Shallow Heartbeat [Tomomi/Archibald Awakening]

One more night in Little Tokyo and another festival to bring the crowds. The night was lively despite the overhanging clouds serving as a backdrop for the fireworks display. The ignorant masses oohed and ahhed at their bread and circus, basking in the splendor of the magical evening in the relative safety brought upon them by the government's benevolence. And yet underneath the carefree veneer lay something much more twisted and hidden from the grand public with even grander distractions to ease their sleepy consciousness...


The booming of the fireworks could be seen and heard for blocks, though the festival was a moving one. Where there once was joy and splendor there was now only the remains of such. Empty, clogged streets filled with discarded refuse, drink cans, torn fliers, was the only sight here. A testament that behind the veil of entertainment the truth was not nearly so pleasant. Away from the festivities the air was thick, silence reigned on the lonely street despite the distant booms and sounds of merriment...

You know what? Fuck Little Tokyo, that fake ass pretty boy "priest" ruined his fun earlier by seeing right through his pranks. Now he somehow got himself lost within the district, having ended up in the shittier side of mini Japan, surrounded by signs and adds in Japanese he couldn't even read. He walked through the dark empty streets, his bag hanging from his shoulder with one hand holding the strap while the other was stuck inside his coat pocket. There was nothing for him there, if there were any living souls around they were either the poor marginalized sobs or twisted souls who wander after the dark looking to perform their dark deeds upon unsuspecting victims. Normally he'd identify with the latter group were him not fucking lost.

His attention was not diverted by the fancy pyrotechnic show up in the sky. He had seen fireworks many times and he wasn't missing anything, all it represented to him was that he was down in the slums while a potential audience(or victim) was having fun somewhere else. How he loathes this place.

Another festival. By this point, Tomomi had grown used to them, the novelty wearing off years ago. Still, it wasn’t like he could sleep through them, with fireworks and cheers and drunken revelry. Still, he had the day off from litter picking. So, he went for a walk, unable to sleep, but not quite able to enjoy himself. The lights and cheers… Did it ever change? Was it destined to just be stuck in a stagnancy?

Finishing a box of takoyaki, the boy stood up from the bench he had been sitting, walking over to the nearest bin as he weaved his way from the cheering masses, trying to not take the constant shoving personally. Still, as he disposed of the container, something seemed off. He wasn’t quite sure what, but something did for sure… He looked around, seemingly scanning for this feeling of unease. Away…

Away?

Away from the crowds he walked, stepping into one of the litter strewn alleys he had grown used to. That was one part of work that was a boon at least – getting used to the smells of alleys, the sight of trash littering the streets and alleys so it wasn’t nearly as depressing. Still… What was this feeling? He found his eyes wandering, looking around and trying to figure out why exactly his mind felt this sense… Or even what this feeling was. His eyes drifted up, gazing at the fireworks in thought for the moment. Hoping for an epiphany.

The night air remained oppressive to these two, conveying a sense of foreboding and menace as they walked the lonely streets. The distant pyrotechnics occasionally filled the gloom with a bright glow just to fade once more and leave them in the dark. The crackle and boom quickly became much quieter with the distance and the crowds would grow silent through the thick and menacing aura that poured into the night. It would become apparent soon that these two were the only souls on the streets before too long, the comforting faces of other strangers were nowhere to be found.

The air grew still for a minute or two, as if holding its breath. The booms ceased and the soft light of the fireworks halted. Perhaps it was over. Perhaps they were preparing for the grand finale. Or more sinisterly, it could be something else entirely. A loud crash broke the silence, one that Tomomi would be very familiar with: the sound of a bin being knocked over. Down an empty alleyway the two of them could hear the frantic barking of a large dog and quick, pounding footsteps.

The air filled with a much more active dread they could feel in their very souls, pricking their spines with icy fingers. A dull ache began to manifest in their minds...

With a displeased expression the Forgotten gritted his teeth, he had been around enough to know this just spelled trouble. Dark alley, foreboding silence, the trash bin being knocked. It was as if the universe itself conspired to write a tale with a dark climax, and it ended with him mugged and probably bleeding out with nobody to help. There were also some random mutts barking at the nothing.

"Talk about a ruff crowd." Archibald first let out a short laugh, though it quickly devolved into continuous snickers and eventually ending as audible laughter. "Hahahahah... I'm so dead."

Despite all the signs telling him to turn back, he pressed on. It should be a funny experience, he wondered if he could bamboozle whoever was creeping in the dark.

The sound of the bin tipping over caught Tomomi’s attention first and foremost, causing him to quickly and sharply turn and face the direction that it had arrived from. Normally, he’d have thought nothing of it – just another drunkard stumbling about from too much festivity. But, with the weird atmosphere he could feel… No, he had to investigate.

