Overdue Tax Collection (Yukio)

For 500 years he had been trapped in slumber, his body caught in the vortex of energy caused by the mass of hollow being transformed into menos and now that he finally had awoken all his past power had been lost. So much had changed in all that time, in Hueco Mundo beings known as arrancar had risen to providence and taken charge from the fortress of Las Noches and in the living world, stone and wood had been replaced with concrete and steel. One thing that had remained as it was however was the sight he awoke to, a mass of minions crowding on his face, all shouting at him as he had finally returned to lead them. After the obviously quite emotional reintroduction to each other, mostly involving Gouldo "kindly asking" why exactly the minions had let him sleep for five centuries without doing anything. As it turned out, without his guidance they had been left completely clueless as to just how to do this. Much head-bashing later, after they had gone far from the location he had been sleeping at for so long, it dawned on him just how insanely he craved souls right then, the years without consuming them assaulting him all at once. With this singular driving purpose the band had went for the land of the living.

His hunger had driven him to a place with a particularly strong spiritual presence, Karakura Town in Japan. Less then a minute after his arrival his minions had pinned down a soul for consumption, the human plus squirming in terror as the dreadful centaur-like monster devoured him. The haze having lifted slightly, but still torn by the long centuries without food he knew he had to eat more and soon. Tearing through the night the overlord and his minions collected souls from those who should be loyal subjects, simply collecting taxes that had been long since overdue. All through the night the creature and his warband of monsters hunted for souls until finally at dawn Gouldo had become content, his mind finally having been restored to its past state. "Minions, I have finally restored my mind and we can now return to Hueco Mundo.. My rise to power has begun once more." Before he was able to enter the rift back into the world of hollows however he detected a presence, one more powerful then the usual souls he had hunted throughout the night yet still clearly human, it appeared so very delicious. "Master! Let's go home!" One of the brutes had interrupted his trail of thought, retribution came swift as he grabbed onto the tiny creature's neck. "Do you think you can tell me what to do?! NEVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I've detected such a delicious thing... Come." With that, he set off in hunt for the human.

Yukio had lost track of time, he had been given detention by one of his stricter teachers, for a reason that he couldn't recall, and then he made the mistake of going to the park with a few friends that also joined him in that same detention. It was weird how the day went like that, he probably would of stayed longer if his parents didn't call him; they weren't doing anything of much interest, just sitting on the damp grass, and having a chat.

Yukio turned down an empty street, a short cut which he had taken a few times, but the darkness of the night, did give him the chills somewhat. He spat out the flavourless piece of gum he had been chewing on, then reached in his pocket, and pulled out one of his pens, he was new to this whole having powers business, so he didn't really know his limits with them. He spun the pen around his fingers a few times, and then pressed it gently on his skin, hmm, what to write? He had this dilemma before, so far he had only write three words on his skin 'stronger, faster, diamond' which all gave him a remarkable ability. He probably should of been learning more about these powers, rather than slacking off not doing much. But he was in no rush, it wasn't like he had too fight any monsters or anything like that.

He was about half a mile from his house, it was quite a long walk from his house to school; a little over 2 miles, but he did enjoy a good stroll, so it didn't bother him most days, although walking alone to his house at night, was a bit daunting. Suddenly the air was heavy, what was this feeling, was this another one of his powers, to make the air heavy? No it was something else, another person doing this perhaps, Yukio looked around, sweat was dripping from his forehead, maybe this was a monster, he took a gulp of air, and kept his pen close to his forearm, so he could write down a power if need be. His head turned left and right trying to see what was causing this. "Erm, hello?! Anyone there?!"

The galloping monster thundered through the dark empty streets, the only thing visible being the white mask with its glowing red eyes, appearing like a lone wraith in the darkness. Behind him the minions followed, ten of them looking like brown lizards walking on two feet, the other five appearing as black birds, invisible in the lack of light. He was on the prowl now, his senses honed by the clarity of mental peace after five hundred years and he could so clearly sense his prey. Finally he found him, a human boy, likely not even a full adult yet and all alone now in the night. Gouldo had the high ground, appearing right from over the edge of where the road he had been travelling had tilted downwards and down the hill he got a good look on his prey, his eyes accustomed to the dark.

