The Dream (M)

"Thank you. I'll see what I can do." Ramona took the item and headed off quitelly, as Kobe silently vanished into the shadows leaving the two shadow users alone.

Hiroshi figured it was also that time to start leaving. "Well, better get started. If either us find anything, then well goes without saying."

It was going to be worse for him since he didn't have anything in particular that he could remember to help find them in this case.

Neither did Mad. He was just as in the dark as the others were. But that wasn't going to stop him from doing what he could to find them.

It was about five minuets later when Marcen checks in "Update time, everyone. Sam and I just got to Haneda Airport and Sam's already picked up the girl's scent." he informs everyone "We're following it now. Will keep you all updated."

Mad had stopped dead in his tracks while Marcen was talking, his face was unreadable "Let us follow them..." he growls as he melts into the shadows.

Hiroshi wordlessly followed after, also going into the shadows. Hopefully they would be able to find something. If Ramona's energy sense was further along it would of helped a lot, but they had to make due with what they had.

What would have helped instantly, would have been to call Jason and see if he could help. In addition to knowing things, his energy sense was more refined than Ramona's and he would have been able to find Abraxus' family immediately.

However, as it was, Marcen and Sam were heading out of the city "Update. It seems the kidnappers took the hostages out of the city by way of car or van. Sending the coordinates now." Marcen says.

Mad stops travelling through the shadows "I know where they are..." he snarls "Follow me..." he starts back towards Hunter HQ. Abraxus needed to be the one to handle this.

While that much was true, it was something that sometimes slipped Hiroshi's mind simply because he tried not to make it a habit to call for his help every time something happened.

Hiroshi didn't have to be told twice, he followed after Mad. Of course with the update, Ramona and Kobe were also on the case but the former was being more subtle this go around, since as Marcen said they didn't want to spook their targets but it seemed like either they had, or they were just leaving to be on the safe side.

Marcen was in his office when Mad knocks "Who is it?" he demands.

Mad opens the door without being told to enter "I know where your family is..." he growls "Come with us..."

Abraxus grabs his coat and sword "Let's go before the Heroes find them." he says as he joins Mad and Hiroshi.

Mad places a hand on Abraxus' shoulder and drags him into the darkness. This was the first time Abraxus had ever travled like this, he found it to be... "His heart..." something hissed in the darkness "Eat his heart... it's power... will make us... much stronger..." the Darkness hisses.

"Ignore them... they say the samething... almost every time... they can do nothing on their own..." Mad explains as they walk out of the shadows.

They find themselves in a forest, just inside of a small cave "In that direction... is a temple that has long been abandoned... they are there..." Mad snarls.

Abraxus seemed dubious about Mad's info "How could you possibly know that? Did you check it out first?" he asks.

Mad shakes his head "No... But there is nothing else in this direction where they would not draw suspicion..."

Abraxus puts his sword and jacket on "Have the Heroes stand by. If it checks out, I'll handle it. If not, the search continues." he starts off.

Mad starts to follow after some time after Abraxus "He may require aid..." he snarls.

Hiroshi did just that, to tell them to be on stand by though he wasn't one hundred percent sure. After all, it was a hostage situation so wouldn't stealth be optimal?

At the words, he nodded and followed silently there was no need for idle chit chat except for what was needed.

What Hiroshi may not have known about Abraxusn is that he Was trained in stealth and was quite good at it. As he approaches the temple, he can see a couple of guys arguing about something, Abraxus didn't care to listen inn they were distracted and that's what counted.

He manages to slip inside, thanks to the many openings of the temple, and sticks to the shadows. The two outside were Jinn, so he figured they were talking about money.

He sees another one, a Thunder Demon... Abraxus didn't know he had grieved their kind. But what sort of got Abraxus on edge was that there was a Dog Demon there as well. That guy would be very hard to put down, the others, not as much.

This just got a whole lot harder and he Still wasn't sure that his mother and sister were here. Maybe he should have that Ramona woman handle the Dog Demon. She was suppose to be plenty strong And she was like him, a demi human.

* *

Mad was sticking to the shaded areas of the forest, just to keep out of sight, and stops when he sees the two Jinn, still arguing. One didn't like what they were doing, saying the money wasn't worth the fury of the Hunters, and the other was telling him that the money was well worth the risk!

