A Path of Blood (Mission Thread)

A Hollow's path is often short lived. In a world where Shinigami, Super Humans, and Quincy have supremacy, most of the weaker Hollow don't live past the first two hundred to three hundred years. They starve and die, or are killed by any of those listed above. Either way, they usually fall. However, there are some that surpass their brethren. That are able to scrape by until they are strong enough to defeat those who stand in their way. These are the Hollow chosen by fate to defy the power of their enemies and become strong enough to fight back. They do not follow the path of death that their slain brethren do. No, these Hollow follow a different path. Theirs is the Path of Blood.

Once more, his meal had been saved by those with higher Reiatsu than he; this was the sixth day in a row now, where he had been unable to feed properly because of the intervention of a Shinigami, or a Quincy, or a Super Human. It was starting to annoy him. Badly. Even he couldn't hold himself back from a feeding frenzy for much longer. That wasn't good. Not good at all. Raizen wasn't a very strong Hollow; he'd been unable to feed on other Hollows strong enough to add onto his power, and had been unable to feed on those with high Spiritual Power, as well. At least, not for a long time. If he were to go on a feeding frenzy, he most likely wouldn't be able to stop himself from attacking someone with much stronger Reiatsu than he. He just hoped the frenzy wouldn't come. It wouldn't, if he could actually feed on someone or something with higher Spritual Pressure.

Suddenly, there was a surge in Reiatsu coming from above, signaling the opening of a Garganta. It was followed by another, and another, and yet another, until they were opening everywhere. The other Hollows had grown tired of being able to feed on those with High Spritual Pressure, meaning those here in Karakura Town, since that's where most of those with high Reiatsu were, and now most were in a feeding frenzy. Meager meals were no longer able to keep them from attacking anyone in sight. He imagined that those in Soul Society were going into a panic because of the sudden appearance or so many Hollows, and the thought amused him. Then he drew himself to his feet and let out a roar, glad that he'd finally be able to feed on those with higher Reiatsu, be them Shinigami or Hollow. Raizen turned towards the nearest Garganta and began to run in it's direction, preparing to feast on the weakest of the Hollow at first, but once he worked up his power, something like that wouldn't matter.

He reached one of the Garganta, and brought himself to a halt, frozen in shock because of what he saw; There weren't just normal Hollows coming through, but there were also Gillian and Adjuchas pouring through it as well. He couldn't sense any Vasto Lorde, or any Arrancar, yet, but if there were this many Hollows coming through, he had no doubt that one or two would begin popping up soon. He growled in delight; A full on retaliation against the Soul Society? This, he would be a part of. With another roar of delight, he jumped from the building he was on and joined the growing crowd of Hollows as they continued to pour from the Garganta. The Shinigami wouldn't know what hit them.]

Akira had been walking through the town with Sirene, both of them wondering what they should do to pass the time in this new town they'd settled in. Akira was considering enrolling in the high school for a while. But his thoughts concerning his future were interrupted when the gargantas began to open up all over the town. Hollows were suddenly swarming everywhere. Buildings were torn, people were screaming, and Akira was thrown into a memory of the last time he'd seen a hollow force like this. Much smaller in size, a frenzy of hollows like this had ripped his life apart and killed the older bount who'd taken care of him as a child. Thoughts of that night made his body shake with obvious hate and his power began to rise.

"Sirene, fire!" He shouted, pointing at a group of minor hollows close by. His doll obeyed immediately and let loose a loud, amplified scream that was aimed at the hollows. The sound washed over them, ringing in their ears and stunning them for a moment. The scream also shattered the windows of the building behind the hollows, but Akira didn't care about that. He took advantage of the stunned hollows, diving into their midst and beginning to punch and kick with furious blows to their masks, eliminating them one by one. He prepared himself for a long fight, but knew that if nobody else showed up, he would have no chance of staving off all of these monsters.

The alarm rang through Soul Society; a call to arms in Karakura Town. The large influx of hollows had been caught within seconds of their appearance, but the shock wasn't by any means diminished. Messengers were sent as the fastest mode of communication, reaching their assigned Captains within seconds. Of course Kaiyo had been trying to reach some kind of normality, relieving Shiku from the masses of paperwork she had left him with. Kaiyo could already sense the panic, the tense roars of reiatsu through Soul Society as she slowly rose from her desk. Confused for the few moments until the message for her squad arrived. A faceless man who remained kneeling front of the Captain as he spoke.

