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Post by Shizuko on Sept 28, 2008 20:51:52 GMT -4
Matano Nekomi was beginning to believe that she’d seen just about enough of her opponent’s fighting style and abilities. She’d barely escaped the barrage of projectiles that had been flung out in her and Yun’s direction. One of them had cleanly sliced the bottom portion of her haori as she made her abrupt escape. It had been a close call indeed. Perhaps having her haori dragging along behind her as it often did, due to its excessive length for her height, had been a hindrance in this case.
Something else caught the girl’s eye, however, as she scanned herself for any unnoticed injury. The tear in her clothing received previously from Asmodeus’ blade had begun to erode and burn away. The strange look of it made the petite captain consider the possibility of some sort of potent substance coating the weapon. It would be best to avoid being struck by it at all costs.
As the girl collected herself and readied for the next attack, she noted that Asmodeus had managed to slither out of her sight. His absence lasted only a moment however, as an immense ball of red energy sailed through the air, clearly aiming for her small form. She took to the air in a leap, landing high upon the wall next to which she’d been standing. As the wall absorbed the catastrophic force of the blast, her entire body shook with the reverberations of the barrier.
It seemed that this espada had no intentions of letting Nekomi come within her most potent range of combat. She guessed that she might even have to be ready to use her kido. It wasn’t often that she would allow herself the luxury of long range attacks, as she deemed them a lazy excuse for eliminating opposition with talent and fighting finesse. This time however, it might prove a necessity to protect herself and her comrade against a very powerful enemy.
If Nekomi had to be ready for anything, she would certainly need the aid of a dear old friend. In a fleeting moment, the youthful mischievous twinkle in the girl’s eyes had disappeared. Instead, a strange air of wisdom and experience became apparent in its place as she locked her attention on the fiend Asmodeus and spoke familiar words.
“Ignite, Kaijin.”
The top end of the staff in the girl’s hand popped and crackled to life. A small burst of flame and swirling smoke began to pour from the end of the weapon, though it didn’t dissipate as one would have expected. Once the transformation was complete and Kaijin’s form came to light, Nekomi held in her hands a great hammer whose head was composed of churning smoke and embers.
The physical transformation of her staff was hardly the most important effect that the weapon’s spirit had upon her. Nekomi was now keenly aware of her surroundings, as though she’d been wandering blindly before. She could see, hear, and even smell her enemy (though it wasn’t exactly pleasant) with great acuity. Now she was prepared to fight on the next level.
Soul Society’s smallest captain used the espada’s very own move against him, disappearing from his awareness for a moment. Asmodeus was forced to realize that the girl’s speed had apparently increased as well. Her presence was detected again only just in time for the espada to leap back from the great swing of the hammer in the direction of his head. He could hear the sizzle of the putrid water that had coursed upwards to meet the fiery hot end of the weapon as he dashed away to keep his distance from her.
Determination flashed in her eyes as she revealed her true course of action. The hammer swing had been an effort to catch Asmodeus off guard as she used an ability she rarely employed. Time seemed to slow just slightly as the espada remained suspended in the air due to his effort to escape. One of Nekomi’s hands freed itself from the grip on the hammer and flew forward. In a blinding flash, an enormous white bolt shot out from two extended fingertips, threatening to consume the espada with its speed and intensity. Nekomi herself was surprised at the size and dazzling force of the white lightning as it sailed from her petite form and blazed upwards and outwards at her target. Perhaps she did need to use this a little more often. It was so pretty!
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Post by SamuraiFoochs on Oct 1, 2008 18:12:24 GMT -4
((OOC: Took me way too long, but I hope it's worth it.))
Yamato felt several of the Bala strike him. He was able to once again avoid the stakes, but the Bala were far too fast to avoid completely when he was otherwise distracted. He felt the impacts, almost like blunt bullets, and immediately noticed blood pouring from his mouth. He flew across the room, landing on the ground and rolling for several feet. Finally he stopped and, breathing heavily, began to rise to his feet. When he spoke, his breathing was ragged and slightly labored, as though he was still shaken by the onslaught.
“Not bad, Espada. Not bad at all.” He laughed again, the sound echoing off the walls of the chamber, and Yamato mentally noted that anyone listening to the battle would hear very little other than a cacophony of mad laughter. He stood slowly, his robes tattered and his body scuffed with dirt, bruises, and slight burns. Yamato continued speaking easily, with a confidence that was put into question by the look in his eyes.
“At the rate we’re going, I may need to entertain the possibility of Bankai…” His eyes glazed over as Yamato began thinking about that night, the night that he finally truly mastered both his sword and the demons in his soul… ********* The air was blazing hot around Yamato. His reiatsu was no longer controlled, and it manifested in the form of fire billowing around him in massive red-orange plumes. The already blackened forest clearing was thrown into sharp relief by the dancing flames. This had all been his fault, and for a brief, insane moment, he was proud. The fire of his soul burned brighter than could be contained. He felt as though the flames coming from his body were burning him, yet in his heart he knew that this was not the case. Opening his eyes to the fire around him, he saw the massive red wolf sitting calmly nearby. When it spoke, he did not question it.
‘You have done well, young one. It is time for you to know, once and for all, whether you are capable of the final release. Are you prepared to answer for your faults? I have been asking you these questions for months, no, years, and each time you answered incorrectly, I let you know and forced you to correct yourself. This is the final opportunity, it is too late to turn back. Answer wrongly this time, and the fires will consume you in the waves of insecurity and self-doubt. Are you prepared?’
‘Yes.’
‘First question: Who am I?’
‘You are Vulcanus. You are the blade made of my will, forged of ambition and dream,’
‘Second question: Who am I?’[/i] [/color] The emphasis was pointed.
‘Me.’
‘Next question: Why was I brought to you? Why do you possess the power that you do?’
‘To protect, and to give the world a small glimpse of my convictions. To slay those who would do wrong, yet still provide a vehicle for forgiveness.’
‘You’re flawed.’
‘What of it? It is not my flaw that defines me, but rather the skills that I develop in spite of the flaws.’
‘Are you ready to know my truest face?’
‘No. One can never be ready to walk through the fire. Yet I am unafraid, prepared to carry any burns, any pain, any suffering. It is time I embrace the fire.’
‘You’ve done me proud, kid. This might feel a little warm. Let’s do this.’ [/color] The fire all vanished in a flash. For several agonizing moments, all was calm and silence. Then, the explosion. No, to call it an explosion would be to do what followed a severe injustice. To call it an explosion would be to put the thing into human terms. What followed was fire. The fire that Prometheus stole the ember from had seen its kin created once again. An inferno of untold fury burst from Yamato’s body as he screamed in a mixture of triumph and agony. Soon, pales of mad laughter were echoing from the midst of the inferno, and Yamato stood, proud and steady, in the midst of the greatest trial he had ever faced. Slowly, Yamato brought his blazing sword up to his eyes and slashed the air.
And all was still. As quickly as the inferno had burst from him, it was gone. The night air began to slowly cool as Yamato, bare torso scuffed thoroughly with ash, sheathed the blade again. The pants of his uniform were tattered enough to see the leg brace underneath them. He stood almost drunkenly before collapsing to one knee, breathing heavily, a triumphant smile on his face.
“I know now. I’ve done it. It’s over. I am whole. Thank you, old friend. Let us use this power for more than we ever thought possible. More importantly, let’s go home.” ********************* “…unfortunately for you, though, you haven’t impressed me enough for that yet! Way of Destruction 54, Abolishing Flames!” With an insane grin, Yamato dashed through the torrent of flame, hoping to catch his opponent off guard with a running series of punches and kicks, ending with a jumping side kick to the jaw. Prepared for a dodge, he flashed behind and repeated the process, shooting balls of fire from his fists short distance as well, almost as though he were using a version of the Espada’s Bala. As he attacked, he began speaking calmly, but still with an underlying intensity that extended to his eyes.
“Have you ever known fear, Espada? Have you ever encountered something that is utterly beyond your control, or even comprehension? Something that, once released, is so completely unbridled and furious that no mere words can describe the destruction it is responsible for? Because I assure you, that is the risk you are running here. Let yourself die now, so that the last moments of your existence aren’t spent in primal fear.”
He continued attacking furiously, the fire billowing around them, a mad glint beginning to come to the Captain’s eye. Smirking, he turned to the lower officers he had brought with him. “If at any point I tell you to run, run. If you are unable to run, keep anything you may see completely secret, under penalty of death. Do you understand me?” They nodded dumbly, knowing that the Captain was certainly a reasonable man, but when his orders were given under such dire circumstances, he was not to be questioned.
Yamato felt no pain, yet he knew he was running on adrenaline. He was not so foolhardy as to think himself invulnerable. At the same time, he knew his willpower still stood strong, and as long as that was still in the fight, it wasn’t over. After his furious attack, he entered a defensive stance, tired but ready to counter to the best of his ability at any time necessary.
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Uryuujin
Junior Member
The Raven
Posts: 210
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Post by Uryuujin on Oct 7, 2008 18:07:53 GMT -4
Jerimiah was expecting the blow from above. Then again, he expected the attack to arrive from every conceiveable angle, as well as a few other possibilities. It was rare that any sort of strategy escaped him for long. However, what nearly killed him was the speed at which the blow came, it was....unexpected. Luckily, Jerimiah managed to escape in the nick of time. Literally. As the blow whooshed by his back, the Captain realized how much damage that destructive Espada would have caused had his blow struck. It wasn't pleasent. However, there were other matters to attend to, and now he was glad he had sent his suboordinants away. They would've been crushed. Then the strategist began to think. That blow was powerful, but it didn't connect. That means that he should be at least a teensy bit off balance, which is all I need.Coming up with a few plans in his head, he decided which path he must take to defeat his opponent. He began as soon as the unconnected blow hit the ground in an explosion of sand. Jumping away from his foe, as high as he could, he shouted, "Hadou no Kyuu-Juu(#99), Kurohitsugi!!". Black reiatsu patterns began to appear around his pointed hand, just as his Kido took form, surrounding the opponent in a Black Coffin, and lacerating him with energy 'spears', from head to toe. However, though this would certainly do damage, it was to buy a few moments, which were used wisely. Taking his zanpakuto's hilt in both hands, he shouted, "Houjiru(obey), Karasuhebi Keichou!".And before the Coffin finished dissapating, Jerimiah held a Sickle and chain weapon in his hands. With two white sickle blades attached to small black handles, attached to chains of Black, about 20 feet long from one sickle to another, with more black handles place five feet on either side from sickles, it was a formidable weapon. However, it's 'eyes' were disorienting as well, in most people's opinion. Red and slitted, they each adorned the outside edge of the Sickles on either side, each eye representing their Bankai form. Glittering, the filled one with dread at the imminent bite their fangs would sink into you. Many a foe stood motionless as the terrifying Snake lunged from it's owner and desetroyed them. At the ready, he anticipated the next attack, predicting it's arrival from every direction. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ((O.O.C. From now on, I will refer to him as Drakulya. I like it more that way ^_^)) Drakulya laughed in anticipation as the Shinigami Captain started talking about taking his fight to the next level. I like this one, he's fun to toy with! I may just save him for my Dungeon after all!!All notions of capturing the foe evaporated as flames engulfed him, and the Captain got in all of his increasingly hard blows. How could he have taken me so off guard that I wasn't able to block one!?! The Espada thought furiously. He will pay for this insult!However, before he could exact said payment, he knew he had to recover. This Shinigami had done quite some damage. Luckily, he had prepared for this sort of situation, just as he always did. Unfortunately for the Captain, this would cause some damage to his ranks. Drakulya had landed close enough to where he needed to be after the blows that he almost laughed with glee. He stole over to where he had stashed the still-living Shinigami he had encountered earlier. "Time for a snack, methinks!" The Espada Laughed evilly at his foe, and brought up his right hand, the left holding the weaker Shinigami before him. "Awaken and suffer your doom!" He shouted, and knew there wasn't much time for these theatrics, but they were neccessary. As his victim struggled to semiconsciousness, the Vampiric Espada become impatient. After less than 39 seconds since he recieved his injuries, Drakulya plunged his hand into the chest of the Prisoneer Shinigami. Blood spurted from the wound, drenching the front of his robes, as well as those of his captor. Unfortunately, he was screaming too much to notice. With a gut-wrenching sucking-type sound that put glee into the cruel being's heart, he ripped the still beating organ in question from the chest of his prey. Dropping the still writhing member of the Captian's squad to the ground, Seteku Drakulya turned towards his enemy. "To good leadership!" He laughed, and ate the heart quickly right before his eyes. As he did, his burns began to heal, and the bruises and many of the cuts dissappeared. "Ah!" He sighed, smacking his lips, "Much better!" Though not at 100 percent, he was at least back up to an 80. "I do believe it's your turn, Shinigami Infadel!" Just then, the final death sigh escaped the Heatless Shinigami's throat.
