Episode 3 - The Ills of Potent Motivators

"Dan, if this ends up being a problem that we can solve by binge-drinking, I'll owe you a favour!" Eshe gives the tanuki a sly wink before adding, "Terms and conditions may apply... While we check out the hockey team, could you go on Tricksta or FaeBook or whatever and see if you can get us even a partial list?"

She checks her gear and then does a physical inventory of her aches and pains; So far, so good!  

She was ready.

"Right... a list... I'll see what I can do, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Unlike me, my colleagues are an unreliable bunch."

EXT. DAY - CANADA LIFE CENTRE PARKING LOT

The Hunters arrive at the arena to find a scene worthy of a catastrophe movie. There are overturned cars, people sitting in small groups with cuts and bruises wrapped in foil blankets, and the somber hum generated by large groups of traumatized people. Emergency services are on the scene: EMTs are seeing to the injured, the police are corralling people away from the centre and breaking up fights, and the firefighters are putting out a few fires.

It doesn't take much effort for Eshe and Mangas to find a way through the inadequate police barricade. Clearly, Winnipeg doesn't take its citizens' safety seriously. No wonder people panicked. The two hunters find themselves looking over their shoulders as they make their way through the scene. Every time a cop lays their eyes on them, their hearts skip a bit and a shiver runs down their spine, but thankfully, they do not get confronted. Who knows what these heartless pigs would do to them if they got their abuser hands on them. Eshe knows all too well what cops are capable of, her family had made sure of it. Mangas, too, has seen the kind of violence of guards and constables relish over his long life.

They find a place out of sight, between an ambulance and a fire truck and look around, trying to decide where to start. Questioning the victims? Or the bloodthirsty pigs? Maybe make their way into the stadium and look around? Or perhaps casting Dan's ritual again?

"What a mess," Eshe mutters while watching the police fumble and flail about trying to "help". "What do you say we head into the stadium? It will be easier to get a handle on things away from all of this," She waves at the chaos. This approach would have the added benefit of not having to worry about Mangas somehow managing to pick a fight with every last person here.

People everywhere. Shoving, bumping, cursing... Yet, Mangas plows through the sea of bodies, against the current, like a tanker. It seems like everybody is just running into him on purpose, there is plenty of room everywhere, but they seek him out. Again and again, people run into him and then complain with colorful curses about his recklessness. Mangas grinds his teeth and shuts them up with a murderous look on his face. They are Just! So! Annoying!! Suddenly he feels the skin on his hand prickling. He looks down and sees hair sprouting and his hands growing. Not now! A wave of adrenaline washes over him, his heart pounding. Was that fear? Why is he afraid? He could chew up every single one of them in a heartbeat. But there are so many... The hair on his hands retreat and the hand shrinking back to normal huge. A drop of sweat runs down his forehead.

He is sitting on the floor next to a maintenance container, out of sight from the flocks of people. "Yes, we should go inside."

When Eshe walks out of their hiding spot, she hears a loud shattering sound, followed by a loud howl/scream. A moment later Mangas follows from behind the container, shaking his red fist. "Let's go!"

Primed by the sound of shattering when the cry rings out from behind her, Eshe's next step flows into a pivot that has her standing face to face with Mangas as he emerges.

Once she registers that there is not an immediate threat, she drops out of her fighting stance with a sharp exhalation. "What was that? Are you alright? Let me see your hand," It was like working with a preschooler - a large, strong, grumpy one - but a preschooler nonetheless. How else to explain his knack for finding ways to hurt himself?

AND he's going to act like I'M the fussy when it is perfectly reasonable for me to be worried! She waits for him to answer, seething with a combination of annoyance and concern; the kind of exasperated worry that would be familiar to many a toddler's parent.

"I got angry. I punched the container. I'm less angry now." He looks down at his hand, which is red from the impact. Not bloody. "It's nothing. Let's go." . He gently pushes her to the side and starts walking. Then adds with a tone which could be preschoolers pride or preschoolers shame he adds "I made a dent."

