Chapter Four
Holy fuck, my head was killing me. What the hell happened? One minute I was making out with Rachel and the next…I was flat out on the back seat of the van and I had people rushing over to help me.
“What the hell happened?” I asked Kudo as he helped me up.
“Miko’s gone rogue. She has the entire Tiger clan in her claws and they’re doing whatever she demands.”
Well, that was just fucking great. “What about the Kitsune?”
“They’re remaining neutral. They say this is between us and them,” Kudo replied as he handed me a cloth full of ice.
“Are the police involved?” The last thing I wanted was the cops to get involved.
“No, we arrived here when the GPS on your van stopped moving. We had a bad feeling about that driver. He wouldn’t take off his shirt around us when we were at the bath house.”
“Heh. So we need to find my bride, stat. If I have to take this entire country apart, stone by stone, I will.” I was pissed. I had a feeling that bitch would be trouble.
“Don’t worry, we have people out looking right now, to see where the van went. You need to relax for a bit, you’ve been tazed pretty bad.” That explains the feeling of being kicked by a horse right before I passed out.
“No, I really need to find her.” I struggled to my feet. I then felt my knees give way as Kudo grabbed me around my waist.
“No, boss, you need to relax,” Kudo said as he eased me back into the van. “I’ll get you a sports drink. Best way to recover after a taze.”
He should know. He’s been tazed more times than I could count while he was bouncing at the bar. I just nodded as my head throbbed. My chest was aching too, but I didn’t notice that much. I felt a sharp surface pain on the back of my neck so I rubbed where it was and felt two lumps close together. What the fucking hell, man...
Kudo returned and handed me a bottle of blue sports drink and a couple of painkillers. I chucked it down rapidly, hoping I could at least get myself together enough to go and find Rachel. My leg muscles began to cramp mercilessly and I tried to breathe through the pain.
I started to feel a bit better as I absorbed the energy drink. The headache started to ebb and my leg spasms were becoming less frequent. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods I was fit enough to take that tazing; a much weaker man’s heart would have given out.
Kudo returned and helped me into the van. “We’re going back to your penthouse. Elder Yazmat told me to take you there. He asks if your ring is still warm.”
Shit, I thought as I touched the golden dragon wrapped around my finger. I felt the warm life energy gently pulsing to the beat of Rachel’s heart. “She’s fine.” I said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Good, because you know…” Kudo didn’t need to finish it. If she dies, I die too. We need to act fast, who knows what Miko would do.
“Yeah, I know,” I said glumly as I sat back in the seat.
“Don’t worry, boss. We have all our best men looking for her.”
I sighed as I looked out the tinted window as we drove through Tokyo. I was shaking with impatience because the one thing I hated the most in the whole world, other than my wife getting kidnapped by my psycho ex, was sitting and waiting for news.
We drove into the underground parking of the apartment building. Funny enough, I found out Rachel lived three floors below me after we hooked up that one night. I felt my cock twitch at the memory, then I got even angrier at Miko because I should be balls deep in Rachel right now, but I wasn’t, because she had to be a jealous cunt.
Kudo followed me into the elevator as we made our way to the penthouse.
“I bet Yazmat is pissed,” I said. “I know I am.” I was shaking with rage as I fought for control over my shape shifting powers. I didn’t want to transform in the elevator. The angrier I got, the less control I had over the mystic ink that was in my skin. I breathed deeply in an attempt to gain control of my emotions before the elevator door opened into my penthouse.
When they did open, I saw Yazmat standing there waiting for me. “Why are you here, old man?” I asked as I started to strip off the layers of ceremonial clothing.
“I’m here to say I support you in your quest for vengeance against the Tiger clan,” Yazmat said as I flopped down on the couch.
“Seriously?” This man was always wanting everyone to play it cool, to get along and all that crap.
“Yes. I know you were to wed Miko to bring the houses of Dragon and Tiger together, but I personally didn’t wish that. Izami thought it would be good for the clans, especially since Miko wasn’t the legitimate daughter of the firstborn son of the Tiger Clan. He wanted to cover up his family’s shame by using your union.
“The first born of your union would be pledged to the Dragon clan, and your second born would be pledged to the Tiger. If you play your cards right, you will have both clans. Izami will be forced to mark one of your children with the Tiger when he comes of age.” I liked what Yazmat was proposing. The two rival clans would be merged and this stupid eons-long war would be at an end.
“Wait…doesn’t he have to be from the Tiger clan?” I really needed clarification.
“No, that’s the thing. You are married to Rachel, you two are bonded in spirit. Your children, regardless of the birth order, can carry the sacred Irezumi. It is the Irezumi that determines the animal, not the blood. The bloodline just gives the ability.”
That made perfect sense. “So, when can I go get her?” I really wanted to rescue my wife sooner rather than later. If Miko found out that Rachel was pregnant, neither one of us would have very long to live.
