The Red Hand

"What an absolute mess. Just what we needed right before the op to take out the cell in Nagano." Superbia sighed as she stood outside the mall. She was the closest member of the Rapid Response Team, so she responded to the attack in Kyoto. Upon arriving, she was informed that the two members of Libra who attacked had already been dealt with, which surprised her. No one else was nearby and there weren't any other returnees living in Kyoto, other than Akagi. After questioning some witnesses, some of which were not so cooperative, Superbia eventually pieced together that Akagi had been the one to deal with the two attackers. A discovery that was both surprising and somewhat expected. 

"It's certainly not ideal that Akagi got involved," Aoi spoke to her over comms. "The Americans were insistent that we keep her at a distance if she wasn't going to directly work with us." There was a great deal of hesitation and distrust of Akagi in Washington and Tokyo.

"But, despite the higher ups reservations, I don't exactly mind the help though." Aoi looked at the holes in the building through the screen. "If she hadn't stepped in, the casualties would have been much higher." Hijax and Sumeralia had already killed a few dozen people in their short attack, by the time Superbia would have arrived things would have been much worse.

 

“Yeah, but its got me worried.” Superbia knew anything involving the assassin was bad news. Akagi never moved without a reason.

{What could have caused her to get involved?} No one who spoke to her could tell her anything other than the fact that Akagi appeared, the two Libra members and her disappeared, and then a few minutes later, Akagi reappeared alone. {Just what the hell did Akagi do with those two?} (Superbia)

There was quite the crowd of onlookers behind the police barricades, some were shouting at her and calling her all sorts of names. {Really people? Why do you have to act like such idiots? I'm on your side!} Superbia sighed. This kind of treatment was becoming normal for returnees.

Choosing to ignore the rude comments about her horns, Superbia decided to head back inside the mall to look for more clues. Finding out where the two attackers were was of paramount importance. However, before she got inside, there was a small commotion and some screaming as a figure descended from above.

{An enemy?} Superbia drew her blade ready to fight, but was halted by a voice before she leapt into action.

"Hold on!" Hishya called out from above. She had flown in and caused a panic. "I'm not here to fight, Superbia!" Hishya floated in the air a bit above where the Oni was standing.

Superbia sighed. "Jesus, Hishya. Don't scare me like that! I thought you were a member of Libra! Flying in unannounced like that is not a great idea with everything that just happened." She relayed to the rest of the security team to lower their weapons and leave Hishya to her.

"Sorry, but I needed to speak with you ASAP. I'm on a bit of a time sensitive mission." Hishya gave a wry smile. "Can we go inside? It might be better if we limit who hears this for now."

Superbia didn't like the sound of any of this. "If you're acting like this, I can't imagine I'm going to like what you have to say, but sure. Can Aoi listen in?" The Oni wanted to include her commander in on the conversation.

"Sure, that would probably be for the best anyway this needs to be spread to the rest of the RRT." Hishya and Superbia walked into the small pavilion area where the battle had commenced only a few hours prior.

"Well, it's not as bad as I expected." Hishya figured the damage would be much worse. The inside of the pavilion was still intact, and besides some busted windows and small areas of damage, the mall wasn't as destroyed as she expected. "I guess since the whole ordeal didn't really take place here its understandable." She sighed.

"What do you mean?" Superbia asked. "And what did you want to talk about?"

"This is going to be a not-so-fun conversation." Hishya sat down on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the room. "So, you're aware that Akagi handled Hijax and Sumeralia, right?"

Superbia nodded. "I was given a description of a giant green ogre and a bird woman, so it wasn't hard to narrow down who they were." Most Assault Team members knew each other well enough and monster races were very rare among players.

"We also figured out that Akagi was the one that handled them, based on statements from witnesses," Aoi spoke up. Hishya had connected to Aoi to allow her to speak with her via AR device. "But we still don't know why Akagi intervened or what exactly happened here. The stories were hearing are conflicting at best."

Hishya thought for a moment before answering.

"Kana, Akagi's sister, and some of her friends were shopping here during the attack." Hishya looked at the shattered dome above her. "They were hit by a fireball from Sumeralia, which knocked Kana unconscious and burned her and her friends."

Hearing this Superbia tensed up. "Are they ok?!?" She recalled that Kana's kidnapping was what triggered the attack on Camp Katsura, so her being attacked was not something the Oni wanted to hear.

"Yes," Hishya nodded. "I went and saw them myself. Akagi used an ability to protect them, so they're fine."

{Thank god.} Superbia breathed a sigh of relief in her head.

"That would explain why Akagi showed up then." (Superbia)

"Yeah, She was alerted that her protective barrier was broken and came over to check what happened, and well...." Hishya had been told everything that Akagi did to them and well, she was very glad it wasn't her.

"Ok, so now we know the why. But that still doesn't answer what Akagi did to them. Where they are now?" Superbia needed that information since the RRT wanted to know the location of all Libra members. "I'm pretty sure I know the answer but I'll ask anyway. Are they still alive?"

"Well, they're dead for starters. Akagi saw to that personally." Hishya shivered as she recalled the story. "Akagi took personal pleasure in torturing them for quite a bit of time before ending their lives."

"That's...." Superbia didn't exactly mind them being killed. But hearing that Akagi tortured them was, while not necessarily unexpected, not what she wanted to hear. "I guess that's better than them running free..." She just chose to take the win.