If Eshe had thought for even a second that she could have stood her ground when Mangas pushed her, she would have done so. As it was,
she tries to be happy with the fact that he is uninjured and less angry - both good things. "Fine. Whatever," she says sulkily, turning to follow him into the stadium.

The two hunters approach the Canada Life Centre. The ominous feeling of anger that permeates the air of Winnipeg feels different here. Suspiciously different. Maybe it's toxic somehow? Should they be breathing it in or maybe wearing gas masks? Is it a trap? Did that journalist on TV lure them here? They look over their shoulder and see a number of media vans. Damn it! They're everywhere! Always watching and prying... what was their end goal?

The hunters shake their heads to try to clear them, each taking a deep breath to center themselves. Well, at least these new imposed feelings were a change of pace and explained why the crowd had panicked.

Near the entrance, they see a line of nervous-looking police officers. Getting past them would certainly prove a challenge, but they could possibly be bluffed or, given the aura of paranoia in the area, cowed. They see a few other possible points of entry. There are emergency exits, undoubtedly locked from the inside but which could possibly be forced open. There are also a walkways connected to an adjacent buildings, which may be easier to infiltrate.

Eshe finds herself reaching for her staff every so often to make sure that it hadn't been stolen by some lowlife Canadian miscreant.  I mean they're freakin' monarchists! In this day and age? There's something wrong with the lot of them!

Loathing the idea of dealing with police officers and certain that going to an adjacent building would cost them precious time that they could ill afford to lose, she makes her way to the emergency exits.  While not a strong as Mangas, she's no slouch, and is pretty sure that she can force a door open.

Mangas keeps looking over his shoulder. These journalists... They know. They're here to hunt him for what he is. The never ending hunger for sensation. Man-bear. Big foot. They mustn't get him.
Then he has an idea.
"Listen Eshe. You run around this corner towards the police men and tell them a bear is chasing you, they all have to come. I will show up at the corner, but then disappear again around the corner and become me. I can tell them the bear went that way and while they run after the bear, we slip inside. "

With her hand mere centimeters away from the emergency exit, Eshe stops to listen to Mangas with growing incredulity. Did their target gain the ability to sow insanity? It would explain a lot. If Mangas loses it out here, she would have a hell of a time keeping him safe. "Your idea is very, uh creative," she begins gently, trying to be reassuring without seeming patronising, but then still blurts out "But this sounds like a really good way for you to get shot, me to be detained for some BS charge, or worse: both!" She is speaking is a stage whisper, but still looks around, sure that the odd couple that they are is drawing undue attention. "Mangas, can we please just try to force an emergency exit open? Please?"  Eshe cannot hear the slightly frantic edge to her voice on her last word, but it is unmistakably there.

Smart Eshe, knows everything so well, bla bla, has the perfect plan to 'open the door', genius! Mangas keeps his sarcastic rant to himself. "Fine. We'll do it your way. Again." He walks towards the emergency exit and simply pulls it open, the door moaning in a futile attempt to resist the anger fueled strength of the large man. Wait, what if she was sent by the Agency to monitor and manipulate me? She is always trying to change my ideas and steer me into her direction
'Mangas, don't freak out', 'Mangas, you have to stay cool'... I have to watch out with that one... he glances overnight his shoulder at Eshe standing behind him.

"Yes, again. That's what happens when we actually discuss our plans," she says in the slow, deliberate manner that is reserved for when kiddos (or their parents) at the dojo are being unreasonable.

Unbelievable. She is certain that before long, Mangas would end up suggesting that he use a police officer as a battering ram or something equally trying. It was almost as if he... Sonofa...

Weird powers? Check.

Doesn't get some basic cultural references? Check.

Inhuman capacity for food and alcohol? Check.

Wildly annoying? Check! Check! Check!  Mangas is one of my "employers". It explains everything. Now, how to out him without drawing their wrath?

INT. DAY - CANADA LIFE CENTRE HALLWAY

The door groans, then gives way. The strike plate goes flying, hitting the floor, then wall, the high metallic sound of the impacts echoing as it bounces around the plain utility corridor. The Hunters step inside, still bickering about their methods.

