Chemical Kids & Mechanical Brides [Cinematic Combat]

[Deleted]

Thread Title: Chemical Kids & Mechanical Brides
Participants: Albin Landry vs. Aldwin Blackwood
World: Human World
Death Setting: Permanent Injuries Enabled
Rating: R
Location: Chicago, Illinois. 5:25PM
Special Conditions: N/A
Circumstances: After getting a report of a Quincy and a Hellion in Chicago, Albin is sent to investigate.

[Deleted]

Once he stepped out of the Senkaimon, Albin took a deep breath of the Chicago air with a smile. While sure, the circumstances weren't the greatest, Albin was glad to be somewhere relatively nice in the Human World for once. Definitely beat some of the other places he'd been sent to help escort others through the Senkaimon at. Sometimes, he truly did detest his Squad's responsibilities, but it wasn't nearly enough to even begin thinking of a transfer or anything. No, quite the opposite; he wanted to do what he could to improve the Squad. As such, taking up these missions to make a name for himself was his priority for the time being. He'd get there eventually.

Pulling out his Soul Pager, Albin made sure to make good note of what he'd been looking over. His target should've been marked on there. After a few seconds of searching, he'd seen a big red dot on the map; this had to be one of his targets. Though, which one it was he couldn't tell. He'd simply have to make his way over there in order to see. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Albin did what he could to close in on the area, eventually making his way within eyeshot of the red-headed Quincy. Squinting his eyes, he made a mental note; Seems that's the Quincy, he thought, best to engage now while I've got the jump on him.

With that said, Albin stood up tall, and drew both his Zanpakuto. With another slight crouch, and through the use of Shunpo, Albin blitzed over toward Albin's location at his top speed of 370. As he dropped in, the Shinigami went for an overhead strike with both blades; a simple, but hopefully lethal attack against the Quincy. Though, he didn't expect someone to just go down like that, and assuming the Quincy didn't, Albin was going to do what he could to create some distance between the two of them now. If his surprise attack didn't work, then he was going to have to resort to simple combat with the man. Something he felt he was going to be able to win, however. With a smirk on his face, he started speaking.

"Greetings, Quincy," he said, spitting out the word 'Quincy', "I'm Albin Landry; Unseated Shinigami of Squad 13 of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I'm here to tear you down. Comply, and this'll be easy on the both of us. Fight, n' we'll do things the hard way." For some reason, Albin felt as though he'd seen this man's face before. Something about him seemed... familiar. Like he was a past friend of sorts. The same feeling he'd gotten from meeting Camila's old allies.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Albin's Stats & Skills}
Type:Fighter, Version 2

Strength: 50 [67]
Speed: 50 [37]
Spiritual Pressure: 50 [67]
Reiatsu Strength: 50 [37]
Instinct: 50
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

Light Aura: 50
Dark Aura: 50

------------------

Weapons - Hardlight Weapons: 1
Strength of Will: 1
Damage Recovery: 1
Pain Tolerance:1
Hakuda: 1
Weapons - Katanas: 1

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 620/670
-50 for Shunpo

[Deleted]

Ah, Chicago Illinois! An area that Aldwin grew to love. Not only was the weather perfect, the people kind enough, but the sales opportunities were absolutely astronomical! There were so many opportunities for the Quincy to sell his goods, that there was no way he was passing up on another run through the city. Seemed that every time he blinked, someone new was looking to purchase some firearms from him; who was he to turn that down? Money was money, and money he was gonna make. With a smile, briefcase at his side, Aldwin went on to head to his next client.

Though, something didn't exactly feel... right. Quite the opposite, actually; something felt very, very wrong. From the corner of his eye, he'd seen someone atop the roof of a building, with two swords drawn. The very second he'd seen this person, Albin drew and subsequently lit a Selee Schneide, holding it up to defend himself. He knew immediately that things were going to take a turn for the worst the moment that he'd seen someone like that, and he wasn't going to let himself end up caught off guard and chopped into mince meat.

As Albin disappeared from sight, and went in for the attack, Aldwin clashed his Selee Schneide up against both blades, but not without noteworthy amounts of resistance from the Shinigami. After a second or two, both separated, and cleared some distance between each other. Seemed that Albin was going to be the first to speak, so he was going to hear him out. "Greetings, Quincy, I'm Albin Landry; Unseated Shinigami of Squad 13 of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I'm here to tear you down. Comply, and this'll be easy on the both of us. Fight, n' we'll do things the hard way."

With a simple scoff, Aldwin held up his Schneide, and pointed it toward Albin. "Listen, Albin," he said, a tinge of hesitation in his voice, "I'm not looking to fight you. Please, just lay down your weapons; there's no reason for us to fight if we don't need to. I'd rather not if we don't have to; I'm looking to work with you, not against you. So please; let's not do this, okay?" Gripping his blade tightly, assuming that Albin wasn't going to be reasonable about the situation. If he was going to be forced into a dangerous situation, he wasn't going to just throw his life away.

