A Lure in Reaper's Clothing [JT]

[Celes Castellanos]

The atmosphere of the Seireitei was that of a peaceful one. It was early in the morning so nobody actually was awake and doing much of anything. As usual, however, around the Training Grounds, Celes could be seen doing her daily training. Celes regiment consisted of a number of different styles. There were the Soul Reaper styles that she trained in being Zanjutsu, Hohou and Hakuda. Then there was her regular martial style that was based off Baguazang, being a form of Kung Fu.

As she trained, the ground would shake and the targets would rumble. Celes would circle the targers with Baguazang as she used this stance as the conduit for her rhythmic fighting style. She would quickly speed up and slow down, appear and reappear as she practiced with Shunpo, and dig into her targets with her twin katana. Admittedly, it was a hefty regiment that required her utmost concentration and effort if she was to get better at it. That was her goal after all. To train and get better.

As the time of day began to shift into the noon hours, she was sweating and overall just gasping for air. As the Shinigami relaxed, she realized that she needed something to get her mind off of everything. The way she was gonna do it, though was a little different than usual. There is one part of being a Shinigami that she did not explore all too much. She was now a 3rd Seat and didn't really perform any missions or necesarrily true work for the Soul Society. Most of the time she was working on her own things. 

Before she did any work, she had to get ready. She headed back into her room of Squad 11 and took some time to sleep off her exhaustion. This was exactly what the Shinigami needed as when her eyes opened, she popped up almost immediately and was ready to start the day for real. That being said, she slipped Yunorashi along her sash where she normally kept it, sheathing the twin katana. With a smile she then proceeeded to head out into the greater Seireitei, looking for a job.

For someone looking for a job though, Celes was not doing a very good job of it. it seemed that most Squads had little work to do and even when she did find some work to do, it was either something she felt was beneat her set of skills or something that she simply was not able to or simply was not qualified for.  This is why Celes was particularly annoyed that Squad 11 had a Vice Captain, but he never showed up. He could have potentially had a job for her, but nobody was there to give her one. 

Reaching a set of stairs, she just sat down on the pearl white flight of stairs that extended to the side in a lengthy manner. Why were these stairs so large anyway? Oh well, a topic for another day as she just decided to lay back and think about what she could do. Maybe if she was lucky, someone would pick up on the fact that she was bored and overall had nothing to do. Perhaps they would have a job for her. After all, Celes had gone to every place to actually seek out a mission so maybe someone could pass it on.
 
As she looked up, she noticed a Shinigami run up to her, clearly out of breath. Her appeared to be a courier of sorts and a grunt at that. Either way, Celes let him catch his breath, admittedly a little amused at how uneven it was. How out of shape was he? Then again, Celes couldn't really comment on it. She was rather durable and athletic now, although she was not always so. It was then that as he finally was able to talk, he explained to Celes that she was assigned a mission.

Celes blinked and nodded as he ran off, supposedly to deliver more messages. Celes then realized that she had been going about it rather wrong and did not have the best understand of their mission system. For the future she knew atleast. Apparently she was supposed to be working with some other girl. Minu? No Mizu was her name. Celes sighed as she walked off to the Senkaimon as she imagined that is where they all would meet. Celes hoped that Mizu had more information on what to do then she did.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Mizu was in a foul mood. Not that anyone would be able to tell. The woman looked...anxious if nothing else as she waited for the group to show up. She was always anxious on these missions. Unfortunately, she had managed to feed recently. Which of course meant that she was in a fairly good mood. But that also meant that she'd have to wait again before any...unfortunate accidents could occur. She'd have to rely on what little time she could get consuming hollows when she was alone, that or using her Bankai to consume them.

She paused as she waited for the unseated to show up that she'd be more or less looking after. Looking down at the zanpaku'to and feeling an anxiety in the back of her head. She still wasn't very fond of this damn thing. This Asauchi. She was fortunate that she'd been able to see her Captain's bankai, to actually figure out the intricacies behind it. But it had been...unusual. She had assumed she could just work her way around it. But she'd actually had to subjugate that damn twin of hers.

A sigh escaped from her, and she gently rubbed her eyelids, her face....gentle, despite the hatred inside of her. That same stern, troubled look often garnered the attention of a lot of her squad mates. Disgusting filth. But it served her purpose for them to react this way. She looked up in time to see the shinigami that would be working with her, and she smiled sheepishly. And of course, as it always did, her sheer fear fueled her acting. That nervousness, the uncertainty. It all twisted and turned into this sort of sheepish, slightly clumsy woman that her squad had fallen in love with.

"Hey, you're Third Seat Shindazu, right? I'm from Squad Ten. Er.....Acting....Captain....Mizu Tsuraiko" She murmured a bit under her breath. The dislike for the position was... a little obvious. But as the only one in her squad with Bankai, it was what it was, at least until a New Captain was appointed. "You've been assigned to join me on a mission. We'll be heading to the world of the living. Uhm...." She paused for a moment.

She looked around until she noticed her Hell Butterfly sleeping on a wall. She frowned, gently bumping it with her finger, jostling it awake and causing it to fly to her shoulder, as another would similarly fly over to Celes's shoulder. "There's been a few reports in the world of the Living. There was a big battle between Quincy and some of the local Spirituals. A lot of civillians died in the cross fire. It's a pretty big city, so there's a lot of them." She explained.

Of all the missions to get at a time like this, she looked anxious. That regret that THIS couldn't have been one of her binges simply came off as her being nervous about the mission. "The battle drew in a lot of hollow. So we need to clean up the hollows in the area, and then guide the pluses to the soul society." She explained, glancing up st Celes and smiling. "Simple right? I really hope I don't get in your way too much." What a fucking shame it'd be if she died.

[Celes Castellanos]

Celes was the type to take her time to reach a place. It was not out of spite or disinterest. She just genuinely did not know what the nature of the mission was. What did not help was the one who delivered the message in the first place. She would have appreciate some kind of briefing, but it seemed that good people were so hard to find these days. As she walked, the Shinigami simply closed her eyes. She needed to relax. After all she was a 3rd Seat now. She had to play a little more role model now.

As Celes reached the Senkaimon, she noticed that a lot of people were around. Only naturally so. The Kido Corps being required to open the Senkaimon and anyone else who was sent on this mission would collect around here. It seemed that one girl in particular stood out. She was a rather beautiful woman with short aqua-colored hair. Her appearance immediately made Celes curious. She had never seen hair like that before at least not the color. As they locked eyes, it seemed that she took special interest in her.

"Hey, you're Third Seat Shindazu, right? I'm from Squad Ten. Er.....Acting....Captain....Mizu Tsuraiko" Celes admittedly chuckled a little and placed her hand up in response. "Please. Formalities are not necessary with me. You can call me Celes. If it is all right with you, I will just address you as Mizu." Celes smiled and did her best to be as friendly as possible. Not that it was a façade. The Shinigami just genuinely disliked being called by her last name solely. It just did not resonate with her.

