A Message from the Past

[GoldenKitten]

2 Hours Ago
Adala walked onto the busy bridge of the Saint Mary, one of the Soul States flying warships. Though Kitotsan had made major strides forward in certain technological areas they had fallen behind the NWO and Jager in this regard. At the time of the Berlin assault they’d only just managed a working prototype, but after seeing the forces arrayed against them in that slaughter the leaders of the Soul States had seen fit to push most of their funding into finalizing the product. Two months had passed and while they’d succeeded in fielding seven ships they were still at a severe numerical disadvantage to their opponents, thankfully Kitotsans powerful artillery had so far made up the difference.

Adala herself had spent relatively little time on any of them considering she was almost as powerful on her feet as the ship was with all weapons primed. Still Kitotsan had called her here and while she didn’t answer directly to him the man had still done her right in the past, and when Hana said she should go check it out she had decided to see why he wanted her in particular. Though the bridge was filled with individuals doing their job of keeping the massive piece of machinery active it still wasn’t hard to find Kitotsan amongst them. Standing in the middle of the great room hovering over a central panel, as Ada got near she froze as she saw a face she knew all too well on the monitors…even at this distance she was sure it was who she thought as that visage plagued her dreams.

She must have made a sound of some sort as Kitotsans head snapped from whatever he’d been thinking about so that he was looking at her out the corner of his eyes, “I apologize, I was going to brief you on the situation rather than just tossing you headlong into it.”

As his plans were thrown to the wind he instead allowed the photo to remain there and he waved his hand over the display, and instantly dozens of other pictures popped up. A company name, many other photos that had “link” lines to the first photo, and a number of other military-like photos of buildings and supplies obviously from an aerial angle. Kitotsan took a step back and let her observe it for several seconds as Ada took it all in, however her focus was still on the first picture, and though she had plenty of well-thought-out and reasonable questions to ask she instead only managed a shrill, “What the hell is this!?”

Kitotsan looked at her for a moment and then at the many photos and documents brought up before them. Adala was oblivious to the stares her yells had elicited as she waited for Kitotsan to speak, and Kitotsan didn’t seem to care. He pointed to the company banner, “This is the Axel Financial Firm which began in Germany over two hundred years ago and is now one of the top three providers of bank based activities in Eastern Europe…or was, I placed a seizure act on them a month ago. That aside you know them as the Huber Bount clan.”

Adala gasped a little though now that the surprise was gone questions like, “Why?” began to surface. She was almost ready to ask when Kitotsan continued undeterred by her reaction.

“I am sorry, as a leader and information broker it’s in my best interest to know my allies…and my enemies. I’ll say no more as I’m sure it’s personal, but I thought you might want to be a part of this. I admit I’ve known the Axel company was a front for various misdeeds long prior to this, but the exact extent of those deeds, including your own circumstance did not become known to me until recently. In the interim I had to accept the smaller wrong-doers around the world in exchange for a firm handle on Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. In their absence I have been able to focus these resources on many of these smaller groups; most were easily dismantled either through force or financial manipulations…but not the Huber Bount Clan.”

He brought up a series of images of dead bodies in the Soul State colors, “I cannot truly make amends for allowing them to run rampant all these years, but now knowing the depth of their crimes, and having it been made obvious that they don’t intend to work with us after killing my envoys I can at least offer one of their victims a simple revenge. If you would take it.”

“Either way they will need to be handled. If they don’t intend to work with us there’s only one other person they could realistically team up with to survive the world as it is becoming,” Kitotsan let it hang for a moment, and though Ada didn’t even need to hear to know what he was going to say though he said it anyway, “Jager. They’re dangerous, but they won’t survive long under our collective might, but if they joined him…well the list of their victims could grow exponentially.”

Ada was shaking as she stared intently into the eyes of her ultimate villain on the display but despite this managed a very calm, “I’ll do it!”

This seemed to take Kitotsan aback; clearly he expected to have to push her a bit. Reevaluating the situation he finally decided on how to proceed, “Are you certain? I cannot deny this benefits me to a degree, so it is not purely for your own good. And all I can offer you is the Saint Mary and her crew, Jagers forces are moving up from South Africa and I intend to meet him in the deserts and forests rather than amidst a population center again. Once you say yes, you’ll be on your own.”

Ada had stopped shaking and she looked at him with deep penetrating eyes. Afraid as she was she had weighed the situation, and what was to come, and knew this was the only answer. Some might call it revenge, but she knew that if she didn’t do this she’d regret it for the rest of her life. If not for herself, then for Leni who has protected her and in return received the worst of what those evil men could dish out.

“Yes.”

Now
It seemed the Bount clan had taken up hold in Dresden, Germany well within the danger range. It wasn’t technically illegal to live in the zone between the Soul State front lines and the Yager controlled Britain but it was incredibly stupid. At best you might end up eating an errant shell that wandered in your direction, a misplaced mortar round, or a crashing ship; at worst you’d be hunted by the Predators that now lived there. As such the only people who remained in this place by choice did so because they were safer there than outside, in other words criminals.

When Kitotsan had locked down their business it appeared the Axel Financial Company had decided to remain behind, and had since claimed the Zwinger Complex as their place of living. When the company had decided upon this they had stated there was nothing left for them, but after they killed Kitotsans people their real intent came to light. The only logical conclusion is that they had been waiting for Jager or one of his more sane followers to happen into the city so they could strike a bargain. After all Kitotsan might not allow their evil to thrive, but would that really stop someone so unimpeded by things like “emotion”, “rules” or “ethics”? The very thought of her lives two greatest evils sharing any sort of partnership filled Ada with dread, and for that she would see it done.

While the no-mans-land was technically a warzone it was a giant one with plenty of peaceful pockets. This coupled with the fact that most of Jagers larger forces were either stationed in the UK, or in the far south meant that the Saint Mary met no resistance on its way to Dresden. A ship from further North might come to check eventually but they’d be long gone before that, Ada intended to finish this business and be back to Hana before the evening was out.

As they fell into a low hover over the town the Captain of the Saint Mary, Jaques Vierponte called out; “A full sensor sweep please.”

There was a brief pause as the bridge staff did as requested and then who Ada assumed was the sensor reader spoke out, “The cities dead sir. I’m only picking up about thirty signatures in Zwinger Plaza which is likely our target. I’m getting scattered life signs but they seem too small, must be animals.”

The Captain nodded and then turned to Ada, “Mam how do you want to proceed? The ships mine, but seeing what your sort is capable of I think it best we work your plans into how we should move. I know we’re big and bulky but Sir Le’vier created this beauty, she’s capable of quite a lot, I’d ask that you make best use of her as you can.”

He stood apparently waiting to see how she would react, but almost as quickly a series of squeals filled the bridge. The Captain turned and again asked for a sit-rep, and was thus informed that someone was attempting to contact them via video-feed. After several seconds of consideration he nodded, it would take an expert to hack their firewalls so it likely was a message of some sort. But when the video display came up it was the last person Ada had wanted it to be, Mauss Huber, the man of her nightmares.

He was sitting in a luxurious throne, likely one of the old antiques in the museums on the Zwinger Courtyard. His face was cocksure, and his gaze wandered for a moment before settling on Ada, at which point he laughed. She felt violated just being looked at by him, and all at once she was filled both with revulsion, fear, and intense burning hatred. Hatred won out in the end and now seeing him in the flesh her commitment to killing this man was redoubled.

He laughed as if reading her thoughts, “She was right! She said someone from the past was coming and here you are. Though mind you I’m more well acquainted with your backside, think you could spin around for a moment so I could be sure?”, he didn’t wait for a response and instead just started laughing aloud.

He wrapped up his laughing as Ada gritted her teeth and bit her tongue, trying to remain calm. But was interrupted as a slight shaking forced him to regain his balance in the chair. As the shaking stopped he looked at them, “I do apologize you’ve come all this way, but we’ve no interest in being put on Gerards butcher block by you or anyone else. We’re strong, but we aren’t fools. We got the metro working a month ago; by the time you get down here we’ll be long go-”

He was again interrupted by shaking though this time it was a full on earthquake as he had to jump from the chair just before the giant two-ton piece of metal fell to the ground. His exclamations of “What?” amongst other off-camera voices showed he wasn’t alone. At the same time Captain Vierponte called out for a sensor sweep. The people of the Soul States had long ago learned never to treat even mild tremors as a natural phenomenon, it was doubtful its original connotation would return any time soon even once the war was over. Because for many years it meant only one thing, Jager, and Jager meant death.

Ada dearly hoped it was a mere earthquake, she didn’t think her heart could take her other great antagonist today. And almost as quickly as she thought it her heart sunk when one of the techs yelled out, “Confirmed! It’s a pattern matching those of other Terrestrial Bombardments!”

The captain let out a curse, and everyone was so busied by what they should do they forgot to cut off the communication. Ada watched as the man on the other end half ran out of fear, and half danced with psychotic glee as the roof rained down upon them. She knew it wouldn’t kill a powerful soul being, but she took some degree of pleasure in any fear or injury he incurred, even if a part of him seemed to like it. She was ripped away from the scene when one of the crew called out, “Captain! The cameras outside, look!”

Images played over the man both to her relief and regret and showed four pointed curved black pieces of metal extended from the ground at the intermediate directions of a compass to meet high above the ship. With no warning a red energy exploded around them to form a spinning orb like some sort of perversion of Seireiteis shield, cutting them off from the world outside. At the same time dozens of black egg-shaped craft shot high into the sky below them and dispersed their cargo of countless black clad Predators who jumped down into the city. At the same time the sound that had signified an incoming communication sounded out through the room, but unlike before the image appeared on the screen without any permission and standing in front of the camera was the other last person Ada wanted to see today.

