Chapter 20.

      The man's clothing was yellow silk embroidered with red phoenixes. His long, black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail at the back of his head and hung down past his shoulders, fixed with pins of trailing jade. His face had been painted in lines of gold and vermilion, making him seem unreal. He seemed small, wiry, sort of like the small dog with a tiny bark but giant enthusiasm to make up for it.

      The person sitting at the base of the throne was Ken, a metal band around his neck with a chain leading to the man's hand. Ken looked none the worse for wear, some dirt smudges on his face, a spot of blood or two, but in rather good shape. He'd been stripped down to his simple black T-shirt and jeans. Still clothed, which meant much better shape than anyone else. His eyes were large and he looked up at me with a kind of terror. Poor guy. This would be the second time we traumatized him.

      It wasn't hard to guess who this man in yellow silk must be. Maybe the throne gave it away.

      "Son Goku?" I asked, stepping before the throne.

      He got to his feet, grabbing the staff, and made a sweeping bow, every movement full of flowing grace and trailing silk as he stepped up to me. Ken grabbed onto the chain with both hands to avoid being drug by his neck, skidding along on his right hip. Like a puppy drug by a careless child.

      Surprisingly, Goku was about my height. Maybe an inch taller, but he was much shorter than I'd expected. And his eyes were startling. They were a brown leaning towards copper, seeming to reflect light like a metallic paint job on a car. His eyes practically glittered on their own. Eyes of fire. Go figure.

      "Blake-san." Goku smiled. No, beamed was the more appropriate word. "I am Son Goku, the Monkey King. A pleasure to meet you."

      His English was nearly perfect, just a bit of accent.

      "Wish I could say the same," I said sternly.

      He frowned a moment, one eyebrow lifting. "No introduction?"

      "You know who I am." I narrowed my eyes.

      "Don't I get a kiss?" He smiled again.

      "No." I just wasn't in the mood.

      "I think you should give me a kiss at least."

      "You're shit out of luck."

      "You seduce a vampire out of a blood rage but you won't give me a kiss?"

      "You got it." Can I just shoot him now? Please, please, please?

      "But...you shot and killed my people," Goku said in a pouty fashion, lower lip puffed out and eyes narrowing.

      "You stole and tortured my people," I shot back. Shit, were we even again?

      His eyebrows raised as if startled by that response. "Did not."

      "Yes, you did."

      "I did not."

      "Yes, you did."

      "I did not."

      Geez, this was going nowhere. I dressed up, battled weremonkeys, seen my people raped and beaten, and now I was arguing like a two-year-old.

      "They gave them to me," Goku insisted.

      "Who's they?" My eyebrows shot up.

      "Fujiwara-san."

      THAT FUCKING BASTARD. The only good vampire is one with a stake through his damned, undead heart. "He had no right. These are my people!"

      "Well, they're mine now. You didn't bring me a present and you won't give me a kiss."

      "I had them first."

      "Did not."

      "Did too."

      "Did not."

      I was sooo not doing this. I'd have to follow Kannon's advice. "How about a trade?"

      "Trade?" Goku perked right up.

      "What do you want in exchange for my people?"

      "My people."

      "Mine first."

      "Are not."

      "Yes, they were!"

      "Are not."

      God, just shoot me now. "Will you trade or not?"

      "How about a kiss?"

      "No."

      "No trade then."

      I caught myself reaching for the Browning. "All you want is a kiss?"

      "A kiss first, sex later."

      If we'd been in a bar, I'd have thrown my drink in his face. Then broken a chair over his head. Then stabbed him repeatedly with the broken splinters of wood. Then dropped a nuclear bomb on him. I'm an aggressive drunk. "I refuse."

      Goku shrugged smugly. The Browning was in my hand before my brain could follow, and the sharp retort of the bullet leaving the chamber told me I was kicking his ass now.

      He dropped to one knee and I pulled the trigger twice more into that mass of yellow silk. Nathaniel was taken care of.

