[Log] Saving Private Inoue... Otherside! (part 1)

[togabitoion]

Who: : Tatsuki Arisawa, Uryuu Ishida, Toushirou Hitsugaya, Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo Kurosaki, Gin Ichimaru (omg hollow spoofing), Nourriture, Nergal Junior, Olivier Lenheim, Lust, Wrath, Kenpachi Zaraki, Subaru Sumeragi, Peter Venkman... and guest appearances by Egon, Slimer, Gluttony, Aizen, Grimmjow, and Menos in a Pear Tree
Where: All over Karakura. Really.
When: Monday, April 17, 2006
What: When Uryuu and Tatsuki went to save Orihime, there was a distraction. This is the insanity linked with said distraction.
Watch For: Singing, Red Shirts, Trashmen, Horse-Kings, Arm-Stealing, Imported Coffee, and Crosswords, oh my!

olivier lenheim, kenpach zaraki, subaru sumeragi, peter venkman - I need tags for these chars. kthx. :D



The time has come to finish this. Tatsuki still looks like hell - she's still
sporting wounds from her first-hand experience with supernatural medieval
torture techniques, and her arms and torso are pretty thoroughly bandaged. This
is why she's wearing dark clothes, for once; black tee shirt and a similarly
dark overshirt, with black slacks. Her hands, however. are bound up tight with
bandages, in preparation for breaking faces.
She has not alerted anyone but Ishida to her plans for today. She steps up to
Orihime's apartment, hand slipping into her pocket, fingering the spare key
there, as if to make sure it's still real. She looks up at Ishida next to her.
"You ready?"

A girl is padding slowly towards... Uryuu's reiatsu. Nourriture learns fast.
She is fully visible by human, death god and interplanar visitor alike, and is
carrying a remarkably ornate wooden staff that was created from Karakura junk
with her Fusionist powers. She's nearing the building. Earlier, her and Marona
had to fend off a Hollow... but she's got what she hopes is exactly what they
were looking for out of it. It's time to save Orihime... of course, she can't
walk through walls right now while Confined, so she's moving more slowly.
Nevertheless, she approaches the duo, waving one hand. "Uryuu! Uryuu!"

Uryuu Ishida nods, hand tightening on his backpack's strap. He has opted for a
casual outfit, rather than his Quincy uniform; he doesn't want to alert whoever
is inside that he's ready to fight if he has to. "I'm ready whenever you are,
Arisawa-san," he says firmly. "Be careful." She's torn up pretty badly; he'd
heard a bit about the fight she was involved in, from Nourriture, but he
doesn't have time to get all the details.
Ah, speaking of Nourriture. Uryuu hears her voice, and he turns to see her
coming toward the apartment building. He waves to her (from a couple floors up,
in front of Orihime's door), and puts a finger to his mouth to indicate she
should be careful. Whoever's got Orihime might or might not have enough
spiritual sense to see and hear her.

Subaru arrived in Karakura, adjusting his long white coat as the wind blew past
quite forcefully. He took a deep breath as he was almost overwhelmed by the
spiritual pressure here, feeling the raw emotion surge through his body. His
knees began to seize up as he almost collapsed and forced himself to this feet.
So many stories here and they were overwhelming his mind.
The boy straightens himself, looking around him. The IPA sent him here for a
reason and the fax was marked urgant. This entire city couldn't be the job
could it? He was just told to be careful and to take all of his tools. The
Onmyouji stared at the nearby apartment complex and then the surrounding area.
"What have I gotten myself into?" He continues toward the apartment building.
"Excuse me!" He waves to the group at the apartment building, bowing deeply
before he calls up. "Is this Karakura?"

Tatsuki...ignores the ghost. Pretend it's not there and it'll go away. Yes. It
can't fail! And it's certainly better than Ichigo's 'yell and scream until
every ghost in the city is in your face' technique.
She grunts at Ishida. The man on the street...well, someone else can answer
him. Tatsuki has a mission, and if anyone obstructs it they will be on the
receiving end of a beating they won't soon forget. Withdrawing the key from her
pocket, she holds it up, making sure - again, for the tenth time - that it's
the right one. It still is. Heaving a breath, she quietly slides it into the
keyhole. "Here we go," she mutters. "Ready for anything, remember."
She turns the key, and opens the door.

Nourriture ohs! She looks a little uneasy, forgetting who they were dealing
with. She takes a hop, a skip, and a jump, and floats into the air to begin
flying up to the floor- only to notice Subaru calling to them! She squeaks and
forces her arms down, bunching up her robe, and says quietly, "Yes, yes, this
is Karakura! But be very quiet! This is very dangerous..."
She floats upwards, the crystals in the gnarled wooden tip of the staff
glittering in their recesses. "Uryuu... I think I've found the place, but I
can't be sure. I feel really uneasy about this... but I did exactly as you told
me, and I'm sure I found something."
She looks at Tatsuki. She coughs a little, there's no denying she can see her
now. "Hello. I'm Nourriture. I helped you when Lust wounded you, and I met you
and Orihime at the sakura festival. I know you have your reasons for ignoring
me and that's OK. But I'm on your side, and I'm Uryuu's friend. Please don't...
be afraid of me. Please don't hate me."

The door opens...
The stale smell of unwashed dishes hangs in the air. It's quiet and empty, no
signs of life or activity at all. A couple broken dishes lie near the kitchen,
and a table shows signs of being kicked repeatedly. There's also some torn-up
carpet near a wall, but otherwise nothing looks horribly out of place in the
living room.

Uryuu steps into the room with the utmost care, focusing his spiritual senses
with as much precision as he can muster. He nods to Tatsuki, then moves in
further, glancing into the kitchen, then moving toward Orihime's bedroom.
Subaru felt alittle uneasy at the answers he received. Then again he did just
show up out of nowhere. He waves at his answer, walking alittle distance away
to try to find the urgent job he needed to complete. This town was alot worse
than Tokyo with the density of the spirits here and he could've sworn those
people were just adding to the feelings.

