Testing... Testing... [Closed/Alain Merrick]

The man did not introduce himself, simply went straight into the details of the mission. Straight to the point, huh? I don't mind that. The man continued on about the different parts of the mission that was to be involved. The first part seemed to be some sort of test of the drones strength, while the second seemed to depend on whether or not a Hollow could be found.

"Seems simple enough, although that latter part could prove troublesome if we aren't able to find ourselves a Hollow to test it out on." Perhaps the Hollow's will sense the presence of two powerful spiritual energies and wish to confront you to devour you. That's how you'll get a Hollow. Nice way of looking at it Museihei. Yuudai couldn't help but be sarcastic towards his Zanpakutō. He knew that Museihei had a point though.

The man asked if he knew how to turn on the drone, and Yuudai just looked at him with a neutral face. "Not really. If I did, I would have activated it by now. But, let's take a look. Shouldn't be too hard to find the instructions..." Yuudai immediately turned to the package that contained the drone in question. He kneeled in front of it, looking for any outside instructions. When there appeared to be none, he quickly grabbed a hold of the top of the crate and yanked it off.

It came off rather nicely, no splintering or anything of the sort. Inside, there was a drone that looked like one of those camera drones Yuudai had seen humans messing around with. This one, however, was a fair bit bigger than those and had what looked to be a sort of blaster on either side of it. Yuudai looked around inside the box until he found a set of instructions. Well, can't go too wrong with good ol' paper.

It took a bit of work but he was finally able to figure out how to activate the drone. With a flip of a switch, the drone came alive, rising out of the crate at a steady pace. Yuudai turned to look at the other Shinigami. "Well, I think that's it. The instructions have a few things that mention how to use the drone for testing, but I'll leave that to you since I'll probably be the guinea pig it fires at anyways."


Word Count: 395
Total Word Count: 684
GP: 13

Yuudai listened intently to the man's explanation of the drone's capabilities. Makes sense that the drone could be controlled by the Fourth. That way they can give it specific commands if need be. After the explanation was over, the man said that he wouldn't get in the way of Yuudai's "fun time" with the drone. Yuudai grinned. I like this guy. "You know, I hate to fit the stereotype, but ya got me. I'm raring to go."

The man, who revealed his name to be Merrick, asked for how long Yuudai wished to fight the drone. He pondered this question for a decent amount of time. How long indeed... If I do it for too long, we'd just be wasting time and my energy. On the flip side though, if I don't do it for long enough then we don't get a good handle on its combat capabilities. Hmmm... How long do you think I should have him set it? Yuudai was directly asking his Zanpakutō, Museihei. I think it should be about 10 to 20 minutes. A normal battle should last that long, and any longer, while a potentiality, is very unlikely.

Yuudai, now confident in his answer looked up at Merrick. "I think you should set it for about 15 to 20 minutes. A normal battle would probably last about that long, and any longer would honestly be wasting our time." Yuudai grinned at the man, his eyes twinkling.

Yuudai turned and walked a good distance away from where the drone and Merrick were, stopping at around 20 feet away, or about 6 meters. He turned back towards his partner and the hunk of junk that was floating gently next to him. He readied his Zanpakutō in front of him, a grin constantly plastered on his face. "Oh and by the way, my name's Yuudai Takeshi, but you can just call me Yuudai."



Word Count: 314
Total Word Count: 998
GP: 19

Yuudai waited patiently as his partner went around the drone, setting it up for remote combat practice. His eyes switched back and forth between the man and the drone, betraying his anxious thoughts. Why are you anxious? Are you nervous perhaps? I'm not nervous. I'm just... eagerly waiting. This didn't surprise Museihei, who simply smiled and rolled his eyes ever so slightly.

The drone finally whirred to life, and Yuudai prepared for a fight. The drone suddenly shot forward towards Yuudai, faster than he had anticipated. This surprised him but not enough for him to lose focus. He came up with his Zanpakutō as he dodged to the left, his body out of harms way while simultaneously swinging upwards toward the drone. It seemed like the machine was smarter than it looked though, because as Yuudai's sword came up towards it, it rolled out of the way to its left and quickly came to line its ocular lense up with Yuudai.

Yuudai wasn't expecting that, but leave it to those people in the Fourth Division to come up with a competent battle drone. He continued with an assault on the drone, opting to take a more offensive approach rather than a defensive approach. It worked well for a while, keeping the drone cornered for most of the battle, until the drone decided to attack almost as recklessly as Yuudai was. This prevented Yuudai's strategy from working any longer and forced him on the defensive.

This cycle of offensive and defensive switching happened during the rest of the fight, until at last the fifteen minutes was up. At this point, Yuudai was sweating and panting. He watche as the drone blinked a green light a few times before shutting down and returning gently to the ground.

