Here's chapter two for all of you excited readers! Enjoy!
Chapter Two: A Mission Gone Sour
With narrowed eyes, the young girl she saw was in fact being chased by the source of the tremors and loud roaring; that source being a creature that had a blue colored body and a white mask. Its size filled the small street as it continued on stomping toward the frightful girl.
Just what in the Hell is this thing?!
With a startled guise, Motoko quickly pulled out her nine-mil and fired multiple rounds toward its face. The shots that made punctures into its mask began to bleed out profusely as it stumbled back from the pain.
"Over here!" Motoko ordered as she motioned the girl to come toward her while the monster was momentarily subdued.
Just as the girl finally made her way over, the monster got up again and was running towards them as well. She quickly ripped the side of her skirt so she could have extra mobility and then gave the girl a quick glance, "Get back!"
The girl ran and hid behind the corner of the block and gazed at the confrontation that was happening, fearful of the outcome.
When the creature swung one of its arms at Motoko, she dodged it by jumping overhead and behind it. And just before the monster could react, she quickly jumped up and did a back-flip-kick to its face with all the power she could muster behind it, which sent the monster to the ground, causing the pavement to crack under the pressure.
In that instant, she grabbed another clip from her hand bag and loaded it into her gun as the monster remained unmoving. The moment it started to get up to attack again, she fired her gun repeatedly until the mask had broken. She then backed away quickly as its form turned into a puff of black ash and faded entirely from the scene, leaving not a trace of itself.
She stood where the monster disappeared, shocked and thrown by her discovery. She knew from then on, that this case was going to be sour. And worst still, the scary thought was that there were possibly more of those things lurking about in the town.
"Hey, kid," she spoke up and directed her attention toward the girl with raised eyebrows as she was surprised to see two new strangers with her. One being a young female, with green hair and hazel eyes who had bags of groceries in her hands. She wore a white body suit, with orange gloves and a scarf. The other being an older looking, large rotund man, who wore an olive-green tuxedo, and a yellow bow tie. He had a pink mustache and hair, with a crossbow design on the top.
"Who are you?" Motoko spoke up again as she held her gun firmly in her hand.
They both looked her way with confusion present on their faces.
"Do not worry, we mean no harm," the large man stated calmly.
The young female then put her hand on her hip, "We just came here to kill that Hollow. But it seems like you took care of that, which is no fun at all," she said in a childish manner before sighing and putting her bags on the ground.
Motoko raised her brows slightly at that. Hollow? That was what attacked that girl? But why? And where did it come from?
But her serious visage still did not waver as she kept her eyes on the two newcomers. She took notice to the young woman pull what appeared to be a sword out of an orange sheath, and watched as she held the hilt toward the girl's head. The girl backed away fearfully and shook her head.
With that action, Motoko pointed her gun at the green haired one, "Drop it now."
"Wait! We are not going to hurt her. Please trust us," the large man said with his hands in front of himself.
The woman with green hair looked clueless, "I'm not going to hurt her... Seesh," she said sourly. Then she smiled at the girl, "I'm just going to send you to a place so those monsters can't come after you. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Okay?"
The girl nodded hesitantly as the hilt on the katana touched the girl's forehead, causing her to fade into a black butterfly to form in her place before flying off into the distant sky.
Motoko looked on with utter stupefaction on her face as she lowered her weapon slightly. She remained as such for a moment before recollecting herself as she gazed at two strangers with disbelief, taking in all that had happened in that fleeting moment, "What the hell did you do to her? And what on Earth is going on? And..." she turned to point where the monster had been last seen, "what was that thing?"
The large man turned to look at Motoko with seriousness on his features, "What she did to that girl was a Konso which sent the girl to Soul Society so she can find peace. And the monster you fought was a Hollow, which was a spirit," he clarified.
Konso? Soul Society? Spirit?
She would have thought the man was insane if she had not come face to face with that monster or the girl. What had she stumbled into? This case went right out of the window in terms of logic now. But even in her own enlightenment, she was compelled to find out more.
"Just what is happening here?" She asked incredulously.
"You know... You don't seem to be from around here," the green haired one spoke up with a raised brow as she went to pick up her grocery bags.
