[BitP:R] Mortal World 3

[tgva8889]

As it does, Kina grabs Sora again. There is a rush of air past them as they are suddenly running on the roof of a nearby building. "Can you charge one and run at the same time?" She looks around and stretches her ability to sense and run as much as she can so that the creature can't surprise them.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Hasunaga chuckled. "Why would I do that? Really, the very thought of it. Consider this: I've spared you and given you a present, for little more than to satisfy my curiosity. Do you honestly believe that anyone acting in such a manner would use what he learned - or even go to this length - just to use it against you? If I wanted to force you to do something, I'd use sheer strength or the threat of it. And if I want our relationship to be forged on trust, using what you teach me against you is the wrong way to do so." Coffee sip. Hmmm, mocha. "You need to stop thinking this is about strength of any kind. As long as you stick to those ground rules we set up, I have no more reason to cause you grief or harm than a pig has a means to fly by itself."

Carmelia slowly sat back in her chair. She let out what could be called a sigh. "To be honest, given what I have seen and heard, I wouldn't be surprised. Understand that my circumstances up until recently have forced me to at least be aware of when I'm being used. Trust is a commodity in my world. In most cases, the strong survive, and the weak are consumed."

"And now, you have learned something about me. That's progress, right?" She then looks at the grape juice in front of her, reaching out and grabbing the glass. She then attempts to take a sip, managing to do so without making a mess in the process.

[Terry576]

As it does, Kina grabs Sora again. There is a rush of air past them as they are suddenly running on the roof of a nearby building. "Can you charge one and run at the same time?" She looks around and stretches her ability to sense and run as much as she can so that the creature can't surprise them.

"Hn. I can also walk and chew gum at the same time."

His hand begins to crackle with energy again as he charges another Cero.

[Kuroimaken]

Carmelia slowly sat back in her chair. She let out what could be called a sigh. "To be honest, given what I have seen and heard, I wouldn't be surprised. Understand that my circumstances up until recently have forced me to at least be aware of when I'm being used. Trust is a commodity in my world. In most cases, the strong survive, and the weak are consumed."

"And now, you have learned something about me. That's progress, right?" She then looks at the grape juice in front of her, reaching out and grabbing the glass. She then attempts to take a sip, managing to do so without making a mess in the process.

Hasunaga chuckled. "I suppose it is. Do you like that taste?" He seemed curious about her experiences in that gigai - clearly the closest thing she'd have to being human again.

[Kayne650]

As it does, Kina grabs Sora again. There is a rush of air past them as they are suddenly running on the roof of a nearby building. "Can you charge one and run at the same time?" She looks around and stretches her ability to sense and run as much as she can so that the creature can't surprise them.

"Hn. I can also walk and chew gum at the same time."

His hand begins to crackle with energy again as he charges another Cero.

"Well, we are amusing prey. Maybe the girl will be even more fun than the boy!" Trapper thought aloud as it scuttles up the wall to join the kids on the roof. "Fun, but annoying." As it ran behind them, it held its hands out again and fired strings that sought out Kina's legs, trying to tie her down.

[Kasanip]

[vs. Vilebarb]

Valeria frowns. Her deciblast was proving a boon to reflect the spines, but with Nakahiro in the front lines like that, it was risky... she considers...

"Sayaka-san, can you set something to keep it from leaving a small area?"

It's obvious she's up to something...

Sayaka


Sayaka paused for a minute and looked at the fighting.
"Yes, I can." She said to Valeria. And then she began to run away from her. Loafers make strong sounds. But those sounds are echo like a heartbeat.

Paper and ink and words in prayer.
Ground and sky and human in between.
Symbols are like this,
Prayers are like this,
To be united together.

That is the meaning of 'ritual' like this.
There was nothing else to do but be a role.
A role she had run away from.
Why not?

They had powers, Valeria and Nakahiro, and the others. They had special ability to act like they wanted.
But she wa forever bound by her own path. Balance and neutrality. Three together united, and the 8 million with this world also.

A deck of black ink on white paper.
Thrown with a determined hand, from order to scattering.
Father would be angry.

Clap.

Clap.

Call the god to listening. Two sounds, but the silence between the sound is equal.
A simple stance with feet, but a stance is the same symbol too.

