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.
Walking through the downtown of Karakura there simply was not something right within the air. She could smell the blood, she could sense the fear and desperation. Fragile human lives yearning for an answered hope that would never reach them. Among the tall buildings that reached to the partly cloudy moonlit night sky like the arms of gods frozen in stone in their own hopelessness. She traversed the emptying streets, and the bleezy skies above them. But there was nothing as she walked trying to feel out where this overbearing sense of human desperation she sensed that permeated its way into her perceptions.
Gradually as the night grew darker--colder she could feel her perceptions pull her into the direction of one of the skyscrapers in the downtown area that she walked among in the sky above the downtown streets. But she felt it then--in the sky sky--eye-level with the fourteenth level of a grand sixteen story skyscraper office building. She paused in her steps walking across the sky as she looked in through the large glass window of the fourteenth floor. From it the murderous intent and desires within the several differing reiatsu she felt coming from within were plain to her.
Gathered together were several Hollows lead by an Arrcanar, the bloody multilated corpses around them numbered in the many. The preception of despair and terror that could be felt faded with each of the slain souls devoured by the gathering of monsters. All that was left with each consumption was the emptiness of their presence no longer being felt--just a void. Blood on their hands--and splattered across their visage, the Hollows as the twisted maleformed creatures the merely grinned leered at the last remaining human soul. She merely cowered and trembled in confusion of what happening to her--to her devoured co-workers as the beasts inched near her with malicious wide smiles after having had their feast. All the while the Arrancar stood on the outside doing nothing but looking nonchalantly unimpressed.
Though the Arrancar's pink hued eyes as she slowly turned their gaze to the window in perplexity. Despite his tall stature he was only a little over half the size those Hollows with him. Something was off...
A shattering of the glass from the otuside, the window burst from the outside in--its shards chiming through the air they tumbled and bounced off of the surfaces of the floors and walls of the wide open office floor. To the Arrancar's eyes it seemed as if time came to a slow as he saw a young girl flying through with a katana drawn--shadowy dark energies trailing from its blade as she gave the serene utterence of, "Amakakeru.", the blade within the darkness that trailed from it took an alternate form with a black and gold katana hilts with a shimmering blade in the moonlit night. The shadows trailing from the blade dispersted.
Glass was still tumbling through the air with their chimes as she was suddenly there among the Hollows. Two of the several were cut down with but a slash and backslash--one for the other, both directly across their chest, taking only a second to disembodied fading into nothingness upon their deaths. The blackslash ended with the pommel of her sword gently touching the brow of the poor soul whom the Hollows wished to tear apart for their next meal. With a flash of brilliant white light the victim was freedom from the terror of the Hollows and sent peacefully to Soul Society for a new life. However, that left Kaida with several Hollows and an Arrancar as strong as herself who had yet to release into his true form.
They knew what she was with that display--it was all too obvious. With slight gesture of his head, the other Hollows scattered into into the immense skyscraper. Standing there with her eyes seemingly closed facing him among all the blood and maimed bodies, the scenery itself held a dissonance to the tranquility to the Shinigami. Exclaiming this all the more was the ever so faint smile upon her face... she was enjoying this.
As he drew his zanpakuto he uttered to her with his deep booming voice, "You seem quite the monster, Shinigami. Amongst all of this... and you seem to have no reaction other than placidity.", his blade at the ready he went on to say, "Even I do not care for such an unsightly settings. And I am what you slay and call 'monster'."
With a slow, graceful flourish of her blade holding far out to her side, she replied almost a little too calmly, "You are what you are... I am what I am. And you are going to die because of it.", a second only passed after she stated those words before she requested, "Your name."
"Why should I bother giving my name to an enemy?", he questioned suspiciously, "A Hollow kills because it is our nature. I never bothered to ask the name of my meal or that of my next meal's... or that of a foolhardy Shinigami inserting themselves into my affairs."
"One of us is going to die...", she uttered with an eerie serenity, "Wouldn't you want your name to be remembered by your killer, rather than just another face to fade from memory?"
His eyes narrowed with a sneer curling at the left corner of his upper lip, "Berhtram, Privaron 108."
"Kaida Date, 3rd Seat of 6th Division.", she introduced herself as.
His eyes widened at how swiftly she leapt through the air right at him with her blade slashing right at the base of his neck to claim his head from the onset. His crude, seemingly iron forged zanpakuto narrowly stopped her blade with its own. The two clashed in a duel where their movement s simply could not be processed or even really seen by the normal human eye.
A clash of thrusts, slashes, feints, and parries--many within but a couple seconds, a vision of swordplay that no simple human could truly comprehend the possibility of. Their blades clashed for resounding clang, but it did not last a second when the Arrancar found himself side-kicked right into a closed elevator door.
Berhtram's response was simple he tore the elevator door wide open with his bare hands, and leaped down into the elevator shaft to lure Kaida to follow him. Her ability with flash step was becoming difficult for him to keep up with her. The idea being within the confined space of the elevator shaft it would slow her down.
But it did not...
