First notions [JT | Shizuka]

[Deleted]

Once again, Danny was walking down the streets of Karakura. It was the third time that day she'd gone out of her apartment, and not because she felt cooped up, but because she felt she was going crazy. Life here was quiet, too quiet. She was supposed to get a job, blend in, live a normal life... but there was no way in hell she would ever be able to do that. Her body craved adrenaline, her mind needed a problem to work on, and she could never do a nine-to-five that did not involve her being sent on covert operations to extract intel, assassinate, seek and destroy, or whatever the army had her do. Flipping burgers at a joint did not seem like the path she wanted for this new life, and would only lead to her body getting even more and more weak.

What she needed to do was train. Find a way to regain her strength, study what the man-like monster that had killed her friends was, and then find and kill it. However, she had no leads to follow, no clear path. Normally, she would have a team behind laying out the details for the mission. The army was a team, but now she was all alone. That last part was not getting fixed any time soon, unfortunately. Lost in this kind of depressive thoughts and with her body in a bad state despite it being apparently healthy, she was far too late to notice the Hollow that was just about to appear through a Kumon gate, ready to feast on the denizens of Karakura.

Only when the first screams happened did she turn around to see a hellish spectacle of a big, burly bipedal monster with arms like a gorilla and a thick white mask covering its face munching on one of the citizens. Due to her dulled senses and battle instinct, also courtesy of a physical injury that led her to wonder how in the world that worked in the first place, Danny noticed only too late that most of the people that were around the area were unable to see the monster directly. Sure, they were running away just fine, but that was only as a result of the commotion that was being generated by those that were able to actually feel the effects of the creature. Of course, the monster actively nabbing someone and lifting them up in the air would be enough to send even the most skeptical of individuals into a frenzy.

Danny racked her brains, trying to find a way to deal with this whole situation. Not only was she nearly powerless in her current state, but she was around a group of unarmed, untrained civilians whose biggest tragedy in life was that a relative had died or that their romantic partner had cheated on them. None of these people knew struggle and violence. They hadn't experienced war. Gritting her teeth, the ex-black ops forced the damned prison of flesh that her body had turned into to move, cursing her apparent injury all the while in her head. Her goal was not to run away, but to blend in with the crowd, weave between them, and get herself on the perfect position to line a proper shot. Her openly displaying the firearm she carried would undoubtedly land her on a whole heap of trouble, but at that point, it was either that or risk having that monster kill them all.

Understandably, she chose the latter.

Danny had a very hard time moving through the crowd, as nearly everyone was able to push her around with ease. Normally a shoulder charge or two would've safely landed her where she needed to be, but now it was as if a tsunami was pushing against her. Panicked people made for very lousy cooperation, and this was not to be an exception. It took her far too long to actually get away from the mass, cut through a nearby alleyway, and press her back against the wall, calmly reaching in her socks and boots for her weapon.

With a rather clumsy move of her hands, a far cry from what she used to be able to do before the encounter with the damned monster that had killed her entire squadron, Danica loaded her X12 and held it upwards with her back against the wall. Her stamina had slowly improved after the injury, quicker than the rest of her body, but she was utterly incapable of exerting herself physically nearly as much as she could before. Not even a year before, she would've been able to move fast with her gun out and loaded, not afraid to shoot at anyone by accident. She would've been able to put a bullet between the monster's... eyes, mask, or whatever the hell that was.

Danica breathed in, then out, calming herself. This was just a target. Just another target. Even if it looked like an aberration of nature that should've gone extinct. Even if it was cackling and gorging itself on human beings. When looking at it, she didn't feel even a fraction of the power she had experienced when facing the man that, unbeknownst to her, was a Hellion. She then lined up the shot, took a couple of steps away from the alleyway, and aimed those at the humongous target, aiming to pierce through and turn its brain--if it even had one--into gruyère cheese. Three shots were fired in quick succession; at the very least she had retained some of her talent for marksmanship.

