Kaneki stood as motionless as a corpse when rigor mortis. The moonlight stretched over the courtyard illuminating the man, whose hair was as white as the eye-patch's own, whom stood in a field of bodies, all of which where coated in the red of either their cloaks or their blood. His glasses reflected Ken, and the young half-ghoul looked at himself for the first time in months. He looked so different from how he saw himself. he was first surprised by his mask, which he had forgotten was even on at all. But more so, at himself. It was hard to believe how much he'd changed. It was almost impossible to believe how much he'd changed. What once was a scrawny college student was now the... the thing that had beaten the S-rated Jason, exterminated the ghoul restaurant in the 20th ward, and was the orchestrator of a infiltration on Aogiri.
Ken frowned, he didn't like looking at his reflection. This was when he figured it out, the worried looks Eto had sent him, that everyone had sent him. Now was when he figured out why. Honestly, he wouldn't have been any different had it been one of them.
The man took a step forward, his booted foot making a crunching sound as it broke the arm of a dead man, and bringing Kaneki back to reality. Kaneki had only ever fought one investigator, and honestly, at the time, he'd only won because he'd caught the man off guard with his kagune. But he had a feeling that this man was worlds more dangerous than the man Kaneki had fought off.
He took a moment to examine the weapon in his left hand. It looked clean, unstained. Like he hadn't killed any of the ghouls that lay at his feet. Kaneki figured that talking wouldn't do any good. He released his kagune and watched as it unfolded itself slowly, somewhat like a snake. He felt his sclea turn black and his iris change to a blood red. It didn't intimidate the man though, he hadn't even slowed his advance.
Kaneki didn't have the time, apprehensiveness forgotten, he took off towards him.
That was a mistake.
It seemed that Kaneki's movement was determined by the man's will. Like he had planned on him leaping forward. Because as he did so, The investigator brought up his quinque, which remided Kaneki of a rapier, but the blade didn't look like it was made for penetration, not entirely, it was rectangular. As he brought up said rectangular rapier, he twisted the handle ever so slightly, causing the blade to sever and bend.
It was then that Kaneki figured out how he had remained so clean, despite him being surrounded by death, as those bright, yellow bolts of electricity rushed at him. It was lightning in the palm of the mans hand. So, true to the nature of lightening, Kaneki couldn't avoid it completely. Kaneki quickly stuck his four tendrils into the ground, letting the lightening hit him, however, he survived.
His plan worked, he used his kagune as a lightening rod. Now that wasn't to say he was unharmed, because he wasn't. His skin was burning, and he could feel his fingers dancing wildly as the remaining jolts danced on his nerves and muscle. The only thing that kept him going at the moment was adrenaline and the thought of freeing Eto. He would have to get closer to him than he was now if he wanted to survive. He couldn't take a hit like that again.
The man, to Kaneki's advantage, then leaped towards him, forming another bolt in his quinque. Kaneki had to telegraph it this time, or he'd be dead. Nothing can outrun that type of attack, not at the range he was at.
The white haired investigator then stuck his heels into the ground and threw his left arm forward. Right at that moment, Kaneki swerved to the right. It was almost to late however, as Kaneki felt the hair on the back of his neck tingle when the bolt rushed by it.
If the man was worried though, he didn't show it, as Kaneki brought his Kagune out an angled it towards him. He wasn't aiming to kill the man... As much as he'd done the past few weeks he wasn't ready to kill... least not anyone who didn't wrong him in any way. First he wrapped the pulsing red tentacles around the man's transformed blade, closing it tightly and pulling on it, trying to free it from his grasp.
"You can have it..." The man said. Kaneki couldn't even tell if his politeness was mocking or not, as he watched the man release the weapon and step back.
He moved like a dancer, Kaneki noted, as he grace fully fell back, only to bring out another suitcase.
There was something different about this one though. It wasn't the standard, slightly reflected steel that was the norm for Investigator quinques. This was far more... elegant. It was pitch black, like the leather Kaneki's own mask was made of, and it had a gold trim, reminding Kaneki of some kind of royal decoration.
The case then morphed, twisting it's shape and expanding. It was another type of sword now. It was long, pointed, and instead of a hilt it simply got wider and wider as it got closer to the grip. It was reminiscent of a jousting lance. It was black, just like the suitcase, with that gold trim wrapping around certain parts of the blade. The mand face never changed, he simply stared on, as if bored by it all.
Kaneki looked down at the rapier he had stolen and realized he still had it curled in his Kagune... He let it drop.
The moment it touched the ground the investigator took off.
Kaneki took off as well, kagune at the ready.
As they drew closer, and Kaneki began to ready himself for the fight, he watched, in amazement, as the man almost disappeared. Actually, he didn't disappear... KAneki just couldn't believe his speed. Quickly the man had stopped himself and moved to the side. Kaneki followed in suit, passing him just a bit and turning to look back at him.
