Seibei's eyes caught glance of the whole corridor filled with red lines of, what looked to the old hybrid to resemble silk. What on earth are these?
You're such an ignorant fool as always, Seibei, the hollow's voice echoed in his mind, the beast kept on going and indulged the old bookworm of the nature of the web. Seibei pondered about keeping the information to himself, but however he had no intention to do so, after all, these humans were friends with Shukumei, well atleast one of them.
"Zakki, was it? I can see these webs littered about this whole area, it's almost as if we're in a spider's nest," The stray vizard explained and even he though he had spent very little of his reiatsu actually fighting, he was feeling exhausted, after all he had been wearing his mask from the start and as such to give himself so time to rest up, he dismissed his mask.
"Be careful." The voice returned back to normal the trio then continued onwards in the web filled corridors.
"DDDDDid you you you ssssssay aaaaa spspspider nnnnest? You got to be shitting me,” shouted Xavier in terror.
The young agent had fear flowing through his veins, with each thought of spiders and the nest they were in.
"I hate spiders, damn it! Just great! I am fight for my life to save to people I just met, and I have to do it in a spider’s nest too. Just fucking great!”
"Hey please say you see the end of this tunnel spiderless,” Xavier asked Zakki as he did a bullet count.
OOG: I was going to wait for Val but I decided to move things along.
Zakki took a bit of the filamentous substance in his hand and rubbed it together. While it felt superficially like spider's silk he could tell at once that it wasn't composed of the same material. He smiled in the half-light of the corridor at Xavier while holding the fibres up.
"I wouldn't worry. This didn't come from a spider. Whatever the knights are up to, they aren't breeding huge arachnids. Still be carefuil! We have no idea what's around the corner."
They could see a huge metal door looming in front of them now as the dull glow emitted by Zakki's starry release caught the outlines of it. As they approached they could see it was solidly shut and even after pouring some of his spiritual energy into his body to help enhance his strength the slim youth still couldn't budge it. He stood back and pressed his hand against the metal while releasing an energy orb which immediately began to melt through it with its intense radiation. After a few minutes the hole was larger but hardly enough to pass through.
"I don't want to waste any more energy making these holes! Anyone got any sort of power that could make this bigger without me wasting energy?"
The old hybrid listened as one of his companions went into an almost hysterical state after being told about spiders. Oh great, I'm teamed up with a glowstick and an arachnophobic down here, The bookworm thought to himself, but regardless of how he felt, the stray vizard manifested his mask again.
"I'll do it."
"Stand back, this will take me a while to prepare," The distinct voice of two spoke in unison. Stepping in front of the trio, Seibei let out a deep breath and in his mind recited the incantation for the spell he was about to perform. This was the first time he was going to use his newest addition in real combat situation. Let's do this one, partner. The last word was filled sadistic sarcasm as the elderly hybrid's inner hollow made one of his few remarks.
"Heavens weep, gods tremble," The stray vizard raised his arms up and pointed them at small hole made by Zakki and channeled his all of his reiatsu into his hands, which were bursting with his reiatsu as he kept chanting the spell, "Chaos usurps control over the skies and strikes down the guilty," His words echoing in the hallway before the demon magic was ready to be unleashed at the building.
"Hadou number eighty-eight, Hiryugekishintenraihou!" The built up reiatsu in his hands erupted in a massive wave of lightning crashing at the door and blinding the people standing in the hallway. A massive explosion could be heard echoing throughout the perimeter.
After the demon magic, Seibei’s mask crumpled away and his breath was very heavy.
"Oh, no spiders! Oh thank god,” Xavier said as he straightened up into a manlier position.
The agent watched in amazement as Seibei blew the hole Zakki started wide open. It had been awhile since he had seen a vizard, he had heard that they were all dead, but that was just a rumor he supposed.
"Well we can get through now, thanks to you two! I guess I can take point for a while,” the Corporal said as he walked through the hole cocking his gun.
Mordaine, oddly, grinned as he saw the intruders enter his home chamber. The trio cut a dominating figure in his chamber, but that was all they would do. He cold sense a taint in at least one of them, but he couldn't exactly tell who he'd gotten with his webs. He growled as he slowly lifted himself up. His body was slowly failing him, he'd need a new one soon. It was that way with all of the older Knights anyways.
"I apologize for the inhospitable condition of my home," the man said with a small smile as the rest of their company filed into the room. "If I'd known I was to have guests I would've cleaned up the cobwebs a little. But, well, as it is I didn't know. I hope you wont hold it against me."
