Arc 2: Canon 8: Absolute (1) [Complete]

[Zou ۞]

Name: [Absolute (1)] - The Adventure Name

Participants: [Arrancar only. 3 Participants maximum.] - Who can participate?

Location: [Escudo Base] - Where does this take place?

Difficulty Level: [Hard-Extreme] - Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme. How difficult is this adventure?

Setting: [DE] Is this DE or NDE? Death Enabled or Non Death Enabled?

Plotline: [It's now or never. The Escudo are steadily growing more and more powerful. Take your C-Weapons with you. Defeat the Escudo! It's time! Go to their base, ATTACK THEM! And, most of all, if possible, discover who their leader is.] - Explain the plot of your adventure.

Estimated Enemy Strength: [1] Estimate the strength of the NPC's people will fight in this adventure. Class 7-1, what is their strength on average?

Estimated Time Until Completion: [4+ pages] - How many pages do you think this adventure will run for until it is over?

Starts: [Same time as Canon 7] - When does the adventure begin?

Special Conditions: [Any Espada that are participating in Canon 7 May not Participate in this thread.] - Any special conditions, limitations, or other things.

[Zou ۞]

Opening Intro:

Eight hours. That was the head start that Kuroi Naito had received. He'd decided to go to the Escudo Base eight hours before the mission set, simply to catch them offguard in case they had moles, and destroy Shiroi Dei once and for all. He'd done this, and so he'd arrived. Upon arriving, it became apparent that things were going to get bad. Very bad. Kuroi managed to get into the compound, killing numerous minions on his way to Shiroi. When he at least located him in a place that looked like a carbon copy of the Las Noches throne room, he drew out one wakizashi, and unveiled his zanpakuto. Shiroi drew out just the zanpakuto, grinning at Kuroi while the two faced off.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Back away. There's no telling how much I might cut you." Kuroi said simply. Shiroi actually laughed out loud, a powerful, and evil laugh at Kuroi's words, before looking Kuroi straight in the eyes, and taking a serious voice. "You? Beat me?" he asked mockingly. "It's not going to happen." Kuroi gave his confident smile, holding up his blades. "We'll see." he replied. Next instant, he was directly in front of Shiroi, his Zanpakuto locked firmly against that of Shiroi, while his wakizashi moved towards the face. Keeping his one handed grip on his blade, Shiroi slashed deeply across Kuroi's blade, zig zagging his own to keep them locked. With his free hand, he grabbed Kuroi's wakizashi wrist, gripping it tightly. "It's impossible." Shiroi declared. "You can't beat me."

He released Kuroi's wrist, drawing himself away from the lock he had with Kuroi's blade, and punching Kuroi in the face. Kuroi backflipped to reduce the punch's damage, and slid across the ground as he moved back. Not good. He was losing already. Shiroi moved forwards, following up on Kuroi's loss of ground by slashing wildly. Kuroi grunted, his blade blasting all around to block all of Shiroi's slashes. Unfortunately, Shiroi was better with his blade. Kuroi had to use both his zanpakuto and his wakizashi to block all of Shiroi's hits. And then, Shiroi drew back, kicking Kuroi in the chest to send him further back, losing further ground for him, and then changing the tide of battle by forcing him to lose balance. He charged Kuroi, slashing against Kuroi's blade some more. Kuroi could do nothing but continuously attempt to block that attack.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuroi suddenly drew away, and, exhaling, prepared himself. He shoved his zanpakuto into the ground, and sliced his wakizashi across his right hand. He was too lazy to use reiatsu to prick it. He pulled out one of his C-weapons. No, two of them, smearing them across his palm. "C-Fusion. Activate. Garandou Gauntlet." he said simply. Instantly, his whole left arm became encased in what appeared to be a black gauntlet over the whole arm. It had what appeared to be some kind of yellow eye on it. Kuroi picked up his zanpakuto with his right hand now that he could, and rushed towards Shiroi with renewed vigor. The two began exchanging quick, and rapid blows at extreme paces. Kuroi's blade crossed the floor, raking across it as he cut towards Shiroi, who blocked it. Then, they distanced from each other, and Kuroi aimed his palm at Shiroi, clutching the wakizashi between fingers. "Prepare yourself!" he declared.

