[bgcolor=000000]With his kido a success, Malik turned to see that he was suddenly surrounded, and Zane downed. He cursed and started to move upon the flying beast when he saw Harupia moving in upon it to deal with it himself, this caused the Soutaicho to smirk. This is why Doctors are terrifying. He thought to himself, catching sight of Fukutaicho slipping up beside Zane to assist him. Good, now for the next bit of trouble.

Spinning himself around, he would try not worry about the on goings behind him as he focused upon the three advancing. He could only fathom one possible solution, and that was to continue what he had been doing.. Only with bigger booms. I like big booms, do you like big booms? Well Malik liked da big booms when he made them so we'll just roll with that, mhm yep!

Raising his sword arm he focused his energy and began to recite the next incantation as quickly as he could muster, without messing it up. "He who is named Raiden, Thor and Susanoo, grant now a boon; with wretched right hand reach and grasp to shake loose foundation of life. Heavens flash as a King's tears fall; split sky, part sea, tear map and shred to pieces! Hadou number Thirty two! Ōkasen!" Choosing a target (one of the spitters) he unleashed his spell, aiming to take the undead beast in the neck. Once fired, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and betrayed a quick glance.

Someone was calling for help.

"I could use another sword here, quickly! Someone is in need of our help!" And then, he readied himself for not only his next attack but prepared to dodge and or counter whatever these fiends might throw his way.

Sengoku grunted in acknowledgment of Kiba's request, and joined his charge. Any of the undead that got too close to the shinigami would have o contend with the reach of Sengoku's axe. He was swinging high, aiming for head and neck trauma, but would have been satisfied with anything that would slow one of the shambling corpses down. As they neared the berserker, Sengoku split off from Kiba's charge. "I'll take out his legs!" He called out, maneuvering around the brutish corpse's right side, until he found himself behind it, in its blind spot. He brought his axe swinging in low, aiming for the back of the Berserker's knee with a full body swing, the entirety of all the kinetic energy his body could muster up, from his feet to his shoulders, thrown into the cleaving attack. If it connected, it would take the berserker's leg off, for sure, and bring it down to the ground for Kiba's strike. he hoped that his temporary ally would be able to adjust his attack to manage the change in height.

He had barely made any headway in his path toward the makeshift base camp when a dark yellow flare caught his eye. He was too far away to make out the message exactly, but he knew what it usually meant; someone was in trouble.

As he changed course a second flare went up, this one a faint white colour. It was closer, and he could hear the message much clearer. It sounded urgent. He made the decision and ran off towards the second flare, half expecting a third to go up as he went.

-----

Rip turned a corner into the wake of a path of destruction. There were... things scrambling around the ruins of a multi-story house. One of them was very large, and very spiky. And a few of them were flying. They appeared, for all intent and purpose, to be chasing something. And since this seemed to be the area the flare originated from he figured they were probably chasing whoever sent it up.

So! Like any reasonable, unarmed civilian would in his place, Rip ran after them.

Ignoring the barking of his strangely prudish savior, he runs with him towards the flare that was just launched, with his hood pulled over his head. However, once he gets to the area, he sees an unusual sight. a big group of monsters, all seemingly rotting. Snapping his fingers at the lack of light to use his special powers effectively. ”I don’t suppose you can make a light for me? No? Eh, I’ll improvise.” Remembering the other guy’s suggestion to stick with attacks to the head, he quickly forms a plan. Gripping his cloak with his right hand, he dashes forward a bit to get one of the ugly ones with the waggling tongues, and attempts to give it a roundhouse kick to knock it down. If successful, a stomp to the neck would follow.

Brutal? Maybe. But he got spit on earlier. Something’s going to have to die horribly.

Pleased with her correct guess, Mai hurried along with her comrades, a slight bounce in her step with her booming confidence. That was shortly quashed, however, with the command to duck issued that rendered her in the muddied dirt and shortened the control in which she maintained over her anxiety. Said control then broke when she chanced the glance at the beastie flying toward her father.

She had tried so very hard to not watch him or look in his general direction for this very reason; now, they were more or less in his immediate vicinity, and he was engaging more enemies than he should. At least her taichou, bless his very soul, was going to help.

Mai stood torn. Should she help her taichou, or stand guard and keep an eye on Hotaru, as she wasn't in a place where she could protect herself?

[bgcolor=E86100]

BRINGIN' THE HOUSE DOWN~~! AWWWYEAH!

Failing to see if her rescue call got answered, Mr. BadAss grabs the tiny girl and puts her on his back! Why? Because it'd look cool during the promo of this thread? Maybe, but no! Because heroism is a trait Mr. BadAss needs to have in order to be BadAss. Although, he'd need to stop that weird speech, rhymes were just confusing after all.

"Let's go!", the girl shouted, gripping onto his shoulders as they flew out of the ruined house and onto another house, this time on the roof. And once again, like a disco machine, Mr. BadAss fires his Medieval Japanese Laser Beams at some flying creatures around them, as she watches to see if some of them get hit.

Best!
Night!
EVER!

SPOILER: Click to show

Typo fix

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Shigeo leapt from the slain giant's head as it began to fall, pulling his sword free from its skull; landing in a crouch several meters away, he nodded to Yuigon in reply to his thanks. His attention quickly shifted to another group of the invaders -- yet another one of the behemoths, and two smaller creatures: a one-eyed, long-tongued individual, and one who, despite the bandages over its eyes, seemed to know exactly where to go to put its fang-lined maw to use. Shigeo's brow quirked upward as his Taichou led yet another charge against the largest enemy, leaving the rest of the group to watch his back.

The appearance of a glaringly bright flare, a call for help, in the distant sky caught his attention for a moment, but the eighth seat forced himself to ignore it for the time being; he had more immediate troubles to deal with, namely the two man-sized foes drawing closer. Trusting his foolhardy Taichou and the axe-wielding stranger to deal with the gargantuan opponent, Shigeo rushed towards the seemingly blinded creature, lifting his blade to shoulder height and sweeping it across, left to right, as he drew closer, intending to separate the thing's head from its neck.

Being that the creature, whether dead or dying, had not forfeited much of its forward momentum, Kurisuna found that the behemoth had staggered away before she could deliver a more definitive blow. She watched, ever vigilant but awfully amused nonetheless (there was an invigorated half-smile to her features), as Kiba failed to relieve himself of his charge before that final plunge; she was noticeably less thrilled as he was liberated of his burden and stood right up, grinning, but by then a third monolith had burst from far-flung debris.

