Agony.

That was the only way to describe the pain coursing through his body. An endless sea of agony, with his lifeless corpse drifting to the bottom, ready to be crushed into oblivion.

What sort of wonderful metaphor could be used to describe such pain? What wonderful little images, pulled out of his now splattered graymatter, to describe the pain that was coursing through his mind? It was like every part of his body was on fire, screaming endlessly, begging for something even approximating a release. It was like being bitten by a spider nest, with thousands of tarantulas biting at your skin, all at the same time, forever.

It was like having a centipede put in your ear, it wriggling and squirming inside of your brain, digging and biting and eating for hours on end, all while you heal and hear every little movement of it inside of your brain.

It was all of those things, and more.

But to describe it as pain...well, would require having a nervous system, a brain for which to process said pain.

But for Kaneki, his brain was splattered on the ground, bleeding and, slowly but surely, coming back together inside of his mind.

Slowly. And painfully.

When Kaneki's body collapsed onto the ground, it hit with a loud thud followed by the disgusting sound of goopy blood splattering on the concrete of the warehouse district. He struggled, squirmed, and eventually, stopped moving as his death rattles echoed it (if you could call his guttural vocalizations as a 'rattle').

For Kaneki, this felt like an entirety. Endless. Eternal. A never ending movie, from which he was the unwilling protagonist of his own life, a tragedy in action.

For Ruby, it was less than fifteen seconds from her conversation to the white haired ghoul, to his body colliding to the ground with a loud splat.

She didn't scream. She thought she did, but it was caught in her throat, her entire body shaking all over as she saw the way Kaneki's body twitched and moaned in pain. His head, once etched with a pathetic parody of a smile, was now replaced with a giant hole, surrounded by blood and flesh and brain matter that had scattered all over the place like some messed up version of 52 card pick up - go on, the voice in her head told her almost by instinct, pick up the cards.

Suddenly, horror was replaced by the deeper realization of disgust. The stench - oh God, Ruby thought, was this how the human body smelled inside?

She felt bile rise up in her throat, and, before she could even react, she collapsed to her knees, lurching across the concrete and hurling up everything in her stomach. A variety of colors and images passed across her vision - red, brown, yellow, some green here and there, even the barely digested chunks of an apple she had eaten for lunch. She closed her eyes, trying to stop herself but the bile only kept coming and oh God that stench, that horrible, horrible stench.

Ruby's lip quivered, hoping that was the last of her stomach's innards. Opening her eyes, she saw a rainbow of brownish colors fill her vision. It covered her clothes, the ground, and even mixed in with some of Kaneki's blood, creating some messed up stew-like creation that made her stomach lurch. She pushed that feeling down, and whipped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Kaneki...?"

She heard nothing.

Ruby, seeing the pool of blood continuing to expand, reached her hand out to touch Kaneki. Maybe she could heal him. Maybe, just maybe, she could -

"Ruby?"

She stopped, cold in her tracks as she recognized the voice coming from behind her. It was like her internal body temperature dropped by at least ten degrees, and felt a new found sickness in her stomach that wasn't there before - the sickness of realizing that you have been caught in the act of something that you shouldn't have.

Turning around, she was met face to face with that voice, his sword extended outwards in an offensive stance. His face was turned into one of disgust and horror, but whether of the scene of Kaneki or that her niece was covered in her own vomit in front of said scene, she couldn't tell.

"U-Uncle Q-Qrow...oh God..."

She felt like collapsing again, and nearly did if Qrow hadn't immediately reached for her shoulder, pulling her upright and turning her face towards his.

"Ruby!" he screamed, shaking her as she did so, "what the hell are you doing here with this - this thing!" He pointed at Kaneki's body in an accusing manner. His eyes stared into Ruby's and they were filled with an emotion she didn't usually associate with Qrow: fear.

"Q-Qrow - oh God, Kaneki, he's -" Ruby said, her breathing starting to accelerate as she spoke, her heart beating faster and faster as panic began to sit in.

"Never mind, you need to get out of here. It's not safe."

"Someone shot him," she said, trying to breathe through her hyperventilation. She had never been so terrified or confused before in her life. Even the time during the Dust robbery, she had been able to handle the situation with care. Now, she felt her entire body shaking, convulsing, as if she was possessed by some evil demon.

"You have to get out of here," Qrow said, ignoring her as he pulled her up, dragging her along as if she were an unruly child.

"He'll - he'll die!" she screamed, tears starting to fall down her face. She was being pulled, farther and farther away from Kaneki's body, and as she imagined his body in her mind, she felt an urge to throw up once again. Only through pure force of will did she avoid such a fate.

"You have to get out of here," Qrow said, nearly throwing her to the ground a couple feet away from him. "Get out now or something bad will happen."

"Or what?" she asked, confused, quickly looking back and forth between Kaneki's body and her Uncle's sword, still drawn towards the collapsed man.