And they were? She blinked at them considering they both looked like circus performers, judging from the way they both presented themselves.
The large man nodded, "I understand you have questions. Maybe I can explain them better for you if you come with us."
"Hachi! What will the others say? We're suppose to keep our hideout a secret, remember?" the young woman said in a hushed tone.
That piqued Motoko's curiosity when the term hideout was mentioned, "Hold on," she interjected, "We only just met, and now you assume you can trust me?"
The larger man smiled, "I don't find there is a need to be overly suspicious. I also imagine that our goals are mutual."
To her, the man seemed overly trusting to those he would meet out of the blue, or either that his smile was just a put-on. But she could not tell which. In either case, it would prove pointless to beat around the bush needlessly, especially now as things were. This was better than finding nothing at all.
"Our goals are mutual, huh?" she questioned precariously. His response was nothing as he kept his passive gaze on her, "Alright fine. I'll hear you out then," she agreed, but she was still skeptical.
He gave a nod thereafter, "Then it's unanimous. But first, how about we introduce ourselves? My name is Hachigen Ushōda, but people call me by my nickname; Hachi."
The young woman beside him raised her hand, "Mine's Mashiro Kuna!" She said in a bubbly child-like fashion.
Motoko paused for a moment, "Motoko Kusanagi."
The one named Hachi lowered his head out of respect, "Pleased to meet you, miss Kusanagi," he then gave a hand gesture to follow him, "If you would please follow us, I will tell you what you need to know about what's going on."
She found these two to be very peculiar, especially the big one. It was suspicious. She wondered why this man would tell her anything at all, let alone let her follow him to this hideout.
They had walked passed the train tracks to an old rundown warehousing district. Why would they lead her here in the first place? How could they just meet her for the first time and not be so concerned of what she might do if they gave her information about what was going on? As she kept up with them, she concluded that these two were indeed strange.
"So why are you allowing me to follow you?" Motoko spoke up curiously.
The one named Hachigen looked behind his back, "You said you wanted to know what you were fighting, didn't you?"
She began to scrutinize why this man and the young woman would be open to the idea of trusting those they would just meet, "Yes I did. But why do you have to lead me here?"
Mashiro gave a frown at that, "Well I don't like it either. But Hachi thinks you're okay. But I wonder what will the others will think?"
Hachi looked from the corner of his eye, "Perhaps they will not make a big matter out of it. And I think it's best if I were to tell this lady about what Hollows are where there are less people."
Motoko then casually raised a brow at their interesting exchange, "What I don't understand is why you would let me follow you. You could have just as easily told me what that thing was instead of procrastinating like this."
The man put on a bright smile, "My, aren't you impatient?"
"Then why? Are you trying to force me into becoming one of your partners?" She tried again with an awkward smile.
He glanced over to her, with surprise as to what she was insinuating of him, "Oh, no such thing Miss. You can leave any time you like," he said with a comforting gesture.
As they kept on moving, there was one large warehouse that they were walking to in particular. It looked as though it had not been used for years. And it became apparent to her that she heard a lot of ruckuses coming from the inside, which she could quite clearly discern that a couple people or more were arguing behind the closed metal door. That was obvious when Mashiro opened the door to reveal the other people inside the warehouse.
"We're here, guys! And we got some bento!" the one with green hair announced.
"Let's eat up!" a man in a green jogging suit, with a spiked Afro, and black shades said happily. Beside him a man with long wavy blonde hair, in a black suit with a thigh length jacket gave a small smile at the other ones' enthusiasm.
"How the hell can I train with that shit?! And stop calling me a baldy, you bucktoothed loser!" a teenaged boy yelled. The teenaged boy had orange hair, and was dressed in what looked like very old-fashioned garments that were black.
As Motoko entered through the door, she saw a young girl with blonde pigtails, and her attire was a red jogging suit with flip-flops who the teenager was arguing with. The girl was holding a man who was dressed in a standard school uniform, had brown eyes, with jaw length blonde hair by the scruff of the shirt, who was on the ground.
She saw two others as well. She saw one young girl who wore a long-sleeved school uniform, who had turquoise eyes with red oval shaped glasses, braided black hair, and who looked as though she was reading an adult magazine.
