Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Apr 27, 2010 22:18:11 GMT -4
Makkuro stood turned his back to the pair and attached his blade to his obi in one calm manner; the once cheery man had changed. Grief was overthrowing all of Makkuro’s emotions men had died on his watch and it was taking most of his will power to remain composed in front of the two other captain’s, but a long tear slipped out of his right eye anyway as he turned back to them and sighed.
“It seems our tea time is over; a pleasure to meet you both, but I have business I must attend to.” Makkuro used shunpo to dash around to the his vice captains office and told him to prepare ten of the most capable members of the squad for combat as they were departing. His vice-captain, a wiry young man known for his speed and accuracy quickly saluted and dashed away and returned nearly immediately from an adjacent barracks.
“Sir, the men will be ready shortly what will you have us do?” The young blond haired boy asked, looking no older than twenty as he stood at attention with his zanpakuto in hand and an icy calm over his entire body. Makkuro admired the young man’s ability to be calm in such a situation and smiled a little bit.
“We’re heading to war with the enemy, steel yourself and let’s get ready for combat. There is something out there and it’s already killed several of our allies, time for us to find out why and then return the favor. The word’s sounded forced from Makkuro’s mouth as he was a man of peace usually and not combat, but now that his men had died under his supervision; he could not restrain himself, he had to destroy the enemy. Biting his tongue to break himself of his dream like trance, he dashed away using shunpo again to make his way through the Soul Society and into the outlying town. The words from the hell butterfly still echoing in his ear. “Impaled on metal rods, all dead….who or what could do such a thing?” He wondered, so much didn’t make sense to him as he moved through the haze that penetrated his brain and Meuma finally coughed to get his attention.
If you don’t calm yourself, your only going to end up dead yourself.
“I know Meuma, I know, but right now I have no time for your proverbs. People died because of me and that I can not have. When we return, I must punish myself for not being the first one out there and ignoring the disturbance. It is my fault they are dead.” Meuma was silent, it wasn’t Makkuro’s fault nor was it anyone’s fault. Things like this happened and no amount of preparation could have stopped it. The only thing that could have been done differently would have been for Makkuro to have dashed out blindly chasing a single signature and possibly ending up dead himself, which would have been a far greater tragedy than some nameless grunts dying. Meuma told Makkuro this and Makkuro only nodded before turning his mind back to the issue at hand. Could he really be trusted as the Gate Captain if he couldn’t keep his men alive? Self doubt and self pity plagued Makkuro’s mind like a disease and he felt himself slowly going crazy under it’s grubby fingers before a whiney from Meuma snapped him out of it.
Get a hold of yourself damnit! He smiled then and laughed at his spirit before arriving at the war torn scene that had been awaiting him.
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Post by Galihan on Apr 30, 2010 21:48:14 GMT -4
The inevitability of eventually dying is one of the only common factors that unite all persons as equals. Residing within Soul Society for most people makes that bitter fact all the more undeniable; whether you live or die on any given day is because either someone didn't decide to kill you or you're strong enough to survive if they did. For many, especially in Rukongai, is this most prevalent where the further you get from Seireitei, the more likely someone will try and kill you and less likely that you're going to be strong enough to stop them. It was a harsh, brutal way of life that the captain of Squad Two was familiar with for the bulk of his entire existence, having spend many years as an instrument of justice in an otherwise lawless world, even before joining the noble Gotei 13 or the secretive Onmitsukido.
His experience as a leader forced Tsuno to witness countless comrades die with nothing he could do to save them, so he was accustomed to accepting the occupational hazards of his lifestyle choice as did he also expect that his own subordinates would also accept any given day could be the last. Even if the death of any single member of a family-in-arms was enough to dishearten anyone, Tsuno knew to to never let it show or haunt his consciousness, lest the entire division lose the capacity to think, act, strategize and fight at full capacity. Tsuno was used to seeing death, but he was curious as to how Makkuro would be able to fare as a new captain.
When Captain Shiboo vanished with his shunpo after shedding a tear, Captain Azuka turned to face Captain Shimizu and gave a small sigh, while reaching out in front of him to grab one of the small cookies that were on the table.
"This will be a good learning experience for him, I think. He'd better become accustomed to handling death now because what no squad needs is a leader who can't overcome simple grief."
