Kimura Reiko woke in darkness, again. This time, her naked body lay in some sort of cold metal container. She felt her flesh rearrange itself; sharp cracks echoed in the small space as her bones snapped back in place. Her unclear mind started to unravel even more at this state of entrapment. As her P’o nature took over, Reiko also felt this hunger, stronger than any emotion she had ever felt.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Yamada Ryuji felt like he was being flayed alive, only the sensation came from the full reformation of his body from the ashes of a now-split container. He could just barely make out similar plastic containers stacked along the surrounding shelves like over-sized mayonnaise jars. The light he could see by came from under a shut door up a short flight of steps.
As his split soul tried to fuse back together, his P’o nature won out. Flesh. He knew that was what he wanted, what he needed.

He would have screamed from the pain if he were formed enough to do so.  Once he could he no longer needed to.  The pain was no longer an enemy to fight.  Rather it sent his attention elsewhere.  He was being hurt.  Something was hurting him.  He needed to find the source of the pain and kill it.  The only sound that came from his partially formed throat was a hoarse, feral growl; a wounded beast refusing to back down.  His movements were slow and sluggish as though he didn't quite remember how to command his limbs but as his body finished reconstituting itself from the ashes his movements changed.  He was far more graceful than he had been in life.  He was a hunter and he was hungry.

Instincts drove him, guided him.  He knew what to do despite having never done it before.  His eyes darted about seeking prey.  His nostrils flared as he sought the taste of flesh in the air.  He moved.  A distant part of his mind recognized things and the beast made use of them.  Door knobs.  Locks.  Windows.  Part of him knew the hunt must be done with care but a larger, stronger part was too hungry.  He needed to eat.  His very soul clawed at him with the strength of his need.  For now, the hunt was all.

Ryuji wasn’t conscious of the exact moment he had gotten to the top of the stairs and jerked the door open. The room so revealed was concrete-walled and squarish, with a corridor leading off to the far right. Three file cabinets lined the same side: their ancient metal glinting in the light of the single hang-down bulb from the ceiling.
The brightest light emanated from the computer screen on the far left desk. The short-haired woman sitting in front of it swiveled her chair around and just barely had time to stand before Ryuji acted.

As his frenzied eyes fell upon the unfortunate woman a tiny voice trapped in the back of his mind tried to deny what was about to happen.  With a ferocity born of hunger he sprang at the woman.  His teeth were bared and seeking her throat to crush the life out of her as fingers curled into claws reached for her.

So... hungry

Freed from a hell she barely remembered (at least for now), Reiko thrashed around inside her 'cold locker'.  It slid open more from luck than actual ability.  While there was nobody around, Reiko loped over to other drawers and began pulling at them to see if she could score some tasty flesh.  In her current state she'd eat anything...

Three other corpses turned up in Reiko's frenzied search for food.

The first was an old man who'd already been processed and was awaiting delivery to a funeral home.  Reiko found very little to eat from this one.  In her frustration she had eaten its face off and ripped him apart... wiping bits of it on the wall in a pleasing arrangement.  The second corpse was a waterlogged tourist who still had most of her 'bits' inside.  Reiko chowed down on the girl like a pizza with extra topping, happily slurping down organs and fleshy bits.  Muscle memory resulted in Reiko swabbing the blood onto her 'slices' (and yes, she doubled dipped).  The third corpse was an obese man that was halfway finished by the mortician.  Reiko feasted well from this one, enjoying the extra blubber.  Several burps escaped her, a reflex action signalling her contentment.

And then she felt 'very' woozy.  Already leaning towards the Yin aspect, so much dead flesh further filled her with the death aspected chi.  She blundered into benches and tables, knocking things aside and mewling in a pitiful manner.  finally she drunkenly stumbled towards the exit where the freedom of the night air beckoned to her.  But clutched in Reiko's hand was a metal object that made funny noises when she prodded it.  It's familiarly gave her comfort and so she took it along... like a dog carrying its favorite toy.

Mine.  Urg... bad food.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

The office worker broke free and ran down the hallway, getting about halfway to the next doorway.

An eager roar followed the fleeing woman.  Although her temporary escape was frustrating it was far more enjoyable, despite his hunger, to continue the chase.  But he couldn't allow for an extended chase.  He was hungry.  Perhaps his next chosen prey could be hunted properly.  She could not be allowed to escape.  Memories arose in him that he didn't properly recognize and his arms reached for her again.  Once she was held in place it would be much easier to tear out her throat and feast upon her.

The woman struggled in Ryuji's arms, but Ryuji managed to pin her against the wall so that she had no chance of escape.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:32, Sat 15 Feb 2020.

Reiko stumbled through the exit and out into a hallway that went thirty feet ahead before turning left. The indistinct sounds of conversation came from that direction. She also processed a partway-open window on the right side of the corridor.

