Chapter 1: Get Back The Porcelain Boy!

A boy stood in front of a mirror, slowly wrapping bloody bandages around his chest. He looked no older than eighteen. He was not too tall, not too short—around 5'7". He had skin so pale that it looked white as snow. He had straight, blue hair that reached his shoulders, with matching large blue eyes. He had a small nose and small mouth. He had long fingers, which gave him quite an advantage when he played the cello. After he was done wrapping himself up, he put on a black v-neck t-shirt, covering up his "J-shaped" scar on this stomach. He stepped into a pair of black jeans that had tears across the legs. His eyes then fell onto a single white kanzashi on a water-damaged table. He walked over to it and clipped it into his hair; then, he faced the mirror again, smiling. Suddenly, he heard a small, metallic sound. He looked over to his left, looking at a pot on the floor. He looked up at the ceiling to see it was leaking. He walked over to the balcony of his apartment, opening the curtains that were blowing. It had begun to rain. He sighed.

"More rain," he said to himself. He then went down the fire escape stairs and jumped down into an alley, walking past people who were huddled up under newspapers …

Meanwhile in the Honky Tonk cafe, Ban was pushing Ginji away with his hand against his forehead, keeping him from taking an extra-large stick of chocolate Pocky hanging out of his mouth.

"Ban! That was the last one! Come on! At least break it in half!" Ginji said with little tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Nope! Don't you see it's already in my mouth? Sorry Ginji—not today!" Ban said teasingly. Natsumi was behind the counter, looking chipper as always.

"Do you think the box I gave them was too small?" she said. Paul, who was standing next to her, shook his head.

"No. They just don't have any self-control," Paul answered. The two struggled until Ginji was able to bite onto the other end of the Pocky stick. He began to munch on it, getting closer to Ban. Ban blushed. Ginji smirked as he continued. Just when their mouths were about to meet, the door opened. The Pocky stick snapped and fell to the floor.

"You idiot! You almost—" Ban was shouting when he suddenly saw Hevn standing in the doorway.

"Ah! Hevn! So glad to see ya! So, got any work?" Ban said, grinning at her.

"Yeah! We need new tires for Ban's—" Ginji was suddenly interrupted, Ban punching him in the shoulder.

"Everyone doesn't need to know our business, Ginji!" Ban shouted.

"Owie! Ban, that hurt…" Ginji mumbled.

"Behave you two," Hevn said, smiling. "Well, as usual, I'm perfect. I've got a big job for you. Our client is right behind me." Hevn walked into the café, a familiar face entering right after her. It was Clayman, smiling sweetly. She was actually dressed casually. She was wearing a clear raincoat over sky blue t-shirt with sunflowers on it and brown capris.

"Big money!" Ban said, his eyes lighting up.

"You're looking pretty cute today, Clayman!" Ginji said.

"I try to not let dreary weather affect me," she said. Ginji smiled. Whenever it rained, it was impossible for him not to reflect on his darker past, but he knew he could rely on Ban to understand him, and moreover, excite him.

"Well, shall we?" Hevn said, winking.

…The four of them were sitting in one of the café's booths, talking.

"So, I will be paying you in advance. What you will be 'getting back' for me is of most importance to me. And, of course, it will most likely be a more-difficult-than-usual job. First of all, what I must tell you is that you will have to go to the Limitless Fortress to—"

"Not interested," Ban said right away. Ginji was silent, eyes falling. "Whatever you're looking for is probably not worth our necks." Ban then looked over at Hevn, looking annoyed. "Hevn, why would you bring a job like this over to us?"

"I thought it might be an offer you can't refuse," Hevn said. "Clayman…?"

"I will pay you 5,300,000 yen—once again, in advance," Clayman said, smiling.

"WH-WHAT?!" Ban yelled, jaw dropping. "F-Five million-?! I don't think I've ever heard that number before!"

"Ban! You could get the best tires in all of Shinjuku!"

"All you can think of is tires?! Ginji, we could afford a thirtieth-floor penthouse with that kind of money!"

"A-a-a penthouse?! No way! Ban, this sounds too good to be true!" Ginji said, beginning to daydream. Ban suddenly frowned.

"You're right, Ginji. This does sound too good to be true. Clayman, what exactly is worth five million yen, huh? It isn't the Mona Lisa, is it?"

"Mona Lisa? Since when did seaweed grow on apple trees? And who's Lisa?" Ginji asked, looking confused as he drew Kanji in the air with his finger. Ban's eyes rolled over to look at him and then back at Clayman; he didn't even want to bother with answering him.

