Raise the Mask: Dark Manifestation reaches Critical Mass [Closed]

Things have been strange for Snopy. For the last few days he has been feeling just odd. As he worked he had been getting these strange headaches. People would see him holding his head and ask what was up. When he mentioned the headache, they always suggested her take it a bit easier when he worked. He tried slowing down, but to no avail. At first this headache was minor. It just irritated him. As the days passed, it got worse. It was extremely slow in coming. Almost no difference from morning to night. People told him to head to Squad 4, but he declined. He normally wasn't one to refuse help when he needed it, but something about this was different. He just had a feeling the results might not be optimal if he went to Squad 4. Plus if Kanna found out he wasn't sure what would happen. He should feel safe around her...yet something was just way too wrong. He didn't know what he would do, but going to her wasn't a viable option in his head.

As things got worse he took some time off, saying he needed to relieve some stress. He assured everyone he'd be back soon and went to stay at his home. This was where he was now. Much of the time he laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He had energy. In fact, he seemed to have a lot of energy. This made it even stranger that he was like this. Normally when one was ill their energy would be low, but he found it hard to stay still. He paced through his house a lot. His mind rushed in all kinds of directions. Nothing in he knowledge offered even a little explanation on how this was happening. He couldn't fathom what was causing it. In fact, for the first time in awhile, he was becoming truly stressed out.

He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to tell Kanna. Snopy was actually a little scared. This was something he never really felt, but things were just so out of whack. He was in increasingly immense pain, he had all this energy. He honestly felt like he desperately needed someone to comfort him right now. Yet still, he wasn't sure if it was the best idea. He had a gut feeling that Shinigami healing wouldn't cut it. This was an illness, not an injury. At the same time, he felt like this had been festering for a long time. There was always this sense of "not everything was right within him", ever since he died. So many hollow, and his killer was doing hollowfication experiments. Could this have something to do with it? Was this why he felt he couldn't tell anyone? Either way, he shook his head as he went and had a bite to eat.

He sat down, and as he went to chew his food his headache made him almost cry out in pain. This was worse than anything he had ever felt. The chewing only agitated it. Every bite felt like millions of needles were piercing his head. Still, somehow he forced down all of his food. Once he finished he pulled his legs up to his chest and held them. It was a rather pathetic position for Snopy, but that was how he felt. He didn't know what was wrong. He felt helpless and scared, emotions he had thought he had forgotten from disuse. Of course, this kind of thing was something that would worry, if not scare, most of the population. He sat in this position for awhile, wondering what he was going to do.

As he sat trying to calm himself, he thought he felt something familiar nearby. The thing was, the only person he knew that knew where he lived didn't have energy like that. Though, when she had found his house he had no idea how. Yet, he shrugged off the feeling as his imagination playing tricks on him. Maybe it wasn't even playing tricks, maybe in its strange way, it was trying to comfort him. Naturally deep down he really needed someone here for him to soothe his nerves, but outwardly he avoided it for whatever reason. Perhaps he just didn't want to really worry anyone. For some reason he felt this wasn't something that could be simply cured. The last thing he needed was someone to worry because they literally could not help him. Yet his instincts screamed "DANGER DANGER", so keeping away from others would also be a precaution to protect them. On a conscious level, he was unaware of this.

He got up and rushed to take a long drink of water. He felt extremely thirsty, and he almost felt hungry again, despite having just eaten. His body seemed to be screaming for more energy, despite his odd increase in overall energy lately. Again, this only made things more confusing. He looked up again as he felt that same energy from earlier. It was really familiar energy. However, the piercing headache made it impossible for him to tell who it was yet. Though the idea that it was his imagination was slowly beginning to seem less plausible. Snopy sat back down and tried to settle his nerves. If someone was coming, he'd want to cover up just how bad it was. He couldn't honestly gather his nerves, but he sure as hell could fake it.

After about 3 minutes he felt he had gotten himself ready, and just in time. It was at this moment that he heard a knock on the door. He didn't understand who would be here. Where he lived wasn't something he told anyone. He walked up to the door and took a deep breath. Then he opened it, with a perfectly executed smile. Of course the smile dropped into more of a confused look when he saw just who it was. K-kanna? Wh-what are you doing here? As he spoke he felt another spike in his headache and his hand instinctively went up to his head. This did little to help him, making the headache quite obvious. He motioned to invite her in, despite what his mind was telling him to do. Either way, things were going to get a little crazy soon enough.

