Thunderous Tidings

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio stood at the ruins of the palace of the Primera Espada. Its structures torn down and desecrated. Blasted and turned to dust. Great leaders of Las Noches had once resided here. Great warriors. Cero, the lady of poisons. Sokujin of the diamond skin. Adalo, the only arrancar to have bested Kuroi Naito. Kashmir, who may have actually been Adalo, transformed by his experiences in the wastes of Hueco Mundo. Centuries of history, crumbled away, by its newest recipient, the Primera, Marik.

"Shit, and I thought I was rough on the place." The Espada snarked at the wreckage that had been the Primera's demesne. Frustrations had been building within Rio and that was not a safe thing for Las Noches. The Quinta's rage was probably the most well known thing about him. Of all the Espada, who had ever served under the dome of Las Noches, few had ever matched their Aspect of Death as well as Rio "Aspect of Destruction" Demoniogalgo. The Devil Hound of Tartarus. The Quinta's rage and perchance for destruction were well documented. Where he battled, ruins were left. It made him an ideal agent for any kind of engagement where rampant devastation was the goal, for even if the Espada was defeated, it was never without cost. Though Rio would deny it, even when completely outmatched, such as he had been against Captain Ludwig of the 13th Division, the Captain had failed to subdue Rio before a large amount of the surrounding Rukongai district had been levelled to the ground. Whether the civilians had survived, Rio did not know, nor car, but if they had, they no longer had homes to go back to.

Mindless, rampant destruction, and now Rio was here at the Palace of the Primera, and recognizing a force of destruction that even he had been unwilling to inflict upon his own domain. What made the Primera do this? A small part of Rio was indeed curious. But he had set those thoughts aside, or chose not to follow the thread. Marik was the Primera Espada, that was all that mattered. Rio needed assurances that the dome of Las Noches was in good hands, and so he came to seek out the new Primera. For what purpose? He wasn't sure.

[Maria Ashwin]

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Lazy people are efficent

Our way of life affords us the ability to get things done quickly

1.) A gentle breeze would blow through the hallowed halls of las noches, much had changed with the passage of time, torches passed, power shifted and great unrest fell upon the ivory citadel. Marik Ashwin once a false numerous infiltrator now made into the loyal primera espada, it was almost humorous how the arrancar who once tormented las noche's hollow forces in the menos forest was now serving as one of kohai's favored servants.



2.) The neon green-haired arrancar would sigh as looked out over the desolation he had wrought, he couldn't help but second guess himself. At this point, though there was no turning back he had invested far to much time in the destruction of his predecessor's dwelling, erasing not only the structure but the history and legacies of those that came before him.



3.) Their actions just like these mounds of rubble and ash would serve as the foundations to a new stronger las noches, one where the Espada are feared and the mere thought of invading las noches seems tantamount to a suicide mission. He would be pulled from his thoughts sensing a new spiritual pressure approach his domain, 'curious' he would think to himself as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began making his way toward the approaching force.



4.) Marik would arrive just as rio began observing his handiwork, marik would take in the sight of the Quinta Espada an imposing man whose wrath was the stuff of legends. 'if he's here to start a fight there wont be any stopping him short of trying to put him down...lets hope he's here on a social visit' he would hope and pray to himself not wanting to deal with another fight after he just finished healing from fighting cami.



5.) "Can i help you with something?" was all marik could think to ask as he locked eyes with rio , after all what could the primera truly do if rio decided today was the day he wanted to climb up the ladder. Las Noches was a storm of ever changing power the only true pillar being the espada and kohai.

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio smelled Marik's approach before he saw it. Canid-level sense of smell and all that. As he heard Marik's heartbeat, and could hear the Primera's footsteps, he turned as the Espada grew close. Were it a mere Numeros, Rio wouldn't have bothered to turn to face him, but this was the Primera. Mightiest of the Espada. Mightiest of the mighty. The strongest being in all three worlds, aside from Sonken Kouhai, and that caveat burned at Rio's soul whenever he thought of it. Which is why he wasn't doing that right now. Point was, he was afforded some measure of inherent respect by virtue of that position. Long had Rio languished in the position of Fifth Espada. Powerful enough to hold the spot, but new talent oft came along and surpassed him. As long as they were Arrancar, he really didn't mind.

