Chapter 4: D1 to E2

By the end of it Shen went into a back room with Uta and about ten minutes later said door opened with a loud bang from the foot that kicked it open, while the subtle jingling of jewelry could be heard as Shen stepped out to show the other two what he was going to wear for the rest of his misadventures with the rest of the 20th ward. As Touka and Kaneki glanced back towards the changing room they saw Shen's new outfit in all of it's bedazzled glory. His previous red haori was missing which let them see the new red skin tight shirt showing off his already thin frame for the fifteen year old he was. Their eyes were drawn to the jewelry that lined each of the outfit's exaggerated ribs. They consisted of one row of pawns and two rows of bishops hanging off showing off the gold that covered them. The pants however, were a pair of sweatpants made of a thick black leather that barely showed Shen's feet. These to were covered in chess related jewelry but this time it was all the pieces assorted to make the outline of a queen barely letting the black leather show through. Overall the new outfit was quite flashy and loud but the mask was surprising. It was a single sheet of red metal with a crease in the middle giving off a streamlined look. Small holes were poked out for two red dots to be shown but Shen's white hair only showed through the opening in the back adding to the ever more present regal atmosphere. His hair was braided into one ponytail that just barely reached his shoulders. OVerall the outfit was a match for the nickname that the kid was given which if you knew the details of why would petrify any who saw this 'Queen'. As Shen made his way over to the two the jewelry that practically covered the entire visage created a loud jingle as the pants swayed back and forth with each step. "I don't think I'm taking this off guys so what do you think?" Shen asked with a slight tilt to his head that only added to the overall noise in the room as Kaneki looked with a gleam in his eye. It was obvious that the entire outfit would take forever to take on and off again so through much discussion with the rest of Anteiku it was decided that Shen would have to stay at the coffee shop hidden unless needed.

One Week Later

Now since Shen would obviously have to somehow pull his weight and get exercise so he was reserved to also get the bodies that Anteiku used to feed their fellow ghouls in the 20th ward. Although it was a simple way of getting a new place to live every now and then a few CCG investigators would try and stop him from living. This night was no different except for the fact that he was approved by Touka herself that if he must killing them was allowed. As the one of the two 'doves' pulled out their quinque the other went to signal the rest of their squad that they found the 'new' ghoul. "Alright who are you and where are you taking that body?" At the moment Shen was carrying some poor sap who had hung himself for some reason he could care less about, and tonight was even supposed to be his night off but since kaneki had been sick it was his obligation. "Well, since you seem so determined to categorise me I shall give you my name, The Red Queen, and as for the suicidal prick I'm holding is just a more ethical way for us ghouls to get food." The details of why he had the wretch was surprising at the most but it no longer mattered as the other dove was finished with his radio, so he had also taken out his quinque in the hopes to kill this Red Queen. Shen, however had other plans and before the two realised he had dropped the body their heads were off and falling. As Shen's jewelry swished back and forth from the speed at which he dispatched them about three more men came out with guns in hand. Once again using his ridiculous raw speed he grabbed the hanged man and sped off towards Anteiku and Yoshimura with a group of very slow armed men following a mile away. It would most likely show on the news tomorrow that a new ghoul was on the loose; not like it mattered anyway. However, when Shen finally returned Yoshimura had a somber look on his face and even Touka was there to greet him. As Shen lifted his mask to the top of his head the mild amusement that had been on his face was completely gone. Yoshimura was the first to speak as he had been the most prepared, "Kaneki was taken today during the evening by the Aogiri tree." The simple statement left Shen in utter shock as his mask fell back to the front of his face. He slowly slumped forward and started to walk to the inside of the shop. On his way he handed Yoshimura the body as he kicked the back door to the shop open. Inside revealed Enji, Kaya, and Nishiki all sitting in a chair slumped over. The were shaken by the sudden intrusion and stared at him their mouths open. As he slowly sat down in a backwards chair his kagune exploded from his back and he used the thin rinkaku to brew himself a cup of coffee. He returned both to himself and lifted his mask enough to drink. As he lightly went to take a sip a single lone tear betrayed him and slid onto his chin before falling into his cup. He closed his eyes as his hands crushed the cup in his grasp eliciting a yelp from a good portion of the people in the room. "I'm leaving now and don't expect to see me again without him," Shen said before kicking his chair out from himself, putting his mask down and leaping through the main window shattering the glass around him. By the time Yoshimura had reentered the room the only evidence of Shen was the mess he left behind. He let out an exasperated sigh before grabbing a broom and sweeping up the shards of glass.

