[Esq/Kyuu/??] Week 118: Oh Shi

[Eidolon]

"Retreat, everyone, NOW," Kyuu said to any of the shinigami who were stupid enough to be near the arrancar still. The tall man's eyes settled closed as he attempted to control the shudder of fear that washed over him. The very air was heavy, restrictive, and attempting to prohibit his movements. How long has it been since I've felt this kind of power? Hundreds of years.

"Orders are a bitch, some times. All those years ago, Masaru ordered his shinigami to strike down this very palace, and the first arrancar ordered his own to defend. I know you, by reputation alone. You are the one who was strong enough to cut down Diega." Kyuu's words came out steadily as he watched the dread monster who stood a few meters away from him. A relaxed pose coupled with a smoldering cigar might have fooled an observer into thinking this figure was a human, not a demon. The truth was in the air, however, with a reiatsu the likes of which could kill weaker shinigami just from stepping into its range.


"While I may have served the ancient kenpachi, there's no doubt I can't threaten you even after all these years. Arcadian Kyuu, vice captain of the mobile strike unit. Are you sure you aren't looking for someone else?" Surrendering initiative might be a total mistake on the Vice Captain's behalf, but he knew nothing of the arrancar before him. Was he like Leon, perhaps more like Faust, or even worse, like Ritoru? The black-haired man hoped desperately that speed was not an asset of this supreme force. If that was the case, then he would be too strong to even flee from.

[281]

 

[DarkToaster]

“Was that her name?” Esqueleto said disinterestedly, cracking his neck which was covered by the remnants of his mask that formed a white collar around his neck. He blew a ring of smoke, “She talked a lot and I stopped listening when she started babbling in some language that I couldn’t give two shits about.”

He laughed slowly and his eyes looked off into the distance, “That’s a lesson you should learn too, boy. I don’t give a damn about your rank, your name or your Captain. I’m standin’ here and you are standin’ there. If you can’t guess what I want, then that says it all doesn’t it?” a grey eye slid onto the Vice-Captain.

“You’ve got the smell of age on you. Ain’t made you any smarter though.” He extended a hand toward the Vice-Captain, “I’ll give you a choice; you give me one of your kneecaps willingly, or I take ‘em both myself.”

 

[nano]

The gentle traces of smoke riding on the air were too far away for Rafa's olfactory senses to register; instead, the all too familiar scent of the dust that was perpetually being kicked up in Hueco Mundo permeated the bartender's nostrils. Fortunately, in the loosest sense of the word, he didn't have much mind to pay attention to whatever smell was floating around - there was something of much more importance happening right before his eyes.

It was starting. He was close enough to see it without his Hawk Eyes activated, but still a good distance from the fray. The best seat in the house.

The Espada leader, the one whose immense reiatsu had made the human's lungs draw air more slowly. The one who made Rafa's movements, though more fluid in this plane than on Earth due to his hollow-resembling spirit pressure, feel slow and clunky whenever in his presence. Esqueleto. And not only him, but a shinigami, as well. The bartender tried to gauge this tall man's reiatsu capicity, but couldn't find a trace of spirit pressure that wasn't drowned out by the gun-toting Espada's massive signature.

Rafa's eyes glistened at the showdown. The scene was unfolding like his favorite spaghetti westerns, and promised to continue along that path. Accompanying his starry-eyes was the excited whirring of his railgun - which seemed to unconsciously point itself towards the battle that was beginning. The bartender was support fire, after all.

|241|

 

[Eidolon]

Pay the reaper's toll, Essential rumbled from deep in the mind of Kyuu. There is no victory to be gained here. Kyuu stood silently for only a moment, taking in the words of the Espada's leader before offering his response.

I've told my subordinates time and again to bury pride and make the right decision based on the environment. This time, I need to swallow fear and pride. I need to delay this monster for even a few more seconds here. His voice was soft as he spoke. "You're right, its as simple as that."

"Ban kai," Kyuu said as Essential was brought back behind his shoulder. He moved with a thunderous speed, attempting to position himself at the Arrancar's flank using alacrity in order to land a cleaving blow. Most would have been dazed by the vice captain's speed, but his movements might as well have been a crawl to the Espada.

