23:43 – 09.01.16099
A man sat in a romantic hotel room, the soft lighting catching the rim of the glass in his hand. The girl lay on the bed, watching as he poured a small amount of liquid into her drink. Moving toward her with deliberate slowness, he spoke.
"I am Masaru Susui. I am forty-six years old, and I can guarantee you that you'll like me. One of my great facts about me is that I love useless people. Every time I see someone who is so hopeless, who can't do anything on their own… it makes me…" His voice suddenly sharpened, almost breaking into a snarl. "…IT MAKES ME WANT TO SQUEEZE THEIR HEAD OUT…"
A dry cough cut through his words. He cleared his throat, then smiled faintly. "Sorry for raising my voice… but I just can't help myself. I believe that anyone besides me is like that. That's why I love all of you." His grin widened. "I am the head of an organization of people that do only good in this world. As I told you, you will love me...the same way I love you."
She took the drink without hesitation. Moments later, her eyes began to lose their focus and a lazy, nonsensical laughter spilled from her lips. "You… look a bit different… haha…"
Masaru climbed onto the bed, smiling down at her. "And if you'll excuse me now, I want to have a private time with this gal."
The door stayed shut for several minutes. When it opened again, Masaru stepped out wearing leather gloves smeared faintly with blood. His smile hadn't faded. "Although… it is not my fault that blood tastes so good."
He stopped, turned slightly, and added with quiet satisfaction, "I was waiting for you."
A voice came from the other side of the hallway. "Then I hope you're ready for the consequences."
Kurai stepped forward, eyes erupting into blazing purple flames. The air itself seemed to shudder under the heat. In a single motion, he launched himself at Masaru, his power tearing through walls, floor, and ceiling alike.
The building groaned in agony before collapsing into chaos.
8:59PM 21.10.16098
In a conference room
A radio crackled in the background, the voice of a reporter cutting through the silence.
"This night another crime has been committed, suspected to be the work of the Haruchiki-gumi organization. We are doing our best to find these monsters, but they are so stealthy it's almost impossible to get our hands on them. Please, take care walking alone at night. You never know when someone might approach you… and kidnap you."
Amuy sat back in his chair, eyes on the wall. "Looks like we're already getting attention from the media."
Amuy was a tall man dressed in black, wearing a mask that had two dragon-shaped eye slits and a large poppy flower drawn upside-down over the mouth. His voice was deep, slow, and heavy...almost too calm. Long black hair hung over his shoulders.
Raiden, sitting across from him, leaned forward. "I think it won't take much longer for everyone to be ready."
Raiden's mask was different, black with thin gray lines running across it in no clear pattern. He was far more talkative than Amuy, and his voice carried a strange metallic echo. He had long hair too, but tied back loosely.
Raiden tapped the table impatiently. "How much longer are we supposed to wait here?"
Amuy didn't look at him. "About… ten seconds."
Raiden nearly fell out of his chair. "AYO! Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"I don't need more than ten seconds."
"Maybe YOU don't-"
"Shut up. I hear footsteps."
Five men entered the room, the darkness swallowing their shapes.
"Why is it so dark in here? Turn on the lights already." one muttered.
"I can't find the switch… wait, I'll use my phone's flashlight."
The beam swept across the table, landing on a single black candle in the center.
"…Was that candle always there?"
Before anyone could answer, the candle lit on its own, a red flame flickering.
"Heh?! What did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything!!"
Raiden's voice echoed from the shadows. "We don't have time for you to get scared. Now… silence."
The candle went out. In the same instant, Raiden's body blurred, a flash of lightning darting between them. By the time the red light flared back to life, all five men were dead.
Amuy crossed his arms. "Didn't get anyone again."
Raiden smirked under his mask. "Too fast for you. Hehe."
A sudden roar came from the doorway as a sixth man rushed Raiden. Before the attacker could reach him, Amuy hurled the candle like a spear, smashing it into the man's head and dropping him instantly.
Amuy glanced at Raiden. "Guess you're not fast enough to see this NPC, huh?"
Raiden groaned. "Shut up."
A voice came through their walkie-talkie. "Have you finished?"
Raiden answered, "We took them down… but they look… a bit different from what I expected."
