"So, this is Roppongi…" The remark mutters out from Walter as he follows Jonathan through the Shinjuku tunnel exit—and into a mess of winding, maze-like streets with just as much rubble as all of Tokyo's twists and turns. "Looks like everywhere else we've been."
Close behind him, Isabeau glances around and puts a hand on her fellow's shoulder, making him glance toward her. "Do you believe we will perhaps find the Black Samurai here?"
He snorts in derision. "Sure."
Jonathan watches the two converse with a weary twist of his mouth.
It feels like only hours ago that he, Walter, and Isabeau returned to Mikado to convey the loss of Flynn to Commander Hope and the Monastery. Finding him still gone hours and—after more fruitless searching—days, the group had no other choice but to assume he got lost when they explored more of Ueno and ran into a demon he couldn't defend against. Either that, or he somehow got "grabbed," as more and more of the Unclean Ones began suggesting. But despite their seeming to understand what had happened to him, no one was eager to suggest a kidnapper—or a way to help.
"Master Jonathan." Jonathan snaps out of his thoughts and glances down to his Gauntlet. Burroughs has flashed onto its screen. "I have a dispatch for you from another Samurai."
"Oh, very well then. Please, Burroughs."
She winks out, and as the screen remains black, a deep, smooth voice crackles though. The Samurai glances up to his fellows with confusion. "…you're late. I'm tired of waiting. Jonathan of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado…" The man chuckles. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tayama of the Ashura-kai."
Jonathan whips to Walter and Isabeau in alarm as a hand pulls away on the video feed, and the owner of the voice's face appears on the Gauntlet screen. The two hurry to his arm as the man—Tayama—presses his mouth into a "smile." They can't help but stare back.
"The Ashura-kai. They protect us until people disappear."
"Is this all of you?" the man asks. His eyebrows cock up. "I see. Well then, you all should do as I say. Because if you try to pull anything…" Tilting his head to the side, Tayama purses his lips and shifts the arm he wears the Gauntlet on—the video feed shivering with the movement. "Well, let's just say your fellow I got this machine from won't be getting it back."
"Flynn!" The name bursts from Walter. "You have him?!" he demands.
"Hang on now, I didn't say a name. I've seen a great many of you Samurai here in my Tokyo. It could be anyone. But of course, that doesn't matter to you, does it…?"
The group is silent.
Tayama looks off. "Interesting."
"No, please we do not mean to insinuate that—!" Jonathan says with a panic.
"No, no, I understand completely. There's a particular man of yours you've lost. That right?" He says this as if Flynn were just a dog that broke its leash and ran away. "This machine…"
Walter grits his teeth. "Gauntlet."
"Right, your Gauntlets, do they have your names in them? Clearly, I can tell I have just come in contact with a certain Jonathan—who does your Gauntlet say is speaking?"
Jonathan can't tell if Tayama is taunting him or is genuinely curious, but he taps the screen regardless. His fellows crowd closer to him as he reads the user name of the caller—and his blood freezes. Isabeau lets out a strained exhale as Walter grabs Jonathan's arm. "Let him go!" he yells. As Jonathan shakes him off with a sharp glare, he takes a step back. "T-they were all right…"
"So maybe I do have your Flynn. But aheh, you won't get him back unless you do what I say. Capiche?" The trio stare at his face in the Gauntlet screen, and he smiles—though it doesn't even come close to reaching his eyes. "Go to Club Milton here in town. One of my boys there will explain things to you. Make me proud, kiddos."
The video transmission winks out before Walter has a chance to yell at him again. He raises livid eyes up to Jonathan, who pinches the bridge of his nose with a shaking hand. "Oh, Lord…," he says in a whimper.
As Walter pounds his foot into the pavement of the empty street, Isabeau breathes out slowly in an attempt to calm down. "U-um, 'Club Milton,' did he say? We have to do as he says."
Jonathan, mouth trembling, nods.
The three Samurai stand over the large bolder that was once Koga Saburo—a demon one of Tayama's men forced them to face down. But now that they had done what he told them to do…
Jonathan turns to face the manager of Club Milton, his arms crossed as a smirk is wide across his face. "Now, take us to our fellow." He finds it difficult to keep his voice steady.
The Tokyo citizen laughs and waves Jonathan off. The Samurai looks down to his hand, and a dark anger flashes across his face. "Hold on there, hotshot. I just gotta report this in to Roppongi."
He walks off with a smartphone in his hand, and as he taps a few things on its screen and raises it to his ear, Isabeau watches, disgusted. "Where is he going? Why can he not simply have his conversation here? Is he not planning on giving Flynn back?"
Walter grabs her wrist as she starts to advance toward him. "Calm yourself. If we do anything they don't like, Flynn could—"
The manager jogs back over to the trio and slips the smartphone into his jeans pocket. With a displeased purse of his lips, he tosses his black hair back and spits, "Lucky you. Mister Tayama's agreed to meet you at the Hills building in Roppongi. You know where that is, right?"
"The…'Hills,' you say?" Walter asks, wary. "That's where our fellow is?"
"Heheh, you betcha… Alive though—? Eh, that I don't know about," the man says smugly. He lets out a scream as Jonathan grabs him by his collar. "W-what the hell, man?! I was screwing with you, I was just screwing with you, don't get all bent outta shape!" he yells.
Jonathan grits his teeth and tightens his grip on the man's shirt. "If not for Flynn, I would have cut you down where you stood!"