She went right after without a moments hesitation. As he free-fell down the elevator shaft, she was right there beside him sliding on her feet down the wall of the elevator shaft. Their clothes and robes and hair fluttering and waving wildly with the great speeds they fell from. Their blade clashing and clanging as down they fell--with each strike of blade against blade small sparks flew. To say that Berhtram was baffled by Kaida's keeping up with his free-falling while she slid on her feet down the wall of the elevator shaft. But with her sophisticated understanding of flash step, she simply utilized a cushion of air with her reiatsu to slid on while using the wall to balance, much like sliding on ice--the ground being the wall and the cushion of air created by her reiatsu under her feet being the ice.
They may as well have been flying with the speeds they fell down the elevator shaft while simultaneously clashing with their blades. At the fifth floor, Berhtram with the sound of a static burst vanished from sight, but Kaida sensed where he went and in a flash vanished herself. Berhtram walked casually into what appeared to be an executive's office. Yet... not all sat well with him for he feel a building reiatsu, his eyes widened as he jumped backward narrowly evading a massive spike of shadowy dark energy shatter the floor that was now just in front of him.
The next instant the massive spike of dark energy faded from sight. What replaced it was Kaida leaping up from the fourth floor into the fifth right before Berhtram, coming through the massive tear in the floor from what was Kaida's dark energy spike. The second she was before him he viciously backslashed at her--she narrowly managed to block with her blade knocking her back a few meters to a sliding halt across the floor on her feet.
"You're a nuance, Shinigami", Berhtram grunted, "And your enjoyment of this life and death struggle is sickening."
Kaida's expression remained unchanged, "You're enjoying it as much as I, Berhtram."
"I just want to be rid of you, Shinigami!", he exclaimed as he then held out his zanpankuto in front of himself and uttered with a tone of disdain, "Sa la vie...", brilliant red reiatsu begun swirling around him like cyclone as the windows of the entire fifth floor shattered out into the streets. The shards of glass falling like hailstorm of icicles.
Kaida's clothes and hair waved violently as she stood before the Arrancar's cyclonic reiatsu swirled about shredding the walls of the floor to only their frame work. But there she stood strong in the face of a being whose reiatsu was surpassing her own, but duty compelled her not to flee--but to stay. In truth, Berhtram's assumption was not far off--for she did enjoy this conflict. It was all a removal of body and mind, leaving only the true-self to face the challenge, and this is what it found it liked to thrive in.
Whatever the other Hollows were doing in their rampage within the immense skyscraper, Kaida had no clue. The Arrancar may not be the greatest threat, but he is the greatest challenge, and that she sought to attempt to remove first...
A man was walking along the sidewalks of Karakura, he had actually gotten lost and had also forgotten where he was going. He was cold, scared, and alone in the dark streets of Karakura. How would he ever find his way? What way was he suppose to be finding? Also what was that stench n the air? He could actually smell the blood, souls, and hollow in the air. What he didn't realize was that he was walking towards a gruesome scene, the likes of which would probably scar his mind. He walked upon a building the front door was closed but, the door was glass. Poor Elliot found himself running into it which shattered the glass sure but, it also caused him to take a few steps back. "W-what was t-that!?" He exclaimed in surprise. He had never come across anything like window before.
Stcking his hand forward, to see if the invisible wall was still there. As his hand seemed to go through he was content and walked through hitting his head on the overhang of the door. "Owie," Elliot cried as he rubbed his head. Nothing seemed to be going right for Elliot it would seem. As he made his way to the smell he couldn't help but feel... worried. Why did it smell this way? He had thought about this too himself. Unfortunately for him, he was never good at thinking. He walked into a room that had three hollows in it. They were standing over something... Elliot wasn't exactly sure what but, the smell of blood had become very pungent to his increased senses. He continued to walk up, the hollows ignoring him probably thinking he was an ally. Elliot wasn't even sure why they were here.
But, as he drew closer the shapes of the figures began to show more and more. The look of horror that came across his face was something most would think wouldn't be on a arrancar's face when it dealt with the death of a human. However, this particular human was female... Elliot took a knee next to her and placed his gigantic, gauntlet covered, hand and placed it upon her cheek. He stroked her hair with an extreme sadness upon his face. Plip, plip, plip, went his tears upon her and the ground. He wondered why did such a pure, beautiful, creature had to die. Little did he know... it had been the hollows that were near him. But, it seemed one of them hadn't had the sense to keep his mouth shut when it came to Elliot overhearing.
"Like that one huh? Her soul was certainly delicious, now wasn't she boys?" The hollow said with a snarky tone and no hint of remorse in his voice. They were the ones who had harmed her and the rest of these people!? No, no one could be that cruel... no one could hurt someone so pure. No one could... could... COULD! Elliot's face contorted with a mixture of wrath that could rival the god Ares and sadness that could contain a river of tears behind it. He stood his reiastu flaring with anger. This surprised the hollows and caused them to step back. "Y-Y-Y-YOU HURT THIS NICE LADY!!!!!!!" He roared with absolute rage in his voice. "Y-Y-YOU WILL... YOU WILL... RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!" His reiastu flared stronger and brighter with each word he said until he clenched his fists and uttered...
