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Chapter Twenty Four
Idiosyncrasy
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“You think they’re dead?”
“Assume they aren’t.” A gloved hand rested against the driver’s side door. “There’s been too much noise. Police are on their way; scramble the vans.” He kicked the window in with the heel of his shoe.
“What?!” One of the men sprung backwards, having crouched down at the passenger side of the vehicle to inspect the empty seat. “Boss! He’s-”
The wind around him whipped suddenly, and he sputtered and gasped, grasping at his newly-crushed throat. Those standing around the vehicle immediately drew their weapons, but it didn’t make any difference. The driver of the now idling van watched in terror as all three of his comrades suddenly fell down, begging for air.
“Wait.”
Race knelt down on the ceiling of Shou’s car, looking at his crumpled form with just as much enthusiasm as she had at the prospect of him escorting her around. “Let them drive away. This’ll only be problematic if authorities find that vehicle here.”
“What about your car?” Race muttered as the van quickly pulled away and made off towards the highway. “There’s going to be questions after all of what’s happened here.”
“I’ll report it as having been stolen.” Shou slowly uncontorted his pretzel posture until he was propped up on one elbow, puffing at his cigarette for a moment. “Most important thing is that we don’t get seen. There’s security cameras around the street, see if you-”
“Done.” Race replied, suddenly reappearing in the same spot she had just occupied. “Really exposed wires on those. Took me some effort to climb the poles they were on, but I managed.” Opening her hands, Shou got a good look at the rubber-padded gloves she now wore. “You ready to go?”
“Where did…” Shou began, but cut himself off with a nod. “Yep. One thing we gotta do first, though.”
Rolling out of the driver’s door, Shou slowly got to his feet, sighing deeply and cocking the hammer of the gun he now held. “You get squeamish at this sort of thing, by any chance?”
“We have a no kill rule.” Race put her hand on the top of the gun. “We’ve abode by that rule whenever possible, and this counts. I can’t let you shoot them.”
“Should’ve considered that before crushing their throats in.” Shou mumbled, pulling the gun away gently while staring Race dead in the eyes. “Best case scenario, they slowly die here in the middle of the road, and worst case scenario someone finds them and they managed to tell what happened before they die. Might be better if you look away for this.”
The moment Race finally tore her eyes away from the frightened faces which desperately pleaded with the emotionless Shou for mercy, three shots were fired. Shou slowly walked past Race, looking back for a brief moment to gesture for her to follow.
“How polite of all the civilians to clear the area as soon as all this went down.” Shou sighed, placing the gun in his belt. “I’d say they didn’t want to get killed, in all likelihood. There’s a bike over here.”
“Who were these guys?” Race inquired, lifting up the former lock from the bike to signify her having broken it. “How’d they find us, especially so quickly, and why did they risk an attack in the middle of the city?”
“It’s a group called Koi Blood.” Shou replied, getting on the bicycle. “I’ve been aware of their movements for quite a while, but this is the first time I’ve ever been attacked by them. They must be getting desperate.” He turned back towards Race, squinting ever so slightly at the Wild Mask with an air of suspicion. “What is your group getting up to?”
“You’re not going to like this next part.” Race adjusted her mask and grabbed the handlebar of the bike. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
–
“This would be significantly more helpful if you could tell us exactly what happens at that point.”
“I’m sorry.” Corey struggled back into his hoodie, feeling the warmth it retained from having been dried. “If I tell you about that, then Odgu gets away. But, there’s one more thing-” He smashed the mask back over his eyes for a moment. “No, I can’t mention that either. That’s going to be rough for him.”
“Wonderful.” Tone grumbled, leaning into his gloved hand as he stared at the piece of paper in front of him. “So far we have a very thorough list of things you can’t tell us about because if you do things will play out in a less than optimal fashion, and…” He glanced at a second sheet of paper with barely anything written on it. “Only four things that we’re actually allowed to know.”
“Refresh my memory on those.” Ren paused the ironing of the many dress shirts he was involved in and leaned on the ironing board. “We know who the leader of the Pangolins is, we know what time the group plans to strike, we know the fellow who shot at you across the lake will try to pull the same stunt again, and…”
“And at least one of the Pangolins will die without us having to do anything.” Tone sighed, rubbing the charred skin around his mask as lightly as he could manage. “I don’t want to be pessimistic about this, but this is hardly enough to go off of.”
