[PM] [O/C/Q/11th] Week ---: What Lies Beneath

[Several Zombies]

"Four bucks for a coffee? You've got to be kidding me!" the man sighed, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a fistful of crumpled bills of varying currencies. Flattening them out, the man plucked a few from the pile and handed them to the cashier. "This is robbery."

"It is what it is, my friend." the shop keep smiled, relieving the man of his funds. "The cost of shipping has skyrocketed."

"Yeah, yeah..." the suited man hissed, snatching his coffee from the counter and taking a long swig. "This isn't even worth the..."

The man trailed off as something caught his attention from outside the cafe.

"What the hell's going on out there?" he questioned, striding towards the door. A group of people had gathered around something in the street and were talking loudly amongst themselves.

"What is that thing?" one murmured, standing on her toes to see over other onlookers.

"Never seen anything like it!" another blurted. "It's gotta be fake!"

"It's a sea scorpion!" another yelled. "I saw'em in a book!"

Taking another sip of his coffee, the suited man elbowed his way through the crowd to see what it was they were talking about. If he hadn't already swallowed, he'd have probably spat the hot beverage all over the other bystanders.

It was hard to make out what he was seeing at first; some sort of a bug or crustacean with an sandy, iridescent carapace about a meter or two long. It couldn't have been a crab or lobster. No, that stinger was a dead give-away. It was some kind of scorpion, but far bigger than any he'd seen before. Maybe there was something to the 'sea scorpion' theory after all. Most disconcerting however, was its head -- or at least what might pass as a head for some slimy arthropod. Pale white, almost like china. It seemed to stand out from the rest of the creature's body, like it didn't belong there.

More onlookers began to gather, but the strange bug just sat still, its beady black orbs occasionally shimmering as it blinked fleshy, translucent eyelids over each of its eight eyes. Just looking at it sent chills up his spine.

"Poke it with a stick!" someone from the back yelled, tossing an odd bit of wood into the center of the circle. A teenage boy who was near the front of the crowd edged forward and retrieved it. Gripping the stick in his hand, the kid shuffled closer and gave the thing a nudge.

Nothing.

"See? It's harmless!" he grinned, heaving a relieved sigh. "C'mon you ugly bugger, do something!"

Another prod resulted in an angry clicking from the strange creature that sent a few people backing away.

"Wimps," the kid laughed, winding up to give the thing a good, firm whack. "It's may be ugly but it's--"

That's when it hit him. Faster than anyone seemed to comprehend, the thing lunged for the kid. Pincers sheered at his legs, sending him toppling to the ground with a pained cry. The beast shuffled closer to him, its soulless black eyes matching the boy's fearful gaze. Its stinger jerked forward, ready to strike.

"No! No! Nooo---" the boy gasped as the dagger-like appendage drove deep into his throat, sending gory spurts of crimson over the crowd. The reality of what had just happened finally seemed to dawn on the bystanders. Screams and shouts echoed through the streets as people fled the scene.

The bug, however, continued to click away noisily. One after the other, innumerable hordes of identical monstrosities emerged from sewer grates and trash bins, swarming over the freshly-killed human like ants on a carcass. It was their time to feast.

Madness had found its way to Cape Town.


627

Ambiance:

 

[Vincent Valen]

Alexia swung her zanpakuto, making contact with the training dummy repeatedly. Ever since she had met Captain Amaterasu of the Third Division, she had been inspired to work even harder. She wanted to become as strong as her one day, and become a respected captain of the Gotei. The shinigami paused for a moment to catch her breath. At that moment a hell butterfly came through the window, landing on her shoulder. As it delivered its message, a flash of worry came across her face. Three attacks were occurring simultaneously around the globe. Other shinigami were being sent to Italy and Romania, and she was being assigned to Cape Town, South Africa. Although she was disappointed that she couldn’t go to protect her home country, she could not deny the seriousness of the situation. She quickly grabbed her things and headed for the Senkaimon.

A short while after, a portal opened on the beach area of Cape Town, and she stepped out, her feet touching down on the sand. Looking around, one wouldn’t think there was a crisis here. It looked downright serene, the ocean clean and blue.