"AUGMENTO... dragón negro!" He yelled. His form began to grow and his bones began to creak as they grew as well. He form became as follows: In essence he becomes a huge four legged black dragon with two wings on his back or better known as the European type of dragon. How big you ask? Well he has a forty foot wingspan. He gains a longer and thicker body. He is about twenty feet from the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail. His legs are each about ten feet in length and five feet in diameter. He gains powerful jaws and claws that are serrated. His claws are about two feet in length while his teeth are one foot in length. He keeps the same brown eye color he had before going into his resurreccion. The outside of his body is an abyssal black while his neck, chest, and inner legs are a tanish white. The inside of his wings are a pale orange.
He is covered in rough scales from head to tail. His muscle mass has obviously grown to support his enormous body. His mask fragment has extended completely over the upper part of his skull. (The lower part of his skull is still humanoid in form) The horn has increased in size and another just like it appears on the other side of his head. His wings are strong enough to lift his body off the ground, (with the help of his legs to push off) and his body weight has increased from from 500 pounds to 5,000 pounds. On his wings and all down his spine to the tip of his tail are spikes that protrude into sharp points on his body. All the spikes are about one in length and six inches in diameter.
At the completion of his resureccion he had burst through the floor above and pushed the hollows back by his mere size growing them away... in a sense. Instantly a clawed arm crashed down upon one of them rake across him. He shrieked as his body was literally ripped to shreds. His voice quickly depleted away as the blood filled his throat and he dissipated. One of the others tried to talk Elliot down but, he didn't realize Elliot... was already too far gone. His tail wrapped around the hollow's throat and pouring his reiastu into his tail used the scales upon it and pulled to where the hollows throat was slit, slash, crushed and eviscerated as he used his tail like a pull start to a lawn mower. The last hollow began to run away but... it was no use, Elliot turned his head and released his napalm breath, the hollows flesh began to sheer as the beam like fire hit his body. The hollow screamed with absolutely fear and pain and then.... nothing came out any longer... The room do to his lumbering size was destroyed and the roof to the second floor was now gone. A dragon... had just entered the building....
A red flash of light shone through the night sky, yet only those aware of the spiritual world would be able to see it. As the light grew, traditional shoji doors opened and a single black butterfly flew out of the opening doors. The ringing of its flapping wings echoed in the night as a lone figure followed it, stepping on the air as if there was a floor beneath his feet. As the light died, the doors closed behind him, leaving the figure standing mid-air, his long, blonde hair fluttering in the cool evening breeze. With a sigh, he lowered himself to the ground, right beside a tall skyscraper.
The twelfth division were alerted to a surprising amount of hollow activity in the particular area. Although there already was a shinigami on patrol, they thought it would be best if another shinigami arrived as back-up. It wasn't that they weren't confident about Kaida Date's abilities, it was merely a precaution. A high level of hollow activity led to large amounts of reiatsu being released into the atmosphere, thereby attracting more hollows and further increasing the threat level for nearby humans. Of course, that was the theory, but it was a pattern that has been recorded and observed for centuries.
It was better to be safe than sorry.
His feet touched the concrete sidewalk as the shinigami looked up towards the towering building. It was as if the entire thing was made of glass; beautiful but fragile. He could sense hollows inside; arrancars as well. He also felt his fellow shinigami within, most likely doing her duties. He had never really talked much with the third seat of his division, but she was third seat for a reason, and there was no doubt she could handle herself. This was her patrol mission, and he was confident that Date-san was more than capable of taking down a few hollows...
A sudden spike of reiatsu rippled through the air, catching his attention. That reiatsu did not come from a normal hollow, no, it was much too powerful. An arrancar? He felt one earlier, but this one was stronger. Date-san would be preoccupied with the other hollows to notice this one, let alone take care of it. Disappearing in a flash of shunpo, he appeared in front of the entrance, seeing a few broken windows, the glass littering the sidewalk.
"Y-Y-YOU WILL... YOU WILL... RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!"
His head snapped up as the sound of more things being crushed and destroyed reverberated from within the building. What was that? It couldn't have been good. He wasn't even in the building yet, but he could hear screaming and roaring, the smell of blood and burning bodies, a smell he was accustomed to. Unsheathing his zanpakuto, he rushed inside the building, stepping over the broken furniture and fallen debris, only to find himself facing two large, scaly feet.
Looking up, he saw a large hole in the ceiling, where the rest of the body continued.
It took two floors. This creature took two floors.
Hopping up onto the second floor through one of the many holes on the ceiling, his frown deepened as he saw more bodies sprawled upon the floor. Helpless human bodies, their souls devoured by hollows...most likely lackeys of this lumbering, scaled, dragon-like arrancar. He rose from the floor, supporting himself with his reiatsu as he stepped onto the air, as if it was a solid object. Rising to face the dragon, he pointed the tip of his zanpakuto at its nose.
"I am Makino Isamu of the Sixth Division," he said with an unwavering gaze, meeting the dragon eye-to-eye, "Are you responsible for the deaths of these humans?"