[434]

 

[Wayne]

The withering scent of death grew even heavier with the sudden appearance of the demonic colossus known as Esqueleto. The blond had no idea as to what this monster was, nor did he have any intention to find out. This creature was one born of perpetual darkness— something that even the holiest of saints would tremble upon the very moment they locked eyes with him. Fields of Hollows bowed before his very presence, and any of those who stood before him had their very lives terminated in second’s notice. It was best for Nick to keep his distance from the ‘thing’ and just let him be. True enough, he swore to kill as many Hollows as he possibly could, but he wasn’t stupid. To even try and defy such a beast would be the death of him… literally.

The blond simply watched as the Arrancar confronted himself with one of the other death gods. The Shinigami showed an unquestionable deal of power with the sudden release of his sword. Unfortunately, even with such a dynamic display of spiritual pressure, anyone with a brain would’ve instantly noticed the huge oceanic gap of power between the two combatants. How ironic. Another god of death… would soon be dead.

“Run, you fool,” the blond whispered to himself, anxiously clutching his left hand into a tightened fist.


[223/223]

 

[DarkToaster]

The massive blade merely cut the air as Esqueleto no longer occupied the space where Essential sought to cleave. Instead, he was behind the tall man, with his back pressed against the Death God’s back. A Cero was in his hand and he pointed his palm backwards at the back of the Vice-Captain’s knee.

With a torrent of spiritual pressure, the Cero tore itself into tiny pieces which flew at his leg like a shotgun from point-blank range. Already prepared for the probable reprisal, Esqueleto swayed back into another sonido, returning back to visibility several meters away

“When you want to lure an animal,” Esqueleto said, dipping his free hand back into his duster and gesturing at the Vice-Captain with his cigar, “it helps to have wounded prey as bait.”

 

[Eidolon]

Kyuu cried out as the energies of the cero tore through his flesh, shredding his right leg to tatters. His display of pain didn't even enter his mind, he had long ago cast aside the vanity of holding back his suffering before others. With no support for the tremendous motion Kyuu created by swinging the sword, he crumpled instantly, but made an effort to face the undead wrangler.

"Bakudou number nineteen, spectrum," he chanted quickly, hoping to shift the environs to a indigo color. This Espada was fast. . . no, he was the fastest. Kyuu had never bared witness to such unfathomable movements.

"Wounded animals, fight harder," Kyuu said with a pained voice as he blasted out with Essential's energies. He couldn't hope to close with the dominate power at full health, he knew very well that attempting again was futile. However, something as underhanded as a hidden attack might just have a chance of delaying him.

[592]

 

[nano]

He didn't have to hear the words being exchanged to understand what was going on. Rafa could feel it. Esqueleto had other things in mind for this battle, and no shinigami, even as hard-willed as this giant of one, stood a chance at raining on his parade. From his last attack - a beautiful blast from a weapon close to the bartender's heart - Rafa could see that the leader of the Espada was toying the death god. Or rather, he was using him...for something else entirely.

It felt as if a block of ice moved slowly made its way upward the human's throat, clogging his airways. It was already hard enough to breathe among the colossal reiatsu encumbering his lungs, and Rafa's starry-eyes quickly disappeared in reaction. The excited whirr his gun appendage emitted slowly came to a halt in unison. It was more than that. Realizing the most basic hunting technique Esqueleto was currently employing, there could be only one way this fight would go. This was no longer a battle he could watch for sheer enjoyment like it was some late night drive-in flick. It was more than that.

It was a double feature.

|438|

 

[DarkToaster]

Esqueleto tipped his hat down slightly to shield his eyes as the bright kidou shimmered briefly in the night of Hueco Mundo. Esqueleto was reminded briefly of the spells some of the shinigami he had killed had used. Poor imitations of the Cero, the lot of them.

“I just came back from fighting a Captain who loosed the best kidou on the list at me. You ain’t even half of what she is and she ain’t even half of what it would take.” He pointed a finger and another spray Cero shot through the air at the Vice-Captain’s other knee. The sudden noise of the shot sent the entire battlefield into an eerie silence. It was the finality of death.

The dread lord’s voice broke the silence, “Move again, and I will kill you.” He meant it.

His eyes shifted away from the fallen shinigami to the onlookers and he smiled grimly, “Take your fill of it for now, because it’s going to get a lot nastier in a moment. I’m here to kill him and he’s comin’ to kill me. If one of us ran, then we’d never stop runnin’. You run when it’s time to be running and you fight when its time to be fightin’. It’s up to you to decide which time it is.”