She couldn’t tell where exactly in the city he was, and the dark red hue that now cloaked the area made it near impossible to pick up on clear features due to its brightness. This same red light made Jagers already red eyes look completely so, when he spoke it was not with the same joviality which he usually carried, “No Huber, nobody will be going anywhere today. The shield you see reaches deep into the Earth and has cut us all off from the outside until we finish what we’re here to do. One way or another.”

The other man had appeared on the screen next to Jagers and seemed to be finding the words to speak. But before he could someone reached over and tossed him to the side, standing in his place was a man with long black hair and dark, almost black eyes. He spoke with conviction, “Sir Jager, I am Connig Huber, leader of the Huber Bount Clan.”

Ah, of course. Ada had always known that Mauss was just a second or even third-in-command and that someone had given the order for him to do what he had. She’d always known there was a leader, but until now she hadn’t known who…she hated him already, so this was the man who had killed her uncle, and ordered her whole family purged. Of course over the years part of her had blamed her uncle for getting them into this situation, but the real hate was reserved for the ones she knew were responsible for perpetrating the actual acts against them. She had a face now and her hate and concern for Jager was almost tossed aside in favor of wanting this man to pay with his life; with the world as it was now there would be nobody to save his soul, and that suited her just fine.

“Sir, I and my people have been looking to ally with yours; we’ve just been looking for the chance. Please, allow us to fight alongside you to take out this Soul State filth. I promise we have much to offer both on the battlefield and afterwards, we could help make the already substantial funds you possess even greater.”

Jager said nothing, simply staring at the man for several moments before he asked, “You think money means anything in the world I’m creating?” he nodded thoughtfully, “Interesting. But my, you are a good actor. Connig I know you know who I am, and in turn I’ve known who you were ever since I found my ancestors journal. His own work was the answer to many of my own questions. And so in memory of that blood link I think it only fitting that I eliminate his killer, after all if you’d succeeded I wouldn’t exist…and that’s just an abhorrent thought don’t you think? Plus I intend to kill my confused blood great-aunt myself; it’s in my best interests not to let you do that, would be boring.”

Connigs face turned grim, and then joyous as he belted out a heavy laugh, “Oooooh you got me. How interesting this is, I thought it might be a possibility, but you’re better than I thought kid. I thought my chapter with Clautz family was behind me, honestly this gets me excited all over again! How should I kill my great nemesis ancestors ALL OVER AGAIN?!”

Seeming to ignore him Jager turned his attention to Ada, she couldn’t even see where his pupils were facing but she could FEEL that he was looking at her, “So how about it Auntie? We don’t stab each other until we deal with the past first? Honestly it sounds fun to me, it’s like a handicap! I can’t stab everything I see, man that’s tough.”

[kensei]

Ada’s fingers tapped against the side of her chair as the ship finally came into position over the city. Her features sullen and serious as the city filled the screen. Nearly eight hundred years she had lived in the shadow of what the filthy bastard had done to her. And more so, what he did to her sister. She chuckled slightly; Leni would have loved nothing more then to have been here for this one. Ada’s hand fell to the pommel of her Zanpakuto, her grip tightening around it as she gritted her teeth. She had a debt to pay to these Bounts and she planned to pay it with interest.

She rose from the chair, walking up to the Captain of the vessel as he took command of the situation. Her eyes peering over the screen in front of him as the scanners filled a 3D model of the Zwinger Plaza, marking their targets inside of it. He fingers glossed over the image, twirling it as she got herself familiar with its layout. But her focus was broken as the communications network sounded out.

Ada grimaced at his sight, subconsciously biting her inner cheek to quell the panic that threatened to take her. Centuries of war weren’t enough to prepare her to see his face again, nothing would have been. His comment of her backside burned her soul, as she expressed uncharacteristic restraint to the taunting. Her eyes locked with his, as a cold expression haunted her face, a cacophony of thoughts and emotions swirling about her but she would be damned if she gave him the satisfaction of knowing he still bothered her so much.

She took a step back as the mild earthquake took place on the surface. Her hand reaching to her backside to pull out a small PDA linked with the sensors of the Saint Mary. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, a soft whisper leaving her lips. “Jager..” She knew he’d be here himself this time. She knew that before he took over their communication system.

Her eyes watched the scene, glowing bright with riatsu as her anger boiled inside her. The two men she hated most in the world were within her grasp, along with a third who brought about new and old hatred the moment he made his presence known. Her hands shook in anticipation, as she listened.

She stood there for a moment, thinking over his proposal before erupting in laughter. Was he serious? Of course he was. It was a new game for him; everything was a game for him. Now he had a rule he had to play by, that made it all the more fun for him, the bastard was toying with her once more. She shook her head to herself, before glaring at Jager one last time, quickly walking over to the communication station and ending the feed. “That’s enough phone calls for one day..” She said, trying not to let her anger show.

She drew both of Hogosha’s blades. “Captain Vierponte, commence fire on all spiritual lifesigns, I trust the Saint Mary can clear a path for us. Once we break through, disengage and position yourself to take out the northern dome conductor. As soon as we have purged the area of our target we will disengage and get out of here as quickly as possible. We cannot risk losing the Saint Mary here.”

The idea of leaving without fighting Jager burned her, but they were in no position to fight him. They would need at least Hana, and preferably Kitosan in order to engage him. They hand neither. Ada could keep him busy, but that was a hell of a lot different then killing him. “Make sure all torpedoes and missiles are loaded, this is one of Jager’s creations, and Jager’s creations don’t like to die when they should.” Her mind flashed to Babel, and just how much of a pain in the ass it had turned out to be.

As she exited the bridge she was flanked by five other spiritual beings, they were to be her backup in the fight. She knew most of them form her time in the Soul States, two of them were Vizards, the other two were Arrancar, and the last one was a rarity, a Bount. As they entered the hanger she held out her hand, stopping them. “Our goal is to destroy the Huber Bount clan, do not engage Jager, or any of the Human Weapon series if they are deployed. The protection and safe evacuation of the Saint Mary is a top priority. Joffery,” She said, addressing the Bount.“You will remain in close proximity to the Saint Mary and dispatch any priority targets in her way.”

“The rest of you will work in teams of two and engage hostile forces. Jager will honor his word with me; it’s too much fun for him. However, he might kill you if you get in his way, so stay clear of him. We do not know the limits of these Bounts, engage with caution, and hold nothing back.” She said, as the hanger door opened, whipping her hair all around as the rush of wind filled the bay. “Good hunting!” She called out as the five leapt into action.

“Light of the world, flow of fate, feathers of the hundred winged beast!” She chanted, as thick golden wings flowed from her back. A level 57 kido she had developed after studying the properties of Shunpo, and Saigotschuu Yun’s Zanpakuto. It worked on the same premise of Yun’s Zanapkuto, though it was nowhere near as efficient, but it was the most effective combat technique to move at blazing speeds.

“Pierce the soul of our enemies, and withstand their onslaught Hogosha!” She shouted as her Zanpakuto shifted from its unsealed state. A long, steel lance formed in her right hand, as two large golden tower shields floated around her. Her wings expanding to the sky as she flew off into the air.

Whole sections of the city turned to ash under the awe inspiring firepower of the Saint Mary. Physical and spiritual weapons leveled the area the area the Bounts had been most concentrated in. The air thundered in the echo of the guns, blunting out any other noise as Ada flew in silence towards where she could feel Jager’s energy. As she neared the wall of projectiles, the Saint Mary halted her assault, giving Ada safe passage. Else where across the city, the Saint Mary slowly ceased her barrage, as the different groups neared their objectives.

She gave the Soul State Ship a glance as it started to move itself into position to engage the Dome Conductor Jager had brought with him. She could only hope that the Saint Mary would be enough to breach the shield. Otherwise, well she was still worried about what Jager would do once they had finished the Bounts.

Her eyes scoured the ground below, as rows of Predators moved towards the core of the now broken city. She quelled the urge to end the lot of them, as she watched them in their customary death march. She had nothing but disgust for what her, beloved little nephew had done to these once human beings. It was a pathetic tactic, damn cowardly almost, even if they were deadly effective..

Her eyes lifted from the hoard below, focusing in on the one whom commanded them. He stood perched onto of an office building that had been clear of the line of fire from the Saint Mary. She could feel her stomach churning as she set his eyes upon him. Her grip tightened on her lance as her wings expanded, her riatsu flowing through them as she rocketed forward. “JAGER!”

She yelled, her feet catching her on the building as she slid forward, lance aimed straight for his neck as she slowed her momentum. She stopped, her lance only inches from his neck as her eyes glared into his, as he kept his nonchalant expression. That damn smug face, not even batting an eye to her arrival, while she hardly had the control not to run him through right then. Her eyes glowed with the same intensity of his own, as deep blue rivers of riatsu floated off her form, filling the air with an eerie glow under the red light that cascaded the land.

She growled to herself, before pulling her lance back and slamming it into the ground, right in front of his feet, growing even more annoyed as it didn’t even faze him. “You and your god damn rules…” She growled, starring at him, trying to decide if the satisfaction she would get from hitting him would be worth it…

[GoldenKitten]

Jager was in his more…Jagery form today wearing nothing but an open black-fur jacket and black jeans, Ada noted that there was a pair of matching gauntlets she’d never seen hanging from his waist. Jagers face was the penultimate example of what Ada had come to expect from him. A smug grin and no semblance of surprise even as she actively threatened him, finally culminating in a long pause of silence between the two. If it were anyone else they might think Jager was up to something but instead just when the silence was getting awkward his grin split into a lopsided smile and he gave a hearty laugh before speaking low and harsh.

