PULLING SOUL

**Date Started:** 07 December, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:EmperorSigma,
**Setting:** Houston,
**Characters Involved**:
* **Present:** Michael Davis, Asuma, Unnamed Shinigami, Tsubame Zirconia, Dianna Smith, Lonzo Antoine, Aruni Amaru
* '**Hollows:** Emperor, Webber, Helreggin
* **Mentioned:** Sasaki, **The Knight**,

## MEMORIES

*When you can finally see a soul.*
*You can pull a soul*.

*Even when you can not see a soul*.

*You can pull a soul*.

After a long tournament in New York City, the Houston Cougars finished Fourth Place. The teams they were forced to face against were nothing shy of untalented. They were all within the Top 5 rankings and the fact that they were able to beat one of the top five gave the team all the more looks they needed.

That may have been true and all, but the real reason was because of the state Michael was in. He played that Oregon game with two broken fingers and a pair of fractured ribs and managed to still come out on top. But the remaining teams were absolutely too much for him to handle. His physical condition was in complete shambles and his mind just couldn't get off of the situation that occured with himself, the Hollow, and the Knight. Supernatural things like that just didn't happen in America, no not even in real life. That was the end-point of what was going to be considered the "pre pre-season" so Michael didn't care about it too much, he was ready for the season that was coming up. He was allowed the play within the summer camps of the Cougars and tournaments during the start of the summer and since it was all over, he couldn't help but to think about the whole fiasco.

A few months passed and it finally reached the final few weeks of the summer--a whole month to be exact. Over the course of the two months, Michael began to see more souls and ghosts of the passed on. When the Knight mentioned he'd be seeing more of what he say that night, he didn't expect it to mean this. Because, in reality, he didn't.

He rested within the four walls of his room, sitting in what was clearly a gaming chair of his. In his ears were a set of Beats by Dr. Dre and before him was a video game console, a PS5 to be specific. He was playing the newest release of the NBA2K Franchise Basketball game and blasting music in his ear.

"Hah, Hah, hah! One, two, three, four, bitch nigas gotta go. One, two, three, four, bitch nigas gotta go. One, two, THREE, FOUR, bitch nigas gotta go. Hah, awww, yeaaaa." Michael sang, head bobbing as he rocked left and right. "Crip niga, i just wanna ride around broad day and empty clips with 'em. Trill niga, I just wanna leave it on her face like a real niga! Hah, hah, hah! He continued to sing at the top of his lungs.

Pausing the music, Michael listened to the words coming through his headset. "Mike," a person called out. "Ain't no popouts tonight?"

"Shiiitt, Neisha 'nem got a section at Spire or somethin' like that. She told me pull up, my damn hand still hurt though on Bet. But shit, we can pop out. I'm finna fuck around get ready right now and get allat out the way." He paused his sentence and his game, "Yeah I'm finna be on the way in a minute." Without another word, he quickly tossed his headset to the desk and stood to his feet.

While still in his room, Michael began to gather a new set of clothes and readied himself for his upcoming shower. He hummed a few tunes before finally picking up his phone to over ten notifications. Seven of them were from the UofH groupchat but two others were from his friends asking for rides and his last one was from his girlfriend. She wanted to come over for the night, but he had blown her off way earlier. He just knew that if she found out he was going out tonight, there would be hell to pay for the rest of the week.

He locked his phone back, "Ye, imma just act like I'm sleep or some on me." Michael said, slinging the towel over his shoulder before entering the shower.

The water was turned on. He made sure it was the perfect temperature, more hot than it could have been cold. So hot that he had been sweating despite being drenched in water. He began to wash himself down with soft Dove soap and hummed songs to himself. Five minutes into his shower, an image flashed into his membrane. It was the Hollow staring into the front window of the bus. He immediately opened his eyes and began gasping for air.

He quickly turned the water off and began to pant heavily. His hand was still wrapped and his ribs were still in pain and thinking about that whole scenario just made it all worse. He quickly pulled the shower curtain back while grabbing one of the large towels and wrapping it around his waist to cover his lower body. Trampling out of the shower, he made his way to the sink counter and wiped off the foggy mirror to show his face. For a moment he stared at himself and just looked.

*"What the hell?"* He said to himself, rubbing his hands over his face. *"That shit just came to my mind outta nowhere? That niga said somethin' bout its gonna get worse but everything been smooth so why now?"*

"Fuck it, I ain't tryna worry about that shit right now." Shaking his head he continued on with what he had been doing, preparing to get ready for the night that was to come. He went through a series of daily hygiene rituals, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and moistorizing his skin. Anyone someone would do after taking a shower, Michael had done just now.

Exiting the restroom, Michael immediately went for his closet. He had a myrid of clothing options to choose from, but he settle for something relatively calm for the occasion. A basic white t-shirt which was purchased from G-Star, a pair of light blue jeans from the same brand, and the Off-White Jordan 4 Sails. It was a basic outfit, but he didn't need to put on much for simply going to a club section he was invited to. There wasn't neccesarily a need to at least. Then, his phone began to ring.

*VVVVZZZZZZZZ*

*VVVVZZZZZZZZ*

*VVVVZZZZZZZZ*

The phone continued to vibrate before he finally picked it up and saw the name "Old man" on it. It was his father, one of the most annoying human being to exist. His eyes rolled as he shook his head before he finally slide the slider over to answer the call. "Ya, wassup?" He asked.

"None, just tryna see what y'all doin' over there." His father said.

Michael responded with an immediate sigh, "Bro, daddy, you know it's 11 PM right? Ain't nobody doin' nothing. I'm boutta dip in a minute though, finna pop out with my peoples."

"Boy, I know. Watch yo mouth." He responded back to Michael, but he really didn't care. "I was callin' cause I was tryna see if you was alright. They told me about yo hand, get that shit looked at. How the fuck you mess yo hand up, that's what I don't understand. I know you wasn't gambling, huh?" He had to ask.

There was a moment of silence. The image of the Hollow flashed yet again. "Nah, I wasn't gambling. I was in New York for that tournament, I ain't gambling with no random ass people. What the fuck?" Michael knew that his father was simply bored. He needed something do and when he reahed the absolute bottom of the boredom.

"Alright, be safe." His father ended, hanging up the phone before Michael could give a response.

The young man could do nothing but roll his eyes once again. His father was too annoying for him to honestly take serious, but they never really had much of a relationship. Michael was attached to his grandmother, who he had been living with, and had become pretty much her caregiver--if that's even the proper term to be used. He loved her more than his own life and was willing to do anything for her... So long as she didn't begin her annoying antics in the same manner that her son did.

Regardless, Michael gathered his wallet, phone, and car keys and headed to the door, rushing outside in a steathy manner as to not wake her up. If he did, he'd be bombarded with a thousand questions. But at the end of the day she just wanted to make sure he would be safe and okay. She loved him just as much as he loved her.

As he reached outside, he jumped into his car and started it wasting no time in backing out of the driveway and stopping at the nearby stop sign which was just at the corner of his home. He looked down to his phone, sending messages out to his friends letting them know he was on the way to pick them up and that they should start getting ready immediately.

## RESIST

Still, sitting at the stop sign, scrolling through his phone, Michael ensured that there was a bluetooth connection between his mobile device and his car. He looked through the giant playlist of iTunes songs before finally picking one he was content on playing. A beat began to play lowly before he began to turn it up via the volume nob on the radio of the vehicle.

"My couisin killed his cousin. Reason I say fuck blood, no set trippen when I say water way thicker than blood." He began to sing along the artist, bobbing his head and rocking back and forth in his seat. "Youngin' a soldier from the projecs, pieves of his heart. Piece of his heart made out of project print, I stand ten toes in front of the judge." Images of a older male, similiar looking to himself flashed in his mind. His body began to loosen upas his entire mood and feelings altered.

If there was one thing that had absolute control over the Human population other than money, it would undoubtly be music. Music had the ability to be one of the thirteen following emotions; joy, eroticism, beauty, annoyance, defiance, triumph, anxiety, scariness, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, and finally amusement. It was why there were so many millionaires who were known as artist and why even those who did not make a song for a specific set of audience could still be considered and argued as a great for those who did seemingly enjoy it. This case was no different whatsoever when it came to Michael.

For him, music was an escape. It helped him get through hard times and motivated him to get through the easier ones. As a child he listened to all sorts of music alongside his elder brothers and they each had their own taste, but they'd often understand why one artist did something specific. Growing up he incorporated both of his brother's taste into his own in order to have a playlist that could effectively help him deal with whatever modd swing he had been feeling.

"Oh-oooweeeeee~" He continued to sing, "I use to call you my lil bro you went and broke the co-" Michael's stopped singing immediately. Chills traveled down his body as he shook. The hairs on his arm lifted into the air immediately. He lowered the driver window of his car and turned the radio off completely.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked, looking around the area. He saw nothing with his eyes, but he could feel something and knew it would be nearby. "Wait, nah! I know what this feels like!" He flashed back to the New York incident. "This is just like that time and it-"

***FFFFFF BOOOOM***

A portion of Michael's house went up into an explosion as a burst of smoke drifted into the air filling a large chunk of the area in a smokescreen. Almost kicking the driver door open, Michael flipped out of the car and rushed into the cloud of smoke head first. "Grandma!" He shouted at the top of his breath, swinging his way through the cloud completely ignoring the pain from his fractured set of ribs and still healing bones of his fingers. He trampled through what he knew of the house, he'd been living there his entire life and knew the house like the back of his head, he could walk through it with his eyes closed if challenged to.

He passed the living room, the kitchen, and even his own room until he finally reached where his grandmother slept. The smoke was still thick, but he could sense the presence of not just his grandmother, but another being as well. Constant flashes of the Cougar bus being forcefully halted replayed in his head until finally, a gust of iwnd blew the thick cloud of smoke away revealing just what Michael had been sensing all this time.

Slowly, he slid his hand down to his waist and gripped his Glock 19's handle and drew it, aiming it. Right before him stood a large Hollow, its mask more prominent than the last one he had seen. He was lost for words once he saw what the Hollow had been gripping in its right claw—the neck of his grandmother who had at this point already fallen unconcious.

