When it rains (Masaru Arata)

New York City

It was raining again, and he had long gotten used to it. Living in the desert had made him forget what rain was. At first it was an amazing spectacle, then it was a minor annoyance, now it was bothersome. He has long since learned that his slime doesn't function well with water. When it rained he was restricted to jumping from building to building and climbing using his claws. Jumping across wet rooftops wasn't exactly fun. To add to it he didn't like the chill of the air when the rain fell. He had found this city a perfect hunting ground. There were so many people, so many alleys and back streets. But it was too easy. He had eaten his fill, and yet to satisfy his thrill of the hunt. They couldn't see him, so he could surprise them was a simple task. Of late he started to lay traps. He made slime trip lines and pools of ooze to snare them. He would watch as they screamed and flailed trying to free themselves. But even that had started to wear thin. The wind was picking up, he decided to move from his perch above the corner street. This was a place without a true forest. There was a park, but he didn't like it. It was strange how he enjoyed nature and harmony, but loved to brutalize humans. His current hiding spot was an abandoned building, a warehouse long forgotten by the people. It wasn't a glamorous place, it was filled with old boxes and broken parts. As the dilapidated building came into view he felt something on the edge of his senses. Something was approaching not far behind him.

Masaru had been tracking this particular Hollow for days; an order had been put out about it. It was one of those rare Hollows with intelligence that needed to be nipped in the bud. He had finally discovered where this Hollow liked to hide out, and had followed it back one night. At the moment, Masaru was walking behind it by a few meters. He drew his sword with an awful sense of finality. This Hollow would meet its end by his blade, as so many others had before it.

Perhaps it was only coincidence that the signal was following him. He hurried his pace, he rather not have to fight in the rain and limit himself. If he could lead whoever into the abandoned building he might gain some advantage since he knew it's layout. The next jump landed him on the rooftop. From the warehouse, he waited for the signal to get closer. He wanted to make sure it was coming for him. He hid his own signal as best as he could then clawed his way to down from the roof to the ground level. Hunching behind a dumpster he looked down the street for some sign of his possible pursuer.The door the warehouse was barely 20ft from where he hid, he usually entered via the roof. With luck whoever it was would miss him entirely, otherwise he would lead him into the dark warehouse.

Masaru watched as the Hollow he was following suddenly rushed forward, and jumped up onto the rooftop of the warehouse. Looking up at the building, Masaru wondered whether the roof could hold all of his weight. Probably not, was his thought. So how could he follow the Hollow safely? He wasn't proficient in Hoho yet, so, it wasn't like he could follow him in midair as a more advanced Shinigami might. Masaru gripped his drawn blade tightly and decided on his course of action.

He raised a hand toward the sky, and recited, "May the tears of those killed, of those harmed by those of wickedness deliver their judgment upon those around. Hado#10: Rain of Pain." At his words, the rain around him turned acidic, began visibly eroding away at the warehouse and things around it. Masaru did not think that this Hado was capable of killing the Hollow he was tracking, even with the full incantation. However, he was hoping that it would prove enough of an annoyance that the Hollow would come out of hiding, or at least reveal itself in the form of increased spiritual pressure.

Stratus peeked from behind the dumpster. He was surprised to see such a monstrous figure. Was this the person following him? It most definitely wasn't a human, was this some kind of hollow? That thought was dispelled by two facts; one it had no mask. And second; it wielded a large sword.
He could see the creature's lips move, but couldn't hear much over the sound of the falling ran. Suddenly Stratus felt something burn his back, no not just his back, but his whole body. The acidic water ate at his skin and the hollow yelped in pain and popped up from his hiding spot. Well what was left of his hiding spot. The dumpster was slowly being dissolved by the acid as well. Stratus picked up what was left of the large misshaped metal and tossed it at the larger man. He screamed once more and leaped through the freshly made hole in the wall of the warehouse. The rain had taken a small chunk out of the metal and stone building. Inside the warehouse was dark, the moonlight barely coming in through the windows and sunroofs. Stratus sighed in relief, the pain had stopped. He snarled and shook his body. He fired a strand of slime from his hand to the roof, and pulled himself up onto the catwalk that circled the ground floor.

(ooc: my character's face is covered in a veil)

Masaru watched in satisfaction as the Hollow fled into the abandoned warehouse; with a gesture, he stopped his kido spell and approached the door of the warehouse with deadly resolve in his eyes. Masaru pushed the large doors open easily and made a cursory scan of the warehouse. It was too dark, and the acid rain had released an acrid smell into the air that prevented Masaru from locating the Hollow with scent.

