Back In Black #2

From part I, “Neo-Saitama In Flames”: “Back In Black” #2

(Previously, on Ninja Slayer: agents that work behind the scenes in the decadent acid-rainy megalo-city of Neo-Saitama, that’s ninjas. Even this night, they carry on their brutal, violent business. However, a mysterious ninja that calls himself Ninja Slayer appears out of nowhere and murders a ninja…)

“Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding… The scars left by the Christmas Eve tragedy… The mappo and firefighters are still unable to completely secure the area of the incident…” The street vision shows an oiran newscaster coldly reading the news scroll. Behind her, a shodo ink writing on a flip board says “Are the authorities neglecting their public duties?”.
“Even now, strict security measures are being taken around the scene, and a few clashes with the civilians are taking place as we speak…” The video switches, now showing civilians in helmets and the mappo beating each other with sticks, as the Molotov cocktails fly over them. And on the street scaffolds, praying cultists can be seen… “The world of Mappou! Age of evil! Repent and join us!”
“For crying out loud, I was surprised at first, but this city just never gets quiet.” On the 4th floor of an abandoned office building, a ninja in a matte-green suit speaks while looking at the blinking monitor vision outside. Then he resumes watching a beautiful oiran sitting before him, with her kimono in disarray. “Isn’t that right, Kaname=san?”
The beautiful oiran’s hands are cuffed behind her back. On both her hands are beautiful bracelets that seem to be ceramic. Those are not actually accessories, but cybernetics. It is Decorative Cuffs, implanted through underground surgery. A platinum chain connects the wrists. “I beg you… Have mercy.” “What do you mean, mercy?”
“I have tricked Omioma=san. Omioma=san was simply deceived.” “Stop it! Do you have to be so melodramatic!” The ninja interrupts her. “You’re asking me to think about your partner? Do you consider our organization to be so peaceful, giving out pardons like some kind of court, hmm!?” He grasps the oiran’s chin and looks her in the eyes! “AIEEE!”
Ninja’s menpo masks opens akin to a wasp’s jaws, leaking out hissing sounds. Kaname shuts her eyes and clenches her teeth. The ninja laughs. “I wanna violate this body of yours! But unfortunately, I have to bring you back you safe and sound first. You don’t have to worry about that. The syndicate keeps some of its promises.”
After threatening trembling Kaname to his heart’s content, the ninja glances at the doorway. Out there, five people with same dark suits and cyber-sunglasses, same hairstyle and same build stand side by side. They might as well be quintuplets. Those are clone yakuza. Without speaking a word, they await further orders while occasionally spitting on the floor.
“There is nothing left to do here. Take her out.” “””””Hai Yorokondee!””””” A perfectly synchronized response! The clone yakuza walk in, akin to marching soldiers, while the ninja kicks Kaname down to the floor. “AIEEE!” “After the damn heir has put you through the last cyber-surgery, he committed seppuku. Does that turn you on, too?”
Kaname sobs without saying a word. Her eyes are full of tears. In the oiran’s heart, she reminisces of her life… Where did it all go wrong… Are such regrets a sort of sentimentality? “She’s soiling herself!” The ninja spits out. “Do you consider yourself the main character of some special tragedy? So many idiots like you…” “YEEART!”
Ninja hears a sudden shout and looks back. A shadow outside the window! KRAAASH! The window glass is broken! “What!” The ninja quickly grasps all glass shards flying at him, preventing any injury. “AIEEE!” Kaname is covered in blood. “ZAKKENNAKORAA!” “SUZZO ORAA!” The clone yakuza take out their chaka-guns.
Before realizing that a ninja in a red-black suit came through the broken window, three out of five clone yakuza have already fell over dead, with a suriken sticking out of each one’s forehead. “ZAKKENNAKORAA!” “SUZZO ORAA!” The remaining two let their chaka-guns loose. Both hands of the red-black ninja blur. The shooting stops. Unscathed.
The red-black ninja holds up his hands and opens them. The palms reveal burning bullets, as they fall down and scatter over the floor. “Doomo.” And so, he proceeds with the aisatsu, as if going with the flow. “I am Ninja Slayer.”
“Doomo. Ninja Slayer=san.” The enemy ninja’s neurons accelerate rapidly. He realizes that this person wields some unusual karate. He bows. “I am Paraponera.” “You are a Soukai Syndicate ninja, right?” Ninja Slayer squints his eyes. “What…” “YEEART!”