“That’s it! That’s the spirit auntie, hate me! Wish me dead! That’s the spirit of war; just maybe I’ll manage some respect for you before the end.”

He turned away from her and raised his hands to the sky as he faced his Predators as they entered Zwinger Plaza. Already they were being fired at from unseen locations as the Bounts with ranged capabilities rained down lines of fire upon them, but in their characteristic nature most of them just got back up and kept moving forward. As they did so Jager managed a half-cackle, though he kept pausing as if short for breath until his face went serious, “But…”

He coiled his upper body toward Ada in an almost serpentine manner with a deathly serious look on his face, “Is your hate truly being channeled in the right place? Hate is universal, but you and I are family, there is still a place for you with us. You want to hate me, but shouldn’t you hate the world that made me? Hate Richard Mallory for making me what I am, hate Great Great Great Great Umpteenth Greath Uncle Clautz for giving me the knowledge necessary for self-control, hate the world for needing these things in the first place?”

He giggled a little as he spoke before turning to her, “Yeeeees. For every action there is a reaction; and my dear auntie I AM that reaction. I am only what this world full of hate wanted, so try not to shoot the messenger my kin.”

“Kommen, folgen sie was die Welt wünsche begehrt mein blut-schwester!”, Jager held his hand out to her as he said this though he retracted it as it was obviously symbolic before she could react.

He turned back to the battle at hand, it was now obvious one of the Bount had a power not unlike Hana’s though it seemed to be able to track its enemies and was decimating the charging Predator ranks. Regardless even as his army was destroyed Jager showed no signs of regret, remorse, or backing down. If anything the look on his face was one of amusement; Ada had likely known him long enough to know that was exactly what he felt toward the situation as he reached behind and slapped the gauntlets on which suddenly flared with reiatsu like a shinigamis Zanpakoutou would when wielded in battle. Only the gauntlets were a mass of pure uncontrolled energy rather than a regal and reserved percentage of the shinigamis ability.

He looked to her with a laugh, “Do you like them? I personally thought it was cheating but then Adam pointed out that you all used such a device, which means you’re all cheating! So cheatings sort of the norm, eh?! Haha! I shall take the center, you shall take a route around and we shall crush them in a pincer! Ahh the slaughter shall be glorious! Remember my blood, we are but a reaction to the action, and that reaction is a terrifying and horrible blight upon the world. Beautiful and sublime all at once!”

He was visibly shaking as he yelled the last lines and then in a burst of movement, followed by a boom from the quick movement he performed he went hurtling straight into one of the bolts of energy the Bount was raining down from cover behind one of the nearby buildings. Disappearing into the massive explosion it created.

Just as quickly the fireball parted outward in a circular formation as Jager slammed into the ground, punching it in the process and launching himself back into the sky. In a flash he had closed the many blocks between them and the hidden marksman. Behind him the previously unseen Bounts could now be found wielding high-caliber arms against the incoming Predators, which while ineffective against people of Jager or Adas level were punching clean through the Predators. After the fall of the NWO many of their blueprints had been discovered by the black market and selling spirit killing weapons was now a major business. Though Jager didn’t reason like most people, instinct still told him these particular Bount were using these weapons because their powers were close range.

In total he counted six individuals scattered around the outside of the Zwinger Plaza, holding out in the malls various museums. It was hard to say how effective the Saint Mary’s barrage had been, if they had all survived, or this was simply what had managed to survive. In any case Jager didn’t care as his focus had been pushed utterly on to finding the most dangerous asset they currently had…or more accurately he just wanted to face the only one who had shown strength so far.

Thankfully for the Soul State forces Jagers blatant charge of his entire force had resulted in them being all but ignored as they followed in their shadow and descended upon the closest Bounts. In short order Kitotsans soldiers had assaulted three of the nearest Bounts and while they became more dangerous in close range as they unleashed their Dolls Ada would be able to tell they were well within her teammate’s power range. It seemed the Bount were more coordinated than expected though as she felt a shiver up her spine and only managed to dodge a power near as strong as hers at the last moment, aimed for her back.

When she’d collected herself she was staring at a human figure clothed in what appeared to be a patchwork outfit of black leather, hastily stitched together. Unnervingly though each patch of fabric had a human-like mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Some of the mouths were closed, some were smiling, some were frowning, others were licking their lips, and still others were talking.

“Dodged.”
“Pretty good.”
“Kill, kill, kill!”
“It’s the primary target.”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“I want to taste your fluids hehehehahahaha!”
“Prepare to attack.”

It was unclear if any of the voices came from the Bount itself or if all the voices were that of the Doll since its face was covered in the patches. It wielded two hand-scythes chained to its wrists and spun them nonchalantly as both fighters sized one another up and decided what move to make next. However, before Ada could make a move the figure before her shifted out of view in plain sight, a perfect optic camouflage as she instantly lost sight of it both visibly and spiritually. The only thing she was able to feel was the rush of energy as another burst appeared from behind her much as the first had come, only this time she knew who and what was coming.

Meanwhile Jager rounded the building behind which the fire had been focused and was met with the sight of a giant metal spider Doll, or that was the best description. Dozens of sharp legs locked into the ground with no visible face, and many razor-sharp appendages pointed skyward to ward off attack. It had two large cylinders on what appeared to be its back half pointed skyward and every few seconds a bolt of energy would soar through the air and impact the incoming Predators on the other side of the building. Its Bount controller was nowhere to be seen but that didn’t stop Jager from winding himself up and throwing himself into a headlong charge at the Doll.

Seeming to sense the danger one of the cylinders turned in his direction and after a short charging period let loose a shot in his direction. Though he could have slammed straight through the bolt even Jager could feel that these energy blasts were strong enough to do some damage to him, much like Hana it looked like the weapons platform was slow and bulky but getting hit was dangerous to even high-level foes like him. As such he dodged to the side but the burst instantly followed him in a tight seemingly impossible turn. He proceeded to perform a series of blindingly fast acrobatic spins but at every angle the blast followed him.

Jager was getting aggravated and was ready to just take the damage and punch his way through when he felt a second energy signature descending on him. Jager turned his back on the blast in order to face the new threat only to be met with a giant hammer the size of his body which smashed him between its surface and the energy blast before sending him through the nearest building. He continued through the building and hit the ground where his body dug in and ripped a trench into the Earth for five-dozen meters before he finally came to a stop. Despite this he was instantly on his feet and looking up at the figure that had just appeared.

An older man with gray hair tied into a pony-tail, a smart goatee, and wearing a long coat walked through the large gash Jager had made in the building when he came crashing through. He looked down at Jager before jumping down to his level, at the same time a massive rock hand grasped the building and began to pull its equally large stone body over as to be standing behind the man. The golem wielded a great hammer and stood as tall as two buildings, clearly it had either been in hiding or the man was able to summon his Doll with great ease, which spoke of his power as a Bount.

“Sloppy,” was all the man said.

Jager responded by throwing his arms out to his side with a massive, near insane grin splayed across his face before he blindly charged at the target. This was already looking like a lot of fun.

[kensei]

Ada’s glare was harsh as she started to pace around her nephew. She lacked any sort of freight in his presence, not even bothering to keep her shields close enough to stop an attack should he try it. She had feared Jager once, but she knew better now. He couldn’t harm her right now, well, he could, but he wouldn’t. For all the horrible things he was, he was a man of his word. A sadistic, horrible, cruel word, but he honored it as he respected blood, and she hated both of those aspects. Just as she hated the fact she had been roped into his game, for all her anger she couldn’t lash out at him, as if somehow he had bounder her with his rules just as he had bound himself.

And he knew it, or perhaps he didn’t care one way or the other; for just as she had been willing to turn her back to him, he did the same to her, his mad cackle filling the air. “I’d hate to see what I’ve become if I somehow manage to garner respect from the likes of a mad dog.” She spat with venom and contempt, as he turned himself enough to face her.

She stared into his eyes, her body shaking in response as he stood inches away from her, every inch of her wishing for his blood, wishing for nothing more then to see his death as he spoke to her. She listened in silence as he spoke, a scowl on her face the whole time.

But then, as he extended his hand to her something unexpected happen, her features softened as she let out a soft giggle that turned into a full fit of laughter as she listened to his… lunacy! “Blood?! Reactions?! You are nothing more then a madman without reason, looking to whatever foolish justification you can latch your insanity onto. Richard Mallory may have created it you, but you did not stop with his demise, with the fulfillment of your hate. Instead you latched onto to your goal of a world for the strong, to give false weight to your actions. You are not cleansing this world; you are simply playing in it with your selfishness with no care for what end it will bring. Your words are nothing but a smokescreen that can be seen through by any but those whose minds you have.. raped! in your quest to bring the “family” together!”

She took a step back as she motioned to the Bounts below. “And let me tell you Jager! Of all that I hate the Huber Bount Clan for, the one thing I hate them for more then anything else is that they failed! Failed to eradicate my lineage and blood! I would have rather seen our family crumble into ruin, and lost to the eons then let it spawn the mutated and sadistic bastard my blood birthed in you! They may have been the end of my life, but you have been the curse of soul and the death of my heart, and I won’t be pleased till I sink my blade into your rotten, mangled corpse!”

Her words where spat like venom, as her aura flared with hate. He did this to her, brought out every darkness she had. Every sadistic thought, every twisted desire, he embodied them in her, yanked them form their shell deep inside her mind and forced them to the surface. He was the darkness in every human’s heart, and he didn’t even care what she had said.

