Bount Together [Joint Training / R]

[Deleted]

Training for TTP

Saturday nights were always something. Karakura Town was, more or less, a nest of spiritually aware and empowered people, and those who wanted to hang out at a place just for people like them would usually end up at the prison. Well, it wasn't that they went to jail. The truth was that the old prison that was a few miles away from Karakura, condemned for possessing absurd amounts of asbestos and dangerous molds, was actually a secret club just for special people. While there were certainly enough bars and dance floors, most of the traffic was there to take part in the racing. The club was the home base for Karakura's street racing scene, and only recently added a fighting ring into the mix. That was where Luke made most of his spending money anyways. That was until a week ago anyways.

Tonight, being Saturday, meant the club was alive. Dancing, drinking, betting, Saturdays were always big nights. The races would begin soon, if the clock was right, but before then people could wet their appetites watching Fullbringers and the like throw down in the fighting rings. Tonight was a pretty good fight. A, of all things, Native American Fullbringer fighting against the returning Poison Ash. Luke remembered her rather well, having fought against her once before when he was in the ring. Things weren't looking good for Raging Bull and his weird animal totem style powers. *Click* "Hey I was watching that! I love wondering how Ash can run around in just a scarf that never shows the delicious parts!" Jäger complained as Luke tossed the remote down onto the bench.

He wasn't in his room. He wasn't in one of the lounges. He was actually, in relative space to where all the partying was, rather far away from everyone else. He'd gone deep beneath the fighting arenas "Pit", but not as deep as the secret dungeon. He was standing in a room about the size of a professional basketball court (even had hoops). Strewn throughout the room against the walls or in rows was various kinds of workout equipment. Weights, treadmills, stair machines, punching bags. It wouldn't take someone long to figure out that he was standing in a training room of sorts. Luke stood there, staring at the darkened tv for a moment, before turning his attention to back what he was doing. The Bount was wearing a grey tanktop with a pair of black shorts. Turning his attention to his left side, the Bount reached over and fiddling with the bandages around the stump where his left arm used to be.

He could still feel his arm. At this very moment he could feel himself turning his hand over and over and closing each finger one at a time. His eyes narrowed softly as he looked at the empty space where he was sure his arm was. This was what was called phantom limb syndrome huh? Luke frowned as those sharp, blue, eyes closed for a moment and he forced his attention away from what he used to have. It had only been a week since he lost his arm. How'd he lose it? Well that was the best part of the story. He lost it trying to save a pretty girl from a bunch of Hollows. But turns out that pretty girl was the one who took his own arm. One huge misunderstanding. Luke, at least, took her own arm as well.

Now that we was weighing a few pounds less, though, he wasn't taking part in any fight clubbing for awhile. That was actually why he was here in this room, alone, while the rest of the club was exploding with parties. He'd been coming down here for the past three nights because there was something he needed to do. Something he had no choice but to do. Those blue eyes shifted to the Zanpakuto leaning against the wall before he made a move for it. The sound of blade dragging against scabbard was heard as Luke drew his sword and positioned himself in the middle of a bunch of empty space. He held his sword out in front of him, and immediately frowned. He could feel his phantom limb trying to grip the lower half of the grip.

Luke was too used to fighting with both of his arms. Just because he was down one limb didn't mean the world was going to be any safer. At least for him anyways. Those Quincy were still out there, along with other faceless threats. Luke was in a bad spot now. He needed to train. He needed to practice. He needed to change his entire sword style to compensate for his lack of a second arm. He slowly exhaled as he shut his eyes, and imagined himself in a dark space. A space devoid of any light or distractions. He began focusing. He blocked out all the sound around him. He blocked out any and all things that were not this dark space. He even pushed his Dolls away as far as he could. Until...silence. Pure, perfect, complete silence.

Then he appeared. That man with long white hair that looked like a homeless tranny. He was holding, of all things, a street lamb as a weapon! He was approaching Luke from the front, that lamb held right over his head. Down it came, aiming to slam down on the Bounts head before the young man moved. He moved forward, aiming a slash upwards and diagonally coming from his right waist. The sword slashed its way into Kitai's chest, before Luke followed the path of the sword with his body and spun counterclockwise to his left as that street lamp came slamming down. Stopping when he faced Kitai, he kicked off of his right foot and lunged his right arm forward into a stab aimed at going through Kitai's ribs.

The deranged mans eyes widened as a grin painted itself across them as he quickly clutched onto Luke's sword, slicing up his hand, with own right hand. But it managed to stop Luke's lunge, which was what he wanted. That street lamb, in his left arm, came swinging around horizontally to clip Luke's head. The Bount grit his teeth together as he quickly ducked as that lamp went over his head, throwing Kitai into a weird body position. Kaioken! Luke mentally commanded, as he burst to life with red energy. He lunged forward, now bolstered with increased strength, throwing the awkward standing Kitai by surprise and pushing that sword in deeper into the Fullbringers torso.

Ripping his sword free, he heard the laughter. Quickly turning around, Luke bent his arm at an acute angle and pointed his sword downwards as that lance collided with the blade, screeching past it and creating sparks. The Quincy from the store. That white hair and deranged red eyes still gave him bad dreams from time to time. Kicking away from her to get some distance proved pointless. He remembered just how aggressive she was. The apparition was charging him. She brought that lance back for a moment before immediately lunging the thing at him multiple times. She had the benefit of reach with that lance. Plus she was fast. In the time it would take a normal person to jab that lance, she'd already done it ten times at least.

Luke's sword and arm danced around to different and various angels to catch that lance against the flat of his blade or to, just lightly, push that lance away from him and himself away from it. Sweat was building up across his forehead as he bounced backwards across the dark space, unable to find an opening against the Quincy. Her laughter was also getting annoying. Finally, Luke caught a break. The Quincy had drawn her arm back a bit too far, in order to throw a stronger jab at Luke, and the Bount took it. Schiene! He quickly vanished from sight as that lance went through a brief afterimages head, only for the Bount to appear behind her, turning to and swinging to the right.