'A mass attack of the hollows has been launched in the real world; Karakura Town. Vast numbers feeding on the innocent souls and with risk of the invasion spreading. The 11th squad has been chosen for initial backup in the real world, though exact numbers shall remain at the discretion of the Captain. This order is top priority, and all other non-shinigami combatants are not to be engaged against during such time, any co-operation shall be allowed.'

Kaiyo nodded slightly at the man, turning around as she whipped her Haori off the back of her chair; vanishing before she had a chance to turn around. All able squad members were training today, so they were easy enough to find, and with her own reiatsu blazing, they were silent from the second their small Captain appeared. Kaiyo appeared in the middle of the vast courtyard filled with her squad members. Her voice booming through their ears as she shouted, 'Half the squad on me! We've got hollows in Karakura, we leave NOW! The rest stay behind and do what your Lieutenant says!' she ordered. Allowing just a second or two for the chaos to drift in, Kaiyo smirked slightly to herself. Orders coming in so fast and furious meant it was a full scale battle, which to her squad especially, was a big deal. Still, susceptible to attack in their own territory meant they couldn't all fall out, so Kaiyo figured Shiku could handle those who remained.

The short Captain flash stepped across Soul Society to the Senkai gate. She was the first there, and the response unit was already waiting for her, bundling her with a headset and talking at her about the situation in more detail. Kaiyo wasn't listening, she was just waiting for her squad members. Judged as they were, the 11th squad were the strongest, and the best in combat, so this was her domain, and hollows were sure as hell in for a shock when over 100 shinigami appeared. The Captain's Zanpakuto glistened with a spark of golden light as the large doors were swung open. They had a minute, give or take before they moved. Such training exercises had been run many times for this event, split into groups with group leaders, all in contact with Kaiyo, they'd divide and conquer. Simple.

Every so often Stratus would piggy back through portals made by the other hollows. It was an ability he lacked, so it was the only way for him to get to the human world. This was quite dangerous work. If the other hollow noticed him he would be at their mercy. And hollows weren't known for such things. As he emerged into the light Stratus couldn't help but gasp. He wasn't alone, there a multitude of hollows. Was this some kind of ambush. Oddly enough they didn't attack him, they all marched forward into the city that lay before them. So many hollows of different sizes and types poured from the hole. What was going one here? It was like an army on the march, a battle was about to unfold and somehow he was now part of it. So many signals, both weak and strong. The thought on feeding on the weaker creatures crossed his mind, but wondered if he would incur the wrath of the others. He stuck with the group of hollows unsure their target and goals.

Being the Captain of 12th Division, Ryouta knew of things usually before they happened. For the past few days, the SRDI had been detecting strange flares of reiatsu-like power in the Karakura Town area. At first, it had been attributed to the town's unique status, but it seemed that that was not the case. He had just received word that Gargantas had opened all around the town and swarms of Hollows were pouring into the city, causing the expected carnage, panic, etc etc.

Ryouta stood up from his desk quietly. This could be an excellent opportunity for the advancement of knowledge - and plus, with all the Hollow reiatsu around, it might allow him to let his Visored form run amok with small chance of detection. Still...best to take precautions. Ryouta strode over to his wardrobe and yanked it open. Predictably, it had very little in the way of variety, but Ryouta would just have to make do. He pulled out a nice ice blue dress shirt, a pair of pleated khaki pants, a matching jacket, a pair of loafers, socks, and a roll of athletic tape; it was an outfit he had put together should he ever need to use a Gigai in the Real World, though had never had the inclination to do so.

In addition to hiding his status as a Captain (at least from a distance), the long sleeves of the jacket and dress shirt along with the athletic tape wrapped around would cover his mechanical arm and hand. Ryouta was about to leave before remembering he should also disguise his eye. He rummaged around in the wardrobe before pulling out a pair of aviator glasses - the large lenses easily covered both his eyes, obscuring them from view.

Finally, he was ready. Ryouta ran down to his underground lab, where his Hollow reiatsu would go undetected, stopping only to grab a small piece of lab equipment before he left. With a grin, he pulled his Hollow mask over his face, and opened a Garganta to Karakura Town.