She'd have a pretty nasty wake up call, however, as the bullets caused damage... but didn't actually kill. No, far from it. The creature just let out a pained roar, then turned in the direction where the shots had come from. Danny hadn't invested in a muffler, she did not think she'd need one, and even then, the creature knew where he had been hit from. It was surprised at first to see her, still aiming at the monster, in spite of her every alarm being triggered by it. "Kurva...", she hissed in Czech, cursing her luck. How the fuck was it still standing after three direct shots to the head? What was this beast made out of, tempered steel?

The hungry beast outright threw its latest prey away without consuming it, instead turning its attention to Danica. It's gaze seemed to narrow. She was able to see it, that much was a given. One shot may have been luck, but three on the same spot? Far from it. Danny backed a couple of steps, never breaking her line of sight to the enemy, firing one, two, and three more shots, emptying her current clip. Just like the others, the bullets caused some damage, but the beast was still undeterred... and standing.

Unbeknownst to Danny, she'd just stepped in a world where firearms were no longer chief. A world of ghost samurai, katanas, man-eating masked monsters, holy archers, and many more. And what was her, in comparison? Just a lowly human, armed and with training that seemed pointless now.

"Hah. You've got guts. And I loove, guts. Fear makes them even tastier", the creature said in a rather creepy voice. However, Danica glowered at the beast, eyes turned to slits, and spoke in the same language, albeit with a clear foreign accent. "Is that so. Then I'm afraid I'll be spoiling your meal", she retorted a second later. She did not fear the creature, but she sure as hell needed to understand it if she wanted to survive. Anything that would give her a bit more time to load the next clip.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Just another day. Just another day that she had to get through. Just another day that her mind was entirely engulfed in the horrible thoughts that plagued her since the day he returned. This had to be some sort of joke, right? Like, none of it was real. The interaction never happened. Or did it? Did any of it? Ugh! She couldn't stand feeling this way. Things had been peaceful. Everything was the way it needed to be. She was running a company! She was making more friends! People were genuinely trying to follow her cause! Why did this have to happen all of a sudden? Why was she struggling so much to deal with it?

A quick and fast grip on the cup she was holding made Shizuka completely shatter the glass, splattering it and the fluid inside all over the floor. Without reacting at all, the Fullbringer looked at her hand as it bled slightly from the blood damage and looked back at the ground. What a shame it was to waste all of that milk. She wouldn't dare cry over it, but it was sad. With a light wave, she was able to command the soul of the cup to repair itself and the milk to put itself back inside the cup. Her hand remained bloody but she made a note to put some wrappings on it later. She picked the glass up off the ground and squeezed again, repeating the events.

Why was she doing this? Why self-harm this way? Well, it wasn't for the typical reason. It didn't actually hurt. The self-harm was unintentional, though she could have guessed it would happen since glass could be so sharp. Truthfully, though, she was trying to have control over literally anything in her life, and this was the closest she could get to having that control. It was so hard. It was so, so hard. In fact, she ultimately decided she needed to stop after five or six repeats of the same action. Her hand didn't get cut up only a couple of times, but due to the rest of the injury, she looked in the drawer of her desk in her office at work and grabbed some wrappings. Once the injury was fixed up, she decided to leave for the day.

She didn't say much as she walked rather quickly out of the building of Xcution. Some people waved to her. She waved back. She was looking for anything to occupy her mind and take over from the awful thoughts she had about her own past life. She didn't have any 'past' like a Shinigami would, but she instead referred to her previous choices that led to different events. That is what made up her past. With a slick stride right out the front doors, she sniffed the air, desperately missing how strong her energy sensory used to be. Sacrifices must be made in the name of power, and she just never quite understood how she lost her ability to sense things in the first place. She didn't recall doing anything particularly bad or damaging herself in anyway, but no matter. Off she went.

