Cries of Summer: The Night She Came Home
Ryugu residence. 12:50 PM…
Rena stopped and gasped at the sight before her!
A man in a dark blue outfit and a pale white mask stood at her front door, wielding her old billhook!
Rena tightened her grip on the machete!
He began moving threateningly towards her with the billhook at the ready!
Rena tightened her grip on her machete and charged forward, screaming in a fury!
She aggressively struck at the man who, surprised by her ferocity, barely managed to parry her blows!
The man swung his billhook at her!
She blocked!
Both combatants were at a stalemate!
Then Rena saw a strange sight.
Out of the corner of her eye, another masked man appeared!
He wore a hockey mask with red markings that had clearly seen better days.
His clothes appeared to be that of a hunter's, only extremely ragged.
Momentarily distracted, her opponent delivered a violent kick to her ribs!
"Argh!"
Rena fell backward, dropping her machete!
The masked man walked to her with the billhook raised…
"I heard what happened to your son! I'm sorry for your loss!"
She spoke in Japanese, hoping that if the man had chosen Hinamizawa as his hiding place, he would understand her.
It seemed to be working, as the man suddenly paused.
"Please, it doesn't have to be this way!"
Before the man could respond, an arrow suddenly struck his shoulder!
Rena turned and saw the second masked man drop a bow and draw a machete more ornate than the one she currently carried!
The first masked man snapped the arrow in his shoulder and bolted away from her, prompting the second man to run at her instead!
Rena seized her machete and pointed it at him!
The second masked man paused instantly!
He tilted his head as if trying to comprehend that a little girl was challenging him to a duel.
Rena started to panic internally.
"Why? Why is this happening now? Oyashiro-sama, what have I done wrong?"
Her throat began to feel itchy.
To her surprise, the masked man dropped his machete!
Then, he slowly lifted up his mask!
Jason Voorhees saw the girl's face contort in fear before she fainted.
He lowered his mask and took back his old Camp Crystal Lake custom-made machete, leaving the fancy Indonesian golok at the girl's feet.
"Rena!"
He wheeled around and faced a group of children.
He saw one of the younger girls shriek and hide behind one of the older girls.
He saw one of the boys scream at him.
Were they this girl's friends?
Jason had no qualms killing adults, especially the rowdy counselors of Camp Crystal Lake.
But even a soul as dark as his would not harm children.
Jason sheathed the machete and walked away, leaving the children to attend to their friend.
"That man is more like me than I thought. I stabbed him in the chest, and he can still fight! And that girl! I'm surprised she managed to hold her own against him in a duel."
Jason pondered.
"I wonder if she lost her mother too?"
He quickly glanced back.
While most of the group were tending to Rena, Rika glared intensely at Jason.
Noting the eerie glow in her eyes, he resumed his stroll towards the woods.
"Or maybe this entire town is like me…"
Outskirts of Hinamizawa, 9:00 PM…
"You again!"
Jason Voorhees mentally screamed as he ambushed the familiar opponent in the pale white mask!
Michael Myers, armed with the Indonesian golok Jason abandoned earlier, was a much more formidable combatant than his imposter Roy!
He evaded and parried Jason's blows while inflicting wounds that would've killed anyone who wasn't a revenant zombie!
"Is it just me? Or has he gotten stronger?"
Both combatants tilted their heads, trying to gauge the other's skills!
Unknown to both of them, a police car was racing back to Okinomiya downhill from their battleground.
In its back seat, Juuza Amakusa angrily cursed his luck.
As he was leaving to call for the Banken, Detective Mamoru Akasaka showed up with nearly half of the Okinomiya Police Department!
Needless to say, driving a stolen car away from multiple homicides with an assault rifle in the passenger seat earned him a one-way trip to jail!
"I'm with the JSDF! I didn't chop those people up! Do I look like I have the strength?!"
Amakusa pleaded with the cops in front.
"You don't realize what you're doing! If you don't let me contact my superiors, they'll slaughter everyone there!"
"Save it for the judge!"
Suddenly, a jeep labeled "MP" blocked the road!
"The hell is the American military police doing here?"
The police car slowed to a halt.
Amakusa immediately ducked, narrowly dodging a stream of bullets that perforated the cops!
Moments later, he was violently dragged out onto the street by a trio of MPs!
"[Scrawny, isn't he?]"
"Russians?!"
Amakusa realized.
"We're Americans, John."
The oldest of the "MPs" angrily reminded his subordinate in English.
"[Relax, Boris. I could tell him I'm Russian-American.]"
"[Ivan, shut up before you get us all killed!]"
The other subordinate yelled as the leader crouched in front of Amakusa.
"Sorry about that rescue, friend. I hope you were not injured?"
"I'm fine."
"You are Skylark 7, yes?"
"I am."
Amakusa lied confidently, solving a puzzle that had bugged him since the morning's events.
