Canon Z-3: Empire of Betrayal

[Amagai Kuchiki]

Amagai smiled cheerfully at the humans, a forced smile given the recent circumstances, but a smile nonetheless. Happiness was strength in a leader. "Lovely to see you, cousin Asmoskon, although obviously this isn't a situation I'd usually call lovely. Hotaru, along with the rest of the family, are holding off enemy forces outside. Our team is currently deployed trying to get to the heart of this trouble. I assume you're in a similar boat?"

He bowed to the lovely lady he recognized as one of Xcution's top assassins, Shizuka, and the man who he knew as the CEO of Uzaki Enterprises, Kazura. "Greetings to you both. I'm Amagai Kuchiki, Vice Captain of the First Division. My companions and I would love to incorporate you into our battle plans." Upon Kazura's suggestion, Amagai nodded. "That would seem to be an expedient way of advancing, at least for you. Aevus is right, however, our troops can use air ground to ascend. Shall we?

[July Kasumi'Oji]

July had the feeling that he had been… snubbed. Oh, how tragic! First the overly serious Quincy, then the posh CEO and finally the beautiful assassin! Not a single person had even made reference to him, let alone notice him! Clearly, they were all too highly strung. Nothing good would come of being so uptight! Even in a situation like this, they had to learn to smile! To loosen up! To laugh at death! To face the carrion skulls with a excitement! To live properly! To play the game to its fullest! To live by every room of the die! To eagerly anticipate the flip of the coin! Head you win, tails you’re dead! Was there anything so thrilling!

And yet they were all standing around, exchanging pleasantries and barely veiled threats. How boring. It nearly drove him to tears.

Still, progress had to be made. Onwards and upwards!

[Zeich Yajuu]

It was time to move, it seemed. Kazura had taken the initiative to do so, lifting the party on platforms of risen earth. It was wise of him, as well; with the Senzaikyu Prison system being partially in Soul Society, where air ground did not exist, and the World of the Living, where it did, there was no guarantee that such an ability would work. Indeed, given the fact that it was a prison to contain some of the strongest spiritual criminals in existence, it was almost a wonder that Reiatsu worked at all within it. For the moment, it would be best to trust their comrade to help them with their ascent over the central area of the prison. From there, they should be able to see down the spiral that led between the worlds, and hopefully somehow find the passage that led to the third, hidden prison.

As they hovered over the center of the downwards-spiralling pit, however, the party would notice something unusual; the air seemed to distort partway down, like it was being twisted into itself. Even their view of it seemed to twist and distort, like staring into a funnel, yet their minds tried desperately to resolve the anomaly, telling them that it was a simple, straight tunnel downwards. It was obvious that something was up with this spot, but the question was just that: what was it? Was it the point in which the human and spiritual worlds met, twisted so that those going to and forth would notice no change and perceive a closed spiral? Or was there something more?

The party had two choices, now: they could investigate the distortion personally, risking potentially interfering with something beyond their abilities, or they could go back down/up the spiral between the two worlds, looking for the entrance to the third prison. Additionally, they could also check the cells, perhaps even open one or two to ensure that the entryway wasn’t concealed behind a clever facade. This was risky too, however; a wrong move could unleash a powerful criminal, and force them into a deadly fight. And if there was a hidden door… which would it be?

There were many paths to pursue, but only one would lead towards the Martyr and the end of this madness. And time was running out; who knew how many lives were being lost while they searched?

[July Kasumi'Oji]

July was amazed. Imagine! The power to lift earth from the ground itself, and carry people on it! He had to perform a few quick jumps to ensure what he wa standing on was solid ground- but it seemed none of his sense were betraying him. How fascinating! How wonderful! What fantastic people these humans were! Imagine the possibilities! He’d have to invite them over for tea sometime. That would be fun. A nice party, for the whole crew… He’d have to bake a cake. Could he bake cakes? He could learn, anyway. Or try to. Maybe someone else would do it for him. Maybe the man who created the platforms would have the tech to bake the cake too? He’d have to ask later.

