New Bleach IC: Road Trip!

[Vahnavoi]

Jack pants and wheezes while looking at the pile of rubble burying Beatrix. When it looks like she's not getting up this instant, he looks at his hand.

>>Soul integrity at 99.95%
>>Warning: artificial body integrity compromised
>>Warning: right side combat augments compromised

Jack tries opening and closing his fist, but gives up when his fingers don't respond. His hand stuck in a loose fist, he turns towards Balthazar. Jack's body is smoking - his clothes are literally burning up from the inside due to excess heat generated by his attack. He kneels and reaches down with his intact, left hand to grab Balthazar by the collar.

"Young man, I find your inability to follow basic instructions... appalling" , he tells Balthazar with a creepy monotone. "From now on, you will do exactly as I say. And, if your 'sister' still gets up, you will tell her to surrender and do the same. Do you understand?"

[igordragonian]

Jack pants and wheezes while looking at the pile of rubble burying Beatrix. When it looks like she's not getting up this instant, he looks at his hand.

>>Soul integrity at 99.95%
>>Warning: artificial body integrity compromised
>>Warning: right side combat augments compromised

Jack tries opening and closing his fist, but gives up when his fingers don't respond. His hand stuck in a loose fist, he turns towards Balthazar. Jack's body is smoking - his clothes are literally burning up from the inside due to excess heat generated by his attack. He kneels and reaches down with his intact, left hand to grab Balthazar by the collar.

"Young man, I find your inability to follow basic instructions... appalling" , he tells Balthazar with a creepy monotone. "From now on, you will do exactly as I say. And, if your 'sister' still gets up, you will tell her to surrender and do the same. Do you understand?"

Balthazar's pupils in his eyes, shrink to needles.
'Go to bloody hell!' he bark in newfound rage, struggle against him, just a bit stronger then a normal human.
'I won't let you hurt or abuse my sister, you bastard!'

[Vahnavoi]

Jack sighs and slams Balthazar to the ground, hoping it will knock the wind and the fight out of him. "You don't realize it, do you?" , he says wearily. "When it was just me fighting your, ah, 'sister', things were under control. It's your panicking that made it all go to Hell."

Jack does his best to keep Balthazar pinned to the ground. "I only bothered because I had every reason to think your 'sister' was abusing you. I didn't count on you being so badly under her thrall that you'd try to jump on me!"

[igordragonian]

'I don't know what are you talking about!'
easily pinned down, but still resisting in spirit.
'Are you a witch? Why are you hunting us?!'

[Vahnavoi]

Jack gives a wary glance at the pile of rubble under which Beatrix is buried. Out of the two, Balthazar is much less of a match for him. But keeping him down, nevermind trying to talk him down, is taking all of his attention. If Beatrix somehow gets up... Jack has to let at least one of them go.

"I'm not hunting you. I'm - look. Your sister is a monster! You know that. You knew that. That's why you didn't want me to fight her!" Jack is trying to get Balthazar to self-reflect. "You know she's dangerous. But somehow, you refuse to think of her as a danger to you. I was thinking of how to neutralize her as a danger to you. "

Jack grits his teeth, his eyes darting between Balthazar and the pile of rubble. "Hurting you, was the very opposite of my plan. Do. You. Understand?"

[igordragonian]

Some rubble.do seems to start moving.

Balthazar physcialy isn't much of resistance,but his despration to believe in his sistet is too great it seems to overcome in one single encounter.
"Stop the lies, witch! I have seen you! You just hunt humans for sport! YOU are the monster!" And try kicking and struggling like a dieing fish

[Vahnavoi]

Jack spots the moving rubble from the corner of his eye. He lets go of Balthazar, standing up and taking a few steps back. He angles himself so he can see both Balthazar and Beatrix, if the lattee gets up. "Maitta! I give up." He shouts, lifting his arms up. "Let's stop. This isn't getting us anywhere."

