Uryuujin
Junior Member
The Raven
Posts: 210
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Post by Uryuujin on Sept 3, 2008 22:57:06 GMT -4
Seteku was not suprised, but was quite impressed at the speed this Shinigami moved. As his foe's left hand shot for his head, he moved the right side of body back, then again in the opposite direction to avoid getting hit in the gut. He's fast, I'll give him that, Seteku thought.
Jumping back to avoid the other hits, as well as a potential kick, he landed and slid a few feet back, getting into a crouching position. [glow=maroon,2,300]"So you like to fight up close? This will be interesting!"[/glow]
Then something occurred to the Espada. Using the Prince's Ability, he verified its legitimacy instantly. Grinning eville, he set his strategy into motion.
Palms forward, he began to thrust his hands at Yamato. Just as they were about to reach out as far as his arms would allow, he created his trademark tool: the wooden stake. Each one was as wide as his palm, and about 10 feet long, he hurled one after another at his enemy with deadly force. The 20-so brown streaks went straight at his enemy. However, Seteku beat them there, using Soinado to get behind Yamato, swiping and stabbing with his claw-like nails, laughing insanely. Lets see how you handle this, Shinigami Infadel!!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerimiah took a deep breath as he entered the deserted sands of Hueco Mundo. He waited for the rest of his troops before issueing a few orders. His group soon split off into groups of six, each with at least two seated officers, and all giving off an equal level of Reiatsu. The only two without a group were Jerimiah's Vice-captain, Seishuku Saishun, and Jerimiah himself.
Smiling, but still serious, Jerimiah began the advance. He did not order his troops to run, for they would need their strength for this battle. As they walked, there was chatter among them, mostly just bravado and bets on how many hollows they'd take out. In the 7th team, the strongest member, Bradley, made a bet with the seat above him that he could kill at least 25 more of the enemy than the officer. They squabbled about the waging price, and Jerimiah laughed. Where many leaders saw disorder and a lowering of guard, Jerimiah saw that they were paying attention, while distracting themselves from the frightening prospect of death. However, he still knew that each one of his troops was willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of all.
It was then that he noticed one of the newer members, Makoto, was extremely nervous. Jerimiah was there in an instant. "Hello, Makoto, 16th seat! Ready for this battle? I'd bet you're psyched." The young man, only about 60, appearing around 15, a child prodigy, mumbled his assent. Then he looked away, his ears burning red.
The captain scrutinized the nervous Shinigami. Then he leaned in close. "You know, you're taking this a lot better than I did when I first went to battle, Makoto. And I'm pretty damn sure that you're tons stronger than I was in my first battle." Which was true. However, he was still a human for his first battle. Better leave that unsaid, the 8th aquad captain thought to himeslf.
It was then that he felt the approaching Reiatsu of something much more powerful than a regular Arrancar. An Espada. "All troops, do not engage the Espada! I will try and take care of him! Continue onwards as instructed!"
As his squad left, he pulled out his Zanpakuto, and treid to let his Reiatsu flow out as noticibly as possible. Then he waited for this new foe to arrive.
((O.O.C. Steven, this is your cue))
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Sept 4, 2008 17:29:08 GMT -4
((Yay cues...wait? Am I up on stage? Huh?!?))
Hoarse laughter might have resounded about the air surrounding Relampago Principe. He left hefty footprints in his tracks, his elephant feet as easily tracked as a hurricane through a small town. His bulky form was leaned forward slightly. He had sensed something after going about halfway through the long desert : several equal level power levels of descent caliber. Maybe the whole lot of them, those damn trespassers, would sustain his need for satisfaction. He was angry that the Holy Land of his Lorde was invaded - he had felt several power levels behind and around him, but he zoned in on these in particular, since others could handle the rest.
He stopped, suddenly. He whirred around, and a form behind him winced up, eyes closed in fright. Rela looked at the person for a second before turning back around with a comment.
"Delfini...why did you follow?"
Delfini's blonde locks of hair bounced as she looked up willingly.
"N-nothing major, Relampago....I just figured I'd follow you into the fight and assist you."
Rela was still for a second, then grinned as he continued walking.
"Good! They will always be room for you to assist is persecuting the Unholy Ones! Wise choice, Delfini!"
Delfini was shocked for a second, and then her feet kicked back in to catch back up to her montrously sized master. did he really just approve of what she was doing? Astounding, that was truly a first...Rela's usual response was to hit her with his hard fists or blast her with reiatsu. Her small footsteps were meer echoes inside Rela's.
After a few minutes of walking Relampago sensed one of the reiatsu signatures grow stronger and suddenly closer. He grinned, and brought his hands in front of him, popping his knuckles.
"Excellent! One comes close. Watch, Delfini.....I'll crush him within my grasp."
Delfini stayed obediately behind him a few feet as a breeze kicked up during the walk, the pace of their feet movements increasing. The white carapace covering the top half of her face in the eagle-like fashion seemed to hide her deep green eyes, which scanned the area. Her eyesight surpassed Relampago's, and as such she saw him before Relampago did.
"Rela....shinagami, up ahead...."
Relampago's grin got as wide as a slit throat on Sunday.
"Wonderful....we'll stand here...I'd like to see this infadel see if he has the guts to charge me. Then the purging can begin...eh?"
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Post by Shizuko on Sept 4, 2008 19:23:45 GMT -4
Ever since they’d entered Las Noches, Nekomi had found it unnecessary to add any of her usual playful banter. Though typically the girl had, well… no attention span, when it came to a scene like this, she had the potential to become disturbingly focused. When the deck was stacked against her, lives were being lost around every corner, and screams of pain, horror, and despair echoed through the battlefield, she was at her best. There would be precious few who could ever hope to catch the child-shinigami off guard in such a scene.
Surges, shifts, appearances, and fading of various reiatsu all around clued the girl in to what was happening well beyond her vision. As she strolled through the grim landscape, the young captain became increasingly aware of powerful foes lurking just out of reach. There was a plan forming in her mind already, and fortunately Yun seemed to be on the same page. That would make things much easier, since she wouldn’t have to put up a fight about using logic and strategy on the battlefield.
Nekomi wasn’t really feeling as though her authority was being undermined by Captain Saigotschuu, as some might have guessed. She was more than capable of making decisions and directing her division, but she was surprisingly content with his suggestions in this case. He wasn’t being foolish in his requests or making decisions based on impulse. If she’d been appointed the leader of this expedition, she would have directed things in a similar fashion.
Thus, the girl merely nodded the chosen few among her ranks as Yun requested their dispersal. A few of them looked upon their petite captain with questioning glances, wondering if they should really leave Nekomi without aid from her division. At times even they forgot that the child that stood before them was much more than she appeared. She was neither defenseless nor weak, but rather quite a force to be reckoned with in her own right.
She gave them a friendly wave, a gesture that quickly reminded the men that the mere mention of staying at her side to protect her would likely land them immediately in the halls of Gotei Four. “Don’t die, or else I’ll have to kill ya!” she said with a bit of a giggle.
Okay… so maybe she hadn’t lost all of her humor.
Nekomi was well aware that her place was not going to be at the side of either of her division’s teams. She knew it would be her task to deal with whatever force lay directly ahead through the center hallway. Thus, she wasn’t at all surprised when Yun revealed that he planned to head in that direction with her alone. To Soul Society’s smallest captain, it seemed like the only logical choice.
The girl was quite amused at the words of her counterpart as they progressed down the long, dark hallway. “You said the magic words, Yun-chan! You know I can’t resist a suggestion like that,” was her simple yet joyous reply. Perhaps he wasn’t such a square after all? Now wasn’t really the time to dwell on the old guy’s sense of humor, however, as the pair’s arrival was obviously expected and doors opened for their entrance at the end of the corridor.
The oddly matched duo made their way into a very strange room, one in which the outdoors had somehow come inside. The stench of the bog made Nekomi scrunch her nose in disgust. Her eyes, meanwhile, caught sight of the entity no doubt responsible for the powerful reiatsu she’d been sensing early on in their Hueco Mundo endeavor. As he and Yun exchanged a few words, the girl merely looked on, seemingly too overcome with the putrid smell to pay attention to what was going on.
Suddenly Yun launched himself at Asmodeus and the battle began. It was all quite remarkable, since the two moved with such speed that it would seem that they were teleporting around the room from location to location. Nekomi’s eyes could follow the action fairly well, however, as her own speed could quite easily match that of the others in the room. She witnessed Yun’s attack at Asmodeus from behind, the answer with Asmodeus’ disturbing breath issues, and the cero being fired in her direction.
Nekomi was quick to react, stepping just outside the blast radius of the cero as it approached, though admittedly it was a closer call than she had anticipated. This Asmodeus character was quite powerful to be able to send off a blast like that. She stepped back to her original location as the ball of energy impacted the wall behind her. To the untrained eye, her form may have appeared to only flicker for a moment as the cero passed, but she had performed a full dodge in the blink of an eye.
The small captain’s wits were very much about her as she moved, analyzing her opponent’s every action. He could certainly fight at range, given the volley he’d just fired in her direction. The putrid, burning breath he’d used on Yun suggested some ability to fight in close quarters as well, though he had yet to reveal any type of physical weapon. Nekomi quickly determined that his close combat capabilities were worth exploring. It was her forte, after all. If it turned out to be his weakness, then all the better. This bump in the road would be overcome quickly.
“Hmm… I may have to look into putting up this kind of construction back home!” she exclaimed, taking note of the fact that the wall hadn’t been completely obliterated by the blast. “Though without the smell of a hot pile of garbage stuffed inside a rotting carcass, of course.”
No sooner had her sarcastic comment left her lips that the small girl launched herself upon the enemy. She was watching Yun’s trajectory as he sped across the water in the direction of Asmodeus. It was going to be difficult for the Espada to track them both moving at him at the same time with such speed. In an attempt to coordinate with the attack of Yun, Nekomi aimed low, attempting to jab her staff between the man’s knees as she passed in order to knock him off his feet. As long as Yun aimed for his torso or head, there would be no interference between the two.
Alas, it was not to be, as Asmodeus distanced himself from the incoming shinigami with only millimeters to spare. It was difficult to say whether he had jumped up and out of the way or suddenly sank in the murky liquid at his feet. There was only a burst of the rancid fluid left in his wake as a clue to his disappearance.
Nekomi slid to a stop in the horrid quagmire, focusing her gaze upon the Espada once more. He hadn’t moved far, though she was unsure as to whether that was intentional or if he was possibly surprised by the attacks of the captains. Regardless, she blazed off in his direction once more, her speed shuffling horrendous liquid unpleasantly as she passed.
