Demon City Tokyo
Thirteen
"Well, crap," Rally Cheyene muttered mildly as she looked at the front page of the paper and found her fledgling police force front and center.
'Police for Hire!' the banner headline read, then bellow was a somewhat less sensational story about her selling police services to Tokyo. It was actually reasonably ballanced as a story, presenting both upsides and downsides from the proposal.
"How the hell did this happen?" Lebia Maverick asked, the cool blonde actually looking just a bit flustered.
Rally sighed as she put the paper down. "I wasn't really that surprised," she admitted, "the incorporation papers are publicly filed, after all. I just never expected someone to put all the facts together that quickly."
Lebia nodded, though she disagreed. They had gone to quite a bit of trouble to obscure those facts, after all. She picked up the paper, noting the reporter's name and muttered, "Her."
"Mayumi Yamagishi, yes," Rally agreed, "it seems we under estimated her."
The reporter was working with NERV and it's Hunters, and had already published several dangerous stories, from their point of view. Therefore they really shouldn't have been surprised when she went digging into them, too.
Lebia shook her head, "I'll do some checking with our sponsors, discretely. I expect they aren't going to be happy about this."
"Thank you," Rally said, "and we'll have to check in with city hall. I doubt the Mayor will be pleased about this too."
"Yes, ma'am," Lebia agreed as she filed out.
Rally sat back with a sigh. Thankfully the story wasn't THAT damaging, but it would certainly be bad public relations. Despite people knowing that police are paid, they didn't want to imagine that they could be a commercial venture. It was a odd blind spot people had.
'I wonder if Yui Ikari suggested this story idea to her?' Rally wondered, 'Or was that giving too much credit to the head of NERV?'
The phone rang and Rally picked it up, only to wince. "Yes, Mr Mayor," she sighed, and braced herself for a long rant.
Meanwhile, two other young women were having a similar conversation over the morning paper. "I'm gonna kill that bitch," Kiddy Phenil growled, the tall, green haired woman clutching the crumpled up newspaper in her fist.
Nami sighed, "That'd be a BIT much, Kiddy."
"Wanna bet?" Kiddy scowled.
Nami rolled her eyes, "You'd do badly in jail, Kiddy. Trust me."
Kiddy scowled. She hadn't liked the reporter when they first met, and she liked her even less now. Worse, she had mentioned her AND Nami by name in her story, repeating their 'no comment' quotes and implying they were hiding something sinister.
"Maybe we should have agreed to a interview," Mami sighed, the shorter woman walking over to get a coffee.
"You're kidding," Kiddy blinked from the cafeteria table she was sitting at.
"No comment doesn't seem to have been a good idea," Nami noted, summarizing their earlier encounter with the reporter.
"Okay, point," Kiddy conceded that reluctantly. "But no way would I want to be interviewed," she said flatly.
"Hmm," Nami didn't say anything else, knowing some of the things Kiddy had survived during the first demon attacks. Of course, they all had their stories.
"Coffee ready?" Mana asked, the other woman coming in from the weapon's lab.
"Yeah," Kiddy said then held up the thrashed paper, "Seen the news?"
"I read it before you did," Mana noted wryly as she poured herself some coffee. "Congrats on your news debut, Miss No Comment."
Kiddy just growled at that.
"More weapons testing today?" Nami tried changing the subject.
"That's the plan," Mana shrugged, "we've got some heavier rifles to try against the demon. Still having a hard time tracing down a chain-feed machine gun."
"Isn't that a BIT much?" Kiddy blinked.
"It heals up too fast for conventional guns, I'll give Yui Ikari that," Mana shrugged, "but it does look like machine guns are the answer."
Nami shook her head wryly, "Try to keep the mess under control."
"That's half the fun," Mana grinned.
"Mind if I help out?" Kiddy asked after a moment. "I could use a chance to work out some of my frustration, today."
"Sure," Mana grinned and the two headed out together.
Nami watched them go and sighed to herself softly. "Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" she muttered.
"You have some degree of common sense?" Yuki noted, the youngest member of the group having come in to get a soda.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mayumi was groggy as she came awake, the left overs of a night of drinking vodka. She winced as the light stabbed into her eyes, and groaned softly.