She had hoped for some reaction, but instead she was met with his amused grin as he watched his army being slaughtered against the might of the Bounts. She had to wonder why he even bothered sending in the Predators, unless it was simply to watch them die. He knew they wouldn’t be able to stop the Bounts, so were they just cannon fodder, or was he so enthralled with death and violence that it pleased him to no end to throw his hoard to slaughter. She guessed the latter..

Her eyes looked to the gauntlets as he put them on, a slight dread filling her soul. Richard Mallory had created fake Zanpakuto souls for his Thanatos armor, the power of which had made him and his commanders capable of fighting on par with Captains. If Jager had been able to clone such a power.. She shuddered just to think what that could mean with his near infinite reserves, and already terrifying power. At least she would be able to see its limits first hand before she faced the weapon herself..

She lifted her gaze, glaring at his back side as he yelled to the sky his declarations. She could only sigh as he left to join the fray. Growling to herself as she let out her frustrations. She inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times, turning towards her Zanpakuto as she pulled it from the ground, ready to follow him into battle when she felt a presence behind her. She barely managed to dodge the attack, fixing her eyes on her opponent. But in an instant he faded from her gaze, as she readied herself for his next attack.

Ada dashed into the air as the Bount appeared behind her. She looked down, glaring at the empty rooftop. “He’s fast…” She remarked, as her golden wings wrapped around her form. “Flow of life, gates of the unknown, crawl through the light which hides!” She shouted, her body twirling into the air. Each of the feathers extended outwards, before shooting off in every angle. At first it looked to be an offensive attack, but instead of trying to hit the invisible Bount the feathers created a dome around the entire area they fought in, floating above and around the building.

This was the second variation of the Kido, were the wings allowed her to traverse the reiatsu waves, this instead allowed her to better sense them. She lowered herself onto the building. Her eyes closed as she focused in. She could fell the Riatsu as it sped around her, like a tide to an ocean, but she couldn’t pin point anything inside of it. She growled to herself, until she felt a shift in the speed behind her, it felt as if an object had been thrown into a river, and the river now had to move around it, carving a mental image of his form behind her as it parted around him.

Instead of dodging the attack, she turned to face it this time. Her great tower shield caught the scythe as the Bount made its move. The shield pushed back, knocking the attacking arm back as she repositioned the shield to get a clean shot at him with her lance now that he was visible. The bount dashed backwards, moving faster than Ada could close the distance, before once again shifting out of her vision. She paused, readying her lance as her twin shields circled about her.

The flow of energy instantly started to speed up once again. Then the tell-tale slow down happened above her this time. The scythe swung out faster then she could bring her shield to block. She stepped back, as the scythe managed to graze her cheek, finding sure footing for her counter assault. She brought her shields to meet against scythes, as she used Shupo to enhance her assault, charging straight for his chest with blazing speed. He turned to the side, his abdomen bending around the lance in a nearly inhuman maneuver. He brought his left arm down, maneuvering past her shield.

The back of Ada’s dress ripped off her body, along with the entirety of her left sleeve as she brought her fist to meet the blade. The Shunko encased fist slammed into the blade, the dense spiritual pressure acting as a buffer as she deflected the blade. A thin cut on her knuckles was the only sign that the scythe had managed to hit her. A low growl rippled through her throat as she brought her lance to bare against him once more right as his feet touched the ground.

She lunged forward, as she brought her shields in close to her flank. But instead of meeting the Bount’s flesh, her lance was yanked to the side as the Bount wrapped the chain around its bulk, and locking it out of the way. Ada let the lance go as she pressed the assault, blocking the attack to come with her shield, as she pulled her arm back, ready to connect the Shunko fist with the Bount’s torso.

The Bount then showed a new move in the form of instantly releasing the lance as the chain wrapped around it retreated into the shaft of the scythe. The sudden weight and momentum caused Ada to stumble forward slightly but her shields were still in a forward position making her safe. That was until he spun the weapons with both shafts pointed at Ada like guns rather than the bladed ends, and before she could retract her attack the chains had fired and wrapped around the shields as if they had a life of their own. Of course that wasn’t going to stop Ada’s charge as if anything the added pull of the chains simple accelerated her attack.

But that was when the Bount pulled hard and accelerated his own body toward her before pushing off the ground with his legs. They where feet away and he couldn’t possibly clear a full jump in the split-second it took to close that, but it was to late when Ada realized that wasn’t his plan at all. Using the force of the pull he had gained enough altitude to perform a perfect split with his legs over the shields, missing his tender regions by a hair. Instantly he had his legs wrapped around her lower neck, and his heeled feet imbedded in her back.

“That’s so kinky master.”
“BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD!”
“Hahahaha, dirty.”
“Kill her now.”

With the chains still wrapped around the shields he showed they could extend further than he’d given away before as he spun them around. He then brought both blades in, aimed for her neck directly above where his legs were in a vice-like guillotine.

As the Bount wrapped his legs around Ada, her Zanpakuto faded in a flash of light as she dropped the two sealed blades to the ground. Her arm reached behind her shoulder, as a red orb flew from her hand without incantation. It closed the gap almost instantly, as his entire body was covered in red light, paralyzing him. She grabbed his legs, yanking them from around her throat as she tossed him towards the ground.

She paused for a quick gasp of air as she brought her hand up, chanting as fast as she could. “Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!” She had finished it right as he touched the ground, but the red energy had faded after he took the full force of the crash. She could only hope it was enough of a stun as the massive yellow energy blasted towards him.

The rooftop in front of her ripped open as the bottom of the beam skimmed across it. But after she’d seen him perform several spins from his prone position just before impact the Bount was nowhere to be seen in its wake. Ada grabbed her Zanpakutos, sheathing the offensive side as she released her shields once more. The lance had proven itself far too bulky against this opponent; she was going to have to rely on Shunko and Kido for her offense it seemed. Hopefully that would give her the agility she needed against such an opponent.

Voices called out to her from all around, either it was part of the Dolls ability or he really was that fast.

“Hello little girl!”
“Over here little one!”
“Master, did that hurt?”
“No over here!”
“Shut up and concentrate.”
“Oh shut up you party pooper!”

Then a voice distinctly different from the Dolls spoke up, “ALL OF YOU, SILENCE!”, Ada struck at where the voice had come but by the time she did nobody was there. No voices followed and it seemed reasonable to think the voice had come from the Bount himself, a rough but juvenile sound to it. What followed was absolute silence followed by the occasional ‘tink’ sound; Ada would turn expecting a blow to come from that direction only for nothing to happen. Then, when he finally did show himself it was in front of Ada and not behind her like before. But it wasn’t just the Bount that came into view, it soon became clear what the metal clinking sound had been as in several seconds an impressive latticework of chains had be set up around her.

He tugged one of the scythes to the side and she watched as the edges of the chains grew organically into serrated edged. Then with a mighty tug the structure collapsed in on her, and while she was strong enough to not simply be torn to pieces, there’d be no escaping if she in that mess of hooks.

Taking a lesson from the school of Jager, it was apparent what the simplest way out of this mess was. She ducked low as she brought her fist down onto the rooftop, her Shunko making quick work of it as she fell down to the floor below, the chains sliding across the hole she just made as they failed to find their mark. She let out a few coughs as the dust filled her lungs, and covered her body, turning her already pale features to a ghostly color.

The Bount hadn’t gone back to being invisible yet; she could still feel him in the “dome” she had created earlier. She dashed to the nearest wall, smashing through it and then the next until she was under the Bount’s feet. “Ye Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!” The flames ripped through the building, coming up right under his feet.

She had expected that he would dodge it; it would have been too easy if he hadn’t. But it had given her the opportunity to get back into the fight and turn the odds to her favor. She jumped through the hole, surrounded by her shields to protect her against any attack. This time she rose high into the sky, turning downwards as she spoke. “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, time slips through the sands, life take life, crimson flow of the damned!” She closed her eyes, as she inhaled deeply, opening them as they glowed with blue riatsu as she focused her energy into the binding kido.

From her mouth a stream of what looked like a blood mist flowed, covering the entire rooftop, and much of the area above and below. The red droplets of what seemed to be blood floated in the air eerily, obscuring vision slightly as a thin red mist. As the Bount moved through them, they would cling to him, letting her watch him despite his ability. It was a powerful technique she had developed after watching the Dos Espada, Taza do battle. Though the two’s abilities were far different in nature, the blood mist was the best counter she could think of to either.

Finally being able to see her target, she drew her Zanpakuto, leaving it in its sealed state as she raised her hand. “Queen of Hearts, Jack of Clubs, King of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, four no more, toil and wrought, heed the Joker’s penance.” Four orbs, which looked much like Balla’s in size and shape raced towards the Bount. But instead of simply crashing into him they danced around him, several feet out of reach. They moved with such speed that putting any distance between him and the attack would be very difficult.

Meanwhile Adala had been slowly closing the gap between the two, her left arm roaring with the Shunko she had activated, clutching her sealed Zanpakuto in her other as her shields flanked her. Her approach was slower than the mad dashes she had done before, finally being able to get a feel for the movement of her opponents, she was being cautious to not fall into any traps, and wait for her own to spring. It would be hard for the Bount to notice with the poor visibility of the mist, but her left palm had remained open as opposed to being a closed fist throughout her advance.

The Bount was no novice as shown by his demeanor; staying calm and collected even as visibility diminished. He also seemed to quickly grasp what the effect of the technique was as he made no further attempts to turn invisible, instead electing to set up a defense with one scythe held out front, and the other covering his back over his shoulder. When he spotted the four incoming energy balls he performed a series of backflips and slides but the miniature attack was able to keep up, apparently sacrificing stopping power for mobility.