Selee Schneide Offensive Stat: 100

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats & Skills}Type: Gadgeteer

Strength: 100
Speed: 50
Spiritual Pressure: 265
Reiatsu Strength: 40
Instinct: 50
Senses: 50
Energy Sensory: 0
Healing Expertise: 0

Light Aura: 100
Dark Aura: 0

Pain Tolerance: 2
Weapons - Swords: 2
Strength of Will: 2
Crafting: 2
Martial Arts - Infinity Style: 2


Infinity Style - Taking traits from the weapon-focused style of Kendo while also working to incorporate swift, aggressive strikes from a Shinigami's Hakuda, Aldwin has started developing a weapon-based martial art he's named Infinity Style. Infinity Style focuses predominantly on swift, well-timed attacks with as many different weapons as the user can comfortably maintain control over at a given time. Generally, these weapons will be scattered around the battlefield, primed to be used as the user wishes. Being a weapon-focused style, the martial art also incorporates a healthy amount of disarming attacks, and attacks while disarmed.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 2,650/2,650
-30 for Class 5 Selee Schneide activation.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Selee Schneide}Technique Name: Selee Schneide

Class: 7-1

Technique Type: Quincy Art

Usable By: Quincy

Technique Element: Reishi

Technique Description and Effects: Selee Schneide is the pinnacle of a Quincy's ability to absorb Reiatsu. When activated, a medium-length blade of Reiatsu is formed from the hilt. This blade vibrates at very high frequencies, and is capable of loosening the bonds between Spirit Particles, and then stealing the free Spirit Particles.

When the Selee Schneide is activated, it has an offensive stat of 0, regardless of the user. However, it cannot be overpowered by a technique of equal or inferior class, regardless of that technique's offensive stat. Instead, any technique that interacts with Selee Schneide has its offensive stat reduced by 100, and then the Selee Schneide's offensive stat increases by 100. If the Selee Schneide interacts with a Reiatsu based being - such as a Shinigami, Arrancar, Hollow Akki, Rogue or Beast Clan - then the person struck loses 50 Reiatsu, and the Selee Schneide's offensive stat increases by 50. This includes when the Selee Schneide strikes an extension of that being's soul, such as part of their Zanpakuto or Ressurecion.

At any stage, the Selee Schneide can be fired by the user, using their standard bow, as an arrow. This arrow has an offensive stat and speed equal to that of the Selee Schneide at the time of firing.

How to use technique: Hold the Selee Schneide hilt in hand, and pay the appropriate Reiatsu Cost.

Technique Drawbacks: This technique requires the same amount of TTP as a Class 4 technique to learn. The Selee Schneide can only be activated at a Class equal to or lower than the user's. The Selee Schneide can only steal Reiatsu from techniques or beings whose Class is lower to, or equal to, the Class of the Selee Schneide. This technique requires a Selee Schneide hilt (item) to use, and each hilt can only be used once. The costs for activating the Selee Schneide is the same as normal Quincy arrows. It then costs the same amount of Reiatsu per post to maintain it.

[Deleted]

As his swords clashed with Aldwin's light sword, Aldwin felt himself tire more so than normal. Pulling back with a huff as he cleared room from the Quincy, and continued to speak, he spoke the same words he originally planned to, but with a level of confusion to them. Just what had Aldwin done to him that caused him to feel like that? Something felt very off, and he was by no means a fan of it. That's when Aldwin decided to speak his mind. "Listen, Albin, I'm not looking to fight you. Please, just lay down your weapons; there's no reason for us to fight if we don't need to. I'd rather not if we don't have to; I'm looking to work with you, not against you. So please; let's not do this, okay?"

Just who did this Quincy think he was? Working with a Quincy? Was that something that he could even do? "I'm not listening to this bullshit," he stated rather bluntly, "working with a Quincy like yourself? Please. Your kind destroys souls; you tear apart the Soul Cycle with every kill you make. You think I'm just going to go on and let you continue doing that? Think of all of those hollows you've dealt with in the past; all of those souls that won't see Soul Society, nor Hell; those that are forced to just cease to exist. Does that thought not horrify you? Regardless, that doesn't matter. You fall today."

Gripping his swords ever-tighter, Albin began to make a mad-dash toward Aldwin. The goal here was to deliver a set of powerful strikes against the man, if given the chance. Considering he was a human, he couldn't've been too strong, so what did he have to worry about? Albin was a Shinigami, after all; something far beyond that of a normal human. Even Camila was able to attest to that; any human that she fought in the past usually ended up down after she was done with them. Generally speaking, they didn't pose much of a chance against a Shinigami.

This fight was as good as his. As he closed the distance at 37 speed, Albin held both blades in front of him, forming a cross with his arms, looking to leave two horizontal slashes against Aldwin's chest if given the chance. Something like that should've hopefully worked to debilitate him if he moved quickly enough, so hopefully that was going to be the case here. If all went well, this fight was going to be over with this one, decisive strike. "I'll tear you apart!" Albin shouted as he followed through with his attack.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 570/670
-50 from Selee Schneide drain.

[Deleted]

"I'm not listening to this bullshit. Working with a Quincy like yourself? Please. Your kind destroys souls; you tear apart the Soul Cycle with every kill you make. You think I'm just going to go on and let you continue doing that? Think of all of those hollows you've dealt with in the past; all of those souls that won't see Soul Society, nor Hell; those that are forced to just cease to exist. Does that thought not horrify you? Regardless, that doesn't matter. You fall today." Just who did this Albin guy think he was? Some arrogant asshole, that much was for sure, but lord, a racist too? Aldwin almost didn't feel bad at the prospect of kicking his ass the more this guy talked.

And an ass-kicking this was going to be. Watching Albin run at a measly 37 speed, Aldwin quickly assumed a defensive stance as the Shinigami went on to approach him. He didn't think this fight was going to end up being very difficult at all, if Albin's speed was anything to say about it. As the man went on to close distance between the two of them, Aldwin positioned his blade to defend his core, assuming that Albin was going for a strike like that. Given he had two weapons instead of just one, a move like that was likely going to end up changing things. He wasn't going to let that happen.

And, predicted Albin he did. As the Shinigami went in for a strike, Albin was able to get a strong defense going, if not forced back a few steps by the Shinigami that had a strength that was roughly in-line with his own. A little weaker, sure, but for the most part they were equal with each other. If things ended up working out, and he managed to find a way to pacify the rowdy Shinigami, then he'd make for a good training partner somewhere down the line. For now, though, the goal was pacifying the over-aggressive man. Surely he'd have a way to do so, and if not then he'd have to make one.

