Fists vs Tentacles! A Dream or a Nightmare? (Kubi)

Kubi Tsuru, Vice Captain of Squad 11, was on a mission, his first since Misao died. He hadn't been to the living world since; but, when reports came of an arrancar turning Plus' into Hollow's, Kubi had no choice but to go. What if it was that monster, that Segunda Espada Kuroi Naito? Kubi's fist, the knuckles calloused and scarred, curled into fists just at the thought. Yes, he definitely had to go. Only pausing to get his essential items - Zola and Joo Bachi and the "special" herbs Urahara had sold him, the Soul Gauge and Energy Shield on him at all times - he had volunteered, not even pausing to get a limiter; after all, in an encounter like this, who needed one?

The trip through the Senkiemon was short, but it seemed forever to Kubi. His training under Misao, while strengthening him, also slowed him down considerably. Trips that took seconds previously now took minutes, if not longer. Kubi's teeth gritted as he pumped his legs and arms. "Come on ... the longer it takes here, the more tha' bastard is killin' souls!" He sped up, his legs and arms a blur as he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, quite literally. With a leaping bound, he skidded to a stop on a skyscraper overlooking the town. A cocky grin spread across Kubi's face again as he cracked his knuckles. "Perfect."

He navigated the building for what seemed like hours before finally finding an elevator shaft, which he took to the bottom of the floor. Now on the streets of the town, he proceeded to look around, when he heard it. "Soul Burial!" A grin spread across his face as he followed the voice. "I just don't understand. I'm doing the exact same thing as those Shinigami for this. Why doesn't it ever work?" Now, Kubi was confused. What in the world was she talking about? Surely a shinigami would know- but she wasn't a shinigami. Kubi stopped, his grin widening as he saw what appeared to be an Arrancar straddling a Plus, trying to perform Soul Burial on it.

He crossed his arms, his grin turning into a smirk. "Not th' brigh'est tool in th' shed, are ya?" Kubi spoke up behind her, his voice at once callous and refined, tempered with the fine tones of education but spoken with the rough cadence of a warrior. Then, one of his crossed hands went up to cup his face, as if to stroke a beard. "'course, if I had your body, I wou'dn't worry 'bout bein' smart either. Just gettin' through life offa ya looks, eh? I respect that." Was he screwing with her, or was he being sincere? Really, only Kubi can tell.

He twisted his neck, a nasty-sounding crack resounding from them. Then, he cracked his knuckles. "Look. I'm supp'sed ta kill ya for torturin' these poor souls. But I gotta tell ya, you're a beauty. It'd be a shame if I were ta mar that pretty face." He said this sincerely, a charismatic smile on his face. Yet his eyes were calculating as they took her in. "She uses a chain ... those hooks looks deadly. I doubt I'll be able to catch it without injuring myself, even slightly. It might be coated in some form of poison ..." His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, the cocky grin on his face hiding his shrewd and calculating mind. "I might be able to predict where it goes ... but a chain is very versatile weapon. If she's a master of it - and from the way she wields it, I would bet Joo Bachi on it, she shows no sign of show-boating or self-consciousness - she can change the direction at will. I'll have to be careful with this one." During this time, his grin didn't slip once, his chocolate brown eyes watching her.

Kubi held his right wrist to his face, where a blue wrist-watch like device was. He pressed a button, and two numbers flashed on the screen. "Shit ... her Spiritual Pressure is equal to mine ... but her Reaitsu Strength is phenomenally higher. I won't be able to hurt her easily, not with the Arrancar's Hierro, should she possess it ... dammit. This is not going to be an easy fight." He lowered the wrist, his grin growing condescending, allowing no sign of his inner troubles to shine through. "Well! It doesn't look like I have much time! Let's get this over with, shall we?" Kubi's leg's separated, his right in front of his foot, to allow better displacement of weight. His right fist came up, cocked and ready to fight, while his left was tucked close to his body. His body was slowly moving, back and forth, back and forth, his eyes boring into hers, a smirk, portraying heat, a smile that had seduced many woman in the past, on his face. "Let's get started, shall we?"

