[8th/10th/12th][Bounty] Week 307: The creatures that go bump in the night

Evergloam · Nov 4, 2013

The creatures that go bump in the night

Hollow hunt featuring...

Evergloam as Ren Tegishahara
Reshin as Reshin Izukawa
Dr Dragan as Bink (Hollow)

"You are given the authorization to utilize your Shikai release. Provided you contain any and all destructive capabilities of your zanpakutou or your own self, you are allowed to release your zanpakutou, 'Kyuketsuki.' We also thank you for helping your fellow shinigami, Reshin Izukawa, with controlling his Shikai release, 'Shuryou Onikage.' If possible, we'd like you to accompany Reshin Izukawa on a mission to complete the bounty described in this letter.

Thank you, Ren Tegishahara."

The vampire Mystic let her azure eyes move across the paper, reading about the bounty described. A scorpion hollow that was classified as a 'Large Hollow' named Bink. Despite the classification, the hollow was rather small, just shorter than an average woman, some said. Some said it was the size of a fly. Ren could've cared less. If it was a fly, she'd be the flyswatter. If it was the size of a woman, it'd be sent back to the kitchen.

Or Hueco Mundo.

When she finished reading the paper, she began to walk towards the barracks of one Satoru Toride. With a hopeful smile, she knocked on his door to ask for a Senkaimon to be opened for her. Thankfully, he was fine with doing so, with a few words spared to Ren about her choice in companion for the mission. She walked through the Japanese doors and the gateway closed behind her. When her sandals crunched on new soil, she looked around at her surroundings.

An empty town, with buildings in shambles. Water filled the streets and ditches, and signs of evacuation notices were nailed to the sides of the houses. With a curious tilt of her eyebrow, she looked around even further. To anyone else, it was the sign of a hurricane or bad storm. Some natural force that slammed hard in the small town. But to shinigami? They could see the damage done and the lives taken. Small, pale souls of children hung around the houses and a few adult souls wandered around. It was obvious why they were sent here for the hollow hunt. It was an all you could eat buffet here in the wake of the disaster. Drawing her zanpakutou, she began to prepare herself.

A bright light illuminated the evening sky, originating behind Ren. She simply called out one name. "Reshin-san."

[386]

Regulus · Nov 4, 2013

"Looks like you beat me to the spot Ren," Reshin said as he stepped out of a separate Senkaimon. Recently it was assigned to him to take care of a hollow that had as of late been terrorizing a disaster ridden city in the world of the living. He wasn't really expecting it so soon, but regardless of this he was excited to go on his first mission.

Meeting his comrade he took a quick look at the almost third world country like surroundings.

"This appears rather troublesome. I would highly advise you to exercise caution Reshin," the zan spirit said sternly.

"I understand," Reshin replied cooperatively.

"So Ren how long have you been here exactly?" Reshin inquired.

[125/125]

Evergloam · Nov 4, 2013

"Not too long. I arrived just a few moments ago."

She turned to face the man, wakizashi still gripped tightly in her hand. Her body was tense in its movements, careful of her surroundings. Every passing second was a second that the hollow could have chosen to attack the souls around them or the two richer souls themselves. She felt Kyuketsuki tremble in anticipation within her hand, the zanpakutou blade actually shaking slightly in her hand. The hollowesque vampire couldn't wait to sink her fangs into the opposing hollow and its neck. Ren could've went without, but thankfully she had the say on whether she used her mouth or not.

"This place seems so... sad," she stated, walking to one of the clear souls that sat with his head on his knees. She held the pommel of her sword up, stamping it lightly against his forehead. "Rest in peace, poor soul. I'm sorry for your loss."

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Regulus · Nov 4, 2013

"Well it figures that the hollow would strike in a place like this. Its so down trodden and depressing. Its like a hot spot for hollow attacks if you want my honest opinion on it," Reshin said a little uneasily. Just in case he had too he kept his left hand on the handle of his sword ready to draw at a moments notice.

"Remember young one. If there comes a time where your power is not enough you always have the option of calling me to your aid," Shuryou Onikage reminded its owner.

"Thank you my friend, but I'm not so sure if that will be necessary or not. We haven't had a chance to gauge the abilities of this hollow just yet. If push comes to shove I will call you, but for now it would be better not to expend our energy any more than needed," Reshin replied to his zanpakutou.