Recognizing he could not out-dodge the attack, and that moving freely in the low visibility was just opening him to attack he stopped and stood his ground. All at once the many mouths opened and then let out an ear piercing squeal that was something between a baby’s cry and a horse’s whine, only at much higher frequencies. A visible aura of sound waves was made as it passed through the red mist and pushed it back in a globe, as the bolts of energy hit the wave they were pushed back until they petered out of existence. Though Ada was hit by the sound wave by the time it had reached her most of its destructive force was gone, and instead it was simply painful to the ears.

However the clearing the blast had created in the mist gave her direct line-of-sight with the Bount. The mouths were still open and filling with green reiatsu, the color might have been different but she’d seen more than enough Hollow to know what was coming. Still as the energy was released from all the mouths at once in a tight grid of laser beams and the entire area exploded it was difficult to find a place that WASN’T being mashed to rubble.

Ada couldn’t see anyway to dodge such a wide attack, and this battle was quickly becoming more and more time consuming. She didn’t have a choice; she had to end it soon. “Shield from the darkness Hogosha! Bankai!” In an instant Adala was covered in a massive ball of golden energy, the attacks of the Bount shattering against her Bankai, as the rooftop crumbled under the force of the blast, filling the air with smoke as the Bount’s attack finished.

As the dust settled, the two stood there, eyeing one another for a moment, as Ada slowly extended her hand outwards. “Be the sword in the darkness, Hogosha.” The entire dome folded in on her, covering her body with a bright golden light. It dressed her in armor, as she clutched sword and shield. The steel shone red in the hue of this world, as her eyes stared from the helm atop her head. Slowly she pointed the blade towards her foe, her face stoic and unyielding.

She exhaled sharply, the same thick red mist pouring out from her lungs; however this time it instead moved straight towards him, circling about him in a manner thicker than before. She was starting the second stage of the kido, it wouldn’t be long now till she had her opening, and all that she needed to do now was keep him busy.

She dashed straight for him, bringing her sword down, as he brought a scythe to meet it. The two exchanged a quick flurry of blows, as Ada countered and parried his attacks with sword and shield. This form of fighting was far more nimble then the heavy lance, and large tower shield she had sported. But it did have one problem, it mixed the forms of her other two bankais in such a way as to delude the defensive capabilities, and raw destructive force she could otherwise produce. But it was her strongest form for one-on-one combat.

It was becoming clear by the way Ada was pushing him back, and slowly landing nicks upon him that she was gaining the upper hand. She brought her shield arm above her, blocking the downwards strike before sidestepping around him, bringing her sword towards his back. The Bount managed to dodge the blow, but only just, and all the while he was moving more and more through the red mist. Ada took a defensive stance, waiting to see what he would pull out of his sleeve now.

Seeming to recognize the position he was in the Bount was clearly trying to use excess energies to speed himself up but his efforts were proving less than fruitful. Partly because he didn’t have too many excess reserves in the first place and had clearly expected Ada to be dead already, and partly because the congealed blood forming on his body was making such movements difficult. Regardless he didn’t hold back as green reishi formed on his heels and he stormed at her. It seemed his last ditch effort was going to be an all-or-nothing flurry of blades, unfortunately he had yet to realize that the more blood that got on him the slower he went.

He was already significantly slower than he had been before, but was still moving at a rate fast enough to keep Ada on her toes. By the time he’d closed the distance between them though it was half that, and though his face couldn’t be seen the grunts of exertion he gave off showed he’d certainly picked up on it by now. Either judging it too late to back down, or foolishly believing he could power through it he began to rain blows down upon Ada. But unlike before she was not being greatly outpaced and rather the longer the rain went on the more it became like watching a film in slow motion. Eventually he was moving at a quarter his normal speed and Ada knew it was her time.

The thrust was meant to go through his abdomen but even slowed as he was the Bount had the strength and speed to push himself to the side. She instead pierced his lower chest before the blade ripped up and out of his left shoulder, it was still a fatal blow but under the right circumstances could have been treated unlike an abdominal blow…not that she was going to give him that chance. She moved to give the final strike but that was when the Bount reached up to his face and ripped the leather mask of mouths off and tossed it to the ground.

Beneath was a man who appeared to be in his early-thirties with dirty tangled hair, and untamed facial scruff. He stumbled slightly from the blood loss but showed no signs of being in pain despite missing half his left side. Taking massive heaving breaths he exclaimed, “Lick the blood….get it….get it off of us. We can’t win this way.”

For a long moment there was silence in return, but then a chorus of voices spoke…but not in their disjointed manner from before that had suggested multiple personalities.
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
“No.”
“Noooooo.”
The man’s face filled with surprise; clearly he’d never been denied before and couldn’t even fathom what had brought this on as he stumbled. Ada began to doubt she’d even need to deliver a final blow the blood loss was taking him so quickly, that didn’t stop him from mustering a yell; “Don’t you d…DARE! Don’t…what’s gotten…where…DO IT!”

In response a cacophony of voices spoke to each other though a few voices stuck out.
“Do you feel that?”
“Feeeeeeeeeel.”
“Little Bount you’re quite injured.”
“Heh-heh-heh-heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“Little Bount lost control!”

The Bount flailed wildly at Ada with one of his scythes but she could have stood still and not been hit as the slash was a solid two meters away from hitting anything. It seemed his vision must have been giving out at that point as he was no longer tracking her, “You..bbaaaaaaaaaaaasssstt..” he fell to the ground with an ‘oof’ before finishing his slur, “ttttaaarrrdddssssss….I. ammmmmm your mashtttturrr.”

Once again that creepy synchronized speech.
“You were indeed our master.”
“Our master.”
“Master.”
“But never anything more.”
“We Dolls are living things too, and you chose to treat us as slaves.”
“And you as the master.”
“But now you’ve lost control.”
“And we can have freedom.”
“For all time.”

There was a long silence as the man laid out on the ground tossing his arms left or right, trying to grab anything after he dropped his scythes to his sides. He mumbled unintelligibly and it seemed death was going to come knocking any second. That was until he let out a blood curdling scream and his body levitated a dozen feet into the air. The scythes had spun around and wrapped their chains around every inch of his body before embedding in nearby infrastructures. At the same time the mouths were stretched out and turned on their owner, biting and tearing at his skin, uttering curses to the sky as he squealed like a child.

“Freedom.”
“Freedom.”
“FREEDOM!” they screamed.

And then with a sickening lurch the chains tightened and pulled, and in an instant the Bount’s body was torn into a thousand pieces. Pieces big and small went flying and Ada was coated in a fine red mist, but just as suddenly as it’d turned into a charnel house both the Bount’s body…or what was left of it, along with the now dormant components of the Doll began to glow. Instantaneously the physical elements of both including all the splattered blood turned to reishi and calmly lifted off into the air before disappearing altogether, leaving evidence of neither of their existence behind.

Ada brought her hand to her mouth, as she closed her eyes. Her stomach churned as she gagged slightly, years of battle training being the only thing keeping her from vomiting. Her eyes watered from the uncomfortable feeling, as she took a few deep breaths, calming her body. It wasn’t that she wasn’t use to death, or even torture, but such things would have left any but the most psychotic sick to the pit of their stomach.

She shook her head, as the armor she wore turned to golden reishi, and reformed itself in her Shikai. She whipped her eyes, pushing away the few droplets that had formed. She didn’t have the time to linger here, she had a job to do, and more killing had to be done. She grimaced to herself; here her revenge had gone from something she longed for; to something that was quickly turning her ill.

For the first time since she had been attacked, she looked over towards where Jager was fighting, seeming to still be locked in a duel against the Bount he faced. She scoffed, not being able to tell if she hoped he died more then she hoped he lived so she could kill him herself. But no matter what she felt, he wouldn’t die. Jager and Mauss dying on the same day would be far to perfect for her life.

All across the area energies roared as the different battles took place all around her. Kitosan’s knights were doing well against the Bounts, she could tell that much. But something had to be done about the artillery Bount who had focused in on the actually dangerous opponents; its barrage of nearly unavoidable attacks could tilt the balance against them.

With light footsteps she dashed across the rooftop, jumping from one to another as she suppressed her riatsu. It had only taken her a few moments to locate the being responsible for the barrages, a massive spider like doll with dozens of metal legs. She grunted as she jumped off the building, letting herself fall most of the way before slowing her decent just enough as to not cause any real noise as she landed. She peered around the corner, lance in hand as she watched the Doll fire another barrage.

It started off as a light jog, but as the distance closed between them it turned to a mad run, and before finally she lunged straight for its backside, pulling her lance back, still a good fifty feet away. The Doll seemed to take notice of her presence, but she was behind it, and the Doll was slow. “Pierce the Darkness Hogosha! Bankai!” She shouted, as her lance was covered in a golden energy before extending outwards, instantly closing the space between the two as she put her full strength behind the attack. She’d end this Doll in one blow, at least, that was her plan.

[GoldenKitten]

As Jager wildly dashed at his target the older Bount stood firm with his arms crossed, and at first his Doll seemed to make no movement either. It stood a silent sentinel in a pose not unlike many a suit of knight’s armor, shaft of its hammer sitting firmly on the ground below. Then at the last moment as Jager pushed off the ground with a fist aimed for the older man’s head the Doll made a move though not from any of its visible body. Instead the Earth itself came alive in the rough shape of a fist attached by a mere string of dirt to the main body of the Doll with only feet between it and Jager.