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• [Street Fighting] IIII
  
  
• [Pain Tolerance] I
  
  
• [Mastery of Self] III
  
  
• [Mathematical Prediction] III
  
  
• Battle Analysis III
  

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And the arrancar shot a bala. With a widening of his eyes, a raw, roaring sound in the back of his head, Kubi's mind raced. Instinctively, he knew that should that Bala hit him, he was dead; and should it miss, it was going to incinerate a large portion of the town behind him. But he couldn't let it just hit him! It was by far too strong. It would punch a hole in him bigger than the his ego. So, Kubi did the only thing he had time for, that would save both him and the town. He stomped. Now, while normally a stomp wouldn't do much damage, Kubi was so immensely strong, as his foot came down, entire sections of the street came up, debris flying feet into the air ... which just so happened to be timed exactly right so the bala impacted the debris.

With a fitter of shunpo, Kubi skidded to a stop in front of Myza, his feet grinding grooves into the ground. Using the momentum from his shunpo, his fist already cocked, Kubi threw a wicked roundhouse at the Arrancar's head, the force behind the blow magnified by the jarring of his body from the sudden stop; and then, while his fist was still retracting from her body, leaving no room for a counterattack, his left rammed into her chin, knocking her head forward; using the same momentum from his punch, Kubi rammed his elbow onto the top of her head. This is, of course, assuming Kubi made that first hit.

While Myza might be smug and arrogant enough in her Reaitsu Strength and Hierro to take Kubi's hit, she would forget one thing; Hierro does not protect internal organs, save for a few rare techniques. Kubi's strength was more than sufficient to create enough force in her head to rattle her brain around like a pebble in a tin can. In fact, so strong would the shockwaves be that they would shatter her skull like a glass jar. This, of course, assuming the first hit actually connected. If he had missed, Kubi would stop his fist mid-punch, turning it back on himself as he backpedaled to defend against any incoming attacks, his senses stretched.

Regardless, after Kubi dodged against any incoming attacks, he grinned at her. "Such a fiesty thing. You don' fight many Vice Captains, do ya? A bala at that range? Tsk, tsk. I realize you're a weaklin', but can' ya put up a little better of a fight? I'm gettin' bored over here!" His tone was condescending. "Ah, well. S'pose I shouldn'a 'spect anythin' different outta a mindless fucking monster." His tone went from teasing to absolutely serious. His cold eyes were on fire from within, as if suffering. Even the cadence of his voice went from rude and uneducated to the delicate, well-refined tones of a gentleman. "I will never forgot what you took from me."

OOC: Remaining Reaitsu: [-50] 1,950/2,000

Kubi missed. Well, of course he missed. He hadn't expected to actually do any damage. As soon as his fist missed, his body stopped, his combo paused in the middle. How can he possibly do this, one might ask? Well, Kubi has spent years perfecting the mastery of his body. He can and will pause his reactions in the middle of a combo, something almost no other person can do on a whim. Kubi's instinct was high enough to immediately recognize a failed assault, so he stopped as the arrancar slipped under him. Immediately, Kubi stopped his assault, Kubi's fist stopping dead in the air as if it hit a brick wall ... and then he disappeared, a Shunpo taking him well out of range of any potential attack. Kubi was well-prepared to dodge; this attack had only been meant as a "testing the water" sort of attack.

And then, Kubi laughed. "You? Judge me? A filthy disgusting abomination like an arrancar judge a shinigami?" He laughed, mirthful. Then, suddenly, he grew serious, his face falling into well-worn lines of anger and hate. "Don't make me laugh." His eyes seemed to grow darker, almost black, as they revealed depths of anger and hate so intense, it would be a wonder he didn't go mad just by containing that much raw emotion. Then, a dangerous smile sparked across his face, throwing the hard lines of his face into contrast, making them sharper, more dangerous. The tones of his voice were hard and raw, filled with emotion and hate. They were no longer the tones of the brute he was originally assumed to be. They were now the tones of a cultured and refined aristocrat, one just as ready for the destruction of war as for the intricacies of politics. The change would be far more fitting to the dangerous, yet striking, look on his face. "You want my zanpakutou? Pry it from my cold, dead hands." And then he threw his zanpakutou.

