Karakura Has Gang Wars? (R | Hard | DE | Blair)

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

Name: [Karakura Has Gang Wars?] - The Adventure Name

Participants: [Blair Aldaine] - Who can participate?

Location: [Karakura, in and around the high school.] - Where does this take place?

Difficulty Level: [Hard] - Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme. How difficult is this adventure?

Setting: [DE] Is this DE or NDE? Death Enabled or Non Death Enabled?

Plotline: [Blair just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She ended up in the midst of a gang war, and ended up being recruited by one side, probably against her will. But once you're in, you're in for life. Can Blair manage to get out of the gang in one piece? Or will she end up as a victim in their war?] - Explain the plot of your adventure.

Estimated Enemy Strength: [8-4, with additional difficulty from politics and unfair quantity of enemies in certain situations.] Estimate the strength of the NPC's people will fight in this adventure. Class 7-1, what is their strength on average?

Estimated Time Until Completion: [3-5 pages] - How many pages do you think this adventure will run for until it is over?

Starts: [Now] - When does the adventure begin?

Special Conditions: [Gun Licenses are not required in this thread.] - Any special conditions, limitations, or other things.

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

It was a normal day like any other for the young Blair Aldaine. She was on her way home from school, just like every day of the week. She never stayed around after school for much of anything, and today was no exception. It’s a shame too, because if she had stayed just a few minutes later, she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. There she was, in the crosswalk of an intersection only a few blocks away from the school, and the sound of gunshots had filled the air around her. Pops and bangs from the guns and cracks and clangs from their impacts. Before Blair would know what was going on, there was a car about to run into her.

Whether she moved or not didn’t matter in the slightest bit. Despite being shot at, the driver of the car had done what they could. A last minute swerve, and they steered clear of the young adult in the street. The lateness of their reaction had come at a cost though. Their red coupe had gone straight into a lamppost with a deafening thud. It didn’t move again after that. The car was obviously completely totaled. The front end was utterly smashed and the front right tire had completely fallen off. All that was left from the vehicle was the sound of its horn as it echoed down the strangely near-empty street.

Only a few other people were on the street. None of them moved a muscle. Everyone had heard the sound of gunshots, and there were a plethora of bullet holes in the trashed coupe. While the crash was what had brought the vehicle to an end, it was pretty obvious that something awful had been going on just prior to that. It wasn’t exactly an every day occurrence that cars were getting shot up after all, and there were no police in sight. Before more than a few moments had passed, the rest of the onlookers had made up their minds. They ran away, screaming as they did so. Apparently to most people this was a scary situation or something. Who’d’ve guessed?

No more than a handful of seconds had passed before another car, a black Mercedes S-Class with tinted windows, rolled up on the scene. An incredibly stern looking Asian man stepped out of the car. His jawline was chiseled from marble, and his slicked back jet black hair, popped collar, half-open crimson shirt, and impeccable light gray suit made it clear that he was not someone to be fucked with lightly. Despite the serious nature of his features and stature, he allowed himself to smile as the nearly six foot tall, athletically built man approached the high school senior. ”Oi, girl, you’ve saved me a lot of trouble by killing that man. You must be a gift from the Gods. Come with me, and I’ll give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

SPOILER: Click to show

{Unnamed guy’s reference image}

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

She had promised her mom she'd be home in time for dinner which was never a problem anyway since Blair didn't do anything after school. She was dismissed and then just walked herself home every single day like a good girl. The only major problem was that walking was a bit tiring depending on what else she did that day, and Blair had a rough day in her gym class. She was fine, but since her stamina was unnaturally good for an average human, she was picked for quite a few teams when it came to class games. After perfecting her eye-rolling technique, Blair made it obvious that she was irritated with them for forcing her to carry the team.

That also came with sore muscles. Walking was helpful because it meant she could loosen up a bit, but she wasn't going to deny how annoying it was. On top of that, the foot traffic after school hours was terrible. Everyone in this town walked everywhere for whatever reason and it meant she was behind slow people all day. It was hardly any different from driving and that made it worse. How people could be so slow was absolutely beyond her. Blair also typically walked a bit quicker than most because she had places to be and computers to sit on, but even if she wanted to walk around someone, another person was in the way. That was awful.

What made it even worse was the fact that she heard gun shots. That was unusual. Blair never heard noises like that on her way home so it was frightening. She looked around and saw people running all over the place, completely forgetting that she was in the middle of a crosswalk until a car was coming her way. She jumped as quickly as she could back to the side and made her way to the sidewalk that was closest to her, heavily debating whether or not she cared enough to flip them off. She decided it was a waste of energy that she could have rather spent on freaking out over what was going on.

Though even if the jump was reflexive, it didn't matter. Blair was alive but the car had swerved and gotten totaled. That was a shame, too, because it wasn't a bad car. The noise had been loud and distracted the girl for a moment before she realized what was happening. She was in the middle of something and needed to get out, but how? How was she supposed to get herself to move when she was paralyzed with fear? She wasn't a complete stranger to the feeling and she was freaking out! Something was going on and she needed to get away from here. But she wasn't going to be able to in time.

