Chapter 127: Ghosts, Guts, and Grit
Min stepped out from behind the shattered wall, her brows knotting when she spotted Seo-jin holding a kid by the scruff like a ruined rag. The boy couldn't be more than twelve. Matted brown hair. Pale skin buried under a crust of dirt.
The part that really surprised her was the glow. Faint blue light clung to him—D-rank.
"Put me down! I wasn't doin nothin!"
His kicks carved air while Seo-jin carried him closer. Seo-jin studied him, then called over to Min.
"Know this kid?"
"Why the fuck would I know him?"
"It's possible."
The kid sagged, arms folded tight across his chest, legs tucked up as he hung there dangling.
"You guys better let me go. I'll give you to the count of ten since I'm a nice guy."
Min and Seo-jin traded a glance, then cracked into low snickers. The kid's face flushed, his hands balling into fists.
"Don't laugh! You're pushing my...patience."
His voice started loud, then thinned the second Grimm drifted into view. Seo-jin caught it, the stiff look, the fake stare past the ghost as the kid kept talking.
"Five seconds left."
Min rolled her eyes.
"Just throw him, already wasted enough—"
Seo-jin didn't bother acknowledging her. He hauled the kid in close, face to face...
The kid's swagger evaporated. His throat bobbed. Color drained out of him.
Seo-jin's eyes lit, sharp and narrowing.
"Why are you following us?"
Instantly, he started trembling like he might pass out, even Min started looking like she'd kicked a puppy by accident.
"I-I wasn't, I swear! I was here already—"
"Lie again, I'll cut your throat open and let the rats crawl in. Last chance. Why were you tailing us?"
Min winced hard now, and the kid's tears only twisted the knife.
"I'm sorry! I just—I just wanted—to—ask—if I could join—join—join the Dead Haaaannnndddsss!"
The words tore out of him in wet spasms, snot bubbling with each sob. He pissed himself mid-sentence, body jerking like a stunned animal.
Seo-jin grimaced and shot Min a look that said fix this, then pushed the kid out to full arm's length and set him down.
"You know who we are?"
The boy staggered on his feet and wiped his eyes, snot dragging down to his chin. Still shaking.
"Not really, I—I just saw her shirt and, and your symbol. Everyone knows the Dead Hands."
Seo-jin glanced over. Min's sleeve carried the mark clear as day. His shoulders dropped. He shut his eyes and pressed fingers to his temples.
"What's your name, kid?"
Min rolled her eyes and dropped onto a curb.
Still wiping his face, the boy suddenly grinned—then shot a fist straight into Seo-jin's crotch.
"Your daddy!"
Seo-jin's eyes snapped wide from the hit, but the real shock landed a beat later—Min was out cold, slumped and snoring.
A shriek blasted in his ear, sharp enough to white out his vision.
"Fuck!"
He clamped his palms over his ears. The kid was gone. Slippery little bastard had played him clean. Seo-jin straightened, eased the twist in his sack, and settled his breath as his eyes regained focus.
The Broodlink pulsed through him, steady and sure.
The brat wasn't getting far.
"Wake up, idiot."
Seo-jin limped over, hand braced on his thigh as the ache crawled up his back. He shook Min's leg twice, winced, then drove the toe of his boot into her shin. Grimm drifted in behind him, the ghost flickering as the last of the light-burst bled off.
"Gregor is gonna love this."
Another sharp kick snapped Min awake. She shot upright with a snarl.
"What the fuck?! Was I—did he just... did a kid just put me to sleep?"
"Yep. At least you didn't take a shot to the jewels. Come on. He didn't get far."
Right on cue, the boy's shrill scream echoed through the street. Seo-jin cracked a thin grin and stomped in the direction the Broodlink dragged him.
"Gonna stomp some fuckin grapes."
Min trailed behind, still stuck on the fact a twelve-year-old had slipped a status effect past her. She shook it off and closed the distance.
"Say one word about this when we get back, and I'll tell everyone you folded from a nut shot."
Seo-jin pictured Gregor's deadpan stare and the snickers from the others. He nodded once. Deal struck. They moved in step, heavy-footed and ready to end this. Grimm floated between them, eyes burning with the same pissed-off focus.