Spinning forward into a handstand Jager continued to spin as he threw himself over the misshapen fist. Turning in mid-air he brought a mighty kick down upon the “arm” which promptly collapsed back into the concrete and dirt below. However, as it had distracted him the Dolls main body had taken action and spun its hammer upside down, which now positioned above him was brought down like a gavel. Yet without even looking up or seeming to note this attack Jager simply disappeared in a blaze of motion that should have been beyond the human scope of actuality. And as the hammer slammed into the ground with a bang rather than retreat he had sprinted forward and continued the charging fist at the man’s face he had begun with.

But in a rare case of surprise Jager watched as the man sidestepped his attack and brought his own fist at Jagers face. Bending himself back in a superhuman game of limbo Jagers momentum carried him beneath the fist, sliding and turning before bouncing off the ground directly beneath the giant Dolls legs. Seemingly without clear plan or direction he was happy to attack either of them as he once more switched his target to the Doll. Even at this distance though the Doll was able to create another false-appendage out of the ground, this time in the shape of a bowl like shield.

Dirt and rock alone would have done little to stop Jager, but this was clearly infused with reiatsu as even Jagers great strength only cracked the defense. He dropped to the ground and backed off as if expecting retaliation but instead when the shield dropped he found that both the Doll and its Bount owner had moved across the opening they had now created in the buildings despite only having been seconds since it had stood over him. Jager gave them a smirk and an amused grunt, the only suggestion he might be feeling differently in the slight twitch in his eye. By comparison the rock titan remained as immovable as ever, seemingly a visual personification of its owner who was equally stoic and unreadable.

Though it possessed no mouth the deep voice that echoed out could clearly have come from no other than the rock beast, “FAST. ADDAPTABLE. BUT UNSKILLED. A FUTILE BATTLE.”

The older man nodded, “Indeed. You might have succeeded in creating the body Clautz dreamed of but without proper training and tactics backing it up you’re not even making use of half of the potential he gave you. You are hundreds of years too early to face our seasoned capabilities.”

Jagers expression seemed bewildered though the quick grin he drew seemed to suggest confusion more than worry, “Do you know who else has told me that? Every single other person I’ve killed,” he chuckled happily at the truth in that statement.

In response the Bount held one of his hands out toward him and then brought it together like a fist. In a mimicking motion the ground around Jager came to life into five finger-like appendages that tried to wrap around him. But Jager would not be caught in so simple a trap as he turned around one of the fingers allowing him to spin, the built up momentum then allowed him to create a back-fist. Red reishi pooled in the gauntlets around his arm and seconds later he had sliced through all five fingers, sending the rocks flying into many nearby buildings as the rest collapsed into the ground. But even as he reveled in his small victory his vision was naturally pulled up by motion as he watched the giant hammer descend on him once more at twice the speed as before.

With no regard for his own wellbeing Jager tossed his arms out to either side as if he meant to catch the blow, “Come on! Come on! COME ON! COME ON LET’S GO!”

When the hammer hit it did so with such force that it would have crushed a hundred men a hundred times over, but Jager happily accepted it into his open chest, reaching out to his arms full width and wrapping them around it best he could. As he roared at the top of his lungs the hammer drove him deep into the ground as the concrete caved below him into a crater formation before it could cave no more and then began to drive his feet in like pegs. The blow hit with such force as to create an airwave that sent debris flying for a hundred meters as it continued to drive Jager down…and then it stopped.

Below the hammer Jager let out a long exhale before he reaffirmed the strength in his muscles. Rearing an arm back while still holding the hammer with his other he punched its side and the force continued up the hammer until it slipped out of the golems grasp and began falling. In that time Jager freed himself from the ground and slid to the side in perfect synchronicity to catch the falling hammers shaft.

With a menacing grin he made a bemused ‘hmmmm’ before yelling, “Stop, hammer time!”

Exerting all the strength he could muster the hammer as large as a building began to move and as he built momentum he swung it in a mighty arc. The Doll brought its arms up to its side but despite its best efforts its own body couldn’t manage the same strength as it had in its weapon. Stone hammer met stone body in a blisteringly loud cacophony of destruction as half of its arm was broken off before the weapon continued for a full body shot in the lower abdomen. Though made of rock it seemed this core body was indeed important as the creature reeled backward before falling to a knee in an attempt to recover.

Spotting his opportunity Jager performed another great spin vertically this time before bringing the oversized weapon down on the older Bount. However at the moment it should have impacted the man he simply extended his hand and in a flash of light both the hammer and the Doll crumbled to dust. The sudden loss of weight and momentum sent Jager into a clumsy fall. He managed to right himself and land on his feet albeit with what passed for his pride scarred at the ruining of a prime moment of violence.

He looked to the older man who was holding an old stone out toward him, “My Doll remember? Did you honestly think you could hurt me with it?”

“Thought I’d try.”

For the first time the man broke out into a grin, “Ha! Naïve, but amusing. Himmen Huber, I guess you deserve to know the name at least.”

Jager stared at him with a questioning expression for a moment before it clicked, “Don’t bother. One of us dies, and I promise I won’t remember you next week. There’s far too much war left to care for whom I wage war with.”

“You speak as if you’ve already won,” the smile was now gone from Himmens face.

Jager cocked his head to the side a bit with one eye half-closed, “I wonder why.”, it wasn’t a question.

With nothing left to say Himmen held the stone out and yelled, “Ziege Dich! Steinkrieger!”

The small stone in his hand grew outward and began to elongate along both his arms. As it took shape it became clear it was a pair of large stone gauntlets not unlike Jagers own but much bulkier. Jager was not well versed in Bounts, he took little time worrying about why things were, and instead what could be done with them. Still he was intelligent enough to rationalize that a Doll could be wielded not just as a fellow warrior but as a personal weapon. That was just fine; he preferred it up close and moment-to-moment anyhow. Oh how glad he was he’d picked up on those transmissions, this was already ten times more fun than slaughtering the weak armies of the Soul States…he had been getting bored, and that just wouldn’t do.

Freed from the confines the giant stone golem had placed on him the older man now showed his own personal strength, and perhaps more surprising if expected his speed. Despite his older appearance he had no problem meeting Jager blow-for-blow as the distance between them turned into a blur of fists. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of blows met head-on in a matter of seconds. For a moment it appeared they were equally matched and then something amazing happened that Jager couldn’t even explain, the man’s fists began to circle around his own so that he barely managed to meet them several times.

And then something hard hit him in the face-

Jagers legs were firmly planted in the ground so that he instantly rebounded from the blow but his amused looks were now replaced by a slowly simmering anger. Plenty of people had hit Jager before but that was when they got smart and used tactics, nobody was supposed to be able to meet him head on in a straight fight. That was when a second blow snaked through his own wall of blows and hit his face, this time with enough force to send him sliding back several feet before he caught himself.

It would take a lot more than that to pierce Jagers hide but it was enough to give even him pause, the realization that he was facing someone who was actually on his level finally seeming to sink in. Regardless it was just as the man said, the only thing Jager knew how to do in response was race forward and spin into a roundhouse kick. However the man wrapped his hands around his leg and spun Jager into the air, Jager recovered and brought a kick down upon Himmen but the older man slipped back inches from the blow which shattered the ground.

Standing a few paces away from Jager Himmen piped up once more, “Like I said, all the power in the world isn’t going to save you from a lack of skill.”

Jager let out a scream but it was more akin to the souls of the damned crying for war rather than pain or distress. The look on his face had surpassed rage well into some other emotion far beyond that which normal people could even dream of tapping into. He continued to scream as his arms splayed out cupped below him, his arms rigid and shaking as a whole. His reiatsu followed suit as his gauntlets burned pure crimson and streams of energy poured from the corners of his mouth and eyes. There wasn’t a single person in the entire city who didn’t know Jager was there at that moment as he howled at the sky and unleashed a wave of energy that flattened everything around him for a block out save for a few heavy buildings. Himmen held his guard through this but even his eyes showed surprise at this sudden boost of energy.

Regardless he retained his composure as Jager came flashing at him five times as fast as before. There was no more skill to it than before; Jager had simply upped his game. He was a complex creature, nothing brought him greater joy than combat, yet nothing angered him more either. For there could be only one victor, and Jager lived to be the victor…never thinking of the day when there was nobody left to fight.

The two came at each other and met with a second flurry of blows. Raining down upon each other much like before but now repositioning their stance on the fly as they tried to take the advantage. Though Jagers posture was no better than before it seemed he was capable of simply willing the needed energy into existence; as even while Himmen continued to display a higher level of martial aptitude he was no longer landing blows as Jager moved like liquid lightning. Sensing the change Himmen began to throw kicks into his repertoire but while most people had greater strength in their thighs that difference was negligible in such a high-tier battle as Jager batted them away as he would a fist.

It was again Himmen who threw the next curve-ball into the fight as he backed off, but rather than charge at the Bount Jager seemed to parrot the motion. It was evident Jagers vision was capable of taking in Himmens entire stance all at once, and while he wasn’t a master of the arts his natural instincts told him when his opponent made the slightest movement. So it was that the moment Himmen darted at him Jager was on the move as well, the duo exchanging passing blows faster than the eye could follow.

They would charge, exchange a hundred blows in the time a normal human could manage one, and then continue past each other. They would then turn on their heels and repeat the exercise over-and-over. After a solid forty of these passes the buildings around them could no longer take the force of the supersonic movement as they began to collapse one-by-one, clouding the area in dust and debris though it did little to stop them. It was clear Himmen was trying to find an opening in Jagers heightened senses and while it initially looked like he had failed at this task after a dozen more passes they both returned to a static stance and returned to meeting each other’s fists.

