Quelling the Insurgents [Prelude Event - Demon World Stabilisation]

"He's running around the corner; I'm maintaining pursuit of the target."

The sound of heavy footsteps slamming onto the stony pavement resounded in a quick cadence. A massive bipedal creature ran through the streets of Flow City, his red form blending in with the red tinge of the Demon World's night skies that were illuminated by the city's constant glow, the operations of the city always at work, even more so in the night, where many demons were most awake. Yet, on these old streets with alleyways woven in such that this whole neighborhood was something of a labyrinth, it was only the sound of the beast's feet tackling the ground that echoed. Not even a lamp in one of the buildings was a lit--reason being, this man was a fugitive.

But the Demon World was plagued with crime all over. What was special about this gargantuan demon was that he was a hollow-sympathiser, previously imprisoned for aiding a radical hollow-rights group in attacking a government administration building. They were all caught, many of the hollows, arrancars, and demons caught already executed; this one escaped just before his time. That was the reason nobody dared to walk onto the streets or even turn the lights in their housing off. Not just because the creature running around was a criminal; it was because he was a fugitive, and that he was running away.

It was only his feet making noise in the neighborhood, but there was definitely something trailing behind. Her feet ran across the pavement, but they made no sound. Even the puddles of water she ran across made no ripples. Complete and utter silence. Behind him was what people called "The Ghost", and for good reason. Frankly, any time the Sixth Circle was in an area, all activity automatically shutdown.

"Haahh... hahh... she's... is she still coming?"

The creature ran into an alleyway, turning around and panting from exhaustion. He was looking back to see if The Ghost was still trailing him, as he knew that trying to listen around for her would be a futile defense. But, even looking around for her wouldn't do much good.

"Target found. No custody? Roger. Executing the target."

The demon looked up, two slate-red near violet eyes glowing above him. A sense of fear pervaded him before he regained his composure and sent two blasts of energy at her, running away in the process. This would also yield no favourable results. The girl's hand clenched into a fist, a few silent words escaping her mouth as glowing demonic texts coated her hand. She punched the two blasts and sent them straight back towards the running demon.

Just before it hit him, the demon activated Possessive Shift and dodged the ricocheted projectiles. The demon was fairly talented in movement-based techniques and landed his movement several hundred metres away from his original location, and he knew that the Ghost was a hybrid. To his understanding from the underworld gossip of her personage, she wasn't particularly fast by demonic standards. Though he did hear that she rarely used any movement abilities, most said it wasn't out of inability but because it was unnecessary for her. Something about her eyes, it was the reason running away once she was already on your tail always seemed futile. Recalling the details, the demon stayed diligent and aware, quickly calming himself before turning to shift again. The more distance he created, the better his chances. Unfortunately, the shift wouldn't occur.

There was no sound, yet a bullet was lodged in the demon's lower back, just before he activated his movement. Soon after, some energy from the bullet ran amok in his body, the Za Koa within him breaking down and escaping his body or locking up once in contact with the energy from the bullet. Eventually, the demon's body froze up completely and fell to the ground.

"Target hit, 400 metres away from my location. I'll go finish the job and move on to the next."

Tsubaki looked up to the sky and sighed. It was going to be a long night. This was only one demon, and the rest of her squad was busy apprehending their own targets. Ever since the Hollow King's message rung out in Hueco Mundo, even hollows, arrancars, and their sympathisers in the Demon World Capital were rising up to his call and rebelling.