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

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: No worries! Life happens. Actually, I'll respond to you together with Vesta's next post since my response would have brought you together with her two posts from now anyway.

[Kiera Bright]

Keira swore when she felt the bount grab her wrist moving her hand away from him once the lightning went off. It blew up part of a nearby tree. Well that was a waste, she thought bitterly. She then caught the site of her hand coming at her. Well at least I will take you...her thought was interrupted when he threw her off her hand. While she was falling she saw the hand slam into a black wall. It smashed through, but the bount was able to evade the hit. ”Don’t get full of yourself. You’re nothing but a ticking time bomb…” Keira had to think fast. Keira brought another hand up catching her gently enough to keep her from exploding.

The hand moved her away from the bount, and the other three circled around her. The hand straightened its fingers making it look like a large chair. Keira sat down with her back against it. It was partly so she could focus without having to stand all the time, as well as keeping the bount from being able to pull that kind of stunt again. "You may be right about one thing, I shouldn't get too full of myself, but I am more than a time bomb. I am a scientist." Two of the hands finger tips began to glow as she mentally began to call the name of the other kido that she knew. Kage no Kiba the two hands flung their energy waves at the bout sending ten waves at the same time. They were spread out a little so that they wouldn't need to be super accurate to hit him. 

Kage no Kiba X2  100 reiatsu 975/1200

[Deleted]

Even with the rush of adrenaline kicking him into high gear, Luke couldn't help but feel a bit tense stepping back into the dark. Having heard the scream of his manager, the possibility that something dangerous was lurking with the pickled eggs was far too real. As that beam of light scanned the room, Luke pointed it with some haste over towards the door that had gotten so much attention tonight. Settling it on the red painted emergency door, Luke lowered the light until he stopped, eyes widening at the sight of his assistant manager sprawled out across the floor. For a second his thoughts turned to the worse, those dark brown irises widening beginning to fill with panic before he noticed that his chest was moving in a rhythm. He was alive? Holy shit he was alive. What the hell happened? So many thoughts running through his head.

The sudden voice made the young man jump slightly and toss that beam of light in its direction, illuminating the individual who was standing in the dark. Covering his face as a result of having a light shone in it, he spoke out against Luke doing such a thing with a voice and accent that the young man recognized a bit. "Tyone? You dumbass what the hell are you doing.." Luke commented, getting his name wrong on accident. Luke and this man didn't meet often, mostly because of Lukes stand offish attitude and general avoidance of dealing with other people. The smell of nicotine reached Lukes nostrils, but it really wasn't what was on his mind. "Why the hell is T-" Luke had begun to say, but when his own sentence was interrupted by what it was that Tyrell had said.

He directed a threat at Luke, one that hinted he was responsible for what was wrong with the manager. Luke almost wondered if Tyrell could hear the sound of his teeth grinding together, or see how big that vein on his forehead was getting. Lukes people issues were no secret, and it was also no secret that Luke wasn't afraid to swing at someone. He'd gotten into fights before, but never with anyone he worked with. Questions got asked from time to time why he'd have bruises or scratches when he came in. Point was, Luke may not be able to deal with Hollows...but he could whoop a persons ass if he needed to. Tyrell wasn't intimidating, just another guy, and as we all know Luke had seen and dealt with far worse.

Grinding his teeth together, eyes narrowing, and muscles tensing up...Lukes bad attitude began to get the best of him. "What the fuck is your lazy ass on about? Who the fuck do you actually think you're god damn trying to scare here, fuckwit? You aint got shit! Now what the FUCK did you do to Takashi you imported porch m-" Aaaaand it happened. Lukes dumbass mouth and temper began to run wild, throwing out obscenities that could make a sailor blush. Fact of the matter was...he was pissed and had every reason to be. Tyrell just admitted to having hurt Takashi, and was wanting to do the same god damn thing to Luke. And fact of the matter was that the young man wasn't going to be the one getting hurt, it was going to be the other way around.

But that all changed when he heard the scream. Was that Asami? Lukes head turned, eyes widening as he heard it, and within that instant he had forgotten all about Tyrell. He may not have called her a friend, but she took the priority on his actions now. He broke into a sprint, tossing that flashlight down in his hurry and aiming to slam himself into those sliding doors. The scream and sound of broken glass reminded him too much of when that beast broke in. When that monster ate its fill of his coworkers. Not again. Not again not again not again. He wasn't going to let something like that happen again. A odd heat had begun to fill his veins as he broke into that sprint, aiming to slam himself through those sliding doors and back into the light of the store. He was still a good few feet away from the other man, enough that sudden sprint of that magnitude would be difficult to suddenly react to.

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta was happy that the attack had connected with the monster. After she saw it hit the monster and it stopped, she kept her face forward, trying to navigate the streets of the city to try to get this shinigami some help. While she was running forward, though, she heard some metal start to move. She had a little smile to see that one of her new attacks with Zorn actually worked.

She heard the metal scrape as it started to move towards the monster. She would try her best to actually keep the head start that the technique would give her. She couldn't help herself so after a few more minutes, she would look back and see the monster completely covered in metal from the magnetism that she caused the monster to have. Zorn grumbled, trying to keep her attention on the task at hand.

She didn't, however, and noticed that the monster was starting to catch wise to what was going on and was able to now avoid all the metal rushing towards him. This was a bad sign for sure. She leaned down closer to Zorn, wishing that he would run faster to get away from this guy. She then turned towards the shinigami. "Okay shinigami, where should I be taking you to get the help you need? I've been running around for awhile and I need some kind of direction to get away from this thing."

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: I really apologize for taking so long in replying to you all.

