Oni in my Dreams
Oni in my Dreams
A rail thin horned rabbit in the garb of a ninja and wearing a Noh mask for a kabuki actor playing an oni stands on the roof of a high rise in Radiance, NJ. Gender is impossible to gauge as their long hair flows down their body to get caught in the wind. Behind the figure crows and frogs also in ninja garb gather.
"It has been confirmed?" The voice from the figure is vague and androgynous. But the tone is more command than question.
"She is here, master," a toad croaks with a respectful bow.
"Is that all we know?" The voice is coy; almost playful and teasing. "Where exactly? I need to know."
"Yes, Lord Oni Mask," a crow says. "We're still working on that. Mikiko Kagekaze has proven to be...elusive."
Oni Mask steps into the shadows then emerges behind the crow and decapitates him and afterwards intones: "Not good enough, I already know she is here. But to weave the spells to do my job I need to get very close to her."
"This is as close as you get, Oni Mask!" A voice cries behind them before the flash bangs go off.
Oni Mask feels a slashing against hir abdomen that draws blood before shi can recover as gun fire can be heard. Smoke grenades produce their effects as Oni Mask has recovered enough to be able to defend hirself. When the smoke clears all of Oni Mask's minions are dead and shi is severely bleeding.
"Well played, Marauder," Oni Mask says dryly with wry amusement, "I am going to kill you on general principal now. You were already a target but it was nothing persona until now. With that Oni Mask fades into the shadows and is gone.
Back on Kraken Island Garren is pouring over copies of physical records as Grizelda comes in with their son. Al is on monitor duty as usual and Owen is more or less is just hanging around. Rudolf is happy to see his father even if his mother is not.
"Why?" Zelda growls angrily, "Why are we doing this? Oni Mask is listed as a top notch assassin world wide and you want to..." She stops mid rant as Rudolf climbs onto his father's lap. "Play with hir? And for what? For what?"
"Call it a pre-emptive strike," Garren says calmly, "Oni Mask is probably after Mikiko." Zelda just glowers at him. "Follow this logic, shi is hunting down her as a rogue ninja and for completeness sake all known associates of her."
"That includes you, Al and Owen," Zelda counters, "How do I and Rudy fit in?"
"As an associate of an associate," Owen states in a Brooklyn accent, "You see, Zelda you is associated with Gary and wet workers like Oni Mask tend to be very thorough."
"If they are going to kill Gary, they'll want to kill his son too to prevent a revenge scenario down the road," Al adds on, "Driving hir from Radiance is a survival tactic pure and simple."
"Not that simple, Al," a female voice calls from the shadows, "It would seem I man not the only bitch you impregnated, Gary. It's almost too bad you couldn't get Tabitha pregnant before she died."
Garren hangs his head in shame as Al and Owen just stand and stare at the Akita ninja bitch that is Mikiko in disbelief. Grizelda is silently livid at her and her mate who puts on a good act for his son but clearly has mixed feelings that he is reluctant to elucidate. Mikiko is glaring at Garren and about ready to flip the bird at Zelda.
"Is you security so lax as it would let this floozy through?" Zelda asks pointedly, "Because if she can breach I so easily as to walk in here then it'll be a cake walk for Oni Mask."
"That bastard is actually here?" Mikiko growlingly inquires. "I've been dispatching hir minions for days now."
"We took a few shots at hir this evening," Garren says evenly.
"Why are you here?" Zelda asks angrily.
"Daddy," Rudolf asks of his father, "Who is she and why is Mommy so mad?'
"It's a long story, Rudy," Zelda says shamefacedly, "Maybe when you're older..."
"He's not old enough is her?" Mikiko asks.
"No, he's not," Gary growls. "I doubt his mother let him watch any of it."
"He's seen some of your season," Zelda admits. "Mostly because I was watching..."
"And you?" Gary begins to ask to which Zelda shakes her head. "Is that why?" Zelda just nods.
"Am I the only one that's only getting snippets of this conversation?" Owen asks of Al.
