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 as Ai begun to look back at Soifon that all she saw was a blur of black before her eyes - then darkness, and couple seconds later opening her eyes as she was a few meters away where she was standing now laying on the ground with her own vision blurring while in a bit of a daze. Ai shook her head a bit slowly picking herself up, "Ow...", she uttered widening her eyes and blinking some trying to refocus her eyes. Once she regained her vision, she smirked a little as she remarked, "Guess I struck a nerve..."
Laying her right hand on her face as she told Kyra with an eerie calm, "I can't exactly claim to know what is going on right now... or what you're involved in, but obviously... the Gotei 13 is more worthless to you at this point than I had already explained to you further...", she then grew a wide, wide grin - almost demoniac in nature, "Besides, even when I was in Gotei 13, you never went to other Gotei 13 members, especially 2nd Division for decent aid... you went outside of it... The crackpot former Captain I mentioned... has a shop... he's sort of a bum, but he has the best info around the spiritual networks...", of course she had no idea of Soifon's opinion on Kisuke, but still she snickered a little as she stared back at Soifon, "Gotei 13's information gatherers were always shit... And from what I can tell thus far... still are...", it is as if she purposefully trying to piss Soifon off as much as possible at this point.
Finally, she racked her right hand across her face as if trying to tear off her own face, but when she did her Hollow mask took form. A white featureless mask with exception to the two narrow slits for eyes, and a pair of violet slash marks at the far corner of those eyes. Through the eye slights Ai's eyes could be seen, the white's of her eyes turned pitch black and her irises a malevolent, twisted looking red. Her voice caring another's with her own speaking in perfect unison with her voice, a dark, bloodcurdling, ghostly, raspy voice as she told Kyra with a very placid tone, "Go now, Kyra... I can hold her off for awhile... Her reiatsu is much stronger than mine... still... I'd like to see just how rusty I've become over my three centuries exile in comparison to another Captain... I'll meet up with you later."
Finally then addressing Soifon herself she introduced herself, "Ai Kyōraku, former Captain of 8th Division, Captain Soifon... No blood relation to the other Kyōraku, just the same Noble House... Seems you accidentally stumbled onto the murderer of my prodecessor and my sibling, Amaya Kyōraku, 4th Seat of Kidou Corps, which even your predecessors, the Shihoins, never did find. I wonder... will your incompetence be the same as theirs... or worse?", Ai either had no idea whom she was dealing with-- wait... no she had no clue of whom she was dealing with, however, despite being aware of Soifon having much stronger reiatsu than her - there was a definite method to her madness. Which is seeing if she can piss the woman off enough into a blind rage to make her technique sloppy enough for her to stand a better chance.
Laying her right hand on at the handle end of her zatoichi zanpakuto, this time she looked more than ready for Soifon's assault...
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 11, 2009 13:31:01 GMT -5
>>"You tell me, Kyra. You're the one that abducted Vice Captain Hinamori from the Seireitei as a hostage!"<<
"What?!" Kyra was absolutely shocked. Her eyes trailed to Ai, then back to Soifon. Where... where they really abandoning her? Where they using this sort of ploy to make a reason for hunting her down, just because she had changed? It didn't make any sense; none of it did! The sudden action between Soifon and Ai went unnoticed until the sounds of someone crashing through a variety of objects sounded, forcing Kyra to focus her attention on matters at hand.
>>"Besides, even when I was in Gotei 13, you never went to other Gotei 13 members, especially 2nd Division for decent aid... you went outside of it... The crackpot former Captain I mentioned... has a shop... he's sort of a bum, but he has the best info around the spiritual networks..."<<
The shop... of course! It was well known that Shinigami stationed in Karakura Town could visit that shop if they needed aid! She wasn't certain of the details, but she did know where it was located... roughly.