She gathered her mind as swiftly as her so-called allies, bidding it closer before she caught her peer zipping past, shouting something or another that unsurprisingly amounted to ''dispatch the small fry and let me play hero.'' Oh, that did not sit well with her; she and Kiba were constantly at odds—more than he realized, at Sumie's discretion—and it simply would not do to let him seize the day. So, she caught up to him; it was not particularly difficult, but the distance separating them from the berserker was closing rapidly, and any sequence of action to impede him would need to be carried out fast.

She ran alongside his mad dash and alleged tunnel vision, perhaps gaining a few yards of vital leeway before decelerating, drastically reducing her center of balance, and jamming her Zanpakutou blade-up into the narrow, inch-deep recesses of a fissure directly before Kiba's charge; leg stretched, and grip such that the katana would not go flying from the collision, she was blatantly attempting to trip him: never mind what would happen if he were to cut himself on the weapon's contaminated edge.

Zane flanked Malik into the fray, hoping to be help to his Taichou in any way possible. That was, of course, until a flier came down and sunk it's talons into Zane's back and started to seep the virus into his body. The infection spread rapidly and soon..

Zane blacked out.

It seemed to be years.. maybe even longer than that before he was drawn back to normal. Zane blinked lightly, re-adjusting to the light that shined down on him. What a nuisance. He glanced up and seeing Hotaru above him. "Did you save me? Thanks..", He murmured to her. He would need a minute to get situated again.

Madness was sweeping through the Rukongai's third. Flesh-eating maniacs were pushing violently inward, grasping up the life of helpless souls by the very teeth lodged in their rotting skulls. Things were getting to be to much and the thought of retreating to his homeland grew ever so near to actually happening. Ubaga is running across the rooftops and while it seemed like a prime vantage point, it was not. Soaring through the sky are infected winged-monsters. They were caught within the peripherals of his eyes and so he ducks off and into an alleyway. Landing sort of sloppily but good enough to go unwavered. Immediately after landing he takes off in a dead-sprint, trying to maintain a steady breathing pace to keep his sprint strong. Upon breaking out of the alleyway, an array of makeshift tents were immediately spotted to the right and out in the distance. Of course, it's path contaminated with a bit of trouble along the way. So instead of attempting to take on these unknown enemies he begins to analyze them while at the same time gaining way toward the assumed safe point. The numbers are fairly slim, but there is enough to stop him from heading directly toward the camp site, because even if he was able to take out a few, he'd draw way to much attention. Too much for something as frail as a makeshift set-up full of medics.

Utilizing various alleyways, back streets along with his cunning and overly aware sense of structures within the Third District, he slowly, but surely makes way toward the site. Then.. things took a turn for the worse. Things grew suddenly hectic. This specific building he is sneaking around was littered with infected monsters however that wasn't his problem as he was already stealthily making way from the scene. It was when he hears the shout of a female, possibly in distress, that he even begins to notice that the building was wavering and starting to come down on itself.

"Let's go!" caused for his movements to hault, his brain's objective to refocus and his direction to shift. He carefully moves around the collapsing building, masking his steps as good has he possibly could while at the same time trying to stick to the thickest of shadows. It was when he reached the neighboring building's far, opposing side that he sees a pair of silhouette figures leap from the collapsing structure. It seemed bulgy, as if carrying another upon it's back. That or the hunchback just made a daring exit. Either way it seemed the screaming did not occur again and so he decides whoever had shouted was in good, protective company. He wasn't needed. And so Ubaga flees the scene before the zombies could paint him as the next target. Only after minutes of reaching a new street toward the center of town Ubaga's gait was shut down once more. As the path leading directly toward the still far-out medical tents was completely covered. It seemed like not only zombies, but also fighting Citizens! From the distance, he couldn't clearly make out faces and occupations, and so he grew closer. By the second, he tried his best to remain off radar, however it seemed nigh-impossible. Because within the general vicinity was a speedy monster that seemed to spew some sort of bile fluid from it's mouth. This he had witnessed earlier on in his advancement throughout the area. And further observation would reveal a staggering, mindless zombie that, in comparison to a fallen beserker, looked like a piece of cake.

Just when Ubaga was about to jump into the scrap and give the zombie a good ole one - two, something akin to the fallen giant is caught within his view. It was a massively-set beast- no, not even a beast. It a hulking tower of destruction heralding a devastating amount of girth. In it's gait, it left small, tiny foot imprint upon the softer parts of the ground. This thing of a monster sends chills up Ubaga's spine and causes for him to grin softly. He wanted to best something of such a magnitude, however he knew he could not do it alone or without any information on it, and so, he leaves for the moment. Abandoning Kiba, Kurisuna, Yuigon, Shigeo, and Sengoku, whom didn't even probably see him pass. He figured that if it was them who took down the first, they could possibly manage a second. For now at least.

With his trek slightly gone slightly awry twice, he makes a third attempt to keep strong and make directly for the tents. He stops in an alleyway that is seemingly clear, directly midway between his last stop and the tents. As he pants softly, he looks up to the sky, checking the rooftop edges and sky itself for any flying cretins. And with constant left-to-right's, he keeps his attention at an all time high, consistently. Thanks to this mad adrenaline rush, he had some sort of energy boost that was allowing him to remain at peak awareness. Though slowly, he felt the energy boost dying out, slowly he was coping with the situation and so he knew he needed to make it to the safe point before this would die out. After coming to this realization, he takes to his advancements once more. Ubaga stays clear of the rooftops and tries to stick solely to the alleyways, noticing they were surprisingly clear of people and monsters. However, sooner than later, his rope runs out. The worn-out safety net of protection that shrouded his being, worn out. It led directly into the streets again, and right down from the medical tents. They were literally a straight shot down. He makes a dead-on sprint, quickly closing the gap. And upon full closure, he skids to a stop, panting heavily as he nervously glances around. Picking the most active tent, he rushes in while worriedly calling out, "What is going on here?! Are the Hollow attacking the Rukongai?!" though Ubaga didn't feel like this was of Hollow nature. He had an odd feeling this was something else, after all he has never seen an invasion of this size.