      I didn't see the end of the stick as much as sensed the movement. The blur of movement caught me in the chin. I had the sensation of falling this time, but I don't remember hitting the ground, or I just didn't feel it. Too fast to see coming, too fast to plan for, whichever, it still meant I was in trouble.

       I was staring up at the night sky, the stars twinkling cheerfully at me, and the end of the stick moved in my view. There was a lack of sound; all I could hear was my own breathing through my skull. Then my ears seemed to pop like coming down from high altitude, and I could hear someone calling my name. I wanted to sit up and answer them, but my body refused to move. I could feel my body; it just wouldn't comply.

      Muscles twitched, and suddenly I could move, my fingers digging into the dirt, and I pushed myself up. I'd lost the Browning to the fog. The end of the stick was shoved nearly into my nose. I followed the length of the stick back to Goku. He was clutching at his chest, breathing raggedly, his eyes glittering ferally. His breathing sounded wet and gurgling in his chest, so I knew I'd hit a lung. He'd let go of the chain, and Ken had moved out of the way, wise enough to know you don't enter a gun and monkey fight unarmed.

      "Anita!" That was Jason, I could hear him just behind me. Not taking my eyes from the Monkey King, I lifted a hand to indicate Jason to stop.

      "It's between me and him," I said, my voice coming out a little raspy. "Stay out of it."

      I heard shuffling behind me, and slid back away from the end of the stick a little. Goku just kept glaring at me, waiting for his lungs to heal. I got back to my feet carefully, making sure everything responded. The end of the stick followed my movements, ready to jab at me.

       I grabbed the hilt of the machete, and Goku tensed, ready for my next move. I slid my right foot forward a little and pulled the blade out of the sheath. The end of the stick jabbed at me, and I slid my left foot around, turning my body around completely and away from the stick. I completed the twirl with the machete flying around for Goku's neck and shoulder area.

      He threw up his left arm before his face and the blade sank in until it met bone. I jerked on the blade and saw movement out of my peripheral vision. The stick hit me in the left shoulder and sent me stumbling to my knees. I kept the machete this time though, feeling it in my hands as they met the ground to catch myself.

      I started turning to meet Goku's next move, and felt something click inside of me. I was immediately filled with heat and the warm smell of fur. I felt power run down my body like slipping into water. The scent that filled my nostrils was masculine, musky, and wild. Goku had stopped in mid-movement behind me, nostrils flaring.

      The marks that bound me to Jean Claude and Richard had opened. Or more precisely, the mark to Richard had opened. Maybe he'd sensed I was in a fight, whatever it was, he flowed into my body, filling me up with his power. I wrapped that power around myself, and could feel the moon in the sky above me. Alpha lycanthrope against alpha lycanthrope. Now it was fair.

      I was on my feet before I'd realized I was moving, and apparently before Goku had as well. The machete was suddenly biting so deeply into the stick he'd throw up in a block I couldn't pull it back out. I shoved the machete down to the ground to twist the stick out of his hand, and let go once the stick dropped.

      He moved at the moment it did, and I was ducking blows too fast to see. The part of my brain that handled defense seemed to be on autopilot, leaving me to plan my offense. I kicked out at the side of Goku's knee when he extended his leg forward, and he staggered, the leg flying out from under him. He dropped to his hands and good knee, and I kicked him in the face.

      He was flung over backwards, and I fished for the stick and machete in the fog. His foot landed on the middle of the stick as I grabbed the hilt of the machete, tearing it from my fingers again. He was back on his feet in an instant and I took a kick to the ribs that nearly threw me off my feet. Only quick footwork kept me on my feet.

      I caught myself in time to look back and duck under a fist headed for my face. I intertwined my fingers together and drove the doublefist into his gut, making him hop back from me with a heavy exhale of breath.

      He came back at me, foot kicking for my face, and I threw my head backwards to avoid it. As the rest of my body followed my head to the ground, I kicked my feet up in an attempt to hit anything. Maybe it was sheer luck, but my right foot caught Goku right in the crotch exposed by his kick.

      My back hit the ground, making me exhale in a rush and I was already rolling over to push my way back up. Goku was on hand and knees, clutching his crotch. There are many times I've been grateful that part of the male anatomy was so sensitive. This was one of them.