"Or it will get back up."

Qrow turned away from his niece, and began walking towards Kaneki's body.

It hurts doesn't it?

Yes.

How bad?

Some of the worst pain in my life. Even worse than what Jason did.

That is indeed quite painful - and you haven't eaten yet, have you?

I haven't eaten in weeks.

And you're dying.

I am?

Yes, friend. You're bleeding out on the concrete of the warehouse district, your brains blow out. Your head is missing.

How do you know?

I am you when you are not you.

I don't want to die.

You don't?

No.

How much?

Please.

Do you want me to save you?

I...I don't know.

Why?

Because I know what you'll do will be ten times worse than what I was at my lowest point.

That is correct. But who are you going to trust: the will of God, or me?

I will...please just don't go overboard.

Please. It's not like you have a choice in the matter regarding that part.

Qrow approached the body of his target, which was continuing to drain blood on the ground. There was no obvious sign that it was Grimm, but it was undoubtedly inhuman. No man could bleed this much, even after being shot with a weapon of that calibre.

It was a good shot, if nothing else. It was clean, all things considered. Sure, some of the brain matter scattered, but that was to be expected from a relatively new Hunter. Vajo made a good sniper, if nothing else. Hopefully he was on his way here, or else Qrow would be dealing with the creature's elimination all by himself.

He approached the creature with apprehension, placing both hands on his sword. If need be, he would bring out the big guns, but, if things kept going to plan, he wouldn't need to.

Hopefully. But, then again, considering it was him leading the mission, it was just begging for something horrible to happen.

As he approached the creature (or 'Kaneki', as his niece called it), it continued to groan and moan, occasionally twitching in the darkness. Was it...dying? Perhaps. But it was best to be on your toes. Always vigilant. Always prepared.

Suddenly, the creature's arms began to move.

First, it stretched them out, and then it placed them on the ground, firmly, beginning to push itself up like some sick joke version of a pushup.

"If you move another muscle, I'll make you regret surviving that."

"I-I...already regret it," croaked the beast, it's voice dry and barely audible. It laughed, almost sadly, as he continued to move. Qrow could see that it's face began to...change? No, he thought, not change: regenerate. It was patching itself back together, like some version of a Semblance. But that wasn't possible, was it? Could a Grimm really have a Semblance?

No. It wasn't possible.

Suddenly, he pulled himself out of his thoughts as the creature began pulling itself off the ground.

"Don't make me repeat myself," responded Qrow, preparing to fire a round into the creature.

Suddenly, out of the creature's back, sprung eight great, red, long tendrils that dug into the ground, breaking up the cement, cracks spreading. It began to lift up the beast, dangling in the air like some humanoid spider, making multiple quick movements as blood poured from its still healing face.

Qrow felt his body go numb as he stared up at the monster in front of him. His mouth dropped open, face going pale as he looked up at it's face, which, instead of the nice little hole, had been replaced by a beak like mask, stretching all the way past its chin.

It began to laugh, swaying back and forth as it collected its bearings. It raised one of its hands, and, with its thumb, cracked one of its fingers.

"So," spoke the creature, it's voice wavy and almost dreamlike, "do you wanna be my dinner?"

Ruby stared at the creature that was once Kaneki in horror, her body going completely numb. The disgust in her body had been replaced by complete and utter horror at seeing something so entirely unhuman. Such a creature did not belong of this world, and, perhaps, any world. And yet, despite the logic of her brain, the logic built into all creatures on Remanent, denying that it could and should be, it was.

And it was charging her uncle, it's eight, long tendrils moving so fast it barely seemed to be there at all. Almost at once, two of its tendrils sent Qrow staggering a couple feet backwards, only avoiding being impaled by holding his sword in a defensive stance. Qrow grunted, but was relatively unharmed.

The beast that wore Kaneki's skin didn't leave much room for a counterattack, as two, long, centipede-like tendrils came from its back, hitting again and sending Qrow further back. This time, Qrow was knocked off balance, skidding onto his back.

She wanted to scream, but the same terror from before still gripped her.

"Ruby," said her uncle, getting back on his feet, turning to face her. The once cool, collected face of her uncle had been replaced by one of utter terror. "Run."

And she did.

Or, at the very least, she tried to, because as soon as she turned a corner, she came face to face with the one figure she didn't want to see this night, out of all god forsaken nights. She wouldn't have recognized him, if it weren't for the familiar hair style, and who could have forgotten that cane?

"Hiya Red," said Roman, a lit cigar in his mouth, Neo and at least five Fanus soldiers surrounding him. "Glad you could make it to the big show."

Before she could react, Roman raised his cane, and brought it down directly onto her face. The feeling in her skull went numb, and she came collapsing to the ground, hitting with a thud. It felt like agony, but before she could try and get up, she felt something thick and heavy land on top of her back.