"I can differentiate because I know more of the scorecard," al relates to Own. "Zelda had Gary before Tabby and Mik."
"I got that part," Owen says. "Did they not have a way of talking to Gary?"
"she was under the impression he was dead," Al states. "Or at least that's what she was told with her little boy on the way."
"And now, Mik's got a bun in the oven," Owen says, "Why do I get the impression this kinda a dog thing."
"If it is, it's between Mik and Zelda primarily," Al says, "Gary just has to do damage control. Although he has a fine line to walk."
It's about this time the rat and the skunk notice all three adult dogs glaring at them.
"I think we need to go somewhere to discuss pack dynamics," Zelda says to no one in particular. "Mikiko, would you mind joining me in a tower somewheres?"
"Sounds like a plan," Mikiko says as they depart together.
"You following them?" Owen asks of Gary.
"I know better," Garren says as he nuzzles his son, "Keep this in mind, Rudolf, when and if you have more than one femme you're playing with, let them sort out the pecking order otherwise you got BIG trouble."
"But why, Poppa?" Rudolf asks.
"It's part of who we are as wolves, Rudy," Gary explains, "Males and females have to figure out where they in the hierarchy. Right now, I'm the alpha male, Mikiko is used to being the Beta female and wants to become alpha female which is what you're momma is right now and isn't willing to share right now. But I have a role to play in this as well, but I have to be careful."
"Why?" Rudolf asks simply.
"Because I like both girls a lot," Gary answers. "I want a good relationship with both no matter what. No matter what else, remember this: We are wolves and wolves are social creatures. Do your best to get along with others. That is the ultimate law of the pack."
"Is that what mommy is gonna do with the other bitch?" Rudy asks.
"I hope so, son, I really hope so," Garren says as he hugs his son.
In his mind's eye Garren remembers another time and place back when a lot of the heroics he did were caught on camera. He feels like weeping as he remembers Tabitha, the American Amazon in all her glory and the love theiy shared. A part of him also feels guilty as he holds his son in his arms even as he knows his heart still pines for the cheetah who was more like a super cheerleader than a superhero, but she was a cat he honestly will in love with.
Garren holds his son close to himself and internally speculates what he would look like if Tabitha "American Amazon" Jackson was his mother instead of Grizelda. With his son on his knee Gary plays with a computer program what will mix DNA in speculation; inputting himself as the father and Tabitha as the mother and sees what happens. Rudolf doesn't understand what is going on but his dad plays catch with him afterwards so he's happy although Al and Owen check the monitor after they leave and get concerned.
"I didn't even know stuff like this existed," Owen says in general amazement. "I know he and Tabby were good together..."
"Very good, Owen," Al says with a frown. "If Dragon didn't kill her this pup might have actually been conceived."
"I though Dragon was pimping her out," Owen says in a questioning tone, "Did she have time for Gary?"
"They made time," Mikiko says then looks t the screen with Zelda close behind her, "Where is he now?"
"Playing catch with our son," Zelda says. "What was she like? I know the public persona of American Amazon was that of an All American girl with a hear of gold. Although she acted like an adult cheerleader at times."
"She had powers, but between the ne execs and corp mohoffs," Owen relates, "There was a laundry list of what she could and couldn't do and in what sort of situations she could do it in. Dragon made sure of that."
"She could also be very naïve," Mikiko relates, "But she came from money and her early years were very sheltered."
"Only in some ways," Al states with a dejected sigh and a shake of his head. "Gary and I were privy to a few things she kept hidden." The others look at him expectantly. "Let's just say she was used to being treated as a plaything Gary is one of a few that didn't treat her as a toy, at least not at first."
"He changed his tune quickly enough," Mikiko says with a smirk. "But Tabitha had a taste for it and convinced Gary to play along."
"She was that kinky?" Zelda asks to which Mike nods without changing her expression. "Gary has been leaning that way in our lovemaking recently."
"It can be fun, can't it?" Mikiko coos with a grin that makes Grizelda a little uncomfortable.