"So you're our head now, huh?" He commented, and his eyes scanned Marik over. Took in the sight of the Primera Espada. "Not what I expected. Kashmir and Adalo were bigger than you." He said, in an apparent criticism. But simply shrugged. "But it does sound like you've been doing the spot respect. Heard how you pummeled the Shinigami pretender. Taught a lesson to some of the upstarts around here. So it's clear to me you're strong." Rio stated. "All that matters in the end, right?" After-all when you were strong, you were above reproach. Nobody could tell you what to do without the risk of the reprisal. When you were strong you set the rules.

"I show up 'cause I heard you leveled the place, and I haven't met you yet. Some no-name Hollow shows up one day, and then blasts his midget ass all the way up to Primera, and does enough shit to hold the spot, I'm gonna take interest, obviously." Rio added, finally answering Marik's question. He wore his arrancar uniform loosely, his jacket open to expose the "5" on his stomach, making introductions completely unnecessary.

"Levelin' it don't do it justice, you annihilated this place. Course it's your palace, so I don't actually give a fuck, but not gonna lie, I am wonderin' why you did it. If you wanted a good view 'a the sky, you could make a skylight ya know." He snarked in a vague attempt at humor.

[Maria Ashwin]

Marik would listen intently to what Rio was saying but above all else he was eyeing that massive five on his mid-section, ‘he flashes his rank so brazenly? Where is the damn mystery but then again I guess Rizer wasn’t completely lying about the Espada situation’ he would think to himself as his eyes rose to meet Rios.

The neon green-haired primera would shrug at Quinta’s question, “found an exquias tunnel in my wall while i was showering , killed the spy and from there i kept finding tunnels so i just destroyed it” he would say with a light yawn as he scratched at the mop of neon green hair atop his head.

At ryo mentioned that bit about the skylight, he would look up and seriously consider it for a moment before looking back to rio a small smile on his face almost unnoticeable but it was there. “Mind if we walk and talk for a moment i’d like your opinion on a few things”

Rio was the oldest living espada despite how people felt about the man being a barbarian there was wisdom to be earned from him , he had weathered the storm and beyond all the shifts in rank he had been a constant , a boulder that would not allow the passage of time to remove him.

The quinta espada represented the old ways of war , of blade and fang and this was what marik needed at his side if he was ever to elevate las noches beyond a simple fragile house of cards, This was not the lions den but a den of dragons and it should be treated with the reverence and fear that brought.

Yet invaders strolled in as if nothing had stopped them at all , “tell me about some of your most recent fights and how they ended if it not to much trouble” he would ask hoping to get rio talking about himself he wanted to see how he reflected on those battles.

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio laughed, a deep, hearty, but thoroughly unpleasant sound. "Roach infestation huh? Got it." He replied in hearing Marik's reasons for destroying his palace. Well couldn't be pests if there was no building! "Sure, works for me, not like there's much in the way of places to sit down in the shade here anyways." Rio replied, gazing over the rubble to make his point. Rio decided to walk alongside Marik, a regimented, forwards march that seemed at odds with the Espada's chaotic disposition. A boulder huh? That was an appropriate description for Rio. The Espada had all the subtlety and tenacity of a massive stone. You'd see him coming a mile away, but whether you saw it or not, you'd know there was no stopping him either. Seemed the Primera had something he wished to discuss, and Rio was more than willing to hear him out. For Rio, it was a genuine pleasure to walk and talk with the strongest Arrancar alive. In a culture defined by strength, that meant Marik was the one most suitable to be King in Rio's mind. Marik, not Kouhai.

Of course that mentality was loyalty to Marik's rank, not the man himself, and regardless of how well their talk went, if Marik found himself slain and another bearing the "1" on their body, then Rio would turn to them just as quickly. That wasn't to say that Rio was a suck-up or anything of the sort. But he was loyal. And he had respect for Marik's position, and by extension, Marik himself.

A shame then, that Marik led with such an unpleasant topic for the Espada, and Rio's face became a scowl. "Fuckin' hell." He growled. "Fought off that Hellion that busted in here awhile back. Sounds like he fucked off, not that I knew it at the time, I was down for the count afterward. We might have chased the fucker off, but he did a number on me, and it took me awhile to recover from that." Indeed, the battle with Kitai had shredded two of Rio's four released heads in his released form, and turned his legs into bloody strips of flesh, barely hanging off the bone-- damage that had persisted into his sealed state. In the aftermath of that fight, the Espada had four bloody messes of limbs, and a part of his face, and spine had been torn to shreds. It had taken him time indeed to recover from such grave wounds.

