Jigoku to Kurai Yami [R, NDE, Extreme]

[Zou ۞]

Name: [Jigoku to Kurai Yami (Hell and Dark)] - The Adventure Name

Participants: [Bount Executive: Jin Yamada, Squad 8 Captain: Ranmyaku Youmei, Squad 9 Captain: Akashi Benkei] - Who can participate?

Location: [Hell] - Where does this take place?

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

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

Plotline: [Hell has opened up. A gate has opened up to Hell, and then dragged in three unsuspecting victims. The gate, now closed, has sealed them inside of Hell. The goal now is to escape. While you're still technically living, before Hell completely consumes you. Get to Tartarus, get to Lucifer's Black Palace. Confront Lucifer, ask him to release you. Be careful. On the way, you will meet many strong enemies. It's up to you to know when to run and when to fight.

SPOILER: Click to show

Below, I'll explain to you the layout of Hell, just so you get a feel of what you're getting into. There are THREE sections of Hell. Hell is divided into three sections!

1. Torture - This is what is depicted in most religious texts for Hell. It's a hellish, seemingly infinite series of islands floating suspended in the air above an enormous ocean of lava. There is no "cavern ceiling" or "sky" or anything like that. In place of a sky, there is what appears to be an infinite ocean of black water. However, this is not an ocean, but a river. This is the river styx. Inside of it, pollution is visible. Teddy bears, clocks, trash, diplomas. Symbols of hopes and dreams taken away. Symbols of regret. Symbols of negative feelings. All of these things fill this river and make it a murky black. However, clearly visible, there is a glowing crimson moon within this water. It is the same size and shape as our moon, but always glowing crimson red. No matter where one is in Torture, this moon is visible. Even island is devoted to one person. A new island forms for every new resident of Hell. On each island, that person is subjected eternally to the worst tortures imaginable. Unspeakable things occur there.

2. Wandering - An enormous, infinite black fissure, huge, daunting, is what separates Wandering and Torture. Every now and again across the fissure, powerful steel bridges are visible. Some of those in Torture manage to escape, and as they attempt to get away from their own island, and the islands of others, they reach this border, and make it to Wandering. It is not difficult to find, for an enormous black lighthouse is visible at this border, signifying its existence to all in Hell. Some spirits are sent straight to Wandering when they enter Hell. It is all at Lucifer's omnipotent whim, and he does what he finds amusing with each spirit. None that leave Torture are ever stopped. However, once they leave, they can never return. Wandering is an enormous, infinite continent which is forever expanding. It is barren, and blazing hot. The ground itself is constantly surrounded by small rivers of magma and enormous geysers of flames. Here, evil creatures wander about, trying to survive. If two encounter each other, they will fight. Killing opponents is a way to get stronger. Getting stronger is a way to potentially escape from Hell. This is in fact what motivates them. They gain strength in hopes of being free. To date, only twelve Akki have made it out of Hell.

Wandering and Torture are also divided into seven layers, also called "The Seven Circles of Hell." These are even further motivation to survive. Everyone starts on the first layer. Both Wandering and Torture, regardless of layer, can see the River Styx and the Red Moon. When one succumbs in Torture to their punishments, or to hopelessness or utter despair, they will be consumed and sent to a lower layer. This of course forces them to hold false hope and become disappointed again and again in infinite torment. The tortures in the lower layers are even worse, even worse than the unimaginable. The vast majority of Hell's population is on the second or third layers, and resist the others, having learned that each layer gets worse. Wandering simply sends spirits to lower layers if they die there, whereas in Torture, one can die over and over again and simply regenerate and respawn for further torment. Each layer of Wandering has more powerful enemies, and inflicts more pain. The first layer is mere Hellish existence. The second causes a life of being eternally covered by flames, or worse, and so on. After the 7th layer however, there is no use in giving up. There is one place still even worse.

3. Dorigaiden, AKA Tartarus, or "The Black Pit", is the worst place in Hell. The deepest, darkest, most evil place is Dorigaiden. It is also simply referred to as "Yami" by some, named after a certain demon. This area is accessed by dropping beneath the seventh layer, or by simply hopping into the giant fissure that separates Wandering and Torture. The giant fissure is the entrance. Once in, there is no getting out. There is absolutely no escape. It is impossible. Only on Lucifer's whims does one escape, and the escapee is forever under his contract after that. Only twelve have escaped Hell. This place is nothing but an infinite, barren and black wasteland, eternally submerged in darkness and virtually no lighting. Black miasma (smoke) is visible everywhere. There are dead trees, plants either frozen or turned to stone, and dried rivers. No hope exists here.

Those who commit horrible enough crimes come here from the start. At Lucifer's whim, wispy, weary, and broken spirits of those who arrived here are forced to attempt to create villages and attempt to lead out a horrible existence. Villages are constantly massacred and obliterated by Demons who live here, Lucifer's servants. On top of that, evil and treacherous monsters are left here. The worst of the worst are here, bare unimaginable evils. These things eat each other to gain strength in hopes of escaping, for Lucifer's Black Palace is also present here in Dorigaiden. However, when one is eaten, their very existence is ripped apart, and turned into nothing but pain. They exist consciously only as pain, with not even a body as they are made a part of whoever ate them. This is the lowest of the low. No one wants to die here. No one. This place is so grim, not even the River Styx can be seen. There is only infinite blackness as a sky. If one were to ascend, they would ascend infinitely, never finding anything new but blackness. . .

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"Yami's Cave" is the only really "well-known" place in Dorigaiden besides Lucifer's palace. Yami is a powerful demon whose origins are unknown. He is famous throughout Hell, and dwells within this cave, a huge black pit in the ground, very much near Lucifer's Palace. Yami's form and powers are unknown. All that is known is that he is invincible. At one point, on a whim, Lucifer allowed ten million of the strongest residents in Hell that he could find combat Yami. Yami defeated and devoured all of them, and yet his power barely increased from what it was before. All avoid him. He is also sometimes called "Lucifer's Dog." If Lucifer were to have a favorite, it would be Yami. If strength values were taken, Yami would be the fourth strongest in Hell. The other three are Lucifer himself, and his right and left hands, Beelzebub and Leviathan.

It's up to you guys to decide with each other where you'd like to start. You will not be visiting all of Hell today. You can progress towards the border from Torture, or you can do it from Wandering. Both sides are equally difficult. You guys don't even have to start together, though I recommend you speak amongst yourselves and that you really do progress together. In your intro posts, include if you're in Wandering or in Torture. In this thread, there will be 7 challenges to reach Tartarus. 7 stages that I will pit you up against before allowing your characters to physically reach that chasm. And once you are in Tartarus, there will be 4 challenges before Lucifer's Black Palace. You'd best be prepared on how to distribute your powers across each challenge. Be wise about it. Some challenges will be psychological warfare, and others will be intense puzzles. Some will be powerful enemies, and others will be escaping adversaries far too strong for you. Good luck. You'll need it.


And don't forget to show horrified reactions in your intro posts. I mean really horrified. No one is ever mentally prepared for this. There is no calm. Just from seeing Hell, you will break down psychologically. Even if only for a few minutes, you will taste absolute insanity and mental agony. By the way, at the very end of this thread, your characters will have no memory of it at all.] - 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: [Unknown] - How many pages do you think this adventure will run for until it is over?

Starts: [Now] - When does the adventure begin?

Special Conditions: [None.] - Any special conditions, limitations, or other things.

[Akashi Benkei]

What... what the hell...[/i]

Under other circumstances, Benkei would have chuckled at the pun. However, at the moment he was too busy trying not to vomit. What the hell, indeed. His incredibly acute senses were in total overload. Benkei could barely comprehend how he managed to remain sane. How had he suddenly been transported from the safety of his barracks to this place?

The taste of the air was horrific. As Benkei gasped in horror, he inadvertently inhaled. In doing so, he tasted the air, tasted it with senses beyond that of even a wild animal. Within a moment, Benkei was on his hands and knees violently wretching. Benkei could taste ash, blood, excrement (at least he thought that's what it was), and rotting corpses. More than that, though, Benkei tasted the emotions of the residents of Wandering. Horror, anger, hatred, and malice, but above all, overpowering, crushing despair, magnitudes worse than the worst the living worlds had to offer. A mother with a stillborn child, a family man with a cancer diagnosis, a lover forced to watch their beloved die before them... none of these could conceivably even compare to what Benkei tasted in the air. And that was the least of it.

With his senses, Benkei could smell everything for nearly a mile around. This, ordinarily an advantage, horribly backfired. Everything Benkei tasted in this small bit of air was magnified tenfold - no, a hundredfold - in the scent. Benkei wanted to take out his sword and slice off his nose, regardless of how insanely irrational that was, just to end this feeling of abject hopelessness. The despair was simply too great for him to even have the willpower to move.

Benkei's nerves screamed in protest as a light breeze caught them, the air of hell burning to touch like acid without even inflicting the slightest of burns. He could see evisceration, sodomy, and mountains of corpses silhouetted in the geysers of flame and the simmering heat of the magma rivers. But the sounds... the sounds were the worst.

Benkei could only smell for maybe a kilometer around, but he could hear for miles on this terrain. And what he heard... it was horrific, to put it extremely generously. He heard screams of agony as the residents of hell burned in rivers of lava, cries of surprised pain as unsuspecting ones were caught by jets of fire. Begging for mercy at the hands of foes, only to be cruelly shredded by teeth and beaten with chains. The squirting of blood from a thousand arteries, the crunch of bones from a million limbs. The worst was the screaming, though. It came from everywhere, ringing worse than the most horrified, agonized wails from all of Earth.

All of this was perceived in under a second.

Benkei fell forward, barely catching himself on his elbows as he violently acquainted himself with the contents of his digestive tract. As he vomited, Benkei tried to scream out in horror. His senses were assailed, but worse than that, his very mind felt as if it were under attack, some dark force crushing his willpower. He choked upon the vomit as he tried to scream, barely managing to cough it up and not suffocate. Somehow, his survival instincts managed to overcome his loss of willpower, but this was mostly fear. What happens if he dies? Does he come here? Does everybody come here?

