A Well Coiled Machine

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Training for SP

She was a little surprised when of all things, she was given a mission again. After recent events, she had been on something of a break. The newer missions had been given to the new recruits, and when things became serious, it seemed like the seated officers were deployed. So when Shizuyoko had been training in a bamboo forest, climbing between the chutes, it was a surprise when a familiar flutter brushed across her nose. A Hell Butterfly floating before her features.

You are summoned. Truth In Silver base.

She paused, recognizing the codename and nodding slowly as the insect flitted away. She took several long moments to stare down at the ground below, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her forehead as she let out a calm, soothing breath from her lips, her tails latching to the branches as she dropped, looking up/down to the ground as she slid down the length of the chute, her tails biting into the bamboo before she twisted and dropped onto her feet. She paused, blinking a bit as she let out a soft little cleansing breath.

Right...

It didn't take her long to reach Truth in Silver. And she had to admit she was...surprised as to the nature of her assignment. A LARGE number of shinigami in the world of the living. It seemed that a big number of them had gotten a little...TOO into their fake lives using their gigai. Of all things? They had fallen in love with humans. Nothing too bad. Normally it would be the job of Squad Seven or 13 to bring them back and reprimand them. But this had been a special case.

Intel suggested that not only had they informed humans of their identities, but that in some incident, fourteen humans were dead by zanpaku'to injuries. Some sort of altercation between their lover humans and a group of less than savory individuals. It did not matter that it had been an extenuating circumstance. The murder of humans was not forgivable. Some shinigami had been sent to collect them, but had not come back. However, their reaitsu signatures had been sensed in the world of the living, with no sign of reduction or weakness.

Readings indicated that they had made contact with the group, and done nothing. A week grace period had been given, the standard time until a shinigami is to make a report regarding any troubles, as well as progress on a mission. With nothing. It was Central 46's decision that this behavior was to be halted immediately with capital punishment. Shizuyoko was to head to a forest in southern Brazil. Where, reportedly, the group of insubordinate were hiding out, their last known location before going dark.

She was to find and survey the group, and then eliminate them. Their defiance of Soul Society Laws would not be tolerated, nor the sins of those who were sent to retrieve them if it turned out they did not have ample excuse for their shirking of duty. If they did, they would be brought back to Soul Society to await Judgement. Though Shizuyoko had been in this line of work long enough to know that was unlikely. A mission meant that Seatlh force likely already had recon members around the area. That meant that if any had been identified, she would have been notified by now.

Once she made it through the Senkaimon, it was loud. Yet quiet. The sounds of rainforest all around her, subtle and filling the air. But still, compared to a populated area, it was deathly silent. Even as she felt the native animals stirring slightly, some of them even looking up briefly before deciding the cost was clear, she felt the slow chill she always did before a mission. And the soft voice of Daihachi whispered in her ear, a voice that she had grown to know so well as of late. She was bugging her about somethign she had been hissing about for days. A special technique.

Something that Daihachibi was teasing her about. About how she would love it. How it was a gift for being so good at listening as of late. And deep down, Shizu know listening to them was dangerous. Daihachibi being separate from her was one of the few reasons why she wasn't....actually she wasn't sure. Different? She had never really thought about what that would mean. What it would do to her to merge with her zanpaku'to like that. What it would mean to  recombine with something that had been once a part of her...much older...arrancar self.

If it came down to it. Perhaps she'd use it.

[Beast]

Training for CTP

Beast had been keeping his ear to the ground in the land of the living, listening for stories of fantastic wild animals or fabulous additions to zoos all over the world. He was looking for the Zookeeper, a man (sometimes) of mystery that had offended the Hollow Wraith. As a gorilla, his life had been cut short by the Zookeeper and forced into an early hollowfication. The never ending hunger was that man's fault and he was going to pay. That is what brought Beast to Brazil, looking to find a source of the fabled "Hell Butterflies" before the Zookeeper. There was apparently a nest of the things that had come about from a large number of Shinigami settling down in one area of the rainforest.

Plus, he could also consume any Shinigami that he came across.

He was starting to feel weak from hunger. He had not drank from a living spiritual being in quite some time and he craved it, needed it. He knew the risks involved, how he could become unstable and explode if he did not constantly steal life force from others. But he savored the challenge, savored the chance to cause carnage and death wherever he went... Except apparently Japan. He had nursed his wounds for many days before he felt strong enough to leave Las Noches again. Even with his above average healing rate he still had many grievous wounds from the encounter with the Nakabakki. Beast resolved to grow strong enough to never be ambushed again so that he could always have the upper hand.