Down the streets of Karakura she strolled, hoping she'd find something fun to get involved in. She didn't have any major reason to be out there aside from, you know, working in town. But there she was, wondering what she could do to pass the time. She walked by some shops and briefly considered spending some money since retail therapy had worked before, but this wasn't one of those times for her. She decided against it. During her consideration, it didn't take long before she heard the screams in the short distance down the road. A smile crept up on Shizuka's cheeks and she moved significantly more quickly than she had been.

As the location where the frenzy was happening drew closer, Shizuka, who had been hopping along the tops of buildings at this point, noticed someone acting a bit differently in the crowd of people. The Hollow was enough to get the Fullbringer excited, especially since it meant she'd have a chance to relieve some stress that had built up over what felt like literal years. But now she had someone she could observe, and it was hard to break old habits. She just had to watch.

The woman she was stalking seemed to see the Hollow, as well. That was interesting. Just from the looks of it based on what she knew about the abilities of other races, there was a solid chance that this women was a Fullbringer. She didn't seem very strong yet if she wasn't using her powers, though. That would be a problem. A regular gun wouldn't do what she needed it to do to beat this thing and Shizuka knew that, but what were the chances that her friend down there also knew that? As Shizuka heard the other Fullbringer run out of bullets, she understood immediately that there would be death if she didn't step in. So, with very little desire to stay away from the fight, Shizuka descended and landed in front of Danny only a few moments after she spoke her threat.

"I got this."

Shizuka unleashed a massive flex of Reiatsu that even non-spiritual beings would be able to feel. While they lacked the senses, they would be intimidated and continue fleeing the scene. These was imperative. They would be able to see Shizuka fighting but they can't see the Hollow, so the entire battle would look incredibly bizarre to average people. But if they had this heavy feeling of dread and fear simply by sensing how powerful someone like Shizuka truly was, then they would certainly try to run faster. The girl behind Shizuka would feel the same things, but she didn't pay attention to whether or not her friend ran away, too.

It only took a few steps to close the distance between Shizuka and the Hollow. The crowd had dispersed and anyone who was left was too busy panicking to notice. Now was as good a time as any to stop the Hollow from rampaging, so Shizuka held her stance only 15 feet from the beast and kept her smile. She lifted her hand and unleashed the strongest level of Electrocution that she could straight at her new opponent, sure to land it since this thing also seemed relatively weak. Almost instantly, the moment the bolts slammed into the creature's body, third-degree burns appeared and it hit the ground hard. With a short flick of her wrist from the same hand that had been lifted, Soul Dominance commanded the earth below them to rise and cuff around the center of its body, holding it in place.

"Well, whatcha think?" Shizuka asked the girl as she turned around to face her, flicking her hair away from her face with her other free hand. "Want me to show you how it's done?"

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Stats}

Strength - 200 Points

Speed - 300 Points

Spiritual Pressure - [400] = 1000 Points

Reiatsu Strength - [500] = 1250 Points

Light Aura - 80 Points

Dark Aura - 20 Points

Instinct - [200] = 100 Points

Senses - [200] = 100 Points

Energy Sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Total SP: 1800 Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Skills}

[Weapon: Firearms] {3}

[Stealth] {3}

[Strength of Will] {3}

[Battle Analysis] {3}

[Analyzing] {3}

[Charisma/Leadership] {2}

[Martial Arts: MMA] {2}

[Honeypotting - The art of manipulation to obtain information. Basically, a girl gathers enough information about her target - male or female, doesn't matter - and dresses accordingly or changes how she acts to be able to get them to do whatever she wants or tell her what she needs to hear.] {1}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Soul Dominance (Mastered: - 80 TTP)}

Technique Name: Soul Dominance

Class: 4

Technique Type: Human World Dweller Technique

Usable By: Fullbringers Only

Technique Element: Varies

Technique Description and Effects:
This technique is an expansion of the basic racial ability of Fullbringers to manipulate Souls. Through extra training, the user of this technique can manipulate souls on a much more grand scale. This technique costs 150 Reiatsu and, as a result, can actually achieve combat useful manipulations. This technique can be used to manipulate raw elements up to the size of the user. It still cannot manipulate release weapons, and cannot manipulate the personal effects of an opponent such as clothing if there is not Reiatsu Strength Superiority.