“But why is it devoid of people?” she thought as she started to walk towards the city. To be fairly blunt, what she had read about Africa as a child depicted it as a bit more...rundown. However this place looked to be doing well, it seemed like a completely different continent.

At least until she got to the beginning of the city.

It was chaos, with people running every which way, from what she couldn’t see yet. Her foot made contact with something, and she looked down to see a bloody corpse, with various wounds which didn’t appear to have been done with a weapon, it looked like it had been fed on by an animal of sorts. The sight of it was disturbing, and she made herself look away, taking off deeper into the city. There were even more corpses as she moved further in, making her wonder what was the total enemy count was.

“No way this was all done by one entity,” she thought. Suddenly she heard a woman cry out, and she sprinted towards the sound. She got on top of a small building and peered down at the source of the voice. At the end of an alleyway was a mother, standing in front of two small children. And walking...no, scuttling towards them looked to be the biggest scorpion Alexia had ever laid eyes on. Leaping into the thicket, she landed on top of the creature, stabbing directly into its head. It began to flail about, and she took care to avoid the pincers and the large stinger on the tail. Eventually the monstrosity ceased to move, and she withdrew the blade. The family, though horrified at what they couldn’t see, quickly fled the area.

“There’s probably more than one of these things...I need a vantage point,” she murmured, heading for the tallest building she could see.

[503]
[1,130]

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Being the Chairman of Cerberus Tokyo had advantages but constantly having to jet around the world dealing with problems wasn't one of them. No sooner would he get a break then he'd be sent off again to deal with some other crisis. The fact that he was largely in charge of espionage operations at the Corporation was a point of pride but it was also an irritant. It meant that he found himself being driven aggressively through the streets of Cape Town, South Africa by a junior agent who brought his BMW to a tire-smoking halt near an area that was largely characterized by fleeing people.

Stepping out of the car the razor-thin agent felt a hammer blow of spiritual energy against his chest. There was something big, nasty and powerful on the other side of the building in front of him. Without missing a beat he launched his long, agile legs into a fast run that carried him easily over the distance between himself and the disturbance. He felt some other more minor disturbances in the spiritual energies that indicated something other than Titans in the vicinity. Stopping by the side of the building he peered around the corner and saw a seething mass of insectile bodies scuttling all over the street. Zakki paused. While he had the strength to likely deal with many of the creatures he wasn't sure he wanted to do it alone.

Glancing around he tried to pinpoint the location of the other spiritual beings who might be around. As he shut his eyes he felt one thread that was clearly Death God. There was another distant thread that he couldn't yet classify. For the moment he stayed still and watched the creatures scuttle around. Hopefully he wouldn't draw their attention quite yet.

[298]

 

[Seamus]

"We interrupt this program to bring you some breaking news from downtown Cape Town."

The voice from a TV hanging in the corner of the hotel lobby caught Nathaniel's ear as he waited for the lift to descend to his level. Unable to resist the temptation, the young man stepped away from the lift's doors as they dinged open, intent on the TV and the news anchor. There was something in the man's expression that made Nathaniel think that what he was about to say had 'once-in-a-lifetime' and Pulitzer written all over it.

Mass panic and rumors of an 'infestation' of carnivorous scorpions reached our news desk only a short while ago. Outlandish as that may seem, the reports were in such numbers that it seemed impossible to be a hoax. Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at the strange wording of the anchor's report but kept listening. For further information we turn to Abri Nieuwenhuis who is live on the scene.

The feed cut abruptly to a series of clips obviously shot from pedestrian cellphones. Despite the poor quality, it was easy to see that people were running in every direction and screaming their heads off by the sound that came from the speakers. Smoothly the video feed solidified into a still shot of a bloodied body lying in the center of a busy street. Cars were backed up both directions, doors left open as people had fled for their lives. Next to the corpse was a second body, but not one of a human...the only word that Nathaniel could use to describe it was thing. The still shrank to a smaller size that hovered just above the right shoulder of an attractive South African woman who spoke to the camera, her back to the scene of panic roaring in the streets behind her.

"People are still continuing to flee the scene of the dreadful and mysterious accident that occurred here not twenty-minutes ago. As far as we can tell, there is one dead. Eyewitnesses tell me that the young man was stabbed viciously by the creature you can see lying next him.