Where was it? Masaru tried to sense the Hollow's reiatsu, but to no avail. There was too much residual reiatsu around; the Hollow spent too much time here. Masaru would just have to wait for the Hollow to show itself. He gripped his sword tighter and prepared himself for combat.

OOC: Meant the bone white mask, but you're right a veil is a mask

The foolish shinigami had come into the building. Stratus wanted to laugh, but was afraid to give away his location. From the catwalk he climbed up onto the ceiling of the warehouse,giving himself a good view of the floor. This was his lair he knew the layout well enough in the darkness. The darkness was his ally. His gray skin made him hard to spot; he was one with the shadows if not for the pale white mask. Somehow the shinigami has sensed him before, ruining his ambush. Now he tried suppress his signal as best he could, trying to keep the element of surprise. From his palm he launched a orb of slime at the western end of the warehouse. The bolt hit a box and toppled over, making quite abit of noise. Misdirection. Stratus began forming a larger ball of slime in his hands while he hung from his feet. He waited for his pursuer to move, once he pass directly below him he would drop the sticky slime upon him.

A loud noise from the western end of the warehouse caused Masaru's head to instantly snap to the side. His eyes peered into the murky darkness, searching for a hint of movement, but could not detect anything. Masaru could see no other choice besides investigating that area as it was his only lead. He wasn't going to just head in that direction, however. The fact that the Hollow had first attempted to run away from him indicated to Masaru that it was smart enough to know when an opponent to be worried about was around. It was entirely possible he'd be walking into a trap, especially since he knew that the Hollow frequented this warehouse often.

Masaru took a step, muttering under his breath as he did so. "May the black sounds of those that have felt death emit and destroy..." He prepared the Hado spell as he walked, his ears focused intently on hearing any noise that would be out of place as he headed for the western end of the warehouse. As he neared the western end, his nose picked up a new scent; something slick and unpleasant, like pond scum or something. What was that odor?

Masaru stopped where he was, looking all around him again. And that was when he sensed a flare of hostile reiatsu directly above him.

In the semi-darkness he saw the shinigami look up. "Damn." he muttered and dropped the large slime orb upon his foe. He kept a thick strand of slime connecting him to the dropping sphere. With the little effort he could swing the ball using the strand's elasticity. In essence it was now a like a large yo-yo. Should the man dodge he could try to redirect it to hit him. The area he was standing had many few boxes and crates to hide behind. But the shinigami's size hiding wasn't much an option.

Masaru looked up in time to see a ball of slime falling toward him. He pointed his left left hand up and finished his spell. "Hado#7: Black Thunder!" A wave of black reiatsu erupted from his hand, seeming to spread vibratory energy in its wake. The fully recited kido spell caused the slime to spill around it in a ring around Masaru. The kido spell then proceeded to continue its upward trajectory into the catwalk.

Now Masaru knew what that scent was- it was this slime stuff that presumably came from the Hollow. He leaped out of the ring of slime, his eyes quickly scanning the area around him, including above him for the Hollow. "Hado#4: Byakurai!" He sent several bolts of lightning at the catwalk; not only making it dangerous for the Hollow to remain there, but also lighting up the area intermittently with the lightning's light.

The element of surprise taken, his perch was more a disadvantage now. He quickly released the slime yo-yo as it was dispelled by the blast of dark energy released. Moving along the roof was trickier than expected. Worst yet the bolts of energy that the shinigami had fired now weakened the roof. Stratus dove to another section of as a large chunk of the ceiling came falling down upon his opponent. Stratus laughed to himself at the irony.

Beneath his veil, Masaru grinned; this fight was heating up. Though he hated to admit it, his bestial nature reveled in battle. The more danger, the better, the more challenging the opponent...well, Masaru drew a great deal of guilty pleasure from fighting. That was precisely the reason why he had not joined the 11th Division, and elected to join the 1st Division instead. He thought it would help him further discipline himself into the perfect Shinigami.

Anyway, as the roof came down toward him, Masaru uttered, "Bakudo#8: Seki." He raised his left forearm, now covered in a shield and gave a mighty swat at the section of roof falling toward him. His physical strength combined with the kido spell not only halted the roof's descent, but sent it flying away, taking down the rest of the roof, presumably taking the Hollow with it.

Masaru began briskly walking toward the rubble; because of the heavy rain, what little dust sprang up was instantly muffled by the water. Masaru thought he could see the outline of the Hollow amongst the debris. He held his sword ready, kept his lips slightly open to recite another kido if necessary. This Hollow would not survive the encounter...

