• Ready to join Post Terminus?

    Click to get started and submit your first character.

    Getting Started

[3rd/8th/9th/11th][Closed] Week --: To the Wire, To the Limit, To the Soul

Frustration mingled with excitement as Seraf listened to the dialogue going on; it was only vaguely interesting as he didn’t really care about the topic itself. Sure there were problems; every form of government had them. He would be the “lapdog” who would follow orders without questions because it was expected of him and no other reason.

This man was just a self righteous fool who thought his cause was correct and theirs was not. It didn’t really matter. Whoever had more power would be right, it was because whoever would win then gets to set the rules. There was no such thing as a “just” cause.

Seraf could tell that Ishin was planning on attacking the enemy, and if he needed help he would call on his allies to aid him. This was a problem for Seraf, 11th Division members prided themselves on their ideal of one on one combat. A member of the squad would politely decline fighting with the aid of anyone and rather fight on their own, even if they were sorely out matched. Seraf figured he was out matched, yet that ideal burned strong in him.

Walking up to stand behind Ishin he put his hand on his shoulder, turning to face each other, Seraf spoke with absolute certainty this would be allowed. “Ishin, you are in charge and I do not want to undermine your authority, but I cannot fight as a group. I ask that you let me face our enemy first. I will do everything in my power to defeat him, and if I fail, then everyone can fight, but let me do this or I cannot fight at all.”

One way or the other Seraf would fight first, if he had to he would take measures to see it so, though he would rather save the energy for the fight.

[309/2691]
 
“Hiroshi Takama, eh? Well, Hiroshi-chan, why don't we have some fun?”

It was something he had done to piss him off. He didn't normally use the suffixes for proper speech, but he guessed that this guy was proud, and this might rile him up and have him make a mistake. Judging by the effectiveness of his shikai in halting their use of the senkaimon, this guy must be strong, and if this one little thing could get him to slip up, that was just one more thing that could help him.

Just as he was getting ready to attack, the member of the Eleventh division, Seraf, walked up and put his hand on his shoulder. After that, he fed Ishin some bull shit about group fighting. Ishin shook his head.

“Seraf, look back there. You see those two? Neither of them have learned the names of their shikai. You expect them to fight someone who obviously knows and has fought with his shikai before? I have an idea. You fight Daiaku. He is closer to you in strength. I want you to know that I am doing this not because I look down on you, but because I know that as a member of the Eleventh, I can trust you to see a duel with him through to the end. For the record, you can try to hide it from me all you want, but I can tell you have reached Shikai. So, why don't you let those two worry about collecting data about the enemy and our surroundings and deal with him.”

He walked forward a few more steps.

“As you said, I am the leader. If I have too, I will ensure that you don't interfere. My job right now, aside from defeating our enemy and reestablishing our link to the material world, is to ensure that all three of you come back alive. Now, focus on an enemy that is in front of you. Be careful.”

With this, Ishin turned and walked toward the edge of the mist. It started to thin, and Ishin could finally see the other side. It was just as he had expected. Judging from the size of the area the Kidou affected, this man was extremely well versed at it. As he stepped out, he drew his sword.

“Now, let me get this straight.” The entire time he was talking, Ishin walked forward. The ground around him seemed to crackle with energy. This guy was either really powerful, or there was something odd about this place. “You, a menial pawn who is here as nothing more than a stall tactic, you mean to try and tell me how I am ignorant? Don't make me laugh you ignorant charlatan, for that is all you are, a pretender. You couldn't cut it as a member of the Gotei, so you joined the SQN and blamed all your problems on the very same organization that made you what you are today. Tell me something. How long do you think you will be useful to the SQN? Do you think they will have a further use for you after whatever it is they are doing in the material world is finished? They will throw you and Daedalus right down the garbage chute. Since it is gonna happen anyway, why don't I just speed up the process.”

This last part was less a question than it was a declaration of intent. He held his sword out in front of him. It almost seemed to hum. This was the first time he faced a true shinigami opponent that was at the same level as him since he had fought Rokku, and he would have to do well. The success of the mission depended on it.

“Crush, Fuyutsuki!”

Almost immediately after releasing his zanpakutou, Ishin charged at Hiroshi, using shunpo to cover the distance in an instant.

**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mist, Daiaku found himself in a precarious situation. He had been told by Master Takama not to interfere. At the same time, though, there now stood two shinigami, one of which was a little kid, right in front of him as easy targets. He decided that he would apologize to the master later.

Swinging his hatchet zanpakutou, Copperhead, he jumped at the shinigami. All he needed to do was cut them once, and Copperhead's poison would take care of the rest.

[739/4048]
 
The insufferable arrogance of this one shinigami eroded Hiroshi’s sense of restraint and calm. This creature dared speak to Hiroshi as if he were equal, as if Hiroshi were his lesser? BLASPHEMY came from the lips of this insect of a foe! Hiroshi had planned on using the mist as a distraction from main method of attack for longer, but he cast such restraint to the wind. Against someone like this, there was only the need for absolute dominance. I’ll tear you limb from limb, Ishin Katsuji!

It was then that the man performed a shuynpo directly towards where Hiroshi had been hiding behind his surprise. A bold move, Shinigami! Back peddling the moment the vague figure of his opponent became visible, Hiroshi twisted his left wrist and clenched with his hand, causing the large menos hand that was before him to act similarly. The attack was not fast, but it likely came as a great surprise to his adversary and that alone might be sufficient for a limited success. But Hiroshi would not be satisfied with a possibility. Pointing his other finger at the enemy, he chanted “Hadou number seven, Rakurai!” From his hand, a compressed ball of lightening energy flung out at his opponent, ready to explode from proximity contact.