The man slowly walked down the steps in front of his seat. He'd need to be close to take over one of the bodies. Wouldn't want it to be too late and have all of their bodies destroyed.
"So," the man said with a small grin. "What can I do for you three?"
Note for those who touched the webbing
Mordaine is slowly bending your senses. You might feel a slight sense of nausea or dizziness now if you touched the webs. Get ready for next turn... it gets worse XD
Zakki returned the grin with a cold smile of his own. He didn't stop the glowing energy that surrounded him and a few orbs sat menacingly at his fingertips while he glared at the man in front of them. His entire body was failing and in fact traces of corpse-like rot could be seen manifesting themselves ever so slightly around the edges of his face and in a few of his fingers which seemed to be losing their grip on his body. The slender agent laughed tauntingly at him.
"We'd like you to die for us but that's after we find out what you've done with our friends. You're going to die regardless but you can do it quickly with one of Xavier's bullets between your eyes or slowly as I roast you alive. It's really your choice."
There was a brief pause and another feral smile touched Zakki's full, sensual lips before he unleashed one orb of sticky energy that clung and burned on their adversary's thigh.
"That's just to show I'm serious. Now...let's hear what you have to say for yourself."
The lanky youth watched carefully and kept his guard up as the trio faced down this assailant.There was still more carnage to wreak today but losing Tod and Shukumei wouldn't do either.
Mordaine grinned at the tall lanky human. They couldn't touch him even if they wanted too. He could sense the taint in at least one of them. He couldn't tell who but he'd know soon with his next little test for these children.
The orb of light flashed quickly from the dark haired human, the old man growled as it burned into his leg. The man could do instantaneous attacks, maybe this would be more difficult then he'd thought. He grimaced as he pumped all of his energies into his power. He needed to put these children at a disadvantage.
The paladin hissed angrily as he imagined limbs turning slowly to stone. The hard material slowly creeping up their arms and legs as they felt the panic rising, their hearts and minds racing. He grinned, it wasn't his best illusion but it was the one that he had come up with the fastest.
Fun
Anyone that touched the web is now experiencing this illusion. Have fun with it people. Also, Val I can't go until you respond to Tod attacking you. sorry bro XD.
The more Xavier stood watching the man in question, he doubted how easy it was to get to him. In the Corporal’s book if anything was this easy, that meant he was in far worst trouble than what he thought.
“Hey something doesn’t feel right about this guys, and I’m going to prove it,” Xavier said as he attempted to pull the trigger.
But the trigger never felt his index fingers’ pressure, soon Xavier couldn’t feel anything at all. His body had went numb, and right after that a stone like sensation began to take over his body.
What the hell is going on?
“Hey guys my body is going numb, I can’t move at all. You did this,” Shouted the bewildered agent as he darted his eyes at the man in front of them.
There was too much adrenalin in Zakki's system for him to pay much mind to the attack at first but his limbs kept feeling heavier and seemed to grow numb. Panic began to seize him but even in his haze of fear he had an idea. With a thought the network of energy that comprised the radiant shell around him was in place and in this cocoon he realized there was no ill effects to his body. His shield seemed impervious to most kinds of spiritual energy and that included this illusory attack against their team. The vice-chairman of Cerberus saw the fear in his companion's eyes and adopted a tone of leadership.
"This attack is just an illusion. Concentrate on the fact that this isn't for real. You have use of your legs and arms. You can continue to fight."
To prove this was the case the pale wraith of a young man raked the air with five orbs of energy that struck a large slab of concrete and brought it crashing down towards this man that insisted on attacking them. Perhaps this would be enough to halt the assault and change the face of the battle.
The Paladin hissed as the human seemed to know what was going on. He had hoped that the fools would believe what it was that their eyes saw and their bodies felt.
"So you're a smart one," the man growled with an angry smile on his face. "But are your friends' minds as sharp as yours?"
The man hissed as he felt something stir inside him. He was nearing the limit of his powers. He was pushing his hollow induced powers too much, agitating the monster inside him. He needed to end this before the beast had a chance to awaken.
"Alright brats," the older man howled. He hadn't lived for over 300 years just to be done in by some snot nosed kids and their fancy toys. He grinned as he arose from his dais and drew his crystalline claymore from its holding place at the side of his resting place. "Are the children ready for their lesson?"