More screams cracked through the alleyways as they closed in. They rounded a corner and finally found their prize flattened on the pavement, Panic riding his back like a rabid animal.
"Got him, got him! Smells like piss."
Panic grinned, then scowled, and rapped his knuckles on the back of the kid's skull.
"Get off me! HELP! HE—"
A harder crack from Panic shut him down. The boy clutched his head, face twisting as the sobs came back raw.
"Not gonna work, you little shit."
Seo-jin caught a fistful of the boy's hair and hauled him up, limbs kicking uselessly as his feet left the ground.
"How you want it, Min? Bare hands? Or we grab a stick and make a mess?"
The kid latched onto Seo-jin's wrist, knuckles white, eyes stretching wide as the words sank in.
"Do what?!"
"Crush your balls, obviously. You thought you'd walk after that hit? Kid or not, your testies are fucked."
Min stepped in close. Her aura flared hot around her. She smiled.
"Bare handed."
The boy stared at her hands, then at the man holding him.
He dropped limp in an instant, passed out cold...
Without a hint of mercy, Seo-jin hoisted the kid higher and snapped a sharp flick into his sack.
The crack rang across the alley. The kid jolted awake like he'd been lit from the inside. Panic clamped his legs together and hissed in sympathy.
Seo-jin dropped him. The boy hit hard, curled around his crotch, and rolled on the ground like he was trying to smother a fire between his thighs.
"No more chances. Why were you—"
The kid thrust a hand upward—
BOOM!
Concrete split. Seo-jin's boot sank deep into the pavement next to the boy's skull, dust showering across his face. The kid froze, hand still raised, terror locking his features in place.
Pulling his boot free slow, Seo-jin let grit drizzle across the boy's cheek. He crouched low, eyes burning red.
"Call them again, and I won't miss."
Behind him, Min's brows knotted as she scanned the empty space.
"Them?"
Grimm drifted down over the boy, dangling his guts like a threat. The kid's eyes twitched once between Seo-jin and the ghost. His voice finally scraped out.
"You can see them?"
Seo-jin ground his heel into the concrete, expression flat.
"That was your final chance."
Bloodlight seeped from his skin as he lifted his foot. The kid shrieked on instinct.
"I wanted to catch him!"
The words spilled out in a frantic rush. Eyes squeezed shut, the kid shook hard enough to rattle bone and somehow pissed himself again.
Leaning in, Panic sniffed, then curled his lip. Seo-jin watched, gears turning.
'Catch him...so he wrangles ghosts. A class made to leash the dead. Impressive—even with my sight, he still caught me.'
Right before the flash hit, Seo-jin had caught a glimpse, a green light pushing up through the dirt between them, thin and translucent like Grimm's half-rotted glow.
[My guess is a passive that dulls detection. Skilled right, it's a nasty class. And with your quest, it seems your luck has crawled back.]
'Pretty sure this's Grimm's luck.'
Min's patience snapped. Thinking burned through it and left nothing but heat.
"What the fuck is going on? Who's 'them'? Catch who? This fucker?"
She jabbed a thumb at Panic. The broodling looked insulted.
"The kid's running a ghost-class. Something that lets him command them. Right?"
The moment he realized he was still breathing, the boy shot upright and dropped into a grovel so deep he nearly ate pavement.
"Yes, yes, that's right! I didn't mean anything, I swear! I'm not a thief or a spy—nothing like that. See? Come out, guys."
He twitched his fingers, barely a gesture. Nothing happened for a moment, but slowly, three shapes seeped into reality...one crawling from the dirt at his hip, one dragging itself through the wall, and one materializing above Min's head.
A green eye the size of a fist. A sagging gray puff shaped like a fat, tiny man. A purple cat with a head too large to support its body.
"See? I saw him hovering near you. I was just following to check if he belonged to you. That's the truth, I promise!"
Still irritated, but satisfied enough, Seo-jin set his foot down and turned toward Min—
"What's wrong? Wait—hold on. Are you scared? Noooo. You're afraid of ghosts?! Ha!"
