FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Kiryu knew that Little Asia was a place that would never make him feel welcome. He was used to such sentiments in his day-to-day life, but it was rare for him to feel like a horde of ghosts were crawling up his back. Eyes from every direction followed him in the crowded slum, shadows slipped into nooks and crannies whenever he turned his head at a moment's notice, shutters and creaking doors slamming shut in his passing.

This was a bad idea, he thought to himself, but it's the only idea I have unfortunately.

To call Little Asia a district would be polite. In truth it was more a single alley that wove through a bamboo forest of sodden drainpipes and barred windows beneath long-extinguished neon signs. The guard at the entrance had pointed him towards a small rectangular square, a common area where he saw dogs with shining fur like flaming embers, goblins shuffling about with hulking arms and birds with crimson who all stared at Kiryu.

"Geum-yoilkkaji," he said again, "oli ne mali."

"Hah," a dog pointed down another alley, "geuleon sig-eulo."

He nodded and walked down the way, not seeing the dog look up to one of the windows and gesture something vaguely to a shadow that ran off. Through a twisting run that became claustrophobic, he found a staircase that led him up towards an open balcony, chairs and tables arranged rather nicely in al fresco in front of a restaurant where the smell of pork and steaming vegetables wafted through.

Kiryu walked inside to find a few more tables pressed against the wall, along with a kitchen full of steam where he saw the shadow of a kaiju slaving over a stove.

"Excuse me."

The cook slowed down their movements and raised their head.

"Sorry for bothering you, but I need help."

"Help?" The chef spoke with a bitter accent. "What...can I help you with?"

"I need to know how to get to Section DF, the sewers?"

"I don't deal with shit. I deal with food."

"I was told to come here, that someone knew how."

"Why you come here then?"

"I'm hunting someone down," Kiryu stepped closer.

"Yeah?"

The chef grabbed something and slipped into Korean.

"//I'll show you the sewers...where I'll bury you, you Japanese FUCK!//"

Kiryu didn't need to understand him to know his intent, seeing the the knife slip through the chef's fingers when he turned to throw it like a deadly arrow towards him. Grabbing a tray Gojirama blocked it sharp before the cook came charging out the kitchen with a savage kick that thrust out like a torpedo, crunching his foot in Kiryu's throat and slamming him onto a table.

The chef was surprisingly young, a reptile no older than Obara with a single horn out of his snout and burning eyes of thick bloodied amber, his tail swishing behind him with stegosaur spikes rippling down the back of his white kitchen uniform.

"//Toho boy are ya?!//" the Korean pinned him down pulling another knife from his apron. "//You know what happens to Japanese who come to Little Asia?!//"

"N-NNNGH!"

"//THEY FUCKIN' DIE LIKE THEY DESERVE!//"

When he raised his blade high to catch the light, Kiryu grabbed a salt shaker and shoved it towards the cook's eyes to make him reel back in stinging pain, kicking the chef back with a hard boot to lift himself up and grab the arm with the knife to crush it against the table causing him to drop it.

The stegosaur countered with an elbow cracking Kiryu's jaw, knocking him against one of the chairs before grabbing a thick meat cleaver from the kitchen counter. Lunging forwards with a carving strike he split through the chair's back almost chopping it in half, when Kiryu dodged out his path just before the chef whacked his face with a hard sidekick to make him stagger into the kitchen.

"This place, NOT for your kind," snarled the cook in Kiryu's tongue, "Toho fucks know Little Asia only for US!"

"I'm not here to fight!" he shouted back. "I'm on a mission!"

"SO AM I, TO KEEP FILTHY WAE-GU OUT!"

The chef came swinging with a cleaving X-strike, Kiryu dodging twice before grabbing a frying pan from the kitchen and blocking sharp against the third strike. Sparks came scraping off between as the chef parried his pan with a sudden punch to Kiryu's arm and swung the cleaver for his neck. Gojirama barely ducked under the sweeping cut by slamming his head into the cook's chest, grabbing him with both arms and charging him to the back of the restaurant to crush him against the wall.

"GAAAH, KKYEO-JYEO, JJOKBARIIII!"

Blustering foul epithets, the cook tried to carve into his back but Kiryu blocked him with his arms against the chef's and threw him against the wall before slamming his fist into his eye, following with the frying pan to CLONG against his chin. The Korean surprised him back with a sudden snap-kick to his face, Kiryu falling back when the cook jumped forwards with a rushing side kick that flew like a missile, slamming Gojirama through the haze of the kitchen and against the chopping board table at its centre.

"YOU DON'T WANNA FIGHT?!"

He swung his cleaver down as Kiryu blocked with the pan.

"SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE, BITCH!"

The savage blade came down again as Kiryu blocked him once more, shoving him back with a punch to the jaw before he slammed the frying pan into the Korean's wrist, sending the cleaver flying off to bury into the wall. With a foul scream and burning eyes, the chef suddenly roared with torrent of flames from his teeth.

"GAESAEKIIIIII!"

Kiryu blocked by instinct, a poor choice when the frying pan started to heat up from the molten flamethrower pouring out the stegosaur's throat, his vile scream filling up the room with a crackling burn as Gojirama struggled with clenching fist to keep holding onto his guard. Once the chef had stopped, Kiryu tried to throw his burning-hot weapon back at him, but he dodged quick with a ducking jab and a three-punch combo across Kiryu's face, followed by a hard elbow and a rising kick to stun the yakuza harder as he staggered back against the kitchen counter.

