Survivability 07: Carousel [KPop / Bleach]
Title: Survivability 07: And the Carousel Spins On [Part 2]
Author: verocity
Fandom: SHiNee / Super Junior M / Dong Bang Shin Ki / Bleach
Featuring: JongHyun / TaeMin / Onew / Zhou Mi / JunSu / ChangMin / SeungGi / YeoSeob
Pairings: -none-
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Harsh language, scenes of combat
Genre: Action, AU, Cross-over
Summary: (... I have no idea how to summarize this. Familiarity with the past chapters would be very helpful.)
Word Count: 12,170
Link to Part 1
Winter.
JongHyun sighed, irritated at the inner voice's insistence and at his own powerlessness to do anything about it. "Yes, I know it's coming. You've told me over and over again, whoever you are."
No. Winter has come. It's here. You're doomed.
JongHyun peered at the darkness around him and shrugged half-heartedly. Metaphorically, at least. "It's hard to tell when there's nothing to see."
The voice had nothing to say about that. JongHyun rolled his eyes. Or, at least, made a mental action synonymous to rolling his eyes. See, it was hard to roll one's eyes when one didn't have eyes. Or an entire body for that matter. Everything had to be done metaphorically, including straining his metaphorical ears to listen to the faint music piping in from somewhere.
He knew where he was. But the problem was that he didn't know where 'here' was. What he did know was that he was somewhere with absolute darkness completely surrounding him. There was not even the softest glimmer of light by which to see. It scared him when he first awoke - or came to consciousness, at least, since he wasn't sure if he was actually awake, and there were benefits to thinking of all this as just a dream - but after spending god knows how long without being able to see anything, the fear and novelty sort of wore off by themselves.
Then the voice had started speaking. It was something noteworthy the first few times, having someone to talk to when he thought he was completely by himself. He was, in fact, ready to make a new best friend just to escape the mind-numbing boredom that seemed to fill his immediate future, but this prospect was ruined when the voice had nothing new to say about anything at all, save for its out-of-season weather forecasts. JongHyun reasoned that if you can't talk sensibly to someone about something even as basic as the weather, then all hope for a sensible connection was lost.
So, instead, JongHyun focused on the music. And listening to it really did take up a lot of mental effort. For one thing, he was pretty sure it was the most complicated tune he'd ever heard, and for someone devoted to opera, that was saying something. He recognized some of the instruments: there were a couple of pianos in there somewhere, some saxophones, a whole buttload of violins, deep thrumming contrabasses, an entire chorus of flutes, the flapping of some leathery wings, maybe some hooves stamping on hard earth, what was possibly a whip cracking in the air, some immensely deep rumbling that was more felt than heard that JongHyun identified as whale song... and after that he stopped trying to identify the individual components of sound, because really, what was the point?
So he just sat back - metaphorically - and listened.
And as far as he could tell, the music never repeated its movements. It flowed continuously, and it gave the feeling that it could go on flowing continuously forever without needing to duplicate a verse. And what's more, the romantic in JongHyun felt that this was the music of all music. The symphony of creation. The primordial sound that rejoiced when the universe was born and will perform the requiem when the universe died. Every song ever composed was just a pitiful attempt to sing along to a small snatch of this one. This was music that spoke to the very bones of his being and reminded him that even before he was a figment of possibility on the dawns of history, the music was already in full swing.
And the music told him that he could fit in with it if he so wished. After all, the music lacked a human voice. And it had found him.
It's winter time.
"Yes, I know, I love it, but please shut up," JongHyun answered conversationally.
He reached a decision. He steeled his courage and took his first step - again, metaphorically - towards the music.
He felt something inside him stir, followed by a stab of cold so sharp that JongHyun staggered more than just as a figure of speech.
Are you going to let it take winter away? the voice said. JongHyun couldn't believe his ears when he realized that his inner voice was whining.
"Listen. Music is music. What are you talking about?"
And winter is winter.
"Okay, if you say anything more about the weather, I swear I'm going to ignore you even if you throw a tantrum and act like you're five years old."
Are you saying that you're five years old?
"Is this some kind of Zen or psychoanalysis or something?"
I dunno. I've never seen those before. What do they look like?
JongHyun glared at the darkness around him. It didn't matter that he didn't have actual eyes with which to glare because at least he felt like he was glaring and that made all the difference in the world.
Yes, exactly, the voice told him.
"Exactly what?"
You can feel being different from the world.
"Okay, if I have to make you explain yourself one more time, it'll be goodbye winter and hello music. Is that understood?"
The voice... changed. Somehow. In a way that even JongHyun's abnormally sharp sense of hearing couldn't fathom. The general tone was the same. There energy behind it didn't swell. The texture didn't transform in any way. But when the voice spoke once more, JongHyun knew he was in deep shit. Like a child who had been riding the same horse in the same carousel over and over again and thought that he knew everything there was to know about the carnival, but then his horse stopped moving even as the disc kept spinning, and that maybe there was something to those other horses after all, and if he made the wrong move he'd never get to ride on any of them ever.
When all of life goes to sleep to dream of spring, what do you do?
"What kind of question is that? Is this some kind of 'what you are in the dark' test or something?" JongHyun asked, but it was clear that the voice was not inclined to say more. It had said what it needed to say.
Maybe it would have helped JongHyun's enlightenment if whatever lesson it wanted to teach wasn't so damn cryptic.
JongHyun turned his head to the music, but he kept his feet still.
"I sing as the snow falls on me," he whispered to himself. Because he didn't lock himself up at home and joined the others in dreaming of spring. Because winter could be enjoyed on its own terms. Because there were some songs that could be sang only during the winter.
Because that was who he was in the dark: a singer. And he didn't need the world's music to define that in him. He wasn't a mere instrument for the world to use and lose in its composition.
He made his own music, and he knew that sometimes music has to reach an end so another artist can take the stage to share his own song and have a fair chance of being applauded.
~*~
TaeMin stopped walking and stared blankly ahead. The violin wasn't crying anymore. He had no lead to follow.
He considered his options. Sure, he could despair or throw a fit or just stand there and cry - and crying had certain attractions about now - but all those options took effort and he was just too damn tired to do anything because he either overestimated his strength or underestimated his hyung's weight and he was using up energy just thinking about it. So he just stood there and breathed numbly.
"Yah. Why are you carrying me like this?" JongHyun's voice breathed into his ear. "I'm the hyung."
TaeMin's reply was out of his mouth before he realized he shouldn't be wasting his breath by arguing. "Because if you carried me on your back, my legs would still be touching the ground. Yes, you're that short." And because he didn't want JongHyun-hyung to think he was being timid, he started walking again.
JongHyun pinched him on the cheek, but it was an exhausted, half-dead action. TaeMin wondered why his hyung felt more tired than he was even though he'd just been asleep the whole time.
JongHyun whispered something. TaeMin leaned his head closer. "Sorry? I didn't hear that."
