The Titian Bastion - Closed

[GoldenKitten]

Part 1 of this post is on the previous page.

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Though Atlus face was a constant visage of death and impossible to read one could almost feel the smug satisfaction roll off him when the quincy found himself caught in the first bind despite a few decent acrobatic plays on his part. Atlus had snapped the blue ribbon at that point and grabbing its far end began reeling the boy in like a caught fish, lifting his scythe with obvious implications as he got closer. However the boy had, had other plans and though he did lure him deeper into his zone he couldn't stop him as he ruptured the binds continuity and after being touched by the seele schneider the blue ribbon simply fell apart and retreated into Atlus hand before dissipating all together. Even as the boy landed defiantly and began spatting confidence ridden remarks Atlus hardly moved and did not even suggest anger or worry, simply annoyance.

“You certainly are full of yourself for someone who was captured by a 6th Row magiks. Freeing yourself from such a weak bind is nothing, do yourself a favor and save your pompous attitude. But then as soon as I cut you down you will never have need for it again so perhaps you should have your fill.”

He gestured with his outstretched hand as if allowing Daijiro this small favor was the greatest of kindnesses. Then flipping his hand around once more he spoke aloud and the two rings around Daijiro began glowing brightly as the past ones had.

“Tracking fright and bondage of the devil seize your soul, 3rd Row.”

His hand began glowing a bright blue once more and then four burst of blue energy struck out and began barrelrolling around each other. At the front of each strand was an effigy of a screaming demon with two horns composed of the blue energy and a high pitched near painful squeal emitted from the magiks as it charged forward. It acted much in the same way the ribbon had but each moved independently to cut the boy off and instead of moving in swirly ribbon patterns they streaked out straight for him.

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Kaiba had managed to fend off Ombra quite well but neither had managed any sort of wound, they had simply succeeded in annoying each other. When Ombra had gotten a momentary upper hand over the shinigami after knocking him square in the face with a good punch he had attempted to strike out but the shinigamis quick actions as well as his sudden unsheathing of his shikai gave the hollow enough of a start that he pulled back. As was often the case smarter opponents often studied the opponents abilities instead of rushing right in since when a shikai was unlocked one never knew what might spring out. Ombra launched into the canopy just as the blade burst into flames and steam began rising off the cool water around Kaiba, not enough to blind him but enough that the blades element was obvious and maybe from an aesthetic sense added a little more mystery to the battle. Thankfully the trees around were so soaked that even if Kaiba had activated his strongest ability here it wouldn't have actually caught anything on fire for long but that also had the adverse effect of making it impossible to burn down Ombras cover without cutting down every tree in the forest by force.

“Kuku, fire? Is that it? How boring.”

Being at the bottom of the valley Kaiba was the only one who could hear the sounds of the other battles. Booms, bangs, roars and stomps all echoed down to the small forest though by the time they had covered the distance they were little more than pops like some far off war being waged. The only one that was plainly obvious was the great forest across the lake, now burning of bright embers through a great majority and a single source somewhere toward the center shot eerie multicolored flames into the sky. While it looked like but a candle flame from here it was obvious that in relativity the battle being waged must have been a violent and large one.

“Seems the lot of you are more capable than I thought, no matter that simply prolongs the inevitable.”

Then a series of logs tied to long ropes dropped on Kaibas four sides, they jerked as they pulled taught and swung in toward the shinigami. A good look showed that each log had countless sharp metal objects jammed into it and any cut it made would certainly be a jagged, vicious and more simply put just a plain unpleasant one. The logs came together with a slam. As soon as they finished Ombra reappeared before Kaiba, if the shinigami managed to dodge the trap Ombra began phasing in and out around Kaiba, appearing as if he would attack from any given direction and then disappearing at the last moment. He once more picked a direction and while it seemed like all the other attacks he came in from behind the shinigami and rather than phase out met him at full force attempting to gut him from crotch to chest in a disemboweling manner, shortly after he fell into a flurry of hacks and jabs.

[ZR0 C00L]

“You certainly are full of yourself for someone who was captured by a 6th Row magiks. Freeing yourself from such a weak bind is nothing, do yourself a favor and save your pompous attitude. But then as soon as I cut you down you will never have need for it again so perhaps you should have your fill.” The Grim reaper like being responded to Daijiro's earlier confidence.

6th row? Daijiro noted the change in incantation.

“Tracking fright and bondage of the devil seize your soul, 3rd Row.”

As the hollow unleashed his attack, Daijiro also noted that once again the rings around him had lit up. The four demonic streaks of energy came at him. Daijiro was at first surprised by the difference in speed of these attacks compared to the last one. He got over it quickly however and readied his blade. The seele shneider sliced through the first pair of blasts coming his way in a single swing, leaving only two more. With no time to bring his weapon around, the Quincy was forced to the side, bringing his arm down and dissipating the third attack as it sailed past him. Seeing that these beams of light would also not be outdone by simple maneuvers, Daijiro simply waited for it to head back at him and raised his blade in front of him and allowed the beam of light to be split in two, with each severed half passing harmlessly by him.

Moving quickly, Daijiro put some distance between himself and his opponent. Standing in the 4th row now, he pocketed the shneider and formed his bow. To the boy's surprise, Atlus had not moved the entire time since they had began. For a distance fighter like himself, he couldn't ask for more. quickly readying a series of shots, Daijiro let loose his attack. half a dozen spirit arrows were sent at Atlus aimed at his chest area.

The arrows connected one after another seeming to provoke little to no reaction from the skeletal figure. One arrow however caused Atlus to recoil in pain. An arrow meant to pierce Atlus' heart had impacted with the hollows left hand. Unlike the other shots Daijiro could see that this one had definitely had an effect although not exactly the one he desired. With precious few seconds to act, Daijiro readied himself for what seemed to be a retaliatory attack from his opponent.

I can win this, I just have to.......

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His opponent was really starting to irritate him. Kaiba stood still while the sounds of his brother and their human companions battling raged on. Many loud explosions could be heard echoing throughout the area causing the silver haired shinigami much concern. He needed to get to them, but he would have to deal with Ombra first. And with him hiding in the foliage, it was going to be even more annoying then already was. As he searched overhead for his opponent, Kaiba laid eyes on a forest across the lake ablaze. From the sounds emerging from there, Kaiba could tell from the looks of it that the battle across the lake must have been huge.

“Seems the lot of you are more capable than I thought, no matter that simply prolongs the inevitable.” Said his opponent.

With the sight of the battle ahead and his opponents words fresh in his senses. Kaiba gritted his teeth, he would have to do this fast, no one was gonna die on his watch. Kaiba was brought back to his own situation when the sound of a rope snapping followed by the rush of logs coming at him from all sides alerted him that this was not the time to be concerned with anything other than his survival. After all, he couldn't help anyone if he was dead. He jumped straight in to the air leaping over the certain doom the logs embodied at ground level.

With a startled grunt and a clanging of steel, Kaiba met Ombra's attack but the suddenness of the hollow appearing out of thin air did not allow him to brace for impact and he was sent toward the ground. With little effort, Kaiba landed on his feet gracefully. Suddenly Ombra began flitting from place to place instantaneously, faster than Kaiba could hope to follow. Time after time, Kaiba went to block the hollows bladed appendages but as soon as he appeared he was gone again before reappearing to do it over again from behind. This process was repeated to many times to count. Kaiba was seething, finally he heard what he had been waiting for. Just like every other time Ombra had appeared in front of Kaiba and when Kaiba went to put up a block the hollow vanished from sight. As he reappeared behind the shinigami who was in the midst of turning, Kaiba noticed that there was no tell tale sound of the hollow disappearing again. The resounding clash echoed off the tress as blade met blade. Kaiba had just made it in time to deflect Ombra's blow.

The hollow growled in annoyance before rushing in and delivering a flurry of strikes with his bladed arms. Kaiba managed to block or dodge the angered creature. His strength and speed were great but with his headlong tactics, he had failed to take advantage of the slight edge he had over Kaiba in these areas. Raising his sword horizontally to block a double slash from the upper arms of Ombra, Kaiba strained as the two were locked in another test of strength. Taking a page from his opponents book, Kaiba broke the exchange by placing a straight kick into Ombras sternum sending the beast backward in the air for a moment. Ombra righted himself and flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet before rushing at Kaiba again.

Dodging his head to the side, Kaiba avoided the straight thrust of Ombra' s left arm while blocking the right with his sword. He ducked low and attempted to sweep the hollows legs out from under him, but a simple backward hop negated that. As soon as Ombras feet hit the ground, he disappeared again. Knowing where the attack was coming from but being too late to parry it, Kaiba felt one of ombras arms pierce through his left shoulder, coming out the other side. It was because he had attempted to turn into his attacker that the strike wasn't fatal. Kaiba spit out a gob of blood as he gasped in agony as Ombra began pull his sword arm out of the wound. To the hollows surprise he found that his blade was stuck, on further inspection, it could be seen that it was Kaibas left hand holding the blade in place. Blood ran freely from the wound in his shoulder as well as the deepening cut his hand was sustaining t the moment but Kaibas face was that of confidence.

"You wont be moving this time" He screamed as he raised his sword in his other arm.

"RYU HIRAMEKI"

As he called out his attack a pillar of intense flame rose up around him high into the sky.

