Another Scewed Up Night (JT | NDE)

[Deleted]

OOC: Sorry for the wait guys, I've been in the middle of moving. But now that it's over with I should be able to post regularly again, muse allowing

Luke stopped in his tracks when Aevus had begun to once again address him, those words acting like a hook that snatched into his skin and kept him from moving. A nervous frown painted itself across the "humans" features, those eyes of his never leaving the Shinigamis as he was spoken to. A question was given to him, bringing up the memories of the first time that Luke had interfered with something. He still remembered it vividly, enough so that some nights he woke up in cold sweats. He remembered the screams, the sight of seeing that lumbering monster crawling its way through his stores window. He remembered seeing someone he knew devoured by the Hollow. He remembered the pain of being smashed by that forearm and sent through the window of an adult store. He remembered the guilt he felt over running away, to let someone else die in his place.

His eye twitched a little as a response, causing him to look away a bit as a visible response to Aevus's question. It was obvious from his non-verbal reply that Luke, had, in fact experienced the unseen's dangers once before...and the result had not been very good. "Reiatsu?" Luke questioned, raising an eyebrow at the mention of that word when Aevus pointed out that Luke possessed it. The human felt a mixture of emotions as Aevus continued to speak, though a new one that sprouted up was confusion at the mention that the Shinigami was going to teach Luke a thing or two. Suddenly, and without warning, a sword was thrusted into his hands. Fumbling with it for a minute, as he hadn't expected to suddenly catch a sword, Luke looked down at the weapon in his hands.

It was heavier than he expected, and Luke had a feeling that it would sell for a good bit if he took it to a pawn shop, but such an idea would never be enacted on unless in the most dire of financial situations. The Shinigami still possessed another sword, so giving Luke the one he did must have meant it wouldn't have been too much of a bother for him to go without it. Luke felt the weight of the weapon, keeping it in his left hand as he lowered his arm back down as Aevus introduced himself. Impossible kept running his mouth, like he normally did, bouncing between insulting the Shinigami to asking them for his assistance. He was a odd man, that was for sure, as he now was smart mouthing Aevus.

Luke frowned, keeping quiet for the moment as everyone else continued to speak. It seemed that they were set on hunting down whatever it was that started the rumors of a killer bus ride. The other Shinigami, Arantima, began a conversation / report directed towards the black haired guy, talking about Hollows and other things Luke could barely understand. Why was he even still here? Luke should have rejected the sword given to him and just went home. He should have just run from the Hollow. Disobeying the life rule his mother had given him was only getting him in trouble. But...how could he just run again? Running away resulted in him being responsible for other people dying. Could he live with himself if he kept running?

What was that fire that Luke had felt when smashing the Hollows, from moments ago, head in with a pipe? Was it a fluke? He didn't know, but part of him wanted to find out more. Maybe sticking with these guys would lead him to a answer. "Have you never seen a horror movie before, Impo? Splitting up is the dumbest fucking idea ever, right up there with screwing with the dumb blonde.." Luke commented, giving Impo an unamused expression. He didn't like the idea of splitting up, not with the number of Hollows prowling around tonight and the idea of a killer bus. But, thinking on it, would something with murderous intentions attack a armed group? Luke frowned, realizing that Impo might have had a point with the splitting up idea. That's when Arantima pointed out the idea of using bait...and that made Lukes scowl deepen.

"If you need bait then I'll do it. Not sure what you're smoking, thinking you're the weakest one here, but considering I just saw you get snatched outta the air a minute ago I think you're far from the weakest." Luke commented, sighing to himself. "I don't wanna do it...but if this dumb bastard won't come out after someone unless they're vulnerable and alone then I'll do it. Maybe me being human will boost the chances. It's like Aevus said...Hollows or whatever can already pick up on me for whatever reason.." Luke grumbled, his voice clearly showing that he DIDN'T like this idea at all.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

OOC: Sorry for the short bad post. Will try and add more)

Tired blues would meet those cerulean eyes. They were red from her tears and he noted her stance immediately. She was pretending to be ok and it was clearly straining her. She was to tense and it showed. He’d look over her as she spoke and instead of calling her out, he let her be. “She reminds this one of you." Aevus next would turn to he other seated officer. His wounds stood out easily in the pale moonlight. They were obviously fresh but the man seemed calm for someone who had just been dragged across the sky just moments ago. "Him even more so."

He’d listen intently to the failure. The use of Seat-Sama was doing nothing. He honestly could care less about the name calling. Yet cold eyes widened in turn on that last comment. He mentioned it...He had sensed that hollow after all. He could hear a light giggle sound within the inner recesses of his mind. The vixen had been amused. But he wasn’t. No one knew about the hollow... No one was meant to know. Wide eyed he would seemingly glare at the failure before forcing his eyes to drift to the horizon.

The failure had gotten to him after all. He’d listen on to rest of the creatures speech. But that nod to the hollow still echoed within him. Whatever was is in this so called *bus* was gonna be here soon. The failure brought up splitting into groups. His gaze would than turn to Aratima. He spoke of being used as bait to lure this bus monster out of hiding. Before he could utter a word the human put his thoughts into the mix. He thought he’d make better bait.

They called themselves weak but they had no idea what being weak really was like. They were still growing stronger while he... He had stagnated. He would sigh. All this planning for a single target. It was just...pointless. “The human will lure and fight it-” Aevus would look over the young man. “-Alone.” That tired gaze of his was more serious than it had been previously. Eyeing his two subordinates he would feign that infamous smile of his.

“You two already proved yourselves capable. Seeing you stand tall even with your injuries, you've clearly shown your resolve tonight.” He would put but a hand on Senshi’s shoulder applying some weight just to unbalance her. “No need to pretend, it's ok to be hurt.” Turning to the failure he would lose his smile. “I already know you’ll do as you please. But don’t interfere. This will be his fight.” With that he would shunpo to one of the many buildings spotting the street eyeing the man from on high.

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

As all this was going on, Senshi didn't now how to feel. A seated officer was touching her? He put his hand onto her shoulder and said that there was no need to pretend to be alright. He had slightly shifted her weight as she looked to the man with a blank face as she blushed as red as her hair. "U-uhh-uhm. H-Hai...Seat-Sama. Thank you." As the seated officer looked at her and Arantima with that bright smile, Senshi had just looked to the floor as she rolled her eyes. She had held one arm shyly as she refused to greet his face. Her back didn't hurt that badly. It ached but she would be alright. Right now they had a plan to put into motion as they had to bait out this bus murderer hollow.

The redheaded Shinigami had simply went to the rooftop of a average sized building laying on her stomach as her role was a simple one. They were going to bait this powerful Hollow using Luke the special "human". Senshi's job was to use her long range Kido to keep Luke safe from any weaker hollow that came to eat the man. It was around 2PM as Senshi had thankfully had a bit of shade from the sun. Luke of course would be standing in a very open location visible to Senshi as it was near the bad end of town. Luke may or may not be able to see his destroyed apartment in the distance, but the cause would be a mystery. Arantima really should take a small rest and her current commanding officer should be able to relax for now.

The Impo fellow wasn't gentlemanlike. He was rude, sarcastic, cynical, and she was willing to bet he was a bit of a narcissist. She didn't know what a failure was, but he was definately a failure as a person. Luke to her seemed much more polite than the odd glowing man. Luke would of course be the bait for the hollow which he had volunteered for. Something nice was that he had the opportunity to get a nice cool drink and even a chair for him to sit in. Now it was the game of patience. Odayakama Senshi had stayed attentive...until a hollow roar could be heard.

A large hollow with pickaxes for hands had come running down the street for the bount as Odayakama Senshi spoke an incantation. "Arise god of thunder. Awake mother of storms. Unleash the lighting on the sinners." Senshi Odayakama had unleashed a rather large bolt of lightning from her fingertips as it had pierced the hollow approaching for Luke in the skull before it would even reach close to it's location. Senshi was not only guarding Luke, but purifying some Hollows on the way. Senshi had brushed her hair out of her face...as she suddenly felt a breathing down her neck. Senshi had felt a chain wrap around her as she was quite quickly swung and slammed into the wreckage known as Luke's apartment. The hollow was very strong as Senshi had never even noticed the creature sneaking up.

The hollow had stood on the rooftop with bright red eyes behind it's mask. Senshi's left shoulder was fractured in several spots as her back had pieces of stone lodged into it. Her left leg was twisted in the opposite direction as she was going through absolute agony. Her right had been torn at the calf. She would yell and scream as the chain loosened from her waist as it had returned to the monster. The hollow had looked incredibly bored as he would click his tongue...searching for where his enemies were. The redheaded Shinigami was in severe pain, but she would begin to try to use a Kaido with her free arm to try snd alleviate the pain. Her nails were cracked as she dare not move from her spot. She would try and try to help herself, but she had fallen unconscious from shock as she was thankfully freed from the pain.

[MrDoctorDo]

SPOILER: Click to show

{“Some history…” Don’t skip this graders!}

Jun 27th, 2016 - Karakura-shi, Karata Unversity

For so many, this was the beginning of the story. The month was closing to an end, and the weather was getting hotter than it had been all year. More and more people were outside; however, as the indoors get very stuffy in Japan. People leaving sitting on their tiny porches. Leaving every door and window open; to try and break the stifling heat. Even in a country regarded as for their quiet and well-mannered ways...there is still danger. The same danger that threatens the lives of all innocents. The danger of the unknown, and unpredictable.

And it was on this very evening that the die cast would turn up a sour pair of snake eyes. Deep in the residential areas that dotted the suburban town. Hidden within the night. Creeping through the thin alley ways. A predator had stirred. Stalking the shadows of the streets. Looking for someone that would to fit the need. Not having to look far to succeed. For whoever this person was, they were something else. Something...quite...monstrous. Possessing both a lack of compassion, and a knack for the disturbed.

A young student attending a popular secondary school in the local area, was found dead. He had not returned home one afternoon following the school’s release. Late into the evening his parents had waited. Hoping to hear from her or one of her friends. Calling to say that they had been held up with their club. Or that they spent time together after school, and were going to be late getting home. That they were sorry for the tardiness. Hmm, sadly no such phone call came.

What happened instead is that the family received a visit at their front door. A somber policeman trying to find a way to explain what had been discovered. Their son. Still at school. He...no longer among the living. That had been murdered. That they...were deeply sorry for the pain and grief that this must bring. That they would find his murderer and bring him to justice. Their...their words lost in a mother’s painful howls. Their sympathies and promises doing nothing else but kindle a father’s confusion and rage. A door slammed in their faces.

The school was closed. In memoriam, or so it was said. Really, time was needed to get all of the young man from the school premises. The body removed from the scene of the murder. Transferred across town. To the nearby hospital...

July 1st, 2016 - Karakura-shi, KaraKaya Bar

Days passed. Detectives now assigned the case of the tragic young death. Eager to find the animal that could have done this to such an innocent kid. Trying to make sense of what details they had uncovered where they found him. Turning up little leads. Fearing that they might not have what they need to bring about some sort of justice. That was, until the found him. A second poor soul. One whose dice came up poor. A young man that worked the latest shift at a local bar. Last seen alive by the few customers who lingered till the wee hours of the morning.

Found dead by the first of his coworkers to arrive the following afternoon. The entire staff thrown into a shock. The surrounding neighborhoods erupting with rumors, as drunks recount their last memories for the investigating officers. The spoke of strangers who sometimes came and went from the establishment. Pariahs and Outcasts. Gang members. Shades that seemed to linger in the alleys around the cantina. Most of the stuff they spouted was worthless. Fabrications of imaginations, anxiety, and liquor still in the blood. No one knowing or owning up to anything. Accounts were faded by booze or disbelief. Nothing credible coming from anyone. None of the men or women who examined the scene could account for the incentive behind the vicious act. From the naive to the experienced alike; the affair a confusing one. Why had this happened? What was the purpose...or sense in it?

These answers would elude discovery. The bar would close. Customers too frightened to possibly return. To risk the dark streets coming or going from the pub. The police suspecting someone from among the patrons to be the guilty culprit. Digging into each of their personal lives. Looking for something that had yet to be seen. Something concealed or denied. Even at this time, no links were being made. No one saw any reason to question a connection between a bartender and a young student. This new case seemed the act of a drunk.

Or perhaps, something more nefarious involving the shady establishment? Bigger crimes that merely need to brought to the light by this investigation. Still, there was one commonality. When the officials finally gathered up the young bartender...they sent his body on to the nearest hospital. And as coincidence, or even fate, would have it; the unfortunate fellow would share a morgue with that equally unfortunate kid. Sitting in the cold. Unable to decay or to pass. Not until answers came to light. Evidence to expose the ones responsible for them being there. Or...the one.

July 18th, Karakura-shi, Nanbu Neighborhood

It should not be held against the law enforcement who stumble upon the scenes. Nor should anyone criticize the detectives who had not yet found any leads. For all of these individuals were troubled by the same weakness. Something they shared with the deceased souls for whom they struggled. They were all, regardless of their mortal condition, human. Only able to do what they could do. Only capable of understanding what they could comprehend.

And as it is well documented, humans often times cannot comprehend what is really at work. To look, not with their own eyes, but through the perspective of that which they hunt. To see as the monsters do. To understand. To defeat evil at its own game. Though, while it might not be fair to blame the humans for their failings...it is impossible to ignore them. Especially with each new body adding to the count. With every new life, torn from the mortal world. Just like the next pitiable fool…

Another gentleman, only this one years older. Surely he was a good man? That is what everyone who knew him would say. With their puzzled minds swimming in uncertainty. Their eyes strained by either duress or outright tears. They would explain to every policeman or detective that came to their doorstep. They did not understand. They could not believe it. Even though they saw the man every day. Jogging up and down their street. Never once were they given reason to say hello or interrupt his routine. Yet, without knowing his name, they came to know him. Trying to convince themselves that he wasn't gone.