[bgcolor=555555]

Unfortunately for Ryuu and Torako, Ryuu was neither the strongest physically or the fastest of heroes. While his girl-burdened jump would make it to the other roof, the pair were already prime targets for the fliers who were faster than the Arrancar and his ability to launch the Bala after having to recover from the jump whilst still carrying Torako. One of the four Bala that were shot off made contact with the head of one of the three fliers, but the other two winged their way around them with speed before Ryuu had even finished off the last Bala.

One came from behind and the other from in front. The one from behind raked Torako across the back as she was completely exposed on her perch, the other's talons went for Ryuu's face as he fired off the last Bala. The Bala caught the flier in the stomach, but that did nothing but cause it to spill its rotting guts all over Ryuu and Torako, the latter of which was now paralyzed, thus frozen in her clinging position as the infection took over, making her deadweight on Ryuu's back even if he managed to avoid getting infected himself. Still Ryuu's prediction had come true in a sense for the collapsing house. A large piece of splintered timber took out one of the spitters through an eye. The rest however, remain unscathed by the structural destruction.

While the pair on the roof had their own problems, those on the ground had more than enough to contend with as well. Mihamaru's roundhouse kick, quite the stunt for someone of his weak fighting abilities, connected and knocked the beast to the ground, but as he was busy taking the additional time to stomp on its neck, effectively snapping, there were two more coming for him from his left. One spitter and one biter. The spitter launched a stream of infection at Mihamaru from its maw. If it found its way into his ear or any other orifice, he would once more find himself on the ground in silent suffering. It was not all he was facing though, because as the spitter relieved itself in Mihamaru's direction, the biter was shambling forward to take a deep bite out of his side.

Yoshiya would find himself in a similar situation. The weight of the staff was enough to cave in the side of the spitter's head, sending a skull fragment into its brain. The creature dropped to the ground, where it fell, another took its place, well, two in the form of two bitters. Still, they came at Yoshiya from the front, giving him the advantage of a stumbling block in the form of the corpse he just dropped.

Alas, poor Rip perhaps got the worst of it, or soon would. A nasty ol' Berserker and the remaining three biters of the area had taken in his 'scent' in the form of his reiatsu aura. Their attention and bodies turned towards him and the large beast came bellowing, but most stumbling slowly over debris, toward Rip. The biters shambled through the path the larger zombie had cleared. It was quite a sight. Still, there were plenty of buildings Rip could throw in the way for stumbling blocks with a little dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge maneuvering!

The Shinigami who had been working mostly as a group fared better in the kill count category, though they had their fair share of troubles. It didn't help that Kiba would be busy dealing with friendly fire, leaving the lone Rukon in the mess, Sengoku, on the path to the berserker. Still, despite the definite lack of backup, the axe was all he needed to take the heavy monster down at the knee. Like before however, the weighted momentum didn't just come to a complete stop as the monster lost balance. Instead the creature's massive spiked arms flailed, a dangerous predicament for Sengoku who was so near, not to mention that eventually the zombie did come crashing down in a faceplant that would easily pin all but the strongest beneath it. However, the positioning left its neck exposed like the perfect chopping block; if one had the appropriate strength or combination of momentum and gravity to cleave it from the zombie's shoulders before it rose again. There were other methods of course to deal with such.

With Kurisuna and Kiba busy, that just left Yuigon and Shigeo to deal with the stragglers. The combination of two swords found itself to be potent enough to shear the spitter's head from its perch, letting it drop and roll to the ground just as Shigeo attempted the same with his sole blade. It was almost a replica of Kurisuna's attempt. The blade went in far enough that the creature was dead, but the bones of the neck had refused to part completely under Shigeo's exertion, thus lodging his sword in place; not firmly, but enough to certainly give him pause while the other team of Shinigami including Malik was under assault.

Perhaps the Soutaichou's mistake was in thinking that Harupia's effort would be clean cut against the winged foe, or perhaps it was simply the fact that turning one's back on a moving enemy was general a bad thing, but even has Harupia went to hack at the flier's neck, the creature was lashing out at Malik's back and as the captain was turning to shout about needing more people, he would feel a burning sensation across his flesh where the talons had torn before he'd crumple to the ground, the infection rendering him motionless in a deathlike rigor. At least his kidou had taken care of a spitter.

The misfortune however, was because Harupia's attempt to dispatch the creature nearest Malik was hindered by the wings which rose as Harupia's blade came across. It was not a defensive measure; no, these creatures didn't think in such terms, it was simply trying to take to the sky again because that was its call to infection. The wings were not made to resist sharpened force with their thin membrane, so they did split under Harupia's zanpakutou, but his own force was not sufficient enough to go through the wings to the neck which had been his original target. With Malik down, the beast started to round on Harupia. With one captain down and another engaged, Hotaru and Zane were the prime target for the remaining biter and spitter who lurched toward the Fukutaichou and tenth seat.

Sumie was distracted from all of this by the arrival of a bizarre looking man. Rushing into the areas set up by the medics. Fearing who could be infected, or worse, crazy, she followed after him to make sure the stationed medics were undisturbed. Seeing that he was neither, though certainly bizarre in appearance, she replied to his inquiry with, "You should evacuate to the Second District. This area is under attack by creatures spreading a virus which incites violence in the victims. We're trying to clear the enemy, which is proving difficult as they only die by removing the head or damaging the brain, and administer the cure to the infected."

SPOILER: Click to show

Time - About 5:15 am.

Current Enemies - 2 Berserkers, 3 spitters, 6 biters, 3 fliers (2 fliers, 1 berserker, 2 spitters, and 5 biters at Ryuu and Rukon location. 1 berserker at Sengoku's location. 1 spitter and 1 biter at Hotaru/Zane's location, 1 flier with Harupia)

Infected Characters - Malik, Torako. People facing infection unless avoided; Ryuu, Mihamaru, Sengoku.

As always, stopping, for Kiba, could only come by collision; still, he was a reactionary boy, and he was at least able to see the weapon being stuck in the earth before his foot, albeit without much to do about the matter.

Naturally, being a child, Kiba's arm would lash at Kurisuna, if only to plant a retaliatory swat on her person as his legs came into contact with the contaminated metal; the sharp edge scraped through the leggings of his hakama, tearing open the flesh above his shins and locking his body in place, the frozen Taicho taking to the ground like a drunken penguin, bouncing and tumbling really rather melodramatically for such a frozen body.

Seriously, what a baby. A frozen, bleeding baby.