"Excuse me!" a voice rings out, trying to sound authoritative despite a noticeable undercurrent of fear. "You can't be in here, the building has been evacuated."

The Hunters turn to see a pair of uniformed security guards standing a couple of meters away: a nervous-looking young Caucasian man and a stoic middle-aged southeast Asian woman. The man's eyes flit from Eshe to Mangas, then back to Eshe, as he waits for them to acknowledge him. The woman stands next to him, one hand rests on the pommel of her baton, her eyes firmly fixed on Mangas. Her other hand is behind her back, no doubt hiding some sort of ranged weapon. The Hunters' brains say pepper spray, but their hearts whisper sawed-off shotgun.

"Look. Do they pay you enough to stay in a building that was evacuated for everyone's safety? To argue with people who are willing to risk their lives to head in?" She points at the female guard to draw her attention and the gestures at Mangas. "And if you're that interested, he IS single but not great at texting. You can ask him out when your shift ends."

If that woman tried anything, she'd likely end up with her heart ripped out... figuratively of course. Eshe hopes that this all being some combination of annoying and above their pay grade will be enough for that duo to leave this duo alone.

"Hey, it's not my fault they make those stupid buttons so small!" She was really trying to get him. Bad mouthing him to strangers, wtf?? Plus, I'm way too old for her. I could be her great great great... Great? Well one of her ancestors. Then again, you are as young as you feel, they say, right? So I'm max 120ish, so... Maybe? Mangas looks over to the woman. Hmm, ok, maybe. He stands up straight and puts on a crooked fake smile, which looks more scary, than anything else.

The two guards exchange a look. "They don't," the woman says. "No, they do not," the man answers. "I guess we didn't find anyone on our last check." "No, we did not."

With a curt nod at the hunters, the two guards head for the broken door. The woman stops by Mangas as she passes by and takes a good long look at his bulging muscles, before slipping apiece of paper into his pocket. "Call me. I don't like texting anyway," she says before joining her colleague outside.

Eshe does a brief shimmy and gives Mangas an appreciative smile "Oh yeah! You've got game!" She exclaims, trying not to get too loud. Then she wonders, was that too easy? Was that woman trying to lull them into a false sense of security? But then, if she pointed that out, how would Mangas react? Hurt? Annoyed? Relieved? I freaking hate this stupid city.

"Anyhow," she continues more sedately, "Thanks for playing along with that. And now we're in... preference on where to start?" She looks around - with their entrance being immediately interrupted by the guards, she had not taken in their immediately environment.

Mangas follows the guards with his eyes, a confused look on his face. Suddenly realisation spreads on his expression, hastily he slips his hand in his pocket, pulls out the paper and throws it on the floor. "She wants to track us. There's probably one of those Rflip chips on there. Noo, not with me..." He turns towards the tunnel that leads into the arena. "Let's go. We should do the ritual once more in the arena. Widest view, you know? Plus, mass panic was most likely caused in the arena, not on the toilets." He starts down the hall.

"Wha-Yeah, you're probably right," Eshe takes a picture of the paper, ready to come up with some excuse if Mangas asks about it. She had stopped herself from asking him why he thought that the guard would want to tag them, let alone be prepared to do so on the fly. His reasoning would no doubt end up being in the tin-foil hat range. Speaking of ranges, it is a good thing that this is a closed stadium; satellites... now there's a threat. She looks up, as if to make sure that the stadium's ceiling is still in place.

She follows Mangas down the hall into the arena, joining him in looking for a good spot from which to cast the ritual, and trying to make sense of what had happened here.

The hunters emerge from the service corridor onto a large concourse bordered by franchise booths. The ground is littered with discarded wrappers, cups, lost personal effects dropped during the evacuation. The whole scene looks post-apocalyptic, the crowd outside reminding the hunters of zombies from a bad b-movie that couldn't afford proper makeup. The hunters hurry down the promenade and enter the first door to the arena they see, hoping they weren't spotted and aren't about to be swarmed by murderous cops.

