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.
As the smoke cleared, she stepped out with a calm, and relaxed face. Her hair was now up, into a ponytail with a black tie. Her shirt had turned completely black, and lengthened so that it now covered her hole. Her black lace-like tattoos shimmered beautifully around her arms, back, and neck. Her lips, and nails were blackened, along with her skirt. Her mask had become more prominent and covered her mouth. From her newly black glove, she pulled out a thin, six inch needle.
In her left hand, her blade had transformed from a katana into a small, white, cotton doll. It's eyes were black buttons, and it's heart was a brilliant, bright white. She glanced at the man, and listened to his words.
"Haha, drunk? Dream on. There's a bed, but it'll be one you'll sleep on alone," she said cooly, but then released a crazed cackle.
Without missing a beat, she used her sonido to appear behind the man. She lunged several times, attempting to stab him and collect the blood she needed. However, he wouldn't realize what she was planning until it was all too late.
"Haha, drunk? Dream on. There's a bed, but it'll be one you'll sleep on alone."
"Oh come on, not even a nap?"
His response was a cackle and this made him raise a brow. The boom of her sonido made his other brow raise. He...lost sight of her completely. Before he could even register that she had likely went behind him though, the sharp pain in his back wracked his mind and caused him to let out a fierce grunt. He managed to stumble forward though, Awaisubeta coming around in a heavy, horizontal slash as he turned to face her.
"Now that's not nice..."
Aki, it looks like her wounds healed too...
Akihiko's smirk was gone now, replaced by grit teeth and a half lidded gaze. It was safe to say he was angry, but he wasn't going to let that cloud his actions. If her wounds were indeed healed, then this would likely be bad. Very bad.
She giggled and winked at the man, "Sure, you're welcome to take a dirt nap at any time that you please!" she said, that smile now seeming plastered onto her face.
As she stabbed his back mercifully, a slightly psychotic laugh escaped her lips. And after a moment, she moaned in ecstasy. The pain! The pain was beautiful! She smeared the blood on the heart of her doll, but it only made half of the white heart, red.
As he swung, in retaliation, she lithely jumped and did a back flip and landed a few feet away. She smirked at the boy, as he commented on her being nice.
"Aww, lo siento mi amor. However, all is fair in love and war," she phrased with a mocking tone in her voice.
As she watched his facial expressions, she quickly noticed that his smirk was gone and that serious expression was back again. So now he was going to get serious?
"Cero!" she roared and unleashed her beautiful hazel beam.
Using the momentum, she used her sonido to appear beneath him and charged at him with her needle.
He watched as she smeared the blood on the doll and leaped backwards. So...that was it. If the heart got fully red, though, what could she do? He brought the sword back around, this time centering it on himself with enough force that the rooftop cracked beneath him before he leaped up at her. He wasn't going to let her get away, not that easily. As she released the cero, though, he quickly brought the blade up in front of him, the massive flat part facing the cero. He wouldn't be able to dodge it, not while he was already moving towards her.
The cero slammed into the blade blade and enveloped him fully, tearing at his skin and shredding some more of his clothes. Even the shreds of his Shinigami robes that served as the strap for his Zanpaku-to were buffeted off, allowing the sheath to fall from his back. He growled in pain, though managed to hold his own until the cero passed. As she appeared beneath him and charged upwards at him, though, he shunpo'd back to the ground but not to evade her in the least.
When he appeared on the ground he immediately went to a knee, his breathing labored. "Y, yeah...shouldn't have done that. She's....way more powerful now," he muttered to himself. His blade became buried in the ground as he collected himself. Finally, though he stood straight. His shirt, or rather, what was left of it, was half gone. The right side remained, though sleeveless, and only a thin strip over the shoulder actually held it there. His jeans were more or less shorts, and his boots were scuffed. The small twill that held his hair in the back had snapped and so the small spikes splayed out somewhat. He looked at her, his emerald eyes still narrowed as he took a deep breath through his nose and let it out.