Benkei looked around from his kneeling position. In the distance, he saw horrific acts of violence being committed everywhere. He felt his will to resist splintering with every new sight.

One massive sinner stood proud over a defeated foe, a veritable necklace of hearts strung together with bloodied hair ringing its neck. It grasped the head of a tiny, skeletal, disemboweled sinner in one hand, violating it brutally through the eye as it slurped up its intestines, still attached to the not-quite-dead sinner's body. The victim's gender was simply unidentifiable; their profile, at least what was visible through the grasping fingers of the larger sinner, was brutally burned to the point of unidentifiability.

Somewhere else, Benkei saw two sinners fighting over a still-living man, pulling at his legs and arms like Saibot's fatality in Mortal Kombat, but horribly real. His skin at the joints could be seen to stretch as the arms and legs were slowly pulled away from the body. His ribcage was completely visible; apparently they had disemboweled him beforehand. Another glance showed that one of the demons actively chewed upon the man's stomach.

Benkei reared his head back, letting out a scream of despair. This was Hell, he was certain. He didn't know what had happened. Had he been assassinated? Should Benkei kill himself before these horrors attacked him - or, worse, before he became one? No, what would be the point? Benkei couldn't handle the idea of going here when he died. Besides, Benkei lacked the will to do anything besides kneel here.

Wait... wait, that's right! There were two familiar Reiatsu signatures nearby. Maybe there was hope! Just a bit, but still hope! Benkei had two plasma blades, his Zanpakutou, and five wires, so maybe he and these others could work together! This was the desperate hope of one near insanity, but it was hope nonetheless. Benkei remained kneeling, crying, and vomiting, but he might try to seek the others out if he somehow managed to regain his composure through this eternity of agonizing seconds.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 60 (100 x .6)

Speed: 150 (250 x .6)

Reiatsu Strength: 370

Spiritual Pressure: 380

Light/Dark Aura: 70/30

Instinct: 600 (200 x 3)

Senses: 180 (60 x 3)

Energy Sensory: 120 (40 x 3)

Healing Expertise: 0

[Jin Yamada]

SPOILER: Click to show

Wh-what is this? What is going on?! One moment, the Bount Leader had been within his office in London. Safe and sound from the outside world that threatened his life. The next thing he could remember was dropping down onto some huge, barren land. All around, the ground was blazing hot and Jin could feel it as soon as he landed. He jolted up on hands and knees and took in his new surroundings. He instantly became aware that he was no longer in London but somewhere else. Somewhere far worse. Far far worse. One look at the area told him that. For a moment, he couldn't understand where he had just landed, but after taking in the surroundings, it became apparent. He had landed in Hell.

He remembered tales of this place from his Catholic childhood. Even then he was frightened, but hearing the tales was nothing compared to this. Seeing everything his parents had described to him before his very eyes horrified Jin. The look of pure horror was visible on his face as he took in his surroundings with widened eyes. He sniffed the air and gagged immediately. The smell...it was horrible. His acute senses took in everything around him. He could smell the burned and rotting corpses, the freshly spilled blood, and even the ashes that drifted throughout the air. He could see the air distorted before his very eyes as a result of the blazing heat coming from the ground underneath him. It was unbearable even to someone like Jin who normally used heat in battle. The heat only made the smells worse, amplifying them in a sense.

Not only did the heat and smells bring Jin agony, but there was also the sounds he heard. They were so painful to hear. There was the sound of flesh being ripped off and devoured. The sound of bones snapping and crunching and the blood splashing out of bodies. He could hear the sound of the geysers of flames shooting up, crackling and burning as they devoured any poor souls near. What made all of those sounds even worse however was that he could hear the screams of agony in between those painful sounds. Screams of those poor souls being eaten and burned alive. Screams of constant torture drifting to Jin from all around. "No. No! NO! NOOOO! Jin screamed out into the silence, adding his own cries of despair to the agony he felt around him. This was just too horrifying for him. How had he been sent to hell? This place where only the most horrible souls went. He hadn't even died yet.

He looked to his side and screamed out at a rotting arm to his right. "No! Get away!" He kicked it aside with his right leg into the river of magma and then gagged again as he took another breath and threw up. He was still on his hands and knees as tears welled up in his eyes. His hands and knees were charred from the blazing hot ground. He sat up on his knees again and looked around at the area, his frightened eyes looking for some kind of hope in the face of this kind of despair. A despair worse than any kind that the Segunda had put him through over the years. Jin was facing true despair for the first time in that moment. In the distance, he could see the figures of two souls fighting. One bit into the other's arm and then began devouring the poor soul even as he screamed in agony. Jin lifted both hands to his ears, clutching his head. He wanted to rip his ears off and gouge his eyes out so that he didn't have to hear or see these things anymore. He just wanted it all to go away. It all had to be a dream. It just had to. There was no way that Jin could be in Hell. He hadn't even died yet. He threw up again and then screamed out once more. "No! This can't be happening! I-I SHOULDN'T BE HERE!" He had lost his usually calm composure. The Bount Leader feared that if he remained here, he couldn't help save the Bount race. The worst part of Jin's agony was that he feared dying in this place of Torture. He feared it so much that it caused him to cry more. He began crying harder even as he puked once again. The sounds of his puking and crying seemed to drown out the sounds of the others near him. In the state he was in, he couldn't focus enough to sense that he wasn't alone.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - Halved[150(75)] Points

Speed - [250] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [340] Points

Reiatsu Strength - Boosted[260(520)] Points

Light Aura - [35] Points

Dark Aura - [65] Points

Instinct - [150] Points

Senses [150] Points

Energy sensory - [100] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [1400] Points

[Ranmyaku Youmei]

Ranmyaku Youmei, the 8th squad captain had faced many trials and emerged victorious from them on multiple occasions. He had earned a reputation of being as tough as his appearance and an excellent shinigami as well. But even a warrior like Ranmyaku wasn’t prepared to be transported into the depths of Hell. Even the sight of his comrade Captain Benkei nearby didn’t make him feel any better as his eyes scanned over the terrible land of Wandering. The reptile’s eyes were wide open as he pivoted his head, unable to find one peaceful inch of the terrible realm. Everywhere he looked there was torment. Sinners devoured other spirits while those lucky enough to fall in a river of molten magma burned perpetually instead of getting ripped apart by their fellow prisoners on land.

It was blazing hot, but even the heat did not bring any comfort to the lizard. It only served the purpose of making the captain feel unclean. The very air held the stench of countless bodies and barely even tasted like oxygen. It made the reptile’s stomach churn and as he went to take a gasp, he realized he was unable to breathe from the pure shock of standing in the pits of hell. As Ranmyaku began soundlessly choking on the pure shock he caught sight of Benkei hunched over in pain. It was clear that the other captain was just as much afraid of this place as he was. They needed to find a way out as quickly as possible, but first thing was first. “Breathe!” thought the lizard as drool fell from his open mouth, “BREATHE!” The very air was difficult to adjust to, and the lizard was choking on it. This place was truly hell.

Ranmyaku fell to his hands and knees and focused on nothing but getting his lungs to work. The shock of being transported to hell was just so great and it made the most minuscule of tasks, like breathing, extremely difficult. The captain didn’t know it, but dying right here would have probably been preferable to living in this hell. Just as the reptile was about to pass out a disgusting, foul-smelling air rushed into his lungs and Ranmyaku coughed at the uncomfortable sensation. His lungs had been virgins to this type of abuse and it felt like breathing in pure smoke. After coughing on the ground for what seemed like an eternity the shinigami stood up. He needed to join with Benkei at least and formulate some sort of plan. If this was hell then he was obviously here by mistake. Sure he had committed some terrible crimes in the past, but he had payed for them ten times over in life, hadn’t he? Besides, he wasn’t even dead (again)! Obviously this was some sort of mistake!

“B-Benkei-san” said the captain as he stumbled over to his comrade, placing his scaled hand on the man’s shoulder, “We’ve gotta get out of here.” The lizard looked around at what he had tried to ignore earlier. People were devouring each other left and right. As far as Ranmyaku could tell, these Sinners were unrestrained and were just walking freely. What drove them to seek to devour each other? Living for eternity in this place was bad, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as bad if everyone around you wasn’t trying to kill you. The shinigami wondered what drove the sinners to make hell even worse for themselves by attacking each other. He watched with disgust as a one sinner crushed another’s head in his palm before licking the mush off his hand. The corpse was instantly swarmed by a mob of other sinners which soon broke out into an all-out brawl for the corpse. This place was indeed hell.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - 350 Points

Speed - 200 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 250 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 250 Points

Light Aura - 60 Points

Dark Aura - 40 Points

Instinct - 50 Points

Senses - 50 Points

Energy sensory - 50 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

[Zou ۞]

-Presently On: Challenge #1-

Hell. What could be more atrocious? The malevolent stench of the blighted land rolled across noses as a sharp stab to the gut. The stench was not just one of normal worlds, of human corpses and rotting dead. It was not just of maggots and of flames and smoke, though it did indeed contain all of these things as well. However, what made it horrifying was the emotion contained within the air. The air was saturated with it; As if feelings had been given their own liquid form, present in Hell's air, even mixed into the oxygen. Agony, despair; They were present. It was as if it was the end of the world. One could even taste villages, being killed off in millions at any one time. One could taste the sins of man on the air. They could taste murder, and could taste the emotions one felt as theft failed or succeeded, as rape occurred. No one was free from that torment.

The visuals were even worse. All across the torn landscape, flames and lava flowed, and corpses floated within. Grotesque methods of killing never before imagined were present. The killing was at its purest. The most inhuman and unforgivable acts were committed not out of particular purpose, but simply out of a will to survive and conquer. Things such as rape were not used for pleasure of the giver, but for pain of the victim. The killing extended even beyond things such as skinning the enemy. There existed some who could peel back the layers one by one instead. There existed others who could induce organs into cataclysmic states. It was a barbaric, hideous place of nothing but death. Up above was even worse. The River Styx, where the red moon glimmered and shone its evil light. Reflected in it were horrible visions.