The ex-assassin sighed as he tried to support the other vizards' weight. He'd just met the man, and he'd wanted to make sure that he wasn't alone. It was hard enough talking to Hisao without having to tell the man that he'd gotten another vizard killed.
The pair of them had wandered into the deeper sections of the base, alarms had warned the base defenders to leave the base in a calm and orderly fashion. He'd already bumped into a pair of soldiers and had easily taken them out, even with the burden he was carrying at his side. He grinned as he tried to find his way up, he knew the stairs would take him higher up and he followed them up and up and up. It was difficult carrying the other man around but at least the pair of them would get out before whatever it was that was going to happen did happen.
The young soul grimaced as he found himself in another round metal room. Growling softly he almost missed the sounds of voices on the other side of the wall. He made out a few voices, but one he recognized was Zakki's, and grinned. The door was at one end and he could see through a large one way mirror into the room. The man looked menacing but a strange sense of deja-vu had him recognize the old man. He growled again as he heard a faint moan from the other side of the door. He opened it and found a teenage girl, bound and gagged, and sighed. He'd finally helped Zakki out.
The hairs at the blue eyed vizards' neck prickled and he turned around to see two other men in the chamber. They were grinning widely, almost hungrily, at him as they drew their own glass blades. The man put the other vizard down and hissed angrily as he got ready to fight the pair of men and defend the other two. He just hoped that Zakki and the people with him could finish off the old bastard before he ended up in too much trouble.
"Doesn't he look tasty," the lead man said with a grin, going to Tod's left.
"He and his friend should taste good," the other man hissed as he circled to the assassin's right.
"Pathetic," the assassin grinned, his own blade drawn he stepped forward into the other room and kicked the door shut behind him. "You cowards need two of you to take on lil' old me?"
Both men hissed, then rushed him quickly from both sides. Apparently they cared more for their stomachs than their pride.
In case you were wondering
You guy's can feel Tod's Reiatsu nearby, and if you're good at tracking that stuff, behind the giant mirror on the wall nearby. I moved on without Val cuz he didn't really do nuffin... XD Sorry Val. Anyway, let's keep this going, hopefully have this done in the next week or so.
"Oh no, you don't!" Shukumei growled, lunging in at one of the attackers with sword drawn from his seemingly lifeless body on the ground. He had seemed to blank out earlier when Tod had become somewhat controlled by the enemy, but that time had passed and the other vizard seemed to snap out from that spell on his own. That was fortunate enough, after all that time spent searching for other vizards, the copper-haired teenager didn't want to end up having to kill one of the few left he knew about.
His blade collided with one of theirs and Shukumei found himself locked in a combat struggle against one of the sadistic men. He really could have done without that since he had been quiet and lifeless all the way down the corridor, trying to fend off that damned Daraku inside his brain, but now, he was riled up and filled with the rage of battle, and he just wanted to kill everything he saw.
Needless to say, it was only a matter of time before his mask manifested itself, that alabaster ram-horned mask complete with a small grill for him to see through. He began to laugh in his voice, that appeared as two overlapping and he kicked back the person he was fighting then turned to the other.
"Hitotsu!" he shouted with a grim, dark voice and he launched his left fist into the face of the enemy that charged for Tod.
"Are you going to get that teenager girl out, or not? Untie her quick so you can help me fight!" he almost commanded, his black and yellow eyes passing a quick glance to his teammate before returning to the two foes opposite him.
[287/1,868]
Note
I'm sorry guys, I completely forgot about this! My heads back in the game now though and I'm here until it is finished XD
"Using tricks are we?" Seibei mused towards the old man now standing in front of his accomplices. "Let's see if that weapon of yours is any good in real combat, it certainly looks fancy!" The hybrid mocked, before dragging his mask back into existence. Empowered by the sudden jolt in the reiatsu he flash stepped behind the old man and threw a punch with his left arm at the old man's lower back area.
However, even as he attacked, there was a feeling of uneasiness creeping into his mind that something was wrong...
As the crystal sword was drawn a figure wreathed in black stepped forward to stand facing the old man. Zakki's emerald eyes were cold and his body flickered with eerie light. Now he stood ready to fight and without even a single Cerberus drug to help him. The new drugs had been developed but he'd lacked the time to get them before he rushed away on this task. All he had was the power of his release and the extended abilities of his Advent body. Taking up a blade from one of the fallen Knights he imbued it with his own spiritual energy making it glow with radiation.
