First Mission: Mystery at Matsukura Hospital

Theme Music

It's a cool autumn day, and a playful breeze is dancing with the desicated leaves that litter the abandoned grounds of the Matukura Hospital. The winds create a lilting, eery note as they filter through the darkened hallways and broken windows of this once world-reknowned mental health facility. The entire building is filthy, and nearly every inch of the dingy cement exterior is covered in faded graffiti. Numerous "Do Not Enter" signs and strands of caution tape ring the perimeter of the grounds, barring access to ordinary citizens in the wake of the police investigation. But the person standing in front of it is no ordinary citizen...

Shouhei Soyokaze appraised the structure suspicously while he went trough the objectives of the mission in his mind - Determine the cause and source of the dead zone. Locate the missing persons, and if found, ensure their safe return. If possible, return the source of the spiritual interference to PSDA headquarters for further study. - Shouhei reached out slowly as he attempted to search for the faint energy signatures of the missing people; but nothing at all - not even a hint of energy, it was like the hospital didn't exist in the first place.

Shouhei assumed that these things would make it harder for him to use Kido as well and thus decided to weave a few protective enchantments around his person just incase there were enemies in the building - he'd rather avoid dying meaninglessly on a mission; venturing inside, Shouhei began to peer around searchingly, observing the details and interior thoroughly.

The once-grand entrance to the lobby is strewn with trash and debris, and there are clear signs that homeless people had taken up residence in it up until recently. Nothing of value or importance remains of the thoroughly-looted and emptied entryway. Curiously, a clipboard lies under the help desk with a document attached to it. Scrawled across the surface of the sheet in bright red ink are the words 'PATIENT CHECKING OUT'. The document itself is a psychological evaluation of someone, but Shouhei is unable to determine the name or face of the subject because of water damage and weathering.

The evaluation reads:

''Subject is unable to discern reality from fantasy. Behavior adjusting drugs, sessions have been unsuccessful in treating the schizophrenia. Subject is becoming increasingly paranoid, unresponsive. Experimental treatment is necessary.''

Shouhei's eyes furrowed as he caught sight of a couple of stairs leading down to the basement of the hospital, figuring that the basement would be as good a place to look as anywhere else, Shouhei didn't take the stairs though; instead concentrating as he let himself phase slowly down trough the floor, arriving in the cellar he looked around suspiciously - a hand resting at the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

Rather than sliding smoothly through the floor as he would normally expect, Shouhei finds there is some kind of resistance or pressure slowing his decent. He does eventually pass through the floor into the basement, but it takes longer than he anticipated.

The basement itself is a damp, musty mess of corroded pipes, flooded floors, and mossy, cracked walls. Were it not for the single, glowing lightbulb suspended from a ceiling some distance ahead, Shouhei would be engulfed in total darkness.

Shouhei took a deep breath as he slowly began to head towards the light, like a moth to a flame; tightening his grip around his Zanpakuto while he attempted to use the faint light in order to pinpoint his sorroundings - all the while keeping his senses at their peak in order to avoid a potential ambush.

For an instant, Shouhei hears a splash as something falls into water some distance into the darkness, but the sound lapses into echoing silence. The corrosion of Matsukura has advanced to the point that falling rocks and debris probably aren't uncommon... but Shouhei can't help but have the feeling he's being observed by presences just beyond the range of his vision. As though innumerable eyes are watching as he approaches the faint light.

The bulb itself is buzzing quietly as Shouhei approaches. As he takes a closer look, he notices something is staining the inner surface of the lightbulb. Something that is dark red, almost black, is lying in a small pool of its own... blood? As it bakes inside the buzzing glass container. It looks like a finger. With a loud pop, the bulb burns out, and the area around Shouhei is plunged into a cloying darkness.

When the light burned out, Shouhei, as if driven by instinct proceeded to make a quick gesture with his hands as spark of red fire took shape in his palm; before it expanded into a small fireball that hovered about him - lighting the area with an intense red light; allowing Shouhei to see more clearly, although he did notice that the small ball of flame didn't burn or shine as brightly as he had hoped.