To Jin, the River Styx showed images of Death Inc, his new home, being annihilated. It showed Death-Sama being shot in the forehead and killed, and showed Death Inc's buildings burning in flames as everyone was killed. His Bount were being skinned alive by enemies. To Ranmyaku, it showed Soul Society in ruins, and the Captain Commander being torn apart and raved by monstrous enemies. It showed Hollows overrunning it and obliterating it. To Benkei, it showed the same as Ranmyaku. And then, it tapped closer to them. It showed Jin, Ranmyaku, and Benkei those who had been most important to them, and those who presently were. It even rekindled some of their older memories, from human lives, and emotions from those times. It showed horrific outcomes to everything, and spelled absolute despair for them to see.

Finally, a powerful figure became visible, a horrible crunching and cracking sound echoing as a tall figure came to stand before Jin, Ranmyaku, and Benkei. The figure really was giant. Standing at least ten feet tall, the monstrous being glowered down at them with glowing red eyes. His skin was bleached white, and covered in huge muscles. The arms were literally the size of a body builder's torso, probably even bigger than that. It didn't stop at eight pack, but rather a twelve or larger. It looked grotesque. Huge goat horns protruded from the giant's bald head. The head had a human head shape with glowing red eyes, but the mouth was that of a shark. A horned shark type of body. Spikes were visible all across the monster's back, and heavyset chains were wrapped around its arms. This was an Akki. It reached down to its back, grabbing one of the spikes, and pulling it out. It was an enormous buster sword made of bone.

"I'm in luck..." The Akki declared. "Newcomers of adequate strength. Eating you will do me well, and I do feel hungry..." That was when they might notice a scar across his chest. Goliath. That was his name, then? No, it didn't matter. He was beginning to attack.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Jigoku no Bijutsu: Saisho no Buredofomu." Goliath hissed. "Ikari-En." Instantly, his body was in motion. It was as if white flames were surrounding the three. They were coming in all across from all angles, a circle of white flames closing in. No, more like a cylone. It was closing in on the three of them! What was happening?! Benkei, with his acute senses, should be able to see it the best, though. The other two could probably notice as well, though not as clearly. Goliath wasn't generating flames. That was his sword movement. His blade was so fast and so fluid with transitions and perfected movements that it appeared to be flames closing in on them. This could mean only one thing. Those "flames" were lethal. Touching them would probably result in being shredded completely. Goliath's glowing red eyes stared a haunting stare at the three, who would be shocked by his power.

This was probably their first time experiencing something like Goliath. And yet, that seemed to be only his preliminary opening move. It finished closing in on where they were. Whether or not they escaped or found a way to defend didn't even matter to Goliath. In a single instant, whether or not they were alive or turned to dust, he switched styles. "Jigoku No Bijutsu: Dai Hachi Sodofomu. Akuma No Arashi." His sword suddenly changed movements completely, sweeping the air in circular movements at insane speeds as he stepped forwards. It was as if a tornado was in front of Goliath, and as he moved forwards, it was pulling the three closer to it. The wind force behind it was incredible, and it was dragging them towards him. A nearby rotting arm was picked up by it, and flew straight into the tornado, turning to dust instantly on contact. They couldn't afford to get hit by that!

SPOILER: Click to show

Type: Brave Level 3

Strength: 400 (800)

Speed: 400 (800)

Reiatsu Strength: 350 (175)

Spiritual Pressure: 350 (175)

Instinct: 200

Senses: 200

Light/Dark Aura: 0/100

Energy Sensory: 100

Healing Expertise: 0

Total SP: 1900

[Akashi Benkei]

Benkei had just somehow managed to bring himself to his feet when he heard the running of water. What? Water, in this place? It had to be a way out! Benkei didn't really think that through, but it took only a fraction of a second to glance over. What he saw was horrific.

The river showed monsters - creatures in the same vein as those he had seen silhouetted in the earlier fires, but much more horrific - laid waste to Seireitei. A gang of the most powerful-looking ones tore the Captain Commander to bits with ease before violating his corpse. Benkei saw his Barracks in flames, his squadmates dead at the hands of the creatures. Was this what was actually happening now?

He was about to fall down again, crippled by despair at the idea that maybe this - a demonic attack upon Seireitei - was what had sent him here when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. Benkei unsheathed his sword, about to whirl and slash the newcomer when he realized that this Reiatsu was familiar. Ranmyaku Youmei! The Eighth Division Captain! Perhaps there was hope!

Benkei was about to respond when suddenly, a goat-horned monster appeared, verbally threatening to devour Benkei and his allies (Jin, under the circumstances, certainly counts). What? What was this thing? This had to be some sort of demon, or a very powerful sinner. Benkei thought it actually resembled a Hollow, with its size and skin coloration. Finally. An enemy. Benkei needed a direction, something to focus upon besides his own crushing despair.

Suddenly, the foe's blade whirred around the trio in a technique he called "Jigoku no Bijutsu: Saisho no Buredofomu". Benkei managed to follow the blade with his senses, but he was still terrified. What was this? Was this the power of sinners in hell? Such exacting, fast motion? Benkei could barely follow the blade with even his eyes.

But he could still follow it.

Benkei already had his sword out. He stood at the front-right of the group, the whirring blade not all that far from him. Benkei focused, the immediate threat of death from this foe actually clearing his head, to a degree. While he was still terrified, shocked, and on the edge of sanity, he managed to achieve focus on defending himself from this immediate threat.

As the blade whirred around, Benkei concentrated. While his senses could only perceive so much information, the insane speed of his brain allowed him to process the momentary positions of the sword in slow motion, as if watching slowed footage from a camera with a relatively poor framerate. Benkei watched, closely, and waited for the precise opportune moment.

Then, just as the blade arced downwards diagonally ahead of Benkei and to his right, he activated Shunken. Shuntsuki, to be specific. His sword lashed out at an angle to deflect the spinning blade. Shuntsuki moved at 1500 speed, nearly double that of Goliath. Benkei lacked the physical strength to outright cancel the spinning, but he had no intention of doing that. He merely sought to deflect it outwards. As the angled flat of his katana caught the flat of the broadsword, the bone blade would be knocked away. Goliath would be at least mildly surprised at the interruption of his form; more importantly, the spinning of the blade would stop, at least momentarily. Goliath might even lose control of the blade; at the angle Benkei had hit the sword, it was unlikely to pose any danger to the trio even if sent wildly spinning, and even then one of the others could likely deflect it.

But Benkei wasn't sticking around to see. The others could handle themselves for a half-second; Benkei needed to get himself to a position of safety so he and the others could regroup. Benkei twisted his leg and hips slightly as he stepped backwards, so that his foot was actually oriented in that direction. This allowed him to initiate Shunpo. He moved a decent distance away, probably 12 meters, making sure to stop at a position far from any visible fire-jets. Doing so kept him well out of the range of Goliath's second attack. He actually wasn't abandoning the others; his actions had given them an opening against this enemy and allowed them to either counter-attack or follow him to this position (they would undoubtedly sense his energy moving). Plus, from here he could actually surprise-attack Goliath from other angles with Shunpo, or provide tactical support to the others. He was carefully monitoring the enemy's reiatsu, prepared to use Shunken to defend himself promptly if Goliath gave chase.

Benkei hoped that he didn't simply get incinerated by a column of unexpected flame from below. That would be anti-climactic.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3750

[Zou ۞]

-Presently On: Challenge #1-

SPOILER: Click to show

Goliath's blade didn't stop moving. Not at all. In fact, Benkei had no possible chance of stopping it. He'd actually tried earlier on than the spinning, since that was the way to evade damage. It had been the flames closing at the time of his counter, but the cyclone. However, it didn't matter which one. His blade was torn from his grasp instantly by the force of his meeting Goliath's. Powerful wind force was blasting around with this movement. What had happened?! It should be clear. Even with that great speed to move his blade, Benkei had not anticipated Goliath's strength.

The technique Benkei had used was an increase of speed, not an increase of strength. The physical strength advantage wielded by Goliath was so massive that just his blade moving in that pattern tore Benkei's blade away when Benkei tried to move it. Instead, as he'd allowed himself to get so close, any fabric covering that extended arm was instantly shredded, and cuts began to form on his arm. Though he used Shunpo to get away, freeing his arm, it was still covered in dozens of powerful cuts. In just one catch, a slight attack even, Benkei's whole blade arm had been rendered useless before the might of those slashes. Dozens of wounds covered it, making the arm show more red than not.

Skin fell off in some places, even, and it looked like it'd been close to being severed in a couple of areas, particularly along the fingers due to the closeness. Then, the arm fell off entirely, dropping onto the ground in pieces. Blood was everywhere just from that. Laughter suddenly echoed in Benkei's head, screaming and jeering at him. Even in mid Shunpo, he was stopped, for a chain had wrapped around his ankle. Goliath's free arm! He'd unwound the chain while distracting everyone with the blade! Spikes dug into Benkei's ankle, and a quick yank had tightened the chain. It was stuck in him now by the spikes impaling the ankle, and the chain wrapped tightly so hold him there. To get free would take untangling, or even Goliath's death.

He might have to sever that part of his leg to escape this. Goliath was good. It was at that time that his blade had turned into the cyclone. This was pulling Benkei, who was not on his feet anymore, towards Goliath. The other two-assuming they survived the flame onslaught-were coming next towards the cyclone. Now, there was luck for Benkei. Though he'd lost an arm and taken ankle injuries, Jin Yamada, the Bount, possessed a technique that could actually heal Benkei rather nicely. It wouldn't be the same as an Arrancar's High Speed Regeneration in cleanliness, nor would it be as effective as Squad 4's Healing Kido, but it would most certainly do the job properly. Jin would need to offer later, assuming this enemy didn't slaughter them.

The voice in Benkei's head was screaming. Why him? Why just his head? Any expressions on Ranmyaku or Jin would reveal their heads did not have voices. Oh, this must be weakness. It was because Benkei had been injured directly by Goliath from a failed defense. Essentially, he'd been weakened, and this had allowed a relatively weak spirit to infest him. If he regained his strength from Jin's healing, this should disappear too. The voice chuckled.