"Let her go!" Michael shouted, putting his finger on the trigger of his gun letting off a barrage of shots at the Hollow. Each of the bullets were aimed directly at its mask and while the first few seemed to have done no damage, the final one left a small crack in it.

The Hollow titled its head, "Hey, hey, you cracked my mask a little you punk." Swinging Michael's grandmother around, he tossed her to the side where he body slammed against a wall. "It's not like her spiritual pressure was anything to worry about anyway, you're the one who's clearly the stronger one." The voice of the creature was muffled, but his words were still clear.

"!!" He was confused. "Wait, you can talk? What in the fuck?" The Hollow he faced before had spoke not a word and he honestly wondered if the two of them were even the same thing. Yet, he remembered the Knight that appeared before him that day mentioned that he would encounter more of these *things* so there was no way they couldn't be related.

The masked creature cackled. "Of course I can speak. All Hollows can, I just don't understand how you inferior beings are capable of doing so as well. It's almost belittling. But that's fine, you and the old hag here will make perfect sacrifices to get me where I need to be. Plsu, you'll pay for what you did to my face!" The Hollow then dashed across the carpet ripping the floorboards out of their place as he saw Michael as his next prey.

He was caught off guard. "Oh shit!" Michael cursed, turning around to try and make a run for it. He continued to look back and extend his arm behind himself letting off a few more shots from his gun, only to have each bullet now be dodged by the Hollow. "Man, fuck. This shit really can't be real man! He looks a lot different from the other one too!" Michael exclaimed, running through the room and stumbling over the furniture and rubble that had been created from the initial explosion.

"You can't run from me you puny human! You're too slow!!" The Hollow skreeched, dashing forward through a burst of speed and kick the fleeing Michael in the back.

"Ack!" Michael spat as his back pushed in and his stomach poked out. His body slammed against a nearby wall, but the structure seemed to have been solid enough to catch him before it could collapse. His body shook and the pain from those fractured ribs came back to him times ten. Trembling, he reached for his side. He closed his eyes tight that if he applied anymore pressure his eyelids would have crushed his eyeballs. The pain, the frustration, and the confusion all began to take over his body.

Chills traveled down his body before his memories came back to him once again; *The massive Hollow merely stared at the little lamb who had begun running from the bus as he fired round after round into the thick exoskeleton of the monstrous beast, the grin starting to morph into a cruel smile from ear-to-ear across the mask of the Hollow as its night had become far more interesting with a prey who had realized that it was being hunted.*

*"What the hell is goin' on? Shit been weird ever since I got to New York, now I'm out here fighting shit thats straight outta a anime!"* Ever since he got back from New York, Michael binged through a ton of anime and manga looking for exactly what it was he had been faced with and nothing crossed his searches. The fact that he began seeing ghosts made everything worse and raised his suspicions even more than before, yet his information was limited. If only the Knight could have explained what he meant. *"Now, look at this shit. Man, fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"*

Again, the Hollow cackled. "You seem to be deep into your thoughts. Trying to understand just what I am?" The Hollow asked as if it could read Michael's mind. "Don't try to understand me. I'm far beyond human comprehension. The fact that you can even see me makes me spite you even more." The Hollow stated, growing irritating with just the mere presence of Michael. "But for now, I'll allow you to watch as I feast upon my previous prey!" With a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn, the Hollow made its way back to Michael's grandmother.

"AYE WAIT!" Michael shouted at the top of his lungs. "Arg," he grunted, the pain becoming more of an enemy than the Hollow. But his request for the creature to wait was ignored. Instead, it continued to troop onward to her unconcious body. "I said wait!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, throwing himself to his feet in a final burst of strength and running toward the Hollow with his fist back.

"So persistant!" The Hollow roared, though before it could turn around entirely, Michael had already reached his face.

Fist reeled forward, Michael slammed his undamaged fist, his right one, directly into the skull of the Hollow. There was a moment of silence immediately followed by a shockwave which generated a burst of wind while sending vibrations down the body of the Hollow allowing for the mask to crack even more. Simply cracking the mask wasn't all that punch was able to do. The generated shockwave was so powerful, that once the strike had followed all the way through, the Hollow's body was completely flung into the opposite directoin, smashing through the back wall of the house before ultimately landing to the outside road.

"Huff, huff, huff..." The teen breathed heavily. He then looked down to his hand and noticed that there was no damaged detected like the last time. "Damn, at least I ain't got a broke hand this time. But, what the fuck was that I felt?"

"ARRRRRRRGGG!!!!" The Hollow shouted out.

"!!" All of his attention shot back at the Hollow.

Standing back to its feet and recollecting itself, the Hollow put its focus solely on Michael. Blood slid down the side of the Hollow's mask, drenching his body showing just how powerful his punch was. "I see, so you really are *different*. That speed, strength, and athleticism you displayed... It's a good thing I didn't kill you, because that body will be mine. You'll soon figure out why they call me Emperor!"

"Wait, what fuck're you talkin' about?" Michael asked, though before he could say anything further, Emperor threw himself toward him like the bullets that were fired from his gun.

In the blink of an eye, Emperor vanished and reappeared before Michael. In a single motion, he grabbed the small teen, especially compared to his own ten figure frame, and lifted him into the air, sqeeuzing him with all of his might. "Hehe, hahahahaha!" Emperor laughed as Michael screamed out in pain. "I'll be sure not to hurt you too much, but I'll be taking this over now!"

Opening its mouth to show its teeth, Emperor regurgatated a white substance that began to covered Michael. "No! Exactly what the fuck! No, GRANDMA! NO NO NO!" He exclaimed, but his struggle tp free himself was futile. The white substance that began covering him enveloped his entire being and the body of Emperor began to break down into particples and merge with the substance and body of Michael. *"No, this ain't gone be how I die. No!"* Images of his elder brother Donnell and his grandmother played themselves in his psyche. *"I ain't tryna die yet!"* He then saw an image his teammates. *"No!"* Those images then began to slowly blacked and rip apart.

Down to his knees, the white substance that envolped his body began to slowly take over. In attempt to resist, he placed his hands around his face, pulling the white substance from off of himself, but there was no sign of success. He just didn't understand what process had been undergoing and more importantly, his simply physical method of forcing through would do him no help. Slowly he had begun to transform into a different being all together and this was all the doing of Emperor.

A shutter in the sky could be heard, before the wind vibrated and thus appeared a large figure accompanied by another figure in black. Each wore black uniforms. They both were masks to cover their face, but one wore an all white lab coat over their shoulders signafying that he was clearly the superior of the two. Their eyes immediately fell upon Michael as he had undergone his transformed state, yet he had no idea they were even present as he had his own battle to deal with.

Clear as day though, they were both Shinigami as evident by the swords they wore on their hip, but where they were allied with was completely unknown. "I knew there was something going on over here, but I didn't think it would be *this*." The white-coated Shinigami stated to his suboridinate.

"I see," the other said, "This doesn't look like it'll end well." his eyes drifted upon the elderly woman who was Michael's grandmother. "We should get her to safety and deal with this Hollow before things get any worse."

"Oi, oi, Asuma-kun. Saving the people of the Human World is not our duty, leave that to the actual Shinigami who have sworn to take up that role." Said the white-cloaked person, refusing to step into matters that did not fall under his line of duty. He continued to stand in mid-air, yet his gaze never fell off of Michael as he fought an internal battle against the Hollow. "Besides, do you see what phenomenon is occuring before your very eyes?"

Michael continued to try and pull the white substance off of him, but again, there was everything but success. "No, get the fuck off of me!" Michael cursed to himself, still struggling for what he assumed could only be his life.

"Hahaha, it's too late. I've already settled within your soul. It'll only be a matter of time before we become one, so quite your worthless struggling. The first order of business will be to kill the old woman so that we can evolve even further." Emperor said to Michael via a mental connection of some sort.

"No, no, no! I ain't letting you touch shit!" Michael exclaimed, continuing to fight back. This internal and external battle went on for fifteen minutes until finally, Michael had no more energy to expell. His breathes became heavier and heavier as the minutes had gone on and Emperor was able to easily win by outlasting him.

"Uh, oh, it seems it's time!" Said Emperor, Michael's entire body now beggining to bloat as it transformed into something compeltely different than before.

## PHENOMENON

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The consumed Michael shouted, but his voice was quite literally different than what it was before. There was like a combination of his own voice and Emperor's stacked on top of each other in a echoing manner, signs that whatever it was that Emperor had done was not fully through just yet.

The two Shinigami both struck an expression of surprise. "Asuma-san! Are you seeing what it is that I am?" The white-cloaked Shinigami asked, "This boy is quite literally transforming into a Hollow and without a third party source of all things. Now, this is quite interesting inde-"

Finally, the transformation had completely and his loud shouts were no longer distortions between himself and Emperor and had now only become Emperor's voice as the main source. The white substance had withered away and revealed his new appearance to the Shinigami duo. Emperor was now more humanoid in shape and frame, standing now at only ten feet exactly. He was much more muscular and properly proportionate when compared to before with washed burgundy-like skin. His mask had changed drastically as well. It went from being some type of behemoth looking construct to something more demon-like with two horns sticking out both sides of its head, a sharp chin, and a single purple stripe going down both sides its its mask. Then, on the left side of its chest, was a hole.

Emperor looked up to the two Shinigami, "Oh and it seems I managed to get this done right before you two could get to me." A smirk drew upon his face. "I can feel this difference in me!" The Hollow said, jumping into into the air in an attempt to strike at the white-cloaked Shinigami. "I'll devour both of your souls and I'll continue to evolve!"

"...!" The white-cloaked Shinigami was surprised, vanishing from his last position through the use of their famous **Shunpo**, only to appear a distance away. *"That boy is still in there,"* With his arms tucked into each of the sleeves and resting them over his chest, he pulling one arm from the sleeve and within it he held some sort of capsule. "I'm sorry, but you have something in your possession that I'd honestly like to see more of." He said, holding the capsule between his fingers. "So, I'll be taking it back."

The Hollow grinned at the man, "You're a fool if you think I can be defeated by a measily soul reaper!"

He didn't need to respond. Instead, he went forward with what he had been intending to do. "**Akakeji**." He called out and upon doing so, the ground beneath Emperor began to shake. Suddenly, a red barrier erected around Emperor as it shot up from the ground in the form of a pillar trapping him.

