A Freakshow? (Legacy R #1)

[TakaruMatsui]

Frank Wormwood burst into the room, and it was clear that the little man was agitated. He shook his bald head wildly, his hair spiked up around his head as he frowned. He reached up adjusting his thick glasses, and he looked between Takaru Matsui and the silent Shimo as they stared at him. Wormwood shoved away from the door, and he tugged at his stained tie in a vain effort to straighten it before he shrugged his round shoulders to fix his wrinkled jacket. He stared at them, and he wagged a pudgy finger as he stomped a foot.

'How can you two just sit here like this? How can you be taking this sitting down! Did you see what Blood did! Do you see what he has booked us against? This is an outrage! I didn't sign up for this! We need to start a union, we need to call the lawyers!'

Takaru arched a brow, and he sat aside the book he was reading as he turned to face Wormwood. He waved a hand, then laid it on the small man's shoulder.

'Frank, calm down. I am sure it is fine, we are Neon Bushido, how bad can it be?'

Shimo nodded, and leaned against the wall as Frank looked between them wide eyed behind his glasses.

'We are fighting zombies, man! Some kind of monsters, like a freakshow! This is just like Silent Hill, or that zombie show! What are we going to do! I hate this shit, I hate it! It's either Zolo and her weird crap, Goth talking to squirrels, or those alien guys walking around trying to eat mice out of cups! We need to speak to our lawyers, this freakshow is not a safe working environment! I am serious! We shouldn't have to fight zombies!'

Shimo pulled out his notepad, and he quickly scribbled on it before he held it out towards Wormwood. 

'We're fighting zombies? We are fighting zombies, you will be fine.'

Takaru nodded with a faint smile, and Wormwood was rambling on.

'I swear I saw Blood in the back trying to download his brain into a computer, something about a phoenix and a microchip in someone's brain? It was really--'

A pause as he saw the note, and his eyes narrowed.

'That is really hurtful, Shimo! I always have you guys' backs! I would fight a zombie for you guys, and I could be taken out! Takaru was taken out by Goth in the back just last show, remember?'

Takaru frowned, and he leaned forward as Shimo stared.

'Yes, and I didn't see you. But surely these zombies are not as clever as Goth. They are probably just wearing masks, Frank.'

Frank seemed to think this over, and he adjusted his tie. He tugged on it, frowning before he shook his head.

'That doesn't make me feel any better! These guys wearing masks, they are nothing but trouble! They are just untrustworthy! They roam around in their masks, and they could be anyone! They are all up to no good, can't be trusted!'

Takaru was staring at Shimo, and he bit down on his lower lip as he shrugged as Wormwood kept ranting. And Shimo was staring at Frank, glancing at Takaru before looking back to Frank.

'--Seriously, name one person in this company who wears as mask who isn't some kind of weirdo! The Dinosaur guy? Dominicus? Keith Williams? He wore a fucking mask! Donzig? He's the worst!'

Takaru cleared his throat, and Frank looked at him before he slowly turned to Shimo. Shimo shrugged, and he waved his hands before he stepped back with a faint smile.

'Ah, not you. You're one of the good ones, Shimo!'

Shimo gave a half hearted nod, still staring before he started to write on the pad before he held it out.

'Right, right. You going back to the witch?'

Frank snapped his fat fingers, and nodded quickly as his hair moved at the motion. And he looked at Takaru, nodding excitedly.

'That is a great idea! We can go see that witch! I bet she has all kinds of spells to stop the zombies, we could--'

A hand lifted, and Takaru frowned as he leaned forward with a shake of his head. 

'No, no witches. These are just men in masks, and we will defeat them. It doesn't matter if they are some sort of freakshow or not, because we are Neon Bushido! And we have Frank Wormwood in our corner! We will beat them in the center of the ring, and then I will have to go turn my attention back to Goth.'

Frank frowned.

'Goth? I thought we were done with this Goth stuff, Takaru! He creeps me out, him and that vampire chick? Like a weird emo version of Kevin Thorne!'

Shimo and Takaru stared at each other, looking back to Frank who frowned back at them. He tugged at his jacket, starting to pace again. 

'I mean this is terrible, we are going to Australia too! I could be killed by a drop bear! I heard it happened to someone's cousin once, Donzig told me!'

Shimo snorted, and started writing again before he held out the pad.

'Drop bears are not real.'

'Ha! That is what they want you to think, and I know for a fact that the toilets in Australia go down the wrong way! What are you going to do about that, hot shot?'

Shimo stared hard, and Takaru lifted a hand to brush back his hair before he laughed.

'A Simpsons joke?'

Frank stomped his foot, and he scowled.

'This is serious! We could end up lost in the Outback with a freakshow, and you two are making jokes! I am calling the witch!'

Frank stormed off, digging his cell phone from inside of his badly worn and wrinkled jacket. The door was shoved open, and he slammed it shut behind him as they heard his voice carrying down the hall. Takaru sighed, shaking his head as he leaned back again with a shrug to Shimo.

'He is a strange man.'