Post by Kaen Youji on Feb 19, 2023 20:22:51 GMT -5
Oh man. This day was about to get a whole lot worse. So much happened in such a short amount of time. Some things went well. Other things... not so well. Under different circumstances, with a bit more preparation, Kaen may have been forced to abandon the hostages, or have been outright killed by the turn of events that had transpired, but there were a few saving graces for the lieutenant of the 7th Division today.
The first was Rizer's needles. To presume that they would be in precisely the position that Kaen would step on, unprompted without being maneuvered into place by Rizer was.... optimistic to say the least. The amount of good fortune that Rizer would need for that, or the amount of bad luck Kaen would need for that, was absolutely colossal. Six sewing pins, each three feet apart, covered a minimum of eighteen feet. If Rizer had left them all in a perfect line, then the odds that Kaen would land along that specific line, despite having potentially dozens of avenues to close the distance, was astronomically low. If Rizer had them all spread out, his odds didn't improve much either, as the greater amount of space he scattered the needles over, the greater amount of space Kaen had to avoid them. With three feet of space between each and every needle, the odds that Kaen missed the needles entirely was far greater than him stepping on one. Perhaps if there were three or four times as many across the ground, or if Kaen insisted on remaining and moving around through the area over a prolonged period the odds were with Rizer that he would have stepped on one. But he wasn't.
Kaen was only in the area for all of two steps. The first Shunpo, to get to Fuuko, a second, darting lunge to Iroka, and then gone into a second Shunpo. No matter how Rizer sliced it, odds of Kaen stepping on one of his needles with only two steps even remotely in the area of them was slim, unless Rizer was able to predict exactly where Kaen was going to step. And with this being the two's first meeting, their first exchange even, with no opportunity to study Kaen or learn his habits, that was.... highly unlikely. Even though Kaen was unaware of the needles, he'd be able to avoid impaling his foot for this reason. Perhaps Rizer could have attacked Kaen with the needles as he lunged for Iroka, but it seemed like the man had about fifty other things on his mind right now.
Like mentally focusing for a kido while being attacked by Haunzu. Kaen was swift enough that only the first Kurohitsugi would be at point blank range. Unfortunately for Kaen, that meant all three of them would be trapped inside of the first one. But once more fate had a curious way of taking the bad and the good. Were Rizer to have used any other Kido, that would probably have been that. Although Kaen was experienced, he possessed a singularly bad talent for the casting of kido spells. He knew of many of the basic kido, but when it came to more advanced kido, beyond the fifty mark, his knowledge of their signs and effects were much more limited. But of all the kido there were, all 200+ Kido spells in existence, Rizer had chosen Kurohitsugi.
The Empress's favorite.
How many times had Kaen been hit by this particular Kido in battle against the Empress? How many times had he been lacerated and shredded by its spears. After being hit by it in battle against Rin so many times, Kaen had worked out a few answers to the kido, even at the range it could not be dodged. After-all. Just because it couldn't be dodged, did not mean it could not be blocked. Although.... He wasn't usually trying to protect others from the kido at the same time. Still, there was at least one trick Kaen had that could ward off the absolute worst case scenario here, and frankly? He didn't have much choice in the matter. Not unless he wanted all three of them to die right here and now.
"Bankai."
The last thing Rizer would see as his first Kurohitsugi enclosed Fuuko, Kaen and Iroka was a sudden eruption of crimson light, and a wave of heat. Within the Kurohitsugi, the interior of the black box was illuminated by a massive sweeping red.... arm? Tendril? No it was more distinct than that. It had a form. A long and sinuous body-- Kaen had just conjured up a massive dragon comprised entirely of flame to ward the group from the front, left hand side and above, as its twisting body arced around them like a barrier. Unfortunately, while the dragon was certainly massive enough to completely enclose the group, Kaen simply didn't have enough time to block all angles of attack. He'd have to make up the difference, and unfortunately, unlike his dragon, he was made of spiritual meat and bone. But it didn't matter. He was not about to let these two die today. No fucking way.