Unfortunately for her, an even nicer car showed up. If that wasn't enough to grab her attention, the man coming out of it was going to be. He looked like he was ripped out of a Grand Theft Auto video game and stamped right in front of her face. He seemed even more foreign despite probably being of similar ethnic background as everyone around her. Blair was the one who actually looked like a foreigner since she was, indeed, foreign. But when he spoke, she wasn't even sure how to take it. He easily had a foot of height on her, so she felt even smaller than she already was. This wasn't good.

”Oi, girl, you’ve saved me a lot of trouble by killing that man. You must be a gift from the Gods. Come with me, and I’ll give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”

"Oh, sure. No problem. I just willed that car to crash with my mind. But uh, my mom wants me home for dinner so I don't think I can go with you. We'll have to try again another time."

Even though she was joking, she wasn't sure he was going to take it that way. She decided she was in a lot of trouble, but the smarter option for right now may have actually been to go with him. He would also probably not appreciate her humor but it was too late for that. The words already came out of her mouth. So there she was, a high school student, questioning why on Earth she ever decided life was a good idea. How was her luck so bad that she got caught up in this mess? Even if that question never got answered, she knew one thing for sure. She was going to be grounded.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Blair's Stats}

Strength - 50 Points

Speed - [100] = 70 Points

Spiritual Pressure - [100] = 150 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 50 Points

Light Aura - 50 Points

Dark Aura - 50 Points

Instinct - 50 Points

Senses - 50 Points

Energy sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Total SP: 450 Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Blair's Skills}

[Weapon: Explosives] {1}

[Martial Arts: MMA] {1}

[Analyzing] {1}

[Strength of Will] {1}

[Acrobatics] {1}

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

"Oh, sure. No problem. I just willed that car to crash with my mind. But uh, my mom wants me home for dinner so I don't think I can go with you. We'll have to try again another time."

When he had first greeted her, the man had smiled. As Blair seemed to refuse him, his smile slowly faded away. For several moments he stared straight into her eyes so intensely that it was like he looked straight through her. His stern gaze seemed to view her soul itself. In that moment, he did not give an impression of anger, nor of disappointment. No, he was serious, but his expression was surprisingly neutral. But then his head tilted to the side for a second, as if he was confused. The truth was that no one had ever responded to him this way before, and he was honestly trying to make sure that Blair was real, and not merely some hallucination that his brain had conjured up.

Once he was satisfied she was real, his head was thrown back in laughter. His booming laugh echoed down the nearly empty street of Karakura with a talent for projecting that would make an opera singer shed a tear. His head was righted once more, and he looked at Blair with the same serious expression he had a moment ago. ”And you’re funny too! You truly must be the one I’ve been looking for! Get in.” It was clear that she was not given a choice in this matter. His last words were not an offer, but an order.

Whether Blair resisted or not mattered little to him. If she got in of her own “free” will, then that was lovely. If not, he would assist her entry by picking her up and carrying her into the vehicle. Once they were both inside the vehicle, it sped off just as the sound of police sirens became audible. ”Do you drink? Smoke?” She was offered a glimpse of a few bottles of top shelf alcohol, and a cigar. If she indicated she wanted either or both, they were hers. If not, she was met with no more than a shrug. Despite his forceful ways, this man seemed to at least be a gracious host, even if his guests weren’t there by choice.

”I have been rude though. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Fuse Yoshihide, and I own this city.” His claim was audacious alright, but he said it as plainly as one might describe the weather. In his mind at least, it was the truth. ”I’m not an overly superstitious man, but I’ve found that the world around me is not all it seems. In recent years, this city has been host to monsters, ghosts, and demons. I sense the same energy in you.” All of this was said without a drop of sarcasm or a hint of a joke. He allowed her a chance to interject, but he knew that Blair had to have seen at least some of this given how much spiritual energy was within her.

So sure, this man was probably a bit crazy, but at least he seemed to speak the truth. Probably best not to call him crazy to his face though. ”I cannot keep this as my city unless I adapt. I need something that I lacked before. I need you. I can tell the difference between a human and a monster, but I don’t have the power to beat them. I can run this city through fear, but I don’t have the luck that you’re blessed with. You have a talent for being in the right place at the right time to change my world. This city is changing, and with you at my side, my luck shall not falter. My control shall continue.”

There was plenty of time for Blair to try to talk him out of this, or tell him he was crazy, or whatever she might have to say, but she would have a hard time getting out of that car before it reached its destination. The doors stayed locked so long as it was in motion, and given that they were all bulletproofed, her strength probably wasn’t enough to force her way out if she tried. Eventually they arrived at their destination. It was another building downtown, one of the few skyscrapers that dotted the small urban area of the city. Yoshihide got out of the car, and offered a hand to Blair. ”Please, come inside to my loft.”

