Shade vs Rio [NDE]

Shade watched as his knife stuck into the espada’s side. Its blade was thin enough to slip through the arrancar’s ribs and embed itself an inch or two underneath his left pectoral. Unfortunately it didn’t go deep enough to pierce any vital organs, but the damage had still been done. Blood poured out of the wound as a shockwave sent the knife flying out of the two or three inch puncture wound, opening the wound to bleed even faster. Luckily for the lieutenant it came shoot straight back right by his left side. A quick movement with his left with his hand allowed him to catch his dagger safely in mid-air. He slowly slipped his hand back into his cloak, returning his dagger to its rightful position as he held Jisatsu Kasumi with three of his fingers. Shade’s hand didn’t withdraw as he thought. He’d just drawn first blood. Things were going much better than he initially anticipated. With his zanpakutou back in his grasp and the injured espada standing a good distance away from him, Shade began to mentally play the fight in his mind. No option was overlooked as Shade factored in both his and Rio’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

“His advantage... Strength, long range, durability, and another level of release... My advantage... A cool head, strategy, intelligence, and overall health...” thought the lieutenant as Rio tended to his injury, “I can’t expect him to fall for the same trick twice, which means I’ll need to come up with another method for getting past his troublesome shockwave defense...” Shade took note of Rio’s sai. Such small weapons were intended to deal with blades such as katana, but they would be a poor defense for his massive Buraindo Kira. Shade doubted that he could fully take advantage of the mismatch in their weapons however. Rio was strong enough to block just about any type of attack no matter how ill-suited his weapons were for the given situation. Shade had realized practically as soon as the fight started that Rio’s arsenal was as limited as his own in his pre-released form. All arrancar possessed the ability to fire cero and Rio had already demonstrated the ability to fire bala. His shockwaves were really the only other thing that Rio was capable of doing while in his pre-released state. The lieutenant really only needed to take these three special abilities of Rio’s into account when planning his next offensive.

While in shikai, Shade’s arsenal was slightly larger, but not quite powerful. He was capable of blinding him with his shikai as well as syphoning reiatsu from Rio if he happened to cut him open with his zanpakutou. Shade knew three sword techniques which had been passed down to him by his mother, but he doubted they’d be of any use against a powerhouse like Rio. Then there was Shade’s weapons. The lieutenant had a practically unlimited amount of fragmentation and flashbang grenades, not to mention his two cursed blades. Taking all these things into account, Shade developed the most effective method of attack to use against Rio while he was still on-edge about being hit. “You won’t catch me with that again, Shinigami,” said the espada with an aggravated look in his eyes. Shade stared back at him with a stone face devoid of any feeling. It was almost as if Rio’s feelings didn’t even register with the soul reaper. “I didn’t intend to... arrancar... However, if ensuring yourself that you won’t fall for the same trick twice eases your fears then I do not blame you for stating that fact... But do know this... That wound I have given to you will not be the last. Another will follow it. And another after that. And another after that. You can say that you won’t fall for the same trick a thousand times and be correct in every instance, but there will always be something I will do to catch you off guard...” the soul reaper said without even skipping a beat.

As soon as that happened, before the Quinta’s eyes, Shade raised his zanpakutou-bearing hand with the utmost confidence in his eyes. Rio might notice that the zanpakutou was pointed down at a 90 degree angle with Shade's arm so that the mouth part was facing him. His glare bore holes directly into Rio’s face and he dared him to try anything. Now that Rio knew that Shade was capable of hurting him and had tasted a little bit of what was in store if he remained overconfident, it was the perfect time to execute his strategy. “Bakudo... 79... Shibarikuyou...” he said so that Rio would hear it. He gave the espada plenty of time to react. In fact, that was what Shade was counting on. Rio was unnerved right now because of what happened to him, and it was inevitable that it would put him on edge. Something like a high numbered kidou would rattle the arrancar’s morale even further. Needless to say, whatever the kidou did, the Quinta would not want to be hit by it, so he’d most likely take pre-emptive evasion measures. His reiatsu strength was indeed greater than Shade's, but not by so much that he wouldn’t have to worry about being hit by such a high level kidou spell. The soul reaper still held both his swords in both hands and was prepared to react in the case that Rio used a sonido and also in the case that he didn’t. It was safe to say that Shade had a plan for just about any way the Quinta would react to being threatened by such a high level bakudo.