So Sayaka ran. And the talismans scattered to make their barrier.

[strawberryman]

[vs. Vilebarb]

Valeria nods to Sayaka as she runs off, then turns to Nakahiro. "Nakahiro-san! Keep it close!" With that, she begins blasting normal bala at the hollow in order to keep it in the area.

[KnightDisciple]

[Kaito, Izumi, & Ken Vs. Longlegs]

Spoiler

Show

Longlegs

From its hiding place, Longlegs withdraws its legs from the earth and begins plotting a new course of action as it moves. Three inexperienced children had dodged its attack with only a few seconds of warning. Extremely unlikely, but apparently possible. The Shinigami was troublesome, but looked just as green as the others. One had telekinesis; he posed the greatest threat. The third had no obvious powers, but it could also be that he was simply more conservative than the other two. Fine.

As the children advance further, two of Longleg's limbs whip out of an alleyway and launch themselves towards Kaito.

Izumi reacts quickly to the legs, putting herself between them and Kaito, and attempting to block… semi-sucessfully. She manages to block one, but the other does get through.

Geez… you've got two blades, why aren't you using them?

The second appendage is instead intercepted by Ken who runs towards it, turns his body as he nears it and grabs it by its side. With the leg in his grasp he tightens his hold while bringing it closer to himself and attempts to snap or torque it using force the hollow would identify as clearly unnatural.

Kaito's eyes widened in shock; he hadn't quite gotten his balance back, and already he seemed the focus of the attack. He freezes for a moment, but Izumi and Ken step in.

Suddenly, Kaito's face hardens, and he reaches out with both hands. An invisible force grasps the appendage Izumi had knocked away, working to hold it still and draw it taunt. He glances over at Ken, then Izumi.

"Izumi! Do it now! Use your sword! While we hold them! Hurry!"



[Nakahiro, Valeria, & Sayaka Vs. Vilebarb]

Spoiler

Show

[QUOTE=Dorizzit;11504027]Nakahiro

Nakahiro presses his advantage, transmitting to Vilebarb's side and slashing at its stomach with his umbrella.

"This will be a lot less undignified if you hold still."

[vs. Vilebarb]

Valeria frowns. Her deciblast was proving a boon to reflect the spines, but with Nakahiro in the front lines like that, it was risky... she considers...

"Sayaka-san, can you set something to keep it from leaving a small area?"

It's obvious she's up to something...

Sayaka
Sayaka paused for a minute and looked at the fighting.
"Yes, I can." She said to Valeria. And then she began to run away from her. Loafers make strong sounds. But those sounds are echo like a heartbeat.

Paper and ink and words in prayer.
Ground and sky and human in between.
Symbols are like this,
Prayers are like this,
To be united together.

That is the meaning of 'ritual' like this.
There was nothing else to do but be a role.
A role she had run away from.
Why not?

They had powers, Valeria and Nakahiro, and the others. They had special ability to act like they wanted.
But she wa forever bound by her own path. Balance and neutrality. Three together united, and the 8 million with this world also.

A deck of black ink on white paper.
Thrown with a determined hand, from order to scattering.
Father would be angry.

Clap.

Clap.

Call the god to listening. Two sounds, but the silence between the sound is equal.
A simple stance with feet, but a stance is the same symbol too.

So Sayaka ran. And the talismans scattered to make their barrier.

[vs. Vilebarb]

Valeria nods to Sayaka as she runs off, then turns to Nakahiro. "Nakahiro-san! Keep it close!" With that, she begins blasting normal bala at the hollow in order to keep it in the area.

Vilebarb snarled wordlessly as Nakahiro swiped at him once more.

"Bah! And let you destroy me? Never!"

It countered with an attack of its own...which meant it was too busy to notice Sayaka running about, casting the talismans.

Until the last one fell, and the barrier sprang up. Its eyes widened and it dashed for the rapidly-closing hold in the barrier. Too late. It was trapped in there with Nakahiro; but only the creature was trapped, it seemed.

Because Val's bala struck several places on its body without slowing down at all. It dodged most of the rest, but that put it uncomfortably close to Nakahiro...

