Chapter 7:

Chapter 7

Tokyo Junkie


Chongqing China Fengdu County

Tokyo looked around as Nao took everything in. “Wow, I’ve always seen old paintings of China, and even sets from movies, but I didn’t think China was actually this pretty.” She said,

“We aren’t here for sightseeing,” Tokyo said, “Over there is the Ming Mountain,” he said with a nod, “We need to find the Yangtze River and head downstream.”

“And how do we do that without people noticing us?” Zero asked Tokyo, “Our eyes aren’t natural.”

“Here,” Tokyo said as he summoned the bag Sashi packed and reached into it. He then pulled out a pair of sunglasses and handed them to him. “There’s only one pair.”

“Then maybe you should wear them,” Zero said, “Purple and orange is not a natural eye color.”

“And silver is?”

“He could probably pass them off as blue,” Nao said,

“And the extra lines?”

“Oh…uh….” Nao paused for a second before she grabbed onto Zero’s headband and pulled it down over his eye, “There! Now it’s better!”

“Uh…” Tokyo began,

“I don’t mind it,” Zero said,

“You look like a thug.” Tokyo responded,

“No, he looks like that one guy from the ninja anime!” Nao said,

Tokyo sighed before saying, “Whatever,” he then put the sunglasses on, “Let’s go. We don’t have all day.” Tokyo said as he walked off only for Zero and Nao to follow after.

“Hey, how will you ask the captain how to get down the river?” Zero asked,

“I was curious about that too,” Nao said, “Do you speak Chinese?”

“Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hunanese as well asMin, Gan, Wu, Keija, and Hakka Dialect, both traditional and simplified.”

“Woah!” Nao and Zero said in unison as their eyes dazzled,

“Where’s you learn all those languages?” Nao asked,

“People in China have died, as such they become part of me.” Tokyo responded,

“Oh, so if an American dies then you speak English?” Zero asked,

“Yes that’s right.”

“Do you know French?” Nao asked,

“Have French people died since I’ve gained my powers?”

“Woah!!!” Nao and Zero said in unison again as their eyes dazzled even more. They eventually came to a boat that could take them down the river. Tokyo looked to the man in charge of the boat and said,

“<Can you take us down the river? We need to get to the Fengdu Ghost City.>” Zero and Nao’s eyes dazzled when they heard Tokyo speak Chinese,

“<Yes! I can do that! Are you tourists?>”

“<Yeah, this is my daughter and her boyfriend. We’re just on a family trip.>”

“<Oh! I see! Where are you from?>”

“<Japan.>”

“<Oh! That’s quite a long trip!>”

“<It is,>” Tokyo responded, “<How much for a ride downstream?>”

“<¥74.24!>”

“<Alright, thank you.>” Tokyo reached in the bag and pulled out the money before handing it to the man. He then turned to Zero and Nao and said, “Get on you two.” They nodded and got onto the boat followed by Tokyo. The man then untied the boat from the bank before they then started to head down the river. Once they were headed off the man smiled as he picked something up and brought it over to Nao. It held it out to her and it appeared to be a hair clip.

“Oh! Uh, for me?” Nao asked before the man nodded, “Thank you.” She took the hair clip from him, it had a Peony flower on it. She opened the clip before she then put it on her head beside her ear. In the center of the Peony was a Rose Quartz gem.

“<My daughter makes a lot of these, it’s for a business that she does on talismans and other charms. I pray that you and your boyfriend will have a good relationship!>” The man then nodded before he walked back to the end of the boat. Tokyo snickered as he held back his laughter as best he could.

“What did he say?!” Nao asked as she looked at Tokyo,

“He just said it looks good on you is all,” Tokyo said as he quickly put his hand over his mouth and turned the other way. Nao gave a dull growl before she turned and looked over the side of the boat at the scenery passing by.

Zero looked over at Nao before he turned to Tokyo, “You know, have you ever tried summoning a Baku?”

“For what?” Tokyo responded, “I sleep fine.”

“Not for you, for Nao. She told me she hasn’t been sleeping well for years, and even has a few conditions.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that without her consent, even so she hasn’t mentioned something like that to me. She said she has sleep apnea, but a lot of people have that.”

“Perhaps you should summon one, it’ll be against her will, but it’ll likely be for the best.” Zero responded as he leaned back and folded his arms, “She looks like she’s ready to kill over at any time.”

