With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 11, 2009 13:38:17 GMT -5
The young Shinigami had been traveling for quite some time, uncertain of the shop's exact location. Still, even if she did find it, what the hell was she supposed to do? Ask for help? She wasn't even certain what the hell was going on! Soifon was accusing her of kidnapping Momo, something she would never do! The Captain had then made it painfully obvious that she was serious. Had Soul Society truly turned their back to her? Had they already found out of her change? That she had become a Vizard?
The crimson haired Shinigami, still wearing the torn robes from her previous fight, most of her injuries having healed, appeared at the Shop's front steps. Immediately, she burst through the doors, panic evident in her eyes. The name of the shop was also the name of the owner, right?
"Urahara-san?!" Kyra cried out. Despite her lazy nature of never really using honorifics, she was far more panicked, and far more out of character at the moment. Sweat laid heavily upon her features, having moved as fast as her tired legs could carry her. Her heart raced so quickly, she felt as though it would explode from her chest at any moment. Her face was flushed, and her voice cracked only a little due to an inability to catch her own breath. She was worried about Ai; she needed to go back and help her! "Hello?! Is anyone here?! I need help!"
The woman stumbled around the corner entering into the already crowded room. Kisuke quickly abandoned the customers he had already been helping to tend to the injured woman. He could already tell there was something strange about the woman. Her reiatsu felt different than a normal shinigami's. It felt much more similar to that of Ichigo and the other vizards, but yet it was even different than that. It was something Kisuke would have to look into.
Kisuke hurried over to her and put her arm over his shoulder. "Tessai, take care of those customers. I'm taking her into the back. Ururu come with me." Kisuke walked the injured woman into the back room and shut the door behind them. Kisuke gently laid Kyra down and put a cold cloth on her forehead.
Kisuke sat down beside her. "Ururu go make some of the special tea for her." Ururu left the pair to themselves. Kisuke looked over the wounds that the woman had suffered. It was odd, it looked as though they had been made by a sword rather than a hollow. "Don't worry, you're safe here. Tell me, what happened?"
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 11, 2009 22:38:02 GMT -5
Though the man had motioned her to the back, all Kyra wanted to do was find this Kisuke man and bring him to the fight. He could stop them, right? Isn't that what Ai had intended her to do?
>>"Don't worry, you're safe here. Tell me, what happened?"<<
"I..." Kyra wasn't really sure where the hell to begin. She felt like everything had just been thrown onto her in the past two days... when did it start? What the hell was going on? Could she even tell the man what had happened? "I... I need to find Kisuke Urahara... I was told he can help me..."
"Kisuke," a rather feline voice called out from another room. "I borrowed your shower..."
Of course, the complete sentence should have been 'I borrowed your shower again, ate some of your food, and I'll probably come back at some point to sleep.' The tall, slender tanned woman arched a brow as she came across the opening of the room, clad in nothing really special; a pair of boxer-like shorts and a tank top while some parts of her skin still held a bit of moisture from the steamy water. She was in the process of tying her hair back into a pony tail when she spotted an unfamiliar Shinigami seeming rather fidgety.
"Wait-you're Kisuke?" Kyra blinked to the hatted man. It seemed... rather fitting... the words Ai had chosen to describe him. He did look like a bum. "Ai and Captain Soifon are fighting; you have to stop them! Soul Society's blaming me for kidnapping Momo-chan, but I don't know what they're talking about! They're calling me a traitor, and I didn't even know what a Vizard was, and now they're all against me, and this is all just happening way to fast!"
"Oi, oi, oi," Yoruichi chimed in as the woman seemed obviously too hysterical at the moment to properly explain what had happened. "You're talking too fast. Relax... Soifon you said?"
Yoruichi paused for a moment and arched her head, as if trying to smell some faint scent in the air. She blinked once, then smiled down to the girl.
"Why don't you drink some tea to calm down," Yoruichi stated. "I'll go make sure your friend's alright..."
