Los niños de Izanami: Sociedad la Tradición

Longtime coming, reunion of V-14:
It was a peaceful day in the poor slums within the Southwest Rukon District, for the young woman within the 2 story house she peered out of. Her bare fair toned arms were crossed over her endowed, tight black shirt bust. She was resting her head as she leaned against the window with her head against the trim and her left leg hanging freely and lazily outside just above the dirt roads of the filthy neighbourhood. The smell one an outsider would find unpleasant and make one's stomach wish to expel its contents and the local scum living in the alleys would force them to if they gave them a look they didn't like.

All in all, one would not expect such a place would belong to the Soul Society and be called Paradise, though the people are, more or less, humble and content with their lives within the cramped, dirty houses and shacks they call home. However, anything that became discontent, anything that became greedy or wished for things to be bought, sold, or 'delivered' outside authorities or proper chanels were handled by...professionals.

This being said, the young woman lounging about on the windowsill was one of those particular professionals. That and her partner, whom she had yet see leave his room from his meditations, something that she found to be irately tiring to her nerves and something she thought he could do without for at least one morning.

She pulled out a cigarette from her tight short jean pocket with its exposed nearly empty case of cigs, up to her lips and pulled out a silver, worn lighter up to it, muttering under her breath, "Another f'ing day in Paradise. Yay me," she lit it with a flick of her thumb and the following sparks lit a small flickering flame, lighting the end of her cig, allowing her to take her needed relaxation for the moment, puffing on it before exhaling a thick cloud of smoke in front of her, letting it drift outside into the air.

"Wonder if we're getting visited, or we're getting a job soon," she bemused in a bored tone, wondering if the others were going to drop by for a supply drop or just to check on them.

"DING DONG!!!"

Her answer would come in the form of an obnoxiously loud shout, one that she would probably recognize.

Standing in front of the door was a blonde-haired tie-and-suit man that would only go by the name of Oliver Holmes. As the source of the rather unnecessary shout, he folded his arms across his chest and smirked. Standing on either side of him were Anton Semenov and Angelika Hartmann, the former of which slapped his palm against his face. "Oliver...." He said irritatedly. "There was a damn doorbell in front of you."

Oliver shrugged. "The doorbell ain't as irritating to the ears as my voice is." He answered bluntly, earning a roll of the eyes from the Russian. "Plus, it's not as much fun."

"It will be even funnier when one of them comes down to pound your head in." Angelika commented casually.

"Hah! You're just a laugh and a half, aren't you, Miss Nazi?"

Hyōryū exhaled a long, hissy sigh which was followed by a stream of smoke from her cig wrapped lips, muttering under her breath, "F'ing, Anton. I sweat I'll shoot him in the knee for this."

She growled, swinging her leg and arm deftly out of the open, dank neighbourhood air and into the stuffy air of the hovel she called home. With a soft clap of her bare feet against the floor, she began walking over to the door, inhaling and exhaling small puffs of her cig. When she reached the door, she looked through the eyehole before seeing the three, briefly smiling before she heard him laugh, earning a scowl before sliding the copper cover over the eyehole, swearing, "F'ing tard."

She went through her quick, almost silent ordeal of unlocking all of the locks on her door, each one of the unique and simple, counting 15 in all, but the routine was so natural, it only took her 30 seconds to get them all unlocked. Once she opened the door, she gave them a blank look before giving a swift, half-hearted kick to Anton's crotch, shouting aloud, "There's something called a doorbell, F'ing dumbass!"

"Oof--!"

Oliver immediately started laughing heartily and lifting a pointing finger at the Russian that had taken the beating for his doing. The kick to his groin, of course, immediately made the victim let out a grunt of pain and bend forward. "O...ow....the hell'd you do that for....!!!" He managed to hiss, looking up with a pained and shocked expression. "Do I really sound like Holmes to you?!!"

"Well, I certainly didn't expect that...." Angelika thought to herself, her slightly eyes looking over at Anton with a discreetly cocked eyebrow. She had to smile, though, at his misfortune of involuntarily taking the blow for Oliver.

Hyōryū twitched, suddenly looking very sheepish she bent down to help up Anton, saying in a sweeter empathetic voice, "Sorry...my bad." As she helped him up, glaring daggers at Oliver, she raised her hand that wasn't supporting Anton from his abused, unwarranted attack, cracking her knuckles one at a time.

"Go on, Oliver. The only reason you didn't get your physical abuse today is because you intentionally SWITCHED places when you approach my door. Don't make me crush your f'ing balls," she glared at him before briefly looking over her shoulder, holding her breath for a few moments before sighing, "unless you want to really anger him from disturbing his meditation crap."

The display made Oliver jerk his hands up in mock surrender, a false mix of sheepishness and fright on his own face. "Hey, easy, easy!" He exclaimed, unable to wipe the wide grin on his face as he side-glanced both Anton accepting the helping hand to pull himself up and Angelika shaking her head sagely, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I mean, we only wanted to see how you two were holding up in your own little home, that's all. C'mon, invite us in, already!"

Hyōryū raised a brow up, looking at Oliver with narrowed eyes walking slowly up to him, despite her height she was known to bring men two times her size down with ease. She grabbed her cig between her left forefingers, giving a long inhale, the end of the cig crackled and hissed audibly as it sparked a dim orange before blackening, before she exhaled a stream of smoke at Oliver, saying, "You, stay," then turning to the other two, smirking and pointing a thumb into the house, "c'mon in, you guys," as she ushered in the other two, she didn't even acknowledge Oliver, but made sure to leave the door open long enough for him to enter.