He gave the illusion of politeness, but if Blair looked around closely then she would notice that there were an awful lot of men in black suits with lit cigarettes, tattoos, and a faint smell of gunpowder in the air. Sure, if she really wanted to, she could try to run away at this moment, but that might not be the smartest idea she’d ever had. If she thought about the situation she was in for a moment, she would likely be even more sure that this man hadn’t been pulling her leg earlier. He owned this city. He owned these men. Everything that she could see around her belonged to Fuse Yoshihide.

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

This was super awkward. It was the kind of awkward you would expect from locking eyes with a stranger after staring with them so long. Once that happens, your heart skips a beat and you feel like you missed a step on a staircase because of the sudden panic. You keep hoping they don't notice, but you know they did. They had to have noticed. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so awkward! You also know they noticed because they glance in your direction anyway. They lock eyes back. Their eye contact is entirely on you and there's nothing you can do about it. That's exactly how Blair felt. She didn't know how to take this guy at all.

What's worse was the fact that, even after all of that, he was laughing! All of the seriousness seemed to melt away into nothing and the blonde felt even more uncomfortable. The laugh appeared to be relatively light-hearted, which was a super strange counter to the super confusingly scary face he'd made just moments ago. This probably wasn't good and Blair couldn't figure out for the life of her why she didn't try to make a break for it yet. Nothing was stopping her so why not run? Why was she just standing there for no reason? Was she frightened? Yeah, a little. But in a game of fight or flight, flight should win! Until the man spoke again.

”And you’re funny too! You truly must be the one I’ve been looking for! Get in.”

"Oh my lord, what have I done?"

Blair was promptly lifted and placed into the car. Next thing she knew, they were driving away from the scene. She sat there uncomfortably with her legs stiff against each other. Her hands were folded on her lap and she tried her best to refrain from moving her eyes too much or looking anywhere. She didn't want to give anybody, mainly this guy, a wrong idea. Actually, she really didn't want to be involved at all. But here she was! Involved anyway. And now she was stuck. Her face betrayed every emotion she felt since it showed how obviously concerned she was, and despite the fact that Blair knew this man would be able to tell, she was trying to hide it anyway.

”Do you drink? Smoke?”

"I'm a teenager," she said quickly.

”I have been rude though. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Fuse Yoshihide, and I own this city.”

"My name is Blair Aldaine. I'm absolutely scared to death."

”I’m not an overly superstitious man, but I’ve found that the world around me is not all it seems. In recent years, this city has been host to monsters, ghosts, and demons. I sense the same energy in you.”

"Wait. You can see them, too?"

The girl quickly looked at her kidnapper with curious eyes. A lot of her fear suddenly dissipated. She wasn't the only one who could see these things? She thought for sure she was crazy and just had to deal with it on her own, but this guy had mentioned all this stuff out of the blue. He had no reason to say any of that unless it were true, and he even said he could sense that same talent in her. Wait. Was it really talent? Well, whatever. The fact was that he said she wasn't alone. That was huge to her. Maybe her life was at risk, but she felt like he wasn't actually that bad. Maybe he could even help her out.

”Please, come inside to my loft.”

And then she took it all back and immediately felt unsafe again. That's it, I'm dead! Blair didn't even notice the fact that they had arrived at this enormous building already and was officially too distracted by the fact that she was actually going to be murdered here. Or worse. Actually, every other outcome was easily worse than death. She hoped the death would be quick. Even if they could both see ghosts, maybe that meant she'd just become one when she died! Was that even possible? Ignoring all of the men around her and obvious heavy security, Blair was led to where she never wanted to go.

She had to admit, though, that everything around her was pretty impressive when she finally did look. She was taken aback at how wealthy this guy had to be. Fuse was definitely not kidding when he'd spoken to her. It took a while to actually get a view of everything, but when she finally finished, she turned back around to him. She was still scared and worried, but she wondered if he was actually going to hurt her. She assumed she'd just become a ghost anyway so that wasn't a big deal. She didn't want to die at all, and really would prefer to figure out why she saw all of these strange beings, but such was life. Hopefully her's would last.

"So I guess it might be too late to ask this, but what am I here for, exactly?"

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

"So I guess it might be too late to ask this, but what am I here for, exactly?"


So then, what exactly was she here for? Why had Fuse brought her up to his loft, in a space that had dozens of armed goons keeping them safe from anyone who might seek to interrupt them? It was pretty obvious that his motives were impure, given that he had snatched Blair right off the street without giving her any choice in the matter. That wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that good guys tended to do. Still, despite that, it wasn’t like Fuse was giving off terribly evil vibes. His loft wasn’t covered in the skulls of his enemies or anything, and in fact was tastefully decorated.

What might have surprised Blair more than anything was how small it actually was. Despite the number of people acknowledged Fuse outside, his loft was actually pretty small. Maybe only a thousand square feet. Every inch of it was immaculate though. Light stone floors were complimented by a mix of near-white furniture, stainless steel, and relatively dark wood and iron. Though the place was not overly large, it was obvious enough that everything in here was absolutely top of the line. It spoke to who he was as a person. He did not need much, but everything that he owned bordered on perfection. Every last little detail about this place made it look like it belonged in a magazine.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Apartment Reference}

Fuse had walked into the loft silently, and stood with his back to Blair. He had no fear of being stabbed in the back or anything like that. Clearly he did not perceive her as a threat. Instead, his eyes were on the city. His city. ”You are here to help me win back this city. I told you I own this city, but the truth is more that I used to own it. A decade ago, none of my men had ever seen a ghost outside of their nightmares. Now they walk the streets in numbers that rival the humans.” He paused for a moment to point out an intersection, visible vaguely in the distance.

