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.
It was night out and the city was quiet. The stars shown brightly in the sky and the moon was full and right. Many hollow lives had been ended that night, defeated, by a would be hero. But who is this possible hero you ask? Why its non other than Jericho Cross. No... I'm serious... its him. Yes the once bloodlusting, pain loving, adrenaline junky, arrancar was trying to change his ways. Trying to become a protector of sorts. He had to admit once upon a time, this would not even have been on his mind and without the help of a few choice individuals it may have never happened. He had come to realizations of himself and answered some personal truths these past couple months. This is where we find him now, fully healed, and ready to try for the better.
Could a monster really become a hero? Well he was certainly gonna try. No harm in that right? So, Jericho began patrolling the town of Karakura. He quickly dispatched some of his hollow brethren. Not like it was something foreign to him. He had evolved doing this sort of thing and was very familiar with hollow and their weak spots. Strangely he hadn't ran into too many Shinigami on his path. He supposed he should count himself fortunate that he hadn't. After all, they would most likely get the wrong idea and assume he was attacking the town. Hell, he had fought enough of them to know he was probably wanted. But, perhaps not. Sadly, it would seem that Jericho's luck would run out tonight. "Well that's all the Hollow I can sense right now... maybe its time to turn in." He yawned as he thought about it.
There was an unusual number of hollows in a small area. Actually, it was obscene how many were in Karakura town that night. Of course, this number had been taken before all these hollows were destroyed by a certain Arrancar. Therefore, it became apparent that someone needed to go to the world of the living and step in and do what a Shinigami needed to do. Newly recovered, Izaya Kogi was the one who was decided needed to go. Lieutenant Kira had been doing his field work for long enough. Now, it was time for him to do the things he needed to.
As he walked through the senkaimon onto a building's roof, he quickly scanned the area as his jacket blew in the wind. He wasn't as cold as he had been beforehand. The shirt he wore underneath his jacket actually made quite a difference in terms of heat. But, that wasn't his focus now. His focus was finding all these hollows and getting rid of a decent number of them. Closing his eyes, Izaya began to focus hard on finding these hollows. A small frown formed on the face of the small Shinigami. He couldn't feel any of the lowly reiatsu of a normal hollow. However, there was one reiatsu that stuck out to him. It was hollow-like. Arrancar.
Suddenly, there was a bubbling of emotions from Izaya that he didn't know he had. Hatred and anger filled him as he quickly ran across rooftops approaching the reiatsu of this Arrancar. He wanted to destroy this Arrancar and erase it from existence. All Arrancars deserved nothing more than termination. He would make damn sure of that. As he approached, he could actually see the Arrancar. No, he didn't look at him like a person, he looked through him. Standing a few meters above and away from him, Izaya began to snarl as he stared at this man.
"You know, Arrancars really aren't welcome in a realm where their lesser brethren are obliterated. What makes you think you're so special that you can just cross that line without invitation?"
It was only at this time that he recognized the fact that this Arrancar was much taller than him and had a muscular build that was greater than his own. This man's hair was snow white; he should make fun of that.
"What's wrong Snowflake? You get lost after dark."
As luck would have of course a Shinigami would find him. Fuck his life. He simply glanced up at the young Shinigami with his red eyes surrounded by his black scelera. He simply sighed as he began to speak back. "I don't really care whether I'm welcomed or not, I wasn't doing any harm to anybody and see no reason why you would even care about my presence here Shinigami." He said simply clearly not afraid of the young Shinigami. He took a look at his reiastu, he was certainly formidable but, not more powerful than Jericho. Though, Jericho knew that there were some with power who didn't know how to use it and some that did. In either case he would at least be careful. If possible he might be able to walk away without a fight, afterall, he was a hero now wasn't he?
No need to fight if he could avoid it. Though it would be hard, he HAD been hunted by Shinigami almost all his life after all. Then the young Shinigami went on to try and insult him. He was obviously not very good at smack talk, or maybe he was too stupid to come up with anything better. "Heh get lost? Hardly, just simply going for a midnight stroll. But, it seems pretty clear that you are trying to offend me, you got to do better than that kid. Anyways, I think I will take my leave." He finished beginning to walk away but, he kept a close look at the kids reiastu, trying to sense for an attack. The kid was obviously irritated, for what reason Jericho was not sure. BUt, from past experiences it didn't take make for people to be speared on to try and attack him. Hell just being part hollow was enough reason to most people.
"I don't really care whether I'm welcomed or not, I wasn't doing any harm to anybody and see no reason why you would even care about my presence here Shinigami."
