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[Earth] Week ---: Calm like a Bomb

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Follows after Memento Mori.

The chorus of explosions roared through Tokyo, rattling the windows of Orpheus' tower and reverberating deep within Masato's chest. Eyes widened in shock and horror as the last of the booming thumps rang through the vaulting infirmary. Concerned cries and confused murmurs began to build before being squelched by the General, gesturing for silence as he hefted himself off the examination table and shooed the surrounding personnel away from him. The man had taken a beating in the Tournament, and it seemed the Shinigami's healing brew was reserved for active participants only, leaving Masato to salve his wounds through more earthly means.

Pressing a finger to the communicator hung over his ear, the gunslinger barked out a frantic order to his comrades.

"All units report. What the hell was that?"

A burst of static blasted through the earpiece, followed by the hurried words of his fellow agents.

"There--...Some kind of--...Numerous casualties--."

"You're breaking up agent!" the General retorted, jumping to his feet. "Repeat that."

"Sir, there's been an attack." Another voice interjected on the comm. "...We've got reports of a number of detonations across the city."

Amber eyes narrowed as the the gunslinger processed the information.

"What's the damage?" he barked, slinging his tattered duster over his shoulders as he sprinted for the doors. "All units report."

"Unknown, sir." the second agent replied, his voice cracking. "...There are casualties. The Grims got hit too."

Letting out a frustrated grunt, the gunslinger tried to make sense of what he'd just been told. Someone was targeting them. Someone knew they'd be gathered today. It wasn't a run-of-the-mill attack either, if the Shinigami were being affected.

"Goddamnit!" the General finally shouted as he headed for the tower lobby. "...Get me in contact with Chairman Shihara. Focus all our forces on relief efforts. Get the Shinigami evacuated and provide support in the affected areas!"

Tapping a button on the SIREN, Masato switched to a secure channel.

"Nenshou, Fletcher, we have a problem."
 
It took only a few seconds for a response on one of the other ends. "This is Nenshou, I'm en route. ETA one hour. Stay around the Sougi, Masato, I'll be along shortly. Fletcher? You may want to come outside. I'll be waiting."

Mouko hadn't had so much as a single hour to celebrate her victory yet. Expletives came to mind, but professionalism overrode it. She had changed into the first street-worthy clothes she'd found, and they'd been... less than combat appropriate.

Nothing she could do about it, her clothes were still destroyed from the Finals. Instead, she wore a red slip-on dress that hugged at her hips lightly. Tied at her waist with a sash, she'd slung on a spare jacket and a scarf to combat the winter cold, and was in her new car in a flash.

So here she waited, leaning against one side of the Mephisto and staring up at the apartment block that Caleb Fletcher lived in. The former MI6 agent had a publically listed address, however rarely he supposedly used it. The black sheen of the car's still-fresh paint job was illuminated under the neon spotlights, the swiftly oncoming night bringing a steady glare of fluorescent light upon the city.

[ 206 / 206 ]
 
No more than a second after Mouko pulled up, Caleb appeared next to the vehicle. Whatever surprise he had at seeing the Major in the extravagant sports car, it wasn’t evident on his face. After all, any inkling of his true motives would destroy the persona that he had created for himself.

He was wearing a slate-gray suit with matching tie and pants. A pair of tailored, brown-leather shoes completed the outfit, something that seemed far outside of his budget as an Agent. His choice of dress seemed far out of place for a man who was supposedly at his apartment, but his true actions were something for Mouko to dwell on at a less eventful time.

He grabbed the Noblesse off his back, as he opened the door to get in the car. His eyes and senses were alert, years of training evident in his expression. He gave Mouko a nod as she began to drive. The streets were in chaos, people and cars moving discordantly, attempting to flee from an unknown enemy.

“Why is it always Tokyo,” he mentioned to the girl, as his eyes continued to scour the landscape.
 
Windows burst inwards as Cerberus' Sougi was hit hard by the explosion of a bomb planted just outside of the tower. It was a crushing shock that caused Zakki to throw himself under his monumental marble-topped desk to avoid injury. When he emerged, the building's emergency lighting system was on and the sounds of chaos and carnage were outside. His first thought was Richard? Where's Richard? but he remembered the redheaded British youth had stayed home that day with a sense of relief. Immediately he reached for his mobile and began to contact all of the relevant agents.