An enormous blackness began stretching towards his opponent. Shiroi was about to taste it, Cero Garandou. The attack kept on going, but Shiroi didn't even hesitate. He flicked up one palm, aiming it at Kuroi's attack. Instantly, the blackness began to ripple, and blur. It began to pixelate. That was what it was. It was as if the real world, the world all around them, was becoming pixels on a low tech computer screen. In an instant, the Cero Garandou shattered, and just like that, it was over, done with, gone. Kuroi gasped. Shiroi rushed forwards, slashing across Kuroi's chest. "UGH!" Kuroi exclaimed, stumbling back as blood sprayed out of the wound. He moved his blades around to block against further strikes that Shiroi began raining down. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!" he demanded. "I'M SHIROI DEI! I'M NOT SOME TWOBIT OPPONENT THAT YOUR FUCKING CERO GARANDOU TAKES OUT IN ONE SHOT! I'M THE SEGUNDA ESCUDO!"

He quickly began dragging his blade across further attacks on Kuroi, who could do nothing but continuously block over and over again with nothing but his blades for support, now that his Cero Garandou had failed. He didn't know what to do, obviously. Shiroi had blocked Kuroi's attack. Suddenly, Shiroi swatted aside Kuroi with a backhand, sending him flying. Kuroi kicked off of the ground, skidding onto his feet as he blasted out a Cero at Shiroi. Shiroi punched directly into the Cero, which shattered instantly. "What in hell did I tell you?" he asked. "YOUR CERO WON'T WORK ON ME!" He rushed forwards, punching Kuroi straight in the face, and sending him back again.

SPOILER: Click to show

They were at a pause now. A dead, and eerie standstill. "Kuroi." Shiroi said ominously. "Use it. Use your Ressurection, Segunda Etapa. I know you have it. I possess it. There's no reason that my counterpart wouldn't. Use it, and I'll show you the difference in our powers. I'll show you who's stronger between you and I." Kuroi stared forwards intently, putting his wakizashi away as his arm gauntlet shattered, and the capsules fell back into his hand, and he put those away as well. "That's a bolt statement." Kuroi said. "For you to believe that you can defeat me. Perhaps you do not yet understand true Despair."

Shiroi laughed. "Of course I understand Despair. You haven't learned though. You haven't learned what can be gained through Sacrifice. I'm an Escudo, and you're an Espada. In reality, so long as we've held our ranks, I've always been stronger than you. That's why I'm going to beat you. The difference between an Escudo and Espada is like the difference between the Sun and the Moon. No matter how often you look at the moon in the sky, no matter how close you get to it, the sun is always shining thousands of times more brightly. That's why, even now I'm shining more brightly than you. That's why I'll kill you here."

"Let's put that to the test." Kuroi said. An evil, black aura began engulfing his body. Reiatsu flew everywhere, and began consuming Kuroi's body. His suit vanished, and his legs became covered by some kind of skin tight, black material. His bare torso was revealed as his top was sheered away, and his eye whites turned black, his iris a crimson red. His hair elongated, and spiked. Large, bat-like wings ripped free of his back, and Kuroi stared forwards towards his opponent as his nails elongated, turning into sharp, black metal blades. He had activated it. The strongest of his powers. "Engulf the World in Darkness...Hora Ultimo. Ressurection: Segunda Etapa."

"Use it. Your special Cero." Shiroi pressed. Kuroi aimed his left hand straight at Shiroi, black reiatsu charging in it. "Cero Oscuras." he said simply. An enormous, black Cero flew towards Shiroi, who stared at it, remaining unimpressed. Then, he brought his hand swiping across the Cero Oscuras, which battled with him for only a mere instant, before pixelating and then shattering. "That's what your special Cero can do to me." Shiroi said. "Now, use it. Use your strongest power against me. The Muerte Rey Cero. Then I'll show you why I'm stronger."

