AfriCatastrophe: Letterboxer

When Vastime's capital had collapsed into the ground, there had been at first nothing more than Hollow energy seeping from it. But, before long, a moaning wail had echoed from it, and within only an hour, a long, ribbon-like Hollow had flown up from the hole. Elegant, graceful, but above all, furious.

Floating overhead, staring down at the people below, the Hollow left a trail of pale white dust wherever it went, coating the ground below. Benign at first, and seemingly harmless. But then, as it let out another ghastly wail, a cero shot forward from its mouth, and struck the dust it had left behind.

Catastrophe could be the only way to describe it, as all of the dust came alight, and exploded in a brilliant, destructive flash. Nothing left alive, and barely anything even left to show that there had once been life there to begin with.

This Hollow still floats above the city, dusting the world below wherever it flies.

AFRICA
There was an itch in the air. The rancid touch of spiritual pressure. An open sore in the continent, pus boiling over into the sky as the hollow emerged. Choking the air.

"Shizer." The silver-maned man cursed, none too softly. He stood atop a barely standing building, half gazing half glaring at the enormity that spanned the sky. Knuckles tightened underneath his sanrei as the dust erupted, the subsequent shock-wave sending his hair backwards. Eyes narrowed in turn, the quincy's foothold shifting slightly as the building slumped further into rubble.

Having arrived as part of the Vandenreich's response to the sudden fulmination of the land, Lukas had expected a day of mindless slaughter. Something he knew they might actually let him leave the stadt for. Instead, he was greeted by a cataclysm, and in his mind, a challenge. There was rage and regret sifting in his gut, some level of fear scraping across his spine. Yet reishi shuddered underneath his skin, slowly exhaling as he calmed himself. Static clicking to life as he raised a hand to his ear, the comm channel filtering away from the other incidents in the former Vastime.

"Todesjäger reporting in, visual locked on the flying hollow. Avoid the dust it emits, and advisory for any airborne troops to maintain distance. Wide breadth ordinance is being prepared." The tingle in his skin started, and he held his breath - hoping he had enough allies that avoided being turned to ash to hear him. "Going to try and blow it out of the sky." Whether or not he had the firepower to was another question, but not one he was going to concern himself with.

This would not be a repeat situation.

He wasn't sure what he was meant to expect. What little he knew of Vastime mattered not at this point as it no longer existed, an apocalyptic grave in its place. He had shipped out with Lukas, someone who he only knew of by reading about him, as well as him being one of the people involved in the Arrancar attack, having watched over him just as he did the other members involved.

He shared in his comrades anger and fear, though likely for different reasons, as he took a deep breath to steel himself, a flare of scarlet red shimmering across his body. He called his sword to his side, fingers wrapping tightly around the hilt. He turned to look at Lukas as he reported in, before turning his head to look at the Hollow flying above.

Given that it seemed to be the cause of the city's destruction, Kokuto fostered doubts that Lukas alone would be able to take it down. He brought a hand to his own ear, taking a moment to look over the scene. Even if it was what they already knew, getting a verbal account would still be important, right?

"Sternritter reporting in. City has been entirely laid to waste and leveled. No survivors, no architecture or infrastructure remaining. Abilities of the flying Hollow still unknown, the only thing I can see is that it's scattering dust wherever it flies. Likely some kind of explosive reactant. As said, avoid the dust, keep distance."

He turned back to Lukas, hearing his objective. He gave a quiet nod, readying flames in his free hand and connecting his sword to the chain. If nothing else, he was prepared to either meet it in the sky or bring it down himself.

Stray papers flew through the air as black-clad Shinigami sprinted past each other in the 8th Division Barracks. The sound of air horns blasted in their ears as first responders began making their way to the Living Realm through giant Senkaimon portals. One of these first responders, Morikawa Mizu, could only imagine what the 7th Division looked like right now given their duties as the Earth Affiliation Branch. All she knew was whatever lay at the end of this Senkaimon must be a serious disaster to warrant this kind of reaction from the Gotei.

As she leapt from the black portal in the sky her nostrils were filled with the smells of smoke and ash. Her ears rang from the head-splitting crashes and explosions rocking the entire area. Her eyes seemed to take in nothing as Mizu was so overwhelmed with the image before her. Having landed gently atop the barely-standing remains of a half-rubble building, the blond haired Shinigami could not believe what she was witnessing. The entire city was just...gone. A gaping, endless hole, out of which poured monstrous Hollows the likes of which she'd never seen before, was all that remained. She did her best to sense for survivors but all she could make out was those she arrived with and some other new arrivals scattered about.