Kaen pulled Fuuko and Iroka in tight in front of him, blocking with his body, angling himself so that as little of the two could be targeted as possible. His Bankai, like many Bankai, had changed Kaen's apparel. A pair of dual kodachi were sheathed across his back, and an arm brace now covered both of his arms instead of just one. And that wasn't the only trick he'd pulled. Kaen hadn't released his Bankai carelessly, but at Class 1, instead of Class 2, as normal. Kaen played fast and loose with his own life, and perhaps he might not have been so determined were Fuuko and Iroka stronger, but as it was, he considered both their lives at stake, and he refused to let someone else die in front of him today. All the same though....
"Ugh... This is gonna suck." Kaen murmured. Then the pain started. His dragon roared in pain and fury as dozens of spears pierced into its body. Kaen also felt eruptions of pain as his body was pierced by spears of kido. Several crashed against his armguards, and the kodachi on his back, shattering the sheaths, jarring his limbs, but failing to pierce through the spiritual steel of his Bankai. These served to help mitigate the damage a little, but Kaen also felt spears pierce his sides, his back, his arms and his legs. Only tucking his head caused some to avoid piercing his skull, though he did feel one narrowly miss, leaving a bloody gash along the back of his head. So far so good, Kaen was getting pretty shredded up, and bloodied but he'd had wors-- Ah, nope, wait. That one got my lung. Ow. Kaen thought as he felt one of the spears of Kurohitsugi lance through his back at just the wrong angle, and running through his left lung. His vision was blurry, and he could feel himself bleeding from several new orifices, but he was alive. And while some of the spears had indeed completely run him through, he was pretty certain his body and Resshin Hachiryuu's had stopped any of the spears from reaching Fuuko and Iroka. At least enough so to reduce fatal injuries to mere flesh wounds.
Then the Black Coffin dispersed. With all of his remaining strength, Kaen extended a bloody, wounded leg, and felt the blazing flesh of Resshin Hachiryuu against the sole of his foot. He couldn't track anything like this. Not the spinning blade, not the poison gas, not what Rizer was doing, or Kimiko or Haunzu. The damage was too severe. All he could do was this one move to get these two girls out of here and to safety. He'd have to trust Kimiko with actually taking down the enemy.
With Hachiryuu's body in the way of escaping the way Kaen had planned, and also cutting Kaen off from dodging to the left or upwards the Shinigami had no choice but to launch his second Shunpo off to the right, the only direction that Hachiryuu hadn't blocked off. While Rizer's first Kurohitsugi had been unavoidable due to being launched while its target was at point blank range, that could not be said for the second. Kaen had already traveled as far from Rizer's location as his first Kurohitsugi allowed, and the second Kurohitsugi wouldn't have a target until the first was concluded.
And by the time Rizer's second Kurohitsugi finished casting it would be too late. At 7500 speed, Kaen was moving far too fast for anything in Rizer's arsenal that wasn't a point-blank Kurohitsugi to tag. Kaen felt his leg erupt in blood the moment he performed the technique, the strain he put on his leg proving enough to shred the weakened muscles asunder. His leg was still connected to him, but it was effectively useless. It was fine. You did your job. Kaen thought to the limb as his step technique carried him several blocks over to the right. "Prepare for a-- grugkh." Turns out that whole "punctured lung" thing made talking difficult and in place of finishing his quip ("prepare for a bumpy landing folks"), Kaen ended up hacking up a fair bit of blood onto his two wards.
All the lieutenant could really do was turn his body slightly as he crashed down between a pair of houses, beyond Rizer's line of sight, due to the smoke, thankfully, taking the brunt of the landing on his injured shoulder. "Ugh!" It was too much. The hard landing, coupled with the severe injuries his arms had taken during the Kurohitsugi caused Kaen to lose his grip on Fuuko as he landed. He tumbled several feet, losing his grip on Iroka next, and then felt himself slam into the wall of a building. As landings went, he'd had more graceful ones for sure. He still couldn't see, his vision was fading in and out. He wasn't sure of his location, so he strained himself to hear.