Whatever she had gone on to say, Nathaniel missed. He had been studying the scene behind her as he listened to the outrageous news when he had caught sight of a man lingering in an alley between two buildings watching the scene before him. Shocked and confused--he had left for South Africa without telling anyone and under an assumed identity--Nathaniel's head began to spin. He didn't need to see it twice to recognize that emaciated body, sickly complexion and meticulously quaffed hair; Zakki, that Cerberus fixer he'd had known, once, was in Cape Town.

Without a second glance at the TV, Nathaniel spun on his heel and raced out the back door of the hotel making for the fire-escape stairs that led to the roof. In an eye-blink, he was gone, running across the next roof, then the next, heading downtown. Even if it killed him, which it probably would, the young Quincy wasn't about to let Cerberus International practice their sick experiments on the unsuspecting people of Cape Town.

[533]
OK I POSTED SEV. Now go write a turn for our collab >.>​

 

[Several Zombies]

The mindless hordes of insectoid invaders continued to ransack the city oblivious to the spiritually-aware newcomers. When one was struck down, it seemed that two more emerged to take its place, and the ever-growing legion of creatures was slowly overtaking Cape Town.

The body count continued to rise as the strange arthropods feasted on the living inhabitants of the metropolis. Something, however, had piqued their collective interest. The arrival of one being in particular -- a black-robed swordsman no one could see -- seemed to incite the beasts into a frenzy.

Masses of the many-legged creatures began to gravitate towards the newly arrived Shinigami, swarming over cars, buildings and people to intercept the emerald-haired interloper as she scrambled to the top of a nearby flat. Chittering loudly as they scuttled towards the Shinigami from every direction, the beasts took up a circular formation around the girl, baring their pointed stingers.

Their clicking grew louder and more ferocious as their collective reiatsu began to spike. Suddenly, their true nature was revealed as hundreds of tails lit up with innumerable crimson pinpoints of light. Ceros.

These creatures were, without a doubt, Hollows.

In a flurry of stingers and virulent, Hollow-born energy, the beasts unleashed their deadly payloads -- each crimson beam vying to erase this meddling Shinigami from existence.

846

Stuff

So a Shinigami showing up has spooked the Hollow horde. They've all swarmed towards Alexia and are firing Ceros. Don't worry, the Ceros from these things are REALLY weak, but there's a LOT OF THEM. It's definitely time for Zakki to stop loafing around >.>

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Information streamed into Zakki's brain at a rapid rate now. The shinigami was suddenly the target for all of the malicious attention of the hollowkin as they began to close in on her. At the same time the energy thread had now come within identifiable range for the pale youth and with a jolt he recognized the unmistakable signature of one Nathaniel Ayers. There wasn't enough time to ponder the whys and wherefores of the situation. There was really only enough time for the Chairman of Cerberus Tokyo to commit to a course of action.

Again he used his enhanced speed to close the distance between himself and the seemingly endless stream of hollows that threatened to overwhelm and devour the Death God. Once he was within range he stopped and channeled the power inside of himself into a heavy mass. His body began to glow in a starry cloak of spiritual energy that covered him from head to foot as the air around his hands was agitated by radiation until it formed incendiary orbs of plasma which he threw right at the creatures immediately in front of the shinigami before aiming at the next wave in front of them. There was the smell of burning and the sound of the creatures struck by the orbs was terrifying as they screamed piercingly. Their exoskeletons were melted and burnt as wave after wave of plasma orbs plowed into their ranks.

This would hopefully given enough time to Nate and this shinigami girl to begin mounting an attack or defense so Zakki wasn't fighting them alone.

[562]

 

[Vincent Valen]

“Bad day...really bad day,” Alexia thought to herself. Getting to high ground may not have been the greatest idea. She didn’t know whether she had poked the beehive or whether it because she was a shinigami, but she now found herself surrounded by a...what do you call a group of scorpion hollows?

The ‘swarm’, which she eventually decided on for a name, each began to charge a tinier version of a cero. If it had been one of them, it wouldn’t be a problem. But generally large quantities of anything would probably kill you. Little ceros fired from every direction, and she had to scramble to dodge them. Suddenly a good chunk of the swarm was incinerated by a very familiar attack. She laid eyes on the human she had met back in Okinawa.