Yuudai looked at his partner, who Yuudai wasn't sure had seen the whole thing or not. "Looks like she'll be a good asset to the Shinigami in the outer ring. I can't really say for certain whether she'll replace Shinigami, but it seems like she could definitely handle a Hollow around my level."



Word Count: 348
Total Word Count: 1346
GP: 26

Yuudai, who wiped the sweat away from his face as his partner spoke, nodded his agreement at various points. Seems like his plan is pretty well thought out. Yuudai looked at the man after Yuudai had finished wiping his face and listened as his partner told him the full extent of his plan. "Yeah, I think that sounds good. If we don't find any Hollow out in the field, well, tough shit."

Yuudai sighed, his eyes closed for just a second as he rolled his shoulder. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." He walked over to the drone, looking at it up and down. You know, this is a really nice piece of equipment. Those boys over at the Fourth Division sure know what they're doing huh? It's not like you actually know anything about how any of this works. Museihei smiled, a smile that was more mocking than honest. Screw you.

Yuudai looked around the drone, looking at the control panel that he had used to turn it on, looking for something to program it with. Finally, exasperated, he looked at his partner. "Ok, guess I'll let you take over from here." Yuudai moved away from the drone to allow his partner access to the drone.



Word Count: 208
Total Word Count: 1554
GP: 31

It only took a few seconds for Yuudai's partner to get the drone up and running, programming it to sentry mode. I do believe you slowed the group down with the fact that you tried to turn on the drone by yourself. Oh fuck off. It was true, but Yuudai didn't feel like taking any shit from his Zanpakutō.

The drone whirred to life and shot off, with his partner not far behind it. Yuudai followed suit, flash stepping behind his colleague, who was actually much quicker than Yuudai. Fuck me, I'm lagging behind. Yuudai shook his head and pushed the thought out of his head. There was no use in lamenting his own ability, he just had to keep up enough to make sure that he was with the drone.

As the drone continued on its journey for nearly an hour, Yuudai grew more and more bored. "Jesus Christ, you'd think there'd be something." Almost immediately after Yuudai said that his partner voiced an opinion that they might not be able to finish the Fourth's second task.

"Yeah, I think..." Yuudai was suddenly cut off by a roar that came from a distance away, where the drone had been headed and was currently at. Motherfucker. Well, guess you'll see some action after all.

Yuudai focused on the beast's signature and was able to get a good lock on the beast's signature after having done so. Damn, guess I really do need to work on my Reiatsu perception. I didn't even know it was there till it was practically on top of us.

Yuudai nodded in agreement to the statement his partner gave and quickly flash stepped in the direction of the roar. He came into a little clearing that was surrounded by gnarled trees. In front of him, the drone and the Hollow were already battling it out. It looked almost comical since the Hollow towered over even Yuudai by a good couple of feet. Bu the drone was somehow managing to keep its own, firing off Kidou blast after Kidou blast.

Yuudai watched, impressed by the spectacle. "Well, looks like our little friend is giving it a run for its money." Don't be too cocky. I don't think the drone will be able to hold up much longer. Yuudai watched the drone closely and, sure enough, it seemed to be firing Kidou blasts less and less frequently. Already out of juice? They really need to rethink their damn design.



Word Count: 410
Total Word Count: 1964
GP: 39

Yuudai watched the drone closely, his eyes following every move. It's definitely slowing down. Damn, that's disappointing. His partner noticed this too and commented that Yuudai would have a chance to flex his muscles again. Your partner is right. I thought you'd be jumping all over this. Well, I do want to fight some more... It's just disappointing that the drone isn't as powerful as I would have hoped. Would make patrolling areas like these a non-existent job for Shinigami.

Yuudai looked over at his partner, who was still watching the battle unfold. "I'll take him on myself. If for some reason I seem to be having trouble, I might need assistance." Yuudai looked back at the Hollow and felt its spiritual pressure. "Although, I think I'll be able to handle it myself quite easily."

He walked towards the battle, slowly but with a purpose that fit his massive frame. As he moved towards the battle, the Hollow finally landed a solid strike on the drone, crushing the side of the drone in. The drone fell to the ground and moved slightly, then stopped. It had reached its limit, and Yuudai came in to take its place.

Yuudai sized the Hollow up as it towered over Yuudai. It looked like it had taken quite a beating, most likely from the drone it had just been fighting. The Hollow panted heavily as Yuudai approached, and turned its head toward Yuudai as he stopped.

"Alright, let's do this." Almost as if in response, the Hollow roared, something primal and angry. Yuudai steadied himself and flash stepped towards the Hollow, his Zanpakutō slashing towards it as he did so. The Hollow blocked with his arm, which had hardened in response to Yuudai's attack. The Hollow then followed up with an attack of his own, a haymaker with its right arm that was coming towards Yuudai's side. Yuudai saw the attack and was able to slip backward, disengaging with his enemy so as to make the monster hit nothing but air.