"What is it, Clayman?"

"It's a statue. It was stolen from a Chinese auction here in Tokyo seven years ago. My sources—my best—told me that it is there, in the Limitless Fortress."

"And what's so special about this statue?"

"It's the one and only of its kind. You see, it's a statue completely made out of Chinese porcelain."

"Doesn't that make it pretty fragile?" Ban commented.

"Exactly. So very fragile…" Clayman's smile grew. "You see, it is from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. There was plenty of porcelain made during that era, as it was desired by the western world—Europe—but what makes it so unique is that it was shaped like a Roman male youth."

"That's a little strange."

"Isn't it? You see, the original artist made porcelain treasures for a lord. However, his lord loved western statues that the Greeks and Romans made so much more than the Chinese porcelain that was being produced. He would trade the finest porcelain objects his artist would make for what the Europeans considered old, worthless pieces of art, such as Roman statues. This lord's artist became depressed, upset about what he considered an 'unfair trade.' He then challenged himself, saying that he was going to make a western-looking statue out of porcelain, so fragile that it was like the 'gods of the heavens' had crafted it," Clayman explained. "No one knew the statue's real value. I went to this auction seven years ago in hopes of bringing it to my private gallery, but then it was stolen before it could even be put up for display."

"So you want us to get back something that wasn't even yours in the first place?" Ban said, lighting up a cigarette. Clayman's head fell, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"It was meant to be mine!" she cried.

"You're sounding very childish right now, Clayman," Ban said. Ginji frowned.

"Ban? It seems like it really means a lot to her…" Ginji said.

"Do you really want to go back there to find it, Ginji?" Ban asked him, sounding fairly serious. Ginji's eyes fell.

"We're the 'Get Backers,' right? We get back things that are precious to people, Ban," Ginji looked over at him, smiling now.

"Ginji…" Ban blew out some smoke, falling silent for a moment. "Well, I like the numbers. And if Ginji is okay with it, I guess I am too."

"Thank you," Clayman said, smiling at them. "I have a photo of what he looks like," Clayman said, taking a photo out of her wallet. It was a picture of a youth, running away with his head turned back.

"Why does he look like he's running away from something?" Ginji asked.

"That's the mysterious beauty of it," Clayman answered.

…Ban and Ginji were looking up at the Limitless Fortress, pigeons flying from clothesline to clothesline. The rain had stopped, the sun shining between clouds.

"Clayman said that it could be anywhere in the Limitless Fortress, but the rumor is that someone on the border of Babylon City has it."

"Babylon City…" Ginji's eyes fell. "Why does it have to be there?"

"I don't know… but I'm glad you came back with me to Shinjuku, Ginji," Ban said, smiling at him. Ginji smiled back. "So, shall we make our way up?"

"Yep!" Ginji answered.

They opened the door that they had once entered to find their way to MakubeX two years ago. Suddenly, Akabane was standing there right before them, hand on his hat. He tipped it.

"Glad to see you're on time, Get Backers," Akabane said. Ginji jumped into Ban's arms.

"Ban!" Ginji shouted.

"Great. What are you doing here?" Ban said, looking a little annoyed.

"Oh, I'm here to make sure you successfully obtain the statue. Then I am to transport it to Clayman's gallery," Akabane answered.

"What?! Are you saying that she hired you too?!" Ban shouted.

"It seems that way. You see, though I am a transporter, I have also been hired to make sure Ginji, the Lightning God, doesn't regress."

"So Clayman doesn't completely trust us?" Ban said, putting Ginji down. Ginji's eyes fell.

"I suppose not," Akabane said, smiling. Nothing delighted him more than knowing that Ban wasn't the solution to all of Ginji's problems. Ban knew what he was thinking, which made his blood boil. "Now, I must inform you that though we'll be a trio, I will be making my own decisions. So, when it is time, please, do not get involved."

"If that means slaughter, I'll stop you, Akabane," Ginji said, glaring at him. Akabane smiled again.

"Ginji, you know exactly what that means. You are a clever boy. Just don't be stupid and turn into the Lightning God and lose sight of the job. Okay?" Akabane said, his eyes opening to meet Ginji's. There was a silence.

"Whatever. Let's just go," Ban said, walking past Akabane…

"Jikichi! Where are you?!" A woman shouted. She had long, wavy blonde hair. She had eyes that were so dark, they appeared black. She had nice, bow-shaped lips, coated in a shiny red lipstick. She was wearing a tight, short white dress. She was laying on her side on an ivory chaise lounge. She was surrounded by stained glass lamps on polished wood tables around the room. The boy with the blue hair rushed into the room and bowed quickly.

