Chapter 1 | The Demon in Her Hair

Akane paced back and forth around the claustrophobic space that was her dingy motel room's den. The cramped room only made smaller by the shelves of video game boxes, figurines, and comic books alongside a growing collection of dirty magazines. Tapping her foot against the carpeted floor, she rubbed her chin and looked up at the ceiling fan, hoping the spinning blades would provide some sort of clear answer. "Twenty thousand..." She uttered softly. "What do I have to worry about? I'm a tank!" Maybe hearing myself say those words will raise my morale. She glanced down at her right arm, still held in its sling. She slowly removed the sling and undid the bandages covering it, turning her head away and closing her eyes. Man, I hate this thing. She glanced at her right arm, seeing what was once her arm now replaced with a demonic forearm that consumed and replaced her fingers, hand, and entire forearm. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice whispered from behind Akane. "My arm... how I miss the sight of it." The whispers continued. With a sudden fury, Akane reached over her shoulder and tightly held a clump of her onyx hair, as black as a starless night. 

"Listen to me, b***h. Pact or not, don't try anything funny from now on." Akane barked, squeezing on the clump of hair as the voice behind Akane seemed to whine. 

"I thought we've discussed this before!" The voice's volume grew dramatically. "It's been so long that I've experienced flesh and bone or witnessed life." The voice sounded as if it would begin to cry, with sounds of whimpering. "I'm sorry! Forgive me! Forgive me!" 

Akane remained silent, letting go of the clump of hair. The voice began to laugh, erupting into a cackle. "What's so funny?"

"That's what you wanted to hear? Me begging for forgiveness, recognizing you as my master?" The voice let out a scoff. "Not in this millennia." The voice chuckled. "Let's be clear about where we stand; I can't survive without you, and you can't survive without me."

"I get it, I get it." Akane walked through the doorway, entering her bedroom. "But do you have to be such a b***h about it?" She walked towards her dresser, sliding the wooden panel to the side and grabbing the hilt of a sword missing its blade. 

"Hey, hey, hey. In nature, when two creatures live off each other, it's not because they're buddies; it's because they both have survival in mind. Think of me as a lovely flower, and you as a bee."

More like a leech. Akane stretched her right arm out, bending her fingers. "It's not hurting like it used to." Her eyebrows raised in surprise as she tossed the hilt onto her bed and began to poke her forearm, sliding her hand up and down her right arm, feeling like an armored second layer of skin. 

"Surprise, surprise. The possession didn't work all those years ago. Now your arm is only serving as a memento of my failure. You're welcome, by the way." The voice spoke, defeated and distraught. Without another word, Akane walked towards her desk and grabbed the phone, plucking Vivienne's card out of her wallet. "You're not calling that girl, are you?" 

"Yes, I am, Gomory." Akane placed the phone close to her ear. 

She gasped. "You're seriously going to consider this? You'll get yourself killed!" 

Akane nodded. "I know." The phone rang several times before the recipient finally answered the call. 

"Hello?" Vivienne's heavenly voice set Akane's heart aflutter. 

"Yeah. This is Akane." 

"Oh, so you're calling about the job?"

"You're making a mistake." Gomory continued, only to receive no response from Akane.

"Yeah." Akane walked around her bedroom, constantly glancing at the hilt on her bed. 

"Wonderful. Your opponent will be a man known as 'the Sidewinder'. I shall send the address to your phone. I hope you don't mind, but I will save your number so I can make sure you're still alive and kicking every so often." Vivienne commented. 

Wow, we exchanged phone numbers and I didn't have to smooth talk to do it! A smile grew on Akane's face as she exhaled loudly. 

"Get that stupid look off your face." Gomory barked.

"Alright, Akane. The details have been sent..." Vivienne paused for a moment. "Good luck. I am sure the odds will be in your favor." Soon after, she hung up, leaving Akane frozen in place, her phone still held tightly in her hand.