Yet, as he began to approach, the sound of barking, and hurried running caught his attention. The footsteps of the dog were much more audible than he’d expect, and for a time he wondered if they were even a dog to begin with. But, the thought was cut off as the sound of another person caught his attention. Someone else in this alleyway? Well, if he got mugged or stabbed for being in the alleyway, then as scary as that was, he’d let it happen – his priority now, was to find the dog, and make sure it wasn’t injured. “Um… Hello? Person that, um… Made the pun?” he spoke, looking around with a mixture of timidity and curiosity.

The footsteps would continue to grow louder and louder, an audible clacking in a hurried pace. So would the barking of the dog. The pressure on their minds began to increase as the noise grew louder, from a dull ache to a sharp sting in the back of their heads. The menacing night grew sinister with an electric energy, a sense of impending doom carried its weight. The clacking and barking continued until it reached a fever pitch.

CRASH!

From the alleyway the noise was coming from another bin was forced over, strewing its contents every which way to cover the already messy street. A young woman, clad in hakama and traditional geta, shrieked as she tumbled over it. She panted breathlessly as she struggled to prop herself up after the fall but looked pleadingly to the two in the empty street.
"H-help...! It's coming...!"
From far down the alleyway the barking would grow even more out of control, echoing on the narrow walls as the shadow of a large dog running cast itself across the brick.

...though something wasn't quite right. The buzzing in their heads would not stop and this woman... something was wrong. People held a natural instinct to help others, but their instincts told them to stay away. A small detail that disappeared after blinking, a change of color in the corner of their eyes, the way the light danced around her...

It wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be.

"Oh hello, stranger." He greeted the other lost soul, grinning and with his hand extended for a hand. It didn't matter if the other took the handshake or not, Archibald would soon shove it back in his pocket. He'd look forward before settling his gaze back on the unknown and timid Japanese man. "Say, have you ever danced with the devil under the pale moonlight?" Yet again he laughed at his own joke, though it grew uncomfortable as it went on, a hint of fear.

His stressful snickering and laughter was cut short by a woman crying for help. Whatever It was, it looked like the meanest dog to ever come into this forsaken world. He was about to take a step forward, but upon a closer look there was something wrong with this woman. Smoke and mirrors, or some other sort of illusion. He chuckled, taking a step back.

"Your dog won't want to eat me, lady. I taste... funny."

Not wishing to be impolite, even with the relative creepiness of the laughter machine before him, Tomomi accepted the handshake and returned it in kind. As he withdrew his hand and Tomomi withdrew his own, he gave a sort of moderately forced smile, not really sure if the other person wanted him to laugh or not as he spoke. “Ah, I um… Sorry, but I am not sure I get the reference…”

At the cry for help, Tomomi nearly jumped out of his skin, turning to face the source of the noise. Someone was in trouble? “A-ah, hold on stranger I’ll… Help…”

As the words began to leave his lips, his words grew quieter and quieter. Something was wrong. Abnormal. The boy found himself trembling slightly. But… Why was he trembling? This was just another night, right? And she was just someone that was being chased by a dog… Right?

The shadow? Was that what made it odd? But, wait, why did the woman seem so intimidating as well. Wasn’t she in danger? The very terror and confusion caused him to begin sweating, completely unsure of what was going on. “Um… M-miss… What’s wrong? When… When you say it’s coming, you don’t mean just a normal dog right? Because, um… Idunno if I can help with a dog…” In reality, if it was a normal dog, he could probably hold it down with a struggle if he didn’t panic first. But, what was happening? He… He had to have some time to breathe. Just breathe. And try to understand.

As one boy stepped forward for aid, the other stepping back, the woman's horrified expression would turn to a sly grin. A wide grin. An impossibly wide grin, one that covered half her face with hooked daggers of teeth as her eyes swirled and her nose grew nearly a foot. Her head turned 90 degrees on its end with a horrible crick to turn her cheshire grin into a parenthesis.
"Don't worry, my dog doesn't bite. Then again that's not my dog! Kyaaaaaahahahahaaaaaaa!" The voice that erupted from the woman had changed, becoming masculine and scratchy. "Well. Looks like I can't kid a kidder but you..." The creature's necked snapped again at another odd angle with a sickening crunch to stare at Tomomi with wild eyes.

"You could say you... FELL... for it!"

Whirling about in a tornado of leaves and feathers the "woman" would throw off her hakama and reveal her true form, a monstrous creature of the night. The shadow of the dog would also stop and seemingly stare at the two, as if shadows could stare. And then slither off the wall to take a form more corporeal as it wriggled next to the other abomination.


The demons licked their lips and rubbed their hands together as they loped toward the defenseless, pitiful humans. But the pain didn't stop. The brain ache had reached it's highest point, feeling like a thousand hammers upon a thousand nails in the heads of the youth. It was pain... and power. The power to stand up and fight in the face of adversity, domination, and certain death. They merely needed to call upon it and release this latent power...