...Didn't that girl just float? Subaru eyes darted back to the apartment and
closed his eyes to see if he could get a sense of what was in there. Nothing
new...Everything was so overwhelming here. And judging by that girl from
before, she would be fine with her friends. He rubs his hands together and just
waits.

Tatsuki grunts at Nourriture. "I don't have time to babysit. My friend's in
danger and I have some necks to break." She turns, and gives Nourriture a glare
ferocious enough to strip the very stars of heat. "You can help, but stay the
hell out of my way, or one of 'em will be yours."
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she steps inside. "Not cleaned up..." she
mumbles. "Not like her. Must've been like we thought..." She walks over to the
torn section of carpet, squatting down to look at it. She doesn't have any
remarkable spiritual senses - they're there, but so ill-trained as to be almost
useless. Still, maybe she'll get lucky and find something?

Nourriture recoils in fear as Tatsuki glares at her. She's shocked into
silence, but raises a hand to her neck. This is a first. She's the one scaring
a ghost.
There's not much that Nourriture can do in this situation because here, she
doesn't know what she's looking for, but she can accompany the pair of friends
nevertheless. She walks with them, looking at Uryuu for a signal or
instructions, her form seemingly solid now as long as she carries the staff.
She tries to feel for something. She searches for... objects. Items. Something
that has sigificance.

*WEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO! WEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO! WEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*
Nobody in their right minds, or in this town, probably knows what that
sound is. But on the random chance that there's somebody out on the streets
that recognizes it, they'll be glad to to see that the Ecto-1 comes speeding
around the corner! Which corner? Does it honestly matter that much? The fact of
the matter is that the White Knight of Busting Justice is racing towards a
particularly popular apartment building. Close behind it? A Channel 9 News van
that's trying desperately to catch up.
Tires screech to a halt in front of the building and the siren finally
goes off, though the flashing lights continue. The Caddy's engine is turned off
and the driver's door is flung wide open. Black combat boots hit the ground and
out steps the best and greatest Ghostbuster of them all, Dr. Peter Venkman.
"Alright, alright! Everyone can relax now! I'm here!" Peter holds his
hands up, spinning around slowly to address whatever crowd that's gathered to
welcome him. Yes, even if there's no crowd, he's certainly going to talk to the
imaginary one in his head. He looks around for a moment, before heading to
another door on the Ecto-1 and sliding out the Proton Pack Rack. "Hey, Slimer!
Bring me that address, would ya'?!"
Everyone's favorite green blob pokes his head through the ceiling of
the car and blinks a couple of times. Finally, he nods and ducks back down into
the car, presumably to eat something or find the address.
Meanwhile, that Channel 9 News van finally catches up and parks, a
small group of people hopping out and setting up quickly. They don't want to
miss a thing. "Hurry up, Mikey! I don't want to miss a thing!" That would be
Marsha Bradley, HOT Field Reporter...

There was one kid waiting for them...or so it seemed. Subaru just stares at the
flashy light and does what every japanese kid would do in the situation.
"That's so cool!" He claps his hands together, not sure what was going on. He
eyes the news van and then the ghost coming out of the back. This was all quite
a show, even from a distance. His eyes then saw the camera and pulled his hat
down to hide. This was on TV? He just made a dork of himself in a strange
world...and maybe he just ruined a take! This could be a TV show. He would
apologize but that could make it worse.

If there's such a thing as spiritual residue, Orihime's is all over the place.
And so are Envy's and Wrath's. And a third homunculus, one who seems to like
water. And if he tries the closet, he's going to get a lot of sparkly spiritual
residue. Other than that, nothing.
The bedroom is worse off than the living room, with torn blankets and discarded
towels all over the place. There are two futons still placed side by side, and
closet and drawer contents seem to have been thrown all over the place. (Just
not the panty drawer.)

Tatsuki might also notice a few things out of place. Orihime's schoolbooks are
not in their normal position, instead they're sitting next to her sewing kit.
And all of her school keys, including the arts & crafts room keys, are missing.

Uryuu winces at the state of the bedroom, clothes scattered all over the place.
Empty. Juuust great. He focuses on the traces of Orihime's energy that are left
behind. It's hard to tell, since she's been living here for so long. But he
traces the energy around and back out the door, squinting to try to catch the
trail from her departure.
...Why is there a camera crew?

Seemingly foreign reiatsu floods Nourriture's senses, taking her by surprise.
She floats idly hither and thither, and for a moment it's hard to figure out
what's going on. Then she pauses. She recalls the great battle in the storm...
one of the people there... one of them was a homonculus! And the second,
totally unfamiliar and yet recogniseable... she looks to Uryuu. "Two homonculi.
One I recognise before... he was a boy at that great battle. A wild child. And
the other... I sense water. A watery homonculus."

Outside, meanwhile, there's one particular kid who happens to be
arriving from a local Gate. Those with spiritual senses (or those, like
Venkman, equipped with spiritometers) may find there are traces of something
unholy, with the spiritual smell of fire and sulfur, eminating from the side of
the building outside somewhere. And a few moments later, from something more
specific: an American kid of about grade school age, wearing green-tinted
glasses, and walking towards the exterior of the apartment from the Gate
district.
Nergal Junior looks down at a musty tome in his hands, then up to the
symbol of a ghost with a crossed-out sign over it, on the side of the Ecto-1.
He deadpans, "I ain't afraid of no ghosts."

Tatsuki frowns at the book. Moved to the sewing kit? What could that mean?
Shaking her head, she pads over to the key rack to examine it and-- "...bingo,"
she mutters.
She turns to leave, but stops dead as the camera crew catches her eyes. She
turns to Ishida, and says, with the eerily deadpan tones of someone who has had
quite enough stress over the last month and really, /really/ needs to kill
someone, "Why is there a camera crew?"

