Chapter 18: The Glass Tower

It is 3:00 AM. The witching hour.

Upstairs, the floorboards creak gently as the house settles. Hajime and Naomi are asleep, blissfully unaware that their beloved pets are currently sitting in a circle on the floor downstairs, plotting a counter-strike against a dark sorcerer who wants to turn Tokyo into a demon playground.

The living room is dark, lit only by the blue glow of Kenuji's laptop screen and the faint, green luminescence radiating from Yoshi's eyes.

Muji is sitting on the rug, cleaning his claws. He is in human form, shirtless as usual, and his face is grim. He runs a whetstone over his spectral silver nails—shhhk, shhhk, shhhk—a rhythmic sound that sets my teeth on edge.

Yoshi is staring at a map of Tokyo spread out on the coffee table. He has circled several locations in red marker, his brow furrowed in concentration. The map crinkles under his fist.

I am sitting next to Muji, re-wrapping the bandages on his arm. I check the spiritual flow in his meridian lines to make sure the cursed poison from the earlier fight is truly gone. The skin looks pink and new, healed by my light, but the memory of the black infection still makes me shiver.

"We cannot wait", Yoshi says suddenly, his voice low and vibrating with suppressed rage. He doesn't look up from the map. "Kuro knows our scent now. He knows our fighting style. If we wait for him to come to us, he won't send a probe next time. He will bring something bigger than that Goliath. He will level the house with Hajime and Naomi inside".

"We have to hit him first", Muji agrees, flexing his hand. He looks at his claws, which gleam like razor blades in the dim light. "We have to cut off the head of the snake before it bites us".

"But where is the head?" Inoe asks, frustration tightening her delicate features. She is pacing the length of the room, her arms crossed. "He vanished. He teleported out of those tunnels like smoke. He could be anywhere in Tokyo. He could be in a sewer. He could be in a penthouse. He could be standing on the moon for all we know".

"He is in a penthouse", Kenuji says.

We all turn to look at him.

Kenuji is sitting by the window, his back to us. He has wires running from his laptop to a small glass vial sitting on the windowsill. Inside the vial is a pinch of the black dust we collected from the destroyed Shadow Assassin clone. He is running a spectral analysis, translating the magical residue into data.

"Explain", Yoshi demands, standing up.

"The dust", Kenuji says, pointing at the screen, which is displaying a chaotic, jagged waveform. "It is not just shadow matter. It has physical impurities. I found traces of silica. Glass dust. And high-altitude ozone. The specific isotopic signature of the oxygen trapped in the dust matches the air quality at five hundred meters above sea level".

"He is in a skyscraper", I realize, the pieces clicking together.

"Not just any skyscraper", Kenuji types furiously, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "I cross-referenced the magical signature with the city's spiritual ley lines. There is a massive energy spike at the Titan Tower in Nishi-Shinjuku. It is a brand new office building. Fifty stories. Mostly empty because the rent is extortionate. It is the perfect place to hide a workshop".

"Titan Tower", Yoshi says, the name rolling off his tongue like a curse. He looks down at the map. "That is the glass needle near the park. I remember it. I worked on the foundation for that building back when I was pretending to be a construction worker in the 90s. The earth there is... hollow. Unstable".

"It is a fortress", Kenuji warns, turning his chair to face us. The blue light reflects in his glasses, hiding his eyes. "If Kuro is there, he will have defenses. It won't be like the tunnels. It will be worse. He will be expecting us".

"Good", Muji stands up. He stretches, his back cracking. His eyes burn with a cold, predatory light that has nothing to do with being a cat and everything to do with being a warrior. "I hope it is worse. I want to break something expensive".

We do not hesitate. We do not debate. We do not sleep.

We gear up.

We leave the house again, moving like shadows through the sleeping suburbs. We take the rooftops this time, running in our human forms. We leap from building to building with supernatural grace, our feet barely touching the tiles. The wind rushes past my ears, cold and biting, smelling of rain and asphalt.

We reach Shinjuku in twenty minutes.

The Titan Tower looms ahead of us. It is a jagged spear of black glass piercing the night sky. It looks lifeless. Dark. Abandoned. But with my spiritual sight, I can see the truth.

It is pulsing.

Veins of purple energy run up the sides of the building like ivy, throbbing with a sickly rhythm. The building is breathing. It is alive with corruption.

"Front door?" Inoe asks, smoothing her windblown hair.

