Tokyo Destroyer: Chapter 10: Wounded

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I don't own any of these franchises, natch. It's probably just as well; I doubt I'd have the kind of imagination required to keep these very different story lines going the way they should.

But I can do this, my humble best. Enjoy!

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Chapter 10: Wounded

The Kurusu residence: "Wounded!" Rachnera jumped up as soon as Kaneki and Shinichi 'ported in. He gestured with his chin at Akira, still leaning on him. She looked like someone had contact-tasered her. A ghoul, one of the very monsters she'd trained to fight, actually helping a human? Actually carrying her? "We've got somebody here in need of a splint," then nodded towards Amon's body, on the floor. Blood kept bubbling out of his mouth, and Migi was still inside him, pulling and mending, repairing, filtering, even cauterizing when needed. The gift of power from the gods gave him abilities he previously hadn't had. "And one who needs way more than that."

"I'm going to need more time here, Shinichi," said Migi, his strange, androgynous voice emanating from that which normally disguised itself as Shinichi's right arm. "And I'm not sure I have it. I've stopped most of the heaviest bleeding, but it will take longer to do anything about his shattered frame. A blood transfusion will be needed. Perhaps several."

"That…may pose some complications." Where would they get the blood? "Can you do anything with what you've got? Just to get him upstairs? We can't leave him like this, just lying here on the floor."

"I am trying." At that point, Rachnera appeared with a stretcher. "I am trying," Migi said again, "He has lost a lot of blood due to torn arteries and vessels. Much of it is spread throughout his body; I am attempting to reclaim as much as I can. But, even in a best case scenario, he will still need a transfusion."

"What blood type does he have?" Kaneki settled Akira down on one of the sofas in the main living room. Miia and Centorea appeared with some plastic splints and bandages, and swiftly began to tie up Akira's leg. Akira grunted with pain.

And her leg hurt, too.

"A."

Kaneki looked around the room. "Anybody got that?" Nobody spoke up. "Crap. I've got AB. Any way you could possibly use that somehow? Filter it or change it or something?" said Kaneki. Making sure Akira was taken care of, he went over to where Shinichi and Migi were, ripping off his shirt. "Can you stabilize him enough so we can move him? We need to get him to a room."

"About the blood, I believe I can. As to moving him, however, at this juncture, I don't think it's a good idea. He is not yet stable by any means; 'severe' doesn't begin to describe the beating he took. Almost all of his bones are broken, including his back and neck. Even if he lives, he will almost certainly never walk again."

"We'll have to deal with that later. How would we do a transfusion?"

"Lie down here beside him. I will take it from there."

Kaneki lay beside the prostrate Amon, rolling up his sleeve. "Are you sure about this, Ken Kaneki? It will require a large amount of your blood."

"There's no other choice, Migi. Unless anybody else has any ideas?" He looked around. "Well, that's what I thought. So go ahead, do your thing." He put his arm by Amon's.

"No!" With one bound, Akira was by Amon's side, her quinque knife in hand. She positioned herself over him, heedless of the pain of her leg, which Rachnera had not yet fully splinted. She didn't know, exactly, what was going on, but she knew if it involved a ghoul and a human, it couldn't be good. "Stay away from him!" She alternated between keeping the knife trained on Kaneki, and on the other one, the one whose arm—make that right appendage—seemed sunk into the body of her partner. Knelt over him, as best she could, in a protective stance. "Stay back!"

Suddenly something slipped over and around her upper arms, pulling them tight across her torso. She dropped the knife with a grunt, and Kaneki reached out and picked it up, while Rachnera, whose silk was binding the CCG agent, felt around in her jacket and pants for more quinque knives, finding two. "Well, investigator, I guess nobody can ever say you don't believe in being prepared." Rachnera picked her up and carried her away from the scene on the floor, and back towards the couch. "Now you've gone and torn off your splint; we'll have to set the leg all over again. I just hope you haven't done any more damage to the break itself."