Sadly, if Fuuko unleashed her anger and rage on Kaen, he wouldn't be in much shape to respond. He'd survived the Kurohitsugi, but his efforts to protect Fuuko and Iroka had left him in a bad state himself. Heh... That was.... rough.... but compared to the Empress's that was only a 6/10 Black Coffin at best. Kaen thought, forcing a weak smirk on his face. That being said, Kaen definitely looked like he could use some medical help right about now, it looked like he'd lost enough blood to keep Camilla fed for at least a week.
But if Rizer intended to go after Kaen and his missing hostages, he'd have a few other things to contend with first. While his second Kurohitsugi may not have hit its intended target, it would still strike Resshin Hachiryuu, who, unlike Kaen, did not possess the ability to use step techniques (and besides which, had been integral as a springboard). But the beast did not intend to go quietly. The dragon opened its jaws, and before it was sealed into the second Black Coffin, a torrent of flame spilled forth, turning the area between Rizer and the trio into a raging inferno, cutting him off from them, unless the Left Hand fancied a dip in ten thousand degree flames. It would also limit the maneuverability options of Rizer, creating a potential opening for Kimiko or Haunzu.
However, even though Kaen had released his Bankai at Class 1, it couldn't be denied that Rizer's raw power surpassed Kaen's own. Resshin Hachiryuu was a powerful construct, and lacking in any vital organs-- being comprised entirely of flame. But even Resshin Hachiryuu couldn't withstand two consecutive Kurohitsugi's especially after deliberately taking the brunt of one, and when the second Kurohitsugi dissipated, only blazing embers remained in the air, descending like falling stars the ground ahead of Rizer.
"YYYYOOWWW! BOY! DO NOT DO THAT WITH ME AGAIN! THAT WAS VERY PAINFUL! I'M GOING BACK HOME! Look at you... Kuh.... We're going to have a long talk about your idiotic recklessness after this! Kaen heard the agitated voice of Hachiryuu back in his mind, his Zanpakuto's physical avatar destroyed. But Kaen could still only hold the weak smirk on his face from before. What do you... think about that, huh, "other me"? Guess.... a broken shield... can still stop a half-assed sword like that. And for once, from that dark pit of his heart, Kaen only heard silence in answer. "......" The smirk grew a little stronger.
Bankai: 1/10
Reiatsu Remaining: 700/1500 (-450 for a Class 1 Bankai release, -50 for Shunpo)
The first was Rizer's needles. To presume that they would be in precisely the position that Kaen would step on, unprompted without being maneuvered into place by Rizer was.... optimistic to say the least. The amount of good fortune that Rizer would need for that, or the amount of bad luck Kaen would need for that, was absolutely colossal. Six sewing pins, each three feet apart, covered a minimum of eighteen feet. If Rizer had left them all in a perfect line, then the odds that Kaen would land along that specific line, despite having potentially dozens of avenues to close the distance, was astronomically low. If Rizer had them all spread out, his odds didn't improve much either, as the greater amount of space he scattered the needles over, the greater amount of space Kaen had to avoid them. With three feet of space between each and every needle, the odds that Kaen missed the needles entirely was far greater than him stepping on one. Perhaps if there were three or four times as many across the ground, or if Kaen insisted on remaining and moving around through the area over a prolonged period the odds were with Rizer that he would have stepped on one. But he wasn't.
Kaen was only in the area for all of two steps. The first Shunpo, to get to Fuuko, a second, darting lunge to Iroka, and then gone into a second Shunpo. No matter how Rizer sliced it, odds of Kaen stepping on one of his needles with only two steps even remotely in the area of them was slim, unless Rizer was able to predict exactly where Kaen was going to step. And with this being the two's first meeting, their first exchange even, with no opportunity to study Kaen or learn his habits, that was.... highly unlikely. Even though Kaen was unaware of the needles, he'd be able to avoid impaling his foot for this reason. Perhaps Rizer could have attacked Kaen with the needles as he lunged for Iroka, but it seemed like the man had about fifty other things on his mind right now.
