[Bleachitp:Reborn] Mortal World IV

[KnightDisciple]

"He's making a move again."

Though he didn't live particularly close to the part of town the disturbance was in, Reiji did have a couple of Pluses monitoring radio frequencies around the clock. Some delicate situations required his interference, however subtle, to turn out for the best.

The element of madness to the white-suited nemesis' method made it difficult to guess where he'd be striking next.

Nemesis...?

Had he already started thinking of it like that?

Regardless, there was work to be done and a maniac to maim. Reiji did have to take some extra precautions so the SWORD agents watching his home did not associate his disappearance with the appearance of the Ghost Mask. But he'd prepared this contingency long before, and he knew he'd end up using it eventually.

It was time to hunt.

And what a hunt it would be! It seemed that Cackling Oni had at least somewhat anticipated Ghost Mask. For you see, when the vigilante arrived near the scene, he would catch hint of a small spiritual beacon putting out a weak Morse Code. His spiritual aides may or may not have noticed it. However, it was weak enough, in a city this crowded with spiritual energy, that it was highly doubtful any Hollows, Shinigami, or other such factions would really register the feeling.

When he arrived, he'd find it was a kludged together machine that shorted out almost as soon as he touched it. Under it was a metal box. Inside that box was a simple note.

Hey there, Ghost Mask old buddy! You've been lazy lately, so I'm shaking things up! By now you should know I caused some property damage, killed a few Yakuza thugs, one or more of their "bosses", and hopefully made the rest my minions!
Have I mentioned I love having minions? Also, I like pie, but that's not important right now.
What is important is the fact that this is just the beginning! I'm gonna shake this town down for loose change, and make my mark on the world! Maybe you can help? There are oh so many wonderful innocent bystanders around. Maybe you could sacrifice one or two to stop me?

Ghost Mask could almost hear the insane criminal's laughter...

[Kuroimaken]

Well, for one thing, Byakusai (what? There are like three different ways to read the kanji for 'white' alone, you know) didn't touch it directly, that'd be idiotic. What he DID have to do was control himself not to grind his teeth. He had to remain calm. If he did, he'd win. And if he didn't, they were all doomed anyway.

At this point, however, Cackling Oni would be just about to receive a call. Or rather, a few dozen calls. He'd find that several of his minions were being phoned by the Ghost Mask.

How or why it happened didn't matter. One of those phones would eventually make its way to its intended target's hands.

"It comes to mind I don't really know your name. I know next to nothing about you, except for the fact you're insane and fierce enough to strong-arm a number of lowlives into working for you.

Fortunately for you, they don't know how expendable they are yet.

But I've been making it a point lately to show them.

I'm not a hero. And you're not a man. We're both monsters in our own right.

May the best monster live."

Click.

Boom.

Cackling Oni would soon receive reports of how several of his comandeered hideouts had been attacked, seemingly in rapid succession. Lots of injuries, some dead. All arrested.

And they all had a single message: "Loyalty only pays the best bidder."

[KnightDisciple]

Well, for one thing, Byakusai (what? There are like three different ways to read the kanji for 'white' alone, you know) didn't touch it directly, that'd be idiotic. What he DID have to do was control himself not to grind his teeth. He had to remain calm. If he did, he'd win. And if he didn't, they were all doomed anyway.

At this point, however, Cackling Oni would be just about to receive a call. Or rather, a few dozen calls. He'd find that several of his minions were being phoned by the Ghost Mask.

How or why it happened didn't matter. One of those phones would eventually make its way to its intended target's hands.

"It comes to mind I don't really know your name. I know next to nothing about you, except for the fact you're insane and fierce enough to strong-arm a number of lowlives into working for you.

Fortunately for you, they don't know how expendable they are yet.

But I've been making it a point lately to show them.

I'm not a hero. And you're not a man. We're both monsters in our own right.

May the best monster live."

Click.

Boom.

Cackling Oni would soon receive reports of how several of his comandeered hideouts had been attacked, seemingly in rapid succession. Lots of injuries, some dead. All arrested.

And they all had a single message: "Loyalty only pays the best bidder."

Instead of being unnerved when he found that Byakusai was suddenly simultaneously calling several of his "workers", he was ecstatic.

"Ohohoho! He really does want to play! Gimme the phone, gimme gimme!"