“I’ll ask her tonight.”

“Well good,” he said before he looked over at him, “Say, what do you think of Nao?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like her?”

“She’s a good person, she’s a little squirrely, but she knows well.”

“So you don’t have feelings for her?”

“Why? Do you like her or something?”

“Not really, however, I just know that she likes you.”

“Well she’s an idiot,” He said, “I don’t like her, besides I’m taken, and she can’t possibly begin to compare the deep relationship that Sashi and I have.”

“I see, and will you tell Nao that?”

“Only if she confesses feelings for me.”

“Why? Do you not believe me?”

“I don’t,” Tokyo said, “It’s her feelings, so even if what you say is true I’d need to hear it from her just to confirm it.”

“Well, alright, I just don’t know how well she’ll do that on a tank of zero sleep.”

“She’ll be fine,” Tokyo responded, “If she needs to rest, then she’ll let me know.”

EXORCIST Base Beijing China

“Gentlemen, it’s nice to have you here.” A man said as he greeted Buddha, Purge, and Kusanagi from the airship, “I take it your flight was alright.”

“It was fine,” Buddha responded, “So tell me, what exactly are we dealing with?”

“Well, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you.” The man then took them through the base before taking them to a large room. The room had several rows of seats and at the head of the room was a screen. The man picked up a tablet before he slid his finger across the screen and through the air. Soon the screen at the head of the room turned on displaying images, “Whatever it is, it’s quite large in stature.” He swiped through more images showing downed trees, footprints, and even dead soldiers. “From the footprint alone, we guesstimate it to be about 1,000 pounds and 304.8 centimeters.”

“That could be a many number of things,” Purge said to himself as he ran through his mind thinking of the large supernatural creatures native to China. “Do you have any visuals on it?”

“Unfortunately, no.” The man said, “But we know it possesses an immense amount of superhuman strength.” He showed another image of a destroyed boulder, “This boulder here was about 50 feet in height and weighed about 10,500 pounds, the creature threw it through the air towards our soldiers before it followed shortly after to finish them off.” He then played a video of the boulder being thrown before a roar was heard followed by a massive blur before the camera cut off.

“Do you think whatever it is, is defending its home?” Buddha asked,

“No,” a woman said as she walked into the room, “Despite them being against humanity, the supernatural actually have a natural order. A balance in nature with each other. Whatever this is, it’s against their natural order.”

“And you are?” Purge asked as he folded his arms,

The woman adjusted her glasses before she smiled and said, “Professor Peggy Luu, I’m in charge of Supernatural Studies all over EXORCIST, including biology, psychology, and even philosophy.”

“You’re American?”

“Half American, on my dad’s side. Does that bother you?”

“No,” he said, “I just don’t get why you would study such creatures?”

“Because I find them interesting,” she said with a smile, “And also, without me, you wouldn’t know how to kill them now would you?”

“You kill them with Holy Light, if not then you cut off their heads.”

“Perhaps,” she responded as she pushed up her glasses, “In Japan it is possible to kill them by cutting their heads off. However, here in China if you cut off or destroy their heads, they simply grow back.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s not,” She said as gestured for him to follow her. He gave a dull groan as he followed after her to a lab. “You see, when you’re a demon everything wants to kill you. EXORCIST, monsters, animals, even other demons. Killing is fine and dandy, but if you don’t do it properly then you’ll have a very angry demon.”

“What about Yokai?”

“They’re the same as any other demon. If you don’t kill them a certain way they’ll only come back stronger.” She then came into the lab where she turned the lights on before she turned and sat on a desk. “So tell me, what do you know about the supernatural?”

“Well, I know that-“

“Oh, I see, so you know nothing about them?”

“I didn’t say that, you didn’t let me finish.”

“I didn’t need to, the look on your face says it all. You joined EXORCIST in order to kill them, you likely only trained in combat and didn’t stop to study them.”

“I don’t need to study them much,” he said as he folded his arms, “Besides, there’s only one that I want to kill, and I know how to do it. With Holy Light and Shinto Charms.”

“Oh? And what might it be?”

“A Gashadokuro. More specifically the one that tore my home town apart, and the one that killed my mother.”

“Oh, I see.” She then giggled before setting her things behind her and leaning back, “You poor little summer child.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t kill a Gashadokuro as they’re unkillable.”