"You fuck up, Toho bitch."

He grabbed Kiryu's throat and dragged him towards a thick bubbling pot of boiling soup that seared his face.

"I serve you to your boss, THEN jjokbari know not to FUCK WITH KOREA AGAIN!"

Before the cook tried to slam him down, Kiryu twisted his body just enough to avoid the roasting pot, driving his elbow behind him to reel the chef back before smacking his tail between the worker's legs with a hard nutshot that made him twinge. Turning to face the stegosaur, the Korean slammed his elbow in revenge across Kiryu's cheek to make him stumble closer to the pot, the yakuza grabbing a vegetable grater that he swung against the cook's head.

"AAAAAARGH!"

The scarring shred of his scales made the cook fall back in shock, Kiryu grabbing his neck and savagely grating his face causing him to scream even harder with punching swings before the chef slapped Kiryu's back with his tail, and shoved him out the door of the restaurant with a full-thrusting kick.

With a roaring charge the Korean came running out the restaurant, tables and chairs flying around him as Kiryu armed with veggie grater struck his head, scarring above the stegosaur's eye before the cook grabbed one of the chairs and crunched Kiryu's face. Stunning the yakuza briefly, the chef gripped Kiryu's arm and punched his shoulder to make him drop the grater, following with several more fistfuls into Kiryu's stomach in a fury of madness before Gojirama grabbed his arm in return.

The two briefly struggled until the chef slammed his horn into Kiryu's skull, a dull throb burning through his head before the cook grabbed his throat and pushed his head over the edge of the railing, strangling him harder as he charged up the flames in the back of his throat.

"//YOU WANNA FUCK WITH US, HUH, DO YA?!//"

"Gh-GHRRRKH!"

"//I'LL FUCKIN' BURY YOU IN THE SEWERS, WHERE YOUR FUCKING KIND BELONG!//"

"//NOOOO!//"

Looking over the rail he saw the face of a young scaly foal screaming back.

"//YONG-GA STOP, S-STOP HURTING HIM!//"

"//JEON GET OUTTA HERE, THIS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!//"

"//THAT'S KIRYU-SAN, HE'S MY F-FRIEND!//"

"//WHAT?!//"

"//STOP IT, S-STOP HURTING MY FRIIIIEND!//"

In a brief moment Yong-ga stopped pushing, giving Kiryu time to shove him back and stumble away in a ragged gasp before looking back over the railing.

"Hey...Jeon-kun," he waved at the familiar face, "how you doing?"

"Hiii Kiryu-san!" the little horse waved back. "Are you okay?!"

"//What the fuck?!//" the Korean chef staggered to the balcony edge. "//How's THIS wae-gu your friend?!//"

"//He got my ball back!//" the boy replied. "//He's a nice kaiju, don't fight him, please?!//"

"//...fine.//"

With the wind taken out of his sails Yong-ga turned towards Kiryu with a foetid snarl, his fist trembling with anger before he took it out on a chair and kicked it towards the restaurant window where it bonked off in a crumple. Gojirama straightened his suit and touched the bruises on his face with a slight sting.

"Thanks for the help," he waved down to the boy, "sorry for the hassle."

"It's okay!" Jeon Keun-Rin shouted back. "Wait there, i'm coming!"

Sitting himself down on a seat, he waited for the boy to rush up the stairs and sit beside him.

"How'd you get in here?!" Jeon asked.

"Homeless kaiju gave me the password," said Kiryu, "I'm sorry for the trouble, but I really need to find someone."

"Are they hiding here?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure, but I need to get to a place called Section DF."

"OH, the sewers!" Jeon nodded kicking his legs. "I see Tan-san go down there to get stuff fer us, like ummm, that kutie kelpie!"

"Hmhm, right." He looked back to the chef staring at him from the restaurant door. "Is he your friend?"

"Mmhmm, that's Yong-ga, he makes the BEST bibimbap ever!"

"Really? I wouldn't mind trying it sometime...when he cools off."

"Heehee, you'd hafta wait, he's a real hothead!"

"//HEY, I'M RIGHT HERE YOU BRAT!//"

Jeon giggled at Yong-ga's outburst as Kiryu chuckled a bit, the chef fuming harder with his arms shaking as he marched back into the kitchen.

"So who do I talk to about Section DF?" asked Gojirama.

"Sa-Rhee-san!" the boy bounced on his seat. "He protects us, he keeps us safe, that's what mom told me!"

"Do you know where I can find him?"

"Iiii think I do."

A voice made him turn hearing the deep bass tone like thunder on the horizon. Standing at the restaurant's entrance was a black bull covered in scales, wearing blue pants and a gold-lacquer shirt of traditional Korean attire, his horns shimmering the same colour as he grinned from his flat snout.

"//Sa-Rhee-san!//" The boy leapt off and rushed towards the bull. "//That's Kiryu, the nice kaiju that got my ball back!//"

"//So I heard,//" the minotaur bent down rubbing his head, "//that was quite a ruckus, was my nephew acting up again?//"

"//Heehee, yeah, but I stopped him!//"

"//YOU COULDA SAID SOMETHING BEFORE I KICKED HIS ASS!//" shouted Yong-ga from the back.

"//That how you talk to your customers?!//" Sa-Rhee shouted back.

"//NO, JUST THE JAPANESE PRICKS!//"

"// YONG-GA! //"

He marched back inside with a roar as the sounds of frantic clattering came from inside, before Sa-Rhee returned to the entrance dusting his hands.