The spot that he pointed at was the intersection that they had met. ”That man that you helped us deal with wasn’t human. He was a monster wrapped in the skin of a man. That is our world now.” He turned to face Blair once more. His face had softened from what she had seen thus far. If it weren’t for his rugged jawline, he might even look sad. ”So I will ask you this. Will you help me take back this city from the monsters? Will you help me take it back for humanity? You must understand that I have to keep up appearances in front of my men, but if you refuse to help I will not force you.”

Just enough time would be offered that Blair would be able to start to refuse him. If she tried, she found herself cut off. If not, it was just enough time for a dramatic pause. ”However, if you help me, I can promise to show you secrets of this world that you will never find on your own. I can teach you of the monsters, and how to keep yourself safe from them. Rest assured, with the latent power in you they will seek you out someday. Beyond that, I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams, and power that you could only imagine without my help. I ask you because I can tell you have something that I do not. You have potential, and I am already an old man…

So I will ask you again. Will you help me?”

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

She certainly wasn't going to deny how beautiful this loft was. Blair was a fan of expensive things and regretted that about herself since it meant she would be more attracted to it in general. Spending that kind of money wasn't something she enjoyed. As it was, Blair was the owner of a credit card belonging to her father. Her family was wealthy enough, but she was actually poor as an individual. That money was also stored in a separate account like an allowance. She didn't have enough to really make a huge difference. It was about the same as any other high school student trying to get by. In fact, it may have been a little worse than if she had an actual job.

In truth, though, the space was nice. Everything was so detailed in an architectural way that Blair could enjoy. There were things that she never would have even thought about when mentally designing her own place, but she decided it would be a good idea to store those ideas away after taking a look at Fuse's. Her anxiety began to drift away little by little since she was thankful that it didn't seem like he wanted to kill her immediately, or potentially at all, so that was a relief. She was still going to be worried. She couldn't help that part of her. Blair was a tiny bit paranoid about certain kidnapping situations, but she shocked herself at how well she was handling this.

”You are here to help me win back this city. I told you I own this city, but the truth is more that I used to own it. A decade ago, none of my men had ever seen a ghost outside of their nightmares. Now they walk the streets in numbers that rival the humans.”

The man didn't even look at her. He spoke without fear, though he had no reason to be afraid. Blair was harmless, for all she knew. Nothing of substance had developed for her yet and she didn't know that it ever would. All she knew was that she saw things a lot of people didn't and she was never taught why. It was a mystery. That on its own would likely peg her as more of a weirdo or a schizophrenic than a genuinely curious teen. She never spoke of this talent and chose not to mention it to her family because she didn't want to end up in some kind of an asylum, but she was tempted from time to time. She wanted to see if they were the same as her at all.

"Wait a minute. Ghosts? You know about these ghosts?"

”That man that you helped us deal with wasn’t human. He was a monster wrapped in the skin of a man. That is our world now.”

"I had no idea. I didn't know about any of this. I thought I was the only one." Blair took note of the softened expression he displayed. It calmed her.

”So I will ask you this. Will you help me take back this city from the monsters? Will you help me take it back for humanity? You must understand that I have to keep up appearances in front of my men, but if you refuse to help I will not force you.”

He actually seemed like a pretty decent guy. Sure, all of this could be a lie and he could turn around and kill her if she said no. Blair considered that option and weighed it heavily. But he really didn't seem to be as bad as he had originally appeared. The blonde didn't like strangers and hated coming into contact with people she didn't feel familiar with, but she also didn't like leaving someone who actually needed help. Something in her gut told her to stay and do as he says, but her brain was telling her to make a run for it and go back home so her mother wouldn't get mad. After thinking for a moment, Blair came to a decision.

The promise of knowledge also really sealed the deal. They both had something unusual in common, but he said he sensed something special in Blair. Even if that were true, she didn't see it. Not yet, anyway. The latent power that he spoke of was only a dream and hadn't been realized. It wasn't going to be for quite some time. But Blair had no idea that such things even existed. She also didn't like hearing about how these monsters were going to seek her out eventually and really wished that wasn't true. Something in her heart told her that it was, though. That made it even worse. So, sarcasm aside, she gave him her most honest answer.

"Well, I'll help you. It's the least I can do. You tell me you can see these things, too, so I feel like I'm almost obligated to do this for you."