As he observed what would soon be his meal he stomped one of his massive hooves into the asphalt, leaving a deep mark and a loud thud as he alerted his minions that he wanted their attention. The smaller creatures walked up to him, having just caught up, their large eyes glowing yellow in the dark as they awaited their master's word. "Grab him. I want him alive so I may enjoy his suffering just as much as I will his soul." The deep, raspy voice gave out his orders as the brutes and creepers began to laugh hysterically with their high pitched voices, the brown ones charging forward while the black raven-like creatures took the side path to avoid detection.

The heavy air remained constant, as sweat continued to trickle down his face. What was this feeling, one of those soul reapers he had been warned about by that man perhaps, or maybe another human with powers? But this was a much darker feeling, a loud bang echoed throughout the area, Yukio quickly spun around, his eyes widened, what the hell was that, it was huge, it seemed like something out of a nightmare, he then heard a loud pitched laugh, and then saw a few small creatures run down the hill towards him, he was frozen for a moment, he had never been in a real fight before. He had taken a few martial arts classes, but nothing like this, this time he could die.

He quickly pressed the pen to his arm, but he didn't know what to write, he couldn't think clearly, and he didn't really know what limits his powers had, the first thing that came to his head was escape, so he wrote 'fly' on his arm, and nothing happened, "crap!" he decided to do what he knew, and then wrote 'faster' he knew this one would work, but he didn't run away, instead, he tried to bring the fight to the monster for whatever reason.

He quickly darted up the hill, with quite impressive speed, he tried to go straight past the smaller ones, and then when he got close, and built up quite a speed, he jumped, and used his momentum to try and deliver a devastating drop kick to the mid section of the hollow.

The kid certainly had a surprise up his sleeve, leaving the brutes completely clueless and speeding past the creepers as he darted up the steep road. Gouldo fortunately had ample time to assess the speed and direction of the small human and then raised himself onto his hind legs, the strong legs swiftly managing the considerable task of lifting up such a huge body, the hooves crumbling the ground beneath it by the weight. Meanwhile as the human came down he kicked out with his upper legs, not interested in putting too much effort into a mere gnat. "A bold effort... But futile.."

Despite holding no intent of letting the human live he couldn't help but feel interested in what exactly allowed the human to move so fast, for a human to have such powers to begin with felt foreign to him, he had never encountered humans with such capabilities, only shinigami. "Tell me, boy.. How is it that a human can possess such speed? It seems utterly unnatural. I cannot imagine your species as a whole having evolved to such a level in the small time I have been absent from the world. Inform me, human."

Yukio was knocked back as the front legs, lashed out at him, his inexperience in battle was clear, as he was knocked to the ground, and stayed sitting, rather than stand, as the hollow began speaking, he didn't have to answer him, but due to stupidity and fear, he did so "Well, I wouldn't say what I done was exactly normal, I suppose you could call me unique, although, I do think there is one or two others like me, human's haven't really changed. But I suppose that depends, how long you mean by the small amount of time you've been gone." He took a gulp of air, as he slowly got to his feet, keeping the pen near his forearm, "Now that I've answered your question, you can answer one for me. What are you? Are you one of those soul reapers I've heard about? Or are you something else?"

Not too sure if the hollow would take kindly to his questions, he began writing the word 'stronger' on his arm, but stopped after 'stronge' he would add the 'r' if the beast tried an attack.

So the boy was a rare specimen, understandable. Although he had hunted humans for centuries if they were rare enough even he would not have encountered one, perhaps it was merely chance that he would find one just after having returned to life. It was a curious and beautiful thing that such a rare creature would encounter the black hearted evil that Gouldo was, a monster who had not yet eaten him purely out of curiosity, a reason which had become rather strained after seeing how vulnerable the human had truly made himself. He restrained himself by the thought of how much more satisfying it would be to eat something that had just before given him information.

But then he was questioned regarding his own existence, what he was and actually asking if he was one of the shinigami. Faced with a question so utterly preposterous to him the hollow released a bellowing laugh, booming all around him due to the depth of his voice and the warped nature of hollow made its presence clear with it, the distorted effects to the voice truly giving off the sound of an otherworldly demon. "Ahahh! Hahahah! Me? A shinigami? Hahahah! I am hollow. The bane of human life, creature of the void between worlds and I will consume you. You obviously have no information I need." Clenching his fist he signalled for the minions that had come ever closer while they were talking to attack, the creatures leaping for the human.