While these conversations are going on, Oni Mask is trying to enter the facility by various means. Attempts at shadow walking fail outright as Marauder has erected wards specifically to bar hir from the facility. Mikiko got in because Garren put her on a list of folks that could come in and Oni Mask is someone to exclude as an experiment to see if he could do that with the limited skills at mysticism in general and warding in particular that he has no intention of letting either bitch know he can do.
Rudy can see some sparks coming from the shadows that occur as Oni Mask makes hir attempts. A hang glider attempt to fly over the water to the island almost works but gets shot down as a matter of course. It's only when exploring the sewers that Oni Mask gets an idea on how to infiltrate the base.
A shadowy cheetah girl distracts Oni Mask when shi goes to invade Kraken Island. The cheetah seems to be American Amazon who is an associate of Kunoichi and thus on Oni Mask's list of folks to be eliminated. Rumors of her apparent demise at the hands of Komodo only make her more interesting as a potential target.
Oni Mask turns a corner and is almost sucked into a vortex of swirling water, gnashing teeth and living tentacles. Exactly what the monster is, Oni Mask is not about stick around and find out. Unfortunately for hir the thing is rather insistent on introducing itself.
It seems like a battle between malevolent entities is brewing as the vortex expands to become a kind of nightmarish doorway. Oni Mask challenges the tentacles with hir claws that actually entangles the one demonic entity and enmeshes it with the other. The thing that is Oni Mask finds itself in a very Lovecraftian dreamscape that mimics the surrounding area.
Travel to Kraken Island in the dreamscape is as accomplished as easily as walking over the bridge but the island itself is alive. A great eye opens as Oni Mask approaches and tentacles rise to bar its progress. Oni Mask tries to reason with the entity.
"I can clear you of distraction," Oni Mask promises and the eye glares at it. "You like being crawled on by lesser beings?" The eye fails to change its disposition. "Don't you want to sleep?" It waves a tentacle to try and slam Oni Mask. "You can't keep me out! Oni Mask slashes the tentacle to ribbons. "Let me through or I'll destroy you!" Oni Mask slashes its way up to the island which exists as a nautilus shell of seemingly infinite size. "Now for my mission, I'm close enough to kill them. I just have to wait until they sleep."
Garren tucks his son into bed before heading to his own bedroom to find both Zelda and Mik waiting for him. Al and Owen leave for Boopsy's for the evening and leave the dogs to sort for themselves. Nudity becomes their uniform as the three adult dogs lay together in bed.
"This is a scenario I'd though I'd never experience again," Garren says in a slightly shamed manner as the females flank him.
"I think Tabby liked it when we did this, Gary," Mikiko says with a smirk. "We played in the showers and when we didn't have a Beowulf interested in either of us."
"Dot liked doing this too, Gary," Zelda admits. "We had fun together but not as much fun as when the three of us played together."
"I miss both spotted females," Gary admits. "I don't know why but I love you both..."
"Sh!" Mikiko and Grizelda say together.
"We saw how you created an image of the child you and Tabby would have had," Mik states, "You really loved her..." Gary starts to weep with a guilty expression on his face.
"It's alright, Gary," Zelda coos and presses her breasts to his chest.
Garren is about to say something when Zelda kisses him and Mik licks at his scrotum. The picture Gary made convinced the pair that he really did care for the kitty and that he missed her more than he let on. It gave them both an incentive that they would need to work together to get him to move on and focus on the living rather than the dead.
Mikiko gets Garren hard for Grizelda to ride and when she does get on top, Mik gets eaten out by Gary as the two bitches caress each other's racks. Zelda's womb gets flooded by Gary's spunk before the three drift off to dreamland. Oni Mask is waiting for them there but shi was expecting to take down the trio individually and instead they share a dream together as a pack.
It can be rare but tonight all three dogs are in sync with one another, so much so that their dream is shared between them. When they enter the dreamscape, not a one of them is wearing a stitch of clothing and Oni Mask is unnoticed which causes the demonic lapine to adopt an amused posture. But Oni Mask does not remain functionally invisible for long and much to hir surprise they take a measure of control and change into their costumes instantly.