As he does so, a loud grating, cracking noise can be heard echoing loudly around the basement. The puddles of muddy water surrounding the nearest supporting I-beam are bubbling as the metal rod sinks into the ground. The sucking, gurgling noise is nearly drowned out by the cacapohonous sound of falling debris, as the shaking causes random chunks of mossy cemeent to break free and plow into the puddle surfaces. To his horror, Shouhei sees the ceiling begin sinking down.

Shouhei reacted without any regard to what his mind told him to do, as he with great haste attempted to grab the light bulb and moving as quickly as he could; Shouhei throwing himself deeper into the cellar in order to avoid being crushed by the sinking celing - once he hit the ground he'd immediately attempt to turn around an summon forth a barrier of energy which would be meant to shield him from the falling debris and celing.

Shouhei reaches for the bulb, but it's as though the bulb and the fixture from which it swang were never there at all. As he rushes into the depths of the underground, the ceiling continues to descend. The energy shield protects him for some time, but in only a matter of minutes, Shouhei finds himself unable to maintain the barrier while crawling on all fours as quickly as he can. As the ceiling presses, inch by inch, onto his shoulders, Shouhei thinks he sees a calm, white light reflecting off of the quaking puddles ahead of him, and crawls earnestly towards it. He fights to breath, and his hands fight for fingerholds as the thousands of tons of weight of the hospital bear down upon him. With a gasp, his head comes free of the water, and he pulls himself out from underneath, just as the ceiling presses down upon the ground with a thundering finality.

Shouhei is on the bottom of a staircase, which lead upward towards a brightly lit location. The sound of music and conversation can be heard emanating from above.

The PSI crawls forwards before he abruptly stands up once more in order to regard his sorroundings for a moment; before he makes his way towards the stairs, walking up them with surefooted, yet quiet steps: While he believed they were simply the homeless people that he had seen signs of at the entrance to the hospital, it was always wise to be careful.

As he rounds the corner of the stairs and ascends, he doesn't detect the stale scent of cement dust, nor the cloying stench of mildew. The sounds of the voices doesn't recede, and as his head peaks over the top of the stairs, he's faced with a strange sight.

The entire lobby looks fresh, clean, and bright. There is no sign of abandonment or the graffiti that covered nearly every surface. A nurse sits with her back to Shouhei at a desk, and she's speaking into a phone busily. On the table next to her is a vase full of sweet-smelling, freshly cut flowers. Also standing with his back to Shouhei, is a doctor. He's hunched over the desk top, scribbling notes onto a document on his clipboard.

Shouhei steps into the lobby as his eyes peer around suspiciously; this was a rather odd development and while Shouhei was quite familiar with paranormal occurences this was beyond even him; either this was an illusion or some form of magic was involved. Either that or perhaps the Dead Zone had created something akin to a pocket realm, where time stood still? Shouhei asked himself these questions over and over, but he couldn't seem to get any definite answer.

The Shinigami then decides to have a look around and search for any kind of magical affect, or clues as to the whereabouts of the missing people.

As Shouhei leaves, the doctor speaks to him. "Mr. Soyokaze, you shouldn't be walking around like this. As you well know, intensive ward patients require my permission to leave their beds... and you aren't well. You need rest, Mr. Soyokaze." The faceless doctor turns to the equally expressionless nurse next to him. "Mary, I'll be just a minute taking our lost patient back to his room. I'm not sure what he was doing wandering around the hospital like this..." The nurse nods, and responds, "I'll be here when you return, Dr. Matsukura."

The faceless doctor approaches Shouhei, and motions towards the lobby elevator. "Shall we?"

This was definately strange - the fact that the doctor both knew his name and was capable of seeing him meant that something was definately not right here at all. Upon hearing the "doctors" words Shouhei came to think about the note left on the table at what he perceived to be the real lobby. This would likely mean that the place he were in was an illusion or he was subjected to and currently under the influence of some sort of effect.

Even while he thought though, a third option sneaked into his mind - he hadn't heard anything about this until after he had traversed that cellar, it was possible that he was actually only dreaming and that the real him still lay in the cellars unconcious, for a brief moment, Shouhei contemplated wether or not to attempt to dispel the whole farce - but then decided against it and decided to go with something else.

