if you have something to say, nut up or shut up, this is a meritocrat general

Season Finale: Violence Breeds Violence, Trailer (Shu Jinko)

All is dark. Only the dim glow of their audience, and the flames in the Underworld Hero’s blazing eyes to light the way. The hero’s eyesight in the dark is better than average, but it is luck more than perception that keeps him from wandering over the edge and tumbling into the abyssal storm.

“For daring to besmirch the name of love,” Geistzer clenches his fist, thrusting the other hand forward to beckon the kappa to face him. The material of his suit creaks as it stretches with each motion. “I, the Underworld Hero Geistzer, will deliver you to justice!”

“You think me without honor?” the kappa’s voice is calm, like the burbling of a quiet forest brook. Wearing a serene smile, he spreads his arms and holds his blades to either side. “Come. You may strike the first blow. I swear, I shall not move to stop you.”

Lowering his head, Geistzer swings one foot around, bending his knee into a runner’s stance. “If those are your terms…. then,” visor glinting, the hero launches forward, spinning in the air. A flying kick aimed directly at the kappa’s face. He stares up at the oncoming missile, eyes wide with anticipation. And then, it stops.

Geistzer remains paused in the air, mere inches from contact. He lowers his foot and drops to the floor. “It would be shameful to strike an opponent who is not fighting back! I, Geistzer, refuse your offer!”

Silence punctuates the moment- silence beneath the white noise of screaming wind and water. Amphibian eyes look upon the fool hero, dumbfounded. Then, splitting into a wide grin, the yokai throws back his head and laughs. “Aha! Ahahaha! Hyeahahahaha!”

Folding his arms- an awkward affair with the axe-like bone blades jutting out of them- Geistzer looks down at the amused kappa. Then, he throws back his head and laughs too. “Hah! Hahaha!”

”What is this nonsense?” the soft voice of the pale figure takes on a biting impatience. ”Kill him.” Raising her hand, she flicks her wrist. The image of the kappa vanishes, and in its place sits a rapidly bloating mound of snow-white flesh covered in vicious looking barbs.

“Oh crap,” Geistzer stumbles backwards, trying to backpedal. The hidden trap explodes, and spines like tiny billhooks launch in his direction.

A flash. Green, white, brown and glinting steel. Bone snaps on impact with metal, and spines thud against a hard surface. Before Geistzer, the figure of the kappa stands, back to the explosion. His blades had cut a swathe of the projectiles from the air, but several have still embedded themselves into Geistzer’s upper chest and arms- his would-be protector only measuring up to his torso in height. Many spines intended for the hero’s lower body have deflected from the kappa’s shell instead, or lodged in the back of his head.

”Why.”

“Human,” the kappa turns and walks several paces away, before facing Geistzer. They stand once more where they stood at the beginning of their encounter, when one of them was the mask to an illusion- a trap. “Your words ring true, and I feel shame in my heart for this deception. You have reminded me of something I lost long ago.” Raising one blade towards the pale yokai, the kappa demands, “Do not interfere. I will face this human being alone, in an honorable duel… as it should have been.”