Next to last installment of LSFL
Mar. 19th, 2010 08:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mythicfoxFirst off, as a couple of you heard this week, in City of Heroes I finally got my first level 50 character. Sting of Justice, an AR/Dev Blaster over on Virtue, hit the cap in the middle of clearing out a warehouse full of Psychic Clockwork. Unfortunately, I don't really have a screenshot or anything; I dinged a few seconds earlier than expected and hit the wrong button when the moment came. But eh. I'll live. Still, it's a character I've been working on for a while (while tackling the dual obstacles of my schedule and altitis), so it's a real triumph for me.
In other news, this is the next to last installment of "Let Sleeping Foxes Lie." I didn't realize we were coming so close to the end; that fight scene felt a lot longer when I was originally writing it (and I hope it's not too confusing in places; we're talking about a bunch of illusion-casting kitsune having to fight for their lives, so sometimes I have to play fast and loose with the first-person perspective to make certain surprises possible). And to be honest, when 'carving up' the story for serialization, I didn't really go ahead at all or else I'd have noticed sooner just how many chapters were left.
But either way, this is the second to last chapter, but it wraps up the climax of the story. Next week you get an epilogue of sorts and then I'll post the whole someplace as a single file for ease of downloading and such.
In other news, remember to check out![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vaughn_r_demont and id_locke's own Free Fiction Friday offerings.
The oni realized at the last minute what was happening and jabbed his stone club at the grill of the truck. He braced himself hard enough that the truck stopped like it hit a brick wall. Unhampered by the seatbelt I'd failed to put on, I smashed through the windshield and sailed through the air right at him. Omezo reached out and snatched me out of the air, holding me by my neck.
"I don't need you alive to get your soul," he snarled, squeezing and twisting.
With a gruesome snap, I burst into confetti in his hand.
Back in the cab of the truck, the real me flung the fireball at Omezo. It caught him right in the face and staggered him back. Shiko vaulted over the ruined and steaming hood of the truck so as not to risk getting trapped against the wall. I climbed out of the vehicle's driver side door and started to make my way around the back of it.
"Now what?" I shouted.
"Now we--" Shiko started before interrupting himself. "Makoto, I dropped my purse. Is it over there?"
I looked down quickly and saw it, next to the wheel. I reached down to grab it.
"Yeah!"
"Toss me the tsuba hanging off of it, now! Before gets back up!"
I grabbed the talisman, and looked up to see Omezo already back on his feet and picking his club back up. Shiko and I were both moving, so I focused to make sure I could get it to him. I launched it over the truck and he reached out to grab it. His hand closed around the air next to it, and just when I was about to curse my aim I realized that the tsuba had stopped in mid-air right next to his hand.
I ran around behind the truck as I saw Shiko grab the air on the other side of the tsuba, and he pulled them apart. There was a sound like tearing cloth and he was suddenly drawing a katana from a sheath. He ran for the oni, sword at the ready.
"You've been carrying a magic sword all this time?" I asked, incredulous.
"No, just hiding a very old one. You didn't think I'd hand out a spell that would break my own illusions, did you?" he asked with a manic grin, rushing at the now-standing Omezo and slicing a very deep cut into his side.
For lack of any better options I reached into the back of the pickup and grabbed a crowbar. I followed Shiko up to the monster as the other kitsune whipped around and with inhuman grace sliced Omezo's back diagonally from hip to shoulder. The oni snarled and turned to face him, swinging the club at Shiko's head and missing.
Driven by adrenaline, I jumped up and brought the crowbar around his neck. I got it under his chin and yanked it back against his windpipe. My knees braced against his back for leverage and I could see part of the oni's spine through his wound. Just as I was starting to consciously realize just what a bad idea this was, Shiko brought his sword up and sliced open the oni's throat just below the crowbar. The cut combined with the pressure the crowbar put on him threatened to make him a big red Pez dispenser.