Mad moves a hand close to an area by the temple "They have a barrier up... it guards against our kind... it seems they were expecting Us... and not Abraxus..." he snarls "This... complicates matters..."

Hiroshi frowned a bit. "I wonder if was us specifically or just anyone that can travel through shadows. Doesn't matter though. I'm more worried about Abraxus since we don't know all who are in there."

Mad reaches to his neck and rips off the medicine bag and throws it to the side "If he needs help, he'll have it." Mad grumbles, his eyes no longer glowing. He was a normal person now.

Mad pulls out a nornal gun, though, it was a Hunter provided weapon, so there was likely nothing 'normal' about it.

Mad takes aim, very carefully, pauses a bit, readjusts his aim, then finally fires! He wasn't aiming at the two guards, who were still arguing at the timen but rather, he was aiming at the van they had parked to the side "Handle them. I'm going to disable the barrier." he says as he starts off.

One of the Jinn points to where Hiroshi and Mad were "Look there! A Hunter?" one asks as he pulls out a gun as well, so does his friend.

The dog demon on the inside instinctively flinches at the gunshot, Abraxus holds steady as he jumps down, his sword drawn. He didn't have his crystals out, because he couldn't. There was some kind of supernatural energy barrier keeping him from using them and if He couldn't use his divine powers, chances were good the dog demon couldn't either.

"Well, that certainly was fast. I figured we would have at least a few times to move around before you caught up." he says in a cool tone as he draws a sword as well.

The two start to circle each other, weapons at the ready, the dog demon keeping the door behind him, at his back "I take it my mother and sister are behind that door. I'll have them back now." he says.

The dog demon laughs "Well, you're more than welcome to try. But we know that even a demi devil like you are no match for even the basic, untrained, of my kind." he points out.

Abraxus lunges at the dog demon, using his skills that he learned throughout the years. To a degree he would be right, his kind are ridiculously, stupidly overpowered. But now, however, that wasn't the case. Now, Abraxus had the advantage, in both strength and skill!

In the ensuing sword duel, Abraxus manages to land a blow on the dog demon, which causes him to recoil from the blow. Abraxus knew it wouldn't to much, again, stupidly OP. Still, this give Abraxus a chance to shoulder ram the dog demon, which sent him through the back door!

Over in a corner, on a mattress, bound and gagged, were his mother and sister. They seemed a bit shocked that someone crashed into their 'room'. They start making muffled sounds, this distracts Abraxus enough for the dog demon to pull a gun and shoot Abraxus twice in the chest!

He staggers back and falls to the ground, dropping his sword, which gets muffled screams from the two in the corner "Oh calm down. He's fine. His jacket is bullet proof." the dog demon says as Abraxus coughs a bit, then rolls over to pick himself up, pulling the bullets out of his jacket's lining "See? He's fine..." he shoots Abraxus in the leg, which causes the demi devil to fall to one knee. This only gets a grunt of pain from him "But not for long." he says.

To his surprise, Abraxus slowly stands back up "You think you're so clever, huh? Well guess what? I didn't come here-" another shot rings out, cutting Abraxus off. But this time, it didn't come from the dog demon, but rather Mad, who mad his way there after he heard the first two shots, which struck the dog demon directly in the side of the neck!

This brought the dog demon fo his knees as Abraxus turns "God damnit, Mad! Couldn't you have waited until I was finished?" he asks as he picks up his sword, limps over to the dog demon, who was struggling to stop the bleeding from his neck, and Abraxus brings the hilt of his sword hard down on his head, knocking him outn or killing him, either way Abraxus was alright with.

He starts to hobble on out while Mad takes care of his mother and sister. He had no wish to face them, even though it's been years since he actually seen them.

There was still the two Jinn around, they hadn't noticed him and he had the guns so if he wanted he could take them out both. He didn't want to kill if he could help it, but first. 'Is there anything I should know about Jinn before I shoot? Only get one shot then they know where I'm at.'

They Had, in fact, noticed Hiroshi and were currently circling around to flank him on both sides. It would only be a matter of time before they were out of the barrier's range and could use their elemental powers in combination with their guns!