11th ward two days later

As Shen trailed the ccg convoy to the main Aogiri compound he thought about how he planned to get through both groups when he arrived. Soon he was about ten feet from the main force of the ccg who were planning an assault on an abandoned building when he noticed that about half of the men there were untrained or inexperienced. As Shen slowly stepped into the lights with his jewelry glinting off the artificial light he let out a low laugh alarming most of the people present. Most people pointed their guns at him while the commander turned to look at Shen with bewilderment. "Who are you?" was the first question that came to the trench coat wearing commander. To him it was an odd sight to see someone come into a warzone while wearing such precious jewelry but he needed to know where the masked man's allegiances laid. "I am the Red Queen and I'm taking back what once was mine," The now named Red Queen stated before releasing his Kagune into six tentacles that he used to lift himself off the ground. Before any of the Ccg or Aogiri could object Shen launched himself into a window and started his revenge. The way he was killing horrified the Aogiri present as they watched their first comrade literally have a head shoved through his rib cage. As the blood dripped from Shen's face he used his Rinkaku to tear apart the other guards present. He ended up sending the upper half of a ghoul out one of the windows into a random Ccg soldier whom he could hear lose his lunch. After the initial assault Shen used extended his Rinkaku to extraordinary lengths to the point where he was killing Aogiri members on the first floor and top floor of the building. Most were run through by the tentacles; others were lucky enough to have their head crushed by Shen's hands while the impaled Aogiri were tossed out at the front of the building to create a pile of ghouls. By the time he reached the last five or six ghouls he decided to make them feel the most pain. As he brought their barely living bodies through the front door still being dragged along by Shen's Kagune he lifted them up into the air so the Ccg could see what would happen if they entered. When they reached a peak height of twenty feet Shen solidified his Rinkaku tentacle into spikes. As the spikes slowly tore through the building along his Rinkaku the Aogiri finally noticed what was happening and tried to pull themselves off the end of the tentacle. When the spikes finally reached the ghouls, the spikes jutted out of each of their limbs and when Shen flexed his Rinkaku he slowly tore the ghouls apart. As their screams resonated through the night a slight cracking of bone could be heard before the spikes fully reversed and flung the limbs of the ghouls at the Ccg soldiers. As the last leb hit the ground Shen stood atop the ten foot tall pile of ghouls and practically laughed out, "I do hope you decide to try and enter the building it will be a fun time for all when they have to search the rubble for your bodies." As he finished saying that he retracted the spikes back into the six tentacles he had which took away most of the support for the building causing it to collapse into a pile of blood covered rubble. This action caused Shen to laugh very heartily as he retracted his kagune taking away the red glint the eyes on his mask seemed to produce. After a couple moments he jumped back into the pile of rubble in search of Kaneki leaving the immediate sight of the Ccg men and women leaving them to wonder in amazement while the soft jingling of jewelry could be heard. Some soldiers slumped down in defeat while others hurled as they finally took in the sheer size and condition of the pile of bodies. By the end of it all the feeling was that they would have been single handedly wiped out in vain. As one investigator started towards the inside of the rubble one of the luckiest ghouls alive who only had a hole through his leg quickly grabbed the Ccg investigator's shoulder. The man quickly whipped around on the defensive while the ghoul just shook his head and spoke gently with a slightly distorted voice, "While we may have different lives Dove, that pile of my friends you see was created by a single beast with the intent to maim; so out of my cold heart I warn you not to invoke the Red Queen's wrath." Soon after the ghoul went into a light coughing fit before fainting while his leg continued gushing blood out of the hole before eventually just being another dead body. While the now deemed lucky investigator went to look at the pile he noticed a couple things. "Commander I say we should head that ghoul's advice after I noticed the condition of the deceased pile," The investigator said as he looked towards his commander who was slowly inching towards the dead pile of ghouls.

The first thing the commander noticed was how some were still alive and clearly going through extreme agony, next he noticed how literally all of the ghouls had a single hole through the leg, head, or stomach that was about six inches in diameter. However, the worst and most sickening part to him was the fact that all of the holes were nowhere near perfect showing off that this was down as slowly as possible. While his knowledge of ghoul types was severely limited he at least knew it was a Rinkaku type which was normally used at high speeds to do the most damage with a single tentacle. Meanwhile, this scene showed the very opposite as evident by the torn flesh even on the inside of the wounds. This 'Red Queen' had decided to use pure spinning force and as such whenever he must have impaled a ghoul he spun his Rinkaku at high speed to tear through the flesh slow enough for the person to realise what was happening. This measure of force was shown to every ghoul as his or her friends died right next to them instilling as much suffering and trauma as possible. What ended up causing the commander to eventually lose his lunch was how all of the Aogiri were covered head to toe in a layer of blood. that was not their own. It was obvious `seeing as how what they bled was a deep red while what covered them was a bright ruby almost as if the Rinkaku tentacles were covered in blood at all times which was most likely used to literally poison the ghouls if they were to survive seeing as how even the few who were completely unscathed were dead. This added to the fact that when one removed the mask it was still covered in the ruby colored blood coupled with their faces showing pure agony meant that this 'Red Queen' infected everything it covered with it's Kagune blood or hurt was doomed to die as their skin was converted into the red blood. When the commander went to remove some of the blood from one of the victim's faces he ended up rubbing off their skin and muscle leaving white bone to show. He didn't last long after that as he collapsed into his hands and knees and added some green to the vast red of the bodies. His fellow investigator rushed over to him before helping the captain back to a folding chair. Once he was sitting down comfortably the investigator shouted, "Don't touch any of the bodies with bare skin or risk getting infected with whatever corrosive material is on them, as a side note don't go into the rubble you see before you unless you want to be killed by the Red Queen like these ghouls here; in pure agony."

Author's Note

So that's the chapter for today, next one will be sometime monday-ish and thanks for those of you who are consistently reading this