"Hah!" He sneers as he retreats, leaping around the monster drive it off and to lead the creature away from the girls, stabbing forward and slashing just shy of its gnashing, nasty, warmed-wax face. The guts are leaving a trail across alleyway, disgusting, and that's an image that will stick with Joe for quite some time, the next time he sees long chains of sausages in pale intestinal casing, hanging in the butcher's shop. Spoil his appetite at least till after he's slept in the morning. "How pathetic!"

"Ahiru!" He calls over his shoulder. "Is she okay?!"