Satisfied, the Hestia climbed aboard Tak Me and flew to the trade district. The moved through the streets looking for any obvious Yakuza and rather brazenly asking passsersby where we could find them. That quickly resulted in the team being surrounded by members of the Yakuza and directed to a nearby alley.
Once there, the Hestia informed these low level Yakuza that they wanted the ghost of little boy. The goons were briefly hesitant, but the smooth words of Nick, Brock, and Jessica managed to sway them and they arranged to take the Demigods to the Yakuza's tower headquarters.
Being ushered to the top of the tower, the Demigods were introduced to an ancient and powerful yakuza ghost, who appeared to be the head of their organization in Yomi and implied some ability to step into any power vacuum that might arise in the underworld. In the negotiations for little boy, the team made a fortuitous statement in voicing their distaste for the servants of Mikaboshi (despite the arrangement with Kane), and mentioned their previous fight with Titan cultists in Yomi.
That drew a response from the ancient ghost that the team was in the right mindset for the task the Yakuza would require of them to gain access to the ghost of Little Boy. The Hestia were to face down the general of Mikaboshi in Yomi. The ancient ghost provided transportation in rickshaws to a cave on the far side of the mountain where the Demigods had previously met with the Dark Mother.
Leander, using his powerful relic glasses, saw through the illusion the general had placed on his lair. There was a deep cave with intensely dark tunnels. These tunnels were quickly revealed to be magically darkened, much like the warehouse the Demigods had previously fought in, as no one could see despite their divine talents.
Brock, not willing to let this stop the team, began to glow with a brilliant light which allowed some vision, though it was far less powerful than it should have been. Leander, not sure he could feel comfortable with that source of light as the only one, used his glasses to "see" via sonar. Inspired, William stomped a foot on the floor and felt the echos in the earth which revealed to him the layout of the deep cave. There were several large chambers in either direction and the team decided to move towards the right fork.
In the very first large chamber down that fork, an ambush was sprung. Dark figures, nearly invisible in the dark, struck from all directions at the Demigods and the team was pushed to defend themselves. Certain that the fight in the warehouse was related to events in the tunnels, Leander set out to find Mikaboshi's rune which powered the darkness.
Meanwhile, Brock was hit incredibly hard, knocking him back and creating a sprinkling of bright light. Lha mo, for her part, grew to immense size and scratched at the walls and ceiling, ripping the rune of Mikaboshi on the cave roof to shreds. Suddenly, light filled the space.
Jessica, ready to do her part, tossed a glowing, golden apple into the room. Suddenly, the inky creatures that had been attacking the team were drawn to it, scrabbling and fighting one another in their attempt to gain control of it. One of them managed to actually eat its fellow, but its victory was short lived as Rivkah smashed it through the floor. The final inky being was similar squashed by Lha Mo.
one eats the other and then rivkah punches the other one into the ground.
Pushing forward, deeper into the tunnels, the team found ornate doors, seemingly sealing out the light. The general of Mikaboshi, calling himself "The Void," beckoned the Hestia to enter. The Hestia opened the doors, readying themselves for combat, and stepped inside. He briefly tried to bargain, but the team informed him they were here to put him down. As Brock shot at The Void to act on the threat, the shadows spread, dropping the room into darkness.
From that darkness, The Void punched at Brock, but missed and smashed into the floor. Lha Mo grew once more, filling much of the room. Brock shot at the darkness, but The Void had vanished back into the shadows clinging to the walls. A moment later, as Leander calculated and the team tried to track their foe, The Void sent a spear of dark matter shooting down at Brock. Rivkah dove into the way, deflecting the attack as Brock dodged away.
Suddenly inky minions jumped into the fray, the first among them leaping onto Rivkah, who spun and smashed it to the ground. Another minion launched into Jessica, who shed her skin in absorbing its attack. A third attacked Leander, who swatted it casually away as he barked orders to his compatriots. Jessica, sensing a place to insert her powerful speaking skills, distracted The Void and the team launched their attack.
Brock fired a shot into the heart of the darkness, with a mighty swing of Foecutter by William and a rocky fist from Rivkah accompanying it. Leander missed, but most of the attacks hit, doing damage to The Void, who disappeared into the darkness to regroup.