”Oh fa real, homie? You trynna step up?” Tyrell asked the enraged Luke. The man puffed out his chest and stood even taller in an attempt to intimidate his enraged co-worker. It seemed his earlier attempt hadn’t worked before. Instead, he had angered Luke and caused him to lash out in return. That was fine, at least for Tyrell because what Luke was soon going to find out was that his co-worker wasn’t just “any person.” The dark skinned man grinned once more and Luke would notice a gleam in his eye as he continued to approach. You talk mad shit, lil homie. I be seein’ you trynna act like you hard and what not. I ain’t got shit, right? Well, I’mma show you what I got. Don’t be mad when I tear yo ass up…. And then he advanced.

Tyrell rushed off after Luke, who had gone to pursue the scream he had heard from the front of the store. "So you talk shit and then run like a girl?” Tyrone shouted as he chased after Luke. Luke, who was focused on saving his coworker would probably not pay him any attention. He was already focused on saving Asami. That focus would prevent him from taking in Tyrol’s taunt and reacting to it. However, it wasn’t only that focus that would divert his attention away from Tyrell. What he saw in front of him as he rushed through those doors would make him stop in shock and surprise.

There was glass spread all over the floor near the door. Actually, there was no longer a door. The sliding doors into the store had been destroyed completely. Meanwhile, Asami was two or three feet in the air, held there by a tanned arm. She kept screaming as the man who owned that arm held her up. The man had tanned skin, short brown hair, and had an athletic build, one that wasn’t too muscular or too skinny. Upon hearing the door burst open, the man turned to face Luke and scowled. He continued holding Asami up as he turned fully to study Luke. After looking the young man up and down, his scowl turned into a wide Cheshire cat-like grin. The man was happy about something, and Luke was about to find out.

”Look what we have here…” the man said mockingly. His blue eyes focused fully on Luke, staring into him as if the man could see right into the young Bount’s soul. ”I’m lucky today. I get a main course,” he said, looking up at Asami before returning his attention to Luke. ”and dessert…” Those piercing blue eyes stared hungrily at the young man in a manner similar to how someone would stare at food. The man turned his attention back to Asami and he proceeded to bring her closer to him. It seemed as if he was going to let her go before he suddenly pulled her closer to his mouth. He held her neck more tightly as she screamed and opened his mouth to reveal sharp fangs. Then, he sunk those sharp fangs into the girl’s neck and started sucking on her blood. Meanwhile, Tyrell was still approaching from behind Luke. He was in trouble. Actually, Asami was in trouble too. How was he going to save her and himself? As he watched, he would notice Asami growing weaker. She began struggling less and had even stopped screaming. Luke had to hurry if he wanted to save her.

---

"Poison...it poisoned...poisoned me." the weakened Yuma stated in response to Vesta's question. The man was growing paler as the seconds passed. He was weakening, and that silvery liquid was still dripping from the large gash on his chest. From what he had been able to get out, it appeared that the doll could poison those it touched. It had most likely poisoned Yuma when it had slashed him. And now that poison was quickly killing the large man. "My comrade can....can heal...me... Yuma struggled to say through ragged breaths. His breathing was also getting more difficult. His body would shut down soon if he didn't receive any healing.

As if on cue, there was a red light which appeared above them very suddenly. If they looked up, they would see a ball of red energy descending from the sky. It moved quickly through the air and flew past them towards the doll that had been chasing them. The fireball slammed into the doll and exploded on impact, splattering the creature's silvery form. That silver liquid flew everywhere, and would have gotten on Vesta and her doll had they been standing still. The liquid covered the streets and everything that had been near that spot when the fireball exploded. "Don't stop moving! It isn't dead yet." came a voice from above them.

If Vesta looked up, she would see the woman running alongside her on the roof of a nearby building. The woman leapt from the roof of that building to another and continued in this way in order to keep up with Vesta and Zorn. She appeared small and slim from where Vesta was on the street and she moved quickly, able to keep up with Zorn who was running along the street. The woman's face couldn't be seen beneath the hood she wore and she made no attempts to look in their direction. Instead, she stared straight ahead and continued moving along. "Follow me! Once we get far enough away, I can get him some help." she called down from above. It appeared that the woman knew Yuma, given that she had used his name. She was also dressed similarly to both Yuma and Arantima, despite her uniform being more form-fitting than the others. If Vesta looked, she would see a small smile appear on Yuma's face as he closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness. Vesta would have to follow the woman in order to get the large man some help.

---

As for Keira, the Bount’s eyes widened when he saw the magnitude of the attack launched at him. It appeared as though Keira wasn’t looking to get answers anymore. He didn’t need to get hit by them to know that impact would mean death for him. Had it been just those 5 waves, he would not have had much trouble, but 10 made things more difficult. Keira had also aimed them in such a way that he couldn’t just outright dodge them. It was a smart plan, and would have worked had her opponent not been more cunning.

With a Movement enhanced step, the Bount launched himself off the tree branch he stood on. Having moved into a tall tree, by simply falling from the tree branch, he found himself falling away from the waves that had been launched at his position in the tree. By enhancing his step away with movement, he had increased his speed enough to fall before the 300 speed waves would reach him. He had also moved far away from Keira incase she exploded from the fall earlier. With that in mind, it would take time for those waves to reach him. So, with that movement enhanced step backwards, the Bount fell from the tree towards the ground below.

Shadows launched upwards from the bottom of the tree to form a small circular platform for him to land on. The platform then lowered itself slowly to the ground while the Bount glared up at Keira. ”Okay, so you’re better than I thought…” the man admitted. His beady eyes looked around, no longer focused on Keira as they had been before. The man was looking for a way to escape the Failure. She was wasting his time. He couldn’t feed on her and he couldn’t attack her without her exploding and killing him too. He was at a loss.

”Dunkel, let’s get this over with so I can meet up with the others.” he grumbled. He had spoken loud enough that if she was listening, Keira might even hear him. It would be a clue as to what he had been doing in the forest. What she did with that information was up to her since she still needed to find out more about the killings. It would be better to capture the Bount alive in order to question him, if she was able to beat him down until he could no longer fight.