"Wait for the others' response. Stay there until you get my signal."
In a subway station
The train screeched into Ogawamachi Station. Despite it not being rush hour, the platform was packed. People pushed and squeezed into the cars.
On almost every door, a person held a strange green bag. The moment the train was full and just before the doors closed, they set the bags on the floor, pressed a hidden button inside, and slipped out, timing it perfectly as the doors slid shut.
A green gas began spilling from the bags. Panic erupted instantly, screams, fists banging against the doors, desperate hands clawing at the windows. But it was too late. The train pulled away from the platform.
One of the men outside pressed his walkie-talkie. "We cleared here."
Other voices followed. "We as well." / "Site is clear too."
On a street leading to central Tokyo
Another voice came over the walkie-talkie, deeper this time. "The art I just made is almost complete here as well."
The speaker -Fischer- looked around at his "work." On both sides of the street, kneeling bodies formed a perfect line, each headless. The heads themselves were placed atop the streetlamps, glowing from within, light spilling from the empty eyes and mouths.
He smiled in satisfaction, speaking to the hunched creature beside him. "Everything looks just like I told you… well done, Axel."
"Thank you, Fischer," Axel replied. His voice was low and raspy, his teeth jagged and sharp. He wasn't fully human...small, hunched, dressed in dark clothes, with skin almost gray and eyes that seemed too large for his head.
Fischer spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Looks like we're done here too." Then he turned to Axel, grinning. "Aghhh… this is fabulous. I'm starting to like you more and more."
9:01PM Back in the conference room
Amuy shook his head. "I really don't understand why we're even doing this. Causing such a mess just to get media attention? It's stupid."
Raiden leaned back. "We can't know yet. Looks like they're keeping it secret from us. We'll just have to wait and see."
The walkie-talkie crackled. "Get out of the building. Fast."
Raiden blinked. "…Nani, the fuck?"
"GET OUT. NOW!"
Raiden sliced through the wall with his sword. Amuy's left dragon eye lit up bright blue, and from behind Raiden, a spectral dragon head emerged, lifting him before leaping out.
Mid-air, a supersonic shot sliced through Amuy's hanging hair. Blue flames burst from the dragon eyes on his mask. In one smooth motion, he drew his pistol and fired. A bullet wrapped in blue fire tore toward the source, smashing apart the side of a nearby building.
They landed on the ground.
Raiden looked up. "What was that?"
"A sniper," Amuy said. "From that building. That's why I shot it. Masaru-sensei wanted attention, I think I just gave it to him." He scanned the rooftops. "No more shots yet… but they were waiting for us. How did they know?"
Raiden shrugged. "Probably just some idiot working solo."
Before Amuy could reply, another bullet screamed past his ear. The sound rattled his head, his hearing in that ear went dead.
Raiden drew his sword. "WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF!"
Amuy steadied his aim. "Now I know where you are." He fired another flaming round, blasting through the building entirely.
Raiden whistled. "Wow… did you really know where they were, or was that just an excuse to blow it up?"
"Shut up and let me get my hearing back," Amuy muttered. "Looks like there's nothing left. Hmph. Mysterious enemy."
Back to Fischer and Axel
Fischer's voice crackled through. "Masaru told me to make noise, so I did. But what's the point? He bored again?"
Suddenly, every streetlamp went dark.
Fischer frowned. "Heh? Axel, did you eat the lights or what?"
"I… I'm not," Axel stammered.
Fischer's grin returned. "Then whatever Masaru wanted to attract is already here."
The lamps flickered back on, one pair at a time, from the far end of the street toward them. Fischer could just make out a figure, long black coat, head lowered.
"Let's see what Masaru prepared for me."
The figure lifted their head, and Fischer's vision shattered like glass. In the next instant, they were in front of him, slashing. His mind blanked for a heartbeat before his body caught up, blood dripped from his lip as he laughed.
"MASARU WANTS TO KILL ME OR WHAT? HAHA! WHO ARE YOU?"
The hood came down, Seiko's eyes locked on him. "As long as you're dead, that doesn't matter."
Fischer grinned wide. "I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT, GIRL."
The purple sky above him churned, magic radiating from the sphere in his hand. The glow twisted Axel into a frenzy. His already sharp teeth grew longer, his movements becoming jerky and fast.