He listens, barely able to contain his amusement and glee as Byakusai gave his grim pronouncement. Just before the other man hung up, he spoke up, chuckling in the back of his throat, his voice displaying an odd echo-like quality.

"My dear boy, my name is Cackling Oni! That's the only one that matters, though you can just call me Oni! Hehehe!"

After the phone was hung up, the madman had himself a belly-shaking laugh. At this point, only his most trusted retainers were still in the room, and they had long learned to ignore it.

Of course, his beautiful secretary nervously brought the report to him later. The one showing his sudden and rather shocking losses. But instead of shouting in anger (something he'd only done a few times), Oni shrugged and tossed the report on his expensive, finely-carved desk. He turned his luxurious chair around and stood, walking over to the window to look out over the city.

"It's expected, Ms. Li. Byakusai is one of those fuddie-duddies who doesn't like giving wedgies to society. He likes things his way. Ordered. Precise. Well, we ought to tweak his nose a bit, don't you think?"

His assistant only nodded.

"Start setting up secure fallback positions for our new...partners in crime. Them, and any family and friends they wish to protect. Give their boys some slightly nicer toys to play with, but be discreet. Oh, and see about double-checking the screens around the building. Wouldn't want any pests getting in..."

Indeed, Byakusai's ears on the ground would get word that most of the surviving Yakuza men and women who hadn't been hit in his lightning raid were retreating to fortified safe houses alongside their families. They were preparing for war.

Of course, that meant the police were in panic mode, trying to keep that information from leaking out. In the span of just a couple of days, Cackling Oni was poised to launch a new reign of mortal chaos upon this city.

While gods and devils fought for the souls of mortals, monsters of chaos and order were preparing to clash...

[Sucrose]

"No, mom... I really did just sort of come by him while I was walking." Walking. Not running away in tears. "I was wary but I just called the ambulance, it was the least I could do, and I figured they might want to ask me some questions..." She doesn't mention that she healed him a little either, that'd be silly. And a little alarming to the paramedics.

"...See you there, then?"

"Of course, Vally; I'll be there in a few minutes. Take care!"

With that, Claudia turns off her cell phone, and turns off the oven, before heading out to the Abel family car.

[Kuroimaken]

Instead of being unnerved when he found that Byakusai was suddenly simultaneously calling several of his "workers", he was ecstatic.

"Ohohoho! He really does want to play! Gimme the phone, gimme gimme!"

He listens, barely able to contain his amusement and glee as Byakusai gave his grim pronouncement. Just before the other man hung up, he spoke up, chuckling in the back of his throat, his voice displaying an odd echo-like quality.

"My dear boy, my name is Cackling Oni! That's the only one that matters, though you can just call me Oni! Hehehe!"

After the phone was hung up, the madman had himself a belly-shaking laugh. At this point, only his most trusted retainers were still in the room, and they had long learned to ignore it.

Of course, his beautiful secretary nervously brought the report to him later. The one showing his sudden and rather shocking losses. But instead of shouting in anger (something he'd only done a few times), Oni shrugged and tossed the report on his expensive, finely-carved desk. He turned his luxurious chair around and stood, walking over to the window to look out over the city.

"It's expected, Ms. Li. Byakusai is one of those fuddie-duddies who doesn't like giving wedgies to society. He likes things his way. Ordered. Precise. Well, we ought to tweak his nose a bit, don't you think?"

His assistant only nodded.

"Start setting up secure fallback positions for our new...partners in crime. Them, and any family and friends they wish to protect. Give their boys some slightly nicer toys to play with, but be discreet. Oh, and see about double-checking the screens around the building. Wouldn't want any pests getting in..."

Indeed, Byakusai's ears on the ground would get word that most of the surviving Yakuza men and women who hadn't been hit in his lightning raid were retreating to fortified safe houses alongside their families. They were preparing for war.

Of course, that meant the police were in panic mode, trying to keep that information from leaking out. In the span of just a couple of days, Cackling Oni was poised to launch a new reign of mortal chaos upon this city.

While gods and devils fought for the souls of mortals, monsters of chaos and order were preparing to clash...

Fortunately for Byakusai, he already expected that move.