So this is it. There's no refusing the offer now. Akane glanced once more at the hilt, then down to her right arm. "How should I tackle this?" 

"By telling Vivienne you can't do it." Gomory suggested. 

"I have to." As soon as that call ended, this fight is destined to happen. "What other choice do I have?" 

"Plenty, actually." Gomory snapped. "We could always leave the city, and you could get a real job." 

"I can't leave. My pride won't allow it." Plus, any other motel outside of Santa Vittoria doesn't allow permanent residence.

"Pride?" Gomory repeated in bewilderment. "Have you seen yourself in the past, I don't know, seven or eight decades?"

Akane moved towards her bed and grabbed the hilt, holstering it around her belt without a single word of response. She walked towards her wardrobe and pulled the front panel open, running her hand across the collection of clothing hung inside. 

"Hello? Earth to Akane." Gomory continued. Akane grabbed a double breasted military coat, turning to the six-foot ladder hung on the wall adjacent to the dresser. Akane lifted the jacket above her chest, simulating how it would look on her. 

"How's this?" Akane raised an eyebrow. "Menacing enough?"

"Absolutely terrifying." Gomory answered, with heavy amounts of sarcasm. "Now listen to me." Akane removed the hanger that held the coat and slipped it on, turning around to get another look at the coat. "If something happens, if that toy sword of yours doesn't work..." 

"It's not a toy." Akane answered, heading towards the front door. 

"Fine, I'll play along. Let's say this piece of junk you bought online does work. Will you really be able to fight this guy? We don't know who he is."

"Why wouldn't it work? The force is strong with this one, something is telling me it will." Who knows? Fourth time's the charm. Akane exited her apartment and locked the door behind her, seeing her motorcycle waiting for her in the parking lot.

"Oh, that's reassuring." Gomory sighed. "You know what?" Gomory groaned. "Fine. Let's go, but if we both die because you're being a jackass, both of us are going to burn in Inferno. But hey, don't mind me, consider a metaphorical fly on the wall."

"Does that mean you'll quit whining?" Akane trudged down the stairs and headed for her motorcycle. 

"I suppose so." 

Finally. "Wonderful. Anymore of your lecture while I'm driving, and I would've gone on the opposite lane." Akane commented with a slight smirk on her face. 

"As if I weren't already afraid to be in a moving vehicle with you." Gomory let out another groan. 

"Just be quiet and enjoy the ride until we get there. Then, you can talk your demonic heart out about how much of an idiot I am." Akane sat comfortably on the motorcycle, leaning back and pulling her phone out of her pocket. She read over the address Vivienne sent her, nodding to herself. She leaned forward and stuck the key in the slot, activating the ignition. With a tight grip, she wrapped her fingers around the handlebars. She revved the motorcycle and sped out of the parking lot. 

✧✧✧

Akane stopped her motorcycle in front of a large office building, with every side of the structure being shaped with glass. She looked up towards the top of the skyscraper that seemed like it would reach the blankets of stars that covered the night sky. 

"There's still a chance to back out now." Gomory spoke after the quiet drive to their destination. 

"We're here. Plus, I am not leaving this place until I get some money for gas." She parked the motorcycle and entered the lobby, where the floor and walls were made with the same marble material. 

The elevators doors slid open, with cheerful music playing through the speakers. She looked at the dozens of floor written on each pushbutton and pressed the shimmering button located above all the others. "Here we go." She muttered softly as the doors slid shut. The sound of whirring hummed around the elevator as it ascended. Akane tapped her foot as she waited, with the cheerful elevator music growing more irritating and repetitive by the second. "Didn't they ever think to change the soundtrack?"

"I'm pretty sure the architect's first priority wouldn't be the music in the elevators."

"Well, they could at least speed up the elevator, right?" Akane looked at the mirrors that lined the interior of the elevator, adjusting her hair and pushing away thick strands that obstructed her view.

"I suppose the time before one reaches the top floor would allow any passengers of the elevator to indulge in casual conversation." Gomory spoke with an uninterested tone. 