“Why am I not surprised that this got your attention?” she called out to him, before holding her zanpakuto above her head.

“Chill to the bone, Kōri no jotei,” she stated. The zanpakuto quickly transformed into the large dual-staff. She began to rotate the weapon, eventually throwing it into a crowd of the hollows. It generated a cyclone of ice, freezing and slicing through the bugs. Eventually the blade returned to her hands when the attack finished. She fell back a bit, blocking the still-continuing ceros until she ended up at the side of the pale human.

“So...what brings you here? Or do you just always flock to cities filled with scorpions?” she asked the man.

[756]

 

[Seamus]

Nathaniel watched the scene on the street unfold from atop a building; Zakki and the girl shinigami were cleaving through the lobster-scorpions like a lawnmower through weeds. It was not a reassuring sight for the Quincy...the last thing he needed was to tangle with both the Agent and the shinigami and the hollows. Fast as he was, as he had drawn closer to the epicenter of the event he had noticed a marked decrease in his ability to move. Harsh and malicious reiatsu hung like a steel blanket over everything, its oppressive weight making it difficult for the young man to draw the amount of reishi he needed to fight with. It hadn't been reckless abandon that had kept him alive these past months. Only caution and observation could be credited for that.

So, content to let his one-time friend and the shinigami stranger to take the brunt of the attack for now, Nathaniel waited and watched. If this was a Cerberus project gone wrong (as the presence of Zakki certainly suggested) then both the man and the girl deserved their fate.

[191/724]​

 

[Several Zombies]

The Shinigami and Human continued to chip away at the hordes of scorpion-like Hollows, and it seemed as if they were actually gaining a foothold against the bizarre beasts.

Little did they know however, that the horde's focus had changed. A strange, new morsel had arrived in Cape Town, and it was one they could not resist. Human, but somehow different. The strange new spirit was something unlike anything the creatures had feasted on before. A novelty. A delicacy.

For a beast that fed on living souls, the chance to devour a Quincy was too good to pass up.

A dull thud resonated throughout the city. Buildings creaked and strained as the earth beneath them began to shudder. Car alarms blared and windows shattered as the pavement beneath where the newly-arrived archer was perched began to bulge.

Fissures snaked outward from the bulbous protrusion of concrete, pouring more arthropoid Hollows onto the streets of Cape Town. The keen eye, however, may have picked up something else...something far more sinister lying beneath the metropolis' deserted avenues. There was something else down there. It was watching.

It was hungry.

 

[Vincent Valen]

The swarm was being cut down in large amounts by the shinigami and the human. However, Alexia could not help but notice that the scorpions in back of their ‘formation’ seemed to be moving away from them. The ground cracked open, releasing even more of the bugs out onto the streets. Again like the others, they flocked away from the duo.

“Okay...what’s going on? Did they find something they were looking for,” she said. Glancing at the ground again, she spied something beneath it, and it was not more scorpions.

“What the hell is that?” she asked, turning to the human to see if he knew anything.

[864]

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Zakki shrugged in a strangely nonchalant way given the circumstances and added, "Well there's only one way to find out. Let's follow!"

As the scuttling mass of arthropods began moving away from them the lanky youth came to the realization that they were moving in the direction of Nathaniel's energy signature. In fact all of the massively built up thanatoresonance seemed to be emanating from somewhere underneath the Quincy's location. As they moved towards the mass of power the pale Chairman of Cerberus Tokyo continued to scourge them with orbs of plasma. The more of his own personal spiritual energy he could build up before they reached their target, the better off everyone would be. Besides there was something satisfying about watching the ugly little bastards crisp and burn under the plasma's heat.

They continued to advance towards the bizarrely bulging pavement and Zakki had the strongest feeling that A Very Bad Thing was waiting for them under Cape Town. As per usual he just set his jaw and advanced on whatever it was, damn the consequences.

[739]

 

[Several Zombies]

The mass of...whatever it was, however, began to move -- tearing up pavement, overturning cars and generally wreaking havoc as it travelled through Cape Town. It seemed to be moving away from the radiant human and his black-robed cohort.