A secondary report comes in. Turns out a number of his new associates were caught while going to the fortified safehouses. It is by no means the full extent of his range of operations - but there's still enough of them caught that the thought of how, exactly, he learned of those particular locations comes to mind.

This time, Oni gets an SMS.

"Thanks for telling your men to run to the hills, by the way. It made them so much easier to catch."

[KnightDisciple]

Fortunately for Byakusai, he already expected that move.

A secondary report comes in. Turns out a number of his new associates were caught while going to the fortified safehouses. It is by no means the full extent of his range of operations - but there's still enough of them caught that the thought of how, exactly, he learned of those particular locations comes to mind.

This time, Oni gets an SMS.

While the first action provided grim amusement, this time Oni was visibly irritated. Enough that he actually crushed the phone used to deliver the SMS (not like they couldn't replace it). He turned to his personal assistant, the leader of his "muscle", and the leader of his "spooks". He pointed to his spymaster.

"Find out how he knows so much so quickly. If, and I stress the word if, it's someone in our group, make our displeasure known. If it's not, make sure to take steps to retain loyalty. I approve up to a 4% salary increase."

Considering he paid his men quite handsomely, that was no small thing. Of course, they were secretly draining a fair amount of the funds of his new "partners", so it wasn't as much of an issue as it may have seemed. Still, he had uses for them, and so couldn't bleed them dry. A slight chill ran down his back.

"Reinforce the security on our accounts and our business cohorts. He might have a way to physically track us, but I'll be damned if he takes our money. I'd rather we could jump ship, if it came to that."

He started pacing his office, clearly in thinking mode. He distractedly waved everyone away.

"Need time to plan. Come back in an hour."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"-eryone understand their parts in this?"

Everyone nodded. Oni had a knack for oddball plans that somehow managed to work, so they had no complaints about going along with him this time. And the Oni Cackled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the next day, and if Byakusai was keeping his ear to the ground at all, he and his spies would catch wind that Cackling Oni himself was supposed to be visiting one of the smaller Yakuza bosses that was left. The man had made it to his safe house, but only by sheer luck and by being comparatively too "small time" to warrant police forces (if they'd known where he was).

Still, it seemed all too easy. But then, what gain was there without risk in the world of a masked vigilante?

[Kuroimaken]

And Byakusai knew of it.

He had, in fact, made it a point of getting things to progress this way. Byakusai's advantage lay in the fact he knew a lot more about Cackling Oni's forced-into-association 'business partners' than he himself did. He'd gathered intelligence over months, even years of fighting them back to ensure every last one of them would have been properly corralled and arrested or executed. The intelligence-gathering process in question couldn't have been more simple when he had Pluses at his disposal to put their ears to the ground - spies that regular humans couldn't see or hear, that could phase through walls and relay information through channels no exceedingly specialized machinery in the world could intercept.

The difficulty, then, lied with the fact that his so-called nemesis now had a number of resources at his disposal, and significantly more manpower, whereas Byakusai was only one.

So what was he to do?

First, he needed to reduce the numerical advantage. He'd coordinated an operation over the last week or so with the Chief of Police (who was conveniently staying at his home) in his civillian guise to ensure the cops would be ready to move when the time came. They'd play mostly mop-up, only occasionally meeting actual resistance, but the chief didn't know that.

So the day the operation was set to go down, Byakusai made the first move. Cackling Oni reacted as expected; as mad as he could be, he was still rational and still made the most logical decisions. Unfortunately, since he couldn't coordinate their efforts, part of the Oni's gang inevitably got away. But now he had them on the defensive. He knew the Oni would set a trap of some sort to catch him at this point.

So all he had to do now was get into the belly of the beast.

But first, surveillance.

[Terry576]

" . . . "

There's a heavy pause, accompanied by palpable sense of someone plotting violent and messy murder. Where ever Hasunaga is at the moment, he might suddenly feel like someone is glaring daggers at his back.

"... okay, so stay away from him as well. But don't go around with strange Hollows! And keep your friend away from them too if you can. I'll see about having Silva teach you a couple of tricks to stay undetected if you really feel you need them."

"I suggest you stick to Izumi for now. Is there anything else you'd like to share?"

Sora hesitates. He couldn't leave well enough alone, not now. He had to apologize to Valeria for what he had done.

