[BITPR2] One terror!

[Kuroimaken]

The following is a dream sequence taking place between screw-it-o'clock and 5 past nobody cares.

Jack Bauer was not invited to be a part of this movie.

[???]

Shinji blearily opened his eyes, trying to make sense of everything around him. His vision was blurry, and he felt weak and tired, like something was weighing him down.

Death and destruction was everywhere. Corpses piled on a wrecked street, the expression of sheer terror on their faces. Some apparently were lucky enough to get their heads bashed in, but others look like they died clutching holes in their chests were their hearts used to be.

Suddenly, Shinji heard a massive howl. He turned his head quickly to its source, and at the center...

[strawberryman]

The concrete and steel maze of Tokyo stretches up to the cloudy, overcast sky. The clouds rumble and threaten, but have failed to cleanse the bloody earth with their tears.

It all happened so quickly. Officials are still scrambling. A skyscraper lays in a heap of rubble, and others have been torn at, like Godzilla himself enacted his fury.

This was... how could this have happened? There were warning signs, but everything piled up so quickly. While Shinji might not see them now, he knows the others are nearby. But still... this was the worst possible outcome.

A howl breaks the eerie silence as a vicious snap (audible only to the spiritually aware) echoes through the streets.

A human-shaped form breaks apart a hollow who appeared to profit off the carnage. Foolish mistake. It was broken in half, crushed into a impossibly tiny ball, and consumed. The attacker's muscles tensing as they feel a surge of strength. And... that only made it more terrifying. A lithe human torso, shirtless, hollow corruption covering his arms and spawning an extra pair of arms behind his originals. Tattered, but somewhat intact sweatpants over his legs. Though a long, bloodstained mat of hair stretches behind it, there's a flutter as developing wings grow between his shoulder blades. And over his head, a white mask is manifest, no mouth present like many other hollows, just six eyeholes burning with orange light.

...Yamada Katsuo is no more. Just the quickly developing monster standing in front of Shinji.

[Dorizzit]

Naito is only a few meters away from Katsuo, bent to their knees in a combination of shock, horror, and despair. Naito's failure to act is supremely uncharacteristic; even at the heights of despair, Naito deals with it by moving forward, striking out literally or metaphorically in an attempt to find a solution or distraction from the problem. This time, there is none of that. Katsuo's alteration has stopped Naito dead. All the horrified Quincy can do is weep softly and despair.

"No...no..."

[KnightDisciple]

Standing across from the monster that was Katsuo is an angel of darkness and light all at once.

Well, "standing" is a strong word, perhaps; it holds the haft of a gleaming spear with a blade of black light in one hand, all but leaning upon the weapon to support itself. Its shoulders heave up and down as it gasps in deep breaths.

And blood drips occasionally from the other arm, or rather where said arm ends just below the shoulder, raggedly torn off. The ribbon-wing on that side of the angel's body is tattered and flickering, the shoulder piece of the armor torn away along with most of the arm.

Charles Leonard Anderson has seen better days.

"Please...Katsuo...my friend. I know...you're in there. This...*huff*...isn't you."

Chuck gives a cough that's far too wet and ragged.

"Don't...*kaff kaff*...give in to this..."

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo's head snaps to Chuck as it observes him for a moment, and then...

A rush of motion as it pounces with high speed, grabbing for Chuck's neck. There's no mercy in those eyes as it attempts to flip him over into the ground, creating a crater with the motion. In one of it's secondary hands, there's a glowing bead of orange energy, as well as a throbbing hum as the cero charges. If this maneuver is successful... Hollowtsuo holds Chuck down while charging the cero in one hand, pointing it directly downward in an attempt to likely purge the threat, or at least weaken it. It seems like it's already got what it wanted from Chuck.

[Frozen_Feet]

If Shinji can take his eyes off the horror for a moment, he might notice something.

Or rather, glaring lack of a thing.

Tamaki isn't here.

He's not among the dead. Neither can he be felt.