"Sorry fer my nephew," the minotaur shrugged, "name's Byul-ga Sa-Rhee, I'm the leader of Little Asia, come on up."

Following inside where cutlery filled the floor, along with a woozy chef slumped against the side with a bruised head, Kiryu walked up to the second floor through the back door and a set of thin stairs to where Byul-ga's personal quarters sat. It was a humble place, sparse with a few cheap carpets and tapestries; an old TV and a bookshelf with several tattered DVDs; a closet full of shirts twenty years too late; a table with chairs, and a room to the back with an old single bed.

"If you're hungry," the bull sat down, "my nephew'll finish his bibimbap soon."

"Thank you," Kiryu sat in front of him, "I wasn't expecting a warm welcome, or knives to the face."

"Well, we had conflicts with Japanese outsiders so, Yong-ga tends to be...vigilant."

"He sure has a problem with us too, any reason for that?"

"You don't remember your history?" Byul-ga pulled out a cheap cigarette. "Kankoran War, Tokyo Olympics?"

"Oh...right." Kiryu offered his lighter.

"Well thank you kindly!" he let Kiryu light him up. "So why are you here? Not exactly on your route to come down here-"

"I need to track down the Host. I heard you have access to the sewers and a place they might be living in."

"Huh...shit." The bull took a deep breath from his smoke. "I heard about that, my condolences to your family."

"More than your nephew gave," Kiryu took a cigarette from his pack and lit up with him, "kid's got a real mouth."

"I'll make sure to reprimand him, he's young and arrogant and wants to set the world on fire, you know how it is."

"That kind of attitude's dangerous, could turn into a vasher easily-"

"Are you here to lecture me or to do your fucking job?"

His voice tightened with hard flinted eyes as Kiryu backed off.

"Sorry. I need access to Section DF, to chase down the Host."

"What you plan on doing once you catch him?" Byul-ga took another drag.

"Take them to the police and get what they deserve."

"Wow, you not gonna kill him yourself? I thought Toho Clan cleaned their own affairs."

"We don't kill," Kiryu puffed a long exhale, "or at least try not to, it brings the police and that's bad business, the reason why we have such loyal customers is because they can trust us to stay in the morally-grey, it helps them sleep at night."

"What if one of your own killed somebody?"

"Then we drag them to the police. It's their job to catch murderers, not ours, the police have their patch, we have ours."

"And now you only get involved because one of your own got killed?"

"The patriarchs decided we had to show face," Kiryu shrugged. "Can't let someone attack us without repercussions."

"Ahhh, I getcha. Well..."

The bull sucked his cigarette to the nub and puffed the thickest cloud above Kiryu.

"If you're chasing down this Host, I should warn you that once you go down there, you may never come back, and I don't plan on bringing your body back."

"Understood," Kiryu nodded, "you've no obligation to help me further, I just need you to point me the right way."

"I'll call this a favour since you helped out Jeon-kun. He's a good kid and spoke of you highly, that should square things between us."

"Thank you Sa-Rhee-san," Kiryu bowed, "if this pans out well, I owe you a debt-"

"No." Byul-ga stubbed out his cigarette. "There's no debt, no more favours, nothing between us. You're still Toho Clan, and that makes you an outsider, and much as I respect your mission, the moment you're done, you leave this place."

"You don't trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone outside of Little Asia. Koreans aren't exactly liked in Tokyo."

"Really, what about that Kanrai pla-"

"Kanrai is Korea dressed in a fucking kimono." His teeth bared suddenly with a twitch in his eye. "I've lived in this city for twenty-five years, and the number of creatures who acted as civil as you, I can count on one finger. You find your Host, and then you leave, back to your nice little fucking pagoda alright?"

"Alright." Kiryu bowed deeper. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, Sa-Rhee san."

"Hm. Course not." He looked over to the door. "No one ever means to offend us."

Entering the room came Yong-ga with two bowls of bibimbap, a fluffy rice mixed with pork, egg and vegetables as Kiryu and Sa-Rhee dug in.

"Mmmmh!" the saurian grinned. "Mmhhh, mmm this is good! What do you put in this?"

"Secret," said the stegosaur.

"Heh, good call, this is-MMMPH, damn this is amazing."

"Yong-ga is a damn fine chef," said Byul-ga winking at him, "when he puts his mind to it."

"//Don't sass me in front of him,//" his nephew muttered in Korean.

"//I'm just saying you've improved a lot!//" he replied in turn.

"//Ugh, uncle-B come ooon!//"

"Hahaha, he's cute when he blushes," the bull pulled him down to noogie his head, "reckless sunuvabitch but he reminds me of me back twenty years-"

"//UUGH, fuck off!//" Yong-ga slapped him away. "//Lemme know when he's gone, I got creatures to serve.//"

"Thanks for the food," Kiryu said as the cook left, "alright, I'm ready to leave when you are, Sa-Rhee san."

"Sounds good," said the minotaur standing up, "give me an hour and we'll head down, I got some business to take care of first."

He motioned Kiryu to follow back downstairs, heading out to the front of the restaurant as he called for Jeon still seated.

"//Hey, kid!//"

"//YES, Sa-Rhee-san?!//" he jumped out of his chair.

"//Take Kiryu back home, he's your guest for the next hour.//"

"//OH, okay!//" the boy grinned taking Kiryu's hand slipping back to Japanese. "Sa-Rhee-san said, you come stay at my house!"

"Oh, good!" Kiryu nodded. "Just for a little while."