“The world will be remade, oh ignorant Overlord! And in the wake of this creation those who parade as false masters will be cast down and made to suffer in their own folly! I am no mere stalling tactic, I am no mere pawn to my masters! I serve gladly and freely, knowing I bring woe and misery to the Gotei and the Central Fourty-six. YOU will be the example of my wrath here, and their downfall will be facilitated by MY power!” Hiroshi’s retort was filled with venom and hatred, but in his mind he felt safe from a counter attack due to the sealing bakudou that was on the floor near his enemy. Just try to press the attack. You will fail! And once you’ve fallen into my grasp, I’ll show you just how strong the power of lightning can be!


wc: 355/2240
 
Sho had already foreseen the danger, analysed it and was done worrying over it. While continuing to study his surroundings and making sure that all conversation was recorded, he was well aware that Daiaku was in front of both he and Ryuku and he recognised the primal look of aggression within his eyes. Carefully watching Daiaku's movements, the researcher jumped to the side as he lunged forward; he'd expected it, but hadn't the slightest bit of interest in finding out whether or not a released Zanpakutou could shatter his own if he'd attempted to parry.

It was certainly disappointing he'd chosen to go after the two members of the Ninth Division though, there was so much more they could be doing rather than fending off a worthless axe wielding brute who disobeyed orders and liked to pick on those he saw as the easy target. As a member of the Ninth Division, Sho could be studying and analysing the fight between Ishin and Hiroshi "" alas, he could not focus the camera within his glasses on their fight and go head to head with the likes of a Shikai level Shinigami at the same time; he'd struggle with the latter immensely alone.

He needed the glasses to read "" his vision was not particularly blurry "" and as such he realised that he could simply take them off and place them facing the battle. Shikai or not, the glasses were extra strength and a testament to the quality of the Ninth Division, he did not expect them to shatter. Sho reconsidered this shortly after however, realising that if such material was indeed so powerful, it would have been made into armour long ago. He'd need to think of some other way to get quality footage, removing them his green eyes became much more visible and he folded them into a more compact position. He clutched them in one hand for a moment, desperately attempting to think of some way to record the battle, and then it came to him... he'd need to see the battle from a distance "" and at a good angle. While the idea seemed similar to his last, he fully intended to make the most room out of his space this time and was thankful that all the data went immediately to a database within the Ninth's headquarters and thus the glasses breaking weren't as big a deal as it would seem at first.

Sho turned the glasses around so that the lenses faced him and he placed it on the floor, pushing it so that they slid and made contact with a wall a fair distance away - if such terms were appropriate within a Menos that was. Quickly turning his attention back to Daiaku he let out a sigh.

"Do not take members of the Ninth Division as easy targets," he commented with a distinctive hint of annoyance in his voice. "Seraf, feel free to assist both myself and Ryuku... but understand that this is our fight too and we "" or at least speaking purely for myself, I "" wish to fight and shouldn't be taken lightly."

Turning his attention back to Daiaku, Sho grinned slightly, "The south gate is broken. The north gate shatters. Hadou #15, Genshi!" Reiatsu began forming at three points on Sho's body and it burst out in an atom formation, travelling towards Daiaku.

[559/1837]
 
Disappointment mingled with anger as Seraf watched Ishin shunpo to face the enemy. Exhaling he released the bakudou he had waiting to be unleashed. “Pff, fine I’ll take out the trash.” But as he turned to face his new opponent he saw the coward was attacking the two ninth Division Members, and they were handling themselves just fine.

Seraf was pretty pissed. What the hell was he supposed to do? He was told to take out the pathetic enemy and then he didn’t even get to do that. It seemed that after all that he had been through to get here; he would do nothing after all. “Fucking Leon…sending me on this mission, I guess its an honor to be trusted, but I’m totally useless here.” He clutched his sword tightly, he was so furious he was shaking.

Looks like you’re stuck as an observer this mission Seraf.

“Shit, don’t I know it. This sucks.”

There was nothing he could do about it so he stuffed his anger into a little ball and hide it somewhere in the back of his mind, “Deal with it later, anger will make you lose focus and that can get you killed.” So he waited an observed. Ready to act if was needed.

[200/2891]
 
416​

Keiji was shocked, to say the least; two men, so wound up in their beliefs, were willing to kill an innumerable amount of people and threaten the lives of even more because of some grudge against Shinigami—of course this interested him to no end, as it seemed that these men were themselves Shinigami! A twitch set him off this course, realizing that he was in immediately grave danger. Blue haze had surrounded the area, and Ishin had gone to fight the man controlling the Senkaimon, which made Keiji upset. He wanted to analyze that fight, and yet he’d be forced to fight this axe-wielding stranger. Being shikai-level, the man from the Eleventh was likely best-suited to fight him, but Keiji didn’t consider himself a kidou master for nothing. Putting two fingers up, he wrapped his other hand around them—Keiji was going to use one of his most favorite spells.

“Art of mimicry, doppelganger. Split my very core, clone my very essence. From me bring the perfect construction body and soul. Hadou Number Forty-Nine. Shadow Puppet!”

In an instant, another Keiji sprung up beside him in a puff of black smoke. The two of them held the same pose exactly, right down to their hands.

“Nin nin.”

“Nin nin.”

The clone copied Keiji exactly, and just as Daiaku was getting closer, Keiji put the extension into use.

“Shadow Scapegoat!”

Daiaku would slice right through Keiji, causing him to implode into a puff of black smoke. The other, clearly the real Keiji, held the same pose but was facing Daiaku.

