As soon as night had washed over the sky, Katorasu immediately threw on his vigilante outfit, quickly bounding down the stairs that led from his apartment to the tailor shop he lived above. Strapped to his back in a sheathe was his sword, Ekibyō; it’s been a long time since he ever took it out of its case, other than to just take a look at it, and reflect on why he’s doing all these heroic stunts and whatnot. He knew that he’d most likely be heading into an area with firearms a plenty; if he could slice them to the point of being inoperable, then that was all fine and dandy with him.
Jamie, who was only getting started on closing up the shop, waited for the nephalem patiently. His mind thought about if the hedgehog would be ok, after all, he would essentially be starting a war in the shadows. The criminal organization— who had just moved here a few weeks back— would most likely not take these attacks lying down anymore.
“I’m headin’ out, sorry I can’t stick around for when you’re done here,” He was quickly tying his quills, as he moved out from the staircase doorway to the interior of the border collie’s shop.
“Don’t apologize, I understand how important this is to you, just…” He paused for a moment, Jamie’s eyes looking up at the other male’s taller stature, his mouth was slightly agape, “... don’t tear up your clothes, don’t do anything too stupid, and please stay safe out there.”
A warm smile spread across the muzzle of Katorasu, “Thanks, Jamie, but I already got all that in mind when I’m out there,” He placed an arm around the canine’s shoulders, in a friendly manner though Jamie reacted to it all flustered-like, “Nothing stings more than hearing you yell at me, not even a bullet.”
As he grinned, he spread his confidence to the smaller male— as he too smiled back; ignoring the red in his cheeks just a little, Jamie felt calm with the nephalem heading out for tonight.
Almost causing him to forget about the task ahead, Katorasu was a bit confused by the color in Jamie’s usually pale muzzle, “Did you drink today? Your cheeks are red, is that why you’re so worried about me?”
The landlord/tailor’s eyes had widened a bit, suddenly realizing that he left his face— and feelings— exposed to the tenant. Quickly he tried to think of a way to squirm his way out of the question, “I—! N-no—…!” Eventually though, he folded in half practically as he decided to roll with it, “Y-yes, special occasion today, I opened up my shop this very day!” He laughed, trying to feign a state of light drunkenness.
The anniversary of his shop was nowhere near today; it was a couple of months away.
Blinking a few times, Katorasu smiled widely and nodded, “Alrighty then! I don’t mind walking you back home if you want unless you’re sure that you’re not *that* drunk.” Assuring Jamie that he bought his lie.
Shaking his head suddenly, to try and assure the nephalem he was fine, Jamie stammered a fair bit as he spoke, “N-no need! I am very capable of walking home at night like this, I sober up quite easily.”
“If you say so, I’m gonna head out now; take care and stay safe out there, alright?” The nephalem asked, his hand on the door that led to the outside world, as he looked back at the border collie with a sincere smile.
“You too, good luck out there.” His landlord— and friend— nodded, in a way that seemed as if he was lending his determination to the ebony hero.
Exiting the tailor shop, Katorasu was hit by the fresh, crisp air of the night that was waiting for him ahead; filling his lungs with the comforting coldness, he gave subtle yet quick glances around his area, just in case there were any potential witnesses nearby. Giving himself the go-ahead, his entire body transformed into a thick cloud of mist before rising towards the night sky, before bursting towards a direction with haste in its flight.
At first, the nephalem had thought about trying to locate more of the warehouses that the mafia had set up shop in, but figured that striking at the heart first would not only disrupt their business but possibly cause them to scatter, at least for a while; with that in mind, Katorasu thought that by doing this, he could give the city some brief peace, while the vigilante searched for the other, smaller warehouses. If they were going to step up their game, then he was more than happy to do the same.
Approaching the warehouse he had snuck into not so long ago, Katorasu quickly reverted into his nice, corporeal body; still retaining the speed he was going, the emerald-streaked swordsman managed to land on the roof, tucking himself into a small roll as to break his light fall. Having some time to himself on the roof— before he could reuse that ability again— Katorasu did some quick stretches as if to limber up even though he was always seemingly in tip-top shape. Maybe it was to psyche himself up for the confrontation that would most likely happen in the next few minutes or so.
