The Odd Case of Marquis Amadeo, pt.1

"So, have you heard about the new horror movie released recently?" one old lady said to another as the two slowly strolled across Naga City, pushing past crowds standing around numerous gift shops and ice cream vendors, occassionally glancing to the street to see one or two cars brushing past. It was a calm, casual day, and while the news were buzzing about a mysterious serial killer operating and killing dozens, if not hundreds, in such a short period of time, most of the citizens either hardly cared or trued to shut themselves down from the worry. After all, there has to be a some sort of pattern to this mysterious murderer, seeing that their massacres keep popping up in different towns each time... and we can't possibly be involved in that pattern, right?

"Which one? Oh, do you mean The Hedgehog?" the other old lady replied, tapping her chin with her finger. "Oh, how could I not? My grandchildren dragged me to see it last week!"

"Oh dear, with your grandchildren too?!" the first lady reacted with shock. "So was it as scary as all the newspapers are saying?"

"Horrifying! When it reached its climax, I couldn't watch for more than ten seconds without turning my head away in fright. It's clearly Satanic, it should be banned."

"I can only agree with that, dear. These youths are clearly up to no good, someone has to plant the foot down and say-"

"COMING THROUGH!"

A modified roaring motorcycle, its driver clearly caring less about any and all laws of safe driving than they do about their own safety, suddenly powered through the street right next to the two ladies, picking up wind, leaves, loose papers and seriously scaring them off. Despite moving at a speed rivaling race cars, the motorcycle smoothly evaded all the obstacles in its way, passing by beeping cars and trucks, nearly hitting a lamp post, and finally speeding through a gap between two passengers on a road crossing in the middle of the street, forcing both of them to leap to their own sides of the road. Not only that, but the man driving it - a young adult with long, blond hair tied to a flowing ponytail, dressed in white and blue which gave off the impression of a knight - was not even paying all of his attention on the road. His eyes were set on the watch on his left arm's wrist, displaying the holographic image of a tanned, brown-haired woman with a set of glasses on her nose.

"Carla, what's the status?!" the man yelled into his wrist watch, then glanced back towards the road for a second, only to see that he was right about to hit a woman who had, for whatever reason, chosen to stroll right into the road as he was driving. His supernatural reflexes kicked in almost immediately - the motorcycle suddenly jerked to the side, swiping past the frightened woman and promptly taking a sharp turn to the left, towards the industrial district of the city. Immediately, old, rotting industrial chimneys, standing above the factories of the old era like towering spires and spewing smoke and ash into the atmosphere, came into full frontal view. The crowds which would be dispersed on the sidewalks vanished, save for one or more foolish passengers strolling on foot towards the most dangerous and intimidating district of the city.

"The Hollow Reiatsu is still there, but their presumed targets are rapidly waning in strength. You might be able to get there in time, but..."

The way how Carla kept his chances cryptic was not helping - he was already in an adrenaline rush and this has been the closest he has been able to get to this serial killer! "Then what, Carla?!" the man yelled out.

"Then fucking hurry, Amadeo!" was what reached his ears from the other side. Hearing Carla break character and refer to him by his real name rather than his alias... that really spelled out that both of them were under serious pressure.

For the last... let's say five years, he has been policing far and wide, fighting criminals and Hollows as... kind of a superhero, kind of a vigilante, with the alias Inquisitor. It only made sense - as a noble scion not entitled to inheritance due to his bastard birth, he didn't have a life of ruling a manor, a mansion or a business empire to look forward to, or any sort of direction in life in general, and ever since he realized the powers granted to him by his high amount of Reishi and his odd circumstances of birth, he opted to put them to use for good. Someone has to use their powers to help others, don't they? However, Amadeo's direction as Inquisitor would see plenty of changes during that time. During the time when he matured from a starry eyed teenager enthusiastically leaping into action and smashing criminals with a giant hammer, to a battle tested and experienced High Spec Human, professional enough to challenge the numerous threats across mortal and soul worlds alike.

His work would eventually be noted by Soul Society and their armies of Shinigami, or Soul Reapers - one day, Amadeo would receive a visit from a spunky boisterous orange-haired youth who'd explain exactly what he is getting into. From there on out, the superhero Inquisitor would cooperate with the Shinigami in combating the Hollow threat - since, being a human, he'd only make matters worse by killing Hollows with his own hand, he received a device with which he would be able to call down the help of the nearest Soul Reaper to finish the monsters off after they got beat down. Hell, he didn't even know those things were called "Hollows" until he got it explained to him - he just thought they were ghosts, ghouls and monsters!

Amadeo's Reiatsu sense would direct him towards a large industrial complex built next to a river, the slowly flowing water resembling a thick green mucus from the sewage spilt. Many, many years ago, this section of the city would be the industrial furnace of the entire nation, fueled by extensive coal and iron ore deposits located not too far away from here. Thousands of tons of steel would be smelted and processed in these plants, numerous coal power plants would produce precious electricity powering life for millions of citizens, granting jobs to many, many workers and generating wealth for the entire region. However, those times were long since over. Scientific advancement has caught up, coal has been dismissed as harmful to the environment and ineffective compared to other sources of fuel, and the economy would transition to one based on services rather than industrial production. What need for steel and coal there still was, it would now be provided for from foreign states, ones which pay their workers less and levy less taxes, while thousands would be relieved from the jobs their forefathers had held for generations. Only these abandoned complexes would remain as a reminder of a world which will never be regained.

