Road Trip! pt. 1

[Deleted]

Aldwin smiled as he took in the summer heat on the balcony of his apartment. He'd always loved the New York summers, though early mornings on those days were especially nice. Being able to watch the sun rise while taking in the heat was easily an experience he'd be more than willing to kill for if he could. After a few moments taken to watch the rising of the morning sun and to let his hair naturally dry a bit, Aldwin stepped back inside to continue his morning routine.

Today was the start of a huge trip for him, one that he'd been planning for a few months now; a trip across the US! While yes, it was for business primarily, that didn't stop the prospect of him hitting up numerous different tourist attractions like national parks, or even friends of his from across the country. His last sell had been pretty successful, so he planned to use the money from that in order to pay for gas, hotels, and anything else he'd need to spend money on during the trip.

Over the last few months, Aldwin managed to set up quite a few trade deals across the country, and decided to make the delivery by hand for all of them. As such, they were all set a few months in advance, due to a lack of urgency from these particular buyers, that way he could organize each sale and be able to make the trips as he saw fit. From New York City, his first stop being Baltimore. From there, he'd sell with two buyers he had marked there, and then be on his way once again for the day.

Packing up everything he'd need to bring with him, Aldwin began to pile it all into an RV he'd been able to... "acquire" for the trip. In there, he'd have everything he could need; weapons for himself, weapons to sell, a work-station, a working bathroom, and more. He was absolutely ready for the trip, and was quite excited to make it. Granted, he'd be spending a week or more on his own, but it was something he was willing to do, especially when there was this much money to be made from it.

Designating off proper sections of the RV came first, as Aldwin looked for a place to store all of the goods he was looking to profit off of for the time being. He didn't want them in view in case something were to cause him to be pulled over, so in turn he made sure that they weren't. Any open cabinets or anything of the like was used to store all of the merchandise that had been paid for in part already. Once the time hit noon, he'd need to be on the road, so he had to make sure that this process didn't take too long.

Thankfully it didn't, and he was quickly able to gather all of his essentials and toiletries, and was on the road from there. Getting out of NYC was naturally a headache due to all of the traffic that came with the city in general, though it wasn't too too bad from there once he managed to cross into Jersey. From there, it'd be pretty much smooth driving until Baltimore. Aldwin hooked up his phone to the RV, and started to put on some music to pass the time as he got lost in thought while driving.

This truly was a business that he enjoyed. Well, enjoyed for the massive amount of profit that came from it. He wasn't too fond of giving the wrong people guns, but that didn't necessarily concern him when he could tear them down if things got out of hand. Not to mention there'd be crazy amounts of money to be earned from each sale. He smiled to himself at the thought, as he began to approach Baltimore. His first goal was to find a place where he could safely park the RV, as to prevent anyone from just breaking into it. He'd keep the keys on him at all times, even if it didn't do much to help protect the RV itself.

In time, he eventually found a place to stop. From there, he started to prep the first case. He'd bought about seventeen different briefcases solely for this week, as they were objectively the best method to transport illegal firearms. He didn't worry about the cost of each case, as the profit from each weapon would more than make up for it. Once the first order had been fully prepped and he was ready to head out, he made a quick phone call to the first buyer on his list, and the two of them arranged a meeting spot. He nodded to himself, and set out from there.

[Kitai Yoru]

"So, why is a Saika in the rotten underbelly of Las Noches? You know, other than to piss everyone off?" The gremlin-like arrancar commented, as the creature glared at the man, who only grinned down at the shorter creature. And true to the hollow's word, said man was getting nasty looks from every direction. The Black Market of Hueco Mundo was a bit different from the usual Black Market. This place was practically a ghost town compared to the ones in the World of the Living, or the ones that set up shop in the Rukongai. That also meant that the items here were more limited as well, well less cool merchandise, and a lot more magic cocaine.

"Well, I was looking for that weird crack you guys had that 'dectupled the power of your reiatsu', but since you don't have that, how about something interesting, hmm?" A smug smile hung from his lips, as he leaned down close to the deformed arrancar. Many arrancar took on a more human appearance once they removed their mask, and transitioned away from being hollows. However, the varying degrees in which this occurs depends entirely on the hollow in question. The more powerful the hollow, the more human they appeared once they evolved. This one clearly hadn't been anything special.

The hollow knew that he knew this, and glowered at the man, spitting to the side. "Interesting huh? And what's 'interesting' to some crazy Saika? Weapons? Armor? Vehicles?" The arrancar noticed an interested glimmer in the Lunatic's eye at the last one. "Vehicles? Really? You have an Interdimensional Doorknob, we saw you come in with it. For what reason would you of all beings, want a vehicle for?" But the man only began to chuckle. "Hehehaha! I could ask you the same question! If you guys have some use for cars, or boats, or planes in the middle of this desert, the must be something special! I'm dying to know now!" He told the gremlin, positively giddy at the prospect of an indestructible car, or a plane that could survive his hijinks.

The arrancar stared at him for a few more moments, grumbled a few seconds more, before getting to his feet and waddling to a more secluded area, motioning the taller being to follow. The entirety of this Black Market was held in a cave, deep in the Menos Forest, away from prying eyes, and hidden from most sensors with the heavy amount of hollow reiatsu in the air. This cave was one of many that the Hueco Mundo Black Market operated from, and often changed from month to month. They always kept a particular door with them as they traveled, setting it up so that those they wanted in the know could find them.

The two found themselves in a more open part of the cave minutes later. They had left the main group, where most of the trading went down, to more of the loading and unloading area. Several large vehicles were sat in front of a tunnel that went on further than Kitai could see down. The man let out a whistle at the sight. "Daaaaang, that's a big hole!" He said redundantly, as the gremlin continued leading him on. They passed a massive boat, a big metal... 'thing' with treads, little cloaked figures running about. He couldn't understand a word they were saying, but one was smacking a gold shaded robot with its own severed arm.

After passing about half a dozen movie references, the two reached a more serpentine-like hunk of metal, with a small, unassuming stall next to it, made up of mostly wooden planks and nails. Behind the counter was an arrancar that looked more like a furless beast clan, rather than an arrancar. They looked like a rat, with irritated red skin, and two large buck teeth. They were asleep, with their feet up on the 'counter'. The gremlin huffed in irritation, and pushed the legs up. The rat gave a startled yelp, as they toppled backward, impacting the ground with a thud.

Kitai cackled with laughter, as the rat got up, muttering curses under their breath, glaring at the gremlin with a heatless glare. Then his eyes landed on Kitai, and a greedy gleam sparkled in his eyes, as he took a more energetic posture. "Well hello there, chap! What can I do ya for?" The rat slid on an old timey straw hat, as a cane appeared in his hands. Kitai wasn't one to back down from a bit, so he played along. "Well my fine fellow, I hear you're selling reliable jalopies at a bargain price!" Kitai had a wide grin spread across his face.

