Things That Go Bump in the Night [PG-13, NDE, Easy-Medium]

[Deleted]

When it came down to it there were some decisions that just didn't come through as well as they did in your head. Swimming with sharks, rock climbing naked, sex bareback with complete strangers, playing Star Wars Battlefront, just a few examples of bad ideas. This one though? Well, let's just say that Luke's job did not offer workers compensation. The young man poked the boxes that the obscured animal hide behind, hoping to scare it out so that he could get himself a good look at what it was that was keeping him from doing his on.

Sadly, it seemed that he was about to get a bit more than he was initially asking for. As he poked and prodded the box, he felt a resistance against his attempt. He blinked, realizing that what he was feeling as he pushed was the animal being pressed against the box, meaning that it was right against the box. Luke blinked, wondering what would happen if he poked it harder. So, he did just that. He quickly poked it harder, and doing so rewarded him with a sign of what was behind the box. A hiss escaped from behind the boxes, causing Luke to blink and take a quick step back.

"Hold on.." Luke commented, recognizing the sound he was hearing. Any idiot with a brain could recognize that sound. His suspicion was confirmed when the sight of a black cat came running out from behind the boxes. Wait, a cat? Luke blinked, looking down at the irritated feline. He expected the small creature to run away like all cats normally did, being the terrified animals that they were, but this one did not run away from Luke but instead came charging towards him in a fit of rage.

"BUAAAGH!" Luke shouted, quickly ducking down to the right as the cat came soaring past where his face had been moments before. What was with this stupid thing? Cats weren't normally aggressive creatures, especially with things much larger than them! Animal Planet and common knowledge said so! The young underpaid employee danced on his feet, turning to face where the cat should have been. "The hell is your problem!?" Luke shouted at the animal, back pedaling a bit to make some distance as well as keeping the broom raised in case he needed to smack the cat.

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta kept her eyes in the sky, trying her best to keep the smoke in her sight while Zorn continued to run towards it. Even if he couldn't see it himself, it was enough that Vesta could see it since they shared a bond together. She would turn her head every once in awhile to see where the shinigami was. He was still there, running behind them, but not fast enough to keep up with her Zorn.

Once she reached the red smoke, she stopped Zorn and started to look around. It was hard to look for anything through all this red smoke, but she felt movement under her. She was still sitting on Zorn and he had felt something, moving his body. She started to duck in the same direction, watching as a fireball shot past her head. It was a pretty close shot, but thankfully Zorn helped her.

She followed the path the fireball took and saw a huge man there. He was definitely a shinigami, she could tell from the clothing. She put her hands on Zorn, sliding off him slowly, keeping her eyes on the man. She didn't want to hurt him, but it seemed like the man that was attacking her was hurt badly. He was bleeding out pretty badly from cuts and this weird silver stuff on him.

Before she could make a move to walk towards him to try to help, the man spoke, saying that she was here to help the thing that he was fighting. She gave him a confused look. What thing was he talking about? It was then that she heard Zorn growling slightly. She turned towards his direction and saw something that she had never seen before. She knows why Zorn was getting so on edge now.

The 'thing' was human height, lean and silver. She had never seen anything like this thing, but the thing that freaked her out the most was that she felt 'something' from the thing. Zorn growled angrily towards it, while Vesta kept a hand on Zorn's coat. She kept staring at it, feeling something from it. Zorn kept glancing back at her, wondering what she was doing.

Vesta felt something from this silver thing, but she didn't know what. She felt something almost akin to what she felt with Zorn. It wasn't as strong, of course, but she still felt a weird connection. It felt like this creature could be a part of her like Zorn was. But, it didn't make any sense to her. She didn't know if she could feel connections between other Bounts and their Dolls or what. Could he be another Doll for her? She didn't think so, but this could be some weird thing going on.

While she was staring at it, she heard the shinigami yell at someone. She turned and saw that the shinigami that was following her had finally caught up and arrived. He would say that she was with the thing. Vesta kept her eyes on the silver thing. "I'm not with this thing. Is it the killer the spiritually aware has been searching for?" She then focused on the silver thing again. Zorn, are you feeling anything with this silver thing? I feel some sort of weird connection with it, like its another you. She waited to see how Zorn would answer.

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima comes running up, though to many others it would look like a brisk jog at a leizurely pace. He was pushing himself even to attain that speed as it was and he had to put his hands on his knees and bend over slightly to catch his breath. He Held out his right hand as the other Shinigami from his troop started shouting before he shouted back, a much more thunderous and startling sound than one could think to come from such a frail and small man. "Use Your Head! Or are you a mindless beast who only has a thought to kill what is not Shinigami?!"

He Rises up slowly and turns to the Grey creature a moment before striding out slow and seriously so that he is in the center point between the creature, vesta, and his troop mate. He puts a single hand on his sword and looks between all thee of them a moment "We Are in Karakura town.. The Single most spiritually charged zone in the world of the living as far as I am aware. We Are Shinigami, Protectors of the balance and of life. Most as I understand it forget that second bit. We are to control the amount of damage we cause, not just attack anything that looks mildly dangerous.

Now Be honest with me Yuma Ogura! Did you initiate Combat by threatening this creature?!" Arantima Gives Ogura a look that would Melt steel beams if they were gazed on for too long before looking over his shoulder slightly towards Vesta "Likewise, This Woman is Vesta. She has been hunting the same thing we have, I don't know the reasons why, but her companions actions, while rude have proven them both to be honest at least for now." He Glances over to the Silver creature as well, giving it it's fair time in the gaze.

"You seem to be an interesting creature, Can you speak? From what you have done to Yuma it seems that you are not fighting to drain him, not fighting to absorb his essence, or even preserve it in the slightest. So why are you fighting? Did Yuma Step into your territory by accident, or did you start this fight?" He isn't accusatory at all to the creature, staying calm and trying to make sense of the situation as best he can before any fighting starts, in his current state he is about seven shades of useless in a dangerous brawl.