As Kanna entered she shut and locked the door behind her. As Snopy heard this, he turned and looked toward her. He didn't know why she did it, but he felt he was about to be scolded. This was partially why he didn't tell Kanna, he couldn't tell her without her trying to cure him. He knew he should have gone to her. He knew he should have let them try. Just that feeling in his gut was far to unnerving. He almost responded to Kanna's quick statement when she straightened her spine and then quickly moved in towards him. Suddenly Kanna's hand tightly gripped his chin, while the other tightly gripped his wrist. He was quickly forced back until he met the wall behind him. She looked at him, but it didn't seem to be worry. This seemed to be more worry than anything else. Slowly her hand left his chin, making its way up his face, before promptly brushing his hair aside. His wrist was becoming uncomfortable from the tightness with which she held it.

Kanna's words sounded quite mad, at least their inflection was. She was obviously worried about him, and he picked up on that. He let out a sigh. If I thought that you could do anything don't you think I would have come? The thing is, my gut instinct is screaming out to me. It is telling me there is something seriously wrong, and that something isn't a simple as me being sick. I have the worst headache of my life, as well as nausea. Even still, I have an immense amount of energy. To top it off, the worst the headache gets, the more I have in the energy department. I...I Suddenly he struggled his arm out of her grip and wrapped them around her, clinging to her as if his life depended on it. I don't know what to do anymore. My brain and body are sending a thousand different messages, and they all conflict with each other. He was beginning to tear up. It feels like there is something inside of me, and I don't know what it is. Part of me, a huge part, is telling me to stay away from people. It is also telling me that I might hurt someone if I am near them. I came back here as the houses around mine are vacant. I don't know what is going to happen to me anymore... He was seriously at a breaking point. He didn't know what to do, but he knew one thing. Whatever was happening made him a possible threat. If something was to happen, he knew he would have to fight in order to keep his mind stable.

As he listened to her he slowly calmed down a bit. The death grip he had on her loosened a bit, making the current embrace much more natural. Her voice soothed him, he began to gather himself a bit. When she paused to look up at him, the softened look calmed him even more. He had been shaking a bit, but it slowly calmed itself. He listened as she finished her speech. She really was there for him, and it even shocked him a little when she called him her boyfriend. That was the first time she had ever called him that. Snopy continued to hold her there for a bit. Alright, I won't hide something like this from you again. I won't hide anything again. I promise. He took a deep breath as he looked back at her.

However, I am serious about being a threat. Now that you've calmed be down a bit, and I can focus, I feel it. Something is inside me that shouldn't be there. I've researched various thing over my time in the Soul Society, and I think I know a little bit about what might happen. I am not sure exactly, but if anything happens and I start lashing out or attacking, I need you to put the strongest barrier you can around me. I may still have a chance at that point to regain control over my mind from whatever happens to it. Kanna, you know me better than anyone else in existence. Once you put that barrier around me, do not drop it until you can tell it is me talking and not some weird twisted mindset. My mind is strong, I will be able to fight whatever it is with all of my strength. I could be wrong, this could be paranoia. But, if it does happen, keep me contained and see if I don't regain control of myself. If nothing happens, nothing happens. Just, please stay with me no matter what. Snopy took a deep breath.

Well I know what I should be doing, come with me a moment. Snopy went through to the next room and opened up a door. Through this door, were stairs leading down. He slowly lead her down a flight of stairs and flipped on a light. What they were standing in was basically a normal basement. However, it was fairly large and had some breathing room. Until this gut feeling of mine passes, I think we should stay down here a bit. If something happened, the odds of any destruction above the basement is unlikely. He pointed off to the side. The fridge over there has some food, and there is a stove to cook on if need be. As strange as it may be compared to some others, my house has wiring. I don't know who lived here before me, but they were a step ahead of many others in Rukongai. Snopy went to the center of the room. He sat on the ground. I'm going to my inner world to see what I can gather. I tried two days ago but my spirits said nothing was up in there, I'm going to see if they have figured anything out.. There are basic comforts, and if anything happens, slap a barrier to contain me. Anything else you want to say before I go? He waited for a response from her. This wasn't a dank basement, and there were some comforts around, so she shouldn't be uncomfortable.