The Rat man was wearing a similar smile, as the two chuckled at their bad joke. The gremlin smacked the two of them upside their heads. "Look, idiot, we sell quick transportation to smugglers who travel light with their merchandise. Do you want one or not?" The Gremlin says, as they pull out a silver capsule from the rat's pocket, clicking an unseen button on it, before tossing it to the side. The moment it touched the ground, it exploded in a cloud of smoke. Kitai waved his hand in front of his face, hacking up a lung. Once it cleared up, however, Kitai was left starstruck. "I'll take it!" Oh the chaos he would bring with this!

---

Later

With his van parked in some random parking lot, counting his many briefcases, the sounds of the road would be distant, but ever present. That was probably why he wouldn't notice at first, the low humming in the background. Slowly bug surely, that humming would increase in volume, enough to be audible over the quiet the inside of his camper provided. Maybe the refrigerator was running a little loud? But then things started to shake. Anything hanging would start to bounce and wobble, making a symphony of metallic clangs as the entire RV began to violently vibrate.

Just when it felt like the earth itself was going to swallow the car whole, the pavement exploded upward, as a massive Worm-like snake surfaced from below. It looked like something straight out of Tim Burton's fever dreams, as it looked like a snake eating another snake, in a pinstripe tube sock. With a hiss, the sound of metal hinges grinding against one another deafened the area, as the upper jaw of the monster swung open. A man popped out, looking almost as weird as the metallic monster itself. The Lunatic fished around in his pocket for something, before pulling out a slip of paper. "Oh mister Aldwin~! I'm here for my guns!" He said in a singsong voice.

[Deleted]

Counting through all of his merchandise, Aldwin did what he could to organize things as best as possible; firearms in one area of the RV, swords and whatnot in another, and even performance-enhancing substances in a different section. Seemed everything was going quite well, until he subtly started realizing an... odd noise that his RV seemed to be making. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was starting to bother him. Stopping what he was doing, he went to go search around to find out just what was going on.

Checking the fridge first to make sure everything was okay there, he nodded to himself realizing that everything seemed to be as it should. As the seconds had gone by, that noise, however, only seemed to get louder. Confused, he continued to search around his RV, trying to find the source of the noise, until he realized that things in the RV itself were starting to shake. Sent into a state of panic, Aldwin did what he could in order to calm everything down; a large portion of his stuff was generally somewhat sensitive to violent shakes like that, so an earthquake was definitely not something he wanted to deal with!

As things began to reach their worst point, Aldwin shouted in horror the moment he realized an astronomically massive Worm seemed to be breaking its way through the solid concrete, and emerging not a few feet from Aldwin's RV. Watching in nothing but pure, unchecked fear, Aldwin did what he could to calm himself down, and head outside; granted, carrying a Selee Schneide on his person, though. He wasn't going to let some Worm monster steal his shit if he didn't have to, regardless of whether or not he could actually handle the thing.

As he made his way out, he quickly covered his ears as the deafening sound of metal grinding against metal filled the air, watching as a rather strange fellow seemed to be emerging from the beast's mouth. Just what the hell was going on?! At this point, Aldwin was about to just make a break for it when he realized that the man in front of him had said something that almost immediately caught the arms dealer's attention; "Oh mister Aldwin~! I'm here for my guns!" With a sigh, Aldwin lowered his guard.

"So, you're gonna have to forgive me," he started, "but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING? BETTER YET, WHO ARE YOU?!" Doing what he could to contain himself after exploding like that, Aldwin took a deep breath. "Hoo boy, I'm good. I'm okay! Everything's fiiiiine. Okay. You're hear for guns yeah? You made an order? What name did you give me for that? We'll get that figured out, just... Gods, I feel so in the dark regarding whatever the HELL that worm thing is.

[Kitai Yoru]

Kitai watched the unfortunate young man struggle to comprehend the situation he has found himself in. Kitai had been able to see him screaming as The Worm had surfaced, thanks to his contacts. Oh how he had missed these. It made finding people oh so much easier. It made for great party tricks too, like knowing exactly how this lad was storing his weapons. Briefcases! HA! The presumed 'Aldwin Blackwood' looked on the verge of hyperventilating, so Kitai decided to wait it out by hanging upside down from the Worm's jaw.

The Lunatic decided to throw the newbie a bone, for once, and answered his question. "Hahahaha! Yes! I am here for guns! I just drilled my way out of Purgatory, and decided the first thing I had to do was buy more weapons! I heard about you through a gun that I accidently ran over, who just so happened to have your name and location written down on this fancy card!" He held a business card between his fingers, flicking it toward the half-breed. "Oh, wait, no I meant to keep that-" The Saika tried to get grab it, but ended up falling out of The Worm, smacking his head against the ground.

The Lunatic fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, groaning in pain for a moment, before pulling himself to his feet. Brushing himself off, he laughs as if nothing happened. "You saw nothing! Except this Worm! You see, when people die, sometimes they get turned into a ghost that goes into a magical place called Las Nachos, filled with boring as Hell deserts, filled with spooky Ghost Monsters!" He says, waggling his fingers for dramatic effect, as he tells his tale. "For whatever reason, everything is in Spanish, don't ask me why." He continues.

He pats the Worm as he continues to regale Aldwin with his tale. "Anyway, the King of Nacho Central decided that cocaine was becoming a problem, and thus outlawed it, and my precious Worm over here." A tear came to his eye. "They were killing so many of them off, I just had to same them! And that's why I need guns, in order to overthrow the King of Purgatory, and help redistribute magic ghost crack across the land, and keep the Worm society safe and thriving!" His passionate speech, or what his best take at a passionate speech sounded like, concluded.

He wondered just how spiritual involved this guy was. He wasn't exactly sure if normal people could see the Worm, given that it was made of spiritual steel, but the lowlife whose house he accidently crashed into didn't seem to see it. Maybe this guy had some potential, or maybe he was secretly some sort of Fullbringer! Oh Kitai couldn't wait to see what kinds of fancy toys this guy had on him. And he got a briefcase too! This was a good day for Kitai, a very good day in deed!

[Arcadus]

Stepping from luxurious scented velvet to dank earth, Arcadus kept the Garganta open for a bit. There wasn't any ventilation down here, this 300 food deep spot in the earth. He set it up while scouting out that temple of the tetragrammaton, first as a base of operations to organize his props and to have as a way to place to disappear to. He had set the lace up with flood lights to hide the fact that it was just a cavity in the earth, and so he'd have a place to Garganta to that would look like the afterlife, or rather, the good afterlife of these people. 