He pointed at her face and barked a laugh, but Min barely heard him. She locked every muscle, refusing to acknowledge the purple cat ghost sitting on her shoulder, staring at her with its swollen head.
"S-S-S-Seo-j-j-j-jin, h-h-help me—"
"Kriss, get down!"
The cat ghost ignored him at first. It rubbed its cold face against Min's cheek, purred once, then dropped and hovered in place like the air held a perch.
"This is too damn good. The possibilities..."
Seo-jin's chuckle lingered as he turned from the sweating, pale Min and fixed his stare on the kid.
"Name?"
The boy snapped his forehead to the pavement.
"Ash, Sir!"
"Get up."
Ash shot upright to attention like someone yanked a wire through his spine.
Seo-jin studied him...small, clever, and already working the room. His ghosts drifted at the edges, pretending not to notice Grimm poking at them, jabbing a length of intestine here and there.
"From this day on, you're part of the Dead Hands."
The soldier-mask shattered. Ash's eyes went wide, almost crossing at the sudden invite.
"What? Uh—no way, I ain't joining some two-bit—"
He stopped mid-sentence, remembered his audience, and snapped back into rigid posture.
"I couldn't possibly join the Dead Hands. I'm far too weak. I would surely—"
"Enough. It's done. Judging by your bones and your weight, you barely eat. Whatever life you had won't be missed. Plus, it's either join, or Min crushes your nuts."
Ash stared at the giant, muscle bound woman, stared at her hands, and the message settled deep. He glanced at his ghosts, a plan to escape already forming...
"Fine. But I'm not starting at the bottom. A man like me deserves at least a general position."
[Kid's a douche.]
'He's funny.'
Seo-jin ignored the boy and walked back toward the stop sign.
"Follow us. And Ash—don't try any bullshit. My friend here already marked you. Run if you want. We'll still rip you out of whatever hole you crawl to."
The word friend hit Panic like a blade. He hugged himself, claws almost breaking skin, wobbling down off his toes like he might float away. Completely ignoring the fact he didn't mark anything.
Ash took one look at Panic, then at the ghosts flinching from Grimm, and his face drained white.
"I wasn't gonna."
He lingered, ghosts circling him close, all three glaring at Grimm like he was death incarnate. Then, dazed, he followed.
Seo-jin glanced back at the beaten kid and let a slow smile pull at his mouth.
'I'll have to figure out what to do with him after. Won't be able to let him run loose.'
[Panic seems to like him. Let him have the kid.]
'If I wanted him dead, I'd just eat him. Snare's the only choice. His sight will help. And it gives me a chance to test what Snare can really do.'
The stop sign slid back into view, and something warm tightened in his chest. Today was shaping up damn well for him. With Grimm floating on his head, Seo-jin pointed at the collapsed rubble and glanced at Min.
"Mind clearing that?"
He said it casual, acting like she wasn't cycling between ghost-white and blood-red. Her patience, wrung dry from ghosts and being shut out—finally snapped.
"Clear my ass, fuck you! And fuck you!"
She stabbed a finger at Ash. The kid flinched like she'd fired a gun.
"What the hell are we doin', Seo-jin?!"
At the sound of his name, Ash's gaze snapped to him—wide, hollow, draining what little color he still had as Min continued to roar.
"Tell me what the fuck is going on, or I'm leavin'!"
Seo-jin sighed and rolled his head once, loosening the tension.
[You've had your fun. Tell her.]
'Guess I can share now.'
He scratched lazily at the back of his neck, stretching like he had all the time in the world.
"We're going to find that Time Capsule. So if you wouldn't mind clear—"
"Should've said so!"
Min didn't wait. She barreled into the debris and tore it apart, fists and forearms smashing through concrete like wet bark.
Seo-jin sent a pulse down the Broodlink. Panic groaned and sprinted off to circle the perimeter. He'd stay topside and watch.
From what Seo-jin remembered from the notes, this was an old subway entrance from before the collapse. As Min heaved the last slab aside with a grin that said finally, a dead-black opening yawned wide.
Seo-jin stepped toward it, smiling hard.
"Today really is a good day."