Chapter 14

When only Yukari Mishakuji and Sukuna Gojo appeared in front of the large, glass door of the Mihashira Tower, Adolf K Weismann breathed a sigh of relief. The first part of the plan and indeed all the tactics they have come up with, relied on the Strain managing to separate the enemies, so that designated groups could attempt to stop them and eliminate them. If Kuroh Yatogami has come, wearing Green, Weismann wasn't sure Neko would have managed to keep her focus and do her job. And the safety of the Dresden Slate was infinitely more significant than a single life.

'Let's get the show started, Neko,' he said quietly from where they were hiding. The Strain nodded curtly. He held her hand to channel his strength into her and moments later, Seri Awashima and Izumo Kusanagi walked out of the darkened back of the reception area, stopping not far from the entrance.

'Woho, so many points for the beginning!' Sukuna Gojo enthused. He twirled the large stick in his hand with astonishing ease and a scythe-like, green blade appeared at one end. The illusionary Awashima and Kusanagi took out their weapons in reply.

'Indeed, Sukuna, today we'll explode our point counts,' Yukari Mishakuji agreed, a cold smile stretching his thin lips as he slowly, deliberately, took out his katana. 'I take you up on your challenge, kid. But let's not count heads. Let's count the points,' he proclaimed.

'You're on, damned glitter man,' Gojo agreed.

In the space of an eye blink, they moved. The smashed glass of the entrance door flew inwards in sparkling shards. The Strain squeaked in shock or fear and Weismann tightened the hold on her hand, feeling it move away slightly. He didn't even have the time to think "they are fast", before the green scythe and the slim blade slashed through the two illusions which didn't even have the time to properly prepare a defence. Of course, they were slower than the originals, but that didn't matter.

The moment the enemy's weapons reached the illusory clansmen, the illusion exploded in a storm of pink petals, hopefully obscuring Mishakuji's and Gojo's vision for a moment and confusing them a little bit.

'Now,' Weismann muttered and, before the petals of the burst illusion disappeared, the whole entrance of the hotel became riddled with traps and contraptions that could just about be real: wired bombs, hanging axes, laser sensors. With any luck, Gojo and Mishakuji would believe this was real, not the empty hall with all but three doors bolted shut.

'Ah, it appears that we have been tricked, Sukuna,' Mishakuji spoke, looking around with narrowed eyes. Looking around himself, Weismann noticed that the Strain has even put some glass on the floor: impressive.

'It's that stupid cat woman,' Gojo growled, also looking around. 'Is this the real welcome? Do you think if we blow all those bombs the whole Tower will fall?' he asked.

'I wonder,' Mishakuji muttered. He was turning slowly on his heel, careful to not step on anything, until he spotted a glass shard next to his foot. He stomped on it and it made no sound whatsoever. Mishakuji smirked. 'Sukuna, I think it's all fake,' he said.

No later than the words were out of Mishakuji's mouth, Gojo pounced on one of the traps, snapping the illusion in half and drowning them in another storm of pink petals, but this time, Mishakuji didn't wait for them to disappear: he dispelled them with a vibrant whirlwind of his Colourless aura.

By accident or not, he directed the whirlwind towards Weismann's and Strain's hiding place and Weismann had no choice, but to pull the girl out of there, jumping away from the aura that looked sharp and dangerous. It shattered the desk they have been hiding behind.

'The Silver King himself,' Gojo proclaimed and Weismann realized he has jumped out into the open, with the two enemies now clearly aware of his presence and whereabouts. The Strain hid behind him, curling up on herself as if to make herself disappear.

'Such a pity,' Mishakuji started with a mocking tone. 'I'm sure that if my cute, little Kuroh knew who our welcoming committee would be, he would have come with us. He would have wanted to thank you in person, Weismann,' Mishakuji laughed. The Silver King stiffened, uncertain of the meaning of the enemy's words.

Thus, he was completely unprepared for the Strain's reaction.