He could only reach a few of his agents and their reports made his heart sink into his chest. A series of gigantic explosions had rocked several sites across Tokyo and there was no known source. Clearly both Orpheus and Cerberus had been targets. There were also reports of damage to the shinigami. Once he'd regained his bearings, he realized he had a call on his mobile. When he answered it, the voice he got on the other end of the line was one he hadn't heard for a very long time. This was no time to think about the past.

"General! What the fuck is going on?"

[206/206]
 
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"My god! You saved my life!" It was an ecstatic and genuinely praising cry from the man standing next to Orpheus' Agent Kite.

"Don't thank me," was all Kite offered in return, showing only a glimpse of the superhuman as he dashed over to some rubble, and showing a great triumph of it as he flung a shattered slab of concrete from off another nearby victim. If I hadn't had to throw my power at the explosion to save him, that . . . stuff, would be on me. The way it truly is, is that we saved each other. Explaining that all would be too difficult given the situation, and so Kite chose not to.

There were no other immediate rescues to be performed, and so the Agent fished up two things: a cigarette and his mobile. Flicking the latter and pressing a button, he sent an electronic request for communication to his superior. While that sorted itself out, he busied himself with lighting and inhaling a breath from the cancer stick.

Busy. Without hesitation, Kite shut off the connection. A steady, pulsing light in the display reminded him that the Doc's 'present' of a tracking system was still active. If he's busy, it means this wasn't the only one, and he's handling a whole heap of problems all at once. Knowing that he'd be called upon when the time was right, the shockingly blond man donned an ear bud and rolled his shoulders, crystal blue eyes surveying the local carnage as a serpentine trail of smoke curled out from the burning cherry of his smouldering tobacco.

Two things jumped to mind: that this was intended to kill normals, and, looking at the goo dissolving what was left of a nearby, already slain grim, that it was intended to kill the supernatural as well. People who create weapons like this do so intending to have themselves heard in the use of them. This is hello.

Sirens were beginning to scream out to join the voices of panic that were filtering in from near by. They didn't matter, neither did the people, either. And for the moment, Kite knew, neither did he. They'll find the problem, and then I'll go deal with it.

That was the way the world worked.
 
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Of course, as was customary these days, Miyazaki Kaede was totally left out of just about any- and everything that was going on in, around and about the two Sogi towers, or even Tokyo in general. After all, she was but a ‘normal’ human being. Kind of, but not really. She wasn’t stupid, and she was actually kind of surprised that this shit hadn’t happened earlier.

Still, amidst all of the chaos going on outside - or, was it inside? - the brown-haired scientist couldn’t help - quite literally, since she was locked in - but go back to her experiments. She just hoped that there would be enough guinea pigs left to test them on after this whole ordeal was over.

[125]

Hi.
 
The air just a few meters away from Zakki in his office began to shimmer for a few moments before it began to ripple like the water in a pond. A horizontal line appeared and tore a hole in the fabric of reality, slowly revealing a dimension devoid of light. As soon as the gateway was tall enough, the familiar image of the copper-haired teenager materialised and stepped through into the Cerberus Chairman's office, alabaster mask coating his face completey with ram horns and a narrow visor for his black and yellow eyes to stare out of.

The portal closed behind the young vizard and he dismissed his mask. As much as he enjoyed the power, Daraku's influence could be overpowering and so tempting at times, such was the life of the masked ones. Once his eyes returned to their natural colour and the white mask dissipated into the air, Shukumei's face appeared pale and his expression held concern, even though it was evident he tried to hide that as much as he could. Noticing that Zakki was occupied with the phone - no doubt to someone important during such a chaotic time - the vizard stood opposite his comrade patiently, though he couldn't help but fidget. If he was just a little slower, he might not have survived one of those explosions.

---

The teenager ran the fingers of one hand through his copper-coloured hair and let loose an effortful sigh. He had been wandering the street for hours looking for a soul that he kept sensing, only for it to disappear and leave a trace. Why he couldn't catch up with the damned thing he had no idea, he just hoped that it wasn't a hollow in disguise. He had known the demons to use souls to lure lone shinigami weaker than them to serve as a main course.