[horngeek]

Izumi doesn't hesitate, holding her katana in both hands for two slices at the legs, trying to chop through them both.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Hasunaga chuckled. "I suppose it is. Do you like that taste?" He seemed curious about her experiences in that gigai - clearly the closest thing she'd have to being human again.

Carmelia looked at the glass in her hand for a second. "...Well, it's certainly interesting. I don't think I've tasted anything like this. Rather strong though. I'm not sure what I think about this. Do humans drink this often?"

[Kuroimaken]

Carmelia looked at the glass in her hand for a second. "...Well, it's certainly interesting. I don't think I've tasted anything like this. Rather strong though. I'm not sure what I think about this. Do humans drink this often?"

"Strong? It's plain grape juice, not wine..." Hasunaga commented in surprise.

"Like many other fruit juices, humans often consume this when they feel thirsty, particularly on hot summer days. With grape juice, sometimes the beverage is allowed to age in a wooden cask so that it ferments and takes on a different set of qualities, one of which is the ability to intoxicate themselves; in this case, it's called wine. It's not poison; it clears them of inhibitions, although consumed in unreasonable quantities, it upsets the stomach and may induce unconsciousness. Yours is just plain grape juice, however. For a number of reasons, I did not think wise to have you taste an alcoholic beverage, especially not now."

Given what she asked, Hasunaga surmised she might not be aware of what an alcoholic beverage is. Hence the explanation.

[tgva8889]

"Well, we are amusing prey. Maybe the girl will be even more fun than the boy!" Trapper thought aloud as it scuttles up the wall to join the kids on the roof. "Fun, but annoying." As it ran behind them, it held its hands out again and fired strings that sought out Kina's legs, trying to tie her down.

Kina grabs Sora around the chest and suddenly they're above the creature, falling down towards it, with his arm aimed downward. "GO!"

[Terry576]

Sora is startled for about a second, before he grins widely.

"Cero!"

The Cero crackles momentarily before blasting straight towards the Hollow beneath the duo.

"Oh HELL YEAH! That's how ya do it kid."

"Man, the voice in my head needs to get a life."

"I will once you do."

"...Touché, voice in my head. Touché."

[Dorizzit]

[Kaito, Izumi, & Ken Vs. Longlegs]

Kaito and Ken's counterattacks seems to be successful; the limbs are both stretched taut, although Ken's attempt to snap his is utterly ineffective as the limb simply stretches. Although the limbs do attempt to free themselves, they provide only token resistance; it would seem that the Hollow is not as strong as most of its kin. Izumi, at Kaito's prompting, readies herself and uses both of her blades at once to try and sever the limbs.

They bend. Izumi's swords meet no resistance at all from the limbs, which fold under the blades. At the same time, doubled sections of the limbs lash out at her from both sides, striking with the force of a thick whip. Ken, in turn, must deal with his own problems as the limb he holds loops around and begins trying wrap him up. Kaito faces the most difficulty of all; the limb he had grabbed suddenly lurches forward, still aiming for him. As soon as he takes action to defend himself, another breaks from the ground to try and rake him with its sharpened claws. Worse, another breaks forth to attack him once he tries to defend himself from the second limb attack him.

[Nakahiro, Valeria, & Sayaka Vs. Vilebarb]

Nakahiro dodges back from Vilebarb's counterattack, which unfortunately means he must abort his own strike. Nakahiro continues to harass Vilebarb, but is careful to stay back from the Hollow's wicked claws. Ultimately, he does not land any meaningful hits, but helps keep it in place until the barrier is activated. Anticipating Valeria's plan, Nakahiro slides away from Vilebarb once the barrier is complete, getting out of the way of the Bala barrage. As Vilebarb dodges, it is forced close to Nakahiro.

Just as planned.

Nakahiro switches his umbrella to his left hand and withdraws a mechanical pencil from his pocket with his right. He holds the pencil as if it was a handle, with the eraser at the top. Engaging his aura on the pencil, Nakahiro causes a long blade of white energy to spring from the pencil's eraser.

"I warned you. Now this is going to be undignified."

Nakahiro doesn't waste the energy needed for a transmission, instead dashing the few steps needed to close with Vilebarb. He swings both of his weapons at the Hollow, trying to catch it between them.