The swarms however, redoubled their efforts to consume the newly-arrived Quincy. Slowly, slowly, the subterranean mass drew the Cerberus Chairman and his Shinigami companion away from the archer. Their relentless chase would no doubt be their downfall.

Finally, the mass halted in a particularly wide intersection. In its wake one could see the path of destruction it had unintentionally torn through Cape Town -- every crack and fissure a vector for more arthropoid Hollows to emerge and feast on the city's inhabitants. Slowly, the mass began to shutter and shake. Something was forcing its way out from below.

With an almighty crash, the intersection split open, releasing a plume of opaque gas that shrouded most of the block. Whatever was down there had clearly broken a gas line. Deep within the mist, a hooked claw emerged, stabbing at the pavement frantically. All around it, more scorpion-like Hollows skittered to the surface.

The beast had, at least in part, revealed itself.

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Frustration welled up inside of Zakki. He didn't have the power it would take to really deal a devastating blow yet. In order to bring himself closer to that point he manifested his radiant shield. It wasn't a bad idea anyways given that they weren't aware of what exactly what might come out of that fissure in the ground aside from the massive claw that was currently probing around at the surface. As Alexia stood beside him he continued to scourge the ugly creatures with radiation that burnt away at them. He also struck the claw a few times with his plasma orbs just to see what it might do.

The pale youth was curious about how his shinigami friend might be able to assist him in these circumstances. As far as he was aware Alexia wasn't brimming over with power. Nathaniel seemed to have stopped doing much of anything and besides the scuttling hoard seemed more intent on the Chairman of Cerberus Tokyo. He had the highest level of spiritual energy so he probably shone like a beacon to whatever was underneath them. It was a blessing and a curse to have gained his level of power.

Glancing over at the girl he asked, "Any special Death God insights into what's happening?"

[952]

 

[Vincent Valen]

“You think they tell the grunts anything? They just point to a location and say ‘go look around, find it and kill it’. Intel seems to be the last thing on their mind to give us,” she replied to him, pausing to cut down a scorpion that had lept forward. The swarm had not let up, they seemed to be flooding out of every nook and cranny. By the time the large claw emerged from beneath, the two were completely encircled by them.

“So do you think you can handle that thing, whatever it may be?” she asked. Her reasoning is that the swarm appeared to be going after the biggest feast, which was him. They weren’t entirely focused on her, so she might be able to keep them busy.

“That thing looks the cause of all this, maybe it spawns them or something. In any case, you have to bring it out into the open so we can divulge how to destroy it,” she explained.

[1,030]

 

[Several Zombies]

While the Advent's attack was powerful in its own right, the very nature of the ability made the virulent orbs a perfect source of ignition. As the globs of radioactive mire streaked towards the subterranean beast, the flammable vapours that continued to pour from a ruptured gas mane burst into a mighty conflagration.

The explosion was as sudden as it was violent. Within seconds, the intersection surrounding the creature -- as well as everything in it -- was turned to ash. The arthropod Hollows sizzled and screeched in droves as the fiery wave of destruction tore through Cape Town.

In the aftermath, there was silence. The scuttling of the scorpion-like Hollows, as well as the fervent screams of their human victims, had ceased. Both the former and the latter had no doubt been burned to a crisp. It seemed unlikely that any creature could have survived such a blast.

As the smoke cleared, the epicenter of the explosion came back into view. Where the scorpion-spewing fissure had once existed now sat a deep, blackened crater.

There were no signs of life, Hollow or otherwise.

 

[Vincent Valen]

“All those science lessons are finally paying off Mother,” Alexia thought. Not too long before Zakki began to fire off plasma rounds, she could smell gas in the air. Whatever that large enemy contact was, it must have disrupted the gas lines. Before she could warn the human of what his actions would cause, the plasma flew.

Knowing that science was going to kick in at any moment, Alexia retreated to a nearby corner store. When she burst in, she noted that there were a few civilians taking cover behind the counter. She had just enough time to close the door before the explosion occurred. The force of it shattered the glass in the storefront, and sent Alexia herself flying backwards. She didn’t know what she made contact with, but she knew it would leave a heck of a bruise on the back of her head.

There was a good ringing sound in her head as she got to her feet. She stumbled a bit as she began to walk. She entered the street once more, the door blown off of its hinges. It wasn’t much of a street anymore, the concrete was all torn up, and water leaked from various pipes.

