by James Quinn
We'll see about that sunshine, thought Gorilla. He knew a Dojo was the name of a Japanese martial arts training hall. But this place was something different. It reeked of death and he guessed it was the place where the Raven and his assassins honed their killing skills. “Where is he, Nakata? Upstairs I guess, hiding, guarding his virus?”
“Ahhh… you are well informed about our Oyabun and the Kyonshi he intends to create! Oh, what an assassin you would have made for us, Mr. Grant, able to penetrate into the heart of the enemy and kill him. If only your calling had been true to the clan, oh, we could have accomplished great things.”
“The name's Gorilla.”
Hokku looked confused. “I do not understand?”
“I told you once that only my friends and enemies call me Gorilla… you've now earned that right,” snarled Gorilla.
“As a friend?” asked Hokku, with wry humour.
“No,” replied Gorilla coldly. Both Gorilla and Crane had their Remington's trained on the large Japanese killer; really, they could have ended it there and then. But something held their fingers back on the triggers, something that pricked the senses of each of them. They watched as Hokku leaned forward and touched the floor before him with two hands and then jumped to his feet, landing in a crouch. He stretched out his legs and clapped his hands together in the ritual of the wrestler. His size and strength was even more impressive close up. Gorilla suspected those hands could crush bricks.
Hokku stood before them, ready in a fighting pose, his face a mask of concentration as he regarded the two gunmen before him. He smiled. “You think I am a fool, Gorilla, to stand before you unarmed and naked. I am no fool and I am not unarmed…”
It was then that they leaped from the darkness, vicious things, animals of power! They had speed and aggression, but worse than that, they had teeth…
* * *
The three Japanese Tosa fighting dogs sprang forward from the hidden depths of the room. Their teeth were bared and they were ready to attack anything that threatened their master, the giant Hokku. They were big and powerful, and in the brief moment when one ran at him, Gorilla was aware of the muscles rippling underneath the animal's fur. He managed to bring the Remington up in a snap and blasted off a round that decapitated the dog when it jumped to rip out his throat. The wet spray of its blood streaked his face and torso as the body of the dog slapped onto the floor in front of him. He risked a quick glance over to where Crane had been standing and saw that the Special Forces man had been knocked to the ground, his weapon dislodged, with one dog at his weapon arm and the other pinning him to the ground by his throat. There was a faint squelching noise, as if someone was ripping out the guts of a fish, and then blood was pumping freely from Crane's throat.
Gorilla turned the Remington and snapped out two blasts, killing both the dogs, the force of the rounds picking their bodies up and throwing them against the wall with a satisfying crunch. The whole incident had taken seconds… probably less, but it had been more than enough time for Hokku to close the distance between them and reach out with his huge killing hands, ready to pummel and crush Gorilla. Hokku knocked the Remington from his hands with an atemi strike, sending it scattering across the matted floor. Then, like a child picking up a teddy bear, he lifted Gorilla up in an underarm bear hug and instantly began to squeeze, squashing the smaller man's body in his powerful arms.
Gorilla felt the pressure, the power, of Hokku's arms, an exhalation of air spewed out of his lungs, and his ribs started to cave in from the pressure. And all the while, this giant killer was grinning maniacally inches from his face, which was a mask of sweat and bared teeth. Gorilla did the only thing he could – he punched. He brought his arms up and with as much power as he could muster, sent out right and left crosses, striking at the man's nose, jaw… just about bloody anywhere… desperate to make him stop his crushing. He might as well have saved his energy for all the good it did, the blows just bounced off and Hokku carried on grinning and crushing. The eyes, go for the fucking eyes, Jack, he thought. But the bigger man, seemingly sensing Gorilla's next play simply burrowed his head in his victim's chest… and still the pressure increased. Gorilla could feel the last of the air escaping his lungs and knew his ribs would start to snap soon. He had to do something if he wanted to survive the next few moments… he had to… think of… something…
Then he knew.