And then there was a gruff looking man, who appeared tall and muscular, with light gray hair, brown eyes and piercings on his left eyebrow and left ear.
From this standpoint, the whole situation was indeed an unusual one already. Were they refugees of some kind? And in that moment of thinking so, they all froze and focused their eyes on her; even the two who were fighting with each other.
"There is quite the commotion here. You are all quite a motley crew of people aren't you?" She said as she took in the sight of everyone who was in the warehouse with a gaze that resembled interest about them.
The man with muscular features then stood up, with a face that resembled an irritable scowl, "What the hell Mashiro?! Why would you let a human follow you?"
Motoko blinked bemusedly. Human? Why would this guy use such a term? Well considering the earlier events, there was more than just normal humans in this town; that was a given already.
Mashiro then put on a childish frown, "Don't blame me, Kensei! Ask Hachi!"
"Yes, I was one who let her follow us. Just as me and Mashiro were coming back from the store, we saw this young lady fighting a Hollow. So I suppose you can classify her as a guest," Hachi informed.
"This cute thing was fighting a Hollow?" the man with jaw length blonde hair asked with a sly smile before he was assaulted by a sandal.
Motoko ignored the others and turned to look at the man named Hachi, "You said you would tell me what Hollows are. Isn't that right?" she inquired.
The girl with pigtails came up to Hachi, and pointed her finger at Motoko, "Hachi, what's the deal? Why are you telling this baldy-bimbo anything that ain't her own cotton pickin' business?"
Hachi smiled briefly for a second, "Now try to be nice, Hiyori. Everyone, this young lady's name is Motoko."
Motoko stared at these people perplexed. What were they trying to do anyway? She then placed her hands on sides, waiting for them to stop fooling around, "Look, all I want to know is what's going on in this town and why. And I think you can give me some answers."
"Hey Shinji, what do we do with this mess?" The one named Hiyori spoke up.
Shinji, shook his head, "How do you expect me to know?" then he glanced over to Motoko, "So, are you like some kind of investigator or somethin'?"
She gave him a stern look afterward, "I'm asking the questions here."
It was then the man with muscular features and silver hair came walking toward her with a frown present, "You aren't going to get your answers here. So just get lost."
She crossed her arms, "Well, if that's how you want to play it, I'll just call my friends at the local police department and have them place you all under arrest for contempt. It seems you are involved in the disturbances of this town one way or another. So I'm sure they would be happy to interrogate a handful of small-time thugs. And if you actually happen to be rogue refugees, then that will make things even more interesting."
He raised a brow, obviously irritated, "You're comparing us to those people? You sure got nerve."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you are."
The man gritted his teeth thereafter as he made an attempt to stomp toward her. While doing so, she unbuckled the clip to her nine-mil gun behind her back as the others in the warehouse observed with apprehension.
Shinji jumped in between them and put his hands out in front of him when he saw she had her hand on the gun, prepared to draw it out, "Whoa, whoa! Calm down lady. We're not rogue refugees or a bunch of thugs. Okay? We'll tell ya a little of what's going on," then he turned over to glance at the muscular man with a nervous smile and laughter, "Kensei, knock it off. I really don't want her pulling a gun out on us."
A moment passed and the one addressed as Kensei begrudgingly walked away thereafter and went back to taking his place on one of the crates.
Then Shinji glanced toward Hachi with a frown, "Thanks big time for this, Hachi..."
Hachi's features resembled a look of guilt, "It was impossible to avoid. She said she wanted to know what Hollows are. And so I-"
"And you let her follow you? It could have been avoided if you minded your own business," he interrupted as he gave a sigh before glancing back to the lady, "Well Hachi, this is your problem, I'll let you deal with her. But first you gotta help us do business with Ichigo here," Shinji said while glancing at the orange haired teenager, who apparently stood there watching the exchange between the group with interest.
She stared at the orange haired teen as his odd attire caught her attention, "What are you people trying to do here anyway?"
Hiyori then came up to her with an angry visage, "What do you think we are doing?" She began before pointing her finger at the orange top, "We are training his sorry ass! If it weren't for him being such a dumb ass, then we'd be getting somewhere!"
"Quit calling me dumb ass snaggle tooth!" Ichigo argued back.
