Chapter 2

Ken crossed a knee over another as he sat in the living room in another single chair, after deposing of the damaged one in the ghoul attack. Deep in thought, he looked out blankly, but with narrow eyes, his hands clasped in his lap. His mind raced with thoughts of anger and doubt.

He told Hide to get some rest before they engaged with the Shadow Lord, they had twelve hours, and assured him that everything would be fine. He would not die. Hide had no worries, he trusted Kaneki, and slept like a baby curled up on the couch.

Ken smiled at his friend. Touka was upstairs with the children, asleep. But he couldn't sleep. And his body didn't need as much rest as it did when he was human. He had fuel reserves that could last for days. But he did have a cup of coffee that he occasionally sipped on.
A finger on his right hand involuntarily twitched.

The Shadow Lord was a ruthless hybrid human/ghoul with possible connections to the One-Eyed Owl, Eto. But there was no direct link that he could find, only rumour.

Ken recalled their last encounter, and the fear of losing his daughter and Hide to the man's insidious plot to dethrone the One-Eyed King.

And that was only one a couple of weeks ago, hence the bruise on his ribs from his daughter that was slow to heal. Or, and he thought, was the bruise just a continued manifestation of his own guilt, purposely kept it from fully healing, as a reminder that he failed to protect his daughter. He failed as a father to keep her safe from harm.

His daughter had been kidnapped and brainwashed with a chemical compound, while under the claw of the Shadow King, as Ken searched for her within the villain's treacherous labyrinth compound on his private island. She wasn't strong as a normal ghoul and her child psyche was still in development, easily overcome and controlled by the Shadow Lord's commands.

And using his own parental methods, he summarily overrode the Shadow Lord's control with a father's love, and also fed her some of his own blood which canceled out the chemical. However, she did get a good shot in with a heavy handed tentacle to his ribs.
The Shadow Lord also tried to convert Hide to his side by using more conventional methods of torture. But the binds that tied them together managed to win the tide, and Hide proved he was much stronger than the Shadow Lord thought.

Ken told Hide to stay away from this next fight with the Shadow Lord, but Hide was never one to back down from a challenge. Whenever anyone picked on Ken in school, Hide would always be there in the thick of things as his shield, even getting pounced as a result. Back when they were simple friends, and classmates, Hide's gleeful attitude always gave Ken courage even in his darkest of moods. So, when he insisted on coming with Ken to fight the Shadow Lord, there was no talking him out of it.

And they would do this alone.

"Hide, wake up, it's time to go," Ken said softly.

Hide mumbled under his breath, then said, "Just five more minutes, mom."

Ken smiled amused. He leaned over, picked up his coffee cup, and drank down the rest of it. It was a special blend that he leaned to make when at the Anteiku, coffee cafe. When he became a ghoul, he could no longer enjoy the foods he once enjoyed. This coffee helped.

Hide rubbed his eyes, then sat up. He stretched and yawned. He wore a mask. He had different masks for different situations to cover his deformity. When he arrived, he wore a simple black mask that covered his mouth. Now, he wore a loose handkerchief, so he could breath better to sleep. He currently looked like a bandit about to rob a train.

"What time is it?" Hide asked, looking towards a window. It was dark.

"About 2am," Ken said. "I think we've given the Shadow Lord's minions enough time to set their traps, don't you think?"
Hide smiled under his mask. "Absolutely, wouldn't want this to be boring," he said regaled.

Ken shook his head. I will protect you, Hide. No matter what.

"I'll leave a note for Touka," Ken said. "I don't want her anywhere near where we're going. And we'll let the rest of GOAT know to be ready for anything."

"Right," Hide agreed. He reached into his bag that he brought with him, and then fingered, and twirled a set of keys. "I'll drive. The rendezvous point is ten miles from here and I won't have you carrying me around like some weak baby."

"Hide, you're not weak—far from it," Ken said. "In fact, you're the strongest person I know."

"Oh, now you're gonna make me cry."

They both had a good chuckle.

Ken was just in the mist of writing the note, when Touka quietly came down the stairs. Ken saw her. "Touka, we're leaving."

She had a worried look on her face. "Be careful," she said, "but I wish I was coming with you. Damn! Sometimes kids are a nuance."
Ken smirked, knowing she was half joking.

Touka was never one to show too much affection in front of others, but Hide was family. Ken went to her and they kissed with a passion only a wife and husband could deliver.

Ken kissed her, their lips locking in moist compression. When she pulled back, Ken felt he was indestructible, that he could do anything. "That kiss is going to fuel me for hours."

"Come back, and I'll give you the rest," she said.

Hide chuckled.

Touka frowned. "And what the hell are you laughing?"

