"Yo…uh, Bossman?" Uber trailed behind Oni Lee nervously as he entered the dojo. I looked up at him from my seiza position on a cushion and put down the cup of green tea in my hands.
"Sit." I gestured at the cushion in front of me. He sat with his legs crossed instead of a seiza, but that's okay. I didn't bring him here for a culture lesson. "Do you know why I've asked for you to come?"
"Not really…" His eyes went wide, frantic with fear. "Did we do something against you? I swear, we didn't mean to!"
"You seem afraid." I hummed non committedly, watching him squirm in his seat.
"Of course! You're the one who beat down Lung! No matter how we may act, we're not stupid. There's no way for us to beat you." Beads of cold sweat trailed down his forehead. Did I really have this effect on people? It feels strange to be an object of terror.
To his immense relief, I shook my head. "You've done nothing wrong. Or at least, nothing wrong against me. What you do elsewhere is your business and not mine. Although…"
"...yes?" He asked, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists.
"I should begin with a warning. Do not involve my sister or any member of Ryujin Industries in your… shows. That will get my attention. You do not want my attention." I released a small dosage of Conqueror's to get my point across.
His entire form went rigid as his eyes bugged out. "Yes! No involving your stuff! Got it!"
"Good." I drank a sip of my tea. Not bad. My employees were improving at a rapid pace. "Now for the real reason you're here. To my knowledge, your power allows you to perform techniques at a high level of skill as long as you retain concentration. Is this correct?"
He nodded rapidly. "Yeah. But I can't do the entire skill, just specific techniques."
"Good. That's precisely what I need. Oni Lee." I snapped my fingers. The demon reappeared and handed over a bag to Uber. He opened the bag and almost dropped it, his hands trembling.
"So much money… What do you want me to do?" He looked like he really wanted to flee with the bag of money.
"Peace. I'm not hiring you to do anything nefarious or dangerous to your well being." I reached behind me and grabbed a katana before throwing it at him while it was still sheathed. "You will perform the basic striking techniques of the katana for me while I mimic you. Our contract will last until I've fully mastered the basic techniques. Is this acceptable?"
He looked down at the ridiculous sum of money in his hands before staring at me. "Yeah. As long as you're not hiring us to do something like assassinations, this much is doable. Guess you're my boss now."
"Quite."
I laid on the cool floor, wondering where my life had gone wrong. Not a single customer had entered my store today, on account of it being closed. Why was it closed? My vision was obscured when a fluffy animal promptly sat on my face, covering it with animal butt. My hand moved to push it off, but once I did, it began to whimper in disappointment. I felt my heart ache from the way it was acting, but the only facesitting I wanted was from a hot girl. I sighed painfully. My entire body was facing a similar situation. Dogs of all persuasions and breeds were treating my body as a playground as they tussled around or slept on me. Some of them were problematic at first. Their conditioning at the hands of Hookwolf and his gaggle of idiots made them quick to anger and slow to trust. I just alpha-ed them, Rachel style, and this was the result.
The entire shop shook, causing the dogs to go stiff in surprise. Who the fuck is attacking my store? Seriously? I didn't think Kaiser was this stupid. This was halfway to breaking the unwritten rules by attacking a cape in their daily life. I know they technically didn't care about the rules, but they at least pay lip service to it and try to look like they're following it at minimum. I coaxed the scared dogs off of me and went to open the door so I could see the moron who was doing this.
A mess of hooks, blades and other metal implements in the shape of a wolf slammed into the front of my store just as I stepped out. It bounced off painfully, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop. The fake wolf shook it off before getting ready for another charge.
"Hey, dumbass! What're you doing?"
The wolf turned at the sound of my voice and it…growled? "You."
I walked up to the front of my store and knocked against it with my hand. Ripples formed over the surface, like there was a coating of liquid covering the storefront. "There's a force field over the store. You can bang on it all day with no effect. Unless you're telling me that you can bring down the Rig yourself." I opened the door and gestured at him. "Come in. We'll talk like civilized men first. Unless you're telling me that the Übermensch doesn't know how to speak."
The mess of metal stuff curled back into a core before reforming into his human form. To me, he looked vaguely human at best. All I could see was a half-naked man wearing a metal wolf mask with super cliche wolf swastika and E88 tattoos. This genius looked like a bargain bin Neo-Nazi. Where the fuck was Kaiser getting all his recruits from?
"Fine." He stomped in after me.
I set about preparing a cup of tea for each of us to drink. In this instance, I went straight for the bottom shelf and picked out a stock standard box of Yorkshire tea. Honestly speaking, I'm not sure why I had this. There's nothing wrong with the tea itself, but it definitely doesn't fit in with all the expensive blends in my store. Whatever. He doesn't even deserve this much, but I'd go for diplomacy first as with all things.