“Nin nin!”

With that, Keiji would dig in his pocket, staring at Daiaku’s head inquisitively. He thought back, and recalled a little game he used to play at school. He brought out the dark, glass sphere and held it up.

“EVASIVE MANEUVER NUMBER SEVENTEEEEEN!”

With that, Keiji hurled the Mother Of All Stink Bombs right at Daiaku, hoping to have it shatter open and cover any point on the zealot’s body. Yes, it would affect his teammates as well, but at close enough proximity, such an immensely horrid stench would put Daiaku off enough to be defeated with accelerated ease. Not to mention the kidou which Sho threw, and the fact that Seraf was quietly watching and waiting for his chance to strike. Yes, Keiji felt that this battle could only end in victory for him and his team. Immediately, he clenched two fingers over his nose to try and avoid what was about to enter.
 
Ishin saw the hand coming at him, and he also noticed the ball of energy in Hiroshi's hand. He was trying to trap him. Not only that, but one pf the weird spots on the floor was to the side of him he would jump to if he dodged. Things were getting interesting. Ishin decided not to fall into the trap. Smiling from ear to ear, he charged straight at the Menos hand.

As it swung at him, Ishin used Fuyutsuki's gravity manipulation to make it heavier. The hand started to arc, then swiftly sunk to fall right below his feet. Ishin even went so far as to use the hand as footing for his attack.

The hadou, Rakurai from the looks of it, was flying at his face. Traveling into shunpo again, Ishin dodged around it, but unfortunately for him was still close enough to set it off. The explosion hit him. In the smoke, he could tell his plan had worked though. When the smoke cleared, Ishin stood, slightly singed, in front of the smoldering remains of the hand.

"Hmm. Not only are you a pawn, but apparently you are a pawn with bad aim. Tell you what. Why don't you let me get closer? Then you can try and get me close up. What do you say?"

He smiled again, this time jumping over the odd pot in the floor. He came down on top of another though, and something odd happened......

**

Above the action Shikoku, the man assigned to guard this section, was just getting up from his sleep. He didn't ever really concern himself with the place since they were so far in. It was to his great surprise, therefore, that he found a group of enemies fighting against Hiroshi and Daiaku. He pulled out his zanpakutou and yelled the release phrase.

"Slice, Mouko Higa!"

The sword instantly changed to a set of claws a foot long on his right hand. He jumped down, aiming for the member of the enemy that didn't seem to be fighting. He had to be careful. His zanpakutou didn't have an after effect like Daiaku's did. It did make him faster, and he would use that to the best of his ability. He was dropping straight at the man, aiming for his neck to take his head straight off.

[390/4438]

Shape, Doc, and Test, click this.
take care of thiose guys however you feel. This way, you all have a fight seen. no emo seraf! LOL. just kidding. Kill them (or not) as you see fit.
 

The man should not have screamed out his Zanpakutou’s release phrase. It would have been much more effective to just silently attack him from above. But since he had not thought of that idea, Seraf was more than ready to unsheathe the rest of his sword and parry the claws that threatened to tear his head off. The strength behind the attack was nothing that Seraf couldn’t handle, in fact he had faced a hollow with greater strength than the man, yet his instincts told him he should be on his guard regardless of what his mind told him. He was correct.

The enemy was fast, far faster than Seraf had initially thought. Still, he was managing to parry most of the attacks and only once or twice did a minor slice get through his guard. It was frustrating to find that his man who had come out of nowhere was getting any hits in. It was really annoying since Seraf really did not want to release his sword during this mission. He wanted his first “real” opponent to be his Captain. He wanted to test his power against the man who set his soul fleeing in terror. He longed for that day.
He would finish this battle without using his shikai, and he would finish it with a technique that the Captain himself had taught him. Now it was waiting for just the right moment to implement it. Continuing to parry most of the blows Seraf awaited the best opportunity to strike.


[253/3,144]

lol

lol emo Seraf XD
 
Hiroshi’s eyes instinctively narrowed as the enemy’s shikai ability was used to overcome his menos hand. Churning through possibilities at the speed of thought, the SQN Lieutenant’s instincts took hold, executing the pre-formulated plan of dealing with his main aggressor while his conscious mind struggled to resolve the enemy’s ability. To Hiroshi, it seemed as if his enemy was able to place a great weight upon his desired target, like that of an encumber kidou. Even if the mechanics of the affect were different, the result was the same. The ability to encumber at will is a dangerous one, but the shinigami was very eager to melee Hiroshi, and this might prove extremely advantageous.

And his eagerness did pay off, for the opponent had used shuynpo in a Yusuru, which meant now shuynpo was closed to him, the bakudou would halt all shuynpo for all too long. With such a desire to shuynpo and close, this man must have limited kidou skill and ranged attacks, therefore Bansoukou will give me the decided advantage here. “Bakudou number twenty three, Bansoukou.” With that simple phrase as the man trotted back, he turned and leapt to the closest wall with surprising speed. Just incase he had been attacked with a projectile, he then utilized a short shuynpo to come to rest at the juncture of ceiling and wall.

From his new vantage point, Hiroshi could see that two lesser-ranked SQN had engaged his prey, a scene that ignited his fury. He would make both the shinigami and these reckless fools who disobeyed him suffer the consequences for their arrogance. As of yet, he had stilled not used any of his dormant kidou-traps, a comforting thought to the overconfident contestant.

wc: 286/2526
 
Ishin felt the effect of the trap almost instantaneously. His legs became like lead, and he couldn't shunpo. All he could manage was a slow walk, almost looking like a confident swagger. It partially was, because he could tell he had been gravely underestimated by his cocky opponent. He held out his left hand, pointer finger and middle finger extended.