How to use technique: Manipulate Souls on a grander scale than before

Drawback: Reiatsu Cost. Stamina Drain

Made By: Kyomei

Reserved?: No

SPOILER: Click to show

{Energy Generation: Electrocution (Mastered: - 360 TTP)}

Technique Name: Electrocution

Class: 4-2

Technique Type: Energy Generate

Usable By: Human World Dwellers

Technique Element: Lightning

Technique Description and Effects:
An ancient and powerful Energy Generate technique uncovered, Electrocution is a natural force using technique. This EG uses the raw power of electricity as its weapon, ravaging an enemies body as it is released from the hands or fingertips of its user. As the caster is only the conduit for the lightning, the EG does not rely on any of his physical or spiritual capabilities to perform. He simply needs the necessary Reiatsu to use it. Electrocution is a devastating Energy Generate as no force living or dead can withstand the effects of an electric shock. When the lightning strikes the target they will, typically, clench up and become immobilized as the pain of Electrocution courses through their bodies. Those struck by the electric shock are subject to the pain of high powered electricity. As mastery of the technique rises so does the power behind the electricity. Reiatsu Strength is the used Offensive Stat for this technique, but because this technique has definite damage the OS is simply used for clashes.

Class 4: The user cannot fully utilize the power of this technique at this Class. At Class 4 all the user can do is create a quick blast of electricity, a single and quick bolt that does nothing more than quickly immobilize and hurt the enemy. The bolt is quick, moving within the seven meter range of effectiveness in the blink of an eye. The immobilization caused by the bolt is quick fleeting, doing nothing more than stopping the target from performing an action (someone running would fall over). It is essentially the equivalent of someone being shot with a taser.

Class 3: Class 3 users of Electrocution are a force to be feared on the battlefield. As they practice and hone their talents with the technique they soon reach the level where they are no longer limited to a quick spark. Class 3 can release a steady stream of arcing bolts of electricity from their palms or fingertips for approximately seven seconds. While only one target can be struck at this level, the power at this level is much higher than its Class 4 state. Immense pain is inflicted upon the target, causing either intense tension in the body as it freezes up or simply collapsing. While not as lethal as the Class 2 version, this level of power is very useable in the battlefield. Unlike the former level, this one will even leave smoldering , second degree, burns upon the victim's body where the electricity struck. Machinery relying on electric parts are easily and effortlessly disabled by Electrocution at this level. At Class 3 it is entirely capable of killing people if you’re not careful.

Class 2: The most powerful level of this technique and only few have ever achieved. Upon becoming Class 2 users of Electrocution the user can easily gain the advantage on multiple opponents at once. The user can choose to release his technique from one or two hands or if Mastered from their entire bodies, releasing multiple forked arcing bolts of electricity to attack up to three foes at once. As the beams are forked they can jump between enemies, meaning one man can hit three people at once if they are close together. When the Class 2 version is fired, it doesn’t stop until the user either dies or wills it to stop. Multiple, hindering, third degree burns will cover the victim's body, often leaving them a steaming mess. The electrical power this technique is comparable to a lightning bolt, making it absolutely devastating against people. Continued and multiple exposure to this attack can cause someone to have cardiac arrest or completely disintegrate them.

How to use technique: Using the technique is rather simple. One simply focuses their Reiatsu into their hands and imagines lightning. It’s a technique that gives hardly any sign of its preparation, making it an extremely useful surprise attack.