Struggling to cope with the horror of how he had died. How could this happen in their neighborhood? So close to their home? Once more, no one had seen anything. There wasn’t even any sound. He simply turned up in the morning. Dead where he was. Without leaving anyone any idea of a motive or explanation for the atrocity. He had no enemies. There was simply no reason for this to happen. This same senseless story...the only relation to the previous two deaths. And so again, tied the strings together. No one except the coroner, who tied only a single bit of twin around the newest victim’s toe. A little tag, to identify him properly. To ensure that he made it to the same freezer as all the other forsaken corpses…

SPOILER: Click to show

{“And now…” Don’t forget this either!}
August - Karakura-shi, Karakura General Hospital

Thank goodness, it was finally dark. The sun had set in beneath the mountains in the west. The cities lights were trickling into view with each passing minute. The world was settling into the shadows. The air becoming cool and quiet. Oh, how terrible the weather had been. Only growing hotter in these last few weeks. Everywhere, it felt like the world was burning. So when night came to free the land from the sun’s tyranny, the people were quite welcome. Even if the evenings held their own discomforts with which to contend.

Like the rumors of things lurking in wait for the night. Haunting stories of murder and mystery. The hints that something awful was going on in the city. Yet, no one having any knowledge or proof. But such is often the way of the big cities. There are things we simply must accept about life in the metropolis. So many did. Still frequenting the evening roads with their steps. Others, less valiant in nature, choosing to hide inside. Not willing to risk the validity of recent whispers. Staying locked inside where the night could not reach them.

And then there were others still, who knew of the stories that everyone shared. Not looking at them as supposed truths. No. These people knew them for the realities that they were. For they had to work with this dreadful facts. Considering them. Acknowledging them. Even...looking them in the eyes. Such were the responsibilities of the Karakura General Hospital. A massive structure that dominated the southeast section of lower Karakura. A monument to the region’s pledge to provide medical security for all who call this city home.

As well as the pit in which this city fed its sick. Both the dying, and the deceased. It was in this facility. Deep in the bowels of the concrete beast; that the story would continue. Locked away in the frigid cabinets of the onsite morgue. In the three chambers which held the remains of three...peculiar additions. Individuals robbed of their lives far too soon. Each a stranger to the next. Yet all of them equally without justification. For no one could understand just why these corpses had ended up here. Other than the fact that all dead bodies do.

The mortician’s clinic was...well, an interesting place. Honestly, it would have to be. There simply aren’t many environments that match that of a morgue. Not many offices operate with the knowledge that the bodies of the dead will pass through their walls. Even fewer still do so with comfort. And as a result...an interesting place is formed. The workforce who labors within it, of a different breed. Among their own kind that were odd. Out of place. Possessing natures that were both strong, and indifferent. Such was necessary to handle death as they did. To invite the lifeless forms of once living souls. To examine and carve at the fleshy remains of what was once an entire life. Filled with hopes, fears, and love.

What was required of a mortal, to face such a stark reality day in and day out, was nothing short of otherworldly. And so...there was no where better for a weirdo to hide. An oddball like Mika, swaddled in a comfortable nest of death. Hidden from discerning eyes among personalities which in many ways mirror the grim reaper. Humans who involve themselves with the deceased as effortlessly as he did. None of them ever having reason to question his peace of mind; given that it matched their own.

Mika had been working in the mortician’s office for some time now. Months by the reckoning of the Human Realm. In that time he managed to slip himself among the sheep of this institution. Despite his true identity. That of a spirit of fatalism. He had been accepted into the community which occupied his station. They saw him as strange, but, not so strange to challenge the idea of him being inhuman. Instead, they saw him as nothing more than eccentric. A little off the beaten trail with his thoughts and mannerisms. Happily accepting his quirks in exchange for the genius he expressed within the career. Several of the doctors who worked within the office commented frequently on his amazing insight. On one occasion, he was even praised in a more poetic light...as divinely gifted.

Oh how close they were to the truth of it all. ”My, I just cannot make sense of this.”, Dr Imai spoke with a deep sigh. His weary eyes glaring at the dired, almost ancient looking cadaver he had on the slab. ”The depravity of people can really surprise you sometimes.” Leaning up from a body that laid cold on the steel examination table. ”Alright everyone. That is all our time.” Quickly nodding his head to the clock, before running a finger up under the gloves on each hand. ”Let’s get this fellow back in a drawer, and end the day.” While he stepped back from the corpse; his attendants rushed in to begin preparing the body for moving.

Elsewhere around them other assistants and workers started with their closing procedures. Cleaning up the various stations that defined the workplace. Among this crowd was a particular man, a bit taller than the vast majority of workers. Standing out, not only for his higher stature, but for the folded sleeve which replaced his missing right arm. ”Kurosa.”, Imai’s voice spoke up again. ”Go on and get started cataloging today’s work.” Having worked here for months; there was no need for Mika’s disability to be openly mentioned. While all his coworkers would do the laborious work of wiping and cleaning every surface, Mika would make himself of more use elsewhere. That was one thing that had to be admired about this country’s people. They weren’t afraid to treat things as they were. Having no qualms telling a cripple to go do something that they could actually do well.

It would be an hour or so before the rest of the staff started filing out of the morgue. Taking that much time at least to properly sanitize and reset the examination chamber and stations. Only after everything was perfect would they be free to leave. Unlike many other superiors in this hospital, Dr Imai was not one to leave early. Though he did none of the work himself, and changed out of his scrubs almost immediately; the doctor remained behind to insure his staff did their work correctly.

Checking and double checking every one of his subordinates. Even when he knew it wasn’t necessary. ”Alright. Everyone have a good evening. Don’t forget to actually lock your lockers. I don’t want a repeat of June.” His words reminded a few of Mika’s associates to perform another inspection before leaving. He himself unphased by the reprimand. Knowing exactly where everything of his was. Knowing exactly why June had been so problematic. ”Kousa.” Mika’s head tilting, turning to glance of his shoulder. Dr Imai standing over the Shinigami’s seated self. The sensei’s eyes looking quite tired, but yet...very wary. Seemingly staring through Mika. Considering something very carefully.

”Everyone else is finished up. How much more have you got to do?” Giving a glance, not to the computer, but to the boy’s missing arm. Making his focus flagrantly obvious. Not that it stoked the ire of the younger. ”Several more pages.”, a lie. ”It will take me at least another hour.” No excuse. Nor an apology. Mika was not about to commiserate the fact that he had only one arm. Imai certainly not going to push the issue. ”I see. Make sure to turn off every light and monitor before you leave. And wipe the counters down one last time before setting out for the evening.” Seemingly punishment, but actually just protocol.

”I’ll see you in the morning.” Mika replied with only a nod. Turning back as if to dive deeply into his work. As would be expected of him. Waiting for Dr Imai and everyone else to exit from the lab. Remaining patient for several more minutes thereafter. Relishing his triumph only after guaranteeing he was alone. Having worked hard to not complete the menial archiving. So as to give himself an excuse and alibi. Turning from the console. Hoping to his feet. Reaching into the thick lab coat that was hospital standard. Drawing forth a plastic bottle from an interior pocket. Curling it up under the nub that was his right arm. Twisting open the cap before trotting off towards the back of the lab.

Mika had been making a habit of doing poorly in his work lately. Since the very first day he had been given the task of finalizing and categorizing all the digital paperwork completed for the day. It was the one task that his hindrance didn’t completely inhibit. Sure he wasn’t the fastest at typing, but it certainly went better than him trying to sweep and mop the floors. All of it very fortunate for him. Everyone knowing how tedious the paperwork could be.

None ever doubting that he might get behind, or take forever to complete it. So now that he was left alone in the mortuary, he could set back to his real work. A little project he had been working on. Something going on for several weeks now. ”You heard the man...clean up that counter.” Mika nearly chuckled, dipping the bottle had recently unsealed. From it a thick, viscous liquid began to pour. Pooling slowly out of the neck of the plastic container. Continuing to crawl out, even after Mika dropped it onto the counter and walked off.

The liquid became more like slime after a few moments of breathing in the air around it. Growing exponentially with every passing second. Forming into a jiggling blob, a cubic meter or so in width. Having a faint green color, while appearing mostly translucent. The fat, little mess soon shifting. Not just shaking with echoes of energy. No, moving with actual force of locomotion. Rolling itself across the polished surface of the mortuary countertops. Doing so very energetically. Almost, happy to be doing what was told of it. Noticeably, collecting many tiny, hard to recognize bits of dust and trash.

From crumbs of dry foods to blankets of dead skin. The wiggling blob ate them all up into itself. Continuing to plow and patrol every surface in the wide room. Looking for more and more things to consume. More things to clean, so as to better fulfill its command. Mika himself...completely oblivious to the miracle of convenience that was occurring. Having seen the trick a dozen, hundred times before. Having become desensitized to the glory of his own creation. A colony of hive germs; as smart and loyal as any dog. The ideal lab companion for a one armed scientist. In this case, a very underappreciated one...not like it cared. It was happy to roll and flop along. Oozing and crawling about. Being surprisingly delicate with things as it went. Never disturbing anything it wasn’t supposed to. The most polite little jello monster.

While his manufacture servant set about doing the chores left for Mika; the young man found his way to the cold room. It was kept locked and secured. Typing away at the keypad, the thick lock of the door gave way. Running his shoulder and body weight up against the heavy sheet of reinforced glass, he wrestled the airtight seal to open. But uh...it didn’t budge. Mika, leaning against the cumbersome aperture. Eyes frozen in an annoyed stare. Followed by a deep, abdominal sigh. ”Help me.”, his voice cut like a knife. Sharp and to the point. Just before he readied himself to try and force against the ridiculous door yet again.

At his feet squirmed the helpful blob. With a little count of one, two, three; Mika and his bacterial counterpart both slammed themselves against the door. Finally breaking the durable seal of pressure. Wrenching the barricade open. Freeing the chilling air that awaited on the other side. Allowing a mighty gust of diffusing pressures to erupt. Creating the feeling of a strong wind. Like opening a window to a blizzard. It was enough to make Mika wince. It was more than enough to make his little germ friend screech in terror and flee. Already the exterior of the gooey pet become rigid and worthless. The poro thing had no resistance to cold temperatures. Its exposed, liquid body would harden and shut down after seconds of exposure. As such it retreated far from the entryway to the fridge. Leaving MIka to enter in on his own.

Mika himself not too fond of the crisp conditions, but at least he had a lab coat. More importantly, he had a fire to keep him warm. Not one that he actually carried or hovered near. One that burned deep within his chest. Burning and bubbling up from his core. Sparked by intrigue. Fueled by enthusiastic excitement. Keeping him cozy as he strolled past the closed drawers and corpses within. Providing focus while he eyed through the names and designations given to each container.

Having to search out where his coworkers had stored the most recent admit. One that arrived earlier this morning, possessing many peculiar affectations. Things that just...stuck out against the cast of their normal customers. A body that was almost certainly the victim of some sort of supernatural attack. Or encounter. Leaving the body very worse for wear. Filled with all sorts of research potential. Just waiting to be cut open. Taken apart piece by piece, section by section. A careful, and thorough, dissection. Otherwise known as, Mika’s favored recreation.

”Here you are~”

With a loud and echoing bang, he opened the cabinet shudder. Glad that he could manage as much without the help of his pet. Grasping ahold of the sliding tray. Extracting his bagged prize. Remembering what he had overheard when this one had been delivered early in the morning. The body had arrived with the police and the coroner. They had been very talkative about the details. Certainly, the crime scene had proved a very interesting discovery. The victim’s body a large part of that fascination. Drained completely of its blood. To the very last drop. Clean and efficient. As if with surgical precision. All of the liquid vitae taken for the purpose of filling the gas tank of his bus. This part had been the real lure.

Mika had taken a sudden, profound interest with the revelation of the dead man’s occupation. Though this fact was well ignored by the others. They chose to engross themselves with his age. See, the information was conflicting. They had access to the deceased’s records. Those documents claiming that he was in his early forties. Which...did not make sense. Not with what they had seen. The man they found looked decrepit. Sitting at the end of a long and troubling existence. The tragic conclusion to a life of suffering and complication.

Mika himself had only barely glanced a view of the corpse. There was such a commotion going on about the bodies discovery and the possible implications. The inevitable whispers of murder. The uneasy questions of how. Even for the staff of the morgue, such a thing was quite unfamiliar. And lately it seemed that such bizarre cases were becoming some sort of status quo.

The last few weeks seeing a large increase of mysterious corpses such as the bus driver. Many of whom were involved in similar investigations. All of which were kept in the back. Where Mika now stood. Peeling back the zipper of the driver’s body bag. Exposing the naked flesh to the lifeless lights of the fridge. Stopping. Motionless. Eyes unable to move away, yet not knowing where to begin. ”Sweet and sour sauce. What the hell happened to you..” Fortunately, that is the exact sort of question Mika was designed to answer. Performing an autopsy was his specialty...

There wasn’t going to be any way for Mika to perform a traditional examination. Not this evening. There simply wasn’t any time to get the body to the other room, and on a proper table. Not to mention having to edit all the footage of the security cameras out in the main area. Even if there were enough time, the hassle alone had Mika’s brain tingling. So instead, he would have to get a bit more creative. Use an alternative method that had...proven useful in the past.

Reaching into his lab coat, the young man pulled free yet another plastic bottle. Identical in most every way to the one he had before. Right down to the viscous material that seemed to cling to the inside of the container like a hearty oil. In the chill of the cooler, the bottle felt immensely warm to the touch. The life form inside being rather well insulated by both plastic and the fabric of his master’s jacket. With each moment that was changing, sadly. The creeping chill of the icebox taking effect. Mika popped off the cap and turned the bottle downward. Putting the lip of the bottle, to the lip of the dead. Prompting the slimy contents into the mouth of the cadaver. Getting the germ inside before the exposure to air took its toll.

Once inside, the protozoan would have the fleshy insulation of the body's tissue to fight the encroaching cold. The corpse in question had not been in the freezer long enough to reach the negatives. Its temperature sufficient to keep the ameba mobile. Which it was. Reacting as one might imagine any organism would when cast into an icy bath. The cold alerting it to the task at hand. Quickly the sentient plasm when scouring through its new residence. Finding ways through every part of the body. A task made much simpler now that the individual had already been cut open in several locations. The only trouble was the embalming fluid that had been used to replace the corpse blood.

For that Mika had to put a down a drip tray. As soon as the germ pushed its way into the heart and then out through the arteries and veins, that pungent fluid would come rushing out from the hooked drain that was still in his neck. Every motion of the invasive germ making a very wet, nasty slosh. Shooting out a strong gush of the chemical with every twitch of the body. Almost making it appear as the dead man had returned to life. And was convulsing in terrible agony in random, jagged bursts. Mika couldn’t help but smile, even laugh a little, as the body danced about in a goofy manner.

