Showcase Match: Actions Speak Louder than Words

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

Thread Title: Showcase Match: Actions Speak Louder than Words
Participants: Grodd and Gen Shizuo
World: Hueco Mundo
Death Setting: Non Death Enabled
Rating: PG-13
Location: The white desert of Hueco Mundo.
Special Conditions: This is a showcase match, so the winner will receive a custom-made item for free.
Circumstances: Grodd had been sent into Hueco Mundo to pursue a small party of new Arrancar before they had the opportunity to join Las Noches and give Soul Society any trouble. He would have no trouble with the simple task.

However, Grodd's presence would not go undetected. Soken Kouhai would order the fraccion Gen Shizuo to deal with the shinigami. Gen would arrive just as Grodd elimates the last weak Arrancar, leaving the seated officer and fraccion to square off against each other.

[Beast]

OOC: This occurs before the events of Kuroi's invasion


*CRACK*

The last of the Arrancars were felled by a mighty punch to the face. Wiping the blood off of his fist, the Third Seat of Squad 3 sat down for a moment to catch his breath. It had been a routine task for a third seat to do, but Grodd always felt challenged by tasks that should be at his level. He was always struggling to keep up with other members of the Gotei 13. It may be in part to his issues with communication. It may be in part due to the violent raging psycopath inside his soul that rarely gave him rest.

That blood looks... delicious... Don't you want to taste it?"

Shaking his head, the Shinigami began to fight off the bloodlust that usually came from spilling the blood of a victim. He wanted so badly to taste it, to give into the Beast's whims, but he fought it off and submerged his hands in the sands of Hueco Mundo in order to fully get the crimson liquid off of his hands. Fighting the Beast had become more and more difficult lately. There were times when he would black out and have to struggle against his inner demon inside his Inner World. He was mostly victorious so far in regaining consciousness.

And so he waited for the extraction team of Squad 13 to receive his Hell Butterfly detailing a successful mission and that he needed a portal opened up to the Human world so he could Senkaimon back home. It would take some time for the message to get there, so all he could do was wait. He had no idea that he had attracted attention by keeping Arrancar from reaching Las Noches. He had no idea that he was being tracked... and hunted.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats/Skills}
Strength - [300 x1.25 (375)] Points

Speed - [200] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [200 x.75 (150)] Points

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

Light Aura - [35] Points

Dark Aura - [65] Points

Instinct - [200 x.75 (150)] Points

Senses - [100] Points

Energy sensory - [100 x1.25 (125)] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [1100] Points



Skills


[Boxing] {2}

[Hakuda] {2}

[Pain Tolerance] {2}

[Strength of Will] {2}

Damage Recovery] {2}

[Cold Tolerance] {1}

[Mental Incantation] {1}

[Gen Shizuo]

Slowly, slowly he approached. Slowly, the Arrancar made his way to the Shinigami. Grodd would hear the chains rattling and slow footsteps shuffling along the sand as that monster approached him. He would hear the soft whispers of the Arrancar before he would even see him. "Miss Asuka..." the voice of the Arrancar whispered into the night. The Arrancar approached Grodd from behind, shuffling along until finally he stood before him. The shuffling and chains stopped, but the whispers did not.

"Did you...take Miss Asuka from me...?" the Arrancar who stood before Grodd questioned. Standing before him was what was no doubt an Arrancar, yet this one was quite peculiar. It wore a baggy black pinstripe suit with multiple layers underneath including a tie, matching black shoes, a white scarf, and a white dome covering its head. The Arrancar's master, the one who had been known as the former Sexta Espada had gone missing. For months he had searched. And for all those months he had come up with nothing. The voice which came from that white dome echoed out into the night. That soft voice, which carried with it so much pain and suffering. At one point it had been monotone, hiding all emotion, but now it revealed all. The fear, the worry, the pain, and the sadness. Yes, the story of Gen Shizuo was quite tragic indeed.

"Have you...seen her?" the Arrancar questioned once more. He shuffled two steps closer, positioning himself closer to the Shinigami he had been told had information on Asuka's whereabouts. "Yess....you know. Kouhai-sama says sooo..." the Arrancar continued. Sonken Kouhai was a smart man, after all. Knowing of Grodd's presence here in Hueco Mundo, he had informed the Fraccion that the Shinigami before him had taken his master. Sonken Kouhai knew of Gen's pain. He knew of Gen's suffering, and he chose to use it to do his bidding. He chose to use Gen's pain to eliminate the Shinigami invading his territory.