“Converge light into spaces of darkness! Hadou number four, Byakurai!”

A lance of blue energy shot from his finger. It raced at Hiroshi, rocketing towards him. At the last second though, it veered off course. It hit about two feet from him. He looked down and saw Ishin muttering the spell again. Another beam shot at him. This one, too, missed him, but it hit on the other side. Again, more beams shot and missed. A total of eight shots missed him, all by two feet. He looked down and shook his head.

“Inferior spell casting ability. Stupid brute.”

He stopped when he saw Ishin's motions change. He heard the incantation for another kidou.

“Weight of the world on your shoulders, suffer your punishment! Bear the heavens or all shall fall! No rest for the weary, no sleep for the wretched! Bakudou number twenty six, Atlas!”

Hiroshi saw the shimmer flying head first at him. He flinched as it seemed to hit him, but it passed around him. Looking up, he shook his head at Ishin.

“Tell me, how do you intend to beat me with kidou if you keep missing?”

Ishin laughed.

“Well, considering that I haven't missed my target once, I find that a strange question. Tell me, Hiroshi, do you understand physics? The law of gravity to be precise? I ask because I wonder if you can tell me what would happen if I applied the weight of Atlas onto the portion of the ceiling that I just weakened with Byakurai? It would fall due to gravity, no? Not only that, but I would say you are in trouble because you used that spell to make your feet stick to the ceiling. I would think your reaction time is a little hindered by it. In fact, I would say the effect is going to make you fall with the ceiling right about now!”

As he said it, the ceiling crumbled. Hiroshi yelled as he fell. When th debris hit, Ishin started to walk over to them. With the spell still effecting his ability to move, he managed a swagger which made him seem confident. When he got there, his axe came up to rest at the coughing Hiroshi's throat.

“Do you know what the difference between you and I is? I have respect for the ability of my opponents. The entire time we have been fighting, you looked down on me because you thought I was some idiotic berserker who only cared for fighting. You were wrong. Now, I am the victor. You have two choices now. You can either call your zanpakutou off, or I can kill you and make it stop. Your choice, Hiroshi.”

[509/4947]
 
Sho was thankful at this point for the fact that his cape came over his nose, for even with it on the smell of Ryuku’s stink bomb was atrocious and he wondered exactly which side his associate was on using something like that; certainly not on sanity’s side at the very least, it had the potential to cripple his allies – including Sho – for several precious seconds at the very least.

At the very least, it had the intended effect and crippled their opponent, Daiaku. This was all that Sho needed and as he gasped for a little air – admittedly, his clothing protected him from most of the stink bomb’s effects – his Genshi connected and an audible scream from the SQN rogue Shinigami was heard. Success he thought, Damn… this feels good

Daiaku was quick to recover, and indeed, at this point any effect the stink bomb had caused on both parties within the Menos was now gone and indeed it seemed that both Seraf’s and Ishin’s fights had faced no trouble from the bomb; although both men were a fair distance away from Sho and Ryuku.

He quickly reflected on the advanced Kidou Ryuku had produced, he knew full well that he could produce it, but having not practiced to do so – and given the conditions –he didn’t see fit to attempt such a rash act. Instead, he would opt to use the advantage he did have over his ninth division counterpart to compliment him in battle.

Daiaku turned to him now, whilst Ryuku had set up the trap that had impaired him and caused Sho’s Genshi to connect, no doubt he wanted revenge for the blood that now ran freely down him – although he seemed no worse because of it; rushing at Sho with just as much speed and determination behind his blade as he had before.

There wasn’t enough time to simply dodge this time, nor did Sho think the chances of Daiaku using a simple slash this time were very high either. With all the courage he could muster, Sho raised his blade in a stout defence – the compliment he had thought of earlier was indeed his combat abilities in the fields other than simply Kidou of which he and Ryuku both specialised in (Ryuku to a higher degree). Perhaps it was this higher level of mastery that enabled him to block the attack flawlessly and withstand the push of this Shikai level opponent – or more likely, Daiaku was just a low level ‘scrub’ who’d only recently achieved it as such.

Sho didn’t know how much longer he could struggle against the force of the released blade though and indeed he was almost at his limit in this regard before Daiaku grunted and pushed forward, sending Sho back first into the ‘wall’. Perhaps it was this sudden jolt that gave Sho his strategy, but it mattered not, he simply needed to get it to work at this point.

“Keiji!” he called out, “Bind him! Use the best Bakudou you’ve got! I don’t care what it is… just make it work! We can win this if we can just get him still!”

[524/2361]
 
637​

Fights were exploding all around him, and yet, he found himself limited to that which involved himself, Noboru Sho, and Daiaku the grunt. He had unlocked Shikai, a given, but that seemed to be about it. His reiatsu certainly wasn’t overwhelming, he didn’t seem as intelligent as Hoshi, and overall, Keiji felt that this man was quite subpar for his expectations of the Si Qua Non. He’d always expected that the SQN would be made up of a legion of genius rebellion fighters, all skilled in a myriad of different areas and specialized in ways that no Unseated shinigami could even compete with them. Yet, here they were; two unseated scientists were making surprisingly quick work of the man. Perhaps, he thought, Shikai was not as important or as significant as he’d always thought? If this man could achieve it, then obviously such a thing was not very hard. The more he thought about it, the more disappointed Keiji was in Daiaku. A man that had once seemed at least worthy of fore-thought was obviously no more impressive than the grunting Hollows he used to slay. Keiji’s face sunk, and he immediately decided that Daiaku had crushed his every hope of an exciting battle.