"So Ren before we get started I need to know a few things. For starters I need to know the most effective range for your Kyuketsuki as opposed to my Shuryou Onikage. If we end up having to use our shikai's I want us to be able to fight as effectively as a unit as possible," Reshin asked.

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Evergloam · Nov 4, 2013

Stamping her pommel on one more soul's forehead, she turned to the spellblade. "Think of any kidou you think I could know. Any Hadou. That's the range I have. Otherwise? It's the length of my arm."

She held her zanpakutou out towards her friend, smiling. "Kyuketsuki is a typically physical Shikai. Two of her abilities rely on my ability to make contact with someone, hollow, shinigami or spiritual being. The other is empowering my kidou with her own reiatsu. So think of my range as close range until I use kidou." She sheathed her zanpakutou, a few souls still wandering about. She felt a knot rise in her stomach, though it was filled with sadness and curiosity. Why were they dead? Wouldn't they have evacuated?

Ren looked at Reshin, smiling softly. "Why do you expect us to use our Shikai? Are you planning on using yours right off the bat?"

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Regulus · Nov 4, 2013

"I don't plan on wasting our powers unless we find ourselves in a situation where we have too. I'm only asking as a precaution because I have never seen your shikai and you've never seen mine actually used in battle. I also ask the range in comparison so that we don't end up blocking each others paths. Consider it me trying to be as organized as possible," Reshin responded.

"That's very mature on your part Reshin. A tandem needs to always be in perfect sync otherwise they will be doomed to fail," Shuryou Onikage stated in soft agreement.

"In any case my Shuryou Onikage is a shadow and darkness zanpakutou so I figure it would be most effective at medium to long range combat," Reshin said while continuing to scan the area for the hollow.

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Evergloam · Nov 4, 2013

"We're so taking his reiatsu when we see this hollow. He's annoying the hell out of me with this... friendship teamwork bull." the spirit of Kyuketsuki growled, finding the talk between Ren and Reshin rather boring and obnoxious. Within good reason too, considering the two vampire women usually worked together without anyone else. Even in the most recent fight Ren had, she fought primarily alone, with only minor help, if any, from Hikaru.

'Calm yourself.'

"Believe in 'teamwork' it'll help everything! Fat load of shit."

'Don't we work as a team too?'

"That's a symbiotic reason though. We're forced to. Plus, you've got moxie. I guess I like that. I guess."

The ebony haired Mystic chuckled to herself, watching Reshin carefully. It had been months since she last saw him and now was the first time seeing him and it was in combat. How strong was he now?

The thoughts and curiosity of how strong her comrade had become were shattered, the sound of a plus soul behind them screaming in agony. Quickly, Ren tightened her gloves and mentally began preparing kidou incantations as she turned around. Their enemy had arrived and he was hungry. "Get ready, Reshin-san. He's here."

[202/794]

Time for Bink~ :3

bankzu · Nov 5, 2013

The noise of claws sharpening against each other sounded over the grounds. The skeleton tail swung from left to right, for each step that the hollow took. Its movement was quick, straight and at point. It moved towards the two reapers, not making a single sound. It had devoured a soul in mere seconds, before moving towards the two shinigami. The scorpion stood only a few meters away from them, drooling, ready to attack.

The tail rose high in the air, the tip pointed at shorter of the two. He hungered for the stronger reiatsu coming from the man in front of him, masked the same way as the scorpion. A second later, he appeared behind the reaper. His speed and size gave him the chance to move fast enough to be unseen, at least for a split second. It raised the tail even more and dropped the tip at the shinigami, going towards his neck.

Regulus · Nov 5, 2013

Reshin was shocked to realize that the hollow had escaped their senses like that, but as soon as he felt the burst of spirit energy that emanated from the hollow his instincts kicked him into action as he used shunpo to appear directly in front of the creature. By doing this he had cut off the Bink's path, then taking his sword with the dull end running the length of his arm he pushed upwards in a high block allowing the blade to knock the tail of the Bink upward.

With this done he then flipped his sword underhanded and thrust forward in an attempt to impale the mask of the hollow. Whether this attempt was successful or not the odds would now be in the two man team's favor. With the Bink now exposed even if his strike failed the two shinigami would now be on full guard. And with the size of the hollow it was obviously not going to be able to fight them both straight up, but the concept of a surprise attack would now yield little to any results.

