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MONONOKE
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Author:
Notmanos
E-Mail: notmanos at yahoo dot com
Rating:
R
Disclaimer:
The characters of Angel are owned by 20th Century Fox and
Mutant Enemy; the
------------------------------------------------character of Wolverine is also owned by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Comics. No copyright infringement intended. I'm not making any money off of this, but if you'd like to be a patron of the arts, I won't object. ;-) Oh, and Bob is *my* character - keep your hands off! Kyoshi Yashida lived in one of the better suites on the ground floor,with a terrace that opened directly on the walled garden that surrounded the estate on the outskirts of Tokyo.Well tended garden beds,full of brightly colored annuals and a well kept roses in spring and summer,were now bare save for rock sculptures and small ceramic pagodas hidden among neatly clipped evergreen hedges and minute winter flowers,lining paths made of smooth river stones that led towards the reflecting pond and the small copse of towering pines at the back of the land.It was far from the noise and crowds of the city,and seemed like a little slice of paradise. Hachiro bet his older brother hated it;he was always more urban,and had more Western style tastes,but since the car bombing he had needed extensive,round the clock care,and this was one of the best facilities in all of Japan. As the nurse led him down the long wooden corridor to his brother's 'apartment',he kept the file tucked firmly under his arm,and found himself strangely upbeat,almost jovial.He even caught himself humming a tune he'd heard recently,an old Stones tune he would never publicly he liked,because unlike Kyoshi,he was not flagrant in liking anything Western."Rape,murder,it's just a kiss away,"he muttered to himself,as the stout,white clad nurse opened the door to Kyoshi's suite,and let him inside. Kyoshi was sitting up in the hospital bed in the front room of his suite,staring blankly at the t.v. across the room, whose volume was so even he could barely hear it. "Hey there big bro,how's it going?"Hachiro asked,as the nurse left,shutting the door behind her. Kyoshi didn't acknowledge him in any way,which was typical. Shortly after the bombing it was decided he'd be a vegetable for most of his remaining life,and then,when he began to show some signs of response,severely brain damaged.He was not nor would ever be his old self,but he showed moments of lucidity,brief times when you were sure he knew very well what was going on and what had happened to him,and was not happy about it.Hachiro was convinced he deliberately retreated from awareness most of the time,because he was so unhappy with the bitter reality of his new and tattered life. He had once been powerful,feared by family and rivals alike;now he was a maimed husk of a man dying an inch at a time in a convalescent home,peeing through a catheter shoved up his dick and being fed by condescending nurses and i.v. tubes threaded in his arms.Hachiro supposed if Kyoshi could kill himself,he would. Kyoshi had never been handsome.Hachiro was relatively sure-save for himself,of course-no Yashida male had ever been known for their good looks,but they all looked like Adonis next to Kyoshi now. The explosion had ripped off almost literally half his face;the
left side of his jaw and cheekbone had to be completely reconstructed surgically,and
skin grafts put on to replace the skin that had been torn and burned away.While
most of the procedures had been successful,he still had extensive scarring
on the right side of his face that made the skin look as layered and gnarled
as the bark of a diseased tree,all knotting beneath the patch that covered
his right eye. "I brought you something interesting,Yosh,"he said,coming over to his bedside,sidestepping the small forest of i.v. stands and machines that clustered like obedient servants at the head of the bed on either side."Something about your son-in-law.You do remember your ugly white bastard of a son-in-law,right?" Kyoshi's single brown eye finally tracked toward him,and glared at him with a hate that was almost molten.Yes,he remembered,and he didn't like being reminded of it either. Hachiro was unable to keep from smiling.This was just going to be too damn good. He slipped the file out from under his arm and put it on the white bedspread,directly on Kyoshi's lap,and opened the file for him just to get things started. When Kyoshi finally turned his eye from the financial news broadcast to the folder,he saw the first photo of Logan fighting approximately six of Takabes men,a group of thugs twice his size,that Logan made very short work of, although proceeding the photograph,one of them threw a knife that had wedged itself firmly in Logan's throat.Logan was seen pausing during the fight to pull it out. Since Yosh was missing three of the fingers on his left hand,and his right arm was laden with tubes,Hachiro flipped