"Hey, what the hell did you do?!" Emperor roared!

"You aren't an ordinary Hollow by any means. If I were you, I wouldn't move much. If you do, you'll only send yourself to the afterlife faster. That barrier there burns out your spiritual power, literally." The Shinigami explained, "That means the more you struggle and expel your spiritual energy, the quicker you'll meet your demise." Arrogant words from someone who had no idea what Emperor was capable of, but nonetheless they were undoubtly true. *"Funny to think that a human would still be in there fighting."*

Visibly, Emperor was upset. "Screw you, soul reaper! Free me at this moment or I'll kill you both!"

"Aht, aht, aht." The Shinigami sound, though now it was clear that they were using some sort of voice distorter. "I'll give you a way out and it'll be your *only* way out. He looked over to his subordinate and nodded his head. Asuma reached into his pouch and pulled out a small pill and placed it between his index finger and thump. "You claimed that you wanted to evolve, correct? Then the pill that he is holding will without a doubt aid you in doing so. All you have to do is take it. If you don't, then you see this vial?" He held it up for the Hollow to see. "All I have to do is pop the cap and throw it at that barrier and its potency will be increased twenty folds which I'm sure you get what I'm getting at. I simply need to see if this pill is actually going to hold up. I can confirm that it will not kill you." He spoke carefully, using words in way to ensure that he would be able to get Emperor to partake in the pill.

Asuma flicked the pill toward the barrier like a dart and when it got within range, the barrier automatically opened a small square like indent and allowed the pill to pass through where Emperor immediately caught it.

"If you think I'm going to try your experiment out for you to see if you succeed has nothing to do with me! I'll eat it, evolve, and deal with all of you!!!" Opening his mouth wide, Emperor swallowed the pill whole. Once it was digested, Hollow fell to his knees and shouted out in rage. "ARGGGGGGG!" His stomach began to bubble and boil as his body swiftly bloated. "You two, you two bastards lied to me!"

"!" The Shinigami were both surprised. "On the contrary, I did not. The pill is supposed to allow you to evolve no doubt there, but it seems that he is still inside of you."

"Let me out!" The voice of Michael over took Emperor's own as he banged his head against the barrier. In a sudden turn of events, Emperor had begun attacking himself through orders of Michael battling back with Emperor to in an attempt to survive.

Michael then appeared within the mental plain of his soul. He faced off against Emperor who had previously been winning their battle as evident by the heavy bruising and bleeding Michael dealth with. All while the Shinigami had been observing Emperor take over his body and transform him into a Hollow, Michael continued to fight back. Swallowing the pill seemed to have ben poisonous to Emperor and weakened not only his physical state but his mental state enough for Michael to take control over their battle.

Running up, he punched Emperor once again causing him to fall over. "Ugh!" He grunted, putting all of his strength into his punch. Lifting his leg, he unleashed a series of kicks onto the Hollow, stomping him out. "Get yo bitch ass on the ground! I, ugh, told, ught, you, huh?" Michael asked, continuing to unleash a constant beat down.

"Why don't you just give up, filthy human?!" Emperor exclaimed, trying to get back to his feet but his body simply wouldn't respond. "How could I have lost to a human?"

Still kicking, Michael went on. "Cause, you shoulda never put yo hands on my people!"

Then, from within the barrier, a bright light emit from the body of Emperor and the white substance spot from its mouth once again. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" The doubled voice of Emperor and Michael echoed along the street like it did before, but this time it was clearly moreso belonging to Michael as the dominating force.

"Oi, Asuma-san. Take down the barrier for me." He ordered and Asuma did just that, shattering the barrier with a single burst of wind. "Let's see what the outcome has been decided upon."

The light vanished and the white substance began to gather itself from completely around Michael's body into a glob on the ground in front of him. He sat on his knees and palm of his hands, panting heavily as sweat covered the entire canvas of his face. His chest had a hole on the left side, but he was so exhausted he couldn't even feel his body enough to notice it. The glob sitting no the ground in front of himself bounced up into his mouth and forced its way down his throat where he swallowed. His eyes widened as he gagged and tried to to spit it back up, but he was just too weak at the moment.

His eyes moved to the covers of his sockets where he had immediately located his still unconious grand mother. His vision was blurred but he managed to form a smile in relief that she was fine. *"She good... I'm good.. that's good."* Then, right where he had been on all fours, the soaks and sandal feet of the two Shinigami appeared before him. He attempted to lift his gaze up at the two of them, but before he could get a look at their faces, even though they were masked, he fell to the ground and passed out. "Who the fuck.... are..."

"A Hollow hole in his chest, so I see, that's what happened." The lab coat wearing Shinigami said, looking at the hole. "!" Just as he meant to analyze it, the hole began to fill itself. "Oh, now that was facinating! He's also had an insane spike of spiritual pressure. It increased. A Human, which turned into a Hollow, then back into a Human has never been heard of before. Halt the recordings on our nano-cameras and save what is there so far, the phenomenon that we just witnessed was the most interesting I've seen in centuries."

## MOTION

Michael jumped up out of his sleep, gasping for air but he found himself back within his bed. He looked all around his room, but the house was perfectly fine. He was confused and curious as to exactly how this could have been. He was only out for a total of twenty four hours, how could the house have been back in its previous state as if nothing had even happened.

He didn't need to leave his bed to confirm the state of his grandmother, he could *sense* her much better than before. Hands opening and closing, he noticed that there was no pain coming from his body any more. "All that pain.. its just.. gone?" He had to ask himself. Whatever miracle had occured to not only fix his house, but rid him of his pain, he was more than grateful and couldn't help but to stand to his feet in relief. He thought about everything that unfolded with the Hollow a night ago, but at the same time, he didn't care.

*ZZZZZ*

*ZZZZZ*

His phone vibrated as he got a call from someone saved under the name "Trainer". He reached for the phone and picked it up. "Yo, Dianna, what's up?" He asked, walking into the bathroom of the his house sizing himself up in the mirror. He allowed her to talk for a brief moment which was then followed by a series of head nods. "Oh shit, I forgot, I'm not gone lie! Ight, imma be down there in like, I say twenty minutes." Hanging the phone up, he rushed through the neccessary process of getting himself ready for the day. It was clear that Dianna had mentioned something about basketball in order to make Michael act the way he did.

After washing his face he looked into the mirror and thus the image of Emperor appeared as his reflection. "What th-!" He jumped back, tripping over his own feet and fell to the ground, shaking his head rapidly. He brought his hand up to his face and covered it. His eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost and his heart race. "No, not that shit again. No, fuck no, not right now!" In a way he had given himself a pep talking, rising back to his feet with his eyes closed and immediately ran into his room to change his clothes before heading out the house and jumping into his car.

Michael had to keep his mind going. In order to do so, he connected his phone to his car and turned the music all the way up. "Cuttin' up, cuttin' up..Cuttin' up, cuttin' up. Imma' get 'em stepped on, who them dead bodies for my niga they done stepped on, do 'em dirty, do 'em bad, Imma' get 'em repped on. Got a shirt tied 'round his head just for a mask, and got the window down. Keep yo heat, be cool, Imma get all 'em gone."

He sped down the street, shouting out the lyrics until he finally reached the campus of the University of Houston. Bouncing out of his car, he removed the key from the ignition and rushed into the practice facility with his bag over his shoulders.

"Yo Mike!" A few of his teammates greeted as he approached them. "Bro, you late as hell. You lucky and 'nem didn't pull up yet, it woulda been hard tryna come up with excuses for you." Brandon, his small forward said, dribbling the ball at his side. "And niga you ain't pick us up the other day, had us waiting and shit you went M.I.A for like a whole day."

Michael shook his head, "Ye, that's my fault, some shit came up and I had to just chill for a day. You know how it go when you deep in yo thoughts, I just decided to stay at the crib and cool off before shit got worse." He was quick with forming a lie, sitting down to the floor and reaching into his backpack to pull out a pair of shoes. They were his practice kicks, a pair of Kobe Elites. Removing his slides from the bottom of his feet, he replaced them with his shoes and stomped his foot into them.

Stretching his legs out, he extended his muscles to loosen up for the practice session ahead of him. It had been a few weeks since they had gathered at the facility, mostly due to Michael's injuries and the fact they were enjoying their summer break, but it seemed the coach slowly wanted them to ease into some light practices. Normally, one would be mad to have their summer cut into in such a way, but after waking up in the state that he did and everything that had been going on, Michael needed basketball in order to clear his mind. It was just as therapudic as listening to music.

"Well, its seems you've gotten outta bed." A low, but aggressive voice said as the person approached Michael. It was a small caucuasion girl dressed in a track suit, with blonde hair tied into a single ponytail. "Good to see you her-" She stopped mid-sentence stepping back, *"What was that?"*

He lifted his gaze and looked to her, "Dianna, you alright?" He asked to which she quickly waved him off.

"Yeah, I'm good. You gotta hurry up and get this practice out the way. You've been slacking a bit too much and the season is closer than you think it is." Dianna said, "I need you at the peak of your performance just like you want to be."

## ONE KIND

"Heeeheeeheee..." A sinister laugh echoed throughout the street. It was silent to the normal human. Only the winds were passing by, perhaps slightly fiercer than normal tonight. In the world of spirits, an entirely different scenario was playing out. Ignoring the humans in the vicinity, a tremendous Hollow, almost five times the height of an average adult human, swooped through the area. Her six legs were dexterous and maneuvered through every obstacle almost effortlessly. It wasn't truly that she was giving chase, she was *enjoying* the chase.

Webber, an Adjuchas-class Hollow, was roaming free in the Human World despite the enormity of her threat level. Why? Merely because the Soul Society's forces were too sparse. It didn't matter what state the world was in. Lynchpin or not, sin would continue to exist, and as sin continued to exist, Hollows would be born. It was a mere cycle of nature. She was chasing an innocent Plus, who was trying their level best to escape despite their exhaustion.

"Someone...!!!" They could barely make out in the midst of their rapid breaths, "Help...!!!"

