Dreamer Awakened

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

"Damn!" Kusanagi growled, jerking sideways and reeling around as he felt claws rake down the middle of his back. Lunging, his blade tore through the upper torso of the Tengugaki responsible for his bleeding back and a raucous death shriek filled the air.

"Murakumo! To the left! To the left!" he strove to shout over the shrill cry piercing his ears. But his warning came too late and he watched as another Tengugaki’s claws shredded the fabric of his comrade’s shirt, slicing into Murakumo’s flank before he could evade it.

Murakumo’s retaliation was more accurate and even swifter, but Kusanagi didn’t have the time or attention to spare watching it. He was already busy plowing through the wall of foul smelling slime-covered flesh surrounding him, bright flashes of orange exploding in the periphery of his vision as Kome and the TAC team tried to lend assistance with their artillery fire.

"Damn!" he swore again, realizing he wasn’t making any headway. These Tengugaki were exceptionally weak, but they swarmed around him like bees in a hive. "That way! To the right!" he shouted again in Murakumo’s direction, broadly waving his arm as he flitted towards the next power sub-station. "They’re after that!"

"Why the hell would they bother?" Murakumo hissed, quickly joining Kusanagi, his face and chest spattered with dark, rancid smelling blood. "They’ve already got the city completely crippled in the way of power. Those power grids aren’t even for the main part of the city – "

"They’re trying to make us more vulnerable," Kusanagi replied, his voice becoming strained as he lurched forward to cut a swath through three Tengugaki that rose to impede his progress.

"I’m aware of that, you imbecile!" Murakumo gritted out as he swept up behind Kusanagi, his own sword impaling a Tengugaki bent on attacking Kusanagi’s back. "My point is, why now? They’re extremely weak. I’ve lost count of the number of these beasts that I’ve killed already. Why are they eagerly rushing to meet us when they know they can’t win? I would have thought they would be looking for human targets, not strategic ones - doesn’t human flesh give them power?"

"Yeah, you’re right," Kusanagi agreed grimly, recoiling slightly as one of the artillery shells exploded just a little too close to where he and Murakumo were. "There are a lot of these bastards, but not one of them has the power of Tamanasu. Something about this isn’t right."

"Have you sensed him?" Murakumo demanded, dodging around several Tengugaki that were rushing rapidly towards them.

Kusanagi helped Murakumo dispatch them before he replied, "Are you kidding? There’s just too damn many of them!"

Another artillery shell exploded close to them, this one sending them scrambling for cover when they heard the telltale whine of it as it closed in on their position.

"What the hell!?" Murakumo breathed furiously, his grey eyes scanning the barricaded defense line the Ground Defense Force had erected several hundred yards away. "Don’t they know how to aim!?"

Before Kusanagi could respond, they heard the whistling of another incoming shell and both of them bounded into the air knowing that this one was even closer than the last. The ground where they had been standing just a split second before erupted in a bright orange billow of sparks and flame, illuminating the sickly yellowish brown flesh of the Tengugaki that writhed beneath its searing heat before they were enveloped, incinerated completely. Head bowed, his eyes burning from the intense heat rising from the ground, Kusanagi impassively surveyed the crater made by the Anti-tank missile before he swiveled his attention towards the defense line, his eyes narrowing as he sought out the vivid red hair of the member of the TAC he felt sure was responsible.

It wasn’t hard to spot her. She was hopping up and down, her arms waving madly, and Kusanagi’s mouth fell open as he saw her shake her fist at him.

What’s she mad at me for!? he thought in irritation.

For his part, Murakumo was still fuming, his eyes trained on the swarm of Tengugaki below them that were converging on the next substation.

"I can’t decide what’s worse, the free flowing sewage below us," he muttered darkly as he watched the Tengugaki begin to break through the electrical fence surrounding the generators, "or the human incompetence sitting over there." His attention swiveled in the direction of the TAC.

"I don’t think it’s human incompetence," Kusanagi replied slowly, "I think Kome had every intention of firing exactly where she did."

Murakumo snorted and began muttering a long string of curses under his breath which Kusanagi ignored.

"There’s nothing more we can do here to keep them from taking out that station," Kusanagi remarked. "And besides that, I think we’re being paged." He jerked his head in the defense line’s direction, and without waiting to see if Murakumo would follow him, he began flitting through the air in their direction.