An explosion sounded in the distance and Shukumei turned his head immediately. The sight of black smoke or ooze or... something... lifted its way towards the sky. The vizard reached for his zanpakutou but before his hand touched his hilt, another explosion sounded in the distance. He turned his head and saw the black rising, only for another to crackle in the air behind him. Eyes narrowing, Shukumei ran away from the direction of the explosions. Someone had to have answers and so he had to consult one of the greatest sources of knowledge he knew in the world of the living.

---

And there he was, heart racing and even throbbing inside his head as he glanced around the office. Apart from the glass on the floor, it didn't seem to have taken much damage. That was lucky, but how many humans had perished? Those explosions were huge and there were many of them. He hadn't seen so much destruction since hollows tried to invade the material world. All he could do was hope that somebody had an explanation.

[491/491]

 

The short soul coughed as he clawed his way out of some of the rubble. He winced as a beam of sunlight stabbed his eyes. He'd been trapped in the base for too long in complete darkness and he'd barely made it as it was. He laid down on some of the stairs leading to an upper level of the vizard safe house and grimaced as he reached into his uniform for his phone. He was still wearing his gigai, being unwilling to abandon it in the dark underverse of the ruined base.

Pressing a few buttons Tod sighed as he dialed Zakki, or at least his office. He might have the advents ear but the man was far too important to be handing out his phone number to any stray he found on the street. He let it ring for a few minutes until he hung it up. Zakki, nor his secratary, had answered the ringing phone so this was a serious emergency. He looked up to the sky to see dirty streaks of smoke floating lazily through it and sighed.

Getting himself up off the stairs he dusted himself off as he began to make his way towards Cerberus. He needed to talk to Zakki, to let the man know that someone was targeting the vizards, or even Cerberus itself since these havens were listed as Cerberus research facilities.


[231/231]
 
"Your guess is as good as mine!" the General huffed through the comm at Zakki, bounding over obstacles with all the agility and speed his post-human body could muster. "...Mouko, don't bother heading to the Sougi! I'm coming to you."

Bounding across a low rooftop in long strides, the gunslinger's senses honed in on the position of his comrades, keen amber eyes picking out the Major's car as it sped down the shoulder lane of the highway. Taking a deep breath, Masato sprinted forward, bounding off the first rooftop and onto the next, making his way to the buildings lining the freeway. Speeding towards the edge of the final roof, the agent's form coiled up, springing off the precipice. Landing heavily on the roof of Mouko's car with a thump, the gunslinger ducked low as the girl swerved from the sudden impact before slipping through the open sunroof and into the cabin.

"Fletcher!" he barked, heaving with exhaustion. "...Do we have any leads?"

If there was anyone amongst their ranks who would have some kind of an idea about what was happening, it would be the spy, but judging from the agent's blank expression, he was as clueless as the rest of them.

"Shihara, we're heading to the nearest detonation site. Meet with us there." the gunslinger bellowed, flipping his SIREN back to an open channel. "...Any and all available agents who aren't assisting with relief efforts, rendezvous at the quarry!"
 
As soon as he'd gotten an answer from Masato, he slid his phone into his pocket and glanced across at where his vizard friend was looking on, an expression of curiosity and concern written on his features. He didn't waste any time as he spoke.

"There seems to have been a coordinated attack with no known source, Shukumei. I'm going to meet General Fujikawa at the next blast site. Stick with me if you want to be of some use. Your skills are best applied on the battle front and not in relief operations. I've got plenty of agents for that. Let's go!"

Turning on his heel, trusting that his vizard companion would be able to keep up, Zakki began to sprint through the Sougi. He dodged around bits of debris and hurtled into the stairwell. Flight after flight of stairs vanished under his flying feet and soon he'd burst out into downtown Tokyo. There was a flashing signal on his mobile that indicated the closest blast site and so he moved towards it. The streets were eerily empty and quiet after the explosions and he moved with terrifying speed. He vaulted over parked cars and caromed off of walls as he tracked his way to the rendezvous point.

