I went to Japan and didn't even get to blow up Tokyo Tower.

[Slayer]

As you all have seen I recently posted that I need help. Brutal and Techno were good enough to offer help. I am now at a point where I can safely tell you all why I needed help in the first place.

As you may be aware, a few weeks ago when Hannah was seeking help against Khavick I was in the area and decided to render my aid. What you did not know was why I was in D.C. in the first place. My sister had gone to Washington on a trip with her school for her history class. My family and I had been getting an almost no stop stream of text messages from her
the entire time she was there. On the day before she was scheduled to return, the messages stopped. We at first thought her teachers had finally gotten around to taking her cell away. Then we got the call from D.C. Metro Police.

As soon as my mother informed me I was on a plane to D.C. I spent the next two days talking to the police as well as anyone that lived in the area where she was seen. After two days of beating my head against the wall of "Nope, never seen her." and "We are sorry sir but we have no new information for you at this time.", I saw Hannah's request for help
and decided to vent my frustrations on anything monstrous that got in my way.

After healing up from my penthouse encounter, I was once again beating every bush trying to find my little sister. The police were less than useless, and my own investigations had turned up nothing of value. I returned to my hotel after tying in vain to track down a sidewalk merchant that might have seen her. I turned on the light to find someone waiting for
me. And it wasn't the person that should have been there.

My hand immediately went for the gun holstered at my back. "Easy now Nic, no need to make a lady feel unwelcome." The woman was sitting at the table in the corner of my room. She had flame red hair and a young face. She seemed totally at ease, despite the fact she knew
I was armed. I asked the only questions that came immediately to mind.

"Who the hell are you, how did you get in here and how do you know my name?" She rose from the chair with a fluid grace and walked towards me with a bewitching smile. Every combat instinct I had warned me not to let her get to close. I drew my gun and aimed at her center of mass. "That's close enough, now answer my questions."

She stopped and her lip began to pout. "No trust. Nicolia if I had meant to harm you would I have sat here for the last two hours and let you walk in the door with out taking you out?" Her reasoning made sense so I lowered the gun. "Much better, now as to your questions, I am Madilyn. I am an information broker of sorts, and since I wanted to do business with you I took the liberty of getting to know as much about you as I could." She dropped into a sitting position on the bed. "And trust me you are going to want the information I have."

[Grace]

Whatever happened to mysterious phonecalls? Or text messages?

[Cybermancer]

I've been to Japan a few times but I've never taken the oppurtunity to blow up the tower. But then, I've never seen Godzilla, either.

Hmmm. A redhead, huh? Seems to be a popular flavor these days.

Did she have the information you were looking for?

[Slayer]

I am currently delayed in Seattle, something about customs. I will relate more of what transpired tomorrow once I am back home comfortably.

[Technocrat]

While we wait for Slayer to get past his difficulties and jet leg, I will begin relating my part in all of this.

For those that may be wondering, I didn't get into close contact with any of the supernasties this time around. That was entirely for the hitters on this operation. My skills were used to procure floor plans (which I could have done remotely) and setting up surveillance (which admittedly, I did sorta have to be present for).

Besides, my presence may have helped smooth things over with the contact I mentioned earlier.

Slayer had me call my old friend from the private plane he had chartered for the flight. Brutal, Slayer and I were the only passengers. It was kinda nice to fly in luxury for a change. And I was sort of looking forward to seeing the nation I had been born and raised in, not to mention some old friends.

This particular old friend has asked that he be referred to as Ronin and that certain measures are taken to preserve his privacy. I can say that he's been involved with the supernatural since high school and was hunting demons in his first year of university. He retired from demon hunting when he got married.

So while he was happy to hear from me, he wasn't thrilled about the reason. He did agree to meet with us at the restaurant that his wife and he owned and operated. That was heartening. If nothing else, I would get an excellent meal out of this trip.

I can’t say where Ronin lives but suffice to say that after we got off the plane, we had to take a train. And after the train, a bus. And technically, we never left Tokyo.

