Chapter 21: The Shadow Demons Strike Back!
Reika ran out of the dark alleys and made her way out on the streets. She whistled for a cab before one pulled over and let Reika inside. "Where to, lady?" the cabbie asked. "Take me to Club 69!" Reika said. "You got it!" the cabbie replied. As Reika was driven through the busy city streets, she closed her eyes and tried to ease her mind. "Please, God...help me through all of this." she whispered. After about 15 minutes, Reika finally arrived at her destination. As she stepped inside the nightclub, she made her towards the bar. "Hey! Excuse me? Do you know where Kaori Saeki is? I'm a friend of hers; I need to speak with her!" Reika asked a bartender. "Uh, yeah...she's in the back. Wait here!" the bartender replied.
A few minutes later, Saeki approached Reika with a very shocked expression on her face. "Reika?! Oh my God! You're alive!" Saeki exclaimed as she embraced Kitami. "Oof! Hey, easy there...it's good to see you too!" Reika said with a light chuckle as she gently pushed her away. "I heard the news that you were attacked by a couple of psychos at the church. I was running late for the meeting, but as soon as I saw those sirens, I knew that something was wrong. It's just horrible; how could they do such a wicked thing to you and the others?! Are they...are they with you?" Saeki said with a worried look on her face.
Reika sighed as she shook her head. "We got separated. I need your help finding them!" Reika said simply. "Oh! Of course; I'd be happy to help you out, Reika. Let me just clock out and I'll-" Saeki began. Suddenly, a clamor was heard at the entrance. "Hey! You can't get in here without paying; get back here!" a bouncer shouted as he tried to stop a man in a black tuxedo. Reika gasped as she realized that there was something suspicious about this man; his demeanor wasn't human. He looked so emotionless, yet something sinister seemed to stand out. "Uhh, I'll meet you around the back of the club. Please hurry, all right?" Reika said as she rushed away from the bar. "Reika, wait!" Saeki exclaimed.
As Reika rushed to the back exit of the club, the man in the black suit was able to catch a good view of her before he was forced to leave the club. "I've got you now, Reika Kitami!" the man muttered with an evil smile. As Reika finally burst through the back door, she panted heavily as she ran away towards an open spot. Reika looked all around her to make sure that she was safe and alone, and when nothing happened she sighed in relief. "Ok...take it easy, girl. You're safe...for now!" Reika said as she leaned back against a chain-link fence.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cross earrings. As she looked at them, Reika began to cry. "Oh, Junko...what have I done? I'm so sorry!" she wept bitterly. She stopped crying after a minute and wiped her eyes dry before she put the earrings back on. She felt terrible about what she said and did to Junko, but she knew that she couldn't let that hold her back. Not anymore, at least. "I promise, I'll find the others and protect them with my life!" Reika vowed.
But just as she was about to leave, Reika gasped as she heard footsteps from the shadows. Reika clenched her fists and prepared herself. "Who's there? Show yourself this instant! You think I'm afraid of you?!" Reika called out bravely. Suddenly, something grabbed Reika's ankles and wrists from behind the chain-link fence. "AUGH! What the fuck?! Let go of me you son of a-" Reika cried out before she felt something wrap around her neck.
Reika found it very hard to breathe as a nasty pair of tendrils began to choke her. Her arms and legs were also being tightly constricted by tendrils, trapping her like a rat. Reika gasped and wheezed as she tried to break free, but the tendrils were too strong. Reika's eyes widened as she saw the man in the black suit approach her with a wicked grin on his face. His skin was pale white and his hair was long and black. Everytime he smiled, he looked like a viper waiting to strike its prey. "Hello there, Kitami. You're a difficult woman to keep up with, you know that?" the man sneered as he removed his sunglasses.
His eyes were steely grey and his grin widened, revealing his pearly white teeth. "But then again...you're worth it. Because I must admit, you are a lovely looking woman!" the man said as he licked his lips. He dropped his sunglasses to the ground before he stepped on them, crushing them to dust. "Fuck you! You assholes will not-" Reika gasped before the man in the black suit grabbed hold of her face. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We were given orders not to kill you...but that doesn't mean that we can't have a little bit of fun, now does it?" the man smirked as he snaked his tongue into Reika's mouth.