[Kiera Bright]

Keira pulled both arms closer to her in order to inspect the two creatures that she had captured. She was sort of surprised that one of the arms came up empty. The bat that she would have sworn could not have escaped its grasp was gone. As if it had never been there to begin with. That was certainly curious. Keira reached into her lab coat and pulled out a jolly rancher popping it into her mouth. She let the sour flavor hit her tongue which allowed her to concentrate. She started to turn her attention to the owl when something else caught her attention. It was something that she expected less than the either the owl or the bat. She felt the presence of someone before she heard the voice. 

"What is a little girl like you doing out here so late?" Keira turned to see a man staring up at her, and arrogantly talking down to her like she was a mere child. She scowled down at him lowering her arms down to be several inches taller than the man standing on the ground. She still kept her distance from the man, she didn't like the look in his eyes. That was the look of someone who was unpredictable. She noticed his fascination with the color black along with his pale skin. He wasn't particularly glowing like she was, as her body radiated a soft pale light like that of a full moon. Her bright pink eyes would also glow as well i the darkness, so that meant that he wasn't a failure. He might have just been some kind of goth vampire wanna-be. Still she was not going to let her guard down around him.

"What are you doing out here all by your lonesome?" He sure was a nosy one. She noticed that the owl she had caught was turning into darkness and seemed to reappear as a shadow underneath a tree. So the two creatures must have been his creation. He must have some sort of shadow abilities then. The theory that he might be a bount was growing more and more apparent by the second. Now she had to determine if he was the one killing all the animals in her forest. Sure she didn't purchase the forest or the animals in it, but with her lab being so close to it, the whole mess was starting to affect her negatively, which was something that she would not tolerate. 

"I can ask the same about you." she replied flatly. "Not many people would be so willing to venture into the forests around a supposed haunted asylum like you did." Now that both of her arms were vacant, she kept them on standby. She kept them a bit behind her so they were not openly threatening, but she kept them close enough so that they served as a warning to the man not to try anything funny. "But if you must now, I am doing some investigating." She said deciding to engage the man in dialogue. Hopefully she can get something from the man that would help her. Otherwise she would get really pissed off, and no one likes her when she is pissed off. 

[Jin Yamada]

The feline hissed as it soared over Luke’s head. It had missed! It had wanted to carve up the young man’s face for interrupting it while it was hiding. It also looked really frightened too, as if it wasn’t hiding from Luke, but rather something else. That might explain why it was so annoyed when Luke disturbed it. But, did cat’s even think like that? Actually, it doesn’t matter. What did matter was that now the cat had lost its hiding spot and was now being approached by the terror called Luke. Well, in its eyes Luke was a terror. A very large, broom wielding terror.

The cat hissed at Luke again as he yelled at it and then it turned and ran. If Luke followed the creature with his eyes, he would find that it was running towards a thin crack of light in the far back. Soon enough, before heH even got a chance to follow it, the cat would be gone. He would also notice that the crack of light he had seen earlier had grown bigger. Just what was that? And where did that cat go?!

If he followed, Luke would find the cat’s escape route. The back door of the stock room, normally closed at this time of night, was hanging wide open. This was probably how the cat had gotten back here in the first place. But, why would it have ventured in here? And what was with it hiding out here and then running away again? It was up to Luke to answer the questions to this mystery! Would he just go and close the door, or would his curiosity lead him to chase after the cat and find out what was back there? But, there was a chance that there could be something dangerous out there that the cat had chosen to hide in here from. That was always how the movies went, right? Either way, Luke had options.

---

Meanwhile, upon finding his comrade there, Arantima had chosen to berate the larger man about his exclamation regarding Vesta’s alliance. The big man could be seen wincing as Arantima lectured him about their job as Shinigami and then assumed that he had attacked the creature without question. Of course he hadn’t! Why would his comrade even think that? He had been warned strictly by their other comrade not to make any hasty moves until any of the others had arrived. Arantima would know this, given he had also been there during the briefing before this mission. So, that raised the question of why Yuma was as badly damaged as he was before his comrades had a chance to arrive.

”N-no!” Yuma stuttered out a response. He was visibly shocked that Arantima would go that far to accuse him. ”I didn’t even start it…this time.” Yuma admitted. He suddenly collapsed before them, the attacks he received earlier having weakened him. Before his body could hit the ground, however, he caught himself and fell to one knee. He placed his zanpakutou into the ground in an attempt to use it as a cane of sorts to hold him up. He was breathing more heavily now than he had been earlier. Yuma Ogura was not looking so good. ”This thing…jumped out…of…nowhere.” Yuma managed to say through short breaths. He took more short breaths, getting worse by the second. Whatever that creature had done to him, it had surely crippled the large man. ”Ambush…” he said through another breath.

The creature before the three of them said nothing, and made no noise. It simply stood, regarding them all as if choosing what to do next. It didn’t answer Arantima’s question, but instead turned its face towards him. Its featureless face stared at him for few seconds before turning its attention to Vesta and then once again back to Yuma. It seemed as if it had ignored Arantima; however, it could also be that the creature could not speak. How could it without possessing a mouth?

The slick, silver creature suddenly took a step forward. Then, it took another. Then, it began moving towards them with even more steps, slowly at first. It took cautious, measured steps towards the three of them. It approached slowly, so as to be all the more an intimidating presence. ”Kill…” They would hear the word spoken as a whisper, almost as if it had come from the air around them. The voice that spoke the word was soft, and almost feminine-like. This was evident in the high-pitched tone of the voice. But, where had it come from? Was it the creature standing before them? Or someone else that had yet to make a presence. Surely, there would be confusion as to the voice’s source.

Meanwhile, the creature continued to approach them. Now, they had a choice to make. Fight the creature before them to gain more clues or take Yuma and escape. If Vesta or Arantima looked at their comrade, they would see that he was getting worse and worse. Pretty soon, he might even die, but the weird thing about it was that he didn’t look like he had lost a lot of blood. So maybe this sudden fatigue was caused by the silver-substance leaking from his wounds? That was something they would have to figure out quick and act on. Time was of the essence!

