A little clue

(Gang M's  lookout, City S outskirts)

    The Dark Demon enters the gang house using the front door. He looks at the semi-conscious guard, who gets scared on seeing him. The guard tries to come out of his cabin but falls unconscious. The Dark Demon laughs and enters the house through the kitchen window.  He sneaks into the kitchen and injects the bearer with some drug. The bearer gets scared on seeing Dark, and he tries to alert the members. Before he could scream, Dark hits him with a heavy rod, and he falls unconscious. Dark exhales and suddenly changes into the bearer. He carries the drinks to the gang members.

(A few hours later, Jiho's apartment, City S)

    Jiho receives a phone call from the City S PD. He attends the call and the voice in other side says," Gang M's members are found brutally hacked with an axe." He replies, " Secure the area. We will be there in 15 minutes."

He turns towards Snow and says, " Quick, we need to leave. Someone massacred the M gang. Or to put it like that, Dark Demon allegedly massacred the M gang."

Snow nods and gets ready. Both leave in Jiho's car.

(Some hours earlier, Minsu's Café, City S)

    Minsu and Jihyuk have a hot argument. Gina says , "Don't compare your useless café with Jihyuk's business. You are not even half of the man he is. And all you have is a group of useless friends."

Minsu becomes furious. Sae looks around as the water containers rattle furiously. The matter starts to get complicated. All of a sudden , they hear a whistling sound, and they turn towards the sound.

Sae grins . She says, " Rudra is here." Rudra arrives clad in a white t-shirt and black jeans.

    In a cheerful tone, Rudra says, " Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen." He calmly walks towards the group and points towards Miyuki and asks," How can you guys fight with such a beautiful woman in your surroundings?" Miyuki looks at Rudra with confusion and irritation. Lia giggles and says, " You sure are a weird man, Rudra. You enter whistling in an argument,  then proceed to flirt with the most violent woman in the group."

     Rudra smiles. He says, " Well, the one who you call most violent is one of my old friends. Also, I like the odds against me." Lia looks at Miyuki and says, " Finally, someone suitable for you." Miyuki says, " Shut up, Lia." Rudra turns towards the others. He asks, " What is going on here? " Sae Hyun says, " Rudra, this is my friend, Minsu. He was in a relationship with this woman, Gina. But, she cheated on him and left him for a richer guy, Jihyuk, and constantly humiliates him for his current financial condition. What you are seeing now is one such incident."

      Rudra nods and says, " I see." He turns towards Minsu and asks, " Are you the owner of this café?" Minsu nods and says, " My mom invested in this, and I am running it now. It's my family business." Rudra says, " That's quite impressive. Against someone who is just proud of their father's money, you, a person running your own business, are very cool." Minsu smiles and thanks Rudra. Gina interrupts and says, " Still a loser for not earning much money."  Rudra ignores Gina. He gathers the others and says, " It's better we go to a rather quiet place away from people who cause noise pollution."

        Everyone moves towards the other side of the café.

(After a few hours of talking)

        Rudra leaves along with  Miyuki. Miyuki says, " Despite all the hate I give you, I have to do my job. I went to Country J a year ago. I have a police officer friend there, and she told me about a peculiar person of interest. Someone arrested by her team. The person identified himself as Fuma which roughly translates to Wind Demon." Rudra nods and says, " Go ahead." Miyuki says, " Rudra-sama, I suspect he is one of us. You know, I think he belongs to our clan ."

         Rudra asks, " Why do you think so ? "  Miyuki replies, " The mystery of his escape." Rudra says, " I request elaboration."  Miyuki says, " Exactly a year and 4 months ago, the police team, inclusive of my friend, arrested Fuma for the suspected homicide of some influential corrupts in the nearby region. While travelling through the remote mountainous region, the Team was attacked by a drug smuggler gang, forcing them to take cover. Desperate to escape the assault and with no radio to call in reinforcements, the team decided to open Fuma's cuffs.  Fuma casually jumped out of the van. When his action was questioned by my friend, he replied, 'You don't know my complete prowess, do you?' He proceeded to eliminate the gang member threats and then mysteriously disappeared. Even after four months of searching, no one found him; he just wasn't there, not in the city, not in the prefecture, not in the country. Boom! He is nowhere."

