[BitPR2] Renewed Revolution: Mortal World III

[AnimeKid]

Ikari, Japan
[Outside the Manor of the Cult

Naijeru Felt the battle going on over at the Cathedral with his senses. It seemed as if the attack was well and truly underway. Well it meant that he and his men could come out of hiding and attack the manor as planned. Turning two his men who had did their best to camouflage themselves and keep their Reiatsu suppressed looked to him as he addressed them.

"Okay men! It's time for us to do our part! Remember, watch your buddies back and make sure he comes back alive. This mission will require us to fight like we never have before. So fight like you've never fought before and raise some H*ll!!! After this mission free drinks on me for all who survive, so you bastards better all come back alive you hear!!"

The shinigami that were part of the platoon raised there blades and let out a small cheer, readying themselves to charge straight into the lions den.

"Alright then, Combat Division CHARGE!! SHOW THEM THE MIGHT OF THE PACK!!!!"

With that Naijeru led his men forward in an all out assault on the manor, drawing his own blade as they rushed in. Naijeru in his usual fashion slammed into the wall, breaking through and making a good sized hole for his men to follow through while others took the front door, bashing it in. The Enforcer members stayed at the front of the mansion in the front yard and entry way areas to set up defensive barriers that could act as resting points, to entrench the platoon, and to have places to fall back to should retreat be necessary. Artillery members stayed with the Enforcers to act at their protection while they set up and to have the perfect places to long range attacks when the barriers were finished. Guerrilla members used the ruckus that Brute and Kido Combat members were making to hide themselves among the chaos, hiding in plain sight as it were.

The secondary assault had begun.

[Draken]

[Ikari]
[Lucaster Manor]

An awful lot of tactics to assault an essentially civilian position.

Naijeru and his troops find a large, spacious and richly decorated building that is mostly empty. All his soldiers find upon entering is a single middle aged man, apparently a human with very little spiritual power, holding a silver tray with a few glasses of water on it.

Wearing the heaviest hazmat suit Naijeru has probably ever seen. Why, the fortified paddings on the thing might actually make it look like actual armor.

"Greeting, m'lord. I am afraid the master and mistress are not home at the moment... As such, I must urge you to leave."

-------

[Cathedral]

Masaru slices clean through the tail, which falls heavily with a distinctive sound.

And then the creature vents out a cloud of thick, caustic smog laced with potent hallucinogens.

"Got'ya, reaper."

[AnimeKid]

[Ikari]
[Lucaster Manor]

An awful lot of tactics to assault an essentially civilian position.

Naijeru and his troops find a large, spacious and richly decorated building that is mostly empty. All his soldiers find upon entering is a single middle aged man, apparently a human with very little spiritual power, holding a silver tray with a few glasses of water on it.

Wearing the heaviest hazmat suit Naijeru has probably ever seen. Why, the fortified paddings on the thing might actually make it look like actual armor.

"Greeting, m'lord. I am afraid the master and mistress are not home at the moment... As such, I must urge you to leave."

-------

[Cathedral]

Masaru slices clean through the tail, which falls heavily with a distinctive sound.

And then the creature vents out a cloud of thick, caustic smog laced with potent hallucinogens.

"Got'ya, reaper."

Naijeru looked at the human servant with a wary eye. In this place it was best not to trust much of anything. Still sometimes a cigar was just a cigar. Best to treat the man like an unknown, which he was.

"Sorry old timer, but I've got a job to do. You understand. Troops, spread out eliminate all hostiles."

As the men carried out his order Naijeru turned back to the human and decided that it would be best to keep the old timer out of the way. A simple Bakudo spell should do it if he was truly just a spiritually aware human without any powers.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo #9 Geki!"

With a flourish of his hand Naijeru attempted to paralyze the butler inside a red aura. Time to see if he truly was everything he seemed.

[strawberryman]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko clenches her fist, activating the energy shield on her own arm, blocking the fireball with nary a burn. She responds in kind by darting forward like a boxer, then grabbing for underneath Thomas's arm to toss him to the ground, where she will follow up with a vicious axe kick to his ribcage.

"You got spirit, old man, I'll give ya that."

--

Bass turns his sights to their foes, only firing if there is a clean avenue of attack without harming an ally.

Duet sets to cutting immediately, flitting around in shunpo jumps and making use of the apparently rapidly vibrating katanas in his hands.

