Surf and Home Turf [Closed/Rick]

“How long has your daughter been missing?” A first step to the hardest question you could ask grieving parents, especially the ones who haven’t given up. The opening interviews for each individual invoked someone that they loved, that person they loved was taken from them. It was unnatural to say the least, they way that these people would disappear, no sort of time of day was consistent. Whoever, or whatever that was capable of doing this, took these people when it wanted to, and never gave them back. It was left to someone imagination as to what happened to these people. However, there was a safe way of finding out if these people were still alive, a technique that Rick wanted to try and use in order to find these people. The dousing points, the strands of Reishi that a spiritual being leaves behind. The stronger the spiritual being, the more prominent the imprint. There was also the fact that there have been reports being received from the tower constantly since it was active. Sometimes he would find those strands in places where people were missing, as if this hollow got off at the fact to see the grieving faces of the family. It was almost as if this thing received pleasure towards the fact that it wouldn’t get caught. “That’s what you think don’t you?” Rick excused himself and went upstairs to the family’s house. “ Do you mind if I check her room?”


The family, thinking that Rick was apart of some kind of law enforcement, reluctantly allowed Rick to continue his investigation. He understood that they were feeling a lot of pain for the time being. It won’t be for long though, Rick was determined to find their missing daughter or bring them closure. Maybe it’s connected to the other missing cases that were going on as well? Concentrating on the spiritual presences that’s been in the room, Rick was able to pick up on something human, as well as something extra. “A hollow?” Wait, I felt this before. “ in a few of the areas of the kidnappings that Rick was investigating, there was a hollow signature that continuously kept popping up. Rick couldn’t waste any time if these people had any sort of chance of still being alive. Good thing Rick already had quite a bit of gear with the expectation of running into some trouble. He had his goggles, Six Seele and three new mines that he was working on. It would have to be enough, Rick was running out of time. “Time to move…” The next 48 hours was an excruciating search, Rick was picking up on the fresh trails of the hollow breed that was causing all of this trouble.


A tired Rick managed to find his way to some sort of indiscreet building, high up in the mountains. “Hello?!” Rick shouted out but heard nothing of the sort reply back to him. “Guess I’ll have no choice but to go inside. “It was the first step forward into the darkness of the unknown.


WC 510-10 Gp

Action- Going inside

In the darkest recesses of his laboratory, several floors down, it would be impossible for Eurynomos to hear the voice of the young Quincy at the threshold of his lair and, as he continued to work on his latest experiment, pickling the organs of a Hollow in a special mixture, preparing them for transplantation in one of his live Human subjects, mostly just to see what would happen, he'd almost overlook the movement appearing on the camera feed. The screen was old, like the rest of the abandoned facility, and the image was black and white, covered in static and had a habit of fading in and out between actual image and white noise. As such, Eurynomos's first reaction when he saw something suspicious was to thump his fist down on top of the big, old, plastic monitor box. Actually, truth be told, his first reaction was to glance at the hint of movement he saw on the screen, realise it was just the camera feed, which was always flickering, return to his work briefly before doing a double take on what, once his brain actually processed, he thought he'd seen. The visual feed flickered and he leaned in and squinted. His brow furrowed. What was that? Did he really have an intruder, or was it just some large mammal, a dog or something, that'd wandered in? He looked back down at his work. Damn, he'd been making some good progress since clearing his head. There was hesitation, not wanting to abandon his work, but he supposed if there was someone out there, he shouldn't be taking any risks.

"Tch."

Settling down his tools and locking things down, he'd climb away from his work and head for the main switch he'd jerry-rigged and set up down here. As a creature accustom to frequently frequenting the depths of the ocean, Eurynomos had little to no trouble operating in the dark. Compared to other 'people', Eurynomos had a few extra appendages to gently feel his way around with and, failing that, there were at least a few dim lights scattered around the place with which he could navigate. Shutting down all the power and all the lights, he'd plunge the lower levels of his facilities into darkness. Grumpily, Eurynomos would make his way out of his Office and out into the hallway.

Either sensing that something was up, or simply roused by the lights in their rooms going off, some of Eurynomos's prisoners had begun to make a fuss. He'd give a quick bark at them, telling them to be silent and banging on their metal doors. While this would work for the most part, there was that one new arrival. He rolled his eyes, frustrated not just by the situation now, but by that one individual. They were being as loud as they possibly could. Did they really think that help had come for them, or for that matter that they could be heard from all the way down here? Well, the later might be just possible. With a growl, the Hollow would turn to that one's door, fling it open and, hindered very little by their pathetic attempts to fight back, would wrap a tendril around them before delivering a clinically measured blow to shut them up without killing them. Swinging in the door in his other hand, the metal meeting mid-way with the cranium of his victim who he brought sharply to meet it with a harsh slam, he'd immediately toss the subject back into their room before closing and locking them back in.

He turned now to the dysfunctional elevator shaft at the end of the corridor, one had to suspect the main way in and out for anyone other than him trying to get in. Thinking quickly, he'd extend one of his long tendrils back into his lab and grab a canister of something. Bringing it back in towards him, he'd give it a slight sniff. Urgh, why he thought of making a combined tear gas and fear toxin aerosol substance, he had no idea. Well, actually, he knew why. Still, randomly grabbing something off the shelf, he knew that he had a number of other substances, some of them actually 'fun', which he would have much rather have picked up by chance. Fortunately, he'd only given it a little sniff and was fairly resilient to most of his own creations anyway. The actual compartment for the elevator was down here, on the bottom floor. Anyone wanting to get in through that way would have to make it through there, first opening that ceiling hatch, crawling inside the tiny room and then prying open the doors. Loosening the seal on the canister, he'd open the doors to the compartment before throwing the gas container in and pulling the way shut again.

If there wasn't an intruder, the substance wasn't too difficult to make and frankly, he only had some as archive of an already complete experiment. It was expendable and would dissipate by itself in a matter of hours anyway. He wouldn't have to waste too much effort venting the gas out of the shaft. Plus if he went up now and found nobody around, it wouldn't be too difficult to come back, get the canister and tighten the seal again, if he could be bothered to do so. The way he'd opened it, the container would take quite awhile to leak out all of its considerable supply, though not very long to extrude only that fraction of which was actually needed to fill that little room. If there was an intruder... well then, he'd have to turn his attention now to the other possible way they might try to come down here. He'd turn to one side to the out of use stairway. Most of the stairs were actually missing, but it was conceivable someone might try and make their way down there anyway. He kept his live Hollow subjects on the next couple of floors up, perhaps, if he went up and found someone dangerous, he would lure them in their and unlock the cages. Walking into the dim stairway, emergency lighting more prominent here than anywhere else in the facility, Eurynomos would look up and begin to climb, his tentacles reaching out and grasping everything and anything he could use.