"Hmmm," another voice groaned.
THAT woke Mayumi right up as she realized someone was in bed with her. Shifting the blanket a bit she saw a startling red-orange tuff f hair, then carefully moved the sheet more to reveal Asuka was snuggled up to her.
'How the hell?' Mayumi thought, trying her best to remember what exactly had happened last night.
Asuka had come to her room with the bottle of decent vodka, somehow having slipped it by Misato and Ritsuko. She had said something about wanting advice, and had poured the drinks with some coke. Sadly, she wasn't that good pouring drinks and swiftly succumbed to the booze before she could ask whatever she wanted to ask.
'Right,' Mayumi remembered, 'I figured there was no way to get her back to her room so I just dumped her in bed.'
Before Mayumi could try shaking the girl awake, the door to her room slammed open. "I wondered why Asuka wasn't answering." Misato noted, looking amused.
"Ack!" Asuka was startled awake, nearly falling out of the bed, still dressed in last night's skimpy top and shorts.
"Thank you for knocking first," Mayumi scowled, glad she was at least in bra and panties.
"Sorry," Misato said completely unapollogetically, "but we've got a alert. Demon on the run in midtown, and it's a populated area."
Asuka swore softly as she shook her head. "I feel like death warmed over," she admitted to her woozily.
Making a split second decision Misato said, "Okay, you are benched for now." She looked at Mayumi, "You okay with working with Mari?"
"As long as she keeps her hands to herself," Mayumi said dryly.
"Hey!" Asuka protested, "I still can..." She trailed off as she went a lovely shade of green. With a muffled excuse me she bolted to the bathroom.
"Oooh," Mayumi winced.
Misato also looked sympathetic. "I'll send Ritsuko down to take care of her," she promised, "now let's go."
"Right, sorry Asuka," Mayumi called as she followed Misato out.
Misato had her phone out, "Yeah, Asuka's sick. Well. Actually hung over. Yeah, please tajke care of her..."
They hurried over to Mari's room, where Misato actually knocked. "Very nice," Mayumi noted dryly.
"I try," Misato said, then knocked again.
"What the hell?" Mari asked as she opened the door, clearly having just woke up. In the nude.
"Good morning," Misato took the nude woman calmly as she said, "we've got a demon attack. Ready to roll?"
"Five minutes," Mari said and slammed the door in their faces.
"So," Misato turned to Mayumi, "why DID you and Asuka end up in bed together?"
To be continued...
Demon City Tokyo
Chapter 14: Christmas
It hadn't snowed in Japan since the Event, and there was no sign of any this year either. It had gotten a bit cooler as the year came to an end, but that was all really. Tokyo was quiet as a chill wind blew through the city, stirring up garbage and sending rodents scurrying to safety.
"Yui Ikari. A pleasure," Rally Cheyenne said with false cheer, the other woman looking a bit warily at the elder.
Yui smiled back wryly, "No, the pleasure's all mine.
The mayor of Tokyo grunted, the older man clearly amused by the greetings. "I'm sure," Koichi Hashimoto said dryly. He continued, "You're welcome to use these meeting rooms. Try not to kill each other." With that he left, shutting the door behind him.
There was a beat of silence as the women studied each other. The brown haired, slightly older Yui and the almost silver blue haired Rally, both driven, powerful women with their own agendas.
"As I requested this meeting," Rally broke the silence, "I suppose I should put my cards on the table first."
Yui tilted her head to the side, as she mused "I would think I'm reasonably well informed. You are a wealthy European heiress, you are founding a private police firm to hunt demons and you want to open up shop in Tokyo."
"All correct," Rally conceded willingly. "But I suspect you do not know why."
Yui raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
"My father was Lorenz Keel. I am the inheritor of his coven, SEELE, and I have dedicated myself to destroying his legacy," Rally said evenly.
THAT was a surprise, Yui had to admit.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Much later that evening, a pissy cool rain had begun to fall. A figure hunched in the rain, trying to keep a battered umbrella in place. He hammered on the unmarked door, "Yo!"
Roy opened it, looking the man over disdainfully. "Come on," he moved, letting him inside.
"How do you think she took the bombshell?" Kiddy asked as they stood watch over the underground bar.