With that, the woman seemed to fade from existence entirely, obviously the Flash Step far beyond Kyra's own level. The crimson haired woman blinked for a moment, before returning her gaze to the table where a freshly made cup of tea sat. Quite frankly, she hadn't really had a time to adjust to any of the information that had been given to her... she was a Vizard now... and Soul Society was after her for some reason... Soifon had called her a traitor... was that because she was a Vizard? No... she said she had kidnapped Momo; that didn't make any sense though... she hadn't seen Momo since their training session. Since she didn't know where exactly to start, she decided to begin with that mission in America over a month ago.
Kyra had been stationed on the East Coast of one of the northern states of America. Though it was minimal, there had been some hollow activity. Though Japan was one of the largest countries for hollow activity, there were also other continents that Shinigami over looked as well; Kyra, the twelfth seat, had been stationed in America. Everything had been going fine. She had been there little over a week... then... a powerful reiatsu. Kyra remembered little more than darkness engulfing her vision, and awakening some time later in the fourth's squad's barracks.
The crimson haired girl continued her story, stating that she had found it easier to achieve Bankai, and that her training sessions with her Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, had been improving at an alarming rate. Things had started to come far more easily for her, despite her lazy nature still in full effect. Kyra then brought up her most recent training session, with Momo and Captain Hikaru. She explained how she had temporarily lost herself in the fight... like she had a sudden change in personality. She explained her emotions; her desire to fight something strong... as though it felt... her cheeks flushed red when she did find the word, and muttered the word 'orgasmic,' but quickly continued on. She explained how she was knocked unconscious by Momo's Kido spell and taken quickly to Squad Four once again.
It was there that things really started to become even more strange. Kyra had received orders almost immediately after she was given a partial recovery, and was ordered to investigate yet another strange hollow activity, the site being Karakura Town, this time. She told the man how she had met Ai, a Vizard, and the two had eventually stumbled upon the current third Espada. Kyra had again lost herself, this time, explaining it in Ai's words. She had hollowfied, and had almost completely lost herself to her other half... but, something had stopped her. She wasn't certain of what, but eventually, she found herself waking up yet again. This time, Ai had been the one to fill in some of the blanks. Kyra informed Kisuke that Ai had been the one to tell her what a Vizard was, and that she herself had turned into one. She told him that Ai assumed it may have been the time when she was stationed in America.
Kyra then went on to explain that Soifon had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and called her a traitor. Soifon had then accused Kyra of capturing her Lieutenant, something she would never do considering Momo was one of her best and only friends. Kyra understood that she had been going through changes and had been having some blackouts, but she knew that Momo was fine when she left for Earth, and that she hadn't been back to Soul Society since; she had been with Ai the whole time! She then went on to explain that Soifon and Ai started to fight, which allowed Kyra enough time to escape. She informed Kisuke that she followed Ai's advice in seeking out someone named Urahara, that he helped people like her... like the Vizards...
"And," Kyra finalized after her long speech, the tea cup in her hand now a bit cold and nearly empty. "That's how I ended up here..."
Kyra's brows were knotted together the entire time, an expression of worry filtered upon her soft features. Momo... was she alright? Was Soifon lying to her? Had someone simply lied to Soifon just to get rid of her? Were Vizards really not able to return to Soul Society? If not, then why did that Substitute Shinigami have such special privileges?
"I'm... just worried about Momo," Kyra said, staring down at her tea. "I don't know if Soifon was telling the truth, but she said she saw it with her own eyes... that I had kidnapped Momo... but I didn't! I was here the whole time! Please... tell me, what should I do? What the hell's going on?"
"No problem Yoruich-san! Feel free to help yourself to the cat food under the sink too." Kisuke taunted his good friends as she waltzed into the room. The pair quietly listened to the injured woman explain the situation between Ai and Soifon. It seemed like things could get out of hand real quick. It was best that Yoruichi went, Soifon worshiped that woman so if anyone could get her to back off it would be Yoruichi. As Yoruichi left the room Kisuke put up a hand to wave goodbye, "Be careful Yoruichi-san."