Reiko's Po didn't feel in the mood to cede any control and so the beast continued to creep around.  The sound of voices caused her to look around for a hiding place, being bloated and unwell from her previous feeding.  The window seemed to be an opportune exit.  Smashing away the glass, Reiko looked out to see if it led anywhere... that wasn't a long drop.

The voices ceased as soon as Reiko started smashing the class. Outside lay a parking lot; scattered cars and vans were parked there. A vertical neon sign rose beyond the asphalt. Reiko saw a down-ramp on the far left side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:33, Sun 16 Feb 2020.

And out the window she went.  While her running was a little awkward at first, each step become more and more 'natural'.  Reiko dashed through parked vehicles and made a beeline for the down-ramp.  It seemed the perfect spot to lurk and creep, which was what her Po wanted to do.

Underground, Reiko found places to climb and shadows to lurk in.  She was content to hide away for now, at least until the manifestation of hunger or the need to menace others.  Reiko did find a 'traditional styled' wall poster and her Po started to deface it out of spite.

With the woman now pinned to the wall and helpless another change came over Ryuji.  Human teeth were ill suited to properly tearing flesh and as his mouth opened she would see them contort as his pearly whites became long and serrated.  They were only visible for a moment before they tore into her neck, feasting on her flesh and her lifeblood as Ryuji tore her throat out.  As her struggles inevitably weakened his grip on her faded as his efforts turned from keeping her trapped to feeding.  He fed until he was sated and then shredded whatever was left.

He stood slowly from the remains and turned to survey the room he had found himself in.  He felt revitalized after feeding and decided there was time to indulge himself before moving on.  What followed was a whirlwind of destruction in the room as anything that could be smashed was and everything else was at least knocked over.  There was another door in the room aside from the one he had entered from and, satisfied with what he'd done in this room, it was time to go through the next door to see if there was anything else worthwhile in the rest of the building.

In her animalistic state, Reiko lost track of the time.  She could have been down here in the dark for minutes... or hours.  Her phone had kept her slightly amused.  She'd accidentally called a friend on her phone, but all that she'd been able to do was make guttural sounds to the (very confused) recipient.  They had hung up, assuming it was some sort of prank call.

With a collection of odds and ends arrayed around her, Reiko played at gathering, scattering, and regathering the objects.  Reiko was like a domestic cat playing with toys and people things... except that she could also eat someone's face off, if provoked.

From her new lair, Reiko eventually heard A clomping sounded down the ramp, and into view came a tall woman dressed in a pantsuit, who headed toward a compact green car parked on the other side of a BMW.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:59, Tue 18 Feb 2020.

Ryuji headed into what proved to be a maze-like series of corridors and doors until he came to one of the latter where subdued voices could be hard, on the other side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:01, Tue 18 Feb 2020.

Her curiosity peaked by the woman, Reiko’s Po ceased her games and crept into the dark... edging closer to the green car.  The chance to terrorise this woman and maybe feast on some Yang was very tempting.  Reiko’s Hun however had other ideas and made a grab for the proverbial steering wheel...

Swatting away the angel on her shoulder, ‘Po-Reiko’ slunk closer to her victim and when the woman had her back turned...she struck!  But like a cat going for a mouse, the goal was to play with and torment her victim.

The woman was fumbling for her keys when she noticed Reiko's reflection in the driver-side window. She let forth a scream even as Reiko struck.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:52, Tue 18 Feb 2020.

Pouncing like a cat, Po-Reiko seized the woman and gave her an almighty shake... with a sadistic grin on her face.  She didn’t want to kill her quickly and spoil the fun.  Po-Reiko tried to force the woman to the ground and sit on her.  She applied a few licks and gentle slaps, laughing all the way.

The maze he found himself in was frustrating to say the least.  Wandering was fine, but wandering without a point was annoying.  What was worse was that there was almost nothing in the hallways he walked down so he couldn't even break things to keep himself preoccupied.  And so he stalked the boring hallways growing ever more disgruntled with the situation.  At least this wasn't an infinite maze.

He came across a door with voices on the other side.  His previous annoyance was immediately forgotten.  Here was something he could do.  Sounded like two people were talking.  Ryuji now paced outside the door, a hunter sizing up prey it couldn't yet see.  He wasn't hungry this time so there was no urgency for him to enter and a small voice from somewhere advised caution lest he leap headfirst into a trap.  The woman from before had been pathetically weak and so deserved to be destroyed.  But the voices on the other side of the door belonged to people of unknown strength who he couldn't even see.  An instinctive fear of being destroyed suggested he pick his battles wisely.  An instinctive desire to destroy proposed that he wisely pick every battle.

But, just in case, perhaps he could sneak a peek before making his final decision.  Having figured out the intricacies of doorknobs previously, he now tried to quietly open this door a crack so he could peer through.