He couldn't reach the guns in the holsters on his hip and underneath his armpit; but if he stretched his body upwards, even just a few inches, he might be able to lean back and reach into his back pocket. The back pocket which held his ever-faithful cut-throat razor. He sucked in the last gasp of air he could manage and stretched backwards, pushing his right hand deep into the rear pocket of his trousers… and relief swept over him when the cold metal connected with his hand and he pulled it free. He swung his body back upwards – Christ, the pain in his ribs was fucking killing him, this bastard was determined to pulverise his internal organs. He heard the crack as one of his ribs gave way and knew it was now or never. He flicked open the razor blade one-handed, grabbed hold of the top of Hokku's head and then very carefully, probably too carefully for a man in his current precarious position, he lay the shiny blade gently along the side of the giant's neck.
The brachial artery runs along the side of the neck and Gorilla knew the cut would need to be deep to be effective. He pressed down and pulled the razor's edge back at the same time, in one smooth and deep motion. The blood instantly began spurting upwards and outwards, like a high pressure fountain and the giant Japanese man roared in shock. At once, he released his grip and Gorilla was left to fall to the ground. He dropped in a heap, right next to the Remington. Looking up, sucking breath in past the agony of the broken rib, he saw Hokku, both hands to the wound, trying to hold the blood back and failing. The giant man was fast going into shock and the colour drained from his face as the blood emptied from his body, but even now he was still trying his best, lurching towards the little gaijin who had bested him.
Gorilla was taking no chances, injured himself and exhausted, he knew he couldn't survive another unarmed encounter. He reached over to snatch up the Remington and from a kneeling position, aimed the weapon at Hokku's massive frame. He didn't know what the next load in the chamber was, and he didn't care… he just needed to stop this monster. He pulled the trigger and the solid load split Hokku's head clear in half. The body fell backwards, crashing onto the mat. Gorilla stood and stared, wondering if that was it. Hokku's head looked as if it had been split with a sledgehammer, his face pulverised. There was still a sign of faint breathing coming from the giant, but Gorilla knew it would soon be over for him. He checked the breech of the Remington. Empty. The last round had managed to save his life. He turned to look at Crane. The Special Forces man was dead, with wounds like that, there was no coming back.
Gorilla pressed his fingers against his ribs, wincing at the pain from the one that was fractured, but satisfied to discover it seemed to be the only one. And then he stumbled towards the back of the room, where one final set of stairs awaited him. There was no door in place to stop him this time. It was almost welcoming, in fact. It seemed he was being given free access to the upper level, the most secret inner sanctum and he slowly began to climb up into the Raven's presence. He felt he'd earned it, had paid for it in blood.
Chapter Ten
Yoshida Nakata sat behind his desk and listened to the bloody murder going on below him. He was dressed in the traditional clothes of the Shinobi, dark grey trousers, shirt, gloves and the customary tabi on his feet. His mask lay before him on the desk. He'd underestimated this gaijin and his team. He had hoped to lure them into a trap, isolate them and finish them off in his own way. But he had to admit, these western spies had achieved much and taken down his best assassins.
No firearms were allowed inside the pagoda, it was a fundamental rule, and he'd hoped the use of traditional Shinobi weapons would have been enough to cut down this assault team. But Gor
illa and his men had been resilient. Even now, he wondered how his clan brother Hokku was faring. Over the past few minutes he'd heard the sound of animals growling, gunshots and the inevitable sounds of hand-to-hand combat. He knew the gunmen were approaching and they would be here in minutes… but so be it… he had gambled and thus far, he'd never lost. Not that the killing was over just yet… he still had options if he was to survive. He'd removed the last remaining sample of the Kyonshi virus from the safe built into his desk. The other operational samples were already in use, as part of his plan to destroy his enemies scattered across the world. But this was a concentrated and more powerful version… created for his personal body chemistry. It was his last ditch doomsday weapon, to strike back at those wanting to kill him.
He glanced down at the weapons lying before him on his grand desk. The two razor sharp Ninjato's and the syringe which contained the Kyonshi virus. They were two very different types of weapons; one from the old world and one from a future world. Yoshida Nakata would never be taken alive. He was committed to taking as many of his enemy down with him as he could. If today was to be his death day, then he would spill the blood of his foes before they killed him.