"No", Yoshi says, stepping forward. He cracks his knuckles. "We are not sneaking in this time. We are making an entrance. We want him to know we are here".

Yoshi walks up to the revolving glass doors of the lobby. He places his palm against the reinforced glass.

"Geomancer Arts: Shatterpoint".

He sends a single, concentrated pulse of vibration through the glass structure.

CRASH.

The sound is deafening. The entire front facade of the lobby explodes inward. Millions of shards of safety glass rain down like diamonds, tinkling as they hit the marble floor. The alarm starts blaring instantly-a high, piercing wail that echoes off the surrounding buildings.

"Subtle", Kenuji says dryly, stepping over the debris and crunching glass under his loafers.

"I hate revolving doors", Yoshi shrugs. "They make me dizzy".

We storm the lobby. It is a vast, marble space with a high ceiling, designed to impress corporate clients. It looks empty. The reception desk is unmanned. The digital display boards are dark.

"Welcome, guests", a mechanical voice echoes from the walls. It sounds pleasant, but wrong.

Suddenly, the floor tiles shift. The sleek, modern sculptures in the lobby-abstract metal shapes that look like twisted ribbons-begin to move.

They unfold. They stand up. They lock into place with heavy metallic clanks.

They are golems. But they are not made of clay or stone. They are made of steel, chrome, and fiber-optic cables. Their eyes glow with a menacing red light.

"Security", Muji grins, extending his claws. "Finally. Toys".

Six metal golems charge at us. They are fast, their heavy footsteps cracking the expensive marble floor.

"Muji, right! Yoshi, left! Inoe, jam the signal!" Kenuji barks orders, taking cover behind a pillar. "Haruka, watch the rear!"

Muji meets the charge head-on. He slides under the swinging arm of the first golem, sparks flying as the metal fist grazes the floor.

"Silver Claw!"

SHING.

He slices through the golem's hydraulic knee joint. The metal screeches. Hydraulic fluid sprays out like oil. The golem topples. Muji jumps onto its back and drives his claws into its neck, ripping out the central wiring loom. The light in its eyes dies.

Yoshi is less elegant. A golem swings a metal fist the size of a microwave at him. Yoshi catches the fist with one hand.

The ground beneath his feet cracks from the impact, forming a spiderweb of fractures. But Yoshi does not move an inch.

"Weak", Yoshi growls.

He twists his hips and throws the five-hundred-pound robot across the room. It smashes into the reception desk, destroying it in a shower of wood splinters and computer parts.

"Inoe!" Kenuji shouts over the wail of the alarm. "The noise! I cannot concentrate!"

"I am on it!" Inoe closes her eyes. She reaches out with her mind, connecting to the building's electronic network. She visualizes the wires, the signals, the code. "Shut up!" she screams psychically.

The blaring alarm cuts off instantly. The red emergency lights flicker and die, leaving us in the cool blue glow of the streetlights outside.

"Elevators are locked", Kenuji reports, checking a wall panel. "He cut the power to the shafts. He wants us to walk".

"We take the stairs?" I ask, looking at the door marked 'Emergency Exit'.

"Fifty floors?" Muji groans, wiping oil off his face. "My calves will burn. And stairs are boring".

"No", Yoshi walks to the elevator doors. He pries them open with his bare hands, the metal groaning in protest. He reveals the dark, empty shaft stretching up into infinity. "We climb. It is faster".

We jump into the shaft. Yoshi places his hands on the concrete walls. The stone softens, forming handholds. We climb rapidly, hand over hand, ascending into the belly of the beast.

At the twentieth floor, the air changes. It gets hot.

"Stop", Kenuji hisses.

We freeze, clinging to the wall of the shaft like spiders.

Above us, something is moving. A rustling sound. Like dry leaves in a storm. Or wings. Thousands of wings.

"Bats?" I whisper, looking up into the darkness.

"No", Kenuji says, his eyes narrowing. "Origami".

"What?"

A swarm of white shapes dives down the shaft toward us. They are paper birds. Cranes. Thousands of them. Their wings are razor-sharp, reinforced with curses.

"Paper Shikigami!" Inoe yells. "Shields!"

I let go of the wall with one hand, holding on with my legs. "Divine Light: Barrier!"

A golden dome forms over us, anchored to the shaft wall.

The paper birds slam into the shield. Thwack-thack-thack. It sounds like hail hitting a tin roof. They are trying to cut through the light. Some of them slip through the cracks, slicing at our clothes.