[184/668]

Evergloam · Nov 5, 2013

Ren wasn't ready for the speed of the hollow. That much was obvious when only Reshin could stand between her and a possibly fatal wound, his sword parrying the stinger and thereby protecting the Mystic. The woman turned around, flashstepping to the left of the scorpion and tightening her fingers into a fist.

Lilac reiatsu spiked momentarily and formed around Ren's fist as she began to recite the incantation for her favourite kidou. "From the tower's summit, hurl the roaring beast. Hadou number five, Demon Fist!" The image of a vicious demon formed with a roar of reiatsu as Ren's fist closed in on the tough outer shell of Bink's small body.

[112/906]

used

bankzu · Nov 6, 2013

Instinct.

Its tail was brought back, the whole body shook from the blow. A defending stance was quickly taken as an attack came towards the hollow. It tilted its head slightly, evading the sword that came to destroy it.

Instinct.

It moved backwards. Another one came towards it. The fist full of rage, full of spiritual energy, moved quickly towards it. The fist came closer and closer, while the scorpion just stood there. It took a second but then it was gone. It had disappeared from sight, disappeared from all of their senses. It had gone underground. The ability it had evolved in the past, an ability to attack from nowhere. It was down in the ground.

Instinct.

The underground movement was fast, faster than above ground. It moved towards the same shinigami it had attacked earlier. It jumped up from another hole it created in the ground, this time snapping its claws at the reapers neck.

The instinct to kill.

Evergloam · Nov 6, 2013

The target disappeared and her fist crashed into the ground, leaving a demonic imprint on the wet soil. The Oni's face from her kidou embedded itself into the soil, but not the hollow. Where did that thing go?

Silence. Only silence for the briefest of moments before a rumble came from underground. The sound of digging. Suddenly, it stopped and Ren stood in place, muscles tightening in her body. Every part of her body was prepared to strike and defend herself. And when that time came, Ren sure as hell defended.

The raptor-like claws of Bink threatened to execute her, to place her head underneath the guillotine's razor and end her life. But she had other plans. Kyuketsuki had other plans.

With a quick uppercut that was augmented only by reiatsu and her raw strength, she slammed her fist upwards. The impact lifted her own body up as her fist made impact with Bink's wrist, knocking the claw away from her neck, sending his entire arm away from the Mystic. With a flourish of Kyuketsuki's blade, Ren landed and released her zanpakutou immediately. "Drink, Kyuketsuki."

The blade shattered and so did the illusion of her form. In its place, Ren stood proud and strong with golden leonine iris's that stared down at their prey. Her battle gloves formed instantly, a powerful shower of reiatsu similar to Bink's buffeting their arena. The vampire queen turned to face Reshin, a fanged smile following her words. "He's a coward."

Kyuketsuki's own words, but they described this hollow to an exact letter. Two sneak attacks already, both on the stronger of the two, just so he could have an easier meal of Reshin cuisine. Hell no. That shit pissed off the vampire within the blade and honestly, it began to annoy Ren herself.

"Hadou number thirty-three, Soukatsui." Holding her hand at the hollow scorpion, arcane energies suddenly exploded outwards in the form of blue flames highlighted with the hollowesque energy of Kyuketsuki.

[328/1,234]

stats! :D

bankzu · Nov 6, 2013

The hollows attack had been blocked. It had no chance to actually strike. Not yet at least. It landed on all four after being struck, using the force of the blow as leverage, and managing to not fall. The attack from the reaper aimed to protect, and it did. It was just fast enough for the reaper to survive the hollow.

A moment later, something happened that baffled the hollow. A transformation it had not seen before, something quite out of the ordinary. The reapers weapon had disappeared, and its form had changed.

Kill. Eat. Survive.

Another moment passed and he could see a mass of spiritual energy gather around the reapers palm. The hollow wanted to avoid the attack. No, it needed to do it. And once again, it started spinning and disappeared into the ground, barely avoiding the attack. It had struck his tail, blowing away a part of it. The point was still there but it was of no use. The scorpion could not move the tail at all.

Eat. Survive.

It remained underground, unaware of all the dangers it would face, unaware of what the two reapers could do. It wanted to wait and see their abilities.

Survive.

Regulus · Nov 6, 2013

The hollow indeed had incredible speed just beyond theirs. Luckily though its main weapon had been disarmed as Ren had clearly damaged its tail. In a flash of speed the hollow then burrowed deep into the ground to escape the onslaught of its two enemies. Unfortunately for the hollow this was a grave error on its part. It had unintentionally placed itself in a position where Reshin would have a clear opportunity at finishing it off right then and there.