In fact, he never was here. Because he concluded none of the people here cared enough of him for him to care about them.

Where is he now? No-one present knows. But if Tamaki knew what is going on and why... he would want to be here. Just for the small hope it'd make a difference.

And he'd regret not caring, because in the end it turned to be the only thing worth caring about.

[KnightDisciple]

Chuck is concentrating as much power as he can into Blut Vene, but even his Total Reishi Dominance doesn't seem to be doing as much as he'd like. It's quite probable that the monstrous Katsuo had picked at least a touch of the same skills up...

He managed to move his neck so it wouldn't be engulfed by Hollowtsuo's hand. On the downside, this rips at his helmet and hood, provoking a spark of energy and a spurt of blood. Welp, there goes an eye. Chuck's spear was lowered as Hollowtsuo charged, but honestly it probably just skipped along the skin of the monstrous powerhouse.

As it was, the weight of Hollowtsuo still bore Chuck down for the critical seconds necessary for that blast to tear a gouge from his right side, directly under his missing arm. Chuck screamed, even as his remaining arm dropped the rapidly-dissipating spear and scrabbled at the ground, trying to drag himself away even as Ransotengai threads worked to hold in his guts, and his remaining wing ribbons tried to wrap around his body to protect it and hold it together.

Easy pickings, most likely, for such an apex predator.

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo doesn't waste a fraction of a second as Chuck falls in front of it, letting out a raspy growl as it brings its leg up, and then a bare foot down with crushing power directly for Chuck's spine.

Meanwhile... the cero doesn't simply dissipate after hitting Chuck, unfortunately. While it is discharged before it can reach its full potential... it still obliterates any matter in front of it for a good distance before dissipating. There's now a cannonball-sized hole leading from where Chuck fell, through a nearby car, and the ground floor of a skyscraper... And so on.

[KnightDisciple]

The foot lands a couple inches below the bottom of Chuck's ribcage, almost perfectly centered on his spinal column. Even on normal human beings, that's one of the stronger, more durable parts of the body, meant to take blows and punishment. Chuck's body is reinforced with Blut Vene, the surging power of Reiniger, of Quincy, making his body as hard as steel. Further, he is wrapped in stiff metal (well, "metal") armor, and has wings of light providing flexible protection against blows and cuts.

That's probably why his body stays in one piece, and all that happens is his spinal column shattering into fragments, instantly paralyzing him from the point of impact downward, but not before a blinding wave of agony overwhelmed him. An animalistic scream of raw agony escaped his mouth, along with a spurt of blood. He continued trying to crawl, but his efforts were notably weaker, his throat producing wet coughs and mewls of pain. His remaining eye was shown to be streaming tears as his Vollständig faded, revealing a torn and broken body splayed on the ground, his legs dragging behind him as blood began to pool beneath him.

Chuck groaned and somehow found the strength to flip his body over, his legs and lower body flopping in such a way it was clear his time was short. He gazed up at the thing that had been his friend, one eye an empty socket weeping blood, the other holding an eye filled with sorrow and pain, as blood and tears ran mixed from its corner. He spat a glob of phlegm and blood to one side and spoke up weakly, trying to meet Hollowtsuo in its eyes.

"Whatever part of you is still Katsuo, I want you to know, I'm still your friend. I'm sorry this happened. I wish I could have helped you more; I guess I'm too much of a soldier. But it's okay, Katsuo. This isn't really you. You're still my friend. I forgive-"

Spoiler: For Strawbs

Show

You know what to do! That's enough words I figure something will happen, just cutting it off for you ahead of time.

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo winds up without hesitation to aim a strike for Chuck's head.

Then, something hits it. The projectile explodes as quick as it appears, and the smoke from the impact obscures what's going on ground. Chuck is close enough to see it hit, and perhaps the loss of his eye and near-death haze would prove an obstacle, but it looked a lot like an arrow the size of a Volkswagen.