Shadows swirled around the man and began forming to his right. He stepped backwards and kicked up the platform he had been standing on. From there, his doll was able to do the rest. The doll guided the shadowy platform towards Keira, and as the makeshift weapon flew towards her, the doll caused it to grow larger and spin rapidly in a buzzsaw-like fashion. It flew right towards her face, and would cut it in half if she was unable to dodge. Of course, the Bount knew she could easily summon another of those hands to protect her. With another hand, she would have an advantage over him. So, while his doll distracted the Failure, the Bount took off. With use of Rauch, he burst into smoke and moved in the direction that would take him out of the forest and into the Town. Keira would need to follow him if she wanted more answers, but first she needed to deal with the doll’s attack.


Nameless Bount’s reiatsu: 925/1500 (-25 for Movement, -50 for 2x Rauch)

Dunkel’s Reiatsu: 2100/2500 (-150 for Large construct)

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta popped her head around when she heard the shinigami speak. It poisoned him? She quickly looked at the man and saw all the silver seeping from his wound. So, based on what he said, that silver ooze was some kind of poison that was slowly draining away his energy. She made a note to not let that thing touch her or Zorn. But, since Zorn was a heavy hitter in close combat, it would be much harder for him to avoid a strike from that thing.

She glanced back and saw that it was still following them. She leaned down close to Zorn in the hopes of helping him gain more speed. She wanted to try to outrun the Doll, but to no avail. The shinigami told her that his comrade could heal him. His comrade? Was he talking about the other shinigami that they had met? She didn't know how he could help when he was so far behind them now. It was then that she saw a bright red light above her.

It flashed past her and blasted the Doll. She watched as the Doll pretty much exploded on contact with whatever that thing was. She was impressed with the power that red light thing must've had. Before she had the time to let Zorn know to slow down, a voice yelled out that it wasn't dead yet and they needed to keep running. She assumed the voice had come from whoever it was that threw the red light/fireball thing.

She quickly looked up and saw a woman running along the rooftops, matching them stride for stride. The woman had good stamina to keep up with Zorn. The woman was clad in head to toe in fairly tight fitting clothing. She thought it was weird, since most shinigami she had met wore fairly loose fitting clothing. Maybe she wasn't one? Before she could think too much more on it, she was told by this mysterious woman that she could help the man if they ran further. She got close to Zorn and egged him on, willing him to continue running till they could help the passenger that they had.

[Deleted]

What did someone have to go through before they considered a day at work was a bad day? Getting to deal with some uptight bitch angry that the tomatoes in her half eaten sandwich weren't fresh enough? Having the promised promotion given to a member of the bosses family who barely did anything? Your lunch was cold? Regardless of what you think, whatever you went through during the day to constitute your work day being bad couldn't be anything compared to what Luke called a bad day. The surprising part, though, was that the bar kept getting raised. Already the young man was suffering from, what some would call, post traumatic stress disorder from when that Hollow had decided to turn his place of employment into a all you could eat snackbar...but this...this was just taking the cake.

Luke's sprint to the front of the store came to a screeching halt when he happened upon the commotion he had heard from the back. Those brown eyes of his widened as far as they would stretch, his mouth hanging open just a tad. Tyrel, who had been yelling and taunting at the overly focused young man, was still approaching Luke from behind but the young human was so focused on what he was seeing now that he wasn't paying attention. What, exactly, was he seeing? Someone that Luke had never seen before, someone who had tanned skin and blue eyes, was holding his coworker, Asami, by her throat. The front door had been completely destroyed, almost mirroring the day that the Hollow had busted in.

"What...what the fuck...?" Luke questioned, listening to the other mans words and watching as he pulled his younger coworker closer. His mouth opening up, revealing those fangs, caused a pit to form in the young mans stomach. Seeing those fangs, the destroyed door, and all this other crap made such a pained pit form in his stomach. A panicked expression painted itself on his face as he watched what the stranger did to his coworker. He sank those extended canines into her neck, and Asamis screams had begun to weaken. "t-the fuck.." Luke murmured as he watched her getting weaker and weaker.

What was going on? Why was this happening? Why was this happening again? It was all happening again. This feeling of helplessness, this feeling of failure. Everything was happening again. For a moment Luke thought he saw the Hollow where this strange man was standing. Yet again Luke wasn't going to be able to do something to stop someone he knew from dying. If this guy was what Luke thought he was, and god damn fuck how was that even a thing, then what was he going to do? Luke thought about it. For a moment the thought of him bolting out of that destroyed door into the night and as far as he could go reached his mind.

But how would he be able to live with himself? Already Luke suffered from night terrors, cold sweats, and waking nightmares from what happened those weeks ago. Already Luke could barely live with the guilt of what happened. Could he do it again? Could he simply run away, saving himself and letting another person die because of him? No...no he couldn't. He didn't even realize he was running again, this time towards the stranger drinking his coworker dry. When his conscious realized what he was doing there were a few demands to stop, to run away, but they were not obeyed. Instead Luke let his own heart and soul take over.

He leapt up, launching from the floor, to the conveyer belt of a register, and into the air towards the stranger. "Let her go you cunt!!" he shouted at some point during his charge, his arm pulled back during his jump in preparation to slug the bastard right in his tan fucking face.

[Kiera Bright]

With the distance between the two combatants, and the bount's step technique, the attack missed the target. He managed to move back and fall to the ground just letting the attacks sail over head cutting through the trees like a hot knife through butter. Should have used another hand or two, Keira thought. With a couple more hands, she might have been able to cover every escape rout he could have taken, but oh well it was too late for that now. Her eyes fallowed him to the ground, or slightly above it where a shadow platform was there to catch him. His demeanor had changed from what it was earlier. No longer did he see her as prey but as a threat.  