July spun on his heel, quickly scanning the faces of his comrades - old and new. And they were all. so. glum. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand why they were so down and out… But how were they supposed to have fun if everyone was just so serious? It was tragic. A travesty. A terrible, terrible series of unfortunate events. Only pawns marched relentlessly into war. The real pieces danced along the ranks and files, toying with strategy and flirting with danger. It would seem that he would have to inject a little life into the situation.

”Hmmm~hmmm… Hmm~hmmm~mmm… Hmmm~mmm…”

July hummed, not any tune in particular - just a progression of notes that he felt sounded vaguely melodic. However, his eyes were picking up information. And a lot of it. So there was that strange disturbance below them. Fascinating. But those doors also looked interesting. Veeeery interesting. Would Amagai begrudge him for moving ahead? He had asked him to take the point - and still seemed like he was best suited to take the lead, he had the most “common points” between each side. He appeared to be well respected by everyone - except the girl, but she didn’t seem to like them much anyway. Pity, she was rather precious looking.

”He~llo! I’m just gonna look over at these doors! Unless has some other way they’d like to proceed? No? Good!”

July stepped towards the doors, confident that Kazura would manipulate the platform beneath him to ensure he didn’t fall. And if he did fall - well, jumping headfirst into the abyss did sound rather appealing. Who knew what would happen to him as he passed through the distortion? Perhaps it would turn the frowns of his comrades upside down? But wouldn’t that imply that his smile would also be flipped…? The shame, the horror. How upsetting. Perhaps diving down was not the best thing to do after all.

July’s thoughts may have seemed elsewhere, but he was carefully observing each door as he moved towards it. He was mostly relying on “gut feeling” and “analysis” - a fancy word for gut feeling - to determine whether the dos contained anything dangerous. Of course, ‘for the good of the team’, he would find the least offensive doors - but still, throwing open the most dangerous door to give everyone a bit of a fright did sound a little appealing. Might help boost morale and teamwork too. See?! July, the number one team player. No ‘I’ in team - but then again, there was no “July” either. The little wordplay widened July’s smile.

”It’s just like a Monty Hall problem! Anyone wanna try go for the car? Or will we end up with the goat?”

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka had to keep the ever-growing disgust from being too obvious on her face while she was around these absolutely horrific creatures known as Shinigami. She trusted Kazura and Asmoskon and had gotten this far with just the two of them, but she had no reason to believe any of these members of Soul Society would actually help them get further along in the mission. She sighed and glanced around herself, taking in the atmosphere that surrounded the group. How was she supposed to make sense of such a confusing situation? Everything around her made little to no sense, and it was hard for her brain to process it. She felt a little stupid, which frustrated her since she was so close to getting a degree in engineering, of all things. She was not stupid.

"Kazura, I don't have the ability to sense what's beyond the doors. I can try to manipulate something around them and sort of get a feel for it, I guess, but I really don't think my powers are strong enough for something like that yet. What do you suggest?"

She wasn't going to acknowledge the Shinigami present. Her powers may allow her to feel out whatever distortion was there, but it was certainly not enough to tell her anything in terms of a potential ambush or anything like that. She just didn't have a lot of energy sensory (or any at all) to accomplish that kind of thing. It was disappointing, but this was almost always why she was sent out on missions with a partner who could sense people. They would tell her where her target was and she would pursue. That's just how it went. Shizuka was aware of her weakness and did what she could to counteract it.

The thing is, she felt a little hopeless. She didn't want to, and a lot of her new techniques actually helped her feel much stronger. But the truth was that she felt somewhat beneath everyone else around her, including the Shinigami. That made it worse. She hated that she was practically waiting for clues or cues or any orders at all whatsoever, especially since they didn't have time to dick around and goof off. She was aware of the time constraints, yet she couldn't force herself to move. She was unable to act on her own because she didn't know if she'd make a good choice. How could she possibly trust herself to do well and succeed if she knew she was practically wasting the lives around her?

"We need to make a choice. I'm normally pretty good at making an educated guess, but my brain just isn't letting me think clearly. I might be overwhelmed or something, but it doesn't matter. Something has to happen."