He came to a skidding halt just as a low-slung sports car pulled up and Mouko, Masato and Caleb Fletcher piled out. The Chairman made his way toward them and said, "Anyone have any more information to offer on this mess?"

[250/456]
 
Kite listened with a pair of lips pursed about his cigarette as the General's electronically impersonated voice crackled in his ear bud. "Quarry, huh?" Though speaking aloud, he wasn't talking to anyone in particular, and the man who had previously praised him now looked quizzically at the agent. Kite offered a slow drag of his cigarette in return, as his arms slipped into the sleeves of his uniform jacket.

Speaking around the smoke, he told the man, "Hear no evil, see no evil." A rather cryptic parting, but the intent was obvious once the Agent bend down into a crouch. A moment later, he left a depression and several cracks in the concrete that had supported him, launching his lithe frame skyward and towards a small ledge jutting out from the architecturally pleasing building that loomed before him. Normally I'd just catch a ride, but when shit like this is happening, traffic's going to be worse.

Bounding from building to building, obscene strength of his body letting him leap the distance between them, Kite couldn't help but dwell upon thoughts of Spider Man and a few other comic book heroes. Unfortunately, the world was a lot shitter a place than it was for them. Slowly closing with the point of rendezvous, he exhaled a particle clouded breath to show his agitation at the thought.
 
As the group arrived, reiatsu flared out of the man’s body. The gray energy condensed before shattering away to form a set of three reticles around him. He closed his eyes momentarily, tapping into the intricate patterning of reiatsu signatures. The energy began to be parsed, sectioned and cleared of noise repeatedly as he formed a clean mental map of Tokyo.

“It’s too organized to be something as simple as a terrorist attack. From what I can tell,” he explained, as he individually began to scan through each of the districts visible through his License to Kill, “There are three? Four? No more, there at least five detonation sites in a ten kilometer area of here.”

He opened his eyes, stepping out of the vehicle, turning to face Masato, “They’re not focused on any single group. I’m sensing all races, both spiritual and normal, in Tokyo being targets. From what I’ve dealt with before, because of the targets and action, the attacker is someone or some group that wants to cause as much damage as possible as fast as possible.â
 
"Someone wants our attention." A voice called from next to Caleb.

From the shadows of Tokyo's night, Arano coalesced. The Director's ominous gaze swept across those gathered, before softening upon seeing Mouko. Uncaring of current company, he crossed the distance between the two and stood astride her.

His hand squeezed hers once, and then he faced the others.

Mismatched eyes glared out with the intensity the young man was known for, sitting underneath a messy mop of black-dyed hair. Fringes of dark purple could still be seen in the refractions of light that managed to reach the bottom of the quarry.

Folding his arms, he continued. "There's little reason for wanton destruction, at least not in this way. If they wanted to cause damage, there are better targets and easier delivery methods. One carefully placed explosive near the Tokyo Bay facility and the entire city's water supply is poisoned.

"This was to get our attention. Not to scare us, to enrage us. They want us to pursue them. Draw us out and hit us once we're too exposed to do anything about it." He closed his eyes briefly, before finishing his thoughts. "Do we have any open communication with the shinigami at this time? The Gotei will be demanding answers for their own losses."

Mouko frowned, and unconsciously fiddled with her hands. "Not at this time, communications should likely be patched through someone with authority. Masato, or Shihara-san. The more in control we appear, the less likely we are to cause a stir."

Turning onyx eyes to the General, an unspoken communication passed between mentor and pupil. She voiced a thought. "Where's Ueda?"

[ 273 / 479 ]
 
The soft glow of neon was one of the few things the small vizard found to be calming. And after a long day of weaving through allies, chasing down the poor souls that just didn't seem to want to be found, Tokiwa was looking forward to getting back to Shukumei's apartment, her apartment now too she supposed. It wasn't the easiest thing, getting used to the fact that she shared a small place with someone else, it had forced her to get to know the copper-haired boy on a deeper level as they shared various drinks and games into the early morning hours.

A mischievous grin found its way onto the redhead's face as she thought about a few of those nights, perhaps her roomy would be home tonight. He seemed to keep such odd hours, almost like he didn't like staying in or something. With a shrug at her thoughts, Toki used her teeth to rip off the wrapper of a rather thick straw before plunging the plastic tube into a sealed cup that she held in her right hand then took a sip.