“As soon as we get word as to where she is. You can change and fly to go get her. We’ll run damage control with the press.” Nice, permission to change and go get her. I wanted her to see me in my other form, anyway. “You’ll need to be prepared. Word has it that Miko has found out how to change shape.”
Whoa, that’s news. She was illegitimate, and a woman. We found that the gene that interacts with the ink is on the Y chromosome of our family line, after extensive testing due to Miko’s outrage at being denied. “Seriously? She didn’t give up after all these years, even after we showed her the proof in our mutation?”
“She is a very stubborn one. The mutation, mixed with the magic of the Irezumi ink, is what allows us to transform. The reason why you needed to wed Rachel was we cannot have our genome spread far and wide. We are a sacred people, Kintaro, we can’t just let our children spread all over the whole of Japan. The world isn’t ready for people like us, they weren’t back when I was emperor, and they aren’t now.”
I nodded, it made complete sense but I wish they would have freaking told me before now. Well, what’s done is done. I stood there shirtless in front of the old man, dressed only in my hakama from the wedding. I heard my phone ring so I fished around in my jacket to get it. “Yes, what is it?”
“We found where the Tigers are keeping her,” Kudo’s voice on the other side replied. “Do you want us to move in?”
“No. Wait for me to show up. It could be dangerous, rumor has it Miko has learned how to change her shape.”
“Understood, I’ll send you the directions.” With that, Kudo ended the call.
I turned around and put my phone on the table. I stiffened up as I felt Yazmat’s fingers trace the serpentine dragon tattoo on my muscled back, they were warm and I felt the same energy going through his finger as I did the ring that bound me to Rachel. “It’s a boost, you’re going to need it I think, I have a feeling Izami will be there as well.”
I nodded and went into my closet to find something comfortable to wear for the upcoming fight. I decided my workout gear would be perfect, a pair of black track pants and a white tank top. I looked at my bare arms and looked at the wizened, seemingly blind Yazmat. “So, when am I going to be allowed to get my arms done? I hate feeling half-naked.”
Yazmat chuckled. “You’ll get a sleeve for each child born to you; so if you want both arms, you’ll need another child.”
“What if I have more than four?” I was joking. I doubt Rachel would go for a large family anyway.
“Well, we’ll see, then. You might have another appendage to tattoo. Heeeheeee,” he wheezed. Yeah, I knew what he was talking about, and no, just nope, not getting that done.
“Alright, I’m off to go rescue my damsel in distress. You know, in western folklore the dragon is the one who kidnaps the maiden.” Because of that, I found this whole exercise amusing.
“Well, this is Japan, son, we aren’t like the west. You need to rescue her, for the sake of the family now. Be careful though. Izami is really tough.”
“I understand.” I said as I stepped onto the balcony. I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket and texted Kudo to let him know I was on my way. I looked at the map he had sent me and realized that where Miko was keeping Rachel was an old World War 2 POW Internment camp on the island of Osaka.
I closed my eyes and felt my back burn and my body liquefy as I shifted into the long sinuous form of the red dragon. My wings were small but I didn’t really use them to fly. I don’t know how I did it, really, but I used my legs and arms to propel myself off my balcony and into the sky.
As I undulated through the clouds, grateful for the cover they gave me, I heard a rumbling as a late night summer thunderstorm began to brew. Great, I wasn’t looking forward to dodging lightning bolts. Luckily I was able to fly rapidly and avoid the cumulonimbus that was forming just off Tokyo ay and over to the outskirts of Osaka.
I remembered the pin on the map that was on my cellphone, which was with my clothes, wherever they went when I changed. I really needed to ask Yazmat about that. For the longest time, I didn’t give a shit where anything went, I was just happy to be a motherfucking dragon. I noticed a building in the middle of a forested area that had its lights on. That might be it, I thought to myself and swooped down.
I landed softly just outside of the compound, amazed it hadn’t been torn down or made into a museum. I silently wove my way through the trees as my serpentine body easily moved through the dark woods.
It must have been well past midnight as I searched the compound for any trace of Rachel. I darted out my forked tongue to taste the air hoping to catch her scent and I wasn’t disappointed. Her flowery musk was fresh in my mind as I remembered the make-out session we had before I was so rudely tazed by Miko’s henchmen and left to soak in a puddle of my own drool.
I followed the scent and stopped at a dead end, marked by three solid concrete walls forming a small enclosure. I was confused because this is where her scent lead me. I stepped back and I felt metal under my clawed front foot and I looked down and saw a grate.
Granted I wasn’t very tall in my dragon form, not compared to the western style dragon shifters. At the withers I was at least the height of a decent sized pony, so I wasn’t that far off the ground. My impressiveness was in my length. I was a good thirty feet from nose to tail, and my body was a good six feet in diameter. I was rather proud of the scales as well, red and gold. Yeah, I was a fine specimen of dragon flesh, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, I looked down at the grate and saw a form curled up under a threadbare blanket. That had to be Rachel. I thought, but I didn’t want to wake her up and get her out of there until I knew everything was safe.