Following the doctor into the elevator, Shouhei proceeded to make an attempt at his new strategy, namely asking the doctor himself about the missing people, first one to come to mind was the young girl "Dr. Matsukura-san, do you happen to know where my little sisters room is? I know she was taken to this hospital as well; and I refuse to go to bed until I've at least seen her" - while he did this, Shouhei attempted to focus upon the picture and image of the missing girl; attempting to test out if he by any chance could exert any sliver of control over this odd realm.

The blank head nods, and responds almost happily, "Such a caring brother! Shiroko is lucky to have you. The poor girl hasn't been making much progress with the new therapies I've instituted... she's still seeing things, hearing things. I'm doing everything I can to treat her disorder... but I'd appreciate any help and comfort you can give her. Maybe if she heard it from you, she'd start believing the truth about her problem." The figure who identified himself as Dr. Matsukura adjusts his tie and steps forward when the doors of the elevator open. "Don't worry, Shouhei. I'll find a cure for you. I'll find a cure for all of you."

The hallway beyond has slate-grey walls and an imaculate, white-tiled floor. Flickering fluorescent tubes illuminate the expanse of the wing. Thronged on either side are sturdy-looking steel doors with tiny, wire-frame covered windows. Behind some of these doors, Shouhei can make out the sound of screaming. From behind others, desperate whimpering or unintelligable muttering. From some, there comes only an ominous silence.

Eventually the Doctor stops at a left-hand door, unlocks it from the outside, and opens it for Shouhei to enter. Lying on the bed, facing a window, is a girl with short brown hair. Her listless eyes stare vacantly at the shuttered window, as though she is peering into another world. Shouhei instantly recongizes her as one of the missing persons in his PSDA mission report.

Shouhei breathed a sign of relief - Shiroko, he had met her once, very briefly and while they had barely managed to exchange pleasantries, she was a membeer of the PSDA, just like him. If he managed to free her it would make it all alot easier "Dr. Matsukura-san, could you let me be alone with my sister for just a few moments. I've not talked to her in ages" Once again, Shouhei attempted to focus on what he wanted the "Doctor" to respond - attempting to use his mind and knowledge of illusions in order to change them to a degree.

"Yes. I suppose I can allow that, while i start another treatment." The blank face of the doctor glances at the blank face of his wristwatch. "I need to start another patient's electrotherapy, but I'm all out of fresh sponges. The storeroom might have some... No. NO! I don't have time for such trivialities! Poor Shiroko's lobotomy is in only an hour, and I need to make preparations!" The bizarre figure begins conversing incessently to himself as he leaves the chamber and shuts and locks the door behind him. Shortly afterward, the sound of another person's screams joins the cacaphony of the other prisoners.

Shouhei rushes to Shiroko's side as he slowly unsheathes his sealed Zanpakuto, whispering slowly "Captivate, Oboruzuki!" the Katana doesn't change - but its energy signature changes briefly, using Oboruzuki's illusionary properties, Shouhei attembs to create a few ghost-like sounds discernible only to Shiroko; the ghost voices begin to explain in detail that she is currently under a powerful illusion but that she can disbelieve it by listening to them and insisting that this cannot be the truth - just at the same time, Shouhei adds a few visual effects detailing the other members of PSDA and people he has seen her talking to: before he abruptly breaks off both illusions at once, in order to demonstrate how it works to give her a deeper self-awareness and thus increase the chance for her to break the hypnosis.

Shiroko tried to block the illusions that were talking to her but realized they were telling the truth when the images flashed. Mentally she tries to deny the fact she believed she was in a hospital. But then the guiding voices stopped and she thought she was mistaken, just like the doctor said. But those people she saw...they were real. Within a few minutes her mind cleared enough for her to dispel the illusionary effects she was under. "Well now. That was a pain." She said before noticing Shouhei. "Haven't we met somewhere before?"