Well, not his real zanpakutou; merely the Artificial Zanpakutou he bought a long time ago ... not that Myza would be able to tell the difference. The black and silver blade - sheath and all - fly threw the air, ready to impact the Arrancar should she not move. But, Kubi wasn't even remotely done. As the blade flew towards her, Kubi shunpo'd ... but this Shunpo was different. As he moved, a speed streak appeared behind him, slowly at first, but with increasing length as the full effect of this technique took effect. As Kubi slowly sped in front of Myza and flawlessly catching his Zanpakutou again, she would notice one thing; he seemed to be loads faster. But, he wasn't ... yet her mind was telling her he was! What was going on?! Well, this was Kubi's Ryusei Aki, Meteor Fall. This caused his entire body to blur noticeably. This effect had one very distinct effect; it tricked the opponent's mind into thinking the user was faster than they were, thus forcing them to overestimate their position. And then Kubi's fist flew.

And what a spectacle it was. He quickly weaved a net around her; as his right fist struck out, his left knee came up. When his left fist struck, his right knee came up. Moving behind was not an option, as every other strike curved around her head, a knee coming into her gut. It was a perfect synchronization. If any of these strikes hit, she would be devastated, her internal organs nothing but mush. However, she would find something interesting; with every strike of his right fist, should it find contact, a blast, twice the size of a basketball, would erupt, powerful enough to shred clothes. These strikes had the physical strength of a powerful beast (stat strength of 200), so each strike would forcibly push her backwards, into his fist. His senses were alert to any foul play, ready to counter and defend.

OOC: Remaining Reaitsu [-150] 1700/2000
Ryusei Aki: 1/5

... well, shit. Kubi shook out his hands, letting the reaitsu condensed on his body fall away, ending Ryusei Aki. The combination of the three explosions he let loose, combined with the power of his opponents Hierro, was plenty to form bruises up his hands and knees, and making punching a definite bitch. Kubi grinned. "Well, at least I got her down. Time to go ho- aw, fuck." Kubi said, his face falling as he heard a voice behind him, as he had turned around as if to go. With a dramatic sigh, he spun ... and then his jaw dropped, his eyes widening. Kubi's cunning, analytical mind shourt-circuited, the surprise, um, sight rendering him breathless.

Several short seconds passed, and then - after her short little speech - she began swinging her chain. This, of course, caused a chain reaction, with force and momentum and ... well, suffice to say, it made Kubi equally flustered. He growled. "GODDAMMIT WOMAN WOULD YOU STAY STILL?! IT'S HARD ENOUGH TO CONCENTRATE WITH YOU STAYING STILL!!" He roared. Then, he spun around, running several yards away, his eyes closed and concentrating. "Separate yourself from your base desires ... become above them, become nothing more than a fighting spirit." With a deep breath, he spun around again, another couple of steps bringing on to the ground, and a good 10 feet away from the reach of the chain. "Those are damn nice. I would seize this moment for a chance with a beautiful woman like you, consequences be damned ..." His tone was light hearted and teasing ... but this quickly changed. His voice became cold and dark, without mercy or joy; the voice of one who was encountering an absolutely pitiful creature. In short, the voice of a man who has lost everything. "If your entire race wasn't an absolute shit stain on the face of the universe."

And then Kubi attacked; not with his fists or magic, but with water. Yet this water was unlike any that Myza would be experienced with. It was pulled out of the air, the very ground, to form a ball of water the size of a basketball floating in front of Kubi's outstretched fist. And then, with a swirling of a greenish-brown color, the sphere turned into a dripping, ucky, tar-like color, greenish-brown and slightly glowing. Kubi's joking now gone, his face absolutely serious, he shoved his fist forward; a hail of bullets, each moving at the stat speed of his strength, came racing for her. Should they hit, she would be shoved back ever so slightly; but more importantly, she would find that her speed has been reduced. By 10% the original. Kubi stared her down now, his body ready for any sort of attack. And yet more water was slowly rising towards him, drawn from the ground and from the air around him. This was his Amagoi no Odori, his Rain Dance. And then, in a voice as dark as the abyss, he intoned. "Bring it."