        Rudra smiles and says, " This is not one of us. Our clan member would have gladly stayed behind. This guy is different and judging from his attitude, he seems like one of my students and one of them."

Miyuki asks, " Them?" Rudra says, " Sah asti suraputra." Miyuki says, " Oh. But why one of them is roaming aimlessly in these parts of the planet?... Don't tell me that project is approved."

Rudra nods and says, " Yes, that is approved." Miyuki says in a tone of urgency and desperation, " Rudra-sama, I wasn't present at the darbar during the discussion of that project, but I did send a detailed report about the cons of the  project with Raiden-ni . Despite that, how could you approve the project?"  Rudra glares at Miyuki. Miyuki lowers her tone and says, " I mean...those points were enough to reject the project." Rudra asks in a sarcastic tone, " Have you ever heard of debates?" Miyuki replies, " There's no way the Grand Minister could have come up with counter-arguments for those points. I request you, Rudra-sama, please stop this project. I am afraid that the project will cause suspicion that our race has returned to its roots." Rudra scolds Miyuki, " Miyu, I am responsible for maintaining order among these mortals. I have tried interfering in a far more diplomatic way, but it was of no avail. The project shows some promise. I strongly advise you to do your job. The first sign of the ominous notions that you have mentioned..... I will terminate the project." Miyuki  argues, " But, Rudra-sama........" Rudra interrupts and says, " End of discussion." He points towards a house on his right and says, " Your home, leave now." Miyuki walks into the home dejected and defeated.

        Miyuki storms through the front door of her house, filled with anger and frustration. Her uncle asks, " What is it, Miyu? Why are you so frustrated today?" Miyuki replies, "  You do know that Rudra-sama is here on this planet, right?" Her uncle nods. Miyuki continues, " Well, I got scolded by him again. This is the 15th time I am getting scolded by him." Uncle asks, " why were you scolded? What did you do? " Miyuki replies, " I brought up the topic of the project. " Uncle's eyes widen in shock. He scolds Miyuki, " do you have any idea what you have done? Who gave you the right to challenge Lord Rudra's decision and that, too, one taken by a unanimous vote in the Court?"

        Miyuki retorts, " Lord Rudra himself gave me the right. He allows people to question his decision and answers their questions. He is not some tyrant. Not only that, but he was mad because I thought my points were enough, and I didn't think about debates.  He is a good ruler; don't insult him out of your fear. " She runs up the stairs to her room.  Miyuki's aunt says to her uncle, " She is a weird girl. On one hand , she says she hates Lord Rudra on the other, she scolds anyone who speaks nonsense against him with facts even Lady Sam wouldn't know. I must check her room sometime. I am pretty sure she must be a Rudra fangirl." Her uncle laughs and says, " Who knows....maybe she will be his second wife..." Miyuki comes running downstairs and asks, " what second wife?" The uncle replies, " Lord Rudra is supposed to have three wives. One of them is Lady Sam, the other two are non-existent till now. I wonder if you would be one of them." Miyuki's eyes light up for a moment, but she regains her composure and says, " I have no intention of marrying him." She then runs away. The uncle says, " I am pretty sure that we will be honored with the Asurakula Chakravarthy  as our son-in-law."

(The Next Morning, Crime Scene)

      The City S PD forensic team try their best to gather any possible evidence.  Snow says, " Damn, he left so little clues." A constable comes and says, " The guard is awake and wants to see you."  Jiho nods and says, " Let him in." A female detective approaches Jiho and says, " I have found a rather big note. I would like you two to go through it."

       Jiho looks at the note and says, " Thanks, Gil-yong." He opens the note and finds all the charges filed on the Gang M. Charges that were never enforced on them. The guard arrives in the crime scene, shivering in fear and escorted by two cops. He holds a cross in his hands and continuously prays to God. Jiho hands the note to Snow and runs towards the guard. He calms the guard and says, " It's ok. We all are here to protect you." The guard says, " I...ap…appreciate your...kindness....but...you can't protect me from the demons....only God can..."