[nothingclever]

Ken wildly thrashes about and uses his hands to slip the single limb off himself. Then he takes a great leap in the direction of the alleyway to fully escape its hold. Once he lands he continues to run into it, his eyes rapidly scanning the area for where the main body of the arachnid might be hiding. At the same time he tries to concentrate and find it using his spiritual senses. If he can't find it or any hints as to where it might be he'll jump up and scale the building it had clung to to further search for it on the roof.

Ken didn't want to leave his classmates behind, but he felt he had no choice since the situation was becoming increasingly dire by the second. He had a hunch the creature wasn't actually underground and had never left the shadows of alley it had scuttled away to. Forcing it to contend with him directly would most likely be of far more help than anything he could've done had he stayed by their sides. At least that's what he thought.

[Kayne650]

Trapper's webs shoot out at nothing, eventually landing on the ground. The Hollow stares, confused, at where Kina used to be, then hears them shouting above it. It looks up just in time to see the Cero charging above it and then come crashing down. The Hollow brings its hands up above its head as if to shoot a web right when the Cero descends on it, the beam of energy completely surrounding the Hollow.

Once the dust settles, the monster is seen, somehow still standing. Its hands still stand straight up, having shot a web at the blast's center, eliminating enough of an area in the blast to leave most of the Hollow still in one piece, though the blast took off three of its eight legs, as well as the back half of its abdomen. The monster stared up at the children and, its blank eyes staring out its mask, shot two more streams of webbing at them before taking off past the rooftops, away from the kids.

[strawberryman]

[High School - Class 1-2]

Hibiki idly notices a handful of his students missing as he drones on about the Heian period.

Perhaps he'd need to consult with Mayumi. This stunk of something suspicious, especially with students like Watanabe, Wada, and Abel missing.

...Sora being out wasn't really surprising, though.

[Terry576]

Trapper's webs shoot out at nothing, eventually landing on the ground. The Hollow stares, confused, at where Kina used to be, then hears them shouting above it. It looks up just in time to see the Cero charging above it and then come crashing down. The Hollow brings its hands up above its head as if to shoot a web right when the Cero descends on it, the beam of energy completely surrounding the Hollow.

Once the dust settles, the monster is seen, somehow still standing. Its hands still stand straight up, having shot a web at the blast's center, eliminating enough of an area in the blast to leave most of the Hollow still in one piece, though the blast took off three of its eight legs, as well as the back half of its abdomen. The monster stared up at the children and, its blank eyes staring out its mask, shot two more streams of webbing at them before taking off past the rooftops, away from the kids.

Sora grins. "Yeah, that's right! And don't come back!"

He turns to Kina, suddenly serious. "Kina. If we were attacked, even with my.... abilities, what do you think happened to the others? Hollows should have avoided that warehouse like the plague."

[KnightDisciple]

[Kaito, Izumi, & Ken Vs. Longlegs]

Kaito and Ken's counterattacks seems to be successful; the limbs are both stretched taut, although Ken's attempt to snap his is utterly ineffective as the limb simply stretches. Although the limbs do attempt to free themselves, they provide only token resistance; it would seem that the Hollow is not as strong as most of its kin. Izumi, at Kaito's prompting, readies herself and uses both of her blades at once to try and sever the limbs.

They bend. Izumi's swords meet no resistance at all from the limbs, which fold under the blades. At the same time, doubled sections of the limbs lash out at her from both sides, striking with the force of a thick whip. Ken, in turn, must deal with his own problems as the limb he holds loops around and begins trying wrap him up. Kaito faces the most difficulty of all; the limb he had grabbed suddenly lurches forward, still aiming for him. As soon as he takes action to defend himself, another breaks from the ground to try and rake him with its sharpened claws. Worse, another breaks forth to attack him once he tries to defend himself from the second limb attack him.

Kaito grits his teeth as the lim he's holding surges at his face, and two more try to grab him from other directions.

And then he has an idea.

Waiting until the last possible moment (in his mind), he uses another TK pulse to launch himself straight upwards.

Then, sweat beading on his forehead, he tries to grasp all of the limbs that had struck out at him. If he succeeds, even for a moment, he will do his best to tangle them together. His control is rought, but even a simple knot-like formation ought to keep those legs busy for a minute. He looks to Izumi and calls out.