In an instant, Ninja Slayer closes the distance, one inch away from Paraponera. Paraponera feels as if the time has compressed. He twists his torso, dodging the Ninja Slayer’s right fist. “GWAAH!” A diagonal wound opens on his back, spewing blood!
“ZAKKENNAKORAA!” “SUZZO ORAA!” BLAMBLAM! The remaining two clone yakuza have reloaded their chaka-guns and shoot at Ninja Slayer from both sides. “YEEART!” The red-black grim reaper quickly moves his eye, leaving a laser pointer-like trace in the darkness, and jumps. “ABBAAH!” The neck of the right yakuza is twisted, instantly killing him!
“WAMEKKORAA!” BLAMBLAM! Shouting in yakuza slang, the left yakuza keeps bombarding Ninja Slayer with bullets. Using this distraction, Paraponera backflips and assumes the karate stance again. “YEEART!” The red-black shadow bounces. “ABBAAH!” The neck of the left yakuza is twisted, instantly killing him!
“An opening!” As Ninja Slayer lands besides the left yakuza’s corpse, Paraponera jumps. The menpo’s ant-like jaw extends and sprinkles venom! Namusan! It’s a biting attack! Paraponera does not hesitate . He strikes even though he might die any minute from his wounds! A formidable opponent! One should not go easy on him! “YEEART!”
“GWAAH!?” The next moment, Paraponera is kicked in the jaw from below, sending him flying. As his vision goes out, he glimpses Ninja Slayer somersaulting from a kick’s momentum. Gouranga… That is the legendary karate move, Somersault Kick.
Paraponera’s menpo bursts into pieces from the kick’s shock. The very thing that allowed him to devour and kill many victims with deadly biting attacks, as well as to overwhelm stronger opponents with painful venom attacks, has been taken away from him, revealing his true value. His consciousness fades away.
…Paraponera comes back to his senses. He has been out for just a few seconds. The first thing that he sees are the red-black eyes looking down on him. As well as the menpo with the kanji “Nin” and “Satsu” carved out in ominous font. He tries to push Ninja Slayer away. However, he does not budge. He has already assumed the full Mount Position.
“Who are you,” Paraponera moans. “Ninja Slayer… Never heard that name… You’re not a Soukaiya ninja! What are you after?” “I shall slay you all,” Ninja Slayer replies instantly. Parabonera is filled with fear. “Why?” “…Marunouchi,” the red-black grim reaper says with some effort. “Amazingtallbuilding.”
Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding? “As of now, the preparations for the demolition of Marunouchi Amazingtallbuilding are in progress, although they are proceeding very slowly…” As if to answer Paraponera’s question, an oiran newscaster reads the news on the monitor outside. Marunouchi… Dispute… Last night…?
“Fuyuko,” the grim reaper suddenly mutters. “Tochinoki.” “What was that?” Paraponera struggles. Still won’t budge. His thoughts accelerate, trying to find a way to escape. “Are you related, shit, to that dispute last night? That was…” Paraponera’s question ends with a whimper. Ninja Slayer is crying. Tears of blood.
The bloody tears drop, staining Paraponera’s suit. He sees something change in Ninja Slayer’s eyes. The mysterious evil light resembling that of a Bengal firework has disappeared for some reason, leaving behind ordinary human eyes. A glimpse of hope is born in Paraponera’s mind. He feels the room for negotiations. “Listen, Ninja Slayer=san.” “Why did you kill them?”
“What…?” “Why did you kill them?” “What… I’ll tell you everything! If you have a grudge against the Soukaiya, I’ll sell you any intel you want… I am just a low-rank ninja, so I’m not sure how useful it will be, but…” “Why did you kill them!” At that moment, Paraponera has completely succumbed to despair. The only emotion he can see in Ninja Slayer’s eyes is rage.
“YEEART!” He swings with his fist. “GWAAH!” Paraponera can’t escape. “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” Paraponera sees the slayer once again. As he beats him down, his right pupil shrinks, greatly contrasting with the left eye that still has some traces of humanity in it. “YEEART!” “GWAAH!”
“YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” Over time, the left pupil shrinks the same way as the right one, bringing back the horrifying demonic look… “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” The tears of blood boil and evaporate. And so, Ninja Slayer bursts into laughter.

—————-

“YEEART!” “ABBAAH!” The clone yakuza’s torso is mercilessly pierced with a palm thrust. “ZAKKENNAKORAA!” “SUZZO ORAA!” The clone yakuza simultaneously take out assault rifles. Ninja Slayer uses the pierced clone yakuza’s body as a shield, quickly approaching under fire. “YEEART!”
