Christmas was right around the corner, evident by how Katorasu Naitosutoka— AKA The Nephalem— was busy hastily checking each of the gifts he had ordered online, tracking the individual dates that each would arrive on. Luckily most of them had separate dates of arrival, so Kato’s front doorstep wouldn’t be bombarded with boxes delivered by careless UPS drivers. The ebony hedgehog, who was currently sitting atop a rooftop layered with fluffy white snow, decided to go ahead and just splurge out on gifts this year; most of them had thought put into them, though a few were random picks for friends that he had no idea what to get for them. Looking past his phone, he noticed as a group of men entered the building next to the one he was on. Turning his phone off, for now, having slid it into his left pocket, Katorasu dropped down from the building and onto the street below, the snow crunching beneath his feet as he landed. As much as he wanted to have a relaxing week, duty called and he had to answer. Though not like he objected to being able to go out and be a hero, that was his whole schtick after all. Even if it was under orders, ones that he chose to always follow loosely anyway.
Sauntering over to the building, as Kato’s overall aesthetic clashed with the winter day and the snow falling all around him, the nephalem decided to give the deal going on inside a few minutes. That way it would give him more time for his usual shenanigans or catch the dealers and recipients off guard. Maybe even allow “Player 2” to join the fun if they arrived in time to catch the party, that is if they ever got the invite. The emerald swordsman never really worked with others outside of his group, even before being asked to join up in a new-age superhero team. Despite that though, he knew that this person was quite skilled and operated as a vigilante from time to time; just like how Kato did when first arriving in this realm. So he was, in all honesty, somewhat excited to see how this short encounter would pan out between them both. To clarify, they were good friends but the nephalem wondered if the two were good fighters together.
Kato, having got up from leaning against the doorframe, now stood in front of the door to the dilapidated building. Muttering a few lines to himself, trying out various quips, the hedgehog psyched himself up before kicking the door open with one swift kick. Before him looked like a scene straight out of your Hollywood blockbuster film: one group decked out in high-tech gear while the other group was in mafia-style clothing, all huddled around three suitcases with one of them being opened.
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to barge in your bad guy convention, it was just too cold out there and I just had to warm up.” The reaction he got was the usual: a series of guns ready to aim and fire in his direction. He only shrugged with a cocky look on his face as a response. “No hospitality, huh? Well, treat others how you wanna be treated I guess.” He added, before reaching over his back to quickly draw his sword, Ekibyō, from its holster. The lettering on its blade began to glow as his fingers wrapped around the grip. Notably, he had quickly turned the sword within his hand. The sharp edge now facing away from the group and towards him.
A hailstorm of bullets of varying calibers was sent towards Kato’s direction, who had quickly turned into a cloud of mist that began to circle both parties already. The door that the ebony male previously stood in front of now had several small beads of light bleeding into the enveloping darkness of the building. However, another source of light, one that was much larger, began to shine down from above. The skylight of the building had been opened, though a figure now peered in through the opening and cast their figure onto the light. They watched as the mist swarmed all around the group. Understandably, both groups huddled together to face the shadows surrounding them, with some even firing into it. They were too distracted to realize that the figure from above was now descending to their level, slamming down into the group and causing them to stumble closer to the mist. Without losing any time, the newcomer began to twirl their cane over their head and proceeded to serve quick strikes to each person that was in the circle, forcing them all to go further back into the mist, disorienting them even more. The Nephalem, being forced to turn into his regular form due to the threat of over-exerting himself, was now back-to-back with the good friend that he had invited. The pair were now in the middle of the two groups.
“Nice of you to join the party, Chase!” Katorasu looked over his shoulder as he flourished his sword, his eyes meeting the periwinkle cat’s.
“Nice of you to set up that move! Especially after making me wait out in the cold for so long!” Chase, who dressed in less eccentric and less long clothing than Kato, snarked a bit. He too did some fancy moves with that exotically-designed cane of his.
Almost as if on cue, the pair broke apart from each other. Each male took one one-half of the entire group within the building, fighting in their respective ways.
“To be honest,” Kato began, shouting over the gunfire and the commotion, “I almost thought you were gonna leave me hanging!” The Nephalem quickly turned Ekibyō over to its sharp edge before promptly slicing off the front portions of the various rifles being pointed at him.
“Me? I was waiting up there in the snow for like twenty minutes waiting for a cue or a text!” The blessed cat had shot back, as he swept one of the high-tech military men off of their feet, following it with a quick jab to the face with the bottom of his cane.