Pushing back against the Shinigami that swung against him, Aldwin forced the man back. "Quit this!" he shouted, moving at 50 speed toward the man, "I'm not looking to fight you!" The moment he was upon Albin, the Quincy went in for a slash toward Albin's knees, looking to take one out with a single slash. Allowing him to fight at this point was dangerous, and not something he was willing to keep up. Best to pacify him now, and then spend the time to talk things through when Albin calms down.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 2,620/2,650
-30 for Class 5 Selee Schneide activation.

[Deleted]

As his blade came in direct contact with Aldwin's lightsaber, Albin found he was once again tiring quicker and quicker as time went on. It had to be something linked to that damned sword. With a grunt, he once again pulled back, and steadied himself again. He'd need to think. How was he going to fight someone that actively screwed him over every time he tried to land a hit? Something was going to have to change. Perhaps fighting hand-to-hand with the guy? That might be the move, but he'd have to wait to see.

Though, it seemed that he didn't have much of an opportunity to think on that as Aldwin was coming in close, and quickly. Noticing the man started to lower his frame to the ground, likely going in for a sweep, Albin took to the air and jumped straight up, tucking his legs in so he could dodge the incoming attack. Seeing that as the opportunity he wanted, Albin was ready to counterstrike against the Quincy with a rather strong attack this time around. While in the air, Albin quickly changed the grip on his blade, and launched one of his Zanpakuto, point first, at the man.

Aiming for his leg and assuming he hit his mark, Albin lander and would immediately go in for a slash against the man's chest once more. He was going to give him no respite if he didn't need to. Seemed that the Quincy was already in a better position physically, so he'd have to use better tactics in order to keep up with the man otherwise. Unfortunately for him, strength wasn't inherently on his side, so he was going to have to think creatively if taking down his foe was something that he was looking to do. Letting the Quincy just continue about was a dangerous game.

If he missed, then it was just a matter of retrieving his other Zanpakuto and pulling back. He'd need a moment to catch his breath if he could take it, considering this Quincy was wearing his ass down rather quickly. Regardless whether his attacks hit though, Albin was going to pull back; this time, more than normal. Hopefully putting a good ten or so feet between him and the Quincy, he took a deep breath. "'Don't do this'? Are you daft? Do you seriously think I'm just going to sit back and ignore orders like that? Sorry, Quincy, but that's not what we're about."

Looking around, Aldwin was going to do what he could in order to take in surrounding information. If he wasn't going to be able to take out the Quincy on his own, surely he'd have the opportunity nearby to aid him. Something nearby had to give him an advantage, it was just a matter of finding out, well, what that something was going to be. Though, rather quickly, he made note of a group of pedestrians that seemed to be a bit concerned over what was occurring. Knowing that Albin himself wasn't going to be able to be seen, he had one hell of an idea.

Sprinting back behind the crowd of people, Albin watched the Quincy carefully, using these people as cover. "You say you're looking to aid me, yeah?" Albin shouted, "I'd be careful with those arrows of yours, then! We both know what happens if you miss your mark, so I'd play things carefully if I were you!" Was this tactic devious? Yes, absolutely. It was a tremendously scummy move that, frankly, Albin would likely get reprimanded for putting humans at risk like that, but at the moment, he didn't care. He knew what his orders were, and he was going to follow those through.

The idea of a potential promotion was simply intoxicating. Being able to take out someone so outside of his weight-class like that? Lord, he could almost taste Third Seat. Just the prospect of that alone was more than enough to press him into a decision like that. Surely things would go well for him, no? Aldwin wasn't going to dare fire his arrows into a crowd of people, especially when, with them running, he wasn't going to be able to get a clear shot off. Unless Albin had predicted wrong, the man was at his mercy.

[Deleted]

As the Shinigami jumped straight over his own attack, Aldwin watched both in shock, and frustration as he saw that his attack didn't land its mark. Seemed that this Shinigami was starting to figure things out; something that made him a dangerous enemy for sure. Seemed that continually landing hits with his own Selee Schneide was going to be a rather difficult feat. With a sigh, he pulled back into a neutral stance to recuperate a bit before another strike. Though, unbeknownst to him, Albin had other plans for the Nakabakki-Quincy.

As the Shinigami threw his sword toward the Quincy, Albin quickly felt a sharp pain in his thigh, far worse than quite a bit of what he'd experienced in the past. Looking down, he grunted as a sword was now lodged in his leg. Forcing himself to fall to one knee, Albin drew his bow and immediately took aim at the Shinigami that was starting to land. He wasn't going to make things easy for him, though; firing an arrow into the air with the intention of nailing the Shinigami dead in the head, Aldwin glared angrily toward Albin. He couldn't say he was enjoying the fight.

Assuming that the Shinigami had some way of getting out of the way, Aldwin was going to be forced to deal with another hellish situation that this man just kept throwing at him. As he ducked and weaved through Aldwin's vision, Albin eventually found himself behind a crowd of people, using them all as meatshields as they started to flee. Good lord, it seemed that this Shinigami wasn't above underhanded tactics. Something like that thoroughly disgusted Aldwin; just what kind of a person was this guy? To use a crowd of innocent people like that to protect himself?

Regardless of that fact, Aldwin needed something to hit the Shinigami, despite him being in the midst of a crowd of people. Firing brazenly into a crowd of humans, when so much as one shot would wipe them from existence wasn't an option; especially not after what the Shinigami had said moments ago. He wasn't going to allow Albin to get a leg up on him, physically or otherwise. That much, at this point, was utterly unacceptable. The question remained, though; just what was he going to do in order to make sure that these people were going to stay safe?

