GRAVEYARD

[foundationmods]

[On the instant of your death, you're suddenly outside of your body - probably staring down at the remains it's become.

Yet, you're not alone. For all of you (except Szayel), a young man appears from behind you, his face set into a firm, yet sad, scowl. His shaggy strawberry blonde hair is pretty eye-catching, along with the black and white Shihakusho he wears and the large sword on his back, even as he gently tries to lead you back into the lobby and away from what was once your body. You can still clearly hear and see the living, if you want to try - but they can't see or hear you.

'Welcome to the world of the dead in this Resort,' he says, quietly. 'Looks like you're stuck here with the rest of us.'

He hands you a tablet, just like the one you had before. "You'll need this if you want to keep talking to them,' he explains, looking sad.

It looks like you've passed on, and yet...You still feel like you have a role to play in all of this.]

Comments

[perfeccion]

[he stares at her for a few seconds, seemingly having temporarily forgotten that he can actually do anything else. You know when you sleep so hard you wake up even MORE tired? He blinks a few times, then something finally seems to snap into place]

Kurosaki is injured?! Dammit... I slept through the exploration...!

[the panic gets him moving, and he throws back his covers. His chest is bare, but for EVERYONE'S sake, he has on some comfy lounge pants.

In the next second the sword is down his throat.

And, well, you know the rest. A burst of blood, a swollen body, then a tentacled beast in a dress. He rushes past Inaba and out the door to the lobby]

Kurosaki...! I told you to be careful!!

[bladeisme]

[there's a pause, as Ichigo just takes in....all of this.

It's not any nicer watching it the second time, but he just. clutches his arm, giving Inaba a withering look before reluctantly looking at Szayel.]

I was, until they riled up the immune system to the point it took a second look at anything wearing a white cell hat.

[He sighs, closing his eyes in a tired way.]

...Just - swallow me or whatever it is before I change my mind.

[perfeccion]

[Szayel sighs, looking tired despite his intense nap, for entirely different reasons. He can feel them... he can feel the gray hairs...]

It's not as bad as the barghest's wounds, but those antibody burns will persist if they aren't cleansed.

[then, for the benefit of everyone who is dead to see, one of the long, wing-like tentacles on Szayel's back stretches and grows, the end opening up into a gaping, toothless maw.

And swallowing Ichigo in a single gulp.

One of the red "fruits" on the wing swells to the size of a man and pulses. Because of course it does.

Szayel unfurls some other tentacles from under his dress to sit. This may take a moment]

[dereban]

[ UM


YEAH, INABA'S OUT, WATCHING THIS WAS A MISTAKE ]

[bladeisme]

[Hello grossness my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
because a wound softly creeping
slashed across my arm while I was working
because a dumbass split from the group
and got himself killed
to the sound
of Cells At Work]

[perfeccion]

[beautiful. a truly stunning rendition.

After a few minutes, the fruit bursts in a cascade of clear, gooey fluid and Ichigo falls on the lobby floor with a wet "plorp" sound. He's soaking wet and gooey but his skin is as SMOOTH AND PERFECT AS A BABY'S BUTT]

[bladeisme]

[THIS NEVER GETS EASIER IT JUST GETS WORSE

IT'S LIKE BEING COVERED IN CLEAR SLIME GOD IT'S IN HIS MOUTH]

[perfeccion]

[go get a towel, you heathen.

While that fruit reforms, Szayel allows another, much smaller one to burst into his open hand, revealing a small blue orb]

Hm... I may be able to create an anti-antibody with this...

[bladeisme]

[Just.

Stares at him incredulously from the floor.

Why this. Why is this his life.]

[perfeccion]

[he pats Ichigo on the head with one of his chair tentacles. Then, there is a sound like a weird unearthly zipper as Szayel draws his finger across empty space. A weird little rift opens up, and he places the orb inside. Then, the same zippery noise, and the rift vanishes]

By the way, were you able to drop off the package?

[bladeisme]

[Makes a noise that is specifically a 'dooooon't' noise as he slaps the tentacle away with a hand.]

I was. Not sure what you'll get from it, though.

[perfeccion]

[head pat pat paaatttt. then withdraw!]

We'll see what bites. I'll know when it gets picked up, and it should take about 8 hours for replication to reach sufficient levels to know if I've had an effect. I added something that is a chemoattractant for macrophages, so hopefully at least that will be a success.

[justonezero]

[He actually walks into the conversation here because he's done checking up on Ellie and Roxas - for the moment.]

-Chemoattractant?

[He's pretty low energy right now, but well. That all sure happened.]

[perfeccion]

Indeed! [he's tired but he's never too tired to TALK ABOUT SCIENCE] Cells use certain chemicals to attract other cells; for example, damaged skin cells release a chemical into the bloodstream that calls in white blood cells, who follow the scent like sharks after blood. Utilizing my own cells and macrophages, I created something similar... I just hope there's enough similarities between our biochemistry...

[justonezero]

...What's it going to do to the resort?

[Are they going to go into the vents again...?]

[perfeccion]

Nothing, directly. I am merely trying to infect a single macrophage so we can safely locate the brain. That way, none of us have to enter the circulatory system again. [he sighs] It's what I've been doing for the past few nights... the parasites are untested, but it was all I could do on short notice.

[justonezero]

[Oh good as long as we are NO LONGER VENT SPELUNKING AND INVITING DEATH.]

Ah- and then they can go there directly like the Outsider did?!

[perfeccion]

No, the macrophage still won't be able to cross the blood/brain barrier. But I will be able to at least locate it.

In theory.

I won't know for another few hours. I can still detect the cyst in the vein where Ichigo left it.

[justonezero]

Ah.

[Too bad!]

That's still better than looking through those veins, though.

[perfeccion]

Quite a bit safer.... I have some other ideas if this one fails, but... I just don't have the time and resources to make it all quickly enough. [he sighs and slumps on his tentacle chair again] Can I go back to sleep now? Is anyone else injured?

[justonezero]

I think we're good!

[YOU CAN COMMENCE NO LONGER BEING SCARY NOW.]