>>"Go now, Kyra... I can hold her off for awhile... Her reiatsu is much stronger than mine... still... I'd like to see just how rusty I've become over my three centuries exile in comparison to another Captain... I'll meet up with you later."<<
"But-" Kyra wanted to protest... this wasn't the girl's fight. Why was she doing this? Why was she helping her? Kyra's mentality was shattering so quickly, all she wanted to do was breakdown. This woman... Ai; she had stated she was once a Captain... and also, a Vizard. The crimson haired Shinigami watched as the woman summoned her hollow abilities rather easily, via a materializing hollow mask. Her own heart raced so hastily, her adrenaline rushing. What should she do? She couldn't leave the woman here to fight against Captain Soifon, could she?!
"She's a Master of Flash Step," Kyra alerted the woman of Soifon's well known accomplishments. "B-Be careful!"
With that, Kyra reached for her Zanpakuto and sprinted out of the warehouse, flash stepping as fast as she could in the general direction of where she assumed the shop was located. Already, an internal conflict was arising. She should have helped Ai; she should have stayed behind! Even though the woman was a former Captain, and a Vizard herself... standing up against Captain Soifon? Not only that, but would Kyra herself even be that much of aid? She had lost it so easily in her battle before... could she afford to let that monster attempt to sink her teeth into her body once again?
"Shit.... shit, shit, shit!" Kyra continued cursing as she moved as fast as she could. She didn't know the man's name... something shop... shit, shit shit shit!
Post by Rebel Raven on Aug 12, 2009 1:04:05 GMT -5
"That bum?! Hmph, now I know where she's going. Urahara won't be able to save a criminal, she smiled a bit at the news. Her affiliation with him was enough to stoke Soifon's desire to take the woman down completely instead of simply kicking her to silence her.
... And she had to indirectly insult her mistress which made her eyes narrow with anger... but that anger wasn't as blinding as she might have hoped. She maintained her rationality. Yoruichi's lessons weren't in vain as Soifon kept her head.
"I don't know what you hope to accomplish in insulting me further, making a challenge towards me, Vizard, but it'll be something you'll regret," she said with a smoldering glare.
"You've shamed yourself, and your line more than those you've ridiculed in minutes," she said darkly with a frown.
She darted towards Ai at a fast running speed then leapt at her rapidly in an attempt to crash her knee into the Vizard's mask as their mask tended to be key for their powered up state.
Sure she used a simple assault with the flying knee towards the face, but she knew that this woman wasn't to be underestimated. Still, Soifon held back as she sought her usual method of seeing just how apt this woman was in combat.
Though the grin itself could not be seen under her mask, her could be seen through those narrow slits, and by how they were squinting it was clear she had some sort of smile on her face. She could tell that her attempts at making Soifon exceedingly angry did not work, or she simply had not pushed further enough, yet. Maybe she can push a bit more. But the anger was there... still.. anger is not enough, and that could prove work against Ai rather than be in her favor.
"Hmph.", Ai grunted, though it was peculiar kind of scoff - like a contradictory sound of both being nonchalant and offended at the same time, "I've been considered a disgrace to my line for three hundred years now, think that statement is going to make any difference to me now?", though that grin under her mask seen through her eyes, returned to her face as Soifon came at her.
Her eyes narrowed at the knee coming at her, drawing her blade in a swift slash of steel in the form of a back-slash, held in an inverted grip in her right hand. Though, strangely the backslash was not meant to strike at Soifon, all Ai merely did was use her scabbard in her left hand to block at the knee strike at her face. With a solid block, she followed it up with batting the scabbard at Soifon's knee to try and knock her away. But that attempt at batting Soifon's knee away after the block was immediately followed up with three swift slashes, one upward slash followed through with a downward cross-slash into another back-slash.
