Volcano Girls: Dark plots being laid... [Episode 17431]

Scythe considered her trap. The warehouse was a little dingy, like most in this area, but that was OK. It was supposed to be a meeting place for followers of the Lord Thunder... which at times it was. Now, in addition, it was a multi-layered demon trap, carefully designed to let the demon walk into the center of a web of spells that would ensnare it and render it helpless while Scythe worked to bind it.

The bait in the trap, a group of expendable flunkeys, worked hard on their task of rallying support for the Lord Thunder. Scythe checked the detection wards and mis-direction charms around the warehouse and frowned as she bent her power to making another police investigator take a wrong path away from her. It was starting to worry her, 4 police agents and 1, she suspected, hero had tried her perimeter and been decoyed away - a sign she supposed that her bait wasn't that hard to hear of. But there was no sign of the demon... surely it was out there hunting them? Vengeance demons didn't need rest and never stopped until their target was destroyed - or they were. So where was it?

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Onryu, who was once Mousse, huddled in the back room of the closed store and let his thoughts wander while 3 TV's blared in the background. He wished he had some idea of where to find his enemies, some idea of how to search for them. But he didn't... so here his great oath of vengeance stagnated. Him hiding in the back room of a shop trying to watch 3 TV's at once, hoping one of them would suddenly issue forth news of his enemy. There had to be a better way than this, there had to be.

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Kunou Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder, also called Lord Thunder, carefully examined the documents presented to him by his latest follower. They were old, and precise, they carefully and clearly traced the ancestry of the Tendo Family back to a Korean woman, a concubine to a samurai from Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea. His face impassive, the Lord Thunder faced his vassal:
"Most impressive, clear and irrefutable evidence indeed. The Tendo's are of tainted ancestry... almost certainly why they fell into league with the foul Saotome's."

The follower touched his head to the ground as a gesture of respect before speaking:
"We felt that you had to see these papers Lord, for the good of all Japan. Of the other matters, all is readiness my Lord Thunder. We have moved our weapon to strike at the American Embassy when you issue the word. The inner cadres have rallied thousands to your support, you need but name the time and place and an army shall flock to your banner. An army that shall follow you to the Diet Building where you can cast the foul traitors to the way of Japan into the pit of hell they so richly deserve!"

The Lord Thunder gravely nodded to the man:
"It shall be so. As soon as the Miko tells me the moment is favoured by the Kami, then shall the Blue Thunder strike."

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Watching the man withdraw, the Blue Thunder considered and thought. His new allies provided evidence that the Tendo's were of lesser blood, the Miko proclaimed that the pig-tailed girl was a form assumed by the sorceror Saotome to seduce and delude him. The Miko, he knew, favoured him as all free women did - thus she let her own manifest desire to be his women distort her judgement. When he had the proof he needed, he would confront her with her jealousy and surely in her wisdom she would repent of her mistake and once more become a reliable servant.

For the Blue Thunder had meditated long and hard on her news of the Sorcer Saotome. One the one hand there was the sworn word of a reliable ally and follower, on the other... the Blue Thunder had loved the pig-tailed girl for over a year now, and there was no way the Blue Thunder could be fooled for even a fraction of that time by the machinations of the sorceror. NAY! The heavens themselves would not allow it. Then the heavens granted him true insight. The words of Tendo Nabiki, so long ago, 'She belongs to him body and soul'. Saotome summoned demons and slew innocent bystanders... of course, his evil was such that he dared use demonic possession to take the pig-tailed girls body and reduce her to a prisoner in her own form. No wonder he was able to convince so many that she was nothing more than a curse.

The Blue Thunder slammed a fist into his other hand. Of course... how could he have been so blind as to not see it? How could he have left the pig-tailed girl in such dire straits for so long... and all those times she ran to him... they were her true feelings, the blows that she struck him were nothing more than the foul Saotome entering her very soul and bending her to his will. And this possession... perhaps... perhaps the Miko was not quite as blinded by jealousy as he had thought. If she could see no way to break the possession, then her lie was perhaps meant to be kind, to lessen the heartbreak when Saotome used the pig-tailed girl against him.

Bah. He was samurai, if he was reduced to such desperate straits, then he would fight the pig-tailed girl, his heart heavy as he overcame the schemes of Saotome. He needed no coddling... still it might be best if he kept his new insight from the Miko... she might be overly shamed if the Blue Thunder exposed her deception. That was unfortunate... it now meant that the Blue Thunder must needs seek an alternate advisor on how to break Saotome's possession, and do so without offending the undoubtedly loving and loyal Miko. This would require a little thought.

The Blue Thunders face then darkened. While his great insight and brilliance reaffirmed the reliability of the Miko, these newcomers... such a pathetic ploy. The Blue Thunder was the epitome of Japanese Purity, such purity would repel any of tainted blood and since he had dealt with Tendo Nabiki since grade school and Tendo Akane since her entrance to high school they quite obviously could not be of tainted blood. That these new-comers would manufacture false evidence and somehow bring the Miko to lie to him... when the time came, they would pay the price for seeking to use and decieve the Blue Thunder. But for now... they served his end, and when they turned on him, he would be ready for their treachery. And how they would PAY!

Tatewaki Kunou gazed upwards and whispered:
"I will find a way to save them, I will find a way to free them", then his teeth clenched and his voice unknowingly became harsh, "I WILL HAVE THEM BOTH!"

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The White Lily carefully examined her arm and thought on the tastelessly dressed hussy who had dared strike her. Then her face went grim as she contemplated what she had hoped to achieve in the first place... as pleasurable as it was to listen to Tatewaki drag the Kunou name down ever further, she could see little she could do to aid that now. And if it involved her in fights with that hussy... let Tatewaki go to his own disaster, the White Lily had other prey to ruin.

Perhaps another go at Kodachi, and if she claimed to be an agent of the Blue Thunder... hmmm... being thought responsible for the murder of his own sister would further discredit the Blue Blunder, although... attempted murder would be better. Half the fun would be lost if the Black Rose was not around to see her family ruined. Attempted murder then, with a few broken bones thrown in to make the White Lily feel better. And no confrontation with homicidal, tasteless hussy's required.

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The man who had bowed before the Blue Thunder now bowed before his true master:
"So far the Blue Thunder has accepted our assistance and laid forth a plan that falls well within the scope we desire. He seems quite malleable, easyily influenced and prone to whims. Quite suitable for our purposes. His fixation with the Tendo and Saotome families is the only point on which we clashed. Despite the evidence, he seemed... reluctant... to condemn the Tendo's, he may still harbour some feelings for the korean slut. As for Saotome... he will be an enemy, but so far as we can tell he has no friends or allies of consequence, although the boy himself may well be capable of influencing the outcomes of some battles."

The Master considered the report:
"Saotome I think we shall leave to the Blue Thunder. If the Kunou boy has not moved in 3 days, see to it that Saotome learns where to find him. In this case Saotome can serve us best as a good swift kick. As for the Tendo's, I think we shall remove them from play. Assemble an expendable team, outsiders - not traceable to us, tell them they serve the Lord Thunder and send them against the Tendo's. Make sure they understand that they are to kill the youngest girl, this Akane, although they can play with her first. The rest of the family don't seem to matter much... still offer a bonus for their heads, completeness never hurt."