Wrath of the Archdemon: Cerberus

What Next? The Soul Society War Summit!
"Wonder what the ruckus is about?" Shunsui asked, wearing his slightly ripped and tarnished pink kimono over his Haori, scoring a few bandages over wounds recently earned from the battle. Retsu Unohana had treated each and every Captain that she could before this surprising War Summit was proposed by an anonymous ally. Naturally, Jushirō and Shunsui were the least banged up and made leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

"Don't know...that fellow from the 11th Division's Reserve wasn't very forthcoming with details, though I don't think he was meaning us harm," Captain Ukitake surmised, shrugging his shoulders before wincing slightly from the wounds inflicted by Rana Zolinder.

"Well, the guy used a trick only Katen Kyōkotsu should possess, but I guess shadows are more the lad's liking," Captain Kyōraku said, bending his straw hat down to hide the amused if not sheepish expression of having someone actually sneak up on the likes of him.

"No need to get embarassed now," Jushirō said with a slight laugh, trying to keep both of their spirits up in light of their sensei's death. They'd have time to grieve their late master and surrogate father figure. For now, they had people to strategize with and plans for the Soul Society's continuation and preservation.

"Oi, don't talk about me as if i'm not here...."

With their combined shadows, Raiken's form slowly rose from the ground, from Jushiro's up to Shunsui's as if he were walking. By the time he had reached the edge of Shunsui's shadow, his entire form had emerged from the ground. His attire still bore the burns from the previous fight with Leviatan, but he acted as if there were nothing wrong with him at the time.

"Welp, now it seems we have to wait for them other lads." he commented, standing a few feet to the duo's right.

"I felt it that time," Shunsui chuckled, tipping his hat upwards to regard the injured man as he walked to his own place of posture, "so precisely who is the mysterious masked man who's playing errand boy for an even more mysterious source?"

"I think its fair we ought to know, if we're going to be working together," Jushirō said with a curious, yet serious tone of his own as he regarded Raiken's stature and aura...slightly menacing, yet restrained and controlled, as if a foreign power lingered over him, seperate from his own yet hanging over him like a dark cloud or overcasting shadow.

"Aye, my apologies for the bluntness of my previous introduction. Time was of the essence." he replied, holding his arms behind his back and standing straight up. "Raiken Uchiwa, 11th Reserve forces. This "errand boy" is under orders of the new Commander to gather all of the remaining Captains and replacements to this hall."

Shunsui's eyes widened a fraction in sync with his academy-old friend, both of them uttering a synonymous, "The what?!"

"Did Central 46 react this quickly for contingency plans? They couldn't have kept a proxy in the wings for so long without our knowing," Jushirō spoke aloud incredulously, hardly believing whoever this supposed new leader could already attain the rank and authority to do this.

"Unless this is not of the official Gotei 13 channels," Shunsui said with a narrowing of his eyes in suspicion, sideglancing at Jushirō, the latter friend of his reading his thoughts through the look in his irises, as the prior man turned his dark eyes to look back at Raiken, "is this new Commander from the Zero Division as a replacement?"

"Nope." Raiken replied to Jushiro and Shunsui's questions at the same time. "The lad wiped out nearly a third of the enemies army by uttering a single word and drawing his blade. His spiritual pressure is just as high, if not moreso than his precursor's. Hell, being in the same vicinity as him was enough to make me think the place was ciphened of oxygen."

His left eye narrowed at the both of them. "He's definitely the sort that's been hanging out of the public eye. I doubt that even the Central 46 knew about him for a while. Whoever he is, I bet ole' Yamamoto was the only one who knew of him."

"Well," Shunsui shrugged as he smiled, "I guess we can just wait and see for ourselves..."

"I don't see why that should be necessary, Captains," Seu-Feng spoke aloud as she appeared in step with a just arriving Shinji, the two worn and weary combatants walked into the room, with her eyes peeled around the Captains' Meeting room, feeling a lot more void without the Head Captain's constant, commanding presence, "considering that he sounds like a man wanting to give us a chance for payback against the bastardized race that tried to take us out for good!"

"I agree, but we should be careful to gauge just how reliable this new guy really is," Shinji commented as he walked to his own posture while Seu-Feng walked in step to be next to Raiken, wanting to keep an eye on the newcomer esteemed Soul Reaper for the time being, "for all we know, he might lead us to our deaths blindly or might want us to cower while he protects our flanks, its hard to know with newbs..."

Raiken barely turned his gaze to the two of them. "Hmm...." he mused in thought, tilting his head lower to the ground in seemingly thought. "Ah...they've all got the message then, good."

They would all notice that several black blobs that were flat on the ground all quickly slipped through the hallway like they were moving shadows. All of them merged underneath Raiken, before they completley enveloped into his own shadow, of which was notably absent previously.

He then resumed his previous, stoic stance as Seu-Feng stood next to him. "I'm bettin' you lot didn't get too banged up now, did you?" he said to her and Shinji.

"As much as the living can be," Shinji said sarcastically, before spitting a wad at the ground and putting on his classic overbited scowl as he looked at nowhere in general, "f'ing Vasto Lordes my ass! They weren't even Shinigamified and they still acted like we were nothing! Did Sōsuke happen to choose the weakest of the best just so he could wear us down or toy with us?! How did we get beaten by bastardized Hollows?!"

"They were all older, much older, than the ones Aizen brought with him," Seu-Feng spoke gravely, narrowing her eyes as she looked down at the ground, her fists balling up, "and I couldn't do a damned thing to stop any of this! My Lieutenant! My comrades! My Head Captain! I couldn't stop any of their deaths...and I take full responsibility for it..."

"Wow," a youthful, yet experienced voice broke the self-loathing on Seu-Feng's part and directed over to what appeared to be a Noble House Clan Head. Having hair in scarlet mingled with slight shades of black, the young man looked to be near Byakuya's, if not a little younger. With a white scarf wrapped neatly over his neck and down his shoulders, he also possessed his Clan's decoratively red kimono with the insignia promptly on its back while wearing a straw hat of his own, "this place is incredibly depressing and I just got here..."

"Well now, this is a surprise," Shunsui broke out, trying to keep the tone a little more enlightened to keep Seu-Feng's haphazard emotions and Shinji's sarcastic drawl in check, nodding to the newcomer, "its nice to see you come here, Hayate-dono.-"

"Please, call me Kukkyōna!" The man insisted, waving a hand in dismissal while smiling, "we meet with you and Jushirō-san enough to speak formally. I'd hate to get bogged down now of all times with legalities and beaucracies..."

"Hmph." Raiken muttered, listening to Seu-Feng's complaint with apparent annoyance. "Do you honestly expect me to..." however, he was cut off from Kukkyona's entrance, glancing at the newcomer briefly before retaining his old pose, sighing in tiredness.

"Well if you insist, Kukkyōna-san," Shunsui said with a smile, placing his hands within the sleeves of his Haori, "its not like we have to be formal at this time around. Might as well be thankful we can get help from the Noble Houses with this mess..."

"If it wasn't for the fact military matters are usually left for the Gotei 13, I would've went out to fight with you," Kukkyōna said sagely, bowing his head before raising it back up with a tinge of malice behind it, "but that changes today. The full might of the Hayate Clan will back the Soul Society's efforts in defending itself, no matter the cost!"

"Bout time you Noble Houses started pitching in," Shinji said with a smile, teasing the young Clan Head, "I was about to drag you all off your haunches and tell you to get to work if you hadn't done so otherwise!"

Raiken simply stood in place, without saying a word to anyone, until his attention slowly began to turn to Seu-Feng. "You seemed troubled lass, moreso than the others about this here' shitstorm."

"What I feel is none of you or anyone else's concern," Seu-Feng said tersely, holding a stoic yet twitching stare at her opposing newfound, yet mysterious looking ally, "so watch how you speak to me, you masked frea-"

"Hey now, there's no need to be hostile to the man, he's just doing his duty and is trying to emphasize your concerns," Jushirō tried to plead with his associate, sweatdropping slightly at already having a conflict arising when they should be united.

"Just because he now decides to show up to help, doesn't make him my ally, let alone an acquaintence who can ask me such trivial questions," Seu-Feng said with an icy tone, not taking her glare off the masked, black haired man whom called himself Raiken Uchiwa.

Shunsui could only sigh, seeing Seu-Feng hostile was no different than any other time something appeared she didn't like or couldn't accept, making any Captains' Meetings they've had in the past difficult to progress through. The only thing that really kept her in line was the old man, but with him gone...

"You really have no reason to be hostile to him, Captain Seu-Feng," Kukkyōna said with a neutral, diplomatic tone as he bowed his head with respect before stretching out a hand to Raiken, "this man bears grevious wounds, yet purposes not to let them bother his emotions. He's fought for the security and safety of the Soul Society, something every Soul Reaper should strive for. If he's simply asking for your state of mind's health, is it not right of him to be worried as all of you Captains were fighting for your lives?"

"Tch!" Seu-Feng growled, but couldn't argue the Noble's words since they appeared to make sense. Looking at Raiken's wounds now, she grasped that he made personal sacrifices of his own, despite his conspicuous appearance and his sudden unexpected alliance pledged to them all, he at least helped take initiative, "Fine. I'll bite my tongue and work with you, but it doesn't mean I'll like it..."

"Hmm..." Raiken mused with curiosity at Seu-Feng's hostile words. To him, he didn't really care how she looked at him or how she felt, but he could tell that she was under an intense amount of stress, and he also knew that she could potentially become more of a nuiscance with a clouded mind rather than an actual help. But he could only digress...

"Oh wait, I forgot a couple." he said suddenley, as two more shadows shot out from the hallway behind Kukkyona and into Raiken's own shadow, fully completing it.

''Snap! Snap!''

Popping the bones in his neck, making two loud snapping noises, he groaned as if though not having the shadows entirely drained him and kept him rather tired. "Alright, now I feel like I can move again..."

"Those shadows were grafted by the spiritrons in his body, making a solid-body replicate that's linked to his conscious," Kukkyōna observed with slitted, narrowed eyes of analytic prowess as he watched them regress into Raiken's body, allowing him to regain the lost energy the "bodies" used up, "he must be a master of manipulating his own spirit energy so fluid and precisely in order to accomplish a feat like that. Not to mention, its a Zanpakut'ō technique..."

"How many of those things did you send out there?" Shunsui asked curiously, also keenly observing the unique nature of this man's "copies" regressing into his own shadow, relieving themselves of spirit energy and collescing back into Raiken's body, "did you make sure you had enough for every Noble House's Head?"

"Twenty-seven in total." Raiken replied plainly, retaining his pose. "That's far more than enough obviously, but the excessive amount was just in case any of Caius' stragglers were hanging around and got ideas."

"That has to cut your power tremendously if you overuse them in combat," Kukkyōna spoke aloud in an observing neutral tone, placing a hand around his chin as he narrowed his eyes further, "it must've taken a lot of training and concentration to create that many look-alikes as well as make them move in sync with your conscious..."

SFT-SFT!

"Sorry for being late everyone," A young man with long violet hair, who wore the Kenseikan hair clips over where his long bangs arched over either flank of his fair complexioned browline was, as well as the Kuchiki Clan scarf wrapped around his neck over his violet and white Clan Head uniform, "but I had to go through an...unfortunately taxing ceremony in becoming the new Head of the Kuchiki Clan. It wasn't pleasant, I assure you..."

Standing next to him silently was a woman of regal appearance, donning a white-golden enamored headdress as well as a long flowing white cloak embroidered in a way that gave her a state of presence while also emanated tranquility and beauty. She bore the markins of the Kasumiōji Clan, a recent addition to the Noble Houses of the Seireitei.

''"That's the fun about these shadows. The first time I use them on someone and it scares the piss out of em' all...." ''Raiken thought to himself as the newcomer arrived. Inwardly, he was laughing over the fact that he himself scared everyone at the ceremony by popping up behind the Kuchiki in shadow form.

"Now you finally show yourself," Kōjaku Kuchiki spoke aloud, looking over his shoulder at the shadow behind himself, "walking over here almost felt like someone slipped a feather down my back. Couldn't let go the feeling I had something extra tagging along..."

"..." The Kasumiōji Head was silent, save for bowing her head to the gathered Captains and the Hayate Head, "I'm pleased to see nearly everyone is here. I'm assuming Captain Unohana won't be joining us?"

"Yeah, the thing is this war left a lot of wounded and dying," Shinji said with a tsk, waving his hand offhandedly as he smelled more superiority enter the Captain's Meeting Hall than needed, "so I guess she's too busy to talk war with the rest of us...shame though. She's quite the badass when you get her serious enough..."

"You can say that again," Shunsui and Jushirō said with a comical cloud of foreboding fear of what Restu was really capable of. If it wasn't for her medical expertise being in so high demand and this mysteriously powerful benefactor who's asked to have them all gather from Raiken, she'd surely be assuming the Head Captain's seat.

"I see," The princess sighed with a sad look in her eyes, bowing her head in reverence, "let us hope those who've given their lives in service to their honor and duty may find rest in the embrace of the balance."

"Amen," Kōjaku and Kukkyōna said in unison, their reverence earning themselves a slight smile of admission and recognition to each other.

"Oi, I don't stalk. At least if it's not someone I like or if it's a baddie." Raiken replied to Kōjaku plainly, before remaining silent at hearing the princess speak.

SHFT!

"Only the lowly bother treading upon another's shadow in hiding," An intimidating voice broke out, as an armored, dark robed Noble House Head walked into the space between the Kuchiki Head and the Kasumiōji Head, earning both their sudden stares at the usually socially withdrawn Noble, "but I guess you know all about that, Raiken Uchiwa..."

Seeing the man, Raiken let out a low chuckle. "Aaah come on now lad. You're only saying that because I scared the shit out of you just a few minutes ago with it."

"With all the horrors this war has brought upon us this day," Sōdai emphasized in a dark, unimpressed tone to Raiken as he stared at him with collescing, obsidian irsises, "your petty attempts of misguided enjoyment is far from what I call a major importance to me."

"Now, now, there's no need for hostilities," Kukkyōna raised hands up to Sōdai defensively on behalf of Raiken, "the man's just happens to have strange antics is all..."

"If he's really as competant as you claim him to be, then why does he hide behind a mask?" Sōdai asked, glaring at Raiken's true form as he walked over to stand in his own position as the others now collesced in a parallel format as most of them as always done, "I'd rather fight an unknown enemy than have unknown allies on my side..."

Behind his mask, Raiken was letting out a low grin.

"There are some things in this world laddie..." he began, strange black markings beginning to creep onto it's left side in a fluid manner. "...that are better left concealed."

Tk-Click!

"If you pose even the most miniscule of threats to our plans and our Society, creature," Sōdai threatened lowly, his right hand thumbing his Zanpakutō out of its sheathe, preparing to engage in combat with the currently weakened, yet powerful Soul Reaper, "I'll kill you where you stand!"

"Oh boy," Shunsui grumbled lowly, as he tried to hide his grimace with his straw hat, "this could get ugly..."

"Why does he have to be so untrusting of everybody?!" Kukkyōna let out a elongated drop of his jaw, comically exasperated at Sōdai's willingness to attack an ally within the Captain's Meeting Hall, when they're supposed to work together.

"Oye vey...." Raiken facepalmed in an almost embarassed manner. "Now I know we're about as screwed as a pooch. Can't even have a nice little conversation without someone willing to pick a fight over my choice of attire. Big ole' Ultharon won't have a problem picking us off one by one when we don't even trust each other. You wanna go ahead and get rid of help when it's standing right in front of you or jeapordize our defenses over a simple little feeling? Fine by me. Go for it." He then went back to his old pose, unintimidated by the man's words and actions.

"That won't be necessary," a voice emanated from the far reaches of the Head Captain's old seat, with a man with black raven hair fastened into a high-rise ponytail, with elaborate choice in garments and a Zanpakuto sheathed on his left hip, "cause I believe I'll need all of your help if we're going to stand a chance against the greatest Hollow in our brief existence."

"Shin-chan?!" Shunsui suddenly called out, with widened eyes of delight and surprise, also mirroring a similar look from his comrade and friend, Jushirō, as they saw the familiar boy turned man, "what are you doing here, at a time like this?"

"Hello to you too, Shunsui-dono...Jushirō-dono...," Shin'en spoke aloud as he looked over to the rest of the agape Captains and Noble House Heads. The strangest thing...is that his presence currently emanated no current Spiritual Power at all. While he emanated strength, experience, and a commanding presence, he hid his body's energy completely, "glad to see everyone got my summons."

''"Hehe, looks like ole' Raiken knows a thing or two after all...." ''

Raiken chuckled to himself inwardly at seeing the two's reaction to the man, hoping at least that they would now somewhat believe him for his word. For now, he simply stood in place and waited for Shin'en to speak.

"So...this is the guy, huh?" Shinji thought to himself as he looked neutrally at the young man who rallied them all together, not to mention project that powerful pillar of light-like Spiritual Pressure on the borders of the Soul Society, "I don't feel anything from him now than his personal aura...if he's as strong as I think he is...he may be stronger than the old man ever was..."

"So this is the so-called new Commander that fool babbled about," Seu-Feng herself inwardly thought as she glared at the newcomer, analytically if not in a cynical manner looked him over, "he must be a fool if he thinks he can replace the Head Captain, let alone best Ultharon alone!"

Sōdai narrowed his eyes at the newcomer, before allowing his voice project his thoughts, "So...the prodigal child student of Genryūsai has returned from his sojourn, has he? I was wondering when you would decide to come back, boy."

"Alot of people are skeptical here, huh?" Kukkyōna said aloud incredulously, as he scratched his head as he looked to and fro at nearly half of the gathered Captains and Noble House Heads were either glaring or staring indifferently at the man who called them all here.

"Nice to see the times hasn't changed your pleasant nature, Sōdai-dono," Shin'en smiled unabashedly, before turning to the group as a whole, gracing his fingers along the Head Captain's seat longingly but never sitting upon it, "and now just to set the records straight, no, I'm not here to replace Genryūsai-sensei, for his presence will never be a one that I or anyone can fill back," he lowered his head soberly, letting that sink in before raising a stoic face of determination, "but, I am here to help take charge and help bring you all together for a singular purpose: A plan of Counter-Attack against Ultharon and his Army in Hueco Mundo."

"?!?!?!" A unanimous series of surprised, incredulous, and wide-eyed expressions were seen by all that were gathered. Some thought the young man was out of his mind, others were struck speachless at such a bold proposal, while others thought he was being merely a dreaming fool.

Raiken however, simply looked over to him casually without any form of surprise or shock, but he seemed rather curious. "Give the bastards a taste of their own bloody medicine it is? Probably the best thing to do really. It's never a good idea to just sit idly when you've just gotten yer arse handed to you on a silver platter by a madman. You don't prove to him that you're not fucking around, then he'll keep fucking around with ya."

"Counterattack? Pffft!" Shinji jeered aloud, as he smiled in a semi-mocking away while speaking his own doubts to the young leader, "I don't know what channel you've been watching, Shin-san, but we've got our asses kicked! Do you honestly think we need humiliation added ontop of our own punishment?"

"Shin'en," Seu-Feng spoke aloud, her being the nearest to him besides Shinji, she took the initiative to speak her own set of sage words of advice, "we've suffered heavy casualties not only to the higher-ups within the Gotei 13, but to many of the lower seats and the unseated Reapers also suffered many wounded and dead. It would be unwise to stage a full offensive when the enemy could send some of their forces to take advantage of our defensless or lessened defenses could handle."

"That's why I brought my friend, Hando-san, with me," Shin'en said with a confident smile, crossing hsi arms over his chest as he explained, "I briefly had a chat with your eccentric 12th Division Captain, who happens to be your scientific specialist. Technically he'll be undergoing his special regerative process for another few days in order to be of help, but one of his Seated Officers by the name of Kaze Sasayaki, proposed using some prototype tech that will indefinitely bolster our defenses, provided that my friend preforms the Kidō without being disturbed."

Raiken simply retained his pose and listened to them all speak, making sure he latched onto any details that were spoken.

"Sounds like you thought of everything," Shinji commented with an approving smile, before brushing a hand through his hair thoughtfully, "but its going to be a pain in the ass to deal with the other Vasto Lorde we didn't deal with last time..."

"I have strategies for that," Shin'en said pointedly, starting his walk between the gathered warriors he turned to Seu-Feng and Raiken first, "Seu-Feng-dono, Raiken-dono, you two are perhaps some of our most subtle warriors. We'll use that, to have you both to infiltrate the ranks of the masses and see where they're weakest and advoid where they're strong. You sabatoge what you can within reason and reendevous back with the rest of the invasion force, then we'll crush them before they can make a major defensive..."

"Understood," Seu-Feng said with an understanding nod, glad to see he knew how to maneuver the other Captains promptly.

"Got it." Raiken said without moving.

Shin'en continued onwards, looking to Shinji, "You'll do good as immediate support. Do not engage the enemy unless one of our positions get overwhelmed. Only engage the Hollow forces not near Ultharon, or..."

"...he'll mess shit up in my head, I know," Shinji nodded in bored understanding, making a mock salute to his new temporary superior, "you can count on me to pull someone, if not everyone's, collective asses out of the fire."

"Good," Shin'en said with a humored grin, as he continued on, looking to Jushirō and Shunsui respectively, "Jushirō-dono, and Shunsui-dono, I'll need you to move in and strike fast and hard on the disorganized groups. You'll be making the secondary stride into the main Hollow forces. If anything, you're to make sure their ranks are chaos and flee once they're generals are unsure what to proceed to."

"And who is the initial firing support?" Jushirō asked curiously.

"Kukkyōna," Shin'en said pointedly to him, before explaining as the young Noble House Head gave him a queried look, "I've heard your own Zanpakutō rivaled in destructive potential to that of Genryūsai's own Ryujin Jakka, as your twin Zanpakutō have a unique aspect it does not."

Kukkyōna raised his hands in defense, as he sheepishly said, "I'm not claiming any of that is even close to being true..."

"But its close enough that you can cause a wide-spread artillery fire upon the weak spots within the Hollow Army's ranks," Shin'en said with a smile, walking over and patting him on the shoulder as he spoke with sincerity, "I believe in your power, Kukkyōna Hayate. Now believe in yourself!"

"Yes sir, Shin'en-san," The humble Hayate Head bowed reverently to him, allowing Shin'en to smile back with resigned finality that his ally would do him well.

"Kurīku-san," he looked over to the woman, emphasizing his next assignment to the revered Kasumiōji Clan Head, "your reputation as a Kidō expert precedes you. I'd like you to give fire support and cover for any open combatants out in the field as well as any possible healing abilities you retain to patch up those with wounds impeding their preformance."

"I understand," Kurīku said with a polite, assured tone, standing a bit straighter than before as she smiled earnestly, "I'll do my best to assist you all."

"And what about us three?" Kōjaku asked calmly, his feet shifting slightly as he placed his arms within the folds of his kosode's sleeves.

"We will hold back and wait for the big fish to be lured out to see what the fuss is about," Shin'en said calmly, emphasizing with a wave of his hand, "we will also provide immediate assistance to any pressed or stalemated arenas within the battlefield. This will allow us more oversight and tactical administration to any of the shock troops among the Noble Heads and Captains alike."

"A sound plan," Sōdai said in a solemn, aggreeable tone as his own armored arms crossed over his chest, a hand rubbed his chin in thought, "if for some reason we start to be overwhelmed, we can create distractions or leap into the fray and provide the necessary support."

With a long lapse of silence, Shin'en began to walk towards the recently passed Head Captain's chair, "The Soul Society has had many wars and conflicts since its birthing. From intermediate civil wars, to uprisings, to neighbour soul realms thirsting for power and conquest, to Hollow incursions. But this is unlike any war we've ever faced," turning around he waved a hand in emphasis, "our very survival depends on this! The World of the Living's survival depends on this one battle! The very natural balance of the universe itself, depends on this one moment, where Nobles and Commonfolk, Captains and Officers, Men and Women of all upbringings and traditions fight for one thing! The continuation of life itself, and the very honor, for which we continue to uphold!..."

He then pointed out to all of them, shouting with a youthful, charismatic vigor, "So join me! And together, we will drive back the horde that threatens to destroy that peace and universe we fight and honor to preserve, and slay the oldest Hollow in existence for killing both our most greatest and most honorable Soul Reaper Head Captain, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto! Let us fight, and let us win!"

"YEAAAAAH!" Somehow, even some of the more reserved individuals found themselves yelling out in agreement and preemptive war valor. For in their hearts, they knew they've already won the war. Their enemy came to not only destroy them, but to break their spirits. Now, having failed both, will pay the ultimate price....

Raiken didn't even really move, though he did flinch in slight annoyance when everyone else yelled out in valor and courage as if they were little. Being the oldest in the room, he found noises to be rather damaging to his ears. Sure he agreed with them that Ultharon and his forces needed to pay for what they had done, but did they even consider that more men were going to die in this next battle, considering that thousands of their numbers were already gone, and that Ultharon's forces were growing every minute?

''"Damned kids...since when did war become something to look forward to?" ''He thought inwardly.

"When do you propose we move out?" Sōdai asked smoothly, in light of the others dying cheers and withdrawing back into their collected selves.

"Six hours from now," Shin'en said with a look of seriousness about him, "that will give my friend plenty of time to work in conjunction with the Tech Department in making that spacial barrier to protect the Soul Society while we're gone, as well as allow you to gather what warriors you have within your own respective Clans."

"I hope you know that we only have one shot at this." Raiken said to Shin'en with his own rather serious tone. "If we fuck up here, then there's no turning back. We're the only things keeping Ultharon from tearing through this realm, the world of the living, and hell even Hueco Mundo itself would be better off without him in control."

"I have no doubts about the chances and odds of success we have, Raiken-san," Shin'en said in a equally serious tone, his eyes making a lethal glint that belonged to a specific someone, "there is no secondary plans, no contingencies. We are the first and last line of defense. The only thing standing in between Ultharon and the Soul Society is us. We have no alternatives..."

"That, and the Royal Guard will only step in when the Gotei 13 is no longer functioning and/or able to protect the Soul Society," Sōdai said smoothly, with his eyes closed before sideglancing across to Raiken, "and they certainly wouldn't want any of us alive if we fail now."

"True enough." Raiken replied, going back to his regular stance.

"Now that we have no illusion that this will be our first and maybe our last mission as the collective of bright and skilled individuals we have here, does anyone else have any questions or doubts they want to share?" Shin'en asked, looking around at everyone gathered together, "cause this is your time to spit it and have your peace before the end."

"I do believe, my dear Captains, that I might need to throw something in here..."

An old, raspy british sounding voice could be heard from the hallway leading out of the Captains' meeting hall. Within a few seconds, the hunched over form of Charles McTavish could be seen, his hands behind his back and a calm, relaxed smile on his face while his piercing yellow eyes gave a serene glare upon them all.

"...for without what i'm about to tell you, you will be leading thousands to their graves."

"...Tamenky'ōme...!"

"Who are you?!" Sōdai demanded in a heated, yet controlled tone as his eyes flashed from obsidian orbs to a pair of tripple digit tomoes in a red eyed background, as his ocular senses began to read the man's Spiritual Energies origins and his physical genetic blueprint like a book.

"Its him again..." She uttered in a low growl, hoping never to see the distasteful man again or the matter hear anything that he would withhold from the Captains.

"Begging your pardon, mister, but I don't think I've been introduced to the likes of you," Shin'en said as he walked over to the hunch-backed man, narrowing his eyes at him as he crossed his arms in front of himself, "but exactly what threat could possibly be greater than the one we're aware of?"

"The threat, my friend, is Ultharon himself, or more specifically, what he is planning to do." Charles said, looking up at Shin'en with the same expression as before.

"Oi, Mctavish..."

Raiken looked over at the hunched over man. "What in bloody hell are you doing all the way out here? I thought you were busy chasin' myths down in that hut of yours."

"Ah, Mr. Uchiwa, what a pleasent surprise." the elder man said, glancing over at the masked man briefly. "I see you've certainly grown in position around this society..."

He then cleared his throat before looking back at Shin'en. "Charles McTavish at your service. I'm here to give you crucial information that you cannot afford to turn down."

"Any information you possess is crucial the survival of all existence, McTavish-san. I hope you realize the gravity of withholding information of this type is very unwelcome from the conspicuous likes of you," Shin'en said seriously as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes into near-slits of seriousness, "so say what you came here to say, and hold nothing back. I want the absolute truth and nothing less."

"Then you might need to take a few steps back..."

Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a disc of some sort. Pressing the center of it, the black disc changed into a dynamic, crystal clear version of it'self as it began to grow in size, enveloping the entire room. When it was done, everyone would feel as if they were in a strange new dimension, with a solid white floor, and with a grey background in where several synthetic appearing rifts of wind were gently flowing by.

"This tech again," Shinji muttered as the collective group of makeshift generals and Captains looked at the passing colors of synthetic colorations as it filtered through the area and showed them the visual description of the new threat.

"While Ultharon was attacking Soul Society, I seized the opprotunity to infiltrate his palace. Unfortunatley, it seems that most everything that I had gathered on Ultharon's origins, was either the telling of another Gran Vasto Lorde, or had simply aged and decayed with time thanks to what I found deep within the reaches of his palace." Charles began, holding up his fingers and moving them as if he were pressing buttons. However, where his fingers stopped, a bright white light for each finger popped up, indicating that there was a keyboard of sorts in front of him.

The scene then changed into a war torn Hueco Mundo, with fires and smoke reaching up into the skies and thousands of dead below a great mountain, Soul reaper and Hollow alike. At a first glance, it would appear as if the Soul Reapers and Hollows had killed each other. But the next part changed that assumption.

One Soul Reaper was staggering around the ground, bloodied and wounded as he grabbed his Zanpakuto as tight as he could. A large, tyrannosaurus like Adjuchas, unharmed mostly from the apparent battle, roared out and charged at him. The Soul Reaper prepared for a fight, but suddenley, a large black spear flew down from above and slammed into the warrior's left shoulder and going out his right shoulder. His eyes buldged out of their sockets and he fell over, squriming around until he was dead.

The Hollow looked at what happened with animalistic curiousity, but then another spear of similar origin flew into the creature's eye and out his other, instantly killing it.

The scene then shifted to the top of the massive mountain, with Ultharon's shell form at it's top, looking over the battlefield with an annoyed and frustrated animalistic glare as he scanned around the area. Another spear in hand, he found another large Hollow scouring the field, and then threw the spear at it, flying through it's chest and pinning it to another large pile of bodies.

"Ultharon was no war hero, no savior of the Hollow race. No, he was in fact the reason that the Soul Reaper incursion of the Plinian Eruption was thrown back, for both the rebelling Hollow forces and the Soul Reaper attackers were both killed by him."

"This thing again," Seu-Feng said with an annoyed twitch in her brow, stepping out of her line to walk over to Charles despite the ongoing story, "I could care less if he was a saint or a heathen! That monster killed my superior, my lady, and many of my comrades for the self sake of terminating us from the map and using the Hollowity to do it! What the hell are you babbling about now, old man?!"

"Oi, shut the fuck up and let em' speak, ya damned brat." Raiken silenced her harshly, narrowing his left eye slit down at her in a down looking fashion. "Keep that mouth of yers shut and you just might find out what he's getting at."

Charles then cleared his throat. "Gran Vasto Lordes, as it turns out, are not meant to lead Hueco Mundo, they are not meant to be gods or kings, but rather, they are a sign..."

Ultharon then took his black sword and stabbed himself in his chest with it, releasing a grand red spiritual energy and revealing his true, sovereign form behind it. Just behind him and in the mountain's large crater were at least thirty Vasto Lordes, all bowing before him and his dark glory.

"...a sign of the end times. Every time a Gran Vasto Lorde is born, it signals the end of a long cycle."

"You mean its the end of the world?" Shin'en asked with a sudden smile. Giving a shrug he then spoke aloud with a nonchalant tone, "if anything is supposed to be the bearer of omens, I guess that would be you. We're about to fight for our lives and you're going to tell me he's Armageddon incarnate?"

"Yes, Commander." the elder replied in a serious tone, eyeballing his nochalantancy with annoyance. "It is a process older than you, all of these other Captains, myself, and even your precursor, Yamamoto. Potentially even beyond individuals that came before his time."

The screen then switched to the cracked valley, showing the massive, demonic armored Hollow battle against the previous Commander before Yamamoto, in his armored Bankai as they battled against each other in the barren wastes. The power of the two exerted was unlike anything that any of them had seen in battle.

"Yamamoto's precursor witnessed this awful power first hand."

"But he was defeated, from my understanding," Shin'nen spoke with a slightly understanding tone, realizing acting carefree wasn't going to smooth the process of storytelling any further, "Yamamoto's predecessor defeated him, sealing him away before he could do any permanent harm to the Soul Society. He stopped him at the Cracked Valley."

"No, Ultharon was never actually defeated." Charles continued in a much more knowledgable tone. "The old warrior was force to use a special sealing spell on the beast, one who's practice has long since been forgotten. He had no other choice...after what the King of Hueco Mundo did."

The screen then showed Ultharon bat away the Soul Reaper in Bankai with a powerful back handed strike, before using Sonido to appear at the top of the tallest rock formation in the valley. Pulling out from behind him, a blackish blue sphere, he held it into the sky, letting it bristle with energy as it flew into the clouds. With a massive burst of power that decimated the clouds and cracked the earth beneath them, the sphere began to grow in size. Lightning from the massive black ball struck the earth, creating large pillars of dirt and fire. Pieces of mountains began to tear off by massive chunks, flying into the sphere as if they were being devoured.

'''"THE END HAS COME!!!!!!!!" '''

"The Devouring Sphere?!" Shin'nen and Seu-Feng spoke in sync, causing the collaborated entities shown to turn their eyes to the two of them. Shin'nen, for one, realized exactly what it was when told the story in a less dramatic and more verbal story. Shin'nen's eyes knitted into a glare, tightening his fists as he looked to the insane man, "it was sealed away long ago. No one knows where it is...had Ultharon found it, he would've used it to wipe out the Soul Society instead of this meaningless battle or retreat when he would've had the chance."

"This battle was merely an ends to test his strength, if my instincts tell me right." Charles replied calmly. "And you're correct about one thing, Commander. If it had been sealed away with Ultharon, he would have used it as soon as possible, and none of us would be standing here today. No, you see, from what I can tell based on my findings, this sphere and the Gran Vasto Lorde are connected in some way. When Ultharon was sealed, the sphere stopped growing, and instead reverted back to it's normal stage. It's likely that the Commander hid this sphere somewhere in a place he hoped no other would find it."

"And you think Ultharon is tracking it down?" Shin'nen spoke aloud, crossing his arms before leveling his stare at the older man, "and I'm going to assume you have an idea where it is too, right?"

"He has to be. It's his purpose, his sole reason for existing is to activate that sphere, and supposidly end this cycle." he replied plainly. "And no, I don't know it's exact location, but seeing as how Ultharon seemingly isn't moving from Hueco Mundo, it's likely that the sphere is in that realm, somewhere. Why the Commander of that age chose to hide it there is beyond me." he replied with a shaking of his head, in slight dissapointment. "This is why I came to warn you, your priority must be to find this sphere, this abomination, and to keep it from Ultharon until you manage to destroy him."

"I'll do more than keep it away from him," Shin'nen said with a guttural tone, his eyes flashing with anger as he locked his eyes with the maddening old man, "I plan to smash it into a thousand pieces, obliterating it from this existence!

"Captain Seu-Fon!"

"Yes!" Seu-Fon responded immediately, deciding to take this young man's word considering his relationship with the Head Captain, as well as his unofficial position among them.

"I want you to get that Soul Reaper agent, Akisame, and go to Hueco Mundo to find the artifact!"

"Sir?" Seu-Fon spoke aloud incredulously.

"Search Ultharon's Fortress for information! If he has even the slightest lead or possesses it already, retrieve it immediately and bring it to me!" Shin'nen spoke with urgency, his eyes showing nothing but determination to finish the task once and for all, "this artifact must not be activated! Its imperative it must be destroyed!"

"Y-Yes sir! I'll go find him and be off at once!" Seu-Fon nodded, rushing out of the Captains' Meeting Hall before initiating a Flash Step, disappearing from view.

"Daaamn~" Raiken said after a few moments of silence. "Bloody ground zero, eh? How did you find all of this shit out anyways, old man?" he asked Charles calmly.

"Simple, Mr. Uchiwa." the man replied calmly as he looked at the rest of the group slowly and turned around as he left. "I did my homework."

And with that, he was gone.

"Bloody lil' fucker." the Scot said in an annoyed fashion.

"Raiken," Shin'nen spoke swiftly, as soon as he was certain the elder man was out of sensory and hearing range, turning his gaze to stare into Raiken's eyes behind his mask, "I want you to keep an eye on both Captain Seu-Fon and Akisame while they're scouting Hueco Mundo. I'll also want you to follow mister McTavish," narrowing his eyes with suspicion, he spoke lowly, "his information is good. Too good. He's hiding something, and I want you to find out what he's doing when he's not spreading the gospel salvation to his fellow Soul Reapers..."

"Don't worry, Cap'n." the older, masked man replied, casually holding up his right hand, with his middle and index fingers touching his head and then sending them away in a lazy salute fashion. "Followin' things is what I do best."

Hollow War Council, Infiltration of the Enemy's Camp!
zzzzzzzzzz....

Within the massive palace of silver towers, known only as Las Noches, sitting on the large throne in the central council chamber, sat Ultharon. His massive, armored Sovereign form sitting high above all of the others as he rested his arm on his arm rest, and held it up to rest his head as he was...apparently sleeping.

"Well..." Caius spoke quietly, not daring to wake his king from his own slumber. "...this is awkward."

"We withdrew from battle just when things get interesting, and now our mighty King is asleep on his throne," Rana grumbled, as she, Caius and only a handful of the Vasto Lordes were left from the battle. As Gravich being one of their greatest casualties, most of the generals and commanders over Ultharon's army were intact, save for a good third of the army that was neutralized by the intruders ontop of the actual casualties produced by the defenders. Gathering for a War Council Meeting with his generals, Ultharon was supposed to deliver the next plan for a renewed invasion.

Or...rather was going to until the generals found him asleep on his seat.

"Aren't you going to wake him up?" A unnamed Vasto Lordes asked Caius, not wanting to be the one to earn a vengeful, irrational punishment by his superior.

"Would you want this entire palace vaporized along with all of us inside?" he replied in an honest voice, inwardly not wanting to be the one to wake him. "We all know that when he rests, no man nor god may disturb him. We will simply have to wait for him to awaken."

"This is what I get for joining a crusade against the Soul Society? You're suggesting we wait here while the Soul Society mounts a counteroffensive, with no real plan of our own to trump anymore equal or superior combatants they might be scrounging from their Noble Houses and pits they're keeping them?! You must be joking?!" Another unnamed Vasto Lordes shouted out, slamming his palms onto the "armrests" of stone cemented around his makeshift seat within the vastly sized meeting.

"And would you rather spur a power far greater than any of us, a power that Soul Society and all of it's military might fears to no end, from his rest, risking our lives over the forces of a crippled army?" Caius retaliated calmly.

"It only took one of them to destroy a third of our remaining forces," Rana pointed out, her eyes now half-lidded and looking dryly at Caius, "the fact that Ultharon didn't kill him outright means his power potentially is on par with his own. Every Captain, locked into a vicious battle, could feel that power. Prove to me, Caius, that Ultharon the Mighty has never been defeated or can be defeated, and I'll follow your King's orders without question."

"He will not need to prove anything...."

The daunting, fear inducing voice of the monstrous and armored king rung out, as his red eyes shined out for all of them to see. Several of them cringed as they felt a crippling power run through their bodies, as their king sat up right, eyeballing Rana in particular.

"And you...will serve me...without question, with...or without proof."

"Did I strike a nerve, Lord Ultharon?" Rana looked up stoically without turning her head, her eyes sideglancing the entity as it awakened, "I would like to know, as your general and subordinate, what our priorities were in that battle initially. If it wasn't to crush them immediately and without hesitation, why did we withdraw? Were you...afraid? Or does it have something to do with not possessing this so-called secret weapon, Project: Sphere?"

The being chuckled lowly in response. "Such a naive little creature you are...so...fragile...."

BRWWWOOOOOOSH!!!!!!

Rana would feel an overwhelming and horrifying sensation running through her mind and body, crippling in strength as the creature spoke to her calmly. "We withdrew...yes, and yet, you chose to follow when I ordered it. You chose to flee...like a coward. If you had elected to stay, I would have let you. And yet you chose to run...I feel it in your half-blooded, worthless soul...you fear me...you will always fear me...."

"NGGGH!" Rana felt herself nearly fall out of her own chosen seat from the crushing, godforsaking pain rushing through her mind and body. The "Pull" felt stronger than she ever knew it could be. It was physically, mentally torturous to even raise her head to him. And yet, with a taste in her mouth resembling blood, Rana smiled, "...I would have been left to be slaughtered...you know that...everyone would know it being left behind. It is not cowardice...it is...Hollow...instinct...to survive...not...to die," she then raised her head up to face his gaze, breathing heavily even as she crushed the handles on her makeshift seat, her Will alone keeping her from crying in pain and falling to the floor, "and I...feel your presence...and know...what...you are...Ultharon. If anyone isn't...Hollow...its...you. I've lived...far longer...than any of those...half-breeds...I'm...genuine...evolved. I didn't need...to rip off my mask...to take it...off...nor need...an empty promise...made by...a lowly Soul Reaper!"

"Indeed." he replied calmly, as he slowly let a more steady, and yet still painful feeling go through her mind, one that went into the minds of the other Vasto Lordes as well. "I am not Hollow, I am not a half-breed."

He then stood up fully, raising his arms to his sides. "I am a god amoungst you all. My age preceeds all of you, my power ascends all of you. Your minds, your bodies, the ground that you walk on, the earth that you tread, the breath you inhale, the thoughts that run through your mind. All of these things are under my control. My word here is law, my fist holds your worlds, and my boot stays at your back. So long as I live, I am your king, your leader, your sovereign. And none of you, will ever change that."

He then came behind Rana, calmly putting a hand on her shoulder as the pain in her mind would cease, and in it's place was a peaceful, soothing one. "Do you understand now, Rana Zolinder?"

"Yeah...I do," Rana's eyes cooly stared into his, not filled with vehement anger, but not of joy either. It was neutrality. As long as the Beast had need of her, he didn't have any intention of striking her down. That made it slightly reassuring...and slightly more honest than any deal she made with that entity, "just make sure you uphold your intention of destroying the Soul Society, and I'll fight to my dying breath to slaughter every, single, one of them. If your goals remain the same, I'll remain at your side, till the end."

"Excellent." he replied, patting her shoulder a couple of times before walking back to his throne, his massive wings sheathing back to allow him to sit better. "Now then...our next plan, is to let them come here."

"A trap?" One of the other Vasto Lordes, clearing his throat as he realized his superior had developed a more diplomatic tone than earlier, "don't you think the Soul Reapers know we'd prepare our defenses for a counterattack?"

"For any predictable strategy, that would be true," Rana spoke knowingly, having remained seated the entire ordeal she merely crossed one leg over the other before clasping her hands as she looked over to Ultharon, "but I assume this would be no ordinary defense?"

"What they fail to realize, is that we have the homefield advantage." Caius said calmly. "His majesty has the power to bend this entire realm in various ways. We can be prepared for any assault."

"Quite." the king replied without looking at any of them. "And the sphere...I can feel it calling to me. It is somewhere, here in Hueco Mundo..."

"Bend? Sphere? What are you talking about?! What homfield advantage?!" The Vasto Lordes asked in an exasperated tone, looking back and forth between Rana, his fellow associated generals, and Caius himself, clearly not understanding what upper hand they possessed over the Soul Reapers besides Ultharon himself.

The king calmly looked over to the Vasto Lorde. "Peace, boy. It is not something that any of you need to worry about in depth. All you need to know, is that it will win this war..."

He then looked up at the ceiling as a peaceful sensation would run through the Vasto's mind. "...and it will end all wars."

"R-Really? Is that the truth-"

"Wouldn't that be delightful?!"

A voice suddenly interrupted the Vasto Lordes' words, as a hidden force entered the Hall without warning even to the likes of Rana and Caius, with the bare exception of Ultharon himself. The man bore a raimant similar to fur around his collar-line on a grey-matte robe, bordering on a simple tunic underneath with a pair of gray linen slacks and fur laced boots. With long silver hair bordering a handsome, youthful yet experienced visage, he smiled with a carefree glint in his eyes as he walked into the presence of demigods and a god-king.

"After all...its a basic instinct to wish all violence and chaos to be ceased, isn't it? Most humans themselves wish for a Utopia to model after the heavens themselves and live forever without fear of suffering, pain, hunger or death. But who's to say we can or can't do it? We are in the presence," bowing halfway, the mysterious man paid a respect to Ultharon before raising his head back up, "of the one and only Gran Vasto Lordes, Ultharon the Archdemon himself!"

To this, the mighty king looked down slowly at the newcomer, speaking a calmly delighted tone. "Ahh....Jinete del Juicio. What a pleasant surprise. I can only imagine what brings my old friend back from his...sojourns...?"

"Caius," Rana spoke lowly, as to not interrupt or cause diversion of attention of the newcomer to herself, "do you know this entity?"

"I've been watching your progress, Ultharon," Jinete spoke with a smile, walking forward past the various suspicious glances and glares by the other Vasto Lordes seated around the high-risen throne of his own crafting, "From the time of your Rebirth, to your rallying of a Legion of Hollows, to your Invasion of the Soul Society for the first time in over several thousand years, your actions have sparked my curiosity. That, and your...latent talents of guidance and charisma," he chuckled in a subtle, knowing tone as he crossed his arms across his chest as he walked to just a handful of meters away from Ultharon's throne, looking him into the eyes with a stoic look more genuine than Rana's front of blind courage.

"You recall saying that you are a genuine Arrancar, Rana?" Caius replied quietly back to her. "This is the very first of your kind, Jinete del Juicio, a pure Arrancar."

Ultharon chuckled quietly. "Of course you have, old one." he replied, placing both arms on his armrests and sitting up straight. "So tell me, how have you been these past few thousand years? I trust that Nohemi and your...hm, offspring, are doing quite well? Not that I need your input really, as I see what all Hollows see, but it would be good to have an idle conversation, yes?" he spoke in a wry, sinister tone.

"Oh, here and there," Jinete spoke vaguely, smiling as he was unaffected by Ultharon's initial tone of voice, narrowing his eyes, "but you shouldn't worry about them. They're off on their own personal sojourns. They aren't as...interested....in this war as I have become."

"They will be, soon." the armored entity replied, not changing his tone. "All Hollows will feel my influence, and they will come in greater numbers. But you, on the other hand, have only come here out of curiousity, am I right?"

"Of course!" Jinete spoke with a flourish of his arms, turning around and hopping onto a slap of stone, raising himself up in a slightly higher pedestal than the others and about even with the Hollow King, "I've lived for countless ages! I've seen some of the most fantastic battles! The most horrific massacres! The longest and bloodiest wars! The Rise & Fall of nations! The Death and Rebirth of Legacies! This is no different than what happened twelve years ago, when the fate of our world rested in the hands of a human and a Soul Reaper.

"Now," he waved a hand in Ultharon's direction, smiling widely as he spoke, "it rests in the hands of a Hollow," and then he waved his hand behind him, emphasizing what laid beyond Hueco Mundo and outside Ultharon's fortress, "and a Soul Reaper. Because we all know, it matters little how this war ends. It will be decided by one, key battle. Between you and your Soul Reaper counterpart. One will lose, the other will win. I'm here, to make sure I see it all," he then placed his hands on his hips, speaking in a confident tone, "by joining you as one of your key military advisors and generals in this monumentous battle!"

"Hmph." The hollow tyrant mused quietly, before tapping his fingers in rythym on his arm rest. "I'm glad to see that your spirits haven't dampened, as well as your determination to battle."

He then stood up fully. "And with your aid, it's likely we won't fail at all..."

"Sounds good!" Jinete clapped his hands together with anticipation, rubbing them with jubilious cheer as he hopped back off and sat on the broken pillar's stump as his own little seat, crossing his legs over, "I assume no one has a problem with that?"

None of the other Vasto Lordes dared to speak against their Hollow King's wishes, nor wish to challenge the new visitor. No, most of the gathered entities eyes fell onto Caius and Rana, the only ones whom didn't say much after the intruder spoke out to their superior and king.

While Rana narrowed her eyes at him, she remained silent.

As for Caius...

...nothing, showing his approval.

"Excellent." the hollow king declared as his massive form walked down from it's stairs and next to, and then past Jinete as his placed his arms behind his back.

"My brothers, sisters," he began, speaking in a rather noble voice, despite it's menacing echo. "Yesterday, was merely a taste of what Soul Society deserves for it's treachery. Despite the numbers that we lost, Soul Society lost nearly twice as much. We proved to them that day, just what happens to us when we are treated like animals. And now, now they wish for more pain and suffering. They wish to intrude upon our sacred ground, and hunt us...LIKE ANIMALS!!!!!"

BOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!

Raising his arms into the air, the entire palace of Lost Noches began to shake violently, before it suddenly jerked upwards as if it were rising. From the outside, the castle appeared to be rising into the air, with a massive pillar of dirt and debris following it. Behind the dust, was an actual pillar of the same creation of the castle, revealing more to Las Noches than even Aizen would have thought. It was several thousand meters in the sky.

"But here, the advantage is ours! In their land, the only way that they could shape it's creation was with destruction! Here, the very earth bends to our will! Here, Hueco Mundo is it's own life! We will give them war..."

He then walked to the edge of the door way, with the other Vasto's following. "...a war that they will not soon forget!!!!!!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Only a few meters on the edge of Las Noches' great wall, now thousands of feet in the air...

"What's going on?! Why is the fortress moving?!" Seu-Fon voiced aloud with widened eyes of disbelief, as the priorly thought already more-than-large-enough city-sized castle was now even higher and larger than before. With a sea of pale sand pouring from the new outer edges of the enlarged and more ancient looking fortress, Seu-Fon couldn't believe how many hat tricks this new Hollow Lord had up its sleeves.

"Holy shit..." Akisame said along with her, now fully healed and garbed in the standard, sleeveless Soul Reaper Haori, his Zanpakuto on his back as he too looked up in disbelief at what he was witnessing. "...the fuck is this guy?!"

"Whatever he's up to with this base is irrelevent," Seu-Fon spoke in a firm, cleared tone, reassuring herself as much as she was Akisame. She turned her head towards the upper balcony from which they heard most of the War Council Meet of their enemies, "it seems like Ultharon can feel the sphere in Hueco Mundo, but doesn't appear to have it yet. We should check the interior of his fortress, see if we can find any center for intelligence so we can cross reference what we know with their own findings..."

"Well, I'd bet if it was anywhere...." he replied as he looked around briefly, looking more towards the center of the newly risen tower, noticing several arcane symbols and etchings. "...it would be here, right under him."

"That'd be too easy," Seu-Fon looked at the tower, blinking a little at seeing the arcane letters and markings within its space. The very place where former King Barragarn had sat, the same place where Aizen built the new structures now called Las Noches, was the very spot where the sphere was hidden?! "I hardly think our Head Captain's predecessor was so foolish as to hide it where the predominant seat of power for Hueco Mundo's rulers were sitting...!"

"You'd be surprised..." Akisame continued, walking up to the tower's side and smoothly rubbing his hand against it's surface, as if he were trying to decipher some of the markings and etchings. "A lot of things can happen within a span of nearly 3'000 years. Wherever he may have hid it before, if he didn't already put it here, something, or someone may have found it, and then tried to have some fun with it. Who knows?"

He continued to look at the markings carefully, pointing at certain symbols and memorizing their appearance. "Let's see...I remember old man telling me about how these things worked...."

"Its coded? Are you sure its wise to unlock it when all of our enemies could sense its activation?" Seu-Fon asked, suddenly looking around, wondering if it was a good idea for them to be unlocking anything the enemy would be aware of.

"It's coded...but it could be a map..." he said as he continued to look at the symbols.

"Well, make it quick," Seu-Fon turned around, placing her hand near her weapon as she narrowed her eyes and readied herself for conflict, "I'd rather be gone from here as fast as possible and find the sphere. I can't help but feel trapped just being close to this place. Cold...and suffocating..."

"Okay..." he continued, eyeballing more of the symbols. "Old man always said that Las Noches was special for some reason. I think I know why..."

He looked around at them more, pointing at different symbols and silently speaking to himself out of hearing range. "The sphere...is in this column that Ultharon raised up. The symbols are all saying it's just below us, in a lower level. But how to get down there..."

Suddenly, he felt a very odd pulling sensation, feeling as if it were wanting him to go around the building from the left, behind the main entrance. "Hey...Soifon, follow me over here..."

"Whatever you say," Seu-Fon spoke lowly, turning around and following him towards the intended destination, "just don't let us get caught intentionally, idiot..."

"That hurts my feelings, you know." he said with a wry smile as he continued to look and feel for the sensation. "If there were any Hollows here, we'd have felt them by now. Most all of them are up there with him...-here we go."

He then found a rather large carving at the base of the pillar, showing what appeared to be a primitive Ultharon's sovereign forn, with it's sword stuck in the ground. "Heh, I wonder what this is supposed to mean?" he said in a jocular, sarcastic tone.

"The End Is Nigh, Rawr!" Seu-Fon comically tried to impersonate Ultharon, scrunching up her face while clawing her hands up while attempting to make an effigy expression of her arch nemesis. Also, it was her sarcastic response to what the painting was depicting.

"Close." he said with a chuckle, not at her actual impression, but at the fact that she actually tried to be funny around him. "But it actually means..." he went on, placing his hand on the center of the etching. With a blue glow emerging from his eyes, and his form bristling with a strange blue aura. Slowly but surely, the ground below them began to sink, causing him to step back as he looked and saw that a stair case was now revealed, leading to places unknown. "...that whatever we're looking for, is down there."

"...!" Seu-Fon could only gasp as she saw the secret hidden door open, and briefly shine a blue luminous light over him, allowing them both entry to the spiral staircase. Whatever lied within the dark, Seu-Fon could only feel the cold, suffocating embrace become stronger. It felt almost as if...it was stronger than the bestial nightmare she faced, even when he transformed. With a shivering vocal response, Seu-Fon nodded in the direction with a unknown certainty, "whatever we're looking for...its down there. I'm c-certain of it..."

"Yeah....it's down there alright."

He then looked over to her with a slightly concerned expression, holding out his hand to her. "You okay? You look kinda shaken..."

Once he took hold of Seu-Fon's hand, he'd almost feel a bone-crushing force of trembling from her. It was almost like she was having a panic attack. Her eyes's pupils contracted in and out, as the unheard howling could be felt by the superior senses that the female Captain held over the average senses of the male Captain-class entity next to him, "That thing...its...feels like its hungry. It wants out. Its like its a living thing...and not...and...and...it feels like it wants to suffocate anything around it, for being drowned in darkness without its master! I can hear its voice!"

"Hey hey..." he said calmly coming closer to her, doing his best from cringing due to the powerful grip on his hand, placing his other arm around her back as he spoke to her in a calm, stern voice. "You don't need to panic, not now. We have to do this, Soul Society, hell, even all of existance depends on what we do right now in these next few minutes. Stay strong, we can get through this."

"Ah~" Seu-Fon felt herself brought back to the present, as her eyes refocused back onto Akisame. It wasn't until now she realized that same, strange feeling emanated from Akisame himself, yet softer and more controlled. It was as if his own voice sounded reasonable and calmed her. Releasing her steel vice grip from his hand, she walked quickly past him, resuming her passive, stoic tone as she spoke, "let's go. I want to awake from this nightmare once and for all..."

"Right." he said, following her as they descended the stair case, finding their visibility decreasing as they went lower and lower for what seemed endless.

"Geez." he said as they continued at their even pace. "It feels like this goes on for at least a mile-"

BONK!!!!!

Of course, before he could finish, he found himself hitting a flat wall at the end of the steps that he had absolutely no way of knowing it was there before hand. "....or not....I think this is it..."

SPRAT-FZZZZZT!

"Let me help you with that," A smirking, haughty tone heard from Seu-Fon as she raised her left hand and created a makeshift light, stemmed from her Spirit Energy. The yellow glow was both warm and comforting in the aura that it covered, allowing Seu-Fon to see the ancient, rune-covered stone door before them. Rubbing her hands over it, she could definitely tell it was made from the minerals not of Hueco Mundo itself. With startled realization, Seu-Fon whispered, "this is made of unrefined Sekisekki mixed with the sands of the dessert below us. I think this is what's kept everyone from feeling its presence and power," looking over to the luminous colored Akisame, Seu-Fon looked to him for guidance, "what do you make of this?"