His hyung's voice sounded like it came from the deepest pits of slumber and he was doing all he could to stay awake. "I said... run."
"Run?" TaeMin repeated, confused.
"Just... run. Now."
Wind blew on the dessert for the first time, but with so much force that it almost felt solid. It struck the ground a few feet behind TaeMin hard enough to raise a huge cloud of crushed sand.
"Run."
Insectile clicking began behind him. Soft at first, as if whatever caused it was still undecided about becoming solid. But it was reaching a decision fast.
TaeMin decided he had enough reasons to run. He didn't know that he could switch off his exhaustion just like that, but it was a useful discovery as his legs became a blur on the sand.
~*~
The sudden influx of spirit particles from the main workshop told JinKi that a gateway to the spirit world had opened. Among the beings that stepped through was JunSu's familiar yet overwhelming presence. The others accompanying him were almost equally strong.
JinKi gulped audibly. He was going to suffocate, he just knew it. He wondered if he could barricade the closet door.
"JinKi?" JunSu's voice called out. "We've toned our pressures down. You can come close."
JinKi felt the gateway shut. He counted again. Including JunSu's presence, there were four shinigami standing in the workshop. If they were all at Lieutenant JunSu's level then even the ambient spiritual power they exuded subconsciously could permanently affect Zhou Mi's more sensitive instruments. Now, was JinKi brave enough to go out there and tell them that? Hmmm...
But he was spared the question as JunSu opened the closet door.
JinKi decided that if he was going to die, he would at least do so somewhere more dignified than in a closet. He cautiously stepped out the door and faced three other shinigami with badges on their arms.
"Any reason why he looks like he's taking his last steps to the Sougyoku?" a tall, pale one asked, amused.
JunSu laid a reassuring arm across JinKi's shoulders. "He's just extra-sensitive to spirit pressures," the Lieutenant explained. "Where are Zhou Mi and SeungHyun?"
JinKi didn't hear him. He was too busy being amazed that he could still breathe. And too busy breathing, when it came to that. He realized that an absurdly tall shinigami was staring at him intently. JinKi fidgeted.
"JinKi, focus," JunSu said. "Where are they?"
JinKi turned his head and looked blankly at the wall behind him without really seeing anything. "At the opera house," JinKi answered after a pause. "I don't have a map, but you can still find it. Another gate just opened and brought some more shinigami there. But they're not as strong as the four of you. Except for one. You can probably sense them even from this far."
"SeungHyun must have called for cover," the last shinigami said in a casual baritone. "6th Division dispatch. YeoSeob told me through the Tenteikura that he was busy."
"Anything else we need to know?" JunSu asked. All eyes looked back at JinKi.
"There's something on the stage," JinKi said. "I takes people. I can't sense what's inside it which means it's a whole other world in there, and I don't know what else to say."
The other officers looked at JunSu, who felt he had to explain. "JinKi is extra-sensitive to spirit pressure. A lot more than DaeSung."
"He could be useful there," the tallest shinigami said, speaking for the first time.
"Endanger a civilian?" the pale one said, doubtfully. "ChangMin, are you out of your mind?"
"Listen, we don't know what's waiting for us there," ChangMin said reasonably. "And honestly it sounds like we have to go through that portal if we want to resolve this mission. We might need a tracker to find everyone or to keep us updated on our positions if we have to split up."
JinKi couldn't believe his ears. "Are you just going to stand here and talk?" he almost shrieked desperately.
"The reason why we became lieutenants is because we take time to think and plan," JunSu told him calmly. "A lot of shinigami far stronger than us are dead because they don't. And if Zhou Mi just rushed in there unprepared, then he's a lot stupider than I thought."
"Zhou Mi's not stupid," JinKi defended his teacher.
JunSu gave him a small nod and said, "Exactly." He turned to ChangMin. "We can't bring him there. We have absolutely zero idea about what's waiting on the other side and it might be too dangerous. SeungGi?"
The officer with a deep voice nodded. ChangMin puffed his cheeks at being outvoted, but he couldn't do anything about it without appearing petty.
"Then let's go."
The four of them flash-stepped through the roof, leaving JinKi disoriented about why everyone else just suddenly disappeared.
~*~
Lieutenant YeoSeob of the 6th Division stepped out of the World Gate. As soon as his unit emerged, he said, "Get me a reading of the premise's spirit levels."
"Sir," his unit's sensor spoke and began fiddling with his equipment. After a few minutes of reading and recalibrating, the man reported, "Above average spiritual particles in the immediate vicinity, sir."
"At dangerous levels?"
"Still within known bounds considered acceptable for some areas of the human world, sir."
YeoSeob nodded. He raised his eyes from the opera house's rooftop and stared at the city before him.
"Lieutenant?" YeongChul asked.
"This is why bureaucracy doesn't belong in the military," he said under his breath. Then louder, to his unit, he instructed, "Four lieutenants are going to enter the building. You are to observe but not interfere with their actions. Report everything to me."
"Sir!" his unit chorused, and they spread out to secure the premises. He felt JunSu land right behind him.
"Tell them to avoid the stage at all costs," JunSu said. The others appeared around the two of them. YeoSeob relayed JunSu's additional instructions to his team.
"Any chance I might get to know about what's going on from your side?" YeoSeob asked calmly. "Technically, I do have jurisdiction here even if I'm the newest Lieutenant."
"Secret rescue mission," JunSu said before SeungGi could stop him.
"That's the 5th's responsibility," YeoSeob answered equally quickly.
SeungGi stepped in. "Research and Development investigation. Classified."
YeoSeob stared at him straight in the eye. He was the newest, sure, but he was no pushover. None of the Lieutenants were. But he had a lot of respect for SeungGi, and if HaeJin was accompanying a mission then things must be really fucked up. "And what do I tell the captains in case your team doesn't make it back?"
"That they're to physically and spiritually seal off this entire building in a small dimension of its own," SeungGi replied. "My Captain's been itching for a chance to try his new technology."
"Fine."
The four of them jumped down through the roof.
It wasn't enough to do things well. They also had to do things right.
~*~
Belatedly, TaeMin realized that maybe running away was a futile gesture when there was nowhere to run to. But then again, he was new to the arts of survivalism and when it came to running away, 'from' was always more important than 'to'. Currently, the 'from' seems to have finally materialized and was shrieking madly at the black sky.
"Any more ideas, hyung?" TaeMin yelled between steps. The weight on his back shifted as JongHyun turned to look behind them and immediately wished he hadn't.
"Nothing other than saying goodbye," JongHyun whispered truthfully. And because he didn't want to go down saying mushy things, he added, "But this is still not a good excuse for you to profess undying love for me."
"Not the time to joke, hyung!" TaeMin answered. His muscles had reached the point when even the secret wonders of adrenaline couldn't support them. His body just wanted to rest, and if that included facing down an unmentionable horror then so be it. TaeMin had never been betrayed by his body before. This was not a good time for new learning experiences.