[igordragonian]

Jack spots the moving rubble from the corner of his eye. He lets go of Balthazar, standing up and taking a few steps back. He angles himself so he can see both Balthazar and Beatrix, if the lattee gets up. "Maitta! I give up." He shouts, lifting his arms up. "Let's stop. This isn't getting us anywhere."

Balthazar pant, narrow his eyes.
'Ju..just stop hunting us!' he run to help his sister, lifing rocks

[Vahnavoi]

Jack merely crosses his arms and watches as Balthazar tries to dig his sister up. He can't think of anything to say to snap Balthazar out of whatever strange mania is driving him. He'll just have to wait and see how Beatrix will react...

[igordragonian]

Jack merely crosses his arms and watches as Balthazar tries to dig his sister up. He can't think of anything to say to snap Balthazar out of whatever strange mania is driving him. He'll just have to wait and see how Beatrix will react...

After few minutes, with the aid of Balthazar, Beatrix manage to pull it, her clothes ripped a bit but she seems... much better then the wall.
she clench her fist.
'If you will tell me who you serve, I'll consider let you go.' she hiss.

[Vahnavoi]

"You know who my boss is, you already met him", Jack states. "I'm not doing this as part of any organization. If something would be served by restraining you, it's the common good." He lets his hands down, not yet taking a stance but still readying himself for the possibility of Beatrix restarting the fight. "But, I may not be able to do that. Not without causing even more unacceptable damage." He gestures towards the shredded tatami mats and the broken wall. "If you can control yourself... maybe there is some kind of a compromise we can make." He is thinking hard, but can't come up with a reasonable-sounding bargain on-the-spot. The situation has already escaped the parameters of his original plan. He'd need more time...

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

Two ghostly Susan float in through the bedroom window. Hobbes climbs back in after them. "Yohoo~. Did we miss something?", one of the ghosts asks, looking at the flesh-and-blood Susan sitting cross-legged on her bed.

Susan shrugs. "Not yet. Dad was waiting for us all to get here..."

The ghosts float before the bed. "Okay? So who's going to fetch him?"

There's a sound of the bedroom door opening and closing. "No need to", Richard Thorne says with a grave tone. He sighs. "So..."

His daughter and her four copies look at him expectantly. "So... what is this about?"

Richard walks across the room and sits on the edge of the bed, crossing his fingers. "Susan, have you possessed anyone lately?"

The flesh-and-blood Susan puts a finger on her lips and thinks. "I dunno... have I?" She looks at her duplicates in uncertainty.

Her copies look at each other. "Oh! There was this one boy today!", one of them says excitedly. "He kicked his ball on the road and was about to be run over! So I sort of shoved him out of the way." She looks at her father innocently. "So is that what this is about?"

Richard looks at her gravely, then turns to her physical daughter. "Maybe. Probably not. Listen, Susan. I need you to stop doing things like that. People talk..."

Susan looks at her father, confused. "So? They always do. It's not like it matters if they can't do anything about it..."

"They hired a private investigator. A psychic detective, if you will."

Susan blinks and stares at her father, eyes wide and mouth half open. Then he jumps up in excitement. "Ooh! A psychic detective? Did he have a trench coat and everything? Is he the real deal? Do you need me to check if he's the real deal? I could come up with some clever plan..."

"She", Richard corrects, "and yes, it seems she is the 'real deal'. That's why I need you lay low. I don't know who her connections are, even she doesn't know who her connections are... anything unusual you do could put you on the radar of potential hostiles."

Susan visibly deflates. Her shoulders slump and her excited expression turns into slack-jawed disappointment. Her copies look like they're about to riot.

"No way! A real psychic detective, and we don't get to play with her?"

"Like, not even a little? No planting of evidence, or creating of false trails..."

"This is so unfair."

"Quiet you all", Richard says with a commanding tone that's just shy of shouting. This spooks the copies enough that they all flutter close to the physical Susan and clutch her. Richard Thorne stands up and crosses his arms, glaring at them. "... this not a game. You will not get involved until I give you a permission to. You will focus on your studies, like a normal girl should. No more hijinks. I will get to the bottom of this and tell you when the situation is over. Understood?"