---

The creepy man standing before Kiera lost his smile as she mentioned that the forest they were in was around a haunted asylum. ”Oh really? There’s a haunted asylum around here?” the man asked, appearing to be genuinely concerned with this fact. It was all a facade, as he revealed seconds later. He chuckled and then broke into laughter. It appeared that something the young girl had said was amusing. Or maybe, it was the tough act the young Failure was putting on. With the knowledge that there was a killer out there, strong enough to take out even Shinigami, there should have been fear of being attacked at any moment. And given that the young girl was a Failure, that fear should have been heightened even more.

”Quit the “tough girl” act.” the pale skinned man stated as he continued laughing. He chuckled some more as he stared up into the young girl’s bright pink eyes. ”You’ll get yourself blown up if you don’t…” he said, that hunger once more appearing in his eyes. All of a sudden, he shook his head and took his eyes away from her. ”Nah, you’re not worth it.” he stated simply. And with that, he turned away from her and waved her off. ”Go play somewhere else, little girl.” he said. As he walked away, Kiera would note that his grin had disappeared when he turned around. The pale man seemed to be disappointed, but it was hard to tell by just facial features alone.

The creepy man dismissed the young failure and began walking away, heading in the direction Kiera had come from. He was heading towards her asylum, or maybe it appeared that way. He could have been going in that direction by coincidence. Kiera couldn’t be sure. And how exactly would she take the man’s sudden loss of interest in her? It was possible that he realized the potential to be caught in the explosion if he attempted to attack her and succeeded. Not only that, but how dismissive he had been in the process. He had talked down to the young girl. So then the question was, would she let him get away or keep him here out of pride and her curiosity to learn more about the killings? But, if she tried to keep him there, he might see her actions as hostile and attack. And if she engaged him without knowing who or what he was, there was a chance she could end up dying. The man was already entering further into the darkness where she would lose him. It was up to her to make a decision.

[Deleted]

"Little shit!" Luke shouted, watching as the cat had begun to hiss at him as a result of his moving out of the way of its attack. The young man frowned, raising the broom up to make sure it was ready encase he needed to engage with the little ball of hate and fur. He followed after the animal has it had begun to flee, wanting to make sure that it didn't cause anymore damage to the backrooms stock and cause even more of a mess that he would need to clean up. As he followed in the direction that it had fled, he stopped and blinked when he noticed where the animal had actually just gone. The backdoor of the stockroom was wide open.

This actually caused the young man to stop for a moment, blink, and immediately grow uncomfortable. See, the problem was that that door only opened one way. You couldn't open it from the other side, since it was technically an exit to the outside. You could only open it from inside, and even then you'd have to have disabled the security lock on it or else the alarms would have gone off. So seeing it wide open, in the dark, and it being quiet, caused the young man who had, moments ago, so bravely stood up against a cat to stop in his tracks. Confusion, anxiety, and worry had begun to build up inside him, but what compelled him to move forward was not courage...but rather the desire to alleviate his ever growing irritation.

The sound of the door being slammed shut could be heard through the stockroom, Luke sighing...happy that the intruder was finally dealt with. But, even so, there was still that feeling of dread in him. No doubt it was just some residual fear from having crawled around in a dark environment and experiencing a wild animal in said darkness. His thoughts were interrupted though when a new sound pierced the darkness, followed by him literally screeching in surprise and actually jumping back against the door when a hand touched his shoulder.

"The hell are you doing back here in the dark?" Takashi, the Assistant Manager that Luke had had a conversation with just a little while ago, asked with a look of confusion and concern on his face. Luke took a moment to catch his breath, chuckeling to himself as he spun in a slow circle. "Fuckin' hell man...you scared the SHIT out of me!" Luke shouted, with a big dumb smile on his face as he laughed. "Me? I scared you! You're back here creeping around in the dark!" The ASM responded, looking at Luke like he was crazy. "No no, the automatic light is out. I was coming to come find you so you could, hopefully, get the thing to turn back on. But when I was leaving I heard something fall back here.

I thought it was just Hiroyaki dropping something since, you know, it's dark and he doesn't see very well to begin with but I come back here and...guess what there's a god damned cat back here!" Luke explained, shaking his head as he realized just how stupid this situation had been. "A cat?" Takashi asked, smirking a little as if he didn't actually believe Luke. "Yeah, a black cat. Knocked over one of the boxes with those jars of jelly, broke one of them actually." He pointed over to where he had seen the mess. Takashi shook his head, snickering a little, before walking Luke out of the back room and into the light of the main section of the store. "Alright Luke, I think you've had enough excitement tonight. Let me handle the mess, you finish stocking your shelves and finish up for the night. Is the cat still back here?" Takashi asked as the two stopped by the toiletry aisle, a few boxes already set out showing that Luke only needed to finish what was started.

"No...it went out through the back door. Which was wide open. Did you send Hiroyaki out back to do something?" Luke asked, realizing just how odd it was for that door to be open. His manager shook his head, a concerned look growing on his face. "No...it was wide open?" "Wide open." The two were quiet for a minute, Luke raising an eyebrow as he awaited his managers next line of dialogue. "Alright. Just finish up with this and get outta here. I'll go check out that light and door, maybe save that jelly mess for you know who." Takashi joked, which got a light laugh out of the normally grumpy young man. Maybe it was the sudden jump scare that had managed to shake the anxiety and stress outta Luke for a bit, but he was rather relieved to no longer be in the dark.

Besides, he had work he needed to finish...which he got to quite quickly. It was dumb to assume that just because something weird was going on back there that time had stopped. He still had work to do, and someone whose job it was to know where he was. Made sense that Takashi had come looking for Luke after not seeing the young man being where he was supposed to be. Pulling the toilet paper off of the shelf, putting the new deliveries in the back and pulling the old ones to the front, Luke couldn't help but think how relieved he was that it hadn't been something spiritual. No Hollow, just a cat. But even as he worked, he still was trying to figure out how the cat had gotten in. Why was that door open? Why didn't the alarm sound because it was open?

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta continued to stare at the silver thing, wondering what she was feeling from this thing. Zorn just glanced at the beast while trying to keep his eyes on the other shinigami. He wasn't really responding to what she was saying, trying to think more about what was going on in his surroundings and protecting her. It was interesting that he had no thought on the matter, but it was more curious to her that she felt something from that 'thing.'