Word Count (Total): 1054 (2322)
Total GP: 46

Ok, so maybe Rick was a little poetic when he thought of this abandoned facility as a dark pit. However, it really started looking like a dark pit when all he had going for him was  his Reiatsu Perception. Well fuck that.." Rick wasn't keen of becoming a Quincy meme of being taken by surprise in the darkness and never heard from again, he had to do something about the lack of light in the area.  Utilizing the Bauen Brille, Rick decided to go about creating a headlight with a strap. "Ok, I'm good enough, i should be able to do this. "Rick took a deep breath, focusing his mind on synthesizing his Reishi to reconstruct the elemental properties that he needed. Being an expert at this, Rick didn't necessarily need the googles to hold his hand the rest of the way, but he definitely used it to freestyle. Within the inner corners of his mind, Rick's proper experience with the item that he wanted to create was the only thing he needed,  the only Sütterlinschrift inscriptions that seemed to be active were "Script",and "Instruct". Based on pure memory alone, Rick was going to use "Script" to break down the information of each crucial part of the memory of handling his headlight. "I must be fucking crazy, trying this here. Scripting an entire memory as pure information, that was something that Rick has never tried before. Memory manifestation scripting was a theory of having enough experiences with a construct or a product to make it from scratch. However, Rick was a handyman, he had plenty of chances and experiences to spare. Now was as good as a time as any to put that theory to test, the motivation of possible survivors within the complex was all that he needed to attempt it. They couldn't see, and they  would probably be frozen by the current fear and the prior trauma. It light wasn't for Rick, he didn't truly need it, but it would serve as a small object of hope to shine the way. "Rubber..."  Rick needed a rubber strap that was adjustable, constructing the small round strip  of rubber was easy. After creating the soul synthesized rubber, thinning it and poking in the holes,  Rick synthesized a small buckle attachment in order to  hold it in place, putting both of the products together. " Ok, now the hard part...." Soul synthesizing glass in a small bulb shape with a silver cover to protect it, no problem. The battery, that was something that Rick has never tried before, recreating an actual power source. A synthesized variant of an alkaline battery seemed small time because of it's size, but it would be a big step of what Rick could possibly be capable of. It would take an extreme level of Reishi Manipulation and his experience with Holy Relics in order to pull through. 

"Comeon...Comeon..." Rick first had to create the anode, which requires soul synthesized zinc. The other piece was magnesium dioxide, which Rick needed in order to recreate the cathode.  "...." The blood trickled down from Rick's nose as he continued the process. "Just a little more...." All Rick needed left was an electrolyte, a small spark will do . "Can I do it?" Of  course, the synthesized counterparts of elements do exist, but it only stood as the doorway. Basically,  being probable meant that the teacher in your science class simply nodded at you when you questioned it, but it was up to Rick in order to will the damn thing into existence. "Comeon!!" The sound of static could be heard as Rick contained the spark inside of finished product. "Rick was a little lightheaded and had blood trickle all the way down to his chin from his nose, but he was full of pride. " Ladies and gentlemen, the first soul synthesized alkaline battery. " Rick brought all the products together and recreated the headlight, strapping it on his head and turning it on. "Works like a charm, now to get to work..."  Rick used his  Bauen Brillie once more to scan and map out the building. "Oh this place is quite huge, but I already know where I want to look first. " In combination with his Reiatsu Perception and studying the map, there were alot more human signatures towards the lower area of the complex. 

He took off running, seemingly like a shining star in the night sky when it came to the area he was in. Once Rick got to the middle of the  hallway, he would do something a bit unconventional. After materializing  his shotgun, Rick would point  the muzzle at the ground and fire off a blast that was powerful enough to bust a hole through, dropping down with it. If they didn't know he was here before, they did now. 

803- 16 GP
Total GP 16, Total WC 1313

Action- used my Holy Relic to map out the entire complex. Picked a spot in the main hallway to use my Quincy weapon to burst through the floor to the lower basement.

The facility shook, with particles of dust and loose debris showering down from above. Rusty metal screeches an uncomfortable sound as a decrepit segment of staircase some distance above Eurynomos threatens to come loose of what little was still keeping it to the wall. Steel bolts and beams bend and creak. The whole mass of stair lurches as supports snap before coming to a sudden shuddering stop as the last two arms miraculously take the weight. An annoyed growl escapes this Hollow's curling lips, seeping out through the gritted teeth of his mask, as he glances up. When the sound and vibration from some sort of blast had rung out, he'd instinctively frozen, staying in place and halting his climb. Now he glances back down, and wanting to put himself on more solid ground, clambers back down to the floor he'd just past.

{Where did that come from?}

The first thought that occurs to him. It'd sounded like it'd come from one of the upper level, but there'd been a sort of cascade, the rumble and fall of floors and ceilings collapsing and going down. He still couldn't sense the intruder, which was a slight worry to him. It meant whoever this was, that they were proficient enough at masking their Reiatsu that they could avoid his detection. With the blast that he'd just experienced, the idea that this could be a powerless individual, or some stray dog, was gone. So now what? He considered leaving. No reason to risk himself going after this person. Then again, how much research would he lose if he simply walked away now? Not to mention it'd be hard to find another facility as perfect as this again. This place wasn't like all the other 'temporary' lairs he'd found for himself and abandoned over the years. As he plants his feet back down on floor, he makes up his mind. He'd do something, at the very least, but would still be cautious. He'd stick to the shadows for now, keep his distance and try to suppress his Reiatsu as best he could. It seemed a sensible precaution and he'd be wise to find out what he was up against before engaging.

Creeping towards the sound of the intruder's rather loud and announced entrance, which seemed odd given how well concealed they seemed to be, at least when it came to their energy, Eurynomos would find himself moving through the Hollow cages. Naturally, they were rattled and some of them fussed as he passed. Also naturally, Eurynomos paid them little heed, other than staying in the centre of the walkway, out of their desperate clutching reaches. Remaining in the dark, and stopping some distance short, Eurynomos would come to an obstacle, which seemed, definately, to his well trained and astute mind, to be related to this mysterious interloper and the blast just now. Indeed, he could tell it hadn't been there earlier, just a few seconds ago, as 'subtle' a detail as this was. Instead of where the room's floor usually continued on towards a dead end, there was instead a hole.