Blair held out her right hand. She expected him to shake it as a way to seal the deal, but in the end, that gesture was up to him. Old man or not, he didn't quite look it. So it wasn't like she felt as if she were going to break his bones just by giving him a solid handshake. Old people were the worst in that way because even hugging them was dangerous. Blair was always terrified that she was going to break their back or something ridiculous, so she avoided hugging like the plague when it came to that sort of thing. Anyway, she hoped he would accept her. She was young and relatively useless, but she couldn't say no.

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

Wonderful, the first step had been taken, and it had been a success. Fuse had spoken the truth. He had no intention to force Blair if she didn’t consent. He had only brought her this far against her will because he needed to have her somewhere his men couldn’t listen in order to have an honest conversation with this young woman. As long as the conversation was out of their earshot, then he could always make up an excuse for her not being “the one.” But if they had been listening in, then it would be far harder to give Blair an out. Weird though it was, he had ignored her having a choice in the matter initially to give her one eventually.

In the end, she had agreed to help him though. So now there was a lot of things to cover. Fuse had been a player in Karakura since his teenage years, and though his looks likely didn’t tell the whole story, he was actually in his early forties. This entire time he had been truthful. As far as potential goes, he was indeed already an old man. What he had was not power, but influence and knowledge. He wasn’t the kind of powerhouse that could go out and lead battles by example, but rather the type of man that could find a way to win a war. Only problem was that he had been missing the piece that had the potential to turn the tide… until now.

Fuse made his way over from the window into the kitchen of the apartment and began to fill a kettle with water before placing it on the stove. ”I am glad to hear you have accepted my offer. Would you like some tea? I’m afraid this may be a long conversation.” He clicked the burned on the stove on and waited patiently for the kettle to boil. ”I have much I can teach you, but first I must know what you know so that I go neither too fast nor to slow.” The kettle reached a boil sooner, rather than latter. The best appliances money could buy could heat a kettle quite quickly after all.

The maybe-not-so-bad dude pulled out a cup for himself, and one for Blair if she had wanted one, and poured the hot water in before dropping in some fancy tea. It would take a bit to steep, and he offered Blair a bit more prompting. ”Tell me of your experiences with these ghosts and ghouls, but I also wish to know of any experience you might have in combat. I have experts on hand that can help refine your prowess with most talents or skills, and I can offer some tutelage myself, but in order to help you unlock your potential these are things I must know lest I waste your time.”

Having said that, the tea had reached a satisfactory point, and he removed the ingredients that had been steeping. Had Blair accepted, the cup would be offered to her at that point. ”I want to be clear that I am offering this all because you have agreed to help, and I would hope that you do not mistake the respect I treat you with for kindness. We will both benefit from this in the end. I see this as my business, and I see you as a valued employee. Behind these doors, I can offer you special treatment because I see this potential in you, but from the moment we step outside of this loft I cannot offer you such respect visibly, or the men will talk about it, and both of us will need their help in the days to come. For that, I offer my apology, but is the way things must be. Now then, tell me of yourself so that I know who I am dealing with.”

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

Maybe it was just that he'd heard all he wanted to hear out of her, but Blair noticed that Fuse was acting a lot nicer with her. The anxiety she had in the pit of her stomach subsided for the moment, but it was waiting to well up again in a second if things went sour. She wasn't ready for that again. She didn't want to have to deal with any potential wrath. But if he was being serious, then she was safe for now. She wouldn't have to worry about any of his goons going after her if she complied. Would he let that happen, though? He didn't seem like the type, but he could very well be deceiving her. She hated how unsure she felt.

Hearing that the conversation would be long was also something that ruffled her feathers just a bit. Blair didn't mind talking to anybody, though she felt uncomfortable around strangers and he was certainly a stranger. Blair decided to also politely decline the tea offer since she wasn't a huge fan of most teas, so she preferred saying no rather than wasting what would likely have been a full cup of it. She followed him with her eyes as he made his way into the kitchen to boil some water in a kettle. It was a shame. She wanted to partake, but she just couldn't force herself to drink this stuff.

"Uh, as far as what I know about stuff, that's, like, a total zero. I noticed that I could see these things but that's about it. I also have next to know combat ability, but I'm pretty agile and am decent with acrobatics. I've also started mixed martial arts training so I know a little bit of that. And... I'm smart?" She said the last bit uneasily.

She knew she was next to useless to this guy. She hadn't yet unlocked her powers and wouldn't for quite some time. In fact, as it was, she didn't even know she had any. She didn't know what any of this was. He was going to have to start at the beginning if he was going to get anything out of her. As it was, she didn't stand a chance at being what he wanted her to be. She couldn't help him. But the knowledge he had was valuable and she couldn't deny that at all. She was going to learn more about this world and all of the weird stuff involved one way or another, so starting with him would have to do.

"I can also handle myself pretty well in that regard, so don't worry about having to be fake towards me in front of other people. That's not a concern. Anyway, as I said, I'm Blair. I come from a long line of normal humans and I don't really have anything that special about myself. I'm a quick learner, though. And I'm always willing to help when I can. I'm sorry I'm not really much more than this right now, though."