Shouhei smiled with relief as he answered her question "Yes, we have - I'm a PSI, just like yourself. Our meeting was very short though so I didn't get around to introduce myself, my name is Shouhei Soyokaze and I'd appreciate it if you helped me out with the remainder of this mission; namely to free the other patients from this dreadful illusion and analyze the source of the Dead Zone inside this hospital" Shouhei nodded, before resealing Oboruzuki, not wanting to waste any energy.

"I'm Shiroko Sorei, but most people call me Shiro." she said with a smile. "I've been messed with for the longest time, so thanks for saving me." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of tarot cards. All of a sudden, the deck flashed. "These cards are my Fullbring. That light was the deck being shuffled, randomizing the cards."

Shouhei dashed over to the the door as he nodded to Shiroko, before speaking to her in a kind tune "Alright, when the "Doctor" shows up; try to imagine that all the patients are to be released from the hospital in order to be moved onto a new one due to problems with the building, namely the leaking of a malignant gas. If my assumptions are correct it is only the "hospital" which is an illusion and that once everybody are outside the hypnosis should recede; thus bringing their senses back to the ordinary and allowing us to focus on the Dead Zone"

Immediately after speaking, Shouhei closed his eyes in order to work on the pre-emptive actions and set the whole thing up; concentrating fiercely in order to attempt to change the direction of the illusion by force of will - in order to raise his odds of success, he proceeds to release Oboruzuki in an attempt to use its abilities to counter-act some of the more intense phantasms and illusions, his forehead dripping with sweat due to the great strain on his mind.

Shiro began picturing a gasious mist in her head, made from carbon monoxide, along with some smoke from something burning, which she pictured charcoal doing at than moment from a faulty spark in a stomach pump, If these so-called doctors had even the smallest clue, they would evacuate in minutes.

Shiro's concentration doesn't seem to be having much influence over the general form of the surroundings; without any supernatural assistance, a person's imagination can only effect her own perceptions. But thanks to Oboruzuki's influence, the furnishings of the room do become less distinct. Both Shouhei and Shiro are now able to see with clarity that they are not in a sterile, clean room, but instead they are trapped in a windowless, trash-filled cement chamber. The musty, hole-riddled matress that Shiro is sitting upon is covered in bloodstains. Unfortunately, it seems the steel door wasn't a fabrication; aside from a bit of rust and a busted-out window, it appears just as sturdy as it did in the phantasm.

Shiro stood up in shock, breaking her concentration. ''If he's telling the truth, the smoke should be billowing by now. Think of a O2 tank going up or something, add fuel to the fire!!'' she thought, focusing on a green tank near the earlier thought of pump, the heat causing it to explode.

Shouhei sighs slightly, as he walks right up to the steel door and attembs to simply open it up normally; after all, if this Doctor Matsukara was an illusion he could never have managed to physically lock the door behind him. Meaning that it should indeed be unlocked.

The steel door is barred from the other side. Whatever that being was, it seemed to have some kind of physical presence here, ruling out Shouhei's theory that it was an illusion.

Shiro tried to open the door, but found it was barred. "Wanna try cutting it? I mean, you Shinigami can carve bigger, more sturdy things in your sleep right?" she said with frustration. "I would, but I can only use my powers five times, and I don't want to risk drawing the wrong cards."

Shouhei contemplated this for a moment before he shook his head in disagreement "No, while I could probably break down this door quite quickly if I had used one of my more powerful spells - the commotion would likely attract too much attention, concidering that we don't know who or even what we're facing it would be unwise to attract too much attention to ourselves, especially concidering that we're both rather limited when it comes to combat. I used up a considerable amount of my energy just to arrive here and I'd rather not waste the modest amount that is left" Shouhei then concidered something that he had vaguely concidered before, something about illusions whom were so realistic that they could deal actual damage, he proceeded to voice this verbally "It is possible, if you find a way to harness extradimensional energy to summon illusions who are indeed partially real, these illusions have a physical presence and can indeed do physical harm as well; our "doctor" is possibly such a manifestation which means that he has a physical presence as we observed just now" Shouhei paused briefly before speaking again "Our solution is quite simple, the Doctor told me that he would be back in some time in order to continue his experiments on you and to bring me back to my supposed room, we can simply wait for him to come back and then overwhelm him"

Shiro smiled a bit. "Yeah, let's kick the crap out of that guy. If not because of what he did to me, but because I'm sure there are others here." She began pacing to get blood flow back into her legs. "This is gonna make me hate hospitals for the rest of my life, I swear."

