Where was he? What was this place? What was going on? He was so confused as he gazed out at the world around him from the darkness of an alley. Lights lit up the night without flame, strange creatures sped by on four wheels, the clothes he saw were not the traditional garb of the Japanese people. There were strange smells all around, some were very unpleasant to his sensitive nose, others were inviting, the scents of food, but all these smells mingling together made it difficult to detect an individual's scent. He'd seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of humans walk by in crowds, sometimes a demon or two among them. Demons were obviously no longer common, sparse in the huge crowds of humans; what had happened to diminish their numbers? Demons were once as numerous as humans, but he'd seen so few go by, so many humans but so few demons, why?
He turned and headed through the alley away from the strange black streets dotted with yellow lines, desperately hoping he'd find something familiar. But he stopped suddenly, catching the scent of a group of humans behind him and he turned to face them. They were juveniles, adolescents, a gang of them that surrounded him and judging by their expressions, they meant trouble. They couldn't see the features of their intended victim, but judging by his clothing, he was wealthy, yet it was old fashioned, his hair white; this guy must be old and the elderly were easy victims and he appeared to be unarmed.
"Hey, old timer," one the kids stepped forward, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"I could ask you the same thing," the stranger returned.
He looked around at the teens surrounding him, surveying the weapons they carried: pieces of what looked like strong metal, chains, a few had sharp knives in their hands.
"Look, old man," the first, apparently the leader, went on, a smug grin on his face, "We're just a bunch of kids lookin' for a bit of cash. So hand over whatever you've got, nice and easy, and we'll be on our way or things could get very unpleasant."
"Is that a threat?" their intended victim asked.
"Consider it fair warning," the kid replied.
"You dare 'warn' me and things can get very, very, ugly," the man growled.
He cracked his knuckles, his eyes bleeding red as he prepared to defend himself, his sharp talons at the ready.
"He's a demon!" another teen exclaimed.
"That changes things," the first adolescent replied, pulling a gun.
The demon looked at the strange metal object in his adversary's hand, confused, wondering what it was and he found out too soon as the ringleader shot at him. He growled in pain as the first two shots struck him, first in the shoulder, the next skimming his side.
He quickly dodged the next shots, a teen coming from behind him with a piece of pipe. The pipe struck the demon in the gut, momentarily knocking the wind out of him, but he reached out a clawed hand grabbing the metal as it was swung at him again. His other hand, slashing at his attacker, catching the kid across the abdomen. Another assailant came at him, wielding a knife; the demon caught his arm and threw him against the alley wall. Another tried attacking only to be thrown into a bunch of trash cans. Suddenly the sound of sirens echoed through the streets, catching the demon off guard, the shrill sound hurting his sensitive ears.
"Quick! Let's get out of here!" the gang leader shouted as the demon put his hands over his ears.
The group quickly gathered themselves and ran, leaving the demon in the alley and a couple of squad cars parking outside the alley. Someone had heard the commotion and called the police, thinking it to be the demon who had attacked the boys.
A small group of police emerged from the cars, withdrawing their guns, aiming at the demon lest he should attack. The demon looked up, shielding his eyes from the bright lights, confused, and saw the same strange weapons the hands of the strangely dressed humans; he had to get away. He got to his feet and ran from the officers.
"Halt!" one of armed officers commanded, "Halt or I'll shoot!"
The demon kept running, hearing the shots behind him as he ducked to avoid being hit, but he skidded to a halt. Another squad car pulled up the other end of the alley; he was trapped, and a cornered demon was more dangerous than any cornered animal. He growled and charged at the other officers that emerged from the newly arrived vehicles, planning to leap over them. One of the officers drew out a different kind of gun and two thin wires shot out at the demon. As they made contact, they sent a pulse of electricity through his body. The demon roared in pain, collapsing to the ground, stunned, the officers approached with caution recognizing him as a demon.
"We've got a demon cornered," one of the officers spoke into his mike, "We're gonna need back-up."
Within minutes more sirens sounded through the night as van pulled up and a few heavily armed officers stepped out, pointing their weapons at the fallen demon. Still weakened from the stun-gun, the demon could do nothing but allow his hands to be restrained behind his back and be led into the van.