"Get her splinted up, Rachnera," said Kaneki, from the floor by Amon, "Then bring her over here." He pointed to a place beside them both. "Here."

Rachnera frowned, her sets of eyes all squinting in unison. "Is that a good idea, snookums?" None of them were under any illusions about the agent's ability to fight, even wounded; CCG agents were made of sterner stuff than that. If she decided to cause problems…

"Yes. I want her to monitor this process." He turned his head towards Akira as best he could, from his position on the floor. "That way, you can see for yourself that we're not trying to hurt anyone. Okay? We can't do any more than that." He shifted his attention to the CCG agent. "If we do nothing, he'll die." She looked daggers at him, but grunted assent.

She soon joined them, half-supported by Rachnera, by the wall. By this time, some of the other liminals had joined them, including Kimihito and Polt. "What happened, Kaneki?"

"Rize." Kimihito's face twisted. He'd heard enough about Rize that he really didn't need to know any more.

"Is he gonna make it?"

"Don't know," said Shinichi. "Migi's trying to stabilize him now, but it won't be anything close to a sure bet. Kaneki's offered to give him blood, so Migi's gonna try to infuse him with it, but he'll need more than just blood. Migi needs to rebuild some of the damage to his internal organs. He'll need nutrients. And Kaneki will need more blood."

"I think I know a way around that. Where's Suu?"

Shortly, Suu joined them. "Suu, here's what we need: this man is gonna need IV blood transfusions. Can you help us with that? Absorb some organic stuff and process it into, into, some sort of proto-blood for Kaneki to get into him? He's going to need a lot."

"Yes, master." They brought her some of the contents of the fridge, and she selected those she could best use.

"Uh, Migi? Something else…my blood contains a large amount of Rc cells. He'll need some of those to heal…but too many, and he could either get poisoned, or become a ghoul, himself. Can you filter them out? Or at least, most of them?"

Migi sighed. "Of course, I will do what I can. But remember, I'm an alien master of biology, not a genie out of a bottle. How many of these Rc cells do you think he will need?"

"Uh…good question. Can you allow them in, then filter his blood, like dialysis?"

"Do I look like a nephrology clinic to you? Don't answer that." The alien gave another very human sounding sigh. "I will do my best. But perhaps Agent Mado would have some knowledge about this procedure, that would be helpful?"

Akira started at the mention of her name. But…"He's right. Too many Rc cells, and he runs the risk of turning." She chewed a lip. "The only thing I can tell you is the average number of Rc cells in humans and ghouls, what we look for in blood tests. Maybe you could, could split the difference?" I'm actually talking to a man's right hand that just so happens to be an alien organism, as well my friend's only hope of surviving a deadly attack by a now-near godlike ghoul who, two hours ago, I thought was dead. Oh, well, if this is insanity, I may as well go along with it.

Come to think of it, me being insane is actually a best-case scenario right now. "But…"

"Yes?"

"But…if you have to turn him…if that's the only way to save his life…if there's no other way…" She gave a long pause. They all knew what was coming. They could practically see her soul warring against itself in her face. "If you have to, do it. Just…save him, that's all."

"As you have said, if there is no other way. Give me those numbers and watch me work miracles right before your very eyes."

…..

The first of the invaders appeared out of a large tube apparently made of solidified energy or force that just suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Tokyo. They didn't waste any time; the slaughter began.

They appeared to be large, armored, fur-covered, only occasionally humanoid beings, but, in each and every case, fantastically overmuscled. Their upper arms (those endowed with recognizable arms) were thicker than many humans' whole bodies. They had no trouble whatsoever in lifting whole cars and tossing them about like potato chips. Two of them in working in conjunction could hurl a tank.

Some of them carried some sort of beam weapons, but many relied on weapons that seemed to be a cross between a spear, an axe, and a trident, with the outer tines wider than normal and sharpened, and the middle prong serving as the spearhead. These didn't seem at all interested in letting the ones with more advanced weaponry soften up the prey; quite to the contrary, they frequently jumped in front of the others, swinging their bladed weapons, eager to rack up as high a kill count as they could.