"Devour thine enemies light of hope, Shuryou Onikage!" Reshin called out as his pitch black reiatsu began to swirl around his body. Quickly after dissipating his swords released form was revealed. The pale white blade and its extended reach. The black and white checkered pattern on the hilt of his sword, and the absence of the guard.

"Kage Sousa," Reshin uttered gathering the present shadows around him for a radius of five meters. Then not even a second after a pack of ten wolves began to solidify into physical constructs. On Reshin's will the wolves one by one began to jump into the hole created by the hollow. Upon contact with the target the wolves would detonate causing severe damage at point blank range. Hopefully the Bink wouldn't find a way to escape, but in case it did Reshin and Ren would at least force it to surface and confront them once more.

Either way the odds seemed in their favor for the time being.

[245/913]

techniques used

bankzu · Nov 11, 2013

Deep in the hole where it had hidden itself, the hollow started regenerating. If it was the darkness or the earth, it did not know, but it did help to stay there, it healed its wounds. The skeleton-clad creature had done this many times; every time it had a wound, it would simply stay in the earth, in the darkness, and heal.

It did not expect it to end this abruptly. Another explosion made the ground above them quake. The scorpion had been hit something, something bad. It was in pain, a lot of pain but it did not scream. The hollow had no power to scream, no voice at all to be exact. It was one of the things it had to give up to become what it was.

A big part of the tail had been blown away and only a slither was left. But it could still heal. So the hollow stayed underground, digging itself even deeper into the hole where he had been. It did not want to come out; it did not want to get hit again. It would wait until its tail fully regenerated to attack again.

Regulus · Nov 11, 2013

Was it a hit? From the feel of it he knew that he had made contact because the wolves had all detonated at once. Unfortunately he could still feel the presence of the hollow so he couldn't be sure. Reshin didn't believe he could've missed with the attack because the hollow had maintained its position, and the dark wolf constructs will only detonate when they make contact with the target or are destroyed.

Whatever the case it wouldn't really matter at this point because the hollow had clearly survived, but how much damage had it sustained? Regardless of this fact Reshin wasn't about to let the hollow get away that easily.

"Kage Sousa," he said once more. It appeared that the Bink could survive his attack, but could it survive a multitude of them? Darkness began to swirl around the shinigami as shadows began to emerge from his blade covering a five meter radius like it had before. Likewise ten more wolf shaped dark constructs formed from the darkness produced by Shuryou Onikage.

"Akutou Nakama Kurayami!" he cried out as the wolves began howling. Then once again the wolves had made their way into the hole seeking to utterly destroy their intended target.

"So your going to continue on the attack now are you? If that's the case I'd rather you try and stop this hollow's speed first before you do so," Shuryou Onikage suggested.

"That would be a good idea, but it seems as if we have the hollow right where we want it. Besides if I keep attacking like this it will succumb to the blasts eventually," Reshin said.

"I'm afraid that that's the problem. You have noticed that despite your constant offensive assaults meaning you AND Ren that the Bink seems to be able to come back right? Why do you suppose that is?" Shuryou Onikage asked almost as if he was hinting Reshin.

"What are you saying? Are you telling me what I think your telling me?" Reshin replied clueless of his zanpakutou's question.

"What I'm trying to explain to you is that this Bink may have regenerative powers that allows it to recover. How dense can you be about something like that? I searched your memories and I know for a fact you were informed of the capabilities that hollows can possess," Shuryou Onikage said bluntly.

"Wait a minute," Reshin said remembering back to when Ren socked the shit out of the Bink with her demon fist.
"The hollow had a chunk of its tail taken out. Perhaps if it resurfaces again I can confirm your suspicion," Reshin concluded as he took his zanpakutou's hypothesis into mind.

"And just when I thought it would be all over," he mumbled to himself. Meanwhile he felt the wolves suddenly explode from underground which shook the earth beneath the feet of the two shinigami.

[500/1413]

techniques used

Evergloam · Nov 12, 2013

preface

Ren felt a grin cross her features when the hollow hid, nursing its wounds. A wounded beast, hiding away from anything bigger than a fly. Was this hollow expecting to go after this vampire queen and not pay for its actions?

It would pay dearly, and Kyuketsuki would make that happen.

