It was a quiet ride in the back of the wagon, but Mani was anything but relaxed by it. Perhaps it was the fact that he was cramped back there with his three associates, Tina, Cori, and Eric. Perhaps it was the occasional 'Wark' from the chocobo pulling the cart -he had been in Nu for some time now, but Mani still wasn't quite used to the large yellow birds. After some thought, he attributed his lack of relaxation to his natural paranoia -sure, it got on his nerves at times, but it had kept him alive for all this time. Hell, without it, he and his friends probably wouldn't have gotten through that last job in one piece. And it truly would have been a pity for someone to get killed during the heist, because this little job promised a MASSIVE payload. Mani couldn't help but smile as he eyed the black briefcase in the middle of the wagon, not for a moment regretting all of the crap they had gone through to get it. The wagon continued to bounce along the road, and almost as if on cue, the chocobo at the head warked.

"SHUT THAT DAMN BIRD UP!!," Eric suddenly shouted, throwing a small rock at the Mystic behind the reigns. The Mystic, a scrawny Impish fellow, began hastily apologizing in the Mystic tongue as Eric turned back around and closed his eyes, mumbling something about '...putting a cap in his stupid ass...'.

"Cripes Eric, calm down! It's just a freaking bird," Tina shouted, shaking her head.

Eric didn't even bother opening his eyes. "Well, that freaking bird is disturbing my freaking nap with that freaking 'WARK WARK!'-ing! Next time I hear that damn bird, I swear I'm gonna cook that sucker and kick the crap out of that damn Imp driving him!"

Tina shouted back at Eric, and soon the two were arguing back and forth. Cori silently shook her head and took the moment to creep up next to Mani, who was looking out of the back of the wagon.

"What's going on with your boy there?," she quietly wondered, pointing to Eric.

"He gets high-strung like this from time to time. I think it's the heroin withdrawals, I don't let him shoot up while we're on a job."

"Well, I think you need to do something about it. Tina's not above killing him."

Mani shook his head. "I'm not giving him that needle now. The last thing I need is Eric acting like some crackhead before we deliver that..." He motioned towards the briefcase on the floor.

Corina looked down at the black briefcase on the ground. A smile was across her face as she looked back up at Mani. "It's hard to believe that we pulled it off... I can't believe that we actually got it..."

Mani nodded. "And we're gonna get paid an ass-load once we drop it off."

"Split four ways, of course."

"Of course. That's the deal."

The two were forced to end their conversing as they heard Eric scream out in pain. Upon turning around, they saw him face down on the ground, his arm twisted painfully behind his back as Tina pinned him down.

"OW! OW! Hey, that hurts, you stupid... WAAAH!!"

Mani could only shake his head as he looked up towards the driver, shouting something to him in the Mystic tongue. The Imp shouted something back, to which Mani nodded. "He says we'll be in Mentira in about twenty minutes," he translated. "Once we get there, we're supposed to meet our contact at one of the local bars in town. He won't be able to show up until early tomorrow, so for the time being, we're to just relax at the bar."

"Great, so what the hell are we supposed to do until then?," Eric wondered outloud. Tina had just released him, so he was finally able to stand and rub his shoulder.

"You," Mani began. "are going to RELAX. Get drunk. Cripes Eric, get laid or something." He then looked at his two other associates. "We just finished a very dangerous job, ladies. Therefor, I believe that we have earned a right to celebrate. However..." He turned so that he was facing everyone. "This job is not completed yet, and it won't be until that briefcase is in the hands of our esteemed employer. Therefor, I don't want anyone to do anything stupid. Cori, once we get there, get all of us a room and hide the briefcase in there..."

"How come Cori gets to hide the case?," Eric interrupted. "How do you know she won't run off with it?"

"Eric?" Mani paused for a moment to rub his temples in an effort to ease the tension from the headache he was experiencing.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Eric hastily did so. Corina raised her hand in order to get Mani's attention. "So what's the name of this bar we're heading to?" Mani paused for a moment as he glanced outside of the front of the tent. In the distance, he could see the city of Mentira along the horizon, gradually increasing in size as they rode ever so closer.

"The Kitty Twister."