Presto keeps his distance, hopping around and stepping acrobatically, firing fast-paced kido shots from his fingers that nonetheless tear muscle and flesh like a human would fare against any normal bullet.

(Lucaster Manor)

There's a high-pitched laugh from an intercom unit above. "Pffffffhahahaha. You're rich. Attacking this place? Biggest mistake you'll make. Of course messing with daddy at all wasn't the smartest play in the book, but this is just as stupid. You know there's almost nobody here, right? Just come here to piss on our couch or something?" It sounds almost like a teenage girl, but the cruelty she displays far outstrips even the meanest of Queen Bees.

"Welcome to the funhouse, idiots. How about we turn this into a game, huh? Hide and seek. If you've got the guts, well, try and find me. Unless you wanna either turn tail, or just bow down to my existence now." Another laugh.

...Yeah she probably needs to die.

[KnightDisciple]

[Ikari, Japan]
[Cathedral of the Trifold Eye]

[Masaru and Beast]

[Cathedral]

Masaru slices clean through the tail, which falls heavily with a distinctive sound.

And then the creature vents out a cloud of thick, caustic smog laced with potent hallucinogens.

"Got'ya, reaper."

As the first fringes of the cloud begin to emerge, Masaru vanishes from sight.

The creature can look left and right and all around, and he won't be visible! Where could he have gone?

And then suddenly it will feel blades slicing at the hamstrings of its legs, seeking to slow it, before two more slices look to disable its shoulders.

Masaru isn't Squad Leader of Guerilla Squad for nothing, after all.
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[Thomas and Chouko]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko clenches her fist, activating the energy shield on her own arm, blocking the fireball with nary a burn. She responds in kind by darting forward like a boxer, then grabbing for underneath Thomas's arm to toss him to the ground, where she will follow up with a vicious axe kick to his ribcage.

"You got spirit, old man, I'll give ya that."

Thomas is grabbed and tossed, but takes control of his movement in mid-air. He ends up a few feet further away than where Chouko had apparently planned to put him.

"Your hand-to-hand skills are quite impressive for one who seems to be of a scientific mindset. Admirable. Annoying in this case, but admirable."

Thomas draws a simple dagger from a sheathe hidden in his white robes, and adopts a crouched stance with the blade in a hammer grip. His other hand floats free for the moment.

"In particular, the androids are quite nice. Though the limbs are a close second."

Suddenly, his free hand fires a barrage of Bala at Chouko! As soon as it finishes, he blurs into Sonido and apppears behind her, the knife falling in a blow aimed for her right shoulder.

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

Alexandra continues to be unamused! As well as Vanessa, who simply bounces the bolts off her lance, then jumps into sonido at Koutarou, thrusting for a slash at his legs, then following up with several chest-thrusts, whether or not the trip lands. "I won't allow you! You'll die here, shinigami. It's time to lay in the grave you dug for yourselves!"

Alexandra is not nearly so emotionally moved. But again she holds her spectral hands out, channeling her energy in an even stronger manner than before, almost creating a second hurricane... directly opposing to this one. It was no longer control. If she could not use their toy against them, she would stop it. "Why? Because I'm the villain? We struck at you because we had no reason to trust you. Your kind jailed our King for nothing more than his existence."

"Your age of stupidity ends here. Perhaps if he is forgiving, our King will spare you. I rather hope not."

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

"You don't know the half of it, grandpa." Taking a defensive stance, her robotic arms move almost as fast as the bala Thomas shoots at her, deflecting them with well-timed shield generation. However, one does manage to get through, knocking her back... but as she hears the sound of sonido, she ducks down and extends her leg up, kicking square for Thomas' jaw.

"I ain't just any kid reaper... I'm a rappin', constructin', robotics-savvy, surgically-trained prodigy!"

[Draken]

[Lucaster Manor]

The old man is bound without great difficulty.

"Ho, ho. The young mistress. It will be so hard to clean the walls..."

-------

[Masaru]

Slice, slice. The great thing slumps over, still releasing the clouds of acid and bewilderment.

"I can't do this alone. Pull yourself together Gerivan!"

And then it rises again, torn muscles stretching fibers towards one another and snapping useless limbs back into functionality. Even the lost tail crawls back into place and then shredded hand assembles once more.

"That is more like it. Keep the cloud up and bring out the quills!"

The great thing protrudes a forest of quills from its back and limbs, long barbed things doused in the condensation of the acid it was expelling.

