On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Kazuo screamed in agony as the unlicenced underground doctor wiped his face, fragments of burned and shredded skin moulting off, exposing blackened muscle beneath. “Careful you… ahh… fool! I thought… ugh… you were going to… give me something… argh… for the pain!”

 The nervous-looking doctor frowned uneasily. “I have, you’ve already had a greater than the usual dose. Any more and you risk fatal side-effects. I don’t…”

“Gah!” Kazuo whipped out with his free hand, backhanding the doctor across the face. The doctor staggered, dropping the cloth he was holding, getting gore on the floor. “I don’t care about… agh… the fucking… ugh… risks.” He half-sobbed, impossible torment wracking him. “I just … need to… ugh… rest.”

The doctor was helped to his feet by a couple of rough-looking men in unbuttoned shirts and patterned suits, dripping in golden bling. One of them turned to the thrashing Kazuo and muttered an apology. “Sorry bro, but the doc is only thinking of you. Maybe you should go to a real hospital? Our yakuza doctor isn’t the best. He was struck off for malpractice after all.”

Rubbing at his bleeding cheek and nose the doctor forced a smile. “My skills are fine. I was disbarred for theft and… well, substance abuse. No-one has ever called me unskilled. But…” he conceded. “I don’t have the medicines or the equipment a proper hospital does. I’m doing what I can, Kondou-sama, but…”

You think I can go to a normal hospital with these unexplainable injuries? Don’t make me laugh… Gritting his teeth, which pulled at the raw ruin of his face, causing fresh pain to spark, he gasped out an order to give him more sedatives, and damn the consequences. My body is strong, stronger than ever. I probably need more painkillers to achieve an effect.

“It’s all right. the boss’ll take responsibility.” The second yakuza, who had been silent up until now said. “And those wounds are real bad. Some sort of gunshot to the back and an explosion to the face I’d say… you must have made some real bad enemies, bro.”

As the doctor injected him again, Kazuo held down a curse. No fucking kidding. Those shits, they are ruining everything… he remembered the sneer on the face of that girl as she had taken his eye, the burst of flame from her mouth blasting half his face away. Even back here, outside that strange realm, he was still seared to the bone, and one eyes was a blind, milky ruin. And as for that man…

He let out another pained groan as his body shifted. The doctor looked concerned, but even so, he finished delivering the illegal painkillers into his veins. “Once… once the pain subsides, I need to work on your other injury.” The doctor said softly. “I think you have internal bleeding. We brought blood packs, but even so…” he gestured to the medical scanner and array of items that the yakuza had brought.

“Fine.” Kazuo groaned. “Whatever you have… to do, do it. I… ugh… can’t die here… not yet, not… until I have had… argh… my revenge!”

********

When he awoke, Kondou Kazuo found his pain had diminished significantly, though it was still enough to make him clench his teeth, breath coming in hot gasps. Opening his eyes… no, my eye now.. curse her! He saw he was hooked up to medical equipment, which was beeping quietly along with his heartbeat. One of the yakuza he had called was asleep against one wall, while the other was on his mobile phone, talking quietly to someone.

“Oh, you woke up. Thank the gods.” The doctor said, pale and sweating, one side of his face spectacularly bruised. “The surgery went well, but even so, you need rest, and there is the danger of secondary infection.”

Kazuo tried to sit up, but alarmed, the doctor stopped him  pushing him down. Damn, I feel so weak, like I am who I was before…

“You can’t get up yet. It will take weeks to fully recover.” The doctor cautioned. “Until then, I shall be at your disposal, of course.”

“Fully recover?” he asked.

At that the doctor looked downhearted. After a moment he confessed. “Well, your eye… that was beyond saving. As for your face… I believe plastic surgery should be able to restore you to what you once were. It won’t be cheap, but…”

“Mirror.” Kazuo spat, and everyone hesitated.

“Mirror. Now!” he demanded again, and after a moment the doctor held up a small hand mirror. On looking at his own reflexion, Kazuo choked out a cross between a laugh and a sob, horrified at having his fears confirmed. My handsome face is ruined…

His hair was gone on one side, leaving charred flesh from is crown down to his jaw, the raw muscle beneath weeping pus. And worse, his eye was no longer capable of sight. At the horrific view, he had to laugh, bitter giggles coming from him, louder and louder until they turned to mad chortles. Smashing the mirror from the hand of the doctor it shattered on the floor.

Fuck, I have money, I can get surgery to repair my face, but my eye… and how long will it take? Just when the world was kneeling before me. It is all their fault, those two. And that useless bitch Kiku. Where is she? Why has she not returned? He could tell she wasn’t dead, the strange bond that connected them still intact, but her not being here was an insult to him, and probably meant those two weren’t dead either, despite his clear orders.

“Uhh, bro, you might want to calm down. I don’t know who did this to you, but you have been a friend to the Matsubato-kai syndicate for a long time. Any enemy of yours is an enemy of ours. Just say the word, and…” the man made a throat-cutting gesture with his thumb across his throat. “… we’ll pay them back tenfold, have no fear.”

Those words stopped his bitter laughter dead. Of course. I can’t believe I’ve been so foolish. The other world was intriguing, and without it he would not have Kiku to clean up his messes with the girls he… enjoyed, nor the phenomenal ability to invoke pain in anyone he pleased, which was perfectly suited to his soul, so he was told, and had no reason to doubt, but in the real world… money, connections, violence. All of those are real power.