When Berhtram's reiatsu finally settled and he was now revealed to Kaida with a white bone-like exoskeleton arranged upon his body like that of a knight's suit of plate armor. His sword was now more like that of a claymore forged from the bones of the dead. He stood as an imposing figured to Kaida, easily dwarfing her by a foot and a half. Berhtram readied his sword as he stood before his opponent remarking with his booming deep voice, "And... still... you stand there before me with that irritating smile, even when my reiatsu is above your own now."
His words were true, Kaida with her seemingly closed eyes, still had a faint smile on her face...
Though an expression of confusion came upon her face as well as Berhtram's when the entire building begun to rumble, and heard the resounding, thundering voice of an enraged Arrancar. By its primarily Hollow reiatsu with Shinigami reiatsu in the mix, it marked the roaring beast as an Arrancar. But only a smirk came to Kaida's face in response, "A comrade?", she inquired to the Arrancar she now faces.
"Not that one.", Berhtram replied not knowing who that loud beast could be.
Kaida snickered in an amusement a little, "Ahh... so there are more. Excellent."
"How is it we are the monsters?", Berhtram questioned.
Kaida sighed and merely shook her head, "Muga-mushin.", she uttered, Berhtram arched a brow not knowing what it was she spoke of with that. But Kaida did not bother to explain herself, and simply attacked in the next instant without a second of hesitation.
The moment she was within range Berhtram cross-slashed at her before she even had the opportunity to make her own strike. Scarcely able to rise her blade in time to block the oncoming sword, it smashed against her own. The shear force of the attack knocked Kaida through the wall to her right. She tumbled backward though managed to swiftly spring back onto her feet, though still slid on her feet for additional few meters.
The floor cracked under Kaida's feet as she barely managed to bring up her blade horizontally over her head to block the incoming strike of Berhtram bring down the massive blade upon her. She pushed the blade off to her right, which simply prompted him to back slash at her where she once against scarcely managed to bring up her blade to deflect the attack. The immense power behind the backslash knocked her backward shattering through the wall sized office window behind her. But just as her body went beyond the smashed window into the outside air, she vanished in a flash. However, Berhtram's eyes could now follow her a bit more easily than before, and chased.
Running swiftly up the outside wall of the skyscraper as though it were level ground, Kaida's faint smile still did not fade. It did not matter that she knew she was on the losing end thus far, and it did not matter to her that appearing right side her also running up the wall was Berhtram. In fact, it only served to enthrall her more.
The Arrancar vanished from her view, she could fell is movements through the air, she was only swift enough to spin around to parry the incoming thrust coming at her back. But she was not quick enough to prevent Berhtram's free left hand from grabbing her violently, and slamming her through the wall with enough force her body broke right threw the wall and several others after it before coming to a clumsy crash and tumble to the marble office floor inside and at last stopping by hitting another wall.
Just as she slowly rose back up to her feet, the unforgiving grasp of the Arrancar wrapped around her throat lifting her up into the air. Pulling back his sword he tried to impale her through the chest with it, but once again--Kaida narrowly deflected it away from her, while with her free hand she grabbed at the wrist of his hand that was slowly crushing her neck. She lifted one leg to stomp his face, but seeing it coming from afar--with his raw strength he merely tossed her like a ragdoll. Once again her body smashed right through a wall, which landed her right back into the elevator shaft. She slammed against its opposite end from where she 'entered' the elevator shaft for the second time.
She went limp from briefly going unconscious, and begun to fall down the shaft, but her unconsciousness was only momentary. Quickly she stabbed her blade halfway into the shaft wall catching herself from falling any further. Regaining control she begun moving swiftly running up the shaft wall once again as though it were level ground. But Berhtram was right there next to her once again.
Their blades clashing--sparking with each resounding clatter when blade struck upon blade. Yet Berhtram found because of both his size and the length of his sword were so beyond the norm, he could not fight her as well as he did before within the elevator shaft do to it being such a confined space. He realized... he had to do something to get himself back to having the advantage in this battle as he had been...
Kaida simply kept fighting on.
What her Vice-Captain was doing, she was ignorant to, she could feel his presence within the skyscraper. But his power exceeded her own, and thus trusted that his power and ability would see him through. What the great beast was doing as it thrashed about in its rage, she did not know nor care at the moment.
These were concerns she simply emptied from her mind to focus on the moment and be within the present--letting her mind fall into mushin...
He didn't need any more warning than the chaotic clash of spirit energy resounding throughout the atmosphere. This was serious... a bit more of an MO to behold than any simple patrol mission could offer. Arashi was accompanied by a couple comrades, united for the moment by the releases of energy coming from the business section of Karakura town. They stood on the brink of the fight for a moment's pause, surveying the best opportunity.
The energies coming from the brawls were breathtaking. Arashi couldn't help but feel thrown into skepticism at the power displayed here. Two of those great hollow pressures felt heavy enough to slow his movements, agile as he was. Without a notion from anyone, they knew to steer clear of the big dogs. His eyes tried focusing on any stragglers as he hoped something from his end could be done without going too deep.
