Chapter 15: the hunters become the hunted.
"And then, he ran away like a coward!" Damona said while face-timing with her father.
"Aye, the nerve of some yokai, I tell ya what," the oni king sighed, "Damona, are ye sure ye don't want to come back here just yet?"
"Dad, if I run away, I'm letting that jerk win," Damona said, "I plan to move back in with you after the wedding, but first I'm dealing with that mangy lion-dog and anyone crazy enough to help him!"
Plundros looked through his screen into his daughter's eyes.
"I gotta go, Dad, call ya sometime tomorrow," Damona sighed hanging up.
Plundros leaned back in his throne and sighed, he was worried. Ever since she was born the oni king had wanted to protect his daughter, she was more valuable than any piece of treasure he had ever plundered, to him at least.
He eyed a family portrait on the left wall of his throne room, depicting him with a cheshire grin, a younger damona with a black hood wrapped snugly around her, and next to the two was an older yuki-onna with black hair and a white kimono, an infant cradled in her arms.
Damona's mother. She may have been crazy but she was the love of Plundros's afterlife. Just like her daughter's, she had a tendency to prioritize action over rational thought, a trait that ultimately tore the family apart. Just after their second daughter had been born, his wife had gotten a little too involved in her clan's activities, giving her a spot in the deepest, darkest part of the infinite inferno, the closest to literal hell one could get.
At the time Damona was young and impressionable, so he kept a strong face, trying his best to help her along… guess he didn't try hard enough. It was heart-wrenching when Damona had gone missing, with both his wife and eldest daughter gone. The great oni-king had sunk into a deep depression.
Plundros sat up with a snarl, he lost his daughter once, he'd be damned to do it again. He turned to a random Leadoni and yelled, "Get me the Kabuki Brothers!"
Later in the middle of a park, a street bartender was cleaning off the his counter, business had been slow, save for the HFD(Human Faced Dog) that showed up every night.
"The usual?" he said to the little freakshow.
"Of course," He said in reply.
"You got it, chief," the bartender said pouring him a glass of "his usual." after handing it to the dog person, he noticed another man, who seemed to be a priest, had sat down, "and for you?"
"Jasmine tea, if you would," the man replied with a smile, solemn smile. As the bartender prepared his drink, he took notice of the HFD next to him, "down on your luck, my friend?"
"Like you would not believe," the yokai replied chugging his drink.
"Alcohol isn't a healthy way to deal with your emotional stress," the man said.
"This is toilet water," the HFD retorted gulping the remainder of it.
A sweat drop rolled down the man's forehead, luckily he was saved from this awkward exchange by his familiar's arivial, "Ah, Komane, how goes the search? Sir, a round of your finest milk, please."
"Well, Ah'll tell ya this, there sure are a lot of eyepos suddenly online," Komane said sitting down, "and yokai seemed to be shootin' me weird looks."
"Odd, those haven't been around since before we were enstated," the man said puzzled. The bartender set their drinks on the counter and he bowed in thanks.
"Ya don't think its got somethin ta do with that Oni, do ya?" The lion-dog said taking his milk.
"No, no yokai can just create an eyepo," the man said, sipping his tea, "and what about the looks yokai have been giving you?"
"They look at me like Ah just robbed a bank, some of them have kept their kids away from me, and others immediately began typing on their cellular phones," Komane replied as he drank.
"Curious," the man said again.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, two humanoid oni watched from the shadows. One of them had blood red, spider like hair, two horns and a red and black kimono like uniform, while the other had a long blue pony-tail, a single horn, and a blue and black version of his brother's uniform. Both had red eyes, white skin, and kabuki make-up.
"Is that him?" the red one asked.
"He fits the description on the Kai-net," the blue one replied.
"Alright, move quickly, if we fail, Plundros will have our heads," the first one said as they both began to sneak toward the man and his lion-dog. They effortlessly ran passed the section of the park, ducking behind the street bar completely unseen. The red one made a hand gesture, the other nodded and jumped onto the roof of the stand.
"Furthermore, we need to detain this oni quickly, but the looks of things it's as if she is beginning her own cult with those children," the man said. He continued to speak, but komane noticed something dripped onto his scarf, several more drips came down, some of which hitting his face. He looked up to the origin of the strange liquid and saw a large, blue tongue descend from the roof of the stand and wrapped around the lion dog in less than a second. The man had just enough time to see the demonic tongue before it was pulled to its origin, taking his familiar with it.