"Hmm...." he said as he looked up at the large, primitively marked door as he rubbed the top of his head briefly. "Let's have a look here..." he went on as he began looking at the symbols carefully.

"Okay...okay, old man always said that each of these markings represents a single word." he said, pointing at five symbols that were going around what appeared to be the Sovereign form of the Hollow King, with his arms spread out to his sides.

"Look down here." he said to her, pointing at part of the etchings that were below the Sovereign, showing what appeared to be etchings of a desert land on the right, with ghost like drawings floating up to the King's own etching, and on the left was what appeared to be a very crudely drawn Seireitei, with the same ghost figures floating from it up to the King's form as well.

"This must be relating to his previous invasion, the one in ancient times." he said cooly, as he stroked his chin in thought as he looked at the etchings carefully. "But I don't get why both sides are going to him. The Sovereign of Hueco Mundo only rules Hueco Mundo....unless....in this prophecy, Ultharon was actually supposed to conquer the Soul Society...but if he failed the first and second time...then...maybe, just maybe, the sphere won't work. If it's only supposed to work for one cycle at a time, and it's pattern was distorted...."

"So, what's it got to do with the sphere and the door? Is there a reason why our Head Captain's predecessor bothered to record all this mumbo jumbo onto the door itself?" She asked quizzidly, knowing that it wouldn't have been the enemy's own doing.

"I doubt the old Head Captain made this." he said, as he stood up full and looked at it more. "But then again, who's to say he didn't?"

As he looked further, his gaze looked upwards and then downwards, as a hint of confusion came on his expression. "Something's not right...I keep feeling like there is something missing in this picture...."

"Maybe I need to give you more light? Your head seems pretty dim right now," Seu-Fon joked, as she held her light-aura hand closer to the letters enscribed onto the ancient door.

"Ha ha. I get it." he chuckled, before looking at the carvings closer. "No I mean...it feels like there's more to it, but it's just buried under the stairs...."

zzzzzzzzzz....

"What the hell...?" he said suddenley, as a blue light came from his chest, reaching down in his haori, he pulled out a necklace that had been on his neck for as long as he could remember, a blue shard in it's center that released the blue glow. the object was also oddly pointing towards the door, with the etchings and carvings slowly taking on the same blue light. "...is this???"

The sudden, ominous thrum from within and without suddenly struck Seu-Fon as if she was pulled into a spacial vacuum and warped inside and out. This thing, even as it glowed vibrantly, permeated a eery pressure that enraptured her and for some reason, didn't even affect the damned wearer. She knew exactly what it was, without even seeing the original article. Her body couldn't take the proximity...it had to be destroyed!

"Akisame..." Seu-Fon said in a low, barely controlled tone as she stared wide-eyed at him, reaching her hand out to him with an almost demanding gait, "give that to me! That's...the suffocating...that's a fragment! It wants to be whole! Do not put it in there, you hear me?! DESTROY IT!"

"Whoa now." he said with confusion as the fragment suddenly went away from her, going to the back of his head and away from Soifon. "What are you talking about?"

"I...don't know," Seu-Fon gasped, trying to breathe once more in a calm state, but heaved with effort as sweat drained down her browline, "but whatever it is...its trying to reach out on a mental level, almost empathetically manipulating those around it. Its a sub-sentient organism, capable of consuming anything within a single command, though it can gradually break down the spirit of those around it, eventually consuming the mingling energies prespirating from the deceasing Spirits around it. That...is a fragment of the Destruction Sphere of old. The Tamakujo!"

"The Tamakujo...." he repeated quietly, as he felt the fragment pointing towards the door. "Well....we either stand here and let the bad guys catch up to us, or we go ahead and open it....and at least try to get it out of Hueco Mundo, as far away as we can from Ultharon at the very best....What do you think?"

"Fine," Seu-Fon swallowed down the last trace of fear, nodding to the door, "open the damn thing and let's smash it. Failing that, we can take it and thrust it into the black abyss that separates this world from all others. Deal?"

"Sure thing." he said with a smirk, before letting the shard on his necklace touch the center of the Ultharon etching. With a fairly low grumble, the door began to rise, showing the rest of the carvings that Akisame previously said was missing. Showing a large sphere growing in size and devouring the previous two mentioned Societies.

When it went all the way up fully, what they saw could only be described as mezmerizing.

It was a massive circular room, with a walkway going all around it, Just past this walkway a few feet was a circular set of stairs that descended towards the center of the room. When they reached the center, they ascended into an upward stair case, making a sort of stair tower in the very center of the room. And above that stair, was an enormous, floating sphere of pure stone, in appearance.

"Oh wow...." Akisame said with slightly wider eyes, the shard on his necklace still pointing to it. "...smashing that thing is going to be fun, that's for sure...."

"Please..."

SSSSPRAAAAACK-FZZZZZRRRRK!!!

"...allow me!" Seu-Fon spoke aloud, lighting up her body with the properties of Shunkō, her body emanating a fierce and vibrant Spiritual Pressure in tune to her animosity towards the sleeping, dormant shell of was known to be the ultimate weapon for Hollowity. The weapon of mass destruction, the Tamakujo, was finally going to be annihilated, once and for all.

"HAAAH!" With a mighty swing of her right fist, enraptured in Spiritual Energy of the most potent kind, sending the cracklying fist in what would seem an attempt of shattering the ancient stone artifact...

BOOOOOOOOOONG~

...only for her strike to be the equivalent of trying to move a mountain.

Nothing. The only thing that her move did was simply make a fairly loud booming noise in the room, and send her flailing back from it's impact.

Akisame sighed, casually walking up to her and looking down at her in a rather bored looking expression. "Nice. Now do you think you'll let me have a look at it first?"

"I-I was just warming up!" Seu-Fon comically snapped back, feeling flustered as the object seemingly denied her the satisfaction in destroying it. After righting herself up, she walked around the object, trying to find some sort've indication a shield or a barrier that would've knocked her back so hard. It couldn't be so dense that it would blow off a strike from Shunkō so easily, would it?

"Well, you're welcome to do it again." he said as he walked around the other side of the large, dark white sphere of stone in the air, his necklace shard still pointing at it. "It's definatley a shield of sorts, something covering the actual sphere itself...but it doesn't seem to be made of stone...more like the material used to make the door from earlier...."

"It would explain why my Shunkō couldn't dent it," Seu-Fon sighed in frustration, propping her fists on her hips, furrowing her brows as she swayed her black ponytail side to side, in sync with the shakes of her head, "physical force would need to be immense in order to crush it, and Spirit Energy would just be repelled unless a large concentrated force would aim for a specific spot."

"And then there's this shard on my neck..." he said as he eventually made his way around next to Soifon, with their backs facing the original entrance of the room, looking down at the small, black object with confusion. A necklace he had kept with him all of his life, and he never knew where it came from, nor why it was acting the way it was. "....Why does it keep pointing towards the sphere...?"

"Because, my dear boy...."

His eyes widened when he heard the all too familiar voice of his old mentor, Charles McTavish. The elderly man's hunched over form at the entrance with a rather...sinister grin on his face. "...the sphere wishes to be whole..."

Seu-Fon's eyes widened when she heard the decrepit, menacing voice. Turning around, she snarled at seeing the old man looking smug as well as finally showing his true colors. It all made painful, terrible sense now that she thought about it. "You're the one who let Ultharon bypass the Sekisekki shield! You're the one who gave him information the last time he invaded the Seireitei, and this time! You're the traitor who made this all possible...Charles McTavish!"

"My my, quite the deductive skills you have, Captain." he continued with the same look, holding out a hand in emphasis. "Yes, I did cripple the Sekisekki barrier, but I gave him no information on the actual battle. I let him handle that on his own."

"Now I see why you've been so focused on this Gran Vasto Lorde bullshit..." Akisame said with a scowl, disqusted at how his old teacher and friend was actually a decripit traitor. "...and I guess you're going to tell us why you're doing this right about now, right?!"

"No." the elder replied, placing his hands behind his back once again.

ZIT!

Boosh!!!!

A massive shadow appeared behind both Seu-Fon and Akisame, towering over both of them as the spiritual pressure within the entity almost made Akisame throw up from it's suffocating wake. As he turned his eye to see what it was, he could barely speak upon seeing the armored form of Ultharon, looking down at the two of them with a evil grin, hidden behind his mask.

"He will."

"Y-You-!" Seu-Fon felt herself nearly suffocate from being so close to the fully armored, Sovereign form of the nightmare that took so many of her comrades and people she cared about. Genryūsai Yamamoto. Yoruichi Shihōin. And many others...but...turning her gaze towards the old man who made this all possible, she couldn't help but direct a unbridled rage towards the one entity she was convinced she could kill.

"You..."

SHFT-SPRAAAAAAACK-FZZZZTCRRK!!!

"...TRAITOR!!!!" Seu-Fon launched herself at the elderly man, her body moving at speeds as fast as she could muster, as well as donning the chaotic, destructive energy cloak of Shunkō. Swinging her right fist as she reached his position, she intended on smashing his face inwards, ripping his head clean off so at least the Soul Society would be rid of one hinderence.

Here, Charles simply smirked.

"Blacken."

WerBRUSH!!!!!!

He held out his right hand, a sudden burst of blackish fire emited from his palm, with the flames quickly forming into a demonic, key like weapon with razor edges on both of it's sides.

"Jikan no Ichi."

TANG!!!!!!

Seu-Fon's fist connected with the flat end of the sword, and as soon as it did, she would find her movements slowed to an almost insane degree with her vision taking on a violet hue, the shockwave of her punch flying behind the elderly man, who stood motionless with his same expression.

CRACK!!!!!

With a deft and masterfully executed Flash Step, with speeds that would be almost unbelievable for one of his age, he reappeared to her left, and delivered a bone crushing boot into her right rib cage, a sickening crack coming from them as it would send her flying into the other end of the room.

"Seu-Fo-GARCKK!!!!!" Akisame began as he tried to run to her, only for an effortlessly exerted back hand from the Sovereign Ultharon sending him in the other direction, slamming into the wall with such force that the room shook violently.

"NGH!" Once the foot connected with her Shunkō-enraptured body, she could even feel the force behind the deceptively old man's attack. Feeling herself flying through the air in a cartwheel, spinning motion, she finally righted herself before slamming the soles of her sandles against the wall, propelling herself back up into the air, raising both of her hands towards her target, "Hadō #72, Sōren Sōkatsui!"

SPRAAAAAACK-BOOM!!!

The resulting fissure of condensed blue-white Spiritual Energy fire, raced across the air within moments, intending on destroying her target and the object of her rage and despair once and for all. She would...not let her actions be for nothing!

"Ha!" the twisted elder said as he pointed his black, key like weapon at the oncoming blast. As it approached, the weapon becan to glow with several strands of violet electricity, before discharging them towards the Kidou and enrapturing it's form. the blast seemed to literaly stop in middair just inches from Charles' form. However, it didn't stop there, the strands all flew towards and surrounded Seu-Fon's form, slowing her movements once more to great degrees.

BRWOOOOSH!!!!!

He then pointed his left finger at her slowed form. "Tenran!" he shouted, releasing a violent and continuous torrent of concentrated, tornado like winds upon her slowed body. However, this blast caught hold of the still Sokatsui blast, enrapturing it within it's maw in it's center, therefore, combining the two attacks into one that released a truly devestating explosion in her area.

Fwhoosh!

Coming from the smoke cloud, Seu-Fon's smoke curling, charred appearing form flew over with her arms limp and her head held back with a pained expression on her face. She was beaten, and she knew why. They rushed in without a plan and opened the door with that fool coming in. But then again, judging the way Akisame looked at the old man...he probably didn't expect him to be betrayed by his mentor either. A common...attraction she supposed...

CRACK-Slump...

With that thought left in her passed out mind, Seu-Fon fell to the ground, limp and unmoving. If it wasn't for the faint gasps her unconscious form took, one would almost think her to be dead.

"How pitiful..." the old man surmised with dissapointment as he held his blade at his side and shaking his head. "A Stealth Force Captain, defeated by a few fell strikes. I expected more..."

ZIT!!!!!

Seu-Fon's form then vanished, and in it's place stood Akisame's slightly bruised form from the previous impact, holding the unconscious woman in his left arm while holding his sealed Zanpakutōin his right hand. His face in a scowl as he breathed fairly heavily, as Ultharon's previous backhand had surprisingly taken a great deal of energy out of him.

"Why, McTavish?" he said with anger as his grip on both his weapon and Seu-Fon tightened. "What drove you to do this? To side with them!?"

"It's fairly simple." the elder replied calmly. "Revenge, and for retribution. The Soul Society made a grave mistake when they attacked me an my followers, disciples."

"Followers?" Akisame said as he took a step back, waiting for either Charles or Ultharon to make a move. "What followers!?"

"Foolish imbecile, have you forgotten my teachings? The lectures and all of the lessons? The Red Sun, the glorious spawns of Izanami's brood, shall now have their revenge for the unjust actions taken upon them so many centuries ago!" he replied.

"Heh, you really are as pathetic as I imagined you to be," Seu-Fon's previously thought incapacitated form opened its eyes shifting towards the old man mockingly, "you're nothing but a senile old man who harbored a grudge against the only Just people in this world. Your delusions and insanity will be your own undoing..."

FZZZT!

The body in Akisame's arms suddenly dissipated into nothing, appearing as if it became nothing but a "Clone". Which meant the real Seu-Fon was...

SMACK-CRACK!

And with that said, the real one had absorbed the damage with the sudden flash and defusing of her Shunkō, allowing her to cloak her Spiritual Energy and presence by Bakudo # 26, Kyokkō. When Charles became convinced her Flash Step Clone, she appeared within the space of an instant as her double talked to him, and launched a nigh invisible, powerful elbow jab to the base of his neck where it met his shoulder. The result of such physical impact would surely incapacitate him, no matter his physical integrity, "Never let your guard down, Bastard!"

SNATCH!!!!!

Charles wouldn't have to move, for the massive form of Ultharon caught her by the back of the head with an effortless, and yet painful grasp.

"Surely, you didn't forget about me now, did you?" the beast mocked as he held up the smaller form of Seu-Fon. "I advise that you stay down next time, I would prefer that you remain alive for the big show."

"GRK!" Seu-Fon felt her arms spasm from the grip, the unforgiving malicious grip of the monster behind her. She shouldn't have been so careless, she thought, for forgetting the fact the King of Hueco Mundo was in the same room and vicinity. She couldn't reach her sword without her head being popped like a melon, and she couldn't possibly hope to overpower him like he was in his husk form...so she did the only thing she could do.

"P-Protocol Lambda 6-6-9-1-..."

SLUMP!

And like that, Seu-Fon knocked herself out, via special voice command probe within her brain and her Spiritronic network. With her unconscious, she knew she would be less of a hinderence to Akisame. After all...he was trying to help them, right?

"Go for help...its the only way...Akisame..." Was her last thoughts before submitting to the darkness she forcefully plunged into, for the sake of keeping them from interrogating them.

"What a pity..." Ultharon chuckled, before tossing the woman to the side, only for her to be caught once again by Akisame.

"So you're going to destroy Soul Society...for the sake of your religion???" he continued to speak to Charles with his enraged tone.

"Indeed." Charles replied with his same wry grin. "After years of persecution and completely biased judgments and declarations, Soul Society has made it's ultimate mistake. They have brought upon the very wrath of Izanami herself! No more will my disciples and followers be hunted and killed on the spot! After today, we will worship freely, and we will place the glory of Izanami upon all of existance! The Plinian Movement, will begin this day!!!"

"You're freaking insane!!" Akisame snarled back, almost wanting to strike out at the man himself. However, unlike Soifon, he was more cautious and contained, he knew that with Ultharon in the same room, it was all but one sided.

Add to that, he had never managed to scathe Charles during training, even at the level he was now...

ZZZZZZZZIIIIT!!!!!!

"Oh hush." the elder said, pointing his blade at Akisame and unleashing an incredibly fast stroke of violet lightning upon the other man's form, of which kept him in place.

"Grk!!!!" Akisame grunted as he stumbled back from the movement, before finding himself incapable of moving.

"You should have left when we gave you the opprotunity." Charles said with a calculating tone and annoyed expression. "But, as always, your attraction to that wench is going to become your ultimate downfall."

"Why me?!" Akisame shot back. "What kept you from finding the sphere yourself? Why did you just use me and Seu-Fon?!"

"Because, fool." Ultharon interrupted. "The Tamakujo has developed it's own bond with you. That shard around your neck is a missing piece of it's marvelous form, having been taken from the sphere when your ancestor stopped it's growth."

"A-Ancestor...?" Akisame replied with his eyes widening. "What are you talking about?!"

"You never knew anything about your past, did you boy?" Charles said as he came next to the Sovereign. "The old Head Captain, the one who battled Ultharon, he is actually your grandfather. He entrusted that shard to his son years before your birth, to ensure that the Tamakujo would never awaken again. But when you were a mere toddler, your family was killed by a fire that erupted from your home. I believe that somehow, during that mess, something happened that caused you to lose your memory. I spent years looking for you, as I knew that with the shard in your possession, and with it already having been accostumed to your bloodline, you would surely find the sphere for me in due time."

"So...everything that we did...." he began, hardly able to believe what he was hearing as his widened eyes remained opened and his teeth beginning to grit. "...was for your fucking ploy!!!!???"

"You were the only one capable of finding it." Ultharon went on with a rather mocking tone. "I had lost my bond with it after being sealed away, the cycle interrupted. Had you not survived the wound I inflicted upon you during the battle, before I realized all of this, it's likely that we wouldn't be here now."

"So in a way..." Charles continued with a rather sinister smirk. "...if you were dead now, Soul Society would be left standing..."

bonk!

"FUCK YOU-" Akisame began with anger, finally beginning to lose his composure at all that he was hearing. His bloodline, his history, and his part in all of this conspiracy, it was too much for him to take just standing. However, before he could do anything, Ultharon appeared behind him, flicking his finger into the boy's neck as a means of knocking him out along with Seu-Fon, both of their forms lying on the ground.

"Now then, let us begin." the King stated as he took the shard from Akisame's neck and let it fly towards the stone sphere. As soon as it connected, the massive stone structure shattered, revealing the small black orb of the Tamakujo. With the small sliver falling into it's right place, the sphere began to glow, a sign of it's awakening.

"Now..." Charles stated as he looked at Ultharon seriously. "...I do trust that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

"Bargain?" the monster stated with a chuckle. "This bargain of yours is completed. In return for awakening the sphere and beginning the cycle's end, you agreed to give me information about Soul Societies weakness. We have no further buisness, whelp."

"But what about the Red Sun?!" the man suddenly yelled out in an angry tone, pointing his blade at Ultharon.

To this, Ultharon looked at him menacingly with a side-glance. "Even your gods would fall before my feet, begging for pardon. I have no further use of you."

Suddenly, and without his control, Charles felt himself being pulled by the sphere's influence. "Wh-What?! No! You bastard! We had a deal!!!!!-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then, with a rather horrifying scream, the traitorous old man was sucked into the sphere's maw. With a blue glow, the sphere enveloped his form as if it were a mere spiriton, and then reverted back to it's original size.

Charles McTavish was dead, devoured, and removed from existance.

"Now...my beloved..." the King said smoothly as the sphere floated into his hand, as he looked at it with marvel. "Together again, after so many years..."

He then held it up high into the air. "Now, reunited, the worlds shall fall beneath our feet! The cycle, WILL END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

All is Lost, Our One Regret...
Ultharon, wanting to let the two of them survive long enough to witness the cycle reach it's end, placed both Akisame and Seu-Fon in a prison cell within Las Noche's dungeon keep. Akisame had already awakened at least an hour ago, while Seu-Fon remained incapacitated, and he had tried several times to escape, but to no avail. All he could do was lean against a wall, and stare up at the small, unreachable window above them as he waited for the woman to awaken.

"NNNNGhmmm," Seu-Fon's eyes suddenly opened, the fixated time of her unconscious state finally reawakened her suddenly and unpleasantly to find herself sore in several places. Looking over, she sighed heavily at seeing Akisame in the position she was, despite her attempt to allow him to escape. But then again, its not like he could get far with those two unprecedentedly powerful entities in the same room. So after rolling her eyes, she restrained the irrelevent desire to scold him, and settled for a soft tone, "I see they were kind enough to put us in the same cell..."

"Yep." he said as he continued to look at the window, away from her as he sighed. "Yeah...stuck in the same place, again, with no way out, and no way to undo what I've done...."

"Should've destroyed the shard when you had the chance," Seu-Fon spoke aloud with grimace, before finally smiling in a bitter sense, "but I guess there were quite a few things I could've done that could've kept this from happening. With that...thing...in the hands of that monster, I don't know if anyone has a chance of winning this war..."

"Look on the bright side, at least McTavish is dead." he said without changing his tone, but glancing over at her briefly when he said so.

"Good," Seu-Fon leaned her head back against the wall, sighing with a sense of relief one person she wished was dead now passed on, "I only wished that we could've sentenced him to an eternity in Hell. He doesn't deserve to live in another life...."

"Told me some things I wish I didn't hear..." he continued with a sigh. "Turns out, the Head Captain before Yamamoto? Yeah...he's apparently my grandfather. He left this shard with my father to ensure that the sphere would never be awakened again. And he apparently passed it onto me. When my folks died, presumably in a fire of sorts, something happened that forced me to lose my memory. This shard, that sphere, developed some kind of bond with me, one that not even I know of. It would only respond to me and the sphere would only be activated by that shard...that's why Charles sought me out."

He then chuckled nonchalantly. "Of course, he could just be making all of that up....but it does kinda make sense in a way...."

"Huh," Seu-Fon arched her brow, almost staring disbelievingly if he hadn't went through all he did when she forcefully induced unconsciousness to herself. After taking a few moments to let it settle in, she chuckled, "And here I thought we heard of no heirs stemming from Head Captain Sadame Yūgure. Then again, if there was, our Captain Commander and his predecessor would've taken steps to concealing the fact, as they were of strong prodigious potential being stemmed from his bloodline. Who knows," Seu-Fon then smiled towards Akisame genuinely, "maybe you are destined to aid us in this hour of despair..."

"Maybe..." he said cooly with a slight smile towards her as well. "....not much I can do in here though. I've tried looking for ways to get out. But that cage door right there isn't going to budge, no matter how much strength I put in it, and these walls are made of that same unbreakable material from before."

"The fact they didn't bind us means it must be capable of withstanding multiple Captain-class entities," Seu-Fon looked up and around, slightly feeling the wall and floor beneath them, confirming its archaic nature to be much older and advanced in its own way in comparison to the White War Era's modified housing.

Sighing, she looked out the door, allowing herself to chuckle before muttering, "It seems your one to cope with situations like these. Gotten yourself into cells often, Akisame-san?"

"Well...kinda." he said as he looked over at her, still leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, smiling slightly. "When I was in the human world, I'd usually get myself into trouble alot, and thrown into cells like these more than I would really want to."

He chuckled a little bit. "But, back then, being a Soul Reaper had quite a few advantages..."

"I wonder how many cells he's broken out of by dumping his Gigai and slipping through the bars...?" Seu-Fon comically sideglanced Akisame in suspicion, wondering JUST how much experience he had in cells period. Still, he didn't seem like the one to be a hardcore criminal either as she first believed.

"That reminds me," Seu-Fon smirked as she crossed her arms, raising a brow as she looked at Akisame with sublime interest, "I heard you made a certain female Arrancar very irate with you in the middle of battle. Tough luck with women in general, eh?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe." he said, putting his hand on his forehead and shaking his head around, before chuckling a few seconds later. "Yeah...that Arrancar was trying to start something besides the fight at first, at least it felt like. And then I got whooped...so yeah, it's safe to say that I'm not very good with girls at all..."

"Ha! No joking?! Hmph!" Seu-Fon jocularly laughed along with him, settling down into a morose tone soon after, as her mind drifted to her present state and what her thoughts drifted to, "sounds you and I have something in common: We both have a lot to regret."

"Oh? How so I wonder?" he said with a small grin.

"Honestly?" Seu-Fon looked over to Akisame, analyzing his expression for a moment, before speaking bluntly, "you try way too hard to please people, me included. In the end, with our scenario being no different, you always end up succeeding at the opposite affect that you had intended from the start. Despite your good intentions, you fail to live up to your own expectations," she then turned her gaze from his, sighing for a few moments before looking down at her legs and muttered lowly, "I think you're just like how I was most of my life..."

"Really?" he said with his expression lowering somewhat, not out of annoyance, but rather of curiousity. "That's not the impression I get from you."

"You've obviously don't know alot about my Clan then," Seu-Fon spoke mirthfully, not meeting his gaze as she explained, raising her legs up as she leaned against the wall, wrapping her arms around them, "the Fon Clan is dedicated to the protection and the continuity of the Noble Shihōin House. You were only useful if you were able to pass the exams of the Shinō Academy and become a member of the Onmitsukidō Militia or the Gotei 13. You were immediately exiled and banished from the Clan if you didn't meet either quota..."

"Ah, so you're used to doing everything you can to meet expectations." he replied in understanding. "But you're Captain now, you don't really need to continue that habit, do you?"

"I wasn't doing it to become Captain, nor was it to impress my so-called family. I did it," She looked up with a dreamy look in her eyes, speaking in a nostalgic tone, "for her. Lady Yoruichi. When I was just an initiate, a girl who had just become a member of the Onmitsukidō as well as fully fledged Clansman, I saw her for the first time, crossing the bridge in her royal attire. She truly looked and appeared in my eyes as a goddess. My father...the only thing he gave my mind and heart focus to, was to protect her as he gave me my new name, the name Seu-Fon. Her safety, her well being, her satisfaction, was the only thing at the forefront of my thoughts..."

"I see..."

Akisame then chuckled a little as he looked at her. "That makes sense. When I would ask her about you, Yoruichi always said that you were a little obsessive, and it weirded her out on more than one occasion."

His look then became cool, as did his smile. "But even with that in consideration, she said that she had never seen a more loyal, and more capable subordinate under her command before."

"Sh-She said that?" She asked, more rhetorically than anything, as she continued speaking with emotion welling up in her chest and up to her head, "I never got a straight answer from her why she left me. I would've followed her to the ends of earth and into the abyss itself. And yet, she left me to my duties and my loyalty to the Soul Society. She left me to take up the position she so easily forfeited. I just wish she only told me...told me how proud she was...of me...to...to..." She couldn't hold back her tears, feeling the dread of her loss come all at once, tears already falling from her eyes and down her cheek, her snifflings could be heard as she tried to bury her head into her legs and chest, like the sad little girl she often was before becoming the elite she is now.

"Hey....hey...." he said softly, walking over and sitting next to her, wrapping an arm around her back smoothly as he spoke in a soft, reassuring tone. "You know that she was more than proud to say that she knew you. She didn't need to tell you, her actions in protecting you from harm was enough to show that she loved you, more than she's probably loved anyone in her life."

"She...was the only...real family...I've ever had," She sobbed into Akisame's embrace, turning around and wrapping her arms around him tightly, crying into his neck, feeling for once reassured in the arms of another man. This man, who's felt the same burdens as she had, as well as known the same woman, was here for her. That, in her mind, is all that really matters.

And in return, he wrapped both arms around her back smoothly in a gentle hug, resting the side of his head against hers as she sobbed into his neck. "Shhh...it's alright, I'm here for you, no matter what happens."

"Th-Thank you," Seu-Fon said gratefully. Knowing she would be probably spending her last moments with this man, she decided to act on the feelings...the emotions...she began feeling for him. Breathing slowly, controlling her heavings, she began to scrape her lips across his neck and up his jawline, rubbing his back gently in sync with her movements. When she finally reached his gaze with her own, she closed her eyes and leaned in, wanting her first and only kiss to be as memorable as she wanted it to be, as her lips barely touched his own.

Akisame'e eyes closed, and he felt his hands smoothly run up her back, and gently cradle the woman's face with both of them cupping her cheeks. Using his thumbs to wipe away the tears, he gently and harmlessly pulled her face and lips into his own, making a very smoothe and passionate kiss happen between the two of them.

He couldn't even begin to describe the happiness radiating within him, despite remaining cool on the outside. The girl of his dreams, finally sharing a kiss between him for the first time...

However...

SHINK-SCRAAAAAAPE!

...their time of tranquility would come to an abrupt end when the sound of a sword thrust into the outer hinge of the door, before cutting a deft, rectangular border of the prison cell door that made the most painfully audible noise similar to nails on a chalk board. Once done, however, the door fell straight down on the opposite end of the cell, revealing the luminously shadowed form of Sōdai Takuji himself, clad in black Kidō Armor with a Kidō Gunbai on his shoulder.