”Okay, so you’re better than I thought…” Keira smirked crossing her arms across her chest. "Obviously, though you have been lucky that you managed to survive as long as you have with that mistake." She was not going to let up on him yet. She kept her guard up, not wanting to make the same mistake he did. She couldn't afford to. ”Dunkel, let’s get this over with so I can meet up with the others.” Others? Of course, it wouldn't as simple of eliminating just him. Now another problem had just presented itself. If she did kill him, or hell even if she escaped, the others would not look kindly on this transgression. Next time, it wouldn't be a one on one fight. 

The bount was making his move. He kicked up the platform that he had been standing on and sent it at her. It started spinning reminding her of a saw coming right at her face. Without a second through she brought another hand up smashing it aside. Once the platform had been dealt with, she needed to work on catching the bount. She would move her arms at full speed using her energy senses to track him when she lost sight of him. She wasn't the best with energy sensory, but she would use it only enough for her to get him back in her sights. She sent all the arms out, except for the one she rode on, and one to protect her, out to fan around him. They would slowly close in on him as she chased him down, hopefully one of them would grab him before they reached town. 

[Jin Yamada]

Luke had been quite courageous in that moment. Despite being in panic, Luke did not falter. Despite his feeling terrified of the situation occurring infront of him, Luke remained. Rather than follow instinctual response to run, Luke remained in order to save the girl. The young man chose to ignore those flight signals being sent to his body and instead prepared himself to fight. In that moment, one could say that Luke was born to be a hero. But there were also others who would say he was just being foolishly courageous.

The eyes of the man draining Asami of her blood turned towards Luke. While he was focused on draining Asami, he saw Luke leap into the air with his peripheral vision. Quickly, he withdrew his mouth from the girl’s neck and prepared himself as that fist crashed into his face. Two things happened simultaneously in that moment. One would make Luke jump for joy while the other would reveal to Luke just what type of people he was dealing with.

Luke would succeed in freeing Asami since the man dropped her upon being hit. That was the good part. The man dropped Asami, but it was not exactly of his own free will. As that fist connected with the man’s face, Luke would find himself punching right through the man’s skull. He would punch right through and be horrified in seeing his fist form a hole in the man’s head. He would begin thinking that he did not know his own strength, that he may have even killed a man unintentionally. For a split second, he would feel these things just before the man’s entire body broke down into a wispy gray mist. With no hands, the man had to drop the young girl, who was now more pale than she had been before. From his head down to his feet, the man’s entire body melted away into that gray mist. His entire body became that gray mist and then the mist shifted and quickly moved towards Luke without warning. It came so suddenly and so quickly that he would not be able to react in time, given the shock and hesitation he would have felt just moments earlier after punching through the man’s head.

Luke would suddenly find himself frozen in place, not because he couldn’t move his body. It was because a hand was now gripping his neck, and slowly lifting him into the air. ”You little shit…” The man’s voice could be heard echoing from the mist that had formed the arm which now held Luke by the throat. He had essentially traded places with Asami. ”Who do you think you are? You thought you could hurt me?” the man’s voice bellowed. At that last statement, his face also formed in the air, completely unharmed. The rest of his body followed until his whole upper body had been fully formed. The legs, meanwhile remained as that gray mist and began spreading out into the air around them.

Meanwhile, Tyrone caught up and stopped upon seeing what was happening. He broke into a wide-toothed grin and taunted Luke along with the other man. ”I see yo ass ain’t talkin’ shit now, huh?” he called to the young man. ”Aye Alestar, we cain’t mess him up too much, remember? We ain’t go through all that trouble trynna find 'em fo you ta kill’em…” Tyrone said, addressing the man whose name was revealed to be Alestar. ”I know!” the man named Alestar shouted back. ”But since he attacked me, I can say it was just self defense…” It appeared that the two were working together! It also appeared from their comments that they had been searching for Luke specifically. Such a revelation might make Luke begin to question the connection between Tyrone’s sudden appearance as an employee at the store and the deaths that had been occurring. That is, if he had even heard of the deaths. If he hadn’t, there would be no questioning and no connection to make. But, he would most likely begin to wonder just what this man and Tyrone wanted him for. And he would begin to realize that because of him, Asami had been hurt. Oh, how that would weigh on the young man's conscience.

Alestar’s Reiatsu: 1650/2000 (-100 for "interrupted" Futter, -100 for Nebel, -150 for “Partial Form”)

---

Trusting the mysterious woman, Vesta followed closely behind as the woman ran along those rooftops. She followed after the mysterious woman that had appeared and saved her from the liquid metal creature. Without knowing who or what she was, she had still decided to follow. Maybe it had been the calm smile Yuma gave upon seeing the woman. It was possible that the woman was his ally. And in turn, also Arantima’s ally. So, it could be assumed that the woman could be trusted.

The woman moved quickly, with incredible agility and grace. She leapt from rooftop to rooftop and never missed a step. If Vesta watched closely, she would notice that the woman used a type of movement some in the human world called Parkour or Free running. The mysterious woman’s movements were very reminiscent of the movement style. It would quite possibly provoke Vesta to wonder how Shinigami would know about a Human world style of movement. Though Vesta wouldn’t know it, this woman had learned the style from a man that had come to the human world specifically to learn this type of movement.

The mysterious woman continued moving across the rooftops, easily passing over any obstacles in her way. If Vesta looked ahead, she would notice a large warehouse coming up in front of them. It appeared that the woman was moving straight towards it. The door to the warehouse was slightly ajar, which was good for Vesta. From above, the woman signaled Vesta and pointed in the direction of the warehouse, letting her know they were stopping there. Quickly, the woman leapt from the last roof towards the warehouse. She found herself climbing in through an open window, but before she did, she singled Vesta to follow. Now, it was up to Vesta to follow the woman to find out just who she was.