The arena is dim, lit only by emergency lighting. It's eerily quiet, every step echoing in the large empty place. Even their breathing seems deafeningly loud to the hunters. They stop at the first landing. Mangas fumbles with his bag, taking out the ritual materials. He can't help but feel like something terrible is about to happen. He must hurry.

"They're here! Hurry!" He has no idea who they are, but he knows they're here. He has to hurry.
He tries to get out the tiny jar of ink and the flimsy brush, but, God, why did they have to make them so tiny?? After the ink jar slips the third time, while he tries to open it, he looses patience. He slowly and very gently places the jar on the floor, calmly gets up and steps two steps back. Then he roars in rage, turns around and grabs a nearby trash bin. The bin is bolted down, which just makes him even angrier. After three violent kicks, the bin rips out of the ground and topples over. Mangas grabs it, throws it against the wall and when it rolls back to him, he kicks it again with all his strength. Which is a lot. The bin flies in an majestic arc down the ranks and crashes into the plexi glas barrier next to the ice. Then silence after the noise is almost as deafening as the noise was before.
Mangas breathes heavily. He takes three deep breaths and walks back to the jar, finally gets it open and applies the ink onto his closed eyelids.
When he starts the chant, he notices quickly, that something is not right.

When Mangas opens his eyes, his vision blurs before refocusing, but the scene before him has changed. Instead of an empty arena, he sees people slouched in their seats or lying on the ground. Large, bloody gashes can be seen on their bodies and their faces are contorted into expressions of pain and terror. He looks down and sees his hands are actually his bear paws and are covered in blood with chunks of viscera caught in his claws.

His breathing quickens as panic sets in. He turns to look at Eshe and sees her barely standing, clutching at her torn throat as blood pours down her chest. When she speaks, he can only hear a gurgling wheeze.



Eshe stands near Mangas as he performs the ritual. As soon as he finishes, she notices that something isn't right. The other hunter is looking around, breathing heavily. He turns towards her and she can see pain, guilt and fear writ large across his features. Fur starts to grow out of his pores and his features change as his beast begins to take over...

Eshe's eyes dart around looking for the onmyoji, but she never takes her gaze off of Mangas for long.  Her vigilance is soon vindicated when her friend's breathing changes. That blasted, thieving spellcaster must still be here; he is doing something to Mangas.

She races over to Mangas and tries to shake him - she would have better luck shoving a steamengine. "Mangas? Mangas! Can you hear me?"  The sight of fur knots her stomach;  they couldn't afford to have this happen right now.  "If this doesn't work, I'm sooo sorry, k?" Knowing that she is unlikely to get an answer, Eshe proceeds with her plan.  "Snap out if it!"

If you can call giving someone a slap in the face and then hoping for the best, a plan.


"Please?"

What had he done? Mangas looks  incredulously down at his bloody paws and back at the struggling Eshe. "No..." He only wanted to protect her. What have I done? The horror makes his hair stand up, oh no, wait, it is growing again... Not now! He starts towards his struggling friend. Reaching her, he takes her head and cradles her gently in his enormous arms. "I'm sorry! I never wanted to hurt you." A tear bravely fights it's way through the sprouting hair. "I have to leave you now, so maybe help can come and save you. It is time. I knew this day would come, I cannot hold the beast back anymore.
When you come and hunt me, make it quick." Eshe slaps him in his face. I deserve that. And more. He lets go of his friend, gets up and walks away to the exit. Someone will come and save her. " HELP! OVER HERE, HELP! "

He starts running to the exit, determined to be gone and no distraction to the people that will help Eshe.

Mangas is speaking but, whether because of his transformation or her own stress, she does make out the words at first. His calls for help are clear however. "What the hell," she mutters, bewildered. She has to figure out what is happening to him and how to stop it before he ends up getting hurt, or hurting someone else. The thought comes unbidden and is just as soon shoved aside.

At the very least, she has to keep up with him until she can make sense of this.

Eshe looks around, desperate to find something to help Mangas. The slap hadn't worked, the werebear's trance too strong. A bigger shock could snap him out of it. Bears had good senses of smell. Eshe spots a discarded bag of fries, sachets of vinegar lying on the ground near it...

