Back in the Game, Back in your Guilt [JT, R]

[Eve Timor]

-1000 Ryo for Left Arm Regeneration
Training for CTP

She'd gone a fairly large amount of time without her arm. A long-ass time to be frank. And with her current boarding, it didn't really take long before Taka had taken an interest in the half-demon. And they had worked out something of a deal. Taka knew about some ex-members of the club, one in particular who was some sort of master healer, one that could get her arm back in no time at all. She of course had called bullshit initially, but Taka had assured her that the man was perfectly capable, and all that needed to be decided was the payment. It was....just....THAT simple. She didn't know how long it would be until she'd be able to feed her way to recovery so... what did she have to lose?

As it turned out, the payment was pretty straightforward. One of her racers had been skipping out on the results of a late race. The race had been for slips and the punk had drove off and holed himself up in some dive bar. Taka herself could have sent one of her men after them, but had decided that it would be an opportunity for Timor to get in some work. A car's pink slip was worth more than an arm regrowing. And it had been as simple as a few pretty flutters of her eyelashes to get let into the bar. She'd sniffed the little rat out and the man had been fairly easy to trick into private quarters before suddenly he found himself freezing from the outside in. With his own skin cracking from rapid freezing it had been pretty damn simple to get him to cooperate.

With the slip it had been not too long before Timor was put under and operated on. She didn't know what the guy did, or even what they looked like, or even if they were a guy. All she knew was that when she woke up, those phantome sensations weren't so phantom anymore. Her arm was THERE.  That missing part of her body was bandaged up and even though moving it sent shots of agony through up to her shoulder, she reveled. She had her fucken arm BACK. And it felt amazing. She was ordered to take it easy, let the arm heal and try to keep it protected. Luke had even been informed and Taka had said something about how he might show up to visit. And with that Timor was left in her room.

And she thought to herself. With Affen idly humming the tune to Mission Impossible in her head, she couldn't help but wonder. It took a bit for the arm to heal. But.....what if she went out hunting? If she could find soemthing to feed on. She could probably heal the arm up no problem. She might even be able to get her arm working to 100 %. The big trouble would keeping herself protected. She could do with Affen. But that was still risky. But.... if Luke was visiting.. Maybe he could be her escort while she fed? That could work....right?

[Deleted]

Training for CTP

When the news reached him about the success of Timor's opperation, Luke felt a indescribable sense of relief. He knew she had gone without her arm far longer than he had, him having needed it to resume doing what he was doing in his daily life. Luke ended up getting this info from Taka, and profusely thanked her for giving Timor that opportunity to get her arm back. He couldn't go see her yet, either because the operation was still going on or Timor was still asleep. Which was fine. It gave Luke the opportunity to get himself ready. He'd just gotten off work and was, understandably, kind of dirty. Someone had accidentally bumped into him at Uzaki's with a tray full of lunch foods and gotten it all over his white shirt.

Luke also used that time do something else. He wasn't really sure if Timor would like it or not, but he decided to give it a try. Anyways, having cleaned up and wearing some casual clothes, Luke approached Timor's room. This was actually the first time in awhile he'd be seeing her. Granted he'd text her now and then to see how she was doing, and see her around the club, but he hadn't actually spent any decent time with her since he started working with Uzaki. Hell, the same thing could be said about Taka. "You're a horrible friend." Jäger decided to comment. He wasn't wrong. A lot of crap had been happening. Even so, he needed to make more time for his friends. Especially one like Timor.

Knocking lightly on her door to let her know he was there, Luke went ahead and let himself in. "Hey Timor." Luke greeted with a smile. It was actually good to see her again. His eyes ended up drifting to her bandaged but new arm, and Luke felt some relief that the operation seemed to have gone well. Plus considering he was the reason she lost her arm in the first place it was good to see that their fights damages were finally corrected. "Glad to see you're whole again." He joked. "Don't make jokes. You're not funny." Springflut decided to comment, much to Luke's displeasure.

"So...how've you been? Is the new arm working alright? How's Affen?" Luke bombarded her with questions without really meaning to. He just wasn't the best in moments like this. Alone with a girl he hadn't seen for awhile. They certainly had a rough start, but Luke was hoping that things were starting to get better between them.

[Eve Timor]

"You know he's going to be here soon right?" Affen asked Timor from her spot lounging across the floor, lazily watching as Timor lay in bed, wearing nothing but bottoms and her hat, a laptop resting on her thighs as Timor idly amused herself. "This is my room, I will wear what I want. He'll knock." She noted, aware that for all the kid's virtues, Luke was overly polite. Not at all like the people she worked with. And of course Affen gave a calm little smirk in response to that, her head canting to the side.

" Oh are we betting on Luke being a good boy? Tell you what. Next meal, I get to eat your dessert if you're wrong." She reasoned, to which Timor rolled her eyes. What a pointless bet. " Fine. And If I win, I keep your Jacket in my underwear drawer for a few days. I could use some practice fighting without you." She noted with a pleased look on her face. Of course no sooner had the bet escaped her than did she hear the knock on her door. She smirked, giving Affen a Smug look. Just as Luke opened the fucking door.

Timor blinked, a look of surprise on her face as she turned to see Luke. FUCK. Immediately Affenkonig burst out laughing, rolling onto her back and holding her sides before she burst into flames, that jacket reforming around Timor's chest in a smolder of little spiritual embers as the bount herself gave a gruff grunt as Affen spoke up in her head. Guess yer wearin me for a week bitch~ And try to get some Jello. I loooove Jello~ she snickered, leaving Timor to roll her eyes, irritated before she rose to her feet, sliding the laptop onto the bed before she turned her attention to Luke.