Nami gave her a look, "Don't act like you enjoy this so much."
Kiddy snickered. "Well, it's nice to see Ikari get shocked."
Lebia Maverick was watching the bar, the tall blond serving drinks with her usual efficiency. They had also decorated up the bar for Christmas, tho that wasn't saying much. There were some tinsel decorations, some garlands, and at the end of the bar someone had set up a small, fake tree.
The rest of the team was back at the station. Someone needed to guard their pet demon, after all. They were confident in their restraint technology, but still...
"I still don't like the idea of allying with NERV," Lebia admitted to Kiddy quietly. "We KNOW Yui is dirty..."
"We don't know that," Kiddy noted equally quietly. "Yes we're reasonably sure they lied about the guns effectiveness, but it takes heavy weapons to kill demons. And damn it, even our tests show swords DO work better really."
"Yeah, yeah..." Lebia made a face.
Nami rather suspected that Lebia was envious of the great computer tech NERV had. Her own system back at base was puny in comparison.
"Hey," Old Man Suzuhara staggered up to the bar, "you serving or just chatting?"
Kiddy stepped up to visibly loom over the older man. "Have you got a problem, sir?" she asked him mildly.
Suzuhara looked up at her and gulped. "No, ma'am," he said weakly.
"What'll it be?" Lebia asked mildly.
"Beer," and mug in hand he retreated to his table.
With a wry smile Nami noted, "Please don't make the customers piss themselves in terror, Kiddy. Mopping up the floor is troublesome."
"Yeah, yeah..." Kiddy laughed.
"Getting near midnight," Lebia noted as she poured them each a shot of rum.
"Merry Christmas," Nami toasted, and they all clinked glasses together.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The sword clanged against a hard shell as Mari cursed loudly. "It's armored! That's fuckin' cheating!" she yelled.
"Yeah, yeah," Asuka said as her Rei charged in to grapple with the huge demon.
If they had to guess the thing was about seven feet tall, and broadly humanoid. It's body was more like a large wedge than human shaped, with long, snakey arms and short stubby legs. Despite the legs it moved quickly, and it could half curl up to use it's armored back to shield itself.
Asuka manoeuvred as Rei tried to come to grips with the bigger monster. "We need larger Reis," she muttered as she looked for an opening.
"I'm sure Yui will approve of giant Rei copies," Misato noted over the communications net.
"Heh," Asuka grunted as she chopped at an exposed arm. The thing yelped in pain, but that was about all.
"Mayumi HAD to take a day off," Mari muttered as they circled the thing. Her own Rei was out cold in a corner of the room, caught by a back hand blow by the creature.
"Unlike some of us she has a family she'd like to see over the holidays," Asuka noted dryly.
Mari snorted at that. "Fuck Christmas," she growled.
"Language," Rei scolded mildly.
Mari blinked at her. "Da fuq?" she asked.
"I think Mayumi's been a bad influence on her," Asuka said, visibly amused.
Mari shook her head even as she nimbly dodged another arm lashing from the demon. "Rei, can you grab it from behind so we can skewer the damn thing?" she asked.
Rei looked questioningly at her partner, Asuka.
"It's a good plan," Asuka agreed, "Do it. Just be careful."
"Understood," Rei nodded. As Asuka and Mari attacked it from the front to try to keep the demon's attention, Rei carefully slipped behind it. Creeping up near silently she waited until it reached out to attack, then grabbed it from behind.
"Urhh!" the demon roared as it struggled in her grip.
Both Asuka and Mari lunged forward, swords biting into it's soft guts. The thing arched back, then shockingly it's innards... exploded outwards.
"AWK!" Asuka yelped as she and Mari were doused in dark purple demon ichor.
Mari was purple head to toe. Worse, she had been yelling when gooped. "Pfft!" she spat out a stream of purple blood.
"You all right?" Asuka asked as her Rei began to tear bits off the demon to eat.
"Just dandy," Mari spat again, even as bells rang out in the city. "Merry Christmas," she growled as she pushed her soaked hair back.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Showers. Now," Misato ordered briskly as the two sodden hunters returned.
"This is revolting," Mari sighed as the two nearly purple young women, and two Reis, walked down the hall.