Finally, he wrenched the blade from the ground and spread his feet wide, though the blade didn't come up in a combat stance.
Haven't actually tested this out....so I sure as hell hope this works.
He covered his face with his hand and the silver reiatsu he owned combusted into life around him, though it quickly darkened. His emeralds shimmered a crimson before he ripped the hand across his face. The dark reiatsu exploded outward, cracking the rooftop again and he stood with the wolf-like mask covering his face. The surge of power made him grin beneath the fanged mask. Though when he spoke he was slightly shocked at the contorted sound of his voice.
"Alright lady. Two can play this game." His left hand came up, a bright emerald orb forming as he shoved it towards her. "CERO!"
He wasn't entirely sure how he knew what to do, it was as if it were...instinct. As if his Hollow's fighting style had become his own. Or, perhaps, his understanding.
She shivered with excitement as the man cracked the building he was on. She was having fun, and she completed everything on her agenda for the day. Collect new subjects, make someone experience pain, and lick blood. Today was turning out to be just fine and dandy.
However, as she gazed at the man above her, she realized that he must be having a shitty day. Her cero connected with his sword and, being that he was already running after her, the collision was pretty brutal. However, he moved away before she could prick him again. Drat. She'd just have to get another opportunity. Looking at him, she noted that he was in tatters. Not only was he being wore out on the outside, but also on the inside. He would surely have to give up or die soon.
He dropped to the ground and she watched as he tried to regain himself. It was always a mistake to lower your guard, however charging in recklessly was never a good idea. She started at him; wary and calculating. After a moment, he ripped the sword out of the ground and made a claw-like motion to his face.
The silver reiatsu exploded and formed a mask on his face. Well, shit. She'd only heard about what happens when a Vizard puts on their mask. It was never a good thing, and she noticed the increase immediately.
"Alright lady. Two can play this game."
The new voice made her slightly shutter, and she put up a defensive stance. She had to ready and anticipate his moves. Letting him over power her would prove to be deadly.
However, she had no time to retaliate when the Vizard's Cero ripped up to her. It hit her square in the chest and exploded with a huge smoke cloud. It hurt like a bitch, but she retreated to a building. Her head was bleeding and her hand was singed, but she would be alright. She stared daggers at the man before using her sonido, and began slashing at him again. Just a little more blood would do it, just a little more.
When she retreated, Akihiko's now crimson eyes followed her. He made no movements, save letting his arm drop. Her head was bleeding now, and he could visibly see her hand was singed. He grit his teeth beneath the mask. He coulda swore she'd be more injured. He put a large amount of force behind the attack....this wasn't gonna be good.
When she sonido'd, he shunpo'd towards her. He re-appeared just before she did, deflecting the first slash with a quick turn of his Zanpaku-to. When she continued doing so, he mixed it up between dodging and twisting his Zanpaku-to. It was a fairly strong defense.
And then he heard an audible cracking sound.
At first he thought maybe it was the building, but as soon as the second crack immediately followed by the shatter of his mask. His emerald eyes widened as he felt himself become fatigued, winded even. She started nicking him more and more before he finally managed to shunpo away, down to the street level. At this point she had gotten several cuts on him.
Appearing down at the street he landed on his hands and knees, his sword flopping down next to him with a loud clang.
During her assault she noted that the impact of that cero had done more than she noticed. Her left wrist seemed to have snap when she was trying to deflect it. Pity.
The man, with his mask, wasn't letting her get any blows in and it was frustrating. Just how much powerful was he?! She had thought another one of her bones was cracking for a second and gasped, but that wasn't the case. The boy, his mask had cracked and broke. After that, he movements started connecting and she cut him a decent amount of times.
He fell to the street, with his sword making an audible clang. A wicked smile crept over her face and her wicked giggle erupted from her lips.
"What....the hell....what just happened?"
