A Chained Memory

Toushiko's eyes widened as the swordswoman came back out with...gods, was that a person? The oni could hardly tell—her limbs were pointing in all the wrong ways, her body mangled and bloodied. Toushiko was shocked she was still breathing. "What in the nine Hells..." she breathed. What happened...? Toushiko had seen gruesome injuries before, but nothing quite like that.

It took a moment for Toushiko to find it within herself to respond to the swordswoman's threat. She snarled, her anger flaring up at both the extent of the unconscious girl's injuries and this one's inexplicable hatred. "Oh, yeah? Come an' get me, then!" she growled. "I came here lookin' for a fight, and all I found was a black puddle an' a..." She blinked as the two girls vanished into thin air. "And...a..." She scoffed. "...an' a coward."

The oni shook her head. She was in a bad mood, now. She arrived too late for the fight, and some poor girl had probably suffered grievous injuries as a result...damn it. The least she could do was assess the damage, at least. Toushiko made her way through the front door, motioning for Mirai to follow her through the thankfully-large doorway. "Hey, anybody home?" she called out.

She couldn't pull herself together too well, only managing to stop the tears and somewhat suppress her guilt. "Yeah, it did. Thank you for saving my dad and wrecking that thing, I'm sorry I couldn't do jack."

"Then what're you upset about, my adorable neme-" Tracy started, before actually noticing they had company. "Hey! Yes, we're in. Uh, sorry, are you here for the delivery?" Tracy asked, clearly unsure as to who the pair were. "Or were you here for the fight?"

"I'm just..." She looked over to Mirai and Toushi and raised a brow. "I sort of doubt theyre here for the delivery..."

Upon passing through the door, Toushiko paused as she took in her surroundings. This was...this was a battlefield, condensed into a single room. Massive holes in the wall and ceiling, black goo splattered everywhere like blood...from this and that mangled girl, the oni was starting to wonder just how much of a battle she missed.

Toushiko shot a questioning look at the two girls on the other side of the room. "Uh...yeah, no, we're here for the fight..." she said uncertainly. "Well, we were, before I smashed what was left a' the black blob into paste." She jabbed a thumb toward herself. "The name's Toushiko, and this here's Mirai," she said, stepping to the side to let Mirai move further in. The oni's gaze wandered across the battle-scarred room. "You two all right? What the hell happened in here...?

"R-Rachel... And that ink blot attacked my dad. We fought to save him and get back at it, but..." She turned down as she felt guilty rise up inside.

Mirai's eyes widened in shock. This was an even bigger amount of destruction than Toushiko caused, and Toushiko was strong as hell! Had the two guards not lead them here, who knows where that thing would have escaped?

Seeing those two girls sitting on the floor next to each other... they looked exhausted, one of them especially so. Pale skin, dried tears across her cheeks... this was all too familiar for the merchant girl.

"Oh God, please tell me that thing didn't hurt you..." her voice wavered, clearly the evidence was answer already.

"I should've been able to fight back, I should've been able to burn that thing..." she sighed in response to Mirai.

"I'm Twi- um... Tracy." Tracy responded, she turned to face the big demon woman. "Toushiko, huh? So you finished it off? Well thanks for that." Tracy smiled. Then turned to Rachel. "I'd like to say something like 'you can't save everyone', but... well, you did." Tracy commented. Finally she turned to Mirai. "It was nothing we couldn't handle. This is our city, after all. But the help is appreciated."

The doubt was plain to see on Toushiko's face at Tracy's comment about "saving everyone". If Rachel had suffered the same way Mirai had, and if that slime was the one who'd nearly killed that other girl...clearly, not everyone here had been truly saved.

The oni sighed. Damn...she really had been too late to stop anything. It was good that the slime was dead, but there was so much more she could've done, if only she'd been faster...

Well. Standing around and moping about it wasn't going to solve anything. Right now, she needed to focus on what she could do. She glanced at the unconscious Richard. He looked okay, but knowing how shaken Mirai had been by the experience of getting attacked by that thing...still, Rachel and Tracy probably had him covered.

"It was just you five here, right?" Toushiko asked. "You three, the girl with the swords, and the..." She grimaced. "...uh, injured girl?" She tried not to linger too long on the mental image of that last one. "Don't mind me askin', but I saw the sword-girl use some kinda stone to vanish into thin air along with the other girl. Any idea what mighta happened to her?"

To be honest, a part of her was still annoyed at the sword-girl for being so pissed off at her and running, but more than that, she wanted to make sure the other girl was all right. If Toushiko couldn't stop the slime from hurting her, the least she could do was try and help her recover...and also maybe kick the sword-girl's ass, while she was at it.

Tracy nodded.
"Stone thing, you say?" Tracy frowned. She turned to Rachel. "Didn't a certain superhero and her team have one of those stones when she faced Twisted Temptress at the castle?" Tracy questioned. "If it's the same stone, it probably went to the same place, right?"

"Yeah, a friend told me about that. It teleports them to a Sanctuary for Midara!" Rachel added.