"Alright..." Akane tapped her foot with a faster pace. "Seen any good movies lately?"

"Since I can't go anywhere without you taking the lead, the only movies I've seen recently are those..." Gomory paused herself, her voice growing with a sense of disgust. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad." 

"You're joking, right?" 

"I mean, if you had a little more context--"

"I think we've done enough talking about that." Gomory blared out dismissively. Their conversation fell silent, with a mixture of the music from the speakers and elevator humming providing noise to fill in the deafening quiet. 

"Again, if you gave it a chance you'd--" 

"Let's not talk about that ever again."

Ding!

The elevator came to a halt, with the elevator doors sliding open, revealing a concrete stairwell that led to the rooftop. "We could always go back down." Gomory pleaded once again, only to receive silence from Akane. 

This is it, the opening act. This could mean the start of something I've been searching for all my life, or I'll die a faceless nobody and burn in Inferno for all eternity. Akane took a step up the stairs, a slight tremble came from her hands as she took another step forward. She shook her head back and forth a few times before giving herself a slap on the cheek. "It's game time."

She opened the service door and took a step on the rooftop, feeling the gravel underneath her feet. She noticed a lone figure, admiring the view of the city, with the lights seamlessly mixing with the stars above. "So this is that Sidewinder guy, right?" Gomory asked. Akane nodded. 

"He doesn't look like he'd be the janitor." Akane slowly walked towards him. I guess he doesn't know I'm here yet. She reached for the hilt that was holstered, ready to be drawn. The sound of the gravel shifting underneath her foot was enough to get him to turn around and face her, with part of his mane covering his left eye. Her hand was on the hilt, fingers curled around the handle. It's all psychological warfare from here. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

He spit the cigarette perched between his lips and nodded. "Sure is." He rolled up the sleeves of his snow white shirt and adjusted the firmness of his fingerless gloves. "So you're Miss Thirteen." He spun the barrel of his engraved revolver and placed the barrel against his head. 

Holy s**t. "What are you--" Before she could finish, he pulled the trigger, closing his eyes as he heard the click from the hammer; however, no bullet was fired. He opened his eyes and let out a relieved chuckle. 

"Just a way of fate telling me I'll be fine. If I were going to lose this fight, I should've died then and there, with my brains all over this rooftop." He filled the empty chambers of his revolver with bullets. "So..." He paused as he twirled the revolver with his index finger. "What kind of beastie are you?" 

"A ghoul like you, or that's what a little birdie said." Akane answered, taking a few more steps forwards, her fingers gently tapping the side of the handle, with her heart rate increasing with each step she took. 

"Is that so? Why's your skin all... gray like that?" He faced away from Akane, leaning against the edge of the rooftop. 

"Part of the pact with my Inhibitor." Akane explained, stopping in her tracks as he faced her once again.

"You got it easy." He pushed away the locks of hair that covered his eye, revealing a beady, bright snake's eye. "I've got f*****g depth perception because of this thing..." He pointed towards the eye, watching it dart back and forth, scanning the area. "But I guess that's what makes us ghouls. Can't be resurrected without some imperfection in our new lives to haunt us." 

"Don't worry, you won't live with that imperfection, because you're going to die here." Akane spoke as she drew the hilt from her belt and pointed at him.

He chuckled. "Where's the blade?" 

Akane pressed down on the activation pad to trigger the beam saber's power, only for it to release sparks from its port. "You've never seen the Galaxy Strife movie saga, episodes four through six?" 

He remained silent, rubbing his temples with one hand. "Here I was expecting a fight." The Sidewinder paced back and forth, shaking his head to himself. 

"Well, you've got one. Now draw, f****r!" Akane ordered as she pressed the activation pad again nervously, only for the same result. No, not now!

"I told this might happen! You f*****g idiot!" Gomory shouted. 

The Sidewinder sighed and pointed the revolver at Akane. "Let me just end any further embarrassment right now. Say goodnight, Sunshine." The shot rang out in the night sky as the bullet cut through the air with ease. 

