TF: Before and during Gojinn's attack on the apartments.
The two figures ran down the sidewalk, away from the burning department store and their attackers who were still inside. Turning on a corner of sidewalk and finding themselves in a section of the city that was still quite alive at that time of the night, they came to a stop, catching their breath.
"Do you think we lost them?" Sheri finally asked, joining Deadblood as he began to walk down the sidewalk, trying to blend in with the crowd.
"I think so," he answered, letting out a small laugh, relieved.
"I can't imagine even that walking can opener surviving a blaze like that."
"Are you forgetting about the elevator shaft though?" she replied with genuine concern. "We didn't think it would survive that either."
"It probably would have managed to catch up with us by now if it did survive," he said, not sharing her concern at all.
"
Probably? Even you aren't fucking sure!" she shouted. "And what about that masked man? You saw the way he was able to... heal. I'm pretty sure a few burns won't stop him!"
Deadblood sighed now, before saying,
"Sheri, Sheri, Sheri... you worry way too much! We're still alive, aren't we? And if either of them do somehow manage survive that fire and try to come after us again, we'll deal with them again. Simple as that!"
"Whatever you say, champ," Sheri responded shortly. She then added, "You know, one day, your luck's going to run out. I just hope I'm still around so that I can say
I told you so."
Deadblood just shook his head and they continued walking for a bit, both of them grateful to have made it out of that department store alive. It could have gone badly. Even Deadblood realized that. But it hadn't gone badly. Everything went in their favor and in the end, when they were still breathing while their attackers were burning up in that department store, that was all that mattered to him.
After a few minutes of silence, Deadblood then said,
"Well, I was going to call for that limo to come pick me up. Want a ride back to your place too?"
"You mean if that robot didn't shoot that limo up too?" Sheri asked in return. "No thanks though. I think I've had enough fun with you for one night."
A short while later, Deadblood was back at his apartment. Standing in front of the mirror in his bathroom, he was cleaning himself up and applying bandages where needed. Most of the wounds had been caused by the masked man. None would require stitches at least.
When he finished with that, he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down on the sofa. He didn't drink the beer though, instead staring at the two title belts that sat on the coffee table near the beer bottle. Able to feel that mysterious power they gave off. A power that seemed stronger than anything he'd ever dealt with before. A power that had served him well that evening.
He knew that brought together by him, the belts' powers had become intensified. And while he had some idea just how to harness the Absolute belt's power, as he'd demonstrated multiple times now, he wasn't quite sure just how the Mortal belt was to be used. Was it just kind an add-on to the Absolute belt, to increase just what he could do with that mysterious power? Perhaps it was just the opposite of the Absolute belt. Not in that it made him weaker, but in how it worked. The Absolute belt allowed him to steal powers and use them for himself, so what could that Mortal belt do exactly? With the belts still in mind, he finally picked up his beer from the table, taking a sip of it as he wondered more about the belts, particularly the Mortal one.
As Deadblood sat there on his sofa though, he realized just how tired he was after that evening's events. First the match against the Kizmat. Then the bucket of bolts. And then the masked man. Sheri had definitely proven to be useful both during the match and during the battle afterward. He was glad that he'd been able to convince her to work with him instead of trying to kill him too.
It wasn't long before Deadblood began to doze off, beer still in hand, but he felt as though he'd only dozed for a second when the explosions rocked the entire apartment complex. He jumped up off of the sofa in response, beer falling to the floor and spilling, one hand outstretched to bring his katana to him with that invisible force. Moving cautiously towards the now broken window of his apartment, he peered outside and noticed a figure through the flames and smoke. A masked figure. The same masked man from before. He was wearing a different mask now, but Deadblood was certain that it was the same man.
Quickly, Deadblood stepped back from the broken window and began to gather what he needed, because it looked like he wouldn't be staying at that apartment any longer. He didn't know how the masked man had already managed to track him down, but break time was over. With his own mask on now, katana and title belts in tow, he pulled open the door of his apartment and stepped out, not planning to run and hide. He would face this masked man and he would put an end to him once and for all.