"Afore that, fought some big cat thing in the Soul Society's Rukongai. Fun fight, but the thing eventually was trashed by me." Not a truly accurate telling of events-- Rafael had been bested not by Rio, but forced to flee by the Captain that had arrived on the scene, Ludwig of Squad 13. But since Ludwig took first and foremost in that day, Rio honestly had forgotten many of the details of his battle with Rafael, and now earnestly believed he'd defeated the cat with only some trouble, before turning his eye on Ludwig.

"And then there was that fucking Captain of the 13th." Rio growled out, his face serious, his eyes burning with anger. He breathed in.... then exhaled. "Captain Ludwig. ...He's strong." He added in a low tone that had all the intonation of a bear snarling, and holding back a furious roar. "He beat me. Not fair 'n square, but he beat me all the same. I got no excuse. I don't fuckin get it. Where the fuck do these Shinigami get their power." He looked at Marik.

"You and me know what it was when we were Hollows. Skulking the sands. The fighting. Killing. The victories, the losses. The blood that we shed, and that we made others shed. Every battle, every scar etched into our beings, until we got strong enough to break our masks and ascend." Rio looked at his fist. "So how the fuck is it, that some guy can swing a sword in a comfy, air conditioned building for a few years, have half a dozen fights in less than a decade, where half the time he's ganging up on his enemy with six of his buddies.... and come out even half as powerful as either of us." He growled, clearly a matter that was angering and frustrating the Espada deeply.

[Maria Ashwin]

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Lazy people are efficent

Our way of life affords us the ability to get things done quickly

1.) The neon green-haired arrancar would listen intently to his compatriot as they strode through the sands into the droll winding halls of las noches, the only company for the two being the sound of their conversation and the tapping of their shoes within the halls of las noches. Marik would sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.

2.) in an attempt to stave off a headache at the mention of Kitai whom Marik has made various dealings. His friendship was something Marik had come to cherish, but to say Kitai was anything less than an eccentric-hearted maniac fighting boredom...would lessen the man's reputation.

3.) "I vaguely remember that fight, I had just become a numeros when that happened... so a week after I shattered the left hand... well ex left hands spine and his skull" which raised a very perplexing question in his own mind, he had dealt many killing blows to quite a few opponents and left them for dead some consumed by cero's reduced to ash.

4.) Yet somehow someway these bastards persisted and kept coming back to life. 'I need to find out the reason that is, because it's becoming tiresome to see people I've killed wandering so freely' he thinks to himself as Rio began the second part of his statement.

5.) In truth Marik had to think about a response on the matter, he had pondered these very same things that Rio had once with the same rage but now with curiosity. "I have a working theory on that actually, I've been to Soul Society once, and well after picking rizers brain it all came down to a few deciding factors on why they can surpass us" he would say with a light yawn as they approached a set of stairs that led into the bowels of las noches. "First let's discuss zanpakuto, this is the basis for most shinigami powers, I've come to classify them a few ways, Power types your rudimentary hit you hard stick with a few quirks, easy enough to deal with but are a pain in the ass if you're outgunned" he would say stretching his hands upward toward the ceiling his shoulder popping.

6.) "the other two classifications are Fundamental Reality and Aspectos, a reality warper is something I can give no advice on as I have yet to find a way to counter someone who can fundamentally change the way reality works as I know it" his tone a bit more serious on the matter as powers like that confused him, and the only way to learn more is to face them head-on.

7.) "while aspectos are simply that zanpakuto that govern an aspect of reality to some degree, tricky things but easy enough to counter once you've picked apart the way the function from there you either counter or find a way to remove the blade from the play" the way he said this made it sound like some easy feat anyone could do, but in truth, Marik knew the struggles of landing a blow against a Shinigami.

8.) As they exited the steps they entered a massive chamber with hundreds of doorways, "..which way was it to the outside again ah this way" he would say heading towards what appeared to be a random door but given Rio's high sense he could probably also smell the fresh air wafting through it. "Rizer is a perfect example of a power type, his ability to make swords and channel kido through them, basic and powerful, it only served to heighten his destructive power and covered none of his weaknesses which I came to exploit and seize victory" a small smile on his face as he spoke almost sounding fond of that fight.