"...Okay. M'fine, nothing else I need to say."

He hangs up, and just rests his head against the wall for a while.

[Frozen_Feet]

"Good by-", Yui starts, but Sora ends the call before she gets through. Back in her hotel room, she frowns, putting the phone away.

The boy revealed a lot of interesting things to her - more than he probably understood, and more than he'd likely told her if he did.

Sora has more than one friend with preternatural abilities, his paranoid teacher is teaching them, Hollows from beyond have taken interest in them and Yui's foolish protégé, and there's another living person with a Hollow's mask somewhere in Fushichou Town. Sounds awfully much like that boy from before...

She'll have her hand full for sure, once she gets back. But there's no need to rush - it seems Sora's very trusting of her, fortunately. She could pry into things through him first without needing to take any overt action herself. So many possibilities...

[KnightDisciple]

And Byakusai knew of it.

He had, in fact, made it a point of getting things to progress this way. Byakusai's advantage lay in the fact he knew a lot more about Cackling Oni's forced-into-association 'business partners' than he himself did. He'd gathered intelligence over months, even years of fighting them back to ensure every last one of them would have been properly corralled and arrested or executed. The intelligence-gathering process in question couldn't have been more simple when he had Pluses at his disposal to put their ears to the ground - spies that regular humans couldn't see or hear, that could phase through walls and relay information through channels no exceedingly specialized machinery in the world could intercept.

The difficulty, then, lied with the fact that his so-called nemesis now had a number of resources at his disposal, and significantly more manpower, whereas Byakusai was only one.

So what was he to do?

First, he needed to reduce the numerical advantage. He'd coordinated an operation over the last week or so with the Chief of Police (who was conveniently staying at his home) in his civillian guise to ensure the cops would be ready to move when the time came. They'd play mostly mop-up, only occasionally meeting actual resistance, but the chief didn't know that.

So the day the operation was set to go down, Byakusai made the first move. Cackling Oni reacted as expected; as mad as he could be, he was still rational and still made the most logical decisions. Unfortunately, since he couldn't coordinate their efforts, part of the Oni's gang inevitably got away. But now he had them on the defensive. He knew the Oni would set a trap of some sort to catch him at this point.

So all he had to do now was get into the belly of the beast.

But first, surveillance.

Oh, it was definitely the belly of the beast. This particular hideout was in a fairly seedy part of town; Byakusai could see and hear a fair number of shady things going on with ease. But his focus was on the building in front of him. It was fairly small and unassuming, a not-quite-ugly block of a building with only 3 ways in or out, what seemed to be reinforced walls, and...

Was that a neon sign that had just activated? It was!

Hey! Byakusai! Buddy! Glad you could come! Now look behind you!

That he had 360 degree vision didn't really matter. It was easy for him to tell there was no one on the rooftop. Except...was that a whistling in the air?

If he looked further away, he'd see a freaking rocket Flying at him. On a rooftop about a city block away was Cackling Oni, holding the now-empty rocket launcher and waving like a fool at Byakusai.

Surely he didn't expect that to work? Then again, it's not like the battered warehouse Byakusai was using to observe was all that steady...

Spoiler

Show

OOC: Let me know if it's too much at once, Kuroi.

[strawberryman]

Henry stirs slightly and mumbles something utterly incoherent. It would seem that Henry is tougher than he looks. Or he's very good at being a plant. He makes another movement, a bit more sudden this time. The paramedics (and Valeria) would notice that he seemed to have quite a bit of residual electrical charge in him - as if he had been very thoroughly electrocuted.

Valeria frowns... this almost seemed like some kind of hollow attack. But of course, she couldn't really be sure.

But she keeps her fears to herself all the way to the hospital, only answering what she can from the doctors and nurses that rush him through the ER. After reaching the point where she could no longer follow, she finds her way back to the waiting room to wait for her mother.

...Guess she could visit the poor fellow when he's okay...

[Kuroimaken]

Oh, it was definitely the belly of the beast. This particular hideout was in a fairly seedy part of town; Byakusai could see and hear a fair number of shady things going on with ease. But his focus was on the building in front of him. It was fairly small and unassuming, a not-quite-ugly block of a building with only 3 ways in or out, what seemed to be reinforced walls, and...

Was that a neon sign that had just activated? It was!