Nor were they alone. Behind and above them ranged what appeared to be human or humanoid creatures sporting extremely intricate fighting armor that enabled them to fly over the heads of their fellows. These flying troops used beam weapons primarily, but also had access to an excessive number of missiles, both guided and ballistic. Nor were they shy about using either one.

No one was safe. The invaders did not discriminate between male or female, young or old, or even their own. Several of the ursinoids got caught in their "friendly fire." Everyone was prey.

The human forces hurried to set up tanks and mobile missile launchers at the edge of the targeted area. Their explosive payloads devastated the invaders by the hundreds. But it made no difference; the seemingly-endless horde of monsters kept coming.

And Saitama was right in the thick of things.

He had no trouble with the individual monsters themselves, but they kept coming. It was all he could do to slay the ones already on the ground. Yet he kept at it, his own superhuman reserves being put fully to the test for the first time since he became a hero, as one monster after another exploded in a geyser of blood. Moving so quickly as to be effectively invisible, he stemmed the tide, kept the main group of monsters back.

Then his superkeen ears detected the sound of another such tube opening, this one a few miles away.

….

Garou was coming to the conclusion that he'd wasted his time coming here. So far, he hadn't detected any indication of these notorious ghouls everybody was talking about. Maybe he didn't know what to look for. Then he heard the screams.

Okay, humans screaming definitely meant something was going down. Had to be those ghouls. Who else could it be?

He raced across the broken rooftops, leaping from one to the other as easily as a child leaps a puddle. But the scene below filled him with confusion.

He saw the, the…tubes?...the creatures were coming out of. They were certainly hostile to humans; he saw several men and women cut down right in front of him, by bladed implements. But from what he'd gathered, the ghouls were supposed to look like humans, and these creatures couldn't have passed for human on the best day of their lives. They were monsters, pure and simple.

Hm. So. An invasion? Maybe this whole thing didn't even involve ghouls. In which case, he'd wasted his time coming here.

These monsters were doing a pretty good job of being monsters. True, they were slicing and dicing humans right and left without any indication of so much as a shred of mercy, but, hey, that was what monsters did. No self-respecting monster even went outdoors unless it possessed a clear advantage over its opponents, psychologically as well as physically. That was only natural. Otherwise, what would have been the point?

There on the rooftop, he surveyed the scene. He still couldn't really tell a whole lot; apparently, just a bunch of monsters pouring out of what looked like some sort of hyperdimensional tube. He shrugged. He'd had a little experience with those.

He could hear, in the distance, over the sounds of the humans being slaughtered below him, the sound of heavy engines revving. No doubt the JDF or somebody was bringing some heavy artillery to bear. That meant this tube must've only recently appeared.

These monsters must've been responsible for the bombing. Well, if so, that was just good tactics; nothing to fret about there. Oh, he guessed it could have been a bit of a fairer fight, but, in the levels at which he lived, fights were almost never fair. No, these were just ordinary monsters, not the cowardly ghouls he'd come to teach a lesson to. Oh, well. He turned to go.

And just at that exact moment, he heard a shriek. Not the shriek of an adult, but the shriek of a child. A shriek in a voice that sounded familiar…

Down below, he saw the little girl who'd shared her hamburger with him. Something that looked like Bigfoot's Ugly Cousin On Steroids was closing on her, spear-axe in hand…

"Oh, hell, no!" With one leap, he jumped down to the ground, placing himself between the monster and its intended prey.

The creature just grinned and came on even faster, happy it had a more worthy prey. But Garou wasn't called the Human Monster for no reason. With one blow, he smashed the axe out of its grip, breaking the primary arm that was holding it, but the abomination didn't seem to care. In its berserker bloodlust, it was impervious to pain. It just roared with rage and came on, pulling a sword from its belt, and slashing in the air. Garou narrowly dodged, and cracked that bone with a single perfectly-timed twist as well. Something in him reveled at the joy of fighting one of these monsters…there was just something about them that made their death seem essential to him. He didn't feel any need to hold back.