The Garganta opened amongst a multitude of others - Ryouta stepped out and quickly closed it; he didn't want any Hollows using it to get into Soul Society. Looking around, he saw swarms of Hollows everywhere. His interest was, of course, in the Garganta, and so in order to keep the Hollows away from him, he would continue to wear it, so they would think him one of them. He held his lab equipment up next to the nearest Garganta - instantly, streams of data appeared on the device's tiny screen.

In his eagerness to act, Ryouta had not anticipated a single flaw in his design. It was true that his Hollowfied reiatsu would render him not a threat to other Hollows, and also true that it would not seem out of place among that swarm of Hollows. However, in his eagerness, Ryouta had forgotten that his reiatsu was decidedly above the average Hollows, even more so with the mask on. Should any non-Hollow be about, they would surely detect this mass of reiatsu, and seek him out.

It had been a quiet day, which meant busy with research. though it seemed the evening wasn't going to be likewise. there seemed to be uprissing to a hassle, something there had been predicted to happen at some point, and certain matters have been taken to prepair for such a thing. Anthony slowly pulled away from his table, walking over to the windows, staring out at the shights.

He watched it all happen the Garganta opening in mid air, hollows forcoing their way out, this was no joke, these was here seeming to have one though in mind, that this town was nothing but a feast to them, Anthony cursed, while this was a beautiful sight to behold but it was just another proof that this world had been determinated to be a battlefield for other people to use as they pleased.

And there the light of a Senkaimon gate appearing the "rescuers and protectors" as they claimed to be, just another word for soldier more like executioners.
"Zelia... dail Jacob for me..."
He turned away from the window, starting to walk for the door, on the way first grabbing his jacket putting it on, next grabbing his Gloves taking them on, making sure the equipment on his wrist was placed correctly atlast he put hsi earphone into his ear, walking over to the elavator.
"Jacob, we're going for walk, be ready for small complications..."
He smiled slowly waiting while ridding the elavator down to the ground level.

So busy things sure had become more hectic with the new master, he did not stand around and wait, you would think he was afraid that time would run away from him or that he could die around each corner, but then again without careful consideration it could happen.
Well at least he could not say things were dull, and besides it was about time someone took initiative, Jacob was in his dark form, he had already caught wind of the trouble brewing and had made his way to the structure already.
"young master I would recommend for you not to walk to streets too rashly, with the trouble out there the hollows could choose you as an easy target" He talked into his phone while Anthony was on the way down, he knew once his young master had set his mind upon something he was not easily swayed from that decision, and neither did he let other people change his mind.

Jacob was leaning up against the wall next to the elevator exit and would follow Anthony as soon as he made his exit, protection of his young master was his most important job, everything else was secondary even his own life, since he himself had already lived out two normal life, but because of the organization he had been able to live on longer.
"so what is it you wish to find on this walk?" Jacob asked as they were now moving to exit the building

Junko was recovering in bed, her entire body wrapped in bandages, minus the face. What was left of her armor hung on a specialized stand, for when its complete, however, it was shattered, and it was all regenerating slowly. Her Zanpaktou, Fenikkusu no Tenshi, was next to her in bed, and just the tiniest sliver of blade had come back, Junko decided to go see what was happening... the normal rumble of cracking of swords and shuffle of feet... She was still small, about a 12 year old, and an inch or two shorter than kaiyo. She brought the shinigami robes onto her body, tieing the red sash around her waist, the remains of her Zanpaktou dangled from a rope, and she slid the Asatuchi, the generic katana of a Zanpaktou inbetween her sash and belt. All in all about as ready for action as she could be...

She opened her door, and the Clacking of an Emergency in the real world sounded, 'Damnit, why of all times now...', And Junko took of running to where she thought her captain's reiatsu was, she arrived to see a ninja looking shinigami giving orders to Kaiyo, presumably from the Central 46. Junko ran gingerly, she was still sore from their bit of a scrap, and the bandages around her body, wrapping all the way up to her wrists and ankles and neck proved it, as her skin was red and raw, occasionally blistering from the extended burns of the Captains fierce lightning... She listened to the orders, and was required to follow the capitan, But she though, "Noone is going to stay here if they can help it"

Junko stayed behind, making sure to close the senkaimon as roughly half the squad went through that side, And Junko followed, racing to catch up to her squad, and she was spat out the other side, the gate closing behind her... Junko felt teh danger around her, the hollows... But she awaited the captains orders...

