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

[Deleted]

Sorry for the short post

While Shizuka was on board with the plan, Luke wasn’t so sure about Kenji. Sure, the Shinigami explained that he would save as many as he could after this was over and that he’d personally kill the person behind this, but Luke wasn’t too sure about his commitment to this plan. Regardless, Luke wasn’t going to babysit the Shinigami. Shizuka answered his question with confidence and, maybe even excitement, snapping her fingers as a response. As if on cue, one of the Hollows that was busy patrolling the room seemed to notice them after a couple of the bound souls made a fuss. With the bright blue shielding that surrounded it, it was stupidly easy to see the thing coming for them.

Just as Shizuka did, Luke used Air Ground to leap out of the way of the Hollow. He winced a bit as he passed by it, the field of Sekki-Sekki momentarily affecting him as he passed by it. That shielding was annoying. Looking at the Hollow Luke could see that, like the one in the room before it, whatever whoever was behind this had done to the Hollow was causing it to tear apart. The Sekki-Sekki outfitting was destroying it, it seemed. What’s more, its legs didn’t seem natural as well. They looked almost like athletic running prosthetic legs. Whatever. As Luke manuevered around the Hollow and into the air he became aware of Shizuka’s sudden surge of reiatsu, turning his attention to the blonde Fullbringer and watching her released.

Her shoes glowed purple before transforming into two objects. The first was a bucket that just fell to the floor. Luke would laugh at how anti-climatic it was if they weren’t busy fighting for their lives, and also seeing the other part of her Fullbring. A water gun? Luke remembered, briefly, when he and Shizuka first sparred that she had pulled that out. The fact it was a water gun made it a little less intimidating, "What the fuck is she going to do with a water gun?" but Luke knew that judging her Fullbring by how it looked would have been fucking stupid. The girl was leagues more powerful than him, and no doubt in part thanks to her Fullbring.

” Cover me as much as you can."

Didn’t have to ask Luke twice. Shizuka’s plan revolved around spraying...whatever it was inside that water gun and lighting it on fire. Did her Fullbring shoot explosive liquid? Luke didn’t stress over the details, only focusing on what he knew. He couldn’t get the liquid on him and needed to keep himself from being eaten by the Hollows. Shouldn’t have been too hard. He could feel the strength return to his previously incapacitated arm. If push come to shove Luke would be willing to break his body to see this mission be accomplished. So, Luke kept a bit of a distance behind Shizuka as she ran across Air Ground, keeping his own attention focused on the Hollows. Hopefully Kenji was okay for now.

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji wasn't too sure what was going to happen but he knew that Luke and Shizuka were right his heart of hearts. There wasn't much else to it, other than that they needed to make it out of this situation alive. That was Kenji's number one priority, he had to focus on saving himself, the spirits were second. After all, he had a mastermind to kill and send to the depths of hell. That was his primary mission, he had to make it out if this alive. So he just had to like it or lump it when it came to their job, hell it had transcended job and moved into the catagory of survival. However, Shizuka looked like she was ready to fight her way through anything, it was a crazy look, like she was ready to rumble.


Kenji was on guard, especially when Shizuka stated her warning. However, Kenji didn't have a lot of time to react to it, especially with the giant hollow hound bounding towards them. Goddamn it spirits, it may have been easier if they just shut the fuck up. Kenji quickly flash stepped out the way of the incoming hound, making sure that he was away from the Sekki Sekki barrier's range. Goddamn those barriers, those nasty pieces of shit. They needed to just stop. However Kenji decided that maybe a higher Kido would work for such a barrier. Hado #88 Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!  Kenji mentally incanted before releasing the blast out into the hollow directly

[Johnwaluigi]

OOC: Don’t forget to include Reiatsu costs, Chesh. Also, I’m placing a 1 week timer on response times in this thread. Failure to comply will result in IC consequences.

Shizuka was quick on her feet, to say the least. At the first sight of danger she had retreated to the air - above where the Hollow’s kick would land. Unfortunately, though, the air was not quite the safest place. As the Hollow landed on the ground, its unusual legs flexed, causing it to jump up until it was level with Shizuka. At this proximity, drawing out her Fullbring as she had planned would be difficult - any attempts to materialise it would fizzle out in the Sekki Sekki field. She would have had to come up with another way to deal with the large claw it swung at her, but…

Kenji’s Kido backlit the Hollow, illuminating almost the entire room with sheer electrical power. Everything - Souls and Hollows alike - looked up at the spectacle. However, the result was probably not as spectacular as Kenji had hoped. The huge surge of electrical power fizzled out upon contact with the Hollow’s Sekki Sekki field, falling apart like a woollen jumper coming undone. What did not come undone, however, was the force that was imparted. The Hollow’s attack on Shizuka (and Luke, who was nearby now) was entirely interrupted as it was forced upwards, colliding with the ceiling with a sickening crack. For a moment its blue lights flickered, as if to prepare some kind of counterattack, but it fell from ceiling to floor without any kind of retaliation.