The restaurant was closed when we got there but Ronin let us in and his wife had the grill fired up. After the formalities of greeting and introductions, Ronin showed us to a booth where we could discuss business.

He got right to the point, “it’s good to see you again, Bokkai but you’re wasting your time. I put all that stuff behind me. I’m a happily married man now. We want to start a family.” He smiled over at his wife as she started preparing our meals. She beamed back at him.

I had expected to hear as much.

“That’s really a shame,” Slayer said in excellent Japanese. “I am prepared to reimburse you handsomely.”

“I am not some common mercenary,” Ronin replied haughtily. “When I did hunt, it was because it had to be done. And now I am done with all that, as I have said.”

“How handsomely?” his wife asked from behind the grill.

A figure was mentioned.

“We have no financial concerns,” Ronin replied, unimpressed with the figure.

His wife mentioned another figure. Plus expenses.

And thus a deal was struck.

[Hannah]

Kinda reminds me of Dad, doesn't do this for money. Though having a family around seemed to make my dad work twice as hard instead of retiring.

I noticed a new member of the site named Ronin, did you convince him to join us Techno?

[Ronin]

Kinda reminds me of Dad, doesn't do this for money. Though having a family around seemed to make my dad work twice as hard instead of retiring.

I noticed a new member of the site named Ronin, did you convince him to join us Techno?

Technocrat told me about this site about a year ago but to be honest, it did not appeal to me as I have withdrawn from certain activities. While the events depicted here are a one time event and I remain retired, I thought it prudent to ensure certain contract obligations were carried out in regards to the release of information here.

Your father has my respect but we all must serve our families in the way we (and they) determine to be best. For me, that has meant weilding a spatula, not a sword.

[Slayer]

I am sorry for my absence, but it was unavoidable. I was held over in Seattle on the return trip because it seems that I resemble an Armenian terrorist. Since Thursday I have been searched in places I was unaware I had, met with agents from every alphabet agency there is is this country and a few that are not from this country. It has been settled now and I am once again back home, but I have decided I am never going to Israel. EVER.

By the way Nemesis, when you have some free time I would like to talk to you about a possible job. No one needs to be killed, but your expertise would be greatly valued.

By the way Techno, thank you for posting in my absence, the money for services rendered plus expenses should be in everyone's accounts by now.

[Grace]

By the way Nemesis, when you have some free time I would like to talk to you about a possible job. No one needs to be killed, but your expertise would be greatly valued.

PM me with the details and we'll discuss it.

[Slayer]

Just to avoid confusion, the events described here took place before we went to Tokyo, and I will be turning back the clock a bit on the story in order to explain how we ended up there. I will catch back up to Techno's post as I progress in the story, so please bear with me on this.

"You have three minutes, this had better be good." My reply was course, but deep down I was wondering if perhaps this woman was the break I had been waiting for. Thankfully she was.

"Well for starters you need to know that normally information like this would cost, quite a bit actually. You are getting it for free for two reasons. First, the man who took your sister is the scum of the earth, someone that needs to be mercilessly ground into pulp and you seem like the type that will do just that. Second, family is important." When she gave the second reason, I thought I saw a hint of something in her eyes, but if I did it was gone as fast as it had appeared replaced with a look that was all business.

"Your sister was taken by a visiting Japanese crime boss. Whenever this guy sees a pretty young girl that he likes, he has his goons grab her and bring her back to Tokyo to join his harem." She tossed a memory stick onto the bed. "This is a list of properties that he owns in Tokyo, I don't know exactly which one she is in, but it will be one of these."

I dropped into a chair heavily and began to weigh my options. As a rule I don't normally harm humans, but in this case I was willing to make an exception, except that doing so would mean taking my first human life, and if things went bad it would mean me ending up in a Japanese prison cell for the rest of my life. I guess my face must have given away more than I meant it to, because Madelyn suddenly began to giggle.