"All of you! Evacuate or fight! I don't care which! But this is bigger than just you, and I don't need people in my way!" That voice is certainly familiar. If also subtly different. Perhaps a bit more empathy? But... this message is all she can manage, and it sounds like she's some distance away.

Because, as the smoke clears... Hollowtsuo was only displaced a few steps from where it was, looking no worse for the wear, really. Its head turns to the source of the projectile - near the top of a building - and... one of his secondary arms lobs a condensed cero in that direction. The entire top of a skyscraper explodes, rubble cascading onto the streets, and molten metal glowing through the bleak smoke.

Well, it seems Chuck has a little more time to choke on his blood and despair.

[KnightDisciple]

The smoke from the impact only added to his coughing fit. Chuck...he wasn't going anywhere. Not far enough to matter for much, anyways.

"Shinji! *Kaff kaff* Naito! *Gurk* You've got to go! Get out of here! *Kaff kaff kaff* Help the others! *Hurgle* Don't worry about me! I-*kaff kaff kaff*-will be fine!"

He pretty clearly means existentially, because it's pretty much Blut Vene, Ransotengai, and sheer will holding his body together. He pushes himself very slightly up from prone with his one arm, looking forlornly at Hollowtsuo.

"I'll buy you time!"

The coughing fit kind of underscores that one. Yet, there's just enough power flowing through him he's able to keep moving and talking, at least a bit. He drops back to prone on his back and reaches into his vest, his hand pulling out a fistful of Ginto capsule-bullets, and in a shoddy blur of motion, he's roll-crawled over to be right underneath Hollowtsu, a trail of blood, and perhaps other things, behind him.

"Forgive me, Katsuo."

With that, he clenches his fist, and tries to set all of the Ginto off at once in a large, if rough, explosion. Of course, at this point everything takes him several precious moments...

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo's focus snaps back down to Chuck and... then Chuck feels a familiar sense of absence. Then the pain receptors kick in as he realizes his hand is just gone. A mangled mess where the sudden impact of a clawed hand leaves its mark. It was really just trying to destroy the capsule, but that level of brute strength doesn't discriminate.

Without a beat, it then kicks at Chuck viciously, throwing him towards a building with a crack. Then... one of its secondary hands grab up the bullets, throws them at Chuck, and lights up a bala when they clatter around him.

Well.

[Kuroimaken]

Between the brutal beatdown Chuck's receiving and everything falling to pieces around him, Shinji finds himself lacking a voice to scream with. He tries to access his powers and cannot find them. He brings a hand to his lips and finds only skin where a mouth should be.

Misaki's voice snaps him to attention for a moment. As he looks at her he realizes something he couldn't possibly know.

She's pregnant.

He tries to stand up but lacks the strength. He tries to wave his arms - but apparently none can see him. He can't even find his own body amid the scattered corpses, and oh how does he look...

[KnightDisciple]

Hollowtsuo's focus snaps back down to Chuck and... then Chuck feels a familiar sense of absence. Then the pain receptors kick in as he realizes his hand is just gone. A mangled mess where the sudden impact of a clawed hand leaves its mark. It was really just trying to destroy the capsule, but that level of brute strength doesn't discriminate.

Without a beat, it then kicks at Chuck viciously, throwing him towards a building with a crack. Then... one of its secondary hands grab up the bullets, throws them at Chuck, and lights up a bala when they clatter around him.

Well.

Chuck just stares dumbly at what was his hand, the waves of pain that define his existence having reached a point where he can't really discern one thing from the next. His head turns shakily to look at Hollowtsuo...

And then he's kicked like a rag doll toward the building. He hits with an unpleasant sound, the building (already half-wrecked) shuddering at the impact, dust and bits of wall starting to fall around Chuck's limp, mangled form (which seems to be barely-together, and twisted in an unnatural way.

Then the Ginto land about him, still holding their energy, and Chuck sees the Bala being held in Hollowtsuo's hand, and even as debris from the crumbling building begins to fall down (it'd likely crush him to death even aside from everything else), he begins to laugh hysterically, interspersed with wet coughs.