Maybe he had a better idea than she did about what was going on. She dreaded the idea of following a Shinigami, but none of them seemed hostile so she figured it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Perhaps they had a plan that would leave them in the right direction, right? But she'd never trust them. Shizuka could never bring herself to trust this race. Not completely, anyway. It was too difficult for her to do. She felt a little guilty, especially since she had gotten along with one or two before, but it was tough. Now that they were pressured into figuring out what their next steps were going to be, it was even worse. What was she going to do?

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura was not a fan of July's plan. He shook his head vigorously. "I don't think that we should mess with the prisoners. They're in here for a reason and behind dimmensionally locked doors. Or something to that nature. They cannot be sensed, cannot be touched, cannot be seen. And that's just the door. The walls are unscratchable. For good reason, right? These are supposed to be the ultimate prisons. I vote that we just continue through the distortion in the middle of the staircase. Leave the prisoners alone and imprisoned and just move on." Kazura hadn't expected the team to start to move backwards even after discovering the distortion that was like 86% a doorway to somewhere. He had to urge them all to move on and move forwards.

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon had gone along so far with what everyone else felt about the situation that they were all in. He was an ally to everyone in the group due to his allegiance both to the Human World and Soul Society yet his patience seemed to be the most limited of everyone with how they were all acting right now. The fact that they were moving back towards where the two worlds twisted into one another meant that hopefully they'd be able to soon stop the master minds behind all this death, but even though he knew it wasn't true he couldn't help the feeling that they were slowing him down.

Kazura was moving the earth underneath him and everyone else and while Asmoskon wanted nothing more than to simply shoot the blonde haired Captain at the moment for his constant distractions and inappropriate behavior and attitude he knew that doing so would bring more harm than good both right now and in the future. He agreed with Kazura on the subject of the prisoners though. They couldn't worry or waste time trying to break them out let along dealing with them and then the true enemies.

Asmoskon's grip on his arms was tightening and his right foot tapping on the stone as he watched for any sort of secret or sign as to the distortion. His impatience was growing more and more out of control as he couldn't help, but think of his subordinates well being and what they were going through right now while he stood here doing nothing to end their own pain and suffering along with the rest of the world. They had to hurry up or else there wasn't going to be anyone left to save.

[☾ Aevus | Umbra ☽]

Lumina stood idly beside Aevus. Her silver lined irises narrowing on the blonde Captain as he strolled about in that carefree manner. She could never see Aevus acting in such a gleeful way. It was surprising that such a personality came from a Captain at all. Ears pivoting she would turn to Aevus who seemed rather quiet like always. Her voice paraded into the mind of the Reaper. Are all Captains like that one? A sigh would leave the reaper’s lips at that. He’s certainly strange...but I think he means well enough.

Aevus was clearly indifferent to the strange Captain. His mannerisms strayed on annoyance but he’d keep that opinion to himself. After all they were a team and stepping on toes and creating inner conflict was bound to just make matters worse for everyone. Plus from his previous actions, this Captain knew how to handle himself in battle. Albeit in his own way of course. But he had to hand it to him, he was good rallier. Perhaps his child-like antics would be enough to settle the nerves of his comrades in arms.

As the human spoke up against the Captain’s wishes Aevus would grin in turn. Heh, how interesting a human taking charge of a Captain’s actions. With that Aevus began to move forward. That strange distortion was ominous but it stood out among the many branching pathways and jail cells. “Well we wont know unless we give it a try right? So i’ll take the lead.” Lumina was wary moving her head to the side but in the end she followed after the heels of the Reaper. If they were walking into chaos, Aevus felt he might as well be first to step into it.

[Amagai Kuchiki]

"No." Amagai's voice was hard, harsher than any of the others likely had ever heard it before. "Those individuals are prisoners for very good reasons. Many of them are mass murderers, traitors, and people who toyed with things that shouldn't be meddled with. July, if you continue to consider releasing prisoners, we're going to leave you behind, and I'll make a note to report your behavior after this mission."

He turned his attention to Aevus: "While I admire your loyalty, Aevus, July isn't the leader of this mission. You can follow my orders, or Kazura's," he quickly made it clear that the UE CEO would be viewed as the other leader involved in this mission, "But otherwise, behave yourself." Amagai was stressed, and when he got stressed, a lot of his ability to be polite in the face of danger or recklessness faltered.

