Arc 1 ~ Canon 2: Lock-In in Berghain [R, DE]

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji watched silently as he wiped the slight amount of blood on his mouth away with a tissue, the aftermath of his spells that he had casted which has failed miserably. He hated the fact that his spells hurt him, as he almost thought of himself as weaker than everyone. How could someone with such kido ability be harmed by their own spells? It was almost embarrassing so he couldn't help but feel ineffective along with his colleagues. He felt like he had contributed to nothing and how he was a failure to his squad. He was nothing compared to Luke and Shizuka. And he was so upset that he would be viewed as useless, which he was probably already viewed as by them. 

"I'm sorry I was useless in that fight. All my abilities are ranged so I'm useless in that situation." He said apologetically as he reached behind the counter, pouring a strong vodka shot for the party. "Here, you'll probably need this" Kenji said, moving them over towards Shizuka and Luke before downing his and pouring another shot for himself, taking a quick second for a breather then downing the next one. When Shizuka picked up the two canisters to use them to blow open the door, Kenji did the same, picking up another two before bringing it over to Shizuka. "Do you need me to do anything else?" Kenji asked quietly, knowing that he had to continue on until he found his squad member.

[Deleted]

Checking what remained of the canisters with Shizuka, Luke counted out five that remained after the fight. He couldn't help but wonder if that was going to be enough to blow the door at the bottom of the stairs. Well, so long as it did enough damage for them to get it open then there wouldn't be any problems. He should have been more confident in the plan. Shizuka had shown off just how strong these canisters exploding were. The plan would work. "If it doesn't you could just beat the door down, Mr. Hero of Justice." Jäger joked, though everyone knew that option was on the table. If need be Luke could very well use Impact on the door again. But he didn't know how his body would handle using the technique again so soon, and especially if it was needed multiple times.

He was so focused on these thoughts that he failed to catch Shizuka's little slip up. He blinked, looking at her confused for a moment as she corrected herself. Did she say something wrong? "Idiot." Springflut grumbled. Was the Doll referring to him or Shizuka? Luke had a feeling Springflut left it vague on purpose. Chuckling a little, Luke smiled at the Fullbringer. "Yeah, let's do it." he replied, having heard her mention blowing up the door. Gingerly reaching forward with his right hand, Luke suddenly winced as a wave of pain stabbed through his body. He was still reeling from the effects of Impact and the Hollow's defenses. Pulling his arm back he looked at his shaking fingers, frowning slightly before fixing the mistake by grabbing a canister with his left hand. His right would be out for a little bit.

Standing up straight and about to follow after Shizuka, Luke suddenly noticed what Kenji was doing. Muddy browns looked at the Shinigami with surprise. What the hell was he doing? The Shinigami apologized for his lack of effectiveness while fighting the Hollow while drowning his self pity in vodka. "I'll be right there, Shizuka." Luke replied to the Fullbringer before approaching Kenji, placing the canister he was carrying down on the ground. "Kenji." Luke suddenly said, having actually remembered the Fourth Seats name and deciding to use it. He was being an ass earlier, since Kenji had approached with weapon drawn, but Luke wasn't going to try and be one right now.

Brown eyes remained locked on Kenji for a moment as Luke worked around in his head what he needed to say. With a businesslike calmness, Luke finally continued speaking. "I'm not the best person when it comes to words. A lot of times people take what I say and make something of it that I don't intend. So listen to me when I say this and know that I'm not trying to come off as an asshole. But, I want you to make sure that you want to do this." Luke said, his eyes remaining locked on Kenji. "I don't doubt for a second that going forward we're going to encounter stronger and stronger enemies the deeper we go. And I don't doubt that we'll face more enemies like that Hollow. You've got a choice right now, Kenji. You can walk away from this, right now, or keep going." Luke explained steadily.

"Don't think for a second if you leave that I'll, or anyone, will think any less of you. Sometimes it's better to retreat than to needlessly risk your life. You can go back and tell Soul Society about the Hollows here and come back with a team." Luke explained Kenji's option to him. The Bount knew that Kenji would realize why Luke was saying this to him. The shielding around those Hollows were preventing Kenji from using his full power. They were basically created to be a perfect counter to Shinigami like him. Luke didn't want Kenji getting himself hurt trying to fight an enemy designed to beat him. He may not have known Kenji, but he certainly didn't want him getting himself killed.

"...you said you were looking for your man, right?" Luke's tone lowered a bit, respecting the gravity of Kenji's feelings on this matter. "If you go, I promise you I'll do my best to find him. But, if you chose to stay then you need to be in this fully. You can't half ass. You can't let what the enemy has prepared for shake you. This is all I'm gonna say on it." Luke said, shutting his eyes for a moment before bending down and lifting the cannister he had been carrying back up. He began to stroll past Kenji, heading towards Shizuka and the staircase, before opening his mouth once more. "The choice is yours Kenji Masaaki. Leave and live to deliver what you've learned or risk yourself further needlessly." He finished as he passed the Shinigami, unsure if what he said would have the effect he was hoping for in the man. He wasn't aiming to hurt Kenji, wound his pride, or make him feel bad. He wanted Kenji to either back out or give his one hundred percent in this.