It wasn't until the shinigami, named Yuma, actually started speaking did she even snap out of what she was doing to pay attention to the others around her. It seemed that the shinigami was ambushed by this 'thing' or whatever it was. She heard him breathing heavy and turned around to see him go down to one knee while panting heavily. The man was clearly injured fairly badly, and they needed to get him some medical attention.

She then looked back towards the silver 'thing' and watched it watch all of them. After a few seconds of looking at them, it started to walk slowly towards them. Just seeing the thing move made her skin crawl, but when it started to speak without a mouth, that's when it was the creepiest. When it spoke just one word, kill, she knew that there was definitely something wrong with it. The slow movement was definitely trying to show how strong the creature was.

But the voice reminded her of a woman's. What kind of woman would command this thing to kill? Since she sensed the same thing as Zorn from this thing, she assumed that it was a Doll, but she wouldn't share that with the shinigami. She didn't know how they would react to that, or connect the dots that she was a Bount. So, she would keep that to herself. Now, she was curious why a fellow Bount would want their doll to just randomly kill people.

But, were the people random? Before she could think more on this, she felt Zorn grab her attention. She looked towards him and he pointed towards the other shinigami, whose breathing was getting more and more labored. He wasn't bleeding a lot, but she figured the silver stuff from this Doll was causing his pain. There was only one choice for her now and her curiosity about this 'thing' can wait.

"Your friend's safety is more important than whatever this thing is. He looks strong and if he was defeated, I don't know how well we would stand against it. We need to get him to a safe place so he can heal while we think of a way to defeat whatever this thing is. If your friend doesn't mind, he can ride with me." Vesta then jumped on Zorn's back and walked towards the man.

She would try her best to get the man on Zorn, if he wanted. If he let her, she would throw him in front of where she was sitting on Zorn. If he didn't, she would try to tell him that Zorn was faster than him actually trying to walk on his own or having his friend help him. If he still didn't, and his friend didn't force him on Zorn, Vesta would start to run off, trying to guide this shinigami to a place away from whatever this thing was so the injured could heal.

[Kiera Bright]

”Oh really? There’s a haunted asylum around here?” Keira just glared at him. Either his idiocy was genuine, which she always hated to be around, or most likely he was trying to play the fool. This was why Keira liked to stay away from people other than her unstable body. The pink haired failure failed to find amusement. Most of her kind would fear any conflict. They should. One mistake could be fatal. One wrong move could spell the end for not only the failure, but everyone else around them. Keira was different. She saw everything as logically as possible. She didn't fear confrontation. On the contrary, she expected it at this point. She was always prepared for it, so there was no reason to fear conflict.

”Quit the “tough girl” act.” Keira knew something was up now. Her mind focused. Body tensed. He started to laugh at her. Anger welled up inside her. Was he laughing AT her? She wanted to use one of her arms to pin him to the closest tree and force the air from his lungs to silence that irritating laughter. ”You’ll get yourself blown up if you don’t…” "SILENCE" Keira barked at the man irritation clear on her face, and in her voice. "Do not underestimate me." She growled. Then she saw it. The hunger. The look that she all but found him guilty of the acts that drove her to the search. She smiled slightly. He revealed more than he might have wanted. 

”Nah, you’re not worth it.” He said turning away from her. Keira stayed on her toes not wanting to fall for any tricks. ”Go play somewhere else, little girl.” That was the last straw. As the man started to walk away. Keira realized that he was walking in the direction of  her asylum. Keira was not going to even risk him intruding on her territory. A large reiatsu arm appeared right in front of the man cutting him off. The other two flanked him claws pointed at him. Keira kept her distance sitting in the hand she was on like a throne. She was in control now. If he so much as moved in a way that she did't like, she would rip him apart faster than he could blink. "Hold it right there." She said quietly. "I don't think your going anywhere. I have questions for you. You will answer them." She was not giving him an option on the matter. 

4 Flood Arms -25 for each (OOC: Sorry for not deducting these earlier)

1100/1200

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima Watched for a moment as the Thing moved forward, It Seemed to have ignored him and while he was off put by this he didn't see a visible mouth so perhaps it could not speak. He Did not watch Yuma as he replied, only glancing at him a moment when he heard the strength in his voice wane.  He Turns his head back to the Creature when the Voice ripples through the air just bare above a whisper but cealry heard even to his muffled senses. He Closes his eyes and sighs a moment before he hears Vesta Start to move.

He Nods and turns to face the creature His right hand rising up even as his head is hanging down, obviously upset with what is occurring. "I'm Sorry. But That Whisper has sealed our interactions. Had you replied, or even perhaps just simply stayed where you were and not advanced.." He Lets that thought drop off as he takes a breath. He looks up to the Creature and begins to draw his blade Slowly, Deadly Slow. He Looks over to Yuma and Vesta "Yuma Get on the Girls Friend. Go and Go now, I Can not keep up with you, Get him To Safety Lady Vesta." He levels his gaze at the Creature more sternly now.

He Begins to speak again only after his blade has drawn fully "The Crashing Waves of Hate Consume! The Heart of a Tyrant Rages! The Winds of Vengeance howl in the night! Hado Number 1, Sho!" The Hado That normally Creates a Singular Large pressure blast as soon as it is cast instead sucks inward and compresses itself into a ball with a Violent sucking wind sound before Launching with the Sound of a Pressurized Air tank exploding outward towards the silver Beast. Arantima May not be powerful, but he has spent the time to Truly Master his Hado.

He Doesn't Retreat, Instead he Steps forward, holding himself as if he is holding a sword in both hands? Why is he doing that? He looks straight onward towards the Silvered Beast and takes a Simple breath "I May not Hold you for Long, but I will Hold you." his resolve is staggering, Even though he Seems Barely Able to hold himself straight physically he is the kind of man that will never back down when his allies are on the line. He Would always rather he Take the Hit or Stay and fight if he can help his allies get away.

-25 for Master level Sho

225/250 Reiatsu

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: Apologies for holding this up.