Mizu was having trouble comprehending the scale of this apocalyptic catastrophe. Her face remained frozen in shock, her mouth open in an unmoving gasp as her gaze adjusted. As she witnessed a particularly monstrous Hollow lay waste to a nearby area Mizu knew she needed to focus up and do her duty as an officer in the Gotei United. With hands trembling and moisture built up around her eyes, Mizu yelled out "Hadō #57: Daichi Ten'yō!!", causing a truckload of rubble to levitate off the ground before being sent careening towards the flying Hollow. With all her strength Mizu kept these large chunks of concrete and rebar aimed at her target so even if it changed direction or dodged they would follow until they crash into it's hulking body.

As Letterboxer floated through the air, her eyes watching everything below, the sudden rubble that careened toward her seemed to genuinely catch her off guard, and it slammed into her as another low wail rang through the air. Despite the expressionless nature of her face, there seemed to only be irritation as her eyes darted across the landscape, seeking out whatever had accosted her in such a manner.

But it also didn't seem to concern her overmuch where exactly it had come from. She simply turned, her mouth opening as she looked in the general direction of the attack, toward what looked to be people below for consumption. Her dust had not settled on them, but that didn't matter. Her body shook, her fur began to glow, and then all at once a massive cero burst from her open maw. She did not simply aim it at a single point, but dragged the beam in a line across the landscape, fully intent on burning anyone below her to cinders. And, as she did so, the shaking of her body only shook out all the more dust, filling the air and coating the ground below her as if it were snow.

AFRICA
Lukas' eye caught the falling arrival, narrowing in turn as the veins in his arm began to shimmer. A half cocked remark formed in his head, cut away by the shinigami's immediate action - "What the fuck are they doing?!" the man barked, eyes widening at the attack she'd deliver. The twisting of the hollow above signaled nothing good in return, the quincy immediately backing up on the crumbling roof.

"We need to get movin-" his voice was muffled underneath the rend of air, exploding earth sounding with a cracking boom. Silver hair whipped as he ran, a blister of reishi forming under his heel as hirenyaku shot him forward, his free arm opened wide for the demon to grab on. He'd attempt to pull the both of them out of the path of destruction, a turn of his head revealing the falling dust that came after. "Fucking moron! Go go go!"

Launching off the top of the building, he'd manage to land roughly as the reishi underneath him sputtered with the mad dash. If Kokuto managed to latch on, his shoulder would scream in complaint - bolstered, if by nothing else, an intense surge of adrenaline. Lukas couldn't make out particulars of the arrival, but by the method of appearance he had some idea. Reishi continued to mount in his left hand as it raised again to his ear, shouting into the comm channel.

"Gotei arrival! Do we have any communication with them?! Out here half blind!!"

With the years he had been alive, the amount of battles he had been in, alongside the Makhai's instincts, Kokuto hardly needed much more than seeing it turn, shake, and glow for him to start moving. He knew that he wasn't going to be fast enough to get out of the way, and he didn't want to risk putting his defenses in danger immediately. So, without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed onto Lukas, letting the Quincy pull him to safety.

A brief instance of pain in his shoulder, but he quickly shrugged it off, turning his head to see the beam dragged along the last bits of the landscape before fizzling out. He could feel the creeping power of the daemon of war begin to boil in him. He didn't know if it would be enough, but, it was something that he could at least hope to create something of a changing tide.

"Let's not wait and find out if we do or don't!"

Grabbing onto Lukas, he didn't wait for more Reishi to gather in his hand. In a brief moment, he continued their momentum, taking them toward the other arrival as a blast of orange flames surged from behind him, pushing them onward and upward. He didn't give a shit about whatever protests Lukas would have, keeping them together would make it easier for him to act as a shield, as well as easier to communicate. Not to mention making sure that they avoided any residual damage from the Hollow's Cero.

Landing not far from where Mizu was, Kokuto set Lukas down, before looking up at the Hollow, holding a hand out. A bright white fire flickered to life in his hand, growing slowly, before suddenly firing off with surprising speed, releasing a large fireball from his hand, capable of melting most basic metals in seconds, exploding on contact and likely causing some decently concerning damage, even if small. After firing it off, Kokuto turned to look at the others.