Snopy did everything as if he knew what was going to happen. This was due to him remembering research he did about incidents like this. Where someone would act strange, then they would go insane and start destroying things. However, some reports showed that individuals could fight to retain their sanity. Though it was vague and likely not even close to what was going to happen, he figured he'd prepare for the worst. Soon enough, he would discover that this "unnecessary" precaution might end up saving him, so long as he isn't swallowed whole.

He watched Kanna's cold harsh attitude return as he spoke. All he could do though, was smile. Not going to tell me now? Alright then, I can wait until I come back. Should something happen, I trust your instincts will know what to do. As Snopy spoke he entered a meditative stance and soon his mind blanked out. The last thing he saw was Kanna's face as he lost true consciousness. She was indeed right, her actions did increase his resolve to return. He had someone to return to, and that was more reason than he needed to come back alive and mind in tact. Somehow he felt Kanna knew he wouldn't return from his inner world until he either won or lost. Perhaps his greatest battle ever was about to take place. Would he retain himself and see his Girlfriend again, or would he be swallowed whole?

As Snopy's vision returned he was standing in the middle of his inner world. He looked around, things were rather violent. It was a wilderness. However, the weather rages, the streams gushed with a torrent of water, and the wind was fierce. However, this wasn't strange. Above him was a purple sky. This signified he was on Fumiko's side of his inner world. Fumiko was the hyper active one, thus the weather itself was hyper active. To the west was Reiko's side, which was much calmer. The weather was gentle, the breeze was gentle, and the stream was gentle. Reiko was the calm one, so her side was also calm. Above her was a bright pink sky. Alright then, where are those two. Snopy knew that when he arrived the two made for the center border of their sides of the world. As such, he headed towards Reiko's side.

Maneuvering was simple at this point. The first few times in his inner world he wasn't used to the extremely rough weather. However, he eventually got used to it. The wind did not bother him, and he was smart enough not to fall into the stream. Though as he got stronger, the risk of being swept away would be reduced. He navigated through this wilderness, being in a sort of light forest. Snopy's inner world has literally just about every naturally occurring landscape. Hell, there may even be a city off in the distance somewhere, he had yet to truly explore his vast inner world. Of course he didn't ever have time to truly explore it. He was always busy with Shinigami duty, training, and what time was left he tried to relax and enjoy with people he cared about. either way, the area had a lot of open space, but there were trees dotted all about. This allowed movement to go fairly simple, as he could go straight for his destination. At one point a large branch fell from a tree above his head. If it hadn't been for his reflexes he would have been knocked out. It would have been a shame if he was taken out by a mere tree.

Either way, he made it through whatever the wilderness threw at him and made it towards a center area. It was an arena sized clearing, basically a giant field with no obstacles in it. Nothing but the cool wet grass covered the ground. Towards the center, he found the familiar figures that were his Zanpakutō spirits. He Shunpo'd over, appearing next to the two. Fumiko, the hyper one, had long blue hair tied up in a ponytail to her side. She wore a strange blue outfit, like an odd variation of a tight-fit dress that goes slightly past her hips. Around the waist it separates into in two places, causing it to be composed of 4 or 5 flaps. The design cause a small part of her underwear to show where the flaps were separated. Strange bright blue straps went over her shoulder and connected the dress so it would stay in place. She also had a small headset that covered up one ear and did not go around her head.

The other was Reiko. She wore a much less revealing outfit. She had long black hair and wore a simple long sleeved shirt. It was also black, like her hair. She wore a pair of gray pants as well. It was a rather bland outfit, but Reiko never did like revealing too much of her body. She chose a simplistic set up rather than the crazy one Fumiko choose. Both the spirits had a rather concerned look on their face this time. I don't even know what is going on with my body anymore. Have you figured anything out yet? They both nodded and Fumiko pointed behind him. Call me crazy, but I don't think that is normal. Snopy turned around and was amazed at what he saw. There was a swirling torrent of energy, though a better term would be pillar. It was a dark black and red vortex, reaching up into the heavens. It was nothing short of gigantic. Dark energy crackled off of it and the sky was pitch black there.

That started about 2 hours ago, it has been getting bigger. We tried to talk to you, but for some reason we were being cut off. Snopy listened to Reiko's words as he stared at the vortex. Suddenly something happened. There was an immense surge of energy and the pillar seemed to be sucked into a single point. The surge sent a large shock-wave that almost knocked Snopy off his feet. At that very moment Snopy summoned up his two blades. Both were normal katana with a black blade, the left one sporting a pink hilt while the right had a purple. A massive source of energy could be felt rushing in his direction, and he didn't know what to expect.