"You have my friends and I want them back. If I have to flay you alive, if I have to tear every organ from your body I will do it. Don't doubt me for one moment, old man. You may think you're strong but you haven't any idea of what strength is. Do you want to test me?"
Now his gaunt form tensed and readied for whatever happened next. Zakki was not in a mood to waste time. He shouted out to Xavier.
"Do me a favor and put a bullet in this guy if you get a clean shot."
The old man grinned wickedly as he spun away from the punch. The blow landed on him still but he rolled with it, which caused the damage to lessen. He jumped up to the roof, clinging to it with a small, almost unnoticeable amount of reiatsu. He allowed their eyes to see a figure of him fall to the floor in front of them. He coughed a little laugh as the figure on the floor exploded outwards, although no actual explosion happened. The mind was all he needed to take out these interlopers, then he'd take out the bastards in the next room, he needed the girl since his own body was failing.
Paladin Mordaine wasn't finished there, however. He pulled a deep blanket of darkness over the people within's eyes and then lifted it, only to have them see each other as their supposed target. He grinned, this always threw off the bastards, then he'd be able to kill them all at his leisure. He stayed clinging to the roof, however, shadowing his presence with reiatsu and watching. His time would come soon, then he'd have the perfect chance to kill these children. But one last taunt wouldn't hurt anything.
"Come and find me if you caaaaan..." He let out tauntingly to echo around the chamber. He'd let the fools weaken themselves then help himself to the leftovers.
Tod grinned as the other vizard rose to help defend him. The bronze haired man seemed to be able to hold his own so the short soul went over to the bound girl. She seemed to be in some kind of dream and slapping her didn't wake her up. If nothing else the girl seemed to be immune to anything the outside world could do to her. Normally a good thing, right now though, not so much.
"Dammit girl," the assassin growled to her, shaking her a little. "Wake up, c'mon. We don't have time for games."
The girl remained unconscious, even after the blue eyed vizard cut her bonds. He slung her over his shoulder and tried to find a way to get the two groups together. He found a door in the other room and tried it, it was bolted shut, but the next one over opened into the room he'd seen where his friends were fighting. He grinned, as soon as they were together there wouldn't be any chance of stopping the group.
"Hey! Hurry up!" Tod yelled back at the vizard behind him. "I found the way out!"
Without looking behind him he rushed into the room and found himself blinded for a few moments, then his eyes cleared and the vertigo of the sudden blindness made him stumble for a moment. The people in the room looked different, as if they were wearing some kind of thin costume. He could almost make out their features but over that they all looked the same, exactly like an old man with a giant claymore made of crystal. A mocking laugh echoed through the room and a single phrase was whispered tauntingly about the room.
"Come and find me if you caaaaan..."
Well that's just great...
Anyone who has touched the webs and not broken the hold that Mordaine has over your minds, and who enters the room, now sees that everyone in the room is an exact replica of Mordaine. Tod broke through but it still has a foothold, creating imperfect illusions. The only person immune, that I can tell at least, is Val. Good luck bro.
The masked teenager breathed heavily in the form of periodic growls, even when making less strenuous movements such as simply following his comrade and the girl thrown over his shoulder into the next room. Something didn't sit well with him and even though he had just lunged off the ground in rage, he still had his wits about him. He quickly dismissed the feeling, however, as most times that he manifested the power of his inner hollow all sorts of nasty vibes churned inside of him.
Tod entered the room ahead of them that seemed the most logical if not the only way to go, but Shukumei slowed his pace as the assassin entered the room. His other allies were also located in that room, but he stayed back a moment, refusing to enter that place. He noticed the puzzling expression that lifted onto Tod's face, and the faces of his allies that made them seem as they were preparing to attack. The unsettling part was that they were facing each other. The teenager opened his eyes wide and kept his sword hand steady.
"Guys, watch yourselves!" he shouted, creeping slowly into the room that they were located in. "What are you doing? You look like you're about to attack each other. Something isn't right in this room, be careful."
He just hoped they could hear his warning in his usual voice that was overlapped by the grim bellowing of his hollow. His eyes darted about the room after his warning, looking for the foe that they needed to face. Unfortunately, he was too concentrated on preventing his allies from tearing each other apart that he almost didn't notice the other presence within the room.
All it took was a look. He caught the foe in the corner of his eye, attached to the ceiling in the corner.