His dispassionate stare at seeing the two embraced, moreover Seu-Fon clinging to Akisame like a cat with her hands dug into his back and her eyes wide with fright, along with a red blushing face of embarassment, made it all the more eery.

"You two look relatively unharmed," Sōdai spoke with satisfaction, nodding to the two of them, turning his shoulder to call out to his partner, "Raiken! I found them! They're in this hallway, marked by a few dozen dead Adjuchas!"

"Aye...gimme a minute...."

Behind him was the form of Raiken, carrying what appeared to be two humanoid, Vasto Lorde class Hollows on his right shoulder, while dragging another one by it's hair in his left hand.

"Gotta give this old man some time before he- Oi, the hell is this?" he began towards Sodai, before turning his gaze to Soifon and Akisame, dropping the three high level Hollows and speaking in a humored tone. "Weeeeell~ We almost barged right into a prison fuck!"

SHUCK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK!

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU MASKED PERVERT!!!" Seu-Fon snarled aloud, comically throwing her foot out, causing several throwing knives to be deftly thrown from her kick as she remained holding onto Akisame, her eyes filled with fiery rage.

"You look pretty lively for someone who's been imprisoned and helpless. This door is relatively easy to break, and yet you remained here. Curious," Sōdai spoke in a condenscending tone, more directly to Akisame than Seu-Fon, before turning away and began walking away from them, as well as past his assigned partner, "let's go. Our mission is clear. Clear out as many of the enemy as we can, detonate the signal bombs, and then join the fray."

"Oi, jesus!" Raiken said with a comical wide eyed glare, quickly moving back and forth to avoid the onslaught of knives rather deftly, before looking back at her with a nerve vain. "Don't you think you should save those for later???"

"I was saving them in taking down a disgusting pervert, actually!" Seu-Fon snarled back indignantly, intending on not relenting that her actions were foolish when that man walked in such an unseemly fashion.

"Raiken," Sōdai looked over at him, glaring at him with fiery red-black orbs, "focus! We didn't come here purely to rescue two people we already knew their location about. We're here to sabatoge and to announce the beginning of the battle to our forces. Or have you forgotten that already?"

"Aye, quit gettin' your panties in a wad." Raiken said towards Sodai in a simplistic, bored tone, tilting his head over to him calmly. "And in case you forgot as well, what's capable of being sabotaged is sabotaged already. We've wiped out what forces Ultharon left here in the palace. It's only a matter now of getting these two back to the main force."

"How do you know that for sure?" Akisame questioned, now standing up alongside Soifon and questioning the man in a skeptical tone.

"Because, lad." Raiken replied, as several black blobs that were like shadows on the ground came from the hallways around them and back into Raiken's own shadow. "I've already done it."

WRRRRRRRRRRRR......

This was reinforced by the sudden shaking sensation felt all around them, with the entire building rumbling and shaking as if it were about to collapse.

"Which means...we might ought to leave..."

''BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! SSSHSSHRK!!!!''

"Just how many explosives did Captain Kurotsuchi give you?!" Seu-Fon asked with wonderment, as she suddenly felt herself rocking back and forth, even as she attempted to sprint out of the cell and alongside the two allies in arms.

"We utilized nearly every available piece of arsenal he had to detonate each structurally critical point in Las Noches. Considering Las Noches is nearly the size of the Soul Society, we had to improvise on utilizing a few gadgets he won't be missing as well to be rigged to detonate in synchronization. As you can imagine," Sōdai spoke with slight humor, "we have quite a few explosives wrapped around the towers and halls of this palace. Once and for all, this place will be obliterated from history..."

"Aye," Raiken commented as he ran with them. "Which means...."

''WHOOSH!!!! ''

SLURCH!!!!

"We best be movin'!"

Raiken then fell back into his shadow and briefly vanished. Before any of them could react, a clone of Raiken appeared behind each of their respective shadows, pulling them all back into their own shadow and out of view.

BWOOOSH!!!!

They all then blew out of the massive shadow that the collapsing Las Noches was casting, landing safely out of harms way. Albeit, with Akisame landing with his head directly in the sand and getting stuck there.

"Of course...." he grumbled under the sand as he comically struggled to get out of his new prison.

"Now," Seu-Fon landed deftly onto her feet, rolling with the momentum before looking back up at the large structure blasting, crushing, and collapsing into many pieces while falling into the alabaster sandy sea, "that is a sight I've been waiting to see since the Winter War. Las Noches has fallen..."

"Now we just need to see to it that this army falls," Sōdai looks impassively over at a sea of writhing, monstrous forms of Hollows of various sorts being lead by the various Lieutenants and Generals of the unholy storm heading their direction, "and quell the anger of killing their headquarters' corps and overseeing generals..."

Raiken then grabbed Akisame's foot and threw him out of the sand hold, causing him to fall onto his back before he quickly stood up.

The former then walked next to Sodai, and looked on towards the oncoming army in a very calm manner, his hands behind his back. "Well, what do you think mate? These Generals right here aren't anything we haven't faced before. Ultharon and his best men are all heading out to meet our forces a few miles out. We could hit this side right now, keep em' from reinforcing Ulthie's flank."

"Correction," Sōdai spoke his red tomoe-arrayed eyes narrowed, reading all the individually separate Spiritual Pressures and entities, seeing something different, "there are four of the major generals here. Three of which took part in the battle of the Soul Society. One, I do not recognize at all..."

"Either Ultharon has been recruiting more Hollows," Seu-Fon began to speak presumptiously, standing next to the other two, with her side next to Sōdai's, "or he's been saving the best for the final battle..."

"Hmm...." Raiken mused as he peered towards the main force heading for them, feeling the spiritual pressures of all of them as well as the unknown entity. "I've felt this before...but I can't place it. The other three I recall feeling from before, but this one seems oddly familiar...'

"No need to feel nostalgic, Raiken," Sōdai spoke lowly, sheathing his blade into his scabbard before he began walking towards the force himself, "if you want to fight one, then fight one. Anyone who feels more familiar with a particular opponent will have a stronger chance of defeating them a second time. Let's move!"

T-Tap-BWHOOSH!

With a slight springing action, Sōdai propelled himself with an incredible backdraft of wind, presumably followed by his other comrades at their own pace, flying at high speeds towards his enemies. Even as his ganbai and hair flourished in the wind, Sōdai made several hand signs before inhaling deeply before...

"Hadō # 71, Nenshō!"

CRACK-BOOM-WHOOOOSH!!!

With a vast exhale of billowing flames, Sōdai struck two perpindicularly aligned Menos Grande, setting the vast tower-sized Hollows aflame, while sending a napalm-affect explosion of flames below, intending on swathing a good 3/4 of a mile of Hollow forces as they were compacted so tightly.

"Geez...." Raiken said quietly as the other three fighters all propelled themselves towards the enemy force without planning, or discussing, or possibly even thinking. As old as he was, he just couldn't help but feel like he wasn't cut out for this sort of fighting.

But then again, he hadn't been able to stretch in quite some time...

Taking out his own sword from behind him, he began to casually walk towards the oncoming army, resting his weapon over his shoulder.

"Gettin' too old for this kinda shit..."

Elsewhere.....

ZZZZZZZBRRRWIIIINK!!!!!

BRRWOOOOSH!!!!!!!

Just as Sōdai's flames flew towards the army below him, a thin red line of energy cut through the blast midway from his left, completely severing it apart and forcing it to dissipate. And then, within that handful of precious seconds, another thin Cero blast flew at Soudai's airborne form with incredible speeds.

"Annoying," Sōdai muttered as he grasped the large handle on his back to his Kidō ganbai...

SHINK-SPACK-WHIIIIIIZ!!!

...effectively redirecting the Cero back to its point of origin, intending on creating an explosion for whatever general sent that his way and halted his attack.

"HAH!" Seu-Fon shouted out, as she slammed her two fists into the mask of a Menos, causing it to crack, splinter then cause it to fall from force utilized, crushing a good length of Hollows while also tipping another Menos Grande over. With her body alight with the properties of Shunkō she charged downwards, smashing and slicing through the horde, intending on inflicting as much damage to the enemy as she possibly could. She wouldn't want to use her repulsive weapon unless she had no other option...

"Ahhh, don't say that," a male voice spoke behind Raiken, being one of the potentially able to sneak up on the veteran Soul Reaper, crossing his arms over his chest while smiling in mock hurt, "you're making me feel like a fossil in comparison when you young people start saying that..."

BRWOOOOSH!!!!!!!

However, as Sōdai slammed the Cero back to it's source, another Cero of the same explosive calibur flew from behind him, intending on slamming into his form and creating immense quantities of damage to his body. It felt as if there were two sources of the blasts that were coming at him...but was it really?

"Oi." Raiken glanced back at the newcomer in an annoyed fashion. "Don't sneak up on me like that. You'll mess up my train of thought."

"Sorry, old habit of mine," the man spoke in a nonchalant tone, walking to just a few meters beside the man, crossing his arms as he looked out over the battlefield, seeing the bright lights and explosions occuring from the three other combatants engaging his comrades, "I predicted the whole point of sending in the two juniors was just a way for you to infiltrate Las Noches. I also knew it would be your four's key critical target, and it would symoblically raise morale for your troops to hear of its downfall. But you see, with Hollows," Jinete looked over at Raiken, smiling in an almost menacing way, "we have no need for such mundane things as morale and spirit. We are here to keep you from your comrades and away from the main body of our army. With you four here, you're effectively kept from the real battle. They'll be crushed for certain..."

Meanwhile with Sōdai's end...

"Predictable," Sōdai swiftly turned around swiftly while continuing to redirect the other Cero, causing a magnanimous explosion that decimated inadverdently a large cluster of Hollows, while extending his free left hand towards the condensed Cero beam...

SHFT-SPRAAAAAACK-Fzzzzzt!!!

...causing the condensed beam of energy to splay out brightly in many directions, splaying harmlessly from Sōdai's form before the beam finally dissipated entirely. After a rising steam hissed off his glove, Sōdai clenched it tightly as he turned to face his opponent, holding his Kidō ganbai aloft as he stared him down, "Well, well...if it isn't the one and only forgotten brother of Baraggan Louisenbairn. I thought you were still hiding in some vast hole where no one could find you. Instead I find you leading an army for a usurper king who's proclaiming a sham to his race for an excuse to utter oblivion over again. How pitiful...just what I'd expect of the Louisenbairn legacy."

"Aye." Raiken said with a half lidded glare towards the Arrancar, smiling behind his mask. "We know you don't have morale, spirit, or anything of that sort. You're all just empty shells of potential, thinking you can make a difference when some child comes and takes over your homeland and throws you all to oblivion. Besides...."

He then glanced over into the other direction, where the main battle with the Soul Reaper army and Ultharon's main force was taking place before looking back at Jinete. "Don't think that just because Sōdai and I are away from them, means you're gonna win. We're just a couple of old coots..."

"You mistake yourself, Sōdai Takuji." Caius spoke as he sat on his mighty steed, looking over at Soudai with a disspasionate gaze. "We hollows, have no need of legacy or honor. We simply are what we are..."

"Is that so?" Sōdai propped his ganbai onto right shoulder, walking across the airspace towards his designated opponent, his red-black eyes staring impassively into Caius' hollow glowing ones, "then why do I get the distinct impression that since you possess nothing, you have a writhing emotion of...disdain...towards those who do have it? Is it Jealousy? Or is it Arrogance, the seat you so-called superior beings mount onto as you rally your lesser bretheren for a war they cannot win?"

Meanwhile...Jinete couldn't help but chuckle at Raiken's words.

"I've felt many things you Soul Reapers haven't been able to in all your generations: I've felt Love, Hope, Peace, Prosperity, Pride, Anger, Hate, Despair, Joy, Lonliness, and many more. So you tell me that we Hollows have no potential or are completely devoid of becoming something wonderous. Tell me that when you look into my eyes," Jinete spoke with sincerity in his voice, looking over at Raiken's masked slits where his eyes would be, staring evenly and without wavering, "and then tell me there is no hope for my race, Soul Reaper Raiken Uchiwa."

Here, Raiken grinned behind his mask, and his voice spoke with a hint of a sinister tone within his words. "Ain't no hope for your kind lad, never will be if you lot keep this kind of shit up."

"Perhaps it is because your pride blinds you, Takuji Soudai." the Hollow General spoke in a surprisingly respectful tone. "I do not feel disdain, I follow tradition of ages that predate even your Soul Society."

"That's where you're wrong, Caius," Sōdai vividly stared back, answering him readily as he stared him down, even as his comrades battled their own respective opponents while inadvertently destroying the countless clustered Hollows below, "my Pride gives me purpose, focus, and clarity that your decrepit and useless traditions will never give you. This long war ends today...ends today...Caius Louisenbairn!"

VRRRRROAAAAAR!!!!

Sōdai's body billowed with a fiery, crimson black-bordered column of Spiritual Power, slamming into the ground below him, sending hundreds to nearly a thousand Hollows flying back from the excess force and passive energy flourishing below, while high in the sky it created a large atmospheric gathering of spiritual storm clouds, crackling and thundering all around him.

With Jinete smiling at the far off, yet powerful Spiritual Pressure billowing from Sōdai and soon after his own comrades and opponents, Jinete raised a hand in a "come-on" gesture to Raiken, "Unless the Soul Reapers triumph, the Cycle will continue indefinitely. Prove to me, that your new leader has what it takes to end it, once and for all!"

"I don't need to prove anything to you..." Raiken stated as his drew his blade from it's sheathe, tossing the latter aside and resting it on his shoulder. "...but my leader will prove it to you himself!"

BOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!

From Raiken's form, a massive column of black spiritual energy, outlined with silver as it reached the same level of power that Sodai was now displaying against Caius, darkening the Takuji warrior's clouds as if night were descending upon the already darkened Hueco Mundo skies.

Battle of the Ancients! The Secrets behind the Masks!
"Since I'm usually one to not generally take the initiative," Jinete spoke with a casual tone, he raised his hand in a beckoning form to Raiken, not even drawing his weapon or flaring his own Spiritual Power in competition to the Soul Reaper opposing him, "I'll let you make the first move, young Raiken."

"Made ya look!"

BLURCH!!!

shosh!!!

Within an instant, Raiken's form vanished into his own shadow, and at that same time, popped out from Jinete's own shadow. Comically grabbing the Arrancar's pants and pulling them down, before sliding back into the shadow and popping back in his original place. Holding his gut with his left hand, and cackling in a comically hilarious manner.

"You...you walked AHAHAHAHA!! Right into that one lad!!! Ahahahaha~!!!!"

Jinete comically blinked at Raiken grasping his pants and pulling them down, exposing his smooth alabaster toned legs along with a fur-laced loin cloth. Twitching, Jinete narrowed his eyes as he picked his pants back up, fastening his belt once again...

SPLURCH!

"You blinked, fool!" Before reappearing next to Raiken, stabbing a wet finger into his left ear, intending on deploying an equally annoying maneuver to the younger veteran Reaper.

"Oi! waitaminute!! That ear's infected!" the masked Reaper comically flailed about as he and Jinete bounced around the battlefield in a comical manner, as the former finally managed to pry the Arrancar off of his form and they both resumed their own respective stances.

Raiken stuck a pinky into his ear, plucking what saliva he could out of it. "Nasty mate, the last person to do that was a lil' wench at a pub, hence the infection..."

"You pulled down my pants. Consider us even," Jinete harumphed as he crossed his arms and lifted his head indignantly. But not before looking to Raiken curiously, "You certainly talk rather differently than your allies do," Jinete commented, crossing his arms as he arched a brow, "you Aethian in descent?"

"In bloodline, yep." the Scot replied plainly as he retained his original pose, placing his sword on his shoulder once more. "Never actually been there myself though."

"I've been there before," Jinete spoke admittedly, smiling as he remembered his time in the Midwestern to Westernized cultured lands, "its quite beautiful. A little more democratic but similar to your Soul Society's politics. They have a much more imposing military, keeping tabs on the borders of their lands at all times, as well as have regularly scheduled patrols on which they'd...purify...the Hollows they'd find out yonder. They've hardly ever had external conflicts with anyone and thus has allowed them to be one of the dominant Societies to trade with other ones within different realms..."

"So, you like it then?" the masked man replied in a casual tone, letting his eye become half lidded as he spoke. "You realize, that all of that beauty and wonder is going to be destroyed if you lot' succeed, right?"

"You wouldn't be worth saving if you couldn't fight to protect what's yours," Jinete spoke matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders, "I'm just here to watch and hopefully gain the best seats when the grand finale goes down between your champion and our self-appointed king. Nothing really more than that, but I digress, we've been talking a little too much..."

Jinete nodded to him, waving his hands towards Raiken with an extended left hand while keeping in a neutral ready stance, "Let's flex a bit. No need to spout off and be lazy while our comrades our fighting, right?"

"Whatever you say, Arrancar-oi, wait." Raiken said in his same pose. "You never game me your name mate. I can't fight something unless I know what it's called."

"Well...my name you call me as anyone I chat with is Jinete. Jinete del Juicio," Jinete spoke with a grin, then he narrowed his eyes and spoke lowly, "but most of my race have affiliated me...being Kishu Meiun."

"All I needed was one mate." Raiken said, as he pointed his weapon at Jinete's form. "Your move."

SSSSHOOOM!

Moving with just sheer innate speed, Jinete easily matched the speed of the shadow maneuver Raiken utilized earlier. Keeping his body a good pace outside Raiken's initial shadow outline, he swung his palm out in a knife-like gesture towards Raiken's free arm, intending on...

SSSHIINK!

...severing it, with indescribable sharpness from the speed initialized from his incredibly dense, durable skin. Had it struck metal, even Raiken's Shikai, it would've produced sparks that rivaled any ordinary Hierro utilized by some veteran Arrancar.

BLURCH!!!!!

Jinete's palm certainly flew into the man's free arm, but as soon as they both made contact with one another, Raiken's eye widened and his voice a grunt, before he let the eye squint. Raiken's form then exploded into a fairly large mess of black, tar like material. Superheated in nature, as if it where a force of an entirely different origin, it would fall all over Jinete's form and threaten to burn right through his Hierro, just like it was burning through the silver sands....

"Interesting stuff," Jinete looked at the substance as he could study its decomposing, superheated force, "this stuff could do some serious damage to me if I wasn't careful," with a slight glow emanating off his body, the liquid dissipating off his body harmlessly, despite the loud hissing it made, didn't mar his skin much more than stain some of his fur-laced clothes, "but you seriously don't need to switch your body out like that with a weak ploy. Are you that frightened of your opponents you'd use such debased tactics? I thought this was a duel, not a street fight..."

WHOOSH!!!!

Raiken then appeared back to back with Jinete with his arms crossed and his head tilted upwards, speaking lowly. "Oi, don't bring up that honor or pride shit with me, aite? A fight's a fight, you use what tactics you have at your disposal. Letting pride or dignity dictate your actions is just going to get you killed..."

"Heh," Jinete smiled a little ferally, speaking in a low tone, "very well then..."

CRACK-BLAM-BWOOOOSH!!!!!

"...let's get to it then!" Jinete spoke aloud declaratively, smashing his foot into the ground below him, causing enough concussive force the crush the ground a good twenty five meters as well as send a buffeting wind to assuredly send the Raiken behind him, fake or otherwise, hurtling away from him.

He'd then turn to face him, smiling in an anticipating way as his hair and cloak flourished around him, reveling in utilizing his muscles against a capable opponent.

Raiken, of course, was not one to simply stand idle while his opponent prepared delaying tactics. Once Jinete's foot hit the ground, the masked Soul Reaper quickly leaped up and whirled around delivering a powerful foot kick to the Arrancar's head, before feeling his form being sent away several feet from Jinete's vicinity, regaining a stance rather quickly as he prepared for another onslaught.

SHFT-WHAM-WHAM!

Jinete quickly moved low, slamming his palm rapidly in super condensed bursts of similar amount of force, intending on catching him bare moments as he was attempting to regain his stance, inducing physical force as he could. And within the last blow, Jinete swung his foot dexterously up and towards the side of his head, the place not covered by his daunting mask, intending on repaying him the favor for kicking his own head in.

In response, Raiken's own prowess in Hakuda came into play. Using the sides of his palms, as well as his deft and fast feet, he slapped away each of Jinete's palm strikes. When the final blow came towards his head, he immediately swerved his head in the same direction as the man's foot, avoiding it with a profound sense of grace and mastery...

C-Craaack!!!!!

....before flipping around sideways and slamming the side of his foot into the Arrancar's jaw with bone crushing force.

CLANG!!!

"Sorry," Jinete spoke aloud, as visible sparks flew from the force utilized by the Arrancar, as he instinctively activated a fraction of his Hierro, allowing him to stand in place short of his head being jerked to the side slightly, with the foot still bridged against it, "how many toes did I break?"

CLAMP-SLAM!

Jinete grasped the foot still holding fast against the side of his head, lifting him up with generous amount of strength, twisting around before intending into driving him into the sand with enough force to cause an uproar of sand to pillar high above and around the two combatants.

However, once Raiken hit the ground, and his shadow connected with his form....

WHURCH!!!!

He sank right into the darkened outline of his shape, falling out of Jinete's grasp and vanishing from view following the massive pillar of debris created from the movement.

Blurch!!!!

BOOOM!!!!!

And within that instant, he popped up from the side shadow of Jinete's form, and landed a well placed, Ikkotsu punch into the man's shoulder as a means to fling him a great distance away.

SWHOOSH-CRACK-BWHOOSH!!!

Jinete's reflexes, however, superceded that of his counterpart, allowing him to percieve his opponent's next movement from the patterns through their battle. Swinging around, his fist met Raiken's, returning with equal force that caused sparks to emanate from the two sets of knuckles smashing into each other. The force was enough to send a billowing blast of concussive force behind and aside the both of them, causing a tidal wave of sand to erupt behind their forms. The intensity between both pairs of eyes, one hidden behind a passive tranquil one while the other by a sinister physical mask, was frightening to any other observor onlooking the battle.

Backpedaling away from the man, he smiled with appreciation, as his left hand thumbed the hilt on his broadsword on his left hip, "You're good. Better than I've fought in a long time. I don't think it would do our duel justice if I didn't at least unsheathe the old girl from her scabbard, do you?"

"Aye." Raiken said as he regained his posture, briefly flapping his hand once to where off the shock of the amazing impact between their previous attacks. His black handled sword then flew to his hand, pointing at Jinete in a challenging pose. "I need to give this lil' bitch a stretch anyways."

"That's no way to talk to your Zanpakutō!" Jinete comically snapped at Raiken, his vein protruding from his forehead as he waved his arms in emphasis, "while my Zanpakutō is merely an extension of myself, your Zanpakutō is a entity! A living being! Show more respect, will you?!"

"Hey! You try dealing with this wench for more than half a day!" Raiken comically snapped back at Jinete, waving the sword around in the air comically. "She's like the damned mom that won't leave you alone over all kinds of trivial shit! Don't tell me how to live my life!!!"

"Fine, you two got issues, I understand!" Jinete felt a cloud roll over his head, remembering the times he and his wife had issues. He remembered feeling a few of her retribution's, making him sweatdrop and shiver in recourse. After that, Jinete cleared his throat before he began to unsheathe his sword, the air growing still and quiet as the grating, ancient sound echoed the area as if it was a monumentous occasion.

SIIIIING!

"You will soon learn," the Horseman of Doom spoke solemnly, holding out the ancient and nordic looking blade to gleam from the reflective lights cascading in the atmosphere, "the difference in power between the two of us, Soul Reaper...."

Twilight Dancers, The Battle of Redemption and Finality!
"HYAAAAAAAH!"

VRRRBLAAAM!!!

Seu-Fon's war cry rang out as she cut a swathe of Hollow forces, as well as tearing the legs out from under a Menos Grande, sending it plummeting into the ground, crushing any hapless forces clustering and not fleeing in time. Seu-Fon intended to find that Vasto Lordes who matched her prowess in Hakuda and Hohō from the last time. If there was any worthy opponent she wanted to even the score with, it was him...

"Well well..."

And sure enough, the voice of Cervantes wrung out for her to hear, standing with his arms crossed and his reddish black cloak covering his waist down to his ankles and drifting in the wind. "It seems you're starting to enjoy yourself..."

"I was about to ask the same thing to you," Seu-Fon spoke back, her eyes narrowing at him. Looking around, she could tell that Cervantes' men were holding off their assault. They watched as the two elite warriors were in the epicenter of a mass of death and a perimeter formed by their entiriety controlled by Cervantes himself, "I don't take pleasure in killing your kind, General. I fight because its my duty, and because I am fighting for survival for the Soul Society and the World of the Living. You fight merely for the primal pleasure of it. That is, and always be the difference between you and I. This is a battle for redemption for myself...while this is your battle that will end all existence should you succeed."

"This cycle is going to end, Soul reaper..." Cervantes spoke calmly as he retained his pose, tilting his head. "Our world is consumed in chaos, as the previous cycles have all done. It is time for it to end, and to let the new age be born."

"Let the world solve its own problems," Seu-Fon aloud with a vigor nigh indentical to her former mentor's, grasping her Zanpakutō, "it never asked you to end its misery, nor did they ask for assistance in the most irrationally idiotic fashion!

"Sting all enemies to death..."

SSSSHINK!

"...Suzumebachi!" Seu-Fon spoke aloud in a declarative motion, her Zanpakutō morphing in a flare of red light into her vambrace needle blade, holding it up for emphasis to her enemy, "get ready, Vasto Lordes!"

ZZZZZ!!!!

ZZZZZ!!!!

ZZZZ!!!!

ZZZZZ!!!!!

Cervantes then let his arms fall, and in rapid succession, four green energy protusions shot out from his back, forming a large green X on his form. He then crouched with his arms spread in a preparing pose. "We will, for this is the will of existance itself!!!!"

wrBRROOOOOM!!!!!!

Within an instant, he appeared directly in front of Seu-Fon, slamming his fist into her form with such speed and force, the ground underneath them sank, and all sound seemed to vanish for that brief instant.

SPRAAAACK-CRRRRRK!!!

Within the same instant, Seu-Fon created a condensed focus curtain of Shunkō energy around her left palm, swinging it with swift precision and perception, catching the incredibly swift delivery of powerful force sent her way. The energy and concussive force cracked and thundered around their vicinity, blowing powerful buffeting winds with Seu-Fon's stoic eyes meeting Cervantes.

CRK-SHINK!

Grabbing a hold of his fist, she swiftly pulled him around before delivering a swift penetrative strike of her Shikai, intending on implanting the death mark on his body as a future target she can utilize later. Following the movement she backpedaled away from her opponent, awaiting his next move to be made before she employed her own.

With his own speed, Cervantes narrowly avoided the oncoming strike, quickly back flipping back to his original pose. Within another few seconds, he lunged, releasing a punishing amount of fists, feet, and energy spike strikes upon her form, intending to completely overwhelm her Shunko with as much force as possible.

SMACK-CRACK-FWAP-THUD-CRK...!

Seu-Fon's body recieved a punishing amount of fists after shimmering to avoid the first batch only to have several concussive buffeting blasts of force strike her body...

FZZT!

...until she dissipated into thin air, revealing a pair of Flash Clones on either end of Cervantes' flanks, enraptured with the properties of Shunkō. They both struck simultaneously with their own powerful attacks...

SSSSCRAAACK-FWHOOSH!

...causing an immense explosion of energy and physical force to be discharged onto Cervantes' form, intending on crushing him from either side.

ZZZZT!!!!

ZZZZT!!!!!

Once he realized that the clones were all converging upon him, Cervantes gritted his Hollowfied teeth, and the top two energy "spikes" on his back shot out and extended in an incredibly fast motion. Both spikes of energy ran clean through the clones, but where was the real one...?

SHFT-SNIK-SNIK-SNIK...!

Seu-Fon appeared crouched below Cervantes waistline, looking up with a focused, intense gaze. Following that she swung her Shikai endowed hand in a series of blinding strikes, intending on decorating his abdomen and torso with as many death marks as she could make, even possibly marking his forearms if he swung them out in defense.

Of course, he couldn't avoid all of the strikes. Quickly hopping backwards, he could feel at least three of the stings land on his abdomen and at least once on his chest. While they didn't really hurt him, he knew that this fight would be over quickly if she hit any of those again...