Michael drove through the streets of South East Houston, his music was loud as always but he needed it in order to remain sane. He bopped his head to the beat and hummed the tunes--his mood couldn't get any better. It had been two months since he had gotten on the court and even though he had scirmmaged his own teammates, he still had fun doing it. He felt more alive than ever. The competitor in his growl at his opponents as he continued to beg his coach to run more games. He hadn't been healthy for over thirty days so the fact that he was able to get back on the court at one hundred percent on fueled him even more.

"We back at it again tomor-" He started to say to himself before his body began to shake. "!!" He pulled the steering wheel on the car aggressively to make a hard right turn making his way down the street. "Shit, not this again." He said driving in the direction that his senses ended up leading him.

He drove 2017 Toyota GT86. Normally it wasn't a fast car but with the amount of money put into the vehicle, Michael had increased its speed well beyond what it was originally at stock reaching where his senses had led him in no time. He pulled on the handbreak, causing the car to slide and drive along the street leqaving skid marks and smoke as it traveled before coming to a complete stop. Kicking the driver door open, Michael left one foot on his break and looked outside of the car and there it was.

There was a giant Hollow, Webber was the name but he had no idea of that, chasing what was clearly the spirit of someone who had passed on. Bitting his bottom lip, the teen looked left and right to see if there was anyone around and by the grace of his God there was not. "Damn," he said, dashing out of the car running towards the Hollow. He reached to his waistband and pulled out his favorite Glock 19, aiming it at the Hollow while running closer until finally he was able to intercept the two.

"Aye, get the fuck outta here." Michael order, standing right in front of the flee spirit as if he were shielding them.

"A human?" Webber thought, pulling her face down and observing Michael. "Who can see me?" Webber grinned, delighted. "Heeheee..." Webber pulled herself back upwards and began to chuckle.

"Come, child. Do you wish to be ensnared in my web?"

The ghost shielded itself behind the figure of Michael. "Ensnared in a web, fuck no!" Michael shouted, his finger was placed lightly against the trigger ready to fire at any given moment. "Ion even like spiders, so fa'sho I ain't tryna get in no webs. Shit make my flesh crawl even touching one, get yo weird ass on."

He stepped over, sliding the ghost behind him to follow. "I don't know what hole y'all keep crawling out of, but please, go back."

"Go back?" Webber asked, grinning. "But we've only just come out!" The gigantic Hollow was curious about Michael's abilities. She did not sense an immense amount of power from him, so she thought toying with him would be interesting. In what felt like an instant, she propelled one of her six arms towards Michael, attempting to slam the limb directly into him. The size of the appendage was tremendous when compared to a human, and nearly took up the entire space from Michael's head to his knees. Although she expected to squash him like a bug, she was more interested to see if he'd stay alive.

"Damn, I can't move or she'll get hurt!" Michael said, still holding his gun. He knew that if he went for the easy dodge, the spirit behind him would not be able to follow and would be attacked in his place. "Fuck it," he mumbled to himself crossing his arms in front of himself in order to take the strike head on. He planted his feet and tightened his muscles, ready. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take it without recieving damage in return, but for some reaason he felt inclined to protect the small girl ghost.

*THUD*

The limb of the Hollow came into direct contact with Michael, sending him skidding backwards literally ripping the Earth itself apart. "Gah!" He shook his head from the pain and his forearms suffered heavy bruising, but it was much less than what he expected. *"Wait, that shit didn't hurt as much."* He said to himself, before putting his words towards the ghost. "Go ahead and get on. I ain't got time to be tryna help you." Michael said, ordering her to leave from the place.

It was a nice deed of Michael to be willing to protect the little girl, but the real question was why. Why was he willing to to throw his life in danger for a ghost he had not ties to at all? He had fought two Hollows so far and both of them proved to be something he just couldn't handle. Was it the music keeping him in this mood? Or was it the fact he was exited to be back on the court again? Whatever the case may have been, Michael was already too deep in and his chances of getting away were zero. He would now have to deal with the Hollow himself, but he needed to figure out how.

*"It's like my body... my shit feels more sturdy."* He thought, unfolding his arms letting off a flurry of bullets at the Hollow. *"Should I try punching?"*

"...?" Webber was confused. Her blow should have definitely dealt more damage. There were no broken bones? There was no blood? It was surprising, but *interesting.* She tried a different approach. The flurry of bullets did not bother the Hollow, as she merely swatted them away with the limb that she struck the boy with. There was minor bruises from the bullets, but a toy made in the human world could not defeat a spiritual being.

"Truly...I *should* ensnare you, boy!" Webber was delighted and from her third right limb, released a wave of reiatsu that condensed immediately into a silk-like thread, much like a spider's own. Even if Michael could resist the cutting force of the thread, he wasn't much more than an ordinary human. An ordinary human wouldn't be able to outrun Webber's *weaving*.

*"A thread?"* Michael asked himself, attempting to understand what Webber had been attacking with. It was nothing like he had seen from any of the Hollows before this one, yet it seemed like every time he encountered one that showed a different ability from the last. It was here that he deduced, mostly through common sense, the no Hollow was the same. "Oh right, your one of those Hollow things." He finally remembered what these beings were classified as.

It was just as the mentioned, at his current state, there was no way for Michael to outspeed Webber's weaving. He was ignorant of this information and still tried every maneuver available to him. "Shit!" He cursed, running off along the street. *"I can like feel shit more now that I could before."* Looking over his shoulder, he saw the thread head right for him and leaned his body over to preform a cartwheel-like action in order to dodge. His athleticism, amongst all the other guards of his team, was unrivaled. Still, he wasn't trained to use his athleticism in combat and that was where he failed.

In an attempt to move his feet and leap into the air, he realized once again that he had no control over his body while it was in mid-air. His body dropped back to the ground, but he had no way to fix himself to dodge being caught in Webbers trap and thus he would fall prey to the spiders web.

Webber was pleasantly surprised, but also a bit dissatisfied. She wished to toy with the boy a little more. Have him feel a bit more confident in his strength before utterly crushing his mind. She drew Michael to himself, attempting to realize just *what* the boy was. As the boy drew in closer, Webber's face continued to utter surprise.

"Boy..." Webber began to say, "Why does your reiatsu...resemble *ours*?"

Squirming around, attempting to free himself from the grip of the reiatsu threading, Michael wasted more breath trying than actually succeeding. "What kinda magic is this? Every time I get into it with one of y'all, I find myself in a position where it feels like I'm going to die!" Exclaimed Michael, trying his best to pull his arms out from his side but the binding was too powerful.

"Resemble ours? What the fuck're you talkin' bout?" He was as confused as ever, squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth in an attempt to free himself.

But then, his body shook. *"Us, you idiot!"* A raspy voice said within Michael's head, immediately causing his eyes to widen. *"Oh, I know. You didn't expect to hear from me, did you?"*

"What th-!" A confused looked drew upon his face, "What the hell?! Who the fuck're are you?"

"...Heehee." Webber laughed once again as Michael began to ignore her. She understood almost immediately what was going on. A normal human couldn't endure her attack. A normal human wouldn't be left without scratches by her *weaving*.

However...a *Hollow* would be able to endure those things. As Michael seemed to be talking to himself, Webber found out exactly what was going on. This was a development she didn't expect.

"*Emperor...failed to possess a human? Heehee. I wonder what will happen if I consume him? Maybe I should stop playing around..-*"

Webber was suddenly surprised by a surge of reiatsu that was foreign to her. She looked atop a nearby building and found the source immediately.

A woman with bright blue hair, wearing a white outfit and wielding two pale blue blades constructed of reishi. She made her presence known by flaring her reiatsu outwards, forcing Webber to even briefly be stunned.

"Heehee, I should eat the boy before-!" Before Webber had the chance to do so, the woman appeared before her, interrupting the path between her and Michael.

"What?!" Webber was stunned at the Quincy's speed. The Quincy did not speak, but she instantly cut through Webber's threads and stood her ground before the Adjuchas.

The Quincy looked towards Michael. "Oi, stand back!" She flared her reiatsu once again, before turning it on Webber. "And you, Hollow. I'll slay you! The name's Tsubame Zirconia!"

Falling to the ground, trampling into the dirt, Michael tried recollecting himself, but he had been occupied by the mental conversation he had been having. He stood within the dark plane and behind a cage, a figure with golden eyes stood but his figure could not be seen due to the darkness of the area. "Who the fuck is you?" He asked yet again, but the person said nothing aside from a chain of laughs.

Slowly pushing himself back up to his feet, Michael looked and noticed he had been saved by the newly appeared woman. Finally, for the first time, he was able to see the person responsible for saving him without having their faces covered or passing out before he could identify them. "Tsubame?" He asked himself, repeating the woman's name out loud as if he had heard it somewhere before, but it was quite the opposite. He had never heard the name before and he had quickly deduced that it wasn't even of American origin.

"Tsubame," he said once again, "That's one of those names they use on those anime and shit. That ain't a real name. You shittin' me right now?" Michael said, standing firm in his place.

"Oh shut up, idiot!" Tsubame said, groaning as she kept her eyes on Webber, who was slowly attempting to set up an attack. "I'm Half-Japanese, you dumbass!" Before Webber could fully set up new threads, Tsubame had already observed the Hollow and begun to make her move.

Webber was quickly found out and got irritated. "Quincy...out of the way!" Webber released numerous threads, all aiming to entangle the Quincy and crush her.

Tsubame quickly refocused, almost completely going silent as she drew in reishi from her surroundings, before slashing numerous angles surrounding herself. With every slash, she released a reishi-imbued air slash in its direction, directly cutting through Webber's threads before they could reach her and Michael. However, she was also protecting Michael, granting Webber an opening to target.

"Tch." Tsubame grunted, "Oi, you! If you're not going to be useful, at least hide properly! I can't kill this thing when you're around!"

Both of his eyebrows lifted, "There ain't no such thing as half Japanese Americans. The Japs are loyal to their people, they ain't breeding with us!" He deduced, speaking on a culture he had absolutely no knowledge of aside from the one or two anime he watched over the past few years. Who was he to tell her that she wasn't mixed. He had no say so in the manner, but that was an american for you. Spoiled brats who always felt that they were titled to their opinion when no one asked.

"What?? Nah, I actually can help. I wasn't dead when you showed up right." Michael said, looking down at his hands opening and closing his palms as his mind and body began to stimulate. *"I feel something and it ain't what I think it is either."* The young man thought, lifting his attention back up to Tsubame.