To nobody’s surprise, Keiji’s little attack worked! Daiaku was thrown off-guard to such a degree that Sho could jump in and begin dispatching him. Here, Keiji found himself getting jealous of his comrade’s adept zanjutsu skill. Sure enough, Keiji practiced here and there, but he had always limited himself to the use and study of either Kidou or machinery. Perhaps Keiji would have been interested in changing that just to overtake Sho, had the thought even crossed his mind. Looking on, he noticed that Sho was somewhat entrapped, and Daiaku looked quite menacing in his pose. Keiji frowned at this, somewhat disappointed in Sho, but also taking the fact that Daiaku was stronger into account. Adjusting his goggles, Keiji stretched his hands leisurely and shocked his body into action. Between the two strategies he could find, the more obvious one became clear.

“Hey! Look! It’s Ryuku Keiji, prized Roboticist from the Ninth Division!”

Daiaku grunted in a fashion clearly suited only to him, turning around and looking at the short boy.

“The body runs cold, the sins clear in the liquids cold reflection. Judgment divine. Bakudou Number Seventeen. Ice Prison!”

Keiji slammed his foot on the ground, and Daiaku did move, but the icicles sprung up and grabbed him up around the knees. Thusly, he had been caught, and so Keiji walked up to him and poked him on the chest.

“I must say that I’m quite disappointed in your performance!”

Keiji dug around in his pocket and eventually found the second glass container. An excited giggle erupted from his lungs.

“Cover your nose, Sho!”

Keiji stood up on his toes and broke the MOASB right on Daiaku’s face, and the man spit and trembled as some of it got inside his mouth. With a sigh, Keiji pinched his nose and turned his back to the iced man, trying to get a look at either of the fights that were going on. Behind him, Daiaku let out cries of agony; having swallowed some of the formula, he was experiencing Keiji’s creation at its full strength. There was little time remaining until he’d eventually pass out from the intense smell—for even Keiji did not know what he was experiencing, as he had never tested the results of such massive exposure. He brushed his hands off and tried to forget the insult to Keiji's intelligence that Daiaku was. Adjusting his goggles, he brought his attention to the altercation between Ishin and Hoshi. Seraf might have gotten attention, however, his enemy didn’t have the Technopathic zanpakutou, and Keiji needed as many readings from that as possible.
 
Hack, slash, parry. It was all Seraf could do to keep the man with crazy speed from breaking his guard. It wasn’t as if he was strong in strength, but what he lacked there he most certainly made up for it in speed. He wasn’t even using a form of shunpo, “It must be his Zanpakutou that is augmenting his speed, and I’m not really sure how to counter it…”

Pay attention fool! Seraf only just managed to avoid a blow that could have taken off his left arm. He would have to finish this rather quickly since the pace at which they were fighting was too much for him. He was using a modified form of shunpo, increasing his steps not to perform long distance jumps but quicker regular steps. Even with his modified steps he only barely managed to keep up with his fast opponent.

While doing a particularly tricky maneuver to avoid a nasty scar he stumbled when a smell so foul hit his nose. Instantly he started gagging, with strength of will alone he managed not to lose the breakfast he had that morning. Luckily it seemed that his opponent either did not have the same strength of will or he got a stronger dose of the stench for he was proceeding to empty his stomach, which only started the process of fighting his stomach over again.

Looking around carefully to check on his teammates Seraf saw the Keji and Sho had basically finished up their fight and Ishin was kicking ass as well. Everyone seemed to be doing far better than Seraf; it was frustrating that he was struggling with this opponent.

Release me; if you do we will finish this quickly. Show this weakling what we are truly made of. Do it!

“Shut up! The first person I ever fight with shikai will be the Captain; I will kill this fool with my own power.”

What will it prove if you die? Will you be acknowledged by your peers if you die against a man such as this? You will be the fool then.

He shook his head, attempting to block out the voice that was tempting him to do what he so strongly did not want to do. No longer using the modified shunpo he used a full 20 step right up to the man who was still gasping for air. Seraf’s sword swung down in a wild arc, no fines, no skill, just a swing of full brute force aimed to take off the man’s head. It wasn’t surprising to see the pathetic attempt fail. When a man just attacks recklessly through anger he no longer sees clearly. So Shikoku blocked the attack, if he had a bit of trouble doing it, well Seraf had put a lot of force into the blow.

The voice of Raijū echoed in his mind, tempting and illustrious. It only increased the rage that had started to show. Then it started to mock him, laughing over failures, over his lack of skill, breaking down his rage to leave only humiliation. He was acting the fool, and he knew it. But he just couldn’t bring himself to use his shikai on the man before him. He was not worthy of it.

Fine, if you refuse to release then I relent. But clear your mind, you are making easy mistakes. If you plan on beating him then there is only that one technique to use…

“Right, I need to calm down, to focus. Thanks Raijū I think I can manage this now.”
Good.

Taking a deep breath Seraf found his center, each intake of breath brought a clearer focus, dousing the flames that had threatened to consume him. Eyes focused on the enemy. He was preparing to attack. His lung was a little slower this time; it appeared that he was at his limit as well. “The final strike huh? Sounds so damn clichÁ© like my books…”

But you will not die at all like those foolish hero’s.

Shikoku was right in front of him, a triumphant smile on his face as he brought his claw like Zanpakutou down to cleave through Seraf’s flesh. Every muscle in Seraf’s body screamed to move, all of his instincts told him to dodge, and yet he stomped those things to the ground and took the attack head on. He would earn a pretty scar from the gash that went from his left should all the way down to his right thigh, it was long but not too deep that it was an instant kill. The man did not have enough strength to do that.