Sliding along the ground, he held out his left hand. A green sphere of Cero energy began to form in his palm, glowing brightly as if it where about to fire...

zzzink!!!!

However, it vanished, with his pose remaining the same and his eyes squinting in focus.

zzzBRWOOOSH!!!!!!

However, within that very instant, the sphere reappeared, not in his palm, but rather, right in front of Seu-Fon, before releasing itself up close in a massive gate of destructive spiritual energy.

Seu-Fon's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the Cero. Swinging her left palm out to grasp the Sphere, Shunkō energies swirling out even as her feet skid back a good few meters, before she flared out brightly, shouting out...

"HANKI!"

SPRAAAACK-FZZzzzzt!

...matching the frequencies of the Cero itself, reversing its flow, before ultimately dissipating it directly in the palm of her hand. Sweat dripped slightly down her scalp at the feat she narrowly achieved, realizing that if she hadn't acted in the way she did, she most likely would've been severely injured by the point blank explosion.

But it wasn't over.

When that Cero was dissipated, three more appeared all around her. Cervantes' hands were spread to his sides and his form bristling with green electricity. And right then, he clasped his hands together.

BRWOOOSH!!!!!!!

And all three Cero's lashed out upon her, each with the same power as the last one that she had destroyed.

Seu-Fon's eyes widened as she saw all three Ceros colliding towards her. Lighting up her Shikai's needle blade with Shunkō properties, she moved in a fluid arc, slicing each and every Cero in half, while narrowly dodging direct contact...

BLAAAAAAAM!!!

...but couldn't entirely avoid being in the epicenter of the large emerald colored explosion, being probably one of the only things Cervantes would be able to see within the short gap of time Seu-Fon had to act upon. When she appeared heaving in the midst of the smoking crater, Seu-Fon leaped to stand atop the crevice top, her cheek and arms marred by some of the explosion's unexcapable potency, despite donning her Shunkō. It was still far from being perfect in comparison to her mentor's...

"Your speed at deploying such powerful Ceros is uncanny, Cervantes the Wraith," Seu-Fon spoke aloud, having finally realizing her opponent's identity from the files she studied on enemy personnel long ago during their studies of the Vasto Lordes under Ultharon's command, "it appears my Shunkō and Shikai won't cut it against the likes of you. I guess I'll have to use Bankai, right?"

"Please." Cervantes spoke with a tilt of his head and his arms back at his sides. "Although his Majesty bragged on the properties of your Bankai, it will be just as worthless against me as it was him. It would be impossible for you to even hit me with such a clunky device..."

"You act as if you know my Bankai, fool. I've never shown my Bankai to anyone within the Soul Society, not even my subordinates. The form in which your lord and master had witnessed is the based ability I take upon when no ordinary methods are available to me in dispatching my enemies. Either an incredible force or an army is the only event I'd ever utilize such a weapon. However," Seu-Fon spoke aloud with narrowed eyes, placing her left palm underneath her right arm and her armored Shikai hand onto the other, squatting as she took upon an unusual stance as she spoke forebodingly, "my Bankai has another form...one of which you'll regret seeing..."

"BAN-KAI!!!"

VRRRRRCRRRRRRRKAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!

Within a few moments, Seu-Fon's body became emblazoned with yellow electrical surges of Spirit Energy, while a crimson force spiraled upwards, cracking into the sky high above, adding to the chaotic Spirit storm gathered over their area of the stoic pale night of Hueco Mundo. Her energy skyrocketed so great, that equaled if not exceeded her known form's Bankai properties, as the blinding light continued to surge in sync of the electrifying pillar of crimson-red energy.

"What...?!" Cervantes felt himself be pushed further back several feet from the exertion of the Bankai's power. What his king had described to him...was nothing like this!!

FTZZZZZZ-BOOM!

With a final pulsation of power, the energy column dissipated, leaving a electric aura of a transformed Seu-Fon. Her eyes glowed golden and black, mirroring her now jet black striped, golden sensual skin tight armor wrapped around from her collar bone and shoulder blades down to her calfs, with a slight v-cut to alluringly show her smooth skin on her chest and a hint of her cleavage. Her shoulders donned a pair of pointed, head taller black lined golden pauldrons, mirroring the appearance of her black lined golden metalic boots, her black bordered golden needle gauntlets, all donning the Shikai blades on each finger with golden chains attached to her wrist. That, and most of all, a black bordered golden helmet, with a triangle pointed top that covered her jawline and head all except her ponytail flourishing hair and her vividly stoic face.

She finally rose to her feet, proclaiming the name of her Bankai's first revelation to her opponent, "Suzumebachi Raikōjōi...is the name of this state, my Bankai's True Form."

Vindication of a Scornful Woman! The Secret Power behind the Armor?!
"Oh god...not you again..."

Akisame's face became comically annoyed as he witnessed his own opponent enter the field, the scarlet haired Arrancar that he had battled in Soul Society just a day earlier. "Man, I have the worst luck.."

"Its ironic that we face each other again, little boy reaper," Rana spoke aloud in a disdainfully menacing tone, her eyes lit up a glowing red as he gait led her to her opponent, as a field of deat Hollows of various sizes and ilk laid about due to her enemy's efforts, "but I guess fate wasn't kind enough to you, due to the need of beatings I need to imbue into that thick skull of yours!"

"Nope." he said with a slight smirk, flicking the side of his head a couple of times. "Not much can get through this thing right here. I have to be told something quite a few times before the full message finally goes through."

TK-SHIIIIIINK!

VRRRROAAAAR!!!

"Then allow me to say this once again, fool," Rana's voice spoke menacingly, unsheathing her blade gratingly as her body began to be emblazoned by a thick, ghastly aura of scarlet Spiritual Power, sending rippling distortions throughout the air, weighing heavily to anyone proximiate as she projected her Spiritual Pressure towards her opponent, "you're nothing but a rookie. You will die by my hand, and the Will of my King will be done."

However, Akisame did not budge, save for having to briefly cover his face from the sudden release of spiritual pressure and skidding back a few feet.

His smirk widened slightly, as he reached up for his silver handled daito and held it out to his very right. The weapon began to bristle with an oddly powerful fiery aura.

"Sever...Atorasu!"

BRWOOOSH!!!!!

A sudden, mighty torrent of flames unleased from the blade's form, contrasting and coming close to matching the spiritual pressure being exerted from his Arrancar foe. The flames then dissipated, revealing a golden claymore with a diamond shaped tip and a solid black handle, with a green gem in it's guard.

"Shikai again? Haven't you learned anything in our last battle?" Rana snarled irritatedly, raising her blade back up to be level with her midriff, initiating her battle stance, "I'm going to show you just what happens when fools continue being fools!"

"Go right ahead." he said with the same expression. "I'm all ears..."

BZZZT-SHFT!

Within an instant, Rana appeared to his left flank via Sonido, her blade lit aflame of vibrant combustible scarlet energy....

"Danza..."

SSSSIIIING!!!

"...Bomberos!!!"

BOOM-FWHOOSH!!!

And within an instant of swinging her blade in a perfect demonstration yet again of her swordsmanship, a surging force of scarlet spiritual energy discharged out, surging into an encompassing force around Akisame and a good five meters. What followed was a transformation of energy into fire, exploding magnanimously into a vibrant force of power and destruction, digging a trench from the cutting arc from earlier, reaching out to a good twenty meters.

However, this technique would prove to be an advantage to the Soul Reaper.

bbbBRWOOOSH!!!!!

All of the flames that were surrounding Akisame suddenley began to swirl above him and sink into his blade as it took the form of a twister of fire. All of it sank into the golden form of Akisame's claymore. With narrow of his eyes, he swung the blade down, releasing a fairly large bullet of heat, compressing all of the fires from her previous attack and releasing them back upon her full force.

BZZT-SIIING!

Rana reacted promptly with a employment of Sonido, reacting instinctively to appear to his rear, slashing towards his backside with a powerful cutting stroke, even as the ball of flame detonated vibrantly in front of the Soul Reaper.

TANG!!!

Whirling around quickly and deftly, the brown haired Soul Reaper clashed his blade against Rana's with nearly equal force.

FiSHOOOM!!!!!

He then utilized the close range between the two of them, and released an up-close blast of flames upon Rana's form, intent on roasting her then and there.

"Why are his flames...hotter than before?!" Rana thought to herself, as her blade clashed with her opponent's, flames surging forth and covering her thick Hierro lined body. For some reason, she could almost believe these flames were much more focused, intense than previously. While she knew it wouldn't mar her incredibly, she surged forth a protective aura of Spiritual Energy and pressed it back onto Akisame as well, making sure the struggle would be mutual.

The forces they exerted against each other sent billow tendrils of spirit energy and blasts of wind crashing, pummeling, and detonating spontaneously around their perimeter, causing a great deal of death for any Hollows who ventured too close to their battlefield.

"Your resolve seems to have gotten stronger since the last time we've fought," Rana spoke with a hint of approval in her voice, even as her rich scarlet spirit energy pressed back at Akisame intensely, forcing her blade against his own, intending on driving him back, "is it desparation? Is it fear? What is driving you to fight harder than you had before?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" he smirked as he continued to press against her own energy and power, his flames becoming more and more potent as his eyes oddly changed from blue to yellow.

"I got a girlfriend."

BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

At that instant, the sword seemingly exploded into an incredible mass of fire that spread for a good fifty meters in their vicinity. Even if Rana managed to avoid it, the large sphere would begin to shrink down, almost to the size of a human sized cocoon of flames.

FWHOOSH!

Rana's form flew from the midst of the flames, her body tinged and stinging from the intense amount of flames. She had to thank both her resilient Hierro and her aura of Spirit Energy for dampening the affects of the large coursing flames that he projected.

However, Rana didn't want to wait and see what her opponent would've done after the flames enraptured his body completely. Raising her finger towards his area, she collected a dense amount of Spirit energy at the tip, before...

VRRRBLAAAAAM!!!

...discharging a large scarlet colored Cero towards his area, intending on pummeling him into the earth and ripping him to shreds in the midst of the area from which he gathered flames at.

Once the Cero connected with the cocoon, however...

BrrWIIINK!!!!!

It, along with the fire, completely dissipated, revealing Akisame's armored form, his Bankai completely unscathed.

"Atorasu no Chikara."

"Resorting to Bankai so early in the game? You really do never change," Rana snarled as she stared down from above, her blade vibrantly glowing in readiness, "summon all the strength and energy you possess, the outcome will remain the same. Your Bankai is nothing but a joke, Soul Re-"

VRRRKRRRZZZROAAAR!!!

"-eaper?!" Rana's boasting was interrupted in mid-sentence, as she looked over and saw in the distance what she felt. An enormous Spiritual Powered column of golden & red leveled a good portion of Léon's forces, as well as emanated a fiery, fiercesome Pressure, "she's releasing Bankai? I've never heard of this happening when releasing her awkward true form....what's going on?!"

"I have no reason to hold back now, do I?" Rana thought with a sigh, raising her blade till it face the sky, clicking her heels together, her body lighting a glow with a vibrant aura of scarlet spiritual power. Then, with eyes alight, she spoke the release command that'd seal Akisame's fate.

"Rebel..."

VRRRRROAAAAAAAR!!!!!

Within an instant, a pillar of scarlet flames of Spiritual Power discharged vibrantly in all directions, pummeling the earth below as well as swirling in a spherical fashion, almost as if at the center of a miniature dwarf star with the intense heat and pressure discharging and crushing the earth below it. It truly was on par with that of the prior generation's Espada Ressureccion.

VWHOOSH!!!

Within a single gesture, the energies dissipated, leaving nothing but a crushed, glassed landscape from where Akisame and her would do battle.

ZFT-CRACK!

Landing heavily onto the ground, a newly transformed Rana looked onto Akisame. Wrapped around her jawlines and over her face was a full set of terrifying bone-jaw & teeth, all the way up the bridge of her nose. Her hair now braided by a white tooth into a ponytail, matching the various alabaster bone-plated armor pieces wrapped around shoulders, forearms, and waistline. Her skin turned into a sheen coat of glittering silver scales, bearing more of a reptilian appearance, along with her talon-donned hands and clawed feet.

The most extraordinary thing was the change of weaponry. Being held by a long human-like bone hilt, a long red tuff of hair flew from its pommel. The gaurd itself was conical in shape, almost like a jousting lance, with various runes of a lost and fallen dialect. But that changed with a distinctive metalic blade grafted into what looked like a tyrannosaurus rex's tooth, compositing the majority of the weapon's make and flat side of the unique sword.

"...Rex Dientes," She spoke through a grating, hollow voice as her full bone-tooth jaw mask acted as a metalic dampener and warping mechanism for her voice. Her eyes were now crimson, and her aura was filled with malicious, killing intent.

"Geez." Akisame stated plainly as he readied himself for what would undoubtably be an arduous fight...if he didn't utilize "it" on time. "I can hardly recognize you."

"Unlike that of Soul Reapers, our true forms show our most bestial, horrifying sides. This is mine," Rana spoke lowly and gratingly, walking forward with the prehensile heavy steps befitting her transformation, her eyes narrowed and glaring at him, "unlike your shining, beautiful armor of gold and red, mine is of white and silver like that of a ghostly horror. You will soon learn, the difference between our power...Soul Reaper!!!!"

"Yeah well, based on that..." he said as he too began to walk towards her, making an oddly and somewhat eerily moment between the two warriors. "You're one ugly piece of shit-"

SHFT-CRAAAACK!!!

Before Akisame could even finish speaking his insult, Rana moved with immeasurably high speed, smashing her bone-plated left fist into his helmet, intending on shattering the faceplate as well as send him writhing a good distance. The fact that Akisame felt confident enough to throw insults at his opponent, as well as let his guard down is what really enraged Rana, intending on squashing the bug that he is under her heel.

Without uttering a sound, the armored entity was sent flying from the spot that he stood on, soaring back without flipping around. Skidding to the ground, using his blade to break his movement, he looked back up and flinched slightly. He may have been armored, and said armor was still in tact, but still, he could feel that one!

"Ouch, I guess I hit something there, huh?"

"I wasn't intending on killing you, fool," Rana growled out, lowering her large behemoth blade towards Akisame's direction, "I was demonstrating the difference in power between us. Last time you donned your Bankai, you were on par with me. Now that I've released my own form...you can't even see my movements, let alone defend against them. Prepare yourself...bastard!!!"

"You'd be surprised..." he said, as he pointed his large weapon at the Arrancar. "...I may have improved."

BOOSH!!!!!

With a powerful kick, the weapon shot out a powerful, searing bullet of heat at the Arrancar woman, the blast trailing a black tail of smoke as it intended the blow a hole right straight through her.

As the condensed projectile of condensed tongues of fire flew towards Rana, creating a screaming sound as it flew towards her as if it was a rocket, she simply narrowed her eyes, not even attempting to move out of the way. Raising her left hand just as the pyrotechnic bullet flew into her range...

CLAMP-CRRRRK!!!

...grasped it fully into her hand, causing her feet to dig in, but not budge even as her hair flourished wildly from the force of the still-charging force of flames. Slowly, Rana clenched her hand over the ball of flames...

CRRR-BLAAAM!!!

...detonating it backwards from herself, with a rise of steam and a shockwave of buffting winds flourishing around herself and the battlefield for a great distance. She then clenched her hand, audibly cracking the aparatus cartilidge surrounding it, "You should've used that when I was in my Sealed Form. Despite the power of your Resolve, you're still below my league. Let me show you..."

SHFT!

"...what I can do!"

SSSWING-FWWWBLAAAM!

Rana's speed yet again moved at a nighmarishly wraith-like speed to Akisame, appearing within just an instant before swinging her blade upon her enemy's position. Within the epicenter of her swing, enough force was utilized to where a large fissure of earth was shattered upon impact, furthermore spreading into a devestatingly sized crater in all directions, intending on smashing Akisame's armor into pieces while slicing him in half.

With only his blade at his side preventing him from being cleaved in two already, Akisame could feel his form drag along the ground and eventually pick up from the ground as he flew through the air from the block of the strike alone. Quickly flipping around and landing back on his feet with a stagger, he briefly grasped the area where the blade was supposed to hit, spared from it's massive form thanks to his own weapon.

The armor was cracked.

''"Hoo boy..." ''he thought in his mind as he prepared himself once more, albeit with a low weez. "I've only just started and she's already pressuring me. If this keeps up, I'll have to use "it," and I only get one chance with it..."

"That was one blow," Rana spoke in a undeterred, grated tone, as she began rushing at him with a burst of momentum from a kicking motion of her taloned feet, swinging her blade at him again, "here's two..."

SSSINK-BWHOOSH!!!

"...three..."

SSSINK-BWHOOSH!!!

"...four, five, six, seven...!!!" Rana began counting out, as she swung her blade in a relentless series of stunning-sped strokes of her massive weapon, creating identical fissures of force from each and every one of them, intending on overwhelming him her enhanced physical prowess alone.

One by one, he could feel his supposidly unbreakable armor begin to crack further and eventually break down, partially revealing his soul reaper attire. Although the attacks didn't hurt as bad as he would normally think they would, each of them felt as if he were being hit with speeding cars.

And then it happened.

SCHHHRIK!!!!!

"Hngh!" he grunted as he suddenley felt her blade run clean up his left side, and totally severing his right arm from his body. His blade had been switched to the left hand during the scuffle, and now he was glad that it did. Although the armor nullified the pain...he had still just lost an arm.

Skidding back, breathing heavily as blood spilled from the severed limb and onto the ground. He knew now...he wouldn't have a choice.

"Impressive," Rana spoke in a grating, yet admittant tone, her eyes narrowed at Akisame's form eerily, "you managed to recieve nearly twelve of my strikes before I broke through your guard. You truly are at a Captain's level to fight as hard as you have. You aren't even crying out in pain from your lost arm? You certainly have nerves of steel, I'll give you that much, but its over now," grasping her blade tightly, she raised it high above her head, her predatorial gaze not leaving his wounded form as she prepared for the killing blow, "Adiós, Severo Segadora...!"

SHHHHINK!!!

And with that, Rana swung her blade overtop his form, intending on cutting through his blade and armor, and cutting his other arm off along with his chest, intending on focusing all of her force into the edge of her weapon. She intended to sever the one thing left to stand between her and attaining her vengeance...once and for all!

He thought deeply within his mind. There was no way that he could win at this rate. It was either let her kill him now, or use his last resort...for the first time.

His left arm and weapon spread out, his form beginning to bristle with orange spiritual power as his cape flourished around behind him.

"BAN-KAI!!!!!!!!!"

wrrrRABROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!

As she came within striking distance, the Soul Reaper's form unleased a truly enormous pillar of black and orange spiritual power, completely engulfing both himself...and the Arrrancar within it's superheated gale.

"Bankai...again?!?!?!" Rana thought incredulously, even as backpedaled with an accelerated Sonido, barely escaping the scalding heat of the enormous proportioned pillar that spread out in a ferocious display of projective, dense power, "this boy shouldn't have two forms of Bankai...only the Elite have access to that kind of power! The only one to my knowledge that attained that form of Bankai was Byakuya Kuchiki. And now...first that woman, and this man, both possess that kind of power?!"

Boosh!

The pillar suddenly vanished, revealing an entirely new form of Akisame. There was no armored knight, but rather a muscular demonic human being with ash like colored skin along with red lines that highlight the muscles on his very well toned body. His face concealed by a black mask with a strange crest like piece on it's sides that extends up to his head and conceals all but his yellow eyes, and a strange crown on his head with a fire on it. His attire was that of an orange and black spiritual energy that drags along the ground as if he was a phantom. His hair was now fairly long and red in shade. His weapon is that of a massive two pronged sword that is easily his length. On the end of this blade were three chains that stretch up to his back and leads to three knive like protusions that were stuck within his shoulder.

''"Atarasu no Chikara." ''the being said in a raspy, masked voice as a glowing yellow eye shined out to her.

Tradition & Pride, The Most Powerful Generals Do Battle!
Sōdai's crimson-black eyes locked onto Caius' hollow ones. He knew he entered a battle with possibly one of the most powerful beings on Ultharon's side. Having known a bit of the legacy of the Louisennbairn "Family", Sōdai understood their capabilities and their obsession with one particular goal. Either take Hueco Mundo for themselves, or serve the one to supercede them.

Lowering his ganbai, Sōdai spoke lowly, "Let's settle this, Caius Louissenbairn!"

In return, the Hollow General unseated himself from his mighty steed, walking somewhat closer towards Sōdai's direction as he reached for his thorn handled sword, sheathed within the sheild held in his left hand.

Tscciing!!!!

"Unsheathe your blade, Takuji Sōdai." the being spoke aloud as he drew the shining, razor sharp sword from his sheathe within his blocking device, holding them both in a defensive pose. "For one such as your rank, I would tolerate no less in battle."

"Since you are off your horse...."

TK!

"...its only fitting..."

SHIIIIINK!

"...I unsheathe my sword to kill you like as a warrior, rather than a mundane monster," Sōdai spoke evenly, grasping onto his crimson handled katana, unsheathing it with a loud, menacing grating sound as he let its cool edge reflect off of the lightning flashes high above in the sky.

With one hand on his ganbai and the other on his Zanpakutō, Sōdai's eyes locked onto Caius', briefly readying himself for the conflict to come. The eery moment of silence passed throughout their particular battlefield, despite the echoes and various rises and falling of Spiritual Pressures of various combatants, all that mattered to Sōdai was the present battle at hand.

And then, within an instant...

SWIIING!

"Tenran!"

...it began...

BWHOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

...as within an instant, Sōdai swung his ganbai out towards his opponent, causing an enormous twister to form, expanding to a large torrential mass gale force winds, eventually connecting into the spirit atmospheric storm up above. The resulting twister sent a dust storm of Hueco Mundo's pale sands aloft and awry, causing little to no visibility for his enemy, not to mention swallow anything within its maelstrom grip and throw the awry, if not shred them to pieces from the airborne particles within the swirling winds.

However,

Wa-SIIING!!!!!!

The Hollow General swung his blade up in a right hand corner strike, severing the well placed twister attack clean in half. Had it been another, lesser Hollow with little reaction time, it's likely that the blast would have hit him before he knew it. But thankfully for him, he knew the Kidou attack's weakness all too well.

zzzBRWOOOM!!!!!

From the center of his face, not wanting to possibly hinder the functions of his other two weapons, a small red sphere formed, and within that very second, Caius released a small, condensed beam of Cero energy that, upon impact, would release a powerful explosion upon the Soul reaper.

Within the wake of the explosion however, the lack of Sōdai's presence could clearly be felt, almost as if he used a decoy for Caius to target...

SHFT-SHIIIINK!

...while Sōdai landed just behind the skeletal warrior, swinging his Zanpakutō in a swift, powerful upper cut with his blade, intending on landing a blow on the ancient general, with his red-black eyes wide and staring down his enemy.

CccrrAAAANG!!!!!

Whirling around with impressive speeds of his own, Caius turned just in time to slam his straight sword into the curved, katana held by his enemy. The collision of two such powerful forces created a brief and yet large burst of orange sparks, littering the ground as the skeleton like Hollow turned his blade to the side, grinding it against Soudai's before swinging it to the right to break the hold. When this was finished, he brought his blade down upon the warrior's arm, intent on severing it here and then.

CLAK!

Instead of being met with a parry or open air, Caius' blade met the large mass of the ganbai, swung around in a graceful arc to meet the force of Caius' weapon. However much force was utilized to sever Sōdai's arm however was absorbed into the chasis of the multi-purpose Kidō weapon, and then...

BLAAAM!!!

...discharged into a raw, potent blast of Spirit Energy directly in front of Caius, at point blank, intending on sending him back a distance of not wound him partially.

Was it not for the shield that had been held defensively, he would have been sent flying for sure. But thankfully to the durable and strong material within the shield, Caius was only pushed back a few feet.

Bzzzz!!!!!

He then released an instantaneous, and yet still very powerful condensed Cero from between his eyes once more, this time, aiming to completely disarm him of his reliable Gunbai.

But before the Cero could get far, Sōdai slammed the pole end of his Ganbai into the ground, shouting out, "Danku!"

SPRACK SPRACK-SPRACK-VOOM!!!

Within an instant, the condensed Cero would strike a wall just a few meters in front of Caius, that was interlocked with two others, forming a pyramid type barrier around him. The trapping energy had no other choice, but to detonate...

VRBOOOOOM!!!

...destroying the barriers from within, as well as causing self-inflicting damage assumedly to Caius.

"Impressive..."

SCRRAAAAAACK!!!!!

A fairly large burst of spiritual pressure shot out from the pyramid, shattering it like it were a massive piece of glass. His black cape flourishing from in front of him to behind him, the unscathed Hollow looked towards his enemy with a supposidly empty gaze. "Your prowess in the art of Kidōmagic is admirable indeed."

"Your reflexes are also admirable," Sōdai spoke aloud levely, his eyes capturing each and every move, memorizing for later as he continued to analyze his enemy, "but those spells weren't supposed to destroy you rather than hinder you. There is levels of Kidō much higher than the ones I've displayed, and I've just begun to show you them..."

"Do tell." Caius replied calmly without moving. "I trust you plan to demonstrate these Kidōspells at some point?"

"Oh I will," Sōdai spoke casually, grasping the shaft of the Ganbai before speaking forebodingly, "but this battle will end much too swiftly should I use them hastily. After all, what's one spell..."

TK-SSSZZZZ!

"...to another?" He spoke ominously, as he lifted the pole from the ground, causing a bright sparking light to emanate from the hole he stabbed it into. This gave way to...

CRRRRAAACK-BOOM!

...a large ten meter radius of a electrical pyre of destructive force underneath Caius footing, where he stood his ground. The spell originating from the Hadō #88, Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō, placed directly underneath and remotely triggered by Sōdai himself the moment he slammed the Ganbai into the earth and then taken out of it manually.

"!?" Caius barely had enough time to react. The KidōSpell was so well placed and cleverly triggered beneath him, that he could hardly notice the fact that the blast was going to come from under him. With a split second Sonido, he managed to avoid the majority of the electric onslaught, with only part of his blackened cape taking some of the burn.

Landing a little ways from Sōdai, the Hollow General's eyes shined red briefly, before he pointed his blade up towards the sky.

"Very cunning of you, Takuji Sōdai." He said aloud without changing his pose. "But you're not the only one that can force attacks from different parts of the landscape!"

zzzzzBRWOOOM!!!!!

Suddenly, and with magnificent speeds, several dozen red beams of condensed energy rained down from the stormy skies and directly down upon Sōdai's form.

Sōdai could see each and every form of the condensed Ceros rushing towards him. Like crimson light, bonded into a rain formation, they screamed through the air and intended to land on their target with a colliding affect, utterly annihilating its target all at once. Fortunately for Sōdai...

SPRACK-FZZZZZZT!!!

...it bore similarities to another Kidō, from which he mastered as well, lighting up nearly as many if not equal amount of pink ribbons of energy into spears. Just as they made halfway to their target, he swung his sword outwards...

SPRAAAACK-PHEEEEEW!!!!

...sending them charging upwards and scattering, screaming as they took off, rushing with enough velocity and force of a missile. When each one of them slamming into a Cero high up in the sky, shockwaves of melded scarlet light exploded, thundering high above, causing spherical explosions to emanate high above them, effectively cancelling each other out without any of them touching the ground.

And Caius moved without a hint of hesitation.

WiirSCIIIING!!!!!!

Moving with such speeds that an after shadow of his form remained in his previous spot for a brief second, the Hollow General appeared directly in front ot Sōdai just as the Soul Reaper's Kidōstruck the oncoming Cero barrage, swinging his blade across the man's armored gut with precision and cold strength.

CLAK!

Once again, Sōdai opted to use his free hand's Ganbai as a shield, though the employment was different. As the rift between the two circle shapes caught the blade, redirecting it away from his form. However, instead of absorbing and redirecting the force of the blow...

SSSSSHIIIIINK!!!

...he sent a series of golden chains to wrap around the Vasto Lordes' arm, weapon, and shoulder. Holding him restrictively with the other series of chains wrapped around the Ganbai, it was revealed that the origin spell, Bakudo # 63 Sajō Sabaku, held him with inhuman tensile strength. This allowed Sōdai to pull him upwards, swinging him high in the air...

WHA-CRACK!!!

...before striking him with immense strength into the earth, sending up a large fissure of sand in his wake, intending on delivering some pain to him, if not further his irritation.

"Hmph!" The Vasto Lorde, however, was no light feather to be thrown casually. Although he could definately feel the strength that the Soul Reaper was exerting, as well as the pressure being put into the chains around his arm, his body wouldn't budge save for briefly being pulled a little closer to Soudai's form once the latter pulled.