A hollow? Yukio was annoyed at himself, for knowing so little about this new world he had been exposed too, but he couldn't ponder about that now, as the hollow, clenched his fist, as soon as he did that, Yukio wrote the letter 'r' to finish off the word stronger, he was prepared to throw a punch, but he stopped, as he felt something crawling up his leg, and there was more than one, there were a lot, he turned his head to see them, they were small, but big enough for Yukio to be sure they weren't bugs, and damn they were annoying, biting, scratching. Yukio's enhanced strength was useless against these things, he couldn't really punch them whilst they were squirming around on him, that would be a bit too stupid, and he felt more creatures scratching at the back of him, he tried swatting them, but they were all so constant.

Yukio staggered back, letting out a few shrieks as the creatures teeth, and claws, made short work, of his skin, as he was fumbling around, trying to get these creatures off of him, he dropped his pen, he had another in his pocket, but he had to go through hell trying to get it out. He tried stabbing a few of the creatures, with the pen he just pulled out, and then wrote 'stone' on his skin, but nothing happened, he knew that this word would work but why wasn't anything happening, maybe he couldn't use another ability whilst one was still active, so his strength was still active for now.

Gritting his teeth, trying to block out the pain from these creatures, as they bit and scratched him. He clenched his fist, and ran forward, and attempted to give the hollow a powerful punch, to the mid-section; as the hollow was more than twice his size, that's really all he could reach. He hoped that his enhanced strength still had a few seconds left, so he could deliver a powerful shot, or else his punch wouldn't do anything, without his powers in effect.

Cold laughs left the monster's non-existent mouth as he watched his minions gang up and assault the tiny human. It was certainly quite amusing to watch him struggle and squirm as the creatures bite and scratch and rip and tear at his skin and flesh, the pain was exquisite. He was curious as to his fumbling with a pen, but didn't pay much heed to it. Amidst it all the boy went for an attack once more, but Gouldo didn't really care, his pride blinding him as he severely underestimated his opponent. As he laughed his attention was quickly diverted back to the human after the punch finally landed right in the monster's gut, the reflexes and the pain from the tremendous blow bending him over, fury now overflowing from the struck giant.

Rage was clear in the rising voice of the terrible creature as it rose up quickly, bashing one of its clawed hands against the human before lashing out for another kick with its powerful equine legs. "You dare, human?! I was going to let you die painlessly, but now you will suffer!"

Good, his increased strength was still in effect, but the hollow wasn't backing down yet, as he launched a powerful kick at him, Yukio couldn't write fast enough, and took the full force of it; that was one clear disadvantage if his abilities, he had to write them, which didn't take too long, but even so, it took him longer than he would of liked. Yukio flew back to the ground, as the hooves of the hollow's front legs, smashed into him, that added with the constant biting and scratching from those creatures, hurt a hell of a lot.

He was once again on the ground, swatting at the creatures, but the pain from his ribs was intense, after the kick from the hollow. He had to get these things off of him, so defence was the most important thing, he struggled, but he slowly got to his feet, and then wrote, 'steel' on his arm, his skin turned to steel, the pain from the bites, and scratches subsided, he was pretty invulnerable in this state, especially to the scratching and biting of those creatures, but now he couldn't move, for ten seconds, he used what little time he had, to think, what word would be best suited for his next attack, but he was useless at thinking up plans, he could still move his mouth to talk, so he took advantage of that "Why do you hollow's want to kill things? Can't you do something else?"

Gouldo laughed again as he swatted back the tiny human as the vermin he was, the clop of his hooves against the ground being heard as he approached. What was curious however was that once again did he notice the boy fumble with a pen, this time turning his skin to what seemed to be metal, the minions no longer able to harm him. What was even more curious was how the kid was completely still, not moving a muscle, did this ability render him immobilized? This trail of thought left him surprised to find that the human was still capable of speech, perhaps he could still speak but it seemed implausible that he would be able to speak but not move, yet that still left the question of why he would stay so still.