After about an hour of waiting, you hear the anxious, almost hysterical ramblings of the doctor returning. The latch turns, and the door swings open... and you are finally confronted with his true form. His head and body are a pure white color, and the only feature of his face is a wide, jagged gash that bisects the lower half of his head. His hands are tipped with pointed fingers, and his left is holding what appears to be a sharpened, rusty spork. His legless torso terminates with and merges into the floor. As he glides into the room, a white, pointed tongue flickers between the "teeth" of his jaws and he speaks enthusiastically, "It is time, Ms. Sorei. So many years of effort. So many failures... but my triumph is at hand! Come. It is time to discover the cause of your disease." His claw-tipped fingers rythmically contract as he gestures for Shiro to follow him.

Shouhei had positioned himself at the side of the door, and the moment the Doctor enters the room. Shouhei dashes forth from the side using Hohō, his blade set alight in azure flames not unlike the flames of the typical Sōkatsui spell - attempting to use the surprise moment to his advantage; not wanting to risk anything, Shouhei aims the blade for the grotesque creatures lower body, in an attempt to bisect it there and separate its connection to the floor - reasoning that the two of them might be connected; the flames serving to drastically increase the attacks cutting power despite Shouhei's lesser strength.

The blade easily slices through the pale figure, chopping him in half. The top half of the apparition tumbles onto the floor with a cry of pain. The top and lower halves disintigrate as the creature perishes.

Shiro tried not to gag at the sight of the doctor dying. Sure he was evil, but she still didn't like the bisecting death. "Well now. He's dead, so do you think that this place will become normal again?" she asked timidly, still shaken up a bit.

The hospital itself answers her question, as both Shiro and Shouhei feel a scream of rage revibrate throughout the very ground and walls themselves. The head of the doctor begins pushing out of the wall behind you, and the viceral words of the ressurected being cut through your moment of peace, "Shinigami. Death gods. Ghosts. It's all nonsense. Delusions of a sick mind. In this hospital, my hospital, only ONE person holds the keys to life and death. The doctor is in." His clawed hands lash out at Shiro and Shouhei.

Shiro flipped the first card, revealing the one that she had hoped for, Death. She resisted the urge to laugh at the irony of the situation. She was about to stop the doctor with the one thing he said was fake. "Death's power allows me to negate all powers that oppose me, for a short time.She turned to Shouhei and smiled. "I suggest we start running. Once this activates, we won't have long to get away." With a flash, Death's power, the Dead Zone triggered. If the hospital was powered by magic of any sort, she would break it's power.

The doctor's body itself begins fragmenting at the display of the card, and he shrieks as he retracts into the wall and vanishes. The dead zone, in an area of about fifteen feet around Shiro, also dissappears. Shouhei and Shiro regain their full spiritual senses within that range... and to their horror, they can now see that the hospital itself has a spiritual signature that is identical to that of a hollow.

"Woah. Do you feel that? The building's giving off spiritual energy like it's living. Not only that, but it feels Hollow like..." Shiro trailed off, trying to piece together what was going one. Two possibilities struck her at the same time. One, the building was a Hollow, which could very well be possible given the size of some Hollows, or two, an Arrancar was actually in control of the building. The first option would make sense if there were other people in the 'hospital', which she was sure off, adding weight to the notion, but she didn't say anything to Shouhei.

Judging by the frown on Shouhei's facial features, he had likely reached much of the same conclusion on his own; looking down at where the Dead Zone used to be he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his frown however changed into surprise as he realized the power of Shiroko's Fullbring; he didn't say anything about it but judging by how his eyes flickered to the bare floor and to the rapidly paling Death-card - it was obvious that he was very impressed "Shiroko-san, you've seemingly reached the same conclusion as I, an especially old and powerful Hollow has somehow managed to merge with the hospital - we'd do best to thread catiously hereafter and concider all of this Hospital to be our enemy down to every little rusty scalpel and.. spork?" Shouhei leaned down to the ground as he picked up the spork that the "Doctor" had brought along for his "experimental treatment" - holding it infront of and away from his face with his left hand as he noticed several specks of dried blood on it.