"If you're that worried, why don'cha go and see him already?!" the manager says, panicked.
As Isabeau watches with her mouth agape, Walter whistles—and makes no move to stop his fellow Samurai. "Jonathan's in rare form," he notes with a grin.
The manager grunts as he's thrown to the pavement. "The Hills building in Roppongi, it was? Fine." Jonathan sends a final, disgusted glare down to him before turning heel and stalking back to Walter and Isabeau. "Come. Let us be on our way."
Walter's heel taps on the hard carpet of the Hills elevator as he, Jonathan, and Isabeau ride it to Tayama's office. The agitated boy, his arms crossed tight, glances toward the guard beside them in the cramped quarters. The guard, in response, glares his way.
"Walter," Jonathan says quietly.
"What?"
"Walter, calm down."
"C-calm down?" The words escape him in disbelief. "You're asking me to calm down? I-I cannot even recall how long we have been here, believing our fellow to be dead! Here he is, right before us, and you—" He falters.
Jonathan shakes his head. "I…I lost control. It endangered our comrade. What if, when we find him, he—"
The elevator pings before Jonathan can finish his thought.
The guard slips past all three and plants his hands on the metal frame as he waits for the Samurai to leave. Isabeau takes one glance at her fellows before leading them out into a posh, gaudy office overlooking all of Tokyo.
The elevator guard stands beside it as its doors close, leaving Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau alone with two Ashura-kai thugs and a calm, well-put-together man in a sleek black suit behind a desk. And it doesn't take any of them long at all to see the missing person.
"Where is our fellow?" Jonathan asks, voice quivering in anger. "You are Tayama, correct? We demand his release!"
"That's Mister Tayama to you!" one of the thugs shouts. "Watch your mouth, punk!"
Tayama throws a glare the two men's way. After a moment of silence, he finally exhales and returns his attention to the Samurai. "Please excuse my men. They can be a bit…hot-blooded. If they lose their heads, even I can't rein them in." A sick smile cracks his lips up.
Walter scowls and goes to speak, only, Isabeau does it for him. "We do not intend on dallying here long. Release our fellow, and we shall go."
The Ashura-kai leader spreads his hands out wide. "Sure, that can be arranged. But first, you'll ah, need to do me one more favor… If you don't mind."
"What?!" Jonathan outbursts.
A dark look twists Tayama's face. "Yeah… I've been hearing you were marching through my Toyko like you own the joint. And you busted up a bunch of my boys in the process." Jonathan flinches. "But we'll call it even with this. How about it?"
Jonathan stares at the man with terror on his face. Walter glances his way and tightens his mouth. Both look to Isabeau, who nods.
"Then it's a done deal." If Tayama was pleased, he certainly didn't sound like it. "I want you to do a little charity work for me—on behalf of my Tokyo. Kill Yuriko, from the Ring of Gaia."
The words ring in the office as Walter's face pales. "That's…Kaga's…"
"Oh, so you know them?" Tayama snorts. "Great, saves me the trouble of explaining. Yuriko's in charge of the Ring of Gaia. She's been trying to steal our generator so she can hog all the electricity to herself." As a heartless smile slips across his face, he adds, "What a bitch, am I right?"
The three Samurai stare blankly at him. "Generator…?" Walter asks hesitantly.
In a sigh, Tayama replies, "The Yamato Perpetual Reactor. It generates all of Tokyo's electricity." He snaps his fingers the direction of his two thugs, who hurry to a television set hanging from the ceiling. "Hey, you two. Show them the video."
The man who insulted the group earlier switches it on—but not before casting a nasty glare their way, of course.
The television screen flashes to life, instantly showing a video that looks as though it was cued up in advance for the Samurai to see. Presented is a colorful room filled with gaudy toys and patterns. Several children in plain uniform stand with adults. One boy, with a wide grin on his face, pumps his fists up and declares, "I'm going to study hard and make Tokyo great!" Beside him, a girl puts her hands behind her back and, with just as large a grin, states, "There are so many books and movies here… It's like a wonderland…"
Isabeau whips her eyes from it to Tayama, watching them with expectation. "You take even innocent children as hostages?!"
He holds his hands up. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there. This Flynn fellow of yours really got you all worked up, hasn't it? No, we're raising these kids—the future of Tokyo, right here in Hills. You've seen how Tokyo is, right? The way things are going, humans will kill themselves off." His expression darkens. "You see all that destruction in the streets? That wasn't the demons. That's why I've stepped up as leader—to build a utopia. Where we humans are safe."
"A…a utopia?" Jonathan asks.
Ignoring this, Tayama continues. "But if the electricity goes, Tokyo's future goes with it." His fingers snap. "Just like that."
His face twisted, Walter replies, "Well, I'm sorry for that, but we have our own pressing concerns. There is no time to aid you in your utopia project."
Tayama puts a fist to his hip as he brandishes the Gantlet—set on the desk—in the air with his free hand. "Yeah, I saw on this Gauntlet of your guy's that you're looking for the 'Black Samurai'? The Black Samurai's a woman who uses demons, right? So if she ain't one of us, and she ain't one of you… The Ring of Gaia seems like a pretty good suspect, huh?" He smiles once more. "Go make me proud, kiddos."
Some dialogue used is either taken straight from the game and/or modified to fit the context of the fanfiction. I say this now since outside of the bartender's first line, there wasn't any recycled lines in Chapter 1.