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Oct 7, 2008 19:41:53 GMT -4
As Relampago's blow missed he grunted savagely as both of his huge hands dug deep into the sands of the forever desert, causing a miniature explosion of the sands themselves. This created an almost cascading shell, and it fell away beautifully, showing Relampago Principe standing up slowly, his fists dripping the sand which they hit. His eyes trained in on his foe, the Captain, as he shouted out some spell and the black configurations of the demon art formed around his filthy hand. Dirty Shinagami infadels... he didn't deserve to be crushed by him! But before this train of thought could be completed, the black box of energy surrounded him, and Rela's was quickly sliced by the pure energy spears. The pain shot through him as the box, slightly taller than himself, surrounded him, engulfing him in the darkness. -- Delfini had been watching from a short distance off and suddenly reapeared a few meters behind where the Black Coffin had appeared. Her eyes were of that of worry, as the painful coffin disapeared they were erased for the most part. Standing there, leaned over slightly was in fact Relampago Principe. The right side of his forehead was bleeding so his right eye was closed slightly, and his clothes were torn and he was bleeding from many parts of his body, but overall seemed intact. He coughed up a bit of blood then crouched down slightly, a large paw gripping the handle of his zanpaukuto. Delfini backed up a few steps, but still looking at the Captain. His released zanpaukuto was visible, and it certainly looked deadly. A chain with sickle...with a snake style design. Like Haddad....suddenly, Delfini's longing for her friend grew immediately....what if she didn't see him again? --- "You...you damn infidel!"
Relampago drew his zanpaukuto with his right hand, holding it backwards-style, the blade facing behind him as he held the hilt. After that last kido spell, he felt blood dripping down his face, making his left eye's vision blurry. His side was killing him, as that was the only 'true' direct blow - one of the large needles impaled him slightly. The wound itself was still bleeding freely, staining the Espada's white clothes. Other lascerations scattered his body, tearing and completely removing most of his shirt. It was simply a scrap left, a simple rag from his his pants waist to over his shoulder, revealing his bare muscles and scratches.He clenched his teeth, seeing the snake like style of his foe's chain zanpaukuto. This upset him...was that damn Haddad not snakelike, and Muslim to boot? This upset the Thunder Espada even further. He took a single step at his foe, and extended his left hand. Energy filled the void where his palm was not quite clenched at a rapid pace, taking a grand total of 3 seconds to reach the size of his entire hand, then suddenly it shot out, aimed directly at the captain. Rela's attack, Encender Granada, was sure to make his foe feel like he was having a blast - especial if it hit the fool. Whether it hit or not, after firing that off he slowly began running to where his foe was, then utilized sonido about halfway into his run, reappearing dead in front of his desired target, bring his hand from his right to his left, slashing at the shinagami with alot of force. After that he flexed his fingers on his left hand and punched out swiftly, trying to get in his attacks before the Captain could retaliate with his shikai's abilities, whatever they might be.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 12, 2008 23:57:11 GMT -4
((OOC: Co-post made with Galihan and Zhiel with their respective characters.
I also apologize if there are an unusual amount of little errors, I am stuck using notepad for the moment and the on-site spell checker isn't really good and doesn't pick up excess letters that might accidentally have been hit. No excuses, just telling you why there might be some oddness.))
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Zetsumei charged with the fury of a locomotive, a few measly blows from the staff were not enough to deter him. Even so he did make an effort to whip around them, look down on Umbra or not the other was an Espada and underestimating him could prove fatal if he was too foolish. Then the unexpected happened as one of the blows hit Zetsumei in the chest due to blind luck, no sooner had the blow struck than he continued charging with no signs that it had even hurt though he was now wearing a frown. He took his speed up a couple notches and hit the ground on his knees while bending his body backward, limbo style, as he slid under Umbras horizontal blow. Now right in the face of the other Espada Zetsumei reached up with frightening speed and grasped the other man by the face. He let out a growl and what almost sounded like a bark.
“Bastard...don't you dare make a mockery of me by aiming such pathetic blows in my direction.”
Zetsumei swung around and using the force of his speed slammed both he and Umbra into the nearest wall, full-bodied pushing Umbra deep into the wall. Still giving the other man a deathly stare he pushed off the ground, released Umbras face and performed a back flip. Zetsumeis foot slammed into Umbras chin and sent him upward, tearing a long line in the wall until Umbras upward momentum stopped about thirty meters up and he started coming back down. By now Zetsumei had retreated a few meters and was holding his arms up while growling again.
“I won't enjoy it as much but I will still kill you even if you don't resist properly you foolish bastard!”
Umbra was surprised at how much faster Zetsumei was compared to him, and didn't expect his face being grabbed led alone being dragged though so much wall. It hurt a tiny bit but that was about it, only the kick to the chin actually did any damage worth noticing and him being manhandled that easily was a clear sign to anyone that he was probably outmatched as it was. Umbra's would never be able to hold his own against Zetsumei if he wasn't going to use his zanpakuto properly.
"Such a nuisance," the Cuatro Espada groaned angrily. He looked up below and scoffed at Zetsumei's last remark. "I suppose you're right. this will only drag out if I don't kill you right now, won't it?"
Umbra stood up slowly and brushed the dust and rubble off of his uniform and began spinning his staff over his head very quickly, suddenly holding it at the end and to his side. The long white staff suddenly began to glow a dark shade and the tip of the staff began to dissipate into a cloud of white dust until all that was left was a long, thin blade which Umbra held in his hands. A shadowy energy hummed from the sharpened edge that seemed to burn the very spirit particles in the air that touched it.
"This is what my zanpakuto really looks like, Zetsumei, this sword of mine will destroy you."
Umbra burst towards Zetsumei with great speed, and swung the large blade at the Dos Espada, causing a tiny vacuum of empty space around the blade. Zetsumei managed to dodge the swing but Umbra did not stop, continually swinging and hacking away until finally a hit was landed, a shallow cut across Zetsumei's chest that sent a painful chill through the receiver's body. That shallow cut would not be able to stop bleeding for a while as that was the nature of Umbra's zanpakuto, what it cuts stays cut. It was weird like that, almost like a shinigami's in that it being drawn could resemble a first release unlike other Arrancar swords. Not that it actually was a first release though, because it's staff form was just the sword in it's sheath, this was the blade itself.
"Does it not hurt, Zetsumei?" Umbra called out. "Does it not send sharp pain throughout your entire body, tempting you to beg for forgiveness and hope that I'll kill you soon? If not then you will soon after I run you through!"
“Haha, really now?”, Zetsumei cackled as he dodged backward. He landed a ways back and then held his hand out to his side, cracking his knuckles in the process.
“YOU!!!” He threw his hand up, “THINK!!!” it began glowing a bright red.
“TO HIGHLY OF YOURSELF!!!”
A massive cero shot out of Zetsumei's hand, ceros were his specialty and even his most basic one was a class above most. It was lucky the fight had moved them a bit because the giant red shot crushed everything it came in contact with and it had only missed the other group who was now fighting by a few feet. Umbra managed to dodge at the last second knowing he could not take the blast straight on and so had been forced to cease his rushing offense. When they made eye contact again Zetsumei was smiling and both his hands were now glowing red.
“Come on then! Don't disappoint...back up those words!”
A flurry of bala were fired at Umbra who was forced to dodge rapidly. A few of the bala came close and showered him in debris though he managed to avoid a directly blow until the very end. One of the red spheres came blowing through the dust that was now blocking his vision and hit him dead center. Fortunately he had been holding his zanpaktou and with a clean blow cleaved the energy in half, however he soon found it had bought the time it was meant to.
Zetsumei appeared in a flash hovering over Umbra and sporting a huge grin, the cuatro espadas quick eyes spotted that Zetsumei was now wielding his zanpaktou as well. However unlike most fighters he held it to his side as if he had no need to be defensive, Zetsumei reared back and brought his blade down on his foe, the cuatro espada just managing to meet the blow with his own zanpaktou. The burst of pressure this caused cleared all the dust in an instant, Umbra received a light bit of damage from being on the underside of the attack and was currently deadlocked with Zetsumei who continued to use his elevation to press down on Umbra, attempting to shatter the mans block.
The pressure behind Zetsumei's attack was massive and fast and would have been overwhelming to the average person. After a prolonged deadlock Umbra's guard eventually broke and received a strong blow digging deep into his shoulder not very far from his neck, while at the same time giving Umbra an opening for his own powerful attack. The moment after Zetsumei finished his attack Umbra swung his long sword in a large upward horizontal swing that hit Zetsumei right in the middle of his stomach, throwing him all the way across the large room into the wall behind him leaving a trail of blood in the air.
Umbra raised his free hand and began charged a ball of red energy in the palm of his hand, firing a large cero into the cloud of dust and debris where Zetsumei was sent flying. It only wasn't until after the red flash of energy subsided that he hunched over, holding his shoulder and neck.
"Damn," he uttered quietly. "What will it take to kill this guy?"
He coughed up a bit of blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He raised his blade in anticipation of Zetsumei launching some sort of counterattack, and surely the unmistakable sound of a cero being charged could be heard and another flash of red energy came back at the cuatro espada, which was knocked away by Umbra's zanpakuto, but suddenly he sensed the presence of the enemy behind him, and a half-dozen bala pelted him in the back.
"Your speed is remarkable," Umbra complimented. "But you'll need more than speed if you want to kill me!"
Umbra raised his hand, dripping in blood from his shoulder wound, and in it formed a large blue ball of destructive energy. He turned around and launched a very powerful attack at Zetsumei.
"GRAN RAY CERO!"
The smile faded from Zetsumeis face as he detected the formation of the Gran Rey Cero though it wasn't the look of defeat, more the look of simply taking things more seriously. The blue energy rushed toward Zetsumei, the short distance between them gave him no real time to dodge and he soon found himself encompassed, the Gran Rey Cero blinding the room like a miniature sun. The massive blast passed through the wall that had been behind him, the wall didn't break apart or send debris flying, the strength of a Gran Rey Cero was so absolute the wall simply ceased to exist.
A whirling wind kicked up but the scene cleared relatively quickly and as it did so Umbra couldn't help but be both a bit angered and startled by what he saw. Zetsumei stood in the middle of the blast zone with his zanpaktou stabbed into the ground before him and his hands raised in a block before his face. Smoke rolled off his entire body and his arms were burned a bright red, obviously having been utilized to receive the attack. Like a machine being overheated he slowly rolled his neck for a moment before throwing his arms to his side and casting a questioning look at Umbra.
“Did you think my only skill was in speed?”
He immediately appeared in front of Umbra but was several feet off the ground as he began to spin. One well placed air-kick managed to scratch the very tip of Umbras nose but the Cuatro espada was already leaning backwards. Zetsumei leveled multiple kicks at his opponent as he spun mid-air, sweeping his legs over his opponent with Umbra just managing to lean backward in time to dodge each before he was almost bent completely parallel to the ground.
Zetsumei hit the ground instantly, despite having dodged the attacks Umbra had put himself in quite the open position and as Zetsumei performed a sweeping kick he took the espadas already uneven footing out from underneath him, a normal persons legs would no doubt have broken under the pressure. Placing one leg on the ground Zetsumei shot upward, performed a spin and brought his hand back as he fell down at Umbra, obviously intending to crush the man. In near tandem Umbra launched off the ground, his head passing just below Zetsumeis feet as the other man came down and impacted with the ground. The blow sent out a shock wave and the sinking pressure forced a huge crater into the tile floor where Umbra had been moments earlier.
Using the opportunity Umbra rocketed off down the trail he had cut into the building moments earlier with the Gran Rey Cero. By the time Zetsumei had righted himself his adversary was already disappearing into the darkness beyond the wall. Zetsumei momentarily cocked his head while observing the situation and then ran after the man. Along the way he ripped his zanpaktou which had still been in the ground up without stopping and placed it on his shoulder. He had the man on the run, he was going to win now. Zetsumei was not particularly familiar with Umbras abilities but he did know it had to do with darkness and consented that he was probably heading into his opponents home territory. However Zetsumei didn't believe in backing off, particularly when he had the enemy retreating and more over he had no respect for the Cuatro espada and even began cat-calling.
“Come out, come out wherever you are little blue boy!”
Zetsumei walked around for a bit, his eyes squinting into what he could not help feel was an unnaturally thick darkness. Had he not been an espada he would have died a few moments later as he hit the ground hard and something large passed over his head, he spun on his back break-dance style and tried to launch himself up to retaliate when he once more felt a large presence. This time though there was no way for him to dodge the attack mid-air and he was hit hard by what he could now see was a large clawed hand. He flew across what appeared to be a large hallway though the darkness made it hard to tell and hit the wall, skidding along its length for several meters before sliding to the ground. However he had no time to account for possible wounds and launched into the air once more as he hopped back a ways, though he could not see the follow-up attack it seemed to be energy based as he heard the area he had just been in be pummeled by a group of shots. Zetsumei readied his blade and tried to squint into the darkness.
“This is my true form Zetsumei.” Umbra remarked in a slightly more booming voice than usual.
A large figure came to loom over the Dos espada and as his eyes became a bit more accustomed to the darkness he saw Umbras resurrection for the first time. With massive armored claws and arms, a longer mask and a near invisibly dark body in the lightless hallway it had to be admitted Zetsumei had not expected such a combat like form from the man. He had no time for such contemplations though as Umbra immediately began trying to tear his apart with his claws in an unnaturally aggressive fashion, only Zetsumei speed allowed him to parry the blows. However in this form Umbras strength had definitely skyrocketed over Zetsumeis and for the first time since the match began he was finding it hard to make out openings with which to send his own attacks.