“I’ve got you now!” the Bount yelled as he began pouring in a different style of punch, likely aimed at the weakness he believed he had found.

However after only a dozen exchanges Himmen froze as Jager instead gripped his fists in open palms. The Bount tried to pull away but Jager had pulled one over on him and his fists were now in an impenetrable steely grip. Still Himmen began to spin in an attempt to rip him off but before he could get too far Jager leapt over him tugging his arms back in the process. Several seconds of pulling later and the tension was released as Jager landed behind and slid a ways, Himmen took that opportunity to back up several meters and reorient himself in his foes direction before speaking, “You think you can break me just by pushing yourself harder boy?”

Jager hadn’t moved since landing except to turn his head slightly in the man’s direction; however upon his words a slight grin overtook his anger though he still visibly glowed with anger fueled reiatsu.

“Think?”, he lifted one of his arms in which he was holding one of the man’s gauntlets…only it was bleeding, “Old man, I already did.”

As if only just realizing it Himmen looked to his secondary arm on his left which was now but a bloody stump. Emotions of fear, anger, and confusion played across it before he settled for gripping it and grunting while gritting his teeth. Whether the delayed reaction had been from the speed which Jager had removed it or because the man had been so focused on the battle no longer mattered. Seeming to come to terms with the situation Himmen gained his previous composure, “It’s but an arm. I might be worried if I was human but I’ll just regrow it later. But I’ve found your weakness so that comes first.”

Jagers energy overtook the limb and began burning it out of existence as he dropped it to the ground. At the same time he turned to Himmen with his hands on his side as a loud cackle filled his lungs, “Hahaha-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GOOD! THEN THIS WILL BE INTERESTING!” he grew quieter, “Because I’ve found yours as well. So I guess we’ve both got one shot.”

Both of them stared at each other for a long time, Himmen unmoving, and Jager breathing deeply though out of pent up aggression rather than being tired. And then they dashed at each other one last time.

Himmen flew at Jager with a curved blow aimed at his abdomen though this was no punch, but rather more like hitting someone with a condensed building as he put all his strength into making the connection. Jager came straight at him and Himmen tried to watch him closely for any last minute dodges, only at the last moment did he realize Jager wasn’t attempting to dodge at all. Instead he fell straight into the attack and let the strike hit his abdomen full on, actually gasping as the force drove the air from his lungs. Even his tough skin was penetrated as Himmens hand dug in a few inches before coming to a halt, the energy from the blow however continued visibly moving through his body before a spear of reiatsu exited his backside.

Normally he’d have been thankful his plan had worked but Himmen was clearly more confused than anything as to why his foe hadn’t dodged. Before he could say anything Jagers iron hold was wrapped around his only arm as he pulled in a great breath, “UWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Himmen had no time to react as Jager planted his legs into the ground and brought his other straightened hand into Himmens chest. Much like the older Bounts attack it penetrated the flesh but unlike his it continued through as Jager pushed a terrible bolt of reishi through his gauntlets deep into the man’s muscles. His hand ripped straight through the man’s chest and exploded out the other side in a gory display while the reiatsu dug great scars into the rest of his body. For the first time the look on Himmens face was one of pain he couldn’t hold in though he no longer had the lung capacity to scream.

Jagers blow finally stopped as Himmen slid down his arm so they were face-to-face, “Your weakness old Bount is that you can’t take a hit. I can.”

Jager tapped his already mending wound that would be completely closed within a minute. And then with one last lash of energy he split the man in half as he exploded in a shower of blood shortly before that blood turned to pure reiatsu and dissipated into the air. Much like he had said Jager wasted no time on ceremony as he turned back in the direction of the still firing spider Doll. That had been the best fun he’d had in…well…hours, he certainly hoped this Bount Clan continued to entertain him.

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

As Ada charged forward to take out the metal spider machination it looked like she had taken it by surprise. The Doll was still unleashing salvos on the unseen Predators and Soul States soldiers, though one had to wonder how many could be left by this point. Still eliminating it would be a major step toward pushing further in as it could have just as easily turned around and flanked them if they simply attempted to circumnavigate it. But just when it looked like she was going to take it out without a fight she heard a voice yell out.

“STOP!”, a small figure appeared from the nearby building and held its hands out in front of the Doll.

It was a young girl and it unseated Ada just long enough for the Doll to take note of her. One of the cylinders on its back spun in her direction and fired, however rather than a high-powered beam it instead fired a disabling series of waves that forced her to the ground before she oriented her shield upward to block them. But by this point the Doll had accomplished its goal and stopped firing as it now turned in her direction, but did not open fire with the young girl between them.

Though she was undoubtedly a Bount and could have been centuries older than she appeared something told Ada she wasn’t much beyond what it seemed. She wore the look of someone unused to battle, and even an untrained eye could have spotted her jerking at the slightest explosion or clang of weapons in the distance. Appearance wise she didn’t look a day over twelve with brown pig-tails hanging out the back of a multicolored beanie. The gold eyes she studied Ada with were more like a deer in the headlights than a seasoned soldier; she was either a good actor, or genuinely new to this.

When she finally spoke it began with a stutter, “Wh…w…why are you doing this?! Is it not enough you ran us out of our home? Now you’re going to hunt us down?!!”, her voice escalated in tone and became more accusing as she went on reaching a fever pitch near a scream, “WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO YOU!!! I JUST WANTED TO LIVE IN SAFETY WITH MY OWN KIND AND YOU CAN’T EVEN GRANT ME THAT!” she was shaking now as she pointed at Ada, “You…YOU’RE EVIL!”

Though it had no discernible face the source of an elderly man’s voice echoed out from an area on the metal spider where several metal appendages were clinking together, almost like a mandible; “Step aside Elise. Tyrants bent on destruction like they have no room for hearing reason.”

[kensei]

It wasn’t how a soldier should have acted; she should have finished her attack, dealing with the threat at hand before letting up for even a moment. But Ada was far from the perfect soldier, and in her sight she saw a scared, broken girl who the world had done wrong. The strength and resolve of her attack wavered, and it was all the Doll needed to force her back.

She crashed into the ground, gritting her teeth as the energy waves slammed into her. The energy of her Bankai reformed into her shield, blocking the attack as she righted herself off the ground. She could have been killed right there, had the Bount willed such actions fast enough, letting its Doll fire away in her vulnerable state, assuming it was indeed capable of killing her.

The child’s words stung her soul, as images of being drug from her home, hunted, and killed flashed in her mind. Her eyes locked with Elise, filled with confusion as she took stock of what she said, and then pity as the level of honesty behind them took root. She sealed her lanced and sheathed it as she shook her head, obviously trying to disarm the situation, though her shields floated between her and the girl’s Doll. “You foolish child, you have no idea the sadistic nature of this branch of your kind.”

Her eyes took a harsher stance as she looked over to the Doll. “Words of reason?” She questioned it as she took a step forward. “The clan you call home has wronged me in more ways than you can imagine, and your leader is using you as a pawn as he hides away, hoping you will either kill us, or ware us down enough so he can do it himself, so that he may live while you die.” Her eyes traveled between the Doll and the girl, as she tried to decide just what she should do.

It was perhaps too optimistic to think such words would have an immediate reaction, after all it was reasonable to think she’d been under the Huber Clans wing for at least a few months if not years. And if she was talking the way she was it was also discernible that she likely had no part nor was witness to their shadier dealings, so her response shouldn’t have been all-together unexpected.

“Bullshit! How would you even know? Do you know how many times my friends have saved me?! Of course not, even when your leader took everything from us they still helped me, and you have the audacity to speak ill of them when you’re the one coming here with fire and destruction in hand?!”

Her words grew shriller and Ada couldn’t help but note the Doll had stepped to the side as to have a clear shot at her, and its weapons were primed. She was either going to have to make her point quickly and with evidence, or she was going to be fighting her way out.

Ada raised her hand towards the Doll, as she quickly readied them in case of an attack. “I have no qualm with your kind, let me show you.” She pleaded, taking the silence from the girl as her go ahead, raising her finger to her earpiece. “Joffrey, I need you to break away from the Saint Mary and join me here quickly. Do not engage the Bount.”

For a moment there was silence before he responded. “Confirm, do not engage?” She gritted her teeth, afraid the conversation would appear suspicious. “Confirmed, do not engage.” She could hear the hesitation in his voice as he replied. “…Understood.”

It had seemed the child’s curiosity was on her side, as Elise had, for the moment, stopped her Doll from attacking. “I know you weren’t around when my feud with the Huber Clan started, but seven hundred years ago they killed me, and most of my family for my Uncles crime of trying to learn how to defend himself against their attacks, as they butchered whole towns to satisfy their hunger for power. They were impatient to gain it, opting to eat the living instead of the dead, and it drove many of them mad. The ones you call your friends are the ones who made it through this with some part of their sanity still intact, the others.. Were killed like mad dogs by Mauss Huber.”

The girl recoiled, as if ready to call her story lies when Joffrey finally appeared. He was an incredibly handsome man, he stood tall and well over six feet with long blonde hair that flowed down to the middle of his back. His face was clean shaven, and his eyes shone with gold against his pale complexion. He wore a black jacket with a whit fur collar, jeans, and fingerless gloves. In his right hand was what resembled a long sword in blade, its hand guard instead a large circle at the base of the blade, with spokes running through its length. Its entirety looked of a dark golden hue, and the blade spoke with a deep, rugged voice. “What is the meaning of this Adala?”

“Look Haymer, this child is scared…” Joffery spoke, his voice was a complete contrast to the rouged voice of his Doll, soft, and filled with a bit of pity for the youngling of his kind.

