Arc 1: Canon 24: Last Enemy [Complete]

[Zou ۞]

Name: [New Arc 1: Canon 24 - Last Enemy] - The Adventure Name

Participants: [Anyone, 3 RPCs maximum] - Who can participate?

Location: [Human world, ruins of Karakura Town] - Where does this take place?

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

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

Plotline: [All of the Ogatago have been defeated. And, several days ago, a single individual in a white and black uniform was seen briefly as a blur in the Soul Society. Afterward, the Ogatago compound was decimated, and more than 3/4 of its entire White Guardian army was destroyed. Now, a mere 500 of these soldiers remain, and are positioned in California, which has also been destroyed. Meanwhile, in Karakura Town, Hollows have gathered for no reason. There is no reiatsu to feed off of, so why are they there? Several Shinigami have been sent back for routine patrol. They have been surrounded by a dozen or more low level hollows. (This is you guys, surrounded as the thread opens.) What is the meaning of this?] - Explain the plot of your adventure.

Estimated Enemy Strength: [7] 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: [3-4 pages] - How many pages do you think this adventure will run for until it is over?

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

Special Conditions: [3 participants maximum] - Any special conditions, limitations, or other things.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Surrounded... This is not how Nobility should be... It was supposed to be a routine scouting mission, a mission that would get Kyomei back into action, as the Ogatago base had been such a traumatic experience that he had needed a fair amount of mental rest. Squad 4 deciding him to be mentally stable enough to get on his feet and do something productive, they gave him a clean bill of health to participate in some mundane stuff. Karakura Town had been destroyed, but some sort of gathering of Hollows had piqued the interest of Squad 12. Thus, they sent a few scouts out, which the Kuchiki was more than willing to sign up for. He was tired of resting, and wanted to get out and do things.

Sorting through the wreckage of the town was disheartening, but it wasn't near as bad as the horrors that had been seen in the Ogatago base. As Kyo walked through a house, he saw a pink scarf, tattered and torn, attached to a burnt bed post. Instantly, the Soul Reaper was driven to his knees in agony. "Th- th- the victims... I wa- wasn- wasn't strong enough... The pain, rape, torture, agony, pain, desecration, horror, PAIN!" He was sobbing, the images of Shinigami women having their bodies torn apart by brutes of men and of machines was almost too much for the man sitting here, alone. Before a tear squeezed out of his eyes, he composed himself and stood up. "May their memories live forever." Not long after, when he had caught up with his comrades, had they been surrounded by Hollows.

Dramatically, Kyomei drew two blades from his side. One was a silver tube, which with the touch of a button caused a yellow blade to come out. The other was a steel blade of medium length, an Uchigatana. "I am so not in the mood for this." The Hollows around them seemed weak, so Kyomei first attempted the easy fix to peons like them. A bright yellow glow emanated from the Technique Master as he flexed his incredibly powerful reiatsu. The force of the reiatsu would cause the ground beneath his feet to crack, the broken buildings groaning from the strain, any plant life near him starting to wither. If these really were just ordinary Hollows, they'd pop like bubbles from the strain of the Gravitational Pressure being exerted.

SPOILER: Click to show

Stats:

[/b][/center]

Strength – [50] Points

Speed - [400] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [400 (x3)] 1200 Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400 (x3)] 1200 Points

Light Aura - 75 Points

Dark Aura - 25 Points

Instinct - [175] Points

Senses [100] Points

Energy sensory - [75] Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points

Total SP: 1600 Points

Abilities

• [Special Skill: Kidou] {3}
  
  
• [Special Skill: Kidou Combination] {3}
  
  
• [Calm mind] {3}
  
  
• [Battle analysis] {2}
  
  
• [Battle Skill: Other: Acrobatics] {2}
  
  
• [Street Fighting] {2}
  

[/spoiler]

[Deleted]

Kubi was out on vacation! Or at least, that's how he saw it. In reality, he was in the ruins of Karakura Town on a routine scouting mission, due to the curiosity of Squad 12. Kubi immediately agreed; with all the fights he had been into recently, and with the disastrous events at the hands of Ka-Ek and the Ogatobito base, he could use a break. Though Squad 12 assured him that it wouldn't be a walk in the park; well, he had yet to come across evidence of any that! Only low level enemies so far. "Weak shits." He thought as his fist smashed a hollows mask to bits, evaporating the hollow into the next world.

As he grinned, however, he noticed that he was in a small amount of trouble; he was surrounded. He blinked, his fist swinging down on the skull of a foolish Hollow who had wandered to close. "Well, shit." He backed up as the ring of hollows slowly advanced. Suddenly, a figure dashed into the circle as the reaitsu, massive reaitsu, surrounded them, the ground cracking as it pressed down on the weaker beings. So powerful was it that even Kubi was pressed down onto his knees. "Shit, Kyomei. Careful where you aim that, um ... you."

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - 300 (525) Points

Speed - 200 (120) Points

Spiritual Pressure - 200 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 200 Points

Light Aura - 50 Points

Dark Aura - 50 Points

Instinct - 150 Points

Senses - 50 Points

Energy sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points


Total SP: 1100 Points

Abilities

• [Street Fighting] IIII
  
  
• [Pain Tolerance] I
  
  
• [Mastery of Self] III
  
  
• [Mathematical Prediction] III
  
  
• Battle Analysis III
  

[Zou ۞]

OOC: Two things. 1. No spot reservations.