* * * * * * *

"All right! Kitties, Kitties, Kitties, c'mon in, Kitty lovers!!"

There was a surly looking Diablo in front of the bar wearing a tattered blue vest, microphone in hand, shouting and advertising to the numerous individuals that were making their way inside. Night had begun to fall over the city, and as such the tavern goers were plenty. The Diablo looked about the area, grinning very toothily (if that's not a word, it is now) at the potential customers in the area. "Here at the Kitty Twister, we're slashing Kitties in half! Er... not literally, mind you, because that'd be, like, wrong and stuff..."

There was all manner of creature walking into the 'Twister', some human, most Mystic, a few neither. The Diablo really didn't pay much mind to any of them -in fact, he had no reason to. He was too occupied by his speech to really pay attention to them, much less the four humans just got dropped off by a wagon. The one up front was a medium height man dressed in all black outfit, the only traces of skin being his hands and face. Next to him was a much shorter dark haired young man, a slightly psychotic look in his eyes. His outfit made him stand out a little to the Diablo, but not enough to really warrant a glance -few people in Nu wore black suits and thin, black ties, but of late it seemed pretty common place. Behind them was two similarly dressed women, a blonde and a red head. Both wore black suits of their own, an outfit consisting of dressy bell-bottoms, boots, jacket, and an open collared white shirt. The only difference between the two was that the red head seemed to be carrying a black briefcase at her side.

Mani looked up at the massive neon sign in front of the bar, nodding slightly in approval. 'The Kitty Twister' was lit up in bright green letters, complete with an anime woman in a cat outfit lying down beside it. Over a little further was another sign, this one not quite as fancy as the other, but important nonetheless

-'Open From Sundown to Sunrise.'

"We made it," he remarked with a smile.

"Give us an offer on our best selection of Kitties, this is a Kitty blowout! All right, we got black Kitties, white Kitties, yellow Kitties..."

"What, no orange Kitties?," Mani casually wondered as he and his associates begun to head inside.

The Diablo snickered. "Nah, some fat green guy ran them all off," he remarked with a shrug. He turned a little more serious when he saw that the four strangers were trying to work their way inside. The Diablo quickly put up a clawed hand, pointing it square in Mani's chest. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Upside your head if you don't move," Mani quickly made known. "We're going to get drunk and spend money, do you mind?"

"I can't let you in here," the Diablo answered. "House rules state that I can't..." The Diablo didn't get a chance to finish his explanation, mainly because he suddenly found himself on the ground and screaming after Mani quickly twisted his arm and decked him square in the face. Mani stepped over the huddled mass and held the door open.

"Ladies," he greeted, allowing Cori and Tina to enter. Mani followed, but Eric hung around outside for a moment, looking down at the Diablo.

"Hi there!," he shouted, taking a few free kicks. "How 'ya doin'?!" He turned and headed inside, pausing long enough to cast a glance over his shoulder at the cursing Diablo. "Stay down!" he advised before disappearing inside.

* * * * * * *

Lots of people, scantly clad women dancing (human and Mystic alike), and a rowdy looking band of Imps on stage performing were among the numerous sights that met the group upon entry to the 'Kitty Twister'. Most individuals were seated at various tables around the bar, while a few walked about with drinks in hand. Cori had disappeared almost immediately upon entry in order to deal with the case. Mani stood for a moment, taking time to check the place out. Eric seemed to be captivated by a beautiful human woman dancing on stage, staring up dumbly at the tanned, dark eyed, ebony haired goddess of a woman dancing slowly about the stage, a large, white snake adorning her slender neck like a living scarf. There was another man in the audience watching as closely as Eric, a tattooed young man with a huge red 'J' on the back of his shirt, who would only say 'Salma...' every so often. In another corner sat a large, purple skinned (and very happy looking) Mystic with an afro, and three different women -two at his sides, one on his lap. Sitting at the bar was an ominous looking man dressed in black, holding a guitar case at his side...

Mani's observing was interrupted as he saw Tina waving him over out of the corner of his eye. His associate was sitting at one of the tables, along with Corina. Mani made his way through the crowd and took a seat beside the two.

"To a job well done," Tina toasted, holding up her drink. Corina held up hers also, and Mani could only nod (not having a drink and all). As the two ladies drank, Eric came rushing over to the table and quickly sat down.