His sword met the flesh in her back, causing her to cry out and fall forward. Before that lance suddenly spun around like she was swinging a sword. Luke turned himself towards it, the two weapons clashing as Luke let the momentum take him and throw him back. Skidding to a stop, Luke let out a exhale as he watched the Quincy become consumed in that armor she wore. Frowning, the two engaged yet again. Luke was beginning to get used to what the apparition of the Quincy was throwing at him, but each time he got an opening his sword just clashed against her armor. Ducking beneath her lance, Luke saw himself an opening. Push! He commanded as he swung, causing his sword to become coated in a cloudy white aura as it clashed against the womans protected neck.

He heard the gagging and coughing from within, before the apparition vanished. But before he could rest, Aevus was the next one to appear. Fast. Faster than Luke could properly react to. Metal on metal sounded as the Shinigami flew by him, his sword clashing against Lukes but throwing the Bount off balance. He heard the growls behind him. No time to turn around. Luke quickly spun the grip on his Zanpakuto into a reverse grip and blindly swung backwards, clipping something before it pulled back. Turning he saw Lumina, in her wolven form sword in mouth, bleeding slightly from her leg. Fixing his sword as Aevus approached once more, the twos swords clashed together as they usually did.

Aevus was aggressive. Like a thing sheet of death his sword whistled through the air at a speed greater than the Quincies. Luke was barely fast enough to block, forced on the retreat as his arm bent at a variety of angles to get his blade in the right place to block. This was getting hard. And finally, it ended when Luke's sword was knocked aside by a rather strong blow from Aevus, and Lumina was lunging for the Bounts neck. He opened his eyes, his breaths deep and heavy. Shit... He complained mentally, grinding his teeth together as he realized where he fucked up. Instinctively, he had tried to move his left arm to create an Air Panel shield. But, guess what, Luke didn't HAVE a left arm! Luke knew it wasn't going to be easy to erase the instinct of a life time of using a second arm, but Luke had no choice but to try.

The Bount threw his ass against the bench, grabbing his bottle and downing some of the ice cold water. "An entire change to your fighting style because you wanted to play hero. Was it worth it?" Springflut decided to comment. He must have either just woken up or had been watching Luke practice against his imagination. "Oh oh why not use that finger gun thing you always used to do!" Jäger suggested. There's no point. I relied on Spirit Waves until my physical strength came in. I gave up on that technique, and it was weak anyways. Luke explained, sheathing his Zanpakuto and resting his forehead against his hand pressed against the butt of the sword.

It'll be harder making Air Panel shields. I have to train myself on focusing better. Be able to read the opponent much faster than they can read me. I don't think I'll be able to do long confrontations either or my right arms stamina will tank. Luke thought to himself. How COULD he preserve his arms stamina though? Even with his superhuman strength, using only one arm was going to tire it out incredibly quickly. Hmm... Luke wondered. "You might just have to let us out to play more, keke." Jäger giggled. Luke didn't like that idea. Not until he could, at least, confidently control those two. Jäger he had better luck with, but Springflut was far more aggressive than Jäger was.

But he was a Bount. He couldn't just rely on his own power and the Zanpakuto. "But Luke...as you are right now...you're little more than a wolf without fangs. You try to use your brain to win a fight. You try to defeat your enemies with reason, logic, and understanding. You fight like a Human...and not like a Bount!" Luke thought back on those words. Just what had that voice been? Maybe part of the problem with him and the Dolls was because Luke wasn't looking at them as his own power? He always viewed the Dolls as something else. As last resorts. Maybe the reason his relationship was so bad with them...was because he pushed them away from him. He wasn't acting like a Bount. He was acting like a Human.

A sigh escaped him. Perhaps he needed to work on more than just learning to fight with one arm. Pushing himself back up from his seat, his Zanpakuto was drawn once more as he began to practice once again. He was going to get this. He wasn't going to let this set back slow him down. Not until he became strong enough to stop people like those Quincy.

[Eve Timor]

Training for CTP

Timor was actually eating at the time. Sitting in her little apartment that Taka had set out for her, she was settled on her floor, munching on a bowl of cereal as Lucifer, Rick, and Morty all crawled out from under her bed, the three of them promptly crawling onto her shoulders and watching as she ate, the rats chittering softly and nuzzling into their owner.

Training Brutalis Futter

Timor had been thinking a lot about.... well... a lot of things. And not that much earlier, she had been.....working on some things. She'd been around the worse side of Karakura. The outskirts, where all of the hollows loved to hunt around and look for stragglers. And of course, also where she hunted. Making her way down the street, the sleeve of her jacket tied off so that her left sleeve wasn't just flapping away in the wind. It didn't take long for her to find what she was looking for.

The hollow was minding his own business, just slithering his way through the streets, those glowing yellow eyes searching for prey, when of all things, it found this pretty little Ravenette, the girl was even missing an arm. A slow smile crept across it's face as it approached, and all in all it seemed like a relatively easy kill, and Timor was thinking the very same thing. even as it lunged, uncoiling from the ground in her direction, she made her own move as well.

It slammed into her clawed hand, it's mouth yawling open to screech as those dark claws bit into the material of it's mask, Timor's feet skidding across the ground as she tensed and managed to stop the monster's advance, her claws snapping like a trap, ripping into the hollow's face before she grunted, lifting the hollow's head up and off of the ground, making it shift it's coils as suddenly it's body lunged in, aiming to wrap around her body as she maintained her grip on her.

And she drank in the danger, and she felt her old hunger. The hunger that had festered in her for so long. How long HAD it been since she'd fed? It felt like ages, more than that probably. so as she sank her claws DEEPER into it's skull, shredding past it's mask as her glass-like claws began sucking in the blood oozing from the hollow's face, and the monster screeched in agony as it felt it's life's essence being drained from it's face, screeching loudly and writhing, suddenly releasing her body as it tried to pull away.

And with a firm slam, she planted it's head into the ground, stomping on it's neck and digging her clawed hand deeper and deeper into it's face, those eyes glowing softly as she watched the hollow's struggling grow weaker and weaker, before she knew it those glowing eyes began to dim and she felt her claws tingling from the sensation, and her mind swam with a euphoria no full bount would ever know. Having two hungers sated at the same time.