As if on queue, Aldwin was struck with an idea. Reshaping his bow, Aldwin channeled his reiatsu into the weapon's form until it later emerged as that of a divine steed. Forcing himself atop his new horse, despite his injured leg, Aldwin held his blade into the air. "This ends now, Albin! Quit hiding like a coward; get out here and fight, damn you!" Lowing his blade to point in front of him, Aldwin allowed his steed to take a few steps back in order to prepare for what was to come. The two needed a clear line to the Shinigami.

Keeping his eye on the Shinigami, Aldwin ran through the scenario in his head a few different times in order to make sure things were going to work out well. After giving himself that confirmation, he prepped to do what he considered to be the difficult part of the maneuver; now that he was on his horse, he needed to remove this damned sword from his leg. Gripping it tightly with one hand, and with an agonizingly painful shout, The Quincy ripped the blade from his leg, throwing it to the ground in a bloodied mess. Thankfully the bleeding wasn't too bad, but he was absolutely going to have to get that looked at.

Once he finished, the two began to charge forward at an astounding speed of 600. Bolting forward, and being upon Albin in an instant, Aldwin lowered his blade in order to spear through the Shinigami on the way by. Considering the difference in speed between the two of them, he was pretty sure that the hit was going to successfully land. After all, he was giving Albin no time to react; no quarter to defend himself. The fight at this point was, once again, as good as his. Piercing through the Shinigami's flesh and forcing him to travel with the horse, Aldwin continued to gallop onward, eventually steering clear of the crowd of people, and dismounting his horse.

Throwing the Shinigami to the ground, Aldwin ripped the lightsaber blade from his chest, and took a few stumbled steps backward. His leg was really starting to get to him. "Get up, dammit!" he shouted, his anger starting to get the best of him, "stand back up and fight me! You were the one who started this, so pick your battles and finish it, Albin!" With the final word, Aldwin's reiatsu began to flare over the area. Though, this wasn't just any reiatsu; his hellish side was starting to make itself apparent.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu Pool}
Reiatsu: 2,490/2,650
-30 for Class 5 Selee Schneide activation.
-100 for Form Property

SPOILER: Click to show

{On A Pale Horse - Class 6 Form Property}Class 6 - Form - On A Pale Horse

For this form property, Aldwin’s bow effectively isn’t a bow anymore, in the sense that it can no longer fire arrows. Hell, it even loses the ability to be used as an effective weapon. Instead, the bow itself becomes Aldwin’s personal steed. The horse itself can move at a speed of 600 normally. Normal step techniques cannot be used while on the horse, aside from constant steps (i.e. Hirenkyaku Constant). These steps cost double the original reiatsu cost to use. The horse takes on a spectral appearance, and can only be interacted with by Aldwin; attacks go right through it.

[Deleted]

Just narrowly dodging the arrow that zinged passed Albin's head, the Shinigami landed, and continued to go through with his initial movement patterns; zipping into the crowd in order to give himself an opportunity to recover momentarily, and to force Aldwin to make a decision that he likely wasn't going to want to have to make any time soon. Was he going to fire off into a crowd of people? Risk the lives of those involved? Only time would tell if that was going to be the smart move, and unfortunately, it seemed that this time wasn't on Albin's side.

Watching as Aldwin seemed to do something weird with his bow, the young Shinigami watched in blatant horror as it seemed that the Quincy was forming some kind of mount with his bow. Just what the hell was going on? Did he end up picking a fight with a physical Quincy? Albin was starting to seriously regret his decisions, though he didn't really have time to change his actions; what was done was done, and he now had to start reaping the consequences of just what was going on. Though, surely things were going to find a way to pick themselves up?

"This ends now, Albin! Quit hiding like a coward; get out here and fight, damn you!" Truthfully, he might've been right, but Albin wasn't about to let something like that get the better of him. He was still going to fight for his life; he had a Squad to make proud, a Captain that he was going to show that he was worth something to. A passed friend to avenge. "I'll fucking kill you!" he shouted, gripping his Zanpakuto tightly with both hands, and preparing for just what was to come.

Though, unfortunately for the Shinigami, it seemed that nothing he could've even hoped to do was going to prepare him for what was about to happen. Even if he tried to Shunpo, Aldwin was going to end up faster. The very moment that the Quincy began to close the distance, Albin didn't even have the opportunity to blink before being pierced through the shoulder, and dragged at tremendous speeds away from the crowd of people he'd just tried to hide behind. Just what the hell was going on? Had he just died? No, he still felt alive, so that couldn't've been it.

Being thrown forward, and having since dropped both Zanpakuto, Albin found himself practically defenseless. Rolling along the pavement, Albin did what he could to break his tumbling, holding out his arms as he rolled in order to allow the force to distribute across more surface area. After a short moment, he came to a stop, and slowly forced himself up with his now one good arm. As he stood, he heard Aldwin speak once more. "Get up, dammit! Stand back up and fight me! You were the one who started this, so pick your battles and finish it, Albin!"

With a grunt, the Shinigami forced himself into a fighting stance, and slowly began to walk toward Aldwin. Taking in the man's own injuries, it seemed that both of them were rather worse for wear. Regardless, though, this fight couldn't've lasted much longer. The fact that both of them were already seriously injured, and that this was about to turn into nothing more than a slug-fest proved that point rather well. Holding his guard up, Albin approached the Quincy with a standard Hakuda stance. "Fine. You want to finish this? Then no tricks. No weapons. Face me like a fucking man, Aldwin."