Kuroi aimed both palms at Shiroi, and black reiatsu transfigured into an enormous dragon the size of a skyscraper, black reiatsu flying towards Shiroi at insane speed. It began pixelating, but not enough for it to be destroyed. Shiroi jammed his blade into the ground, shoving his fists into the dragon. The two battled for an instant, and suddenly a powerful blue light flew throughout the dragon, obliterating it completely in a massive, and while explosion. Kuroi gasped. "Impossible!"

SPOILER: Click to show

Shiroi grinned. "That's 4/5 of my power, Kuroi." he said. "Now that I've gotten this far, I've finally unlocked it...my ultimate techniques. They don't even use the same type of Reiatsu as yours do. They use a whole new type of Reiatsu you've never felt. Watch, and I'll show you my power." He aimed his left palm straight at Kuroi. "Confondere." he said simply. A huge, blue light flew towards Kuroi. It wasn't energy. It was light. In an instant, it vanished, just inches before reaching Kuroi. Kuroi stared down. Suddenly, his wings bloated up, as if tons of fat had entered them. They exploded, blood flying around everywhere. And, at the same time, numerous cuts flew across his chest, and a hole formed in his stomach, as if he'd been hit by Bala. Kuroi gasped, and blood flew out of his mouth. He stumbled, falling towards the ground.

"What?!" he demanded. Suddenly, Shiroi was right in front of him, his hand grabbing Kuroi's throat as he dragged him across the ground, flying with him. Something was propelling Shiroi's feet, even. Shiroi was grinning wildly. Kuroi shoved his palm onto Shiroi's face while he could, the blades that were his nails on both hands snapping off. He didn't care. He quickly began charging a Gran Rey Cero. The Gran Rey Cero pixelated, and shattered before it could even be fired. Shiroi dragged Kuroi's face across the ground while gliding forwards. He dropped him, and then whirled around. He aimed his palm at Kuroi again. A green light strobed, and Kuroi gasped. His eyes exploded instantly, and his toenails transformed into blades, impaling his toes. "GAAARGGHHKK!" Kuroi exclaimed. He fell to his knees, and would have fallen to the ground completely then and there if Shiroi hadn't moved over to him, holding him up by the throat.

"This is my power, Kuroi." he said, dragging him up to the balcony of that room. He held him over the edge. "REMEMBER IT!" It was one thousand stories to the bottom. He threw Kuroi down, straight towards the very bottom of the base, straight to the White Desert of Hueco Mundo. When everyone at last embarked on their mission to the Escudo base, they'd have no idea what they were in for. And, they'd be left wondering why Kuroi hadn't accompanied them on their mission.

[Yuki Ayumu]

Yuki Ayumu was the Tierce Espada and stood in the throne room of Sonken Kouhai. She had just finished talking with the King of Las Noches and was briefed on the mission on hand. It seemed she would be the one going to the Escudos' base. Kouhai had warned her to be careful, as well as for the other Espada. Kouhai had told her that Kuroi would be joining her as well as other Arrancars. She wondered who would be joining her in the battles against the Escudo. They were strong alright, and she heard that they would be stronger than the last time. Maybe the Escudo weren't lying when they were talking about being at 1/5 of their power. Ayumu stood dozing off and biting into a mango. She chewed quietly with her mouth closed as a garganta ripped open closer to the table of Espada than the throne. Ayumu took the last bite of her mango before walking up to the Garganta, she turned around to wait for a few more minutes before heading off. If no one was to arrive, maybe she was on this mission alone though she didn't doubt Kuroi when it came to missions. Hell, he was usually the first one to be here when missions began... where was he?