When she finally ripped her clawed hand free of the Hollow's face, it's body was already dissolving, and the arteries in her right arm were pulsing as they brought blood back into her body, and to her heart, that deep bliss suffusing through every cell in her body as she looked to her claw and flexed her fingers, leaning in and gently running her tongue along those claws, lapping up the residual blood as those eyes turned red for a brief little instant. And she could FEEL the tingling in her stump. But she wouldn't be able to grow it back...

-10 TTP from bank to finish Learning
Back to CTP training

She reached up and peeled the bandage from her cheek, tossing it to the ground as that cut on her cheek closed up, a soft little sigh escaping her body as she watched the hollow shrivel up and die, that cold feeling in her heart unchanging as she watched it cease to exist. She did take a moment to lament, if she had been stronger, she could have just stabbed Luke on the spot, and regrown her limb right then and there. the thought scared her just a little. He was her friend now, and he hadn't even been the evil thing she'd thought he was at first.


And now?


She finished up a bowl of cheerios. Eating normal human food. One would never think that not long ago she had been gutting a hollow and drinking it's blood. Standing up and setting her dishes in the sink, she headed out the door, Morty climbinh up and into her jacket, deciding to hitch a ride, the little mouse curling up in the crook of her neck. Rick, meanwhile, was asleep on the floor next to Lucifer, ignoring Timor as she headed out and locked the door behind her.

It was just a hunch, but Timor found Luke exactly where she expected to. Watching him from the doorway, her eyes calm and unemotional as she walked over to the man and cleared her throat, nodding to him as Morty peeked his little head up from her collar. "I see you're hard at work. I didn't figure you for the training kinda guy. I figured you were a field-work kinda dude." She murmured softly, eyeing all of the equipment.

"You ok? I mean... whens the last time you fed and stuff?" She asked softly, making her way over to him and leaning against the basketball hoop, watching im calmly. Affen was asleep, the monkey had been snuggling with her all night, the Monkey often insisted on being around and taking care of Timor, even when the bount was asleep. However, it often left her a little tired at times. Now being one of those times. She could probably be forced awake with the use of reiatsu, but for now she just let the monkette sleep.

"You certainly seem to be working hard. Affen is taking a nap, so I don't really have anyone to train with. And I'm not quite confident enough to go out hunting for long periods of time. Sooo.... well....did you want to train with me?" She asked softly, attempting to be smooth about the whole thing what with all the arm chopping and stuff. No doubt Luke may even have some questions about her and her powers.

[Deleted]

Her eku was coming for his right, causing him to flick his sword in that direction to catch the paddle like polearm between his blade and guard. Damn. His right arm was getting a little sore. The Bount pulled back as the red haired Quincy advanced. Luke's imagination version of that Quincy and her weapon was very different from her actual, real life, counterpart. Much weaker in his imagination because he didn't know her full potential. But, despite it being all in his head, it didn't turn the tide of who was superior. Luke opened his eyes as her weapon came down to bash his head open. "Doesn't it say something about a person when they even lose their imaginary fights? Might wanna see a therapist about it before you hang yourself in a dolphin suit." Jäger said, his laughter afterwards just making the comment even more obnoxious.

Luke let out a sigh as sweat dripped down his face, falling from his chin into a nice little puddle beneath him created earlier by a few drops. Truthfully, he sensed her before she arrived. He wasn't really sure what she wanted either. Ever since he brought her to the club he never tried to really approach Timor. Given what had happened he wanted to give her the space she was owed. He did cut off her arm after all, and she blasted his own off. But seems that, finally, one of the two was going to make contact with the other. Luke rested the back of his Zanpakuto against his shoulder as he turned to see Timor, as she cleared her throat, hanging out in the doorway. His soft blue eyes, stark contrast to those intense amber ones he had that night, gazed at Timor. Now that they weren't dueling at night in a "God is gonna flood the earth in 3 days" rainstorm, he was able to get a much better look at her.

She was an absolutely gorgeous woman. Her body had the perfect curves just the way he liked them. Great hair and beautifully sculptured face. The hand, that was left, wasn't actually a turn off for him. Turns out Luke had a thing for abnormality. It just added to Timor's physical charm. Made her unique. Gave her an air of exotic danger. But while she certainly looked his type, Luke didn't have that attraction to her at this moment. Considering what they'd just done to one another, Luke wasn't even sure he could say she was a friend despite him breaking his own leg to save her finely shaped ass. "If you won't do her I will!" Jäger joked. "You would fuck a heated watermelon with a hole in it." Springflut snapped back.

"I'd also fuck myself raw with a cold watermelon that DIDN'T have a hole in it! Checkmate seabitch."

"You're fucking disgusting."

"I know you are but what am I-"

Luke was just going to ignore them while they argued. "You're actually not wrong. I'm the kind of guy who learns best with experience. It's just now that I've dropped a few pounds I figured I'd take the time to readjust." Luke explained with a soft smile and a shrug, looking at his left shoulder for a moment before returning his gaze to Timor. Luke might have responded to her second question, but he paused when he noted the little creature riding along with Timor. Was that a rat? She didn't seem to freak out about it at all, so Luke assumed it was a pet. He didn't have much problem with pet rats honestly.

Back when he lived in America he had spent a few months working at a pet store. While there he'd had the privilege of cleaning the rat, ferret, and guinea pig cages. And you know what? The rats were the good ones. Ferrets liked to hide their shit under the chippings. And guinea pig poop was, basically, little turds about the size of fleas. He didn't actually stay at that job long after a hit and run, despite there being no car, had busted the store apart and all the animals got out. Remembering that time caused Luke to fail to answer Timor when she asked him when the last time was he'd fed. Luke wouldn't have understood what she meant by that even if he did answer.

His attention shifted back to the halfling beauty, blinking and eyes widening slightly with surprise when she suddenly asked him if he wanted to train. The Bount gave her a entertained smirk. "I didn't figure you for a training kinda gal." He joked, throwing her own sentence back at her. Chuckling to himself he made his way over to where his Zanpakuto sheath was put the blade away in its scabbard. "Sure. I do better when I have a partner anyhow." Luke replied, rocking his right arm in a circle to work out the light soreness. "Only you would be fine spending time with someone who has mutilated you. Make her pay for what she did. Destroy her, Luke."