"Yes... most have control over at least Two elements..." the Obliterator snarls "They have enhanced physical stats... and can combine their elements to create different attacks... finally... they can use outside elements as their own..." he snarls.

'We'll just wait for them to exit the barrier and get this over with quickly..'

The moment they stepped into his own domain, they put on the armor on and get to work. He'd aim for disabling shots and try to knock them out, they could also have useful information of who they were Really working for. In the mean time he let them come, feigning weakness to lure them into a false sense of security as well as draw them out.

It didn't take the Jinn long to get close as one forms an ice lance and the other uses dirt and rock to form armor around himself "They are clear of the barrier..." the Obliterator growls, pointing out the obvious "We are still stronger than both of them..." he grumbles.

Wordlessly, Hiroshi's armor came into play as the two men got close enough and did their own thing. He used the shadows to his advantage to reposition himself to another area to the side of them, aiming his gun at their legs and firing to disable them. The one with the earth armor may not go through if it connected in the first place, but they had other methods.

The first one goes down as expected, but he doesn't stay down as he freezes his leg and opens fire on Hiroshi! The Darkness Armor stops the bullets, like they were nothing but buzzing flies.

The Other Jinn doesn't go down as easily, as all the attack does was chip away at his armor. He thrusts his hand at Hiroshi, which launches a ball of fire!

This gets a hiss of pain from the Obliterator, but the Jinn doesn't stop there as he pulls some rocks up, melts them down and turns them into lava, which he crushes into the shape of a five star blade of burning death!

The fire/rock Jinn was suddenly dowsed in water from the other guy "What the Hell, man! Are you Trying to burn down the Entire forest?" he yells to his comrade.

The other guy turns to his friend, Hiroshi had been forgotten, it seems "Not cool, man! I was about to turn that Freaky Friday into a crispy critter!"

"Oh, you want Cool, huh?" says the other as he starts to freeze the water on the fire Jinn with his air element.

"What the Actual fuck?" he demands as he starts to melt the ice, then proceeds to march over to the other Jinn and the two start to tussle.

"It would be a shame to disturb them now..." the Obliterator snarls.

Just then, Abraxus comes limping out as he pulls his phone out to call in back up by way of other Hunters. He sits on the crumbling stone fence and pulls a first-aid kid from his jacket.

'Fine with me. Looks like who ever hired them didn't check for having the best discipline.'

But hey if they were going to, he wasn't going to stop them so he sinked away into the darkness from the two fighting. He was still annoyed he couldn't go inside since he had No idea what the hell was going on in there, but he did spot Abraxus and quickly made his way over there.

"What happened? Did you two manage to get them?"

Abraxus nods as he wraps his leg "Yeah. There was a dog demon calling the shots. I guess he was pissed at how the Hunters treated his kind in the past. Or some shit..." he mumbles as he ties the bandage in a knot.

He could hear the other Hunters on their way "B-brother?" asks a small, shy voice from over by the temple entrance.

Abraxus doesn't need to look to see who it is "Yes Amy, it's me." he saysn already guessing her and his mother's reaction to seeing their kind hearted brother and son, having become this monster with ice in his veins.

"Come, Hiroshi... we should leave them to their reunion..." Mad growls, having his medicin bag back on.

Hiroshi was all right with that, he wanted to get back to Taki though he wasn't sure if she there waiting or went home already. He'd find out either way, but he wondered what questions Taki even had to ask that he didn't think of.

________

Aika Johnson was scheming.

They had been rescued and returned home, according to what the heroes said her son had done the deed.

A normal, healthy sane person would of been pleased by this, but Aika despite the face she put on the public when going about er day to day life had something very different going under the hood. To her, it was the fact she knew Hiroshi had called them but hadn't checked. With all the transgressions he had made in her mind, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

It was her that had taken that ungrateful boy in. It was her had given him shelter and food when she didn't have to. For all her hard work and she was thanked by rebellion, and normally during those times it be enough to prod mold him as she wanted. A tug there, a comment in passing from some time ago to target his self esteem. All this was for his own good, as he be useless otherwise if not her. It was perfect.

At least until those damned witches.

