[Golden Horde]: Final Part

Yu Mei walked up to Batu and fist bumped his shoulder, "For a second there, I thought you were dead, but I'm glad you made it in, Batu."

"Hehe, it ain't much," Batu rubbed his neck. He played it down, but he knew it was an amazing accomplishment.

"Be proud of yourself," Jin Mayleen chimed in. "Not everyone can survive against my three elites, no less beat two of them."

A small tune buzzed in Jay Mayleen's pocket, and she reached into it and pulled out her phone, "I need to take this; you guys are free to go if you don't have anything else that needs to be addressed." She then walked out of the training hall.

"Hey, Batu," Yu Mei grabbed his attention. "What do you say we go out and grab some celebratory grub once we bandage you up?"

"Oh, sweet! Where at?" Batu's eyes glimmered with delight. After those tough matchup, he was dying to grab some chow.

"Where else but Ming's?"

"You'd think they'd kicked you out by now after what happened last time."

"Mama Ming? Kick me out?" Yu Mei quickly waved him off. "No, she would never do that to me. I'm her loyal customer! Now C'mon, let's go!"

Yu Mei walked towards the door and looked over towards Emiko, "You too, Emiko. Get off your butt and let's move."

"Do I have to, baby sis?" Emiko groaned out.

"This is a direct order as your new crew leader. Now get a move on," She responded then walked out.

"Ugh..."

"Hey, Emiko, don't forget about that bet as well," Batu smiled at her before he left after Yu Mei.

Emiko blushed furiously as she stared angrily at his back. She wished that she didn't have made that bet with him, yet a strange excitement welled up in her heart.

* * * * *

The bell rung and Batu, Yu Mei and Emiko walked into Ming's Diner. The whole place was jam-packed and rowdy as usual. Kiki burst from the kitchen covered in sweat as she delivered trays of food to customers.

The chairs and tables that were once broken from the fight against the Black Wolves were now replaced, and Ming's Diner was back to its usual business as if nothing had happened.

Batu had been bandaged up by Yu Mei and was now changed in new clothes. He had some minor cuts across his body and bruises around his face, but it wasn't too serious.

"Hey, Kiki!" Yu Mei waved at her.

"Ugh, are you here to wreck the place again?"

"Is that what you think of your bestie?" She pouted. "I'm hurt, y'know."

"Not much as you hurting our wallet," Kiki rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Emiko with a bright smile and ran over to hug her, "Emiko, it's so good to see you! How come you don't visit our diner often?"

"Oh, you know, been busy lately," Emiko hugged her back. "I had been getting a lot of clients lately."

"Oh, you do that computer higgy-jiggy thing, right?" Kiki asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I've been doing," Emiko sarcastically said. Sometimes, she wondered how people could be so ignorant about technology in this day and age.

"Hey, Kiki, the Golden Horde got a new member today," Yu Mei announced the news.

"Really? Who is she?" Kiki asked.

"Actually, it's more like a he."

Kiki swerved her head towards towards Batu with shock written all over her face, "No, don't tell me..."

"You're lookin' at him, alright," Batu said.

"What happened to your face?" Kiki quickly asked in worry. She touched the bruise that was over his cheek, causing him to wince in pain.

"Let's just say it was part of a test to get in the Golden Horde," He answered.

"I don't believe it. But how?" Even Kiki knew that the Golden Horde were all women. This was one of the most shocking news that she had ever heard in a long time.

"I have my ways," Batu crossed his arms with a smug look.

"I honestly don't know what to say..."

"You and me, sister," Emiko added.

Plates suddenly shattered onto the ground as two scruffy men began to argue at each other. The crowd all looked over them, and some started to cheer them on.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!"

"I'm your father, motherfucker! Who are you?"

The taller man grabbed the other guy by the collar and shouted, "Don't you know my buddy is in the Blood Eagles, bitch? I could have him come over and break your damn legs right now!"

"Call your little fuck buddy over, then!"

In rage, Kiki stormed over to them like a demon from hell and smacked them across their heads with her tray. Large bumps grew on top of their heads as they cried out in pain.

"Both of you idiots knock it off!" Kiki yelled. "Do you want me to kick the both of you out and ban you idiots from coming here forever?"

Like cubs confronted by a lioness, they quickly obeyed, "No, ma'am."

"Then, sit down and shut up."

With the conflict all settled, Kiki walked back to Batu's crew, sighing out from stress, "You see what I have to deal with everyday? C'mon, i'll show you guys to your tables."

They sat down at their tables and order Ming's house specialty noodles. Then, Kiki walked back into the kitchen.

"Yu Mei, who are the Blood Eagles? Batu asked. "Heard it from that guy earlier."

Now that Batu was in the crime life, he needed some knowledge about the underground world. Basically, which gangs were here, and who shouldn't be messed with. Batu would be an idiot if he butt heads without knowing who the hell they were first.

"Blood Eagles?" Yu Mei laid back against the bench. "They're a small gang not worth mentioning. Blood Eagles usually stick to petty crime like robbery. In fact, when we first met, those three guys that tried to rob me were from the Blood Eagles."

