Operation Wardogs: Dallas Texas. [Open]

It has been some time since I have been back… here. In the field.

A single thought washed over the mental landscape that was the man's mind. Hair white as snow shone in the Texas sun as one foot exited the Seikaimon, followed by the man the hair belonged to. His lifeless eyes surveyed the wasteland, completely silent for a few moments as he got his bearings. Not being in the Soul Society meant that he simply could not comprehend what shadows were safe and those which were not. It was a little disorienting, and it meant that a decent number of his trained abilities and skills were useless here.

As for the ones that were not useless, the others were hampered by the noonday sun. Why… One hand shielded his squinted eyes as he gazed at the sun, trying to figure out why this attack had been launched at noon. Ah well. We are in a working area… He consoled himself, aware of the various buildings and industrial facets of the area around them.

"…I am ready. Do not… kill… the next one. We… need… information from them."

Kuro's voice cracked and broke at the idea that he needed something from the demon scum, or at the idea that he should not immediately dispose of them. He walked over to a nearby patch of shadow, glancing back at Magnolia as his body began to sink. "…Once we know where they perform their communications, you can destroy it… I'll handle any personnel attempting to escape…"

With those words, the man disappeared into the shadow. If Magnolia paid attention, she would see his otherwise imperceptible form slipping and sliding along the shadows, his consciousness beginning to spread.

Drifting, swimming. That was how it felt to him, his body sliding along the shadows. His awareness of his surroundings began to spread, finding Magnolia's shadow beneath the sun. He decided to locate the next target for her, and began analyzing the nearby area. His head slowly drew back from the shadows, Magnolia's comms buzzing again.

"About four hundred meters to the West… There's an isolated individual, not patrolling. I'll perform capture; you interrogate." He informed her, his head sinking back beneath the ground as his shadow slid and slipped along the industrial complex, a strange black line occasionally extending between shadows that indicated his movement.

At last, beneath the lone demon, curling shadow slid up his legs, another band of the shadow substance coiling around his mouth, a single blow coming from Kuro's hand as he rose from the ground. The man went limp as Kuro knocked him unconscious, his shadows reforming into a web that strung the man up where Kuro had located him. The white-haired Shinigami slipped back into his shadows then, waiting for Magnolia to return. The only complication he could currently think of was if this Demon were to flare up his energy; of course, that would be the first question for when he returned consciousness. Letting him know that if he decided to be difficult, those shadow like tendrils were going to rip him limb from limb from limb… for however many limbs this grotesque thing has…

Lifeless eyes concealed Kuro's distaste, though his actions did not. The web was so tightly coiled around the demon that when it finally regained consciousness, it was likely that it was missing feeling in both of its arms…

Kuro's fingers occasionally twitched, causing the demon's bindings to increase in tightness, becoming excruciatingly uncomfortable with each minute tug. Kuro's eyes widened as he felt the demon beginning to react to whatever it was that the woman had done to it. …Hmm, and exactly what is that…? He wondered to himself, his eyes returning to half-lidded once more as she spoke into his ears.

"You… you can't…" The demon choked out, Kuro's fingers tightening as the shadows crept up along his neck, applying substantially more pressure than before. "…Have before." He said coldly, without emotion, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. That was a result of how underused it was. Finally, the demon's will broke. "I… I…"

"Where is the comm's center? Where do you keep your supplies? And when is the next set of supplies planned to arrive?"

Kuro's eyes shone in the darkness behind the demon, his bloodlust passing through the creature and directly into where Magnolia was standing. If she were not prepared, it was even possible she might enter into a defensive stance. "…The building between the tower, and the second building on the left… There's an underground entrance in the tower itself." At those words, Kuro's grip began to loosen considerably, all of the tightness leaving the demon's limbs.

"…As for the, the… supplies, uh… We keep them in two main buildings, one to the far west, and one in the center of the compound. Both of them have these big loading bays by the front of the, the… the building!" He squeaked out, and Kuro's shadows receded further.