[KnightDisciple]

[Ikari, Japan]
[Cathedral of the Trifold Eye]

[Masaru and Beast]

[Masaru]

Slice, slice. The great thing slumps over, still releasing the clouds of acid and bewilderment.

"I can't do this alone. Pull yourself together Gerivan!"

And then it rises again, torn muscles stretching fibers towards one another and snapping useless limbs back into functionality. Even the lost tail crawls back into place and then shredded hand assembles once more.

"That is more like it. Keep the cloud up and bring out the quills!"

The great thing protrudes a forest of quills from its back and limbs, long barbed things doused in the condensation of the acid it was expelling.

When even more stuff starts pouring out of the beast, Masaru falls back, sheathing his wakizashi for a moment and switching his sword to his metal arm. His flesh arm straightens out and faces the creature palm-first.

"Hadō #31. Shakkahō."

An orb of red energy rushes forward at the creature. When it strikes, it will find that while there is concussive force, most of what occurs is burning. Lots of burning.

Masaru blurs and appears in a totally different spot with a different firing angle.

"Hadō #31. Shakkahō."

Seems he's testing the being.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Not going to lie Draken I don't really want Masaru to have to release against what's pretty clearly a mook. Trying to get creative in ways that don't involve Shikai.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Thomas and Chouko]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

"You don't know the half of it, grandpa." Taking a defensive stance, her robotic arms move almost as fast as the bala Thomas shoots at her, deflecting them with well-timed shield generation. However, one does manage to get through, knocking her back... but as she hears the sound of sonido, she ducks down and extends her leg up, kicking square for Thomas' jaw.

"I ain't just any kid reaper... I'm a rappin', constructin', robotics-savvy, surgically-trained prodigy!"

Thomas somewhat sees the kick coming. Instead of snapping his neck or something, it grazes his face on the un-masked side, leaving a nasty bruise up his face, with a few scratches besides. He blurs away and appears a good distance from Chouko, smirking.

"Forgive me if I implied you were but a child.Though admittedly with Reaper aging it is difficult to say sometimes. Still, I salute such accomplishment.

I should make it clear that though I am not as young as some, I am at this time only a father, adoptive or no. My darling daughter has not produced children yet."

Is this because any boy trying to date her mysteriously vanished from the Earth, never to be heard from again? This is not a thing to contemplate at this time.

"Hadō #32. Ōkasen."

A yellow blast of energy flies at Chouko. But Thomas is elsewhere.

Hm. What's that odd *thrum* sound?

Oh, it's Thomas taking a few moments to charge and carefully aim a Cero. Chouko could probably try to dodge, but the guy seems kind of wizard-y, and he might be good with re-aiming Ceros....

[Kuroimaken]

(The Hurricane)

Alexandra continues to be unamused! As well as Vanessa, who simply bounces the bolts off her lance, then jumps into sonido at Koutarou, thrusting for a slash at his legs, then following up with several chest-thrusts, whether or not the trip lands. "I won't allow you! You'll die here, shinigami. It's time to lay in the grave you dug for yourselves!"

Alexandra is not nearly so emotionally moved. But again she holds her spectral hands out, channeling her energy in an even stronger manner than before, almost creating a second hurricane... directly opposing to this one. It was no longer control. If she could not use their toy against them, she would stop it. "Why? Because I'm the villain? We struck at you because we had no reason to trust you. Your kind jailed our King for nothing more than his existence."

"Your age of stupidity ends here. Perhaps if he is forgiving, our King will spare you. I rather hope not."

[COLOR="#D3D3D3"]

"I won't bother explaining 'why' to you. There's no such thing as a 'villain' who thought they were in the wrong, after all."

Vanessa's slash to his legs meets with a parry, while her thrusts at his chest meet with dodges. At least one or two strikes make contact with his armor, but it seems very much unaffected by the glancing blows, a spark or two flying as a result.

The Rider's reply is a swipe towards her midsection with his lance. At first, it looks as if the range will fall short, but the tip of the lance blazes with black and golden lightning. Vanessa's honed fighting instincts would realize instantly how dangerous that blade is. And if she were grazed at all, she would realize why - it cuts through Hierro like butter, and any cut it makes is not healed by her regeneration. Not as it should.

In the same swipe, Kamen Rider Rei swivels on his heel as he unleashes a thunderbolt flying at Alexandra. It seems he wants to bring the fight closer to her.