"In bed, hehehe."

"Don't you ever shut the hell up!?"

Luke decided to continue ignoring Springflut and Jäger acting like idiots. "What do you wanna do? Spar or somethin else?" Luke asked, looking over his shoulder at Timor as the Bount made his way over to a door in the wall. Opening it up revealed it was a storage room filled with various crap. Balls, jump posts, various kinds of workout tools, but what Luke was looking at was the training weapons in a barrel. All made of wood or bamboo, Luke rummaged around for something he could use that wouldn't break her if he hit her. Wood was out of the question, and Luke was certain bamboo wasn't safe either. Blinking, he found something he might actually be able to use. Pulling it out, he blinked and scoffed a little as he realized it was some kind of foam, nerf, thing. But it was heavier than a toy should have been, though not quite as heavy as his own sword or a wooden one.

Blinking, the Bount slapped the wall with the weapon producing a satisfying smack and doing no damage to whatever material the thing was made out of. Luke smiled to himself before walking out with the thing in hand, before deciding to ask his own questions to Timor. "What do you mean by hunt, though? You go out looking for Hollows?" He asked with a smirk, remembering how she had been chased by at least seven of them until he showed up to save her. "Ask her about that weirdo freaky power she has." Jäger commented. Maybe later. He decided, as he waited for Timor to respond.

[Eve Timor]

Timor watched as he seemed to get a good look at her. She was so used to it given her occupation that she didn't even question it. She was oggled at all the time. Whether she was dancing or doing other things, she didn't really even react to it at this point. She just let him look, and focused on his actual words. She was a little amused at the mention of a spar, and actually chuckled to herself a little at the very idea of fighting eachother again. It was....amusing. To say the least.

Learning Mantis Taslagch Tolgoig Ni

But she made her way to one of those big targets, eyeing it up and down as she felt the subtle tremble of energy run through her veins. For just a moment she ran her claws over it, her mind
wandering as she tried to remember her father's lessons. As much as she hated what he'd done, he had still taught her so much. And she'd forgotten almost everything. The way he used to talk about the others in the company. And that one THING that he'd fought. He himself had been more of a street fighter, and simply by nature he'd been able to mimic most of their moves.

But she didn't remember that one fighter she had met. A target she'd chosen not to kill. a quitky thing to be sure, and they had been so weak too. One would wonder what they had ever been doing in the world of the living as it were. But even so, that little thing had managed to correct a lot of mistakes her father had made. Even through the loss of her powers, she still remembered. How to fight like an animal.

Her knee was brought up, her shoulders hunched, even if she was off balance. And in her mind she felt the air sweeping around Luke's own blade, moving in to slash into that knee guard of hers. A mind's eye that was sharp enough to remember the way his weapon had sounded through the rain, as if her mind had captured every moment. Her lef snapped up, extending, and in her mind she knocked that blade up before bringing her foog back down in a snap, snaring his wrist between her calf in thigh, in actuality she had snared the shoulder of the dummy between both parts of her leg, and with a sudden twist, she shifted all of her weight down onto that leg.

With a loud CRUNCH she tore that dummy from it's stable, grounded base, lowering that foot beneath her center of gravity, hooking the dummy's shoulder unde rher body before dropping to the floor, the weight of her entire body above her knees crashing down onto that shoulder with a crack. If it had been a real opponent, then it's shoulder and possibly even several of it's upper ribs would have snapped from the crunching force of the drop. If she'd managed to snag the neck, it would have been a kill.

Mantis Cutter Beheading Learned, class 5, back to normal CTP

She let out a slow little huff and stood up, looking down at the broken dummy and frowning. She was sure that was probably a cheap bit of equipment. "Shit. I forgot my own strength..." she murmured, though she was actually mistaken. Though Luke would tell the difference. She had improved tremendously. In speed, strength, and in skill from just a short little encounter. Despite the loss of her arm, she had grown a lot from that single fight. And he would certainly be able to tell.

Looking over her shoulder at him, she realized he had asked her a question. "Well yea. Once the hunger set in I couldn't much well ignore it. And it beats drinking people. Nobody's gonna miss a hollow." She chuckled heartily and pointed to where that healing cut had been not even an hour or two ago. She had been carrying it around since the fight. The slash to her cheek from that hollow, aside from the loss of her arm, it was the only other major injury she'd sustained. Affen had eaten every other hit involved.

But of course, now that wound was gone, completely. Her face looked as though nothing had ever happened to it. "I went hunting a little earler. I only managed to get one. Not to mention it's been a long ass time. I used to be able to get over shit like this from feeding, but I guess I won't be able to do that for a while." She murmured, looking at her stump and wiggling it slightly, giving it a mildly concerned look, as though it were a sliver she hadn't decided to deal with just yet. "I just have to find a really juicy hollow. Then I'll be good as new." She nodded to herself, acting like this talk was normal.

[Deleted]

Looks like there wasn't much point in Luke getting a training weapon, since Timor wanted to tear apart a dummy instead. The Bount sat himself on the bench next to his water and, now two, swords watching her. He was curious to see how she handled the dummy, though it wasn't going to be any sort of danger to her. He was just curious to see how she was going to train. There was also another reason he was deciding just to sit down and watch. His eyes had latched onto the bare skin her clothing revealed, but not for lewd reasons, but because he noticed something. Her muscles were...more pronounced...than they had been before. The Bount watched quietly as Timor practiced, his mind reaching over to hers and realizing just how stronger her spirit had gotten as well. Even though she had lost her arm, it seemed to have done little to actually stop her growth.

Was it because of him again? Did Luke cause an explosion in her strength similarly to what he had done to Taka? Or was this something else? Was Timor just exploding with growth because she was a prodigy? Or was it because of whatever it was that had given her those hands and strange transformation. His blue eyes narrowed as he remembered facing against that form. He remembered the chill that went down his spine that was so...unlike any kind of fear he had felt before. Luke had felt a primal fear when she had taken that form. It had been why he reacted like he did. Why he took the arm that had that bow. "That power was unnatural. You should have taken her head, not her arm." Springflut snapped.