”Sakura…Arantima…I’m sorry…” Yuma muttered to himself while unconscious. It seemed he was apologizing to someone. No, two people to be exact. One of them was someone Vesta was familiar with while the other was someone she would have no idea about.

---

While Keira didn’t know it yet, there was a reason why the Bount had been able to sneak up on her earlier. There was a reason why she hadn’t sensed him in the forest before his appearance. As a Bount, the man was gifted with the race’s ability to appear non-spiritual. Not a drop of reiatsu could be sensed from Bount when they weren’t using any. To anyone who could sense reiatsu, they would appear harmless, as if they were just normal human beings. It wasn’t until they attacked that their reiatsu could be sensed. So, no matter how hard she tried, Keira would find that she couldn’t actively sense the man’s reiatsu, despite her above average energy sensory.

So, as her hands launched out to capture the man, they would fumble in the darkness of the forest. After escaping, the Bount had stopped using reiatsu and began running on foot without any step techniques. Finding him was going to be difficult unless Keira could follow the sounds of his breathing. But unfortunately, the man had stopped! So now that he was no longer running, and was actively hiding, it would be even more difficult to detect him. And when she sent all of her hands out to capture the man, that was when he would pounce on his prey.

The doll, which Vesta had forgotten about, suddenly attacked from her blind spot. Shadows rose around the Failure and began to surround her and the hand she was using as a throne. Within seconds, the shadows had surrounded her completely, enclosing her in some sort of sphere. Within it, there was no light and therefore nothing she would be able to see. It would be pitch black within that sphere of shadows, meaning that Keira’s sight would be blocked until she found a way to escape from the dome. She would have to hurry too because the Bount had taken that chance to move again. Another reiatsu-enhanced step found him moving from behind a tree to her right and slipping once more into the shadows. If she escaped quickly, she would be able to catch up to him in no time. His reiatsu was running low, so he couldn’t keep this up all night.

Nameless Bount’s Reiatsu: 900/1500 (-25 for Movement)
Dunkel’s Reiatsu: 1950/2500 (-150 for large dome)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Alestar’s Stats}

Alestar Retsala. Class 5 Bount. Level 1 Soldier type.

Strength: 75
Speed: 175 (262.5)
Spiritual Pressure: 200
Reiatsu Strength: 150 (100)
Light Aura: 0
Dark Aura: 100
Instinct: 75
Senses: 75
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0
Total SP: 750

OOC: Incase you’re wondering after looking at his stats, we’re ignoring cutback because Alestar transformed when Luke hit him. Also, since Luke is at the level to have his doll but still hasn’t had it develop IC, I’m giving you the creative liberty to do that here as well as power up IC through the doll unlock to use your updated stats. I think that’s what we talked about originally. Also, I’ll post stats for Tyrone later, if he ends up being engaged as well.

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta continued to follow this woman towards wherever she was going. She assumed that the woman was an associate of the shinigami that Zorn was carrying on his back. She had nowhere else to go and no other good leads to follow. She also wasn't in a good position to fight that weird silver thing again. What was that exactly? She hadn't felt anything like that before. Was it another Doll?

She would quickly ask Zorn if he knew anything about that. He lightly shook his head and it figures. He wouldn't know much more than she would about it. The feeling from that thing was weird. She tried to think back if she had felt anything like it before. If it was something like Zorn, it had to be a Bount's Doll. She tried to think back to when she had met Jin's Doll. She didn't remember feeling anything like that, but then again, he was in his sealed form.

Maybe she could sense if something was a Doll when it was released? The weirdest thing about it was that she didn't see the Bount anywhere. Every time she had seen a Doll released, the Bount was always nearby. With this one, she hadn't seen what she would consider its Bount partner. It struck her as odd that he wasn't around. She then glanced towards the woman. She had no idea how she could move that way.

It was then that she watched as the woman went towards a warehouse and had signaled her to go into said warehouse. She followed as quickly as she could, running through the door. She let Zorn stop in the biggest area that she could find and jumped off him quickly. She ran back towards the shinigami and helped him to the ground. Zorn immediately laid down to rest, which he deserved. He mentioned two names, Sakura and Arantima, and that he was sorry. Sakura? Was that the woman? She stood next to the man and waited to see what she would do next.

[Deleted]

SPOILER: Click to show

{ooc} So I'm using Class 5 Luke now I take it? I'll also handle costs when I get home

So many different things went through through Luke's mind in those few moments. The feeling of his fist against the strangers face brought about the feeling of satisfaction. Seeing Asami be released made Luke feel as if what he had done actually mattered. But what happened to the man after Luke introduced his fist to the strangers face filled Luke with real, genuine, fear. Terror not unlike what he felt when he faced the Hollow. What was this guy? Was he human? The man just... Evaporated. He went from being a solid, squishy, human being and deformed into a cloud of vapor. What the hell was going on? What was he dealing with? Luke tried to move back, to create some distance between him and the vapor that was suddenly moving towards him. But the combination of fear and confusion halted his movements, enabling him to be snared in the mist.

Luke gagged intensely when he suddenly felt like he was being choked, the feeling of a hand clutching his throat appearing after the mist had surrounded him. Suddenly, through the mist, an arm began to form followed shortly by the reappearance of the rest of the man named Alestar. As predicted, Luke struggled against the mans grip, grabbing onto his arm and trying to pull himself free. The differences in their strengths, however, and Luke's lack of adequate oxygen intake, however, made the task immensely difficult and impossible. Why did all of this shit have to happen to you? Why did it always have to happen to him?

Luke found his teeth grinding against each other as he continued to try and free himself. Amidst the struggling Luke overheard what Tyrone suddenly said. They had been looking for him? Someone was looking for Luke? Things were starting to become clear now. Tyrone was a recent hire, a freshie, and while Luke had never once thought about it there had been a string of deaths in the area ever since the first day he had started working in the store. Why would Luke have attached the deaths to someones sudden appearance? Luke lived in fucking Karakura Town, where actual living monster ghosts went around eating people. Mysterious deaths in this city were nine times out of ten caused by asshole Hollows. How many people had been killed by these two fucks?