You stupid? Your mind's telling me you're a tactician! This is HELL, you bitchass. Each of these guys is a mountain of corpses above a little shit like you! How many fucking newbies do you think have thought trying to stop his blade in motion would work?! HE'S PREPARED FOR THAT SHIT! How many fucking newbies do you think try to distance themselves with their obsolete step techniques? You fucking bitch, this is HELL, I SAID. Unless you start using some unorthodox shit, all your "advanced" or "smart" Soul Society strategies are fucking predictable. In Hell, where everyone's got this hugeass power after the first year or so, the only difference is fucking skill. Predictability is death. Even if you think you're being unpredictable, triple check that in this quick thinking head of yours! If you didn't have allies, you'd be pretty fucked over now.

This voice was going while all of the fighting was going on, of course. However, it would be a waste to question why the voice was helping Benkei out. It should be obvious. It was Hell, after all. If it was just some random demonic spirit, that meant it was extremely bored. If it was bored, it basically just wanted some entertainment. It'd found someone weakened, Benkei essentially, and given him a few tips so that it could watch him fight as this whole thing went on. Honestly, it wasn't unhelpful. It did tell him that even if he thought something was unpredictable, think again. This was true. It was Hell, after all. Even some of what would be considered "the most unpredictable" had probably been thought of in desperation. Meanwhile, Goliath roared.

SPOILER: Click to show

Goliath was getting really pissed. At any rate, if anyone was caught in the flames directly, it would be worse than Benkei's arm. And if the twister pulled anyone in, they would be shredded like that rotting arm earlier. Apparently it was the arms that went first around here. No good. However, considering that there were probably a lot of enemies around, they couldn't afford to just go release to fight someone strong like Goliath. Hell, he probably had his own reiatsu based techniques. He was probably using sword style only because preserving energy was the most essential thing in surviving Wandering. He'd probably learned this when he first came here. It must have been a while, though, for him to have learned a melee style like this, and become such a monster. One must wonder, what had he initially looked like?

Share this shit with your buddies later and entertain me. The spirit in Benkei's head declared. And guess the fuck what, bitchass? Your normal idea of battle strategy is useless. You rely on your senses a lot, right? So do a lot of people at first. Instinctive genius is what gives you victory here. Senses are gonna be fucking useless while you're fighting. They're only good when you hit some kind of obstacle or trap or some shit.

However, to Ranmyaku, something seemed to be touching his heart. His mind. It was...familiarity? What? No! It was a feeling of acceptance. In life, he'd often been ridiculed, persecuted, and attacked because of fear. People had feared his lizard-like appearance. They'd hated him. They'd loathed him. Despised him. They'd done all sorts of horrible things to him. And yet, here in Hell, a feeling of monstrous acceptance was hitting his heart somehow. Physically, he was a monster. And so was everyone else. Everyone in Wandering was a monster! They all looked hideous! Strangely...it might even be comforting to the Squad 8 Captain, though also distracting. Perhaps, if he thought later, he might even figure out that some outside force was sending him this aura, these feelings, and making him aware of them.

At last, with Jin, a single voice echoed in his mind. Jin. . . it hissed in a ragged voice. JIN. . .COME TO ME. . .

And then, still in Jin's head, a second voice, which said nothing. In that, there was only absolute laughter. Screaming, and deafening laughter in a different voice. A hideous, malevolent one which give the same irritation as metal nails scraping against a chalkboard. This laughter was...even more evil than demonic. It was distracting as well as what Ranmyaku was feeling, too. This was a loud, mind splitting cackle, though. At last, the second voice spoke. I await you as well, infertile worm.

[Jin Yamada]

Why am I here? What sin did I commit to go to Hell?! Jin was freaking out as he was there on his hands and knees, crying his eyes out and puking. He couldn't believe this. One minute he had been safe and in the next, he was in the worst place ever imagineable. No one wanted to be here. No one even wanted to come here, and yet here he was. How he got here, he had yet to find out. Jin couldn't take it here! The suffering. The pain. The evil. He could feel it all in the air. It was just so...horrible. Jin just couldn't stomach it at all.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head towards the skies to utter one last cry when he saw it. Through the tears, he saw the horrible images that were in the River Styx above him. He saw an image that he was hoping never to see. He saw Death-Sama shot in the forehead and killed. He saw Death Inc. burning in flames and everyone dead. Even his newest friend Zouma Santeku was dead. Death-Sama and Death Inc. had been one of the last few rays of hope for Jin. There, he had actually felt like he belonged and that he no longer had to hide. With it destroyed, Jin had nowhere to turn for safety. "NOOOOOOO!" Jin wailed out loud.

Not only that, but Jin also saw Bount being massacred. Hunted and killed like animals. The Bount he was supposed to have protected. The Bount that he was supposed to lead to salvation. How could he call himself a leader if he couldn't even protect them? All he could do was watch as they were slain like animals. Jin could even see and some of his older memories from when he was human. From the time when he was about to die before the firing squad. He could feel the pain from that but somehow magnified. It was all too horrible.

These images of despair were all too saddening for Jin to see and he closed his eyes as tears streamed from them. Then, it was at that moment that he heard a voice somewhere near. He had missed it as it spoke earlier, but it wasn't until it spoke again that he caught the last parts of what was being said and turned around to see who it belonged to. His eyes scanned over the huge, ten foot tall figure that now stood before him and the other two Shinigami, who he just now also noticed. Frightened eyes took in the behemoth standing before him. His mind took in the scar across the chest. Goliath No...it couldn't be that Goliath. Could it? It couldn't be the Goliath that he remembered David beating. If it was, he was in trouble.

Move! Do something! His instincts screamed at his body to move. To react. To do something that would save him from being eaten by this thing. He was reaching in his pockets for the prototype battle yoyos that he had created when the creature suddenly attacked. It happened in an instant. White flames surrounded Jin and the other two almost immediately and began closing in. Jin's mind was unsure of what was going on at first, but it quickly figured it out. These weren't flames. He remembered the same thing happening when he had faced Grimoire. Grimoire had created the appearance of flames like these using his incredible speed and blade skills. Last time, Jin had been saved by Souzetsu, but this time he didn't have him around.

Jin noticed one of the Shinigami already moving into a counterattack. Jin was still trying to figure out what was going on. How had he been able to figure out what was happening and attack in such short time? Jin couldn't ponder that quickly enough. He had to attack. He was going to go with instinct on this one and use the surrounding area. He flicked his right hand out as the cyclone was moving in, sending forth one of the two yoyo he had pulled from his pocket. This one was green and had a black 3 engraved on the sides. Instead of going straight out, however, the yoyo moved towards the ground instead. A powerful thrust forward and a twitch of his finger initiated the "walk the dog." This made the yoyo roll along the heated ground of Wandering as it moved closer to the surrounding cyclone of flames that were slowly closing in.

Jin had been farther away from the two Shinigami from the beginning. It was probably why they hadn't even noticed him yet. He wasn't too far away that he wasn't caught in Goliath's attack as well though. Nonetheless, there had been a small pool of lava running near him where he had kicked the rotted arm into before. Now, he was going to use that river of lava to attack. His battle yoyos were built to be more effective when used with his doll, but since he didn't have time to release, he had to improvise. As the yoyo moved along the ground and grew closer to the small river of lava spewing from a cracked portion of the ground, Jin twitched his finger so that it moved upwards at the last second. The yoyo moved over the small pool and the heat that it released was all that Jin needed to activate the battle yoyo.

With a booming sound, the yoyo exploded with the force of a C-3 explosion. This was enough to send shrapnel from the yoyo flying outwards into the cyclone of flames. Not only that, but the lava that the yoyo had moved over was also blasted up by the force of the explosion. This meant that it would rise up and splash into that cyclone of flames, which Jin remembered was Goliath's arm and blade. He remembered Grimoire using something like this. If it was Goliath's arm and blade, that arm was going to be scorched as that lava splashed onto it. Who knows what would happen to his blade, but that arm was going to be burned for sure. It would probably interrupt his sword style long enough to prevent him from switching into his other style and also allow the other Shinigami to attack or save his Shinigami comrade. Jin hoped this worked. One could see the frightened yet serious look on his face that showed the slight hope he had in that moment in the face of this level of despair.

While his attack was going on, Jin could hear voices in his head. He heard a ragged voice hissing in his head. It was beckoning him somewhere, but where. That, Jin didn't know. Another voice spoke to him as well. It sounded so evil. Despite that though, Jin seemed to feel some sort of connection to the two voices, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Who are you?! Why are you in my head? Get out! It was bothering him, but for now he was trying to concentrate on the battle. After he survived, he would try and figure out who or what was calling to him.

[Zou ۞]

SPOILER: Click to show

Laughter echoed. It rioted within Jin's mind. His talking in his head had caused one of the two voices to screech with laughter, and howl with malice. It was the second of the speaking voices; The one that had called Jin an infertile worm. It was the same voice that came with an intense, evil cackle. It was laughing. It was laughing terribly at him. His mind was also beginning to feel the effects of it. It was causing a dull ache as it echoed. It was as if Jin's head was being tapped over and over again by a hammer. It wasn't a crushing blow with a hammer, but rather it was a painful one from a lessened extent. This made for an ache instead of a crashing white agony.

However, it happened while his yoyo trick continued, meaning that the lava still attacked. However, while yoyos were unorthodox, lava use was predictable. It was only natural that there had been battles in which people attempted to use Hell's lava, and had flung it at each other. Most likely, people had indeed done this numerous times. What could possibly be more painful than directly suffering lava that actually came from Hell? This was Hell, a place of such evil intent and physical, mental, and spiritual torture that even coming into short contact with the ground was painful. Even visually taking it in caused physical pain to manifest in the body.

Essentially, Goliath's style had taken that into account too. The wind force generated by his moving blade was enough. The lava was blown away by the huge amount of power generated by his moving blades, the moving air a defense against a liquid state substance such as lava. This meant that Jin, who had his arm out just a bit more than his body, would get hit there first. Though the blade was everywhere at once, wind force got lava away from Goliath's body. Some still landed in the blade, meaning the blade slowed a bit later and in between style changes. Of course, Jin's arm was shredded off and into pieces by Goliath's attack, but Goliath had to stop to flick the lava off, and reposition.

