Another One Rides the Bus [JT- Luca and ???]

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca rested his head against the bus window. Some indie hipster song played through his headphones. He could almost fall asleep if the seats weren't so uncomfortable. Then again, he was never really awake unless he was doing something related to the spirit world. Realizing the possibility of some idiot sitting by him, he lifted his backpack from his feet and placed it in the seat beside him. 

He was really not in the mood to be bothered. It wasn't really something he could explain. There were plenty of other seats anyway. It wasn't like he was going to punch someone for sitting by him, but he would really REALLY like to avoid it happening altogether. More than anything, he just wanted to get home. Yet the bus had plenty of stops to make before that happened. 

Luca stretched loudly. As one song faded out for another, he found himself thinking about the one girl he met not so long ago. Probably back to murdering people. If she wasn't she was licking her wounds, waiting for the sun to go down. It didn't matter that much. She was someone else's problem now. Luca couldn't help her.

The bus stopped, and some more passengers got on. Luca paid no attention to them. They were probably not worth his notice.

[Luke Clyburn]

Just wanting to get home? In Karakura Town? Someone was having dreams of grandeur. For any spiritually aware individual in this city, just taking a casual stroll down the side of the road to get yourself some coffee was a risk on your life. Between the Shinigami, the super powered humans fighting for supremacy, and the giant monsters, there was a laundry list of things that could wind up hurting or killing you. Everyone who could see the invisible in this city knew that. For Luca, and the others, this was a fact of reality.

As the last of the passengers boarded the bus and the doors closed, the bus driver looked back to make sure that everyone was sitting down or holding onto a handle. He, like Luca, just wanted to finish his shift and go home. He wanted to see his wife and newly born son. Everyone had a reason for just wanting to get home. But as he put the bus in drive and started to pull away from the bus stop, Karakura happened. The ground suddenly shook as something heavy came crashing down nearby. So nearby in fact that a cloud of dust erupted from the front of the bus.

The bus driver seemed confused but still carried on, not seeing anything in the road that could have caused whatever had just happened. But then the bus stopped suddenly and roughly. ”Hey what the hell??” the bus driver shouted as his wheels screamed, spinning but not gaining any traction. Of course this man couldn’t see what was going on. Nobody on the bus but Luca could. Taking up the width of the front windows was a massive, white, inhuman face. A Hollow. Tall and large in muscle, it was holding onto the sides of the bus with its huge, ape like, arms as it stared into the bus.

The nostrils of its mask snorted suddenly as it took a few whiffs. ”I smell something good.” the Hollow gurgled, turning its head slightly to the bus driver and sniffing a few more times. ”No… not this one.” the Hollow concluded before resuming its smelling spree. It could smell something tasty within the confines of the bus. So it began to tighten its grip. The walls began to bend inwards from the pressure of its squeeze. The glass in the windows were beginning to crack and even shatter. People were panicking now.

[Akira Hinosai]

The shaking of the ground snapped Luca out of his daydreaming. Oh god, what is it now?  Yet it was when the bus stopped that he finally connected the pieces. The hollow was strong enough to hold the bus in place. For a brief moment, Luca froze as he tried to think of an attack plan. Yet before he could think of anything, its arms began to push the walls inward. Damn it! DAMN IT! Luca looked at the back of the bus and realized there was still an out for him and every one of the bystanders. Buses had emergency exits in the back! Luca removed the shovel from his bag as he ran to to the back. "EVERYONE, GET THE HELL OUT NOW!!!"

Luca was the first to jump out the back. He didn't care where the people scattered, only that they did. The hollow was big, and it was strong, but maybe it was slow. Luca was pretty fast, and with soul command he could be faster. Fast enough to...do something. All he had to do was hit the mask enough and it would be dead. Even if Amare wasn't here to cover him this time, he was a lot stronger. It fell to him to play pest control today, and he wasn't going to back down. The hollow would notice him soon, so Luca didn't have much time to formulate a more specific plan. He looked around his surroundings to see anything he could use. One of the buildings nearby had a ladder in its alley, but that wouldn't do much. He had to think fast. 

That's when it hit him. In the seconds that felt like years, Luca realized. There was quite the traffic jam behind them. Cars meant gasoline. Gasoline he could move with his spirit energy. His sidearm of choice was a lighter. It was so devilish Luca regretted no one else being around to see. Now he just had to get the hollow's attention. "HEY, ASSHOLE! YOU WANT MY AUTOGRAPH SO BAD, ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS ASK FOR IT!" With that, the game had begun in earnest. Luca sure as hell wasn't going to lose. If the hollow took the bait, he'd be ready to open hub caps, douse him, and ignite him. Unless the hollow was faster, but Luca didn't really consider that possibility. 

[Luke Clyburn]

”It smells so good.” The Hollow moaned to itself before it noticed that everyone was getting off of the bus using the back, emergency, exit. ”Where did it go?” the Hollow asked with a tilt of its head, looking around inside at the now empty, for all but one, bus. The bus driver, still in his seat, was panicking and screaming as the bus was crushed inward and rocked back and forth. ”Hmmm..” the Hollow turned the bus on its side and let it lay in the road, lifting its head and looking around a little before Luca caught its attention. ”You smell so tasty.” the Hollow sluggishly said as it began to knuckle walk towards Luca, drool escaping between the massive teeth of its mask.

”Asshole? Are you calling me an asshole?” the Hollow asked, confused, before lifting its arm up into the air. If Luca could sense energy he’d feel the reiatsu gathering in the Hollows hand just before the skin of its palm started to glow with an olive light. Smacking the road with that same hand caused a very strange event to happen. The ground rippled like water. When, and if, the ripple passed beneath Luca’s feet he’d suddenly find himself sinking into the road itself. This was before the second ripple produced by the Hollows clap would reach Luca and pass by him, causing the ground to resolidify from its semi-liquid state. The tires of the cars from the traffic jam similarly were trapped in the road now.