"Ken ditched us! We need to regroup! Can you help get us on a roof? I think I can boost, but not enough for that."

[Nakahiro, Valeria, & Sayaka Vs. Vilebarb]

Nakahiro dodges back from Vilebarb's counterattack, which unfortunately means he must abort his own strike. Nakahiro continues to harass Vilebarb, but is careful to stay back from the Hollow's wicked claws. Ultimately, he does not land any meaningful hits, but helps keep it in place until the barrier is activated. Anticipating Valeria's plan, Nakahiro slides away from Vilebarb once the barrier is complete, getting out of the way of the Bala barrage. As Vilebarb dodges, it is forced close to Nakahiro.

Just as planned.

Nakahiro switches his umbrella to his left hand and withdraws a mechanical pencil from his pocket with his right. He holds the pencil as if it was a handle, with the eraser at the top. Engaging his aura on the pencil, Nakahiro causes a long blade of white energy to spring from the pencil's eraser.

"I warned you. Now this is going to be undignified."

Nakahiro doesn't waste the energy needed for a transmission, instead dashing the few steps needed to close with Vilebarb. He swings both of his weapons at the Hollow, trying to catch it between them.

Vilebarb's eyes widen in panic as Nakahiro swings both weapons at him. He tries to dodge, but between the Bala's energy slowing him down, and the limited space he has, it isn't enough.

The blades strike deep, one sinking deep into his torso, and the other stabbing into his head.

An unearthly shriek emits from his mouth as he collapses to the ground, his body slowly dissolving from the extremities inward.

"Stupid...prey....shouldn't...have...lost...Master. ..disappointed..."

It lapsed into silence as it continued to fade away...

[horngeek]

Izumi drops to the ground, narrowly avoiding the whiplash.

At Kaito's question, she pauses. "I... think so...

I've never taken anyone along with me on a quick step."

Eh. She's got the name partially right, anyway.

[KnightDisciple]

Izumi drops to the ground, narrowly avoiding the whiplash.

At Kaito's question, she pauses. "I... think so...

I've never taken anyone along with me on a quick step."

Eh. She's got the name partially right, anyway.

Kaito nods.

"That's what the TK pulse boost will be for."

When she's ready and has taken hold of him, he'll count to three, then use a TK pulse to shove them off the ground, hoping that Izumi can take it from there.

[strawberryman]

From the shadows, a dark form frowns in anger as one of the dots indicating his 'pets' fades from his locater, and another runs off.

Tch. Still some imperfections to work out. These little brats will pay for destroying Vilebarb...

Vilebarb's eyes widen in panic as Nakahiro swings both weapons at him. He tries to dodge, but between the Bala's energy slowing him down, and the limited space he has, it isn't enough.

The blades strike deep, one sinking deep into his torso, and the other stabbing into his head.

An unearthly shriek emits from his mouth as he collapses to the ground, his body slowly dissolving from the extremities inward.

"Stupid...prey....shouldn't...have...lost...Master. ..disappointed..."

It lapsed into silence as it continued to fade away...

Valeria sighs, but doesn't ease up much, in case there were any reinforcements.

"...I hope the others-"

But she doesn't get a chance to finish, as she seizes up, the minute essence of the slain hollow is assimilated into her soul.

A moment or two of this pause remains before she drops to her knees, her mask dissipating.

[horngeek]

Izumi will, at the same time, gather her reiatsu, and push off.

Kaito will experience a short period of disorientation, before appearing on the roof...

and still moving pretty quickly. Guess Izumi didn't compensate well enough for the extra mass. "Eh! Aaah! Kaito, can you stop us?"

[Dorizzit]

[Kaito, Izumi, & Ken vs. Longlegs]

Ken manages to put on a burst of strength, breaking through the limb's restraint before it can obtain a solid grip. As he pursues, he quickly discovers the Hollow's location: the warehouse directly adjacent to the group's location when it was attacked. A hole in the back of the building provides way for the limbs to reach out from the alley.

Due to Kaito's surprising response to Longlegs attack, it keeps its arms underground instead of sending them all at him. Direct attacks clearly did not work on this one. Izumi also manages to avoid the attack of the legs. Apparently cutting its losses, both of Longleg's visible limbs retract with lightning speed back into the alleyway, whipping past Ken as they return to the Hollow.