9.) "an example of an aspect is the left hand after him who defected, Camilla, when we fought she had mastery over blood, but, once I picked apart how her powers functioned after a few exchanges I decided to get serious and began picking her apart in close quarters combat. Her bankai had granted her armor that regenerated yet slowly lost its integrity the longer she fought, by far the longest fight I've had to date although my not releasing cost me that fight we ended in a draw after she made an all-or-nothing attack after I split her into four pieces..." he would pause as they came up on two massive stone doors, placing his hands on either door he would push them gently channeling his spirit energy through both limbs augmenting his strength causing the doors to rush open revealing the night sky of hueco mundo

10.) "regenerated herself instantaneously from a floating arm chunk of chest talk about wacky. but a tie is what I get for holding back" his smile still persisted he was after fond of the not-so-little gremlin anymore, she had made him happy in the heat of battle though...part of him felt bad for showcasing such a combination of techs against someone in a friendly spar; then again he was having a shitty week when cami had shown up. "then you have kido, hakudo, zanjutsu and hoho vs cero it's a matter of years of built of versatility vs years of raw power" he would say as he began walking once more "Then take us Arrancar, for example, starting with you rio"

11.) "based on rumors of the battle against the hellion who invaded, you fall under the power category massive cero's, shockwaves, and that quirk I spoke of all power types having that green mist of yours that seemingly melted the invader for a time if I'm wrong correct me" he would wait a moment to see if Rio had anything to say if all about his observation, if not he

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio's laugh at Marik's comment was boisterous and loud. Rio was not one who snickered or chuckled under his breath. His enjoyment of hearing how Marik had pulverized Rizer was music to his ears. "Fucker had it comin', heh." For the most part it seemed that Marik was fine listening to Rio's furious ranting, and finally was able to address it. His discourse on types of abilities seemed a bit too academic and rambly for Rio who was usually much more focused on the practicality of something-- or at the very least, the ability to simply punch something. While he had the mind to understand what Marik was saying, he wouldn't have had the interest if it were anyone but a higher ranked Espada saying it.

As Marik asked about the way out, Rio gestured vaguely in a direction with a short grunt of acknowledgement, still listening to Marik's theory. "I guess if you want to put it that way." He replied, agreeing with Marik's assessment of his abilities. "What about it?" For Rio it was a simple equation. If you had enough raw power, then versatility didn't matter. You could simply smash down any wall in your way. If your opponent went left, you went left faster. If your opponent blocked your blow, you broke their defenses. If they struck you, you weathered the blow or stopped it yourself.

"Besides, that's what bugs me. Versatility and whatever that shit is. It's never mattered in the face of overwhelming power. Not for me, and not for those I've crushed." Rio stated. "Even Kouhai, at the end of the day, for all his tricks has that overwhelming might to back it up when his tricks fail." He glowered. "I've sharpened that strength, pushed it further than anyone else. And yet... these fuckin' Shinigami can keep up with it. Can match it. I don't get it." He growled out.

However, he was certain Marik was going somewhere with this, so he kept further observations to himself. Granted, Ludwig had also employed a certain degree of versatility in their battle, but Rio was convinced that wouldn't have mattered. The deciding factor in that battle had been that Ludwig's constructs, entities created from the Shinigami's own power, were strong enough to match the Espada, even in his released state. The same went for Kitai. His dopplegangers were annoying but that's all they'd been. Or rather... that's all they would have been had they not been able to nearly match Rio blow for blow, when Rio had desired to crush them like an ant before a steam roller.

Rio was not entirely convinced of Marik's position just yet, but he was sure the Primera was going somewhere with this, so he let Marik continue.

[Maria Ashwin]

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Lazy people are efficent

Our way of life affords us the ability to get things done quickly

1.) marik would scoff lightly as he came to hault standing at the edge of a massive crater , five hundred meters across with a bottom so deep it was shrounded in shadow. Most would think that marik had brought them here to kill them but in truth , he rarely shared this place with anyone.