"Thanks. And I've been fine. Affen has been....Affen. How are your boys?" She asked, referring to Springflute and Jager. It STILL struck Timor as odd that he didn't let them out more often. Heck she had to expend energy continuously to let Affen out, but she still did it. she honestly felt a little bad that Luke kept his dolls so couped up all the time. And she honestly had to wonder if it was because he didn't want to rely on them. Which was a little silly, if that was the case. That his dolls had to be locked up because he had some weird ideal. But it wasn't exactly a subject she was going to bring up just so they could debate about it.

Luke would probably realize that despite having her arm back, she still wasn't using it. That clawed hand hung at her side, slung up in a sling as she greeted him. "You're lucky. I was going to go out hunting in a bit, if you'd been an hour slower you probably would have missed me." she pointed out. Something of an amused look in her eyes as she regarded the other bount.

[Deleted]

"Pft hahahahaha! I saw that! Good job jackass! Why did you just barge your way in??" Jäger laughed as Luke covered his now red face in his hand until Timor had something to cover herself up. I don't know! I just assumed she was expecting me! Luke confessed. "Good job making yourself look like an idiot." Springflut decided to chime in. Regardless of how his Dolls commented, it seemed that Luke wasn't going to get his head chewed off. When Timor spoke to him, he removed his hand from his face to see her now wearing her jacket which was actually the sealed form of her Doll. This confused Luke. Not that she was wearing her Doll, but that her Doll had a sealed form. Why did she have something like that, but he didn't? Why did his Dolls get conjured from wherever they lived within him while she had a dormant form?

It was weird. "Oh, they're as fine as they usually are." Luke replied, not really having anything to report about his Dolls. Springflut was his grouchy self, and Jäger was an idiot. Nothing new on that front. As Timor moved about, Luke noticed how she seemed to not be using her new arm. The Bounts gazed softened for a moment as he looked at the bandaged limb, but his attention was drawn back to her face when she started talking again. What she said caught him by surprise though, but his face failed to show that. She was going to go hunting? He felt some concern and worry build up in him when she said that, but quickly pushed it out of the way. He didn't want her yelling at him again.

"Hmm. Your arm is bothering you, isn't it?" Luke suddenly asked, trying to get off that subject for a moment. "When I had my arm put back on it hurt for a little bit as well." Luke explained, rubbing the shoulder of the arm that Timor had once blasted off with her ability. Luke's expression softened for a moment as he rubbed his shoulder, his gaze focused on it, before he just decided to say it. "I don't think you should go hunting." He said calmly and flatly, before returning his gaze to her. "If it's for the pain, I can show you something that'll help with it. But I don't want you getting jumped on by something while you're out and not at one hundred percent." Luke offered. He figured Timor was at the level now that she'd be able to use the ability he had in mind.

In truth, Luke was against the idea of her hunting at all. He accepted that, before they met, Timor must have been put in situations where she had no choice but to feed. He didn't ask about them, but considering her reaction to him...yeah he figured it best not to ask. But, as far as he knew, those times were over. She didn't need to go out and feed anymore. If she wanted to feed to deal with the pain then he could show her not one, but two, different methods to heal herself without having to feed on people. But if it was for sport...he wasn't sure what he could do about that one. Not even three minutes into talking to her and he was put in this spot. "You promised her you'd protect her. You did this to yourself, hero." Springflut commented from the depths.

[Eve Timor]

Timor lifted a brow at that, frowning very slightly in response to Luke's assertions about her going hunting. However she did become a bit perplexed when she heard his thoughts on why he thought she was hunting. And that was... what? She furrowed her brows, now visibly confused as to his reasoning and ideals. For the pain? Why on earth would she hunt for the pain relief? She let him finish speaking, again not entirely sure what he was talking about. Uh.. this is a little weird. It's like he's some kinda toddler. No wonder his dolls are driving him crazy. Affen murmured, and Timor wasn't really able to disagree with her.

"I hunt to bond with my doll. Not only that but it's important in any area you plan on establishing your territory. When you're as strong as you are Luke, you're GOING to attract attention. Haven't you noticed that ever since your powers woke up that crazy-strong people just happen to wind up showing their faces around you?It's not something you can really avoid. But what you probably DON'T notice is that ambient hollows are opportunistic. Whenever two big powers clash, hollows almost always show up and start chowing down on humans to blend in with the chaos. All those times you've fought someone strong, I can guarantee that hollows showed up either during or after the encounter." She explained, memories from her days within her father's organization coming to mind.

"That's why you establish a territory. Actively hunting hollows within your area, creating an area they are unwilling to generally cross into. Hollows aren't entirely stupid. The general hunting range they have will adjust around your own hunting patterns. It's the same with ANY threat. Hollows, Shinigami, Other Bounts, even punk-ass humans." She explained calmly, folding her arms as she watched Luke for his reaction. "I used to be part of a group that dealt with this sort of thing. Actually now that I think about it, they probably do still deal with it, even if karakura isn't really an area they ever usually stuck around.....beh, anywho, my point is that now that I'm back to around 100% I need to get back into the habit. Understand?"

[Deleted]

Crossing his arms across his chest, Luke raised an eyebrow as Timor suddenly began giving him an info dump. It looks like he was wrong about why she was going out to feed. Rather than going out for some kind of healing reason, she hunted to bond with her Doll? Did she mean that she summoned Affen during those hunts? But Timor continued talking, explaining some details about Hollows to him and how everytime someone like Luke clashed with someone powerful Hollows were bound to show up. His thoughts drifted to when he fought with that Quincy, and he began wondering if such a thing happened while he was fighting her. "Doubtful. Remember all those Shinigami that showed up? Plus Springflut probably drow-" Jäger.

