Horrors Produce the Heroes

“I friggin’ hate these Japanese demons, Reo!” Harry shouted, dodging a fist the size of a manhole cover as it slammed into the pavement. His hand gripped his hammer tightly, the other wiping sweat from his eyes as he stared into the three eyes of the two story tall red giant with lightning arcing between its horns. An oni, he had learned. American demons had given him enough trouble the past two years. Bigfoot with burly figures and geomancy powers, Jersey devils with claws and donkey heads, flying around and breathing fire. Chupacabras with whip like tongues. It was why he decided to go on his world tour to learn about the various other types of demons unleashed on the world. But standing before three massive oni had convinced him he might have made a huge mistake.

Gunshots rang out as Reo Kurosawa, the business suit wearing exorcist he had befriended the week prior, aimed for the head of one of the oni, the bullets deflecting off of its hand. Snarling, the oni unleashed a massive bolt of electricity from its horns, searing the ground between Harry and Reo as they leapt away with split second timing.

“Aim for the third eye! It brings them down faster!” Reo shouted as he adjusted his glasses, his Japanese translating to English as it came to him. Thank the god of subtitles for exorcist perks, Harry thought.

“Shooting eyes always works, dumb bastard!” Harry shouted back. Shoot the bad guys in the eye. Great strategy, he thought bitterly. Why not tell me to kill them until they’re dead next?

“Harry, if all you have is criticism…” Reo said as he dodged a thrown car, flipping through the air like an ancient ninja.

“Hell no, Reo! I’ve got a big ass magic weapon too!” Harry said, his trusty hammer raised, two years into his ownership of it and already feeling like it was an old friend. He ran towards the nearest oni, hammer gripped tight in his two meaty hands, swinging as he lunged at the monster. It connected with a sharp crack, the oni’s bellow of pain rippling through the canyons of Tokyo's buildings. “I’ll go for the shins…”

“…and I’ll go for the eye!” Reo called out, starting his run as the oni fell to its knees, the other two oni blasting the pavement with lightning as they tried to end Reo’s charge. He held his hand out, an ornate katana materializing from nowhere, and he spun through the air. The katana buried itself into the downed oni’s third eye with a wet plunge before Reo swiftly pulled it back out, leaping off the oni’s chest and landing before it. The beast pitched forward, nearly crushing them both as he fell.

“Great strategy, so long as the big bastard doesn’t crush us after falling!” Harry complained. He barely had time to recover from his dodge when more lightning streaked after him. “Crap! Why do Japanese ogres shoot lightning anyways?!”

“It’s not my fault American demons are boring, Harry,” Reo said, shooting again at the oni, distracting them enough to give them a moment to duck into separate alleys across the street from each other. Harry felt a strange sense of insult as Reo said those words, his American pride bubbling up. He emerged from the alley quickly, throwing his hammer directly into the second oni’s gut while Reo emerged and went after the third, slicing its ankles before stabbing it in the throat. As Harry’s doubled over, he cracked his knuckles and delivered an uppercut right to the oni’s jaw, sending it careening backwards, unconscious. He spit at the oni’s feet as he picked up his hammer. A blow for America and our boring ass demons, he thought, his national pride slightly recovered.

As the dust settled around the scene of the fight, they went through the normal procedure which they had gotten so used to since the demons invaded their world. Reo stripped the oni from the men possessed by them, the containment stone struggling due to the immense size of them. Harry, meanwhile, threw some coins into a vending machine for a couple of sodas, grumbling as he could still barely remember which Japanese coin meant what. As he walked over to Reo he saw a tipped over takoyaki cart. Shrugging, he grabbed some food, his stomach rumbling.

As the police arrived, the area finally cleared of demons, Harry hauled the previously possessed men up, keeping them in line as they were cuffed and processed, his burly frame intimidating the formerly monstrous criminals. Out of the corner of his eye Harry caught Reo leaving money at the takoyaki stand. A slight grin crept up on Harry’s lips. Friggin’ uptight noble asshole, Harry thought.

“Are we insane?” Harry asked as he and Reo leaned back against a bench about fifteen minutes later. His eyes scanned the Tokyo skyline, buildings nearly repaired after two years of clawing back civilization, lights coming on as dusk fell. It was a city coming back to life, a concept he found ironic.

“What makes you ask, Harry?” Reo asked calmly as he ate his takoyaki.

“Well let's see…” Harry said. “I used the magic hammer I got from a god after dying to beat the hell out of a demon after which we yanked it out of some guy.”

Reo looked down for a moment, the sun reflecting in his glasses. Then he let out a small laugh, far more jovial than Harry was used to from the former salary man. “Insane?” Reo asked. Harry arched an eyebrow, leaning forward, curious as to what his friend was thinking. “No. Happy.”

Harry laughed, big booming guffaws which seemed out of place in Tokyo. “Happy? I know you were miserable as a salary man, but happy?” Harry asked. Over the past week, since setting foot in Japan with no plan whatsoever and running across Reo taking care of a group of demon possessed street punks, Harry had gotten to know a bit about the former office worker turned monster slayer. Low wages, a daily grind which felt like torture, going back to his cubicle hell daily to care for his family, losing all of it as well as his life on D Day. Then the voice. The message. The offer. The same one Harry had received when he had died at the hands of the demons.

Reo stood slowly, walking a few feet into the street, the lights starting to come on. He turned quickly, dramatically, his glasses kept in place with one hand. He made several poses, each one flowing into the other, as if presenting himself before a monstrous opponent. “I am…a harbinger of justice!” Reo called out, striking his finishing pose.

The two men looked at each other for several long moments. Harry could practically see the costume around him, a tokusatsu hero, bright and loud and ridiculous, fighting otherworldly creatures weekly with his magic weapon. Hell, if Harry squinted hard enough, he could see the little boy Reo once was, living out his dream through the nightmare the world had become. It suddenly struck him how young they both were. Not even twenty five, Harry thought. Then he burst out laughing again, long and loud and freeing.

“Hero, huh?” Harry said, getting up and stretching. Then he made a similar pose as Reo, his big body not bending the same. “Like this? Yeah, I can understand it. I was thinking of myself as a cop. But maybe being a dead guy means becoming something more…amazing.”

Harry stuck out his hand, enveloping Reo’s smaller one in a meaty handshake which shook the man so hard he had to readjust his glasses. Only a week, and being around him felt…good. Like having a friend again. Yeah, Harry thought. This could work. This could chase the emptiness away. At least for a little while.