With that, he took a bite out of the treat and wondered how Makkuro or the westerners he chose to take after could possibly have such sugary snacks with their tea. In any case, he himself took to his feet and gave a small bow to the senior captain, as even if the situation at hand was a matter of the Third Squad, Azuka's own duty as the Onmitsukido's Commander would require that he send his own commitment of forces to Rukongai to investigate this rather disturbing and gruesome-sounding scenario that was playing out as captains were sitting around drinking tea, discussing psychology and gossiping about their peers.
"I suppose we all have our own duties to attend to, don't we Captain Shimizu? If you would excuse me, I must see to it that my own forces are ready just in case this problem is even greater than we anticipate. Hopefully that won't be necessary, but I'd rather be ready than not."
Tsuno took his leave, turning to the door and vanishing into thin air as he stepped outside the office of the Third Squad's captain. When back at his own division barracks, Captain Azuka had one of his agent's send word to Shin, the man who he was expecting to become his vice-captain soon enough, that he was to tend to domestic matters while the Executive Militia was to be prepared to move out at a moment's notice.
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Post by Darkoda on May 7, 2010 3:56:57 GMT -4
Rin watched Makkuro rush off, not quite managing to hold in his sorrow, to ready his troops to investigate. Every captain had to get used to shouldering the weight of their fallen subordinates, and this was something that Makkuro needed to learn quickly lest it get him killed. Rin had no doubts that Azuka was well used to death, having been the commander of the Ommitsukido for so long, and she was hardened to death back when she was still alive, but Makkuro apparently had the rare luxury of growing up free of the bloody nature of life, and Rukongai, which made his initiation to the experience all the harder. She gave a sigh of her own, as she listened to Azuka’s accurate opinion of his reaction.
“Well he’s handling it somewhat well so far, considering that it is his first experience.”
If you call well him clearly showing grief, and letting the deaths affect him too much, then sure. He’s going to do something stupid.
This isn’t like you, normally you would be far more blunt and realistic with the situation.
…….
In the meantime, Azuka had taken his leave to organize his own forces, leaving Rin alone with her thoughts.
I’m just concerned about his well being because I actually know him. Usually I don’t end up befriending new captains so quickly.
So, are you going to help out your friend?
No, he needs to learn how to handle these kinds of situations alone. Besides, I don’t get involved in other’s battles.
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War torn wasn’t really the word one would use to describe the scene that awaited Captain Shiboo and his small force. The district looked like any other district in the twenties; reasonably good looking buildings, shops, towers, clean streets, just the average district. Well except for the hundreds of bodies impaled on black rods scattered throughout the entire district. Right in front of the captain, the body of a small boy could be seen, the blood-stained tip of the pole sticking out of his mouth, as he and everyone else was skewered in a manner akin to the tastes of Vlad the Impaler.
However the shinigami reacted to the site, eventually, the group had decided to split up into two teams of five, one headed by the captain himself, and the other led by his vice captain. It was almost like they were repeating the steps of the previous group, although they could only hope that the search had a more pleasant end. Each team was well on guard – if the dead residents weren’t enough warning, the occasional body of the first shinigami team mixed in was enough to inspire caution and anger depending on the person.
As the two teams wandered deeper into the district, it would have become clear to the more astute members that there was a faint hollow’s reiatsu signature throughout the town. Further investigation might make it clear that no matter where the teams went, the reiatsu never seemed to grow stronger or weaker, as if it was a cloud blanketing the entire city. This in itself was a bad omen, as the fog of reiatsu could end up easily concealing any hollow that suppressed their own reiatsu from all but the sharpest senses until they were right on top of their targets.
In fact, that was exactly what happened to the vice-captain’s team, as no one had any time to react before a hole was torn in the ground beneath a shinigami, and a giant worm shot out, biting the unfortunate soul in half in one loud crunch. With part of its body out of the ground, the worm was clearly a large hollow, its brown body thick and segmented just like an earthworm, and adorned with small spikes. The head was encased in a solid white mask, with no visible eyeholes although he hollow was clearly able to tell where the shinigami were, as it shifted itself to aim at the group, before the head opened up to reveal a gaping mouth lined with teeth in a circle. It was clear that anyone caught by that wasn’t leaving with all their body parts.
“Shinigami?……hungry………food…..”
With that broken speech, all twelve feet of the worm hollow ripped out from the ground and lunged at the group with surprising speed, mouth open to gobble up anyone who couldn’t get out of the way in time.