[Zou ۞]

As soon as the Garganta opened up in the Escudo base, it became apparent that someone had already been waiting for Yuki. It was Sombra. Sombra Escudo. With one jerk motion, he danced towards her, bowing as he took his hat off, kissed her hand, and then backed off and put his hat back on. "Ah, Yuki Ayumu!" Sombra exclaimed joyously. "What a pleasant surprise!" Ironic that he should say surprise. No one was supposed to have known about this mission, and yet Sombra had been waiting, expecting Yuki. There was only one proper explanation. One of the people that Kouhai had been planning to send on this mission was a spy. He'd said he'd be sending Espada, and TWO Numeros. This meant that one of the Numeros was a spy. But, he'd said at least three Espada. Understandably, one was late. But, Kuroi shouldn't be late. Where in hell was he?

[Yuki Ayumu]

Ayumu was exiting the garganta when a familiar face was in front of here. Her eyebrows jerked up in surprise and when he approached her, she didn't feel any animosity or threat. Once again, she was greeted by the gentlemen-like Escudo. "Pleasant surprise? Excuse me, Sombra, but it seems like you've been waiting for me the whole time," Ayumu told him as a bead of sweat dropped from the side of her forward. Yuki didn't mind Sombra out of all the other Escudo and Espada. He was the only one that seemed to retain the most human-like qualities, much like... Yuki Ayumu. "My mission is to hunt you, I'm assuming you are already notified of that if you knew I was coming here," Yuki started talking once again.

"Damn... This isn't good, I'm here alone where are the others? I know Kuroi would be here... which means that something must've happened to him.. if he isn't here. That idiot did some insane crap again, I bet,"[/i][/color] she thought to herself as she saw herself facing off with the Escudo. Sombra was an odd guy and Yuki found him very different. There was definitely a God if two different Arrancars, in two different groups that were counter-parts were so alike. "Lets get this over with...?" she said with a questioning tone. [/size]

[Zou ۞]

Sombra smiled at Yuki, taking his hat off once more. "You're in a hurry." he said. "You shouldn't be." Where was Kuroi? Where were the other Espada? Where were the Numero and Fraccion that should be here? No, wait. If Yuki tried hard enough, she'd be able to feel them. They'd opened Garganta in various areas, and numerous Numeros had infiltrated this base. They were attacking the Escudo all around, at least three dozen Numeros. Sonken Kouhai had accepted the reality of this threat, and of how strong Escudo had become.

That was when it happened. Screams. Chilling, blood curdling screams. The reiatsu of the Numeros from Las Noches was disappearing, one blip at a time. They were being slaughtered. "I'm sorry...Yuki Ayumu." Sombra Escudo said, as shadows cast themselves over his eyes, and an evil appearance seemed to take its shape over him, making him look dark, and evil. "If it hadn't been for this, we could have become friends, I'm sure. Unfortunately, that isn't the case today. However..." If Yuki looked down, she'd notice that blood stained the throne room floor. It was a throne room identical to the one in Las Noches, except with no lights, and blood all over the place. Suddenly, Sombra's blade was pressed against Yuki's, and he was right in front of her. "Welcome to your Execution." With his free hand (the right one), Sombra charged a Cero, preparing to fire it into Yuki's face.

[Yuki Ayumu]

Yuki stood there as she awaited for their battle to begin, it was inevitable. Her eyes raised a little bit when she saw that a dark feature coming across his face. This man was truly an Arrancar, a human could never give off such an amazing dark aura. The female smirked slightly, when Sombra had apologized and said a couple of words. She wasn't concerned with what he said, as she instantly drew her blade when he dashed forward. Their blades collided. "I see Kouhai-sama sent others... Arrancar far too weak to be able to fight you guys," Yuki simply said, as she sensed random Numeros appearing around the area, and some disappearing.

Ayumu pushed her blade against his and pushed off so she could slide back. With good footwork, she was able to jump to the side to dodge the chargining cero. Yuki was never too careful when it came to techniques of others. The female Arrancar charged up a traditional Cero and fired it off instantly towards Sombra. She wanted to test the power of his cero, and what kind of cero it was. It was a simple blue cero was shot off and it would hit Sombra if he did not make an effort to dodge or counter it. Yuki watched carefully to see what would happen.

Once observing what had happened, Yuki used her speed to run and appear beside Sombra. She was in a crouched, ducking position as her blade slashed across his knees. Ayumu was ready for his counter and didn't intend on losing to him so easily. Ayumu did not have many chances to observe him in battle and she had only had one encounter with him. This battle would seem to prove difficult.

Reiatsu: 2,800/3,000

[Zou ۞]

"This is why I used my Cero." Sombra said. "To show you that it's hopeless." While the Cero was flying at him, he didn't even move. He came to a complete stop. He looked at the Cero, holding out his palm. It began pixelating. The Cero quickly transfigured into pixels of some kind, like on a computer screen with low resolution, before shattering completely, all in a matter of seconds. What had happened?! What on earth had happened?! As Yuki came around to slash at Sombra, a sudden, sickening feeling crunched down.

In an instant, there was a huge mass of sickening in her entire body. It was as if her insides were on fire, and worse. Thousands of times over, that kind of pain she had. If she could puke, she probably would. Her reiatsu couldn't be used during that time, neither could movement. Only screaming could happen, and only that, because her concentration would fail to be gathered. It was useless. Sombra had used a power that was far beyond Yuki. His brow furrowed, and suddenly it stopped. It was as if she was okay again. No, not okay again. She'd take several full minutes to recover.

(OOC: See 2/5 and 3/5 in the 5/5 Policy on the Escudo page.) Sombra stared down at Yuki, aiming a palm at her. "You're weaker than me." he declared boldly. A green light suddenly flew out, rushing towards Yuki. Her shape was too bad to evade it. It faded an inch away from her, and suddenly, her back turned grosteque, growing with growths and bumps. All of these exploded, opening up her back in splitting wounds as blood gushed out. "Use your Segunda Etapa then, Yuki Ayumu. I have no doubt that you have it. Your reiatsu gives off that kind of feeling."

Sombra's Reiatsu: 1600 Reiatsu

[Yuki Ayumu]

Yuki watched as her cero was basically destroyed by something unbelievable to her. It was a normal cero, and anyone as strong as her could easily counter it. But it was the means of how he had deflected it. It was a power she had never seen before and she couldn't believe it. Ayumu's slash was stopped by a horrible feeling that immobilized her. Her teeth clenched together tightly as she looked at Sombra with hateful eyes. She took a few steps back when she felt herself returning. Her body felt weak still and this Arrancar wasn't normal... that was a fact. Ayumu weakly slashed forward when she saw a green light coming at her. Then it disappeared and her slash simply went through the thin air. Ayumu felt an odd sensation on her back, like something was growing on it. She was in a suspenseful shock and it was only a moment before she realized what had happened. Her back felt like it imploded for a moment then exploded with all its might. She felt a huge wound across her back as blood ripped out of her back. Ayumu fell to one knee, and stared at the ground. There was dried blood on the ground... everywhere... and her own fresh blood littered the throne room.

"Is this... possible, he didn't even release. There's no way an Arrancar has these kind of powers..." she was thinking when her thoughts were cut off by a surprising question. How did he know of her Segunda Etapta? She hadn't told anyone, she hadn't even used it in front of anyone that she knew. The people she had used it on were dead, and anyone who had witnessed it were dead. But in this state she had to use her Segunda Etapta, it would heal her back and it would give her the chance to try to kill Sombra off instantly. "Itsuwara Tora!" she yelled, as she stabbed her blade forward. A deafening reiatsu exploded out from her as a blinding light would blind everyone around her until her Segunda Etapta was fully released. It took a second when the light faded and the released Ayumu stood there.