"They are sharp!" Muji yelps as a paper crane cuts his cheek. A thin line of blood appears. "It is just paper! How does it hurt?"

"It is reinforced with cursed energy", Kenuji explains, blasting a group of birds with a psychic wave. "Physical attacks won't work well! There are too many! Fire! We need fire!"

"I don't do fire!" Yoshi shouts, crushing a crane in his fist. "I do rocks! And dirt!"

"I have an idea", Inoe says. She looks at the heavy steel elevator cables hanging next to us. "Muji! Cut the counterweight cable!"

"Are you crazy?" Muji asks. "That thing weighs tons!"

"Do it!"

Muji leaps from the wall, grabbing the thick steel cable. He slashes it with his silver claws.

SNAP.

The cable parts with a sound like a cannon shot. The massive steel counterweight above us plummets. It falls past us, a blur of heavy metal. As it falls, it drags the severed cables against the guide rails. The friction creates sparks. Massive, hot, showering sparks.

The sparks hit the paper birds.

WHOOSH.

The paper ignites. Dry paper and cursed energy burn fast. The fire spreads instantly through the swarm. The shaft becomes a chimney of flame. The burning birds flutter and scream—actually scream—before dissolving into ash.

"Nice thinking", Yoshi coughs, waving away the smoke. "Now let's move before we get cooked in our own chimney".

We scramble up the rest of the way, dodging falling embers. We reach the forty-fourth floor-the source of the energy spike. Yoshi punches through the elevator doors from the inside, and we roll out onto the carpeted hallway.

This floor is different. It does not look like an office. It looks like a mad scientist's laboratory.

The walls are lined with glass tanks. Inside the tanks, floating in green liquid, are... things. Distorted spirits. Failed experiments. Pieces of shadow matter twitching with a semblance of life.

And in the center of the open-plan office stands a massive machine. It looks like a server rack, but instead of wires, it pulses with human souls. Blue lights flicker in glass tubes, trapped and screaming silently.

"He is harvesting", I whisper, horrified. "He is using the building to trap wandering spirits and process them into batteries".

"So that is how he powers his dolls", Kenuji says, his face pale. "This is an abomination. It violates every law of the spirit world".

"Destroy it", Yoshi commands.

We step forward.

"I cannot let you do that", a voice echoes.

From the shadows behind the machine, a figure steps out. It is not Kuro.

It is a woman. She is tall, wearing a sharp business suit that fits her perfectly. Her skin is pale, almost translucent. Her hair is cut into a sharp bob. But her eyes... her eyes are made of glass. Faceted, like insect eyes, reflecting us a hundred times.

"My name is Glass", she says. Her voice sounds like crystal ringing when you run a wet finger around the rim. "I am the administrator of this facility".

"Another doll?" Muji asks, cracking his neck. "Kuro really likes his toys".

"I am not a doll", Glass says, offended. She raises her hand. The glass walls of the tanks around us shatter. The shards do not fall. They float. They swirl around her, forming a deadly cyclone of razor edges. "I am a masterpiece".

"Incoming!" Yoshi yells.

Glass flicks her wrist. A storm of glass shards flies at us like bullets.

"Geomancer Arts: Stone Wall!"

Yoshi pulls up the concrete floor, creating a barrier. The glass shards embed themselves in the stone, cutting deep. Thud-thud-thud.

"She is strong", Yoshi grunts, holding the wall against the impact. "Her attacks have high penetration. She will shred us if we get caught in the open".

Glass walks toward us. The glass storm follows her. She shapes the shards into a massive, transparent sword in her hand.

"Muji, flank her!" Kenuji orders. "Haruka, suppress her magic! Inoe, find her mental weak point! She must have a core!"

We break formation. Muji runs along the wall, dodging glass daggers. He leaps at Glass from the side.

"Silver Claw!"

He strikes. But Glass does not dodge. Her skin hardens, turning into solid diamond. Muji's claws hit her arm and bounce off with a loud clink.

"Diamond skin?" Muji gasps, landing and shaking his hand. "That is cheating!"

Glass backhands him. Her hand turns into a jagged hammer of crystal. Muji flies backward, crashing through a cubicle wall and burying himself in drywall.

"Muji!" I scream.

I aim my hands at her. "Divine Light: Purge!"

A beam of concentrated light hits her. She flinches. The light passes through her, making her glass body glow. It turns cloudy. Brittle.