[GoldenKitten]

Waves of heat washed over Kuaturas position as the sheer force of Vulcan's presence escalated at an unfathomable pace to previously untold levels. Kuatura lay crumpled, bent all the way around at the back after having to contort in the last second or face being crushed by one of the falling trees. Soon he had found himself encased in a woodwork prison but thankfully his superhuman strength was allowing him to wriggle free, it was an arduous task though as his landing position did not exactly offer him enough leverage to work with speed. As he took the first step to righting himself flames began to trickle along the ground and slowly consume the exterior portions of the fallen trees, the flames were so hot and superfluous they moved along the ground almost as if mixing with oil or another flammable liquid. The glimpses of sky he could spot rolled with smoke and burned with the eerie incandescent light of the flames firing from Vulcan's back, outside of the immediate area a blood red light had mixed with the orange sun to give the impression that the sky was burning. In truth it was merely a reflection of the ground, the forest was indeed burning and what was not had been hacked down by Vulcan's blades, what was yet to be touched on its farthest outskirts would surely succumb to the wildfire within the next hour. Regardless the trees were healthy and far from dead so Kuatura had more time to work his way out than if the forest had been dry.

Apparently the hollow had extremely good eyesight despite the flames flapping everywhere and the dust he kicked up with his “guns” for his aim had not passed but a foot over Kuaturas resting position before the sound of its firing stopped. Instead after a moment that had surely been trepidation and preparation on Vulcan's part the sound of heavy footfalls approached and under that sound the harsh rush of flames, the increasing heat only emphasized his approach. Soon it was obvious Vulcan stood right over the fallen trees and being in such close proximity to the source of the heat they quickly finished drying out and caught fire from sheer radiant heat at a startling velocity. The sounds Vulcan made as he scanned the location were mechanical, almost as if steel was scraping against steel but giant sparks flew off into the air thanks to the heat of the material grinding together.

Kuatura had completely righted himself within the mess of limbs and fallen trees, finishing the endeavor by freeing his leg while trying to move as little as possible as not to alert the silent sentinel Vulcan to his survival. When his leg finally popped out the momentarily slow motions of the two combatants sped back up to light speed as the collection of trees which had apparently been settled around some critical weighted point on Kuaturas leg began to crumble around him. Immediately he heard the click from outside as Vulcan reacted and the shinigami launched through the limbs as high into the scorching air as his legs could take him while Vulcan's gun barrels tore what had remained of the trees to splinters in an instant. Just as quickly as before though he noted Kuaturas escape and locked on to him once more, opening his mouth and moments later another interior explosion went off as it launched a white shaft. Luckily it seemed the hollow had not taken as much time to aim as he had in the past and a slight slip to the side on Kuaturas part saw the shaft careening past him, sending another mushroom of fire high into the air as it impacted quite a ways away several seconds later. By that time Kuatura had come back to the ground once more and stood about thirty meters from Vulcan.

His instant reaction to Vulcan's metamorphosis before had left him with only a fleeting transformational image but now the explosion of his transfer was complete and while the essentials of the hollow were the same it was obvious his power was steadily increasing. The long pillars of fire ejecting from his back had shortened to about two meters but instead of being a plethora of colors they now burned an eerie blue with a scorching white at the center. Vulcan's entire body was now burning bright red, excluding his eyes which were now a brilliant blue and it was obvious his shoulders were already heating into blue territory as well as every step or movement he took scrapped massive plumes of exhaust, fire and spark high into the air creating a situation where just being around him would have been deadly to anything short of a trained shinigami. Even at this distance Kuatura could feel heat radiating off the figure and the fires which had been slow before were now spreading out with liquid quickness to them after the radiant heat had dried out any moisture that might have been stalling its advance before now as even more liquid fire seeped out of the vents on his back and over his sides almost like molten slag.

The screeching of the long gun arms, which were the only thing still retaining their original black color as if immune to the heat, turned on him in as short a period as he had to view the situation and opened fire. Luckily at this distance, even with the rate of fire, Vulcans accuracy was very spotty and the bullets bright color meant that the few that did make there target were easily dodged. Realizing this Vulcan stopped and thrust his chest forward, a significant amount of flames and sparking was thrown up from his insides and Kuatura was ready to go on the offensive until they both realized nothing was happening. Apparently Vulcan felt no pain in certain areas because he had been oblivious to the fact that his internal clockwork blade firing mechanism was a mess and incapable of firing, only now lowering his chest and giving a clear grimace. Kuatura had taken this opportunity and was darting toward the hollow; crossing back and forth across his field of fire to try and throw him off as he reentered what he guesstimated was likely where the kill-range of the guns got dangerous again. The moment he heard the sound of the guns preparing once more he launched into the air, even Vulcan’s quick aim incapable of keeping up with him as the area below was filled with a thousand bullets of energy.

Kuatura pulled Harut Marut to his side once more and prepared to land just feet short of him as he figured if the clockwork mechanism was not working that under Vulcans chest was the safest place to be. As he closed the distance toward Vulcan whom was now casting a bright white glow from the upper half of his body thanks to the heat there could be no question, being within a hundred meters of Vulcan was like being in the world’s hottest oven and Kuatura was already finding it hard to get air here. As he careened in he saw Vulcan was not even trying to aim at him and he realized the creature’s mouth was once again opening, he briefly readied himself to dodge another white shaft…until he felt the sudden burst of heat. Before any sign was made the heat from Vulcan’s open mouth hit Kuatura and the sheer intensity shook the remaining air out of his lungs and dried his skin out instantly. He only had a split second to dive sideways, a difficult endeavor without Harut Marut being in its shikai form before the open mouth exploded with white energy and what he imagined passed as Vulcan’s cero fired. It was smaller and narrower than usual blast but it was impossibly hot, likened to being next to a boiling star and with little room between the beam of pure energy, which launched high into the air and cast a brilliant glare over the entire valley, it made little difference that direct contact was not made. Kuatura screamed as the backside of his robe disintegrated instantly and the remains were torn from his body quickly, his exposed back bubbled quickly and as the blast continued outward away from him it left several patches completely red and raw. Kuatura was in blinding pain, even for one as experienced as he but managed to right himself and land with a modicum of skill before crumpling to one knee and grappling his chest as he gasped for breath. He attempted to push the pain from his back to the far corners of his mind as he was actively aware that Vulcan would give him no reprieve but it was a difficult affair as he pushed up to a standing position despite all the warning lights in his head saying not to.

Vulcan stood before him and Kuatura, running completely on adrenaline charged and ducked low hoping the hollow would take a few more seconds to lock on again. He got lucky and by the time the guns began to fire he was within twenty feet of Vulcan. The heat might normally have been unbearable at this range but his skin was still smoldering from the superheated cero and everything was heat now, making it almost unnoticeable. He had hit the ground sliding and though he was almost decapitated by a flurry of the pounding bullets he pulled out of there range as he got up and underneath Vulcan’s high stance. The superheated glowing white hooks of the hollow tried to come down on him but compared to the other strikes they almost moved in slow motion. He brought Harut Marut up into Vulcan’s chin several times sending sparks flying and catching the edge of his sword on fire momentarily with every stroke, almost like a forge. It was only when he heard what had to be a chuckle emanating from Vulcan that he noticed the clockwork machinery in his chest slowly dropping to the ground, melting nearly a foot into the dirt wherever they dropped. Then all at once three nozzles dropped into place where the machinery was, they glowed a startling color, much like staring at the beam of fire from before and it was nearly blinding if looked at directly. Kuatura did not need to be told twice and he shot into the air as the ground below him was bathed in intense heat as if three bellowing streams of flame were unleashed. Even in his dulled state he could feel the tightening in his lung at this new entry and was aware that contact with those flames would have been instant death.

Vulcan had obviously anticipated this and despite the fact that any expressions had long been lost in his pure white burning form he could feel the creature gloating. He would have none of it as he pulled down hard and slammed sword first into the creatures head. Despite all its offensive power it seemed Vulcan was still weak defensively and now that Kuatura was in close he was not going to let up. The blade struck home and drove several inches into the creature’s skull and for the first time in a while Vulcan let out a painful roar before the force of the attack slammed him into the ground, quickly liquefying the dirt to molten sludge from the intense heat of its upper body. Kuatura raised his blade and plunged it down several times, each one creating a mass ejection of molten slag and barbed sparks and each one driving a bit closer to penetrating the outside armor. At one point he had set a sandaled foot on the creature to add leverage to his strikes only to be reminded just how hot the creature was as the wood caught on fire and the bottoms vaporized instantly as he had to kick his shoes off and hop back to the ground. Despite the fact that the heat was obviously too much even for a zanpaktou and Harut Maruts edges were beginning to super heat he continued to slam down. Then with one mighty thrust Vulcan lifted the front of his body up an inch or two and the whoosh of his flamers could be heard. With no time to jump Kuatura summoned his shikai and held it out like a shield at the last moment as he was swathed in burning hot flames. Even behind the shield Kuatura was cooking from the inside out, sweat evaporating before it could even form and the kite was quickly proceeding from red hot to blue, the wraps that kept his hands safe for the moment melting from the handles. The flames let up and Kuatura took a deep breath though such air was hard to come by in this heat only to view the coming situation and find he couldn’t even curse, he could only act. He readied his shield once more and the immense heat he had felt during his fall to the ground before griped him again. He was instantly thrown back about ten feet at the initial impact and within moments his kite had proceeded to bright white and the center was quickly burning brighter than a nova. All sense of time or what could be done was gone and even the remaining grip on the blade melting causing his hands to immediately flash fry burning the skin over and over could not pull him too. He could only stare in horror as the very edges of Harut Marut began to melt and the center of the blade caved in from the incredible heat of the flame cero still ushering from Vulcan’s mouth.