As he felt the power come back to him, Katorasu looked over his shoulder and at the hilt of Ekibyō, which stuck out of its container, as it was strapped to his back. Taking in a deep breath, as the wind brushed its fingers through his tied quills, the nephalem’s body shifted into the cloud of mist that some criminals had come to associate with the vigilante.
Again, the vents served as Katorasu’s point of entry to the insides of the warehouse, as he easily slipped in through the metal slits; slowly, the nephalem made his way through the air ducts, while he intently listened for any chatter or movement; as he ventured down deeper into the shaft, he began to hear some small amounts of talking and even laughter. Floating over the dent he had made last time, the black hedgehog peered through the slits of a vent covering, looking down below at what he knew was the main room of the warehouse.
“Man, today was pretty good!” One of the mobsters spoke, placing a small bundle of bills into a case on a large table, “With those two gangs butting heads already, finding places to ‘protect’ shouldn’t be too much of a problem soon!”
While he spoke, a member of the group approached the table, before beginning to sort out a pile of firearms into various containers, “You bet, Giudice is gonna be happy to report back to the boss in Emerald City; maybe we’ll get some more backup, or they’ll trust us with more jobs over here.”
It seems that the group’s spirits were lifted, all of them happy with themselves that things were going great for them so far, as their more low-profile approach to their business seemed to be going well so far.
Another, who seemed to have been thinking for a bit, spoke up in response, “Is no one going to talk about how the gunfight ended? I’m sure we got people scared with that, but I’ve heard some chatter, before coming here, that right after the police showed up, some guy— a black and green hedgehog— took down both gangs all by himself.” He seemed to be a bit on edge with that.
Getting one of his fellow members a little worried, they reasoned with the implication, “There’s a lot of those guys around, a lot of them with powers too probably; y’know how common it is to walk by people you don’t even know but can do crazy stuff still, right?”
“Right, but… this guy didn’t use any powers, he just took them all down without even trying it seemed; the way he moved and the way he knocked them down in one shot… it’s insane.” The speculative mobster responded, bringing his hand to his chin to think some more.
“That solves it, it couldn’t have been that guy; he’s got powers and from what the other guys have said, he uses them when fighting. Plus martial arts exist and all that, the guy could’ve been a black belt.” Another spoke up as if they deducted it all out like it was child’s play.
“What if he didn’t want to be seen in broad daylight? Especially by the cops? Maybe those powers are just… holding him back…” The previous member fired back quietly, a sweat developing on his brow.
“Whatever! Why dwell on that right now? We’re nice and cozy here, *he* doesn’t know about this place so what’s it matter whether or not he was the guy that broke that fight up?” Another had raised his voice, irritated with the discussion that was taking place.
“Man, you guys sure do yell a lot; I probably wouldn’t have figured out this was your main base if you were just a little bit more quieter.” A voice from the shadows up above spoke, mocking them cockily.
“You just had to say somethin’.” One of the mobsters turned, so they could glare at the fellow who jinxed them.
Dropping down from hanging pipes, Katorasu crashed down onto the large center table with style; the wood being crushed underneath his weight, as the pieces folded, the firearms were sent into the air in front of everyone’s eyes. Quickly reaching over his shoulder, the nephalem drew his blade and sliced apart each of the guns that hung in the air briefly; it was as if there were now thick metal ribbons that took their place, before clattering against the floor in a mess of a pile.
Flourishing Ekibyō for a moment, the emerald vigilante smirked and asked, “So, you guys ready to dance?”
His eyes scanned across a few of the faces before him, a handful of them looked rather nervous as he noticed that they were focused on the sword in his hand. They wondered that if he could cut through all those firearms so easily, how hard would it be for him to go through them? His golden eyes watched as the edge of the sword glistened in the light, though his attention was slowly drawn to the opposite end of the blade, the blunt end.