"Heh.. Hollow is all the answer you need. Some hollow kill to fill their namesake within their soul, I hunt and kill for my amusement." He made a slight gesture, making the minions leave the body as he reached down towards the boy, aiming to fully use the opportunity and take advantage of it as much as possible by reaching down to try and take hold of the frozen boys neck.

=As the steel left his skin, he saw the large hand spring towards him, Yukio was too slow, as the cold hand grabbed his neck, he struggled but the grip was too strong. What could he do now, enhanced strength, or speed wouldn't help, and changing his skin to something would only last for so long, and then he would be in the same position again, are all hollow's this strong, or is it just this one, either way thinking about it only made it seem more impossible to get away.

He was slowly but surely losing conscious, due to the lack of oxygen he was getting, if he was smart, he could probably think of something, and get out of here, but he didn't really listen in school, so he didn't really know what to do, maybe if he listened, it would probably benefit his powers, but science bored him, all they learn about is those weird metals that burn in the air, and explode in water, when would that really help them in life. And then it hit him, he hoped that this would work, he let his arms fall down to his waist, and then began to write on his other arm 'caesium' if he remembered correctly, this metal ignites spontaneously when exposed to oxygen, his skin began to change, it began heating up, it was only a matter of time before it burst into flames...

Immense satisfaction coursed through him as he saw the human cringe and struggle against him as he was choked by the massive creature, the futility of it all bringing a hopelessness that truly pleased the sadistic monster. Due to this he did not notice this time when the boy fumbled with his pen once more and was left surprised when he suddenly saw the skin change once more and in moments it burst into flames. A rumbling roar was heard from underneath the faceless helmet as his hand was burnt by the flaming human, the hollow tossing him away and the minions that were still holding on quickly let go, running around in random directions and shrieking.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, boy? Messing around with your body in such manners.. It's an impressive display, but it will not save you." The next thing he did was pick up two of the running minions, bringing them up to face level before wringing their necks, their bodies going limp before dissipating into nothing. After this was done he stomped his hooves into the ground, beginning to make a hole in the asphalt. "I have some tricks, as well." While he did this, the five sneaky creepers were surrounding Yukio, staying invisible while doing so.

The flames from his skin subsided, after a mere ten seconds or so, but it done its job, the grip around his neck was no longer, he took a few much needed gasps for air, and rubbed his bruised neck, as he tried to think of what to do next. He wasn't sure how smart these hollow's were, but he had probably noticed that he was using a pen to write things, and that alone was suspicious enough in a fight, maybe being more subtle about it would be best, but if he did know, being subtle would be completely and utterly useless. If only he knew his powers better, it was obvious that they had more to give, it was Yukio's carefree mind which was the problem, if he managed to survive this; he would definitely have to get some sort of training done.

The loud boom of the hooves, hitting the ground was enough to send shivers down the kids spine, was it about to charge, or perhaps a distraction, Yukio let out a groan, he never had used his brain this much before, when he saw fights they just looked like mindless grunts beating the hell out of each other, but there was a considerable amount of thinking involved, to his surprise. He let out a sigh, "Hey erm hollow dude? Can I just give up, and then you let me go?" Hopeful thinking to say the least, but he didn't have much else left; he was still human after all.

Seeing the human give in to the futility of the situation amused Gouldo greatly, his (to Gouldo's ears) pleas for mercy were like sweet music to his ears and once again the monster released a sadistic laugh towards the pathetic little human. "I wouldn't think so, boy. You haven't realized yet that this isn't some game? I. Will. Kill you." While he spoke, the hole he had been creating in the ground was finally large enough for his purposes, leaving his hoof hovering over it while pouring his energy into it, the ground bubbling and flowing as one of the fiery minions was created inside it, the mystical monster leaving it to make room for another.

"As I said, there are things yet you have not seen from my part." Right as he spoke the minions sprung into action, the one flamer throwing a fireball towards the human while the invisible creepers struck, aiming to scratch and tear with their strong talons. "Once again. You will die."