Where'd he- He felt it as a slight itch at first, but soon enough it turned into a burning pain... An appropriate feeling for a sword traveling through the back of your head and out your eye.
"GYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kaneki was sure his scream was blood curtling, but to him it was only a whisper compared to the things going through his brain.
It's going through me BRAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! My my my my my my my my my my my my mine mine mine mine mine mine mine mine- I can't- I don't- did I ever? It Hurthsss... I'm burning and I'm freezing. And, I can't stand eeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttt...
Kaneki began to stumble, blood pooling down the right side of his face, where the eyepatch had once covered his now missing eye. His Kagune then, in accordance to the twisted state of his mind, began to corkscrew... literally, twisting and whipping around wildly as he stumbled around. He wasn't even quite sure of where he was anymore, or what he was doing, he just knew that it hurt. His Kakuja mask was dissolving and forming continuously and his Kagune was reacting to it.
I-I- CAN STILL DO IT... I CAN STILL FIGHT... IT'S JUST AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN EYE.
But, Kaneki couldn't fight back, he was on his back, laying still now. He looked, from what one could see in the single eye that he had left, peaceful, in a far away place, unaware of the angel of death standing above him, just about to put him out of his misery.
But, deep down Kaneki new something like this was bound to happen... It was like Eto had said when they first met, he looked like the main character from a tragedy...
BUT NOTHING IS SET IN STONE.
Just as special class Arima was about to deliver the final blow upon this new ghoul... whom had given him quite the surprise when he'd apprehended Narukami, the concrete above them exploded, sending a rain of dusty, hard rocks down upon them. They were hardly big enough to hurt, but never the less, Arima shielded his head from them with his forearm.
When the dust cleared there was a single figure above, looking down unto him and the young ghoul who lay, almost dead at his feet. Of course it's you... But you look a bit different now... He thought as he stared at the beastly looking one eye'd owl as it clung to the side of a wall on all fours like an animal.
It began to twitch and squirm underneath it's own shell. Arima instinctively began to move, he'd seen this motion from it before. It'd been ten years but he wouldn't forget what followed the Owl's spasms. Arima leaped away from the incapacitated boy beneath him, who was mumbling incoherent gibberish. A hail storm of pulsing, giant shards rained down upon the spot where he stood, narrowly missing the white-haired ghoul... purposefully missing him.
By the time he stood back up, the Owl was standing over the ghoul, positioned like some kind of wild animal. What happened next was curious, to say the least, the owl, reached under it's belly and grabbed the critically injured ghoul. It took a moment to examine it and finally swallowed him whole. Arima could even see the bulge form in the owls gullet, small as it was as it rested in it's belly.
It then looked back at him... That stare of rage, coupled with the RC cells simply pouring from it's Kakuja form. It would've shaken any lesser man. But, for Arima this wasn't a matter of courage. It was simply something he did.
Eto pushed through her Kakuja, moving from it's head towards the gut and grabbing hold of Kaneki. "No, no, no, no, no..." she began repeating to herself, grabbing him and looking at the gaping hole where his eye would be. She could practically see right through it. "Don't leave me, too... Don't leave us." Tears in her eye's, she looked at the whole intently. That was when she saw it. The brain tissue and matter was, though slowly, stitching itself back together.
She almost laughed in joy... But there wasn't any time for that, now she had to get away... Protecting both Kaneki and her child... It wasn't an ideal situation and as angry as she was at Arima right, and she was angry, she couldn't risk fighting a battle she wasn't sure she could win.
She took off, scaling the building quickly, breaking into zigzag patterns, as to throw off Arima's plan of attack.
But, that hardly mattered to him, he simply picked up Narukami and began to throw bolts at her. He truly was a monster, he was almost able to predict where she would jump, barely missing by a few centimeters only. It wasn't look good... But, somehow, she had made it to the top, out of harms way. He'd stopped firing on her for some reason... But she didn't care too look back...
Arima had been interrupted for the second time that night... Honestly, he didn't know how they managed to do it, but he was thrown off target. Whoever this was, they had tried to penetrate him with an all to familiar kagune. One he'd just seen... That had raised some interest.
He had orange hair, it seemed brown in the dark, but the moonlight hit it just enough to show it's true color. He wasn't wearing a mask either... He was either brave... or he didn't expect to survive this. And in one eye, was a pulsing red kakugan.
Arima simply flicked his wrist and a bolt surged through Narukami.
The ghoul didn't make a sound, he simply smiled to himself. A peaceful, innocent smile.
Authors Note: The next chapter will be the last chapter for the story. In case I forget to say it in that chapter, I'd like to thank all of you for all the input that I've received and for following it from the very beginning and to those of you who just kept reading. Those of you who got so invested that you messaged me of you who told your friends everyone. Hard to believe it's been 9 months since I started this fic. But it's been very fun writing for all of you. I'll try to have the new chapter up before the end of today. I would've included it here, but I feel it needs it's own page. Til then