Though in the intervening time, Arcadus had decided to "aquire" some very fascinating machines. 3d printers, a technology that already interested Arcadsu, but these had proved to be a real treat. These were able to print items made of metal. This hugely expanded the opportunities for both what could be done for the experiment, making metal crosses by the hundreds, but as well, Arcadus had found he was able to print the metal inserts for firearms that had 3d printed polymer bodies. 

It really was an ingenious design, making cheap disposable weapons that were expected to last only a few engagements before being replaced. Good for garrison forces that could see consistent resupply and wouldn't see the most action, but could expect skirmishes. Striking down the rows of machines set up, each with a sort of cycling pad to ensure that each part was deposited in its respective bin, Arcadus began gathering up the bins, and replacing the material spools on each machine. Each cycle was 100 parts, so each machine, making a different part, needed different amounts of material.

Taking the bins to his work station, Arcadus began assembling the weapons, pins here, slide springs on the respective rods, bolt and fuse parts together, and pull the slide, see how they cycle. These were made in the spirit of the MP40, a weapon apparently developed near on 90 years ago, but apparently had developed a reputation as the founder, or at least the greatest innovator, of spraying a lot of bullets in very short succession. That strategy suited Arcadfus just fine, and as he cycled dummy rounds through each gun, he took out the oil. Guns needed oil, and rough parts on rough parts wouldn't do.

It would wear each part down in the first 100 rounds if not oiled, and this model was designed to start falling apart, specifically in the spring rods and trigger guard, so as to get it taken in for repairs and replacements before something serious broke and the gun exploded in your hand. Planned obsolescence he had heard it called, through while that might be the case, he had no interest in making the absolute best product. This was cheap, simple, and easy to repair, and his responce was that it was a safety feature and a sign that you had not been taking care of your weapon. 

Finishing oiling the last submachine gun, Arcadus stood up. These would all need a couple of rounds put through them each, and while he had buckets of magazines, he really hated loading a dozen magazines with a few rounds each time. Maybe this time around he'd have 3 30 round magazines loaded up and just swap weapons. In any case, ideas for later. Brushing the metal dust off of himself, he leaned against a cedar pillar, part of the supports keeping this cavity upright and from falling down on top of him. Though as he rested this time, Arcadus could feel a tremor. Like something was moving towards him. pressing his ear to the stone around him, Arcadus could hear it.

Something Was tunneling towards him, a tube, maybe a mile out. He had not idea what this could be, but it was definitely either moving very close to him, or moving towards him. Moving with all the speed he could, Arcadus began gathering up his machines, and as the garganta began to form, pushing them through, though it was slow to open, and he could feel the rumbling in the ground at this point. Grabbing a bin of guns under his arms, and one into his hands, Arcadus tried to physically force open the garganta, it wouldn't open any faster than it was already going. 

That metal thing, like a snake with out a head, burst through the far wall, something Arcadus had heard about, a vehicle outlawed in Hueco Mundo after Kouhai had taken over, mainly to keep it from invalidating his fortress state, as it could burrow through walls, making the endless stone of Los Noches worthless. As it careened towards Arcadus, He managed the best he could, that being a hook to its front, which, while denting it, and diverting it slightly, but the chinks in the metal had snared parts of his robe, ripping it off at the cuff, and dragging Arcadus through the wall along with it. 

Holding on to the other sleeve, Arcadus managed to hold on to the worm as it began to head towards the surface, grasping the pair of containers in his other hand. The dirt and stone that he was being pressed against, hurt, but Arcadus once again thanked his heirro for covering every inch of him, as he was dragged through the earth. Seeing the light of the human world's day, Arcadus dragged himself to his feet. his closthes had been shredded save his steel silk bodyglove that he'd gotten from Kitai, and honestly he was fine with losing the robe. It was an issue however, that he had lost his entire set up to manufacture weapons. Whoever was responsible for this was going to have their guts spilled, and very likely that he'd eat them here and now. 

Heading out to the front of the worm, Arcadus stomped over to the two he sensed would be possibilities, one a relatively weak fullbringer, and the other.... "NO NO NO, KITAI YOU MOTHERFUCKER WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE." Having Reached Kitai, Arcadus rounded on him, towering over the saika with a acidic anger in his voice, blonde hair so normally plied and slicked back in its ruffled mane, now on end, waving in the breeze and in the wake of Arcadus's movements. "ARE YOU THE ONE WHO DROVE THIS FUCKING THING, WHO JUST DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO TUNNEL THROUGH THE EARTH WITHOUT LOOKING WHERE YOU'RE GOING" Realizing that that this was in fact, the human world, Arcadus tried to calm himself. He was making a scene and his appearance wasn't helping. 

Turning to the full bringer next to him for a glance, and deciding they weren't of consequence, Arcadus turned again to yell at Kitai, opening his mouth as if to roar at him, before a quick breath through is noce turned it into a grimace and through gritted teeth: "Do you know how much money I could have made with all the merchandise I was making? Tens of thousands of guns, shipped through Garganta, nigh untraceable and with a high repair rate, I could have had money to rival some of the smaller noble houses. But nooo, you have to show up just by chance and ruin it." Arcadus growled, similar to a panther or a small lion, before continuing. "You, Kitai Yoru, are bad luck, but you're going to help me off load these."

Holding up the two crates, for Kitai to view "This is two hundred 3d printed sub machine guns chambered in nine millimeter by nineteen millimeter. You are going to help me sell these to make up for destroying what could have been a profitable venture for the both of us, got that?" With the "got that" Arcadus jabbed his finger into Kitai's chest, more just to poke him, and not with an intent to actually stab through. Turning to the full bringer with a look that could only be described as disappointment poured over disdain, Arcadus seemed to deflate, his chest, muscles and hair relaxing and returning to less bulky, if still large, silhouette, his anger, for the minute, vented. "and you might you be?"


 

[Akira Hinosai]

Flying sucked. The longer the flight, the worse it sucked. Most people ended up mixed together, living like pigs, eating lame food...But today, Luca was not among them. Today, he was flying first class.  He boarded like he owned the place, was served expensive champagne, and basically had a cozy little suite to himself. That was all before takeoff. He'd have to remember to thank Aldwin for this. After the first few minutes, he never wanted to go back to economy class. If things went as planned, he wouldn't have to. Though Luca would have time to worry about that later. For now, he'd catch up on his reading while he was following while being waited on hand and foot.

An hour or two after takeoff, Luca was treated to a three course meal of the most amazing food he'd ever had. The first course consisted of prawn with fig and sesame sauce, sea urchin, edamame, and tamagoyaki with dried nori. The main course consisted of grilled horse mackrel, miso soup, steamed rice, and japanese pickles. The final course, and the smallest was chocolate souffle. After gorging himself to excess, Luca decided to treat himself to a half decent looking tv drama about power struggles between zaibatsu in the Meiji era. It took place in Shanghai, detailing the political machinations of a young heir to a powerful family and her forbidden love with a boy from an unaffiliated group.