Technique Drawbacks: A technique this powerful requires equally powerful drawbacks, and this technique has its own hindering drawbacks that makes someone think twice before using it. As the user is using his own arm(s) as the conduits for the technique, constant exposure to such high amounts of electricity is damaging. While the Class 4 version of this technique is far more lenient than its other versions, it can still cause numbing in the hand using it if used four times within seven posts. The Class 3 version is not so forgiving, however. The technique can be used safely twice before any of the limb damaging effects happen. Burning of the hands and arms is commonly seen after being used twice, as well as numbing of the arm that hinders its ability to be adequately used in combat. The numbness will recover after four posts. The Class 2 version of this technique though is the most damaging. It can only safely be used once, and anymore runs the risk of permanently damaging the user. Continued use of the Class 2 Electrocution would result in sever, third degree, burns across the length of the arm(s) that conduct this technique. While the Class 2 version can safely be used once, it will still result in the casters arm going completely numb and becoming partially paralyzed for four posts.

It has other limitations as well. Electrocution only has an effect range of ten meters, meaning an enemy has to be relatively close for it to even be effective. As this power is using pure electricity, it can be grounded by things that would normally ground electricity. Spiritual steel is able to partially block most of the power behind this attack, effectively halving most of the power but only if the target can block it in time. Both Hierro and Blut provide a natural defense against this technique, but follow Offensive Stat and Class Clash rules.

Made By: Ray

Reserved: No

Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 9,250 (-150 for Soul Dominance, -600 for Electrocution (Class 2))

[Deleted]

The monster in front of her hadn't been put down by the first six rounds she'd try to shoot through its head. There was absolutely no reason to believe that shooting more would manage to kill it, but what else could Danny do? Well, nothing else. As such, she loaded the next clip as fast as her paltry physicals allowed her to, never removing her gaze from the Hollow. Her hands did fumble a little bit, yet another testament to her diminished skills. She had always hated being helpless, even more so when it was during a life or death situation. The Hollow smiled and drool dribbled from the corners of its gruesome mouth.

Danny's gaze narrowed ever so slightly. Disgusting. Her finger was already caressing the trigger and about to fire, when someone just... descended, right in front of her. Just like that, as if she had descended from the proverbial heavens. For a moment, Danny believed that the monster had already killed her, hitting her head so hard that she had slipped into some sort of manic delusion. However, Shizuka declararing her intentions to fight the monster only proved to Danica that this was real. About as real as the monster who she'd shot at six times already.

"I got this", Shizuka said confidently. But Danica knew overconfidence was a slow and insidious killer.

"Don't be ridiculous", Danica said, with a thick foreign accent. Descended from the heavens or not, she didn't see her carrying any sort of weapon. How the hell did she intend to fight that beast on her own? "We need to-"

Before she could finish speaking, Shizuka unleashed... something. 'Something' was the best--not to mention only--way that the former soldier had to put it. She immediately felt this pressure, this sense of dread that she'd only have when she'd seen herself with a gun pointed at her face, during a foiled operation. Her every fiber knew that if this woman wanted to, she could crush her as an afterthought. How she would do that, Danica had no idea, but she just knew.

Fortunately, Shizuka's powers would not be aimed at her, but at the Hollow. From her hand, she shot a literal lightning bolt, the meanest way to tase someone that Danica had ever seen, which was saying something. Shizuka literally cooked the monster alive with just that gesture, and not content with that, she then... manipulated the earth to make it trap the Hollow and hold it tightly in place? Had she woken up on the wrong side of Avatar, the Last Airbender that morning?

Danny's stance faltered just a little bit. Yep, it seemed this was her life now. Girls with extraordinary powers that went all beyond any human's comprehension, dropping by and taking care of the monster of the week that was pretty much immune to conventional weaponry, or at least her conventional weaponry. Mere months before, Danny would've believed herself crazy and volunteered herself into the psych ward. Now, she just thought it was yet another thing she would need to ponder on and investigate. Just in case, she bit her tongue with her left molars, making sure to give it a good press. The pain was there, but she wasn't waking up.