Yuudai stood silent, his eyes focused on his enemy. You ready for this? Yes. Let's go. With that, Yuudai lunged once more.


Word Count: 359
Total Word Count: 2323
GP: 46

Yuudai's thrust met the arm of his enemy, who had hardened the skin in response to Yuudai's predictable attack. What was not so predictable was Yuudai's quick movement that forced him in closer to the Hollow, his blade slicing up the side of the Hollow's arm as Yuudai moved inward. Yuudai had predicted that the Hollow had simply hardened the area around the part of the arm that Yuudai had originally struck, and had not, in fact, hardened the entirety of its arm.


Looks like I was right. The thought came as a spurt of blood came down upon Yuudai's robes, staining them a dark red. The air was filled with the sickly sweet smell of fresh blood, and the screams of the Hollow could likely be heard some distance away.

Yuudai turned his Zanpakutō into the beast's chest area, hoping to stab into the thing before it could react. Unfortunately, the creature was quick to recover from Yuudai's clever trick. It hardened its skin once more in the area that Yuudai was aiming. The Hollow, not one to be tricked again, quickly took its good arm to smack Yuudai back. The attack worked a little, causing Yuudai no damage as he reacted to bring his Zanpakutō up to block the strike. The force of the strike, however, did throw Yuudai back about 10 feet, putting distance between him and the Hollow.

Seems like this could take a while. You were never one to back down from a fight. A smirk came across Yuudai's face. Yeah, I guess you're right.

Yuudai stood staring at the beast, his breathing now starting to get a little heavier. Damn, I need to hit the gym more. You already go for six hours a day. Shut up.

The Hollow looked back at Yuudai, deciding what it should do next. It was in fairly bad shape, all things considered. Its arm was sliced up, and there were little chunks missing from it all around its body due to the Kido being blasted at it earlier.

There was a pause that seemed to last forever, and then, a scream. It came from the Hollow, and this scream was something Yuudai hadn't quite heard before. Think of the worst possible sound you could ever think of, mix it with the second worst sound, then multiply that by 10. That sound wouldn't even come close to the sound that emanated from the mouth of this Hollow.

Holy fuck! What is that? Yuudai winced in pain as the Hollow continued its scream. Yuudai knew that he would probably be deaf for a while after the scream ended, but he didn't really care all that much. The bigger issue was that he couldn't really move. Son of a... Yuudai willed his legs to move, but it seemed like they were stuck in quicksand. It seems that the auditory output is so loud from this thing that its overloading your brains input and output centers. Well shit.

Yuudai was annoyed, but not particularly worried. After all, he had something that could take care of this no problem. Loudly, Yuudai uttered a simple sentence, his voice clear and seemingly pushing away all the sound.

"Silence my enemies, Museihei."

A soft, yellow glow emanated from his Zanpakutō, which morphed into something akin to a fighters gauntlet. The glow started to dissipate, but not before it shot out faster than the mind could possibly process and struck the enemy in its vocal chords. Immediately, the scream stopped. The Hollow, which looked confused, tried once more to scream again, but no sound came out of the Hollows wide open mouth.

Yuudai smiled, raising his fist as a gauntlet with two long blades protruding from it rested upon his hand. "Alright, now let's get down me kicking your ass, shall we?"



Word Count: 635
Total Word Count: 2958
GP: 59

Yuudai smiled, and flash stepped towards the Hollow, his blade coming upward towards its chest. The Hollow, who was still stunned by the sheer fact that the man before him had completely shut down its scream, was unable to react in time. The blade pierced through the chest of the Hollow, then swiftly came back out. The Hollow let out a yell or would have had Yuudai's power not still been in effect. The net effect was something akin to watching a silent movie.

Yuudai, still on the offensive, then went to slice at the Hollows neck. A satisfying sound of flesh being torn from flesh came from the Hollow as the head came clean off. The body fell limp to the ground, spasmed, then quickly fell silent. Yuudai went over to the head, which was still locked in a scream, and broke the Hollows mask. It quickly began to dissipate, heading off to either the Seireitei or Hell.

Yuudai, who had blood spatters from the Hollow on him, turned back around to his partner. "See, that wasn't so hard." He began to walk to his companion, sheathing his blade as he came close. "I would say that the drone, while it will need some more work, is looking very promising. Hopefully, that thing will allow for us Shinigami to relax a little bit more." Yuudai laughed a little at this last bit, then quieted down.

He stood before his companion and bowed. "It was a pleasure to have done this with you." He quickly stood up and went to the drone, which was lying on the ground battered. "I'll take this back to the Fourth. You can leave at your leisure." He turned back around and waved good-bye. "Until we meet again." Without another word, he flash stepped off in the direction of the Fourth's headquarters.

[THREAD EXIT]

Word Count: 307
Total Word Count: 3265
GP: 65