The Quincy was easily going to be too honorbound in order to fight with a weapon. He'd picked that much up from the get-go. So, before them, was a fist-fight. Something that Albin had felt confident about! Unlike this Quincy, Albin had spent his time in the academy training in the art of Hakuda; the Shinigami martial art. There was no way that this man was going to stand a hope of a chance, even if he was a little bit stronger. The fact that he had that training was a sort of ace-in-the-hole for the Shinigami, or so he thought.

For his first strike, Albin pulled back his left shoulder, and tilted slightly to his left. Rotating his fist ninety degrees so that way his fingers faced directly upward, the Shinigami allowed his arm to fly forward with a hope of nailing the Quincy directly in the side. He wasn't going to let some asshole like this guy take him down, and he was sure as hell going to put up a fight in order to make sure that he wasn't just going to drop. Making sure his guard was still up by his face, Albin prepared for the Quincy to retaliate.

[Deleted]

As he threw the Shinigami forward and onto the ground, he watched as he rolled and tumbled forward, eventually finding himself a stop on the concrete. As he forced himself up, Aldwin took the opportunity to deactivate and stow his Selee Schneide. He had no plans to fire it, so he was going to hold onto it for the time being. Regardless, he watched as the Shinigami slowly forced his way up, and began to make a steady approach toward him. Just what was he thinking? Was this going to end up in a fist-fight? Surely not.

"Fine. You want to finish this? Then no tricks. No weapons. Face me like a fucking man, Aldwin." Seems this was going to end up in a fist-fight. With a sigh, Aldwin did what he could to force himself into a defensive stance, not unlike Albin's own, if not a bit more refined. Though, he quickly made note of his glaring weakness; seemed that Aldwin's own mobility was rather hindered at the moment, given his damaged leg. Lord, this fight was going to prove itself to be a nightmare, wasn't it? He had to think for a second.

"Fair enough, Albin," he said, "then let's get this over with, shall we?" Truthfully, he was a bit concerned over what was to come. Did he really have the power to win something like this? Against another Shinigami nonetheless? Flashbacks of his most recent encounter with a Shinigami started to play through his head. Remembering Wynne vividly, Aldwin shuddered mentally as he recalled that horrendous loss on his part. He was going to do better; this kid was going to fall. That much was fact.

As Albin went in for a swing against him, Aldwin shifted his core to his own left, turning away from Albin's punch. He wasn't going to get hit by some cheap shot like that, he was sure of that much. Instead, he was ready for a retaliatory strike against the man. Using his own wrist, Albin moved at his top speed of 50, just slightly faster than Albin's own, and jammed into the man's own arm with a full force of 100 strength. Given the strength he had at this point, something like this was going to end up widely debilitating to the Shinigami.

Likely fracturing the Shinigami's forearm at this point, Aldwin was going to make another few strikes in order to finish this fight up as best he could. Using his right hand this time, the Quincy punched as hard as he possibly could into the Shinigami's chest, lowering his own core and sending his fist straight upward as to force the Shinigami to recoil. As he was likely about to topple over, Aldwin used his left once more in order to land another powerful strike against the man; this time, behind his neck with his left forearm.

Considering the difference in speed, no matter how tight it was due to the fast-paced fight at hand, Aldwin practically knew he was guaranteed to hit. Taking the opportunity afterward to step back, the Quincy kept up his defensive stance as he allowed the Shinigami a few moments of respite. He knew he needed it himself, if his leg was anything to say about that. He couldn't afford to let a fight like this last any longer than it already was; he needed to finish it soon, else he'd end up bleeding out himself.

"What's the matter?" Aldwin taunted, "you unable to keep fighting? Surely you've got more than that one little punch to show for, yeah? If not, I promise you that I'll end up stomping you into the ground. I'd recommend you stay down, though; keep eating the pavement and you'll be fine." Was he getting a bit cocky? Yeah, but that's fine. He had the strength to back it up, as he was finding out. He was proud of himself up to this point. Question remained, would that strength prevail though?

[Deleted]

As Albin made his strike against the Quincy, he immediately noticed something about the way that he moved; this wasn't just some ordinary street fighting that the Quincy was making use of. No, this was something different. Something familiar. Albin's eyes widened as Aldwin landed a strike against his arm, subsequently breaking both bones in his forearm. As pain surged through his body, it seemed that Aldwin was going in for the next strike against him in no time flat. Seems that he ended up getting himself stuck in a rough spot.

Feeling the strike against his chest, Albin felt his body jerk into the air, just a few inches above where he'd been due to the sheer force of Aldwin's strike against him. From there, the Quincy capitalized on this moment of weakness, and struck with one final hit against the back of his neck. Almost immediately, Albin fell straight to the ground with a thud and a grunt. As his head collided with the concrete once more, he felt himself starting to black out; his vision starting to fade. Seems like this was really how this fight was going.

"What's the matter? You unable to keep fighting? Surely you've got more than that one little punch to show for, yeah? If not, I promise you that I'll end up stomping you into the ground. I'd recommend you stay down, though; keep eating the pavement and you'll be fine." Seems that Aldwin was insistent on continuing to taunt him. Fair enough; he deserved it. He'd practically won the fight at this point, what right did Albin have to fight back against something like that? Fact of the matter was, he didn't.

As he lay face down in the concrete, as everything swirled around him, he did what he could to slow his ragged breathing and focus on his thoughts. This entire fight had been... rough. It seemed that everything he tried didn't do very much, and he hated that thought. He was weak; powerless, and unable to take out some simple Quincy. He'd felt like a disgrace to his Squad, a disgrace to his Captain, and a disgrace to Seireitei. How would he ever show his face again? How would he ever even hope to think that he could-

Rise to your feet, Albin; continue to fight.