As she had anticipated, Asmodeus breathed a cloud of hazy death at her approach. Being prepared for such retaliation, Nekomi leaped into the air, up and over the burning vapor. It singed the ends of her robes somewhat, but she was hardly paying attention to that at the moment. With the force of a freight train, the petite captain laid destruction at a downward angle using her trusty staff, aiming to crush the Espada from the crown of his head to the very bottom of his feet.
A loud crack echoed in the room in time with the impact of her weapon, and the disgusting rotting fluid rushed in every direction, outward from the silhouette of the girl. It was safe to say that if anyone had been struck by the blow, the chances of their survival were slim indeed. As the scene settled, however, it was clear that Asmodeus had yet again made an escape.
Though it may have seemed a disappointing outcome for Nekomi, she took comfort in the fact that while her attack wasn’t a success, all of the time Asmodeus spent avoiding her and escaping was time that he couldn’t use to attack the shinigami.
He stood now atop a portion of the dead and broken tree. He again had that strange look on his face, an unusual blend of arrogance and surprise.
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Post by SamuraiFoochs on Sept 12, 2008 14:33:05 GMT -4
Lets see how you handle this, Shinigami Infadel!!!!
Yamato smirked amd immediately knew what he was going to do. "Way of Destruction 54, Abolishing Flames!" A massive wave of scorching fire burst from Yamato's hands, and he ducked and weaved away from the following slashes from his foe, almost like a professional boxer. After the flurry was over, he smiled and flipped backward casually, able to land easily on his injured leg because of the power boost his released form gave him.
"Not bad, Espada. Not bad at all. From one 6 to another, I tell you that this fight is going to be fun. I look forward to it. This is the first time in a long time I’ve legitimately feared injury.” He once again got into his ready stance, preparing to flash at maximum speed, hoping to overwhelm his opponent the slightest bit with his speed as he aimed several punches at the Espada’s head, then attempted to sweep his legs out from under him. Assuming that he had gained the advantage finally, and that his legs would therefore be out from under him, Yamato followed up with an attempted axe kick to Drakulya’s sternum.
Yamato figured the Espada would be able to catch his leg, but was prepared for that as well. He was unsure whether it would turn into a power struggle or if he would again attempt some sort of agile counter. That was the thing about Yamato’s fighting style; he was always ready to adapt to any sort of situation.
His life had always been about adaptation. Every step that was a limp, he thought of how to take fewer steps than he needed. Every fall he took, he thought of more creative ways to get back up. The leg was nearly always pained, yet the pain was a motivator, a reminder, a gift. Without that pain, his power would be taken for granted, perhaps it would have even gone undiscovered altogether. It was only the pain that kept him fighting, struggling to see a day when he would be free from the burden, when he would triumph over it all.
As his leg barreled down toward the spot where he figured his opponent to be, Yamato willed every fiber of muscle, every bit of strength that he currently had in his leg to crash down on the Espada with hopefully brutal, crushing force.
The reiatsu between the pair of them was immense, and Yamato could feel his subordinates laboring under the pressure of the energy. Smiling, he called out an order to them. “Run away now. The pressure will only get exponentially greater from here. Tell the others where I am if I don’t come back. That’s an order!”
Yamato tensed, prepared for the next phase of the fight…
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Uryuujin
Junior Member
The Raven
Posts: 210
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Post by Uryuujin on Sept 12, 2008 22:35:04 GMT -4
Seteku hadn't lost any information in the exchange. He watched the Shinigami use Kido to roast his stakes, and saw that he was an incredibly fast runner. As well, he saw that the Captain's right leg bothered him. The Espada couldn't wait to exploit it.
Dodging away from the punches once more, he barely escaped severe damage from that flying kick of his. It only grazed his shoulder, and it nearly sent him spinning in circles, but he managed to keep balanced. Note to self: avoid getting hit with that leg.
It was then that he began his counter-attack. His hands curled into claws, he began swiping at his foe, accenting it with close-fingered stabs to the body, chasing if his foe tried to increase distance.. Then, after flashing behind Yamato, at point blank range, he began adding Palm strikes.
But the palms of the Vampiric Espada are more dangerous than you could imagine.
Not only did he attempt to skewer Yamato on wooden poles, he began shooting Bala at every punch. Still following his foe in every attempt to retreat, as best he could, he made his hands go at a high enough velocity to become less substantial-looking than a fading soul. This is more fun than I've had in years! Seteku laughed inwardly, matching the evil cackle that issued from his insane grin, echoing past his bloodstained fangs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerimiah spied his foe from afar. So, he waits for me to make the first move. Smart, but there are ways around that advantage. he figured, taking into account a few paths to take, and decided on one.
Focusing on his enemy, repressed his Reiatsu pattern and began muttering the beginnings of a powerful Kido. "Kurai hebi. Baanzu otooshite kaen ga mizu. Hai to hakai o sakusei shi masu. Hadou no Kyuu-Juu-Go, Kuroihi Nenshou!!(Dark serpent. Flame that burns through water. Create ash and destroy. Hado #95, Black Flame Burn) " And he pointed at Relampago, and the spell took effect. Too quickly to be avoided easily, even for a Captain, Four streaks of Black Flame appeared from the North, south, east, and west of the Espada, converging quickly. This Black flame, known in superstition as Daemonfyre, would stick onto its target and burn until the target was totally turned to Ash. Or until smothered by either Kido of higher or equal power, or by pure Reiatsu. He wasn't sure that the Espada had enough power to do so.
Just in case, he prepared to defend himself from an assault by this powerful opponent. I do believe that this may get interesting, as long as my first attack fails. I hope it doesn't. Jerimiah thought. He did not like to draw danger when it could be avoided without losses.
((O.O.C. I apologize for the shortness and low quality of this post. I wrote it while exhausted after my workout, since I will not get on until late tomorrow.))
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ZR0 C00L
Junior Member
omae wa mou shindeiru
Posts: 157
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Post by ZR0 C00L on Sept 15, 2008 5:46:25 GMT -4
Kaiba Katayama. Vice captain of the first division bravely lead his men through the bleak and desolate halls of Las Noches. As opponents went, the fortress was rather lacking. similarly, he reflected on how guarding the rear on the trek to las noches and how only spatterings of low leveled hollows and ONE adjuchas class menos were all the resistance his men had come against since their insertion into the hollows home world. Hardly a test for the battle hardened fukutaichou or the commander generals hand picked soldiers of the 1st gotei. They worked as a team, displaying an uncanny level of cohesion as they cut down the few whom had been foolish enough to come at them.
Their new vice captain shouted out very vocal(and profane) commands. And for a self proclaimed loner. Kaiba was proved to be an adept leader. One could go as far as to say he displayed even textbook leadership skills. The reason for this was exactly that, the men he ran with had not yet tasted true fear, and they responded well to the rudimentary yet effective directions he gave them. Allowing those that had rushed to flank the large group to be outflanked themselves and quickly impaled by zanpakutou from both sides. Even the adjuchas was swiftly overcome, but Kaiba was not foolish enough to think this would be the case for long. To him it made no sense for the mission to be going this smoothly. True they had brought a large number of warriors. But HM was said to teaming with powerful beings, and Kaiba had been around long enough and seen enough things to know this was not a hollows tall tale. The growing reality of the hollows option b scenario became the only scenario to him. That being, if they had not rushed out to meet the incoming shinigami. The higher leveled hollows must be laying in wait for them, and it was only a matter of time until he lost half his soldiers to the simple overwhelming terror they would face if he were right.
They may have been skilled but how many of them had actually come across something the magnitude of an arrancar class menos or even an espada which was very possible and becoming more possible with every step they took into Hueco Mundo. He had to do something about that, he would find a way to reign them in and have them believe they could handle whatever came at them as long as their courage held strong. And if Kaiba was to lose any of his soldiers they would at the very least die with their honor. Of that he would make sure.
back in the present, his mind drifted to thoughts of his brother, as he and half of first divisions invasion force headed down the hallways of the palatial bone white fortress. He began to ask himself when the last time he had faced this big of a challenge without his brother by his side. Though they may not see eye to eye at all times, the Katayamas had been through many life or death battles together and had always come out on top. Though they were both more than able to take care of themselves what he lacked in Kuaturas agility and grace, Kaiba excelled in brute force. It was this compensation for each other that made them formidable while they rose through the ranks. But now was the time to prove their own Merritt and not only be victorious for themselves but to lead other men to it as well. A more daunting task then one who has not done so before would think. He was ready, and he knew Kuatura was too, the look in his eyes before he took off into the hallway assigned him by Saigotschuu taichou burned with the same intensity that his own must have. He knew they both yearned for this battle even if Kaiba was more vocal about it.Their competitive nature was at its peak, surely Kuatura wanted to upstage his brother just as much as Kaiba wished to out do him. A smirk found its way on to his face as he had allowed himself to lose focus due to inexperience and lack of opposition.
it seemed at first that Yun had sent his half of the squad into an uninhabited and that this journey would be as futile as their journey through the sands. As he let his mind return to his current situation fully he couldn't help feel that something was terribly wrong with this. The bold shinigami looked back o the warriors in his charge and issued a warning. A warning it seemed that went unheeded, for there were those that held back comments of superiority and premature claims of victory. One did not.....
"You're kidding right?" He queried foolishly.
"These damned hollows are too petrified to come out of their hidey holes and fight us. They saw what we did outside." He continued cementing his place as the divisions dunce in Kaibas eyes.
More concerting was the majority of the others that voiced their agreement with the dunces opinion. Hubris was not something the squad could afford if they were to make it out of this. The vice captain decided he would nip this idiocy in the bud quickly. Courage was one thing stupidity was another altogether.
"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE! Do you really think that was all this world had to offer us, are you so retarded that you think any arrancar are afraid of you?.......... Kaiba had turned his back as he berated the young looking male. But swiftly turned as one of his squad noticed something.
"Whats that?" He asked pointing ahead.
As he focused in on the shadows blanketing the corridor he began to make out a few small golden shapes that as he looked closer moved toward with his squad closely in toe merged into one rather large shadowed form with the golden shapes revealing themselves to be part of some form of armament. The wearer of the golden armor stepped out of the shadows exposing himself as an almost human looking being though massive and with a cracked mask on his face. Kaiba knew instantly what this meant. This opponent was dangerous, far above what he believed his squad was capable of handling. He was not sure he could handle him just by looking at him but he would not allow his squad to be decimated against an opponent leagues away from them in power. He brought the group to a stop.
