Chapter 6: Moon Demon Company
{Fourth Ward: Tokyo, November 21st, 2020, 1:45am}
The carcasses of werewolves lay in pools of blood upon the ground, the night air attempting to freeze the red stained earth over. A series of figures were standing, crouched, or slumped in the area surrounding the corpses of the monsters, taking in rattling breaths and gasping for air as they overcame the shock of what had just transpired. Mika looked towards his brother who was on his hands and knees, his body having no energy to remain standing as he stayed there, breathing in deeply as he started to get his bearings while Guren and his team looked at one another, checking over both the Moon Demon Company members and the Ghouls of Anteiku for bites or injuries of any kind.
"Just a few minor scratches, I'll be okay," Hide said in reassurance.
"That's right, you're a werewolf, aren't you?" the blonde chuckled.
"I'm technically half-werewolf because I was bitten four days before the full moon, not exactly on it… some effects don't apply to me… plus I can turn into a wolf at will…" Mika looked at the corpses around them.
"These sorry bastards probably forgot how to a long time ago," he said as Hide nodded.
"Yea, more than likely… you were scratched, I can smell it in your blood…" the Curser smiled wirily
"Just a few enhanced senses, speed, strength, and the infrequent taste for rare meat… thankfully… nothing else…" Hide stood upright and looked at the members of the Moon Demon Company around him.
"You guys are awesome! What you did back there Yuu! Shinoa! That was epic as hell!" he said as Shinoa finally got up and Yuu followed her, taking in a few additional breaths.
"Thanks… those demons busted our asses over that for weeks…" the group looked to one another.
"When did you learn to do that?" asked Mito as she came towards the two.
"If we had free time and we met up… we trained to use one another's weapons just in case… guess it… paid off…" Shinoa smiled to her boyfriend as he sighed, feeling the throbbing in his chest finally cease.
"Well, now that we've gotten our breath, shall we continue on?"
The group looked to one another, checking once more for injuries before nodding as they started to gather themselves and began walking towards the border of the next ward. They were thankful that due to the Seraphims aid, they were going to be able to avoid the Lycanthrope virus; however, the group weren't one-hundred percent positive of what they would be dealing with once they entered the third ward. The group of twenty walked towards their next destination, trepidation in their steps as they prepared for what they would face. Kaneki glanced towards the black-haired boy walking beside him and considered him for just a moment, knowing that these next moments were important, but that they needed to be careful. The fewer casualties they could walk out with, the better off they would be.
However, between those of the Moon Demon Company and themselves within the former Anteiku-Aogiri Ghouls they believed they could get through the Wards and deal with the final battle in the first ward, and hopefully defeat the Vampire Noble, returning the city back into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. Kaneki eyed the boy once more, smiling slightly as he looked towards the path before them, knowing that from now on, this was the world they were going to be existing in, members of the organization that would hopefully turn the world back to the way it was, and if things went well, Ghouls could exist alongside them.
Brownish-gold eyes looked around as the group continued to walk further and further into the third ward, hearing crashes in the distance of the Tyrant Horsemen as they began to creep through the ward, hiding in the casted shadows of the buildings to avoid a confrontation with the giants thundering about. Hide glanced around a corner before waving towards the others as Guren stepped forward, his unit going ahead of the younger members of their twenty-person team. As the group walked forward, they heard a faint cracking noise, and Guren froze just in the shadow of the building near them.
"Don't move… one of the Tyrant Horsemen is nearby… you've gotta be quiet," he said as he slid down into a crouch and reached for the gun holstered to his leg.
"Why are you getting your gun?" asked Mika.
"To give it to the humans who need some back up. I believe everyone here has a gun on them, right? I'm giving mine to Hide, Sayuri? Can you hand yours off to Verglas?" Sayuri nodded.
"Sure, I can do that," she said as she held out the gun towards the girl who slowly took it. Meanwhile, the others began to prepare for their next move.
"What should we do? We're in their territory almost so seeing them is going to be common…" Mika sighed.
"Not to mention we're on the rim, so avoiding them is going to be twice as difficult, but… hey… Yuu? Do you see something?" the blonde asked his brother as the boy focused his gaze upon the area just up ahead of them.
"I think there's a tunnel up ahead… maybe we can get through there and avoid them through the tram ways?" Guren eyed the group.
"Our group is too big to go through the main city and get past the Tyrant Horsemen," he stated as everyone looked to one another.
"Then what should we do?" the Lieutenant Colonel met the gaze of all his teammates.
"We chance the trams…" he stated as the others glanced to one another and then nodded.