I should have let it take me, JongHyun thought dispassionately. He wondered if there was any way to convince TaeMin to leave him behind. "Hey..."
"Don't think heroic thoughts! I'm the hero here!" TaeMin yelled with the cognitive clarity of someone who just knew that this was it, it's time to bow and let the fat lady sing because the great choreographer in the sky was beckoning to him.
"If you say so," JongHyun said. He turned again and saw the creature they were trying to leave behind. He wasn't sure if he was just too tired to be dramatic of creative, but his first impression was that it didn't seem so scary after all. It looked just like a humongous spider that had taken one too many steroids, and by 'too many' JongHyun meant it was about the same size as a basketball court. He gave credit, however, to the chill it raised along JongHyun's spine when he realized that it was looking at them, like its lesser brethren would when considering particularly insistent flies that got caught in their webs: they weren't large enough to satiate its hunger, but if they were all it had then it wouldn't be picky.
The spider raised its legs. JongHyun, entranced by the horrifying sight, swore that nothing that big should be able to move that quickly. A monster at rest was a completely different thing from a monster that was after them.
"Hey! Over here!" a new voice shouted clearly. TaeMin turned to look for the source lest this be some clever trick. He couldn't see anyone who could have spoken, but there was a cave not far away.
Some people may have thought that it could have been the predator's bait, a way to lure them somewhere so they'd stop running and sit down for dinner. Others still may have wondered why a smallish mound of brown rock with a hole in it was suddenly there when they distinctly remembered the landscape being featureless just seconds before. But TaeMin wasn't the type to indulge in contemplations. Dancing had taught him a valuable lesson: distractions often equaled sprained ankles.
TaeMin headed for the cave.
"It's gaining on us!" JongHyun said, still managing to panic despite his weakness.
"We'll make it!" TaeMin yelled, more to convince himself. He reached the lip of the cave and leaped in with all the might left in his legs and landed heavily on the rock.
It would have been nice, operatic even, to say that they entered the safety of the rock even as the monster reached for them. It would have been more dramatic to show the spider's claws swiping at TaeMin's feet and missing by a hair's breadth. It would have done wonders for TaeMin's ego if, at the moment his body landed and he looked around, he saw the creature shrieking in frustration as its prey was somehow, miraculously, heroically managed to escape by sheer effort of will alone.
Instead, what TaeMin saw was the gigantic spider trying to fend off a shower of tiny beams of light that exploded as it hit its exoskeleton. Then a person leaped up from behind and hit the hollow on the head with a huge hammer. The monster's jaws clicked audibly and tried to back away.
It wasn't an ego-boosting sight, but it was good enough for TaeMin.
"I know you," JongHyun's voice said weakly.
TaeMin followed JongHyun's gaze and saw the person who must have called out to them. "Hey. You're the new kid from the orchestra. Henry. Right?"
~*~
"Not so tough now, are you?" SeungHyun roared as he dodged one of the creature's legs and hit it on the side with his hammer. A beam of light flashed beside him and hit the hollow with concussive force.
"Not a good idea to taunt it," Zhou Mi said loudly from afar as he rewound his crossbow.
A second later, they discovered why. The hollow rallied against them and stomped the ground angrily with its front legs.
The sand around them shook. In a brief sandstorm of confusion, the grains flew off the ground and clumped together to form dozens of giant hands made completely of bone, each one thrice as tall as Zhou Mi.
"Fuck," SeungHyun muttered. He raised his war hammer.
The hands turned to face him with their palms. There was a moment of stillness when SeungHyun wondered if Zhou Mi had anything up his sleeves for this kind of situation.
Several things happened at once.
SeungHyun wrought his strength on the ground he stood, and the shockwave traveled away from him at the same time the hands decided to lunge. Silver canisters, each no larger than a thimble, hit some of the bones and exploded in silvery flashes of light. There was a flash of lightning, two streams of fire, an arm grabbing him around the waist and a sensation of sudden motion that SeungHyun recognized as a flash-step, except that he wasn't the one who did it.
They landed a few meters away from the huge, smoking crater where he had been standing just a microsecond before. He turned to face his rescuer. "Lieutenant!"
"Thank me later," HaeJin said. His eyes were fixed on the gigantic hollow being menaced by JunSu's lightning, ChangMin's demon arts, and the floating prisms that were SeungGi's shikai. "That's no ordinary hollow, is it? Fighting three lieutenants and it's still alive."
Zhou Mi landed beside them. "There are two human civilians hiding in the cave," he said, pointing at the mound of rock.
HaeJin nodded. "Understood." He flashed towards the mound as Zhou Mi and SeungHyun rejoined the battle.
~*~
Combat strategies for different situations were part of every shinigami's training. There were ways to fight quickly, ways to fight dirtily, and ways to fight messily, even ways to win without killing the opponent. SeungGi insisted on trying to capture the hollow first, and there were ways to do that.
But even their most advanced methods for capture wouldn't work if none of their attacks seemed to have any effect at all.
The hollow was bathed in brilliant blue light before it detonated with a shockwave that blew the four shinigami and one human off their feet. There was a shriek from the cloud of sand.
ChangMin cursed the air. "Impossible! That was my strongest explosive!"
"Try using the chant!" JunSu yelled at him as Hoshiko began to vibrate with barely controlled lightning.
"Try using the Black Coffin!" SeungGi suggested as his prisms spun around him protectively.
"One Black Coffin with complete chanting, coming right up," ChangMin said and began muttering under his breath.
The hollow emerged from the smoke and charged at ChangMin. But it faltered as a spirit arrow and a streak of lightning hit two of its legs.
"Clear!" ChangMin shouted. JunSu, SeungGi, SeungHyun, and Zhou Mi leapt away and watched as a huge box barely distinguishable from the blackness of the sky formed around the hollow. Spears materialized all around it and thrust inwards with great force.
"Think that did it?" Zhou Mi asked. A loud shriek answered him.
"No," JunSu answered needlessly.
"Oh fuck this," ChangMin said, exasperated. The box faded to reveal the spider hollow getting back on the tips of its feet.
"My turn," JunSu said as he finished charging his sword. He touched the tip of Hoshiko's blade to the ground. A wave of purple electricity traveled from the sands and snaked up the hollow's legs until it was covered all over with tiny larvae of lightning. The hollow clicked its mandibles repeatedly. The threads of lightning glowed brighter and brighter until, soon, they would be hot enough to cook the hollow all the way to the inside.
Then, all of a sudden, JunSu's control broke and his lightning vanished. He felt the hollow's wave of energy engulf everyone. Even him.
"No," JunSu whispered, protesting against the numbness that was crawling faster and faster up his body. He watched everyone else sag even as they fought the wave back. ChangMin was chanting under his breath, but the Splitting Void he conjured was a pitiful semblance of his true skill. "You can't be doing this. You don't have the power!"
The hollow barked the shrill laugh of one who held a royal flush in an honest game of poker. With everyone swallowed up in its spiritual field, they were able to hear its voice for the first time. "You speak to me of power?" it clicked through its jaws.