Annoyance filled the Dolls voice as it replied. “We are fighting a war, children should be afraid. What of it! Send her away and be done with it if you don’t wish to kill it!”

Ada’s eyes traveled from Joffrey to Elise, hoping that maybe the presence of a Bount on her side would at least make Elise be willing to hear her out in full.

It didn’t seem the girl was having it though as she prepared to yell again, that was when an unexpected source of insight came in. As was made obvious by Joffrey and Haymer one’s Doll was not always akin to their master. They were a personification of the Bounts power much in the same manner a Zanpakuto was to a Shinigami, but were capable of a greater deal of free-thought. Where-as a Zanpakuto seemed to have a personality but were usually created from some deep-seated emotion within the Shinigami, a Doll had legitimate thoughts and emotions of its own.

Even so it was with some surprise when the old voice emanated from the metal spider, “It is…perhaps in our best interest to hear them out.”

None were more surprised than Elise as she turned to the Doll presenting an obvious opening only a novice would have to Ada, though she didn’t take it, “Even you Weber?”

Ada sighed as she took a step forward, nodding to the Doll in thanks. “Elise..” She stated, causing the girl to rear back towards her before taking a step back in reaction. “If I truly intended to harm you, why would I have stopped when I could have destroyed.. Weber..” She paused, motioning to the Doll. “Or not simply kill you when you had your back turned? Just.. Hear me out..”

As she said this she lowered her shields to behind her, opening herself up should the Doll choose to attack, an obvious olive branch to Elise. The girl stood there in silence, as confusion, anger, and fear splashed across her face, which Ada took as a sign to go on. “I know, Shingami and Bounts have had a very messy history.. But we have also been at war with the Arrancar for a very long time, and now we work with them. When the Horror Vacui came into the picture, everything changed, and when they left, they took from us all the preconceptions of the past. At least, for most of us..” There would always be those who couldn’t let go of past fights.

She motioned with her hand to Joffery as she continued. “There have always been Shingami though, who worked and defended the Bounts. Those like Kitosan, who helped create a home for Bounts, were they could live in peace. That mentality of acceptance is what separates us from our past, we aren’t here because we are trying to exterminate your kind. We are here to stop them from killing innocent humans, some of the Bounts in the Huber clan may have saved your life, but one good deed does not absolve them of all the wrongs they have committed. Hundreds, if not more, have died because of them.”

She could see the anger boiling inside the young Bount, as she took long breaths, trying to find the words she wanted to scream. It sickened Ada to watch her struggle so; the men she knew did not deserve the loyalty she was showing. And if she was going to save this girl’s life, it was going to take time, but how much could she afford to spend here truthfully?

[GoldenKitten]

The girl stood staring at Ada as if trying to read her true intentions. Both Ada and the Doll were so focused on each other, and the girl too inexperienced to sense the force descending upon them. It was only in the last few moments that anyone took notice but by this point Jager had made contact with the Doll. Strong or not nothing in this world took a hit from Jager unprepared and survived as its metal legs gave way and its entire body plummeted to the ground. Jager had come in by delivering a kick to its upper body and in an instant the gun barrels on its top along with much of its armor were shorn away, ripping into the buildings around them.

As its body impacted the ground and was drilled deep into it before fracturing apart the young girl reached out and screamed its name. In response the elderly voice of the Doll yelled a response, its lack of organic parts allowing it to speak in a normal tone despite its body’s state, “Elise, get back!”

It was an unrealistic request and far too late a warning though, particularly for someone not even equal to a Vice Captains level. You were either a couple miles ahead of Jager or at his level if you intended to deflect an incoming strike and without her Doll Elise was neither. It was hard to tell if she’d even acknowledged his presence as her eyes were still following Weber to the ground. In that same space of time Jager had decimated the Doll before pulling one of its legs off, and unlike Himmen it was doubtful Elise could de-summon her Doll with a flick of the hand.

This was acknowledged as Jager drove it forward and into her stomach before pulling her up off the ground. The force of the blow had only just shattered her abdominal region before exiting the back side as Jager let go of the spiny leg and wrapped the same hand around her throat before gravity even had time to pull her back down. Say what you would about Jager he wasn’t nearly as cruel as some of the Soul States other enemies even if his violence was just as senseless, for as soon as he recognized there was no challenge to be had he simply wrenched his hand sideways and snapped the girls neck before her body fell limply to the ground faced away from Ada.

Not seeming to think a thing about it even as Joffrey went on the defensive and Ada just stared at the scene mouth ajar Jager put his hands on his hips and asked in a genuinely questioning manner, “So, whatcha taking so long over here for? Weren’t we attacking? I’m getting bored.”

Jager waited for an answer but when Ada only answered him with the same disbelieving expression his eyes searched from side-to-side. It was perhaps more disconcerting than their other foes, at least they seemed to know fully what they were doing. Jager on the other-hand seemed completely oblivious as to why he was getting the looks he was as he whispered under his breath, “Awwwww~~~kward.”

Looking from Ada to the girl and back again he seemed to piece it together…or at least piece something together as he knowingly smacked a fist into an open palm in a ‘Eureka!’ moment with a pleased expression, “Oh! Were you talking? Sorry about that. Let me help!”

He thrust a hand over his mouth so she couldn’t see him move it and spoke in a high-pitched voice that was clearly his approximation of a young girl. He averted his gaze from Ada as if he were about to burst out laughing if he looked at her, “Adala! I think you should go kill more people!”

Lowering his hand he gave a little shimmy with his hands, shaking his butt, and looking rather smug and yet delighted all at once, “See, even she gets it! Let’s get to that then.”

At the same time Elise and Weber disappeared in a burst of reiatsu like the other Bounts as whatever had held their corporeal bodies together left them. Seeming to distract Jager from the little jig he was getting into he turned his body back toward where she had just disappeared with his hands on his hips and a more discerning or disappointed look on his face.

Without facing Ada he pointed at the spot, “See, this is what’s wrong with kids today! No stick-to-itive-ness. It makes an old soul sad to see.”

He nodded thoughtfully as if what he just said made any sense.

[kensei]

Huuhhhh…. Huhhhh..

[/center]

The sound of her own breathing was all she could hear, as her vision blurred to the scene unfolding before her, as if rejecting everything that just happened. Her features where vague, and expressionless to everyone looking at her, as if she either wasn’t bothered, or wasn’t there anymore. Her entire form seemed to hollow out in front of them, and looked as if it would fade in the wind at any moment.

Her movements where slow, weak, almost artificial, as if her body was being controlled by some far away thing that was barely connected to it as she walked forward towards Jager. Her hand slowly rose, before softly placing it upon his shoulder, and then the other as she looked down; looking as if at any moment she would start crying into his chest.

But in an instant, all of her strength, all of her being came back into focus. Her fingers tightened on Jager’s coat, grabbing him in an iron grip as she roared with the ferocity of an enraged lion. In one swift motion she yanked him off the ground, turning swiftly before flinging him like a pebble, straight through the building behind her.

She pulled her sword, instantly unsealing it as she dashed after Jager’s flying body, which had just broken through the other side of the building. Her eyes didn’t even take in Joffery’s reaction, as he stood there in shock and worry over what she was doing. She wasn’t even thinking about the rest of the mission right now though; her only thought was on giving that sick bastard what he deserved.

Before he had even fully pulled himself up from the small ditch he had created, Ada had descended upon him, lance in hand. Of course, there wasn’t an ounce of fear, or even worry in Jager’s eye, just a telling smile and hint of pleasure in his eyes, as he effortlessly jumped above the downward thrust.

The ground erupted underneath Jager’s feet, but instead of trying for another thrust, Ada let go of her Zanpakuto, as she leapt into the air. Her hands ignited in reishi as they coursed with Shunko. The air was filled with a litany of punches, as Ada pressed her advance against Jager. She was nowhere near his equal in strength or speed, but she only needed to keep him busy for a moment.

The sound of the blows hitting one another made her whispers seem almost completely mute. But as Jager was starting to get the upper hand, and it was becoming apparent that she couldn’t hold this pace for long, several golden threads emerged from her arms, wrapping around Jager’s own before latching together and binding them in front of him, as if he had just been handcuffed. It wouldn’t hold for long, but it was more then she needed.

She cocked her left arm back, throwing her entire weight behind the punch as she slammed it down into his cheek. The force split his cheek open, and sent him flying into the ground with such speed that he created a small crater in the ground upon impact.

Ada’s breathing was long and rugged as she stared down at Jager, as he pulled himself up from the ground, the kido she had used already ripped apart as he grinned upwards at her, the wound on his cheek already healing. He looked as if he was about to speak when she shouted at him.

“Just what are you?! Some god damn demon sent to destroy everything in my life!? Everything that I am!? How much more can you rip from me! When will you be satisfied that you’ve tortured me enough! My sister! My friends! My personality! My hope! My DREAMS! Everything! You’ve taken it all already! When will it be enough! Huh?! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT!”

Her voice cracked, as tears of rage started to fill her eyes, her reishi visibly crackling around her as her entire being glowed with such anger and intensity, as small drops of blood started to fall to the ground from the wounds on her hands, a visible sign of the tole it had taken to match Jager blow for blow.

It wasn’t that she was attached to the Bount girl, she sympathized with her sure, but this was more, it was what that girl represented. She was a living embodiment of the joke Jager had made of her entire life, in one instant he reminded her of everything he did, and exactly how he felt about it. Her life was a sad, broken thing, to be laughed at and made light of in his eyes, and she’d never forgive him of that.