Susans look at him disappointment, then look away. "... bah. Okay..." One of the copies stands in attention and throws a mock salute. "Sir, yes, sir!"

Richard's eyes narrow. "What was that?"

Susan sighs and looks her father in the eye. "Yes, I understand, dad."

Richard looks at her for a while, tapping the ground with his foot. Then he sighs and lets his arms down. "... good. That's all. I'll tell you if something comes up." He walks to the door and opens it, then stops and looks over his shoulder. "Good night."

"Good night", the Susans answer in unison and wave.

Richard Thorne steps out of the room and closes the door. Then, his hand still on the door knob, he stops. Isn't he forgetting something? He looks around, and spots a tiger plushie trying to sneak away, hugging the wall. Richard takes a few long strides and grabs it by the neck.

"Ack!"

Richard hoists the living toy up and looks it in its button eyes. "Hello, Hobbes. A word, if you please..."

[igordragonian]

Beatrix pant angerly,but Balthar grab her shoulder.
"Just leave us alone!" And drag Beatrix to run away

[Vahnavoi]

Jack considers giving chase, but in the end stays put. If his last punch wasn't enough to knock Beatrix out, he has no idea what would. Trying to stop the pair now would just escalate things further and lead to more pointless collateral damage.

On the bright side... Balthazar still has Jack's phone. With some luck, he won't think to throw it away immediately, making it possible to track him at least part way. Hmmm...

---

Later, elsewhere:

Richard Thorne stands outside his house, leaning on the wall of his garage. Next to him, on the ground, sits a tiger plushie, as if it'd been abandoned there."You haven't done a very good job keeping Susan out of trouble, Hobbes", Richard says quietly.

The tiger turns his head and crosses his little arms. "Hey, I didn't really know she was in trouble", he protests. "An occult detective, with actual occult skills? In this country? What were the chances?"

"Miniscule, but that doesn't let you off the hook", Richard hisses. "There was always potential of a Shinigami passing by..."

Hobbes looks away guiltily, but retains an antagonistic attitude. "Yeah, and there's a chance lightning will hit her school and burn it down! Point is, she wasn't in any real danger and wasn't causing any real harm."

Richard looks at Hobbes skeptically, but doesn't comment further. For a while, silence falls over the yard. Eventually, Hobbes gets anxious and breaks it. "So, uh... are we on the clear? What are we waiting for, here?"

"Jack", Richard states.

Hobbes blinks in a way distinctly impossible for a doll. "Who's Jack?" Richard gives him a look. Hobbes slaps a paw on his forehead when he gets it. "Duh. 'Jack'. Of course. You really were worried enough to dig up that old gigai? So, what has he been doing? Shadowing that detective?"

"No", Richard responds. "That would've been too distrustful. I had him investigate a tangential issue."

Hobbes grimaces. "Is it bad?"

Richard draws in a deep breath through his teeth. "Well, 'Jack' should've called by now."

Hobbes crosses his arms. "Then it's ba- oh, speak of the Devil!"

Jack crosses the street and walks to the garage, his hands stuffed in his pockets. As he gets closer, he lifts up his injured hand. Hobbes and Richard watch him quietly until he's in whispering range.

"So... I suppose this means trouble", Richard says grimly.

"Yeah. I broke this body", Jack says with an apologetic smile. "Also, the dojo needs a few new mats. And a new wall."

Richard buries his face in his palm. "Well, you'll have to stay in that body for a while. It won't fix itself."

"I figured." Jack glances at Hobbes. "So, what's he doing here?"

"We had a talk. Long story short, I told him to keep a stricter watch on Susan. I... guess we'll have to fill in the details the old-fashioned way?"

Jack nods. "On the bright side, I gave my phone to the boy. He should still have it."

Hobbes look questioningly at Jack. "How's that a good thing?"

Richard lets his hand down and looks at Jack. "Because it's linked to an app in my phone. If he doesn't lose it, we can track him."

Jack holds up a finger. "Not us. Think about it. Doesn't this sound like..."