the pictures over for him.The next photos,in sequence,showed Logan successfully pulling the knife out,exposing a sizeable gash in his throat.In a sequence so fast the camera actually missed a bit of it,the gash seals itself up,like his skin was not only a living organ but an intelligent one,finding atypical gaps in the network and quickly pulling them shut. During this time,he also dispatched with the men quite easily.Hachiro always knew Logan was ugly,but these pictures allowed him to notice,as if for the first time,that there was something almost animalistic about his face.His canine teeth,exposed in a feral snarl for the camera,seemed almost too long,like fangs,and his eyes...well,he couldn't quite put his finger on it,but they seemed somehow less than human.The fact that he could take those men down in approximately three minutes (more or less the time frame for all the photos,beginning to end,including ones he had left at home) proved it if nothing else did. Yosh bent closer,trying to focus on the photos,and Hachiro told him,"I had these pictures tested.They haven't been doctored.I have the negative-or at least a copy of them-to prove it.Our samurai is a dirty fucking mutant,brother,a disgusting piece of gene trash."He paused for effect."Mariko knew it when she married the animal.Now she and the freak are tearing our empire apart,and they plan to run the ashes of our industry together.I think you know as well as I what has to be done." Truth be told,he didn't need Kyoshi's approval to do jack shit.But he wanted him to know what was happening,and he wanted it to poison the son of a bitch.He was his brother,and he had run the business well for many years,but that didn't mean he ever had to like him. The last photo of the six Hachiro had brought showed the large path of blood where the wound had bled,but the wound itself was visibly gone,the skin unbroken and as smooth as the rest of the flesh on his neck.Creepy was not the word for it:unnatural was.A crime against not only nature but humanity itself. With a deliberate slowness,Kyoshi looked at him with his one good eye,its baleful glare still palpably malevolent,and he said in a raspy whisper,all that was left of his once commanding voice:"Kill them." Hachiro smiled,feeling a positively warm glow fill his entire body.That was exactly what he was planning to do.He didn't know much about the samurai,but what he did know was they were all about control,duty;working inevitably towards a death with honor and grace.Poor Logan:in the end he would find no honor,no grace. But death?Oh yes,that was already arranged. ** Tokyo-1981
"Don't worry your pretty little head about business,"Mariko said teasingly,quickly shoving some documents into her briefcase."That's my job." He snorted a laugh and put an arm around her shoulders,pulling
her closer and resting his head against hers as she snapped the leather
case shut.She leaned back against him,sliding her case to the floor and
putting a hand on his leg. But she was quick to point out she was headed to the home office of Yashida Consolidated,in the upscale Meguro business district-what could go wrong there? Everything,of course.Things went wrong when you least expected them to,and even when you did expect them to; trouble was fun like that.And he just wanted to come.That was good enough for her. Truth was the wind had shifted,at least within the family,and it unsettled him deeply.Riko knew it had but wasn't too concerned:"They always bitch about something,"she had said,and that was true enough. But this felt different somehow.It was as if they were backing off.She said he had done that,and he wanted to believe that,but he couldn't.It almost felt like the calm before the storm.Yet when had there been any shit he couldn't deal with? "Let's forget it,Riko,"he told her quietly.Despite the partition between the back seat and the driver in front,he didn't want Natsume to hear a syllable of it."Let's just go." "He's not only my Uncle,he's the Vice President of the company,Logan,"she replied,stunned but equally quiet."If he's calling in the stockholders,I have to be there.I want to know why." "I don't just mean the meeting-I mean all of it.I'll tell Natsume to take us to the airport;we'll catch the first plane out heading West.It doesn't matter where." She drew back,and stared at him like he was insane."What?" "Don't worry about money,passports,any of that shit.Lots of people owe me some favors,and I can call 'em all in.We can start a new life away from all of this bullshit.Let the family rot in hell,Mariko;they don't deserve a single ounce of the loyalty and dedication you've shown them.Some people don't deserve to be saved." Anger flashed briefly in her eyes,but quickly seemed to ebb away,and she gave him a gentle,almost sad smile as she came back to him,slipping her arm around his shoulders and resting her forehead against his."Love,what's made you so worried? Aren't we copacetic?" "Things will get worse before they get better,if they ever do.I can't keep