“What?!” He said as his eyes widened,

“Yes,” she said, “However, the way that we’ve found to exorcise them isn’t really killing them at all. We use a special seal, afterwards we blast them with a warhead containing immeasurable amounts of Holy Light. This then separates their bodies from all the deceased people they’ve absorbed, putting them back into the ground. However, if Gashadokuro happen to know each other, they can instantly be brought back via another Gashadokuro.”

“You’re kidding me…”

“I’m not,” she responded, “Even if you were to find the last one and attempt to exorcise it, it’s body already contains the code for dead people past, present, and future as well as the rest of its kind. You’d have to use the same exorcism tactics for at least a thousand consistent years, even so that’s barely the tip of the iceberg.”

“Then…Kusanagi, he…”

“He what?”

“Someone I came here with, he’s planning to kill it.”

“I see,” she said with a soft smile, “How interesting. I’d like to see this fight, just to see if my theories of the last living Gashadokuro are true.”

“Wait, so everything you just told me is a lie?!”

“Not a lie, a theory. Based upon science and our knowledge of their race along with common sense. So it may very well be true.” He scoffed before he sighed. “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who is frustrated. Luckily, I think that there’s something that may be able to be done. However, we have no way of getting there.”

“That is?”

“In Ancient Egypt, there was something called the Book of the Dead. It’s a funerary text which contains the names of everyone who has died. If we can find it, and find the starting point of the Gashadokuro’s death absorption, we could find a way to erase the names from that point to the present, in turn erasing it from existence.”

“That’s possible…?”

“With the technology EXORCIST has, it is very possible. However, the book is in the Demon Realm.”

“Demon Realm…?”

“Yes, each demon, Yokai, or whatever you want to call them, has an extension of the Demon Realm, they’re like pocket dimensions. The stronger they become the more access they have to the Demon Realm and the larger these pocket dimensions become.”

“So can we capture a demon and have it take us there?”

“No,” she said, “If a human were to enter the Demon Realm they’d be instantly vaporized and erased from existence. So far I’ve found nothing that can protect us from it.”

“How would you know?”

She sighed as she twisted a ring on her finger, “I tried it once. My research team and I had captured a demon and had opened a portal. My husband and a few others were part of the expedition team, the moment my husband set his toe in the entrance of the Demon Realm he was suddenly wiped from existence. Like a slide on a presentation, just wiped gone.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Purge said,

“It’s fine,” Peggy responded, “It was a few months ago, but it was all for furthering our knowledge of them.”

“Yeah but still, that’s your husband, he just-“

“Yes! I know what happened!” She snapped as she shot him a glare, “But sitting around and being sad about it will only damage my career and reputation. Lives are lost everyday in the pursuit of knowledge. My husband dying was no different.”

Purge sighed before saying, “I’m sorry, I’ll excuse myself.”

“You could, or you can stay here and I can teach you everything to know about the Gashadokuro.”

“No, I’m fine, I-“

“You can tell me about your mother,” she sighed, “In exchange I’ll tell you about my husband.”

“But you-“

“I know what I said, but I really need to talk about it.”

“Oh, uh…yeah, sure.”

Okinawa

Sashi walked around her room as she brushed her hair. It was starting to get late and soon she would have feed everyone, so she was preparing for dinner. “Oh my~!” A woman’s voice came, she turned to see Bloody Mary in the mirror of her vanity.

“What do you want?” Sashi asked with a sigh. She was never too fond of Tokyo’s mother for many reasons,

“It appears you’ve sent my son to China, looks like you were more desperate to end your relationship with him than I thought.”

This was one of them. Sashi only rolled her eyes as she set down her brush, “It’s not like that,” she said, “He’s going to see what’s going on over there that’s causing people from China to come here.”

“Yes, but the woman who is arranged to marry my son is there as well.”

“Woman? What woman?”

“This was long before Tokyo was born, my husband could see quite far into the future. As such he selected the perfect soulmate for our son, with her it would help him rise to power.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Because he doesn’t know,” she said as she flew from the window and into the room, “And now that you know, it’ll be best that you two end this little fling before you get hurt.”

“I always knew you didn’t like me, but this is a new low.” Sashi said as she folded her arms, “However, it’s quite an impressive lie.”

“It’s not a lie my dear,” she said with a smile as she floated over to the mirror and it began to warp and show images, “She’s the daughter of Baigujing and a Yuki-onna.”

