Dreaming in Color [PG-13, Closed Joint-Training]

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Taking a breath Ludwig looked over the current battlefield from his golem’s steady shoulder. Things were going well for once. He currently held a summon not even Himitsu’s other kido creations could rival, at least not in his mind, he had a couple summons keeping an eye on Himitsu and finally he was at a good point in his release currently that he could actually let loose. This was until Ludwig noticed that nothing moved and breathing was difficult to achieve. He hadn’t realized that it was difficult to even breathe because he had figured it was due to fatigue that had been building up however realizing he couldn’t even turn his head prompted many questions. The biggest one being how was this possible? Himitsu as well as himself had been able to move just moments prior but now there was a force weighing down and preventing 99% of all movement, breathing probably only allowed because Himitsu wasn’t one to suffocate his opponents. At least Ludwig hoped not.



Before Ludwig could even continue thinking two things happened the first was that he noticed the sound of lightning, instantly recognizing that a byakurai was fired from Himitsu. Thankfully Ludwig was facing Himitsu so he easily noted who it was aimed at, Popeye. And not just anywhere but Himitsu aimed and succeeded in headshotting the poor cartoon sailor. For what it was worth Ludwig was more surprised than anything, especially considering kido normally needed to have hand gestures and this was fired from his bakudo shield. The ability alone had to be worth its weight in gold considering no one could move. However this was where Ludwig’s bankai was worth just as much, Popeye though he was electrocuted and even had a hole in his head didn’t die. Instead the damage was promptly healed up and though the bolt of lightning was still present Popeye outright refused to die. If anything all it did was continue to piss him off as shown by how his face began to get red.



In the meantime however Ludwig realized almost too late that Himitsu had spawned another attack, one from beneath him and his iron giant. Though the attack itself was entirely too weak to move the golem it did continue creeping up and would quickly come up and surround Ludwig if he didn’t act. Which fun fact, was almost impossible considering he nor his giant could move. That didn’t stop Ludwig from trying to move and exert himself in every manor possible only to at the last second realize that his reiatsu could still move as could the reiatsu that made the golem. Without a choice or time to think Ludwig flooded his golem with reiatsu and damn near moved it through sheer force of will with his mental command. With the new rieatsu helping to bolster his golem for the time being it quickly flex it’s body starting with smashing the source of the water at the ground and proceeding to jostle the remaining column of water out of the way. Ludwig couldn’t move but his giant could currently so if nothing else he wasn’t defenseless now however the cost wasn’t small to achieve this and his other creations needed a means of moving as well lest the fight be lost from this new ability alone.



And that’s when it hit him. It’d taken him a moment to realize it but Himitsu’s bankai at least in one respect worked like Ludwig’s. There was a center to it, a source. And if that source was knocked out or destroyed then the effects of the area itself would stop. Though Himitsu’s reiatsu had flared it didn’t seem like he was the source of this garden of his, if he had been his reiatsu would act similar to Ludwig’s and expand out rapidly, his remained “contained” given the circumstances. So what did then? Glancing around there was only one thing that stood out and that was the tree that had been spawned out of scenic nowhere. Ludwig may not have been able to sense if it’s energy output was similar but it was larger, larger than everything else in this place, mountains aside. So that must mean it’s important, and if Ludwig were a betting man, it’d be the tree that was the literal root of his problem. If he was going to get rid of it he needed to do two things. Bolster his golem further just to be safe that it’d be able to destroy it and two confine Himitsu. Easier said than done however there was at least one idea that Ludwig had in mind and at this point he had to go ball’s to the wall if he wanted to have something work.



Since Ludwig was stuck to his trusty golem he might as well use technique he’d been using this battle numerous times already Bakudo #55 Mutsohoyo. Given he had enough time he even so far as to speak the incantation in his head for Bakudo #55 and proceeded to continue with his personal favorite kido’s incantation, not that it’d go off even if Himitsu hit his golem, this was going to be held in reserve for his current plan, as well as a backup. The kido in question was Hado #90 Kurohitsugi, the most powerful kido Ludwig had in his arsenal. A dream within a dream, a heart within a soul, a core within a nucleus which in turn is within an atom. Within all there is still more. And within thee, I place this seal. Bakudo #55 Mutsohoyo. Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny. Grow numb and flicker. Disrupt sleep. Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado #90 Kurohitsugi! Though it took a couple moments Ludwig’s golem had remained on guard for anything that might come their way, specifically for Ludwig given the golem itself was pretty well taken care of.



With his golem’s imbuing finished Ludwig took another glance at the situation. Kido was still imbued into the other two cartoons thus they still had merit when the right time was available. However currently neither could move, hell Popeye specifically was getting electrocuted so there was really nothing he was going to do but continue to get angry. Ludwig sighed internally, he knew it wouldn’t stop Himitsu but he had his golem aim it’s arm cannon at him. There was no doubt Himitsu had some means of keeping himself safe however Ludwig was put into a situation where his hand was forced. He either got Himitsu to move or he forced Himitsu to bolster up his defenses further. Regardless the answer was the same he was going to fire an explosive round at him head on and destroy literally everything in that general vicinity of where it landed. With only the mental thought of “Fire.” his golem proceeded to unleash one round directly at Himitsu. With the round housing 1500 OS of power and speed behind it Himitsu would have to make a choice sooner than later of what he would do. And if he wasn’t able to escape quickly enough he’d risk not just the actual round itself but the subsequent explosion which would would be massive to say the least. In the meantime Ludwig kept himself as aware and ready as possible for whatever Himitsu was going to through at him next, whatever it was he imagined it’d be less than pleasant.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
-300 reiatsu for Ancient Gear Golem. (tacking on an extra cut of 100 because I didn't correct the prior posts cost for Ancient Gear Golem.)

-95 reiatsu for Marvin and Popeye's upkeep

-150 for Bakudo #55 Mutsohoyo

-600 for Hado #90 Kurohitsugi

-800 reiatsu to temporarily remove the affects of Stop Zone

Total cost: 1945 reiatsu

4285-1945= 2340 reiatsu

2340/6000 total reiatsu remaining

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bankai}
Next post will give the final stat boost

2/19 posts for Bankai remaining

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Music Feels Appropriate}

Himitsu felt a sense of satisfaction when his byakurai burned a hole right through the cartoon’s head, but it was Volucris who informed him that something was off. Uh, Himitsu… muscle head’s back in the game. That hole fixed itself up real fast. What? Ludwig’s bankai could repair his dolls immediately? That would make targeting the dolls themselves pointlessly tiring. What an frustrating yet interesting release. Himitsu’d have to adjust his focus on Ludwig himself.

He’s charging reiatsu for some sort of technique. The ever-so-helpful ladybug was quick to update Himitsu on Ludwig’s activity. Himitsu could notice himself that Ludwig’s golem spiritually resisted his bankai’s effects, but Volucris provided insight into Ludwig’s less visually apparent spiritual activity. Fine then, I guess I’ll do the same. Himitsu, still under the effects of Stop Zone, couldn’t move his body quite yet. However, he could still use his kido freely.

Himitsu activated byakurai from his left arm, aiming the bolt of lightning so that it’d graze his right hand as it passed over it, leaving a cut about an inche deep. The injury Himitsu sustained wasn’t severe, but it was uncomfortable to inflict that kind of damage upon himself. Still, Himitsu needed to draw blood for his next spell. A trickle of blood began to flow from the wound when, interestingly, Himitsu’s hand began to close the wound in a cartoon-y manner. With this healing came a small but noticeable tax on his stamina. So his bankai affects me too. Himitsu quickly pieced the available evidence to determine parts of Ludwig’s power. So far, he understood that the cartoons weren’t the only ones who’d immediately heal, but that healing also used as a tool to drain his opponents of their energy without dealing permanent harm.

I want this guy on my team, Himitsu told his zanpakuto spirit with a hint of excitement. Flex was quick to remind Himitsu of the situation. Focus on beating him first. Yes, this was a sparring session, but it was also a chance to display his strength to his new colleague. And because of the nature of both Himitsu’s bankai and Ludwig’s, they were free to go all-out. Himitsu wasn’t going to hold anything back.