"Stay here, this opponent is far beyond any of you." Kaiba announced firmly in a low tone that was barely audible to his team but also portrayed that it was not an order to be questioned. He began to hear the beginnings of a disagreement coming from his own personal retard (as Kaiba referred to him mentally now) . But in truth he was the new 4th seat of the 1st gotei, replacing the vacant seat left in Kuaturas promotion to co-vice captain along with Kaiba himself though Kaiba was never good with names even had he cared to learn it beforehand.
Bringing his attention back to the hulking armor clad warrior Kaiba regained his usual air of seriousness and stepped forward neither taking an aggressive or passive stance but just stood out in front of his group and inspected the man in question. What drew his attention most. Apart from being large and powerful looking, Kaiba noted a symbol of his lineage. A lineage he placed great value in, the top knot that sat upon his head. As he saw this, Kaiba was drawn to nostalgic thoughts but quickly shook them off as he snatched a large cleaver like blade from his back and held it forward.
“Welcome vice-captain and followers, I am Basillimar, I shall be your opponent before you may enter the inner sanctum of Las Noches.” He said as he took a ready stance.
“All of you get the fuck back if you dont want to be fricasseed.”
Kaiba stated grimly as he unsheathed his zanpakuto. Cries of protest began and were quickly silenced as kaiba broke the near stoic moment he had created as he yelled back to his men without turning from Basillimar.
“SHUT YOUR FUCKIN TRAPS, ALL OF YOU! I SAID HE IS MINE AND THAT’S FINAL!”
The first gotei members begrudgingly took a few steps backward so as to give the two relics of a time since past the space to do battle as they had done whilst still living. All that is save one who did not move backward but made no step forward, it seemed for now that 1st divisions new fourth seat wished to get a ringside view of the action. The silence in the large hall hung heavy as the two warriors stared at each other, neither willing to even blink lest that be seen as a sign of dominance over the other.
The onlookers of the first division did not have long to wait as almost simultaneously Kaiba and Basillimar ran at each other, blades raised. The force of their swords colliding with each other resonated throughout the corridor resembling a massive thunderhead. Neither giving an inch, they stayed with swords locked together staring into the eyes of one another. Both knowing that the real battle lay beyond this first test of will.
Ooc- will post hitotsu part later since it doesn't affect the main story at the moment and i am still without reliable access to a computer.
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Sept 15, 2008 18:38:53 GMT -4
Relampago's grin disapeared as the one that wished to approuch him's reiatsu's pattern toned down. Was this person not as strong as he had hoped? Maybe it was just his own poor senses. He grunted, unfolding his arms and holding them straight to his side. His eyes wandered to his side, where Delfini stood.
"Delfini!"
The petite Delfini looked straight up at him, in a form of salute.
"Sir!"
"Delfini, tell me - what's his reiatsu level?" Relampago asked gruffly, his eyes locked onto his foe, who appeared to be moving, as if chanting a spell.
"Well, Lord Rela....it's averagely high. I'd estimate at the power level of a Captain, sir. Maybe higher." She said this curtly, despite the normal cowardly tone that laced it still visible.
Relampago was pleased with this - it was just his luck! A strong opponent to purge! He silently thanked the god for his luck. He needed someone strong to contend against. Que Suerte! Delfini's face was suddenly alarmed and she sonido'd to about 10 meters to the right. Relampago stood still, as 4 pillars of dark flame shot from the four directions to converge onto him. There was a miniature explosion, like a catalyst, then suddenly it was puffed out. It wasn't blown out, more like absorbed and then extinguished. Relampago stood in the same pose - his reiatsu was blasting on maximum anyways. He went from about 5% to 90% in only a few seconds, automatically raising it to such a high amount since he decided this intruder needed to be taught a lesson. He har-rumphed. His voice echoed out into the distance.
"Shinagami infadel! You will now be purged! Prepare to eat my fist!"
Relampago sonido'd himself, leaving Delfini alone in her place. He reapeared right above the Captain, fists balled together like a sledgehammer. He brought them down with such force he might as well have been holding a cero in his palms. This was his own opening move.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Sept 16, 2008 22:32:29 GMT -4
There was a long drawn out pause as the arrancar girl stood over Kuatura. It was obvious she was now viewing him in a different light and preparing for him to attack since there was no way for her to move without exposing an opening. Kuatura was still staring straight at her and behind him as well as behind the girl both sides followers had drawn into more combat ready poses. Narcissus nearly jumped when Kuatura opened his mouth and spoke she had been so prepared for an attack. “Your name is Narcissus?” He asked. “What?” Was all she responded, clearly albeit taken aback by the parallel opposites of the feel he was giving and the words he was speaking. “Like a flower right? Not a very imposing name for an arrancar.” There was a blank look on Narcissus face now, “Ehhhhhh~~~?” “Flowers are nice. A bit girly mind you, I prefer nice outdoor scenery like mountains…but still, nice…” “What the flaming hell are you talking about? Is this bad poetry hour or something?” Narcissus asked, she almost sounded like the fight had been talked out of her she was so annoyed. However at that moment Kuatura changed the topic, “I don’t suppose you will just let us pass huh? We have to fight?” Narcissus face grew angry and she huffed at him as in disbelief, “OF COURSE!!! What kind of shinigami are you?!!! We are hollows and you are shinigami, it’s only natural!” Kuatura closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I see. Well then it can’t be avoided, I don’t like fighting women, especially those who don’t seem too bad deep down but at the same time my comrades are waiting for me. I’ll take it easy, please don’t come after us again. ---Rise up, battle of blue skies.” Narcissus didn’t have any time to react, almost as if in slow motion Kuatura raised his left hand a few inches off the ground and then dropped it ever so lightly. The ground below him shattered from the sudden compression of the air around them and Narcissus yelped as she was pulled off balance from the massive column of spinning wind rising from the ground and then went rocketing upward at an accelerated rate like a cannon. Kuatura on the other hand who was a master at controlling his every body movement thanks to his zanpaktous ability kicked the ground gingerly with his foot and the still continuing draft kicked him about ten feet into the air where he performed a back flip and righted himself. Several blue streaks came past him in the air, all missing by a few inches but his teammates quickly struck out across the ground toward the arrancar girls who had ranged reiatsu cannons, drawing their fire away. Kuatura looked up and held his hand out once more, the swell of wind immediately died and Narcissus who was two hundred feet above rose to the pinnacle of the draft just a meter from crashing into the ceiling before she reversed directions and began falling. There was no confusing that for putting on such a strong act she had a look of pure fear on her face, perhaps she was afraid of heights…or perhaps getting shot from a ground based cannon of air hadn’t been what she had expected. Either way Kuatura landed gently on the ground behind where they had first confronted one another and watched as she flailed wildly during her descent. As she neared impact he waved his hand again and the air picked up once more slowing her so she landed on all fours just before him. She ever so slowly got her bearings and then wearily got to her feet. Once she did she quickly exchanged looks between Kuatura who was giving her a pleasant grin and the shinigami behind her who despite getting close to the girls had been pinned behind the first step by a constant stream of fire from higher up. Knowing she couldn’t move to help them without first stopping Kuatura she returned her gaze to him, the look on her face was one of sheer fury. She once more took a firm hold on her hammer and screamed out at him. “HOW DARE YOU!!! DRAW YOUR BLADE!!!” Kuatura did not react as she rushed him but shortly before she descended with a mighty blow that shattered the ground where he had been, he simply disappeared. In a blink of ones eye he had moved below her, conforming to the lean in her body she had given to swing the hammer. He spun swiftly and after a moment in which it seemed like he actually stopped to think his actions over he delivered a quick elbow right into her gut, everything slowed down and a thin circular aura of energy exited her back. Narcissus let out a gasp and a great cough as her eyes bulged at the sudden strike, she began taking a few steps forward at an unsteady gait before she released her hammer which fell to the ground with a great thud. Kuatura twisted his body and held his hands out, catching the unconscious girl with ease. Back across the room his shinigami followers had pressed up a bit but still found themselves mostly deadlocked behind cover as the arrancar girls kept up a steady and impressive stream of fire on their positions. Then in the clearing just below where the girls were firing Kuatura shunpo’d into the center of the fire still holding Narcissus. There was a pause in the fire and almost as one unit the girls lowered their weapons as not to harm the other arrancar, Kuaturas suspicions were proven but he still took no chances and spoke up. “We will be passing now.” ((OOC: Not as badass as you might think , wait until the next post before complaining that it was overpowered.)) ------------------------- Basillimar said nothing more during their fight and hit Kaibas blade like a freight train, he was frighteningly strong and worse yet he appeared to be a master swordsmen. Where many fighters were known to simply throw all their strength into heavy blows he was surprisingly deft and quick in his movements, switching the direction of his strikes on a dime despite the size of his blade and the bulk of his own body. He would rear back, strike and before he Kaiba could even absorb the shock of the first blow another would land in the same place, sending vibrations though Kaibas zanpaktou that shook his hands. He pushed forward with ruthless efficiency, his one weakness was that he hardly covered any of his open points but given that he never once let up the attack to allow Kaiba to exploit this that was not of much help. ((OOC: Because detailing each individual strike could be confusing I am instead giving a basic concept of the fight. You may detail the exact battle and control him to a point to make it more interesting but until he activates his ress and does more than simply battle with his sword it would be to much of a jumble to detail every move he made and then you have to figure out how to respond to each.)) ------------------------- “Fufufu~~~! As interesting as I had hoped.” Asmodeus remarked in a cavalier manner. Before the echo of his voice could even dissipate though Yun was above him and came crashing down, splintering the remainder of the tree on which he had been standing into a thousand pieces. The strike had not been made to hit him though and served its purpose well, forcing Asmodeus to take the only viable escape which was directly at Nekomi. Unfortunately for both of them the Espada proved more capable than expected and as if building a platform of reiatsu in mid-air boosted off and over Yun before Nekomi had a chance to utilize the opening. He came slamming down into the waters on the other side of Yun who had been following his acrobatics as if in slow motion though it happened so quickly few people could have followed it, Yun’s eyes were often even faster than his movements in that regard. However even the experienced captain was taken aback when the so far defensive Espada came darting straight for him after landing. The wave which he had created during his landing was also coming for Yun and while he doubted it would kill him Yun wasn’t particularly fond of finding out. He ripped off the white captain’s outfit which he rarely wore exposing the simple short-sleeved black muscle shirt he bore beneath and tossed it up in front of him while taking a step back. The wave hit the hakama and ate through it as if it were thin paper; Asmodeus came through it moments later with a big smile on his face as he cleaved what was left of the outfit in two, the smile immediately faded when nobody was there. As soon as his vision was obscured by the outfit Yun had fallen backward, hand-planted on the little solid ground there was and wrapped under the outfit letting it and Asmodeus body block the wave while he moved behind his opponent in the process. Asmodeus hardly whipped around in time to hold his hand out as Yuns blade went straight for him again, this time he had no proper way to block or dodge though and even the unos hierro was no match for a zanpaktou whose sole purpose was piercing, especially that of a captains. He made no noise as the blade went through the palm of his right hand, no blood coming in the process, but his face contorted in rage. He jabbed his free hand at Yun and anyone could see as it began to smoke a foul black smoke like that rising from the waters around them. Yun jumped backward and planted his foot on the waters surface, he pushed off and a massive geyser of the ichor shot up as he jumped skyward, Asmodeus blow corrupting nothing but the air it singed in its passing. The moment he missed Asmodeus threw his leg out and performed a rapid spin kicking up another wave of the poisonous waters to try and deter the likely imminent counterattack of one of the captains. Yun continued upward and landed feet first on the ceiling above the other two, there he remained; defying gravity as he began to walk on it as if it was the ground while keeping his eyes on the other two below. Asmodeus reached into a pocket within his jacket and withdrew a small slender object, either of the captains trained eyes could have made out the form of a dagger like zanpaktou; clearly the unexpected effectiveness of the attack by Yun had been quick to raise their opponent’s choler. The espada, not keen to wait for another attack, took the initiative and darted toward Nekomi while pulling his blade back in an attempt to land a heavy blow. Yun ran along the ceiling and prepared to drop so that he could dart at Asmodeus but even now it was clear the arrancar would get to Nekomi first, not that she couldn’t deal with him herself. Should Asmodeus blade have struck her or even caught a graze she would find it to be poisoned, quite capable of causing delusions in even those of captain rank. ((OOC: Like before you can control him to make your part more interesting, you can even strike him as I did, just don’t overdo it since he needs to be able to take part in another battle as well.))