It appeared that Luke had gone with the safer option, choosing to remain inside where he felt more comfortable instead of venturing into the mysterious outdoors. By closing the door, he prevented the feline from being able to scurry back into the store. The stray cat would have to find somewhere else to hide out in. Some place where it wouldn't make a mess like it had in the storage room. Now, Luke would have to clean up the spill that the feline had caused. Or...maybe not? Takashi, the Assistant Manager, decided that he would clean up for Luke instead and asked for Luke to go back to his duties. Well, that was enough excitement for one night.

For a moment, it would seem that Luke would be able to enjoy the rest of his shift. For a few minutes, he was able to continue stocking shelves and minding his business. There would be enough time for him to get back into the monotonous rhythm of stocking those shelves. Things would be normal for those 10-15 minutes. Luke might even begin to think about what he would do once his shift was over. That was how calm and normal things had become.

But, of course, given that this is an adventure being DMed, things weren’t going to continue being normal for Luke. All of a sudden, he would hear a loud scream. Wait, no not just one but two screams. Not one of those high-pitched girly shrieks. It was a scream that no doubt had come from a man, like the sound of someone being caught off guard or fighting something off. But, it wasn’t just the screams that would catch Luke’s attention, it was the direction in which it had come from. He would find that the shouts had come from none other than…the stockroom he had just come from. Just what was going on back there? It was up to Luke to find out!

---

As for Vesta and Arantima, things weren’t looking so good for them. Arantima’s partner for this mission had been wounded and it appeared that he was fading fast. And now they were being stalked by some creature made up of a silvery substance that appeared before them. Instead of fight, Vesta instead chose to run, prioritizing Yuma’s safety over engaging the creature. Once Yuma was safe, then they could engage it and find out whether it was linked to the string of murders.

The silver creature suddenly launched forward as Vesta took off, but it was stopped by Arantima who had suddenly stepped in front of it. The creature cocked its head to the side, gazing at the Shinigami through that featureless face even while it continued to move forward. It moved quickly, and it appeared that it would soon overtake Arantima as he spoke. As he was reciting the incantation for the Hado, the creature had made it within three feet of his personal space. But, that was when his attack was released. With the incantation strengthening it, the Sho that had been cast burst forth and slammed into the creature, sending it rippling backwards. It was caught by the attack and flung through the air. At first, it would appear that Arantima had been able to successfully hold off the creature. At first, it would appear as if all would be fine. But, it never goes down like that.

Suddenly, the creature seemed to melt and its liquid body moved around the burst of pressurized air. In doing this, the creature was able to allow the sho to pass through its body and continue moving. In its liquid form, it converged on Arantima, moving towards him in a manner as if it was aiming to swallow him up. But, instead of swallowing the lone Shinigami, the silver liquid surged past him on all sides. It wasn’t interested in him!

Upon passing Arantima, the creature once more returned to that solid form it had taken before and continued running after Vesta and Zorn. It was fast too! Somehow, it was able to keep up with Zorn, despite his speed. Pretty soon, it would catch up to them. The creature lifted one of its arms into the air, and suddenly, the arm itself liquified before morphing into some kind of katana blade. It leapt off the ground and moved into the air before coming down on the three with a mighty slash of its katana-like arm. Just how would Vesta defend herself?

---

Foolish. Quite foolish indeed. That was what some would say of Keira’s actions in that moment. Such hastiness, such brashness. The young Failure, who found no fear for the situation she was in, attempted to stop the man who had already begun to leave. She attempted to stop the man, who had already warned her about engaging him. She had attempted to stop the man that had already hinted at what he would do if provoked.

”Ehhhh?” the man uttered in confusion as the hand appeared before him to block his path. He spun around quickly to face the Failure, just as the other two hands formed to flank him. His black beady eyes flicked from left to right and took in details of the objects which surrounded him all around. Then, he looked up and focused directly on Keira. The look he gave her when he faced her once again was one the young woman would not forget. It was the look of a predator. It was the look of a predator that had just found the most delicious prey. It was a look of utter delight and satisfaction at the battle he was to engage in. She wouldn’t realize just what she had gotten herself into by provoking this man that had appeared out of nowhere in an isolated forest. It wouldn’t be something she would realize until after, that is if she was alive afterwards.

”You shouldn’t have done that…” the man said in a hushed tone, in a voice almost like a whisper.

Suddenly, in a burst of gray smoke, the man disappeared from where he was standing. His body was replaced by the smoke which lingered in the air in the middle of the hands Keira had summoned. The smoke moved into the air and launched towards Keira, coming down on her from above. At first, it appeared that the man himself was the smoke that was descending from above to attack her. Either that or he was using it to hide himself. And with that belief, the young Failure might even attempt to defend herself from the attack coming at her. Her attention would be drawn to that descending smoke cloud. That would be when she would feel the cold hand grasp her neck from behind. It squeezed tight, but not tight enough to cause her to explode. ”So what was that about underestimating you, eh?” the man taunted as he appeared there. He was fast! Much faster than Keira, even with a step technique. Keira would also notice something else upon his appearance there. She would be able to feel his Bount reiatsu now. He was no longer cloaking it.

While his hand gripped her throat to prevent her from turning to face him, he began to lift her off of the hand she was on. One thing that would probably be running through the Failure’s mind was what technique he had used to get behind her. It was almost as if the man had teleported behind her. It had to have been a step technique, given that teleportation was an incredibly powerful technique to pull off, and the reiatsu that this man had released hadn’t been on the level needed for a teleportation technique. Only a few rare individuals had discovered abilities that allowed them to teleport. No, this man couldn’t have teleported. It was something else, but it was unlike any other step technique. What had he done?!


Nameless Bount’s reiatsu: 1450/1500

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}

Class 5, rank level 1 Fighter Version 1

Strength: 75 (112.5)
Speed: 75 (112.5)
Spiritual Pressure: 150
Reiatsu Strength: 75 (56.25)
Instinct: 75
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0
Total SP: 500

[Deleted]

"Working hard tonight?"