2. This thread is officially worth 3500 TP. AND it has item drops. LEGENDARY CLASS item drops.

[Raion Souretsu]

“Well, this isn’t good.”

The words were unusually serious and sober, a rare event coming from the normally drunk Vice Captain of Squad 9. Raion Souretsu was notorious for his drunken escapades and the chaos he caused as a result, as well as his naturally clownish personality while he was under the table. But today, no mist glazed his eyes, no flush of cheerful inebriation stained his cheeks; instead, the lion had respectfully set aside his sake while he was with the squad that had been sent to investigate the ruins of Karakura Town. The town, one of the highest spiritually-charged areas in the past, was now nothing but rubble, destroyed in the Battle of Armageddon. Raion had heard all about it, as his former Captain, Rave Haretsu, had participated in the battle and had described its horrors. But nothing had prepared him for the actual scene, the sheer destruction that had greeted him as he had stepped from the Senkaimon.

Where tall buildings had once stood, gutted stumps of cracked rubble rose from the blackened earth like broken fingers. The fires no longer burned, but the smells of death and destruction lingered even a month later. Smoke seemed to fill the air, dying screams seemed to echo in the former battleground. Raion couldn’t bring himself to drink a single drop of sake, couldn’t bring himself to dishonor the deaths whose legacy remained in the ruins of Karakura Town. As a result, the jovial Vice-Captain had been quiet, subdued as they had continued their patrol through the wrecked city. Anyone who had known him previously would know this was unusual, but Raion offered up nothing besides a shake of his head if asked. It was a question that really didn’t need to be asked, anyway.

When Kyomei had broken down, Raion had said nothing, only offered a paw to help the man up, mute understanding in his eyes. He, too, felt the pain. The lion had a particular fondness for humans, for the beings whose short lives were constantly busy and intriguing. Seeing the remains of a city in which uncounted numbers had died, along with many Shinigami, Raion felt a deep hurt in his own heart. But he suppressed the sorrow as best as he could, keeping his face impassive even as a tear trickled through the thick brown fur of his mane. Instead he encouraged his companion to move on, to move past the scene at which they had stopped.

And of course, a moment later, pain had to be set aside. Suddenly the three Shinigami were surrounded by a large group of Hollows. Though they were weak, they had strength of numbers, and could potentially overwhelm a single Shinigami. But they were up against three very powerful Shinigami, two Vice-Captains and a gifted Fourth Seat; the three of them would fear nothing even from this group of Hollows. Though Raion felt Kyomei’s powerful presence through the surge of his Reiatsu, he was not going to sit still and wait, in case the Kuchiki’s Gravitational Pressure left any undefeated. He leapt forward, drawing his Zanpaktou from its sheath, and began his own attack.

A Hollow would rise up before him, but the broadsword that Raion carried tore the creature in half as a downwards slash cut through both the mask and the monster beneath. Another found itself torn apart by a blow from the lion’s fist, his strength and size allowing the punch to break through the bonelike mask that covered the Hollow’s face, piercing through it completely. Both of the creatures faded away as their mask remains fell apart, but there were still many left. Raion frowned, and brought his weapon up again in a one-handed overhead grip with his right hand; this battle was far from over.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - [200] Points

Speed - [250] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [(200 x 2) = 400] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [(250 x 2) = 500] Points

Light Aura - [100] Points

Dark Aura - [0] Points

Instinct - [(100 x 0.5) = 50] Points

Senses [(100 x 0.5) = 50] Points

Energy sensory - [(100 x 0.5) = 50] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [1200] Points

SPOILER: Click to show

• [Street Fighting] 3
  
  
• [Charisma] 3
  
  
• Other (Knowledge Ability) - Decoding and Encryption] 3
  
  
• [Other (Mental Ability) - Alcohol Tolerance] 2
  
  
• [Analyzing] 2
  
  
• [Other (Misc) - Low-Light Vision] 2

Reiatsu: 4000/4000

[Zou ۞]

Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake and crumble and shatter. In mere instants, it was upon them. The huge monster of an enemy. A thing so enormous that there was no way they could even comprehend the threat that it posed. The thing rose from the ground, exploding out and into existence. It was huge! It was a monster with an enormous serpentine shaped body. It had many legs, but it was also similar to a centaur. The leg area was like a centipede, but this led up to a huge torso with two large arms. It had a very alien head with four eyes, and a mouth split open and roaring. More importantly, throughout the dozens of legs and the arms, there were blades. Everywhere. It was a Hollow. The entire body was skeletal. It was a skeleton body of a huge beast.

The roar of the enormous Hollow was huge. It was so unbelievably huge. The roar alone filled the entire town, and threatened to burst the eardrums of the Shinigami. It was not a virtue of power, but a virtue of size. It was large, and therefore so was its voice. Just by virtue of size, it was probably larger than several buildings put together. It however was a regular Hollow. How had it grown so large? It was larger than MANY Gillian put together. Had it simply mutated? This was probable. There had been many reiatsu signatures in Karakura Town when it was wiped out. Many strong ones. It was not impossible that it had mutated. Still, the sheer power it released from its body was repelling gravitational pressure. Merely trying to crush it would do no good. They had to attack.