Wrath watches the group enter Orihime's apartment from the branches of a tree,
a good long distance away from the apartment to avoid being noticed. The
homunculi are finally starting to learn to respect this terrible, plan wrecking
thing called reiatsu sensing! And here's a new potential plan-wrecking thing:
the local media. Ugh. Wrath glares at the vehicles from his perch, shaking his
head. He waits for a bit, so his arrival won't be too coincidental, then drops
from the tree and begins to stroll towards Orihime's apartment, holding a large
and rather full laundry bag over his shoulder. He plays it casual, muttering
about being made to do the laundry as he passes the news crew and hunching down
a bit under the weight. It's not long before he's padding up the steps and
walking to the front door.
"Env--ack! What are you people--?" Wrath's eyes widen with shock at the sight
of invaders in the apartment. Oh no! Suddenly, the laundry bag begins to
squirm, emitting muffled feminine vocalizations. He's carrying a woman in
there, not dirty clothing! A woman, and no squirrel poop. He made sure of that.
The little homunculus immediately leaps off the landing and makes a break for
it, running down the street at full speed.

Peter practically bows to the imaginary applause that's coming from the
crowd in his head and he holds up a finger. "Hold it, hold it. Make sure you
get my good side." He spins on his heels, showing off the blemish free right
side of his face and snatches up a Proton Pack. Without even showing a bit of
strain, he slides his arms into the straps, getting ready to go do his thing.
Marsha Bradley (or as it's pronounced here in K-Town, Marshi-Chan! or
something) slides right up to, "Dr. Venkman! Dr. Venkman! A minute, please?"
Peter smiles at the Fourth Wall before turning around to meet
Marshi-Chan with a bright smile. "Always." He crosses his arms over his chest
and leans back against the Ecto-1.
"Just, what exactly are you doing out here? I mean, this is certainly
pretty far from home for the Ghostbusters, wouldn't you say?"
Peter smiles and pushes back off the car, reaching out to take the
microphone. "Well, you see, it's really quite simple. There's been rumors and
phone calls to the Ghostbusters about this place. This building in particular."
He nods back towards the apartment building. "So I'm here to, as they say,
check things out." Peter flashes a smile and looks back to Marsh-Chan, who is
no longer paying much attention to Peter right about now. Why? Well, let's take
a look at what's happening next to him.
Slimer's floating there, smiling proudly and modeling. Why would this
blob of ectogoo be modeling? Well, it's probably because he's snuck a Proton
Pack onto his back and he's posing for the camera. Oh yes, he's ready to help
Peter kick some spirit booty!
Back to Peter...
"NO! No. Absolutely NOT!"
Somebody better get rid of this camera crew if they want Peter to pay
attention to anything but them. Or well, something needs to explode. YOU DECIDE!

Peter's in luck. His PKE Meter is starting to go off. The strongest readings
seem to be in the same direction that the little kid with the squirming laundry
bag is running.

Uryuu scowls at the crew. "I... really couldn't begin to guess. And I honestly
don't care, actua --" Wrath arrives, yelps, and takes off running, and Uryuu
stares at him in shock. "Wrath!" He starts down the stairs, calling back,
"Arisawa-san, Nourriture, come on! He's got --" Wait... He's pretty sure that's
not Orihime's reiatsu coming from the bag. He can't tell what it feels like,
but he would know if it were Orihime...
Uryuu thinks fast. "Nourriture, can you try to slow Wrath down? It isn't
Inoue-san, but whoever it is may need help. Arisawa-san..." He almost asks her
to go after Wrath too, but he knows she won't accept anything but finding
Orihime herself. "I'm going to try to track Inoue-san's spirit energy. Do you
have any idea where they might have gone? It could make the search easier." He
closes his eyes and extends his senses...

To a phantom brave, orders are life. A wandering spirit, summoned or not,
without a purpose in life will eventually become a monster. And even though
Marona is her Mistress... there's something about being asked by Uryuu that
feels just the same. Nourriture nods. She grips her staff. She has a mission.
Here's a shot for the cameras: Nourriture dashes out of the building with
unbelieable speed, and leaps from the door, hovering in the air. "YOU!" she
shouts at Wrath. "This horrible madness ends right here, and right now! We're
going to stop you all!"
The staff floats between her hands. It was made from a tree. The trees can
help. "Power of mother nature, guardian spirits of the wood, big or small! Use
your power to root this guy and save this innocent victim! TREE... ROOTED!"
Nourriture dives at Wrath, as the roots of trees explode up around him. It's
time to rock and roll!

Tatsuki squawks as Wrath is suddenly RIGHT THERE. She rears back and spins a
kick right at the little demon elf's head, but he's gone already. That bag--
but no. No, that's...it doesn't feel like her. Just a hunch. As Ishida orders
Nourriture off, Tatsuki looks up at him. "Orihime's school keys are missing.
All of them. I'm giving good odds they're there." She gives Ishida a curious
look, adding, "Did you give her a key to the arts and crafts room? There was a
spot for it on her little key...thing. But it's gone too."
A monotone voice, very Ben Stein-like, interrupts Peter's protestations.
"Peter, I'm picking up exceptionally high energy readings from the direction
that little boy is runnign off to." Dr. Egon Spengler, PhD, exits Ecto-1 and
points his PKE meter off in Wrath's direction. "Something big's going that way,
perhaps we should investigate."

"Alright, let's see... yeah, they should be coming soon. This time I'm
damned well ready for them," Junior murmurs to himself, opening the tome and
flipping through it, when Wrath comes flying by, laundry bag in tow. The kid
doesn't flinch at the laundry bag; if he wants to go kidnapping people, yeah,
sure, go for it. It's more that something fierce seems to be going down -
especially as that asshole ghost seems to fling an assault his way.
"Hey, Wrath! Heads up!" A black tentacle slithers out from under
Junior's shirt, grasping the tome and storing it away within his body, as
hard-carapaced, angular spiderlike legs emerge from out of his back. Junior's
body is suspended in the air as the legs begin to gallop after Wrath as well,
mostly just trying to catch up and figure out what's going on here.

Subaru moves back from the tree explosion, removing the ofuda from his coat and
getting them ready. He stares around and then at the approaching Ghostbusters
with a blank look. What was that equipment for anyway? He considers his options
and concentraits, raising one Ofuda. "Om Bazara Daruma Kiri Souka...Om Bazara
Daruma Kiri Souka...Om Bazara Daruma Kiri Souka." Subaru chants quietly into
the ofuda, watching it lift from his hand and catch fire to form a large three
headed crow. "Go scout out the area, please."
Now would be the time when the spiritual energy around the boy starts to sky
rocket. He continues to concentrait on the spell, sensing the world view of his
guardian spirit. The bird flies up to the roof and spotting Wrath, starts to
trail him from the sky.