Asami asked as Luke searched through his wallet for what little money he had. "More than I should be...for less than it should be." Luke responded, pulling out the right amount of ryo and handing it over to his coworker. Asami was one of the late night cashiers, here till the front end was closed which was in about fifteen minutes. Luke, using what time was left for the registers to be open, had decided to get a drink to hold himself over until he went home. Luke didn't have a problem with Asami, she was friendly and always had a smile on her face. He remembered her from when he worked up front, and actually was annoyed with how she so easily took customers problems with a smile. It was such a good damn quality, but Lukes second strike had actually came from him yelling at a customer that was giving the young girl a hard time. Since then she'd always been nice to him, and as a result Luke never yelled at her like he had others. He was nicer to her.

"Anything exciting happening tonight? What're you doing...cleaning aisle?" She asked as Luke took ahold of his water bottle, breaking the seal on the top and taking a drink. "Bathroom, actually. Need to finish the toilet paper and I'm good to go." He responded with his usual tone of voice. "If that's all you have left then why aren't you finishing it?" She asked quizzingly, tilting her head to one side slightly as she gave Luke a confused expression. A small chuckle escaped him as he scratched the side of his head, deciding to just confess what he was doing to her. "Actually trying to soak in some more time. If I wanted to I could have been done ten minutes ago...but then I wouldn't have ten more minutes of pay on my check."

"Hey! You know that's why she yells at you!" Asami stated, irritated that Luke was doing something stupid that would absolutely piss off the manager. He chuckled some more, grinning a little as he laughed at her reaction. After calming down she frowned, but then realized that Luke had failed to answer her first question, and so repeated it. "Well the motion sensor for the lights is out in the back, so it's darker than hell back there. Lucky I didn't fall and break my head open. Oh, a cat managed to get in! Made a mess of a jar of jam, but Takashi said he'd clean it up. Speaking of, actually, have you seen anyone in the store? I mean, someone in here you didn't see come in the front?" Luke asked, though Asami shook her head and responded with a denial of seeing anyone strange.

Luke really wanted to know how that emergency door got open, when it could only open from the inside. Thanking Asami and wishing her a good night, the overworked underpaid employee returned to his duties with drink in hand. Getting back to work and nearly finishing it, Luke actually began to consider the idea of accepting a day off when he got one. Some rest and relaxation would be great for him, and he felt that he deserved one. Plus it might calm his manager down a little if she suddenly saw that Luke didn't come in one day and soak in hours. As he tore open the last box of toilet paper, his progress was halted when he suddenly heard the scream. He raised his head, freezing with such an intensity that not even the sound of his heart beat was heard. It was one of those stillnesses that was only achieved when shit was bad. The second scream confirmed what he had heard the first time, and Luke was moving before his water bottle hit the floor.

He recognized the voice of the yell, seemingly belonging to Takashi. Those screams weren't normal, and Luke knew it. Luke knew what Takashis shouts sounded like when angry, scared, or surprised. That wasn't what he heard now. He recognized the screams too well. Hearing them made those images come to his head. Those images of Remielle breaking her way into the store. The images of his coworkers being devoured upon. Remembering how fucking dark it was, and incase the sensor hadn't been fixed, Luke ripped one of those "For sale" flashlights off the end cap, tearing the plastic container opening and shoving those batteries in. Fuck it, he'd pay for it on his paycheck for all he cared. As he sprinted his way across the frozen section he nearly slammed himself into Hiroyaki, the other night time employee who had literally no unique features to his appearance at all.

He questioned what was going on, but Luke simply told him, "Go up fucking front with Asami and wait with her!" without nearly stopping in his run. Was Luke over reacting? Maybe. But having what lurked in this world, invisible to nearly everybody, Luke was completely justified in over reacting. He knew that sort of scream from experience, and had a terrible feeling that Takashi had been attacked...maybe by whatever had opened the door. Luke could be wrong, and holy hell did he hope he was fucking wrong. He WANTED to be over reacting. He WANTED to be wrong. But was he? He'd find out soon as he SLAMMED those sliding doors open, the flashlights beam penetrating through the darkness and the silence shattered with, "Takashi are you okay?!"

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta didn't look back at all, trying her best to actually get away from that silver thing and hoping to get this shinigami some help. Shinigami weren't her favorite people as a whole, but as long as they didn't do anything against her, like outright trying to kill her on sight, she would try to help them. So, she would keep her focus forward, trying to help guide Zorn to the fastest way out of the area and towards some kind of medical help.

After about a minute, she thought that she had some weird feeling that she was being followed. This happened to her several times out in the woods, but every time she looked back to see, she never found anything behind her, but she had always assumed that some little animal was following behind her in the trees. She had always just shook if off before, since she was in a forest and knew that the animals weren't really out to get her.

To have that kind of feeling here, in the city, didn't bode well for her. She knew that the silver thing was behind her, but she assumed that Arantima was going to hold it off. Maybe something happened to him? Maybe it was him that was running behind them? But, based off what she had seen last time, he wasn't that fast. So, the only logical explanation was that the silver thing was running after them.

Because of this inkling, she decided to have one quick look behind her, to either prove that she was right about the silver thing or disprove and try to get herself ready for whatever that thing might throw at her. She did a quick look behind her and lo and behold, it was the silver thing coming up behind them fast. She quickly turned around and took a breath, grabbing tighter to Zorn's fur. He felt her tenseness and made a good assumption that the silver thing was behind them. 

When she grabbed tighter onto her fur, Zorn activated his Static Fur, in case the silver thing touched him. It would get a rude awakening that way. It didn't take long before she saw out of the corner of her eye the silver thing right next to them. Zorn took notice as well, using his peripheral vision to see the thing. Vesta thought of an attack they could use against this thing that might work really well.

Since they had both gotten stronger, she had found some techniques that Zorn had she didn't know about before. Since the thing was silver in color, it could be made of metal. If it was, this would be the best technique to use. So, she looked at the creature and while it was trying to slice down at them, she yelled out "Spiritual Magnetisierung" With this, the tiger shoots out electricity towards the thing. This magnetizes the silver thing, if it's metal, and it would then start to feel a pull. It would start to get pulled towards the next closest metal thing around. She would then concentrate back on finding this guy aid while Zorn would run at full speed.