Surprisingly, despite how well-built he was compared to Kato, Chase was moving just as fast as the black nephalem while also packing more of a punch. He also seemed to have an easier time when it came to incapacitating opponents, after all, he didn’t have to be too careful with a blunt instrument, aside from how much force would be used, compared to Kato’s sharp and deadly sword that wasn’t intended for blunt strikes. That didn’t stop him from using traditional swordsmanship skills against opponents, making the way he fought reminiscent of that of kendo.
After avoiding a quick pistol shot, thanks to his mist ability, Katorasu glanced over to Chase. “Don’t you cats have thicker fur coatings than hedgehogs?” He asked as he quickly struck an enemy that was behind him with the hilt of his sword.
The feline vigilante sent one mafia member into the air with a swift uppercut from the cane, “Yeah, but still! Heads up!” He then delivered the poor soul to Kato like a home run, a Möbian baseball hurled his way towards the black hedgehog who quickly responded with a leap and a twirl and a downward strike to the stomach with his heel.
“Wah-wah!” The ebony jokester chuckled, getting an eye roll from the toned cat. Who was busy quickly disarming an opponent who decided to pull out a knife from their boot.
“How’s that sword treating you?” Chase asked, practically bonking the very top of his current target’s head, with enough force to knock them out but not enough to cause a concussion.
“Pretty good actually!” He said aloud, after ducking a handgun that almost delivered a point-blank headshot to his dome, “I stopped dropping it whenever I tried to flip it.” Kato quickly turned the sword over again so he could slice the front of the handgun to shreds, he repeated the action and struck a forceful side blow to his last opponent.
Chase himself was just wrapping up his side of the fight, though he wouldn’t drag this one out for a show. Kato couldn’t help himself but nod and watch a little in awe as the periwinkle cat quickly bashed the first of the last pair across the jaw with the head of the cane, before twirling his cane and turning to quickly go for a swift groin attack with the bottom of the cane to cap off the end of the winter brawl.
“Jeez, nutshot? I thought that was like an off-limits area.” Kato jokes, as he walked over to the nearest unconscious individual to nudge them a little with his foot.
“It worked, didn’t it?” The cat responded with, flashing a cocky smile that rivaled Kato’s, “So, wanna check out what’s in the cases?”
“Oh yeah, you wanna keep an eye on those guys in case they try and get up?” Kato asked, making his way over to the table that wasn’t scratched at all during the fight.
With a nod from Chase, the black hedgehog focused his attention towards a series of three briefcases: the one on the right contained a few neat looking handguns; the one to the left contained a large caliber rifle; the one in the middle was the most attention-grabbing, and actually what Kato’s eyes landed on in the first place, it contained a singular syringe filled with a fiery red substance that swirled within its container, occasionally flaring out as it did so.
“What’d you find?” The periwinkle cat had asked, who had been busy putting all the guns on the floor in a rough little pile.
“Cool looking guns and a weird syringe.” Kato, without missing a beat, responded.
“Oh yeah, that last one seems normal.” Chase, with just a little sarcasm, shot back.
Shutting each of the briefcases closed, Katorasu reached into his coat and brought out a radio that had a special emblem that seemed to resemble a capital V. “You gonna stick around to see the cleanup?” The Nephalem asked.
“Nah, you know me. Gotta steer clear of the cops even if they like me.” He smiled, as he twirled his intricate cane around a little.
“Speaking of which, you sure you don’t wanna join up with me and the others? We do a lot of good, plus it doesn’t feel like we’re answering to anybody. If anything we’re just sponsored by the big boys in GUN.” He asked Chase, it was a sincere question. He legitimately wanted a firm answer.
Seeming to give the question a thought or two, Chase eventually shook his head, “No, again, thanks for the offer, Kato. Just doesn’t sound like my kinda thing, I mean call me up for backup if you need me but a badge just doesn’t suit me.” He shrugged.
Nodding in response, Kato then asked, “I’ll still see your butt over at Jamie’s Christmas party, right?”
“Oh, no doubt! I wouldn’t miss that at all for anything in the world.” The feline smiled brightly this time.
With both agile warriors bidding each other goodbye, for now, Chase left through the bullet-riddled door before any kind of authorities could arrive while Kato went ahead and made a call to report his findings. In his special way, of course.