There was a one second pause after those three slashes that immediately interrupted by another series of three attacks. A thrust into a horizontal cross-slash finished with swing with her scabbard. The blade was then sheathed back into its black wooden scabbard, though Ai still stood ready to strike again. But, there was something odd about all of those strikes, even her current stance - each were all so different from the last. But the answer is revealed in her stance, the hand of her blade is no longer in her right hand, it is in her left. She was subtly switching her sword and scabbard between either hand as she attacked, she is an ambidextrous swordsman like the other Kyôraku, too. Furthermore, her strikes were odd themselves, while she was truly attacking Soifon, none of them seemed to have the intent to kill or even wound her opponent. Was she trying to insult Soifon further? Was she trying to toy with the Captain? Or oddly actually avoiding trying to harm Soifon?
"Hm... Soi... fon... right?", muttered Ai thinking for a moment, then snickered a bit - she could not help but think maybe all she needed was another push, "Fon... fon.... Fong! Oh my... this is a treat... A member of the noble house that serves the Shihoins made it to Captain... How'd you do it? Usurp it from your Shihoin master - see them as an unworthy leader to continue to serve? Kill your master out of an act of betrayal and ambition? Your master die somehow - in battle - whatever? Or did your master wise up and leave and left their personal lap dog to rot with the Gotei 13?", it was then Ai did a sudden upward slash with her blade, but the blade did not come from her left side as what would have been believed given her left handed stance earlier; but instead it came from her right side as her blade is now back in her right hand.
"I wonder, Captain Soifon...", Ai snickered, "Did the Gotei 13 in all their infinite wisdom...", those last two words said in a particularly mocking tone before continuing, "...think to you remove the Power Limiters Captains and Vice-Captain suffer under here on Earth before setting you off to fight a 12th Seat? Or, are you holding back on purpose?"
Post by Rebel Raven on Aug 13, 2009 20:41:48 GMT -5
Soifon didn't seem to be bothered by her attack being blocked.
The forward inertia was used to thrust her hands forward, and a blast of spiritual pressure rocketed her away enough that the slashes just barely missed Soifon. The Blast may have blown Ai away as well, but it wasn't intended for damage so much as to help the hit and run style flourish.
She back flipped, then landed 30 feet from Ai, "So you're no good at Hakudo?" she said flatly, as her pants split at the thigh a bit thanks to the close shave. "Fine, we'll use Zanjutsu," she drew her Zanpakuto, and held it in an underhanded style.
She dashed at Ai faster than before, then pounced at her from some distance away but used a mid air feint slash then used shunpou behind Ai. Immediately she slashed downwards at her head which she figured would be blocked so as she thrust her knee at Ai's back at the same time.
"Hrm", Ai grunted, "Never did much care for Hakuda - everything about it just... never made sense to me... Besides... you're zanpakuto is an extension of yourself, symbiont spirit working in unison with you, why deny them?", letting out a sigh she remarked, "It's why Shinigami bitching about their Shikai or Bankai always... annoy the hell out of me... I mean... Keizen...", she looked at her zanpakuto as she said the name, "She's a little bitch and pisses me off on a daily basis... but she's part of who I am... wouldn't have gotten this far without her.", she then snickered a little, "Hell... even the monster dwelling within my soul... while... it chews away at it to take over my body... Still... I can't help but love the thing on a certain level."
Ai grinned under that mask when Soifon drew her own blade, the second Soifon made her move - Ai was at the ready. She did not draw her blade however when Soifon appeared to strike at her, it was as if she completely ignored it. But the downward slash that suddenly came from behind, Ai immediately drew her blade blocking it. Though, she motioned to evade the knee at her back - she simply did not have the speed or reaction to time to match Soifon's speed to dodge it. The knee struck her square in the back sending her stumbling on her feet, she spun around as she stumbled slashing her blade exactly where Soifon was about to step next to prevent her next approach.