"We're going to the distortion. We need to find the cause of these riots, a soon as possible, before anyone else gets hurt."

[Zeich Yajuu]

The command had been given; stepping into the lead, despite having a slightly inferior ranking to July, Amagai had made the terms of their situation clear: opening the prison doors was out of the question. Who knew what was inside, what creatures lurked beyond the doors? What twisted minds, what horrifying beings? No, leaving them locked up was wise, and would probably spare them fighting whatever came out in an attempt at a prison break. Who knew if they could even handle one of the prisoners within the Senzaikyu Prison System? Saeki alone had been a struggle with a large number of combatants against her, even discounting her allies, and she was but one of the prisoners.

No, instead, they were going to go into the distortion that existed halfway between the worlds. This was likely a dimensional twist between the World of the Living and Soul Society, blending the edges seamlessly and allowing one going down the stairs to simply transition between the two without being any wiser. Jumping into it was probably not the smartest idea either—who knew what effects stepping into a twist of dimensions would have on the body, especially in the light that they might have just sealed whoever was inside away rather than making a passage—but given their lack of options, it was probably the soundest one.

A motion from Kazura had the platforms slowly descending, though the Fullbringer’s was in the lead. Soon, it was at the edge of the distortion. Already, the stone seemed to flicker and twist, as though its reality was quickly becoming compromised just from close proximity, and Kazura would feel a sickening, almost twisting sensation from being so near. But there was no harm, no actual injury or debilitation; it was no more gut-wrenching than realizing down had become up earlier, at least. Slowly the platform lowered into the distortion… and then completely vanished while Kazura was still standing atop it, dropping the Fullbringer into the distortion.

Immediately, he would feel as though he were being ripped apart and torn in multiple directions. It wasn’t painful, like one would expect, but very disorienting and probably more than a little traumatizing. Feeling as though you were spread out across an unknown amount of space, your body made nonexistent and twisted, a mass covering an infinite space and nothing at once; these were a small sample of the strange sensations that lasted for only a few seconds, but would probably feel like a lot longer as Kazura reappeared on what should have been the opposing side of the distortion… but in all actually, was a large area, nearly sixty feet tall. A distortion opened up above Kazura, as well as below him, with only the space spanning between them providing any freedom from a second journey through the shifted dimensions.

Fortunately, Kazura’s platform was also there, and as he came free from the first distortion, he landed directly on his platform. It wasn’t the cleanest landing, after that trip, but the Fullbringer found himself suspended rather than falling from one distortion into another and figuring out just how the shift in gravity would work after falling from one world into the other. He would still feel the connection to the other platforms he was controlling, so the others wouldn’t immediately be dumped in as he was, but there was no way to communicate across the distortion, not without crossing one way or the other. They would have to trust that he was fine, as evident by the remaining platforms. One by one, the others would pass through, with the same sensations that Kazura went through, which would no doubt leave the party dizzied and disoriented. But soon they were all in the place between distortions, able to see the new area that they had emerged into.

It looked like a continuation of the prison walkway that they had been on before, only a single circular pathway extended all the way around the central shaft. It didn’t spiral up or down, though it looked like there were once places that would have contained a stairway on either end, one going up and the other going down, that simply vanished into a void as the distortion overtook them. Along one wall, between the two staircases, was a large doorway that seemed to lead deeper into the prison than before. An ominous presence, like a rising flood of Reiatsu, seemed to flow out from that doorway; was this where their enemy was?

There was no time to find out, however. “Amagai Kuchiki, fate has decreed that my arrows will strike at your heart!” Suddenly, a set of nine white lines emerged from the tunnel, striking towards the Kuchiki Vice-Captain. A quick motion of the platforms by Kazura was enough to allow them to avoid the hits, but surprisingly, the lines didn’t vanish; they twisted around, curving back up towards Amagai once more. They were aimed directly for the man, following him with a dogged persistence that was hard to deny. What was worse, Kazura and Shizuka would recognize the words they had heard, the activation for a certain Quincy’s Bow Release ability. Blood was somewhere in the tunnel ahead, and using their entrance as a means for a preemptive strike while they were off-guard.