Before he even got his feet on the ground, Kome was bounding forward, her blue eyes full of fire and her teeth bared in a snarl.

"-complete idiots!" she raged. Kusanagi missed the first part of her sentence, but he felt no remorse since it probably ran along the same vein as the last part. "I thought I was going to have to actually blow you to smithereens! -"

"Kome! –" Kunikida called from his position by an armored vehicle where he stood clutching a satellite telephone, but she ignored him.

"- before you finally started paying attention!" she continued to storm, crowding closer to Kusanagi, looking like she was getting ready to try and punch him.

"Sorry," Kusanagi inserted scathingly, folding his arms across his chest, "but I was a little BUSY!"

"That’s no excuse, fly boy!" she hissed, "You should always be aware of what’s going on around you -!"

"We were, you overzealous gun nut!" he shouted back, "We were trying to keep the enemy from taking out that substation!" he jerked his thumb over his shoulder without turning to look around, "and we might have succeeded if you hadn’t tried to blow our brains out! But it’s too late, now, thanks to your happy trigger finger!"

"Kome! Kusanagi! Cut it out, you two!" Kunikida yelled again, hurriedly striding towards them, grabbing the red-head by the arm to swing her away from Kusanagi who was beginning to look like he might punch Kome as well. "That’s enough!" he reproved gruffly, shooting each of them a warning look before letting his gaze settle on Kusanagi. "She was trying to get your attention on my command," he said brusquely, his eyes sliding from Kusanagi’s face to gaze somewhere over his shoulder where, Kusanagi assumed, Murakumo was standing. "Even with all of our artillery power and despite your and Murakumo’s help, there’s no way that we can stop them from destroying the generators. For every ten you kill, the TLTS shows fifteen more welling up out of the earth to take their place… and now there’s a more immediate problem that takes precedence over this." Kusanagi raised his eyebrows attempting to think of what could be more important than trying to stem the rising tide of Tengugaki, but Kunikida didn’t give him any time to ponder it. "Despite my leaving orders to the contrary, Momiji’s left the lab," the older man informed him heavily.

"What!!? When!?" Kusanagi demanded with a dark scowl, feeling panic and anger well up inside of him.

"It’s hard to say," Kunikida replied. "The last time Matsudaira talked to Momiji, she was trapped in an elevator, which was just under forty five minutes ago. Momiji was supposed to be on her way back to the basement, but she’d already told Matsu that she was leaving. Before Matsu could stop her, they lost power. By the time Matsudaira located a satellite transceiver with which to contact me and sent someone to try and rescue Momiji, she’d already managed to escape from the elevator."

"The little fool!" Kusanagi’s voice throbbed with fury at his wife’s recklessness. "Doesn’t she know how dangerous it is right now?"

"I believe she does," Kunikida replied solemnly, "which is why she refused to stay put – deciding to go after Midori herself –"

"Wait - why would she go after Midori?" Kusanagi asked sharply, somehow knowing that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Kunikida hesitated, and something in his face made Kusanagi’s insides twist. "-because Midori thinks she’s pregnant."

Kusanagi was stunned into silence and after less than a heartbeat’s pause his head jerked around, his eyes focusing on the silent, cold expression of Murakumo. Murakumo never looked at him, his eyes remained steadily fixed on Kunikida as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And then, without a word he disappeared. Kusanagi glanced briefly at Kunikida.

"Why?" he asked in an embittered voice, "Why didn’t I sense the Aragami energy!?" Why didn’t I know!?"

"Perhaps it was too faint to sense," Kunikida ventured slowly, "perhaps the parasitic nature of the Tengugaki heightens their sense of awareness and that’s how they knew about it, even before you could sense it…"

"I can’t believe it," Kusanagi replied with suppressed rage, angry at himself for not being able to sense what was happening and stop it. "All of this was - a diversion."

Kunikida didn’t say anything, a heavy frown making his face sag as he stared at Kusanagi, a curt nod of his head the only sign that he had heard what the younger man had said. Turning away in disgust, Kusanagi took off after Murakumo, heading towards Midori’s apartment, his mind twisting and turning through dark thoughts and emotions as he weaved in and out of tall Tokyo office buildings.