Wrath runs, runs, as fast as he can, but he is caught, because he is not the
gingerbread man. If it weren't for the taller roots appearing directly in front
of him, he probably would have toppled forward with the sudden loss of momentum
from the lower ones grabbing his legs. As it is, he smacks his face into one of
them, hard. The little boy curses, using words someone his age really shouldn't
know. He can't get caught this quickly! With his free hand, he grabs one of the
roots, transmuting it into a stake, and hurls it at Nourriture, snarling, "Back
off!" The moment the first transmutation is done, he begins stepping to one
side, transmuting his legs into and out of the wood until he's free. Since it's
just wood, a substance he is definitely familiar with, the process just takes
seconds, and then he's off and running again. He glances back briefly, flashing
a grin at Junior. "Hey, Junior!" He glances back again, his eyes slightly wider
now that he's taken in the legs. "That's awesome!"

Uryuu nods and turns in the direction of Karakura High. "Yes, I did. That's the
key that's missing? Alright, I'll focus the search there." He stops, breathing
rhythmically, calling to the energy around him. It's more difficult without his
powers, but this is one thing he can still do...
Those with strong spiritual senses might see the air around Uryuu almost seem
to darken. Sparks of blue energy glow around him, then coalesce into long white
threads, dozens of them, waving around him as if blown by a strong wind. Uryuu
breathes slowly, then suddenly his eyes open and his hand wings out to grab
one. "There!" His hand snaps up to grab another thread at the same time. "She's
at the school," he says, "and Envy is there with her." The honorific he once
used is long since gone. Without another word he moves, spirit threads
vanishing once again, running at top speed toward the school.

Nourriture swipes as Wrath, but he's able to... somehow move out of the trap as
quickly as you could believe, with his hostage. And now he's got company. She
looks pained for a moment, then suddenly thinks of a plan. She turns quickly to
the gathered group. "All of you, please! If you're heroes, please help me stop
them! A person's life is in danger... this is no place for cam-e-ras!"
If this appeal can reach the hearts of the people around her, she'll have
allies at her back as she resumes the chase after Wrath. She can't use roots
and she can't hit the bag... so all Nourriture can do... is chase.

Tatsuki Arisawa has no need for honorifics, when it comes to "Juliana."
She requires only extreme degrees of violence. And possibly something to stop
the bleeding so he doesn't die before she kills him. Her. ...It.
"I coulda toldja that!" Tatuski barks. "The only keys missing are from the
school, I just toldja that!" She looks about ready to deck Ishida, but he
manages to run off before her current frustration manages to manifest itself
into physical violence. "Right, fine, break his nose AFTER he helps me beat the
invincible evil from another dimension. /Priorities,/ Tatsuki."
So grumbling, Tatsuki breaks into a sprint after Ishida.

"Yeah, well, gotta go fast," Junior calls back ahead to Wrath, as he
continues to spiderrun with his extended limbs, body kept suspended a couple of
feet over the ground by the length of the legs. "Listen, I just saw you running
past all of a sudden and I wanted to know what's up. Something going down?
Also, uh, expect soul-eaters." As long as Wrath doesn't seem in danger of being
harmed by those chasing him, Junior doesn't do anything to impede them; he's
just running to keep in vocal range.

Those inside Inoue's apartment can sense three very strong Reiatsus from
somewhere on the other side. Except there's no one there, so it no longer
matters! A wall in the living room shakes once. Twice. Three times. Then it
starts to rattle, starting at subtle and moving to violently, shaking things
off of walls and finaly, the front wall /bursts/ in a cloud of plaster dust,
wood splinters and insulation.
"Anything, Toushirou? Kenpachi?" says Ichigo as he steps through the wreckage
of the wall. He did it this time, maybe he's spent too much time hanging around
with Kenpachi.
"....Nobody's here. What now?"

The Onmyouji follows far behind, following after the pair from a distance. He
tried to get a sense of what was happening from his Shikigami's view, which
soared over Wrath and Junior at a safe distance above them. He had to get the
bottom of what was going on in this town.
The magical energy pouring from this boy continued to burn brightly making him
a sitting duck for whatever was coming. On this note, Subaru triped and fell
flat on his face, furthering the point that he was a sitting duck. He pushes
himself back up and continues after them, now further behind.

Some parts of the front wall seem to still be intact, oddly enough.
...Or not, as Kenpachi bursts through the half still intact. Yachiru is, oddly
enough, not with him.
"Oi, Shorty! Are you sure they were here?" He mutters. "Not even that guy who
was chucking around those iron maidens." For once, Kenpachi and Ichigo are not,
in fact, fighting with EACH OTHER. My god.
Someone is gonna be screwed when these two cacth up with it.

The little white-haired captain passes through the new door with a bit of
consternation. Toushirou Hitsugaya could have told them that there was nobody
inside, but Ichigo has been taking classes in advanced home-wrecking from
Kenpachi. He snaps back, especially since Ken called him shorty, "Use your
eyes! Do they look like they're here? We were too slow."

Yes, do expect some sort of trouble if you are going this way.
It's amazing how much spiritual energy has gathered in this town lately. And
so many different kinds too! In fact, some might even be wondering why all this
spiritual soup hasn't stirred up a crowd of Hollows looking to go on a picnic.
Perhaps maybe they were just waiting until all the dishes were layed out. Or
maybe they were telling all their friends, sending out the word to all the
other Hollows that Karakura town was the place to be. In any case, maybe, just
maybe, today was the day they were waiting for, because it seems that the
spiritual density of this block is the thickest it's been in a long time. And
it's just begun to get thicker.
The Ghostbuster's PKE meter may go off suddenly, detecting a few new signals.
Any Shinigami in the area may get calls of Hollows being recognized. Or feel
that disturbance not too far in the distance near the factory(if they don't
have the sensitivity of a brick). And if you aren't as lucky to have some sort
of device to alert you to what's going on? Well maybe you might notice those
big ripples in the air where you're all headed towards. Or feel that creepy
feeling that something's lurking there just out of reach.
If you're lucky.