So not a dream, either.

Then, the woman turned toward her with a comment and a quick question. Her training demanded that she pointed that gun at Shizuka, right then and there. But her common sense dictated that, if she had been able to manhandle a monster that had been terrorizing the block, the same bullets that had only grazed the creature would do very little against Shizuka. Thus, Danica lowered her weapon, clicking the safety in the process. It would remain loaded for the time being, of course. There was something that had piqued Danny's interest, something that neither of her previous encounters were able to teach her... because unbeknownst to Danica, this woman's spiritual abilities had the same base as her undiscovered ones.

She looked at Shizuka, unsure of what to make of her. "...How it's done? What do you mean?" she asked, still suspicious. She was not the type to trust someone at a first glance, and even less when she had seen Shizuka shooting lightning. But it was undeniable that she wanted to know how something like this was possible. What allowed a human being to do things like that? Why wasn't anyone in her army like this? Surely countries would have individuals with these skills as their top operatives? As the Hollow squirmed in the throes of its prison, Danica shifted her stance again, pointing at it with her gun. If anything, her not panicking was impressive.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

A quick pivot on her heel would reveal Shizuka's face to the woman who was once standing behind her. She tilted her head with a smile as her gaze descended upon the gun that the woman was holding, now momentarily decommissioned. Poor thing. She was definitely very new to this whole world and that much was obvious. Shizuka was a veteran now, having been part of the spiritual world for, like, twelve years. She had experienced so many things that a random Hollow attack was virtually nothing to her, especially when the Hollow was this weak. But this woman didn't know that.

"Well, first of all, I'm Shizuka. That thing isn't going to be moving for a while since it's trapped so you have time to tell me your name and if you're human or not. Second of all, that-" she pointed towards the gun, "-isn't going to do anything for you here. You wouldn't even be able to kill me with it. I'd just will the bullet to stop or clog up the gun instead."

Due to her innate ability, it was difficult to use average weapons on someone like Shizuka. Call it luck of the draw, but compared to some of the other types of spiritual beings out there, Fullbringers had some pretty neat talents. Not that the others didn't have their own fun things, of course, but she was biased. She really had fun with all of her magical girl powers. It really had been so long that it all seemed normal to her. She remembered years ago when this was still new how complicated the world seemed, but now it wasn't that way at all. Not much had changed aside from Shizuka gaining experience and learning about the hidden world outside of this one.

"I'm willing to bet that you're probably very confused about what this big guy is and why it's attacking. Well, normal people who aren't like you and me can't actually see him. Weird, right? So if we fight him, since we can be seen, it would look super crazy. That's why we hide in the shadows until everyone runs away. To them, Hollows are basically natural disasters." She turned back towards the monster who was wailing and roaring, trying to get free from the earth that trapped him. "We may not have much time even if I did injure him with my technique before so just let me know if you'd like to join in and I can lead you in a good direction."

[Deleted]

"...My name is Danica", she told her, still caught unawares. Her mental composure wasn't the same as it had been before the encounter with the creature she still didn't know was an Akki, so it took her longer than she would've liked to return to a more serious expression. The second part of her question did make her expression change to an inquiring frown. Had she... had she actually asked her whether she was human? Was it that Shizuka was blind somehow? No, impossible. Blind people didn't look at things like she did. Still, she gave her the response she wanted. "Yes. I am a human."

Of course, Danny had a LOT of trouble believing that her gun would be useless from now on. She had been using firearms since she was... well, young. For her to be told that those would not be doing her any good anymore was akin to telling someone that they were breathing the wrong way: it felt unnatural on so many levels that it almost shocked her physically. The only reason why she didn't immediately dismiss her the apparently magical girl as the crazy byproduct of a PTSD induced hallucination was that Danny had tried to put six rounds through the beast's head in the first place, and that had accomplished squat.