"Oh I guess I should mention this guy is no ordinary crook. He is actually an Oni, or for the linguistically challenged a Japanese demon. He is fairly weak as demons go, that's why he has set himself up a crime syndicate, with other minor Oni as his lieutenants and normal humans for street muscle." She stood up and walked over to the window, looking down at the street as she spoke. "He came to D.C. to purchase weapons from the local underworld dealers, and I guess your sister must have caught his eye. To bad for her."

She turned towards the door and dropped a card in my lap as she went past. "If you ever need more information keep me in mind Slayer, you will find that I am well worth the price."

With that she walked out the door and I looked at the card. It only held a hand written phone number and a small message. "Don't bother trying to trace it, it would only ruin what will be a good business relationship."

That is when I went for my laptop to put out a call for help, because a small voice in the back of my mind was telling me that this was not something I should tackle on my own.

[Brutal]

I guess it is time for me to chime in on this. I apologize for the delaying in posting but I was contracted to help with an apparent prisoner transfer though I doubt that was what it was. As part of the contract we were not allow to have any electronic devices on us so I have been unable to post or view the boards for some time. I didn’t understand why that stipulation but I soon learned why but that is a story for another time.

I am the one to be blamed for involving Technocrat in this endeavored. When Slayer asked if I knew anyone with the technical skills he required I only knew of a few people with the skills and only one that could be free. I also recalled that Technocrat told me who he was when we first meet each other. It was not difficult to determine where he work and his employer was more than willing to offer Technocrats services for some on-site technical support. I had no intention of putting him anywhere near harm’s way but my technical knowledge is what you call lacking so I was unaware that Technocrat would have been able to do everything remotely from the safety of him apartment.

Technocrat did seem happy to have such an assignment when he boarded the plan till he saw me there reading. In the end it was good to have him present for the negotiation with Ronin, though his wife most of the negotiation.

At what your wife negotiated on your behave Ronin I would hope you expand you restaurant in an international chain of them. It was an honour to fight alongside you Ronin and it was a pleasure meeting your wife. I hope I proved useful cleaning the restaurant while we had to remain out of public view. It was good to remain busy while we waited.

[Ronin]

Brutal,

It was of course an honor to join forces and engage the enemy and so forth.

Nevertheless, I am not here to discuss the business plans of my family resteraunt nor to engage in idle chit chat regarding my personal life in any way.

Indeed, I created this account to prevent others from speaking in my voice or otherwise masqurading as me. And also to ensure that excess information about my family and myself is not revealed.

Frankly, I think it is folly the way many relate their tales on these public boards. It is asking for trouble.

Please forgive me if I sound curt. Blame it on my limited mastery of the English language, if you will.

[Hannah]

Japanese underworld type stuff . . . I wonder if Kei's business partners are involved anywhere?

[Doctor Boggs]

Sounds as though everyone got home okay, least I hope so, but this story still worries me.

[Slayer]

Besides the obvious, why does it worry you Doc?

[Doctor Boggs]

Heh, probably just the obvious reasons. There's some serious criminal figures involved and a fair bit of revealing info has been left pointing at Techno, so I'm hoping all the loose ends have been tied up?

Hell I might just be jittery, that last job done shot my nerves I think.

[Slayer]

Don't worry Doc, we made sure that there were no loose ends left. Also nothing that could tie anyone involved to the events in question.

[Grace]

Interesting contact. Seems to have an awful lot of information that just happened to be useful to you. Odds are she knows more about you than you'd be comfortable with. And information brokers never give information away. There's gotta be an angle there.

In any case, how long you plan on leaving us in suspense? What happened next?

[Slayer]

I will post tomorrow, I have some final arrangements to finish first.

[Slayer]

Brutal was the only one to respond. It seems we have all been rather busy of late. I had asked Brutal if he knew anyone else that could help, since he had some unusual contacts I had hoped that he knew someone with knowledge of surveillance systems or computers. As it turned out, he did.

"Use Techno, he is good and I know where he lives. I can get him here quickly if that's what you need." Having read Brutal's post history, I felt inclined to ask how he had that information, but then thought better of it.

"Do you think he will be willing to help out? I think he said he was getting out of the supernatural business after what happened in Chicago." Brutal simply shrugged.