Shouhei then became pale for a moment before he drew a deep breath and spoke softly to Shiroko, barely audible "I'm going to attempt something I learned while I were stationed in the Kido Corps back in Seireitei, please be patient and try to defend me if anything happens, I'm not wholly present while I do this" closing his eyes slowly, he began to focus on the spork - while he attempted to wrap his energy around it slowly and impose his mind on it, his right hand forming subconciously into several odd signs and gestures as a gentle white sheen began to emanate from the spork; as Shouhei attempted to use the secret arts of the Kido Corps in order to read the Sporks "memory" since this place first became infested with the Hollow, and the Dead Zone; an act which would likely take several minutes and put a noteworthy strain on his energy levels to boot.

Shiro looked around for a possible weapon, passing over simple things like one of the light bulbs as being too weak to sustain combat. While she pondered the pros and cons of many objects, one kept grabbing her attention, one of the bed's legs was rusty and ready to fall off an any second. She bent down and gave it a tug, nearly losing her balance as it broke off easily in her hands, leaving her with a decent bludgoning tool for whatever came into the room.

As Shouhei drifts into meditation, the dead zone that blocked your spiritual awareness is slowly beginning to refill the room. Shiro can just barely see the outlines of forms moving underneath the external surfaces of the walls, ceiling and floor. One of the hidden creatures launches out of the wall behind Shouhei, its thin white claws extending for the shinigami's back.

Shiro dashed over by manipulating the floor, to make it easier to push off of, and the air to decrease her overall drag. Around her feet, Bringer Lights were forming thanks to her modifications to the floor and air. When she got in front of the creature, which took only seconds but felt like minutes to her thanks to stress, she took a swing as though it were a baseball bat in her hands. Shiro didn't feel a connecting blow, so she swung it back, reinforcing the tool with her Fullbring powers, restoring it's durability to maximum and lowering the odds of it snapping it two. This time, she could feel the impact, the force sending a jolt down her arms, always a good sign when one wants to hit something.

There is a loud cracking noise as the bar smashes into the doctor's head. His body fragments and flakes away from the point of impact, and eventually his entire body disinitegrates from the blow. Almost instantly, two more faceless doctors morph out of the walls on either side of Shiro, and speak simultaneously, "Your mind isn't well. You need to rest, Miss Sorei. You must go to sleep. Go to sleep." The two charge at her from opposite sides, and their needle-like tongues fork in and out of identical jagged maws.

Shiro looked shocked as the two doctors appeared to attack her. Once they were on her position, she used her Fullbring skills to enhance her jumping power and flipped above the one to her left, landing behind him. Before he could turn and face her, she brought the bedpost down upon his head. The next problem was the other doctor who appeared. He probably would expect her to repeat her prior tactics and his downfall would require cunning. Her gaze moved to a nightstand that was placed next to the bed. Those doctors just gave me the perfect way to win. she thought with glee. She ran over to the table and rather than making it lighter with Fullbring, a rather predictable move on her part, she tipped it over, spilling any contents or objects placed on it, and kicked it. As her foot made contact, she modified it's appearance into what could be described as a triangular prisim with the pointed end facing forward, directly at the doctor's legs. Shiro put enough force into the kick to send her now deadly tool into the doctors legs with a sick banging sound, and, although she didn't see anything else, a deadly evisceration-esque would, leaving the doctor to bleed out to his death.

The first doctor doesn't even have a moment to react, as metal rod in her hand cleaves through his head, and his white body fractures along with it. The second doctor tries to evade the metal spike, but the projectle easily rips through his torso. The top half of his body is already broken to fading shards by the time it hits the ground. As Shiro waits, alert for the next attack, she can see more forms moving under the surfaces of the enclosure. It seems that dozens of these monsters are moving rapidly underneath. As she stares as the dirty cement walls, they begin to take on the appearance of an egg-white wallpaper. The floor as well, rather than being cold trash-covered cement, is beginning to appear to be clean reflective tile. The illusion around them is rebuilding itself, as Shouhei delves into the memories of the bloody tool.