In no time at all, the process was complete. The germ that was scrounging around every nook and cranny of the corpse. From the abdominal pouch, to every single capillary. Picking up whatever treasures might be hiding in the man’s tissues. Finding things that no mortal test or strainer could. The spiritual contaminants. Everything comprised of reishi which had not yet been diffused into something unrecognizable. Needless to say, with all that the human had suffered, there was quite a large deposit of spiritual energy. Almost like gamma poisoning. It burned inside the otherwise frozen form. Mika already has suspicions about just what sort of reishi it was going to be. Having been following the work of this particular entity for some time now. Not expecting this time to be any different than the others.

”Alright. That’s sufficient.” Extending his singular arm, Mika cupped his hand at the open mouth of the carcass. From the dried and shriveled lips, the thick blob reemerged. Having to fight and struggle to get out. Jerking the lifeless head it was trapped in back and forth a few times in doing so. Oozing onto the offered hand. Seeming to shiver in the air, but in reality, it was shivering with delight to be held by Mika’s warm grip. The slime continuing to slither forth.

Climbing up Mika’s arm. Coiling almost like a snake. Eager to be in contact with as much of the doctor’s skin as it could be. Huddling for warmth and stimulation. The last bits of it to be friend from the dead man carrying something within them. A dense, balled accumulation. It seemed like a deposit of calcium, though quite dark in color. Squeezing the jelly like sack that the germ held it in, Mika’s fingers scraped the hardened collection free. Admiring the nasty mass. Feeling it turn to stone in his hand. Oxidized by the air. ”There you are…”

What he held was nothing more than the remnants of dense, reishi concentration. Something that wasn’t even real by mortal standards. Something he had seen several times. A bodily by product or reiatsu poisoning. Spiritual beings had the ability to process reishi. Very effectively, actually. However mortal were often denied this natural advantage. So where an accumulation in a supernatural body in mere hours...it would take days, or years for a human to perform the same feat.

Finding this was evidence that Mika’s concerns were well founded. ”Just like before.” Looking over his shoulder, admiring the rows and rows of refrigerated drawers. Taking time to glance at each of the containers which held the other...mysterious arrivals. Know where each of their bodies still remained. Knowing that none of them were going to be leaving any time soon. After all, the only way out was some sort of resolution to their cases. Which...wasn’t likely.

Not unless there were some local detectives sporting a handsome new spiritual detective. Perhaps a Lawman(#AdamGetsIt). Without someone on the force with the perception of the spiritual world...nothing was going to be solved by them. ”So. You drove a bus? How plebian…” Mika scoffed at the corpse, then slammed his hip into the rolled out rack. Sending the body back into its drawer, before shutting the door behind him. Clearing out the refrigerator of the evidence he had messed around inside. Waiting outside of the freezer was his first serve germ.

Sitting like a half melted scoop of mucus ice cream. Undulating gently as it waited for patiently for its master’s return. Mika was in no mood to greet the little booger. Striding right past it as it shivered in excitement. Carrying out his formaldehyde bucket onto into the operation floor. Dumping it haphazardly into a drainage sink. Shedding away every ounce of caution or delicacy that he had maintained thus far.

Something clearly starting to irritate the young man. Enough so that composure was breaking down. A scowl forming along his thin lips. Every step he took falling more heavily onto the polished clean floor. Returning to his desk. Dropping into his chair with a groan. ”Fuck.” Spoken softly, but colored with a hateful tone. ”If this keeps up...the Soul Society will hear of it.” Slinging the petrified formation of reishi bile onto his desktop. Reaching there after to open up his bottom drawer. Fishing around inside for...something.

After a few moments, Mika’s arms stopped rummaging. Drawing back up from the depths of the stowaway, in it he held a refuse bag. Opening up the sack. Dumping its contents. Mika watched as three more black rocks fell out. Each of them unique, but all of them looking strikingly similar to the one he extracted from the bus driver. Each of them from a different person. Several new guests that his clinic had received in the weeks prior. The first came from a local student. The kid had been found, crammed into a locker at school. Much of his body broken by something with significant strength.

His tissue containing trace amounts of reishi. It had taken Mika hours of work with her less than intact corpse, to fish out the reiatsu deposit. Still, he found it. Just like he found one in the bartender that came in some few days after her. A young man, though well out of school. He had been roughed up a little before death. Most noticeably, his tongue had been extracted. They found his body already in a cooler at the bar in which he worked. While he had been in much better condition than the younger victim; his frigid body temperature made using a serve germ impossible. Mika had to do that autopsy completely unassisted. With only one hand. A fucking nightmare. Still, the barkeep wasn’t the last.

It took a few weeks after the first two for a third to show up. Mika had moved on to other work. Almost forgetting about the first two incidences. Certainly not expecting another similar event to come down the tube. That was until the deliver the jogger to the morgue. Just like with the bus driver, the police had been heavily involved. They were curious about this one. Perhaps because they found his body strung up on an electrical pole. Nearly six meters in the air. A baffling accomplishment for any mortal murderer. Something that the police couldn’t piece together. To them it seemed more like a suicide than anything.

Man couldn’t take it any more. While out on a jog, spots the utility pole. Climbs in in hopes of hanging himself. Mika was just as happy to accept this conclusion...until he swept the body. Finding reishi mixed well within his muscles and bones. This man, more so than the others, had been drowning in reiatsu. None of them had so much in their systems till that man. Now…”Seems the hunt is getting more exciting~” Mika quipped, looking now at all of his collected reshi deposits. Seeing that the bus drivers was larger than the first three combined. ”You’ll have the reapers on you soon, you fucking fool.”

Mika had little care for monsters or boogeymen. He was well aware of Karakura’s reputation. Hollows were rampant in this part of the world. Exponentially so, when compared to the rest of the mortal world. To this end, the town was swarming with both Shinigami...and the spiritually aware. Making it a perfect place for Mika to conduct his research. Troubling; however, was the ever looming threat of Shinigami becoming involved with his business. What he feared most…hhmmm~...in this world, was interfering Soul Reapers.

And what would bring them snooping around more than anything...were unsolved supernatural events. Ones that did not bear the same signs of traditional Hollow hunting. Or worse, rampages. So. In light of this. The idea that some sort of spiritual entity was out there...murdering people. Having their bodies shipped into his clinic. Drawing attention from both the mortal, and possibly, spiritual worlds. That shit...was unacceptable.

If he was going to do anything about this threat. He was going to have to catch it. Or, at least see it. With that thought, he knew he would need to be proactive. Trying to find this thing based off its victims was a fruitless effort. The police had been given months, and no unifying evidence had surfaced between the bodies. So instead, he would need to use what he knew. Which boiled down to two exceptional details. First, the being was spiritually aware and most likely would produce a traceable signature. Even if Mika’s own skills in such tracking were subpar. Secondly, the culprit was smart.

Not...Mika smart, but intelligent. Enough so to express both problem solving skills and creativity. Even more so, it had a sadistic sense of humor or curiosity. Filling a the bus’ gas tank with the driver’s blood? Hell, that bordered on being a philosophical metaphor. More so, it proved that the entity was familiar with Human World Technology. So, a spirit that is both intelligent and knowledgeable of human inventions? This wasn’t going to be a Shinigami or a Hollow. ”Hmm…” The bodies had reishi in them, but none of them were peppered with holes or of the Jewish faith. ”It isn’t a Quincy.”

That left only two possibilities. Human or Bount. Mika’s memories of the dried out body of the bus driver. ”Getting sucked off by one of those artificial leeches certainly would certainly correlate.” Thinking of the other victims. None of them showing any sign of vampirism, aging, or hickies…”One out of four is not sufficient.” Plus, why would he want to invest in chasing down something so rare? ”Oh yes, lets go fetch us a unicorn!”

”Human. We’ll start with that.”

Reaching to tap at his keyboard, Mika began browsing through the computer for a few...discrete folders. Files he had prepared and disguised within a few separate programs. Hiding them wasn’t really necessary. Most of the people in his officer were totally inept. Not to mention they were pretty terrible with computers and programming, as well. Still. You never know who will come through a place like this. And for what Mika was tracking...there weren’t any convincing alibis. For the doctor had used his position to access many medical records. Not only those within in office, but the hospital.

Its affiliates. Their affiliates. The local government. The...national one. Lets just say a lot. A lot of records, from various places. Yeah, that works. He did so for the sake of a list. One that would, if he could perfect his methodology, someday become a list of every active Fullbringer in the country. By compiling big data. Finding correlations from the things he knew about spiritually aware humans, to what humanity knew of them. It was a very adventurous project. So far, not a terribly successful one.

Howbeit...this little endeavor did have some results. Limited though they may be. A smattering of names that resided in the local area. The identities of potential spiritually aware citizens. Mika’s eyes scanned and fidgeted down the bright screen. Trying to find a name that waved at him. Choosing to start with the only admissible lead. The bus routes. Whoever this was, they were willing to use the bus. Even drive it. So perhaps there was a route the killer used to get to each of the targets. Most likely the bus line closest to their sanctuary. Popping up a map of Karakura’s public transits...Mika was blessed to discover only one route matching his needs. Even more blessed that only one address on his list came anywhere close to it.

”Time to make moose tracks.”

Leaping from his seat. Mika grabbed his bookbag and threw it onto the desktop. Giving a whistle through his teeth. Brown eyes dropping down to his arm, looking past it to the ground. Two green blobs perking up at the call. One still wrapped around his forearm. The other laying on the floor like the chubby, adorable shit it was. Each of them...despite having no eyes or discernable features...seemed to be captivated by Mika. Both of them “glaring” at him in the way only they could. Mika gave a nod of his head. The one around his arm forking into two thin arms, holding open the backpack.

The fat one sprang into the air. Dropping onto the desk. Flattening itself to push everything off and into the satchel. Namely, the crusty reishi trophies. After clearing the desk top, the larger germ leapt once more. Landing onto Mika’s slim shoulders. Molding to his body. Squeezing him to create both suction and grip. The mortician quickly throwing his bag over the unoccupied shoulder. Giving the clock a gander before heading to the exit. ”The buses better still be running.”

And here we go~

We all know of that moment when fate intervenes, yes? When something important gets away from us. Beyond the realm of our control. Slipping away on the rails of chance and fortune. Those moments are terrible for men of science. They abhor them as the embodiment of everything a scientist seeks to overcome. Uncertainty. Chaos. They truly are the worst. As such, overcoming these foes in their own arena is a feat of glorious, unmatched satisfaction. To roll those dice. To come up the winner. mmmmmmmmm What a thrill. Producing a rush of adrenalin and dopamine. The body and the brain both drown in them. Euphoria and shivers. It simply cannot be beat. A reward better than riches or fame. Made better by the long anxiety that precedes it.

Too bad such satisfaction can’t be shared with a whim. For there were many who were in need...

Such as this motley crew. If it was not one Hollow, it was six. If not a Gillian, than an Adjuchas. Misfortune upon misfortune seemed to stack. Daring to crush the gathering with odious fortune. Psh, their luck was downright terrible. The city was alive tonight~ With every passing minute. Each new second taking the world further into the dark. New activity could be hea...felt. Rippling through the air. Shaking the very atoms of it all. Letting those who pay attention know, ”Someone is having some fun out there.” And...oh my. What a night they was having.

The one who had it worst, without question, was the young woman now trapped in the roof of Luke’s apartment complex. Poor thing had been taken by complete surprise. Attacked by yet another vicious Hollow. A beast that stood several meters tall. Armed right down to its...well...arms. How quickly it plucked the weakest from the pack. Sparing no cruelty in dispatching her consciousness. All while her escort pondered the moralities of such important questions as: “How trustworthy is a talking litebright?” and the even better “Give a man a sword, he is safe for a night…teach a man to sword...” Surely they had made up their minds on both matters by the time the redhead’s body was turned into a sandbag. Bones popping loudly into dust. Surely such a ghastly, visceral sound was enough to get their attention. Someone's. Anyone's. Ooooh~

For everyone looking towards the crown of the building. Anyone watching Senshi’s hardship. They would see the imposing figure of the Adjuchas. Looming over its prey. Baring its broad, polished teeth. Yellow eyes glowing with a hunger that exceeds all possible empathy. There were the only qualities anyone could still see. The only parts of the beast which reflected any light. The rest of the animal...darkened by the shadow of something bigger. Something that hovered just above its head. A single hand. Massive in size. At least a few meters in width. Rising from behind the walls of the apartments. Fingers outstretched. Reaching as far as they could. Almost as if waving for the audience to see. Threatening to scoop the unaware Hollow into its expansive...mighty grip.

With the rest gang spread all over the little park outside of the apartment, they made themselves so gosh darn visible. It was a wonder they made it this far. Such...easy targets. It was as if they were behaving this way on purpose. Tempting fate. Inviting the challenge. Hoping that someone, anyone would see them. Hah-haha. Don’t they know? ”That’s how you get monsters...”



(OoC: First queue the music, then scroll. Trust me.)

*INSERT NAME OF SONG HERE*

With a flicker much like a shunpo, the giant’s hand came straight down! Down upon the abomination. Down through it. Crashing. Smashing. Pummeling the shitswizzleinto...well, a shitswizzle. Bringing it down through every floor of the human dwelling. Causing the back half of the structure to crumble like an awkward pickup line at a school for the speech impaired. Shooting up pillars of dust as the foundations shattered. Concrete becoming powder. Rebar turning to splinters. A wave of pressure blowing across the surrounding neighborhood and buildings. Causing unguarded earballs to ring...and unbiased slapstick enthusiasts to burst into laughter. Hopefully. If he was lucky. Mmm, but just in case he wasn’t…

From the dispersed smoke, the behemoth rose. All five fingers stretching up first. Just in time to be noticed. Another clap of thunder. Literally. For the appendage flickered again. And again. And again. Rising and falling on the exact same crater it had made previously. Unrelenting in its assault. Seeking to match the cruelty of the soul upon which he fell. Though...not quite there yet. Pausing. Frozen above the building, in clear view. The open face of the hand seemed to shake with an almost human level of bottled frustration. Fingertips clenching inward. Looking like a claw. Seemingly suffering from some unknown pain. An act which only came to an end when the painful cries of a Hollow rang out through the night’s air. Upon this signal, the hand straightened out once more. Flickering as it returned to its previous, slap-tastic ferocity.