Shikai: 7 / 10
Reiatsu Remaining: 1,200

Just before Shade had finished uttering the beginning of the kidou’s name, the Quinta did as the soul reaper expected. “Just as planned...” thought Shade taking immediate note of the espada reappearing behind him. “A blow to the kidney?” he thought as his head turned to his left to notice the Quinta’s attack. The vice-captain had expected Rio to bring the fight in close from the beginning. This was Rio’s forte as well as his own. The only difference was that Rio was likely many times better at it than him. This, however, made Rio predictable, and this predictability was his weakness. The soul reaper reacted instantly as he shifted his body to his right a little bit and twisted a bit. Rio would notice that this movement wouldn’t bring Shade out of harm’s way. His punch would still connect if he chose to go through with it. This was, however, not the best idea. What Shade had done in that instant before the blow connected was rotate his left wrist while trying to buy some time by moving his body away a little bit. What had this accomplished? What was the vice-captain planning?

If Rio remembered right, Shade had not withdrawn his left hand from the confines of his cloak after putting his cursed dagger back in his trench coat. If Rio thought back he might also remember that this same hand that he’d kept inside his trench-coat was also holding Jisatsu Kasumi, the weapon with the pitch-black blade. What had a simple move of his wrist and a rotation of his body accomplished? What danger awaited Rio if he completed the punch? The espada would not see it because Shade’s trench-coat concealed it completely, but he’d moved his sword inside his coat so that the tip of it was now pointing out directly in the path of Rio’s jab. The espada was unarmed in that fist, and his hierro wouldn’t help him at all in the case that he chose to impale his fist on the soul reaper’s sword. To put it simply, Rio would find it hard to aim at Shade’s kidneys due to the loose, large trench-coat that Shade wore over his shoulders. This same trench-coat would also conceal the fact that the soul reaper’s sword was pointing at Rio directly where he was punching. The espada essentially wouldn’t realize Shade’s sword was there until he completed his punch and skewered his own fist on the end of Shade’s sword.

With Shade’s other hand he plunged his shikai into the ground in front of him to brace himself for the impact or any shockwaves the espada decided to fire at close range. If he could remain close to him even after being hit with a shockwave, the soul reaper would have quite a big advantage. If Rio continued with his low kick the soul reaper would backflip into the air above the espada’s kick, leaving his zanpakutou in the ground to stop the arrancar’s attack. Shade’s right hand would remain on his zanpakutou’s hilt at all times to keep the zanpakutou anchored with his sheer weight. If Rio did follow through with the kick he’d end up kicking a sharp blade with his bare foot and end up cutting his own leg off in the process. The vice-captain was demonstrating very effectively that he could make his defense synonymous with his offense against a fighter such as Rio.

Shikai: 7 / 10
Reiatsu Remaining: 1,200

Oddly enough, Rio had decided to bail on his jab attempt. This was something that Shade hadn’t expected Rio to do, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t react to. Instead of jabbing him and impaling his fist on Shade’s sword, the arrancar grabbed his trench-coat just a few inches away from Jisatsu Kasumi’s tip. All it would take was a minor adjustment to stab his trench-coat where Rio had grabbed it. It wouldn’t take long at all and the espada wouldn’t be expecting it at all, but Shade didn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of this hole in Rio’s plan right now. Just as the espada grabbed Shade’s trench-coat his foot came around in a low-kick that would surely take out the soul reaper’s knees if it connected. Unfortunately for Rio, Shade wasn’t about to let that happen. The espada had grabbed on to the soul reaper’s trench coat which would normally limit most people’s movement. In fact, the espada may have believed that Shade was trapped now. That was not the case, however.

Shade didn’t wear his trench-coat normally. The lieutenant kept the article of clothing draped over his shoulders like a cape. In fact, the shinigami didn’t even put his arms through its sleeves. Because of this it would be easy for the shinigami to escape the espada’s clutches. As Shade flipped he made sure that the article of clothing erected between the two of them for a split second as a makeshift wall. It was at this moment that Shade reached the end of his flip and was facing Rio upside-down with his zanpakutou embedded in the ground in his right hand and Jisatsu Kasumi in his left. Just as this occurred, the espada pulled down the trench-coat with hopes of bringing Shade with it, but that wouldn’t happen. He’d meet no resistance as he pulled the trench-coat straight down to the ground without Shade in it. Instead Rio would see the shinigami balancing upside-down on his zanpakutou’s hilt by his right arm.

Shade had expected the cero. In fact, he’d seen the glow on the ground from it charging and had sensed the reiatsu with his more than decent energy sensory. So seeing Rio with a cero on the tip of his Sai wouldn’t be a surprise to Shade when the wall between them was pulled down. The espada might be surprised, however, to see Shade free of his grasp and more than ready to deliver a quick strike. In fact, it was the moment that the trench-coat was pulled down and Rio’s unarmed hand was busy that the soul reaper made his move. With expert precision and speed that would beat the firing of the cero, Shade slashed diagonally from Rio’s bottom left to the top right of his body. If the espada wished to block with his Sai, he’d miss with his cero. If he chose to dodge, then he’d also miss, but if he chose to fire the cero than he’d receive a crippling sword slash across his body from his gut to his shoulder. If he chose to fire a shockwave at this range then it would send the soul reaper flying back. However, because his hand was holding on to his shikai the backwards momentum would bring him flying down from his upside-down position to a safe location behind his wide zweihander. Shade had considered every possibility and had struck at the opportune moment to cause Rio to miss with his cero.