''Shouhei is wearing a white uniform. At first he doesn't realize where he is, but as he glances at the clipboard in his right hand, it clicks. He's reliving the experiences of the implement, as the wielder interpreted them. A nurse next to Shouhei addresses him, "Dr. Matsukura, we are ready to begin the operation." Shouhei.. or rather, the doctor, appraises the patient in front of him. The man is in his late forties, overweight, and his expressionless face and blank eyes are consistant with the behavior of a person in deep anathesia. In a resolute tone (almost, eager) Dr. Matsukura explains the necessity of the operation. "The patient is suffering violent mood swings, emotional disturbances and chronic hallucination. All other therapies, including behavioral drugs and experimental psychology, have proven to be ineffective at treating his condition. We must operate, to remove the source of his malady before he, like so many of the others, succumbs to depression and suicide. Probe!" The nearest nurse, an attractive woman with hazel eyes and a white mask covering the lover half of her face, hands a long, thin, reflective silver blade to the Doctor. The doctor leans over, and mutters quietly, "Don't worry, Mr. Hizaki. The procedure will be over soon... and you'll never have to see the ghosts again."''

Shiro stood where she was, breathing heavily. Using so many Fullbrings in such short time was tiring. She didn't know how much more she could deal with, there were too many of them. Catching her breath, Shiro decided to try and snap Shouhei out of the trance or whatever he was doing, standing there like a lump on a log. She carefully walked over to him and tapped his shoulder. "Shouhei, the illusion's back and I can't keep fighting them. Mind waking up now?"

Shouhei didn't respond, seemingly still lost in a trance; Shiroko got the feeling that attempting to force him awake could be very dangerous; just then she detected a faint shimmer of energy escaping from Shouhei's Sealed Zanpakuto and several pictures began to dance in her mind - the Zanpakuto was, speaking to her somehow and while it didn't converse with words she began to get a clearer picture of what Shouhei was doing in the trance conveyed trough ghastly pictures and emotions, furthermore, before the Zanpakuto broke contact she felt a sudden surge of energy jolt trough her body - revitalizing and renewing her vigor.

It would then become apparant that she was not entirely alone in this struggle after all, despite appearances.

Shiro felt better thanks to the Zanpakto's assistance, and she quickly took note of the battleground, looking for the slightest disturbance in the illusions that surrounded her and Shouhei, something that meant the 'doctors' would attack again. Finding nothing, she allowed herself a sigh of relief, yet still holding on to the makeshift weapon tightly so she would be ready in case something happened.

As Oboruzuki clears away the illusions that had reformed around Shiro and Shouhei, Shiroko is able to see that Shouhei's ankles as disappearing into the floor. Three pairs of clawlike hands are dragging him down. Simultaneously, two more doctors morph out of the walls on either side of the chamber. "Listen to reason! The more you fight, the harder it will be for you!" They are both wielding thick hypodermic needles filled with an amber-colored liquid. One tries to stab Shiro, while the other moves around the other side and attempts to inject Shouhei.

Shiro didn't have time to manually beat the two doctors into a bloody pulp so she drew her second card, Justice. Once the card was face up, a rather large blast of energy smashed into the doctor nearest to Shouhei, while she hurridly turned herself around to attack the doctor behind her, using the spin to add force to what would be a rather solid impact, turning it into a deadly one. Once she was sure the doctors were dead she ran over to Shouhei and tried to pull him back up and away from the strange claws, finding their grip to be quite strong. Then a sudden thought entered her mind. These things are fleshy, so maybe a good kick would break their grip. Acting on the thought, she kicked them, which worked well enough to get her comrade to releative safety.

''Shouhei, or, the doctor, finishes with the procedure. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it? Tell me, do you see any ghosts now? No? Excellent." The older man's vegetative gaze stares emotionlessly up at the ceiling, and doesn't respond. The doctor jots down some notes, and with a satisfied smile, heads out of the surgery room. "I'm going to add this new breakthrough to the logues, Mary. I'll be just a few minutes." Mary bows as he leaves.''

