“Do you know how much I suffered because of you? Every night I just wish there was a traffic accident that would kill you. But for god’s sake, nothing happened that would finish you off” said Mikhail.

“Eeesh. Hard for a father to hear that”

“Yeah, what got into you?” asked Bold. 

“You’re not a parent. You’re a domestic abuser. There is a biiiiig difference.  You started beating me up since I was five” said Mikhail with a sadistic tone.

“I was drunk during those times”

“You were always drunk”

“Look man, the memories are very fussy. I-it’s like that story, men and mice. How could you account me guilty for the stuff that I don’t remember doing. So let’s just hug it out, please!”

Rasputtin rushed towards Mikhail, pinned him to a wall and wrapped his arms around him tight. 

“Hey, stop it, You’re still drunk, you fucker!”

Mikhail pushed the man back and kicked his thigh in which Rasputtin hopped over the stairs to the grassy ground. Mikhail cleaned his clothes with his hand with a disgusted expression.   

“Mikhail, LOOK” cried Amanda.

He turned around to see his father putting the manal figure into his bag.

Mikhail dipped his hand into his dimensional bag and a realization struck him.

“You bastard!”

Rasputtin laughed and looked at him with a derpy expression and spoke:

“I just found that on the ground. Well, got to go, goodbye”

“FUCKER, WAIT”

With all his rage intact Mikhail lunged towards his father but the man knocked him back with a high kick to his chest. After a bad landing with his back on the stairs, Mikhail shot a mean look at him in which Rasputtin replied with a rueful grin and turned around.

“Nigerundayo” he said and ran away with speed and delicacy. 

“Get the fuck back over here” cried Mikhail as he ran after him.

“So that’s the person who planted jojokes within Mikhail” mumbled Bold to himself.

“What are you blabbering about? Go after them” said Amanda, pushed Bold and rushed after them herself.  

Rasputtin was quick to type on his wristboard and summoned a horse sized mammoth under himself. The beast enlargened itself enough to signify it’s real life version. If there was any difference the beast was ridiculously fast. It blasted the metal fence with its horns and galloped into the streets.  While Mikhail was running after him, he heard a voice from behind.

“Grab on” said Bold while he trotted towards him on his horse. Mikhail grabbed hold of Bold’s hand and kicked the stirrup and landed on his back. The horse galloped after the mammoth while Serena turned into a phoenix to follow after them and Gabi followed them in her panther form.

“Dang, Gabi!” yelled Diego after her sister.

There was nothing he could do. And neither could the others who were left behind.

The mammoth crushed the small crates that stood in its way and almost bulldozed a few individuals who were thankfully alert enough to jump out of the way.

“Sorry, sorry….Man, I knew I should have picked something tinier and faster” mumbled Rasputtin to himself. 

“Too late to regret now”

Hearing Serena’s words, Rasputtin ducked in time to dodge her kick and with a swift sweep he knocked her leg off balance and made her fall flat with her side.

“You know, you would have hit me with that kick if you didn’t tal-“

Serena interrupted his words with a punch to his face. And she kicked him on his ribs with enough force to throw him off of the mammoth. While falling he typed on his wristboard and as he reached the ground he landed on all four limbs. His whole body was now wrapped in vines and leaves. His nails turned to claws and the ones on his toes cut through his boots.

This was Rasputtin’s Naturalistic Beastman skill. It cost him a lot of gold but still to this day he was proud of purchasing it.  Bold and Mikhail caught up to him with their horse but the man dashed towards the narrow alley like a wild animal and disappeared. They followed him with Gabi on their tail. Serena wanted to follow them but the mammoth went berserk and started destroying everything in its paths. She summoned a giant phoenix and the flaming bird slammed into the beast from above making it fade into nothingness.

Meanwhile Bold and Mikhail were galloping at top speed and disappeared into the dozen twists and turns of the streets. Gabi still sprinted with extreme speed after them. But a shining blue bird descended from above the sky and flied next to her. The bird spoke:

“Gabi, wait. It’s me Kenji”

It’s him. The voice. It’s undoubtingly him. thought Gabi and stopped abruptily.

She turned back to her human form and so did Kenji. His clothes were newly bought and clean.  Gabi looked at him and smiled but strangely Kenji did not seem to share the happiness of reunion with her. 

“Oh my god. Thank you. Now with the two of us, we could just corner him from another alley. Yes, we should just be able to” said Gabi with excitement in her voice. 

“Gabi, I’m sorry” said Kenji with a melancholic tone.

Before she could understand the meaning of the words, Kenji pulled out a piece of paper from his bag and stuck it on her forehead.

“ARGHH”

After the electric shock that was emitted from the paper, all her limbs became strengthless and she fell into his arm like a puppet. Kenji sighed, put her small body on his shoulder and turned around and ran. Just as he was about to reach the narrow turn that could conceal his kidnapping from bystanders, there stood a woman in front of him. It was Serena.