Shiko rolled out of the way as the oni fell with a ground-shaking thump. He flicked blood off of his katana with a quick jerk of the wrist. I climbed off of Omezo's body, pulling away the crowbar and trying to shake oni blood off of it. I took a few steps back, watching him warily.
"Now what?" I asked softly.
"We figure out something. If oni were that easy to kill we wouldn't be so worried about you."
I was about to ask what that meant when Omezo began to rise with a wet gurgling sound. The cuts he suffered to his side and back slowly sealed themselves. I could taste bile when I realized the gurgling sound was him attempting to breathe through the gaping wound in his throat.
I staggered back and lost my balance, falling on my ass. Omezo's glowing yellow eyes settled on me and I could see his neck healing up when he raised his club. I tried to scramble away, but had difficulty getting enough purchase on the ground beneath me to get to my feet. He wasn't going to miss such an obvious target. He swung the club down at me, ready to flatten me.
On some sort of instinct I kicked my legs out and threw my balance back. My tails slid out of the way beneath me as the sudden burst of momentum let me roll backwards over my shoulders. I came back around to a crouch and realized I'd managed to roll out of the way of the club that was now embedded in the ground.
Back onto my feet, I moved backwards while Shiko dashed in and neatly cut Omezo's arm off just above the elbow. He let out a roar of pain, standing there with his disembodied arm still gripping the club. He backhanded Shiko with his other hand, sending him flying back against a bay door. With a wicked "watch this" grin on his face he pushed the bleeding stumps together and his arm reattached before our eyes.
I couldn't begin to imagine what the look on my face must have been like but regardless the oni was receiving a sick amount of pleasure from seeing it. I turned and ran, officially out of ideas both good and bad. Panic washed over me as I desperately looked for any sort of easy escape.
"Makoto, get down, now!" the mysterious voice from earlier shouted in Japanese.
I immediately went prone, glancing up and seeing Omezo's club sail through the space where my head had been. It landed on the ground next to me and I immediately got to my feet. The metal ball in my pocket chimed with my steps while I heard Shiko going after Omezo behind me. I heard a buzzing sound from somewhere ahead of me, and glanced up at the exit of this area.
"Now what?" I muttered, squinting to see what was coming now.
It was Kazuhiro. On a moped. With a big happy excited grin like he was ready to save all of our lives.
I resisted the urge to cynically declare that we were saved. Something told me Omezo wouldn't appreciate the quip and Shiko would just chide me later. Besides, this is someone who was pretty much assigned to babysit the oni-bait newbie, so I had to assume he had a plan.
I scrambled to my feet and ran for the moped. I figured that the worst-case scenario would be that the moped would be an escape vehicle for my body and soul if not my dignity. Well, that's not the absolute worst-case scenario, I corrected myself, thinking briefly of Shiko being left here to deal with the oni himself.
I turned back to keep an eye on Shiko as Kazuhiro pulled up next to me and hopped off the moped. Shiko, at that moment, had just removed the oni's club hand at the wrist. He was holding onto the handle of the club for leverage while his ankles were wrapped around Omezo's other wrist to try and keep a distance between them. I reached for the cards in my pocket and pulled one out, only barely glancing at it before releasing the magic inside. Kazuhiro, not expecting to get dragged into an actual fight, struggled to keep up.
Two of me, one real and one illusion, ran at Omezo. He was trying to get his club and severed hand away from Shiko when he looked up and immediately shifted his focus to reach for us. One of me reached for his damaged arm, grabbing it and pulling it away while the other got a grip on the opposite shoulder. Shiko kicked the oni's hand away, still holding onto the club. Kazuhiro managed to help him pull the club a short distance away while Omezo tried to throw both of me off.
"Are any of those bays open?" Kazuhiro said. The one of me on Omezo's shoulder dropped off as the oni slammed it into a cinder block wall. I immediately dropped down and tried to tackle his legs but to little avail. I did manage to hold the leg still for Shiko to dash in and remove it at the knee with his blade.