Wrath glances back at the pursuit, then sets his eyes forward, putting on a
little extra speed. "Yep! Something's...going down," he says between breaths.
"I've got a...hostage!" He sounds pretty cheerful about all of this, though it
seems to be a rather vicious sort of cheer, if that's possible. "Soul...you
mean...Hollows?" He's beginning to approach the industrial part of town, blind
to the change in spiritual energy in the area.

"Dammit. I told you we shouldn't have stopped to fight, Kenpachi! If we hadn't,
we'd have made it before everyone bailed!" Ichigo grumps at the huge man,
folding his arms across his chest petulantly. "Now what? We're left in the
dust."
He kicks a piece of debris to make his point. It takes out the coffee table.

But someone isn't.
Nourriture gasps as she follows Wrath into the industrial district. The
pressure pounds on her. Hollows. Bad. Very. This is crazy. They're charging in.
This is going to...
For one innocent, it's worth the risk.
"Everyone!" she shouts to the people following her as they move. "This is bad,
and it's OK to turn back now! I can feel bad things... very bad things! And
these are the kind of bad things that could destroy you and your soul... and if
you want to be safe, be safe! If I have you at my back then I thank you and
call you friend... but this is some really bad stuff we're heading into!"
She continues, chasing Wrath to the factory no matter who is behind her.
Because Uryuu asked her to.

Subaru tripped against feeling an intense pushing against him as the sky
rippled. His green eyes widened as he looked around. That wasn't right. What
was that? It felt like a thousand voices screaming and clawing at
something...Like a trapped animal. He groans as he starts to feel that clawing
against his skin, producing his Ofuda from his sleeve. He starts to stand up,
looking around as he keeps track of what Shikigami was doing. ...It wasn't
left...nor right...nor forward...Behind him? No. That just left one direction,
slowing up turning his head as he saw a ripple and felt it surge through him.
"What is happening here?" He looks terrorfied at the sky, moving quickly toward
the factory again.

Peter hasn't been running that long, but he's already stopped to lean
up against a wall. Breathing heavily, he sighs. "... Why can't... why can't I
ever chase ghosts that stand still..." He sighs a little bit more, before
hopping back to his running. He's hardly paying attention to his PKE Meter, but
at least he's still giving chase. "... I'm so charging them extra for this."
"Hey! It's your fault for taking so long to start fighting!" He growls,
recklessly swinging hsi Zanpakuto around, cutting through a bookshelf. Yes.
These two are calm and reasonable and don't wreck antyhing. "Do you wanmt to
settle this now, Ichigo?" Well, at this rate, he'll have half of his to do list
done by the end of the day.
"That's cool," Junior calls back calmly - not a vicious cheer, but just
sheer total neutrality to the news. "Yeah, they're called Hollows, right? I set
up a spirit trap here - I came to take some home with me - and it's going off
like crazy right now. Feels like you're headed straight for 'em, too!" Junior
pauses, and then looks over at Nourriture to the side, still keeping up the
run, and calls back, "The dead girl's right! Hollows are /total assholes/ and I
hate them. Hey, Ghostbuster guy, get ready to bust some ghosts!"

Toushirou Hitsugaya crosses his arms and looks up and up at the substitute
Shinigami and the other captain. "Give me a moment." The little captain's brows
knit in such intense concentration, that someone might think he's having an
aneurism. A slight blue aura surrounds him before spirit threads burst up
around him. There's a lot of them, but is one of them...red? The shinigami cell
phones and Ichigo's medal go off in warning right about now about the MASS of
Hollows converging on the area. Toushirou's eyes fly open, and he points to the
window, outside towards the Industrial area of Karakura, "That way! Hollows!"
"...Crap." Hollows. Great. Getting in the way of saving Inoue. Stupid things.
"Rrgh. I'm so mad right now!" Ichigo doesn't go for the door to head out after
the Hollows. That'd take too much time. No, he heads right for the wall that
leads outside.
The Death God ducks his shoulder and charges the outside wall, raming it and
/exploding/ it outwards, sending a rain of glass, brick and other debris down
on the street. Once the hole is made, Ichigo leaps, arcing through the air to
land on a nearby, lower rooftop, where he starts running and jumping, using
rooftops as a road towards the Industrial sector.

Hollows, what. Wait. Wait a second, Ichigo's getting away! "GET BACK HERE!"
Kenpachi yells, once again intent on smashing through what's left of the wall.
Can't let ICHIGO upstage him, after all. And so, he, too, rushes from rooftop
after rooftop, after Ichigo, towards the deadly hollow swarm.
He thinks. After all, he has teh spiritual senses of a stump.
A CONFUSED Stump.

Lust is annoyed. The sack smells like hairy wet animal, maybe even *dead*
animal. It reeks, and it's hot, and she's rolled up into a little
homuncusphere. She doesn't even have to feign struggling, it's all she can do
just to try and get comfortable. The woman is jostled and bounced roughly as
Wrath takes off. ~He can't just run. Ohhhhhhh no. He had to jump on every
freaking tree branch in his path, and Lust gets thumped over every single one
of those woody speedbumps. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
It's a shame, really, that having no soul whatsoever renders her incapable of
feeling reiatsu of any kind. On the plus side, though, the Hollows won't want
to snack on her or Wrath. They eat souls. Homunculi ain't got 'em. ~I hope LOTS
of idiots are following. The more targets I get to stab to death, the better,~
she scowls darkly, knitting her brow.

Toushirou Hitsugaya flash-steps out the other hole in the wall, not to avoid
the ceiling chunks that fall and shatter on the floor, but because he is intent
on getting to the scene of the convergence before the other two shinigami do.
Ichigo could probably beat him there, but Hitsugaya remembers he's leading the
blind. He hops the roofs, silently cursing that he's too slow. He doesn't want
to be too late for this meeting.