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

”Well then, if you know nothing, and have just some basic athleticism and brains to start with, then I suppose we’ll take the easy route to power for now.” Fuse reached into a drawer and pulled out a handgun, as well as a few magazines of ammunition. These were placed onto the counter in plain sight, as if they were no more out of place than a salt shaker. He his tea back up, and took a sip before he explained. ”That’s yours. The fastest route to power that money can buy. Works on anything living or dead. We’ll head to the range, teach you how to shoot, and that will keep you from getting dead long enough to learn some more useful things.”

It seemed like a simple enough plan, with an effective enough outcome. It was hard to deny that guns were a pretty good equalizer. If you knew how to use one, and had access to one, you were basically just as good as anyone else with a gun. Yeah, sure, John Wick was a thing, but he was also a movie character. If you actually knew how to aim properly, then you went from being a normal human, to a normal human with the power to kill things easily. It was the fastest powerup that money could buy. That was a rather good thing too, because Blair was going to need a lot of power in a hurry.

Only a few moments after he had said that, there was a knock at the door. ”That’s odd. No one else should be on this floor right now.” Fuse made his way over to the door and pressed an eye to the peephole. Perhaps he had gotten soft, or perhaps hanging out with a sixteen year old and playing the nice guy had thrown him off his game. Either way, a loud BANG echoed through the loft, and Fuse Yoshide slumped to the ground. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’d just been shot. Only a moment later, the door was kicked in, and a pair of men dressed completely in black, right up to their ski masks, stormed into the place with pistols brandished.

What in the world was Blair going to do about something like this? Was she going to hide and cower in the corner, and hope that they either wouldn’t notice or her decide she wasn’t worth their time? Would she charge at them and try to punch them? Beg for her life? Shoot them down with the gun she’d just been given? There were a number of options for her. Some would end in her death, and others would end in her being alive. All that was certain is that she had an advantage in that these men hadn’t planned for her to be there. This was an attack that had been planned for a long time, and she wasn’t in the plan.

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

Did he seriously expect a young girl to use a gun? Blair had never picked one up in her life! This was going to be a very disappointing time for him if he really expected her to learn how to shoot in a matter of minutes. She knew small amounts of things about explosives, though. She'd read up on it before. She had an interest in cars, she was smart, and she did have to admit that she was rather athletic. All of these qualities were fairly good, but none of them were going to prepare her for shooting a gun! She doesn't even look at them or do research to see how they work. She was too busy studying her school classes to worry about that! Still, despite that, she picked it up and inspected it. She sighed. Of course it would be loaded.

Blair was about to speak up her reservations when Fuse spoke instead. She held her tongue for now because he acted rather concerned. Blair wasn't able to respond properly to the knock because everything that was happening was too foreign to her anyway, but she still had a weirdly bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She watched as Fuse checked through the peephole and distracted herself by grabbing the ammunition and putting it in whatever pocket she could find. She was assuming they would get ready to go to the range. But none of that would be the case since she heard one of the loudest noises she'd ever heard and watched as Fuse's body fell to the ground in a lifeless movement.

Everything else happened so quickly. Blair didn't have time to react much as the door got busted in. After Fuse had been shot, Blair instinctively darted her eyes back and forth and located the bathroom, making a mad dash for it as quickly as possible. She swung the door shut but paused just briefly before it closed so she could do so silently and locked the door. The bathroom had a window. Gun in hand, she didn't even look back. If they were going to try to find her, she was going to do her best to escape. Outside the window was a ladder, which was common for most tall buildings. They typically had a form of escape route in one way or another.

Blair jumped on the platform and found the stairs going down. She followed them as quickly as possible and made it to the street before she started running again. Her goal was to make it to the next block over without anyone noticing she was trying to run away, but she made sure to keep her gun in hand. The easiest way to learn how to use something was to try, right? She didn't have any skill at it, but maybe it could work out. Either that, or she would be dead. She had to avoid getting caught as much as possible. If there was even a chance that those people knew she was in the building, she was a goner.

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

It was not a good day for Blair. As far as she was aware, the man that had promised her power had just been shot dead. The key bit there was that was what she thought. Who could blame her though? He’d been shot, and he went down. He didn’t move, or say anything. She only had seconds to make a decision, and the decision that she had made was to flee.

So she ran. Into the bathroom. Out the window. Down the fire escape.

There was just one problem. She hadn’t gone unnoticed. The sound of the bathroom door clicking shut had been enough to alert the invaders. Blair wouldn’t hear any sound. She wouldn’t see anything. She was too busy running. One of them men had stopped to secure Fuse, and the other had gone after her. It was only once she was halfway down the fire escape that this would be obvious. It was as she descended there that the reality of what had happened might sink in. When they had made their way into the building, it had been surrounded by dozens of men that obviously were on Fuse’s side.

They were all dead.

Every last man that had stood between Fuse and the outside world, as well as those who were outside was no more. Each and every one of them had been reduced to a corpse. The ground beneath Blair was practically a river of blood as the last of the life drained away from those men and into the sewers. She wouldn’t have time to mourn them though. Only a moment after she would realize that all those men were dead, she would hear a shout from above her.