"But, but… I don't know where the supplies are, are gonna, when they… oh, no… Khala no… no don't, not… NOOO!"

At that, Kuro released the demon, directly into where Magnolia was standing, the tiniest hint of a smile grazing the edges of his lips. He looked forward to seeing how she would eviscerate him. Once that mess was done, he would lock eyes with her once again.

"…Comm's center first. Blockbusting it would be the most effective solution. Once that's finished, you handle any attention that gathers while advancing towards the center supply depot. I'll perform recon… and then head to the far depot. Alright?"

If she agreed with his plan, Kuro would sink gradually back into the shadows, leaving an almost imperceptible trail of darkness along the ground as he slithered and dashed rapidly along the ground, towards the compound.

He could feel his blood beginning to pump; this was what he lived for, after all.

…How hard did she hit for the man to actually turn into mist…? Part of Kuro was morbidly fascinated with the question; it was not often he saw another living creature reduced to a blood-stained mist. "…" His silence answered her question, his weapons primed and ready to continue.

Knightslaves… Kuro's eyes closed as he began to feel outwards towards the shadows. He could locate Magnolia's easily; and from there, he deduced what was moving. His eyes began to open as the three individuals located him. One hand moved onto the ground, pressing onto his own shadow. Fingers pressed into the dirt, crumbles drifting off of the ground as his fingers retracted. A black oozing substance appeared within his grip, his wrist going higher and higher into the air. At last, the shadow changed, morphing and twisting as the shadow became string-like, winding and warping as it grew thinner and thinner, disconnecting completely from the ground.

Kuro's other hand pressed onto the wall of the comm center, pulling out a similar oozing blackness. By the time the Knightslaves reached him, both hands were covered in black string-like objects. Both hands began moving as they approached, and the wiry things lashed outwards towards them. Both hands moved up and down, side to side, the strings he was manipulating finding their targets as a smile wrapped its way around Kuro's face. His feet pushed onto the ground, the wires circling repeatedly around him. The first demon had been ensnared by his seeking wiring, Kuro's hand pulling hard to the right as the man was forcibly dragged out of where he was standing, the shadowy strings shortening as the muscles in Kuro's deformed arm bulged. The misshapen limb moved easily, the demon getting thrown directly into the wall of the comm's center.

…We still managed to attract this much attention… Energy blasts were flying towards him as Kuro's feet maneuvered themselves out of the way of the first few bullets. His fingers waggled and twitched, shields made out of his shadowy strings constructing and being blown away as the aim of the approaching demons improved. Refocusing himself, Kuro thrust off of the ground, all of the strings in his hand wrapping around his target as each finger wrapped around the man's head. A blade like appendage slammed into Kuro's side… the raw force of which was enough to knock his body backwards.

And yet…

The man did not loosen his grip. In fact, the demon's neck would bear unbearable pressure as Kuro shoved his hips backwards, rising up into the air above the man, his blood dripping down his side. Kuro's misshapen hand was still twitching, fingers still moving about as more shields appeared, blocking the incoming attacks from his other adversary. The strings in hand above the man's head were moving, spiraling… growing tighter and tighter around their quarry. He could feel Kuro's fingertips moving in circling motions around his scalp… along with the dreadful tightening around his neck. A tightening that was growing stronger… and stronger… and stronger…!

Without pause, Kuro released the man's head. Two things then descended onto the ground; Kuro's feet, and his opponent's skull. Locking his eyes on the remaining demon, Kuro could finally see what he was looking for. That's it… demon… Fear… Kuro's lips began to warp as they became a smile, his spine straightening. His uncanny bloodlust began to pour from his body, the demon's entire body rocked by the sensation that Kuro was going to kill him. In a way more brutal than his comrade… who laid on the ground, wires having pushed deep into his open throat cavity, down his intestine, rending apart his organs, tearing him internally limb from limb to ensure he would not be returning to this fight.