He laughs right up until the Bala hits one of the Ginto, and red-blue flames explode out, the building crumbles to rubble, and all that's left is a smoking pile of stone over where Chuck fell.

His energy is gone; Naito, Shinji, and anyone else nearby can't find it, which really leads to only one conclusion.

Hollowtsuo's claimed another victim, but this time it was someone close to him. It.

[strawberryman]

Stupid boy...

Misaki winces as she feels Chuck's reiatsu disappear, quickly padding through an evacuating office building. She had to bugger out before that monster took out the top quarter of the skyscraper she took her potshot at with a casual cero. But now, it was free to roam without anything in its way but her. She had to keep mov-

A massive force takes out much of the face of the office building she was running towards, the screeching of metal and shockwave of the impact throwing Misaki off her feet as she stares in the closest thing to terrified dumbfoundedness she can manage. Which is still muted, mind you, but-

She doesn't have time to sit and stare.

Hollowtsuo is upon her as soon as it spots her, darting in with feral speed. Misaki takes a hirenyaku back, simultaneously forming her shortbow and letting out a barrage of triple-arrow shots, keeping mobile as she circles around. But the arrows prove to be nothing but a nuisance, Hollowtsuo just continuing its vicious pounce attempts. She has the speed advantage for now, but... one slip-up, and it would have her. In a feint as she circles around to the open sky, she dodges another pounce and backpedals, all the while keeping up her offense... before dispelling the bow and dropping downwards with a quick redirect, while Hollowtsuo flies over her.

As she falls, she forms her razor bow, sending a twirling buzz saw of energy at Hollowtsuo while she twirls around, using ransotengai strands to slow her descent before she hits the ground.

Hollowtsuo looks down to the projectile and... catches it in one hand. A screeching sound echoes through the streets as friction is created between its iron-strong (in truth, there is no proper descriptor for its skin, it is beyond any earthly metal) skin and the reishi blade, and not a single drop of blood is spilled... before it throws the projectile back, catching Misaki off guard a bit as she dodges it... and then it impacts the street, sending her sprawling at the crater.

A cero is not long to follow, bathing the street in orangish hellfire. But not really hellfire, so much as... just pure, powerful energy.

[KnightDisciple]

There is a roar from above, and then a column of black tears down from the sky upon Hollowtsuo. It turns out to be flames as black as night, burning hot as any other fire.

Captain Masaru of the Gotei has come, their sensors and scouts picking up the devastation with ease, the veteran commander of the Combat Division being seen as the natural choice to try and stop such a monster in its tracks. Shortly behind the burst of dark flames is the Captain himself, spear in hand as he rides the shadowy dragon that is his Zanpakutou in Bankai. Ancalagon is ready to rip, tear, and burn.

Then again, Hollowtsuo likely is as well...

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo seems to possess some manner of minor instinctual precognitive sense based on its behavior. That said, while he dodges nearly before the pillar strikes down, one side of his body is still caught in the pyre, burned with shadow flame, and still smoldering as Masaru makes his charge. That, however, is expected, the creature holding out a clawed hand, clasping around the point of the spear as it digs into its palm... even drawing a bit of blood.

This seems to spark a hint of rage in the beast as it pulls back and aims a punch armed with titanic strength at Masaru's head.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Seem okay?

Meanwhile, on the ground... Misaki seems to have slipped away from the cero, though she's limping a bit, her left leg burned through her simple jeans (really, it looks like she was doing house chores, her being clad in a white t-shirt, jeans, and a bandana over her tied-up hair). She hobbles over to Shinji and Naito, trying to keep her presence hidden, even though Masaru's heroic charge seems to have gained the beast's attention. She just now notices Shinji's state, giving a pity-filled frown, before turning to Naito.

"...I told you to leave if you can't fight. This... there's no saving your friend from this. I doubt he would even want to be saved. I'm sorry."

