Izanami no Jidō: Repercussions

A Sinister Gathering
New York City, from a distance, appeared to have remained the same ever since it's 21st century counterpart. There were several new buildings that seemed to touch the heavens themselves, the city was much darker and it's primary colors were black and gold. At this time, the night sky covered the whole area, making it to where you could see it from the vast reaches of space.

Near the tallest building, known as it has always been as the Empire State Building, in a large room overlooking the city, stood a lone figure. He was near a large window, allowing him to monitor the buildings and activities both above and below him. His cape dragging along the ground as his arms were folded between it and his back. Behind him stood a magnificent case holding a golden hilt of a sword, and the larger blade of said sword with it. Both floating and spinning in the air slowly. Letting others know of it's beauty. The figure then turned his head to where he was looking behind him.

"I see you decided to come after all."

"Of course."

Behind him stood the familiar figure of Brina, her hands folded in front of her and the usual smile on her face. Behind her stood three urban-gear gunmen with Kidō rifles holstered in their arms. They stood still as she stepped forward towards the Prophet. "I did say I would have a bit of spare time within my work, didn't I?"

The Prophet then turned around, his cape flapping behind him. "Indeed you did, though I didn't expect you to have this much security." He slowly paced around his display case, dragging his finger along it. "I can assume that you don't work alone in this "buisness" of yours?"

"Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't." Brina said, giving a respectful nod. She then motioned with her head over at the three idle guards. "Don't mind these lot. They are just here to provide overwatch and be our "extra eyes" for the time being."

The Prophet gave a slight smile as he spoke, stopping in front of the display case. He waved his hand to his left towards a group of leather seats just a few feet from the sword case. "Please please, make yourself at home." He then flicked his right fingers and a floating chair emerged from the ceiling straight above the large window. As it made it's way to the ground, it stopped about 2 feet from the ground and he sat in it. "Now then, I guess you didn't come all this way just to discuss your tactics. You asked for a role. But before I can give you one, I need you to tell me exactly what it is that you're wanting. I know that you seek revenge against a former Captain, but I would like to know more about the situation." He held his head up with his right hand, resting on the arm of his chair. "It sounds like alot more than simple revenge."

"If you insist...." Not wanting to be impolite and refuse, Brina walked over to the chair and sat herself down, folding her hands within her lap.

The guards looked at each other for a moment. One of them shrugged lightly and wordlessly pointed a thumb behind him towards the rest of the seats. The other three, deciding to heed him, followed him over to the chairs and took their own seats to make themselves comfortable.

Brina paid no attention to this, her eyes focusing themselves on the Prophet. "What I told you already is nothing more than my own intention, and in that case, my motive is nothing more than simple revenge. My peers, however, operate on a different story."

The Prophet's expression didn't change. "Indeed. And what is this story that your peers operate on?" He glanced upward, as if he was looking at someone...

"I am not informed completely of their intentions, considering that I am only a subordinate." Brina said, discreetly noting his glance upwards. "But they have witnessed your actions as of late, and they find it profitable that they lend their assistance to you."

"Truly?" He lifted his hand from his head and sat upright. "I have found myself in need of some rather...talented individuals such as yourself. Since the death of De Soto, I have yet to find someone of equal skill that I have no use for here to find what it is I am seeking. Perhaps this is where your assisstance could come in handy?" He then folded his hands togather as their elbows sat on the chair's arms. "I assure you, those who assist me are usually rewarded in great amounts."

"As a former member of the Stealth Force, I'm no rookie when it comes to gathering enemy intelligence as well as securing targets of opportunity." Brina assured him. "De Soto had a direct approach to things, but I prefer to work within the shadows in order to manipulate the very environment my targets make themselves comfortable in."

The Prophet closed his eyes and smiled. "Excellent excellant. I'm certain that you will prove to be a valuble asset to my cause." His eyes then opened. "What will your first move be in this chase? Do you have any leads?"

Brina nodded, her polite smile widening briefly into a happy one at his reaction. "The Captain as well as her two companions will be heading to New York via a private plane. Following tonight, they will board and depart. After pinpointing the plane they will be on, our agents have managed to place explosives hidden within the engines just in case anything goes wrong."

The Prophet's eyes widened in surprise. "My my. You certainly have taken the initiative. Had you been operating without my supervision..." He then resumed his normal look. "Which reminds me, when will you be leaving?"