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Post by Shizuko on Sept 17, 2008 20:34:19 GMT -4
Large, innocent brown eyes weighed and measured every movement of the espada rocketing towards her. Nekomi was more than ready to meet an opponent in hand to hand combat, even if it was one of the most powerful that Hueco Mundo had to offer. The girl’s grip around her staff tightened as she awaited the perfect moment to act. Asmodeus’s hand was cocked back behind his body in an obvious manner as he sped into his approach, evidently believing that he had a chance to strike her with his blade.
Perhaps he didn’t know as much about her as he had previously claimed.
In truth, the petite captain’s abilities in close range battle were rivaled by very few. As such, her confidence was quite unshakable. It was unlikely that many could stand, fully prepared and secure, in the face of Asmodeus. This strange little girl, however, didn’t so much as flinch. She concentrated on his movements and how she would counteract his thrust.
As the blade plunged forward, Nekomi leaned to the side just slightly and jolted the espada’s hand with a blow from her staff, sending it far wide of its intended mark. In the same movement, she stabbed the other end of her weapon into the muck and swung her body into the air.
While a lesser opponent would likely have landed face-first in the grime flooding the room with Nekomi’s counterattack, Asmodeus had barely stumbled. Fortunately, the captain had been prepared in case such a problem occurred, a fact that the espada would notice a little too late.
Nekomi’s small body sailed through the air, aiming for her feet to land in a powerful blow to the soft spot between her adversary’s neck and left shoulder. Asmodeus was clearly no chump, as he managed to shift just slightly to avoid the girl breaking his collarbone and completely debilitating his arm. The blow instead glanced a bit off of his shoulder, though he certainly hadn’t emerged unscathed. Even the most powerful have trouble suppressing a cry of pain and rage at an unanticipated attack, and the espada was no different. His anger echoed off of the walls and ceiling, where Nekomi’s cohort now wandered freely.
Even suffering an injury to his shoulder, Asmodeus had the focus and drive to renew his assault on the girl. As she landed in the muck once more, he began to spin around with his small blade clearly aiming to slice at her torso. Without even a moment’s hesitation, Nekomi took a firm hold of her staff and whipped it around in front of her body, dislodging it from the grime beneath her feet and causing the filth to fling outwards into her opponent’s eyes. While Asmodeus was clearly annoyed, he continued his assault nonetheless.
Nekomi determined that her time to depart the immediate area had come. She guessed that the espada's horrendous breath was coming soon, and she certainly didn't want to be caught in it. She cast her eyes upwards for a fleeting moment to check Yun's status, and felt it appropriate to be out of his way, should he have chosen to make his own move. The split second she'd glanced away had nearly cost her, as Asmodeus's small blade sliced through the fabric of her jacket despite his impaired vision.
She made a forceful jab at her enemy with her weapon, though it served only to cause him to dodge aside. It was only this brief moment that she'd need to get away to observe her opponent's capabilities further. She'd never been a fan of engaging a particularly skilled foe without knowing his true potential.
A flash step later, she was clear on the other side of the room.
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Firechild
Junior Member
"Death is but a limitation..."
Posts: 194
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Post by Firechild on Sept 20, 2008 0:06:23 GMT -4
Sorry it took so long...*grins sheepishly*
====================================== The piercing gaze of Rakugosha thrust itself with brutal strength at the unwavering expression of his opponent. "You're awfully resourceful..." The White Reaper commented, actually impressed with Minoru's resolve. He began pacing back and forth, simply watching his opponent for several passes. Like a leopard studying it's helpless prey...and yet this prey wasn't so helpless...no it was probably the other way around. What chance did a Vasto Lorde, reguardless of his strength have against a resolve and resourcefulness that strong? "It's funny...I probably don't stand a chance against you...Yet I won't stop fighting. Foolish huh?" The Menos mused more to himself then Minoru. "Never the less...I must try..." Raku shrugged, rustling his cloak in the process. A second crescent of energy formed over the blade extruding from his arm. A swift "thwap!" of his arm and the blade spun towards Minoru, but that was the only similarity between this and the last attack. Another blade formed as soon as the first had been released, and was fired straight for Minoru. This one had much more strength then the first two, as if the power had somehow doubled. "As long as I wound you...that's all the matters..." Shirakarite had condemned himself. He knew that he would not survive, and so he would defend Las Noches to the best of his ability, even if it was already a futile attempt. The Vasto Lorde gathered his strength for a final attack, and launched himself at Minoru, the blade on his arm glinting in the pale light of the Hueco Mundo moon.
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The flickering lights annoyed Hikaru...they didn't frighten her, or put her on edge. They were just, plain, annoying. Her resolve was strong...that was obvious. But then it wavered slightly as Desmae finally couldn't hold it out and let out a roar of frustration. "THIS IS FOLLEY! WE SHOULD BE HELPING THE CAPTAIN NOT WALKING DOWN AN EMPTY HALLWAY!" The murmurs of agreement from behind the pair annoyed her even further, when finally she broke as well. "Really Desmae...do you have so little faith in Saigutschuu-Taichou? You would be better off worrying about your own skin. He is as strong, if not stronger then any being we'll encounter here, so shut the fuck UP." Hikaru was simply fuming by the end of her short speech. This wasn't the first time Desmae had ticked her off, and probably wouldn't be the last. Then she tensed up, the spiritual pressure ahead was stronger then the others, by quite a wide margin. Though she didn't have too, she felt the need to voice a warning to the Death's Hand. "Be on your toes..." The venom and authority in her voice was so thick that if you even dreamed of voiceing a retort then you would never live to see the day. They entered a room with more of the annoyingly flickering candles. Suddenly, as if a blanket smothered the far half of the room, half the candles were extinguished. The worst part is, the darkness completely consealed two of the Death's Hand. No sound came from them...it was if they had simply vanished...A third stood on the very edge of the blanket of shadows, and he two was dragged into the darkness...though this time it was by a visible force...a pair of vicious claws clamped themselves around the struggling shinigami, before vanishing into the shadows silencing him forever. An amused voice coming from someone who seemed human as he stepped from the darkness his hands clapping. "Hello, hello!" He said his blonde hair looking to be in a permanent state of dissaray. His blue eyes glinted strangely in the flickering light. He bowed slightly, as he addressed the remaining Death's Hand, they're leader, and the Vice Captain. "I shall be your playmate for a time. I, am Hrugar." And just like that, he stepped back into the darkness and the candles lit the room once again...Nothing remained of the three Shinigami or this Hrugar. A flicker of motion appeared at Hikaru's right and she had one of her Zanpakuto drawn in a blink of the eye. "Desmae? Shit..." The leader of the Deaths Hand was consumed by the shadows. "Watch the lights..." She ordered the rest of the Deaths Hand, assuming control of the situation. "If the candles show even the slightest sign of going out move. Stay spread out, if we do lose soldiers here I want the casualties kept to a bare minimum." Hikaru gaze around the room, a strand of her silver hair escaping the pony tail and falling out of place to hang in front of her left eye. Energy built in her free hand, and she prepared a Hadou spell, waiting tensely for the Arrancar to strike.