With his full power restored to him, he wandered the rainforest of Brazil, keeping his energy sensory primed for any scent of the Hell Butterflies. His travels took him through many villages, though none contained even a smidgen of spiritual energy enough for the Wraith to consume. He could try feeding off of a regular human, but the thought of that disgusted him. A plain, boring meal worse than McDonalds. It did not sound appealing. In a pinch they would do, maybe, but he'd rather twist them into a fullbringer before eating their soul than try and take a bite out of a spiritually dry vessel. And so he moved from village to village, just listening and keeping a low profile... For now.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

It had taken very little time for her to make it into Brasil, and her zanpaku'to had been whispering to her the whole way. There were to be no witnesses. No living ones at least. From the debriefing, involving updates on the situation, some of the recon members had been taken out in surveying the area. For the time being, none of the other active Gotei members or Onmitsukido were to be allowed or deployed within the area. She was responsible for killing every living thing in the area as well as the shinigami involved. Especially when it was reported that illegal power transfer had been recorded within the vicinity.

A transfer had not been made in a very long time. And it was an unacceptable breach of conduct. She was to kill every shinigami andhuman within the designated area. Encounter of alternate targets were to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. And Daihachibi could not have been happier. This was a scorched earth mission. Nobody would be watching. Nobody would survive to tell of it. Nobody but the few alter targets that managed to enter the area and would escape what she was going to be doing here.

As she neared the designated area, she paused, and she could sense the electrical hum of the damper. Special spells designed to make sure that nobody would be able to sense what happened within. To keep squad 12 and 13 in the dark. And to ensure that no outside organizations such as Xcution or UE could get involved. And once she stepped in past the barrier, she paused, staring straight ahead as she reached back, and slowly drew Daihachibi from it's sheath. And even now she could sense them. Nearbye.

She doubted they could feel her presence, and quite frankly, she felt her heart pounding thinking about what she was going to do. As that sultry voice in her head eased her into it. As the feel of that blade tingling in her palms caught her off guard. This was a chance she couldn't ask for in ages. The chance to test this out. No witnesses. No unwanted eyes. She could be...herself. Not just in how she acted. But her zanpaku'to promised something important. Something from her past. What could it be?

She held the handle with both hands, and pointed it at herself. And she trembled. She wondered if this was the right thing to do. She had been separate for so long. And to invite this thing inside of her soul. But this wasn't the time to worry. She was not going to get a chance like this again. So with a deep breath, she gripped her weapon, and plunged it into her chest. Almost immediately, Nanakiba shattered, bursting into little fragments off of it's holster on her back as she gasped, sucking in air as she dropped to her knees.

She felt a slow, rippling tremor of spiritual energy through her body, staggering a few steps forward, and suddenly her spiritual pressure skyrocketed, unable to stop herself, not with her first time, every human within thirty feet of her, suddenly burst from the pressure, murdering them on the spot, a couple of hunters erupting, and the shinigami nearby, and everyone WITHIN that dome would suddenly feel her. And she felt herself. The sudden burst as those tails erupted from her lower back, now ten feet in length and shaking as she felt scales rippling across her skin. She shuddered, staring up as her hair turned black, and those eyes of hers glowed. She felt her knees wobble before suddenly she felt a strength in her she had never felt before. Unaware of the snouts that were slowly peeking out of her back and spine.

YES

[Beast]

Beast wandered until he could sense someone badly hiding their spiritual pressure. He snuck up as stealthily as he could (not very) and still managed to get the drop on them. The unseated officer never had a chance as they were weak enough to be drained instantly. A palm to the face after spinning the guy around and lightning arced from the Shinigami into the Wraith. The empty shell of a corpse let out a hiss of steam as the burnt out husk fell to the ground. "Ahhhhhhhhhh....." Taking that long drink for the first time in awhile was invigorating. Beast felt refreshed and ready to charge into whatever was going on in this area that a Shinigami was distracted in such a manner.

The Wraith took a moment to look in the same direction as he former Shinigami had been looking. There didn't seem to be anything out of the usual except for the feeling of static that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. There was no spiritual energy coming from that direction, just that static electric kind of feeling. Which was... odd. Beast's energy sensory was pretty adequate. He usually could sense pretty efficiently, but he was getting nothing at all. So he walked in that direction to explore a little more. The barrier stopped him for a moment, filling him with a sense of unease and "you don't want to go here" that took all of his stubbornness to overcome.

He passed the barrier finally and was overcome with just how much spiritual energy filled the dome. It was a bloodbath due to all the human casualties as a result of this stifling, overwhelming, beautiful presence. It was very Hollow-like and was exerting quite a bit of pressure. Everyone in the dome could feel it, and now Beast was in the dome enough to be bathed in it. And he loved it. It was a symphony of anger and destruction and rage, or at least that is how Beast interpreted it. So he started to move in the direction of this presence and try to see just what was making all this spiritual noise. It was very probable that the rest of the dome was similarly headed in that direction, so Beast's next meal would most likely come directly to him if he continued along this path...