This was before he began the cyclonic blade attack. Either way, there was still Ranmyaku's defense. He had to find a way to escape. Jin's chance was given when Goliath had to stop. He could move to where Benkei was, meaning that he would hopefully be out of range of the cyclonic blade style that was second in sequence to the flame blade style, "Rage Flames." In the end, it meant that Jin was still short an arm, but he had a chance to keep his life. Ranmyaku still had a defense to get to using. He was most certainly not defended by either Benkei or Jin, though he did indeed also have his own chance to escape because of that lava causing a pause in between sequence changes. Ranmyaku would probably want to note that attacking would be a bad idea.

His best bet would probably be to defend in his way against the flame style, then back away with Jin as the pause occurred. From there, they would launch some kind of counterattack to Goliath's cyclonic advancement. Otherwise, they were rather toast, after all. Some things were like that. People became toasted by the mistakes of others. Goliath of course was still roaring as all of this happened, for he had a huge body that would make many gasp and stare in awe and wonder and complete and utter amazement at him.

Suddenly, a new voice spoke inside of Jin. No, not a new voice. An old one. New to Jin, however, while old now to Benkei. It was the same voice that spoke into Benkei's head. AHA! You're injured too! How convenient! In that weakened state of yours, I can talk to you! Now I can talk to two of you! HAHAHA! Okay, you, motherfucking Bount. I can see in your mind that you've got some pretty bitchin' healing in your arsenal. Use that shit on yourself and the Captain when you get a chance. Use it on the scaly dude too if he gets hurt. Hell's a scary place, you know. You can't survive with severe injuries like lost limbs.

Meanwhile, as part of Hell's environment, other things were beginning to happen. A nearby rock, which had previously cast a shadow from all the light generated by the rising hot lava, and by the brightly glowing red moon visible through the River Styx, started to do something odd. In fact, many nearby rocks did. Their shadows...vibrated? The shadows shivered and multiplied, leaving two shadows behind, being cast by the light surrounding the rocks, all around them. This meant basically that the freaky Hell rocks had two shadows, and would be a bit of a distraction to everyone.

Meanwhile, in one of the magma geysers, a face suddenly appeared, contorted in a complete and utter agony unlike any other that had ever been seen. In the eyes of the face, scenes of slaughter unimaginable and indescribably hopeless and despairing played, as if on a small screen television. Not only was this also a distraction, but it seemed like it was probably a regular event in Hell. Things like this formed just to rob people of their sanity and of their hopes. This was Wandering, after all. Anyone by now could tell that the place the three had fallen into was a place where people continued to roam around over and over again, day after day.

Lightning flickered and flashed across the River Styx, just near the moon. it was obviously far, but still visible. Wait....did weather exist in the River Styx? That seemed unlikely, but it was indeed possible. If a possibility like that existed, then one could only imagine what could quite possibly happen. Either way, there still were some defenses that had to be made. What would happen?!

[Ranmyaku Youmei]

Ranmyaku looked behind him to see Jin Yamada. He wasn’t sure who he or she was, but it was clear they weren’t a native to this strange land. The captain’s attention was swiftly grabbed by another scene. The River Styx, one of the four main rivers of the underworld was flowing before them. To each of the three warriors it showed something slightly different. Ranmyaku could see Soul Society, the one place that accepted him, being torn apart and ravaged by hollows. The Captain Commander was slaughtered and he wasn’t there to protect it. He gritted his teeth and turned away. It wasn’t real and he knew that, but he still felt despair. Was this gloom a side-effect of being in hell? Were such negative emotions forced into him as if he was just some type of container for pain. Truly this was the final resting place for anything evil.

“I’m in luck...” said a voice, “Newcomers of adequate strength. Eating you will do me well, and I do feel hungry...” Ranmyaku turned to see a huge monster standing before them with a terrifying sword in his hand. A scar was seared across his chest and chains wrapped around his arms. Goliath was truly a fearsome thing to behold and his voice commanded respect and awe. “Jigoku no Bijutsu: Saisho no Buredofomu,” spat the demon, “Ikari-En.” In an instant the three were surrounded by a cyclone of white flames that began closing in on them. It was obvious they needed to escape. The captain was more then surprised. “Such a technique exists?” thought the lizard as his eyes grew wide and he stared at the flames, “Is it an illusion? Or rather...” Ranmyaku’s eyes drifted up to Goliath’s arm. It was practically gone in a blur of movement, but the captain was able to tell what was going on because of how Goliath’s shoulder was moving. “Quite an impressive technique, but I think I know what’s going on...” thought the lizard.

Unfortunately for the shinigami, simply knowing what was going on wasn’t enough to get him to safety. He needed to think, and fast! The captain stood still in the eye of the storm and watched as Benkei attempted to bring a halt to the akki’s sword. His attempt had a negative outcome and his arm was shredded as he escaped the akki’s fearsome attack. The lizard needed to act now. He certainly didn’t want to be the last person left inside the terrible technique and there was nothing keeping him from acting at the same time as Jin. It would be much harder for Goliath to deal with both of them at once. His sword could only be in one place at a time after all. Ranmyaku knew exactly where the weakest point on the akki’s attack, but that wouldn’t be enough to escape unscathed.

Ranmyaku believed he understood how the attack worked. The flames were actually his sword and it was moving incredibly fast. He could see the akki’s shoulder moving frantically as he swung his blade and he saw the kind of wounds that Benkei received from it and he was encouraged by that. Slashes were what his natural armor was naturally good at defending him against. His scales lessened the effect of slashes and multiple small attacks. It was a perfect defense against zanpakutou like Senbonzakura. Although the captain was sure that it wouldn’t COMPLETELY keep him from harm, he was still better off then having normal skin against an opponent like Goliath. The shinigami turned around, facing the very back wall of the flame cyclone furthest away from the demon. This was the weakest portion of the akki’s attack. Ranmyaku was sure of it.

Simply the act of turning his back to Goliath was unorthodox to a degree since the act of leaving yourself open like this could very well mean your death in a place such as hell, but it was all for the purpose of escaping. What was going through captain’s mind? Surely the akki was unaware that Ranmyaku had identified the weakest point of his sword style. The lizard glanced behind him at Jin. He needed to time this just right. “Bakudo 8. Seki!” stated the lizard, forming a small transparent orb in his left hand. As soon as Ranmyaku saw Jin’s arm approach the flame the captain made his move. The bount had slowed Goliath’s sword for him and Ranmyaku wasn’t going to waste that opportunity. In an instant the lizard thrust the bakudo into the lower back wall of the flame where it would collide with the akki’s sword and send paralysis and repulsion into the akki for a brief moment. Hopefully this would interrupt the creature’s sword technique, causing an opening for a fraction of a second. Even with the impressive strength there was one main reason why the kidou was more effective in the back of the cyclone. The only thing that reached this far back was the sword’s foible. It was the weakest portion of any blade and simple physics dictated that it’s much easier to manipulate the entirety of an opponent’s blade if you have control over the very tip.

Ranmyaku didn’t have as great of senses as Benkei, or as wide of an arsenal as Jin, but he had a good brain and impressive battle experience on his side. He could use what little he possessed to his advantage better than most. Ranmyaku was truly a master of adjusting to any situation. Frantically the lizard leapt out of range of the creature’s ability just at the same moment that Jin’s arm was torn apart. Goliath’s sword couldn’t be in two places at once, so the lizard escaped to Benkei’s side. The captain was on all fours as he turned to face the akki. Even though Goliath meant to kill them, Ranmyaku couldn’t see him as an enemy. He was as much a victim of this hell as they were. Why was he relating with him? The lizard shook his head, trying to knock the notion out. However, every time he tried not to think about it, he ended up relating more and more to the denizens of this world. They were all deformed and ugly. They couldn’t fit in among the ‘oh so beautiful’ humans. They would be rejected! Maybe, just maybe they could reason with Goliath.

Ranmyaku shook the thought out of his head again. What was going on? Was this the effects of hell? They were pushing notions into his mind. Ranmyaku began thinking again, “M-maybe this is where I belong... given how I look... Maybe I was destined for hell all along... These... demons... Maybe they are my true comrades...” The lizard’s face became sullen and he didn’t even plan a follow-up attack. Why did he have to fight for people who already looked like angels? Why couldn’t they fight for themselves? He was the one he needed pity, not the humans. They could all be eaten by hollows for all he cared.

“Jigoku No Bijutsu: Dai Hachi Sodofomu. Akuma No Arashi,” yelled the akki as he switched sword styles. Goliath began rotating his sword in a circle at high speeds, creating a vortex that sucked everything around him near it. Ranmyaku felt the pull, but being the heaviest of all, he was had the advantage. The captain was already rather far away from Goliath and he dug his sharp talons into the hard ground to keep himself from being swept up. No... Goliath was an enemy! Ranmyaku needed to put his pity behind him and stop relating to these demons. He was above that! He was a shinigami now, not a monster!

Remaining Reiatsu: 2,475

[Zou ۞]

SPOILER: Click to show

Goliath roared out loud. While there was a split second opening for everyone to escape and get away from him before he resumed attacking, inevitably he tore the Kido apart, breaking free from it. However, of course, waiting for the opportunity he had, Ranmyaku did indeed get hit before leaving. He'd probably expected to get hit anyway, so it should be fine, in general. Though, it was going to hurt. Unlike the other two, who took limb injuries, Ranmyaku's back was what got hit and hurt. While his scales weren't a bad defense for him, they were something expected in Hell.

One thing that was notable in a place like Hell was that everyone was some kind of hideous monster. This meant that all sorts of physical forms existed, and therefore all sorts of defensive forms as well. There were quite a few serpentine enemies, no doubt. Scales shouldn't be too hard to come across. Goliath's blade was huge and carried a lot of power and speed. It naturally cut a whole lot deeper than a regular person's bladed attack. Scales were actually sheered off of Ranmyaku's back to allow for blood to flow from it, and spray out. It was as if his back had been burned by the cuts, and it was left quite damaged. Luckily, the scales were as he'd thought, better than bare skin. He would have died if he'd taken the wound as a normal person.