And then Luke realized it. He realized that because of him two more people had been hurt. Not only Asami, but Luke had no idea if the manager knocked out in the back was even hurt. It was happening again. Luke had no clue whether Asami was going to be okay or not. He had no idea if the manager was alright. Those same feelings he'd been having the past few weeks, the same reason he woke up in cold sweats and had nightmares, were returning to him in full force. Was it his fault Asami had been hurt? Someone may argue that it wasn't, that Luke did nothing wrong. But Luke felt differently. Someone had already died because of his stupidity before, and now another person was possibly going to die for simply working with him?

Teeth found themselves grinding together as he clutched onto Alisters arm, a look of anger painting itself across his features. What sort of shit were you into mom? What sort of crap did you suddenly dump into my lap? You said there was someone here in this damn city I was supposed to find...and you better not have meant I was supposed to meet fucks like these. Something was up. Luke felt hot. He felt heat coursing through his veins, as if responding to his growing anger. I've spent a year looking for you. Worked myself half to death trying to just survive in this city, and what do I get? Get attacked by monsters, work shit and terrible jobs because I decided to go look for you instead of going back to school, and now this!? Fuck it! I'm done! I'm done with this crap! Lukes growing anger at, well everything, was causing a reaction inside of his body.

Without even knowing it Luke had begun to change ever since he first moved into Karakura Town. His body had been soaking in the invisible energy around him, drinking it in like a fish out of water. Lukes soul had, essentially, been in hibernation for so many years now due to his upbringing. He had been sheltered, cut off from the spiritual world and what dwelled in it. The reason things had taken so long was because of that upbringing. His soul needed time to revitalize itself with the reishi in the air, the reiatsu exposure from the Hollow...from coming into contact with Alister. The heat that was moving its way from his head to his toes wasn't anger but a new energy in the young man that was on the verge of exploding.

Well this is quite the pickle you've got yourself in. Can't decide whether this tops the assholeless Hollow in the sex shop though.

Was Luke hearing voices in his head now? Maybe all this crap finally caused him to snap and go crazy.

Crazy? Alright, maybe, but you hearing me definitely at you being crazy.

Then...what are..?

I'm sorta that thing your dear sweet mommy dearest didn't want you developing. Basically I'm a part of you, but also my own thing, we're like one and the same but completely different. Hell if I know. Hey, do you think we can go for burgers after this?

What the hell are you talking about??

You're right. More important things to worry about right now. Mr. Vape Nation and Affirmative Action need to get taught a thing or two. Okay listen, I don't really have the time to tell you what's going on right now, and please hold your questions until the very end, but you're gonna need to trust me alright.

Trust you? I don't even know what you are!

I suppose that's fair. Well...then I guess you have a choice. You can either end up like little pigtails sweater puppies down there...or you can make the decision that's going to change your life forever. And in a way that you can't come back from. SOOOO...you can be a man and trust me or be a bitch and back out.

God damn it fine.

Haha! Good! Now then, call me Jäger

Luke wasn't sure he just wasn't going crazy...but hell if something could help him in this situation then he was going to try it. He wasn't going to be a victim anymore. He was sick of the way life was going for him. The guilt, the fear, he was sick of all of it. He was going to take the bull by the horns for once and make it go his way. Jäger, whatever this thing was, spoke to him again. He, it, whatever, whispered two words to him. Two words for Luke to speak, no matter how hard it was to speak. And with those words came a warning. Nothings going to be the same for you after this. You're going to be tossing all the stuff your mom drilled into you, to keep her baby booty safe, right into her face. Can't go back from this. Fuck it. Luke forced the words out.

"Ziege Dich!"

What happened next was...well kinda chaotic. All of that heat Luke was feeling seemed to just...erupt...from his body. A wave of violent energy exploded out of him, blowing Alester off of the fuming human. The pulse of blue colored energy hit the ceiling, causing the lights above them to explode into shards of glass and sparks. All the electronics were fried, casting the store into darkness. Luke landed with a thud, rolling to his feet and looking at his hands. He felt like he was on fire. That heat was still there but...it wasn't as hot as before. It felt more normal. The hell was going on? He didn't have time to think about it though, as he realized that both Tyrone and Alester were still problems. If Luke wanted to get out of here, with the front doors being locked, he had no choice but to make a dash for the back of the store and out the emergency exit.

It seemed like a good plan. Then he heard something. Tyrone and Alester would hear it also. From somewhere around them, somewhere in that dark store, a sound echoed through the darkness. What the hell was that? Luke had no clue, nor did he entirely care, as he quickly kicked off the ground and made a mad dash down one of the aisles. He could get out, he knew he could. As he ran he heard another sound. He turned his head back to see the shelves of the aisle he was on falling. Falling as if something had pushed them to keep anyone from following Luke down the same path. Luke knew the store, and he could see a little bit from the street lights shining inside a little. But what pushed the aisles over, he wondered as he kept running. He felt drained. He felt tired. What had happened just a few moments ago? What was that explosion?

Remaining Reiatsu: 650 / 1050
-400 for Releasing

[Jin Yamada]

With a soft thud, the woman who was clad in those tight-fitting black garments landed near Vesta and her doll. At first, even looking up at her, Vesta would be unable to make out the woman's face beneath the darkness of that hood, even as the woman strolled towards them. Each step she took was silent as she approached. She was like a shadow, a ghost. She stepped towards Vesta without saying a word and then knelt down beside the wounded Yuma. "Thank you for getting him out of there." the woman said finally. She placed a finger against Yuma's wounds where the silver liquid was leaking out. She lifted her finger to her face and eyed the mysterious liquid. "He's been poisoned. That creature poisoned him with this substance." the woman observed.