An eye for an eye, A tooth for a tooth. Evil to fight evil. Fire to fight fire. Hath withstood pain to create many flames of vengeance. And yet, those ephemeral works of art will never be remembered. Himitsu mentally recited the incantation for Hado #86: Soukahou, but as he did Ludwig’s golem pointed its massive arm canon toward him. You have to act quickly, Himitsu! Volucris urgently stated. But Himitsu was committed to finishing the incantation. I hearby offer my blood in an indestructible contract with- And the golem fired.

There was an ever-so-small hesitation in Himitsu’s mental recitation of the hado’s incantation in response to the golem’s attack. This hesitation was a result of Himitsu’s mental command to switch the zone of his bankai. Stop Zone would no-longer be active, and in its place was Safe Zone. So as the ammunition round slammed against the captain and exploded, Himitsu was sent flying and slammed into the reishi walls surrounding the training field. However, he suffered no harm, and was able to complete his incantation. -the flame of atonement. Hado #86: Soukahou.

Ludwig would be faced with quite a lot of uncertainty. He saw Himitsu tank a direct attack from his golem and sent knocked into the wall. He didn’t expect Himitsu to take any damage anyway due to the effects of his own bankai, but he also expected a wave of exhaustion to slow Himitsu down, yet the Captain had already responded with a new spell, one a bit more complicated than his average kido. The foundation of this spell was Hado #86: Soukahou, but Himitsu only took the form of that technique. Through Kido Fusion, he substituted the properties of a different spell, Bakudo #75: Gochutekan. The result was a silver metal aura around Himitsu’s arms and hand that spread across his weapon, functioning like liquid metal.

Normally, this kido fusion wouldn’t be successful due to the strength of the techniques, but Himitsu’s use of life force via the Kasumi’Oji family technique Augendae et Minuere allowed him to manipulate their classes. Gochutekan was reduced by three classes so that it would be fused at a class 6 level. On the other hand, Soukahou remained at class 2 to bolster the overall strength of the fusion to class 2. Because Himitsu had mastered kido fusion, he was able to successfully merge them together to create his desired combination.

But there was one more aspect of the technique. Soukahou allowed the user to fire projectiles at a machine gun-like rate, and the fusion imbued those projectiles with metallic properties rather than fiery ones. By stacking on one more ability, Genesis Art: Vitae, Himitsu animated these projectiles into the form of winged monkeys that flew toward Ludwig. They would ignore any of his cartoons, instead programmed with the single goal of binding Ludwig and preventing him from continuing the battle. Ten monkeys per second leaped from Himitsu’s liquid metal, so more and more would rush toward Ludwig at 600 speed.

Because of Himitsu’s shikai effects, the monkeys would leave trails of metal behind them as well, giving Himitsu an immediate barrier between himself and any of Ludwig’s next attacks. Moreso, the metal trails would also make Ludwig easier to catch seeing as any monkeys that got behind him would cut off an escape. The Squad 13 Captain was in a tough situation.

Compleetely uninjured, Himitsu rose from the ground, putting his weight on his staff to help him rise back to his feet. The combination of spells had put a notable strain on his breathing and stamina as well as his life force and reiatsu pools. As he observed Ludwig, he patiently waited to see exactly what his colleague would do to deal with this attack. If he failed to deal with the swarm of monkeys, Ludwig wouldn’t suffer any harm. Instead, they’d grab his body, twist his arms and legs behind his back, and do all they can to completely bind him so that he could no longer continue the fight. There were so many monkeys that Ludwig would get more and more overwhelmed the longer he tried to fight them. This was HImitsu’s goal: to see how his fellow captain would react when completely overwhelmed. This was Ludwig’s true test.