That was when he was clipped in the back during one ill-fated dodge and sent flying across the room with a large gash in his back. He immediately stood but that blow had caused some pain and to make matters worse he could swear the darkness was getting even more difficult to see through, he attributed it to Umbras powers which he had heard of but had no experience with. He darted from wall to wall and though he couldn't see him the sound of Umbra crashing into the walls himself echoed closely behind, several times he was clipped by energy blast though they were so dark he had trouble seeing them as well, luckily the smaller ones which had been all that had found their mark so far were of little trouble to one his strength. While thinking about this he noted that the air around him seemed to be saturated with energy, it was only upon this revelation that he took into account that Umbra had not attacked for about the past three seconds...and thats when the dark blue circle that had been blocking Zetsumeis vision was released and he only had a few moments to think the situation through.
The sombracero had not been at its full power yet but it had been more than powerful enough to eliminate someone who had been in as prone a position as Zetsumei had been. Umbra walked forward to see what had become of his opponent, despite passing with little flare due to the sombraceros relative darkness it had still completely stripped the hallway of its tiles. The hallway was still dark and the anticlaro was quickly saturating the air with its darkness once more but for a few moments it was easier to see than before. Umbra was about to take another step forward when he walked through a wispy cloud and stopped dead in his tracks, he now stood face to face with a massive monster who had armor as thick as his but was a hundred times uglier. Umbra barely had time to scoff in disbelief before the Zetsumei hollow let out a bellowing roar and tackled him to the ground where he pummeled Umbra in the face several times before the Cuatro espada was able to throw him off and get back to his feet. Zetsumeis own resurrection it seemed turned him into a large armored rock like golem of a creature and as Umbra spit a little blood on the ground he could attest to the fact that his strength had gone up to equally great levels.
“That ugly thing is you huh?” He taunted.
“That pathetic thing is you huh?” Zetsumei rumbled back, sounding more like a gurgle than a voice.
Umbra launched at Zetsumei, intent on breaking him as quickly as possible since the grounds had once more been evened out a bit and he couldn't chance being soft on him. However it was at that moment he found that despite his large bulky shape Zetsumei had retained his speed, more yet it had not just been retained, it was greater. After-image trailed behind Zetsumei as he moved and though Umbra launched as many small sombracero as he could manage none of them made their mark as the giant danced around them in an sort of twitch. A massive fist came straight for his face but luckily Umbras own strength was greater at the moment and he caught the fist in his own claws, taking the chance to strike with a free claw once the forward momentum of the strike had been lost. Zetsumei was thinking the same thing though and as Umbra got hit hard in the gut Zetsumei got smacked in the face and they both went flying, trailing black blood behind them.
Before either of them had hit the ground they had both righted themselves and were back at each others throats trading heavy blows. Unfortunately for Umbra he might have possessed similar strength but it was becoming clearer that Zetsumei had tougher skin and much greater speed. In the short term it might not have been great enough to be fatal but attempting to stand toe to toe with him and having no backup to take the fire away from him was going to turn what was currently a war of attrition into a loss very soon. Realizing this Umbra began pulling back, trying to land sombracero strikes and trading physical blows as a purely defensive gesture. It worked for a time keeping Zetsumei away and striking some blows but they were mostly superficial, Umbra on the other hand was quickly draining his energy and within the next minute Zetsumei was striking closer and closer with less resistance each time.
Then it failed and Zetsumei landed his first strike, knocking the air right out of Umbras gut. No sooner had he made the effective strike than he began an all out assault on the opening it created, punching into Umbras open chest so quickly that he looked like one giant blur of motion and arcs of blood began shooting out of the other espadas chest. Zetsumei reared back for one large blow and Umbra who was still in the fight made one final attempt to hold the blows off him for a bit so that he could recover. He held his hand up and a extremely powerful sombracero launched down the hall and hit Zetsumei point blank, the first had hardly left his hand when the next fired and then another.
Umbra received a world shattering blow against the side of his head and was sent flying. He dipped in and out of consciousness several times but he knew that he passed through at least one wall and was now under the harsh white light most of the Las Noches halls were in. Then with instinctive skill only someone who had been in a thousand battles could muster he brought his body up and held his hands out, catching a massive fist moments before it had come out on him. Pain shot through his body as he looked up at the looming figure above him, only now did he realize he had reverted back to his arrancar form after falling unconscious but the thought was in the back of his mind, his head was spinning and a loud squeal filled his ears, he could hardly focus on Zetsumei. The other espada had done well until the very end, he had been hurt but avoided fatal injuries and then in his last moments Umbra had delivered a triple hit, the first blast had wiped out all defenses and the following strikes had torn Zetsumei apart. He was now bleeding all over his body and from the slightly lopsided gait he walked with it seemed he was not far from falling himself. He remained focused though and took the time to raise Umbra up who could no longer fight back and began slugging him in the skull time after time with his other hand before pulling back and delivering one final punch to his forehead before letting go, allowing Umbra to fly across the room and slam into the floor where he no longer moved.
“Better than I anticipated.” Zetsumei said his voice returning to normal.
By the time he stood over Umbra once more he to had returned to his arrancar state though he had done so of his own will. In this form he looked even more battered than before, blood actively dripping off of him, one particular spout almost made it impossible to keep his one visible eye open. Still with Umbra immobile the match was decided and Zetsumei produced his blade and raised it above his head.
“But now it is over...”
He made a swift cut and intended to cleave Umbras neck, there was a loud clang and the blade stopped only a foot from its target. Zetsumeis vision gently wafted up the hand which had stopped the blade from its appointed task and deadlocked his vision with that of Torres. The woman was missing most of her armor and still bleeding from the chest but compared to them both was in good shape and her eyes were still lucid with no sluggishness to her reactions. Despite her calm personality one could not mistake the look in her eyes right now for anything but anger and annoyance.
“Not today Zetsumei.” She said.
“Now, now...I won fair and square. I'll finish him and then we can duke it out...not very honorable stopping our match at the end.” Zetsumei sounded a bit drunk as he spoke, likely losing so much blood was starting to effect even an Espada.
“I have no time for honor today.” Torre said coldly.
Zetsumeis eyes bulged and he released a great heave as the air was forced out of his lungs before he spit up a mass of blood. Torre had hit him hard in the gut and proceeded to pull her arm back several times and slam into him several more times, each time he heaved blood and there was the unmistakable crunch of some thing or things breaking within him. She then forced her arm up, tossing him into the air and placed both her hands on the hilt of her massive zanpaktou. She spun around rapidly and for the first time in ages struck an opponent with the killing edge of her blade, a massive gash immediately appeared in along Zetsumeis chest, a wound not even one of his level could survive and he went flying across the room. Whether out of spite, anger or simply having had enough Torre raised her arm without and second thought and it rippled with purple energy. Multiple purple ceros fired from her hand and encompassed the flying Zetsumei before they all hit the nearest wall together and in one great moment of destruction the entire structure collapsed on top of him.
Torre watched for a long time but nothing moved, nor would anything move until the area was cleaned up many days from now. Confident that Zetsumei would not be coming back to life again Torre turned around and for the first time since deciding to make her escape a facial expression of concern played across her. She turned around and ran back toward Umbra but she immediately spotted something was wrong with the body as she got close.
“Umbra! Umbra are you alright? -” As she moved above him she looked down in surprise, “What in the world?”
Laying at her feet was a small boy, no more than thirteen wrapped in clothing far to large for his body. Regardless, with his facial features, the light blue tint of his skin and what remained of his mask there could be no doubt that whatever had just happened this was Galihan Umbra.
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Akabane wasted no time and the moment the Espada had begun their own battle the little kitten opened fire. The sides of his body opened up like flaps letting off heat and a blast of red hot cero fire shot from his mouth, more than large enough to compete with any other hollow. Most of the Exequias were not taken aback whether it had surprised them or not and darted from the path of the blow, however one found himself completely encompassed and ceased to exist while another who had been watching the Espada found himself missing an arm.
By the time the Exequias retaliated Akabane was long gone and could not be found amid the dust the cero had kicked up. Meanwhile four of the attackers made their way toward Jessica, two began launching bala at a fast rate (not as fast as we have seen Espada do it) while the other two charged forward. Just as they were about to cross-slash her while the other two kept her from retaliating the pitter-patter of quick feet sounded out beneath them and recognizing what it was they both looked to see Akabane running at full speed out of the dust and jumping into the air. He pulled into a tight ball and began spinning rapidly as he dashed for the first Exequias, there was no time to respond and he hit the man hard in the face.
Below the rest of the Exequias having spotted Akabane began circling the duo. Akabane placed his feet on the Exequias whom he had struck and was still falling through the air, his light form more than capable of using the body as a platform and he launched toward the other Exequias who had been about to physically attack Jessica. The other two original attackers continued firing bala at the girl while several of the others began launching their own energy attacks at the kitten, willing to hit their own comrade in the process. Jessica glanced towards Umbra and the other espada one last time before turning her attention fully towards the strangely clothed Exequias, just in time for Akabane to make his move. When the cat hollow shot away his cero, which by no means were small it was easy to see the shocked surprise on Jessica's face, however she quickly recovered as she felt the familiar sensation of bala's heading her way. It was more reaction than actual planned defense, but Jessica swiftly drew her longsword styled Zanpakutou, angling it to intercept the first bala as a light green glow enveloped the blade, and when the bala hit it seemed to simply "poof" away, then she continued to shift the sword around to block all incoming bala, though at the same time those who were paying attention would notice how energy was slowly being built up in her left hand which she held behind her form.
However the Exequias were closing in and they would soon attack her close up, which was most likely were their strength laid, unlike for Jess. Although now she was prepared, having drained and gathered the reiatsu of all the bala shot towards her she had about the amount necessary for a regular cero now, but with their expertise she would need to strike at the right time. Just then Akabane came shooting out of the dust cloud his cero had formed, striking one of the Exequias straight in the face before using the unfortunate arrancars falling body as a platform to jump towards another of the four attackers, all that was left for Jess now was the two who were shooting bala at her.
"Geez you guys are annoying... If you like your balas' so much I will return them!" Jess yelled towards the two as she thrust her left hand forward, a globe of light green reiatsu the size of a head being held by her hand, just moments before the latest bala burst were about to hit her bala's of her own began to rapidly be shot from the sphere, hitting the Exequias own balas', but it did not stop there as balas began to rain after the Exequias, being shot from the sphere like a Gatling gun, however it became obvious the sphere was shrinking the more Jess shot. After firing about half of the energy from the sphere she stopped, partially due to the cloud of dust now covering parts of the area. She raised her sword again and took a defensive pose, though she doubted they could have survived that bala hail she would not take the chance.
As expected the two ranged exequias had been unable to raise a defense against the bala storm Jessica had fired, one was laying motionless in a series of craters and though the other was moving he was doing so slowly and in a dazed fashion, he would not be up to fight for a long while. Above the other Exequias had drawn his blade and was attempting to hit the small kitten while a plethora of balas peppered the air around them. Unfortunately for him Akabane was proving adept at reading his movements and mimicked his movements every-time the exequias changed the direction of his blade, once he met the blades velocity he would place his feet on the actual edge and utilize it to bound off and around the Exequias. Akabane spun again and hit this espada in the face as well, he had not carried as much force behind it as before but it was enough to throw the man off balance and moments later the "friendly" balas enveloped him.
Akabane took this chance and rode out the flurry by staying behind the exequias body which acted as a shield. The man shook with seizure like movements both from the constant beating of the energy blast but also as the life left his body. Confident they had wiped him out the exequias ceased their attacks and the body with Akabane on the back fell toward the ground, by that point there wasn't much left of the front. Then just before hitting the ground the exequias who were switching their focus to Jessica got a rude awakening, Akabane launched from behind the man and his body began glowing bright red again, however when he fired this time the cero that exited shot out as several smaller arcing shots instead of a single large blast and enveloped three of the waiting exequias.
When the dust cleared at least two of them were down, the remainder made him their first target and began firing or chasing after him. However Akabane began running, first at a trot but quickly picking up speed. Soon the white fire the always burned beneath his skin was flaring out behind him like a miniature jet engine as he sped around and took a large circular path around Jessica and back toward several of the Exequias who were also charging toward him.
After making sure the two Exequias would pose no further threat Jessica turned her attention towards the cat hollow and the Exequias fighting above her, Akabane avoiding the arrancars attacks with precise movements that showed true expertise and skill, to Jessica is looked pretty amazing, even if it looked a bit weird when done by a cat. However not before long Akabane countered, hitting the arrancar into the bala that the arrancars "friends" were firing towards the two, it was obvious they were becoming desperate, even risking their own comrades life to defeat them. Knowing Akabane could handle himself Jessica began to focus the energy she had gathered from the two arrancar she had defeated, condensing it while also adding her own reiatsu to the mix.
In the meantime Akabane were using the rather unfortunate Exequias as a barricade from the others balas', and once they had stopped firing and the now dead arrancar had fallen to the floor, the Exequias changing their focus to her Jess couldn't help but smile as the tiny form of Akabane burst forth from behind the arrancars torn corpse as he fired yet another reiatsu blast, this being different from your regular cero and managed to surprise three of the remaining Exequias, killing at least two of them and injuring the third badly. With only a handful of Exequias left the kitten hollow began to run around the room, getting the Exequias to chase him, just what Jess needed.