"Yeah, this looks like the same shielding that was around the Hollow." Luke stated the obvious as he looked at the door that blocked their progress. Placing his canister down for a moment, Luke decided to try something. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the keys he had found behind the bar. "Worth a try at least." he commented softly before trying his luck with the keys and the door.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

The Fullbringer frowned at her friend, not because he was doing anything to disappoint her, but instead because she was worried about something she saw in his hands. He was obviously in pain, likely from when he tried to punch that Hollow. She knew what he did required great feats of strength, and he probably had to dip into some external power to do so. Fullbringers needed to do that from time to time when their own power isn't enough, so it basically confirmed her thoughts that Luke was more than likely a Fullbringer. If he wasn't, what else could he be? But even so, instead of following her, he turned around to Kenji. Useless Kenji.

His words were somewhat encouraging, but also used as a warning. Kenji needed to seriously consider what he was getting into, and it made Shizuka furious. So much so, in fact, that as she growled out of frustration, the small shot of alcohol Kenji had offered actually lit on fire as the fumes burned away. After rolling her eyes enough to pull a muscle, she walked herself back up next to Luke and held on to his arm. The hurt one. She held it close to her chest for a moment, as if it would actually help take away the pain despite knowing she could do nothing for him, and gently let it go. Her signal for telling him that she knew what he had done. Then she looked at Kenji.

"You need to be serious with us. Each of us was probably brought here for a reason. While I refuse to tell you the mission I was given, I refuse to let anyone die here without me at least trying to save them. That is how I work. But if you hold us back even a little bit, us working together is over. You will simply be a burden. Now, you can either choose to follow or choose to die."

She was serious, too. She wasn't going to wait around for the likes of him. Knowing he wasn't much help anyway was going to pretty much be their downfall, especially since it was hard enough for him to fight anything with Sekki Sekki. Shinigami were strange, idiotic creatures. How could they possibly be so weak to something like that? Humans, like herself and Luke, were more than enough for this journey. They could bust through just about anything. But the unfortunate truth was that Shizuka refused to let anyone die because she ignored them. Even though she hated what Kenji was and the fact that he was practically no help, she hated thinking about his lifeless body more. If she didn't allow herself to help him, she'd regret it.

So she did what any normal person would do. She went up behind Kenji and slapped him on the back with her full strength. She was going to make sure he snapped out of whatever depression he was in long enough to see this mission to an end. Then she grabbed his left arm and dragged him with her until she was next to Luke again. At first, her face displayed only annoyance and irritation, but then she looked up at him. Her heterochromatic eyes pleaded with him to help her snap him back into reality, but she also knew he was hurting. The Fullbringer, not having much ability to use her hands since she was carrying Kenji, touched her nose to his upper arm and closed her eyes. Her silent favor.

"We need to move on. The longer we sit here, the more likely we are to die. Kenji needs to pull himself together."

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji kept looking down at the alcohol cabinets, his eyes scanning the drinks like he was at a candy store. Every alcohol that Kenji could imagine was in there, he just had to get another one. However he was soon interupted by Luke who for the first time actually addressed him by his proper name. He almost smacked his head off the top of the liquor cabinet as he stood up so quickly, he was mainly in shock that he even remembered his name considering that he a had referred to him as "Fourth Seat" since the moment that he had met him. However he did look up and stop trying to drink himself to death to actually listen to what the human had to to say.



However what Luke said to him almost made him feel like he wanted to actually murder him. All he could feel was unchecked rage that was circulating his body like a disease. This type of rage he had only felt once before and when he had felt that rage, the hollow that killed his husband made sure that he felt every teeny tiny bit of that pain and anger, so it was taking extreme patience to even deal with that type of accusation. "Of course I don't want to be here, no sane person would, but it's my goddamn job and I plan to do it." Kenji said coldly as his eyes looked like he was about to go nuclear however he managed to keep it together. He needed to be calm and collected, even if he did feel like he was a burden.



However he knew that he needed to lower himself down, after all, his subordinate was somewhere in this building and he had to rescue him. Despite Luke telling him that they would go down and rescue him, he knew he could never live with himself if he had just turned round and left him to the mercy of the two humans. After all, he was the one who assigned him to this sector and was responsible for him even being that situation. He had to stay here. "I have to continue onwards, as much as I appreciate the sentiment of going down there for me. However, I was the one who assigned him here and I need to be accountable for that." He said calmly.
However, before he stood up, Shizuka walked up behind him and slapped him with full strength. He was extremely impressed and terrified with her power so he immediately snapped out of whatever stupor he was in. He was dragged off his seat and moved over next to Luke and while Shizuka looked pissed, she did show that she cared in her eyes. So Kenji took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a few seconds before opening them up again with his game face on. "I'm ready. Lets go." he stated bluntly, gripping his rapier tightly but with a determined face and fury in his eyes. 