The woman struggled under Reiko’s weight but was unable to break free.
Reiko heard the scuff of shoes on asphalt and looked up to see three figures coming down the ramp: two men and a woman.
The woman--clad in a blood-red dress--stopped at the entrance. She crossed her arms.
“Here’s our corpse eater,” said one of the men. Of just above average height, he wore black jeans and a loose fitting, light blue shirt only half buttoned up. He sported a well-trimmed goatee.
A massive man in a cheap, gray suit walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him. The large man held up an arm to block the blacked-jean man. “I’ll deal with her, Kohei,” he said, approaching Reiko with a wide, sumo stance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:31, Wed 19 Feb 2020.

Yuugou woke up in a dark, unfamiliar alley. A rotten smell hung in the air, reminding him of something in his recent past that he could not quite catch hold of. He was hungry. The section of night sky above him revealed a waxing moon. The sound of passing cars at the end of the alley echoed softly around him.

Ryuji gently cracked open the door. He saw the woman standing at the man’s shoulder, looking down while he sat at a desk and held his phone up. She was dressed in a lab coat had her back to Ryuji and was blocking line of sight to the man’s face. Ryuji’s luck seemed to be holding.
The man was saying, “And then I got her this for her birthday.”
“Extravagant. Let me guess, she didn’t like it?”
“She drives me crazy.”
“And you’re an idiot,” the woman said. “You should have taken the weekend off and gone to the coast, given her some of your time.”
“What time?”

“Mine....mine!”

Reiko hissed at the trio, pulling her captive up to her feet... while trying to back away.  Her eyes shifted from ‘red dress woman’, to ‘jeans man,’ and finally to ‘sumo dude’. Operating on instinct, Reiko tensed in preparation for a fight or flight response.

Yuugou snapped awake, sitting up and looking around desperately. Though he didn't know why, he couldn't help but laugh, out of relief, when he looked down and saw his usual clothes and his tattoos.

The relief was short lived though as he got up and was stricken by a mean headache and a meaner sense of hunger.
What the hell happened ? Yuugou was a man of dignity; he never got involved with drugs, at least not directly and he always watched his sake. And who the fuck would just dump him in an alleyway like this ? Have they no respect ?

As he staggered out of the alleyway, he massaged his temple and checked his pockets, mainly looking for his phone and his cigarettes.
First thing first, was going to find out where the hell he was, hopefully close to his favorite yakisoba place ...

Well, neither of those people seemed particularly threatening.  What confused Ryuji's current mindset was the odd hunger he felt.  He didn't need to eat but there was some sort of desire to sate an appetite.  A more primal urge.  At the moment he couldn't identify it.  But it didn't seem as though there were any immediate threats in the room so he chose his course of action.  Kill the two people here, and then figure out what it was he was hungry for.  Maybe snack on the woman while he thought.  She looked tasty.  And so he burst into the room and lunged for the nearer of the two, mouth agape and ready to tear out a couple more throats.

Reiko held the trembling woman in front of her against the large man's slap, but the forcefulness of the blow swept the mortal aside and landed on Reiko's shoulder.


Reiko snarled and launched a counter attack, which he pushed through as best he could.


The woman started to crawl away from the pair, shrieking.

The man had gotten close to Reiko at this point, and reached out his huge arms to grasp her.

Ryuji flung open the door, and--by the time either of the people could do more than open their mouths--tore out the man's throat. The woman hesitated so much, that by the time she decided to run to the door, Ryuji had shot out her legs from under her.

Yuugou fished out his cigarettes, but then gasped as this unremitting pain hit his entire being. He needed sustenance more than he could find at any food stand.

Reiko thrashed as Sumo man grabbed her.  She hissed and spat, doing whatever she could to escape...

When the pain rushed through him, Yuugou managed to react in time, slamming his fist full force into the alley wall, as if to say "I'm in charge".

Going back to his cigarettes, he managed to fish one out, before dropping the pack with his numb hand.
While patting himself down for his lighter, he desperately looked around for somewhere, anywhere to go.
Confusion along with a shrill sense of hunger swirled his mind, he couldn't think he just had to move...

As the man gurgled his last and died Ryuji turned to the woman.  She was screaming for help and trying to crawl away.  Unfortunately, her fate was sealed the moment Ryuji entered the room.  A brief tussle with him seizing her throat and attempting to quiet her annoying shrieking ended with a loud snap and her head hanging at an odd angle.  In an instant his interest in her faded and like a pouting child with a broken toy her released her and let her lifeless body flop back to the floor.

His disappointment was quickly forgotten as he turned his attention to ransacking the room he found himself in.  It didn't take long before he was satisfied with his redecoration of the interior of the office and his gaze turned to the outdoors.  He stared for a moment.  Yup, he liked the look of out there better than in here.  And so, after putting a chair (and a few other things to enjoy the sound of breaking glass) through the window, he leapt through and ran into the night.