She then saw Mizu move and tap the Jigokuchō. More commonly known as a Hell Butterfly, these little critters served as informants within the Soul Society and very important for travel through the Senkaimon. There was something about the elegance and beauty of these butterflies that Celes oh so adored. She could not place her finger on it, but as one landed on Mizu and an accompanying butterfly landed on Celes' shoulder, the 3rd Seat could not help, but smile a little.

Actually now that she thought about it, it was interesting that Mizu was the Acting Captain of the 10th Squad. Not that Celes had ever really met someone from that squad, but she was not aware of Mizu's traditional rank and as such it made it difficult to pinpoint just where her skills were. Either way, the Shinigami would just smile at Mizu. It seemed that Mizu had more information to reveal to Celes, something the 3rd Seat of Squad 11 certainly did appreciate.

"There's been a few reports in the world of the Living. There was a big battle between Quincy and some of the local Spirituals. A lot of civillians died in the cross fire. It's a pretty big city, so there's a lot of them." Celes' eyes widened and Mizu would see her become visibly excited. After all, she never really went up against a Quincy. How would they fare in battle she wondered. It did seem as though Celes hopes were a little crushed as through Mizu's next comment, there was implication that the Quincy had already left.

It seemed that there mission was more Hollow related as well as a search and recue effort as Mizu added. "The battle drew in a lot of hollow. So we need to clean up the hollows in the area, and then guide the pluses to the soul society." Celes was a little more visibly downed, but she just accepted the fact that it would involve Hollows. One of the only races, Celes actually showed true murderous intent to. After all, it was a Hollow that tried to attack her after she died from the car incident during her time alive.

Celes raised an eyebrow at Mizu, however, as it seemed that the other Shinigami had some misgivings about her own ability. Celes neared her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Mizu. I'm sure you are acting captain of Squad 10 for a reason. I don't know the specifics about the structure of your Squad right now, but for all intents and purposes, I'm sure that we will do just fine. Have faith in your own ability." Celes smiled and grinned at Mizu which soon became a giggle.

It seems that the niceties were coming to an end, however, as the Senkaimon was beginning to be opened. As it did so, Celes would look at the large stand contain an emerging portal. Holding on to the sheath of her Zanpakutou, the Shinigami gave another cheeky grin to Mizu. "Race you there!" Celes had was in a playful mood and just wanted to have fun with this. After all, she was coming down from the training in the morning and wanted this to be a relaxing mission where she could hopefully carve into Hollows.

After her little remark towards Mizu, she ran through the Senkaimon as the Hell Butterfly helped her naturally make it a peaceful trip. It was then that Celes would notice a brighter light as she ended up in what would be the World of the Living. Standing in the entrance either waiting for Mizu or having to catch up to the other Shinigami, it didn't really matter which, Celes would wait for Mizu to give an order. After all even as acting Captain, she was the superior to Celes on this mission.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Mizu blinked, and was.....briefly surprised when Celes talked about 'not worrying about formalities', as if she were the ranking officer here. She blinked owlishly, briefly confused until she ....sortof just watched the woman, and smiled sheepishly. What the fuck was with this bitch? Listening to Celes giggle her brains out, what a fucking kiss-ass. The Friendliness just making her fel fucking Sick. Was this bitch fucking stupid?

She decided to focus on the damn mission instead. the Sooner that they could get this over with the better. but she had to stay profession. Thanks to these fucking rules. She nodded slowly and went on with her epxlanation. Which apparently seemed to confuse and disappoint her subordinate. A notion which caused her to pause for a moment as she saw the girl process the mission. Why did she suddenly get all bummped when she found they'd just be fighting hollows?

and then it fucking hit her. This stupid cunt was sad about not getting to fight quincy. And instead having to fight hollows. And in the pit of her stomach, despite the soft, warm, understanding smile on her face. She fucking hated this woman. As if cleansing the souls of the tormented was BENEATH her. But all the same, she tilted her head as the woman gave her some assurance, garnering another smile from Mizu. "I sure hope so. B-...ah..." She blinked.

When Celes suddenly started to turn to start their little 'Race'. She'd fine Mizu's hand gently grasping her shoulder, stopping her. Her expression still a bit nervous, but now there was just a hint of authority to her tone. "Celes. I understand your eagerness to get through with this mission. And ....I also appreciate you being so supportive. But this isn't a game." She noted, her brows furrowing a little as she gave Celes a look of firm, worrying concern as she stepped ahead of the woman and then glanced over her shoulder at the girl.

"Please focus on the mission. Keep your wits about you. And try to keep your head on right. This will be an area with multiple hostiles, and we may get attacked as soon as we go in. I need you to focus." She informed the woman. While under normal circumstances she would be fine with this woman walking straight into a fucking cero. Her last mission had NOT gone well. Just before her 'quasi-promotion', she'd had a mission where almost her whole damn deployment team had been wiped out.

The only ones who had survived were her and one shinigami who was still in a Coma. She needed this mission to succeed. She couldn't have shinigami die TOO often on her missions. And if this stupid cunt died on the mission, that just meant she'd need more successful missions to take suspicion off her. So as much as she fucking hated it, she was going to have to babysit this sack of shit. Which, ironically meant she had to be a good Acting-Captain, show some leadership. And actually have to focus on keeping this girl alive.

What a fucking pain in her ass.

Once they Actually made it through the Senkaimon. The scene that they walked in on was pretty dismal. Almost immediately they would be able to see the sheer carnage. Reiatsu fire was evertywhere, they could hear the cries of upsetted Plusses in the area. And already they would be able to see a series of slying hollows circling overhead, already getting ready to swoop down on the pluses down below.

Tension was high. (Music)

Mizu drew her zanpaku'to and turned her attention to Celes. Suddenly serious as she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Celes. You have a physical Zanpaku'to. It has a defensive ability right? Get down there to the center of the carnage where the most Pluses are. Defend them from any hollows that close in. You keep the Pluses Safe and I'll deal with the Airborne Hollows. And keep an eye out for hollows coming in from around you on the ground." She suddenly commanded.

She knew that Celes, having looked up a bit of info on her before this little thing, had some sort of spear and shield? There wasn't a TON of information. Only a few who had seen her using her shikai in training. The best thing for this woman to do was protect the VIP pluses in the middle. She herself would have to kill these fucking hollow for the time being. Tch. This place was a madhouse. But... at the very least, she could imagine getting the flyers to die. She might even be able to isolate herself with a few... If she could kill a few, and then draw the rest off to the side with her. She could kill them out of Celes's sight and have herself a snack.

She didn't let the smile in her heart show on her face. The notion of getting to eat a little was exciting to say the least. She'd just have to keep her ES out for Celes. The last thing she needed was the dumb bitch getting killed while she was protecting the pluses. That was one of the reasons she had pulled in a Third Seat for an operation like this. IT wasn't a massively horribly dangerous one. But it was dangerous enough. A Third seat would give her peace of mind. She could, hopefully, trust Celes not to fucking die. Or so she hoped.