”WITNESS!”

Though the street was full of corpses, it was not empty. Instead there were other men there now, but only two of them. Was it right to call them men though? They weren’t men. They were monsters. Their faces weren’t covered by ski masks, but rather by alabaster shields. Their bodies had two arms and two legs, but their proportions were bulky and distorted, as if they were the long lost cousins of The Incredible Hulk. Gunshots echoed around her from the one man above her. Two monsters were in front of her, preventing her from getting off that street. But they didn’t take any action immediately.

They just stared at her… and smiled.

As was the case before, Blair had several options. She could try to flee, or she could try to fight. Within both of those there were several ways to do it, but one thing was clear: if she did nothing then she was either going to end up dead, or worse. The look on the faces of these monsters was largely void of killing intent. No, they showed something far more sinister. They looked at her like a dog looked at a new toy. Something fun to pop in their mouths. For them, Blair didn’t represent a threat. She represented something fun to play with. One after the other, the two creatures would step towards her. They advanced slowly, as if to not startle her. Unless she did something, then eventually the creatures would be all over her.

((All enemies introduced thus far are class 8 untyped, with 50 in all stats except for 0 in ES and HE.))

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

She didn't know what to do or say. She didn't know how to react or move or do anything. Blair's mind went completely blank for a moment as the scared little girl took in the sights around her. She had a hard time catching her breath as she avoided the smell of dead bodies. It was more so that she smelled their blood in the air, but it was so distinct. So incredibly obvious. So terrible. She genuinely didn't even notice the guy who figured out she was trying to escape. Instead, she was trying to hold back her tears. They weren't tears of sadness. The were tears from absolute and unparalleled fear.

It was then that she heard someone shout. With her eyes widened due to the overwhelming appearance of death around her, she shot a glance back up at the man. A gasp escaped her lips as she continued holding on to any amount of sanity she had left. Blair's hands were balled up into fists and clutched against her heart as she desperately tried to believe they would stop her ever-beating heart. She didn't want to die like this! Not now! Not when she was just finding out who she was in this world! The only person who was available enough to her was dead and she didn't know what to do about any of this!

She started hearing the sounds of gunshots from above. If she didn't get the hell out of there, she seriously was going to die! But she was being blocked by two monstrous-looking men. They didn't seem normal and it frightened her, but everything about this day was frightening her. She wasn't special! She was a normal human! Fuse had been wrong and she was going to be left here. She'd never go home again. She'd never see her mom, her dad, her sister, or any of her caretakers. She'd never see her pets. She'd never see her friends. She'd never grow up. Blair wasn't going to make it.

Blair had to think and think quickly. She couldn't stand here and become another statistic in a shooting. She had already experienced her fight or flight response once and had chosen flight, but she wasn't sure how to go about this. She had training, right? She was decent at fighting, but nothing stellar. She was fast, sure. She'd been in gymnastics long enough to be fairly agile but it wasn't going to vastly save her life. And she was smart. She tried to recall everything she told Fuse about herself. She had to think of some kind of way out and all she had was a brain she was too scared to use and a gun she didn't know how to fire.

Well, at least it was loaded. Blair shifted her gaze upon the two men who were standing before her with tears in her eyes. She couldn't hold them back anymore and would rather die fighting if she had the chance. She just needed to think this through. She could do that, right? She wasn't going to be a lost cause. She had been made fun of, bullied, left out of things as a kid, all things that were so incredibly hurtful. So why would she ever let someone else make her feel cornered again? What did they have that she didn't? Muscles? Whatever. She had a chance. A chance was all she needed.

Blair raised her arms up and aimed the gun at the man that was on her right before shooting it and running to her left. She had to get out of there and away from all of this madness and death. The gun had been loaded when she picked it up and she remembered the ammunition she stole. Her only idea for now was to run down the street and get away from them. If she could corner any of them, it may be bad news for her, but she'd at least have a weapon she could attempt to use against them. As she ran, her next plan was to duck into an alleyway if she could gain enough distance. From there, she would hide in the shadows. She couldn't so anything except hope that a trap would work.

The alley would be in the middle of two buildings with streets on either side, so she knew she could get out of there if she had to. The problem was that she didn't know if she'd actually made enough of a distance between them to try anything sneaky. Her plan was to distract them by thinking she would shoot them before making another run for it so she could either escape or lure them into a place where she could take them out. People in movies did that, right? So why couldn't she? For the moment, though, all she tried to do was force her heavily beating heart to stay quiet. Just for one minute.

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

With the passage of every second, the men inched closer to Blair. No, they still were not men. They were definitely still monsters. Their bodies were horrible and grotesque. Their skin was dark green, and they both had massive holes in their chests. Though Blair didn’t know it, these were the very monsters that Fuse had tried to warn her about. These were hollows. These were the “other gang” that Fuse had been fighting. And now, as far as Blair knew, he was dead. He had given her one hope, and only one real hope here, and that was the fact that he had armed her. Would it be enough in a situation like this?