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Shizuyoko plowed her way into the shinigami. That panicked man gritting his teeth in alarm, his eyes wide as he struggled to halt her progress. One vicious hand reaching out, grabbing him by his throat and suddenly squeezing, her eyes wild as she felt the flesh pop beneath her palm, his body tensing before suddenly going limp, his blade dropping from his hands as several more began to show up around her. And she shuddered, staring down at her feet as those snouts growing from her back writhed.

"Guhhh......URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH" She screamed out before her body suddenly burst, and the sudden MASSIVE mass of seven extra heads erupted from her body, bursting out and suddenly filling the air around her. Every single shinigami around her was frozen in place, as she even rose her heads up above some of the trees around her. She was wrapped around the jungle canopy, her heads rising up above as her new massive form shook those around her.

Those heads looked around. And shizu felt....complete. She had been consolidated for so long. It was so much...simpler. Eight sections of herself, each performing it's own mental calculations. And she slithered down into the trees, and those black scales melded with the shadows around her, slithering out of sight as she began to move. Those heads viciously snapping out, snaring some of the shinigami around her and devouring them whole, swallowing them down, while some suffered those massive fangs of hers, impaled on those long teeth before being left to bleed to death on the ground.

After thrashing around a little, she paused, those heads beginning to become clear, calmer, more focused. A single shinigami stood before her, his hands raised ina pnic as she eyed him, those bright yellows focusing as she saw the collection of reiatsu forming in his palm. And she recognized the reiatsu as he began to collect that power within him, two shinigami suddenly forming at his sides, each of the miming the first as they spoke an incantation in unison.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast!"
"Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring!"
"Move and become the wind!"
"Stop and become the calm!"

And yet they got no further. Shizuyoko's massive body vanished in a blur, well beyond the sensory capabilities of those shinigami. She suddenly appeared behind them, as their bodies suddenly burst, blown in half by the sweep of those powerful, durable tails, shredding their bodies as the incantation trailed off from their lips, and all three of them suddenly dropped, completely unexpecting a Senka from the massive creature. Even despite her ridiculous size, she was still as fast as ever.

---

Not far from Beast, another shinigami had caught sight of her. But she remained hidden, even when the man drained her companion, those watchful eyes doing nothing until she saw the Beast head off toward that terrible reiatsu and that horrid black aura that stiffled the air. And once he started moving, so did she, moving silently along as her blade slowly was pulled from it's scabbard. She did not strike just yet. She had no idea just how strong he was. For now she just waited, watching as she stalked the strange being.

[Beast]

Beast continued walking, completely unaware of the shinigami behind him, stalking him and getting ready to ambush him, probably. They'd probably impale him from behind and wiggle their sword around in his back while he attempted to hit them with as many debilitating kidou as possible while maintaining consciousness... Oh wait, that already sorta happened already. Maybe this time he'd be ready for it and would be strong enough to detect her before she could ambush him. Or maybe not. History was doomed to repeat itself, after all. But for now, while he was walking towards that tasty rage, he just pondered life and death and stuff.

He wasn't much of a thinker, so he got bored quickly. And since he was bored, and surrounded by dumb trees, he decided to wake up Grodd. Hey you! Wake up! Watch what I'm about to do to your precious trees! Inside his soul, the captive Shinigami woke up. Grodd had been chained to a burnt tree inside the hellscape that was Beast's new Inner World. From horizon to horizon was just ash, burnt ground, and charred trees. All that the former possessor of this body could do now was turn his head and see and sense what was going on outside. Eventually Beast would let down the chains so that Grodd could be fully subdued, but for now he'd remain locked up.

Beast walked over to a cluster of trees and stood at the center. He pushed his hands outwards and cast Surasorutoeira, sending the trees toppling and sending Beast skyrocketing upwards in the air. He landed on air ground and took a good look at his surroundings. He'd torn up quite a large area of rainforest on a whim just to screw with Grodd. He was a dick like that. While standing up on his high vantage spot, he could see some movement going on down in a clearing below. Some sort of... demon thing was attacking a large group of Shinigami. -That- is where Beast wanted to be. Slowly decreasing his height he began to run down the air like he was walking on stairs. Ha. Get it? St'air's? Anyways, yeah, he started running towards Shizuyoku, not knowing she herself was a Shinigami on a mission.

As for the stalker... she'd probably catch up soon.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Shizuyoko's attention shifted as something burst off in the distance, her eyes narrowing as two of her heads kept an eye on the beast, as her other heads engaged the shinigami. With a snarl those sharp fangs got to work, snagging her enemies and slamming them into the ground. One man in particular stood before her, his body steady and his sword light as he seemed ready to meet her. For just a moment she paused, her pulse pounding away in her chest as she eyed him.