"... a job for a detective?", Hobbes adds hopefully, looking back and forth between Jack and Richard.

After a while, Richard nods. "Yeah. A job. For a detective. That might work. So..."

---

Next morning:

"So... if we aren't allowed to any spooky stuff, what are we supposed to do?", Susan Five asks her 'sisters' while braiding the living Susan's hair.

Living Susan shrugs. "I dunno... stay inside and play video games all day? Beats school, doesn't it?"

Susan Four is sitting cross-legged besides them. "Yeah, but won't mom start to wonder why the TV's on when no-one's supposed to be watching it?"

Living Susan shrugs again. "Eh, you'll just have to be all sneaky-like." She tries to glance at Five without turning her head. "Are you done soon? I have buss to catch."

Susan two, who, up to this point, has had her nose buried in a comic book, laying on her stomach on her bed, legs swinging in the air, perks up. "Buss? Since when have we taken the buss?"

Living Susan frowns. "Since daddy dearest told us 'no hijinks'."

"I'd say us suddenly taking the buss is more suspicious than the alternative", Susan Two chimes in from the sidelines.

"Maybe", Five says, putting finishing touches on the braids. "Anyways, done!"

"Good!" Living Susan jumps up and grabs her backpack. She swings it on her back, opens the bedroom door and runs downstairs. "Hobbes! Ho~obbes! Where are you? It's time to go~!"

---

Later that day:

Richard Thorne gets to the agreed-upon meeting spot well ahead of time. He checks his watch every five minutes or so as he waits for Shiroihako and Sarah to arrive. "Jack", having bandaged and braced his damaged hand, is skulking around the same corner as yesterday. Hopefully, the detective and her assistant will stick to the plan...

[Rater202]

Sarah arrives, keeping an eye out for the young woman she met the day prior.

And, though this may not be obvious, potential threats. She never lets Thorne out of her sight.

[igordragonian]

Beatrix walk with a furiouse expriession.

'Bea...' Balthazar put hand on her shoulder.

'SHUT UP.' she hiss.
Her clothes were ripped. ****.
She was about to break into a clothing shop- but Balthazar stopped her. 'Wait, how will we pay...?'

Beatrix sighed. 'Get inside. I'll find something.'

Balthazar didn't wanted to know how she kept 'finding things' but he didnt wanted to confront her.
But there were a car with a broken window, and Beatrix had enough money even to rent B&B.

Balthazar couldn't sleep. Instead of working on another strip of his web comic.

-------------

In the morning, they simply wondered around aimlessly

[Vahnavoi]

At the meeting spot:

Mister Thorne spots Sarah arriving and checks the time. "... you're early" , he remarks to her. "I'm surprised you didn't come hand in hand with your associate. I thought you lodged at the same place?"

[Rater202]

"We're not joined at the butt. I'm not saying anything till she gets here."

[Lord Raziere]

Shiroihako:
She comes walking up a little tired, groaning.
"Okay, I'm here I'm here....what place are we investigating? Just woke up, am a little groggy. Still haven't gotten a job done, ugh..."

[Vahnavoi]

Thorne looks at Shiroihako. "... good. I was starting to get worried." He puts his hands in his pockets. "There's been a development. Remember the Barham twins? You mentioned them yesterday. Did you know one of them is not human?"

[Lord Raziere]

Thorne looks at Shiroihako. "... good. I was starting to get worried." He puts his hands in his pockets. "There's been a development. Remember the Barham twins? You mentioned them yesterday. Did you know one of them is not human?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me. They act too strangely. One of them talked about eating me when we met."
She says back.

[Vahnavoi]

"Was it the girl?" , Thorne asks back.

[Lord Raziere]

"Was it the girl?" , Thorne asks back.

"Well to be more precise she said something about having not bitten me which can be taken in at least two different ways, but they didn't strike me as interested in sex, so I assume its about eating me. but yes, it was the girl."
She says waking up a little more.
"....There something we should do about them?"

[Vahnavoi]

"Yes" , Thorne says. "What, is still an open question."