"And Ritsuko wants you all in her lab after!" Misato called after them.
"Tell her to warm up the instrument trays," Mari answered tiredly.
Misato snickered softly as she walked back to the main command center. Luckily there was little demon activity tonight, and she and her staff were mostly just keeping an eye on things.
"Everything's quiet," Maya reported. "How are the girls?" she asked.
"Slimed," Misato answered with a little laugh. "Fine otherwise, and Rits will check them over just in case."
"Heh," Maya smiled. "Did you get my gift?" she asked quietly as they stood by Misato's desk.
"I did, thank you," Misato said. She winked, "If you like we can try it out together...?"
Maya went amusingly pink. "I'd like that," she agreed, "let me know when."
"Will do," Misato agreed as the younger woman hurried off.
Yui Ikari ambled over, drinking from her cup of coffee. "Merry Christmas," she said, smiling faintly. "Should I continue to pretend you two aren't sleeping together?" she asked mildly.
"Probably a good idea," Misato shrugged, "while there's no official rule against it, the boss likely wouldn't want to know."
Yui gave Misato a look. "Not to judge, but it's not the most psychologically healthy relationship," she added dryly.
"I'm aware she's using me to try to get Ritsuko's attention," Misatio said calmly, "and I'm okay with that. It's not serious on my end."
Yui was clearly skeptical but decided not to push.
"What did Rally and her ADP cohorts want to see you about?" Misato changed the subject.
"She's interested in ending the infighting and making a partnership of some kind," Yui said, leaving out the revelations of Rally's parentage.
"What's in it for us?" Misato asked wryly.
"Hmm," Yui nodded wryly.
To be continued...
Notes: Not really in a Christmas mood this year, as you can guess. So this is pretty much my official 'X-Mas fic' this year.
In Silent Mobius canon Rally is the daughter of a demon. I wanted to kind of bring that over, so her biological dad is Keel. Which will tie into his body turning up in Tokyo, eventually.
Note: The author must regretfully inform you that Hiromi Tsuru the actress who played Kiddy Phenil and dozens of other parts, has passed away.
Demon City Tokyo
Fifteen
"Merry Christmas," Lilith purred as Yui Ikari entered her underground prison and carefully locked the door behind her.
"Shouldn't you... I don't know. Burst into flames saying that?" Yui asked as she took off her labcoat and unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse.
Lilith laughed throatilly. "I predate your little Christ by many thousands of years," she said as she lounged on the bed.
Yui tried to not let that thought disturb her.
"Did you bring me a gift?" Lilith teased.
Yui sighed as she set out a bottle of wine. She had found Lilith was easier to deal with using bribes, even though it was annoying. What she wanted to do was beat her into submission, but that really wasn't an option.
"Oooh!" Lilith grinned.
"NOT until I get what I want," Yui added with a growl.
"Of course, mistress," Lilith said tauntingly.
Yui gave her a look as she continued, "Lorenz Keel. He and his coven opened the Earth to the Adamite demons."
"And you used me and my children to fight them," Lilith nodded.
Yui ignored that comment at as she continued, "Do you have any information on what happened to him after that?"
Lilith looked intrigued. "Something happened to him?" she asked.
"So you don't know," Yui said, disappointed.
Lilith shrugged. "If they had summoned me, there would be a connection between us. Sadly, without that all I would have to help me sense them would be their general power in magic," she explained calmly.
Yui mentally filed that info away. It was... faintly disturbing knowing Lilith could probably chase her down. "You dealt with Kaji for me," she started.
"You mean I ate him," Lilith calmly corrected. "Let's not pussyfoot around things, hmm?" she mocked her.
She KNEW Lilith was baiting her, but it was still hard to keep her temper. "Ate him, then," Yui accepted that, "so I wanted to ask: can you make a youma based on him, with his knowledge intact?"
Lilith looked intrigued, but shook her head. "Possibly right after I ate him," she mused, "when he was still mostly intact. I've digested him at this point."
Every now and then, Yui forgot she was dealing with a inhuman entity. But conversations like this reminded her of that very well.
"Aww, I've disturbed you," Lilith looked more amused than bothered.