[Deleted]

Pushing that post number up while we wait for John

It was surprising to suddenly feel his arm pressed up against Shizuka’s chest. So surprising, in fact, the man felt his cheeks suddenly grow hot. The arm she showed that care for was the very one that he had used Impact through to damage the modified Hollow. It was a worldless way for her to show sympathy to his plight and thanks for doing what he did. Seems that she’d noticed the trouble he’d been having with that arm. Wasn’t like it was permanent. But the display was appreciated and may have made Luke’s heart beat a little faster. ”D’awwww. Someone’s in love.” Jäger mocked, ruining the mood with his voice. ”Oh here we go..” Springflut grumbled. Luke could just feel the Doll rolling his multiple eyes.

Seems that Shizuka had something she wanted to say to Kenji as well. It certainly wasn’t as caring as what Luke said...oh who was he kidding Shizuka was straight up nasty to Kenji. Each of her interactions with the Shinigami had been like this. There was much more going on with her than just not liking Kenji. It made him think back to what she said to Kenji when she first saw him a short while ago. ”You're already on my hit list just by allowing yourself to be a Shinigami.” She had some kind of history with the Shinigami. Luke wondered what could have happened to make her so hateful towards him. Even he, a Bount, had a rather positive opinion about Shinigami. A Bount. Well, thankfully he hadn’t run into any Shinigami yet that tried to skewer him because of what he was. Well...there was also the fact he was hiding what he was from both of them.

But there was something Shizuka said, two things actually, that made Luke blink. The first was the mention of a mission. While it was a no brainer that Shizuka was here on a mission, just as he was, it was the fact that she so openly declared that she wasn’t going to tell Kenji what it was. ”Then why mention it at all you dumb airhead..” Springflut grumbled, though Luke quickly shot a mental grumble at the Doll for calling her a name. Luke had been sent by Uzaki Enterprises to investigate what had happened. He couldn’t help but wonder what Xcution had tasked her with doing here. Kenji as well had his own mission. Luke wondered just what Shizuka was doing here.

But that wasn’t everything that was said. In fact, what Luke really focused on was something a lot less important to a lot of people. Those brown eyes blinked for a moment as he carried his canister when he suddenly heard Shizuka say ”I refuse to let anyone die here without me at least trying to save them.” What was surprising was that she said that to Kenji. She, who at this point had been so absolutely nasty and awful to him, had said that she wasn’t going to let him die without her trying to save him. His brown eyes focused on Shizuka as she scolded Kenji, before his mouth slowly formed into a soft smile. That single, unimportant, sentence cemented the fact that Shizuka was a good person despite what came out of her mouth. Right there, Luke set a goal for himself. One that he’d try to accomplish once this was all done.

Watching her drag Kenji after that loud ass slap to his back, his eyes caught her heterochromatic ones. He recognized the pleading look in them, giving her a smile when she pressed her nose against his arm. She wanted Kenji to get serious, and luckily for both of them the Shinigami had snapped back to reality. Whatever despair he was feeling over that fight was gone now after both humans gave him a piece of their mind. He wasn’t going to drag them down now. ”Good to hear, fourth seat.” Luke replied with a smirk, going back to refering to Kenji as his position rather than name. But there was a hint of teasing in Luke’s voice, showing that he didn’t mean any ill will with it.

Placing his canister by the strange door, Luke took a step back. ”So...if this door is anything like what was surrounding that Hollow then anything made of reiatsu is just going to get disintegrated.” Luke stated, letting Shizuka and Kenji place their canisters down at the door too. ”Wow, what a big word for you kekeke.” Jäger teased again, but Luke didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. ”We should be able to blow the door open like this. We can soak these things in alcohol and then light them on fire. They’ll explode once they get hot enough.” Luke explained the plan as he placed another canister at the door.

With a frown though, there was a problem Luke was expecting to happen. ”And if it doesn’t work then I guess I’ll just have to go with plan B.” he commented softly, closing the fingers of his exhausted arm into a tight, joint popping, fist. He didn’t want to use Impact again so soon...but if it was required then Luke wasn’t going to hesitate.

[Johnwaluigi]

As they poured alcohol over the canisters, the group would have to ask themselves - would this really work? It was not as if the gas inside the canisters was flammable, just that it was contained at high pressure. The heat would certainly increase said pressure, but it would take a miracle for the tanks to rupture just due to that… But forunately, miracles appeared on their side. Although barely visible, one of the canisters had suffered a dent - whether that had been sue to the initial attack on the nightclub or from simple negligence beforehand, no-one could know. But the weakened structure of the canister would be what allowed the group to proceed. Perhaps at a cost, however.