"Light refracts through glass", Kenuji realizes, watching from cover. "Haruka! Your power is super effective! Keep hitting her! Heat her up! Make her brittle!"

"Got it!" I channel more power. "Yoshi! When she turns cloudy, hit her! Hit her hard!"

I fire another blast. Glass raises a shield of shards, but the light passes right through it, heating her up from the inside. She screams, a high-pitched resonance that threatens to shatter the windows. Her perfect skin begins to crack.

"Now!" I yell.

Yoshi is there. He has torn a steel support beam from the ceiling. He swings it like a baseball bat.

"Home run!"

The beam connects with Glass's torso. Because she is brittle from my light, she doesn't bounce. She shatters.

CRACK.

A massive spiderweb fracture spreads across her chest. She stumbles back, looking down at herself in disbelief.

"Impossible", she gasps. "I am... perfection".

"You are just a window", Muji says, jumping up from the rubble. He is bleeding from his forehead, but he is smiling a bloody smile. "And I love breaking windows".

Muji and Yoshi attack together. Yoshi slams the ground, knocking Glass off balance. Muji spins, his claws glowing white-hot with friction.

"Twin Strike!"

Yoshi punches her left side with a stone fist. Muji slashes her right with silver claws.

Glass explodes.

She doesn't die like a human. She detonates into a million pieces of non-magical sand. Her consciousness fades instantly.

The storm of shards falls to the floor, harmless.

We stand there, breathing heavy. The office is destroyed. Papers flutter in the air. The smell of ozone is thick.

"Is it over?" Inoe asks, looking around.

"No", Kenuji says. He walks to the server machine-the soul harvester. "We still have to shut this down".

He types on the console. "It is encrypted. Magic encryption. I cannot hack it fast enough".

"Move", Yoshi says.

Yoshi grabs the machine with both hands. His muscles bulge. The veins in his neck pop.

"Geomancer Arts: Deconstruct".

He vibrates the metal at a molecular level. The machine groans. Sparks fly. Then, it crumbles. It falls apart into a pile of scrap metal and dust.

As the machine dies, the blue lights in the tubes are released. Hundreds of small orbs of light float up into the air. The trapped souls. They circle us once, a warm breeze brushing our faces, and then fade away, moving on to the afterlife.

"We did it", I whisper. "We freed them".

"We sent a message", Muji says, kicking a pile of sand that used to be Glass.

Suddenly, the intercom crackles to life.

"Impressive", Kuro's voice fills the room. It is smooth, cultured, and utterly lacking in fear. "Truly impressive. You broke my favorite administrator. She was expensive to make".

"Show yourself, coward!" Muji yells at the ceiling speaker.

"I am afraid I am not in the building", Kuro's voice laughs. "I am watching from a safe distance. But do not worry. You have passed the audition".

"Audition?" Yoshi growls.

"I needed to know if you were worthy", Kuro says. "Worthy of the main event. And you are. The Siblings are ready".

"Ready for what?" Kenuji demands.

"For the Eclipse", Kuro says. "Enjoy your victory, kitties. It will be your last".

The intercom clicks off.

The silence returns. But this time, it is not heavy. It is electric.

"The Eclipse", Kenuji repeats. "He is planning something massive. A ritual".

"Then we have to stop him", Yoshi says. He looks at us. We are cut, bruised, and exhausted. But our eyes are clear. "We are not running anymore. We are at war".

We leave the tower. We walk down the stairs-all fifty floors-because the elevator is definitely broken. We exit the shattered lobby into the cool night air.

Police sirens are wailing in the distance. They are coming for the alarm.

"We need to vanish", Inoe says.

We run into the park across the street. We transform back into cats. The world gets bigger, but we feel stronger.

We sit in the bushes, watching the police cars swarm the Titan Tower. They will find a destroyed lobby and a pile of sand on the 44th floor. They will have no explanation.

"We hurt him tonight", Muji says, licking a cut on his paw. "He lost a base. He lost a lieutenant".

"And we gained intel", Kenuji says. "I downloaded the data from the server before Yoshi smashed it. I have coordinates. I have a timeline".

"Good", I say. I look up at the moon, which is finally breaking through the clouds. "Let's go home. I need tuna. And a nap".

We trot home, five shadows under the streetlights. The city sleeps, unaware that a war for its soul is being fought in the dark. But we know. And we are ready.