Don't Talk About Fightclub (Jakunatori, Kyomi, Shukisame, Mika Mori) Part 1:
It's a frigid night in the bowels of the Devil Moon. Below chipping scarlet girders, the commotion of a still-busy smoking lounge echoes down into a massive, reverberating arena below. The smell of burning herbs—some of a more pungent and illegal variety—wafts down in pale ribbons dancing between the dull, tenebrous space where blood is shed. Even in these late hours, the fighting pits of the Hellion Mob are still ripe for a fight. Menial succubi clad in little more than three pieces of body tape bring gourds of liquor to high-seated crime moguls still flapping their gums about the last match. They waste their winnings on another round of drinks.
Seated still higher, however, is the illustrious Kyomi, crimson-eyed and spinning childishly in a plush, pink gaming chair. A rough, sinewy blue hand stops it in its tracks.
"So let me get this straight," grumbles Momo-domo, "You're willing to blow a hundred Plates to reserve the place, all just to lose five hundred more betting on some nobody tonight?"
"Well first of all," she smugly retorts, "I'm making five hundred plates, thank you very much. And second, you clearly don't understand how streaming works. Two words, mote: viewer retention. I'm livestreaming this to Mortal World... which reminds me!"
Gingerly, she clips a cheap, bargain-bin webcam to the top of her obnoxious RGB headphones and cranes her head down to get a good view of the pit below. With the glowing cat ears that come with them, that brings her ear-count to six and 2 cubic meters by volume.
"Aaaaaaand we're LIVE! Chat, check this out! So I bribed a game developer with four terabytes of fluffy tail pics and GUESS WHAT, we got closed-beta access to this cool new fighting game with super high-fidelity graphics and ultra-realistic combat. What's it called...? uhm... SUPER SPIRIT FIGHTER 4."
"...what happened to Super Spirit Fighter 3...? Don't worry about it, you're too much of a zoomer-doomer-pee-pee-poomer to remember CLASSICS like SSF3, mote. Mods, banish anyone else who asks to the cum slums."
Momo and Koko look at each other with quizzical, pained chagrin. Kyomi fiddles with her pink controller as if spamming through a load screen. It's infinitely oversized for her tiny hands, with a wire that extends behind her back and plugs into nothing.
Crowds of oni pile in through a hidden high-roller room above, filling out the seats as the rumor of one last good fight for the evening passes from one ear to the next.
Kyomi snaps at the two onis on her sides, still clacking her tiny fingers madly into the A button. "It's about to start!! Will you to please plug in the speakers and get me a White Monster?! It's like I'm paying you to stand around!"
Momo-dono takes the opportunity to flick the gremlin fox on the forehead before sulking away. With a deafening reverberation of feedback, made worse by the echoing concrete arena, Kyomi's voice fills the room as the speakers sputter to life.
"GOOOOOOD EVENING MOTES. It's a beautiful night in the Devil Moon, and we're gonna see blood fly! I'm talking limbs, eyes and guts splattered all over the place Mortal Kombat style! This is a no-holds-barred super-duper-peepee-pooper BEATDOWN, between..."
She whispers to Koko-dono, who slams down a dented can of Monster on her armrest.
"Uhh, who is it again? Oh, right, ok, thanks mote... SHUKISAME the JERK WITH A BUNCH OF WEAPONS WHO TOOK MY MAGIC CARDS... aaaand...? COOL LADY IN A HAT! ...seriously, we don't have her name?"
The crowd looks expectantly at the three, and Koko-dono gestures with a shrug to the annoyed patrons.
"...I guess Super Spirit Fighter 4 is in REALLY REALLY EARLY-BETA THEN! YOU BETTER WIN HAT LADY!"
Calmly, like a serpent, Mika Mori steps out from behind an entrypoint below Kyomi's blaring voice. Her eyes shift back and forth as she adjusts the Jingasa tightly over her chin. 'This thing better work,' she thinks, 'Or this could get bad fast...' Her eyes wander to the trio of hosts above her, and linger on Momo and Koko. She'd expected some famous faces, but The Blue Demon Twins? This sting operation was going to be tougher than she'd anticipated. Staring down from a hole in the ceiling on the streets above, she knew Jakunatori was watching patiently for her signal. Until then—until the moment is perfect—she's on her own...