It had been a novelty at first, and she hadn't thought much of it but they had undermined all her hard work. Of course when the damage had been done, it was a bit too late and it would look suspcicious to a complete 180 on things and she could not afford that. For a convert narracist, death of reputation could be more painful then physical death. She hated that family, but was realistic she being a normal human she could do nothing, instead her power relied on her cunning and manipulation, mundane methods. She get back at them one day.

What she craved was other half of power. Manipulation, smarts and connections were indeed powerful and useful in their own right, but they didn't feed the urge of the whole package. It was another reason she hated the Izumi's, that legacy of power and they did nothing with it, nor did she have any power herself.

Aika got out of the shower to get dressed, her useless husband thankfully went out after saying no again. If she wasn't attached to the image, she would of divocrced them by now, otherwise he did nothing for her not even physically.

The real question was, what to do about Hiroshi? Her usual tricks may not work as he didn't live there and was in a sense distancing himself. He was also very vague about certain details, as if learning she might use it for later. She had briefly considered hiring a woman to seduce them, then frame for forcing himself on her and thus crippling his reputation.

She discarded it, not because of a certain sense of humanity but too much risk to it blowing up to her own reputation if found out. Too many missing parts and things she couldn't account for. The most she could was he liked a woman named Musume, or maybe it was someone else like young Taki? It didn't matter. She knew her son enough they either say no, they screw it up if they took pity. She knew what her son was and wasn't capable of and he was useless with women or finding anyone.

Perhaps something for the moment a bit less extreme, a revised idea to hit on his insecurirt and punish them.

If he would not bend, she'd break slowly mentally and emotionally piece, by piece and brick by brick. She needed time and patience.

Taki was in a meeting with Harlan by the time Hiroshi and Mad got back. As soon as Hiroshi showed up at Hunter HQ, Tomeko was around to keep an eye on him. She would always Just keep out of sight, just showing herself enough to let hin know she was there.

Hiroshi figured that may of been the case, she was probably talking to Harlan about the book thing or something; either way he could afford to wait around until she was done. He did notice a certain Oni around there but he wasn't sure what she wanted. "Did you want something Tameko?"

The Spyder Oni ducks away, like she's been doing since Hiroshi got back "I believe she is keeping an eye on you... to make sure you do not bother the Blader..." the Obliterator growls.

It wasn't too long before Abraxus comes back with the containment unit. His leg was all patched up and they had three Inhumans in custody. Abraxus was alone.

Normally, the Hunters would contact the Dog Demons to deal with one of their own who had gotten out of hand, but they all had seemingly disappeared. Rumor was they had moved to Elysium, which was well outside of the Hunter's jurisdiction.

That annoyed Hiroshi a bit, it wasn't like he didn't know the meaning of no. If she wasn't interested, she wasn't interested and he'd respect their wishes just to remain friends. He turned the young out after that completely and started messing with his phone.

'So you have any ideas how to maybe sell these necklaces to someone? It seems a bit out there just to try to sell it as some deity wanting followers. You kind of need a hook in sales and I don't realistically have one.'

Taki may or may not find the book of life to help, and it may be too dangerous for her to do it without damaging her soul in some way. So it didn't hurt to try the original plan far as helping Sarah, even if he was skeptical and she wasn't even wearing the necklace.

"Yesss..." the Obliterator hisses, one could Tell he would be smiling if he had a face "You have necklaces... you know someone who owns a jewelry store... have the fallen dark god provide the crystals... make a deal with the Mystic woman... she makes and sells the necklaces... advertises them as protection charms that work if you believe in the fallen dark god... you split the profits 20/80... everyone gets something from this deal..." he explains.

Taki comes walking back, she had a book bag slung over her shoulder "Hey. Sorry for the wait. Hope tou weren't..." she trails off spying the Oni girl who was tailing Hiroshi. Tomeko straight took off when she seen Taki, like she was scared of running into her or something "Um, Hiroshi, what the hell?" she asks, a bit confused.

That could work, and Hiroshi was fine with it. When Taki came and the young girl took off, it did confirm something of his. "Tameko is likely scared of you because you're Nixa. From what Musume said, some of them weren't the nicest to their kind, so she might be going on reputation alone. I'm guessing you didn't try to talk to the two yet?