Note:

The buzzing grew stronger and with it some sort of attraction towards the masks he carried within bag also surged within him. The buzz grew stronger, and so did his despair as he watched the Japanese boy be knocked down, that guy was going to die and he was next! There is nothing funny about it! Yet he laughed, dropping his bag and from it one single mask would slide out. The buzzing within his mind turned into a gibberish, many voices calling for him, demanding, pleading or yelling at him all the while images flashed on his head. A haughty Noble feasts in bliss and revels in his debauchery, a shadowy Assassin creeps around ready to eliminate the tyrant, the court's Archmage is too lost in his research to notice the impending doom, the Devil watches with a sadistic grin as his machinations come into fruition all the while the Jester sees it all, and he laughs. His knees weakened and he soon fell on them, trembling. His gaze, would slowly drift to his bag in despair, the sight of his exposed mask made it finally click in his head! He finally got the joke of it all! Yes, genius! His left hand reached for it, dragging it close to him before finally lifting and putting it on his face, and with it came a sudden surge of power and laughter, the sweet, maddened laughter. A red jester outfit soon materialized over him, concealing his identity some would say but he prefers revealing his true self.

"Ahah.. Ahahahahah. That was pretty funny." He stood up, with one single dagger in hand. "I heard of sausage dogs but this is ridiculous." There was a break for more insane laughter.

The sudden shift in expression alone stopped Tomomi in his tracks, his worried expression turning to outright panic. The laughter resounded in his mind and caused his pulse to race ever faster. Then her… No, it’s, head began to tilt. The constant grin that never seemed to end made the whole thing feel like a nightmare. Then the wind whipped up, and with it, Tomomi’s feet went, falling over. Blinking, Tomomi looked up at the duo of literal monsters before him. “W-what the…”

It was as they spoke that a throb in his head took precedent, so much so that it overwhelmed even the pain. His eyes flashed a deep yellow as Tomomi’s hands moved to grab at his head, the boy screaming out in pain, eyes growing shrunken and more intense as he stared at the demons, completely paying no heed to the laughter of the stranger he was in danger with.

“Are you finally done running away?”

Arching his back while still on the ground, the boy squirmed and continued to tightly clutch his head, as if gripping it and pulling at his hair in pain and shock. “Vow to me, and I shall see you through. I am thou, thou art I. It is about time, child, that you faced the truth of this world. If you do not stand up now, who else will?”

Panting and hyperventilating, the boy seemed to be bleeding from his lip now, clearly having bit it in his panic and freak out. Yet he no longer squirmed. Instead, with yellow eyes, he turned, staring at the shackles on his wrists. Shackles? He knew not when they got there, but neither did he care, springing to his feet with unnatural vigour that he previously had not expected, lurching forward as he swung his right arm at his left, aiming shackle to shackle. As they collided with a clash, the boy shouted out his call. “Come to me! Goole!”

In a flash of green, the shackles disappeared. In fact, the entirety of the boy’s appearance had changed. Where once was his normal attire, instead was a white shirt covered by a white tabard, red trimming highlighting the edges. Clipped with a golden badge, a red cape flowed down. Alone his sleeves and legs, multiple ribbons of a varying amount of colours flowed down, and where once his timid face could be seen, now was a mask, leaving only his lips and below visible. Fangs hung over his lip from the mask, while where his eyes would normally be, instead was a visor, which seemed to glow green. Meanwhile, behind him, a cloaked figure floated. Wearing mostly white, the figure had a needle like physique. Wearing a white, wide brimmed hat that covered lightly some white goggles, the face of the silhouette was masked off by a red bandana. While the left arm was hidden behind a flowing white cloak, the right needle like arm was obvious, three red ribbons flowing upwards against gravity, ending in a flat, long hand.

Looking between the demons, the boys gaze shifted to the stranger that was with him. Two kama’s forming in his hands, he pointed one of these blades at the enemies, speaking a suggestion. “Hey, laughing guy. I… I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s team up! We can save introductions for after these… Whatever they are, are six feet under!” At that, he shifted into an L shaped stance, one he’d learned from martial arts.

Spoiler:

"Psyche-Terr-- Well, well. We got some cheeky eats, don't we?"


The demons were entirely undeterred by the sudden show of power they were shown. It just meant it was going to be a little more of a challenge than expected, to be sure. However, just as the battle was going to begin, Tomomi would notice something thrown near at his feet. A gun and a set of bullets. It was hard to know where it came from. But the entire party would be watched by someone from above, quietly viewing the site of conflict without a word.

Tomomi Obtains:

Inugami, Level 5:

Koppa Tengu, Level 5: