[CB] Executive orders II (Kuro,Zamoreus)

As the captain left the 2nd squad barrack a single jigokuchō fluttered onto the compound. Slowly it made it's way through the barracks seeking it's target: Mika Nishino. It didn't take long for the ebony butterfly to navigate through the squad til it found the building it sought. The shingiami subconsciously moved out of it's way as it progressed down the hallways. They all knew better than to get in the way of the special courier. Within minutes it had found her room and phased through the door way and landed near her desk waiting to relay it's urgent message. It was official order from the Central 46. A mission that would require her full attention. She was to await for her contact at the Senkaimon. The mission was of the highest priority and utmost secrecy. She was to tell no one of her departure. For someone of the 2nd squad such a command didn't seem that odd. Having delivered the message the jigokuchō circled about the room waiting for the woman to depart. It had does it's duty, but now it would at as a guide for the shinigami when she passed to the human world. It knew it's function wall and acted accordingly.

Mika rose from her bed as the butterfly relayed its message. She understood that it had said to not tell anyone of her departure, but she still grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down a quick note to Kuro just to tell him that she was going on a mission. She didn't mention anything of its priority or who it was from though. She was already walking the line by telling him this much. But he was her captain and her immediate commander, so she felt it was right to keep him informed. She grabbed her zanpakuto and set off out the door.

Mika exited the second squad grounds with speed and efficiency. Her movement was graceful and quiet, not alerting any but the most perceptive of her presence. She soon reached the Senkaimon and waited for her contact as her orders had stated. The moon was rising into the sky as the final colored hues of the sunset disappeared beneath the horizon. She wondered what kind of mission could have come up at such a time. And she was a little put off by the whole affair. She had no prior relations with the Central 46, so why would they call her for such an important mission? Figuring that such questions were beyond her, she just shrugged absentmindedly and decided that she'd just get the mission over with and get back home as soon as she could.

He moved with purpose. No sooner had he been ordered to move that Kurotaka departed the Central 46 Chambers and shunpo'd towards the gate. His orders were clear and he would follow them to the letter. He had already been given all the necessary information prior to the meeting. But he would stalk his prey. There was no reason to rush things. The mission came first and then the secondary objective. Timing was everything. Not a person noticed him as moved across Seireitei. If they had he wouldn't be a worth member of the stealth squad. A humming bird would be hard pressed to notice his passage. This was his skill and his art, silent and efficient. His foot falls across the roofs made not a sound. In seconds he had made it to the Senkaimon and paused. He looked about for the woman. They had sent for her during the hearing. By all accounts she should have reached the gate first. He sighed. So slow, perhaps he should take care of her first. It was possible she would cause problems with the primary objective. Still it could be bothersome if not handled properly. He silently debated the idea as he adjusted his uniform. The black garb was ideal for stealth and places of darkness. But in the stood out when not hiding in shadows. As he adjusted the metal arm guards he noticed that indeed a woman was standing ready by the gate. Kurotaka was surprised to say the least. Quickly he recalled the information he had been given. She did fit the description, the picture of her wasn't that good either. Perhaps he hadn't seen her when he arrived. Maybe she wouldn't be a hindrance after all. Wasting no time he walked up to the woman.
"Mika Nishino?" he questioned the woman upon moving closer. "I am Kurotaka. I am to accompany you on this task." he said with a short bow his eyes not leaving the woman.

Mika flinched back a half step as her company for this mission revealed himself. Though his uniform did have some unique touches to it, he was definitely a member of the onmitsukido. And such a unique uniform led to possibilities that he was a higher member of their ranks, meaning that he could be close to Raiden, the man who Kuro was in direct confrontation with in this whole noble murder affair. She could feel her heart rate starting to rise as she wondered if there was a hidden agenda to this whole mission. Calm down Mika...there's no proof that that's right. This is a mission from the Central 46, not Raiden...so there's no reason to be so suspicious... She took a deep breath before replying to Kurotaka's introduction.

"Yes. I'm Mika Nishino. Sorry for my surprise. I'm a little wound up with excitement about this mission. I haven't been assigned a good one in a long time." She secretly hoped that her hastily put together explanation would convince him. "So what's the actual task of our mission?"

The man named Kurotaka took the woman's nervous reaction in stride. He had that effect on most people. This was something he had grown used to. It was possibly due to the blank gaze he gave. Kurotaka shrugged and gave a grin at the woman's naive.
"Missions to be carried out, not made into an open discussion." he said simply point to the people filing in and out of the gate. Was this woman really a member of the 2nd squad? Again with a shrug and he motioned towards the gateway. It was time for them to get underway. "I'll explain things once we reach our destination." Even as he spoke these words a jigokuchō fluttered around his head awaiting to guide him through the gap between their world and that of the human world. He nodded his head at the ebony butterfly as is took the lead before him and he stepped through the waiting maw.

Moments later they appeared in an alley in what looked like a rather large city. Kurotaka looked both ways as he stepped through the double doors the marked the end of their journey between dimensions. He looked over his shoulder to see if the woman had made it through okay. He had refused to make mention of what their mission was even during they short spacial jump. Slowly he worked his way around the alley to make sure no one was around. With a wave the black butterfly left him as he examined a manhole cover.
"Our mission is extermination." he said quickly as he poked his finger into one of the holes and pulled the heavy metal lid from it's setting "There are humans, exorcists, that have begun actively hunting hollows." with small grunt he set the thick manhole cover on the ground next to opening into the sewers below.
"Attempts to parley have failed. The balance must be maintained, they are to be destroyed." he finished as he put his head into the tunnel to see if anything was below. It was dark so he couldn't see a thing, but he couldn't sense any spiritual beings down there. "Much like the Quincy, we are to maintain the balance of the worlds at any cost."

Mika followed Kurotaka without any further input until they were at the manhole cover and the operation had been explained. She started to relax with this information. It was just a normal mission like any other. She resolved herself for the mission's start and threw a quick salute. "Roger."

The location they were at did confuse her a tiny bit, however. The council and Kurotaka probably had more intel on their targets, but she had never heard of a group of quincies hiding out in a sewer before. Wouldn't the dirty water badly stain those uniforms they're so proud of?... She decided to keep such speculations to herself and waited for Kurotaka's next direction.

Wasting no time Kurotaka jumped down into the dark pit without a second look. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it smelled.

Spoiler:

There was murky water flowing down the middle of the passage, but rather safe areas for them to walk. But with that in mind it was still rather dark. One wrong step could send them into the sewage. Rather than risk that Kurotaka pulled an object from his belt. Holding the small object in his palm it gave off a faint glow. Not very bright, but just enough for them to keep stable footing.
"We need to hurry there's much ground to cover before we reach their home base." He said over his shoulder as he began the trek down the long tunnel. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. "From down here it will be harder for them to detect us. Once we get there we'll have the element of surprise." As he spoke he pulled a parchment from a pocket within his vest. The man unfolded it to reveal a map of the sewage network. He examined the map for several moments as he peered down tunnel. Turning around he looked in the opposite direction before confirming with the map. "This way." he finally said as he tucked the map away and held the light up higher to better see what lay ahead.

Mika kept pace behind Kurotaka, staying far enough behind him that she remained blended into the shadows of the sewer tunnels. They may have been alone in for the moment, but it was still the way of a stealth mission to keep your foes guessing as long as possible. Even if Kurotaka and his light were discovered by somebody, she'd still be useful as backup attacking from the darkness.

The trek was somewhat long and the sound of their light footsteps tapping on the damp stone edges of the tunnel was quickly becoming annoying. Still they pressed on, making their way closer to their objective. Mika had to admit, Kurotaka's tactics were impressive. Using a sewer system to get closer to the enemy instead of obvious measures like a concealing kido was a unique move that not many shinigami would have thought of. She was glad that they were allies, at least today. His station could very well end up making them enemies in the future. But like before, she urged herself to keep those thoughts out of her mind and focus on the mission. They had made some decent progress when Mika noticed something small and almost seemingly insignificant on the side of the tunnel. The objects began to glow just as Mika shunpoed forward, catching a handful of the back of Kurotaka's robes and pulling him backwards, out of the way.

"Watch out!" She cried as the two of them fell onto the stones in a less than elegant manner. Where Kurotaka had been stepping a moment ago was a bright seal that was filling with bluish white spirit power. In a few seconds the area was engulfed by a sizable explosion that sent the two of them sliding back further down the tunnel. Mika sat up, rubbing her head which had been smacked into the floor of the passageway when the explosion occurred.

"Owwww...I guess they're not complete idiots who'd let their foe sneak in without a worry. That must have been one of those ginto spell things, somehow set up as an automatic booby trap. We'll have to be careful from here on."

The thunderous explosion shook the whole tunnel. It felt like an earthquake and the sound echoed for several moments.
"Hmmmmm" was all Kurotaka said as he stood and brushed himself off. Still the glazed look in his eyes. He had dropped the small light when Mika had tackled him. It had hit the ground and slid a distance from him. He went to retrieve it and consulted his map once more. There was no nothing on it about traps. The tunnel network was extensively explored before this mission it was odd there was something there now. Pulling a small piece of lead from his pouch he made a notation on the map. He was positive the targets didn't have such skills at their disposal. In any case they had arrived. But with that explosion there was little doubt that they enemy knew they were coming. Shining the light he searched the walls until he saw a ladder heading toward the surface. "Up we go." he said aloud ascending the metal rungs that made up the ladder. When he got to the top he paused and tried to sense any spiritual power. There was none to feel, but he still was cautious. Slowly he pushed up against the metal lid and moved it away. A moment later he leaped through the opening and gazed at his surroundings.

There were in a parking garage. No a very full one at that. There were cars in perhaps half of the vehicle slots, a couple of them were limos. The rest were all very nice luxury cars.
"They probably heard that explosion." he said as footsteps could be heard. It was a well lit area, there was few places for Kurotaka to hide. He leaped to behind a car and peeked over the trunk. Two men in black suits had come into the parking area. They noticed the manhole cover was missing and came running to investigate. The two had barely made it close when Kurotaka leaped out upon them a kunai in his hand. His hands grasped the other man's neck and as the black weapons edge cut a crimson line. The gurgled cry caught in his throat as his live blood exited his neck. He grabbed wildly at his attacker, but already he was losing strength and went limp. The other man turned and punched directly at Kurotaka. The punch instead colided with the face of his dead comrade. Kurotaka had jumped up and over coming down behind the man. The black kunai flew from his hand and pierced the back of his skull. The man stood there stunned for a moment then fell face forward his body twitching. "No one escapes." was all Kurotaka said as he pulled the weapon free of the man's body. The blade was dirty with brain matter and blood which was wiped clean on the dead man's suit. "Everyone must be eliminated, I'll take west, you take east." he said nothing more as he moved towards the other side of the parking garage.

Mika didn't say anything at this point, maintaining silence as she nodded and set off in the direction Kurotaka had indicated. She wasn't going to be surprised by such orders. These things were to be expected of their forces. When negotiations fail, you fight. The lack of cover didn't make her very comfortable, but she made due with shunpoing from support column to support column, occasionally hiding behind the sparsely parked cars as well. She spotted a single man making his way towards their previous battle spot, likely responding to whatever call had brought the first two. Mika was hidden, so he didn't have the luxury of spotting her. She waited until he passed the column she was currently hiding behind and ambushed him from behind, drawing her zanpakuto and driving it straight through his chest. He let out a surprised gasp as the life faded from his eyes and his body slumped to the floor. Mika put a foot on his back and pulled her blade from his body and resumed her sweep of the area. If the enemies only remained at this level, she was sure that they'd have this mission completed in little time.

OOC: Now the fun begins.

The 30th floor

Spoiler:

The seven men in suits surrounding Zamoreus Nebulous didn't look too pleased with the turn of evens. Using cell phones they were trying to get a status report on the building. Those in the upper floors reported in, but it would seem that they had lost communications with those on the lower floors. Things might be harder than expected. Without knowing the enemies' number or abilities they had to play it safe.
"Mr Nebulous." one of the bodyguards said softly. "Please stay close." He pointed to four of the other guards "We'll stay up here with him while you four head down to 15th floor via the elevator. Then take the stairs and work your way to the garage." He pressed a button on his phone dialing those in the floors below. "Maintain radio contact, report in every 5 minutes."
"Yes, sir." the others muttered and headed for the elevator. The quartet shuffled into the elevator and one of the men pressed the button for the 15th floor. As the doors started to close the white haired man gave them a nod of encouragement. The doors shut and the man spun around and motioned to the other two and the man they were to escort safely from the building.
"This way, we're taking the stairs down now." he said sharply.
"What about the others, Ryoma?" The other man pipped in. "I thought we're going to wait for them."
"No." Ryoma said without blinking. "They're going to be decoys while we escape. Hopefully they'll draw the enemy's attention." he said as he opened the door to the stairs and tried to peer down the long dark spiral. He couldn't see a thing, but he remained cautious. He waved the other remaining men and nudged his head down the steps. The man that has spoken nodded and moved past Ryoma. "You go next them Mr Nebulous, I'll bring up the rear."
"Yes, sir." the last man said and moved into position behind the first.
"After you Mr Nebulous." Ryoma said with a short bow, "We will protect you with our lives."

Many floors below

Two men in black suits moved down the corridor. Men had been sent to the garage after the strange explosion, but no one had returned. Both of the men drew their guns from their holsters as the edged towards the door. The glock pistols seemed to glisten in the florescent lighting. They couldn't be sure what kind of weapons the opposition was packing. There was no sound of gunfire, they could have been using suppressors. One man pulled his phone out and pressed the radio function. The man with glasses placed his hand on the door knob and glanced at his partner.
"Heading into the garage now." he spoke into the phone next to his ear and replaced it in his coat pocket leaving it on so other may hear them. He returned the nod from his partner and the man pulled the door open and darted in. After a short delay he rushed through the door after him gun held ready. Taking cover behind a small car the first man spotted the woman as she finished off one of their members. She was pulling a blade free from the down man. The other man hugging the wall peeked around the corner and instantly locked on the dark garbed woman. Without hesitating they both opened fire. The shots echoed in the garage as both men fired round after round at the woman.

Though she was set on completing the mission, Mika's thoughts on exactly who it was they were fighting were still cycling through her head. The fact that they were sending men to fight with guns sure didn't suggest they were quncies like she'd first thought. Or maybe this was a diverse group made up of different races. It didn't change what she'd been ordered to do, but she still wanted some form of clarification. As she pulled her blade from her previous target, she caught the feeling of a weak presence...two in fact. It was followed by the appearance of two men bearing down on her with guns. She could only laugh at their stupidity of thinking they had a chance. Disappearing with shunpo as their fingers triggered their first shots, she reappeared behind them with her blade ready.

"I'll give you boys credit for being able to see me, but I could feel your reiatsus before you even came through the door. You can't kill a ninja with such sloppy preparations." She spun on the spot with her zanpakuto held parallel to the floor to slice through both of them cleanly. Wiping the blood off as they hit the ground she added in, "Not to mention your weapons are jokes compared to ours."

Mika made her way through the door the men had come through. On the other side was a corridor that she began to sprint down. There was no cover to use here, but all that was currently running through her mind was that since the men had come from this direction, she'd likely find allies of theirs or even their boss if she continued this way.

It seemed that it was to be his fate to be constantly thrown from situation to situation ever since the unwanted intruders had rampaged through his home, first he went from what was supposed to be a quick flight to a business meeting to being sedated and brought to a completely different kind of meeting and then that particular meeting ended with the building shaking and him having to leave with an entire cadre of bodyguards and now, so shortly after arriving here, having managed to accomplish basically nothing he was once again to be moved for reasons out of his control. This level of powerlessness over the way events transpired was frustrating to say the least for someone so used to controlling every moment of his day, but there seemed little could be done about it for the moment.

"So we have to leave again, huh? On we go then, I suppose..." Zamoreus certainly didn't pay much attention to the chatter between the bodyguards as they organized their plan of defense, nor was he surprised to find that over half of them were being sacrificed, it was simply the way things were meant to be. "Right... Any idea who it is that's intruding this time?" He wasn't entirely sincere in wanting to know, but it felt like a decent enough way to fill the time as he started making his way down the stairs.

29th Floor

"Not yet, sir." Ryoma said as they continued down the stairs. They kept looking around with each step as if waiting for something to jump out in front of them at any moment. It wasn't a bad idea to be cautious. For an enemy to penetrate their defenses was surprising to say the least. Whoever it was they couldn't be amateurs. He could think of several different groups that would want to harm his boss. Something was bothering him about all of this. How did they know Takayanagi as here in the first place? The second thing that disturbed the white haired man was the spiritual power he had felt soon after the explosion. There was something about these attackers. Hopefully the others he had send down in the elevator would be able to handle things.

Several floors down on the 15th floor

The four had exited the elevator and begun the sweep of the floor. So far they had found nothing. There were only six other men on the floor with them, and none had seen or heard anything.
"Shiro and Keita do on down to the 10th floor." One of the men spoke as the four bodyguards met back up in front of the elevators. "We'll head down and clear the five above you."
"I guess that means we take care of the five below that." the man named Shiro finished. The man was of average build and had his black hair slicked back. The other man nodded and the duo go into the elevator. The man turned from the elevator and spoke into his phone's radio function.
"Reporting in from the 15th; No activity. Proceeding down." he said then headed to the stairs.

10th floor

There was a ding a the elevator landed on the floor. The doors hissed as they came open and the two men stepped out. Shiro looked one way and Keita looked the other. Keita was a hair shorter and his hair was brown and shaggy. With the shades on he looked much older than he really was.
"Did you hear that?" Keita said walking in front and raising his hand asking the other man to stop.Shiro stopped and looked from side to side his hand reaching into his vest pocket for his phone.
"I don't hear a thing." Shiro said after standing there for several seconds. When he turned around to find that Keita was gone.
"Booooo!" came a voice from behind him. Shiro turned his hand coming around to strike the speaker. The hand was stopped inches from Keita's face his hand grabbing Shiro's wrist. There was a smile on the man's face, but it faded as he noted the blue glow encompassing the other man's fist. "Sheesh, don't be so up tight." the said releasing the man's wrist with a growl.
"Stop showing off and get back to work." Shiro said as the glow faded from the his hand. Both men hurried down the hallway checking the doors systematically and peeking cautiously around each corner.

Mika was dashing down the hall keeping her alert up for any new spiritual presences that might show themselves as she advanced. She was starting to get bored as she ascended a flight of stairs, noting the plaque on the wall at the top with a large 8 on it. She wished there was somebody else to entertain her, not to mention that she still had no idea what her exact target was. Though clean sweep missions were simple in theory, the lack of direction made them extremely mundane and uninteresting.

As her boredom reached an unbearable level, she felt two new reiatsus. These ones weren't as weak as the men she'd dealt with so far. They might actually take some work to bring down. It felt like they were somewhere above her, maybe one or two floors. She quickly suppressed her own reiatsu as best as she could, moving to take position against the wall a short distance from a flight of stairs leading further up. "Bakudo #26: Curving Light." A faint glow surrounded Mika for a second before she disappeared into thin air, her spell hiding her from physical sight. She waited for the reiatsus to get closer so that she could try and catch them by surprise.

So once again he was to be under attack by a force which he had no information of, a lack of information that left him so powerless it felt like he was back to the days when his father controlled his life, a feeling Zamoreus was most definitely not enjoying having back inside his head. Shaking his head as to not lose focus he continued to follow the guards through the winding staircase and letting out a drawn out sigh over his current situation. "So... I assume you felt whoever it is that is attacking earlier? It didn't feel like the ones who attacked my building, which either means our enemy has far more at their disposal or this is someone else... I'm not sure which one's worse..." Subconsciously Zamoreus couldn't help but start charging his gauntlet, his survival instincts kicking in to ensure he was prepared for whatever might happen.

While from what little he had been able to detect from their enemy made him certain that they were different from his original attackers he had not been able to sense enough to make any other assumption then that, he wasn't even sure if they were human or not which certainly would serve to make things even more complicated. "Regardless of who they are however, I hope you have a plan of getting away more then just going down these stairs?"

21st Floor

Ryoma listened to Zamoreus logic, but didn't stop their descent. The other man did have a valid point.
"Getting out of the building is a priority." he stated firmly "As long as we stay in here we're in danger. When an enemy is acting so covertly it's in our best interest to move out of this confined and private area." Stopping at the landing he looked through the doorway that led to the floor. "If they really wanted us dead, they would have just blown up the whole building. The only reason to do that is if they want to keep our deaths private, or they're after someone." He turned his head to look at Zamoreus and continued down the steps then stopped. His companion had stopped walking and stood still as a statue
"Go up the stairs." he said firmly as he stared downward at spiraling staircase. The man pressed his hands together like he was praying, when his hand separate they both glowed a deep blue. The cobalt energy lit up the man's face, "Something just moved."
Ryoma only nodded and opened the door to the floor. "Mr Nebulous, if you would please." he said gesturing inside.

9th Floor

Shiro suddenly stopped moving and Keita cleared yet another room. The man stood there looking left, right, and finally looking down at the his feet.
"Did you feel that?" he said in a hushed whisper to his companion.
"Nice try man, but I'm not that easy to scare." Keita responded as he moved towards the next office door.
"I'm not trying to make a joke." Shiro said his face contorted with annoyance.
"Sure...." Keita chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"Just shut up!" Shiro hissed "Fucking concentrate, and you'll feel it too." Keita's laughing stopped as he fixed the other man with a glare. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. A second later he inhaled sharply.
"Huh." was all he said as he opened his eyes to see Shiro's hands radiating a faint blue light. "Wait, what are you_"
Shiro slammed his right hand to the floor and the light exploded. The whole building shook as the burst of energy ripped a large hole in the floor into the one below it. Before the smoke could clear Shiro had already jumped down and landed into the scorched hallway. His hands still glowed with the strange blue light. The man whipped his head around as if searching for something. A second later Keita come through the hole and landed beside him.
"It was here." Was all Shiro said fanning his hands in through the empty air. Keita laughed and patted the other man on the shoulder.
"If someone was here, I'd think your little shortcut might have scared them off." he patted Shiro on the back again and then stopped. His hand came off Shiro's back and reached into his jacket. When his hand came into view it held twin daggers. They looked like standard combat knifes, but had handles like sabers complete with "D" shaped guards. Keita passed one of the daggers to his other hand. With the blades pointed downward he crossed his arms. His eyes closed for a second and green flames sprang to life on each weapon as he stared down the hallway. "Or not." Uncrossing his arms he swung the his right hand down the hallway and the neon green fire funneled forward. The air grew hot as the flames sought to fill the entire hallway.

Mika was surprised as the ceiling collapsed and sent debris and dust raining down into the corridor a short distance from where she stood hidden by her kido. Through the thick cloud of dust and smoke, she could faintly see the figure of a man jumping down from the new hole in the ceiling. He was soon joined by a second. As the two of them argued about whether or not someone was there in the corridor, Mika tried to make her way closer to carry out her sneak attack. Her attempts were all for naught as the more skeptical of the two seemed to catch on to something and pulled out two daggers. Mika didn't like the way his power resonated as he crossed his arms. As he moved, flames erupted from his weapons and surged down the hall way towards her.

Her cover blown by some element that she did not know, Mika dropped her illusion kido and pulled her arm back with her zanpakuto. "Slice open the skies, Fusokutsu!" Her blade glowed bright green as it shrunk into a curved blade with a metal hoop on the end of its handle. Mika quickly used its ability to produce three more blades on the hoop to transform the short sword into a large shuriken. She hurled this new weapon down the hall at the advancing flames as hard as she could. "Sora no shinkū!" The shuriken glowed green as it spun down the hallway at the flames. It's bright green glow was lost to Mika as it passed through the green flames and flew off on the other side. She didn't waste time following it, sprinting forward into a vacuum of air that had been produced by her shuriken's ability. The vacuum carried her charge faster, as well as disrupted a short area of the flames, giving her a way through them. As she went, she cast a new kido to give her an offensive option against her foes.

"Let my energy flow and cut my opponent to ribbons. May his remains be scattered by the winds. Hado #27: Reshi Blade!" Green spirit power gathered on both of Mika's forearms and sharpened into the form of blades on the outside of the arms between her elbows and wrists. Crossing her arms as the vacuum carried her through the flames with little more than some singed hair and a slight burn on her cheek, she charged past the two men who had sensed her and uncrossed her arms as she went by, slashing at both of them. On the other side, she spun to face them again, but kept her distance and even edged backwards a bit. Though there were enemies right in front of her right now, she wanted to get her zanpakuto back.

A slight shrug was the only response to the man's reasoning: he did make a good point, certainly, but Zamoreus had never been one to develop a habit of complimenting others. The abrupt stop however was something that elicitited more of a reaction from the now rather annoyed billionaire. "So much for getting out then, huh." He listened to the quick exchange of words between the two guards and simply raised an eyebrow, unusual to find one so focused on the mere task of detecting their enemy's movements, but Zamoreus supposed that he hadn't exactly excelled himself at deliberating a good tactic against their shadowy foe. While normally quite hesitant to follow the 'commands' of others this certainly wasn't the time to argue nor was there any real cause for it with the very humble tone of the body guard but there was still that paranoid inkling at the back of his mind telling him that he's just following their orders blindly. A nuisance of a thought.

Quickly stepping through the door Zamoreus assessed his surroundings, another one of the blasted corridors that seemed to make up this building. Reminded him of his own little sanctum in a bad way. "So... Now what?"

21st Floor

"I suggest we move Mr. Nebulous." Was all Ryoma said looking at the door behind him. The white haired man pulled out his phone and pressed the talk button. "Report in teams."
"Floor 12th, everything clear." Came a reply shortly after he had issued the command. There was silence afterwards.
"Second team, report in!" Ryoma shouted into the device. There was no response. Turning off his phone the man turned back to Zamoreus.
"We should take the elevator down to the 12th." He said finally. "Whoever is targeting must have control of the bottom floors we can regroup with the others and force our way out. "Hurry, this way please sir." he had run only ten steps before the door they had just entered from burst open. There was only darkness beyond the portal. A second later the body of Ryoma's comrade came flying through. As the body flew it left a trail of blood in it's wake. The man's suit was torn and cut in several places. His form bounced and rolled until it collided with a wall. The man didn't get up or move after coming to a stop. Ryoma put himself between the doorway and Zamoreus. A strong spiritual pressure leaked through the opening.

9th Floor

Keita quickly shoved Shiro. The two men divided just in time for Mika's weapon to tear through the air between them. They each hugged the walls to avoid the spinning blade's path. With the woman's weapon passing they could feel the heat from the flames it had just emerged from. The distraction almost proved fatal as Mika had followed in the blade's wake. Keita raised his twin daggers up in defense as the shinigami's reiatsu covered arms came swinging in. He didn't know that the energy was sharp as blades, he only knew that he didn't want it to touch him. The kido weapon impacted with his burning weapon and bounced off rather harmlessly. Still he felt the power behind the blow and winced. She wasn't as weak as she looked. Shiro wasn't so lucky. He was fortunate to have dodged the shiruken, but the follow up attack beyond his reaction speed. Mika's reiatsu blade cut a line across his chest and he grunted in pain. He clutched his chest. It wasn't a deep cut, or he'd wouldn't be breathing, but that didn't make it any less painful. His hang glowed brightly and his shirt erupted into blue flames as he dragged his palm against the wound. Shiro growled in pain and did his best not scream out. The energies of his hand burned the flesh and sealed the cut. He could only watch as Mika made way to her thrown weapon. Any chance of him chasing here had been lost with his emergency first aid. This wasn't the case for Keita. He vanished and reappeared down the hallway; between Mika and here zanpukto. The fire on his daggers flared brightly.
"You aren't getting away that fast!" Keita yelled as the flames started to inch off his weapon and onto his hands. He now rushed at Mika swinging his weapon diagonally going up, the second blade he made a vertical slash downwards. Neither of the swings would connect he was setting up his real attack. With his blade pointing down he released flames. The fire hit the ground and bounced back up at the ceiling while moving forward. A tidal wave of flame to catch the woman. Shiro groaned and held his hands at the ready should his companion's attack fail.
"Worry about yourself.

Dammit, all this guy does is wide area fire attacks. It's hard to avoid them in this narrow space. Mika's mind raced as she jumped back from the swinging of the blades and tried to think of a way to overcome Keita's latest attack and make a counterattack. Without her zanpakuto, it wouldn't be easy to get through the wave unharmed. She thought of retreating back towards the other man, who had been hit by her previous attack. It seemed unlikely that the man with the daggers would launch such a widespread attack in the direction of his ally with no safety precautions set up. From the way that the other man had cauterized his wound just earlier, Mika could tell that he had fire powers too.

She dismissed the idea of retreating, feeling that such a move would not only distance her further from her zanpakuto, but also set her up to be cornered between two fire users. And if the other man had any abilities like this dagger wielder, that could place her in a scenario for a very hot death. She could use kido to try and withstand the wave, but her skill with shielding bakudo wasn't the best. With her ideas running out, she glanced around in a hasty manner. Looking back towards the other man real quick, she found something that might give her a chance. She turned her back on the fire wave and dashed back down the hall the way she'd came towards the man with his hands held at the ready. She approached with a decent speed, then shunpoed when she was nearly upon him. She hoped that with the brightness of the blaze behind her combined with her shunpo's speed, he would have missed the direction of her movement as she vaulted herself up through the hole that the two men had made earlier when coming down to this floor.

Up on the higher floor, Mika quickly cast an energy fade kido to hide her reiatsu, which was too excited in the midst of battle for her to suppress on her own. Feeling that would buy her a few extra seconds, she dashed down the hall on the above floor and made her way past where Keita was standing underneath. When she reached the end, she fired a shot of red fire hado at the floor to create a second hole and descend back to where the men were. She found her zanpakuto at the edge of the floor against the wall, having run out of strength and sliding to its current position after her previous attack with it. Glad to have her weapon in hand again, she turned and faced the two opponents again, her stunt with blasting the ceiling sure to have caught their attention again.

Moving forward in the direction instructed to him by his current bodyguards, Zamoreus was left mildly surprised when the body flew past him cut up and broken, his armour automatically activating as the mask formed over his face. Looking back towards the door through the red visor and sensing the power coursing through the corridor from the room, he was all too aware that things were looking to take a rather nasty turn unless he did something. Although appreciating that this last line of defense remained loyal to the cause of protecting him, Zamoreus felt it likely that he would need to do something himself to maintain the situation. "I'd suggest staying back for the moment..."

Focusing on the end of the corridor Zamoreus began to tug at the walls and ceiling surrounding the door where the energies leaked from and began tearing it all down piece by piece while throwing it towards the entrance. "I really don't appreciate this kind of interruption from someone I don't even know."

OOC: Sorry about taking ages.

The wave of flames came rushing at Shiro with Mika leading at he way. The blue glow returned to his hands as he prepared to clash with the woman. It never came to pass as she vanished right before his eyes. He looked around hurriedly, but saw no sight of her. Quickly he turned his attention back to the advancing wave of green flames. Grunting the light flared brightly before he unclenched his fingers and opened his palm. The light expanded from his hand and filled the area before him. Rather than sweep over him the flames stopped short. Most of the flame bounced back off the strange shield. Some of the green fire creeped around the edges of the field and licked at the walls, floor, and ceiling. It took only seconds for the wave of flames to die down and Shiro could see Keita down the hallway.
"I missed her?" he said seeing only his companion. The fire dancing on his blades vanished.
"I'm fine thanks." Shiro said rather dryly as he looked around. Bits of flame died on the carpet when Keita walked over. "She vanished she had to have gone by me." They both looked at the other end of the hallway.
"I doubt she went back the way she came, maybe she plans to go around us." Keita said as he walked toward burned area.
"Wait." Shiro grabbed the other man's sleeve before he could completely pass. "What about that?" he pointed up at the hole in the ceiling. They had used it to get down.
"Damn forgot about that." said the other as he scratched his head. "Stupid shortcut gave her a way up. I hope you're ready to tell the boss you messed up." Shiro rolled his eyes.
"Shut up and let's hurry after her." he said simply. Just then there was an explosion behind them. Both men turned to see smoke and the woman fall from a hole in the ceiling. "So she came back for her weapon."
"Forgot about that too." Keita said "Good thing she came back or the boss would have been pissed."
"Shut up and let me concentrate." Was all Shiro said as he fists began to glow blue yet again. Keita jumped behind the other man quickly. With a sharp motion he jabbed his open right palm at Mika. A pulse of blue energy rippled from his hand and traveled down the hallway. The blue bullet shined like a flare. No sooner had he fired the bolt that he thrust his left. A second shot fired. Shiro thrust his right hand again, then his left. Back and forth he cycled from left to right with each thrust of his hand another blue ball of energy howled down the hallway at Mika. In a matter of seconds ten shots had been fired in a moderate spread. From behind Keita had reignited the fire on his twin daggers. He waited anxiously to see how the woman would handle Shiro's attack. If he was successful in pinning her down he figured he could charge in and deliver the finishing blow.

On the 21st floor

As Zamoreus pulled at parts of the building to throw an object came flying through the doorway. It flew over the two men and down the hall. Seconds later the hallway behind them went dark. Ryoma noticed this and turned around as the other man began his attack. He didn't know that to think of it, but kept his guard up. The bits and pieces that Zamoreus picked up and launched went through the doorway with no resistance. There did come the sound of it hitting something, but it was impossible to see past the threshold. The energy on the other side of the doorway flared and then another came through the door. This time it came right at Zamoreus.

Spoiler:

Thin and dark the weapon sailed silently at the duo. Ryoma moved in front of Zamoreus and snatched the blade out of the air before it could hit. He looked at the weapon in his hand. The man scoffed and tossed the weapon to the ground. Then another blade shot from the door, then another, then another. In seconds it was like a rain storm of blades flying through the dark opening.

"Damn you bastards!" Mika shouted in defiance as she returned her zanpakuto to its initial release form of the single blade. She made an effort to close the distance between herself and the opponents, running forward while dodging the blasts. Such a large number of attacks was too much to avoid completely however. Mika was forced to block one of the balls with the flat of her blade as it raced at her. The resulting blast knocked her backward again and down to the ground. Winded from the explosion, Mika staggered to her feet, growing more and more irritated with these men. She didn't have many more cards to play, and with their skill level and coordination, her options were almost nonexistent if she wanted to live. Her mind began to race as she tried to think of a solution.

