All I could was stare out the shattered window at my friend’s retreating form. This honestly can’t be happening… Demons aren’t supposed to exist anymore, or at least not be able to do supernatural crap on
this scale! What could’ve-
My eyes suddenly widened as a thought came to me. Slowly, I turned my sight away from the window and focused on the young Mano woman. ‘
It knew
her...’
My little epiphany helped set the rest of my brain on autopilot as I patted down my pockets making sure my keys and everything were accounted for. I then turned towards the door. “Yohko, I need you to transform
now.”
The Devil Hunter balked and began to protest before I cut her off. “Use the bathroom if you need some privacy, but the only way I’m getting my friend back from being a demon’s timeshare is with a
devil hunter.”
Yohko looked at me strangely for a few moments. “O-okay, Jon.”
As she ducked into the lavatory to change, I turned toward Iroh and Jadzia who were both looking at me oddly. “Dax, can a tricorder track someone in motion? Even going at the speeds Ian was?”
The Trill scientist blinked twice before snapping out of whatever had been distracting her. “Normally, no. But I should have his scan data from before still in memory. I should be able to use that to get a fix on his position.”
I nodded my acknowledgement and Dax grabbed her tech toy and began fiddling with it as I focused on the aged firebender. “Iroh, are there any submission holds in firebending? Ways to subdue an opponent without hurting him?”
The retired general closed his eyes in thought for a moment. “If there ever were, such knowledge has been lost to the ravages of time. Fire is not the gentlest of elements, after all.”
I twitched in response. “...okay then… Dax, I need to borrow that peashooter of yours, you mind?”
She hmm’ed a reply before lightly tossing her phaser at me, which I almost managed to not catch before getting a grip on it. Then as I looked at the little remote o’ doom in my hand, it felt like the rest of my head finally decided to come back online. My face turned downwards in a deep frown.
‘What am I doing? Who am I to give commands to these people
?’
Suddenly, I felt a warm, rough hand clap itself onto my forearm. “You have already crafted an excellent plan, my friend. Now all you need do is execute it.”
My eyes followed the sound and locked on the retired general. “Do not look so distraught, or that feeling will spread to those you lead.”
I felt my shoulders hunch close to each other. “But what makes me qualified to be a leader? I’m no officer… Lord, I’m not even a soldier! Just an average guy who knows
way too much about trivial crap like anime and games.”
The aged firebender nodded with eyes closed before crossing his arms in front of himself. “Yes, this is true. You are no soldier.” His left eye opened to look at me for an instant, then it’s twin joined it as his face lit up in a smile. “However, I have watched you for the past few days, as you interacted with us and allowed us to see your world. I have seen a young man of kind heart, who has given of himself simply because it is what his honor and conscience insist upon. Who when faced with a threat to one he calls a friend has then reached into himself to find the will to do what needs to be done. And while it is true that you are not trained for this sort of situation, frankly I have known many who
were that fared far worse when battle came.”
I actually started to perk up after that, just in time for Dax to make a happy sound while still staring at her tricorder and Yohko exited the bathroom in her Devil Hunter’s garb. “I’ve got a fix on him, heading north-by-northwest. He’s almost out of range though, but thankfully it’s in a more or less straight line.”
I nodded and headed out the door motioning the others to follow, speaking as I walked. “Okay then, Iroh’s probably got the gist of it already, but Dax; your job will be to call out his position as we go after him. I’ll need you to ride in the seat behind me so I can hear any changes fast enough to do something about it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to drive faster than this demon can run.”
We piled out the front door and I locked up behind me, no one else was home so I was sure they had house keys. Afterwards, I underhand tossed the phaser to the Fire Nation prince who caught it almost absent-mindedly. “Iroh, I’ll need you to ride up front with me and try to nail Ian with that little beauty once you have a clear shot.”
The four of us then got into my car and buckled up except for Yohko, who I stopped from doing so. “Yohko, I need you to be able to get out of the car quickly once Iroh’s shot down Ian. I’m not sure how long a stun blast’ll disorient him like he is now, so once you have the opportunity you need to get to him fast and exorcise the bastard pronto with one of those Ofuda charms your family uses.”
The japanese woman frowned slightly. “Jon, um, I wasn’t carrying any charms with me when I got pulled here.”
I felt the air about me go cold hearing that. Without Yohko, I didn’t know any other way to help Ian aside from killing him to stop the demon…
‘oh god this can’t be happening nononono!’ I suddenly twisted myself to face forward in the seat and held my head in my hands seconds before I started losing my composure. Childish, I know, but all I could think of was how my friend was gonna be hurt and how I could do nothing for him before my fists slammed into the driver’s side door, the steering wheel, and eventually my head several times. Thankfully, the aged firebender stopped me from doing any actual damage to myself as he got a grip on both my hands. “Jonathan, please! Now is not the time to lose yourself to despair like this! All problems have a solution-”
I cut him off vehemently. “Which is
why I’m fucking losing it right now, man! Goddamn demons are on my world thanks to that damn ring of Yohko’s and now my friend is about to die once that
thing gets tired of using him or when some cop gets a lucky shot off!!”
It kinda went without saying that the Mano woman was shocked silent to hear this, but Dax was rather curious as to how I came up with such a conclusion. “Remember last night? The radio mentioned weird things happening around town on the same night you guys showed up. On the way to the club, I get hit with a burst of… of
something that almost got me to run that crazy-ass driver off the highway. And just now, back in Ian’s room: that thing
knew about Yohko. Knew she was a Devil Hunter and had tried to eliminate her as a threat before any of us could do anything to stop it. Would’ve worked except that the Grizzled Old Master here”, I jerked my thumb at Iroh,”noticed him before anything could happen.”
“But why would her transformation ring draw monsters here?” The lieutenant commander turned her gaze to Yohko, who had turned rather pale from what she was hearing.
My gaze turned the devil hunter’s way as well before I let off a large sigh. Welp, this is
really going to improve the group dynamic… “During her early career as a Devil Hunter, Yohko found herself facing off against a rather long time adversary to her family, Tokima, a demon that was the one responsible for bridging the gap between the realm where the Demons hail from, and Yohko’s world. He’s got control over the metaphysical concepts of time and space, allowing him to pull off some unbelievable crap at times… or rather, he used to-”
Iroh cut me off at that particular moment. “While this tale is certainly intriguing, perhaps it would be better for us to be in motion while the story is told?”
I turned to where the retired general sat. “But what can we
do? The best plan I came up with is shot down before it even begins. How are we gonna get the demon outta Ian without killing him?”
Iroh smirked back at me. “I do not know, but any new plan we would bring into being must involve us subduing that young man. Better for us to complete what we can do, instead of worrying on what we
cannot do.”
I grew rather quiet at that statement, before facing forward in my seat. Almost mechanically, I went through the motions of starting up the car, including fiddling with my tablet that I had jacked into the vehicle’s sound system. I hit the randomizer and the sound of thundering drums and proud assembly of horns hit my ears. Violins joined in as a smirk started to appear on my face, and finally the snare drum sounded off in time to me jerking the transmission stick into Drive and planting the accelerator firmly into the floor.
We rocketed forward as the music picked up tempo and my friends scrambled to ensure their seat belts were in place. Dax shouted out a question as to what had gotten into me, and I could only reply thus...
“God just reminded me to ‘
Kick Reason to the Curb, and Do the Impossible.’ So that’s
exactly what I’m gonna do!”
Seconds later, the Tricorder picked up Ian’s position and the chase was on.
*****
Chapter 2 - 47% Complete.
And for those wondering what my tablet was playing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p5OyLFQLCc