Luca binged a few episodes before finally calling it a night. He prepared his "bed" and closed his suite door for the night. As far as beds went, it definitely beat out the couch in UE's break room. He tried to sleep, but sleep didn't come. He listened to soft sounding music from the 90s and just relaxed. He wasn't very good at it though. In spite of himself, he ran through an entire plane crash scenario in his head. Can I even survive a plain crash? Luca imagined a plane crashing into water. He could probably survive impact if there was no immediate explosion. Though in this case, Luca would probably have to worry about surviving in the ocean. They were still over the pacific ocean, even after flying for hours upon hours.

It was stupid to be scared about though. The only way this plane was crashing was if Luca really wanted it to. As it stood, he wasn't in a plane crashing mood. Eventually, Luca did manage to get some sleep. He had a dream that his parents somehow found out his flight plans and were going to take him back to California. Everything before that was blurry, and if anything came after, Luca didn't remember. He woke after a few hours, and took a look at his phone. He'd gotten more than a few hours of sleep and was about as refreshed as he could have been. Checking the flight path on his phone, they still weren't past the pacific ocean.

It was easy to forget just how big the world was. Luca was pretty well traveled. When he was younger, he went with his dad to visit some relatives back in Italy. Even during his time in Japan Luca got out of Tokyo every now and then. Still, the scope of the world was hard to comprehend most of the time. All too many people spent their whole lives thinking the world was only as big as whatever miserable little town they lived in. Karakura may have been the spiritual capital of the world, but who knows what wonders and terrors were elsewhere, for those with the power to see it. This was just another stepping stone on his path to greatness.

He imagined a future after this mission. What would he do with the money? beyond outfit himself with the best implants, weapons, and  armor money could buy... He'd definitely have to buy another interdimensional doorknob. That way he could see Ken'ichi any time he wanted. That was a sweet thought. It was enough to excite him so much he couldn't wait to smuggle all the weapons Aldwin had. He got all antsy just thinking about it. He was able to calm himself down by the time the plan reached land. It made Luca feel odd to see California again, even from 13 kilometers high. He wouldn't go so far as calling it home. His time there was best forgotten.

Besides, even if he was sentimental over the past, the plane wasn't stopping there. He didn't have to worry about getting on his second flight till Chicago. As it stood, that was still a few hours away. The worst was over. Luca watched as California and the pacific ocean faded away. Luca went back to watching his show, finishing season one by the time they seemed to be arriving in Illinois. In a way, Luca was almost sad to leave his nest of absolute decadence and luxury. Beyond that, exiting the plane was relatively painless. Luca had a feeling his next flight wouldn't compare in terms of comfort. American airliners tended to be a bit more...utilitarian from Luca's experience.

Getting everything in order for the next flight, Luca still had a few hours of layover. For the first time since he began his senior year, he was back in America. Not just that, he was in Raph's home town. Not like it mattered. Luca sure as shit wasn't meeting Raph's cornfed hick relatives, assuming they weren't all quincy. First, Luca headed to the first class lounge. His first stop was to the shower suite. If nothing else, a long shower would help him recover a bit from the jet lag. The shower was about as normal as can be. The only difference was the new and exotic locale...and the travel size shampoo and conditioner.

He could almost forget he was half a world away from where he was when he'd taken his last shower all those days ago. After finishing his shower, Luca blowdried his hair and changed into a new outfit. It consisted of a technicolor vertical striped shirt tucked into acid washed cuffed jeans, a brown snakeskin belt, and off-white canvas shoes. He didn't bother trying to tie his hair back, instead just rushing his fingers through it to keep the damp strands out of his face. Before scoring some lunch in the first class lounge, he opted instead to engage in a round of blatant theft. Really, stealing from airports was the perfect crime. He'd be long gone by the time they suspected anything.

He scored a nice pair of sunglasses that reminded him of tourmaline, no fewer than three books, a particularly nice looking pair of running socks, an imitation rolex, and a turquoise necklace. Making his way back to the lounge, Luca ate some loaded potato soup, naan, and some chocolate chip cookies. It didn't hold a candle to what he'd had on the flight over. He chased it all down with some rum and coke without the rum on the rocks. By the time he had finished, Luca settled down to listen to some music before it was time to board his second and final flight.

New York, here I come. The second flight had Luca missing his little sky suite from the japanese airliner. Apparently, as far as any american plane was designed, first class was just advanced economy class. Even the drinks were worse. On a scale of "the time I tried to ferment grape juice in my backyard" to "box wine" this is a solid "pretty good for box wine" Still, it had him missing champagne. He had a modicum of leg room, but 18 hours of real first class had spoiled him. His only respite was that this final flight would be over in the blink of an eye compared to his previous one. He threw himself into his book, content to tune out the noises of the plane.

He read of rogue princes, dark sorcery, and mysterious lands as the plane headed over cornfield after cornfield. Every so often Luca would look out the window as Ohio became a distant memory, and again as Pennsylvania followed suit. He had nearly finished his book by the time the plane entered New York. Once again, Luca felt himself getting excited. He and Aldwin were going to have one hell of an adventure together. Luca could just feel it. It was going to be like the Soul Society Infiltration, but better! This would be different. Luca was different. After this he'd be even stronger. No one would be able to stop him.

Now, all Luca had to do was wait for Aldwin to pick him up. For the final time he went over to the lounge, claimed a table for himself and pulled out his phone. With swift, deliberate strokes, he typed out a polite request. "Hey, my flight came in. You mind picking me up so we can frolic around, braid each other's hair and other wholly legal activities?" After that, Luca went to strike again with another spree of thievery...After all he was here to make money. Who would fault him for being a little bit proactive...

[Deleted]

"Hahahaha! Yes! I am here for guns! I just drilled my way out of Purgatory, and decided the first thing I had to do was buy more weapons! I heard about you through a gun that I accidently ran over, who just so happened to have your name and location written down on this fancy card!" Letting out a soft sigh as he watched the Saika toss his own business card toward him, Aldwin caught the card and read the front to see what it had said. Sure enough, this was his information. Great, he thought to himself, one of my customers ended up robbed.

Watching, and letting out a chuckle as the Saika fell face-first from the Worm, he made a mental note to keep track of what was going on. Sure, this guy was certainly entertaining, but was he going to slow down business? Only time was really going to tell on that front. "You saw nothing! Except this Worm! You see, when people die, sometimes they get turned into a ghost that goes into a magical place called Las Nachos, filled with boring as Hell deserts, filled with spooky Ghost Monsters! For whatever reason, everything is in Spanish, don't ask me why."

