Detective Yuki

22. Ginkgo

1. Ginkgo

Back at the front gate, Yuki began to lure the lions into her trap while Aibo was battering them with lumps of wood from the wooden moat work.

 "it is no use Yuki, they ae made of stone. If only we had a car or a gun" Aibo complained at their relative lack of success against the lions. 

"it is okay Aibo, I have an idea" Yuki said by drawing the lions toward her, in the path of the massive outer stone walls of the palace.

 Both jumping simultaneously at Yuki, they leaped through the air while she dropped to the floor, sending them hurdling into the stone walls, their masonry falling into the outer moat.

 "come on, we do not have much time!!" Yuki directed Aibo as they entered the Forbidden city, followed by the sirens of approaching police cars from the local law enforcement, but even they were kept at bay by the monsters of all shapes, sizes, colors and features imaginable like green eyes, tall bodies, hundreds of teeth, or wings, which all began to raid the city and attack the local police and civilians, causing the city to descend further into chaos.

Inside the throne rooms and galleries of the palace, Yuki and Aibo took advantage of the numerous swords, spears and artefacts left behind by the previous occupiers as they made their way through to the center of the city. 

"have no fear, Aibo. We are almost there. Senbi must be here somewhere. I can almost smell him" Yuki eagerly awaited fate making her way into the central courtyard beside the gaping portal to the demon dimension.

 From the balcony of the central tower came the masked figure of Senbi, looking over his portal and the two newcomers. 

"miss Yuki and whatever your name is, welcome to the party. The only thing is, you two are not on the guest list. Such a shame" Senbi shouted from the balcony before he clapped his hands, making Wanyudo and Teke-Teke emerge from the lower echelons of the tower, to engage the uninvited visitors head on.

 Senbi retreated back into the tower as the fight occurred. Teke-Teke took her scythe in her mouth to slash at Aibo, who countered with a bronze sword, while Wanyudo took on Yuki with a Chinese meteor hammer. Teke-Teke cut Aibo on the side before she was kicked into the gaping portal nearby and ripped apart by a spider demon.

Wanyudo menaced Yuki for as long as he could, but she eventually got the upper hand, swinging the meteor hammer into his flaming wheel, causing him to crash and burn into a small heap of black ash. Ridden slightly by the scars of battle, Yuki attended to her friend.

 "stay here, I will take care of him myself" Yuki told Aibo, who replied "you are not going alone. It is only a flesh wound, I will live" reassuring Yuki as she gave chase to the central tower, assisting Aibo in climbing the numerous stairs up to the top floor, where Namida stood by the golden bull in the dimly lit center of the room, with Senbi walking back in from the balcony after watching the fight.

 "alright Senbi, what are you up to?. Why have you been doing all this?, and how are you still alive?. We thought you had died back in Tokyo" Yuki finally confronted Senbi.

"it may not be obvious enough, but do I look dead to you?".

 "I found your mask and a riddle from a crater back at the factory, and since the mask was intact and the riddle written very recently to survive the inferno, I would say that it was you who started the explosion in Tokyo" Yuki assumed, to be proven correct by Senbi. 

"right you are, for if you had not solved my riddle, you would not be here and now, to face me for what I am" Senbi said removing his mask to reveal his face, that of a demon with large yellow eyes, red skin and a gaping jaw filled with small teeth.

 "so now you see me for what I am. A monster. For three centuries, I saw Tokyo grow into a glorious city from the cliffs of mount Fuji, tasked with luring travellers to their doom. Not too long ago, I began to take an interest in the lives of humans, so I got a disguise and became the wealthy businessman who world could come to know. For your sake, I will make this short. I have come to Peking to use my golden bull, which conceals an explosive device of great magnitude. I want to use that explosive. That portal out there is to supply me with an army with which I can destroy the city, frame Japan for the destruction, thus persuading China to go to war with Japan. Amid the ensuing warfare, I will return to Japan with my new found army and take the imperial throne for myself, even if I have to kill the emperor. I will then found a new empire in Asia and the world with no one able to stop me. I will not lose to anyone, especially some girl and his servant" the demon relented his evil plan to his adversaries as the shadows of the ninjas moved to surround the duo.

With not a moment to spare, Aibo thought quickly and rammed the golden bull out of the tower, through the balcony fencing and down into the fledging portal. The electromagnetic forces of the portal contained enough energy to fully activate the explosive device, igniting the volatile cocktail of dynamite, gunpowder and petroleum hidden inside the bull, creating a blast of great proportions, causing the portal to collapse and obliterate the inner sanctum of the Forbidden city, including the central tower with its occupants. Yuki, Aibo and the rest were sent flying side ways as the tower was torn apart by the sheer force of the explosion. Awakening from an uneasy slumber and bleeding from her head, Yuki got to her feet amidst the burning remains of the tower and the scattered chunks of stone like marbles across the floor.

 "Aibo!!!" she called out into the smouldering wasteland surrounding the burnt out shallow crater where the portal once stood. Hearing groaning in the distance, Yuki peered over a large fallen heap of brickwork, as a spear narrowly missed her left arm and pierced the heap.

"this was all your doing, witch!!!" Senbi yelled from across the fiery glen, armed with another spear with clear intentions. The ninjas were nowhere to be seen, most likely killed by the explosion, but Senbi was already charging at her, yet she picked up a silver sword from beneath the wreckage and countered the oncoming attack of Senbi. After several bouts between enemies, Yuki was batted off several yards. Once again coming to her feet, she found the familiar image of her sound machine while Senbi charged at full pelt. Yuki took the machine In hand and switched it on, generating an ear splitting noise that destabilized the demon and forced him to scatter into the ruins, leaving Yuki to search the rubble and desolation for her companion.