SeungHyun and SeungGi collapsed softly on the sand. No, no, no, JunSu chanted over and over in his mind. He felt his arms grow rubbery and droop to his sides. He poured all the focus he could spare into tightening his fingers just so he won't drop his sword.
The hollow's voice reached a crescendo. "Power? In my own turf? On the bones of my home?!"
It lashed out with its mind. JunSu felt ChangMin's spiritual barriers shatter. He saw the white bolt on Zhou Mi's crossbow vanish with a nearly audible blink. Both his remaining companions fell, and JunSu realized that he'd never felt so alone.
"No," he tried to say, but even then the numbness was fighting to take over his lips.
"You're mine, death god!" the hollow shrieked. It raised its front legs and chittered excitedly as it launched its entire body towards JunSu.
But the moment stretched to eternity. JunSu watched the hollow crawl through the distance like an ant swimming through molasses. He willed his body to move to safety, but his thought commands seemed to get lost somewhere along the way. Was this how it felt like to face death? Shouldn't his life flash before his eyes? Shouldn't he feel regret for all the things he shouldn't have done, or for all the words he should have said? That was how it worked out in stories. The romance of combat and death.
But then again, his life had never been very romantic. That's something to regret right there.
Or maybe you aren't dying, a voice said right inside JunSu's head. Maybe not yet. Maybe there's another way.
JunSu directed what little mental power he had left to that voice. Help me! he shouted with every fiber of his being and not caring that there was another person inside him. Please help me!
Oh, but I always do, the voice said plainly. That's how things always go. I help you so you could go out of your way to help other people. And it's soooo tiring! Do you think the stuff you make me do is easy?
JunSu's thoughts clicked into place. You... we've talked once before, haven't we? The presence in his mind nodded.
Back when I first told you my name. Foolish of me, thinking you'd use it sparsely. But I will admit that I enjoyed the excitement. It got boring after a while, though. The spirit of his sword yawned tauntingly.
I was doing my job. I'm a death god, JunSu reasoned.
But I'm not, the sword interrupted.
JunSu ignored it and went on. And I'll be a dead death god soon if you don't give me a hand.
The spirit took a metaphoric look around and noticed the hollow. Oh pfft, don't mind that. Focus on me because I'm your only chance of getting out of here alive, and we're talking about my working conditions. I deserve to rest every once in a while even if you keep working, don't you think? Should I have to draw up a contract?
Then rest when you need to.
The spirit laughed. How can I rest knowing that you might need to call on my powers? There can only be rest if we do it together.
JunSu shook his head in his mind. I'm a lieutenant. Who knows what will happen if I don't do my job. If I get out of this alive and you want to take a break, then go ahead. I won't use you on missions. I'll ask ChangMin to help me with my demon arts so I won't need to call on your powers. But I won't stop doing my job as a death god just because my sword wants to take a break.
The spirit didn't respond. JunSu felt his mind being scrutinized from the inside, his every thought being read under intense light. He knew what it meant. The sword was passing judgment. He could only hold his breath and wait.
Mountains could have eroded to plains during the time JunSu felt he had to wait. But eventually the spirit shrugged and gave him a patronizing laugh. I'm sure you'll feel differently when the exhaustion claims you. And it will happen soon. You'd better hope ChangMin is a great teacher. It turned its vision outwards and looked at the world through JunSu's eyes even as it narrowed its own. But first, let me tell you who I truly am.
And it did.
JunSu felt the shocking power surge from his sword, and where it touched him JunSu felt the hollow's spell dissolve. It was gone in an instant. He raised his rapier over his head and shouted at the hollow's charging form, "Bankai! Bishop of the Lightning God!"
One of the many secrets of bankai - and JunSu is privy to them now - is that most shinigami were wrong about how to attain them. Almost everyone thought that one could gain bankai after ten years of devoted training. But in fact it was the other way around: achieving bankai was the sword's decision, and once it does it takes the swordsman ten years to be able to use it reliably in battle.
As his rapier liquefied to golden, molten steel that wrapped all around his arm, JunSu realized why the swords were so conservative when lending their power - it took JunSu all of his spiritual might just to match his sword and preventing it from melting him. The flowing gold took the shape of an elegantly carved large cannon mounted on JunSu's arm, and at the business end was the face of a wasp. The eyes, black as obsidian, began to glow. JunSu felt the entire cannon vibrate with power.
Although some things required training to use perfectly, the same things may also need no instructions to use only once. Some situations could be resolved with the use of raw, unfettered power. JunSu aimed his arm at the hollow's face.
And fired.
In the heightened senses of excitement he saw a tiny winged insect fly off from the tip of his bankai at the speed of a rocket. He saw it hit the hollow full on, and that was the last thing he saw because the resulting explosion blinded him thoroughly.
~*~
The energy backwash even reached through the portal, and YeoSeob was sharp enough to sense it. He jumped down through the roof and went straight for the auditorium. He stood at the edge of the balcony and watched the stage as a pinpoint of light shone almost blindingly bright in the operatic darkness.
"Lieutenant!" The members of his unit came in from all sides and alertly drew their swords.
"Don't go near it," YeoSeob said clearly and sharply. His men froze in their tracks and kept their eyes on the light.
It vanished a moment later, with the same abruptness with which it appeared. YeoSeob nodded. "Get the sensors and tell me the readings."
One of his men jumped on the stage and scattered various wired crystals around where the light shone. He fiddled with the instrument's controls and eventually reported, "Lieutenant, all spirit levels are currently at completely normal ranges."
YeoSeob drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily. He turned to his third officer. "Contact the Captain. Arrange for a disclosure between the 2nd, 6th, and 12th Divisions. And add the 9th, too."
"Sir!"
YeoSeob jumped back up the roof and dragged to the forefront of his mind the map that SeungHyun submitted in one of his reports. Lieutenant JunSu sent him a confidential memorandum last week that should anything untoward happen in the area, there were some assets to Soul Society that should be seized and protected immediately. One of them was a workshop where a spiritually awakened machinist lived. If JunSu's foresight was correct, a human boy who should be there waiting to be transported to Soul Society.
The Lieutenant was going to see to that personally.
~*~
HaeJin paused in his ministrations on JongHyun's spiritual energy sources to wonder what just happened when a flash of brilliant blue-white light filled the cave. Henry stood up from beside him and looked out the cave's entrance.
"Well," he said flatly. "That pretty much seals us in here for a while. They collapsed the portal."
