Argent House and Beyond
Isaac
It felt good to tell Scott about what happened between him and the masked guys. They headed straight to the Argent penthouse to get some answers from Chris...only Chris had gotten the shit beaten out of him for trying to find answers himself.
Apparently it hadn't been the first time he'd run into those things. They had a name too--Oni. Nice and scary sounding.
Scott
"Its eyes were glowing?" Scott asked. Sounded like the guys he saw...or any other supernatural creature they've run into.
Chris
"There was something ritualistic about it like it was looking into your soul," Chris said, wincing slightly as Allison patched him up. It was not a proud moment, having a bunch of teenagers come in after you got your ass kicked.
Isaac
That sounded familiar. "Like what they did to me."
Allison
"Like they did to everyone," Allison said.
Scott
"No, not everyone," Scott said. "They only went after werewolves."
Allison
"And Lydia." Who would not be appearing in this episode.
Isaac
"So who's the guy they went after in Japan?" Tell him about your tales of old, Papa Argent.
Chris
"The yakuza boss. It was my first gun down," Chris said. "I was only 18; it was supposed to be a simple exchange except Gerard failed to tell me that the buyers were yakuza. Wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. Tested my ability to improvise."
Why was he paying for that guy's nursing home bills again?
Allison
"Or your ability to survive." Worst. Grandpa. Ever.
Chris
"The moment the sun went down it was like the materialized out of the shadows," Chris said. "They had swords. Straight black steel."
Scott
"What did they want?" Scott asked.
Chris
"To get to the kumicho--the boss," Chris answered. "They cut down every living thing in their way."
Isaac
"Did they mark you like they did us?" Isaac asked, touching the back of his ear.
Chris
"Not exactly. Like I said, they were mostly after the kumicho. They ignored anyone that didn't fight back," Chris said. "The kumicho was less than human. He had these glowing white eyes and his teeth were sharp--they looked metallic."
He frowned. "The Oni impaled him on their swords and lifted him up into the air like that. He didn't stand a chance."
Scott
"What was he?" Scott asked.
Chris
"I don't know. But there might be someone who does. There were a few others who survived that night, one of them was a man named Katashi," he said. "They called him Silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic. And it looked like he was ready to take them all on himself. But before the Oni could take him out too, I managed to get a shot off and they vanished."
"I've known for awhile that Katashi was in the country, I spent yesterday tracking him down."
Isaac
Isaac noted Chris' current condition. "Didn't look like he wanted to be found."
Scott
Scott ignored Isaac's pessimism because...well, it was just easier to live life that way. "You think he knows what they are? Or what they want?"
Chris
"Maybe." Hopefully.
Allison
"What if he doesn't want to talk?" Allison asked, pointedly looking at her father's wounds.
Isaac
"What if he doesn't remember you?" Isaac asked.
Chris
Chris got up from his chair and opened up the top to a box that was on his desk. "He'll remember this."
Inside were the broken pieces of an Oni mask.
"I know I didn't kill it. I'm not sure you can. But I slowed it down long enough to get us out of there."
Scott
Scott carefully picked up a piece of the Oni mask. "What was behind the mask?"
Chris
"Darkness," he answered. "Absolute darkness."
Isaac
Scott left shortly after that. Unlike Allison and Isaac, he cared about showing up to school.
"So how are we going to get to this Katashi guy?"
Chris
"The real problem is Katashi doesn't see visitors. Ever. He's a paranoid recluse who rarely steps outside the gates of his estate," Chris said. "But he's got a thing for rare antique weapons."
Chris opened a nearby cabinet, gently pulling out a glass encased gun. "Yesterday I had some contacts put out the word I was selling one from my own collection. This is a French flintlock turnover from 1645."
Allison
"You're not going alone." He probably should have seen that coming.
Isaac
"If she's going, I'm going." For reasons.
Chris
Chris sighed. "To be honest I don't feel good about bringing either one of you."
Isaac
"But they were looking right at Scott when the sun came up." At least he thought they were. Kind of hard to tell with the masks.
Chris
"That doesn't necessarily mean they're after him."
Allison
"But if they are after him?" Come on, he was the lead, the odds were pretty high.
Chris
"If he is that might only leave us until nightfall to come up with a way to protect him." Because bad guys only come out at night.
Isaac
"Alright," Isaac said. "Let's go see if a paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun in his collection."
This should be fun.
Isaac
For all his bravado, Isaac was kind of nervous about this whole thing. He had only seen yakuza in movies and they seemed...like not so nice guys. The chances of this going well were pretty slim.
And getting slimmer judging from Chris' face when he got a text while they were waiting in the car outside of Katashi's place.
Chris
Yeah he was not pleased at all. "Katashi won't do the deal in person."
Isaac
"He's a paranoid recluse, shouldn't you be a little less surprised?" Such helpful.
Chris
"I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my Plan B," Chris said, looking at Isaac through the rear view window. "Speaking of--how tall are you?"
Isaac
Which is how Isaac ended up in a suit that wasn't his own, trying to memorize notes about some old ass gun that Chris had scribbled on a piece of paper for him.
"Guys--" Isaac went up to Chris and Allison who were going over a map of Katashi's place together. "This isn't--this isn't going to work, I look ridiculous. I mean, I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school. And there is no way I'm going to be able to remember all this, I mean, what does this even mean? Revolving over and under barrels?"
Chris
"All you have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find Katashi," Chris said. "He may not be there for the buy in person but he won't be far."
Where did his life go wrong that he was depending on a teenage werewolf to help him with his plans?
Allison
"You look great." And hot.
Isaac
"I am sweating all the way through my jacket, I didn't even know I could sweat this much." He was almost as sweaty as Derek's hands!