”I can make the ground muddy and then hard again. I don’t like to run, so I just make my food not be able to run. Smart right?” the Hollow asked as the drool seemed to increase in amount and volume and create a trail underneath the Hollow. ”I’m so hungry.” the Hollow announced, reaching out to grab Luca with an oversized hand if the Fullbringer ended up caught in its ability.

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca was standing at the ready to douse him in gas and set him ablaze. As the hollow spoke, Luca heard nothing but the dumb grunts of an animal in need of euthanasia. Though when it got in range, Luca knew his plan would have to wait. He saw the hollow raise its fist. Even if it wasn't close enough to hit him, with strength like it demonstrated, it would send shockwaves that Luca would rather avoid. It had the power to kill a lot of people in the crossfire, and Luca sure as shit wasn't going to be responsible for that. 

He had to get away. The hollow was after him, and him alone, which would make this as simple as kiting it. Just hop on the cars, until you aren't in the traffic jam anymore. He landed perfectly on the hood of the car. Yet suddenly, the car grew...shorter. "What the hell?" Luca looked up at the lumbering beast, who promptly confirmed it was his handiwork. "Yeah, buddy, you're a real Einstein." Luca deadpanned. "Sorry to say, but I'm just fine." Luca lifted a leg up to show the hollow he could still move. It was a stroke of luck that kept him from the first attack, but now he knew the hollows power, and how to avoid it. 

He might just have to carry the fight out in the traffic jam. If the people didn't get the idea to flea already, they would soon enough. Luca jumped off the car hood, and unscrewed the hub cap as fast as he could. "Oh yeah? Why don't you eat some of this?" Luca willed the gasoline to fly towards the hollow Right before the last of it collided with the hollow, Luca ignited the last portion of the trail with his lighter. He had to get an idea how impervious to damage the hollow was. 

[Luke Clyburn]

<sub>”Uuuh?” the Hollow grumbled in confusion as it noticed that Luca was still more than capable of moving. ”How come you’re not stuck?” the Hollow asked with a tilt of its head. Regardless of its confusion it still moved forward, hoping to finally get its grip on the Fullbringer and enjoy itself a nice, tasty, meal after all this hard work. But before it could get its big furry paw on the limber young man it was suddenly splashed in the face by some liquid that was both bad tasting and foul smelling. ”What is this?” it asked, confused, before its question was followed by a gasp and screams of pain when the flames reached its body.

Thrashing about on fire, the Hollow danced around in a desperate attempt to remove the burning pain from its body. All of the normie citizens who couldn’t see the Hollow were able to see the fire floating in the air and burning along something, causing them to panic and scream and run. But just as the satisfaction of victory would swell inside Luca, the Hollow would suddenly dive into the road at their feet and submerge as though it were a swimming pool. The fire burning it was left on top of the road. Uh oh.

Suddenly some cars were knocked into the air as the Hollow emerged from the ground behind Luca’s car, descending down towards the Fullbringer with the help of gravity. Burned patches of its skin adorned its body. Masks mouth wide opened as thick streams of anticipation drool escaped from the sides of its mouth. But before the Hollow could chomp down on Luca, the car's weight shifted as another person joined Luca on it. The Hollow suddenly let out a “gerk” sound as a red line split it down the middle, causing the Hollow to fall into two bloody halves on either side of the car.

The stranger who had suddenly appeared had black hair, was just as tall as Luca, and was casually wearing a business suit. The suit jacket was left open, the first few buttons of his white shirt left undone, and there wasn’t a single tie to be seen. ”Hmm. You didn’t do too bad.” the mysterious stranger would say before turning to fully face Luca, revealing sharp, amber colored, eyes looking into the Fullbringer with a tired expression on his face. ”Sorry for stepping in. I’m sure you’d have done fine, I think, but I didn’t feel like taking that risk.” the stranger explained, his eyes drifting down to one of the disintegrating halves of the Hollow. ”You’re not hurt, are you?” he asked, lifting his gaze once again.</sub>

[Akira Hinosai]

The plan was brilliant. It was like trapping a dumb animal with magic. Sure, the hollow was probably above Luca's paygrade, but that would have made victory all the sweeter. Luca could sense it behind him. He turned around knowing he had to do something, but what? Something...something... All Luca had was if's and should haves. If he was just a bit stronger, he should have won. How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one? Yet the interference of someone caught him off guard. All of this was getting a bit too surreal. "Luke?!?!?" He'd seen Kazura's golden boy before, but all of a sudden, their paths had crossed. Luca stared at him for a good moment before responding. "Pffffft...Yeah, I'm fine. I guess it's fortunate you stumbled by. You probably prevented some collateral damage..." Luca was ordinarily a fantastic liar, but as shaken up as he was, he came across as awkward. Luca just wanted to look cool, but getting saved made that near impossible. He cleared his throat in an attempt to correct his presentation. "So, may I ask why you were watching me fight a hollow?"

Luca's concerns about his presentation were almost comical when paired against the chaos of the streets. Cars were abandoned, a bus was nearly totaled, and people were still running and screaming. Luca jumped off the car and activated his fullbring. "I could have used this you know, but I wanted to challenge myself." He puffed out his chest. He left out the part that it was effectively just a spear, with no abilities of its own...yet. He'd be damned if Luke thought he was some useless little side character.  

[Charlotte & Serenity Buckner]

Counted 24 paragraphs, so that'll be 120 TP for Luca!