Smoke on the Water

The night was preferable to him since it held very few interuptions. Especially as he tried out the powers of the ring on his right hand. His back was pressed against a wall of one of the lower common's buildings, his sights set on the brick version of another just across the street. Among that structure were several charred, darkened scorch marks, snickering as he added to it with a simple wave of his hand through the air before him. The fire blasted forth once more, coming from the red gemstone on the band as it shot across the street and impacted against the wall once more. Fortunately the material wasn't flammable, and it didn't seem there was enough force behind the attack to defeat the stability of it. "Heh. I love that woman." Shou stated aloud to himself, lowering his arm back down to his side.

His attention was turned down and to the side as a black fox spirit had seemed to appear from the thin air. It was easy enough identifying Grunty, though her tone of voice struck him as being a little odd and different. Of course, that was assessing much all ready, especially considering he hadn't seen this woman for quite some time. It was an internal debate whether he missed her or not. "Oh? Heh. Nicer than you might think." The oni stated, thinking he'd demonstrate this new power. The demon looked forward once more to the target as he swiped his hand through the air, igniting yet another blast of fire that shot out across the street and struck the wall once more, the flame exploding and wisping into nothingness once the contact established. In its place, the bricks had blackened to yet another area. He snickered, admiring the results for only a moment longer before he glanced back down Grunty's way. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How's business?"

"Heh, yeah. Thats because the rich don't bother living here. Who would want to live here? That city's pretty exciting in comparison." The oni grinned, thinking more of his own and latest experience with the city. Division 12 had done more than enough to make him turn his tail and flee in the rare occurence that he had witnessed an enemy, and a threat to his life, so large that he simply chose to live over fight. Of course it set his goals to become stronger in order to return to that fight. With Atilla at his side he seemed capable of unworldy strengths, but he would continue to train on his own accord in flames and sword. "And this?" Shou rose his hand slightly, indication enough to the ring for the fox. "Heh, I acquire useful tools here and there, it seems."

"The Black Wings? I think you might have mentioned that before." The oni replied, thinking on what he knew of the crime syndicate. It wasn't much, really, except that they were the active leaders of the city's drug sales. With a reputation like that, they must have had their share of strong humans to enforce their name. Perhaps even spirits were under the employ. "What about them?"

He regarded the fox who had paced about with a tilt back of his head. A grin couldn't help but suddenly draw on the man's lips in regard to the words she spoke. "Is that a challenge I'm hearing?" Shou asked, suddenly thrilled by such a notion. Of course, the woman still possessed that ability for those damn chains, but whether they came upon him or not he would still gladly fight this woman to the best of his ability.

"Heh. Surely it's not a handicap I need. But if you insist." The oni stated, his grin only growing wider as he remained on his own spot and swiped his arm out into the air before him in a downward motion. It sent a blast of fire flaring down onto the area the fox stood upon. Within that same motion, his other hand gripped at the hilt of his blade, drawing it forth and thrusting it down and front swiftly. The tip of the metal would find its way piercing through the fire before it was able to fully dissipitate from the spot, hoping to find the target of the small fox's body with each attack.

The oni's arm tugged upwards, blinking as his sword seemed to move with its own mindset. Fortunately for him though, his grip on the blade was still tight, only noticing now that he hadn't unclenched his fist down on it with the adrenaline of a battle having returned to him. Shou snickered. "This? This one was a gift, of course.. and thats some pretty weak magic! Infernal flames! Forth and destroy!" He shouted as he swiped his blade across and forcefully shoved it into his hilt now that the weapon had become useless to him, overpowering the magnetism that had been casted on it with raw physical strength. He secured the clasp to hold his katana steady while he slammed his shoe down onto the pavement as a line of molten fire shot from the spot he stood on and rushed to the small creature. When it came within distance it would suddenly span out and encircle around her, a large dome of flames coming to ignite into exist in a space far greater than the one she occupied, crashing down onto itself as it threatened to engulf her area in its fire.

His flames would crash down to meet an intercepting lightning scatter and take over the place with its destructive presence. The fire was battled back to the top of its dome before it relinquished completely. Shou was able to get a proper guard up, drawing his arms over out in front of him and closing his eyes as he felt the sting of electricity upon him. "Nngh!" He likely grunted to himself from the pain of the attack, hardly believing that such a measure of power could have been coming from the small fox form that was Grunty. Shou always figured she was powerful, but this was much. A grin spread across his face even through the pain and once the electricity subsided he threw his arms back down to his sides. "Heheh.. so is that your strength, then? Outstanding.." The oni's body seemed to smoke from the lightning damage, or perhaps he was giving off fumes being the fiery being he was. There was a great deal of pain, but it wasn't something he would allow himself to relent with. Drawing his arm up and through the air once more, a blast shot from his ring to the fox. "Show me more!"