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots movement and turns. In one of the nearby private booths, she spies a hunched humanoid figure. At it sees it's been spotted, it backs away from the bay window, slipping out of the hunter's view. Was this figure the onmyoji, a witness, or something else? Whichever it was, it was a lead.

Eshe gambles on the fact that whatever she had seen in the private booth would be easier to handle with Mangas than on her own not to mention without having to worry about him... more than usual anyhow

She scoops up the used vinegar packs.

Fun fact: a trickster from the British Isles had made it impossible to ever get all of the vinegar out of a pack. So now, no matter how thoroughly you squeezed, rolled, or shook a pack, there would always be a few droplets. Inifite vinegar to go with infinite fish - y'know what like my mate Jesus does.

Gross, soggy sachets in hand, she runs full out towards Mangas.

Eshe runs out of the arena as she pursues Mangas' panicked form. She leaps on him and rubs the vinegar packets on his face as he jostles her around. She sees that they're approaching one of the emergency exits when she suddenly finds herself flying through the air.


Mangas is running down a dark corridor, the walls bearing large gouges and coated in blood as his transformation continues. Something lands on his back and claws at his face, an overpowering smell filling his nostrils. He grabs at the thing and tosses it against the wall where it lands with a dull thud. He shakes his head, exhaling sharply as he tries to clear the rank stench of... vinegar?

He blinks and sees he's standing in the in the arena's commercial hallway. Gone is the blood and the scratches on the walls, replaced with the gaudy signs advertising processed slop. Eshe lays on the ground near the inner wall, groaning in pain as she starts to pick herself up.

OOC for Eshe:

It is only by running at close to top speed that Eshe is able to catch up with Mangas. This is not the first time that she is struck by how nimbly he is able to move when properly motivated. With the momentum of her run, Eshe launches herself at Mangas, landing on his back. He didn't even break his stride, she marvels before unleashing the acetic acid.

Maybe she should have been prepared for it, but she isn't; and so when Mangas throws her off of him, she does not land as smoothly as years of training should have allowed. Instead, after a brief, breathless fight through the air, Eshe has the wind knocked out of her aa she hits the wall with what feels like every single vertebra and a few ribs to boot.

Eshe shakes her head to try and clear it, sees that Mangas has stopped running, and gives a pained sigh of relief. Maybe he's forgotten that I slapped him. She laughs and then winces a little. She will get to her feet shortly. She will tell Mangas about the presence in the booth shortly. Right this second it is enough to try and catch her breath.

"Hey," she calls to him with a hesitant smile.

Disoriented he looks around.  What just happened? Was that not real? As he spots the gasping Eshe he jumps to her. Her throat was alright, no gaping wound.   Why can't she breath?... And what is with the smell?? When Eshe smiles at him and he hears her greeting, he relaxes a little bit.  "What happened? I saw you dying from... I hurt you. And there were dead people everywhere. I think I lost control. It was an omen. You are not save with me anymore. Nobody is. I think... I think I have to leave. I couldn't bare hurting you."

Eshe had come to understand why she had been kept on the fringes of her family, loving though they were, because of her portentous birth order.  She had found purpose in being periodically be left confused or downright terrified, and more often than not nauseous from a skull splitting headache because of her strange visions.  She had even learned to find joy in a life that would forever be isolating and wildly dangerous  because of her capital "D" Destiny.

But the idea that Mangas of all people, reckless, grumpy,  stubborn, ever present Mangas, would give up on her because of an omen; because of the Weirdness that just seems to take, and take, and take - it hurts her heart in a way that she didn't know was possible.

"After everything," she begins, but unable to keep her voice from cracking, stops to takes a breath.  She wants both to cry, and to scream at him, but Mangas has seldom responded well to a messy outpouring of feelings, has he?  Instead, she shakes her head and sighs.

Eshe clears her throat and looks up at Mangas with an obviously forced smile.  " 'It will be easier for you once you embrace that you do not have a choice,' " she says, clearly quoting someone. As she continues to speak, the words tumble out of her mouth with a breathless, manic quality.