There wasn't much time to watch if the shinigami got buried as more the roof started to crack. As seen from the outside it was a very old building. And the destruction of one part led to the weakening of the rest of it. He looked over his shoulder as he heard a very loud noise. What he thought was the end of the shinigami was the beginning of the return flight of the broken ceiling. Running wasn't much an option, the place he that he now hung from wouldn't be much safer. He secreted his slime out and hardened it quickly and braced himself for impact. The roof came tumbling down.

For a moment everything was dark; there was rock and metal covering him. Despite that he felt only sore and battered. With a grunt he heaved the heavy rubble off him. The rain was coming down through the newly vented roof. He looked down at himself. His body was completely covered in crystal, but parts of it was cracked and broken along his joints. Apparently he hadn't made it thick enough. Just as well it would have been too heavy to move with a thick layer. He looked up just in time to see the mammoth shinigami come rushing at him. "Well this isn't good." He said, his voice muffled by the crystal covering his face. He picked up a piece of broken roof and hurled it at the advancing fighter.

As Masaru approached, he could increasingly clearly see the Hollow, which appeared to be covered in a crystalline armor that it had presumably used to prevent damage from its fall and the roof. He didn't have time to really ponder that ability before he saw the Hollow pick up a section of the roof and throw it at him. Masaru brought his left forearm up again, still protected by his Bakudo#8 spell. He caught the roof on the shield, which temporarily paralyzed the striking object in midair, before sending it flying right back at the Hollow, faster than before, as his own physical strength was being added to the throw.

"Burn of the blades that have been lost. Hado#8: Blade of Flames." Masaru's blade seemed to catch on fire. He assumed he'd need a little more stopping power if he was going to break through the Hollow's armor. Underneath his veil, Masaru's grin tightened. This would be interesting. He flexed his strong leg muscles and leaped over the area where he had thrown the roof section, and brought his flaming blade crashing down on the debris, under which was presumably the Hollow.

As he threw the rock, he suddenly remembered the roof. The shinigami could somehow send the rock fragment flying back. Stratus wanted to slap his own face. His only option now was to dodge. As he thought about it, the rock stop suddenly. Stratus gave a mighty leap into the air, normally this wouldn't be wise within the warehouse, but now there was a hole in the roof. And he had to use more power to jump with the crystal armor weighing him down. He was lucky he did. The rock had obstructed the shinigami's field of vision long enough to hide his movement. From above he saw the rock crash into his former location. He saw then the shinigami's weapon burst into flame as he struck down on the rubble. The hollow laughed as he descended down upon the shinigami's unguarded back in a double foot stomp.

Masaru pulled his flaming blade from the rubble; not even a hint of blood. The Hollow wasn't under there. But where? Masaru felt a hostile reiatsu above him just as two feet stomped onto his back shoving him into the rubble. With an ursine roar, Masaru flexed his huge muscles and reared back, standing up straight and shoving the weight off of him with his brute force and spiritual pressure. He could feel where the feet had hit him; there'd be bruises there for certain, but Masaru was sure that it was by no means a hindrance.

He raised his flaming blade to face the Hollow. "Not too shabby," he said aloud. "I assume you can talk, since you outsmarted me for a moment there." Masaru raised his flaming blade in a respectful salute. "You should've gone for a killing blow," he said. Then he charged forward, his blade thirsting for blood. First, he aimed an overhead slash at the Hollow's right arm, followed by two quick slashes across its chest, finally ending the combination of strikes with a final stab at its face.

"Not only outsmarted." Stratus growls from beneath his "I'd say out classed!" The hollow raised it's arm as the first strike came. He barely avoided the strike, but the next blows sparked off his chest. The green crystal was still covering most of his body. He wasn't quick enough to move with it on, but as a defense he wouldn't need to. Or so he though. The damage from the roof falling on him and the drop from the sky had cracked the thin shell already. The large shinigami's powerful blows only broke it further. He cursed himself for not making it thicker, but if he had he wouldn't be able to move at all. Shards of crystal fall of his body from the swings, as he moves his body to block more crystal breaks off. The sword hammers against the armor covering his face, he dodges one strike and is hit by the blade's return trip. He blocks another attack, but is pushed backwards leaving an opening for the next. The large shinigami is stronger than expected, but Stratus isn't about to lay down. Stratus dispels the rest of the armor off his body, if he can move better he might avoid the attacks. Without the armor he able to dodge the next swipe of the blade, but comes to a stop just as the final thrust comes at his head. The hollow raises both hands and tries to shift his body. Stratus stands there; both his hands grip the shingaimi's huge hand halting his arm from retreating. The huge blade hangs over his shoulder, his head tilted to the side. Although he can't see it, he can feel the gash on the lower side of his mask. Too close for comfort.
"That's what I get for playing with my food." he mutters. Then he releases a torrent of slime from his mouth at the unsuspecting fighter.