He was far from surprised that the hollow wanted to kill him, but what was surprising was the flaming creatures that emerged from the hole that the hollow had been creating by stamping his hooves on the ground, it seemed the hollow wasn't bluffing when he claimed he had a few tricks up his sleeve, he was breathing deeply, trying to catch his breath. He felt that same scratching and biting sensation from before, he gritted his teeth, trying to hide the pain, he didn't even see them coming, he slowly turned his head, but then saw a flicker of light in the corner of his eye, it was a fireball of sorts, being shot at him. It was too late to react, the fireball smashed into him, which forced him to the ground, he couldn't hide the pain now, his shirt was completely torn to shreds, and a few burns were visible on his skin.

"Damn it...who knew...fighting would be...so difficult" His throat was dry, he couldn't keep this up much longer, he had to get away, or he would certainly die, it seemed like a hopeless battle. He clumsily wrote 'stronger' on his skin, once again, and punched the ground, with tremendous force, making a considerably large hole in the ground; enough for a few men to fit into. Yukio dropped into the whole he created, the street they were standing on, had a sewer system below, as he fell into the puttered murky green waters below, he didn't have time to think about it, he stood up, and tried to flee, taking a right turn, just trying to get away from the hollow above.

The boy certainly was quite tenacious, remaining able to run away despite all the punishment he had been made to receive and in quite the impressive fashion too, breaking the ground to reach the tunnels beneath. Unfortunately for the boy he was not alone in being persistent, Gouldo certainly was not one to accept having his prey simply run away, no that simply could not be. It would be troublesome however, Gouldo knew he would not fit inside the sewers, his form was far too massive for that but what instead could be done would be to send the minions hot on the pursuit. Quickly the massive creature pointed at the hole that the boy had made his escape through before he himself thundered onwards, following the human above ground. "AFTER HIM!"

The dank tunnels filled with the echoes of the shrieks and giggles of the vicious and imp-like creatures as they hunted the little human meal just waiting to be ripped apart and spent of all flesh, bile and blood. "You may run, but you cannot escape! I WILL DEVOUR YOU, HUMAN!" Underneath his thundering hooves the heavy footsteps boomed through the sewer tunnels just as the voice rang clear with raw and utter hatred.

He heard the chilling, cackles and laughs, from behind, they were following him, but he didn't hear any loud splashed, which would probably occur, if it was that large hollow, it was more than likely it was those minions of his, he should have guessed it wouldn't just let him get away.

Panting, and trying to run through the water, was not easy by any means, he could write faster, and try a quick getaway, but if he didn't lose those things, he would be pretty tired to say the least, he fumbled around with his pen, trying to think of something to write, but then dropped it in the water, "crap!" He didn't stop to search for it in the murky water, those creatures were getting closer, and closer, he just continued running.

Please let this work! he ran his finger along one of the many cuts on his body, and then wrote in his blood '1 foot tall' the kid instantly shrunk to the size of one foot tall, he quickly took a turn down one of the many turns in this maze of a sewer system, he hid behind one of the pillars down there, hoping that they would pass by, and then he could escape.

The hunt was on, the thrill of it glorious as he only imagined the terror the boy must feel as the minions would hunt him in the dark, ready to tear him limb from limb as soon as he tires. Even though he hunted from the surface he could feel the boy underneath him, he would not lose track of him easily even if he tried, the concrete and asphalt between the two meaning nothing to the spiritual sense that the hollow possessed. Underneath the creeper minions had rushed after Yukio at an incredible pace, keeping up far better then the other minions could yet still they missed it as the boy transformed himself into such a tiny shape and simply ran past him.

On the surface however Gouldo just caught up to the human, abruptly stopping as he sensed that the boy had stopped, feeling also that the creepers had long since simply ran past and the other minions still trying to catch up. He would have to take control of the situation and he stomped his hooves into the ground, smashing his way through the road right above the tiny boy as he shouted orders to the minions once more. "IDIOTS! He hid himself while you passed! GET BACK HERE!" Swiftly the creepers would turn around, hoping to catch the human before he found a different route.