OOC: Remaining Reiatsu:  1750/2250 -500 reiatsu for Magnetism technique

[Kiera Bright]

Well step one successful. She had stopped him from leaving. He seemed to be confused about the arms that had appeared to intercept and flank him. Then his eyes returned to Keira's. They were the same as they were before. It seemed that now she had his full attention. ”You shouldn’t have done that…” he said in a hushed whisper. Keira smirked flipping some of her hair out of her face. "Just don't waste my time Jackass." She retorted. Maybe taunting the Bount was not the best thing to do, but she was a snarky, sarcastic, and said whatever was on her mind and damn the consequences. Her glare met his hungry look. she was ready for a fight. 

The man disappeared in a puff of smoke. Keira tried to figure out what was going on, and what he was attempting to do. Keira watched the smoke rise into the air then charge down at her. Unfortunately, Keira reacted first expecting it just be a cover. She moved one of her hands in front of her at full 400 speed. The next thing that Keira felt was the icy cold hand of the bount on her neck. She was able to sense that he was a bount now that he was not concealing his abilities. He squeezed her neck causing her to grunt a little as he lifted her. ”So what was that about underestimating you, eh?” She concluded that it must have been some sort of step technique. She faced them before, but that was the least of her problems now. 

She had to think fast. She wouldn't last long in his icy grip. Who knows what he would do? Think, that was the answer. She didn't have to see him. She knew where he was. She still tried to look at him just to give him a smug smile, though a laugh was enough. She pointed a finger at the center of his chest. He would need to release her in order to avoid it, or get hit with a powerful blast. "Just try not to choke on your fucking foot." She said firing a blast of lightning from her finger without saying a single word. If he released and avoided it, she would send her arms to attack. One would slam into him with 400 speed and strength pinning him into a tree, if it didn't take it down. 

Hado #4 Byakurai 1075/1200

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: Not gonna wait for Arantima. I’ll catch him up when he posts.

Horror. This was the emotion which would grip Luke’s heart as that flashlight cut through the darkness. As that beam of light split the darkness which permeated that storage room, Luke would catch a glimpse of something on the floor before him. At first, he might even skip over it, believing it to be the box of jars that had been knocked over before. At first, he might not think too much of it. That is until his flashlight scanned back over the object laying on the ground near the backdoor. He would see it and his eyes would widen.

There, lying motionless on the ground near the door he had closed not too long ago, was the Assistant Manager, Takashi. If Luke fixed the light upon him, he would note that Takashi was sprawled across the ground, unconscious. At first, it would appear that he was dead, until Luke looked a little closer. He would see Takashi’s chest lifting up and down in short breaths. And while he was focused on Takashi, he would hear the voice that suddenly cut through the silence. ”Fa real? That scared ass punk fainted…?”

Quickly, if Luke directed his light towards the door, he would see the owner of the voice. It was a man about six feet tall, dark skinned, and wearing the same employee uniform as Luke. When the light shone on the man, he flinched and covered his eyes with his forearm. ”Damn homie, you trynna blind me?!” the man exclaimed. He moved his forearm away and began advancing on the young man. If Luke shined the flashlight on his face once more, he would notice that he recognized the man. One of the late shift workers, just like him. He would also notice the smell of cigarettes coming from the man, even from where he stood. That would probably explain why the door had been open. This man had gone out to smoke and had gotten locked out. But then, why had Takashi fainted? Had the man scared him?

”Come ‘ere, lil homie. Luke, right? Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you too bad if you don’t faint like scared ass over there…” the man said as he advanced. On his shirt, Luke would find a name tag that read, “Tyrell”. A devilish smirk was visible on his face as he approached and Luke might find himself intimidated by the dark-skinned man who was also quite muscular. He took slow steps towards Luke, savoring the moment as much as he could. And as he approached, Luke would hear another scream, this one from a female, and following it was a loud bang and the sound of glass shattering. What was going on?! His friends at the front of the store were in trouble too!

---

Back to Vesta. As the silver creature descended upon the young girl and her doll, it was impacted by a bolt of electricity released by the tiger doll. It was too slow to split apart as it had done against Arantima’s attack. It crashed to the ground and landed on one knee, watching as Vesta and Zorn continued on. It tried to stand but found itself paralyzed and unable to move. Before the creature could struggle anymore, it suddenly felt the full effects of Zorn’s technique. From all around, metal objects began flying towards the creature.

Lamp posts and signs were uprooted and pulled towards the creature. Mailboxes were lifted up, snapping off of the bolts that held them down and flying straight at the creature. Any metal item in the vicinity found itself pulled towards the liquid silver-like creature. It tried struggling, but it was too late. Metal objects converged on all sides, slamming into and burying it. Metal upon metal found itself piling onto the silver creature and it appeared at first that all was well. It appeared at that moment that Vesta’s attack had worked. ”Don’t…under…underestimate…it…” the large man named Yuma struggled to say through ragged breaths.

It was at that moment that, upon turning back to the pile of metal behind them, would Vesta see a silver liquid pooling at the bottom of the pile. It grew in size even as she continued moving further and further away from it. Then, it launched out towards her, moving quickly on the ground in a snake-like fashion. In this way, it moved quickly, so fast that it was able to slither around the metals drawn towards it by Zorn’s technique. Any metals that did land directly on the slithering silver liquid found themselves doing no damage or impeding its progress. It simply pooled around those metals and continued on. All the while, the sparks of electricity were beginning to fade from the creature as it tried to fight off the technique with a release of its own reiatsu from that liquid body. It effectively dodged them in this way, despite those metals still being attracted to it. Slithering forward, it sped up and began making up the distance it had lost while pinned down.


Doll’s Reiatsu: 2800/3000 (-200 from Spiritual Magnetisierung)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Doll Stats}

Powers will come soon. Here are the stats:

Class 4. Level 1 Runner Type.
Strength: 100 (50)
Speed: 200 (400)
Spiritual Pressure: 300
Reiatsu Strength: 200
Light Aura: 20
Dark Aura: 80
Instinct: 100
Senses: 100
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0
Total SP: 1000

---

It was quite shocking! That was the reaction which would occur in that moment. Shock would be felt from both parties in that moment. The Bount, whose name wasn’t revealed, found himself shocked that the young girl was attempting to aim a finger at him. It didn’t take much to realize that she was attempting an attack; thus, his eyes widened when he saw how awkwardly the young girl was trying to aim her finger at his chest. Given that he was gripping her neck from behind, it would be difficult for her to aim her finger properly at his chest. She would be able to aim in the general direction, but without extending her arm backwards to point the finger directly into his chest, her aim would be off. But, it wouldn’t matter if she had done that either way. Keira would find shock in what the Bount did next in response to her attack.

