Witch Hunter Robin - Episode Eleven: The Soul Cages Version: 1.0 Date: March 11, 2004 Air Date: September 10, 2002 Summary by: Kala Mekiv (usuyami@vauss.com) Website: http://usuyami.vauss.com/ Distribution of this summary is FORBIDDEN without permission from either Kala Mekiv or Shinji (csdiaz@edisto.cofc.edu). --------------------------------------------------------- A man stumbles his way through a darkened alley, breathing heavily as he attempts to flee from two men dressed in suits. He trips, knocking over some garbage pails, alerting his pursuers to his location. He stops to rest for a bit, thinking he has finally lost them, when the shape of an old woman in the shadows catches his attention. The old woman smiles at the terrified man, and says "Even the eternal lights shine upon him. The inhabitants of the land of the dead are initiating everlasting power." As the old woman says her speech, the man goes into a trance-like state, and falls to his knees as his pursurers round the corner. They seem him crouched on the ground, approaching him as they talk about his impending death. The man rises from the ground, and turns to look at them, with a grin plastered upon his face. Suddenly, his power awakens and he gathers electricity from a nearby light sign, using the microwave energy from it to defeat the two men. [OP] Sakaki arrives at the location of another hunt, where agents from Factory are already in place. Sakaki comments to Michael how odd the situation appears, and Michael replies that Factory is in place so early because of working closely with the local police, which rarely happens. Sakaki continues complaining, saying the police see STNJ as a burden on their resources. Michael tells Sakaki to stop complaining or take his complaints up with Factory. (haha) Amon, already at the scene, asks about the victim's internal wounds. The Factory agent replies that it appears the wounds were caused by a witch who utilized microwaves, citing a similar case from the past. He turns around to tell Robin not to mess up anything as she examines something on the ground because he hasn't finished his own investigation. Amon and Sakaki discuss the victim as Robin sniffs around, observing a bulb that appears to have burnt out--one from the same sign the witch gathered his energy from the night before. At the STNJ meeting room, Michael fills them in on the witch, explaining that a similar case occurred 22 years earlier. Karasuma asks if it's possible the witch they were facing this time may have inherited the power from the witch 22 years earlier, but Michael says it isn't a possiblity. While he explains different hunting techniques were used at the time and STN's database is far from perfect and shouldn't be used as an ultimate resource to keep track of the genetic lines of a witch, Robin continues to examine the lightbulb she took from the scene. Doujima notices the object and asks her if she got it from the crime scene. Robin says, "Was I not supposed to?" and Doujima goes ballistic. Everyone's attention turns towards the them, and there's a moment of awkward silence. Amon thinks the witch they are hunting hasn't left the area, and decides they need to go back and do more investigating. Karasuma, Doujima, Sakaki, and Robin spend the rest of the day investigating, while Amon and Michael remain at the office looking for information on this witch via the STN databases... As Robin sniffs around in an alley, her search is interrupted by a mysterious old woman in a wheelchair who tells her she won't find the person she is looking for. Startled, Robin wonders how the old woman knows. The old woman replies that she knows so much from age and experience, then tells Robin she should leave as soon as possible as she's obviously not from the area. Robin tells her she'll be fine, and the old woman replies that the other people surrounding her won't. Robin's communicator rings, giving her some more information, and she tells the old woman it appears she will be in the area a little longer. The old woman merely watches in silence as Robin runs off to join the others. Sakaki, Doujima, and Karasuma tell Robin the residents took the victims away, and Robin sees several of the locals giving the group strange looks. Karasuma, using her scrying ability, says the only she can feel is an explosion. Robin notices another lightbulb next to Karasuma, and Doujima says "It's just like before..." [Eyecatch] The man from the beginning of the episode slides down some stairs and falls. He gets up, and continues walking around, as though he isn't really in control of his own body. Eventually, he stops to sit and rest in a corner, having flashbacks of what he did to the two men pursuing him the night before with his newfound powers. Suddenly, the lights from a nearby car begin to flash as his body seems to call the energy towards him, and he becomes terrified. The old woman watches the display from a corner, and wheels herself away before she can be seen. Karasuma and Amon sit in a Factory can, looking at crime scene evidence--apparently of a third victim. Karasuma finds it strange that while the attack happened in the afternoon, they have no witnesses--or anyone willing to talk about it. Amon goes to find Doujima and Robin, who are with a Factory technical officer. The Factory office shows the group one of the burnt lightbulbs seen by Robin, pointing out the freshly made burn marks on one side of the bulb's paraffin as a result of the witch using his power over microwaves. Amon says it looks like the witch wasn't able to control his powers--like Robin. He calls Michael, who looks for background information on the latest victim, and tells him to look up information on the area's electricity control to find where there appears to be unusual electricity fluctuations. The witch continues walking in an underground area, burning out lightbulbs with his inability to control his power, which Michael uses to track down the witch. Amon sends Sakaki and Robin after the witch, following a map Michael sent to them. The witch sits in in a dark corner, seemingly oblivious to all when another man who knew his first two victims approaches him. This mobster fires several shots at the witch as he tries to run away, but the bullets simply bounce off of him. Once cornered, he explains that he was hired to kill the witch and that he knows the way out. The witch pays him no mind, and prepares to kill him with his microwave control when Sakaki fires at the witch to break his concentration. The witch turns around to face Sakaki and sends a blast of energy towards him. Sakaki's Orbo reacts immediately to the witch's power and barely manages to keep him protected when Robin steps in, using her Craft to burn a wall of flame around the witch. The witch counters Robin's flames with his own power. The old woman from earlier draws a rune in the shape of an X on the ground, while the witch's power begins to disipate. Sakaki uses this chance to shoot Orbo into the witch, while Robin looks on with disgust. Sakaki reports to Factory that they've successfully hunted the witch. As Factory places the witch's now boxed body into the truck, Robin notices the old woman she encountered earlier disappear around a corner, wondering about her connection with the incidents. Later that evening, Robin walks into the STNJ office and sees Amon up looking at information Michael gathered earlier on Narumi Jyuuzou, the witch they hunted earlier. Robin asks if he was on STN's list, and Amon replies he only was on the list briefly. Robin continues, saying she found it odd for someone to display such a incredible amount of power after awakening so soon... The old woman continues scratching yet another rune into the dirt, saying "In the end, the power you inherited from the dead was too much for you to handle..." She pauses briefly, then finishes with "But you are..." [ED]