He nudged his friend. "Hey Mani, I'm going to go talk to that girl over there." Eric then made a motion to a blue skinned imp woman sitting some distance away from them, while Mani was forced to wince slightly from the powerful smell of alcohol coming from his friend's breath. "I think she smiled at me," he added with a grin.

Mani took a moment to check the woman out. She was, as his friend made clear, an attractive young lady. Her hair was auburn, and she seemed to be closely looking about the area with her pink, expressionless eyes. She sat at her table with two dark haired humans, occasionally saying something to them. He turned back to his slightly intoxicated friend. "Don't say anything lewd, OK?"

Eric laughed outloud as he began staggering in the Imp's direction. "Relax!," he advised. "This is me we're talking about!"

It was a full ten seconds later before they heard Eric screaming like a woman.

Mani, Cori, and Tina immediately jumped to their feet and ran over to the other table, where the Imp had Eric's hand twisted at a very uncomfortable looking angle. Between his cries of 'Ow-eee! Ow-eee!', it would seem that Eric was hastily apologizing for something he said.

"Let him go," Mani simply stated.

The Imp paused for a moment as if she was contemplating. "No," she finally answered as she continued to hold Eric's twisted hand. Mani nodded.

In retaliation, he, Tina, and Cori all reached into the folds of their jackets and came out with pistols, pointing them at the woman and her associates. "Let him go," Mani coolly said. "Now."

"Hey! There's no guns in Nu!," the bartender shouted.

Mani snickered. "Some of the higher-ups owe us some favors." Almost as if on cue, the infamous J-man from the stage walked by, a big smile on his face, and the dancing dark-haired goddess from the stage on his arm. Mani turned his attention back to the three at the table. Along with the Imp was the two dark haired humans, a tall male in a trenchcoat and a beautiful specimen of a woman with silver-blue eyes next to him. The two looked related, in fact were probably twins.

Mani was distracted long enough for the three to jump out of their own seats (letting Eric go in the process, who also pulled a gun). But in an unexpected twist, they pulled out weapons of their own -the human woman pulled a shotgun, the Imp pulled an uzi, and the man pulled out TWO pistols. Mani looked at the three and sighed.

"Where'd you get those?"

"Call it favoritism," the man stated, grinning. "We don't need to resort to bribes to get what we want around here."

"Then how do explain that?," Corina casually wondered, motioning towards to the side. It was the J-man once again, but not only did he have the woman from before, but also a large keg of beer.

The man shrugged. "He's earned it."

There was a tense silence between the two groups, and in the rest of the bar for that matter. Even the band had stopped playing and was watching, as was the majority of the other patrons. It was the dark haired man that finally broke the silence.

"So tell me, why do you feel it necessary to pull a piece on me and my associates?," he wondered, never changing his cool demeanor.

"Why did your girl there see fit to rip my associates hand off?," Mani wondered in return. The Imp cast her glance away from Eric (whom she had her uzi aimed at) and looked at Mani.

"Would you like for me to repeat what that jackass said to me?"

Eric threw up his arms (taking his gun off of the Imp). "Aw come on Mani, you know me! Do you honestly think I said something SO bad that would cause this chick to freak out and pull out a..."

"Eric?"

Eric paused. "Yeah, Mani?"

"Shut up."

Mani slowly replaced his gun (despite Corina's screaming cry of 'What the HELL are you doing?!'). The dark haired man raised a brow, but kept his demeanor as usual. "Then let me apologize for my friend's actions," he began. He noticed that no one else really seemed moved by that, but soon he realized why. He glanced over his shoulder. "Cori, Tina, Eric, put your guns away." There was an uneasy murmur from the majority of his associates (Eric went into a tirade that even _I_ won't include in a Nu chapter), but soon they complied. The man looked uneasy for a split second, but soon replaced his two weapons within his coat, and with a signal, his associates followed. Almost as if on cue, the music started again, and the rest of the patrons resumed carrying on in their merry drunken way. Mani extended his hand.

"The name's Mani," he greeted. The man slowly took it and shook.

"Shen."