However, the thing was clearly a challenge based completely off of being enormous. It was so big that there was no telling what would happen while fighting it. Despite being a regular Hollow, it might actually have the potential to heavily damage the three Shinigami. All of them. This of course was based on sheer size alone. And when it blazed forwards, arcing toward them, they would find something else. The thing was fast. It was so fast it was unimaginable. They were slower than it was. It was a gigantic hollow full of power and speed. Arcing past them, its blades whipped out. If they allowed themselves to be hit, they would be chopped into little mini pieces. But, the thing was so enormous that their attacks would probably have no effect. It was so big they could literally not produce attacks large enough to significantly damage it. Like being stabbed with a blade the size of a finger nail.

OOC: This one's the warm-up guys.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 100 (25)

Speed: 400 (2000)

Reiatsu Strength: 100 (25)

Spiritual Pressure: 0 - But Immune

Instinct: 100 (25)

Senses: 100 (25)

Energy Sensory: 0

Healing Expertise: 0

Class 7. 800 TP. Lunatic type.

Image

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

Two Vice Captains joined the fourth seat, Kyomei's good friend Kubi Tsure the Vice Captain of Squad 11, and Raion Souretsu the Vice Captain of Squad 9. Kubi was ahead of the group a ways, leaving Raion and Kyo behind wandering through the desolated mess that was Karakura Town. It was definitely odd for Raion to be as somber as he was, so serious, for the anthropomorphic lion was often bogged down with strong drink. The Soul Reaper was completely sober right now, and wouldn't even offer an explanation for why the sake was untouched and not even with him. Not that the Kuchiki was complaining, for this was not an occasion for laughter or foolhardiness. The shattered wreckage of a city was something to grieve over, not lose oneself in forced merriment.

"Well, this isn't good." The lion was right, it wasn't good at all, even the golden words couldn't cheer Kyomei up. The charred buildings were lifeless, the ground scorched and dry. Though it had been long enough that the fires had died down, there was still no movement save the occasional dust kicked up by the collapsing of more building rubble. It was a dark and dreary place to be scouting, and it was made all the more awful when Kyomei wandered into a wreckage of a home, the room with the pink scarf. His pained cries echoed through the deathly silent town, only adding to the heartbreak of the moment. For a moment, there was nothing but the pain and the agony of the memories that pounded at his head. The clean bill of health given by Squad four had apparently not covered the mental instability caused by memory triggers.

Kyomei's depression was quickly broken by the appearance of Raion, offering a friendly paw to help him up. A tear started to pass down the Vice Captain's face, which was quickly lost in the large amount of hair around his head. The Fourth Seat accepted the gesture of help that was stretched out towards him, and used Raion as a support to hoist himself to his feet. Kyomei's vision was filled with yellow as he started to speak. "My thanks, fukutaicho. No need to be sniveling on the ground, there's work to be done." Though the rest of the Soul Society didn't know it, but select few, Kyomei had come out of the Ogatago base with a few oddities. One way or another, his brain had become scrambled in more ways than one. When people spoke, he not only heard their voice, but saw their voice as well, a form of synethesia.

For instance, when he spoke he saw a yellow cloud coming from his lips, and when Raion spoke the cloud was a nice golden color. There was another aspect to his synethesia, but Kyomei hadn't actually discovered that one just yet. Anyways, the Kuchiki found strength in the silent help offered by his Shinigami partner, so the two of them advanced forwards on their mission, where all three of the Soul Reapers were pinned in by Hollows. The combination of intense spiritual pressure from Kyomei, massive strength from Kubi, and giant blade from Raion caused the Hollows to pop, shatter, and fall apart into nothingness. "Careful where you aim that, um ... you." Kyomei nodded at Kubi, acknowledging that he had truly forgotten that his partners were there, in his frustration he had caused them discomfort.

"Blue, nice touch for you. Anyways, sorry about bei- WHAT THE HECK? My reiatsu is strong but not -THAT- strong!" As Kyomei was in the middle of apologizing, the ground started to quiver and shake beneath their feet. Kyomei's reiatsu was strong enough to crack the ground, but he was completely baffled as to why there was a massive earthquake starting to form. His bafflement turned to utter astonishment as a truly massive beast rose out of the ground, turning the already broken landscape into a geyser of dirt, stone, and rubble. The thing was so massive that the mountains in the not too far away distance were blocked out, as if it were taller than them when standing side by side. It was a Hollow, there was no doubt about it, but it was a Hollow the likes of which had never been witnessed by Shinigami eyes.

The beast was skeletal, like a centaur centipede. It had so many legs, all of which were blades, that it was difficult to count them all. It's giant head that looked as though it was plucked from outer space opened up, to reveal rows upon rows of teeth. With its mouth open, it let out a massive screech, which dropped the Kuchiki to his knees for a moment. It was extremely loud, which was to be expected from something so huge. The sound that had emerged from his mouth had blotted out Kyomei's vision for a moment with just black spots, and it was enough to trip his automatic reaction that prevented any and all forms of blindness, the Kuchiki Magic Hana Honnou kicking in immediately. Standing up, Kyomei faced the beast as it charged the trio.