With that, she sets to trying to patch Shinji up to her best ability as she takes supplies from a small thigh-strapped medkit, bandaging his open wounds, applying a bit of field morphine... really, does she ever not have everything she needs on hand?

[KnightDisciple]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Cool by me.

Masaru's spear is indeed caught fast by the beast, but the Captain seems unperturbed. The high-speed punch is a bit surprising, but he's able to move his body (and his mount) enough that the fist hits a conjured shadow-"wall" (really just a chunk of solid shadow-stuff). Said barrier shatters instantly, but the important task of actually avoiding the blow was accomplished.

Ancalagon snarls and attempts to bite and claw at Hollowtsuo, even as Masaru shifts to a double-handed grip on his spear (much of which seems to also be shadow-stuff). The end of the spear begins to sprout jagged spikes, clearly trying to damage the hand holding it.

"As a Captain of the Gotei, I am hereby carrying out your sentence: Purification. Whatever part of you is still Yamada Katsuo has my pity, but not my mercy."

The dragon snarls again, and flames build in its throat, even as shadows reach up from the ground to try and bind and slow down the raging beast in front of him.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'll PM you a couple of things.

[strawberryman]

The ground is a long ways away, given they're midair, but the buildings nearby would prove just as effective. That said, Hollowtsuo doesn't seem even a bit restricted, as in one motion it pulls at the end of the spear, snapping it off and crushing the tip, while it spins in the air, feet upward, aiming a vicious kick at Ancalagon's jaw.

But it quickly rights itself, pushing against the air to vault against Masaru, apparently comprehending his reach advantage and seeking to take it away, pushing into extremely close quarters armed with a series of four-armed punches.

[Frozen_Feet]

As Shinji uselessly flails around, a voice cuts through the chaos. Yet, despite its clarity, it sound surreal and distant, as if coming from another time and place.

"Man, I always knew one of them was going to flip and become a killer", the voice muses. If Shinji looks hard enough, he can see a man in black biker jacket, sitting cross-legged on the air. "Though I admit, I thought it'd be the hot-head who'd lose it. Still, feel like Cassandra here. Or wait..." Color-inverted snake eyes turn to look at Shinji. Someone can see him after all!

"... are you Cassandra?"

[KnightDisciple]

The time for words has passed. The crushed spear tip just turns into wisps of shadow, and a new tip grows on the end of the spear. However, the kick is the worse of the attacks; though Ancalagon's dragon-self is ultimately animated shadow, the sword-spirit itself controls the body-construct, and thus is vulnerable, to a degree, to being confused, stunned, etc.

It recovers quickly, but not quickly enough to completely block Hollowtsuo.

Thankfully, Masaru's quick, canny, and experienced. The first couple of blows glance across his body, but his shadowy not-armor absorbs a fair bit of the force, leaving him with just heavy bruising and an ache that'll set in in a couple of minutes. The next couple are dodged. Then a couple are redirected via spear.

Finally the large tail of the dragon snakes up and whips around Hollowtsuo's legs. It won't hold for long, but it's enough to give Ancalagon the leverage to yank the monster that was a young man off its back and fling it to the ground below.

This gives Masaru a chance to breathe and strategize.

[strawberryman]

He doesn't get a cornucopia of time, admittedly. As rubble clears from yet another crash into the street... Masaru can see the orange, convalescing energy gathering in each of Hollowtsuo's palms, pushing them together, linking the edge of one palm with another, and another, arranged in a four-point pattern as energy builds, the beast somehow managing a roar that keens over the crackle of energy.

Then, it fires. A massive wave of quadrupled apex-strength cero, bearing on Masaru.


Misaki keeps trying to patch Shinji up, apparently not noticing Mikael. But... she turns to look over as Hollowtsuo fires off... some manner of special attack. The tension and fear in her eyes is subtle, but... detectable.

Though it's aimed at the sky it parts everything in its path.