He reminded her of someone she knew. And she began slowly advancing on him, slithering around as she watched him so very closely. Fixated upon his motions as he began approaching her, And just as it seemed like he was about to enter her range he vanished. But those sharp eyes of Shizu's did snare a glimpse of where he was going, and those heads twisted in response, slamming into the ground just as he approached his destination, the sudden burst of rocks from the ground catching him off guard.

She struck! Lunging in, she plowed into him, her coils moving her along at a breakneck pace despite her sheer size and odd shape of her body. so many assumed that because of her many heads and tails that she was slow, but this was incorrect. Her tails and bodies alternated, almost like a conveyor belt, allowing her to lunge, slither, and charge with a frightening speed. One that this shinigami was unable to keep up with.

He managed to block two of her heads, one set of fangs stopped by his blade, another seeking in to strike at his side was blocked with a Geki, blowing the head away and sending it reeling. But the one that got him wasn't even one he saw. He simply suddenly felt a BURST of blood gushing from his chest, his eyes wide as he wondered what it was that had got him. Blood splattered over an invisible fang, a tongue quickly licking it away before that fang pulled free of the shinigami's body, and then slammed him into the ground.

Shizu's third and fourth head began looking around, scanning the area, even as her seventh head kept it's attention on Beast. She did consider making her way over to meet him. But as it were it did seem as though he was too close just yet. And she was still keeping her own bloodlust in line. Something about being in this form. She had expected to feel horrible. With all of those negative feelings and emotions clouding her mind. But instead? she felt amazing.

---

Just as Beast plowed up and into the air, something intercepted him, something far faster than his rocket into the air, a blade glinting in the air as the woman finished her senka, twin slashes aimed across the man's shins and another right across his shoulders to try and cripple him. Those dainty feet landing softly on an air platform as the woman spun about, her zanpaku'to glowing as she then sought to slash across Beast's throat, a murderous attack from the woman.

The girl herself was small and light, barely even 4'10". The very slightest hints of black hair could be seen under the hood pulled up and over her head, as for her face she was very fair, but hardly beautiful. A noble girl perhaps. Her eyes however, were strangely closed. Not only that, but Grodd would notice that her blade was glinting, and was surrounded by a black aura. Yet despite this he would not feel any reiatsu coming from it, as if her, and her weapon, were completely hidden.

"You do not belong here. You are a dead thing made by a dead power, made in the shape of the dead. All you will ever do is kill, you do not belong here. This is a place of life."

[Beast]

Shizuyoko was tearing through the ranks of the Shinigami like paper. One by one the traitors fell to her fangs and claws. But they would just keep coming. Three more started to team up against her. Masters of Mental Incantation, they had set up a Danku barrier wordlessly to try to not attract her attention until they were ready to attack. Following the shield they put up, they cast Hiragana, a Hado that shook the ground with minor sustained earthquakes. That would attempt to keep her speed to a minimum while they prepared their large flashy attack. "Hado Number 88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!" Casting the monster of a thunder spell at the Omnitsukido member, they would attempt to turn her entire body into nothing more than ash...

Meanwhile, Beast was having issues. That cursed flash step, Senka, would hurt him again as it moved far too fast for him to react to. Especially when he was flying through the air and didn't know that she was even there in the first place. His shins were sliced into, followed by his shoulders, before he could even comprehend what was going on. With both his legs and his arms out of commission, all he could do at this point was dodge the slash at his throat and release his Shikai. He pushed off of an Advanced Air ground platform backwards so that he could gain a little distance away from the third strike and then he spoke the release phrase. "Grow or else, Oerwoud Hart."

His hair grew longer as well as his fingernails and his physical height. And he'd continue to grow until he deactivated the ability. He also activated his technique Rigting that grew a layer of fur over his entire body. He could now manipulate his body at will despite the fact that his shoulders and shins were cut up. The hair itself would be his muscles, his momentum, and his way of fighting back at this soon to be meal. He didn't belong here? This was a place of life? He'd teach her a lesson. He'd teach her that everywhere he went was a place of death and destruction. Of Rage... "DIE, MAGGOT!"

Beast had learned from his fights with Timor and Tsukuyomi that he needed to be more cautious about his reiatsu use. In both fights he had burned himself out before too long and was physically unable to continue combat due to his lack of energy reserves. So he taunted his opponent, trying to draw her out and have her attack him. From there he could use his defensive Hakuda to make an opening with which to attack. Maybe Grodd's old fighting style was actually worth a little something? Maybe being all out offensive wasn't the best way to do everything... So Beast released his Shikai, covered himself in fur in order to be able to move, then taunted the Shinigami with the weird glowing sword. What happened next was up to her...