“Augh, shit that hurts…” At first it was a struggle to remain standing and conscious, the dark abyss threatened to take him into is peaceful bosom. Then strength appeared. It flowed through him, coursing through his entire being, his blood boiled, brilliant light, beautiful light, it leaked down his sword, lighting it with the intensity of the sun. It hurt to look at, yet it pulled your gaze to it, it was hard to look away. “Stetit Audacter, such a brilliant attack.”

With the strength of Shikoku’s attack combined with all of Seraf’s own power, the sword that swung down swirled with that brilliant light, the man was startled as the attack came down, he lifted his sword to defend and felt cold fear consume him as he saw it crack, and then watched as steel gave way in a shower of splinters. The sword then proceeded to tear through unprotected flesh, his arms bone and sinew gave way, he was still in shocked disbelief as his hand fell from his wrist and then the tip reached his heart, deaths sweet embrace took him to its soft dark.

Panting Seraf managed to stay on his feet; his opponent was most definitely dead, a smug smile of satisfaction painted his face. “See I didn’t need to use shikai after all.”

Indeed, but you are also bleeding heavily. So you might want to perform a quick Reiki or you might die of blood loss…

“Oh…right.” He looked at the nasty gash in his chest, feeling woozy, concentrating the best he could with the throbbing there to bother him, he managed to do a pitiful job. The wound had barely closed up, the flesh only shallowly stitched up. Tearing off bits of his shihakushou Seraf tied them tightly around his waist and thigh. The pressure lessened the pain and he could stand after that.
Surveying the battlefield it appeared that Ishin had finished up as well. He only felt slightly disappointed that he could not have seen them both in action, but in the end he was glad he had not been an observer in the end.


[1,127/4,271]
 
Sho watched as Ryuku’s Bakudou connected and Daiaku was restrained enough for his fellow unseated Ninth Division to go as far as approach and poke the man. He watched on as his young colleague attacked Daiaku with a particularly lethal and up close version of the stink bomb and he couldn’t help but grin; unorthodox sure, but it seemed like it had worked, Daiaku was on the ground choking and gasping for any clean air that he could get.

The attack wasn’t one that would kill their opponent though and Sho had no intention of simply letting him be considering the danger of his released Zanpakutou and the fact that he was still conscious. The scientist attempted to adjust his glasses out of habit but was met with nothing and quickly remembered he’d been filming everything and was excited to see footage of his first battle against the SQN.

He slowly got to his feat and sheathed his Zanpakutou, content with the way they’d fought today, the two of them had proven their worth in battle – they’d shown that they could topple an opponent with Shikai and aid their allies’ efforts. While he was well aware Daiaku was still conscious, Sho felt no need to finish him off; after all there were times when a little compassion needed to be shown… and if he survived the trip back, interrogations and investigations were in order (the details extracted from which were of great interest to Sho).

It was at this point that he noticed their fallen opponent’s eyes shoot open. Perhaps he’s half worthy of having Shikai after all Sho thought to himself, grinning. He saw nothing wrong with the entire affair... until he violently sprang to life and grabbed at his Zanpakutou – now sealed, but still, a blade is a blade.

The Bakudou binding him was weakening and Sho could tell that he’d need to take advantage of the restrictive Bakudou as he’d first intended and use it as an anchor to keep Daiaku grounded in preparation for the final blow. As Daiaku lunged at Ryuku who was standing a few feet away watching the results of the other battles, he almost tripped after being forcefully withheld by the bonds on his legs that still remained; remnants of Ryuku’s Bakudou.

Hearing the ice shatter slightly at this point, both he, Daiaku and the now probably fully aware Ryuku knew what was to happen next… if he was to give just that extra bit of effort, that extra bit of pressure, Daiaku would be released from the Bakudou and would be active once again – considerably weaker and on the verge of passing out from the remnants of Ryuku’s own eccentric inventions – but active none the less.

Sho threw his right arm and grasped it with his left, keeping it steady and aiming it like a weapon. The skin on his right hand began to retract and the tip of a spear emerged. Within a second or so as Daiaku came close to breaking free of his bonds, Sho launched the spear and it shout out towards his opponent and impaled him violently in the chest. Daiaku turned his head to face Sho and he stood staring – held in place by Sho’s spear – for several seconds before his eyes shut and his lifeless body collapsed limply and forced Sho to retract his Living Weapon; his ‘real’ right arm replacing the deadly weapon once more.

“We did it,” he said proudly looking at Ryuku with gratitude at how his Bakudou had held on for so long against an opponent who was – admittedly weaker in comparison to what they’d expected – at a higher level than them, possessing Shikai. “We proved that we weren’t just liabilities.”

[621/2982]
 
Hiroshi looked up from the pile of rubble that surrounded him. His mistake was simple and sufficient, and now he lay in a heap of metal and flesh with this shinigami looking down upon him, both literally and figuratively. Nonetheless, at the end of this fight, this death god did not simply presume to execute his enemy without remorse or knowledge, he bid his enemy lay down his arms and end the battle. Hirshoi could have unleashed the cero that had been stored in the wall behind him with his unique talent using Kansei, but decided that such a thing would only be the thrashing of a conquered fool.

"Very well, shinigami Ishin, I will seal Animus and allow the senkaimon gates to function once more, in exchange, you will leave this room and never return, giving me time to flee for my life. For by saving my own life, I will be exiled from both soul society and these forces, and will need to flee."