What a fool he had been! he thought bitterly. The power station had never been their target; it had been Midori all along! Tamanasu had sensed the Aragami energy she carried within her. Since Noa’s energy was being shielded, Kusanagi realized that Tamanasu must have known that the humans weren’t aware of this other hybrid. Otherwise, it would have been shielded from detection the same as Noa. Now Kusanagi understood why there had been so many Tengugaki at the Bay and why they had been so weak. Why waste power chasing down victims when all they really wanted was the hybrid? And what about Momiji? If she was with Midori right now, then Tamanasu would have both the hybrid and the Kushinada.

The little fool! Thinking about his wife made his insides tighten even more in fear. Silently he castigated Momiji for not staying put where it was safe. He urged his body to go faster, but he was already pushing himself to his limits, traveling as fast as he could, the darkened city below him passing in a blur, and after a few long minutes, Kusanagi realized that he wasn’t far from Midori’s apartment now. He still hadn’t spotted Murakumo, but for once, the race wasn’t to catch up with the surly lord. It was to see if one of them could get to Midori before Tamanasu did.

Two more blocks and he would be there. Putting his head down, he skimmed along the tops of the buildings, scanning the streets for Tengugaki and any sign of his wife and Midori. "Please be safe," he whispered over and over, the tension in his body close to the breaking point.

Momiji squealed in alarm as she felt the motorcycle tip precariously sideways when the hell’s angel cut sharply down one alley into the next. Instinctively her left arm tightened around his waist to keep herself from falling off and she tried to steady her right arm which she held stiffly out to the side, the nine millimeter clutched in her hand.

"Shoot! Shoot! SHOOT! DAMMIT!" he screamed as he watched another skeletal figure emerge from the shadows of a dumpster they’d just passed and come tearing towards them.

"Now! Now! NOW! WOMAN!" he screamed again, flinching as the creature got nearer and nearer to them, so near in fact that he could hear it’s rattled breathing over the sound of the motorcycle’s engine.

The creature extended an emaciated arm, its long, sharp claws sweeping towards the biker’s head. BANG! BANG! There was a horrendous sound and the slimy figure was thrown backwards as the bullets from Momiji’s gun hit it squarely in the head, where it lay, unmoving, like the three other ones she’d shot.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" the biker roared. "I thought you said you were with the government!"

"I am," Momiji replied shakily, the hand still holding her gun out to the side trembling even more than her voice as she moved her head from the left to the right, scanning the streets for more Tengugaki.

"Then why are you such a LOUSY SHOT!?" he screeched at her over the sound of the engine.

"I hit them didn’t I?" Momiji retorted, trying to keep the terror out of her voice, knowing it would only make the biker even more fractious.

"Yeah, but not until they were ready to sit in my lap!" he snarled again, slowing the bike down as he got ready to enter a crowded main street to cross over into the next alley.

"You’re right," Momiji admitted curtly, "I AM a lousy shot, so you should be thankful that I managed to get them before they got us. I can’t afford to waste my bullets, so I have to let them get close enough that I won’t miss."

"Damn! Here comes another one from the left!" The biker warned as he got ready to maneuver the bike across the sidewalk into the street, "I can’t go any faster because of all the people here and I can’t dodge it and all the cars in the street at the same time, so if you don’t hurry up and shoot the bloody thing, it’s going to catch up with us!"

Momiji quickly switched hands, almost dropping the gun as her sweaty fingers bungled it trying to get a better grasp on the trigger.

"Oh My God! Oh My God! OH – MY - GAWD!!" the biker shouted, his eyes bulging as he got a good close up view of blood soaked fangs and red-slitted eyes.

BANG!

One bullet this time, and he felt something spatter against his face and neck, something that had such an atrocious smell to it, it made him want to vomit.

"Damn!" he heard Momiji say lowly, a thread of hysteria in her voice.

Alarmed he threw a quick sideways glance at her over his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he yelled over the engine.

"Y-yeah, I’m fine," she assured him in a tight voice, "just keep driving. We’re almost there."

But she wasn’t fine. She was almost sure that her left arm was broken. That last Tengugaki had had a tail, she thought grimly. It had used it like a whip, bringing it around to strike her just at about the time she had fired her gun. Luckily, the tail’s aim veered off, missing her body at the last second, but it had slammed into her arm and she had felt something snap as a searing pain shot through her arm from wrist to elbow. Gingerly she reached around the front of the biker’s waist and transferred the gun to her right hand, trying to maintain her hold on the biker and the gun at the same time with just one hand.