He inclined his head toward Kyuu disdainfully, “Either way, don’t fool yourself into thinkin’ you are here for any reason other than takin’ what you want. People like him let others take from him in return for useless things like ‘honor’ or ‘praise.’ Pah!”

“People been killin’ each other from the start and that’s the way it’s always gonna be. People make laws to make their killin’ dignified. People make nations to make killin’ orderly. You fleshbags are here to kill because whenever you kill you can take and whenever you take, you can live a little longer. There ain’t no heaven after you die. What you see here is all there is. Either you take life like a hollow, or you have your life taken, whether by our hand or in that slow stranglin’ death of service.”

“You’re here because you have to take life to keep livin’. Watch if you aren’t afraid and ask whether you’d rather be standing where I am and living or bleeding on the ground and dying.”

 

[Eidolon]

Essential's released form dissolved in a flash of violet light, leaving the sealed blade in the shinigami's right hand. I told you to pay the reaper, it rumbled in the mangled warrior's mind. But Kyuu was listening to the monster who had just put him under heel. No matter how much the Espada's words chaffed the shinigami, he coulldn't help but hear a kernel of truth in them.

The strong endure, kill, and thusly prolong their lives. The weak are killed or live upon the protection or mercy of those greater then they. The Gotei as an organization did not vary from this truth, and Kyuu knew it all to well. Today, he was the weak living upon the mercy of the strong.

He made no attempt to rebel further, his fate was already sealed. The price of mercy was both his ruined body and to watch one of the most important battles in recent history unfold, powerless to participate. The price was to be shown how insignificant he was in this world of strength's dominion.

Face contorted with the pain of his ruined legs, Kyuu spoke with a steady voice. "Then lets hope I don't bleed out too fast to witness the culmination of your truth." With that, he injected himself with the mark of the fallen, attempting to stem the tide of the inevitable.

[818]

 

[nano]

Rafa's ears soaked up Esqueleto's painful and weathered drawl. The bartender's face was frozen in fear, having just witnessed the raw power behind the Espada's fingers. With just a fraction of his power, the leader of the battalion had completely immobilized a shinigami elite. Esqueleto had a dozen times more energy in the small, colorful orbs he generated at his fingertips than Rafa had coursing through his entire body. And so there he stood, just as immobile as the death god laying at the Espada's feet. Not by the deadly, scattering ceros Esqueleto had debilitated the shihakusho-clad warrior, but rather by his words. Measly words.

No. Not measly. This speech held more bearing on the bartender than any amount of words he had ever listened to before. There was a time for running. There was a time for fighting. Rafa knew what time it was. Maybe it was because of the hollow-like reiatsu he had running through his veins, the evil type of power that fueled the massive railgun that replaced his arm. The very same hollow energies that allowed him to function better in Hueco Mundo than in his own realm. No, that was exactly it. Life was a give and take, and the ones who survive are those who take the most. The dark energy inside him amplified that instinct to take.

By now the block of ice crowding his throat and blocking his voice had thawed. "I...I have to know. I need to. If not..." he murmured to the hunk of metal where his arm should be. "I just need to know!"

The other advent humans, as they often referred to themselves, didn't show these types of symptoms like he did. Their energy resembled different things, nothing near as dark as the stuff that Rafa drew strength from. Could Esqueleto sense the type of reiatsu the bartender's resembled? Is that why he posed this question in the first place?

Rafa pulled his head up. The boyish glisten in his eyes had completely melted away, and his expression spelled out the words on his mind: 'I'm staying.'

He didn't know a lot of things. But knowledge wasn't too far away.

|799|

 

[Wayne]

The barren muteness that filled the moment felt quite unearthly to him. As expected, Esqueleto simply swatted away the Shinigami like he was some kind of household fly. The discharges of red that came from the Second Sword’s hand engulfed the blond’s entirety with fear and awe. It wasn’t as flashy and huge as the one his two-headed adversary used awhile back, but it was clearly more potent, not to mention lethal. He felt pity for the fallen death god. To see someone of such rank and power become someone’s bitch in a mere nanosecond was simply depressing.