The two that accompanied him managed to find some small fries and leapt from their point of viewing. Arashi drew breath alone, admiring the flashes of pressure while continuing his search for a target. Or maybe he should assist his partners... as a new recruit and all, he was in no way, shape, or form capable of taking on arrancars.
He took a step away from the edge of the far off tower, keeping a wary hand on his nodachi. Just as his gaze shifted from the streets beyond, he caught eye of an attacker swiping a hefty paw to his face. Arashi had but little time to dodge with a flash towards the middle portion of the roof.
"Hey, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd be trying to kill me..."
Arashi inhaled to calm himself, then smiled towards his new opponent. The hollow, green skin with a good two or three head's height on Arashi bellowed a cry typical to any corrupted soul. It's stature far surpassed Arashi's, yet the Shinigami noted the attack speed of this cretin was slow enough for him to manage a flank or two if Kido wasn't enough.
The hollow charged. Arashi threw a spell it's way- "Hado Number 1, Sho!" He pressed a good amount of spirit into his spell. The hollow found itself at the edge, laying on it's stomach.
Sniffing after it had been sent back a couple feet, the beast recovered, looking around for the soul reaper.
"That's one..."
Arashi cut the monster's neck from behind. Out spewed the dark blood of his adversary. Out came it's blood-curdling howl, shaking Arashi's ear drums. Down it went as the beast collapsed into spirit particles. Arashi settled back onto the roof, frowning at the blood that had splattered on his face and attire. He started wiping off the filth with the crook of his elbow and grunted when all it did was smear. He slashed his nodachi in the air, hurling the blood from his blade, then sheathed the sword.
"Where do you think tha' toy o' yours is goin'?"
Arashi whirled around, catching a glance of his new enemy before he was rushed upon.
Elliot stood over where the hollows bodies had fallen and the mountain of the human bodies laid. He was heaving with rage and exertion. He had truly found them despicable enough to kill. He didn't truly understand right from wrong, he just found the killing of the pure females was a big no no. Especially by the corrupted hands of males. Why did he hate them so? Only he truly knew. He didn't take pleasure in killing those who crossed the line, hell, he would probably feel horrible after he was no longer in a state of rage. That's when suddenly a new smell and a new form appeared in front of him. It was nothing more than a shinigami but... it was what he said that truly got to Elliot. Hell, Elliot was friendly on most occasions, working in his beautiful flower gardens he planted. But, it was just what the shinigami said and him reading the question way worse than it actually was and could have been solved easily.
"I am Makino Isamu of the Sixth Division," he said with an unwavering gaze, meeting the dragon eye-to-eye, "Are you responsible for the deaths of these humans?"
That did it... not cause he was a shinigami but... that question. He hadn't hurt these people! He had tried to avenge these people! Why was he being so mean to Elliot!? Why!? Why!? WHY!? "I k-k-k-killed them!? No... it was y-you... IT W-WAS ALL OF Y-YOU!" Elliot roared! He only stuttered do to being so worked up and his brain not being able to process bigger words too well. His massive jaw opened as he let out a breath of fire trying to destroy the one her hurt these people and then tried to blame him for it. He wasn't stupid! He knew he hadn't hurt these people! This bad man did! It was him! HIM! After releasing the breath he burst through one of the walls leading back into the city.
Debris tumbled everywhere and he had jumped out shaking the building a little bit itself. Not enough to knock it down, but, enough to make people worried. Spreading his wings he took off into the air and began to fly, his massive wings lifting his body into the air. While having a birds eye, or more rather a dragon's eye view of the city. He caught a glance of a battle ensuing and the defeat of the hollow. Continuing to glance at the shinigami he watched as he perched back on top of a post, noticing a hollow coming up on him. Who knows what cause him to do this but, maybe it was the fact the shinigami was on the lower end of the reiastu spectrum. Also perhaps it caused Elliot to have a flashback of the woman who died on the floor. Associating those two had caused something to happen.
It was one of those perfect freeze moments in those action movies. The person being attacked only notices at the last possible second and is too late to pull their weapon back out. The creature is already about to attack the man and possibly put them out of commission. The creature already fully leaping out at them in the air. It looks like its too late for them. Only this time... a dragon appears in the peripherals using sonido and its massive maw with razor sharp teeth wrap around the creature and bites down. It was like something from Jurassic Park. You know? When the T-rex snatches the raptor right before it leaps on the people? Certainly a story of survival worth telling isn't it?
Elliot, with his new found catch, carried the hollow through the air biting down on its body as he did. The hollow had been taken completely by surprise, i mean, who would ever think an arrancar would attack a hollow in this day and age? The hollow screamed as its bones were crushed and it had no way to escape and, making a round about, Elliot flew back to the shinigami he had saved, catch still in his mouth. He proceeded to land directly in front of the shinigami his massive form causing the ground to shake with violent force. Taking one last bite the hollow's voice squeal one last time until... SNAP! Its spin had gone and actually broke from the force of it. Elliot proceeded to open his mouth, the body spilling from it with his saliva.