With a feral snarl, Axel lunged for Seiko's face. At the last moment, she vanished and reappeared half a meter to the side, his jaws snapping on empty air.
Fischer barked a laugh. "Teleportation? Cringe. BRUTE FORCE IS EVERYTHING."
Two massive, purple phantom blades sprouted from his arms. He rushed at her, swinging wildly, but mid-strike, his body locked up, muscles frozen. Seiko stepped aside, her hand brushing his back.
With a heavy thud, Fischer's body slammed into the ground. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself up, and managed to slice under Seiko's eye, drawing a thin line of blood.
Axel darted low, clamping his teeth around her leg. Seiko felt skin tear under the bite as he ripped viciously. Before either of them could strike again, they both froze, Seiko's aura locking them in place, and she kicked Axel away, sending him skidding across the pavement.
Her eyes burned into them. "Such animals. What did these people ever do to deserve… this?" She gestured to the street lined with corpses.
Fischer's lip curled. "I'm not here to answer questions, lady."
Seiko's vision swam for a moment, a creeping weakness in her limbs.
"Not long till you die from poison," Fischer said flatly. "Axel's bites are toxic."
Seiko smiled faintly. "I don't need to ask you questions for you to answer, I see."
A bluish aura burst around her, washing away the poison and sealing the wound in seconds. She rose to her feet, steady.
Fischer blinked. "…You can heal yourself too? No wonder Masaru's interested in you."
"So this was a trap?" she asked. "Where are your acolytes?"
"They'll come soon. But for now… it's just you, me, and Axel."
Fischer blurred forward, aiming a blade at her neck. Seiko drew her machete, steel clashing against purple energy. Fischer hammered her weapon again and again until she hit the ground.
His claw hovered at her throat. "You're not as tough as you pretend to be."
A sudden shift in the air made him freeze. His body felt heavier… his instincts screamed. Slowly, he looked behind him, a man stood there, radiating crushing pressure.
Seiko used the moment to roll away, reappearing behind the newcomer.
Fischer's voice trembled. "Wh… who are y-you…?"
The man stared in disgust. In a blur, he kicked Fischer twenty meters down the street, the impact carving a deep trench in the ground.
Seiko exhaled in relief. "Good timing, Ren."
Ren smirked. "Don't worry. I've got your back. Sorry I'm late."
Fischer groaned, pushing himself up. "That pressure… I've only felt it from one person before… No… it can't be… maybe… maybe that's the real one we're looking for." His grin returned. "If that's the case… I'll go all in. Can't disappoint Masaru."
He charged his power, screaming into the night, but Ren appeared in front of him and slammed a palm into his face, driving him into the ground again.
"What a stupid bastard," Ren muttered.
Turning to Seiko, he asked, "What's the situation?"
"We've got control of the subways. But… everyone caught in the incident died."
Ren spat on Fischer's crumpled form. "These animals… At least the decoys worked. I felt them dying, they took the bait too."
Back to Amuy and Raiden
The voice on their walkie-talkie said, "Seiko showed up with someone and destroyed Fischer and Axel."
Amuy paused. "…Finally? The mission's over? Pointless… just a waste of time." He stood. "I'm heading to the Underground."
Raiden tilted his head. "Again?"
"I need to clear my head. That was a risky and stupid plan, no goal, just chaos."
"You know how the boss's plans are. Chaos, no explanation."
Back to Fischer, Seiko, and Ren
Ren adjusted his gloves. "Let's go after the ones who took the bait, Seiko."
The sound of cracking stone made him stop.
Fischer rose slowly, dust falling from his clothes. He met Ren's eyes. "If you target my comrades, I won't let you pass. Even if you kill me."
Ren's tone was almost amused. "That loyal to your little friends, huh?"
"It's none of your business. Masaru told me to protect them. I won't disrespect him."
"We've already got the order to withdraw," Fischer continued. "Leave now, or you won't be alive much longer."
Ren smirked. "Cute. Fine. I'll let you retreat with your little pigeons. I only came here for you anyway."
Ren and Seiko turned away, walking down the street.
Behind them, Fischer's knees buckled, and he collapsed silently to the ground.