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The massive hollow slowly slid downward but thanks to the loud drills and being incessantly pelted by debris everything seemed to be going fast-forward in Sera’s mind. She was crawling along the ground as she darted between the drills, rolling and gaining whatever purchase she could toward the edge but as the sinking hollow drained out more and more of the orange light of the sun she realized there was a good chance she wouldn’t make it. Still she pushed on but as the hollow sunk to low and she could no longer straighten all the way on to all fours she was forced to stop with no way to push forward at any quick rate. All around the ground shuddered and the drills, almost completely buried at this point, ground with supernatural tones of stress. She knew within seconds that she would have no room for movement and she was quickly losing all sense of place and action to instinctive fear. She felt around on her back and the last thing she remembered before Martello’s weight began to displace across her was the grip of her blade.

Martello shuddered, his entire body rippling as if gripped by a giant frozen breeze, his tail going straight and erect while his face showcased something of contemplation and wonder. Then he bellowed and began stomping his front feet rapidly as he tried to pull back, incapable of doing so with any speed thanks to the quagmire below of his own making. He let out more bellowing calls that sounded remotely like an oversized cow in pain that grew in rapid succession from surprise, to pain and then to fear. Below him Sera had made an initial slash with her sword and the surprise Martello had received had backed him up enough to offer her room to push up and plunge the blade in a stabbing motion toward the hollow. It came as much a surprise to her as it likely did the hollow when her zanpaktou easily penetrated his underbelly and easily slid all the way in to the hilt. It took her a moment to recognize the effectiveness until she ripped the blade out as quickly as she could and began performing stabs over and over, gaining leverage with every deep strike. Martello began rising up to the point that she could once again stand and though he was rapidly shaking trying to ram her with one of his drills it seemed to be an instinctive action and she managed to side step any that came her way.

By the time she was standing up all the way Martello bore a massive series of holes where Sera had been stabbing and plumes of white energy and red blood were flowing out. She was one again regaining her thoughts instead of acting instinctively and with the sudden change of direction the battle was taking she even allowed a little of her cocky nature to return. She thrust the blade in once more and then ripped forward; tearing a mighty chunk from Martello’s belly and a responding yelp told her she was doing some significant damage. He tore backwards from her and Sera realized he was rearing up on to his back legs as he peeled away from the ground at a startling rate, rising up to his full height once more. However unlike the last time when the sight had invoked fear in Sera she knew and the wound on his belly confirmed that this was not a showoff stance but rather a rapid attempt to pull away from the source of pain…Sera would not allow that. She charged forward and jumped into the air while placing one foot on to the base stump of Martello’s tail, giving her a clear shot at his underbelly once more. She pulled her zanpaktou all the way back and then plunged it into his soft skin once more while shouting the incantation, flames rippled across the hilt of her sword and then fired across his prone form searing the already pain inflicted area. Martello’s stance stumbled and with no way to get a proper look at the situation thanks to his build and the surprise from the sudden ferocity of the counter-attack he fell backward in what was real life slow motion.

Sera was attached to him thanks to her blade but even so the effect of his fall was highly disorienting. Still as he hit the ground, sending a massive boom echoing through the valley she knew she had to use the chance she had been given. Martello immediately began trying to throw himself to the side but much like a turtle it was a difficult thing for him to do and despite his incredible movements before he had no momentum to get him started here. Sera slid her blade out a bit so that it was shallower than before but did not completely rip it free. Then applying as much force behind the blade as she could she charged forward, making her way past the drills which were still spinning in the air and ripping a mighty swath down his stomach, only ripping the blade out after she had cut halfway down his body and releasing mass amounts of white energy and blood into the air as his giant body ejected them in streaming geysers. With her sword free she charged up his length and when she was free of the “field” of drills she launched into the air and within a split-second Martello’s chest gave way to the bottom of his head. She came down on him hard and he had already been unsuspecting, incapable of seeing anything from this position. Her sword slipped easily into his gullet and she began hacking and slashing in a manic fashion before he could even respond. Once he did his body began rocking back and forth at an even greater rate and he thrashed his head trying to throw her off, thankfully that was impossible at her current position as she quickly decimated her opponent’s throat, his entire body leaking plumes of white energy now.

That was when she felt it, the greatest shudder of them all and her footing suddenly gave way as she was thrown backwards. She was incapable of stopping what happened next as her back slammed full-bodied into one of the drills. Luckily her clothing was thick enough to keep it from tearing her flesh to bits but several of the long grooves did penetrate and slice down her in rows thanks to the force with which she had been thrown. She screeched aloud momentarily before throwing herself once more on to Martello’s belly just as he gave another mighty heave. She knew that if she was here when he flipped over she might not be as lucky as she had been the first time and quickly rushed down his right side and past one of his legs. She jumped down and plunged her blade below his knee, grabbing purchase and then throwing herself off the hollow and rolling to the ground just as he gave another mighty push and threw himself into a roll toward the opposite direction. With enough space between them Martello came to rest on his feet and pushed himself up despite the mass amounts of energy and blood that flowed out thanks to the action. He began to pace with a limp, much like a dog, while giving strange barking calls out toward Sera almost like an injured animal trying to scare its attacker off. With no warning the world was illuminated by a second sun and both the hollow and Sera looked out toward the forest to their side which though they could not see because of a hill was obviously giving off a ton of smoke. A thin beam of light shot into the air but despite its size the brightness of the energy and the sheer aura of it told Sera being on the brunt of its power would have been almost certain death and she hoped Kuatura, for she knew she had seen him go into that forest, was ok…despite her best attempts not to care. She was called back to the forefront when Martello returned his attention back to her, his features unreadable but a sudden jumble of words spewing forth at a painful gait but still understandable despite his injury.

“Vulcan is going all out too…perhaps we underestimated the intruders.”

[ZR0 C00L]

"Bring forth thine rapture and constrict. Fourth row"

Like before, the tell tale glowing of the ring he stood on signaled that his opponent was readying an attack. A thin beam of blue energy was shot forth from Atlus' extended finger. But unlike times past, the stream of light was shot in a straight line heading toward the young Quincy at a furious pace. The straight forwardness of this attack compared to the others Atlus had sent at him. Daijiro was caught off guard at this sudden change in tactics and was forced to jump high in the air to avoid the attack. To his dismay the beam had quickly halted its forward movement as he elevated and was rapidly making a b-line straight upwards at the him. Shit. Shit. Shit! He rotated his body as he ran through a plethora of curses in his mind. Atlus' attack passed by him as he used the opening momentum of his dodge to pull him into a fast twirling motion as the thin blue light made its way back at him. With a quick push forwards, Daijiro brought his legs up and began flipping end over end as he increased his velocity and the speed of his rotations, narrowly avoiding being struck multiple times as the beam zig zagged back and forth in its attempts to ensnare the young archer.

As his feet hit the ground, Daijiro quickly jerked his head to the left narrowly avoiding being hit yet again. With a contented smirk on his face, he formed his bow. Making a sharp ninety-degree turn to the right, and then another. The beam was once again rocketing towards the Quincy who simply laid in wait. The sound of reiatsu being charged could be heard as Daijiro’s arrow formed. Atlus’ attack was heading straight at the boy and he showed no signs of moving. Instead he increased the input of the spirit particles into his own attack, enjoying the boost this dimension gave his powers thanks to its spirit rich environment. Atlus’s beam closed in on the boy and just as it looked as if he would be captured. The beam disappeared just as it made contact with his bow. The bow in turn started to grow much brighter and became slightly larger in appearance. The guardian’s lack of skin made it hard to determine exactly how Atlus had reacted to this, but from his stance, Daijiro see that the guardian was indeed shocked. Most proud of himself for his impending victory, the boy decided he would share the details of how he had gained the upper hand so as to further shame the hollow and prove his complete dominance over his opponent before he finished the job.

“Surprised? Well just in case your unclear on what’s just happened. I’ll explain it for you. All your reiatsu now belongs to me! From the moment I used my Seele Shneider to free myself from your first attack this fight had become impossible for you to win. Once the Shneider begins unraveling the bonds between reishi, I can easily absorb them directly from their source and adding it to my attacks, all that was left to do was find your weak spot. My earlier barrage confirmed that for me, my arrows did nothing when they hit your robes, but when they struck your hand you recoiled in pain. My arrows may phase right through your robes, but your exposed parts are vulnerable. All I had to do was play along until I could find my opening while analyzing you to see if you had any tricks up your sleeve. You’re finished, Sayonara Atlus.” Daijiro concluded his confidence evident.

“Enclose and defend fourth and sixth row.” Atlus responded to the youth’s proclamation of victory simply.

Daijiro had landed on what would be the fifth row after coming down from his earlier acrobatics. The rows directly ahead of and behind the boy began to glow blue. In an instant, he released his arrow, the blue shot of reiatsu dissipated almost as fast as it was released from his bow. A transparent dome had formed over the fourth row, and a second from the sixth, effectively trapping the boy between their walls.

“Fool, you think I! A guardian would be bested so easily? You are a bigger fool than I gave you credit for. Now I shall show you the error of coming into this realm. Rise and ensnare! Fifth row!

The ground beneath Daijiro’s feet began to glow, and a viscous substance made of reishi emerged from the illuminated circle and began climbing up his body. The young Quincy could feel it constricting his extremities already and knew that if he was to be fully submerged that the conclusion to this battle would not be pleasant for him.
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Flames rose around Kaiba majestically as he attempted to roast his guardian adversary. A smile appeared on his face as he felt the arm go limp just after he cast his dragon shine technique. The pain from the blade jutting from just beside his shoulder blade was rippling through the shinigami’s body, but Kaiba would not let up. He tightened his grip on the blade ignoring the bite of Ombras weapon on his palm and waited for his attack to die down.