Ren stood straight, a statue on the makeshift battlefield that she and Reshin dueled against this hollow on. The ground shook with the release of the two and even more with the explosion created from Reshin's release. Shadow control, and explosive impact wolves? This was quite the dangerous release. Even more than hers, atleast in raw power. With hers, it revolved around making contact with her body or her fists to do damage unless she was casting kidou. But his? He'd expend reiatsu in bulk and rain hell upon his enemy. Phew, boy, was it going to be fun to fight him someday.

Not.

The vampire watched as another pack of shadow wolves hunted the hollow, jumping in the hole it created once again. Another explosion that wrecked the ground beneath them signified that contact may have been made. That, or the hollow managed to counter it. Ren turned to Reshin, golden eyes staring at him briefly before returning to the area around them. "Doesn't that take a lot out of you, Reshin-san?"

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Regulus · Nov 12, 2013

Reshin turned to face his partner intending to answer the question asked until he suddenly realized that Ren seemed completely different. In fact while they were fighting he had failed to realize that his partner indeed wasn't a male but a female! A little unsure of how to answer his zanpakutou quickly tried to get him to play it off and answer properly.

"You have a job to do Reshin. Worry about that later, and answer her question. She clearly is concerned about how much energy your expending right now," Shuryou Onikage said.

"It is pretty draining if I use it too many times consecutively. Despite the destructive potential of my Shuryou Onikage if I don't pace myself I can easily use up quite a bit of my spiritual energy," Reshin responded trying to act as if nothing was different. Although now he had this really awkward vibe towards Ren.

[155/1568]

bankzu · Nov 13, 2013

The hole it had dug was deep enough for it to hide from the reapers but not the spiritual power that was coming. It had not forgotten the feeling yet, how could it have? It was the same attack that came at it before, only with more force this time. The hollow moved quickly upwards, throwing stones and dirt behind itself with what was left of the tail.

The layer of earth just before reaching land was soft enough for the scorpion to just plow through it. It had heard the spiritual beings before, felt them blow up and the earth had trembled. It was not enough to kill him, barely even harming him except for the few pieces of rock that flew at the skeleton-clad creature.

As it rose from its resting place, the tail had almost fully regenerated. It looked at the two shinigami for a few seconds as it landed on its legs. The hollow started gathering a ton of reiatsu in front of the mask and within a second, the Cero flew at the two reapers, uncontrolled.

Evergloam · Nov 13, 2013

The hollow seemed like a coward, and Ren was willing to believe it was as it hid from the two. Kyuketsuki growled in annoyance, crossing her arms within Ren's mind.

"It's healing. I'm pretty fucking sure it is."

Ren nodded in acknowledgement, tightening her fingers into fists as she scanned the battlefield for any hint of where it would be. The shadow wolves exploded underground like they previously managed to do, but now they were futile in their effort to wound or destroy Bink. Instead, the scorpion hollow re-emerged from its underground home and went on the offensive the moment it landed. However, so did Ren in an attempt to end this battle.

"Ye Lord, mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" The Cero began to take form, the red light bathing the disaster-struck area around them. "Truth and temperance, Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"

Without another second going by, the beam was unleashed in a fierce, untamed burst. Ren's golden eyes widened as she began to finish the incantation, the words almost coming out jumbled. "Hadou number thirty-three," she rushed her words, the beam bearing down on them incredibly quickly. "Soukatsui!"

Hollowesque energy mixed with the blue and white embers that burned, passing their empowering energy to the fierce plane of fire that erupted from Ren's hand. The Cero met with the Soukatsui, flames against energy. For the briefest moment, the Soukatsui took the reigns and overpowered the Cero, covering the red beam in a shower of blue flames. The Soukatsui crashed and burned to the ground after the Cero was barely overpowered and dealt with.

Ren lowered her gloved hand, blue embers still hovering around the glove before fading. So that was a Cero, in all its deadly majesty. She wondered if it was truly as deadly as the academy stated, but she didn't want to figure that out firsthand. She enjoyed living, even if it was the afterlife. She took in a deep breath, turning her head slightly to face Reshin. A composed, calm voice spoke, belying the annoyance of Kyuketsuki and the slight exhaustion from casting the augmented Hadou.

"Got a plan? If you need an opening for that wolf attack again, I can try to open one provided he doesn't run away again."

[397/1,855]

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[8th/10th/12th][Bounty] Week 307: The creatures that go bump in the night

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