Swaying from a divot on the wall opposite her, Shukisame puts out one white-gloved hand, waves, and then peeks around the corner. "I-Is that my cue?" he weakly yells up to Kyomi.
Momo-dono wrests the mic from Kyomi's lips, halfway pulling her up and off the chair. "JUST GET ON WITH IT!!" she booms.
Mika cracks her knuckles. "I'm inclined to agree with her. And who are you, tall stuff?"
"The Great and Mighty Shukisame, of course~" he blusters, putting a hand to his chest. "Thief and smuggler extraordinaire, Master of a Thousand Weapons, stealer-of-Kyomi's-magic-cards... I'm surprised you haven't heard of me! And you're..?"
Shukisame's shadowed lips crack into a smirk, and she pulls her Jingasa further down. "No one important," she mutters.
"Then no one will mourn when I win tonight~" Shukisame pridefully taunts.
"We'll see about that, hotshot. I'll start you off easy."
"Big mistaaake~" he jabs, waggling his finger as his other hand reaches for his scabbard. They circle each other at the edges of the ring, Mika clasping her hands in preparation for sign-weaving. Shukisame places two fingers in front of his face for his own Technique, the other hand poised to pull Onimaru from his back at a moment's notice.
Calmly, slowly, Mika begins her Technique. Two fists on top of one another, one hand clasping the back of the other, an open palm on top of her left fist... the Aura thrums in her body, rising like crimson tongues of fire in a blazing inferno.
"Center of true strength..." she utters solemnly, "Unstoppable Force."
"Ho ho! And I thought you were gonna go easy on me!" the tall, gangly Yokai spouts.
"I am."
A bead of sweat coagulates on his forehead.
"GET HIM LADY!" Kyomi screeches over the arena, pulling the mic to her mouth.
Mika's foot kicks up a wave of sand as she flows forcefully into a massive spin-kick, careening like a cruise missile towards Shukisame. In a blur, he rolls to the side, his fingers still raised below his lips.
"EEK! OSCILLATING MOTION!" he squeaks, and leaps in a flurry to the edge of the arena. A gleam of silver shines through the darkness of their battleground as Onimari stylishly flies from its scabbard with a sharp, quick SHINK through the air and into his hand.
Shukisame drags his thumb along the dull edge of his blade, squatting down and poising it above his head.
"I see you aren't just some nobody after all! It's time to do a little show-and-tell myself..."
He breathes in, then breathes out. His own Aura, gleaming gold in radiating waves, flutters the silk of his gown and brings torrents of sand flying into the air.
"GUILLOTINE THUNDERCLOUD! LET'S PUT A HOLE IN THIS JOKER!"
Mika is already on the attack and closes the distance between them, throwing haymakers into uppercuts into hooks which Shukisame blurs between with no shortage of close calls. He bobs, sidesteps, and shuffles his way through, ducking below one fateful blow so quickly that his hat doesn't keep up, and flutters in the air above his head. The pure gusts of force created by Mika's blows send it blasting with tectonic force into the crowd, who fly into an uproar and scramble to take it as a souvenir.
"C'mon... c'mon, get a hit!" Kyomi yells, taking an obnoxious sip of Monster that echoes through the stadium.
Shuk looks back at the commotion, and then does a double-takes at his opponent. "HEY! That was my BEST HAT!" he howls, flustered.
"You're gonna lose a lot more than that," Mika growls, forming a fist above her head for a finishing blow. Seeing a wide opening at her chest, Shukisame swings low, poised right for her midsection. Mika's eyes widen below the shadow of her Jingasa, realizing too late that she'd misstepped.
"You pest!" she thunders. A wave of sand picks up in a sudden blur of movement, obscuring them from the gasping crowd above.
Momo and Koko smirk together, leaning on Kyomi's chair to get a better looks. Kyomi grabs both her ears and grits her teeth.
A burst of smoldering Aura send the debris flying, revealing the two locked in a standstill. Tongues of scarlet energy lick around Mika's form.
"You really forced me into this so early... You're pretty good with that thing..."
Between two pinky fingers, Mika holds the shining edge of Onimaru, shaking as Shuk tries with all his might to force it from her clutches.
"...How did you...?" he sputters.
"Secret Martial Art, sucker. Divine Hand."
Seamlessly, with a single twist of her wrists, the blade turns like a pinwheel, sending Shukisame into an airborne spiral which she follows up with a quick, sharp jab to the chest.