Reika's face turned red with anger and embarrassment as the man sloshed his tongue around the inside of her mouth while groping her breasts. "You fuckers! I'll kill you!" Reika groaned as she felt the air from her lungs being squeezed out from the tight grip of the tendrils. Reika cried out in anger as the man began to tear away her clothes and copping a feel. "You my dear, have a magnificent body! You'll do quite well in satisfying our needs." the man said with an evil chuckle.
As the perv continued to grope her body, Reika felt it harder to breathe due to being choked. But at the same time, she felt rage for being put through with this. "Let's start on the main course now, shall we?" the man snickered as he fingered Reika's pussy. Reika's eyes narrowed before they glowed bright white with fury. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" she roared as she finally gained a burst of strength and broke free of the tendrils that were holding her down.
Reika then charged towards the man before she punched him in the face with all her might, causing his head to fall off his shoulders. Blood squirted in every direction, including all over Kitami herself. "Nobody fucking touches my body and lives!" Reika snarled. Suddenly, a loud growling noise was heard along with the sound of something squishy. To Reika's horror, the man's body underwent a horrific transformation.
His chest burst wide open and revealed a terrible set of snapping jaws and his head sprouted nasty tentacles that had heads full of razor sharp teeth. At the same time, the man's head sprouted spider-like legs and his eyes popped out before they too formed a set of jaws full of razor sharp teeth. "Oh, you gotta fucking kidding me!" Reika muttered in both disgust and disbelief. The monstrous creature began to lash out at Reika with his tentacles, but Reika was able to fight him back by using her magic to form a bound sword.
With the magic energy sword she created with her hands, Reika was able to hack and slash off several of the shadow demon's tentacles. "Yeah? Is that the best you can do, motherfucker?! COME ON!" Reika cried fiercely as she lit her free hand on fire. The shadow demon screeched with anger as it began charging towards Reika with its jaws, but Kitami fired a streak of flames at the monster's mouth before she chopped off its arms and legs. "Back to Hell with you, you piece of shit!" Reika shouted as she stomped her foot into the beast.
She stomped the shadow demon into a bloody pulp, laughing in triumph. However, she wasn't expecting the shadow demon's head to suddenly throw itself onto her and grab her face with its spider legs. "GAAAHHH! GET OFF OF ME, YOU UGLY FUCKER!" Reika screeched as the monster began to tightly squeeze her face. "We'll swallow your soul, foolish woman!" the shadow demon snarled in a demonic guttural voice. "NO!" Reika cried as she tried to vainly pry the demon off of her face.
It seemed things were about to get really grim, when suddenly a bolt of lightning forced the shadow demon off of Reika's face. "Gah! Huh? Who did that?" Reika gasped. She turned to see Saeki facing her direction with an angry expression on her face. "Step back, Kitami!" Saeki cried before she fired a streak of lightning from both her hands. She fried the shadow demon's head to a crisp, satisfying Reika as she reveled in its dying screams of agony. "Well! Nice to see that you haven't completely forgotten everything!" Reika said with a laugh. "What are you talking about, Reika? What the hell was that thing?!" Saeki demanded angrily.
Reika glared at her, but sighed as she remembered that Saeki didn't exactly remember everything. "Look, it's really complicated. And I don't have time to explain everything to you-" Reika began. "You better make time, Kitami! I'm freaking out here and I don't know what the hell is going on!" Saeki exclaimed. "Don't you yell at me, girl! I've been through hell the past several days and the last thing I need is your sassy attitude!" Reika snapped. "Well excuse me for overreacting after watching...whatever the hell that thing was nearly kill you!" Saeki snapped back.
Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps were heard coming their way. "Oh, fuck! We'll argue about this later; come on!" Reika cried as she grabbed Saeki's hand. As they ran away, several shadow demons snarled viciously as they appeared to chase after their direction, until a sultry woman in a red dress teleported in front of them. She had long wavy black hair, hazel eyes, fair skin, blood red lips, and large size C bust. "Remember...the witch is no good to us dead! Bring her back alive, but kill anyone else who gets in the way!" the woman hissed in a demonic voice. "What are you going to do?" one of the shadow demons demanded. "I have important business to attend to!" the woman said as she giggled with evil glee. She approached a wall and began to climb up on it without any effort, but she stopped and turned her head all the way around to face her comrades to speak. "If you're good, I might consider leaving a piece of my fresh kill left for you to feed on!" the woman sneered.
The other shadow demons shook their heads in disgust. "That's not necessary, madam! Just report back to the master before time runs out!" one of the shadow demons growled. "Oh, goodness me! I wouldn't dare miss the real party for the world!" the woman cackled as she spun her head back into place and crawled away. The shadow demons all growled and snarled before they teleported away to continue their search for Reika.