Just then a loud explosion sounded, causing the horned girl to jump slightly at the noise as blue eyes scanned her soundings. She finished chewing a few tapioca pearls from her boba tea then tossed the drink out with a sigh. It didn't look like she'd be heading home just yet after all as she watched a black mass rise into the sky. She didn't have much time to stare at the oddity before the second blast sounded. This time it was much closer, causing the windows of the building next to her to shatter as the ground shook. A black ooze rained down around the vizard, each blob barely missing her as she moved into an alley just out of the tar like stuff's range.

Once she had a bit of cover, Toki pulled out her touch screen phone. She swiped her thumb across it to unlock the device before sending out a text to Shukumei, as quickly as her panic would allow, that read: any details on the matter at hand? What's your location? It was a simple message, but it would do. Her head was swimming a bit as she tried to take in what had just happened.

[386/386]
 
Kite's arrival at the group meeting was heralded by the dull thud of flesh impacting unyielding ground, at least for the most part, as his final bound carried him down the height of the quarry wall and near the group of gathered post humans. For a moment, he held the kneeling pose, as small cracks and pops echoed out from his legs and arms. Then, he took his feet and sucked in a breath of nicotine flooded air.

Puffing out the smoke as he spoke, Kite tossed in his own thoughts as he offered a salute, in general, to the superiors present. It was a sloppy matter. "I like that he's already thinking about our enemy, but I don't agree. When you get an advantage, you don't squander it just to show off.

"No, when you have an advantage, a weapon, that's unknown and dangerous, the first time you use it is the only time your enemy is unprepared. Thinking like these people, they deployed it with a purpose, and if they are half as smart as they'd need to be in order to make something like this: they aren't going to gamble on unpredictable behavior." There wasn't much left in his breath, so Kite chose to cycle this one in through the mouth, and out through the nose, leaving only a butt in his teeth. He spit it out, and ground his heel against it as he finished his thoughts.

"They killed norms, us, and the grims all at once, figure they don't like us and the grims, maybe us and the grims talking. And amongst us, those who cause that might be even more worthy of death in their eyes . . ." he trailed here to crack a grin. "But that's without seeing where they all went off. Just speculation. What's the orders, boss?"
 
Since he didn’t really have another role, Zakki decided he’d volunteer himself for the job of being a communications liaison with the shinigami. He wasn’t sure exactly what they were going to get themselves into but in all likelihood, having one contact point was the way to move forward. Despite not really knowing Mouko, he did know that Arano trusted her and that was the rarest thing in the world. There was a good chance that she knew of what she spoke. He cleared his throat and his voice carried over the emptiness of the quarry.

“You can patch me through to the Death Gods, I can run the communications side of this, that is, once we have some idea of what the hell is going on besides the obvious and apparent.”

The lanky youth tried to calm the whirling in his mind. All of these events were happening at rifle shot speed and it was taking all of his considerable willpower to remain settled and calm. He knew that keeping his head was the surest way to being useful under these changeable and tense circumstances.

[186/642]
 

Tod grimaced as he arrived at the end of the smokers' speech. It sounded all fancy and flowery to him but made a sort of sense. If their attackers were threatened by the two races finally getting along then it could be bad. He shook his head as the information went whirring through his head. He barely heard Zakki speak while he was thinking.

"What about the Quincies?" the assassin asked, then he jumped as he realized he'd spoken his thought aloud. He cleared his throat again as he continued his line of thought. "Were they hit at all? I mean,it could just as easily be as simple as a radical exclusionist group or it could be the bowmen at work again. They've had a longstanding hatred of soul reapers.."

Grimacing, the short soul tried to clear his head. The Quincies were radicals but they weren't this radical were they?


[153/384]
 
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"Shihara, focus on getting the Shinigami out of here. They'll still be evacuating. Mouko, I want you to get a hold of anyone you can from APACHE, have them work with Cerberus teams to secure the blast sites and figure out what in the hell caused this." the gunslinger barked, a half-finished cigarette bobbing up and down between his lips as he spoke. Reports were still pouring through his comm, giving the agent at least a modicum of insight into what had happened. Letting out a frustrated grunt, the General took a step back to address the group as a whole.