Momiji tried flexing her fingers and bit her tongue to keep from crying out. Her left hand was going to be useless. She could only pray that there would be no further attacks from their left side.

"Hey," the biker called gruffly to her, "don’t you think you’re holding that gun a little… close?"

Momiji hesitated briefly before answering. She didn’t think it was such a good idea to tell him that she thought she’d broken her arm.

"It’s okay. I know what I’m doing."

She’d tried to sound reassuring, but her efforts were far from convincing and it came as no shock when, once the biker cleared the traffic on the street and headed into the mouth of the next alleyway, he turned once more and threw another look over his shoulder, his beady eyes bright with suspicion at how pallid her countenance was.

"Once we’ve come to the end of this alley, it’s down the next street on the right," she told him, glad that they were almost there now, and terrified at the same time. She was beginning to sense an overwhelming energy that she’d felt before, one that she knew belonged to the Tengugaki responsible for the death of her sister and the mother of Noa, but she couldn’t tell how close it was because of the general level of "noise" of all the rest of the Tengugaki energy.

Without a word, the biker turned back around and concentrated on driving, which left her eyes free to scour the shadows for the enemy and her thoughts free to dwell in even darker areas.

No! She couldn’t think like that! She had to stay positive no matter what! It hadn’t been dark that long and she was sure that before Tamanasu closed in on Midori, he would want to gather his energy. That meant he would have to hunt which would take time, so there was still a very good chance that he wasn’t here yet, she told herself, trying to hang on to every little bit of hope she could.

But even the stalwart voice that told her not to give up grew quiet when she felt the bike tilt to the right and with a great sinking sensation Momiji realized that they were almost there. She looked ahead as they weaved in and out of pedestrians along the sidewalk and saw that there were a few policemen surrounding the doorman who stood on the pavement in front of Midori’s apartment building’s entrance.

"That’s it over there, where the crowd is," Momiji told the biker in a tight voice. "I – I’m really sorry for all the trouble," she mumbled as they slowed to a stop about ten feet from the entrance. "And I just want to th-thank you again. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have never made it here."

"Yeah well, if it hadn’t been for you, I might have been able to use this jacket another year or two," he retorted, and as he braked, he reached out and tweaked his collar so that he could give it a loud sniff and examine the dark foul smelling debris littering it. "Whatever’s inside those ugly buggers has a really nasty smell."

"Ah, well, I don’t think I can take all the credit for ruining your jacket," Momiji replied, adding under her breath, "Besides, I’m not so sure that what you smell wasn’t already cured into the leather just from age alone."

Now that they were completely stopped, she slowly clambered off the back of the bike and turned to face him, dread etched in every line of her body as she said, "Look on the bright side; at least you’ll have something on which to spend the 100,000 yen I’m giving you."

The corner of the biker’s lip curled upward and he snorted, "What’s so bright about that? You haven’t given it to me yet."

Holding her left arm across her chest, Momiji unobtrusively tucked her nine millimeter back into her waistband and turned to survey the small crowd around the apartment building door. How long had they been here? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Had something happened inside? Is that why they were here? The thought occurred to her that perhaps they were just here because of the blackout but even so, Tamanasu’s energy seemed to press more heavily upon her and she knew she needed to be on her way inside this very minute.

"I may not have it to give right now," Momiji replied, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, most of her attention focused on trying to find a way of getting past the policemen whom she felt sure would try to stop her, "but I’m good for it."

"Sure you are, missy," he growled gruffly, his eyes not missing the way that she cradled her arm against her body, nor her total preoccupation with whatever seemed to be bothering her. "Maybe I should accompany you the rest of the way – wherever it is that you’re going – so as to make sure that you make good on your debt."

Momiji’s head whipped back around then, giving him her full attention as she realized he was about to get off his bike, and she rushed to say, "Oh, no, no! I couldn’t ask you to do that – you really have no idea – and I can’t begin to tell you – that is – this is official government business, so it’s top secret. If they knew I’d let you follow me, I’d have to kill you."

"Like you haven’t already tried that," he sniffed, looking pointedly at the blood on his jacket and then assuming a bored expression, adding, "but whatever -"

"Just give me your name and address, and I’ll make sure that you get your hundred thousand yen," Momiji said.