risking you,Riko." "You're not risking me,I am.We're winning the fight,Logan.For once in its existence,Yashida Consolidated is clean, and I intend to keep it that way."She pulled away slightly,enough to look him in the eye as her expression seemed to harden.Ah,the stony resolve face."But if you feel you must go,Logan-" "I'm not leaving without you,"he insisted.She was not the only one with a stony resolve face around here. She kissed him on the bridge of the nose."You're cute when you're stubborn." He pulled her into a passionate kiss,her mouth tasting of astringent green tea and lemon,and he was sorry to let her go.He knew there was little to no chance she would be so blinded by passion she'd throw caution to the wind and agree,but it was his last hope. She let out a small sigh as she pulled away,her hand resting on his chest,the warmth of her palm radiating through the cotton of his shirt."Save some of that for later,sweetheart.Wow." "Let's go now,"he said,not quite pleading but very close.He hadn't stayed in one place this long ever in his life,not since he became an agent and then left them behind,and maybe that's why he felt so anxious,pent up,trapped like a rat in a maze.If the danger was his alone,he could accept that,but he wasn't alone anymore.In a way that was worse; it left you vulnerable in so many ways he hadn't really considered much before.He just wished he knew if it was simply paranoia or his own well honed gut instinct telling him they had to leave now,or they might never get the chance. She patted his chest,and he knew then she was going to say no."As soon as things settle down,why don't we take a vacation?We never had a proper honeymoon.Where would you like to go?" "Anywhere but here." "Narrow it down." He shrugged,feeling almost suffocated by a palpable sense of doom.He thought the idea of them ever going on a honeymoon-ever going anywhere alone and with a sense of safety-was a pipe dream.But he didn't want to tell her that."Where do you want to go?" She leaned her head against his shoulder as she thought it over."Hmm.Hawaii's kind of trite.What do you think about Aruba?Jamaica?" "Aruba's nice,but too touristy,"he said."Jamaica's beautiful,but I have some bad memories there...what about the Seychelles?White sand beaches,crystal clear aquamarine lagoons,lots of privacy.They like tourists,because they don't get a lot." "Sounds like paradise." "There's no such place.But it's close." "Then the Seychelles it is.Where is it,by the way?" "Indian Ocean.Northeast of Madagascar and the mid-African coast;part of a small island chain." "I didn't know there was anything out there." "Now you know why they don't get a lot of tourists."Logan glanced out the window,at the neon bright cityscape gliding by,and wondered if they were in anybody's target sites right now. The car windows were tinted to keep people from seeing who was inside;the car was also bullet proof,right down to the tires.It was state of the art,the kind of car only available to diplomats in volatile countries,but money compensated for lack of political ties.In theory,it was almost as safe as a tank.But he didn't feel safe tonight;he was not sure if he had ever felt safe,but tonight it was a thousand times worse. The home office of Yashida Consolidated was just another steel and glass skyscraper in a canyon of similar skyscrapers in the heart of the Meguro district.While the other buildings were lit up like Christmas trees people had yet to take down,few people were on the meticulously clean sidewalks,which was typical for this time of evening.In theory,he could see any threat coming from almost any direction,but the art of urban fighting was very different than fighting in any other setting:there were hundreds of places to hide,and the chance of 'collateral damage' (hurting innocent people by mistake) was enormous.You had to be careful,you had to know what you were doing,you had to know the nature of the attack before you could successfully counter it.How he longed for a good fight in the mountains or in the forest,or even a desert or a goddamn swamp.He knew he had endless advantages there.In settings like these,he sometimes found himself almost as hampered as a normal person.Well,occasionally. They didn't use the parking garage,as there was no real need,and Logan had never liked it:it was too easy to box people in,make them sitting ducks.At least parked outside you were in the open-what you had in vulnerability you made up for in freedom of movement."Where is this meeting?"He asked,as Natsume parked the car (or,as Riko liked to call it,the Sherman tank). "Conference room on the fourteenth floor.Hachiro's having his office on the twenty fifth floor redecorated." "Again?" "No,this is the same one,"she explained,a hint of exasperation in her voice."He fired the other decorator mid-project because he was...well,I'm not going to repeat what he said.Let's just say they had a difference of opinion." "Why?'Cause Hachiro's a dick?" She tried hard not to laugh,but was unable to