Assuming that Celes accepted her role. Mizu would promptly hold her Zanpaku'to across her other palm. Her shinigami reiatsu SPIKING as she narrowed her eyes. Without even having to say the name of her zanpaku'to, or the pre-release phrasing, her zanpaku'to twisted into existence. A sudden ripple of water shredding the air around her zanpaku'to as it blurred, elongating before finally forming a long trident , water twisting around her as her spiritual pressure ROARED outward, promptly snaring the attention of the airborn hollows.

With one last glance at Celes, to make sure she was following her orders. Mizu would then vanish with a shunpo. Of sorts. Her focus on one of the hollows up in the air. A low-flying buzzard hollow of some kind that was closer than any of the others. She blitzed forward. She wasn't expecially fast. but that didn't mean that the hollow was able to see the attack that suddenly happened in the middle of the step. Orina coming to a stop just on the other side of the beast.

There was a brief delay, an instant, before suddenly the hollow screamed, it's mask RIPPING in haldf, bursting with blood as it's head rocked back from an uppercut slash cleaving it's head in two, and then a nother horizontal slash promptly ripped through the hollow from behind. Senka. A two-pronged attack that promptly ended the hollow's life, causing it to drop to the ground. Of course she hadn't killed it entirely. A second glance showed that it's thick skull had been JUST dense enough for it to survive.

She narrowed her eyes, looking down to the ground as the severely crippled hollow writhed on the ground, clutching it's slashed skull, and remaining on the ground thanks to it's severed spine. Well. Not the best, but she could finish it off later. The hollow was neutralized for now. Her eyes then shifted to the rest of the hollows and she began darting off in their direction. Preparing herself to engage the rest of them. Already trying to find an ideal strategy in her mind to make sure that she could get at least a few of these fuckers in her stomach.

[Celes Castellanos]

The Shinigami who was pivoting on her foot seemed to be stopped by her superior for this mission as she seemed to grab Celes. With a serious tone, Mizu responded to Celes' action. "Celes. I understand your eagerness to get through with this mission. And ....I also appreciate you being so supportive. But this isn't a game." Atleast the 3rd Seat could put up a nice act as she had no reason to hate Mizu. She would just nod and chuckle. After all, she wanted to dig into some Hollows. At her heart, she was a fighter and that need would be quenched.

As Mizu stepped in front of her, Celes took note of what she was saying. Her little talk with Celes was dreadfully mundane and something Celes had heard before. Once again she nodded although Mizu did bring up a good point. Celes did need to keep her wits about her lest she wished to become food for these hollows. In some ways it was an interesting situation she found herself in. This mission was a defense mission involving the protection of pluses, yet she would get to kill Hollows. Or alteast them. Celes' Shikai made it difficult to purify due to it being a spear.

As the two Shinigami ended up walking through the Senkaimon, Celes was genuinely surprised just show severe the situation was. Placed just seemed to burn, the streets were ravaged and Hollows were about. It seemed that there were some on the ground yet others actually flew around. These in particular may prove to be an issue for Celes. After all, she was very much a physical fighter and it seemed that Mizu understood this as she began to address Celes for the purposes of what job she had for this mission. It would need to be coordinated after all.

She heard her comrade continue. "Celes. You have a physical Zanpaku'to. It has a defensive ability right? Get down there to the center of the carnage where the most Pluses are. Defend-" That was all that Celes needed to hear. Before another word was said, she just drew one of her Zanpakutou. After all, fighting full on at first was not as much fun. Celes would drop through the air and land in front of a Hollow who was preparing to assault one of the Pluses. Celes looked back at the group and gave a reassuring smile. She was here to protect them after all.

With a large claw, the Hollow reached forward, trying to atleast grab the Shinigami. It understood that Celes was armed and overall a much larger threat. With a swift strike and a smirk, the Shinigami would promptly cut the Hollow's arm clean off. As it reeled back in pain, Celes quickly rose above it and struck down on its mask. The bonelike white mask would then split as the actual Hollow itself faded into a cloud of dust, now only a distant memory to those who saw it get bested. After all, Celes was no slouch when it came to fighting.

Before engaging with the other Hollows, Celes even with her lower ability in sensory noted this sudden spike of reiatsu. The acting captain, Mizu, was rather impressive as it seemed that the water she generated simply became a trident for her to wield against the airborne Hollows. She watched as she with decently impressive speed, split the mask open and blood seeped from the wound. It was odd as the Hollow had not been purified. Perhaps it was just the actual thickness of hardness of the mask that made it so durable.

Drawing her attention back to the task at hand, the Shinigami would pay close attention to a certain Hollow. Appearing much like a scorpion, the Hollow had a long stinger, dangerous claws and furthermore, it was charging a Cero. Once again, Celes smiled at the group of Pluses. it was nice for them to see a look of safety and reassurance. As the Cero was about to launch, Celes spoke calmly. "I recommend you watch out. This is about to get intense." Celes was left thinking about what she could do, but she suddenly had an idea.

Those of her physical strength were bestowed unnatural durability, but also offensive capability. Grabbing the tsuka of her Zanpakutou with two hands, the Shinigami suddenly breathed in calmly and unleashed a powerful slash. This slash was indeed so powerful that the actual motion itself began to manifest, being given physical form. Celes was able to see the distortion form upon use and rocket towards the Cero. It seemed that the two were somewhat equal in ability. The Cero and the shockwave collided, dissipating into thin air as both seemed to cancel one another out.

The Scorpion-hollow looked surprised and just decided that there needed to be another way to approach this. It began rushing at the group. It's large claw extended and ready to grab Celes, the Shinigami just shook her head and actually used a Shunpo, but during the Shunpo, she had sliced off the top part of the claw. As a result, she quickly jumped up and slashed at the actual joint of the stinger with force. It was different, but she could definitely break the carapace of the Hollow. it was tough, but her strength was so much more than what it could handle.

As the tail became severed, Celes went and quickly unsheathed her other Zanpakutou and as she fell, she impaled the mask of the Hollow once again making it reel in agony. Celes would push in a little deeper as her blade then soon heard a crunch. The Hollow was beginning to dissipate and Celes stood there triumphantly. It was then that she saw a group approaching. With a sigh Celes simply dug her Zanpakutou into the ground. She began to chant something calmly. "By blood may my spear earn its name. By Aries, may my shield carry my broken body home. Name me the Goddess of War, Yunorashi."

In a sudden burst of light and a little bit of fire, Celes revealed her Shikai. It consisted of an impressive shield with a spartan symbol on it. It was padded on some of the sides and seemed to boast an impressive defense from size alone. It ran along her forearm and protected it. Sticking in the ground was no longer a blade, but in fact a spear with a decorative ribbon. The spear itself despite appearing somewhat aged and weathered had its kicked tipped by Celes. Even with her impressive strength, the spear did not even shake.