"It's kinda the story of my life, you know? You clearly went through a thing, and need to do this. Leave, I mean. And I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to. Well, I mean of course I want to stop you, but that doesn't matter, because in the end you'll do what you want. Which is only fair. But, it's just really hard, you know? To embrace that you want to leave..." The word "me" just barely goes unsaid.  

She gives him another forced smile, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"So yeah... Even though it's not me embracing fate or whatever, and it's not fair of me to ask, I'm going to anyhow. 'K? Please? Please, don't leave." Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, she lowers her head and stares at the flooring, and Mangas can just make out the words that Eshe softly murmurs, like a secret to be kept between herself and the linoleum floor.

"How could I be safe all alone?"

Mangas slumps down on the floor next to Eshe and leans against the wall next to his friend. What can I do? I promised I will protect her. But how can I protect her from others and from myself? "I don't know." How did they get to this situation? How could he have let go so much? Just now they were being chased by "them" and looking for the onmyoji with the spell and then... THE SPELL!! "The spell!" Something must have gone wrong with the spell. That's where the vision came from. "We have to hurry, we lost a lot of time. 'They' are behind it all. Come, we have to hurry!" He jumps up and pulls the confused, shaken up Eshe with himself. Half pulling, half dragging her behind himself, he runs back to the arena. Something must be there. "They" clearly want to distract us from investigating the arena, something must be there.

When Mangas says I don't know Eshe's heart sinks a bit. Well at least it's not a 'no', she concedes with sullen hope. She barely has time to get her wits about her after being startled by Mangas' exclamation about a spell and some "They" who is up to no good. With no hope of getting out of his grip, Eshe resigns herself to being pulled along. Given that mere moments ago she was trying to keep him from pushing him away, she supposes that this is a step in the right direction.

"Who's they? Do you mean whoever was over in that private booth? I'm not sure that they'll still be there, but yeah I guess it's worth checking. "

If she didn't know for a fact that Mangas wasn't one to shy away from conflict, she would have been sure that he was having them both quite literally run away from the conversation that they had been in the middle of.

Mangas drags Eshe back to the arena and finds it as empty as it was when they first walked in. The feeling of dread remains, but the bodies he saw after casting the ritual are gone.

He looks around and sees flecks of magical energy floating in the air, but unlike the alley near the restaurant where they found the Oni, these ones are not bright and full of life. These are sickly green and send a shiver running down his spine every time one touches him.

He tracks their course back to a private booth that seems to be illuminated by the same pale green light. The same booth Eshe noticed earlier.

The Hunters make their way up to the booths' concourse. As they near the source, every step becomes more difficult as the fear welling up inside them intensifies. It feels like they're stepping into some great beast's maw, dooming themselves further with every inch. Their minds keep resurfacing their worst memories: moments of humiliation, terror, pain...

Finally, they reach the booth and push the door open. All the furniture has been moved to the sides of the room. In the middle, Mangas can see a tear in reality, much like the one in the alley. It is the source of the greenish light. Eshe, without the ritual to let her perceive the opening, notices eight paper talismans lying on the floor at regular intervals, forming a rough circle in the center of the room. The air smells like incense.

Mangas follows the yellow streaks up towards the private booth. With every step it becomes harder.

A huge bear towers over him, froth dripping from its enormous jaw. The dead eyes glow strangely. Mangas looks down at his hands and sees nothing but a simple spear. A sharpened stick, its tip hardened in fire. But he is not Mangas, he is no Monster. Just a man. The bear roars and his sharp claws come down on, him, the man, and rip a piece of his shoulder. Pain flashes through his body, fear almost overwhelms him...

It feels as if a strong wind pushes him back, wants him to turn around.

Mangas is standing over the ruin of a person. His hands dripping with blood. The dark clouds of rage fade and with it comes the shame. He killed her. Or was it a man? He doesn't remember. The person is dead. He starts weeping, like a child, as he turns and runs...

A thousand hands are grabbing him, holding him back, but he must continue.

The strings are cutting into his fists. He has to hold, lest the cage will fall. The couple in the cage dangling over the abyss is screaming, pleading, cursing. His large arms are trembling. He can't hold them any longer. Desperately, he clings to the rope, but, the rope slips a few centimeters, another few and then his fingers let loose...