Reiatsu Remaining: 1575/6000 (-25 for Byakurai, -400 for Soukahou, -300 for Bakudo #75: Gochutekan)

Life Force Remaining: 2600/6000 (-300 for Vitae, -300 life force to reduce Gochutekan to class 6)

Bankai: 3/10

Safe Zone Active

Soukahou-Gochutekan RS (boosted by incantation): 1080

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig eagerly watched Himitsu as the explosive round was fired wondering what he’d do. The captain should have had many options in his arsenal to handle this and yet he never moved. Didn’t even make a motion which lead him to realize that Himitsu’s own ability that froze everything around also froze the wielder as well. It hadn’t been that Himitsu had been in a perfectly safe position he’d just been unable to move himself. When Ludwig realized this however Himitsu had already been hit. His eyes widened in surprise not at the explosion, nor the power that was behind it as Ludwig had never thought to draw a golem as an option prior. No he was thrown completely off guard that Himitsu took the damage head on. Hell he was thrown away to the opposite wall by the sheer force behind it. Before Ludwig could think however about his safety he immediately glanced over to his golem and mentally spoke to him. Prepare the next round, he’s not finished yet. That’d be too much to ask for.



Taking a glance at his other creations, Popeye and Marvin had been able to avoid most if any of the damage from the blast. Marvin mostly just due to being high enough in the sky but Popeye? He just assumed it was because of his release healing him up and thus gave it no further thought. He nodded at each of the cartoons to keep an eye on Himitsu quickly realizing he’d been able to move himself and thus changed the order to target Himitsu and whatever creation he’d attempt to spawn out. Already knowing that Himitsu would do something of the sort without needing to see him. In the meantime Ludwig already realizing his reserve of reiatsu was low decided that he needed to condense his reiatsu again. He needed the sheer force to beat himitsu because he didn’t have it in him to actually out play his level of kido manipulation. So while Himitsu was able to finish off his kido fusion and had even gone so far as to stand up without so much as a scratch Ludwig had diverted his attention inward compressing his reiatsu as much as he could.



By the time he was done he’d noticed Himitsu had begun sending out flying monkeys at him. They were completely metalic in look and were coming at him quickly, him specifically it looked like as they’d ended up flying past his creations without a care. To his creations benefit they took note of this and proceeded to start shooting them down, Marvin with his now death lazer equivalent shots and Popeye with arguably some of the strongest shockwaves he’d seen. Each able to take out multiple at a time however there was enough just due to their sheer spawn rate that would make it past the volley from his creations. This gave Ludwig just long enough to think about how to handle them, he had no real ability to hit everything at once.



Maybe if he drew something that’d work but he didn’t exactly have time for that. He needed a safe spot to do that let alone to continue the fight but where? And then quite literally a lightbulb appeared over his head. His golem had a chest cavity with a one way entrance. Any other space as damn near impossible for anything larger than a snake or a couple branches to really sneak into and given the monkey’s had forms larger than that there was only one thing he needed to do to make himself a safe space. He ordered the golem to use it’s normal arm to make a shockwave large enough to hit most of the remaining monkeys. Given the power his golem had he was certain there'd be no chance these monkeys could survive without being able to avoid them, assuming they could even do that.


Without hesitation the golem propmtly reeled its arm back and shot out a shockwave that had to be the mother of any other shockwave. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t incredibly fast it was massive and even while moving towards the monkey’s it’s sheer force knocked away most of them even if it didn’t outright destroy them. Ludwig took his opportunity to move down as soon as the golem had fired off the shockwave choosing to play it safe and shunpo into the machine’s chest cavity. He’d managed to avoid most of the gears and find a central gear to land on that wasn’t really moving but he needed to act quickly lest the continuous forming monkey’s catch him. Pointing outward to the cavity he skipped the incantation and opted instead to just go straight to the kido itself. “Bakudo #81 Danku! The wall appeared in but an instant later but instead of a straight wall had actually laid itself like paper over the front of his golem. It crinkled and warped some but managed to accomplish its task of giving the golem effectively body armor.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Turning the tide}

Ludwig had to sit down after that. He was definitely more tired than he’d given himself credit for. Granted he’d not been going this hard against anyone for awhile so it was a pleasant nuisance to finally get pushed this far. However Ludwig could only start laughing to himself as he looked over and watched the events from the outside. His cartoons were shooting down the monkeys left and right and even his golem gave the occasional shockwave with his fist. But as much as Ludwig wanted to let this moment pan out he had other things he needed to do. Namely taking out the damn tree. His power had been bolstered to it’s maximum without losing too much and he had his kido armed and ready. Without care for if Himitsu could possibly hear him from so far away Ludwig stood up and yelled out this next command. “Golem it’s time to finish this. Send off a single round to the tree in the center of this field! Annihilate it!”