{Hmm...}

That was... irritating. He glanced up and down. It was roughly circular shape, spanning the width of both the corridor's floor and ceiling. There were a couple of cages, that would have been either side on the walls, that were now missing, doubtlessly engulfed in the... inferno? Explosion? Rapid acid falls? He wasn't getting close enough to the edge of the opening down through the floors and ceilings to examine things and see what had apparently caused this... open shaft, now stabbing down into the lower levels of his facility. It was possible the occupants of the missing cages had survived and were now down in... whatever part of the facility was directly below here. Then again, it was more than likely they had perished. Looking to the rest of the corridor, on the other side of the hole, he'd see a couple more cages, the last two, up against the back wall, tucked against the corner. He tilted his head slightly as he watched more of the floor crumble and give way, and one of the heavy, occupied metal Hollow enclosures topples down and into the hole, its occupant trying in vain to claw and grip the smooth wall through the bars of its cage until the very last moment.

Eurynomos's reaction was surprisingly calm, for someone who had just had a large hole blown down the length of his home, but it was that sort of 'just pushed beyond the edge' calm that usually comes snapping back to an explosive outburst. An eye twitched as the huge metal cage bounced and clanged on its journey downward, its occupant screeching all the way. It was the sound that it made on the final stop, on impacting the ground that made him stop and think though.

{What is directly below here?}

He was vaguely aware from his general sense of direction and understanding of the layout of this place, that the shaft didn't come directly down on his inner sanctum, or on any of the holding facilities he had on the bottom floor. Where then...

{Ah.}

He would have snapped his fingers, were he not trying to remain hidden.

{Disposal...}

Yes, the hole went all the way down to that relatively large room where he usually discarded his 'left overs'. Most of the bodies were human, and some of the bodies were 'mostly human', as the usually was by the time Eurynomos had been finished with them. There were quite a number of them, none of them clothed, of course, and, this being that kind of laboratory, a portion of that total number was made of fractions. Some were still intact, more or less, some were splayed open like butterfly chicken or just... missing pieces. It mattered not to Eurynomos, but he supposed it might be important to the intruder, whoever they were, going down there. He eyed up the still dusty and misty pillar in front of him, where bits of floor, dust, and other particles were continuing to fall. The whole thing was quite well illuminated, compared to the rest of the lower floors, including this one, that were plunged into pitch black darkness. Still feeling terribly cautious, despite the... annoyance, he was feeling, Eurynomos would flatten himself carefully to the floor, some distance from the shaft and wait for a while. He wasn't certain if the intruder had already come down through here, but he'd wait either for them, a reasonable amount of time, or for some noise from below before getting back on the move.

Word Count (Total): 1107 (3429)
Total GP: 68

The only thing that Rick could do at a time like this was move forward, moving forward in such a spooky ass place in order to search for any survivors that might be left. A few thoughts ran through his head regarding the survivors. For starters, what happens if they were able to be fullbringer after this event? Could they go back to living their lives as usual? How about the Individuals that were unfortunate enough to see the hollows, but didn’t possess any potential to gain enough power to defend themselves from them? What would he do then?” Ugh, this is such a pain in the ass…” Rick would mumble to himself as he continued to use his new light and Reiatsu Perception to find the right path towards any human that was alive. However, Rick would be sidetracked by a terrible stench unlike no other. What the hell is that?! The headlight that Rick created and utilized was bright, but Rick needed a little bit more power to get a wide view of what was in the room. “No, that’s not it. Maybe there is something wrong with the battery?” That was for another time to think about, the room was well lighted enough. However, what Rick noticed and paid attention to was the amount of bodies that were in the area. It far exceeded the amount of people that were reported as missing, which made him feel that there was a lot more going on than he initially thought.


“These poor people, what kind of monster is responsible for this?” These new serial killer hollows had to be identified and placed on a bigger watch list than all other hollow breeds. The first one that Rick went face to face against was some sort of Arrancar that can call upon the souls of anyone he’s ever devoured. All of those souls became nothing more than white colored puppets for him to use. But whoever is responsible for all of these mutilated bodies, this person deserves a special shelf. Experiments?” Rick wasn’t too sure, all he had was his doubts towards these people dying a painless death. “There has to be at least one person this hollow hasn’t killed yet.” His frustration was apparent, but Rick was not about to give up. “Wait…” Suddenly, Rick picked up on a prominent Reiatsu signature. It was a lot similar to what he encountered when he checked the last places that the kidnapped humans were located. “It’s here?” Rick ran down the corridor at a high speed, not knowing that the hollow breed was waiting for him. They closely matched in strength, which would probably end up in an even fight between them. However, this hollow in question had home field advantage, along with the element of surprise. If Rick was to have any kind of chance whatsoever, he would have to outsmart the thing and relentless pound at its weakness. “But what if it doesn’t have one?” The last hollow that Rick fought had an insane regeneration ability. Would this creature be any different?

514- 10 GP

Total GP 36, Total WC 1827

After a short but uncomfortably long wait, Eurynomos found himself cautiously creeping forward towards the edge of the great chasm that now traversed the depths of his lair. A glance upwards, to check the way, not wanting to be taken from behind and above, the curious Hollow then risks a peek down towards the bottom of his newly installed pit. Far below he sees an intense, monodirectional, cone of light flickering around, dancing across the Monster's left-overs, strange shadows writhing and twisting amidst the gross flashes of dead, white, flesh. This Hollow's pale blue eyes, are consumed almost entirely by black, his pupils dilated fully to adapt him to the dark. In these obsidian orbs, shining with an almost sickly polish, there is reflected briefly the golden, yellow light being utilised by the intruder below. These eyes, so deeply detailed and described, narrow.

{So... it's already down there.}

Eurynomos's eyes twitch and dart here and there, a predator's gaze, evaluating his target completely while leaping and locking onto even the slightest hints of movement. What he saw was like some sort of brightly burning bull's eye lantern, though most likely, in all consideration, the Hollow was probably viewing something different, a modern equivalent. It'd be nothing he'd ever had use for himself, but he was sure there were such devices. A part of him was intrigued by that. He loved to study the ingenuity of the most recent human generation, and their marvels. If he could just get his hands on it, he was sure he could spend many a happy days studying the bauble. He'd be like a magpie examining something shiny, or perhaps, once he got started, like a vulture eyeing up what it'd just pulled apart.