It was fast, moving quite a bit faster than Kubi's Shunpo speed and moving five times as fast as Kyomei was capable of without Shunpo. The Hollow would overtake them soon and rake them to pieces with its many blades if they didn't act quickly, and act quickly Kyomei did. Executing a Shunpo, he got a little bit of height and then rested on Air ground. Hopefully Raion and Kubi would get out of the way of the charging beast on their own, but Kyomei wasn't worried about that because the two weren't stupid. One didn't become a Vice Captain by being run over and chopped up into bits. Raising his hands up and slightly to the side, the Technique Master in the sky willed two absolutely massive swords to emerge from him.

Sokkatsui was a Kidou that increased in size with the user's reiatsu strength, and Kyomei's reiatsu strength was incredibly massive. The blades that Kyomei had raised into the air were as wide around as well-to-do houses were tall. They were truly massively sized, for a fairly low level Kidou, and in the hands of the master they would be extremely potent. Though the Hollow was large, it had very poor strength and reiatsu strength, and the skyscraper swords possessed 48 times the reiatsu strength of the beast, as well as a Class difference of 2 over the beast. One blade was held forwards towards the Hollow, like a spear, and the other sought to crash downwards on it like an executioner's axe. If the Hollow knew how to form Cero, and did fire one, it would break against the massively more powerful technique, in both class and reiatsu strength, and if it kept charging at the Soul Reaper then it would impale itself through the mask on the blade held aloft.

Even if it stopped, Kyomei's second blade would descend upon it and sever through its face. With its extremely poor instincts and senses, it would be near impossible for it to understand the thread in front of it and react accordingly. If it tried to scream again to stop Kyomei's blade from chopping through its head, it would pain the Kuchiki, but with a complete mastery over his mind, and being able to stay calm, he'd force himself through the pain and keep his arm moving straight and true cutting through the beast. As his Sokkatsui blades were formed out of his mastery over Kidou, something strange occurred in Kyomei's mouth. What is going on?? Why do I taste burritos?? The second aspect to his synethesia, though he didn't yet fully understand it, was that reiatsu use, Kidou, had a taste now. The fiery aspect of Sokkatsui had left a spicy taste of burritos laden with chilies in his mouth.

Remaining Reiatsu: 11700/12000 (-200 2x Sokkatsui, -50 Shunpo, -50 Honnou)

OOC: I wrote this in between 4 and 6AM, so sorry if parts aren't clear or just plain don't make any coherent sense.

[Zou ۞]

SPOILER: Click to show

No, Kyomei had underestimated the monster. It had been underestimated when he had created two large blades of Sokkatsui. Each as large as his reiatsu strength was, being big like a house just wasn't good enough. Not when the monster dwarfed even many Gillian put together. For a Gillian was easily one of the largest and tallest Hollows out there. Kyomei's Kido may have been large, but ultimately they were not nearly big enough to stop the gigantic Hollow. It was a matter of size. He paled in comparison. His blades paled in comparison. It was inconceivable, but not even Kyomei's blades could reach the required size. Not with that reiatsu strength. There was a reason that special techniques were required for such a size. Sokkatsui was simply a small technique. As for impaling the thing in the head, that never worked out. The blade was too small to go deep enough through. The beast was indeed wounded. And it shrieked in pain. But that wasn't good enough to kill it.

Chopping the head. That could work. Indeed, it could. But the monster was fast. Kyomei would indeed have been able to kill it if he'd gotten into the head. But the monster moved too quickly. As it attacked, it twisted and reared itself in its movement, spinning in the air, and literally coming off of the ground. It began to levitate. As it moved its body, its head angled away from the blades. It was a fast monster. It was not that it had instincts, however, that allowed it to dodge. No. It dodged by virtue of moving like a drill. It was trying to increase damage. Therefore, Kyomei's blade was close, very close. But it hit the body instead, carving into part of it, and ultimately failing to go all the way through due to size.

The attacks were large enough to shave several blades from the monster, but ultimately were not large enough to do significant enough damage to kill it. That was its sheer size. As it blew past them, it was hopeful that Kubi and Raion managed to get out of the way. Otherwise, if they found no defense, their lives were over. Kyomei, who had decided to attempt to cut the thing, would find he'd severed some of the blades that had been incoming for him. Regardless, given his overestimation of his own attack size and underestimation of the Hollow's pure size, he'd find that he was carved into by one of the blades that had been farther away from him, resulting not in total severing, but in a deep gash across the chest and in three fingers of his left hand being cut off.

Fingers were severed, and blood sprayed forth from the wound as the monster made it past them. Indeed, this was a difficult enemy. By no means was it incredibly powerful. Only incredible large. It was otherwise a basic opponent. It required basic means to defeat. Kyomei had had a good start. A set of enormous blades. But these had not been large enough. A more primal and larger scale attack would be necessary. In essence, it would be costly to defeat this thing. It roared again, sending its noise across the entirety of the area. This time it was louder. Practically deafening. It would leave all of the Shinigami with nothing but pain in their ears and a dull ringing sensation. They had not been turned deaf, but their ears had been hurt and temporarily overloaded, as if a bomb detonated right next to them.