This guy was, for lack of a better term, a raving lunatic. Sure, he'd known that when people died they became Pluses; that much had been long-since explained to him by numerous people. He'd known what that led into, regarding being sent to Soul Society, and becoming that of a Hollow. Given what he'd heard from his friend Celes regarding Soul Society, was Kitai talking about the place where Hollows were sent to? He had to say, "Las Nachos" was a rather interesting name. He'd remember that one for sure, given how easy it was going to be to do so.

"Anyway, the King of Nacho Central decided that cocaine was becoming a problem, and thus outlawed it, and my precious Worm over here. They were killing so many of them off, I just had to same them! And that's why I need guns, in order to overthrow the King of Purgatory, and help redistribute magic ghost crack across the land, and keep the Worm society safe and thriving!" Good lord, it seemed like this man needed quite an amount of guns. And, not exactly what he was selling normally, for that matter. Thankfully, this did go to answer most of Aldwin's questions on the matter, so that was good.

"Well. I hate to disappoint, but the weapons I've got here aren't exactly... spiritually able. Most of my stock is pretty civilian in nature, save for a few automatics here and there." Scratching the back of his head, Aldwin chuckled. "That said, though! If you're willing to help me sell some of my stock over the next two weeks or so, I'm more than happy to use some of that profit to get something going for you. I'm personally all for revolution, especially with a cause like this, y'know?"

Hilariously enough, Aldwin was not all for revolution, but one thing was for sure; he was absolutely on board with War Profiteering! So what if he armed a few spiritual, presumably Hollow rebels to take down some King? There was no way in hell that something like that could come back to bite him in the ass... right? No, he was pretty confident that he was going to be okay. "So, mister Worm driver, what do you say? You on board?" Truth be told, if he were in Kitai's shoes, there was no way he'd decline something like-

"NO NO NO, KITAI YOU MOTHERFUCKER WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE." Good lord, who the hell was this? "ARE YOU THE ONE WHO DROVE THIS FUCKING THING, WHO JUST DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO TUNNEL THROUGH THE EARTH WITHOUT LOOKING WHERE YOU'RE GOING?" Welp, he definitely seemed to be angry. Seemed that the Worm driver's name was Kitai, too. At least he'd gotten that much out of the way, now he was going to have to figure out who the fuck this random guy was, that seemed to just kind of... appear?

"Do you know how much money I could have made with all the merchandise I was making? Tens of thousands of guns, shipped through Garganta, nigh untraceable and with a high repair rate, I could have had money to rival some of the smaller noble houses. But nooo, you have to show up just by chance and ruin it." ...Well, this just seemed to raise even more fucking questions. "Um..." Aldwin interrupted, deciding to take the time to speak up, "Who might you be? I couldn't help but overhear you were making... how many guns?" Aldwin's mind flashed with money. Immense, incalculable amounts of money that he was going to get his hands on.

"This is two hundred 3d printed sub machine guns chambered in nine millimeter by nineteen millimeter. You are going to help me sell these to make up for destroying what could have been a profitable venture for the both of us, got that?" Aldwin's brain damn-near exploded hearing those words. Just how much money was this guy looking to make?? Only time was going to be able to tell, and that was not something that Aldwin felt himself willing to pass up. Ever. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to capitalize on something like this.

Assuming the Arrancar introduced himself, Aldwin was going to follow in suit, and do the same after he was asked. "Name's Aldwin," he said, giving a small salute, "but my friends just call me Rose. Good to see we've got someone else here that's looking to sell some guns. If you're interested, I've an RV here," he said, patting the side of his vehicle, "n' I'm currently travelling the states to sell some weapons myself. Hopefully Kitai'll be coming along with me, so we might be able to just take care of three birds with one illegal stone, if you're catching my drift."

Assuming the conversation was still ongoing, Aldwin would find himself quickly interrupted by a swift ping from his phone. Pulling it out, Aldwin took note of the text that blared across his screen. Fuck. Fuck. "FUCK!" he shouted, quickly shooting Luca back a text saying ""Got it! Hope your flights went well. BRT, got caught up with a few things. If you want to grab your bags and meet me on ground floor, lemme know which terminal you'll be by!"

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, Albin let out a soft sigh. "Well," he said, gathering his things, I've got to make a mad drive to Albany International. Got a friend waiting to be picked up there. If y'all are still interested, we can help get those crates on the RV and make our way over there now before we get going with the gunrunning. You all cool with that? Also, Kitai was it? Please be careful near the RV if you're going to driving that worm, smashing up the merchandise isn't something that'll go well for any of us."

[Arcadus]

Looking at the smaller person who had introduced themselves as "Aldwin" with friends calling them Rose, Arcadus figured it was best to start things off friendly, since this person seemed willing to help him move these guns, it might be good to ingraciate himself, through, he'd need some new kind of personal touch, he couldn't act like how he did as the Trecera, and right now Kitai was ther so he couldn't act like someone entirely new. Maintaining the last of a neutral expression, Arcadus decided on a more jovial and relaxed verions of how he talked with Kitai. 

Sensing out Aldwin, or Rose's mind, there was some panic, some frustration, and that name again, Luca. Thinking back to his meeting with Alastor, that name came up again. Worth investigating even then, but now, it was time to actually figure out if these were even the same person. As for what they were doing with Rose, he could guess, running guns, but it was annoying to have to fly long distances if they were going to make a 6 hour drive. He'd specialized that technique and style for combat movement, not travel. 

Looking at the RV, Arcadus considered whether it was worth it to actually ride in that thing. It would give him time to talk to Aldwin, which would be good, considering it was incredibly likely that him telegraphing Kitai's mistakes and the damage he caused was not the smartest, considering that this person also wanted to run guns, and that might mean splitting profits. Well, he could just kill them afterwards if it wasn't too much trouble, and more reasonably, just claim he brought a larger share of product. Either case, he may as well get on board. 

"Well, Rose, can I call you Rose? We'd better get moving to meet this person in Albany, and from there, I assume you had buyer's in mind." Pulling one of the guns out, Arcadus pressed the pins in and turned the slide lock, taking the slide out, looking for the serial numbers. Seeing the scratches across the lock of the barrel, he snickered. "well, I can't tell the numbers, but I hope your looking to sell these to less than legal groups Rose, since far as I know these are a felony on their own." Reattaching the slide and dumping it back in the bin. Looking a the plastic buckets,  it actually looked like he had brought an equal share of guns, given there were 10 to 20 guns per bin. 

Setting the two metal bins next to them with the 3d printed smg's on top, Arcadus made himself comfortable on the couch. He couldn't stand up all the way in the RV, settling on the couch on the right, and sitting down, he had to lean back and across to avoid hitting his head on the cabinet above. Packing Kitai in here was already going to be a problem, given the amoung of space taken up. Rolling his eyes " Do you want me to organize these? You'd save a lot of space in here if they weren't just thrown in bins."