This was the opening Shizuka could use to spray the room with her explosive liquid - having made sure there were no stray sparks from Kenji’s gigantic Kido, of course. She would not have a problem coating the room with the liquid, though she may have guessed that the Sekki Sekki fields caused it to lose its Spiritual Resilience once it landed on the Hollows. Unfortunately, acting immediately after using her Fullbring - to cause the liquid to explode. Why? Because from the sea of souls beneath them rose a Hollow, yet again modified with the glowing blue technology that seemed in equal parts useful to it as painful for it to use.

This particular Hollow had several attachments on its back, all of which were ejecting some sort of blue flame-like substance (though it did not seem to trigger Shizuka’s ANNM - some kind of Spiritual propulsion, perhaps?). It seemed like an impromptu jet-pack, as opposed to any elegant way of achieving flight. However ugly it appeared though, its approach would trigger the familiar burning sensation in Luke and Shizuka - it was equipped with the same defensive field as all the rest. With a sudden burst of speed, it sprung towards them - moving faster than either of them could naturally. Each pair of its four hands was raised menacingly in an X - preparing two deadly slashes for each of them as it flew by.

Kenji would find himself in similar danger. The Hollow which he had knocked into the ceiling was now getting up - its implants growing a more ferocious blue than before. But it was now accompanied by a friend - a hulking, over-sized Hollow with comically large fists. However, the familiar blue glow surrounded each of them. Dealing with them effectively would certainly be difficult - and Kenji was also not privy to what the substance Shizuka had covered them was. If he knew, perhaps he would be careful with his choice of Kido…

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

At least everyone seemed to be on board with her plan, so that gave her a sense of confidence in the other two. Kenji had allowed for her ideas to move forward with his defense, especially since Shizuka wasn't going to have the ability to act quickly against the Hollow who had blocked her. She smiled briefly at the Shinigami, but quickly changed her facial expressions when she realized she actually thought of him in a fond way for a moment. She reminded herself that they weren't friends and weren't going to be friends. Even if she didn't hate him, there's no reason why he wouldn't hate her.

Unfortunately, her plan wasn't all she cracked it up to be. That was upsetting. These Hollows were able to completely undermine her ANNM, from what she could tell, and one that actually had flames on its back didn't even seem to set it off. Did that mean it didn't work at all on them, or were they able to pause the effects for the moment? The Fullbringer didn't have much experience with Sekki Sekki. She didn't understand it. All she knew was that it was painful to spiritual beings and, evidently, deflected their attacks or rendered them useless. Physical force would still work, but how was she ever supposed to get close enough for that?

There was one technique she had up her sleeve that was pure energy, and not even spiritual at that, but it was too dangerous right now. She wasn't concerned about the issue with control, because she mastered it, but the problem was the fluid. If any of this stuff remained after she chose to ignite it, that was going to cause issues. This technique would also act as a blasting cap. Additionally, how could she be sure it was even going to work? Plenty of attacks that they've tried so far haven't. There was no guarantee and it was just becoming more and more stressful. And, of course, to make it worse, this strange jet pack Hollow was coming after them.

Shizuka's entire body seemed to ache even when it just appeared, but perhaps those effects were more psychological. They became extremely real after a short amount of time as the blonde came to find that this monster was quickly approaching. It was too fast for Shizuka to simply move out of the way on her own, so she used Movement to step a relatively small distance out of the way due to short notice. It happened to be about ten feet, but all she could do was dodge. She hoped it would be enough, but she was closer to the being now and felt much more pain than before. She had to get away.

"Guys, cover yourselves!" Shizuka yelled in the direction of her comrades. "I'm going to light this place up and these explosions are unpredictable. This fluid is reactive so all of it should go off even if one part of it is ignited. I can't control it, so get out of the way!"

With that warning, she snapped her fingers a couple of times as a small spark formed between them for effect. What actually lit up was the area right below her where the other souls were. Using Soul Command, she moved the air around her to redirect any smoke and explosion force to simply hit the ceiling above if it came up that high. She wasn't making it stop, but she was making sure it didn't hit her. A small orb appeared around her being because of this. She wasn't going to halt the force, but she knew she could make it so it wouldn't directly hit her. This wasn't going to be enough, though. They needed more if they were going to beat the Hollows. Souls were practically irrelevant.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Movement (Mastered: - 80 TTP)}

Technique Name: Movement

Class: 4

Technique Type: Other

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects:
This is a movement technique. It's to keep up with things like Shunpo or Sonido. While all races using this have their own variant of a step technique already, this one is pretty much an in-general type of move. It attunes the physical body to the reiatsu in the air, rather than spiritual to spiritual. It is now physical to spiritual. This allows the user to step at 3x speed for the cost of only 25 Reiatsu. This technique does not take up a technique slot.