“Hey,” Kohaku interjected, slowly walking forward with her hands behind her back. “I know this is a bad time for this, but… Is there something you could check out for me?”
“Of course.” Ren immediately replied, much to the subtly shown amusement of Tone, who leaned forward with his chin on the base of his palm and exhaled through his nose a couple times. “Is it about Corey?”
“I still don’t trust you bringing him along.” Kohaku frowned. “But no, it isn’t that. There’s… Something I haven’t told you. It’s been long enough that it’s starting to worry me.”
“The same night- the same day of the plane crash, that is- Fred got approached by an old man that knew him by name. He talked about you, but Fred said he had never seen him before in his life. I tried to talk him out of it, but…” She fidgeted and awkwardly stared into the floor.
“What did he say the day after?” Tone inquired.
Kohaku looked up at him, replying with something between a remorseful acceptance and a stern rebuke present in her voice. “He hasn’t shown back up. Not then, not any day since. I called work and told them to contact the NPA to track him down, but they’ve had no luck either.”
“Corey?” Ren had stood up during her explanation and now locked eyes with the mop-headed member of the Wild Masks, almost as desperate as Kohaku was to find the answer. “Where is Fred now?”
Corey slipped the mask back over his eyes for a moment, but stayed silent even after he had removed it. It took several gestures from Kohaku to make him answer the inquiry. “I don’t know.”
“Unless there’s something else in the world that blocks the mask’s power, there’s only two possibilities.” Ren stepped around the ironing board, making eye contact with each person in the room as he did so. “Either Fred is somehow with the Pangolins, or he’s not. But either way, he’s with one of the Demon eyes.”
“If he’s found the other one, that goes a long way towards disarming these weirdos.” Rook mused, rubbing the chin of his mask. “There’s a lot of power in those two little marbles. It’s a shame we can’t use the mask to figure out how they work.”
“Wild used to keep a journal.” Tone stood up from the computer chair, the paper now held loosely in his hand. “He used to detail anything he could find out about the Demon eyes, from ancient legends to more modern interpretations. I got a good look at it one day, but don’t tell him I did that.” He sent an elbow towards Rook with a wink, the body language of the latter indicating he didn’t get the joke.
“He had discovered writing relating to their capability dated… I don’t remember, but that’s not the point.” Tone walked across the room as he spoke, picked up the iron, and handed it back to Ren with a gesture indicating he should get back to work. “Apparently each of those eyes is capable of containing ‘the infinite concept of existence’, although it’s unclear what that actually boils down to. I suspect it’s just in regards to information, as one of the feats mentioned details how one of the eyes was used to map the hranice abyss a long time before anyone else mapped it.”
“So it can see super far down?” Rook scratched his inhuman scalp. “Well, at least we know something that it’s capable of, even if it’s just good distance vision.”
“Rook,” Tone turned to face the silvery mask as he spoke. “The hranice abyss is almost entirely underground. You can’t map it without serious diving equipment, and I guarantee these folks didn’t have that sort of-”
The door to the apartment clicked and slowly began to roll open. On the other side was Race, her hair frizzed into a mess, her face somehow even more tired than usual. She staggered in just enough for the door to close, took one look at the pile of clothing, and collapsed onto it face-first.
“Yeah, that’s me for sure.” Kohaku sighed deeply, smearing both palms across her eyes for a moment. “What’s she been up to? Yes I’m asking you Corey, there’s no need for that look.” She folded her arms and leaned back at the sight of Corey pointing at himself quizzically.
“Regardless, we’ve apparently got a plan for tomorrow even if Corey can’t tell us half of it at the moment.” Ren leaned against the wall, pointing at Corey as he continued. “But all we know is that nobody in our group will die if the plan is followed. What about the Demon eye?”
“You can trust him.” Corey whispered next to Race’s ear, having crossed the room and crouched down next to her just after putting the mask on. She shot up on one elbow, looking with frightened eyes at Corey for a moment, before collapsing down on the pile again. “The eye, right… Well, I don’t know where it is, and I can’t predict what will be done with it. Hawk seems to be the only person I can’t focus on, so I guess it’s on his person.”