~To be Continued~
Author's Notes: The reason this chapter took so long to get posted is because I had no idea how to write it and my past attempts had to be scrapped and rehashed. In the end, I decided to bring YeoSeob in early. Feedback on the story would be greatly appreciated. :D
So... does anyone have any clips where I can research my Beast and 2NE1 characterization? [/spoiler]
[Continue to the interlude, or to Chapter 8]
Click for Fic Request Thread! Post your prompts/kinks/requests today! (Anonymous allowed)
Author: verocity
Fandom: SHiNee / Super Junior M / Dong Bang Shin Ki / Bleach
Featuring: JongHyun / TaeMin / Onew / Zhou Mi / JunSu / ChangMin / SeungGi / YeoSeob
Pairings: -none-
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Harsh language, scenes of combat
Genre: Action, AU, Cross-over
Summary: (... I have no idea how to summarize this. Familiarity with the past chapters would be very helpful.)
Word Count: 12,170
Link to Part 1
Winter.
JongHyun sighed, irritated at the inner voice's insistence and at his own powerlessness to do anything about it. "Yes, I know it's coming. You've told me over and over again, whoever you are."
No. Winter has come. It's here. You're doomed.
JongHyun peered at the darkness around him and shrugged half-heartedly. Metaphorically, at least. "It's hard to tell when there's nothing to see."
The voice had nothing to say about that. JongHyun rolled his eyes. Or, at least, made a mental action synonymous to rolling his eyes. See, it was hard to roll one's eyes when one didn't have eyes. Or an entire body for that matter. Everything had to be done metaphorically, including straining his metaphorical ears to listen to the faint music piping in from somewhere.
He knew where he was. But the problem was that he didn't know where 'here' was. What he did know was that he was somewhere with absolute darkness completely surrounding him. There was not even the softest glimmer of light by which to see. It scared him when he first awoke - or came to consciousness, at least, since he wasn't sure if he was actually awake, and there were benefits to thinking of all this as just a dream - but after spending god knows how long without being able to see anything, the fear and novelty sort of wore off by themselves.
Then the voice had started speaking. It was something noteworthy the first few times, having someone to talk to when he thought he was completely by himself. He was, in fact, ready to make a new best friend just to escape the mind-numbing boredom that seemed to fill his immediate future, but this prospect was ruined when the voice had nothing new to say about anything at all, save for its out-of-season weather forecasts. JongHyun reasoned that if you can't talk sensibly to someone about something even as basic as the weather, then all hope for a sensible connection was lost.
So, instead, JongHyun focused on the music. And listening to it really did take up a lot of mental effort. For one thing, he was pretty sure it was the most complicated tune he'd ever heard, and for someone devoted to opera, that was saying something. He recognized some of the instruments: there were a couple of pianos in there somewhere, some saxophones, a whole buttload of violins, deep thrumming contrabasses, an entire chorus of flutes, the flapping of some leathery wings, maybe some hooves stamping on hard earth, what was possibly a whip cracking in the air, some immensely deep rumbling that was more felt than heard that JongHyun identified as whale song... and after that he stopped trying to identify the individual components of sound, because really, what was the point?
So he just sat back - metaphorically - and listened.
And as far as he could tell, the music never repeated its movements. It flowed continuously, and it gave the feeling that it could go on flowing continuously forever without needing to duplicate a verse. And what's more, the romantic in JongHyun felt that this was the music of all music. The symphony of creation. The primordial sound that rejoiced when the universe was born and will perform the requiem when the universe died. Every song ever composed was just a pitiful attempt to sing along to a small snatch of this one. This was music that spoke to the very bones of his being and reminded him that even before he was a figment of possibility on the dawns of history, the music was already in full swing.
And the music told him that he could fit in with it if he so wished. After all, the music lacked a human voice. And it had found him.
It's winter time.
"Yes, I know, I love it, but please shut up," JongHyun answered conversationally.
He reached a decision. He steeled his courage and took his first step - again, metaphorically - towards the music.
He felt something inside him stir, followed by a stab of cold so sharp that JongHyun staggered more than just as a figure of speech.
Are you going to let it take winter away? the voice said. JongHyun couldn't believe his ears when he realized that his inner voice was whining.
"Listen. Music is music. What are you talking about?"
And winter is winter.
"Okay, if you say anything more about the weather, I swear I'm going to ignore you even if you throw a tantrum and act like you're five years old."
Are you saying that you're five years old?
"Is this some kind of Zen or psychoanalysis or something?"
I dunno. I've never seen those before. What do they look like?
JongHyun glared at the darkness around him. It didn't matter that he didn't have actual eyes with which to glare because at least he felt like he was glaring and that made all the difference in the world.
Yes, exactly, the voice told him.
"Exactly what?"
You can feel being different from the world.
"Okay, if I have to make you explain yourself one more time, it'll be goodbye winter and hello music. Is that understood?"
The voice... changed. Somehow. In a way that even JongHyun's abnormally sharp sense of hearing couldn't fathom. The general tone was the same. There energy behind it didn't swell. The texture didn't transform in any way. But when the voice spoke once more, JongHyun knew he was in deep shit. Like a child who had been riding the same horse in the same carousel over and over again and thought that he knew everything there was to know about the carnival, but then his horse stopped moving even as the disc kept spinning, and that maybe there was something to those other horses after all, and if he made the wrong move he'd never get to ride on any of them ever.
When all of life goes to sleep to dream of spring, what do you do?
"What kind of question is that? Is this some kind of 'what you are in the dark' test or something?" JongHyun asked, but it was clear that the voice was not inclined to say more. It had said what it needed to say.
Maybe it would have helped JongHyun's enlightenment if whatever lesson it wanted to teach wasn't so damn cryptic.
JongHyun turned his head to the music, but he kept his feet still.
"I sing as the snow falls on me," he whispered to himself. Because he didn't lock himself up at home and joined the others in dreaming of spring. Because winter could be enjoyed on its own terms. Because there were some songs that could be sang only during the winter.
Because that was who he was in the dark: a singer. And he didn't need the world's music to define that in him. He wasn't a mere instrument for the world to use and lose in its composition.
He made his own music, and he knew that sometimes music has to reach an end so another artist can take the stage to share his own song and have a fair chance of being applauded.
~*~
TaeMin stopped walking and stared blankly ahead. The violin wasn't crying anymore. He had no lead to follow.
He considered his options. Sure, he could despair or throw a fit or just stand there and cry - and crying had certain attractions about now - but all those options took effort and he was just too damn tired to do anything because he either overestimated his strength or underestimated his hyung's weight and he was using up energy just thinking about it. So he just stood there and breathed numbly.
"Yah. Why are you carrying me like this?" JongHyun's voice breathed into his ear. "I'm the hyung."
TaeMin's reply was out of his mouth before he realized he shouldn't be wasting his breath by arguing. "Because if you carried me on your back, my legs would still be touching the ground. Yes, you're that short." And because he didn't want JongHyun-hyung to think he was being timid, he started walking again.
JongHyun pinched him on the cheek, but it was an exhausted, half-dead action. TaeMin wondered why his hyung felt more tired than he was even though he'd just been asleep the whole time.
JongHyun whispered something. TaeMin leaned his head closer. "Sorry? I didn't hear that."
His hyung's voice sounded like it came from the deepest pits of slumber and he was doing all he could to stay awake. "I said... run."
