A Screamer's A Pleaser [NDE, R, Medium]

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The faces of the goo covered pair, if you could call them faces, turned to face Wycliff and his question. The black soot parted slightly, but there was not much to hear. It was like a whisper, mumbled in the depths of the auditory range where animals could hear but humans and shinigami would struggle. For Wycliff's untrained senses it would be as if there was next to nothing being said. "finem mortuorum. rursum. invenies praeter nos, promitto." Even if it could be heard... would it have meant much sense to Wycliff? Meanwhile, Scarlet started to calm down slightly. Her goo was starting to melt slightly, giving way to the point where she'd be off of the wall soon.

[Wycliff]

He couldn't make out or even hear what the goo creatures that were Scarlet's parents , however it did seem like they could understand human language and had a mind of their own. Looking back he saw that the goo that was holding Scarlet was fading away and that she soon would be free. This told him that these goo creatures weren't here to kill, only to stop and slow people down. He grabbed hold of the goo that was holding onto Scarlet and slowly pulled it off so that she could be free from the wall. He had a plan and if it worked he would want to take her with him so that they could continue onward. He held her in his arms and with his sword sheathed he slowly walked towards the goo parents. He didn't have a trace of aggression in his body as he continued towards them. He hoped that by showing them that he didn't mean harm he could progress further and get past them. If not then he had another plan involving some pop rocks he had stored in his pants.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The parents didn't seem to like Wycliff's actions, despite the aggression. Scarlet was still having a panic attack due to the previous event of being stuck to a wall, so she was little help, but the parents spat some goo onto the ground right in front of Wycliff as a warning. Behind them was the last staircase to the upstairs where the Hollow had once again begun her Siren-like screaming and for some reason they refused to let anyone pass. Probably because of the screaming Hollow. Scarlet collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. She had broken free of the mental panic loop her brain was stuck in but it had left her gasping for air.

"Please. Mom. Dad. What's left of you... Give him The Test."

The pair turned to look at each other, spoke in the foreign whisper some more, then looked at the Shinigami and nodded. Each of them held out a hand filled with orbs of reiatsu. In a red orb was the image of a sword. In a blue orb was the image of a shield. The two would allow Wycliff to approach and to touch an orb, but would not offer anymore information and would reject any attempts for him to pass by without touching an orb. Out of breath, Scarlet would have no answers for Wycliff until he made his selection.

But what was he choosing?

[Wycliff]

It seemed that his plan didn't work, it didn't matter that he was calm they were set to attack him no matter what he was doing, that was fine though. He had expected as much, as he steppbed back a bit Scarlet spoke asking, no pleading them to give him a test. He wasn't sure as to what sort of test she was talking about, but before he could even say anything the two pulled out a blue and red orb. For some odd reason this reminded him of a kid's game involving small animals and something about creating more land, or was it raising the ocean, either way it was a bit familiar to him.

His choice seemed to be the test, but what would he pick? The red orb that held a sword or the blue one that had a shield in it. The message seemed to be pretty clear based on the color of the orb and what was inside of it. The red orb spoke of aggression, power and rage. Symbolized by both it's color and the sword inside. While the blue orb spoke of peace, tranquility and protection. All symbols of both the color blue and the shield it's self. What did it mean though was this a reflection of himself, of what he wanted? What was needed? Or how he would treat Scarlet? All of these were ways he could interpret the orbs offered to him. In a joking tone he looked at the two and spoke “what no purple orb?” Kidding at the fact that both orbs seemed to be one extreme and he wanted something more in the middle. Still if he was forced to pick one his choice was obvious. He was a shingami it was his job to protect and serve those around him and those that needed. He would select the blue orb.

[Beast]

As soon as Wycliff touched the blue orb, his mind would feel a foreign presence. He couldn't sense energy outside of himself, but there was something affecting his own body, his own mind. The world would fade to black as he would feel himself drawn into his inner world. He would find himself in the winter wonderland of cocaine during nighttime. Something would be wrong, though. It didn't feel like cocaine he was standing in, it felt like actual snow. It was a simile of his Inner World, but yet not quite the real thing.

Towering over the winter wonderland was a collossus of monstrous proportions. Standing at a few hundred feet tall, or more, the humanoid beast was stomping through the snow on its way to the east. In the direction it was headed was a small platform that held an innocent child. If Wycliff sprinted, he could make it and save her from being stepped on. The only problem was the ten puppies who were tied down a few feet in front of the platform. Wycliff would only have the time to save one of them... And that collossus was going to be impossible to fell in time.