“How is that possible? Baigujing is a woman.”

“Yes, but before being killed for a third time by you know who, she disguised herself as a man. As such she met a Yuki-onna and the two conceived a child.” The mirror then changed to show the child in question. She was very beautiful, and had skin as pale as the snow and darker than black hair. “Her name is Beijing, and she’s the perfect mate for Tokyo in every way.” She smiled as she said, “And with them both being skeleton demons they’ll be naturally drawn to one another.”

“I still don’t believe a word you’re saying.” Sashi said, “Now get out of my room, I have people to feed.”

“Really? I just told you the truth,” she smiled as she flew over to Sashi and cupped her face with her hands, “The look in your eyes, you actually believe it to be true.” Sashi growled as she pulled away from Mary,

“Get out, now!”

“How rude,” Mary said as she began to fly over to the mirror, “I didn’t think my son would go for such a rude and stubborn woman.” Sashi clenched her teeth as she threw a punch towards Mary. As she did Mary vanished into the mirror which Sashi ended up punching instead. Sashi stood there with her head hung and her eyes shadowed by her bangs. Some footsteps were heard before the door slid open.

“Lady Sashi, I heard a loud crash! Is everything alright?!” Tako asked,

“Everything is fine,” Sashi said as she pulled her fist from the vanity mirror and dusted off the shards of the mirror from it. “I just thought I saw something.”

Ming Mountain, Fengdu County, Chongqing China

As they walked through the forest on the mountain Nao looked at a book she had brought along. She looked to Tokyo before she quickly took a few steps and caught up to him, “Hey! So, since I didn’t know you had a daughter, I wrote down some questions to get to know you better!”

“Like what?”

“Well, I was wondering, what’s a super power that Sashi has that you wish you had.”

“Hm,” Tokyo said as he began to think, “She can breathe fire.”

“WHAT?!?!!! SHE CAN BREATHE FIRE?!?!!”

“Yep.”

“Hang on, can’t you shoot a laser from your mouth?” Zero asked,

“I can, but it’s not fire.”

“Okay, so fire breathing.” Nao said as she then wrote in the book, “Next, what’s Sashi’s most attractive feature?” Tokyo went to speak before Nao said, “That’s not about her body!”

Tokyo sighed before he placed his hands behind his head and said, “She’s very kind hearted and understanding. You should see her around other Yokai, she’s really like a mother to them all.”

“Wow, that’s actually pretty sweet.” Nao said as she began to write everything down, “Okay, next question is-“ She then froze as Tokyo held out his hand in front of her.

“Sh!” He said as he looked around. He sniffed the air a few times before saying, “Something’s watching us.” As he took a few steps forward he opened his mouth and placed his thumbs behind his upper canines (not that anyone could tell which ones his canines were) and flicked them forward causing his canines to flip through the air and turn to daggers. He then caught the daggers with his hands and got into a fighting stance as he looked ahead of them into the forest.

The long silence was eventually broken when a large white wolf creature lunged from the forest at them. Nao screamed as the creature slashed its claws towards the group. Tokyo swung his arm and blocked the creature's claws with his dagger. The creature looked into Tokyo’s eyes and Tokyo looked right back into its eyes. The monster roared as it broke away from Tokyo and swung its other fist towards him, Tokyo quickly tossed one dagger to the other hand before raising his hand and grabbing the back of the monster's wrist. Tokyo then flipped backwards bringing his foot into the bottom of the monster's mouth causing it to fly backwards.

The monster rolled along the ground before coming to a stop. Tokyo then put his daggers back into his mouth as the creature began to shrink. Tokyo approached the creature as it then turned to a person, “Really? All this time and you still try that?” Tokyo asked,

“Before now, it usually worked.” The person responded as he slowly got onto his feet as his jaw cracked and eventually popped back into place. “What the hell happened?”

“It’s simple, I got stronger.”

He chuckled as he said, “You’ve never trained a day in your life.”

“Figured I should try something new.”

“E-Excuse me! What the hell is going on?!” Nao asked,

Tokyo then turned to Nao as he pointed to person behind him, “It’s nothing, this dumbass thought it’d be cool to try and jump me.”

“I can’t be too careful,” he responded as he looked to Tokyo, “Especially around now.”