He thinks for a while before continuing. "The Barhams were, for lack of a better word, stalking you. Do you know why they were after you?"

[Lord Raziere]

"Yes" , Thorne says. "What, is still an open question."

He thinks for a while before continuing. "The Barhams were, for lack of a better word, stalking you. Do you know why they were after you?"

"They said they were tourists and wanted excitement. I said no, because I'm a detective and a ronin, and want to keep people with no clear combat skills safe from hollows. Also they talked about biting me. I'm not inclined to be friendly with people who do that. So I just....didn't associate myself with them. And they probably followed."
She said shrugging a little.

[Vahnavoi]

"They had a deeper motive than that" , Thorne states. "I looked into this. They're not locals. They're from Great Britain. They should be traveling in Peru with their parents, but by Balthazar's, the boy's, account, their parents are dead."

"The way I think it went, his parents were killed and replaced by evils spirits he calls 'dragons'. They were about to kill and replace him as well, but someone he refers to as a 'witch' got on their trail. The witch killed the dragons, except for one: Beatrix. "

"The real Beatrix Barham has probably been dead for a long while. What's left is a dragon that's assumed her identity and is using her corpse as a disguise. She killed the witch and then escaped with her 'brother'. My associate realized this and thought to get Balthazar away from her. The problem is, Balthazar is deeply in denial about his 'sister' s' true nature and has latched to her as his last living family member. I don't know if she has him under supernatural thrall somehow, or if he's just gone kooky from his experiences. In any case, his spirit has also been infected by evil energy. He might even be in the process of turning into a dragon or a Hollow. "

"They're both deeply worried about witches coming and hunting them down. They even thought my associate was one, which lead to his plan to separate them failing. So what's your take on this, so far?"

[Rater202]

"Fullbringer. If he's bee infected by malevolent energy, he's a fullbringer. It's like in sci-fi stuff where you have a benign brain tumor that gives you psychic powers but on your soul instead of your brain. It's harmless as long as you're strong enough to kill weak hollows and weak enough that strong hollows don't notice you."

[Vahnavoi]

Thorne looks at Sarah, then back at Shiroihako. "... maybe he's that. I'm not familiar with the term 'Fullbringer'. I'd err on the side of caution and assume that whatever it is, it won't be harmless if he's left untreated."

[igordragonian]

Meanwhile, the Braham twins, are just walking around town, in relative silence.
Beatrix try to lead to the dojo she wrecked yesterday, to invetigate, now that she has calmed down
But they aren't locals and could get easily lost.

Balthazar just walking along.

[Lord Raziere]

Shiroihako:
"I don't know of fullbringers either. But yes, this sounds concerning. What do you want me to do about it? Because all I got is a sword and a willingness to kill whatever is a threat to people. I could confront them and get this over with, but I can't promise a peaceful solution, or cure Balthazar. If Beatrix needs to go I'm your ronin but otherwise..."

[Rater202]

Sarah pinches the bridge of her nose.

"There's nothing to cure. I explained this in the park yesterday, Ms. Ronin: Sometimes when a human is attacked by a Hollow, the human absorbs some of the Hollow's power and that power sort of latches onto their soul and awakens, enhances, and flavors their latent spiritual powers. I've had powers just like that for the last four years, and if some Jackass Rich Trucker who lives on the other side of the country was telling the truth I've had them since literally before I was born and they just didn't kick in till then."

"It would be the reason why you attacked me thinking I was hollow yesterday."

Sarah pulses her power, generating a brief burst of hollow-like spiritual pressure that fades within seconds, to drive the point home.

"There's nothing to cure becuase he's not sick in the first place. If he really doesn't think that his powers are worth the hassle than the only way to get rid of them would be..." Sarah seems to get uncomfortable for a moment. "Well, unless one of you knows a living human with the powers of a Death God, either he could grab my chest and try to shunt off his soul tumor into me, which isn't happening, or I could stab him in the chest with my Fullbring and drain out all but the very last dregs of his spiritual power, which... I don't know if he'd live through so that's not a decent option either."