Landing on the ground inside of its guard, Justin bent down until he was crouched low to the ground, then pushed himself up and thrust his knife through the Yokai Killer’s chin all the way up to the hilt.
Justin’s blade was a high-frequency vibration sword. It was based on the concept of cutting through objects by vibrating so quickly that it split molecules apart. The blade had originally been intended to deal with oni, dragons, and other creatures with tough skin, but against the Yokai Killer’s and their quicksilver bodies, it worked just as well.
The Yokai Killer quivered as his blade pierced its core. It twitched several times as if it was undergoing muscle spasms. Justin yanked his blade out of its jaw and took a step back as it ran out of power, allowing it to crumple to the ground, where it lay completely still.
I need to hurry.
Justin didn’t pause for breath as he rushed over to Commander Paine’s desktop. He turned it on, waited for it to boot up, and reached into a holster attached to his thigh. He pulled out a small device that was oblong in shape, flat, and sleek. Several cords were attached to it.
After pressing a small button on the device’s side, Justin watched the screen light up. A menu soon appeared, and he quickly typed in his password, then took one of the plugs and hooked it into the USB port of the computer. Characters began rolling past the screen, flickering by too quickly for even his eyes to follow. Several sets of characters suddenly appeared on the screen, stopping as the device determined what the password was. Y. 0. K. @. 1. A soft ping sounded out before the monitor turned on.
What a cliched password. You disappoint me, Commander.
Once the monitor was up and Commander Paine’s main screen was being displayed, Justin plugged a small memory stick into the computer, then went into the commander’s files and began uploading every folder he could that looked like it might hold something useful. Loud beeping issued from the computer. Justin swore when he saw its automatic defenses pop up and begin trying to kick him out. There was no doubt that Commander Paine had also been alerted to what was happening.
“Come on, come on, come on,” Justin muttered to himself as he stored file after file into his device. A soft beeping issued from the device to let him know it was done, which he unplugged and stored in his holster again. He then pulled the memory stick from the USB drive and hid it somewhere no one would ever find it. Tearing out of the office, he’d just started climbing up the elevator shaft when a loud alarm blared in his ears.
Well, shit. This isn’t good.
Jack and Jill should have disabled the alarm, which meant they’d either failed or, the more likely case, someone had reactivated it. He didn’t know if Commander Paine had done so after his computer sensed Justin’s hacking, or if someone else on the base had tripped it. He honestly didn’t care.
I need to hurry.
The garage was located on the second basement level, directly beneath Commander Paine’s personal quarters. It was an unusual setup, but Justin believed that the commander had done it that way on purpose—as a means of confounding any enemy that tried to break in. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to do so.
Because he didn’t have any more C4, Justin had to bust open the access panel near the elevator door and activate the override. The doors slid open with a hiss and a ding. Justin rushed out of the shaft and into another steel hallway.
The alarms were blaring much louder here. Red lights flashed, the glare reflecting off the many metal surfaces. Justin blinked as he took several turns, moving ever closer to the garage. He ran into numerous soldiers, but they clearly hadn’t realized that he was the cause of the alarm, because they ran right past him—some even threw him a salute.
Bursting through a door, Justin found himself in the massive underground garage. Military vehicles of all kinds sat, inert like statues. He recognized them all. Running past them, he eventually found Jack standing near a vehicle that he knew quite well.
Painted a matte tan, the JLTV, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, was one of the faster vehicles. Its large wheels and shock suspension system allowed the driver to pull out all the stops when maneuvering. This one came equipped with a large turret on the top.
“Glad to see you’re still alive, Lieutenant,” Jack said with a cheery salute. “Though it looks like you’ve been put through the ringer.”
“Never mind that,” Justin said as he opened the door and hopped in. Jill was in the driver’s seat, so he sat behind her. “Get in and let’s get out of here.”
“No time for banter, I guess,” Jack sighed, hopping into the front passenger seat as Jill started up the engines.
“We’re leaving,” she announced as she put the vehicle in reverse and floored on the gas.
Justin grunted as he was slammed against his restraints. Jill then shifted to all-wheel drive and, once more, slammed on the gas. The tires squealed, and Justin could smell the rubber burning as they tore across the parking lot.
“Dear Gods, woman! You’re a crazy driver!” Jack shouted as Jill cranked on the steering wheel, causing them to spin several times just so she could turn a corner.
“Are you complaining about my driving?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then shut up!”
They soon reached the exit, signified by the shift in elevation and slanted slope. Justin looked through the window and saw the large blast doors beginning to close.
“Floor it!” he ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
“Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting meeeeaaAAAAHHHH!!” Jack finished with a scream as Jill kicked the vehicle into overdrive and blasted toward the exit.
A loud wumpf reached their ears followed by a squeal, and Justin looked behind them to see the turret that had been on their vehicle tumbling down the slope. Then the blast doors slammed closed and he couldn’t see anything anymore.
“Remind me why you chose a vehicle with a turret again?” he asked the brother and sister duo.
“Because turrets are awesome and I thought we could use one,” Jack answered.
“If we were still in the military, I would have just given you a demerit.”