2.) not even his closest friends knew the significance of this hole. One could look down and see the menos forest beneath and further beyond that they could see into a deep swirling abyss the crys of hollows and battle raged on below. Thousand of hollows fighting in savage fashion around the holes edge some flinging themselves over the edge , grasping thier foes seeking to drag them to a dark oblivion just like the one they had fated themselves to.  "mentioning kohai and power in the same sentence is a shit joke" he would yawn out for the first time ever letting his disdain for kohai slip out infront of rio.

3.) marik himself had always seemed atleast partially pro-kohai but in truth he saw the man as a petulant child. An incompetent despot who simply needed his ego stroked , as kohai himself hadn't provided any evidence to counter mariks theory on him thus far. "in a battle of raw power if me and koahi clashed id kill him , i dont doubt there would be struggle but in a battle where he uses his tricks and i use mine i lose outright" marik would say a small smile on his face.

4.) "and with you holding kitai at bay as long as you did im sure youd win a pure contest of might against him as well" he would say covering his mouth as he yawned , "but then again dont you fight koahi like every third wensday? have you gotten close to injuring him even once? im genuinly curious about those fights maybe i should take a swing for the throne since you do it so much" he would chuckle lightly at his own jest " my rambling aside those shinigami have resources that we just dont have , you have your past life and this desert they have thier past life , teachers , allies , culture, military, magic and fucking zan spirits and the freakishly strong ones have inner hollows"

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio narrowed his eyes at Marik's comment. "Look." He growled, in a voice filled with obvious resentment and frustration. "If you think you can take Kouhai, get on with it, the fucking shit's been sitting on that throne too long. Arrancar fates should be in the hands of the Arrancar. I'd hoped Kuroi would have killed him for awhile but he just kept bending the knee." He replied. As Marik continued his explanation, Rio's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Power is power." He replied. "And a win is a win. Having only one trick doesn't matter if that trick's good enough to beat everyone who fights you." At the mention of his clash with Kitai, Rio scoffed briefly. "I got half my face ripped off by a fucking Hellion. A third rate shit who couldn't stay in the fucking game." He growled out, his irritation at his own performance plain to see. The fights with Kitai and Ludwig had definitely stirred something up in Rio. Something that was boiling him inside, with frustration. The Quinta, who had always been accustomed to being one of the most dangerous people in a room, was getting outmatched. Slowly but surely he was being left behind, and that was intolerable for him.

Not that he was about to go out and say that to the Primera Espada of course.

"Tch, I haven't tried to fight Kouhai in some time. As much as I despise him, he's stronger than me. By the laws of Las Noches that gives him the right to rule." Rio stated. "But if you think you can kill him, go right the fuck ahead. I'd like to see someone else there. It's just.... Not going to be me." That last line was spoken so lowly and angrily that it was almost inaudible.

As far as the comments about Shinigami, Rio just growled. "It's bullshit is what it is. I didn't suffer, and nearly die thousands of times just to be beaten by some fuck who swung a wooden stick in an air conditioned room. And those Inner Hollows, the Vizards? They're just cheap knockoffs of the real thing. Hollow and Arrancar.... it's not just our blood it's our experiences. That's why we deserve to stand above everyone else. Because none of those other little shits have struggled like we have to get what we have now." He growled in answer.

[Maria Ashwin]

Just  A  Girl Trying   TO  SLEEP S o  l  e a v e  me   B e  9 paragraphs  35 paragraphs total so far [press play at paragraph two tried to set the mood of the pit]

(1) Marik would remain silent for a second mulling over the words of Rio , formulating a response , he would look to ryo a glint in his eyes as he simply raised his hand gesturing for the quinta espada to come closer by his side. "come here i want you to look down there" he would say with a small smile on his face. Massive hole in the menos forest canopy was roughly three hundred meters across , the sounds of hollows fighting , the pungent smell of death , it was a prime example of what Rio spoke of below. The strong dominating the weak consuming them , the lessers being consumed by their betters becoming the stepping stones of power for those who had won and thus deserved to live as such was the law of might makes right.

2) "...do you know the name of this pit rio? or of it's significance" he would ask ,the question hanging in the air , should rio not answer marik would look back down toward the pit thousand of hollows still fighting around it's hundred more falling into the pit. "It's known as the devil's maw by our scouts , hollows are naturally drawn here by the slithers of spirit energy left behind when I evolved and clawed my way out of that hell. a constant reminder of the Vasto Lorde I once was. Power honed not just in mindless rage, but in survival and desperation against those stronger." he would let out a light stifled yawn pointing to the edge of the pit where the hollows fought furiously yet cautiously below , pointing to the void of the pit.