“And who is this guy?!” Nao asked,

“I think the question is, who the hell are you guys?” The young looking man responded, “My name is Fuma. Fuma Frankenstein, Tokyo and I go way back.”

“How far back…?”

“We were friends growing up,” Tokyo responded, “Things happen and we ended up dying and awakening our powers. However, Fuma’s were given to him.”

“What do you mean…? People can just get powers?”

“Somewhat,” Fuma said, “I was born human unlike this shark toothed son of a bitch.”

“Hey,” Tokyo said as Fuma gave a soft snicker,

“Anywho, I was dying, it was World War II. My heart was failing and my mental state was worsening. However, some spies in Germany had been able to find the brain and heart of Frankenstein‘s monster.”

“Wait, Frankenstein?! As in that one book?!”

“The same one,” Fuma said, “These German Spies were good, so good in fact that they had plans from the US Forces. They knew when and where the atomic bombs would be dropped. So they placed his heart in Hiroshima, and his brain in Nagasaki. Afterwards I was told I’d be given a second chance, little did I know I would become these Germans experiment. They figured, since Frankenstein’s monster could use parts of other people, then they could apply that science to me. So I received a heart transplant from the monster, as well as a part of its brain that managed to survive.”

“Woah…so you’re like an undead right?” Zero asked,

“That’s right,” Fuma said with a grin,

“Then what was with the weird werewolf form?! Frankenstein’s monster was human!” Nao said

“Yes, that’s more of the story. The Germans that created me wanted to make the ideal monster, an ultimate weapon in case World War III broke out. So they simply went out and had a vampire and a werewolf bite me, afterwards my transformation came soon after.”

“What?! You’re a vampire-werewolf?!?!!!”

“Only when transformed, yes.”

“But, what about the sun?! Won’t you die?!”

“Nope,” Fuma said, “My regenerative capabilities are so great that I can be in the sun without burning up.”

“Woah…”

“As fascinating as it all is,” Tokyo began, “We need to get going.”

“That’s right,” Fuma said, “Blanca said we would be expecting you, not to mention your mother said we’d be expecting you, however she said it was more for you to meet someone.”

“My mother?” Tokyo asked, “What has she done this time?!”

“I have no idea,” He said with a shrug, “She wouldn’t tell me, but she said that you’d figure it out yourself, if not B would tell you.”

Tokyo growled before saying, “I don’t like the sound of this, if my mother is involved it’s probably not good.” He then turned to Fuma and said, “Take these two to Fendgdu.”

“WHAT?!?!!” Nao said

“What’re you going to do?” Fuma asked,

“I’m going to confront my mother, I should be back soon.”

Demon Realm

Above the existence known as the Mortal Realm was the Spirit Realm. The Spirit Realm, Mortal Realm, and Demon Realm were three parts of the Existence Tree known as Yggdrasil. An every grown and every expanding tree with infinite roots and branches which held even more infinite fruits of dimensions, time, and space. The Demon Realm sat at the bottom of the tree, representing the soil and it’s many roots, it’s where the dead and other evil demons lived. The trunk of the tree housed the Mortal Realm where the humans and Guardian Beasts lived. And stop the tree were the leaves of the Spirit Realm where Gods and unborn souls resided.

In the Demon Realm, Mary stood surrounded by other immeasurably powerful demons. They were the ones EXORCIST referred to as Omega Class Demons. “Tell me something Mary,” one of the demons said, “Why are you so pressed on having your child marry this other woman?”

“It was decided long before I planned to have my son. Nobunaga told me of what it would bring. When my son and Beijing become one, it will make the perfect being. And then my husband can return.”

“He’s not dead?”

“Of course not,” Mary said with a smile as she turned to the demon, “Do you really think the Demon King would die so easily? That is, if he could die.”

“What do you mean?” Another demon asked,

“You see, all it really takes to bring my husband back would be for my son to remember him. Granted Nobunaga left after Tokyo was born, but I sprinkled little bits and pieces of information about who his father was during his childhood.”

“He seems to be against it.”

“Yes, but he’ll soon realize that it’s for the best. As your Queen I’m doing what’s best for you, my people. I’m Queen Mary Tudor I of England, I think I know how to treat my people fairly.”

“Yeah,” Tokyo’s voice came from the door as he walked into the room, “And I’m your son.” Mary turned to him and gave him a smile. Tokyo flared and said, “We need to talk, mother.”