The Hollow then moved past them. The first attack was finished. Assuming Kyomei's was the only damage taken, it had been evaded and they had all kept their lives. If for some reason they'd failed to simply dodge, and therefore had not kept their lives, well that could be quite problematic for them. The Hollow roared again while they were already with ringing ears. If any sound returned to them, it was erased again by the roar. They were not permanently deaf. Only temporarily. It was a mean beast. A powerful monster unlike anything that they had ever before experienced. This was strength. That was the Hollow's power. No techniques. No huge destruction. Only size. Size and speed, which allowed it a fearsome combination of attacks.

SPOILER: Click to show

Suddenly, the air grew cold. Icy cold. It was the coldest that had ever been in Karakura. A record cold. But no snow fell. It was only an emanating chill. Why? What was it? This was uncertain. However, Kyomei, Raion, and Kubi would find that there was a beast next to them. A monster. No, incorrect. Neither beast nor monster. But perceivable as one. Was it a he? Was it a she? It was uncertain, really. But whatever it was, it was next to them, sitting on the ground with one knee raised, and an arm resting on that knee. What exactly it was was uncertain. But it was uncanny. It had never before been seen by any of them. The likes of it had never before been seen by any of them. Potentially, no one had seen anything like it before.

The newcomer was red in color. Completely red. Made apparently from some sort of red reiatsu, which glimmered, shone, and stretched. It was some sort of flowing reiatsu. (OOC: Think Kyuubi cloak in texture) And not only was it this, but it was humanoid. It had the shape of a human. Hands, legs, a body. A head. And yet, it lacked human features. It was a completely untoned body. No muscles, not slender. Yet it was not fat. It was strangely average. Almost misshapen by how average it was. There was nothing remarkable about the body. It was just...body. It was plain. No muscles. Not too thin not chubby at all. Just normal. The thing had fingers and even toes too. It had a head which was bald. Devoid of features as well. There were no ears. There was no nose. There were no eyes.

There was however a grinning mouth. The only truly human feature on it. The mouth had perfectly aligned white teeth, all flawless and pristine. It was a grin even wider than that of the Game Master himself. And the thing, whatever it was, sat in between them all. When and how it had gotten there could never truly be known. The three would never be certain of when it had entered their midst. All that mattered was that it had. And, sitting there, it looked up at them. "Hey, guys. You know the fate of your world hangs in the balance, don't you? You should work a little harder. Try engulfing the head in a bigger attack than you just tried. That might just kill it. What do you think? Am I right?" What was it?

[Raion Souretsu]

((OOC: Wait to post a reply, Kubi and I are comboing))

When the monster rose up, all three Shinigami froze. This thing was simply enormous; to put it in the scale of “big” was doing the world an enormous disservice, as it wouldn’t begin to come close to describing it. Raion’s eyebrows—an unusual trait in an animal, but with a humanoid form came a few interesting changes in his overall physiology—furrowed as he looked up at the sheer scale of the monstrous Hollow. The monster towered over them, a monolith of dark Reiatsu and blind hunger whose presence was not in its strength, but in its size. Even Raion’s low sensory skills could tell that this beast was weak, but its size alone defied anything its spiritual energies proclaimed as “weak.”

But that did not deter Raion. Unusually focused by his sobriety and drawing on the full extent of his intellect, the lion began to analyze weak points and strengths. For one thing, the centipede-like body that the Hollow had would make attacking individual legs pointless; unless they had a means of taking out large numbers at once, which was unlikely with the monstrous scale on which the Hollow existed, it would be an effort in futility. Attacking the two large arms would be a bit more crippling, as it would remove a fair deal of reach in the creature’s own strikes. The bladed limbs and “ribs” along the monster’s body would still be a threat to close-range combat, but when the weapons with the largest range were removed, long-distance combat would become a viable means of defeating the Hollow…

Then the attack came without warning, so fast that if Raion had blinked he would have missed it completely. A reflexive Shunpo—it was notable that the lion’s reactions and reflexes were much sharper than usual, another testament to the disadvantages of his heavy drinking—had him well out of the way of the creature’s charge. He landed among the rubble of a collapsed house, Raion’s feet sending chunks of gravel scratching across the ruins as he regained his balance. The lion blanched slightly as he saw the Hollow’s charge smash it through a building, truck-sized slabs of concrete bouncing off of its hide and falling to the ground below.

A quick barked command from the Vice-Captain would get the other two going, if they hadn’t already. “I’ve got an idea! Kubi, come with me! Kyomei, keep it busy, knock out legs and try and deal with the arms! They need to be dealt with immediately!”

With another powerful Shunpo, Raion suddenly leapt atop a section of rubble a third of the way up the Hollow’s body. Another Shunpo had him at about shoulder height on the monster, standing on Air Ground, and a final one had him directly in front of the Hollow’s enormous head. At such a range he felt intimidated by such a large visage, but Raion quickly pushed back his trepidation and grabbed the sake jug that was part of his release, hanging on his belt. Though it was an irreverent time to be drunk, it was part of Raion’s Zanpaktou; the drunkenness incurred by the blade’s bite also affected its wielder, albeit to a lesser degree. That meant that he would have to deal with it as a part of his ploy.