I heard a growl from behind me so I turned around as quickly as I could. It was Izami. His white fur gleamed off the orange lights of the compound. “So, the dragon has arrived.”
“Yeah, I’m here to get my wife and get the hell out of here.” I really didn’t have any patience for his shit.
“Well, that isn’t going to happen. First we’re going to tie you up and make you watch as we gut your precious gai-jin wife in front of your very eyes, then we’ll watch your life ebb from your body as the connection between you two is severed.”
I was going to ask why he turned on us, but I knew why. I snubbed his precious Miko for another woman. Not just any woman though, a foreigner, that was even more insulting to their honor. So, I wasted no time and just smacked Izami with my tail, sending him flying.
Suddenly I felt a sharp, stabbing pain up on my shoulders. “What the fuck?” I shouted as I spun around in a vain attempt to shake off what was hurting me.
“My grandfather, for lack of a better term, figured out how to grant me the power to change my form!” Miko’s obnoxiously high voice crowed. I’m so glad I didn’t have to listen to that for the rest of my life. Could you imagine what she would sound like in bed? I would need earplugs just to power through it.
“I thought only men could change?” I said as I tried to shake her off, but she was firmly anchored with her firm feline claws.
“The change isn’t done properly,” Izami purred as he padded from the darkness where I hurled him. “You see, she’s only able to transform half way, but it’s still better than nothing at all.” The realization hit me. A halfway shift means she is stuck like that forever.
“You’re a monster!”
“No, I only gave her what she really wanted. Well, not exactly what she wanted, mind you. You are married to that witch down there.”
That’s it. I felt rage filling my soul as I stared at the white tiger before me. Out of the five sons that Ameratasu birthed, only three remain. The other two, the falcon and the rat, killed each other in a long bloody feud, and it looks like one more is about to bite the dust.
I let out a blood curdling roar to vent my fury as I charged towards the large, white tiger. I wish I could breathe fire like the western ones. Honestly, I didn’t know what I could do, I was prohibited from shifting except for ceremonial purposes. Well, it was time to find out.
I barrelled over Izami and smacked him with my tail, ignoring the clawing and gouging that was going on between my wings. The target of my wrath was Izami. Miko could wait. I spun around and took a deep breath, aiming my head in the darkness and I exhaled.
Out from my mouth billowed toxic, green smoke that caused Izami to choke and cough so badly he curled up on the ground and resumed his human form. The pain between my shoulders was getting too much to ignore so I had to deal with Izami fast.
I gagged a little at the taste of the toxic gas that flowed over my tongue. Jesus that was nasty. Ugh. OK, not gonna do that again.
I walked to the gasping old man and stared down at him. “Kintaro.” He wheezed. “Please…don’t…”
“I’ll think about it…” I paused for a moment giving the old man a moment to actually believe I was going to spare his life and then pinned him down with one of my feet and impaled him through the heart with one of my dagger-like claws.
I felt Izami shudder as his life ebbed out of him. Only a shifter could kill another shifter. I needed to kill Miko as well, and I knew how to get this proverbial monkey off my back once and for all.
I jumped up into the sky and flew towards the towering cumulonimbus that was drifting south with the jet stream. The lightning streaked in its tall cloud, giving me a solid indication as to where it was.
The clawing on my back eased from an incessant ripping and tearing to a cling for dear life as I sped through the atmosphere. I felt myself patch up as fast as she was ripping me apart. It must have been Yazmat’s gift; what a life saver, literally.
The monstrous storm cell loomed closer and I knew I had to take a calculated risk. I dove into it, hoping that I could get a lucky lightning strike and knock her off me. If I wasn’t lucky, I would become a roasted dragon kebab. Not cool.
Rain and wind whipped by me as the centralized storm raged over the city of Tokyo. The lightning sometimes arced from the cloud, down onto one of the massive skyscrapers, lighting up the sky and deafening those below with a loud crack of thunder. I rolled and wheeled in the storm cloud in a vain attempt to remove Miko from my back.
Her claws were too strong, or my flesh had healed around them, whatever was going on back there, there was no way for me to shake her off with my aerobatics. Suddenly, a blinding flash surrounded me and I heard an ungodly squeal erupt from Miko as a white hot bolt of lightning travelled through her down to one of the skyscrapers not too far below us.
I felt the electricity hit my body as well, but it was deflected by my metallic scales, thank goodness. Non-conductive armor plating for the win. I felt Miko’s body go limp on my back and I gave a final barrel roll and felt her claws release from my flesh.
I watched her tumble down into the storm. Her body was that of a large human, covered with orange and black striped fur, like a tiger. Her hands were like paws but she was obviously bipedal. Her face looked like a grotesque caricature between a cat and a human, and I was secretly relieved for her as she plummeted down to the Bay. She would have been stuck like that for the rest of her life, so death was a mercy.
I was sure Miko was dead. I was somewhat sad because we did know each other for our entire lives, but we weren’t the best match. I decided to get out of the storm and head on back to get Rachel out of her prison before the storm broke and filled her cell with water, potentially drowning her.