As if it’d been waiting for this command his golem’s eye darkened considerably quickly directing it’s canon toward the tree itself. With but a moment to aim it proceeded to launch an even stronger explosive round than the last it had shot at Himitsu. Ludwig in the meantime made certain to draw a small black circle in his notebook as the round quickly propelled itself towards the tree, damn near dragging the nearby foliage with it as it travelled. And once it came in contact with the tree Himitsu as well as his insect companion would see not an explosion, no instead they’d see a Kurohitsugi form from the impact of the bullet. It’d take not even a second to consume the tree in its entirety and subsequently annihilate it due to the sheer power behind it. If anything the tree inside would have been shredded and then crushed out of existence. Himitsu would probably realize it first before the Kurohitsugi dispersed but upon it begin destroyed the scenery around them would begin to wither, ultimately fading away. No longer spawned by the tree that had birthed his garden entirety would as quickly as it appeared disperse back to the training ground that had been present prior, albeit a technicolored variant.



With the tree destroyed the golem would proceed to make it’s way towards Himitsu, firing off one shockwave after another. Occasionally throwing out an explosive round every couple seconds as it had to reload itself. With the size of each explosion and shockwave there was not a great deal room to be used for dodging. With this volley of massive attacks seemingly unending as his golem ever steadily got closer. It’s single red eye piercing into his soul and subsequently past it with every intention of either damaging Himitsu out of commission or if it’d be close enough to actually crush him via his feet. But that wasn’t the end of this assault, no once he’d made the danku the two other cartoons proceeded to begin steadily bringing their aim closer to Himitsu and the source of his flying monkeys. Hell popeye still following his prior order would wait to fire out his Mabarashi Dangan for when Himitsu would shunpo out of danger that way at least the explosion from it would hit him if not the actual kido itself. Marvin on the other hand just proceeded to fly closer and continue firing down from above Himitsu and his creations.



Himitsu had put pressure on Ludwig and forced his hand just a few moments ago. Honestly he’d even limited Ludwig in a way he’d never considered being hindered. His response however was as over the top as cartoon’s sense of logic. Go big or go home. And currently Ludwig had no intention of giving Himitsu any ground. Think what he will but Ludwig was going to make sure Himitsu had little to no chance to retaliate back with a combination of physical and spiritual attacks. This was his game now and unless Himitsu had an ace he hadn’t shown yet checkmate was soon to be in his near future.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu total}
-300 for conversion of SPPR to RS
-600 for Danku
-200 reiatsu for Ancient Gear Golem
-95 reiatsu for Popeye and Marvin
-50 for Shunpo

total: 1295 reiatsu

2340- 1295= 1045 reiatsu

1045/2100

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bankai}
Stats Chosen to increase: Strength and HE

3/19 posts remaining

Released at Class 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{New stat total}
Strength: 100

Speed: 200

Reiatsu Strength: 1890

Spiritual Pressure: 210

Instinct: 350

Senses: 100

Energy sense: 100

Healing expertise: 0

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats for the creations}
Marvin's totals:

Strength: 0

Speed: 200

Reiatsu Strength: 1890

Spiritual Pressure: 0

Instinct: 350

Senses: 100

Energy sense: 100

Healing expertise: 0



Popeye and Ancient Gear Golem's totals:

Strength: 1890

Speed: 200

Reiatsu Strength: 0

Spiritual Pressure: 0

Instinct: 350

Senses: 100

Energy sense: 100

Healing expertise: 0

SPOILER: Click to show

{Kurohitsugis total power and class}
Class 1 because of the incantation from Mutsohoyo and 40% increase in OS resulting in 2646 RS.

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

OOC: So sorry for this insanely long wait!

Himitsu peered through the vines of metal between himself and Ludwig to observe how his other captain was doing. He had given this battle with Ludwig his all, and he was not disappointed by his colleague’s performance. Himitsu saw his horde of monkeys losing over half their numbers in an instant from just one of its shockwaves. That, coupled with the alien’s lasers, were keeping the kido from overwhelming the golem.