"And that brings me to the reason I'm here." Hishya looked at her with an apologetic smile. "Akagi wanted me to deliver a message to the RTT, while she "speaks" to Libra." Hishya imagined that Libra's base was currently in panic mode as some members ran around in circles screaming. Akagi always had a flare for the dramatic and even if she was going just to talk with them, she had a feeling it wouldn't be so simple and straightforward. 

"A message?" (Aoi and Superbia)

{I don't like the sound of that.} (Superbia)

"Yes," Hishya steeled herself. "She wanted me to inform you that effective immediately, and until Libra is dealt with, all returnees must receive her explicit authorization to enter the Kansai region. Failure to do so may result in your termination."

"WHAT!" Superbia was shocked by this proclamation. "Hold on for a second. Akagi can't just do that!" 

"Oh, but she can." Hishya quickly walked over to Superbia and grabbed her by the scruff of her Kimono. "Listen, I warned all of you just what the fuck you were dealing with when it came to Akagi. But did any of you listen noooooooo?" Hishya continued. "Akagi is pissed right now, justifiably so, but it goes far beyond just simply being angry Superbia." Hishya pulled her closer. "I warned you all that Akagi wasn't ever human, that she's a literal walking disaster, and now thanks to this incident, the entire WORLD is one step closer to armageddon."

Superbia tried to wriggle free. "Hishya, what are you talking about? Akagi is strong, but she's not that powerful." Minazawa hadn't communicated Hishya's story to the rest of the team. Though, even if she had, Minazawa still failed to fully understand just what Hishya's warning was.

"SHE IS, YOU FOOL!" Hishya screamed, her eyes changing to their draconic version. "When I went to see her today, I was nearly overwhelmed by the power she showed me." Hishya let out a low growl.

Hishya took a deep breath. "Let me spell things out to you people directly since you seem to be incapable of understanding what I'm talking about." Hishya let go of Superbia, which caused the Oni to stumble back a bit. "Akagi is not and was not ever a human being. The incident with her sister caused whatever seal exists around her soul to weaken and, as a result, more of her real self has begun to leak out. Because of this, she was able to confirm that she's actually some kind of Demon, and has always been from birth." Hishya took a breath. "It was not FWO that gave her these powers, Superbia. They were always with her, dormant inside her body just waiting to get loose." Her tone went from angry to irritated. 

This was a lot of information for Superbia and Aoi to take in and it took a moment for Superbia to process it.

"Ok, say I believe you. That somehow Akagi was never human and is actually some supernatural creature." Superbia looked at Hishya. "I still don't understand what you mean when you say the world is at risk. Does she really have such crazy power? I've never seen anything that would indicate she could destroy the world." As far as Supebia was concerned, Akagi was a dangerous combatant and nothing more.

"That's because you haven't seen it." Hishya's face turned slightly pale.

"It?" Superbia asked.

"Yes, it." Hishya twitched slightly as she remembered that night in Hassan. "Listen, do you remember how on the night before Hassan, I was completely out of action, and I was messed up for a while after?" Superbia was there so she would remember.

"Yeah, you were in pretty bad shape. You said Akagi beat you." Superbia thought for a moment and recalled Hishya's condition. "You were unable to move much and your head was scrambled bad." When Akagi dropped Hishya off at their base, they'd thought she'd broken the dragon girl. She recovered over the next few days, but her condition made it hard to help in the battle.

"What you saw, was the aftermath of seeing what lies within Akagi, Superbia. Not battle injuries." Hishya took a breath. "On that night, I got to see inside Akagi's soul. And when I did, do you know what I was greeted with? Do you know what I saw?" Hishya paused for a second. "Her soul looked back at me, and it wanted to eat me. I saw it. Whatever Akagi is, I saw it. It lurked within her soul, a fact that Akagi herself was only made aware of recently. Its eyes glowed orange, something that has now bled into her physical appearance I might add, and it had razor-sharp teeth like a monster from a nightmare!"

Hishya continued her mad rant, her eyes racing back and forth and her entire body shaking as she wrapped her hands around her torso. "It was restrained, sealed, but it's always wanted out! And today... today those seals got a little looser, and some of those chains broke." Hishya looked up at Superbia, her eyes showing true fear. "Superbia, listen. If you don't handle Libra soon, I have a feeling that they'll do something that will cause all those restraints to break. And if that happens. I'm pretty sure the world is fucked." She gave a nervous laugh.

Superbia was taken aback. In all the time she'd known Hishya, she'd never once seen this kind of reaction from the girl. She was usually stoic and unflinching, but whatever she saw in Akagi that night had clearly haunted her.

"Is-is that why you refused to fight her? Why you agreed to stay out of her way." (Superbia)

"Yes!" Hishya exclaimed. "It was already going to be hard enough to beat her before, but now.... now it's impossible, and if whatever she truly is gets out...... we're all doomed." Hishya continued. "And the worst part. Akagi herself knows this, and she's ok with letting it out. She wants to be free, Superbia. She's already gotten a taste of that power and wants more. She told me today that she wants out of the prison inside her soul! You should have seen the smile on her face while she discussed letting her true self run free! It was like looking at the face of pure evil itself, Superbia! Whatever Akagi is, cannot and should not be allowed to get free! It's only a matter of time before it gets forcibly let out or Akagi lets it out herself, and I don't want to see the outcome of either, if possible." Hishya finished her rant and took a deep breath. "I actually feel a bit better now."

Hishya looked Superbia in the eyes. "So when Akagi says, stay out of Kansai without her permission or die." Hishya had calmed down a bit. "You listen. Without question. Because she can and will kill you without a second thought."