Just where had this colossus come from? The answer...much closer than they could have imagined. In all the commotion. The Hollow. The Hand. The...hasty renovation of Luke’s building. There was just so much to look at. So much to enjoy. Least of all on that list, should be the presence of a new member to the group. A fellow who made no effort to speak up or introduce himself right away. Instead, he merely rose into sight. Coming into the frame much like his massive limb. Rising up from roof. From where vision had been obscured. Stepping now into the moonlight. Given that the monster hand was no longer casting its shadow over the structure. From the distance that the boys were looking, he’d be hard to make out. Really, only his most basic features plainly visible.

The figure was of average height. Without being next to him, that much was certain. Only standing at six feet or so. Whether or not he was fat was well hidden. Wearing a bright floral shirt, and very professional, business slacks. Kahi brown in color. This attire covered by a large, draping lab coat. An outfit that was clearly reminiscent of a Soul Society captain...but clearly that was not the case. The white fabric standing out clearly in the night. Making his every moment that much more noticeable. All together, he looked no different than a human world doctor from afar. Who was bending down where he stood. Lowering himself for a better look at something that was up there with him. On what remained of the roof. Huh, I wonder wha-oh shit the girl!

Senshi. The red haired Shinigami. She was not looking well. With only a glance; Mika developed an uncomfortable twist in his guts. The kind that comes from experience. The knowing kind of cringe. Lowering himself down with a crouching motion. Getting a closer look at the damage. ”Hmm...” From her twisted position. To her labored breathing. From the smell of the blood in the air...to the sight of it splattered all about. The scene was quite, brutal. Nothing that someone with a resume like Mika had not seen before, but…not something you see every day. The young medic found himself, staring. Finding different portions of the body to fixate on. Admiring how it had broken. Thinking about what the flesh had endured. Without moving suddenly. Without giving any indication in his facial expression. Mika could not diagnose anything wrong with her. She was...a perfect, tender morsel. And he was…

So. Hungry.

Aaaaah-chu! A loud and powerful sneeze tore through him. Sending a shock through his entire body. It was so sudden and strong, hell, he almost fell forward onto his hands...hand and knees. Giving his head a fair shake following the disruption, Mika felt as though he shaken his very brain loose within his skull. Such an awful, disorienting feeling. When he finally did come back, Mika found himself with a patient in critical condition...and lacking an operating table. ”Ikiki it is, then.”

Given that he was not about to strip her down and expose any of her open wounds to the utter filth of this ghetto. And not having any chance of identifying what all was broken while she was clothed. Turning his head to right. Mika’s eyes pierced down the back of the building. Gazing over five-finger shaped cavity that had been made throughout the structure. Down to the pit which had been carved by the Slappening™. Down to where the hand, and the quarter mile stretch of arm attached to it, laid out. The positions of it and his own arm...perfectly matching. Far too coincidental to be just coincidence.

Raising his one arm into the air, Mika brought the gargantuan one up in similar style. His fingers clasped tightly together. Gripping the ever living hell out of nothing. The massive hand doing the same. To a trapped Hollow’s great dissatisfaction. Uh...assuming it was still conscious. Or alive. Not that such a fact was going to matter soon after. grrrrrrruuuuummmpleee Mika’s stomach called out. Screaming at him. Dying from just how empty it felt. The young man giving an audible groan. One that seethed with agitation. ”First things first.” Looking towards the Adjuchas in his “hand”. Mika found the answer to many problems.

What happened next would be a little strange to describe. Still, one must try.

The hand began to vibrate. Quivering even, where it was hoisted into the air. After some time of shaking and fidgeting. In a manner that was quite unnatural and disturbed. Two massive tears appeared down either side of the appendage. One stretching through the flesh that separated the thumb from the forefinger. Another, a twin, stretched down the opposite edge of the palm. Each of these tears revealing the pinkish tissue that made up the inside of the gargantuan. What followed the tearing was the true creep show. In a matter of moments the fingers grew back together.

With meaty webbing linking them together, each swelling until their individual shapes folded into one. The tears that appeared prior, now grew rows of teeth within them. The white growths sinking deep into the motionless Hollows body. Making the entire, severed arm look more and more like a snake. One that bent its neck back where the hand's wrist used to be. Imitating the animal in look and behavior. Swallowing the now doomed Hollow whole. Its body sliding into the throat that used to be a forearm. Being curshed and digested as it went.

This grotesque performance would not take long. Nor would the arm fully transform into an actual snake. Such is the only sensible comparison to a hand growing jaws and consuming something whole. Having completed the task, the entire limb began to collapse. Deconstructing completely as it lost all for and identity. Turning to a vast, gooey sphere of semi-translucent protoplasm. Inside its viscous body...no sign of the once present Hollow. The entire body of this new form giving off an immense spiritual signal. That of a fresh, and energetic spiritual being. A creature, that if alive, had no self control. Slinking its way back to Mika as it degenerated further into a green colored mist. Enveloping the one armed man when it finally settled into shape. Leaving Mika surrounded by the dense, humid vapor. Mika and Senshi, that is.

Without wasting another second, Mika held out his hand. Leaving it to hover above the Shinigami's body. All along body, the green vapor began to collect. Were she aware of her surroundings, this is what Senshi would have felt. Her entire body would seem immersed in a sauna. The air around her very heavy and wet. Like the humid air of the tropics. From there the green vapors would collect all over her body. Soaking both clothes and flesh alike. No longer a sauna. Now it felt more akin to being submerged in jelly. The accumulated vapors turning into a cocoon of plasm around her.

Moving was still possible. Breathing unhindered. The worst sensation would probably be claustrophobia. Ya know, if she were awake. Discomfort aside there was nothing to fear. From the moment the vapor turned grew dense, her every scrape and cut would seal shut. The tissues reforming at the cellular level. Being grown completely new, rather than being mended. And it did not stop there. Even within her body, busted blood vessels were sealing back up. Lacerated organs healing like her skin. After seeping through tissue and the ossein, bones became as saturated as her clothes. Getting squeezed and glued back together with the utmost delicacy. Leaving only her spine to be corrected...

By now the rooftop must have grown more populated. Right? How is the broforce going to watch all this go down, and not rush to their comrades side? What they would find is Mika turning to greet them, and a plasma covered Senshi laying behind him. Her body slowly being pulled at the wrists and ankles by the slime. The green-tinted cellular mass using physical strength for this procedure. Creating loud, compound pops erupting from her figure. The spinal realignment proving quite the noisy affair...

Now in full view of the crew, Mika could not help but raise his hand and nub. Giving up before they might take the initiative of decking him in the schnoz. Mika's dull colored eyes examining each of them...especially the glowstick..,before stopping at Aevus. His weak looking jaw going slack in a surprised gawk. "I...I can't even..." One last, outrageously loud pop. Senshi's final adjustment. A jerking motion that was surely enough to snap her back to consciousness.

(OoC: With 1200 in HE and his Shikai active...it is safe to assume Senshi is back to 100%. Hell, maybe more.)

[Impossible]

Impo merely glanced over at the Vizard, rolling his eyes at him. "Whatever. But if I see him in any real danger I'm stepping in." He told him simply. He didn't care about some stupid warrior's pride or whatever. You could die in the most bad a$$ way imaginable, with millions of people remembering you for generations to come, but at the end of the day, you were still dead. Impo wanted to make sure that Luke didn't die to some freaky demented monster who go their kicks out of slaughter. Not that he cared about Luke or anything, it was his job to protect the people of Karakura town.

So they waited on the rooftop for the bus to arrive. It was an awkward wait for the failure, seeing as every previous interaction with the samurai's had been them yelling at him, but he ignored it by screwing around with his phone. His hair took up a few blue strips, while his body gained some green patches. He swiped his finger across the screen a few times, and each time he did he got more and more frustrated. "Stupid friggin... get in the ball. Gah... Stupid frigging pokemon go." He complained quietly, trying not to garner attention from the others.

Sadly, with his attention split, he failed to notice the hollow charging Luke until the girl fired of a bolt of lightning. His head snapped up, looking around to see what the commotion was all about. He whipped his head around, seeing a hollow standing over Crimson, then looking down to see the decaying hollow. Impo blinked, looking back up to realize that there was a hollow on the roof with them. Blinking, Impo brought his hand up, about to blast the stupid hollow with a cero, before he noticed that everything was darker. Then he looked up. "What." He said in a deadpan.

Above them was a giant, disembodied hand. Then it started falling. "S*%T!" The failure blurred away with a shunpo. The hand completely destroyed the building with a mighty, thunderous clap. Impo watched as the building collapsed around the limb. It was like watching a child crushing a cake, going through all the layers in nearly an instant, ruining it for everyone else. The dust and rubble plumed into the air, filling the air with crap. "....wasn't that Luke's house?" He pondered aloud. He saw the hand raise back up. Then it slammed down again. And again. ....and again.

Impo rubbed his temples, trying to fight off the oncoming headache of trying to explain this to Mr.Uzaki. Maybe he could blame this on Kitai? The hollow let out some death rattles, as the hand slowly ascended. "Finally, now can we-" The the hand went right back to smacking the ever-loving f#*k out of the building. "Oh for the love of-HURRY THE H&LL UP! IT DOESN'T TAKE TWELVE HOURS TO KILL A HOLLOW!" He made a noise that sounded like a mix between a groan, and a frustrated sigh, as he used his energy sensory to find the person who apparently had a little too much fun killing things.

It wasn't hard to do, using a technique like kinda required you to be using quite a bit of reiatsu. He was some scientist looking son'va b*#ch, missing an arm. He was about as tall as Impo was, though Impo still had him beat in the crazy looks department. His body literally glowed, not that he'd ever admit that fact. The failure saw that he had the girl with him, someone whom he had actually forgotten about in the wake of the 'slappening', as he so kindly dubbed it. Clearly groaning this time, he began walking over to him via air ground.

Or at least, he would have if something hadn't caught his attention. Instead of going down and interrupting the 'doctor', the failure felt something brushing the edge of his energy sense. Turning his head towards the source, he could see it. The bus was coming down the road. He tried to figure out whatever it was, but it felt weird. He was wracking his brain, trying to figure out what this thing was. It felt like several different things. It felt like a Hell race, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough in the varieties of them to tell exactly what one it was.

But more over... it felt human. In fact, it seemed familiar, extremely so. It almost felt like.... "Oh no..." He checked again, only to get the same result. If Impo was a human, his skin would have been as pale as a sheet, but given his condition, his body and hair turned yellow. "LUKE, GET THE F&*K OUT OF THERE!" The called out, rushing over to the armed man. By the time he started moving though, The bus would have stopped in front of the 'human', and opened its doors. The body of the driver would topple out, landing before Luke. His skin looked like a prune, and his eyes were shrunken in, almost to the point of nonexistence.

Crazed laughter would come out from the doorway. It didn't sound like one person though. It sounded like three different people at once. A pale man clad in black stepped out of the vehicle. His hair was long, covering the top half of his face, and reaching all the way down to his lower back. He had a white shirt with a black straitjacket overtop of it, cut in such a manner that it resembled an actual jacket. Around his neck was a long chain, dipping down to the center of his chest, with a low level Quincy cross in the middle. His smile was wide, showing nearly all the man's chipped, broken, and sharp teeth. He stood seven feet tall, and in his hand was a large black sword, with a white stripe running down the center of the blade.

"HEEAHAHAHAHA! OH YES! ANOTHER MONSTER TO PURGE FROM THIS LAND! YAHAHAHAA!" The man raised his blade above his head, and slashed at him in a sweeping motion, cackling madly the entire time. He let out an aura of madness as thick as sludge. He attacked Luke, intent on ending his existence, though he'd more than likely miss his first strike, giving Luke an opportunity to run away. Impo might have been missing whatever crazy medical abilities that the new 'shinigami' had been displaying, but he was using his time to try and not let Luke die. Still standing on his air ground, the failure fired off a few bala, preventing Kitai from giving chase, or if Luke was so bold, a chance to strike out at the madman.

The odds of Luke landing a fatal strike was extremely low. Even landing a clean strike would be lucky on his part. But this wasn't the worst part of it all. The body of the driver would start moving. The body was still alive. It climbed to its... his feet. He would start screaming inhumanly, and would run off, attacking anything or anyone alive. Meaning it would be gunning for the group of shinigami. The bus would start warping into a nightmarish version of itself, complete with eyes and teeth. It started laughing, as it sped towards the group. Inside, there were many more corpse-like humans, ready to get out and swarm them.

[Deleted]

"Eh? Alone? That wasn't what I meant.." Luke questioned, giving Aevus a incredulous look. That hadn't been Luke's intention with suggesting that he be used as bait. The idea had been for the others to take strategic hiding positions around Luke as the he awaited the arrival of this monster bus and then to spring into action once the moment to strike had arrived. Luke didn't mean for him to do it all by himself. He frowned at Aevus's smile, not finding any sort of joy in this situation. Regardless, and with a groan, Luke moved to separate himself from the others and head back out towards the street and to another bus stop. He wouldn't need to worry about some normal bus coming to get him as he sat himself down on the waiting bench since the busses wouldn't be running at these early morning hours. What time was it anyway at this point? Luke sighed, placing his newly acquired katana down on and leaning it against the edge of his seat as he himself sat down to wait.

He had begun to think to himself just how stupid this whole thing was, closing his eyes a little to rest them. He was tired. Sitting down just made him realize how tired he was. A full day of work and now all this excitement and Hollow fighting had taken their toll on him a bit. He had only opened his eyes back up when he began to hear the commotion coming from the buildings ahead of him. Maybe Luke had fallen asleep for a moment, because how this all happened wasn't clear to him. One minute he heard an explosion of fire or something, then the next he noticed the young female Shinigami fighting with a Hollow on a building that was oddly familiar to him. What was that building...why did it give Luke such a feeling of dread seeing it getting damaged? But it all changed when, suddenly, Luke had front row seats to the Slappening.

He watched as an appendage that looked straight out of Smash Bros came out and began to unleash devastation and hell down onto the Hollow that had been kicking Senshi's petite ass. Down and down the hand came, beating more meat than Luke in his pre-teen years. And yet as Luke watched this one sided fight occur it finally dawned on him why that building was so familiar. Because of how late it was in the night, the light had played a funny trick on Luke's eyes with shadows and street lights. Luke didn't realize that the building that was being destroyed was his own apartment complex! But now, realizing that it was, caused the young humans jaw to suddenly drop.