"Number four!" both of me yelled out, getting out of the way of the collapsing ogre.
"Keep him busy!" Kazuhiro said, running for number four and digging in a messenger bag he brought with him.
Omezo focused on reattaching his leg while the two of me backed off to either side of Shiko. The other kitsune flicked blood from his sword, taking a second to catch his breath before diving in to try to slash the oni open again and make it stick this time. Against my better judgment I followed close behind.
The oni gave us a look as if to ask 'What, really?' and backhanded Shiko with a meaty red fist, sending him flying. Both of me charged at him, trying to get a grip on his arms and hold him back, but in a moment of adrenaline he shoved us back while charging for his lost club. My mind raced with ways to stall Omezo before he just flat-out murdered us all.
"Okay, look!" one of me shouted, snapping his fingertips to make the other one vanish. "It's me you're after. Yes, I'm one of the five big ones. So y'know what? You can have--"
"Makoto, don't!" Shiko snarled as he got to his feet.
Omezo paused, looking amused, picking up his massive club.
"Go on, I want to hear this," he said.
I slowly stepped forward, arms out. I pulled the cards out of my pocket and dropped them to the ground next to me. My gaze flicked to Shiko and back to the oni. Omezo hefted the club and leaned it against his shoulder.
"Is this the part where you offer yourself up to get me to let my guard down?" he asked. "You don't think I've heard this before?"
And with almost casual ease he spun around and sent Shiko flying with another backhand. I hadn't even seen Shiko move in. The other kitsune's sword clattered to the ground nearby.
"See? This is so, so old to me," Omezo grunted. "I've heard this speech so many times, genuine and otherwise. Do you know how many kitsune I've eaten?"
"And yet you'd still need me to give up to get my soul," I blurted out, not taking my eyes off of him as I took a step forward. "You were there that first day. I saw you, in your full glory. You had the perfect shot to grab me, drag me off into an alley... but oh no. You had to send peons after me."
Where the fuck am I getting this from? I thought, taking a breath and continuing.
"Seriously; a couple of mortals with a sliver of power that comes from being so crazy they can't believe the world doesn't have monsters. You needed them to come after me. You couldn't have, say, just grabbed me and snapped my neck or something? Blasted me with a sawed-off? Couldn't find any dragon-slaying knights for good measure?"
He roared and charged at me at that. I shifted my weight and threw a kick at the air in front of him. The kick, in turn, lifted a card I'd nudged my shoe against when I took that step forward a moment earlier. That gave it just enough lift that I could snatch it out of the air and activate it.
"KaihÅ suru!"
It was like fireworks went off right in his face, temporarily blinding him. Being closer to where it landed, I grabbed Shiko's sword and the two of us made a run for... whatever it was that Kazuhiro was working on. My mind raced as I scrambled for ideas. I glanced at the symbols that Kazuhiro was finger-painting on the door in ink.
My fox-brain understood what he was doing and made a suggestion.
"How much more time do you need?" I asked just as Shiko and I got over there.
"It's about finished," the other kitsune said with a grin. "All I have to do is light it up."
I spun around to see how much time we had as Kazuhiro began chanting. The oni had recovered reasonably quickly and was rushing at us, having given up on the club for the moment. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the kanji on the rolling door glow and shimmer. I visualized the plan.
"Okay, then, wait for the signal," Shiko hissed to him.
As Omezo got closer I began gathering energy for a burst of raw magical force to hold him back. He unexpectedly picked up speed and managed to get me by the neck again. He slammed me against the rapidly-warming door. Kazuhiro looked up at us but kept chanting quietly. Shiko tightened his grip on the sword, but I gave him a look warning him back.
"This has already been far too much trouble," the oni snarled, looking me right in the eyes but not addressing me. "I'd be willing to let you two go if you let me have Makoto. Once I eat his soul, I won't have any use for killing either of you. So the less incentive you give me, the better."