"Futeki," the biker replied in clipped tones, "Banjirou Futeki." Momiji nodded her head and repeated his named, trying to burn it into her memory, but she should have just saved the effort because he got off his bike anyway, saying coolly, "But it doesn’t really matter what my name is, because I’m coming with you."

"Look, I know how important it is for you to get this money," Momiji’s voice took on an edge as she spoke, knowing at this point that every second was precious, "and I know that you don’t exactly trust me –"

"Don’t take it personally, missy," he drawled, "I don’t trust anybody."

"I’m not taking it personally, Mr. Futeki, believe me I’m not," Momiji replied, trying to hang on to her calm demeanor, "but what I am taking seriously is the possibility that inside that building over there," she jabbed her right index finger at the policemen, "are more of those creatures waiting for a chance to expel their body fluids onto your jacket, or worse, ingest you and your jacket should my aim go awry, which it most likely will."

She stared unblinking up into his rough hewn face, trying to make him understand that what was going on wasn’t a game.

"What you saw on the way here was nothing compared to what I know those creatures can do. Believe me, you will be happier and much, much safer by not going. If I had my choice, I wouldn’t be going either, but" here she paused and said in a numb way, "the alternative is unthinkable."

Reaching down, she unclipped the radio from her belt and held it out to him. "Here," she offered, "this is a way for you to contact me. Leave the transceiver on this channel and I swear to you," she vehemently vowed, "that as soon as I am done here, I will get you your money. And if –something… happens, and - you don’t hear from me; then take this down to the Terrestrial Administration Office, and ask for Mr. Yaegashi or Ms. Matsudaira."

She turned the radio over and pointed to the serial number on the back and said, "They’ll be able to pull the registration on it and they’ll know it’s one of ours. They’ll also know that you couldn’t have gotten this just anywhere and you can tell them about our bargain and they will make sure you get paid."

Mr. Futeki glanced down at the radio, an insulted look sitting rather awkwardly upon his features as if it was not used to being there. Muttering darkly under his breath he snatched the radio from her fingers, shooting her a nasty look.

"I’m not exactly the type of person that has a lot of credibility with government type folks," he pointed out. "They’ll just think I stole it."

"No they won’t," Momiji simply said, already turning away from him and preparing to walk away. "They’ll believe you – they’ve seen too many strange things not to believe you. – Well, I’ll be seeing you, then," she raised her hand in a farewell salute and turned her back to him, walking slowly towards the front door, praying that she could get inside without too much of a fuss.

But just as soon as the doorman saw her approaching, she knew that was going to be an impossibility. He broke off what he was saying to one of the policemen, who in turn, swung around to look at her.

"Excuse me miss," the policeman said, detaching himself from the group in front of the door, "can I help you?"

Momiji hadn’t planned on stopping, but she had no choice when he placed a detaining hand on her upper arm.

Reluctantly she slowed and tried to pin a polite expression on her face. "Is there a problem, officer, sir?" she asked, trying to sidestep his question and find out more about why they were here.

"We’ve had to evacuate the building, so you can’t go inside," he told her.

Momiji looked at the doors and then back at him, "So everyone that was inside has been evacuated? Was there a fire or something?"

"Not everyone, and no, no fire."

"Well, I need to get inside," Momiji told him, and she pulled her badge from her shirt and briefly held it out so that the officer could see it. "One of my colleagues lives here. We are currently investigating the cause of the, er, blackout, and the lack of communications throughout the city and her expertise is required."

The officer shined his flashlight on the badge and then on her face, matching the face with the picture. Seemingly satisfied, he turned his flashlight back off but said in an officially brusque tone, "I’m sorry, but you still can’t go inside. It’s been classified as hazardous –"

"But I have to get inside!" Momiji interrupted him, her voice going up a level or two before she could stop it. "She is essential to resolving this situation!"

She tried to sidestep the policeman which was a mistake. The other policemen had been watching their exchange and at her sudden movement they converged on them.

"I’m sorry, miss, but we’ve had four casualties already and we can’t let you inside!" the officer said firmly, attempting to take her by the arm while she tried to evade his grasp. "The area still hasn’t been secured!"

"Secured!?" Momiji almost shouted, "Secured from what?" shei demanded a little wildly, although she didn’t need an answer because she already knew.