3.) While dark to most with rio's sense's being as high as they are he should be able to see the far more bloody battle happening at the bottom of the seemingly bottomless pit , the clashing of fang and claw the dim light of ceros and the sea of churning blood within amongst the hollows. Far fewer hollows existed within that pit the strong mowed down the weak , and the strong that remained adapted to the conditions and found a way to fight in that space and stand out amongst the rabble surviving no stronger than their peers yet still surviving.``It's all raw power down there, isn't it? Just like the beasts we once were. But that kind of fight only gets you so far. Strength without control is a storm in a teacup - loud, destructive, but ultimately pointless."

4.) "As for your recent… setbacks," he said, choosing his words carefully, as regardless of rank he didn't want to have to seriously fight rio "they are lessons. We all face challenges, even the strongest among us. But true strength lies in how we adapt and overcome. Look at the weaker Hollows down there. They fight with blind yet cautious fury, but the stronger ones? They use tactics, they exploit weaknesses and thrive in the pit. That's what separates those who will be consumed from those who will not. I'm sure even you can think of a tactic or two that you used....maybe think back to the fight with the hellion scathing as the loss was" a small smile on marik's face as he looked away from the pit to the arrancar standing next to him taking time to examine his face and posit a guess to what was going on in his head.

5.) Marik would crouch down with a grunt as he sat a door back from the pit's edge , a neutral expression playing upon his face "Shinigami may not have our raw power, but they have honed their skills against countless threats, just as you have. Their Zanpakuto may be 'wooden sticks' to you, but in the right hands, they can cleave mountains. And the Visored? They walk a path we can only glimpse, a fusion of Hollow and Shinigami that holds immense potential."

6.) Marik leaned forward looking a bit further into the pit, his voice dropping to a low hum. "We Arrancar possess a unique blend of Hollow savagery and Shinigami power. We can master both, become something more, something they can no longer scoff at....and well as for our 'king' " the neon green haired espada would sigh.

7.) "Kouhai may be....no....is a less than ideal ruler, but under his rule, Las Noches has a semblance of order. A twisted order, granted, but order nonetheless. Change is a dangerous game, Rio. Weakening the throne now, with so many enemies abound, could plunge us all back into the abyss we rose from he is a pawn for us to use when he no longer serves his purpose and we have surpassed him ; we can dispose of him for now all we can do is stay on his good side" a thoughtful expression would cross marik's face for a moment , "but i wouldn't mind taking a swing at him see how close i am to measuring up , provided i get some more training in would you mind teaching me im sure you've got a few tricks you're neglecting to share that i could use"

8.) Mariks response implied the need to keep kohai around as a pawn , if not just to use him as a big stick for las noches itself to use. Taking into account rio's frustration validating his feelings while offering the suggestion of shared growth and evolution between the two , marik himself has implied he wishes to use kohai until they can stand on their own and surpass their apathetic ruler and show the rest of creation las noches despite it's fall from grace would once again become a major player in the game as he had been bolstering las noches in it's appeared dormancy of the espada not including kohai's shows of self indulgent power in creating two extremely powerful hollows one being dubbed leviathan and the other marik hadn't committed to memory. Maybe Kohai was going insane in his boredom.

9.) Marik would yawn as a stray cero came flying near the edge of the pit bathing the edge they where on a bright pink , "they're getiing roundy down thier huh? wonder if i could make this hole bigger if i shot it now" he would mummble to himself absentmindedly as thier eyes scanned teh pit below searching for somthing.

[Rio Demonliogalgo]

Rio walked up at Marik's suggestion to gaze down into the Menos Forest. Or as he might have liked to think of it; his own personal take on Paradise. The swarming, brutal ladder. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. The strong rule the weak die, and here he and Marik were. The Espada. Standing at the top of that self-cannibalizing ladder. To look down on those below them was their earned right. He listened to Marik's explanation and gave a grunt.

"I know that." He answered. "I know the value of training. Or skill. Of tactics. I haven't forgotten those things from when I was alive. They're among the few things that I've bothered to retain from those days. My training. And my rage." He stated. "Power and skill are both important, but they're imbalanced. A sufficient gap in power can overcome any difference in skill, but the same cannot be said in reverse. No matter how skilled an ant is, it cannot defeat a mountain. The most talented Rithmomachia player can't win the game against a novice if he starts with only one piece. Skill only matters when the board is equal. Or close to it at least." He countered.