Guren went forward with two other people first, crossing the distance to hide behind a building opposite to where the Tyrant Horsemen were walking about before waving them over for the next three to go. Yuuichiro, Shinoa, and Kimizuki went, followed by another set of three until at long last, they were all on the other side of the slight gap in the buildings. All eyes looked to the giant hole that was the tram way entrance before Guren nodded to them giving them hushed orders to follow the same three-person system until they were safely out of the area and underground. Glowing green eyes looked around before the group slowly slipped away into the tram area, relieved that they were now out of the way of the Tyrant Horsemen.
"No one break formation, we're a twenty-person team and we must keep ourselves close, but spaced, am I clear?" asked Guren as he looked at the group.
"Understood…" he eyed the teenagers for a moment.
"I want everyone on guard as we go further into the trams, as you know, there's no telling what's in here, so rushing it won't be safe. We will get to Weisburg in due time, but if we're all dead, it won't matter," he stated as he looked the nineteen people before him over once more.
"We've got it, let's go…" the adults fanned out in the area, placing the teenagers in randomized areas as they watched them, Guren eyeing his children as he placed Yuuichiro towards the front and Mika towards the middle-rear of the group.
Keeping them at a distance wasn't for the other's safeties or their own, it was a strategic move that allowed them to have some extreme power forward and back, just as he had put Kaneki on the left side nearest to Yuu, and Ayato nearest to Mika on the right side. As he did this though, he had spread the others between them, putting people such as Akane, Sayuri, and Goshi in the center while he stayed near the center right beside his youngest son. Earlier on in their long walk towards the countdown rings of the fourth through first wards, he had heard from Shinoa that the boy had commanded their fourteen-person group with the skill and ease of someone many years his senior in combat, impressing the Lieutenant Colonel quite a bit when he heard even Kimizuki confirm the information.
It was well known to Guren and his team, that Yuuichiro had quite the skill at on the fly strategy making, much like Mikaela did; however, the blonde was more of an observing tactician, carefully pinpointing a detail and using that against the enemy, while his younger brother was an active tactician, someone who could formulate a plan in a heartbeat. The man smirked just a fraction as they continued their walk through the dimly lit tram area, knowing that the group would be rotating in just a moment to keep people from getting to adjusted to the formation, but to also keep anyone from tiring out.
"Switch!" Guren jolted just a fraction when Mika made the call, but he said nothing as he smirked while Goshi hummed.
"Their stealing your thunder Guren, I'm surprised you're letting them get away with it," stated the blonde-haired man.
"Let them go ahead, one day, I have no doubt they'll both become leaders of their own squadrons, besides, we trained them to be good soldiers, and they were keeping tabs on the time better than I was this time." Guren went to trade locations with Nishiki when they started further down the area and their positions swapped, putting the central guards in different angles to keep them from being picked off by something that could be watching.
It was as they went further into the tram ways that the area started to grow a bit darker, causing Yuu and Mika to become the eyes of some of the group while the Ghouls covered the areas they couldn't, making sure to stay on alert as they expected something to leap from the shadows at any given point; however, when they began to do another rotation, fifteen minutes into their delve into the darker depths of the area, they heard a surprised yelp from the rear where Mika was and Guren turned to see the boy having been turned about-face and a certain black-haired, emerald-eyed sixteen-year-old clinging to his back, having somehow managed to run up the back of his cloak and peak his head out from under the hood.
"Yuu! What the hell are you –" the boy cut him off.
"Mika! Look!" the black-haired teenager pointed in the direction of where the light was still visible not far from them at the back of the tunnels. The tone the other used showed anxiety, something that Guren had learned was never a good sign when dealing with his youngest as Mika narrowed his eyes a bit and looked at where he could make out what his brother was pointing at and when he did the blonde backed up, Yuuichiro managing to disentangle himself as the other did so to come and stand beside him.
"Oh! Fuck me!" Mika stated as he started to step back, knowing something bad was coming.
"What is that thing?!" Mito asked as she looked at the silhouette while he began to scuttle closer. Glowing green and blue eyes locked onto Guren, who stared onward in anxiety.
"Um, guys?" all eyes turned to Yoichi.
"What?!" the group asked at once as the brunette pointed upwards.
"There's more than one," he stated as all eyes went up and they saw the swarm of spidery creatures crawling atop the ceiling, webs starting to descend and the heavy clacking of the one in the tunnel's entrance drew closer. Yuuichiro took in a shuddering breath, drawing his sword.