The hollow fell to the ground and began to dissipate as it twitched where it was. Elliot looked upon the shinigami and was heaving breathes like no other. He was furious at this hollow for some unknown reason. Why should a arrancar care about what hollows do? Well that's what Elliot did. He cared! Perhaps too much at times... but he did. He didn't attack the shinigami he just simply looked at him, heaving breathes. What would this shinigami do? Would he attack him? That would be what the males would do wouldn't it!? But... he did not pass judgement... at least... not yet...
No, he was not prepared for the hollow. The instant it had began the rush, he knew the result would be more than he could handle. When met with an opponent displaying the same qualities, one must simply be faster, more powerful. This hollow had speed on him, and he knew it by the stance, and the flex of it's tensing up. And the pressure it exerted. Yeah, he had to flash backwards... no, to the side. He didn't want this one to keep it's eyes on him-
But he didn't flash step anywhere. The hollow would never be able to harness the intent to kill again. It had died at the hands... the teeth of one of the big dogs.
They teach a minuscule amount of the hollow hierarchy compared to the amount one learns when facing the upper end of that pyramid in the academy. Arashi remembered that lesson specifically. He took home the fact that one such as he should run and live to fight another day or two.
The ground shook. It tremored. He hardly had the feet to remain upright. The roof stopped shaking, yet Arashi found himself jittery afterwards.
After chewing the life out of his meal, the Arrancar drooled and stared at Arashi. Arashi blinked, dumbstruck. The analytical half of his brain was sent on a tizzy. What the hell should he do? If he ran, there was no guarantee he'd be fast enough. That dragon thing practically came out of nowhere. The power brimming from it was unquestionable- so was the question of drawing his sword again. He couldn't defend himself even if he lifted a finger at this close a range. Teeth bared, all muscles tense and ready to spring at the sight of slightest offensive motion, Arashi put a shaky hand on the white tassels of his nodachi, contemplating hard on his next move. It had only been a few seconds since the hollow had evaporated into loose bits of reishi. The dragon breathed heavily as it stared at Arashi.
The Shinigami drew his nodachi, the weighty sword feeling even heavier in his stressed hands. Attacking this creature was not on his agenda. His sandals scraped the roof as he backed away slowly, eyes riveted on the dragon-like Arrancar. Maybe if it just stayed where it was... he could... he could leave. Without a hitch, right? Just nice and easy. No signs of aggression- why did he draw his sword? It couldn't save him. Of course, hoping that the Arrancar wouldn't attack was just as much of a false hope.
The other half of his mind played the same thing over and over-
"I k-k-k-killed them!? No... it was y-you... IT W-WAS ALL OF Y-YOU!"
His brows furrowing, Isamu stared at the dragon in confusion. It was stuttering and speaking incoherently, almost like a child. He lowered his sword momentarily, opening his mouth to speak when the arrancar beat him to it. Its massive jaw fell, and Isamu could feel him gathering reiatsu. An attack? He should have expected it; after a rampage like this, one would not be so willing to submit to a Shinigami. As the torrent of orange-red flame burst forth from the dragon's mouth, Isamu felt his eyes growing wide. Fire! The dragon breathed fire! How undeniably cliche, but nevertheless, it was an element he was accustomed to running away from. Holding his zanpakuto diagonally in front of him, he channeled his reiatsu through it, forming a disk of spinning reiatsu to protect from the flames.
"Bakudo 39. Enkosen."
He had used this bakudo against his temperamental zanpakuto many times in the past. Of course, it was all in his head, but the principle should be the same.
The flames struck the shield, smashing against it and burning anything beyond its protection into cinders. The fire was strong; he was certain Bakuchiku was capable of producing more potent flames but for an arrancar, it certainly wasn't one to be underestimated. His kido barrier began to falter as the flames began to die out, leaving a round area of untouched wall at the center of its charred neighbours. The shield dissapated just as the arrancar burst through another wall, causing the building to shake on its foundations.
He was getting away.
Leaping over the debris and burned remains of the building, the lieutenant followed the arrancar out the window, a few paces behind. It certainly wasn't particularly fast in flight, but its large wings made covering large distances rather easy. Keeping up with it wouldn't be a problem, but Isamu still felt the need to remain cautious. The arrancar was unstable, that much was certain. He should keep his distance and determine the arrancar's plan of action before confrontation. It was a safe, reasonable plan.
That is, until the dragon disappeared in the static boom of a sonido.
Skidding to a stop mid-air, Isamu frowned. Where did it go? It was much too large, so being inconspicuous was impossible. His eyes scanned the are around him, turning his head for any sign of the dragon. Was it a feint? Was it leading up to a preemptive strike? It was only when he looked down beneath his feet that he realized that wasn't the case.
The arrancar...the dragon arrancar, was standing in front of another shinigami, one that Isamu didn't recognize. There was dark liquid pouring from the dragon's mouth, and Isamu feared that an unfortunate Shinigami found death between its sharp teeth. But as he lowered himself behind the dragon, too distracted by the shinigami before him to notice, the lieutenant realized that it was not the blood of a shinigami dripping down it's jaws, but a hollow.