Getting a rather bright idea, Katorasu let out a small chuckle, “Don’t worry about the sword, I’m a hero; I’ll just take a couple of whacks at you guys with the other side, it’ll hurt still but less!” His chipper voice threw off some of the men in the room.
A bit after the words had left his mouth, he watched as, from the side, a mobster had taken aim with a pistol at him; despite how sudden the gunshot was, the nephalem was prepared enough for such an attack that he had managed to slice the bullet in half, the two halves of it flying past him.
Looking around him fully now, the swordsman watched as the remainder of the firearms were passed around, and those that didn’t get handed anything gladly pulled out knives from their jackets.
With a shrug, Katorasu could only joke, “I guess it’s fair to try and even the odds for you guys, even though it’s still not a 50/50.”
With that, a hailstorm of bullets was sent towards the spot that the nephalem currently stood in, though with a quick and narrow dodge into the nearest shelf. He avoided that barrage with a bit of ease.
“C’mon, is it that hard to try and aim a little bit better?” He spoke over the loud gunfire, while he performed a backflip in the air, before swiftly delivering a spinning kick that struck the jaws of two mobsters, “I mean, I’ve never used a gun before but it doesn’t look that hard!”
Despite how he was busy with being cocky, Katorasu was able to react to a mobster coming from behind, charging with an overhead swipe of his knife; the nephalem smirked to himself again, as his left arm quickly blocked the mobster’s from bringing the blade down any further. A sudden strike from Katorasu’s knee to the stomach of the current attacker was enough to interrupt the swipe— following that, the swordsman fired off a kick into their chest, there was enough force to send them careening backward.
As he continued to thin out the group, narrowly avoiding stabs, swipes, and blows here and there, Katorasu was practically bouncing back and forth off the walls and the thugs he had faced off against. As his heart roared with excitement, Ekibyō shining bright, his movements and attacks became rather smooth and with a sense of elegance to them. He struck with just enough force to stun them, always following it up with another blow to knock them out of the fight, but he always made sure that it was held back so that they wouldn’t be hospitalized upon waking up.
There were only a few mobsters left standing, their morale at a low as they faced off against an impossible opponent; their guns were only a few shots left from being empty, how could they possibly hope to get at least one hit on him now?
“I think you guys almost made me break a sweat, just for that I’ll let you pick if I continue kicking your ass or you surrendering; what’s it gonna be?~” He smugly asked, Katorasu had dropped his guard.
“How about you eat this, you bastard!” A mobster had shouted, bursting out from a set of double doors alongside many other friends of theirs doing the same from the other doors; they were all considerably better equipped to take on Katorasu.
A low, deep *thump* sound alerted the nephalem, his eyes locked onto something that was hurled his way; he was too cocky for his own good, practically allowing a grenade to be launched right at his feet, he was too slow to even pop into his mist form to try and negate the blast.
Just before it struck the ground before him, Katorasu could only say, “Oh sh—“
The nephalem had let out a yell as he was blown back, his body slamming into a door that led him into another large room; the area was filled with crates stacked on shelves everywhere, it was all dimly lit by dying bulbs that hung from above. Rolling on his side, away from the view of the door, Katorasu’s ears rang and his vision blurred slightly as he could feel the shrapnel from the blast burrowing deep into his skin. Despite the sharp amounts of pain, all he could think about was how Jamie was going to kill him for letting his clothing get swiss-cheesed like this.
“Look at ‘im run! We’re all gonna get promotions for this for sure! C’mon, we’re taking this bastard down!” He heard from the other room, as he tucked himself away in the shadows of one of the shelves stacked with crates.
While the pain wasn’t that big of a deal for the hedgehog, it probably wasn’t a good idea to leave fragments of metal inside of him; with a bit of concentration, a small glowing purple orb appeared in the palm of his left hand. Crushing it, the energy flowed into his body, as the damage sustained from being pierced and slammed with such high kinetic force quickly evaporated.
