Bonus Chapter 75.5: Black dragons run
The black dragon syndicate were a group of criminals; who very much grew out of the triads of China. Their foothold on Japanese shores was an affront to many, a stain on the nation's pride.
"Mai and Luca will meet us at the location. Just on the border of ward 4 and 5." Aki said as she sat behind the wheel. As her partner Mori sat beside her.
"Akiko..."
"What?" She asked, eyes focused on the road.
"I think... You should need to take a step back from this."
She was confused. "Why?"
"We are going after a group that have been committing atrocities against humanity. To ask them for help; you seem to not be fazed by the prospect." He looked to Aki.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" She asked sternly.
"You familiar with the quote 'If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you?' I just-"
"Look. It's not what I want... But we've got nothing to show for our investigation into these murders..." Akiko stopped the car, looking over at her partner. "It makes me sick to my stomach that we have to ask them for help; But right now... What other options do we have." She tried to explain, but the words were hollow, even as they left her mouth.
She hated that a guild of drug runners, human traffickers, and killers could be one of the few avenues to catch the Reaper.
Mai and Luca were already waiting out the front of a grungy bar. 'Black dragons.' Lit in a beacon in neon red Chinese characters. Graffiti along the exterior of the building spelled out many slurs and offensive messages against the rival group.
"Ah, you two finally made it what took so long?" Mai joked. With a smile unnatural for the place, they waited.
"Why are you so happy?" Mori asked the woman who was strangely positive.
"Come on, well show you." Luca and Mai led the pair in.
---
Mai was right; it was a reason to smile.
Inside of the dimly lit bar. Cases of money were stacked up on tables, suitcases of personal belongings strewn about, men packing and cleaning.
"They're running." Luca stated bluntly.
"Why?" Asked Mori.
"Cause our friend has got them spooked. Back to China they go, tail between their legs." Mai said with a smile.
Men covered head to toe in tattoos; Black ink of dragons, Chinese characters and more. Yet, despite the outwardly toughness; all were scrambling like the rats they were.
"Which one is their leader?"
"老板人在哪里?" (Where's your boss?) Mai translated loudly.
A well-built man, a cross between a sumo wrestler and a pig approached. Dragon tattoo on the top of a shaved head; a face that only a blind mother could love.
"你想要什么?" (What ya want?)
"我们想谈谈" (We want to talk.) Mai continued to translate.
"What do you want." The leader swapped to a broken Japanese. "I will tell you anything as long as you leave me alone." His voice was gruff and raspy, as if each syllable caused great strain.
Akiko was taken aback by how willing this man was to spill the beans.
"Your loan sharks... Your money men. I need to know everything about them. Who they ripped off, client lists, where they work. All that shit." Akiko spoke in a demanding tone.
"别理会那些女人,我们需要离开这里." (Just ignore that woman. We have to go.)
The other members of the syndicate were frantic. Still light out but the shadows seemed ready to pounce and consume them if they didn't hurry.
"Here." The fat man placed a hardrive on the bench. "All records of our money men. You can have it all, just please don't send it after us." He pleaded.
The men could admit to being the emperor of Japan if it got this group of detectives to lay off.
"You know that monster that hunts the streets. The one that killed those who hunt people for debt?" Aki asked. She had to play this right, keep up the pressure.
"你说的是那个东西在巷子里谋杀我们的人吗?" (You mean the thing that murders us in the alleyway?)
"恶魔,夜鬼,妖怪... 我们不知道..." (The Demon, the Night Spirit, the Yokai... We don't know.)
Aki translated.
"Yeah... They are scared." Aki nearly felt for the men from across the sea, until she remembered who they were. Murders, rapists, human traffickers. Making even Japanese yakuza blush at the atrocities this group committed to those around them.
"Let's go Aki. We got what we came for." Mori said.
"Yes. Come on." Mai agreed.
They began to leave. However, one of the dragons packing by the door noticed something in the window and froze. "恶魔, 恶魔!" (Demon, demon!)
The man dragged into the streets outside. His screams cut short as the gurgles of blood filled their place.
"恶魔来了, 它把他带走了!" (The Demon is here; it took him away!)
Men frantically scrambled to gather weapons, guns, swords, and even a chainsaw were pulled from a back room by the bar's entrance.
*Clang*
A body hit the window. Staining glass red as the breaths of life left the man's body.
A whip made of bone emerged from the door. Disembodied from its master, a snake like movement.
"杀掉那个东西." (Kill that thing.) Shouted the boss as two of the syndicate members fired on the whip.
*Ratatatatata*
Shots were fired, yet nothing happened. The whip was undeterred by the bullet storm and embedded itself within the man's neck. A loud pop as bones broke and flesh tore; blood splattered against the wall as the man was lifted.
"Shooting it doesn't work." Mai shouted; her eyes filled with panic. The detectives were expecting the whip to attack them, but it never went near them.
5 black dragons all pierced through the chest by the whip as they dropped to the ground. A lifeless daisy chain of bodies.
*Rattle* *Rattle*
Eventually, the bone whip retracted to the darkened corridor. One by one, as each body was removed from its hold.
The whip disappeared into the darkness; as if it were a figment of their imagination.
---
"Come out!" Mori ordered. 4 guns trained on the door leading into the alleyway. Ready to fill the reaper with bullets.
Out came those two azure eyes; cold and inhuman. Giving pause to all who looked.
"K-Keep your hands up!" Mai shouted at the Reaper.
He was unarmed. Nothing but the black leather hood and white mask.
"I'm going to put cuffs on you!" Mori yelled to the Reaper. "Don't move!"
"..."
The Reaper moved about; words from the detectives were ignored as the vigilante walked towards the bar.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
Mori fired on the Reaper who didn't even flinch.
"Wait, Mori! Don't shoot." Akiko shouted to her trigger-happy teammate.
The Reaper continued about, unperturbed by the detectives and their guns. As if they were nothing to the vigilante.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Akiko asked. Hands still on the gun.
"...I did what was necessary." His voice was low and monotone. Filled with no emotions, only a deep sense of calm.
"You waltz into this place, kill a bunch of criminals and then say you're in the right?" Mai asked sarcastically, her hands also on the gun ready to fire at the first sign of danger.
"You have your evidence. Take it." He motioned towards the hard drive.
"What makes you think you're above the law?" Aki questioned
"..." The Reaper began to leave once more.
"Hey! I'm talking to you." Aki grabbed the arm of the vigilante. Her psychometry which is rarely used showed her something; Someone surrounded by high school boys. Lunch time at school, the group was gossiping and playing around. One had their phones out.
"Who are you?!" She asked.
"..."
The reaper pulled away, standing over the woman who had just seen what she could only imagine as a memory.
"I am above the law for the same reason you would have let these men go, that is why I am doing this. These men would have gone home and continued to prey on the innocent; but now... They will never hurt anyone ever again." The reaper spoke coldly, looking down on the detective.
"You don't know that... They would have been caught-"
"No. They would have returned back to China and would have faced nothing." He cut her off, voice remaining calm.
"They are monsters, they need to fear the dark; to know that I hunt them. I am the monster."
With that he finally left.
Aki went to check outside. But the long shadows of the afternoon stretched into the distance. Gone.
The reaper left no trace behind.
"Mori... Remember what you said about looking into the abyss?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, the abyss looked back." Akiko commented. A sense of worry filling her soul. She saw the man underneath that mask, a normal human... Fallen so far.