To her credit, Blair at least tried. She raised the gun and leveled it towards one of the creatures. It was obvious that she had forced herself. In the eyes of the hollows, this pathetic little human was trembling. Besides, she clearly wasn’t a gangster. There was no way she had any of Fuse’s fancy guns that could actually hurt them right? They advanced towards her, and debating what part each of them would get to eat. ”I get to eat her eyes right?” ”As long as I get those legs!” Clearly they weren’t even remotely afraid of what they figured was a normal human world gun.

And then one of their heads exploded in a shower of blood.

Blair had fired only a single shot, but against opponents of that caliber that weren’t on guard, that was all she had needed. That first hollow faded away to dust within a moment. Blair had scored her first kill.”OH YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD BITCH!” the remaining one screamed at her. Blair ran, and the monster followed after her. It chased her but it found that it somehow couldn’t keep up. ”COME HERE AND GET EATEN ALREADY!”

The creature would chase after her, but couldn’t close the gap. Eventually she had enough distance that she was able to turn a corner with enough time to hide. The hollow of course knew where she had gone in general, but not in specific. Ever so slowly, it made its way down the alley. Any possible hiding spot was not searched, but was smacked around. Trash can? Kicked into a wall. Cardboard box? Stomped on. It left no stone unturned.

Blair would hear it getting closer.

Closer.

CLOSER.

It was practically on top of her. She’d had time to get her breath back. She could run. She could shoot it in the face just like the last one. Or could she? This one was clearly more on guard now, and it knew what she was capable of. It was clearly aware of the danger, so it wasn’t taking any obviously stupid chances. This alleyway was open on the other side, but if Blair chose to just keep running and flee that way then she would run into a very major problem. One of the men from the apartment laid in wait at the far end the alley. She was cornered. If she went one way, it was right into the arms of a hollow. If she went the other way, her head would get blown off as soon as she exited the alleyway.

She was quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Okay, figuratively. She was literally stuck between a monster and a gun toting gangbanger. This didn’t really seem like a good place to be, but she didn’t really have much time to think about it. Blair would have to continue to make the same choice over and over again until she was free. Would she fight, or would she flee? Would she embrace her destiny as a Fullbringer and stand up to the monsters, or would she deny it and run away in search of her past ideas of reality?

Only she could answer that question.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Gun Revealed: You have 3 Ammo Packs plus the one loaded. All class 5}
Name: Model SS-1 Pistol
Description: A basic pistol that fires standard bullets, allowing the user to fight without expending Reiatsu at the cost of using Reiatsu-charged bullets that must be separately bought. This fires single shots.
Type of Item: Firearm
Class: 5
Item Power (IP): 200
Offense Type: Physical
Durability: 2x IP
Bonuses: N/A
Drawbacks: Cannot be used without ammo packs. Cannot be used with Reiatsu packs. Must have an appropriate Firearm License for the firearm purchased.
Costs: 6000 Ryo + 2000/Class

[Blair Aldaine ❅]

OOC: She's fired the gun three times now. How many bullets does she have?



Blair didn't know what to do! She was cornered! Her attempt to escape had failed, but she was somehow able to kill one of the beasts. Wait. Kill?? She actually killed a man! Was he even a man? She didn't know! But she did that! She was freaking out. Blood was on her hands now. She never killed a thing in her life aside from a bug or two and now she was sitting here with a gun in her hands that managed to actually murder someone! She wanted to cry. She so badly wanted to cry. This poor girl didn't know anything about the spiritual world and had no reason to. Now she was sitting in a dark alley as she hid for her life.

On one side of it, she recognized one of the men from the apartment. On the other side was the other beast that had followed her. So she wasn't actually able to escape! She was hysterical. She could feel her heart beating right out of her chest. She started to go into a panicked frenzy as she essentially waited there for one of these things to kill her. She didn't know what to do anymore and could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Was this going to be her end? Was she truly going to die here? She had so much to do! She wanted to have dinner with her family again! She wanted to hug her mom and laugh with her dad and talk to her sister!

So she had to make a decision. It might have been kind of a crazy one, but she had to. From where she was, her aim was fairly bad. On one hand, the guy was actually armed and could hurt her from a distance. On the other, the beast that followed was just on his own. He didn't seem to have anything from what she could tell, but that didn't mean much. He was close to her, yes, but he was slower than her. Maybe if she could somehow get back to the apartment? No. It wasn't safe there, either. She needed to find a place where she'd be safe. She just didn't know how to be safe in a situation like this.

Ultimately, she made up her mind. Blair held the gun and leaned out from where she was just enough to shoot the gun at the man. He was going to shoot her anyway, right? This may force him to be on his toes. With the beast so close to her now, she hid herself immediately after shooting the first time and then peaked out to shoot at the Hollow. It was slower than she was, right? Blair jumped up on the dumpster she was hiding next to and jumped down passed the man-like creature. Maneuvering herself just a bit, she tried to make it so that the Hollow was between her and the armed man. Then she made a run for it again and headed towards the street. From there, she'd start running again until finding a church just a block down. Her hope was to be able to hide in there.