"YEAH, c'mon, I wanna show you my soccer cards!"

Taken by the hand he was dragged through the rat runs to a small door squished into the side of a building. The boy walked Kiryu up the stairs into his poxy apartment home, a bare front room with table, TV, a sofa and no carpet.

"//I'm back!//" he cried to one of the doors.

"//Everything alright Jeon?!//" said a lady's voice. "//That was an awful ruckus outside.//"

"//Yong-ga was fighting again!//" he giggled. "//Sa-Rhee-san says we have to look after someone.//"

"//Ohh who is it?//"

Peeking out the kitchen was Jeon's mother, a long-snouted equine covered in green scales over brown horse hair, with horned antlers crowning her head as she blinked with surprise.

"//Hello there, how can we help?//"

"//It's Kiryu-san!//" Jeon pointed at him two feet away. "//He got my ball back!//"

"//Wait...Kiryu, but that...he's Japanese?//"

"//Mmhmm, he wants help from Sa-Rhee-san!//"

The mother tried to smile but Kiryu knew it was forced, bowing politely in return with apologetic grin.

"I'm sorry for the trouble ma'am, I'll only be here an hour until Sa-Rhee-san is ready."

"Ah, alright." She nodded mouthing the words in a gentle pace. "Thank...you, for helping my son."

"//Can I show Kiryu-san my cards?!//" Jeon squeaked in Korean

"//He's a guest,//" she replied in turn, "//don't pester him, at least ask him first.//"

"Dooo you wanna see my cards, Kiryu-san?" the boy grinned up to him with his pudgy snout.

"Of course," Kiryu nodded, "gives me something to do while I wait."

"YES!"

The mom waved to him apologetic as she went back to cleaning the dishes whilst he went to Jeon's room. As basic as it was with corrugated walls of old dented steel, the posters of soccer players gave it a vibrant colour as beasts, monsters and kaiju were caught in stunning photographs pounding the ball across the field.

"Wow," Kiryu smirked, "you're quite the fan."

"Yep!" the boy pulled out a scrapbook from under his bed. "Here, look!"

Sitting beside him they read through the different trading cards together, stats and positions all listed under flashy laminated sets of various creatures round the world in their country's emblems.

"That's my first one!" Jeon pointed to a Russian player. "An' then I got more an' more of them!"

"Do you play soccer yourself?" Kiryu asked.

"Mmhmm, at the park when mom goes shopping."

"Why weren't you with her when we first met?"

"I...I-i got lost," he rubbed his arm shamefully, "I didn't wanna go home, cuz I lost my ball, but then you got it back!"

"Hmhm, glad I could help," he rubbed the boy's head, "who's your favourite player?"

"OOOH, UM, um, McNess!"

He flicked through the pages fast and pointed at Doreen McNess, a plesiosaur heading a ball with her long tall head.

"She's soooo cool, she won like six...six um, that number penalties in a ROW!"

"Huh, that's really good!" Kiryu nodded. "Isn't McNess the name of that university?"

"Yah!" Jeon grinned. "She's, her great-great-GREAT-great grandma, was a sailor, an' she saved like hundreds o' kaiju from a BIG tsunami!"

"Seriously? And they named a university after her?"

"She built it, fer ocean stuff!"

"Wow, that's really interesting," he peered closer at the trading card, "wait, this says she played two years for Tokyo FC?"

"Yah, I saw her, dad took me to it an' she WON, she was so cool, she was dodging an' then she got the ball, but she almost lost it when Amikawa TOTALLY tried to tackle her, she shoulda gotten a red card!"

"Hhhahahaha, you remind me of my friend," Kiryu smiled shaking his head, "he loves soccer too."

"Didntcha say you played soccer Kiryu-san?!" the boy scooted up closer.

"When I was younger, the orphanage I was at had its own team and well, we played at the local grounds."

"Whut's an...aw-punidge?"

"It's...where kids go to live when they don't have parents."

"Oh...you don't have a mom, or dad?"

"Nope," he shook his head, "just my friends."

"Aww." The boy lowered his head. "I don't have a dad either."

"Didn't you just say your dad took you to the match?"

"Yah, when he was still here." Jeon pulled the ball over into his lap. "He got me into soccer, this was his, when we used to play but...now he's gone."

"I'm sorry," Kiryu bowed in respect, "what was he like?"

"He wrote about soccer!" said the lad perking up again. "He went to games an' wrote down stuff about who wuz doin' good or bad!"

"Ohh he was a reporter?"

"MMHMM, he said I wuz his junior...asseee...ssssiiiis-ummm-helper! Yah, he took me to lotsa games!"

"Your mom didn't come with?"

"Nah, she likes soccer but, I love it MORE." He thumped the ball against his knees. "Mom's not good at Japanese, the games get too fast but, I learn all my Japanese from soccer!"

"Hahaha, have to start somewhere I guess, wait." Kiryu pointed to a crocodile player. "Heyyy I recognise this guy! Waniyama, '93, I was a big fan of him!"

"Really?!" the boy grinned. "I got more faves too!"

"Any more from that year?"

"Mmhmm, lemme show ya!"

For the next hour Jeon showed his new friend all of his favourite players and described the matches he went to in rapid-fire detail as Kiryu listened intently, the boy's rampant enthusiasm turning infectious as the adult started to talk about his own favourite matches from younger days.

"So I was at the corner," said Kiryu, "I saw Danzaki-san sneaking behind the defence and he gives me the signal. I boot it right over them and he just flaps up, boom! Drives the header into the net, we got to equal in the last two minutes."