How to use technique: Focus the body’s energy and release during a step. This technique can be broken off in the middle of its use. Unlike other step techniques, this one can be repeated while in the middle of the previous one, allowing someone to change their movement course in mid movement.

Drawback: None

Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 4725 (-25 for Movement, -50 for Soul Command)
Fullbring Stage 1: 2/10
Liquid Type: ANNM
Gallons Remaining: 20/100

[Deleted]

Well, shit. Actually seeing Kenji pulling his weight was quite the sight to see. A appreciated sight to see, nonetheless. While the force field surrounding the Hollow did its job in regards to neutralizing the electrical attack that Kenji had fired, it had completely failed to stop the Hollow from being blasted into the ceiling from the sheer physical force behind the attack. Of course, Luke took notice of this. The Bount blinked, his mind working to understand why that attack had worked on the Hollow when everything else that used reiatsu had completely failed. ”Survive now think later!” Jager shouted in his head, wanting Luke to move instead of taking his time to analyze the situation.

Jager wanted this because another Hollow was rushing at them. This one was equipped with something that looked like...a jetpack? Something was going on here. But Luke didn’t get to think about it because as the Hollow approached that same sensation of pain was returning to him. And, as it did, for the first time in a long time Luke...saw red. His jaws clamped together as his lips peeled back to bare his teeth like an angered animal. The Hollow that was rushing towards them was faster than the pair could normally move. Whatever. That was fine. Fucking let it come to them. Luke was sick of these fucking pain fields!

”uh...Luke?” Jager asked when he realized that his host body had gotten rather mad. Suddenly the Bounts body erupted with red, crackling, energy as if he had suddenly used the Kaioken technique from Dragon Ball Z. Blasting forward, towards the Hollow, Luke used Movement to boost his speed as he closed the distance between the Hollow with 1350 Speed. Luke had activated Pulley, one of the three abilities of the technique Willpower, which increased his physical stats by 50%. This caused his speed to jump from 300 to 450 and with the three times bonus applied to his Speed thanks to Movement he would be able to achieve this incredibly high level of Step Speed.

But was Luke done there? Nope? ”Enough of this shit!” he shouted as he reappeared right in front of the Hollows face, above its arms, with his fist already in motion. Just like in the room above, his arm had once again coursed with power that was beyond its limits. The resulting punch would, hopefully, shatter the Hollows mask before it was blasted rather violently back down to the floor. Depending on what the floor was made of, it was entirely possible that the Hollow would make a road through the floor before being covered entirely in a grave of rubble.

Pain shot through Luke’s arm, despite the adrenaline, as yet another use of Impact took its toll on his arm. His pent up breath released as the fiery aura of Pulley vanished, and the hit to his stamina took effect. Eyelids grew heavy for a moment, but he was able to keep himself upright and standing on Airground just as Shizuka let out her warning. ”Wet dream later get to cover!” Jager shouted as Luke went, of all places, upwards. Reaching out with his not Impact’d hand, he would touch the shadow covered ceiling of the room and, without missing a beat, sink into the shadows with the use of Schatten once again. Just in time, honestly, as he could practically feel the explosion at his feet as he finished sinking into the shadows.

Remaining Reiatsu: 5650 / 7000
-25 for Movement
-400 for Pulley
-200 for Impact
-100 for Schatten

[Masaaki Kenji]

Just as Kenji fired his kido, he soon realised his mistake with the Sekki Sekki field which was a complete waste of time. Just when Kenji was about to lose hope, he soon realised that the kido was powerful to slam the hollow into the ceiling but clearly that was not enough to damage the beast which was a pity. It was a powerful Kido that should have reaped some rewards in the usual case, if the damn Sekki Sekki sheilds weren't attached. However that seemed to be only keep them down for a short time before it started to get up again fuckity fuck fuck Kenji thought to himself as he soon realised that he was almost fucked.

Kenji then heard Shizuka's voice, warning him to get to cover as she was clearly going to be activating their abilities which clearly was going to be a big blast. That worried the shinigami as he had no abilities that would be able to counter such an explosion. He needed to find some cover, quickly at that as well. He looked at Luke's direction but clearly he wasn't exactly going to help as his power allowed him to blend into the shadows which must have protected him. Kenji either needed to find somewhere to hide or get some highground. However it appeared that he didn't have enough time for that, so in a desperate attempt to save himself. He quickly used shunpo to get himself closer to the door. All he could do was hope that he could get his way out of here. 