[Wycliff]

His eyes quickly readjusted to the new sights before him, it was clear as day that he wasn't in the building anymore. No instead he was in a wondrous winter wonderland, and not the one inside of his own soul. It didn't take long to see that there was a girl sitting on a platform as well as a giant colossus of a beast stomping towards her. Without even thinking Wycliff went into action running towards the girl and screaming for her to move out of the way just in case he couldn't make it and save her. That's when he saw that nearby the platform there were a few puppies tied up. He had to make a choice, he had to either save the girl or save the puppies. This was an impossible task, he knew that he wasn't fast enough to save both of them, but he still had to try something.

Without even thinking of how much it would exhaust him he started to use Shumpo, not once, not twice but repetitively in quick succession. He did this so that he could shrink the gap between him and the girl in no time and also try and save the puppies as well. His first shumpo would lead him to where the girl was and he quickly grabbed her tossing her to the side so that the beast wouldn't step on her. With his arms empty and the girl out of harm he quickly used shumpo again in order to and shumpo towards the puppies. There was no time to get them all free so instead he sliced at the bindings that held them down. He knew that this would be the only way to save as many as he could. There was one last shumpo in him however and this one would be to propel him upward towards the foot of the beast with his blade out he knew that this wouldn't stop the giant from stepping down, but he hoped that the feeling of something stabbing at it's foot would stop it momentary and allow them to all escape.

-150 reiatsu for 3 shumpos remaining reiatsu 300/550

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The girl was hurt by being flung from a platform, but at least she wasn't paste.

One of the ten puppies was cut in half by Wycliff's hurried cutting of the bindings, but nine of them escaped.

Wycliff himself was stepped on and turned into a red stain in the white snow...




The Shinigami would open his eyes to see another room. This room was a long hallway, with nothing but a wall behind him and a door on the far side. As he walked down it, he would see paintings on the wall showing other ways he could have handled the situation. Leave them all to die... Save the life of the one human... Save the life of the many puppies... Attack the Collossus that would dare to step on lives... Many other options were portrayed, most far more bloody and far less effective. But Wycliff's choices weren't perfect either. The door at the end showed him saving the girl and the puppies, with one of the animals dying and the girl being permanently paralyzed by the fall...

Upon opening the door, the hallway would be replaced by a courtroom where he stood in the middle, shackled to the defendant stand. Sitting in the Judge's chair was a man who looked very much like Scarlet's father, sans black goo. By his side, ready to type down all of the proceedings, was Scarlet's mother, sans black goo. His voice now much more intelligible and not in a foreign language, the Judge spoke. "You chose to save as much as you could and sacrifice yourself... Explain your choices and you may or may not pass The Test."

[Wycliff]

Once more his eyes opened up and he saw that he was somewhere else. This time it was a long hallway, something that struck him as odd given that just a moment ago he was taking part in a trial and he felt himself die. Yet here he stood, he looked down the hall and saw various paintings all of different choices that he could make and his own choice. There at the end was a doorway and without hesitating he opened the door. Doing so changed everything in the hallway turning it to a courtroom which shackled him to the stand. There the the two goo like creatures stood and spoke, but this time more human and this time able to speak normally. They asked him why he did what he did, why he chose to sacrifice himself and save as many lives as possible. He simply chuckled a bit at this question before answering. “Because I chose to become a shingami, to protect all those that need it. If ya asked me to chose between saving two people I'd save them both even if I died. There ain't any way around it, all life has meaning, and heck if I had to give up my own to save another I'd do it again.”

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The Judge deliberated with the Jury, who appeared to be he, himself, and nobody else. He thought for a moment, then slammed the gavel down on the desk. "We have decided." The courtroom started to melt away and Wycliff found himself in the exact same position he had been in, still touching the blue orb. The red orb was gone, however, the the blue orb had shrunk into a pendant that was wrapped around his hand. "Use this to shield yourself for when you're defending others."

With that cryptic message, the pair of goo people parted to let Wycliff and Scarlet pass. But the girl hesistated. "May... May I stay here, Wycliff? With my parents?"