But where was Ludwig? Himitsu didn’t have to wait long for that question to be answered. ”Bakudo #81: Danku” The speech bubble with strange insignia formed with its tip pointing into the chest of the golem. So that’s where he’s hiding. Clever. And with that flexible Danku forming and wrapping itself around the golem’s body, those monkey’s weren’t going to have a chance of breaking through.

“Golem it’s time to finish this. Send off a single round to the tree in the center of this field! Annihilate it!” The golem raised its canon, but rather than pointing it at Himitsu, it instead aimed directly at the massive tree in the center of the garden. Looks like he figured it out, Himitsu thought warily. Volucris chimed in to provide more insight with its keen energy sensory. Watch out, this one’s not like the other’s. It’s got another kido embedded in it.

Himitsu waited to retaliate until the canon was fired. The enormous round shot off toward his tree, but about half-way through it suddenly froze in space. So did the swarm of monkeys banging on the Danku armor of the golem. Both Himitsu and Ludwig would be unable to move as well. Himitsu had switched his bankai’s ability from Safe Zone to Stop Zone once more, and as a result, his tree was safe for a bit.

But Ludwig was already savvy to the ways of Himitsu’s release, and it was only a matter of time before the projectile was in full motion again. Himitsu only had a split second to act, and he didn’t waste a second of it. The activation of Stop Zone was accompanied by the activation of Danu. A curved golden wall formed a ramp with the goal of directing the projectile slightly to the side. If the projectile just ran head-on into the Danku, it’d surely shatter it. Thus, Himitsu took measures to ensure that the canon projectile road the ramp.

Using lineage of reiatsu, he created 3 gysers of water shooting parallel to the path of the projectile so that once it ran toward the ramp, it’d be pushed to the side slightly, allowing it to hit the curve of the ramp rather than shatter it. If all this was successful, once Ludwig broke past Stop Zone, his attack would narrowly miss the tree and instead hit the mountainous wall at the far end of the arena.

As a result of this extreme effort, Himitsu was completely trained of his energy. His breath was heavy and strained – he was practically wheezing at this point. His reiatsu reserves were almost completely gone. Himitsu was leaning on his glaive for support at this point. He couldn’t fight any longer. It was over. The Captain called on the trails of his kido to vanish. His metallic monkeys faded into dust. His Danku and the water sprouting from it evaporated into thin air.

To ensure that Ludwig’s cartoons didn’t continue to target Himitsu, the Captain ended his bankai entirely so that he and Ludwig could move once more. The mountains blocking their battle from view suddenly disappeared, along with the Tree of Life and the surrounding greenery. “That’s enough,” Himitsu yelled as he filled his lungs with air once more. Shifting his weight back to his two feet, he rose his glaive into the air as he addressed not Ludwig but the crowd behind them.

“I declare Ludwig Verrlicht the winner of this battle!” Applause erupted from the audience in the stadium, mostly from Squad 13. However, even members of Himitsu’s own squad hesitantly joined the cheers, encouraged slightly by the acknowledgement of Ludwig by their own captain. “With a great Captain like Ludwig, the Gotei 13 is strong,” he declared with confidence, his eyes scanning the surrounding crowd. As they made their way across the stands, they returned once more to meet the confident eyes of Ludwig, addressing his final statement to his fellow Captain.

“But the Gotei 13 will always be strongest when we stand together.” Himitsu flashed the leader of the 13th Division a friendly smile, a sign that he was accepted as an ally.

Reiatsu Remaining: 75/6,000 (-450 for 3x lineage of reiatsu, -450 for Gouzen Demizu, -600 for Danku)

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Everything was going according to plan. Ludwig had stopped the monkey’s in their tracks with his cartoons, he was protected from pretty much whatever Himitsu could throw his way, and his golem had unleashed the attack that would place Himitsu in checkmate. There was no going back, Himitsu had no chance of victory at this point in the game. Or so Ludwig thought until he noticed the shift in zones again. His cartoons didn’t move and nor could Ludwig. But most importantly his bullet didn’t move either. Ludwig’s eyes widened or at least felt like they did, who knew if they truly did with Stop Zone in effect. Who cared about that though when Ludwig’s bullet literally stopped mid-air. To be honest Ludwig thought he’d managed to have it continue on so long as he bolstered his golem’s power, sadly however that did not seem to be the case. Ludwig mentally groaned at this.