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Makkuro didn’t have the luxury of being able to help out his vice-captain, as not only was it near impossible to detect the worm hollow from such a distance with the odd reiatsu mist, but his group was soon to get its own problems. Soon after the scream of the newly slain shinigami echoed across the desolate district to Makkuro’s group, another scream replaced it as a creature shot out and grabbed hold of one of his shinigami, quickly dragging him off. Before anyone had time to give chase, more of the same creatures came out from buildings and alleys, surrounding the remaining four shinigami. In the light the creatures appeared to be canine hollows, covered in matted red fur, with their mask and general build suggesting that they were closer to hyenas than anything.
Said hyena hollows were a group of twenty, vastly outnumbering the shinigami, and they were intent on pushing this advantage, all lunging at the group before they could organize themselves, mouths and claws aiming to rip off flesh. In the chaos, Makkuro was still able to see the shinigami that was carried off, still alive although his arm was crushed. The hyena hollows were agile, but the one carrying him was slowed down by the weight, and if Makkuro ran after it, he would likely catch up before any fatal damage was done. However, his current group was clearly outnumbered, and they might not last the time it would take for him to deal with the hollow. Of course, if he stayed and fought, it was almost guaranteed that the lone shinigami would die, especially as three more of the hyena hollows were gathering around the wounded shinigami. He had a choice to make, and needed to make it quickly.
OOC: Okay, like I said, there’s an odd reiatsu acting like a fog of war, weakening any reiatsu sensing. The giant worm hollow has a tough hide and shoots forward very fast, but it can’t turn while lunging. The hyena’s are far more fragile, but they’re very agile and have numbers on their side. You can damage the worm and kill some of the hyenas, but no slaughtering them.
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on May 8, 2010 19:14:51 GMT -4
The entire situation appeared grim and Makkuro grit his teeth in a moment of anger as the Hyenas lunged repeatedly at men and were fended off with relative ease. However, the shinigami weren't making any progress with the hyena's large numbers. Makkuro's face flushed as he shouted. "Form a circle and get your back to another mans! They are low level hollows without much power but they are fast! Make their speed worthless by removing flanking and rear assualt locations!"
"Hai!" His men all called out and formed a tight knit circle where they were all back to back to each other. Sacrifacing their own mobility for greater defence the captain watched as a particular large hyena rushed him. Makkuro's eyes turned to slits as he watched the creature rush him. While fascinating to watch and deeply mysterious to him; it had killed his comrades and couldn't be forgiven.
"Gaki Rekko" He said calmly with a tear running down his face as he pointed his hand at the hollow. "For my Nekama." The orb of green formed in his hand and shoot forward pierecing the hyena and two others that had come behind it through their masks and obliterated them. Makkuro turned and saw the others had killed at least one hyena each, but many more were still coming. "Stay strong men. We have the advantage of strength, they only have numbers."
"Some times numbers is all thats needed Captain, but today they have no hope!"
"Don't let any hope waver! Strike at their masks with all your might!" Makkuro commanded and drew his zanpakuto with the other men. "Do not release yet, we may have a bigger fish to fry before this fight ends!"
"Hai!"
Meanwhile one the other end the vice captain wasn't having as much luck with the giant worm hollow as it had devoured another shinigami and the vice captain swore at himself. "Keep to it's flank! Just stay out of range of it's mouth!"
"We're trying Vice Captain Sunmis, but it's moving too fast for us to stay out of the way!"
"I don't need excuses I need results!" The vice captain shouted slinging his ball and chain Zanpakuto down at the hollow, but found it ineffective against it's hide. "God damn it shit!" The shinigami swore as he flung it high into the air and twists slamming it repeatedly into the worm's hide finding he had only just made a bruise.
"Vice Captain, thats not working! Try to clog it's mouth and keep it from killing us while we wait for the captain!"
"Alright I'll see what I can do!" The shinigami cried out waiting for the worm to turn it's head and slung his zanpakuto into the worms mouth. It successful sealed up the worm's throat, but the vice captain soon found himself being drug across the ground like a rag doll. "Oww....Owww.......OWWWWWWWW!!!" He screamed out as the worm bashed him through buildings and slammed him from side to side using the zanpakuto like a handle. Spitting it out, Sunmis found himself high in the air where the worm was waiting to swallow him, before a hado blast from one of the others blow the worm's head away; leaving Sunmis to roll across the worms side, battered and bloody.
"You're...getting a promotion for that." He said standing up, he could barely move now.