      I stood there, taking in great gulps of air as my breathing tried to catch up to me. Goku stayed as he was, a small line of saliva dripping from his lips as he held himself and panted shallowly. I counted the kick to the crotch as for Cherry. Had I gotten everyone? I think so.

      I was about to deliver another kick to his face for myself when I realized my skin was crawling. At first I'd thought it was goosebumps from Richard's power, but it started to get so bad, it was as if my skin were trying to pull free of my body. It felt like every insect in the world was crawling under my skin, frantically trying to find an escape route. The sheer horror of the sensation took my breath away for a moment.

      That's when the screaming started. And by screaming, I don't mean angry or war cry screaming, but screams of terror and agony. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Monkeys were scattering in all directions like oil scattering from the introduction of soap on the surface of water.

Enough monkeys scattered that I could see what had caused it. It was huge, and dark, seeming not to have a solid form, but more a heavy darkness. Heavy enough to touch. Like a standing bead of water that would change shape at the slightest tremor. Not even the light of the torches offered any idea of a surface; it seemed to suck in the light like a miniature black hole. It reminded me of a giant dog in its current state, a crouching Hound of the Baskervilles with a screaming body in its jaws. Two baleful, yellow lights like giant fireflies shone out from amidst the black above the trapped body. A heavy, crunching sound like biting into a fresh apple silenced one of the screaming voices.

      "Oni! Oni!" was the scream repeating from all across the area.

      Whatever oni was, I knew a demon when I saw one, even if it was foreign. I hadn't seen it appear, didn't know what had summoned it. Whoever had was completely insane.

      The body the demon was holding was thrown aside and the demon jumped, chasing after the scattering monkeys and grabbing another. I looked around for my people and found them on the edge of the crowd neared me.

      "JASON!" I screamed. "RUN!"

      They did. They ran towards me. I guess it was the only real direction they could go that took them away from the demon.

      I caught more movement out of the corner of my eye, and Goku was moving in a blur of yellow. Towards the demon.

      I turned around and fished for the Browning where I think I dropped it. I fond it and tucked it away in a hurry, turning to find the machete. I found it being offered to me hilt first by Ken. His eyes were as wide as ever.

      I took it with a nod and folded part of the dress, wiping the blade free of blood before sheathing it. I'd gummed up a few sheaths before I learned to do this. The others caught up with me just as the hilt met the sheath.

      As braver members of the crowd rushed forward to help their king, someone grabbed my arm and I was grabbing for the Browning before I recognized Iga.

      "Nigero!" he yelled at me, trying to spin me around back towards the crowd, pointing to a space along the wall. He was right, the only way out was past the demon as it was distracted by the monkeys running in all directions.

      Now, if there is a time where a woman must stop and wonder if a situation is strange, there is also a time where a woman must stop and wonder what the right thing to do was. Do the right thing, or do the safe thing. True, the monkeys had stolen and tortured my people, but vampires and demons were two different things. No one deserved to be destroyed by a demon. Not even I could defeat a demon.

      "I can't leave them to be slaughtered!" I yelled, jerking my arm out of Iga's grasp. "It'll destroy everyone!"

      A high, drawn out scream rode over the clearing before it cut short abruptly. Someone else was screaming and screaming as fast as they could draw breath.

      I grabbed Iga by his upper arms, not caring if he understood me or not. "I need you to pray!"

      Iga gave me a perplexed look, and I clasped his hands together in the common position for prayer between my own. "Pray!"

      He stared at me with his golden fox eyes, and then the chanting spilled forward from his lips.

      "Anita!" Jason was holding up Kannon, and looked to me for direction.

      "Stay here, Jason," I said hurriedly. "If the demon starts to head this way, get everyone out anyway you can."

      He looked back at me with shocked eyes. "Where are you going?!"

      "Tell them all to pray, Iga!" I yelled at the monk as I turned and ran towards the demon. "Louder!"

      I heard his voice rise as I ran towards the demon. What the hell was I doing? Oh yeah, the right thing. God help me.  He was the only one who could.