As the flames disappeared, Kaiba was instantly hit with a solid blow connecting with his chin. As he flew through the air, he saw that Ombra’s extended leg was responsible for his surprise flight and the throbbing in his head. Kaiba immediately flipped over backwards landing crouched on one knee. spitting another gob of blood from his mouth. He looked up at the guardian who merely stood in confidence twenty or so meters ahead of him. Looking at his slightly scorched body, the silver haired shinigami could tell what had happened. Seeing as Ombra now had only two arms, it was fairly obvious that he had severed his trapped arm in order to escape a certain death. The freshly amputated arm still protruded from his chest area, the blades tip freely dripping Kaibas blood down its tip. The shinigami plunged his own sword into the ground and raised his right arm up and around his back grasping the severed limb. With a sudden jerk, he managed to pull the appendage from his body with a grunt and a grimace. The wounded shinigami stayed crouching for a moment taking in large gasps of air. Ombra seemed to be in no hurry to advance, and Kaiba took his time. He put his right hand on the hilt of his sword. Slowly he pushed down on it, resting his weight on it so that he could rise easier. When he reached his feet, Kaiba plucked his sword from the ground and held it out in front of him. Ombra looked on monotonously his head cocked to the side in arrogance.

“You disappoint me Shinigami, it seems that I was given the runt of the litter. Looks as though you can barely stand. Come now, surely this is not the limit of your strength. If so I suggest you kneel back down and offer your head freely. You are no match for one such as I. How you thought you and your weakling friends would defeat the Glorious titan Bastion I shall never know.” Ombra offered condescendingly.

“How bout you shut your fucking mouth stumpy! at least I'm still anatomically correct you son of a bitch. Don’t start talking all high and mighty already, were just warming up.” Kaiba returned in kind.

At his words, Ombra merely chuckled. The guardian widened his stance and held out his two remaining arms. One on each side at different heights, the right bladed, the left a regular one. A look of fierce concentration came over him and the flesh at his sides began bubbling. Kaiba looked on as from the previous bloody stump from where he had chopped off his own arm, a new bladed arm appeared. If this wasn’t enough on the opposite side, Ombra revealed that he had been hiding a second regular arm underneath his cloak like armor.

“Now do you see how futile this is, YOU will die here. This is the end of your tale.” The guardian announce assuredly.

“This is only the beginning, on the day they write about Kaiba Katayama. YOU will not even be in the cliff notes." Came the shinigamis reply.

Kaiba let out a deafening roar and his reiatsu level shot up, an aura of flames surrounding him for a moment before seeming to be absorbed into his body. The blade of Kaibas zanpakutou; Kaen, held firmly in his right arm retained a fiery glow to it as he raised its tip over his head. The blade burst back into flames, and the shinigami brought it back down without calling out the name of an attack. The form of a dragons head materialized in flames and was sent streaking towards the guardian, its jaws opening just before contact giving it the appearance of one being swallowed whole by flames.

“You never learn. You’re no match for my sonido” Ombra said, materializing behind Kaiba.

Ombra had appeared about ten feet above Kaiba and directly behind, and closing fast. His left, bladed arm rose. Ready to slice through his opponent.

“Shunpo” Kaiba said silently before vanishing from sight just as Ombras slice would have hit him.

The shinigami reappeared a few feet to the left of the awestruck guardian. Ombra, now back on the ground turned his head to the left slowly. His mind seemingly unable to register what had just occurred. Not planning on giving him the opportunity, Kaiba raised his zanpakutou back up again.

“RYU KISOKU!!!!” He shouted.

Once more the dragons’ breath technique was formed, and once more it formed into its familiar form. This time however it was at least twice as large as the first like all zanpakutou, the attacks effectiveness was increased when the names are said aloud. The dragons head of flame overtook Ombra, consuming him with flames. The force of the attack was massive. The flames so hot that steam now rose from the water the two warriors stood in. when the flames cleared, Ombra was revealed to be a blackened mess. His carapace cracked and damaged heavily. To Kaiba’s disbelief, the guardian began laughing hysterically for a moment before composing himself

“You have just sealed your fate shinigami. I must commend you for making me go this far. But now you are finished.”

Kaiba found Ombras claim to be quite comical seeing as he looked to be on his way out. But an aura of yellow energy surrounded the guardian and beams of yellow light started to burst forth through the cracked pieces of his carapace. What was left of Ombras shell had been broken away and the area was filled with a blinding flash of yellow energy forcing Kaiba to shield his eyes with Kaen. After the light faded, four large insect like wings that seemed yellow tinged but transparent at the same time were on his back. Ombras true body was revealed to be unharmed and the guardian burned with a renewed strength greater than ever before. Across from him, stood Kaiba, Kaen aglow. Ready.

“The true fight starts NOW!!”

“Bring it on ugly”

[GoldenKitten]

The burning cero was of an intensity not of this world, any human would have died long ago and even a shinigami of Kuaturas level did not have long left. Much of Harut Maruts outer edge had bled away and turned into soul particles upon its destruction instead of dropping to the ground as molten material like the rest of the quickly liquefying surroundings. Kuaturas hands which would take weeks to heal if he made it out of this weren’t the only thing burning, the radiant heat was beyond what he might otherwise have believed possible. It not only burned the abundant undergrowth and wood of the forest but cooked him from the outside-in and liquefied the very ground beneath them into bubbling pools of scorched filth. Such was the damage to his body that just moments ago all sense of his surroundings had gone dead, not just a general numbing but a complete separation from the sensation of pain and heat that had radiated through his form. Equally it seemed the cooking heat had finally burned farther than his outermost regions as his sight began to blur and his hearing fell in and out of operation, critical nervous systems slowly dieing. Despite this detachment he was still vividly aware in the back of his mind that if action was not taken within literal hundredths of a second none of these injuries would much matter for he would be quite dead.

Kuatura was horribly aware that there was only one way out at this point. Any sort of movement on his part was going to see what little shielding he had from the cero disintegrate in a moment and him along with it, on the flip side the exact same thing was going to happen if he stayed here much longer. The one and only answer was to move a quickly as possible out of the way, so fast that by the time the cero progressed forward he would no longer be there, the answer was shunpo. The problem was that despite his prior use of the maneuver and his one time lucky shot when facing the Gillian he couldn’t help but be horribly aware he wasn’t quite sure he could pull it off at all just by willing it, especially in the condition and terrain he was in. Despite there being no pain readily assaulting him he could feel a dull ache deep in his bones with every little twitch and was vividly conscious of the fact that just because his body wasn’t screaming at him didn’t mean it would make it any easier to force it into action under its current condition…in fact it might make it worse. The fact that his feet were sinking faster and faster into the superheating muck did not increase his hopes. Yet as he watched the remainder of his Zanpaktous edges burn away, feeling its subconscious pain and also feeling the very real wave of heat wash over his legs as the shielding was lost he knew he had to try.

So it was that he drew one leg out of the bog and tried to find what footing he could on some ground that while unsteady at least did not sink like quicksand. He applied force and was surprised at the fear he felt when the shield wobbled before his movements, almost giving way, despite all his training and the intensity of the moment keeping him in a state of warriors thought there was still some part of him that was horribly afraid of the prospect of death. With all the power he could muster he tossed himself to the side and the light and heat that had pressed on him disappeared, instead replaced by the booming sound of all that torrential energy buildup being let lose on the world. Even in his burned out state he could feel the intense waves of heat blow past him and what trees remained in a semi-standing manner burned with its intense force.

Yes Kuatura did not lose sense of place, everything did not go black and as he pulled away from the heat source amplified by the movement he felt a stinging covering his body as his sense of pain returned. With his eyes wide open and his feet planted of what could almost be considered firm ground Kuatura was very much alive, and as he turned he saw that in the split second he had been given he had darted clear across the open ground to stand far from Vulcan. All was not good though, as his sense of pain returned he realized just how bad things had become. His entire body still felt as if it was on fire, the pain was disjointed and decentralized focusing on no one point, he soon became brutally aware that it was because the convected blast of heat had seared his body head to toe and there was no one location of damage. With every passing second his body burned and prickled with greater intensity and he knew if he did not move soon his focus on the pain would render him incapable of movement until he finally passed out. So with a massive grunt he set one foot before the other and with the drive only someone like he could muster came back up to a walking speed in Vulcan’s direction.

For once though things were looking as if they might at the very least be working in a better direction. Vulcan while still flaring up like the epidemic core of a supernova seemed to be suffering from his burnout. After the last cero he had taken a ridiculously long time to resituate and turn toward Kuatura, creaking and groaning the whole way. Kuatura had been hoping this might be coming but had never been sure, Vulcan seemed like the sort who burned everything he had in a short period and expected that by the time he ran out of gas anything that might harm him would be long dead. This seemed to prove that theory and it would also appear the hollow had severely underestimated Kuatura. While the shinigami might have been hurt he never gave up until the end and in this case it appeared he might very well be getting the break he needed. Vulcan finally managed to lock on to Kuaturas position and appeared ready to take another shot at him, though his preparation was taking much longer.

Kuatura felt his hand smoking and as he looked the sickening smell of burned meat greeted him, his hands looking like something out of a horror movie with Harut Maruts mangled and bright red form still held to his side. He inspected the weapon and with a pang of guilt realized that it had no cutting edge left to it and the center might fold in on itself at any moment. Despite its injury neither of the spirits inside said a word and he knew that in actuality they probably would prefer such an end, this whole ordeal would likely be a glorious personal experience for the two to recall in their psychic way if they made it out of this place alive. Still his blade had no use and while he might normally have felt bad as he tossed the hulking mess of metal to the ground where it clanged momentarily till coming to a halt he knew as Vulcan once more turned toward him that it would be of no use anymore. Still he could not touch the hollow with his bare hands and he had no kido strong enough to break through, he was cursed…and then, a flicker of hope. Ever so slowly he put his hand up to his shoulder and realized with a great boost to his anger and honor all at once, that it was still there.