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 8, 2010 23:27:16 GMT -4
Captain Makkuro and his group were doing reasonably well against the hollows. By grouping in a circle, the hollows were unable to press their number advantage effectively, and were easily cut down by the shinigami. The number of hyena hollows quickly dropped from twenty to only ten, as the remaining ones backed away to regroup, waiting for a shinigami to leave the circle and become an open target.
Meanwhile, the three hyena hollows had quite messily dismembered the unfortunate shinigami to get carried away, but seeing the situation with their comrades, they realised that things were going bad fast, and reared back, releasing a loud, eerie howl that echoed through the district, and put a strong sense of unease in all of the seated shinigami, especially when that howl was answered by another, which more resembled a roar. The larger group of hyena hollow all scattered, abandoning the fight and heading off to another location.
While the other shinigami were likely confused, Makkuro might notice a faint trace of reiatsu that was gradually growing larger, and heading straight for his group and himself. A few seconds later, the source of that became clear as a large crimson beam ripped through the street, not enough power behind it to do more than stun a captain, but certainly enough to vaporise all of the lower seated officers if nothing was done.
After the cero, a hyena hollow the size of a bear came crashing through a building, its body wrapped in spikes and chains. That was all anyone could see of the hollow as it used sonido lunging itself at Makkuro, fangs and foot long claws aimed to tear out his throat.
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One would wonder just what the vice captain was thinking, attacking the thick skinned worm hollow with a blunt force weapon. While trying to clog its throat likely sounded wise in theory, practically, the plan failed to take into account that the worm was far and away physically stronger than him. Fortunately for Sunmis, before he could become a meal, his subordinates blasted the worm away with a well placed hado, burning at the hollow’s hide and cracking it in the affected area as its head went flying to the side.
The worm crashed into a building, clearly roaring in pain, as the concentrated hado did far more damage in one blow than all of their combined attacks. “You....annoying grub........Plateris will not lose to his appetizers.”
The worm swung its body forward, smashing through buildings and knocking the rubble down on the group, even as a red sphere started to form at its mouth. Plateris had lost interest in eating the shinigami, instead aiming to end things in one shot.
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Jun 9, 2010 20:00:27 GMT -4
Makkuro’s eyes shot wide and he broke out of the circle by about three feet, placing himself in the path of the beam that was hurtling toward him. His mind was on the other hyena hollows, but for now he had nothing left to focus on but the larger one hurtling toward him. An empty smile formed on his face as his shikai came out, the rush of green reitsu escaped out for a moment as the single blade turned into a rapier and a shield. The green metal of the shield was spun about as Makkuro twisted, smashing steel into red reitsu. The cero was bashed into the distance leaving Makkuro staring down his enemy as it lunged toward him. Claws and fangs broke through the nights thick and unnatural veil, but Makkuro danced about the hyena as if playing with it.
“Pitiful, you thought you could do anything against us with such a pitiful amount of strength? You won’t touch my Nekama!” Makkuro’s blade lurched forward, gracefully in several stabbing motions, each aiming for a different part of the hyena’s body. The others around him couldn’t even see their captian’s blade move only watched mesmerized by his powerful offensive and the fear that they could be attacked at any moment. They formed their own circle hurriedly as they heard the fight from the other area growing fiercer. The massive worm hollows voice was heard booming along with the vibrations of it moving through the ground. The Shinigami were choked with terror at being stuck in a war zone this gruesome. One even screamed out to Makkuro to save them.
“Captain please you have to protect us!”
“Hold your formation and emotions man, follow my orders and you’ll make it out of here alive!” Makkuro called grabbing the Hyena as it made another lunge at him and throwing him clear over one of the roof tops. “Dodge this Hollow bastard! Horuken!” The hado released in an instant from the captian’s hand unleashing numerous triangles of blue reitsu which hurtled toward the hyena quickly. Each one designed to penetrate through herrio.
“Fall back, stay in your circle and move through the town. Find your squad mates and get out of here!” Makkuro called to the members of his division as he leapt up to the roof tops to search out the rest of the Hyenas. The men did as they were told quickly moving through the fog of the area, but careful to stay within visual sight of the captain despite his orders.
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“Plateris is your name huh?” Sunmis said grunting as he got up slowly and noticed the damage from the hado before he began to smile at himself. The smile quickly faded as it was clear what the giant worm’s intent was. He gulped hard and signaled for his men to scatter so the beast couldn’t get them all at once. The rubble made it hard to move out of the way, but a few of the faster shinigami were moving through it and even using the rubble as platforms to get above the hollow.
