Demon City Tokyo

Ten

The problem with looking for things was, you don't always find what you want. The city of Tokyo had mostly been abandoned by the middle class, many of whom fled the city in hopes of finding somewhere safer. Or if not safer, at least more readily defensible. And when they ran, many abandoned almost everything they owned. And when there was abandoned property, there were scavengers.

Ken Aida had, once upon a time, a bright future. He was smart, well educated and his family was well off. That had all changed when the demon wave hit, of course. His mom was killed in the first few weeks, and his dad just kind of... broke down. Ken tried to stay with going to school, but increasingly he failed to see the point.

Now, the young men hurried up the smelly hall of the long abandoned building, mold growing in corners and along some damp walls. They checked doors as they went along, peeking into each suite before moving on. The open rooms meant someone had cleared the place out, but every now and then you got lucky.

"Hey looks like I got something," the leader noted as he tried a dirty door handle and found it still locked. Jiro Yamada had brought them together, and he was the one with the contacts to fence whatever they found.

"Could just be jammed," Ken noted as he reached the older boy's side. "Should we try breaking it down or...?"

"Nah," Jiro shook his head. He called up the hall, "Yuri! Come take a look at this."

Yuri claimed to be a real delinquent, having run with the gangs in Osaka. Ken wasn't sure how much he actually bought that, considering the guy was named Yuri. Still, he was VERY professional with his lock picks, which was why they kept him around.

"Hmm," Yuri carefully worked the slim pieces of metal in the lock, his brown hair falling into his eyes. "Not jammed," he noted after a moment, "it's locked. But it's a cheap one."

"Can you get it open?" Jiro demanded impatiently.

Quite cheerfully Yuri answered, "Dunno." Before Jiro could add any threats he continued, "It all depends on how corroded the inside of the lock is. You know that."

"Yeah, yeah," Jiro grumbled. He looked over at the other boy, "Aida, keep checking doors. We might get lucky again."

"Right," Ken agreed as he walked along the hallway trying door handles. Honestly, he didn't wanna hand around as they snipped at each other anyway. He found empty room after empty room, then headed back up to the locked door.

"There we go...," Yuri murmured in satisfaction as they heard the soft click. He turned the handle, but the door wouldn't budge.

"Jammed," Jiro sighed. He looked at Ken, "Gimme a hand."

"Right," Ken agreed as he applied his shoulder to the door. Both men thumped against the door, applying enough force to start it moving. The smell of decay wafted out from the opening, and both men flinched slightly.

"Whew," Yuri winced.

Jiro forced the door open, the bottom of the door scrapping on the moldy floor. The room inside was furnished, and there were indications that whoever had lived there hadn't fled when the demons began attacking.

Ken took in the room, a odd feeling of familiarity washing over him. Yes, there was mold and a scent of decay, but the room still seemed cheery, a home for a usual family. It reminded him of the days before the demons and how things went to hell for them all...

Jiro calmly said, "Jackpot. All right, start looking for jewelry boxes, safes and money. After that we'll see what comes up."

"Right," Yuri agreed as Ken followed.

The living room had a endtable with drawers, that Ken quickly riffled through. He found some money and a watch, as well as a few nick nacks. Not knowing if they were valuable or not he pocketed the stuff. Jiro was looking through the bedroom off to one side, Yuri digging through the study on the other side. Ken moved on to the kitchen, opening drawers for any odds and ends that might have ended up there.

"Gonna open the fridge?" Yuri asked curiously as he carried a box through the kitchen.

Ken gave him a look, "You think I'm nuts? It's probably full of rotten crap."

"You never know," Yuri stopped to point out, "some people stashed valuable stuff in fridges, when they thought they might still come back."

"You're kidding," Ken said as he hesitated to open up the door.

"Scout's honor," Yuri vowed.

Ken doubted he had ever been a scout, but... bracing himself, Ken grabbed the handle and pulled the fridge open. The smell of rot and decay washed over them, then Ken got a good look at what was in the fridge. "Urk," he choked them was violently ill.

"Fuck," Yuri breathed out in horror.

There were body parts on the upper rack of the fridge, half decomposed, but still recognizable as human. Underneath there was food, melted and rotted, and the combined smells were nearly unbearable. In behind the twisted pieces of anatomy some hair was visible too.

"Is that a head?" Ken managed, a bit of vomit clinging to his chin.

"Don't know and I don't wanna find out," Yuri decided as he firmly shut the fridge door. "Let's get Jiro and get outta here."

Ken rather shakilly wiped his chin off on his shirt. "Where is he? You'd think he'd have come looking after hearing you yell," Ken noted, not mentioning his own being ill.