3825 - 600 (Hado#88) - 50(shunpo) = 3175

[Johnwaluigi]

For the group, many things happened simultaneously - with little room to react to what was happening. First Shizuka would move, dodging the attack of the speedy, flying Hollow with ease and allowing Luke to deal with it. And deal with it Luke most certainly would. His movement speed was fast, layering technique upon technique to produce a total speed faster than what the Hollow could output with its now miserable seeming jetpacks. But speed alone was not enough, it was the strength of the attack that really paid off. Perhaps the Bount had never crushed a Hollow’s mask beneath his fist before, or perhaps he had, but this time would certainly feel more satisfying in his raging state.

The mask gave way like thin plastic beneath his fist, snapping into hundreds of small pieces out from the point of impact. There would be an almost pleasant feedback from the connection, a satisfying vibration up the Bount’s arm that would reaffirm the strong connection. For a moment, time would appear to freeze before physics took over, the Hollow comically stuck with its shattered mask beneath Luke’s fist. And then - boom. The Hollow rapidly shot into the ground, cracking the floor of the dance floor - the sudden snapping muffling the baleful mourning of the trapped souls for a moment.

But such success would not come without a price. An innately spiritual being, like a Bount, even with a physical body would not stand the repeated exposures to the Sekki Sekki fields that surrounded these Hollows. As Luke came down from his adrenaline high, the searing pain in his arm would be almost unbearable - like something was burning him from the bone of his arm out through his flesh. If he cared to look under his sleeve, he would see long red welts discolouring the skin, more like burns than scars. But one more Hollow down was barely a dent in the defences of this place, and he would have to fight through the pain to stay alive and get to the bottom of this.

There was barely a moment to rest in though, as Luke would hear the familiar voice of his teammate echo through the hall:

”I can't control it, so get out of the way!”

This would be the only warning that Luke in the air and Kenji on the ground would have before Shizuka snapped her fingers, igniting the ANNM that she had doused the whole room in. Once again, it would appear like a single frame in a film, those small sparks dancing between her fingers. Perhaps Luke and Kenji would see them, perhaps not. But the result would be almost comically effective.

White light. Their visions would flash, as if being surprised by a camera, before the sound rushed in to fill their ears and drown out their thoughts. Luke would slip into the shadows, Shizuka would use Soul Command to deflect most of the damage, and Kenji would move toward the door - all to avoid taking any damage, but with varying degrees of success. Kenji would find himself shot down the corridor at remarkable speed, far faster than he had intended to move with his Shunpo, carried by the explosive force. Without some serious acrobatics, he would find himself skidding along the floor, the hem of his uniform on fire and his face bruised, but not hugely injured.

Luke retreating to the shadows was perhaps seemed effective, in that the explosion could literally not touch him while he did not exist in physical space. What he perhaps did not account for, however, was the fact that there were, for a moment, no shadows for the Bount to hide in. The light of the explosion illuminated the room almost perfectly, filling the entire space. And as soon as there were no shadows, the Bount would be ejected from his hiding place, right in time for the wave of force to slam him into the ceiling. The impact would surely daze him, unless he had another plan, but given the size of the room, he had been lucky to avoid more damage.

Shizuka also valiantly tried to deflect most of the damage, and her effort would be perhaps the most successful. She would be only pushed back slightly, most of the force and heat deflected by her expert use of Soul Command. And given that she had been barely affected by her own attack, she would be free to survey the damage she had caused - which, to be honest, was extremely extensive. As soon as her vision cleared and her ears stopped ringing, she would be able to experience the fallout for herself.

The first thing was the wailing. The screams and shouts of agonised souls who could were not killed by the blast, but instead rolled on the floors - coiled in their own chains - their flesh and clothes burning from the explosion. But the damage wreaked on the Hollows was far more evident. They had been flung into the walls and the ground by the blast, their enhanced durability barely keeping their bodies together in the explosion. What was perhaps more interesting, though, was the damage that had been wreaked on their technological implements. The silvery-blue metals had cracked, and seemed to be leaking a blue fluid. And this blue fluid seemed to be doing colossal amounts of damage. Shizuka would watch as an agonised Hollow lost an entire limb to its own malfunctioning limb, eaten away as if by acid - not dissimilar to the ones she could create.