Jiho sighs and says, " Just tell me what you saw." The guard replies,  "I..I ..was...on ...my..shift last night. I ..ordered...a..coffee and drank it ...since ...I was feeling sleepy. As ...soon...as I drank it, I...felt..dizzy...and..disoriented. All of a sudden....I...saw...a...blue..skinned...person..with..fangs. He was so terrifying that I...I.......fell..unconscious."

Jihoo asks , "Where did you order the coffee from?"  The guard stammers , "From....Cafe..Nyx.."

Snow says , "Cafe Nyx is a nearby night cafe." The guard says , "I am sorry I can only tell this much....I don't know what happened next."

Another officer brings a man with butler clothes. The butler says , "Sir , I was supposed to serve alcohols to them. And was going to do that but a masked person attacked  me and all I could feel was something pricking me somewhere near my neck......as soon as this happened ......I saw some vampire like creature attacking me.....I felt its hand hitting my head and that's the last thing I remember." He holds his head and grimaces in pain.

The forensic expert brings a syringe and says , "Sir , we found this near the butler. It seemed to have contained some kind of a fear inducing drug or a hallucinogen. We will give a detailed report later after further analysis. "

Jihoo and Snow nod in agreement. Snow says , "Take all the possible evidence to the lab and analyse them while Jihoo and I visit Cafe Nyx." At that time, Jiho's phone rings and he answers it. "Hello, Officer Taeyang Jiho, crime branch, here. How may I help?" A woman answers from the other side, " Hello, my name is Tsukiko. I have something to say about the Dark Demon. When can I meet you and your co officer Snow?"  Jiho replies, " Come by 12:00 noon today."

(12:00 AM, Jiho's cabin, City S PD Eastern Branch)

Jiho hears a knock on the cabin door. ":Come in, " he says. A woman enters the room along with a 6 year old boy. The woman extends her hand and says, " I am Tsukiko Kugisaki, off duty detective, K prefecture Crime Branch, Country J. I was the investigating officer in the Dark Demon's case. So, I know some things about him and the case." Jiho nods and shakes her hand and Snow does the same. She says, " I am Snow Shiroi, Jiho's partner in this case." Tsukiko smiles and nods. The kid says, " I am Yuji Kugisaki." Snow ruffles the kid's hair and says, "Hello, Yuji." Jiho smiles and nods. He says, " Just wait a bit. The third member will arrive soon." "The third member has arrived, " says Gil-yong , bursting through the cabin door. She says, " Hi, I am Gil-yong, Detective, Crime Branch." Tsukiko smiles and introduces herself.

Tsukiko says, " The case of the Dark Demon was weird as ****. It all started one fateful day, a year ago. A girl named Kanao burst into the police hq covered in blood and scared shitless. She was literally holding a cross in her hand and praying to God and shivering in fear. Her words were not clear and she was literally crying. We checked for injuries but she didn't have any. Somehow, we found out about a homicide in a nearby building's parking lot. We reached there and saw the horrific scene." Jiho asks, ' What did you see?"

Tsukiko replies, " We saw three gang members brutally hacked to death and one member grappled to death. The three members' arms and legs were scattered around. Their heads were on the other side and their torsos in center. The fourth member was bent in all joints untill his bones broke. It took us 1.5 days to put together the bodies of the three members. We waited till Kanao calmed down and tried to talk to her. She kept repeating the same sentence, 'Hiroki ga yatta' which translates to Hiroki did it."