“Use the most powerful hados you have!” Sunmis called from beneath the rubble with the other unlucky member who had managed to get trapped down there. He could see Plateris aiming for him and quickly placed his body in the wall of the young shinigami’s before casting a bakudo to hopefully lessen the impact of the blow. “Bakudo 39 Enkosen!” The orange barrier came up in front of the young shinigami’s arms as he braced himself for the incoming attack. Meanwhile above him the other shinigami had come up over Plateris and were channeling their reitsu hurriedly. The one on the right began a chant, while the other was hoping for a quick stun and just said the hados name.
“Byakurai!” The shinigami cried in frustration and panic as the beam of lightining fired from his finger tip in a wide arc toward the top of the worms head. The other shinigami’s chant was just ending as he fired.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, 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. Hado 33 Sokatsui!” The ball of blue reitsu shot out rapidly descending straight down into the back of the massive worm, but now the pair were helpless as they were suspended in the air.
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 9, 2010 21:19:01 GMT -4
The oversized hyena was considerably faster than its smaller brethren, but it was still nowhere near a captain's speed or power, making the fight quite one-sided. Makkuro's stabs hit home, ripping into the hollow's flesh, even as it kept attacking in its berserker rage. Meanwhile, the other seated members, huddled together on the rooftop, couldn't even begin to keep track of the speed of the two combatants, but they did all notice a crimson beam tearing through the sky in an arc of destruction, along with some familiar howls.
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Plateris's laughter reverberated through the streets, as he watched the chaos triggered by a simple building collapse. Even as his cero charged, he took a moment to take in the futile efforts of the shinigami to save their skins. His main target was even conveniently standing still, hiding behind a small shield of reiatsu! Life was good.
He noticed the small flash of light to his side just before the lightning bolt hit. The sting was quite annoying, but nowhere near enough to cause him to lose his aim. The fully incanted sokatsui to the back though, had a much larger effect. The giant worm roared in pain, his upper body relfexively bending backwards as the cero went wild, only clipping the top of Sunmis's shield before tearing through the street behind him, and arcing through the sky, serving as an easy marker to their position.
Even with the pain in his back, Plateris had enough focus to swing his head to the side, crushing one of the shinigami who attacked him beneath his bulk. At the same time, the surviving shinigami heard the same eerie howls that the other group faced, before the ten hyena hollows descended upon them, taking advantage of surprise to rip apart the weaker group. Plateris himself was glowing crimson, fully aware that he was no longer hidden from the captain, and knowing that he needed to end things now. Crimson spikes shot out from his body, as it lunged forward, even faster than before, the spikes tearing the ground apart in its wake as it charged for any shinigami that got in his way.
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The large hyena was already in bad shape to begin with, but it certainly wasn't sturdy enough to take a level 60 hado. The triangles of reiatsu tore through its body, ripping the large hollow apart as its body dissolves into particles of reiatsu. The threat suppressed, Makkuro jumped up to a rooftop, scanning for the other hollow in the area. It didn't take long for one of his subordinates to point out the general area that the cero tore through, and if that wasn't enough, another wave of crimson reiatsu tore through the area, as pieces of dirt and rubble shot into the air.
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"My, my, it looks like that worm's having a tough time."
"I told you that he was too weak to be worthwhile. It's a wonder that he even attracted one captain."
"No matter, we'll just have to move out earlier than expected."
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Jun 10, 2010 20:44:38 GMT -4
Sunmis thanked every God he could think of and made up several just for good measure as he grabbed the now unconscious shinigami and pulled him down a back alley hidden from the worms sight. He didn’t think it would do very good, but the least he could do for the young man was to get him away from danger. Grunting as he held himself against the wall, he watched for any other hollows and his Captain…that’s who he needed right now. They were no match for this worm at the moment. They had been taken completely by surprise and now they were suffering for it. Sunmis swallowed hard, he had to be strong for his squad otherwise they might all end up dead.