They're gonna kill me. This can't be the extent of my abilities. I can't die and leave Kuro alone to deal with things all by himself. He's already lost Tatsuya...I won't let those bastards in the onmitsukido take me away from him too!

As Mika's determination reached its peak, the hallway seemed to freeze in place. Everything went dull in color for a split second as Mika's mind was separated from the normal reality of existence. She felt herself falling through a dark passage as the hall left her vision. When she could see again, she was standing in a lush green meadow. Nothing but a sprawling sight of flat grasslands with waist-high vegetation as far as she could see in every direction. A constant light breeze blew through the area, turning the grass into a wavy sea of light green. This was her soul world, an inner sanctuary where she could converse with her zanpakuto spirit. However, she was confused by her arrival here. She had not focused on bringing herself inside her mind. Such a thing could only indicate the interference of her zanpakuto spirit, Fusokutsu. As if confirming that suspicion, the spirit made its presence known as the thought came to her mind. She was unable to see Fusokutsu directly. It was a human shaped shimmer in the air composed of a mass of swirling wind. Every so often, a cloud of dust or a few strands of stray grass would get swept up into its body to better indicate its position, but besides that it was mostly transparent. It spoke with a voice that was quiet and whispered over the rustling grass.

"You've resolved yourself to fight and survive. But your current skills aren't enough to defeat two of your opponents' levels together. You need my wind at your side."

Mika scowled and placed her hands on her hips, speaking in an extremely put off tone. "If I use Sora no shinkū again, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to get you back a second time. They'll be sure to keep me away from you in order to prevent me from fighting at full strength."

"Yes. You didn't escape earlier when you had the chance."

"I couldn't just leave you behind!"

"You need my power?"

"Don't be stupid! What I need is my partner!" Mika screamed, her voice ringing over the field. Fusokutsu glided over the green sea and remained silent for several moments before speaking again.

"Your loyalty to allies is amazing. You put up with such a troublesome zanpakuto like me and face untold danger to be of service to the man you love. I'll respond by giving you a new power to fight with. One that will let you better harness the wind and bend it to your will."

Mika was puzzled by what her spirit said, and jumped as the blade still clutched in her hand pulled away from her, hovering in midair. Without her command, it transformed into shuriken mode and began to revolve. Faster and faster it spun until it was humming like a whirling chainsaw. In an instant, it was flying out over the field. As Mika watched, a swirling mass of grass was caught by an invisible funnel of wind, revealing the spinning cone with the shuriken in its center. Mika wondered how far the blade would go before the tornado died and let it fall to the ground for her to retrieve, but was shocked as the zanpakuto and tornado both suddenly swerved around in their path and headed straight back to her. She put her hands up in fear that she would be sliced by her own weapon. To her surprise, the shuriken followed her hand's direction and flew back into her hand, its spinning dying down and the ring at its center resting in its usual spot in her grasp. She stared at her weapon in amazement. It had acted just like a boomerang. Fusokutsu explained.

"With this new ability, you are no longer limited by your own throwing strength alone. Your will is what shall command the power and path of the shuriken by ordering it and the wind where to go as you throw it. But it will always return to you afterwards by default. Also, you must understand that you cannot command the shuriken after it has left your grasp. It will follow the planned and directed path until it is disrupted by an impenetrable obstacle or completes its flight and returns to you."

"How strong is the tornado the shuriken forms?" Mika questioned, trying to get as much info as she could on her new ability.

"That is for you to experiment with and decide." the spirit answered rather cryptically to Mika's opinion. She'd have preferred a straight answer like the explanation so far. "Our time here is over. You have to get back to your fight. Stay safe and return to his side."

Mika's world faded from view. She was back in the hall with only a second having gone by since her perceived departure. Picking herself off the ground, she transformed her zanpakuto into the shuriken form and scanned the layout of the hall. The narrow space could probably work to her advantage, giving her ability a tight spot to catch her foes with. She brought her arm back and prepared to throw. Let's see...straight down the hall at first...want to keep its ability to change course a surprise at first...then zigzag across the hall from side to side a couple times before shooting at the dagger wielder behind the other guy. Mika's mind worked fast forming her weapon's flight path. Satisfied with her plan, she threw her zanpakuto down the hall again. The shuriken flew like a Frisbee, gliding down the hall towards the two men. The tornado surrounding it was invisible at first but the swirling winds made a sound that made it apparent that this wasn't a regular weapon throw. This was further confirmed when the shuriken's path took it underneath the second hole in the ceiling that Mika had made when returning to this floor. Wood splinters, fractured shards of floor tiles and fragments of concrete were swept up in the swirling wind and joined it in its progress down the hall. When it had about fifteen feet left between it and the men it began to fly like a pinball, zigzagging from wall to wall before zooming straight at Keita behind Shiro. Mika hadn't left it all up to the zanpakuto alone though. With the weapon released, she had charged in from behind it, leaving it to act as a distraction as she closed the distance and fired a white lightning hado at Shiro.