Regaining her footing after stumbling a bit she sighed disappointedly, "You know... when you can sense an attack coming but you just don't have the reaction time to do something about it?", Ai grumbled, "I hate that.", with another disappointed sigh of regret Ai grumbled, "I can perceive your movements all I want, but doesn't mean shit if I don't have the speed to do something about them... otherwise you'll just pick me apart... Ugh... It's not that I don't like my Bankai... I just hate being forced to use it... Two days in a row now since I met that girl I've been reduced to using it... Irritating... Can't use Shikai in here... blade's too long - closed in space."
Sheathing her blade back into its scabbard, as it turned into bright white light taking the form of a great nodachi blade - as it still glowed brightly before its actual form could even be revealed Ai commented, "Besides, why so frowny, Captain Soifon? Still letting what I was saying earlier get to you? Come on, have some fun with it. I mean, sure you're holding back a lot, but... maybe I'll able to ferret out just how fast you really are now...", Ai snickered a little as she muttered, "Bankai..."
The glowing white nodachi blade before it could take its released state then suddenly burst into particals of white light. Even Ai's clothes begun to radiate a brilliant white light that engulfed her entirely, but that light begun to eclipsed within a swirling darkness at that eminated from the core of it - Ai herself. The darkness in the form of tendrils ripped apart and disappated the light as though they were tearing away flesh. The darkness then unveiled Ai as a graceful feminine silhouette, an outline of her body in a way as the darkness that covered her like a shell hid her other femine features. On her upper back the black ghostly tendrils receded into her shoulder-blades.
Ai held out her left hand in front of her as though she were checking her nails, and with a snicker she remarked only now with a third voice speaking in perfect unison with the other two - a young girl's voice, "Mask really screws with the reiatsu... Heh.", part of her mask begun to crumble away around her left eye, causing Ai to narrow her eyes in irritation, "Ah hell... already?", Ai then looked to Soifon as Ai built up her spiritual pressure as high as she could without exhausting herself but preform at her peak, "Guess I'll have to make this fast."
Holding out her right hand - a katana-like sword of pure flaming violet spiritual energy took form in her hand. With bold of immense speed Ai appeared right Soifon's face locking blades with her. The spiritual pressure from the burst of speed with sudden stop of their colliding blades created a tornado like wind that sent the contents of the warehouse thrashing about in every direction.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Aug 16, 2009 20:15:14 GMT -5
Within the confined walls of the warehouse where the two were currently fighting, several powerful spiritual signatures began to filter into those attuned to that particular scent. However, ignoring it momentarily, a figure smashed so hastily through a window, that the glass that shattered hadn't even had time to hit the ground before a swirl of dark spiritual energy enveloped her body. Without a single phrase, the feline figure moved with great haste as a powerful build up of kido energy enveloped her arms and upper body, forcing the shirt she had been wearing to nearly shred and explode along the shoulder from the powerful pressure. The torn cloth hung simply from the neck ring as the clear spiritual energy enveloped her palm. The woman let out a quick shout as she forced her way directly dead center of the tornado. With a quick calculation and sensing, the feline was able to send out an equal amount of opposing spiritual energy, neglecting the force of the attack, and halting its course.
Yoruichi landed on the ground in a crouch as the winds began to die all around her, shirt torn in various places from the sudden activation of her Shunko technique. The long violet haired, dark skinned woman first eyed Soifon, then trailed her vision to the Vizard that red head must have spoken of.
"I don't have as much time as I thought," Yoruichi stated firmly as she stepped between the two. "But your fighting is senseless. Soifon, I believe you were set up to distract you from what's about to happen."
Yoruichi's gaze traveled beyond the two, to where yet another Garganta began to materialize.
"Hollows are pouring in by the hundreds," Yoruichi stated. "Shinigami are being alerted everywhere... and though I don't know how it is you've mixed yourself into this, Vizard, we could certainly use your help. Though, it's understandable if you felt no responsibility to do so. Thus, do what you like. Soifon, follow me!"
Without even waiting to hear the response from either, Yoruichi immediately headed toward the first Garganta, aiming to aid the suddenly overwhelmed Shinigami currently based in Karakura Town.