Luckily, his scales allowed the blade from shredding into his insides or just the rest of the torso in general, and so when he got away, his wound was a largely bleeding back. This of course allowed the spirit to infest him as well. KAHAHAHA!ALL THREE. I CAN SPEAK TO ALL FUCKING THREE OF YOU CAUSE OF YOUR FUCKING WOUNDS, BITCHES! HAHAHA! You guys know what you should fucking do? You should jump on top of him and gauge out his eyes! HAHAHAHAHA! Hell, how bout aiming to shove some shit up his nose?! Wouldn't that be fun?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Goliath's roar could still be heard in that moment, screaming in a complete rage as his prey escaped him. However, he then calmed for a moment, licking his lips. Blood that had earlier sprayed out of Ranmyaku had gotten one drop onto Goliath. His tongue took that in, and he grinned while initiating the powerful cyclone. "Blood...How sweet...." he whispered. His cyclone began picking up power and speed both. It started pulling with greater force. Goliath whipped with his chain, slapping it onto Ranmyaku's location. The goal was to force Ranmyaku to stop digging into the ground from being hit by a whiplash chain attack. He then proceeded to do the same to Jin and Benkei, just to offbalance them. He moved so fast that no one could intercept his hcain.

Basically, all that they could do was attempt to defend against the chain. When Goliath brought it back to himself, he spun it back around his arm, coiling it there. Instead, he grinned. "Sweet, sweet blood...." he murmured while initiating the cyclone. "IT TASTES SO FUCKING GOOD!" With his free hand, he grabbed another spike on his back, tearing it out. In that moment, he held two blades, the second identical to the first, especially in size. That couldn't be good. He started spinning that one in the opposing direction. With his strength, he was creating two cyclones of miniature size with purely his blade movements. The wind force that pulled at everyone increased. With two attacks, it might not be enough to try to claw into the ground.

Also noticeably, as Ranmyaku would find out first, the ground...didn't feel right. If he realized it, the prolonged contact was starting to burn. He wasn't actually burning, and he wasn't taking damage from the ground. Rather, he was simply feeling a sensation of being burned. Being clawed into the ground, he would feel it before the other two. The ground made it feel like the body parts touching were on fire. It was agony. It wasn't a regular flame burn, but one that kept getting more and more oil. The prolonged contact made it begin to get worse and worse. And then, for Jin and Benkei, who were wearing shoes and standing, it also happened. Even through the shoes, it was felt on the soles of their feet.

It was a direct and painful agony, and it was getting worse and worse. It was thousands of times worse than walking barefoot on hot sand on a beach on a hundred degree day. It couldn't even be compared to a human world experience. This was Hell, after all. It was uncomfortable to agonizing no matter what. Those within Hell had to sustain agony everywhere they went, no matter where they went. Some would try to sleep and rest. Not only did enemies and spirits make this difficult, but the pain from the ground made it impossible. Anyone that actually managed to sleep would still feel agony in their dreams because of this ground. It was terrible. This really was Hell.

The spirit spoke in their minds once more. HAHAHAHA! I SEE IT NOW. YOU GUYS AIN'T SINNERS, BUT YOU GOT HERE ANYWAY. KYAHAHAHAHAHA! So that's what you're thinking? "Ohhhh noooo. I don't belong here! Saaaveee meeee! There's been a mistake!" HAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't you know anything? LIFE'S NOT FAIR. EVERYONE SAYS THAT IN YOUR WORLD. So then shouldn't you know? DEATH'S NOT FAIR EITHER! HAHAHAHAHAHA! SO WHAT IF YOU DON'T BELONG HERE?! THERE WAS ANOTHER GUY LIKE YOU AGES AGO. A Vizard with black hair. Know what? He wasn't dead like the sinners that dwell here. He wasn't a sinner. He didn't deserve to be here. Guess what happened to him? HE FULLY HOLLOWFIED AND SPENT A HUNDRED YEARS HERE! HAHAHAHAHAHA! And the only reason he got out is because a regular guy like him, not even a sinner, managed to survive that hundred years. Lucifer-Sama let him go free because of his strength. Lucifer-Sama saw potential to cause chaos in your world. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON HE LET HIM GO! HAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE GONNA BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!

Goliath's roar could be heard in unison with the weak spirit's evil laughter. It was sizzling with malice. A tight feeling of dread began to grip at Benkei's heart. A tight feeling of fear began to grip at Jin's heart. A tight feeling of despair began to grip at Ranmyaku's heart. And then, the emotions switched. Benkei got the despair, Jin the dread, Ranmyaku the fear. And then again. Jin got the despair, Ranmyaku got the dread, Benkei got the fear. Emotions were being forced into their bodies. The very air they breathed within Hell caused evil new emotions to surface and enter their bodies in a foreign way. It didn't feel like their emotions, but they felt these feelings strongly anyway.

After all, Hell was absolutely a horrible place. There could be no consolation or solace for them here. Up above in the River Styx, the lightning ceased. So, that was just a normal weather pattern in the River Styx? Ah. It was tormenting to those in Hell. Though weather could be seen in the River Styx, it never actually came down and changed anything. It taunted them by showing them images of something that they couldn't experience. Hell was truly a cruel place. Lucifer, whoever he really was, must be the epiphany of absolute cruelty.

Suddenly, a bell tolled in the distance. No one changed what they were doing, but they still listened. The tolling bell was a huge sound, and yet a dull, lifeless one. It was eerie, and somehow devoid of anything but despair. Ah. The start of a new day in Hell. Get ready. You've never experienced anything like this before. So even Hell had a system of days? Right, some of the punishments and tortures reset with each new day. That must be it. That tolling bell sound was what let everyone know that their suffering was about to start anew. No wonder it sounded so full of despair. To those that resided in Hell, it must be one of the worst sounds that they'd ever come to how. And, as the bells stopped tolling, the ground seemed to shake, even if it actually didn't. A powerful, booming voice thundered in Hell, heard by every single person there. The voice was huge, and just the voice alone created agony. Benkei, Jin, and Ranmyaku would be crushed to the ground flat by the voice.

It would feel as if their bones were shattering all at once, and it would feel as if their spirits had caught ablaze, and taken to flame. It would feel as if pain was echoing and magnifying within every single nerve and cell of their entire being. It was an agony unlike anything that they'd ever experienced before. There was nothing comparable to it in Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, or the Human World. Even Goliath stopped attacking, and dropped to all fours from the pain of the voice's power. Every denizen of Hell was crushed to the ground, screaming in agony at the pain as the voice carried. This was how a day started in Hell. Bells and screams of agony. Even after it was over, Goliath took several minutes before he was able to stand and resume his cyclonic attack. This meant it would be even more difficult for Jin, Benkei, and Ranmyaku. The voice had only one message.

"NOT EVEN DEATH CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME."[/i][/size][/color]

[Zou ۞]

OOC: I've been busy so I was lax in the speed of this thread. Nagi, I'm skipping you in 24 hours.

[Akashi Benkei]

Ow! SHIT! Benkei tried to stop Goliath's cut, but suddenly his blade went flying away, and his arm just... vanished, basically. It felt that way. It felt as if the arm had simply disappeared, replaced with raw agony. Benkei couldn't help but scream. He was screaming really loudly, actually. Unfortunately for Jin and Ranmyaku, it was pretty chilling. Goliath would probably enjoy it. This was the peril of having such incredibly high senses. You felt increased pain.

Well, Benkei still managed to escape from the swords... sorta. He had just managed to escape, collapse, and try not to go into shock from blood loss and FUCKING PAIN when something wrapped around his leg. Oh, shit. A chain. Shitshitshit. Benkei was using that word a lot, but god damn it, this was FUCKING HELL. Ow, FUCK! Spikes! FUCKING SPIKES! Digging into his leg!

This was why the medical squad didn't like Benkei much. He cursed like a maniac when he was in pain. And right now, he was cursing like a sailor. "SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT FUUUUUUCK!!!!!!" Raw pain. AGONY! This was Hell, brutal suffering after only moments. Was this what Benkei's eternity was going to be?

Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. You stupid? Your mind's telling me you're a tactician! This is HELL, you bitchass. Each of these guys is a mountain of corpses above a little shit like you! How many fucking newbies do you think have thought trying to stop his blade in motion would work?! HE'S PREPARED FOR THAT SHIT! How many fucking newbies do you think try to distance themselves with their obsolete step techniques? You fucking bitch, this is HELL, I SAID. Unless you start using some unorthodox shit, all your "advanced" or "smart" Soul Society strategies are fucking predictable. In Hell, where everyone's got this hugeass power after the first year or so, the only difference is fucking skill. Predictability is death. Even if you think you're being unpredictable, triple check that in this quick thinking head of yours! If you didn't have allies, you'd be pretty fucked over now.

"Bitchass"? Who the hell says THAT? Benkei wasn't going to be questioning this voice, though. No time. Gotta think fast. Think of a plan, something unexpected. Unorthodox. The chain whip? No, out of the question. This guy had chains. He was an expert in their use, quite evidently. He would know how to counter those. The plasma blade? No, that would be predictable. A sword-type weapon. Wires? No, too weak.

At this point, Benkei saw his allies attempt their escapes, and then Goliath changed forms. A cyclone! Shit, it was pulling Benkei in. Benkei saw that arm get pulled. It was sliced to tiny bits! No way was he getting pulled into that. Instinctively, he reached down to his belt, grabbing the blade of his chain whip, removing it, and stabbing it into the ground to secure himself.

Wait... the blade...

Benkei's mind began to race. Chains would be expected. They were run of the mill here, evidently. A direct attack with a sword, also expected. But in Hell, you needed to be careful not to take injuries. Jin could heal! This annoying voice in his head had just confirmed it to him a second time, after Jin was injured. Goliath couldn't know that. There was no way. He would never expect Benkei to seemingly recklessly close the distance and take a hit for the sake of damaging him. But this hit... it had to be carefully aimed. Benkei would get one chance to attack. With all this pain - and now Benkei began to feel pain in his feet, raw, burning agony that made it hard to think - he would go into shock when he took a hit from that thing.