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

Vanessa holds back a scream as the blade does, in fact, graze her. Looking at the man in seething hatred, she begins to jump through sonido around him with quick, skirmishing blows. He might notice her simply throw her aim upward during one of them, kind of odd, but she's in an emotional state... or?

Alexandra throws several bala from one of her tentacles to deflect a portion of the lightning, such that she can make a sudden shifting in her position, without so much as a step. "Consider then, where that puts you and your kind. Feeding a dead goddess as part of some pact, it's almost shameful." She probably doesn't imagine that this talking will psych Koutarou out. The roiling wind just continues to spread out, locking against the storm.

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko rolls to the side at the kido burst. This guy was beginning to get on her nerves.

Then there's the hum of cero. In the space of fractions of a second, she considers her options. Then she jumps into shunpo.

The next thing Thomas should see is a metallic leg, kicking his aiming arm into the ground. Then arms grabbing at his back, in an attempt to put him in front of the potentially explosive reaction.

[Kuroimaken]

It won't. But that is not the point.

Vanessa's movement pattern feels odd. Emotional or not, she seems to know better than to try and break through his defenses in this fashion. Even in his defense, he remains minimalistic, until she throws her aim upwards.

Considering the bias of her powers, Kamen Rider Rei finds it prudent not to remain within the same general area as she deemed to strike him.

Rapid zig-zagging shunpou finds him a mere few meters away from Alexandra before he swipes with his lance once again. The blazing lightning extends even further towards her. As with Vanessa, she could definitely feel it was a bad idea to tank that hit.

"By your own admission, you've killed, lied and desecrated at your whim on your path to serving the Ghost-King.

I may not know the reason he was imprisoned, but clearly neither do you. And ill-conceived though my compromise to his incarceration may have been, it was sincere. Yet your lot would still lie, murder and endanger many more to achieve his goals.

I find what you call 'shameful' bearable in comparison."

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

A massive bolt of white strikes where Koutarou once was, arcing down like the path of a cero. Vanessa growls, continuing her skirmishing assault, mixing in balas that roar with thunderous power. ...but then, she is suddenly thrust out through a roaring garganta.

Alexandra herself puts her arms down slightly, orbs of magenta forming in each palm. "Very well then, Shinigami. I invite you to strike me down." Her stance is open, her torso defenseless. She's probably planning something... but she is overconfident. That much is sure.

[Kuroimaken]

"You accept your punishment with surprising grace. I still feel I should warn you...

My zanpakutou does not adhere to common practices for a sword.

So your end will be most unusual."

Crouching into a lower stance with his lance behind him, another crest forms beneath his feet, crackling in golden and black like so much of him.

"RIDER..."

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

The wind roars to a fever pitch as Alexandra stands in opposition to Koutarou, with no fear. Although it's almost impossible to read her emotions, given she has no human face, just the ethereal black mass of mouths and eyes. The ceros in her hand grow quickly, beginning to hum with power. Clearly, she'll be having none of this nonsense.

[Kuroimaken]

Clearly, she will be disappointed.

He doesn't have to think that hard on what she's going to do. A setup like that? It's like begging to be countered.

Why he accepted her offer, only Kamen Rider Rei knows.

He dashes. The motion blurs of streaking lightning follow like an afterthought.

"...JUDGEMENT CROSS!"

The lance unleashes a pair of waves in a cross-shape. If not dodged or deflected, they will push cleanly through Alexandra's body, thrumming with power, the Rider stand a few meters away. Likely, not unscathed.

But Alexandra also realizes how dearly her gambit cost her...

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

There's a flash as Koutarou is consumed in the overlapping arcs of energy, searing him with brilliant power. As the smoke clears, however, there is a supernaturally silent pause in the action.

Then, with a disturbing howling, the winds push outward, echoing the screeches from Alexandra's superfluous mouths. There is a space in her ethereal torso, Koutarou seeing a sizzling organ not far away. Her heart. It burns... as Alexandra seals, her solid form sealing around the blade as... the blackness parts around her face, revealing a burned visage, partially healed, but undeniably scarred. She looks on Koutarou with... well. It's bizarre. She's smiling? Her heart hangs aloft in the winds, still beating, but smouldering with an incinerating flame.

The only thing that betrays her true feeling right now are the screaming hellmouths across her body.