Oni Mask has carefully built a reputation as an unstoppable assassin who kills hir victims in their sleep with a cardiac arrest on the physical plane and worse in their last dreams. Mystics who know of such things report that Oni Mask can somehow manipulate dreams into fatal nightmares as hir weapon of choice. To Oni Mask it is in dreams that hir victims are more vulnerable and thus shi conducts the lethal bottom line of hir contracts in this mindscape.
Unfortunately for Oni Mask there is something shi never calculates in hir equations and that is the fact that dreamers have more control over their dreams if they have the will and wherewithal to take that control. It hasn't happened yet so this oversight has become a kind of blind spot that's about to put a blemish on hir perfect record of successful kills. Garren has just enough mystical training to recognize this flaw which causes him to smirk.
"And just what do you find so amusing?" Oni Mask demands to know in a very annoyed tone of voice as hir hands become claws. "I'm going to kill you now."
"This isn't your dream," Marauder states while still smirking and extending his own claws. "It's ours, we can exert more control over what happens here than you."
"We are here together," Amazon says and grins fiendishly, as she manifests a hammer to go along with her shield and angles the shield for maximum effectiveness. "I may not have initially wanted her here but Mikiko is still a bitch like me and for my safety and for my son's safety you're going down."
"Your shield of shadows has been broken, Oni Mask," Kunoichi growls as she holds a full tang katana. "Any shinobi knows that this scenario can't be conducive to the completion of the mission."
"I will slay all three of you!" Oni Mask promises as Kunoichi tosses kunai hir way. "Pathetic! Do you really..." Marauder rakes hir back with his claws., "Teaming up on me? That's hardly fair."
"We're not like other heroes, Oni Mask," Amazon quips as she brings her hammer down on hir knees.
"Unlike when we had to play nice for the sponsors," Kunoichi states as she slices at Oni Mask, "Now we can play dirty when we have to."
"And you're someone for whom playing nice is a non-issue," Marauder says joyfully. "You attack us in our sleep. We control this dream." He shreds hir side. "And you are in for a rude awakening!"
"Ungrateful wretches!" Oni Mask screams as she slashes at Amazon only to hit her shield harmlessly. "Allow the slaughter or I shall kill your child!"
"You intend to do that anyway," Marauder growls as he slashes at hir, "Which is why we shall show you no mercy."
"Have it your way," Oni Mask coos and drops into a hole shi created only to drop back where shi was, "What is this? I'm not where I wanted to be! I should be in a position to terrorize the pup! Why?!"
"You didn't think we'd let you get away so easily did you?" Kunoichi questions with an arrogant smirk, "Marauder told you that we control this dream."
"We decide who leaves and who stays," Amazon growls menacingly, "We are not going to allow you to wreak havoc on our lives."
"As a pack we have the power to destroy you," Marauder states with supreme confidence as he holds hir down, "Only your death will you to escape this dream."
"You cannot hold me!" Oni Mask screams as shi struggles to escape his hold but finds that shi can't, "I'm pinned! How can this be!?! I am master of dream manipulation1"
"You are one; we are three," Kunoichi explains as she slices the enemy. "You are a rabbit and we are wolves!"
"And when wolves work together," Amazon yells, "We are INVINCIBLE!!!" Then her hammer strikes the mask.
"Not the mask!" Oni Mask screams in terror. "Strike me anywhere else..."
"Your perfect mask," Kunoichi coos viciously, "Such a pretty thing too, a shame if it should shatter. But there is more than vanity at stake here isn't it?"
"It looks like porcelain," Amazon observes, "But it's much stronger, Hon, could it be magical?"
"It is," Marauder states, "It's your anchor isn't it? Destroy the mask and you can no longer exist in our world."
"You'd like to think that wouldn't you?" Oni Mask growls in challenge. "You don't have the power to destroy it."