Masaru was finding it difficult to break through the Hollow's armor, even with the addition of the flames around his blade. He also noticed, however, that the Hollow's protection came at a price- the armor was heavy, and restricted movement, so the Hollow dispensed with the armor and instead took a hit on the lower side of its mask. "I'm not playing, Hollow, I'm winning," said Masaru. "And-"

Masaru's words were cut off by the torrent of slime erupting from the Hollow's mouth. It took him completely by surprised, knocking him back and sending him into the pile of debris. Masaru growled as he struggled to free himself. It was sticky and didn't smell very good, especially to his acute sense of smell. He managed to bring the tip of his blade to the slime in an attempt to cut it- it didn't work. What it did do was ignite the slime, which, while having the benefit of freeing Masaru up for movement, also meant that he was on fire.

With a roar of pain, Masaru flexed his huge leg muscles and charged forward into the rain. "Blind the enemy with the endless sands of the desert. Burn his eyes and weaken his soul. Hado#9: Dust Wind!" He wasn't using the spell as it was intended, that is, to blind his opponent and obscure with dust. Instead, he had used the full incantation for a single reason. All that dust in the rain turned to mud, and that mud was aimed to hit himself, and smother the flames that covered his body.

The unorthodox technique worked, and had the added benefit of covering his burns with a soothing, cooling mud wrap. The flames had had one additional effect. They had burned off bits of Masaru's Shinigami uniform, including his veil. Now his face was bare for all to see. The face of a beast. He growled as he faced the Hollow. This was unforgivable. "Hado#4: Byakurai!" He pointed his finger at the Hollow and fired several shots of white lightning directly at it.

There was a great deal of joy for the hollow to see this opponent struggling to free himself. The joy turned to utter delight when the shinigami then set himself and the slime on fire. It seemed like the shinigami had no luck tonight. "Looks like I get a cooked meal tonight." Stratus laughed just as the shinigami ran into the rain and cast his spell. "Figures he wouldn't die that easily." he muttered as the flames were extinguished. It was then he laid eyes upon the unveiled creature, it was abit of a shock. With that size he had thought it wasn't a human, and for the most part he was correct.
"I guess it takes a monster to hunt a monster." he snickered, it was obvious the fighter didn't wish to be seen as such. "And you are quite a monster!" The beast then pointed his finger and there was a flash of light. Stratus barely raised his arms up in time to protect his already cracked mask. The bolt of energy hit him and tossed him backwards to the far wall of the warehouse. The other shots hammered him painfully through the wall. Outside in the rain his body was smoking. The water felt good on the multiple burns he sustained on his arms and body. His back felt raw and bloody from ripping through the wall. He looked up at the large smoking hole he had just made. "Guess I'm the one without luck tonight." He gasped trying to stand up. Just then the building groaned. It was an old building, and it now had three large holes. There was another groan and the building shuddered and fell. Stratus wanted to laugh, but decided not to push whatever luck he had left. With a grunt he stood up completely, the warehouse was nothing but a pile of rubble. It was then he noticed that the rain had stopped. A part of him knew this wasn't enough to kill the shinigami, but if it was he wasn't interested in finding out. With a leap he reached the top of a nearby building. He needed to find a new place to sleep. "It seems I had a little luck left after all." Suppressing his signal he made another leap into the still night.

Masaru took little satisfaction from the fact that his hado spells had connected- in fact, he was disheartened. Even more so when the building collapsed on him, and he felt the retreating spiritual pressure of the Hollow. This was the second intelligent Hollow he had ever faced, and like the first, it had gotten away from him, moreover, it was now the only sentient being besides Masaru that knew his secret. Beneath the rubble, Masaru lay still for a moment, willing himself to calm down; it didn't work. He was angry, unbelievably angry- angry about the physical pain he was enduring, angry that he had failed twice...angry about his lot in life.

With a high-pitched scream he stood up straight, his reiatsu blasting into the sky as he shoved the debris covering him away. Masaru's blade was still on fire from his earlier kido spell; with a gesture, he dispelled the flame. At some point, he'd meet this Hollow again. He'd file a report about it in the Shinigami archives, detailing its powers. The Gotei 13 would then be able to track it; after all, intelligent Hollows were worth tracking. Masaru's lips peeled back over his teeth; they would fight again, and next time, Masaru would win.