As her Zanpakutou were now in her hands, she smiled as she could not wait to get into this fight. Her Shikai was representative of the literal aspect of war, Aries. How could she not fight and try he best to kill all these Hollows if she got the chance. With a grin she assumed a defensive stance in which she held the spear above her shield and proclaimed loudly. "May any Hollow dare to lay even a scratch or a finger upon these souls, I will personally make sure that you do not see the light of day. Now tell me. Who is ready to face war itself?" Celes boasted loudly yet not without reason as she waited for the group to approach her.

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Celes's attack was very impressive to say the least, and the pluses that had been wailing and sobbing seemed to calm slightly as the mysterious feudal warrior appeared and quickly dispatched the hollow that was closest to them. already some of the further off Pluses attempted to start heading toward Celes, those that weren't chained to anything that is. It soon was apparent that they would be relying on Celes to be a rallying point for their safety.

OF course, the hollows that moved in were promptly SMOOSHED .The air suddenly seeming to QUAKE as the hollows infront of Celes suddenly just were CRUNCHED. as if flattened by some invisible force Though Celes would barely be able to make out the outline of....something MASSIVE. Some huge creature. And just below that hulking thing, seemed to be a hollow. Eyes glowing yellow as a ong naga-like old man slithered toward her, hunched forward, but still monster-like, with long drooping white hair, and a mask like some japanese play. Slithering forth as the barely-visible beast stomped forward as well.

Those eyes fixated on the shinigami, and a soft, low, wheezing "Heeeeheeheeheehee. Well well. Another whipper snapper to teach a lesson to." The hollow would rasp, holding it's hands behind it's back, like some old martial artists getting ready to spar with one of his pupils. Only Celes would see that mass shift, suddenly something opening up. The only warning she'd get was the air suddenly being sucked toward the hollow, the force whistling around her. Just before...

She likely wouldn't even hear the actual roar. As that suddenl explosive wave of sound would hit her with tremendous force, possibly even knocking her down as the sound would immediately attempt to burst her eardrums, so that rather than the roar itself, just a sudden loud, high-pitched keen of her hearing being blown out, an attack designed to eliminate her sense of balance by popping her inner ears. The pluses around her would fall to the ground, alive, but silently crying out as they clutched their heads. As a long, centipede-like hollow would begin crawling in from the other side, attempting to snatch some of the pluses while Celes was distracted.

---

Mizu herself was having more trouble than she'd expected as well. The first hollow had been easy as pie to deal with. But this was Karakura. Not only were hollows plentiful. But they were strong. Three aerial hollows already were closing in on her. One of which was some sort of Winged bird. Another was a long, eastern dragon type thing. And of course a third, was some sort of Insect. All closing in after they had seen her take down the weaker hollow from before. Now that the shinigami had shown up, MANY of the weaker hollow seemed to just...bounce.

As if coordinated, the fodder just got the hell out of there, instead seeking to pick off the pluses out in the outskirts, and let their stronger bretheren deal with the shinigami themselves as they tried to pick up scraps. Highly unusual behavior for just normal fodder. Which made it clear that this was some sort of group. With those bigger, stronger hollows taking up a sort of leadership role. Orina actually recognized some of it. Whenever she had her brief journeys to Hueco Mundo, she often found it convenient to force some of the weaker hollows to do as she said. Tch.

The first hollow that charged in was that dragon. It's body weaving and warping as it moved toward her, racing in with it's mouth wide. For just a moment that maw opened, a Cero charging, nothing too difficult. And Orina raized Shinkai, ready to deal with it. However, out of the side of her vision, her sharp ES caught something else. A ripple. One she knew VERY well. Ulcera. She darted her eyes over in time to see that fucking bird vanish into thin air, pushing into some unseen door. FUCK. She crouched, getting ready, making as if she was going to block that cero Head on.

And at the very last moment, she blurred, her body zipping up into the air, as that cero roared past where she was a moment before, and as she did, that Bird suddenly spilled out of the Ulcera, a hail of feathers peppering down around the spot as well. A startled squawk escaping it as it seemed surprised that she had noticed the tactic they had been employing. This was a problem. If they were coordinating, then it would be way too easy for them to overwhelm her. And so she twisted her trident, spinning it through her fingers.

After that there was a loud WHOOSH as water outright EXPLODED. Up in the air, even from where celes was, she would see an absolute EXPLOSION of water, bursting outward from the Acting Captain as suddenly the water suddenly filled out, stopping just shy of the air above Celes's head. That water stopping and twisting around, filling a massive 40 meter wide sphere in the sky, completely encapsuling the three hollows in that huge massive ball of almost-black water. Deep green water you might expect on stormy seas. Completely hiding those inside. Though Celes could still see a bit of the water on the outside, able to see maybe about meters in.

Of course on the inside, Orina was just as blind. but well, the difference being that she was able to sense and FEEL the location of everything inside of that Sphere of water. The three hollows suddenly panicking, holding their breath, unaware that they could actually breathe in this sphere of water. Of course, Orina knew this. She twisted, floating in the water as she slashed with her trident. A blade of water suddenly LANCING out, streaking through the depths.

The Phoenix bird that had been firing feathers at her wouldn't even be able to see the thin current in the water lancing toward her, shearing clean through the hollow's body, severing one of it's wings and making it shriek out, the noise completely smothered by the water anyway other than a low-frequency blubbing. Just as Orina lanced in from her old position, streaking in through the darkness and slamming her Trident into the hollow's spine, bursting in and stabbing clean through.

There was a sudden mix of red in the water, piercing clean through the hollow's body through it's middle as the thing thrashed just a little. Before she whispered softly, only allowing the hollow to hear her. "Bankai." There was a MUCH bigger explosion of reiatsu. What FELT like a Class 1 reiatsu almost as she unleashed her Bankai. Her trident dissolving into bubbles as something much more dangerous SLAMMED into the bird from above. 40 feet long, it opened it's mouth and CHOMPED the Hollow, whipping it's head about and CHOMPING clean through it's body, swallowing it as the beast was promptly mutilated.

The remains of the bird thrashed around. Now missing one half ot it's body. IT opened it's beak, a defiant cero forming in it's mouth as it attempted to fire where the beast had been a moment before. Not that it would be there. Both the beast and Orina could sense that Cero. The big whale vanished into thin air, slipping into an ulcera as that cero roared out. Celes down below would see that beam shooting out of that globe of water, foring off into the air, even slicing a VERY unlucky flying hollow in half.

Inside the water, that leviathan of a bankai simply spilled back into reality just beside the hollow. Mouth agape, and CHOMPING down on the hollow's head. Finally finishing it off as those wings beat against it's face, trying to slice it up, but failing against the thick armor that the leviathan was afforded. Her Bankai promptly ripping, chewing, and then swallowing the hollow whole. As in her mind, Orina could sense that the other two flying hollows had bumped into eachother. The Dragon and the insect seeming to now be sticking together, swimming around, trying to find the edge of the sphere. She didn't plan on letting them find it.