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Those eyes narrowed, her head made sure that she was aware of her surroundings at all times. So when those Danku went up she noticed fairly quickly. The Kido being charged was an impressive little display, and for the first time during this melee she felt the rush of adrenaline again. She had missed dealing with shinigami like this. And she missed her old power. How long had it been since she had been so vicious and aggressive? She wanted to be tougher. She wanted to obliterate that incoming spell. But she could not.

She vanished with a step tech, even though her form restricted her ability to move around, she still managed to be incredibly fast by simple matter of her speed being so high, more than in line with most shinigami as she avoided that sudden blast of incredible power, tearing it's way across the landscape and causing those eyes to narrow as she slithered into the backdrop of the forest. While her body was incredibly long, they were hardly enormously wide. She began slithering through the trees surrounding those shinigami, her black scales melding perfectly with the shade of the trees as she slithered her way around, coming up behind them.

Snakes were nature's best predators when it came to hiding. Bodies low to the ground, a means of locomotion that was almost completely and utterly silent, and with bodies so apt at blending in to the things around them. As she moved in, she would seek to move in close, using tall grass, trees, shrubs, everything she could to get in close, and once she was as close as she could get without actually alerting the shinigami, she vanished once again, a senka in use this time around.

Her Fangs flashed eloquently, and pierced the shinigami clean through their torsos, each of her heads able to focus on a separate target, obliterating their soul chains and soul sleeves with twin stabs through their bodies. Her own mastery of the technique used in order to attack multiple targets rather than just one at a time. With the move she intended to either kill or simply neutralize all of the intended targets, obliterating their ability to use reiatsu.

And of course... to make double sure... she would break them, twisting their bodies until everything was broken, wrapping them in those crushing coils before swallowing the bodies and consuming them. It had been... so very long since she had actually consumed shinigami. So long since she'd been able to relish a meal of flesh. Sure she could taste flesh, but it was nothing compared to the joy of swallowing her prey whole. Feeling their bodies slither down her throat and into her stomach.

In some small way, she had actually missed her old body. Not just her old arrancar body, but this one specifically. Her first, true body that she had used so long ago to wreak havoc on the surrounding country and such. Even if she wasn't as small or subtle, there was still something to be said about being able to thrash around and just destroy what was around her. There was a deep catharsis not only in the destruction, but in her one true form. A type of enjoyment she absolutely relished.

---

The woman slowly opened her eyes, those eyes rippling with the same black fire that her sword had held. "Feed on Radiance. Guang Shi Zhe." And with that the air around her exploded outward in a black fire that seemed to eat up the light around her, and indeed Grodd would get to see nothing as that fire spread outward, eating up the light and reiatsu around the woman's body. Though from the black fire she flew out unexpectedly, a long halberd in hand with black flames seething from little pits in the weapon, the spear SCREECHED as it was swung through the air, and indeed it was the only way that he would notice her approach.

That weapon screamed, the air around it practically wailing in agony as she swepy a horizontal slash at the beast, a huge wave of fire flung from the weapon to lash out in a long crescent that would seek to slam into Beast if he tried to dodge but remain within the scope of that attack, a full five meter range on that flame beyond the 2 meter reach of the weapon itself. The fire was like a living thing, chewing and swallowing up light, spiritual energy, and flesh, trying to eat it's way into his body whilst chewing at his reiatsu reserves if it could.

Training for CTP

Of course, he would also likely notice something else. Soon after she moved in, that cloud of black fire would begin filling the air around her, smogging the area, but unlike the flames from her weapon, did not actually injure Grodd, but simply served like a constant smokescreen. and just before that smoke descended, he would see four small little winged spheres begin flying around the woman before the smoke rolled in. And just like her weapon, the air screeched in agony as they flew through the air.

He would be able to track her by the screech of the weapon, but those flying little spheres were like decoys, constantly giving off that irritating noise and distracting him from the screech that really mattered in her lance. "This is you last chance to run, Monster. I will not be so kind from this point forward." She declared, even though her body was shrouded in that rolling mist that seemed to spill from her body rather than her weapon, her voice still carried quite clearly.

[Beast]

"Become the Night, Komori Otoko."

A man stepped out from behind a tree, wearing nothing but black. His face was obscured by a hood and he was holding a Zanpakutou in the process of releasing. This man was quiet. Too quiet. His skills of stealth were legendary, but now that he had revealed himself he didn't seem too intent on hiding again. His Zanpakutou, meanwhile, was breaking down into little bits of black dust. They fell to the ground and began to turn the ground beneath the Shinigami as black as a starless night. A circle formed around him of this black color, measuring three feet in all directions from the man who now didn't even hold a weapon. "We have done nothing to deserve this punishment, you monster. We have done nothing but uphold the integrity of those we swore to protect. Back down or I will kill you."