"Maybe not individually," Kunoichi reasons, "But maybe together...?"
"You mean we channel our wills into one weapon and then strike?" Amazon asks to which the other two nod, "But which one?"
"Choose carefully," Oni Mask coos in challenge. "You'll only get one shot."
"We only need one," Marauder states smugly, "And I know just which one of us who she should do the striking." He nods to Kunoichi.
"Me?" Kunoichi asks incredulously. "Why me?"
"Marauder's right," Amazon states and moves behind Kunoichi, "Oni Mask came to kill you, shi's part of your culture; it should be you that delivers the final blow."
"The killer killed by the target to be murdered," Oni Mask concedes in a dangerous tone, "Or is it?" the shi starts and stands straight up. "What was that?" Amazon and Kunoichi look at each other and giggle. "You're fucking me? You gotta be fucking kidding!"
"Let us you know when you're knotted," Kunoichi says with a smirk, "I know what you're going for."
"KNOTTED!?!" Oni Mask exclaims. "What the FUCK!?!"
"Gary," Kunoichi asks as she steps forward as Oni Mask is trapped, "Fondle me?"
"Right," Marauder says as he lovingly fondles Kunoichi while ramrodding Oni Mask much to her dismay.
There is an exchange of energy between the dogs.
"Zelda, hold me, please," Kunoich asks and Amazon does just that.
"What are you three playing at?" Oni Mask demands to know.
"You'll find out son enough," Marauder stats and concentrates on using his hands and giving Kunoichi all she needs.
Tendrils of blue energy enter Kunoichi as she glows a vibrant pink.
"From laws of the wild," Marauder says.
"The wisdom is compiled," Amazon says.
"The power of the wolf runs forward and back," Kunoichi continues.
"For the power of the wolf is the pack," Marauder begins.
"But the power of the wolf is the pack!" Kunoichi and Amazon finish as one.
"ONE!" Marauder cries out.
"TWO!" Amazon cries out.
"THREE!" Kunoichi cries out and raises the katana blade over her head.
"STRIKE!!!" All three yell as one as Kunoichi brings her sword to bear on Oni Mask's mask and splits it in two.
"Noooo!" Oni Mask cries as hir mask is sundered, "I am undone! But I will not go quietly into the void!" Shi forms a spear out of the shadow stuff of hir existence and drives it into Mikiko's heart. "I'm taking you with me, Kunoichi!"
"Mikiko! No!" Gary cries and cradles Mikiko's dying body. "Come on, Mik, stay with us; don't let that bastard win!"
"I may have wanted to reduce competition," Zelda exclaims and holds Mikiko's head in the dream world, "But not like this," The she whisper to her: "We can share him, I swear it, I welcome you to our family; our pack!"
Al and Owen are getting back in when the Xiomars awaken to find Mikiko slipping into a coma as her body shuts down. Zelda threatens grievous bodily harm on Stinkbomb if he does not get his tail up to their room as soon as possible with medical equipment. The desperation in her voice prompts Al to just obey as Own and Boopsy just look at each other in alarm.
Boopsy assists Al in getting Mikiko into an intensive care unit that just so happens to be on demand as Brom gets everything prepped before hand. They lower the Akita into an isolation tank with a oxygen mask over her muzzle. The chemical bath helps stabilize her condition as Mikiko floats unconsciously within.
Brom registers life signs for two in the tank when it is closed which causes the dogs to breathe a sigh of relief. Boopsy hugs Zelda in a comforting manner as Gary brings the rabbit up to speed. With Al's technical assistance, Boopsy programs the isotank and its nanite soup to repair whatever damage Oni Mask might have caused.
It's while she's interacting with the equipment that the dogs remember that Boopsy used to work at the facility as a med tech. Mikiko sleeps in the tank for now as the team shuffles off to their respective rooms for the night with Boopsy sleeping with Al. After everyone leaves a shadow passes over the tank briefly but afterwards the tank starts making noises that mean bad things for the occupant...