Gen's red eyes peered out from the circular hole carved out into the dome on his head. His red eyes peered out of that circular hole in a glare at the one who had taken his master. It was creepy, the look he gave. It was made all the more fearsome because of the large vertical eye carved into the dome from which those red eyes peered out. "You know...you do know...." he repeated in soft whispers, his voice carrying into the night. The Fraccion known as Gen had been tormented with the loss of his master. Gen had been so tormented by Asuka's loss that he had no more purpose but to find her. His mind had been fractured by the loss of one who kept him calm. The one who kept him from succumbing to the constant fear of death.

Gloved hands reached up to the hilts of the large blades sheathed on his back. The Arrancar withdrew those blades, slowly, silently. Those red eyes glared continuously at Grodd. He would finally find her. This one would pay for taking her. There was no time for anymore questions. Kouhai had already directed him. Now, it was time to get answers. With no signal, the Arrancar disappeared. Quickly, his body disappeared from where it had once been, replaced only by the booming sound which displaced the air. It was fluid because of mastery so that quickly, he would be within Grodd's personal space. Quickly, he was before Grodd, with blade already carving through the air. Quickly, he was carving through the air to deliver a blow to the man's left shoulder, a powerful slash with the right blade which would draw a splash of blood from the Shinigami.

"Tell me...or you suffer..." Gen's soft voice whispered.


Gen's Remaining Reiatsu: 1950/2050

SPOILER: Click to show

{Gen's Stats and Skills}

Stats

Strength - Decreased[150(105)] Points

Speed - [200] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [205] Points

Reiatsu Strength - Boosted[300(450)] Points

Light Aura - [50] Points

Dark Aura - [50] Points

Instinct - [150] Points

Senses - [150] Points

Energy sensory - [100] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [1255] Points

Abilities

• [Weapons: Chained Swords] {3}
  
  
• [Analyzing] {3}
  
  
• [Battle Analysis] {3}
  
  
• [Calm Mind] {2}
  
  
• [Street Fighting] {2}
  
  
• [Pain Tolerance] {2}

[Beast]

Grodd heard the shuffling, the scraping of chains, and the mumbling of a single name behind him, so he turned to face the new arrival. He could instantly feel that this Arrancar was different. Rather than being new and weak, Grodd's ability to sense energy tipped him off to the fact that Gen had a strong essence of spirit. One that greatly exceeded the Shinigami's. As Gen continued to ask Grodd if the third seat had seen a Miss Asuka, Grodd could only shake his head and sign in his gibberish of a sign language.

But the Arrancar was so focused on finding his lost master, and spurred on by Kouhai, to the point where Grodd's insistence was in vain. A Sonido brought Gen right up into Grodd's personal space as the chained swords slashed downwards toward's the man's shoulder. It seemed there was nothing to do but to fight. His boxing and Hakuda instincts kicked in as he moved to defend against losing his shoulder to the Arrancar's blade. Stepping towards Gen to close the distance even more, with one hand he attempted to palm Gen's attacking wrist and with one hand he attempted to punch Gen in the stomach.

Mushi, the Hakuda that Grodd used, was about turning the opponent's own physical strength against them by sending vibrations through their arm as the attack was thwarted. The punch, however, would just hit Hierro and be like striking iron, if the punch even landed at all. It would hurt Grodd way more than it hurt Gen, but thankfully the Shinigami had been trained to resist a great deal of pain. He'd be able to shake it off and adjust accordingly, but Gen still had the opportunity to counter attack in that moment of surprise as Grodd hit Hierro for the first time.

Remaining Reiatsu: 1,500/1,500

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique used, for your Reference}
Technique Name: [Mushi]

Class: [4]

Technique Type: [Hakuda]

Technique Element: [None]

Technique Description and Effects:

A basic Hakuda technique that is used to attack and defend. This technique is a basic guarding mechanism. When an opponent's physical strike is incoming, the user uses this technique to deflect it by jabbing their hand upwards, smacking the side of the opponent's attacking limb. The force causes the enemy limb to shoot upwards, and force equivalent to their own strike to reverberate through the arm and cause damage.

How to use technique:

Requires superior physical strength to the enemy.

Drawback:

None.

Made by: [Admin]

[Gen Shizuo]

He wouldn’t talk! Why wouldn’t he talk?! Kouhai-sama had informed Gen that this Shinigami had been the one to take Asuka. That was why he was here now, to capture more Arrancar! That was why Gen had been sent to eliminate him after he got his information. But, the Shinigami didn’t want to talk! Oh how that infuriated that broken Fraccion. Grodd had made some kind of weird hand movements and only shook his head. Was he making a fool of the Fraccion?

Thunk!

That had been the sound Grodd heard after his strike had been deflected. He looked down to see the Shinigami’s fist placed against his stomach. Grodd had attempted to attack him and instead had been met with resistance from Gen’s Hierro. Grodd was stunned. Grodd was most likely in pain too. The Fraccion was not insane enough that he would not capitalize on Grodd’s moment of shock at hitting something that felt similar to steel. So, Gen would act. Gen would retaliate.

That arm which had been deflected was still feeling pain. Some kind of force had been sent through it when Grodd had deflected his strike. It felt like Gen had slammed his blade into a wall. To every reaction, there is always an opposing equal reaction. It was ironic that he thought of it now. It was his motto for life. He lived everyday by this mantra. And now, his arm was suffering pain because of the opposing force delivered to it by that Hakuda technique. No matter, Gen still had another arm that wasn’t in pain.

Using his left arm, he swatted away Grodd’s arm if the Third Seat chose to keep his fist there during his moment of shock. He swatted that arm away and then punched the Shinigami in the face to get him to back away from the Arrancar. Then, Gen stepped back to deliver a powerful kick to Grodd’s chest with his right leg. He stepped back to deliver a powerful kick to Grodd’s chest that would cause him to skid back. Not because of the strength behind it, since Grodd was strong enough to take any blows delivered by Gen’s lesser strength. It would be because of the delivery of the kick during Grodd’s moment of shock. And even if he did or didn’t skid back, Gen prepared something else for the Shinigami.

The dome on his head parted down the center and opened up, revealing the Fraccion’s red eyes, black hair, and the pale face of a young man in his late twenties. Gen opened his mouth and a dark green light began forming, charging and gathering strength. A dark green light began forming there within his mouth and charged up. When it charged fully, Gen screamed out at the Shinigami, ”Tell me!” With his shout, a wave of green reiatsu was released. It looked similar to a cero, but did not have the shape of a cero, nor did it have the same impact power of an ordinary cero. No, when this wave of green reiatsu impacted Grodd, it would sound like a shrill cry, an ear numbing cry that would cause blood to leak from his ears, an indication of his ear drums taking damage from the attack. That was only if Grodd was hit by the cero which took the form of some kind of visible sound wave.

”Miss Asuka, I miss you…” the Fraccion muttered to himself after releasing the attack. His worry for his master had broken him. This was not the Gen that had served under Asuka. This was a Gen who had been broken by her loss. That was why he was more aggressive than usual. That was why he was not analyzing his opponent before rushing in to attack. His frail, broken mind could no longer plan like it had before. Not in this state of worry. Right now, he was acting on battle instinct. Grodd was an enemy who had information, so Gen would make him suffer to get it.

Gen's Remaining Reiatsu: 1850/2050 (-100 for Cero Arpia)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique}
Technique Name: [Cero Arpia (Harpy Zero)]

Class: [5]

Technique Type: [Hollow Technique]

Technique Element: None

Technique Description and Effects:

Cero Arpía (lit. Harpy Cero) is a somewhat powerful cero that is released from the mouth. The user will release the Cero in a wave like blast that reaches as far as the ears can hear. It has the ability to cause bleeding in the ear.

How to use technique:

Stated above.

Technique Drawbacks:

Reiatsu cost.

[Beast]

Grodd's fist met the Hierro and was stopped. It hurt, but he was used to feeling a great deal of pain and could tolerate it fairly well. He was, though, shocked that his fist was stopped. What was this ability? The new Arrancar that he had faced before didn't have it. No Hollow he had ever faced before had anything close to Hierro. Why hadn't he been told before he was sent out on mission? Why had they left him in the dark again? They don't care about you... That's why they'll continue to leave you in the dark..."