"...I see. So that's how it is." She chuckles, there's a hint of pain in it, but it's obvious she's doing her all to hold off her own screams. "This is... not redemption, or purification. Quite cruel, in a manner of speaking."

"Alexandra Dubois died in the Tomb of Lights over sixty years ago." Her heart beats faster and faster as the burning intensifies, her actual body catching fire... but really, it is just being obliterated. "Perhaps she'll find a better place, with my end."

[Kuroimaken]

Kamen Rider Rei's armor is smoking where Alexandra's Ceros hit it. There are fairly sizable craters in the armor, though it still seems to hold somehow.

He holds his lance in front of his face. Almost as if in prayer.

"With this, you have been judged. You have been found..."

He swipes the weapon aside as the words, 犯罪者 (Criminal) flash into existence at her back.

"...guilty."

A sizable explosion follows, consuming all of the former existence of Alexandra Dubois.

[strawberryman]

(The Hurricane)

Even to the last, the winds emanating from Alexandra fight against the raging storm.

But then... she is gone. Nothing is left.

[Kuroimaken]

Kamen Rider Rei grunts. Seems he underestimated the impact of Alexandra's Ceros.

The ground team still needed help... but there WAS the matter of the counter-hurricane Alexandra had summoned before her final breath.

Its tactical advantage had been spent by this point. In a sense, Alexandra was right - it WOULD cause quite a lot of destruction. Then again, it was pointed 'the right way'.

It's not as if the acting Commander-General can do much about it. So he descends to ground level to help the rest of his forces.

Provided he's not stopped, that is.

[AnimeKid]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko clenches her fist, activating the energy shield on her own arm, blocking the fireball with nary a burn. She responds in kind by darting forward like a boxer, then grabbing for underneath Thomas's arm to toss him to the ground, where she will follow up with a vicious axe kick to his ribcage.

"You got spirit, old man, I'll give ya that."

--

Bass turns his sights to their foes, only firing if there is a clean avenue of attack without harming an ally.

Duet sets to cutting immediately, flitting around in shunpo jumps and making use of the apparently rapidly vibrating katanas in his hands.

Presto keeps his distance, hopping around and stepping acrobatically, firing fast-paced kido shots from his fingers that nonetheless tear muscle and flesh like a human would fare against any normal bullet.

(Lucaster Manor)

There's a high-pitched laugh from an intercom unit above. "Pffffffhahahaha. You're rich. Attacking this place? Biggest mistake you'll make. Of course messing with daddy at all wasn't the smartest play in the book, but this is just as stupid. You know there's almost nobody here, right? Just come here to piss on our couch or something?" It sounds almost like a teenage girl, but the cruelty she displays far outstrips even the meanest of Queen Bees.

"Welcome to the funhouse, idiots. How about we turn this into a game, huh? Hide and seek. If you've got the guts, well, try and find me. Unless you wanna either turn tail, or just bow down to my existence now." Another laugh.

...Yeah she probably needs to die.

Naijeru frowned as he heard the girl. Well at the least he could take out one of the cult's members. Either way, he had a job to do. Looking over his men Naijeru started giving orders.

"Okay then men, you heard the lady. Let's not disappoint her. Brute Squad members, teams of 4. I want you to spread out and ransake the place looking for that brat. Now this place is probably booby trapped so I want at least 2 Guerrilla Squad members to each team of 4. Try to spot any traps and deactivate or help avoid them. Any leftover Guerrilla Squad troop spread out and search the place. Artillery and Enforcer Squad members keep with your current objectives. Lets bring down the house boys."

With that Naijeru heads off on his own with a Guerrilla squad member to help him see any traps that might be about. He would start his search at the most obvious places. The bedrooms.

[strawberryman]

(Outside the Kuzunoha Complex)

There's a massive crash of dirt and some rock as something arrives outside the border of the Kuzonoha complex. Of course, Katsuo hoped he didn't have to travel this way, but things seemed... bad. And for some reason, instinct led him here.

...of course there's the matter of whether the cult-controlled police just saw a teenage boy careen through the air and crash like an artillery shell with nary a scratch.

Assuming they are in plain view, Katsuo stops dead in his tracks, like a deer in the headlights. "...oh."

(Lucaster Manor)

Felicia just continues laughing over the intercom. "That's the spirit! But you won't find me before you die!"

[Draken]

[Outside the Kuzunoha Complex]

Oh yes, they are in plain sight, with cars and cops and yellow tape.