He'd heard a voice. There was nobody else around them, just who could that voice have been? Was someone else nearby, that just so happened to be spiritually aware? No, that didn't make sense; how would they know his name? More importantly, why would they be cheering him on? Telling him to keep fighting? Perhaps it was just some sort of concussion-induced auditory hallucination? Yeah, that had to have been it. It simply didn't make sense otherwise, and seemed to make too much sense with this concussion explanation backing it.

Don't you dare think we'll forgive you if you fall here, asshole!

Okay, so now none of this was making any sense. Whatsoever. That last voice very clearly came from his own thoughts; nothing else. Nobody was nearby, and nothing was even close to sounding like that from as far away as they'd have to be. Something was cheering him on. Something that he was going to make proud. Even if he felt like a disappointment to his own Squad, it seemed that two others were going to his side regardless of that fact. These two women were going to be what gave the man his will to fight again.

Placing his one good arm up on the ground, Albin began to push with all of his strength, shouting out his frustrations and anger as he forced himself to actually get off of the ground. Moving his leg up in order to prop himself up with more than just his arm, Albin slowly began to rise to his feet, letting his broken arm dangle by his side. Instead, he held his good arm up to defend his face, and bent his knees. By this point, his reiatsu was similarly flaring about, an aura of gold and navy surrounding him to contrast Aldwin's own deep red.

"You think you're hot shit, huh?" he asked, staring down the man that had just put him on the ground, "you think I'm just going to go down without any semblance of a fight anymore? You think I'm just going to curl up, and call it that? Let me put it this way, pal, you've got another thing coming if you think that's how this is going to be. You're right; we ARE ending this now, and we're ending it with your ass on the ground, you hear me?" Gritting his teeth, he carefully watched the Quincy.

Given the fact that he was on his last legs, Albin's movements were far from enough to reasonably stand a chance against the Quincy before him. Though, with that in mind, he was still going to give it his all. He felt the need to tear this man down, and he was going to do just that. Pulling his good arm back, Albin went for one final strike against the Quincy's chest, putting his full strength into the hit as a last-ditch hope of taking the man down alongside him. Though, unfortunately for him, this punch was at a measly 25 speed.

[Deleted]

Once he put the man down and left him on the ground, Aldwin had thought that the fight was reasonably finished at that point. He hadn't expected someone to actually even hope to get back up after something like that, especially given Albin's injuries thus far. It seemed that, even for a Shinigami, he still just wasn't that durable. Which, given his current status, he wasn't complaining. If Albin actually managed to land a clean hit on him, then it would've been over; there would've been very little that he could actually do from that point. But, as it turned out, he couldn't.

Though, Aldwin was certainly surprised when the Shinigami started to slowly force himself back up. Seemed he was still going to try to fight. Just who did he think he was? Some sort of undying machine? With a sigh, Aldwin once again held up his arms, and took a defensive stance. Seems that things were going to end here. "You think I'm just going to go down without any semblance of a fight anymore? You think I'm just going to curl up, and call it that? Let me put it this way, pal, you've got another thing coming if you think that's how this is going to be. You're right; we ARE ending this now, and we're ending it with your ass on the ground, you hear me?"

As the Shinigami slowly started to approach Aldwin, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Sorry, Albin, but it seems you're not understanding the situation that we're in." As the Shinigami went on to throw a punch, Aldwin simply pushed his arm out of the way, and came from underneath with his own right uppercut, straight to Albin's own jaw. With full-force behind his strike, the Quincy punched upward at a full 100 Strength and sent the Shinigami off of his feet. Following through with his strike, watching as the Shinigami dropped, Aldwin took a deep breath. "There's a reason I didn't want to keep fighting."

Watching as the Shinigami slumped over, Aldwin sat down rather roughly, simply letting his body carry himself into a seated position rather than actually lowering himself to sit down. With a thud, he started to take a look at the wound that Albin had left him. It was rough, but thankfully it wasn't something that was going to get too too bad. Considering he could still walk on it, albeit with serious amounts of pain, he made the assumption that the Shinigami's sword hadn't made contact with bone. That was good to hear, at least.

After a few moments, Aldwin stood back up, and did what he could to sling the Shinigami over his good shoulder. "Up you go," he said with a huff. Continuing to walk down the street, Aldwin scooped up his swords, and latched them onto one of his hip holsters; sure, they weren't meant for the swords, but they'd have to work for now. Especially given the circumstances. He didn't have to be nice to the Shinigami after what happened, but he was going to do his best in order to do so. He wasn't going to seem like a jackass.

Painstakingly walking back to his hotel room, Aldwin checked in, thankfully without raising any serious questions given nobody was able to actively see the Shinigami slung over his shoulder. Should that change, things would've been much, much different. Though, for now, it seemed he was at least in the clear on that front. As he made his way back to his room, he tossed the Shinigami down onto the bed. Heading into the bathroom and digging through the cabinets, Aldwin did what he could to find a makeshift sling for the Shinigami, and some disinfectant for both them. Lord knew they needed it.

---

After spending a long, tiresome hour making sure both of them were in better condition than they had ended that fight in, Aldwin put the Shinigami's swords in the corner of the room, right in view of him when he woke up. He didn't want him thinking that they were stolen, especially given the circumstances. Taking a deep breath and making sure the wraps around his leg were tight enough, Aldwin simply bided his time, waiting for the Shinigami to awake from his fight-induced unconsciousness. Surely it was only a matter of time.

[Deleted]

As soon as he threw his punch, Albin saw the Quincy move about and push his hand away. At that moment, he'd known deeply that the fight at hand was over. As his punch was deflected, and one final strike was thrown from the Quincy straight into his jaw, Albin took to the air, jumping straight up a few inches from the force of the strike against him. Over and over and over, it seemed that Aldwin's words echoed in his mind as Albin eventually slumped over, and proceeded to allow his consciousness to fade out; "Sorry, Albin, but it seems you're not understanding the situation that we're in."