"Here's what we know," he began, grabbing the smoke from his mouth and flicking a glowing pillar of ash from its tip. "...We've got reports of at least fifteen detonations across the greater Tokyo area. The devices appear explosive in nature, with a chemical payload of unknown composition..." the man's eyes shifted to the casualties strewn around the edges of the quarry. "...Whatever it is, it works fast, and it ain't pretty. It's indiscriminate. Advent, Shinigami, human; it didn't matter."

Taking another long drag on his cigarette, the agent's eyes narrowed as those assembled began to draw conclusions.

"I want to know who the hell did this. Right now, all of Orpheus' resources are tied up in the relief effort. Zakki, we'll need Cerberus' help analysing any data we can dig out of this. The rest of us should focus on finding the responsible party."

The corners of his lips curled downward in a scowl as his protege mentioned Hideo Ueda. Reaching for his SIREN, Masato switched back to a secure channel and barked orders into the comm.

"Headquarters, I need eyes on Commander Ueda. What was his last known position?"

The gunslingers' frown grew as the static on his radio broke; a communications agent finally relaying the desired information to him. Heaving a sigh, the General turned back to Mouko.

"...Seems Hideo was still at the Amphitheatre. We've got reports of a large detonation centred around that area..." Masato grimaced, "...No one's heard from him since the ceremony."
 
Before the General had finished his speech, Zakki was on his 'phone. Normally he'd just text everyone but this was important. It didn't take him long to scroll through his contact list and call all of the various department heads. He had them mobilize teams of agents to analyze every data stream from the materials that caused the blasts to telecoms activity in the last twenty-four hours to any unusual spiritual anomalies that had appeared during the attacks. There was also a rapid response team en route to the quarry to help lock the site down.

His next task was to seek out all of the shinigami that he could. They would have to be moved towards the portals they used to move between worlds. They'd need someone who could guide them and he would do his best to make it happen. Information was already beginning to scroll across his 'phone's screen and it gave the location of a large number of shinigami who'd been caught in a blast. He checked the map and turned on his heel. He spoke to Masato, Caleb, Mouko and Arano.

"I've got data on where the Death Gods got hit hard first. I'll be proceeding there. When someone gets me an uplink to one of their captains, patch them through to my 'phone. All of you should have this secure line as a number. When I've spoken to the shinigami, I'll let you know what the upshot is."

He spun on his heel and readied himself to sprint away from the quarry, checking the map on his mobile's screen in order to track the site he was heading to. There wasn't any time to waste.

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Shukumei remained quiet once he had followed Zakki to the quarry. His guess was as good as any regarding who could have done such a thing, since the shinigami, humans, vizards and major advent corporations had been hit without any prejudice. That left only the quincies and though they were a wrathful bunch, it had not been long since he had saved one of their lives. Besides, he could not believe that they would be so cold with such a precise and calculated execution. That left a lot of unknown variables, none of which the vizard liked.

Gazing down to the phone that he did not realise he had in his hand, he noticed that he had received a message from Toki. A short sense of relief swept through his blood to know that she had escaped the explosions, but of course she was as puzzled as everyone else. If Zakki and Masato did not even have a clue, then the vizards would be wandering blindfolded like the rest of them. Information on the situation is limited. Check that tracker app thing that I sent you, if we move our position you will be able to follow. Leaving his message short and to the point, time appeared to be of the essence. Who knew how many other similar devices were out there or what course of action would follow from the aggressors?

Returning the attention of his blue-grey eyes to the rest of the group, Shukumei nodded to the centre of them as Zakki prepared to depart. "I'm going to investigate the bomb site at the Ampitheatre and see what I can figure out."

With a mildly formal bow - he didn't know everyone in the group and so he tried to keep his manners to a safe level - he zipped away from the group and ran further away towards his destination. Knowing my luck our enemies will be there waiting for me, he thought to himself. In his mind he had a dreary tone that he felt was fitting. The day was grim and he doubted it would get any better.

[358/849]

 
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