For now, Amagai was a marked target, and he would have to react to the arrows homing in on him with lethal intent. The others were not under attack yet, but odds were that they soon would be; the intelligence had mentioned that all three of the Martyr’s disciples were present here, which meant that Thorn—whom Aevus would know, the tattoo still carved into his arm reminding him all too well of that fact—and Kit, known by Kazura and Shizuka, who had now taken the title of “Cross” from the man whom he had betrayed, would also be there as well. And who was to say that the latter did not have any other allies? What about Beatrice, Alice, and Reynard? Would they all be present as well?

One thing was for certain: combat was about to start, and Amagai was already under fire. They would have to react to the oncoming attacks, and figure out the best way to proceed forward. Could they afford to stand and wait, drawing out their enemy who was doubtlessly trying to stall for time? Would the Martyr’s plan complete while they were stuck fighting his minions? The clock was ticking.

Blood’s Reiatsu: 11320/12000 (-500 Reiatsu for Class 6, 5, and 3 properties being active, -180 for a Class 2 Arrow multiplied once with Nine and Nine Meets Nine)

Combat Posts: 1/8 (Fatigue) | 1/14 (Exhaustion)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Blood’s Stats}Blood is a Rank 4 Genius Type. Class 0 Vandenreich Quincy, 2200 SP, but he lacks Vandenreich-specific abilities due to leaving the empire. This means no Blut or Vollstandig are available to him.

Strength – [300 x 0.33] (100) Points

Speed - [400] (400) Points

Spiritual Pressure – [400 x 3] (1200) Points

Reiatsu Strength – [400 x 3] (1200) Points

Light Aura - [0] Points

Dark Aura - [100] Points

Instinct - [300] (300) Points

Senses – [200] (200) Points

Energy sensory – [100 x 3] (300) Points

Healing Expertise – [100 x 0.33] (33) Points


Total SP: [2200] points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Revealed Properties}Class 6 Form Property: Strings of Fate – When fired from the bow, Blood’s arrows take on a new form as long strands of glowing light that extend from the bow itself to the arrowhead that guides the shot. This property makes it so that the entirety of the “string” that connects the two is considered to be part of the arrow, and thus touching it at any point is like being struck by the arrow. Any string will remain as long as its arrow remains “live,” i.e. still moving and seeking a target rather than being stopped or destroyed.

Class 5 Firing Property: You Cannot Avoid Fate – By stating a prophetic phrase, “Fate has decreed that my arrows will strike at your [location],” Blood primes his arrows to go after a very specific target. These arrows will twist and turn in midair, up to a full ninety degrees per turn, and will relentlessly hunt the target down until struck. This can be mitigated by blocking the arrows with another part of the body or a defense to protect a more vulnerable target—say, the user’s internal organs, or locations like their eyes—by taking damage in a less crippling way. These arrows will remain live and targeting the victim until they strike or are destroyed, but their cost must be paid each post in order to remain so. If the cost is not paid, they simply stop tracking and continue in the line they are moving along.

Class 3 Mass Property: When Nine and Nine Meet Nine – Another prophetic phrase, this determines the way in which Blood's arrows ensure that their chosen fate is met. Upon firing, a single arrow splits into nine arrows, all of which aim to meet the fate chosen for them. To do so, however, the cost for the arrow, including the per-post cost for the Class 5 Firing property, is tripled. However, that is not the end of the self-fulfilling prophecy; each of these nine arrows may split into the second set of nine, creating a total of eighty-one arrows that all aim towards the same fate. To do so, the cost of the arrow, including the per-post cost for the firing property, is tripled again to nine times the initial value, thus creating the final nine in this prophetic line.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Blood.

Shizuka turned around to Kazura, eyes wide open, looking as if she'd seen a ghost. The voice was entirely too familiar. She recognized it from that time before when she and Kazura and Vannan were all trapped along with another group of people in that god-forsaken building. This tone had traumatized her to her very core, almost stopping her from being able to move when she needed to. She was frozen because of her own fear and didn't know what to do. Kazura was there, which was good, especially since she knew she could trust him. But what about everyone else? They didn't have the same experience that the two Fullbringers did. They needed to run.