"Oi, either of you got ideas? All I've got from you is 'blow it out of the sky,' Lukas, but given how big that thing is, I'm doubtin' we're gonna be able to do that with just one person, and I don't want you throwin' your whole hand out at once. What about you, Gotei Girl? So far, what I've got is three things: launch us into the air and get us closer to it, try and burn it from here, or try and bring it down to the ground."

Kokuto wasn't going to waste time with idle chatter. With how big this thing was, in addition to how much damage it was capable of causing, they needed to be quick on their feet -- not really his strong suit, but, he'd make due. It wouldn't end up like it did with Ichigo's invasion. He would protect them, make sure that nobody got out as bad as they did then.

It didn't require much critical thinking for Mizu to realize her attack had done little more than further enrage the monstrosity floating above. If a spell like Daichi Ten'yō couldn't harm it, she figured there was little in the way of blunt force in her repertoire that could. At least, Mizu thought, she could focus on trying to problem solve her way past this creature and not dwell too much on the newly formed wasteland around her. For now. She had no doubt this steeling of her nerves wouldn't last forever.

As the blond Shinigami watched her foe react to her attack, which ended up being a fishing expedition at best, she sensed the rapid movement of two others nearby. Not Hollows...can't spare a moment! Have to focus on this thing! she thought to herself, shoving away all distractions. Why they had moved was readily evident though as the monster launched another Cero of extraordinary scale, seeking to lay waste to Mizu's entire vicinity. With as much speed as she could muster Mizu Flash Stepped away, but given she was the Hollow's target she could not avoid the entirety of it's attack; at the last second she managed to create a dual layered Kidō barrier between her and the blast which only protected her from being vaporized. Instead she was sent careening across the debris-strewn battleground until eventually coming to a stop.

Battered and bruised, but otherwise unharmed, Mizu dragged herself to her feet and took note of the two strangers who were now close enough to see and hear. She watched as the one with a demonic presence, which she recognized from her recent meeting with an acquaintance, fired off an attack of his own at the Hollow. She could tell he was powerful, and if they worked together they may make headway; his companion remained a bit of a mystery, however. Still, at least as a Quincy she figured they were on the same side.

Mizu considered Kokuto's question as her golden gaze remained trained on their floating enemy. She had fought large Hollows before, but never this large; she had fought strong Hollows before, but never this strong; and she had fought Hollows with wide-scope abilities like this, but never this wide-ranging. For one enemy to be all these things and more proved a challenge for someone like her who might not even be able to pierce it's no-doubt durable carapace. "I do not know it's capabilities, nor do I know your strengths and weaknesses. What I [do know is I can be a good distraction with my Kidō. A two prong approach should be effective! If I draw it's attention to myself, it should keep attacking the ground with it's Cero, then you two can get above it and hammer it with all you've got!" Whatever came next, Mizu knew she must put her life on the line to win.

Letterboxer continued to float overhead, its gaze now firmly on the forces that had accosted it and were planning against it. Whether it even fully grasped the situation was wholly unclear, but it hardly mattered, either. Another of its wails cut through the air, and her fur once again shook as the white dust snowed downward onto the ground. Nearly a foot of it had begun to accumulate already, seemingly with no end in sight as long as Letterboxer floated above.

But, for now, she seemingly simply waited. Whether out of lack of interest, caution, or simply preparation, she was not further engaging, and certainly wasn't bringing herself any lower to the ground any time soon. If they wished to face her, then they would have to come into her domain.

AFRICA
Static.

"Fucking 'course not." the quincy swore underneath his breath at the silence that filled the channel. A skidding arrival as the reishi dissolved underfoot, the hand taken's flames having further launched the pair into safety. Yet no saved concern, a flare of anger as the shinigami and demon spoke.

"Don't waste this, plan for this - come falling out of the sky to what? Parrot shit back at us? Kokuto, I'm going to fire this." A cold statement as the reishi coursing through his arm pushed outwards, a cannon's barrel shaping atop his forearm. "Gotei, don't be in the way. If you got something to hold it in place, do that. Or do something about the nuclear dandruff, can't stay running."

A hum filled the air around the man as the energy mounted further. a reckless determination flickering in the silver eyes. Lukas' arm readied, centering the hollow best he could. "Time for planning was before you pissed it off."

He'd act regardless of what they did, the bile of hope in the back of his throat.

Thunder sparked and lightning roared, arrow on arrow pouring open with the crack of the sky. Flooding light turned the landscape stark, shadows twisting into deformed exaggerations, deepening the damage done to the land around them. An explosion of reishi across the sky.

Blanketing the horizon.