Hachi rushed forward toward the Spectator, who jumped back and released a series of throwing knives at the demonic dog. The knives hit Hachi and exploded, the dog torn to shreds as bits of its body ignited.

“Nooo!” Bianca shouted. “But he was so young…”

Hiro blasted at the Spectator with {Blade Whirlwind}. He rushed toward what was left of Hachi and picked a bit of flesh, which he pocketed. I hope this is how it works, he thought as he moved to attack the Spectator.

The light on his carabiner did little to reveal what the masked Spectator looked like, yet from what Hiro had already seen, his opponent was easily eight feet tall, male, and in a pair of thick red robes, the tails of which seemed almost symbiotic. His blazing red eyes were the only thing Hiro saw of his face, which was mostly concealed by a gorget.

Hiro summoned his phantom cats as he jumped back to avoid a spiraled attack by the Spectator, one that reminded him of the way Samuel fought with his cloak.

The cats rushed into the fray, yowling as Hiro cast {Kiss or Slap}, failed, and followed this up with {Thoughts and Prayers}, which seemed all but useless.

I have a Bleed cartridge but I should probably save that, he thought as he sent his odachi away and went for his katana. Rune of the Reverse blade can get the Bleed started; I can follow that up by spamming {Blade Whirlwind} if I have to.

To distract his opponent, he shot the Spectator in the face with his finger gun. This didn’t do any damage, but the sparks it created allowed Hiro to rush in and deliver his first strike. The Spectator slashed at him with the ends of his robes, which had a razor’s edge sharp enough to cut through the concrete platform.

“Put me in, coach!” Bianca said. Rather than wait, the teenager-turned-shield used her fuzzy tendrils to move from his back to his arm. “There, that’s better!”

With no health bar, and no way of knowing how powerful the Spectator actually was, Hiro remained cautious as ever. He jumped back, avoided a quick slash, and came forward, his blade held upside down as he delivered a slash directly toward the Spectator’s center.

Because of the way he held his katana, it wasn’t possible for him to drive his blade through the Spectator’s midsection, yet he was able to cause more Bleed damage, especially after he followed the strike with a quick attack that drew another wound.

That should be enough.

Hiro ran toward the platform exit, sent his katana away, and drew his odachi. He turned back to the Spectator just as the man lunged toward him, yet again unleashing explosive daggers.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

He was certain as he turned his head that without the duct-tape armor on his mask, the bits of stone and metal that resulted would have killed him, a headshot from shrapnel, even if Bianca had shifted at the last moment to protect him as best she could.

“Now’s your chance!” she said as a blast of {Blade Whirlwind} from his odachi staggered the Spectator, who now bled profusely, his red robes saturated. He left a trail of blood as he hobbled toward Hiro, prepared to strike again.

“This one is yours, Hachi.” Hiro grabbed the strip of demon dog flesh out of his pocket and tossed it to the ground. The transformation was rapid, the flesh expanding, forming bone, and quickly melding into the body of a shiba inu.

“Hell yeah,” Bianca said. “Sicc him, boy!”

Hachi leaped toward the Spectator, who was unable to strike the dog away as the two hit the ground. Going straight for his jugular, Hachi grabbed on and didn’t let go until Soul Essence rushed into Hiro.

You have new followers!

“Good,” Hiro told Hachi once the Spectator’s body started to fade. The dog just sat there looking at him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as if he hadn’t just been blown to pieces.

“How did you bring him back to life?” Bianca asked. “Follow up question: can you do the same to me? I’m tired of being a fuzzy little shield.”

“It’s a trait he has.” Hiro looked up at the stairs that funneled out of the subway. Something told him that all of this was about to get exceedingly worse. This one seemed to be waiting for me. That, or he was patrolling the subway systems.

He got out his phone.

“Who you gonna call?” Bianca asked. “Didn’t the first Ghostbusters take place in New York City? I think my dad told me that was the case.”

“It did,” Hiro told her as he focused on the phone screen. “What can you tell me about Spectators?”

The text took a moment to appear.

He read the message aloud for Bianca.

“What utter bullshit,” she said. “The followers aren’t real nor are the people sacrificing them, and for that matter, anyone ‘watching’ whatever is going on here. Total B-S.”

“I don’t disagree entirely, but at this point, we have to accept it as real.”

“I know that, Big Brother.”

Hiro almost told her not to call him that, but then he decided it wasn’t worth it. He was a single child and as far as he knew, she had been as well. Things were dire enough not to get into the weeds.

“Companion,” Hiro said, addressing his phone directly, “if I kill more Spectators, will that reduce the number of followers I lose when purchasing something?”

Once again, Hiro looked up at the exit. “In that case, it’s time… I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

“Do it,” Bianca teased.

“It’s time to go on a killing spree. We’ll check on Val and the others. Hopefully get some back-up. If not, it’s just you and me.”

Hachi barked.

“And you,” Hiro assured the demon dog.