On second look... it almost mimics a primitive shape of a butterfly or moth. Who'd have thought something like that could be so destructive?

[Kuroimaken]

For the most part, Misaki's efforts prove fruitless. Sure, dream-Shinji isn't in danger of dying anytime soon, but he doesn't have the strength to move, either.

From Shinji's perspective, her movements are going right through him. Like he's a spectator, not an active party. He briefly wonders if that's why he can't speak - the 'him' in this scenario is simply unable to do so.

But to Mikael he can formulate a response, which helps snap him out of the horror of this situation just a touch.

"...you literally shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be able to."

[Frozen_Feet]

"What are you talking about?", the man replies with a confused voice.
"I'm right where you left me."

Misaki is not the only thing acting in ignorance of Mikael's presence. Everything is. Dust floats through him, his shadow points in the wrong direction. If Shinji tried to get to him, he'd find himself unable to cross the distance, the mirage of the man staying the same length away despite not moving.

The man turns to look at the devastation. "It's funny. I used to fear I'd be the one to do something like this. I certainly had my low moments. But in the end, it never happened. It never got this bad. I wonder why?"

A sudden sound cuts through the man's voice, a sound much more real than him. Helicopters. The mundane world is finally reacting to this catastrophe.

[KnightDisciple]

Masaru knows the sound and look of a Cero or Gran Rey Cero charging. This is the latter, which is bad.

Ancalagon is moving just a couple of eyeblinks after the whole thing starts. It's...almost...enough. The huge blast of energy doesn't annihilate either of them. The edges of it scrape by, giving Masaru something of a tan on one side, and shredding one of Ancalagon's wings. Now, in some cases this wouldn't be much of an issue, but the shockwave from the attack, combined with the nearness of the ground, and the sheer, raw power involved, means the Captain doesn't recover in time, and only managed to blunt their impact with some soft shadow constructs. It still tears up concrete and kicks up a lot of dust, though.

The pile of Captain, dragon, and shadow-stuff writhes about for a few moments. He's only rattled, but it's an opening of a few moments that might be critical...


Meanwhile, over near to where Misaki and Shinji are (or "are"?), there's not only the sound of helicopters, but now wheels and treads!

Coming into view is a portion of an armored division, it seems. A couple of tanks roll down a side street, while several AFVs and IFVs roll in, arranging themselves very close to the Quincy and the Medium. A couple of vehicles behind the nominal front line are marked with the international symbol for medical care, and it is from these vehicles that several troops rush forward, bags in hand, even as many more armed infantry rush out, trying to take up positions near (but not too near) to Hollowtsuo.

"Ma'am, what is your condition? Are you injured? What about these young men?"

He clearly means Shinji and Naito, both of whom haven't moved much, if at all, from their spots.

[strawberryman]

The energy pillar lasts for a blinding few seconds before it dissipates, but there's still a massive hole in the clouds where it pierced through. The wings of a moth floating over the city, sun pouring through the window in the stormy clouds before they begin to reform.

The arriving troops get a first-hand look at just how fast the creature in front of them can move. A half a second ticks. It's there. Then. It's not. A roar echoes through the streets as Hollowtsuo bears down on Masaru, a singular punch that cracks the air rocketing down for his body. When it makes contact with anything in particular, it creates a massive shockwave that even a peak human would have trouble standing up in.

Misaki looks to the arriving troops, grimacing intensely. "...You need to get out of here. You're just going to die. Focus on evacuation. You can't kill this."

[KnightDisciple]

Even the tanks pause as Hollowtsuo just...moves. They sit there, clearly waiting further orders.

Meanwhile, the ground troops are either taking up defensive positions, or scurrying about trying to help any and all living/wounded people in the area, either pointing them in a direction to run, or loading them onto stretchers and moving toward the multitude of medical evacuation vehicles. Two paramedics arrive next to the seemingly-unconscious Shinji and begin checking vitals and preparing him for transport. One of them looks to Misaki, a haunted look on his face.