Drawing on as much power she could hold Jess was enhancing the reiatsu sphere she held tightly in her grasp, causing it to grow larger as red energy began to swirl inside its green mass. When Akabane made his round trip Jessica saw the opportunity to fire, waiting for him to rust towards the charging Exequias she then thrust both her hands forward, releasing a massive cero that was bursting with condensed power from both half the bala she had absorbed and her own rather large supply, it was traveling nearly a meter above the ground, with a very wide area being covered by it, so dodging would be the easiest way to avoid it, but that was were Akabane was. She were hoping the cat hollow would see the opportunity.
The blast seared the air and cut a straight line for the four remaining Exequias. They all saw it coming but the width made it hard to dodge no matter how far you had been away, in the end one of them managed to jump to the side and hit the floor hard while the other who was still in good shape ducked in time for the blast to pass him over. The other two were not as lucky, one was hit full-bodied and was soon picked up and taken away. The other was far more grisly, having attempted to duck but failing to make it in time his head had been swallowed by the energy and when the blast cleared his body remained but his head did not and his whole form slowly collapsed to the ground.
The remaining two readied themselves, the viciousness and speed with which Jessice and Akabane had torn them apart would have been enough to surprise anyone. The more prepared of the two peered through the haze and was able to spot Jessicas larger form, he let out a howl and raised his hand bringing a large amount of reiatsu to his palm where upon he launched a huge cero that was impressive for his rank, no doubt fueled by anger and desperation it sailed straight for its target with incredible speed.
The other exequias tried to raise up but it was an exercise in futility, with the cero having been so high from the ground Akabane had charged right under it never losing speed. By the time the Exequias who at this range Akabane thought with amusement was the very first one he had hit and taken the arm of, had risen to a crouching position the small kitten hollow was upon him. Still flaming and carrying the full force of his charge Akabane slammed into his gut and took the man off the ground, after sailing several meters into the air Akabane performed a spin and delivered a vicious down "kick" with the back half of his body and the man hit the ground with the force of a comet. Though he might live to fight another day he was quite unconscious and bleeding from the wound he had just received when the strike broke through his skin, having finished Akabane sat down and his reiatsu reduced dramatically, if one listened closely he was now purring contently and flicking his tail while watching Jessica.
Though she did not enjoy battle or killing, she could only smile as she felt the cero connect with two of the four remaining Exequias. She had always hated the masked killers, and these were a big question mark to her, but they were still Exequias of some kind, and that was enough for her. Having glimpsed one of the Exequias escape to the side of the wide cero Jessica pulled her sword from the stone tile she had placed it in and slowly made her way towards where she had last seen the enemy, the area being covered by even more dust from the huge cero she had fired.
Jessica snapped her head in the direction of a sudden howl coming slightly to her right as she saw the form of the Exequias charge a cero that he then fired at her a second later, fueling it with his anger and desperation, making it grow big and dangerous. Unfortunately for the masked killer Jessica was a specialist as defending against reiatsu attacks. "You never learn," She began as she twirled her sword around in her hand for a second before she thrust it forward straight into the cero as green energy began to envelop it and forming a shield in-front of Jess. "Do you?" She then finished as the cero swiftly grew dimmer and finally seemed to become absorbed into the zanpakutou.
Now the little girl arrancar held another green sphere in her left hand, however this one was different from the other one, it was a lot more condensed and was still stronger than all the balas combined. Jess was about to say something, but then just looked at the sphere she held for a moment before she tossed it towards the other arrancar, causing a cero identical to the one the Exequias had shot at her to appear. With only a few moments to dodge the Exequias shot to the side, only to be greeted by the sharp end of Jessicas longsword stabbing into the side of his chest, the arrancar stared in disbelief for a second before he collapsed as Jessica pulled the sword out, swiping the blood off it and re-sheathing it. The girl arrancar let out a sigh as she wiped a bit of blood of her left cheek.
[glow=black,1,300]"Well then shall let us wait for them to return..."[/glow] Akabane spoke from behind her and Jessica who was still a little wound up whipped around to look at him, though it was clear she now understood what he was it was still an odd situation and she chose not to speak.
It was at that moment that Umbra came flying through a nearby wall and collapsed to the ground, Zetsumei soon followed and the events detailed above played out. Upon Torres appearance Jessica appeared concerned and Akabane simply cocked his head, his emotions unreadable. After Torre had disposed of Zetsumei they both approached and after a momentary look at Umbra themselves turned to her.
[glow=black,1,300]"Shall we be going?[/glow] Torre whipped around and looked at Akabane inquisitively for a moment before speaking, "Your talking again?"
[glow=black,1,300]"Today seems a day for change, I figure, why not?[/glow] After a moment Torre smiled at him and then nodded, she bent down and gently picked up the small boy Umbra before righting herself. She looked around and found the children who had remained down and seemed to have suffered under the incredible spirit pressures that had been used but were miraculously still alive, she eventually got their attention and they all headed out to continue their escape.
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Just as the white bolt was closing in on Asmodeus a white cloaked figure moved in front of the bolt. It was struck head on by the attack and due to the captains strength there was no time to even evaluate who or what it had been, certainly it had been an arrancar but it had thrown its life away freely now. As soon as Asmodeus landed he was surrounded by three more of the same cloaked figures but it was obvious they were not hostile to him.
"My lord, we have found the traitor, as you suspected the children are with her." One of them said.
"Fool!" spat Asmodeus, "Could you not have been more subtle?" he paused, "Very well I shall go eliminate her and the children, there will be no victory for them here."
He raised his hand at Nekomi, "I was going to wait for your weapon to reach a high enough heat but since we no longer have any time I hope you find this fun."
A globe which he had used in the past to strengthen his abilities appeared in Asmodeus hand and quickly began glowing bright white with intense heat. The globe exploded and before any explanation could be given an intense fire rushed outward and lit the fumes that filled the room on fire, there was no time to react and everything became explosive fury in the next few moments. Yun managed to reach one of the many trees in time for the flames to pass, they licked at him but as it turned out they had been more of a deterrent than anything else as even direct contact wouldn't have caused heavy damage to a Captain.
When the fires cleared the room was charred black and most of the trees were gone along with much of the water which had been burned off or exploded itself thanks to the chemicals within. The only color that stood out against this were the three hooded figures that had remained behind and were no doubt Asmodeus followers, the Espada himself was now gone. However after a moment of silence his voice echoed out from an indeterminate location.
"It was fun shinigami but I have important matters to attend to...win or lose you will never catch up in time to save the children which I know are your objective."
Yun grimaced and in front of him the three followers fell back into fighting positions. They had no chance, in a single flash Yun sent two of them flying across the room in opposite directions and grasped the third by the throat whom he held up at arms length. The hood fell back to expose a rather normal looking man with short black hair, his face was definitely full of surprise but he said nothing and only grunted. Yun turned to look behind him.
"You ok Nekomi?" He called out, as soon as he got an answer he turned back to his captive.
"Your going to tell me whats going on...now."
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Death sat cross legged upon what appeared to be the remains of a wall in the middle of the war zone where he and Torre had fought taking long drags on a loose hanging cigarette. His eyes were wondering vaguely as if he didn't have a care in the world. He only spared a young girl who had cerulean hair and had the same face as her sisters a moments pause before returning to his thoughts, she came up to him and after a moment spoke.
"Are you ok?"
"Are you kidding?", he couldn't help but carry a bit of disbelief at the thought that he would have been injured. After a moment he spoke, "What happened to your sisters?"
"They aren't talking about it...I assume that means they lost."
Death giggled a moment, "As expected."
"Was it ok to let the tres espada go?"
"Of course...it was after all the plan."
"Will she be able to defeat him?" This girl seemed to know more than others.
"Of that I have no doubt. I only delivered one hard strike to rile her up a bit, this is after all little more than our first appearance, after that first strike I just toyed with her to keep her busy. Plus, she has some secrets of her own...he won't stand a chance." For the first time Death turned to the girl and smiled, one couldn't help but notice the girl perked up immediately upon receiving attention. "Come now, we have a few more things to do before this is over..."
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Post by SamuraiFoochs on Oct 18, 2008 14:59:01 GMT -4
Yamato felt himself seethe as he saw Drakulya use that perverse method of healing himself. A valuable life, so carelessly, disgustingly discarded. He stopped, all the fire around him suddenly vanishing. The fire seemed to transfer up to his eyes, however, and as he spoke, a quiet madness tinged his voice. “You will regret that, filthy Espada. With that foolish decision, you have completely sealed your fate. I have no sympathy for Hollow in general, and even less sympathy for disgusting parasites. You may have noticed that I’m a little unusual compared to the other Shinigami you’ve faced so far. Well, at least if they were of Captain class. You may say to yourself, ‘Why hasn’t he used his Bankai yet? He has it, doesn’t he? Why is he holding back?’ Well, I’ll answer all three of those questions for you Yes, I do have Bankai. Yes, I have been holding back on you. You may ask yourself why. To answer that question would require a million different words, but the short explanation is simply that I don’t trust myself enough to hold back in Bankai, and I’m concerned about collateral damage. I have never used my Bankai in battle. That is…until now.”
Yamato turned to his subordinates and uttered a single, strict word. “Run.” They obeyed, flashing out of sight instantly. Yamato grinned almost evilly at Drakulya. “You may want to tell yours to run too. I can’t guarantee they won’t be incinerated, even in the transformation. I’ll do my best to rein it in, but, well. No guarantees.” Suddenly, the gauntlets disappeared from Yamato’s hands and feet, and in his hands again was the normal looking sealed Zanpakutou. Yamato swished the blade in the air ornately before speaking again. “I told myself when I first gained this power that I would only use it on two occasions. One, I would use it in cases of utmost survival. Yet I’m not quite sure if I need to fear you that much yet, Espada. So then what is the second reason? Why am I unleashing my Bankai in battle for the first time ever if I’m not terribly afraid for my life? The simple answer is that I wish to destroy you. Rage, pure and primal, is the second reason I allowed myself for the unleashing of my Bankai. And you have filled me with that rage. I congratulate you, Drakulya, for being more utterly repugnant and terrifying than any Hollow I have yet encountered. Prepare yourself for eternity, because now…now my gloves come off!”
The Zanpakutou in Yamato’s hand burst into flames. The hilt was untouched, and Yamato spun it rapidly in his hands, resulting in the appearance of a wheel of flame a few inches from his face. A frenzied scream issued from him his he stopped spinning the blade, holding it in front of him with both hands. Suddenly, he shouted the words he had said only once before. "End it all. Burn with the brightest fires of my soul! BANKAI! Vulcanus Veritas!"
The Captain was instantly consumed by a column of flame. Nothing was visible as the air around them seemed to be utterly incinerated by the terrifying release of reiatsu. For several seconds, the flames remained, until slowly but surely, the flames dissipated. There the Captain stood, proud and tall, encased in red-orange armor, with no helmet and a long, black mantle flowing from the back. The gauntlets had returned, looking more vicious than ever. Standing still for a few seconds, Yamato flashed a wild grin. “That’s better, much better. Now the real fight begins!”
He flashed forward, faster than ever before, and simply landed a brutal knee to the gut, followed by the most crushing uppercut he could manage. He was unsure whether or not his foe would dodge, and so he stepped back slightly before shouting, “Form Switch! Vulcanus Aurum!” Almost instantly, a massive broadsword was in the Captain’s hands, replacing the gauntlets. He moved forward again, more slowly now, but still with near blinding speed, and swung at where he imagined his foe would be. A massive wave of flame jetted in the form of the slash, planning to catch Drakulya in the torrent of flame.
Yamato dodged back slightly again, taking a defensive stance, and preparing to survey the damage done by his as yet mysterious Bankai…
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Uryuujin
Junior Member
The Raven
Posts: 210
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Post by Uryuujin on Oct 19, 2008 16:48:57 GMT -4
It took all of the Vampiric Espada's willpower to keep from laughing in joy during the Shinigami's little speach about his motives. Finally, things will get interesting! he thought, as his foe ordered his suboordinates to flee. He gestured, and a group of his Fraccion went to capture them and bring them back to their Master, to serve as their comrade had not too long ago. However, his happiness was dulled by the following transformation. Activating Bankai, the Shinigami was bathed in a pillar of fire, hot enough for even Drakulya to hop back a few yards. Noticing his servants nearby he told them in a word to hide nearby and prepare to serve in the ultimate manner. Then, the Infadel revealed his new Gauntlets, for an instant. Then he nearly dissapeared. Taking a heavy knee to the gut, Drakulya barely had time to knock the Shinigami's arm aside and dodge to escape most of the Uppercut's damage, though it still glance off his shoulder with Tremendous force. DAMN! he grimaced internally, retreating farther back. But not quick enough. The Infadel had transformed his Weapon into a Broadsword, and swung at the fleeing Sexta Espada, an arc of flame erupting from the blade, burning him. Seteku landed, on a knee and looking up at his enemy. "Well then. Seems now's the time to step it up a bit" he said calmly. However, on the inside, where none could ever see, a gnawing worry began to come into being. Quelling that entity, Seteku stood and put his left hand in his pocket. Luckily his pants had survived relatively unscathed, though everything above the waist was in tatters. Only the Cape, which was part of the Espada himself, in a way, remained. The number 6 was elegantly tatooed on his chest, above his heart. In the center of his chest the Hollow's signature hole gaped. "Tell me, Shinigami Infadel" The Espada said. Then he dissapeared, only to reappear at his side, his right clawed hand swooping down from the right to the left, knowing it would be blocked. "How much damage can you withstand?!?" he shouted in his face, and pulled his hand out of his pocket. Where he had been charging a Grande Cero. Pointing his Cyan-green covered hand at the Shinigami, he fired. ------------------------------------------------ Jerimiah knew how this battle would end, should that blast hit him. And he didn't like how that would go. Dying wasn't on his schedule for today. Therefore, he jumped straight up in the air at the last moment, letting the blast pass below him before returning to the ground, excatly where he had been before. Not the best of choices. The Espada's chop glanced off his chest and cut a gash, luckily not too deep, into his skin, and barely avoided being crushed by his fist. Damn he's fast! Jerimiah chose another path of attack. Jumping up and foreward, he attempted to wrap the chain of his Zanpakuto around Relampelago's neck, hoping to strangle his enemy. However, he was sure that just trying to strangle the Espada would be a waste of time and Effort. Therefore, after landing, he swung the Right blade in a horizontal arc towards his foe. "Shimeru! (Constrict!)" he shouted, and the red eye flashed. Speeding toward's the opponent's breathing, it would dig itself as deep into the enemy as possible and constrict them quickly, unless they were fast enough to escape. Meanwhile, Jerimiah began muttering under his breath.