I can't believe it! I'm going to die in the first thirty seconds of a fight? She held her demonic arm out and closed her eyes. After a few moments of silence, Akane was surprised to not feel the bullet hit her. She opened her eyes and noticed a spectral arm stopping the bullet in midair. "What?" Akane's eyes widened in disbelief as she lowered her arm, causing the spectral arm to disappear. 

"How the hell did you do that?" The Sidewinder asked, adding another bullet to the chamber. "Forget it, now die!" His cool demeanor suddenly twisted into anger as he fired at her, with several bullets barely missing her body while others were caught by the spectral hand once again. 

Akane cheered merrily as she saw no bullet wounds anywhere around her. "Gomory, how'd you do that?" 

"I'm..." Bewildered, Gomory paused. "Not sure, really."

"Damn you, those are thousand dollar bullets! I'm going to toss you off this building!" He shouted at Akane, who continued to rejoice. "Stop! Pay attention while I'm threatening you!" He shrieked. 

"Alright, if you want a fight, then let's fight." Akane spoke, feeling a burning sensation from deep within her. The Sidewinder quickly reloaded and fired once again as Akane held her demonic arm out, with the spectral handing catching a few of the bullets while she used the physical demon arm to deflect the rest of the projectiles, close enough to slam her fist against the side of his skull, causing him to stumble. 

He groaned and swung the revolver at her with a blind rage. She ducked down, giving her a sliver of time to punch him with a right hook, causing blood to trickle down from his jaw. There's something about this arm! She continued with her relentless assault, jabbing at his chest and gut. This is it, this is what I've longed for! This feeling in my blood, my soul, my essence! 

"Enough of this!" The Sidewinder pulled out a hidden pair of blades from the inside of his shirt. "I'm gonna cut that arm off!" He gritted his teeth as he swung one of the daggers at her, only for her to stop the blade with the palm of her demonic arm. "I've got you now!" He declared as he swung the other dagger at her exposed side. With a wicked grin he jabbed the blade at her, puncturing her jacket. 

"I liked this jacket, m**********r!" Akane kicked him in the gut, putting weight as she slammed the heel of her sneaker into his abdomen, causing him stumble back and clutch his stomach, wheezing for air. She stopped and looked at the hole the Sidewinder's dagger made, letting out a groan. "Not very sportsmanlike." She commented, grabbing the beam saber once again, pressing down the activation pad rapidly. Come on, this'll really increase my style factor if this s**t worked! 

"Not bad, but I've been through worse." 

"I'm guessing it was at an optometrist's office." Akane replied, causing the Sidewinder to shout ferociously, charging at her with frightening speed. I have to predict his next move, but he's too fast... I'll just take a shot in the dark.

She punched upward, ready to connect her fist against his skull, only for him to avoid the attack and slide past her, grabbing his revolver off the floor. "Nice try, but now it's over!" He proclaimed as he loaded his revolver, jumping high into the air and loading his gun with a special bullet that had the words Night Night etched into its side. He fired at Akane, with the bullet's casing shattering, releasing a barrage of pellets that exploded on impact with the ground. Despite trying to stop as many pellets as she can, a wave of eruptions consumed the area with a cloud of smoke following soon after. 

The Sidewinder landed back on the ground, dusting off the debris from the detonated pellets. There was silence on the rooftop, with the clouds of smoke beginning to drift off. He chuckled and pulled out his lighter and a new cigarette, placing it between his lips. He flicked the lever on the lighter and activated the flame. "Not bad, not bad." He muttered, relaxing his shoulders. He turned away from the scene of the explosions and admired the gorgeous scenery around him. "Another fool who thought the world was theirs." 