"We don't even know what This is, ma'am. We're just doing our best to do our duty. But..."

He trails off, but the momentary inaction of the armed forces is testimony enough about their uncertainty and fear.

Meanwhile, a Knight is upon a Dragon, and though most of the Mortals present cannot really see it, the Knight continues to face the Monster, with an almost preternatural calm.

Ancalagon breathes out fire in a dense wave. It doesn't quite form a wall, but the "clump" of fire will provide a touch of resistance (theoretically), and more importantly will burn. A lot. The construct-ride's wings are both back, and it's in the skies again with a single flap, Masaru himself conjuring up a shadow-spear in his free hand to fling at Hollowtsuo as well.

Perhaps his cause is futile, but perhaps it will buy just a bit of time for others...

[strawberryman]

Hollowtsuo goes straight through the wall of fire. But... it gives enough resistance for Masaru to escape unscathed as the tearing shockwave of the fiend's fist impacting the air resounds through the area. What's more... the flames have also appeared to gain some purchase, skin smoldering and burnt almost to blackness in places.

It appears that the titan can be harmed. That said... it doesn't give it much pause, as it catches the spear and crushes it in a hand, even while its secondary arms, only slightly burnt by the wall, throw a barrage of bala at Masaru's direction, a wall of orange energy bullets flying for the combat captain.

Secondly, there's a sudden flurry of shockwaves from behind the blinding curtain of energy... as Hollowtsuo appears behind Masaru in a flurry of either sonido or bringer light, continuing the onslaught. Finally, it vaults off the air itself, up, and then... down, aiming a massive punch downward, counting on him dealing with the bala.


Misaki clenches a fist. Maybe the shinigami could manage, but it was closer than she'd like. There was still a way she could try and take the monster down, but... it was something that she'd forsaken. Then again, she'd all but forsaken combat before this threat arose, so...

"...your duty is to stay alive. You need to leave." She didn't really count on mortal bullets to enrage this thing more than Masaru already has, but... she didn't feel like taking that risk.

[KnightDisciple]

Masaru's eyes widened at the sheer wall of Bala, but wasn't concer-
And then there was another wall of Bala-
And then a punch!

Moving faster than a normal eye could track, suddenly Hollowtsuo's fist met something that felt stronger than steel...and then was simply gone! It seemed Ancalagon, construct of shadow that it was, had interceded for Masaru. Still, the explosion of shadowy energy propelled the Captain toward the ground just as surely as the shockwaves from the punch itself.

Right through the oncoming wall of Bala. He managed to mostly cover himself in shadows, such that he didn't die, but by the time he slammed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, said protection was ragged, and so was he.

The *CRACK* that echoed across the impromptu battlefield was unmistakable for anything except bone breaking. Even the most spirit-blind of mortals there can hear it. Dust flies out, obscuring Masaru from Misaki's view for a moment.

When the view is clear again, Masaru stands there, bleeding from a dozen shallow wounds, the pseudo-armor of shadow over his body shredded and scattering in the wind, barely pulling itself together. The long spear of shadow in his hand has lost its end, but is slowly reforming. He leans heavily against it, his right hand achieving a white-knuckle grip, his left arm sparking and jerking at his side, his left leg definitely not angled healthily.

His eyes and other senses cast about, trying to find Hollowtsuo...

[strawberryman]

A chill wind blows through the battlefield...

Masaru doesn't see the hollow above. Or on street level. It wouldn't just... leave, would it? There's an awful lot of smoke, though. It might just be trying to avoid just jumping from a predictable angle-

But then it's upon him, hoisting him up with a single hand and winding up a punch.

Masaru's instincts are good enough that he can attempt a jab into Hollowtsuo's side, but... one of the secondary arms grabs on, an audible crack and crunch sounding as the combat captain feels like he's being torn at from the very core. Hollowtsuo's other primary arm attempts to grab on, and then turn him and smash him into the ground, all while holding onto the spear end.