Before he could even take a sigh of relief after taking out the first monster, he notices two more coming from his side. Seeing one similar to the one under his boot spit at him, Mihamaru thinks quickly , he raises part of his cloak in front of his face to block the spit, while keeping his hood up to prevent spit from any angle but right in front of him. What kind of monster spits at their enemies? That’s just nasty, man. Mihamaru’s already gotten spit to the face once tonight already...

And suddenly, he has one of those things with the pictures. AN IDEA! He quickly shouted the connection he made to his new "friend" “Crap, I recognize that crap they’re spitting! These are the bastards that spit on me and knocked me on my ass! Whatever it is in those things you gave me fixed me up. HOW DO YOU USE THESE THINGS ANYWAY?!”‘ While waiting for an answer, Mihamaru quickly moved his left hand a little, pointing his index and middle fingers into the air, while keeping them inside his cloak, the moment “Teeth” stepped within a meter of his shadow. Almost on demand, a long tentacle rushes from his shadow and attempts to pierce through the toothy-looking mo-fo’s eye-bandage-things. In the event that it managed to dodge the piercing attempt, Mihamaru would have it curve around, and pull it down to the ground, where it will no longer be a threat.

"Great, another infected" Yoshiya had not yet seen someone in the process of being infected. Whilst he didn't exactly have a front-row seat to the process, he was able to see just how fast it paralysed its victim. "Amazing..."

Unfortunately his thought process was interrupted by an annoying buzzing in his ear. Honestly!

"Just inject them with the medicine,"he yelled to his uncouth companion."and I told you to bide your tongue!"

He looked up to the roof where Ryuu and the motionless Torako were surrounded. Taking out a vial, he tossed it up to them, hoping it would land near the man, and the man would be able to fend off the wave currently attacking him.

"You hear that? Give her some of this and she'll be all right. And aim for their heads, apparently that's the only way to stop them."

That was more or less everyone else sorted. Now to save himself. Hopefully the guy who looked like a shorter, more unkempt version of himself both heard his advice and could hold up for a bit whilst he dealt with these two small fry.

He took a swing at the two Biters, hoping to crush them both against a nearby wall with a single attack. He saw no reason why this shouldn't work. A back-step would give a greater moment to his swing, but he didn't feel his legs were dexterous enough to accomplish this. Still, this -should- be sufficient.

Hotaru was startled at how quickly her patient responded. Her hands still were pressing the trauma pads to the gash in his back so her initial response to his question was not a resounding 'yes I saved you', but rather was an admonition for him to "Lie still. You yet have..." and here she eased up on the amount of applied pressure to check and see if she had stemmed the bleeding yet, thinking to apply Chiyudo in mending his flesh, only to see that the wound was gone. Her voice faltered upon seeing this before announcing the miraculous to him. "...been completely healed.

Removing her gloves as she sat back onto her calves, which were bent beneath her, she turned the gloves inside out making sure the trauma pads were tucked inside. Although he was healed, she wasn't certain that just coming into contact with the ooze might not spread the contagion. Quickly she tucked these into the disposal portion of her medical kit along with the spent syringe from before.

The sickening sound of metal sinking into flesh caused her to avert her eyes from her patient to that of her Taicho slicing his blade through the wings of the horde creature that was attacking Malik. The last thing they needed was yet another body decreasing the amount of maneuverability in the area. That was when a bit of motion detected out of the corner of her eyes drew her gaze to the two creatures heading toward she and the newly healed shinigami. Instinctively she rose to her feet and stepped over his body and squared her stance before the incoming threat. Her medical kit hung at her right side, but it was to her left that her right hand now went.

Grasping the hilt of her Zanpakutō, she drew the blade and held it in both hands; her right was near the pommel while her left near the guard. Her weight was evenly distributed between both legs sword held at about her midriff, while she surveyed the enemy up close.

Both contained skin coloring like unto what you might expect to find upon a corpse dead at least one week; the skin was patchy between various shades of blue and gray and a color reminiscent of gangrene. While one had bandages of sorts over its eyes and protruding teeth, it was the other which seemed to revolt her the most. That long tongue flailing about licking its own face as though checking to make sure it still had a face was enough to make her wish to vomit; not to mention the bulging eye and sewn up socket of the other.

Hotaru knew she wasn't strong enough to sever a head clean from its neck, but she also knew she couldn't let her patient be set upon while he was still trying to shake off the effects of this contagion. Wasting a blue syringe of medicine upon either never entered her mind; certainly these two were past even its miraculous powers.

So as she waited for either one to make their move, she stepped forward one pace creating space between herself and her patient in which to negotiate her blade to the best of her skill. Additionally, she knew she was not alone. Mai was as yet still free to act. It mattered not where she exerted her efforts first, either toward her father and the Taicho or toward Hotaru and her patient; there would be time to aid one of them and then deal with the outcome later. All Hotaru had to do was provide that time.

SPOILER: Click to show

Corrected mispelled name

On her way back to the Wastelands, Kurai found herself sneaking her way through the third district of Rukon. She had luck on her side in the second district, filling her tummy with the yumminess of fish. Kurai continued to beam with happiness when a sudden foul smell wafted through the air, assaulting her poor nose to the point of the hollow stopping in her tracks and wrapping her clawed hands around her snout. "Nyaaa, what is this yucky smell!? Kurai really don't like it!

It would be then that the young hollow heard... fighting? At this hour? The hollow frowned, not sure if she should continue on her way to the Wastelands or sate her curiosity and check out the reason for the fighting.

Deciding to actually be daring, Kurai headed towards the commotion. Little did she know that this was the biggest mistake of her life...

DUN DUN DUN!

Well, things didn't go quite as he planned...quite frankly, they didn't go as planned at all. True, it was partially good since it meant he managed to strike a hit on the creature...but otherwise, his situation got rather bad rather quick.

So, h had to deal with the grounded flying creature, and the Soutaich which was going through the infection right now most likely. And Hotaru and the Shinigami she went to assist would be busy enough with the other creatures heading towards them...honestly he wanted to help, but he wouldn't be doing the mistake of turning his back on the thing...oh god, this stench was unbearable.

Haru took steps back and turned around to face the creature, not wanting to let it get in close from a position he didn't see. at the same time he would shout out "MAI, USE THE MEDICINE ON YOUR FATHER!" not wanting to waste time. Assuming the illness needed some time to spread, she would need to act quick in order to net get them a second infected on their head. True, he was risking her getting infected as well, but again, he couldn't afford to turn his back on one creature. That would endanger both of the potentially.