“Of course, I have always respected the Matsubato-kai and your alliance. And I expect our relationship to continue to be both familial and rewarding. In fact… I think this task will pay very well indeed. Call up as many men as you can spare, and bring as much weaponry as you can. No holds barred.” Kazuo’s smile held no good humour now, only a black thirst for revenge on those who had wronged him, wounded him, tried to take what was his. “Take my eye, will you? Pierce my guts? Well, I’ll pay you back a thousand-fold.” Thoughts of what he would do to the girl, while her man watched, filled his head, momentarily masking the pain that escaped control by the drugs he was pumped full of. Or no, maybe I should have her watch him dismembered first before I have fun with her. Which way would be most fun…?

 ********

Kazuo was propped up on his bed, again well-mediated, though he had been wheeled into a conference room. The doctor seemed surprised he was still conscious with the amount of medication he was on, but Kazuo knew the reason. I am above you mere mortals now, a god. Still, there are times when a god must allow his loyal worshippers to act on his behalf. Brain fogged by the morphine and other drugs that were illegal in Japan, Kondou Kazuo looked around the room at the large number of yakuza who had gathered. There was nearly thirty of them, a good chunk of the Matsubato-kai in fact.

The leader of the large group was a big man with a shaven head, wearing an expensive suit coupled with a vivid purple shirt. He nodded respectfully to Kazuo. “Many apologies bro, boss Oyameda and the higher-ups had to go to an alliance meeting. They wanted to get out of it, but you know how it is.”

Everyone has commitments. I get it. Still, the timing is bad… but they should be enough, assuming they brought the goods…

“Well, with you leading the charge, I’m sure that they’ll regret crossing me, Akira-san.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.” Akira-san thumped his chest. “I can’t believe some bastards had the nerve to try and do you in, bro. You just tell us who you want gone, and they’ll be sleeping in the river by morning. They’ll pay for ruining your handsome face, the girls down at the hostess clubs will all be weeping and crying in grief.”

I don’t have time for this flattery right now. All I want is revenge… “I’ll get back my good looks, I will.” Kazuo promised. “But you misunderstand. I want them brought to me so I can have the pleasure of revenge myself. After all, I’m a man of the underworld too, I can’t let this slide. You can work them over if you have to, but I want them still conscious and… unmolested… so they are clearheaded enough to regret their mistakes when I’m done with them.”

“Sure thing, sure thing.” Akira-san agreed, and around him some of his men chuckled vulgarly. “So, who are we bringing to you?”

A good question, but… “I need a man and a woman, they were the ones who tried to kill me. That bitch took my eye, so I’m going to show her… tender… care.”

“A woman, really?” Akira-san was surprised that a girl could do such a thing to him. “Still…” his grin was amused. “You always did enjoy the ladies. I know what you’ve got planned for her. Is she much of a looker?”

Thinking back to her, her licked his cracked and charred lips. A looker? She was gorgeous. But she won’t be when I’m finished with her, she’ll be uglier than I am now.

“She’s a foreign beauty, long golden hair and eyes, quite small and…” as he described her, he considered what else he knew. Their base of operations in that world seemed to be centred around a local shrine. Shirohebizumi, I think it was? Shrines seemed to be the common place to find people able to enter that world, after all, it was where he had picked up that useless buffoon who was now his slave. Or is he? We lost Hisuikomushi shrine there, so he’s probably dead… a shame, as he was contributing nicely to my expansion.

No, that shrine was the logical place to find them, and he knew what they looked like, so capturing them would be easy with such numbers. Using any abilities was far harder here than over there, Kazuo knew that himself from experience, and so while they would be dangerous… they won’t be able to face a mob of trained yakuza.

“Okay, we’ve got the description of them bro. We’ll break into the shrine tonight and rough ‘em up. But don’t worry, we’ll leave the girl untouched for you to have your fun. Bit of a shame if she’s as pretty as you said though…” as more guttural, obscene laughter filled the room, Kazuo asked the important question.

“Don’t underestimate them, Akira-san. They are quite skilled. I hope you managed to bring some… adequate… firepower.”

He pounded his chest once more. “Sure thing bro, but it wasn’t easy. We’ll owe the alliance a favour, but we have four pieces. One of them’s a real beauty. We have all the usual gear too.” He gestured to several holdall-style bags that were lying against the wall, and Kazuo could see the handles of bats and hilts of swords sticking out.

Yeah, no matter how good they are, against a mob of well-armed yakuza, they stand no chance. His face and insides were burning again, the anaesthetics wearing off rapidly. Once they were dealt with, he could call that useless trash Kiku back from whatever hole she was hiding in and enslave their souls too. They would have forever to regret crossing him.

“Hey, you all right bro?” Akira-san was saying, concerned.

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about revenge.”

“That’s my bro.” Akira-san laughed. “In that case, we’ll be getting ready. Expect good news soon.”

As he led the gang out of the conference room, Kazuo let out a pained sigh. The yakuza doctor came to his side hurriedly, concerned. “Are you well, sir? Your mind may be a bit foggy from the drugs…”

“I’m as clearheaded as I need to be.” Kazuo snapped back. “The thought of justice is all I need to keep going. Now make yourself useful and get me something to eat. I’m starving.”

The doctor paused. “You shouldn’t eat with those injuries, and on the anaesthetics you might…”

“I don’t want to hear your damn excuses. I’m ravenous.”

With that the doctor scurried away, leaving him alone. Clenching his fist, Kazuo imagined it slamming into the faces of the girl and the man, shattering their smug expressions, reducing them to hideous husks. My eye… no surgery can replace it, but perhaps all isn’t lost… that world has many strange powers, perhaps one can fix my eye. But to return there, first I have to deal with those two…

The doctor brought him over some rice balls and tea, and Kazuo tore into it savagely, chewing and swallowing as if he was tearing on the flesh of the girl that had blinded him. “This isn’t bad. I’m starting to feel a bit better.” Yes, thoughts of revenge would do that…