He tightened his grip and I had trouble breathing. I gritted my teeth and glared pure unbridled hatred at him; hatred I didn't even realize my face could properly express. For a few moments, the only sound was Kazuhiro whispering an incantation.
"What's he doing?" Omezo asked. "If he's trying to stop me, he's doing a piss-poor job of it."
"If he interrupts the spell now, it'll explode and take you three with it," Shiko explained. "Well, the other two, maybe. You'd probably get by."
Omezo looked back at Shiko with a grin that only emphasized those tusks. His eyes flickered with amusement. He took his attention off of me in his moment of ultimate triumph. He probably felt reassured at the fact that I was barely conscious for all intents and purposes.
"You don't know how true that-- AARGH!"
My claws, magically sharpened to razor-like talons, jammed into his arm right at the elbow from both sides. As he looked back at me, a clumsy swipe with Shiko's katana sliced the backs of his legs. His grip faltered as my illusionary visage melted back into Shiko's face. The real me, dropping the illusion of looking like Shiko, charged forward and stabbed him deep with the sword. From the gurgling sound he made it sounded like I hit a lung.
"Kazuhiro, now!" I shouted when Omezo dropped Shiko.
Kazuhiro, who'd actually finished casting the spell several seconds ago but was buying time for us, grabbed the door and yanked it open. Cool air rushed through as the warehouse where I worked appeared on the other side. Scattered on the floor on just the other side were what appeared to be roasted soybeans.
Shiko grabbed the front of Omezo's jacket and flipped onto his back, jabbing a foot into the oni's gut for additional leverage. He threw the oni back over his head and tossed him onto the warehouse floor. In the process I dragged the katana through a good chunk of his back before I got it free.
Omezo snarled and hissed, coughing up blood as he managed to get on all fours. His wounds were healing, but not as fast as they had been previously. The soybeans beneath him turned black. Shiko grabbed his katana and was about to go in after him, but Kazuhiro stopped him with a gesture. I heard a mechanical whine somewhere off to the side.
"You think a little bit of holy ground is going to be enough to stop me?" Omezo hissed and spat. "I'm stronger than... than..." He coughed and looked at himself and down at the floor.
"Wrong time of the year for Setsubun but the soybeans are still effective," Kazuhiro said. "'Demons out, luck in' and all."
A forklift came out of nowhere and slammed into the oni's side, spearing him on the wide tines. Both Shiko and I jumped at that. Driving the forklift was another of the kitsune who worked there, wearing some old-fashioned samurai armor and a wicked grin. He sped off to the side, and Kazuhiro lowered his arm.
I rushed into the warehouse to see that it had been cleared of normal human employees. Kazuhiro followed and we watched as the twitching ogre was 'carried' over to a group of kitsune wearing armor and robes and were clearly prepared for some oni-killing. Shiko came in a moment later, carrying Omezo's club across his shoulders.
"I told you we'd figure out something," Shiko said with a big grin and wagging tail that didn't quite match his torn-up clothing and raspy voice.
"Hey, I figured out a way to weaken him," Kazuhiro said indignantly.
"Guys, it was a group effort," I said, trying to cut off the bickering.
I couldn't help but enjoy watching as the other kitsune performed some sort of ritual that either vaporized the oni or banished it from this plane of existence. I wasn't sure which, really, but for all I knew technically it was both at once. Kazuhiro stepped up and put an arm around my shoulders, watching as well. I heard the thunk of Shiko setting the club aside.
"I can live with 'group effort,'" Kazuhiro said. "Strength in numbers, right?"
"Not strength," I reflexively corrected. "Cleverness."
The baoding ball in my pocket chimed as if in agreement. After a moment to catch my breath I managed to get the bay door closed and locked without stranding myself in Beckettsville. Then we began the unenviable task of helping the rest of the crew clean up the mess of gutted oni and rotted soybeans.
To be concluded...