Like mentally focusing for a kido while being attacked by Haunzu. Kaen was swift enough that only the first Kurohitsugi would be at point blank range. Unfortunately for Kaen, that meant all three of them would be trapped inside of the first one. But once more fate had a curious way of taking the bad and the good. Were Rizer to have used any other Kido, that would probably have been that. Although Kaen was experienced, he possessed a singularly bad talent for the casting of kido spells. He knew of many of the basic kido, but when it came to more advanced kido, beyond the fifty mark, his knowledge of their signs and effects were much more limited. But of all the kido there were, all 200+ Kido spells in existence, Rizer had chosen Kurohitsugi.
The Empress's favorite.
How many times had Kaen been hit by this particular Kido in battle against the Empress? How many times had he been lacerated and shredded by its spears. After being hit by it in battle against Rin so many times, Kaen had worked out a few answers to the kido, even at the range it could not be dodged. After-all. Just because it couldn't be dodged, did not mean it could not be blocked. Although.... He wasn't usually trying to protect others from the kido at the same time. Still, there was at least one trick Kaen had that could ward off the absolute worst case scenario here, and frankly? He didn't have much choice in the matter. Not unless he wanted all three of them to die right here and now.
"Bankai."
The last thing Rizer would see as his first Kurohitsugi enclosed Fuuko, Kaen and Iroka was a sudden eruption of crimson light, and a wave of heat. Within the Kurohitsugi, the interior of the black box was illuminated by a massive sweeping red.... arm? Tendril? No it was more distinct than that. It had a form. A long and sinuous body-- Kaen had just conjured up a massive dragon comprised entirely of flame to ward the group from the front, left hand side and above, as its twisting body arced around them like a barrier. Unfortunately, while the dragon was certainly massive enough to completely enclose the group, Kaen simply didn't have enough time to block all angles of attack. He'd have to make up the difference, and unfortunately, unlike his dragon, he was made of spiritual meat and bone. But it didn't matter. He was not about to let these two die today. No fucking way.
Kaen pulled Fuuko and Iroka in tight in front of him, blocking with his body, angling himself so that as little of the two could be targeted as possible. His Bankai, like many Bankai, had changed Kaen's apparel. A pair of dual kodachi were sheathed across his back, and an arm brace now covered both of his arms instead of just one. And that wasn't the only trick he'd pulled. Kaen hadn't released his Bankai carelessly, but at Class 1, instead of Class 2, as normal. Kaen played fast and loose with his own life, and perhaps he might not have been so determined were Fuuko and Iroka stronger, but as it was, he considered both their lives at stake, and he refused to let someone else die in front of him today. All the same though....
"Ugh... This is gonna suck." Kaen murmured. Then the pain started. His dragon roared in pain and fury as dozens of spears pierced into its body. Kaen also felt eruptions of pain as his body was pierced by spears of kido. Several crashed against his armguards, and the kodachi on his back, shattering the sheaths, jarring his limbs, but failing to pierce through the spiritual steel of his Bankai. These served to help mitigate the damage a little, but Kaen also felt spears pierce his sides, his back, his arms and his legs. Only tucking his head caused some to avoid piercing his skull, though he did feel one narrowly miss, leaving a bloody gash along the back of his head. So far so good, Kaen was getting pretty shredded up, and bloodied but he'd had wors-- Ah, nope, wait. That one got my lung. Ow. Kaen thought as he felt one of the spears of Kurohitsugi lance through his back at just the wrong angle, and running through his left lung. His vision was blurry, and he could feel himself bleeding from several new orifices, but he was alive. And while some of the spears had indeed completely run him through, he was pretty certain his body and Resshin Hachiryuu's had stopped any of the spears from reaching Fuuko and Iroka. At least enough so to reduce fatal injuries to mere flesh wounds.
Then the Black Coffin dispersed. With all of his remaining strength, Kaen extended a bloody, wounded leg, and felt the blazing flesh of Resshin Hachiryuu against the sole of his foot. He couldn't track anything like this. Not the spinning blade, not the poison gas, not what Rizer was doing, or Kimiko or Haunzu. The damage was too severe. All he could do was this one move to get these two girls out of here and to safety. He'd have to trust Kimiko with actually taking down the enemy.