Kisuke listened intently as Kyra told her story. It was a most intriguing story indeed. At some point this shinigami had become hollowfied and was somehow completely unaware of when or where it occurred. It almost sounded like what happened 100 years ago when Aizen had carried out his experimentations, but this was different. His experiments only turned shinigami into hollows, but it stopped there. This was new, it actually turned a shinigami into a full vizard!
There were three known ways for a vizard to come into existence. First of all and easiest of the three, was to be born as a true vizard. To be born with the powers of both shinigami and hollow from the beginning. But this obviously wasn't the case as this woman had been a shinigami for a while and had shown no signs of being a vizard. The second case was a case unique to Ichigo Kurosaki. This method involved the person losing their shinigami powers and then having their soul chain removed or eroded. At the moments before turning into a hollow the person must recover their shinigami powers and in a way still a little bit fuzzy, they had to have their inner hollow materialize at the same time. This way impossible in this case for a number of reasons though.
This left one possible way. The use of the Hogyoku. But how would this woman have been exposed to the Hogyoku? And why would she not become the same level of vizard as Shinji, Lisa and the others? The only possible explanation to this was that the Hogyoku used was not complete and therefor created an imperfect vizard. But was someone really trying to recreate a Hogyoku? Why would they do this? And how would they have the knowledge needed to pull it off? There were just so many questions yet to be answered.
"From what you've told me I believe you were exposed to a material called the Hogyoku. The Hogyoku was an item I had created over a hundred years ago. It holds the power to break down the barrier between hollow and shinigami. It can be used to turn a shinigami, like you used to be, into a vizard, like you are now. It is unclear as to where the Hogyoku is now, but I do not believe the one I created is what was used on you. Someone must be trying to recreate it. Kisuke's hat was covering a dark shadow over his eyes. His face was very serious as this was a serious matter. What the hell was going on? "It would seem that it first happened during your time in America. But other than that there is not much I can tell you."
As for Momo there were even more questions. Kisuke's first thought was that Kyra's inner hollow had taken over and kidnapped Momo, or even worse, killed her. But that seemed unlikely as the last time Kyra was in the soul society Momo was perfectly fine. There was no doubt that the person who had taken Momo held the same appearance as Kyra. Soifon was an assassin, recognizing someone was part of her job. Its unlikely that someone as skilled as her would mistake identities. The only explanation was an impostor, and a skilled one at that. Some form of hypnosis or shapeshifting was most likely the culprit. I'll ask Yoruichi-san to take a trip into the soul society and look for anything out of the ordinary when she returns. Until then I'm going to have to keep my eye on this girl. Kisuke poured the woman another cup of tea. "Seeing as how you were here before Momo-san was kidnapped I am sure you had no part in it. But don't worry, Momo-san is a very capable shinigami, she can handle herself. For now drink this tea and rest up. Yoruichi-san will take care of your friend.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 13, 2009 15:10:01 GMT -5
So that had been Yoruichi Shihōin. Kyra had never actually met the woman, but simply knew her by reputation. She sure did seem to hold the confidence she was well known for. As Kisuke put in his own information of the situation, Kyra listened numbly. She still couldn't help but worry about Momo or what would happen to Ai if Yoruichi hadn't gotten there in time. Still, as the man confirmed once again that she need not worry, Kyra obliged and took a soft sip from the cup of tea. The Hogyoku... Kyra had never really heard of it, though it did sound familiar. Still, why would someone expose her to such an experiment, then simply leave her there? Nothing seemed to make ... any... sense...
"Hm?"
Kyra blinked and looked around, as if someone had just spoken to her, or she had just heard something. She wasn't certain of what it was, but... something... she just heard something, but what was it? Her eyes scanned about, mostly looking to one of the windows, then to the door that lead outside. Her mind riddled in a bit of confusion as a fog seemed to fall over those dark scarlet hues.
"...voice..." was all Kyra started to mutter as she began to stare heavily toward the door she had just come through moments ago. She seemed completely entranced by some unheard voice... uncertain of its location, but knowing that wherever it was, she needed to follow it. "... it's so ... beautiful... don't... you hear... it?"