None of the enemies were in immediate condition to fight, so they had a moment. But perhaps the acrid smell of burning and the damage they had taken would prevent them from reacting too quickly - and the loud wailing would certainly prevent communication unless they were to regroup.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka opened her eyes after what felt like a lifetime of squeezing them shut. She didn't calculate how much liquid she was going to have to shoot out, and even small dynamite sticks pack a punch. That excessive of an amount of explosive was probably entirely too much, but she figured it would be easier to defend rather than try again. It was probably going to be difficult to say whether or not a smaller attack was going to work, so she had more of a 'go big or go home' mentality when deciding this course of action. In the end, she thought it was for the best. They were able to accomplish a lot. She also took it upon herself to look around the room and assess the damage done by her attack.

Kenji had been shot towards the door even more quickly that he originally intended, so it seemed that he was recovering from the blast. Shizuka felt a ping of guilt electrify her heart for a brief moment. He didn't have appropriate defenses like she thought he did, so she officially felt bad about it. She should have protected him, too. A part of her hurt for how much he was probably hurting, but she had to pull herself away from that. She needed to remind herself that he was no different from any other Shinigami. He was exactly the same as the murders that inhabited Soul Society. Despite that, though, he appeared to be relatively unique from them. Maybe it was just his attitude.

Luke, on the other hand, had gotten slammed back into the ceiling as he was pushed out of his shadow dive. Shizuka wasn't aware that he'd done this to protect himself and had no idea what the technique even was or why he could do it, but she was able to see the aftermath and made an assumption. What she assumed was that he'd gone to run away from the blast and became somewhat intangible, which isn't spectacularly far from the truth, but it had failed. Luke was spit out of the ceiling for a brief moment as the explosive force threw him back. She was confident that he would be okay, but it was still troubling.

The rest of the room was pretty bad, though. Had it not been for her slightly damaged hearing needing time to recover, she would likely be covering her ears to block out the screams. She had hoped her blast would kill off the souls rather quickly, but it wasn't quite strong enough for that magnitude. They were still suffering, but Shizuka blocked it out. She learned long ago to dehumanize things like this. She wouldn't allow herself to feel any form of remorse of any kind, especially not for dangerous souls like these. They'd just turn into those Hollows and cause even more danger. It was a nuisance. At least they would die eventually. If they didn't, she'd take care of that.

The actual full-fledged Hollows, on the other hand, were significantly damaged. She felt a sense of pride. It was good for them because these monsters were weakened and would be easier to take out, but they also seemed to be suffering. Their enhancements were ruined and appeared to be causing issues as whatever leaked from them ate away at their bodies bit by bit. Fine, that worked. It would at least stop them from going after anybody else for a short while. Shizuka grabbed Luke by the neck of his clothing and raced at her own speed to reach Kenji. The wailing was loud, but they'd be able to plan.

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I didn't mean to cause problems with that. I didn't think too far ahead. Right now, though, we need to come up with a path to take that allows all three of us to make it through and move on. The Hollows are in no position to fight as of right now. We could take them out. What do you think?"



Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 4725
Fullbring Stage 1: 3/10
Liquid Type: ANNM
Gallons Remaining: 20/100

[Deleted]

Everything was fuzzy. There was an obnoxious ringing in his ears that just refused to go away. The noise simply wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t Jäger trying to be funny or anything either. Everything hurt. His everything hurt. And he meant his everything. Just what happened? Last thing Luke remembered was hearing Shizuka’s warning in his ears about her explosions and him making a “dive” for the ceiling. He was planning to sink into the shadows to get out of the explosion. Luke was certain he was going into the shadows for a moment. All the pain was getting in the way of his thinking, but things began to come back to him as he thought on them.

As Luke had made his move to sink into the shadows to protect himself from the explosion, it seemed the dumbass forgot the crucial part of that technique. It required a shadow. The light from the explosion must have obliterated the shadow Luke had been trying to sink into, causing him to not only be ejected but slammed into the ceiling itself. He was certain there was an indention somewhere up there that probably looked like his face. He must have fallen too. His back was in pain. Granted, his evey-fucking-thing was in pain but most of it was centralized in his head, back, and arm. Gritting his teeth, the Bount tried to push himself into a sitting position.

Without warning, however, Luke was suddenly grabbed by his collar and was being dragged backwards. He gagged a little, caught by surprise, and was at least a little relieved to see that it was Shizuka pulling him back. ”Hey.” he greeted, still a little stunned and dumbstruck, before she finally stopped dragging him and deposited him near Kenji. Looks the Shinigami also ate shit. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I didn't mean to cause problems with that.” She apologized. No, she was fine. From what Luke could see it seemed that her plan worked. The Hollows were all caught up in the explosion and looked to be in a worse state than the trio was.