Suddenly, Goliath whipped his other chain around, smashing into the ground near Benkei, Jin, and Ranmyaku each. Benkei lost his grip on the blade of his chain whip, but as he began slipping he managed to grab the chain and pull himself back over to the blade. Now, Goliath was shouting something about blood. Freak. Jeez.

Suddenly, Benkei felt a brutal dread. What would happen if his attack failed? Would he suffer rape? Torture? An eternity of pain? Should he try to attack or just flee? This dread changed, becoming despair. This enemy was too powerful. No way to win, none at all. Best to surrender and just die. Chancing the afterlife was worth it to escape this brutal, overpowering foe. Suddenly, fear. Nononono. Can't die. Have to survive. Can't stay here. Escape. Escape! ESCAPE!

HAHAHAHA! I SEE IT NOW. YOU GUYS AIN'T SINNERS, BUT YOU GOT HERE ANYWAY. KYAHAHAHAHAHA! So that's what you're thinking? "Ohhhh noooo. I don't belong here! Saaaveee meeee! There's been a mistake!" HAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't you know anything? LIFE'S NOT FAIR. EVERYONE SAYS THAT IN YOUR WORLD. So then shouldn't you know? DEATH'S NOT FAIR EITHER! HAHAHAHAHAHA! SO WHAT IF YOU DON'T BELONG HERE?! THERE WAS ANOTHER GUY LIKE YOU AGES AGO. A Vizard with black hair. Know what? He wasn't dead like the sinners that dwell here. He wasn't a sinner. He didn't deserve to be here. Guess what happened to him? HE FULLY HOLLOWFIED AND SPENT A HUNDRED YEARS HERE! HAHAHAHAHAHA! And the only reason he got out is because a regular guy like him, not even a sinner, managed to survive that hundred years. Lucifer-Sama let him go free because of his strength. Lucifer-Sama saw potential to cause chaos in your world. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON HE LET HIM GO! HAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE GONNA BE STUCK HERE FOREVER![/color]

Jesus, shut UP for a moment! Benkei was trying to think! And "Lucifer-Sama"? Who was this, an ally of Lucifer's? No time to think about that now. Some bell was tolling, and the voice kept yammering on about days in hell and new experiences when -

What? What was this voice, this huge, booming voice? It was everywhere and nowhere at once. Benkei felt it melting through his skin, shattering his bones. This pain dwarfed that of his arm and leg. This pain made those seem comparably pleasurable. This was the voice of a true evil force. "Not even death can save you from me..." Those were words spoken by something truly horrific, something brutally powerful and corrupt. No, not corrupt. Corruption implied goodness to pervert. No, this was raw, unadulterated evil.

As Goliath fell to his knees, interestingly, Benkei curled up in a ball. This pain was horrible. Benkei spent minutes simply trying to process it. By the time he was finished, Goliath had started the cyclones again. However, Benkei was still gripping his chain whip blade tightly. This was key.

When Benkei recovered, he turned his head to face Goliath. It was time for this to turn around. He would sacrifice his limbs for the sake of his allies here, and for the sake of salvation. In Hell, you wouldn't expect a sacrifice of limbs. You needed to keep them to stay alive and keep fighting, to survive. Goliath would be caught off guard by a sacrificial attack.

Benkei pulled the chain whip out and pushed himself off of the ground, throwing his weight towards Goliath. The hellish creature would undoubtedly try to pull Benkei back down, but the rest of his weight was already going that way. In this way, an attempt to trip him would actually stabilize him. However, Benkei wasn't going to rely on that. As he threw his weight forward, he stepped with his free leg. He used Shunpo. The Shunpo took him around to Goliath's left flank.

Benkei felt that cyclone pulling on him with cruel force. No time, none at all. He had to attack NOW. Benkei was tall. Goliath was way taller, but his shoulder was close enough. Benkei used Shunken, lashing out with the two-foot blade. This attack was aimed at the underside of his arm, near the shoulder. Since Goliath's arm was at least partially extended for the attack, his underarm was exposed, and good god, did it stink. However, there was a critical weakness here. The tendon. Benkei's blade would sink into it, cutting through flesh and muscle to sever the tendon, immobilizing the arm. The timing here was critical. As Benkei cut, he would be pulled off his feet and into the cyclone. He would lose his legs. This was a sacrifical attack. He was giving up his legs and ability to fight for the sake of immobilizing Goliath's left arm. He hoped the others could take advantage of it.

Remaining Reiatsu: 3700

[Zou ۞]

-Presently On: Challenge #1-

Goliath roared in indignation as the blade impacted his armpit, and his blade fell from his grasp as the left arm went limp immediately. Of course, Benkei's legs were both torn and shredded completely in the process, leaving him only with bloody stumps as he hit the ground, perhaps a bit Anakin-esque in terms of position. On the lucky side, his eyes didn't turn randomly red and he didn't start burning. However, Goliath himself was now faced with quite a problem. The problem in question was rather simple, actually.

He was injured. Sure, if he kept fighting them, he'd probably still win. He was still the advantaged one. However, if things escalated further, there was large chance of further injury. In Hell, injury was unacceptable. Once injured, it was only a matter of time before one was picked off by someone strong. A wound like this was something that an Akki like Goliath could heal from relatively quickly if he found a good place for hibernation. Any further wounds, and he'd be killed before finding that place. At that moment, while an arm was all that was injured, it seemed best to retreat. Goliath's eyes were kept on the three adversaries as he dropped his other blade, and began to back away, coiling his chains away from them and back up his arms.

Certainly, they could pursue him as he backed away, but they would also risk greater injury. The best thing to do was to allow Goliath to run away. After a few moments of backing away, Goliath turned and ran. His long strides and blazing speed made him far beyond them in that ability. They'd never catch up or keep up if they tried to go after him. Goliath had been easier to deal with than imagined. Of course, everyone now had large injuries that needed to be healed. So, with that in mind, everyone should probably heal. Then again, there was that voice in their heads. Would it go away if they healed? Sure, it swore a lot, but it had been useful at some point. No matter, actually. Healing was the best option.

The voice spoke, then. I've got some advice for you motherfuckers. That guy ran away. A lot of people in Hell do that if they get hurt against weaker enemies. Some guys though, they'll fight you to the death. Don't think one hit is your home-free. A lot of guys will have their fun fighting you. There are a lot of guys that are so strong that they don't care if they get killed a few times to accomplish their goal, which is probably to escape. So you bitchass goat fuckers should pack your shit and get fucking ready. And don't assume you know fucking shit about Hell. That voice you heard earlier? That wasn't Lucifer-Sama. He can't be fucking assed to make that daily announcement. The person that announces that shit is just one of his servants. That time it was just Beelzebub-Sama. Lucifer-Sama is a hell of a lot scarier.

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

SPOILER: Click to show

-Presently On: Challenge #2-

Time. Enough should have passed that they'd been able to heal their wounds, and resume walking for a bit, onwards towards the pit of Tartarus. And, moving towards there, it was only natural that they'd happen across yet another challenge. This one however didn't appear to be any sort of enemy. It just happened to be in their way, and it stretched endlessly in front of them width-wise. There was no way around it. It was simply a huge spiderweb of thick thread glowing with violet reiatsu. That was what was presently visible. There were three visible orbs laying before them in sequence on the web. One was red, one was green, one was purple. These orbs appeared to be made of some sort of crystal.

Touching the web or the orbs could prove unwise. However, laying before them was also a message. It was made up of flaming letters floating in front of the web. These letters were burning brightly and intensely, and they spelled out some sort of message. No, it wasn't just a message. It was a clearly defined puzzle. That was it. The web was an obstacle. To get past it, they'd have to stop and solve this puzzle. For whatever reason that this was here, they'd have to do it. Perhaps it was to stop the weak from entering Tartarus. Perhaps higher-ups in Hell had placed this here just for that sole purpose. If one couldn't solve this, then surely it must be designed to destroy them in that case for coming across it. So, here was the message.

To pass this web, you must speak the password aloud.

The question key is 8, -7, 4, 6.

The hint key is 5, 2, -3

The answer key is VEX.

Encrypted Cipher must be solved.

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

Ook ck vqn jjpjww?

Hint: Cgv nmq

What is the password?

Trapping everyone in very suddenly, a secondary web materialized behind them instantly. This one had no orbs on it, however this boxed them in between two walls. No escape left. Basically, they were going to have to find a way to get through. The only way to get through was obviously going to be to solve this puzzle. To say the least, it was not an overly complicated puzzle, and it shouldn't be too difficult. However, granted the fact that probably none of the three had much experience in this kind of cipher, it could prove quite difficult to solve this. Inevitably, this meant that they should be extra careful. There was probably some sort of punishment game for getting a wrong answer.

Laughter could be heard around them. An echoing laughter that was chilling to the bone. It made it feel as if ice was literally forming along those bones. No one was safe from the feeling that the laughter forced them to have. So then, in that case, what were they to do? This puzzle was there, and they were going to have to find their way to solve it. Once they solved it, they'd be free to go on and find whoever the next enemy was. Of course, this didn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that it would be an easy puzzle for any of them to solve. They had all the ways to get to the answer, so they had to try and do it right.

But the question was what could they possibly do to attempt to solve it? Just do it in their minds? Discuss it out loud? But, if they said the wrong thing out loud, it might assume (the web anyway) that they'd given an answer. And if it assumed that they'd provided a wrong answer, then clearly they were in deep trouble. On the other hand, it was all very elaborate, and it was something that anyone familiar with decoding should be able to solve. So then, how would this work out for them? One was a Bount that had no experience in this field. Another was a strategist and the Captain of the squad responsible for decoding things such as this. The third was just a lizard banker and Captain that might have experience in this for purposes of getting through random security measures.

Little did anyone realize that the answer was watching them with a cackle and a grin, staring down at them even from the lighthouse top itself. Whatever they did, they'd have to try to find the answer and solve this puzzle for certain. Then again, there was another random wonder. What was a dip and swim in the River Styx like? What exactly would it feel like? Why this wonder would be in anyone's minds, uncertain. Certainly though, some surely wondered it. It was possible that some even took their swim in that river. With the answer always watching them, they had to solve that puzzle. There was nothing else to it other than that.