He felt a tug of his arm once more, as his hand seemed to waver towards the sheath that contained Mabushiiken. Back with the magnetism tricks, then, was she? A trashcan seemed to shake on its spot, bringing about a ruckus as it gently made its way in his direction. It then uplifted off the ground and flew at him a little more swiftly. The oni growled outwardly before fire seemed to flare up around him and engulf his form, the metallic can having been blasted away from the force. The appearance of the flames would cease as quickly as they came, revealing a transformed Shou beneath. The oni's hair spiked out all around him in what imitated the lion's mane, while two giant sabre fangs had taken the place of his usual canines. His crimson orbs had lightened to a burnt orange, with a far more feral look now that the cat's eye was bestowed upon the new color. "This is how it's gotta be then, fighting you." The oni growled, lightly chuckling afterwards. His right hand was held at his side, steady save for a few quivers as he felt the magnetic pull. Still, in this form he had become strong, grinning widely in the fox's direction.

He noted her taking a glance upwards, though there was little he could do to respond to the lightning that suddenly bolted down onto him. It struck his neck, and sizzled against the flesh as it touched, though the oni stood his ground as a fiery aura came to burn around him at his feet and lifting into the space he occupied. Shou snarled after the assault with his fists clenched at his sides, and began to grumble, "Infernal flames.." A confused look came about his expression then, his thoughts unfocused and seemingly scrambled, unable to call to his fiery magic. He simply scoffed before he kicked into a leap, a disc of flame igniting into being beneath him. As the oni whirled around the other spirit's still present spot, he again swiped his arm forward, entrusting in the ring to make up for his current state. A blast of flame shot out to the fox once more, while he kept himself in motion through the air, wary of blasts from the sky.

Again, she seemed to disappear from the area all together as the blast of fire did when it struck against the pavement. The oni frowned lightly, again disturbed by that, though he had no doubt she would reappear once more. Before, she had been found on the same spot of vanishing. He wondered if the case would remain the same. How long had he waited before? Well, it was impossible to tell whether or not she could control how long she was away.. he had no way to set up any sorts of trap, so he'd simply have to wait until she emerged back into the realm. The disc of flame floated upward a little more, his burnt-orange eyes focused where she had been. He grinned when his suspiscions had held true, knowing now she was simply popping away for a short amount of time and popping back. It was an unusual ability, one that he would never have thought existed, yet Grunty seemed able of that sort of magic. What a high level of a spirit.. The demon thought to himself, never ashamed to admire the woman who had ultimately been his mentor.
"Neat trick. You hide a lot of that stuff from me when we worked together?" The oni asked, though he wasn't particularly hurt.

To where she kept her booze? The oni couldn't help but laugh lightly, despite the tension of his muscles and the way his adrenaline pumped to the battle. The way she didn't seem to have to chant for any of her magic bothered him though. Was she unique in this case? And what trait was it that defined this lack of needing a chant? The grin on his lips faded as his brow furrowed, wondering then why he, the self-proclaimed master of the flames, couldn't summon his fiery magic to his aid on a simple whim. It should have been a piece of cake for someone like him..
That was his reasoning, anyway. From atop his platform, the oni slowly raised his hand out in front of him, directing it towards the ground and where Grunty was. His eyes focused on the area, keeping his mouth closed and not issuing a single word as he began to try and conjure those flames. Nothing seemed to happen, though, and the oni remained in the air with his open hand in the other spirit's direction, unmoving and unacting. While his attempt was using a great deal of concentration, he made sure to keep sight of her and any movements she made. This was a fight after all, and he kept his guard and wits about him. "Hmm.. not that strong apparently." He mumbled to himself, though refused to give up on his fire.

The fact that his jaw had smacked against the ground when he crashed against it hadn't set well with a brief shred of consciousness that came back to him, around the time that he felt his body being dragged away into an alley. His crimson orbs glanced down to the fox that curled up onto his chest, groaning a little at the fact that Grunty was using him as a pillow. He allowed his head to rest back once more, his breaths heavy while his gaze went out into the sky. This woman's damn electricity should could pack a punch, he realized, having growed a steady hatred for all things lightning. Her powers were very similar to Sanzo's, but hers hurt worse by far. "Oi.. Grunty." Shou mumbled between his breaths, trying to rouse the oni from her plans on taking a nap upon him. "What the hell do I look like to you?" The oni weakly grunted in his light chuckle.