Peter blinks as he's called out. Kind of. "Get ready to..." He looks
down at his PKE Meter as he hangs off his belt. It's practically about to
explode or something from all the energy that's making it go bonkers. "... oh."
He's already got his gear powered up, but at least he's going to get to do some
busting. He heads in the general direction of Junior, because... well... he's
the only one of ALL THESE FREAKING PEOPLE that seems to be paying him the
worship he deserves. "Why do I get the feeling that if I say I've got a bad
feeling, that bad things are going to happen?"

Subaru stops near where everyone is gathered, breathing heavily before he
starts pointing at the sky. "Umm! We need to get out of here! Something bad is
going to happen if we don't hurry!" He points at the sky and tries to find the
words to explain it all. "Ummm...err.. Bad things!"
The Shikigami is continuing the follow the Homunculus like the awesomely
freaky looking bird it is.

By the time Wrath and the others arrive at the factory, a shadowy form has
begun to pull itself out of a tear between two worlds. It smells the spirits
coming closer, and if it's mask weren't in the way, it would probably grin.
Instead it just lets out a roar, the unworldly howl seeming to echo like an
empty stomach long since neglected. The ground shudders as it takes a few steps
forward, and soon another Hollow follows through after it.
If you can see them, this is what they look like. The first one is tall, and
hunched over. It looks sort of amphibious, though it obviously has man-like
appendages so it can walk. The mask covering it's face is jagged along the
edges, somewhat like those fish with the fins that /look/ okay to pick up,
until you grab it and realize the fin just sliced your hand.
The other one is short, and almost seems bird like in shape, with wings and
claws and a mask like a beak. Quite a pair really, you wouldn't think they fit
together. But that's not what's important. The second one roars as well, and
then the ground shakes as the first moves away from the tear in the air. There
may be more, but these two are the first out, and upon seeing the approaching
group, begin to head that way.
The big tall one starts towards the first ones to approach, lumbering towards
the child with the bag and the ghost trailing behind him. And another strange
kid! "Everyone here is so full of energy, which one should I eat first??" It
calls out. It wasn't typical to go after humans, but And what was that behind
them? A spirit that it wasn't familiar with, and a human (that one didn't seem
to have much energy though)... The fish Hollow pauses a moment to consider,
then lunges for the closest one to him. Wrath! "You smell the tastiest! I don't
know what it is, but your soul seems different! And you even brought a desert!
How considerate of you!"
The bird one however, it seems to be more picky. It flies up and around,
peering down at the others. If Subaru looks up, he'll see it's coming closer to
him and the Ghostbuster as they are trailing behind. What curious humans these
are! It flies lower, letting out another screech again, as it tries to dive
bomb both of them. Perhaps it's envious of the man's bird familiar, or maybe it
just wants a snack!

o/` o/` o/` o/` o/`
o/` o/` o/` o/` o/`

What is that? Why, by jove, it sounds like a lu... a lute? Why? Why do you hear
a lute here?
That's because... for this moment, and this MOMENT ALONE... the spotlight goes
to shine down on one, white coated, lone figure standing atop the factory that
everyone is so hurridly dashing for.
What is the freak doing? Who knows, really, but one thing's for sure, he's got
a lute in his hands and he's playing it.
Why?
Well, maybe he'll tell you.
The music stops, and suddenly the figure reaches up to brush his bangs out of
his face and let out a quiet 'pheh.' He smiles a bit before he looks down
towards the large crowd.
"My. Such a city of chaos and activity. But... activity in the city is /never/
a good thing when its fed with so much aggression and anger. I, Olivier
Lenheim, have come to bring about an end to this horrible horrible thing...
with my beautiful tunes, so you all will know that, as always, love and peace
will most assuredly triumph."
And as if he weren't afraid of the OMGGHOSTSEVERYWHERE and people all out to
try to kill that poor cute little kid with the sack of kidnapped doom and d-...
uh. yeah.
He picks up the lute and begins to play a pleasant song, and his baritone voice
sings, surprisingly loud over the area.
(But something tells you, the song's not meant for a man to sing it, somehow...
6.6;;)
o/` The road you walked once is swayed with memory o/`
o/` Even your footprints disappear in the winds of time... o/`
Honestly, this goes on for a moment. What does this have to do with anything?
Abso-frickin'-lutely-NOTHING. So don't ask. However, once the song has ended,
Olivier reaches up to flip out a rose from nowhere... and toss it to the
ground, smiling.
"Now. Doesn't everyone feel better already?"

Wrath shakes his head at Junior's news, grinning. "Well, that should make this
even more interesting!" Although he's been here for a bit, he has yet to see a
Hollow. This is largely because he can't exactly see them offhand in the first
place. So he is, for the moment, excited by the news! If they turn out to be a
problem, he'll...he'll figure out what to do about it then. Unfortunately,
they're about to turn into a problem right now.
Wrath stops outside the factory, easing the bag to the ground and opening it
up. "Hope that wasn't too bad?" He smiles apologetically at Lust, holding out a
hand if she needs it, completely oblivious to the giant figure of the Hollow as
it approaches. He doesn't even hear it speak; his first clue that he is under
attack is when an invisible force grabs him and hauls him into the air. On the
one hand, this is extremely fortuitous, because he's so distracted by it that
he completely misses the singing. On the other hand, it is very bad, because he
has no idea what is going on. "What the /hell/???"

"Your song is bad and you should feel bad," Junior deadpans to the new
arrival. Kids can be cruel.
Ah. And now it's lunch time. Junior gives a sinister grin as the
Hollows emerge from Hueco Mundo, exposing a mouth of vicious green fangs.
"You're /mine/."
Junior's spider legs retract back into his body, setting him down on
the ground; they are replaced a moment later by more angular, carapaced
extensions, with numerous joints, stretching out and latching harshly into the
floor of the factory. Junior draws his musty tome back out, turning to a
particular page, and his carapaced appendages begin to slice through the
factory floor, inscribing a magical circle. At the current form, it seems it's
characterized primarily by a pentagram, and numerous incantations of vile verse
in what looks like cuneiform.
He looks quickly up as the fish Hollow lifts Wrath, and sneers. "Lay
off Wrath!" A black tentacle slithers out of his back, ending in a sharp
carapaced point, and whips out at the Hollow, slicing at the spirit's arms to
get him to drop Wrath. Looks like this kid can see 'em.