The dragon attacked one of its own.
Were they a rogue arrancar? Or one that couldn't tell the difference between allies and enemies? Either way, until he knew what was going on, letting the dragon roam around would not be a wise decision. Landing on the rooftop behind the dragon lightly, Isamu reached out and pointed his hand towards the towering arrancar. He then moved his hand in an intricate figure, a red energy glowing from his fingertips as a light trailed his movements, leading to a glowing red symbol in the air.
Essentially fighting back were they begun clashing blades, only down rather that fighting down the elevator shaft--they were fighting up it. Yet, because in his Resurreccion form the confined space of the evelator shaft he found himself disadvantaged with his the length of his sword. It lead to his deflecting one cross-slash at his neck narrowly, and following it up with the swiftness his form now granted him over his opponent, by grabbing by the throat and slamming her against the wall behind her. The cement wall cracked behind her from her back to her head.
"Are you enjoying this now, Shinigami...?", snarled at her, "You're going to die by my hands--", he then saw her face, and it still possessed that damned-able faint smile--leading to his enraged exclamation with a booming voice that seemingly echoed throughout the enormity of the building, "AND STILL YOU HAVE THAT WRETCHED SMILE!!!"
Her whole body practically hurt by this point, yet--it did not matter, she was smiling. Her eyes then openned unveiling her midnight blue eyes to him as she stared directly into his own. Catching him a dash off-guard with those eyes of hers--it was not gaze he was expecting. Yet she replied to him under the strain of her voice from his iron grip around her neck, "You're smiling, too."
His eyes widened taken aback, but once it was pointed it out to him--he could feel the tension in his face--in his cheeks, creating an ear to ear grin. He grunted in amusement of this little revelation, "I suppose, I am.", realizing that despite all his denials of his hating these conflicts, in this moment--in trurh he was revelling in it--the life and death struggle.
"You are what you are.", replied Kaida, her voice still straining under Berhtram's merciless grip, "I am what I am."
Barely from his peripheral in that moment, he saw a shimmering blade coming at his arm that grasped Kaida's throat. His eyes widened, immediately he begun retracting his arm to avoid it being sliced off, but the very tips of his fingers were caught cutting them right off. It was a good thing that he only used the one hand and the other still had his sword.
Free from his grasp Kaida quickly vanished in a flash of moment gaining more altitude on her opponent. His response with an enraged bellow was extending his fingertip-less hand and firing a massive wave of bright magenta spiritual energy. Kaida recognized it as a Cero, but the power behind it she had no way in stopping it. Even if she were to use the ability of her Shikai that can create a personal barriers, it would on cause her more harm than good given the repercussions of its use.
So in the end she only thing she figured she could do given she could not evade within the confines of the elevator saft. With all the might and strength she could muster, with one great downward slash the moment the Cero was before her attempting to slice into into the blast of energy. While she was able to cut a fourth of the way through the Cero, parting the spiritual energy, but the great of it still wound up plowing her over. It carried her to the ceiling of the elevator shaft. The very explosion upon its impact blow open the roof beyond the elevator shaft ceiling, launching Kaida outside of the building onto the rooftop. With an forgiving crash and rolling tumble from landing upon the rooftop after having been essentially ejected out of the top of the roof into the air, and crashing back down onto the ceiling.
Her fine kimono was now tattered, burnt and torn from the battle. She stabbed her zankaputo into the roof of the grand building as though the cement were little more than soft dirt. She slipped the upper half off her torso letting its length hang limply off of her sash. Yet the kosode of her uniform had also suffered burns from the Cero and tearing from the battle. She sighed at the sight, which lead her to slip its upper half of her torso as well, thus letting it hang off around her waist by her sash like her kimono as well. Therefore at this point all that granted her upper body some form of modesty were the clothe wraps around her chest.
Despite feeling weary, her body aching in pain all over, and her opponent proving to out-match her strength. In this moment she did not appear be worried in the least oddly. But rather, regardless of being on the losing side of this confrontation, she was utterly enthralled by the fight--she loved it--perhaps one could say she lived for it. There were a whole host of reasons she could say as to why she felt that way, but right now simply being in the moment of the chaotic struggle was all the reason she needed to fight it. Even if it meant she may die.
While her blade was stabbed into the cement roof, she casually rest her hand back onto its pommel. But a second later Berhtram came leaping through the burst open hole in the roof created by his Cero. Rage in his eyes and malevolent smile, Kaida merely responded with her faint smile pointing her left finger at him as she uttered, "Hado 1, Sho.", while Kaida was not much of a talent for Kido nor did she do much studying into--nevertheless, such a simple Kido technique, even lowliest of the Gotei 13 can preform. That particular Kido attack struck the target with forceful telekinetic push, and with Berhtram unguarded while in mid-flight it knocked him off balance.