The oni nodded, glancing off to the side. Coming from a fox, the seductive gestures on her part were a little off-putting, though he did briefly consider that tango with Grunty's human form. Thinking of Atilla, he decided to actually remain true to the mouse.. how hurt she would have been if she came to find out of such an act. "I'm not strong enough." Shou would simply say, putting down his own level of ability since it still had a ways to compare to his mentor's own. For her to even consider he was passing her up seemed ridiculous.

Sit? When did one take notice of the details of one sitting? The oni couldn't help but snicker lightly as he brought himself up, propped up on his elbows as he began to feel more refreshed as he came more and more into his consciousness. "You saw that, did you? Heheh.. that was a fun day." The oni grinned, turning his head to the side before a light crack greeted his ears and he was content in the motion. "Their bullets aren't gonna be enough to stop me, anyways. And as I grow stronger.." Shou chuckled lightly to himself, simply shaking his head as if the doom to the humans was so clearly spelled out. The burning image of the city still held true to his mind, but he saw it now as a distant future. Being a spirit, he felt no rush.

And there she had plainly and bluntly insulted him. The oni didn't possess any other abilities, offensive wise, beyond the flame and the sword. It didn't seem neccessary, honestly, especially having come to train and focus on his body. He scoffed in response rather than answering with words straight away, averting his gaze to the side as he did so. "You really believe that, do you?" The oni questioned, his tone bitter before he forced the outward expression away. Shou didn't so much desire to show that she had struck a chord within his pride there. A confident smirk came to greet the corner of the man's lips as he would reply, "Then you'll be the first to see just what these flames can do.."

The oni was sweet? He chuckled at the notion, that and the sexual intentions which never eluded him. Those he chose to ignore, as he would time and time again, since that interest had long left him as fleeting as it had come. He would use his hand to gently lift her off his chest as he sighed and came to sit up, instead allowing the woman to rest on his lap. Shou's eyes came to glance around the alleyway that he had been dragged into, new surroundings from the ones of the street where they had their short exchange. "Ugh.." One hand ran through his hair to hold at his head, rocked still from the lightning and electricity that he had been exposed to. That was without mention to the sore of his jaw where pavement had come and rushed to smack against it.

The oni winced lightly at the woman's voice, not forgetting that she had been the source of the current pain. "Pah.. it ain't too bad." Shou would grumble, unwilling to give in to what had sounded like a taunt to him. He blinked, noting that the human form of Grunty sat upon his lap there now, and he glanced off to the side hoping she didn't think he'd still participate in those activities with her. "Maybe its time I headed out for some rest." He suggested, murmurring it more to himself though ensuring she heard so that she could pick up on the clue. Besides, still feeling worn from the battle, he could actually go for some sleep.

She seemed to agree with his reasoning, yet made no effort to move off of his lap. And judging by the expression that came over her face, the oni had to question just what it was Grunty was up to. When she pulled a bag out of her pocket, he looked to the contents that filled the air with a raised brow. "Eh..?" She would bring forth drugs out at this time? He'd been relatively clean, but beside that he hadn't even ever engaged in some of the harder stuff of the slums. The oni simply shook his head, refusing as if it had been an offer, before forcing himself up to his feet whether the woman would willingly move or not. It would be her rear against the pavement, not his. Shou sighed lightly, dusting away some of the powder that had rested atop the bridge of his nose. "Did you just.. try to dose me?" He asked, confused before his entire form suddenly blasted with fire around his form, ridding the rest of the powders on his face. It died away quickly after. The oni then slumped back against the wall of the alley, his hand going to his head once more. "Damnit.." He was certainly in no condition to continue with his techniques.

"Heh.. I'm really worn out.." The oni mumbled, his vision seeming to blur and tunnel for a moment as he hung onto his consciousness with all his will. "I just need to lie down." Shou stated, before he slumped even further down the wall into a seated position once more on the alley floor, his head tilted back as he closed his eyes and tried to breathe in more deeply. With his eyes closed then, his head seemed to whirl, bringing them back open before he could fall into that darkness. "It's gonna be awhile before I want to fight you again.." The oni admitted with a chuckle.

She was met with little resistance, though her intentions were still clear to him. The oni sighed as he relaxed back onto the alley floor, for the first time in a while he felt the cold of the pavement. Even his fiery and warm presence seemed to falter here, it seemed, but Shou's tired eyes were on the demon atop him. "Yeah.. you're right." He mumbled lightly, knowing full well that he didn't have the energy to move to a different position of rest. This alleyway would have to do.