“Drink from the fountain of rapture, lose yourself in the blissful haze: Man’etsu no Otaki!”

As Raion upended the jug of sake, golden liquid that shone like the sun poured out of the opening and soaked his drawn Zanpaktou. His weapon began to glow with the same golden aura, shining brightly as it shifted to its released state. Suddenly, the sword that was already as large as a human broadsword was even bigger, and was now a two-handed weapon that was meant for someone of Raion’s size, who stood two or three times larger than the average human. The wave-curved blade dripped with the same sake that had unlocked its true form, and this intoxicating liquid was a hundred times more potent than anything drunken by mankind; just contact with the alcohol was enough to start the process of inebriation.

Of course, the instant it came out, Raion was immediately stricken with his usual drunkenness and then some. Activating Man’etsu no Otaki while sober was like being hit by a car, and then getting up to stagger away. And staggering was certainly in the spirit now, as Raion’s balance was thrown out the window. But he had been angry, focused when he had inflicted his self-intoxication, and as a result his drunkenness had transformed it into a sort of righteous fury. His mind was super-focused on his plan and inflicting death upon the Hollow that had come to ruin this cairn to Karakura Town’s victims, the only thing that kept it from wobbling loose for whatever thought came to Raion’s mind first.

“Take this! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” Suddenly another Shunpo would have Raion’s blade, which had been pointed forward before the charge, driven deep within the Hollow’s skull had it not reacted in time. Raion’s attack had come after the monster’s initial strike, meaning that it had already made its rush on Kyomei, and therefore after it had hopefully stopped to prepare for another pass. With the creature’s low instincts, it wouldn’t respond well to the sudden blow, and take it, which would drive Raion’s enormous sword into the Hollow’s mask. If the contact was made, it would be driven up to the hilt into the creature’s face, and cracks would spiderweb out from the impact point. It would still be a small bite considering the size of the massive Hollow, but there was more to it than met the eye.

“Kubi! Drive it in as far as you can with your strength, I need as many cracks as I can get!” Raion’s focus was exceptional for the moment, and his words weren’t even slurred. This wouldn’t last long, though, and so he had to get through his plan before his mind was lost to the alcoholic fogging. While Kubi would work on driving the sword into the Hollow’s mask further, increasing the spread and depth of the cracks, Raion’s would begin his next technique, pointing towards his sword with one paw.

Most people assumed that Raion’s Serpent of Rapture could only come from his sake jug or any sake he created through his Water to Wine technique. However, there was one other source that was usually unimplemented, as most people actually watched it; Raion’s entire Zanpaktou blade was soaked in a never-ending cascade of golden sake that would constantly replenish itself to spread through cuts. As a result, Raion could use that never-ending source, even if his sake jug was damaged or kept away from him… or in a situation like now. Instead of being used to make the Hollow drunk—though it could do that, should the Hollow be susceptible to such things due to the nature of Raion’s weapon—the Serpent of Rapture instead exploded into the network of cracks, hopefully expanded by Kubi’s attacks, and started adding pressure, expanding in narrow rivulets. These would press on the cracks, widening their spread further and increasing their width as well. Essentially, the pressure would be moving through and building on the existing weak point from the initial stab, and with a few minutes of such pressure, the creature’s entire face, even as large as it was, would crumble.

Raion planned to ensure that their enormous target fell, and with that in mind, one last Shunpo took him out of the way of another charge, atop a building a fair distance away but still in sight of the Hollow. If his combination attack with Kubi was successful, then the Serpent of Rapture would quickly begin to spread through the cracks in the Hollow’s mask, crumbling it to dust slowly but surely.

Reiatsu Remaining: 3350/4000 (-300 for Shunpo x6, -200 for Shikai, -150 for Serpent of Rapture)

Shikai: 1/10

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - [200 {x1.25}] (250) Points

Speed - [250] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [(200 x 2) = 400] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [(250 x 2) = 500 {x1.25}] (625) Points

Light Aura - [100] Points

Dark Aura - [0] Points

Instinct - [(100 x 0.5) = 50 {x0.9}] (45) Points

Senses [(100 x 0.5) = 50 {x0.9}] (45) Points

Energy sensory - [(100 x 0.5) = 50 {x0.9}] (45) Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [1200] Points

[Zou ۞]

OOC: You ignored the appearance of the newcomer. But anyway, make sure he makes his post here quickly. This canon is of some importance. Otherwise I'm probably going to post tomorrow.

[Raion Souretsu]

OOC: Requesting a skip, as he's gone back to the idea of killing off Kubi. Plus, y'know, three weeks later.

[Deleted]

OOC: Will be posting in this tonight. My elder brother deleted my post on accident, soo ...