"Run?" TaeMin repeated, confused.
"Just... run. Now."
Wind blew on the dessert for the first time, but with so much force that it almost felt solid. It struck the ground a few feet behind TaeMin hard enough to raise a huge cloud of crushed sand.
"Run."
Insectile clicking began behind him. Soft at first, as if whatever caused it was still undecided about becoming solid. But it was reaching a decision fast.
TaeMin decided he had enough reasons to run. He didn't know that he could switch off his exhaustion just like that, but it was a useful discovery as his legs became a blur on the sand.
~*~
The sudden influx of spirit particles from the main workshop told JinKi that a gateway to the spirit world had opened. Among the beings that stepped through was JunSu's familiar yet overwhelming presence. The others accompanying him were almost equally strong.
JinKi gulped audibly. He was going to suffocate, he just knew it. He wondered if he could barricade the closet door.
"JinKi?" JunSu's voice called out. "We've toned our pressures down. You can come close."
JinKi felt the gateway shut. He counted again. Including JunSu's presence, there were four shinigami standing in the workshop. If they were all at Lieutenant JunSu's level then even the ambient spiritual power they exuded subconsciously could permanently affect Zhou Mi's more sensitive instruments. Now, was JinKi brave enough to go out there and tell them that? Hmmm...
But he was spared the question as JunSu opened the closet door.
JinKi decided that if he was going to die, he would at least do so somewhere more dignified than in a closet. He cautiously stepped out the door and faced three other shinigami with badges on their arms.
"Any reason why he looks like he's taking his last steps to the Sougyoku?" a tall, pale one asked, amused.
JunSu laid a reassuring arm across JinKi's shoulders. "He's just extra-sensitive to spirit pressures," the Lieutenant explained. "Where are Zhou Mi and SeungHyun?"
JinKi didn't hear him. He was too busy being amazed that he could still breathe. And too busy breathing, when it came to that. He realized that an absurdly tall shinigami was staring at him intently. JinKi fidgeted.
"JinKi, focus," JunSu said. "Where are they?"
JinKi turned his head and looked blankly at the wall behind him without really seeing anything. "At the opera house," JinKi answered after a pause. "I don't have a map, but you can still find it. Another gate just opened and brought some more shinigami there. But they're not as strong as the four of you. Except for one. You can probably sense them even from this far."
"SeungHyun must have called for cover," the last shinigami said in a casual baritone. "6th Division dispatch. YeoSeob told me through the Tenteikura that he was busy."
"Anything else we need to know?" JunSu asked. All eyes looked back at JinKi.
"There's something on the stage," JinKi said. "I takes people. I can't sense what's inside it which means it's a whole other world in there, and I don't know what else to say."
The other officers looked at JunSu, who felt he had to explain. "JinKi is extra-sensitive to spirit pressure. A lot more than DaeSung."
"He could be useful there," the tallest shinigami said, speaking for the first time.
"Endanger a civilian?" the pale one said, doubtfully. "ChangMin, are you out of your mind?"
"Listen, we don't know what's waiting for us there," ChangMin said reasonably. "And honestly it sounds like we have to go through that portal if we want to resolve this mission. We might need a tracker to find everyone or to keep us updated on our positions if we have to split up."
JinKi couldn't believe his ears. "Are you just going to stand here and talk?" he almost shrieked desperately.
"The reason why we became lieutenants is because we take time to think and plan," JunSu told him calmly. "A lot of shinigami far stronger than us are dead because they don't. And if Zhou Mi just rushed in there unprepared, then he's a lot stupider than I thought."
"Zhou Mi's not stupid," JinKi defended his teacher.
JunSu gave him a small nod and said, "Exactly." He turned to ChangMin. "We can't bring him there. We have absolutely zero idea about what's waiting on the other side and it might be too dangerous. SeungGi?"
The officer with a deep voice nodded. ChangMin puffed his cheeks at being outvoted, but he couldn't do anything about it without appearing petty.
"Then let's go."
The four of them flash-stepped through the roof, leaving JinKi disoriented about why everyone else just suddenly disappeared.
~*~
Lieutenant YeoSeob of the 6th Division stepped out of the World Gate. As soon as his unit emerged, he said, "Get me a reading of the premise's spirit levels."
"Sir," his unit's sensor spoke and began fiddling with his equipment. After a few minutes of reading and recalibrating, the man reported, "Above average spiritual particles in the immediate vicinity, sir."
"At dangerous levels?"
"Still within known bounds considered acceptable for some areas of the human world, sir."
YeoSeob nodded. He raised his eyes from the opera house's rooftop and stared at the city before him.
"Lieutenant?" YeongChul asked.
"This is why bureaucracy doesn't belong in the military," he said under his breath. Then louder, to his unit, he instructed, "Four lieutenants are going to enter the building. You are to observe but not interfere with their actions. Report everything to me."
"Sir!" his unit chorused, and they spread out to secure the premises. He felt JunSu land right behind him.
"Tell them to avoid the stage at all costs," JunSu said. The others appeared around the two of them. YeoSeob relayed JunSu's additional instructions to his team.
"Any chance I might get to know about what's going on from your side?" YeoSeob asked calmly. "Technically, I do have jurisdiction here even if I'm the newest Lieutenant."
"Secret rescue mission," JunSu said before SeungGi could stop him.
"That's the 5th's responsibility," YeoSeob answered equally quickly.
SeungGi stepped in. "Research and Development investigation. Classified."
YeoSeob stared at him straight in the eye. He was the newest, sure, but he was no pushover. None of the Lieutenants were. But he had a lot of respect for SeungGi, and if HaeJin was accompanying a mission then things must be really fucked up. "And what do I tell the captains in case your team doesn't make it back?"
"That they're to physically and spiritually seal off this entire building in a small dimension of its own," SeungGi replied. "My Captain's been itching for a chance to try his new technology."
"Fine."
The four of them jumped down through the roof.
It wasn't enough to do things well. They also had to do things right.
~*~
Belatedly, TaeMin realized that maybe running away was a futile gesture when there was nowhere to run to. But then again, he was new to the arts of survivalism and when it came to running away, 'from' was always more important than 'to'. Currently, the 'from' seems to have finally materialized and was shrieking madly at the black sky.
"Any more ideas, hyung?" TaeMin yelled between steps. The weight on his back shifted as JongHyun turned to look behind them and immediately wished he hadn't.
"Nothing other than saying goodbye," JongHyun whispered truthfully. And because he didn't want to go down saying mushy things, he added, "But this is still not a good excuse for you to profess undying love for me."
"Not the time to joke, hyung!" TaeMin answered. His muscles had reached the point when even the secret wonders of adrenaline couldn't support them. His body just wanted to rest, and if that included facing down an unmentionable horror then so be it. TaeMin had never been betrayed by his body before. This was not a good time for new learning experiences.
I should have let it take me, JongHyun thought dispassionately. He wondered if there was any way to convince TaeMin to leave him behind. "Hey..."