"So Hollows are basically hyenas then, huh?" Luke asked. What Timor said made sense. Establishing a territory that would keep Hollows out. The idea certainly sounded plausible. When Luke went on his patrols for Uzaki he never did stay in one location. He always picked different parts of the city. So, in that sense, he didn't have a territory. But what had this group been that Timor mentioned? When asked if he understood, Luke shrugged. "Yeah, I get it. It's a good idea. When do we leave?" Luke suddenly asked with a smile. He still had no intention of letting Timor go out alone, and he could tell this could be a good learning experience for him. He might be able to take something from this.

[Eve Timor]

Huh, that was a quicker sell than I thought Affen noted, Timor herself just smiling as it became very clear that Luke was alright with the idea of their hunting. That's all it took huh? Getting up Timor went to her dresser and slipped on a top to go under her jacket, not really paying Luke any mind in the slightest before, with her new full outfit, she was ready to go. "We can head out right now." She noted with a smile, heading out of the club.

Of course there were the usual faces greeting them on the way out, one even tossed out a 'good hunting' to the pair as they soon came out into the morning air. It was nice and early, the sun only just starting to creak it's way up. She, in the meantim didn't take long to head in a direction, clean due south. The club itself always had a very wide berth from any hollow instigation. A number of the clubgoers always patrolled the area, But she was interested in the very outskirts of Karakura. As it were, the main area of Karakura was a mess of shinigami and other races constantly dealing with hollows. This generally entailed the more bold and aggressive hollows. Those that threw themselves into the thick of things, regardless of who they might run into.

The outskirts however, were filled with those stragglers. The more cunning or cowardly hollows that only descended on a sector of Karakura following some big clash. These were the ones that Timor usually hunted. There was a large number that were, to put it simply, just weak and cowardly. But among them was a scattering of true threats. Hollows old and strong enough to be patient and intelligent. As they began making their way into mountains surrounding Karakura they could be seen. Scattering and moving among the hills and the trees. But most importantly, they watched. Bunches and Bunches of hollows that were not only scurrying, but swarming. Scattered upon their first arrival, but very soon it became obvious that they were beginning to group up, and began feeling a little bolder. some of them even hissing and howling into the air.

And unlike the sparse numbers of hollows in Karakura, the howl traveled for miles. And echoed as hollows all around Karakura began to travel toward the pair. The ground beneath them even rumbled slightly. A handful of underground hollows beginning to rouse themselves. the ground before the pair ripping open as a partivularly large milipede hollow pushed it's face out from the ground, seven different sets of pincers gnashing as it began heading their way. The fur lining of Timor's jacket lighting up as it burned off of her body, vanishing from sight only to emerge from the air, reforming around Affen's shoulders as the Monkey King dropped down from above and slammed both feet squarely into the centipede's head, planting it into the ground before sweeping her leg, a thick line melting across the ground as that unseen wave of heat cleaved into the hollow's neck.

The massive beast writhed in the midst of the attack, preventing it from cleaving it's head from it's body as it hissed loudly, smaller milipedes crawling out of it's wound and beginning to march their way toward Timor, halted when a molten staff pierced through most of them, sweeping the little monsters away as Timor's clawed hand lunged, bandages falling away from it as she stabbed her hand into the smaller centipede's body, lifting it off the ground before cramming it, and most of her forearm into the skull of the larger hollow. It's mask cracked and the hollow screeched in pain as thick gouts of blood and spiritual energy began draining from the monster's skull. A deep, deep look of satisfaction on Timor's face as her arm steamed, the bandages falling from her arm as the small wounds left over from surgery healed up.

All the while, more hollows began to close in. A good number of them cowed by the display of violence, attempting to circle around to surround the two bounts. while a few of the more powerful, brave ones began to advance on Luke and Timor, intent on killing them. It might even occur to Luke that this was what Timor had been doing when they had first met. And may have explained why he had found her where he had. And while a good number of hollows were surging forth to deal with them, many others simply began moving away from them. Others simply watching from afar. Waiting for an opening.

[Deleted]

Resting his hands in his pocket as he watched her fight, Luke began to come to realize that this might have been what Timor had been doing when he met her that rainy night. He thought back to what had happened at that time and how she had been chased by a collection of Hollows. She must have been doing this that night but then things had gotten out of hand. He watched quietly from his spot a couple yards away, blinking when he watched her call out her Doll. The centipede Hollow wasn't any threat for the pair of them, especially with Affen's heat based abilities. "Affen's cool." Jäger decided to comment while Luke watched them work, and couldn't tell Jäger he was wrong about his compliment.

They made a good pair. His brown eyes blinked and looked away as Timor did what she did to the Hollow's skull, his attention shifting to the Hollows that were approaching them. "She doesn't have any problem letting her Doll out. You should learn from her example." Jäger decided to comment once again. This made Luke frown, but before he replied he stretched his consciousness to Springflut to see if the Doll was sleeping. Sure enough he was. I can't. And you know that. Luke replied as he pulled himself away from the sleeping giant to focus on the Hollows and his conversation with Jäger.

"I don't mean Mr. Waterpark. I don't blame you for not wanting him out. He's grouchy and...well you know how his power works. But what about me?" Luke thought back to the abilities of Springflut and just what they could do if he let the Doll let out without a second thought. But there was always the chance that he could start letting Jäger out more. There was always the thought that he should start using his Dolls more often rather than them always being his last resort options. He didn't mean to ignore Jäger, but the sudden snarl of a Hollow drew his attention away.