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Post by SamuraiFoochs on Nov 1, 2008 2:06:16 GMT -4
(OOC: So f'in sorry this took so long, but here it is. Hope I didn't take too much liberty, Uryuujun. Don't worry, I'll take some shots in return. =P)
Yamato smiled as he saw the blue-green cero charging in his foe’s hand. Wordlessly, he quickly switched to the gauntlet form, needing the speed that the form would grant him. As the cero prepared to fire, Yamato flashed behind his foe and allowed him to fire, letting Drakulya think that he had incinerated him with the blast. With a grin, he shouted “Way of Destruction 54, Abolishing Flames!” The cero and the flames commingled in torrent of destruction, and Yamato didn’t hesitate to continue his attack. Yamato was sure that the flames had only grazed his foe at best, but he knew that he’d still be distracted, and so he flashed towards his foe again from behind, aiming a flying forward kick square at the middle of the Espada’s back. Counting on a hit that would send the Arrancar flying through the air, Yamato flashed to the front of his opponent again, intending to grab him by the throat and slam him viciously into the ground. Once again counting on a successful execution that would hopefully leave his foe stunned and choking, gasping for air, Yamato calmly began speaking.
“This, Drakulya, is my Bankai. This is the only time that Vulcanus Veritas has been released in a true battle, though a few others have seen it. More specifically, my honorable Commander General, and only three of my fellow Captains.” Yamato casually switched to the sword form again, dragging it lazily across the ground, hoping to strike some fear into his stunned enemy with the metallic scraping. “The Veritas Switch is nearly impossible to follow, even for one of your strength. The only one to date fast enough to follow the switch in this form was my Commander, and neither of us could hope to fathom his power.”
“So, Espada, how’s it feel? How does it feel to temporarily be unable to breathe, unable to move? A lesser foe would have had their trachea ripped from their throat, their neck snapped, or both at once by that attack, yet you are simply winded and stunned, albeit profoundly so. I congratulate you on your inspired imitation of a cockroach, Espada.” He laughed madly, but then smiled, suddenly cool, calm, collected, and resolute again.
“They told me I’d be nothing. They told me from square one that ‘A crippled Shinigami is as good as a dead one.’ But I struggled. I persevered. I was driven. I killed Hollow after pathetic Hollow, merely searching for that next little shred of power.”
He ran his fingers through his hair instinctively, dirtying his hair from the debris, cuts, and burns that were all over his hands from the chaotic struggle. The sword felt heavier in his hands than the gauntlets had, and while he was sure the sword would slow him down, his raw power had skyrocketed. “Do you know how it feels, Espada filth, to be looked down on everywhere you go; to be doubted in everything you do? To wake up unsure whether to hate yourself or to hate the bigoted filth around you that throws unnecessary obstacles your way? Do you know what it’s like to have a smile on your face for the benefit and inspiration of those around you when in reality, you’re merely filled with the utmost disappointment for yourself because there’s no way that you can possibly live up to their standards?”
He aimed a scornful kick at his enemy, fully expecting the Espada to roll out of the way, whether he was stunned or not. It was more a symbolic gesture of disdain. “Of course you don’t know what that’s like. You’re so concerned with being this precious little noble Espada, still clinging to utterly past segments of human history to keep himself going.”
Yamato wasn’t quite sure why he was being so utterly vicious and disrespectful, but he had a couple of theories. For one, obviously, his foe was a Hollow, and Yamato harbored nothing but hatred for the filthy creatures. But there was something else behind it. And as Yamato thought about the possibilities, he realized that his Bankai had released the utterly animal side of his nature. The raw power was unlike anything he was used to feeling, and so it was a new thrill that manifested itself in the form of a lust for violence. Yamato smirked as he felt his opponent’s reiatsu begin to spike again and he saw Drakulya begin to stand.
“Impressive.” Yamato beamed, getting in a ready stance again and holding out his sword. “Down for less than a minute; a lesser foe may have been out for days. How thrilling! What a battle! Come, Sexta Espada! Show me your power! Show me that this Bankai was worth unleashing on you!”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Nov 7, 2008 22:09:18 GMT -4
Yun looked at the now beaten looking man whom he had been forced to rough up to get information from. His eyes were a mixture of disbelief and skepticism in one, he shared a few brief looks with Nekomi whose assessment of the words seemed to be close to his own. Then as one Yun tossed the man out of the way and broke into a run for the opposite side of the room, both he and Nekomi broke through the door and were gone before the thrown Arrancar even hit the nearest wall. It was lucky they had ended up in their particular grouping as Nekomi was probably the only other captain who could keep step with Yun's long-distance running speed. Yun kept looking left and right, though Asmodeus was gone he still had to leave through physical means and in doing so had left a spiritual trail behind him to be followed. Very soon they broke out into a room with multiple walkways and a stairwell, almost at the same time Kuatura and one of the 11th squad groups came running out of their particular halls next to them, Yun however never stopped.
“WO!!! HEY WAIT!!!” Kuatura yelled out.
“NO TIME!!!” Yun yelled out to those he was rapidly leaving behind, “FOLLOW!!!” and before Kuatura could respond the captains were gone.
The idea that another of the Espada was going against the others, probably even deserting and on top of it supposedly had the students in tow was near incomprehensible. Still Yun could think of no other answer for Asmodeus sudden retreat and the seemingly divided forces of Las Noches which weren't even putting up a half decent fight. It could be a trap, that much was certain but as they were captains it was harder to get them into a much better position than Asmodeus location advantage had already given him. That coupled with the speed with which the other man had left at word of possibly stopping the other Espada had him believing there was at least some truth to it. Admitted he had no idea how he would react or deal with the situation if that was the truth.
Nekomi and Yun reached the top of the stairwell and found it odd that Asmodeus trail seemed to wrap around back toward the outer wall of Las Noches. Still it was obvious and his senses had once again locked on to the Uno espada now that they had less material between them. The only answer was that the other espada was close to making their escape, with that thought in mind he sped up. Along the way he noted that there seemed to be signs of fighting and none of it pointed toward a shinigamis zanpaktou...it seemed the Arrancar really were fighting one another.
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Torres mood was improving greatly, they had almost made it out of Las Noches to the sands of Hueco Mundo where they could easily escape. Better yet due to the formation of the attack almost all enemies, both arrancar and shinigami were either to their sides or even pressing in the other direction to their backs. This more or less left them with a clear shot to their exit and she had begun to pick up the pace, the children who were being corralled by Jessica and Akabane were growing tired but with the little ground left before them she knew they would survive. She was so certain of this that when the energy signature finally appeared chasing after her she couldn't help but scream out an explicative that she never would have uttered otherwise. Torre looked over her back and then turned toward Jessica while still running and thrust the still unconscious child Umbra out toward her until she took him. At that point she stopped in the large chamber hall they had been running through for a while and pointed toward the far wall still several hundred meters from their exit.
“GO NOW!!! TAKE SHELTER!!!” She screamed.
Torre had barely ushered them forward before she grasped the hilt of her blade and spun around while throwing it into a defensive position. The sound of the approaching foe roared like a jet engine and ripped up the tiles for a hundred meters behind her as it came into an attack descent. Torre met blades with Asmodeus who was forced to stop dead despite the power behind the attack against Torres ultimate defense. Both opponents sat there grinding there blades together, Asmodeus staring at Torre with venom and she returning the glare with a rather passive and tired glaze. After several moments of exerting energy on her Asmodeus was forced to pull back and though he spoke both Espada were raising their energy to phenomenal levels and it battled between them.
“Going somewhere Tres Espada?” He asked coyly.
“I was thinking of taking a walk outside.” She replied.
“With prisoners?”
“Why even prisoners need fresh air, keeps them compliant.”
All these words were exchanged with a bitter sarcasm. Of all the Espada these two had always perhaps been the greatest of enemies, the rest of them were all different but Torre and Asmodeus were like day and night. They shared a history and one was pure good and the other pure evil, it was a classic match and one that had been explored less seriously before, this time though there was no reason to stop until one was dead.
Asmodeus voice changed and he spoke deeply and seriously for perhaps the first time that day, “Torre. You are a traitor and now I will crush you.”
Torre scoffed, “Who do you think your talking to you second-runner? Know your place.” Torre reached down to her ripped shirt and pulled a portion back revealing a large '1' on the left side of her belly which had a scar through it.
Asmodeus gritted menacingly, “A long time ago Torre and as I recall you failed.”
“I failed to take myself down to your level and become a butcher yes. But if you think that means I lacked the skill you will be sorely mistaken...Zetsumei already discovered this.” She told a bit of a white lie but it still made Asmodeus burn with anger.
“The shinigami are coming Torre...we loyal Arrancar may lose this battle in no small part to your turn-coat ways. But no matter the outcome of the greater war you are going to die before they arrive. We are short on time.”
He held his blade to the side and black and green energy began wrapping around it.
“Pudrirse, Pestilencia!”
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Uryuujin
Junior Member
The Raven
Posts: 210
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Post by Uryuujin on Nov 17, 2008 20:21:51 GMT -4
Fury spread through the Espada's body, making him surprisingly cold and calculating. Rising, forgetting the pain that the series of blows had given him, he brushed off the Dirt that clung to his shoulder where the Captain had nicked him with the kick. "I would like to tell you a bed-time story, little Shinigami. "Many many years ago, I was a young boy in Wallachia. Adapted to an order of Anti-Turk Christians, I was expected, as the Prince, to fulfill all my duties to the realm. This apparently included the position of bargaining chip." The Espada told him calmly, disappearing and reappearing behind his foe faster than ever before, kicking him into a wall. "For five, looong years I was a hostage in the Ottoman Empire, taken prisoner by those who I was sworn to destroy. And unable to do ANYTHING against them. Often they whipped me for no reason, though in all fairness I did sometimes earn it. Meanwhile, my younger Brother became chummy with our captives, gaining their support. I was disgusted and hated and not always alright up here", At this he tapped his skull,"But it was not time wasted, no sir." Here he sped behind Yamato, lifted him, and threw him though a wall in half a second. "I learned the art of torture. "Quite ironic that I learned my taste for pain from those who I used it on most, isn't it? I find it just peachy. I even discussed the methodology of torture with my captors a few times. Storing information until it could be used against them. Biding my time, waiting for that Bastard of a Sultan", these words were growled so angrily even he had trouble understanding "to release me to my Homeland, where I had to fight and maneuver and destroy to gain the throne! "But you wouldn't understand all of this. You are a silly Shinigami prick, killing my comrades for sport and sometimes out of necessity, hating what we are for no reason. You peasant bastards cannot understand the sort of Honor that goes along with my status." Drakulya dodged a flurry of flame broiled kicks and punches, staring in his foes eyes. "Now, it's time for me to clean your fi-" The vampiric Hollow began to say, before an extremely powerful kick landed right on the side of his head, throwing him through four walls, and crunching against a fifth. NO!! he screamed inside himself, cursing that Shinigami for a tricky bastard. He began to feel the evaporating feeling that went along with.......wait....EVAPORATING?!?! He began to panic, feeling his body turning into a great mist, thinking he was doomed to a death before the prime of his power. He struggled, but his whole body was mist. However, his consciousness was still there. It was then that he calmed instantly. Well, it seems I have activated some latent survival instinct. He tested his theory, feeling the cloud move according to his will. Interesting, though I can tell there are absolutely no offensive capabilities to this form. Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say. He then experimented with something else, enveloping his foe in the fog. He knew then that he could Speak into the Shinigami's mind. May as well wing it. "Shinigami Infadel...." This mind voice is weaker than I'd like, but I'll work on it later. "I have other more important things than finishing you off......Take my advice.....Leave now.....I have a feeling that something new is going to arrive soon....and I would prefer if you lived until I can kill you....." And with that, the Sexta Espada 'dissipated', and began condensing toward his lair, hoping to re-build himself there. ((O.O.C. Sorry it took so long. Especially sorry to SF for the little bit of God-modding I had to do. Please forgive me.))