With the Arrancar’s voice ringing against the silenced backdrop, everyone, even from Nick’s distance, managed to hear what the titan had to say. As the blond listened intently to what this killing machine spoke of, he felt a rather twitching sensation nudge at him from the very cesspits of his own soul. As much as he wanted to disregard Esqueleto’s comments, Nick couldn’t have agreed with him more. He felt disgusted with himself for ever conforming to such an ideology, but there was just no way he could possibly deny the real and undeniable ‘truth’ when it’s shoved right in his face.

"Tch. I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with the philosophy of a Hollow,” the man whispered to himself, lowering his head as he spoke.

It was indeed, to him at least, the very essence and meaning of life itself. Survival of the fittest. The weak die per decree of the strong. That’s how history was molded into what it is now. Regrettably, the same godforsaken doctrine will continue to flourish until the very existence of life is eradicated from the face of time. People kill... there was just no other simpler way to put it.


[295/518]

 

[DarkToaster]

"You can hope, boy,” Esqueleto said looking down disdainfully at the shinigami. "You ain’t got no one to blame but yourself if you die. You had yer choice.”

"You want to live, then you hang on to livin’ for as long as you can. You keep eatin’ and you keep takin’ and get old. The older you get, the more you got to lose. Because when you die, it’s back to zero again. Back through the wash of reincarnation, back into bein’ someone else’s pawn. Every piece of squirmin’ meat, every wiggling soul you swallow keeps that from comin’ a little longer. That’s life, if yer a hollow, or a death god or a flesh bag. Ain’t no getting’around it. Ain’t no changin’ it.”

A foul wind blew and Esqueleto looked into the sky. "There’s the old man now. Do you hear him?” The withered man threw his cigar toward the fallen shinigami, "Relax, kid. Take a puff.” He said, grinning to himself with an evil glint in his eyes.

His hands told a different story as he set them at his sides and shook out his wrists. This one would require his full attention. He had already died once and it hadn’t been enough. This time, he would kill him dead.

The wind howled now, and a chant was carried on the wind with it.

"Esqueleto!”

"Esqueleto!”

"ESQUELETO!”

Thousands of hollows chanted in unison, their hellish chorus making the battlefield tremble. Then they stopped.

In the sky, a figure stood slightly askew to the horizon. It was rcus. "Esssqueletoooo.” it whispered.

 

[Eidolon]

Kyuu snatched up the cigar and took a long draw on the burning tobacco. The toxic smoke burnt his lungs with a pleasurable sensation, and he held the breath for as long as was comfortable. Once more, the black haired man digested the hollow's words. Kyuu knew all too well the truth that hung in them. Even if his reasons for surviving were different, the crux remained the same.

If he was weak, if he was some sort of pathetic tool incapable of fighting for the all the souls that couldn't fight for themselves, then he was useless. He failed in his own judgment. There was no worse fate then measuring one's self and failing.

A cloud of smoke billowed out around Kyuu as the breath slipped out, and his cobalt stare eyed the approaching specter. He bit into the butt of the cigar hard, trying to calm his storming emotions, the sensations of inadequacy and and failure that were tearing through him. Just how much was his own, and how much was because of him?

[994]

 

[Wayne]

The sheer intensity of the moment was multiplied in tenfold by the sudden appearance of yet another Hollow. Similar to the Segunda’s own power, this newly appeared monstrosity boasted an unparalleled amount of spirit energy unlike anything the blond has ever seen. Compared to these two, Myrias and Raziel were nothing more than mere ants against a pair of gargantuan dragons. Nick couldn’t believe how he, a mere human who’d only gained his powers in but a few months, would already be in dead center between the confrontation of two mighty giants. His very feet trembled just by staring at the two adversaries. It was like an invisible ocean of malice and hatred spiraled from both Hollows, colliding violently against one another in the vast twilight of Hueco Mundo’s shadows.

What on earth was this creature? Unlike the Arrancar whom released a spiritual signature somewhat similar to a Shinigami’s, this being manifested an aura purely that of a Hollow’s. Each whisper and each flickering of muscle this beast flaunted out was like death itself crawling up your back. Its eyes were blank and empty, like that of a bottomless pit, its gaze sent chills deep down to a person’s very soul. In that moment in time, Nick felt as though he was simply part a part of this barren landscape. Like the grains of sand beneath his feet, the man was nothing more than a mere spec of dirt in a vast ocean of perpetual darkness.

"I...” he whispered to himself, "What... what the fuck am I doing here...”