* * * * * * *

It took some time (and a whole lot of straight vodka), but soon the two groups were laughing together like they had known each other for years. Eric had been quiet for most of the time (occasionally mumbling something under his breath that Mani could not hear, but assumed it was bad, because whenever it happened, he would see Tina kicking him shortly afterwards) . The Imp (whom had been introduced as 'Kolko') was stolid as always, occasionally casting a hateful glance in Eric's general direction. Both Tina and Cori were social, yet wary, as he had come to expect out of the two. Then there was Ketarina, Shen's sister... Mani knew that it would be considered a sign of disrespect to leer at her, but he found himself casting a glance in her direction on more than one occasion.

More profound was the fact that it would seem that the two groups had someone in common -their employer. Neither knew much about the fellow (only that he liked to be called 'The Man'), but what they did know was that both groups had been promised massive payments.

"So there you have it," Shen remarked, grinning. "Our purpose for being at 'The Kitty Twister'." It would seem that the alcohol had loosened their tongues a tad, because very few (if any) professionals shared such information with one another. But it really didn't matter, what mattered was the fact that there were still a few more hours until dawn, and before they could also collect their payments...

... when every door to the bar suddenly slammed shut and locked, they weren't sure if that mattered either. But if nothing else, it concerned them...

Most of the bar's patrons were too drunk to really notice, but there were a few that did. In fact, one man jumped up and grabbed a nearby guy that looked like he worked there by the collar. "What's going on here, man?!," he shouted. "Why are the doors locked, man?!"

There was an almost universal scream by those present as they saw the worker rip the man's arm off before jumping on him and begin eating at his neck.

Various obscenities filled the air as people began to kick down chairs and tables, vainly attempting to flee the establishment. Things had turned into a bloodbath as several of the other patrons revealed their own demonic presence, turning into the vampiric creatures and turning on their neighbors, while the band began playing madly as if to provide suitable background music for the brawl. Two such creatures came at our table of antiheroes, and soon found themselves plugged with more bullets they could possibly count. Tina and Cori immediately kicked up their own table and used it as a barricade, plugging anything that looked remotely hostile. Eric took off running, screaming and shooting randomly, while Kolko and Ketarina began filling the 'Kitty Twister' with more bullets since the last time that Doe fellow stopped by and complained about the service. Mani, on the other hand, dove behind the bar for cover, nearly landing on the cowering bartender in the process.

"Waah, don't eat me!," the man shouted. "This is my first day here!" Mani ignored him as he observed something nearby that could possibly prove useful.

"Whose is that?," he wondered, pointing at the guitar case resting some distance away. The bartender shrugged.

"That man dressed in black," he answered, keeping his head down. "He hauled ass outta here once the killing started!" Mani grinned wickedly as he made his way over to the guitar case and threw it open...

"... a GUITAR?! CRAP!"

Shen suddenly came diving over the bar, landing some distance away from Mani and the bartender. He hopped back up long enough to shoot a few creatures over the bar, immediately diving back down after taking his shots.

"These undead jackasses are everywhere!," Shen made known as he helped himself to a nearby bottle of booze. "Oh, and I think Eric's about dead," he added with a shrug. "Sorry."

As if on cue, Eric's familiar scream was heard over the commotion. Mani looked over the counter in time to see his bleeding friend running around like a chicken sans-head, one of the half naked dancers on his back biting him. He soon fell to the ground, crying. "I... never... even... scored... once...", his tearful last words.

Mani was enraged. Even though Eric had his share of problems, he was still his friend. He suddenly leapt over the bar, gun in hand and firing away at the woman that had ended his associate's life, his defiant war cry of "You killed Eric, you demonic skank!" heard even over the ruckus of the bar. Shen, in the meantime, merely sat back behind the bar. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out one of those nifty little cellular phones like the ones everyone seemed to carry in Final Fantasy 7.

"Heya J? Shen here... listen bud, I've got a big favor to ask of you... yeah, you'll be compensated, you know I'm good for it... how's two kegs sound? OK, two kegs, and another tattoo? Cool, listen, I need some firepower here... yeah, I know about the 'no Nu guns' rule... OK, three kegs, and that's my final offer..."

