Blood on the Streets

Yami was having a fantastic time.

The life of a professional assassin, especially one possessed by a demon, was solitary and depressingly easy. Men like Gouki with too much money and too little soul hired him to erase a person from the planet. Since he now didn’t even need a gun and he could steal the breath from people’s mouths, a lot of the joy he felt in the job had evaporated.

Which was why he lived for fighting exorcists.

“Good slice, my friend! You’ve gotten better since the last time!” Yami taunted as he dodged to the side of Reo’s blade, grabbing Hinata’s clawed hand as she struck and tossing her into him.

“I’m not your friend, murderous filth!” Reo growled, catching Hinata before lunging at Yami again

“Murderous filth? Classic superhero dialogue. Oh Reo, has fame gone to your head? You think people cheering your name makes you a hero, asshole?” Yami asked, grabbing Reo by the throat. Reo took the moment to stab Yami in the side, but the bat demon barely flinched. “Saving people makes you a hero. And you suck at it. Your lady cop friend, your sister, your parents…”

Hinata barreled into Yami, knocking her brother loose as she grabbed onto him, her claws digging deep into him.

“Don’t bring me up unless you want to see how saved I am!” Hinata growled as Yami struggled to remove her.

“Fine then! Time for round two!” Yami said. His wings unfurled and he shot into the sky, Hinata still on his back.

Reo leapt up the side of the police building, his exorcist legs giving him the strength to scale it as fast as Yami could fly. He was lucky Hinata’s weight kept him from flying as fast as he could as it allowed him to reach the roof and make a desperate leap for the two. His fist crashed into Yami’s jaw, nearly dislocating it.

“Hinata does not fight alone, demon!” Reo screamed as the three of them began to fall.

“You’re insane!” Yami shouted back, feeling slightly impressed at Reo’s balls.

“And you’re a shock absorber! Hinata, bail!” Reo commanded. Hinata let go of Yami as Reo positioned himself to put maximum weight on the demon’s chest when they landed. They slammed into the pavement, cracking it with a sickening crash as blood shot from Yami’s mouth. Reo rolled off of the demon, the shock making his own bones ache.

“Well…ow,” Yami grunted, sitting up. “But unfortunately for you, demons recover quicker than exorcists.” The bat demon moved to a shaky knee, ready to claw the face off of the still partially incapacitated Reo. He was interrupted by a flash of fur and fury tackling him back to the ground.

“It’s a good thing his sister is a demon then!” Hinata growled as she slashed at his face.

“You okay, Reo?” Takeshi hollered as he pushed back against the massive hand of an oni which was trying to crush his head.

“Fantastic. Here, let me give you a hand while my legs become solid again,” Reo said, taking his gun out and aiming it at the oni’s face. Three shots rang out and the demon bellowed in pain as its eyes were taken out. The hand Takeshi had been pushing flew to its face, cradling it.

“Thanks! Sure am glad one of us carries a gun!” Takeshi said. Reo twirled it briefly before putting it back in its holster.

“Many Kamen Riders carry guns, and the heroes of Super Sentai…” Reo started to explain.

“Reo! Nerd out later!” Hinata scolded him as her fist cracked against Yami’s jaw.

“Excuse me,” Reo said, nodding politely to Takeshi before he ran to Hinata’s side. He passed Gaku keeping arms length from a trio of shinigami.

“Kill yourself…embrace death…” the whisper quiet death demon beckoned to Gaku. His response was a swift bo staff to the chin.

“No thanks, buddy!” Gaku said, twirling his staff and whacking all three in the head.

“Savage!” Takeshi said as he pummeled the oni’s belly, sending a fiery final blow through the demon, leaving a fist sized hole in him.

“Good…hit…” the oni grunted as it fell face first onto the pavement. Takeshi pulled out a containment stone, quickly moving to capture the demon.

“Where’s the girls?” Takeshi asked as he and Gaku took care of their recently downed demons. They heard a shriek of surprise as they saw Mizuki carried through the air, her whip caught by a tengu.

“Put me down you jerk!” Mizuki screeched, her legs kicking in the air. Mayumi was quick on her heels, firing an arrow into the tengu, forcing it to release its grip on the whip. Mizuki took her opportunity, lashing the whip around the demon’s neck and twirling it in the sky as she fell before slamming it into the pavement.

“Don’t pretend you planned the twirling thing,” Mayumi said cynically as she helped Mizuki up.

“They’re doing…fine?” Gaku said hesitantly. He had no more time to think about them, however, as a rampaging ushi-oni charged at them, its bull head bellowing and its spider legs skittering.

“Yeah, but we aren’t!” Takeshi said, punching the ushi-oni square in the face, stopping its charge dead.

High above the fray, watching like cruel gargoyles from atop their rooftop perches, the remaining six of Gouki’s Seven observed the bullets flying and the demons tearing into the exorcists. Thinker stood with his hands behind his back, a neutral, cautious look on his face.

“Why aren’t we fighting?” Breaker asked, itching to get down into the brawl.

Thinker didn’t move. He simply observed the fight between Harry and Gouki, their fists beating into the others flesh, Gouki holding up surprisingly well against the superhuman exorcist.

“Thinker…” Traveler started to say.

“We wait. We watch,” Thinker said, barely moving as he spoke, his voice calm and restrained.

“Odds are a change is brewing in the wind,” Gambler said, a smile creasing his fat face.

Down below, Gouki grabbed Harry by the hair and savagely introduced his face to his knee. “Why so weak, Harry? Where’s those fancy exorcist abilities?” Gouki taunted. Harry charged into Gouki, slamming him into a wall and beginning to pummel his face.

“Don’t need them for you!” Harry said.

“Don’t need them? Or don’t have them, Harry?” Gouki said, kicking Harry away. He suddenly had the look of a shark who had caught his prey. “Pull out your hammer.”

Harry had a sinking feeling deep in the pit of his gut. He raised his hand and nothing happened. Gouki laughed as Harry looked at his hand, stunned, then pulled out an object which Harry instantly recognized.

“I don’t know what this is,” Gouki said, holding the stone disk with the seven lines connecting at the center. The lines all glowed with a blood red light. “Grandfather left it for me. He said it was part of my legacy. All I know is, it kills demon powers.”

Gouki rushed Harry again, a heavy fist smashing his jaw before he could react.

“And grandfather told me it could make exorcists mortal again!” Gouki said triumphantly. “Didn’t you notice all my men giving us some alone time when the fighting stared?!” A kick hit Harry’s gut, knocking the wind from him. Gouki knelt, grabbing Harry’s face. “You and me! Men! No powers! No demons! No bullshit! To the finish!”

Harry delivered a fierce headbutt to Gouki’s forehead, forcing him back. Harry stood, wiping blood from his lip. He stuck his hand out, urging Gouki forward.

A criminal. A detective. A brawl. No powers. No bullshit.

This was his dream.

“Sounds fun,” Harry said, and he charged back into battle.