The electronic components that made them up had cracked and shattered, causing the devices to leak some sort of blue fluid onto the host bodies. It was as though it were an acid. The Hollows bodies were being eaten away and falling apart. There was more to this stuff than any of them realized, it seemed. ”Right now, though, we need to come up with a path to take that allows all three of us to make it through and move on.” Shizuka continued, pulling Luke’s attention back to her. He tried to shift his weight onto his left arm a little, but when he did so an unimaginable pain shot up through his arm causing him to visibly wince.

He finally got the opportunity to look at his arm. The same arm that had used Impact twice now. Scar like burns traversed the length of his arm. It felt as though, when he was punching the Hollow, that something was searing his very bones themselves. While he could lift his arm the pain he experienced while doing so made it not worth it. There was also the drawback to using Impact itself. Luke could tell that he was exhausted. He was far below half his tank already, and they had only reached the second room. It made Luke realize something about himself that he didn’t want to admit.

”We could take them out. What do you think?" Shizuka would say. Luke was listening, despite being stuck in his head. Placing his right hand over his left arm, he closed his eyes for a moment as he worked up the nerve to say what he needed to say. ”I think we need to retreat.” Luke would suddenly say, no doubt getting everyone's attention on him. ”Shizuka...you’re strong enough to make it through this. But I’m not strong enough to do this. Neither is he.” Luke said, motioning backwards to Kenji. ”I’ve used Impact twice now and it’s all I can bring to the table. I think...we should retreat for now and call reinforcements.” Luke would confess, though it pained him to say that.

He wanted to stick through this. He, desperatly, wanted to keep going. However, he was unfortunately having to weigh his options. The Hollows were resistant to all things reiatsu. His air blades were useless. All he could bring to the table was Impact. If he used that technique again he wasn’t certain he’d be able to stand. He wasn’t sure how his Dolls would react to those fields either. Backing out and contacting UE would probably be the wisest decision. It frustrated him, it really did. He was frustrated at how weak he was.

[Masaaki Kenji]

FUCKITY FUCK FUCKwas all that Kenji could think as he attempted to run from the blast however it was very clear that he wasn't going to be successful in this goal. Kenji looked back to see Shizuka setting her spark and setting the place ablaze, however, this was most likely his downfall as he shunpo'd, the blast shot him at such a high speed, right through the door, all the way down the hallway. All Kenji could feel was his scorched back that seemed to completely burn through his shinigami robes. That and he could occasionally feel the cold embrace of the marble as he rolled down the hallway. It was almost comical to the amount of times that he rolled. He almost made it to the start of the dancefloor before he finally came to a stop.

As Kenji looked up and tried to come to his senses, it was a very very intensive process as he soon realised how far he had been blasted away. Jesus christ, that girl was powerful, how did he ever think that he even had a chance in being close to her power? Clearly she was in a league of her own, maybe Luke was similar in strength. He clearly had met some powerful individuals on this mission and while this terrified Kenji, it showed him that he had a power-level that he needed to achieve and that he had to work for. However, his view soon clouded up with the blood pouring down from his forehead and his mind turned to mush as he slowly lost consciousness in his own pool of blood.

[Johnwaluigi]

Kenji was perhaps invisible to the others, so far he had been flung down the corridor, so it would be difficult to get an assessment of his injuries. By the time they got to him, racing there at Shizuka’s speed, he had already lost consciousness - his back burned from the blast and his head bruised and bloody from the impacts as he had been flung along the cold floor. If they were to continue, it would be unlikely that Kenji would be any help, unless he received immediate medical attention. Luke was also injured - his repeated attacks against the Hollows were taking their toll on his body and soul - only Shizuka remained in fit enough state to continue her mission.

Perhaps Shizuka would only just recall why she was here as a loud siren began to blare, echoing down the corridor and around the various dance halls as if emanating from the walls of the building itself. The wailing of what sounded like a fire alarm, though, was accompanied by a deep mechanical voice - a pre-recorded message. And the words it imparted would certainly change how Luke and Kenji (if he could have heard it) viewed the nightclub known as the Berghain:

Cell 001G-A has been breached. All operatives present, please await fur-

The voice was cut off mid-message, and a screech like a microphone being moved clamoured for attention alongside the blaring siren. Two taps. Whoever was at the other end had decided that it must not have been working, or at least was testing it. Their voice echoed a little over the electronic system, but when they finally spoke it was clear it was a woman’s voice:

”Dear all operatives, Xcution or otherwise, your work here is done. Now buzz off and leave me be!”

With a sudden slam, everything went quiet - even the dance floor they left behind seemed to be deadened. And for good reason. The doorway which they had just passed through had been sealed shut - a giant steel door had fallen into place, blocking them from the room which Shizuka had detonated. There was no screaming, nothing penetrated the door. If Luke or Shizuka cared to check, they would see that it was several feet of Spiritual Steel, reinforced with several other defensive techniques. Getting through it would be impossible, getting around it would be almost as hard.