In other news, this is the next to last installment of "Let Sleeping Foxes Lie." I didn't realize we were coming so close to the end; that fight scene felt a lot longer when I was originally writing it (and I hope it's not too confusing in places; we're talking about a bunch of illusion-casting kitsune having to fight for their lives, so sometimes I have to play fast and loose with the first-person perspective to make certain surprises possible). And to be honest, when 'carving up' the story for serialization, I didn't really go ahead at all or else I'd have noticed sooner just how many chapters were left.
But either way, this is the second to last chapter, but it wraps up the climax of the story. Next week you get an epilogue of sorts and then I'll post the whole someplace as a single file for ease of downloading and such.
In other news, remember to check out
vaughn_r_demont and id_locke's own Free Fiction Friday offerings.The oni realized at the last minute what was happening and jabbed his stone club at the grill of the truck. He braced himself hard enough that the truck stopped like it hit a brick wall. Unhampered by the seatbelt I'd failed to put on, I smashed through the windshield and sailed through the air right at him. Omezo reached out and snatched me out of the air, holding me by my neck.
"I don't need you alive to get your soul," he snarled, squeezing and twisting.
With a gruesome snap, I burst into confetti in his hand.
Back in the cab of the truck, the real me flung the fireball at Omezo. It caught him right in the face and staggered him back. Shiko vaulted over the ruined and steaming hood of the truck so as not to risk getting trapped against the wall. I climbed out of the vehicle's driver side door and started to make my way around the back of it.
"Now what?" I shouted.
"Now we--" Shiko started before interrupting himself. "Makoto, I dropped my purse. Is it over there?"
I looked down quickly and saw it, next to the wheel. I reached down to grab it.
"Yeah!"
"Toss me the tsuba hanging off of it, now! Before gets back up!"
I grabbed the talisman, and looked up to see Omezo already back on his feet and picking his club back up. Shiko and I were both moving, so I focused to make sure I could get it to him. I launched it over the truck and he reached out to grab it. His hand closed around the air next to it, and just when I was about to curse my aim I realized that the tsuba had stopped in mid-air right next to his hand.
I ran around behind the truck as I saw Shiko grab the air on the other side of the tsuba, and he pulled them apart. There was a sound like tearing cloth and he was suddenly drawing a katana from a sheath. He ran for the oni, sword at the ready.
"You've been carrying a magic sword all this time?" I asked, incredulous.
"No, just hiding a very old one. You didn't think I'd hand out a spell that would break my own illusions, did you?" he asked with a manic grin, rushing at the now-standing Omezo and slicing a very deep cut into his side.
For lack of any better options I reached into the back of the pickup and grabbed a crowbar. I followed Shiko up to the monster as the other kitsune whipped around and with inhuman grace sliced Omezo's back diagonally from hip to shoulder. The oni snarled and turned to face him, swinging the club at Shiko's head and missing.
Driven by adrenaline, I jumped up and brought the crowbar around his neck. I got it under his chin and yanked it back against his windpipe. My knees braced against his back for leverage and I could see part of the oni's spine through his wound. Just as I was starting to consciously realize just what a bad idea this was, Shiko brought his sword up and sliced open the oni's throat just below the crowbar. The cut combined with the pressure the crowbar put on him threatened to make him a big red Pez dispenser.
Shiko rolled out of the way as the oni fell with a ground-shaking thump. He flicked blood off of his katana with a quick jerk of the wrist. I climbed off of Omezo's body, pulling away the crowbar and trying to shake oni blood off of it. I took a few steps back, watching him warily.
"Now what?" I asked softly.
"We figure out something. If oni were that easy to kill we wouldn't be so worried about you."
I was about to ask what that meant when Omezo began to rise with a wet gurgling sound. The cuts he suffered to his side and back slowly sealed themselves. I could taste bile when I realized the gurgling sound was him attempting to breathe through the gaping wound in his throat.
I staggered back and lost my balance, falling on my ass. Omezo's glowing yellow eyes settled on me and I could see his neck healing up when he raised his club. I tried to scramble away, but had difficulty getting enough purchase on the ground beneath me to get to my feet. He wasn't going to miss such an obvious target. He swung the club down at me, ready to flatten me.