Still there was one thing to not, given Himitsu couldn’t move himself how would he handle this? The answer came quickly via kido that made not only a ramp but edited the direction of the bullet. Ludwig merely chuckled as he had to give credit where it was due, moving the bullet would allow the other to have his tree dodge the bullet. However he had failed to realize just how Ludwig imbued his creations, let alone how easily said kido could be released. With a mere mental command, a small will to activate the kido, kurohitsugi shot out from the bullet. Unaffected by Stop Zone given it’s reiatsu based origin a simple black line shot out from the bullet and made itself a square directly at the tree’s base. It took a moment or two longer for the full box to be formed given the tree’s height but before either of them could look away the tree was gone. A black box was all that remained. The next moment the sounds of the tree being annihilated was all that could be heard as all had gone silent in shock.

It took maybe another moment or two before the sounds stopped and the box disappeared to reveal a space void of any life. The training field came back slowly as the tree’s and wildlife faded away. In the meantime Ludwig and his creations began to move again, stiffly at first given the sudden ability to move had been returned to them. However before anything else could be done Himitsu’s voice was all that could be heard. “That’s enough, I declare Ludwig Verrlicht the winner of this battle!” Though Himitsu would not be able to see it Ludwig jumped up, bumping his head in the process against a gear, for joy. He revelled for a moment in the fact that he’d stood up against another of his own and had even gone so far as to come out the victor. It was something he had been secretly hoping he could do but wasn’t certain given he didn’t even initially know the standard every captain was supposed to meet. But given he’d overcome Himitsu, one he’d known was up there in terms of capability, he was certain he was in the clear as far as where he stood amongst his peers.

With his moment of indulgence done he took a breath and quickly sealed off his release. It wouldn’t do at this point if he left it activated, especially with the fight completed. He gave a quick thanks to his creations first while hopping out of his golem. The golem simply waved before fading off while Marvin gave a thumbs up and Popeye simply flexed his muscles with a large grin. As he made his way back to the ground by Himitsu’s side he listened quietly both to his colleague and the roars from his squad who had watched his fight from the get go. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t notice that a good few looked much more relieved. Though he doubted it was about his well being as the only thing they were relieved over. No he was certain that it was more a relief that Squad 13 was finally making its way back from the grave. Back to the way a squad should be. And the times of hardship were coming to an end if not were already over with Ludwig taking the charge for it. “With a great Captain like Ludwig, the Gotei 13 is strong, but the Gotei 13 will always be strongest when we stand together.”

Ludwig merely nodded towards Himitsu before waving to his squad members. He thought for a moment, uncertain of what to say. He had a moment where all eyes were on him so he knew that he had to say something to everyone present. He certainly wouldn’t get many moments like this where he could make as big of an impact as he could now. So with a deep breath prior he spoke up to as loud as he could. “Captain Himitsu is completely correct. We are at our strongest when we stand together. However it’s more than just standing together. It’s sticking up for one another and reaching out to bring those who aren’t at their strongest up to their highest potential. We’ve all got to be there for one another. Same as I have with my squad, same as I’m certain Captain Himitsu has been. Squad 13 already knows but Squad 7 know this, Ludwig took a moment to look at Himitsu specifically before returning to both squads. [/color] “If you should ever need aid in any matter those of us at Squad 13, myself included, will stand with you. We are at our best together, so let’s keep it that way between our squads as well as within them!!” [/color]

Ludwig flashed Himitsu a smile of his own, as large as he could make it and with as much sincerity behind it as he could find in himself. This was his moment to spread that mindset of helping one another like family. It seemed like his new companion already followed this idea in his own squad so why not put the offer on the table? The worst they could do is be in a spot where his squad’s aide wasn’t needed. And if they ever needed his help Ludwig and his squad would be there in a heartbeat. The ball was in Himitsu’s court now. All Ludwig could do was continue being there for his squad in the meantime and right now cheering alongside them was exactly what he’d be doing.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

148 paragraphs / 2 = 74 x 10 = 740 TP for both participants