"WOOOOW!" Jeon gasped clapping his hands. "That sounds COOL!"

"Yeah, the moment that ball went in, I just ran straight for Danzaki and grabbed him, lifted him up, and we put our shirts over our heads even though we didn't win! But we didn't lose, and that, for the Blue Pearl gang, was its own victory."

"Heeheehee, I bet yer a good striker Kiryu-san."

"I sure was," he nodded proudly, "Ho-ohnda-sama said I had the best body strength for my age."

"Oh yah?"

The voice of Yong-ga came creeping round the door with his head.

"Uncle wants you."

"Awww!" Jeon gave a frown. "I wanted more soccer stories..."

"Don't worry," Kiryu patted him, "I'll see you around, maybe at the park but next time you should stick with your mother."

"Okayyyy."

"How about, if I see you at the park, we can have a soccer game?"

"REALLY?!" the little foal squeaked. "You promise?!"

"I promise," the yakuza stood up, "but now I have to go, take care Jeon-kun."

"Okay, bye Kiryu-san!"

Waving him off and thanking the mother who bowed as he left, Kiryu followed the stegosaur back to the restaurant throuigh the twisting passages.

"Jeon's a good kid," Kiryu said. "You two know each other?"

"Eh," Yong-ga shrugged.

"Is his mother alright raising him on his own?"

"Why you care?" The chef turned with burning eye. "He just a kid, not your problem."

"I care because I like him."

"He too young, don't know yet not to trust Japanese."

"Maybe he'll learn different," Kiryu walked up beside him, "maybe he'll find friends and not care what they are."

"But they care what HE is," Yong-ga flicked his tongue, "he make friends out there, they find out he Korean and they won't be friends with him."

"Why?" They stopped as Kiryu faced him. "Why should his life be the same as whatever you went through?"

"You don't know SHIT I went through!"

"I wanted to say you're upset because of the Kankoran War, which I think you're too young to have lived through, so it has to be something else-"

"Fuck you!" the stego snarled giving the finger as he walked away. "Go see uncle, then get out of Little Asia, jjokbari."

"If you're going to shit-talk to my face, at least have the spine to not hide your words."

"I don't hide! You too STUPID to know Korean, not my fucking problem!"

Rolling his eyes Kiryu let it drop as they stepped into the diner, heading down through a back door that led into the basement of the central complex. Kiryu clenched by instinct knowing basements were bad news, and the sight of Byul-ga standing beside a sewer opening did not make things better.

"In you go," the minotaur offered a flashlight and map, "I'll want these both back, when you're done finding this Host you come back up here."

"Right," Kiryu took them both, "thank you again-"

"Yeah it's fine just don't get killed. I'm not paying the bill for your suit."

"Shit suit anyway," Yong-ga grinned, "good for sewers right?"

"Hah, hahahaha, sorry but the kid's right where the fuck d'you buy it?"

"A friend bought it for me," Kiryu shrugged straightening his suit, "I like it."

"That's either a bad friend or you lost a bet."

"Can I go now?"

"Sure, also take this." He handed Kiryu a small key with numbers inscribed. "If it is the Host, somehow, then he'll be hiding where this unlocks."

"Wait...seriously?" Kiryu took it. "How do you know-"

"Just follow the pipes. Trust me, anyone who knows these sewers well, gets a key like this, if it's who I think it is."

"Do you...know who the Host is?"

Byul-ga Sa-Rhee smiled and swept his hand as he stood aside to let Kiryu enter the depths.

"You should get on down there, before he kills again."

Taking the ladder down, the darkness of the sewers enveloped him, his suit shining in the light of the basement stairs before he disappeared into the Host's domain.

"You ready?" Murata asked.

"More than I'll ever be," said O'Sauressy, "any good ideas to start?"

"Royama-san pointed out the parts that best match the pH from the victim's badge, we'll start here, then tick them off one by one."

Through a public access point the two police officers stepped into the sewers, their lights shining upon the large iron gate that led to Section DF. Normally it was closed off to most kaiju, but Sauressy pulled out a key to unlock the smaller door that lied within the sealed gate. The smell of fluoride stung their nostrils in a sharp clinical stench that to anyone not a creature, would be poisonous as they stepped into the abandoned tunnels. At least, they were called abandoned in the legal sense when they saw homeless kaiju scurrying into the side areas to keep out of sight.

A fog of greenish-yellow filled their vision, the water sloshing with every step as they scanned the walls for clues and searched for dead-end rooms to uncover. For the most part they were old storage facilities having largely been converted to homeless camps, tents and bivouacs strewn about like the aftermath of a storm with cardboard boxes piled up every which way. Sometimes they found broken fridges, other times there were toilets cracked in half alongside sleeping bags and other refuse the world above had discarded.

"Gods," Reed shook his head, "you ever think how scary it is to fall below the line?"

"I try not to," said Gaho walking on, "let's not bother them."

Further they went they investigated each room marked on their map, ticking them off when they found only more homeless camps, some of which were still occupied as any who saw them immediately ran to their boxed houses and little forts. The officers tried to move on quick so as not to disturb them too much, as they wandered between viaducts and pumping stations. The fog of the fluoride made things harder to see as they travelled in a large circle through the subterrane, sliding their hands towards their pistols set in their holsters, a small handgun equipped with energy-dampening clips that, should any kaiju try to assault them with plasma, nuclear or electrical powers, they would be neutralised in the first two shots.