With speed almost three times her own, the Bount reached out with his free left hand, for he had been gripping her neck with his right hand. That left hand reached out to grab the wrist of the hand Keira had used. While normally, he would have snapped the hand at the wrist, doing so to the Failure would cause her to explode. Well, maybe it would. He wasn’t sure, so it didn’t hurt to be cautious. He redirected the wrist of that hand as Keira was taunting him and aimed it away from himself, allowing the lightning that burst from that finger to pierce into a nearby tree instead. Then, he threw the young girl off of the hand she had been standing on and prepared himself for the hand that was moving towards him. Had he kept her there, she would have been hit by her own attack. He couldn’t have that. No, not at all.

As the hand slammed into him, Keira would notice something during her fall. The hand would suddenly stop before him, for just a brief second. In the hand’s path, she would see a black wall that had risen from where he stood on the palm of the hand she had been standing on. The spike started cracking under the force of the hand’s strike and then it shattered and dispersed, but it had already served its purpose. It had bought the Bount some time, time that he had used to disappear once again, becoming smoke as he had done before. This time, he was seen standing further away in one of the trees to Keira’s left, smiling down at her as she fell towards the ground. He had already created distance so that he would be able to get away from the explosion that would occur if she hit the ground. So then, how would she stop herself from falling to the ground from that height?

”Don’t get full of yourself. You’re nothing but a ticking time bomb…”


Nameless Bount’s reiatsu: 1000/1500 (-400 for Doll Summon I forgot about, -100 for 2x Rauch)

Dunkel’s Reiatsu: 2250/2500 (-150 for Large construct, - 50 for small Owl construct. -50 for Bat construct)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}
Class 5, rank level 1, Fighter Version 1

Strength: 75 (112.5)
Speed: 75 (112.5)
Spiritual Pressure: 150
Reiatsu Strength: 75 (56.25)
Light Aura: 0
Dark Aura: 100
Instinct: 75
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0
Total SP: 500

SPOILER: Click to show

{Rauch}

Technique Name: [Rauch (lit. Smoke)]

Class: [4]

Technique Type (Kido, Hollow/Arrancar Technique, Human World Dweller Technique, Other): [Bount Technique]

Usable By (Technique is available to which races?): [Bount]

Technique Element: [Smoke]

Technique Description and Effects (Explain appearance, powers, and effect): [Insert Below]

After reading through old archives on the Ancient Bount in the Bount Citadel, Jin developed this technique once used by them. This is a general step technique for all Bount to use. Use of this step makes Bount seem more like the vampires of lore. By releasing reiatsu across the body and the feet in preparation for a step, the Bount is able to disappear at 10x their normal speed. The reiatsu gathered around the body before the step will be released as a burst of gray smoke, which conceals the user as they step away at 10x their normal speed. As the Bount moves, the smoke will move with them and further conceal the user while still lagging behind them. This essentially makes it appear as if the user has burst into smoke and disappeared when in actuality they are simply moving too fast to be seen while using the smoke to obscure their movement. Upon reappearing where they intended to move, the user will appear before the smoke catches up to them as if teleported there, meaning that opponents are unable to discern the user’s intended destination by following the smoke. This technique costs 50 reiatsu to use.

How to use technique (How is it activated?): [Insert Below]

Gather reiatsu for a step and release the reiatsu, at the same time causing the reiatsu gathered around the body to form into smoke that conceals their presence.

Technique Drawbacks (Limitations, repercussions for use, etc) (Insert Below)

None other than reiatsu cost.

Made By: Jin Yamada

Reserved? (Yes/No) (Can others use your technique, or just your character?): [No]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Doll Stats}
The doll is named Dunkel and its power is to control shadows. More specifically, it makes them corporeal. Its power only works if there is shadow around, which means that right now is the best time for its abilities to work. The power only works with shadow around because the doll steals nearby shadows it has interacted with and makes those shadows corporeal, basically solid. That’s how it formed the owl from earlier. When the shadow construct is destroyed, the shadow used to form it is returned. Don’t worry, it can’t steal the shadows of any living being except for Akira’s due to their connection. That includes animals. This way it is more balanced. It has techniques that will be revealed later. One of them is used to create the shadow constructs. It can only have 5 constructs in play at one time. If forming a larger construct, it will be the same as summoning two or three things at once depending on the size of the construct.

Class 5. Level 1 Strategist Type.

Strength: 50 (37.5)
Speed: 50 (37.5)
Spiritual Pressure: 250
Reiatsu Strength: 50
Light Aura: 0
Dark Aura: 100
Instinct: 50 (75)
Senses: 50 (75)
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0
Total SP: 500

[Arantima Kawada]

Arantima Tilted his head and Spun around swiftly as the creature Simply.. Glorped? Around him and Sped off after Vesta and his other Shinigami partner. He Tried to run at Full pace but Vesta's Doll Zorn and this Silver beast were Many many times faster than he was and even just that Hado had taken a bit out of him. He Had to sink to his knees and catch his breath after running for a few minutes. He Found himself surrounded in complete Darkness, somewhere away from all street lights and All forms of life other than those just outside of your vision that skittered across the floor and through the air at night.

He Took a breath and in his palm formed a Simple orb that illuminated the area around him like a candle might, he held it at navel height even as he began to stand. He Could not chase them down but he would walk, walk in the direction he last knew that they were Running off in, That damnable Determination of his. He had challenged the beast and it had ignored him, he may be weak but this is still insulting and dishonorable, though it was dubious that the creature knew what honor was or had any concept of it.

(Sorry for the late post.. A Mixture of being busy, having trouble getting back into Arantima and .. NMot knowing exactly what to do now that he was straight up ignored like that by the beast.)