A large one, shaped like a bull, tried to snap at Luke's right arm after it had charged close. It was a brave thing, that was for sure. But it wasn't smart. As Luke side stepped it, his movements blurred as he created a sword with AAA and sliced the Hollow's mask open, causing it to fall to the ground dead. Spinning the sword around his hand so that the blade was pointing backwards, Luke turned around to look at the disintegrating corpse for a few moments before returning his attention to Timor and her own fights. "You're not going to jump into the frey?" Jäger decided to ask.

I'm back up. Just in case things get bad. Or if I get bored. Besides...I want to see how her and Affen cooperate. Luke explained to Jäger as he kept his eyes on the pair, ready to jump in at a moments notice.

[Eve Timor]

The pair of Affen and Timor was certainly something that had teamwork in aces. Timor was not the type of woman to just stand back and allow Affen to do all of the work, as the remains of that big milipede began to dissolve, the other hollows surged forward, prepared to do their worst against the bount and her doll, though Timor did nothing in the ways of defend or retreat. She and Affen both surged forward, side by side as the enemies rolled in.

The first contact was between Timor and a big shielded Hollow, the thing's head was like a shovel on a snow plow, jamming into the ground defensively as Timor slammed into it, her claws digging in and scraping toward the slits where it's eyes were, but it turned out that those had some sort of protective coating over them, preventing her claws from digging through and tearing into that soft, mushy organ. both hands planted against that big shield and she was shoved back, her heels digging into the ground as she skidded back, only barely slowing the beast.

It was then that Affen unleashed that sweeping taekwondo Kick, and that invisible wave of heat surged out, cleaving the first line of hollows, as well as that big shielded monster, horizontally as t heir bodies simply turned to mush where it made contact, their bodies mowed down as Timor flung her chain, those long lengths of black hell that marked her as a sinner, those links suddenly snaring on one of the hollows as she vanished with a dull static THNNK of a sonido.

She relocated, far to the right as several hollows ran right into that black chain, halted in their advance as Timor wrapped it around a tree. The big thing almost immediately snapped from the strength of those hollows, though it really wasn't meant to completely stop them, just to slow them down so that all of them were, more or less, in a line as Affen dropped down on the other side of them, aiming her staff toward them before that thing seemed to EXPLODE, a sudden BURST of speed, far faster than either of the women as the staff expanded, that jacket burning ridiculously with how much heat it was gathering from all of the hollows.

Even with that staff piercing them, several hollows still moved, struggling to free themselves before that staff suddenly expanded just as quickly, ripping the hollows apart and burning them as that weapon of pure magma pulled them into pieces, a long, wide weapon which Affen then swung with all her might, actually liquifying some of the rock on the ground as she dragged that weapon along the ground in her mad lash, swatting and burning through a number of the hollows as Timor pulled her chain free, a bried little glance sent in Luke's direction, though not looking surprised.

She looked a little smug, as if she was getting to enjoy soemthing he didn't. Her hand sank into one of the corpses and that body wrinkled as it deflated, Timor drinking deeply through those black claws as she began shiver just a little, the act of feeding clearly giving her a bit of a rush. So much so that the hollows suddenly halted as they sensed a very intense dark aura bursting out from Timor's body, as that black glassy flesh began slowly creeping it's way up her arm, in just the same way that it had the night Luke had met her, and that black ice bow screeched into existence, the sound of straining ice as it formed in her open hand

[Deleted]

Brown eyes watched with caution as Timor Eve and her Doll, Affen, danced amongst the monsters eager to turn her into their next meal. He watched over her rather than just watching her fight. His eyes took in every detail of her brawl with the Hollows, keenly aware of every move both she and they made. Both hands rested in his jackets pockets making him look relaxed. But in truth he was anything but. He was watching, waiting, for Timor to mess up. He had faith she wouldn't but anyone could make a mistake. He stood by, his muscles tensed and ready to spring into action, in case she made a mistake. While he was here she wouldn't get hurt. He would guarantee that even if it meant endangering himself.

He watched, impressed, as Timor and Affen displayed a teamwork that put his own cooperation with his Dolls to shame. It wasn't often he used them during a fight. He opted to do things himself. More than that, using his Dolls meant he had to reveal his identity to someone as a Bount. Experience had told him numerous times that revealing that fact about himself only opened the door for trouble to come stomping on top of him. "Oh boo hoo." Jäger said with snide, not satisfied with a poor reason like that. It was something Luke needed to work on. But, regardless, he didn't like people knowing he was Bount. It gave them the wrong impressions about him. Every. Single. Time.

Multiple Hollows were felled by the pair. Affen was, technically, doing most of the killing but Timor was certainly putting in her own fair share of effort. He blinked when he noticed her glancing at him, his eyes meeting hers as he recognized the smug expression on her face as her clawed hands found their way into the body of a Hollow. Luke felt himself frowning a little without meaning to. She was feeding. That much was obvious. But what bothered Luke was the obvious joy she felt doing so. It was a unsettling thing to watch. Both of them were Bount, but both were worlds apart in differences. Both of their lives had been so drastically different that how each viewed the act of feeding were polar opposites. Luke was disgusted by it and Timor reveled in it.

His train of thought was sidetracked when he suddenly felt a disturbance within the slender woman. A reiatsu that could only be described as odious had begun to seep its way out from her depths and began to alter his physical form. It was coming out again. "What is she doing?" Luke frowned and his eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of Timor's demonic form. Black, glass like, flesh had traveled up the lengths of her arms before that black bow Luke remembered so well formed. "Timor.." Luke said softly, curious regarding what she was doing and worried as well. Why did Timor release that power? His attention shifted to the Hollows for a moment when he noticed how some of them were actually backing away from Timor. Was it fear of her power or was it done out of instinct?