''As Doctor Matsukura strolls down the halls to the offices, past the numerous locked doors of his subjects, he reflects on his accomplishments. For the last ten years, his research had hit a wall. The ailments of these "spiritually aware" people had not corresponded to any type of disorder he had ever seen. Though they were clearly seeing unreal things... they almost seemed like ordinary, healthy people. But this new procedure could be the key to exorcising this mass delusion...''

''Doctor Matsukura stops in front of a heavy steel door, covered in locks, and takes a few minutes opening it. As soon as the last lock is free, he rapidly enters and closes the door behind him, and it relocks automatically. As he peers around him, he's surrounded by hundreds of files, shelves of documents. Scrawled on the walls of the room are dozens of conjectures, each one more ludicrous than the last. He shuffles into the room, and places the folder into a specially marked bin; 'cure'. With an ever-widening grin, he exits the room to continue his works. There are so many lives to save. So many minds to cure.''

Shouhei snaps out of the trance, and awakens to see Shiroko fighting off ten of the ghastly doctors. It looks like she's being overpowered.

Shiro was holding them off as best she could, but even as weak as they were their numbers were overwhelming her. Each one died in only a single strike from her psudo-club made from the leg of the bed. Five died with little resistance, but the others were starting to gang up on her a bit better than she had expected, one got behind her in the ensuing fight against the remaining four. "Wish you'd wake up." she said, glancing at Shouhei before killing the last remaining doctor. "That makes twelve in the past five minutes. Whatever this thing is, it's getting mad at you." she said with a huff.

Shouhei turned to Shiroko as he drew a deep breath "Alright, I've learned several interesting things, thank you for guarding me; there's a vault which keeps most of the files created by this doctor - I believe it might be important in finding out where the "core" of this creature is stationed; we need to find a way to kill it before we can aid the subjects successfully" Shouhei whispered softly as he walked closer to Shiroko "Captivate, Oboruzuki".

Making use of his Zanpakuto's abilities to create a powerful illusion meant to fool both the senses of hearing and sight; Shouhei proceeded to weave it around the two of them and then "knitting" it around them tightly in order to make the effect last longer and use only the bare minimum of energy - he'd then gesture for Shiroko to follow him out into the hallway, while he looks for signs he saw in his vision - in order to better find their place of destination.

As Shouhei and Shiro exit the room, Shouhei's illusions distorts and parts the surrounding phantasms, revealing a familiar hallway which leads into the depths of the hospital. Flanking them on either side are the rooms containing the patients. At one end of the hallway, a gang of evil doctors is massing to intercept them. There are dozens of them. They speak as one, "Turn back. Return to your room! Obey me!" The crowd of lanky white spectres approach and try to overpower the two spirit detectives.

Shiro couldn't help but laugh. "Do they honestly think numbers are gonna win?" she asked as she drew her third card the Heirophant. Using it, she deduced the number of enemies by scaning them, and she figured out that numbers really were their only strong suit. "Shouhei, you ready? We've gotta get through this pathetic army of phantasmal doctors."

Shouhei took a deep breath as he raised his hand up infront of him, before he spoke gently at Shiro, his words were deliberately lower in volume than usually in order to not give him away to the enemies "Shiro-san, please take several steps backwards or I might accidentally harm you severely " Shouhei then raised his hands up infront of himself as he quickly encased Shiroko within some sort of Kido barrier, meant to protect her against what he was now going to do. He then drew another deep breath before he quickly began to chant "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." - Shouhei finished the incantation just before the Doctors managed to reach him, and as he directed his hand in their direction a massive wave of blue flames rolled onwards towards the doctors setting the sorrounding environment aflame in the aftermath as Shouhei once again made use of the knowledge gained in the Kido Corps in order to make the spell punch in several of the doors in the area without harming those inside. While this happened, Shouhei deliberately attempted to expand and weave the flames around him and the still protected Shiroko in order to fill the corridors behind and to their left, in order to obliderate any lurking doctors, just incase.

Furthermore, he attempted to make the flames burn stronger in order to possibly torment and injure the Hollow which had possessed the hospital, and thus make their mission easier overall.