"I'll call you dumb ass any time I like, dumb ass!"
Motoko continued to watch the two squabble with mild amusement as Mashiro handed out lunch boxes to everyone of the group.
"Stop whining and keep running till you drop!" Hiyori yelled as she came running after him with a treadmill before hucking it at his face.
Ichigo grasped his chin after it bounced off of him, "You snot-nosed brat!"
"Ichigo try to relax," Shinij began as he came in between them, "The stupid Hiyori treadmill trainer-"
"It's super!" Hiyori cut in, but Shinji ignored her.
"-Is the basis for the training you will be in for."
"Basis?" Ichigo queried.
"We determine what level of training you are able to do based on how long you can keep running on the treadmill," Shinji clarified.
The orange head looked at Shinji dumbfounded, "What do you mean by level?"
Motoko continued to stay silent with perplexity. Just what exactly was this kid being trained for? She also saw that muscled brute still was glaring at her from behind. She understood he was suspicious of her, but did he have to keep doing that? The others in the warehouse seemed to take her presence better.
"Just listen to Hiyori. Quit being such a baby and keep running on her senseless treadmill trainer," Shinji said.
"For the final time it's the Hiyori Super trainer, dumb ass!" Hiyori complained again.
"After about three days, you'll collapse from exhaustion," Shinji continued before grinning, "We break you down then we build up by teaching you how to control the Hollow transformation..."
The term Hollow and transformation weighed heavily on Motoko's mind after what was said by the skinny neck-length blonde haired man. They were going to turn this boy into some kind of monster like that one she fought not long ago? But before coming to assumptions, she listened more on their conversation.
"Are you kidding me? That's a joke!" The orange top declared as he pointed to the treadmill, "You can forget about wasting that much time! I can run on that damn thing for almost a week before getting tired! I get it. That stupid machine is meant to drain me of all my spiritual pressure. So what? You want to see how much spirit energy I have by running before I collapse," the teen concluded.
The one named Shinji just stayed silent with a frown. But to Motoko, this was becoming insane. From the way both of them talked of this, it was like a whole new world to her that had yet to be tapped. And the boy clearly did not look transparent like those ghosts that were in the movies at all. Just what in the world was this that was going on? Was this a hack? If so, then it was a pretty good one. She looked over to see Hachi and was hoping that he would give her some viable answers soon about all this.
"You idiot!" The orange top flared up again angrily, drawing her attention back to the two of them again, "With the spirit energy I have now, I could run for nearly a week straight on that thing; there's no point testing me like this. Just teach me how to control my hollowfication damn it! I don't have time to waste on this shit! I cannot afford to mess around playing with you Visoreds!"
"Shut your big mouth!" Shinji yelled with frustration.
Motoko crossed her arms, So that is what these guys are called?
Everyone was silent for a time as she glanced at all the occupants in the warehouse in a state of bemusement. Were they a group of people of some kind? Her thoughts on all this were deterred when she still could feel that muscular brute still staring at her with too much scrutiny for her liking.
"You don't have time huh? Well that's something coming from someone who doesn't even know how long it takes for Hogyoku to awaken." Shinji spoke up.
Motoko noticed shock on the boy's face. But she did not have clue on how to go about this to know what they were even talking about to start with.
"Wait. Hold on, what did you say?" Ichigo questioned.
Shinji's glare deepened, "I said stop arguing when you don't know a thing about hollowfication or the Hogyoku!"
"What is this? How do you know about any of that?" Ichigo questioned again while in his stupor.
"I know all about it. The hyongoku, the Arrancars; even Aizen Souske. I have known about them for many, many years," Shinij revealed.
Motoko saw Shinji's grin appear again. After that something strange happened; to her surprise, she saw him move instantaneously right in front of Ichigo before outstretching his hand in front of the teen's face. She heard Shinji speak of that kid being a soul reaper and then the mentioning of shikai, and bankai. She did not know what that was either. But she could see it was of importance as the teen seemed petrified with shock. It was then Ichigo fell to the floor with his eyes open and unresponsive.
Motoko ran up to Shinji when she saw the teen on the floor unconscious, "Hey!" She barked before jumping from the same floor as Shinji did earlier.