While she really wanted to see Shizuka mess up a gun like she had mentioned, they both had more pressing matters to attend to. The now prisoner Hollow had been stunned by the lightning bolt, but the more feeling returned to its numb body, the more it struggled against its bindings, seeking to break out. Whether it was to continue gorging itself on humans or to escape Shizuka, Danica did not know, and she did not want to find out. Shoot first, ask questions later. Information was important, but that mentality had been responsible for keeping her alive during her most dangerous missions. She was not going to risk the monster escaping just because it was a sight she was not used to, right?

The Fullbringer explained that a monster like this was invisible to the public. That was why the other people had taken so long to respond to something so incredibly conspicuous.

"Rozumím", the Czech slipped off her tongue for a moment, but she quickly caught herself, and shook her head while unclicking the safety. "Roger that."

Shizuka had told Danny that her gun was worthless, but she still hang on to her and pointed it at the Hollow as it struggled to break free. She had absolutely zero ways of fighting a monster like this one, so the expert Fullbringer would unfortunately be dealing with her lack of experience for a while. Well, better that than being a defenseless sitting duck, waiting to be saved. She could not be relying on magical girls coming down to save her from the big, scary monster of the week. If these were not an oddity, but a common occurrence in Karakura, then Danica needed to be able to fend them off by herself.

The monster finally cracked its earthy bindings and got back up on its feet. Its body was charred by Shizuka's lightning, a tree-like scar already bulging on its grotesque skin. Its jaw hung, possibly as a result of the shock, and drool was pooling and dripping from its mouth. The moment it took the first step, Danica emptied a second charger, but this time against its body, just in case shifting targets yielded better results. Unfortunately for her, it really seems conventional human means of fighting were outclassed here.

"Bullets are worthless", she confirmed, nodding to herself. Well, worthless might not be the right term, since they were causing the creature some pain: it was not outright immune to them, but they were largely ineffective. A human being would not die if you flicked them on the forehead six, seven, eight or nine times. All that would get you was a very annoyed person with a good reason to escalate into a fight. She could not kill this masked monster with flicks to the forehead.

"Orders?" she instinctively asked, slipping into old habits once again. Immediately, she felt a wave of familiarity. It had been a long time since she'd said that, and it meant she was diving back on charted waters. Almost magically, she felt some of the tension leave her body. That did little to fix her situation, though. Unlike the Fullbringer, she had no way to do magic with which to eliminate that threat.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

So her name was Danica. That was an unusual name around this area, so it was possible this girl was foreign. Plus, Shizuka knew about almost everybody by this point so long as they were anywhere near this town so it was not common for her to meet new people. If Danica was a new Fullbringer, since she did say she was human, then it was entirely possible that Shizuka's theory was right and she had yet to awaken her abilities. That meant she wouldn't be able to defend herself against a Hollow like this very easily, and it was probably for the best that Shizuka showed up when she did.

"Orders, huh? Well, for starters, you may want to take some notes. That beast is a Hollow and they're these spiritual monsters that pop up out of nowhere when people die and they can't move on to the Soul Society. Also, the Soul Society is the worst."

Of course this was her own bias talking. Danica was going to have to make her own decisions, but it couldn't hurt to somewhat push people in the direction she needed. Shizuka was hoping to get an ally out of this in some way, even if it meant killing the Hollow. Fullbringers obviously can't purify these things the way Shinigami can, but that didn't bother her. She treated all of her targets the same way no matter what they were. It didn't matter who they were or what they were so long as she was able to get the job done. And since that thing found a way to break out of the earth that trapped it, moving quickly was important.

"We need to make sure it doesn't get too far. You and I can both kill it as we are now and I won't need to use my powers, but we have to keep it where it is now so it doesn't attack anyone else." Shizuka rushed out to get close to the beast, calling back towards Danica as she did so. "You're a Fullbringer! Let the souls of the world around you speak to you! What can you do to help?"