They would watch anxiously as the flames licked the can - perhaps they would sensibly run for cover. Whatever they chose to do, it would take nearly a minute before the first canister exploded. Outside of combat, the sound was so much louder than it had felt previously. And it would only continue. The first explosion would weaken the other canisters, and each one would subsequently explode. The shrapnel would shred the wooden door, as one would expect from pieces of metal with extremely high velocity, but it would shred the others too if they were too close. Unless they had taken cover, they were likely to have suffered moderate damage from the explosion - severe if they were unlucky, perhaps.

But the job had been a success. Not only had the door been ripped to shreds, the generators of the Sekkiseki field had been been diminished considerably - though they would still be able to see its flickering blue glow from within the clouds of nitrogen vapour. The doorway loomed dark an ominous behind it. If the group were familiar enough with the material, they would realise that they could probably pass through with minor discomfort - that was the extent to which the shield had weakened. However, Luke may have remained wary of the field, given his previous experience with it. However, the card reader adjacent to the door - which may have been capable of turning off the field, opening the door, or perhaps a whole host of other things, was now irreparably destroyed.

Should the motley crew decide to pass through the field, they would all feel discomfort - like a burning rash, but just beneath the layer of the skin. Without Pain Tolerance, it would be quite likely that they would emerge pale and shaking on the other side. Thankfully, for them, there would be no lasting physical effects. What lay on the other side of the door, however, would be the more concerning part. The second dancefloor, which lacked the lavish furnishings of the previous room (in fact, this room was far more functional as a club in its aesthetic), was in perfect condition. But it was most certainly not empty. Spanning the lengths of the room - as far as they could see in the dim light - were dozens upon dozens of Spiritual Chains, binding writhing Pluses tightly among them. As a Shinigami, Kenji would recognise this situation faster than the others - these spirits were being prevented from moving on, either by regret or by an outside source. A brief inspection would reveal that their soul chains were nearing their end - all of the Pluses in here were about to transform into Hollows.

While Kenji may be the only one who understood the significance of the situation, Luke and Shizuka would certainly understand the pain and suffering in this room. It was filled with screams, moans, wails, gnashing of teeth. Every so often one scream would raise in pitch, before violently dropping into an almost bestial roar. On some of the souls, the signature white material that made a Hollow’s mask was already forming. It was perhaps a horror that the others had never seen anything like before.

Kenji’s Shinigami instinct would have had perform Konso on each of the souls as quickly as possible, but it would not be possible. The astute among the group would have noted, amongst the mass of Spiritual Chains and souls, Hollows stalked the floor - their bodies glowing blue with the same augmentations as before. Given the size of this room, and the chaos within its walls, it was impossible to make out the number of Hollow guards in here. It would also be difficult to work out the other entrances and exits. Reconnaissance may be necessary, but it was also possible for the group to go in all guns blazing - though the chances of success, given the amount of unknowns, was certainly lower. Or perhaps there was another option for the intrepid crew?

CURRENT LOCATION: MAIN FLOOR (LEVEL -1)
PLEASE, TAKE YOUR TIME TO FIND YOUR BEARINGS

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka had already been holding tiny, useless Kenji when the doors were busted open, so she was aware enough to drag him away to take cover above the stairs and behind the wall. She shook her head quite a bit as her ears kept ringing, but that irritating noise also dulled itself after a while. She was going to be fine, but she didn't realize their idea was actually a decent one. Pressurized chemicals could be useful, after all. At least, they were this time. The Fullbringer dropped Kenji and rolled her eyes as she approached the door, assessing the damage done. The card reader was destroyed. Was there a card that they could have used instead? Oops. Well, too late now.

"This was probably for the best. It was better than my plan. I was just going to throw the Shinigami at the door and hope for a miracle," Shizuka explained, pointing her thumb over her shoulder in his general direction.

Within a few more seconds, the blonde was stopped in her tracks as she shivered and felt a strange burning sensation spread across her body. It hurt, but she had finally determined it wasn't physically hurting her. It was more of a phantom pain, but it was definitely there. A bit of sweat began to bead on Shizuka's hairline, but she wiped it away and took a deep breath before looking around. With a bit more focus, she was able to come to a conclusion about what she saw. It wasn't pretty. A large amount of very obviously dead people were struggling against these weird chains. This was a sight Shizuka had never seen before, but her assassin instincts screamed only a single thing at her.

"We need to kill them all. They need to be destroyed."