And a nearby man whistles as Katsuo gets his bearings.

"Nice jump kid. Area's off-limits, so steer clear."

-----

[Hurricane]

Imhotep shakes his head and flies off towards the Cathedral.

Vincenzo, however, begins a slow clap as he follows Koutarou's wake. Rather, he outpaces him fully. Erupting from a gout of flame on the ground just as he lands.

"Bravo. You have cast down the newest knight of the ghost king and returned her soul to the great cycle."

"In a few months, she will be reborn, in a few years, she will regain her memory, in a few decades, she will be among us again. And La Plaga Blanca will have taken root into more mortal souls along the process."

He is still clapping slowly.

"What, pray tell, will be the next step?"

---------

[Cathedral]

Masaru's spell erupts the venomous cloud into flame, forcing Gerivan to storm out of it with a shriek. Its carapace is charred and blackened, and healing slowly at that.

"Ok, this is a bit out of our leagues."

The royal drone shrieks again, and a number of drone-plated men and women surge in to pick Gerivan up and drag him off.

----------

[Lucaster Manor]

Old Xavier just watches silent and immobile as the shinigami rush into the mansion's corridors.

"You really should not do that, breaking into someone else's house is a crime!"

But they stream in anyway.

[Kuroimaken]

[Hurricane]

Imhotep shakes his head and flies off towards the Cathedral.

Vincenzo, however, begins a slow clap as he follows Koutarou's wake. Rather, he outpaces him fully. Erupting from a gout of flame on the ground just as he lands.

"Bravo. You have cast down the newest knight of the ghost king and returned her soul to the great cycle."

"In a few months, she will be reborn, in a few years, she will regain her memory, in a few decades, she will be among us again. And La Plaga Blanca will have taken root into more mortal souls along the process."

He is still clapping slowly.

"What, pray tell, will be the next step?"

There's a flash coming from the Rider's general direction.

If Vincenzo insists on clapping, he will lose his hands.

"You assume her soul is still in one piece.

My Zanpakutou has a particular distaste for anything it disagrees with. It takes purification a touch more to heart than it ought to.

It takes apart the pollution and corruption inherent to a Hollowed soul and seals it away from existence altogether. A soul cleansed by this lance is never once again the same soul, even as it reincarnates.

I admit I cannot fathom the exact effects this has on one with La Plaga Blanca, but I can take a wild guess."

Rei continues to pace forward.

"You will move out of the way, or I will remove you. Your choice."

[strawberryman]

[Outside the Kuzunoha Complex]

Oh yes, they are in plain sight, with cars and cops and yellow tape.

And a nearby man whistles as Katsuo gets his bearings.

"Nice jump kid. Area's off-limits, so steer clear."

Katsuo seems... confused at the nonchalant response. "...can I ask why?" He might not be able to sense reiatsu, but he's not stupid, he can smell the fishiness of this situation.

[KnightDisciple]

[Ikari, Japan]
[Cathedral of the Trifold Eye]
[Thomas and Chouko]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko rolls to the side at the kido burst. This guy was beginning to get on her nerves.

Then there's the hum of cero. In the space of fractions of a second, she considers her options. Then she jumps into shunpo.

The next thing Thomas should see is a metallic leg, kicking his aiming arm into the ground. Then arms grabbing at his back, in an attempt to put him in front of the potentially explosive reaction.

Thomas's eyes widen a bit as Chouko displays some impressive speed, though as soon as she kicked his arm he seemed to adjust his body slightly. She still threw him, and he did land close to the Cero...

But a counter-blast seems to redirect most of the force. The smoke clears, and Thomas stands there, his left arm a bit singed as he shakes it. He looks up at Chouko with a smile.

"Hm. A cunning opponent indeed. Well. You did me the honor of releasing your sword's power. I should share that honor."

And suddenly, he is holding that knife in his right hand. Chouko can feel energy surge from within him.

"Speak the seven thunders, Hongo Escarabajo!"

The energy around him becomes opaque for a few sanity-saving moments, until it washes away, to reveal Thomas's insectile form. His various hands and claws make anticipatory clicking sounds, as his still-bare face smiles for a moment.

"Now, Psychopomp, shall we dance?"

A featureless faceplate suddenly covers his last bit of human-ish flesh, and all that stands before Chouko is a being from nightmares, crouching like a predator, and staring directly at her. As much as something without visible eyes can stare.
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[Masaru and Beast]

[Cathedral]

Masaru's spell erupts the venomous cloud into flame, forcing Gerivan to storm out of it with a shriek. Its carapace is charred and blackened, and healing slowly at that.