Lust flops out of the sack when it's opened, sucking in a deep gasp of air. "I
thought I was going to *suffocate* with stink!" she groans, slumping. Then she
whips herself erect, throwing her glossy black hair over her shoulder and
combing her fingers through her mane to fluff it out and give it the volume it
deserves. "Ahhhhh...much better." Her high-heel-clad foot kicks at the
offending sack. Die. She's about to chastise Wrath for the tree branches, but
the little boy smile is...nnnnnnrgh... "It's fine," she replies.
And Wrath suddenly isn't there.
Lust lowers her hand from her cheekbone, staring up at the amazing floating
homunculus. What. Then her eyes narrow into violet slits. As Nergal stabs, so
too does Lust, her razor sharp fingers piercing at invisible sinew. She might
not be able to see its position, but it's an easy guess if it's got her cute
little friend hoisted into the air. Filthy ghosts!

Nourriture sees the monsters rise. And then she sees... Lust. And her world
stops.
It was a trick. It was a trap. There's nobody here to save after all. She's led
them all to their doom.
And there they are. Hollows. A critical mass of Hollows. A horrible,
magnormous, seething mass of Hollows.
Nourriture couldn't beat one before. They're all finished. They're all going to
die. How in the world-- how can she be able to- what can she do against...
And then, music. And in this timeless moment, some words she recalls.
'Good luck! Trust in yourself and you'll save her, I know you will!'
'Thank you for your help, Nourriture. Be careful, and good luck.'
'I'll see you and Orihime safe soon.'
She can. And she will. Because she has to. Because she must. Because her
friends are counting on her.
And a power shines in Karakura. It's not from the staff. It's from Nourriture,
who glows with all the power her bright soul can muster. The power of fusion.
The power of nature, and of time and space. The power of trust and friendship.
The power of loves and kindness. That's what makes a fusionist- that's what
makes a phantom brave. It's what makes a friend- it's what makes her.
And all the force of this, all that makes Nourriture, is brought to bear. Her
full potential.
"I wish I may
I wish I might
Bring to life a little light
To friends that care
And those that might
I'll help you make it through this fight
So all for one
One for all
The power of love will conquer all!"
And the light is a wonderful light. It's a light that will destroy all
wickedness. It's the light of tomorrow.

Subaru feels something above him and looks up, almost turning white with fear.
He feels that spiritual energy just overtake him with that emotion. It was
hungry...? Subaru could feel that primal desire eminating from the bird like
beast above him, his eyes shooting open. This was his job? He raises his ofuda,
tossing them upward at the beast as he quickly moved away. "Amirita Gyrapel...
Amirita Shiddei... Amirita Teisei.. Amiritabikirandel!" He chats at the ofuda
which begin to form white birds which attempt to dive boom the beast above him.
"Amirita Gyrapel... Amirita..."
The shikigami that was once following Wrath disipates into the same flames
that summoned it. Subaru's concentraition was no on calming down and subdueing
the thing that was trying to attack.

Nergal Junior flinches at Nourriture's shining incantation. "Oh, I'm gonna
/puke/."

Bounce. Leap. SOAAAAAR! It doesn't take too long for Ichigo to make it within
sight of the factory and the now rampaging Hollows. Toushirou's faster, though,
and might get a better shot at engaging them first.
Skidding to a stop, Strawberry Brain looks down at the frenzy, the Hollow about
to chew on Wrath, the others that chased him down.
Goddamn outsiders in /his/ goddamn town! Singing fools, that goddamn ghost,
those goddamn homunculuses...culi...whatever.
All Ichigo can manage to do at this sight is growl and draw Zangetsu. The litle
black pit of hate in his soul, the Hollow, recoils at that ridiculously bright
flash of light. Hiss.

And not long behind Ichigo and the rest is....Rukia, in full shinigami regalia.
It was so rare to see her don the black these days, but she has it. Sode no
Shirayuki is drawn, the pristine, white, gleaming blade reflecting the dimness
inside and seeming to amplify it in full. What? You thought a concentration of
hollows like this would escape her notice? She leaps into the site with all the
grim determination of a seasoned Death God, landing in a crouch next to Ichigo,
sword crossed in one hand, sheath in a defensive position on the other.
It looks...well. Pretty bad from where she's standing.
At least she could engage Hollows in long-ranged attacks. "4th of Hadou:
Byakurai!" she chants, shoving her palm with the sheath out, and firing a blast
of lightning towards the nearest Hollow in her position. Just how many of them
WERE there?

Ichigo's Eternal Rival And Nemesis lands a few seconds after the Shinigami
substitute, his Zanpakuto already drawn for combat. Huh. Just two of them. That
should be quick. And then he notices Lust. And Wrath. That annoying pair.
"Hrmph. That coward that cut up Arisawa is still alive. At least it's out in
the open, this time."
And then the Kido flies forward, having failed to notice Rukia until now. Huh.
That was actually kinda unexpected. "Any bets on which of us takes out the
most, Ichigo?"

If anyone notices, a beautiful smattering of snowflakes dance down from the
gathering clouds. The Weather Channel didn't report a freak blizzard. In fact,
the Weather Channel doesn't report in Japan at all. But it is still snowing,
and the wind is picking up something fierce. It even sounds like the wind is
talking...but that's ridiculous...
"Sit upon the frozen skies, Hyourinmaru!"
The boy in the black robes of a Shinigami and the white robe of a captain is
falling to the ground, accompanied by a dragon of ice and water. Hitsugaya
waves his sword arm to the Hollow attacking Subaru, and the dragon rushes
ahead, blasting everything with a sudden storm of sleet and ice as it hits the
Hollow and the ground.