Imara…that was his name, Tsusake Imara. He had not been a close friend of Kuaturas but they had known each other as honor brothers in the same division should. At times they had sat down at the communal banquet hall, eating and drinking with one another as well as other members of the division. There they had traded stories of glories long passed, he knew Imara was nothing more than a rank and file soldier, he was no leader but he had been a brave soul and an excellent fighter. On off days many members of the first division stayed in the communal hall late into the night, talking about all manner of things. He recalled that it had been there he had first learned that Imara had a wife and in retrospect he felt kind of dishonorable for joking about Imara having been assigned to Karakura for being some sort of pervert. While he had never felt such a connection with someone like Imara must have with his wife he understood such connections were important to people and it had been she he planned to find once this was all over and return the remains of Imaras sword. Now though as he gripped the hilt of the sword, still holding on to his back thanks to the thicker fabric of his belt strap that had not been blown completely away he knew he might never get that chance. He hated the idea of disrespecting the final remains like this but he hoped that his brother would rather a soul be saved by his weapon than it go untouched and not stop a death, either way he would be repentant for days to come. Now was not the time though and he drew the broken blade as its silver metal glistened in the multi-colored flaming light, its hilt a dark red though its exact color was undeterminable in this light. He looked the blade over a few times and a flurry of pride, honor and choler rose from deep inside him drowning out all pain. He knew that there was a chance their fellow brother shinigami might have been eaten and his soul turned to a hollow but he refused to believe it, his sword burned with honor and he knew the soul that carried such a sword would fight such an end until it no longer existed. No, Imara would become one with the stream once more and now his blade would be used to strike down one of the foes who was responsible for his death. But it was not just his sword, for a moment despite the fact that they had never served together in battle while he was alive, Kuatura and Imara would stand side by side and then the spirit would rest.

Vulcan opened his mouth once more and an intense heat radiated over the land, a strong gust of air on its crest whipping everything one way or another. This time though Kuatura did not dodge or try to shield himself, he extended his arm, the remains of Imaras zanpaktou held out by his side. He lowered his stance and took a deep breath while he searched inside for the remaining flickers of strength held deep below. Even he was not an endless bottle of energy and while he had not wasted it all yet his injuries were making it harder to find useable energy while most of it dealt with keeping him from dieing a heat induced death. Then, among the darkness and stress he once more found the flickers of energy and with one firm tug took hold of it, riding toward a new dawn. On the outside he smirked and raised his head toward Vulcan, his eyes glowing a bright purple. Then a tightly wound wreath of deep purple and hot pink with traces of red energy pulled taught around his body and as he directed his honor and rage at Vulcan it released a massive boom and the energy shot outward from his body, pushing the heat away and rupturing the ground beneath him.

“You did not realize your folly when you chose to fight me. More so to push me this far.” He spoke calmly and quiet but yet his voice carried to the Hollow. “Come on Imara, we are going to attack.”

Vulcan released his energy and it quickly burned over the ground, outclassing anything he had done before as it ripped through the burning arena and far off into the distance. There was no push against it though and Vulcan gave what could only be a sigh of relief, knowing full well he had been close to pushing over the limit as he closed his mouth and multiple flaps on his sides began opening, expelling heat at a phenomenal rate. Then with obvious recognition he heard the noise from below but could do nothing about it. In the split second before he had fired Kuatura had closed the distance and stood under his chest while the blast soared overhead, now preparing to strike. The first cut was practically silent as time slowed nearly to a halt while Vulcan realized his error and Kuaturas will was sharpened to a point. By the time Vulcan’s neck gleamed a high silver-purple Kuatura was already high above him and coming down straight on his back, angling with precise movements through his flames. Before the creature could even react to the first cut which sent sparks and silver speckles, broken fragments of Imaras zanpaktou hundreds of feet into the air, his back was taken from him. Vulcan’s knees buckled from beneath him as the pure force Kuatura applied carried the broken blade through his entire form. By this point Kuatura hit the ground and with one instantaneous bound stood behind the hollow. As Vulcan tried to make one final turn he found it to no avail as Kuatura was once more cutting through him, a silver trail of broken fragments flying behind him as his body moved with the burning purpose the royal purple glow in his eyes conveyed. He came to land twenty meters ahead of Vulcan and held Imaras sword out, staring at the remains with a tad of regret, almost the entire sword had been lost in the attack and only a small amount of the hilt and blade remained. He cast a glance over his shoulder and as if a delayed reaction Vulcan’s form was suddenly sliced once more by a bright purple and pink cross where Kuatura had struck him before, the energy overtaking the hollow. Then, ever so slowly his massive form fell to the ground with a loud screeching metallic sound in a broken lump, unmoving.

Kuatura watched the hollow for several moments as he was more than aware it was still alive. Vulcan who had been down for over ten seconds now but had lost none of his bright heat began moving, wriggling almost like a snake as he found himself incapable of standing. Hot molten slag spilled from the cuts Kuatura had caused and he was certain that the creature had been deprived of most of its weaponry; still he wouldn't count him down until he was out. As if to punctuate this fact Vulcan began gurgling and letting loose rumbling, liquid roars as the entire area began to heat up. Kuatura tried to see what was going to occur and as he felt the build-up of energy within the hollow he sought out Harut Marut rapidly, charging and flipping what remained of it as a shield once more.

“I don't lose...I never lose. I am the god of fire!!!...THE WORLD BURNS!!!” Vulcan roared once more.

The build up reached its highest point and then everything was flame as the dieing corpse turned into a bomb, one final glorious sign of the creature’s existence. The explosion was of a sound unheard, echoing for forty miles and leveling whole swaths of forest. The explosion sent skyward was nothing short of a nuclear explosion and even that was not the end as shards of material scattered across miles, most falling into the lake or already burning forest but some making its way to the other battlegrounds and exploding in fiery glory. Then with one final burning pillar of fire the source of all this destruction was gone and when the dust and flames cleared many minutes from now there would be nothing left of Vulcan’s existence but a crater large enough to house several buildings in. Thankfully for all its forceful looking show the blast was indirect and couldn't hope to destroy the remains of Harut Maruts shielding, being dozens of times less potent than the direct fire cero from before. When the danger was finally gone Kuatura lowered the remains of Harut Marut and stared into the large pit his adversary had created, speaking softly.

“You're right...you didn't lose.”

He turned back around knowing full well his opponent was gone watched as the spread of flame diminished, the ground they had been standing on solidified and the overbearing heat began to drift away, the harsh light replaced by the orange sun, still filtering from the great smoke cloud rising into the air. Despite this the forest was damaged beyond all repair and was alight with powerful flames that still threatened to consume him and everything else within it borders, if it hadn't been a hollow realm he would have felt bad at its loss.

As it was he simply began putting one foot in front of the other, maintaining his fight against the growing pain that was recapturing his body as the adrenal glands that had kept him going up until this point began shutting down as the danger passed. He did not know where he was going but with the direction the sun was in continued to head in the direction he had been going in the first place. Even as he put distance between himself and the epicenter of the fight the flames which were still storming the remains of the forest flickered out at him and threatened to take his life even now if he gave in to the darkness that was pulling at the edge of his conscious thoughts. A bind that promised sleepy relaxation, the body's way of dealing with such overexertion and pain grasping it at once. He had slipped the remains of Imaras blade into his belt line and was using the ruined Harut Maruts tip as leverage against the ground, pulling himself forward and using it as a crutch of strength.

Though he lost track of time in his escape from the burning ruins it was really only about five minutes later when he walked into a portion of the forest that was still rather unscathed, sitting at the very bottom of a rather short rocky outcropping. He made his way silently through the forest, not even checking to see if there were enemies with the single minded purpose of reaching those rocks. He accomplished the task moments later as he walked free of the forest and reaching the base of the outcropping he dropped to his knees. He ran his hands over his body and was greeted with horrible, burning danger pangs in return and so he grasped the rock, pulling himself up. Somewhere just in front of him he spotted a cave but with his vision falling back and forth he knew he could not bother with such things. Kuatura pulled himself up several meters onto the rock where he would be safe from the flames and then fell face forward onto the ground, cold unconsciousness that had been calling for ages finally taking him.

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The reprieve was short lived at best; despite his numerous wounds Martello was headed straight for Sera once more. Luckily it did seem he would not be curling into a ball anytime soon due to most of the injuries being on his stomach and with that revelation Seras confidence began to soar. She didn’t know how she was going to attack again but her chances were infinitely better than they had started out. So as Martello charged across the clearing with all caution tossed to the wind she returned the favor without as much thought as she had before and jumped at the last second, propelling herself as close as she could to over the hollow. She hit the edge at the very top and moments later found herself slipping and sliding down the smooth shelled back until she went catapulting off the hollow and into freefall for the remaining ten feet to the ground while landing relatively smoothly. The foolhardy move had paid off though as it had taken the charges momentum away and now they were to close for him to charge with such force again. She took the opportunity as he turned around to take a swipe at the underside of his tail but unlike the rest of his underside she quickly found the tail from the base up was just as armored as his top. This was made doubly troublesome by the fact that he obviously felt the strike and now raised his tail to crash down on her...but such a movement had long ago lost its ability to scare or impress Sera around the time she was dodging drills under a massive trash compactor.