There was a slight chance, once he'd caught them and had them on his slab, that Eurynomos might be similarly interested by this intruder. It all depended, once he had it, and after a few, relatively, non-invasive tests, what use he could best find for it. He could have himself a new test subject here, or a new plaything, or both, some of the people he had locked up down here were both. Or... hmm... if this intruder had a sufficient Reiatsu, maybe he had himself a new live in, go to, renewable ready meal. Although that singular, only one in the building at a time definition, wasn't that dissimilar from 'plaything'. Well, he couldn't afford to be going out all the time to find food, like most Hollows had to. He'd never have time for research if he had to keep hunting all the time, though that said, fresher ones were usually more fun... Ah, but he couldn't forget caution. If this prey turned out to be too much for him... He only had the one set of Reiatsu suppressing bindings at the moment, and he wasn't going to risk taking them off - and wasting and killing the current wearer - if he didn't know that the intruder was someone he'd be interested as having as he new long term 'guest', not that his current one seemed to up to putting up much of a fight these days. So what then?

He couldn't see much beyond the beam of light. That said, he didn't spend long eyeing his target. It was little more than a brief glance, before Eurynomos, not wanting to risk too much, facing ever increasing odds of being spotted, withdrew back from the lip of the hole in the floor. There was the slightest of noises as the Hollow pulled away from the edge, perhaps a little too quickly, but even if the intruder risked a glance upwards, in this dark, all they'd likely see was a bit of extra dust and rubble falling from above, and no sign of whatever creature had made that scrabbling noise.

Eurynomos had finally made up his mind. He wasn't going to get any idea of what he was up against simply by watching, and he still couldn't sense any of its spirit energy. While he was having to remind himself to be cautious, he'd decided that the only thing he could do was to force a head on confrontation and find out for himself what he was up against. He'd be smart about it. He had the element of surprise, hopefully, and he knew where he was going, a special advantage in the dark. Although his initial interest for the lantern the intruder carried had been scientific, it struck him that there was an additional strategic advantage there. If he knocked that out, his opponent would be lost in the dark, and should be easy enough to subdue from there. Yes, he'd have to put aside his want for an intact device aside in favour of ensuring victory. He could always learn something putting it back together.

Although he had in his mind the image of the intruder holding a bull's eye lantern and stumbling over the pile of Eurynomos's leftovers, and taking its time to find the door, the Hollow decided to hurry. He wanted to get himself in position and he wouldn't have much time to go back the way he came, down the dysfunct stairway and through the corridors before his intended reached where he wanted to be. As it happened, Eurynomos didn't see a glimpse of the curious light being used by his target until he got into position, though by the sounds of their now hastened footsteps, it seemed that the Hollow had manage to let slip his spiritual suppression in his desperation to get where he wanted to be in time. He wouldn't have much time before his opponent was here, but what was to prepare? He'd strike at his enemy, from out of the dark, and see how things went. He'd chosen this spot because, from here, he could retreat back towards the underwater entrance to his lair and, if his opponent proved too much for him, he should have a way out through which he couldn't be pursued. There was also the additional advantage that here, forcing a confrontation in this place, he was forcing his opponent further into the darkest reaches of his lair, not that there was much light anyway, as far in as they already were. It was possible he was about to face something beyond his capabilities, though that didn't always stop Eurynomos. Despite the worry, the fear that he might be about to face a power beyond his, the Hollow licked his mask's teeth in anticipation.

As his target came into view, turning the corner, Eurynomos threw haste to the wind and leapt forth at them. What the young Quincy would suddenly see, would be a mass of black and white striped tendrils, slimy and wriggling, flailing wildly, some thicker than a man's arm and striking like snakes. It'd be as if a terrible flood of twisted horror had burst out towards him, filling the entire hallway, wall to wall, ceiling to floor, and with little more than that small light of his to illuminate the scene, the grotesque, glistening and terrifying nature of what was imminently upon him, might easily have made lesser men and women flee in vain. The primary target was the light of the Quincy, hoping to plunge them into darkness, but tendrils would also fly towards his stomach, arms, legs, his whole body. There was, after all, some amount of rage behind this strike. Eurynomos wasn't having a good day, it was safe to say, a massive hole having been made in his lair, his research disrupted, but if he could have himself a new victim to hurt, or even toy with, then perhaps he could make up for it.

Word Count (Total): 1287 (4716)
Total GP: 94
OOC: Sorry for the long wait on the post. I've hoped to at least make it a good post to make up for it though...

“Anyone?! Hello?!” Was anyone hearing him? Was there any chance that anyone would even be conscious enough to be able to walk out of here with him? Or would Rick have to carry them out?” Hmm…” As Rick continued to keep moving, he was suddenly attacked by some otherworldly foce. It almost didn’t seem like a hollow as to how much its appearance resembled an eldritch horror out of those H.P Lovecraft stories. Rick remembered reading a few of those stories when he was in middle school, he didn’t like how things went for a few characters in the story. “Guard!” The best thing that Rick could do was form up a barrier of some kind in order to scope out his opponent. He wanted to know what kind of damage that the hollow was capable of. This barrier in particular was made up of soul synthesized granite, one of the hardest material that Rick could think up for a moment, covering the front and the sides of Rick as he moved back. Rick brought about quite a bit of space between him and the monster, but the image of its thick tentacles being wrapped around his body was something that he desired to avoid. This was a bit different, Rick couldn’t see or understand what he was fighting right now. It had a shit ton of appendages, that’s all that he could probably guess. However, without being in a well-lit area, he might be in for a world of hurt.


“Well aren’t you an ugly bastard, eh?!” Along with a lovable taunt, Rick utilized his spirit weapon in order to fire a spiritual grenade at the mass of tentacles behind him. If they treated as far as Rick figured they did , his battle sense alone would guess that the Hollow would try to sway around the barrier after figuring out that it couldn’t be easily broken through. When the slug was launched , it erupted into a blast of Reishi with an aoe spread. Even with fast-moving opponents, the shockwave alone from the blast is powerful enough to topple them over. It sure as hell toppled over Rick, probably thinking over his usage of shell casings in this kind of mission. He didn’t want to topple the building, but he still had to get away. Regardless of the outcome. Making a hole into the other room was the plan that Rick as going for, making a mad dash and taking cover.


