Perpetrator

(Unedited)

The door opened slowly, an old wrinkly lady opened the door. Salt-pepper hair was strewn down her face, greasy locks sticking to her face. The only thing that appeared vibrant on her stick-like body were the bright green eyes staring out from her face.

"What can I help you boys with? You do not appear to be sick."

The woman was kind, a grandmotherly smile on her face, but such appearances were often deceiving. Having seen the reaction of the man who had led them there, Dazai knew better, as did Ban.

Still, they had expected someone younger, a man maybe.

Ban fooled around, the door creaking under his weight as he leaned over the old lady.

"Do tell. I am a curious man. What brings an old lady to such a deserted place?"

"How bold of you, to ask on old lady about her intentions. You almost make me blush."

The woman squirmed a bit, a health blush on her sickly palor made her seem even more harrowing.

"Hey Dazai, I think she would be in your striking zone. Weren't you looking for a woman to die with?"

Ban asked, completely serious.

Dazai coughed, amazed by Ban's fearless statement. Ban truly believed that he had no morals at all, did he. He wanted to die with a pretty lady, not a corpse!

"We've heard the rumors about a shaman. These wouldn't be going about you, right madam?"

Dazai ignored Ban, looking at the woman in front of him and waited for her reaction.

As expected, the woman froze for but a second, quickly covered it up and played innocent.

"Those silly little kids all make up such ungrounded rumours, calling me a witch and a shaman. Truly unlikable."

The woman hurried back inside, wanting to slam the door in their faces. These men were clearly up to no good.

Putting his feet in front of the closing door, Dazai rushed in, stopping in front of the lady.

"My, so you are the shaman. It is such a pleasure to meet you. See, we got a friend who needs some help right now. We would appreciate it if you helped us."

Dazai wanted to sound polite, but his words came out harsher than he intended. He sounded more like gangster trying to get back his money.

"No, I don't leave from this place. If you need help, bring him here."

The old lady refused, once more trying to get them to leave. Her persistence was becoming annoying.

Dazai pressed forward, ready to convice her.

"No is no!"

The woman screamed, her kind disposition already transformed into that of a crazy hag. Her nails became sharpened into syringes as she lunged towards Dazai, ready to stab him with it.

Dazai did not expect her to suddenly attack, but he wasn't some poor helpless guy to easily get stabbed by her.

Stepping sideways, Dazai easily dodged, his hands grasping the old woman's her arms. With a single touch, she transformed back, the syringes gone. Slamming her down hard, she quickly lost consciousness.

"Devil fruit, what a surprise."

Dazai hummed as he got some rope from Ban and tied her up.

There was just on question on his mind, his heart sinking a bit at the possibility.

"Can this be counted under assault? I don't want that to be synonymous with me, assaulting a poor woman."

Ban just shrugged.

"Depends on the person seeing it."

Carrying the woman out, Ban and Dazai soon left towards Shinobu. This woman would surely be able to help them.

*

*

*

So she was in a predicament, a big one, maybe, possibly?

Akane had uncovered the source of the Obsidian dread.

Yay for her!

Not!

What help was discovering the source if it was a weird ass guy trying out creepy things on a girl's corpse. Wait, was it a corpse? Maybe not, the wound did regenerate after the man cut the girl's stomach open with a scalpel. Who knows?

The mad science guy was now looking at her, his grin twisted in a deranged smile. His eyes didn't leave her body for a moment, giving her the shivers. Not from fear, but from disgust.

"So, guess it comes down to this."

Akane muttered, the few orbs of foxfire taking the form of butterflies, multiplying with each flap of their wings. If she had to take care of this, it would be best to make it as big as possible, to avoid missing any of her attacks. She had no idea what his powers were, aside from making undead creatures using people as medium.

Soon, the whole room was occupied with a whole swarm of butterflies, as tiny and harmless as they looked, they were equally dangerous little flames. One butterly alone would scorch one of his creations into ash. What would happen if they touched the man himself?

The few remaining undead, loyal to their creator tried to shield him as they ran into the room. But, as she had previously stated, one touch was enough. The undead were instantly incinerated, the corpses of the villagers showing a smile before they turned to ashes. The scientist was on his own.

As one of the fiery butterflies came near the girls body, hovering just a bit away from it, the scientist shot into motion, covering her body with his own to shield her from the flames. A strange action, considering how he had behaved up until now.

His grin was now replaced by a snarl, angrily swatting away any butterflies that came close to the girl. A hint of worry had begun to appear in his eyes.

Ah!

So that was his weakness.

Noted.

Rushing forward, Akane kicked the man in the chest, her swords already in hand. She twirled them around, their edge never far from her target.

The man was sent flying, but turned mid-air to land steadily on his feet. His hands, now the fingers having been turned into claws, stabbed his own chest without so much as a twitch in his expression.

Under some kind of power, his body took on greater proportions, transforming into one of the werewolves Akane had fought before, just bigger and white haired.

Positioning herself between the operating table and the now turned werewolf scientist, Akane observed the man intently, her eyes scouring over him to find a hint, something that would be the cause of his actions. The reason as to why he turned the village into a ghost town, yet...

Her eyes couldn't help but turn to the silent body behind her, a nagging voice in her mind urging her to look further. To see something she had overlooked.

Her hand had rested above the girl's chest, the swords poised to stab down if needed be. The scientist had halted, yet his taut muscles spoke of his future action should she move just a bit. Yet she was close enough to observe, to search.

Looking at the girl closer than before, Akane finally spotted what she hadn't seen before.

A rather big hole, one that had previously been hidden by the girls clothing.

The heart of the girl had been cleanly removed, yet a squirming mass of something had taken its place, festering as it tried to destroy the body. The only thing that was stopping it was bone-like serpent, its fangs clenched deeply into the festering mass to keep it on its current place.

There was something going on here that she was not aware of.

She didn't like it at all.