Remaining Reaitsu: [-450] 1250/2,000
Amagoi no Odori: 1/2 payment posts

Myza made a miscalculation in her attack. Though the Cero was of massive size, and would easily incinerate the sludge, it would not hit Kubi, for with a simple Shunpo, he brought himself to the left of Myza, more water instantly being drawn from the air to fire at her. He was still out of reach of her chain by five feet - a good fifteen away - but with his sludge moving at speeds faster than a cheetah, and Kubi's shunpo being covered by the Cero - the massive red blast being plenty large enough to cover his assault - Myza would be hard-pressed to avoid the sludge. It would coat to her body, leaving behind a viscous, slightly glowing greenish brown sludge that would be almost impossible to wipe off. Yet Myza would notice the Cero had continued, not being stopped by the Soul Reaper. And he seemed unaffected by it, the carnage happening behind him. As the Cero destroyed a large portion of the city, he had eyes only for Myza, eyes full of hatred. The Kubi she had first encountered was gone; no longer was he so carefree. This was a man who was faced with tragedy and lived through it, only maintaining his sanity by the thinnest of threads. This was an altogether more dangerous opponent.

And then he spoke. His voice was dark and subdued, as if hiding some secret. "You are no special than all the other shit stains that plague this world, Chosen One." He spit the last two words like a curse. "I have encountered many in my long life, woman. You are nothing more than a sack of flesh and guts intent to ignore their humanity." His eyes narrowed. "And you are human. I can see it in your eyes, the anger, the urge to rip my flesh from my bones and make a soup of my marrow. Anger is the most human emotion, Arrancar. If you deny lust and love, you deny all emotion." He cracked his neck, then glanced back at the destruction caused by the Cero. In a nonchalant voice, he said "Pity that. Too bad you didn't fire that earlier; I would have went through the trouble of stopping it." A humorless smile, stretched thin by his intense hate, peered through. "But I am far too tired to put on airs."

And then he unsheathed a blade, the short Wakizashi, on his hip. Bright silver hilt with a pitch black blade, it seemed to contrast his other blade, the bright blue katana. He held it aloft. "This is Zola. Prepare for anguish." Holding the blade in a reverse grip, he intoned. "Release, Zola." Shadows swirled around his left arm, then solidified and disappeared. When they cleared, a gauntlet was shown. Pitch black, with stylized wings at the joints, it seemed to reek of evil. Yet Myza would notice something odd; with her energy sensory capabilities, she would be able to tell. Zola and Kubi's reaitsu did not match. In fact, Zola seemed to have a unique reaitsu signature all it's own. A smirk spread across Kubi's face as, with another Shunpo, he rushed forward, the ground crashing and sending up a plume of dust from his landing. His eyes watched the chain, intent on punching it away with his gloved hand should it sweep at him. His skills in Battle Analysis and Mathematical Prediction could easily find out. And with the chain swept aside - his massive strength allowing him to blast it away - he would rush forward, a look of pure hatred on his eyes, his face close to being maddened. And he would fire a punch with his left hand, aimed at her torso. Yet this punch was unlike all the others; as soon as it touched, he would skid back. And she would feel a substantial drain in her reaitsu supply; by 800. His eyes burned as they stared at Myza, his body now out of range of her chain again.

Remaining Reaitsu: [-600] 650/1200
Amagoi no Odori: Paid and ended.
Zola: 1/7

OOC: So... Yeah. This has been sitting here a while now. As in almost a month. And since Nomad has said that he wants to scrap Kubi anyways (along with not finish any fight with him that does not involve Kaen), I think we can just end it, and let it be graded.