"Ok, this is a bit out of our leagues."

The royal drone shrieks again, and a number of drone-plated men and women surge in to pick Gerivan up and drag him off.

Masaru's eyes narrow slightly.

"No."

He disappears in Shunpo, and a black blur of motion carrying streaks of silver cuts down the ones carrying Gerivan.

He reappears directly over Gerivan, one palm facing straight down at the royal drone.

"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui."

And blue flames pour out to strike down at the being.

[strawberryman]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko observes this for a moment... and then leaps into action while Thomas is actually releasing. As the smoke clears, a metallic fist goes flying for the priest's face. However internally, she's a little weirded out.

Ahhhhhhh, s***. Guy's some kinda horrorterror.

[5a Violista]

The man decides to answer the question by briskly walking to Caeyrn and trying to knock back down with another kick to the head before he can find balance.

[Near Ikari: Parking Lot]
Caeyrn

Rather than trying to get up again, Caeyrn frantically placed the remaining Steele Sneiders into his glove on his right hand. He barely has enough time to brace himself before the kick, but he's finally finished, and has his weapons ready. His glove is prepped, the large one is in his right hand, and his Cross is in his left.

Actually, there's a benefit to being an actor who does his own stunts: you learn how to roll with the punches (or, in this case, kicks) so they look much worse than they actually ended up being. Because of this, he rolls with the kick so it'll only leave a very painful bruise, rolling away until his back connects with a car tire. "So," he says, getting up into a crouched position so he's no longer lying down exposed, "How about I just assume you were Hoshi's murderer?"

His Quincy's Cross begins glowing and gathering spiritual energy around it. Now the battle's starting.


[Combat Modsoul Assault]
The Six Churches around Ikari

One of the two regiments of Mod Souls was charged to assault, capture, and destroy the cult's six churches around Ikari while the fighting went on in the other locations. With six hundred Mod Souls and sixty Specials, this meant there were one hundred and ten at each church, with the Pack's Suou Nicole directing them from afar, and one Special from each directing the entire group at each church, and the remaining Specials in charge of each team of ten.

Dressed as Japan's own Special Assault Team, they surrounded each church. Four teams guarding the perimeter for any trying to escape. One team of snipers on the lookout for Hollows and the Hollow Parasites. Three teams entering the church from different sides, launching tear gas, nonlethal bullets, Bakudo demon arts binding weapons and guns, and neutralizing the human targets man-to-man. Finally, the remaining two teams were charged with retrieving neutralized mortals and bringing them back behind the lines to Med&Log personnel, where they would be cleansed of all Hollow taint and their minds' memories of the past few months clouded, to forget all the unnatural Spiritual occurrences that happened - it would all seem like a dream.

Messengers go back and forth from Miss Suou and the churches every so often to update her on the progress.


[Finland (?)] (I think that's the right place.)
Transcending Shadow

Transcending Shadow, the first uplifted Sin Rostro, exits a Garganta, holding a couple of objects. A box with something valuable in it. An artificial body swiped from Soul Society, which he then puts on.

He walks down the road to fulfill the promises he made.

[KnightDisciple]

[Ikari, Japan]
[Cathedral of the Trifold Eye]
[Thomas and Chouko]

(Cathedral of the Trifold Eye)

Chouko observes this for a moment... and then leaps into action while Thomas is actually releasing. As the smoke clears, a metallic fist goes flying for the priest's face. However internally, she's a little weirded out.

Ahhhhhhh, s***. Guy's some kinda horrorterror.

A blur of motion, and Thomas was not where he had been, the punch moving through air.

Now, the strange smaller arms on his body began making random soft clicking noises as he spoke, his voice having an odd reverberation behind the faceplate.

"You're fast, Psychopomp. Impressive."

He blurs again, appearing behind Chouko. He was mostly behind her, right, and not to one side? It might be just slightly blurry to her, but surely not much. Two of the large, powerful-looking insectile limbs click their claws to no visible effect. Chouko might luck out, though, and somehow get the sense to dodge. Otherwise, two sonic waves roughly as strong as a Cero apiece might slam into her.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Japan ; Ikari, movie studio parking lot]

A sarcastic chuckle escapes from the man's lungs. "You know what they say about assuming", he replies, in English of all languages. Because the pun just wouldn't work otherwise. A very, very wide grin spreads on his face as he observes the change in Caeyrn's demeanor. Caeyrn might notice the man's rather prominent canines... or maybe fangs would be a better word. Spiritual particles begin to swirl around the man like a fine, silvery mist as he assumes a fighting stance.