On some sort of instinct I kicked my legs out and threw my balance back. My tails slid out of the way beneath me as the sudden burst of momentum let me roll backwards over my shoulders. I came back around to a crouch and realized I'd managed to roll out of the way of the club that was now embedded in the ground.
Back onto my feet, I moved backwards while Shiko dashed in and neatly cut Omezo's arm off just above the elbow. He let out a roar of pain, standing there with his disembodied arm still gripping the club. He backhanded Shiko with his other hand, sending him flying back against a bay door. With a wicked "watch this" grin on his face he pushed the bleeding stumps together and his arm reattached before our eyes.
I couldn't begin to imagine what the look on my face must have been like but regardless the oni was receiving a sick amount of pleasure from seeing it. I turned and ran, officially out of ideas both good and bad. Panic washed over me as I desperately looked for any sort of easy escape.
"Makoto, get down, now!" the mysterious voice from earlier shouted in Japanese.
I immediately went prone, glancing up and seeing Omezo's club sail through the space where my head had been. It landed on the ground next to me and I immediately got to my feet. The metal ball in my pocket chimed with my steps while I heard Shiko going after Omezo behind me. I heard a buzzing sound from somewhere ahead of me, and glanced up at the exit of this area.
"Now what?" I muttered, squinting to see what was coming now.
It was Kazuhiro. On a moped. With a big happy excited grin like he was ready to save all of our lives.
I resisted the urge to cynically declare that we were saved. Something told me Omezo wouldn't appreciate the quip and Shiko would just chide me later. Besides, this is someone who was pretty much assigned to babysit the oni-bait newbie, so I had to assume he had a plan.
I scrambled to my feet and ran for the moped. I figured that the worst-case scenario would be that the moped would be an escape vehicle for my body and soul if not my dignity. Well, that's not the absolute worst-case scenario, I corrected myself, thinking briefly of Shiko being left here to deal with the oni himself.
I turned back to keep an eye on Shiko as Kazuhiro pulled up next to me and hopped off the moped. Shiko, at that moment, had just removed the oni's club hand at the wrist. He was holding onto the handle of the club for leverage while his ankles were wrapped around Omezo's other wrist to try and keep a distance between them. I reached for the cards in my pocket and pulled one out, only barely glancing at it before releasing the magic inside. Kazuhiro, not expecting to get dragged into an actual fight, struggled to keep up.
Two of me, one real and one illusion, ran at Omezo. He was trying to get his club and severed hand away from Shiko when he looked up and immediately shifted his focus to reach for us. One of me reached for his damaged arm, grabbing it and pulling it away while the other got a grip on the opposite shoulder. Shiko kicked the oni's hand away, still holding onto the club. Kazuhiro managed to help him pull the club a short distance away while Omezo tried to throw both of me off.
"Are any of those bays open?" Kazuhiro said. The one of me on Omezo's shoulder dropped off as the oni slammed it into a cinder block wall. I immediately dropped down and tried to tackle his legs but to little avail. I did manage to hold the leg still for Shiko to dash in and remove it at the knee with his blade.
"Number four!" both of me yelled out, getting out of the way of the collapsing ogre.
"Keep him busy!" Kazuhiro said, running for number four and digging in a messenger bag he brought with him.
Omezo focused on reattaching his leg while the two of me backed off to either side of Shiko. The other kitsune flicked blood from his sword, taking a second to catch his breath before diving in to try to slash the oni open again and make it stick this time. Against my better judgment I followed close behind.
The oni gave us a look as if to ask 'What, really?' and backhanded Shiko with a meaty red fist, sending him flying. Both of me charged at him, trying to get a grip on his arms and hold him back, but in a moment of adrenaline he shoved us back while charging for his lost club. My mind raced with ways to stall Omezo before he just flat-out murdered us all.