Meanwhile; Reika and Saeki made their way to a tea house and were able to catch their breath. "Ok, I think we lost them! Let's settle down and have some tea...then we can talk!" Reika panted. After a quick tea break, Reika began to explain to Saeki everything that had been going on the past few days. At first, Saeki found it very hard to believe what Reika was saying was true. "So let me get this straight! You're telling me that you were given a job to work as a nurse for a school that's secretly a criminal organization that houses sex slaves and a bunch of hitmen tried to kill you because you wanted out? And then you tell me that there's this group of rebels who want to overthrow this organization, but now they're scattered? And there's also this crazy armed psychopath who's been killing people on both sides? Well if that's true, then why the hell didn't you go to the police?!" Saeki exclaimed in confusion.
Reika then explained to Saeki a bit more in depth about all the crazy shit she went through to get to Leona Morimoto, as well as all that happened after she killed her. Saeki's eyes widened in shock as Reika finished explaining everything. "So you see...I'm in a lot of trouble here. I need your help to find the others before it's too late! Whoever is behind all of this has to pay, but at the same time...I made a promise that I would protect these people." Reika concluded.
Saeki sighed as she rubbed her hands through her hair. "Do you have any idea how insane this all sounds, Kitami?" Saeki said at last. "You think I'm unaware of that?! I've told you the truth, I swear it! Look...I'm not asking you to believe me. I just want to know if you trust me enough to help me find the others. Please; I'm begging you, they're my only friends that I have left in this world...I can't bear the though of losing them! Will you help me?" Reika begged.
Saeki took a deep breath before she spoke up again. "Ok, so tell me...do you have any idea where these guys might be? Where did you see them last?" Saeki asked carefully. "I remember seeing them all at the church before I was captured. But that's all I remember!" Reika stated. "You'll have to try harder than that if you want to save them, Kitami! Think harder...wasn't there any other place they could've gone to when all this crazy shit happened?" Saeki pressed.
Reika thought long and hard about it, until she had an idea. "Wait...I think I know one other place they might be hiding in." Reika said at last. "Really? Where?!" Saeki asked. "It might sound totally crazy...but there might be a chance I'm right." Reika began. "Well, what is it?" Saeki demanded. "One of those abandoned warehouses by St. Arcadia. We destroyed one of them, and I haven't heard or seen anything going on around there since then. They must be hiding in there!" Reika suggested. "That seems pretty far fetched, Kitami. They're real close to the place they swore they would escape from!" Saeki pointed out.
Reika knew she had a point, but then something else occurred to her. "That's why they're hiding there! Because it's the last place the bad guys would think to look! It's the perfect hiding spot!" Reika exclaimed. "When you put it that way, that must make sense. But what exactly do you plan to do if you even managed to find them?" Saeki replied. "Let me worry about that, ok? Besides...I need to talk to them. I have some things I needed to set straight with them." Reika answered. "Well, I hope for your sake things work out between you guys. And to be perfectly honest...I've got nothing better to do with my life anyway, so I guess I can tag along with you. If you don't mind!" Saeki said sadly.
Reika looked at her strangely as she said that. "Hey! Is everything all right with you? Do you want to talk about it?" Reika asked kindly as she touched her hands. Saeki looked up at her with a blush on her face. "Kitami...I have a confession to make. I, uh...I'm not really as innocent as I look." Saeki began nervously. "What do you mean?" Reika asked seriously. Saeki fell silent. "It's ok. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. I won't force you. Come on; we need to get going!" Reika said as she stood up from her seat. "Reika...I hope we find your friends. I really do!" Saeki said sadly. "We will! Now come on; let's get moving. And watch your back; they could be anywhere, watching our every move!" Reika warned.
Saeki grew worried as she said that. "That's another thing I meant to ask you about. What in the hell were those things that were attacking you earlier?" Saeki asked seriously. "They're called shadow demons. I don't know exactly what they are, but someone is summoning them. You used your magic before, haven't you? Don't hesitate to use your powers again if we come across them!" Reika instructed. "Ok...if you say so!" Saeki said sadly. Reika noticed something was wrong, but she chose not to bother Saeki about it...not now, anyway.