But then, it was his turn.

SPRAK!!!!!

Using the chains against Sōdai, the Vasto Lorde demonstrated his own show of strength by slamming the flat end of his shield into the Soul reapers exposed head.

"He didn't budge...?!"

Seeing the inevitable movements enacted by his opponent with meticulous, superhuman perception, Sōdai realized the error in his movement. Releasing his hold on the Ganbai just in the knick of time, his form shimmering away via Flash Step to appear directly above him. However, he managed to keep a hold of the chain connecting to a hook on his cuirass of his Kidō armor.

SSSPRAAAACK!

With a vibrant electrical flow running from his hand and all the way to the Kidō enraptured Ganbai. Within a moment, the Ganbai lit up magnimously, discharging a incredible surge of electrical energy and thunderous force at near point blank to the entangled Vasto Lordes. The Kidō's origin, Hadō #63 Raikōhō, ensured it would have an incredibly devestating affect against his opponent, should it successfully hit home.

ZZIT!!!!!

SWOOSH!!!!

But once Sōdai had gone into the air, and by the time he began sending electricity down to the Vasto Lorde's vicinity, Caius successfully used a Sonido to reappear directly to the left of Sōdai. This time, swinging his blade in a powerful, fast flurry of strikes upon the veteran warrior.

''CLANG! CLAK! CRK...!''

Sōdai proceeded to whirl around and return the favor. Ducking, weaving, side-stepping when he couldn't counter, and slashing, thrusting and clashing when he could. The two's slashes created seismic shocks within the air, generating electrical tendrils of violent energies to flay everywhere along with the sparks they were creating from the heated parries and swings of their blades.

BWHOOSH...!

After a brief clash of his blade against Caius, Sōdai and presumedly his opponent backed away, personally not heaving or showing signs of exhaustion rather than a analytically cool gaze. His eyes continued to look and study each and every move his opponent made, and acceleratively store it within his mind so, eventually, he wouldn't need Tamenkyōme to read the blinding movements he made from time to time.

"You have indeed proven to be a capable opponent." Caius replied, also showing no signs of slowing down despite the battle taking place between the two of them. "You haven't even released your Zanpakutō yet and you're proving capable of matching my own prowess."

CLICK-Siiiiiinnnng, clak-c-clak...!

"You're a worthy opponent, but your tactics are getting monotonous," Sōdai spoke aloud with an even tone, grasping a hold of the chain connecting him to his Ganbai, letting it fall to the ground, officially showing that he chose to abandon the heirloom as a secondary weapon. "I think its time I allowed you to see a few of my prized, sacred techniques, including," he continued to speak, lifting his blade up to his side, spinning it wildly until it was nothing but a blurring whirlwhind, "my Zanpakutō's True Form."

"Annihilate them...!!!"

BBBBRRRRROAAAAAAARRR!

Within the spinning movements that quickly created a spinning disc movement of dark burgundy Spiritual Power. That spinning disc grew in size, creating a monstrous crimson tornado to form from the massively powerful release of the Zanpakutō's true form. Once halted by re-grasping the weapon, its transformed state was revealed and Sōdai stared down Caius with a sudden rise of malicious, killing intent.

What appeared in his right hand wasn't a sword, but a long six foot handle & four & 1/2 foot angled crimson blade arcing out from the crude, gnarled black branch-like pole.

"...Satsushobun!!!"

"If that is the plan you choose..." The Hollow General spoke aloud without fear or intimidation, despite being impressed by the Zanpakutō's revealed form. "...then I have no other option, but to do the same!"

zzzzzzzzz.....

The blade of Caius' sword began to glow with a bright blue aura, the thorns around the top of the sword's handle beginning to spread and coil upwards to the sharp end of the too.

BRZZZZZWINK!!!!!!!

With a sudden burst of blue electricity and spiritual power, of which caused the General's black cape to flourish around behind him, the once fine and beautifully designed blade was now a grotesque, organic appearing sword, dotted with fairly large, human like eyes as blue electricity continued to coil around it's nightmarish form.

Holding it up close to himself, with the handle just in front of his face, and the blade pointed up at the sky, he slung it down briefly, before bringing it back up to point at Sōdai in a challenging pose. "Prepare yourself, Takuji Sōdai!"

"I already have, Caius Louisenbairn," swinging his blade so the staff rested diagonally aligned to his back, with his scythe pointing backwards, his left hand held out in a "come-on" gesture as his vivid red-black eyes stared down his opponent, "are you?"

"More than you'll ever realize..." he began, as the weapon began to bristle with a strange energy that Soudai would recognize all too well.

"Hyōga Seiran!"

BZZCRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

And within that very instant, the abomination of a sword released an incredibly massive, freezing blast of of ice that would envelop Soudai's form. Caius, a Hollow, had just used a Kidou spell?!

Monsters & Legends, The Stunning Force of Vengeance!
Kilometers away in the same Spiritual Realm...

BWOOM! BLAM! BRRRK! BA-BA-BA-BA!

...the sounds of a mighty war thundered and echoed in the horizon. As the sounds of Ceros, Kidō, Balas, Zanpakutō, Claws, Talons and Fists were utilized, the forces on both sides delivered critical and dangerous amount of damage to each other.

While on the one hand, the Soul Reaper Allied Forces were fueled by both Hope and Aggression to murder the monsters that slayed so many of their bretheren in the Soul Society as well as kill their superiors, it allowed them to gain an upper hand against the Horde. Latterly speaking, the Horde had an immense quantity of forces on their sides. While even normal Soul Reapers with coordinated tactics and attacks were capable of annihilating a good dozen to two dozen Hollows, all it took was some wayward blasts from a few others to cause the critical injuries or deaths of a few other Soul Reapers.

For the Captains, Officers, and Noble Heads on the other hand...

SSSSSSSSHWOOOM!!!

Kōsei demonstrated just how utterly useless the tactics of overwhelming them individually was. With a single passing sweep of his god-like speed, he was able to tear hundreds of Hollows to shreds in one go, while being able to effortlessly smash and crush each and every enemy proximate to him.

Kōsei Shihōin appeared not too long after Shin'nen's War Council Meet commenced. Accompanied alongside his nephew and niece, Kōsei demanded to be a part of the counterattack. After being allowed to grieve for his daughter's death, he was eager to return the favor ten fold to all Hollows who served their precious, abominatable King.

"Pathetic!"

FWHOOSH-CRACK!

Kōsei shouted out, as he grappled one particularly large, dino-like Hollow before throwing it at a proximate Menos Grande, shattering its mask and causing it to tumble over with a thunderous force, "You're all so simple-minded! You can't hope to beat warriors who've been birthed from pain, discipline, and passion! You're nothing but ignorant animals!"

BOOSH!!!!

Stomping right behind him, would be a Vasto Lorde that perfectly fit his description.

It was the same, massive werewolf like Hollow that had attacked Soul Society during the previous invasion, it's black claws, silver fur, and strange mask all bearing down on the Noble Head with a primal hunger.

'''"RRRAAAAAAAARRR!!!!!!" '''it roared out as it slammed it's right claw upon the man's form.

CLANG-BWHOOSH!

Moving with masterfully unexpected speed, Kōsei blocked the incoming claw strike using the black brass-tinted arm band around his left forearm. The force utilized by the latter's attack was so much that it kicked up a gust of wind, billowing sand behind the sea of corpses surrounding Kōsei's wake. However, Kōsei barely acknowledged the attack, but rather narrowed his eyes dangerously upon the beast.

"So you're one of the monsters serving that abomination?! If I were to find pleasure in killing anything..."

SHFT-BOOM!!!

"...it would be to kill that bastard's right and left hands!!!" Kōsei shouted with vigor, moving with innate speed rivaling the monster's own, and striking the monster's chest, creating such a concussive force, that a blast of wind flew behind the beast before it would be sent flying away from him.

SPLURCH!!!!!!

As well as a massive hole in the beast's chest.

Releasing a painful snarl, it's mask cracking, the beast was all but totaled. Flying back at incredible speeds, blood exploding from his back, it smashed into several buildings, before it's spiritual pressure vanished entirely.

"Hmph!" Kōsei snorted, retracting his arm and clenching his fists tightly, "another taken care of. If only I could destroy all these measly footsoldiers at once, with no fear of harming my allies, I'd find more of these so-called Vasto Lordes. I can't believe the Gotei 13 made such a mockery of themselves over these entities...!"

SHFT!

"...tell me, Ultharon! Do you have anymore shields of meat you'd use to defend yourself?! Anymore subordinates you wish to lead to their slaughter?! I'll kill every last of your ilk if it means to rend you asunder, down the very pits of Hell itself!!!" Kōsei pointed towards the obvious mountain in the distance, feeling the ominous force directly in the horizon.

"Hmm?"

Ultharon, in his massive, armored glory, stood atop the large distant mountain initially with his arms crossed and his head tilted downwards, as if he weren't paying any real heed to the battle that lie just beyond his reach. However, he couldn't help but tilt his head up slightly, a glowing pair of crimson eyes glaring over into the source of the voice that bellowed out to him.

"It appears one of the enemy's strongest is challenging you, my lord." one of the armored Vasto Lorde guards said to it's King. Along witht that guard were several others in similar attire to it, white armor accompanied by full face masks and torn, ragged garbs around their waists stretching down their armored legs and onto their monster like feet. Carrying fairly long spears, with crescent bottom ends and long, sword like tops, they were the elite of Ultharon's guards, the strongest of the army besides the king himself.

"I heard him." the king said with a sort of anxious, low tone as he stood up fully, saying aloud to the Shihouin with a voice that all would hear...and potentially fear.

"There is nothing between us, Soul Reaper." he said as his arms spread to his sides and all of his fingers extended as if he were challenging the mighty warrior. "Come then, if you truly have the courage."

Kōsei could feel the ominous presence in the distance pulsate. Getting the gesture, Kōsei's forehead pulsated veins of rage, his body rearing back in the corpse-ridden landscape. And with a leap...

BWHOOOSH!!!

...he jettisoned himself like a rocket towards Ultharon, with such force that it created a 1/4 of a mile radius crater, sending many of the Hollow corpses, flying with enough force to have an airstream ignite towards his intended target.

"ULTHARON!!!!" He yelled out with rage, as his body flew towards the mountain, his body literally enraptured in atmospherically frictioned flames, rushing towards him with a vividly imposing gait.

The guards readied themselves, preparing for their ultimate fight, and ready to fufill their duty to their King, the Sovereign of Hueco Mundo!

"No." Ultharon gestured with a wave of his hand, calmly as if he weren't concerned with the spiritual wraith of fire that was charging directly towards him. This caused the guards to pause briefly in confusion, but none of them were foolish enough to question the King's orders.

ZZZZZZZZZSRRTRRRRRCRAAAACK!!!!!!!!

But then, before Kōsei could actually get to Ultharon, a sudden, massive string of electricity appeared several meters in front of Kōsei. Before it materialized in the form of a massive ball of electric power and charged right towards the man. At the head of the bolt, was the masked figure from before, the one who had assisted the King in the siege of Soul Society...

Kōsei's eyes briefly widened, but only to show a vein protrude further along his exposed forehead. With a bright blue electrical aura of Spiritual Power wrapped around his own fist, he swung his fist, roaring out, "Out of my way, worm!"

BWWWRRRAACK!!!

The force and speed of his fist intended on repelling his wraith-like foe, intending on matching the same wave of power he was projecting from his own pulsations within the electrical force surging towards him.

SMASH!!!!!!

The fist slammed into the electric-augmented form's chest, with such force that the mask of the man shattered, revealing a somewhat youthful man with tan skin, and a slight bit of facial hair around his lower face's form, saliva and blood spewing out of his mouth and nose as he was sent flying away from the enraged Clan Head, into the distance, and out of view.

Now, nothing stood between him and his target...

"Tch!" Kōsei spat towards where his obstacle of an opponent flew, turning towards Ultharon and seeing the collective guard surrounding him, "I see you still have some men left standing. Very well then," grasping his cloak, he flung it off his shoulders, revealing massive rippling muscles and two distinctive black shuriken tattoos on his shoulders. As the cloak would fly in the wind, the brief sign of the Shihōin Clan symbol would flutter before Ultharon's eyes before it flew down the mountain, "I will have to crush them before dealing with you!"

With such a powerful force coming at them, the guard's instincts in protecting their King suddenley took hold of them, well, three of them at least.

WHOOSH!!!!!

All three of the armored entitites descended upon the Shihoin's form, spears in tow as they all prepared to cleave the man into pieces...

Kōsei moved his arms so he could grasp a pair of bolts, locking the brass weight-like armbands around his arms. Unscrewing the pair, two of ten, his body suddenly pulsated an ominous, powerful force...

SSSSSSPRAAAAAACK-FZZZZZZZT!!!

...before his Spiritual Power lit up in a dauntingly, vibrantly fiercesome nostalgic appearance in front of Ultharon. The appearance of Shunkō's properties vibrantly electrocuted with his innate electric aura, frying them so frighteningly, it almost bore a semblence to what would happen if Ryūjin Jakka struck its own targets.

All three of the guards were instantly incincerated by the blast.

Ultharon, however, stood unfazed, even chuckling slightly.

"Poor souls...I warned them to stay back and yet, they disobeyed me. I suppose I need a serious change in security, hm?" he asked rhetorically.

"Such power..." the other guard from before mused with astonishment. "Three of the High King's guards...how did you accomplish such a feat???"

Kōsei turned his head to regard the Hollow King with disgust. The fact he had sacrificed so many of his subordinates for his own entertainment as well as potential protection from him, made him angrier than before. He had no qualms with these beasts...other than they served their corrupt king.

But when he heard one of his guards speak out, he turned to face his gaze upon him, defusing his Shunkō briefly so he could present his answer properly to the warrior....

Cling-Jing!

Kōsei held up his right arm brand, tapping it with his left hand in demonstration and explanation, "These brands are specifically designed for me. From work of our finest smiths and technology, I was able to attain mastery in restraining my Spiritual Power. For your see, my Spirit Energy is monstrous and nearly uncontrollable at first. These brands were at first used as a form of training mechanism for myself as a youth. Later, they became a form of a handicap I use when in battle. Gauged by each bolt I slide out, I release a percentage of my strength. Two of ten bolts, I am now releasing 1/5 of my Spiritual Power..."

SHFT-TAP!

Moving with such blinding, silent speed, Kōsei's form appeared before Ultharon and the assembled guards, looking at Ultharon in particular, "I'm surprised you're so calm, oh Hollow King, in the face of such powers assembled against you! I will teach you fear, along with all those standing by your blasphemous side!"

To this, the Hollow King chuckled lowly as his pose remained, though the vigilant guard raised his spear in a defensive pose, hints of anxiety could be seen in his motions.

"A lesson, from you?" Ultharon said with sinister amusement, raising a concealed eyebrow. "No, dear Soul Reaper. The only lesson that will be learned today, is just how inferior you all are, in comparison to me..."

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!!!"

SSSSRRRKK-VRRROAAAAR!!!

"By the time I'm done, I'll make you regret ever stepping foot in the Soul Society, not only killing my comrade and rival, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, but my daughter, Yoruichi Shihōin!" Kōsei roared out, his body flaring up with a mighty roar of Spiritual Power, shining in an electrical field while crushing the earth of the mountain beneath him, electrifying its crevices and the atmosphere for a great distance, as well as send waves of ominously volatile energy around him.

Unfazed, his red cloak flourishing behind him wildly from the display of power without revealing his legs or any of his lower body, the King simply held his arms out slightly.

"Your friend's foolish pride is what caused his demise, and your spawn got herself killed while trying to defy the inevitable." he said in a gawking tone. "But you, on the other hand, are here out of vengeance, something that can lead to great power..."

He then tilted his head to the left slightly. "Show me just how far your hatred can take you."

"RAAAAAH!!!"

SHFT-CRACK-BOOM!

Moving with such incredible speed, Kōsei slamming his fist towards Ultharon, projecting a powerful electrified coated concussive wave, intending send Ultharon back. He'd follow up with another, and another, fueling his immense strengthened by the rapid-paced punches, quaking and tearing apart the face of the mountain they stood upon.

However, as soon as the first strike descended upon him, the armored Sovereign raised a single arm up, holding his other, spare arm back as the Clan Head's fist slam against the heavily plated gauntlet. Upon impact, the shock wave was released, engulfing the entire mountain.

Leaving their fates unknown...

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"What the Hell is that?!" Shinji asked aloud, in a brief pause in his battle, making nearly most if not all forces take a brief stall in their combat to witness the bright flash of light, along with a near deafening release of Spiritual Pressure clashing with the ominous presence within the black mountain beyond, "it almost feels like the old man's!"

Kyōraku smiled, still having his hat on though his pink kimono had been discarded before the battle had started. Looking to the horizon he tipped his hat up with the edge of his Shikai blade, speaking aloud in awe, "Its the old man's rival, Kōsei-sama. They had been at each other's throats for nearly as long as the Gotei 13 that Yama made had been instituted. With him gone..."

"...as well as news of his daughter's demise before that, he finally reached a breaking point," Jushirō summed up, holding his own twin set of Shikai nearby.

Off in the distance, several oddly shaped shadows peered over at the group of Soul Reapers...

"I guess these Hollows don't know the meaning of a time-out," Kyōraku joked, raising his blades once more into a ready stance.

"That they don't," Jushirō commented back, allowing himself to ready himself back into his combat state, "let's give them a good warm-up then!"

"If we have to," Shinji acted in a mock lazy attitude, before lunging forward, "let's kick their asses!"

All three Captains charged at the shadowy figures, moving in an attempt to restart the battle, shortly before the war cries, explosions, and screams renewed in the air.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Roar...!"

SSSSSSHIIIINK-SPLURCH-SPLURCH-CRACK!

"...Zabimaru!" Renji began hacking away at another dozen Hollows, his Shikai swirling around, whipping through a good few pieces of flesh, bone, and Hollow masks.

"Reap..."

SSSSSSHIIINK-SLIT-SLIT-SLIT!

"...Kazeshini!" Shūhei called out, slicing through his own proximate group of Hollows.

"Growl..."

WHOOOSH-SLLLLLICE!!!

"...Haineko!" Rangiku herself swung her ashen wind of microscopic blades into a group of Hollows.

SHFT-SHFT-SHFT!

It wasn't until all three of the Lieutenants were back to back, raising their respective Shikais around their forms, watching carefully for anymore charging Hollows. While they weren't wounded to any heavy degree, just scratches burns and scrapes adorning their visages, they were starting to show the strain in their eyes in their ongoing battle.

"This is almost pointless! No matter how many we cut down, they just keep coming!" Renji growled in frustration, turning his eyes to and fro from the shadows, as well as the large pile of Hollow Corpses.

"We are doing better as a team, but we're going to exhaust ourselves if we don't have another pause that immense Spiritual Pressure of Kōsei's gave us," Rangiku spoke aloud, a drop of sweat falling down her scalp as she looked around in alertness as well.

"Our battle is just to draw them away, not actually win," Shūhei spoke with a calm, stoic tone as he looked on with understanding upon the approaching Hollows, "as long as we take care of the main force, our Captains can handle the Generals. If we take down all the Generals, we will be able have an easier time taking the rest apart as their self acclaimed god falls down from his tower..."

However, a fairly larger number of Hollows all began to charge at the three Vice Captains. Several of them were actually rather large, being nearly 13 feet high, but they were in the dozens. It appeared that they had the jump on the Vice Captains....

"Breathe..."

But then...

BRRWEEEOW!!!!!!

"Kyosei!"

A blue tinted, see through sphere of energy erupted in the middle of the group of Hollows, sending nearly all of them flying and screaming away into the air. Some of them trailed blood, as a result of several lossed limbs from the sheer concussive force that was previously used.

In the clearing was a fairly tall, blue haired figure, wearing an intriquite black and silver coat, as well as holding a beautiful, black and silver katana with a silver handle and tsuba. He stood calmly with his blade pointed towards the ground. One Hollow staggered towards him, attempting to at least land one hit on this person....

Wink...

Srrick!!!

Briefly holding the weapon up, and then slicing it towards the Hollow without even looking at it, the blade stuck right into the creature's neck, with such force, that the head tilted to the right...and then fell off.

"Geeze," Renji blinked widely in sync with Rangiku, seeing such brutal force initiated and employed against their would-be Hollow attackers, "didn't know Kitsui-san was so...brutal..."

"Ehhhh? He got them all?" Rangiku bent over, subsequently causing her large bouyant chest to jiggle and bounce, as she raised her hand to her eyes, peering left and right to where all the Hollows were slain, "that's impressive..."

"What took you so long?" Was the only response a cool toned Shūhei asked the approaching officer of the 1st Division, "I was wondering if you got lost through this labyrinth of husks and corpses to find our reendevous point..."

"That's the problem, Vice Captain Hisagi..." Kitsui stated calmly as he slung his blade to the left, slinging the red blood from his blade cleanly as he walked towards them in a cool manner. "...I did. It seems that our former meeting of Clan Nobles and reservists was full of plenty of capable warriors."

"But this isn't like the last war," Rangiku pointed out, crossing her arms to be resting just below her bountifully large chest, "the last war we didn't need to send every Soul Reaper at our disposal while leaving a bare minimum defense force back at the Seireitei. The last war, we didn't NEED every available warrior the Noble Houses could provide due to the importance of their well being and the future of the Soul Society's security. And we never had to wage a war of this magnitude against such an immense force that we're fighting nearly kilometers apart from our allies in a sea of corpses and angry Hollows. We need you, as well as every officer, now more than ever."

"She's right. Don't discount yourself or the importance of your abilities in this battle, along with everyone else in this battle," Renji spoke aloud, propping the flat of his Shikai on his shoulder as he nodded to Kitsui's direction, giving him a level stare as well.

"I'm not discounting my own abilities." the man replied plainly as he came to all three of them. "And you're right, we do need every capable warrior we have at this point.."

He then looked up towards the large mountain, where the leader of their enemies resided. "...because with that monster on their side, the possibility of victory seems all the more slim."

"He will not win," Shūei spoke aloud, narrowing his eyes as he looks up to the mountain, "can you feel it? He is not holding back or even restraining his own Pressure. He's not an entity who stands at the top of the mountain. He who has no fear of his own power, nor of his enemy's, makes him weaker than he realizes," looking back to the others with a knowing look, he nodded before speaking firmly, "we will win this war!"

"I can only hope that you're right, Vice Captain Hisagi..." the blue haired man continued as his gaze turned up towards the mountain.

"I can only hope..."

Unexpected Arrivals, Rallying Cry for the Fallen!
"How pitiful..."

At the top of the mountain...was Ultharon. A few burn marks on his form, nothing numerous or serious, even with smoke radiating from them, as well as a few small holes in his massive, outspread wings, he held out the powerful Clan Shihōin Head by his throat, victorious in their previous bout. His burns and holes slowly began to heal as he spoke.

"So this is as far as your vengeance can take you?" he said with slight dissapointment. "Shame...I expected better..."

CLAMP-SQUEEZE!

"Not...done...yet!" Kōsei suddenly opened his eyes, grasping Ultharon arm at its elbow joint, squeezing with an unknown tenacity, while he reached up and grasped for the remaining sealing bolt on his arm band.

"??!" To this, Ultharon's eyes widened briefly. After actually having to try somewhat to defeat this foe, with slighlty more effort than that of his fight with Yamamoto, this being still had the strength to defy him???

But then, his gaze calmed, as he tightened the force put onto the man's neck to prevent him from any more action. "Admirable, your endurance is." he commented as he began to strangle the man to death. "But it doesn't matter. I will now let you die in terror of my might. And witness the true power of my ancestry!"

He then let his gaze squint as if he were grinning behing his mask. "And to think, you actually thought you could avenge two of my victims...how pathetic..."

"Careless of me to conserve...my power...I should've known...not to...leave...behind...my...," Kōsei began to think, failing to pull out his last sealing bolt, as well as any chance of overpowering his opponent. As he felt his air leave his lungs and his throat further constrict, he truly felt unable to beat this entity.

vvvvvrrrrrrrrrrROOOOOOOM!!!!

Then...an ominous Spiritual Pressure began to rise throughout the air. Every corner of every battlefield of the main force could feel it, once again, temporarily halting the majority of the fighting. And then, it could be felt nearest to Ultharon...

SSSSHIIIIINK-CLINK-BWOOOOM!!!!

Before a Zanpakutō flew from the sky, stabbing directly behind Ultharon where the cliff face was. The force utilized was enough to sever nearly a 1/4 of a mile tall slab, with nearly twenty meters of it falling off the mountain's edge. Should he turn to see the entity, he would see a fiery eyed, orange haired young man, holding a cleaver Shikai to prop it on his shoulder. Both his vibrantly powerful Spiritual Power and his gait seemed much different than the others. More focused...and purposed.

The armored king's eyes widened this time, out of more shock than before. Turning his head to the left, while his main form faced forward, a glowing red eye glared over at the newcomer with a strange sense of...uncertainty.

"What is this...?"

"The name's Ichigo Kurosaki," the young man spoke, his eyes filled with a restrained anger only fueled by focus and...confidence, "Substitute Soul Reaper. I hear that you're the one that wrecked the Soul Society and killed the old man. Any truth to that, ugly?"

"Kuro...saki???" the being asked, tossing his former victim to the side as he turned around fully to face the boy. It was not out of arrogance or of amusement, but rather...astonishment. It was as if he had never seen, and after feeling the man's vast and yet...controlled spiritual power...

"A True Blood...alive?!" he said lowly and with apparent frustration.

"You're the second freak who's called me that, but whatever," Ichigo spoke out in irritation, beginning to walk towards the entity while keeping his sword propped onto his shoulder as he went, with his eyes narrowed and his tone cool, "I believe I'm not here to be stared at all day. I asked you a question: Did you destroy the Soul Society and kill the old man?"

Here, the being's astonishment returned to it's tone of amusement.

"I'll let you take a guess, Human." he said with a tilt of his head and squinted eyes. "I've also killed several others, some i'm sure that you're familiar with. Would you like to hear their names? I managed to catch a glimpse of their true soul and mind before I sent them to Hell, after all-"

SHIIIINK-VRROAAAAR!!!

With a single movement of Ichigo's Zanpakutō blade, a massive geyser of blue-white cutting Spiritual Energy was released onto the being's torso area, nearly engulfing the entiriety of the particular cliffside. A vengeful glare glowed hotly within the blue reflectiong of his Getsuga Tenshō's energies. With a confession directly from the known source, he had no reason to hold back or stop attacking this monster...this demon...before killing him in the most painful manner possible.

However...

bursh!!!

Upon making impact with the entities form, the massive blast of energy was completely dispelled, without the monster even moving as he slowly began to walk towards Ichigo. "You'll have to do better than that, Kurosaki Ichigo..."

However, Ichigo was already gone...

SHFT-SLAM-CRRRK!!!

...having deftly used a masterful Flash Step to appear behind Ultharon's backside, swinging his blade in sync with his arrival. Employing such immense strength as he demonstrated with the cleaving off the mountain side, intention being to cut into his back before he lit up the blade's edge...

"Getsuga..."

VRRRRBOOOM!!!

"...TENSHŌ!!!" Releasing a massive crescent wave of cutting power onto the beast, intending on delivering a critical wound upon the beast, where Kōsei's own Shunkō's energies worked incredibly hard to achieve.

"That's more like it..."

The armored demon, past the smoke, was still barely scathed from the impact, though he could admit, he did feel a slight sting from the blast itself. He then turned his head to glance over at the human casually. "Now, surely you can do more than just that?"

"Not even a scratch?! What the Hell is this guy made out of?!" Ichigo thought frustratedly, as his eyes widened from seeing the beast turn around, taunting him openly. He tried hitting him with Getsuga Tenshō up front and he batted it away. He landed a solid hit with his Shikai and discharged it again, but barely scratched him. Glaring up at him, he swung his blade towards him, before slapping his left palm onto his right arm that extended out.

"BAN-KAI!"

VVVVRRRROAAAAAAARRR!!!!

And with that, Ichigo discharged such a collosal release of Spiritual Power, released in a vibrant release of teal blue energy and spiritronic smoke. A twister formed up high in the sky, blowing back everything as the tidal wave of Spiritual Energy flew past Ultharon, enveloping his form and everything on the mountain top, charging down its cliff faces and into the valley surrounding it.

SSSSHIIINK!

