Hear Me Roar [] Liam Dunbar []

TWENTY-ONE|A Dark Tale

"3x17: Silverfinger (ii)"

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"There was something almost like it was ritualistic about it- like-like it was looking right into his soul." Argent was explaining it in the simplest and the best way that he could, while Victoria was now sitting on the desk on the other side of the room and Casey was inspecting the weapons that were all over the room.

"That's the same thing it did to me." Isaac exclaimed.

"That's what they did to everyone." Allison pointed out.

"Not everyone. They only came after the Werewolves." Scott countered and Victoria sighed, looking over at Casey knowingly.

"Plus Casey and Lydia." Allison pointed out and she looked over at Casey. "Why in the hell, did they go after you anyways?" Allison asked and Casey glanced at Victoria.

"We think it's because she was fighting them as well." Victoria answered for Casey, who was looking down at the floor, deep in thought. "Casey?" She asked and Casey looked up at her. "You got anything to add?" She asked.

"No, not really." Casey shook her head as she spoke.

"It was anyone with a connection to the supernatural." Argent noted as he glanced over at Casey, who glared back at him in annoyance. "You have guarded a supernatural, ever since you were 17, you continue to protect the ones that go to you for help. These things... They probably sensed them surrounding you and just assumed that you were one of them."

"They assumed wrong then." Casey replied fiercely.

"Well, then who was the guy they went after in Japan?" Isaac interrupted them quickly, apparently just trying to drive them back on track for the conversation.

"A Kumicho-- a Yakuza boss." Argent explained as now Allison was helping him to clean up his face, which was bloody and beaten. "It was my first gun deal. I was only eighteen, and it was supposed to be a simple exchange... Except Gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being Yakuza. He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. Testing my ability to, uh... improvise."

"Or, your ability to survive." Allison noted as she listened to her father's story attentively.

"My father never tried that, not that he ever had the chance to." Casey remarked coldly and Argent glanced over at her. "Oh, don't start feeling bad for me now Chris. You know as well as I do, that you could have stopped it all a thousand times. But you didn't and now, I'm the product of what that endless rage made me." She said icily and Argent sighed. "Continue your story."

"The moment the sun came down, it was like they just materialized out of the shadows surrounding all of us." Argent explained. "They had swords-- not curved like katanas, but straight, black steel, like ninjatos."

"What did they want?" Isaac asked as he was looking at Argent.

"To get to the Kumicho. They cut down, every living thing in their way." Argent gravely spoke and Casey sighed, recognizing the words. "What do you know about them?" Argent asked.

"I'm no expert, but I'll take a look through the myths and Victoria, if you can see what Derek or even Peter knows about them." Casey suggested and Victoria nodded, as her tail was whipping around her and she was jumping off of the desk in silence.

"Did they mark him like they did us?" Isaac asked.

"Not exactly..." Chris said with a sigh.

"What was he?" Scott asked in confusion.

"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. They called him "Silverfinger" because of an unusual prosthetic... And it looked like he was getting ready to take them all on himself." He explained. "But I've known for a while Katashi was in the country. I spent yesterday tracking him down."

"Didn't look like he wanted to be found." Isaac pointed out as they were all looking at Argent who was bloody and beaten up, most likely from this "Katashi" and his crew.

"Not particularly, no." He replied evenly, wincing a bit.

"You think he knows what they are? Or maybe, what they want?" Scott was back in the conversation and Victoria was pacing the room, just wanting to keep moving and frankly, she felt a bit like an animal in a cage.

"Maybe..." Argent muttered quietly, fully aware that they all could hear him.

"What if he doesn't want to talk?" Allison brought up a valid point.

"What if he doesn't even remember you?" Isaac asked, apparently wanting assurance.

"Doesn't matter if he remembers me. He'll remember this." Argent opened a box and he moved a cloth away from the mask and Casey's fists clenched at her sides, as she walked over to take a closer look. "Do you recognize it?"

"It looks like something that I've only heard about in folktales." Casey said and she looked at Argent for permission, as he nodded and she carefully picked up the two pieces and she fitted them together. "The tails of a fox." She said.

"What?" Scott asked.

"It was nothing, never mind then." Casey said and when Victoria shot her a look about it, Casey was shaking her head quickly at the wordless communication and Victoria nodded quickly and she put the pieces of the mask down again.

"I know I didn't kill it-- I'm not sure you actually can. But, I know that I slowed it down just long enough for us to get out of there." Argent explained.

"What was behind the mask?" Scott asked.

"Darkness... Absolute darkness." Argent explained and he looked at Casey. "You have to find those records if you can." He said and Casey nodded in agreement.

"I'll get to work on that, while the rest of you get your asses to school." Casey said and she was already calling Derek to grab the Hale records, while Victoria was running to school considering that she could easily beat buses and the cars that tore through the streets at her top speed without issue.

Casey had sent Derek quickly off to follow Scott and to be a whole lot more subtle than the dynamic twins while doing it all, as at school, Victoria was paying attention to the school at large and Scott, as well as Kira who was unmarked as of yet... But Victoria could see the same aura that Scott had seen around her.

"Do you know what she is?" Victoria jumped and luckily, she had enough of her wits about her still, to keep her tail tucked under her jacket and she turned around to stare at Scott, annoyance bright in her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yes, I know what she is. She's a kitsune." Victoria said without hesitation and her eyes briefly flashed golden. "I know you want to be alone with Kira to try and face these Oni, but you are not going to make it very far on your own. I'm staying with you, don't even try to argue." She said and Scott sighed.

"I know better than to argue with a Hale." He agreed reluctantly and then after school, she was racing them back to the McCall House.