'Give Kurosuke back,' the girl screeched, her fingers suddenly digging into Weismann's arms like claws. He twitched and realized she was about to cast another illusion and she was drawing too much power from him and-

'Don't!' he called, but it was too late. The world twisted and turned and suddenly they were all four standing on a glass floor, which reflected everything perfectly. The walls and ceiling were replaced by shifting, dark colours. A closed door floated between them and the two enemies, who looked as confused as Weismann felt: this was not at all like Neko's usual illusions. It was darker and sharper and- weirder?

Floating furniture and disproportionate, broken toys were everywhere, moving above the glass floor that reflected everything.

Mishakuji made an irritated sound and moved to slash through a pink, plush cat with a creepy smile and an eye missing. But the cat was away in a flash, reappearing behind Mishakuji, now with its push mouth open and full of sharp, gleaming teeth and a starless, gaping emptiness.

Gojo screamed and hacked at it, before it could reach his comrade, but the plush disappeared again before he could hit it. Behind the Silver King, the Strain growled and it was like nothing Weismann has heard before. If she wasn't still holding on to him, he would have probably moved away, if only to break the intensity of the illusion by cutting her off his power. He didn't like how cold she felt suddenly, like an endless, sunless abyss.

'Not so smart anymore, are you?' the Silver King asked when he was sure his own voice wouldn't tremble in shock of what he was seeing. He decided to play along and definitely not look back at the Strain, whose hand still gripping his shoulder tightly was now partly obscured by white cloth with a frill along the edge.

Now if only he knew which way the entrance was and which way the doors Mishakuji and Gojo were supposed to take.

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Standing well away from the Tower, in the open backdoor of the truck they have arrived in, Saruhiko Fushimi could only see faint outlines of the illusions. What he could see clearly, much sooner than he has expected, was the Silver King's Sword of Damocles. He couldn't decide whether this was a good or a bad sign, although he started leaning towards the latter choice when the illusion seemed to spill from the building, tendrils of glassy floor covering the ground around, dark fumes obscuring the entrance.

What the hell was the Silver clan playing at?

'Oi, Fushimi, any luck getting into their systems?' Iwafune called out, snapping Fushimi out of his thoughts. He glanced at the priest, standing behind the Green King's wheelchair, before turning back to the computer in front of him. He still had to play along with them, or else he risked being the first casualty of that night. Hardly desirable.

'I can confirm the presence of three Kings in the Tower,' he reported calmly, fingers flying on the keyboard. It was just like he, like they all, expected and he didn't look away from the screen when Nagare asked him about the colours, nor when he replied, stating the obvious: 'Silver, Blue and Red. I believe the Blue and Red Kings are guarding the Slate.'

'Oh? The Colourless King hasn't come?' Nagare asked, mocking. And this once Fushimi was glad he had an excuse of watching the screen fixedly, because he wasn't sure at all whether he would manage to keep a straight face.

He hasn't received any reply from the Colourless King, but that was normal. He hasn't expected any. Unfortunately, he has also been unable to confirm that she has received his message or whether she decided to follow his instructions. The Jungle still had a very weak hold on Ikebukuro and the governmental security cameras had their limits when it came to dealing with organized gangs. Thus, Fushimi hasn't been able to follow the Colourless clan, or the Dollars for that matter, as well as he or Nagare Hisui would have liked.

'We expected she wouldn't come. She seems to be keeping to herself, playing house with those few, silly clansmen. She appears to wish to follow Ichigen Miwa's path, rather than the Kings before and after him,' Iwafune pointed out. The Green King agreed, praising Mai Ueno for being reasonable and not risking her life stupidly. Clearly, neither of the men had the slightest doubt about their imminent victory. Fushimi had to wonder whether they had some hidden weapon or advantage: after all they were against three clans united.

'In any case, the Tower is off the grid. I need to hack into their security system to gain any sort of control of locks, electricity and traps,' he reported, changing the topic. He wanted to add that it was almost like the Blue clan knew how to hinder him the best, but decided against it. Anything that could bring suspicion to his person at this moment was highly undesirable.

A sudden, popping noise and a shockwave from the direction of the Tower caught Fushimi completely unaware. He flew off his hair and hit the front wall of the van.