Dissipating the vortex of Energy and Wind, laid the stoic standing Ichigo, garbed in his black 'X' enamored Bankai trappings. With a black curved katana in his right hand and a pair of forearm length gloves on either hand, Ichigo looked renewed with vigor and confidence than before.

"Tensa Zangetsu..."

"Hmm?" the King mused as he turned fully to face the Bankai garbed warrior. Something was...different, about this boy's Bankai. Something that seperated it from the rest. It felt as if all of that amazing power that Ichigo had previously displayed...was all compressed down, almost as if his powers had taken a tone down nearly. If anything, he could pass it off as nothing more than a mere weak-link...

...but he had learned along time ago what had happened when he underestimated an opponent.

"Interesting Bankai..." he continued with a cross of his arms.

"You're only seeing the surface of my powers, Ultharon," Ichigo spoke lowly, his eyes glowing blue as his body brimmed with focus and resolve, "now, I'm going to show you...what real power is!"

SHFT-TANG-BOOM!!!

Within an instant of him saying that, Ichigo moved past Ultharon, vaulting over him, not before slashing with even greater strength and cutting power across his neck, intending on delivering a fatal, critical blow. If nothing else, he wanted him to stagger, and turn around to see Ichigo facing him in the same pose as before.

But unfortunatley, as it was with the previous Commander, all it did was make the monster flinch.

"I see..." he said with keen interest. "Your Bankai compresses all of your power down, and thus allows you to move at nigh incredible speeds."

"I should've known his hide couldn't be penetrated by my blade alone. It was worth the try though," Ichigo kept his stoic gaze upon him, before utilizing his Flash Step again, appearing just under Ultharon's guard, before his blade lit up with a magnificent torrent of black-red Spiritual Energy. Roaring out within the moments that he prepped it as he was in motion, he released his technique with those two words...

"Getsuga Tenshō!!!!"

SSSSSRRRVRRROAAAARRR!!!!

BOOOM!!!

Within a point blank flare of a monstrous explosion, the Getsuga Tenshō flourished around the monster as well as explode with a potency of a zero point bomb. Cracking it effectively as well as sending a secondary shockwave down below, blowing back all the observors at the base of the mountain.

But as the blast came towards him, Ultharon's eyes squinted, and he grinned behind his helmet.

"Now I see...!"

SNATH!!!!!

Grasping the oncoming blast with his right hand, the red-black wave of pure power remained in his grasp. It began to funnel and bristle around his arm as he began to hold up said arm into the air. The Getsuga Tensho began to form itself into that of a curved blade, an extension of his arm really.

FWOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!

BOOOOOM!!!!!!!

He then swung it down, releasing the powerful, Hollow tampered energy blast right back at it's source...

"Just like Kisuke said! He can manipulate Hollow-based Energy!" Ichigo's eyes widened as Ultharon grasped the energy, twirling it around and rearing it towards him, "however..."

BLAAAAAAMSSSSSSfffffttt....!

"I see you're a lot tougher to kill than I thought," Ichigo spoke through the smoke. his left hand extended as his body remained untouched from the redirected Getsuga Tenshō. Small trails of black-red energy flaked off his fingers before he clenched his hand once again, staring at him stoically, "that's a petty trick you got there. Using the Hollow energy within others against them. Its no wonder you made Hueco Mundo feel foul. You've warped everything around you just by existing...!"

Ultharon released a cackle in response, spreading his arms to the side. "But of course! I've made this realm exactly what it needs to be! A sovereignity! A rulership! A divided and war torn world united under one wing! You, you may have hollow within you, deep inside of your soul, but you will never see the world as we do! What I have done here, is nothing but sheer beauty..."

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Ichigo snarled out, waving his left hand out to the valley below, as a resuming of explosions, cries, and screams permeated below, "I've met your kind, Ultharon! You have potential to BE great! Hollows have the capacity to learn! Love! Dream! Hope! I've met some of the best Hueco Mundo has to offer...and I don't think this mindless slaughter is something any of your kind want! If they wanted it, they would've have done it without you F***ING their minds up!"

"A naive viewpoint..." he continued in a calm reply. "We don't feel, as you do. We don't care, as you do. Who were these Hollows? How long did you know them...?"

His eyes then widened, before squinting back down in sinister joy. "Ohohooho...You're talking about that one Arrancar, the former tres Espada...the one who planned to kill you as soon as she could..."

"H-How does he know about her...?!" Ichigo's eyes widened and he gasped, almost disbelieving this entity would know about her. But he gritted his teeth, tightening his hold on his Zanpakutō before pointing it at him, "You don't know what your talking about! She protected me with my life, when I was unable to fight anymore! She has done nothing but sacrificed herself in order to protect the things she's cherished the most! She hates bloodshed as a human being would! So don't...compare yourself..."

SSSHFT-CLANG-BOOM!

"...TO HER!!!!" Ichigo swung his Getsuga augmented Zanpakutō towards Ultharon's face, before swinging it in swift repitition, his body flourishing with vibrant blue Spiritual Power, "RRRAAAAAAAH!"

Holding up his right arm and blocking the strikes with little visible effort, the creature spoke in a rather knowing, calm tone despite the power put into the attacks.

"Don't be so short sighted. You know without a doubt that anything related to a Hollow is a monster, regardless of their actual race." he went on as he continued to block the strikes. "You've felt it, she's felt it, I feel it every second of every day. No matter how hard they try to conceal it, no matter how hard they try to fight it, a Hollow will always feel the need to consume others. Arrancar are no different, and if a Vizard does not contain themselves properly, they will feel it too. Every time she looked at you, the thought of devouring you became stronger and stronger."

He then squinted his eyes as he grabbed hold of the blade, and then slung both it and it's wielder a great distance. "Face it, human. She would have betrayed you at any given time if you weren't vigilant enough..."

"SHUT UP!!!-"

SHFT-BOOM!!!

What startled Ichigo next was something he didn't expect. A startlingly swift visage blurred behind Ultharon, striking at his head with such force that it was nearly double if not triple the strength Ichigo was retaining. It attempted to send Ultharon a good distance across the mountain top and away from Ichigo in general.

"-the Hell?!"

The entity landed directly before Ichigo and in between him and Ultharon. Staring vividly, stoically, and with as much confidence as Ichigo showed when he first arrived, the Arrancar of the topic itself, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.

"Hrrr...speak of the devil, it seems." Ultharon flinched after being, what felt to be, butted in the back of his head, and then seeing the green haired woman from before standing to face him.

"Please speak no more, Ultharon," Nelliel spoke aloud, her renewed white cloak flourished dramatically with her turquoise hair, as her grey eyes stoically stared upon his form, "you only sound more like the fool you really are, with your prattle ringing in the air."

"N-Nel?!" Ichigo stared disbelievingly, after all these years, seeing his compatriot and friend in her original form. The one she assumed to protect him, as she's doing once again, "what are you doing here?!"

"I've come to help you, Ichigo," Nelliel smiled, her tone musical and her eyes brightened as she turned her head to face him, "but this time, I'm here to fight by your side, rather than behind or in front of you. This time, we will fight him as one. You understand?"

"Yeah," Ichigo spoke in acknowledgement, feeling a bit relieved before asking more pointedly, "but your arrival seems a bit...coincidental. How did you know where to find me?"

"Please," she spoke insistantly, giggling as she raised her left gloved hand to her mouth, winking at him, "that massive wave of Spiritual Pressure knocked down nearly both armies that were engaged below. If anything, you should've asked how I couldn't find you."

"R-Right..." Ichigo twitched, realizing sheepishly how often he usually gives off that impression.

"But if you want to know the real reason," Nelliel spoke in a more neutral, genuine tone as she turned her gaze back to Ultharon, "is that I'm part of the other army...the army sent here to recclaim Hueco Mundo from the bastardized king."

"Other army...?" Ultharon began to muse with a raised eyebrow, but then, they squinted in annoyance as he felt the area around them. What she was saying was certainly true...and most annoying.

"Oh...that army..." he then said with an annoyed tone. "Seems the half breeds are going to actually try to over throw me, hm?"

"Wait a minute! What army! Aren't all the Hollows under his control?! Aren't you in danger being here?!" Ichigo asked in a suddenly frantic tone, but was cut off when the young appearing woman raised her gloved hand to press her finger onto Ichigo's mouth.

"Coyote Starrk is leading them. Do not worry," Nelliel spoke with a gentle, soft tone, keeping her finger pressed to his lips despite his protests, "and we are an exception to Ultharon's sovereignty. We are attuned to the Flow of Hueco Mundo," she then turned her gaze back to Ultharon, as her vague words eerily traveled to the latter's ears, "he cannot control us more than he can control his own fate," releasing his lips with her fingers, she then leaned in and whispered in his ear, "as long as I am by your side, I will not fall to any force in the Universe, Ichigo. I will always fight by your side and be here for you. Never doubt that..."

"I-I-I won't," Ichigo spoke aloud in a near dumbfounded state, finding himself blushing slightly as he couldn't help but feel in awe of this young woman. Despite how different of worlds and origins they came from, they fought for similar ideals, beliefs, and goals: protect what they cherish most. "you can count on it!"

"Then he will no longer control you," Nelliel smiled, turning her visage back to Ultharon, with her facial features shfiting back into her stoic and controlled form. Grasping onto the hilt of her Zanpakutō, she began to unsheathe it, her body glowing with her innate Spiritual Pressure as she redirected her speech back to him, "sorry to keep you waiting, Ultharon. We're going to end this once and for all!"

"We're knocking you down from your mountain, and your throne!" Ichigo spoke aloud back, his power seemingly in a different manner. As his body glowed, so did hers. And then, at once...

VRRRROAAAAAAR!!!!

VRRRROAAAAAAR!!!!

They both projected powerful pillars of Spiritual Power, sending a shockwave of energy and buffeting wind that wafted the mountain and blew around them. With both pair of stoic visages, they almost appeared parallels of each other. Both with the same determination to bring the nightmare terror to its knees. But much to their surprise as well...

BOOOM-ROAAAR!!!

"Don't count me out of this fight yet!" Kōsei shouted out, landing heavily while projecting his fullest power, with both of his braces on the ground and no restraints holding him back, "all three worlds will clash against you, monster! And we will finally be rid of your presence once and for all!"

Ultharon smirked, tilting his head slightly as their spiritual pressures all skyrocketed in front of him in a beautiful display of power.

"Then I suppose I have no choice..." he began, his form beginning to bristle with crimson energy..."but to show you all, TRUE FEAR!!!!!!!"

RRRRAABROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His form then unleashed an absolutely daunting, trembling and truly mighty pillar of red energy that quickly out grew the sizes of all three of the combatants before him. The sky began to clear, revealing a blood red haze and several stars high into the air, a sight previously not seen in Hueco Mundo in forever.

"Prepare youselves, insects..." he said with a demonic visage behind the pillar of energy, beginning to walk towards him as his glowing, satanic eyes glared at them with near primal anticipation. "...for you will all die atop this mountain, and all of the hope you've conjured will be crushed under my feet!"

Hope Fights On! Only a matter of time...
"Ultharon is starting to get serious," Shin'nen spoke aloud, flanked by his trusted advisors. Kitsui's shadow, having insistantly stayed to be at his side for tactical purposes for which Shin'nen agreed to. Kisuke Urahara, the one whom brought Ichigo among other allies to the battlefront to aid in the fighting. And finally Coyote Starrk, whom had been watching his own forces join the fighting, quickly reinforcing exhausted Soul Reaper forces and bring the fight to the abominable army.

"I know you're still on the lookout for that weapon, the Tamakujo," Kisuke voiced aloud the young commander's thoughts, not bothering to lock eyes with him, "but if Ultharon hasn't used it now, he probably won't until he's convinced none can oppose him."

"I can't abandon the battlefield," Shin'nen spoke firmly, his eyes locked onto the many different battlefields from which ranks from Officers, Lieutenants and Captains held, continually giving their all in this bloody war, "not while they are fighting their hardest."

"I'm not going to be able to hold back either," Coyote openly admitted, his tone a lot more serious than anyone who's met him before would acknowledge, "my blood within me...Lilynette's...my soul tells me I have to get in there and do some damage on my own. But I'm afraid none of us will be able to keep on the sidelines for much longer..."

"We can't afford to." the calm voice of Tier Halibel spoke to Starrks left side. "Both sides have already sacrificed so much, any more, and we may not be able to make a difference. Ultharon and his forces will succeed."

"Oi! That's not very encouraging!" Coyote insisted with a berift tone, looking at her with an uncharacteristically chastizing tone and stare, "we've come to reinforce them, not tell them about the damned odds!"

"I want to make sure his Generals to the East of us are defeated," Shin'nen spoke cooly, referring to the forces that were around the toppled Las Noches, "when I hear the confirmation from any of our warriors there, most undoubtedly you, Raiken, then I will leave the battle and take it to Ultharon."

"Regardless, Ichigo and the others are battling fiercely on that mountain. As long as they continue fighting, we can expect morale to be quite high," Kisuke spoke aloud in thought, tapping a fan against his lips before flapping it out, hiding his jawline as he looked cooly back at the others, "of course, if they are defeated soundly, the opposite will do the same to our men and Ultharon's forces. We have to wrap this up quickly, or else this war will be over before it can be won..."

"Since when are you so optimistic all of a sudden, Starrk?" Tier looked over at him with her thin, glistening green eyes along with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"It appears that when I lost Lilynette...I absorbed her personality and essence within myself," Coyote spoke a bit more solemnly, clearing his throat out of embarassment of his outburst in front of his peers, "hence why I am more willing to lead our forces than I would've without her at my side. We now fight as one, but I am still Coyote Starrk."

"Hm." she replied, turning her gaze back to the battlefield. "Well, knowing her personality, I suppose I can tolerate it. I'm more used to you not wanting to do anything with yourself."

"Well, its time I participated anyways," Coyote spoke aloud, unsheathing his blade in a slow meticulous manner, before flourishing it out effectively, "I'll try to buy the army some more time while we wait to hear back that its all clear near Las Noches Point Zero. Wish me luck..."

BZZT!

And with that, the former Primera shimmered away, using his Sonido to close the distance between the overseeing generals and the combatants below. It was now only a matter of time...

Wrath of the Thunder Hornet! The First Battle's Climax!
"I don't understand..."

Cervantes took a step forward, towards his newly transformed opponent. For her to have another Bankai...seperate from the one that his King had told them about...was something that not even he could comprehend. "You have a seperate Bankai?"

"That's an educated guess, but incorrect," Seu-Fon spoke aloud in a neutral tone, holding her left hand up, showing off all five fingers to possess the same type of needle blade as her Shikai had, "My Bankai's Long-Range form, Jakuhō Raikōben, is an effectively one-shot attack with little to no chance of being able to survive it. I prefer using it against much more slower and larger opponents, and I would hardly call upon it. It disgusts me using such a clumsy and contrary weapon to my beliefs. This form I show you now, is my Bankai's Truest Form of Attack and Assassination, Suzumebachi Raikōjōi. You could say I...enjoy fighting most...when I am donning this form of my Bankai."

"I see..." he replied in a calm tone, now realizing that the Bankai that he had heard of was merely another form of his foe's Bankai, and that he was facing the real, preferred incarnation of her true power. "I will admit, Soul Reaper. You have me at a disadvantage, and it's made me quite nervous...."

He then crouched low, his arms spread to his sides and all of the energy blades on his back sprouted as if they were wings. "...Let us hope that you can push me as far as to reveal, why I am referred to as 'The Wraith!'"

SHFT!

"Show me," Seu-Fon spoke aloud, but directly behind him, with her afterimage dissipating into a yellow-black flash with her crossed arms and a few meters away from him, "I'm anticipating that you're going to give it your all. Well, show me this power, Wraith."

"?!" he barely had time to react. She had appeared directly behind him...out of his line of senses...that quick!!?

SFIWOOOSH!!!!!

His cloak billowing behind him, he whirled around and kicked right towards her gut area with great force.

SHFT-WHAM!

Seu-Fon disappeared once more, her Flash Steps much faster and in a incredibly different league in comparison to her prior employments. Her form reappeared directly behind him once more, but en route with slamming her armored right hand into his jaw's right side, intending on using inhuman force to split an pressurized air pocket while sending him reeling away from her position.

"NRRRRRGH!!!!!" he grunted aloud, his jaw moving to the right as if it were going to be dislocated, before he was sent flying away from his previous vicinity. Quickly spiraling onto his feet, dragging along the ground, blood began coming from his mouth as he glared back towards her. "Too fast...!"

SHFT!

Seu-Fon reappeared behind the Vasto Lorde, her fist curled back as the vertically aligned, pointed shoulder pauldron crackled out, shifting crackling electrical-based Spiritual Energy into her arm.

"Raikō Tsuchi!" cried out, slamming her her Spiritually Empowered fist into Cervantes' back

CRACK-BWOOM!!!

...creating a thunderous, yellow blast of explosively released Spiritual Energy that became melded with her inhuman strike.

Blurch!!!!

Upon making contact, the blast ran straight through the Vasto Lorde's back and out of his chest. He couldn't even make a sound, the pain was almost numbed from just the sheer speed and shock put into it. He knew right then and there, he wasn't going to last long...

"That was for my mentor! Lady Yoruichi Shihōin!" Seu-Fon spoke evenly with a vengeful tone behind her voice, retracting her fist before walking around him to face him. She looked upon him with an angry ire, reflected in the thunderclaps and flashes crossing her vengeful form. Extending her clawed fingers, she spoke aloud, "and this..."

SHIIINK-SPLURCH-SPLURCH-SPLURCH!

"...is for my superior, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto!" Seu-Fon spoke aloud with finality as she plunged her needle blades into the three Hōmonka marks on his chest, injecting the for certain lethal poison into the Vasto Lordes' body.

''"hrk!!!" ''he grunted as he felt all three needles run into his chest, and then feeling the lethal venom run into his system. He was all but finished, his eyes beginning to roll into the back of his head. However...

hsssssss

His mouth opened, and oddly, a blue mist began running out of it. After a few seconds, it completely left his form as he began to tilt back. "Th-thank you....C-Captain....."

Plump....

And then the Vasto Lorde fell on his back, dead.

"May you find rest in the next life, León Cervantes," Seu-Fon spoke aloud, her body glowed as she looked around at the still moving army. Hissing, her form shifted from the beautiful, deadly from she held...

SSSSSHINK-THUNK!

...into her more resented Jakuhō Raikōben, landing her weapon defiantly in the face of all the enemy troops around herself, "using my Suzumebachi Raikōjōi against you lot would be a disgrace to its use. Tell you the truth, as much as I'd hate to use this I believe this will be the quickest way to wipe you all out in one blow. After all, bombing you from above..."

SHFT-FWHOOSH!

"...is the only way to be sure," Seu-Fon spoke lowly, as she utilized Flash Step to appear directly above the entiriety of the army, all of them seemingly had massed together around Seu-Fon and Cervantes during the course of their battle while leaving the other combatants alone. All the better for her, as she readied her weapon, gathering orange sparks of energy as she primed her weapon. And with a sudden exhale...she squeezed the trigger...

Enough with the games! The Power behind the Shadows!
BOOOOOOM!!!!!

As Jinete and Raiken readied themselves to engage, a significantly large opaque shaped orange explosion blew away the army in the distance, sending such a thunderous shockwave that the winds sent a tidal wave of sand rolling towards all sides, almost capable of submerging anyone close enough to the atomic-grade detonation.

"WHOO-BOY!" Jinete hollered out, kicking himself barely out of reach of the tidal wave of sand, landing a good fifty meters away from where they originally started their bout, "I was hoping that we were out of the way of our compatriots duels, but I guess I'm mistaken. Poor Cervantes. With our forces gone, we are the only ones left to reinforce Ultharon's army. Such a shame..."

Raiken however, stood still as the massive tidal wave of sand nearly engulfed the both of them. But then, when it hit him, the wave seemed to split in two right behind him where his shadow was. His robes billowing behind him wildly as well as his hair, his blank white eye glanced over to his left where Soudai and Caius battled.

When the sand stopped, he looked back at Jinete and held his sealed sword out to where the blade was facing him fully. "Well...they ain't holdin' back. So no point in me trying too..." he finished as black energy began to coat his Zanpakuto's form.

"Blind...Nisshoku..."

Blurch!!!!!!

With a black burst of energy, the daito transformed into it' slonger, silver scythe like form. Sifting it around to hold it in a horizontal stance, with the large talon of the weapon facing away from him, he looked over at Jinete calmly. "Best you be focusing on me lad..." he began. "Taking your eyes off of Nisshoku, is the last mistake that most of my enemies have ever made..."

"That's more like it," Jinete spoke with intrigue, feeling the burst of energy billow around his own form, standing stoically as his fur coat flapped in the wind, holding his broad sword up to bear against his enemy, "c'mon then! Show me what your Zanpakutō can do!"

Blurchblurchblurch!!!!

Once he finished that statement, three chains composed out of his own shadow shot out from behind him, wrapping around his waist and his arms with incredibly, nigh bone crushing force, with Raiken standing stoicially in his same spot.

"Oho! You got me!" Jinete spoke aloud, despite the tight binding strength of the chains, he talked with little difficulty as his arms flexed out to prevent the chains from crushing him, "however. There is one thing you didn't consider, my friend..."

CRACK!

"...my physical strength is far beyond ordinary, even for my kind," Jinete proclaimed, as he flexed out, snapping the chains with much more ease than Leviatian ever had. Once done, Jinete leaped into the air, gaining altitude above his enemy up to fifteen meters high. Looking down, he saw that his shadow had shrunken considerably, and then raised his eyes back up to Raiken, "gauging from your earlier pranks and techniques, including this one, it seems you have the ability to tap into an alternative dimension within the shadows. Doing so, you can summon those weaponized chains, create volatile clones, and even appear in your enemy's shadow without them knowing. Being at a higher altitude where no shadows can form, however, will put you at a disadvantage, wouldn't it?"

BRRRRWING!!!!

Wa-BOOOM!!!!!!

Raiken didn't answer.

Despite Jinete's shadow shrinking, it was still a shadow. A much larger chain shot up from the smaller black spot on the ground. Quickly reaching up and wrapping around Jinete's ankle, the much more durable chain then swung the Arrancar down at the ground with considerable force.

"That's the thing lad..." Raiken said without moving. "Never predict what your shadows can do."

The chain would never run taut...

SHIIINK-CRACK!

...as Jinete deftly swung his blade down and severed the chain, furrowing his brow at the complication and the query in his mind.

"Hold a second!" Jinete raised his hand, grasping the main body of the chain as he disappeared, moving with swift blinding speed to appear directly where the shadow originated. Raising his blade, he swung down into the shadow...

BWOOOM!

...and released an enormous fissure of cutting power, releasing what would be seen as a split force of sand splitting in two directions while creating an immense billowing wave of power. The force of the attack directing it purely into the shadow from which the chain originated. If his theory was correct, while the chain was surging out of his shadow, the portal was open both ways. And if Raiken's scythe was responsible for the shadow portals opening and closing, then it could only mean what happens to the portals...

...Nothing.

"You're making a pretty good guess..." Raiken commented, even despite the massive blast that had appeared before him. "But you're wrong. I don't use seperate dimensions, or any of that elf lord garbage that people always assumes it is. Darkness is everywhere lad. Without the sun or the moon, our worlds would be pitch black. And in a way, your shadow is a living thing. It moves with you, it performs the same emotions as you do. When you raise a fist, it's fist goes up with you. When you jump, it tries to jump with you. Nisshoku simply takes that shadow...and turns it against you."

Sft-SLASH!!!!!!

Within that instant, Raiken used a deft amount of speed, even for Jinete's class to appear right in front of the Arrancar, slashing across his chest with the spear end of his massive scythe with such force, that wind flew out from behind the former's form.

SCRAAAPE-FWOOSH!

Jinete's eyes widened as the scythe slashed across his chest, causing a spray of sparks to flare out from his form. However, it didn't stop his counter attack...

SHIIIINK!

...as he swung in a swift counter that blurred in front of Raiken, aiming to deliver the same attack back at his chest, cutting his body open while sending it reeling away from him. The latter action was due to a precaution it was another tar-explosive clone that Raiken was using against him.

"Force ain't gonna work here, lad." Raiken stated. The strike barely scathed his chest as he managed to bend himself back just with mere seconds to bare, with the force of the latter strike still making it to where he was sent back, but instead of Raiken vanishing or being sent reeling back a great distance, he was only scooted back as far as his shadow went, using the dark form to keep himself on the ground. "You're gonna have to use that ole' brain of yours more, like you've been doing."

"Now...let's break that shell of yours..."

The blade edge of his scythe began to bristle with black and silver outlined energy, it's curved form on the ground as Raiken spoke his next words.

"Getsuga....Tensho...!"

............................................booooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once he swung the scythe, all the sound in the area seemed to vanish, leaving nothing but the blurred sound of wind. A truly massive fissure of black and white energy shot out from the slash, taking the form of a massive moving wall of energy that aimed to cut Jinete directly in two as sound returned, making it sound as if an earthquake had struck the area entirely.

"He's fast...!" Jinete thought as his swing barely scathed him, then seeing that Raiken's own shadow seemed to be pinning him to the ground itself. Knowing that the only real shadows on the battlefield, Jinete knew that unless this man could conjur buildings or objects to create shadows off of, the man's strategy was only as good as his ability to keep controlling shadows.

However as he saw the man throw the Getsuga Tenshō, he knew he would have to actually start fighting against this opponent. After all, he appeared to have deserved to see some of his true strength, right?

"This man...is fantastic!" Jinete shouted out as he saw the oncoming rush of the called out technique, realizing its origin and what it was intending to do to him. Raising his blade to visibly divide his facial features, he only whispered something inaudible, before striking the massive fissure...

SSSSSSFT-BWHOOSH!

...before the technique shined brightly before dissipating in a bright flare-like affect, cancelling out the technique altogether. What happened, and what was seen, almost looked as if...he used a Soul Reaper ability?!

"Oh? What's this shit?" Raiken asked in a comically annoyed tone as his eye squinted and a nerve vein popped up on his head. "Aw, fuck you. I was hopin' I'd be all 'badass' with that last strike."

"That technique is entirely contradictory to what your abilities have been displaying thus far. Its only fair I can neutralize that ability," Jinete spoke aloud without remorse, before raising his blade in emphasis, "besides, I wanted to show you my Zanpakutō ability, Velocidad Atómica. Its the reason why I was able to stop that technique in the first place, actually..."

"Well don't leave me hanging, may as well go ahead and tell me now while I'm in a listening mood." the scott replied.

"If you haven't noticed, I have been restraining myself during the length of this battle. There is good reason for that. One of which is the innate ability my sword possesses," raising his blade, he tapped it, causing a humming sound to emanate across the air, "everything in creation, both Spiritual Realms and Living, all operate on their own set of velocity and natural speed. Your Getsuga Tenshō, for example, moved at its own pace while my blade moved against it. In other words, this ability of mine can alter the speed of anything it touches. Do you understand what happens to something when its vibrated at a extranomically higher speed than it should?"

"I dunno, shits some bricks or something?" Raiken replied with his scythe still at his side.

"It explodes, naturally," Jinete spoke aloud, sighing before he rubbed his eyes, realizing his opponent didn't want to be lectured. Raising his blade up, while walking towards Raiken, he then spoke in turn, "but it also works the other way around. What happens to something that is decelerated to a fraction of its capable speed?"

SHFT-TAP!

"It means, anything I touch with my blade's edge is already incredibly slower," Jinete spoke aloud, whispering into Raiken's ear as he suddenly moved with incredibly higher rate of speed, while he would feel incredibly slower than before.

Even though his eye briefly widened at the surprise at suddenley having his senses slowed down incredibly, it returned to it's half lidded appearance as it glanced over to him. "Neat trick..."

"Sorry about this..."

CLAMP!

"...but I'm sick of your little games," Jinete spoke with a sudden serious tone, his eyes narrowed upon Raiken's as he grasps his Zanpakutō's handle tightly, before swinging his blade out towards his form at a blinding speed...

SSSSCRRAAACK!

...sending a distortion through the air of shredding energy, intending on cutting Raiken apart should he stay in his position or at least force him to abandon his Shikai while in Jinete's grasp.

And here, it seemed as if Raiken were finished. His form being severed completely into pieces. his head floated towards the ground and landed right in front of Jinete's feet.

However, just as it seemed he was down for good...the head looked over to him in an eery manner. "That ain't very nice, lad."

WrrrBLURCH!!!!!!!!