Everything he had, everything he owned, everything he had from America was IN THAT APARTMENT! "Hey, knock it off you fucking retard I live there!!" Luke shouted up at the man who had appeared amongst the debris, Hollow held in the grasp of his giant floating hand. Luke wasn't even paying attention to the fact a hand was eating a Hollow, he was more focused on the fact that his room had just been fucked sideways! All of his clothes, his food, his possessions, his heirlooms, his bed, the pay checks he needed to take to the bank...everything was just destroyed. He trembled a little, just standing there wide eyed and open mouthed as he realized it. Who was going to pay for all of that? Who was going to give him all of his destroyed stuff back? Was he even covered for this sort of shit??

Luke might have remained like that, in a state of panic and confusion and ever growing anger, had the headlights of the approaching bus not caught his attention. Luke turned his attention to the bus that stopped before him, staring at the frontside windows seeing if he could get any glimpse of what was inside. Because of the lights shinning in his face he couldn't get a look. Frowning he grabbed onto the katana he had been gifted and took a step back as the doors began to open, and out fell the corpse of a stranger. "The hell.." Luke commented, looking at the overly shriveled and sucked dry corpse that fell out. Following the prune of a corpse was some homeless tranny looking motherfucker, who came out cackling and holding a sword.

Impo let out his scream of warning, which Luke decided to listen to in full effect considering the circumstances. Luke, and certainly everyone else, must have thought that the suspect behind the bus attacks was a Hollow...but now Luke was learning that it was some freak instead. Impo released one of his energy attacks, distracting the sword wielding lunatic and giving Luke the time to get the fuck out of the way of Kitai's sword swing. Dashing backwards he made his way back a good number of feet, pulling that katana out of its sheath and tossing the case down to the ground. It felt good having a weapon in hand, but he had no idea how to really used a sword outside of swinging blindly.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

Patience is a virtue yet this pale faced reaper was eager. Hunger crept along his visage. A hunger to truly see what this was all about. A hunger to see what this anomaly of a human could do in the face of danger. Cold piercing eyes narrowed upon that young man. To see his resolve, he needed to put him in a situation where he’d be vulnerable. To see if what he saw before, wasn't just a fluke. He wasn’t surprised by the look on the human’s face when he told the man he wanted him to face this thing alone.

It’d be uncanny if his face wasn’t painted with that skeptical expression. He felt Lumina roll her eyes. She wasn’t all to thrilled with these games. What are you thinking Aevus, sending that human off on his own? Lumina’s silver lined eyes fell upon him and he would grin in turn. The fact that his spirit questioned his motives didn’t shock him in the least. He could picture her within his mind. With that look of disapproval and she in turn noted that creeping smirk. Her tail would flick irritably.

...Don’t overestimate yourself.

Outstretched fingers tapped the handle of his runic blade. To his Zanpakuto Spirit this must have seemed silly and her voice once again fell into him. To give a complete stranger...your sword. This one does not understand, why? His smile would disappear as he closed his eyes. The foreign yet familiar light of that enteral night paraded across his pale visage. Sleek white furs shimmered in the cyan hue of those waters and those reflective silver eyes caught the utter brilliance of that bioluminescent world.

In the cold Aevus could see his own breath as he spoke. “Because he needs it more than me.” But that wasn’t entirely it. There was a weight to that weapon. A guilt that still stirred in his heart even now. Lumina would shift away from the reaper, her silver lined eyes drifting to the enlightened woods that bordered her namesake. Aevus spotted her breath as her words fell from her maw and she’d look back to him almost pleading. “...So it served it’s purpose to you?”

Looking askance “It never had one..." He lied. His two blues would soften in that pale somber yet lovely light. “After all, I have you.” He’d force a smile. That bleak cold world seemed warmer. He could almost feel the drowning of that darkness, fade away from the land. Stretching away to an orange and yellow hue of dawn. But no. Nothing had changed and Lumina would narrow upon those eyes of his. “You shelter the truth from this one.” Disappointment, her voice was flooded with it.

“But why, when you know feigned smiles only reveal white lies?” He wouldn’t answer, his left hand instinctively sought his Zanpakuto. He knew not why but whenever he was cornered his first impulse was to grab his weapon, regardless of the threat, he didn’t want to face whatever it was, empty handed. Growling almost silently she’d stir her gaze away from him. With that tired eyes opened, falling back into that city light. Opening He could still see Luke sitting idly on that bench with that artifical Zanpakuto in hand.

His left hand curled tightly around the handle of his Zanpakuto as he spotted a monstrous hollow thrashing down the street towards the young man. His sapphiric eyes would light up as a kido shot across the rooftop to the hollow below. The lightning came from Senshi herself. It seemed even she had picked up a craft that he himself could never get the hang of. He could breath easy or at least he felt that way for a moment. That is until he to would spot that masked fiend behind the girl.

It happened so quickly. He’d rush forward leaving the others behind. His eyes narrowed. Regardless of what happened he needed to get to her. The wreckage around him left dust and smoke. The debris kept the reaper from seeing the carnage but he’d sooner see the after effects of the events that had taken place in that apartment. He watched his footing taking care to use air ground.

His eyes rather quickly adjusted and with that loud pop Aevus would unsheathe his Zanpakuto. The man before him was a familiar stranger. It didn’t make sense but he recognized the one armed man. Another shinigami... He had met him back at the academy. He remembered him. In the past he had met this man. He was a strange one but he left quite the impression. He was dressed awkwardly almost as if he was in human attire.

There wern’t supposed to be any other Shinigami out tonight either. At least not in this location. The lack of a Shikakusho gave it away. This Shinigami had gone rogue. “Step away from the girl.” Aevus nearly shouted. He was tense, his hand tightened around his Zanpakuto as he held it to his side. The events happening below became but a deafening blur. All he saw was Senshi and a traitor. “I wont ask you again.”

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

The redheaded Shinigami had slowly opened her eyes as all of these events had happened around her. She groaned as her sapphire eyes had gazed apon a figure she hadn't recalled being with the group. In her moment of hazyness, she hadn't felt alarmed until her lids widened. There had been a one armed Shinigami who had healed her of her wounds it seemed, and so she assumed immediately the man was from the fourth squadron. How did this man get here? She felt fully healed, perhaps even better. She had never realized that this man was a traitor to the soul society. It was then that she had heard a familiar voice call.

"Step away from the girl. I won't ask you again." Now this had alarmed Senshi and made her confused. Why was this man ordered to get away from the redheaded girl? Was this shinigami some sort of threat to her or the team? Senshi had closed her eyes again as she would pretend to be unconscious. During this time, the girl had recited an incantation to a Kido before calling it's name in her mind. "Hado#4:Byakurai." By this time, Senshi had noticed the missing Shikakusho at this point, and she had subtly raised her fingertips before firing a bolt of lightning for the center of the man's spine. She knew that this man may have healed her, but as far as she knew, the reason may be nefarious.

Apon firing her attack torwards the man, she would scramble to her feet before drawing her Zanpaktou. She had looked to be at her 100% although her uniform has seen better days. She would then use the Shunpo to appear beside the seated officer Aevus as she looked to him. The chances of the rogue shinigami being incompacitated was likely as her goal was to sever his nerves in his spine. Aevus would have to bring her to speed as she had been unconscious for the past few minutes. Based on the sounds of destruction, it seemed chaos had ensued.

"Seat-San. What has happened since I've fallen unconscious? What madness is going on?!" For the first time, she had seen the destroyed and annihilated building around her, and she seriously questioned what monsters had come. Had the Shinigami she had struck down been interfering within their plans? What had knocked her unconscious to begin with? She didn't remember much as she had been taken out within mere moments before. Whatever had happened here, it surely wasn't good. A thought that hit her, was what happened to the hollow creature that had attacked her before?

Senshi had been more than prepared to follow the man's orders. The teenage girl was glad to have escaped a bout with death from that Adjuchas from before. It seemed that monster didn't bother to take care of collateral damage. A thought that came out of her head was how much the Shinigami were going to lose from their paychecks. Around the apartment, she had seen that there were quite a few broken pieces of furniture, checks, belongings, etc. She felt bad for whatever poor soul lived in this room. Maybe they could afford another apartment.

Senshi knew she wasn't the strongest or most experienced, but she never would have imagined she was this outclassed. Not only had she been snuck up on, but she had been flung like a ragdoll. She couldn't let herself sink to this level. She was a Shinigami with high hopes for the future and a dream she wouldn't dare let go of. She knew at this point, she must train harder and progress her skills. She sought to improve herself as she knew she needed a reputation and strength to make her dreams come into fruition.

[MrDoctorDo]

There was really no accounting for Mika’s surprise. After all, he had rushed into the scene with little to know knowledge of the going ons. If anything, killing the Hollow had been an instinct decision. Now, here he was, regretting it with all of his being. I mean seriously. Of all the Shinigami in all of the Seireitei...how could it be that someone who knew him was on patrol? Someone who could get a positive ID. Someone who might actually want to take him back. Yet there Aevus stood. Looking all fierce in his leadership role. Issuing out demands to Mika.

Pfft, all without even saying hello. Not that Mika would have been to enthusiastic about a handshake and how-do-you-do. Still. Being yelled at wasn’t proving much better. With the hooded Reaper’s words twisting on his nerves. Leaving a very unhappy scowl as his expression. Making him question why he bothered try to save the girl’s life at all. ”I just saved your comrade when you couldn’t. I put her back together free of charge.” Thumb jutting out, throwing back to gesture to the redhead. ”Will you not even say thank you?” Pausing, with a ponderous face. ”I would have said thank you. And people call me a...heartless.”

Well. Some people did. Not necessarily Aevus. No, dogbreath over there had never really been much of a pain to Mika. Not when they were younger. Hell...depending on how you look at the memories, they were almost...friends. Sure, the two never got to spend much time together. Assigned to different classes in the academy. Assigned to different divisions after graduation. Yet, somehow they always seemed to run back into one another. Almost miraculously. How long had it been since the academy? How long since that field research mission in Sendai? ”Here we are again.” Only this time, Aevus was not so willing to take pity on Mika. They weren’t kids anymore. They weren’t even loose comrades under the same banner. And, as small as these differences ought to have been...there stood Aevus brandishing a blade. "It has been a long time since Sendai. Since our little, field trip. Have you been sleeping well? Did you get any help dealing with what happened? What you did..."

Shouting at the doctor like he were a stranger...wearing a familiar mask.

There was no getting away from this now. Mika had involved himself with the knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to run or hide after the fact. At the time it seemed an acceptable risk. Hunting monsters should not come without danger. Oh how quickly the perceived hazards had gone excrement on oscillating blades. Prompting the scientist to lift his hand up high above his shoulders. Trying to remove what threatening appearance he might be casting. Not wanting to turn the likes of the mystery gang on him. Not wanting to be zoinked in the jinkies so early in the sleuthing.

”Something has been causing unusual deaths in this area lately. Something that isn’t a Hollow...or a Shinigami.” Given the human world attire he was sporting. His lab coat and slacks. It was apparent he had been in the mortal realm, for at least some time now. Much longer than an evening. If his clothes didn’t give it away then his scent certainly would. He just didn’t smell the same as souls fresh from the Soul Society do. The pollution of the living world had seeped into his apparel and skin. So his own damn innocence being a very important fact to prove. ”I’m trying to find out what. I...I think you are too.” With a hand still up, he gave a little shrug and snarky pout. ”So can we stay the execu-"Hado#4:Byakurai!"

-ssshhtzzhhhsstzzhssshtzzz

No sooner did he parley a truce, was his body a spectacle of contortions and shivers. Every bit of him seeming to vibrate. From Aevus’ perspective, a festival of sparks would come spraying out from behind the stationary man. Their little arc trails racing each other onto his front and out into the open air. Those that remained close to him found their way into his body. Flying with natural potency through the whole of his form. Bouncing off the insulators of his leather shoes, and rebounding back through him anew.

It was quite a show. The myriad of facial expression his uncontrolled muscles ended up creating should have been enjoyment enough. Not to mention the popping sounds that came from his clamping teeth. After a mere second the whole ordeal drew to a conclusion. Leaving Mika in the position he had been in before. Exposed. Hand raised in a gesture of surrender. Now, his clothes marred by streaks of burnt fabric. His jaw clenched tight in paralyzed fashion. Eyes rolled far behind the lids.

All in all, an unconscious...yet surprisingly still standing mess. The culprit could feel quite proud of herself. Taking advantage of his distraction and being the subtle, little snake she was. Hey. Whatever works. Whatever gets one their kicks. Or in this case, their deep tissue agony coupled with -possibly permanent- neurological damage. Certainly there was no repercussion for her hasty actions. Not from Mika, at least. Hopefully Aevus would take the time to be a proper mentor and scold his subordinate appropriat-

crk…kekcrk….crcrrrcrrkcrkcrk

The strange sound would pour from the still frame that Mika had become. Getting louder with each new moment, sounding very similar to the breaking of bones. Continuous and erratic. Looking at the chubby fellow would not seem much change. He still remained frozen in his position. Eyes rolled back and mouth clenched shut in a painful grit of the teeth. Yet the sounds kept pouring. Soon, the faintest hint of movement would become visible. Only at the fringes of his white, now ruined coat. With each new pop the coat seemed to shift. Each time hiking up higher around his knees. As if being pulled upward by an invisible force. Though, not invisible for long. ”That little brat~”, came a voice far different that Mika’s.

Nowhere near as shrill. A baritone that sounded strained and raspy. Muffled...coming from-pop A large protrusion shot up from behind Mika. Hoisting up his shirt and jacket both, so that their collars almost slid up over his head. The thick formation evident of something beneath the fabric. Something that bore a strike resemblance to an exposed spinal cord. A long ridge, with smaller nodules crowning it all the way down. [smear:#008000]”Still loves her lightning~[/smear:7fff00] The voice transitioned now. Becoming more familiar. Something much like what Mika had before. Though still sounding quite sore. Oh, and -click me-

With another deep pop, the protruding growth flew up even higher. The shirt and jacket tearing poorly and falling free from the once frozen body. Now freed from restraint and cover, the strange tumor could be seen for the spine it really was. Blackened and brittle. Though no real surprise there. Stretched well into the air above Mika’s...former body. At the tippy-top of it, the medic’s former head. Now turned pale and flopping lifelessly. The former torso falling forward. Disconnecting from the waist and the pants that still remained intact.