"Wha--"

Oliver's eyes and mouth widened at her statement, clearly not expecting the reaction that she had given him (albeit he did wince slightly at the smoke blown into his face). It only lasted until Anton (with a short whistle) and Angelika (with a pat on Oliver's shoulder to go with her smile) made their way past him. His eyes narrowed, his mouth curling into a light scowl. "Oh, so I guess I'm the odd man out, huh?" He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Just what I've always wanted...." After leaning out of sight for a moment, he leaned back carrying a large case in both of his arms before walking inside.

As Hyōryū's bare feet tapped on the aging wooden floor, she threw her arms up, "Make yourselves at home guys. Don't bother taking our shoes off, it doesn't exactly inhibit the natural beauty of the hole anyway," she finished, before walking towards the den, the window where she was hanging out of aimed right behind the large black couch she now sat on the middle of, the aging leather squeaked.

"Ahhh," she sighed, smiling crookedly at the three, looking to each of them asking, "so...how's it been? Our last job together was...4-5 months ago, so I haven't really kept track of what you're little bunk-lives are going..."

The other three took their respective places in other chairs. Angelika was the first to answer the question, fishing a cigarette from the contents of her pocket and lighting it up. "In all honesty...." She began, her German accent showing naturally in her words. "We all could pretty much say it was quite...." A thoughtful look came over her face, and she motioned with one hand in an effort to get her male subordinates to help her out.

"It sucked." Anton supplied bluntly, a lightly annoyed expression onto his face.

"Suck does not even begin to describe it!" Oliver added, setting the case down beside him. "We would've gotten paid if our client hadn't been such a power-hungry fuck that just couldn't stop pleasuring himself in the battlefield! I swear, if we have to pull another job like that, I'm going to just shoot myself in the head."

"Quite...." Angelika shifted her gaze back towards Hyoryu, one leg shifting over the other. "It was an attack on both Yūrei Okoku and the Seireitei, the latter of which was supported directly by our employer. In the second part of the operation, Shou was K.I.A. It was unfortunate, considering how close he was to emptying the majority of Yūrei's capital. Our client also got killed thanks to the interference of allied Ryōka, effectively ceasing our contract."

Hyōryū's lip twitched slightly as she heard the mentioning of Shou, sighing as she removed the cig from her lips and held it by the head of the couch, saying, "Damn...I guess I shouldn't have given you such a crappy reception. Poor guy...I'm gonna miss him," she momentarily took a few moments of silence, looking at the others seeing the mixed emotions of melancholy upon them made her want to change the subject.

"Anyways," she spoke aloud, moving her hips slightly against the aging leather, trying to get in a more comfortable position, "Shadō and I have been taking some basic trafficking jobs, one of which he wasn't as pleased considering he hasn't been...feeding, as much as he'd like to. Hence why he's been taking more mornings off to do his yoga crap in his room," she pointed her bare foot towards the hallway that led to a dark corridor that bore a intoxicatingly clean, berift of odor area but also was uncannily cold, "I've been keeping my distance and giving him space when he's doing it, so please go easy on him."

"Huh!" Oliver scoffed, eyes narrowing and a frown on his face as he directed his gaze towards the direction where she was pointing at. "Wasn't interested in botherin' the emo anyway!" He bent over, rummaging around in the case and pulling out two bottles of gin. "He can come out when he wants to. I brought enough for everyone." Promptly, he tossed one to Anton, who caught it without bothering to look. Then he bent back to the case in order to grab some more.

Hyōryū glared daggers at Oliver before saying in a irritated tone, "Watch what you say about my partner, Oliver. He's done good work for V-14 and has done no harm by me, to any of you for that matter. Shadō just needs to control himself more than we have to-" she paused in mid-sentence when she saw Shadō appear behind Oliver's bent form, his tall stature and ominous air just gave to show how intimidating he could be. Especially when he came in without announcing himself...

"Like I'm going to try and look for a reason to--" Immediately, Oliver cut himself off as soon as he sat up straight again, eyes widened in surprise. He abruptly looked over his shoulder towards the man behind him, mouth forming into a small "o" shape. "Oh, hey!" He said without thinking, making a half-hearted wave as best as he could with a bottle of gin in his hands.

"Glad to see I make good impressions towards you, Oliver-san," Shadō spoke in a low, liquid voice before giving a thin smile to each of the other V-14 members, "everyone, nice to see you back in one piece. I do not see Shou with you though..."

"He didn't make it, Shadō," Hyōryū said morosely, looking solemnly over to his eyes, seeing a hidden sadness behind them.

"I see," Shadō said in a soft understanding tone, not really sure where to continue from there.

"Oh, come on, you all!" Anton insisted, giving a weak but enthusiastic smile as he raised up his own bottle of gin. "Gospodin Yoshizawa wouldn't have wanted us all to despair about his death. He died doing his job and not like some hapless victim." Looking over to Hyoryu, he decided to be generous and toss his bottle over to her before turning back to Oliver. "Ey Holmes, pass me another!"

He was rewarded with another bottle that landed in his outstretched hand. Oliver turned back towards Shado, holding up another bottle. "You heard 'im, Shades. Don't be a sadass and join us!"

Angelika did not bring herself to say anything more, cigarette twirled around carelessly in her mouth. Truthfully, she was somewhat unaccustomed to just get-togethers, and when she came to one, this was the majority of her actions until someone addressed her directly. In any case, she was here to keep an eye on both Oliver and Anton in order to make sure nothing went too far. Even if they were professionals....

Hyōryū caught it, a smirk formed on her face, saying, "Thanks, Anton. You're right, he wouldn't want us pouting like little kids, now would he?" She raised the bottle up to her mouth, clamping down her teeth on the cap and skillfully prying it off, before spitting it across the room in a random direction, raising her bottle to Anton and the group.

"To V-14! May we still be the most bad-ass organization of any Spirit Realm! Both living and dead!" Hyōryū declared in a boisterous cheer before tilting her head and the bottle back and began chugging the liquid's contents.