"Don't...way...live..."

And then the world went black.

Kaneki didn't understand what was happening. At least, not like he usually did.

During these times, it was like looking through a strange one way mirror. Distorted shapes entered his vision, and echoes of sounds traveled down seemingly endless hallways and into his ears, composed of incomprehensible syllables and jargon that was gibberish to him.

And sometimes, at very rare occasions, he'd experience moments of clarity. It was like being in a first person video game, except he wasn't the one in control. It was like he was there, committing the actions he saw himself commit.

This was one of those clarity moments.

He felt his tendrils collide with the sword of his opponent, the flesh grinding on metal steel that seemed awfully similar to Quinque. He was fast, he had to give him that. The parries and strikes were flawlessly done, and the attempts to set Kaneki off balance worked just as often as they didn't.

But if there was one thing he had over this man, this creature before him, it was raw strength and pain. With every parry, every strike, every block, every penetration, Kaneki felt it, and the pain was agonizing, only compounded by the fact that the hunger was killing himself inside. Oh God, the hunger. The hunger! It was an unbearable fire in his stomach, and all he wanted to do was make the hunger go away. He just wanted it to stop.

And who was better to deal with that, than the man right in front of him?

The pain was the motivator. It was the nitroglycerine of his fighting, and he was going to make this little bastard feel every moment of it.

And then, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his side, the same type of pain that he had felt only minutes ago. Unlike before, though, it didn't make him bleed. It only made him angry.

Looking upwards, Kaneki saw a figure in the distance, the figure of some man holding a rifle of some sort. He was larger than average, and something about that made Kaneki hungry.

He didn't have time to deal with that, however, because as soon as he looked back towards Qrow, he felt something stab into his stomach. Looking down, he saw the sword plunged deep inside of him, and, if the back pain was any indication, it had pierced the other side of him. Kaneki felt something coming up from his innards, and knew before it came pouring out that it was his own blood, combined with whatever bits and pieces he had ingested over the past couple of weeks.

It hurt. Oh God, it hurt. Not as much as the hunger, but it hurt.

And Kaneki felt his eyes go heavy.

Qrow stared up at the beast, his eyes going droopy and knew, somewhere deep inside of him, that he had won. Barely, but he had won.

The monster's resistance to his sword had gone numb, and, if the droopiness of its eyes were any indication, the rest of it would soon. It was knocking on death's door.

Looking across the lot, he saw Vajo, his rifle pointed at Kaneki's body.

"What in God's name did you think you were doing?!" screamed Qrow, his voice not so much angry as just tired, the adrenaline rush beginning to wear off.

"You didn't wanna die, now, did you?" screamed Vajo in return, the echoes bouncing off the metal roofing and going far beyond the warehouse district.

Qrow ignored the wise crack, and turned back towards the Grimm. It had landed on its back, the sword still impaled. It attempted to resist, but it seemingly couldn't move. Perhaps having half of its head still shot off was part of the problem, or maybe it had begun to accept its inevitable fate at the hands of the hunters. Still, something about it not disappearing afterwards made him uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the sounds it made, gurgling, struggling, moaning. It was too human. Too real.

Suddenly, without much thought, his blood ran cold.

"Ruby!" he screamed, the terror returning to his voice. "Ruby where are you?"

"She's right here," said a voice, filled with venomous sarcasm.

Qrow looked up, towards the warehouse roofing. There, on top of one a couple feet away, was a man in a bowler hat, his red hair glistening in the moonlight of the broken moon. Beside him was a young woman, with pink and brown hair, and five or so guards, aiming their rifles down at him.

Roman! That bastard!

Qrow instinctively reached for his sword before realizing that it was still inside of the Grimm.

"Make any movements like that, pal, and little red gets it."

Suddenly, Qrow's eyes darted to the right. There was his niece, Ruby, on her knees, a revolver aimed at her head.

"Yeah, she was easy to catch. I guess that's what happens when you don't look where you're going!"

"What the hell do you want?!" screamed Qrow.

"Oh, please, where's the manners? Don't you wanna ask me some inane question about my plans or-"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

Roman, a little off guard, readjusted his tie and looked down at Qrow.

"I want the freak."

"Are you-"

"A-buh buh, no questions. You wanted to squash the fun, so either do as I say or little red here get's a .44 straight to the head. Gonna be quite a thing to explain to the family if that happens. That goes for you too, hot shot! If you try aiming that thing at me, I'll blow this bitch's mind in more than one way!"

Qrow bit his lip. He looked over the creature, it still moaning and groaning as it tried to get the sword out. It still had a fight in it after all. Slowly, Qrow moved forward and, trying with all his might, removed the sword. Blood started coming out like a volcano, and, almost out of nowhere, two men in White Fang uniforms came moving towards him, lifting him up.