In the booth, the horrific rift stares at him. It feels like everything bad or evil, everything that ever happened to him, comes from this rift. "There is the rift. It... It's bleeding terror. It looks fresh, maybe the onmyoji is still close."

Fighting his mounting terror, Mangas steps forward into the room and closer to the rift. He retrieves his supplies from his bag, fumbling nervously with the ink pot's cap, imaging its precious contents spilling across the floor. The stain would seal the fate of the city as the capital of hysteria. Thankfully, his giant fingers remain dexterous and his carefulness pays off.

He lays out the rice paper flips in front of him and readies himself to recite the chant, practicing it a couple of times in his head before risking saying it out loud. Who knows what disaster a mispronunciation would unleash...

As he goes to begin the ritual, a raspy voice speaks up from the other end of the room, near the heavy curtains on the side of the bay windows. "Please, wait! You wouldn't condemn an old man to starve, would you?" An ancient-looking, rickety old man in a loose robe steps out from behind the curtains. His form wavers slightly, as if he's seen through smoke. He smiles at the hunters, a grin meant to look kindly, perhaps, but it looks... hungry.

One cannot be courageous in the absence of fear, and it is taking every ounce of Eshe's courage to stay in the booth. A calm, reasonable part of her mind knows that there is magic at work; that the feeling of imminent doom is no more founded than the flat earth movement. And yet...

And yet she was sure that Mangas had brought them here to be able to be away from prying eyes and finally be free her - permanently.

She remembers the vise like feeling of his grip, how futile it had been to bat at him, as he raised his arm for the killing blow. What if her patrons had abandoned her? No deus ex machina this time? Just her broken body in a wreath of talismans, one last pathetic sacrifice to the whims of the tricksters who had sent her here to... All at once, she remembers the onmyoji and hears Mangas say that the rift is bleeding terror. She is angry at the sorcerer and at her self.

"Fear really is the mind-killer, huh?" She mutters to herself as she kneels by the talismans to see if there was anything that she can glean from them.

The appearance of the old man is startling, and she slaps her hands over her mouth to stiffle a scream. This wasn’t the spellcaster, so he is probably a denizen of the realm from the other side of the rift.

"But why would you be condemned to starve?" She could have asked any number of other questions, but the sharp tang of fear has Eshe being more reactive than strategic.

"I was assaulted by a vicious miscreant and left crippled," the old man says abashedly. "Without the emanations left from his ritual, I'd be powerless to feed myself. Please, show a wounded old man some kindness and leave it alone."

Clearly, this "old man" is the onmyoji's latest victim. A deserving one perhaps, but a victim nonetheless. Based on his words and their recent experiences, Eshe surmises that this creature feeds off of fear. His form suggests he's some sort of spirit. She recalls how one of her aunts once gifted her a small cloth pouch on a string... a gris-gris, she had called it. Her auntie had said it would protect her from evil spirits. Unfortunately, Eshe had lost it shortly before meeting the Tricksters' envoy...

She recalls that many different cultures have folklore about talismans who can protect someone from evil spirits' attention. Perhaps one of those could protect her and Mangas from the powers the onmyoji stole from this creature.

Not yet ready to acknowledge, let alone answer the creature's request, Eshe focuses on the old man's first statement. "That is terrible. The miscreant should be dealt with. Will be dealt with, with your help. Would you describe the wretch and his vicious attack?"

Mangas is trying to will himself to not be afraid, trying to rationalise that the fear is induced by magic, but yet he can feel, almost see the fear streaming out of him towards the spirit sucking it up. "You mean these things?" , he picks up one of the talismans and holds it up.

"No, I mean the leak," the old man says patiently, like a grandfather explaining rain to his grandchild.

He turns his gaze back to Eshe. "The miscreant will get his due," he says, a thin, amused smile on his lips, "by his own deeds. Not yours. Not when he's so close to bringing us to critical mass. Just a couple more passages, and the Hyakki Yagyō will occur." His eyes glaze over as he loses himself to memory. His smile grows wider, his teeth sharper. "What a sight it will. It might even rival Unzen. If he was just a bit more skilled, he could have brought us to the level of Kanto, or Pompeii, but I'm afraid his ambitions are too small." He looks down in disappointment.