Shadō grabbed the bottle thankfully, smiling slightly as well, and chuckled at hearing Hyōryū's cheer, saying with a raise of his own bottle, "To V-14. For taking me in like family and giving me a purpose in life when I knew no other," he in kind began drinking his contents, but not in such a rushed manner as Hyōryū.

Anton grinned, popping off the cap on his bottle and raising it. "To V-14, for the encouragement and allowing of the ultimate forms of expression!" He said mirthfully.

Oliver followed suit, putting on a smirk of his own as he raised his own bottle. "Oh, I can beat that. To V-14, for letting me be the biggest asshole I could ever be and getting away with it!" He declared, earning laughter from his Russian comrade. "We drink!" With that, they followed Hyoryu's actions, tilting their heads back and drinking down the contents.

The display made Angelika smile, and she took the lit cigarette from her mouth between her fingers to speak. "To V-14.... for giving us the luxury of what the "civilized" populace will never have." She spoke. "All of you.... thanks for sticking by the side of this organization for as long as you have. I admire you for your efforts, and look forward to continue working with you in the days to come."

Shadō nodded to Angelika, holding the bottle aimlessly in his hand after finishing a 1/3 of it contents, seeing Hyōryū down nearly all of its contents in one sitting made him chuckle, "Amen to that, Herr Angelika," he said, in respect he spoke in a fluid german accent for a moment, giving her a canine grin to boot.

Hyōryū finally finished her whole bottle, a loud pop was heard from the release of her wet lips on the cold bottle, looking over at Oliver unphased, she grinned sadistically while turning her bottle over and patted it on her opposing palm with the cig in between her fingers, imitating a club as she said, "Let's see about getting away with it treats you, Oly..."

The best way to describe Oliver's expression was in three words: ''Do not want. "Hey, don't do that''!" He insisted, raising a hand out towards Hyoryu in a half-hearted stopping motion while holding his own bottle with the other. "I just got this suit washed!" It was funny that he was concerned more about his suit other than the fact that he might have a glass bottle smashed over his head courtesy of the tomboyish woman.

"Ah, violence...." Anton said, grinning in amusement as he lowered his own bottle. "The first sign of imminent marriage." This caused himself as well as Angelika to burst out laughing, the latter of which due to the fact that it caught her off surprise.

Shadō stood slightly uncomfortable at the joke, sweatdropping before taking another swig to distract himself from the laughter.

Hyōryū twitched at the joke, swiftly tossing the bottle in the air before grabbing it by the end and throwing it deftly right past Oliver's left cheek, slight droplets could be seen by the keen eye touching hig coat before the bottle smashed into the wall loudly, shattering into pieces and marring the dull, gray wall.

"The day that happens is the day I become a widow," she smirked, snickering at her own joke before returning her cigarette to her mouth inhaling and exhaling with a crooked grin.

"AUGH!"

Oliver scowled, eyes glaring down at the spots with disdain. "Damn dagnabbit, dagnabbit, damn it, dagit nagit nabit dagit!!!" He snapped, vainly and briskly attempting to brush off the drops with his hand. This only caused more laughter from Anton, which earned the Russian and Hyoryu an annoyed glare. Angelika placed the cigarette back in her mouth and took another puff before taking it out and flicking it into a nearby trash can, smiling all the while.

However, her attention would soon be diverted by the ring of her cell phone. She reached into her pocket, grabbing the device to flip it open and pressing the talk button. Her newly freed hand motioned for the rest of them to quiet themselves. "Hello?" She asked calmly.

Shadō looked over attentively when Angelika held her hand up for silence, Hyōryū stopped snickering and she saw the boss was on the phone. It meant another job, something to do, so she was eager to shut up and wait.

"Ah, Angelika! How are you?! Its been forever, moi siempre! Are you throwing a party without me?!" the voice on the phone spoke, belonging to Enrico Vilacheze, the leader of the Black Scorpion Gang. The spanish descended man spoke in a ever-present boisterous tone, the accented voice rich with both langurious joy and underlying purpose, as always. A longtime procurer of unique and rare items beyond the reach of the Black Market, he's been a useful ally within the darkest reaches of the Rukon Districts Criminal element, providing intel, equipment, spare men, whatever the V-14 asked, they got. The terms of this arrangement are still a mystery to anyone within the V-14, with the exception of Angelika and Enrico.

This brought Angelika to smile. She leaned back in her chair, chuckling at his familiarly boisterous voice. "Now, Enrico...." She said with a suave tone. "Why would I bother bringing a party to you, when you're most likely already in one right this minute?" She and Enrico, despite their obvious business, kept a rather friendly tone with one another throughout most of their interactions.

Enrico laughed on his end of the line, currently sitting in a chair with wheels, leaning back as he swiveled in his seat, "It would be a party if you were here, Angelika. You could fix my...problem so easily, which might become eveyrone's problem tomorrow."

"And what exactly would this particular problem take the form of?"

There was a long sigh heard on the other side of the line, before the Enrico said with a distressed tone, "Its this Red Sun, that's getting to the heads of some of these delinquints and rats over here. They're becoming more bothersome that soon I won't be able to do buisness in certain parts of my territory. I'd flush the rats out, but they have numbers on their side, and some of them have 'Hollowed' weapons that not even I can stop with a few men."

"The zealots....always wanting to create problems." Angelika's tone had clear distaste, a scowl forming onto her face as she listened. "Say no more, Enrico. Just give us the location of these pests of yours, and we'll take care of the rest."

"Muchas Gracias, señora! I knew I could count on you," a extremely grateful tone was heard, before a series of typing and clicking sounds were heard, "I'm sending you the location of where they gather to 'worship'. Don't underestimate them, Angelika. They are weak by themselves, but together they have enough resolve to break down the Seireitei's gates! They armed and allied, and are well prepared for attack and escape. Please kill every last one of them! Godspeed, Angelika!"

"But of course...."

With that, Angelika lowered the phone from her face and pressed the talk button again in order to disconnect from the chat and view the LCD screen, where the information would be transferred to. "All right, boys and girls...." Though she kept her eyes on the phone, her voice was directed at the group. "...it seems like we have an opportunity to relieve this mission-based boredom of ours."

"About F'ing time!" Hyōryū said with a wide, toothy smile, her cigarette almost fell out from the sheer excitement to do something again.

The LCD screen showed a abandoned neighbourhood, much of the slums looked better than this area of the Rukon outskirts. It had rust covered metal doors, decaying plaster houses, barrial grounds nearly in every alley, and there was a large, closed down factory. The factory seemed to be reconstructed from cannibalized parts of the neighbourhood and other pieces of metal into a large, crude imitation of a archaic church. A switch to thermal imaging showed a large underground build-up of heat and numerous humanoid beings walking both inside and around the perimeter of the church.

Shadō looked with narrow eyes at the number of beings displayed, saying aloud, "There's a small army of them inside that factory. What did they build inside of there?"

"Only one way to find out...."

Angelika analyzed the LCD screen for a bit more until she was sure it was finished. Then, she flipped it shut and sheathed it back within her pocket. "Normally, this would be a normal assault job... but considering the abnormal heat build-up underground, they're hiding something that's possibly and hopefully much more valuable than what makes up their hide-out. So stealth is the key if we want to see what their little "project" is."

"Fuck...." Oliver complained, pushing himself up and raising his hands up in exasperation. "So this is a "quiet" mission?"

"Not a neccessity..." Angelika admitted. "But it doesn't hurt to be curious."

Hyōryū then looked at Angelika with a wry smile, sucking on her cigarette intensely before blowing it out her nose, "How much should I pack? Light, Heavy, or Motha-Heavy?"

"If you had it your way, you'd always pack enough ammo to level Sokyoku Hill," Shadō said matter-of-factly, hiding a small smile, earning only a shrug from his tom-boyish, female partner.

"Whatever you think is best to deal with a "small army"." Angelika answered readily, slowly pushing herself off of the seat. "Just make sure to bring your silencers with you...."

"Can do, hehehehehe," a creepy, sadist chuckle emanated from the back of Hyōryū's throat, before she doused the cigarette on the floor, smashing it underneath the sole of her foot, "just make sure you clear the hell out of the place if you plan to flush out the buggers. I'm going to pack something nice and extra for this job."

Shadō smiled, saying, "If there is plenty of shadows, I can sneak in there before they know what hit them. Sounds like we got a plan."

"Excellent...." As Anton brought himself up, Angelika gave an acknowledging nod to all of them. "We'll let you two--" She directed her gaze towards Hyoryu and Shado. "--get prepared while we do the same. Meet up at Junction C as soon as you're done."

Hyōryū smiled, getting up before walking out of the room, saying back in a enthusiastic voice, "Don't worry! I'm never late to our violent get togethers! HAHAHAHA!"

"What a pro...." Oliver chuckled, grinning as his comrade stepped out of the room. He folded his arms across his chest. However, he couldn't deny his own anticipation despite the downside of it being a stealth mission. He turned his attention to his own two comrades. "All righty, Miss Kraut and Mister Commie. I'm ready to go if you are."

"Don't get a boner on the first kill, Hot Dog....."

With that last comment made by Anton, the three exited the room in order to prepare....

Raid in the Dark, What lies underneath Despair?
Shadō walked through the shadows almost like a rippling mirage, his body solid and appearing one second, then it would shimmer before evaporating within the dark shadows. He had begun scouting out the perimeter of the 'Church' dedicated to the radicals, and he could practically smell the foulr stench of ozone in the air coming from the ventilation shafts of the cannibalized structure. They were building something made for war, and it was going to be immensely powerful, as well as costly. He knew the V-14 would appreciated that alot.

As he moved back to the junction about 3 blocks away, near where the decrepit, practically abandoned neighbourhood began, finding Hyōryū handing out ammo and equipment to everybody going into the base, Anton, Angelika, and Oliver going over the infrastructure plans and scrapped together blueprints of the crypt-like factory they were about to enter.

Hyōryū was the first to notice Shadō's approach, smiling crookedly she called out to him, "Back so soon? I was thinking it would take you at least 15 minutes..."

"You should no better than to underestimate me, Hyōryū," he said with a small smile on his own pale features before he approached Angelika, bowing his head before addressing to her, "Herr Angelika, they have multiple vents sporadically placed around the exterior of the infrastructure. From what my senses have been telling me, illegal Kidō-craft technology is being created and infused into an object or weapon of sorts. Its taking up a lot of material from the sounds coming from the vents as well..."

"Were those vents producing any sort of gas of some sort, anything that we need to worry about?" Angelika asked immediately. It was noted that they were all out of their casual clothing and into more tactical yet urban gear, signaling how well-equipped and dangerous they really were. They were various designs, yet each of their clothing's template was identical in order to make it easier for one to identify one another. "Any sentries outside the perimeter?"

Shadō shook his head, saying, "I wouldn't fire wildly at the source of the smell and heat, but there isn't anything toxic to the air for any of you, or I, to worry about. As for sentries," he moved a white gloved hand over to the blueprints, pointing to balconies and a few entrances, saying aloud, "about eight in total. They have surprisingly well-timed coordination in their patrols, but compared to us, they're second-rate."

Hyōryū nodded hear head over to her partner, asking aloud, "Weapons and equipment?"