“Hey, you dirty stinking son of a bitch!” Sunmis called out from around the corner as he came out to meet the Worm hollow. Beginning a binding incantation as he did so and the worm charged him. “Carriage of Thunder, Bridge of a Spinning Wheel. With light divide this into six! Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro!” The vice-captain yelled as six pillars of yellow reitsu smashed into the worm and struggled to hold him in place. Panting now as he looked forward at the worm, he focused all the energy that had in binding the damnable creature. “I won’t let you get away with what you’ve done you ugly son of a bitch!” Sunmis began to cough, the trauma from earlier had distorted his insides and he was fading fast. His Captain had better arrive soon.
Makkuro meanwhile watched as the hollow disintegrated from his attacks, then rushed down the streets toward the crimson wave and saw Plateris, grunting he moved faster, his eyes taking in the members of his squad three of them unconscious and his Vice-captain barely hanging onto life as he attempted to hold back the worm. All he was doing was slowing it down though, Makkuro was glad he had arrived when he did, if he hadn’t Sunmis would have surely died. Grabbing his vice-captain in a flash step, the captain set him down on top of a roof out the worms destructive path. Looking down, he saw him smash through a building and Sunmis reach out for it. Makkuro could see why now; the unconscious squad member that had been behind the building was now nothing more than a bloody pulp. Rage filled the young captain’s eyes a she redrew his blade.
“I will destroy you Hollow!” The third member of his squad to die, so much death due to him was beyond his capability to with stand. Jumping down he gathered his blade and began channeling in reitsu, the blade turning rapidly green as he charged up his attack.
“You come into my home, you kill my men, you ruin this town. You filthy hollow! You will not survive.” The reitsu about Makkuro became violent, flashing bright red as a show of his anger. It wavered for a moment then solidified about his blade, the reitsu there was just barely see through, marking it ready to fire.
“Die you beast. Piston tsukisasu.” He slashed down and a burst of energy erupted from the blade launching rapidly toward the hollow from behind and aimed at his tail to travel straight through him and split the monster in half. Makkuro watched, already channeling energy for the next shot if it wasn’t enough to kill the monster in front of him.
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 20, 2010 23:44:46 GMT -4
The binding kido didn’t really hold Plateris in place, as much as slowing him down a bit, but still, it did buy precious seconds, just enough time for Makkuro to show up, and pull him out of the path of Plateris’s rampage. The hollow was quite aware that in this current situation, he was a very dead worm, and had no intention of trying to fight the captain. Makkuro’s rage however, showed that there would be no mercy from him, and Plateris was only able to move half of his body out of the path of the captain’s rage fueled attack, the bottom of his body torn asunder by the blast.
Plateris roared in pain, what was left of his body spinning around as he started to glow a bright red. “If I’m to die here, then I’ll take you to the grave with me captain.”
An orb of swirling red energy formed within his open mouth, even as Makkuro fired his second attack, intending to finish things here and now. As his Piston tsukisasu shot out, Plateris surprised everyone by diving into the arc with amazing speed, making contact when the arc was only a few feet from the captain. The reaction when he collided with the attack was also a surprise – instead of being cut neatly in two, the piston reacted with his own reiatsu to release the equivalent of a few tons of C4 in the area.
All the buildings within 2 miles were completely demolished by the resulting explosion, sending everyone around flying, and likely burying them under rubble somewhere. In his last act, Plateris tried his best to make good on his threat.
Among the rubble, two figures flashed into existence at ground zero. From outer impressions, they certainly looked like the odd couple; the man was standing tall at 6’6”, with thick muscles throughout his body, and a large rectangular sword across his back, held in place by a few straps of leather. He looked the part of an army man, with his camouflage clothing, and his mask remnants taking the shape of a spiked helmet. His red eyes were looking at the area with cold precision, a sharp contrast to his companion who was humming a tune under her breath.
“So Plateris managed to do something in the end.” His voice exuded indifference at the situation, even as he kept looking around for survivors.
“Yeah, die like an idiot.” The female arrancar was a full two feet shorter than her companion, dressed in a bright red dress, spinning a short, double edged sword around her finger. Unlike the giant, going by looks, she was just a red haired teenage girl who liked gothic clothing. Even her mask fragment simply looked like a white flower in her hair.
“All that useless worm and his useless hyenas had to do was to weed out the garbage, and look out for any captains. Instead, they all die accomplishing nothing.”
“They did manage to kill all but the captain.”
“In other words, all he killed was garbage, and beings lower than garbage. Plateris probably did that captain a favour, disposing all of his garbage so he didn’t have to do it himself! Even that captain’s not far off from garbage, taking so long to deal with such weaklings.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Killing such a worthless being is beneath me. I trust that you can handle yourself, I’m going back; if nothing else, that explosion must have been visible all the way at Seireitei.” With that, the girl vanished in a burst of sonido.