---

Shooting awake almost immediately after taking such a powerful hit to the jaw like that, Albin found himself in some odd room. Had another Shinigami made their way into the Human World to find him? Had be been taken to the Squad 4 barracks? Looking around, he noticed that the building still very much had the same architecture of the Human World. So, if he was still there, just how did he end up back in some random room? Trying to get up, Albin shouted in pain the moment he tried to move his left arm. Looking down, he realized his arm was sling-bound now, as to help it heal.

Noticing his swords, Albin immediately let out a sigh of relief to see that those were there. At least that Quincy hadn't made off with them. Wait. Quincy? Perhaps he was the reason why he was here? Looking around, Albin turned to his left and made eye contact with the Quincy. With a simple nod and a sigh, Albin decided to speak up. "Seems you've bested me," he said, "you've the opportunity to finish me off here. I won't fight back; clearly I'm incapable of doing so at the moment, so my life is now yours."

Did he want to die? No, he absolutely didn't. He still had so much that he was looking forward to doing; rising in the ranks of the Seireitei, making a name for himself, amongst plenty of other things. He didn't want to give up his future like that, and just toss everything to the wayside, but what choice did he really have? Aldwin won fair and square, so that clearly meant that Albin was at his mercy. Thus was the rule of strength, and something that Albin had lived by long before his time as a Shinigami, dating back to his time as an Arrancar.

[Deleted]

(OOC: Condensing everything from both characters into one last post. Considering the fighting is mostly over, this simply saves time instead of hopping back and forth into different accounts just to get this thread done. Considering Cinematic Combat rewards are joint anyway, I'd assume this shouldn't be a problem. EDIT: Confirmation from Ryou was given on this.)

Seeing Albin wake, Aldwin couldn't help but smile. He was glad that he hadn't hit the Shinigami that hard, as to knock him out for a longer portion of time. That much was certainly a relief. Though, as he went on to speak, Aldwin couldn't help but groan in response to this man's words. "You've the opportunity to finish me off here. I won't fight back; clearly I'm incapable of doing so at the moment, so my life is now yours." Gods, did this man need to some some kind of spectacle of everything that happened?

"Gods, Albin," he said, "I'm not going to kill you. If you remember correctly, I didn't even want to fight you. How did you not get that?" Placing his palm over his face, Aldwin couldn't believe he was having this conversation right now. Just how dense did this man have to be? Surely he was smarter than this."I'm just here to talk to you, dude. Especially after everything that just happened, how don't you understand that much? No. More. Fighting."

Albin turned to Aldwin once more with a sigh this time. I mean, he wasn't wrong, was he? The fighting was starting to get a bit old, even for his standards. Plus, again, he rather valued his own life. He wasn't exactly ready to lose it if he didn't need to. "Fine. Fair enough. We'll give each other a ceasefire for now. That said, though, I do want to thank you for not just ending my life. You had every opportunity - and reason for that matter - so, I'm grateful for you deciding against doing so. Means a lot to me."

Aldwin shrugged. "Really isn't that big of a deal, man," he said, nonchalantly, "I told you that I'm on your side, yeah? Fighting you was the least of my wants at the moment. You seem like a good guy; y'know, aside from the blatant racism against Quincy and whatnot, but other than that, you're pretty chill." Though, that hate for Quincy had to have been rooted somewhere, so did Aldwin really blame him? He probably had a valid reason behind it, so he'd have to pry on that, but things seemed somewhat fair in that regard.

"I mean, I do appreciate that, Aldwin. Glad to know that I've got a friend in the Human World, now." Truthfully, he did feel that way. Though, he still absolutely had questions on the man. Questions he was more than ready to ask about here in a second. "Though, one thing has kept me wondering; what do you mean by you're on my side? You're not a Shinigami, but yet you choose to ally with me? I can't exactly say I understand the mindset behind that. Would you mind letting me know what you mean?"

Aldwin couldn't help but chuckle. "Sure, but only if you're willing to answer a few questions for me afterward." As Albin nodded in response, Aldwin went on to speak. "Well, for starters, Y'all are genuinely good people. As Shinigami, y'all do what you can to help purify souls, yeah? Truth be told, there's not much else that gets more noble and noteworthy than that. So, yeah. I choose to affiliate with y'all. I've had past interaction with a few Shinigami already, so I can't exactly say I'm new to the whole thing."

With a chuckle, Aldwin continued."The few that I've talked to in the past are Camila Adaronde, Celes Shindazu, and someone named Wynne. Never gave me her last name, though. You know any of 'em? That Camila girl said she was also in the thirteenth squad; you two squadmates or something? Er, were you? That Wynne girl had mentioned something had happened to her, so I kind of assumed the worst. Hopefully she's still alive, yeah? I'd love to go toe to toe with her again, she was a little ball of energy, that one."

Shaking his head solemnly, Albin sighed. "Unfortunately, Camila's dead. She lost her life while in Hueco Mundo, the sands that belong to the Hollows. Fun fact on that one, though, I used to be a spirit that inhabited that girl's soul. Used' to be apart of her, before some hellion split us apart. Truthfully I'm glad to have my own life again, but I'll be the first to admit that I do kind of miss her. She was a good kid, that much was for sure. Though, unfortunately for some fucked up shit she did in life, she's spending an eternity down in Hell now."

With a strong gulp, Aldwin developed a shocked look to his face. "She's down in hell?" He asked, prompting a nod from Albin, "Yikes. From what I've heard about my own heritage, that's not something I'd wish on someone that still gets the option to write their own sins. Let alone someone like her that just curses her own fate and effectively accepts her descent into Hell like that..." Aldwin began to ponder the thought, wondering just what he'd do in a situation like that.