"What you is?" He asked, "Like a Hollow Hunter or somethin'? Like I got this feelin', how can I do that what you're doing?"

"I told you..." Tsubame continued slashing as Webber continued to send more and more threads her way. She was beginning to be surrounded, and the threads were bypassing her body in order to reach Michael.

"Heehee!" Webber laughed as she tried to speed up the threads. Without even giving an indication of moving, Tsubame already reached directly in front of Michael once more and began deflecting the threads. Simple slashes weren't fast enough. Tsubame gritted her teeth and deformed the two hilts of her blades into reishi, before conjoining both blades together into a double-bladed spear-like form.

"God, FINE!" Tsubame yelled as she spun her weapon at astonishing speeds. As she spun the weapon, she moved it around her being, instantly cutting through all of the threads in the immediate area. For every thread she cut, another spawned. It was difficult. She didn't want to risk Michael being overwhelmed by her reiatsu, but it seemed she had no other choice.

"Stay put! Right there! Don't even move, or *I'll* kill you!" Tsubame released an exorbitant amount of power, enough to cause even Webber to take a step back.

"You...girl!!" Webber was enraged and began to fight seriously, uncaring of the world around her. She clashed with Tsubame with one of her limbs, while the others began to produce numerous threads, but rather than send them directly towards Tsubame and Michael, she seemed to be *forming* something with the threads.

"That..?" Tsubame grunted, but she was occupied with Webber's strength. She had to focus, she'd only have one chance to break through and kill the Hollow. She just hoped her reiatsu wasn't overpowering Michael.

His jaw dropped and his eyes bucked. The exertion of her power laid over the area like a sheet on a bed and Michael, along with Webber, felt every bit of it. His flesh crawled and his body chill as he looked to the Quincy in mesmorization. Eveything he had been thinking up until that point had be no more. His thoughts were completely diverted to Tsubame who had shown power similiar to the time the Knight saved his life. There was a familiar sensation between the two. Maybe not their specific powers, but their goals and intentions. Michael could feel it all.

"That's so clean," He was taken aback by her display of power that he hadn't even noticed Webber preparing for something much bigger than before. In that moment Michael had become an easy target. His guard was lowered. "How can she..." His words continued to be slowed by the awe-spiring state he was in.

*"WHAT WAS THAT?!"* The voice inside of Michael's head brought itself back into existence. Though, rather than the short aggressive tone it was in originally, it was much more distorted and vibrant than before.

For a moment, he lost control over his body. Michael dropped to his knees and placed his hands against his ears and began to claw at his own face, digging his nails into the side of his skin. "My body.. this damn feelin'. It won't stop... my damn body." he said, pulling his hand from his face and looking to his palm. His hand shook violently and uncontrollably. His forehead began to bang as if he were being hit with a steel beam. "AHHH, MY FUCKIN' HEAD!!" He shouted.

*"That spiritual pressure!! I know exactly what it is!"* The Voice said, *"Let me out boy, I need to kill it. I need to get it gone! So long as I exist they can not. They are the bane of my existence, everything that I stand for is against their being! LET ME OUT!"*

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Michael continued to scream at the top of his lungs as he began to regurgitate a white substance from his mouth that quickly began to shroud his body. "NAH, WAAaaaait...." His words began to fade out as his body was overcome with the white substance before deforming and molding into something completely different.

"What?!" Webber was shocked and retreated back a step. "This...this is..!" Webber's eyes were focused. The girl's power had awoken something in the possessed boy. If Webber's hunch was correct, it might have been time for her to retreat. In fact, she was slowing down the production of her threads, purely to observe and react to Michael's transformation.

Tsubame, as well, was shocked by the development. Michael was just fine earlier, what was this sudden outbreak? Could it be related to Tsubame's presence? The reiatsu she was feeling was definitely that of a Hollow. This was a problem. If Michael turned into a Hollow and attacked her, she might not be able to survive. She immediately retreated from dealing with Webber's threads, which weren't even aimed at her at this point, and reapplied her stance from a safer position.

"Oi! What's happening!?" Tsubame shouted, hoping to push through to Michael's consciousness.

The sound of water dropping into an empty room was the only thing heard. Tsubame's words themselves were blocked out by the white substance that shrouded Michael's body. Within his psyche the drops continued and Michael sat on his knees with his hands gropping his ears. The sheer pain of what his outside body had been going through traveled to his mental plain. It was unbearable and difficult for him to even think. He wanted to claw out at the World--no--he wanted his body back but even he knew it was no return.

The white foam absorbed into his body as it continued to bloat before revealing an all new form. His spiritual pressure had increased by two times of what he was and thus, the old face of Emperor appeared and slowly did the body as well. White smoke expelled from his pores filling a large portion of the area in just seconds, but it was still able to be seen through.

*"Ohhh, it's that many around? Kid has had me locked up for quite some time."* Said Emperor, as he vanished out of existance, appearing at the small girl soul that had been saved my Michael initially. Swipping his hand, he scooped her up into his grasp and gave her no chance to react before he tossed her body into his mouth and consumed her like a mid-day snack.

A grin stretch across his face as he chewed and licked his lips. *"It's been a while since I've been able to eat another soul, still feels good and she was a strong one. I've been feasting off of the boy's spirit energy that I nearly forgot what it was like."* His eyes squinted, the horns on his mask shook, and he was off yet again, returning back to his previous position with a bat-like Hollow in his grasp. Stuffing the Hollow into his throat, Emperor swallowed and crushed the Hollow, devouring its very being and absorbing it into himself. Emperor's attention quickly shifts to Webber and then to the Quincy.

*"Well, well, well, if it isn't Webber. What brings you her-"* He cut his attention from Webber and looked over to Tsubame, *"It was you that awakened me, wasn't it. I almost want to thank you, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to maintain my Adjuchas evolution for much longer."*

"...Emperor..." Webber gruntled. This was an issue. It was one thing if both of them simply took down Tsubame instnatly. But, it wouldn't be that simple. Emperor had always been the sort of Hollow who wanted things done his own way, even if it that meant taking down other Hollows in his path. Webber was no exception. And the power that he had been emitting was far more than what he had previously, if that was even possible.

Tsubame was stunned. She had never seen an ordinary human transform into a Hollow this way. This wasn't corruption of the Soul. This was...something else entirely. She couldn't get a read on what was happening, but took her stance.

"Like *hell* I awakened you!" Tsubame growled, angered by the Hollow's accusation. She refused to believe she was responsible for the boy's current predicament. The only issue was...she didn't know how to fix it.

She wasn't a Shinigami. She couldn't purify the Hollow. All she could do was destroy it. Here she was, faced with two high-ranked Hollows, while completely alone. She held onto her blades tightly, and took a deep breath. She couldn't take the first move. Tsubame had to wait patiently. How would Webber move, how would Emperor move...

Seizing an opening was one thing, but what would she do with the opening? Would she simply just...kill Michael?

"*How can I..?'* Tsubame's thoughts drifted, before she anchored herself to reality. There was no time to think. She simply had to bide her time, and wait for what she could do.

Even though Tsubame tried to keep her concern from the enemies she faced whom were the Hollows, Emperor sensed her sudden shift in confidence compared to when he was still within Michael's psyche. *"I can see right through you, lil miss!"* Said Emperor, lifting his arm over his chest and pulling on it in order to stretch out him limbs. *"You wanna know how you can defeat me without hurting the boy? Well, that's impossible. You may as well let me claw out your soul instead!"*

Emperor gave his attention to Webber, *"Let me have this one Webber, I'll have fun carvin' her little heart out and putting it on a white platter so that I can devour her piece by piece."* Said Emperor, lifting his arm over his chest and pulling on it in order to stretch out him limbs.*"*

"Wait," Michael said to himself within his psyche. He was still in the same position as before. "Hollon, let me back!" A soul entered his plain, the same one as the young girl he had been trying to protect. "That's-" He lifted his head, gazing upon her figure only for the bat Hollow to begin chasing her around the dark void. "Aye, get off her!" He shouted, running within the landscape before finally catching up to the Hollow and sending a powerful punch into its back that sent him flying off into the distance.

He then looked down to the Pluse, "You a'ight? How'd you get in here?"

"*A Hollow... A Hollow ate me..*" She was nervous her body trembled as she grabbed the side of her head in the same way that Michael did. She placed her eyes back onto Michael and an image of Emperor appeared in the place of his own face. "NO PLEASE DON'T!"

Confused, he extending his arm out and tried to grab her, though, before he could, the pain from earlier returned forcing him to grab his head once again. "What THA' fuck is this?!" He cried out.

Lifting his leg and running towards Tsubame, Emperor strut across the gap the seperated them before disappearing suddenly and reappearing. It was clear that he had been using some sort of fast movement technique. As a Quincy, Tsubame had one extremely similiar within her arsenal. He reappeared in front of her, his eyes burrowed within his back and if he had brows they'd curved inward. Lifting his arm into the air, while in front of her, Emperor quickly brought it down over her small figure in an attempt to crush her in a single blow.

"*...This is my only chance!*" Tsubame thought as she brandished an entirely new weapon in favor of her conventional weapons. It was sealed in a small tube, but the moment she activated it, a much thinner blade-like weapon was unveiled. The Seele Schneider, a somewhat antiquated Quincy weapon that broke apart bonds of reishi through extremely high-speed vibrations.

Tsubame didn't know exactly what this would do Emperor's hold on Michael, if it would do anything at all, but she had to give it a go. If she was going to die here, she wasn't going to die with regrets.

"Haaah!" Tsubame slashed upwards with deft power. Her blade collided directly with Emperor-Michael's fist. They both released power of considerable proportions, enough to warrant Webber to take a few steps back out of caution. She didn't know what that weapon Tsubame was holding was, but she instinctively feared it. She merely watched as even the minute amount of reishi bonding with the air began to break down as that blade swung towards Emperor's fist.

"*Just what is this endeavor becoming? I...should keep watching...Heehee.*" Webber thought, continuing to observe from a distance.