A low pitched humming came from the clouds of smoke. Amidst the dissipating smoke, a brilliant crimson light appeared. "If you're going to celebrate killing someone, make sure they're dead first." Akane commented as she ran out of the smoke, her beam saber finally activated. With swing of her saber, the Sidewinder's head was severed in a single attack. His head plopped down on the ground, landing in the rubble with a thud. Grabbing his severed head by his hair, she turned his head towards the view of the city. "How's the view?" His eyes and facial muscles twitching as he saw the gorgeous city lights for a final time, unable to tell the city apart from the night sky. 

"Beautiful..." He uttered softly, with a final sigh. She dropped the head, tapping the activation pad on her beam saber, causing the field holding the plasma to withdraw, back into the hilt. So that was a fight. She smiled, letting out an accomplished sigh, only to have the reality hit that her hands were covered in blood. 

"Ew, ew, ew! I touched a f*****g severed head! What's wrong with me?" She asked as she waved her hands around in disgust. 

"That question keeps me up at night." Gomory answered. "I don't think I will ever be able to answer it."

Akane's disgust was halted by clapping. "Congratulations, Akane. You have successfully eliminated the Sidewinder. Making you the twelfth in the ladder of executioners and assassins." Vivienne explained as she waltzed towards Akane with two men in hazmat suits carrying vacuum cleaners and pressure washers. 

"Listen, I'm not interested in this little competition. I did the job, so I hope you can hold your part of the bargain." Akane spoke, glaring at Vivienne. I'd be a lot angrier for trying to coax me into more odd jobs if she weren't so damn cute.

"Yes, of course. I completely understand; however, the agency I work for is looking for people like you. If you ever run into more troubles again, you know where to call me." Vivienne spoke in a soft voice, gently placing her index finger under Akane's jaw, causing her gray face to turn bright red. 

"R-right. Um, what about the money?" Akane quickly tried to change the subject to avoid blushing in public. Vivienne nodded and snapped her fingers at one of the men in hazmat suits, who waddled towards Akane with a briefcase. He opened the lid and revealed stacks of hundred dollar bills, filling the suitcase to the brim. He closed the briefcase and handed it to her, with her eyes widening as she held the container full of money. 

"Well, you're free to go. We will be taking care of this mess so no one bats an eye." Vivienne spoke, giving Akane a kiss on the cheek. "Ta-ta!"

Stupefied, Akane quietly walked back to the elevator, watching the elevator doors shut. "You have to press a button if you want us to move somewhere, Akane." Gomory blurted out, snapping her out of her dazed state. She hit the Ground Floor button and felt the elevator begin its descent. 

"I thought you said this arm didn't have any effects since that failed possession." Akane glanced down at the arm, raising an eyebrow. What the hell does it do exactly?

"That's as far as I know. I'm sure there's some way to understand it and access its full potential." Gomory answered. 

"But that... other arm, it came out of nowhere and caught the bullets." Akane opened and closed the palm of her right hand, examining her hand closely. 

"I don't have all the answers... I'm sure it's that 'force' you were mentioning before, but we don't need to worry about that now that we're done with this whole 'executioner' business." Gomory spoke with relief in her voice. Akane remained silent, glancing down at the briefcase. "Oh no, no, no." Gomory protested. 

"Come on, just one more time and I'll get a real job." Akane pleaded. 

Gomory sighed. "Yes, just once and that's it." 

✧✧✧

As one of the men wiped the blood and debris from the fight, Vivienne spoke quietly on the phone. "No, she doesn't have any idea about it..." She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one heard her conversation. "I just paid her, but she'll be back to do more fights... They always do." 

One of the men approached, putting a hand on her shoulder and caused her to jump. She covered the phone speaker with her hand and turned to the cleaner, who pointed to the body. "Alright, we cleaned the area. We're gonna go haul the body back to Necropsy and call it a night." 

Vivienne nodded. "Yes, yes. That's fine." She waved her hand dismissively as the two men zipping up the remains in a body bag. She removed her hand from the speaker and placed her mouth near the microphone. "Sorry about that." She walked towards the edge of the rooftop and admired the city lights. "Don't worry, it'll be killing two birds with one stone..."