WC 411
Total Wc 2238

A writhing collection of moist tendrils slam into the intruder's barrier like dead fish pouring into, and hitting the bottom of, a barrel. The wall is strong enough to take the hit, which is the first indicator for Eurynomos as to the strength of his opponent. It was also a curious defence. From the texture, the Hollow could tell that it was no simple energy field, more like actual solid matter. It was intriguing, but he had more immediate things to be concerned about. This block had deprived him of a quick ambush victory, and though a number of his appendages would reach around, trying to snatch at the ankles of his hastily withdrawing foe, they'd fall short... only just though. More basic instinctual reactions momentarily blot out the functions of his vastly developed, higher mental abilities. A harsh rasping hiss claws its way out from the back of his throat as he felt the frustration of getting so close to grasping his prey, only to have them slip away. The primordial noise would soon cease abruptly as the same instincts, which he'd usually curse for interfering with thought, causes a hesitation in his now pointless grasping. From even his earliest days, Eurynomos was familiar with the sound of gunfire. His voice is immediately silenced as he focuses his hearing.

He'd already begun to withdraw those limbs of his that were out in the open when the explosion rang out, though as it happened, he'd been trying to evade the further shots that he'd expected. With a much wider base, not to mention a few hundred pounds of extra weight, you'd expect Eurynomos to be more capable of keeping his footing in the circumstances. It would also be true however, that he would be closer to the blast when it happened. The unmistakable howl of a Hollow filled the air, and a part of Eurynomos despised the fact that at times he still had the same 'voice' as those 'lower' creatures. A number of his tendrils, though he still had plenty to chose from, were caught in the blast and come away now crackling with chunks of missing flesh and glowing embers that burn briefly and drop from his crippled limbs. As for the shockwave, even with most of his body stuck behind that spontaneous wall of granite his opponent had apparently conjured, with it bursting apart, Eurynomos found himself stumbling. The next noise he made next could best be described as a growl, and carried well down the corridors of this labyrinth esque facility.

He'd gotten cleanly into a state of rage, this much he couldn't deny now, but being the survivor he was, he was managing to keep a tentative grip on his ability to form rational thought. While part of him demanded that he rushed the intruder now, retaliating, he suspected that there was enough distance between the two of them that his opponent could recover and inflict possibly even a fatal amount of damage on Eurynomos before he could reach him. So what then? Well, his main ability worked best against spirit types, not physical fighters. He could absorb the energy of his opponent's attacks if he could get in sync. He wished he could have seen the expression on the face of his target when he'd attacked. Not only would it have been a good indicator for him to go off of, but sometimes he found it appealing, endearing even, to see looks of surprise or even terror on the faces of those he was jumping. This thought, and imagining that to be what had happened, helps calm him slightly.

The mind of the creature worked remarkably quickly, even before his target had gotten back on their feet, Eurynomos had already figured his next move. He allowed his impeccable knowledge of his own lair's layout to work in his favour now. The wall to his left led straight into solid rock, this being an underground facility, but if he was remembering his own home well enough, there was a room to his right. A few of the Hollow's tendrils scoop up some of the remnant pieces of his opponent's granite wall. Remarkably, given the explosion that'd just taken place, some of the fragments actually still have some size to them, one or two almost breadbox sized. Trailing a fairly generous amount of smaller pebbles and granite dust, the Hollow makes sure to fling some of the debris back at its creator. It was questionable whether or not the rocks could actually do any damage, but having a few heavy pieces land on him might help to slow Eurynomos's target a little further, and who knows, maybe the Hollow would be lucky and strike the intruder in the head. Well, whether or not fortune was on his side today, this Hollow wasn't sticking around to find out.

Moving with haste, and throwing his considerable weight against it, Eurynomos would break through the wall to his right and hopefully, not needing to hit the brickwork more than once, was out of the line of sight, down the corridor, his way, before his opponent had the chance to get properly back onto their feet. The new room the Hollow found himself in now wasn't much larger than an average person's garage, and he actually had to contract himself back down into a more slimming form. There was a pipe from the building's plumbing nearby, that he set to breaking with a casual swipe. It didn't take much thought, and was barely a footnote in his concentration, but a relieving chill crawled up and lovingly stroked the hind parts of his mind as he allowed his burnt tendrils to dance under the newly made torrent of water.

He considered the words and actions of his opponent now. They'd clearly been startled, the way they'd blocked like that. Then there was that little taunt of theirs. There was a confidence there, but the fact that they had said anything at all had meant he'd gotten them at least a little shaken. Well, after a walk through this house of horrors and then suddenly to meet Eurynomos like that, one could hardly blame them. The objective was to be the same as his target, cocky, certain, a little afraid, but staying calm, thinking carefully, all very serious. This wasn't particularly difficult for the Hollow, provided he shrugged off the pain and annoyance. He simply needed to focus, think of the fun he'll have later when he's won and gotten his prey in hand... well... tentacle. When it came to the fight, Eurynomos was different from other Hollows, the field of play took place on that site where emotions lay. A strange, fluctuating level on which to do battle, but one that could be navigated if one was careful. Well then, let the games begin.

"Ohh..."

He let his voice coo out a long stretched out hushed tone. Through the wall, and with the sound of running wall, Eurynomos hoped it'd be hard to tell exactly where he was. He spoke carefully and slowly, allowing his words to slip into place.

"I'm much prettier when the lights are down... when you're in the dark... and it's just the feel of me all over your skin."

This was partially to try and unnerve his foe, but also a test. His power relied now on gauging his opponent's reaction to taunts like this, and though their interaction thus far had only been brief, Eurynomos was rather keen when it came to people. If he wasn't wrong the foes response should be something along the lines of 'no thanks, I prefer my squid on a plate' or some other slightly humourous deflection. If Eurynomos was reading his opponent right, allowing him to adapt, it shouldn't be difficult to bring his rather peculiar abilities into play. It was all about seizing control and figuring out exactly how to manipulate the target...

Word Count (Total): 1325 (6041)
Total GP: 120

OOC: Super sorry for the wait man.