“Ouch.” Jack winced. “That’s kinda harsh.”
“And no less than you deserve,” Jill told him before Justin could. “Slacker.”
“What is this? Team up on Jack day?”
The floor eventually evened out as they burst onto the main road. The base, a military outpost located several miles outside of Cortez, Colorado, was surrounded by a massive wall. Several watchtowers sat along the wall, and all of them were currently trained on the inside of the base. Justin assumed they’d been alerted to the ruckus going on inside, which meant…
“Oh, shit,” Jack swore as several lights fell on them. “We’ve been spotted.”
“Take evasive action,” Justin ordered.
“Sir!”
Jill recklessly made their vehicle move in random zigzag patterns. Justin gritted his teeth as he was slammed against his seat belt, the evasive maneuvering doing its utmost to dislodge him from his seat. Jack swore loudly as he smacked his head into the window. Meanwhile, Jill remained silent, sweat trickling down her brow as she concentrated on avoiding the machine gun fire that tore through the ground around them.
“We’re almost there!” Jill told them.
Justin could see it too—the entrance. They were coming up on it. The gate was closed, but he was confident this vehicle would be able to smash through it.
“Jack. The rocket launcher,” Jill commanded.
What?
“Rocket launcher?” Justin asked.
“On it.” Ignoring him, Jack reached down and pulled a rocket launcher from the floor. Then he rolled down the window and stuck his head outside.
Justin felt something unsettling worm into the pit of his stomach.
“Wait a second. You’re not really going to—”
“Fire!” Jack shouted as he pressed the trigger.
Plumes of fire exploded from the
rocket launcher. Justin stared in mute shock as the guards who’d been standing near the entrance, blocking their path, leapt out of the way when the rocket slammed into the gate and blew it apart. Jill drove through the flames, forcefully dispersing them and bursting out the other side.
“And that’s that,” Jack said, wearing the most satisfied grin that Justin had seen in a while. “We’ve made it.”
“Don’t get cocky yet, brother,” Jill admonished him. “They’re going to mount a chase. This escape has only just started.”
“They can chase us all they want.” Jack said, grinning. “I took the task of sabotaging all of the vehicles that could possibly catch up to us. They won’t be following us.”
Jill shrugged. “If you say so.”
“That was incredibly reckless,” Justin said once a pause ensued in the siblings’ banter. “You could have killed those men.”
“But we didn’t,” Jack pointed out.
“I know that, but you should be a little more careful. I don’t want our hands stained with any more blood right now.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Silence ensued between the three as their actions finally sank into them. They had just betrayed the Sons and Daughters of Humanity which, due to how entrenched this group was with the US government, was akin to betraying the United States. Justin wasn’t as concerned by this, but he could tell that Jack and Jill were immensely bothered by what they’d done. They were military through and through.
“What should we do now?” Jill asked after a moment.
“We need to head to Phoenix,” Justin determined. “If we’re going to have any hope of bringing about peace between humans and yokai, then the person we’ll want to speak with is Davin Monstrang of the Four Saints. I hear that Neo Seiryuu is located somewhere outside of Phoenix, Arizona, so we’ll start there.”
“Roger. Setting course for Phoenix.”
Justin leaned back in his seat, feeling the adrenaline fade from his body. His hands were trembling, not just from how tired he was, but also from what he’d done. He was really striking out on his own. He was, in the words of Kevin, creating his own path to follow.
This is kind of exciting.
It would be the last thought to cross his mind. Seconds later, the front of the car exploded, much like what had happened when Jack fired his rocket launcher. Fire engulfed the vehicle as the world tumbled around him. Justin felt a moment of indescribable pain, as if every nerve ending on his body was being burnt to cinders, and then he felt nothing.
Kevin had done a lot of traveling in his time. Yet even he had never done so much train hopping within such a short timespan.
After reaching Kentucky, he and the others hopped on another train, which had taken them through Tennessee and into Mississippi, where they jumped onto another train. They were careful to avoid large cities, and Kotohime had taken even more precautions by disguising them.
Water Art: Prism of Colors was a specialized technique that used water to bend light. By placing a thin layer of water over an object, Kotohime could make that object look slightly different. It didn’t change things like size or shape. A fire hydrant would still look like a fire hydrant, and a person would still look more or less the same. However, it did change colors. Currently, Kevin’s skin was a dark brown bordering on black.
I miss my tan.
His hair had also turned from its regular blond to a nearly bleached white color. Kotohime had also used her control over water to slick it back. He looked like a really bad cross between a gangster and a member of the mafia.
It was late at night. As Kevin stared out the window, all he could see was his reflection set against a black backdrop with a few lights streaking through it. The ride was a little bumpy as the train traveled along the tracks. Most of the others were asleep.
Kevin was sitting with Lilian and Iris, both of them on either side while he sat in the middle. They were both fast asleep and using his shoulders as makeshift pillows. Christine was also asleep. She lay sprawled out on three car seats, one leg and one arm dangling off the edge, and her mouth open and emitting cute snores. She looked really cute.
He would have loved to sink into wonderful slumber with them, but his thoughts kept him awake.