"…Scum…" Kuro's contorted lips loosed the single soft-spoken word. He was a Shinigami, and he had come to stake his claim. The fingers in his right hand contorted, shifting and reshaping the shadowy strings, more of the dark substance beginning to pour from his arm. The energy condensed, turning into a ball-like shape on the tip of Kuro's finger. The ball then began to grow spikes, still only about the size of Kuro's palm. The demon stood there, staring, waiting.

Kuro's attention was still on his own creation; perhaps that was why the demon only began to realize what was about to happen as Kuro met his eyes once again. The star-like scar on his face shone in the darkness. The spiked ball on his fingertip rotated at ever increasing speeds. Kuro finally took aim… and fired.

The demon backed up, dodging as hard as he could to the side. But what he hadn't realized was that the ball had been stopped… and a second hand appeared behind it, formed out of the same shadowy blackness, a set of interwoven springs of shadowy construction forming behind it, as Kuro took aim at the dodging demon, and fired it again.

On contact, the small spiked ball finally erupted. It grew several hundred times its own size, the spikes slamming into the demon's body. Its defenses were enough to deal with that, but the weight of the thing would knock him off of his feet, the shadowy ball landing on top, spikes pressing against several points on his body. Kuro's hand fell onto his side, and he then squeezed his fingers tight. Atop the demon, the ball began to spin, taking on a modification from Kuro's arsenal that dramatically increased its rotational speed. Harder and harder, faster and faster… the demon was crushed under the ball, skin torn asunder as its defenses were overwhelmed, chipped and smashed away beneath the force of the sphere.

Kuro's intense gaze remained on the scene until each and every piece had been ripped from the man's body, leaving a scattered pile of flesh and blood. The darkness of the ball began to ooze and fade away, returning to the shadows around it, leaving no evidence of what had caused this devastating effect.

…And finally…

Kuro's body disappeared, the quiet shwup of Hoho bouncing off of the otherwise silent walls of the comm center. The only one who could have heard such a noise was dealing with his own problems, namely one of his legs having been ripped off from when Kuro had slammed into a building earlier. The shadowy strings had released him shortly afterward, and he was still trying to comprehend the strength with which he had been tossed. His mind was racing, trying to figure out how someone with that kind of strength could have infiltrated Dallas without the alarm having been raised.

"…The way… you look…"

The demon shuddered, his body beginning to shake. Above him, he could see the waist of the Shinigami who had already taken one of his legs. More than that, he could see the Zanpakuto, pointed directly at his head. "…Will you run…?" Kuro asked the demon, the Shinigami's eyes slowly widening. His whole body was primed for the kill, ready to do to this man much more horrendous things than he had done to his comrades. One had his head ripped off, and his entrails mutilated. The other had his flesh and blood torn and smashed out of him. All that remained was that sword.

"…Ha… haaa… hae… hiiee… HIIIIIIEEEEE-!"

The scream was cut short as the man was cut down. Kuro's blade thrust directly through his head, his hand jerking to the side as he turned his blood in a clock-wise motion, cracking and shattering his skull with a sickening crunch. Kuro's hand drew itself back as the Shinigami stared down at what he believed to be a corpse. Even if he were to survive such a blow… that noise he had loosed ensured he had already lost, his body and spirit shattered.

All in all, Kuro's work had been done in about a minute. His heart was thundering in his chest from the intensity of battle, even as he refocused himself on his objective. Both hands reached onto the ground, the smell of blood still wafting around him from his blade. His eyes closed, trying to bring his focus off of battle, trying to bring back onto one who performed reconnaissance. …No more… incoming targets… and all the ones who had been around Magnolia earlier have stopped moving. His eyes opened once more, moving briskly away from the comm center.

"…I am finished. You are clear to destroy the building." Kuro replied answered the noise in his head, turning his back to observe the incoming destruction. …Once it erupts… that will be the signal. Then it's just the supply depots. His blood was still pumping from the earlier combat. This was what he lived for, after all… but it was also now pumping out of him. Ack. Placing one hand over the wound, his shadows began stitching themselves along his flesh, the pain finally piercing through his focus and adrenaline as he tried to ground himself, breathing in, and out… in, and out…

I can do this.