Where to begin? For starters, this creature did something that rick wasn’t necessarily expecting it to do. It started to throw the defensive structures back at Rick’s face. It as smart in order to do something like that, but if rick was able to create those structures with his refined spiritual alchemy technique, he could certainly break it down as well. However, this did work in the favor of the squid man, taking away a bit of Rick’s focus in order to avoid being concussed by his own structures. For that brief moment, he took his eyes off the prize, leaving the octopus-like hollow to swipe open a pipe and start a bit of flooding throughout the area. “Why did it do that? “ That was an idea that Rick had to linger in his head for a few moments, and he thought of the possibilities of the water possibly flooding the area. Now, unless Rick could grow gills, ie would have to hightail it out of there. However, it left some complications of the vague remnahuman-relatedrelated spiritual energy that has been left around the compound. Rick could feel it, their imprints, whether they were once here, deceased, or dead; the smoldering of emotions that resided into each and every human being that was dragged through this corridor, they left something behind. Rich could feel it, their imprints, the imprints of fear itself. “How many?! How many did you kidnap?!” He couldn’t take it, it pissed him off. The amount of people that this monster might have killed was staggering, and it was somewhat splitting the focus of his Reiatsu perception a little bit. Rick’s spiritual dowsing sensing skill was useful along the lines of Reiatsu perception, but it was the most traumatizing.

On top of that, this thing had the nerve to speak of wanting to put it’s creepy slimy tentacles on him. Rick wasn’t looking too forward to that Hollows had a tendency of being a real piece of work. The last thing he took care of had a very powerful regeneration rate. What was it this time? Would the skin of this creature be extremely hard to get through as well?” No thanks, I prefer my squid on a plate…”
“nani?! “

Something wierd ust happened. It could have been nothing more than a funny feeling, but was that creature expecting Rick to say those exact same words? Was a window of souls being established with this creature of all things?  What could it see on Rick's side? What did it allow him to see?  Either way, it psyched Rick out just a tad, with the only thing being heard was the sound of his footsteps among the puddle of water that started to enter the area in a slow pace. The droplets trickled down, somewhat coinciding with the deathly silence in the area as Rick tried to hone all of his senses with his Reiatsu perception in order to figure out the location of this creature. He wouldn’t let it get the drop on him, and it was his mistake for taking his eyes off of the damn thing in the first place. All he had was the light emitting from his goggles.

WC 513
Total WC 2751

Eurynomos was slightly surprised as well, when the man's choice of words were exactly as he'd envisioned. Still, in the circumstances, it was a pleasant surprise. If he had the target pegged, it shouldn't be too difficult to bring the full extent of his powers to bear. Ah, but he had to kill any gleeful impulse. Not only would it go badly for him if he were to get too confident, but he had to avoid letting his emotions stray from what was required. He was certain that the target wasn't feeling any triumph or any sense of thrill. Now, let's see... The intruder was afraid, but had a good, tough, strong bravado at play. Silence probably would have been the response from someone truly unafraid and confident. More often than not, witty banter was a defense mechanism, a way to cover. If they'd sensed any of Eurynomos's prisoners, sorry, test subject, or any trace they'd left behind, they were probably angry. Fear and anger, the later probably beginning to cover over the first. It wouldn't be too difficult for Eurynomos to conjure the same feelings in himself.

An unknown intruder had burst into his home, with who knows what intent. Eurynomos could try to get away, but at this point, how far would he get before he was caught? Could this really be the end for Eurynomos, done away by some stranger out of the dark, cornering him in his own lair? Even if he could get his powers into play, what could would that do if a single lucky shot got him on the head? Just a few minutes ago, he'd been sitting quietly and comfortable, in his safe abode. Now, all of a sudden this was all happening.

This man had blown a massive hole in his home, and had now done him harm. A nice, pleasant calm evening of research and self reflection had been interrupted by this intruder. He'd inadvertently managed to destroy some of Eurynomos's Hollow test subject. Even more so than humans, they were so hard to find and capture. How much work was he going to have to do to repair all the damage? Even if he could get his hands on him, what could Eurynomos do to make him suffer and pay for his action? His recently incinerated tendrils stung, even under the cooling jets. There were plenty of things that the Hollow could think of, but none of them enough.

Much like the creature, upon whom the shape of Eurynomos paralleled, a mimic octopus that shifted and molded itself into other shapes and shades to hide itself, the Hollow's spiritual pressure began to shift and mold itself. It became, more and more like that of the intruder's own energy, making him harder and harder to detect. As Eurynomos warped and morphed himself closer and closer into a texture more befitting his target, he gave a quick glance around at his surroundings, finding anything he could use. Feeling his surrounding gently with his flexible and many limbs, he'd stumble upon a number of things, but inspiration would only strike when he'd find a tall stack of papers.

"Oh, you only say that because you're not familiar with my work. The scientific breakthroughs I'm making here are quite remarkable."

Shifting even deeper into character, mirroring his opponent, it only seemed appropriate for Eurynomos to begin a bit of banter of his own. The confident, smug, bravado, all to make himself feel more secure, whilst all the while allowing his mind and senses to focus on the task at hand. It wasn't that unusual, for Eurynomos, to feel some sort of synchronisation with his prey. That was, after all, the key hinge upon which his unusual powers relied. It was possible, at this point, that the Quincy, and based upon a previous encounter Eurynomos had had, and now analysing the energy of his opponent, he was fairly sure it was a Quincy he was dealing with, it was possible that they too were beginning to feel something. At the very least, the way that their Hollow prey was seemingly disappearing, their energy becoming more and more like their own, this they'd likely noticed.

"Here, perhaps you'd like to review my notes."

It was a risky move, and Eurynomos had to cling onto the fear that came from trying to get the jump on someone against whom he had no current eyes on view. He had no idea if his presence was being tracked, if the sounds of his movement were being honed in on. There was no telling exactly how off guard he could catch his opponent, how much they were expecting him, how quickly they'd react. The Hollow had one advantage though. With that light shining from his opponent's head, he could see where they were looking and when he could see light near and by the hole in the wall he'd made, he knew that he had an opening to strike from another direction. Flinging open the door to the small storage room, that Eurynomos had broken into through the wall, the Hollow comes around from the side, around the corner and, as he practically announces his presence, his target more than likely turning to face, he makes use of the paper he'd picked up. Throwing the countless, loose sheets of white in front of him, the paper bursts and flurries ahead in a random flying screen that would play havoc on a single directional beam of light. Understanding that the instinctual reaction in such circumstances would be to fire a shot off into the middle and heart of such a sudden display, Eurynomos tried to position himself around such an obvious line of fire. With the one cluster of appendages, he'd aim, once again, at the headlight upon the Quincy's head. At the same time, wanting to hedge his bets, he let's loose a wild sideways swing, aiming further afield in case the target pulls backwards away, the tendrils strike out at the man's side and midsection, hopefully with enough force to carry him off his feet and pin him to the wall, at which point Eury could begin a heavy leaching of his target's energy.