"Miss –" another of the officers began appeasingly, but he was interrupted by another newcomer, one that was dressed all in leather and reeked strongly of a foul odor.

"Masaki! Damn I knew it was you!" he growled, darting around the officers crowding around Momiji and heading straight for the doorman now standing all alone.

The doorman lifted his own flashlight and let its beam illuminate Mr. Futeki’s face and then just as quickly lowered it, perhaps frightened by the wild scowl he saw there.

"Where’s my money, you lying bastard!" Mr. Futeki shouted at him,

The doorman glanced over his shoulder to see who the biker was talking to and when he spotted no one, he quickly jerked back around looking both alarmed and bewildered to see such a ferocious looking man bearing down upon him.

"Looks like you’ve got yourself a cushy, new job, Masaki, so those old excuses won’t work anymore. You’d better pay up!" he threatened, "Six hundred thousand yen, or else!"

The doorman held his hands up placatingly in front of himself, still clutching the flashlight.

"Now see here, sir," he began in a wavering way, "I, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else –"

"No mistake, Masaki," the biker leered, slapping the flashlight out of his hand so that it skittered across the sidewalk until it hit the glass door behind him. "The only mistake was my lending that money to you in the first place! That’s the last time I cover a gambling bet for you!"

He grabbed the doorman by the collar, who was truly looking terrified now.

"Uh, uh, help!" he called feebly, looking desperately over at the policemen, finally managing to get the word out in a stronger voice. "HELP!"

All activity between Momiji and the policemen had ceased as they watched the biker and the doorman. But when Mr. Futeki had grabbed the doorman, the policemen surrounding her were once again galvanized into action, rushing over to end the altercation. Momiji didn’t wait to see what happened. Moving as quickly and as quietly as she could, she slid past the loud group, picking up the doorman’s flashlight as she went.

Looking back over her shoulder, she caught the biker’s eye as the policemen pressed him up against the wall to frisk him, and wasn’t surprised to see him give her a slight nod

"Thank you again, Mr. Futeki," she whispered silently, raising her hand once more before turning away and moving further into the darkened building.

Turning on her flashlight, Momiji dashed across the lobby, heading towards the stairwell. Opening the door, she stepped inside and began clambering up the steps, stopping dead, her heart freezing in the middle of her chest as she passed the second floor door.

She could hear human screams of terror, cries that became drowned out by the roar of the Tengugaki. Breaking out in a cold sweat, Momiji turned off the flashlight and pulled out her gun. The darkness of the stairwell pressed in on her with suffocating blankness, but she was more afraid to use the light, than to be without it, afraid that the Tengugaki would see it through the small, square glass window that was inset into each emergency door and that they would come to investigate.

She had actually reached for the handle to the door before she stopped herself. As much as she wanted to help the person in trouble, she couldn’t. She had to focus on getting to Midori – if there were Tengugaki already up on Midori’s floor then even more lives would be lost – lives that remained protected as long as the Tengugaki were denied the key to their freedom.

Slowly, Momiji deliberately pulled her hand back, her eyes clenched in agony as the screams died away

Breathing fast, she leaned weakly against the door.

"Forgive me," she whispered, placing her fingers against the door, allowing herself to mourn the loss of life but only for a few short seconds before forcing herself to move on.

Straightening, Momiji kept her hand on the wall, running it lightly along the cool cement to guide her as she began climbing again, moving much slower this time, much more stealthily to try and keep her presence undetected even though every nerve in her body screamed for her to run, to reach Midori as soon as possible. With every step she took, she could feel the presence of the one Tengugaki she’d feared the most grow, overshadowing all the others.

He’s here, came an anguished voice from deep inside her. He’s already here.

Was she too late?

Midori huddled near the sliding glass door of her patio, hugging her knees which were drawn up to her chest, her useless phone lying on the floor next to her. She started and cringed when she heard the sound of smashing glass from outside, followed by a loud car alarm. It sounded like pandemonium was breaking out in the streets. But still, she would have preferred that over her current situation.

Sitting here, waiting for something to happen was almost more than she could bear. If she hadn’t known that Momiji was on her way here, then Midori would have fled the building when the power had gone out. It was too much like the sheep waiting for the wolf to come and devour it, she reflected, and then, another sound broke through her thoughts, this one more jarring than the last because it was closer – right across the room from her: the groan of a metal door being stressed beyond its endurance.