The mass of flesh and tissue slapping with a wet and sticky plop onto the remnants of the roof. Leaving behind a half nude Mika. Every exposed inch of skin covered in a thick layer of dark blood. No longer anywhere near as chubby as he was. Now quite lithe and lean. His one arm wielding his former spine and head like a club above his head. His fresh body shivering from the sudden exposure to the breezy night air. Hair dripping with the thick concoction of afterbirth from which he regrew. Eyes peeking from behind the doused locks with an understandably disgruntled glare. His demeanor no longer so nonchalant. His guard fully raised.

Dropping the spinal column next to his old torso; Mika groaned at the torn piles of fabric that were his mortal disguise. Ruined and then ruined again. Though he was admittedly to blame for the latter. Adjusting to the temperature of nighttime exposure. Mika brought a hand up to his face, and ran the fingers through the sanguination that still stained him. Relieved, honestly, to feel that the coating was as thick as it was. Though he did have to spit a rather bulky looking lougie before he could speak perfectly clear again. Even he found it offputting. ”I thought I recognized her. The anatomy felt very familiar, but I just wasn’t sure.” Eyes cutting to where Senshi hid behind her superior.

”Hearing her voice and...feeling that lightning. Perhaps the charge was sufficient to stimulate the necessary lobes of my memory.” It had been some time now, but Mika had been present for a training session involving the younger Shinigami. To see two familiar faces come to light in the matter of mere minutes. How spectacular. Unfortunately, there would have to be a lull in the conversation. After all, what was supposed to happen next. Aevus made it clear he knew why Mika was hiding out in the mortal’s realm. Or...at least that there was a reason to be suspicious of him.

And as for Senshi. Well, she technically threw the first punch. So Mika’s newly discovered desire to undo the good work he had done on her body felt justified. After all, does someone that rude really deserve unpunctured lungs and solid bones? ”What now?” Still dripping the goopy remnants of his former self. Now freezing without his shirt and jacket. A little bit, absolutely livid. Hell, Mika was almost wanting them Aevus to say some nonsense about, “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”

[smear:#0000ff]"LUKE, GET THE F&*K OUT OF THER-”[/smear:#d3d3d3]HEEHAHAHAHA!

Oh. That’s right. There is something more important than a pissing contest between old mates. Something about a hellish monster terrorizing the world of the living? Tormenting mortals in a seemingly random manner. Endangering the lives of the mortals and the Shinigami who reap them alike. Speaking of mortals and spirit world ne'r-do-wells. Wasn’t there some poor, innocent kid being used as bait right now? Mika’s eyes drawn away from the impetuous duo. Falling onto the open park that spread between the apartment buildings. To the young man and the gentleman psycho who was departing the bus.

The scene was a tragic one. The boy. Least qualified of any spiritual entity in the region. Facing off with what should only be described as a horror. A man that not only looked the role of murderous sociopath, but possessed multiple personas to boot. Glossing over the disturbing weapon or the fact that the bus was warping like an image in a mirage. Bending and transforming into some new, hellish thing. Or that even at the distance they were...Mika could see the occupants being forced out of the shifting vehicle. Beings that might have once been human, but were now the stuff of American horror. Real night of the unliving cannibals tier badness.

Prompting Mika to point at the black clad arrival. Hoping to encourage the other Shinigami to do the same. Lest they miss a chance to see Satan’s conductor or the nightmare express. ”Is that one with the two of you? Or do we have a candidate for enemy of my enemy?” Sarcasm, with a side order of near-paraplegic salt. Honestly. Mika was sitting on a rather uncomfortable fence right now. Finding no simple, logical answer as to which pack of asses deserved their whuppin first. Mika happy to go either way with it.

The air around him returning to that murky, haze green mist that it had been before. The same discoloration that saw the spawning of a massive, severed arm and the reconstruction of Senshi into a whole. Only this time...the looming cloud brought with it a much more menacing mood. The kind most often felt in the presence of a salivating predator. "Don't make me decide." Glancing back down to his shed flesh. "My nerves are...a little raw."

Shikai - 1/10 posts

Remaining Reiatsu - 3165/3000
-200 Shikai
-500 Nikuno Negai, that massive hand/snake thing
-100 Ikito Nikowo Toru, +1000 - Hollow happy meal
-100 Ikito Nikowo Toru, +400 - reabsorbing the massive hand thing
-165(5%) Cellular Consumption

[Impossible]

"Kitai, what in the actual F#&K!?" Impossible yelled out as he touched down twenty feet behind the albino. The failure's flood gushed forward. His flood, much like Impo, was currently a mix of two colors. The primary color was an angry looking red, burning brightly as if it were lava. The second, lesser color was yellow, showing that the former human was confused as all get-out, also giving the appearance of liquid flames. The madman, clearly seeing the glowing mass of reiatsu heading his way, leapt over the flood, and swung his blackened blade down at the flame colored energy.

The force of his swing sent a shockwave down toward the ground. Instead of colliding with it, the rush of air simply phased through it. Summoning some air ground, the man now know as Kitai stood above the flood. He grinned down at the man, the failure. If it were anyone else, they would have taken that grin at face value. Impo wasn't anyone else. He's spent more time with this b@$%erd than any human should physically have to. He was perceptive, he could read better better than most. This albino piece of crap was confused. Why was he confused?

"Who the #ell is Kitai?" The man asked, a slight chuckle on the end of each of his words. Most of the red faded from Impo's body and flood, leaving them both half red and yellow. The flood continues forward, and would stop after it reaches Luke. If Luke, for whatever reason don't trust the failure enough to touch the reiatsu, then he really needed to reevaluate his life choices. Impo was there for the sole purpose to try and help the 'human' from his 'mentor'. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have bothered to call out to him, and that would have been the MUCH easier option.

Impo's eyebrow was twitching at a rapid fire pace. "YOU'RE KITAI YOU DENSE MOTHER F#&KER!" And the red was back in action, as it fought against the yellow, nearly snuffing the emotion out entirely. The madman only laughed in return, brushing his hand through his bone white hair, revealing his left eye. It was blood red, and was off from how it normally looked, or at least different from what Impo was used to seeing. His eye held nothing but absolute hate from him, lacking its usual insanity. And now Impo wished he never got out of bed today.

The man struck a pose, bringing his legs together close, as if he was standing at attention, with his feet forming a forty five degree angle. His chest puffed out, swelling in what seemed to be pride, as he stood at his full height of seven feet tall. He adjusted the cross around his neck to being directly over his solar plexus. He did two practice swings with his sword at diagonal angles. "To those about to die, I'll send you to the next life knowing the name of the one who slew you filthy heathens." He put his left arm behind his back, and took a deep bow. "My name is Connor Greaves. You scream and cry that as you burn... IN HELL!"

The Kitai look alike twisted around, using the closeness of his legs to spin quicker. He lunged off of his small patch of air ground, and rushed towards Luke. He thrusted his blade, hoping to impale him, turning him into another zombie like the rest of his victims. Thankfully, at the last possible second, Luke vanished in a blur. 'Connor', would see him move at the same speed as one of his bringer light's, the human variant of the step tech. And then the psycho slammed into the ground, creating a crater with his face. Luke, on the other hand, was now besides Impossible. "So, bad news and worse news, which do you want first?" The failure asked Luke.

"Bad news is that this guy is strong enough to punch down skyscrapers with his fists. Worst new is that he's almost as fast as he is strong, she we probably can't outrun him. You wanna try and fight him, or do you wanna go with this half a$$ed plan I have?" Impo told the man, regardless of what he responded with, as the currently blue teenager fired off a blue cero towards the downed man. The problem was, that they could see him leap over the laser, returning to standing on an air ground. The man charged them again, running over the flood. If Luke wanted to try and fight him melee, Impo would help him by teleporting him around with his flood, and attacking the man with bala's, but even that would be hard for the now homeless man.


Meanwhile, with the shinigami, the bus would collide with the closest reaper if they didn't move away. It would stop the moment it did, adding extra damage to the strike. After the bus stops, the doors will open up. Thirty zombies would pour out of the doors, with each of them falling over each other to get out. The dried out prunes of people were dressed like normal people, with clothing still fresh. There were several people dressed like elderly people, with glasses and everything, even a few sun hats, here and there.

Many of them were dressed in business attire, looking like they had been heading towards a very important job interview. A few women dressed in casual..... along with their children. They were all screaming and groaning, clearly in pain from their forced transformation. They weren't moving like normal people either. These 'zombies' were fast, moving at a speed of 300. The thirty rushed the four incarnations of death, intentions clearly not friendly. The 'zombies' weren't slouches in the strength department either. Their strength was 400, and could easily rip apart one of the shinigami if given the chance.

They split off into three groups of eight, one for Aveus, Crimson, and Arantima respectively. Mika would be attacked by the leftover six. From this point on, it would be up to the soul reapers on how to deal with their respective undead, be it in groups to help the weaker of them, or on their own. However, if the zombies managed to get close, they would all be able to hear past the groans and screams. Five feet was all the distance they needed for the reapers to hear their true words. The unintelligible screeching would turn into begging and pleading. They didn't want to die.

They begs the reapers to save them. They wanted nothing more than to return to being normal. They were unable to control their bodies. Each body would have a different reason, but they would all be to live once more. The bus however, was not like the former humans. From this, it had gained life, and was unwilling to lose it. The destination sign on the top of the windshield changed to 'Next stop.... HELL'. And drove forwards. Its target was Mika, but it would settle for anyone. It wanted to live as long as it could, and it wasn't going to let some weak humans stop it.

[Deleted]

Everything that was happening was, nearly, just about too much for Luke. Considering the fact that this dumpster diving looking mother fucker suddenly started attacking, and Impo announced the name of this person to be Kitai, and seemingly released an explosion of air from his sword swing made Luke realize just how out of his league he was. For a second, for a second that felt like hours, the image of Kitai was replaced by the memory of that Hollow. This over whelming pressure and power was something Luke had seen before, something he had experienced before. Tremors began to rampage throughout his body as his mouth held slightly agape, his breathing becoming troubled, as he realized just how fucked he was.

[smear:0066cc]Luke? Luke wake up! Stop daydreaming, hey! Dumbass![/smear:0066cc] Impo shouted, grinding his teeth together as he recognized the expression his "human" acquaintance had on his features. The Failures skin flashed with the colors of irritation, as did his Flood, as he realized he had no choice at this time but to get Luke out of the way and out of Kitais attention. Like a massive pimp slap from his Flood, Luke would find himself hurtling through the air and into an alleyway off to the side of the road. [smear:0066cc]"Hope I didn't throw him too hard.."[/smear:0066cc] Impo commented under his breath as he heard Lukes groan following his impact.

The cackling laughter of the maniacal bastard brought Impos attention back to the situation on hand. Clenching his hands into tight fists, he knew he had no choice now but to beat Kitai back. He was worried, pissed, but also hopeful that he could whoop Kitais ass. [smear:0066cc]"Huraaaaaaah!"[/smear:0066cc] Impo roared out as his hands began to glow with the reiatsu being gathered inside it. Like a machinegun he fired his hands forward, releasing a flurry of Bala at the maniac. He knew that his only chance in this situation was to overwhelm Kitai with attacks and hope for the best. Bala wasn't really a powerful attack, but it was the fastest Impo had in his arsenal of tricks.

Luke groaned, rubbing his head as he pushed himself to his feet after having been tossed like a ragdoll by Impos ability. Placing his hand on a turned over garbage can to help push himself up, he looked out of the alleyway at the sight of the fight unfolding before him. The sight of Impossible tossing what looked like super sonic speed moving balls of energy at the guy called Kitai, who was simply laughing and either slicing through the spheres with that sword of his or simply getting hit and shrugging it off as he approached Impo, made Luke realize just how small he really was in this. He was just a normal dude, with no real combat experience or abilities to help out. Standing on the air...oooh boy that sure was amazing. His grip tightened around his sword as he continued to watch the fight going on before him.

[smear:0066cc]"This time you've gone too far Kitai! I ain't letting you walk away from this one!"[/smear:0066cc] Impossible shouted, his skin color changing to match the color of his growing anger. Gaining some extra distance through the use of a Shunpo, to get away from the approaching madman, Impo raised one of his hands in the air and let out a sort of "preparation" yell. Reiatsu began to accumulate in the air above his head, taking on a cyan blue light and forming into a spherical shape. [smear:0066cc]"Eat this! Cero!!"[/smear:0066cc] Impossible shouted, lunging his arm forward and releasing a massive beam of blue light at Kitai.

He smiled, laughing out with that deranged voice of his as he charged in towards the blue light. Sword held above his head before coming crashing down on Impossibles cero, splitting the beam around him and causing it to veer off in two different directions around him destroying sections of the buildings they came into contact with. [smear:0066cc]"You prick!" [/smear:0066cc] Impossible shouted, his Flood oozing off his body and wrapping itself around a car near him. With some strain and focus, he was able to lift the car within his flood and hurl it right at the deranged madman.

Kitai laughed, those sharp teeth of his clacking together as he did so. He was loving this. "Ricky ticky tavie climbed up the waters spout!" He shouted, eyes widening at the oncoming aerial car that was hurled at him. Crouching his legs he prepared to duck under it, not even worried about being hit by it on the off chance that he was. His eyes focused on Impossible, and what the Failure was doing with his right hand. Extending. Finger extended. Light blue energy, like electricity, dancing off his finger tip. A Byakurai. A Byakurai shot off by the Failure and into the cars fuel tank. Kitai didn't even realize what happened, but Impossible was hoping Kitai would dodge like an idiot. The fuel ignited, and the car turned into a gigantic bomb of metal and fire.

The explosion consumed Kitai and rocked the alley, causing lights in windows all over the street and beyond to turn on as people were awakened by the explosion. Impo lowered his finger, hoping beyond hope that had taken care of it. "UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" came the scream from the cloud of smoke and fire. From the flames he came out, most of his clothing had been burned off by the intense heat. "It hurts...it hurts it hurts it huuuuurts!" Kitai moaned, removing his hand from his face. The humans body was covered in intense burns, and pieces of metal had penetrated his skin a small bit. Having flexed his muscles to absorb the impact of the explosion and the debris that could have penetrated him, Kitai had survived the explosion...but the heat and flames had hurt him.