This opinion was likely going to be unpopular, but she turned to both of her group members and looked to them for their input. She had no idea what these things were, but she could very much feel the energy they were giving off. It was like complete despair and anguish, and some seemed to be forming what reminded her of a Hollow's mask. Hollows were made, weren't they? Was this what happened first? She rarely ever had to deal with them, so it wasn't like Shizuka knew how they worked. All she could do was listen to what her gut was telling her about them, and it was saying they needed to run far and run fast. They wouldn't last long against these guys. The Fullbringer had a back-up plan, but time was running out.

[Deleted]

Some success without anyone hurting themselves was nice to see. The explosion of the canisters was sufficient enough to blow the door open, revealing the dark maw of the next room. "This was probably for the best. It was better than my plan. I was just going to throw the Shinigami at the door and hope for the best," Luke heard Shizuka comment as the two humans approached the next room, the Bount giving the Fullbring a funny look after she made her comment. ”Y’know, I don’t think that would have been a good idea.” Luke commented back, snorting a little and shaking his head. He was hoping Shizuka was only joking.

Following behind Shizuka into what lay in wait for them, Luke suddenly flinched with pain when he passed through the doorway. It was the same kind of pain he felt when he fought against the Hollow. Thankfully though it was nowhere near as bad as it was then. Passing through the doorway caused it to subside very quickly. ”Aww you didn’t turn to jelly.” Jäger choked, earning him a grumble for Luke. Maybe he should have spent more time trying to find whatever card that reader was for...but he’d already checked the bar so he wasn’t sure where something else could have been hiding.

But as Luke followed behind the blonde Fullbringer, he became aware of just what was waiting for them in the dimly lit dance floor. Luke’s brown eyes suddenly widened with shock and horror when he saw what was inside. Well, in truth, he actually felt what was inside with his Energy Sensory and heard the howls before he saw what was responsible for those feelings. W-what the hell?? Luke exclaimed mentally when his eyes locked onto the sight of the bound and transforming spirits. Spirits. He was able to recognize them rather quickly thanks to their chains, having seen them before all his life, and realizing with horror what was happening to them.

Blinking when Shizuka voiced her idea, Luke’s eyes focused on the Fullbringer for a moment, calming him down some, before he began to assess the situation. He spotted the blue glows of Hollows skulking about in the darkness, realizing that there were more Hollows like the one they had faced upstairs after all. ”Look.” Luke whispered, motioning into the room to the blue glows. Thankfully, with his animal like eyesight, he was able to see through the dark with some decency. ”There’s more than one of them.” he whispered again, frowning as he thought up a plan.

Recon was going to be the best answer. How many Hollows were there? How many trapped spirits were there? Was there any halls or doors in this room? These were questions that Luke needed answers too. For a moment Luke considered releasing Jager to do the job for him...but he decided to keep the fact that he was a Bount secret for as long as he could. He didn’t know how Kenji and Shizuka would react to finding out about that, especially the Shinigami. ”Wait here...I’m going to check things out..” Luke whispered, dropping down to a crouched position and focusing.

Without warning, the man would suddenly sink into the shadows of the dimly light room and completely vanish. No doubt surprising, but nothing that would blow his cover. Shizuka would most likely assume that it was some unique Fullbringer ability. Using Schatten, Luke would travel through the shadows of the room unseen in order to get a better gauge of what they were dealing with. To play it safe he travelled along the walls of the room, not cutting through the middle at all to increase his chances of not running into any of the Hollows. Unless interrupted, Luke would return to Shizuka and Kenji’s side and deliver to them what he found.

OOC: Unless interrupted, Luke should have the exact number of Hollows from counting them, a rough idea of how many spirits are bound, and any details of the room such as doors, stairwells, halls or any other points of interest.

Reiatsu Remaining: 6375 / 7000
-100 for Class 5 Schatten

[Masaaki Kenji]

He was thankful for Shizuka dragging him to safety behind the stairs however he did think that he could of probably done that himself, while he was considerably weaker than both of his fellow companions, he wasn't stupid! He knew what explosions did after all and he knew that a big one would be needed in order to weaken a SekkiSekki door. He was abruptly dropped so he watched Shizuka as she went to check out the damage that had been done. "This was probably for the best. It was better than my plan. I was just going to throw the Shinigami at the door and hope for a miracle," Kenji shot her a dark look but ultimately decided that stooping to her level. However he couldn't help but roll his eyes after it, case he knew that she probably would do that if she really needed it. They may be working together for now, however he knew if he met her in a different situation, she would kill him without thinking twice. 