"As soon as possible, sir. It's only natural that I return to base after such transactions are made. But I will be staying within New York for a little while, so I will still be in contact for the time being."

The Prophet stroked his beard in an interested manner. "Very well. Before you go I believe I have someone that I would like to accompany you on your journey, at least for a time."

Brina blinked a few times. "An escort?" She questioned him, her expression slowing slight confusion. "There's nothing wrong with that, but whoever it is cannot accompany me back to HQ. I'm sure you understand."

The Prophet smiled. "Well...I wouldn't refer to him as an escort so much as..." Suddenly, a rushing wind noise could be heard coming from above Brina and the three guards. Then the sound of a bird flapping it's wings soon followed and crow feathers slowly floated down the ground. Had Brina and her guards turned around, they would have seen a muscular figure with various purple clothing fit with various bone pieces. It's purple hair parially covering it's white Hollow Mask. It looked down towards Brina's guards with a sort of annoyed gesture.

"...a Watcher."

"What the--"

Instinctively, one of the gunman aimed his Kidō gun at it, only for another to lay his hand down on the barrel to lower it. Confused, the startled guard looked at the calmer one, who shook his head in disapproval. This seemed to make the alerted one understand, sitting back down within his seat.

"A watcher....." Brina repeated slowly, contemplating what was just said. "So, in other words, you do not trust us completely...."

The being sneered at the two guards before quickly Flash Stepping over next to the Prophet, a crow perching on his shoulder. "Well." the Prophet began. "While your gentle politness and warm attitude is very welcoming and appreciated, it also gives you a reason to warrant caution." He then waved his left hand up to direct their attention to the Watcher, who had his arms crossed. "This here is my top ranked assassin, Kafiezial. Or as my peers like to refer to him, the Watcher."

"I can't help but note....." Brina commented, directing her eyes on the mask that the Watcher wore. "That's a Visored's mask, and they tend to have a certain time limit before they shatter completely. Yet, this man seems to use his naturally, almost as if it was nothing more than some artificial and material one."

"Indeed. I'm glad that you noticed." He then stood up from his chair as the Watcher folded his arms across his back as if he were standing at attention. "You see, there is a secret about Hollow Masks that many other Visoreds don't ever know about until it's too late." He placed his hand on the Watcher's shoulder. "In his youth, Kafiezial was a ruthless and violent man, always using his Hollow Mask whenever fighting or just whenever he was causing chaos." He lowered his head. "He then realized, that using the Hollow Mask too much would result in the mask permanatley merging with his face. While he can take it off briefly to eat or drink, the mask will quickly grow back."

He then raised his head back up, taking his hand off of the beings shoulder. "Due to this, he has almost completley forgotten what it is like to be human. He shows no emotion when on an assignment, is strictly loyal, and he acts as my eyes and ears." He looked straight towards Brina. "This is where he comes in on your journey."

Once again, Brina's smile grew to expose her teeth as she listened to his words. "Quite the most efficient kind of soldier to have under your command, Mr. Prophet." She complimented.

The Prophet chuckled. "He is going to accompany you on this quest. He will monitor your activities, behavior, movement, things that I need to know if we are going to work with each other. You needn't worry about him listening to your plans that involve your other activities. He takes no interest in such things, and he will only report how you behave during missions and such."

The Watcher then let his arms fall to his sides, of which carried two small scythe like weapons that were folded and shortened like guns. "And should he not be impressed, then I will not be impressed. And if I'm not impressed..." Then, with blinding speed, the Watcher quickly grabbed the scythe on his right hip and made it do a quick uppercut. The attack was so swift, that one would only be able to see the weapon when it stopped above his shoulder. He then holestered the weapon as the guns that the guards were carrying split in two, falling to the ground with clanging noises.

"...Well, I'll let you use your imagination."

Needless to say, all three guards were shocked.

Their eyes wavered and their pupils shrank as the barrels of their weapons clattered to the ground, and they were rendered speechless with the swift strike that the Watcher had dealt to their defenses. However, despite the Prophet's obvious threats, Brina showed no signs of wavering or fear. Instead, she closed her eyes and gave another respectful and acknowledging nod. "My peers do not pick the work of novices who clearly would get in the way. You have nothing to worry about."