"So that's how Hibari 7 died. He left the school to contact these guys, and the killer snuck in and beheaded him when he returned!"
"We'd better get moving. The dogs won't be far behind. No offense."
"None taken."
Amakusa joined his "saviors" on their commandeered jeep!
"By the way, I'm Boris. This is Ivan and Vadim. If anyone else is around, we are Robert Miller, John Hooper, and David Carpenter."
"Nanahara. Ryu Nanahara."
Amakusa replied, using Hibari 7's name.
"They're not the Banken, but they'll do for now. If both the Americans and the Russians know about Hinamizawa, then the Cold War might not remain cold for long!"
"Ryu, do you know a place to get some good coffee? We might take a while."
"I know a place, next town over."
Hinamizawa Branch School…
Rena slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah. Did I fall asleep in class again? I knew I shouldn't have woken up that early."
She shuddered as she remembered the walking corpse she saw earlier.
"What was that? Maybe I've been watching too much tokusatsu."
The smell of roast meat quickly filled her nostrils!
But something seemed off…
She rubbed her eyes and saw a hellish landscape!
In a panic, she looked around and realized that she was standing in the smoking ruins of her school!
To her horror and grief, she saw the charred corpses of her friends, still recognizable by unburnt scraps of their clothing!
Rena let out an anguished wail!
"Oh, how I've missed the screams of dying children!"
She watched as a burnt man in a striped sweater emerged from a pile of debris!
Rena grabbed a fallen knife!
"I'll kill you!"
"Kill me?"
He laughed.
"You know what? After what you did to your friends, I'll give you a free stab!"
Rena turned shocked.
"I did this?"
"Let me refresh your memory. You rigged the place to blow up, ranted about aliens for a while, then had a little sword fight with your boyfriend over there."
He gestured at Keiichi's corpse, still clutching a bat.
"One of your cute little classmates fudged the fuse and 'KABOOM!' No more school. Forever."
The corpses began to moan.
"Why did you kill us, Rena? Why?"
"No! I didn't do this! I would never hurt you!"
Rena pleaded to the undead classmates.
She saw the burnt man laughing at her pain!
In anger, she charged at him with the knife!
"DIE!"
She stabbed him in the chest and knocked him down!
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"
She stabbed the burnt over and over again, only for him to keep laughing!
"DIIIEE!"
She plunged the blade deep into his twisted heart!
He fell limp. His clawed hand collapsed to the side.
Crying, she lifted up her head…
… only to see a bloody Keiichi!
"Rena…"
"Keiichi-kun!"
Keiichi caressed her cheek with his trembling hand!
"I… still… love… you…"
He coughed up blood and expired.
"No! Keiichi-kun! I didn't mean to-!"
Rena pulled at him and cried.
"My…turn…"
The burnt man's clawed hand tore through Keiichi's chest and stabbed Rena!
Irie Clinic, 9:00 PM…
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
Rena shrieked, startling her father.
"Rena, it's me! You're safe!"
"Papa? Where am I?"
"The Irie Clinic. They said you just fainted, but then you started thrashing and screaming, and they had to sedate you."
"It was a bad dream…"
Rena clutched her head and winced.
"Where did that masked man go?"
"Masked man? You mean the one-"
"The one who saved me…"
"What do you mean-"
Before the conversation could continue, a somber Dr. Loomis entered the room.
"Doctor?"
"Rena. Mr. Ryugu."
"Have you found the man who attacked my daughter?"
"The police found five bodies on the road to Hinamizawa. Among them was Rina Mamiya, the woman you knew as Ritsuko…"
"What?! It can't be…"
"… and Roy Burns, the man I was supposed to capture and the primary suspect until now. In short, we may have more than one killer around."
"There were two masked men!"
Rena shouted.
"Did you see them, Rena?!"
"The one I fought off wore a blue uniform, like a mechanic's. He had a pale white mask like-"
Rena grabbed a magazine and pointed to a picture.
"-like this man!"
Loomis froze in fear and confusion.
The picture Rena had pointed to was that of William Shatner as Captain Kirk in an ad for Star Trek.
He only knew one man who wore that exact outfit, and he was supposedly in federal custody.
The jack-o-lantern shaped head at the school should've warned him!
Despite his suspicions, Loomis tried his best to continue.
"And the other one? The one your friends saw you with?"
"He saved me. He wore hunter's clothes and a hockey mask with red markings. Is he really dead?"
"No. They found a hockey mask next to Roy, but it had blue markings. It must be whoever helped him hide here."
"One day, and you've already raised hell. Like old times, eh, Loomis?"
A man in a suit had entered the room behind Loomis.
"Excuse me for a bit."
Loomis turned around and dragged the man outside.
Then he punched him square in the face!
"YOU LIAR!"
Loomis bellowed in English.
"You told me Michael would be contained! Why the hell is he here in rural Japan of all places?!"
The man smirked through a bloody nose.
"You actually believe her, Loomis? Kids these days have a very vivid imagination, you know?"