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Post by SamuraiFoochs on Nov 18, 2008 16:07:18 GMT -4
((OOC: No worries Uryuujin buddy, for the greater good, all that. Besides, why would I really complain? Works out ultimately in my favor anyway.))
Yamato felt the Espada’s body dissipate from around his foot. What the hell?! He jumped back, in case the gas was poisonous. But as he heard Drakulya give his slight comment about having better things to do, he smirked. The scum was running scared. For all his bravado, he was running scared. Yamato laughed quietly, and then the sound grew louder, until finally his laughter was booming throughout the now empty room.
“That’s it, eh Espada? Living to fight another day, hm? I can respect that, even though it’s still hilarious! Better things to do, you say? That’s for damn sure. Living is a pretty important priority.” He felt his limbs get heavier, even in Bankai form. That last offensive flurry had certainly exhausted him, and so he decided to heed the Espada’s advice. It made him sick to have to run, but he could come back stronger than before in due time.
He sealed his blade with a flourish, and stabbed Vulcanus into the ground, his favorite position for his sword to be in while he communicated with it. ”Thanks, old friend.”
”Think nothing of it, kid. That was quite a battle, though. We’re going to have to get stronger if the Espada are this powerful. Just like Shinigami, not even we Zanpakutou always fully understand ourselves. There ARE new heights that we can reach together, and then…we will be prepared to finish this hunt.”
“You’ve got it, old friend. We’ll get stronger with every drill, every meditation, every sword slash, every injury…until the depths of our power expand further still, and we can finally bring that Espada and all those who support him into eternity.”
”Well said. But…what did you think of what he had to say? About his past?
“I could sooner win a dance competition than give a shit.” He heard Vulcanus laugh quietly, and Yamato smiled, but then stopped, thinking further. “At the same time, he and I are most definitely more alike than I’d care to admit. We’re both aiming to outrun and rise above the demons in our pasts. And that, much as I hate to admit it, is something I can respect.”
Vulcanus had lapsed into thoughtful silence, and so Yamato picked the blade up from the ground and sheathed it on his back again, flashing out to the more outer halls of Las Noches. He decided not to go fully outside yet, in case he was being followed. It was necessary for him to make sure there were no stragglers still following him. He was part of the front line, and so he needed to make sure that he didn't bring anything more sinister out with him.
The halls sounded eerie as they echoed. The effect itself wasn't anything unusual, but something about this sound in particular...like it was living, breathing. He sighed, and his sigh echoed as well, coming back to him like some bizarre, sinister, hissing laughter. He cursed, praying that nothing was following him. He wasn't sure how ready he was to fight.
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Post by Galihan on Dec 19, 2008 19:49:38 GMT -4
LETS BREAK THIS ICE AND GET THE BOAT MOVIN'! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back outside the white fortress of Las Noches, Minoru decided he was done with this opponent and wanted to move onto someone else. He could tell that this Vasto Lorde named "Shirakarite" was becoming desperate and didn't seem to care about killing the captain as much as just being a diversion. Minoru began to run towards Shirakarite with his large bronze zanpakuto raised above his head, which came down quickly to strike another flying blade launched at him. Minoru disapeared using shunpo and reappeared right before the Vasto Lorde, who instantly began to slow down because of the effects of Minoru's shikai. "I'm done with you, so game over."Minoru swung his sword down again at Shirakarite and it clashed with the blades on the hollow's arms, Minoru stepped back from the lock and again lunged forward, striking with a powerful punch to the hollow's head using the basket hilt of his zanpakuto as a spiky and hard metal boxing glove. Shirakarite stumbled back, pieces of his white armor chipped and covered in small fractures. Minoru lunged again, clashing blades with the hollow with increasing ease as the field of delayed time passage seeping from his zanpakuto was making it more and more difficult for the opponent to not get slowed down. "Hold still while I try something out on you, okay?"Minoru asked mockingly and with his left hand thrusted into his opponent one of the silver stakes he brought along from Soul Society designed to drain a hollow of it's power. The moment the sharpened metal rod pierced the white armor of the hollow, just above the hole on his chest, a powerful surge of energy erupted from the weapon and large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the body of the target and get absorbed by the stake, which again erupted a wave of scrambled reiatsu as the target collapsed into the sand, appearing to be paralyzed in pain. Increasingly large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the fallen menos followed by large surges of increasingly powerful scrambled energy until Minoru decided to remove the experimental device from the chest of the hollow. The energy reiatsu within the hollow was at this point, for lack of a better term, utterly messed up, and left in a scrambled mess that tried desperately to reorganize itself but was left too weakened. Minoru examined the blood of the hollow on the stake, and looked behind him, a glare of irritation in his usually soft eyes that he couldn't hold for long against his two subordinates. "Kazue, Hana, why did you two decide to follow me here? Did I not ask that you oversee regular operations, and that you stay put in the command room? You guys know I need you two to keep things in order when I'm gone." He tried to raise his voice to scorn the two, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Heck he often couldn't help but laugh when he saw the two together, one wearing a black tunic closer resembling a modified variation of a Quincy's outfit, the other resembling a cute, yet scantly-clad little girl and was the object of desire for all but the few who knew the truth about him. "And god-dammit can't you two kids at least dress normally, if just when in out here! Especially you, Hana, you look like a young female arrancar even from where I am, some Squad 11 idiot would have probably attacked you by now if you weren't clung to Kazue's arm like you are right now."Ultimately he was just worried about the two, as they were practically his sons, okay, more like his son and daughter, but anyways he didn't want them to get in any harm and wanted to protect them. He decided to leave Shirakarite where he was, who wasn't in any condition to fight, but could prove a nuisance if he regained his strength. "Wither and rot in your cage you sick animal, Bakudo # 80, Mirror Cage."With a wave of his hand, a large clear cube of energy materialized around the vasto lorde so Minoru would be able to capture the defeated opponent and bring him back to Soul Society to study in a maximum security cell later. He proceeded to enter Las Noches itself, signaling Kazue and Hana to come with. He also handed his vice-captain the spirit phone from his pocket, which had been recording the entire data from the battle so Kazue could analyze it in detail later. "Since you two are already here, just stick close and pay close attention, record whatever you think is important so we can have something to once we bring those kids back to Soul Society."
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Dec 22, 2008 16:57:46 GMT -4
Relampago wasn't satisfied with just his hand grazing across the Captain's chest before avoiding being crushed like he should have been. He would destroy this shinagami eventually - but he wanted to do so now. However, the shinagami launched himself into the air, the chains trying to ensnare Rela. The Espada's giant right hand came up, grasping the chain in his hands. The chain links shifted slightly, and the other side found it's way to rub into his neck but overall there was no movement to even grow close to a choking effect. Remembering his foe landing around him his crazy eyed gaze found his foe and the other sickle was launched dead at him, Rela's free left hand set itself in front of him, like a meat shield, and the sickle's blade dug into it, cutting past Rela's less-than-desired hierro.
That didn't catch Relampago off guard - not like the fact that the chain took up another snakelike quality and wrapped itself around him. It was an effecient snare - it pinned his left arm down into him. His right arm remained free, still clasped around the chain from before. Quick decisions were made in Rela's head as he remembered something from his wartime days as a knight - use your opponent against them. And this was one of those moments. He yanked at the chain, hard, using a good amount of force to attempt to get the captain off guard for his next move.
Like on an automatic que, a sonido landed Delfini right above the captain, with energy gathering in both of her outstretched hands. She still had her nervous and frightened look but did what she could to help her master - she would try to distract the captain further by launching her cero. The small but destructive blast left her palms, rocketing right at the shinagami.
Yelling in anger, a larger than usually orb of energy was gathering in the mouth cavity of the Diez Espada. It gathered, large and bright red, crackling with energy. This was not an average cero - this was the Gran Rey Cero, usable only by the Espada. He planned on using this right after Delfini fired, to really put the pressure on his foe. And he fired it off loudly, the large cero aiming to decimate his foe indefinately. He didn't take any time to notice his foe's spell muttering at all - didn't matter to him. From the distance the weakling shinagami werr at it would have seemed like a bright red flashlight was set of in pitch black darkness - and it was trying to main their Captain.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Jan 12, 2009 3:31:59 GMT -4
“A DOG TORRE!!! I know thats what you thought of me eh – Calixta's dog was it? LOOK UPON ME!!! How wrong you were, I am uno but I am so much more. I was a god of men in life, perhaps a devil...and now...NOW I AM A GOD OF ALL!!!” Asmodeus cackled a bit while raising his now armored hands to the sky.
Visually Asmodeus resurrection was none to impressive, his arms became coated in a skeletal white armor that was visually similar to Torres white armor and portions of his mask appeared along his cheeks looking something like the lower jawbone of a snake. But despite this minor physical change nobody but the completely and utterly deaf to the spiritual realm could not feel his presence when activated. For the briefest moment during activation his loose reiatsu lashing out at random buried Torres own under its torrent before she brought her own up to meet his once more. Though his was still superior he only managed to cloak a grimace at the last moment over the fact that she had so quickly brought herself back to his level. Regardless Torre herself wasn't being foolish, she had risen to his challenges before simply to anger him a little bit but she didn't kid herself, she was indeed powerful but Asmodeus hadn't simply been made uno by being friends with the leadership, he was a force to be reckoned with himself. If his reiatsu hadn't been proof the fact that his next movement was almost to fast for her to see at first was all the reinforcement needed.
Torre swung the edge of her blade around and Asmodeus reached out, an attempt at an underhanded blow he had been going for thwarted but stopping Torres own counter with his hands in return. Torre watched as the edge of the sword burned black from the corrupting powers she knew lay withing her foes hands but since zanpaktous were pure reiatsu and her strength was on par with his he did not have the power to corrupt it beyond the edge before it healed itself. Regardless Torre was already missing most of her armor thanks to Death and her natural skins strength was reduced thanks to the amount of energy she had already put into this escape so she would find herself far more susceptible to his tactics than she would have normally, however she was still probably one of the best opponents against his powers and carried the upper hand for the time. She also held her resurrecctión in reserve if it was required which she was fairly certain it would be, regardless she had yet to activate it due to the dangers it posed to her followers. Still the longer this fight with Asmodeus kept on the more danger they were in anyway, she would have to decide soon.
Both of them broke off at the same time but as soon as they did Asmodeus did something Torre had never seen before. He held his arms forward and before she could comprehend what he was attempting to do she watched in horror as both arms turned into thousands of flying bugs and came flying at her. They weren't particularly fast and Torre tried to blast a few of them away with bala which she succeeded in but there were simply to many to take care of that way. As they closed in on her she swung her blade and watched as she caused an unexpected chain-reaction and the bugs began blowing up in little bloody polyps.
She momentarily thought she was safe until she noticed the blood was flying in her direction. Though exactly what might happen was unknown to her she knew enough about Asmodeus abilities to know contact with anything he produced was a bad idea. Regardless she wasn't exactly fast and though she managed to get her torso out of the way her left arm was still coated in the crimson fluid. Her skin immediately began boiling, thankfully her powerful hierro kept the damage at merely burning before she was able to shake her arm enough that the greater mass of the blood was gone but she knew that if Asmodeus continuously landed hits there she would have far worse than burning and the few little red patches that were appearing on her skin now. In this time though Asmodeus had charged and she could hardly spend the time needed to formulate a plan to block his attacks, for the moment she parried his blows with her blade but he was no fool.
Asmodeus could play the big man all he wanted, he knew Torres true strength and he wouldn't be holding back once he got tired of testing her defenses. He was going to strike fast and hard any moment now and she had no obvious defense for when that occurred, there were of course moment by moment defenses but nothing constant, it became obvious her only option was to activate her resurrecctión which would not only give her natural armor a significant boost but increase her reiatsu to indeed higher levels than Asmodeus. She would have preferred not utilizing it but in reality she had been kidding herself to think defeating the Uno espada could be done without it and she could not very well win a battle if she was always on the defense. In this time Torre and Asmodeus exchanged countless blows but it was quite evident that Asmodeus was speeding up ever so slightly with every blow. Then with no warning Torre watched as his pearl white claws turned red as blood was leaked out along them and he struck out straight for her face. Torre had no chance to raise her blade and could only jump backward, she just managed to dodge as the cut and burning sensation on her nose proved.
Torre tossed her blade outward and for the first time since the fight began put a respectable amount of reitasu behind it. Asmodeus was forced to jump into the air and rocket backward while the energy released began tossing the white tiles of the room away from Torre and chasing her opponent until the blast finally gave out nearly twenty meters from her position. In that time Torre had retreated a respectable distance and placed her blade in front of her. She watched as Asmodeus prepared himself for another strike and then looked over her shoulder at those behind her.
Her followers were faraway now but even so her resurrecctión was not contained like Asmodeus, her energy flooded out as it was and she had almost killed the children simply by existing, much less when she activated her strongest power in such close proximity to them. Regardless if she lost here they weren't the only ones who were going to suffer and she was inevitably going to lose if she fought Asmodeus as weakened as she currently was. He might have been a bit tired from his previous battle but she was truly injured from her bout with Death and had expelled a decent amount of energy outside of that matter. Convinced that it was the only option she returned her view to the charging Asmodeus who was preparing another claw full of blood and raised her zanpaktou toward him. Torre lowered her head and closed her eyes momentarily, her energy levels sunk farther than anyone around her had ever seen to the point they were almost imperceptible as if for a brief moment she ceased to exist. Then as one she cocked her head to the side and opened her eyes which were now glowing a bright purpled and she yelled out, Asmodeus realizing what she was doing attempted to jump to the side, giving up his attack in the process.