Harupia kept his distance for a few more seconds, holding his blade out forward,after which he would suddenly step forward, aiming a swift slash at his neck again, this time from the front and knowing exactly where to aim. He had a serious lack of skill in sword fighting, but he guessed that if the poison numbed muscles, an with how mindless these things were, it would be hard for it to react. How well would that work remained to be seen.

"I am afraid I can not oblige such a request, ma'am. I am a fighter, not a runner. I will at the very least help administer the cures. You may stop me if you'd like, but know that in your doing so could very well mean life or death for certain people still out on the battlefield." Ubaga proclaims with such a fiery passion that the worried tone was not only washed away, but completely drowned out by this point. He turned from Sumei and began to pocket cures, those needles and weird vial looking things. As that was the only thing around that really looked like a cure. He was like a homeless man picking pennies up off the floor. Stuffing two needles and two vials in each of his pants pockets. And because he had nine pockets, he didn't stop until packing a full load of eighteen cures. Ubaga turns to Sumei and gives her a brief nod before taking off and back toward the alley he had sprinted out from. Upon reaching the alleyway, Ubaga clenches his fist and mentally prepares a message. As he does this he gathers up a decent amount of reiatsu within his clenched fist. Once completing his thought on what to relay, he embeds it into his fist before cocking the arm back. Ubaga shoots his arm forward, opening up the clenched fist once his arm reaches it's full extent. Shooting forth from his opened palm is a burst of green reiatsu, the shape of which quickly molds from a blob into the display of a butterfly. The reiatsu emits a green aura that vibrantly colors the sky around it in a lighter shade of green. From the flare begins to play a message which goes over thrice,

A man with bone-piercings in his face will be delivering cures to the infected and to the defenders on the battlefield. Should you see him and he not see you -- ASK!

By the time his flare was molding into the shape of a butterfly, he was already off into the dawn of the day. He kept his route similar, however he has to make some adjustments and a few tweaks. As it seemed zombies were moving into the alleyways, a small amount of coverage, but enough to cascade his path and keep him from reaching the infected in the time slot he desires. So, once more, Ubaga takes to the roofs. Sprinting, jumping and latching to every roof he could. All the while he remained vigilant, his eyes, his mind, his very being was in tune with the chaos. Leaping back into the alleyway, he began nearing the area in which he last saw the Beserker. Ubaga briefly surveys the area, looking for downed bodies that weren't of the late-rotting persuasion. And then that's when he saw his first potential patient. Ubaga waited though, he remained out of view, out of sight from the monsters and even people in general, he observed the downed man, and he observed the area in which battle was lively active. Ubaga notices that the downed man was robed in a haori. something he's only ever seen Shinigami adorn. Luckily, around the same time as he identified the person, he saw an opening in the field. One inwhich allowed him to stealthily move out of his alley, pass Kiba, and into the next alley. The next one that he had already made sure was clear.


Ubaga takes a (rather small) leap of faith for some guy he doesn't even know. Exiting from his shroud and onto the battlefield. His movements are swift and though he remains crouch, his eyes keep going back and forth while his ears try their hardest to keep up with just the sounds within his own general vicinity. That way he could hear if something tried sneaking up or swooping down on him. Ubaga arrives next to Kiba, only briefly glancing at the tower Shinigami at Kiba's side. Quickly identifies a wound as having come from some sort of blade. He didn't understand why the man was down and not moving, he just knew he was wounded and that chances were it was from his own sword. Ubaga attempts grabs Kiba by the back of his clothing in his left hand, lightly sweatdropping at the fact that this man was pretty heavy. "Has this man been infected? I have the cure." Ubaga asks Kurisuna, before shifting back to Kiba in an attempt to survey his body for any other wounds.

SPOILER: Click to show

edited a proportion out

His attack was successful, what do you know. Here Yuigon was planning to basically just be a part of a relay to heal those that got wounded, and he had instead already participated in taking down two of the creatures. He then turned to see Kiba-Taichou seem to fall for whatever reason, heard another flare, and then saw a Rukon go to try and help him. "A lot of Rukons still here. Huh." Well since that seemed to be being taken care of, he instead turned his attention to a flailing and fallen Beserker that seemed to have been attacked by the first Rukon he saw.

"He better move fast." The Shinigami did his best to rush forward, advancing towards Sengoku and the Beserker as quickly as he could. He then aimed to jump onto the fallen beast's back, and drive the katana in his right hand down towards the back of its neck. His hope was to stab the blade straight through the spinal cord, just below the skull for a quick kill. Depending on how this goes, he'd look to make sure the axe-weilding Rukon was still alright.

Sengoku's axe found purchase, much to his fierce joy, and the big behemoth toppled downward. However, Sengoku was a bit dismayed to find the lumbering monster still moving and very irate. Its arms flailed, and Sengoku managed to catch the one closest to him on his axe, sending him rocketing backwards from the force of the blow. The haft of his big woodcutting axe snapped with a sickening snap, but he'd otherwise avoided any serious damage. No scrapes, no infection.

He landed hard on the ground, rolling over the cobble stone and bruising his back and shoulders. He tossed aside the shattered remains of his woodcutting axe and reached for his fighting axe at his hip. He slipped it out of his belt and forced a pulse of reiatsu into it. The axe split in two, and doubled itself, so that now he was holding an identical axe in each hand. He moved to join back up with Kurisuna, scowling as he glanced at Kiba. "How bad is his wound?" He asked the red headed woman, having not witnessed its infliction.

Ah, crap.

Apparently running toward danger was a bad idea. Who knew? Rip skidded to a stop, and abruptly changed course. He veered to his left, running over and around some rubble before passing between two buildings. The big spiky one seemed unfriendly, and he felt it might be a good idea to keep as much distance and solid objects between himself and it as possible.

He tried to gain comfort from the knowledge that whoever these things were chasing is safe now, as they were now chasing him. It didn't help.