"I just had a terrible thought," Reed muttered turning a corner, "there's a lot of homeless down here but...how many you think the Host was-"

"Don't." Murata cringed. "I don't want to think how many victims went unreported."

"We could ask."

"And what would it prove? They won't testify in court, and by now it'll be impossible to prove any of that."

"Why did the Host disappear then?" asked Sauressy. "Why stop for a year and then start killing again?"

"You're asking me to analyse a serial killer," the turtle snorted, "I understand why creatures steal, I understand why they kill, and it's all down to selfishness. But serial killers, they have a dozen reasons that they invent, and none of them I'll guess."

"Mind if I guess then?"

A ragged shadow came from the gloom as they turned with hands on their pistols.

"There's a reason why we don't have cops down here."

Stepping forwards using an umbrella for a cane, was a large female catfish wrapped in black tattered robes stitched together from cloaks, cardboard and refuse bags as Gaho put up his hands in peace.

"My name's Sgt. Detective Murata, this is Sgt. Detective O'Sauressy, we're searching for anyone with information about the Host-"

"I heard you," she rubbed her lips, "your voice carries well, and no, we do not. The Host has thankfully never preyed upon us, I believe they consider us too easy and, well...victims from above are far more appealing on the news truth be told."

"Do you know where they might be?" asked Reed rolling his arm. "We can't afford to lose this trail, any information you have, even the slightes-"

"I do not. And if I did, I would certainly not cater that information to you as we are a community and, as we say, loose tongues bring guns."

She pointed directly at their pistols.

"Considering what you said before about knowing why creatures kill or steal, you demonstrate that unspoken rule succinctly."

"I'm not here to argue morals," Murata crossed his arms, "I'm here to stop a killer, if you haven't broken any laws and have no information, then I'll let you be on your way."

"You don't LET me be on my way, officer." She wagged her umbrella-cane. "Remember, you are entering a kingdom beyond your authority."

"Is that a threat?"

"Only if you try to fill your quota with 'subsequent' arrests in your search for this Host. If I find just one of my many friends being put in your custody without good reason..."

The catfish walked closer with her eyes staring dead into his.

"There are many of us, and we know this maze far better than you. Take care, officer."

She walked past them as the two cops looked to each other. They said nothing and kept walking as they checked further rooms. An hour and a half of searching brought them nothing but more wretched souls in every nook and cranny, until they ticked off every place on the map much to their chagrin.

"Alright," Reed took a deep breath and soon regretted it, "ugh, fucking fluoride, we checked all the rooms but there's nothing."

"Meaning they're hiding someplace else," Murata rubbed his chin, "a secret room maybe?"

"Has to be, someplace other homeless won't get to, or was claimed already."

"And that lady won't tell us so we're on our own, again."

"Let's retrace our steps then," said Sauressy looking back, "there must be something-"

Gaho stopped him with a firm hand and pulled him back from the corner, tapping his earhole to listen as the sounds of sloshing feet came down the other passage. Hiding in the gloom they watched as Murata gasped at the dinosaur in a white suit trudging through the murk. Gojirama Kiryu headed south towards them, staring at the key in his hand, the number 49 on its handle making him shake his head confused as he looked above him.

"Pipe thirty-seven...so it's back that way."

He turned back the way he came, his flashlight glancing over the pipes where numbers had been filed onto the sides as he found pipe 43 splitting off from 37. At the junction he travelled west, having come from the east as the forties went upwards again for him to track. So far he found nothing but homeless kaiju, still nervous and flighty having seen the Toho badge which suited him fine as he kept following the pipes.

Finally he found pipe 49, a rusted sapphire tube that he headed after with a cautious hope and a clenching fist. The pipe disappeared into a dead-end as he squinted at the wall of bare-faced solid-looking concrete.

"Is this it?" Kiryu shook his head. "No...has to unlock something, but...what?"

He found his answer the moment he touched the wall as it dented in his hand. A rough firm texture that felt like a raincoat, he grabbed one side of the wall and pulled it aside like a curtain. A hidden door stood behind the perfectly-painted partition.

"Heh. Nice trick."

The key fit in the lock exactly, raising more questions than answers as Kiryu stepped inside. The smell of blood and rotting flesh alerted him, a dark square room where he saw knives and cleavers hung on the walls, the floor spackled in crimson that spread under his shoes and a long table in the centre of the room. A body laid in front of him, naked and stiff without its hands or a head. Kiryu struggled to hold his breath, clenching his teeth between anger and disgust, a creeping fear when he saw the patterned scales and the long serpent tail draping off the side of the table. He found Tsuchimura's body, along with another lady's voice behind him.

"Hey there motherfucker."

An arm wrapped round his throat with a long scarlet wing as he struggled brief against the attacker, throwing himself against the wall to crush the body behind as the unknown assailant kicked her feet against the wall in a sudden front-flip over Kiryu's head. Fluttering her wings and twisting in the air, she uttered a deafening scream that burst through Kiryu's skull and deadened his eyes briefly with a blinding blur.

"Congrats, you found your friend."

"HN-RAAGH!"

He tried to punch the shadow in front of him, but she ducked under the swing and pushed a blade to his throat. The sonic burst from the other kaiju had scrambled his brain enough that the world became a blackening mist, the vague shape of a pointed V forming the head of the killer who pushed him away from the door.

"Nice try bitch," she grinned pinning him to the wall.

"NN-NNNRGH!"

"Shhhhh-sh-shhh no no, no...let me see your eyes before I slit that throat right open."