The Prophet smiled. "Well, for everyone's sake, let's hope so." He then turned to the Watcher, who looked back at him and nodded. "I'm sure that as long as you and your peers behave, Kafiezial will eventually see you as a friend."

It was here that Brina took the man's attitude and composure into account. From the way he spoke, he seemed quite relaxed, quite confident as he spoke. Those final words proved that despite his polite attitude, he saw her as nothing more than expendable. It was fine with her; she was no subordinate of his. Her peers had seen to that...

But she did not voice this in her words. "Then we'll be sure not to aggravate you." She said, allowing herself to stand up from the chair.

The Prophet then turned back to his floating chair and sat back down in it, turning around to look at the great city as he did before. "Good hunting, Brina." He then flicked his left fingers. The Watcher then Flash-Stepped next to the large door that led to the exit hallway and slowly opened it, eyeballing the four guests as he did so. He then held out his left hand as if he was motioning them to leave.

Giving one final bow of respect, Brina turned on her heel and walked past the Watcher. Her guards slowly brought up the rear, although one stopped to fix an annoyed glare in both of their directions before leaving with his comrades.

"Be careful on the woman, dear Brina." the Prophet said to her with a smile. "She may not be as...prepared...as she once was."

As they left, the Watcher shut the door behind them and turned to face his master, who was watching the group of four leave right until the door completley closed. "You don't actually trust them, do you?" he said in an empty voice. The Prophet held his left hand up with his elbow resting on the arm chair, rubbing his fingers togather. "Of course not." he said in a well informed tone. "Her attitude is a sure give away to what her true motives are."

The Watcher turned and walked around the chairs, pacing back and forth in front of the Prophet. "She seeks revenge on a former Captain." he said. The Prophet continued his motioning. "What do you make of them?"

The Watcher kept pacing in a slow manner. "They're simple cut throats. She seeks vengeance, while the others simply seek riches and other trivial objects."

The Prophet chuckled. "You always were a people person." He then turned around to face the Watcher. "I trust you'll know what to do should they do things that are out of the reach that i've given them?"

The Watcher stopped, letting his pet crow nestle on his right shoulder. "My Raven will have plenty to eat afterwords." The Prophet chuckled. "Stay in the shadows Kafiezial."

With that, the Watcher nodded and Flash Stepped from view, leaving to complete his objective, while the Prophet stayed in the room and looked at his sword case. A power hungry glint in his eye.

The Departure
The airport that Preacher had originally mentioned to Akisame was no public one. In fact, it was rather secluded in the middle of the vast mountain range that Haralson had once called home. Overlooking the airport were three figures, a female and two taller males. They had wondered through the mountains for over a week looking for this spot, thanks to Preacher giving them terrible directions. At the top of the hill, the female was the first to speak, frustration consumed her words.

"I can't believe that worthless idiot made us wander through this..." she was interuppted when she ripped a long vine off of her ankle that had been on her for a while. "...god-forsaken forrest!"

The male figure to her left, wearing a trench coat, retracted his glasses and exhaled. "Yeah I'm probably going to kill him too when we get back."

"And you said this Preacher lad was a good guy...."

Haralson, although also somewhat irritated by the fact that they had been lost, kept a calm composure about himself. Because a week had passed, his injury to his stomach had been healed completely. He was now walking as easily as he was before, despite having to test his newfound walking strength stepping over leaves and what not. He grunted in annoyance as he kicked aside a protruding tree branch that brushed at his ankles, continuing to speak. "If this is what you both have to go through every time you go somewhere, then I truly do feel sorry for you...."

Soifon looked back at him in annoyance, clearly she was the most upset about being lost. "Well it would have been a lot easier and less stressful if you would have shut up complaining about running out of cigarettes!"

"Can you really blame a guy for running out of smokes in such an annoying situation?" The Scot sniffed. "Maybe if you took a few, you'd be a little more sympathetic to my plight." The last sentence was said out of sarcastic humor within it.

The woman simply scoffed. "I don't smoke. You know what happens to women when they smoke."

Akisame chuckled a little. "You'd be better off not trying to convince her." he said to Haralson, still looking at the airport. "When she has her mind set on something there's no convincing her otherwise."