[Wycliff]

It seemed that that he had passed their trail and he had even gained something out of it. Not that he was looking to get something for just doing his job, but it was still nice to get a reward here and there. As he was making his way past the goo beings he heard Scarlet stop him and ask if she could stay with her parents. He looked at her and looked at what where once her parents, he wasn't sure what to do. It seemed like they had some form of sanity, however he didn't know how long they would remain sane for. If he didn't say yes he would be tearing her away from her family. “Ya sure ya want to stay? I mean I don't know how much of ya mom and dad are still in there Scarlet. I don't want to force ya, but I don't think it's a great idea, but ya can do what ya want I ain't going to stop ya.” Given that they weren't attacking anything that came their way at the moment he hoped that they would be sentient enough to understand that their daughter wanted to stay with them. This was the only reason why he was even thinking of letting her stay given the dangers that were in this place.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

"Well... If you don't think it's a great idea, then I'll come with you. Even though we're going to the scary lady's room."

Scarlet hurried to Wycliff's side and grabbed onto his leg, resuming her nervous counting from zero again. The pair would head towards the last set of stairs, only to hear a massive crash from down below and a horde of people coming in. Apparently massive numbers of men had managed to break through the door despite the Hollow's protection. Some sort of bruiser must have been involved, but people were spilling into the apartment complex. Already the screams from the victims of snakes and snake spiders could be heard travelling up the floors, but what was more unnerving was the sounds of those who made it up the stairs on to the same floor that Wycliff and Scarlet were on.

The men looked emaciated, spurred on by the screams of the hollow. They were in a frenzy and Scarlet's parents wouldn't last for long against them. If they made it past the gooey pair, and onto the next floor, then the hollow would have a feeding frenzy and would gain a great amount of power. But in trying to stop them here, more could be trying to pass Wycliff directly by using the elevator or other stair wells. There was a sudden time crunch and too many options. Plus, now he had to focus also on keeping Scarlet safe. On her own she wasn't particularly useful right now anyways.

[Wycliff]

He was about to head up the stairs and go towards the hollow, but then the sounds of the doors busted open and countless men started to pour in. He knew that he didn't have time to waste, if he didn't hurry they would overwhelm him and scarlets's parents in no time, but if he stayed and fought with her parents then he wouldn't be able to keep them from getting past him and feeding the hollow. He couldn't stay and fight, but there was someone else who could. Not Scarlet, but the fullbringer that he had incapacitated a little while ago. Wycliff rushed over to where the kid was on the ground and slapped him in the face to wake him up. “Hey wake up ya dummy, I need ya to destroy the stairs can ya do that?” Wycliff had no access to any of his kido at the moment if he did he would have simply destroyed this set of stairs and rushed upwards.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

OOC: I'm just going to pull an anime logic and have time stop while we're having Fullbringer/Shinigami interactions. wouldn't want things getting past while you're talking about it. Feel free to converse as much as you'd like. Time is no object right now.

The fullbringer gang member just groaned after the first slap. His goo bindings had long since liquified, but he was exhausted and burnt out from the fighting and the being hit in the nards. "What makes you think I'll help you, fool. If she feeds and grows stronger my meal will only be the more sweeter and will only grant me more power. I have nothing to gain from helping you. And I have regained more than enough strength to kill you now..." Was he bluffing? Probably not. He had been lying there awhile and if he even exercised his gravitation pressure then Wycliff might be finished. But in doing so the Krv Zivot member would also lose his chance at the Hollow... So to call his bluff or leave it alone? It was Wycliff's choice yet again.

[Wycliff]

“Ya dam idiot, if ya want to fight hollow's I'll help ya dumb ass later on. You being strong ain't no good if yer ass ends up dead because ya wanna be a damn fuckup.” Wycliff really wasn't in the mood to do a long and drawn out conversation with this punk, and even if he wasn't bluffing Wycliff was still standing and the kid was still on the ground, all it would take is another swift kick and the boy would end up screaming in a soprano tone again. He hoped that this kid wasn't as dumb as he looked given the situation, because if he wasn't then Wycliff would have to do this the hard way.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

"Fine. You owe me, then."

The kid stood up and shook any remaining goo off of him. He was rested enough to use his power again. After all, Wycliff had no idea how long he was out while taking The Test. It could have been twenty minutes, which is plenty to get a power nap. The boy shook out his sore muscles and pressed his hands to his lips. "You may want to get out of the way for this one." With a deep breath in, reiatsu surged as he performed chemical transformations in his lungs with strong fullbringer power. "Energy Generate: Conflagration"

A cyclone of flames shot out of his mouth, setting the stairs ablaze and even knocking a hole in the wall to the outside. It was overkill, yes, but the stairs were gone just as Wycliff had asked. "I'll... have to.... catch up... later...." Completely exhausted, again, and nearly out of reiatsu, the Krv Zivot member would be unable to be of any more assistance. Or really any more of a threat as well. All that was left was to take Scarlet and/or her parents and confront the Hollow upstairs...