Breach: Overheat Imminent (Open)

Karakura Town had been a hotbed for weeks, in more ways than one. Without any apparent reason, the area was experiencing daily record breaking high temperatures. Even the river that flowed through the quiet city was unusually low, only filled from rains much further upstream. It perplexed the living humans in the city how they alone were experiencing drought and a massive heatwave.

On the Spiritual side, Hollows had at first flooded the city several weeks ago. However, the mindless beasts had not stayed long, only causing a few days worth of destruction before fleeing.

Fleeing before the heat came.

Today, the hottest day so far, with lows in the mid 40° C, or over 115° F, people were being warned to stay indoors and not travel unless absolutely necessary. Which is why few saw the haze forming above the city.

Like a shimmering mirage, the sky seemed to ignite into flame below the clouds, and something started to form within that pyre. First it was a beak, large enough to swallow a car. It seemed to bite and tear the sky apart, freeing more of the massive bone heaf. In a long, slow process a skeletal phoenix with two heads birthed itself into the world above Karakura Town. Each flap of its wings sent roiling waves of heat to wash over the sweltering town.

If anyone had the slightest bit of sense, the steaming mess known more colloquially as Karakura would long have been a smoldering crater by now.

It was a logical conclusion. That little nuisance of a town attracted more trouble per capita compared to cities up to five times the size. For some inexplicable reason it drew the spiritually-inclined like moths to a flame. Hollow attacks on the populace were a dime a dozen, and if that wasn't issue enough there certainly wasn't any shortage of vigilantes itching to take matters into their own hands. The intelligent solution; therefore, was to nuke that little hotbed of chaos to kingdom come--a measure that; coincidentally, would not only address the immediate problem but also indirectly resolve the imbalance of souls resulting from improperly slain Hollow as well.

Too bad the Captain Commander disagreed with these entirely valid points.

The urgent beeping coming from his division's switchboard did nothing to improve Shiro's mood. Ordinarily, it would be the responsibility of one of the grunts to answer it--had there been any around in the nearby vicinity. On hindsight, perhaps dismissing the squad so he could play with the division mainframe hadn't been the best idea after all.

"WHAT," snapped the diminutive captain into his earpiece, simultaneously bemoaning the premature death of the game he'd gotten the 12th to soup up for him. This had better be good.

"T-taicho!" evidently the faceless grunt on the other end hadn't expected his call to reach the top brass. "Emergency report from..."

"Lemme guess--Karakura, right?" Well, so much for video games. "What is it THIS time? Quincy running amok? Menos on the rampage? Spiritually-aware humans trying to help but only making things worse?"

"Uh, no...um, I mean, yes--"

"What do you MEAN no-but-also-yes?" He was running out of patience for idiots. "Which one is it?"

"Um...all of it, captain,"

"And you're calling here...why? File a report with the shinigami representative like you're supposed to," whoever it was, Shiro didn't fancy being in their shoes at the moment.

"Because...uh, the representative's dead, sir."

"Dead."

"Incinerated," supplied the voice of minion #55 over the soul phone. "And it's coming this way--!"

Static crackled as the connection died out.

Oh well. Playing tag with whatever-it-was that was currently laying waste to Karakura probably might be better than trying to with those sorry spoilsports he had for underlings anyway. And if a few buildings got destroyed in the process he certainly wasn't going to get all worked up over it.

Now where was that bloody Senkaimon again?