“Alright captain, you can come out and fight me, or I can come and get you; that explosion shouldn’t have done much to a captain, unless the warmonger was right for once.”
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Jun 21, 2010 20:39:26 GMT -4
Makkuro's eyes widened at the sudden turn of events, he had expected the worm to simply perish at his attack with the intensity that he had put behind it. Now he saw that he wasn't so lucky and growled at it as he prepared a kido to seal the beast's fate. The sudden burst of speed had put him off guard for a moment, then he sensed what was about to happen. He moved, hurried placing is body inbetween the blast and Sunmis and placing up his shield before him allowing it's defensive technique to activate. He wasn't prepared for the magnitude of the explosion that ripped through the small area and the barrier he put up was hardly enough to keep his young vice captain alive. Nor enough to fully protect himself either.
The burst of crimson tore through the sky like a brilliant beacon for all of soul society to see. Makkuro at center of it stood not so much battered from it, but merely disoriented. His clothing had been decimated, leaving him standing their with nothing on his upperbody and the lower portain standing in little more than tatters that left patches of skin exposed in some areas and in others completely concealed. He stood for a moment, stotic; his mind had snapped from the all consumming anguish. His entire squad was dead. Turning slowly he moved to his Vice-Captain who was still staring blankly toward the sky with his eyes open.
"Sunmis....I'm sorry." The Captain said in lamentation as he moved his eyelids shut and watched his body vanish into reitsu. Turning back he could hear the two figures talking. He moved toward them as they spoke, but they were far away from where he was standing. He knew them for what they were immediately.
"Arrancar." He spat, seething in deep hatred for the pair. They way the female was speaking about his regiment, rage seeped in quickly, he knew he wouldn't make it in time to strike her down before she left. She was gone before he even confronted the male whom called for him.
"What do you want?" He asked simply enough icy undertones piercing the air as his zanpakuto spirit for once stayed silent in the presence of the all consuming anger that gripped his owner.
"Makkuro..." It thought simply and turned back to face the enemy ahead of him.
"I'll ask you again Arrancar, what do you want with me?"
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 21, 2010 21:11:57 GMT -4
The arrancar didn’t take any offense to the captain’s tone – all things considered, the fact that he didn’t just try to kill him from the beginning showed that the man had a lot of self-control. Still, he did have a job to do, but it wouldn’t hurt to let the captain understand just what was going on. He took a deep breath, then focused all his attention on the irate captain.
“We want captains. Two specific ones actually.” Knowing that he likely just confused the man further, the arrancar drew his sword, planting it in the ground in a clear non-aggressive fashion – no need to give the man a reason to snap, not yet anyway.
“You see, we are what you would call mercenaries. We were hired by a party long ago to come here and cause some damage, but we were interrupted. Considering the power of the ones who got in our way, if they are alive, they would likely be captains now, since we are aware that some captains perished recently.”
“The point of this, was to draw out powerful shinigami so we could pick out the ones we wanted, and challenge them at our leisure. However, it seems that we miscalculated. So, in summary, we want nothing to do with you, we were just unaware that there was a specific division for investigating these things. Would you kindly inform me of the names and divisions of the current captains? With that information, we can go without having to kill you.”
He really hoped that the captain co-operated; he wasn’t feeling like a battle right now, and while dragging away the girl would be troublesome, it could be done before she went off anywhere else….
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Jun 21, 2010 21:23:56 GMT -4
"You...came into the soul society looking for specific people...brought a living time bomb hollow with you and killed my entire regiment. Just so you could challenge two captains and now you expect me to simply hand over their names to you?" Makkuro's rage was growing and he finally snapped that this man's callous nature toward the offense he had just committed. Meuma was silent in the wake of the realization as the same Makkuro that existed just a few moments ago was gone. Rage and hatred were all that remained in his shell as he moved using shunpo and gripped the sword which the arrancar had left in the ground.
"I WILL OBLITERATE YOU!" Makkuro shouted at him as he spun with his blade in a circle about the area as he held his opponent's sword in the hand which possessed his shield. He knew as long as the Arrancar was parted from his sword he couldn't release so he wouldn't let the bastard have it.