"Yeah," he said, "truth be told, it's a situation that sucks. Not something that I'd really wish on anyone. I'm lucky enough to have been separated from her, so thankfully I'm not dealing with that problem. Got my own fair share because of it though, I owe my life to some lesser hellion now. Gotta repay that back at some point, y'know? Not exactly the most fun thing I could be forced to do, but I'm alive now because of it so I don't really have an option to complain, if you get what I'm saying."

"I do," Aldwin said with a sigh, "Definitely something that I'm trying to actively avoid myself. Though, back to what I was saying; I'm here to help y'all out where I can. I don't hope to become a Shinigami or anything, quite the opposite. I rather like being who I am, and would much rather to stay where I am with that. Though, I'd still like to aid in the purification process where I can. I even made a weapon designed to do just that myself; I called it the Purification Blade. A colleague of mine is currently selling them, so it might be worth checking out, y'know?"

"I get you. You've certainly got an interesting little prospect there," Albin said, giving the man a smile, "I'd love to be able to help out with that where I can. Seems like you've got a good head on your shoulders; helping out a Shinigami, looking passed differences between us, and even going out of your way to make a weapon that allows you to purify souls? You'd make for a good Substitute Soul Reaper, y'know?" Albin couldn't help but chuckle at that thought. "Though, I'm not sure that's something you'd want to peruse."

"Substitute Soul Reaper?" Aldwin asked, genuinely curious. He assumed it was exactly what it sounded like, but still, he was going to ask regardless in order to get a better understanding of just what he was dealing with at this point. Though, his question seemed to be met with a response he very much expected; a shake of the head from Albin. "Nope, not yet; you're gonna keep answering my questions first if you want any information out of me in return."

With a sigh, Aldwin nodded his head. "Good to hear. In that case, next question; what exactly are you? I know you're a Quincy, that much is obvious, but I can't quite tell what else is involved there. I felt a hellish nature about you when last I got the opportunity to sense you. So, mind explaining what's going on there before I go ahead and make assumptions? Also I do apologize; I'm not looking to be rude, I'm just doing what I can to make sure I'm careful about who's getting information they shouldn't otherwise have, y'know?"

Aldwin nodded. "I totally understand," he said, "I'm sure the inner-workings of Soul Society are definitely a dangerous thing to just pass out to anyone who asks on it. That said, I was told that people like me are called Nakabakki; half-demon spawn with an Akki parent. Sometimes the hellion DNA is right there and we've got the demon parent, or occasionally, demon blood happens to be deep-rooted within our ancestry. Regardless, it's a problem nonetheless. I just so happen to be a member of the former group of Nakka."

Albin cringed at the sound of that. Nakabakki? That was... not something he enjoyed the sound of. Truthfully, that sounded rather painful. At least he seemed human, for the most part. "Wow, I genuinely would've never even guessed. Good thing that it doesn't really make itself apparent, huh? Otherwise you'd be in for one hell of a world of hurt with that." He chuckled. Perish the thought of that, good lord. To be branded as a hellion like that? No thank you. That sounded awful.

"Actually," he said, pulling up his left sleeve, "I've got exactly that problem. In fact, most Nakabakki do. So, yeah." Assuming Albin looked, he'd be met with an armored, rather chitinous arm in place of where Aldwin's normal arm should've been. He couldn't help but feel awful for what he'd just said. Aldwin though, seemed to just chuckle on the matter. Seemed he wasn't really hung up over it. That much was good to hear, at least. Lowering his sleeve, Aldwin put his full attention on Albin.

"Fair enough," he said, holding his one good hand up, "I'll give you the information you'd like to hear. What do you want to know first?" "Well, first things first; how do you know my name? What gave you that little tip-off? Was it a mission report?" Albin chuckled. "I told you, man, I was Camila's inner hollow; I saw everything through her eyes. Took me a bit, but I remembered you from my time spent inside of her spirit. So, yeah."

Putting his hand to his chin, Aldwin was once again lost in thought for a few short moments. "All right," he said, "well, in that case, enlighten me; what exactly is a Substitute Soul Reaper? What would that entail?" Albin couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, there's a lot involved with that kind of stuff. You'd basically be a hired-hand, taken on in order to have a more-permanent scope of the Human World in order to work for Seireitei. You'd be a Shinigami, but instead of being a Soul, you'd be yourself."

Aldwin nodded. Certainly not something he expected of Soul Society, but it'd have to do for now. He'd have his opportunity to ask about that in more detail, but for the time being, he had more pressing questions to ask about Soul Society. "So, in that case, I've got to ask; how is Soul Society organized? Surely each squad has some sort of goal, yeah? What are all of those? Would you mind giving me the run-down on that, or is that private information, mister Shinigami?" Aldwin couldn't help but laugh at his own question.

Shaking his head, Albin simply chuckled in response. "Can't give you that kind of information; Soul Society would have my head for some shit like that. That said, if you'd like, I could put you in touch with my Captain. Perhaps a way to get you into the Substitute Shinigami position? If that'd interest you, of course." As if on queue, Aldwin's eyes lit up like a child during Christmas morning. "I'd very much appreciate that! Thank you so much!"

Albin nodded, slowly forcing himself to stand up. "It's not a problem at all. I'll do what I can in order to arrange a meeting for you two, 'kay? I'm gonna head back to Soul Society so I can get these wounds healed properly. I do appreciate your help in that regard, though, Aldwin." The Quincy nodded with a serene smile. "It's not a problem. I'm simply glad to hear you're willing to do this for me. I look forward to seeing you again!" Grabbing both of his weapons, Albin opened up the Senkaimon from the Quincy's room, and promptly left.

[Kitai Yoru]

88 Paragraphs, 880 TP awarded