Luke was quiet while he watched Timor train. She seemed rather proficient at martial arts, unlike him who was better with swinging around something in his hand. He wondered how the loss of her arm would affect her fighting style. Would she need to completely change? It wouldn't be easy fighting hand to hand with only one hand. Then again, being a Bount, perhaps she preferred to be on the back lines? Luke couldn't help but stay on the front lines. He wasn't the type to stand back and hide behind another. Even if it was a Doll. Luke snapped back into focus when she suddenly destroyed the dummy she was working with.

She was strong. Luke was certain of that. She might not be as strong as he was now, but Luke was certain she was going to catch up to him very, very, quickly. And if they were even matched? He felt his fingers tighten into a fist as the thought of that...excited him. Because just for a moment the thought of fighting a Bount as strong as he was excited him. He blinked when she finally answered him in regards to hunting. It seems like she literally meant Hollows. He blinked yet again. Wait, "beats drinking people" oh...Luke understood. She was a feeder.

He didn't mean for it to sound derogatory. He didn't. But it was how he referred to Bount who decided to act like the vampires that they had inspired. Luke's expression didn't show it, but he felt just a little disappointed hearing that. But at the same time grateful that she went after Hollows instead of people. The one beneath the dungeon, Aura, and Luis...Luke was beginning to wonder if maybe he was the weird one. Never had he had the thirst. Never did he feel the need to eat souls or drink blood. Maybe there was something different about him. Maybe because his father had been human? Maybe that had something to do with it? Luke wasn't sure. But he wasn't going to go experimenting anytime soon.

"Huh. Didn't know it worked like that. I either just...heal on command or get a good nights sleep. When I had broken my leg bringing you here, my leg was better than ever after a good nights sleep." Luke commented, looking at his own stub for a moment. "If it means getting your arm back then-" Springflut began, but was immediately cut off by a rather cold sounding I won't even consider it. End of topic. Luke felt a pulse of surprise from the Doll, before disgruntlement and irritation but he dropped the topic. "Aww. Don't you wanna go find a nice fat baby and drink blood out its butt?" Jäger laughed. Luke mentally sighed. I'll summon you and kill you. I swear I will. Luke responded, but the Doll kept laughing despite the threat.

"I can't tell you what to do, but try and be careful when you go out hunting. Someone isn't always going to be there to save you." Luke commented. Him saying that also more something he had to realize as well recently. Still, talking to her felt...awkward. They weren't really friends, and Luke wasn't even sure he really liked her to begin with, but at the same time he felt...a strange sense of protectiveness over her. Maybe it was because he had actually set out to save her, lost an arm and broke a leg doing so, but he didn't like the idea of her going out and getting hurt again. He looked at his stump for a few moments before he asked another question. "What's with the rat anyways? It got a name?"

[Eve Timor]

She knew that fucking look the moment it crossed his face, the moment he realized what it was he meant, and SHE realized just what He was. she shouldn't have been a surprised as she was. What had she expected? He lived in this little fantasy world, where all he had to do was try hard and he got what he wanted. He had been able to just....get strong... and fight. And now he had this big-ass place to live? He had a zanpaku'to, even SHE knew that fucking thing was illegal. And fucking hard to come by.

and he just...HAD one.

And it infuriated her the way that his face just fell in response to her words. And her expression just fell away. And Luke would see an expression that would remind him EXACTLY the aura he'd felt from that bow. That cold, dead, murderous look. But no doubt just how it would send chills up HIS spine, it also chilled her own, and in just a few fractions of a second, he would see her face go through several stages.

Surprise, realizing that emotion surfacing inside of her again. Just pure, unbridled, shock, a shock that turned into fear in the next craftion of a secnond because she KNEW what that feeling was. she KNEW that feeling because it was overwhelming when she used that demonic power of hers. She KNEW that it wasn't her. It was her mother. It was from the blood that she had been tricked into drinking so long ago. And suddenly she grabbed onto the nearest emotion she could muster. Rage.

"The FUCK was THAT look for?!" she suddenly demanded, and she was in Luke's face immediately, that face twisting into a mask of displeasure and irritation as she rounded in a complete overblow of the situation. "Look just because YOU got to play shinigami, live in this fucking CASTLE, and never had to get your little FANGS wet, doesn't mean you get to Judge ME!" She all but hissed.

In an instant she grabbed him by his shirt and attempted to lift him off the ground, and that look of anger would be mixed in with panic. As IN her anger, thoughts and words were flowing out that she did not intend. The ground comign out from under her feet didn't mean grabbing onto solid ground, the things she clutched at fell too, and she was slipping. "I don't give a SHIT if you got some beef with feeding! I've drank worse out of some fucker's body to buy food, If sucking some hollow brings my Arm back I'll DO it!"

She then shoved away from him and glared, tears in her eyes as she began stomping away. Whoawhatthefuckwhathappenedwhyareyousoangry?! Affen suddenly was jolted awake by all of this. she turned over her shoulder. "and his name is Morty, and he's a fucking mouse you uptight fuckhead." she sniffled, storming out of the training room, heading straight for the race track. Hoping that the sight of cars would help her calm down, that or the number of guys willing to buy a pretty girl drinks.

The hell happened? He grab your ass?

[Deleted]

What the fuck just happened? One moment things were going relatively well, if not a little awkward, and the next he was being screamed at. The Bount wasn't sure, at first, just what the hell he had done to trigger this mood swing. He was mentally silent, as well as his Dolls, as he was suddenly jumped on and screamed at. And finally he began getting the answers why. Apparently he had made a face when she said what she did about eating Hollows. Apparently, without meaning to, Luke had expressed something in his face that set her off. He was, more or less, stunned. How was he supposed to respond.