Shadō smiled, saying, "They're armed with second-rate black market Kidō-craft blades and hand-me-down guns. They should be relatively easy pickings for us, but I can't say for certain for the rest inside."

"They won't get a chance to use them...." Angelika said dismissively, rising up from her crouched position on the ground. She raised her customary sniper rifle with a mid-range scope at a ready level, a surpresser attached to the tip. "Shado, lead us to the patrol and find a good spot for us to surround them. We'll stay in the shadows of the houses and take up a surrounding position so that we can take them out. Eight guards... two for each of us. Let's move."

Hyōryū chuckled, saying lowly as they moved into the shadows of the houses, "What, only two? I'm not getting old that fast..."

Shadō led the way, his big body moving swiftly and lividly, his cloaked form lead them to the edge of where houses were, and the large infrastructure ahead showed a number of guards, and the recognizeable smell of ozone and those with above average Spiritual Energy felt a enormous Spiritual Pressure coming from underground.

Hyōryū took unholstered her two Jackal handguns, swiftly applying the surpresser on the ends of the barrels before moving swifly towards her targets, two makeshift flak jacket and rag wearing guards on the East side, aiming them unseen in the shadows of the alley the houses created.

Shadō meanwhile moved into the shadows itself, disappearing and dissolving from view, anyone who didn't know him well enough would find this disconcerting or shocking. As his form moved through the shadows, he found two on the South side of the 'Church', his form bathed his shadows invisible to their eyes as he drew his sword from his back sheathe silently, waiting for the initiative to strike.

"Looks like I miscounted... guess I can sit this one out...." Angelika put on a small smile, lowering her rifle and resting it on her leg. "On three.....one....two...."

In his crouched position and hiding within a spot within the minimal hiding distance, Oliver lifted his assault rifle and looked down the sight for his two targets. Anton did the same with his own assault rifle, both tensing up for the final number.

"Three."

Without hesitation, they fired a small stream of bullets. Their bursts were controlled, and their accuracy was dead-on. Four targets ended up collapsing without a sound, other than the light thud as they hit the ground. By the time the other four moved, Hyoryu and Shado would have taken them out already. So Angelika simply looked on and waited.

Hyōryū rapidly let loose two shots each from her Jackals, instantly piercing the throat and heart of her targets, the yellow lights glowed brightly for a few moments before a spray of blood exited with the shot, searing the holes they left in their targets, leaving them limp and spastic on the ground before they lay cold and still, confirming their deaths.

Shadō moved in sync with everyone else's attacks, lunging out of the darkness like a nightmarish wraith. Within a blur of two silver arcs that was the sword he carried, Shadō lay still with his sword held out, blood dripping along the edge of his weapon. Within a few seconds, the bodies dispersed a gory discharge of blood and innards from the long clean diagonal cuts he cut through their chests, falling down in gurgling bloody messes. He threw the blade out to the side in a slashing motion, throwing the excess blood away before he sheathed his sword back in his sheathe.

The last of the perimeter was down. It was now up to Angelika to give the order to move forward.

"Beautiful."

Angelika voiced her compliments, standing up and keeping her weapon holstered as she walked towards the scene of the massacre. She took one hand off of her weapon in order to signal a motion to move up.

Shadō moved swiftly towards one of the entrances on his side, the door was black and reinforced by 'X' shaped beams. However, since the men were out on patrol, it was cracked open, and slipping inside was easy as his body dissolved in thin air before entering the base.

"I'm in," Shadō said ghostly over his com mike, already hugging the shadows deftly and silently as he worked his way past the halls and corridors of the makeshift place of worship.

Hyōryū had already sprinted over to her exit, her boots tapped the ground in a practiced, expert manner in which it reduced the sound of her rapid approach. She then skidded to a stop, her body tapping the metal, cold exterior as she hugged it close, her Jackals raised up in a vertical position, her forefingers tapped against the triggers as she looked sideways at the door, seeing it shut tight.

She quickly spun around, switching a setting on the back of her weapons, adjusting the power output in her next shot. With a pair of carefully aimed shots, the muffled blast of heightened rounds tore through the lock of the door with a warbled ping sound, rebounding it off the bulkhead and open enough for her to squeeze inside, albeit some difficulty while fitting her additional Kidō rifle with her.

"In and lurking," Hyōryū responded over her mike, moving quietly and swiftly down her own set of corridors and halls, seeing that what was once areas of production and equipment, have now been remodeled with makeshift walls, windows, and beds, turning it into something resembling dormitories, "and it looks like the rats made a nest in here."

"No kidding...."

Oliver was making his way through at his own pace, walking briskly with his rifle held at the ready. As his eyes swept the corridor he was going through, he was greeted with walls that might as well have fell down where they stood if he even so much as nudged them. Broken pieces of concrete, rust, and other items of unidentifiable traits were scattered across the ground. "Trash, pieces of the very building, newspapers.... all you need is beer bottles 'n' basball bats and you've got yourself a college."

Angelika and Anton were in an environment similar to Hyoryu's own, a somewhat straightened out but still clearly neglected corridor. "They must have been working really hard underground to not even bother worrying about what their hideout looked like...." The Russian mumbled disdainfully. "Only question I've got is... what's with the ozone I smell around here? It was coming from the vents, too...."

"Ozone is normally used for air purification and acts as an anti-pollutant...." Angelika said. "My own assumption I can put forth is that maybe they're attempting to mask the smell of something most likely dead or dying...."

Hyōryū gagged on her end of the line, saying as she got nearer to the source through her corridor, "It smells more like jet fuel and something burning, mixed in with ozone. They must be doing a sloppy job or a too good of a job in making whatever they have underground."