Looking out the window Arcadus wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into. Running guns with a stranger, and Kitai pilotin  his worm across the country side, this spelled, while not disaster, but more than likely a pain in the ass. Why of all times and places, did he bother putting up with these people. Running his hands through his hair, Arcadus wondered if he even knew enough to actually run guns like this. He'd planned to actually just use them as a means to an end with his experiment, for the radicalization stage. 

The plan had always been to manufactuer a load of guns for once it had reached an appropriate size and had begun taking over the voting in the area, because, in researching similar situations the authorities had always been incredibly opposed to situations like these, where a motivated group of individuals acted in their collective interest, rather than the "freedom of choice" of personal circumstance and experience to determines one's beliefs.  

In either case, pawns were moving, and there were barely any seconds on either clock, he may as well enjoy the ride and get to know this new person, who they were, what they  did and how they came to be where they were. Thier past present and future. Patting a set of tarot cards that had survived the damage, Arcadus also remembered he should likely get some clothes, since he was basically just wearing his bodyglove. That might be a problem, and he wasn't going to show up to Maximillian like this, there was going to be so much explaining to do. 

Ugh, what a pickle. Maybe Rose wouldn't mind a reading, to pass the time. "Say Rose, how did you get into the gun running in the first place, or was it just something you decided to pick up on a whim today? Judging by the different guns here, probably not, huh?" Idle conversation was one of the few social areas Arcadus didn't enjoy, it always felt like he was just talking to a brick wall if he didn't know the person or they weren't especially interesting. Hopefully something worthwhile would come out talking to Rose. 

One other thing did concern Arcadus. He actually didn't know much about guns in terms of traditional manufactures and models. He was more interested in the new modern options of manufacture, like the 3d printing rigs he had made. Older guns were certianly were beyond his knowledge, and that might actually prove to be an issue in selling them. Ammunition and its dynamics with different barrels weren't exactly good material for a sales pitch, but in it might be useful to explain to Rose so they could translate it. 

[Kitai Yoru]

Kitai picked and poked around with the wares that this guy had available, and he had to say he found them lacking. It would seem that this guy was just some ordinary guy, selling weapons that barely passed as Firearms. It was unfortunate, sad to say. He had expected more. And then this guy wanted him to help him sell these knockoff weapons? He pictured himself at a lemonade stand, selling these things at a street corner, with a pinstripe outfit Ringmaster outfit. Kitai grinned at the thought. Maybe this would be more fun than he had thought.

Before he could respond to the overly ordinary human, he heard the sounds of cursing coming from the Worm. He gasped in shock. "Beetlejuice! When did you learn such fowl language!?" He said, sounding like a scolding parent at the inanimate object. Then a certain Arrancar crawled out of the hole he had made with the drilling machine. It was a man he had a mixed history with, given all the Cult nonsense he had stirred up in America. That had gone sideways so fast, and he should probably have expected him to still be lurking around in the states.

Kitai couldn't believe that he had unintentionally ran the person over with his Worm though. How he had managed such a thing, he could only chalk up to pure luck, because that was hilarious! He had managed to plow right through Arcadus' gun manufacturing operation? The Lunatic couldn't help but laugh at the hilarity of the situation. "HAHAHAHA! You had all of Hueco Mundo to make guns, and you chose a random spot on Earth to do your dirty work!? And I somehow managed to drill through it at Mach speed!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kitai listened to the Arrancar's spiel, wanting to sell 3d printed weapons, and was disappointed. Who would in their right mind let a printer manufacture their weapons? Where was the sense of accomplishment in making something with your own two hands? Where was the pride in making something that was one of a kind? Mass producing cheap crap was distasteful to the Saika. Still, he had his fun with Arcadus, might as well see what this scheme he had was like. Apparently the man's name was Aldwin. Whay was he, a bird? Luckily, Kitai didn't need much to be convinced.

"I love illegal stuff! Let's go!" Kitai said, as he patted the side of the Worm. The metal monstrosity looked almost gaseous, as the machine was sucked into a pill-shaped hunk of metal, fitting comfortably in the palm of his hand. Kitai stuffed it into his jacket pocket, and strode into the RV. He swiped one of Aldwin's guns, and sat down at the table inside. He pulled some metalworker's tools, and started to fiddle with the cheap weapon. Hopefully by the time they got to wherever it was they were going, he'd have made it into something interesting.

[Deleted]

"Well, Rose, can I call you Rose? We'd better get moving to meet this person in Albany, and from there, I assume you had buyer's in mind." Rose simply nodded. "Yeah, Rose is fine. I'm not disagreeing; if possible I'd like to get going as quickly as we can; I'm really not looking to make my friend here wait." He chuckled to himself. He hadn't seen Luca in quite some time, but he sure as hell didn't want to be rude over their meeting if he could help it.

Shuffling everyone into the RV, and allowing Kitai to compress his worm once more, the three eventually found their way inside. As the door shut behind the three, Rose let out a soft sigh. "All right, gents," he said casually, "make yourselves at home. We've got a good few hours before we get to the airport from here, so anything in the RV is available to use. Fridge is stocked full of food if that interests y'all, bathroom is in the back. If any of y'all get bored I think there's probably some board games or something in the compartments overhead."

Making his way over to the refrigerator, Rose opened it up, and pulled out an energy drink. "Oh," he said, waving the black and green can, "n' try not to touch these, please. Damn things are the only thing keeping me going right now; I'm in need of the caffeine n' I'd rather not have to stop to restock if we don't need to." Getting behind the wheel, opening the Monster, and putting it into a cup holder, Rose started to pull out of the parking lot.

Hearing Arcadus talk, Rose decided to chime in once he was finished speaking. "well, I can't tell the numbers, but I hope your looking to sell these to less than legal groups Rose, since far as I know these are a felony on their own." "Yeah, that's more or less the goal. I've been supplying for a little under a year now to really anyone that I can verify isn't a fed; haven't gotten caught yet, n' I don't think I will be in the near future. At least, that's the hope." Rose found himself chuckling to himself.

And with that, the merry few were off and on the road. Turning his head toward the back of the RV without turning his attention away from the road, Rose decided to speak. "So, Arcadus, Kitai; what brings the two of you into the arms-dealing business? How long have the two of you been doing it? N', if possible, either of you got any pointers?" Hearing Arcadus' own words seemed to almost answer that question entirely.

"Say Rose, how did you get into the gun running in the first place, or was it just something you decided to pick up on a whim today? Judging by the different guns here, probably not, huh?" He shrugged. "'Bout a year. Nothing spectacular if I'm being honest. But, yeah; there's a good selection there I'd like to think. Most of it's real, with serials filed off, but there may or may not be the occasional 3-D Printed model scattered through there for customers that've fucked me over in the past." Rose found himself laughing over the prospect of someone trying to use those.