When he walked through the doorway, he winced with pain as he felt the effects of the weak SekkiSekki, however the effect was done as quickly as it began as he stepped into the dance room, being the last one to see the pure horror in the room. He could feel the souls pain and howling throughout his entire body and he saw all the souls that were being kept in the room. Those poor spirits was all that Kenji could think. They didn't deserve this. However his eyes soon lit up with fury as he realised what their plan was and why they were in such pain. "We need to kill them all. They need to be destroyed.." was all it took for Kenji to whirl around to answer her. "Are you fucking stupid?" Kenji asked furiously. "Those souls are in agony and will turn into Hollows soon, however this can all be avoided if I am able to Konso them and move them into the Soul Society. Then there will be no need for your barbaric methods" Kenji summarised while taking a slight dig at Shizuka. However he silenced himself and waiting for Luke to come back with his analysis of the battle field.

[Johnwaluigi]

The three’s reaction to the situation was to be expected. Shizuka’s killer instincts were pointing her towards dealing with the threat in the fastest manner possible. Kenji’s duty was forcing him to consider not destroying the spirits, but rather to save them. Luke could appreciate the horror of the situation, but had bravely pushed his qualms aside to perform reconnaissance on the room and its occupants. Schatten was a powerful technique, allowing him to slip into the darkness basically undetected to the Hollow guards. He would be able to flit across the room almost perfectly, gaining an insight into its design and as to how they might proceed.

The number of Pluses in the room was so great that it was difficult to count from the fringes of the room - it was like trying to count the number of people on a crowded dance floor. However, the number of ‘Hollows’ (calling these modified beasts Hollows did seem like a bit of a stretch) was far easier to ascertain. Their reiatsu mingled with the sickly blue aura of the Sekkisekki, making their uncomfortable presences extremely easy to track and locate. Twice Luke passed somewhat too close to them, and would be almost ejected from his shadows by the sudden pain that contact with their fields would make. But it was only temporary, and he would not be exposed. But 5 of these ‘guards’ prowled the room, making no attempt to communicate with one another. Luke’s sharper than average instinct would realise that this was unnatural behaviour. These Hollows would like nothing more than to tear into the souls that surrounded them, but something was holding them back.

There were only 4 entrances (including the one that Shizuka and Kenji waited by, which was at the southern end of the room) to this dance floor, one at the centre of each wall in each of the cardinal directions. The doors were not particularly elaborate, and none of them were blocked in the same way as the previous door had been. The complication, however, was the layout of the room. The bar and DJ’s stage lay to the left and right of the door they would enter through respectively, meaning there was no way to slip around the walls easily to the nearest doors. In order to go through, one would have to basically go onto the dance floor - right into the belly of the beast. If Luke was being extremely observant, he would notice that the Western door had a card reader displayed similar to the one that had been on the previous door.

They could turn back, there was not much behind them. But their respective reasons for delving deep into this club would perhaps motivate them to keep moving forward…

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"Are you fucking stupid?"

Shizuka's eyes got wide. She had been paying attention to Luke's movements this entire time and hadn't noticed the Shinigami for a while until he spoke. Her facial expression softened and she smiled genuinely at him. A weird gesture for her to do towards such trash, but he made her heart beat a little faster. She admired the fact that he was willing to stand up for something like that and be so vocal. Actually, she was proud of him for being able to talk back to her the way he did. It was a weird moment, though, because he was essentially insulting her and questioning her intelligence. But he had balls. She liked that.

"Well, while your little schooling session may have seemed useful to you, these things," Shizuka motioned towards the souls, "turn into those things."

With the Fullbringer's gesture towards the Hollows that were going to undoubtedly attack the three of them, she hoped her point was made. Even if he cared deeply for this souls - for whatever reason that would have been - they were now tormented and doomed to suffer. They were already obviously in pain. These things were nothing but corrupted beings that needed to be terminated. They were living their worst nightmares and weren't able to get out of that. If some Shinigami was able to save them at this point, then she'd pay him a hundred dollars. There was no point to helping them now.

Shizuka sighed. "I can take all of them out right now, but it would be dangerous for you guys. I have a bit of experience in dealing with large groups of Hollows by explosive means. My abilities would be able to burn them all to a crisp if we wanted, but that means that your precious little souls would die, too, Shinigami. If you both find cover, I can handle this."

[Deleted]

Why...why are there so many? Luke came to ask himself as he, in the form a shadow, traversed the length of the room. Following through with his plan to scout out the layout of the room with the assistance of the Schatten technique, Luke came to realize just how grave the situation was. There were far, far, more spirits trapped in this room then they initially realized. While the number of bound souls wasn’t able to be counted, the number of Hollows that prowled the room as watchdogs was far easier to obtain. They glowed blue, causing them to stand out in the darkness, after all.

Twice Luke passed two closely by one as he travelled along the walls of the room, causing his body to erupt with pain and threatening to forcefully eject him from the shadow. But he held on, his will unbreaking, and continued his job. Five Hollows all patrolled the room and yet, strangely, made no attempt to communicate with one another. In fact it almost seemed like the Hollows were simply on auto-pilot. Hell, for a normal Hollow this room would essentially be an all you can eat buffet. Yet not a single one of them seemed even remotely interested in the souls around them. Something was absolutely wrong here.