He had hoped that the shinigami would be true to his word, and that he would release Hirshoi without incident, but suspected this would not be the case. As such, he made plans to launch the cero and use the distraction as a means of escape. Either way, he would need his zanpakutou to survive any further encounters, and so he focused his will and sealed the weapon to its natural state, causing it to pour back into his hand from the machine around him.

With that, he waited for the shinigami's response; his eyes occasionally flickering to the two conflicts the other SQN were involved in. To think that he, Hiroshi, who fought for her was on the side of wrong today deeply disturbed the pale man. He had never imagined his work was contrary to the wishes of this lost daughter, and yet, it would seem as if the heavens sent this omen clearly to show him the path he took was not the right one. So, his masters would fall then. But where did this leave Hiroshi?

wc: 346/2872
 
Seraf walked up slowly to where Ishin was standing, his eyes focused solely on the man who was now encased in metal scraps and hollow flesh. He looked rather pathetic lying there, bargaining for his life. As his Zanpakutou materialized Seraf immediately stepped on the hand holding such a thing. Incapacitating his sword and sword arm lessened the threat of a sneak attack somehow.

He turned to face Ishin, his face blank, no emotion showing whatsoever, and yet his eyes, his eyes were burning pools of hate and disgust, no matter how he tried, those eyes would not hide what he felt for the man now incapacitated. “Kill him Ishin. A man like this does not deserve a shred of mercy. Kill him. He was willing to risk and kill all those lives in the Rukongai, he cannot go free. If you won’t kill him at least take him alive for interrogating. For men like him, there can be no mercy.”

He turned again to face Hiroshi, even though he was caught and now their prisoner he still looked calm and collected, his eyes analyzing. Seraf didn’t trust him for a second. He most certainly should be killed, and yet it was Ishin’s call.


[204/4475]
 
Ishin continued to stare down at Hiroshi. Throughout the others speech, he didn't say a word. He remained quiet when Seraf talked to him. He hadn't done anything.

That was, until Seraf stepped on Hiroshi. Ishin's zanpakutou immediately left Hiroshi's throat and found its way to Seraf's. Ishin's eyes burned with rage at the treatment that the duelist gave to his defeated foe. It took everything he had to keep from ripping his head off.

"Seraf, I will excuse this dishonor once, and only once. The man in front of us has surrendered, and as such will be granted every civility. I would have thought that someone who prides himself in single honorable combat would act accordingly. True, he did endanger an uncountable amount of people, but if we do not extend a hand of forgiveness, who is to say that we shall not make the same mistake in the future? Did you not listen to me earlier? We are currently in a rut, the shinigami. We need to change things, and we shall start here. I shall not kill him."

His zanpakutou lowered, turning back into the long sword that was its sealed state. He looked over, noting the body of the man that had attacked Seraf, then noticed that Sho and Keiji had defeated Daiaku. They had used teamwork to overcome a more powerful opponent. He looked back to Seraf.

"Take your foot off of his hand. Now, I have a mission for you. You will go over there and make sure that our two scientists are alright, unless you want to face Fiona's wrath. Now."

Ishin's tone was enough to get the man to leave. Whether he walked over and followed orders, Ishin didn't know. He had turned his attention back to Hiroshi.

"Here is what is going to happen. I will lift the debris off of you. I swear to you Hiroshi, that if you ever initiate an attack against the Gotei again I will hunt you down myself. I doubt you will be able to leave soul society. If I were you, I would come and ask for forgiveness. It might not work, but who knows?"

As he finished, suddenly alarms began to sound. Ishin heard an announcement that there was an ever widening hull breach. Turning, he yelled at the others.

"TIME TO GO!"

He turned and started to lift the debris off of Hiroshi.

"Looks like we will be leaving sooner than I expected. Let's go."

He finished lifting the debris off of him.

"Try to keep up. Who knows what would happen if you fall behind and get lost in a ship that is falling apart. You would probably die."

Ishin hid the hint in his words, knowing full well that the others could not hear the emphasis that he put into die. He honestly hoped that Hiroshi would come back with them. He didn't have time to think about it though. If they didn't leave, and soon, they would all die. As the two shinigami, one the victor the other the defeated, ran towards the rest of the group, Ishin yelled to Keiji.

"Get Fiona on the horn and tell her that it's time to go. We are finished here. Also, radio in to the Ninth Division headquarters and let them know that the way is clear!"

[556/5503]
 
681​

“Ye Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance. Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws.”

The words were whispered under his breath, and his hands were curled in preparation. Keiji knew that Daiaku would come at him, but the noises, and most of all: the Reiatsu were what set him off. The boy could feel Daiaku’s reiatsu, and as bestial as it was, it was as malicious as they came. This man had killed before, and he would have again. In just one motion Keiji would have acted opposite to his own nature and erased the man in one swipe had it not been for Sho. He didn’t bother to turn and look—the sounds and the pressure gave him all he needed to know, and so Daiaku was dead. The enchantment faded from his hands as he relaxed, and so he’d look on as Ishin pushed the threat of death onto Hoshi. Sho stood next to him, and complimented their efforts.

“Indeed!”

Keiji turned to Sho with a grin. His inventions, Sho’s Living Weapon; it was like a dream come true for him.

“Today, perhaps, the Gotei will know that Science is not something only for Books!”

Rubbing his nose, Keiji would turn back as Hoshi bargained with the victor. There was something beneath the events here; Hoshi was part of the Si Qua Non, and therefore had a number of superiors that had ordered him to appear and lock off the Senkaimon. However, even Keiji knew that such a plan couldn’t have held up, and that the leaders likely knew this as well. That being the case, they sent Hoshi in just to hold the gates closed for as long as possible—but for what purpose? What could have been happening on Earth that was so fragile that the Gotei needed to be locked away? He wanted to meet the men in charge and question them—find out what drove them to this plan, as well as learn about the way they were clearly willing to sacrifice men for fleeting moments of undisturbed prosperity in their schemes. Yes, he decided, something far bigger was happening behind the scenes.