“Is something troubling you, Kevin-sama?” Kotohime asked. He couldn’t see her because she was sitting behind him, but he could imagine the placid smile on her face.
“Maybe a little,” Kevin admitted.
“Is that so? What is Kevin-sama thinking about that bothers him so much?”
“I was thinking about that man we fought, the one who called himself Hebi.” Leaning his head back, Kevin looked up at the ceiling. “There’s something about him that’s been bothering me, but I can’t figure out what it is.”
During their mission to rescue Phoebe and Heather, they had fought against a man named Hebi, and they had been subsequently thrashed. Hebi had toyed with them like a cat playing with a mouse. Sure, Kevin thought they’d gotten a few good licks in, but none of their attacks had done any lasting damage. If Orin hadn’t shown up, Kevin wasn’t sure what they would’ve done.
“I can see why that would be troubling you,” Kotohime admitted. “That man was indeed a powerful opponent.”
Kevin shook his head even though he knew that Kotohime couldn’t see it. “That’s just it, though. I don’t think he was all that powerful. His killing intent was strong, certainly, but none of his abilities seemed very strong compared to a lot of other yokai that I’ve fought. I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that he was actually really weak.”
A moment of silence passed between them. Kevin didn’t break it. Though he couldn’t see her, he could tell that Kotohime was evaluating his words with her own experience.
“Ufufufu, it seems that I have underestimated your perceptiveness,” she said at last. “There is truth to what you say. None of Hebi’s abilities were particularly powerful, and in fact, I would even go so far as to say they were very basic. I have also been wondering how someone who doesn’t seem to have any serious power could be such a troublesome opponent.”
Iris shifted against him. She mumbled something in her sleep, then nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck. Kevin wondered if she was doing that on purpose, but he could tell from her breathing that she was still asleep. He placed a hand on her thigh and absentmindedly rubbed it. A smile appeared unbidden when Iris released a strange moan that sounded almost like a purr.
Except foxes can’t purr.
“The reason that the Hebi you fought seemed weak is because he wasn’t the real Hebi,” Orin said.
Kevin shifted to look at Orin, who sat on the other side of the passenger car. Cien was sitting with him. The inu lay curled on the three chairs opposite of the old man. His tails were hidden, but Kevin could almost imagine it wagging as the inu mumbled about “becoming the strongest” in his sleep.
That’s an inu for you, I guess.
“What do you mean by that?” Kevin asked.
“I mean that what you fought was merely a small piece of the man you know as Hebi,” Orin explained. “He was like a small piece of shed skin that was being controlled from a distance. Naturally, a single sliver of shed skin is not going to be anywhere near as powerful as the person that skin belonged to.”
“You speak as if you know this person personally, Orin-dono.”
“You could say that,” Orin replied with a surprisingly grim smile. “I pray that you never come to know that man like I do.”
The creature known as Hebi watched through half-lidded eyes as one of his commanders, a large onikuma with dark brown fur, slammed a hand onto the table.
“Are you saying that these rebellious yokai are more dangerous than those filthy humans?!” the furred yokai snarled at a short, fat creature, whose appearance was similar to a mallet. It was a nozuchi—a snake spirit known for its unusual shape.
“That is exactly what I am telling you,” the nozuchi said. “Humans are a pathetic spe
cies who’re powerless to do anything against us. The yokai who’ve disagreed with us and abandoned their pride are under the control of Davin Monstrang of the Four Saints. They are by far the bigger threat.”
“Those humans killed my entire family,” the onikuma growled in a guttural voice.
“The yokai under my command were wiped out by a single member of Davin Monstrang’s party,” the nozuchi countered. “Do not let your personal prejudice blind you to the real threats.”
“You’re the one who is blinded!”
How I loathe these meetings.
Hebi didn’t care about anything these buffoons discussed. These yokai were as inconsequential as the humans they so loathed. Small. Their thoughts, their dreams, their ambitions, all of it was too small. But then again, that was why he’d gathered them together. Pathetic and weak as they were, these creatures needed someone to lead them: a king—no, a god. Once he regained his full powers, he would become that god, the god who ruled over these lands.
He continued to listen as the yokai argued. The longer they spoke, the more annoyed he became, and once he realized that their argument was traveling in circles, Hebi decided to end it.
His killing intent filled the room. Every yokai present, from the two who’d been arguing to the oni that stood guard, fell to the floor as his bloodlust invaded their minds.
“I am growing rather tired of listening to you people argue over these trivial matters,” Hebi declared. “If you wish to continue arguing, then do so on your own time. Do not waste mine. You will not like the results for doing so.”
No one said anything. He would have been surprised if they could even talk.
“Continue your war on the humans,” Hebi said, putting an end to the debate right there. “Do not worry about the Four Saints and their ilk. They won’t do anything right now, and once I’ve regained my full power, I shall deal with them personally.”
Hebi had no intention of letting anyone else deal with those four. Once he became whole again, he would travel to their pseudo kingdom, tear it asunder, and slaughter them all. After what they had done to him, that was the least he could do in return.
A Fox's War Page 5