"Asuramaru… a little light please?" he almost hesitated, showing evident anxiety as the blade lit up with green flame and the boy closed his eyes, tilting the sword upwards and around as an inhuman screeching began and the snapping of pinchers began while a terrified scream rent the air.
"HAUL ASS!" Guren's voice was the last order that any of them needed to run as far and as fast as they could, far, far away from the tram area, and as far from the giant spiders as they could get.
{Border of Ward Three & Two: 2:01am}
The group of twenty for the second time in the same night were doubled over at the border of a Ward out of breath, struggling to get their bearings as they looked around in hopes of not seeing another eight-legged creature scuttling after them. Mika looked to his brother who was on his hands and knees, looking a bit white-faced as he shivered a bit and finally started to settle back on his legs as he ran a hand through his hair, seeming to check for webs or anything else as he shivered once more and brushed off his uniform, checking the collar of it as he did so while the others began to do the same, making sure there were no hitchhikers on their persons as they did so. It was as everyone did this, that Mika began to look around and realized exactly where they were while he continued to get his breath.
"I don't know if… anyone… noticed… but… we just… ran across the entire… ward… and under about four Tyrant Horsemen… and judging by the lack of… thundering steps… I think it's safe to say that they didn't… notice us," he stated, taking in a deep gulping breath as Mitsuba looked around them.
"Seriously?" the other blonde nodded.
"Nice to know… if your running for your life… then your invisible to them," said Hide, slumped against an upturned piece of road as Akane was settled next to him, looking equally exhausted.
"By the way, who was it that screamed?" everyone looked around and then Shinoa glanced towards her boyfriend who had a greatly displeased look on his face.
"It wasn't you? Was it Yuu?" she questioned.
"Nope…" everyone eyed him.
"Then what's with that look?" asked Nishiki.
"I hate… spiders…" the boy winced a bit as Guren rose an eyebrow.
"Oh, yea, I forgot that Yuuichiro is arachnophobia," he stated as the boy whirled on him, looking irritated.
"You remembered that just now did you?! How fucking convenient!" Mika looked to his brother.
"I'm with you on not liking them… especially after seeing that mess," he stated while everyone looked to one another again.
"But who screamed like a little girl?" it was Yoichi who answered.
"That was Kimizuki… when he saw one scuttling across the rails on the other side," he said as the pink-haired teenager glared.
"I did not! That was you!" he defended himself, but the brunette gave him a pointed look.
"No, it wasn't! And just for the record, I always have watched the Shelob scenes," Yoichi said with a smile.
"Oh, right… Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit…" Kaneki's mentioning of this had Touka sighing.
"Of course, the bookworm understands," she stated as Guren looked the others over.
"Well, now that we're at the border, and… survived a reenactment of the spider fight of Mordor, can we continue towards the peak of mount doom?" all eyes went to the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Did you just make a reference?" the man frowned at the teenagers confused looks.
"I read more than just dossiers and paperwork you know!" he defended as Yuu and Mika smiled just a bit.
"Okay… so, what's the next nightmare from Pandora's box going to be?" Goshi looked to Shigure who pulled out the map as the others began to circle her.
"It would be, Chimera apparently, so how should we –" the woman was cut off as a hand grabbed the map from her, startling the group as they looked to see a certain Seraphim looking it over.
"Yuuichiro? What are you doing?" asked Guren in a dull tone.
"Making a memo..." the sound of a cap being pulled off a pen came to their attention just before the sound of something gliding across paper followed it. A second later, Shigure had the map back, just with a singular adjustment in bright green ink that read:
GIANT ASS SPIDERS! STAY AWAY!
The words were circled and had a large green arrow pointing to where it had been written, indicating the border of ward four and three as they looked to it and then to the black-haired boy who put the cap on the pen and put it away while Mika gave him an exasperated expression before shaking his head as he ruffled the other boy's hair and Guren smirked a bit before Shigure frowned at the boy while the others stared at the sudden randomness of the situation.
"Where did he get the pen from?" asked Mitsuba.
"Some of us do carry a pen on our person should we need it. I'm guessing that Yuu and Mika are some of these people…" Shinoa's clarification caused the others to give her a confused look before sighing as they turned their attention towards Shigure again.
"Anyways, now that we have a reminder to put on the bulletins for the clean-up crew thanks to the Black Seraphim over there…" the boy rolled his eyes.
"You'll be thanking me for that later, I promise," he stated in distaste of the woman's tone as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Alright, what should we do about the Chimera? Just one is a problem, but an entire ward full of them? We'll be ripped to shreds…" the group looked to one another as they tried to sort out what to do next.