Well, that was one gang out of the picture. Now, he just needed to know which ones were the big bad honchos around.

"Any other gangs that I should be aware of?"

"Black Wolves and Exodus," Emiko suddenly chimed in.

"Yeah, those two gangs are the ones you should worry about," Yu Mei nodded. "The Black Wolves is the biggest gang that controls this city. But, Exodus is one of the weirdest crime organization I've seen.

No one's heard of them before until two years ago, and they quickly rose in power. Exodus got fewer men, but they are some of the most hardcore bastards around. But obviously we're the best around." A smug look grew on Yu Mei's face.

"Who's the leaders, by any chance?"

"You don't even know their names?" Emiko shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "They're practically household names in this city."

"I'm... I'm not exactly new around here; just moved in a couple weeks ago," Batu quickly came up with an excuse. He couldn't just tell her that he was a time traveler. Besides, Emiko would think that he was just plain crazy.

"A foreigner, huh? No wonder I felt something off about you," Emiko said. "For all I know, you could be an alien from another world."

"Oh, shut up."

"I know exactly what you are, you filthy space ogre. You can't hide the truth forever," She pointed at him.

"Then how bout' I knock you outta this world," Batu stood up, cracking his knuckles.

"Bring it on, then."

"Would the both of you knock it off, already? You guys are making my ears bleed," Yu Mei spoke over them. "Here, I'll give you a quick rundown so pay attention: Yaketsuku Inei, he's the head honcho of the Black Wolves. Guy has a lot of inside connections with the politicians and top hats."

"Top hats?" He asked.

"Basically rich people," Yu Mei answered. "Yaketsuku controls the shipment of drugs that comes through Altai City from the Mongol State of Korea, China and Japan. That's where the majority of his wealth comes from. Other than that, he owns half of the casino and strip clubs in this city.

He has a lot of loyal dogs under him who wouldn't hesitate to kill themselves with a snap of his fingers. The Black Wolves we fought before were just small grunts in a giant nest. Honestly, they're like roaches."

"How the hell he do all that?"

"Money is king," She answered as if it was normal.

Batu frowned when he heard just how powerful the Black Wolves were. Back in his time period, no gang had such power to bribe politicians. Sure, crime were rampant, but it wasn't to this degree. Batu now realized just who they were dealing with here.

"Then you have the Exodus's leader that goes by the name of Yama. No one knows who exactly this guy is since he rarely appears in public."

"What's so special bout' this guy?"

"Yama nearly has a monopoly over illegal Exoframes and cybernetic enhancements. No one dares to mess with him with trained killers behind his back, not even us. You'd easily recognized his men since they always wear these weird masks.

When he strikes, it always ends up in a brutal massacre. It's his way to send a message to anyone who wants to mess with him. His agenda still remains unclear since we don't have enough info on this guy."

Batu had a lot to take in. What the hell did he get himself into? This crime business was far more complicated than he ever expected, and Batu felt everything was out of his league.

That Yama guy sounded the most dangerous. A ruthless man with a monopoly of illegal tech just didn't sit well with him.

"Then, what about us? The Golden Horde?" That was the one question that remained on his mind. Yu Mei and Emiko looked at each other for a moment then back at Batu.

"Let me ask you this: what do you think we do?" Emiko asked another question in return.

"Well, we're a crime gang, so I guess we do some pretty illegal stuff."

"No shit, Sherlock," Emiko facepalmed herself. "When you took that vow, what did you specifically vow not to do?"

"To never betray against the Khanate and the gang."

"What else?"

"To never prey on the innocents and the vulnerable."

"Bingo! And that means we don't rob, extort or do anything stupid that would hurt the people of this city," Emiko explained.

Batu thought for a moment, scratching his chin. So, this wasn't exactly like a typical gang. Then, what else would they do? An illegal gambling ring? No, that couldn't be; not in a city like this.

"So, you guys go after other gangs instead?" That was the only thing Batu could think of at the moment.

"I gotta say, Mr. Ogre, you really catch on quick," Emiko complimented. Perhaps this guy wasn't so dumb after all.

"Don't push it."

"You're half-right, Batu," Yu Mei added in. "But, it's not just the other gangs. It's the corruption, itself. So, that means cops and those snakeheads in office."

"Like vigilantes," He said.

"Look, I know it's going to sound cheesy and all, but we care about this city and the people here. We don't want to see this city driven even further into the ground because of those damn scumbags.

We're tired of seeing the innocents suffering because of it. We won't stop until all this bullshit that's happening around us stops."

Batu could tell Yu Mei was serious about this as if she would accomplish her goal no matter how long it would take. He felt the same thing from Emiko as he glanced at her.

Kiki suddenly walked over to their tables along with three bowls of piping hot noodles. She set the bowls down in front of them, "Lunch is ready. Careful now, it's hot."

Yu Mei rubbed her hands in delight, "Let's talk about this later; I'm starving!"