"Don't think heroic thoughts! I'm the hero here!" TaeMin yelled with the cognitive clarity of someone who just knew that this was it, it's time to bow and let the fat lady sing because the great choreographer in the sky was beckoning to him.
"If you say so," JongHyun said. He turned again and saw the creature they were trying to leave behind. He wasn't sure if he was just too tired to be dramatic of creative, but his first impression was that it didn't seem so scary after all. It looked just like a humongous spider that had taken one too many steroids, and by 'too many' JongHyun meant it was about the same size as a basketball court. He gave credit, however, to the chill it raised along JongHyun's spine when he realized that it was looking at them, like its lesser brethren would when considering particularly insistent flies that got caught in their webs: they weren't large enough to satiate its hunger, but if they were all it had then it wouldn't be picky.
The spider raised its legs. JongHyun, entranced by the horrifying sight, swore that nothing that big should be able to move that quickly. A monster at rest was a completely different thing from a monster that was after them.
"Hey! Over here!" a new voice shouted clearly. TaeMin turned to look for the source lest this be some clever trick. He couldn't see anyone who could have spoken, but there was a cave not far away.
Some people may have thought that it could have been the predator's bait, a way to lure them somewhere so they'd stop running and sit down for dinner. Others still may have wondered why a smallish mound of brown rock with a hole in it was suddenly there when they distinctly remembered the landscape being featureless just seconds before. But TaeMin wasn't the type to indulge in contemplations. Dancing had taught him a valuable lesson: distractions often equaled sprained ankles.
TaeMin headed for the cave.
"It's gaining on us!" JongHyun said, still managing to panic despite his weakness.
"We'll make it!" TaeMin yelled, more to convince himself. He reached the lip of the cave and leaped in with all the might left in his legs and landed heavily on the rock.
It would have been nice, operatic even, to say that they entered the safety of the rock even as the monster reached for them. It would have been more dramatic to show the spider's claws swiping at TaeMin's feet and missing by a hair's breadth. It would have done wonders for TaeMin's ego if, at the moment his body landed and he looked around, he saw the creature shrieking in frustration as its prey was somehow, miraculously, heroically managed to escape by sheer effort of will alone.
Instead, what TaeMin saw was the gigantic spider trying to fend off a shower of tiny beams of light that exploded as it hit its exoskeleton. Then a person leaped up from behind and hit the hollow on the head with a huge hammer. The monster's jaws clicked audibly and tried to back away.
It wasn't an ego-boosting sight, but it was good enough for TaeMin.
"I know you," JongHyun's voice said weakly.
TaeMin followed JongHyun's gaze and saw the person who must have called out to them. "Hey. You're the new kid from the orchestra. Henry. Right?"
~*~
"Not so tough now, are you?" SeungHyun roared as he dodged one of the creature's legs and hit it on the side with his hammer. A beam of light flashed beside him and hit the hollow with concussive force.
"Not a good idea to taunt it," Zhou Mi said loudly from afar as he rewound his crossbow.
A second later, they discovered why. The hollow rallied against them and stomped the ground angrily with its front legs.
The sand around them shook. In a brief sandstorm of confusion, the grains flew off the ground and clumped together to form dozens of giant hands made completely of bone, each one thrice as tall as Zhou Mi.
"Fuck," SeungHyun muttered. He raised his war hammer.
The hands turned to face him with their palms. There was a moment of stillness when SeungHyun wondered if Zhou Mi had anything up his sleeves for this kind of situation.
Several things happened at once.
SeungHyun wrought his strength on the ground he stood, and the shockwave traveled away from him at the same time the hands decided to lunge. Silver canisters, each no larger than a thimble, hit some of the bones and exploded in silvery flashes of light. There was a flash of lightning, two streams of fire, an arm grabbing him around the waist and a sensation of sudden motion that SeungHyun recognized as a flash-step, except that he wasn't the one who did it.
They landed a few meters away from the huge, smoking crater where he had been standing just a microsecond before. He turned to face his rescuer. "Lieutenant!"
"Thank me later," HaeJin said. His eyes were fixed on the gigantic hollow being menaced by JunSu's lightning, ChangMin's demon arts, and the floating prisms that were SeungGi's shikai. "That's no ordinary hollow, is it? Fighting three lieutenants and it's still alive."
Zhou Mi landed beside them. "There are two human civilians hiding in the cave," he said, pointing at the mound of rock.
HaeJin nodded. "Understood." He flashed towards the mound as Zhou Mi and SeungHyun rejoined the battle.
~*~
Combat strategies for different situations were part of every shinigami's training. There were ways to fight quickly, ways to fight dirtily, and ways to fight messily, even ways to win without killing the opponent. SeungGi insisted on trying to capture the hollow first, and there were ways to do that.
But even their most advanced methods for capture wouldn't work if none of their attacks seemed to have any effect at all.
The hollow was bathed in brilliant blue light before it detonated with a shockwave that blew the four shinigami and one human off their feet. There was a shriek from the cloud of sand.
ChangMin cursed the air. "Impossible! That was my strongest explosive!"
"Try using the chant!" JunSu yelled at him as Hoshiko began to vibrate with barely controlled lightning.
"Try using the Black Coffin!" SeungGi suggested as his prisms spun around him protectively.
"One Black Coffin with complete chanting, coming right up," ChangMin said and began muttering under his breath.
The hollow emerged from the smoke and charged at ChangMin. But it faltered as a spirit arrow and a streak of lightning hit two of its legs.
"Clear!" ChangMin shouted. JunSu, SeungGi, SeungHyun, and Zhou Mi leapt away and watched as a huge box barely distinguishable from the blackness of the sky formed around the hollow. Spears materialized all around it and thrust inwards with great force.
"Think that did it?" Zhou Mi asked. A loud shriek answered him.
"No," JunSu answered needlessly.
"Oh fuck this," ChangMin said, exasperated. The box faded to reveal the spider hollow getting back on the tips of its feet.
"My turn," JunSu said as he finished charging his sword. He touched the tip of Hoshiko's blade to the ground. A wave of purple electricity traveled from the sands and snaked up the hollow's legs until it was covered all over with tiny larvae of lightning. The hollow clicked its mandibles repeatedly. The threads of lightning glowed brighter and brighter until, soon, they would be hot enough to cook the hollow all the way to the inside.
Then, all of a sudden, JunSu's control broke and his lightning vanished. He felt the hollow's wave of energy engulf everyone. Even him.
"No," JunSu whispered, protesting against the numbness that was crawling faster and faster up his body. He watched everyone else sag even as they fought the wave back. ChangMin was chanting under his breath, but the Splitting Void he conjured was a pitiful semblance of his true skill. "You can't be doing this. You don't have the power!"
The hollow barked the shrill laugh of one who held a royal flush in an honest game of poker. With everyone swallowed up in its spiritual field, they were able to hear its voice for the first time. "You speak to me of power?" it clicked through its jaws.