“Aniquile, Protector Final!”
The area around them began to shake rapidly and all of Torres followers were inevitably cloaked in a powerful deafening reiatsu. However just before it would have began knocking the children out Akabane suddenly came to stand in front of Jessica and a bright red shield formed in front of him and collided with his masters energy, protecting those behind him. The energy seemed to put significant stress on him but clearly not as much as if it one of the others had, had to take the blow.
Meanwhile bright purple lines of energy began to circle around the room and wrapped around the area like an intricate spider-web. However if one paid attention it was actually one extremely long line of energy which was quickly coiling itself around Torre's blade and body, making it so that she glowed as brightly as a sun. As the energy whipped around the room in its chase after her blade it cut whatever got in its way, the walls, the floor and in a few cases almost Asmodeus and in each case it left massive scars where the surfaces simply ceased to exist making the Uno espada very lucky that he managed to stay out of the way. Asmodeus proved so concerned with the wrapping energy that he missed the fact that the metamorphosing Torre in the middle of the room, though but a bright silhouette of her true self, was clearly aiming her blade toward him just as the final energy whipping around the room finally wound itself around her.
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Though the prior events appear to be lengthy and time consuming they were in fact occurring at a rate far beyond the abilities of even your average mid-level shinigami to perceive. So fast in fact that the two quickest captains in all of Soul Society were still a considerable distance off despite the short distance between the previous and current battle though thankfully with their superior senses they could still perceive what was happening. Yun in particular was stunned, something that didn't happen very often. He hadn't wanted to believe the fact that one espada was fighting another to protect the goal of this whole mission but the more he felt of this battle the more impossible it became to deny.
He didn't like espada and even if this one was fighting for them they were still an enemy but at the very least Yun had to thank them for some time bought in the back of his mind. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to handle the situation when they approached but he would find a way. From ahead he felt a massive pressure and realized the other espada fighting Asmodius had just released their own resurrecctión. He hoped that if they were truly protecting the children that they had the presence of mind to keep those powerful energies away from them little ones, though he of course had his doubts they would, he had his doubts about the whole matter. It was at this time that he nonchalantly turned his head to Nekomi and spoke in a rather everyday voice as if nothing was wrong.
“Watch our back...we are being pursued. I would rather not be stabbed in the back the moment we catch up with our prey and have to deal with whatever that situation provides us with...”
And they continued running, on and on toward the incredible battle ahead, trying all the while to locate the shadowy specters Yun became more and more convinced were perhaps a greater threat than what lay before them.
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Laetitia hit the far wall but managed to place her feet upon it and absorbed the blow through her legs. The surprise at Aggribels unnatural strength for a follower had long since passed, surprise wasn't 9th divisions way. Laetitia followed the way of her captain and had long since given into sheer glee, thoughts of any actual mission lost to the overwhelming desire to kill the enemy in front of you. Unfortunately it seemed that Aggribel just had no end of energy, he had stayed at relatively the same the strength the entire time but his endurance was godly, bounding from wall to wall for nearly fifteen minutes with absolutely no let up and Laetitia had yet to hit him. Luckily Laetitia was probably the strongest of the vice captains and wasn't taken down easily, she had received a few cuts but nothing major ((OOC: Readers take this with a grain of salt, its from Laetitias point of view and she has a bit of an ego if you hadn't caught on)). They once more met blades in the middle of the hall, Aggribel still continued using his whip-like movements but the timing necessary to block these blows had naturally come to Laetitia after a time.
Aggribel would attempt to strike from one side and then the other with his insanely dexterous hands, thankfully the length and shape of Laetitias blade was perfect for wide-arcing blows like those being sent her way. She was able to occasionally catch the boys zanpaktou in the teeth of her own shikai but the arrancars seeming ability to defy the laws of gravity allowed him to pull the blade back at angles that would have been impossible for any other fighter, thus freeing it. In truth had this fight gone on Laetitia would in all likelihood have lost but the ever so strange Aggribel was a fickle individual and a chance happening would soon end their bout. Blade to blade they struck at each other for an extended flurry that would have left the watcher dizzy and then just as it seemed that the endless motion would go on forever there came an exclamation of pain and surprise from Aggribel and he quickly slid backward grasping his face. Laetitia brought her blade up pointing it at him with a big smile as she watched blood poor out of his face. It was a light cut really but the fact that she made it given that it had not been a particularly difficult blow to dodge suggested that he was, if ever so slightly, tiring out. Laetitia was about to start walking toward him when he suddenly started screaming to himself and then began running backward at an insane speed.
“MAMA!!! MAMA SILENCE!!! I'S CUT!!! THEY CUT ME!!! IT HURTS!!!”
He then began bawling and only after recovering from being taken completely aback by the unexpected did Laetitia get the chance to take off after the retreating arrancar. Volk who had long since had to retreat away from the battle that was beyond him now began running after them both just in case. Aggribel was faster than both shinigami though even in his erratic movements and whipped around the nearest corner out of sight. Laetitia rounded the corner several moments later and watched in anger as Aggribel launched himself into an oddly placed hole in the wall and disappeared into the darkness within. Laetitia quickly followed being someone who always fought battles to the end no matter if it was she or her opponent who lost and jumped into the hole without a second thought. However she quickly found that it was impossible as the hole went straight up and was rain-slick, that didn't stop her from trying to chase after the now long gone Aggribel for several more seconds though. Only once Volk grabbed her by the legs and pulled her out as she still continued to claw at the inside of the hole did she finally stop. She lashed out at her underling for several seconds before giving up and sitting on the ground pouting.
“He's long gone I'm afraid mistress...but now we should go back to see what happened to the captain, surely the battle is finished by now.” Volk said diplomatically.
Laetitia nodded and for the first time in a while realized she had completely forgotten about the master, more worrisome was the fact that she had not felt his reiatsu escalate. That could mean two things, either the enemy was of no concern or worse, something had gone wrong. After pulling herself together the duo ran back down the hall they had come from, they stopped briefly to view Zodd but it seemed he was long since dead. Continuing on they soon came to the collapsed wall and instead of trying in vain as they had before Laetitia simply pulled out one of the explosive devices they had used to break into Las Noches in the first place. She plunged it deep into the rubble and backed up just a little bit before it exploded and blew the wall inward. She rushed through and called out to Hitotsu while trying to keep her eyes open and Volk followed directly behind her, both of them had almost no time to brace themselves. A wave of unnatural reiatsu rushed over them and Laetitia had to brace herself from being blown back, Volk on the other hand went flying back through the hole they had just come through, the dust cleared instantly at this time. Laetitia could now see a female arrancar who had her arm directly through another male arrancars chest who still seemed to be dieing had been the source of the reiatsu, the girl wasted no time before speaking.
“I've never seen an arrancar with the sort of ability this one used on your captain. Its a shame he didn't want to join us, he was almost as unique as myself!” The girl sounded truly bemused.
Seeing the look of disbelief on Laetitias face as the lieutenant continued to look around the completely empty room for her captain she paused momentarily, apparently thinking of what to say before speaking.
“Don't worry, I don't think you're captain is dead...” She shrugged along with her pause, “yet. He's just sort of misplaced thanks to this guys ability...but that really isn't something for you to worry about any longer.”
The girl appeared to be in her mid-teens and wore a frilly black gothic lolita dress with a low top, some of the frills were golden, this was in deep contrast to the white clothing of the arrancar she still held her hand through and was reminiscent of Aggribels color scheme. She had knee-high boots and had similar long black gloves over her hands that reached to her elbows. Being the classic lolita she had a slender build with no bust. She possessed blond hair and brown eyes, four stubby white nubs stuck out of her hair and looked like they were filed down spikes of some sort, likely the remains of her mask and she had a golden whip attached to her left hip.
Carrying herself in a haughty manner she gave off a natural aura of egotism. As if taking some joy in watching Laetitia consider her before attacking she just stood there letting the lieutenant take her in but the moment it appeared Laetitia was about to move she raised her hand and Laetitia instantly dropped to the floor. Once there Laetitia quickly found she could not move no matter how much she struggled, however instead of becoming worried or upset she became exceedingly angry and started cursing. It was only when she realized the female arrancar had walked over to her that she calmed down and met the girls eyes, the arrancar flicked her wrist and sent the now dead male arrancar flying across the room before he hit the ground in a limp pile. The girl put both her hands on her waist including the blood covered one and looked down at Laetitia with a smile.
“They call me Agony Voyeur...but that just sounds so...” She pulled one of her hands up and put her pointer finger on her lip in thought, “voyeuristic, just call me Agony. As you can see I can control you're movements...lets have some fun, yes?”
She began giggling wildly while staring down at the immobile Laetitia and her eyes began to glow a deep red as her reiatsu began rising to levels far higher than any other Laetitia had ever ecountered.
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Though the halls Yamato walked down were no different than any other in the whole of Las Noches there was something oddly disconcerting about them. It was as if something had tainted the air and was supercharging it with an aura that brought out the suspicious nature in people. They expected something to go wrong and though there wasn’t actually anything there this feeling continued no matter where you went in the hall. It was down this normal white hall that things began to get darker, and danker, a putrid smell permeated the air and it seemed heavy with humidity. Then ever so suddenly the hallway stopped, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the white light of Las Noches stopped and there existed a clean-cut line where a pitch dark where nothing could be made out began. Worse yet there were some very obvious lines of blood coming out of the darkness and it appeared something had pulled someone in as there were rabid nail marks at the ground but the human or more likely shinigami prey couldn’t hope to get a handhold on the flat ground and had been pulled to their death.
Clearly Yamato should have realized by now that this was not the place to be, especially in his weakened state. Perhaps that’s how he felt or maybe his honor dictated that he eliminate the culprit of whatever had happened here but no matter his plan he had no time to enact it for the perpetrator was in actuality still here. It hadn’t quite noticed Yamato yet, its interest in the world was purely functional and it took note of things when it felt like it. For the moment a light plunking sound coming from the darkness was all that alerted Yamato to the presence but shortly after quick burst of sparks began shooting out deep in the darkness like flint stone or metal being run across a surface quickly. However it was not coming closer and seemed intent on some task at hand, then a males voice heavily distorted with gurgling began singing.
“Hush little baby…don’t say a word…papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don’t sing…papa’s gonna buy you a…” the voice stopped and there was a sudden exclamation of surprise via a sharp inhalation of breath.
In that short moment two eyes appeared deep in the darkness reflecting the white light from outside the darkness. They reflected normally for a few seconds but began to smolder with an inner fire before a piercing scream echoed out, ear splittingly loud. Before Yamato could know what had happened the lights on his side of the hall blew out leaving the area just as dark as the area he had previously been looking into, the scream continued for several seconds and then stopped completely leaving him in silence. If Yamato tried to use fire or kido to show him what was going on he would quickly find that it barely illuminated a few feet around him, the darkness looming like a living entity. That was when he began hearing footsteps circling him though they would at times suddenly and with no warning warp to a different position. After almost fifteen seconds of this the same male voice began speaking this time though it still gurgled and had a sick sound to it.
“Soooo this one comes! The ones who beat the Drakulya…always liked that kids…yep, yep. But…but he just never hadddd…never had enough…GUMPTION!!!”
Upon the last word a huge spout of flame streaked out at Yamato but given the speed and direction it didn’t seem meant to hit him, just to spook him a bit. The voice immediately began speaking again as it continued circling, from time to time Yamato might catch the glow of his eyes in the darkness.
“Never hads enough will to do WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE…never…never ever…couldn’t…COULDN’T HOLD IT IN!!! Couldn’t….ever…COULDN’T….couldn’t SPLIT IT…open…like a melon…haha…”
Suddenly the footsteps stopped circling Yamato.
“They tolds me not to kills any…just to drives them off…but that…THAT’S BORING…don’t you agree? They won’t miss a few…oh no…no no nooooo…nots a few.”
At this point warm air was expelled on Yamatos face and a bright spark momentarily highlighted a young man holding a skull up next to his head right in the captain’s face. However before a retaliation could made everything was darkness again and the man was gone, not for long though as moments later fires started going off everywhere along the walls of the hallway as they crawled up the sides highlighting what had until now been in darkness. Blood marks were smeared everywhere and a giant pile of at least two dozen skulls, many of which still had flesh clinging to them, were arranged in the middle of the hall. Their source was obvious as there were countless decapitated half-naked male and female bodies still wearing portions of the shinigamis robes all speared to broken portions of the walls. In the center of all this surrounded by a ring of fire was the boy who had done all of it giving Yamato a large smile that was both menacing and a tad insane all at once as he held one of the many skulls up in one of his hands and seemed to be whispering to it.