Komane tried to wiggle out of the tongues slimey grip as he was brought to its owner.
"Just, who in the world do ya think ya are, let me go!" komane demanded.
The blue oni said, "Bli am toable deemin!"
"What?" Komane asked in confusion.
"His name is Toadel Demon," a more clear voice said as a similar red oni joined him, "and I am Arachnevil…"
Arachnevil: S rank
Brave
"...and you are under arrest!" Arachnevil declared.
The lion-dog began to growl as his Holy flames grew, only to be extinguished by Toadel Demon's saliva.
Toadel Demon: S rank
Mysterious
"Eww, demon spit," Komane gagged.
"You think we didn't have precautions for your holy fire?" Arachnevil scoffed, "you are a fool."
"Did you account for holy water?" the exorcist yelled throwing a canister between them, from it sprouted a mixture of holy water and tear gas which engulfed all three of the yokai.
"Ugh, Holy Water grenades? When did those become a thing?" Arachnevil asked in pain.
"Oh, I think it's in my eyes!" his brother cired.
"Wait, your speech pattern returned to normal…" the red oni realized, "which means…"
As they were still in their haze, Komane jumped to his companion's side.
"The Kabuki Brothers," he said reigniting his flames.
"The question is, what do they want?" the exorcist inquired.
The two angry oni brothers leaped down from the roof of the stand, taking fighting stances as they landed. Komane began to swirl his aura, "Spirit burst!"
A shock wave of holy fire creating a barrier.
"Alright, we've got time, summon someone who can be those two!" Komane yelled.
"Right," the man agreed going for his book, he had flipped through the first five pages when they heard, "Toadel, TSUNAMI!"
In a few seconds a wave of dark blue liquid rushed through the barrier collapsing it on impact. The Exorcist and his familiar only had a second before the flood knocked them off their feet, throwing them around like dolls in a washing machine. After a few seconds the water flowed into the river, leaving the pair, soaked, out of breath and on their knees.
Komane tried to ignite his flames once more, but felt too cold from the demonic liquid, he fell to his knees once more. Arachnevil's crimson aura sparked as he readied his attack. Just before he had finished, the exorcist grabbed a medal and inserted it.
"Summoning, TOUGH!" his watch chimed.
"Gruff, stuff! rough, bluff! Red bang, chackistand, bling blang, Tough!"
"Rhinormous!" the giant humanoid rhino stag beetle yelled as he appeared.
Rhinormous: A rank
Tough
"Websmite!" Arachnevil said launching a crimson web at Komane. Before the attack hit the lion-dog, Rhinormous leaped in front of him, using his carapace as a shield. The web latched onto his shell, then exploded after a few seconds.
"Another enters the fray?" Arachnevil raised an eyebrow.
Toadel Demon gained a cocky grin, "well a missions no fun if it's too easy."
The giant Hercules beetle prepared his aura as he took a starting position. The Kabuki brothers stared him down, both putting their guard up. Rhinormous began to charge full force, "HORN BREAKER!"
With extreme speed he rammed the two oni brothers, but they were ready. Both brothers took a step to the side as he approached, when he was between them, both of them grabbed one of his arms and used the giant yokai's momentum against him, slamming the samurai beetle into the ground.
Rhinormous attempted to get back up on his feet, but like many insects, he was too back heavy to get himself upright.
"Well that was disappointing," Toadel Demon sighed. Meanwhile his brother leaped up and slammed down on the stag yokai's chest, a puff of purple smoke engulfing them, leaving only the brothers and his soul.
"Rhinormous relies mostly on momentum to attack, we can easily be turned against him, and like every insect the armor on his chest is weaker than his back," Arachnevil said, "there is no rational way they expected him to beat us."
"Unless he was just a distraction!" the blue oni pointed out that both the exorcist and the lion-dog had vanished.
"They couldn't have gotten far," his brother replied, "scout the area, leave no stone unturned."
"Right," Toadel demon said as the two began their search.
Meanwhile in the Shoten temple, a Mirapo appeared teleporting the exorcist and his Komane to the safety of its walls.
"That was close, Gabe" Komane sighed.
"Yes, I recommend we lay low, wait for those two to give up their search," "Gabe" replied, "they can be seen without my marbles which means they are too powerful to hide themselves."
"Which means no going out at night, and stick to populated areas," his familiar sighed, "that'll make things harder."
"Let's just hope we can still do our job with them around," the exorcist sighed, "where do these oni keep coming from?"