He let out a sigh of relief, as those weird creatures past him; he was close to exhaustion, so he decided to sit tight. But his relief was short lived, when he heard the loud voice of that damn hollow, it appeared that he could sense him somehow, he heard those minions cackles get closer, he would have to run, but he didn't know when he would grow back to normal size, so he would just have to make do for now. After they past him, he managed to get some distance, but he wasn't as fast in such a minuscule size. His breathing was heavy, his legs felt weak as he continued running, he contemplated staying and fighting those creatures, they couldn't be that tough, but the darkness, and their speed and size, would make that tricky, so he kept running.

It took about a minute for him to grow back to his normal size, and by now those creepers weren't too far off him. "The hell with it!" using one of the many bloody cuts on his body, he wrote 'faster' he spun around, doing a 180 turn, and then ran fast, right towards the creepers, trying to go straight through them, and continue running as fast as his legs would take him.

Gouldo would now laugh far more controlled then before, the mighty form seeming in stark contrast to the calm and collected sounds now reverberating from it. The boy's foolishness had left him right in the middle of where both the minion groups would collide, there would be no escape and the boy would suffer eternal torment as another soul to be consumed by the monster. His belief of having won was soon found to have been made far too hastily however as he noticed the boy speeding of, straight towards the creepers. Had he used another one of those curious abilities to improve himself, hoping to break through the speedy minions.

From what little he could tell it certainly seemed so, the boy having sped off with the same velocity he had shown capable of when first attacking Gouldo. Letting him escape despite this was certainly not something that he would allow, this boy had crossed him to far too great an extent for that to happen. Ordering the creepers he made them prepare for the boy, the creatures stacking up and when he sped right at them they all leaped onto him, hoping to grab him and grind his escape to a halt.

As he ran straight into the small crowd of creepers, they began to dig their talons into his skin, and bite and peck away at his skin. He tried not to falter, and just kept running, but this was hard, he couldn't really control this increase of speed very well as it is; it was much harder, when these creatures were scratching and biting away at already damaged skin.

In the skirmish, he kicked the back of his own foot, forcing him to trip, the pace he was going forced him to fall, far and hard. It was like skimming a rock on the water; Yukio skimmed across the murky waters, and then finished with a few rolls, and then slowed to a stop, he managed to get a mouth full of that disgusting liquid. Gagging and coughing he managed to slowly get to his feet.

He managed to get those weird creatures off him as he fell, but they were upon him once again, "Don't these things ever quit?!" He saw a ladder, leading up to the surface not too far away, he wasn't sure where it would take him, but he would have to take that risk, he clumsily climbed the ladder, opened the heavy manhole at the top, and then closed it once he had gotten out. "That should hold them for a moment or two" He didn't know where he was, probably just another street, it was empty like the last one, but he didn't stay too long to think about it, he hoped a small garden fence, and continued running; he felt as though he was going to collapse at any moment, he had never been so tired.

Finally he thought that the hunt was over as he was given word from a minion he had ordered to be his eyes down the tunnel informed him that the boy had fell after the creeper offensive, causing him to begin preparing himself for the meal to come. He began ordering the brutes that had assembled to him to begin digging up the road in order to make room for the boy once he would be brought before him to finally be consumed. Of course, the brutes were hardly the best at digging up asphalt, having only their hands to work with but it was certainly amusing to watch their painful efforts as they clawed and tore at the ground, their work slow but steady as they chipped away at the black surface. Gouldo's good mood however was quickly extinguished as one of the creepers returned to him not from the holes already opened down to the tunnels but from further down the road, bringing the word of what had transpired.

The hoarse croaking sound of the humanoid bird could be heard from far off as its wiry little neck was grabbed tightly by the hand of its dark master, Gouldo lifting the minion up to his face to further accentuate his displeasure with the news he had been given. "So you let him get away... YOU WORTHLESS IDIOTS!" His rage unconstrained while holding such an easy to break object in his hand proved to be a particularly unfortunate combination for the bird sealed between his palm and fingers as the scaled gauntlet ended up crushing its neck utterly before throwing him away like an unwanted piece of meat. "Find him. Now." Quickly the minions set off as they let their master fuming with anger to himself.

It did not end well when they returned with nothing, all of them having to spend the following three hours digging out their heads from the pavement after Gouldo smashed their heads into it. Meanwhile their master, fuelled by the rage still flowing through him after this most displeasing encounter went out on a hunt all across the city. Many spirits would pay the price for the boy's actions that night.