A Conversation with Demons and Madmen

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, sitting calmly before Smiler with Reo and Hinata flanking him. A week earlier these two men had tried to kill each other. Yet they sat calmly, staring at each other as if their opposite held some great secret.

“Despite appearances, I’m not insane,” Smiler said, leaning forward, a dangerous and animalistic look in his eyes.

“Oh no, you’re totally normal,” Harry said sarcastically.

“I know. I see the same thought tumbling around in your brain. Why me? Why am I still here?” Smiler accused, his eyes roaming around Harry’s face, tracing each line, as if something about the man would crack and disappear at any moment.

“I know why I’m here,” Harry said, his voice calm and cold.

“Liar,” Smiler said, equally as calm.

“You wanna talk? Let’s talk,” Harry said. Reo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red containment stone. He placed it carefully on the table between Harry and Smiler. The yakuza criminal’s eyes widened a bit, as did his smile as he realized what was going to happen. Reo reached out his hand, his sword materializing from the air. A brief little laugh escaped from Smiler as he remembered the last time he saw an exorcist weapon materialize. It was when his head had been blasted off his neck with a stupid hammer.

Reo tapped the containment stone with the end of his weapon. Like all of their exorcist knowledge, he didn’t know how he knew to do this. It was simply planted into his brain a decade earlier. How to summon a weapon and containment stone. How to extract a demon from a host using one.

And how to talk with one contained within.

The stone crackled with energy, red arcs leaping from it as a bright flash exploded from it. All of them but Smiler shielded their eyes, and even if he could have brought his hands up to his face he wouldn’t have. He wanted to see him again.

When the light dimmed, they could see the figure hovering over the stone. He was around two feet tall, translucent, and wrapped in thick chains again. The wounds he had received the previous week disappeared upon containment. Demons were not their physical bodies, after all. They described themselves as living ideas, and this particular idea was highly pissed.

“Harry,” Fenrir growled, a sneer curling his lip as he looked upon the man who had fought back against him and won.

“Demon,” Harry said, not giving him the respect of using his name.

“Well, the gang’s all here. Who brought snacks?” Smiler asked, looking around excitedly. The looks he got from everyone, Fenrir included, could have shattered diamond.

“First question. Why are you in Japan?” Harry asked Fenrir.

“A favor,” the demon growled.

“Who do demons owe favors to?” Harry asked, leaning in.

“Madmen,” Fenrir replied. Reo and Hinata exchanged an incredibly nervous look while Harry continued to stare daggers into the contained demon.

“Right you are. Gouki forced all of the Seven to contract,” Smiler said, leaning back and grinning like he was talking to friends at a bar.

“Why? From what I know, he picked you because you hate demons,” Harry asked.

“Because clearly one apocalypse wasn’t enough for him,” Smiler said, doing his best to shrug and shake his head like he was a parent talking about a disobedient child. “As for the demon, Gouki said he contracted us with these foreign bastards BECAUSE we are so independent.”

“We demons do not know where we come from,” Fenrir said. “We simply exist, knowing. I know one thing. I am meant to end the world. And this…nervous, twitching man is supposed to help me do that.”

Harry closed his eyes, thinking about everything he already knew. From the six months he had previously spent in Japan, he knew the Kageyama family were a pack of degenerate psychopaths, thinking of themselves as warlords from a time gone by. The years post D Day when the world was trying to regain its grasp on civilization had been good for people like them. The law didn’t matter much when random people could transform into mythological beasts.

“Explain,” Harry demanded curtly.

“What do you humans want? To survive. You don’t even know why. When you suffer, you struggle instead of embracing death,” Fenrir said.

“Don’t I know it. Living is ridiculous,” Smiler said with an overly dramatic sigh, one born from a man who truly did not care whether he lived or died.

“Demons exist to kill,” Fenrir snarled, eyeing Hinata. “Even her.”

Hinata let out a soft, sad whimper. Reo grabbed her hand.

“Reiji’s diary promises something. Control,” Smiler said.

“Over what?” Harry asked. Fenrir and Smiler looked between each other, two entities which once shared the same body. They knew what each other knew, and they knew the exorcists weren’t ready for the truth.

“Death itself,” Fenrir said. “What you call D Day was a global attempt at killing humanity. The world is a body. We demons are the virus injected into the body. You exorcists are the body’s response. But I described the what. You want the why. The old man’s book is the why. When Gouki gets the book, it will all start again.”

“Genocide…” Smiler said, his eyes wandering between each of the three who had stopped him, savoring their reactions.

“…is inevitable,” Fenrir finished, his eyes mimicking Smiler’s exactly.

There was silence for several moments as the two exorcists and the demon they both loved absorbed the information. This was definitely no simple yakuza boss flexing his criminal muscles anymore.

Harry stood slowly, adjusting his flannel shirt with precision and care. He cracked his neck, savoring each individual pop, following it with his knuckles for good measure. Then he pointed one of his thick fingers at the two killers in front of him.

“Pure bullshit,” Harry said. Smiler started to laugh, leaning back in his chair while shaking with glee while Fenrir growled impotently. “You said I could change the world, right?”

“You beat Fenrir. The other Seven want the secrets of Reiji Kageyama. Secrets which could bring doomsday. Could you do this six more times? Even if I told you it was impossible, you’d still charge in with your hammer swinging. How entertaining,” Smiler said. Harry could imagine what he meant. Six more whack jobs after him, each with a different mystery demon from around the world. He had seen a Fenrir kill one of his friends before. He had barely survived his encounter with Smiler. The others of the Seven wouldn’t be caught flat footed again. The game had to be ended sooner rather than later. Whoever captured the other’s king first won. Gouki needed the book. Harry needed Gouki.

It was time for him to make his move.

“Thanks for chatting. I’ll tell Billy Williamson you said hi,” Harry said, waving as he turned to leave. Smiler’s eyes blew out in surprise.

“Billy? Did you get…” Smiler started to say. Harry shot him a look and walked away as Smiler howled in laughter, realizing what Harry had done. Hinata followed him out, and Reo lifted his sword from the containment stone causing Fenrir to vanish. Reo banished his katana and joined his friend and sister in the hallway, where Harry punched the elevator call button, a wicked grin of his own on his face. He didn’t give a damn about the stakes. Apocalypse or alley brawl, the mission was the same.

Get Gouki Kageyama.

“Thanks for confirming, Smiler,” Harry said. “Now let’s all go fishing.”