Yui wanted to chuck the wine bottle at her, but restrained herself. Instead she uncorked the bottle, and poured two glasses.
"Planing to liquor me up and take advantage of me?" Lilith teased as she sipped.
Yui ignored that too. "I brought a sample of Ritsuko's blood," she took the vial from her pocket, "create a youma based on this."
"Interesting," Lilith took it from her, "you want a more clinical sort of youma?" Lilith looked amused, "Or just a very repressed lesbian one?"
Yui had to fight back a smirk. "I'd like to try to get her self-control," she admitted, "the usual Rei's... Reii? Anyway, they're often too blood thirsty."
"I can't promise that effect," Lilith cautioned. She finished her wine, then slugged down the blood. "Yummy," she smirked.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mayumi Yamagishi was on her way back to Tokyo, after spending Christmas eve and day with her family.
Mom had, of course, been worried over all the demon attacks in Tokyo, and hadn't been reassured over her commenting that at least she was armed. Her Dad, on the other hand, had been quite proud of her repeated cover stories, and the national syndication deal.
Her sister, of course, didn't care at all. Though she DID hint, in a round about way, that she'd appreciate a Asuka autograph.
The bullet trains still connected regions of Japan, even after the demon infestation. A rider of the trains twenty years ago wouldn't see much difference, but there were some. There were guards walking the length of the train, swords belted on their side. The doors and windows were thicker and armored. And most shockingly, the trains could no longer guarentee to be extactly on time.
"Coming into Tokyo, Tokyo Central Station," the announcement declared.
They pullred into the station and the few remaining passengers filed off. Mayumi shouldered her bag, inclusing the traditional 'Ugly Sweater' and other gifts, then belted her sword on again. She had gotten a few odd looks, but producing her Hunter license stopped that quickly.
Once upon a time Tokyo Station would have been crowded with commuters. Now her and a trickle of brave souls were the only ones there, heading out onto the street level where armored taxis waited to pick up rides.
Maya Ibuki looked amused as she stood there with a sign reading 'Mayumi.'
"You didn't need to come pick me up," Mayumi noted, smiling.
Maya shrugged, "Other than a attack on Christmas, it's been quiet."
Mayumi followed Maya to her waiting car, "Everyone okay?"
Maya used her remote to key open the doors as she teased, "Everyone's okay, other than getting badly slimmed."
"Slimmed?" Mayumi asked as she sat in the passenger's side.
"The demon they were fighting pretty much exploded over them... it was quite a mess," Maya smiled impishly.
"PLEASE tell me someone got photos," Mayumi laughed.
"I promise we saved the security footage," Maya grinned.
The trip to headquarters was quiet, and the streets were almost deserted. It would have been creepy, once, but they were mostly used to it by now.
"Oh, I know it's a bit late..." Mayumi got a small package out and passed it to Maya.
"Thank you," Maya looked a bit surprised.
"Chocolates. I got some for all the staff," Mayumi said. "As a thanks for watching over me, sort of gift," she explained.
"Well, thank you," Maya said again as they pulled into the underground parking, then headed off to her duties.
"Hey, you're back early!" Asuka declared as soon as she saw her. "Missed us?" the flaming orange haired woman teased.
"Yeah, I couldn't bear to be apart from the fun filled life of monster slaying," Mayumi teased right back, hugging her.
Asuka just laughed. "You missed the big gift exchange, but we still got you something," she noted, leading her to the dining hall.
"Welcome back," Mari Makinami waved from where she was sitting at the table. There was a fake Christmas tree in one corner of the room, with packages under it.
"Hey," Mayumi waved back.
"Oooh! Open mine first!" Mari insisted as she got up and joined them.
"Is it obscene?" Asuka had to ask.
"A little?" Mari smirked.
Asuka looked at Mayumi, "Open it first. Get it over with."
"Hey!" Mari yelped.
Mayumi snickered as she unwrapped Mari's present first. "Illustrated 101 sex positions, with Blu-Ray?" she blinked.
"Oh god..." Asuka shook her head.
"And if you need help with the more advanced positions..." Mari teased.
"Slut," Mayumi shook her head.
"Smile when you say that," Mari laughed.