But while they made their way over towards their destination, they were unaware that Spawn wasn't far behind. He growled as he kept a glaring eye out Reika's trail; he knew that the enemy wasn't too far behind them. "I hope you know what you're doing, Reika! I don't know if I can keep protecting you like this. Besides...I still have my own revenge to achieve!" Spawn muttered as he chased after them from the rooftops.
A few hours later, Reika and Saeki arrived at their destination. The warehouses that were used by Leona's thugs looked completely abandoned now, but they knew that there was still the possibility of a threat. "There it is. Keep your eyes open, all right? I'm going in!" Reika said. "Kitami...be careful, all right? I have a bad feeling about all of this!" Saeki warned.
Reika nodded her head before she approached a warehouse. The door was shut, but Reika was able to use her magic to unlock it before she carefully stepped inside. It was dark and Reika could barely see anything, but after she created a ball of light from her hands, she could see that there was nothing special. "Look at this place; it's empty! There's nothing here; no bodies, no clutter! Nothing!" Reika announced. "Something must have scared them off...and I highly doubt it had anything to do with your friends. No offense!" Saeki said. "None taken! Now where are they?" Reika muttered.
As they ventured deeper into the abandoned warehouse, evil eyes from the shadows watched their every move. Eventually, Reika and Saeki left the warehouse and began to search in another. "Damn it! We're wandering around in the dark here, and there's nothing! Where else could they be?!" Reika cursed. "Don't get discouraged, Kitami. I'm pretty sure they're not too far away!" Saeki encouraged.
Suddenly, they were startled as they heard the sounds of gunshots in the distance. "What's that?!" Saeki exclaimed. "Oh God...it must be them! Come on; we gotta hurry!" Reika said as she started running. "They sound like they're in trouble!" Saeki pointed out. "No kidding; now let's go!" Reika snapped. As they ran towards the sounds of a battle, the evil eyes that watched them began to slowly creep after them without a sound.
Finally, Reika and Saeki found the source of the gunfire. They were shocked to see not only Yuuto and a small group of his friends, but also a group of shadow demons trying to swarm them as Yuuto and his friends were fighting for their lives while trapped inside of a warehouse. "Oh God! You weren't kidding after all; come on, we gotta save your friends!" Saeki cried.
Reika nodded her head before she lit her hands on fire and began throwing fireballs at the shadow demons, catching them off guard. "Huh? Who is that?" Yuuto exclaimed as he saw the shadow demons freaking out. "It's Reika! She's still alive; thank God!" Yuuki cried happily. "REIKA-SAMA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Ruri screamed happily. "Hold on! I'm coming to get you guys!" Reika shouted as she decapitated a shadow demon with a bound sword. "Don't let her escape!" a shadow demon snarled. He grabbed Reika from behind with a set of nasty tentacles, trapping her. "AUGH! Let go of me, damn it!" Reika shouted as she struggled to escape.
The shadow demon cried out as its head was blown off by a sniper's bullet. "Gotcha! Come on, Reika! Get in here; quickly!" Morikawa cried. Reika ran towards the entrance of the warehouse, with Saeki not too far behind. "Hold on! We're gonna make it!" Reika cried as she grabbed Saeki's hand. The two women finally made their way inside of the warehouse, only to find it infested with even more shadow demons.
Reika and Saeki cut their way through the monsters as they made their way up to the second floor, where Yuuto and the others were located. "Die, you savage beasts!" Saeki cried angrily as she fried them with her lightning attacks. "That's it; show them no mercy! Send those abominations back to Hell where they belong!" Reika shouted as she hacked and slashed several more shadow demons to death with her bound sword.
Finally, both women were able to make their way towards a barricaded room where Yuuto and the others were hiding. "Quickly! Get in before more of those things show up!" Morikawa cried as she waved her arm to get their attention. Reika and Saeki rushed into the room, and then Morikawa closed the door and barricaded it with some heavy furniture. "Whew! Talk about perfect timing; those monsters have been harassing us for days!" Morikawa said out of breath. "Kitami-sama! I'm so happy to see you!" Ruri exclaimed as she nearly tackled Reika to the ground with a hug. "Oh! It's so good to see you guys; thank God you're all still alive!" Reika wept as she hugged and kissed her friends.
After a quick reunion, Yuuto had everyone sit around a makeshift campfire. "I'm glad you're here, Reika. We have a lot to discuss!" Yuuto said gravely. "I'm not so sure if that's a good thing. But go ahead; tell me everything!" Reika replied. Yuuto took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Where to even begin?" Yuuto said sadly.