With Hachiryuu's body in the way of escaping the way Kaen had planned, and also cutting Kaen off from dodging to the left or upwards the Shinigami had no choice but to launch his second Shunpo off to the right, the only direction that Hachiryuu hadn't blocked off. While Rizer's first Kurohitsugi had been unavoidable due to being launched while its target was at point blank range, that could not be said for the second. Kaen had already traveled as far from Rizer's location as his first Kurohitsugi allowed, and the second Kurohitsugi wouldn't have a target until the first was concluded.
And by the time Rizer's second Kurohitsugi finished casting it would be too late. At 7500 speed, Kaen was moving far too fast for anything in Rizer's arsenal that wasn't a point-blank Kurohitsugi to tag. Kaen felt his leg erupt in blood the moment he performed the technique, the strain he put on his leg proving enough to shred the weakened muscles asunder. His leg was still connected to him, but it was effectively useless. It was fine. You did your job. Kaen thought to the limb as his step technique carried him several blocks over to the right. "Prepare for a-- grugkh." Turns out that whole "punctured lung" thing made talking difficult and in place of finishing his quip ("prepare for a bumpy landing folks"), Kaen ended up hacking up a fair bit of blood onto his two wards.
All the lieutenant could really do was turn his body slightly as he crashed down between a pair of houses, beyond Rizer's line of sight, due to the smoke, thankfully, taking the brunt of the landing on his injured shoulder. "Ugh!" It was too much. The hard landing, coupled with the severe injuries his arms had taken during the Kurohitsugi caused Kaen to lose his grip on Fuuko as he landed. He tumbled several feet, losing his grip on Iroka next, and then felt himself slam into the wall of a building. As landings went, he'd had more graceful ones for sure. He still couldn't see, his vision was fading in and out. He wasn't sure of his location, so he strained himself to hear.
Sadly, if Fuuko unleashed her anger and rage on Kaen, he wouldn't be in much shape to respond. He'd survived the Kurohitsugi, but his efforts to protect Fuuko and Iroka had left him in a bad state himself. Heh... That was.... rough.... but compared to the Empress's that was only a 6/10 Black Coffin at best. Kaen thought, forcing a weak smirk on his face. That being said, Kaen definitely looked like he could use some medical help right about now, it looked like he'd lost enough blood to keep Camilla fed for at least a week.
But if Rizer intended to go after Kaen and his missing hostages, he'd have a few other things to contend with first. While his second Kurohitsugi may not have hit its intended target, it would still strike Resshin Hachiryuu, who, unlike Kaen, did not possess the ability to use step techniques (and besides which, had been integral as a springboard). But the beast did not intend to go quietly. The dragon opened its jaws, and before it was sealed into the second Black Coffin, a torrent of flame spilled forth, turning the area between Rizer and the trio into a raging inferno, cutting him off from them, unless the Left Hand fancied a dip in ten thousand degree flames. It would also limit the maneuverability options of Rizer, creating a potential opening for Kimiko or Haunzu.
However, even though Kaen had released his Bankai at Class 1, it couldn't be denied that Rizer's raw power surpassed Kaen's own. Resshin Hachiryuu was a powerful construct, and lacking in any vital organs-- being comprised entirely of flame. But even Resshin Hachiryuu couldn't withstand two consecutive Kurohitsugi's especially after deliberately taking the brunt of one, and when the second Kurohitsugi dissipated, only blazing embers remained in the air, descending like falling stars the ground ahead of Rizer.
"YYYYOOWWW! BOY! DO NOT DO THAT WITH ME AGAIN! THAT WAS VERY PAINFUL! I'M GOING BACK HOME! Look at you... Kuh.... We're going to have a long talk about your idiotic recklessness after this! Kaen heard the agitated voice of Hachiryuu back in his mind, his Zanpakuto's physical avatar destroyed. But Kaen could still only hold the weak smirk on his face from before. What do you... think about that, huh, "other me"? Guess.... a broken shield... can still stop a half-assed sword like that. And for once, from that dark pit of his heart, Kaen only heard silence in answer. "......" The smirk grew a little stronger.
Bankai: 1/10
Reiatsu Remaining: 700/1500 (-450 for a Class 1 Bankai release, -50 for Shunpo)