What? No fair. Ranged attacks! "Rukia! I didn't expect you to show up." Wrong
thing to say, strawberry head. "Glad you came, though." Was that softness in
his voice? Maybe fondness? Maybe! It's hard to tell, it's a touch noisy. To
Kenpachi, he rolls his eyes and says in an not-amused tone. "There's two of
them. Two. One for each of us, though there's a lot of," he goes very loud at
this point, hoping the fools down below can hear "DAMN /OUTSIDERS/! DOWN
THERE!" Quieting, he huffs, drawing Zangetsu and shouldering the hefty blade.
"Can't even blat 'em. Those damn fools are all in the way." Them and the
factory.

"This WAS my district before you decided to take it up, Ichigo," Rukia tells
him, a narrow-eyed look thrown at him askance by those heavy-lidded, indigo
eyes. But at the addendum, she smiles faintly, turning her head to look back at
the chaos. "Besides. I wasn't about to leave you without backup. We're
partners, remember?" Aw. How sweet. But she probably means it in a
Riggs-Murtock from Lethal Weapon sort of partners. Just as long as he doesn't
trick her into stripping down and flapping her elbows around like a chicken,
she wouldn't have to kill him.

What was that? What WAS that weird freak on the roof?
Well that's what the hollows would stop and ask if they cared. Actually, as
another one makes it's way through the gate from Hueco Mundo, it does pause to
stop and stare. And then it gets booted out by the Hollow in line behind it.
"WHAT'S THE HOLDUP?!" Of course, this hollow goes flying towards Norriture and
is promptly obliterated simply becuase it was the redshirt of this little
get-together, and couldn't quite comprehend that people were /singing/ in order
to defeat it. The one behind it though isn't quite so easy to distract.
This makes a third hollow appearing, and this one looks distinctly buggy.
Maybe it's related to an ant or soemthing. Well, ants with masks and extra
sections. It glances towards the ghost and it's pincers open and close a few
times. Ghosts are part of a balanced breafast, right? Still, that one may sing,
but the one with the instrument was even more annoying! It skitters after the
strange man attempting to catch him, even managing to scale the wall of the
building somehow. "What the heck was that? Don't spoil my appetite!"
The hollow that grabbed Wrath chuckles. "I guess even if you've got that
strong a spirit, you still can't see us, eh? Thought you might be one 'o them
shinigami or something! Oh well, no big los--!!" The Hollow suddenly stops
short of it's sentance as it suddenly finds itself with one less arm, and it
growls a shriek of pain. The arm that was holding Wrath falls to the ground in
pieces, thanks to both Lust and Junior. It easily releases the homonculus. This
however, angers the Hollow. It rears back reflexively, then glares daggers at
the alien boy and strange woman.
"Yours?" It spits, "I believe you're mistaken! You're mine!" It takes another
step back, hunches it's shoulders and then spits out a sort of foam at the two.
If it hits, it burns, sort of like acid. Unfortunately, with it's concentration
on attacking again, it steps back square into Rukia's spell. Water and lighting
really don't mix well, and the Hollow's looking rather frazzled.
Subaru's ofuda tear upwards and a few catch the bird Hollow, scratching it a
bit. But it laughs still and bites through the rest, swooping up to circle
around once more. But it doesn't get the chance to, suddenly finding itself in
the middle of a storm of ice. It crystalizes against the wings and finding
itself too heavy to stay adrift, the Hollow drops to the ground with a shriek.
"Damn you, shinigami!"

Yeah. Partners so she can kill him when he /becomes/ one of those things down
there. That thought kills most of the levity in Ichigo's mind, and it shows as
whatever smirk or smile was left on his face drains away into a deeper than
usual scowl." He is totally going to not worry about colateral damage.
Reiatsu explodes around Ichigo, the spiritual pressure going from 'sane' to
'intense' in near an instant. He's no longer in the mood for this crap. Blue
spirit fire climbs towards the sky, the instant change in pressure sending a
strong breeze swirling about his body, rustling his uniform and likely those of
his companions.
"Hey you guys!" he calls down to the assembled below. "MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!" Not
that he particularly cares about any of the gathered. Ichigo sets his feet,
gripping Zangetsu in both hands before he swings it in a brutal overhand arc,
shouting. "GETSUGA TENS--AUGH!"
Ichigo wasn't far enough from the edge, or balanced enough to take a swing like
that. He promptly loses his balance and falls off the roof. Into a pile of
trash cans. If you thought he was mad /before/.

Nourriture is finding out just how good it is to be from a world where there
seems to be no upper limit in terms of power. Whoever knew that she really had
this kind of strength inside? Her entire body illuminated from within, she
wields the staff- forged from the matter of Karakura Town itself, and the
perfect channel for her strength- and strikes out against the Hollows. She has
no idea where she's finding the strength. She might learn to regret this later.
After all, this has got to be taxing something.
.oO(If you're kind to other people, then I'm sure we'll find kindness
in return!)
She attacks the bird, doing her best to crush it with one shattering strike.

Unfortunately, Wrath does manage to hear the latest round of song, this time
from the ghost girl. He looks bewildered by it, then irritated, even in the
middle of potentially life-threatening peril. He quickly returns to struggling
against the invisible thing that's got him, however. He can tell it's a hand
now, at least, a hand made out of something he can't transmute. And there's
/nothing/ he can't transmute! Which can mean only one thing: "A Hollow?!" This
is totally not fair! What's the fun of giant monster ghosts if he can't see
them! He gasps, wheezing in pain as the pressure on his little body increases,
then yelps as it suddenly disappears - he's falling! Thankfully, the littlest
homunculus is nothing if not nimble, and manages to land on his feet,
muttering, "Now what?"

She looks quite pleased with herself, at the Hollow frying at her spell.
Well, it boils down to the simple fact as to whether Ichigo would prefer to
die or remain a hollow for the rest of her life. Rukia has seen that choice
made. If Ichigo was anything like Kaien, he would choose the same thing before
he ate anybody he loved. The scowl causes her to blink just a bit. Oh dear.
He's being emo again.
The sudden explosion of reiatsu makes her lift her hand to shield her eyes
from the brightness. And suddenly, it dawns on her as to why Renji insists on
wearing stupid sunglasses on his head at all times. Before Ichigo's attack can
be completed, however, he....well. Falls. Into trash.
"Ichigo!" she calls out, running to the edge and peering down. "....you
graceless idiot! See what happens when you show off?!"