But at least it was clear who owned the door. The black X of Xcution was emblazoned on the steel, standing out against the minimal decor of the corridor. With their most obvious avenue sealed off, what would the three decide to do now? There were other ways around the club, but they could also be sealed - or at least could present as much danger as the room there had presented.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Her makeshift team had begun to wear thin. Both Luke and Kenji were in a bad spot right now. They weren't fit to fight anymore and she knew that, but she felt compelled to finish her mission. The only problem was that she couldn't do it herself. Relatively unscathed or no, Shizuka was a woman of teamwork. She had a fierce loyalty to anyone who worked with or for her, Shinigami or otherwise, and treated them as equals. To see these two in such horrendous shape was hurting her heart. The Fullbringer clutched at her chest and furrowed her brows as her expression displayed the sadness she felt. She didn't like failure. But she didn't like putting her comrades at risk even more.

The overhead voice was startling enough, though. Shizuka's head shot upwards and her ears twitched as she listened carefully. She recognized the cell name and her eyes widened with shock, worry, concern, and a myriad of other emotions. She gasped and quickly looked back at Luke and Kenji. One was unconscious and badly injured. The other was definitely coherent but unable to battle. Shizuka's lips pressed together into a thin line because she felt incredibly conflicted. How far could she get on her own? Probably not far. It was thanks to Luke's Impact that she was even able to get where she was to have the chance to unleash her explosive. But that was what caused this mess.

Her thoughts continued briefly until she heard the strange noises coming from the speaker. A female's voice followed. Did she just... call it off? The door that led to the room full of Hollows where they had been slammed shut almost immediately afterwards. Shizuka turned around to face it with a moment's notice. She immediately recognized the "X" that was painted on the door, as well. She groaned audibly and slammed her palm to her forehead. A hard blink and a brush through her hair later, Shizuka simply whispered two words that she assumed only Luke and Kenji could hear.

"Oh, no..."

Her own organization was causing problems and she wasn't even aware of it. How could she not be? Why was she sent on this wild goose chase if it was going to end up like this? Xcution already had control over this building, it seemed. Was it actually them? Were they responsible? If they were, why was she not informed? She was Number One. A Seven Guns Rifle. She should have been the first to know, if not the second at the very least. Minor offense aside, she knew what to expect out of this. She was sent to convince the woman on the speaker to join Xcution, but this gave her the impression that that wasn't completely necessary. There was more.

"Judging by the fact that you knew which door to shut," Shizuka began, her voice bellowing. "I'm going to assume you know where we are and have been watching through some shape or form. I'm willing to bet you can hear us. As you can see, my two teammates cannot go any further. So, allow me to introduce myself. I am Shizuka Sanamizu. I am Xcution's Number One Gun. I will destroy this entire building and everyone in it unless you reveal yourself to me now. No more games. You have no room to negotiate with me."

It was either this or they leave. Shizuka wasn't going to put Luke and Kenji in anymore risky situations just because she needed to finish the mission. Their lives, and that really did include the Shinigami's, were more important than recruiting a woman who obviously didn't want to be bothered. So if she was going to go about it this way, fine. Shizuka would simply leave a parting gift. The woman wasn't going to like it, though. The Fullbringer would charge forward by herself if she needed to just to take her out. She had a license to kill, after all. That extended to even potential recruits.



Shizuka's Remaining Reiatsu: 4725
Fullbring Stage 1: 4/10
Liquid Type: ANNM
Gallons Remaining: 20/100

[Deleted]

”Jesus fucking christ…”

Granted...Luke had said that Kenji wasn’t going to be able to keep up going forward but he had literally no idea just how right he had been. The Shinigami wasn’t just powerless he was just straight unconscious. The Bount blinked, first out of surprise then again in disbelief, before he practically crawled over to Kenji to try and get an assessment of his situation. Luke was no doctor, the guy could barely put on a band-aid sometimes, but even he could tell how bad the state Kenji was in was. His back had been scorched, the fabric of his uniform completely burnt, and he must have hit his head when he went rolling. Blood was pouring out from the unconscious Shinigami’s head.

”Fucking hell Kenji..” Luke cursed a little, to himself really, as he broke the first rule of someone being hurt and began to begin to move him. Wincing at the pain in his own arm, Luke struggled a little to shoulder Kenji’s weight but managed to do it anyways. However, as he had begun to lift Kenji up he heard the siren blare and a voice begin to broadcast itself from a speaker system. Luke blinked. They had breached a cell? However, the automated voice was sudden cut off and replaced by another, female, one that immediately called out Xcution. Luke blinked. What was going on?