There went the angry whisperings of the Beast Within again, trying to rile Grodd up. It was working. He started to get angrier as his hand was swatted away and he was kicked in the chest, skidding backwards from the force. He was angry enough to use Shikai, but he had to deal with whatever was going on in the Arrancar's face first. Again, the Third Seat had never seen or heard of Cero, so he just stood his ground and watched as the cero charged and then fired. A wave of green energy? He could stop that. He braced himself with a shield on his arm, catching and deflecting some of the cero with Enkosen.

Still, he wasn't strong enough to block all of it and his ears rung from the Cero Arpia. They didn't bleed and the eardrum wasn't ruptured, but what did Grodd need his hearing for anyways? It would just be more rambling on this Miss Asuka that Gen missed. Grodd tried to point to his throat and shake his hand side to side using his only form of communication. Maybe the message would get across. Regardless, now it was time to activate Shikai and use it to try and crush the Arrancar. Grodd's Shikai was physically stronger than he was, so it might have a better chance in damaging Gen.

Kanji was written in the air, forming the phrase "Help me grow, Oerwould Hart", followed by a sudden burst of reiatsu as the shinigami activated his release. His hair grew two feet longer, so now it would extend to the small of his back. But it didn't stay there as it formed a fist that covered Grodd's right arm. It would be hard to see as the man kept his hands in a boxing fist, but his fingernails were growing also. And was he that tall before? It was small, but he was an inch taller than he had previously been. And he would just keep growing for as long as his release was active.

Remaining Reiatsu: 1,100/1,500 (-100 Enkosen, -300 Shikai)
1/10 Shikai

SPOILER: Click to show

{Technique}
Technique Name: [Bakudo #39: Enkosen (Arc Shield)]

Class: [5]

Technique Type: Kido

Technique Element: [None]

Technique Description and Effects:

A medium sized round shield fashioned from yellow, condensed spiritual energy instantly forms on the caster's wrist. This is not unlike Seki, however it does not paralyze, it only blocks. This can be used on low level physical strikes and low level Kido-like spells.

How to use technique:

Instantaneous cast which requires either thought of it, verbal speaking of the technique, or an incantation.

Incantation and Effect:

The size of the shield is tripled, though the duration is halved, for use of incantation. Incantation unknown.

[Gen Shizuo]

The Arrancar stared in disbelief at his attack being so easily deflected. He screamed in anger at seeing his cero so easily deflected. ”Shinigami! Where is Miss Asuka?!” he asked again. The confused Arrancar watched as Grodd mimed something with his hands. The Shinigami pointed to his throat and then made a motion across his throat from side to side. Was he choking? Was there something in his mouth preventing him from talking? ”Don’t mock me!” he shouted.

The Shinigami didn’t want to talk. That was what the grieving Arrancar understood from those hand motions. There was something in Grodd’s mouth preventing him from talking. He wanted to mock Gen by not spitting it out to answer him. No matter, Gen would receive an answer by force. The Arrancar watched as the Shinigami released his zanpakutou, yet he did not fear. At least, he did not show any fear on the outside. Within, Gen grew fearful that with this increase in power, he may die at Grodd’s hands. If he died, he would never find Miss Asuka. Why had death come for him now?! He needed to find Miss Asuka. He couldn’t afford to die! He was stronger…he was stronger than death! He was stronger than death! He was stronger than death! He wasn’t afraid!

The Arrancar launched forward again, the mask fragment on his head closing up to seal itself. It sealed in the middle, blocking view of his face again except for those glowing red eyes. The Arrancar swung his right arm forward before even reaching Grodd. Gen was within 5 feet of Grodd when he swung his right arm towards him and let go of the blade he held in that hand. With the force of Gen’s full strength, the blade was sent whizzing towards Grodd, aiming to pierce the Shinigami directly in his left leg. That attack was going to distract him from what came next. Gen charged and launched a Bala from his left hand at the sand behind Grodd.

With his mastery, the technique would charge quickly and with the Bala’s incredible speed, the green ball of reiatsu would reach and impact the sand behind Grodd before the sword reached him. The explosion caused by the Bala impacting the sand was intended to not only distract the Shinigami as he tried to evade that sword, but also throw up sand and create a cloud that would overtake and blind Grodd if he chose to escape backwards. He would slip up in his attempt to evade, at least that was the hope. And Gen would capitalize on that slip up.