He heard a guttural shout from the level below him followed by a jarring silence and then, a final boom of a shotgun blast. He gently played his fingers over the cord wrapping on the handles of his swords. He would use them well today. Without hesitation, he lifted up the syringe, studied the vial's orange contents and plunged the needle deep into his arm, just above the bicep. This was the condensed version of the virus. He felt… nothing… but he knew that soon, in fact within minutes, that would all change. He would be gone forever, but his legacy would live on, all over the world. His head snapped back up when he heard footsteps on the stairs. And then at the top of the stairwell he made out the shape of a man. He was diminutive in height, but strong looking, with short blond hair. He was dressed in black, almost like a western version of a Japanese shadow warrior, a Shinobi. He looked tired, injured even, but his face was set determinedly… the… he… man… thing… Yoshida Nakata's mind started to falter, flashing backwards and forwards, as the toxins he'd pumped into his system moments before began to take effect. Fury, rage and a detached sense of strength began to filter through his mind. It was almost as if someone had replaced his body… but his mind was in a fugue and he couldn't remember what he had to do… only experienced the insatiable urge to kill.
The last thing he did was pick up his two beloved swords, gripped them in his hands and then the fury engulfed him and the Karasu-Tengu was truly born…
* * *
The '39 was dead, empty and obsolete in the holster on his right hip. The only weapon left was his back up gun, the Outdoorsman revolver. It only held six shots, but what it lacked in quantity of ammunition, it more than made up for in stopping power. Killing power, Gorilla hoped. He stood at the top of the staircase and drew the revolver from his shoulder holster. He held it loosely at his side, finger off the trigger, but ready.
The room on the top level of the pagoda was laid out like an office belonging to a high-level business executive; it held a corporate desk, exclusive artwork and paintings, comfortable leather chairs. It was jarring, a stark contrast to the sparse training room below. It took him a moment, through the darkness of the poorly lit office space, to see the thing standing like a living corpse behind the desk. This was the man he'd spent six months tracking down, so that he could kill him. The thing, whatever it was now, and which had once been Yoshida Nakata – the Raven – turned and glared at him. It seemed to have grown in size, its bone structure misshapen somehow, and its eyes were blood red. The skin on its body was greying by the minute and its mouth drooled and spat a vicious yellow fluid in alternative moments. It looked rabid. Then it would suddenly twitch, as if it had a tick, causing the black robes it wore to fly out behind it, making the thing appear as if it had wings.
To Gorilla, it looked as if the Karasu-Tengu, the Raven Demon of legend, had truly come to life. In its hands were two swords and the monster was slashing them about wildly as it tore up the desk and the chairs and the paintings on the wall with a fearsome ferocity. It took several minutes before the monster sated its initial thirst for violence, then it turned its red eyes one way, then the other, in a quest for a new target.
Gorilla reasoned that if he remained still, the 'thing' wouldn't spot him. Slowly, cautiously, he moved his hand to cock the hammer on the revolver. There was an audible 'click' and instantly, the monster's head snapped around to seek out the source. It glared at Gorilla, twitched in a spasmodic convulsion and let out an ear piercing screech. Everything was rolled into that screech; death, anger, fury – the hiss of an animal from the pits of hell. Then it ran, charging like a rampaging rhino, swords flailing, straight towards him, and all the time, filling the room with that screeching, shrill scream.
The thing had made it less than ten feet when Gorilla lifted the big beast of a revolver with two hands and fired. It was both heavier and more powerful than his '39, and he didn't want to take any chances of missing the target moving at speed towards him. He aimed at the centre of the body mass and fired constantly… once, twice, three times, four times then five. With each round that hit home, and all of them did, the thing seemed to pause in mid-air, before trying to thrust itself forward again, only to be hit by the next heavy bullet and pushed back even further. Its feet seemed to stumble, returning along its original path, past the desk and back towards the large material windows. The sixth shot caused it to fall back through the window, ripping open the thin material that created its covering and then it disappeared into the emptiness of the night. Seconds later, there was a dull thud as the body hit the snowy earth outside.