Suddenly a mass appeared before him with a loud static booming sound to accompany it. The creature looked fairly humanoid. In fact, it looked just like a human. Yet Snopy could only raise an eyebrow at what he saw. It was a young, maybe 16 year old, girl. She had bright red hair and eyes to match. She wore a sort of one-piece sweater that covered down to slightly below her hip-line. She looked as innocent as could be. Still, after what he just saw and everything that had happened, he wasn't letting his guard down.

It's about time we met, fufufu. Her voice did indeed sound like a 16 year old's, but there was an extreme undertone of seduction within it. HEY, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU! Fumiko burst out before Snopy could say a word. He sighed a bit as Reiko almost made a comment. Seriously you two, not the time. The two nodded and they returned their attention to the girl in front of them. My my, testy today aren't we? My name is Ayako, of course it won't really matter. Soon enough I will claim that physical body of yours, and if your lucky you will spend the rest of eternity here. Soon this will be my inner world fufufu.

Snopy didn't flinch, he did not show his usual laid-back side. He was dead serious and wasn't about to take this girl lightly. Is that right, and what exactly are you? She did the same laugh she had been repeating throughout the conversation. I am merely a hollow that was born within your soul. Been building up and preparing for a long time. In fact, it has been over 80 years. That's when Snopy realized it. She had been created during the incident that killed him. Masumi, even 83 years since you've last been around me and you're still fucking with my life. I really need to give you credit old man. He laughed a bit before returning to his serious mode. Fufufu, shall we begin? She spoke as a bright red Cero charged on her finger, which was now pointed towards the three.

The Cero fired off, forcing Snopy and his Zanpakutō Spirits to dodge it. However, as Snopy landed another blast came at him. As he dodged it, Ayako used her Sonido and appeared behind where Fumiko and Reiko had landed. You two should stay out of this. Suddenly an invisible barrier formed around the field. Fumiko and Reiko's bodies were locked out. However, Snopy still had their power to rely on. Well, I'm ready whenever you'd like to throw your life away.

Meanwhile outside of his body

It was calm and quiet. Snopy's body simply laid slumped for 15-20 minutes. Somehow there was a sense of the calm before the storm in the air. It was perfectly quiet. Snopy's body had been giving off variable Reiatsu levels throughout the time frame. This showed that there was activity within his mind. His energy felt as it usually did. It still had its positive and relaxed feel at this point in time.

This was not destined to last. As Ayako fired off her first Cero, suddenly there was a massive surge of energy. Reiatsu began to burst out of Snopy's body. It, however, was not its usual pink or purple color. This energy was a bright red color. What seemed like black sparks of electricity crackled around him. Soon, some of the energy began to condense onto his face. Slowly it was covered in a white color. Slowly the substance hardened. The mask was fox-like in appearance. The definitions of the mask were that of a fox. The line of teeth covering the mouth gives it a wide smile look to it. Off the top there are two fox-like ears. To top it off the eye-holes seemed like that of a fox's eyes.

As the mask finished forming on Snopy's face, another surge of energy was sent off. The partially hollowfied body stood up onto its feet. The sound of the low groaning noises sounded like Snopy's voice with a hollow sounding echo overlaid. The hollow turned itself toward Kanna, looking dead into her eyes. It suddenly rushed at full speed towards Kanna with its hand cupped into a fist. It was moving faster than Snopy normally could, and Snopy wasn't slow by any means. Not only that, the creature's physical strength was amplified compared to Snopy's, so its punch would cause more damage than if Snopy was to launch it. Snopy was not one to cause major damage with his fists, however what currently stood before Kanna was nothing more than a mass of hollowfied instincts. This would have to be contained while Snopy attempted to reclaim his body. The punch was aimed straight for Kanna's head.

After the first punch was complete, it followed up with a powerful kick aimed towards Kanna's right side. If this landed it would likely force Kanna to stumble back, which would make way for its final attack. The hollow rushed forward with its head down, aiming for a hard headbutt to Kanna's gut. If it his, the mask would likely increase the pain felt from the strike. Not only that, but the fox ears sticking out forward would likely make things hurt even more. The hollow was prepared to string together more attacks, but how it would happen ultimately depended on how Kanna reacted to the first onslaught.