RYUU WAS BEING FLANKED BY TWO OF THE FLIERS (although he did manage to get the third one). RYUU ALSO HAD ONE GOING STRAIGHT TOWARDS HIM. Although oddly enough that one wasn't dead (well dead for a second time) despite taking the Bala shot head on. Quickly ducking down when he saw that his Bala hadn't dispatched it, Ryuu was successful in dodging it's attack (although he would need a bath afterwards due to the spilled organs that had fallen on his and Torako's back)

BUT DISASTER HAD STRUCK RYUU'S NEW FRIEND. FOR SHE HAD VALIANTLY SAVED RYUU FROM INFECTION BY SACRIFICING HERSELF. It was truly a heart warming moment. One that would affect Ryuu for years to come. Or Ryuu might forget about it a few minutes later. Sometimes it was hard to tell. BUT EITHER WAY RYUU WOULD HELP CURE TORAKO WITH HIS NONEXISTANT MEDICAL SKILLS.

For he had overheard one of the rukons yell how to use the cure. And he then threw a cure onto the roof (the best way to transport cures). Quickly scooping it up before the fliers could come around for another pass, Ryuu quickly used a Sonido to go into an alley that was farther away from the zombies. While he was closer to the zombies, he now wouldn't be out in the open so the fliers would remain less of a threat. Not only that but the distractions Rukons were helping by distracting the other zombies.

Injecting the cure into Torako, Ryuu smiled to himself. FOR HE HAD SAVED THE DAY. AND NOW IT WAS TIME TO MAKE THOSE FLIERS PAY. Keeping an eye out for the fliers, Ryuu would fire five Bala at them in order to take them out of the sky for good. For he had figured out what the difference was between the one he had killed and the one that he hadn't. THE ONE HE HAD KILLED WAS DEAD. Plus the one he had dispatched was hit with a headshot. So it made sense that headshots would take out the other two.

Rocking back and forth like a string in the wind, Mai took a step toward Haru, hesitated, and then a step back toward Hotaru; she was so unsure! While both could hold their own, she assumed due to their status as those without the skill were hardly promoted above her own rank, she was almost equally sure that in this situation, neither of them would be up to normal standards. If she she stayed back, she would be able to defend Hotaru should something break through the line her father currently held, but she wouldn't be able to assist anyone up front that required the cure. If she went forward, she would not only no doubt in line Harupia's line of fire, judging from the way he, and the majority of their division, wielded his weapon, but be at a greater risk to herself, and be unable to offer the support to Hotaru should the inevitable occur.

Back by Hotaru in the infinite straddling of the fence, her violet eyes managed to take in the inevitable, which had occurred despite her unthought prayers: Malik had turned his back on the enemy, effectively ignoring it but not disengaging it, Harupia had been unsuccessful in his attempt to destroy it, and Malik had been struck.

Vision narrowed, ceased, pulse quickened, heart plummeted. Breath caught, body shuddered, memory, unbidden, resurfaced.

Slowly, she rose her head, red-faced and blotchy skinned, to glance at the way he had gone; then the edginess of his imperative, that command to move, reached her ears and filled her with panic. She heard the collapse of the structure in the wake of the monster, felt the vibrations through the soles of her frozen feet. The monster itself, propelling itself forward on those massive, deadly claws, elicited a raw, terrified shriek from the depths of Mai's delicate throat.

Malik's second command was lost in the pitch of Mai's scream. Even if she had heard, even if she could have, she was unable to do anything. Her body betrayed her, limbs rendered to quivering mounds of jelly, very core reduced to near nothingness. Frozen to the spot by sheer horror, destined to die by a ravaging, emaciated monster.

...

Mai flinched and curled into the smallest form she could as the sounds of crashing wood and stone resounded behind her. She choked out another sob, not daring to even look at the results over her shoulder (not that she would be able to see anything due to her position), and continued to drag herself forward. Again, she shrunk at the reverberating roar, though this time it propelled her into a mad scrabble to regain her footing; upon success, or the third attempt at, she managed to break into a staggering sort of jog, slipping every other stride in attempt to get away.

...

The tail of Malik's haori slipped through the beast's teeth, as its head whipped about to give chase; as such, the man's attack, previously destined to miss its target, scraped the bonemask, and gave the cat a few less whiskers, sunk deep, deep into the gleaming red eye. The viscera flowed freely over the blade and onto Malik, steam rising and nearly hissing in the waning sunlight. Guttural yowling immediately followed, shifting into a primal, raging howl as Malik would no doubt cause further harm by twisting the blade. Eyelid clamped shut, it tried to get away by raising its head and attempting to send it flying with several violent shakes of its massive head; it only served to exacerbate the pain, however, and in an attempt to save the left eye, shortly stopped and opted for a newer, safer approach: clawing the fucker to death. Forepaw rose, head tilted, and a sickening squelching sound followed a sharp, nauseating ripping as the last bit of the optic harnesser lost out to inertial forces and popped out of the bloodied and destroyed socket.

...

His [Malik's] attacks were frantic and ill timed. This was becoming something of a growing chain of events it seemed. All but one of his attacks had actually proven any useful. Realizing that if he continued this course of action he would wind up either getting himself killed or worse, his daughter. So, change of plan.

Hitting the snow he tucked into a roll before springing to his feet, albeit shakily, and sprang into a run as he slipped his twin weapons into their homes. Breathing heavily he would go in for a slide across the wet ground, wrapping his arms around his youngest daughter as reached her before kicking with his feet to carry them as far as he could with a single jump of shunpo.

Which in this case was behind a small wooden wall/fence. He would then cup her mouth to prevent any screaming which might erupt. "Ssssh." [sic]

...

Looking over his shoulder he watched as the beasts fell dead, panting he frowned a bit. I really am out of shape. He thought to himself as he pushed himself up and staggered back a half step away from Mai. But this only lasted for a moment, for the instant he regained his composure he was frantically giving her a once over. "Are you alright, you aren't hurt are you? It didn't scratch or bite you did it?" [sic]

Malik would receive no answer to his panicked questionings, as Mai was wholly checked out; nobody was home upstairs, or if she was, she was knocked out cold. Her eyes, glossy with the shock of a sudden change, gazed in whichever direction she faced, and her normally pale complexion was further blanched, and with the blood spattered all over her person, she certainly looked much like a corpse...a saturated, ensanguined corpse.

Her only testament to living was the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she strove to regain her breath; between the screaming and the smack that knocked the wind out of her, she was fairly devoid of that precious oxygen. So, the heaving shoulders started and, and the breaths came out in wheezing gasps, and one violent gasp later, as though someone had thrown a switch, Mai threw herself at her father's shins.[footnote:1]copy/pasted from Flashback Squared with slight editing of my own posts and [sic] for Malik's posts[/footnote]

Eyes opened, face flushed, scream silence. Her oath had been remembered, ingrained to her very core. Never again would she be considered inadequate, never again would she freeze when she was needed most.