More rocky shrapnel was sent flying in every direction, pelting her already dirty and soaked skin with more debris though she was growing so used to the onslaught she didn’t even try to block it this time. She had performed a neat roll to the side easily sidestepping the blast as Martello contorted himself into what should have been an impossible turn radius for his size but the willpower to not give Sera an opening was probably the cause of his burst of speed. Most people might have thought staying behind Martello would have been ideal and easy with his speed but Sera had quickly discovered that his back had almost no openings despite its safety and his side was almost impenetrable thanks to the drills which motions were impossible to predict. The front was the only option despite the dangers and so Sera simply waited for him to face her, not wanting to be unprepared when the opportunity presented itself by rushing around. When he finally caught sight of her he snapped at her with his mouth but came up far too short, barely causing her to step back before she realized the distance was too great. As she came to view his eyes she realized that the calm calculations he had been using before were replaced by a near animalistic fervor as he eyed her angrily.

When he had completely wheeled around he began striking wildly with his tail, retracting it and tossing it again as quickly as it came the first time. However it was done exactly like that, wildly, for all its anger the accuracy was way off and while Sera still had to dodge the effort required was miniscule as she elegantly dodged back and forth as the ground around her was turned into putty. For the first time she realized that while Martello had tons of endurance due to his size he had in truth been badly injured, much more so than she had thought and now he was just doing everything in his power to keep her on the defensive and away from him. Even so she didn’t doubt that he was still trying to come up with a plan to either win or get away, neither of which she could let happen. So with a little more bravado than was probably necessary she charged through a trio of hits, ignoring them entirely and jumped straight for the hollows face. She came crashing down with as much force as she could and struck him square in the middle of the forehead despite his thrashing movements. As she had hoped while the armor gave resistance for a moment it was not meant to hold like the thicker back armor and began cracking and the tip penetrated inward. Unfortunately before she could drill through she lost her own momentum and with nowhere to stand but a deadly spinning nose drill she had to throw herself off to the side as Martello buckled backward and reorganized.

“Oh…” she heard him gurgle.

Sera reacted quickly and spun to her feet preparing to launch at him once more when the opportunity presented itself as she saw that he was taking a peculiarly long time to come back down. On a second glance she thought his face almost looked as if it was in pain though that was a difficult thing to tell with a hollow and then after the prolonged instance he slowly fell back to the earth causing a great rumble. When he did she noticed his back was bulging as if from the inside and she squinted to get a better look, unable to fathom what exactly might be going on when without warning his entire shell flew off to the side and Sera had to act with cat fast reflexes to pull herself away from being smooshed underneath. Even so by this point she couldn’t care less about that as she stared wide-eyed at her opponent who was now missing his shell, a black hole replacing it which was now oozing countless spires of white energy and seeping blood from its edges. This entire moment had been completely surreal, going from just another battle to oddly creepy so fast that she had no time to adjust her reaction to it…and that was when the first black spire shot skyward from his back. Within moments Sera watched in horror as Martello stumbled forward as thousands of black shots of energy shot high into the air and as her gaze followed them she saw what was about to happen.

With no time to think Sera had to charge forward and do the last thing common sense would probably suggest you do…she slid underneath Martello as the first of the black spires reached the peak of where it launched too and toppled back, hurtling for the ground once more. Sera was underneath Martellos neck as he continued to buffet under the shots when the first of the spears returned to earth several meters from them and jabbed several feet in with immense force. It wasn’t soon before the black spears pelted the ground in a deadly rain and several actually jabbed into the hollow himself. Then as suddenly as any of the other strikes one of them struck Martello jabbing him in the head and running all the way through, almost hitting Sera in the process. As the hollows form lost its balance and fell on top of Sera once more as she hid under him with her hands over her head she could hear him laughing, as if he knew he had won.

Martello collapsed with one final boom but he wasn’t laughing all the way down, as he did so a hole was ripped through his underside and straight through his backside and into the air. As he fell to the ground, still launching black spears he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. He tried to wriggle his vision around to see what going on despite the injury his body had endured and was amazed to see a bright green trail of energy cast all the way from his back and high into the air. At the pinnacle of this energy stream Sera didn’t even know what she had done, as the creature had fallen on top of her she had instinctively thrown energy into her zanpaktou and in moments now found herself sailing high above the hollow. Despite the fact that in a normal situation she would find floating a hundred plus feet in the air a little freaky she was oddly calm now. She had her zanpaktou drawn out once more and it was glistening a bright green, the energy was repelling against her and cutting her arm but even so she felt as if everything was under control. So with but a flick of her wrist the energy launched downward in a torrent of destruction and then feeling a bit dizzy she lost control and fell toward the ground herself. Martello was incapable of doing a thing as the blast erased those remaining black spears he had continued to launch and then slammed into his prone form; from his reaction it was apparent that his injuries had rendered him near oblivious to pain and his body simply soaked the blast dangerous energy up. When the onrush cleared Martello laid at the center of an eight pointed star, what was left of his body was broken and shattered as he leaked what little energies remained within in great cascades. Slowly pieces of his form began to chip off and his skin began to age at a phenomenal rate as he turned the same color as the ground beneath him.

“Maybe…maybe you can undo us…” were his last words.

Sera who had landed with a great thud herself had lay staring at the orange sky in a sort of daze, her arm bleeding a bit but quickly healing. She had started to feel lightheaded but the creature in her zanpaktou had not taken advantage of that opening as it must have sensed her opponent was dead anyway. However at Martellos words she pushed up off the ground so that she was sitting and watched in amazement as the entire hollows form slowly turned to stone. Within a few moments what had been a giant hollow looked like one of the countless bare hills that were still around her. Still in a bit of a daze Sera pushed up to her feet and looked off into the distance where she saw a massive explosion, she knew that was the last direction she had seen Kuatura in. She didn’t know what this place was, what awaited her or even who she had just fought or for what purpose but she knew staying around here was asking for trouble…and so she put one foot in front of the other, heading off as quickly as possible and leaving Martellos remains behind.

[ZR0 C00L]

Daijiro’s legs were going numb. The fluid traveling up to his waist seemed to deaden the nerves that it came into contact with. The ensnared archer had his face twisted in a look of fierce concentration. The boy held his spirit bow out in front of him, he had an arrow aimed at Atlus’s forehead. He did not fire, he knew as things were now his attack would bounce harmlessly off the barrier and possibly back at him like his previous attempts had.

THAT’S IT!!! The boy exclaimed to himself mentally as a plan formulated in his mind. The only question was going to be. Would he have enough time?

“Do you see now boy? Do you see the gap between us? Someone like you could never be my equal” Announced Atlus in expectation of his imminent victory.

Just keep talking. The boy said to himself as he readied his next move.

Daijiro knew that his opponent would not be stupid enough, and that he was definetly not lucky enough that Atlus would bring down his barrier and expose himself before the boy was a lifeless corpse on the ground. The Quincy clenched his teeth and fiercely concentrated on gathering energy into his bow. The disabling fluid slowly but surely crept to his belly button and the boy could feel his lower half no longer. Trails of swirling blue spirit particles came to his bow and began forming into a large arrow of light getting bigger by the second. Atlus nearly laughed at the boys stupidity when he noticed a small hole being created in his barrier. The hole, ever increasing in size was being created by Daijiro directly taking energy from the barrier instead of just surroundings as he also seemed to be doing.

“You know” The boy started. “Since coming to this place I’ve become much stronger. Too bad you’ll be on your knees before me as you realize the full extent of my words.”

Daijiro’s hole was nearly complete and very soon he would be able to get his shot off and get a chance to end this fight once and for all. The hole in front of the quincy widened.
He was just about finished gathering the energy he needed. A smirk came to his face, this was gonna be it.

“GAME OVER BOY!!!” Screamed his opponent.

The floor underneath the semi paralyzed boy light once more and suddenly the fluid covering his lower half began to light as his body was hit with a powerful surge of electricity. Daijiro's shot was fired high and over the first protective dome way above the hole in the front he had created. Atlus cackled in triumph as the boy writhed in agony. Stubbornly, the boys smile remained throughout his electrocution and it enraged Atlus. Why the boy was still smiling as he lay broken on the floor was a question he had no answer to. And then it hit him.

Daijiro’s arrow pierced through the back of Atlus’ skull and exited through the front of his mask. Cracking it down the center as well as leaving a sizable hole. Immediately the barriers that he had erected came shattering down like glass before fading from existence. The once mighty Atlus, 4th guardian fell to his knees. His opponent had gotten up from the floor now free of his bonds, Atlus no longer had the strength to keep his attack up. As he knelt with his head bent and his hands holding his upper body from falling braced on the ground, a pair of shoes came in to his field of vision. Daijiro was standing over him, his bow glowed a blinding blue, a look of arrogant triumph on his face.

“You underestimated me, a fatal error. So wrapped up in the little tear I was creating in front of you, you didn’t even consider I was making one behind you. All I had to do was wait you out and aim my arrow to ricochet off of the first barrier and into the hole behind you. You mocked me, and in the end you came up wanting. Game over. Hollow.”