Emerging from the shadows of the wall beside the door, Luke reappeared just in time to listen to Shizuka and Kenji argue. ”Their they go again. You should do something, dad.” Jager teased, though the expression on Luke’s face was rather somber. ”You won’t be able to.” Luke suddenly said in response to Kenji’s suggestion, no doubt drawing attention back to him. The Bount’s gaze was soft before it hardened and he directed his attention to the dance floor before them. He explained to them that there were five Hollows all patrolling the room, each equipped with the same barrier as the one they had encountered on the prior floor. He made sure to explain how he couldn’t even count how many souls were actually trapped

He explained the layout of the room, describing how they wouldn’t be able to sneak along the walls because of the bar and the DJ section to their left and right. Each wall had a door, but what was important was how the western wall was equipped with the same sort of door that they had just broken down. It was, more than likely, the way they had to go. But there was a problem. A big problem. The conflict going on between Kenji and Shizuka related to what they were supposed to do with the spirits. Luke hadn’t thrown his hat in the ring yet. Kenji voiced his desire to save them, Shizuka voiced her desire to forsake them in pursuit of the ones responsible for it.

It would, more than likely, end up coming down on Luke to pick what they did. That wasn’t to say Shizuka and Kenji were listening to him, but whichever choice he picked would end up being the one that won out due to majority of votes. Luke was quiet as he looked off into the room, the moans and scream of the spirits filling his thoughts as well as the snarls of the Hollows. As Luke looked out at the suffering, for a moment he saw the Hatagaya District. He saw the destruction. He saw the bodies. He saw the water. Closing his eyes, Luke thought.

”The Hollows need to be dealt with.” Luke stated calmly, stepping forward and past Kenji. ”But, we can’t stop for the spirits. We can’t hold back fighting these things for them. It took all I had physically to beat even one, and your Kido is essentially useless against them. If we hold back we’re dead.” Luke said, seemingly siding with Shizuka on this. ”If we waste our time so one Shinigami can use Konso, there’s no telling what the villains behind this will be able to get away with. The...best case scenario is for us to to stop whoever is behind this so Kenji can summon the Soul Society to Konso as many spirits that are left.” Luke explained, a strange tightness forming in his chest and stomach.

He was, after all, essentially forsaking these spirits. But, to Luke, he was sacrificing the few to inevitably save the many. I don’t like this...I don’t like this at all. All I can do...is get justice for them...by avenging them. Luke was feeling guilty. What sort of...no, Luke needed to press forward. ”Shizuka, you’re up for this?” Luke asked, not out of doubt but out of care and concern. He intended to back her up, do what he could to lessen the damage and the number of Spirits that would inevitably be hurt when they were caught up in this.

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji knew that he was doomed when Shizuka gave him that look of complete surprise that he would even stand up to her in that way. Kenji knew that even in the short amount of time encountering her, that she could easily murder him if she really wanted to. However she decided that it was probably better for a sarcastic response. "Believe it or not, I fucking know that!" Kenji snapped back quickly in response however he stopped himself from speaking any longer. After all, Luke was back, probably with some intel that they could possibly use to defeat the rest of the hollows. What Kenji didn't expect was for Luke to agree with Shizuka! "What the hell do you mean I can't!" Kenji stated angrily, how could they not want to save these souls?

However, Kenji didn't have enough time to completely go into his rant as Luke started to speak once more. Hearing Luke's reasoning, the fact that they did not have enough time to save them all, when the real mastermind could be doing anything to more unfortunate souls. That was a fair point as who knows what was going on to the rest of the souls trapped in this place! Kenji exhaled loudly, as he had to contemplate the choice infront of him. He wanted to so badly save those souls however he realised that the only feasible option was Lukes.

So with a loud sigh, Kenji accepted that he had to do the unthinkable to save a few. "Fine. I don't see any other choice. I will try and save as many as possible. But when we find the person responsible for this! I will end their miserable life." Kenji stated, almost calmly yet underneath his cool exterior was a fire that was ready to consume the person that was behind all of this. They deserved a fate worse than hell. 

[Johnwaluigi]

The deliberations of the three would drag on painfully long, but the situation did warrant discussion. It was perhaps the purest form of an ethical dilemma. To jeopardise their mission for the sake of the few who were immediately in front of them? Or to move on somewhat callously, deaf to the pleas of the agonised souls - in the hope of preventing this from happening to anyone else? Shizuka and Luke were partial to the latter option, while Kenji wished to save anyone he could reach. However, in this situation, acting alone would be dangerous if not fatal. The group resolved to move forward together, not stopping to save everyone in the room in the traditional sense, but preventing any more souls from further warping into Hollows.