Looking at them, the Hollows, it reminded Luke of when they posed a threat to him. A memory nearly a year in age came to mind of that shop he used to work at. The same shop that, on that shitty day, came under attack by that Hollow. He still remembered the sight of his manager and coworkers being lifted up like snacks and eaten so easily. He remembered how he had been unable to do anything at all to stop it, and was lucky to have woken up in a hospital bed. Seeing them now, the Hollows, as being nothing more than annoying pests...it was weird. And it was even more weird seeing then shaking with fear. But could Luke blame them? What they faced was something that still bothered him when he saw it. Just what was that form? What kind of power was it that Timor possessed...and why did it feel evil.

"Eh?" Luke blurted as he suddenly felt something to the east. Turning his head towards the forest in the distance, the Bount blinked as his eyes looked at the tree line confused. He watched as, suddenly, multiple flying Hollows burst from the tops of the trees and took to the air, adding to the numbers of the horde that the pair dealt with already. So there were more hiding, huh? Luke thought to himself, turning himself slightly towards them as he decided to deal with him. But his plans halted when he noticed something behind the swarm. He had to strain his vision to make out just what he was seeing, but even when he did so he still didn't quite understand. It looked like...there was a black crack in the sky.

Luke stared at it for a few moments, visible confusion on his face as he wondered if he was just seeing things. Was his eyes damaged or something? But as Luke wondered about it he watched as that small crack suddenly enlarged, stretching further through the air itself as if the sky was damaged. "Hey...Timor...what's that?" Luke asked, loud enough to be heard, as he resumed staring at the further growing crack. "It's the skies butthole!" Wonderful observation, Jäger. But looking at it...why was Luke suddenly anxious? And why did he feel reiatsu seeping from the crack? What was it?

He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Because, suddenly, a pair of massive clawed fingers stretched from the darkness on the other side of the void and gripped the edges of the crack. "What the hell??" Luke shouted as he watched the sky tear itself open, revealing the entity that was hidden in the darkness. A behemoth the size of a small skyscraper stepped forth from the void, shaking the ground as it's clawed, flat, foot came crashing down onto the forest. Its body was hidden beneath a black cloak that seemed to originate from its white mask. Speaking of, its mask was something worth pointing out. A pair of horns grew from its forehead and curved backwards to the back of its head, covered in numerous smaller horns growing from their lengths. Smacked dab in the middle of its forehead was a third eye socket, glowing red unlike the yellow lights in the other two lower socket. A gapping void existed in its center mass, where it's stomach should have been.

"The fucking fuck? Is that a Hollow?" Jäger asked, shock and surprise dripping from his voice. "What else would it be, idiot? But it's so big. What is it? Why is it here?" Springflut questioned as Luke stood staring at the massive monstrosity pulling itself fully from the darkness it spawned from and into the forest below. Smashing the nature where it landed, the behemoth rose up to its full height. The aerial swarm of Hollows had begun to congregate around the behemoth screaming and howling. Suddenly it opened its mouth and, from that black maw, Luke saw a unnaturally long tongue fire out like a harpoon and, bending itself multiple times, speared through multiple of the smaller Hollows.

What the-!? Luke mentally shouted, his eyes widening, as he saw the tongue retreat back into its den, carrying the Hollows with it. "It's...eating them?" Luke asked. Why the hell was it eating them? Why was a Hollow eating other Hollows? Why the hell was this thing here? What drew it here? Luke had never seen something like this before. He'd never even heard about this sort of thing before! He realized quickly he needed to contact Uzaki Enterprise and let them know about this. But when he reached around his pockets for his phone, he came to the realization that...he didn't have it. Shit. He forgot his fucking phone again.

As Luke fumbled around his pockets he suddenly heard something. A sound akin to a high pitched, inhuman, scream. No, not inhuman. It didn't sound like anything living would make. It sounded completely unnatural. Returning his attention to the Hollow Luke saw its third eye was glowing brightly. Not only that Luke would feel a rise in the behemoths reiatsu focusing on that particular spot. He realized what was about to happen. "Timor!!" Luke shouted, turning towards her and exploding with speed towards her. That scream exploded as a beam, crimson in color and producing that screaming sound, fired from the third eye of the Hollow. The beam struck the ground near where Timor was fighting the Hollows, causing the area to erupt violently in a explosion of fire.

But it didn't stop there. The Hollow, still producing that beam, turned its head to the left causing the beam to follow. A wall of flames and a trail of ruin followed the beam as the Hollow sliced through the landscape with its attack, seemingly only caring about causing destruction and not actually about the two Bount. It was entirely possible it had attacked that spot purely out of coincidence rather than because it knew they were there. The beam began to dim, before blinking out of existence entirely. But it had achieved its goal. A great blaze had been created from the heat of its beam. Rearing its head back, the Hollow released a screech as it reached upwards for the sky.

"Tch..." Luke growled, tightening his grip on his left wrist as he stared at the numerous cracks decorating the Air Panel shield. Massive in size and multilayered it was a impressive shield that showed Luke's skill with AAA, and yet despite the complexity of the construct it was still massively damaged. Before the blast had hit, Luke had used Schiene to cover the distance and throw up the barrier. The small patch of land hidden behind the barrier had been untouched by the beam, but everything around them had become upturned dirt and flames. "Timor, are you alright?" Luke asked, turning his gaze back behind him at the transformed Bount...worry painted so obviously on his face.