Kyra's eyes were half lidded, those pupils now completely faded, and the color that once flourished life in those crimson hues were now a dull, faded scarlet color. Her entire personality shifted as a sleepy, childish smile appeared on her features. She moved to a stand, dropping the cop of tea. She seemed unfazed by the sudden spill on her robes as she began to slowly walk toward the door, slipping it open and heading into the main shop, fully intent on following the voice.
It was all too obvious as to what the voice was. Kyra was being lured away by her inner hollow, it was trying to take over. There was nothing Kisuke could do at this point, the battle had become Kyra's. She was the only person who could see her inner hollow and she was the only one who could defeat it. But Kisuke couldn't sit idly by and watch this woman be devoured from the inside out, he had to try something.
"Tessai! Grab this woman and bring her to the study hall!" Kisuke bolted to the back and opened the large hatch that lead to the giant underground room. This place was perfect for the situation. If she resisted the hollow, no harm no foul. But if it took over, then nobody would be hurt. On top of that the room would hide her reiatsu so that Soifon wouldn't be able to locate here. "Yes owner!" The large man lifted the girl up like a rag doll and hurried down into the room.
"Tessai, be ready to restrain her." Kisuke looked at the girl. She still looked as though she were hypnotized by some siren like song. "Listen. You cannot let your inner hollow control you! You must learn to control it. Fight against it now, don't let it consume you. If you don't have the courage to stand up against your own demons, how do you expect to save Momo!?" Kisuke was hoping that invoking the name of Kyra's good friend would get through to her and give her the strength to overcome her hollow.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 16, 2009 17:03:53 GMT -5
Kyra had felt her small figure being lifted and the environment change, but that childish expression never seemed to leave as she began falling under the hypnosis. Still, a small fraction of her attempted to fight it off... what exactly that fraction was, or what part of her was still able to fight against it was anyone's guess. She did little to fight against the strong man's hold as she was brought to a strange new environment, one made up of an entirely different dimension it seemed.
>>"Listen. You cannot let your inner hollow control you! You must learn to control it. Fight against it now, don't let it consume you. If you don't have the courage to stand up against your own demons, how do you expect to save Momo!?"<<
"Mo... mo?" Kyra blinked those unfocused hues, one after another, as though she were attempting to remember the name. She couldn't for the life of her recall that name... or anything, really. All that mattered was that voice... it was calling out to her... telling her to come. She couldn't help but become completely enthralled by the captivating sound of beauty as she attempted to step passed Urahara, back toward the shop upstairs. "Beautiful... it's... beautiful..."
'You're an embarrassment...'
Kyra blinked as she felt her vision fading. The whites in her eyes began to cloud over, almost like liquid, to a far more dark, black hue. Her reiatsu began to build and expand as white specs began to materialize into a mask over her face. Kyra felt herself falling into a deep slumber, as a far more darker persona began to surface. It happened so quickly, and after a burst of her spiritual energy, clouds of sand and dirt surrounded her body. When the dust began to settle, Kyra stood there, donning that Vizard mask, though by know means seemed to be in any sort of control.
"Pathetic bitch," the inner hollow of Kyra spat out her obvious distaste for their body's host as she began to stretch her neck out, various cracks ensuing shortly after. "To be hypnotized by such a childish ability..."
Those hollowfied hues glanced about, not really making any notion that she would suddenly attack blindly. She could still hear the song, but the effects no longer seemed to phase her. Instead, the hollow began to chuckle as she lowered her head.
"Why don't you come out an play, Arrancar," the hollow insisted as she grinned behind the mask. "It's been a while since we've seen each other..."
"So... you do remember me..."
The singing had stopped, and this time, the voice could be heard by all. It seemed even within Urahara's strange alternate dimension of space, the hollowfied spiritual energy of Kyra could be sensed by the source of the singing, and with that, a Garganta began to form.
"I thought that you may have forgotten the one who gave you life," the soft voice of a pale blue skinned Arrancar came from the portal as Kaiko herself shimmered through. "That made me really sad..."