hold it in.She patted his knee,and,as soon as she got a hold of herself, admitted,"Something like that,yes."She then gave him a quick kiss,the tip of her tongue just briefly touching his lower lip,a teasing sort of kiss that she knew drove him crazy."You be good.It shouldn't take too long." "I'm coming with you." "You know what Hachiro thinks." "Fuck him."Hachiro was of the opinion that he (or any bodyguard) would unnerve the stockholders.If they were such easily frightened racist bastards,he figured they shouldn't be there anyways. "I'd rather not,"she replied humorously,then,reacting to his scowl,said,"What if I cheat and take Nat with me?He's humorless as hell,but I bet he'd make a great human shield." That really wasn't funny,but if they couldn't make lame jokes about their sad situation,who could? She leaned over then,and whispered,"But if you check out the lobby and maybe come up after me,I can't stop you,can I?"She then gave a quick peck on the ear lobe,and grabbed her briefcase off the floor."See you in ten minutes, sweetie ." He grabbed her hand and kissed it,and held onto it until she got out of the car,her fingertips sliding out of his reach, his eyes holding hers until she shut the car door.He heard her tell Natsume he was coming up with her,which was news to him,but she was the boss,so he left with her. Logan watched them walk down the cement path through the dark haze of the tinted windows to the wide glass doors of the building,and then they disappeared inside,out of sight.Natsume had his radio,and he knew enough to call in if there was a problem,but it didn't make him feel any better. He got out of the car,taking a moment to thoroughly scan the entire street,one end to the other.It was a cool night, brisk,but all this pavement made the city a heat island,and it was warm enough here that he couldn't even see his breath.He took a deep breath,completing his sensory scan of the area.The air thick with auto exhaust,the lingering traces of people and their cigarette smoke,perfumes and colognes;he could easily separate Mariko's familiar and very recent scent from the crowd. But that's when he realized something didn't smell right.He smelled something sharp,like eucalyptus oil,covering something else...but what?The eucalyptus scent was interfering with his ability to parse it out correctly.Which was probably the point,wasn't it? He began cautiously stalking around towards the alley on the left hand side of the building,where the eye wateringly strong scent seemed to be coming from.Whoever had decided to skulk there had picked the worst scent possible. Only later would it occur to him that it was a trap. Santa Monica-Present Day The front and supposedly 'main' part of Hood's was dark wood and worn furniture only partially concealed by low lighting,and there were only a few scattered patrons nursing watery beers.They had the intense postures and edema swollen features of career drinkers,and Logan guessed they'd been kicked out of several bars and washed up here,as it was the only place that would take them. There was a heavy green velvet curtain concealing the back of the club,and the thumping bass of techno music could heard as well as felt coming through the seemingly thin wood walls.But seemingly was the key word,as Logan couldn't help but notice the sound was directed into the floor.You were supposed to think there was nothing more than a dance floor behind the curtain,but he had at least heard about the Wizard of Oz,and knew things hidden behind curtains weren't generally what they appeared to be. As they made their way to the curtain,Bob tossed a glance at the grizzled looking bartender,thick enough that he probably doubled as bouncer,at least for this part of Hood's,and Bob said,"We aren't here." The guy stopped doing whatever he was doing.Logan guessed he was reaching for some sort of internal alarm,to let the pit boss know there was undesirable on the way.To beat Bob you had to be a lot faster than that. Throwing back the curtains revealed a metal door,the type you might find on old fashioned cargo ships,and just like in a bad noir film,there was a little rectangular slat cut in the door at approximate eye level.Bob rapped on the door (and judging by the sound it was solid metal),and the slot slid open,revealing a pair of pale grey eyes. "What's the word?"The man said,audibly chewing gum with all the grace of a cow working on its cud. "I just told you,asshole,"Bob replied."Now let us in." The slat closed,and Logan heard the noise of locks like deadbolts being thrown before the goon on the other side opened the door for them. Beyond the bouncer was a huge sunken pit,nearly three times as large as the bar,full of slot machines on one end and gambling tables on the other.The familiar burgundy and gold decor theme was echoed here,as was the fake marble pillars that climbed up to the large metal ceiling,which seemed to condense and compress the noise into an almost unbearable cacophony of human voices and electronic clicks,dings,and