Running on foot through town reminded him just how hard this actually was. Back in the soul society, running messages back and forth for squad 2, he's mostly used his
shunpo to get from point A to point B. Right now though, he couldn't have flash stepped across the street much less across town. Already winded from the last fight, this running was killing him.
"Ha...ha...ha...ha...ha...ha...ha...My god...people...did this...before...shunpo...gotta be...kidding...me..."
Kage panted the words out between breaths, cutting through an alley and turning out into a busy street. It was crowded here, but thankfully no one could see him. However, it did present a bit of a problem.
Two women walked down the sidewalk, bags hanging off both arms as they talked with each other. On their way home from the mall, both were considerably distracted, and of course, they didn't see him come out of the alleyway. One girl screamed in suprised as she tripped over him, falling over on the ground with the bags scattering over the sidewalk. The other girl rushed over to her aid as Kage stumbled backwards into the street.
"Sorry, sorry! Oh right, you can't hear me..." He said as he remembered. Pausing for a moment and watching them to make sure she was alright, he didn't see the lights coming at him until they were almost upon him. The glare finally got his attention, turning to see a car speeding right at him.
"Oh god!" he said leaping into the air, though with no energy it didn't work nearly as well as he'd hoped. Rather than leaping up to the rooftops, he only managed to clear the hood of the car, the windshield catching his feet.
"GAH!" he yelled out as he tumbled over the roof and off the trunk of the car before crumpling on the pavement. Thankfully, at this time of night, there wasn't a great deal of traffic, and there wasn't another one coming behind it.
"ooowwwwwwww..." Kage said as he picked himself up, rubbing his head, "I think this place actually got -more- dangerous since I died. What's up with that?" he asked, even though obviously there was no one there to answer him. He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes before remembering the mission.
"Hollows! Right!" he yelled out and took off running again. Crossing the street and running down the sidewalk, he had to duck and weave around people walking down it as well. He didn't want to end up tripping another human. Turning a corner, he looked up to find the closest portal. But the portal wasn't there, and the hollows were much closer than he expected.
Kage looked straight up at a massive hollow standing six spindly legs with two forcep-like arms.
"What is it with the freakin' bugs???" he said out loud as he drew his zanpakuto, "Alright, Gleam, let's swat this insect!"
THe hollow glared down at him before spearing forward with one of its arms. Kage ducked off to the side to avoid it, dodging it easily. But clearly the hollow had been expecting that. Sweeping its arm off to the side, it took Kage with it and slammed him into a building.
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"Are you okay?" One of the girls asked the other, helping to pick up the bags and repack everything before helping her to her feet.
"I think so" she said, looking back behind her, "I have no idea what happened though. I can't see what I could have tripped over." she answered her. Shrugging her shoulders and moving on though, they continued down the sidewalk. THey didn't get more than halfway down the block though when the corner of the building, other side of the street and other end of the block, exploded in a shower of stone and dust.
Both girls screamed and dropped their bags, running off and ducking into an entry way, covering their heads and huddling together. Whether it was a bomb or an attack, all they could do right now was hide.
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The hollow pulled back its arm, waiting for the dust to clear. Through the cloud it couldn't see anything to determine if the shinigami was dead or not. Narrowing its eyes, it leaned forward, peering into the darkness.
*FSHHHHHHHNNNKKK*
Kage lashed out from the middle of the dust cloud just as the hollow leaned forward. The tip of his zanpakuo cut across its mask, scarring it with a shallow groove but overall doing little damage. He flourished his sword and swept it out to the side, the wind from his stroke clearing away the dust.
"That didn't feel good, did it. I got plenty more where that came from! Come and get i-"
The hollow didn't wait for him to finish. As soon as he said 'come', the hollow rushed forward, extending one of its arms. Rather than spear him with it, it caught him with the flat of its limb. kage was thrown hard across the street, impacting the drivers side door of a parked car with enough force to dent it in. He slumped to the ground again with a groan, but even hit like that, he didn't drop his blade.
"Oh god...if it's not the bugs it's the cars..." he said as he used his sword to help prop himself up. Climbing to his feet, he brought his sword back up in front of him to a ready position. Lifting it up a bit, he let go with his left hand and let the blade fall forward. The hilt twisted and spun in his hand. His fingers tightened around it as it fell into a reverse grip. Widening his stance, he let his arm hang down between his legs with the tip of the sword pointed up at the hollow.
"Alright, round two big guy. Lets dance!" he said. Just like before, the hollow came after him as fast as it could. He was ready this time though, ducking off to the side, lower than his already low stance. The hollows arm passed just over his shoulder, spearing through the already dented car door. The time to strike was now.
Twisting on the leg he moved over, he swept the other leg back over the ground. As he did that he slashed upwards at the hollows extended arm. The blade caught it and cut clean through, sending the hollow reeling backwards as its severed arm fell to the ground, the tip of its arm still stuck in the car. Now injured, the hollow thought twice about charging in again. The tips of its many legs clicked against the pavement as it shuffled off to the side, looking for an attack of opertunity. Kage dropped into his ready stance though and waited.
The hollow sprang at him after moving out into the middle of the intersection. Rushing forward and raising its arm he readied itself to crush the shinigami. An attack of desperation more than anything and leaving itself open, Kage thrust his zanpakuto forward. The hollows arm came down, striking the ground where he previously stood. Inches away from where he stood now, his sword reached just far enough to peirce its mask, cracking it in half down the middle.
Releasing a peircing scream, it stumbled backwards clutching its face with one arm and the stump of the other. Before it could recover though, Kage walked over to it. ROlling around on the ground in pain, he decided to end it quickly. Raising his sword over his head in one hand and focusing all he could in his other, he conjured the smallest amount of spiritual energy he'd ever shaped into kido.
[font color=blue]"HADO #1: SHO!"[/font]
The blast went out, weak, but enough. The hollow rolled over onto its back, all six legs waving in the air. The hollow was too blinded by pain to right itself, and running over without a second thought, KageNeko brought his zanpakuto down on its head, drivinghis sword through his mask and into the pavement. The hollow screamed and thrashed, but its head stayed firmly pinned to the ground. Its body rolled from side to side, a cracking sound coming from within its neck as the vertibrae popped against each other. Eventually though, the hollow became still and finally succombed, disintegrating into the air and vanishing.
"Whew...one down." He said, pulling the tip of his blade out of the pavement. Turning around to survey the damage, it didn't seem as bad as it felt when he was fighting. But up the street, there were already more hollows approaching.
"Awww COME ON! Screw this shinigami..."