His eyes would drift to Shizuka for a moment just as the shutter door slammed itself down, sealing them off the room they had just lit on fire. The female voice, whoever it was, told them their work was done and that they could fuck off. For some reason that irritated Luke, who had begun to grind his jaws together and insist they kick that door in and find whoever it was behind the speaker. He stopped, though, when he felt hot blood soaking itself into his clothes. Looking at the unconscious Shinigami he was carrying, Luke winced a little as he knew...that saving Kenji’s life was, right now, more important than this.

However, when his eyes settled on the symbol on the door more questions bubbled up in his mind. It was an X. Did...that mean Xcution had something to do with it. He looked at Shizuka, again, as if looking for answers before letting her speak. Shizuka announced her name and rank and demanded whoever it was show themselves. Despite her size, the Fullbringer could be intimidating and call attention and respect to herself when she wanted to. Luke wasn’t sure what to do. He knew they needed to get Kenji out, but he also wanted to see how this played out.

[Johnwaluigi]

The blaring stopped for a moment, before there was yet another tap - the person on the other end didn’t seem to think the system was working all that well. After Shizuka delivered her ultimatum, there was a pause. Just for a moment, there was complete silence. The tension was palpable. Was the person considering the threat, preparing a countermeasure? Or were they on their way to surrender? There was no way to tell. That was, until, the next message was delivered over the intercom. It would be rather disheartening. Her threat had literally fallen on deaf ears, it seemed. The intercom system was one-way only.

”You’re still not gone! I waited, I waited, I waited! But nooooooo, you silly little operatives still want to have your way. Well, then have it!”

Almost precisely on the word ‘it’, the alarms started blaring again. But they were accompanied by a far worse sound. From the ceiling, what looked like sprinklers descended, grinding metal indicating the two conscious members of the team that some kind of mechanical process was in operation. What would be most worrying, however, would not be the alarms, nor the threat of the woman on the other side of the microphone, nor the grinding sound of the sprinklers being activated. No, what would set their teeth on edge would be the accompanying hiss of a gas escaping something. Entering the room, perhaps.

”I don’t know if any of ye have many Chemistry degrees under your belts, but I’m sure you all know Zyklon-B. Well, I’ve added my own twist to the formula, so feel free to stay and allow me to test it out! Otherwise, make your way out! Now, now… I’m being far too nice…”

The last line was a murmur, but their attention should be focussed on the fact that the corridor they were in was filling up with gas, and fast. Shizuka probably knew about Zyklon-B and its dark history, as well as its chemical structure, but she could not be sure what the woman’s twist on the formula was. However, one thing was certain - the way they came in was still open. They both could feel the air currents drawing the gas back out the main door - freedom was so close and easy to reach. The concentration of the gas exiting the sprinklers was immense, however. Unless they found a larger or clearer hall, or appropriate equipment, they would surely lose consciousness and die within an hour. Kenji might not even last that long.

Could Shizuka abandon the mission she had been given for the sake of others? She had technically not failed. Could Luke let this maniacal scientist continue their experiments unabated? Would Kenji survive, with his life in the hands of two people he had barely met?

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

It was blatantly obvious now that this entire venture was pointless. This woman was going to die one way or another. Shizuka would make sure of that. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be today. She glared heavily at the ground as she hung her head. Her hands were balled up into fists and she gritted her teeth in anger. She did all she could to stop herself from growling in front of Luke and the unconscious Kenji. As much as she wanted to continue what she needed to do, she couldn't. Not with these two like this. Shizuka cursed at the entire situation and turned around, still very upset.

"Ugh! Just ugh! Son of a bitch!"

She looked down at Kenji. What had she done? This was her fault. It was her fault that they couldn't continue because she'd hurt him and all he did was try to help. Bad or not, this Shinigami didn't deserve what she had forced upon him. And Luke... Her hardened expression softened a bit. She was full of regret. She'd made the wrong choice even when she thought it was the right one. He was trying to hard to help, too, but he was also in pain. The gas flowing into the room wasn't very great, either. Shizuka noticed mildly too late that that was happening. She had to make the right decision this time.

"We're leaving," Shizuka stated, quickly helping Luke to his feet and grabbing Kenji. "I won't let either of you die because of me."

The blonde swung the unconscious Shinigami up over her neck and shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She was strong enough to handle that on her own, anyway. She deactivated her Fullbring and the golden shoes returned to her feet with a bright glow of purple as they reformed. She quickly headed for the main door and motioned for Luke to follow her. They had to get out. For now, she would have to count this as a failure. But she wasn't going to give up on it. Not yet. This woman was officially on her hit list. Shizuka grimaced with rage, not caring too much if anyone saw the look on her face. She was going to tear this woman to shreds. But for now, making sure her two boys stayed alive was more important.