Justice by exacting vengeance, as Luke put it. But would the souls be so receptive to this particular method of help? For what the party had not noticed, in the middle of their deliberations, that one of the souls closest to the door that they stood at had caught sight of them. The soul of a young man, dressed in attire that would only have been seen at the Berghain, strained against the chains that bound him place - pulling himself as close as possible to the door looking for help. The rattling of these Spiritual Chains would have a rippling effect on the room. A wave of unrest would spread, each soul alerting the one next to it, until finally the Hollow guards noticed that something was up. The three would hear yapping, like the snapping jaws of a dog, as the Hollows tried to desperately to quell the small ‘uprising’.

The group would have but a moment to act between being alerted and between being spotted. Because between the souls deftly ran one of the guards, its blue aura of Sekki Sekki lighting up the path as it went. Occasionally its field would brush one of the nearby souls, and it would recoil in agony. Unlike the hulking beast from the floor above, this one seemed agile and limber in its movements. Its legs seemed to have been replaced with some sort of simplistic spring-loaded device (perhaps Shizuka and Luke would recognise the limbs as being similar in design to those of former athlete Oscar Pistorius). The Hollow would leap between the chains with great agility, before landing at the door - sniffing at the entrance for the cause of the disturbance.

If the three had not moved, they would see that its field was clearly visible in the darkness of the main dance floor. It crackled with a violent blue energy, illuminating every nook and cranny of the deformed Hollow’s body. But again, they would notice the poor compatibility between shield and wearer. At the points where the field seemed to emanate, the Hollow’s flesh was being eaten away - frying like and bubbling like oil on a hot pan. But they would not have long to admire it. For as soon as it spotted them, it would spring into action, jumping high and spinning, bringing its mechanical leg crashing down on Shizuka’s skull if she did not dodge. Dodging, however, would be difficult. For as soon as the Hollow got close enough, the three of them would be wracked with intense pain - as if it were their flesh that was bubbling and boiling so violently.

To dodge or block the attack would take a great coordinated effort on the part of the three. But they would not have much choice - for inaction was perhaps the most deadly course of action of all.

Guard Hollow Threat Level: 7/10
Overall Threat Level: 8/10

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

”Shizuka, you’re up for this?”

"Oh, I've been up for it." She added some emphasis by cracking her fingers.

But she didn't have much time to plan. Something started crying out somewhere and it forced Shizuka to briefly survey the area before her quick thinking told her to get out of the way. The Hollow coming directly for them wasn't good, so she jumped up and used Air Ground to escape the dangerous floor. Right before she did so, she called out to her two companions and warned them to get out of the way, but the thing seemed to be targeting her. That may have given them enough time to escape, but it also allowed Shizuka the chance to activate Beach Queen. Her shoes glowed a bright purple to match her personal Reiatsu, and her gun was in her hand. The partnered bucket fell to the floor.

Shizuka pumped her gun a couple of times to finalize the spiritual link between the toy and the container. It also allowed ANNM to flow into the canister. She had experience using this fluid and it was actually somewhat safe, but she needed to be sure none of it got on any of them. She also couldn't get close to the Hollow. It was forcing intense pain upon her as it grew near, so she was able to feel some of its effects as she fled away. She now carried herself about 30 feet above the heads of the souls and Hollow guards. She prayed this would be far enough to keep her sanity, but she wasn't going to be happy about this endeavor.

"Guys, you gotta stay dry. When I spread this stuff around, it's safe until a blasting cap is activated. I'm that blasting cap. Most of these souls are stuck in place, but I'm worried about the other Hollows. Cover me as much as you can."

Counting on the two of them was simple enough, but she was also worried. Making sure they stayed out of danger was the hard part. If any of this got on them and a fire was lit, this explosive was contagious. That meant that once part of it blew up, the rest of it would, too. That was why they needed to stay dry. It was as dangerous as it was useful. Lucky for her, this stuff is also known for it's rather supernatural resilience. It couldn't simply be washed away so easily and had a tendency to stick around for as long as a few days worth of rain. As quickly as she could, though, Shizuka ran across Air Ground and used her Blast Cannon setting to spray ten gallons each time she pulled the trigger all over the souls beneath her. She pulled the trigger eight times.

She didn't foresee any problems happening with those souls since they seemed to be immobile, but the real problems were the actual Hollows. They were going to be hard to get rid of and get around, but she tried to aim for them in her attack, as well. The more of them who are included, the better. Her hope was to use this explosion as a way to gain an upper hand, but Luke and Kenji needed to be able to protect themselves. Keeping her eyes ever-vigilant, Shizuka watched all parties involved and waited for an opening. When she saw one, assuming at least the souls managed to get a bit of her fluid on them, she was going to ignite it.



Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 4800 (-200 for Beach Queen)
Fullbring Stage 1: 1/10
Liquid Type: ANNM
Gallons Remaining: 20/100