Shikai: 8 / 10
Reiatsu Remaining: 1,200

As the soul reaper considered, just as his sword approached the espada’s body a force came out from the Quinta’s body with as much force as before. Shade immediately felt it on the edge of his sword as his attack came close to hitting. This was the shockwave that the soul reaper had prepared for. This was what the lieutenant had counted on to send him flying backwards behind his wide zanpakutou for protection. But oddly enough the force didn’t hit him. It was merely hitting his blade, and nothing more. This kept his blade from moving any closer to the arrancar’s flesh, and if the soul reaper was a weaker man, his arm would have been thrown back in the process. This would have opened the door for Rio to launch the cero at point-blank range.

In fact, that’s just what Rio did. As soon as his shockwave had finished doing its work, the espada released an immense cero that would shoot out of his sai and annihilate everything in front of him except for the shinigami’s zanpakutou, which had enough reiatsu strength to remain intact this time around. If Rio remembered Shade at all, he’d shattered his shikai by releasing during their last encounter. Since then, the soul reaper had gained a significant amount of power and could now put up much more of a fight than he could before. With this increase in power came the ability to identify changes on the fly using his heightened senses and reacting to them in the first way that came to mind. Rio’s plan would have worked if not for one minor detail. Shade possessed strength that was slightly weaker, but still comparable to the strength of Rio’s unfocused shockwaves. What did this mean for the vice-captain?

What had occurred moments before Rio released his cero? How would the shinigami possibly survive an attack from such a short range? Well, Shade had indeed prepared a plan that relied on Rio using his shockwaves. Shade would survive the cero by bracing himself behind his shikai and allowing his zanpakutou to split the attack in two as it thundered around him on every side. But the question remained, how did Shade manage to get behind his blade in time? Well, it was all thanks to Rio’s shockwave. While the shockwave had not reached him, it had still halted his sword’s blade. A weaker shinigami would have had their arm thrown back in the process, but Shade was capable of keeping the pressure on Rio as he refused to have his blade be forced back. While the espada’s shockwaves were stronger than him, the amount of shockwave that would actually hit the blade was quite small due to its small surface area.

At the moment which the shockwave hit his blade, the vice-captain’s right elbow relaxed and his body came plummeting downwards behind his zanpakutou. This wouldn’t be fast enough, however. The speed at which Shade was falling would not allow him to get behind his shikai before the cero went off. This is where the shinigami’s swing had come into play. It was as if Shade had hit something solid when the shockwave collided with his sword. Because he did not falter he was able to push off that force from underneath with his sword and send his body plummeting to the ground faster with his shoulder acting as a pivotal point. Essentially Shade’s sword had hit the wall of shockwave and he’d pushed off it with his sword to send his body flying in the opposite direction of his sword swing, which was upwards. Shade would be sent downwards behind his zanpakutou as fast as he swung his sword. Needless to say, the soul reaper did his best to pull all body parts in behind the shikai before the espada’s power was unleashed. This included both his hands and his feet. If Rio had mastered cero, Shade might have not had time to do all this.

The cero would subside with Buraindo Kira remaining anchored in the ground. Shade’s back was against it from the other side and his shoulders, forearms, and clothes had noticeable burns on them, but he was alive. That was what mattered. With a quick movement the soul reaper grabbed both his swords and leapt back to put distance between him and the Quinta. He’d narrowly escaped that last attack. He hadn’t been aware of the espada’s ability to control the distance at which his shockwaves travelled. However, now the vice-captain knew and now he would be able to develop more effective strategies. This was the entire reason that Shade had fought Rio in the first place. He wanted to learn more about how he fought and how he thought. The soul reaper looked over his injuries and gauged the espada’s power accordingly. A direct hit from an attack like that would certainly kill him.

How long did this fight need to go before the soul reaper began pushing his luck? The lieutenant had remained this long because he had seen no risk of serious injury. He’d known that he was outmatched from the start, so why keep fighting a losing battle if you’ve already obtained valuable information? Shade held his zanpakutou in front of him so that its mouth was facing the arrancar. “You’ve given me much to think over... arrancar...” he said as a bright flash of light blinded the Quinta. In the case that the espada covered his eyes for the first flash, a second one would blind him as soon as his eyes were open. “Next time we cross blades, you will die by my hand...” he said as he left the battlefield and returned to Soul Society.

Shikai: 9 / 10
Reiatsu Remaining: 1,200