"That's all well and good...." After directing the first sentence to Akisame, Haralson turned his dialogue to Soifon, his eyes narrowing slightly and a small, but coy smirk made out of his lips. "But if you mean that it makes them look much...ahem... hotter, than they already do and that it's somewhat kinky, then yes. I know what happens to women when they take a drag."

She looked at him with a flare in her eyes. "Why you little..."

She reached her arm up to strike him, but it was caught by a humored Akisame, who then tried to soothe the argument. "Okay okay break it up you two. Let's hurry and get to the airport. I need to get off of my feet."

The smirk from Haralson's face faded, and he looked over the airport with a curious gaze. "It's been a while since I've been on one of these things. Let's hope we don't have to deal with any more delays." He switched his look towards his two companions. "I'm right behind you."

With that, Akisame nodded his head and, while still holding his wife's hand, slowly etched down the hill to the airport. When they made it to the front gates, they were greated by a security guard who held up his hand.

"Sir this area is off limits to civilians."

Akisame then held up his sleeve, showing the guard his cybernetic arm. The guard then realized who he was dealing with.

"Oh Mr. Akisame, I didn't recognize you at first glance." Akisame's blank face remained. "Yeah." he said as the gates opened and the trio made their way into the high tech airport. Taking note of the many airplanes that were either grounded or taking off, Soifon couldn't help but ask her husband.

"So Preacher has everything set? You do remember that we haven't packed anything. Clothes and stuff like that right?" she said in a stern yet gentle voice.

Akisame kept walking. "We probably won't need it."

"Probably, he says...." Haralson piped in, with a bit of skepticism as he followed close behind.

Akisame turned to face Haralson as he began walking backwards. "Hey don't judge, I didn't know we would end up going on a freakin' cross country trip." he said with a casual voice. "Besides, Preacher's planes are essentially houses. He's probably got like 3 closets in em'."

This made the Glaswegian-accented Shinigami cock an eyebrow. "Is that even possible? Or are you just exaggerating things?"

Akisame shrugged, looking behind him to see if he was about to crash into anything. "Well, the plane he's issued us was the same one that I used when going over these augments. There were 3 closets full of clothes, a living space, pretty much a small house that can fly. Since the time between now and then has been so long, he's probably updated it even more so."

"That's just a waste of space, if you ask me...." Haralson grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and continuing to follow. "Planes are only meant for transportation purposes, why would someone even bother to put even one closet, let alone three?"

"Remember." Akisame said as he turned around and walked forward like normal. "This is Preacher that we're talking about. God knows what else he's put in this thing."

Soifon then cut in. "A Brothel perhaps?" she said with a giggle.

"If there is, then you might not have to worry about killing him when you get back." Haralson deadpanned.

They then found themselves at the main gates leading to the plane. Akisame showed the counter worker his arms similar to how he did the gate guard and the worker let them through. As they walked through the short hallway leading to the craft, Soifon looked outside one of the windows and noticed a strange black crow perched on the top of the airports main building. It struck her as odd because this crow was looking straight at her, following her every step towards the airplane. She then shrugged it off as they came to the main door of the aircraft.

"This is it." Akisame said as he opened the door leading to the plane. As they stepped in, Soifon realized that Akisame wasn't joking as the lower half of the plane was an essential house. "Wow. Is this all of the plane besides the cockpit?" she asked.

"Na." Akisame said. This is the lower half of the plane. The upper half is where the crew hangs out." He pointed to a door leading to said end of the plane."

Despite what he had said about the extra accomodations, Haralson let out a whistle, his eyes inspecting every inch of the plane. Had he not just stepped into it, he would have thought that this was indeed someone's home they were trekking through. "Despite it being useless, the makers of this bird sure know how to pull someone in...." He complimented.

Akisame chuckled. "Yeah, the rich in the Human World have that affect on people."

Soifon nudged him. "Alright where are these closets you kept referring to? My clothes are filthy and I smell like I've been rolling in mud." Akisame then pointed her towards the back of the living room near the airplane's tail. "Right in there. There's a shower in there too if you want to use it."

In response to his last statement. Soifon looked up at him in surprise, then back to Haralson in the same manner. "Well he's certainly come prepared eh?"

"It's a wonder why no one actually has decided to tear down houses and replace them with these kinds of planes instead." Haralson said dryly, slightly rolling his eyes. He allowed himself to walk past them, giving a wave over his shoulder as he did so. "I'm gonna go find something to bite. Either of you want anything while I'm away?"