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Back in Soul Society
The click click clicking of a keyboard could be heard in Division Twelve's Headquarters, the flashing lights from the monitor glinting off the lens' of what any uninformed person would mistake for a Quincy. Kazue pushed his glassed farther back onto the bridge of his nose as he gaze intently at the screen. The black and gold glove on his left hand flexed as he curled his fingers into a fist. He slammed said fist down onto the rather wide desk he sat at, making whatever undrunk drink spill over, the glass mug shattering as it hit the floor. Kazue was getting fed up with simply waiting around...Waiting for his unprotected Captain to come back. Now Kazue knew the odds of his Captain coming back were low...the entire mission was dangerous and they couldn't count on the other Divisions...Division Twelve never really could. "Damn it..." Those two words had such venom in them that any normal person's ears would probably have melted. "That's it...I'm going. And nobody better try to stop me." He stalked out of the room, his reddishbrown hair blowing lightly in the wind as he made his way outside. The Gate was still erected...That was good. Kazuma would understand, he needed to report his findings to Minoru-Taichou...or rather the lack there of. He got within forty meters of the massive structure that served as a doorway into the heart of Hueco Mundo, before a cry of protest sounded off from the way he came. "Kazue-kun! You can't go!" the clear feminine voice was the one thing he had dreaded hearing...the one thing that had any chance of throwing a kink in his plans. He connected the palm of his right hand into his face in despair as he felt the arms of Hana wrap around his waist. "Get off..." He said it as kindly as he could...which not for a lack of effort, but it wasn't very kind at all. More irritated then anything...Hana simply shook his head, the long strands of his perfectly kept hair falling out of place from behind his ear. "Get off..." He said it even more sternly then before...again Hana shook his head. Kazue sighed and began pulling him along...not being hindered in the slightest as Hana's legs dragged along the ground behind him. "Please Kazue-kun! It's too dangerous!" This really annoyed the Vice Captain. "Hana...either you get off, or shut up. Your choice." Just the fact that Kazue gave Hana a choice showed that he had more consideration for the immensely irritating...yet promising Third Seat. He made his choice...and didn't say a word more. Kazue sighed again and walked through the portal to Hueco Mundo, dragging Hana along with him.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Sept 20, 2008 0:49:31 GMT -4
Kuaturas sudden arrival caused a bit of unrest on both sides, the shinigami seemed unsure of what their leader was up to and the arrancar clearly had no idea why he was acting the way he was. Either way neither side moved at first, the shinigami unsure of what Kuatura planned and unwilling to mess it up and the arrancar, perhaps as far as Kuatura could tell, unwilling to sacrifice Narcissus. One of his followers yelled and charged as soon as one of the younger girls began walking forward but Kuatura raised his free hand and stopped him. She relaxed, she had clearly been ready to respond to the charge and then continued to approach him. She stopped about five feet away and they looked at one another, she gave him a blank studying stare and he smiled back at her though any trained eye could have seen him spot-seek multiple ways he could exploit the situation should she turn hostile. Finally the girl opened her mouth after what seemed like a millennium of intent staring and asked a simple question in what could easily have been confused for an innocent little girls voice.
“What is your plan here, what are you doing?”
Kuatura had studied her quickly, she was a cute little girl but even though she had the body of a thirteen or fourteen year old Chinese girl he was certain she was likely ages older. While she had not taken center stage before it seemed clear to Kuatura that in reality she had been in control the entire time, she radiated control and unlike Narcissus didn't seem to have any emotions on the matter ready to leak out. She was a good head and a half shorter than Kuatura and had a thin petite structure and relatively pale skin for one of orient heritage, she had large studying pinkish-red eyes and white hair which was pulled back in a pony-tail but had four large braids, two on each side of her head. Kuatura was fairly certain that the white bands around each of these braids were indeed the remainder of her mask though had she not been an arrancar the thought that they were more than decorations would never have crossed his mind. She had a black brocade and a long flowing black skirt, golden tassels fell in several places, namely her buckle and golden lace work vines were patterned all over the outfit.
Even though he had studied all this before and as she spoke one could tell she was subconsciously unnerved to be so closely scrutinized by a shinigami. Though it was slight and expertly masked she attempted to avoid direct eye contact, likely worried about faltering when she did not know her enemies intentions. It wasn't something to be particularly ashamed of though, Kuatura had always been hard to read even for those who had known him for ages so what chance did this girl who had never even spoken with him much less confronted him have of understanding? He was renowned for what he said and what he did being completely opposite and it was generally accepted, and why he got away with much of what he did, that he was much more intelligent on the inside than he acted. To top it off he had a way of peering through people, unnerving them to the core even when his manner was non-nonchalant and kind. Then as fast as one could think these thoughts and assess the situation he spoke.
“I am trying to move ahead and regroup with the rest of my comrades.” He said calmly, behind him it seemed as if one of his members was about to protest but they kept silent.
The girl shuffled and clasped her hands behind her back but Kuatura made no movements to suggest he thought it might be a hostile sign, “That wasn't what I real-”
“You mean why did I only knock out your melee offensive member? Why am I speaking to you now instead of attacking head on with all my strength and blasting through into the depths of Las Noches?”
The girl looked at him, such words could have been uttered in hostility but with Kuatura they had been said with plodding meticulity. His face bore no traces of ill-will and while he was certainly keeping an eye on all present his demeanor and body could be considered relaxed. After another period in which they stared at each other the girl nodded at him, when she did he smiled and snickered a little bit, reaching his free hand up to his face while squinting his eyes a bit.
“Should that not be obvious?” He remarked in a bit of an exaggerated tone.
The girl staggered just the slightest bit, perhaps thrown off by another change in demeanor, “N-no, it is not.”
“What is your name? I am Kuatura Katayama, I dislike not knowing names when in conversation.”
“Don't you mean in battle?” The girl remarked, perhaps the smallest inkling of hostility coming through her veil. Behind Kuatura several of his men shifted but he simply reverted back to a look of neutrality and responded in a solid, non-telling voice.
“No. I do not.”
The girl studied him for a second not sure what to make of the comment, “I...am Viola.”
“Viola. That was just like this girl...Narcissus, they are the Latin names of flowers. Hers means Daffodil. Yours means Violet does it not? I wonder if it was you or another who thought them up?” He had looked at Narcissus momentarily when he mentioned her before returning his eyes to Viola.
There was an uncomfortable feeling setting in over the girls, all who were close enough to hear and most of all Viola was shuffling more nervously now. All of them were quickly becoming aware of exactly what it was that was egging them on. It was not hostility, or uncertainty in each others actions, it was familiarity. Kuatura was quickly and expertly tearing down the walls that stood between friend and foe, the imaginary line people drew that convinced themselves their opponents were not like them, that allowed some in drastic cases to even considered their opponents little more than machines to be disposed of. It was this thin line of separation that often allowed good people to destroy each other and with it quickly falling it would soon be difficult to justify killing the other, or at least it would be for a human. For an arrancar that shouldn't have been an issue, but Kuatura was not known for doing things without reason and surely at this moment he had a plan. It became more obvious the longer they paused and the more the girls cold exterior faded away, the more all of their hostile exteriors fell, it wasn't just the way he spoke but the way he acted, he reminded them of someone and it was turning all their reason in on itself.
“Viola.” Kuaturas voice was crisp and clear as he looked at the girl and her attention snapped to him, wide-eyed as if she had been caught in a daze, “You asked me why I stopped here and drew you in to talk, why even now while hostilities rage around us I talk to you as if a friend? That is because...”
He suddenly pulled Narcissus up to standing height and put her out in front of him, everyone jumped a little bit. Kuaturas head appeared over Narcissus shoulder, she was still dead to the world, the strike he made seemed to have been of unnatural power to deliver an arrancar into such a daze. He wore a big goofy grin and pointed at her.
“I already said! How could I take these away from the world?”
He jiggled her a little bit and her obviously oversized bosom followed, in the meantime everyone else nearly fell backward from the sudden change in gears. He giggled a little bit while his followers covered their faces and Viola pointed at him with an incomprehensible look on her face as she opened her jaw several times but failed to give words. He lowered Narcissus back to his side but still had a grin on his face, finally Viola blurted out.
“Wha-WHAT WAS THAT?!!! Your just a per-” But she was cut-off.
“No, Viola.” Kuaturas sudden neutral face and the power of the statement stopped them all in their tracks for the second time, “Let me ask you, the same question in turn Viola. Why? Why did you put down your weapons when I arrived with this girl.”
Viola took a step back, perhaps she was starting to understand what he was getting at, perhaps she had heard enough or perhaps a thousand other things but in the end she spoke with unsure words, “Tha...thats because....becauseee~~” She trailed off and her vision lowered to the floor, she clearly didn't know or want to voice her opinion.
“It's because I, nor my other 'friends'” He placed emphasis on the last word, “Wanted to harm our other friend?” Kuatura offered, finishing her sentence for her. He paused for a moment as if to let them interject but none of them did, as he knew they wouldn't and then he said clearly, “And that is why, Viola, and the rest of you.” He cast his eyes on the other girls around him.
All of them backed off from him as if they were seeing something they didn't want to see. Viola in particular stared at him with a wide-eyed and uncertain look, it was clear she was losing her ability to look at the situation. Then as suddenly as it began Kuatura walked up to her and looked her closely in the face, certainly before she would have attacked but now she just looked directly at him, still a bit startled. He held out Narcissus as he gave her what could almost be considered a caring grin and tilted his head gently. Viola looked from him to her friend and then taking his cue retrieved the womans body from his arms, despite her petite size he had known and she proved that she was unnaturally strong, easily hefting the much larger girl.
“Come!” Kuatura uttered, “We are moving out.”
He looked back at his fellow shinigami, all of them looked surprised by their leaders actions and none of them knew how to take it. Still they followed his commands and gingerly walked past the girls toward the door above, they kept their eyes on them but none of the arrancar moved. When they had all passed Kuatura looked down at Viola who had knelled down and placed Narcissus on the ground and was now looking over her. He placed his left hand in his pocket and knelled down, even in this posture he still towered over her, after a moment she looked at him, a bit unfocused in her eyes. Even he was a bit surprised by the power of what he said, he deduced that he had hit on something even more powerful and deep reaching than he had expected though he didn't know what it was at this point. He took a chance, he didn't know why he did it for it had been instinctive but with his right hand he reached out and placed it on Violas cheek, even more surprisingly she just looked at him.
“Viola. I am a shinigami, to hear some of my comrades and even the captains say it our sole duty in life is to eliminate hollows and the even more dangerous arrancar that come from them. They are wrong. You know this don't you? The truth of the matter is our one and only task is the protection of the innocent and the persecution of the guilty, no matter what others believe this is my way. There may be many like you, perhaps they believe they are not innocent and can never be forgiven and that is why they serve but question yourself this, what was your intention in what you have done up till now in your life? Ask yourself that, and if the answer is without evil intent, if it was for the people you care about, then that is innocence, for that is how all with honor live. A long life in a different age have twisted my code so much, we once called it bushidô but for me that is no longer fitting, the new and the old have become one and my personality has aged unlike others.”
He was almost certain he saw her about to shed a tear and smiled, retracting his hand to his side.
“Regardless, Viola. Honor, chivalry, wisdom, serenity...they are all still there. Friendship, compassion, understanding...these I have learned. My enemies, they are the ones who threaten these things, not the ones who simply see life in a different manner or who sport different origins. So ask yourself, how will you live life? That is something I think you should all ask yourselves.”
He stood up and gave Narcissus one last look.
“Perhaps you should tell your friend, how you really feel.”
As he walked off he spoke over his shoulder.