“GWAAH!” The strafing yakuza’s neck is bent, killing him on the spot. As Ninja Slayer throws his meat shield away, he delivers kicks of frightening accuracy. “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” It didn’t even take 10 seconds to turn the rest of the strafing yakuza into same corpses.
“Impossible!” The one who turns pale while watching this unbelievable massacre is a Soukaiya ninja, Helldealer. Right before proceeding with an illegal drug deal in a port warehouse, a red-black ninja suddenly stormed in and attacked them. The other side’s dealer… The workers hired to transport the drugs… All of them have been brutally torn apart, dying in the process.
“The hell are you… I’m a Soukai Syndicate ninja, you know! If you kill me, they’ll get you sooner or later!” Ninja Slayer approaches him with determined look. In this port warehouse, the only survivor left but him is Helldealer himself! “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!”
Twisted from the impact of intense beatdown, Helldealer’s body flies like a bullet and slams into a red drum. “SAYONARA!” As Helldealer’s explosion scatters his ashes on the winds, the hazardous substance in the red drum explodes, as well! KABOOOM! The port warehouse is devoured by fire! “HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Ninja Slayer howls with laughter!
“YEEART!” And then, a suriken comes flying from the dark sea’s direction! Ninja Slayer raises his hand while turning around, catching the projectile between his fingertips. The grim reaper watches as a new ninja approaches him, zigzagging on the cold water’s surface. The thing under his feet is a hover wheel! That’s how he scates on the surface!
“Doomo. Ninja Slayer=san.” Still zigzagging across the surface, the ninja says the aisatsu in advance. Indeed. He says Ninja Slayer’s name. “I am Rubber Duck.” “…Doomo. Rubber Duck=san. I am Ninja Slayer.” Ninja Slayer returns the aisatsu, with the fire raging on behind his back.
“Cursed terrorist! The Syndicate already knows everything about your rampage. Your lucky streak ends here!” Rubber Duck delivers his sentence, still sliding on the water. “Become another sample of those who dare oppose Soukaiya, Ninja Slayer=san!” In the sky above, a square shadow appears! Namusan! It’s a kite! The ninja is carried by a kite!
Many intimidating shodo ink writings can be seen on the giant kite, such as “Kirisute,” “Get closer and hit you with a bo,” and “There is no escape”. A single glimpse of it would be enough to make even a skilled person uneasy, while a weak-willed person would wet himself and collapse, foaming at the mouth. However, Ninja Slayer endures this psychological attack. “Are you a water strider or a mosquito!”
And as those with ninja sight might have noticed, the ninja on a kite carries another ninja. “YEEART!” The kite ninja releases one of his hands, letting the other ninja fall down while rotating in midair, landing several tatami lengths away from Ninja Slayer. “Doomo. I am Squasher.”
“YEEART!” Sliding closer to the shore, Rubber Duck throws a myriad of Molotov cocktails! And as the fire blocks his escape route, he starts throwing surikens! “YEEART!” “YEEART!” Ninja Slayer avoids the surikens with a cartwheel, bowing towards Squasher as soon as he lands on his feet! “Doomo. I am Ninja Slayer.”
“Measly suriken won’t work on me.” The suriken thrown by Rubber Duck bounce off Squasher’s lead-colored ninja armor. Slowly, but steadily, he approaches Ninja Slayer. “However, they will work on you.” Indeed. Ninja Slayer has to confront him while keeping dodging the surikens.
“YEEART!” In a gap betwen the surikens, Ninja Slayer throws a chop! Squasher guards it! “Weak. Such timid karate.” Squasher triumphs. “You cannot use your karate to the fullest against both surikens and the fire. With this pincer attack, your karate is less than half as strong as it usually is!”
“YEART! YEART! YEEART!” Rubber Duck keeps throwing the surikens in the background! He does not care about Squasher being hit by friendly fire! “Because the suriken won’t work on me! YEEART!” “YEEART!” Ninja Slayer receives Squasher’s chop. Heavy!
“YEEART!” Squasher chops again. Heavy! Ninja Slayer is pushed back from the pressure. He is forced on his knees. And then the suriken stab in his back! “Don’t you even have any more strength to dodge?” Squasher asks. “Even though you’ve killed Myrmidon=san, you’re just a weakling, after aaaall!” “YEEART!”