"I found the entrance to the underworks," Shadō spoke from the darkness he was enveloped in, his eyes peering at a nearby warehouse elevator, guarded by a pair of armored and armed guards, looking slightly more aware and trained than the guards outside, "two guards, but they're armed with Kidō rifles and Kidō-crafted blades. I could take them out, but I'd be seen with all the light around them illuminating the ground. It seems that its the center of the infrastructure and you all will arrive at it at some time or another. Orders, Herr Angelika?"

"Are they the only guards around? Check for any sentries that happen to be overlooking their position. If there are any, they'll most likely be in the dark and out of view for potential intruders to spot them in time...."

Hyōryū walked around a corner, suddenly seeing a man leaning against the wall, half-dozing off and half awake, his hands gripping his Kidō rifle firmly, showing that he is alert but just tired. She backed around, holstering her guns while whispering, "Found your sentry. He's alert, but is half tired from waiting around...is that the only one, Shadō?"

"There is two more by Oliver's position, or where I assume he will come out, but that's all of them," Shadō spoke aloud, but his voice did not carry beyond the shadows he lied in.

"Maintain your current positions and keep yourselves hidden. Oliver, you focus on the two on your side. Hyoryu, you've got the insomniac." As she continued to speak, Angelika shouldered her sniper rifle and replaced it for a sidearm pistol, stopping at the corner and motioning for Anton to stop just behind her. She peeked around the corner once before slinking back behind her wall, reading her pistol vertically. "The two guards in the light are mine. We dispatch them at the same time. On my go...."

She paused for one moment, short and tense in its time.

Then she gave the command.

"Weapons free."

The reaction was instant.

Oliver, a sadistic grin decking his face, turned the corner and aimed his rifle at the two guards before they had time to blink, opening fire and gunning them down with terrifying efficiency and accuracy. At the same time, Angelika pulled the trigger two times in order to drop both guards within the light before they could react to their comrades' death. It was coordination, teamwork, and accurate prediction at play, almost as if their very minds were linked to what they were doing at all times.

Hyōryū rolled her eyes, mouthing off, 'Just one f'ing guy' before she manually cocked her Jackal and without turning the corner, she turned her wrist with the gun pointing towards the guy leaning against the wall, shot twice, followed by a thudding sound, the target went down without a sound.

She turned around the curner, and found that she hit his jugular vein once, tearing through his throat inhibiting any possibility of responding audibly, and the second shot went through his skull through the auditory canal. A small pool of blood had developed on the floor where his head was, his eyes staring blankly ahead with no life within them.

"That's what happens when you don't drink coffee," Hyōryū snickers as she steps over the body, meeting up with the rest of the group in front of the elevator, Shadō materialized in the light, nodding his head to his teammates before awaiting further instructions.

Shadō then spoke aloud in thought, "They seemed organized, but ill equipped to handle professionals. Are we still that good, or is this too easy?"

Hyōryū sighs, raising her hand in emphasis while propping the barrel of her jackal against her hip, looking blankly at her partner, "Do things have to go wrong with you in order for you to be satisfied?"

"I've been alive for so long because I'm cautious," Shadō retorted calmly, crossing his arms over his chest, looking towards the elevator, continuing, "there are too many guards for mere radicals. Someone's supplying them and its someone with rational thought, excellent at planning things in advance, and is possibly anticipating a group of our caliber to come in and clean house. That, or the Gotei 13."

Oliver scoffed, looking down on one of the bodies and idly kicking at it. "Their supplier must not give much of a damn for their safety considering how rookie-ish they are. Whoever's the brain obviously's expecting them all to get killed off like pawns...." He only glanced over as Anton walked over to the warehouse elevator, stopping in front of the controls and peering over them for a moment.

"If we want to find this hidden project that they're carrying, we need to wrap this up as quickly as possible. Don't know about you, but I just came to kill these lunatics and not military Shinigami." The Russian mumbled, reaching with a free hand and typing in what seemed like a random code. However, he was actually overriding possible lockdown on the elevator in order to ensure its activation and standby.

Shadō shrugged, "I never said he or she was ethical in their planning."

Hyōryū mumbles before walking to the door of the elevator and raised it up as the elevator was being primed by Anton, saying, "Well, I aim to kill every last one of them in my way if they decided to string a trap for me."

It only took Anton a few seconds for him to finish priming the elevator. When Hyoryu opened up the door for him, all he had to do was step inside and take a stance. Despite going through only the initial defense, he still held a rather bored composure about himself, almost as if he was convinced that what lay ahead was nothing more than a nuisance that could be taken care of. His rifle was held lazily in both hands, and he didn't bother to sweep his eyes anymore for the time being.

Angelika and Oliver stepped within the elevator, the latter with a slightly cocky gait and smirking at his companion's bold statement. "A-men, sister...." He said casually, taking a position to the back of the elevator and leaning against it. "Just don't get too mad if I happen to beat you to that."

"How about a bet?" Hyōryū asked with a evil gleam and toothy grin, taking out her two Jackals and priming them for high-powered use, sideglancing Oliver for a reaction.

Shadō entered shortly afterwards, closing the doors behind them, moving to the back of the elevator, looming behind everyone with his large stature hugging the shadows instinctively as the elevator readied its decent.

Those four words were enough to catch Oliver's attention. For a moment, his expression changed to one of surprise, and the way he turned his head to face her definitely indicated the unexpected challenge. However, when she held up those signature pistols of hers, the American immediately understood. An anticipatory grin of his own came, his eyes narrowing. Lifting off of the wall, he shoved his rifle in the holster on its back. "I'm listening...." He said smoothly.

"You two cannot be serious...." Anton rolled his eyes. He would've folded his arms across his chest if not for the fact that he was holding his own weapon. "Taking bets, even in this situation? You must be really bored."

Oliver scoffed, passing a glare over to the Russian. "Well, sorry if we can't all be bored sadasses like you, Pinko." He sniffed before turning his attention back to Hyōryū.