The Arrancar continued forward, expecting a counter via kido from the Shinigami. He had already shown himself capable of kido after use of that shield he had produced on his arm. What else he had available, Gen was unsure of. Either way, the Arrancar prepared himself. He landed from his initial leap forward and prepared himself to leap again by placing a foot against the ground. He was ready to blast off with another sonido depending on Grodd’s next move. Whether he countered or he stumbled, Gen would be ready to move either way.


Gen’s Remaining Reiatsu: 1800/2050 (-50 for Bala)

[Beast]

The Arrancar shouted back at the Shinigami, shouted for Grodd to stop mocking him. What had provoked this? All Grodd had done was try and communicate in his best manner that he was mute. The Arrancar must be out of his mind with trying to find this Miss Asuka person. It was pitiful, but also quite noble of Gen. Grodd had never known anyone well enough to be devoted to them. Well... he wasn't even close enough to anyone to really like them either. He was shocked by the devotion of Gen and his resolve to find Miss Asuka. But that didn't stop the fact that Grodd needed to defend his own life and take out the threat.

As Gen charged forwards, Grodd watched and tried to pay attention to what the Arrancar was doing. He had been fooled too may times in the past by feints and was trying to do better about it. It wasn't going well for him so far. Gen threw his sword when he got within 5 feet of the Shinigami, aimed for the lower leg. Grodd knew that his hair wasn't long enough to defend against it, so he was about to prepare Hado #1: Sho to deflect the weapon. However, he felt the rapid generation and release of reiatsu coming from the Arrancar, which distracted him.

The Bala, thankfully, wasn't aimed at him and detonated into the sand to the side of him sending a shower of the pale rock dust cascading over the Shinigami. His gut instincts kicked in as he tightened his muscles and flexed all over defensively as he bent down and guarded himself from the attack he'd never seen the likes of before. Man was that Bala fast! Grodd's instincts barely recorded its presence before it was already impacting the ground and exploding! Oh, crap, the sword! He had been so focused on avoiding a feint that he thought was in the sword attack that he had been distracted by the real feint in the Bala attack.

All Grodd could do was twist his leg to the side to try and mitigate the damage. He could feel the sword cutting into his leg as it flew by and buried itself in the sand a few inches behind the Shinigami. It hurt, quite a bit, but Grodd was tough and his main fighting style didn't require him to move on his feet too much. Hopefully that would be enough as he shifted his weight to the other leg. First, though, he bent down so his hair could flow over the sword and pick it up. Now close to 4 feet long, his hair was starting to become quite a formidable weapon and could be used quite masterfully.

With a flick of its "wrist" the hair threw the sword back at Gen with a strength of 600 and a speed of 400. With double the speed and an overwhelming increase in physical strength, this sword throw would not be something to take lightly. And it wasn't aimed at the leg either, rather aimed straight for the Arrancar's chest. Would Grodd have known that throwing back the weapon of Gen's release would be a bad idea instead of keeping it hostage? Nope, the throught never crossed his mind. All he was thinking about was staying focused on his enemy and returning blow for blow with as much force as he could. Even if Gen dodged, which was highly likely, Grodd would continue to just stay where he was and keep track of his enemy through his physical and energy senses. Maybe, just maybe, he could survive this encounter as the victor if he would just keep his head on straight...

Remaining Reiatsu: 1,100/1,500
Shikai: 2/10

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

+150 TP for Grodd. As the fight never completed, he will not recieve victory TP.

However, this is a showcase, so Gen's withdrawal from the fight does technically make Grodd the victor. For that reason, he will receive this item as a special showcase reward:

Item Name: Soul Searcher

Item Type:: Tool

Item Rank: E

Creation Skills: N/A

Item Description: This tool takes the form of a small compass smaller than a normal person’s palm. However, there are no directions marked along the circumference. In fact, the compass isn’t in sync with any electromagnetic field. Instead, the arrow points toward the nearest spiritual signature. Even if a class 7 individual is ten feet away and a class 0 individual is eleven feet away, the compass will point to closer person. It is only possible to evade detection by the compass by actively suppressing one's reiatsu signature. The maximum range of the Soul Searcher is 2 miles.

Price: N/A

Added to a shop?: No, it is a special reward to Grodd