He had dark skin though it was difficult to tell in the orange fire formed light as were his honey yellow eyes which were instead burning with there own supernatural orange light at the moment, he had matching golden hair with two large white devil horns sticking out of his forehead. He wore a relatively scant outfit with black metal armor that covered the tops of his arms and ran down his hands creating small claws. The armor also ran down his back and sides to just under his chest, there were small slivers of gold along the edges but compared to others of this color scheme he possessed relatively little of the shiny metal. However the front was completely open exposing his chest and abdomen running down to his large parachute like pants that closely resembled the cliché pants that come to mind when one says “arab clothing” these were equally black and he wore no shoes. To large brown bat wings hung from his back but they seemed to be relatively useless as they fell limply to the back and didn’t seem ideal for flying as well as having several holes in them though they seemed to have healed long ago. A set of two perfectly golden katanas seemed to be his zanpaktous and one was attached to each side of his hip.
The boy held the skull in his hand up to his face and opened his mouth producing a long nearly twelve inch tongue that seemed to move independently on its own. He licked the left eye-socket of the skull several times before leaning down and placing it neatly on top of the pile of skulls. He walked forward a bit toward Yamato with a bit of a bounce and skip before speaking in a childish voice.
“I’s Dementia…kinda funny, funnys name ya? Hards to…to say…Was’ you’re name?”
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“MINI-SAMA!!!” Hana called out as they got close to their captain.
However he promptly shut up when the captain shot them a glare and got on to them, prompting Hana to hide behind Kazue while peeking out over his shoulder. He released Kazues arm and began pointing at his fellow shinigami from behind his back with the clear message being “ITS ALL HIS FAULT!!!”. Kazue who was quiet as always, took the comment without response and then followed when Minoru told them to. After a few moments Minoru finished off his opponent and walked away while getting on to them about their clothing. Hana thought about that for a moment before planting his hands on his hips and speaking with his eyes closed.
“But don't you see, that would stifle our creativity. We're twelfth division, you don't want to stifle our creativity now do you?” He placed his right hand on his cheek while pointing upward, “After all the core of our division is the use of our brains to come about creative solutions correct?”
Hana waited several moments with a triumphant expression on his face before it became apparent nobody was responding. He slowly opened his eyes to the breadth of slits and saw nobody was there, he looked to his right...nobody was there...nor to his left, he felt so neglected. Hana immediately freaked out and started running down the dark hall after his companions whom hadn't gotten to far away.
“WAAAAIIITTT FOR MEEEE MINI-SAMA!!!! ZU-ZU!!!!!”
He caught up with both men a minute later and though Minoru didn't seem to care Hana could swear he saw Kazue smirking. Hana thereafter crossed his arms and began blowing his cheeks out in big bubbles while brooding about being left behind and thinking about how he was going to get Kazue back for that. He was pleased to receive an order, as small as it might have been, from his captain because it gave him something else to think about. Of course there wasn't much interesting to actually document, the basics of Las Noches had all been documented before and the one interesting factor that Hana had noted had been the Vasto Lorde her captain had been facing whom he had no doubt cataloged in great detail. It was depressing really, not that he had to be with his captain because he was overjoyed at that part but rather that Kazue had forced him out of his duties where he could have actually been helpful to his captain and into this place where what good he could provide was minimal at best.
That was when energy signatures began flaring everywhere, the first was actually a known signature that had been recorded on Earth according to the spirit sensors that all of them wore but the following individuals were completely unknown and soon the sheer amount of energy flying around clouded their ability to sense anyone in particular. Whatever the case the level of power they were showing was dreadful and worse yet this reeked of a trap. From what Hana had gathered the battle for Las Noches had actually been firmly in the shinigamis hands up until this point and it wasn't like the arrancar to actually form much of a plan other than blowing everything up. Regardless the ease with which the rest of the troops had progressed up until this point and now this sudden showing of hidden strength couldn't be interpreted as much else. Hana had the bad feeling that things were about to stop going as smoothly as had been expected up until this point and as if showing this had stopped feigning poutiness and was instead studying his surroundings as ordered with great concentration. Doing so may very well have saved his and (he would like to think though Minoru would likely have dodged) his captains lives. Thinking he had spotted movement out of the corner of his eye he had stopped to look into the deep shadows surrounding them in certain parts of the room, it was at this point that he noted there were large holes in certain places on the surrounding walls.
“Thats odd...” Hana said.
“Your just noticing the holes now?” Kazue scoffed while rolling his eyes without ever actually looking at Hana.
“No baka!” He lied a bit, “I thought I saw something move in one of them!”
That made Kazue stop momentarily and while Kazue might not have been Hanas greatest fan he also understood that the little cross-dressing freak hadn't become the 3rd seat for no reason, he did have a decent amount of aptitude as a shinigami. If what had come next had been a regular hollow all three shinigami would likely have seen it coming from a mile off but this was anything but. It was like a drop in the bucket, the greatest thing about its existence was almost its non-existence, scanners showed nothing and to ones senses there was little more than a small black hole slithering about where energy should have been. At the very least someone would have been hurt had Hana not made direct visual contact as he happened to look at his captain and watched in horror as a giant black shadow like snake with bright red glowing eyes popped out of one of the many holes and coiled its body to strike at the man.
However Hana was a master of martial speed and had slid halfway across the room right past Kazue and Minoru by the time it launched, jumping up and performing the iaijutsu, the drawing of ones blade, with the amazing speed which had made him the stuff of legends amongst blade specialist in Soul Society. In the time it had moved but a few meters he had slid the blade along its entire exposed length and cleaved it directly in half, landing with a spin and flourish as he properly righted himself. Hanas eyes searched rapidly for any other attackers he was certain were coming but the actual blow came from the last place he expected as he made out a hissing sound from the creature he had just cut. Hana spun around quickly but not quickly enough, in that time the beast fused its split form back together and launched at Hana with quadruple the speed its initial lunge had been with. Unlike before it was not a hollow space of energy, instead something had flooded it with a far superior reiatsu to his own and now he couldn't even cut it, much less avoid it. It struck like a real world boa constrictor and in seconds was wrapped completely around Hana in an unbreakable grip before it took him to the ground, the creature was obviously enormous as the rest of its body extended out of sight into the wall. Before anyone could move to help Hana a young and calm female voice called down the hallway.
“Do not attempt to free her...” there was a brief pause and Hana let out a gagging sound like something gross had just happened, “...Him or he will die.”
The atmosphere became exceedingly tense as silently a “girl”, if you could call her that, who didn't appear to have any legs but was instead floating through mid-air formed out of the darkness. Her face could actually have been considered beautiful in some terms but everything else was just to off to make that statement in good faith. Her skin was pale, too pale, she had long and lush white hair as perhaps her only uncorrupted trait and she had a sickly red tint to her eyes though they seemed faded to an almost pink in places. Her ears were stretched outward and eventually the skin hardened and became a large white curled ram horn on each side of her head, no doubt the remains of her mask. As mentioned she didn't seem to have any legs but this might have just been hard to tell due to the black cloud that loomed around the lower portion of her body. Above she sported the outfit of a miko or priestess but it was golden with black motifs sewn in, over that she wore a long black robe. She also possessed black Miko pants but they were ripped at the bottoms before disappearing into the black cloud on which she hovered, a large black onyx stone was fixed into a golden tiara which lay upon her forehead.
However worse than this were the creatures surrounding her, several identical twins to the creature holding Hana twisted around her heels and many more red eyes shown out of the darkness behind her, silently viewing their prey. Three of these creatures had heads more akin to dragons with large pointed spikes and obviously tougher scaled skin than their brethren, each wore a metal helmet with two sporting oxidized black copper helmets and the largest having a full mask of gold. In terms of strength the woman nor the creatures were throwing their energy around like the other figures making appearances around Las Noches but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Not only was she acting calm in the face of the dangerous opponent Minoru, a trait of the often equally or more powerful but if the energy that had previously coursed through the beast that captured Hana was hers or worse yet a sign of what sort of powers she herself was powerful enough to command they might very well be in trouble. It was at this point that the woman began speaking while she gently stroked the skull of the largest serpent that had wrapped around to her front. As she spoke she made sure to occasionally have the creature holding Hana constrict so that he would yelp out, reminding the other two what their position was so that they would listen to her in whole.
“Ah I was so glad when they told me I would be attending to the 12th Division. After all you are widely known as the most intelligent group, I pray that means you will see things in a realistic light. I'll be straightforward, no reason to be vague or beat around the bush. I am Silence Cradle, one of the eight Commandants of the Horror Vacui and it is because of us that you have got as far as you have and elsewhere that 10th division captain will soon reclaim the children you have been sent for and thus accomplish your mission. We control well over seventy percent of the population of Las Noches...we were simply looking for the best way to claim the place as our own while losing as few followers as possible in the process.”
During the entire time she never made an aggressive facial expression but her words seemed laced with amusement at the grand play at works, probably realizing Minoru was one of the few people who would grasp the situation before she even spoke it.
“Your little attack allowed this, you have one by one eliminated or humbled the strongest members of the old order thereby making them more mailable to our purposes or well...just not part of the equation anymore while we sat back. Now all that is left is for us to drive you out and claim what is ours with next to no loss on our part, a fact which I'm sure a more brute minded individual would be quick to grow angry about. But you won't do that will you? As I have said your goal will soon be accomplished, your leader will be pleased and better yet you will have shown Soul Societies superiority to Las Noches. If you agree to turn around right now I'll release your little friend and let you go, we have no intention to fight with Soul Society for the time being, we just don't want you here.”
She sighed.
“Of course if you prove reluctant to do the smart thing and try to fight me...well...”
She snapped her fingers and immediately the serpent around Hana constricted far tighter than it had up until that point. A rocket of blood shot out of Hanas mouth as something inside him ruptured and in moments his face turned bright red as breathing proved impossible and he quickly approached unconsciousness and eventual death.
“He will die...and then I will kill him...” she pointed at Kazue, “And then you, Captain. Make your choice with speed, given how quickly your little followers fading I'd say hes not as powerful as he probably should have been to try any sort of stunt against my babies. I should let you know their abilities to siphon life energy go far beyond the basic constriction you probably believe is at hand.”
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Post by Galihan on Jan 15, 2009 0:13:58 GMT -4
As the top three officers of Squad Twelve made their way through the white paved hallways of Las Noches, it was clear to the captain that this was not where the action was to be found. All around he could feel the energies of other captains and espada fighting their hearts out, but there was definately something stalking him and his stupidly loyal subordinates.
Yes, despite each being geniuses in their own right, they decided it would be for the best that they disobey his direct orders issued personally in the presence of the other seated officers below them in the squad and meet up with him in this dark white world. While the concern was flattering, the insubordination had better not rub off on the others because the last thing he needed was a handful of kids who wont even follow the simplest occasional order he might actually give out every once in a while to prevent the entire squad from degenerating into merely an unorganized, uncooperative intellectuals who can't even stick to a remotely single agenda.
He was aware of the very well concealed presence of the nearby beings, but they were much different than anything he had ever felt before in his past. When something had lunged at him and Hana jumped to his aid, he couldn't help but be impressed at how much the absurdly dressed boy had improved despite being stuck with the educated crowd that was Squad Twelve that typically stuck to books and test tubes and computers instead of blades and training and combat. Unfortunately again, Hana was too loyal for his own good and his eagerness to protect Captain Daichi quickly got him into quite a bind, no pun intended. Minoru's grip tightened slightly around the bronze, time distorting zanpakuto but he made no attempt to be aggressive in the presence of this newest mystery woman.
Her entire appearance was not one of an arrancar as they were generally expected to appear. Her black and gold attire was rather different from arrancar-white and only te presence of what had appeared to be the remains of her hollow mask in the form of horns sticking out of her ears even hinted that she was in fact an arrancar at all. Ler lack of a visible zanpakuto, and legs for that matter only made him suspect that if she was in fact an arrancar she'd have to already be in her ressurecion form. And despite the occasional annoyance of his underlings it would be a real damn shame for them to be killed like this. He listened carefully and took note of the key details she was so generously giving away.
...Silence Cradle... Eight Commandants... Horror Vacui... 10th division captain accomplish mission... Seventy percent... Just not part of the equation anymore... Release your little friend and let you go... No intention to fight Soul Society for the time being.
Then there was this life-siphoning ability that Silence Cradle spoke so highly of that made Minoru concerned for his freakishly dressed subordinate. He didn't want to have to cope with any unnessesary deaths like this, so he decided it'd be best to pull back and leave Yun to accomplishing the mission. Surely Ol' Kazu would understand the situation and not get on his back for walking away like this. It's not like Minoru would be empty handed anyways as long as this information wasn't fabricated, he expected it wasn't but he'd still have to look into it personally before acting on it back in Soul Society.
"Fine." Minoru said calmly, the zanpakuto in his hands glowing brightly as it began to revert to it's sealed form, a far less magnificent sight than it's shikai state. The entirely bronze sword began to shrink and compress into a rough chunk of tarnished bronze, which then disintegrated into nothingness leaving the sealed zanpakuto in his hand. The short slender blade was slid into it's scabbard hanging loosely from the captain's side in between his lab coat and captain's haori.
"Madame, if you would be so kind as to release the gender-confused child we will be on our way. We know which way's the exit and don't have anything personally to gain by hanging around. " He raised his hand to the black serpentine beast crushing Hana and gave his subordinate a concerned look that let him know he'd be alright, then shooting a look at Cradle Silence that said that if she knew what was best for her she'd keep her world and release Hana immediately.
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