"And what do you want from me now?" the inner hollow of Kyra snapped back, her body obviously becoming tense to the Arrancar's arrival, hand already moving to the hilt of her blade.
"Why," Kaiko brought her index finger to her lip while her head tilted ever so slightly. "To finish the experiment, of course... you hate being trapped in that vessel, don't you? Don't you simply wish to free yourself from that shell?"
"Hmph," the inner hollow smirked and almost laughed at the woman's response. "And why the hell should I believe you?"
"Hm," Kaiko frowned as her eyes closed. "You could make this far easier on yourself, you know..."
"Taking things easy isn't my style," the inner hollow grinned as she unsheathed one of her two swords. Kaiko sighed, but that frown slowly lifted into a grin.
"You really have no idea who you're messing with," the Arrancar stated firmly as she forced her reiatsu to skyrocket.
"Neither do you," the inner hollow replied as she reached for the other half of her Zanpakuto. "Burn Blue, Kagutsuchi!"
In a blaze of fiery blue spiritual energy, the inner hollow unveiled her Shikai. The Arrancar seemed unimpressed, however, and took two steps forward.
"I was the one to give you life," Kaiko stated as she unleashed her full reiatsu. "And I can take it away if I choose!"
It was clear that Kyra's inner hollow had taken complete control of the girl. This was getting ugly fast. Kisuke and Tessai took a leap back making sure to keep their distance from this now unpredictable being.
(("Why don't you come out an play, Arrancar,"))
Kisuke and Tessai looked at each other. What the hell was this hollow talking about? Suddenly a garganta opened in the fake sky of Kisuke's study hall. What the hell is going on? How could that arrancar sense this place, let alone open a garganta in here? The situation was turning from bad to worse.
The Arrancar and Hollow began communicating with each other. Kisuke carefully observed the convsersation but didn't let his guard down once. The conversation was revealing a lot of important information. So thats the one who is behind this. What the hell is she trying to pull?
The hollow was now becoming violent. It released its shikai and charged towards the arrancar. Kisuke had to act quickly, he needed to protect Kyra while she was in her hollow state, but he also needed the arrancar alive so that she could answer his questions. "Tessai, take care of Kyra-san. Tessai looked at the charging hollow "I'll restrain her owner. Bakudo 99 Bankin! First song!" Tessai sang the first song and spiritual fabric hastily wrapped itself around Kyra's body causing her to become mummified in the cloth. "Second Song!" Thin strands of green metal stabbed into the cloth paralyzing the hollowfied Kyra who was held inside. The hollow fell to the ground causing a cloud of dirt to shoot up.
The charging hollow and then kido spells from Tessai were hopefully enough for Kisuke to begin his move unnoticed. As a former squad 2 member and lifelong friend of Yoruichi he had developed well above average shunpo, and he used it to get behind the arrancar. He held his released benihime to the female arrancar's throat, his expression was dead serious. "Tell me how you created the Hogyoku arrancar." Kisuke wasn't as concerned with how she created the hogyoku as he was with how she created an imperfect hogyoku. It was something he needed to know in order to predict the path that Kyra was going down. A slight miscalculation, or a missing ingrediant, or one too many ingrediants could cause the hogyoku to cause some much unwanted results. He had to keep this from happening to Kyra.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 20, 2009 1:21:55 GMT -5
Kaiko watched as the Vizard was subdued by a heavy restraining Kido based spell and smirked a bit, seeing as her prize was now far easier to catch. What she didn't expect, however, was to be ensnared by what appeared to be a Zanpakuto. The woman arched a thin brow as her head slowly and cautiously turned with her smirk ever rising.
>>"Tell me how you created the Hogyoku arrancar."<<
"Oh?" Kaiko let out a light chuckle as she held her hands up, as though she had been caught. "Well well well; I didn't expect there to be another Shinigami down here... then again, I suppose it was my mistake for not sensing the other spiritual readings until just now..."