Gorilla ran to the window and peered down through the gaping slash. The ground, at least sixty feet below, was a mixture of blood and snow smeared together and at its centre was a dark spidery mass, squirming and writhing in agony from the six hard calibre bullets which had blasted it apart. The thing seemed to pause for a moment, as if the messages from its brain weren't connecting to the rest of its body. But the eyes and the scream were still there… the eyes still blazing with fury, the mouth still screeching that whine of hell. Gorilla watched for a minute or two as the body of the deformed and misshapen Japanese assassin struggled and then grew still and all signs of life disappeared.
* * *
Gorilla heard the first 'crump' of an explosion outside and knew he only had moments left to escape. The attack on the pagoda had taken longer than he'd expected. He'd intended to run a nice, quiet and fast attack. Instead, they'd been lured into a trap and fighting a hidden enemy had taken its toll both on his team and the speed of the operation. Now as a result, Hodges whizz-bangs were already starting to do their job.
He was aware of a ball of orange fire as it exploded from somewhere at the base of the pagoda, taking out the supports in one corner. Gorilla dropped the big revolver, pulled out the razor and ran for the stairs, his exhausted legs pumping as hard as he could make them. He wasn't stopping, not for anything, no more fighting – he would just cut and slash and blast past whatever stood in his way. Every level down was like a running through another level of hell as he saw the bodies of the men he'd killed and the men he'd fought beside Another 'crump' shook the building, it rocked from side to side and somewhere behind him he smelled the heavy stench of fire and explosives. On the second floor he came across an assassin, who had miraculously survived and was beginning to climb up the steps. Gorilla wasted no time in kicking the man in the face before slashing at him, slicing open his neck. He sprinted hard for the door leading to the pagoda's exit, lifting up the bolts and running out the main door. He hurtled down the steps, ignoring the bodies lying around, and ran out onto the blood red snow. He slipped and slid his way over the bridge towards the tree line. He heard a voice call his name, and saw Miko standing further along the tree line, waving frantically at him.
“Quickly! Any second now i
t—” She never finished her sentence because the sound of several larger blasts filled his ears and the shockwave of the explosion flung him into the undergrowth. He landed hard, the wind knocked out of him. Gorilla pulled himself upright and he and Miko stared at the same thing. A blaze of red and yellow flames in the darkness of the night, the fire was a furnace and there was very little of the pagoda which remained recognisable. Hodge's bombs had done their work well and all that remained was a maelstrom of fire and crackling timber and the smell of burning flesh.
“Is it over?” he heard her despite the ringing in his ears.
Gorilla nodded. “I think so, I think we did—”
He stopped mid-sentence, because from out of the inferno, a noise was emitted which sounded half human and half wounded animal. For a few seconds, neither of them could establish what it was. Then from deep within the firestorm, the inhuman cry grew louder. It rose up from the centre of the mass of burning wood, a horror from the pits of hell. Its size and shape where distorted, its body charred and burned, one of its arms severed and it trailed a leg along limply behind it. The remnants of its clothes had been tattered and torn by the explosions it had survived and tendrils of cloth blew behind it like charred wings. But still in its eyes, was the same look of madness and violence Gorilla had seen earlier. It was the Karasu-Tengu. It saw them, saw them well, and even in its weakened state the Karasu seemed determined to get to its 'feast' and kill them both.
“I've no bullets left,” Gorilla muttered out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes never leaving the monster which approached with each passing second.
Miko nodded and brought the rifle up in one smooth motion, steadied herself and fixed the scope on the centre of the Karasu's head. “For my father,” she whispered and fired. She saw the creature's head explode and watched as it dropped back into the burning pit it had come from. She lowered the rifle and glanced over at Gorilla. They stood together, their hands touching lightly, staring at the flames, watching as the charnel house they'd created burned to the ground. Even at this distance, the intensity of the fire was almost overwhelming.