1 Class 4 Hollow consumed.

Old Man with Stand Hollow Stats Class 4

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 400 (800)
Speed: 250 (375)
Sppr: 220 (110)
RS: 80 (40)

LA/DA:20/80

Instinct: 130
Senses: 50
ES: 30
HE: 0

Skills:
Stealth II
Damage Recovery II
Hoho I

Centipede Hollow Class 5

SPOILER: Click to show

1100
Strength: 180 (225)
Speed: 150
Sppr: 390 (585)
RS: 60 (32)

LA/DA:20/80

Instinct: 130 (98)
Senses: 50
ES: 100
HE: 0

Skills:
Anti-Stealth II
Heat Resistance II
Battle Analysis I

[Celes Castellanos]

The Shinigami was feeling proud of herself as she carved through the many Hollows. Purifying them was not quite a sport for her, but it got pretty close. After all, what was better than going and sending abandoned spirits to the Soul Society. After all that's how Celes viewed Hollows. In a way she pitied them. Forced to fend for oneself, always on the hunt yet always at risk of being hunted. It was a terrible fate to befall anyone. It's why Shinigami existed. To protect the masses and rectify a wrong that was etched on these Hollows. 

After having performed this very service to the scorpion-like Hollow, she was waiting for more. This was exhilarating for her. There was something so wonderful about fighting after all. It put Celes at ease. As a member of Squad 11, she had garnered some attention as the type to always train and challenge others. She could have nice and less serious moments, but they were few and far between. Especially with how Mizu addressed her after her being more playful, this left Celes a little stoic as she just enjoyed the flow of combat and purifying souls. 

As she noted the group of Hollows approaching, Celes took her fighting stance with the shield and spear in hand until something seemed to happen. The group of hollows she had been waiting to fight were suddenly crushed under something that seemed much larger. Celes was admittedly intrigued by this. It was not often that Hollows seemed to have abilities like this. She was used to the Cero's and Bala's and other spiritual techniques, but this seemed rather forward and physical. Somewhat impressed, she locked eyes with a Hollow.

This Hollow seemed somewhat older and decrepit, hunched over and looking at Celes. This Hollow seemed to have a raspier voice befitting of his appearance.  "Heeeeheeheeheehee. Well well. Another whipper snapper to teach a lesson to." This Hollow then put his hands behind his back. Celes looked at him with a sense of greedy longing. This was what she waited for. Despite being a Hollow, this one seemed impressive and could truly match her in physical combat. She smirked and continued holding her stance.

As she held this stance, composed of an impressive frontal defense and a lethal reach weapon, the proud warrior bellowed. "Finally! Someone to test my skill against. Another foe to fall to my feet. I accept your challenge Hollow as a fellow warrior. Perhaps you will be able to make me sweat more than your kin." Celes was obviously referring to the Hollows she had just dispatched earlier. After all, they made her move and minorly exert herself, but they did not pose much of a threat to the physically fit Shinigami. This one was different though.

Celes could note the effigy above the Hollow seemingly preparing something. She was not completely caught off guard as her senses were able to pick up on the air swirling around her. She could not sense reaitsu very well as her sharp instincts kicked in. She reflexively raised her shield towards the effigy, expecting some kind of energy based attack. She was met with a surprise as her head began hurting. More specifically her ears. This air-based attack seemed to strike at the ears and Celes fell to one knee. She had plenty of experience with pain so it did not debilitate her completely, but it was certainly something.

Still holding her weapons in hand, she reflexively tried to protect what was still salvageable as she placed her hands atop her ears. What else was she supposed to do? This eased the pain somewhat, but the ringing continued. Celes looked around for something as she noticed a Centipede like Hollow crawling along the sides. Such a nasty combination. One Hollow would seek to incapacitate her, as another went in for a snack. This was an unfortunate predicament that this Shinigami was in. She could bite the bullet and go after the centipede, but leave her ears and hell herself wide open from the other Hollow.

On the other hand, there was this experienced Hollow. He was certainly a threat and needed to be taken out. If she focused on him, however, these pluses were doomed. Celes felt her willful fighting spirit and her heart be at odds. Could she be so heartless to abandon these pluses to a fate that was in some ways, worse than death. She cursed at herself weakly as this attack was beginning to drill into her ears. Such a nuisance. Uncovering her ears, once again in more pain, but becoming acclimated to it, the Shinigami quickly ran to the side.

It was unfortunate as the pain was digging into her ability to concentrate. She was running at a speed of 200, still quick for her, but she could go much quicker. Shew as going to attempt to kill this Centipede before it could do any significant harm. As it supposedly made its way over to these pluses, Celes kicked it up a notch actually Shunpo, carrying her at an incredible speed of 3500. As she hopefully whipped past the centipede Hollow, she would use her split-second reaction to stick the spear into its mask as she sped past, hopefully ripping horizontally through its mask.

This attack was intended to split its mask in two. If it hit, it would hopefully purify the Hollow before it would partake in an action that it would regret. Celes had a soft spot for the innocent and that is what these pluses were. Innocent. Simply caught up in issues far bigger than them. Hopefully she could take down this Hollow and that would give her time to focus on the old man. Of course if the Hollow reacted and she missed or god forbid, the spear skimmed across the mask and was not deep enough to cut and purify it. 

Shikai: 2/10

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

Celes would find that noise agonizing. Even though her hearing would be almost shot from that first blast, when she removed her hands to turn her attention on the Centipede, she wouldn't even hear the noise when she opened her ears back up. Nothing of the sort. The Roaring had stopped. And as she turned her attention to the Centipede and shunpo'd forth, that beast noticed the motion. It glanced up, eyes darting toward her. Of course, it moved it's body, angling it's head as Celes attacked.

But of course, the attack would not be as accurate as Celes hoped. With no particular skills in being creative with such attacks, the blade lanced across the lower body, a good foot away from her original target as the Centipede shifted. And even more, once that blade made contact, there was a soft cracking noise, before the side of the Centipede outright EXPLODED, a burst of reiatsu and shrapnel bursting out with a blinding light as little fragments of broken shell fired out like bullets with surprising force toward the Shinigai's body.

It would be then that shed feel the tremor of the Old man behind her, a soft whisper of a noise as the Old man was suddenly right behind her, and punched dead center toward the very center of her spine from behind. A brief instant later, the air around her would quake as the Invisible monster followed up, the air wavering around her as there was a WOOSH of air from above, and just as fast as the old man, something massive would try to stomp down to stamp her into the street below.

Of course, the Centipede itself, when the dust settled, would be quite injured. Despite initially seeming to have countered the attack, it was on the ground, bleeding from a slash... and the one that Celes had actually hit was....crumbling? Almost like it had left behind a double, the copy was breaking into little pieces as the actual centipede hissed in her direction. Still very much alive, but no longer focused on the Citizens that it had been intent on consuming.