Meanwhile, Beast was struggling against the halberd wielding woman. She had all of the advantages against him. She had speed, she had reach, she had fire... All he could do was push off a platform of air with Shunpo to try and dodge the massive attack from the screeching weapon. Pooling reiatsu in his hands, he cast a counter Hado to try and remove the smokescreen and counter any future blasts of fire. "Hado Number 40# Gouzen Demizu!" Utilizing his mastery of the Hado, he had the tidal waves of water immediately burst from his hands instead of requiring it to pool up on the ground and rise up before crashing down.

True, that would weaken its effect as it was more like a fire hose of water rather than a tidal wave, but he needed it to be fast and at full power. Hence the calling out its name. Else it would have no chance against a Shikai. As it was, he couldn't sense the woman's spiritual power. He had no idea if his attack would have any effect against her flames. It was all very odd. Why couldn't he sense her? She was released after all, which gave off large waves of reiatsu. Was her Shikai absorbing all of the energy she gave off to hide her? Beast was no tactician, and had none of these thoughts. Instead, he just tried to brute force it like he always had... Hopefully he'd learn something along the way.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Those eyes narrowed. "Kore wa Nan desu ka?" Came that soft, feminine voice from the monster, those brilliant yellow-green eyes narrowing from those various heads as she surveyed the Shinigami, and a gentle chuckle escaped her, rearing up on her tails, all seven heads rising up tall, just a good five feet from the male, looking as imposing as possible as she eyed him. "The Moral high ground? You sure have messed up this time." She mused to herself, narrowing her eyes at him.

"That went out the window a little long ago didn't it? Killing humans over some petty squabble. Becoming too attatched to humans is just as bad as killing them in cold blood. But I have to hand it to you. You seem pretty tough. I train a lot to keep my sense of finding people hiding from me. If you were still able to stay hidden, that means you're stronger than I am. What a predicament.." She murmured, even as that invisible head slithered in, coiling to circle around the man before suddenly lashing out.

A shunpo Karin in effect as she sought to impale the man clean through his chest and navel with those fangs, aiming to stab him from behind with those fangs, though this man seemed tough, she wasn't even sure if it would go off. But indeed.. that was her problem. She didn't have any fancy tricks. Sure she had emergency abilities, but she had little to no abilities at all regarding more... utility-related abilities. She had her invisible head, as well as her speed attacks. But that was it.

She didn't have the reiatsu or the stamina to pull off complex or utility-based abilities or attacks. She'd considered focusing her training to become more formidable in the spirirual sense, but then she would just lose out on her strength and speed. It was definitely hard to become stronger. Not only that, but she had only just begun to tap into Nanakiba's abiilties. Sure she had fused with them, but that was it. But...what was she to do now...?

---

The flood of water managed to plow a hole in that smokey flame, but the fire still washed in and around the blast, the shinigami sliding in beside Beast, her halberd in hand as that black shroud fire came in with her, surrounding grodd as that horrible screech sounded. Only rather than a halberd, he would instead feel one of those little winged decoys flying into him, it screamed loudly as the shinigami slashed at him from underneath, a wave of that flame rushing up to try and burn it's way into his feet and legs.

"You know a lot of spells for a hollow. But you're far too weak to be a Demon. You must be one of those failures. I always thought they were supposed to be very smart and crafty. But I guess not every abomination can afford Power AND a good head on their shoulders." She taunted, that screeching continuing to make it hard for Grodd to locate her as those little decoys would screech, including the one that had thrown itself at him.

[Beast]

As Shizu's head snapped in, a hand reached up from the shadow on the ground to catch her face before she could get within three feet of the Shinigami. It was instinctive, like the shadow was alive and as soon as she crossed the threshold of the darkness she was caught by it. "Interesting... It must be malfunctioning. It usually only reacts to threats..." He couldn't see or sense the head, but he thought that if his Shikai would react to something, then he should probably get out of there. He melded into the shadow of his Shikai temporarily, just sitting there for a moment and watching for what his opponent would do.

Meanwhile, Beast was still struggling against this fire wielder. His attack had done little to nothing but tire himself out more and waste reiatsu. And there was that screeching noise that was just driving him crazy. He was tired of this, so he decided to go all out. She threw a decoy at him, which he punched out of the air with his considerable strength. That left him open, however, to the halberd slash. There wasn't enough time to dodge it... So he reacted with a shield of Enkosen below him. The Halberd would clash against the shield, giving Beast just... one... opening...

He pushed off the ground towards the woman, getting just close enough to use Shunpo Eichi off of an Advanced Air Ground platform. He'd throw himself backwards while sending out a shockwave of 350 strength to send her flying and disperse all of the smoke around them. Then he would be able to see her. She'd probably have broken a rib at that point, and she might not have a lot of control of her weapon either. A second Shunpo would bring him right next to her, with his head crashing down to headbutt her in the face. And while some people say no one wins with a headbutt, Beast would highly disagree. His hard skull crashing into the weak and fleshy parts of the face could be potentially lethal...