Daijiro finished his sentence by firing his kojaku directly through Atlus’ mask. Reiatsu was pouring out of the wound in Atlus’ mask as he lay motionless, face down on the ground. The circular diagram on the floor beneath began to glow brighter than ever before, Daijiro raised his hands to shield his eyes as the light burned his retina. Atlus himself began to glow a bright blue and ever so slightly began trembling, this trembling quickly changing to full out convulsions and Daijiro knew this couldn’t be good. The Quincy leapt back as far as he could without getting too close to the mountains edge lest he be thrown over the side in the aftermath of what he suspected was to come. Without warning, Atlus stopped thrashing about and went completely still. Bracing himself, Daijiro knew that it was not over just yet, the young man cleverly began channeling reiatsu into his body to further ensure he wouldn’t be caught off guard. He left nothing to chance. A blue pulse of reiatsu emanated from Atlus’ prone form in a radial pattern and swiftly a large explosion was triggered from the hollows body. The force of the explosion rocked Daijiro and brought him to his knees as he crossed his arms in front of himself as debris was sent hurtling towards him pelting him with many small rocks. Then just as quickly as it occurred, it was all over and Daijiro was left alone on the mountain top.

He fell to his knees, exhausted. Drawing in deep rejuvenating breathes of the cool air as he stared at the orange sky. After a few moments, Daijiro scanned the area for his lost friends, the sound of huge battles were all around, their echoes reaching the mountain top. He knew it was his friends getting the same welcome he had gotten and wanted to be able to help them out should they need it. But first, he’d have to find away down this damn mountain.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since losing his armor, Ombra was enjoying an overwhelming speed advantage that Kaiba was hopelessly struggling to keep up with. The wound in his shoulder was still flowing freely. He knew that even though he could still move his left arm slightly, it was nowhere near a hundred percent. Ombra was fully aware of this shortcoming and forced Kaiba to fight completely defensive, eliminating any chance for the shinigami to mount any offense at all, let alone an effective one. Using his gauntlet and zanpakuto, it took every ounce of his strength, skill and determination to change the many potential fatal blows into the superficial wounds that were quickly appearing all over his body. Even the persistently optimistic Kaiba knew that he could not keep this up much longer. In fact he was amazed he had stuck in this long. The guardian had him outmatched in every aspect of the fight save perhaps technique, and that was all that was keeping the shinigami alive for now.

A harsh grunt escaped from Kaiba’s lips as he brought his sword up to block an overhead strike from the insect like Ombra. With little time to react, the guardian flitted behind the shinigami and forced him to duck low to the ground, avoiding being skewered once again. By this point, Kaiba had lost track of how many close calls there had been. Instead he focused on dodging the inevitable follow up attack that would be thrown at him. As he rolled forward, the sight of an airborne and quickly descending Ombra could be seen. With his skills with shunpo being at a fledgling level, Kaiba was forced to painfully shift his body to the side mid-roll barely avoiding the facial impaling that had awaited him otherwise. Ombras blade dug into the earth beside Kaiba’s head as he lay on his back, the attack so near him that his cheek was given a deep gouge as it passed him by. Rolling back up to his feet, Kaiba was alerted to the fact that he had lost track of his opponent. With his ability to sense reiatsu severely affected by the strange atmosphere in this dimension, he was forced to swivel his head from left to right then to turn around to make sure he was not about to be caught by surprise, but Ombra was nowhere to be seen. A slight rustle in the trees behind him made Kaiba turn quickly toward its source. In doing so he had unwittingly played right into Ombra’s hand as the guardian now appeared behind him, his sword pulled back. Kaiba could only look on in horror as he turned to face Ombra and felt his stomach being pierced by the blade before it tore through his back as well. A large gob of blood came out of Kaibas mouth as Ombra pulled his blade back out through the hole it had created in his abdomen, twisting it as he did so to widen the wound. With his body weakened from the rapid loss of blood and nothing left to keep him on his feet, Kaiba Katayama fell face down into the shallow water beneath him. His heartbeat becoming erratic then slowing then coming to a stop world around him went black.

The feeling of a roaring fire warmed his skin and the young shinigami found himself in a blackened chamber. There were small fires all around him and a row of torches illuminating a path leading to what looked to be throne. He knew this place, he had been here many times before and he instinctively shuddered inwardly before he began approaching the throne. The thrones occupant sat with one leg crossed over the other, by far the largest fire in the chamber was directly behind the throne. The flames appearing to make the shadows of the room look as if they were dancing along with casting a bright light which made his sword spirits long red hair appear to be aflame as well.

“My dear boy, my dear, sweet boy” She said patronizingly. “How could you let that disgusting thing best you? Pathetic”

“I didn’t let him!” He screamed. “He was faster than me, I couldn’t stop him.”

“HA HA HA Well then, I guess he has earned the right to devour your brother and the young ones. You sicken me Kaiba!”

Kaen’s words were spoken with such malice that Kaiba was taken back and could not reply. Images of Kuatura and the others succumbing to a similar fate as he had filled his mind and tormented him.

“You know lover, this all could have been avoided. If you didn’t spend so much time trying to ignore me, that…….Thing wouldn’t have laid a hand on you, it really will be your fault when they die.” Spoke Kaen in a sing song voice. Her arms spread out on the thrones arm rests.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! SPEAK TO ME! CAN I SAVE THEM?”

“Oh ho ho.” She chuckled. “Saving them is not what is important. Lover. It was thinking like that which got you in this predicament in the first place.”

“Stop talking in riddles! If…..” He yelled in annoyance.

“What is important, my boy.” She interrupted. “Is incinerating ones enemies without a seconds pause, that! Is how a true warrior does battle. Destruction of ones enemy is all the matters, nothing else.”

“Nothing matters now, don’t you get it? It’s too late, all that’s left is to wait until I rejoin the life stream. And just my luck I get to spend it with you, I let them all down.”

“You’re hurting my feelings lover. And just when I was gonna help you out.”

“How the fuck can you help me, it’s over. I know you were watching. Don’t fuck with me Kaen now’s not the time.”

“I am not fucking with you, as much as the thought excites me. I will grant you the power you need, not that you deserve it, after ignoring me all these years.” She interjected. “But. You must answer me one thing. Do you want to live, or do you want to kill your enemies so that they can never raise a hand to you or your loved ones ever again?”

“I….Want….I want to kill, I want to kill them all.”

She smiled. apparently pleased with his answer, and once more the world went black.

Ombra had just finished cleaning Kaibas blood off of his blades and began to walk away. Although to Kaiba it felt as if he were away for a long time, in reality it had been mere seconds. A pulse of high reiatsu was shot through the area like a shockwave from an explosion making the guardian turn back towards his latest victim slowly. Too his shock and dismay, the sight of a standing and miraculously unscathed Kaiba greeted him. Flames permeated from the shinigamis body and even the damp foliage around him was catching fire. Kaiba himself glowed with an aura crimson in color. Steam came off the water in which he stood, Ombra looked on and for just a moment felt a cool chill run down his spine. After remembering how easily he had defeated him previously though, a smirk appeared on Ombra’s face once more.

“Your petty light show does not scare me shinigami, I am the 1st guardian of the gate. You will never defeat me, you should have just stayed down and maybe I wouldn’t have noticed and then you could have scurried away like the rodent you are in comparison to me. Instead you chose death. How foolish” Ombra stated in confidence.

Kaiba stood stark still, seemingly not noticing the guardian or his words. Instead he seemed to not notice Ombra at all. He seemed to be focusing on something but Ombra could not guess at what it could be, enraging him.

“You DARE ignore ME! I wil……..”

Ombra managed to spit out before stopping short. As he saw Kaiba’s stern glare fall upon him, Kaiba extended his hand towards him with his index and middle finger pointing at Ombra.

“Ignite” Kaiba said solemnly as his sword burst into flames surrounding the blade without moving up the hilt.

“That supposed to scare me?” Questioned Ombra. A trace of fear perceptible in his voice as he did so.

The hollow before Kaiba looked to regain his composure quickly and was aggravated that he had been shaken in the slightest. Suddenly Ombra’s eye began to glow a deep red and he fired cero at his opponent. To his shock, Kaiba, unflinching used his flaming zanpakuto to deflect the blast. Sending it into the trees off to his right, utterly destroying everything it came in contact with before dissipating.

Kaiba turned his hand over, fingers still extended, his palm facing upwards now.

“Tefura” The shinigami said coolly,with a quick flip of his fingers now upturned as well.

In quick succession the ground beneath Ombra rumbled slightly before exploding in a violent shower of water and rocks causing him to leap backwards. The airborne debris served to obstruct his vision and he lost track of Kaiba, in a flash Kaiba appeared in front of him, his sword pulled back and with a flash of heat and light swiped at Ombra who made his own slash at the shinigami. The two landed, kneeling in the water with their backs facing each other. Ombra stood up as Kaiba remained crouched.
“Now do you see shinigami?” Ombra asked, the cocky smirk returning to his face. “I am invinnnccciiii…..”

Ombra was cut short mid sentence as his left bladed arm fell to the floor, completely severed. The guardian had little time to dwell on this however as a spurt of blood came from his neck and his head fell from his shoulders and into the shallow depths upon which he stood, his body following soon after As it came crashing to its knees before disintegrating into what seemed to be a mist or water like substance. As curious as this might have been at any other time, Kaiba was just content that Ombra was gone and he could move on.

Kaiba rose from his position, the flames on his sword disappeared seemingly returning into the blade itself, the crimson aura around Kaiba also vanished and Kaiba looked to the skies in relief and kissed his zanpakuto’s blade before re-sheathing it.

“That’s my boy.” Kaen’s sultry voice could be heard inside his head.