As his skin and muscle were repaired, the shrapnel was forcibly ejected from his body, the fragments falling to the ground— almost twinkling as they bounced lightly; after all that was finished, it was as if Katorasu hadn’t been struck by a grenade blast, there was still some lingering feeling of pain but it was minuscule when compared to what he felt a few seconds ago.
Hearing the advancement of the armed forces coming his way through the door, Katorasu had to think of some kind of plan of engagement, unless he wanted to be riddled full of holes a second time. His eyes traveled up above, to the shelf that cast a shadow over him.
“Someone guard the door; the rest of us, spread out and find that freak, fill him with lead until your gun’s empty.” A mobster, the one who had launched the grenade, ordered.
His eyes checked the spot where Katorasu was just at— unbeknownst to him that is— before fanning out with the others to find the meddlesome vigilante. From up above though is where he waited, watching as he counted their numbers and what types of weapons they carried, judging the high priority targets. He was thankful that the lights didn’t expose him, they hung too low from the roof of the room to cast any light.
Watching one of the swaying overhead lights, Katorasu had come up with some form of a plan of attack; holding onto Ekibyō, the nephalem leaped quickly from the top of one shelf to another, as he swiftly sliced through the cord of a light. Sparking as it fell, the source of illumination smashed against the concrete floor of the building, thoroughly scaring a few of the mobsters as some of the light was lost.
“He’s up above!” One of them shouted as he fired off a burst of rounds through the top layer of a shelf.
“Careful, dumbass! Don’t hit the merchandise in those crates, the boss’ll have your head if you damage anything!” Warned another, as sweat on their brow formed.
Overhead, they watched as a quick blur moved across from one shelf to another, cutting apart the cords of the lights as he moved; the bulbs would burst open and the metal bending and warping as they crashed with such a noise. Just like the overhead lights, darkness had fallen over the room; whatever light there was left only came through the doorway, that they had all entered through only moments prior.
For the mobsters, they felt a sense of dread and fear slowly envelop them, it was hard to see anywhere behind a few feet. Some even bumped into each other and almost fired upon themselves.
“Cool, we’re all nice and cozy, the lighting is just so romantic, huh?” From above, the nephalem quietly moved across the shelves, his voice lightly carried throughout the room, “Let’s take this time to get a little more… closer.~” He happily mused.
Katorasu secretly missed the feeling of being a spider, having caught its prey in its web; a dark part of him converted into a more heroic light with this redemption story he tried to perform, with him at the center of it all.
“W-where are you!?” One asked, their legs turning into jelly, as they tried to back themselves out through the only exit.
His mates turned to watch him cower, but were met with the sight of Katorasu from above diving straight down for him; the door was shut violently as the pair disappeared— its knob sliced off— as the man screamed in shock, as he was whisked away behind crates. His cry of fear was cut short suddenly, as a light cloud of dark mist slithered around the feet of the mobsters without them even knowing what was happening in the darkness.
There was a slight tinge of fear in the heart of the mobster that nearly blew up Kato, gripping his rifle tightly he barked out, “S-shit, that’s it! If you think you see ‘im, fire! Screw the merch!”
A chuckle left the nephalem, his voice sounding as if it was layered with itself in this mist form, “Try not to hit each other though, I’m not taking the blame for friendly-fire.~” He teased.
Heading to the far back of the room, Katorasu made his way to a trio that was huddled next to each other, who thought that they would be safe like this from him. Swirling lightly around their legs, the nephalem fully appeared out of his mist form; in just a matter of seconds, he quickly delivered a series of blows with the blunt edge of Ekibyō to each of the three mobsters, leaving their unconscious bodies behind as a few of the remaining men fired at the darkness, forgetting that some of their own were previously standing there.
The brief flashes of light, which erupted from the barrels of their guns, provided quick glimpses of the nephalem leaping back up onto the shelves; trying to keep their eyes on him with their grouped bursts of gunfire, they continued to fire up through the crates and panels of the shelves as Katorasu moved continuously throughout the room.
As the sound of wood being smashed and ripped apart by the hailstorm of bullets echoed, one stray shot had managed to get lucky as it pierced through fabric, skin, muscle, and fabric again; thankfully, with the mobsters’ firearms running out of ammo in their clips, the nephalem was able to take a quick moment to rest as he held in a pained breath— trying to get over the pain that stung him, an open wound in his leg.