The voice in their heads seemed to have stuck around despite any healing. This puzzle's fucking easy. Anyone in Hell can answer this fucking question. You motherfuckers better not take a wrong shit. I ain't telling you the answer unless you give me your fucking souls you bitchasses. But it's easy shit. I'm gonna be pissed if you get this one wrong, that's for sure. So if you get it wrong, you can go fuck yourselves you bitchass motherfuckers. This is probably something that even you people from fucking Soul Society can solve if you're familiar enough with how things in the human world work. That said, solve this fucking puzzle already you dipshits.

[Jin Yamada]

Get out of my head! Jin suddenly felt an immense pounding within his mind as one of the voices began cackling. It was the one with the familiar evil aura. It felt like he knew that voice personally. It sounded so familiar to him. That cackle felt like something he had heard echoing within his mind for more than a thousand times, but at the moment, he just couldn't put a name or face to it. He felt the ache within his mind, but his yoyo was moving out towards the lava during that time. Despite the ache slightly distracting him, the attack commenced, blasting up the lava, however, there was one slight problem in his calculations though.

Jin watched in horror as the lava was somehow blasted away from the circling flames as though there was a shield protecting them. Was it the windforce generated from the speed of the blade? It had to be. Not only that, but Jin suddenly felt another pain and a chill on his right side. He looked down and gasped in pain, for that was when the pain finally caught up. He stood there in shock as he stared at his shredded arm. Jin screamed out in pain as he moved his left hand to cover up the stump now left there and stop the bleeding somewhat. He had lost arms and legs before, but in Hell, the pain seemed...worse. He suddenly noticed that the flames were no longer surrounding him, meaning that his attack had done something. The lava, despite being blown away had somehow stopped Goliath from attacking for just a brief moment.

Instict told Jin to move away in that moment and gather himself and so that was what he did. Using his full speed, and gripping his arm, Jin turned and moved towards where he had last seen the red haired Captain move to with all the speed he could muster. He didn't want to use up so much reiatsu in a place like this, so he didn't use his Schiene to get there. Just when he was approaching the spot where Benkei was, he saw the chain wrap around the Captain's leg and begin pulling him. Jin could do nothing but watch as he got there, now out of range of the blade. Then, he suddenly heard a new voice speaking in his head as he got there. It was different from the other two and it seemed to have some words of wisdom despite the foul language in between those words of wisdom.

AHA! You're injured too! How convenient! In that weakened state of yours, I can talk to you! Now I can talk to two of you! HAHAHA! Okay, you, motherfucking Bount. I can see in your mind that you've got some pretty bitchin' healing in your arsenal. Use that shit on yourself and the Captain when you get a chance. Use it on the scaly dude too if he gets hurt. Hell's a scary place, you know. You can't survive with severe injuries like lost limbs.

What the? Who was this?! Why were they in Jin's head? Giving him advice for that matter. The voice could read his mind and was basically saying that he should heal the two Captains when the battle with Goliath was over. Jin was already going to use Vok Sheit to heal himself, but the Captains as well? Well, he did technically need them if he wanted to survive this place and escape. It was the only way. Jin was going to have to heal them, but right now, he still had to survive. Goliath had resumed his attack again and now he was able to generate incredible winds to suck them in. Jin had to stop himself from behind pulled in. He took his left hand off of the stump and reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving the convert-a-weapon and returning the yoyo.

The convert-a-weapon shifted into a pole with a spear-like head. However, this spear-like head was different from normal spear heads. When Jin stabbed it into the ground, it opened up like a grappling hook would so that it was able to hold itself better within the ground. Jin could feel himself being pulled by the cyclone, but he held on tight with the arm he still had left. The pull was getting stronger and stronger, but Jin didn't want to let go. His life depended on it! He felt his grip slipping and then he heard the chains slamming against the ground. He looked over to see Benkei clinging to his own weapon to keep from being dragged into the cyclone. Next thing he knew, the chain was smashing down near him. Goliath was trying to get him to let go.

Jin's bloody hands weren't going to be able to hold on any longer. He could feel himself slipping and then he finally did. He quickly reached into his pocket and thrust the yoyo forward. It launched out and with a twitch of his finger, Jin had it wrap around the pole to keep him from beind pulled anymore. The string he had used to wrap the inside of the yoyo was made of strong metal. It would only keep him from being dragged for only a few more moments. It was in those moments that he suddenly began to feel even more fear. He felt like he wouldn't be surviving this. No! He couldn't die. He didn't want to.

Suddenly, Jin's fear was replaced by a sudden feeling of dread. What if I die here. I can no longer lead the Bount. I can no longer protect them from those out to destroy our race. What will happen to them without me? They will be hunted down by the Shinigami and also the Arrancar for my betrayal of Sonken Kouhai. Jin's feeling of dread was then replaced with a feeling of ultimate despair. How could he even face an enemy like this? Why did he even have a tiny bit of hope of maybe defeating this beast? He couldn't hope to possibly get out of this alive. He was in Hell. How could he hope to survive?

Jin then heard the tolling of the bell and it seemed to break his thoughts and focus. He couldn't think with the sound of the bell tolling above him. Jin heard the voice in his head speak about the bell signifying days in hell. Jin could only half hear it anyway. The tolling of the bell was adding to the agony that he felt from the burning in his feet. He just couldn't concentrate. It was just so horrible. The pain from his feet. The tolling bell. Jin couldn't take it. Then, he heard the booming voice speak and all hope left him completely. He fell to the ground, having lost his grip on the yoyo as well. He was safe for the moment, since the cyclone had stopped. Goliath had fallen to his knees while Jin just lay on the ground, which allowed the burning sensation to fill his whole body. He didn't even want to get up at that moment even as the tolling bell stopped. His body was full of so much agony and pain that he didn't want to live anymore if it continued.

Jin was being pulled towards the cyclone at the time that Benkei began his attack. Instinct was telling him to survive even though his body was telling him to just die. He tried to claw at the ground and find someway to stop himself from being pulled in when all of a sudden, the cyclone stopped again. Jin didn't know what was going on, but somehow he was able to turn his head to see that Goliath had stopped the attack. The red-haired captain was laying on the ground near him with both legs gone and there was a blade stuck in Goliath's armpit. Had the Captain saved them all and sacrificed his legs to do so? Jin was trying to take things in and process them, but it was extremely difficult for him. The feelings Hell was making him feel and the agony he was feeling from touching the ground made it all so difficult.

He watched as Goliath backed up from them, staring at all three as he did. Jin knew that there was no way they could finish him off despite the injury he held. They had already suffered too much damage. One Captain was down and both he and Jin would lose lots of blood before they could finish Goliath off. It was better to let Goliath go, which Jin did. It wasn't until Goliath was gone that Jin was able to realize what had just happened when the voice spoke again. Jin was snapped back to reality and remembered what he needed to do. He began gathering reiatsu around his body to form the bluish aura of Vok Sheit.

Having been touching the ground with his whole body for so long, it was hard for Jin to stand up. He needed to stand up though because in order to keep up Vok Sheit and heal himself, he needed to concentrate. He couldn't do that if his whole body was touching the ground. It was better if only his feet were. He would still feel the agony, but to lesser degrees. So, once he was able to stand up, he began gathering reiatsu to heal. His bone began growing first, shooting out from the bone in the stump. Then, muscles and tendons began growing over that, covering up the bone and lengthening. It was all a pretty painful process. The muscles and tendons were then covered by skin tissue that grew over it all. Finally, when the process was complete, Jin looked down at his new arm and flexed the hands a little. For a moment, he forgot that he had to heal the other Shinigami too.

Jin moved to the convert-a-weapon which had reverted to it's sphere form and pocketed that. He did the same with the yoyo and then headed over to the lizardlike Captain. "Please remain still." the Bount Leader commanded as he reached down and touched the lizard-like Shinigami's back. The blood oozing from the wound immediately stopped and then the scales began growing over the wound. Soon, it was covered up, leaving only a scar. After that, Jin walked over to heal Benkei, who had been farther from Ranmyaku and himself. When he reached him, he placed his hand onto his missing arm and began healing him. "Stay still." he commanded again. It wasn't until then that he got a good look at the face and remembered who he was.

"I remember you. Y-you killed my allies during the Holocaust..." he spoke. Anger could be seen in his pained face as spoke. He was angry because he had to heal this man who had killed so many of his friends and allies during that time. He didn't want to, but he knew that if he didn't he wouldn't be able to survive a moment longer here. Jin looked away as he continued healing the Captain, no longer wanting to see his face and remind himself of that horrible time. Jin monitored the Captain's condition, watching as his legs regrew bone, muscles, tendons, and finally skin. The same happened with the Captain's arm, and when it was all done and Jin took his hand away, he spoke again, "You killed my allies, but I won't let you die here because we both know that we'll need each other to survive."

With that, he stood up and began walking, hopefully with Ranmyaku and Benkei following. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't think any of them did. But, they needed to survive and so walking would keep them from being in one spot too long. If that happened, they would encounter another denizen of Hell. Jin didn't want to fight someone like Goliath again right now. So, he trudged on with the other two, agony and pain aching his feet with each step. Despite that, he continued on until the three reached a web. Jin stared at it, taking it all in. Was it a puzzle? Jin read the flaming words visible on the web before them, trying to understand what it was asking. He squinted at it as though that would help him understand, but it was to no avail. He had never seen anything like this before. His parents weren't extremely wealthy, so his education during the Renaissance wasn't as great as that of the royals, but it was still good. However, he hadn't learned anything like this so he was stumped.

Turning to the two Captains, he motioned towards the ground. Pulling out the convert a weapon, he formed a sharp spear, which he used to carve the words "Do you understand this?" into the ground. He wasn't sure if he should say anything out loud since the web said to speak the answer aloud. He figured that if they guessed out loud a wrong answer, it could be taken as an answer and if it was wrong, they would be screwed. He handed the spear over to them, which signified to them that whoever knew something should carve it out into the ground like he had.

Jin's Remaining Reiatsu: 3250 (-150 for Vok Sheit)

Vok Sheit Post: 1/5