The man with the Afro and green jumpsuit raised his eyebrows from beneath his shades, "That's some jump for a human," he remarked.
Kensei also had to raise his brow as well as that stunt roused his suspicions.
Shinji glanced from the corner of his eye, "What do you want now? Nice jump by the way. Are you into gymnastics?"
She paused as she looked at him with a fixed but stern expression. These guys had no idea that she was fully prosthetic did they? But instead she chose to focus on what was going on presently, "What... Did you do to him?" Motoko questioned.
Shinji glanced from the corner of his eye with a grin, "It's fine lady, he's only sleeping right now. When Hachi is finished making his barrier, he'll tell you all about what's going on in this town," he then turned to see large man, "Okay, Hachi, you know what to do. Give us a two layered force-field."
"Alright," Hachi replied as he slapped his hands together.
Motoko felt the air change in density and she found all this shocking when she saw the orange haired teen get carried by the man in the green jumpsuit with an Afro haircut. What were they going to do with this kid?
*Batou? Togusa? Can you hear me?* She tried to get through, but all she got was static when she tried to connect with any of her COM channels on the net. She was definitely on her own now. But for as long as she played it relatively cool, she was sure no harm would come to her and this group might be willing to throw her a bone regarding more information about what was going on in this town.
To her shock, the ground began to shake suddenly as a rift in the concrete formed into passageway to an underground compartment. The group began to walk down the steps; the last one being Kensei keeping a precarious gaze on her as she followed them.
When they have reached the end of the dark stairway, she had let out a small gasp. The underground room she walked into was not a normal underground room at all, but rather a small canyon with small peaks all around the desert surface and a blue sky. Was this some sort of holographic image?
"What is this? Is there a holographic generator in this room?" She spoke up with curiosity.
Shinji put on a clueless face, "Is it a wha?"
"Plus, why are you being so cooperative now?" She continued to question. His response to her was nothing, as the one in the green jogging suit dumped the unconscious teenager on the dirt surface.
Shinji then looked over to Hachi, "Hachi, set up a barrier here too. And seal off Ichigo's body."
"What?" Came Hachi as he stared at Shinji perplexed and surprised.
Shinji merely frowned, "Don't "what" me," he mimicked, "Just do it. And then you can fix this mess you started with this chick," that he glanced at Motoko, "Look lady, you just caught us on a bad day is all. But even when Hachi tells you about what's happening, nobody's going to believe you. Normal folk will think you're crazy."
Her expression became stern, "That will be for me to decide."
"Alright. I'm just saying you're wasting your time," He pointed out casually as he raised his arms.
Her response was nothing as she held a stern face, but her features also presented objection to his claims. He didn't seem worried at all about what they were doing either even if she were to tell anybody.
"Hachi, do it," Shinji spoke up again.
Large man nodded, "Alright then..."
He put his hands together, almost as if he was praying to Motoko's gaze and curiosity. She noticed with surprise that the wind then started to pick up around him.
"Wall of iron sand, tower of the shaven priest, glow incandescent iron, tranquil and soundless to the end..." Hachi chanted.
To her shock, as he chanted, she saw orbs of light surround the man's hands as he raised his arms and lowered them again as he went into a crouching position.
"Bakudo number 75, Gochutekkan!"
Orbs of light appeared around orange top's unconscious form which morphed into metallic–like pillars bound by chains. After that, a box–like barrier formed and surrounded a good radius of the grounds.
It was not a moment later that the ground began to tremble and the wind started to pick up again. And in that instant, Motoko could discern movement from the teenager's once unconscious body when a red striped white mask began to form on his face, as his eyes turned git black with yellow irises.
Was any of this real? After fighting that thing earlier, was it even real? Was this a hack?
...Or was everything she that perceived up to this point reality?
To Be Concluded.
If you have read up to this point, I am gracious and hope you review! We all like reviews, don't we? ;P
Now as far as posting regularly, it will not be possible. And depending on how busy I am (will be) and what inspires me, my posting schedules will be irregular. (Please don't shoot me!) But I will see what I can do to keep this story going. I will just be happy if I happen to ensnare a few readers who happen to like my current progress with this story!
Ja mata ne! (Japanese for see you later!)