She reached behind her into a small brown bag that was attached to the back of her waist, and from the bag, she withdrew a vial with a clear liquid in it. With a nod towards Yuma, she instructed Vesta to hold the man's head. Incase Vesta didn't understand, she also vocalized the order. "Lift his head up for me." she commanded. Once Vesta tilted Yuma's head up, the woman reached out and placed a hand upon the man's jaw. She attempted to pry his jaw open and upon doing so, she carefully poured the liquid into the man's open mouth. Yuma started gagging as the liquid was poured in, but the woman poured slowly so that he would not choke. Then, once he had swallowed all of that clear liquid, the woman stood up and turned towards Vesta.

"My name is Sakura Shihoin. I am a member of Squad Two of the Gotei 13." the woman said. Sakura bowed before Vesta, in gratitude for helping to save her comrade. When she stood up, Sakura pulled off the hood as she spoke so that Vesta would finally see her face. Underneath the hood, the woman was very beautiful. Her skin was a smooth caramel complexion and she possessed wide purple eyes which surveyed the young Bount before her. Her black hair was cut short in a style some referred to as a Pixie cut. The only difference was the long curly bang which was parted to the right side of her face. The way she carried herself, the way she looked, and the way she spoke, it was with a grace that could only belong to nobility. That or someone who grew up in a wealthy family.

Sakura's eyes moved to Yuma and then they settled back onto Vesta. "Thank you again for saving him. I tried to get to him as quickly as I could after seeing his signal…” she said, her voice betraying the worry she felt for her comrade. "That creature you were running from was a doll. I think it's master was the one I was fighting before coming here. Now that I think about it, he must have purposefully tried to separate us and cut me off from them. I had to slip away from him in order to get here in time." Sakura explained. So it appeared that Vesta's enemy was indeed a doll, which was why she felt a similar sensation coming from the doll as she felt from Zorn. Sakura had also unintentionally answered Vesta's questions about where the doll's master had gone. The Bount had left its doll to fight off Yuma while it attacked Sakura to separate her from them.

Sakura eyed Vesta once more, her eyes scanning the young girl carefully. ”You have a doll too…so that means you’re a Bount? Who are you? And why was that doll chasing you?” the Shihoin woman asked. As she waited for an answer from Vesta, she turned to check on Yuma and make sure he was okay. Once she was satisfied that color was once more returning to his pale skin, she turned her attention back to the young Bount. It would be a chance for the two to rest and communicate for some time. Vesta could exchange information with the woman, depending on what the woman was willing to tell the young girl. Either way, this was Vesta’s chance to find out what was going on.

---

There was shock upon the faces of the men as that power surged from the Bount before them. Reiatsu burst outwards, pushing Alestar, who was nearest to Luke, and even Tyrone away. ”He has a doll?!” the man named Alestar shouted to his partner. ”Yooo, fa real? I ain’t know he had a doll!” Tyrone shouted back. Alestar’s head turned frantically, in his attempt to search for Luke in the darkness that now surrounded them. Sparks jumped from the fried electronics around them, creating small flickers of light that lit up the floor here and there. Alestar caught a glimpse of the young man bolting down an aisle way to safety and prepared himself to pursue. His body began dissipating into mist once more before he heard the sound that permeated the darkness of that store.

”We were told he didn’t have a doll! Shit!” Alestar cursed. He turned his dissipating head in Tyrone’s direction and shouted orders at the man. ”Go after him! I’ll cover you.” he barked at his comrade. Tyrone, in hearing these orders immediately complied. It appeared that out of the two of them, Alestar was the one in charge. With a grunt, Tyrone lifted himself from the floor and bolted after Luke. Despite his large size, the man was fast, superhumanly fast to be exact. He took off down a different aisle than Luke, hoping to catch the other Bount off guard at the end of the aisles. There was only one place Luke escape to, and Tyrone was going to cut him off. ”Yo ass ain’t going’ nowhere!” the Bount called out in the darkness. Meanwhile, Alestar once more dissipated into that mist form of his and scattered himself throughout the front of the store in an attempt to cover Tyrone when the doll Luke had summoned finally showed itself.


Alestar’s Reiatsu: 1650/2000

Nebel: 2/6

[Vesta Zweig]

Vesta walked the woman slowly and methodically walk towards the both of them. She wore all black, so it was hard for her to tell just what the woman actually looked like. Once she was close to the man, she thanked her and checked what she assumed was her teammate over. The silver was still oozing from the wounds. Zorn would sniff the air in the warehouse to see if he smelled anything, but there was nothing he sniffed different.

The woman said that it seemed like the silver oozing out of the man's wounds were actual poison. It was interseting that the Doll made a poison. Maybe the Doll's body was pure silver ooze poison? It would be interesting. Touching that Doll could've been hazardous to their health. She thought about those possibilities and missed what the woman was doing. It wasn't until the woman spoke to her that she was paying attention to what was going on around her. 

It seemed like the woman was wanting her to lift his head. She quickly nodded and bent down over the man. She gently put her hand behind his head and slowly started to lift it up. The woman started to pour some clear liquid down his throat. What the heck was that? Was it some special shinigami liquid that would heal all his wounds? Was it something that would absorb the silver poison and change it to something different?

Her head swirled with all the different possibilities that that liquid could be and once she was done, she slowly lowered his head back to the ground and stood up. The woman looked at her and then introduced herself as Sakura Shihoin from Squad 2 of the Gotei 13. She had heard of the Gotei 13 before from Tsukiyomi. She didn't know if her squad number made her squad one of the better ones since it was a single number or not.

The way she spoke and carried herself though, it made Vesta think that she was rather important. She had no idea who this woman was and had no idea how important her family was in Soul Society, so she regarded the woman as just a normal person. Once the woman took off her hood and mask, the woman was beautiful underneath it. She assumed the woman had to be important but was curious about her as well.