"Everyone hit the deck!" he called, not giving time for the others to reply to his warning, and he unleashed the power of his hollowfication, releasing the red beam of death upon the corner of the ceiling. A rash move on his part, but he was sick of moving around subtly and falling into enemies traps. Destruction was his gift and he wanted to use it.
The cero was powerful and wide, taking out half of the roof; it was just fortunate that it was aimed at the sky and there were no humans on the other side of the blast. The sound was akin to a plane taking off and the flash of red light was could not have been mistake for anything else. That was, of course, if the others could see it through the spell that they were under.
The destructive force finished and his mask was dispelled instantly by the will of the vizard. Daraku's hold on him had increased and he did not wish to end up with fights internally and externally. He could only hope now that his attack hit the enemy that he caught but a glimpse of.
[503/2,371]
Note
Feel a little vague, so I improvised. I didn't know whether the reiatsu would prevent Shukumei from seeing him, but I figured what the Hell, he can catch a glimpse and destroy half the rooftop. Enjoy!
It was surprising how pathetic this old man really was. He'd passed himself off as some sort of existential threat to Cerberus and the human world at large but there was nothing threatening about his parlor trick illusions for Zakki. The pale ghost of a youth was well aware that he was only seeing a doppelganger image of the leader of the Knights and nothing more. A brilliant flash of light later and only rapid reflexes saved the vice-chairman of Cerberus from a chunk of concrete the size of a house. In the distant background Zakki faintly heard familiar voices shouting. Tod and Shukumei were clearly alive!
A mumbling moan from underneath a slab of concrete indicated the position of Mordaine and the slim youth dusted himself off and strode over to where the man lay trapped under it. The old man's face was spattered in blood and one eye was destroyed where a chunk of heavy ceiling had struck the Knight's skull. Now he lay looking like a shell of a human being and the pale young man stood over him like some manifestation of Death itself. His voice was empty of emotion as he spoke to Mordaine.
"You're nothing. Your life was nothing and in your death there will be more nothingness. I hope wherever you go is a place of torment. Goodbye Mordaine."
A single orb of glowing, irradiated energy grew at Zakki's fingertips and was released across the Knight of Chaos' face. Not a single sound left his lips as the close range orb melted his face off and left only a grinning skull behind. The scent of burnt flesh was disgusting and the lanky young man stepped back. Now his voice rang out loudly.
"Tod! Shukumei! Seibei! Xavier! We need to get the hell out of here now. That ceiling's been weakened too far and its crumbling. Let's go!"
Spinning on his heel Zakki began to jog from the chamber. His long legs extended his pace over the others as he moved away from the mess behind him.
Frowning heavily as the ceiling began its journey to make close contact with him, the old hybrid began running, trying to keep up with Zakki's long strides. His progress was delayed due to the fact that he had to fire a two bala to keep the falling debris in check and make them small enough to not knock him out in the case of a hit. As such, in the blur of his advance he was pelted by small rocks, which the old bookworm didn't bother to evade.
He caught something falling at the edges of his peripheral vision. Glancing upwards he saw that about half of the loose ceiling was approaching the stray vizard and rapidly. Twisting his body in such a way, that he was able to fry that piece by aiming the rather ominous looking red beam of death high into the sky. Painting it crimson, as he kept running behind the glowstick of a youth.
Few moments after the cero dissipated, Seibei's mask crumbled and his breaths were very audible.
To fall for a parlor trick as Zakki had called it, was one thing. But to remain frozen was embarrassing and the best way to get himself killed. As much as Xavier did not want to admit it. His mental stature had fallen since his encounter with his brother. The young agent had become his own worst enemy as he tried to free himself from his own self loathing.
Xavier finally snapped out his mental prison, when he heard Zakki telling them the roof could collapse at any moment. He holstered his gun as he sprinted to catch up with the rest of the group.
“I pray to god, we got what we came for,” Xavier shouted at Zakki.
The young assassin grinned as the ghostly images of the old man disappeared. He ran for the exit as a resounding crack echoed from the ceiling. More and more of it was falling down. He assumed that Shukumei had taken care of the guards behind, or that they had, at least, left for an exit as well. He held the girl still over his shoulder and grinned. Soon, parts of the tunnel was falling down around him and they group had to make a mad dash to the surface. The boy's question was a good one, and they were lucky that he'd grabbed the poor girl before the bloody place came down.
As the group caught his breath the young ex-soul reaper handed the girl over to the lanky cerberus agent.
"I found her for you Zakki," the blue eyed vizard grinned. "Lucky for you, eh?"