"Sorry I was late…" he said.

"It's because you went to that lower world apartment of yours, wasn't it? I told you to stay here in the penthouse," she said, sounding annoyed. She got up and walked up to him, her heels clicking. She looked angry. Jikichi's eyes fell. She then grabbed him by the chin and kissed him roughly. Suddenly, a crack appeared next to his lip; she broke the kiss, seeing this. "Was I too rough with you?"

"No…" Jikichi answered, putting his hand over his mouth.

"Well, go get fixed and then come back and play something for me on the cello," she commanded.

"Yes, Madame Harpy," Jikichi said, bowing and exiting the room…

"It would only make sense for something as valuable—or at least what Clayman considers 'valuable,' to be in Babylon City," Ban said, walking down a hall. "I just wondered why she didn't just hire you, creep," Ban said to Akabane.

"I don't question my clients, as long as everything is as right as rain," Akabane said, smiling.

"Well, aren't you in such a bright and sunny mood?" Ban said, sounding annoyed.

"Hm, hm, hmm…" Akabane laughed. Suddenly, Akabane stopped, his smile disappearing.

"What? What's wrong? Why did we stop?" Ginji asked.

"Because we have yet to be properly introduced; we are their guests after all," Akabane answered. Ban was on edge. Suddenly, the building began to shake. The floor behind them collapsed. Ginji gasped. Akabane began to run, running up the stairs, Ban and Ginji following.

They soon reached the roof of the building, which was stable, oddly enough.

"What was that all about? It was like the building was going through some demolition!" Ginji cried.

"See? We are the guests," Akabane said, pulling out a glowing knife. A group of five people approached them, leaving the shadows. They all had goggles on and were wearing jackets with the old "Voltz" logo sewn into it. Ginji gasped.

"We are the Demolition Men. You are trespassing," one of them said.

"But this building is abandoned…" Ginji said, frowning. "We made sure to choose it for that reason."

"Don't you even recognize him? That's the Lightning God you're speaking to," Ban said, smirking.

"We don't care! We're the new Voltz and we don't believe in you!" another one cried.

"'Believe in me?'" Ginji quietly said to himself.

"Leave our territory or be pounded into powder!" one of the bigger guys said. He bumped his fists together, creating wind around him. Akabane smiled.

"Would you even let us leave if we agreed to?" Akabane said teasingly. His eyes opened. "No matter. I see this as a threat, and I don't like being threatened so casually."

"You're right, smart-aleck. This is a threat," a third guy said.

"We don't plan on staying here long," Ban said. "Let us leave or we'll make sure you wish you hadn't introduced yourselves to us."

"Oh! So you're threatening us now?!" one of the guys said.

"Ah, it seems that way. So, do we have an agreement of some kind now?" Akabane teased.

"Yes. We're going to kick your ass! Come on! Demolition Men, go!" one of them cried, pointing at the three of them. Ginji put on his gloves. Two men came at Ban with knives. Ban jumped up into the air and then slammed their heads together, breaking their noses and knocking them unconscious. Two men, a tad hesitant at first, came at Ginji with bloody pipes. Ginji grabbed both of their pipes before they could swing at him, and shocked them until they fell onto the ground. The largest of the group was staring at Akabane.

"You're gunna snap like a twig!" the large man shouted.

"I highly doubt that, but go ahead—let's see you try," Akabane said, waving his hand to signal that he wanted him to come. The man let out a shout and slammed his hand on the ground, part of the roof coming down. Akabane jumped before the ground underneath him collapsed into the empty apartment below. The large man then jumped over the hole and aimed to throw a punch when Akabane disappeared. The large man looked around, looking confused. Just then, the man saw the sleeves to his jacket fall down onto the ground. His eyes widened when he saw a pair of hands sticking out of them.

"Akabane!" Ginji cried, sounding mad. Akabane was behind the man.

"Not very useful without your arms, are you?" Akabane said. The large man then freaked out, noticing that blood was spilling out of his arm sockets. He didn't even feel any pain—it had been a clean cut.

"Akabane! Don't—" Suddenly, blood sprayed out of the Voltz logo on the back of his jacket. The large man fell, falling into a hole that he had made and disappearing out of sight.

"My. I was so afraid, facing an opponent so much bigger than me. But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, I suppose. Or so they say…" Akabane said, smiling. Ginji was glaring at him.

"Just like old times, huh?" Ban said, lighting a cigarette.