Tsubame and Emperor's blade and fist clashed. Tsubame was being pushed back by Emperor's brute force, but she was certain her weapon would be having some kind of effect some time soon. It was only a matter of seconds before she could tell whether anything truly changed or not, however.

A grin stretchd across Emperor's face as he clashed against Tsubame's sword. He had faced a few quincies before, escaping with the skim of his life on multiple occassions, but not once had he seen a blade like this. A small wound opened along his hand, but nothing seemingly happened just yet. Regardless, he treated it as if it were nothing, and used his opposite hand to swipe and knock it to the side.

His massive ten foot frame towered over Tsubame and with his grin made him appear all the more sinister. Then his lips, if they could even be called that, spread apart as his body began to shake. He placed his left foot back as if he were bracing himself and opened his mouth overly wide. In the center, Emperor gathered and concentrated a large amount of reiatsu, giving it a visible form in the shape of a black sphere with a purple tint to it.

To those who were unfamiliar with what was occurring this would have blown them off of their feet. However, to those that were fully aware of this technique, knew what was to follow. A Cero, the signature attack of all Menos-grade Hollows was being prepared at a moments notice. He grunted and released the Cero directly at Tsubame in the form of a linear blast.

"Hahahahaha, you're finished little lady!" He laughed.

The Cero did land on something. But unfortunately for Emperor...its target wasn't quite what it expected.

"Phew...just in time..." Tsubame managed to breathe out as the Cero's impact dissipated. From the dust and the rubble beneath and behind her, Tsubame managed to stand with light wounds. What truly was surprising was the weapon before her. Her fused spirit weapon, which took the form of a dual-ended spear, had enlarged to almost twice its original size, both horizontally and vertically, while her Seele Schneider had seemingly been attached to it.

To those who could visibly see the trails of spiritual power, they would notice that the slight wound inflicted onto Emperor's body had been releasing spiritual power, which was being rapidly absorbed into the Seele Schneider and transferred to Tsubame's Spirit Weapon. "Normally I don't have the chance to use Zeiten Quarze's true form...but your attack helped it work."

Tsubame stood behind the weapon, her form barely covered by its height and width. Although it was a weapon, for now, it functioned as a shield. It was cracked noticeably due to the Cero, but it had begun to slowly repair itself as Tsubame's spiritual energy was fed into it. "*I just need to last...a little longer.*"

As Tsubame thought to herself, she wielded her original weapon as a shield, while holding the Seele Schneider as a blade. She pushed herself forwards, using her Zeiten Quarze to bait any immediate attacks with her left hand, while her right aimed for another wound on Emperor's other arm, hoping to absorb more reishi from him as soon as possible.

## KILLER of SOULS

Vengeance. Hot, Burning Vengeance. This is what consumed Helreggin when he had stumbled across the sight of the closest thing he could call a friend. The sight of his fellow slaughterer limping back from the Human World into Hueco Mundo after a failed hunt because of a Deus Ex Machina provided by a mysterious Shinigami to a pitiful, lowly human filled him with even more hatred. Although narrow-minded in his goal, the Hollow could assumate that the Shinigami would be long gone from the area, however he would settle for the next best target, the human that was saved.

It took four months. Four long months of hunting and following the faint reiatsu of the human that his comrade had so kindly shared with him. The trail had faded and grown from to cold and hot many times over the four month span, but this time Helreggin could feel was different, the trail was hotter than the vengeance that burned within his Hollow hole. A pang of combat mania strikes the Hollow, spotting a plus that was nearby, a mad lust starts to blossom within the berserker, the prospect of satiating his thirst for blood temporarily clouding his thought. With a bloodcurdling shout of ferocity to the night sky, Helreggin leaps into the air, a monstrous blade entwined with the flesh in his hand trailing behind him.

Gravity aids in his descent, the blade passes through a telephone pole that was lining the street the plus was on. The pole still stood tall, however the light shining from it suddenly shut-off, as if the wires inside were cut. Hitting the ground with a quake that could be felt within a few blocks, Helreggin blitzes towards the plus with his blade outstretched. With a wide cleave of his blade, the plus is split in twain, however the clothes upon the remains of the unfortunate soul are left intact as if the blade passed through them like they didn't exist. With the fires of battle cooled, Helreggin wipes the remnants of his kill against his forearm, cleaning his blade. He returns his senses towards the matter at hand, running off in the direction of his quarry's reiatsu.

There had been a number of high spiritual pressures within the city of Houston today. It was known as being the third largest city in the United States, but it had never fallen under this much acitivity before. Pluses, Hollows, High-Specs seemed to be common things as of recent making the city just as hot one of the other worldly counter-parts. The greater question was why? Why had the busy streets of Houston that were normally known for business and attracting the finest of entertainers to its women suddenly a battle-zone for Hollows to prey on the souls that lingers around. In fact, why were Pluses appearing in this country to begin with?

Regardless, that was neither here nor there and what was to be dealt with, was what could be seen. The wind blew as the creature's blades made it way towards the reiatsu it had honed into. A sudden thump would be heard in the air as if it were a solid platform before the creature would ultimately before forced to stop at the appearance of a new figure. Like a shadow, he stepped into existance, visage coming into the physical plane of the world as if he teleported.

They possessed long sandy-brown hair with strands forming into a bangs over the sides of his face. His eyes were golden and his skin was dark, giving the perfect combination of colors to make up a fine being. He wore a white, form-fitting, high-collared tunic. The collar had a very specific cross-shaped pattern on it--one belonging to a very specific race of individuals.

"And where is it that you are in a rush to be?" The man asked, looking up to the Hollow who was surprisingly much taller than he was.

The mighty Hollow came to a halt at the sudden manifestation of the figure, the appearance of whom sparked a faded memory of a distant battlefield in the deserts of Africa. Helreggin steels his gaze from behind his wretched mask as he shakes his head, clearing the memory from his mind's eye.

Helreggin points his sword at the figure, which would prove for a rather intimidating display which would be accomponied with the following comment. "Ae haeve no need to talk to a whaelp laek yee, so begone from me saight you pompous dog before Ae feast on yee guts!" The Hollow retorts, clearly annoyed that his hunt was interrupted by a paltry mortal that had decided to appear in the berserker's path.

The man smirk at the Hollow as it spoke, confused by his manner of speech, but more so excited that he had been threatened. He had never met a Hollow that talked in such Ebonics, but he figured they weren't the most intelligent race and contained himself from being utterly surprised. It wasn't as if he expected much anyway.

"Good, I'm happy you came to that decision in your choice of words," Said the man, lifting his arm revealing a pentacle pendant strapped around his right wrist. Blue particles began to attract towards the pendant as he held his hand out and a bow the same shape of the pendant was formed out of spirit particles.

His smirk was erased from his face, "Lonzo Antoine, it's only right that you know who took your soul and crushed it. For that is the date of any Hollow who faces a Quincy." With that, Lonzo pulled back the draw string of reishi and formed an arrow which he shot directly at the forehead of the Hollow. The speed and accuracy at which the arrow traveled and was launched would have easily caught the Hollow off guard. Lonzo sought to crush the Hollow in one fell attack."

Helreggin stands tall in front of Lonzo, a stoic hatred plastered across his mask as the Quincy speaks words of bold challenge to the Hollow about bringing his second life to a close. Just as the berserker would open his mouth to rebute the challenge, a glimmering arrow of pure reishi would embed itself into the spot directly between his eyes. With a slight sputtering gasp from Helreggin's maw, he stabs forward slowly and weakly with his blade towards the direction of Lonzo before falling backwards, collapsing onto the ground, dead. His body rapidly disintigrating due to the destructive reaction of when a Quincy slays a Hollow.

Lonzo's bow withered into thin air as the Hollow's fragments drifted into the air. He fixed his clothing and turned his back in the opposite direction, walking away from the Hollow. "Good, now you're off to a place where you can't reincarnate again."

"Oh my God," Came a near silent murmer some distance, a few meters away from where the Hollow once stood, "I didnt know somone else had a warrent on his head." Aruni Amaru was a good 4 meters in the air, a giant spinning golden ring, filled with a swirling blue and red void, white petals like stars glimmering in it's endless spiral. In the ring Aruni looked towards the quincy disappointedly, a pout somewhere between tired and disappointed etched into her face, which was slightly jutting out of the ring, her arms hanging out of the wormhole loosely, dangling.

"But I'll be damned, the dramatic flair the bow guy had... y'know what?" Aruni smacked her left hand, a fist into her right palm with a \*pamf\* sound, as she retreated back into the golden wormhole, which closed with a pop. Around a second later, the wormhole would appear about 7 feet to the right of Lonzo.

**"HEY YOU!** How'd'ja manage to kill that monster so easily?" Aruni half yelled, a jovial and playful note carrying in her alto voice. She spoke confidently, not considering the reprocussions of being within firing range, or even combat range of someone who was most likely doped on adrenaline.

Lonzo stopped and turned around to be met with the appearance of Aruni. Her figure was, well, perfect, to say the least and her silver hair complimented the rest of her being. Had he been one for looks, Lonzo would have easily attempted his shot at her. "What do you me-" He stopped himself halfway through his sentence. His spiritual awareness ticked him and his body immediately shuddered.

Reishi traveled from the outside area around him. He lifted his hand and held it outwards where the reishi gathered at the center to form his bow once again. "You, state who you are, or I will not hesitate to strike you down with my **Heilig Bogen**." He paused, "And I don't just mean your name, I mean that sinister spiritual pressure I sense."

"I know this is Texas'n all, but cool it with the happy trigger finger!" Aruni said, the wormhole increasing in size as she slowly walked out of the portal, which returned back to her neck, being a gold dangling chain necklace with a tin cross attatched to it.

"Look, I've got no idea what you mean by 'sinister' but... uhhhh... I'm Aruni! Pleasure to meet you!" She quickly said, grinning widely as she stuck out her hand politely for a handshake, tilting her head to the right slightly, "I didnt think many other people knew about those monsters but hey! You learn every day!"

His eyes narrowed at Aruni's claim. "Cut the bullshit," he said, letting Aruni know he could see straight through whatever it was she was trying to play at. "I'm Lonzo Antoine, student at Texas Southern University." He too introduced himself, "Since we're giving out information that is clearly useless."