"Plus, there's no telling what else could be present in there amongst them or how strong these Chimera are going to be compared to the others," mentioned Akane as she looked at the map and the opening for the next border of the second ward.
"Hey? Kaneki? Who's the fastest in your group?" all eyes went to the black-haired boy standing not far from the white-haired Ghoul.
"I'd say myself and Touka, why? Do you have a plan Yuuichiro?" he questioned as the emerald-eyed boy glanced to Mika who shrugged, thinking he had a good idea of what his brother was concocting.
"Ghouls are lighter on their feet than we are, I was thinking we could use the builds around us as a way to see into the ward's area without getting to much attention drawn to us…" Mika nodded.
"I get it, if we did that, then Touka and Kaneki could get into the ward and survey the risks up to a point and by then, we could have devised a strategy to combat the Chimera or at the very least get around them," he finished as the others watched the two boys bounce ideas off one another.
"Jeeze, why don't you two just kiss already…" a burning glare was sent to Kimizuki who felt as though he'd shrunk to the size of an ant.
"Why don't you just go fuck yourself? How about that?" asked Mika.
"I didn't know you swung that way, I mean, you and Mitsuba are – "Kimizuki was cut off when the lemon-blonde-haired girl slammed her elbow into his abdomen, making him go down as the wind was knocked from him.
"Jackass, shut your mouth!" Mitsuba snapped as Yuuichiro stared at the situation, wondering if a gas leak was around somewhere that was affecting their brains.
"That wouldn't be to strange, but in this world, I'm half expecting the blame to lay on poppy fields next door or something…." He thought.
"Anyways! Yuuichiro! Mikaela! Explain the plan," Guren ordered.
"Right, anyways… the basic idea, is that we use the Ghoul's knowledge of the area to our advantage, and have them use the buildings to jump around and find out the basic information that we can gather and bring it back here." The others eyed one another.
"Doesn't that me we sit tight for now though?" asked Kimi.
"It does… which means we have to be ready to fight should something come our way from any of the wards…" Goshi frowned.
"While the idea does sound good… I'm worried about the notion of eighteen of us sitting here like a full course meal for the things that are in these two wards," he stated as the two boys glanced down.
"True, that is a risk… unlike with the werewolves, the traits we have as Seraphim don't affect the Tyrant Horsemen, the Spiders more than likely, and we know for a fact that the Chimera aren't bothered by us one bit…" Sayuri looked at Yuu as the boy kept a grim expression on his face.
"How do you know that? I know you guys encountered a handful in Osaka, but…" she trailed off as Mika looked to her.
"I started to lose control in Osaka, and Yuu activated his Seraphic form to try and help calm me down, but instead, he got attacked by the Chimera and it nearly ripped one of his wings off," he said as the others gave the black-haired boy a look of horror.
"Are you fucking serious? A Chimera attacked you like that?" Yuuichiro nodded.
"Yea, it did… it took a lot to kill it too… the acid in my nails and teeth did help with that to a degree… but… I think what really did it in was Mika attacking it with the secondary possession form of Fenrir… otherwise we wouldn't be standing here probably," he admitted, causing Guren to take in a deep breath.
"Son of a bitch…" the man looked to his team.
"Calm down would you all? Your giving me a headache!" the group fell silent as Guren eyed them all before sighing in relief.
"Lieutenant Colonel! Listen, this is a suicide mission! If we just charge in blindly we'll all – "Mito was cut off.
"I'm well aware of that. But, Yuu and Mika's plan will work. If we know the basis of what's in there, we can find a way around it, just like we've done so far. Now, Kaneki? Touka? Can the two of you do some investigating for us?" he inquired.
"We can, and be back pretty fast at that." the man nodded.
"Then go, we'll sit tight for the time being, "Guren said.
"Right, come on Touka!" the white-haired teenager jumped, releasing his Kagune to give him a push as he turned in mid-air and landed atop a building with the blue-haired girl right behind him.
"Alright, listen up! this border is ours to guard, this line is not going to be breeched no matter what comes our way! Move down the line just a bit, we'll fan out, back to back, your job is to protect your teammate, if even one of us falls in this fight, we're all fucked, do I make myself clear?" asked the Lieutenant Colonel. The group nodded.
"Who do you want where?" Guren looked to everyone.
"Yuu, take Shinoa, you'll face the Chimera side, Shinoa, face to the Tyrant side!" he began to organize his group, knowing they would have to do their best while the two Ghouls checked the area out.
"Got it!" Guren looked to Akane.