Word Count (Total): 1036 (7077)
Total GP: 141

“For a minute, it almost sounds as if you’re human. I met quite a bit of assholes just like you that didn’t care about the lives they had to sacrifice. “

Rick couldn’t take part of something so inhumane, any sort of study that involved the sacrifice of countless of lives was something he personally felt the obligation to put a stop to. However, this particular opponent was a bit troublesome. Somehow, he already found his way in Rick’s head, some semblance of mind games in order to psyche him out. That’s usually when mistakes start to occur, Rick had to be sure that any actions that he takes from here on won’t cost him his life.

“Providing me a list of name of all the people you tortured? Oh, if only I can destroy you repeatedly for the amount of atrocious acts you committed. Even as a Quincy, I think wiping you off the face of the earth is too good of a mercy killing. “

This was the problem that Rick had with hollow breeds that took it a step further, the legion like leaches that took a singular form. Protruding some sort of conscience or intelligence gives birth to more problems than Rick ever though he would even care to handle. Kidnappings, realm invasions, even spiritual conspiracies among the Shinigami. The smarter they got, the more they evolved, it was something new that they brought to the table that made Rick fear for the future. One thing was for sure, this particular hollow must die. It had to die for Rick to live, for anyone left alive in this hideout to live.

When the hollow tossed the papers in Rick’s face, he was inclined to swipe them away with his shotgun in order to clear his line of vision. He didn’t want to risk shooting a hole in any sort of papers or documents that might be useful in helping these people if they were inflicted with any sort of shenanigans that the hollow caused. The hollow was expecting Rick to keep the front line of his shooting trajectory, but Rick ended up unintentionally over to the side of the when he swiped the papers away, positioning himself a little over to the tentacles that were aimed at Rick’s light. Believe it or not, this was a chance for Rick to have some sort of exchange with the creature in order to fend off its attempts.

Combined with the battle sense that was gained with the numerous fights that Rick had with his weapon, a swift pull of the trigger released a spray of soul synthesized glass shrapnel. If the creature was persistent and determined with getting to Rick’s light, it would have to get past the array of soul synthesized glass. The thing about this particular attack that the hollow didn’t know about was the fact that the soul synthesized glass fragments on contact, so a direct attack can wound an opponent and continues to feed upon a spiritual body to grow into a crystallizing state of soul synthesized glass.

It could take the exchange and knock out Rick’s light, but it would take damage and be left with quite the unfamiliar affliction. As for the side sweep, the tentacle would be successful in picking up Rick and sending him pinned against the wall.

Hey, easy! How about you take me to dinner fi-“

The sudden shock of pain and feeling the tentacles tighten around Rick’s body put a stop to his usual banter. As a matter of fact, it was left with a draining sensation of some kind. It was feeding off of him, and the constraints of the hollows natural weaponry won’t be making anything easier for him. At the very least, Rick panicked, he had to do something quick before it was too late. In the end, he decided on a tug of war with the spiritual being, attempting to resist the pulling sensation of his spiritual essence leaving his body with sheer willpower alone.

If this hollow wanted Rick’s spiritual energy, he would have to work for it. Rick was tenacious at best, a scrappy fighter that put his life on the line with gambles like this.

WC 703
Total WC-  3454

[Almost Human? So now the guy's stooping to cheap insults.]

It'd be more the Intruder's next comment that would rattle the Hollow. He'd just recently encountered two of this one's kind, one of which was exceptionally powerful, beyond anything he'd faced before. Based on the man's spiritual pressure, he'd suspected he was one, but with confirmation from their own mouth...

[Quincy? Another one? These gnats sure have a talent for being annoying.]

One can never exactly predict the way an opponent is going to move, especially one so unfamiliar. At the very least, the Hollow's feint had managed to prevent him from taking a shotgun blast straight to the face. Either through dumb luck or skillful intent though, a swiping motion from Eury's opponent, seemingly made to clear the field of vision, saw the barrel of their weapon lined up perfectly to meet the beast's attack head-on. There was the briefest of hesitation, which only showed the Hollow's inexperience for actual combat. His attack continued, delayed by only a split second by the quite instinctive flinch, which is only to be expected in the face of imminent pain. The ironic part was, had he gone through without any hesitation, he might have been able to knock the weapon to one side, or at the very least managed to hit his original mark. Instead there's a point blank grapeshot blast, the shards of which blow apart the bundle of tendrils that had been swung towards the Quincy's face. The limbs are stopped in their tracks and pushed back slightly, just short of the mark. Naturally, to his own perceived shame, Eurynomos lets out yet another one of those unnatural howls that were the mark of more common Hollow creatures. The shards would mostly embed themselves into the collection of coiled limbs that had been thrust out towards the intruder, but a few pieces would make their way past, striking Eurynomos in the chest, near to where his head protruded from the mass of tendrils that the Hollow had wrapped defensively around himself.

Fortunately the lower sweep, gliding across inches from the ground before rising up to strike at his opponent's midsection, would be more successful. He'd feel his tendrils hit something solid and he'd quickly wrap them around to form a tight death grip, squeezing the intruder as hard as he could. With all the damage that they'd done so far, both to Eurynomos's person and to his lair, and how aggravating this all was for the Hollow, there was something satisfying about finally getting his 'hands' on them and choking/crushing the life out of them. So satisfying, just to Squeeze. The Quincy would prove tougher than he'd have thought however, with Eury not getting to hear the usual, pleasing popping and cracking of joints and bones that he normally got to hear when he'd managed to get his limbs around someone who'd displeased him. It was like trying to crush a rock... correction, it was what trying to crush a rock must feel like for a normal person. A being like Eurynomos rarely having trouble with such a task. Quite the opposite in fact, grinding things up in his grip was a skill that often came in use whenever he needed solid minerals powdered for his experiments.

