Devils on Wheels

The bartender was right.

Give the monk money, and he gives you a room key. He smelled like dead fish, and his skin was a drafty gray as it sagged down. Despite looking like he was on his deathbed, the interaction went perfectly normal, and the man had a room for the next few nights.

He stayed in his room for a whole day.

As the sun set on the second day, the man finally left the inn.

The moment he stepped out into the city jammed with neon, there was a figure waiting for him. The figure wasn't here to talk to him directly, per se. He was a man in a black leather vest, similar to Ibara's, but it actually fit him. He was in a obsidian-black motorcycle littered with scratches and worn down stickers. His entire head was covered by a motorcycle helmet and wore black gloves, showing not a hint of skin anywhere.

If he was trying to be inconspicuous, it wasn't working. The man glanced at him for a second and walked the other direction.

There was a soft brumm, and the bike slowly followed him.

The moment the man gripped his hand onto the handle of the katana by his waist, a sudden steel chain flew towards his armed and wrapped itself around it like a snake catching its prey.

The man paused and glanced up.

As suspected, the biker was holding the other side of the chain. He was standing on top of his motorcycle now. 

He slowly pulled out a knife from his waste. It had a faint glow of magic, but it didn't glow like ethereal magic, rather it seemed to show off an almost sickly putrid glow.

"I am Ruitaka, oni captain of the Devils on Wheels clan. And you are the bastard that killed my brother, Ibara."

He pointed his gleaming knife at the man.

"...So tonight I'm going to kill you."

Although Ruitaka's entire face was masked by his helmet, he was obviously sneering.

"Just a warning: Oni like to play with their prey."

Ruitaka positioned himself like a jaguar about to pounce.

The man pulled out his katana at lightning speeds, the chain wrapped around his arm flailing wildly.

Ruitaka leaped into the air. He suddenly became a blur, dashing forwards so quickly, a human eye couldn't be able to catch it.

The man swept upwards from his feet, the katana spewing bright orange sparks as it scraped the ground.

There was a deafening CLANG as the man stumbled back a step.

It didn't even look the man hit anything with his katana, but Ruitaka was pushed back by the blow. His helmet clattered on the ground and rolled to a nearby bag of trash.

Ruitaka looked awfully like his brother, but his skin was a pasty blue and had wild white hair on the sides of his head which pointed in all directions like electricity.

He grinned. The exact same grin as his brother. The wicked tusks protruded like jagged rocks and gleamed under the lights.

"Hu hu hu!" Ruitaka laughed, his voicing feeling a hundred times lower than before.

"Your speed is even on par with a blue oni. Color me impressed. At least I can assure myself my brother didn't die to a COMPLETE pushover."

Ruitaka dashed towards the man again. He moved so quickly, it could easily be mistaken as teleportation. But it wasn't fast enough for the man.

The man pushed himself off the ground using his katana with one hand and when Ruitaka's blade clashed with his, there was an explosion of sparks.

While he was still midair, spinning on an axis, the man pulled out his other katana as it clicked into a gun. Just as his feet were about to reach the ground, he shot a single bullet.

Ruitaka pulled out his knife towards his chest at the perfect time, and the bullet bounced off with a sharp TING.

By the time both of the man's feet were planted on the ground, his katanas transformed into gun-mode. He pointed the angled blades at the oni and shot out a flurry of bullets.

Wooden crates behind the oni exploded into shards as Ruitaka dashed, circling him. The wave of bullets followed.

Ruitaka was deflecting all the bullets with his knife as they whizzed towards him, but the attacks were so rapid and accurate, it gave him virtually no opening to close the gap.

Fuck, he's strong.

But I just need to keep him occupied until the cavalry comes...

There was a split second with a gap! Suddenly, Ruitaka dashed towards him at full force, knife gripping in one hand.

abruptly, the man reverted his weapons to katanas and jerked it behind his back.

Sparks exploded as the blades made contact.

Ruitaka pushed himself off a wall and ran for his follow-up attack.

The man swung his katana horizontally by his knees.

Ruitaka had to slide under the blade as his knife scrapped the katana once again, leaving a trail of sparks.

The two exchanged blows, sparks erupting after every contact. In a mere second, the man would block 20 or more swipes from Ruitaka, and he completely kept his composure through the entire ordeal.

The fight froze as dozens of engines roared in the distance.

Ruitaka chuckled.

Finally the cavalry arrived.