Midori swallowed convulsively and then muttered, "And here’s the wolf," as she rose numbly to her feet.

Somehow she wasn’t surprised. She’d known they would come, but still, she’d hoped… But it just wasn’t meant to be, came the fatalistic thought.

Drawing in a deep breath, she turned and slid the glass door open, slipping outside as, behind her, she heard her front door begin to give way. There was no time to lose. Hurriedly she crossed the patio, keeping her eyes trained on the wrought iron railing. When she’d been sitting in the darkness, contemplating what she should do when this moment finally arrived, she knew that this was the only way to keep the Tengugaki from winning, and she’d tried to prepare herself for the fear.

The only way. A phrase without exception, an unbending, unfaltering conclusion yet one that was rife with regret.

With a thundering heart, she reached out and pulled herself up over the railing, swiveling first her left leg and then her right, until she was standing on the almost nonexistent ledge that separated her from thin air.

She looked down, her fingers convulsively tightening against the cold metal rail as her eyes skimmed the lights of the traffic from below and a light breeze feathered her bangs away from her brow.

To save you the only way I know how, she thought, her heart trying to protect the small spark of life sleeping inside of her. This is the only way.

She made herself let go of the railing, her face twisting in sadness as Murakumo’s visage rose before her eyes and her body swayed forward as she began to fall.

"I’m so sorry," she whispered brokenly, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms protectively around herself as she felt the air pass swiftly around her body.

And then it was over, even before it began. A terrible wrenching pain around her ankle that shot up her shin as her descent downwards came to an abrupt halt. As the pain intensified, Midori’s eyes jerked open, flying to where the pain originated and she saw a slimy hand wrapped tightly around her ankle. Horrified, her eyes trailed up the grotesquely elongated arm back to the balcony fifteen feet above her where red-slitted eyes peered triumphantly over the railing at her as the Tengugaki slowly pulled her up. Why had it not occurred to her that he would have similar powers as Kusanagi? Too late, she remembered the ability to stretch and modify limbs was a classic Aragami trait.

Her slow ascent didn’t stop until her eyes were level with the Tengugaki’s terrible face and there was nothing she could do to stop him when his other hand snaked out, wrapping around her neck and turning her upright. With a rattling laugh, he carried her across the balcony, highly amused by her useless struggles to free herself. Once inside the threshold of the doorway, his face stretched into a brutal smile and he slammed her up against the wall. Midori cried out, and her grimace of pain fed the twisted pleasure burning in his eyes.

"What a clever little human," he applauded her mockingly, "to know that I was coming for you. - But not -" he murmured, feigning regret, "- clever enough it seems. Your little suicide attempt failed. - But don’t worry," he told her, bringing his face closer to hers so that his fetid breath made her choke. "When I have what I want from you, I’ll make sure to finish the job for you."

"No!" Midori whimpered, clawing at the talons encircling her neck when she felt him press the mitama nestled in the palm of his hand against her lower abdomen and she felt pain twist through her. "NO!" she screamed again, raising her feet to try and push him away but to no avail.

As the pain intensified, she felt a trickle of warmth down the inside of her leg and she knew that she was losing her baby.

"Stop, stop!" she sobbed, but the Tengugaki’s triumphant laughter drowned her out, and she felt her strength begin to wan as her blood loss increased.

"It is done! It is done!" the Tengugaki crowed, the once black mitama on his forehead pulsing from red to white as he looked down into Midori’s pain-glazed eyes. "Lord Akumakai’s freedom is now assured! You alone have given us the power dominate all of humanity!" he gloated, "and for that I will make your death a swift one!"

He finally removed his hand from her stomach and Midori, now too weak to move, watched as he flexed his claws, thrusting them towards her, intending to impale her on their sharp ends. But then he abruptly stopped, his breath coming out in a feral sounding hiss and his eyes, though still trained in her direction seemed to no longer be focused her.

"Let her go, Tamanasu," Midori heard Momiji’s angry words spoken in a somewhat out of breath way coming from somewhere behind the Tengugaki who still held her captive against the wall. "Unless you want me to use this gun I’ve got pressed against your skull to free the hybrid energy you’ve just collected, you’ll let her go. Now!"

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