Yuki Ayumu took the appearence of some kind of demon goddess. She had a one piece body armor that was oddly shaped and decorated. It had blue orbs in symmetrical areas. Her tattoos took the color of purple and made flowering shapes all around her body. Ayumu's hair was fully purple and straightened. She seemed to decorated wristbands on her wrists that looked like blades on the top. There were no signs of her Zanpakutou. In a flash of yellow light, an eccentric weapon appeared in her hands. It was a poled weapon, a trident but on the other end was a scythe. She felt her wounds quickly healed by releasing and her ability to regenerate. "Tengoku no Shin'nen: Jigoku no Kaosu" the female Arrancar spoke as golden tail with black stripes similar to a tigers moved back and forth. Yellow light brightened up from the ceilings of the throne room then materialized to show there was yellow light shaped in arrows and spikes. They started to rain down upon Sombra at an exceptional speed. It seemed they just got faster and more started to rain down on Sombra. Yuki's attack didn't end as the rain of light weapons relentlessly attacked the Escudo. There were yellow light, spiked stalagmites that started to protrude from the ground and direct towards Sombra. The spikes traveled in a path towards Sombra and would proceed to stop before reaching him. A second passed for him to think, then the spikes would stab him from the ground. He would have to run as fast as possible.

Reiatsu: 2,000/3,000

SPOILER: Click to show

Tengoku no Shin'nen: Jigoku no Kaosu – Heaven’s Conviction: Chaos in Hell is a dangerous technique for anyone around Ayumu. She will begin her technique in the Segunda Etapta and first she will keep her opponent busy. She will send down light arrows and blades down at her opponent to kill them. While she is keeping her opponent busy, she will then send five foot light spikes from the ground to stab her opponent. Ayumu will chase her opponent with the light spikes then suddenly stop after a moment. Giving her opponent a time to think and maybe attack her. Ayumu tricks her opponent by making it seem like she is done with her attack. But as soon as her opponent starts to make a move, she will manipulate those spikes. She will use the spikes in any means to kill her opponents.

[Zou ۞]

SPOILER: Click to show

Sombra looked at Yuki, smiling as she released. "Are you asking yourself how I know about your Segunda Etapa?" he asked. "It's because my Boss has a special power. Boss can read every thought you've ever had just by touching you. Also by touching you, Boss can read every thought that the last person you touched has ever had. We know all about Cero Azalea, Kuroi Naito, and You. We know all about the powers of the top 3. We know what happened between yourself and Adalo De-Mona. We know what happened between Izuki Kiroki and Drago Umaga. We even know about Faust Zsalamel's fear of breasts." That was around the time that the reiatsu cleared. Yuki was fully released by that point, and Sombra stopped talking. Her light attacks were coming. That was when it happened. He looked around himself, and suddenly, all of the approaching light..turned to pixels.

Then, the light shattered, every last bit of it. Yuki's whole attack had been defeated instantly. "We're already at 4/5 of our power." Sombra said. "When you and I first met, and I first explained that we were at 1/5 of our power, you doubted my words. I know that already. But now, you have learned that I spoke the truth." He smiled coldly. His reiatsu fluctuated, growing steadily stronger as a cold, dark aura began sweeping into the room. The temperature noticeably dropped by several degrees. It wasn't enough to cause any frost or anything, but it may as well have done that. Yuki's skin was developing goose bumps. Had anyone been in the same room, their skin would have as well. Sombra sheathed his sword. He had the smile of a demon, someone truly dark and evil.

He flicked his wrist once, just once. "Tacere." he said. Instantly, Yuki's hearing disappeared, and blood suddenly spurted out of her ears. What?! She was deafened! (OOC: The deafening is not permanent. It lasts for 20 minutes.) It was probably incredibly painful for Yuki. Sombra stepped towards her, one step at a time. If she read his lips, she might be able to make out what he was saying. "You will be deaf for 20 minutes." he said. "But, this was the last you'd hear, for you will be dead in ten." She had...to run. Maybe Yuki would hate to admit it, but she was no match for Sombra. He was stronger than her a dozen times over. If she continued this, she would die. If she wanted to live, she would bolt out of the room, and try her hardest to get away from the devil that lay before her.