The thing grunted, still undaunted, and came on, gnashing its teeth, clearly intending to carry on the campaign with its jaws alone. But Garou had had enough. Every second he delayed meant that more of these things would come pouring out into the city, and he had to get the kid out of here.

He pirouetted past the thing's flaying grasp, and slammed the heel of his hand right into the area over its eyes, shattering the skull and driving bone splinters into the brain, and the thing slumped. Garou leaped away, but stood his ground a moment; the thing was so full of vitality and blood-lust, he wouldn't have put it past it to survive even that. But that had evidently been a killing stroke, because the creature fell to the ground and did not move.

But in the background, he could hear the sounds of more. And, just as importantly, he knew that if the norms started shelling the area, nowhere would be safe.

He turned, grabbed the kid, and, with one bound, leaped to the top of the building he'd just come from. Better view from up here. Tactically, it made sense.

As he ran, he snarled at the girl, "Kid, where'd you come from? For that matter, how'd you get here? And why here of all places?!"

"I hadda find you, Mister! I hadda warn you about this place! It's dangerous!"

"Kid…" he said as he ran, "this may come as a surprise to you, but I know it's dangerous. That's why I'm here! But you could'a been killed!"

"It's not that kind of danger!" she said, urgency in her voice, "It's worse!"

Worse?

…..

Akira Mado was languishing in one of the rooms at the Kurusu residence, her leg in a splint, still trying to wrap her head around it all. Ghouls and humans…and the liminals, too. She'd never had any contact with the liminals, so she really had no opinion about them, but so far, they seemed pretty much just like people. Odd looking people, true, but people nonetheless. But the ghouls? She really wasn't so sure.

Someone knocked on her door. "Come in." A little girl came in carrying a plate of eggs.

"Miss Akira? I brought you some food." She came closer, holding out the tray. "Miss Rachnera says you shouldn't be putting any weight on your leg right now."

"Thank you, child." She took the tray. Hard boiled eggs, with toast, butter, and some seasoning on the side. She was hungry, and began peeling the eggs, seasoning them with the salt and pepper. Plus they'd included some soy sauce. Even better.

"Miss Miia made them. They're kinda her specialty. Everybody says they're really good."

Akira looked at the little girl. "Don't you want some? There's more here than I can eat."

The child dropped her head. "I can't eat that kind of food, Miss Akira."

Akira froze in mid-bite. "Child…what's your name?"

"Hinami, Miss Akira."

Akira found herself pressing back against the headboard of her bed. "Hi-Hinami? Hinami Fueguchi?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"What…what is your mother's name?"

"Ryouko Fueguchi, ma'am. She…she's dead."

Okay, this was it. Here she was, wounded and weaponless, in the same room with the child of the very ghoul her father had killed. Hinami might be only a child, but she was still a ghoul, with a ghoul's powers. It would be no trouble at all for her to kill her. Would the child torture her before killing her? Payback with a vengeance?

"Miss Akira? What are you doing?" Akira was pressing up against the headboard of the bed, trying to get as far away from the girl as she could. She readied herself to dive over and under the bed once the kagune appeared. Maybe she could use the pillows as a distraction…the window wasn't that far away. It might—make that would—break her leg even further to leap from this height—it might even break the other one—but she'd at least have a chance. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, all the while keeping her eyes on the ghoul.

"I…you…child…Hinami…what are you going to do?"

Hinami looked at her, as though trying to understand a foreign language. "What do you mean, Miss Akira?"

"You know what I mean. My father…your mother…"

Hinami's face dropped again, her face scrunching up in grief. She put her hands to her face and sniffled, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve. "I…I know, Miss, Miss Akira. I…I gotta go." And she turned and fled out of the room.

Akira Mado watched her go. Part of her was relieved. But another, bigger part was saddened more than she would have thought possible.

To be continued…