"Kazura! Kit is here! That stupid fox is still here, and Blood's arrows have locked on that Shinigami. We need to get them all out of here and to safety somehow!"

Shizuka looked around, knowing that moving forward was the best option. Keeping the enemy on their toes was also a pretty good idea, especially since she knew they were being tracked by Blood and some other familiar faces. Still, if they were here, did that mean the other forgotten ones were, too? What about Alice and Reynard? The blonde didn't care too much for Beatrice, but she supposed looking for her was probably a good idea. If she could actually save them all, she'd feel like she finally accomplished something. The only problem was that she didn't even know where to look. It was likely that they'd have to fight eventually, but was she going to be able to handle that?

"We gotta go! Keep moving forward!"

[Amagai Kuchiki]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Some Music!}

A breath. Amagai's eyes widened as he rapidly adjusted to combat. The fight was rapidly evaluated, and planned out in his head, even before his opponent finished his first sentence, even before Amagai's allies reacted, or even before he twitched in response to the arrows fired at him. "Stay alive, son. Stay alive, that would be enough." His father's words echoed in Amagai's head from one of his first missions, the first one where he found himself in actual danger.

Amagai would survive. And he would do so without hesitation or mistake. As 'Fate' decreed Amagai's death, Amagai first let reiatsu pour from his body and consume his allies, and then whispered a spell to himself, and his body turned translucent. His mastery of the spell Sneaky Somebody would allow Amagai to still be visible enough to assist his allies and direct them, but intangible to the point of being unable to be hurt by the incoming Quincy's attacks, whether they were physical or reiatsu based.

And from here, he could command and control the scope of the battle. Amagai could no longer charge reiatsu, or expend his existing spells, but the aura he had activated beforehand would be...sufficient to render his allies extremely dangerous. Between the defensive potential of Moonlight Sonata, and the offensives granted by the newly activated Intimidation Hana: Kyuujo, Amagai was confident that his allies could deal with the fight on their own.

Although, he did notice himself breathing rather hard. He had to hope that his body would continue to hold up, despite his various weaknesses, despite his arm, despite the reiatsu he was burning through. He needed to just function long enough for his allies to wrap up the combat on their own. That, and he needed to find a way to catch his breath, and maybe sleep, if only for half an hour. Just long enough to recover. But no, for now, he needed to keep pushing. He couldn't. Stop. Not. Yet.

(Will edit in Reiatsu and buff duration shortly.)



Reiatsu: 1000/3000 (-400 Sneaky Somebody, -600 Intimidation Hana #6)

Release: 3/10
Soukahou: 3/5
Moonlight Sonata: 3/8
Sneaky Somebody: 1/2
Hana #6: Active (Current speed is 470)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Kyuujo Effects}
All those within radius that the Kuchiki recognizes as allies will gain a 50% speed boost and 25% physical strength boost. Additionally, the 25% strength boost can instead on the Kuchiki's choice be replaced by a 30% reiatsu strength boost.

(You guys are getting the RS boost instead of Strength)

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura initiated the descent into the distortion, leading the way despite the twisting feeling that grew more ominous by the second. As soon as he entered the shifting between the worlds, it felt as though his body was being torn apart. There was the sensation of emptiness in between his joints. He could feel each part of his body, but as if it wasn't attached. As if he was in dozens of pieces all stretched out on an operating table held together only by his spirit energy... He shuddered and nearly threw up, but held his composure to the best of his ability as it was over in a few seconds, mercifully.

As he pulled the rest of the team through (doing his best to limit their suffering), he took stock of the area and heard an all too familiar voice calling out his intended target. Blood! Kazura twisted the discs around to avoid the arrows, but they were homing in on Amagai. The fullbringer thought as quickly as he could, trying to come up with a solution that would save the Shinigami, but Amagai was faster. An aura filled the room, making Kazura feel more energized and stronger, followed by the Vice Captain turning translucent.

Kazura had no way of knowing that Amagai was protected from the arrows by Sneaky Someone, so he condensed the air in front of and behind the Shinigami's heart using Soul Dominance, making a shield to catch the arrows. He then remembered that his pitiful Reiatsu Strength couldn't stand up to Blood's immense spiritual power and that his defense would be shattered in an instant. He didn't have enough time to get a more powerful shield up in front of Amagai, so he just had to pray that whatever the Shinigami did would protect him.