[Eve Timor]

The sound of Luke's voice was something she almost relished. That uncertainty. Even that little tinge of apprehension when he saw her releasing, followed by the sudden massive wave of cold that swept through the area, and unlike before, Luke wouldn't feel the effects of it, he was an ally. But everything else around Timor suddenly froze, even some of the hollows balked, staggered as some of them felt ice inching along their flesh, agonizing them as they struggled against the cold as black ice encapsulated the grass and nearby trees.

The sudden congregation of hollows definitely caught Timor's attention, and as that sky began tearing open, her mind snapped to attention. A menos Event. Thankfully it didn't seem that any new menos would be taking part in such an event, but it quickly became clear that this monster was not any normal gillian, Timor feeling a tremble of excitement run up her spine, even Affen seemed a little uncertain as to this new threat. She raised her bow rapidly, the string drawn back as numerous arrows materialized loaded into the bow itself, taking aim at the massive hollow just before that beast opend fire. That massive burst of cero roared into her direction.

Timor's eye twitched and an invisible bullet plowed outward, firing forward and then slamming into the ground between her and the incoming cero, a sudden gush as a geyser of ice plumed up from the ground, 10 cubic meters of ice fanned out, a meter thick and three meters wide, that blast crashing around that huge mass of ice but leaving Timor and Affen untouched by the blast, hit only by the concussive shockwave of the explosion itself. Leaping to the side, skirting around that big wall she fired her arrows in a spray, those arrows tearing into the line of hollows infront of her, those three shafts greatly injuring hollows as they shredded through their bodies, cutting through two ranks of the things before the shafts ptomptly exploded into dust, dust that reformed up into the air, the ice crackling as the arrows reformed, redirected and maintaining speed and force as they then struck toward the hollow's eyes and teeth in an attempt to cripple the beast.

Affen herself vanished, suddenly appearing in close proximity to the beast and twisting, putting her whole body into an uppercut as a big, burning fist erupted from her knuckles, digging into the hollow's chest and then aiming to burn it's way up the monster's cloak to slam into it's face in a shoryuuken. It was a very gutsy move, especially considering the fact that Affen now suddenly found herself surrounded by those hollows, all of which soon turned their attention over to her.

It was the simple work of another step to leap back towards Timor and Luke, leaving behind a burning afterimage. Though this little flaming monkey left behind was more than just a stand-in. As those hollows failed to run, that burning effigy suddenly detonated, the air howling as a sudden massive pillar 5 meters in radius burst up through the ground, burning 20 meters up into the air as the blast incinerated most of the hollows around it's epicenter, and in the event that that big gillian was still there, it would recieve a heavy burning as well, potentially even obliterating the front half of it depending on how strong it was.

The entire meneuver spent a lot of reiatsu, at least on Affen's part, but the monkey was made for these sorts of heavy engagements at the very least. Her specialty in wide area attacks and burning definitely orking wonders against so many hollows. And though Timor's release seemed more intent for overwhelming single targets, her arrows still did a decent number on the stronger targets, using them to snipe some of the stronger-looking hollows with her ability to redirect them.

Timor was, however, a little busy being impressed with Luke. Between that pillar of ice, and his air panel shield, the both of them were completely unharmed, her pillar dramatically reducing the damage done to his shield. She herself had expected to be a little burnt from the backdraft, ut Luke allowed her to go without even a singe. She couldn't help but smile softly at the boy, those blood-red eyes shining just a little as she lowered her bow, trusting Affen to remain safe while she took just a moment to regard luke. "Hey there Wonderboy~"

[Deleted]

Brown eyes looked into those blood-red eyes as he looked over his shoulder to see if she was alright. His lips pulled back into a small smile when he finished looking her over and could confirm that she didn't have any visible enemies. As well as the fact she was smiling at him. He felt relieved. "Wonderboy?" He asked with a snort. If she was able to crack wise then she was fine. She was still Timor, despite her outward appearance. He didn't remain focused on her for long though, wiping his head back around to the foe they faced. The combination of her ice geyser and his air shield had held strong against the giants Cero beam.

As he turned to look at the beast, the male Bount’s eyes widened a bit with surprise as he looked at the damage that Timor had done to it with her attacks. The arrows she fired had found their marks in its face, damaging the teeth and eyes as she so hoped. Affens own attack had left a considerable amount of damage to the beast. The cloak was torn, revealing a path of damage through its body leading up to a shattered portion of its mask. Its head had been pushed back, facing up to the blue sky, and it made no moves. Did Timor do it?

When Luke was about to lower his guard and speak, he suddenly became very aware of something. There was still an abundance of reiatsu inside the Hollow. What’s more...the reiatsu was in motion. But the peculiar part was that, as Luke focused his Energy Sensory further, it seemed as if the reiatsu that was flowing through the Hollow was...originating from its chest? Luke didn’t really understand what he was sensing, but what the trio saw was clear as day. The damaged portions of the Hollow were suddenly shrouded in a black and red cloud that produced a noise similar to a hundred mouths chewing food.

The clouds traveled across the damaged portions of its body and where they passed the damage done to it by Timor was reversed! ”It’s healing!” Luke shouted as he watched the wounds Timor dealt the Hollow reverse themselves. Shortly after, the head of the Hollow trembled as it straightened itself out, lowering its head downwards to look directly at where the two Bount stood. Snapping its jaw a few times, the Hollow let out a ear rattling howl as it was returned to full capacity.