Allison
"Give me a second," Allison said to her father before taking Isaac by the wrist. She led him around to the back of the car where (hopefully) her dad couldn't see them. "You can do this. You're not a boy if you walk in there acting like a man."
She tucked the edges of his shirt into his dress pants. "Go in there with confidence and all they'll see is a boyish looking man."
Isaac
"Or a stupid teenager pretending to be a man. And then get my head blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobsters--" He had more to say, maybe, but before he knew it he was being kissed.
Allison
Oh he was being kissed like crazy. Not only that, but he also got in a butt grope once Allison placed his hands on her ass.
She smiled as she pulled away after a few moments. "How do you feel now?"
Isaac
He definitely felt like he could take on some yakuza, yep.
Isaac was still nervous as hell when he came in, but he was pretending to be a badass in a suit and that's all that matters.
"Gentlemen," he said, pulling off the sunglasses Chris insisted he wear. "I believe Mr. Katashi is expecting me."
Werewolf flunky
A big burly fellow who had no qualms about hiding the fact that he had his claws out (literally) approached Isaac. "I'm expecting you."
He made his way to Isaac, a cliche silver briefcase in his hand.
Isaac
Right. Werewolf. Isaac probably shouldn't have been surprised.
He kept his cool though, opening the case he brought that contained the fancy looking gun. "What we're looking at here is a mint condition flintlock turnover pistol. Crafted in the mid-17th century it was a gift from Louis XIV to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once."
He hoped Chris and Allison were quick about breaking into the building because he couldn't really say much more about the gun.
Werewolf flunky
"During a duel between brothers. On the grounds of the palace of Versailles." Oh yeah, he knew his shit.
Isaac
Ah crap. There went the other part of his story. "So you're f-familiar with it."
He was losing his cool! Abort abort!
Werewolf Flunky
"Mr. Katashi knows what he wants. We'll take it," the man said, placing the briefcase on the table and opening it. "150,000 dollars."
Isaac
Holy shit, that was a lot of money. And he needed to waste more time, so. "I--I'm really going to need to count it."
He brought a money counter and everything! He reached out for one of the stacks and found his wrist being gripped by a very big clawed hand.
Werewolf Flunky
"You don't know the whole story behind this gun, do you? There was no duel between brothers; that was a cover story. The real one involves an encounter in the woods with a vicious animal," he said, squeezing Isaac's wrist tighter. "Its bite caused one of the men to change into something monstrous. By his family's code the brother of him killed him with this very gun."
Isaac
Yep, time to go. "...well that is certainly better than the version that I heard. I'm gonna trust you guys with the money here and--"
Werewolf Flunky
Yeah, you weren't going anywhere, Isaac. "Personally, I'd like to hear more about your story."
Isaac
Isaac shifted, growling at the man. Surely he'd be able to fight his way out of this, right?
Isaac
Wrong, he was so wrong. He got captured. And dragged to a room where Chris and Allison had Silverfinger (he presumed) hostage.
"Guys?" Isaac said, when all eyes turned to him. "They have a werewolf too."
Please help.
Chris
Chris had already been doing his part to try to convince Katashi to listen to them, but with Isaac held hostage he brought out the big guns. Or the broken mask, rather. "Starting to remember? It was 24 years ago. You know what they are, don't you?"
Katashi
Katashi nodded at his man to let the little werewolf go. When everybody had left the room except Isaac, Chris and Allison he spoke.
"They're called Oni," he said, putting the pieces of the mask in order. "They're demons and they are unstoppable. At least by no man made weapon. You don't fight a force of nature, you endure it. And hope you are not destroyed in its path."
Allison
"Then how do we endure it?" Allison asked.
Katashi
"One of you already has." Katashi went up to Isaac and tilted his head to look at the mark behind his ear. "It's a Japanese kanji for 'self'. This means he's still himself. The Oni are only looking for one who is not himself."
Chris
Well that was mysterious and confusing. "What do you mean no longer themselves?"
Katashi
"Possessed. By a dark spirit. There are thirteen kinds of kitsune; celestial, wild, oceans, thunder." So on and so forth. "But there is one, a dark sune. They call it void. A nogitsune."
Chris
"The kumicho. That night." With his scary metal teeth.
Katashi
Katashi nodded. "He was possessed by a nogitsune. It was what helped him rise through the ranks of our yakuza family. Nogitsune draws its power from pain and tragedy. Strife and chaos."
He lifted up his hand. "Do you know why I'm missing this finger?"
Chris
Chris nodded. "Penance."
Katashi
"There is a ritual called yubitsume. Removing the joints of the little finger weakens the grip on the sword. When cut down on its grip properly; the little finger is the strongest." He was not going to be winning any yakuza recruits with this speech that's for sure.
Isaac
"Why did they take your finger?" Isaac asked.
Katashi
"They didn't take it; a yakuza performs the ritual on himself and offers it to his superior," he said. "This penance for a mistake wasn't my only one. I don't know what it was, the movement that suggested that I was going to take the Oni on. Because actually I was preparing to run for my life that night. That shot you fired saved me from looking like a coward in front of the survivors. For that humiliation I would have not have to give up my finger; I would have to give up my head."
Which would not be good.
"I wish I could give you the answer you need, Mr. Argent. I owe you more than my life. I owe you my honor," Katashi continued. "I will tell you one thing however; if there was a nogitsune among you, let the Oni destroy it. Even if it is your own daughter."
Allison
Well this just got completely awkward and rude. "I'm gonna call Scott. Tell him what to do."
She grabbed Isaac's wrist so he'd go along with her on her way out.
[Taken from TW 3x17 "Silverfinger". NFI, NFB but OOC is fine]