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Those eyes merely narrowed at Beast. And that slow hatred coiled inside of the woman's stomach. The same hatred that had manifested in that passing comment about him being a failure. Pretending that she didn't know who or what Beast was. and as he launched himself away from her, the air around her shimmered, an Advanced Air Arsenal plate forming before her body, covering up her torso as that shockwave slammed into the panel, the edges only reaching to about her shoulders and down to her waist, only protecting her head and her torso as that shockwave plowed through the rest of her.

The woman staggered back, her teeth gritted as she felt her legs and arms shake from the damage, and when that head swung in, trying to slam into her own, another panel formed, and his forehead would split as it slammed into that hard sheet of condensed reishi, even though it cost her a decent ammount of energy to summon them, she would release, only one hand on her halberd as she would aim to grab the man by his face as the reishi dissolved, and then grit her teeth in absolute hatred.

"I'm going to burn you. You monster. But first. You're going to tell me what happened to that human. Surely even a beast like you could remember." she growled, and raised her hand, gesturing as though to point, another as though to beckon something closer. " I wasn't even waiting for this. I wasn't hunting you at all...and yet you just fell into my lap. And I doubt even soul society would have sent a monster like you. But here we are. Grodd." That hiss deepened in hatred.

"I can't let you escape. Not until you tell me what yopu did with my Jacob."

---

Shizuyoko narrowed her eyes. An automatic defense. subconscious. But...interestingly. It was limited to the physiological Anatomy of the shadow, was it not? Otherwise, the shadow would have just dissolved and slammed into the attack. It had pointedly raised an arm to blcok her. It conformed to the laws of motion and form. Which meant, it could be overwhelmed. Couldn't it? Maybe it's nervous." Came that soft, bright, warm voice, cutting through the air from one of her heads. Even in such a monsterous form. she maintained the spirit of her voice. The voice of a beautiful maiden.

A Maiden whose looks, voice, and eyes she had stolen. Even if she had failed to take their life. They belonged to her. "Am I scary? I guess that's a bit of a silly question. Right?" She would slowly lean in, all eight of those heads, including her invisible one would slowly nose forward, as if to boop the man with all of her snouts at once, those tongues flickering out, to taste his scent. And to test. To see if that shadow, with only two arms, could stop all of them.

"I admit. I am getting a little carried away. I mean... this is alright...right? The barrier means nobody can listen in on us. We can talk freely. And as it were, the plan is that very few people will be alive when the barrier is taken down. It's a little ....unnerving. But given that ability. I'm begining to wonder if that's going to include...me..." Came that sheepish, and slightly afraid voice. That compartmentalization she was offering the man. Only one of her heads was speaking.

It was a tactic she had used so long ago. The same tactic that....she sometimes wondered... was the reason Susanoo fell for her. Compartmentalizing. the same way she had put all of her uncertainty and hatreds into her severed tail, she had eight heads, and she divided her mind, and emotions to all of them. All it took was focus, and she could focus her fear and nervousness into one of them. IT was like lying, but so narrowly honest. Amiable. After all, these shinigami were all down here for a specific reason. Growing too attatched to humans. It stood to reason that they were easy to emotionally compromise.

"I guess...given how many of your friends I killed, asking you not to hurt me is out of the question? Did you know them? It's hard to think about that kind of thing. When you're just...tearing through people. The rush of the moment....right? Isn't that....why you killed those humans? You didn't care about who they were. You only cared that they had to die. Right?" It was a psychological form of constriction. Empathy, and the like. To slowly squeeze the resolve out of an enemy.

"I always hated shadows. Being unable to see something. It's like a mockery. I can never tell if something is black... or if it's just that one...pesky color."

[Beast]

Headbutting a platform of condensed reiatsu was... painful. Beast's head ached and he could hear a ringing in his ears as he tried to recover from the effective defense. He'd have to learn that ability some time, as it was much more potent than his advanced air ground. If he had that ability against Timor, he might have gotten a meal that night... Staggering back, he almost lost his footing in the air ground but he wasn't able to get away from that hand that grabbed his face and pulled him in close. "But here we are. Grodd. I can't let you escape. Not until you tell me what yopu did with my Jacob."

Beast laughed. He knew that name. Grodd might not have caught it during their fight, but Beast did. Beast observed everything from inside his prison. The way Grodd blundered through every fight he was in. The fool even forced a battle to a "draw" with an unseated officer! It had even been closer to a loss than a draw. But this fight, this was the one that Grodd came out on top in. The only one that Beast could remember. The fight with the fullbringer on the subway train. Jacob had been thrown through a glass wall and had his face splattered on the wall. The corpse had been torn apart for over a mile as the car continued to drag him along the wall. "Your Jacob is @$%#ing dead. Even Grodd was capable of killing him. I, however, am much stronger than Grodd."