Raizen swarmed forward with the mass of Hollows, ready to join in the destruction and devouring of Humans and the rest of their enemies. He roared in glee as he felt a large amount of Shinigami enter the Real World. Hunger began to well up inside of him, and he immediately felt the urge to rush ahead to face the closest Shinigami. However, something stopped him. A surge of familiar Reiatsu, just faint, but it was in the same mass crowd he was Raizen was moving with, and the Hollow it belonged to made him stop and turn to go move over to him. It was Stratus, his fellow Hollow and hated enemy outside of events like this. However, if this was happening, he had to at least have someone with him he could trust, since he almost never worked with other Hollows, especially not a group this big. But then again, things like this didn't happen all that often.

"Get out of my way!" roared Raizen as he forced his way towards Stratus. The slime-spitting Hollow! He remembered him well. The last time he had seen him, he'd been on a mad rampage, and then he had suddenly become sane again and asked Raizen while he had his blade-arm to his throat. That was followed with a shove and then heading off after Stratus has decided that Raizen wasn't worth his time. However, this time, Stratus would have to make time to help him, instead of making time to battle. He wasn't going to kill Stratus quite yet, and as a matter of fact, he couldn't even if he tried, as the other Hollow was stronger than him. Didn't matter, or at least, it wouldn't always. Eventually, he'd become strong enough to defeat him. He hoped.

"Stratus! Get your butt over here! I gotta talk to you!" roared Raizen over the sound of hundreds of marching Hollow. He hoped that the other Hollow would recognize his voice, but just in case, he continued pushing his way through the crowd until he stood before Stratus. He glared at his old enemy, current forced ally. "What the hell? Don't you have ears, or you deaf now? I said 'Stratus! Get your butt over here! I gotta talk to you!' Didn't you hear me?!" asked Raizen angrily, his voice a loud growl so that the other Hollow could hear him over the crowd. He then waited for an answer.

The whole crowd was a mass of shouting bodies. He couldn't the voice shouting his name. As the hollows advanced almost as one mighty mass. Straining he could feel what he couldn't see: Shinigamis had arrived. A shrill cry went up among the other creatures. Others felt it. The howl was like some animal. So many hollow didn't have the ability to speak, and worked like brainless beasts. They understood the howl better than any language; the hunt was on. The beast like creatures darted forward while the more intelligent hollows held back. They were like fodder, let the shinigami waste their strength on the rush of animals. Soon the proper troops would rush forward and make short work of the tired enemy. Already the fun had begun.

The mass of reiatsu's were swirling around eachother, the sheer contrast prickling along Kaiyo's arm in anticipation. She needed a good hollow slaughter. Grinning like a maniac, Kaiyo kept her eyes straight ahead, shouting loudly back to her squad. Her words went as law, and she was deadly serious about her orders. 'Alright! Teams of three, you do not attack a hollow alone! You do not try to be a hero and take hollows out of your skill level, if you do, call me through the headsets some of you picked up, i'll be around. Remember we're without healers so any injured are to be taken out of harms way, if two of your team-mates are taken down you RUN! Superhumans, Quincy and Bounts are not are targets either, you do not engage them in combat! Understood?'. The resounding, 'Yes Captain' was enough of an answer.

Kaiyo nodded briefly to herself, glancing back over her shoulder to her squad members. 'Then what are you waiting for?' The cheers that followed were equally exhilaration, the exploding force of the 11th squad began to attract quite a bit of attention as the majority of the shinigami sped off. Pride swelled up at the pit of her stomach before Kaiyo noticed one particular shinigami amidst her ranks. The short blonde girl flash stepped to next to Junko, placing her hand on the woman's shoulder so she didn't leave. Unable to even yet look her in the eye, Kaiyo spoke more softly, 'You shouldn't be here' The woman's Zanpakuto wasn't even fully regenerated yet. Already the clashing energies began soaring in the air, the real fight was just starting.