Sakura then apologized that she wasn't there sooner because she was stopped by someone. She told her what she already knew, that they had fought a Doll, but she assumed that the one she fought could've been the Bount behind the Doll. She had never seen a Bount fight away from his Doll before, but then again, she hadn't met many Bount that she's seen fight. She figured that Jin could probably do it, so how strong was this Bount?

Then, the woman assumed that she was a Bount as well, which was a good assumption. She was riding a lightning tiger that appeared out of nowhere, so yeah, she was a Bount. She then asked who she was and why the Doll was chasing her. The woman wasn't getting hostile towards her, which was good, but it was still an unknown shinigami that knew she was a Bount. She was very cautious around her.

Once the woman said that Vesta was a Bount, Zorn ran over and rubbed himself along her back, arching around her body so the upper half of his body was facing the shinigami and his back half was still around Vesta. Zorn just stared at her, never looking away. Even if this woman wasn't being aggressive right now, there was always the chance that she could be, so Zorn was at the ready.

Vesta stared at the woman and then started to speak. "Well, to answer your first question, yes I'm a Bount. But, I know how shinigami are against my kind. Do I have your word that you won't try to kill me? If you won't kill me, then I'll answer your question. If you can't give your word, we have nothing more to say." She would wait for a few minutes to see what the woman would say. If she gave the word, she would keep talking. If not, she would get battle ready.

If Sakura gave her word, she would continue talking. "Thank you for giving your word to me, Sakura. The reason that the Doll was chasing me was because I was investigating the town based on my employer's orders. My name is Vesta. While we were investigating some strange occurrences, we ran across Arantima, which I assume is one of your teammates. Then, we saw the red light in the sky.

Since I believed that going to that place would help with our investigation, we decided to run off towards it and Arantima was following after us. Though, Zorn outran him. When we got there, Yuma was already wounded and that silver thing was there. I had never seen another Bount's Doll before, so I was a little confused as to why it felt a bit like Zorn and why it was there in the first place.

I thought that maybe, it was a Doll but I thought it odd that the Bount wasn't close by, since that's what I thought usually happened with Dolls. But, I guess that I'm learning as I go with that. After we were able to get your teammate on Zorn's back, we ran off, at the insistence of Arantima. I haven't seen him since then. I guess it got around him and it started running after us, maybe going after him. You know the rest."

[Kiera Bright]

She swore when the orb of darkness fell over her. She couldn't see as damned thing. Luckily she didn't necessarily have to. Since the bount's doll was using its abilities, she was able to sense its location. She recalled her three arms. Two of them would send out five blades of darkness again spreading them like she tried to do against the bount earlier. Now though, she would point in the direction of where the doll would be if it dodged the attacks, if it didn't move then she would still have her finger pointing at it sending a bolt of lighting at it as well. If that dispelled the darkness, she would continue to chase of the bount, if not, she would form her hands into a wall behind in front of her charging after him blindly using her arms to bulldoze anything in their way. 


Byakurai - 25

Kage no Kiba - 100

850/1200

[Deleted]

The level of shit that Luke, metaphorically, had in his pants was enough to make a pooing street in India look mild. The young man had, essentially, lost all remnants of whatever theories he had about what was going on. All he knew was that he needed to run. The back door. The back door in the back of the store. The door that Tyrone had gone in and out of. The one that the cat had come in through. That door would be how Luke got out. He sprinted with all his might down that aisle, unaware of whatever it was that had suddenly pushed the aisle behind him over. He could hear Tyrone and Alestar shouting, whatever it was about he had no idea. He really didn’t care either. His mind was on escaping now, not trying to understand their panicked shouts. But what he did hear had caught his attention. Tyrone shouted a threat out, and as Luke turned around he could see Tyrone barreling towards him from down the aisle. Why was he so fast?

Luke ground his jaws together, clenching his fists together in preparation to fight against this man. But then Luke saw it, and Tyrone might suddenly see Lukes face shift from intenseness to a mix of shock and fear. Actually, the man might feel what happened to him first. It was like ice cold fingers found their way through his left leg. To be specific, Tyrone would suddenly feel an explosion of pain through his thigh, his knee, and his calf. If he were to look down he’d see his pant leg torn open, those sections of flesh where the pain was most strong were slashed open as well. Five. Five cuts in his leg. If he were still able to apply pressure to his leg, with portions of his muscles cut, then that would be impressive. But what just hurt him? Luke knew.

From the young mans perspective, the moment he had gotten himself ready to fight Tyrone he saw something appear. Yes, appear. He saw something…something inhuman coming out of the floor itself. It started with a hand, at least Luke assumed it was a hand, followed by something like a head. Whatever it was had suddenly slashed at the approaching Tyrone, before rising up behind him. Luke…Luke could hardly understand what he was seeing. It was something that looked like…that looked like darkness taking on a physical form. He could barely see it, barely make it out. It appeared, roughly, humanoid. It had two arms, two shoulders, a torso and a head. Whatever it was seemed to turn its head and look at Luke, before gliding into the shelves of that aisle.

Luke then watched as whatever this thing was simply…sunk…into the shelves. It was gone. It was gone, at least from sight, just as quickly as it had appeared. ”You should be running.” That voice suddenly filled Lukes head again, as if someone were speaking right into his ears from all directions. Luke wasn’t going to argue. He wasn’t going to question anything. His feet kicked off the ground with all his force, heading in the direction of the backrooms entrance.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Jagers Stats}
Strength - 150 - 187 Points

Speed - 200 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 200 - 150 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 300 - 375 Points

Light Aura - 0 Points

Dark Aura - 100 Points

Instinct - 150 - 112 Points

Senses - 100 Points

Energy sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Jagers Reiatsu: 1150 / 1500
-350 for Ungesehen