An Autumnal Chill Blows Toward the West

Ray looked up at the clouds and could tell that this energy was not the one he thought of but knew it had to be stopped either way," Hikaru what is your plan anyway?" Ray asked with a confused look.

Hikaru looked to the skies. "We go west."

Regime Change
In the midst of a vast field known as the great plains, a GMC Yukon that hovered above the ground was noticable. Suteki was driving on, now with John beside her instead of Sora. Hikaru and Saya were in the middle seats once again, with Aki and Ray in the back. Saya was sleeping against Hikaru, and John was listening to Hikaru's iPod. His eyes were closed as he mumbled the lyrics to the songs that were being played. Ray and Aki sat almost exactly alike; they weren't facing each other. Hikaru sighed and said, "I will never live here. Too vast."

"Are you sure it was the right decision to leave Sore behind?!" Ray asked with worry.

"We should've gone and made sure they were okay," Aki agreed with Ray.

Suteki looked in the rear view mirror and asked with such great intimidation in her eyes, "Are you trying to insult my brother?!"

"No it's just that energy in the sky wasn't like anything i've ever felt before." Aki said.

Ray just got lost in thought.

Suteki turned around without saying a reassuring word. Hikaru then said, "He'll be fine. Mizu's there, and so are Nodoka and Sayuri. He's in good hands."

Suteki relaxed a little, then said, "I'm an older sister; we worry when our little brothers or sisters are hurt."

Hikaru smiled, "Good, don't fight it. That only shows how much you love Sora. However, he would want us to keep going on. I could tell that the blast he was hit with wouldn't kill him. Not if he used his Ressurecion."

Suteki smiled faintly, "True."

"Alright then, if you're sure guys then i have to believe you." Ray said looking out the window.

"I agree." Aki said sighing.

Saya woke up and snuggled closer to Hikaru. "Are we there yet?"

"You asked that an hour ago," said Hikaru.

Saya looked lovingly at Hikaru and said, "And now it's an hour later."

Hikaru chuckled and said, "We're getting close to the Rocky Mountains."

"Real imaginative name," mused Suteki. "Why not the 'Vast Wasteland of Pointy Rocks'?"

"Because Americans don't have the patience or capacity to have so many syllables to say such a name," answered John as he woke. Everyone stared at him. "What? I'm British."

"Anyway why are we heading for the Rocky Mountains anyway?" Aki asked while Ray was still in deep thought.

"Washington is where the second phnomenon was present," answered Hikaru. "For now, that is our only lead."

"I see, do you really think that the center is behind all this?" Aki asked.

"I'm not sure," responded Hikaru. "Seems like something like this would be easy to solve, but there seem to be bursts of where this power to create new Soul Reapers and Quincies is present."

"Could the Center constantly shift?" asked John.

"Doesn't seem like it," mused Hikaru. "From what I've heard and observed, the Center seems to give people the ability to develop spiritual powers, but it seems that these phenomena are only percentages of energy."

"Why do you say that?" asked Suteki. "They seem powerful enough if they make Soul Reapers that outnumber the Seireitei."

"They can't outnumber the Seireitei because there aren't enough spiritually aware people on Earth to be so," stated Hikaru. "However, they seem to develop powers that equal Ichigo's when he first became a Soul Reaper, but because of their lack of control, they are killed by or lose their power. However, I observed the reitatsu of the object that Ikasoruke was drilling to, and found that it had a primal escense to it. It envoked a feeling of origin."

"So you think that was the Center?" asked Saya.

"Like I said before, it was only a fraction," responded Hikaru. "It was indeed powerful, but when I observed it, it was like I was studying the finger of another person."

"What?" asked Saya.

"It was like I could only see the appendage of something rather than the full picture."

"Wait," started John. "So that energy mass was like the finger of the Center?"

"That's the only way I can describe it to a degree where we can understand," responded Hikaru.

"No, not even close. This power is nothing like the center. It's something else something more dangerous." Ray finally said as he looked forward.