Striking the sand and streaking across the battlefield, Shukisame slowly rises to his feet, wiping the drooling blood from his lips. "Oh now it's really a match... I can hardly contain myself!" he cackles, and leaps to the center of the pit in a single bound.
Onimaru clashes with Mika's raised, glowing fingers, then swipes at her midsection and finds another pair of fingers blocking it. Steel clangs against their surface and reverberates deafeningly through the crowds, who are flying into total mayhem at the rising action. Their strikes become too fast to follow, and an overwhelming flurry of blows forces Mika onto her back. Onimaru cleaves the sand beside her as she rolls to the side, places her hands behind her head, and converts into a donkey-kick. Shukisame's balance wavers, and he falls backwards as the deadly blow flies inches from his face. He catches himself with a single hand on the ground.
"ONIMARU, DOUBLE-TEAM HER!" he shouts, and tosses his blade to the side. Immediately propelled by its enchantments, it careens from above to meet Mika's fingers again, moving through the air without its owner. Shukisame reaches for his back, this time for Kaimetsu, his enormous scythe.
Gritting her teeth, Mika's second hand meets the blade of Kaimetsu as it collides, and on two fronts she deftly defends herself from the onslaught. But her defense is only so fast: Onimaru slashes into her clothes, leaving a thin, crimson fleshwound behind. Kaimetsu's wide blade cleaves into her right sleeve, but fails to meet its mark. Before she can get some distance, the scythe catches the brim of her Jingasa. The two fighters are still for a moment. Then, slowly, the halves of her disguise slough from her head and fall silently to the ground.
Oh no.
Shuk, Kyomi, the Blue Demon Twins, and the entire crowd painfully crane their necks to see what's happened.
"Hey..." Koko mutters, a shake coming through her voice. "I-Is that an Overseer?"
"That's an Overseer Elite Squad member."
The word 'Overseer' shrieks through the ring. Bodies pile on top of each other trying to run for the exit, and Shuk, for his part, just looks down with stunned indifference.
"..Why would an Overseer be... Oh..! Oh COME ON, you're telling me I'm not getting any WINNINGS FOR THIS???"
Above the crowd, Mika's voice carries like a booming drum.
"NOW JAKU!"
//
Jaku, for his part, is distracted by an interesting beetle that he'd been poking with a stick. A few people gave the oversized Yokai some odd looks, crouched in an alley like a lost child, but he'd largely been unsuspected. But from the tiny hole in the walls he'd pierced with his sword, Mika's voice was the only thing that could bring him back to reality. Show time at last.
The entire street heard it, so loud was his voice, but no one was prepared. A few people ran from the scene once he reached the last words. Jakunatori began his time-weathered chant:
"ROYAL ELEPHANT."
"SPLENDID QUEEN."
"CIRCULAR STONE."
"CHARGING HORSE."
"ILLUMINATING GEM."
"NOBLE TREASURER."
"INVINCIBLE WARLORD."
"BY THIS GESTURE OBTAINS HIS WORLD-CRUSHING AVATAR."
"DIVINE WAR FORM."
//
Shuk becomes rattled by an even more strange thing than a famous Overseer in an illegal fighting ring. The roof is coming apart. Or rather, the roof is lifting into the air. Curious that... And there's a sort of bird-like hand working it off of its foundations...
In the arena, pandemonium reigns. Kyomi is already scrambling between people to get out, and the Blue Demon Twins are bashing heads to try to clear a path. They all cease their tumult when the massive hand of Jaku's War Form descends through a newly-formed skylight to pick up Mika from the fray. Standing on his palm, she bellows into the crumbling theatre, pointing a still-glowing finger down into the darkness.
"BY ORDER OF THE OVERSEERS AND THE BENEVOLENT EMPEROR YUDI, I PLACE THIS RING'S PATRONS UNDER ARREST! RESIST AT YOUR OWN PERIL!"
Koko, Kyomi and Momo collectively gulp.
"Is it time, sister?" Momo-dono asks.
"Time for what???"
"Time for the trump card."
Koko-dono's brow begins to sweat, and she itches her chin nervously.
"You're not suggesting we use that Technique...?"
"It's either that or the Iron Manor," Momo-dono concludes, and, sighing, begins her hand signs.
"Divine Kaiju Pupation," she says calmly, "Effloressence of Monstrosity."