Since he couldn't simply crush the pest, he would have to make do with at least limiting its movements and doing what he could to prevent further injury on his part. At that rate, at least, he might be able to get somewhere by simply draining the energy out of his opponent. While he could begin to move his somewhat slippery appendages around, moving them across the Quincy's body to reach its individual limbs and lock them down, a more immediate move was called for. In the same way alligators and crocodiles roll in order to take their prey off balance and make it hard for them to fight back, Eury would utilise a similar tactic. The intent being to disorient his opponent, rather than do any damage, he would begin to lift and flail. There'd have to be some caution with his movements though. He had to be careful not to have his quarry simply slip from his grasp, or else have it wiggle free. The Hollow had to balance between maintaining a strong grip, moving his tendrils over the prey's body and providing a sufficiently violent and jarring motion to prevent them from getting a good aim on his main body with that blasted weapon of theirs. Fortunately, with each of his limbs, there was the option of either vicious suction cups, which line the underside of each tendril, or with a simple twist, smooth, lubricated top side. However things went, Eurynomos's tentacles could move in a manner that was natural for their design, with him having grabbed and immobilised many things in this manner, being no stranger to this stage of the fight.

Something would not be as the Hollow was used to however. Doing what he could to pull as much energy as possible out of his opponent as quickly as possible, he knew that the process was normally painful for the target, when done violently in this manner. This was good. He was in pain, his opponent was in pain. This would be a fairly sturdy point on which they could remain synchronised and he could put his power to use. However, as he lifted his latest foe face up towards the ceiling, something would feel off. There would be a pull, a resistance to Eurynomos's ghoulish siphoning. It'd be like trying to drag a concrete block across the floor with a bungee cord. He could make the energy move his way, but only if he could pull that elastic as far as it could go, then it'd move, but in a small jolt that'd need him to pull again, all the harder. No, it was like A Tug of War. Yeah, where neither side were moving, but occasionally, and only occasionally, the rope would slip, momentarily from the grip of one. Well, if that was how it was, Eurynomos could do this all day, and he just had to keep going until the other person's grip was lost entirely. Once they let go off the rope, and it all came rushing Eury's way in one big load, then he'd have won. It was impressive that his target had some way of fighting against his draining, but this had to be a desperate last...

... but something was burning, and not the smelling burnt toast kind of way. There was pain as something burned Eurynomos. Well, he already knew that Quincy Spirit Energy tended to have a bad 'taste', but this was something different, something was physically hurting him. It would take him a second or two to figure out what it was. In the extremely dim light, that would be pitch black were it not for the spill of the Quincy's ridiculous head lantern, the Hollow would look down to the splintered and scarred remnants of his limbs that'd taken the enemy's blast. It would be the shards of whatever it was the Intruder had fired out of that weapon of theirs. Something, several somethings, shining, transparent and sharp looking, like broken glass, stained black with Eury's blood, were growing now, like some sort of fast forming crystalite. As the shards expanded, they parted more of Eury's flesh, causing more of his blood to seep. It was excruciating. So many pieces, he couldn't hope to remove them all easily, or quickly, stuck in him, slicing bigger wounds in him as they grew.

Another jolt of energy absorption and Eurynomos felt it, not just as a sudden sip of power added to his own, but in pain, from the shards. Their growth would pulse, very slightly, becoming quicker, minutely, for the briefest of moments. Of course, why hadn't he realised? The countless pieces of whatever, that his opponent had blasted into him were absorbing his energy, pulling it from him. Well, he wasn't usually on this end of things, but still... There would be a vicious snarl from the Hollow as he realised what was happening and lifted his gaze back up to his quarry. For some reason this infuriated him even more. Perhaps it was an instinctual aversion, for an Adjuchas, a hatred for the idea of something else feeding off him. Maybe it was hard enough for him to remain adequately fed and maintain this lifestyle, as a leisurely researcher, without having something draining energy out of him. Even though it was something that Eurynomos was clearly and cleanly ahead of and above, he'd yet to meet an Adjuchas that didn't fear regression. It'd been a long time for Eurynomos, but the idea of being turned back into one of those Things...

A tendril would slowly make its way towards the Quincy's throat, wrapping around, his intent to throttle... but did he now have time? While he usually had other 'methods' for taking the fight out of those he'd captured, more enjoyable methods, a sudden change of pace to something like that would most likely just make things worse for Eurynomos. It'd mean a brief pause in the synch and absorption, which the Hollow clearly didn't have time for now, with the crystallizing shards continuing to grow. Besides, as much of a 'Saint', as Eurynomos usually was, using methods that didn't involve serious harm or pain, at least not any severe or unenjoyable pain, he wasn't exactly in the mood for such games right now. Plus, after everything it'd done, he actually, really, really, wanted to hurt this Quincy.

[Just a little longer and I can squeeze the last drops of life out of this enraging pest.]

A shard, growing longer and all the more vicious, located near the side of his head began to scratch the Hollow's mask. He moves his head to one side, away from it, as far as he can go.

[Just a little longer and I can pull all the energy out...]

Despite his efforts to move his head away from the irritant, the sharp edge starts to dig in, chipping away at the almost porcelein like substance. The Hollow grits his teeth and squeezes all the harder, trying to bare the pain. It's like someone running a razor sharp blade over one's fingernails, and try as much as he can, straining the muscles, he can't put his head further from the impalement

[Just a little...]

There's a poking of the skin from within, before a growing crystallizing shard bursts through, the glass now striking all the way clean through an entire tendril. On another of Eury's limbs an artery is nicked, black blood whilst before a terrible seeping drool, has now begun to flow like a bubbling spring. And, by Eury's exposed head, a sudden terrible crack forms across the mask. The shard has broken all the way through and he can now feel the sharp edge on his face beneath. A terrible roar fills the lair. The Hollow's endurance for pain, has reached its limits.

Partially flinging aside, partially dropping his quarry, Eurynomos pulls back away as he is forced now to turn his attention to the terrible, still growing shards. Forced to partially reveal his inner body, the Hollow unravels a bit of that muscle suit he wraps around himself. A hand, his actual bare hands, come up and rip away the crystallizing shard trying to pierce his jaw bone, just beneath the ear. They cut his palms and fingers, which scream with a pain like no other, but in his grip he manages to shatter the shard. All the while, the limbs he'd had wrapped viciously around the Quincy are now carefully, but hastily trying to pick clean the now black glass that has done so much damage already. He had attention still on the target, but with him needing to sort out these wounds quickly, the creature would now begin to recede, back into the shadows.

"Don't think this is over, Quincy."

Word Count (Total): 1962 (9039)
Total GP: 180
OOC: I hope this post is okay. Also, sorry for the long wait. It shouldn't be too difficult for us to wrap up this thread, if you want.