"Akane, you and Ayato line up near them, same position, Akane to the Tyrant, Ayato to the Chimera, go now!" he stated, as he continued to pair everyone together, making sure to choose those who he knew could work together.
"Nishiki, you and Kimi! Go! Kimizuki! You take border front line with Shigure! Sayuri, you're with me, Hide! I want you with Shinya! Yoichi, you and Hinami take center point, Mika! You and Mitsuba! Move it! Mito! Take position with Goshi! Is everyone ready? Defend this line, my orders are thus: draw your weapons! keep the curse active, if it is not an ally, I suggest you make it a corpse before it does you, now! Defend!" Guren ordered.
"Yes Sir!" everyone clamored together, stances going strict as their weapons roared to life, the sensation of the group being pressed back to back giving them little comfort as they kept their senses alert.
"I hope Kaneki and Touka are quick, we can't waste any time."
{Within Ward II: 2:29am}
"Shit! Do you see this place?!" Touka questioned as she looked at the area with Kaneki settled next to her.
"Yes, unfortunately… it seems like we're going to have a time getting through this ward…" one hazel eye glanced the area over while Touka felt her stomach churn.
"What are those fleshy vines on the ground?" the two eyed the sight of the nightmarish landscape full of hellish hound-like creatures made up of randomized animal parts, and the foul-scented corpse-like vines that littered the area.
"I don't know what that is, but it doesn't look good," Kaneki admitted.
"What should we do? This isn't going to be easy to navigate… and if we go into this place, the people with us won't stand a chance…" the white-haired Ghoul nodded.
"No doubt about that… but the problem is… the Vampires will probably be waiting for us in the outer rim areas, so the only thing we could do is…" the girl looked at the scene grimly.
"Use V-Fourteen… but if we get caught there, we're done, and there's no telling what kind of monsters are hiding down that way in the sewage lines… I mean… we can use it, but…" the white-haired boy sighed.
"The thing is, if we don't do this carefully… we're screwed either way, so… we have to do something. The entire matter is to choose which one is the least likely to pin us down, especially with such a large group," Kaneki pointed out as Touka nodded.
"Right… well, V-Fourteen is an option, but there's no lighting down there… plus we have no idea what could happen if went down there with the group this big… and splitting up is twice as lethal…" Kaneki hummed.
"We should give the options to the Lieutenant Colonel, maybe between him, Yuuichiro and Mikaela, they can devise a strategy. For now, let's hurry," he stated as she nodded.
"Right, we better hurry back…"
The two Ghouls went racing across the tops of the buildings, preparing to deliver this information as quickly as they could, while as they rushed as fast as their bodies allowed through the lit, yet desolated city, Touka couldn't help but wonder how the eight of them had gotten wrapped up in such a situation.
Four years ago, none of them would have been caught dead truthfully helping a human faction take over Tokyo, but now, they had the choice of either helping the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, or eventually being taken down by the Vampires when they got enough force amassed to actually do damage to their little rag-tag group of survivors.
All their lives, they had never really lived in a world where such a thing as a choice existed. It was always kill or be killed, hide or be hunted, eat or starve, lie or tell the truth, fight or die; however, now, they were being given a chance to actually fight and put an end to the ceaseless charade. Within the walls of Shibuya, the Ghouls of Anteiku could exist in some-what fragile harmony with the humans there.
Touka frowned, wondering what it would mean if they did fine, but couldn't eat when they had to, then what would happen? The girl shook the notion from her mind, determined to work towards that goal with the others, unwilling to let everything just fall to the wayside as she and Kaneki finally made it back to the border line and saw the group of Anteiku Ghouls and the Moon Demon Company standing back to back, protecting one another, preparing to fight for each other if the situation required it. The sight, instead of making her realize how serious this situation was about to become: gave her hope for the future.
{…..}
Burning this bridge behind me…
{…}
Author's Note: I'm not going to lie, I was busy working on the rewrite of the first story so that I could make sure I didn't forget my own lore… but… I think I'm doing okay, and I have an awesome beta. Anyways, on a somewhat good-bad note: my roommate (who is also my beta) are going to be moving into our first apartment! So, updates and edits… those are probably going to be on a hold for quite some time, unless I get to do it while she's at work between packing.
Please forgive me if there's nothing going on for the time being, but hey, I gave you guys the end of the Raid after two years, didn't I? Well, here's the good news: I finally have the path for these stories mapped out, and I will be able to churn them out quicker, also, I hope guys had a great Thanksgiving, and are gearing up for Christmas, so, happy belated Thanksgiving, and early Christmas.
Sincerely,
ShadowDragon94.
Chapter 7: Bloodied