Lowering his head once more, he gazed at his own two hands, watching as his very bones trembled in fear as each shred of muscle in his body turned numb. The pistol in his arm grew even colder, as a sudden vindictive wind flew through the vista, bringing along the howling of death and fear in each symphonic quiver.


[318/836]

 

[Kehengto]

Drawn back from the absolute front more so than forced backwards, the lieutenant shifted his position to find one better situated where he could make a firm stand against the advancing front. There seemed to be more of them than he recalled when he left to tend to his agent.

Last he knew, or from what he could see, their numbers were not nearly vast enough warrant the feeling of being surrounded. It was a bothersome feeling that was quickly neglected when sharp spikes of soul power washed over his senses. So intense and malevolent bent on the total destruction of the other that they demanded respect under consequence of absolute death. His mind was silenced and the only thing he could hear was the rapid beating of his own heart fueled by the adrenaline pumped into one’s lifeline when the dark realization that their life was on the line. The effect was so much so that even the bustling of his power’s affinity was ceased in their endless swarming movement.

Aragon was swept away down the corridors of space and time, his eyes zoom focused in on the withered wrangler then to the direction he was looking off into. The figure was too far away even with his eyes completely focused as far as they would go. Blinking hard from the strain that doing so had been, the leader knew he had to have bloodshot eyes now, but it was enough to return him back to war at hand. Getting his bearings once more, Aragon recognized the blond he had an ongoing bet with. He too seemed dazed by the overwhelming power that was amassing for the final confrontation.

This was not the time even more so now than ever before. Gliding on his carpet of playing cards, Aragon stood before the visibly trembling man. His arms crossed and a strong stonewall look on his face, the sky-born warrior nearly barked at the fellow human combatant.

“Get a grip of yourself man. Had an assassin or sniper been present you would be dead now. You’ll have plenty of time to quiver in fear when you’re old, but the first thing is getting to that age and you won’t get there by just standing still.”


[375/375]

 

[nano]

...And with the eerie words carried on the chilly breeze, Rafa knew it was time to go. Esqueleto had spoken directly to him about when to draw your gun and when to keep holstered. With the hissing monster looming near, the bartender decided now was the time to put those words to use.

He had stayed for one reason - to better learn the machinations of hollow energy, a variant of which coursed through Rafa's own body. There was much to study in this upcoming battle, but it'd be a waste of the Espada leader's advice if the bartender lost his life in the fray. A dilemma. He had learned plenty just from the new beast's sinister hiss, but...but that wasn't enough!

At the same time...was this worth dying over? High risk, high reward, Rafa mumbled to himself in his thoughts with a faux smile.

The question was already answered for him. Focusing his Hawk Eyes on another skirmish where the Lieutenant was occupied, Rafa could see he was needed elsewhere. He didn't learn everything he wanted, but staying here would be selfishly complying with this hollow nature. Besides, he felt stronger than ever having spent time with the Segundo Espada.

“You’re here because you have to take life to keep livin’."

Rafa needed to feel alive.

Final: |1016|

 

[DarkToaster]

Esqueleto’s tired grey eyes slid to the horizon and he coughed a cloud of dust roughly, “You ain’t fightin’ alone then. Did you make ‘em come?”

The floating phantom glowered down at his chosen prey, “I do not neeeed to make the Death Gods come, when they do it of their own free will.”

The withered man laughed hoarsely, “Are you sure about that? Didn’t hedge the bets a little bit?”

“My mental facilllllitiesss have not atrophied, ssssskelleton,” the spirit cooed, it’s voice seeming the breathe in the ears of all who could hear at once. “My power is not enough to neglecccttt other talents.” The cloak of faces became animated, moving as if their own wind was causing them to flutter. Their mouths groaned in silent agony.

Esqueleto looked unimpressed. “Tell me, old man, before they get here. Why start some damned war? With your ladies, and my Espada, nothin’ could have stopped us.”

The expressionless mask twisted unnaturally until it was upside-down. “Stopped us from doing what, Eeeessqueeleto? Mindless self-perpettttuation? NO!” The voice elevated from a whisper to an enormous yell that took even Esqueleto back a step.

“Survival of the strong. Taking life to live. I have an emmmpty body skeleton, but you have an emmmmpty mind! Clawing your way to the top, your pathetic evolution! You are evolving toward nothing! You will not be allowed to impose your pathetic grey existence to eternity. You are rot, Esqueleto, and I am the solution. Under me, even evolution will evolve. Suffering will increase. Joy will increase. Life will be more abundant. Death will be everywhere.”