"Okay, look!" one of me shouted, snapping his fingertips to make the other one vanish. "It's me you're after. Yes, I'm one of the five big ones. So y'know what? You can have--"
"Makoto, don't!" Shiko snarled as he got to his feet.
Omezo paused, looking amused, picking up his massive club.
"Go on, I want to hear this," he said.
I slowly stepped forward, arms out. I pulled the cards out of my pocket and dropped them to the ground next to me. My gaze flicked to Shiko and back to the oni. Omezo hefted the club and leaned it against his shoulder.
"Is this the part where you offer yourself up to get me to let my guard down?" he asked. "You don't think I've heard this before?"
And with almost casual ease he spun around and sent Shiko flying with another backhand. I hadn't even seen Shiko move in. The other kitsune's sword clattered to the ground nearby.
"See? This is so, so old to me," Omezo grunted. "I've heard this speech so many times, genuine and otherwise. Do you know how many kitsune I've eaten?"
"And yet you'd still need me to give up to get my soul," I blurted out, not taking my eyes off of him as I took a step forward. "You were there that first day. I saw you, in your full glory. You had the perfect shot to grab me, drag me off into an alley... but oh no. You had to send peons after me."
Where the fuck am I getting this from? I thought, taking a breath and continuing.
"Seriously; a couple of mortals with a sliver of power that comes from being so crazy they can't believe the world doesn't have monsters. You needed them to come after me. You couldn't have, say, just grabbed me and snapped my neck or something? Blasted me with a sawed-off? Couldn't find any dragon-slaying knights for good measure?"
He roared and charged at me at that. I shifted my weight and threw a kick at the air in front of him. The kick, in turn, lifted a card I'd nudged my shoe against when I took that step forward a moment earlier. That gave it just enough lift that I could snatch it out of the air and activate it.
"KaihÅ suru!"
It was like fireworks went off right in his face, temporarily blinding him. Being closer to where it landed, I grabbed Shiko's sword and the two of us made a run for... whatever it was that Kazuhiro was working on. My mind raced as I scrambled for ideas. I glanced at the symbols that Kazuhiro was finger-painting on the door in ink.
My fox-brain understood what he was doing and made a suggestion.
"How much more time do you need?" I asked just as Shiko and I got over there.
"It's about finished," the other kitsune said with a grin. "All I have to do is light it up."
I spun around to see how much time we had as Kazuhiro began chanting. The oni had recovered reasonably quickly and was rushing at us, having given up on the club for the moment. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the kanji on the rolling door glow and shimmer. I visualized the plan.
"Okay, then, wait for the signal," Shiko hissed to him.
As Omezo got closer I began gathering energy for a burst of raw magical force to hold him back. He unexpectedly picked up speed and managed to get me by the neck again. He slammed me against the rapidly-warming door. Kazuhiro looked up at us but kept chanting quietly. Shiko tightened his grip on the sword, but I gave him a look warning him back.
"This has already been far too much trouble," the oni snarled, looking me right in the eyes but not addressing me. "I'd be willing to let you two go if you let me have Makoto. Once I eat his soul, I won't have any use for killing either of you. So the less incentive you give me, the better."
He tightened his grip and I had trouble breathing. I gritted my teeth and glared pure unbridled hatred at him; hatred I didn't even realize my face could properly express. For a few moments, the only sound was Kazuhiro whispering an incantation.
"What's he doing?" Omezo asked. "If he's trying to stop me, he's doing a piss-poor job of it."
"If he interrupts the spell now, it'll explode and take you three with it," Shiko explained. "Well, the other two, maybe. You'd probably get by."
Omezo looked back at Shiko with a grin that only emphasized those tusks. His eyes flickered with amusement. He took his attention off of me in his moment of ultimate triumph. He probably felt reassured at the fact that I was barely conscious for all intents and purposes.
"You don't know how true that-- AARGH!"