[GoldenKitten]

Waves of heat washed through the forest as countless trees were burned and what couldn't be reached was still dried to the point of death. While certain portions would burn themselves out over the next hour it was doubtful that the fires who cease for many days as the undergrowth lit up and hardier trees kept burning internally until their cores were gutted. Luckily the way the battle occurred left the edges of the forest relatively safe for the moment, the flames might spread there in time but it would be many hours at a minimum. On the very edge of this forest just barely having made it from the interior to open ground lay Kuatura who after nearly twenty minutes seemed to be slowly coming to as he twitched one way or another and even managed to roll over once. Then he dropped from the rock he had pulled himself on down the slope a bit and in the grand total of half a second was on his feet.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!” he screamed out while running in circles as the world rushed toward him in stark clarity...if he hadn't been in excruciating pain the makeshift rain dance might have been funny.

He finally brought a measure of sanity back and pranced in place while gently touching his back which he had fallen on, even the small dip had caused extraordinary pain. He grimaced as he touched his inflamed back and found his fingers were almost cold to the touch, despite this though he realized he was not nearly as injured as he had thought. That thought was still in his mind when he brought his hands which had been burned far worse than anywhere else forward and stopped for a moment as he stared at them, they still looked red but the charring that should have taken place there was nonexistent. He began turning in circles as he tried to check his wounds only to find that while he was still burned horribly and there was no doubt he would still need medical treatment he was still not in a life threatening situation. He began taking off what little material remained of the front of his robe and wrapped it around the more sensitive wounds thought there was not nearly enough to go around. Just as he had finished checking the last area his foot tripped over something and he fell backwards on to his back once more...a chain of explicatives that might deafen more pure individuals did follow.

As he pushed up off the ground he growled and looked at what he had tripped over only to see it was Harut Marut...but not the Harut Marut that he had fought with, it was once more in pristine condition though reverted back to its sealed form. Kuatura stared blankly at his zanpaktou both confused and intrigued all at once as he pushed himself back to his feet and went to stand over his blade. He reached out and grasped the hilt, immediately feeling the dark emotions his blade currently had for him though the blade was not directing them in a specific fashion at the moment. He considered the situation for a few seconds before speaking.

“Did you do this?”

Only silence answered him though.

“You're softer than I though...” he said in an amused fashion.

“We haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about.” his zanpaktou finally answered.

“Ya suuuuure...”

“Do try not to kill us next time though...”

Harut Marut went silent after that and Kuatura just shook his head before holding his weapon to the side, not having any way to formally attach it to his back like usual anymore. As time and order came back into focus once more Kuatura surveyed his surroundings but found there was not much more to look at than there had been before and it seemed the orange sun was still in the exact same place it had been. However as he turned around he glimpsed a large rock outcropping before him and farther up not to far from his current location was an obvious mouth to a cave, he briefly remembered glimpsing it before passing out but didn't think much on it. He had no other options and thinking about it to long was not going to get anywhere and so he started making his way up the almost step like slope of rocks that went toward the cave. He reached the opening barely a minute later but unlike how fearless he had been below he now came to an immediate stop. There was nothing quite like large man made carvings all over an entrance, an open two ton stone door with the mask of a giant hollow etched into it and what appeared to be a candlelit hall with plenty of dark spots to hide on the inside to spell “HERES A TRAP!!!!”.

Backing away from the cave he looked around the large rock cliff that while tall was not exactly a mountain either, likely standing no higher than a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet. He quickly saw several ways up it and while not particularly happy about the idea of climbing a sheer rock cliff while his skin was still on fire much preferred it to the tunnel of death. So he found a foothold and moments later was scaling the wall with a good bit of skill, he might usually have used Harut Marut for this but he had the strangest feeling his zanpaktou was not feeling particularly friendly or helpful at the moment. It took him a minute or two but pretty soon he found himself at the top of the cliff and taking a good hold on the edge threw himself skyward as to land neatly on the top. Halfway through his jump though he met with a strange reaction, namely a large blue energy wall catching him right in the front of his body and sending jolts of energy through him before he was tossed free back the way he came and the wall disappeared. Kuatura began hurtling back toward the ground back first but strangely looked rather calm.

“Well fuck...”

After a string of explicatives the length of a few trips around the world was uttered again Kuatura once more found himself standing in front of the large entrance to the cave. He gave it several probing looks, not at all trusting that there wouldn't be five billion enemies waiting inside. But pushing his worries to the side Kuatura put his hand on the hilt of his zanpaktou, the ire and scorn seeming to be dropped from its aura as it felt the need for cooperation in this situation and he took a step forward.

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

Pretty scenery is nice, the rolling hills and the massive mountains outlined by a beautiful sunset...oh so beautiful. Beautiful, Sera had decided...on postcards. Maybe it was the almost getting killed by a rolling pin of death or maybe it was the fact that she had now walked five hundred identical looking grass hills but Sera was now quite convinced that if she never had to walk a grass hill again in her life she would be quite happy. Thankfully she had given up thoughts of banging her head into the ground until she died when after a nearly hour long walk of doom she spotted what appeared to be a small cliff range. It didn't necessarily mean anything but with the burning forest off to her left and the cliffs before her she at least had hope that she would get a scenery change soon. When she had first approached the forest she had thought about going to find Kuatura but when she actually got there she found a nearly five hundred meter gash in the ground that dropped into a dark abyss separating her from going there. After seeing much of the forest catch on fire after she had begun moving once more though she decided that was not such a bad thing.

As she had made her way over yet another identical hill she almost cheered when she found herself looking at a large field and on the far end where the cliff began an obvious large door. After the battle had ended she had recovered quickly enough, she had been in some bad situations and her back hurt like mad but in comparison to the injury's she could have received she was practically uninjured. She pushed her movement nearly to a dash as she ran across the field and came closer to the cliff. She came to a skidding stop as she watched a blue wall form over the cliff that was still a good distance off, she prepared to fall back into a defense stance but the wall disappeared as quickly as it had shown up. After waiting for a bit past its disappearance she once more headed toward the cliffs but at a slower pace. Five minutes later she found herself standing in front of a large entrance with two giant doors that bore what appeared to be two blades crossed with each other.

Sera wiped her hands against each other, most of her body still encrusted in dirt and grime despite efforts along the way to clean herself. This momentary nuisance gave her a chance to ignore the problem at hand but the fact still came back to her, this was a trap and she had already come to the conclusion that there was no way around it. Her immediate reaction had been to climb around the cliff and then she recalled the blue wall that had appeared and theorized one of the others had tried the same thing...the fact that she had a horrible sense of vertigo and wanted nothing to do with climbing the cliff probably helped her in coming to this hypothesis. She stuck her head through the doors and after seeing what seemed to be an extremely long hall that eventually disappeared into darkness she decided she would just have to take a chance. She stepped through and moved forward a bit, then before she could do anything the two doors behind her slammed with frightening speed. Her vision swirled wildly but she could see nothing in the dull candlelight that only existed on this far end of the hall. Then she heard what sounded like a switch being flipped above her.

[ZR0 C00L]

The view from atop the mountain was one of desolation and destruction. Plumes of smoke billowed skyward from the many fires that raged below. Realizing that not only were the others attacked, he could see from the distance between the battlefields that they were likely all separated. With no way of knowing where any of them were individually, Daijiro solidified his resolve. His body was tired, a numb pang coursed through his lower half but he paid it no mind. He resisted the urge to take a rest. He would push on, persevere, no matter what he would find his allies.

After looking around from overhead, the boy knew it was time to get a move on. He turned towards Atlus’ large throne as a gust of wind ruffled his short hair and clothing slightly. He knew he had to get off of the mountain he now stood on, but Daijiro decided that he would try to find a more suitable point to descend from then the path he took to climb the mountain since it was a treacherous route.

The opposite side of the mountain the boy had come up slightly, leading to a path that seemed much more inviting then scaling back down a sheer rock face. All things considered, Daijiro had come out of the confrontation with the 4th guardian none the worse for wear. His legs felt similar to jell-o but he pushed forward, placing one unsteady foot in front of the other.

No more than a half hour later he could make out a small cliff which as he came closer to it revealed that at its base had two large open doors leading in to a the rock. Daijiro cautiously approached the structure and looked inside. He could make out only that there was a hallway past the entrance, how far it extended and where it leads to were mysteries shrouded in the darkness. The first thing that came to the Quincy’s mind was TRAP! But he could see no way around other than back the way he came which was almost equally as dangerous as walking in to an ambush, at least he could fight attackers rather than risk falling off a mountain. And then there was the matter of his missing teammates. He needed to find them, the sooner the better. He walked through the doors calmly and with purpose in his step. As quickly as he had entered the cave though, the set of doors closed behind him sealing the boy in.

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

The sounds of rapid foot steps moving through shallow waters could be heard as Kaiba splashed his way forward. He had broken in to a full run by this point and was heading directly north from where he had fought Ombra. His only bearings were the plumes of smoke that rose high into the orange sky. Although there were also signs of battle in other areas, none looked to have been as serious as the one he was heading to at the moment.

“Just hold on”

Kaiba increased his pace and made it through a small clearing, revealing a large lake with a few fair sized land masses that could best be described as tiny islands. He came to a stop at the head of the water and scanned the nearby area for enemies. Seeing none and with his senses on the fritz thanks to this strange place he decided to move ahead. If there were hostiles laying in wait he figured he would just deal with them when they chose to make themselves known and deal with them accordingly. He didn’t have time to play it safe, he knew his brother could take care of himself and the others had proven themselves capable but as the senior member of the team and the one responsible for bringing the humans along in the first place, Kaiba felt responsible for bringing everyone back safely. Being attacked didn’t worry him, the more hollows he faced the less his friends would have to. Besides. He thought to himself as he leapt to the nearest island.

I came here to kill them all.

[GoldenKitten]

Moved to Dead RP's.