Akisame held up his hand in a "no thanks" manner as he sat in one of the leather chairs. Soifon shook her head. "I'm fine thanks." She then pointed at Akisame while looking at him. "I'm getting in the shower. I'll be out in a few." Akisame simply nodded as she kissed him on the left side of his face and left for the back room.

It wasn't long before Haralson went his own way, too, disappearing out of Akisame's sight for the time being. For the moment, they were all left to their own devices...

Soifon entered the back room and shut the sliding door. She then walked near the queen sized bed and took her leather strap armor piece off and threw it in the floor. As she reached down to take of her shoes, she managed to glance out of the circular window to her front to see the same crow looking straight at her. This time however, the crow wasn't alone. It sat perched on the shoulder of a tall daunting figure that she couldn't make out. The being, standing on a rocky edge of a mountain overlooking the airport, was also looking at her, before it turned and slowly walked away.

"What the hell was that?" she said quietly to herself. Then, the plane shuddered as a result of successfully taking off of the ground. The shaking reminded her of what she was doing as she proceeded to sort through one of the closets, looking for something casual to wear.

Rough Turbulence; Signs of the Cancer
"Sucks that it doesn't allow for smoking on this flying lorry...." Haralson muttered, sitting in a seat opposite from Akisame and holding a baloney sandwich in one hand. "But, can't really help that, sadly...." He leaned back and took a bite out of it, looking over at the two sitting across from him.

It was a few hours later after they had went their separate ways, and now they were sitting within the "car" of the plane and settled in. All three had finished up with their business for the time being. Through the time, the Scot had been occupying himself by occasionally going and getting a snack or two.

Soifon was wearing a black sweater along with a pair of black pants. She sat in Akisame's lap asleep. He himself was wide awake, gently stroking her hair. "Think about it this way though; the longer you wait, the better the first smoke will be when you get off."

"Mhm...." Haralson muttered, looking away from the two and closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm also hoping that Virginia won't be too much of a bad thing. I haven't exactly been out-of-state before, you see."

Akisame continued his stroking motions. "It's not all that different from what you're used to. Just abit more frigid and snowy." He looked out the window, gazing at the evening clouds. "Plus, Preacher's house, well this house, is on top of a mountain. It's like one of those old style castles that you see in Scotland. That's where his family originates from you see."

"Is it now?" Haralson's ears had perked up in interest at the statement. "I don't mind the snow. Makes everything look a bit less....dull. Don't know about you, though. With the way you've been acting, I wouldn't be surprised you fainted the moment you stepped out of this plane."

He looked back at him in a curious manner. "Why do you say that?"

"....never mind." Haralson had meant it as a joke, but he hadn't expected Akisame to ask that. So he settled for disregarding the statement and turning away again to eat his sandwich.

Akisame, though not insulted, was still interested in the statement. But he decided to ask the McTavish in a different manner than expected. "Have you ever been in a war Haralson?"

Haralson cocked a slight eyebrow and frowned, turning back to look at Akisame. "Why do you think I have a Zanpakutō?" He answered, starting off with a question of his own. He kept a calm, but matter-of-fact tone in his words. "I was the head of a division built for war. Plus, you saw how I was fighting against De Soto. Of course I've been in war. Why would you ask such a thing, mate?"

Akisame closed his eyes and smiled, shaking his head slowly. "Not that kind of war. The war in which you don't have the luxury of powerful swords or special magic powers and all that stuff. Ever been in one of those?"

Haralson peered at him, now having gained a curiosity himself. "Haven't been introdced to that kind of war yet." He admitted, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Akisame's smile lowered somewhat, though his friendly posture remained. "I have. That..." he gently raised up his arm, now exposed due to him hanging his coat up earlier. "...That is where I got these. As well as these." He brought his glasses down to where they covered his eyes, before quickly retracting them.

"I figured as much...." A sigh escaped Haralson's lips. "But, what's really the difference? No matter the weapons used, war is hell no matter where it's committed. Not only can it leave behind remnants of what was once a human or a Shinigami or anything like that.... but it takes away one's innocence and positivity, leaving behind a shell of the mind that once was. Course, you might see it in a different way, but I have my doubts."