Flexing her Reiatsu once again, Shizuka prepared herself for Soul Dominance as soon as it became necessary. Danica may not be able to win on her own, but that didn't mean the match needed to be completely stolen from her either. She could use it to try to stop the monster from moving, but she didn't activate the technique quite yet. She wanted to see if Danica would be able to figure out something on her own and then she'd be ready to support. Taking such a high level of electricity wouldn't be a laughing matter, either. The Hollow was hurt and would have a lot of trouble moving around.

[Deleted]

Shizuka's first orders were to take notes and learn. Fairly reasonable and something that Danica was actively doing already, so there was no reason not to follow them. While she had little idea about what this 'Soul Society' Shizuka spoke of was, she would rather leave more in depth explanations of theory once there was not an all-consuming masked beast seeking to devour the two women. For the time being, she knew all that she needed to: that those things were dangerous, that they were nothing short of monsters, and that its existence was due to not moving on after death. So Soul Society would be something akin to heaven? But then, why had Shizuka mentioned that it was 'the worst'? Danny had always been an agnostic, so hearing about Heaven was already a shock... but learning that it was not the eternal reward promised in so many religions across the globe? Ironic, to put lightly.

But the masked monster of doom first, of course. That took priority over everything else. With another clip emptied, Danny was left with no choice but to load another one, as the Hollow slowly lurched forward in her direction. It was clear that Shizuka's lightning strike had left its nervous system out of whack, if these creatures had those. Its steps were trembling, hesitant, as if it was taking every ounce of willpower to move the leg and overcome the numbness. That bought Danica precious seconds to... panic.

Well, not panic, but wonder how in the world the Fullbringer intended her to actually fight the beast when her gun, her only trusted means of causing damage right now, had all but proven a toy against the creature. Shizuka proclaimed that Danica was a Fullbringer, and as such, she had the ability to listen to the souls in the world. Perhaps in the future, Danica would be able to use them to influence her surroundings and fight like the more experienced woman did. For now, however, at class 8, her only spiritual ability was being able to see ghosts. Which, truth be told, had only brought her problems ever since she had awakened it.

"I think you have ze wrong idea!", she exclaimed, unloading a couple more rounds onto the creature's leg, aiming to topple it. Still, not enough firepower, even with it being numb. It stumbled a little, but it managed to continue its route just fine. Her accent was slipping due to the heat of battle, and the anxiety of dealing with such an unknown enemy. It was a miracle that she was holding her composure as well as she was. Shizuka's words already made absolutely zero sense for the ex-black ops, and that was with her keeping calm. "What do you mean 'souls of the world'?", she asked, eyebrow raised as she kept her gaze on the Hollow. The shock was still there, but either the numbness was beginning to wear off, or it was getting accustomed to it.

A bit desperate, Danica attempted to do as she was told. She kept her ears open, waiting for the world to, quite literally, talk to her. However, other than the Hollow's growls and roars, the panicked screams of people running away, and the multiple sirens blaring off nearby, Danny was finding it pretty damn difficult to concentrate on her spirituality.

"I don't hear anything!". She had said ' don't ', not ' can't ', meaning that Danica at least took Shizuka's command seriously, and hadn't given up or deemed it impossible. Half an hour before, she would've dismissed the very same words as the ramblings of a crazy woman. Curious how one of these Hollow attacks did wonders to shift your perspective. "How can you be sure I'm one of zhese 'Fullbringers'?", she asked the much more experienced woman, raising her voice to do so amids all that chaos.

The Hollow roared, finally freeing itself from the shock, but that didn't mean it was any less injured. Still, the sight made Danny unconsciously reach for her dogtag with her free hand, which she clutched affectionately. Whatever the monster that had killed her squadron was, it was much stronger than what this masked beast looked. She couldn't allow herself to fall so early, so quickly. There would be no resting until she put a bullet through that Hellion's head, claiming revenge for lives that should've never met such a gruesome end.