She smiled cruelly as she explained, "I've heard about this. I've never seen it first hand, however I do know that every mask has a time limit. This was yours," she mused as she smeared blood on the now red heart of her doll.
She stabbed herself in the wrist and let the blood drip in a circle around her. As she completed it, her reiatsu erupted with that familiar hazel glow.
"Now, suffer you foolish half-breed moron, Las Artes de Vudu!" she called out the name of her attack and the doll began to glow an emerald color, like the man's.
"I've heard about this. I've never seen it first hand, however I do know that every mask has a time limit. This was yours."
Akihiko seemed to be searching for the answers on the ground, his eyes darting back and forth. He had heard her, of course. He needn't panic, he can still get out of this. He just needed to get away, that was all.
She's right Aki. Looks like you just can't handle it.
"Now, suffer you foolish half-breed moron, Las Artes de Vudu!"
Akihiko looked over his shoulder. She hadn't chased him, which meant the attack would likely be a projectile. He needed to get the hell out of dodge. He reached over, grabbing for his sword he moved to stand. Until blood spattered his face, causing him to flinch slightly. He looked, eyes wide to his left hand and noted the hole that had just formed in it, seemingly out of nowhere.
He grit his teeth, only a grunt of pain given as he tightened his grip on his sword and made his way to his feet. His breath was coming back, at least. That meant he could run. He tried his hand, though, and it merely twitched. Tendons were severed, it seemed.
His mind flashed, then, to the doll she held, and how it had been half filled with blood when she first assaulted him. He glared up at her, his right hand at her, his index finger leaving the hilt to point at her.
"Hado Number 4, Byakurai!"
The thin white lightning roared forth, rocketing up at her with an intent to pierce her straight through.
"Ahahahaah! Glorious! GLORIOUS!" she roared as he had attempted to run away from her attack. He had evern grabbed his massive weapon, probably hoping to deflect her attack.
She licked her lips, looking at the hole in his hand. How delightful! She resisted letting another moan escape from her throat. She was in the middle of battle, after all. He only let out a grunt of pain, however she knew he wanted to cry out.
"Hado Number 4, Byakurai!"
She sighed, and was actually glad that she hadn't sat within her circle. She wondered if she should simply parry the blast, but instead chose to sonido a good few feet away. However, after that she realized how far she was away from her circle and took her anger out on him.
"You fowl beast! Have you no manners? Maybe I should just slice a tendon then?!" she cried, enraged.
She quickly entered her circle once again, and the doll began to glow that emerald color once again. And true to her word she sliced through a particular spot in the dolls right leg. Maybe he would learn some etiquette while he was limping all over the place. Damned brat, he was seriously starting to tick her off.
Perhaps she should disable all of his tendons and ligaments, and carry him back to her lab.
He noticed that she, after having sonido'd out of the way, went back to where she was. Well that was....curious to say the least. When she went back, the doll glowed emerald again. Even more curious. He wasn't looking at her the first time it had, so he wasn't exactly sure what it meant. But he could put two and two together. He started to shunpo away, until she sliced that doll.
"You fowl beast! Have you no manners? Maybe I should just slice a tendon then?!"
He re-appeared out of mid shunpo, slamming into the side of a car as he lost balance. His right leg hung limply and he grunted again in pain as he felt warm blood flow down from a fresh cut.
"This bitch...," he mumbled to himself as he moved to straighten himself on the car. He placed his left arm on top of it, pulling himself using the forearm before he looked to the building she was atop of. He sighed. Desperate times...
He leveled his sword horizontally, his fist that held the sword pointed at the building. He took a sharp intake of breath from his nose as he steadied his hand.
"Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, strike but slightly your claw upon this wall which feigns ignorance of sin! Hado Number 33, Soukatsui!"
The blue fire exploded forth, though it didn't even head towards the roof--in fact it went directly into the building and exploded. The building wavered slightly, groaned, then creaked.
He simply meant to drop the building she used as her pedestal.