[Yuki Ayumu]

Yuki Ayumu stood there, her eyes widened... Segunda Etapta. "My... release..." she muttered to herself. It had been a long time since she felt inferior to someone else. That was the greatest pain for her. The shattered light dispersed in the air as they pixelated and dropped to towards the ground. She stabbed her trident side of her weapon into the ground. It was then replaced by a shining light, in the same shape as her weapon. It was then before she could make another movement, he spoke a couple of words that made her deaf. Ayumu used a Sonido as the light from her weapon exploded blinding the Escudo as he disappeared. In her Segunda Etapta, her speed was unmatched and she could go at an insane speed. Using a Sonido would simply increase this speed by the maximum amount. She exited the throne room and landed in the desert outside of the Escudo's main base.

When a tiger feels threatened and his life in danger, he will run. He will run not because he is afraid, but it is a natural instinct of an animal. To survive, and come back stronger so it cannot be defeated by the same thing. Yuki Ayumu was in her most primal, instinctive form and she had to run. Her mind and body simply made her run for her life. The pictures of her attacks being annihilated one by one kept playing over and over in her head. The Arrancar landed in the White Desert at the bottom of the Escudo's base. That was when her senses had caught something... it was a fading reiatsu but familiar. It was very close and that was the only reason she had just noticed. She slowly turned around to see a familiar figure... but not in a familiar position. He was on the floor... defeated. Kuroi Naito was definitely a strong Espada, stronger than Yuki, though she would never admit it. "Kuroi Naito..." she spoke out to him, but almost yelling at him due to her being deaf. It was an awkward and eerie silence as nothing entered her ears.

OOC: I hope you don't mind, if Ayumu notices Kuroi. Don't want to leave him dying. lol


Reiatsu: 2,800/3,000 [-1600 Ressurecion Ends]
Segunda Etapta: 2/12

[Zou ۞]

OOC: It's okay. I was going to lead you to him, shortly.

IC:

Though Yuki would not realize it, since she hadn't been here 8 hours previously, Kuroi was alive. Her senses were very dull from the beating that she had taken, and so obviously she couldn't tell, but he was hiding under a little, miniature cavern base. What she wouldn't have realized was that he was healed, mostly. Still covered in blood, and obviously still drained of reiatsu. However, he was back in sealed state. His suit was pretty torn up, mostly at the sleeves, though quite a bit at the torso, mostly around the back. The pants seemed to have survived the ordeal, though half of the left part was gone. Blood was all over his body. But, as opposed to earlier, he was relatively fine. All of his cuts, and blown up body parts had regenerated. Scars remained now, though soon those would be gone too. It had, in fact, taken Kuroi 8 hours to heal. He'd probably been hiding here, waiting for his injuries to repair themselves.

His fight had definitely been vicious, and the attack that had hit him had probably left him drained of his reiatsu, meaning that he wouldn't be able to regenerate that until he was healed up a bit more. Still, when Yuki called, he looked up. Kuroi moved out of his hiding place, standing. He limped a bit, and his body was obviously sore. He was in bad shape, but could move, and probably do a little fighting. He was, however, still torn up. His eyes stared her down. "Yuki Ayumu." he said. "Have no worries. Only my pride is damaged." He limped over to her, and his body shook notably from pain. He had taken a vicious beating from someone, most likely Shiroi, who had probably been waiting for him just as Sombra had been waiting for Yuki. "Where are the other.." he winced, "Espada? We have underestimated the Escudo. We cannot defeat them as we are now. We will need the Baker's help." The Baker. This was a man that Kuroi had recruited not too long ago. It was said that, using his technological weaponry, he could quadruple someone's strength, or even more. Sombra's reiatsu was approaching. He'd found them. Yuki's Segunda Etapa started fluctuating. The damage she'd taken was so severe, that it was pushing her back into sealed state.