A Shunpo Karin later, now that Beast was finally within range of the woman, and his hand would be buried in her chest. Her heart in his hand as he tore through her rib cage with his intense strength and reiatsu fueled speed. And then he would use Shunpo Eichi again to hurtle himself backwards with her heart in his hand as he threw her body to the ground with his explosive shockwave. That would teach her a lesson. Don't mess with demons. Especially don't taunt them, and especially don't let them right into your guard. Her last thought would be that her Jacob was dead. Murdered by Grodd. Lost forever. And it would kill her soul as she died from the lack of a heart. "Now to feed off what's left..."

And so he would descend to the ground, place his hand on her face, and absorb all of her life energy through bioelectricity that flowed into his body and restored his spiritual reserves and increased all of his power in all areas of his ability. He then collected her sword and added it to his belt. He'd bring that back to his room for his Zanpakutou experiments... Now was time to return hunting for that dark aura that was so interesting to him. He'd make his way through the forest, heading for Shizuyoko's last known position. He didn't know what he'd find, or what he'd do when he got there, but at least he had fed. And it was a delicious soul. A soul full of hatred, Rage, and anguish. The best tasting kind of soul. A soul that had been broken before it had been consumed...

---

As Shizukoyo moved her seven heads forwards, seven arms sprouted up to try to push her back. It seemed to be an impenetrable defense, at least from physical attacks that moved within its small borders. Staying submerged for a moment, eventually the Shinigami was forced out of the shadow. He apparently couldn't maintain the "perfect dodge" for long, even if the subconscious shadow arms appeared to be a perfect defense against the heads. "You'd be correct. You killed way too many of my friends, and insulted the memory of the humans that we love. They gave us their hearts and we gave them our vows. You have spit on that and spit on us. And for that you shall die."

Up until now, the hands had just grabbed and pushed the heads out of the circle. But with a verbal incantation that changed. "Reject the Night!" The shadow at once became a bright white light. A blinding white light, even. And when the glow faded, there were many hands. 20 hands, all waving around at the edge of the circle. The circle had also expanded to a radius of 5 feet instead of 3, putting Shizukoko right in the path of the hands that wanted to wail on her. The only problem now was the unnamed Shinigami had no defense now. He had switched to an overwhelming offense instead of the overwhelming defense. And he still had no idea about the hidden eighth head...

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

The woman narrowed her eyes, and as that hand aimed to plow into her chest, there was a chill that ran through her body. Her eyes going wide as she seemed to go rigid, een as the splash of blood filled the air, the attack itself so fast that The shock on the woman's face would no doubt be so very delicious to Grodd, even if perhaps, he didn't feel a heart in there. And those decoys suddenly began screeching so very very loudly now. As he had focused on her, they had flown in and latched onto him, those little winged bells screeching as they suddenly glowed white-hot, and then the screeching stopped.

PWAPAPAPAH

The air shook around where they had detonated, sending huge shockwaves through the air, shaking the nearby trees as the woman panted down below, a shallow gash in her chest as she supported hrself on an air platform just above the canopy, on one knee as she tried her best to ignore the pain. Even using Utsusemi, her reflexes had been just a tiny bit off. For that singlew instant, even though her instincts were incredibly high, she had still been angry, she had almost considered using Senka rather than trying to escape, but she didn't know if it would be fast enough. And that indecision had costed her a very painful wound.

The blood flowed almost freely, the blow had broken some of her ribs in addition to making the shallow gash, so Grodd, assuming he was still alive, would still have blood on his hand from the blow, he'd know that his attack had gone through a little at least. And the woman herself? She seethed with anger, but even so.... she didn't know if she aught to stick around. Was it safe? Killing herself wouldn't bring Jacob back.....

What....what should she do?

---

REJECT THE NIGHT!

Ah, a Command. she always wondered why they shouted those aloud.

Hyaku Shikon

In the next instant, her head became a sudden ferrocious blur, with her own speed being ridiculously fast for most shinigami, to the point where even some captains had trouble keeping up with her, those heads then doubled in speed as they began plowing into the Shinigami, with a force equal to her combined strength and speed, and with that tremendous onslaught, she aimed exactly one hundred Fang strikes, using actual fangs, with the increased power boost, to obliterate those shadowed hands and try to pepper the shinigami with her own tremendous onsolaught of high-speed attacks, the sheer force of which, using her combined speed and mass, would no doubt obliterate the ground beneath and behind the man from that powerful assault.

Normally, her sheer strength would be enough to take whatever incoming damage she took, but in this form? It was piled ontop of that black scaly armor her body was covered in. It probably wouldn't be strong enough to stop any attacks of the shinigami's that got through that wall of strikes using four of her heads, but hopefully it would be enough to either kill him before he could finish his own attack, or at least deflect most of them.