The elected council of Naga City would propose numerous plans on how to turn this graveyard of industrialism to something easier on the eye. Ideas were floating about razing these factories and building apartment blocks, or shopping malls, or perhaps even rejuvenating the industrial district with high tech productionl. However, all of these ideas would meet numerous problems. The district was not just abandoned, it was toxic, and Amadeo felt exactly that as he stopped his motorcycle in what was once a busy car parking area. The air was full of dust, ash and smoke, spewed by the few factories which were still operational, the water was poisoned and would take years to refine, and some rumors were abound that a nuclear waste silo from a power plant on the other side of the country was somewhere underneath these complexes...

Amadeo leapt off his motorcycle and grabbed onto the handle of his war hammer, hanging on his back. The vigilante took it off with a single swipe - suddenly, it would imbue itself with a thick electric aura, sparks would start to fly across the air, zapping and jolting the ground as well as the air. If his senses were correct, then the target he was hunting for should certainly be in this complex.

The longer Amadeo thought about it, however... the weirder it all got.

This... serial killer he is going after, they're well known to boast a high level of Hollow Reiatsu, both to him and to the Shinigami. But... it can't be a Hollow. Because the news about their existence and their path of destruction are known all across the planet. If this were a Hollow, they would be invisible to anyone except those with a high level of Reishi themselves. And yet, clearly, anyone could see their presence. Which meant that they were a physical entity, not a Soul... and yet, the Reishi they were emitting...

Someone more aware of how this Soul business works would have probably already figured it out by now - however, Amadeo was not one of them. This did not mean that he even considered standing down, though - it only made the fire in his heart burn brighter.

With a single powerful smash, the vigilante's electric hammer smashed through the wall separating him from the innards of the complex - the blow was powerful enough to shake the building to the foundations and turned the wall in front of him into a pile of dust and rubble. If they are here, they'd certainly be aware of his presence by now... What unfolded before Amadeo's eyes was a vast, pitch dark room and dreary silence to punctuate it. Gigantic industrial machines, each one used to refine iron ore into slabs of steel, were lined up on both sides of the room, each one several dozen meters tall and wide. The fire within them was long since turned off, all they would ever see from now on is the unstoppable march of rust.

The light which filtered into the complex from the hole which Amadeo made did not reach very far, so, a mere few steps into the room, the only source of light which the vigilante could see was the bright flashes of his electric hammer. All of the windows were darkened and reinforced with metal bars, any significant amount of light escaping through there was a foolish hope. So, Amadeo made himself a flashlight - he raised up his left hand and snapped with its fingers, generating a small orb of electricity above them. That might have been a foolish mistake, however, as, immediately upon the snap, he would be greeted with a sight straight from a horror movie. Splashes of blood littered the ground, a bisected arm was lying not too far from him, ooze and blood still flowing from what used to be a shoulder.

Kneeling down in front of a pile and tapping it confirmed that the blood was still fresh. He didn't get here in time...

"God, fucking, damn it!" Amadeo yelled out, slamming his hammer to the ground, sending several cracks across the ground and shaking the complex yet again. Some stumbling later, a body suddenly fell down from the floor above right in front of the vigilante, forcing him to tense his muscles in shock instantly.

That was the victim, wasn't it? A man roughly thirty years old, with a short prickly beard and a balding head... and by God, was he in an awful conditionl. One of his arms got cleaved off almost completely, while a heavy slash, clearly that of a sword, had cut into his shoulder, from the neck towards one of the kidneys, nearly splitting the body apart and leaving the organs inside openly visible. Aside from that, plenty of smaller cuts and wounds littered the man's body, leaving him a bloodied and mangled mess, far beyond any sort of saving. Amadeo pressed his finger on the man's face, only to instantly recoil back with a painful jolt.

"He's... full of Hollow Reiatsu..." Amadeo muttered under his breath and stood up. This cannot be the serial killer, though. It does give a hint on what they are able to do, however. Calling up Carla and requesting help was not an option now... The vigilante stood up, looking around with his orb of electricity, then yelled out:

"In the name of God and his Inquisitor, show yourself!"

Surprisingly, he actually received an answer:

"If you insist so~"

Amadeo's senses instantly caught wind of a powerful Hollow Reiatsu standing right behind him, and the vigilante reacted on instinct - turning around and sending his hammer straight towards the source. A powerful shockwave rolled across the entire complex, smashing windows and letting in several beams of light into the massive room - however, he witnessed his weapon getting caught by two feminine hands, slowly pushed back by strength even greater than his own. And what now stared into him, two glowing crimson eyes and the person behind them...

That was...

That was...

That couldn't be. This must be a mistake. And yet... that's exactly whom he was looking at.

"Es... Estrella?"

(2200 words)