He knocked an arrow onto a fake drawstring of the bow. "You have the same reiatsu base as those Holllows." Lifting the bow up he pointed it at Aruni, "So I ask, *who* are you?"

"A-Aruni Amaru... I go to Rice University here in Houston... I dont exactly know what the hell a hollow is but If it's 'round here Im sure it aint me. I ate a few minutes ago, nothin in me is Hollow." She said with a small bounce, a confused expression written all over her face.

"I mean... uhhh, were you also hunting that monster down for the last few days?" She asked, trying to change the conversation again, hoping something would make him put down the bow, ever so slightly.

There was nothing he seemed to be able to get from handling matters through words. Where, in his case Aruni attempted to play dumb, Lonzo had seen the hundreds of tricks Hollows possessed. They were able to assume the appearance of others, create illusions, and even mimick abilities and not once was Lonzo naive enough to believe that these creatures could ever finesse and trick him.

Yet, at the same time, he could tell that she *was* human but she appeared corrupt in his eyes. "I see," he pulled down on the reishi drawstring once more though this time and collected a large amount of reishi from his surrounds and, to her dismay, he fired off a rain of arrows. Each arrow was blue in color indicated by the amount of reishi used to construct each of them. "Licht Regen," he called out the techniques name.

Aruni gasped and held her hands out futilly, her Golden Necklace quickly expanding to engulf some of the arrows in it's pull, drowning them in the whirling blue and red. However, while other arrows whizzed past her like bullets on a battlefield. One of the arrows wasnt drawn into the wormhole, and slashed across Aruni's thigh, tearing her sweatpants and slicing through a small chunk of her toned, smooth leg. Dark red blood pooled gradually from the wound as Aruni collapsed.

"Ahhhhh, FUCK! What the hell! That-" She grasped at her thigh, gritting her teeth as sharp pain seared through her body, the Wormhole still parting Aruni and Lonzo. She began slowly taking deep breaths, trying to focus herself, and drown out the pain.

Eyes squinting, Lonzo pin pointed the cut on Aruni's leg and noticed that there was not the reaction he had been looking for. Lowering the bow he lifted his gaze to Aruni's entire figure. *"How the hell?"* He asked himself truly attempting to deduce the situation for what it was. His bow's construct withered away and he placed his holding hand to his chin revealing his Quincy Cross which dangled down along his arm. *"Not a Hollow, most definately Human. But, that doesn't make any sense. She literally sucked in all of my arrows."*

"Hey," he spoke out departing from his thoughts. "I guess my question of who you are can't seem to get through to you. That's damn irritating so I guess I need to be a bit more straight forward." Clearing his throat, he spit the the air which fell down over the walking people below. "What the hell are you?"

"Im a human, like you. I just so happen to feel pain like you too," She spat at Lonzo, her chest rising and falling rapidly, slowing slightly as she began talking. "So why dont you put your bow down and just talk peacefully, I know we're in Texas but holy shit. Cool your trigger finger c-cowboy." Aruni said, her voice shaky.

"If you're askin about my portals... I have no idea to be honest with you. Ive only been using them for a week or two at maximum." She chuckled slightly, "Then again, I dont suppose you know what I'm even on about, do you?"

Lonzo frowned, mot in anger but in utter confusion. He then looked to his hands to ensure everything was correct and that his mind hadn't been playing tricks on him. There was nothing in his hands, he had deactivated his bow well before Aruni had asked him to lower to do so. So he could piece together why she had requested him to do something he had already done. Then, it dawned upon him.

"Are you blind?" He asked abruptly.l. He didn't intend for his question to come off as Dude, but in the manner of how he asked, it most definitely would have appeared to be that. "I am holding no weapon," he said holding up his empty palms for Aruni see. "I'm unarmed."

Then, again, something came to his mind. "No, I see what you tryna do!" Lonzo declared, "Listen, don't kill me. I ain't got no weapons. I'm showing you my hands."

Aruni Looked up, tilting her head in confusion. "Not blind, just didnt see you put it away." she held up her free hand, which was printed red with blood. She waved it causing the wormhole to dispell, returning back to her neck, coming to a rest. "Now neither of us are armed, If you mean I'm trying to get us to a peaceful conclution; Yeah, I hope you see that I've been trying to do that." She said with a sarcastic tinge, looking down at her leg, which had now stopped bleeding.

"Ffffffah-ck that hurts. You're scary y'know?" Aruni said, a shaky smile crawling slowly up her cheeks. "I never was gonna kill you in the first place. Ready to be civil Lenzo? It was Lenzo right?"

"There ain't no what that's what you thought I said. L O N Z O," he spelled his name out to Aruni. He wanted to say what he was thinking, but luckily for her, he was raised much better than the others that he grew up around. He saw that there was nothing more he would get out of her and their conversation would continued to go around in circles if he kept asking her for the information he truly sought. While she may have seemed to be comedic, he was well aware that she was a far cry from unintelligent. She had purposefully been ignoring his question giving him the run around.

Lonzo turned his head up at Aruni and showed his back. As he dropped both of his hands to his sides, he hid his Quincy cross under his sleeve and landed to the ground where he began to slowly walk away. "I have nothing more to discuss with those of your *kind*. Have a good day."

## RETURN

Mouth closing, his grin came bak into existence. He seemed to have disregarded the fact she had done something to counter his Cero and instead prepared for an attack of his own. "**Cero Regr-**" Emperor looked to his arm he had used to attack with initially.

The small cut created by Tsubame split even wider allowing what appeared to be reishi to leak out from it. "Huh?!" He said, stumbling backwards as the outward release of reishi began to increase as time went on. "What the hell have you done?!" He asked, running out of explanations himself seeking to get one of his opponent had she been willing to spare him.

Quinces, the number one poisons to Hollows and vice versa. The white substance that surround Michael also began to leak from the wound. Even the hole in Emperor's chest became shrouded with the substance before it completely enveloped his being. "No, no, no!" He cried out. "You damned Quincy, what did you do! Why is that kid able to fight me back! That should be impossible!" He claimed, his being slowly warming and transforming into a blob of white clay before deforming itself and bending into a new shape.

Once it was all said it done, Michael appeared in the middle of the road in front of Tsubame with his knees on the ground. "Huff." He landed heavily, sweat falling down the side of his face and blood came down his mouth.

"A-Appreciate you." Michael said, thanking Tsubame for whatever it was she had done. *"All of a sudden I saw a light. I ran to it and it led me here."* He thought, pacing his breaths.

He slowly lifted himself to his feet in a struggle. "Aye," he said out to Tsubame. "Did something' happen to that ghost girl while I was gone? And those two seemed to know each other, right?"

"*WHAT?!*" Webber's thoughts were loud within her head, so loud that as she began moving backwards, Tsubame instantly noticed her.

"Heehee...I think I might have to play next time..." Webber grinned before she launched a net of threads before her, acting as a temporary barrier as she retreated from the sight and senses of Tsubame and Michael. Webber knew that she *could* win. The girl was also exhausted. But what she saw was...contrary to many things she knew about this world. It was worth processing this information.

"WAIT!" Tsubame yelled as she began to move, before her body collapsed under the weight of the exhaustion. She made use of almost all her available spiritual power in this fight, and would require time to absorb reishi back to normal levels.

She looked at Michael, and frowned. "That girl...you...no, the Hollow in you...he ate her." Tsubame said, unable to meet Michael in the eye.

Michael stepped forward in an attempt to chase the Hollow, but even though this was all foreign to him, he knew passing through that net would have been virtually impossible. Instead, he stood down and watched as it fled off into the day. The mass of the Hollow appeared to himself in the form of a glob of grey energy. His ability to sense spiritual beings had increased.

"!" His eyes widened as he looked down at his hands, "So thas why?" Hands opening and closing as he clenched them back and forth. "When I was in my head or whatever the fuck that was I saw her and another one of those things."

He chose not to dwindle on it for too long and instead brought his attention up to Tsubame. "You look like you know what's goin' on with all this shit that I'm seeing and gettin' myself into." Michael was no idiot, sure he didn't understand exactly what was going on, but he was able to pinpoint those who did and the fact that Tsubame had appeared with full on intents of fighting without wavering even a bit let him know she was much different that he was.

"What the fuck is all of this? What's this shit, these damn creatures, this fuckin' sensation. All of a sudden I can sense shit way more than what my five senses can."

"What you're seeing is..." Tsubame thought to herself, how should she explain it sufficiently. "You're seeing the other side of the world. The side that holds...well, dead people. You're seeing spirits, uh...I didn't catch your name?"

"You lost the fuck outta Mike, no cap." He said, giving Tsubame his name whilst also expressing his true feeling of confusion. "I know it's the other side of whatever the fuck, but I'm sayin' this thou-" He stopped mid-way through his question and releasing the tight hold he had on his own hands.

He shook his head, "Ya know what, never mind. I ain't got time for this. I know who I need to find," Flashes of the day before yesterday played in his mind. The faint figure of the beings dressed in the black kimono filled his memory. He turned away, lifted his hood over his head, and set his sights on his car to mount it once again, upon doing so, he drove off into the shining day.

"Why do I feel wrong?" Michael asked himself, gripping the steering wheel of his vehicle. "Why do I feel like I'm at fault for that girl dyin'? Huh? I can only prevent shit like that if I'm strong enough, but do I need to be out here tryna protect these damn ghost that ain't got no damn connection to me?" He had a flurry of questions to ask, but he couldn't answer them himself. "I'd give anything to have those ghosts be you Nell.. anything. Wait!" An idea dawned upon him, "Maybe I could protect these shits and.. I need to contact those two I saw that night."

## FOURTH

Four days had passed since the incident with Tsubame, Emperor, and Webber occurred. Michael had spent a lot of his time roaming through the streets, scaring off Hollows with the power bestowed upon him by Emperor and half protecting these souls and half destroying them. When a Hollow came to be too strong, Michael's body became weakened and Emperor was able to take control where he would do the devouring of souls.

Today, he was set to play in the preseaoning opening game for the Cougars, one that would make or break the team.

The setting was now at a very large facility. It was much larger than the gym Michael and his teammates were last seen at. If the setting wasn't enough to vouch for this, then the large gathering of people spread throughout the seatings of the arena. This arena was moreso a gymnasium than it was.