"Are...are you, the Host?" Kiryu gasped.

"You said it not me." She stared deep in his eyes. "Ohhh you got a feisty look dontcha Kiryu-san?"

"NNNRGH!"

His head throbbed as the knife pressed closer to his neck, gently separating the scales to feel the first trickle of red.

"Tsuchi-chan didn't have that strength," said the killer, "not that it saved her. Won't save you either."

"You...bastard. I'm here to put an end to you-"

"No, you're not, you're just gonna be Toho bitch number two."

Kiryu shuddered from the glimmering blade creeping under his chin as she giggled wickedly, neither of them seeing the shadow come close to the door as she continued.

"You think Sano-san'll be happy to see your head? Wouldn't be nice of you to cockblock him like Tsuchi-chan did."

"Is this, an attack against us?!" Kiryu snorted. "Why kill her, she did nothing!"

"Because-oop!" She sliced deeper into the shoulder as he gasped. "Almost slipped there, don't wanna make it TOO easy for you."

"You're not going to win." Kiryu shook his head slightly. "Whatever happens to me, my friends will come for you."

"Mmmm, I don't doubt it. In fact, that's exactly what I want-GUH-HEEY!"

"HANDS AND WINGS IN THE AIR, POLICE, DON'T MOVE!"

The killer was grabbed by two shadows wrestling her to the floor, or at least trying their hardest. Kiryu stumbled shaking his head and feeling for his throat, trying to avoid the table as he heard the sounds of scuffling snarls and shrieking voices before he grabbed something long, thick and strangely warm set flush against the wall. In the darkened room Murata and O'Sauressy tried to grab one arm each of the killer, but she pumped her wings with a burst of foetid wind and launched herself high to screech with a sonic boom, a force so powerful it became a solid golden beam that shot into O'Sauressy's face as he fell back deaf and blind.

Murata had dodged in time, skirting round to fire his pistol as the dampening bullet cracked in the concrete when the killer swerved in mid-flight, her scarlet wings like a vampire and her sharp pointed head glinting in the sewer light. Sweeping low to grab one of the cleavers from the wall, she swung in a drive-by carving towards Gaho who ducked and rolled with his shell taking a hard scrape across its thick scutes. Rolling back up, he fired almost immediate to wing her, the blunt-headed shell of the bullet knocking her somewhat askew as she hurled the meat cleaver towards the cop.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCK WITH ME?!" the killer shrieked.

"I'LL GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE!" Murata barked. "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, WITH YOUR WINGS BEHIND YOUR BACK!"

"Ugh, you cops are so FUCKING BORING!"

She swung down towards Kiryu who was grabbing the wall and wrapped her arm back round his throat, pushing herself behind him with her knife pressing to his neck once again. With a better look at the killer, the flashlight from his pocket gleaming on their faces, Murata saw the murderer had a sharp angular head with a flat top making it resemble a heart with jagged tips, her wings a visceral ruby-red like that of a demon beneath the black shirt and leather pants that she wore.

"Let's make this more fun," she cackled, "it's time for a hostage!"

"NNRGH, GET OFF!" Kiryu shouted.

"I know he's a Toho thug, but you're such a goody two-shoes you would never let me kill him, right Murata-kun?!"

"You're right, I wouldn't," said the officer training his gun on her, "but you obviously don't know Kiryu."

"What?"

"You think he would be running around in a darkened room just blindly trying to escape, after what you did?"

"The fuck you saying?!" the killer snapped. "He makes ONE move, an' I take off his head like with that dumb bitch of a secretary, now you back the FUCK OFF, an' let me finish thi-A-AAAARGH!"

Unbeknownst to her Kiryu wasn't blindly stumbling. He had found a steel pipe that was heated from the vents, pulling against it hard to loosen the pipe all the while the fight had been going on and waiting for the chance to be kidnapped again. He tore the pipe from its moorings and ducked to the side, exposing the killer to a full blast of searing-hot molten steam.

Throwing Kiryu aside she clawed at her burning face leaving the shot open for Murata, the murderer blasting a sonic shriek towards his general direction as he fired back against her piercing beam. The dampening bullet reacted fast with a deep shudder through the air as it partially shut down the sonic boom to half its strength, the cop feeling a sharp tinnitus ring through his senses as the killer bolted towards the door.

"STOP HER, SAURESSY!"

The other cop was still recovering, too late did he rush for the exit as she flew like a bat and kicked his head back down to escape through the door and take flight through the sewer depths. Gaho chased after her, pounding his shoes through the water before he clenched his thighs and channelled a sudden energy to the rear of his shell, a trembling force that shuddered deep in his belly.

"_I, ORDERED YOU, TO STOP! _"

With a bursting flame he suddenly shot forth like a rocket, his shell from behind burning like a furious engine as he veered sharp at the junction following the trail of the killer's shadow. The flyer gasped with a cackle of surprise seeing Murata closing in, her powerful wings pushing her ahead at a deadly pace as they twisted and spiralled through the maze, the water splitting in half with their passing and homeless kaiju running to cower in fright.

"HAHAHA, NOT BAD MURATA!" she cried back at him. "PLACE WAS GETTIN' REAL DULL WITHOUT YOU!"

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

Through the labyrinth the killer made sharp screeching turns to try and lose him, Gaho sometimes forced to plant his feet on the walls and boost harder towards her in a zig-zagging shot before she reached another dead end with a hidden grin on her face. With gliding droop of her wings, she lowered herself to the thickened slush and waited until she was a feet away from the wall tbefore she suddenly spiralled upwards in a hard U-turn and fly directly over Murata's head.