Just what were they supposed to do? If the Hollow was able to heal from any non fatal injury, then they were going to need to hit it with something with overwhelimg damage. Luke frowned, eyes narrowing, as he thought of Springflut right away. Using Springflut with his incredible physical strength and water producing abilities...it was possible that the Doll could destroy the Hollow despite the size difference. But there was a problem with that plan. A serious problem. Springflut couldn’t be used right now.

It happened during the battle with the Quincy on the side of the highway, with Sternritter O the Obsessed. Springflut had been severely injured during the battle. So much so that he had been unable to continue the fight. Those wounds hadn’t healed yet. They were better than that night, according to the Doll, but they had been deeper than Luke originally suspected. By Springflut’s own admission he was still unable to fight. It was odd, honestly. Luke remembered when Springflut actually died once in battle, and it was only a few days that the Doll returned to life perfectly fine. Yet it was taking longer than that for wounds to heal. Maybe there was something missing. Some component Luke was missing to heal his Doll.

Regardless, Springflut wasn’t something Luke could call on for this. Jäger wasn’t capable of dealing damage on the level Luke suspected they need. ”Are you calling me weak, fuckboi?” The Doll asked. No. Jäger knew full well that wasn’t what Luke meant. Jäger was strong...but he wasn’t as destructive as Springflut. Luke himself wasn’t that destructive either. He couldn’t produce the range of damage needed. They would need to kill the Hollow with something overwhelmingly powerful…

His attention was suddenly drawn to the gargantuan Hollow as that high pitched scream began to build up again. Like before, Luke sensed something weird about its reiatsu. Like before he could have sworn that the source of the energy was coming from its chest. That third eye sparked to life, before that screeching beam exploded into existence heading right for the pair. ”Stay behind me!!” Luke shouted as he stretched his left arm out once more and, placing his hand upon his wrist, focused his reiatsu. Like before, he activated Advanced Air Arsenal. The initial panel was something that looked like a six petaled flower. Following that a series of layers began stacking atop the surface of the panel, creating a similar shield to the one that Luke used initially. This one just had more layers stacked onto it.

He created it just in time. The heated beam slammed itself into the ground before them before being pushed forward until it finally slammed into Luke’s shield. ”Hrrraagh!” Luke shouted as his heels dug into the earth and he focused to keep the barrier up. Cracks began to form before the first layer, and the second, and the third and so on began to shatter. It’s...stronger! Luke realized as the last layer of the barrier was all that stood between him and the beam. Luke’s eyes widened as he began to reach within himself for the flames, but it would seem he wouldn’t need to draw on them. The beam blinked out of existence, leaving Luke and Timor unharmed thanks to the male Bounts defense. A built up breath escaped him as he let out a sigh. Beads of sweat dropped down his forehead as he glared up at the Menos.

The Bount found himself frowning. There was an option. It was possible that Luke could bring him back out. But will he answer? Luke wondered, slowly beginning to reach for the silver watch he wore on his left wrist. But before Luke could do what he had in mind, the Hollow was beginning to move again. Trees became uprooted from the ground as the beneath began to move once more, this time beginning to turn away from the pair. Luke blinked when he noticed the Hollow seemed to be clawing at its neck, as if something was irritating it beneath its cloak. Those claws scratched at its neck repeatedly, before suddenly beginning to move.

Just where was it...Luke turned his head in the direction where the Hollow was beginning to move. What he saw, at the bottom of the valley, made his eyes widen and caused him to gasp. A single road cut through the valley, and at the bend was the very prison that Timor and Luke called their home. Did the Menos Grande sense the reiatsu from the people inside the hidden club? Grinding his teeth together, it was obvious that Luke was ready to spring into action. But before he did so those brown eyes locked onto Timor. ”Timor, listen. I need you to get its attention again, okay? Hit it with everything you’ve got. Just get it to stop!” Luke shouted.

He knew that, between them, Timor had the best chances to stop the Hollows progress. This was because she, unlike him, had excellent long range options. The eyes that delivered that request to Timor with filled with a multitude of emotions. Panic, determination, commitment, a fire, as well as a trust he only had in her. He was trusting her to do this. ”Please. Buy me some time.” Luke said once more, never once looking away from Timor’s transformed face.

[Eve Timor]

This was strange. Generally speaking hollows she ran into weren't this strong. This Exxotic. Well, the little ones were, but most menos she found were run of the mill. It was almost unheard of that she ran into some gillian this...bizarre. Not only that but Gillian were generally about the same strength of her, anythng stronger became an adjuchas, so how on earth Luke was being pushed back was beyond her, but it gave her a bad feeling, one that made her tremble slightly in unease.

When that second beam blipped into existence she stood very still, and that sudden beam caused a massive surge of heat in Affen's outfit, building up tremendous amounts of heat as she focused on that big lug before them. She remained still, thoughtfull, and hungry as Luke yelled to her for her to distract the thing. And for just a moment she considered her options. Her mind raced, thinking things over before, she reached out, grabbing Affen and promptly slipping an arm around their waist. With a sudden surge, the both of them vanished, swallowed up by space.

She was a demon after all. Tainted by hell, and because of this, she had a lot more...wiggle room than most. Her body was even capable of emulating techniques of other races to a certain extent, thus the use of the ulcera which closed the distance between her and that big hollow by 50%, Affen rushing ahead as Timor brought her bow to bear on the big enemy. Arrows peppered from her weapon and streaked toward the big creature, and hidden among those icy shafts were little hidden invisible bullets mixed in among the shafts, those barreling blasts would aim to plow clean into the hollow and generate massive bursts of ice which would cover and lock the hollow into place as those arrows sank into it's body.