Hey! Byakusai! Buddy! Glad you could come! Now look behind you!

That he had 360 degree vision didn't really matter. It was easy for him to tell there was no one on the rooftop. Except...was that a whistling in the air?

If he looked further away, he'd see a freaking rocket Flying at him. On a rooftop about a city block away was Cackling Oni, holding the now-empty rocket launcher and waving like a fool at Byakusai.

Surely he didn't expect that to work? Then again, it's not like the battered warehouse Byakusai was using to observe was all that steady...

Spoiler

Show

OOC: Let me know if it's too much at once, Kuroi.

Surprise. Misdirection. Expectations. Three elements of a successful attack Byakusai knew to look out for, especially given how he'd been ambushed before.

His enemy isn't stupid. Like Byakusai himself, he has spiritual powers and he knows, to a point, that the vigilante is, at the least, difficult to surprise. But this isn't the first time someone tries to sucker-punch the Ghost's Mask with an RPG. The tactics are sound, but unfortunately, there's no such thing as a silent anti-bunker weapon.

The device detonates apparently right on target, and the warehouse crumbles beneath the pressure of the explosion. The wreckage makes it impossible to determine if anything's alive in there. Byakusai's spiritual pressure can still be felt, but that doesn't amount to anything besides telling the Oni it's where he is.

[Steilos]

Valeria frowns... this almost seemed like some kind of hollow attack. But of course, she couldn't really be sure.

But she keeps her fears to herself all the way to the hospital, only answering what she can from the doctors and nurses that rush him through the ER. After reaching the point where she could no longer follow, she finds her way back to the waiting room to wait for her mother.

...Guess she could visit the poor fellow when he's okay...

And so, Henry, our rather unlikl - frankly impossible hero, is whisked into the ER ward, where tests are done, more to check how totally and utterly dead Henry is than anything else. It is clear to the doctors that the man lying on the table in front of them has been massively electorcuted (actually hit by about four? lightning strikes of severe intensity). Frankly, he's lucky to exist, let alone be alive.

And yet, there he was, quite alive, although admittedly if he was concsious he probably would be wishing he wasn't. What's more, he was not actually in that much danger of death, vital signs fairly stable and blood loss minimal due to thorough cauterisation. And that was without factoring in healing very slightly even as the doctors watch - although this wasn't actually his doing, it was Valeria's.

An incredibly confused and astonished doctor trails his feet in and explains all this haltingly to Valeria.

[KnightDisciple]

Surprise. Misdirection. Expectations. Three elements of a successful attack Byakusai knew to look out for, especially given how he'd been ambushed before.

His enemy isn't stupid. Like Byakusai himself, he has spiritual powers and he knows, to a point, that the vigilante is, at the least, difficult to surprise. But this isn't the first time someone tries to sucker-punch the Ghost's Mask with an RPG. The tactics are sound, but unfortunately, there's no such thing as a silent anti-bunker weapon.

The device detonates apparently right on target, and the warehouse crumbles beneath the pressure of the explosion. The wreckage makes it impossible to determine if anything's alive in there. Byakusai's spiritual pressure can still be felt, but that doesn't amount to anything besides telling the Oni it's where he is.

Of course, Cackling Oni had seen Byakusai at work, and had heard reports of his ability. He didn't really expect the rocket to do the vigilante in. But between having a love of explosions, an extra rocket launcher lying around, a desire to further test Byakusai's abilities, and a distaste for that random warehouse's drapes, he didn't mind that the rocket didn't finish his opponent.

'I mean, really. Who uses purple drapes that thick in a warehouse anymore? It's so...70's!'

Humming a tune, he casually took the expended launcher and tucked it into a pocket on the inside of his jacket, before pulling out a sub-machine gun and a white kama, the gun going in his right hand while the blade went in his left.

"Heehee. Time to dig him out!"

And in a burst of odd noise, he was standing on top of a large chunk of rubble, poking around with his bladed weapon, whistling tunelessly as he went.

[Kuroimaken]

It was a curious thing, however. Why did the vigilante even let the rocket blow up where he was standing in the first place? Surely he'd already demonstrated on their previous encounter that projectile weaponry was of limited use against him.

And of course, his opponent wasn't stupid. He knew full well just what kind of enemy he was up against. So it's not as if he could forge his own death. So what was his angle?