“TIME TO GO!”

Ishin’s voice awoke Keiji from his stupor, and he was clearly serious. Before he could even finish, the boy tore Athena out and began sending messages to each source. Drake and Daxis were first, obviously enough.

TO: D&D
SUBJECT: RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
MESSAGE:
->
ALL THREATS HAVE BEEN DISMANTLED. BEGIN ANALYZING ALL INFORMATION. BEGIN RUNNING SIMULATION PROTOCOLS. BEGIN TRACING ALL SUBJECTS TO KNOWN SHINIGAMI OUTLAWS.

As he began to run, Keiji did his best to keep a steady grip, which in the end slowed his pace greatly. Fiona and Rakushun's group were to be message next.

TO: HQ
SUBJECT: ALL THREATS EXPUNGED
MESSAGE:
->
SHINIGAMI THREAT HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED. PATH HAS BEEN CLEARED. ALL SHINIGAMI ARE EVACUATING THE AREA. FULL REPORT TO BE SUBMITTED UPON SAFE RETURN TO NINTH DIVISION HEADQUARTERS.

Keiji’s speed would pick back up as he pocketed Athena, flinging his arms back and forth in order to make up for the ground he’d lost. The day had been an utter flurry, and he’d likely spend eons studying this very data. Yet, what disturbed him most was how angry he’d gotten himself at the grunts. Surely, he knew that such threats were plausible and that such things could be easily dealt with, but he’d never been face-to-face with somebody that truly wished to bring chaos without reason. His heart, perhaps, was too pure when he thought it madness to wish death on another person. Perhaps he had become a hypocrite to his own beliefs just seconds ago, whilst preparing to kill Daiaku; on the other hand, Sho had done the exterminating, which was probably for the better. The longer he could go without committing murder, the better—even for a young man such as himself to have come to terms with his own death, he had yet to come to terms with the death of others.

FINAL WORD COUNT
3352​
 
Hiroshi gained his feet when the rubble was clear enough to allow him movement. Silently, he sheathed the slender zanpakutou in his hand across his back and inclined his head to Ishin in agreement that they should all escape. Forgiveness, however, was not something that the Central Fourty Six or the Gotei seemed to possess in abundance. Once one made enemies of the Gotei, they were forever your enemy.

Still, this particular shinigami seemed to be quite adamant in his convictions. For now, he would follow this man’s lead out of the fortress and walk with this allies, who obviously shared not the same mentality. “Lets go, I can show you how to reach the exit and avoid all the traps and patrols that might be moving about right now. Though. . . . you might wish to be careful, the chaos of collapse occurring might scatter personnel from their normal paths. Some may fight, some may flee.”

With that, the skinny man picked up his cracked glasses and put them once again on his nose, adjusting the wire frame as he moves so they fit his face. His body was injured, but hardly broken, though he felt a great deal of pain coming from his left knee as he moved. It felt entirely likely to him that he had managed to sprain it in the fall. Grimacing, he lead the shinigami in a wholly honest route, bypassing all known defenses and taking the shortcuts needed to reach the outer hull of the ship they were aboard. It was Hiroshi’s hope that the death gods had some plan of escape, however as he had little idea how to avoid a fatal fall.

The thoughts of his mortality stirred him, and he flashed back to his daughters visage, which caused him to grimace even more then the pain from his leg. If only he hadn’t let her take on the duty of a death god. If only she’d listened to him about the rigors and demands of the Goetei, and its uncaring and unforgiving coldness. He shook his head slowly to clear the image. The events today had demonstrated to him that the Heavens did now wish him to follow the path of vengeance. Her choice, no matter how much he disagreed with it, and the Gotei’s actions were not his to question any more. He would need to litter the bitterness in him pour out and fade away. It was over.

wc: 411/3283
 
Sho made little effort at this point to record any data. He’d picked up his glasses and was now being led down the hall along with the rest of the group by their hostage (who at this point seemed fairly trustworthy as they’d yet to run into any trouble). He coughed and resumed his usual stance of staring at the floor as he walked; he was lost in a myriad of thoughts and things his eyes observed would only distract him.

The unseated member of the ninth division took quick glances around eventually however, giving in to his urges; he was met with no results, nothing seemed to be any different from what he had already done his best to research and collect. He was only mildly worried about the impending damnation of this flying structure at first, but negative thoughts had been slowly creeping up on him continuously and by this point he was certainly nervous about his fate.

They’d accomplished what they’d set out to do, they’d defeated the hacker and indeed Sho was confident that by this point the Captains had dealt with Daedelus and themselves would probably be leaving. How exactly did they all plan to leave? Now that he would like to know; and indeed it was this that Sho himself worried about the most. Sure, he had methods of transportation, but for all he knew access to the Hecate was still blocked as a direct result to the path it accessed and even if it wasn’t, he still wondered if it worked 30,000 feet in the sky – it probably did, but his fear of the former situation was only strengthened as a result.

Finally succumbing to nervousness, and seeing it even in the face of their prisoner, Sho decided he should be the first to speak. “What exactly is the plan now?” he questioned feebly showing signs of nervousness, although admittedly he was much braver and certainly less fearful than he sounded, “How do we escape from this thing? We’re thirty-thousand feet up and I might be wrong, but aren’t our usual methods of escape indisposed at the moment?”

[355/3337]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Current Date in Araevis

Back
Top