Gil-yong asks, " Did you interrogate Hiroki?" Tsukiko replies, " Hiroki is dead. He was dead for a year when the incident happened." Gil-yong's eyes widen. She exclaims, " Eh?! A dead person commiting crimes..." Tsukiko nods and says, " Weird, right? We looked at the CCTV footage from the parking lot and we all have several questions."  Snow asks, " You mean, had?" Tsukiko disagrees and says, " have. But we did find out why Kanao was afraid." Tsukiko grabs her Buddha pendant and mumbles something. She says," We saw a dark figure appearing out of nowhere in front of the gang members . The figure points at a member whose body bends in a horrible way. The member starts acting like a hypnotized/possessed person and hacks down his other fellow members before dying due to broken spine. There is no way that a human could have done this. We digitally reviewed the footage and found no signs of alterations."

Jiho suddenly remembers something from the past. He asks, " Did you notice anything else in that case?" Tsukiko nods and says, " Whenever Dark Demon attacks , black wisps of smoke are released into the place." Jiho nods and says, " Thanks a lot, Tsukiko-san. Remember to call us if your remember more." Tsukiko nods and leaves along with Yuji.

(Jiho's past, 1.5 years ago, Southern Rainforests, Country B)

Jiho meditates on a rock under the morning sun. On a nearby rock, Rudra meditates too. Rudra opens his eyes and sees Jiho losing focus. Rudra says, " Don't lose your focus, Vaikartana . Complete your chanting of Aditya Hridayam . Let the energy of the Sun flow through you. The Sun is Hiryanagarbha . He sustains life in this world. The energy originating from Him can both create and destroy. I am gonna teach you a technique that will rival the Vajraswaroop of your friend. I taught him Vajraswaroop ."

Jiho completes his meditation and asks, " Aasaan, I don't wanna give the control of my body to my mind. I want to control it instead. Is there a technique like that?"

Rudra hands Jiho a stone. He picks another one in his hand and focuses his energy. The stone explodes releasing a large burst of energy. Jiho stares at the scene he just saw. Rudra smiles and says, " This is the technique of destruction. What you saw is the basic stuff. I want you to replicate the same." Jiho does the same and blasts the stone. Jiho smiles and celebrates, " Yay! I did it." Rudra gently slaps Jiho on the head and says, " This is nowhere close to what I just did. Look at the ground near your feet. There are pieces of stone there. Now look at my feet, there are no pieces. That's because I erased the stone from existence while you just destroyed it. It's about taking the matter from 1 to 0. When you do that, the thing releases a great amount of energy." Jiho nods.

(Present time,17:30, Gourmet Restaurant, Western City S)

Tsukiko, Yuji, Jiho, Gil-yong and Snowmeet in the restaurant. Jiho asks, " So the kidnapping of Eko is also related to the Dark Demon's case, eh?" Tsukiko nods and says, " This is the eeriest of the cases we had encountered so far. It's still not closed. My colleagues are still investigating it. They just said that the locals gave the statement of seeing dark black wisps of smoke before the kidnapping happened and these weren't coming from the fire, but from the opposite side."

Suddenly, Snow spots someone observing them from a distance. She alerts Jiho and Jiho runs towards the mystery man. The mystery man runs towards the parking lot and Jiho catches up to him. A fight breaks up between them.

Jiho easily overpowers the man. The man changes into his true form, The Dark Demon and tries to defeat  Taeyang Jiho. He punches Jiho and says, " Nice to meet you, Vaikartana brhatashri." He tries to punch him again but Jiho grabs his arm and breaks it. He kicks him in the gut and throws him to the ground. The Dark Demon struggles and asks in confusion, " What the ****? How did you withstand the attack? I had my Daitya mode on." Jiho stretches and leans near him. He says, " The more our fight burns, the stronger I become. You are not the only one with an ultimate power. This is my Adityaswaroop. Your hits are nothing but a fuel for me. Now for your arrest, Hiranyakesha..."

Something hits Jiho and he falls at some distance. He gets up and stretches. The others arrive at that time. "JIHO!!, " Snow shouts. Jiho shows a thumbs up to her and gestures her to go away. Yuji points at the new fighter near Hiranyakesha and says, " Mom, Mr Fuma is here."

Jiho looks at both the fighters and stretches his arms. He punches his fist into his palm and says, " I am gonna enjoy this." Fuma and Hiranyakesha say, " And so will we."

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