For now, the poking and prodding had proven fruitless, and the Reiatsu signature had proven so diffused that pinpointing where he was under the rubble would be next to impossible.

Wait, diffused?

Right about then, Cackling Oni might feel the floor under him crack and crumble with surprising celerity. His ability to sense Reiatsu may well be the only thing that warns him of the sudden stabbing spikes reaching out from the floor, and even then, without sure footing to dodge, it may be difficult to get away. They don't reach too high, however - if the Oni is particularly unlucky, he might only get, well, a sudden feeling of pain in the crotch. His legs would be a different story though.

[KnightDisciple]

It was a curious thing, however. Why did the vigilante even let the rocket blow up where he was standing in the first place? Surely he'd already demonstrated on their previous encounter that projectile weaponry was of limited use against him.

And of course, his opponent wasn't stupid. He knew full well just what kind of enemy he was up against. So it's not as if he could forge his own death. So what was his angle?

For now, the poking and prodding had proven fruitless, and the Reiatsu signature had proven so diffused that pinpointing where he was under the rubble would be next to impossible.

Wait, diffused?

Right about then, Cackling Oni might feel the floor under him crack and crumble with surprising celerity. His ability to sense Reiatsu may well be the only thing that warns him of the sudden stabbing spikes reaching out from the floor, and even then, without sure footing to dodge, it may be difficult to get away. They don't reach too high, however - if the Oni is particularly unlucky, he might only get, well, a sudden feeling of pain in the crotch. His legs would be a different story though.

It was a bit puzzling, that sense of diffusion. Almost as if it were...

"A trap? How clever!"

He was already pushing off the ground as the spikes erupted. A couple of them still scratched along his legs. Oddly, it drew no blood, instead simply tearing at the combat-rated fabric somewhat. The maniac himself twirled through the air in a blatantly superhuman leap, his current landing zone near one edge of the field of spikes. But he was about to land on the spikes, and that would surely...

Let him stand tip-toe on top of one of them? But only for a moment; he acted like it was a springboard, and launched himself at the building next to it. Where he promptly stopped and stood on the wall, as if he were on the ground, and not utterly defying gravity.

"But where's my pal? Where are you, Byakusai? Come out come out wherever you are...."

[Kuroimaken]

The Oni can see now, from his vantage point, that the pattern of the spikes resembles a skull.

What's more, its orbital cavities suddenly narrow, almost as if it were grinning maliciously in the maniac's direction.

Oh hey, is that an invisible lance hurtling down towards Cackling Oni, then splitting into multiple smaller lances in an attempt to impale as much of him as they can? It sure seems like it.

[KnightDisciple]

The Oni can see now, from his vantage point, that the pattern of the spikes resembles a skull.

What's more, its orbital cavities suddenly narrow, almost as if it were grinning maliciously in the maniac's direction.

Oh hey, is that an invisible lance hurtling down towards Cackling Oni, then splitting into multiple smaller lances in an attempt to impale as much of him as they can? It sure seems like it.

The masked man lives up to his name and simply laughs at the skull's terrible grin.

"You DO have a sense of humor! Wonderful! We just need to develop it a bit more! But first..."

The kama in his hand gains a faint glow, and he skitters up the wall (there is no better word for it), avoiding most of the lances. Most of the rest are somehow deflected, a tiny flash of light going off as the kama bats them away.

One destroys the small gun in his other hand, and another pins the sleeve of that arm to the wall. Oni looks at it and tilts his head.

"Huh. These are expensive jackets, you know."

Then he pulls, and the sleeve tears enough that he's free once more.

"Good tactics, though!"

[Kuroimaken]

Good tactics indeed, because they're not over.

Byakusai seems to know better by now than to avoid pinpoint attacks. His opponent can sense where they're coming from and he's fast enough to avoid them. As such, the next one is blanket-like. The sky above Oni's head seems to grow dark, as if he were in the shade, as a veritable wave of darkness covered in spikes rolls towards him. It's quite large - at least as large as the wall he seems to be skittering along.

[KnightDisciple]

Good tactics indeed, because they're not over.