Izaya smirked at this pretentious hollow. Did this man really think he was Izaya's equal? No, that was inconceivable that any Arrancar that wasn't Celia could somehow trump him. It was a laughable notion at best. However, this Arrancar seemed firm in his belief that he could somehow best him, HIM. It was high time that this Arrancar was educated in how the worlds worked. High time indeed.
"You seem to misunderstand me," he said, hopping down to being mere feet away from Jericho. "I wasn't asking you a question of any manner, not even rhetorical. I was making a generalized statement. Get out of this world. Now."
As he spoke, he walked a bit closer to the taller man, not feeling intimidated. Size wasn't everything when it came to a battle. Celia had Kin had been proof of that. As such, he didn't fear this Arrancar's size. Actually, he didn't even fear the difference in their reiatsu. He had fought up before against Adela and Neva. He could do the same shit again easily. It was going to be a simple task after all; he simply had to outsmart this man.
"Heh get lost? Hardly, just simply going for a midnight stroll. But, it seems pretty clear that you are trying to offend me, you got to do better than that kid. Anyways, I think I will take my leave."
At this, the Shinigami simply scoffed before unsheathing his sword and rolling back his shoulders. It was a clear threat, but Izaya wasn't up to being subtle at the moment. With a small smirk, he looked at the Arrancar with his nodachi pointed behind his back towards the ground. Resting his forearm on his shoulder like this made his first strike a little more effective. That was the most important one, after all.
"I think you should take your leave. After all, wouldn't want to get some red on you. Eh, Snowflake?"
Jericho heard the blade unsheathe and watched as the Shinigami rested his forearm on his shoulder and got a good look at his blade. This Shinigami didn't care about him leaving no, this Shinigami would attack him even he tried to leave this he was sure of. Clearly the Shinigami was out for blood for whatever reason. Jericho simply sighed there obviously no way to avoid this. Also, what was with that name? Snowflake? Was he serious? Jericho sonidoed a distance away and turned around facing the Shinigami, his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto. "Might as well just get things started, you are clearly not going to leave me alone until you get whatever it is that you are looking for." He said as he remove his zanpakuto from the sheathe on his back and had it hang to his side.
"That much I know is certain." He flared his reiastu once more as a feudal deterrent. He then pointed his zanpakuto at the intruding Shinigami. "Its your move Shinigami, I only hope you have made the right choice in this situation." He said with little emotion. This was not a fight that he wanted, it wasn't that he feared the Shinigami's power no, he was very sure he was stronger. It was the fact this was a pointless battle that it deterred him. He was trying to help protect Karakura, not fight its fellow protectors but, clearly this Shinigami wasn't going to listen to him. He had met his kind before, a bigot. They believed that they were superior to other races and it was almost impossible to change their thoughts on this matter.
"Might as well just get things started, you are clearly not going to leave me alone until you get whatever it is that you are looking for."
Izaya didn't bother to think about this. He didn't bother to let his mind linger on this man's words for even a moment. This Arrancar needed to know his place, and that much was clear. One didn't simply come to the world of the living when one was an abomination like that. This white-haired freak would be shown a lesson in protocol for such things.
"I highly doubt I'll get what I'm looking for from you. Unless of course you happen to be an Espada like the last one."
Izaya would barely give the man the chance to respond, however. With a sharp tug, he had undone the strap on his nodachi that held the sheathe to his back. Why would he do this when he had already drawn his sword? It was simple, actually. He had a gap to close. With a sharp flick of his arm, he had launched the sheathe directly at the Arrancar's head. As it flew, Izaya was close in pursuit of the sheathe.
When the sheathe neared the man, Izaya ducked down and pointed his right hand at the Arrancar's chin. With a devilish grin, he thought quickly of what he was going to use for this encounter. A new one would do; he had just learned this particular spell.
"Hado Number 54: Haien."
The purple blast flew from his hand, leaving a slight burning sensation. However, that would have to be ignored for now. He had an Arrancar to defeat.
So this Shinigami had fought an Espada and survived. Jericho had to admit he was a little impressed with this, the last he served tended to vanquish his opponents completely. But, he guessed that there were a few who would leave some alive as a warning. Hell he never killed his opponents either. Though this was to humiliate them usually showing that he was superior but, that life was behind him now. Atleast... he was trying to put it behind him. The Shinigami made the opening move, Jericho had sadly seen these tactics before and kinda huffed and his head out of the way and there it was. The Shinigami was trying to pull off a sneak attack while hiding behind, not very original. Not the say he was not a skilled fighter, it was just Jericho had seen it done before and knew what to expect, either a slash from the zanpakuto or some of that Kido they used. Jericho also knew that the position the Shinigami was in, along with the speed he was going, was not good for balance.