Second degree burns covered a good chunk of his body, face and arms. He kept yelling out in pain, stumbling out of the flames and wobbling for a second. "Pain...pain...pain...hurts...pain dont...dont go away...don't come again another day! Stay stay stay with the pain! MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE! LET ME SHARE IT LET ME SHARE IT WITH YOU!" Kitai screamed at Impo, taking a step forward and preparing to charge forward and engage in close range combat with the young Failure. But as he began to dash, someone slammed into him. Luke. The humans form collided with Kitais, and a small splatter of blood could be seen escaping out of Kitais left side, opposite of where Luke had slammed into him. The thin sheet of metal that was the katana given to him hung in the air where it had penetrated Kitais body.

The hell...the hell did I just do? Luke asked himself as he realized what just happened. He'd been pushed by adrenaline and on the thought that Impossible was about to get shanked, since it seemed that the exploding car thing was the best move that he could have done. It was a stupid idea that only a moron would have done, but Luke did it anyway. He came charging out from the alleyway he'd been tossed in as Kitai came out of the fire howling in pain, distracted. He ran the bastard through with the gifted katana. He could feel the warm blood spilling over his hands, blood that wasn't his. He was still trembling, not used to all of this yet and on the verge of a freak out. But, even so, his eyes shone with a iron will and with determination.

[smear:0066cc]"Crap, Luke!" [/smear:0066cc] Impossible shouted, quickly using a Shunpo and his Flood to yank Luke, and painfully that sword, away from Kitai before the burned madman could swing his own zombie sword down at human. Luke rolled when they came to a stop, quickly getting to his feet and breathing heavily. "Does...anything bring that fucker down?" Luke asked Impo. [smear:0066cc]"You've found your balls? Good. NOW do you wanna hear my plan or do you wanna keep trying whatever works?" [/smear:0066cc] Impo asked, looking at the human who responded with a nod of the head.

[Deleted]

Since it's been about 2 weeks since the last post, this will be the 3 day warning. If Bomei doesn't post by Saturday then we'll be skipping him. We're close to the end people don't crap out now.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

(OOC i'm super super sorry. for the time it took me to post.)

Aevus would look askance as Mika spoke. Guilt flooded him like a cold wave, piercing him deeply as he stood with blade in hand. A dog through and through, he had allowed his superiors to leash him. Rogues were threats regardless of who they used to be. Capturing or killing them on sight was something that was drilled in his brain in the academy. They knew secrets of Soul society that they could possibly use against them. Siding with enemies and thusly creating a weak spot in the structure.

Putting the lives of those who thrived with the walls on the line. chaos complete and utter pandemonium could follow if these traitors were left to their own devices. He had blindly ignored the kindness of this man. He had only seen what he was brainwashed to see. A traitor, a threat to Soul Society. And so he had barked and held forth his blade to the monster he was told to see. Aevus held his ground as Mika spoke. He had tried to forget Sendai. Some of it was still there but in his drunken stupor he had forgotten a lot of that night.

Conversation was one of his many failings. Answering threats with his Zanpakuto in hand was far easier. So much easier. It’s how he faced Lumina’s questions on a daily basis. Hell he had done it just seconds before coming to the aid of Senshi. It seemed Mika was hunting the very same creature that the Failure had been. Is this why he was here? Is that why he had defected? Did he even defect? Was he just assuming things like always?

”I’m trying to find out what. I...I think you are too.”

What came out of that mans mouth, left him on edge. “...What you think I am too?” He tensed up at that, his left hand curled tightly around his Zanpakuto. He held his breath his eyes widened in disbelief. What was he talking about? What the hell did he know? But he wasn’t able to ask. With a sudden gasp and a bright light thwarted any conversation that could have occurred. The questions he had would have to wait. He noted the look on the girls face. Confusion held her and he couldn’t blame her.

His eyes narrowed upon her, for a second a flash of anger stirred behind those cold eyes of his. He was annoyed with her but he was more annoyed with himself. He’d look away from the girl gripping that blade of his, with that same tightness. “Tie him up-” But his words fell deafly from his lips as he turned around. He was disgusted with what he saw. It was a frightening show and yet he couldn’t look away as the man emerged from his own body. The sound of flesh and blood made him gag.

Mouth nearly agape he didn’t know how to rationalize what he was seeing. He wasn’t smart enough to understand it and well he didn’t want to understand it. His eyes would trail the very same path as Mika. Looking down upon the carnage happening below, he once again would tighten his hold on his Zanpauto. He had left Luke to fend for himself and now things were starting to whirl out of control. Luke would have to wait though. Perhaps that Failure could be trust worthy after all.

These creatures that fell forth through the debris of dust and dirt echoed shrieks. He could hear their wailing and he could hear their pain. Whatever ailed these creatures. They obviously were not willing to take part in whatever puppeteered them forward. “Whisper Softly...Umbra.” He’d gently murmur. A bleak aura fell forth from his body, eclipsing his form in a darkly shroud. Burying deeply into both Mika and Senshi as it spread thirty feet around his person.

It’d feel cold to them. Like winter had finally taken reign over fall. His very presence would cause them to feel something completely different. Perhaps even a faint trace of fear would stir in the hearts of the two. His Zanpakuto grew in length and a black ribbon fell from the pommel. He would immediately mark the back of the neck of the scientist as he stood within his darkly territory. “For now...” His voice would echo sharply within Mika’s mind. “But after this, you know what’ll happen if you try and escape Soul Society’s justice. ”

Like a good dog, he spoke his bottle fed textbook rhetoric. Heh his masters would be proud. The screaming of the banshees nearly deafened the reaper as he stood atop the building. His robe danced in the wind as his cold piecing blues fell to that monstrosity of a bus below. The puppets or what sounded like forced slaves were not his target. Too many to count on one or hell two hands. There was around twenty to thirty of them and they were fast too. Heh but clearly not fast enough. He could still see them after all.

All swarming like the pitiful hounds they were. He wondered, just how tightly those leashes were around their necks. Could they be freed from this torture? He hated the fact that part of him thought so. It’d be easier to cut them all down one by one. He stood by Senshi planting his right hand on her shoulder, marking her in the process. She may be scared, hell she might even shiver from his voice alone. But he had to apologize or at least try. “I’m sorry Senshi, that I wasn’t there.”

A thin translucent red thread would connect the young girl to him. ““I’ll protect you from now on.” He meant it. He’d bear her burdens. She would find that any wound, any impairment would fall upon him instead. “So don’t worry.” A thread of reiatsu would form around the reaper erupting in a single phantom of his Zanpakuto. It immediately shot past the creatures towards the monstrosity of a bus. (6000 speed)

Upon contact he would teleport to the thing, immediately casting Shindōyoku as he ran alongside its make with his blade reverse gripped. His blade would shimmer an intense cyan from the Reiatsu that coursed through the blade. It resonated and vibrated at an intense speed and it began to cause the reaper's hand to faintly ache. With a single motion he'd rend the metal across the entirety of the bus's right side destroying the monstrosity in a single sweep of his blade.

SPOILER: Click to show

{You thought Aevus was edgy before, check out his 2spooky4me Shikai Overall} Umbra - As stated with his overall Aevus’s ability is the manipulation of the threads of fate, conceptual threads brought into being by his very Reiatsu. Upon activating Shikai, Aevus will claim a thirty foot territory around himself. This territory is represented by a bleak, cold and dark aura, which surrounds Aevus at all times. A requirement to use most of his Shikai abilities is to mark his target costing 25 Reiatsu per mark. This mark is a tether, a bond if you will, an ability that connects Aevus and his target seemingly by fate itself. A Mark of Fate is created either by wounding his target with his Zanpakuto or by coming into contact with them. Or passively for 100 Reiatsu (once per post) if they are within his territory. Regardless of how, he can mark them. A faint slip of Reiatsu will fall forth from his blade or place of touch, residing within the target, connecting them to Aevus. If a target is marked within his territory, the mark will always appear wherever Aevus wills it. This mark doesn’t disappear until it is destroyed or when his release ends and there isn’t a set number that can be placed.

The bond that this mark creates, connects Aevus to his target in more ways than a mere conceptional thread. Allowing Aevus to speak to his target through a form of telepathy and his target him if he allows it. Even his Zanpakuto spirit and Inner Hollow can interact with his target this way if they so wish. His voice will be distorted and echo faintly. Carrying with it a seemingly different side of the shinigami. Uniquely this gives Aevus a point in intimidation which improves to 2 with two marks and 3 with three marks and immediately adds a point to anyone within his aura. Thus making him slightly more threatening to those marked regardless if friend or foe. Giving his voice and presence a coldness, thus making him out to be rather menacing to those marked or within his vicinity. For Aevus is not merely a manipulator of fate, he has become the personification of fate itself and fate in and of itself is cruel.

The traces of the users Reiatsu from the mark is usually invisible even to the naked eye, masking itself as the targets own while an ability is inactive yet when Aevus taps into this mark, it becomes both visible and able to be traced. Appearing to glow in a bioluminescent form that depends on how it was placed, such as a hand print, a cut from a wound. Even a simple smudge if Aevus merely brushed his target. If marked simply within the territory, it’ll appear as a small circle with two vertical lines, resembling the marking on his Zanpakuto Spirit's forehead. Once visible, the target will be able to see the traces of Reiatsu connecting them to Aevus and can freely displace the foreign Reiatsu. Easily severing themselves from Aevus by centering their own Reiatsu into the marked area. Costing nothing in the process, yet if the marked area is delivered by his Zanpakuto, it is different and it is required that the opponent heal the wound in order to remove the foreign Reiatsu. Those with 50% higher than his offensive stat can't be marked passively within his territory. It should be noted if his release is inactive the mark will fade. Yet on targets who agree to being mark, it'll remain after release. While inactive on those who agreed to being marked, the traces of the Reiatsu will become invisible to the naked eye. Yet they can still sense the mark and destroy it at anytime they wish.

Those who sever themselves from Aevus, those who fight against fate will inevitably fall to it. For the struggle against the threads that guide, is what leads to ruin. Upon disrupting the Mark of Fate, his target will not only be severing themselves from Aevus but fate itself for he has become the personification. Forcing their very fate to be rewritten. This causes them to black out, a lapse both in mind and body for what appears to be nothing to the target but in actuality it will be half a second. This is not static, each time the target cuts ties with Aevus, this lapse will increase doubling for each additional mark removed afterwards. Aevus himself can not cause this and it can not be resisted due to his target deciding this action themselves. This doesn't apply to those who simply sever themselves by healing. One doubling effect is lost for every other post the target keeps themselves bonded to Aevus.

Tracking (Passive) - Regardless of place, time, or even circumstances, Aevus has the passive ability to freely track those that he marks even from long distances of up to two miles. This can easily help Aevus in finding a target. Such as those invisible or those masking their Reiatsu. Because it doesn’t pinpoint them, it is actually pinpointing his own Reiatsu within the mark. Making it excellent for tracking but requiring a 25 Reiatsu cost per post to keep active. It is very useful if his senses aren’t up to par or perhaps even impaired by an opponent and or his environment. So those that are marked rarely surprise him. For they are sensed almost immediately upon coming into vicinity of him.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Understanding the shit Aevus did with that random Japanese technique 101} Shindōyoku (Vibrating Blade)

Class: 3

Technique Type: Zanjutsu

Usable By: Shinigami, Rogue, Vizard

Technique Description and Effects: User coats their weapon of choice with Reiatsu causing the weapon to glow the same color of the users natural Reiatsu. The Reiatsu resonates at extremely high frequencies when attacking allowing ones bladed weapon to weaken the molecular bonds of whatever the user is cutting into for one single strike. In turn increasing the weapon of choices cutting ability and lowering the strength of an opposing technique if it comes into contact with another source of Reiatsu by 25%. If mastered it's 30%. This Allows it to cut through nearly everything in the users path with seamless ease. The cutting power of this technique relies completely on the users highest offensive stat (Spiritual Pressure excluded unless in release) allowing it to cut through Reiatsu based techniques as long as the users highest offensive stat is higher than the opposing technique.

How to use technique: Coat blade in Reiatsu and use.

Technique Drawbacks: This technique counts as a short term stat boost. You need at least a 2 in a Sword Skill and the right amount of Reiatsu to use this technique. This technique puts a short term strain on the users arm due to the high vibration of the weapon playing part in this technique and needs a total of two of the users posts, one if mastered to rest for each individual arm that is used. This strain will cause the user some minor pain but consistent uses of the technique before the two post wait period will put a higher strain on the users weapon arm for each use, tearing muscle etc.

Made By: Aevus

Reserved?: No

[Senshi Odayakama (Crimson.)]

Too much was happening. What was going on in this cacophony of madness? Senshi had electrocuted the traitor with her Byakurai seeming disabling him until it seemed he fell out of his own body. The sight made her dizzy and nauseous as she gripped her Zanpakutou. Was this the power of the man's Shikai. She had drawn her blade with her left hand entering an Aikido stance. Aevus had spoke about how he would have to capture the former Shinigami or kill him where he stood. "Gomenosai. I don't mean disrespect for attacking you when you healed me, but I have no choice. It is my duty as a Shinigami...so I will hope we meet in better terms in the next life. The girl looked resentful as she readjusted her torn clothing with her right arm. The medic was most certainly likely to be angered at her betrayel. She was ready to combat the medic but unlike Aevus, she hadn't been brainwashed.

She had never expected for a sudden bus to crash through the wall...and what is even more confusing was that it unleashed ghoulish looking zombies. It was like some sort of odd horror movie did she see these beings. It was only upon closer analyzation did she find out that these beings were human beings twisted and manipulated begging for release. Senshi's cerulean eyes had widened in shock before she had closed her eyes. It pained her to see the sorry state of these beings. "Whisper Softly Umbra. It was when the seat had spoken did she open her eyes. The power that the seat had confused her...baffled her...amazed her as this was the first Shikai she had ever seen. What ability it had, she didn't know. The medic would be forgotten as it seemed there was a greater foe at hand. The sound of explosions of Bala and chaos filled her ears as Senshi had then looked blank...then cold.