"Mine's somewhat more boring," Asuka noted as she handed her a package.
"I kill monsters for Yui Ikari and all I got was this Lousy T-Shirt," Mayumi read the front of the shirt then laughed.
"I got your gift, by the way," Asuka held up the pendant Mayumi had gotten her for the gift exchange, "Thanks."
"I saw the 'angel with a sword' design and thought of you," Mayumi admitted.
"You two need to get a room," Mari teased.
"Down, girls," Misato sauntered in, looking amused. "Have a good Christmas, Mayumi?" she asked politely.
"Other than my Mom driving me crazy about living in this 'Demon infested hell-hole' it went okay," Mayumi said wryly.
Misato shrugged, "It may be a 'Demon infested hell-hole' but it's OUR 'Demon infested hell-hole,' really," she said.
To be continued...
Notes: LONG gap in updating. Life, minor break down, etc etc. Sorry. I'm quite bummed over Hiromi Tsuru's death.. not only did she do Kiddy, but Bulma from Dragonball and Leona from Tank Police. Sucks.
Demon City Tokyo
Chapter Sixteen
Misato smirked as she used her 'christmas gift' to mount Maya from behind. She pulled at the younger woman's hair as she thrust in hard.
"Ah," Maya moaned as the strap on plunged into her depths.
"You are SUCH a slut," Misato teased. "Yui would be SOOO shocked to see her cute assistant doing this," she teased.
Maya bucked, her hips thrusting upward. "oooh," she gasped.
Misato often wondered how embarassed Maya would be if she knew that Yui was aware of them. Part of her wanted to tell her, but...
With a groan Maya orgasmed, her back arching as she shuddered. After a moment she slumped down, laying there bonelessly.
"You came without permission," Misato noted. "Naughty naughty..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Rally Cheyenne was in her office, even though it was New Years Eve. The work didn't do away, after all, and she wasn't in the mood to go party. (No one had invited her too, but she wouldn't admit that.) "How is the Keel investigation going?" she asked.
Lebia checked her tablet screen, though she pretty much had everything memorized. "For various political reasons it's been passed to Tokyo city detectives," she noted, "but we're assisting them, obviously."
"Any progress?" Rally asked.
"Some. We've determined how Keel got himself into Japan. A bribed customs person and a uninspected container," Lebia told her calmly. "The man is going to be charged, obviously, though we're still deciding what charges to lay."
"See if you can get a interview with him," Rally noted. "It might not have just been money that was motivating him."
"SEELE cultist?" Lebia wondered.
"It's possible," Rally shrugged.
"We have a unconfirmed series of sightings of Keel in Japan, but nothing I'd consider reliable. I think people are trying for the reward money," Lebia said frankly. "There IS one thing that's a common feature in the sightings."
"Oh?" Rally asked.
"They were all at Shinto shrines or temples, especially in and around northern Japan," Lebia noted. "Was he looking for forgiveness?" she asked wryly.
"I rather doubt that," Rally sighed. She continued, "Good work. Keep digging at it... we may find something useful."
"Yes ma'am," Lebia agreed. "Uhm... Nami, Kiddy and the others are closing out the new year at the bar. You could come if you like?"
Rally smiled wryly, "Thank you for the invitation, but I'll pass. Have fun though."
One Lebia left Rally dimmed the office lights and looked out over Tokyo. WHY had Keel come here, of all places? He had been safe in his home in Germany. The place had been a fortress with well paid, loyal guards. He could have held out there near indefinately. Yet he had smuggled himself into Japan, wandered the north, ended up in Tokyo and was decapitated.
And where was the BODY?!
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"WHY a demon on New Year's Eve?" Mayumi complained bitterly as they strode through the abandoned high rise.
"I guess it's a sign they hate us?" Asuka suggested wryly as they peered into doorways.
Rei was slightly ahead of them, following the trail by scent. "The demon is not far away," she cautioned them.
"Lead the way," Asuka ordered.
They had gotten a sighting report an hour ago. Misato judged it a 'probable' actual demon rather than a crank call, due to both disappearances being reported in the area and other, unconfiirmed sightings. So they were loaded into the van and headed out.