“I apologize if my...unique blend of humor offended you. I can be out of place at times, I...really should work on that.” He giggled a bit after saying this.
Then he was gone, as quick as the wind and standing by his followers who had all watched them, unsure of what he was saying with varying levels of curiosity and in some cases anger. They disappeared down the hall and none of them needed to ask if they should watch their backs, it was clear Kuatura didn't seem worried about it. There were several grunts around him and nearly silent whispers but though he could hear them and knew that his actions would be reported to the Commander General himself he said nothing in return. In all honesty he didn't know how the general would respond, he knew in his heart he had gone to easy on them, they were after all his enemy but he could never force himself to conflict with his own moral code. What he had been expecting finally came in the form of one of the younger shinigami next to him.
“What was that...vice captain?” The way the boy paused it was clear his position was already being questioned.
“That was us moving forward.” Kuatura remarked calmly, not turning to look and just staring down the hall as they walked.
“WHY DID WE LET THEM LIVE LIKE THAT?!!! YOU CAUGHT THAT GIRL AND SHE WAS THEIR STRONGEST!!! YOU COULD HAVE CRUSHED THEM ALL!!!” One of the older shinigami finally fired in his direction but he retained his disconnected stance despite their rising choler.
“One of our primary doctrines is avoiding pointless fights.”
“THAT!!!~~~” The older man hissed and pointed back down the hall before quieting down, “Was not a pointless fight. We are in the enemy sanctuary, every battle we win is a victory for Soul Society, every arrancar death a hindrance to their march and tactically it insures we are not flanked.”
“Surely you don't believe the enemy doesn't have other ways of getting behind us. Plus I do not harm the innocent...”
“INNOCENT!!!??” Another man yelled.
For the first time Kuatura turned his head though it was not at any of his followers but rather to peer over his shoulder. He watched for several moments while stopping in his tracks, all his followers stared him down expecting him to say something redeeming. Then once he was quite sure nobody was following he fell to his knees and grasped elbow.
“OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWIIIIIIIEEEEEE~~~~~~!!!!”
Kuatura fell face first on the ground and began to wriggle around like a snake while he continued grasping his elbow. He started rocking back and forth before he lurched out and grasped one of his followers legs. The man began shaking rapidly and yelling out at the vice captain.
“MAKE IT GO AWAY!!! OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!! PAAAAAIIIINNNN!!!”
“What are you talking about Kuatura??!!!” The old man yelled out, sounding worried for once. The other members had set up a quick perimeter expecting attack but quickly lowered when nothing came. Kuatura finally sat up still clinching his elbow while making a face akin to a pit bull puppy, a thousand little wrinkles expressing his pain.
“Owwww that really hurt. I-I filled that blow with reiatsu to knock – OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW- her out but really had to – EEEEEEEEEEEEEIIII - pull my blow to stop it from causing permanent damage but reach the desired effect... owie owie owie...”
They were all staring at him blankly, he grinned and giggled.
“I think it broke my arm, haha, pretty good keeping it together in front of a bunch of hot girls huh?”
You could have heard a pin drop or the near non-existent breeze blow through the halls.
... ..... ........
“Pathetic.” The old man said.
He then kicked Kuatura in the head and ordered the rest of them to continue walking, Kuatura resumed his wriggling on the floor.
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Whether one was scared or not the situation was tense, the darkness was complete in those areas the candles were out and though Hrugars reiatsu could be detected it was impossible to pinpoint his location in the room. Desmae was now cloaked in darkness and was gently shuffling around, trying to make it back to the light. As if he was dealing with an animal he wouldn't respond to Hikarus call in the hopes he brought less attention to himself. Several times he assumed he heard something over his shoulder and wheeled around quickly though what he hoped to see he didn't know since the looming darkness blocked his vision at inches before his face.
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” Desmaes yelp echoed out and all the Deaths Hand turned to see what was happening though all that greeted them was darkness.
The thumping of heavy feet echoed out and moments later Desmae came sailing out of the darkness trailing a long wispy mist of blood from his back. He landed in the light but it wasn't but a moment later when several large black tentacles, complete with thousands of rows of sharp spike like teeth were thrown from the darkness and began wrapping around him as he issued another yelp. One particularly large example extended out and wrapped around his waist and began pulled back, ripping straight through his armor and shooting out fresh jets of blood, there was a piercing monster like shriek from the darkness. Still Desmae fought and thrashed wildly as he tried to strike the thicker “arms” with his hammer though he was in a poor position to do so, thankfully his great strength still had him planted on the ground though he was slowly being pulled back. Several more tentacles came out of the darkness as if intending to fight off the Deaths Hand who were now moving toward their leader and then under the cover of these tentacles the two large black claws from before reached out for Desmae.
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Yun descended like a hammer in the same moment that Nekomi had dodged away, the water itself compressed and lowered in level for a moment before exploding outward in a large blast. Yun had hit his target dead center but in the end it had been their zanpaktous that had collided and a little pressure was far from capable of damaging Asmodeus. Pushing off with his zanpaktou both he and Asmodeus launched backward to stand opposite each other though Yun backed off a little farther again placing his feet on the water and “skating” in a zig zag to avoid return fire. Asmodeus sulked a bit and held his blade down though he looked far from injured, instead it was more likely he was assessing his situation. When he finally spoke up he sounded more agitated than before but maintained a level of sureness in his voice that gnawed at Yuns nerves.
“You are both more capable than I gave you credit for, I will give you that.” He gave them a slight smile, Yun just returned a dead stare at him.
The espada tossed his blade into the air and then grasped it in his other hand with a backhanded grasp best suited to stabbing and not thrusting. As soon as he caught the blade he rocketed across the water for Yun with a renewed speed, it was not that much faster than before but in a battle at the level theirs was that meant it had jumped to a whole other level for someone of lesser strength. Yun deflected the blade at the last moment with his own and another jet of water shot skyward, a dagger battle was always more intense than any other weapon for the opponents were so close to each other they could read their opponents every movement, their very thoughts practically.
To no great surprise Asmodeus used this up close and personal chance to launch his breath attack but Yun had been five steps ahead and was already shooting skyward. Asmodeus stood behind and Yun took this chance to notice that both he and Nekomi were for the first time both in front of Asmodeus to a degree. An ironic thought to be sure given Asmodeus next action in which he launched backward, pulled his arms back and concentrated a large amount of reiatsu into them. It first appeared to be a simple cero but as soon as Yun called out instinctively to dodge two dozen red energy blades exploded from his arms as he thrust them outward. They cut through all the standing trees in that direction, blew up mass quantities of the water and pummeled the wall behind them, showering the area in a thick dust that made everything hard to see.
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An exequias flew across the open room and slammed into a nearby wall, as he slumped to the ground Torre retracted her fist and continued after the rest of the group who was several paces ahead of her. After getting away from the first group of enemies they had wandered the halls rather unimpeded save the occasional exequias which they put down quickly. It appeared the shinigami were doing better than she had ever imagined, surely the recent lack of active arrancar was helping the matter but she had never imagined they would penetrate so quickly. It was no longer out of the realm of possibility that the attack would simply grind Las Noches into dust, she already sensed Asmodeus was fighting amongst the other Espada and if they fell in their battles nothing would stop the shinigami from finishing the stronghold off once and for all. She had to admit if they did run into the shinigami the children might end up being more like a bargaining chip to get away than simply handing them over.
Still even amongst all that as well as having to reap so much violence which she did not particularly enjoy she regretted none of it. In fact one might even say that with each step she became more grateful of her decision, she had lived in a place she hated for far to long and a change had been long overdue. She was pleased to see that the children had mostly taken to staying silent and following, there had been little protesting for a while now and it was clear that some trust had been garnered from their actions, no matter how small it might have been.
It was this Torre was considering when she whipped around to look down the hall, even to her, her actions seemed slowed down to a crawl and her senses seemed muffled all at once. Somewhere in the background there was a howl in the reiatsu that was filtering through the area as it absorbed all the other fights in the surrounding area and muted them.
“Move ahead with them Umbra...” She said as she kept her eyes down the hall, not turning to see if the others had even noticed the new arrival yet. The dark figure that was casting this shadow of massive reiatsu around her stayed cloaked in the shadows until Umbra and the children had obeyed and retreated down the hall.
“What are you?” Torre asked simply.
Torre stared the figure down, at the moment she wasn't worried but she was harboring a bit of annoyance since she knew they had almost gotten out without trouble and whoever this was he wreaked of trouble. There was also the matter of his reiatsu, it was distant and fleeting, it was unique but more than anything she felt that it was stronger than was being immediately let off. Then the figures right eye began glowing a bright red and it took several steps forward into the light exposing a man in a black suit and golden tie who had clean black hair. He raised his hands to his side in a grandiose fashion before speaking out to Torre.
“I compliment you Torre the previous Tres Espada. Not many have the faith in their own morals to take such an action and forsake this vile place, particularly those of your breed. Anyhow frivolity aside I am Death.” The man bore a smile the whole while but it could be measured as one of the cocky variety.
Torre huffed, “Death, thats a bit presumptuous isn't it?”
“Hehe, perhaps. Well now, I see no reason to wait any longer, Torre, we are here to deal with you and the children.”
Before Torre could question anything four figures dropped around him, they dressed like exequias but were in the black and gold of the man. They darted directly for Torre, unlike the many exequias she had fought up till now these were incredibly fast but even so they were not at her level. However just as she prepared for their attack they broke right past her and she realized too late their goal was to go after the children. She began to round about to attack them when she heard Deaths voice, right next to her.
“One does not look away from their opponent during battle...”
For the first time in as long as she could remember Torre was caught by surprise as her eyes widened and she tried to turn her head toward Death. She only caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, standing in a relaxed position next to her with a terrible gleam in his eye despite the neutral emotion on his face. She was pummeled by an insane and otherworldly reiatsu that released from the bonds he had been keeping around it, the reiatsu echoed through the entire fortress of Las Noches and for a brief moment even eclipsed the two captains currently fighting the “greatest” of the arrancar.
Torre didn't even see it coming, all she knew was one moment she was standing and the next she was flying through the air with blood spilling from her chest. The blow had ripped straight through her armor and fractured the entire construct that had covered her torso, as she flew through the air it cracked and ripped off her body leaving only a white shirt she wore beneath it and her natural hierro to protect her upper-body. By that point her body was finally reacting to the strike and as she trailed a line of blood from her chest she retched and spewed a trail of blood that had surely come from a burst in her throat or even worse her lungs. Torre flew with speed that shouldn't have been possible and as she had thrown the exequias now she went slamming into the nearest wall that had been on the right, smashed clear through it and kept going. By the time she began to slow down she had already passed through a minimum of ten more walls and was bordering on unconscious. She hit the floor like a rocket and ripped a massive trail in the tiles ending in a large crater.