[Nakahiro, Valeria, & Sayaka vs. Vilebarb]

Nakahiro breathes a sigh of relief as Vilebarb finally dies, then replaces the pencil in his pocket. He turns back to the others. He is about to say something, but his eyes widen in alarm as Valeria seizes up. He runs up to her, crouching in front of her with concern.

"Are you alright?"

[strawberryman]

[Industrial District]

Valeria exhales a deep breath after a moment. "Y-yeah. Just... Not quite used to that." She looks up at Nakahiro, implying that the theory about her powers was right.

"...We need to go find the others, though. It smells like more of those things are around..."

She then looks up to Gabi. "You might want to hide, Gabi... It's dangerous."

[School]

Meanwhile, Hibiki continues his history lesson... up until a beeper comes from his pocket. A few of the students look to each other as the miniature teacher eyes what looks like his phone in slight panic. He looks up to the class representative.

"Continue reading through chapter 3. I need to excuse myself for a while."

The teacher then begins a mad dash through the school, looking for Mayumi.

[Draken]

Gabi claws Valeria's scalp.

"What? You think I am defenseless? Watch!"

Gabi flies off her head and dives at the floor, piercing the ground as a bone-like halberd.

"Shapeshifting! Rare and powerful even among hollows!"

Gabi remains sessile as it speaks.

[nothingclever]

Seeing that the same appendages that had assaulted his group a moment ago were returning to their owner, Ken figured it would be best to call the others for assistance since they were now presumably free to act. He also didn't want to have the hollow's undivided attention while alone. "It's over here!" he shouted while flaring his reiatsu. Then he ran into the building and found a set of shelves to put between himself and the creature while he waited for backup. Rather than wait outside, he thought it would be best to go in and keep his enemy busy so that it wouldn't try to flee to a more advantageous location once more.

[KnightDisciple]

Izumi will, at the same time, gather her reiatsu, and push off.

Kaito will experience a short period of disorientation, before appearing on the roof...

and still moving pretty quickly. Guess Izumi didn't compensate well enough for the extra mass. "Eh! Aaah! Kaito, can you stop us?"

Instead of speaking, Kaito answered by doing. He threw both arms forward and pushed, imagining he had a column of soft, pliable material in front of himself.

It mostly worked, though they still ended up taking a tumble, but it only lasted about 5 feet.

Of course, that wasn't all; due to Izumi being the one to propel them, but Kaito being the one to slow them, their tumble got the two tangled up. Kaito ended up flat on his back...

And Izumi was sitting astride him, in a rather, ah, awkward position. Worse (or better, depending on perspective), her upper body had been knocked forward, so she was basically laying on him, and their faces were inches apart.

As soon as Kaito was coherent enough to realize this, he turned almost as red as a stoplight, and promptly lost coherency again.

"I. Uh. Um. That is. Uh."

Then Ken yells out and flares his energy; Kaito hears the former, and faintly feels the latter.

"Should we go help him?"

[horngeek]

Izumi blushes deeply as well, and quickly stands up, facing towards where Ken called out. "Yes, we should."

[Dorizzit]

[Kaito, Izumi, & Ken vs. Longlegs]

Ken takes up a discreet observation position, watching the Hollow as it crouches among the shelves. Soon afterwards, he hears a loud thump coming from the roof. Unfortunately for all involved, Kaito and Izumi had ended up on the roof of the building Longlegs was residing in. The Hollow turns to look at Ken, then smiles. It opens its mouth, and speaks, its words soft and drawn out.

"...Hhhhhhhheeeeee........eeeeeellllllllllllllll.. ."

Before it finishes, its legs coil like springs, then it launches itself up to the ceiling, digging its claws in to keep itself suspended. Topside, Izumi and Kaito will find their position further compromised by the presence of four clawed limbs thrusting through the roof to attack them.

[Nakahiro, Valeria, & Sayaka vs...wait...]

Nakahiro nods in relief at Valeria's assurance that she was well. He stands and takes a few steps back.

"Alright, let's get moving. That fight went pretty well for us, but we shouldn't tempt fate."