The old man blinks and raises his eyes to look at the hunters. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

The voice of the spirit sends shivers up Mangas' spine. Without replying, he takes out the rice paper, kneels on the floor and starts drawing kanji onto the sheets. "betsu no ryōiki e no tobira o tojiyo!"

"NOOOO!" the old man snarls. He raises his cane like a golf club and lunges forward, moving to hit the ritual supplies and stop Mangas from closing the rift.

"Sorry Ojisan," Eshe says politely through gritted teeth, bracing against the cane's blow with her sanjiegun.

Once the rift is closed, they will hopefully be able to convince him to let them take care of the onmyoji rather than taking out his frustration on them.

As Mangas recites the prayer and prepares the slips of paper, the old man lunges for him repeatedly, aiming to scatter or break the implements. However, every time he gets close, Eshe is there, blocking his path and parrying his strikes with smooth precision. As the old man's frustration grows, he lashes out at the young lady, battering her with strikes of his cane.

In his fury, his form starts to shift, coming to resemble that of Eshe's grandmother. The the hunter loved her, she was also terrifying in her anger, and the sight of her pulls at a deep-seated childhood fear Eshe had forgotten. She falters for a second in her defense and the cane hits home, impacting Eshe's forearm.

OOC for Eshe:

However, in that time, Mangas completes the ritual, applying the strips of paper to the rend in reality. They pull tighter and translucent as he recites the incantation one last time, turning the gap into a thin, barely perceptible, scar-like line to his magically-enhanced sight.

The aura of dread that permeated the area suddenly disappears and the yokai stumbles and falls to his knees. His form has returned to that of an old man, lacking any of the fuzziness he had when they first encountered him. He looks just like a rickety old man wrapped in a bed sheet, clutching a gnarled stick in his equally gnarled hands.

"No..." he croaks, his despair palpable.

Smarting from the blow to her arm, and more shaken than she will admit by the unbidden sight of her grandmother, Eshe takes a beat before trying to reassure the old man.

"Ojisan we'll not leave you to starve, and we will succeed at stopping the onmyoji. That is happening." She says with more confidence than she feels, looking to Mangas for reassurance. "What you get to decide is whether you get to contribute to his downfall."

The old man looks up at Eshe with burning hatred. "His downfall will come with yours, and this entire city's!" He grabs the sheet he's wrapped in and pulls it off. The hunters reflexively avert their eyes from the elder's knotty and saggy form. He tosses the sheet at them and runs to the balcony, leaping off of it with surprising speed and agility.

By the time the hunters recover from their shock, the naked old man is gone.

Still smarting, both physically from the whack to her arm and emotionally from the whiplash of being rocked from concern to despondence, through to relief by way of abject terror, Eshe redirects her reeling thoughts to the mission.  They are trying to stop a magic user who is too confident by half and was somehow sowing chaos; chaos that the old man implied is going to get much much worse.

"Good work on that portal thing - I am worried though," she is typing on her phone, brow furrowed.  "I know that Pompeii was a volcano, but I can't find anything useful about Onzen or Canto... How about... He-yaki yagio? No. Heeyaki yageo? No... But yes, I did mean Hyakki Yagyō!  Pandemonium?"  Eshe reads, the furrow in her brow deepening.

"Uh, Mangas?" She calls to her friend, no longer particularly aware of the pains that had seemed very present just a few moments ago. "This magic man might be more of a pain than we thought,"

As soon as the fear and terror fade, the anger is back. Watching the yokai run away, Mangas shouts "STOP!" , but the yokai is gone. Mangas picks up an empty soda can and hurls it after the old man.
"He is gone. Let's hope the system works and a confused, naked, old man is quickly picked up by authorities and held in custody until identified." He turns to Eshe. "What do we do now? It feels we're always one step behind and the longer we hunt the worse it's going to be. I just don't see the pattern."