Byakusai seems to know better by now than to avoid pinpoint attacks. His opponent can sense where they're coming from and he's fast enough to avoid them. As such, the next one is blanket-like. The sky above Oni's head seems to grow dark, as if he were in the shade, as a veritable wave of darkness covered in spikes rolls towards him. It's quite large - at least as large as the wall he seems to be skittering along.

Oni looks up and gives an appreciative whistle.

"Not bad. Bit obvious, though."

There's a strange sound in the air, for just a brief moment, and suddenly Oni is standing in front of the supposed safehouse, slowly twirling the now-unlatched chain on his weapon. He's whistling a jaunty tune as he apparently waits for Byakusai to make his next move.

[Kuroimaken]

And of course, the next move is a very lifelike Byakusai springing up from behind Oni and attempting to slash at him with that peculiar-looking sword of dark light of his.

Oni wouldn't need great perception to tell that wasn't the real opponent, and the attack from behind is more than a little obvious, but that doesn't mean he can just ignore it and hope it goes away, even if he makes little effort to defend himself.

[KnightDisciple]

And of course, the next move is a very lifelike Byakusai springing up from behind Oni and attempting to slash at him with that peculiar-looking sword of dark light of his.

Oni wouldn't need great perception to tell that wasn't the real opponent, and the attack from behind is more than a little obvious, but that doesn't mean he can just ignore it and hope it goes away, even if he makes little effort to defend himself.

"Nifty!"

The chain suddenly curls around his arm, and the scythe blade gets and odd glint to it. He spares a moment to swat the incoming strike away before disappearing again.

"But you combat pragmatists are so stinking boring to fight, man! Come on, where's the adrenaline rush? The thrill of personally spilling your opponent's blood? Why don't you mix it up a little more, buddy?"

[Kuroimaken]

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

The voice is distinctly coming from behind. The spiritual pressure too, it's definitely there.

He's talking while invisible, has to be. He slipped up.

A shower of small, invisible lances shoots towards the Oni. Invisible to those who cannot sense spiritual pressure, that is.

"You would love to hear me go into a frenzy as I haplessly slashed away at you."

The heck...? Now it's coming from the other side!

Same spiritual pressure. He's positively invisible. Has to be.

"You could revel in the joy of personally engaging your opponent to the death."

Again, from a different point. What's going on? How is he doing this?!

"But I won't give you the satisfaction."

The darkness quickly and thickly spreads. From underneath the Oni's feet, he can quite clearly see four walls of absolute darkness seal the space where the building once stood.

It closes off at the top.

And then the voices all come out at once.

"I am sin, come to deliver pain.
I am punishment made flesh!
The path I walk is paved with the flesh and souls of those who have wronged others!
I am the the White Judge!

AND I FIND YOU GUILTY!!

VERDETTO OSCURA!!

From each and every corner, darkness shoots out in the most varied forms. Lances, swords, arrows, spiked chains, every piece of melee weaponry imaginable, in every shape and form.

Apparently, Byakusai is trying to injure his opponent by stamina, since blocking out his sight and attacking him from standard angles isn't working. By now, the Oni can finally begin to sense where his opponent's strings are coming from; where he's running the whole stage. It's faint, but he should be able to find Byakusai now.

The question is, can he afford the time to spend looking for him?

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Verdetto oscura: Shadow Verdict.

Or you could call it Byakusai's version of Unlimited Blade Works. That's fine too.

[KnightDisciple]

"It would delight me to no end!"

Invisible to some, but to Oni they might as well all be bright red. He dances around every one, his movements simultaneously chaotic and graceful.

"YES! To hear a so-called "hero" like you show your true face! Your true nature! The same nature that's in every last human on this planet, dead or alive!"

Invisible is relative, though Oni is having trouble pinning down where his true self is at. But the insane character just doesn't seem to care.

"It's not about ending your life! Though that would be fun too! It's about making you admit the truth!"

Oni decides it's better to revel in the chaos of Byakusai's attack than trying to pin him down.

"You say that now, but I think one day soon you'll change your mind..."

He watches the darkness close around himself and laughs!

"You're already doing it! This is glorious! So violent! So direct! So deadly! It's like you're barely holding it back!"

He begins dodging, but even his ever-quickening reflexes aren't perfect. Scratches build up, and this volume means some actually get past his skin's defense, and make him bleed. For several moments his chain weapon beat back many of the oncoming attacks.