---

Meanwhile in the midst of that massive Sphere of water, Mizu had run into a....problem. The damn Dragon had some sort of energy barrier around it. Again and again she slammed hr Bankau into it, but the damn thing didn't seem to want to crack. Annoying as that was. And even worse, the hollows had begun to realize that they could breathe within her sphere of water. An issue to say the least. Well that was not too big an issue. She closed her eyes and focused. Around that leviathan, water began to form in the air. Not like the water made from her Sphere, but real water that one could drown in.

As she made the water, it mixed seamlessly with the water around it, and began making its way around that barrier. She didn't know how permeable that shield was. But either it was air tight, or just a little air went in. But Either way, she formed a thick shell of water around it. Waiting patiently as she briefly swam over to the edge f the sphere to check in on Celes. Her Bankai swimming around the trapped hollows, waiting for them to panic and try to escape for the time being. Goodness knew what sort of nonsense they would try.

Once she got to the edge, she frowned as she saw the attacks heading in toward the Third seat. Not only that but she didn't seem like she was in the best shape. Dammit. Raising a hand, she pointed at them and fired. A wide blade of Water slashing out from the globe at a high speed, streaking in to slash at that giant half-invisible behemoth. Assuming that Celes was able to keep the thing in one place, that blade of water would be able to slice deep into the massive stand, drawing blood at the very least.

[Celes Castellanos]

As Celes went in for the kill, it seems that she had not only underestimated these Hollows, but it seemed as though her plan of attack was not as sound as she thought. Due to attempting to perform something she admittedly had very little practice with, Celes could not help, but be played by this Centipede. In fact, as it suddenly veered out of the way of Celes' blade, the Shinigami pouted, but something interesting did happen. While she did not hit the mask of the Hollow, the blade did indeed connect, but something was different. The carapace of this Hollow would begin to rumble.

As it did, Celes immediately felt numerous ripples of shrapnel pelt her body. The Shinigami could not help, but cough up a surprising amount of blood from this blow. Hollows of Karakura town certainly seemed to have all manner of fantastic and equally terrifying abilities. Being nothing to sneeze at, Celes breath was becoming shallower. Her tolerance to pain allowed her to resist a brunt of the effects from that shrapnel blast, but it still hurt like hell. It seems that fate was not too kind either as she suddenly felt a presence behind her. She may have gotten pelted by the former shrapnel, but this Hollow was not going to get the best of her. 

Celes' savage-like instinct kicked in almost immediately as she with impressive speed turned to face the martial Hollow. Bringing the shield in between the two of them. The fist that was originally aiming for her spinal cord was now careening into her shield. The shield did a pretty damn good job at resisting most of the pressure brought about from the incredible force that the Hollow was exerting upon it. It was then that Celes noticed the water that Mizu had created to suddenly spawn a gigantic blade that streaked across the sky. A lightbulb flashed inside Celes' head.

Celes was truly an experienced fighter and tried to make every effort to capitalize on stratagem and aid. As such, the Hollow making contact with Celes' shield would find chains forming quickly around his body. Additionally, it seemed that Celes' bulk was beginning to diminish slightly. The Shinigami was pouring her strength into chains that she was able to create using her Shikai. These chains would be thick in appearance and would wrap around the Hollow's body. Being that the invisible force and old man seemed to be linked to one another, Celes was hoping that it would immobilize both. 

Whether it did or not, Celes would take this time to act. Using the immobilized Hollow's body as a foothold, Celes would quickly use Shunpo to end back on the ground away from the danger. If the Hollow with his chains tried to struggle, he would find it immensely difficult to break them as if he struggled, they would become tighter and tighter. It was quite the conundrum. To focus against the chains that bound you, only finding them to become tighter and tighter as your breath became ragged. There was one thing that could end war. Hope and will. These chains constrained and would break ones will.

Now feeling herself all comfortable on the ground, she would hopefully watch Mizu's blade strike at the invisible force. Celes hoped that this would end the Hollow although she was hoping to fight it more. It was turning out to be a damn good opponent. It seems that Celes was in for a surprise as she fell to one knee, a little out of breath as her body began to stain the battlefield with blood from the damn shrapnel of this centipede. She needed to protect these pluses. Not only because it was her duty, but she swore that those who could not protect themselves needed someone as a vanguard.

Her thoughts were put on hold, however as she noticed something incredibly interesting. It seemed that the Centipede was alive, if not a little worse for wear. Though it almost appeared that there were two centipedes. One was a crumbling shell while the other was the original. Celes simply did not know this technique and as such she just rationalized it as the centipede molting to try and save itself. Celes looked at it as it began to hiss in her direction. It seemed that this Hollow was more preoccupied with her now as she gave it a proper wound.

It was then that the Shinigami would take a defensive stance as the other Hollow hopefully got split in half or atleast injured as it struggled against the impressive chains that Celes had formed. Her shield in front of her with her spear right above it, Celes took a wide stance, ready to take this damn Hollow on. She fiercely roared and chuckled. "Hollow. You live for now, but come and face me. Meet the embodiment of war and fall to it like all the rest." Celes was the proud warrior type and she was calling out this Centipede to face her directly. Only time would tell if it did.

Bound by Chains
Chain Durability (OS): 1000
Celes New Strength: 500

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

As Celes started to turn toward the Martial Hollow, it would be then that she felt two things. The lack of an impact on the shield. As she had turned around to face the old man, she had not taken into account, or perhaps simply not been aware that the old man, was surprisingly stealthy. After that brief flare of reiatsu to alert her of his presence, when she turned to block the attack, he had moved with her, slipping around her as she turned to respond to his attack. Suddenly she would not be aware of where he was as those stealth skills kicked in.

The Old man twisted mid-air, and was about to slam his knee into the shinigami's shoulder when those chains suddenly launched up and into the air to suddenly bind the massive invisible beast above them. And when those chains locked around the beast above, that old man was suddenly locked in place, as if the chains were binding him as well, just in time for that lance of water to streak in and slash through the beast's shoulders, catching him off guard as that blade of water slashes clean across the big invisible beast's back, a matching wound ripping across the old man's back as the both of them toppled to the ground in a big WOOSH of air and dust.

Of course, the Centipede hollow took his opportunity.... to lance after the pluses that remained unprotected. Unlike the old man Hollow, this one seemed dead-set on eating rather then engaging the shinigami, and the air around it crackled as thick spikes promptly fired from the hollow's mouth, speeding out and aiming to spear some of the pluses to the ground as no less than five massive spears shot from it's mouth. Hoping that the shinigami would cut the losses and shepherd the survivors away.

---

Mizu wasn't really able to enjoy the sight of the hollow being brought down. She had not been paying attention to the hollows that supposedly would be drowning in their little shield. Distracted by the hollows Celes had been fighting, it was then that that hollow dragon suddenly charged at her from behind. Immediately startled as she suddenly turned around, tensed and alert as she saw that the shield was down.