He simple stood there, dumbfounded and surprised, as Timor laid into him. That he got to play Shinigami? That he lived in a castle? Luke didn't...he...just...time out. The Bount blinked, just stunned, as he watched the mix of emotions swirling around in Timor's expressions and eyes. And finally the yelling was over. Finally it was all over, ending in Timor beginning to stomp away from him and head to the exit as she gave him one last insult. Luke just...stood there. Half in shock and half in...he really wasn't sure. His cheeks and ears were burning though. Was he mad? "Pfthahaha. Still feel good about giving your arm up for her?" Jäger mocked as Luke closed his eyes, feeling his nostrils and eyebrows twitching uncontrollably.

"Frankly, it's good riddance. She was nothing but trouble to begin with."

"Amazing body though. But probably just a hive of venereal germies. You just don't have any luck."

"Perhaps, though, we should look into what she said about reaquiring your ar-"

When the fuck did he move? Luke spaced out. He wasn't sure when the fuck he suddenly moved, but he only regained consciousness when he realized his arm had gone around Timor's chest, above her breasts, and had suddenly pulled the smaller girl against his own torso. It didn't take him long to realize why he had suddenly gone after her. "I'm sorry." He whispered softly, eyes narrowing before closing. Seeing those tears forming up in her eyes was what had caused Luke to suddenly go after her. He made her cry. His own stupidity made her cry. He couldn't accept that. What man makes a woman cry? "I'm sorry. You're right. I judged you. I made an assumption about you without...thinking about you. I have no idea what you've been through in your life and had no right to judge you at all." Luke said softly.

His hold on her wasn't tight. It wasn't the kind of hold that was meant to subdue her. It was the kind someone gave another in comfort. A hug. He was hugging her. Those blue eyes of his bled with regret and sorrow. His gut actually hurt. He'd gone and realized just how badly he fucked up. "I don't know anything about you or what you've been through. Who the fuck am I to think any less of you for what you've had to do out there? I'm sorry Timor...I am. I don't...know anything about you. I don't know what you've had to do...but that doesn't mean I can't understand it. So...just...just don't write me off as some uncaring asshole. Let me get to know you." Luke whispered, opening his eyes to look down at the top of her head. "Or...if you want...this can be the last time we talk. I'll leave you alone." It hurt to say that, but if that was what it would take to keep her from cying...he'd do it.

[Eve Timor]

She didn't know what Luke's dolls were saying, but honestly if she could? She wouldn't have argued with them. Even as she stomped away, the very same thoughts went through her head. Luke was better off without her. She was broken in so many ways than one. She wasn't some fresh, doe-eyed virgin princess. There was no happily ever after. And the fact that she hadn't caught something already was a miracle to say the least. Him? He was a hero. He saved people on instinct. He protected his home, and it was a very nice home at that.

Just because she was pretty, didn't mean she was right for him. And even when he came and stole her breath with his arm around her, and those gentle words that all but dispelled her anger. She closed her eyes and slowly leaned into his arm, hot tears in her eyes not just because of the sweetness in his words. Not just because of how safe he made her feel and how understanding he was. It was that despite that, the only reason she wad getting this was luck.

She didn't deserve a friend like him. And she knew that even though it wasn't the whole reason, she knew that her looks had a lot to do with what he was doing. That if he'd met her a little later, when her inner demon had been stronger, had more control over her. This never would have happened. But one day, that cold was going to freeze her heart. And she knew that this wasn't for her. She didn't deserve these gentle words and his comforting touch.

But she was selfish. It sickened her. But she gently reached up, and curled her fingers around his wrist, and leaned into him, sniffling softly and letting herself take in all of the comfort that Luke had to offer her. She'd worry about what she did and didn't deserve later. She reached up and lowered the visor to her cap, keeping her face covered as she calmed herself down and took deep breaths, letting that rage simmer down and die out. "M'sorry too." She murmured.

[Deleted]

Slowly, like the dawn rising over the horizon, a soft and gentle smile began to pull itself across the Bount's face. A sense of relief, joy, and gratitude filled up the inside of his gut as he, just, felt the anger melting away inside Timor. He could, figuratively, feel the anger just melting out of her. It seems he had made the right decision. Even though his Dolls had advised him against going after her, he could feel the surprise from them. He could feel that even Springflut, as cruel as he could be, had begun wondering if Luke made the right decision. Jäger as well. Luke felt actual joy from Jäger, despite the Doll trying to hide it. Luke tightened his hold on Timor for just a few moments more, wanting to just give her as much warmth as he could. He wanted to make sure he got all the demons out, even after she apologized with some sniffles. Luke didn't know what she'd gone through in her life. But Luke made a promise to himself. He may not have known her very well, but he'd given a part of himself up for her. He'd be there for her. He promised it. He'd be there for Timor.

-Couple days later-

It didn't matter what corner of the club you were in. It didn't matter if you were in the old prison above, or the secret dungeon below, because when Taka was mad it was if the club became the stomach of some giant beast. It was as if the walls were bleeding with her anger, ready to come to life and tear apart everyone in the club. But even though nobody was getting in her way, nearly everyone who lived at the club or was rather invested in it in one way or another was sharing her anger. Even Luke. Something bad had happened. Something really, really, really, bad had happened. Taka was normally a pretty chill woman. She had a set of rules she expected you to follow, and if you broken them she creatively punished you.

When one of her racers had nearly run Luke over and just drove off, the Mod Soul leader took the racers body for a joy ride. That was how Luke met her. But there wasn't anybody to punish right now. There was no racer that fucked anything up. Nobody in the club had done anything wrong. It was a third party, an outside force. Over the past few weeks a disturbing problem had arose. It happened when one of the cars during a race didn't come back. Granted the guy had been in last place, but it was assumed he either ran off with the car or crashed it. But hours later...the dude was back. He reported to the Mod Soul that he was suddenly run off the road by two black outfited bikers who somehow disabled the car and threw him out. They then just as easily started the car back up and made off with it. The guy got spiritual grand theft auto'd.