"Just let it all out! Let out the-"

A hammer strikes him directly in the face, silencing him for a single, glorious moment, before it falls to the ground, along with a few pieces of the clearly non-cloth mask. White skin could be seen underneath, but something was off...

"Haha! Time for me to find you Bya-kun!"

Suddenly the end of his kusarigama's chain slammed into the ground and there was a blue explosion that gave him precious moments. When the light from that cleared he was holding a bow and pointing it straight upwards, the blue arrow blazing in his grip having come from seemingly nowhere.

It surged upwards, and the darkness parted for a moment. Which is all Cackling Oni needed; in that moment he was gone from where he was and back into the sky.

A moment later he was in front of Byakusai. He reaches up with one hand, the other still holding the strange bow. He tears the tattered mask from his face, revealing the terrible white, grinning visage beneath. Purple madness burned in his eyes as he spoke.

"Now show me the truth! That we all have a monster inside us waiting to get out! I've just made sure mine's on the outside for everyone to see! Come on, Bya-kun! You know you want to unleash the beast!"

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Hope that's okay, Kuroi.

[Kuroimaken]

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Eh, that's fine. Sooner or later Byakusai will need to find a method to keep up with speedsters anyway.

"How delusional can you be? It was never about being a hero. It has nothing to do with glory or recognition.

It's always been about wiping you criminal scum off the face of the earth."

The vigilante draws a pair of... flashlights, apparently, at least that's what they look like - and ignites them into cohese blades of dark light.

"I may well be a monster. I'm just kinda selective about what my meals are."

[KnightDisciple]

"If you're no hero, you would have just stabbed me through my hostage the other day."

The unnatural grin stays in place as Oni slowly draws back the bow.

"You wear a costume. You go by an alias. You only target criminals. You think you're already unleashing the beast.

But why haven't you taken over the town already! Why not root out ALL the corruption? Why stop here? With your powers you could probably take over all of Japan! Who could stop you? It's not like we have an army to speak of any more, not that could stand against you.

No, you're a hero who just wants to sound scary. I do wish I had the time to explain more, but I've got things to do. Toodles!"

Suddenly a flurry of 20+ arrows flies at the vigilante, each of them containing enough compressed power to seriously injure him.

Meanwhile, Oni himself is a fast-shrinking shape, already at least half a mile away. He's learned a lot tonight, and knows he needs to contemplate what he's learned.

Step one will be to dictate everything to his secretary, that always helps him sort these little scraps out better.
Then maybe some food and sleep. Alone. Again.

'Sigh, another lonely night this week...'

[Kuroimaken]

Oh, no you don't. Not again.

The good thing about an area attack is that so long as you're not in the area, you should be alright. Oni only set off twenty arrows; Byakusai is used to dealing with automatic weaponry.

Thus, knowing where NOT to be when the arrows come out is relatively easy.

In order to protect the bystanders possibly behind him, Byakusai quickly erects a wall of darkness beneath his feet, elevating himself in the process.

And then, of all the ludicrous locomotion methods, he tsunamis after Cackling Oni.

Seriously.

[CMOTDibbler]

The Courthouse, A Few Hours Ago

Higure hurries up the stairs, a clipboard in his hands.

I can't believe what this Mitsurugi guy gave me to analyze. My machines told me jack about it. I had to use everything I know just to get an idea. This is no normal case, I'm willing to bet.

[Kuroimaken]

[The Courthouse, Reiji Mitsurugi's office]

Higure is welcomed inside after a brief exchange with Reiji's secretary. The prosecutor stands near the window, apparently basking in the sunlight. Without turning, he questions, "Higure-san, welcome. Have you found out anything about the material I asked you to analyze?"

[CMOTDibbler]

[The Courthouse, Reiji Mitsurugi's office]

Well, Reiji-san, I did, but it was a bit difficult.

Higure shuffles the papers on his clipboard, then begins his explanation.

My machines couldn't make heads or tails of it, but there were still some properties I managed to ascertain. It's state is fixed; I couldn't get it to change states at all. Anything I attempted to combine it with was destroyed, as well.

Higure clears his throat before continuing.

As far as I can tell, it's made of, well, solidified energy of some sort. It's certainly not any normal substance, Reiji-san.