blares,just like any casino in Vegas.It was pretty crowded too,although no one bothered to look up at them as Bob shouted,as quietly as he could,"We're important people,and the boss wants to see us immediately.Take us there." "Come with me,"the man said.He was Samoan,five inches shy of seven feet tall and a canned ham away from three hundred pounds,the buttons of his white shirt barely hanging on and the shoulders of his black jacket a single high five away from popping their seams.He really needed a better tailor. As the man led the way down the wide cement stairs to the casino floor,Logan noticed he had words tattooed on the knuckles of his ham sized fists.He expected 'love' and 'hate',but from what he could see,they said 'life' on the right and 'death' on the left.Very cute. The bouncer cut through the throng of gamblers like an icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean,and as they followed,Logan did his best to keep scanning the crowd for any hostile or familiar faces,and wondered what it was Bob was hiding from him. Since the beginning of this,he had been hiding a lot,but ever since he found out this place was owned by a Yashida, Bob had been especially grim.Logan had a strange,sick feeling that this was all his fault-that if a Yashida had teamed with their sworn blood enemy Takabes (a big if-it was still possible the name was assumed),it was because of him. Something he had done had conquered hate and forged an alliance between the families.In theory that was a good thing-until you realized the families joined together to sell drugs and engage in several activities far from legal and harmless.It made him wonder what he did. Hell,they nearly wiped each other out completely on Bloody Friday-how did you forgive someone for something like that? Suddenly Logan had a thought that almost made him stop in his tracks.He knew exactly what would unite the families,and what Bob might be hiding from him.Holy shit. Bob said he'd help him find answers,but he had also warned him he might not like all the answers he found.Logan now knew he probably didn't want to know how this all played out,because he could guess,and he'd really rather not know.But he did now. His skin was crawling because of all the surveillance,but there was no way Bob could hit all the cameras;illegal or not,this place was a casino,and it was lousy with cameras and all sorts of eavesdropping equipment,to keep people from cheating the house before the house could cheat them.It was the main reason he wasn't a big fan of gambling, except for poker.With his enhanced sense,though,it was too damn easy to win. Still,he couldn't shake the feeling he had been singled out in this immense crowd,the dead eyes of the cameras focusing on him to the exclusion of all others...but that was just paranoia. Right? ** Steve,the security tech currently handling the booth,the virtual wall of monitors showing not only several angles of the casino floor but the private back room games and the outside of the club.But right now,seven different cameras were focused on one man on the casino floor,front,profile,back,overhead,and several other angles.There was absolutely no doubt at all that this was Logan. How could there be any doubt?In all these years,he hadn't changed one iota.He hadn't aged,he had barely changed his hair and wardrobe.He wasn't human.He was the devil himself. "Why is Lau taking them back towards my office?"Haido asked,barely able to speak. "I have no idea.The blue eyed pretty boy said something to him,and he just obeyed.Maybe he's a mutant too.I keep trying to raise Lau through his earpiece,but he's not responding." "Don't bother,Logan's friend is probably a telepath,"Haido said glumly.He had heard of those.There were powerful ones out there too,hard to fight against.He needed to separate Logan from the mindfucker and the green girl.He had no idea what her power was,but with her minty hue and tail,it was obvious she was a mutant,and he couldn't risk his perfect plan of vengeance being ruined by some green super bitch. "Instigate an emergency lock down,send them by necessity down corridor H-3." Steve glanced at him,eyebrow arched high over an eye so pale blue it was almost colorless."But what if Logan gets swept-" "Logan won't." "How can you be so sure?" "Because Logan never does what he's supposed to do,"He said ruefully,speaking from deeply bitter experience. Unconsciously,he reached up and scratched the scars on his face. He could have had plastic surgery,he could have had them removed,but he felt it was a mark of his shame,his failure, and he was beholden to keep them.He liked to say it was so he didn't forget the man (the beast) who had done it to him,but truthfully he could have had them all removed and he never would have been able to forget Logan.He'd only stopped having the nightmares ten years ago,and even to this day he still had one every now again. That blood streaked face looming over him,lip curled back in a feral snarl,revealing bloody,inhumanly sharp