Hyōryū then said with a chuckle, "Winner is whoever kills the most rats in this barrel. Loser, has to strip and sing karaoke in front of the Seireitei gates," she winked evilly at Oliver, knowing this was her chance to get her revenge for Oliver outwitting her this morning.

Shadō felt the elevator begin its slow decent to the underworks, but couldn't help but sigh to himself. He put a white gloved hand on Anton's shoulder sympathetically, saying, "Trust me, I know how you feel. I can't recall how many times she's tried to 'bet' with me during missions. Its so unsettling..."

"Oh, you are so on." Oliver raised a free hand to point a taunting finger towards Hyoryu, one of his hands going for one of his own dual pistols strapped to his waist holsters. He kept a casual yet sure tone in his voice. "Hope you'll have fun giving every one of those dickless Japs a good view....." Upon the punctuation of that sentence, he whipped them out, brandishing them in a preparing way.

"Well...." Anton couldn't help but give a weak smile as he turned his eyes towards Shado. "At least now, she has someone that can relate to, fortunately."

Hyōryū snickered, saying back with a evil wink, "Well, at least you'll have something in common with them, now won't you?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Shadō sweatdropped, saying, "That's what I'm afraid of..."

"...yeah...me, too...."

"Augh!!!" Oliver's smirk immediately faded to offended anger, one of his eyes twitching in shock. "F**k you, you fat, tramp, bazooka-boo--"

As Oliver continued on with his angry rant at Hyoryu, Angelika non-chalantly looked over her shoulder at the two sensible males. "Well, think of it this way, you two. It could be worse....." She turned back foward, and Anton could practically hear the amusement in her tone. "This elevator could be playing some horrible waiting music."

Now it was Anton's turn to sweatdrop. "Please don't jinx us, boss..."

"I could do without the cheezy music, Herr Angelika, thank you," Shadō said in a dreading tone, within that moment hearing slight sound of...music? It wasn't just any kind of music...it was singing, below the elevator, gradually becoming more ominous and louder, as if the entire assembly of radicals were singing in praise while working on whatever diabolical contraption they've concocted.

Hyōryū continued to snicker, gradually losing her sense of humor as she heard the almost intoxicatingly ominous sound emanating throughout metalic box that lowered them through the shaft to their destination, as well as starting to sweat from the build-up of heat, "I feel like we're going to Hell and the choir is a sick joke in a way of greeting the arrivals," she retorted, regripping her Jackals tightly, making sure they didn't slip out with the oncoming temperatures and the inevitable build-up of sweat gathering in her palms.

"What in the...."

Oliver himself immediately stopped as he heard the singing, then winced as he felt the heat slam into his nerves. He gritted his teeth, his breathing involuntarily getting slightly audible. He started tapping his foot a little as he gripped his own dual pistols tightly, as if they would slip from his hands if he didn't. "They sure know how to throw a welcome party...." He said solemnly, though his tone still held a bit of excitement. "So it's going to be all well and good when we return the favor."

If Angelika was experiencing any signs of heat, she was hiding it very well. Silently, she readied her sniper rifle and mentally prepared herself for what was to come. "Like I said...." She said lightly. "At least it's not elevator music." Anton followed suit, walking foward from Shado a bit in order to take point near the exit of the lift once it stopped to its final destination.

Hyōryū hissed, tapping her feet impatiently as she said aloud, "I really can't wait to kill these f'ing f***ers now and get the Hell out of here so I can blow this whole god d***ed place TO Hell!"

Shadō then narrowed his eyes as the elevator came to a stop before bouncing a bit as it set into place at the bottom of the shaft. A light ding emanated the box they traveled in, indicating their stop, Shadō saying aloud, "We're here."

"From that singing.... I can tell they're all right in front of us." Angelika said, dropping her sniper rifle to the ground. Anton, as if reading her mind, tossed her his assault rifle and allowed himself to go bare-handed. When she caught the gun, she unplugged the silencer and placed it in its holster. "Silencers off; it's time to stop sneaking around and show them how dangerous the V-14 really is. Once the door opens, we kill every single one of them. Do not give them the dignity of retaliation. Ready?"

Oliver grinned ferally, readying his two pistols as well as himself. "Hell yeah...." He whispered.

Hyōryū bent down raising the door up, the door snapped in place allowing the crew to get a good look of what they descended into. Apparently, it showed a giant group of individuals, all armed to the teeth and armored, their arms and heads raised towards a large effigy of a gruesome entity of the Red Sun was displayed in a idol of 15 feet tall, it was done in great detail of the individual known as the Punisher.

The smell was coming from what appeared to be a giant tripod machine, holding a giant lance with runic symbols and wires tapped into the body of the weapon, and the wires leading to the legs lead to the large boilers, which in turn, seen by those with Spiritual Power above average, see trails coming from the large congregation into the boilers being fed other metals and materials by other radicals from the catwalks above. All in all, it was a hybrid of a cathedral's sanctuary and a giant boiler room of the factory.

It was obvious where the thermal grids were coming from with the large boilers that stood taller than the Punisher statue itself, but the tripod weapon that stood even taller with the 'lance' pointing straight up to 20 feet in height was the real prize of this mission.

Shadō began to tremble as he said in a restrainted voice, "They're...chanting...Kidō...not singing. They're feeding those boilers their Spiritual Energy...along with other materials as...power for that...machine," he pointed towards the tripod, unconfirmed weapon at the far end behind the Punisher statue.

Hyōryū smiled then clicked her triggers onto explosive setting, aiming at the statue's feet in front of the crowd, obviously not noticing them yet she shot a rapid burst of 3 pairs of highly powered Kidō bolts, large explosions emnated off the statue before sprung off the charred and melted support, falling towards the radicals that were now screaming in panic and running away, but not before crushing a good 2 dozen of them.