"Willing or not I can get him here." I could only stare at him with open mouthed surprise after that statement. There are a lot of things I am willing to do in order to protect those I care about, kidnapping is not high on the list. Kidnapping someone I helped save ranks even lower.

Thankfully I had an idea come to me that while underhanded, would not land anyone in jail. "Do you know what company he works for?" Brutal provided me with the information and I began making calls. In under an hour I had all the arrangements set up.

Things of course took an interesting turn when everyone met up at the plane. Brutal and I were there ahead of schedule, so while we waited I ran over the shipping manifest for the gear I was having sent to Japan for this endeavor while Brutal seemed engrossed in collage enrollment applications.

Techno showed up on time and was texting as he came up the ramp. When he looked up and saw my face, he seemed confused. When he saw Brutal he froze. I knew I had to say something before he ran off the plane screaming. "Techno it's alright, he is in my employ and won't do anything to you this time I swear."

Techno looked at me with a mix of fear and disdain. He quietly moved to a seat at the other end of the cabin from Brutal. "So is this how you make all your new friends?" I winced a little, knowing that I was pulling him back into a world that he was trying to leave behind.

"I am sorry I had to trick you but I need help that you are the most qualified to provide." The plane door closed and Techno sighed deeply, seeming to resign himself to what was coming. "I will fully brief you both when we land in Tokyo, until then maybe we can try to get to know each other better?"

It was a long and quiet flight.

[Technocrat]

Yeah, I was a little sulky at first. It wasn't exactly the trip home I was expecting at first.

But I did manage to come around.

[Cybermancer]

I can't say that I approve of how you boys went about procuring Technocrats assistance although I suppose I can understand it.

It'll be interesting to hear about this Oni and it's subordinates. My understanding is that Oni are usually much less uniform than western demon species. It can make it more difficult to deal with them.

[Slayer]

Well Cyber I will tell you all about the Oni once it comes into the story.

Sorry for my absence from the boards, I have had some matters that kept me away from a computer for a while. That and it's playoff time in the NHL and I am a hockey fan.

After we landed we took one of the longest public transit rides that I have ever been on. Tokyo is absolutely huge. Since we were in Techno's back yard he led the way to his friend and the contact he had supplied me with.

In accordance with Ronin's wishes I will omit the names of him, his wife and their place of business. I have been mentored by my family int the ways of finance and business, but my negotiation skills were out matched from the moment I mentioned payment. Ronin's wife is the type of woman who will get her way, period. In the end the price was settled on, including expenses, which she began adding to immediately with storage fee's, room rentals and so on.

After the deal had been struck I decided it was time for a full mission briefing. I turned on my laptop and hooked it to Ronin's large screen television, for which I was charged an electricity usage fee by his wife. "Gentlemen I have gathered you all for two reasons, the first being the rescue of my little sister Nina. The second is to destroy the demon son of a bitch the took her."

I brought up the files the Madelyn had provided me with and began to fill the others in on the important points. "This particular demon, or Oni if you prefer that term is a local minor underworld boss. He has both human and demon minions under his command, he keeps in line with a mixture of fear and greed. It seems that whenever he leaves Japan on business he like to come back with a souvenir from whatever country he is visiting. Those souvenirs are woman that he abducts and brings back as members of his private harem. My sister was his latest acquisition."

I had to stop for a moment to bring myself back under control, as just talking about it was making my blood boil. "According to what I have learned he has some knowledge of magic but it is rudimentary at best. Our first objective will be gathering information on where exactly he is keeping my sister as well as learning his habits to find when he will be most vulnerable. When we do engage I want on thing to be made clear, I do not want any human blood spilled. In order to insure this I have brought some specialized ammunition along with me. These rounds are a new technology that has been dubbed the "Less Than Lethal" or LTL bullet. On impact the round emits a chemical spray of a concentrated sleeping gas that will render a target unconscious in under five seconds. When you engage this Oni's human minions these are the only rounds you will use. Demons are of course to be killed on sight. And it should go with out saying that the Oni that is responsible for all of this is mine to deal with and only mine, understood?"