teeth, and his eyes...god have mercy,his eyes... Haido just hoped he had enough firepower,because no one ever told you how to stop Satan himself. ** The bouncer had led them back into a small warren of dark,metal lined hallways that probably made up the true heart of the casino:security monitors,'private' gaming tables where people gambled away the sum of the entire gross national products of Third World nations,computers,safes,what have you.They smelled of lots of people and cigar smoke and ozone;there was enough electricity being generated here,from various security systems and precautions that Logan could feel hairs on his arms standing on end. Some of the doors were covered with steel.No biggie-he could slice through those like butter.But the way the big guy stopped,it was like he was confused. "Is this a trap?"Logan asked Bob. "You heard him,"Bob said."Answer him." "A security lockdown is in effect,"the man said. "Were we expected?" "I don't know." Logan grunted humorlessly.He was just the front door guy;it was possible he was out of the loop. "What kind of response should we expect if they sic security on us?"Bob went on. "Guards,about a dozen of 'em,armed with super charged tasers and semi-automatic handguns." "All humans?" "As far as I know." Bob smiled,not at all concerned."No problem,then.Is the boss in his office,cowering behind the door?" "Probably not." "Where would he be?" "Security central." "Makes sense,"Helga commented. "Lead on,"Bob said to the big guy,making a sweeping gesture with his arm.Bob followed directly behind the bouncer, and Logan was on point,leaving Helga sandwiched between them. ("Always a dream of mine,"she had said,giving Logan a lascivious wink.) He kept looking around the dim hallways as they went on,having a bad feeling about all of this. Of course,why should he?Whatever he and Helga couldn't handle,Bob could,and vice versa.In theory,they were unbeatable.But then again,so were the X Men,and Legion almost killed them all. The bouncer lead them into a wide hallway with few doors,and Logan heard a strange muffled noise.It sounded like...rushing water? And there was something wrong with the floor:it felt springy somehow,and the big guy's heavy,thudding footsteps sounded hollow.Logan stopped,as did Helga and Bob.Only the heavy guy continued forward,oblivious and on a mission. The three of them had barely made eye contact,tacitly confirming there was something very wrong with all of this, when the entire floor collapsed beneath their feet. Logan made a diving lunge for the nearest wall,popping his claws and driving them into the metal wall as the bouncer,Bob,and Helga all fell into a what appeared to be a rushing,man made river fifteen feet below.Dark as ink and churning with white caps,it swallowed them all whole with hardly a splash or a whimper audible over its thunderous roar."Helga!"Logan shouted,trying to figure out how far he could climb down.Maybe he could get low enough to grab them."Bob!" But they had gone without a trace.He wondered how deep it was,and if it was just water down there. He had made the decision to drop in himself and find out when the metal wings that made up the floor suddenly rose and slammed shut,locking together with a metallic clank just centimeters below his feet.The dark seam in the floor seemed to disappear as he watched. "Where are they?!"He roared,jumping back down to the hollow floor.He left his claws out,preparing to rip a hole in the floor and go down after them himself. The door at the end of the trick hallway opened,and several men in full body armor,holding tasers that looked like cattle prods,spread out at the mouth of the hall.He then heard a voice say,as if over a loudspeaker,"In a safer place than you,Logan." Did he hear just a hint of a Japanese accent in that voice?He was sure he had."Your revenge thing is with me,"he shouted angrily,sizing up the eight men ahead of him.He was pretty sure the armor wasn't adamantium proof,and he wasn't sure those tasers had sufficient juice to take him down.Well,not just one of them.A couple at a time, maybe, but they'd have to get him all at once and be conscious to do it."Leave them the fuck alone." "You brought them into this,not me,"the man replied,as the guards began to approach him menacingly as a group. Well,as menacing as they could try and appear to be;in spite of their thick black armor and their reflective black faceplated helmets,Logan found them as terrifying as a bunch of parking valets. "Have the courage to face me yourself,Scarface,"he snapped,as he lunged towards the nearest man.Lashing out his claws in tandem,he shattered two different tasers as they were raised to jab him,and planted a solid kick in the midsection of a third man,collapsing his sternum instantly in spite of the armor. The man fell backwards and was swallowed by the crowd as the other men charged,and Logan simply slashed out at anything that moved,slicing tasers and body armor,helmets and skin. |
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