As much as Katorasu would love to use another gem to heal up the bullet wound, that power needed just a few more seconds to recharge before he could use it again. Thankfully though, the black hedgehog had a higher pain tolerance than your average Möbian that was about his size, it still hurt like a bitch, however.
Trying to not make it obvious that they got a lucky hit on him, Katorasu chuckled, “You guys sure do suck at aiming, I hope you all packed an extra mag; otherwise… this’ll just be a piece of cake for me.”
Standing up from his spot, he could hear the panicked movements of the men— as some reached for their belts, withdrawing a clip for their guns.
“You’ve been hit with worse, Kato; it’s just a flesh wound.” He psyched himself up, as he unsheathed Ekibyō once again.
Making the wonderful decision to jump down from a height, Katorasu had landed in the middle of the remaining mobsters. For a split second, he felt a shot of pain travel up his leg and through his body, he was glad that it was just dark enough to hide the brief expression of pain on his face.
Forcing himself to move through the pain, the nephalem was quick as he watched the shadowy figures attempt to strike at him through the darkness; it was easy enough to avoid their punches— some even accidentally hitting each other as a result of their missed chances— as Katorasu ducked and weaved through them.
The swordsman was efficient with his blows, unleashing a flurry with his sword as he continuously whacked at their sides and back, while also occasionally throwing in a punch or kick. In a matter of seconds, there stood only two people in the room now, amongst the pile of unconscious men.
“H-how the hell can you move like that? You took that grenade, I saw it!” The commanding mobster shouted, his voice echoing, “What kind of freak are you!?” He raised his gun, steadfast still despite the chances being ever so slim for him.
“I’m not a ‘freak’, I’m a hero,” Katorasu responded, stepping over a still-breathing body as he approached the man who filled him with shrapnel a handful of minutes ago, “I just had enough with you hurting my city; you stepped up your game, I stepped up mine. Keep this up and I’ll kick all of your asses, I won’t even make a joke while I’m doing it.”
As the mobster began to squeeze the trigger, the nephalem quickly drew his blade and slashed the entire front of the firearm. Flipping it over, he raised it and dropped the blunt edge on the skull of the man before him; it was only hard enough to knock him out, his body falling forward as Katorasu backed up, nearly tripping over a body in the process.
Feeling the thrill of combat start to die down, the nephalem let out a breath of relief as he sat down in the dark room; with his back against a crate, he conjured up an orb in the palm of his hand, crushing it as the energy restored his body to its normal state. Standing back up, he felt the wound in his leg begin to patch itself up, muscle and sinew connecting as the skin regenerated. When all the repairs were finished, a healthy-looking patch of black fur was the cherry on top of the regeneration; it was as if he was never shot by that stray bullet.
Making his way over to the door that he had closed off, Katorasu began to feel a bit curious about what was in those boxes; turning around, he approached the nearest crate and pried it open with Ekibyō. In typical organized crime fashion, it was revealed to the nephalem that this crate contained a series of firearms along with a handful of narcotics; he wondered if this would be the same for the other boxes, though that thought was interrupted as the sound police sirens faded in.
“Late to the party, again…” He quietly spoke to himself, as he looked around the dark room, his enhanced vision barely making out a vent in the area.
Switching to his mist form, Katorasu escaped through the metal slits and made his way to the outside world; hovering over the alleyway for just a moment, the ebony rogue flew over to the front of the warehouse. From above, he watched as the police quickly exited their vehicles and drew their pistols from their holsters; they expected to be facing some heavy resistance, but little did they know that it was all taken care of for them already.
Feeling very happy with himself, the black hedgehog didn’t bother with making his presence known to the cops, as he flew through the night sky and back to his cozy apartment building. Katorasu left the area with two things certain in his mind: he gave a hard kick to the balls of the mafia, and that he also totally deserved some late-night ml pizza to celebrate such a huge victory.