Loomis drew his pistol, prompting the man to do the same!
"You've gone mad!"
"Damn right, I've gone mad! I should've never trusted you with Michael to begin with!"
"Both of you! Stand down!"
An elegantly dressed woman with tied ginger-blonde hair and a cane made her presence known.
Agent George Fraser lowered his PPK.
Loomis did the same with his C96.
"You win, Loomis. The Shape is here."
Fraser said, wiping his bloody nose.
"And why is that?!"
"Washington picked up some Warsaw Pact chatter concerning Japan. You know those poachers that went missing the other day? Former United Red Army."
"I thought the remnants all fled to the Middle East after '72!"
"Some went into hiding and met with the KGB. What they want with this quaint little village is beyond me."
"Let me get this straight. You want to weaponize Michael Myers?! And you call me mad?!"
"Uncle Sam sends monsters to kill other monsters. Business as usual, Doc."
Loomis turned to the woman who spoke earlier.
"And you are-?"
"Call me Beatrice, Doctor. I'm here to make sure Agents Russell and Fraser don't overstep themselves."
Fraser scoffed.
"'Overstep ourselves.' We're not children, Betty."
Beatrice stomped her heel into his foot, causing him to wince.
As he bent down to cradle his foot, she held the pointed hook end of her cane under his throat!
"My friends get to call me 'Betty.' My enemies call me 'the Golden Witch.' Would you like to know why?"
She cracked a twisted smile.
"I…got…the point…"
Fraser groaned out.
"Pun-based humor is unbecoming of you."
Beatrice released the cane, leaving Fraser to grasp his neck instead.
"What is going on-"
Dr. Kyosuke Irie approached the group, missing the tense standoff.
She curtsied in front of Irie and spoke in Japanese.
"Apologies for the outburst, Dr. Irie. It appears that some negligence on my partner's behalf has raised quite a bit of trouble for your little village."
"Forgive me, Ms. Beatrice, but I'd hardly call a group of trained killers 'a bit of trouble.'"
"I've already prepared a set of countermeasures. You have nothing to fear."
She looked towards the room containing Rena and her father.
"That man, Mr. Ryugu, was it?"
"Yes?"
"I highly suggest you hide him and his daughter here for the time being. Those men might retrace their steps back to their house."
"Understood."
"Where's Russell now?"
Loomis asked Beatrice in English.
"He had some last-minute business in Okinomiya, likely with the local PD. He said he'd make it in time for the festival."
"Festival?! I understand it's a religious ceremony, but are you seriously suggesting we relax whilst madmen plot to stab us from the shadows?!"
"Like I said, Doctor, I've prepared. Besides, the purpose of the festival is to cleanse one's sins. Perhaps you should spend some time with Rena and Mr. Ryugu. You don't want a repeat of Jason and Pamela, do you?"
Loomis snapped!
"How dare you?!"
He moved to punch her, only for Beatrice to drop her cane!
By the time it hit the ground, Beatrice had seized Loomis's gun and pointed it at his forehead!
"Do something stupid like that again, and you'll be begging for me to shoot you."
Loomis chafed under her borderline demonic smirk!
Just then, Nurse Takano approached the group to check on Rena!
She visibly paused in shock at the sight!
Beatrice immediately backpedaled and played innocent.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that! The doctor bumped into me, and I misinterpreted his intentions. Picked the wrong day to wear a miniskirt."
Loomis stood dumbfounded and embarrassed as the young nurse eyed him suspiciously.
"Anyways, my partner and I are done for the day. You can check on the patient now."
Beatrice and Fraser left for the exit.
As they did, they passed Battler, Genji, and the Game Club, who had arrived to visit Rena.
The relatively stoic Genji did a double-take when the two agents passed by, as did Rika.
Beatrice stopped and turned towards the children.
"Battler Ushiromiya?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Don't let these events get to you. You have a bright future ahead with your young bride. Enjoy the festival tomorrow."
"Of course, ma'am."
"I'm also looking forward to your performance tomorrow, Frederica..."
Rika gasped!
"...I mean, 'Furude Rika.'"
She smiled deviously at the young priestess.
Then, the agents continued their stroll.
"That was weird. Genji?"
Battler looked towards his loyal butler.
"Genji? What's wrong?"
"She… She looks just like…"
"Like who?"
Genji rubbed his head.
"I must be seeing things again."
Rika stared at the mysterious lady.
"Is she… just like Bernkastel?"
Once the two agents were far enough from the clinic, Beatrice made her move!
"Fraser?"
"What now?"
She untied her hair and gave him a bow adorned with a rose.
"I want you to be my date."
With those words, Fraser's demeanor changed completely.
He removed a gas mask from his suit and donned it!
"A village full of monsters. What better place for a witch?"
Beatrice mused to herself as Fraser drew a sword bayonet and set out in the direction of the Ryugu House!
To be continued…