“GWAAH!?” Squasher moans. He has been pierced in his flank with bare hands. “Impossible!” Squasher averts his eyes. It is inevitable that ninja armor is going to be weak at the junctions. And that is where he pierced it? “Stop it! YEEART!” He drops another chop! Ninja Slayer blocks it!
“Such foolishness.” Squasher puts more force in his arm. More surikens stab Ninja Slayer in the back. A ninja suriken is a throwing weapon that deals much more damage than gunshots. If he takes a few more surikens, Ninja Slayer might actually die! “You’re going to die either way!” “YEEART!”
“GWAAH!?” The next moment, the positions of Ninja Slayer and Squasher are reversed. Similar to a Dohyoo Ring move in Osumou. With his hand stuck in a gap in Squasher’s armor, Ninja Slayer moves this heavy armor along with Squasher’s body with careful use of his karate.
“You little…” The surikens hit Squasher’s back one after another. This is a shield. He tries to turn his body around and escape Ninja Slayer’s grasp. However, Ninja Slayer won’t let him do that. He shows a wicked smile right in front of Squasher. Suddenly, he remembers the meaning of fear. “What are you…” “YEEART!” “GWAAH!”
The chestplate of Squasher’s ninja armor, falls off! Squasher panicks. It’s Ninja Slayer’s hand that was stuck in his side! Applying the force on the armor’s junction, he destroyed it all! “Impossible!” Squasher’s back is still being struck by Rubber Duck’s surikens. And then, he realizes his plan!” “S… Stop it!”
“YEEART!” Ninja Slayer throws away the armor, grabs Squasher at the waist, and turns him 180 degrees around! “Sto… GWAAH! GWAH, GWAAH!?” Squasher’s screams! Ooh, unbelievable! Even though his chest is no longer protected from the surikens by the armor! “GWAAH!”
Squasher screams while being pierced by the surikens. “Stop! Stooop! Rubber Duck=san! Please stoop!” Ooh, Namu-Amida-Butsu! The fire from all the Molotov cocktails thrown to block Ninja Slayer’s escape won’t let Rubber Duck see anything! It’s a tactic of simply throwing as many surikens as possible!
“GUHAHAHAHAHA!” Ninja Slayer laughs. “That was careless of you, to rely on your armor so much without using your karate appropriately! Just as expected from the small fry of Armor Ninja Clan… Even clad in their fancy black armor, they fled from Sekibahara faster than galloping horses!” “ABBAAH!”
“…What’s happening over there?” Rubber Duck realizes that something is wrong and stops throwing surikens. As he slides on the water, he tries to look beyond the flames to understand what’s going on. In any case, as long as he stays in the water, Rubber Duck is safe. Even if Squasher is defeated, the positional advantage is on his side! “YEEART!”
That moment, something huge flies out of the flames. Something human-sized. “Unu!” Rubber Duck slides on the water, dodging the thrown object. After a huge splash, the object that floats to the surface is… Ooh, Namu-Amida-Butsu. “Squasher=san.” Rubber Duck is shocked for a moment, still sliding on the water. Squasher starts sinking.
“YEEART!” A moment later, another shadow jumps out of the flames. “It’s you!” Rubber Duck assumes a defensive stance while sliding on the water. That is, of course, Ninja Slayer! The red-black grim reaper lands on the slowly sinking body of Squasher! And he jumps again! “YEEART!” “Wha…” Rubber Duck opens his eyes wide. It’s coming. Death.
“ABBAAH!” Rubber Duck’s head is cut off with a single roundhouse kick from Ninja Slayer. “SAYONARA!” Sliding on the water, Rubber Duck explodes, scattering his ashes on the winds. The water flies up into the night sky, akin to a geyser. “SAYONARA!” A few seconds later, Squasher explodes, as well, scattering his ashes on the winds. There are now two geysers.
Even now, the port warehouse is consumed by fire, its roar resembling that of Abyss, Inferno, Jigoku. A red-black hand comes out of the sea and grabs the edge of the harbor. Another arm follows it. He pulls himself up and stands on the ground. Ninja Slayer starts walking. The dripping water is burned by his inner fire, evaporating before reaching the ground.
“Good… Good, Fujikido,” Ninja Slayer says. “This unceasing rage! Such pleasure! Let us do as you wish. Let us slay them all.” He’s talking to himself. “Slay, slay, slay them all. Until this body of yours collapses! I’ll take you as far as I can go! To the very pits of Jigoku! Gugugu… Guguguhahahaha!”

(From part I, “Neo-Saitama In Flames”: “Back In Black” #2: The End. To be continued in #3)