My claws, magically sharpened to razor-like talons, jammed into his arm right at the elbow from both sides. As he looked back at me, a clumsy swipe with Shiko's katana sliced the backs of his legs. His grip faltered as my illusionary visage melted back into Shiko's face. The real me, dropping the illusion of looking like Shiko, charged forward and stabbed him deep with the sword. From the gurgling sound he made it sounded like I hit a lung.
"Kazuhiro, now!" I shouted when Omezo dropped Shiko.
Kazuhiro, who'd actually finished casting the spell several seconds ago but was buying time for us, grabbed the door and yanked it open. Cool air rushed through as the warehouse where I worked appeared on the other side. Scattered on the floor on just the other side were what appeared to be roasted soybeans.
Shiko grabbed the front of Omezo's jacket and flipped onto his back, jabbing a foot into the oni's gut for additional leverage. He threw the oni back over his head and tossed him onto the warehouse floor. In the process I dragged the katana through a good chunk of his back before I got it free.
Omezo snarled and hissed, coughing up blood as he managed to get on all fours. His wounds were healing, but not as fast as they had been previously. The soybeans beneath him turned black. Shiko grabbed his katana and was about to go in after him, but Kazuhiro stopped him with a gesture. I heard a mechanical whine somewhere off to the side.
"You think a little bit of holy ground is going to be enough to stop me?" Omezo hissed and spat. "I'm stronger than... than..." He coughed and looked at himself and down at the floor.
"Wrong time of the year for Setsubun but the soybeans are still effective," Kazuhiro said. "'Demons out, luck in' and all."
A forklift came out of nowhere and slammed into the oni's side, spearing him on the wide tines. Both Shiko and I jumped at that. Driving the forklift was another of the kitsune who worked there, wearing some old-fashioned samurai armor and a wicked grin. He sped off to the side, and Kazuhiro lowered his arm.
I rushed into the warehouse to see that it had been cleared of normal human employees. Kazuhiro followed and we watched as the twitching ogre was 'carried' over to a group of kitsune wearing armor and robes and were clearly prepared for some oni-killing. Shiko came in a moment later, carrying Omezo's club across his shoulders.
"I told you we'd figure out something," Shiko said with a big grin and wagging tail that didn't quite match his torn-up clothing and raspy voice.
"Hey, I figured out a way to weaken him," Kazuhiro said indignantly.
"Guys, it was a group effort," I said, trying to cut off the bickering.
I couldn't help but enjoy watching as the other kitsune performed some sort of ritual that either vaporized the oni or banished it from this plane of existence. I wasn't sure which, really, but for all I knew technically it was both at once. Kazuhiro stepped up and put an arm around my shoulders, watching as well. I heard the thunk of Shiko setting the club aside.
"I can live with 'group effort,'" Kazuhiro said. "Strength in numbers, right?"
"Not strength," I reflexively corrected. "Cleverness."
The baoding ball in my pocket chimed as if in agreement. After a moment to catch my breath I managed to get the bay door closed and locked without stranding myself in Beckettsville. Then we began the unenviable task of helping the rest of the crew clean up the mess of gutted oni and rotted soybeans.
To be concluded...
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Date: 2010-03-19 03:12 pm (UTC)*Edit* Well aside from Justin (Argent Force) spending 85% of it facedown that is and suffering miserably from it... but Sting was awesome, anyways! ;)
*HUGS* again, even though I already gave you the conga-rats *HUGS* for it!
I only got a minutely semi-fail ding pic
http://pics.livejournal.com/furryjackal/pic/002tag4b
but you still don't get to see how spiffy Sting looks while dinging.
Second off:Is it just me or does feel a little like Ando. Maybe it's my Heroes-mindset or something but him coming in on a moped was total Ando-like win! :D
The grand finale was worth it! I'm now eager to see the end and where it's going. I didn't realize you were so close to the end, too, but it stands to reason! I enjoyed every chapter, though!
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Date: 2010-03-21 07:58 pm (UTC)And the Ando-Kazuhiro comparisons are not entirely unintentional.