Ken saw his friend smiling. "Oh, nothing, really, I'm just a little jealous, that's all. For as long as I've known Kaneki, he's always been shy around women. I've had to push him to ask girls out, he always had his nose in some book. I was the womanizer. I can see it in your eyes, Kaneki. She makes you happy, really happy. And that fills my heart with joy."

Touka blushed. "Hide, come back alive," she wished.

"Do I get a kiss from a beautiful woman if I do?"

Ken laughed. "If you find one, by all means." He smirked. "But this one's all mine."

Hide laughed.

Seven hours after the initial challenge, they arrived at a Church citadel, during what was seemed to be a classical nightmarish cliche of a dark and gloomy night. The moon cast and eerie glow upon an adjacent graveyard, allowing shadows to act like the dead were rising from their graves.

Hide was a little freaked out, but he kept his cool, and stayed near Ken.

Dressed in a black bodysuit, but with his demonic mask clipped to a waist belt, his ghostly white hair glowering in the light, Ken looked demonic. His tentacles remained in his body. If needed, he'd bring them out, but he didn't want to appear provocative.

A shadow suddenly jumped, making Hide flinch.

Seidou was perched on a large, tall gravestone, that seemed to descend into the sky. His ghastly, hunched form, looked down from his position, his shroud, and sinister appearance, gave Ken pause for thought. Had he been responsible for the former police detective's transformation? But he had nothing to do with his capture and change. Then why was Ken blamed? Or was it just Seidou's twisted sense of misdirected blame?

"Hello, King," came Seidou's weaselly voice. "So very pleased you could make it." He put two fingers into his mouth, as if to suck on them, a possible nervous reaction.

Ken used every ounce of will to stop himself from launching an attack on the traitor. He opened his mouth, but Hide spoke first. "Hey! Glad to see you again, Slimeball. And stop putting your fingers in your mouth, you big baby."

Seidou adjusted his gaze. "Oh, you…" He sighed deeply, as of Hide being here was an annoyance. "You insufferable worm. Call me Owl! How many takes do I have to tell you!"

Hide seemed to get amusement out of taunting Seidou, Ken noticed. For some reason, Seidou had an underline hate for Hide which probably stemmed from his kinship with Ken.

"I can think of a few other things I'd like to call you, most of which are not for the faint of heart," Hide said, appearing to smile beneath his mask, winking at Ken.

Ken smirked thinly. "Where is the Shadow Lord, Seidou?"

Seidou gritted his teeth. "That name no longer has any meaning for me."

"But it's who you are, your true self." Hide extended his arms. "You were welcomed into our fold despite your shortcomings, but then you turned, and nearly committed seppuku when you kidnapped the King's daughter. Not to mention me. Although, I'm only second grade meat."

Ken put a hand on Hide's shoulder. "You're second to none," he said earnestly.

Hide looked at Ken with a nod. "Thanks, and I think I might want to retract that last statement." And he laughed softly.

Seidou rolled his eyes, and sneered. He snorted. "The day I was turned, my ties to the human world were broken. I feel pain everyday, thanks to my change. And I blame you, King, and your stupid war."

Ken eyed Seidou. Ken knew the conflict between ghouls and humans was not a product of his making, but Seidou's hate was of his own making. "The past is the past, and I've moved on. You should to. What has the Shadow Lord promised you to turn traitor?"

"That's my business, King" Seidou said with a chuckle. "And for the moment, I just want to satisfy my urge to hunt and feed, now that I have them." He turned to Hide.

Suddenly, triggered by anxiety, the tentacles inside Ken's lower back emerged, slowly, but menacingly. They surrounded Hide, pulsating with power.

Seidou watched, but didn't react. He could leap away to avoid them, so Ken remained merely proactive with just protecting Hide. Attacking the other would be a moot point.

"Threats are meaningless if you can't back them up, Seidou," Kaneki said with intensity. He could feel his instincts boil, his tentacles sniffing the air for any other threats. A dog howled in the distance, a strange mist filtered along the ground, creating a spookier place.
When Kaneki was a human, this sort of atmosphere would frighten the hell out of him, but now after everything he had gone through, and becoming of a pillar of the night, it was nothing to him. He was more afraid of the day time and the fears it wrought.

Ken observed Seidou went to suck on two fingers again, but he dropped his hand down. Both his arms then dangled like weightless limbs at his side as he crouched like some sort of gargoyle on a roof top. He seemed quiet, almost contemplative, as if gauging the situation.

But Ken knew Seidou had no chance.

"Very well, let's get to the matter at hand," Seidou said finally. "The Shadow Lord's invitation is legit, but he has no intention of fighting you. And he sent me to tell you personally. The computer slug was, however, a means to an end to get you here."

Ken felt his body tense with a secondary threat. "Why is the Shadow Lord playing games?"