"What makes you that say that, mouse breath?" Aki asked Ray.

"Because bubble butt, the only way for the center to be released in the human world is if someone had already open the portal to it." Ray explained.

"Is it possible that some of the power may have slipped out and mutated spirit energy hotspots?" asked Saya.

"Maybe, the Soul-Kings opens the portal every century so it maybe be possible but i don't think this is the cause of it." Ray said looking out the window.

John looked out of the side of the window, "What about spent energy from a defensive attack?"

Hikaru raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"The Center seems to be more powerful than we first imagined," stated John. "It even seems that the energy from an attack or from a defensive measure may even have the power to cause these events to unfold in Washington and New York."

Hikaru looked at Ray, "What do you think? Does that seem plausible?"

"It's possible but for right now we need to get to the top and see what's going on." Ray said with seriousness.

Suteki smiled, "At least we know what caused the phenomena to happen."

"He said it was possible, not what happened," said John.

"Possible is enough for me," said Suteki. "No other spiritual being aside from Raian, Seireitou, and even Hikaru can attempt such an endeavor. Ikasoruke has the power, but he can only destroy. And since he is a hollow, he cannot make Soul Reapers."

"And the Quincies?" asked Saya.

"Residual energy from a Quincy arrow could be absorbed into the mass of energy to cause such a thing to happen," said Suteki. "Hell, I think that the energy that cause the mutation hits any raw or spent energy near it. And the smaller mass of energy would be drawn to the greater mass because of the gravitic field that the greater of the two holds, thus causing Quincies to be born."

"Was Uryu there?" asked John.

"Not then," said Hikaru. "The Quincies started to appear 3 days before we came to New York, so he must have run off somewhere else."

"This is really becoming interesting," said Suteki. She then said, "We're at the Rockies, kiddies!"

"Technically, we're all older than you," said Hikaru.

Suteki turned back and said, "Who has her driver's license?"

Hikaru looked down.

Suteki laughed, "You STILL don't have a license?"

"I can fly," said Hikaru. "I don't need a license."

"Wouldn't you want to drive me around?" asked Saya.

Hikaru smiled, "If you promise not to backseat drive."

"Come on we're wasting time." Ray told them.

Suteki grinned, "Hang on then."

Spotlight
John was the first out of the Yukon. He was pale as snow. He then said, "Never again will I travel in that metal frame of evil."

Hikaru yawned, "You get used to it."

Suteki stretched, then said, "Alright, the second location where the Soul Reapers appeared was on the shore. It's 8:40 PM now, so let's call it quits for the day."

HIkaru nodded, "I don't care where it is, let's just get something to eat."

"There's a Round Table Pizza restaurant near a hotel I was thinking of," answered Suteki.

"Cool," said Hikaru. "Let's go."

Gunfire to the Head
After everyone had eaten, they all met at Suteki's suite in a hotel near the restaurant. Hikaru and Saya were on the loveseat, Suteki was in a chair, and John, Aki, and Ray were on the couch. Hikaru and Saya were half-asleep, so John and the others were the only one really listening to Suteki.

"The Soul Reapers made by that energy mass didn't last long here," said Suteki. "Most of them died from spiritual overload."

"Spiritual overload?" asked John.

"They had too much unstable spirit energy," explained Suteki.

"Then that show's that it must be something else causing these phenomenon's." Ray said getting up to look out the window.

"Well whatever it is, we need to figure it out now." Aki said.

John sighed, "Let's just get some rest already."

"Nothing is keeping you here," said Suteki.

John yawned, "Anyone notice that these places have been at places of ironic paranormal activity?"

Suteki looked at John with a confused look.

"I mean, we've been to Lake Erie, which sounds the same as 'eerie', and we're in Washington, which is the state where most of the Twilight books take place."

Suteki blankly stared at John, "Right, and the next location will be at the Bermuda Triangle."

"What the hell is wrong with you guys, do you take anything serious?!" Aki yelled as she left and went to her room.