Her first step forward, before Harupia had the chance to draw the breath for his imperative, had her drawing up the cure from one of the several vials on her person into the first syringe. The momentum leading to her second step provided the boost for the fluttering of her shunpou step to carry her around the obstacle, leaving Harupia belting out the needless command and to engage his own foe without worry; to Mai, nothing but her father's survival mattered now.

Immediately after coming out of her step, Mai crouched down over her father, turning him so that his face was far enough from the muddy earth without compromising the wounds on his back. She parted the hair falling down his back so that the side of his neck was visible to her trained eye; a thudding heartbeat later, the bevelled point of the needle made to slip beneath Malik's skin, and with a clean stick, to pierce his jugular. A hair's breadth pull on the plunger would fill the bulb with crimson bleeding to green, the flashback signifying success and the subsequent combination of both liquids following as she forced the plunger upward and emptied it into her father's stiffening body. A delicate thumb would then put a light pressure over the needle as she pulled out to staunch any unwanted bleeding; Malik had been doing that enough on his own recently and did not require any further assistance.

Seconds later, long enough for the skin to seal itself, Mai drew back enough to inspect the wound on his back. Needle and syringe safely secured between her teeth, as a dog would her bone, she pressed her hands to the largest of the gashes, freely pouring her energies into it to jump-start the healing process; a tense moment later, she withdrew her left hand to attend to the waste within her mouth. A sharp twist of the wrist and the needle would be separated from the syringe, both then safely stored within the special pocket of her shihakushou before returning to tend to Malik's wounds.

Her eyes, never having left the bleeding gouges over Malik's back, flicked up in the direction of her Taichou, and then around her position. Liquid fear threatened to spill down her face, despite her incessant urging to will them away; now was not the time for her to break. Teeth sinking into the prone flesh of her lower lip, she waited, eyes now dancing over her surroundings.

[bgcolor=E86100] Oooh the pain!

The girl shook herself out of her paralyzed state, once Mr. BadAss had injected her with some.. cure. As a reaction of her muscles unlocking, she fell off behind him, landing on her feet like any cat would. Geez, it hurts. Her back, and her whole body, and to add to it, she felt she needed to run away, as she had gotten in the way of Mr. BadAss' fighting.

She quickly got up, and looked around for a quick moment..
Over there!
.. and ran, towards the sound of another fight, escaping this fight.

She suspected that this was the other group of people that she called for before, and perhaps they would be bigger in number, compared to a lone Mr. BadAss. IF the flying creatures would follow, the girl suspected that she would be much faster, taking a child-like pride in her trusted "running away like a pussy"-skills. At this moment, she decided to name it.. her Shin-ji skills!

She arrived out of an alley, spotting...

"Nii-chan!" ... oh, and that padded-out bearded man... yyyyeeeaaahhh, he doesn't seem like Main Character material. More like a Red-Shirt that tags along on every mission.

But enough about that! We got a plot to address! Since where she came from, the houses were ruined, the girl ran over to the other side like a cat, hiding in an alley full of boxes between two houses, waiting for the commotion to end on the street. Hopefully, none of the zombie-creatures saw her/were busy with something else..

Shigeo grunted in surprise as the infected creature's flesh, while appearing to be rotted and weak, proved tough enough to withstand his blow -- not enough to prevent its demise, but still with enough thickness that his blade lost momentum and found itself stuck in the vertebrae of the aberration's neck. The creature fell, and the shinigami was forced into an awkward, bent posture, as his reluctance to relinquish his grip on his zanpaktou drew him towards the dirt as well. "Disgusting thing," muttered Shigeo, planting a foot firmly on the infected's shoulder for balance and purchase before tugging his weapon free.

Turning to view the outcomes of his comrades' battles, Shigeo was pleased to see that Yuigon had dispatched his opponent with ease, and then moved swiftly to aid the axe-swinging citizen in finishing off the brutish giant. His spirits fell somewhat, however, when he spotted his Taichou laying on the ground, unmoving, though no wounds could be seen from Shigeo's position. There were no other foes near here; what brought him down? With a faint frown, the tall blond trotted over towards Kurisuna and Sengoku, shooting a questioning look to his former mentor before voicing his thoughts. "Shuchiku-Taichou was injured, it seems...I missed it during my own fight. Did you see what caused it? More importantly, do we have any of that cure on hand for him?"

Zane stood slowly, picking up his Zanpakutou that rested ever-so-carelessly on the ground next to where he had fallen. His eyes adjusted on his saviour and how she was standing.. right in-between him and two of these damned creatures. What the hell! She had already saved him from his plague once and yet she was going to try and save him a second time?

Hell no. It was time to pay her back for the help

Zane was no where near 100% right now, but he was feeling more than well enough to fight back against the damned horde that decided to amuse themselves by making him a member. Zane dashed past Hotaru, his speed diminished from it's full extent, but he was still at a speed that some people might be amazed by! As he reached where the 'spitter' enemy as he had just watched it spit at in a random direction, curious why it hadn't aimed toward him or Hotaru.

Oh well.

Zane slid to the side of the horrid-looking beast, his Zanpakutou being shifted to his left hand, his right hand coming across the grip the hilt tightly. The movement was swift and nearly silent as Zane's blade exited it's sheathe and swung in a horizontal fashion, aiming to slice the fiend's head right from it's torso. He would try to escape from the fiend afterwards if he had time, but if getting infected a second time would result from slaying this freak of nature and helping Hotaru.. Zane would see it worth it.

Kurisuna watched him uncurl from a snarl of limbs, crippled by his momentum, but not entirely without requital. She felt a tensing, a priming, a shiver go through her as Kiba whipped his arm out, and coiled inward to place her torso parallel to the ground; like so, his hand would lash at the air, which was just as well, considering a half-arsed swat to the temple from Kiba would not constitute the sort of pain she was into.

Thump. She heard his heavy frame connect with the walkway. Turned her head to track his unceremonious skid across the stamped concrete pavement. Oh, this. This was too good.

She went to stand before Kiba, intent, and luxuriated over his predicament. With a savage grin, she noted that soon he, too, would turn unless someone was to administer the cure, and thought to take his head right then and there, to rend it off his shoulders, and present it to Sumie like the spoils of war. A flush of pleasure shot down and bore into her abdomen, but this was no place for such reveries. It would be too cruel.