“Newsflash Zakki, fire and gas tend to blow up when they mix,” Alexia called out, unaware of his position. She raised a hand to the back of her head, feeling the beginning signs of a lump. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any brain damage, she preferred her mind to be razor-sharp. She couldn’t hear the scuttling of any scorpions nor the large claw of the entity that had been down below. Was it over already?

“That seemed too easy,” she murmured, moving forward to check out the epicenter.

[1,319]

 

[MoonlitRain014]

A convenient parked car (and Zakki’s shield of radiation) had protected him from the blast and he slowly, gingerly walked up to the edge of the smoking crater and looked into it. Maybe Alexia was right and there was some trick to this but from what the lanky youth could see, there were few signs that anything had survived that conflagration. He shook his head and looked doubtful as he said, “Well if there’s anything down there I sure can’t see it. I don’t think I feel much energy down there either.”

He smiled his crooked grin at the shinigami and added, “Sometimes there’s nothing more to a situation than what meets the eye. We’re all so used to there being something more or something else that we tend to overlook situations in which nothing else is going on.”

Taking a chunk of rock and hefting it he threw it down into the crater. He wasn’t going to risk any more plasma orbs in case there were other gas mains down there. In all honesty he wasn’t expecting any response from his experimental rock throwing.

[1135]

 

[Several Zombies]

The chunk of concrete clattered noisily into the centre of the crater. Skipping a few times, the oddly-shaped stone tumbled into the blackened fissure, eliciting a muffled thump as it hit something soft.

The creature was still alive. And it was angry.

The ground began to shake and shutter as the beast stirred. One by one, massive obsidian spires burst fourth from the asphalt surrounding the crater, reaching upwards towards the sky -- their dagger-like points shining in the midday sun.

The Hollow would skewer these troublesome morsels.

With an almighty crash, the ground between Zakki and the crater erupted as several more obsidian spikes shot upwards in the blink of an eye -- quickly clearing the distance between the beast and its prey. Moving in a deadly wave, several of the massive spires emerged directly beneath the human -- each vying to impale him where he stood.

The beast would eat well this day.

1573

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Reacting on pure instinct and speed the long, lean body of Zakki Shihara arced through the air in a powerful backwards somersault as the cascade of deadly obsidian spikes shot backwards towards him. One snagged and tore his fitted pants and left a bloody streak down his shin but the damage was superficial. He landed on his feet and immediately was surrounded by his shield of radiant energy. Now he'd really done it. Glancing around he looked to see if Alexia was alright or even in the vicinity any more. It didn't strike him as likely that she'd run. If she'd been caught out by those spikes, it was another story. The elegantly slim young man wondered what exactly he'd managed to piss off down there. Whatever it was it wasn't going to be a pushover. A new strategy was clearly necessary here. Zakki considered his options. If he could draw the thing out of its cover, he might be able to more effectively attack. The question was how? He wasn’t going to wreck the entirety of Cape Town trying to destroy the creature but he had to get it where he wanted it.

His keen emerald eyes darted around searching for some option in the short amount of time he had left before it attacked again. If a small rock made it angry, what would a really, really big stone do? A massive chunk of concrete lay in the middle of the road where it had been thrown up. With shocking ease Zakki hefted the 500 pound block and lifted it over his head. He began to run towards the gaping hole and when he had a bead on it, he flung the concrete down into it and began sprinting rapidly away from his target before it reacted.

[1434]

 

[Vincent Valen]

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she called out to Zakki as he tossed a small rock into the large crater. This situation was just begging for a ‘poking the beehive’ reference. Sure enough, the human’s action caused the ground to shake and shudder, and Alexia felt it was a hell of a good time to get off of the ground. She quickly scaled to the top of the small store she had taken cover in. Large spikes began to burst through the ground, mainly centered around the human. At least one broke through the building she was on, emerging only a few feet away from her. Whatever was still beneath them was not pleased.

“You know perhaps you should...ah damn it,” she said, witnessing as the human lifted an even larger chunk of earth and tossed it into the crater.

“How does he think this is going to help?” she thought, waiting for whatever this entity would come up with next.

[1483]