[Yuki Ayumu]

Ayumu looked at Kuroi, she could tel he was already healed, but he was still in a bad condition. This was the first time she had seen the Segunda Espada this beaten up. As for Yuki, her hearing started to return as he started to speak. Her Segunda Etapta was still in her form. The 3 boldly on her chest revealed that she had released her form. And she wasn't in her usual white and black dress. It was the first time Kuroi would have seen Ayumu's second release. Yuki didn't want any other Espada to know about this power, but Kuroi had already seen it. Her reiatsu was fluctuating due to the severe beating she took. Her wounds were barely healing since they were still fresh. "What other Espada? I was the only one sent here, along with some Numeros... but they were all slaughtered, as you said we underestimated these Arrancar," Yuki said, as she returned to her sealed state. Her sealed state was still badly damaged, having blood stained all over her back. Though those wound were almost all healed from releasing her second state. It was then she could sense Sombra approaching. "My counter-part.. Sombra Escudo is approaching... he has some unusual powers I couldn't recognize," she told Kuroi. Ayumu was analyzing Sombra's powers and couldn't find any relevance with anything else she'd seen. It would be best to analyze their powers with another Espada to find their weakness. "It's not even powers from a ressurecion," she mentioned.


Reiatsu: 2,000/3,000

[Zou ۞]

Kuroi stopped dead when Yuki mentioned that there were no other Espada. Unfortunately, that was when Yuki's Segunda Etapa ended completely, bursting into reiatsu and putting her back into her sealed state. Kuroi didn't seem to notice. He'd already been in sealed state, so obviously he didn't realize that release was possible. Yuki's reiatsu was drained. Not even the weakest Cero would be possible at this point. Of Kuroi, the same was obviously clear. Yuki was in worse shape than Kuroi however, having just come out of battle. She wouldn't be able to do anything more than walk, or she'd rip up.

"All of the others were supposed to be here." Kuroi said to Yuki. "Faust, Izuki, Drago, Adalo, You, Myself, and Cero were all supposed to be a part of this attack. Drago was meant to get back after a mission to Menos Forest with my Fraccion. If they didn't appear, all of them must have been compromised somehow." He winced again, obviously from pain. However, he was clearly knowledgeable about the Escudo powers, as with his words towards Yuki's observation. "Shiroi had the same techniques. It's nothing like a Cero. Not even the same as a Ressurection. I have seen a power similar to what they use, before. You were probably overcome by a horrific feeling at some point. This is Gravitational Sickening, a power that creates a sickening and immobilizing feeling in the adversary if that adversary is weaker than the user. Fusil Escudo used it on Cero. The destruction of our reiatsu techniques is known as Reiatsu Fragment. There are certain Shinigami with black haori and white robes, that can use this power unconsciously. The Escudo appear to have gained a control over such a power. These techniques however...I cannot imagine where they come from." He offered his back to Yuki. "I am the only one that can move properly. I have been healing for 8 hours, after all."

[Yuki Ayumu]

Yuki Ayumu listened to the Segunda Espada, it seemed he also knew of the powers. Maybe it was a power that all of the stronger Escudo gained through some kind of means. That was something they would find out later. But in the meantime, they had to get away from the Escudo's base to properly heal and come back. This wasn't running, but strategic redirection. The female Arrancar felt her strength slowly fading, the more she stood the more she felt she was going to faint. It was then Kuroi offered his back to her. That was when her pride flared and she looked at Kuroi with a menacing glare. "I'm fine, I can walk," she simply said.

Ayumu knew she could barely move, but to receive help from another Espada was embarassing! She possibly couldn't receive help from him, the Segunda Espada. She took a step forward to prove that she could move on. She took three steps past Kuroi Naito then her legs buckled. She fell forward landing on her front side. Ayumu laid in the sand, her eyes showed hate, envy, and sadness. She couldn't believe she was in this kind of state, even after releasing her second form.