There she fumbled for an indeterminate amount of time before she began to slowly right herself while continuing to retch small quantities of blood on the floor. The world was just becoming clearer when she wheeled around and saw that Death had been standing above the crater the entire time she had been stumbling around.
“Better now? Ready?” He asked.
She staggered into a defensive position while he made broad circular motions with his arms before holding them up next to him as if he was holding a bell and then mimicked a traditional fight commentators voice.
“Ding, ding! Round Two.”
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Post by Galihan on Sept 20, 2008 10:19:07 GMT -4
Minoru looked at the white reaper and raised his sword at him. "That won't hit a second time, care to prove me wrong?" He said, not quite boasting or taunting, more so just predicting the most probable outcome if he were to release his zanpakuto if Shirakirate used that blade attack again.
After that , Shirakarite began to move back in forth as if examining his target, looking for a weakness or an opening. It seemed that the Vasto Lorde was desperate to defeat the Captain, and was having doubts as to whether or not it was within his power to do so. After shrugging, the reaper launched two more blades at Minoru, the second at least twice as powerful as the first two. The moment the blades were launched, Minoru's eyes narrowed, his reiatsu flaring as his zanpakuto began glowing brightly.
"Wait patiently, Kame Ekihachuu."
The small, outdated-looking blade in his hand underwent a magnificent transformation. The zanpakuto began to melt and transform into a weapon made of solid bronze. It's short, straight blade became larger and more curved, a sharp curved prong protruding from it's cutting edge near the base. The tarnished bronze tsuba melted away and reformed a glistening basket hilt which covered his hand and was encrusted with many short sharp spikes. But then finally, topping off the physical changes was the zanpakuto's special ability. That instant, a small burst of energy pulsated from the zanpakuto and the blowing white sand around him appeared to be slowing down.
The first blade fired from Shirakarite came near Minoru but suddenly appeared to slow down as well once it came within range of his blade. Minoru looked at the flying blade, and sidestepped as it flew harmlessly pass him. The second blade, more powerful than the first, was not affected by the aura around Minoru as much and the captain this time actually deflected it with his sword. The flying blade slid down the edge of Kame Ekihachuu and was caught by the prong at the blade's base. Reiatsu flared again and Minoru threw the enemy blade to the ground to his right using most of his strength, causing a large explosion of dust and sand moonward. Minoru cringed, his arm somewhat sore afterwords, but there was no time to rest. Minoru saw Shirakarite launch himself at him, and raised his blade again, while also reaching for a secret weapon he had hidden on him. His left hand reached into his coat pocket, and he grabbed what appeared to be a long silver stake.
Minoru's zanpakuto, Kame Ekihachuu, while in shikai creates what he calls a time distortion field, slowing down time itself to anything but himself within a 4-foot radius of him. Thus explaining how he was able to avoid the attacks so easily as well as how the more powerful attack was, despite being slowed down still hit his sword at full force, thus explaining why he had to work so hard to deflect it.
Once Shirakarite would get close enough for the two to class blades directly, it would appear to the Vasto Lorde that Minoru would suddenly begin moving at twice as fast from his perspective, and at that moment Minoru intended to impale the Vasto Lorde with the stake in hand, which was designed to drain a hollow of it's powers and hopefully render it immobilized.
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Within Las Noches, sounds of battles roared above them and epic forces of reiatsu flared violently as the Captains battled the Espada. Takeshi followed along as fast as he could, but was beginning to tire a bit. They had been running for what seemed like forever though the dark passages that all looked identical to the young shinigami. Every once in a while a few assassins would pop outta the shadows and by cut down by either of the mighty espada-ranked arrancar who were leading the rescue of his two fellow shinigami and himself. He wasn't even sure how exactly Dante or Namida were faring. Neither of the two had said a word for a while and they seemed like they lacked the motivation to be freed. In a moment, a fierce presence roared behind them, a deathly force while felt crippling and nearly incapacitating to the less powerful Takeshi. Surely either of the two other shinigami must have been rendered paralyzed in if not pain but fear.
“Move ahead with them Umbra...” Torre commanded, and in silent understanding, the tall espada scooped up all three of the shinigami under his one arm using his staff for them to hold onto, while grabbing Jessica's hand with his other, and moving down the hall with godspeed using sonido.
Umbra was worried for Torre, whoever this being was that was approaching, he reeked of a power unlike anything since Desperado, if not even more intimidating if that were possible. He got far enough away from Torre that her reiatsu was being drowned out by that of the new enemy, but however suddenly four separate entities also revealed themselves and were now after them. Umbra put everyone down and ordered them to keep moving ahead.
He raised both hands and from his fingertips he began firing a barrage of his miniature bala attacks. They were all fast and more powerful than the exequias, but definately not his power. After about ten waves of attacks were fired from his fingers, he could tell that of the hundred balazo fired, only one of the attackers was down for the count and of the other three only one was injured. He raised his staff and moved up to the three attackers, knocking one through a wall but barely hitting the other two. All three circled him and went at him with their drawn blades, but were pushed off and pelted by another wave of Umbra's balazo attack. He proceed in charging a full cero blast and destroyed the entire upper body of one of the attackers wearing black, leaving only two wounded foes left to deal with.
He wondered who these people were, why were they arrancar wearing black and gold instead of white and black? Why were they so powerful compared to the usual assassins of Las Noches? Who did they work for, and why had he never heard of them before? There was no way they could work for Calixta, perhaps they were behind the disappearance of Desperado? He was over thinking the situation, and needed to focus on finishing off these remaining two before they could reach the young shinigami.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Sept 25, 2008 2:02:13 GMT -4
Zetsumei had scoured Las Noches for quite a while now, not hiding in the shadows by any account but definitely avoiding direct conflict. While he could have gone after the Shinigami he supposed he had trusted what were supposed to be the other strongest arrancar, his fellow Espada, to deal with the intruders...it appeared he had been wrong. Still he had been on his own private mission since the start of the conflict and at this point it would have been an utter waste on his part to turn back, thus he followed the trail of battle Torre had wrought on the Exequias.
He might have hated Calixta but his loyalty was to Las Noches as a whole and a traitor by any regard, no matter their motives, was an affront to his bushidô – his honor and code of life. Thus as he closed in on them he began his plot, he would aid Las Noches but not Calixtas motives and so he decided he would eliminate Torre and any followers she had gathered, however he would leave the children once he was done to either find their own way out or die trying. He thought this was an equal compromise for both his feelings, eliminating treacherous elements but not abusing his own honor or aiding the pompous witch of a princess in the process.
The lithe but powerful Duos espada landed at the end of the last hallway. His opponent was within a few hundred meters now but it had only been moments earlier when a massive reiatsu signature he had not recognized exploded just next to her, momentarily encompassing all other signatures. He observed the destruction in the hallway, though Torre had moved so quickly she only knew she had gone through the wall Zetsumei could survey that the blow completely collapsed one side of the hall. He walked up to where Torre would have been standing when she received the blow a momentarily mimicked a near identical movement to how Death had struck his blow before though at a much slower speed, still it was obvious he was visualizing what had happened. Zetsumei was moments away from passing through the wall himself to chase after Torre to defeat her, and the new arrival if need be when just as he was about to do so he recognized another signature he knew well from farther down the hall including several others. His high senses could even pick up slight flickers he attributed to the students.
While he certainly wanted Torres head, if she had been receiving aid particularly from the man he now detected, Umbra, then that was his first target. It wasn't just a sound strategic move to wipe out a more powerful opponents backup before taking them on directly but he also had something personal against the Cuatro Espada. While he had never considered Torre particularly loyal he had observed that as he did, she followed her own code of bushidô even if hers went by another name, she might have been kind but behind it all was a sense of honor and not weakness. Umbra however was a pacifist and to Zetsumei that made him weak, he didn't decide not to fight out of honor, respect or intelligent decision making, he decided not to fight because he didn't like to. It sickened Zetsumei that someone who so stood against the model of their lineage should claim such a high seat and if this mans head was also forfeit he would be the one to take it.
Umbra had carried the children and Jessica quite a ways now and surprisingly Torres kitten had kept up next to him with no help. By this point he had detected Zetsumei behind him and while the Duos espada had initially stopped and inspected the situation it was now abundantly clear he was closing the distance between Umbra and himself rapidly. Zetsumei was smart and powerful, how else could he be an espada? But more than anything he was perhaps the fastest of the espada though it was doubtful any other would have admitted his superiority in that area. Regardless no matter how fast Umbra went he could not outrun Zetsumei in a flat run and unfortunately the construction of Las Noches itself was fighting against him, not offering any confusing routes to use his shadow capability's to lose a pursuer.
The group exploded out into a large open chamber like the many others one could find around Las Noches, however this one had dozens of entrances to different hallways along its rim. They hadn't even moved more than ten meters inside when Zetsumei shot to the side of Umbra, trailing multiple versions of himself behind he had been moving so quickly as he dropped to the ground and slid in a curve pattern to stand before his old espada “comrade”. Once there he stood back to his feet and looked over the rag-tag group, particularly the students in Umbras arms since they were the symbol of his betrayal. Yet for all he saw Zetsumeis facial expressions were untelling, neither angry or even happy at what he saw, instead they were indifferent just as were the words he spoke.
“Greetings Galihan Umbra. I had come to slay the traitor Tres Espada but to think even you were a part of this! It is for the best, I will greatly enjoy taking you down as well, you were always a disgrace to our kind. Even now I bet you act only because Torre, someone with stronger convictions than yourself made a move and not because you had the power to do so yourself. At least I can admire her for having the strength to act on her desires, you on the other hand weakly followed Las Noches out of fear and now weakly follow her out of that same fear. You could never act upon your own inclinations, your own will, until someone greater than you lead the way...pathetic...I hope you at least die with some gumption, but I imagine even that is hoping to much.” He cast his hand in a sickened manner at Umbra, as if he didn't even want to look at him.