Kaiko assumed that the man was in fact the person she had read most on from the books she had Matanza inquire from Soul Society. It would make the most sense; Kyra being here, attempting to find out exactly what she had turned into. Everything started to make sense now... and what an opportunity it was for the young Arrancar.
"I take it you must be the ex-Shinigami, Kisuke Urahara, neh?" Kaiko asked, though she already knew the answer. "Well... my version of the Hogyoku was not as potent as your own... it was far too primitive and lacked the proper ingredients... however, I was willing to test it out to see exactly what it could do... and..."
Kaiko made a gesture toward the now entrapped Kyra, who was attempting but miserably failing to break the seal.
"Well, you can see just what happened," Kaiko explained. "She became a Vizard... but a little different than most. She didn't seem to go through the 'Hollowfication' process... or rather, it just seemed that her 'other half' awakened, as if it were always there. She didn't seem to transform into any sort of hollowfied creature... she simply retained a Hollow Mask. Her powers are also incomplete in comparison to most Vizards, wouldn't you say? As though she only received half of what she should have... which meant that I was obviously missing ingredients..."
"However," Kaiko inclined to monologue the events that led up to this point. Wasn't that the job of every major villain? "I was able to use the research that was left behind to make it more efficient... and now..."
Kaiko unleashed a heavy amount of reiatsu, using the very artifact that she had once tested upon the sealed up Kyra to increase her power. In a heavy eruption of energy, the Arrancar performed a quick Sonido to distance herself from the man's blade
"All I need is the original test subject to create a more powerful Hogyoku," Kaiko announced as she took in a breath. Her body relaxed as her head tilted back. Those lips parted as her voice sudden rang out. A soft, quiet song seemed to erupt from the woman's throat in a strange, incomprehensible language. It was like the voice of a Siren, attempting to disorient the minds of those around her... and, with that small artifact tightly gripped within her palm, it seemed she had a near endless amount of reiatsu to use to produce her hypnosis upon even the strong-minded...
Last Edit: Aug 21, 2009 16:17:09 GMT -5 by Shinigami Kyra
It didn't surprise Kisuke that this arranar knew who he was. It would only make sense since she was attempting to copy his work. "Well of course you couldn't match my own creation. But the Hogyoku isn't something you should be playing around with arrancar, especially if its not done correctly." It was an honest warning. Not only could she hurt others with it, but she could hurt herself as well.
Kisuke looked over at the restrained Kyra. Yes I see what happened to her. But her reiatsu is unstable, most likely due to the weakness of your Hogyoku. It too early to know what can happen to her. If she becomes more exposed to the hogyoku it may push her over the edge, and I can't let you do that.
The sudden release of such power pushed Kisuke back. It looked like words weren't going to solve this crisis after all. With the Hogyoku in her power the arrancar's reiatsu was potentially limitless, this wasn't a battle that could be won in this situation, but no matter what they had to protect Kyra. "Tessai! Take the girl and find Yoruichi-san! Tell her what happened here." Tessai was hesitant, did Kisuke mean to stay behind? It was too dangerous! "But owner, we can't lea-" Kisuke cut him off, "Tessai I said go!" There was a rare look of intensity in Kisuke's face. It was unlike him to act like this, so Tessai understood the importance of his job. "I understand owner." Tessai took the wrapped up girl and made his way to the hatch in the ceiling. If he could get to Yoruichi-san and explain what happened he could bring her and Captain Sofion back to help. He had to get there.
Kisuke wasted no time as Tessai left with there girl. "Cry Benihime!" A bright red wave of energy erupted from benihime and was sent crashing towards the arrancar. Kisuke didn't think it would do any damage, but it was enough to distract her long enough so that Tessai and Kyra could escape.
The attack exploded as it cascaded towards the arrancar. The reiatsu she was emitting was so strong that it stopped the attack dead in its tracks. The female foe disappeared behind a screen of smoke. A enticing song began to flow throughout the study hall. Kisuke felt himself starting to feel strange, the song was doing something to him. He fell to the ground and grabbed his head, trying to force the music out but it couldn't be resisted. He fell under the arrancar's spell.