Then there it was the words of a Kido blast about to be fired he bided his time and waited for it to release from his fingertips. At this point he side stepped the Shinigami watching as the kido passed him. Quickly he gave swift kick to the Shinigami's lower back, this was not meant to do harm but to knock him forward, there was no need to use lethal force though it might just have been him trying not too lose himself in this fight like he usually did. After the kick he jumped back and raised his zanpakuto defensively. He would try again to try and stop this even if it was in vain. "Are you calm yet or do I have to get serious?" He asked, not in a taunting manner but and emotionless one. This would be his last try before the battle got really serious.
Izaya saw that this Arrancar was actually a bit fast. He was able to dodge the sheathe and Kido that he had fired. He wouldn't be outdone by this beast though. As the man side-stepped the sheathe and Izaya's kido, Izaya grabbed at the cloth that had tied the nodachi to him. He was about to swing it at the Arrancar before he saw a kick coming from him. Using his speed at his best, Izaya blocked the kick with his blade from his left side. However, this Arrancar was stronger than him physically. The force from his kick sent the small Shinigami flying through the air before he eventually skidded to an uneventful stop. He exhaled heavily before straightening up and walking towards the Arrancar. He wouldn't stand for this. He wouldn't stand for this for a goddamn minute.
"Are you calm yet or do I have to get serious?"
"You see, it doesn't matter what I say. You Arrancars are all the same: beasts. If I let you go you'll just cause havoc somewhere else on someone else's watch. And I won't stand for that. Not for a moment. So, prepare yourself, if you think it'll make a difference."
As such, he begun spinning his sheathe by the cloth that he held it by. It made a satisfying 'whishing' noise as it completed its revolutions around his hand. His pace quickened as he neared the Arrancar until he was at a dead sprint. He tossed the sheathe at him again, aimed at his chest. This time, however, he decided to take a different approach. He pointed his right palm at the Arrancar.
"Bakudo No. 63: Sajo Sabaku."
That should bind him; it really should. Izaya didn't plan on what might happen if it didn't. As such, he made it his plan to dart around to the Arrancar's right, which he did. He aimed a horizontal slash at the man's mid-section. Perhaps that would do.
Jericho simply sighed at the Shinigami's response. He should of known that wouldn't have worked, like he had thought before the Shinigami was a bigot. Then he noticed the sheathe swinging round and round. He sighed again, really?The same tactic? This Shinigami definitely needed a new play book. That's when he began with a Kido. A reversal? Yep this Shingami definitely needed a new trick. Perhaps he could help him think on his feet? Jericho sonidoed away from the kido and then saw as the Shinigami appeared to his right. His prediction was right he thought as the Shinigami threw the sheathe. Now was the time to maybe influence him a bit. As a protector of Karakura, this guy would need to know more than that right?
Jericho took a side step and brought his zanpakuto across the cloth holding the sheathe in his grasp, slicing straight threw it and allowing to continue without stopping. "Shinigami... you got to do more than one trick when fighting an opponent seriously. Remember that," He said as he brought his zanpakuto back up and sonidoed next to the Shinigami. When he appeared he brought his zanpakuto down with allot more force than he originally was using. Maybe it would deter the Shinigami. He wasn't planning on it though. This guy was out for blood and this was very obvious. After the slash he followed it up with a swift kick towards his chest. "If you don't... the enemy will see right through you and you will be nothing more than an open book." He finished his earlier quote.
"Shinigami... you got to do more than one trick when fighting an opponent seriously. Remember that. If you don't... the enemy will see right through you and you will be nothing more than an open book."
This Arrancar talked an awful lot for someone so inferior. He had been able to dodge his kido and sheathe, but now their swings canceled each other out. Izaya's horizontal slash had blocked against the vertical attack of this Arrancar. The Arrancar was physically stronger than him; there was no denying that. However, the Arrancar aimed a kick at him and Izaya was about to test their speed.
"You're not faster than me Arrancar, don't get so complacent."
Jumping to the side, Izaya was able to dodge the kick aimed at him. Now, it was his turn to capitalize against his opponent. With his zanpakuto, he aimed a pommel strike at the Arrancar. That wouldn't be all, however, he needed to do actual damage. He then twisted a bit to aim a shin kick at the Arrancar's abdomen. It might be able to hit, it might. He had thrown his whole weight behind that kick and he might've lost balance. Hopefully that kick would connect though.