It was at that moment that a dozen signatures again exploded from the entrance both espada had just come from and at least that many of the black and gold exequias came out of the darkness. They stopped with the quickness and efficiency expected of them, their exact emotions covered with skull masks but the thirst for prey ever present. Even Zetsumei was a little surprised by their arrival and regarded them with more than a small hostile look. Now, amongst the crumbling society of the arrancar it was becoming obvious something unforeseen was at work and Zetsumei himself, even lost amongst the back roads of the fortress and not in the forefront of battle was starting to notice the changes. His attention quickly returned to Umbra the greater threat but he was more than capable of dividing his defense checks on the enemy, just then the exequias with the largest horned helmet approached and bowed.
“We are here to aid you in any way duos espada, we shall eliminate this traitors followers if that is what you wish.” He said plainly.
Zetsumei again regarded him momentarily but then simply nodded, giving his full attention to Umbra. Time froze, even for Umbra one of the strongest arrancar alive he couldn't hope to protect the children from the attackers behind him no matter how small a threat they might have been normally. Against an opponent of Zetsumeis caliber all one needed to do was give a single opening and they were finished, to divide his attention now meant death for the whole group including himself. It was at that moment that a soft pitter-patter walked behind Umbra and several of the exequias looked at the ground, a voice so deep it could only be described as epic echoed through the room, had it not been coming from a tiny hollow cat it might have been impressive and less comical.
[glow=black,1,300]"Umbra, release Jessica, we shall dispose of these opponents while you face him."[/glow] Mr. Snugglebottoms turned his head over his shoulder showing his eyes that were now burning a bright red. [glow=black,1,300]"You did not really think Lady Victoria kept me around solely because I was cute now did you?"[/glow] He returned his view to the exequias.
[glow=black,1,300]"Come now, you will first have to eliminate Akabane the Red Traitor who drenched vast expanses of the white Hueco Mundo sand in the blood of the foul hollow species before you can interfere with my masters wards."[/glow] Zetsumei didn't offer any take on this new occurrence, it was not important to his mission. He simply waited for Umbra to put the children down out of direct harms way and then charged his former ally.
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Post by Zhiel on Sept 25, 2008 16:14:11 GMT -4
OOC: Sorry for slight auto on your behalf Galihan, if you want I can change it (Or you can just ignore it and take it the way you'd like in your next post.)
The group had traveled through Las Noches with very little resistance, there was the occasional Exequias, but they were quickly dispatched by Torre before they had the chance to strike. Jessica made sure to stay close to the group, in particular the students whom she considered as her own priority to protect, as she was not delusional enough to think she could possibly aid Torre or Umbra, no instead she acted as a form of safety in case by chance someone targeted the children.
Though she did not know much about these passages, she could tell they were not too far from the exits of Las Noches now, one thing signifying this was the reiatsu signatures around them, though they were still far enough away to not be a direct danger. That is, until she noticed how Torre suddenly stopped and turned around, and when Jessica did as well she felt that something was here, something powerful. Though she could not gauge its strength, she assumed with Torre's sudden reaction, and then lack of direct action that it was a real threat, this thought was only confirmed further when the tres Espada told Umbra to move ahead with the group.
The worry on Jessica's face was more than obvious as she looked at Torre, before more or less being dragged away by Umbra. However after they had gotten out of sight she realized that the only thing she could do was to help protect the students, though she wished she could be off more direct help to Torre. After only a short distance longer Umbra seemed to have sensed something and suddenly sped up his running, to a point where Jessica could barely keep on her own feet due to the immense speed, something she could only get close to in very short bursts on her own, before her eventual fall though she was picked up by Umbra and also carried under one of his arms like the students, it was a bit embarrassing, but she knew it was for the best.
Jessica had a bad feeling about what was to come as the entered one of the large circular rooms that was prety common in Las Noches, though she was not sure why she guessed that it had something to do with why Umbra had suddenly picked up the pace as he had. However her fears proved right as another of the Espada suddenly came and passed them by, gliding to a stop in front of them. Not only was it an Espada, it was the duos, the second strongest, at least in name, Espada. The expression on Jessica's face right then was nothing short of shocked fear, how could this have gone so wrong? They were so close to getting out of this hellish place, and then this man appeared in front of them, even worse Torre was still not back...
Though the thought of Zetsumei having been the one that Torre had noticed earlier did strike her, she knew that Torre was not so weak as to be beaten this easily, and this was even more confirmed with what Zetsumei said to Umbra, apparently he had intended to target Torre, but when he had noticed that Umbra was involved he had decided to come after them instead. Jessica had no option but to listen to Zetsumei's reason for going after Umbra or his taunts toward the quatro Espada, as she was still locked under one of his arms, but then suddenly a dozen new presences came out of the hallway behind the group, which manifested themselves as a group of black clothed Exequias with gold details on their uniforms.
Being considered a low ranking Numeros due to her lack of physical prowess Jessica did not know much about how Las Noches truly worked, but she knew enough to know that all Arrancar worse white, these were either some elite group unknown to her, or part of something else... But either case they seemed to be on the dos Espadas side, which no doubt made the situation worse. Jessica was starting to feel desperate, there was no way for Umbra to stand up to both the other Espada and these men, and she had no way of holding them all off on her own either. But that was when she looked down at the sound of the soft 'steps' of Mr. Snugglebottoms.
"Umbra, release Jessica, we shall dispose of these opponents while you face him."
The voice that came from the kitten was, in short, a big surprise to Jessica, and it showed in her facial expression. She had known there was something more to the kitten than what met the eye, but for it to be so intelligent it could speak? Feeling the grip from Umbra loosening slightly she put down her feet to wards the ground, where he let her go completely. 'Uhm... Okay I'm not sure whats really going on anymore' She thought as she turned more directly toward the Exequias, grasping the hilt of her longsword-like zanpakutou as she listened to Snugglebottoms, or rather, Akabane. Though she did not know the kittens true strength, she assumed it was more than what any of the Exequias would expect, more than likely from the way the kitten hollows voice sounded out it was stronger than her too.
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Post by Galihan on Sept 25, 2008 23:06:20 GMT -4
In one swift motion of his staff, Umbra had finished off another of the four black-clad exequias who were sent after him. The remaining single opponent, wounded but still alive, lunged at the Cuatro Espada and clung onto his back while trying to slice the tall blue arrancar's throat with his zanpakuto. Umbra slew the attacker in a manner that would only be possible to pulled off by a hollow, thanks to one of the features of their kind's anatomy. First he deflected the blade with his forearm, only receiving a minor cut thanks to his arrancar hierro skin, and then proceeded in what would appear to be impaling himself with his staff as if performing the ritualistic suicide known as seppuku. In fact, the staff simply passed right though the hole on his stomach and impaled the attacker, killing him quickly. The Espada shrugged the corpse off his back and bowed his head, taking a very brief moment in order to apologize to himself for having taken four lives, even though they were enemies.
He made his prayer brief, and hastily returned in the direction he came in order to meet back up with Jessica, vanishing using sonido. He caught back up to the others quickly, and once again picked up the shinigami while taking the young arrancar girl by the hand, eventually having to carry her as well despite how awkward it may have been. He noticed that Mr. Snugglebottoms was able to keep up without effort and it for the first time donned upon him as to why Torre-sama would keep a hollow cat as a pet, apparently he was more than just a cuddle companion and Umbra never bothered asking anything about him. They didn't get to far however when suddenly yet another powerful signature came into Umbra's senses, he recognized the reiatsu as the Dos Espada, Zetsumei. It would be for sure that he wouldn't be able to get much further before being confronted by the much faster arrancar and soon enough as he reach the cross-roads which connected this corridor to many others, Zetsumei had caught up and challenged Umbra.
"Greetings Galihan Umbra. I had come to slay the traitor Tres Espada but to think even you were a part of this! It is for the best, I will greatly enjoy taking you down as well, you were always a disgrace to our kind. Even now I bet you act only because Torre, someone with stronger convictions than yourself made a move and not because you had the power to do so yourself. At least I can admire her for having the strength to act on her desires, you on the other hand weakly followed Las Noches out of fear and now weakly follow her out of that same fear. You could never act upon your own inclinations, your own will, until someone greater than you lead the way...pathetic...I hope you at least die with some gumption, but I imagine even that is hoping to much.”
Umbra appeared emotionless as usual, his cold stare unwavered by the slander thrown at him. It wasn't until more of the black exequias arrived that the lesser of the two Espada shown any sign of worry.
“We are here to aid you in any way duos espada, we shall eliminate this traitors followers if that is what you wish.”
He knew that with over a dozen opponents, he had no chance at protecting the shinigami unless he had some sort of reinforcements arrive to save him. He wasn't sure how Jessica herself would be able to fare against the exequias given that only four of them were capable of lasting as long as they did against him, and even if his three fraccion did show up, it would still be three-to-one against them and Jessica while he fought Zetsumei. It wasn't until the sound of a new voice he'd never heard before addressed him that his frustration broke.
"Umbra, release Jessica, we shall dispose of these opponents while you face him."
He was puzzled for a moment, scanning the room for any new reiatsu what he felt was a fierce, powerful being of small proportions. He looked down at Torre-sama's pet cat, who appeared to be speaking to him now,
"You did not really think Lady Victoria kept me around solely because I was cute now did you?"
So now one of Umbra's long-time curiosity was answered. Snugglebottoms wasn't just Torre-sama's pet, it was also her fraccion, thus explaining why he'd never once recalled her having one. His grip loosened on Jessica, and he put her down on the ground and then she stepped away from him in order to draw her own zanpakuto.
"Come now, you will first have to eliminate Akabane the Red Traitor who drenched vast expanses of the white Hueco Mundo sand in the blood of the foul hollow species before you can interfere with my masters wards."
He turned his dumbfounded eyes back into cold, serious ones aimed at Zetsumei, and he moved back several meters using sonido in order to set down the young shinigami trio, who flopped down on the ground like they were exhausted. Judging by how he had carried them around like luggage for the last while they probably deserved a rest. Suddenly Zetsumei charged at him, and Umbra responded by vanishing away from the three and swung his staff at the fast Espada in a low sweeping motion and proceeded to thrust the end at him in several dozen fast jabs aimed at his chest and torso, finishing his combo with a wide swing aimed at Zetsumei's head.
"I have no intention to fight you, Zetsumei, but you're sense of honor seems to be conflicting with my own. If you persist I will kill you even if I don't want to!"
He didn't yet intend to fight with the killer tenacity that got him into the Espada, but if Zetsumei was going to persist, then maybe Umbra would have no choice but to give an example of just how powerful and dangerous he really was underneath his passive exterior. If Zetsumei really wanted a fight, he'd be surprised just how much fight there was bottled up within the Cuatro Espada known as Galihan Umbra.
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