearest wall. ''You bastards don't belong on these streets! What do you think, big guy? What's a fitting punishment for them?'' He grinned wickedly.

roadhog

''I'm no expert on fashion, but if people profile you as a bad guy maybe you don't look friendly enough.'' He shrugged. ''For the record, I don't think you look evil or anything.'' He looked down at his sword. ''Well, maybe being armed doesn't help your case. What do you usually do if the cops try to stop you? You don't look like the type to carry a license.'' He grinned smugly.

He laughed when Hiro mentioned the gangs of Japan classes, knowing full well that it was a joke. ''So they teach that sorta stuff in school now? Maybe I shouldn't have dropped out.'' It was probably no surprise that Eiji wasn't the bookish type, never had been. He was an orphan from the streets so it was an uphill battle to begin with, and he didn't really see the value in sitting down and reading the same way some of his smarter gang members did. ''Really?'' He raised an eyebrow. ''Like how far back exactly? This might sound weird but I helped another amnesiac recently. Supposedly, she forgot an entire half a day of her life before we rescued her.'' If it was a similar case with Hiro there might be a pattern forming on these streets, a disturbing pattern.

''Whatever makes people happy, huh?'' He would reach up to try and give Hiro a pat on the shoulder. ''You don't sound so bad after all, Hiro! Who knows, maybe you'd have joined our gang if you grew up on these streets.'' He smiled, ''of course, you're always welcome if you can stomach the company. Promise you won't get in trouble with my folks anymore.'' When he offered to help them with their rival gang Eiji looked him up and down. ''Really? I'll keep that in mind, we need all the muscle we can get to deal with them.'' The sugar in the gas tanks comment made him laugh again. ''That'd teach them! But if you help us you become one of their targets. They're known as the Spiders, they train their people to do assassinations and illegal dealings.''

Hiro

''I suppose that makes sense. You're kind of a big name anyway aren't you?'' He appreciated that Ghouligan took extra precautions not to bring more potential enemies to their front door. What was that like, being so well-known that your mere presence could create trouble for yourself or those around you? Eiji only experienced it when running into rival gangs, but that mostly happened if he ventured outside of their territory and even then he wasn't any sort of infamous. At most a delinquent to the authorities, but he rarely got arrested these days either since he didn't actually commit any terrible crimes.

''Sure.'' It was naive to think they could replicate safehouses exactly like this in a city as dense as Tokyo, but he figured part of his role in this project was to provide a baseline and the manpower of his gang. People like Ghouligan were much better at being realistic and correcting him along the way. ''I get you, safehouses only work as long as they're safe. Having variety isn't a bad thing and in a way, the moving safehouses will be a lot more reliable since they're harder to track down.'' When he said what he did next Eiji laughed. ''Safe apartments, we can work with that for now.''

''Are you hitting up other Undertow members after this? Judging from the meeting it's a growing network.'' He looked back at Ghouligan. His job sounded tiring, but worth it. Then again, he was used to mostly staying in one place.

Ghouligan