But it didn't stop there. Every couple of races a similar thing happened. Two bikers would disable the car and then take it. But the drivers never got hurt. Sure they got threatened, but if they handed over the keys they got off scot free. And it was always a different driver to. Was never the same one. It was ruled out it was one of the racers, especially when it was club and racing regulars who were getting jacked. People who had been at the club since before even Luke came along. This last race though, there had been a place to try and do something about it. The last few races had actually been using the strategy; it was only now that it paid off. They'd have a bait car in last place, and when the thieves showed up something would try to be done about them. They'd have a Fullbringer, Quincy, really anyone with powers driving in the rear. Someone strong enough to be able to deal with a bunch of punks. Except...it didn't go as well as they thought. And that's why Taka was so mad. That's why the club was basically a furnace. Because the rider didn't come back this time.

Akemi Matou was the one driving that night. Sweet girl. Short brown hair, freckles, honestly looked too good to be hanging out in the club. But loved the thrill of excitement and had a love of cars since her father ran a automobile shop in Sapporo. Sure, Karakura Town was quite the trip for her but she said she was going to school (she was, but college is expensive and racing made money). Girl was one of the lucky ones to have a Fullbring as well, though from what little Luke understood her mother died soon after her birth. Regardless, when she didn't come back was when the club became a melting pot. Everyone was tense. Everyone was growly. Everyone was just waiting for some news to come in. They were just waiting, foaming at the mouth, for Taka to turn all of them lose. The club would turn Karakura upside down trying to find Akemi. But sitting around just wasn't good enough for him. Not for someone who wanted to be a hero.

It was raining again. There was a big storm off of the coast of Karakura that was coming in. Wind was rough. It turned the rain sideways and felt like small beads slamming against the raincoat. Blue eyes filled with a chill stared down at a sizable warehouse from atop the rooftop he was perched on. His hood was drawn, the tail of the coat fluttered in the intense winds. It was hard to tell whether or not a hurricane was coming in. Last Luke heard it was a tropical storm. But just maybe, if there was a God, he was sending them some help. Because this warehouse that Luke stared down at had a cargo ship parked right next to it. And no ship would be able to leave port with twenty foot waves washing onto the port.

This is it. Luke mentally said, narrowing his eyes as he watched a pair of men trying to desperately shut a storage crates oversized doors. Luke had seen it before they closed it. He saw the hood and lights of that gaudy white and red race car with the three lines of stripes going up the hood that Cardinal loved to fucking use. "Did you really think someone going by the name Cardinal would have any sense in taste?" Jäger laughed. But Luke wasn't quite in the mood for games. He could, honestly, give less than a shit about the cars. Taka could buy more. It was the girl Luke was here to find.

But he couldn't say that he found this place all by himself. He'd had help. He turned his gaze to his right to look at the figure beside him. He'd asked Timor to come with him. While normally he would have asked Taka, what with her stealth powers and all, he felt she was better off staying and running things at the club. Timor, though, had a unique skillset that Luke didn't. She could hunt. He didn't know how many of these guys there were. He was confident enough to go in alone, but wasn't stupid enough to do so. So he asked the only other person he trusted to watch his back, and someone whose back he could watch himself.

"I'm picking up...five...no seven signatures inside. Not counting those two down there." Luke said to her, trying to speak up over the wind and rain without yelling. He felt his fingers clenching into a fist. Luke wasn't happy. But he needed to keep calm. They weren't jumping in because Luke was trying to figure out if Akemi was still alive. Closing his eyes once more, he sent his mind back down to the warehouse and started feeling around. Focus...focus... Luke told himself, trying to narrow it down and avoid picking up on the signals of the "brighter lights" inside. Focus... Luke ground his together and audibly growled to himself.

Wait...what was that? Luke felt something. It was dim. Cloudy. Hard to pick out. But he felt something. He threw his senses at it full force, trying to pick out what it was. Human. He could tell that much. No, wait. He sensed..Hollow? Fullbringer! "She's alive!" Luke suddenly gasped, not even realizing he'd been holding his breath. He had to keep himself from just leaping down there. "She's alive. But she's faint. I can't tell if she's drugged or hurt. But that's her." Luke explained, looking away from Timor back down the warehouse. The two from earlier were gone now. Probably went back inside to get out of the storm. "How do you want to do this?" Luke suddenly asked her, looking at Timor once again. "I can go in the front while you go in the back. While they're focused on me, you come from behind and fuck up the weaker ones. If you can, you get her out. Sound good?" Luke asked her.

[Eve Timor]

It didn't take long for Timor to cozy up to Luke. Over the next couple days she more or less followed him around wherever he wound up going, and once one of the drivers went missing, all bets were off. Before she knew it, Luke was bringing her along to track down the guys that had done it. Finding the warehouse had been easy enough, but after that things just became a bit more tricky to say the least.

Luke proved to be very useful in scoping the place out with his own superior spiritual senses. She herself was able to sense inside, but he had a much better handle on his spiritual senses than she did, a fact she didn't honestly mind all that much to be frank. He did however come to her about their strategy going in, and she herself did wonder how to go about this. As much as she wanted to immediately go in and rescue the girl, they didn't know if they had trapped her body or something.

"First we need Jager to play scout. If he can get in there and peek from the shadows without actually being sensed, we can get a mark on not only the girl, but every baddie in the building. What's more, we should probably find a way to Secure the building. If I can get through the outter wall and if we can focus the bad guys on one side of the warehouse, I can make an ice wall between them and her. I wanna say we can snag her and rub, but in all honesty, we need to deal with these guys. I'd say capture one, kill the rest." She murmured.

Sitting down and using her claws to draw a rough diagram of the place in the dirt, and having luke pinpoint where the enemies where on it. All they needed to do was figure out where the girl was in the building. If this was to be easy, the girl may be on the far end of some place, and it'd be simple to isolate her from the enemies. Worst case scenario she was dead center and with the baddies all around. It would be much harder to make sure she got safe from all of them.

That said, if Timor did manage to get in there, she could release and deal with most of them. Of course she didn't explain what it was she planned to do. Luke had a vague understanding of her abilities, but all in all he had not really seen much of what her release was capable of. He knew she had a bow and arrows, and that her powers were ice-based. But aside from that he really didn't know anything. He hadn't even asked what it was. Then again, she hadn't asked what he was doing carting around an artificial zanpaku'to.