[Kitai Yoru]

Whelp, Kitai was bored. It was taking more than ten minutes, and Kitai wasn't the one driving, so he needed to entertain himself somehow. He had picked apart the gun a half dozen times by now, and now the weapon was capable of firing projectiles through time and space, capable of shooting someone in their past or future, depending on the setting. There was a roulette wheel on the side to make your choice. Sadly, he couldn't immediately see the results, so he got bored. Now he was fiddling with another piece of equipment that was left lying around. It was another gun, but this time it was a machine gun.

Kitai tinkered with it, took it apart like the other one, and snagged some copper wiring and a battery he had found to screw with it. The gun was now heavy. Very heavy. Extremely heavy. Kitai made the clip connect the bullet dimension. An entire plane of existence filled with nothing but bullets of all kinds, making guessing what would actually come out of the muzzle of the weapon completely random. It had the minor side effect of increasing the weight of it, but that just added to the charm of it. Kitai eyed Arcadus with a smirk on his face. He knew that arrancar had Heiro... Nah, maybe later. He would continue to tinker with the weapon until they arrived at their destination.

[Arcadus]

Rose was asking him about his abilities and experience in the field of arms dealing. Better to embellish his abilities than be truthful, as distasteful as it was. "I'm more a smith than I am a seller. I've done anonymous commissions for years, always out of state, so to speak. I'm more of a smith and engineer, and these," Patting the tubs of 3d printed small caliber machine guns, "Are my attempts at mass production of some designs I had thought up, after 3d printing some parts turned out well. "

"I've got a bit of reputation as someone who makes good guns. Very good guns, for the right people, for the right place. They're almost always one of a kind, but for right now its very much an attempt to just get some capital moving. I've got some big projects back home I'm interested in pursuing, and they aren't exactly profitable. Lots of research and development, and that had a bad chance of not paying off if it doesn't turn over some new trick for me to learn."

Staring at Kitai as he fiddled with the barrel of an rifle, Arcadus peered over his shoulder to see Kitai had apparently made a portal to a world of rounds and ammunitions, and was now retrofitting the barrel with spiritual energy to make it capable of firing all these rounds. Shaking his head, Arcadus gestured to the Saika. "As much as I hate to admit it, Kitai here is a bit of an engineering mad genius, and he's currently messing with spatial dimensions to fit every bullet ever made into that rifle."

"He does actually own a shop, and we are both spiritual gun smiths. Not salesmen per say, and this is really our first drop that isn't around our workshops. In either case, I'm enough of a people person to tell you first, Kitai stop that, second, look at it this way, theres a lot of ways to make people want things, but the best way is to just find people who don't ask questions, and know what they want. Its why drugs are a bad racket. If your client has no questions and knows what they want, there's no complaints."

Looking out the window, Arcadus could see the monolith of the airport, and sense the thousands of squirming, writing humans inside. The metal birds flying in were curious, but for right now they had other problems. Finding this Luca. From what he could gather, they were a full bringer who had brown hair, couldn't be too hard to figure out which one they were. Rose parked the RV, and as the group filed out into the airport, they were looking for a brown haired fullbringer. 

Arcadus could sense two fullbringers. One, practically spiritually unaware, likely just someone who could see ghosts, and the other, well, that had to be Luca. They were already off the plane, and they weren't in the area for receiving passengers. They seemed to have wandered off, and sensing again, Arcadus was drawn down to rows of small fast food and coffee shops. As well, he noticed an array of glowing boxes. He'd seen these before, they were called vending machines, and they were some kind of golem vendor. 

Looking down the hall, he could see an open machine, and, that fullbringer stuffing bills into their pants as they looked out, making sure no one questioned why the maintenance professional had nothing to refill the empty machine. Long brown hair, and spiritually powerful, close enough to the description. Waiting for them to finish up, and close the machine, Arcadus moved close enough to get a good look at them. As the machine closed, Arcadus cleared his throat. 

"You must be Luca." Gesturing to Aldwin behind him, "Were all here to pick you up, so lets get going. Daylight is burning and we've got stuff to sell. How was your flight, I hope flying first class didn't bankrupt you that much if you're raiding vending machines. Or are we stocking up on cash to spend so we aren't traced by these human world credit-cards?" Arcadus leaned back on the vending machine, the plastic bending and buckling under him. 

As much as his joking tone were an attempt to get Luca to ease up, knowing how humans reacted to his presence normally, it wasn't fantastic. Joking at Luca's expense wouldn't be the fair thing to do Chuckling to himself. "I've been cooped up in this moron for six hours and they're still not over the joke of pointing a gun at me and hoping its not loaded. It's nice to talke to someone a bit more reasonable and actualy able to handle themselves outside of operating a CNC machine or fiddling with whatever they've go their hands on." 

Jerking his thumb over to Kitai's greasy and disheveled shape. "And Rose isn't that talkitive while they're driving. We don't have a lot of small talk in our lines of work, you see, so if you want, we can walk and talk. I have to admit, it was bit of a pain tracking you down, though we really didn't get much a heads up on your flight, and me and Kitai are recent additions to this little operation, so things have been a bit disorganized."

[Akira Hinosai]

Luca took measured steps. He wasn't an amateur, he knew never to get too careless. That was especially true when he had 5 watches on either leg. Expensive, sure, and to an unassuming buyer they could pass for rolexes. Even if Luca couldn't pass them off to some idiots on the street, he could pawn them off for an easy payday. He checked his phone, odds were Rose would be here any minute. Still, he probably had time for one last score. He walked over to a vending machine, and began fiddling with it. With soul command, he quickly opened the cash drawer and began taking everything. It was amazing how unobservant the average person was. It was so easy to come out ahead, Luca almost started laughing.

He heard someone behind him clear their throat. Oh shit! He turned around slowly, ready to bolt for the exit if he had to. What he saw wasn't a security guard, it was an impossibly tall, impossibly buff man...and Rose...And another guy. Right as the buff guy started joking like they were old friends, Luca groaned. Rose never mentioned other people on this job! Luca at least had a right to know. With 4 of them on an RV it would just get stupidly loud and annoying, not to mention he'd have to split the payout with them!

"You didn't think to tell me you were taking in strays" Luca said, walking past the mountain of a man who had addressed him. "Did you stop at a red light and say "HEY WHO WANTS TO SMUGGLE FIREARMS?"" Luca pinched the bridge of his nose. Rather than a relaxing time making money with Rose, he would have to deal with these weirdos. The freakishly tall muscle guy and the escaped mental patient. Right before Luca could walk over and scrutinize the last member of this merry band, he heard the man-mountain say a name "Kitai." Process of elimination, and the white-haired specter was...But he couldn't be! That was impossible! "Kitai?" Luca asked, weakly. "That's Kitai?" Luca laughed nervously. "The black market guy from hell? The really powerful Kitai?" Luca had hoped desperately this was another Kitai. Ideally a much weaker one.