Their eyes briefly met, his with fury and hers in glee as she shot up into a higher drain opening. The sudden turn slowed Murata down enough for her to slam a button at the side of the opening, a blaring siren going off as a floodgate came down.

"NOOOO!"

"Bye-bye." She waved mockingly. "Better luck next time turtleboy!"

The wall of steel locked him out as Murata slammed his shell against it in desperation before landing back on the sewer path. Grabbing his head in frustration he resisted the urge to scream, snarling deep into his lungs as the smog of fluoride thickened around him. Thumping his fist into the wall, he turned himself round and blasted back the way he came to the killer's lair where Reed and Kiryu sat.

"Did you get her?" his partner asked.

"No," Murata sighed as he landed, "that bastard U-turned into an exit and locked me out, she had her path all planned."

"She's been in this sewer for months, she would have had a way out." The monster rubbed his head. "Fuck she messed me up, my head feels like New Year's in Boston."

"Do you know where she went?!" Kiryu asked now standing up. "We can't let her escape!"

"We'll put out an APB so she can't leave the city," said Gaho marching over to him, "as for you, I told you not to interfere!"

"My boss ordered me, just as your boss ordered you-"

"I am an officer of the law, YOU are a criminal!"

"I know it's not my job to catch killers, but it IS my job to keep Kaijurocho safe."

"DON'T give me your noble thief bullshit, the last thing this city needs is your band of thugs acting like vigilantes!"

"Agreed," said Reed limping forwards, "we got bigger punks to catch, you should be thankful we don't drag you in."

"You found me here," Kiryu shrugged, "she took me hostage, for all you know she brought me here-"

"Shut up." Murata grabbed his arm with a sneer from his tusks. "We saw you come down here, you followed the pipes and led us right to her with that key you had on you."

"So what?" he crossed his arms. "You think I'm working with the Host and there was an argument?"

"No, you're not that kind of criminal. You probably just used your contacts to seek a vendetta."

"Well, you're half right." He looked over to the table where Tsuchimura laid. "She didn't deserve this. You know that, right?"

"I do." Murata nodded. "I'll call the morgue to pick her up, after I send out the APB, you can lay her to rest."

"Thank you...wait."

Stepping closer towards the body, he saw something shining just under the stump of the neck. Murata pulled him back before he could touch it, pulling out a glove from his belt and slowly fishing it out.

"Another key?" Sauressy stepped closer. "Where does this one go?"

"Looks like a maintenance key," the turtle squinted, "same number on the back, can't believe we never made the connection to down here."

"But that's not the key I have," Kiryu offered his, "that one's different, it's smaller, not for a door like this one."

"So there must be another..."

They searched around the room before they found the trapdoor in the floor. Opening with the key, they braced themselves for an even greater surprise.

"What the..."

A body laid inside the maintenance vent. A praying mantis with eyes now gone and sickle-shaped hands beneath their coat, the body now rotted away to that of a thin carapace.

"Another...victim?" Kiryu muttered.

"But this one's intact," Murata rubbed his chin, "the head and arms, no bite mark on the chin this...this makes no sense, they've been dead for what looks like months."

"Hold up," Sauressy bent down putting on a glove, "there's something inside his coat, lemme grab it."

Reaching inside the pocket he pulled out a wallet much to their surprise, crusted with a dry greenish-yellow.

"Blood," Kiryu pondered, "how did the killer miss this?"

"We'll ask her when we catch her," said Murata walking out the room, "for now we call the precinct, shut down the fly-zone and get these bodies to the lab soon as possible."

"As for you," Reed pointed to Kiryu, "you get the hell back topside and don't come down here again, or we'll drag your ass in for interfering with our investigation."

"Got it," Kiryu nodded back, "thanks for the help."

They parted ways back to their separate worlds, the officers heading outside through the public access whilst Kiryu returned back up to Little Asia. Something about Byul-ga Sa-Rhee's words had bothered him since his arrival, and with the killer revealed he found only more questions at his feet.

Far and away down the twisting tunnels, through an old drainage pipe too high for most kaiju to reach, the killer had fled into the darkness with chittering clicks of her sonar to guide herself through the passage. Soon it opened up into a larger facility, the sounds of a roaring waterfall bristling with sewage in the distance as she flapped down onto a platform set apart from the rest of the walkways, a lone safety spot that jutted above the raging falls as she pulled out a phone from her pocket.

"They found him."

"Good," said another female voice, "both the police and Toho?"

"Hook, line and sinker," she grinned, "told you I could pull it off."

"And you certainly did. Now we just wait, for the coming war that neither of them can stop."

"And I'll be there to pick the bodies clean," she cackled looking out over the sewer drains, "this place'll be ours soon enough."

"Ours?"

"Like, the Alliance, you know."

"Of course. Don't get ideas above your station."

"Oh nah nah you know me...I'm just here for the ride. Also, guess who fuckin' showed up at the scene."

"An old flame?"

"Of yours, yeah. Sgt. Detective Gaho Murata."

The voice on the other end turned quiet as the killer smirked with glee. She felt the grinding of her master's beak, the tightening of the throat as she waited for a response.

"He'll learn who you are, yes?"

"Ohohh, you know I bet he will!"

"When you get your chance, bring him to me. He must suffer for what he did."

"Hmhmhm, you got it."

The call clicked off as the killer smacked her tongue.

"I'll make it your birthday gift...Iris-san."