"We gotta go! Keep moving forward!" Shizuka's words pulled Kazura back away from focusing on Amagai. He needed to remember that there was a team of 6 here and that they all needed protection. Or they all needed to act to save themselves... Kazura couldn't protect them all, not in his current state, so he activated his Main Fullbring Level 1 and then instantly pushed it to level 2. A suit of armor covered his body and his chest glowed bright red with the symbol of a bat... With extra defensive power and an increased ability to summon defensive structures, all Kazura needed to do now was get to the walkway and he could stand his ground against Blood. Flying to the walkway, he called out to his allies on the way.

"Shizuka! Asmoskon! I trust you two and I know you two better than I know the Soul Society team. We could work together and take down Blood, and Kit, and any others that come against us. Right here. Right now. But that wouldn't save the Worlds. We need an attack that will break through the defenses and allow the Shinigami to get through to what's past that entryway."

In order to start off the assault with a bang, Kazura activated Gate to double his spiritual pressure to give him an edge against the threats inside the hallway. With his Main Fullbring Level 2 he created a battering ram the size of his body, with a razor sharp blade on the front end, and with his Secondary Fullbring he imbued the energy construct with nanobots from the earth disc that he absorbed as soon as he set foot on the circular walkway. He had very little nanobots to spare, so the more allies that made it to the walkway, the better so he could reabsorb their discs. That would give him more offensive ability.

For now, one attack was all he could muster. With a 2,000 offensive strength battering ram floating in the air, he gave the nanobots a command. He even uttered it out loud, so his allies would know what his plan was. True it would also give the enemy a chance to react, but he didn't care. "Screw you, Blood! Battering Ram, seek out his Heart!" The Ram would move at a speed of 450 (due to Amagai's Aura) and hurtle down the walkway towards the Quincy hidden inside it. Hopefully that would at least give the Shinigami a chance to separate and get into the room beyond.

Remaining Reiasu: 8,300/20,000 (-300 Soul Dominance x2 (Amagai Shields), -200 Main Fullbring Level 1, -500 Level 2, -100 Gate, -600 Creation Evolved (Battering Ram)
Secondary Fullbring: 6/8
Main Fullbring Level 2: 1/13

New Speed: 450
New SpPr: 2,000
New RS: 195

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon had only just arrived through the dimension warp like many of others when suddenly he felt the sensation of reiatsu spiking ever so slightly from a short distance away. Standing up Asmoskon made a quick turn of his head in both directions getting the layout of the vicinity. It was at that moment that he heard the words coming from a distance declaring Amagai as a target and then what followed were what Asmoskon knew to be nine separate arrows that had without a doubt been fired off by a Quincy. These arrows though weren't normally meaning that they were either a specific technique or this specific Quincy's ability.

Either way it seemed that the arrows were going to stop pursuing Amagai much the same as Asmoskon's arrows wouldn't ever stop pursuing their own targets. The arrows came from a tunnel that was in front of them and it seemed that this was the tunnel that all of them would have to charge in order to actually bring down these fools that were sending the human world and Soul Society into darkness. Kazura and Amagai were both quick to act in a defensive manner and Shizuka was prepared to all of this yet didn't seem to be able to aid either of them. Asmoskon perhaps knew best out of everyone in the ground that Amagai wasn't someone that would be brought down so easily.

His attention was immediately focused on the tunnel moving his right hand back behind his head while his pitch black longbow materialized in his left hand Asmoskon's quiver spun around piecing together the arrow that he was thinking about in his head. It would all only take an instant to come together and the action to be made as Asmoskon nocked his arrow, pulled it back to full draw and released it sending the arrow soaring through the air down the tunnel. It would seem to be like a novice action due to the fact there was no target and the arrow seemed to have been fired aimlessly with hope being the only guide.

However, this arrow was meant to do something very specific and that was all. It would travel at the same speed as a normal arrow meaning that even as Kazura pieced together his own attack the arrow would already be well on it's way down the tunnel. Only a moment prior to Kazura shouting his taunt towards the enemy would the arrow's blunt head strike the back surface at the end of the tunnel. Asmoskon had no idea whether or not the Quincy was still there or not, but that wasn't the point. In the next instant the arrow head released a high burst of light blinding anyone within the tunnel that had been looking in the direction of the arrow and illuminating it completely to the team.