One side of the stance was clad in red and white colors while the other side donned blue and white. There were signs of the Houston Cougar's Logo as well as the logo belonging to the Duke Blue Devil's. The crowd was roaring with energy shouting both teams names. There were news reporters and national broadcasters all over the arena.

"HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! IN ABOUT TEN MINUTES, THE GAME BETWEEN THE HOUSTON COUGARS AND THE DUKE BLUE DEVIL'S IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" A voice over a loudspeaker spoke to all of the people within the stadium. "Who will be victorious?! Will it be the navy blue that is Duke or the blood red from Houston!?"

The crowd roared with excitement, everyone chanted the name of the teams they'd been wagering their faith into. Money was on the line for some people. Pride on the line for others and then there were the few that were just there to be there.

Both of the teams had had began walking out from their respective locker rooms. Their appearance was enough to make the crown rave and rage in excitement. Both teams ran to opposite sidelines of the court, the areas which they'd claimed to have been their respective benches.

There was a loud siren throughout the building and the lights shut completely off. The crowd became quiet, almost as if the lights turning off was some sort of signal of silence. The darkness gave an ominous feeling, but long time basketball fans knew exactly what time it was and those who were new would soon learn.

A rockstar-like instrumental played throughout the arena suddenly, catching those unprepared off guard causing their hearts to drop. The lights flashed around the facility, blinking various colors and the voice over the loud speaker came back once more.

"ALRIGHT LADIES AND GENTLE ARE YOU READY FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF MARCH MADNESS TO TAKE PLACE?!" Following his excitement filled question, the lights turned back on normal. The players on each side were lined up among the out of bounds line.

"On the right, we have the Blue Devils!" The crowd shouted as the team had been introduced. The commentator went down the line of members and finally reached the last. A dark skinned boy with blue hair held his head down low. He was about six feet nine, no he was exactly that height. "And finally, known for being the most explosive player in the current NCAA era and Player of the Year Duke's small forward; Lebanon Hamez!"

The crowd went wild as they scream, shouted, and chanted Lebanon's name in succession as if it they were protesting, but they were doing quite opposite.

He'd done the same thing as with the Blue Devil's. He's introduced the players but once he reached the one at the end, he took a pause. At the end of their line was a player standing six three and a hood covering his head. He wore a red and white Houston Cougars Warm Up suit and a pair of all red shoes. "And the freshman player of the Houston Cougars who's currently holding the title of "Rookie of the Year", at the point guard position known for his deadly three point shooting; Michael Davis!"

Lifting his head, Michael removed his hoodie and smiled and waved to the crowd as the entire stadium "turned up" shouted his name.

Tip off was about to start, both teams' starting five were in their respective positions. The Cougars wore their traditional home jerseys and so did Duke. Michael had been wearing a red arm sleeve on his left arm and two white calf braces on his legs. With a closer look, Michael had on a very specific pair of shoes. The Win Like 96s' he'd ordered just for this game and this game alone.

The Cougars' home court jerseys were dominantly white jersey, with red outlining and "HOUSTON" written in red blocked words in an arcing position over the player's respective number. White shorts following this same general theme, but without the Houston written on them.

Michael made a cross across his chest. A small pregame ritual he did before all of his games and not just ones of this caliber. The ref walked to the middle of the court with a ball in his hand. He looked at the two center, William from the Cougars and the one from Duke. He threw the ball straight up and blew his whistle signaling the start of the game.

William managed to win the jump ball, which would give his team the ability to set the momentum for the game. The two guard was the one at the end of catching the tipped ball and at the moment of receiving it, he passed it straight to Michael.

"Zone." Michael thought to himself as the opposing group got into their defensive positioning. The guards ran the top of the three-point line, while the remaining three protecting each area of the inside.

Dropping the ball with his right hand, Michael slowly approached the three-point line. Without hesitation he lifted the ball, tossed it to his left hand, and fix his body and arms, firing off a shot. His wrist flick was perfect as the ball beautifully rolled off of his fingers and soared through the air, falling into the rim of the basket.

The crowd cheered at Michael's shot, counting his three-point getting the leading basket for the game. He backpedaled down the court, watching the opposing point guard. Before Michael could get in closer, he passed the ball down low to his center where the big man easily was able to score a quick two points to bring Duke to only a one-point deficit.

Baker grabbed the ball as it fell from under the net and stepped out of bounds to take it out, then drilled a pass to Michael. Bringing to ball up court with swiftness, Michael dropped past his defender but found himself guarded the two spot. Backing up to reevaluate the situation, Duke swiftly shifted to have their point guard back to guarding Michael.

Duke's Point Guard's name was Aaron Butcher, one of the top players in the nation for college ball. Regardless, ranking didn't have much say in today's matter. Michael had one thing on his mind and it was to squash all of his competition that stood in the way of bringing the trophy home to his city.

Mike stepped back and then hesitated back. A simple crossover from his left hand to his right, he blew right past Aaron who tried to step over and cut the mohawked dribble off but was easily blown by due to Michael's enhanced strength and speed.

Following the blowby, he lifted the ball from the ground securing it into both of his hands, then mad a hard step on his right foot. A defender stepped over hand up ready to contest and hopefully block the rookie's shot. Just as his hand went up, Michael tucked the ball down to his stomach and stepped hard on his left foot completely changing the direction of his movement in just the matter of seconds—a Euro, beautifully executed by someone of such high caliber made the technique look that much more elegant.

Allowing the ball for floating from his fingertips, it smacked against the backboard and fell through the hoop counting for two additional points for the Cougars.

Instead of running back down the court to defend, Michael stayed near his goal and entered a defense state rushing to Aaron who he'd been holding. Michael made a cross with his arms as Duke's shooting guard had been thrown the ball on the inbound. Michael pushed around him, swiping at the ball just before landing into Aaron's hand, a steal if you would.

With his immense speed, he shot towards the baseline of the court but Aaron had been hot on his tail. While riding the baseline, Michael ran underneath the rim and swung his arm to the other side of it. Just before he let the ball go, Aaron smacked against his hand in attempts to stop him from converting the easy reverse layup.

A whistle was blown, signifying a shooting foul and with the basket counting he had a chance at an and-one shot.

Michael starting throwing his arms into the air and kicked his leg up, his expressive nature coming to show in just the very first five minutes of the game. "LET'S FUCKIN' GO!!!!" He shouted to the top of his lungs as his teammates ran down court patting him on the back and his head for completely such a great play.

Aaron, on the other hand, was not happy, as he approached Michael in a completely different tone. "You foulin'," he paused to frown up his face, "this early in the game, bro?"

"I'm hooping." Michael answered.

"Bro, you fouled me just for a damn steal." Aaron stood by his earlier remark.

Michael clapped his hands together as loud as he could and began to approach Aaron, but kept a great distance in order to prevent any technical calls from the referee. "HOLD THE BALL THEN, SORRY ASS Niga!" He'd shouted out loud again.

For the remaining fifteen minutes of the first half to two teams played their hearts out to the max of their abilities. Scoring and defending in every way that their coaches taught them to. Finally, as the half came to a close the Cougars were up seven, the score 52-59.

Michael Davis sat in his home, arm stretched across the back of the couch in his living room, while scrolling on his phone. His yellow eyes looked up and down as they read the contents of each pause as though he were some sort of programmed computer.

With a yawn, he scratched through his black spiked hair and stretched. Arms extended and bones cracking, he stood to his feet and tossed his phone into his pocket. "That shit is gettin' to me, though." Michael said while walking to the front door and grabbing his jacket from the chair to the left of it. Opening the door, his gaze met the night sky and to it, he walked outside and closed the door behind himself.

As he reached the night filled sky, Michael slung his jacket over his back and placed his arms into its sleeves before taking off down the sidewalk leading into his driveway. There sat a black American muscle and with a press of a button, the car's lights turned on. Opening the door, Michael got into the vehicle and started the car up, rubbing his hands together before blowing into them and then placing them in front of the air vents.

*Zrrrr*, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Reaching into it, he drew his phone and simply stared at the screen. Pressing the green button, he placed the phone on speaker. "What?" He asked, putting the car into reverse, driving out of the driveway.

"Where you at?" A female voice asked.

"Shit, nowhere yet. I'm about to go get some food."

"Ouuuu," She said, almost in a humming manner. "Where-we-boutta-eat-at?"

"Imma' go to Chimmychangas. I'll bring y'all something from there when I get done. Probably get her something from McDonald's. Give me like twenty or thirty minutes." Michael said.

"Alright."

Clashes of spiritual pressure rang out from an alleyway near a shopping plaza, and A.J. was at the center of it. Normally dealing with Hollows wouldn't be an issue, but this one was on the stronger side. He could easily deal with the Hollow's speed, but he could only land shallow hits due to his lack of stopping power. The fledgling Fullbringer's spear was distorted and radiating Reiryoku at random, and it centered over an antique fountain pen that he twirled between his fingers.

'*Damnit...let me get a solid hit in!'* Alexander hated Hollows simply for the inconvenience they posed, but it didn't help that he was constantly losing control of his Spiritual Pressure. He was a beacon for a four-course meal every time he left his dorm room.

Pings of Bringer Light continued as he skipped around the Hollow, barely avoiding the attacks it threw around itself. Both combatants were frustrated, the Hollow being too slow to catch the fly that buzzed around him, and Alexander being too weak to effectively end the Hollow. It was a cycle that was only going to end once one of them ran out of fuel.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh," The Hollowed sighed, but this was its manner of "speaking". Hollows were truly beings of low intelligence, all they honestly had was fighting power. Sliding back, drawing its claws into the cement of the dark lonely street, the masked creature kicked up rubble and concrete into the air. Though it had been a less intellectual than the fullbringer before him, it could sense the traces of Hollow presence within Alexander.

While it couldn't exactly process the features of what Alexander truly was, it just made him want to attack him even further. Had he killed his brethern and been harboring their powers? Or had the boy simply been trying to play with the Hollow? These were thoughts, but neither one of them ran through the Hollow's mind. Instead, the being roared, leaving its mouth open in the process before releasing a Cero directly at Alexander.

*When you can finally see a soul.*
*You can pull a soul*.

*Even when you can not see a soul*.

*You can pull a soul*.