The 'man' pointed at the dogs who were hiding behind the furniture at the sight of Hookwolf. "Those are my product."
This wasn't the time for a show, so I prepared the tea normally. I set down the cups of tea before partaking in mine. Hmm. Not bad, actually. I guess my heightened skills work well even on standard tea. I gestured with my hand. "Please, drink. You're under my hospitality right now."
"Hng." He grunted, but acquiesced. The look on his face was hilarious, like he was trying his best to not show how much he enjoyed it. The simple pleasures in life are the best. "I've come to take back what's mine."
I cradled the cup in my hand. "And how are these dogs 'yours'?"
"Hellhound, she attacked my business. Set her dogs on my customers. That whore was lucky that I wasn't there." He growled angrily, holding on to the cup tightly.
It seems my temper was worse than his. The cup broke in my hands, bathing it in a piping hot liquid. I ignored it entirely, even as it scalded me. "Whore, you say? And what does that make you, who attacked my store unprovoked?"
"You have my stolen product. That's reason enough." He pounded his fist on the counter. "Are you giving them back or not?"
I took out a towel and flapped it lightly before using it to wipe away the remnants of tea on my hand. "Are you even allowed to be here? I doubt Kaiser sanctioned an attack on me this soon, and definitely wouldn't have just sent you."
"I don't need his permission!" His musculature clenched tightly, showing lines of tension. Ah, definitely wasn't here with permission.
"Of course you do. Kaiser isn't stupid. He wouldn't send a singular cape to fight the guy who defeated Lung." I commented in a blase manner.
"You just got lucky." He declared arrogantly. "It's easy enough to kill the worm before he gets big enough. He's just crafty enough to not enter battle before that. Must have underestimated a weakling like you."
Someone clearly didn't watch the videos as I took down a 22 feet tall Lung. That's to his own detriment. "So, I'm guessing we can't solve this with words?"
"Talk is cheap." He growled. Noticing that he does that a lot. How married is he to the whole nazi wolf theme? "Words are for weaklings. I'm not leaving here without my product. It's a matter of respect. Can't have people taking what's mine."
Welp, I tried. I reached under the counter and pulled out a cane. "Let's do this outside then. You can at least agree to not risk damaging the 'product', can't you?" Without stopping to hear his reply, I started to stroll out of the store. Despite his instinctual need to disagree with everything an inferior race had to say, he followed suit eventually.
We stood apart, like a good ol' Mexican standoff. I brandished the cane I was holding. "Normally, I'd advocate against the abuse of animals…." A black coating sprouted from my hands and rushed down the length of the cane, coating it with a pitch black sheen. "...but in this case, I'm ready to beat a dog with a stick." My other hand gestured at him with a come hither.
He ran at me, morphing mid charge into his Hookwolf form. It leapt at me, howling for my death. At the apex of its jump, I released a singular, horizontal slash at the construct's neck. The blow was too fast for him to dodge or counter, especially in mid air. He could only watch in horror as my cane, a wavy afterimage of black Haki trailing after it, collided with his neck. Hookwolf was sent flying from the impact, crashing into the ground with a thud.
Before he could get up, I breathed deeply before lunging at the wolf with my cane stretched out, thrusting at him. The blunt end of my weapon smacked straight on the wolf's head, pushing him backwards. The blades and claws on the construct held firm to the ground, creating a trench as he was pushed backwards, but I didn't let up. There wasn't a point in monologuing to your enemies in a fight or giving them time to recover. With a quick Soru, I was in front of him once again. I raised my cane up high with both hands and breathed deeply.
Total Concentration…Water Breathing!
I cut down at the monster with a vertical flowing motion, crashing against its prone form.
Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!
A wave of black liquid Haki smashed into his body. I watched as he strained against my cane and the pressure that pressed him down, struggling futilely to stand against the inevitable. He roared with fury and rage as his body cracked the pavement beneath him. The metal hooks and blades on his body began shattering piece by piece as my cane, wreathed in Haki, continued its descent on him.
Finally, I let up. It wouldn't do to go too far and accidentally kill him, as much as I wanted to. All that was left in the crater was the same 'man' I encountered earlier. There were no visible injuries on his form, but he was unconscious. It seems like he ran out of steam trying to fight back against the continuous force of my impact and regrow his weapons. I frowned in annoyance. Didn't think I'd have to do this so soon. I put my phone to my ear.
"Strider. It's me."
Two minutes later, a man wearing a blue and black uniform, looking like a superhero postman, arrived. He stared at the tuckered out doggo on the ground. "New York?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
No more words were exchanged as Strider bent down to hold the man and teleported away. I hated getting involved with the world, but I'd protect my own. The Empire 88 would receive a rude awakening if they continued to mess with what's mine like this.
Ah well. At least Rachel will be happy.