Luca laughed more as it began to set in Kitai Yoru, the man, the myth, the living legend was here. "Oh...funny thing about that, Kitai, I was just joking around...with the part where I wasn't happy about you being here." Luca wasn't the type to respect people because they made more money than he did...or because they were stronger than him. This, though, this came down to one thing. Simple desire to stay on the good side of one of the strongest people around. It would be hard to make money if he was a red splatter on the floor. "Soooo...Who's this guy then? An espada?" Luca said, jokingly. He seemed strong, and he certainly smelled like a hollow, but that wasn't a sure sign of someone being an arrancar.

"Right, yeah. Ok, I'm just not going to question things anymore. You wanna go? I'm ready to go. Come on everyone let's get out of here before they notice all the missing shit and broken security cameras!"

[Deleted]

As the three spiritual gentlemen eventually made their way to the airport, Rose did what he could to park the RV in the best possible spot he could find without going into those parking garages. He absolutely fucking hated going into those things; way too fucking cramped, and every second in there felt like he was going to crash the damned vehicle. Unfortunately for the other two, they were just going to have to deal with walking for the time being, as there was no way in hell he was getting in one of those things.

"All right, everyone," he spoke, "we're here! Let's not linger too long; I'll shoot Luca a text, n' if he responds this'll be an easy in-and-out. I don't expect it though, 'specially if he just got off the flight. I wouldn't expect his first glance to be on the phone, y'know?" Standing up and stretching his legs, Rose did what he could to hurriedly stow away any of the guns that he'd brought with them, lest someone peek in and realize there were a shit ton of firearms currently in the RV.

As the happy few eventually found their way inside, practically led by Arcadus throughout the airport as the only one of the three with stellar energy sensing capabilities, the lot eventually stumbled upon the man they were after; Luca, digging through a vending machine. While he couldn't say he expected to see that, Rose couldn't help but admire the craftiness. Using what he presumed was a Fullbringer's abilities to manipulate the thing for money was a rather impressive trick... he'd have to see if he could replicate it in some way. That was neither here nor there, though.

"You must be Luca. Were all here to pick you up, so lets get going. Daylight is burning and we've got stuff to sell. How was your flight, I hope flying first class didn't bankrupt you that much if you're raiding vending machines. Or are we stocking up on cash to spend so we aren't traced by these human world credit-cards?" Rose let out a soft sigh. "Like Arcadus said, hopefully your flight went well? No complications or anything?"

"You didn't think to tell me you were taking in strays." Rose chuckled, and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, about that..." he trailed off, as Luca continued to speak. "Did you stop at a red light and say "HEY WHO WANTS TO SMUGGLE FIREARMS?" Immediately sent into a state of panic, Rose motioned down with his hands. "Keep it down!" he shouted in whisper, "last thing we want is for people to hear that kinda shit going on, y'know?"

"I've been cooped up in this moron for six hours and they're still not over the joke of pointing a gun at me and hoping its not loaded." Rose couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, the ride was certainly... interesting, that much is certain. Hopefully things'll be a little better now, though." "It's nice to talk to someone a bit more reasonable and actually able to handle themselves outside of operating a CNC machine or fiddling with whatever they've go their hands on."

Rose did what he could to stifle a laugh from the mention of a "CNC machine", but to no avail. When he eventually calmed down, he nodded. As the lot continued to talk, Rose started to lead the pack out of the airport, presumably with everyone following in suit. Eventually, Luca raised a question that made Rose laugh. "Soooo...Who's this guy then? An espada?" Speaking after his chuckle, Rose lightly bumped his elbow into Arcadus in jest. "An Espada? I dunno about that one, Luca, if that were the case I don't think I'd get along with him as well as I do."

"Right, yeah. Ok, I'm just not going to question things anymore. You wanna go? I'm ready to go. Come on everyone let's get out of here before they notice all the missing shit and broken security cameras!" Nodding, Rose continued to take the lead on the group. "You've got it! RV's parked right out front, hopefully shouldn't take too long to get everyone situated. First buyer now that Kitai's gone and hijacked my actual first customer shouldn't be too far south of here. We should be at the meeting spot in what, fifteen minutes if that?"

[Kitai Yoru]

Kitai chuckled at the reactions he got out of Arcadus. It was the little things in life that often made it worth it, and pestering the prideful man was plenty amusing to do. Getting complements for his work was also satisfying. No one ever appreciated his work, even less so when that work was aimed directly at them. He grinned at the complement, and continued to fiddle with his rifle. Well, rifle that he 'borrowed' from Arcadus, but it had been broken when he had found it. True, he had been the one to have broken it, but that was neither here nor there.

What was here, was a large airport. Hilarious. Were they tempting him to take a joyride with one of the very fun vehicles here? He was starting to feel nostalgic when the other two left the van. Shrugging his shoulders, he followed after them, wondering just what it was they were here for. As it turned out, it was a person. A short person with an eyepatch, who was too sassy for their own good, as they immediately started to criticize Kitai for his appearance. Or, that was what he assumed they were criticizing him for, as they called him a stray that was picked up on the side of a road at a red light.

Kitai stared at them with a bit of shock, before a smile started to ever-so-slowly split across his face. He started to chuckle a bit at their ignorance. Then Arcadus mentioned his name, and 'Luca' tensed up, a look of recognition spread across their face like a wave of fear. Then they started spewing sputtering apologies at him like a fountain of forgiveness. Kitai just chuckled darkly. Oh, he would have fun messing with this person. Kitai wasn't above petty revenge, and he was going to make sure Luca knew it. As they returned to the RV, he stared at them.

He sat near the human, picking up and tinkering with his gun once more. He was engraving the weapon, carving intricate patterns into the metal of the gun. A chain-like pattern wrapped around the barrel, with the barrel ending with the snarling maw of a serpent. "I wonder how it is you've heard my name?" Kitai said all of a sudden, to the Fullbringer. "Hehehe, I hadn't realized I was so famous! Tell me, Luca." He said, stretching their name out. "The last people who've know my name before I introduced myself have tried to kill me, or drag me down to Hell."

He glanced at the man from the side of his eye, rubbing his hand along the length of the weapon. "Have you ever see Hell, Luca? It is a very real place, you know. An Akki tried to drag me down there once. Once." He paused, looking off into the middle distance, remembering the abomination. "She was an Akki, and called herself the Jailor of Hell, a member of the Sanctus. I dare say she was even one of their leaders. She doesn't bother me anymore." That abandoned Oil Rig they fought on wasn't there anymore. The battle had turned the rusted mass of metal into molten slag that sunk to the sea floor. He started to carve into the weapon once more, engraving depictions of monsters and magic, of a fierce battle between two unyielding forces, using the gun as a canvas for his art.