"Give 'em Hell!!!" She shouted out, firing out her Jackals with a manic glea, noticing the disturbed look on Shadō's face as she could guess came with all the intense Spiritual Energy in the air. She just hoped he didn't lose it in here...

"Don't worry about me!" he shouted back before using Flash Step, shimmering from his position before reappearing amidst some of the radicals turning their weapons upon the group, giving a wide arc with his blade, slicing them all in bloody, gory pieces and began moving to and fro, like a wraith, among their midst, killing them as quickly as the group's firearms were.

"YEE-HAW!!!!"

At that moment, Oliver himself sprung into action with a rebellious shout of glee, Anton disappearing with a Flash Step in order to join Shado. His legs moved him like a cheetah pursing its prey, his guns aimed and fired. His shots were not random, all of them aimed with natural precision at their targets. With every bullet, the air was filled with the repeated burst of red mist, and the enemy fell were they stood. His eyes were narrowed, and his pupils had shrank with an insane excitement that matched the Jackal-wielding woman's.

Angelika, although more composed than anything else, was doing extremely well on her part.

She walked briskly, keeping her aim down the sight and unleashing a steady stream of fire on her targets. Although not as accurate as Oliver's shots were (only a few bullets missed or were sprayed), they fell several of the hapless enemies before they could even retaliate effectively. A grim, sadistic smile came across her face as she suppressed the area, stoppping occasionally to reload.

Lastly, Anton had been vanishing and disappearing between his own victims. His hands moved like knives, cutting and tearing through enemies with as much brutality as Hyoryu had displayed. Bodies fell apart under his grasp, blood and flesh spilled everywhere. Yet, he didn't even flinch as the liquid stained his clothing and his skin. He continued to kill and maime without a second thought, almost like a machine.

Such was the efficiency of V-14.

Hyōryū had managed to work her way across the battlefield as well, blasting away in a manical, laughing glee, shooting radicals left and right, decimating any chances of fighting back with the whole of V-14 present and attacking them with such precision and every angle. As soon as she worked her way to the toppled statue, she slammed her foot onto a cracked Punisher head, smashing it with ease as she approached a handful of radicals guarding the super weapon.

"Why don't you scream for me, just a little loudly if you can, okay?!?!?!?!?!" Hyōryū asked out in a nihilistic cry before letting loose a final, precise volley through the traumatized radicals, the only few that were left were on the catwalks, being picked off by Shadō rapid immersion and forming from the shadows, their Spiritual Energy and blood soon became his own to devour, sustaining his unusually high appetite from the high concentrations of Spiritual Pressure in the air.

Within only a couple minutes, V-14 reduced the hundreds of radicals, armed with enough firepower to take on the Gotei 13's Unseated Division members with ease as well as the Seated Officers, were all but decimated, bloody carnage littering the temple they created.

Hyōryū looked over the weapon after dropping the 2nd pair of Jackal cartridges onto the floor, reloading and holstering her weapons, her hands splayed across the towering weapon and the intricate console controlling it. "This thing is amazing! Its full of Spiritual Energy and other elements of all sorts! This thing could rip a chunk through Sogyoku Hill after wrecking the barrier around the Seireitei with ease!"

An almost completely blood-covered Anton re-appeared right beside her, his bloodied hands in the confines of his pockets as he walked over to her side. Then, he turned his attention to the weapon itself. "No wonder why the Gotei 13 would take a possible interest. But knowing this type of enemy...." He motioned to the dead corpses lying about. "....they would be unfit for storming the Seireitei at all. Maybe they were building it for someone else?"

"It matters little." Angelika spoke up, walking up with her assault rifle over her shoulder. Her other hand was in her pocket. "This type of weapon isn't worth keeping. It's certainly not our style, and once we made the move to take it with us, we would be marked as a target. We're going to make sure no one gets their hands on it." She turned her head towards Anton. "Anton! Generate a Bakuyakunami spell within the confines of this thing. It's scrap, as far as I'm concerned."

"Yes, ma'am!" With a quick salute, Anton quickly moved over to the weapon and placed his hands on it, channeling his energy into the weapon for storage.

Shadō reappeared by Hyōryū speaking lowly, "I've have my fill. What's Anton doing?"

Hyōryū sighed in a disheartened tone, "He's destroying the beautiful weapon that was created. Angelika is so cruel!" She began crying waterfalls from seeing a weapon of mass destruction go to waste, making her masculine partner sweatdrop nervously that she would want such a weapon.

Shadō's eyes suddenly widened as he felt a subtle, yet completely alien natured Spiritual Pressure compared to all of the others he's felt inside the place of worship, including his own team. Something moved within the shadows almost as well as he did, suddenly moving past his, Hyōryū's, Angelika's, and even Oliver's eyes, as suddenly a cloaked figure appeared, hugging the ground low and launching a kick to Anton's side, intending on sending him careening away from the weapon.

The shocked expressions were clear on both Anton's and Oliver's faces, and the Russian even heard the vocalization of "The hell?!" as the hooked figure appeared before him.

However, because of his own training, Anton had nothing to worry about.

Leaving what energy he placed within the weapon, he shifted himself around and caught the attacker's leg with his forearms, hands grasping tightly. He put on a smirk, slightly arrogant in nature. "That was a really bad move, my friend...." He whispered, eyes narrowing. "Tsuzuri Raiden!!!" From the palms of his hands, electricity formed out of his spiritual energy and tore through his opponent with the violent and intense current.

This brought Oliver out of his stupor, the grin returning to his face. He raised a pistol, quickly moved to an angle where he wouldn't hit Anton by accident, and fired bullet upon bullet on his target's person.