"A sanctuary for midara, you say?" Mirai stroked her cat ears. "Well, I say we pay them a visit, Toush."

She could still see glimpses of the blonde girl in the back of her mind. The more she thought about it, the more it terrified her. But much like everyone, she was glad it ended before any more people got hurt.

"I... want to see if she's okay." she grimaced. "And I know you want to as well."

Toushiko leaned back on her club. "A sanctuary for midara..." she mused. "Can't say I've ever heard of a place like that, but..." She sighed. "Yeah, spot-on, Mirai. We gotta check it out, make sure that girl's doin' all right."

The oni chuckled ruefully. "And maybe I'll actually get a good fight with the sword-girl, eh...?" she muttered under her breath. She turned back to Tracy and Rachel. "So, any tips for how to get there, or...?"

Tracy shrugged.
"I mean, I was brought there by an angel once, I could probably lead the way." Tracy suggested. "But... I don't want to leave Rachel and her dad alone here..." Tracy looked to Rachel.

"Well..." She pulled out her own stone and presented it to them. "I have one of my own..."

Toushiko was about to nod and suggest using the teleport stone, but...something inside her made her hesitate. A strange feeling welled up in her gut as her gaze lingered on the stone in Rachel's hand. She couldn't quite place it at first...it felt almost alien. After a moment, she realized: it was fear.

She'd used some form of teleportation many times in the past, but...that was before the incident with her. Before the oni had realized that her summoning crystals could be misused, hijacked...and to make it worse, it wasn't something she could just train to get stronger against and eventually overcome. It was simply something that happened, whether she liked it or not. If she couldn't even trust her crystals now, how the hell was she supposed to trust some random stone?

As nonchalantly as she could manage, Toushiko shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. We've got legs, we can walk. Right, Mirai?" she said, throwing her arm around her friend's shoulder with a grin. "Tell ya what. You use that stone to get you 'n' your dad outta here, and Tracy here can lead us to Sanctuary," she suggested. "Or, everyone can walk, and I can just carry your dad for ya."

"It'll get everyone there faster if we just teleport. Besides, the Sanctuary is well-protected and safe," she argued. "Besides, walking and having to carry him could be uncomfortable for my dad and he needs good rest."

Mirai frowned. Her experience with Toushiko's crystal was... less than pleasant. It's why she sold the thing in the first place. "I am not really good with teleporty objects. They never worked for me." she said. "But we can try if you insist."

The merchant leaned in closer. "So how does it work? Do we have to feed it blood? Please tell me we don't have to feed it blood."

"No. They take just a bit of magic," she explained, skipped over the fact that hers was adjusted to work with her powers instead.

"I see... please don't strain yourself." Mirai smiled at Rachel. "You guys need all the rest you can get."

Glancing at her friend, she motioned her to touch the stone. "Well, go on then, Toush. Show us the magic!"

Toushiko held her hands up defensively and backed away from the stone. "Nope. Sorry. Not doin' it." Not after last time. "You guys can take the stone, but Mirai 'n' I'll take the scenic route." She reached forward and grabbed Mirai by the shoulder, and started dragging her friend out the door. "Just tell us where it is, we'll catch up with ya in a bit!"

Tracy frowned.
"Well, giving directions isn't exactly my strong suit... It would probably be easier for me to show you." Tracy responded. "I mean, it's not like it's on a map, or anything." She glanced at Rachel, hesitantly. "Maybe... you two should go on ahead. We can have our date once this whole situation is over." Tracy nodded. "... if that sounds alright with you?"

Rachel felt conflicted, as she didn't want to to just up and bail on Tracy, but at the same time, she wanted her father to be safe. She looked to Toushiko, the red giant, and pat her father's unconscious body. "Can...can you carry him...?"

Toushiko paused on her way to the door. She glanced back behind her at Rachel, conflict clearly visible in the girl's expression. In that moment, another new feeling bubbled up inside the oni, this one a little more familiar to her...it was shame.

Forcing Rachel to choose between going with Tracy and making sure her dad was safe, all because of some stupid worry...what kind of oni was she, to be afraid of something like this? Oni didn't fear. Oni looked at what was supposed to fear them, laughed in its face, then smashed it to pieces.

Toushiko was halfway through mustering up the courage to turn around and insist they all just use the stone when Rachel's hesitant voice broke through her thoughts. Her eyes settled on the girl's unconscious father. "Uh...sure thing," she said after a moment, slinging her club behind her back and making her way over to him. She gingerly scooped him up in her arms, his weight meaning nothing to her immense strength. After shifting him around until he looked comfortable (or as comfortable as an unconscious man could be), she turned to Rachel and nodded silently. Rachel had already made her decision; Toushiko could confront her fear another day. For now, she'd do her damnedest to make sure that Rachel's father was comfortable and safe during the trip.

With all their preparations made, the group made their way out of the battle-scarred blacksmith's shop. With Tracy leading the way, they began their trek to Sanctuary.