SeungHyun and SeungGi collapsed softly on the sand. No, no, no, JunSu chanted over and over in his mind. He felt his arms grow rubbery and droop to his sides. He poured all the focus he could spare into tightening his fingers just so he won't drop his sword.
The hollow's voice reached a crescendo. "Power? In my own turf? On the bones of my home?!"
It lashed out with its mind. JunSu felt ChangMin's spiritual barriers shatter. He saw the white bolt on Zhou Mi's crossbow vanish with a nearly audible blink. Both his remaining companions fell, and JunSu realized that he'd never felt so alone.
"No," he tried to say, but even then the numbness was fighting to take over his lips.
"You're mine, death god!" the hollow shrieked. It raised its front legs and chittered excitedly as it launched its entire body towards JunSu.
But the moment stretched to eternity. JunSu watched the hollow crawl through the distance like an ant swimming through molasses. He willed his body to move to safety, but his thought commands seemed to get lost somewhere along the way. Was this how it felt like to face death? Shouldn't his life flash before his eyes? Shouldn't he feel regret for all the things he shouldn't have done, or for all the words he should have said? That was how it worked out in stories. The romance of combat and death.
But then again, his life had never been very romantic. That's something to regret right there.
Or maybe you aren't dying, a voice said right inside JunSu's head. Maybe not yet. Maybe there's another way.
JunSu directed what little mental power he had left to that voice. Help me! he shouted with every fiber of his being and not caring that there was another person inside him. Please help me!
Oh, but I always do, the voice said plainly. That's how things always go. I help you so you could go out of your way to help other people. And it's soooo tiring! Do you think the stuff you make me do is easy?
JunSu's thoughts clicked into place. You... we've talked once before, haven't we? The presence in his mind nodded.
Back when I first told you my name. Foolish of me, thinking you'd use it sparsely. But I will admit that I enjoyed the excitement. It got boring after a while, though. The spirit of his sword yawned tauntingly.
I was doing my job. I'm a death god, JunSu reasoned.
But I'm not, the sword interrupted.
JunSu ignored it and went on. And I'll be a dead death god soon if you don't give me a hand.
The spirit took a metaphoric look around and noticed the hollow. Oh pfft, don't mind that. Focus on me because I'm your only chance of getting out of here alive, and we're talking about my working conditions. I deserve to rest every once in a while even if you keep working, don't you think? Should I have to draw up a contract?
Then rest when you need to.
The spirit laughed. How can I rest knowing that you might need to call on my powers? There can only be rest if we do it together.
JunSu shook his head in his mind. I'm a lieutenant. Who knows what will happen if I don't do my job. If I get out of this alive and you want to take a break, then go ahead. I won't use you on missions. I'll ask ChangMin to help me with my demon arts so I won't need to call on your powers. But I won't stop doing my job as a death god just because my sword wants to take a break.
The spirit didn't respond. JunSu felt his mind being scrutinized from the inside, his every thought being read under intense light. He knew what it meant. The sword was passing judgment. He could only hold his breath and wait.
Mountains could have eroded to plains during the time JunSu felt he had to wait. But eventually the spirit shrugged and gave him a patronizing laugh. I'm sure you'll feel differently when the exhaustion claims you. And it will happen soon. You'd better hope ChangMin is a great teacher. It turned its vision outwards and looked at the world through JunSu's eyes even as it narrowed its own. But first, let me tell you who I truly am.
And it did.
JunSu felt the shocking power surge from his sword, and where it touched him JunSu felt the hollow's spell dissolve. It was gone in an instant. He raised his rapier over his head and shouted at the hollow's charging form, "Bankai! Bishop of the Lightning God!"
One of the many secrets of bankai - and JunSu is privy to them now - is that most shinigami were wrong about how to attain them. Almost everyone thought that one could gain bankai after ten years of devoted training. But in fact it was the other way around: achieving bankai was the sword's decision, and once it does it takes the swordsman ten years to be able to use it reliably in battle.
As his rapier liquefied to golden, molten steel that wrapped all around his arm, JunSu realized why the swords were so conservative when lending their power - it took JunSu all of his spiritual might just to match his sword and preventing it from melting him. The flowing gold took the shape of an elegantly carved large cannon mounted on JunSu's arm, and at the business end was the face of a wasp. The eyes, black as obsidian, began to glow. JunSu felt the entire cannon vibrate with power.
Although some things required training to use perfectly, the same things may also need no instructions to use only once. Some situations could be resolved with the use of raw, unfettered power. JunSu aimed his arm at the hollow's face.
And fired.
In the heightened senses of excitement he saw a tiny winged insect fly off from the tip of his bankai at the speed of a rocket. He saw it hit the hollow full on, and that was the last thing he saw because the resulting explosion blinded him thoroughly.
~*~
The energy backwash even reached through the portal, and YeoSeob was sharp enough to sense it. He jumped down through the roof and went straight for the auditorium. He stood at the edge of the balcony and watched the stage as a pinpoint of light shone almost blindingly bright in the operatic darkness.
"Lieutenant!" The members of his unit came in from all sides and alertly drew their swords.
"Don't go near it," YeoSeob said clearly and sharply. His men froze in their tracks and kept their eyes on the light.
It vanished a moment later, with the same abruptness with which it appeared. YeoSeob nodded. "Get the sensors and tell me the readings."
One of his men jumped on the stage and scattered various wired crystals around where the light shone. He fiddled with the instrument's controls and eventually reported, "Lieutenant, all spirit levels are currently at completely normal ranges."
YeoSeob drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily. He turned to his third officer. "Contact the Captain. Arrange for a disclosure between the 2nd, 6th, and 12th Divisions. And add the 9th, too."
"Sir!"
YeoSeob jumped back up the roof and dragged to the forefront of his mind the map that SeungHyun submitted in one of his reports. Lieutenant JunSu sent him a confidential memorandum last week that should anything untoward happen in the area, there were some assets to Soul Society that should be seized and protected immediately. One of them was a workshop where a spiritually awakened machinist lived. If JunSu's foresight was correct, a human boy who should be there waiting to be transported to Soul Society.
The Lieutenant was going to see to that personally.
~*~
HaeJin paused in his ministrations on JongHyun's spiritual energy sources to wonder what just happened when a flash of brilliant blue-white light filled the cave. Henry stood up from beside him and looked out the cave's entrance.
"Well," he said flatly. "That pretty much seals us in here for a while. They collapsed the portal."
~To be Continued~
Author's Notes: The reason this chapter took so long to get posted is because I had no idea how to write it and my past attempts had to be scrapped and rehashed. In the end, I decided to bring YeoSeob in early. Feedback on the story would be greatly appreciated. :D
So... does anyone have any clips where I can research my Beast and 2NE1 characterization? [/spoiler]
[Continue to the interlude, or to Chapter 8]
Click for Fic Request Thread! Post your prompts/kinks/requests today! (Anonymous allowed)