The second Berhtram was knocked off-balance as he was in mid-air nearing solid ground that the rooftop offered, Kaida with her other hand resting on the pommel of her sword. She then tapped the tip of the sword like tapping a cane on the ground as she calmly uttered, "Gakageryuu.", off-balance and in mid-flight he had no control to respond by evading as dark energy begun to swirld around him at his feet. Just before his feet could touch the ground offer by the rooftop, the dark spire of shadowy energy shot up from under him, and impaled him through his mid-section.
Berhtram limply stumbled upon his feet hitting ground the second the spire of dark energy dissipated, but his stumbling lead to heavy flop to the hard cement rooftop. Coughing up blood he staggered back up onto his feet, though ever so slowly. He snarled at Kaida with rage burning his eyes now realizing his demise is unavoidable as he is now, "How...? I... I was strong."
"In terms of raw power... definitely", Kaida replied revelling in the moment, not for the victory well at hand--but the very essence of the battle and the kill at hand, it was always about meeting the challenge--all else was superfluous to her, "But the second you denied your nature while unconsciously wallowing in it. That is when you ensured your death. I don't care that you are a Hollow, and the fact I am a Shinigami means little to me. These are just undeniable realities to me. I don't fight them, I just accept them go with their flow. But your conscious denial of the self makes you out of sync with your nature. It made your death to me simple inevitiability. I just had to wait for the right time to strike when the very inferiority in your being was exposed."
Berhtram's booming voice roared in blinding outrage as he mustered what strength and power he had to charge right for her. Kaida's faint smile faded away as she met his charge with her own in return. With the severity of his wound his speed and power were greatly deminished, making his moments to Kaida all to obvious. As he swung his great sword with both hands down at her, her movements were little more than blur as she side stepped backslash with near blinding motions. The backslash claimed both his arms, slicing them off at the elbow. As he watched his arms come apart while his hands still grasped his sword, each flying away from him--Kaida was stepping beyond him him as she spun around with another but much wider backslash.
It was as if he was tumbling endless through the air several seconds when Kaida stepped beyond him. But from his peripheral while he seemingly tumbled through the air, he could see his armless and headless body flop to the ground with Kaida standing behind it. It only lasted for a few seconds before all turned to darkness--forever. Kaida on the other hand coldly watched Berhtram's freshly sliced off head fly through the air.
Irregardless of how much her body ached from the battle and how exhausted her power was, she seemingly closed her eyes once again and kept them that way, and stretched out with her perceptions to feel out the differing reiatsu she had been feeling in the area. Though in the end she came to the conclusion, out of simple professional curtesy and Division loyalty, it was best if she checked on her Vice-Captain.
With swift, blinding movements--she moved about the area of the skyscraper following the reiatsu signatures to where she felt her Vice-Captain's was presently. Arriving upon the seen with a massive Arrancar dragon, a Shinigami she had never seen before, and her Vice-Captain casting a Kido restraining spell on the dragon Arrancar. She could hear her zanpakuto's spirit begging her to challenge the dragon, for the spirit she could feel was utterly enthralled by the idea of fighting another dragon. But, Kaida held no desire to face it while it may be restrained and already against two Shinigami, especially one those being her Vice-Captain who was much stronger than it. As Kaida saw it, there was no challenge, and nor any will to fight them from what she could perceive or at least think she perceived from the dragon. Thus, Kaida's will to fight it was absent as well.
Elliot seemed to tilt his head at the shinigami backing away from him. Why was he scared? Elliot hadn't tried to hurt him, its not like he had any intent to attack him. Perhaps he was one of the ones who harmed the nice lady? If that was the case he would have to do something about that. Those who harmed females were dark, evil, monsters, ironically in Elliot's eyes. Him being a big monster in children's stories and all, for he was a dragon. Feared in the story books. Elliot was about to talk to the shinigami when he drew his zanpakuto awkwardly. Maybe, he was one who attacked her, why else would he draw his sword on someone trying to avenge her!? Elliot roared and was going to attack but, that's when he smelt it... another person's scent was here.
Elliot flipped his head around at the scent he recognize as the one who dared to blame him for the death of the humans. He hadn't hurt anyone! He felt himself getting worked up again. "YOU!" He roared at the vice-captain unaware of this concept known as kido. Not like he would remember the concept if he learned it anyhow. He was about to lunge at him when he began to glow red. What was this!? He couldn't move at all! "W-what is this!?" He roared! "L-let me go you monster," he continued not understanding the damage he himself had done to the building. It was truly ironic, the dragon/hollow calling the human/shinigami the monster. But, it was how Elliot saw it. He didn't realize that he looked scary himself.
He would have been shaking, if the kido hadn't made him immobile, to get free but, it was too no avail. Why was this happening to him? He had only been trying to protect the humans. They were the ones who attacked the humans! So... why couldn't he move!? He continued to roar and tried to thrash. That's when he caught it, another scent.... but... this one was female. Had she escaped the monstrous reiastu that had faded earlier? That was great! But now... she was in danger from these two! He had to warn her! "M-miss run! T-t-these m-m-monsters are t-t-trying to kill p-p-people. Ruuuuuuuuun!" He roared trying to warn her. Not realizing she was with them. He was alone... the only arrancar here it would seem. Was this the end for our fair hero?