A few seconds later, Shen jumped up from behind the bar wielding not only an insanely wicked grin, but a large, black rifle that would have made most 'Aliens' scream like little girls.

"HIT THE DIRT!," Corina screamed before diving to the ground herself.

There was a loud burst of rapid gunfire as Shen began spraying the room, his maniacal laughter even heard over the sounds of plasma tearing into the walls, bodies being blown apart, and the screams that accompanied them. The band had even dropped their instruments of damnation and were fleeing the area, only to be shredded by a volley of energy. This went on for about a minute, until Shen finally stopped shooting.

"AK-series Pulse Rifle, baby!," he shouted defiantly, looking at the destruction he had caused. "...when you need to clear out a whole _room_ of mother..."

"Shut your mouth!," Keta answered, snatching the rifle from her brother's hands. "There _is_ such a thing as overkill, you know..."

On the other side of the room, Tina and Cori slowly picked themselves up off of the ground, brushing off pieces of wood from the walls, along with an occasional piece of the undead. They were forced to cough from the smoke and stench that comes from plasma-friend flesh that was in the air. "I want one of those guns," Cori silently remarked...

In another corner, Mani began dusting himself off as he helped Kolko to her feet. He couldn't help but notice that not only was she covered in blood, but half of her clothes were torn. "Did the explosion hit you?," Mani wondered, checking for wounds.

Kolko waved him off. "Don't worry, it's not mine." She glanced up at him, a look of agitation in her eyes. "It would seem that your friend Eric wasn't exactly dead," she made known. "The little bastard tried to get a little freaky when no one was looking..."

Mani's face lit up slightly. "So he's still alive?"

Kolko glanced over her shoulder at the body of Eric lying on the ground some distance away. "Not anymore," she answered coldly before walking away. Mani did a second glance at the body, and could have sworn that his friend's body was riddled with bullet holes, almost as if someone with an uzi had...

Nah.

Corina made her way over towards what remained of the bar, noticing that Shen was on the cellular phone once again. She tapped Keta. "Who's he calling now?," she wondered.

"The infamous J-man once more," Keta responded with a shrug. "We've still got a couple of hours before dawn, so he's trying to do something about that." Shen, in the meantime, looked as if he was having a hard time with the person on the other end.

"Aw c'mon, we've still got a couple of hours before dawn, we can't just sit here on our butts until then! This chapter's long enough already! I swear, this is the last favor I'll ask for, man, I mean it! Say what? What do you mean you have to talk to some of the others? OK, fine, what's it gonna cost..." Shen's eyebrows shot up. "WHAT?! Just who the hell do you think I am, that Urmen guy?!" Shen put his hand on the receiver. "He wants more women, can you believe this jackass?!," he hissed before picking the phone back up. The next couple of seconds was a nothing more than a bunch of 'uh huhs', 'yeahs', and an occasional 'you've gotta be kidding, she'd never go for it...'

A moment or two later, Shen finally hung up the phone, a smile fixated on his face. "Well, the good new is I've managed to get time sped up for us... we won't have to sit around doing nothing for the next couple of hours." There was a general murmor of approval from those around him, but it was Tina that finally asked the inevitable.

"... and the bad news?"

Shen's smile became more of a grin as he took a deep breath, laughing a little to himself. "Well," he began, "Um... Tina, can you dance?"

Tina blinked. "Yeah, I guess..."

Mani snickered, which seemed to trigger Shen's memory as he turned and faced him. "Oh, and Mani? Your girlfriend, Lily... can she cook?"

Mani nodded. "Quite well," he answered with a smile.

"Can she do it just wearing a pair of high heels...?"

"..."

* * * * * * *

Dawn came (much faster than expected, thanks to the blessing bestowed by the higher-ups), and soon our six professionals were walking outside of what remained of 'The Kitty Twister'. Which wasn't very much, between the demonic battle and vicious gunplay from mere moments ago. Corina carried her group's briefcase -Kolko, the other. Mani had borrowed Shen's phone and was currently talking to Lily, trying his hardest to explain why she and Tina would be spending the evening entertaining the J-man and company.

