Kill the Sound
Act 3: Prophecy
Act 3: Prophecy
A torrent of rain cascaded outside one of the Susukino District's numerous low-end bars as the bartender reluctantly slammed shot after shot of sake down for an underage woman. A trio of bouncers loomed behind her as she gulped each one down, arms crossed across their chest as they stared her down.
"You're lucky I don't just throw you out right now," the middle-aged bartender said as casually as he could to Otome, eyeing the bloodthirsty blade at her side. "That little stunt you pulled a few months back ago got us into one hell of a lawsuit with Sadako."
A smirk crossed the Butcher's features as she stifled a chuckle.
"What can I say?" she teased, "That bitch should have had the bottle shoved down her throat instead."
The man sighed as he threw the now empty bottle away in a nearby trash bin.
"Between you and her, I don't know who is worse for business."
"Trust me," the blonde-haired vixen assured the bartender with a wink. "I may vicious, but I'm not cruel like her."
Nearby, another patron shrouded in tattered crimson robes, began cackling maniacally, prompting all four men and Otome to look back at him.
"Someone must be in good spirits," the young woman joked, starting to finally feel the effects of the potent rice wine herself. However that buzz did not last for long as the towering man stood up and began lumbering towards her.
"My dear Otome," he spoke in a solemn tone, "Zansatsu is rubbing off on you."
Her eyes widened at the mention of her name and the demon possessing her katana.
"Excuse me, boys," she requested of the bouncers as she wrapped her hand around the hilt of her bloodthirsty blade, parting a path between the three as she stood to address the man.
"How do you know that?"
"You'll find the Makaibatsu Cult knows many things concerning the inevitable cleansing this world so desperately craves."
"Right . . . " Otome glanced down and to the side as the blood kept trickling from her right hand before turning her attention to the bartender, simply nodded before ducking behind the counter.
"One fanatical zealot fillet, coming right up!" she taunted as he slashed at the man, only to find her blade gripped tightly by his bare hands.
"Insolent heathen," the man mocked her as he snapped the blade in half. "Do not trifle with forces beyond your comprehension."
"Um . . . " she looked at the splintered fragment of metal still attached to the bloodletting hilt then to the bouncers. "You might want to get your boss out of here."
"Already on it!" the bartender shouted as he ran out the front door, leaving his bouncers and Otome to face the hulking lunatic as he muttered something to the effect of 'damn ninja'.
Otome backed off as two of the bouncers charged the zealot, barely causing him to skid across the floor before he grabbed their throats, hoisted them into the air, and finally crushed their windpipes with one hand each. The remaining bouncer, knowing well enough not to charge alone where two had failed, pulled out a revolver and began firing bullet after bullet at the man. Unfortunately the rounds merely bounced off of the cultists skin as he reached the man, grabbed him by his skull, and began pulverizing it into a mangled mess of viscera and bone.
He then turned to face Otome.
"Now then, unless you wish to forfeit your life, you will relinquish the Great One to us," he spoke with an outstretched hand. The kunoichi looked down at the bladeless hilt, knowing well that Zansatsu still resided within. She meekly approached him, cradling the broken katana.
"Yes, my child: embrace humanity's destiny as your own."
But as the man went to accept her seemingly innocent offering, she shoved a fistful of chakra into his gut.
"If you think I'm that stupid, then you really don't know me at all!" she shouted as he detonated the ball of chakra in a massive explosion, sending the man flying through the shelves behind the counter. As he stumbled to his feet and dusted himself off, he saw that Otome was fleeing for front door.
"Very well: your fate has been decided," he shouted as he rushed after the young woman. But just as the man was about to catch her a second set of explosions brought the entire bar cascading down upon him.
[MFT: 738]