“And how do we stop Hawk?” Tone sat back down, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees as he did so. “He’s a significant threat; if he can survive flying into a plane engine, I don’t think he’s going to have any difficulty dealing with us.”
“You won’t.” Corey took the mask off again. “There’s someone who will be there that Hawk won’t be able to contend with, but I can’t tell you who that is or how it will happen. Also,” He turned towards Kohaku, feeling the mask in his hands. “If she comes along, she’ll die.”
“No, she won’t be at risk here.” He walked over to Kohaku and placed a hand on her shoulder, his face almost pleading in appearance. It was something Kohaku was not ready for, and her body language clearly illustrated that point. “After the event a man will come here holding something to prove he is working with us. You need to go with him when the time comes.”
“Don’t be alarmed when you see it.” His grip on her shoulder tightened. “Everything’s going to be okay. Trust me.”
“Well,” Ren tipped the iron up, walked around the ironing board, and softly tapped Race’s head with the side of his littlest finger. “Go take a shower so I can iron your shirt. The rest are done, and we’ve only got half an hour left before the big event. I knew it was happening late, but it’s already almost pitch black outside.” He waved his phone around, which was in the middle of broadcasting news coverage about a murder scene involving a totaled car. “You can tell us all about your misadventures when you get back.”
“Tone,” Race grumbled as she slowly stood up. “Shou from work is waiting downstairs. Go talk to him.” Without another word she trudged off to the restroom and softly closed the door.
“Ren?” Kohaku lightly moved her hand across the shoulder that Corey had gripped. “Is this all necessary? Putting Corey in danger, risking your lives over a statue… Is it worth it?”
“It’s not about the statue.” Ren looked down at the seated Kohaku. Tone froze with his hand just shy of touching the door controls, watching Ren’s movements with intense scrutiny. “These lunatics are part of the Kumagai yakuza family, they’re the organization that Wild departed from, although they must’ve gone by a different name back then. They aren’t interested in the art pieces, or they would’ve tried to get us to reveal where they are.”
“They haven’t stopped at anything to hurt us. They throw themselves into plane engines, hunt us down at our jobs, and destroy our property just to send messages. These people will not stop until they’ve killed us.”
“However, now we know what they’re going to do and how they plan to do it.” Ren nodded at Tone, who quietly opened the door and departed. “They have no more surprises left. They don’t have both Demon eyes, and it’s possible Fred stumbled upon the second one. The odds are entirely in our favor here.”
“This ends tonight. For all those these monsters have deliberately killed… For the safety of every member of the Wild Masks… It’s time to put them down.”
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Tone looked up at the apartment door as he exited the stairs. It was awfully convenient to simply walk two flights down and then take the elevator the rest of the way, to avoid the sound of it picking up inside the apartment. It had seemed peculiar that no one else on that floor was occupying any of the apartments, but perhaps that was just Oisim’s way of doing things.
Oisim’s role in recent events came back to him briefly. What his angle was, or why he was working on the opposite side, or why Koi Blood had tried to kill both him and Ren, was still a complete mystery to him. However, after tonight there wouldn’t be any Pangolins to worry about, so Oisim would be nice and available for some serious grilling.
As the elevator doors opened, Tone got a good look at Shou, his face still managing to appear eternally disinterested despite having turned a shade green. “Her bike rides are the worst.” He groaned as Tone stepped forwards, shaking his offered hand with the one holding the cigarette while the other clutched his stomach. “I nearly broke my neck on some of those turns.”
“Good to see you again.” Tone slid his hands into his pockets. “And sorry about the trip over, Race is still learning. You ready for tonight? The rest coming along as well?”
“Well, all the ones that are left will be there.” Shou sucked on his cancer stick for a moment. “Sorry about Wild. He’s got more guts in his grave than I’ve got left on me.”
“He’d contest that.” Tone grinned. “It’s not my position to know too much about what you’re planning right now, but we’ll be there with you one hundred percent. This is the last chance we get.”
Shou nodded, pulling on his cigarette once more and letting a thick wisp of smoke curl its way through the air. “I hope that boy’s ready. This is the real deal.”
“He is.” Tone looked up the open stairwell, up to the floor where the apartment was. “Maybe even more than me.”
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