[Deleted]

"Blue? What are you- WHAT IN THE HOLY FUCKING GOD IS THAT?!" With wide eyes, Kubi scooted away - to the back and the side - from the spot as the creature, hundreds of times larger than anything he had ever faced before, rose from the ground, like a beast sent from hell itself to torment them. His body seemed frozen in shock. 'I-impossible! No creature can be this big! H-how can it possibly be moving?!'[/i] Kubi tried - and failed - to wrap his mind around a creature this large; by all the laws of physics, the creature would be crushed underneath it's own weight. Of course, once you throw magic into the picture, physics go out the window.

Then Kubi's eyes widened. He had seen the bunching of limbs, the cracking of the ground that indicated a massive creature was preparing to charge. His skill in Battle Analysis and adequate senses was plenty to accomplish that. Yet the creature was so fast! So fast, that he didn't even have time to yell out "Watch out Kyomei!" before the creature was upon them. Thankfully, due to Kubi's early actions, he had put himself out of harms way ... but Kyomei hadn't been so lucky. The brown haired soul reaper cursed as, with a shunpo, Kubi flitted to where Kyomei once was, quickly gathering the fingers he had lost and putting them into a silken bag on his side ... which also contained a number of interesting balls Kubi had procured.

Kubi walked the few steps and, if he wasn't standing already, helped Kyomei to his feet. "Shit, dude. You alright?" He grinned at Kyomei nonchalantly and patted him once on the back. Then he was all business again. "This creature is too fast for me to damage directly ... if I could get on top of it, preferably it's head, I could do a lot of damage ... but with it's speed, size, and it's number of legs, I can't get anywhere near. It seems hopeless ..." Suddenly, a voice - sober for the first time in ages - cut across his musings. "Kubi, come with me! Kyomei, keep it busy! Try to take out the legs and the arms!" Of course! How could he have forgotten? He could just punch himself. There was one other Soul Reaper here, and one quite accomplished, if Kubi remembered correctly.

"Kyomei, Raion has a good idea. Get behind the creature and fire your most devastating creature. Aim for as many legs as you can. Try not to destroy buildings. I'm going to try to keep it still, see what Raion has planned." He began to run. "Oh, and try to preserve reaitsu. I get this feeling this isn't the most powerful creature we're going to encounter." With those cryptic words, he ran the short distance to where the lion shinigami was standing ... but before he spoke, Kubi already knew what to do. The grin of the maniacal spread across his features as he saw the blade, presumably in it's Shikai state, as he had seen Raion enter with that monstrosity, in the head of the beast. Kubi snapped his fingers. "Piece o' cake. Be back, love." And then he was off.

With a massive spring of his powerful legs, he was launched through the air, high, high, and even higher, his superhuman strength easily allowing him to gain the height needed ... and even more. Now standing more than 200 feet over the monster, Kubi cracked his knuckles in preparation. Grimacing - as he knew that it would most definitely hurt - he let the reaitsu bunching underneath his feet fall away. Immediately, figures flashed in his mind - his exact trajectory, speed, and eventual location - allowing him to make the correct adjustments to where he needed to be. Moving at a breakneck 200 km/h, already reaching terminal velocity, his entire body slammed down on the hilt of the blade, carried behind it a massive slam of his own foot - his Mastery of Self allowing him to control his body even in freefall -, adding to the already impressive force his own superhuman strength.

The hit, as powerful as it was, created a shockwave powerful enough to send him flying backwards. Pain flared from his ankle, but he didn't think it was broken; he was tough enough to withstand something as simple as that. With a might crash, he skidded to a stop, showering Raion and anyone else in the vicinity with pebbles. A grimace of pain was on Kubi's face. "Ow ... shit, that hurt. Let's never do that again." He slowly sat up, panting, the back of his shikahusho riddle with holes. "Did it work?" he asked excitedly ... but his revels were cut short by the appearance of a ... of a ... thing.. A feeling, cold, dark, and malevolent, gribbed the soul reapers heart with a gauntlet of ice, sending slivers of fear sliding through his veins. It was excruciating. And then Kubi saw him, and he bit back a yelp.

A creature, made of flame or darkness or both, was standing before them and speaking as if they were old friends. Kubi's eyes narrowed, his previous fear momentarily forgotten. "Hey! Who the fuck are you to lecture us about killing this fucking thing?! You think you know what the fuck to do, do it your own self! What I just did isn't as fucking easy as it looks, you know!" A grin was on his face, and his voice was bordering on teasing, but the look in his eyes implied a madness inches away from taking hold. Tendons popped in Kubi's knuckles as he clenched his fists. "Che. No matter. This fucking thing is down, anyway. No fucking creature can survive something like that."

OOC: Remaining Reaitsu: [-100] 1,900/2,000

[Zou ۞]

The Hollow's mask was quickly filled with liquids, and it began to crack and shatter like a cheap dam. Now, this normally should not have been enough to down it. But it had been foolish. Kubi and Raion had been arrogant in their move, but had at least played out to be cunning enough that they understood the Hollow's lack of. Moreover, it had been distracted by its attack on Kyomei, and its confusion at those giant Sokkatsui blades. Besides that, in total, the reiatsu that had had to go into defeating the Hollow was immense given how weak it was. Either way, the Hollow faced its death in that time. Its mask slowly crumbled away and shattered, leaving the rest of the body to gradually disappear into dust. And, as it disappeared into dust, there was a familiar sight.