She knew generally just by looking at these beings that they were stronger than her. Senshi was a woman of wit anywho. She knew that one of the best ways to win in battle is through superior numbers...but occasionally quantity beats quality. It was against Senshi's morales to kill any human being and seeing these zombies were still human and alive, she would not dare slice one down. Quickly sheathing her blade, she had used her sheath instead as a whole to defend herself. Reciting a mental incantation, she had her sheathed sword in one hand and her arm aimed out torwards the suffering humans. She didn't expect however for Aevus to vanish out of sight and reappear about to vanquish the demonic vessel the transformed humans came from.

Aevus said he was going to protect her...and the red thread connecting them was going to represent that? The binding and entertwining of their fates. Senshi didn't want to hold anyone back from performing their duties. She had to do what she could...and so aiming to the crowd, she would call, "Hado#1:Sho!" Her plan was to use her impressive reiatsu strength to keep these beings at bay. Surely there had to be a way to reverse the effects and maybe killing the bus would do that. Everytime a zombie or zombies would get close to her, she would try to leap back and gain distance before repelling them.

[Mika]

Funny. It is often said; in times of war and crisis, enemies often become allies. Whether it is for the greater good or mere survival. Differences can be put aside for the pursuit of something shared. What. A. Load. Of. Shit. That, ha-hah, that ain’t how it works. That ain’t how any of it works. No. See, what really happens isn’t poetic or logical. Oh no. It is base. Primal. An instinctual response that comes from the deepest parts of our beings. In times of trouble; the living seek survival. And the same can be said for the dead. ”Predictable.” The only sentiment that found its way to the forefront of Mika’s mind. The word bristling through his brain as he stared down the duo. Aevus and Senshi. Giving him each the sort of glances that monsters always recieved.

Maybe, perhaps, Aevus’ harbored a bit more hatred than that? These pretty little starlights staring out quite viciously from the shadows of his hood. Something had struck a nerve with this one. A deep nerve. And in doing so flipped that instinctual switch. Pushing the young man to question what was important. Solving a problem with all available resources, or remaining loyal to a code. The stare confirmed it all. Without him ever having to say a word. All in all though, it made Mika wonder. Just what did Aevus have to be so furious about? What the balls had his nipples in a twist? Their little team hadn’t had any loses for the night. Were on the right trail to stopping a real monster. Heck, Aevus’ hair looked better than Mika could recall from their youth. What the fuck did he have to be so mad about?!

It had been proven that Mika was not the culprit behind recent attacks. The doctor had not only avoided harming any and all of the spiritual agents working this case; he had even saved of them! The little girl had been broken...and he stepped in to put her back together. No charge. No deals. No fuss. Just a willing exposure to danger, both Hollow and Reaper alike. Just for some randon life. Then, with a back full of muther-fucken-lightning™, he still didn’t turn. Getting himself up. Dusting of a blownout nervous system. And asking politely, “Can we please kill that murderous shit, first?” Nope. Wasn’t going to happen. Instincts win. Survival first. And not pissing off your superiors is survival 101 for the likes of Shinigami. Otherwise you emd up in the doctor’s boat. Asking assholes you just healed, ”Why did you zap me with ALL the lightning?

Speaking of the firecracker...

The renegade, I prefer that term over traitor, had little reason to expect any different from the girl. Attitude or morality wise. I mean. She was the subordinate to a subordinate. Thats like...thr compound interest of doing the wrong shit because of “orders”. Yet, even with a freshly shed torso laying on the ground in front of him; Mika could help but think that maybe the innocence of youth might win out. Sure she was impulsive when she tried to evict his soul with a lightning enema, but who didn’t make a few mistakes as a kid? Mika certainly wasn’t without flaw. There were still people to this day that believed he kidnapped classmates to eat them. No proof, just heaps of rumors and idiot kids who were never seen again.

Yet. All this aside. When Senshi spoke up. Mirroring her elder’s dedication on the matter of Mika’s innocence...well, the medic took it hard. I mean god damn. How many broken teenagers does a guy have to rebuild before people stop screaming “traitor” or “monster”? How many bystandards had to die before they could just get back to stopping a murderer? Instead of trying to intimidate the white mage? Uhhhg. What upset him most was that no matter how badly he craved it; Mika couldn’t flip them both off simultaneously. The first time he had cursed his lacking anatomy, in a long time. Yet! In lieu of the syncronized flight of birds, Mika did give them each an implacable, slightly confused sneer. After all. They were going to chose a moment like this to dig deep into polotics and dut-

WAS THAT A FUCKING BUS?!

The public transportation slug had come crashing onto the roof. With all the weight and force that it took to move it, the fact that the vehicle landed so precisely was astounding. They were dealing with a real artiste at automotive artillery. The feat only getting more impressive when the contents of the bus began piling out in pristine conditon. Well, relatively pristine. The whithered and crumbling throng of humans didn’t look to be in the best of health. They shambled more than walked. Possible side effects of the countless traumas of the impact. Only when the moved into the moonlight. Exposing the decaying status of their flesh. Calling out with pained, helpless cries. Only then did the truth of their welfare come to the surface. These peoples were far from people. They had been turned to ghoulish horrors. Behaving as monsters from a movie, for lack of better comparrison. Something Mika had been drowning in since coming to the mortal world. A popular feature in almost every variety of mortal entertainment. This Mother fucker done brought zombies to the ghost fight! And speaking of dead things that look alive…




“Whisper Softly...Umbra.”



And like that, the tone took a much different turn. What had been the high octane cataclysm of smart plans and good intentions; frozen into a somber stillframe. The rush of reiatsu that came off of Aevus was something unexpected. Not that it occured, but the manner in which it existed. The way it creeped through the air. A chilling omen of approaching doom. While the moment before had been burning passions and angry glares. The frantic flurry of violence and hazard in the melee below. Every present soul was a twisted bundle of nerves. Tense and kicking in the chaos of it all. But now. Everything was slow. Paused. Frozen by the icy weight of a reaper unleashed. Everyone should sense the disturbance caused. The ripple of cast out by the falling stone known as shikai. Even Mika...especially Mika. Maybe it was more for him than any other soul around. Be they ally or hungering dead. A mark placed upon the doctor in such a way as to remain unseen. Yet with it came a feeling that couldn’t be ignored.

The spine that had only just recently burned, now firgid from the chill. The chill...of fear. Sudden. Sweeping. Irrational fear. Seizing his senses and trapping him within his own body. Terror gripping every bit of him. From lungs held full of air. To a heart shrivelled in a skipped beat. All of this made worse by the surprise. Fear always made worse by the surprise. Was this what his long time acquaintence was capable of? Had his distance personality been sheltering such a potent tool of malady by chance, or by design? After all, what could anyone fear more then that which they don’t know or understand? It was, truly, a scientist’s worst scenario. And now Mika was caught within it. Trapped. Sealed by it. Wanting nothing more than to flee. Without any idea on how to escape.

By the time Aevus issued his warning to Mika. Informing him not to flee. His every word having to struggle against the ringing of an addled mind. Mika could think of no greater comfort than to run. Fortunately, the medic was intimately familiar with his own limitations. He knew how slow of a sprinter he was. He knew how much he stuck out in a crowd. There was no fleeing once someone was as caught as he was. The corner was where a person like him had to fight. Seriously. There should be lights coming from the sky and an angelic choir accompaniment, because it was a miracle that Mika wasn’t a runner. You punks would have been fucked otherwise. Instead, the day gets to be saved. The doctor was already thinking of a way out of his perdicament. A negotiable scenario in which everyone could walk away satisfied. And alive. Definitely alive.

The price of this seemingly implausible bargain currently moaning for their lives. The fleshbags that had become unwitting pawns in a mad man’s wet dream. Mika already quite sure of what ailments were troubling them. With what he knew from his weeks of research. All the evidence he extracted from the victims that preceded this new horde. In fact, new was about the only word that failed to describe what was before him. Mika was just seeing the effects that resulted in his patients. The process en process, as it were. While he was certainly impressed eith the added effects of motor control and improved durability; Mika knew what was going to become of these people. Yeah, lets call them people.

Zombie is too discrimatory for flesh puppets, conscious of their lack of control. They were too far from mindless to be labled as such. However, Mika didn’t know how long it would take for these people to breakdown. The fortitude of their bodies become completely up to their individual physicalities. So instead of bolting and hoping they would crap out before he did...Mika swiped up his former torso off the roof. Fingers gripping around the burned, crackling remnants of his old spine. The wrecked column of bones and tendons barely sturdy enough to be a grip. Still, it allowed him to hoist up the messy sleeve of flesh. Giving it a few shakes to wiggle it out of his former shirt and lab coat. The soon exposed anatomy becoming swarmed by the green cloud that followed Mika’s every step. Just before he Shunpo carried him...

...to Senshi’s side. Just in time for both of them to watch her senpai in action. Damn did he know how to work it. Like a guarnine fueled, angst filled, full-autism breakdown; Aevus went some next level rage on the enemies’ bus. Doing to the piece of public transit...what riding public transit does to our hearts and souls. Every. Damn. Day. Tearing the bus asunder like the hopes and dreams of the men who drive them. Sending the split and shredded mess tumbling back to the ground. Filling the mortal neighborhood eith yet more calamity and confusion. The sight quite the inspiring one, considering the fact that it required Senshi to be abandoned. All around her floated the strange green mist that Mika had used to treat her before. Left alone between some zombies and a Mika’s haze.

But the young redhead was proving resilent. Already in her battle stance. Blasting the encroaching creatures with an exempliary Sho. Pressuring the tide harmlessly to their hands and knees. The force of her projected wind keeping the hurting and weary souls down. Seems she took it upon herself to deal with the marching corpses nonviolently. Trying her best to keep from hurting them. Proving that she could act rashly in the face of uncertainty. Huh. Where was that level headed compassion when she was going all Hardon of Thor on Mika’s back? Hmmm. Know what. Doesn’t matter. You know what does matter? Sick people. They matter a lot. Deserved to be cured. If only someone were capable of doing something like that.

If only there were someone with expertise that wasn’t limited to stabbing mutha fuckers or casting lightning bolt. Someone like the man waiting at her side. Loitering over her really. As she struggled to maintain her oppresive kido. Not in any real rush to do the girl a favor. The smell of blood permeating from him. Probably because his entire upper body still dripped with it. Some muscle and bone mixed in with it too. Gripped in his only hand, the cocoon he made out of his former torso. The fleshy ragdoll seemingly rotting in his grip. Much faster than should be natural. Covered, almost completely, with a strange, pink...fuck, guess you would call it mold? Doesn’t matter. The added layer of color wouldn’t mean anything to someone with as little medical knowledge as Senshi had. It would just be a new spectrum of icky that this weirdo could bring to the situation.

It wouldn’t be long, Mika figured, before the younger Shingami turned to him. I mean. How long could she go without staring? Or at least glancing in concerned fasion at the supposed traitor who had cozied up to her right side. Fortunately she had nothing to worry about. For the moment she looked to him, he would be looking at her. Giving her a casual, “sup” gesture. The silent action no more than an upward nod of his head. Seemingly some kind of nonverbal confirmation that he was there. Ready to help. Which was proptly followed by him raising up the remains of his former self. Letting the gooey, decomposing mass whip right into the path of her Sho.

The pink film that had developed over the majority of the carcass suddenly glowing like hot flourescent. The moment it was struck by her kido, its failing structural bonds gave way. Causing it to burst in the wind’s force. Dissolving once any amount of harm came to it. Catching on the trail of the wind. Splattering over both Mika and Senshi. Turning to a fine mist. Carried by the kido until it sprayed across the fledgling forms of Kitai’s flesh puppets. The same light from before now painting their exposed bodies and open wounds. Getting onti and into their skin. The highly visible, liquid remains seeping into their very being. This new development causing all of the shamblers to collapse again.

With or without Senshi’s Sho, these affected humans would fumble and fall flat to the roof. Soon the aching wails of tormented souls would begin to die. A long and gradual transition into silenc. Replaced thereafter by loud, uncontrolled fits of coughing. The sort of painful, dry hacking one might hear from the severely dehydrated. Though that isn’t at all what was wrong with them. No. These people had been poisoned by a insideous poison. One made of potent reishi. A toxin that warped whatever it touch through the supernatural powers of...well, Mika wasn’t sure if it was Fullbring or Hell Corruption. So caustic was the power that it crossed several lines of definition and classification. However, it always left victims in the same state. Twisted and deformed. A cancer born from nightmares and made reality. Thankfully, a cancer that could be cured. In one sense or another.

Thus the coughing. A process that took several moments to begin, and far less to become worse. Even Senshi would see that the coughing was painful. Producing blood from each of the victims’ mouths as they writhed. Making the treatment a bit unsettling to watch. Even as their discolored skin returned to what it had been in life. The reishi pollution that had been the source of the malady, flushing out of them with each hacking gasp. The doctor’s cure proving a triumph, much to his delight. Having wanted to encounter this deadly plague for some time now. To face off with it. To go against it and win. See, Mika had long suspected that something was experimenting with this power. Testing its capablities on the local population. To see what he had tonight; Mika was less than thrilled to see that the research was producing results. Though...it was nice to know that he had found patient zero. Or, more aptly, ground zero.

”Senshi. That is your name.” Speaking up as they watched the medicine taking effect. Each of them still splattered with their own dose of the pink, luminous slime. The light within the odd colored mold dying away quickly. ”It was a great distraction. Trying to remember.” Looking down at her once more. Mika’s round face not quite as livid as he had been. Though any expression covered in drying blood wouldn’t look pleasant. ”It has been a long time since that combat exercise.” He had wondered how she faired after that day. What long term affects the steriod had on her.

”Don’t ever shoot me with lightning again.” Brow furrowing as he stared her down. Only in this moment of dominant assertion did he finally notice...the small red thread. Lacking the sensitivity to know it was formed of reishi; Mika wondered just when the hell that hd gotten there. And what the hell was it? ”No one will fix you idiots if I waste all my energy rebuilding my nervous system.” Reaching to pull the smoking pipe from his back pocket. Gripping the polished steel in his big teeth. Strolling past the unconscious humans towards the battle that still raged below. ”Come on, lets go help your boyfriend kill a murderer.”

Shikai - 2/10

Remaing Reiatsu - 2789/3000

-100 Cellular Repurpose, the zombie cure
-100 Shunpo
-146(5%) Cellular Consumption