Dark Clown: Journey to Never Again

"What...?"

The face of the Captain of the Stealth Division was an expression of shock as he looked at the piece of paper that laid on the ground in front of him, dropped away from the fingers of his right hand. "Not... This time." The male muttered, gritting his teeth as he smashed his foot into the paper. Reaching back both hands, he gripped the back of his captain's haori, before removing it completely with a brandish. "IF that's where you're going, Vice Captain... Then that's where I'm going too." The white-haired Shinigami decided, reaching for another uniform, one without any markings of any kind. It was black as night, and wrapped around Kuro's body. "After all... you didn't get my permission to leave, now did you?"

At a brisk pace, the Shinigami was out of his office, the sound of the door echoing through the halls. Kuro had slammed it shut.

"Captain! Where are you-"

It was unusual for Kuro to leave his quarters in such a noisy way. He was quite obviously irritated. Unusually irritated. Kuro was not one to get upset, or cause for there to be loud noises. Now, however, his footsteps were loud, and he ignored the voices of those he strode past. "Piero... He's gone there, hasn't he?" The Captain asked his Ziamichi spirit, completely silent.

"...Yeah... there's not really anywhere else the moron could have gone. Damn, he's as stupid as you are." The spirit replied, and Kuro paused for a moment, shutting his eyes. As he did so, the shadow he gave off from behind himself pooled around his body, before extending into the shadows of all directions. "...Yeah... I can't find him." Kuro finally declared, before walking back to his home.

"Piero. It's time to use it." Kuro declared, before reaching both hands out. "OH GOODY! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER FOR YOU TO SAY THAT!"

The Laughing Gray was living up to his name as he maniacally cackled within Kuro's head. Kuro was standing in the middle of his living room, staring at the bed for two which had held only one for years now...

His left arm began to move outside of his control. Piero was taking it over and using it for himself. The arm moved around, before the palm faced Kuro's eyes. The fingers elongated, ebony daggers that slid along his alabaster hair. "..." Kuro was silent as he gazed into the hand, unblinking.

"...You could at least look a little scared." The voice came out of Kuro's mouth, though it contained an annoyance foreign to the Shinigami. At those words, the hand reached forwards, gripping down onto Kuro's face... and pushing.

Kuro's mouth was opened as his arm began to go down his throat, the limb changing into a liquid form as it seeped deep inside of his body. "Guuh.." The male choked, falling down onto the ground of his room as he shook his head. "Gra...!" He fell to his knees as his right arm, his only remaining limb, gripped at his chest. His heart was racing, feeling tighter and tighter. Each breath brought with it terrific pain, enough to render a normal man unconscious. It could only get worse.

"THIS... IS.. MY.." Kuro's strained words left his lips... along with trails of blood. Black blood, that seeped from his mouth, dispersing along his face and the front of his assassin's garb. Of course... the only way that I'll survive there... is if...

Kuro's mouth choked, before leaning his head back as a small nub broke through the flesh of his head, out of his star-shaped scar. "HAaa.a..." He let out, his hand gripping tighter as the nub fully morphed, turning into a horn. IS this what... hollowification... feels like...? My.. body...!

It was all Kuro could do to remain on top of his mental processes. "A bit more...!" He choked out, a spurt of blood shooting out of his mouth as it landed on the floor. His energy signature began to change, the voice of his Zanpakutō dimming. "Never... again!" The male spat, his right hand clutching as it punched into the floor. "Never again!" He said again.

"I'M NEVER GOING TO WATCH A YOUNG SHADOW BE ABANDONED BY THE LIGHT AGAIN!"

With that final statement, disturbed energies ripped away from Kuro's fist, planting along the floor as it began to call to its home. He was not sure what would happen next, but he had laid out the summons pretty openly. His home was set so that nothing would leak to the outside, and whatever did come would be able to feel that they were cut off from the outside world, unable to tell where Kuro was summoning them from...