Yuri paled slightly. "Fuck," he breathed out as they headed towards the bedroom.

The scent of rot, and something else, that lingered in the apartment got stronger as they headed towards the bedroom. Ken let himself fall behind a bit, a sense of growing danger slowing him down a little. Yuri opened the bedroom door, then froze as he made a gagging sound.

"Oh hell," Ken managed to choke out.

Jiro was ripped open, blood and gore surrounding where he fell. He was being straddled by what almost looked like a human woman, but her odd, grey green skin and white hair marked her as something else.

"Jiro!" Yuri yelled, charging into the room.

Ken hesitated, then gave in to common sense and bolted. He had seen what these demons could do, close up, and he had no intention of seeing it again. As he ran down the stairs only two things ran through his mind... could he get away? And how quickly could he contact NERV?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Mayumi Yamagishi watched curiously as Asuka fiercely bawled out the unshaven, slightly scruffy young man who had called in the attack. She had known him, a few years back, when NERV had tried to keep the pilots in school and maintain a normal life for them.

'Wasn't there a demon attack at the school?' Mayumi recalled. She had a mental note to try interviewing the kid later. Maybe she could get two stories out of it, the demon attacvk and looking t how Tokyo's young people were slipping through the cracks.

Asukja stalked over, still looking annoyed. She muttered something unpleasant in German and added, "Damn idiot."

"Friend of yours?" Mayuni asked curiously.

"More a friend of Shinji's, but..." Asuka shrugged slightly. "Idiot should have come to me, if he was in trouble," she growled.

Mayumi though about pointing out he might have felt uncomfortable going to her for help, but decided to keep silent. Instead she asked, "So, how is this going to play out?" she asked, nodding to where members of the Tokyo Police waited nervously.

"We go in first with Rei," Asuka said, "but the police will follow us in, to investigate the body parts in the fridge Aida found."

"You don't think that was the demon?" Mayumi asked, feeling vaguely ill at the idea of a human being doing that.

"The demon's don't save food," Asuka shrugged, "and from Aida's description they'd been in there awhile."

"Eww," Mayumi shuddered visibly.

The two police women walked over, the taller one having the odd combination f green hair and tan skin. Mayumi wondered if it came out of a bottle, but considering the woman's muscle she wasn't gonna ask. The other woman was small and seemed oddly meek, but she also seemed somewhat intelligent too.

"I'm Detective Kiddy Phenil," the tall woman introuced herself, "this is my partner, Nami Yamigumo. Pleased to meet you."

Mayumi noted she didn't sound pleased. Asuka bowed slightly, "Likewise."

"I just want to go on record that I'm not pleased we're following you three in," Kiddy noted as they headed inside the abandoned building, "we should take point."

"Noted," Asuka shrugged, "but both your and my bosses agreed that I and Mayumi go in first."

Rei sniffed the air, the strange albino youma acting a bit of a bloodhound. "I can smell it here," she said as they passed the elevator and went to the stairway, "but it's faint."

Mayumi held onto her sword at her side as they all hurried up the steps. "Is it still here?" she asked Rei grimly.

"No way to know," Rei shook her head, "I'll have to get closer."

As they reached the right floor both cops drew their guns. Nami carried a standard police revolver, but Kiddy's was a oversized monster of a weapon. The group advanced until they reached the right apartment, then both Asuka and Mayumi drew their swords.

Asuka pushed the door open, the smell of decaying flesh washing over then. Nami gagged a bit, and Mayumi had to swallow to keep from doing the same. They advanced through the suite, checking each room until they hit the bedroom and the body.

"No demon," Kiddy noted, sounding just a bit relieved.

"Damn," while Asuka sounded disappointed. Shaking her head she said, "Get your forensics people up here and examine the fridge. We'll call our team and investigate the demon attack."

"Will do," Nami agreed.

Mayumi looked around, taking in the torn up corpse on the bed and the less damaged boy on the ground. The room reeked of demon even to her uneducated nose, but she looked at Rei curiously and asked, "What do you sense?"

"It fled," Rei confirmed, "not long ago. I can follow it for awhile, but it's scent is mixed with the decay of this place."

"Intentional, you think?" Asuka asked, but Rei just shrugged slightly.

Mayumi watched Asuka stalk around the room, frowning. She examined the pile of bedding in the corner, the bare bed and even went into the bathroom to look around. Finally Mayumi had to ask, "What's wrong?"

"It's not acting like a typical demon," Asuka admitted, "that worries me."

To be continued...