"Why couldn't we have just gotten sloshed like Mari?" Asuka added wryly. The third Hunter had hit the New Years booze early, and had been declared unfit for duty by Ritsuko.
"Because I don't really like drinking and vodka makes you sick," Mayumi noted, reminding her of their shared night not that long ago.
"Ugh. Don't remind me," Asuka sighed.
All three paused as they heard a wet, breaking noise. "And here we go," Mayumi muttered as they advanced to the end of the hall.
They shoved open the door, advancing cautiously into the office. There was a huge desk, a window with a lovely view and a weird mass of writhing tentacles.
"Ewww," Mayumi blurted out.
Reacting with inhuman speed Rei shoved Mayumi aside as several spear-like tentacles lashed out. They ripped into Rei's arm, splashing Mayumi in blood.
"Ugh!" Rei gasped in pain.
Asuka raced in, swinging her sword and cutting the slimy, yet solid material. The ends broke off, then writhed about angrily before more of them shot out.
This time Mayumi was ready, and hacked at the growths with her bastard sword. She and Asuka grimly advanced, chopping and hacking away as they forced their way towards the central mass. Rei recovered and lunged forward, tearing at the thing one handedly.
"We need to get at the core," Mayumi grunted as she batted away an attack.
"I can't FIND it," Asuka growled as she stabbed into the mass of tentacles.
Mayumi chopped away, then grunted, "Rei. Can you pin it!?"
"I will try," Rei answered. She watched as they chopped more tentacles away, then lunged in, grapling with the demon.
After a certain amount of chopping off bits and wresting about, Mayumi managed to stab the core, killing the thing.
"Well, THAT was horrible," Asuka noted. Both women were covered in splatter, and Rei's one arm was hanging limply at her side.
"And it's past midnight," Mayumi noted, checking the digital display on her wrist. "Happy new year," she sighed.
"Happy new year," Asuka sighed too. "Let's call up the cleaning crew and get out of here..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Rei, head to the labs. Maya and Rotsuko need to look at that arm," Misato ordered briskly once the Hunters returned.
"Yes ma'am," Rei agreed as a staffer led her off.
"You two, into the decontam showers," Misato continued, "you're a mess."
"God yes," Mayumi agreed, her and Asuka shuffling off.
Misato made a mental note to tell the kids they had saved some New Years snacks and stuff for them, once they got out of the showers.
"And we need to have Ritsuko go over you later," Misato called as they walked off.
"Right, right," Asuka agreed tiredly.
Misato called the clean up crew, checking that they had collected the remains without incident. Once that was done, she headed down to the labs.
Rei's severed arm lay on a gurney as Ritsuko attached a regrown arm from the storage tank. In theory they could just pop a 'new' Rei out of the tank, but Misato thought it was better to try to preserve Rei's experience. Plus there was the question of her developing actual personality...
"How are you?" Misato asked gently.
"The pain is managable," Rei answered flatly as Ritsuko finished patching in the new arm. The pale blood and tissue glistened in the light as her flesh knit itself together.
"If sedatives worked on you, I'd sedate you," Ritsuko noted as she finished the connections. "There. How does that feel?" she asked.
Rei lifted her arm, flexing her fingers. "Much better," she noted calmly.
As they were talking Maya returned to the main lab. "Dissection lab is ready," she informed Ritsuko, "once the cleaners bring the subject in."
Misato looked at the severed arm, that was leaking an unhealthy looking green puss. "What...?" she started.
"We think the entity attempted to infect Rei to reproduce," Maya noted. "Thankfully Rei's youkai biology was incompatible with it."
"What would have happened if it had stabbed the Hunters?" Misato had to ask.
"Their armor uniform's emergency systems would probably cut the arm off," Ritsuko mused. "It it stabbed their torso... they'd be dead in minutes."
"Oh joy," Misato deadpanned.
Leaving the lab Misato headed for the showers, meeting Asuka and Mayumi as they were drying off. "Yes?" Asuka asked, noticing she was checking them over.
"Just making sure you're okay," Misato shrugged slightly. Cheerfully she added, "We saved some party snacks and such, in case you still want some..."
"It's been a LONG day," Mayumi sighed. "I think I'll hit the sack."
"Me too," Asuka agreed.
To be continued...