A Dead insectoid hollow on the inside, abandoned by the dragon hollow. DAMMIT! She turned just in time to avoid one of those claws, wincing as blood ripped across her back and she gritted her teeth from the feeling of her Lure being injured! She twisted, and swung her trident, a blade of water lancing out and slicing through the dragon's flank as it reeled on her for another attack. Far back, her LEviathan vanished into thin air, using an Ulcera while hidden in the depths of that dark water.

A Moment later, the air opened up as the big beast tore it's way from thin air, mouth agape and latching onto the hollow from above as the Dragon's maw opened up. A fucking CERO! She felt a brief panick in her soul as that beam aimed right for her! She raised that trident, panicked, and raised it to block just in case. In the very same moment, her Bankai WRENCHED, ripping at the Dragon's body and jerking it off it's aim, that cero flying wild, cleaving through the globe of water and streaking around the sky, burning down several nearby flying hollows in the wild shot!

Mizu lunged in and stabbed her trident into the scaly throat of the hollow and narrowed her eyes. She then fired one of her Water blades into it's throat, cleaving it's head from the rest of it's long body as the hollow began to thrash as it was killed, her Leviathan tearing it away from her as she clutched at her back, panting, wincing a little as she watched the hollow getting dragged off toward deeper waters, as new fresh drownable water began pouring from the leviathan, crushing the dragon in from all sides as it was consumed.

Mizu herself wincing, looking around, and tensing a bit as she made note that the other hollows had begun to run off, the weaker ones at least. All the same she was left a panting mess, trying to ignore the pain of the injury she'd managed to accrue. Fuck. And not only that, but as her Leviathan took to eating the two hollows, she was sorely dissappointed in the actual quality of them. They had been strong sure, and she had only managed to kill them by outright hiding in her globe of water and drowning one of them, and then managing to double team the other with her Bankai. But being hollows, they barely sated her in the slightest. And she cursed herself for that.

With the two main hollows dealt with, her leviathan burst from the sphere of water and launched itself outward to begin striking down the other ambient hollows. Searing lances of water firing out in succession to try and down some of the ones that were too slow in running away, as the globe of water fell to the earth in a massive deluge, and Mizu was ferried to the ground by some of the ambient water she'd created, panting a little as she supported herself with her lance and looked around, having lost her bearings as she looked around for Celes. Where had that muscle head gone off to?

1 class 2 hollow consumed
1 class 3 hollow consumed

[Celes Castellanos]

It seemed that despite the efforts to defend against the elderly vesssel, Celes did not account for his Tai Chi like motions of mothign with her. Thankfully it all still seemed to work quite well as the beast was still bound tightly by her infernal chains. That was the beauty of the skill. It could break the wills of even the strongest opponents since the chains would actually tighten in response to resistance, shattering hope. It seemed that Mizu came through as she watched the ensuing damage.

The water seemed to deal quite the blow as an accompanying wound was dealt to the imposing form. Hopefully this would keep them tied up for a bit as Celes focused her mind on the task at hand. The pluses that they were originally supposed to save were continuiously being assaulted by this centipede Hollow. With the distance between the Hollow and Celes, she realized that some simply were resigned to their fate. Celes may have been a physical powerhouse, but there was certainly strength in these numbers.

Deciding to alteast do something, she knelt to the floor and in a burst of speed, dashed at towards the group. Perhaps she could atleast try to rally some behind her. Making up the ground pretty quickly at a speed of 350, the Shinigami would call out to the Pluses. "Rally behind me!" With that, Celes would draw nearer and quickly grab her spear. With her weapon in hand and her shield in position, she waited for the Pluses to follow her orders and go behind her. In battle, angles and directions of attack were vital.

As the Pluses began running to her, she watched as some of them got speared by the spikes that the Hollow sent out. She looked away for the briefest of moments in a degree of shock, but steeled herself. She needed to stay and fight. If Mizu could reach her and help her out, they could most likely defend themselves against these two Hollows. The Shinigami would sigh and prepare herself. The old man should be out of comission for a bit still as she made eye contact with this Centipede.

Yet as she looked at it, her vision did become slightly blurry. Despite being hardened and actually being rather durable, the alarming effects of battle and fatigue began to try and lure her in. The shrapnel of the Centipede Hollow also certainly left its mark as blood began to pool from her wounds, dripping onto the floor and staining the battlefield in its red cloak. Such was battle. Such was war, the aspect that Celes represented. Ontop of this, she was in a way alone against these two until Mizu showed up. 

Needing to focus on the now, the Shinigami took a stance. It was a defensive stance, but if the Hollow showed aggression and moved in towards her, Celes would react quickly. Waiting until the last second, the Shinigami would lean forward and unleash a devastating repition of spear strikes towards the Hollow. They would hit quickly and mercilessly at the cost of Celes' stamina. It was a taxing ability due to its speed and quantity. Either way, in the case that the Hollow did not strike at her, she would maintain her distance and try to protect these pluses.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Flurry of Spears}
Technique Name: Flurry of Spears

Technique Type: [Physical]

Usable By: Shinigami

Technique Element: [None]

Technique Description and Effects: Celes begins by taking a backward leaning stance where she brings her shield forward and her spear arm behind it. While assuming this stance, she can only move a max of 150 speed. Once prepared, Celes leans forward and unleashes a flurry of spear strikes at a speed of 600 right in front of her. These spear strikes each strike with her OS and strike so fast that it almost appears that multiple sets of them strike at once. Flurry of Spears has the potential to leave opponents with numerous wounds and impalements. This flurry occurs in a 5ft cone in front of her. and consists of a set of 25 spear strikes.

Technique Drawbacks: Flurry of Spears comes with a few weaknesses. The technique while not demanding reiatsu is incredibly taxing on Celes' stamina. Using this technique applies a stamina drain to her equivalent to 3 posts of moving at 400 speed. Naturally this primarily applied to her upper body. This technique also demands that Celes remain stationary and it only strikes right in front of her as she cannot turn while it is being used. This allows fast opponents or ranged opponents to outmaneuver

[“Mizu Tsuraiko" Orina]

The Centipede watched as the few pluses began to rally behind Celes. It narrowed it's eyes at her behind it's mask, and it eyed the humans that had fallen. As she attempted to protect the others. and of course....it promptly chomped down, snagging the dead and dying from the ground, some of them just too wounded to move as it watched her carefully, moving from side to side, Daring her to abandon those that she was protecting to get the ones that hadn't been able to rally to her. And the Centipede began to slowly squeeze the people int' it's mouth. Letting them scream. Watching her as the blood from them slowly dripped out of it's mouth. Trying to bait the woman.

It never bothered to try and get the humans behind her. It was cautious. Watchful, and seeking always, ready to drop the humans in its mouth at a moment's notice, ready to jump around her if she tried to save them, so it could launch itself into the other survivors. But of course, if she didn't, she'd be treated to the slow, screaming deaths of the humans in it's mouth. Slowly crushed by those sharp teeth and mandibles as one by one they stopped moving and were eventually, if not stopped, chewed up and devoured before the woman.