Standing some distance away from the group were three men, two of which were dressed in black. They were the bodyguards of the third, the man standing between them. There wasn't much that set him apart from the others -he wore a white shirt, a white pair of pants, and a white suit. His shoes were white, his socks were white, everything about the man was white.

"That's gotta be the whitest man I've ever seen in my life," Keta found herself remarking, to which the others snickered save Shen (who was keeping his cool, business-like demeanor despite the fact that he still had a disgustingly massive pulse rifle slung over his shoulder) and Mani (who was currently begging Lily to stop crying).

"And you must be The Man," Shen greeted, to which the man nodded. "I do believe this belongs to you," he added, motioning to Kolko, who handed the case to one of the man's bodyguards. Mani nodded to Corina, who handed the other to the second guard.

The Man smiled and presented two cases of his own, keeping them at his side as he began to inspect the goods. He motioned for his guards to open the cases given to him, which they did. A golden glow seemed to cover The Man's face as he looked inside, grinning even broader. But just as suddenly as he had smiled, it melted away.

"It's damaged!," he shouted, slamming the case shut. He quickly looked at the other case, his expression souring even more. "They're both damaged!," he made known, looking like he was ready to throw a temper tantrum.

"Sorry bub, they must've been that way when we got them," Cori remarked, a hint of disgust in her voice. "We've treated those things like our children since we've gotten 'em."

"Semi-neglected children," Mani mumbled, to which Tina snickered and elbowed him.

Shen nodded. "A deal is a deal." His eyes narrowed slightly. "We've honored our part, and I'd expect no less from you."

The Man slammed the briefcases shut, ignoring anything that had been said by the group. He looked back up, anger etched across his now red face. "You expect me to actually PAY you bums for this?! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Kolko did a quick glance at Shen and made a motion towards her uzi. Shen quickly shook his head no.

"Look, you butt-headed prick, are you paying us or not?!," Mani finally shouted, his temper giving way. "We've been through all manner of hell trying to get you that freaking case!" His eyes narrowed. "And over that, a good friend of mine got killed in the process... I'd like to think that he didn't die in vain..."

"You watch it, ninja-boy!," The Man shouted, his face even redder than before. "That's not my problem, now is it?!" He looked at his two body guards and made a quick motion over his shoulder. "C'mon guys, we've leaving these losers!" With that, the three turned around and began walking away.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Keta casually remarked. "But I believe that they're walking away with our money..."

Shen nodded. "I do believe you are correct, dear sister..."

No one knew quite what to make of the next series of events, but once they began, everyone seemed to know exactly what to do next. There were two loud thunder claps, immediately followed by the two bodyguards falling to the ground, dead. The Man quickly spun around, noticing the trail of smoke coming from both Corina and Mani's guns. Not only that, but everyone else's guns were out and aimed at him, including that disgusting rifle of Shen's. The Man almost looked as if he was ready to soil his nice, white pants. "Y... you can't do this to me!," he managed to stammer.

He nearly soiled them again after hearing the uniform 'CLICK' of the weapons being cocked.

"You have three seconds to give us a reason why we can't," Shen made known.

The Man was taken back slightly. Soon, his face was bright red once again, not from fear, but from rage. "Why?!," he shouted. "Because I'M THE MAN!"

Mani shook his head. "Damn The Man," he responded. "Wrong answer, jackass."

* * * * * * *

It was several hours later when the Mentiran authorities showed up to investigate after getting reports of several unsavory types hanging around the area. What they found was quite possibly the strangest, and most disgusting thing any of them had ever witnessed. Not only was the remains of 'The Kitty Twister' full of holes and filled with half-eaten patrons and pieces from several... creatures, but what was found some distance from the bar was by far the strangest. There were three bodies -well, at least two, the final one was open to debate. While the others apparently died from gunshots to the back of the head, the third seemed to have died a most horrid of deaths. It was only a few moments prior that the body had been identifies as being a man (identification proves to be a difficult task when those attempting to do so must spend time actually putting the remaining pieces together). None of the bodies carried any belongings, and those that looked at the hands of the final man seemed to agree on the same thing. It looked as if he died clutching something tightly, almost like he didn't wish to give it up, even in death.

But what was even odder was how it would appear that as a final insult, his hands had been pried open, his precious prize taken away from him by some unknown persons...