"You made a grave error when you showed yourself to me Hollow. I am going to destory for your crimes against my squad mates...my subordinates and my friends. I can only hope I get to watch your soul get drug down to hell instead of being purified." Makkuro spat as he removed the sword from the ground and held them in a simple defensive stance for fighting as he approached the hollow.
"Makkuro, careful...."
"Shut up Meuma, this is personal."
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 21, 2010 21:42:30 GMT -4
The arrancar didn’t move, didn’t even show any shock at the captain’s reaction. He just sighed, even as his blade swung towards him, and simply bounced off his body. So he would have to put in effort after all…what a bother.
“Well, when you put it that way, it does sound somewhat unreasonable, but in my defense, none of us knew that Plateris could do that. Seriously, how are you supposed to test for suicide bombers? By the way, I’m surprised that you can actually hold that sword in one hand. Shinigami are stronger than I thought.”
By now, Makkuro was feeling exactly what the arrancar was talking about; a close inspection of the blade would reveal that it was really nothing more than a rectangular slab of metal, with no cutting edge, and only capable of killing by crushing people with it’s weight. On the subject of weight, the sword was ridiculously heavy, far more than should occur from wielding a sword that didn’t belong to you – as it was, it was a wonder that Makkuro could hold the blade up, and any acts of speed were quite out of the question. Made one wonder just how strong the arrancar was to move around with that normally…..
“I understand your rage, then can I at least request your name, captain?” His eyes widened slightly, as he realized that it was somewhat rude to ask for a name without giving his own. “I am Abelardo.” He said all this while walking forward without a care, hand outstretched. “You might want to give me back my zanpakuto, captain, it will hinder you far more than it would me.”
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Wanzer
Junior Member
What does it mean to be strong?
Posts: 214
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Post by Wanzer on Jun 21, 2010 22:21:54 GMT -4
"Your full of shit." Makkuro simply said as he planted the blade in the ground and turned his back on the Arrancar for a moment pacing away, before turning back and gripping his weapon down in a samurai stance. The blade over his shoulder coming down in both hands reaching toward Makkuro's own hip. The shield covered his face for a moment as his eyes closed and he focused for a moment.
"Alright Abelerto, fine you are powerhouse greet, I get it. I'm guessing you can also move fairly well with that weapon of yours considering this isn't some fighting game or twelve year old boys fanfiction. We both know, theres going to be a fight here sooner or later. I'm pissed off as it is and you and your companion are the reason for it."
Makkuro licked his lips as he slowly broke his stance and looked toward the calm Arrancar. He knew he would end up fodder for the lions about him. He sighed and looked toward the man agony piercing his heart. His men, they were gone now, gone forever. Tears began to flow down his face as he sobbed for a moment.
"You could never understand me you hollow bastard. You've lived your life feeding off others. You crawled through the dust and remains of those around you to get where you were. You have no idea what it's like to have anyone but yourself and those you did have you most likely stabbed in the back. You are a heartless monster, I know your kind. You don't know anything about companionship or comradery."
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Post by Darkoda on Jun 21, 2010 23:01:13 GMT -4
Abelardo walked to his sword as soon as the captain put it down, lifting the blade with no effort and resting it on his shoulder. He sighed once again as the captain essentially ignored him, and confirmed that he was going to have to kill the man. Really, he did not like having to kill for no reason. But he wasn’t getting out of this – the captain was far too taken up with grief to listen to any form of reason; he was likely one of the new captains himself, to be so unaccustomed to death. With the number of openings the man had given him, he could have killed him many times over if he wanted to – and he was sure that his companion was going to berate him for not doing so, but he did things his own way.
“A heartless monster, haven’t heard that one before.” His stance shifted to a far more aggressive form, as his eyes glinted coldly. “And if you wish to survive in this world, you’ll throw away your compassion as well. When you witness hundreds, thousands of friends die before you, you learn to push away the pain to keep yourself alive. You still have friends, but you don’t break down when they die; you keep it together, or you will end up joining them.”
With a shake of his head, his body tensed. “You are the one who doesn’t understand; just because people don’t wear their emotions on their sleeves, doesn’t mean that they don’t care. I would think that being a member of a mercenary group was already a show of comradery to still be together after so long, but you’re currently drowning in grief, so I’ll forgive your lack of judgment. Prepare yourself, captain.”
Abelardo leaped forward, clearing the distance between them in a single bound as he brought his gigantic sword down, aiming to split the captain in two, shield and all.
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