When a man, too outlandish in appearance for his own good, emerged from a nearby alley and crept closer to the pair, Kurisuna brandished her Zanpakutou to confront him before he could draw so near her charge; she lowered it, then, upon hearing of the cure, but kept the blade trained on his person. ''Administer it quickly, then.''

She did not avert her gaze from this alien entity before her as Shigeo and the axeman joined. ''Shuchiku-Taichou will be fine,'' then, with a dismissive snort at the former Lieutenant's query of what had befallen Kiba, she added, ''Isn't it obvious?''

Ryuu's attempt to shoot the fliers from the same alley that was providing him cover resulted in nothing more than parts of the surrounding houses which created the alley getting clipped, thus showering Ryuu in debris and opening up the area for the fliers to swoop down and attack him as Torako fled. One came in from one end of the now opened alley while the other came through to the opposite end with sharp talons extended, intending to tear away chunks of flesh from his torso. If one had time enough to examine them, their deep-set eyes almost seemed to be saying, 'One of us'. Their own speed was above that of Ryuu's and given all the work he had been doing, it was likely his own physical energies were depleted. It was a difficult situation to be sure.

As Torako fled to bleed herself away in an alley hidden from enemies and busy allies alike, something aided by all of her movement, causing the wounds to open more freely on her small frame that would most certainly require medical attention soon, Yoshiya would find his batting making contact with the skulls of his enemies. It was not necessarily his swing which caved in the heads of the zombies so much as it was the wall's unwillingness to cave upon the flesh and bone contact. Regardless, the zombies dropped to the ground. It was not so easy for Mihamaru, who had blocked his face to protect against the spitter, but also blocked the biter from sight in doing so.

His tentacle would not find the bound eyes of the biter, but rather its maw. With any of the other zombies, this would have led to piercing through the spinal cord and resulting in a kill, but the biter was aptly name and as soon as something with reiatsu was within range, it bit. That included Mihamaru's shadow tentacle. Teeth rendered the inky protrusion separated from its base before it continued on its way toward Mihamaru, teeth gnashing and now within range of the Rukon's upraised arm. Unaware of the dispatching of its comrades, the spitter did not turn upon Yoshiya, but rather launched another deluge of delight at Mihamaru.

From behind the messy scene, the berserker had left its followers in the dust to stomp after Rip. Disappearing between two buildings proved useful to the Rukon's torch as the bulky berserker was slowed by its own efforts to demolish the surrounding obstructions. Slowed, but not stopped. It doggedly pursued Rip, though the other zombies were far slower and merely shambling afterthoughts.

Back at what was considered base camp, the Shinigami were nearly in clear. Harupia's second attack found itself more successful this time as did Zane's go at protecting Hotaru from the spitter, though as he severed its neck, the throat gushed outward with the liquid of infection. If Zane caught any of it within his face, he would be down for the count once more. However, as he was busy assaulting the spitter, the biter came for Hotaru with a powerful lurch, its path guided by the reiatsu emanating naturally from her.

Such was the state of things when Sumie resurfaced from her encounter with Ubaga. She still wasn't sure about the odd man, but was quickly distracted by the incident when a large figure, larger than those of the zombie fliers, flew overhead. The glint of white from the darkness of flesh indicated it was a Hollow. Sumie's gaze shifted to where it had come from, noting that its direction meant it had likely been in the Second District. As Sumie was wondering just what the Fifth Division was doing if that large of a Hollow had simply been wandering around and didn't appear injured as it flew overhead, the old woman from before emerged from a house to Sumie's right.

"Oho! It looks like you're doing quite well for yourselves. I knew I made the right decision in letting your people have the cure."

There was so much craziness and Sumie was so tired that her first instinct was to lay her hand on the hilt of her zanpakutou simply in reaction to the sound of the woman's voice pervading the exhausted silence buzzing in Sumie's head despite the noise of combat around her. "No need for th-" the old woman started, but as she did, the sky suddenly lit up with lightning and thunder sounded around them. Though the sky had been gray before from the incoming sunrise, it turned black now, storm clouds manifesting far faster than normal. The old woman's features wrinkled further at the odd display of nature.

"Well, that's certainly more direct than usual."

SPOILER: Click to show

Time - About the same as last post.

Current Enemies - 1 Berserker, 2 Fliers, 1 Spitter, 4 Biters (Rip has a Berserker chasing him, Ryuu has two Fliers coming for him, Mihamaru is being attacked by a Biter and Spitter, there are two Biters between Rip's location and Mihamaru (corrected from the three written last post), and one Biter is attacking Hotaru).

Infected Characters - Kiba. Mihamaru, Ryuu, Zane, and Hotaru facing immediate infection unless avoided.

It was a war on 4 fronts. A few feet away Miha was under attack by a Biter and a Spitter. Further away Ryuu had two fliers after him. Coming out of a nearby alley was a wounded Torako. Still further away Rip was dealing with a Berserker. He could not deal with them all. He would have to trust people could look after themselves, assisting as best as he could.

Yoshiya withdrew his staff, freeing the two corpses he had pinned against the wall, their bodies landing in the dust of the Rukongai with two soft thuds.

He turned towards Miha, and kicked the lifeless Spitter to join its brethren. Now to deal with that other one. Yoshiya's footsteps made little sound, what with the noise of battle going all around. The Spitter never saw him coming. It may have been considered dishonourable to strike an enemy down whilst its back was turned, but he doubted anyone would care. This was far more efficient.

He raised his staff with both hands. The sky went dark. Lightning lit the air, but it served only to accentuate the shadows on his face. Thunder crackled through the sky as Yoshiya stabbed the Spitter through the skull.

The hollow gagged as she flew over the town, the smell too much for her sensitive nose. On the ground she noticed both shinigami and rukons fighting with each other against.... what exactly the hollow didn't know. Further ahead Kurai could see two flying creatures ahead. Curious, she would make her way closer to the creatures only to see that they were attacking some strange person with a mask on their face.

Kurai let out a roar in anger, not liking how the creatures were ganging up on the masked man. "I will not tolerate your tactics in fighting, be you shinigami, human, hollow, or whatever you stinking creatures are!" And with that Kurai would fly towards the nearest flier, claws outstretched.