Seidou laughed. "Mind games is his specialty. And he knows how to pull your strings, King."

"You have my attention," Ken said, "but I fail to see the purpose in dragging us all the way out here if only to taunt—" Ken gasped. "Touka," he muttered under his breath.

"But she's safe, Kaneki," Hide reminded him.

"Then how come she's there?" Seidou pointed to the rooftop of the church, where another ghoul, cast in shadow—not the Shadow Lord—held Touka bound in tentacles.

"Kaneki!" she cried out.

"Touka!" he replied. "But how?"

Seidou chuckled with a sinisterness that went beyond creepy. "That ghoul the Shadow Lord sent to attack you at your home was modified genetically to mimic your DNA, King. The Shadow King knew you would eat it, knew you would find the computer slug, after forcefully regurgitating his corpse, or chunks of it, purposefully filling human food in it's clothing pockets. Human food make ghouls sick. But the moment you did, you gave it a piece of you to grow and become you, to copy you in every way. The smallest chunk was able to act as you."

Ken still didn't quite understand, but he quickly brought what he heard to the fore front of his thoughts, and gave rise to the idea, that the other ghoul, the one he ate, became a clone of himself, bided its time, and then kidnapped Touka soon after he left the house.
"The kids!" Ken immediately thought, and his tentacles began to grow and twitch, and pulsate, as they reacted to his emotions. Hide ducked from under them, and took cover near a large tombstone. "Touka, are the kids already?"

"They're okay, King," she said.

King?

Ken sensed something amiss. He sniffed the air and it smelled fowl. He couldn't smell any of Touka's perfume. It was a powerful scent.
Once she had splashed too much on and it overpowered his olfactory senses, he had to stay away from her for a few hours until it wore down. Now, there was nothing. Even so, there should've been some lingering after effect from her sweat glands.

It was a trick, and he wasn't falling for it. And besides, GOAT would never allow Touka to be taken prisoner, not with all their power. And if they did, they knew they have to deal with the King's wrath.

His emotions were hot. They attacked his home and threatened his family. Did they really think he could be beguiled this easily?
Ken turned back to Seidou, and the other's eyes widened almost with realization. Seidou appeared to know the ploy had failed. He may have been telling the truth about that shape-changing ghoul, but lied about everything else.

"I won't be fooled," Ken said, clenching his teeth. Then he opened his mouth, giving credence to hunger. It was time to feast.
Ken launched two tentacles at Seidou, obliterating the gravestone he stood on, driving the traitor to jump asunder. The Owl was stupid, but he was fast. A bi-product of his generic make-up with his ghoul counterpart.

With the ploy discovered, the other ghouls pounced. The Touka imposer went after Hide, while Ken dealt with the other unknown, shadowy ghoul. Seidou remained at a safe distance, and appeared to be driving Ken away from Hide. The other ghoul tried to attack Ken, but one tentacle, as sharp as a knife, sliced through the other like a hot knife through butter. And its hunks of flesh dissolved, bubbling into nothingness when it hit the ground, like a vampire in sunlight. Ken learned to use a dissolving agent against his opponents whenever he attacked them, inserting it in their flesh. It prevented regeneration.

"Bastard!" Seidou shouted, as he avoided an attack from flying tentacles that snapped and whipped at him. The Owl jumped from one gravestone to another like a cowardly rabbit. "But the last laugh is on you, King. Your friend Hide is about to become ghoul chow."

Ken turned for a moment, and that was when Seidou seized on an opportunity, and struck him hard across the back with one of his own tentacles. The impact was enough to daze him, but not do any damage. Then, Ken felt something plunge into his back—a sharp object of some sort. He gasped, but it was not fatal.

Seidou laughed, as Ken dropped to the ground to his knees, his tentacles no longer obeying his commands, landing with a thud. It was as he had been subjected to some kind of paralyzing agent with a sedative drug. His blinked, his mind felt cloudy with sleep.

"That was too easy, King." Seidou chuckled. "What do they say? Family and friends are a liability and a distraction."

Ken tried to fight the drowsy feeling.

He reached out, seeing Hide in the distance, with the fake Touka emerging on him, and tried to force the toxin out of his system, but it was quick acting.

"Don't worry, King," Seidou stepped out in front for Kaneki. The other crouched, dangerously close. "You fell for the Shadow Lord's plan, hook, line, and sinker—you and your friend. But you're not going to die, oh no, not yet. Revenge is dish best served cold, as they say."

"No," Ken mouthed, but his body wouldn't obey him.

Then, with a single punch, something that would never have hurt him otherwise except for his condition, Ken collapsed completely into unconsciousness, darkness taking him.

Breaking his promise to protect his friend.

To be continued...