As she kept the thing still, Affen was circling around, coming in and tearing through the smaller hollow that were still surrounding them. Most of the ones that clung to this big one were weaklings, hoping to poach off it's kills or perhaps simply feeling safer in it's proximity. And oh how wrong the were. Rather than waste large amounts of reiatsu, Affen simply went into a melee, those claws as well as that molten staff she was wielding being put into play to either maim or injure the nearby hollows. A few were killed, but she was not able to ensure killing blows when so many of them were swarming about. All of the commotion would, hopefully, also draw the big menos's attention.

[Deleted]

Whatever technique she used to vanish from his sight it helped her get closer to the Hollow. A short sigh escaped from between his lips before a desperate smile pulled itself across his features. Thank you, Timor.. He thought to himself, though he knew those words wouldn't reach her. Regardless, she had listened to his plea to distract the Hollow to buy them enough time for Luke to start whatever plan he had in mind. He would need a few minutes, at best, to do this...so he hoped that Timor had it in her to keep the unnatural Menos Grande at bay. Closing his eyes he began to work out the distractions of the world and plunge deep into himself, focusing his consciousness into the very depths of his soul were his powers resided in search of the thing he wanted to draw out.

Letting out an air shaking screech as it was struck with those arrows of ice, the Hollow turned its attention towards the location where those attacks had come from. The left flank of its body had been frozen inside a thick layer of ice. Timor's attack had landed successfully. It really wasn't much of a doubt considering the lumbering size of the Hollow would have made evasion for it against something so small and fast difficult. Regardless, with its left flank encased in a icy prison it wasn't going anywhere for the time being. The icy shivered and shook as the Hollow struggled to dislodge itself, seemingly uncaring about whether or not it would harm itself in the process.

As it turned its head to look at where those arrows had come from, the Hollow was also drawn to the commotion at its feet. Affen, rampaging against the smaller Hollows that cowered around the Menos's mass, had drawn the Hollow's attention. Letting out a gurgling growl, the Menos began to open its mouth as it was preparing to fire out that lance like tongue to scoop up any meals it could, including Affen, when something unexpected happened. Two green beams of light shot out from the forest behind the Hollow and pierced through the ice holding the Hollow in place. The ice holding it in place began to crack before shattering moments later. Was somebody...helping the Hollow??

The Hollow suddenly twitched and began reaching for its neck once again before it suddenly turned and faced Timor's general vicinity. Letting out a struggled howl, the third eye of the Hollow's mask began to glow again...though this time a different effect occurred. Instead of a beam being fired out a red orb appeared hovering in front of the Hollow's mask as it leaned forward. That orb, after only a few moments of growing in size, suddenly blasted forward like a Bala. But after travelling a short distance it suddenly erupted into dozens of smaller streaks of light that behaved like a shotguns pellet spread. Striking the landscape caused domes of fire and destruction to erupt from the ground. Whatever attack that was traded the pinpoint destruction of its beam and turned into a widespread, albeit lower strength, cluster bomb like attack.

It didn't know exactly where Timor was thus it chose to attack a wide area in the hopes of hitting her. Lifting its foot up it began to stalk its way towards Timor's location, deciding to choose her as its target before heading for the underground club. But, once again, the Hollow suddenly froze and seemed to struggle against something before it began to slowly turn its way back towards the prison. Something was going on. Timor had it on the ball earlier that there was no reason that a Menos Grande, a Gillian level Hollow, should have been as strong as Luke. They were, well, Timor level strength Hollows. Something was very wrong with this one. Something wasn't right. Who fired those beams that freed it from her ice? Was somebody assisting the Hollow or had it been another of the beasts?

I know you're there. You've been awake and aware for awhile now. Luke said as he ventured deeper into himself, deeper than where Springflut and Jäger resided. You told me that night that you answered my call because of my resolve. You told me you would give me your power so long as I remained on the path. That so long as my will remained strong you would give me your power. I swore to keep going, no matter what happened, to keep the promise I made. Now fucking wake up! I need your power!!

"Then call out my name."

[Eve Timor]

Timor gritted her teeth, this was entirely taking too long for just one Menos Grande. Usually they were duller, more stupid, and hardly had so many special abilities. Whatever this thing was, it was exhibiting abilities she was unfamiliar with, not only that but there were still those beams that had fired in out of nowhere. It stood to reason that something was perhaps the source of all of this. Which meant that dealing with these things might no longer be a viable option. Sealing her Sasei Oni, Timor vanished with a sonido, appearing suddenly beside Luke.

She paused, and for just a moment she felt a strange reiatsu coming from the bount. She recognized it as some sort of big attack, or another release? She wasn't too familiar with bounts, she had only ever seen them with two, was it possible that Luke had more than that? The idea was a bit of an unpleasant one, but or the time being, she focused on swatting Luke on the shoulder. This was a time to make quick decisions, and as it were, fighting this thing didn't seem like a very good one.

"Luke we gotta get past it and to the club. It's giving off enough spiritual energy that there's no way that the others haven't noticed it. We need to fall back and get help. Some fishy shit is goin on here." she reasoned with a furrowed brow. All the while a massive surge of energy flared behind Timor. Two massive kicks from Affen unleashed invisible waves of heat, wiping out severa hollows and seeking to split that massive gillian right down the middle, before a horizontal sweep sought to separate it's upper body from the rest.

That SHOULd have been enough to kill the damn thing. And with all that dust kicked up from that shotgun bala, it was feasable to believe that the hollow wouldn't be able to stpo affen and retaliate if it somehow managed to survive. But eve IF that hollow had gone down, Timor wanted to get them out of here. Whatever it was that had supported the hollow was not their friend, and they needed to regroup and find someone who could track down whatever was assisting the hollow.