The battle is, indeed, starting. Was about god-damn time, too. For Niklaus "W" Gottschalk, it just robs all the joy out of a mission when the target isn't appropriately resistant. He tried to usher some heroic spirit to the scion of the Belenus family by fooling him into thinking his love-interest was in danger, and watching Caeyrn's spirit deflate like a broken car tire when he learned of the trick was just depressing. Such a delight, then, that the unfortunate fate of Aunt Akiyama is triggering just the right amount of righteous anger in him.

Niklaus burts into action, feinting with another kick but really aiming to punch him in the face instead. The game is on.

---

[Finland ; along motorway 9, between Turku and Lempäälä]

As Transcending Shadow puts on the Gigai, his unusual appearance fades from view. What walks down the road isn't a black-clad monster with a hole through its body and snakes for hair, but rather a harmless looking man between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a black motorcycle jacket with a white snake emblazoned on its back. The motorway is unusually silent today. Passengers in the few cars that do pass by give odd looks to a pedestrian walking on the side of the road, as it's technically illegal to walk there, but none of them care enough to stop or ask if something wrong.

Eventually, he arrives at the right place. To anyone else, there's nothing remarkable in the spot - it's just another patch of black asphalt, like any other. No memorial nor signs are placed here to remind people of what passed here years ago, the only ways to tell its the right place are the number and position of trees in a nearby forest. The smaller sappling and bushes have grown quite a bit and there's no snow on the ground, but the larger trees have changed very little in the last four years.

When Transcending Shadow buries the box under them, nothing dramatic happens. Briefly, it's almost as if he can hear the box stop pulsing under the ground, but maybe it's just imagination. There's just a sense of relief, and giving closure to something that should've ended long ago.

[Draken]

Katsuo seems... confused at the nonchalant response. "...can I ask why?" He might not be able to sense reiatsu, but he's not stupid, he can smell the fishiness of this situation.

"We were told there was an infestation and that this area should be quarantined, nothing enters, nothing leaves. Not a whole lot else I can say kid."

[Masaru and Beast]

Masaru's eyes narrow slightly.

"No."

He disappears in Shunpo, and a black blur of motion carrying streaks of silver cuts down the ones carrying Gerivan.

He reappears directly over Gerivan, one palm facing straight down at the royal drone.

"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui."

And blue flames pour out to strike down at the being.

Gerivan is engulfed, shrieking as it begins to dissipate into reishi and flow into the sky. Leaving only a middle aged man in pretty mundane clothing behind as the flames die down around him. He looks unconscious.

[Combat Modsoul Assault]
The Six Churches around Ikari

One of the two regiments of Mod Souls was charged to assault, capture, and destroy the cult's six churches around Ikari while the fighting went on in the other locations. With six hundred Mod Souls and sixty Specials, this meant there were one hundred and ten at each church, with the Pack's Suou Nicole directing them from afar, and one Special from each directing the entire group at each church, and the remaining Specials in charge of each team of ten.

Dressed as Japan's own Special Assault Team, they surrounded each church. Four teams guarding the perimeter for any trying to escape. One team of snipers on the lookout for Hollows and the Hollow Parasites. Three teams entering the church from different sides, launching tear gas, nonlethal bullets, Bakudo demon arts binding weapons and guns, and neutralizing the human targets man-to-man. Finally, the remaining two teams were charged with retrieving neutralized mortals and bringing them back behind the lines to Med&Log personnel, where they would be cleansed of all Hollow taint and their minds' memories of the past few months clouded, to forget all the unnatural Spiritual occurrences that happened - it would all seem like a dream.

Messengers go back and forth from Miss Suou and the churches every so often to update her on the progress.

Everything goes well on four of the other churches with minor resistance from those within, even with the supposed "empowerment" of the outpouring bone-silver menhir, but the fifth area meets much greater resistance, as a priest with the aid of a royal drone takes to the field with support of trained ex-soldiers in symbiote armor and at least two servant hollows.

Miss Suou herself should better not lower her guard, for a bala shoots in her direction from the church's upper stories.