"There!" Qrow yelled at Roman, his smug face plastered on his face. "You have the fuck. Now let her go."

"Hmm. Perhaps. Ho-"

Suddenly, Roman's monologue was punctuated with a scream. Qrow, turning around to face it, felt all the color leave his face as he saw the beast on top of one of the White Fang members, seemingly...

"Oh...oh God..."

"Jesus Christ!" screamed Roman, his eyes bulging out of his sockets.

"How-"

And the White Fang just kept screaming, and screaming.

Delicious.

It seemed to drag on forever. At least, it felt that way to Roman, who, up until now, thought he had seen everything. It took all his self control to not let his bladder go as the thing just kept munching away.

It took maybe five minutes for the White Fang to die, its blood pooling together on the ground. Everyone seemed to go quite, even little red, who usually always had something to say.

And then, suddenly, it collapsed.

No one moved. For almost thirty seconds, no one made a move. All waited, observing. It was like a miniature cold war, all wanting to make a move but none having the guts to make the move in question. The guns were loaded, drawn, and aimed, and all there was left to do was fire them - but who would do it first?

Strangely, it was Neo.

She poked him, her face entirely devoid of color, and pointed towards the other White Fang member, who had watched his comrade die.

"...get him to the docks! The Helicopter will be there!" Roman screamed.

The White Fang member looked up at Roman, and then to the monster, and then back at Roman.

"Do as I say!"

The White Fang member edged closer to the thing, and then, reluctantly, picked it up, and began to drag it towards the docks.

"Alright men, lets move out."

One White Fang member spoke up. "W-What about Dave? He was-"

"Leave him. We're done here."

He looked like he wanted to respond, but didn't. He simply obeyed.

"And leave the girl with the man down there."

Qrow held Ruby for what felt like hours. He had asked Vajo to call back up, but unfortunately it hadn't arrived yet. All the while, Ruby just kept crying into his shoulder, the tears drenching his jacket.

He didn't care. He was just glad she was alright.

Roman and the beast left shortly afterwards, traveling out of sight and towards the docks. Vajo wanted to go after them, but Qrow was too disturbed at the events of the night. Plus, it wasn't like Vajo was going to beat all of them at once.

And so they just sat there, waiting for the backup that Vajo called in a couple minutes earlier, the little redheaded girl crying into her uncle's shoulders, snot drenching her red and black dress.

"Oh God, oh god," she kept repeating, only stopping to let herself breathe, which hitched in and out deeply.

Qrow kept hugging her, but he wasn't thinking of her. Not really. Internally, the only thing he was thinking about, and looking at, was the half chewed corpse of a Fanus a couple dozen feet away, its intrals covering the floor of the district like some messed up BBQ.

And so he just stood there, waiting, and thinking, what horrible thing had he gotten his niece into?

When Charle woke up, he felt a horrible headache pound against his skull. Opening his eyes, horrible, brutal sunshine beat against his vision, and he tried to block it. His hand didn't do much, but it was better than having the full rays of hell itself beating down on you.

Lurching upwards, he felt his back burn with pain. Jesus, he thought, what had he done last night? Looking over to the opened door on the floor, he remembered, and laughed. Yeah, he had forgotten that little part. The hangovers were a bitch, but, hey, it was better than the alternative. He'd rather be hungover and alive than sober and dead.

Getting himself on his feet, he drug himself along the floor, forgetting about the open piles of Dust particles on the floor, and moved towards the closed warehouse doors. By God, he thought, he could go for something to eat. Was he always this hungry after a hangover? Maybe this was just regular hunger - he couldn't remember ever getting hungover munchies in the morning. Perhaps he had just forgotten it, and the bliss would be forgotten once again after eating.

Opening it the warehouse door took all his might, and was presented with a sight that made him release his bowels.

Cops. Everywhere. Worse still, he saw stripped off lines of yellow tape, extending seemingly everywhere. Dozens - no, hundreds - of men, all lining over some square of land.

Then, with a sudden realization of horror, he was in the middle of the cut off zone. He was with them, the cops.

"Hey!" yelled a voice, "this is a crime scene, you can't be behind here!"

"What the fuck do you want! I ain't done nothing wrong! What do you want?"

"Sir," said the cop, his hand on his gun, "what are yo-"

"Don't fucking touch me! Don't touch me, you fuck! Don't-"

Suddenly, Charlie, without even thinking about it, punched the cop in the face.

Charlie woke up several hours later, this time, in the middle of a jail cell. His entire body hurt, and he felt like absolute shit. Even worse than the hangover. No - much, much worse. How that was possible, Charlie had no idea.

Suddenly, a figure stepped near the bars of the cell. Two, actually.

"Hello, mister."

One of the figures stepped forward, and Charlie stared into his red eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Charcoal, me and my partner Vajo, we have a couple questions for you..."