Esqueleto raised an eyebrow, “You’ve got a fancy way, of sayin’ nothin’ old man.” He spat on the ground, “You ain’t gonna do any of that shit because I’m going to shoot you dead.” He pointed a finger and smiled, “Bang.”


”We’ve heard no word from Masato since the 11th entered the warfront, but his officers seem to have everything under control I guess,” Victoria absent mindedly applied her lipstick while looking at a clipboard of notes from behind her Captain.

“What about Ritoru?” Shiroi asked, watching a flying hollow dart close, “Byakurai!” He chanted, firing a bolt of lightning out of the Hand of Fate and watching the creature fall out of the sky. “Keep moving,” he commanded.

Victoria began to run behind the Commander, keeping her eyes on her clipboard, “He said to tell you that he needs to keep an eye on his division, but that you won’t have any interruptions with Esqueleto.”

“And the 12th?” Shiroi said, leaping down from a crumbling building, the beleaguered secretary landing daintily behind him and trying to adjust her hair with one hand which had fallen out of place as they leapt.

“Ms. Kaiho will be joining you shortly. Calling so soon after your last date?” She clicked her tongue. “It’ll make you seem desperate.”

Shiroi turned back toward the woman with a wild look in his eyes and she cowered as he raised his sword at her. Ekirei shot past her ear and into the mask of a hollow that had crept up behind her. With a short hiss, the hollow fell to the ground and the Commander glowered at Victoria before turning back around.

“Anyway,” Victoria said, trying to disguise the nervousness in her voice, “Captian Chiaki says that the north is fine, so you are free to go. We’ve got things under control, sir.” She saluted and winked, “Don’t die, Captain! You’re my number one gossip scoop!”

The Commander snorted, “And you,” Shiroi said furrowing his brow, “make a decent cup of tea. I’d hate to have to replace you.” With that, he was gone in a burst of shunpo.

Victoria wrinkled her lip in distaste and scrawled a few notes on her clipboard.


The thin red beam, bolted through the shoulder of the ethereal hollow and it gasped in pain. Although the wound was invisible, black blood dripped from the wound, and for a moment, Orcus felt vulnerable. His cry of pain was echoed in the distance by his minions.

“It is too lateeee…” Orcus hissed. “They are here.”

And so they were. Shiroi had come out of shunpo in front of Esqueleto and had his blade drawn.

Esqueleto lowered his hand and inclined his hat gently at the Commander, “I was wonderin’ when you’d show up. Shot a friend of yours,” he nodded at the fallen Vice-Captain.

“We’re going to end this now,” Shiroi said flatly, hoping his presence would distract the Arrancar from noting the approach of the Captain of the 12th under cloak.

Esqueleto sniffed the air, “Seems like it. I smell death on the air, boy. Your elaborate plan to get your old buddy in the cape there dinner has been a complete success. My compliments Commander!”

“He can’t eat you if I kill you first,” Shiroi pointed his weapon at the Arrancar, but his eyes shot nervously to the Vice-Captain. “If you can drag yourself away, you had better do so now! Nothing is going to be left standing when I release!”

 

[Eidolon]

"Don't hesitate because of my failure, Faust," Kyuu spat out along with a little blood. Damn, its creeping up faster then I thought. He knew very well his chances of escape were minimal. But, if the Arrancar King distracted himself with garbage while fellow monarchs stood before him, he'd pay a worthy price. What's the life of a vice captain in the flow of history?

"Ban Kai," Kyuu roared as he blitzed forward, spraying white sand out all about his battered body. His legs would not work, but his cloak just might avail him. He would dart up a few feet before using shuynpo, uncertain if his speed was sufficient to save him from the reaper's scythe.

[1011]

 

[louhi]

Louhi only took the time to send a message on to the rest of her division with their orders before she pushed on after the Commander, cloaking herself utterly as she left behind the scene of Seisatsu's demise.

Even in such a desperate time, there was a weight that had lifted from her shoulders for just a moment. Something she couldn't take the time to notice, when the terrible presence of Orcus and Esqueleto blasted over her.

She arrived to see Shiroi facing down with the monster Arrancar, while a man from the third was trying to muster an escape. She didn't reveal herself yet though, not wanting to squander what might be only a single chance to attack.