If the Quincy and his allies were in the tunnel darkness wouldn't conceal them now and if they weren't visible it meant that were hiding somewhere in the tunnel perhaps a connecting tunnel. This blinding flash of light though would give aid to Kazura's battering ram method of attack that would then strike the tunnel. Asmoskon kept his senses on high alter and was ready to fire the moment he saw something out of place. This battle wasn't one that he was particularly keen on continuing in this method they had almost no advantage while the enemy had virtually all of them and to make matters worse they were all in the kill box.

[July Kasumi'Oji]

July clapped his hands, smarting slightly at Amagai’s rebuke. After he had been so nice to him. To address him in that tone, it was bordering on the draconian. How positively unpleasant - was that an oxymoron? - but July would heed the Vice-Captain’s demands. There was no joy in creating dissent among a team this early into the game. He would play along - though he didn’t see there being a huge risk in opening the doors. If there were criminals in there that would pose a problem to them, surely they would have been released by this “grandmaster” by now? If so, there was something in the cells that he didn’t want them to see - worse case scenario they had a fight on their hands, best case scenario they had discovered something more interesting.

It was those decisions that a player had to make. Playing conservatively would only result in a mediocre performance, and that wouldn’t cut it this time.

”My apologies, Amagai-sama. We’ll leave the lucky dip for another time.”

July skipped back along his platform, and joined the others in their descent towards the centre of the prison. How interesting, how interesting. Imagine, a distortion in the fabric of reality - it felt like something out of science fiction. Terribly exciting indeed. However, also mildly unpleasant. The warping which accompanied the resulting dimensional transfer was mildly unsettling. Having your sense of space stretched like that… It was like a particularly thrilling rollercoaster. July was glad he’d done it, but wouldn’t exactly like to experience it again. Who was he kidding - he loved rollercoasters.

“Amagai Kuchiki, fate has decreed that my arrows will strike at your heart!”

A Quincy?

July made a quick observation - it seemed this particular Quincy was known to the Amagai and Kazura, and the woman, at least, given their reactions to his voice and attack. That alone was extremely interesting. So, was this Quincy a prisoner here? And they had fought him before? Fascinating. It was becoming more and more likely that this was, in fact, a prison break - which only made the locked doors back there even more enticing. Why had some prisoners been released. July would have understood if it were an attempt to organise some sort of resistance - but the grandmaster had some brainwashing device, so dissent was something he wasn’t exactly worried about. Plus, the more disruption for the remaining survivors the better, right? July was regretting listening to Amagai at this stage.

But no matter, the Kuchiki did have his uses after all. July felt as though liquid song was coursing through his veins, making him even more agile and powerful. However, the boost to his Reiatsu Strength was helpful, but unnecessary. His strength came from his Spiritual Pressure - boosting his other attributes was wasteful. The speed boost, however, he could make use of. Thanks to the Quincy’s light, July could see down the illuminated tunnel perfectly - and he trusted his Instincts to stop him running into any invisible traps. With a quick Shunpo, he chased Kazura and Asmoskon’s items down the tunnel, at the source of the arrows.

Of course, running into a fight was a little stupid. Incredibly stupid in fact. But July didn’t plan to engage the Quincy directly at all. No, he could play his own game of rock-flinging. As he moved through his Shunpo, and shining set of throwing knives appeared in his hands, freshly formed from his Life Force. With only a quick flick of his wrists, he thrust the four daggers down the tunnel - with increased speed and accuracy thanks to Amagai’s buffs. Their paths covered a wide area between them, making them difficult to avoid in the tunnel. Still, it would allow for some nice diversions so the others could do their thing. As soon as the knives left his finger tips, he followed up with another Shunpo - moving safely back to the others.

”Well, well, well. Would anyone like to introduce us to our new opponent?”

Reiatsu: 6275/6400: -100 for Shunpo x2
Life Force: 5200/6400: -1200 for 4 Plasmatio Daggers