When he regained his bearings, realizing that nothing has happened to the van, he half walked, half stumbled to the door, checking on the Green King and Iwafune. For a split of a second, he imagined the Green King's broken back or cracked head, but his hopes died as soon as he poked his head out of the van: they have both been thrown back, just as much as he had, but the wheelchair seemed to have protected Nagare from harm.

Fushimi made an irritated noise and jumped out to pretend he wanted to help Iwafune off the floor.

'What the hell was that?' the priest complained, brushing his clothes once he was back on his feet. Fushimi glanced back towards the building, seeing the white-haired teenager against a bent door frame and the Strain rushing up to him.

'I'd say that Yukari and Sukuna have gotten through the illusion,' Nagare replied, a serene smile on his face. 'I am very proud of those boys,' he added and turned to Fushimi. 'Make me proud as well and get through to their systems, Saruhiko,' he said.

'Tsk, don't treat me like I was your son or something,' Fushimi grumbled, but went back to the computer without any further delay. He knew already that getting into Mihashira Tower's systems wasn't impossible just as well as he knew that it would take far longer than Nagare Hisui had the patience to wait for. And, sure enough, Fushimi was barely past the first level of security when the Green King announced he was going in.

For good measure, he turned away from the computer sharply, voicing his protest at the same time as Iwafune did:

'Mishakuji and Gojo still haven't gone through all the traps. You'll waste your time getting through them and when-' he trailed off abruptly when he registered the smile Nagare Hisui was watching him with. In that moment he was entirely convinced the Green King has seen right through his game and just for a moment he thought that was, after all, the end.

'Don't worry, Saruhiko,' the Green King said, his pleasant tone belying the gleam in his eyes and the cold smile stretching his lips. 'There is one thing nobody knows: a joker in my sleeve, you could say. We will not lose tonight.'

A feeling of foreboding washed over Fushimi. Something nobody knew? What could it be? What have they all missed in the Green King's plan?

He couldn't ask. In any case, Iwafune was already wheeling Nagare towards the building and Fushimi watched them go, for once not bothering to hide the dislike in his expression. He has had seriously enough of playing along with the despicable Green King and the sooner that damned man was away, the sooner Fushimi could drop the act. So really, he was fine if Hisui wanted to exhaust himself by smashing through the fireproof doors every three metres on every single floor of the Tower.

At the entrance, Nagare Hisui stepped off the wheelchair, started glowing electric green and dashed off like a lightning. Despite himself, Fushimi shuddered, hoping that captain Munakata knew what he was going to face. Not that it was his problem anymore, he thought, turning back to the computer, already wondering if he could try to follow the fight from the van. His mind was already turning around the solutions when he caught, with the corner of his eye, a sight he hasn't expected.

A fog. It wasn't an illusion, because Neko was still fussing over Shiro, who has barely regained his consciousness it seemed. There were no meteorological or physical grounds for its appearance there and then and- Exactly where Tenkei Iwafune was standing.

As though in a dream, Fushimi watched Shiro, the Silver King, jump two meters in the air, grabbing Neko on his way and landing them away from the spreading tendrils of the fog. Vaguely, he heard him exclaim, but when the words filtered through they hit him like a hammer. Like a new Sword of Damocles falling from the high heaves.

The captain needed to know.

He didn't think much. In fact, he has grabbed the headset before he realized he has moved, his other hand already typing the access code to the channel always reserved for open, full team communications during larger operations. The second it was in, he had the headset on and was speaking in the microphone, foregoing all greetings and pleasantries and explanations.

'Captain, the Grey King has allied himself with the Green King. He is at the ground level now, going into the building. I repeat-'

But he didn't. He realized his mistake when Iwafune turned to look at him. The van might have been very far from the building, but the priest had excellent hearing. Now Fushimi knew why: to fight in the legendary Grey clan's absolute fog.

With surreal clarity, he saw the Grey King take out a gun and point it his way. He saw him pull the trigger and turn around, disappearing into the fog. He saw Shiro and Neko turn his way, following the Grey King's aim. And even as he fumbled for the sword he no longer had at his hip, Fushimi knew it was too late. Staring death in the eye, he realized he couldn't move.

Five points to those who have guessed that Neko's last illusion was Pandora Heart's Abyss ;)