Brutal was the first to speak. "Isn't that inefficient? Why not simply kill them all and let God sort them out?" I had expected this question, since Brutal is not known for leaving survivors.

"I don't want the police to throw us in prison for multiple murders on Japanese soil for starters. A demon will vaporize when it dies, a human leaves behind a body and a lot more evidence. Plus there is the fact that these humans are just gangland thugs who have made poor choices in who they work for, and I don't feel that they need to die because of that." As if on cue a delivery driver arrived, carrying with him ten pelican hard cases. Ronin's wife was kind enough to sign for them and instruct the driver where he could unload them. She then added various charges to my bill without interrupting me, since she did not want to be rude.


The next question came from Ronin, "And what is in the cases? I only ask since you are planning to store it in my home." It was another question I had prepared for since I was bringing in a large quantity of weapons most of which were highly illegal in Japan.

"These cases contain an assortment of weapons and ammunition. As part of the deal all of you may go through what I have provided and keep the weapons after the job is complete."


I began to open the cases one at a time, and Ronin and Brutal went through them, selecting various weapons from them. Techno avoided the cases as if they contained the plague.

It was then I turned to Techno for his expertise, the entire reason that I brought him in on this job. "So Techno, what I need from you is a plan to do some recon on this monster, and it needs to be done without raising his suspicions and with out attracting any unwanted attention from the local authorities, think you are up to it?"

As a slight smile crept warily across his face, I knew he would not disappoint.

[Grace]

So Slayer,

Everybody knows that Japan is rife with catgirls.

Run into any catboys?

[Brutal]

So Slayer,

Everybody knows that Japan is rife with catgirls.

Run into any catboys?

Cat girls?

[Technocrat]

Yes, Brutal. Cat girls. They're cute. You should get one.

Anyway, you make it sound as though I’m sort of Agent Q or something, Slayer. It’s not like I do it for a living or anything. Sure I helped Nemesis but the only other time I did any sort of surveillance was during University when I was working with Ronin.

Those were the days and I wish I could talk about them.

Despite his cold and abrupt attitude on these boards, he’s a decent person in real life. Been my best friend since high school. But he does have good reasons for secrecy.

In any case, I stood up and addressed everyone else. Feeling a bit inadequate in this room full of ‘hitters’. Still, they all gave me their undivided attention as the conversation entered my alleged area of expertise. “I think that it’s best that during the surveillance portion of this operation that Slayer and Brutal stay here. You’re both large Caucasians that stick out pretty bad in North America. You’re definitely going to attract attention if you start nosing around outside.”

There was a round of nods from everyone so I continued, “Ronin and I have done this sort of thing before. We can set up the surveillance gear at the locations the target is known to frequent. Ronin will be able to tail the target when they move and once we have established the targets favourite routes, we can set up surveillance there as well.”

I started running a power point presentation, showing the floor plans of the buildings that I had already been able to dig up. The gathered hitters asked questions and I answered them to the best of my ability.

“That’s all we got so far.” I concluded, “we’ll have more after we’ve had a chance to watch them for awhile.”

Ronin stood up, “I need to suit up. Get your stuff ready, Bokkai.”

A short while later, we were placing surveillance equipment near the haunts of the demon. Ronin was quiet at first. “Just like old times, huh?” I asked him.

He smiled, “sometimes I miss them.”

“So why don’t you do it anymore?” I inquired, “your wife seems fine with it. Heck, she could…”

“No,” Ronin cut me off. “I will not widow her.”

He’s gotten to be a lot like his uncle now that he’s older.

Anyway, that was as close to any field work that I got involved in. For the rest of the trip I just watched the cameras and relayed communications for the guys.

Pretty boring, actually.

[Brutal]

What the H*ll is a Catgirl?

[Grace]

What the H*ll is a Catgirl?

Google it.

[Hannah]

What the H*ll is a Catgirl?

Google it.

Also make sure the safe search is on. . .

[Slayer]

No catgirls were harmed in the making of this story.