"And the problem with that fucking Hellion was exactly that. That the board wasn't equal." Rio growled. "I got him in my hands, and tried to rip the fucker's head off his shoulders, same as I did the old Sexta Espada, and the fucker treated it like a neck cramp. I blasted him dead on with a Cero, and the fucker treated it like a sunburn. That kind of gap in power isn't something that gets overcome by skill. It's something that's overcome by physical might. And I...." He inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, a deep, gutteral, angry sound.

"I don't know how to do that. I saw it so much when I was fighting my way to the top. Hollows that had reached their limit. Hollows that couldn't get any further, no matter what they ate, how they fought, how they trained. Yeah, there's probably a move or two that lets someone cheat their way ahead. And don't get me wrong. I said "cheat" but there's no such thing in battle. If you have a move that'll give you the win, then that's fine. Honor is a fool's prize and all that shit. But even moves like that hit a limit if you don't have the power to climb the next rung."

Rio closed his eyes and thought for a minute. "Kouhai brings order, but I don't know why we need it. I'm not scared of that abyss. What I'm not prepared to accept is that the last two and a half thousand years of my life, of building my strength, have been for fucking nothing." He shook his head, but chuckled at Marik's final line. "Heh, I imagine you would." As for her comment about training. "If you want to go, I'm not gonna say no to the Primera Espada."

[Maria Ashwin]

' BEING SECOND BEST....ISN'T SO BAD' 7 paragraphs 42 paragraphs total so far

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1) Marik would stand up smacking the sand from his panse leg , a neutral expression upon his face as he mulled over rio's words. "that training will have to wait till i get back ,i have received orders to go kill the silver haired hellion regardless of how pointless the venture may be.." he's yawns raising his bandaged hand to guard his mouth "...but ya know nothing we kill thats strong ever stays dead for some fucking reason"

2) That last statement would be said with a bit of contempt , hating the soul cycle and system that allowed his kills to keep respawning like a damn black ops loby. 'i miss when death actually meant something' he would think to himself. "as for feeling like you've built your power for nothing , who knows maybe you where destined to be as you where forever such is fate....but" it was said flatly , making it clear this was his time to listen

3) In Mariks own view he saw a tired warrior in distress , and coddling  and sugar coated words wouldn't serve him. "I think you'll be fine after all fate is very much like a sandstorm , you change direction and it chases you , you turn again but the storm adjust's.." a small smile on his face as he recounted his own dances with fate "like a dance with death before the finale dawn , and you might wonder why? and its because you created the storm and yet the storm is you" he would say smacking the sand and dust from his other panse leg.

4.) "You can't rage against it , or kill it so all you can do is step right inside the storm ,closing your eyes and plugging your ears so the sand doesnt get in.." he would say as he began walking twoard rio "...And start walking step by step , theres no sun , Theres no moon . no sense of time , just fine white sand flying into the sky like pulverized bone" he would now be standing infront of rio his emerald eyes filled with a glint of determination as he stared the quinta in the eyes as he spoke.

5.) "thats the type of storm you need to imagine rio , and if you want your life to have any meaning you will need to make it through that violent, symbolic metaphysical storm" these words where spoken in a calm tone but had a tinge of emotion them , as marik spoke from personal experience having to push his way through hell to become a vasto lorde, defying his nature and instincts becoming what he is now. 

6.) "no matter how imaginary you think it is , make no mistake about it ; it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades , people will bleed there , and you will bleed there to...." his gaze shifting just over rio's shoulder as an aforementioned sand storm began to blow in off the horizon , blotting out las noches in the process.

7.) "you'll catch that blood in your hands , your own and the blood of others and when the storm is over you wont remember how you made it through , or how you even survived or even sure if its over" he would begin walking past rio , looking at the oncoming storm as he did so  "but one thing is certain , you wont be the same person you walked in as thats what personal storms are about i look foward to the rio i meet on the other side" with that he would vanish beyond the storm in a burst of sonido

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Maria: 35 paragraphs = 30% social bonus to a thread with Rio

Rio: 25 paragraphs = 20% social bonus to a thread with Maria