Package Deal

The mutts crashed down, their forms like a flurry of large vermin, painting the building and area black and fuzzy as they swarmed. Yipping and howling, drool and spit; it all came crashing down, frenzy screeches forming a wailing orchestra as bodies were flailed and sliced to pieces. These hollows proved easy to contend with, but their vast numbers were meant to wear and tear, not win. A person can only fight for so long, and with no idea how many Hollow existed, it seemed an endless sea of nearing defeat for the two women.

"Beckon the coming calm, Saigai-"

A bright flash of light swept over the buildings, deleting a multitude of the Hollow, opening a clear path for the two women. Behind them, Mizu's partner stood, his body hunched over. Blood fell from his mouth, painting the ground underneath him as he fell to a knee, a small smile on his face. That moment his body rose on its own possessed sparked life within him, but already, it would seem far and gone.

"Run, Mizu... They have... a queen."

Already, his body is swarmed by the rabid mutts that have come to replace the ones that were evaporated, the opening made already beginning to close for the two women.

"Ah, shit."

Ira was at a distinct disadvantage the way this was going, but he had no intentions of trying to just flee. He could see the value of the opening that'd formed from the fallen shinigami's sacrifice, and despite his own lack of particular ability, he wasn't going to ask this shinigami to keep pulling all the weight here.

"C'mon, little lady! If they've got a queen, only right that we handle that instead of these pests!"

He knew that the death of this shinigami would probably impact Mizu a bit more than himself, but he just had to hope she was composed enough to deal with something like that in the heat of the moment. For now, he couldn't really do much else but book it toward the opening that had been formed. Thankfully, he wasn't as slow as he could be.

Sadness and anger welled up inside Mizu as she watched her fallen comrade's final moments spent to provide them with a sliver of hope. As a woman who cared deeply for those she serves with in the Gotei she was distraught, but as a soldier of Soul Society Kumagaya's sacrifice only sharpened her resolve. "I'm right behind you, Ira-san!" yelled Mizu as she sprinted forward and through the opening her colleague had made.

Once they approached the edge of the building they stood on Mizu reached out to grab Ira's hand and leaped from the building. By creating platforms out of her Shikai's crystals, she made it possible for both of them to traverse the chasms separating buildings, and kept Ira with her as she did. As soon as they made it to another section of town, this time having run even further than before, she released Ira and took a moment to both take some breaths and figure out how to hunt down the leader of these monsters.

"Ira-san...I'm sure I don't need to tell you...but we need to find and destroy their leader. I hate to ask this of a human, but please do your best to sense for anything that could be strong enough." True to her word, and as she continued gasping for breath, Mizu expanded her spiritual sensing to its maximum limit to look for this "queen" Kumagaya had mentioned.

They've escaped and gained some distance from the pack at that. However, they shouldn't rest in one spot for long, for the howls of the beasts still echo all around, the hunt still on. It is only a matter of time before the Hollow find the two women and repeat their earlier assault. However, Mizu's attempts will not go unrewarded. As her senses flared with life, she'd sense every mutt around, those tiny speck of Hollow energy diluted her ability to truly get a read on anything, but it was those multitude of specks that allowed her to feel something strangely larger.

It's far, something off in the distance, near the edge of the city. The feeling is muddled, but there's definitely something there. If they dared to chase it, the two women would find themselves in front of a large warehouse that seemed like it was used for housing liquor. Out of the top of the building, one would notice more of those dogs from before, but they seemed dormant, almost like unactive stuffed animals. The smell of something bigger than normal could be sensed within the warehouse.

"Course, little lady! Last thing I'd even think of doing is leavin' you on your own here."

Ira's steps kept up with Mizu, her platforms naturally helping his decent agility. Only as they moved toward the larger spiritual source, quite obviously the origin of all this, did Ira hop back down to the ground, studying the large doors of the warehouse for a moment.

"Well, little lady, what's the plan? I blow the door open, you clear it out with some big spell? We don't exactly have much time before the rest of them hollows get to us, I imagine."

Things were tense around here. Whatever decision the shinigami went with, they'd have to go about it quick.

The large storehouse the duo found themselves in wasn't quite intimidating to young Mizu, but it was certainly foreboding. She could sense something different within the structure, and with the appearance of the strangely dormant hounds from Hell topping it, Mizu was pretty certain their true enemy could be hiding or held within.

Ira's plan worked just fine for MIzu, who was ready to defeat the shadowy figure behind all this and return to Soul Society. She could do with a good night's rest and an opportunity to properly grieve her fallen comrade. "Sounds fine to me, Ira-san. I'll prepare while you smash it open."

With all of her ire, all of her pent up rage and revenge-seeking pouring out of her soul, Mizu raised her palms at the door as her companion went to smash it open. ""Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." Only once Ira had smashed open the facility's door did Mizu finish casting her spell "Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!" From her palms a sizable wave of fiery blue energy exploded forth and ravaged the storehouse's innards, spreading volatile power to its every corner.