Emerging from the air itself, castrating all sense of hope and replacing it with gloom and despair, the gate emerged. The big, black gate. Impressive to say the least, the gate was black, metal, and covered in spikes and bones. Two skeletal figures rested on the gate as icons, holding crossed blades as if to lock it. And yet, as it appeared, the gate began to open. It could be seen then, in the remnants of the Hollow. A man with white skin, and no lower half. Blond hair was his, and pale eyes. A hole was in his chest. A Minus as it were. A spirit. He had been reduced to a spiritual form. As the gate opened, fire and glowing red could be seen within. And yet, as it opened, only an intense feeling of cold wind would wash over the Shinigami.

Chains erupted out of the gate as the specter that had just appeared and begun talking to the Shinigami merely grinned and watched. The chains wrapped around the man of white skin. That unholy spirit's eyes went wide in pain, and this pain radiated throughout the very hearts of all observers even if just for an instant. Indeed, this man would receive punishment for whichever sins he had committed as a human before becoming a Hollow. Screaming, gasping, and begging for mercy, the spirit was dragged back by the chains, pulling him into the gate. As he fell into the fire, his face lit up in a contorted expression of agony that could be understood only by those who were themselves fellow residents of Hell. And then the gates slammed shut, and vanished into thin air.

"Well, shit...Ain't that a tragedy?" the dark red specter said to the Shinigami who had all just witnessed a man being dragged into Hell. "So, you guys been wondering why I'm here yet? Have you guessed? Nah, I can read your minds. Of course you haven't guessed. I'm your destiny tonight. You want to defeat the guy that you call the Game Master. You want to defeat Berith. But that's no easy task. His Zanpakuto's a nasty one. The only guy who could'a done it, you guys killed. Any guesses? Yeah, that's right. Zouma Santeku. Without his mastery of the blue flames, you can't do shit. But I can give you the blue flames. I can give them to you if you play my game. So? What do you guys say?"

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

The massive blades made up of Sokkatsui crashed down on the Hollow, but they weren't enough. The beast was just too big, and the blades just weren't big enough. Should've gone with Hado 88... The massive Hollow with its great many blades rushed passed the Shinigami, cutting off three of his fingers in the process. Blood spattered the air as the fingers flew off into the distance and the Soul Reaper dropped from his air ground, only to be caught by Kubi, who seemed to have pocketed the severed stumps of Kyomei's left hand. "Th-th-thanks" Though he had picked up some skill in Bleeding Tolerance, losing three fingers and still having them bleeding was still enough to make the Shinigami winded. He had no skill in Healing Expertise, so all he could do was clutch at his hand and hope that the bleeding stopped.

Kubi and Raion left their wounded companion on the ground and did something to it, though Kyomei couldn't really see from the distance that he was at. All he knew was that the monster fell apart, and a worse monster emerged from the ground. "No... nononono get away get away!" Kyomei started to scramble backwards, kicking up gravel more than he was getting traction as he tried to get away from the creature of red reiatsu in front of him. Images of pain unimaginable flashed through his head. The being reminded him all too well of a creature from not too long ago, that had emerged from the portal to Hell in the Ogatago base when the Kuchiki had spoken the name of the Lord of Sheol. Just about everything about the monster reminded Kyomei of the creature that could inflict the worse pain with just a touch, and only the fact that the figure in front of him only had ten fingers could calm his nerves. Eventually, he regained his composure, only to lose it once again.

A black gate weaved itself through the very fabric of space, suddenly appearing before the three Shinigami, dark and foreboding. Of the three, only Kyomei had seen it before, and he knew what was about to happen. The doorway slowly opened up, to reveal the remains of the Spirit of the Hollow that had just been overwhelmed by the two Vice Captains. Through a series of agonizing wails and screams, the spirit was dragged down into the depths of the underworld, to serve as the Hell King's amusement forevermore. As the chains pulled him under, the gate and its skeletal guardians disappeared, providing a great comfort to the wounded Kuchiki. "So, you guys been wondering why I'm here yet? Have you guessed? Nah, I can read your minds. Of course you haven't guessed. I'm your destiny tonight. You want to defeat the guy that you call the Game Master. You want to defeat Berith. But that's no easy task. His Zanpakuto's a nasty one. The only guy who could'a done it, you guys killed. Any guesses? Yeah, that's right. Zouma Santeku. Without his mastery of the blue flames, you can't do shit. But I can give you the blue flames. I can give them to you if you play my game. So? What do you guys say?"

It was a lot of information to try and take in at one time. One the one hand, it was actually comforting to Kyomei, the massively creepy smile and the deep voice, for if it talked, then it was different than the Spirit of Hell that had tortured the Shinigami for a few eternal moments. The Kuchiki didn't need much persuading to have an advantage over the Game Master. "I want that lunatic put down as much as the next guy, maybe even more so after what he's done to me. I'll play your game, sir, I definitely will, if it will give me the strength to overcome obstacles like him." Kyomei doubted that Kubi or Raion would object to having the strength to put down the Game Master, or any threat to the Soul Society for that matter, and would probably accept the specter's offer.