[Deleted]

Using Jäger as recon? Luke was quiet for a moment as he simply watching Timor. He'd never thought to use Jäger in such a way. The times he used Jäger it had always been in a more assassin style role, which seemed to fit with the way the Doll functioned. Now, because of a stupidly simple and obvious suggestion, Luke just realized another way he could use the Doll. Even Jäger was quiet, but Luke wasn't sure if he was quiet because he didn't want to blow being let out or was shocked Luke never thought of using him in such a way. As the Nakabakki got to work drawing a diagram in the roof using her claws, Luke turned his attention back to the rooftop. Using Jäger for recon. So simple. Why didn't he ever think to use him that way?

You understand what you need to do, right? Luke asked the Doll. "No. Explain it to me in French, keke." The Doll joked. Luke mentally groaned. But he knew Jäger was only joking. He knew what to do. But Luke wanted to make sure. Focus, he told himself. Cement your will. The Doll was his power. The Doll was him. Jäger may have a personality, but he was Luke's power. Luke was the Master, Jäger the Servant. No...not Servant. Partner. Luke's Strength of Will helped out here. He cemented his will into Jäger. He'd control the Doll, not let the Doll run amok. Timor would notice a pressure lightly emanating from Luke. Those blue eyes of his glowed gently, as if sparkling clouds floating in the colors. Don't fuck this up.

"Ziege Dich, Jäger." Those words contained power. The words fell from his mouth as if they were solid cobblestone, displaying Luke just how powerful that simple sentence was. The pressure around him vanished immediately, and nothing would have changed. No Doll. No new prescence. No nothing. But both Luke, and Timor, would know this was normal. While he hadn't explained all of Jägers abilities to her, he had described to her the Dolls most basic and used power. See, despite it seeming that the summoning had failed it had very much succeeded. It was just how Jägers powers worked. The Doll, when released, would become Luke's shadow. In this nighttime downpour, where there were barely any lights on the roof and roads aside from some street lights and the warehouse entrance lights, there was nothing but shadow. And Luke touching this abundance of shadow with his own gave Jäger a smorgasbord of room to work.

The shadows were like a roadway for the Doll. He had no natural physical form. He was consciousness within shadow. The darkness was a doorway for him just as it was a roadway for him to travel. He could throw himself to any point in the shadows that he had infected. Luke remained crouched, simply watching the warehouse. He chose to let Jäger work in silence. He didn't pressure for constant updates like Jäger was a child on his way home from school by himself for the first time. He waited. Because that's all they could do right now. Was wait. Wait and trust Jäger. Why did that not have a good ring to it? But Luke did. He chose to trust his Doll. Because that was how you built a partnership. Trust.

It wasn't till around, maybe, seven minutes that Luke noticed something. The front light of the warehouse suddenly went out. He blinked. Had that been Jäger? He watched as the heavy door to the warehouse slid open and someone stepped outside into the dark. "Clever fuck.." Luke commented with an entertained smirk on his face, loud enough for Timor to hear. The guy looked confused from where Luke was, before heading back inside. Jäger must not have found a reliable way to get inside, so he MADE a way for him to get inside. He was better at this than Luke gave him credit for. But, well, it was back to waiting in the cold wind and rain.

"I want a pizza." Suddenly came Jägers voice a few minutes later...inside of Luke's hood. The Bount actually jumped in surprise, and quickly his hood began to morph as Jäger just shoved his head right through the shadow inside of it and pressed up against Luke's face. "What're you doi-" Luke was about to complain, before Jäger sucked himself back in and emerged, halfway at least, on the roof behind them. "I don't like the rain." He complained from that features head, almost seeming to be shivering a little. "What did you find out?" Luke asked as the Doll slid closer to them to look at the diagram Timor drew on the roof.

"Okay so there's seven. Hate to break to ya kids, but this ain't a video game with any set paths. They're walkin all over the place. Irritated too. Also, get this, two of them are speaking Russian...or Czech...I-D-K I didn't study economics-" "Jäger." "So yeah. Seven of them. They're walkin around arguing. Except this one. Big guy. He's sitting...here." The Doll scratched an X about halfway into the warehouse along the left wall. "He was sitting in front of a room, but I couldn't get in. Not without giving it away I was there. I wanted my S rank. Also, there's an office on the second floor. Like the bosses room or something. Some fuck that looks like John Travolta's son from The Punisher movie was heading up there."

"My Spidersenses are telling me, though, is that Bowsers put Peach in the ground floor rooms. The one that's got Fat Bastard guarding it." Jäger explained. Luke was...impressed. He'd expected Jäger to fuck this up but...it seems that he hadn't put enough faith in the Doll. Despite the idiots jovial attitude, if Luke put his will into it Jäger acted like a proper Doll should. Maybe that's what Luke needed. Some faith in his Dolls. Some trust. "So...what're ya'll gonna do? OH! Can we grab a truck and ram it into the door? A firetruck?" Jäger asked, his head bouncing back and forth between Luke and Timor.

"Was there any other exits or entries?" Luke asked. "A backdoor. But I wouldn't worry about it. I wasn't just doing nothing when trying to get in. It was locked, but I put some shit in front of it to keep it from opening. Also! Windows on the roofs. I opened them juuuuuuust enough that someone who just happens to have such a wonderful boo-tay could squeeze herself in and out without trouble." Jäger commented, turning his attention to Timor as he said that. "Hmph. I'm impressed. Good job Jäger." Luke commented, earning a surprise mock gasp from the Doll.

Luke turned to look at the warehouse. They needed to hurry before something happened to the hostage. "Timor. You go ahead and get yourself ready. I'll go through the front once you're in position. While they're focused on me I'll try and get them against the wall away from the room they've got Akemi. You do your thing when I give you the signal. Alright?" Luke planned, finally standing up as he glared down at the warehouse. Unless Timor had anything else to add, Luke would momentarily vanish as he Stepped into position, landing near silently atop a cargo crate and waiting. They were going to get Akemi.

[Johnwaluigi]

90 paragraphs:

+450 TTP to Luke

+400 CTP to Timor, and all techniques that were Learned throughout this thread.