---

Mizu of course would still have trouble finding them. She herself constantly being harassed by the hollows around her. Irritated that she couldn't just go wild and eat all of them. She hated this fucking job. She HATED it! and she had to worry about that damn shinigami. Where had she GONE?! every time she thought she saw them, it was just another group of hollows, prompting her to aim her bankai at them and send another searing blade of water in their direction as she fervently looked around for her squad mate. Frustrated and angry on the inside, on the outside she was just worried, anxious. Calling out for Celes amid the melee. Where WAS she?

[Celes Castellanos]

There were many things in Celes' life that had traumatized her. Even before she became a Shinigami. The unstable political situation in the Soviet Union, the memories of the loss of both her mother and her sister left her bitter. These experiences aimed to shape her into the headstrong and strong person that she was to this day. It was hardship and loss that developed her. Yet despite all she had seen, before and after becoming a Shinigami, this was truly left her at a loss for words.

The Centipede whom she called out to fight her was cunning and seemed to know exactly how to rile her up. It was a truly despicable creature, aiming to taunt her by devouring the souls that she swore to protect. As noted before, Celes' past left her with sincere want to become stronger so she could protect others. In fact, it was part of who she was. While she embodied both brutality and leadership of warfare, she stood as a vanguard to those who needed protection.

The crunching of bone, the mist of blood that drifted across the air and the echoing of screams that met Celes' ears left her paralyzed. It was horrifying that a Hollow, no matter how fallen, could become something so vicious. Something so terrifying. Yet it seemed that something welled up inside Celes. A fire that burned in the pit of her stomach, desiring to destroy this Hollow. This wasn't about purification anymore. She wanted to utterly annihilate this creature. 

It was then that Celes sighed briefly before entering a stance. Yet something appeared different about the way she moving. Her shield was in front of her, ready to block while her spear was at her side about to skewer whatever came her way. What was different were her feet. She began to move from side to side and in what seemed to be a rhythmic pattern. In fact, it seemed as though she were in a little dance. Being proficient in martial arts, Celes knew a little of Capoeira. Nothing serious, but the foundation mixed with her understanding of Baguazang gave her an idea of rhythmic movement.

As the dance continued, the Centipede seemed to chuckle to itself. While it remained cautious, it found Celes' actions humerous. After all how could a little bit of stepping improve her chances of slaying the beast. As the movements of Celes' were beginning to hasten, the Centipede gave her an odd look. It was odd, but it appeared that the rhythmic movement had actually made Celes somewhat faster. It was hard to catch, but her speed had certainly increased to some extent. 

Celes meanwhile was trying to calm her breathing to match the rhythmic movement. It was a key piece of the martial arts and one she implemented into her fighting as well. It was then that as she moved back to her starting location, Celes' movement halted for a brief instant as she suddenly dashed forward towards the Centipede. Becoming fortified by the Rhythm beat technique that she was utilizing, she was traveling at a speed of 400 which was rather impressive for doing so unmodified. 

The Centipede, however was ready for her to move and quickly coiled in a manner that made it twist around Celes. This was something she saw coming, however since the Centipede seemed to eye the prey it sought with greedy longing. As Celes used this to her advantage, she twisted around in midair as she landed upon the ground. The ground upheaved as she quickly moved at her incredible 400 speed, easily catching up with the centipede as she was just above it's head.

At this point, the Centipede had been so focused on its prey in the form of the pluses that it could not even recognize the threat until it was too late. Celes was now just above it as she used her shield to slam down upon the Centipede's skull-formed head with deadly force. It was truly impressive as it seemed that the strike itself made such an impact. The little shockwave could be felt and heard by the pluses as they gripped each other for protection.

As Celes felt the bone crack beneath her shield she, grinning as she lept away from the Hollow, sliding right in front of the pluses to stand watch over them again. As she turned around to look at this Hollow, she grinned as her plan had come into fruition. Not only did the Hollow seem to be gasping for air after such a blow, but it seemed to not be able to move. It was then as chains began to materialize all across its body. The chains were just strong enough to hold the Hollow as it seemed to struggle, roaring and flailing.

As Celes watched the Hollow struggle in vain, she bellowed at it in anger. Her voice roared through the air. "It pains me Hollow, but I'm afraid that I cannot let you survive our encounter. Nor can I allow you to pass on. This is the end for I am not only your judge, but I am also your executioner!" As Celes stood before this Hollow, it would watch with wide eyes as Celes placed her hand upon the ground. She was in an arrow-like stance. 

As the Shinigami's eyes met the Hollow, it could see a bloodthirst in them. Suddenly, the ground beneath Celes began to crumble as she was preparing the technique to eradicate this Hollow for good. As the chains tightened to keep the centipede in place, it could only watch with dread as a terrible fate was destined to befall it. Celes had dug her spear into the ground as she also seemingly placed her shield to rest against it. She was going to finish this with her own hands.

Celes' body began to shudder as she was tapping her foot on the ground. With one final breath, the ground beneath Celes tore once more. It happened in the blink of an eye to the pluses for Celes had suddenly dissapeared as they could see her first make contact with the Hollow. It was odd though, as both seemed to frozen in place. It was then that the Hollow's body began to pulsate as it's carapace seemed to split. Its mask was cracking at this point as the Hollow just seemed to fade into a cloud of dust.

What the onlookers did not see was that Celes had used a Hakuda technique that increased her speed and strength, but what was unqiue about the technique is that the modified strength and speed that Celes had accumulated ripped through her hand and was sent into a focal point as she collided with the Hollow. To any slower onlookers, it seemed as though she had teleported and as the world seemed to speed up again to Celes, she chuckled.

The Shinigami looked behind her at the Pluses that she was meant to protect. They looked at her with a worried expression, but all they could see was a smile. With that Celes' legs buckled as she seemingly collapsed. The technique Celes had used had torn her muscles and left her a wreck as her body tried to gather whatever stamina it to avoid falling unconscious or worse, simply shutting down. Celes chuckled weakly as her eyes closed and the world seemed to close to darkness.

---

This was not the end for the Shinigami as she suddenly woke up, her heart pounding and her muscles weak. It was then that she looked around. The environment was extremely familiar as she noted the typical Japanese aesthetic of the Soul Society. She was laying in bed in a row of other beds which all seemed to house Shinigami. Frantically looking around, Celes noted that her Zanpakutou were close and she felt a bit of relief.

It was then that someone walked in. It was clearly another Shinigami, but they seemed to be a member of Squad 4 as once they walked in, they immediately began bombarding Celes with questions as to her condition and what happened. Celes regarded her with a bit of joy as she began to answer the litany of questions that were being thrown at her. Being told to rest, Celes just nodded as the Squad 4 member seemed to leave to allow her respite. Celes closed her eyes once more to happily get the rest she deserved.

[Col Arana]

132 paragraphs, so I will be awarding both participants 660 TP