The head, as well as all of the other body parts exploded into the same black tar material as before, incredibly superheated as well as retaining a rather large reach.

"Neither..."

SSSSHINK-FZZZZT!

"...is decieving your opponent and hiding like a coward!" Jinete swung his blade with ease across the air where hte tar was heading towards him, causing all of the tar itself to incinerate and dissipate into fine fumes in the air before being blown away completely.

Turning around, Jinete honed his senses upon Raiken's true location, his eyes narrowing with a subtle anger within himself. "I'd rather not drag you out of your hiding spot again! If you don't cease this game of cat and mouse, I will ensure there won't be much place left to hide here!"

"My pleasure..."

sft....

With an incredibly deft Flash-Step, appearing directly to Jinete's left with his spare hand on the latter's chest, his eye squinted to focus.

"Kyosei Yashi."

wa-BOOOM!!!!!!

A sudden, powerhouse-filled concussive wave of power would slam into Jinete's chest with such force, it would be a wonder if even his Hierro wasn't penetrated. Along with that, Raiken's signature, superheated black spiritual pressure was placed into the attack as well to ensure more burning damage would be put upon the Arrancar.

SSSSCRRRT!

"Impressive, Soul Reaper," Jinete spoke aloud through the smoke, his body's outline slightly different as the smoke continue to clear, "you actually forced me to release a portion of my real power to defend against it. Though, I'm afraid it wasn't enough..."

Revealed behind the smoke, an organic black looking shield of sorts formed from what looked like Jinete's arm. Having a carapace of sorts that had white vein-like enamorings along it, it appeared as if Jinete released his true form only in one limb of his body. The steam rising from the shield continue to hiss in the air, but showed no harmful scarring besides a few inches of incinerated skin...

"Well, ain't that something..."

BRRRRRRWWWOOOOOM!!!!!!

Seeing that fighitng up close at this rate would be a danger, Raiken quickly leaped back, taking his massive scythe and twisting it around, releasing another black and silver outlined blast of energy to propel himself away from the Arrancar as well as hopefully do some more damage to him.

But Jinete wouldn't bother standing still to negate another attack. He knew if he kept humoring Raiken, they would keep running in circles, and he'd rather not irritate himself any further. So with a swift movement that accelerated past his others...

SHFT!

...he reappeared behind the en route, midair behind him, placing his finger into his spine.

"Cero..."

VRRRRBLAAAAAAM!!!

A mighty gale of volatile, destructive energy left the Arrancar's index finger, dwarfing any size of Cero ever seen before as well as the speed of its deployment. Covering nearly fifty meters in radius, as well as barreling across the horizon, it glassed the pale sands as it sheared off into the horizon, not before exploding in a dramatic detonation far away from the other combatants. Its aftershocks would buffet with as much violence, if not moreso than Seu-Fon's Bankai missile would have...

Had Raiken not been so attuned to fighting and developing attacks from behind, he likely would have been finished there.

SIZ!!!!

But as it was, Jinete had left him just enough time to Flash Step away from the oncoming blast.

Doesn't seem he's playing around anymore... Raiken thought inwardly, appearing above Jinete and slicing down upon the man's head with great speed and force. ''Guy's a tough cookie for sure, but he ain't invincible. Now that he thinks he has a decent grasp on Nisshoku's powers, I might can get the jump on him soon...''

SHFT!

Jinete was already in front of Raiken by the time the scythe split the empty air he was occupying an instant ago. Swinging his blade out in a blinding arc...

SSSSSS-BOOOM!

...creating such an intensively swift release of destructively projected Spiritual Power and cutting energy, that it would consume nearly the same radius of space from which Raiken had been occupying, intending on shredding him into pieces if not dissolve him entirely.

However, with Jinete's positioning, Raiken managed to continue his movement within just the nick of time. Just as Jinete swung his weapon and released the wave of energy, the masked Soul Reaper stabbed the cross end of his weapon into the middle of the fissure. Such force was utilized that the very air shook violently.

ZZZRRT!!!!!!

Once the cutting wave was dissipated, however, the cross end of Raiken's scythe was still pointing directly at Jinete's form.

'''"Raikōhō." '''He stated as he released a massive beam of thunder from the tip of his scythe upon Jinete.

Jinete swiftly raised his left hand...

BRAAACK-FZZZZZZT!!!

...catching the powerful discharge of thunderous, yellow-tinted electrical energy, pulsating and shimmering across his left hand. Jinete then smiled back at Raiken, "Not good enough, friend..."

BWOOOM!!!

Without warning, Jinete releases a thunderous gale of silver-colored Spiritual Power in Raiken's direction, much more potent and destructive than what a Cero was capable of. The force alone would nearly shatter his nigh unbreakable mask, as well as send him reeling into the skyline of their appointed battlefield.

Raiken quickly held out his left hand, catching the oncoming blast of energy while using his enhanced, black spiritual power to keep it from incinerating all of his arm. While he was flung back several meters in the air, he managed to skid along the sky rather quickly.

"Weeeeel~" he began, twirling his scythe around his fingers and making it seem as if it were a massive grey fan. "Looks like i'm runnin' out of options."

SHFT!

"Getting tired?" Jinete spoke as he reared his blade back the moment he appeared before him, under his guard...

SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK...!

...before thrusting in a blinding wave of stabs and slash movements, intending on overwhelming the man's defensive ability as well as use the advantage of close quarters against a scythe user.

The first strike would never hit.

ta-BROOOOM!!!!!!

Using the twirling movements in his scythe's form, he slammed the blunt end of his scythe down on the back of the man's head with such force that a break in the sound barrier shot out from the both of them.

His head knocked down from the force but remained in the air, Jinete couldn't help find this man laughable. Despite holding enough strength to be in league with the one who went to challenge Caius, his mannerisms and even tactics resembled that of a rodeo clown. Jinete's desire to fight this underhanded and lax-lazy character was starting to wane. For the first time in a while, he really wanted to kill someone...

SNATCH!

"You don't get it, do you?!" Jinete snarled out, grasping the pommel end of Raiken's scythe as he swung his blade with a blinding arc to cut the man across his chest, "you're nothing but entertainment for me!"

SNICK!!!!!

However, Raiken also caught the man's oncoming blade with his other bare hand, squinting his eye in focus as he spoke in an amused, and yet oddly annoyed tone. "Aye, it's what I do best when dealin' with trash."

SPLURCH!!!!

His form suddenley and briefly flashed with a black burst of energy as he spoke. Then, four fairly large black claws of black and silver energy shot out from his back. Each being at least the same size as twice the size of his own head, and connected to bone like extensions out of his back, the four massive claws descended upon the Arrancar. Two grasping the sides of his head, and the other two grasping both of his arms. All of them were incredibly durable, far stronger than that of his pevious shadow chains.

'''"Kagedokuroude." '''he spoke, before flinging the Arrancar down towards the earth with much more powerful force than before.

BOOM!

Despite being flung with immense force, Jinete was able to flip himself around and project enough Spiritual Energy from the soles of his boots to soften his landing. The result caused a sizeable shockwave, billowing a wave of sand in all directions. Looking up with a glint in his eyes, Jinete couldn't help but chuckle, realizing the position he was in now.

"You impress me, Raiken Uchiwa! I've never had this much difficulty in combatting someone since I've fought the Sword Lord," Jinete spoke out in an admittant tone, sheathing his blade before pulling back the sleeve on his left arm, saying aloud, "I guess I'll need to start trying a little harder...since you're giving it your all!"

VRROAAAAAAAARRRR!!!

SPLURRCHK!

Jinete's body became emblazoned in a heightened, mountainous column of silver-lined Spiritual Power. As it struck the sky, everything began to shift into a bloody haze in the atmosphere, and everything darkened as far as his Spiritual Pressure extended, unintentionally shifting into other battlefields themselves. The shockwave that emanated from the blinding light tower of projective energy sent a tsunami of pale sand in all directions, just showing a display of his might and power.

When it was finally dissipated, a pair of obsidian-shaded organic carapace-armored arms were what was placed for the human-appearing limbs. Within the right blackened tissue arm was holding a hybrid of an organic lance and a cleaver blade attached to it. Within his left arm he had the familiar darkened shield, but had retracted what looked like a cross-bow of sorts. Otherwise, Jinete looked very much the same, but with a fiery look in his eyes.

"Your move, Raiken Uchiwa..."

Raiken smirked, floating down to the ground just a few meters away from Jinete's form. As he landed, the four, skull shaped Kidou claws floated around, glaring at Jinete with a very eery and frightening gaze. "If you're gonna be doing that...guess I'll just have to do this..."

He then pointed out his scythe at Jinete, his form beginning to bristle with spiritual energy that was black in shade with silver outlines. "Ban...Kai!"

BROOOM!!!!!

The scythe exploded into a massive burst of spiritual energy, from the center of which, emerged a small black sphere that quickly began to grow in size. Eventually, reaching the size of two massive city blocks as it engulfed the two of them in it's black maw.

"Nisshoku Kariatori-Ki."

The Might of Atlas! Despair of the Toothless!
"Wh-What the Hell...are you?!" Rana couldn't help but gasp at the sight of Akisame's new form. Was it a second Bankai? No...that'd be impossible, she believed. Is this another plane of power he alone has attained?! Is this the true power of his Bankai, while she has been witnessing a mere lesser form?!

She couldn't help but take a step back at the sight and feel of the monstrous Spiritual Pressure emanating and distorting the atmosphere. It felt as if an inferno had been boiling the air around it, while being contained into a singular being. She knew that this couldn't be good, despite the fact she had yet to show off her own powers to him...!

Here, the new being's eye squinted as he took a step forward in sync with Rana's movement. His massive, two pronged sword at his side as his form radiated an unbelievable, hellish spiritual pressure that seemed to form the sand around him into glass.

''"My turn." ''he began...

wrrrBROOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a single, vertical strike, he swung his blade upwards. The sheer force of the attack sent a massive fissure directly in her direction, with such force that the earth between them began to split apart, revealing a lrge, black crevice. Following this blast...was a massive cutting fissure of superheated energy, intent on tearing her in two...

"!!!!!!"

Rana had barely any time to react. Moving with as force and power away from the cutting arc as possible, Rana's form was only in proximity to the passing force of superheated energy. That alone was enough to char her shoulder pauldron and part of her left arm. She was aghast at the devestating effects the energy had at the landscape, realizing how deep he really cut.

"He cut through the Menos Forest Canopy and past the Pale Dessert Sea in one blow!" Rana voiced aloud with shock, her Pesquisa allowing her to feel the true depths of which the technique flowed and truly destroyed in its wake. Turning around to face him, her eyes slowly turned to fiery gaze of her own, gripping her blade before raising it up to hold in a defensive posture, clasping the spine-like hilt with both hands, "I don't know where you got this power from, Soul Reaper, but I haven't even showed you any of my truest strengths in this form!"

VRRRROAAAAAAAR!!!

Her Spiritual Power blazed brightly and thundered greatly to the point it nearly rivaled her enemys's. The sound of it was similar to that of the monstrous beast she sports as its effigy, roaring out in the middle of a battle in a challengine tune. With her body crackling and blazing crimson energy, as well as her blade, she knew that she had to act tactfully. If he makes a misstep, or a miscalculation, she can sieze it. After all, his form is only half effective with one arm, and she knew that will be one of her only advantages in this battle.

''"That...was one hit." ''Akisame commened casually as he side glanced her spiritual power without any real form of visual care. "Your turn."

SSSSSSHFT-BOOM!

Appearing in a single bound right before Akisame, Rana swung her Spiritually Empowered blade downwards upon Akisame's form. It had enough force and surging cutting power to make her earlier strikes look like practice swings. Enough energy surged downwards to collapse the Pale Sands and crash deep into the canopy, kilometers downwards.

Snatch....

And all of it was caught with just one hand.

sttttsssssssssssss......

She would find her massive, tooth shaped sword beginning to heat up incredibly, with it's blade becoming nearly orange from all the heat going into it. If action wasn't taken, it would melt entirely...

"He fell for it!" Rana thought intwardly, knowing that this arrogant young Reaper would ache to try to shake her to her core for something she was aware he could do. However, even as her weapon heated up, she spoke one word that released an even greater force of attack...

"Mutilar!"

SCCRRRRRRRK-BOOM!!!

A cutting fissure sliced into the superheating hand of Akisame, expanding in gait and width till it was nearly in comparison to the size and force of his own cutting arc. Except its center was more honed, focused, for a killing stroke than before. If nothing else, it would force his hand to lose grip on her weapon, as the fissure tore past his form, sliding and screaming across the dessert sea while tearing a trench across the Menos Forest Canopy.

Fortunatley, he did release his hold of her weapon....

wrrBROOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

But that was the only good news regarding her attack. For just a few seconds after it was released, the hardly scathed form of Akisame tore through the epicenter of energy, his pose only having moved as far as him simply turning to face her.

What followed was an incredibly fast and powerful sword blow right across her chest, packed with incredible superheated force that would undoubtably wound her as well as send her flying if it connected.

"GRRK!"

Thanks to her heightened Hierro and endurance, the cut didn't go too deep across her chest besides the explosive fiery energy that detonated upon the exit of the blade. Swinging her blade expertly, she dragged it along the sand, slowing her skidding movement to only a couple dozen meters. Once halted, Rana heaved her breaths from the pain, even as her skin began to regenerate the surface and stop the bleeding itself.

"Dammit! That attack alone should've tore him in two! Why is he so strong?!" Rana's eyes vividly stared off towards Akisame's area. Her mind playing tricks on her...almost made this situation a parallel of what happened when she fought Ulquiorra Schiffer. Both of them had that stare of indifference. The cool confidence and near uncaring of her prowess or powers. If she was defeated, she'd look like nothing more...

"You're nothing more than trash..."

BU-BUM!

"If you cannot see yourself in defeat, then I have nothing more to say to you..."

BU-BUM!

"You're the Cuatro Espada? You don't look like much..."

BU-BUM!

"Join the rest of the weak, Rana Zolinder...Privaron Espada..."

"NO!!!!"

BOOM-VRRRRRRRRRWHOOSH!!!

"I WILL NOT BE THRUST INTO THE WASTES AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME! ULQUIORRA?! SOUL REAPER?! NEVER AGAIN!" Rana shouted out gutturally, her body being enraptured with volatile Spiritual Power, building up higher and higher, her hair flourishing wildly behind her head as a column of Spiritual Power skyrocketed into the skyline, causing crimson elctrical ribbons to flow in all directions. A tsunami of sand flew in all directions before being incinerated by the sheer raw burst of her enraged, focused power.

''"Calm down...." ''Akisame commented as he began to walk towards her casually, dragging his massive blade along the ground as it forced all of the sand it touched into glass. "I'm not going to cast you into the wastes of this earth....I'm going to burn you out of existance."

wirp....

schBROOOOOOM!!!!!!!

Within a mere second of finishing that statement, the hellish appearing man appeared right directly in front of her. Holding his blade horizontially, he stabbed it into the ground. Doing so caused a massive pillar of fire and heat to erupt right under Rana's feet...

But she wouldn't be there for long...

"RAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Rana screamed out in rage, not feeling her body become charred, even as she zoomed out of the pillar of flames directly towards the one armed man, grasping out for his jaw before thrusting him into the sands with immense force. She raised her blade to cut him in two, causing a massive fissure to split the sand sea, intending on burrowing him deep into the Menos Forest below should he block her attack.

However, by raising his blade up into the air, he managed to use it's flat end to block the strike with minimal to little effort. However, when this happened, rather than be sent flying back himself, his feet only skidded into the ground a little ways, before he flung his blade upwards, sending his foe flying into the air.

"Faster..."

BROW-SCRAAPE-BWHOOSH!

After being hurtled into the air, Rana instinctively grasped onto the spiritual planes within the atmosphere, halting her ascent swiftly. With a somersaulting motion, she then projected herself to move even faster, using Sonido insistantly to appear directly back into the face of his enemy, repeatedly moving in and out of the man's gaurd, while swinging her Spiritually Empowered blade at his body, intending on crushing and slicing him to ribbons with every ounce of strength she had.

"I can go faster...harder...harder...!"

''CRASH-BOOM! CRASH-BOOM! CRASH-BOOM!''

"I CAN GO EVEN FASTER! I CAN FIGHT HARDER!"

SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT-SFT!

Within the wake of her incredibly endowed speed, reflexes, agility, and strength, she employed masterfully timed Sonidos, crushing blows, and energized fissures that began to tear apart the landscape around the epicenter of their chosen battlefield.

Despite her onslaught, it appeared as if her strikes were doing little to no damage to the all powerful Soul Reaper. His skin now hard as stone, her attacks were barely leaving any marks on his form.

Snatch!!!

Whipping out his massive blade, he caught one of Rana's strikes within the fairly long gap between that of his own, allowing her weaopn to go all the way down it's center. Thus, he essentially had her caught in his grasp.

"Rakka chikyū...."

click!

SssssssBROOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

One of the chains on his back, connected to his sword then clicked out of it's sheathe, and when it did so, an immensly powerful blast of fire was released from the gap within his sword upon Rana's form, up close. Intent on doing critical damage to her, and showing to her how insignificant her power was in comparison to his own.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

She felt her body enraptured in flames so volatile and powerful she thought she was thrown into the pits of Hell itself. Her beautiful scaled armor became marred, her pauldrons and jaw mask shattered within the gale of the immense flames. Her body slowly but surely became nothing but a barbecued piece of flesh, her body going long past the point of feeling the pain of her flesh being cooked and seered beyodn recognition.

As her eyes began to close...she began to hear his voice melding into the one that spoke before him...

"Begone from here. There is no place for you here. You are just meat. Carrion for the scavengers. I only pity the fact that you had the arrogance to believe you could defeat me. Farewell...Rana Zolinder...Privaron Espada..."

BLINK!

"You call me trash?" Rana's form, despite being at the epicenter of the roiling inferno column, managed to utilize all her remaining strength to build up her Hierro to keep herself alive. Her Spiritual Power blasting away the most immediate flames, and her hands clenched her blade...

WHOOSH-SLICE!

"YOU'RE NOTHING TO ME!!!!" Rana's last act, cracking the edge of her Zanpakutō out of the grasp of her enemy's blade while rushing past him, swinging her blade with a violent surging forward momentum, as she slashed in sync with her Sonido, aiming to sever his other arm, appearing a good several meters away from him.

It was then, that Rana's body fell forward as her eyes moved upwards to the back of her skull, and her body regressed completely into a scarred sealed form, with a cracked and shattered rapier in her hands while barely being kept alive by her Will alone.

"I showed him...my greatest strength...thank you...for letting me...do it..."

TAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!

However, Akisame's new form was far too durable. The most her weapon did was simply stick into his shoulder at least an inch, before she fell befoe him. Glancing back at her with a rather stoic gaze, his transformation slowly began to die back down, back to his old haori with a few scrathes on it's form, but otherwise unfazed by the rather stressful transformation. However, a rather large scar on his right shoulder was now present, a lasting result of her final effort to cause him harm. Although no blood could be seen, Akisame could feel it as if the blade were still wedged in his shoulder.

With a low groan, he used his spare arm to take his now sealed blade from the ground, and began to walk back towards the other battlefields. If he could do anything more at this point, he would have to try.

Wrath of the Ancients! Conclusion to the Fiercest Battle!
"Danku!" Sōdai uttered his choice of Kidō instinctively, causing a large three story tall transparent barrier to block the incoming wave of ice. With eyes widened with shock and surprise, he couldn't believe the form of attack his enemy projected against him. Kidō?! How would a Hollow know how to utilize Kidō?!

Caius remained unfazed, now walking towards his foe with a rather eery pace. "Are you surprised, Takuji Sōdai? Perhaps, even somewhat afraid? Surely, you would never have predicted such capabilities from one such as me...?"

"I never expected you not to be filled with your own tricks. You are after all, the right hand of the God King of Hueco Mundo," Sōdai spoke back in his usual stoic tone, his form not breaking a stride despite the initial shock of seeing the spell he initiated. When the shield cracked and shattered, Sōdai began to walk towards undeterred towards Caius, scythe in hand, grating it menacingly across the ice, "what is more surprising that its Kidō and not a form of Hollow-based spell. Why copy a technique of the enemy's when you can craft your own? It almost seems your Tradition is lax if you are willing to use the enemy's tactics than use your own..."

"I prefer to experiment with new powers whenever I can." the Vasto Lorde stated as he too continued to move towards the man calmly, glowing blue sword in hand. "Your Kidō arts is very intriquite, and quite advantageous. This is the first time I've ever decided to practice it on a Captain level foe. If I am to craft my own spells at some point, I first require inspiration and...things to work with, if you will."

"Tactful, but you lack confidence in yourself," Sōdai spoke cooly, his eyes shifting into a slightly different shape, showing a more intricate design on his red-black design, "I uphold the Honor and Heritage of my father, my Clan, and the powers granted to me by the Soul Society. Your misguided traditions are nothing short of usurping other's strategies, techniques, and powers. I will show you...that your vision...is as infallible...as your King's!"

SHFT-SLICE!

Moving with a blinding screaming momentum, Sōdai got under just a couple meters before Caius, swinging his scythe up and over his body. When the blade swung over, however, a blurring gale of cutting power expanded and projected towards the Vasto Lordes in sync with the blade's powerful cutting edge. If avoided, the cutting phenomena being projected would force him across the frozen landscape, if not cut across his own durable hide.

SIIING!!!!!!

Once the move was initiated, Caius swung his own blade accordingly, releasing an equal amount of cutting power that flew towards Sōdai's own blast. When the two of them collided, a massive eruption of pure sonic proportions shot out from between the two of them.

Caius simply swung his blade back down to clear the blast away, staring back at Sōdai with a pair of glowing red eyes. "Then prove to me, Takuji Sōdai, just how far your vision can take you to victory!"

Sōdai could only stare back into the brightly, ember lit orbs of his enemy with a sincere confidence. His next action took place within an instant...

"Karitori..."

SSSSSWHOOSHRRRK!!!

"...Hayate!" As he swung his blade further down upon his target, releasing a crimson gale force wind blast, causing flames to erupt in its wake and spread out to a near 20 meter raidus, destroying and blasting everything away in sight. The cutting edge and force utilized from the attack alone would be enough to push someone of Caius' caliber backwards.

SSSSSCROOOM!!!!!

Caius' next move was that of caution. His weapon then began to radiate an electric, larger blue aura of power as he swung it into the massive red arc of energy. Great enough, the force was, that Caius found his feet digging into the ground. However, it was only by a few feet, before he successfully dispelled the attack.

BRRRZZZROOOOM!!!!!

He then released a larger red Cero beam from the center of his eyes once more, an attack that could potentially do great damage to one of Sōdai's strength if action wasn't taken accordingly.

"Predictable..."

SSSSSSHINK-BLAAAM!

With a precision that would be the envy of many swordsmen, Sōdai swung his scythe around in an opposite aimed arc, cutting directly through the giant fissure of destructive energy, splitting it in half effectively which caused the two halves to skirt to either angled direction, exploding violently and directly.

"But your analysis of my attack was ill fated. You shouldn't have used brute force, Caius..."

SSSS-CRACK!

"...for my Zanpakutō, Satsushobun, disintegrates any form of Matter that it comes into contact with. Your blade and body included," Sōdai finished speaking, as what he spoke was true. The edge of which came into contact with wave of destructive energy began to ebb away, slowly but surely destroying the partition of his prized weapon.

"You would normally think so, Takuji Soudai..."

However, a most disturbing sight would unfold before the Soul Reaper.

Initially, the Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto power began to take hold of the sword, slowly began to fade. However, the blade began to bristle with more energy, and on one of it's sides, another eye slowly began to form in one of the open spots of the blade's form. Caius then held it out for the Soul Reaper to see more clearly. "But sadly, you are mistaken. For you see, that is the power of this...cursed sword. It is capable of learning a power projected from any Zanpakuto, from a Kidou spell, to one as simple as your ability. That is why I chose to withstand your attack rather than avoid it. Because it gives me a potential new power..."

ZIT!!!!

"To use against you!"

WrTANG!!!!!!!!

And then, Caius swung his blade down upon Soudai's form, using the very new ability that Soudai had once used on the Vasto Lorde against him.

CLANG-CRRRK!

Sōdai stood motionless as Caius displayed this initial ability, something his eyes hadn't taken into account for until now. However, when the blade moved down to crash into him, something stopped it a meter short from reaching its goal, projecting a countershockwave and sparks from the force that it was repelled from.

What happened next was also near uncomprehendable...

WHUMPF-BAM!

....as the same invisible force struck Caius dead center on his left side, almost feeling like a giant fist had striked him and sent him flying away.

"That's right...you can't see it unless I Will it to. Very well then," Sōdai spoke in a solemn tone, before his body projected a fierce Spiritual Pressure. Once it wafted over his body, what looked like a row of scarlet-violet colored ribs hovored over his form, as well as a ethreally connected bone-like arm from his right side, "this is one of the highest grade caliber Kidō's known. Bunkō-shin! It cannot be learned without learning the Tamenkyōme, and then subsequently the Tamenkyōme Chōetsu. Something that your blade will need to cut into before it can ever replicate it. This is the Will of my Clan and my Power to utterly Destroy you, Caius Louisenbairn!"

"Hrm!" Caius grunted as he quickly raised his shield up to block the oncoming strike from the newly formed avatar. The force was great, but not enough to entirely do damage to him. Landing a few feet away from the man, the skeletal general smirked. "So, now you finally reveal it. It's good that I've managed to push you this far, to make you cower behind this colossus of yours."

"This is the lowest form of protection it allows, as well as attack power," Sōdai spoke without being affected by Caius' taunt, "you haven't even begun to see its truest capabilities, as of my own Zanpakutō. Do not underestimate my resolve as a Soul Reaper of the Soul Society!"

BWHOOSH-SLAM!

Moving with incredible speed mirroring his earlier employment of Flash Step, Sōdai slammed his Bunkō-shin's fist downwards towards his target with such force that it would create an uproar of ten meters of decimated pale sand. In sync, Sōdai swung his scythe in an upwards arc, discharging an arc of purely destructive power, intending on pressuring his opponent. Finally, he twisted into a pirouette movement, before discharging Sōkatsui...

BLAAAAAAM!

...from his left extended hand, intending on catching him exposed during any of the attacks while his movements became more and more dangerously closer to peentrating Caius' guard.

Caius merely raised his sword arm up once...

BOOM!!!!!!

"Mijon Esukūdo!" he proclaimed, and as soon as the avatar's fist slammed down upon Caius' form, a large, green pyramid Kidou barrier appeared directly around him, easily blocking the set of strikes that Soudai used against him, despite cracking by the final strike of Kidō.

"I see you prefer to overwhelm your opponent's with sheer force, while casting as much Kidou as you can." the Hollow said with analysis of his foe's movements and strategies at this rate. "Simple, really, and effective in many cases. However..."

Sōdai would then see the material of his large avatar beginning to fade and crack at a very slow rate. "...you seem to have forgotten, that I now have your Zanpakutō's ability for my own usage. Within just a few minutes, that barrier of yours will have faded out of existence."

Sōdai looked over to see the single rib being disintegrated slowly, showing that it did indeed have the potential of destroying his Kidō. However...

C-CRACK-THUD-Fzzzzzt...

...within a single mental command, the ethreal rib fell to the ground, severed by his control over his own technique and let the rib that had been struck by his enemy's weapon disintegrate. Within a matter of moments, he grew another rib from thin air, before acknowledging his opponent.

"I know what Aspect of Death you signify now, Caius. Blasphemy," Sōdai explained, pointing to the shattered emerald Kidō and then Caius weapon, "you can't help but to steal from those around you, imitate it, and then try to use it for your own ends. You're nothing but a usurper with no crown to wear and no real king to serve. What a pathetic wretch you really are..."

"Humerous." Caius replied, unfazed. "But not accurate. Do you recall how I referred to this weapon as "cursed?"

"What of it? Is it like your God King's blade, the Soberana Absoluta?" Sōdai asked with a feigned interest, his eyes already discerning its nature but didn't allow his opponent to know that already. He wanted to keep analyzing and focusing on his enemy, eventually find the weak links in his armor and then strike.

"Close, but no." Caius continued as he remained vigilant in the face of his enemy. Despite his honorable demeanor, Soudai seemed far from not being the opprotunist in his eyes. "This blade was forced by the descendant of the same creator of the Soberana, Paragus the Wise, as a means of learning the powers of Soul Reapers and other species."

He then held the blade up higher for him to see. "But as you can tell, this blade requires souls to properly function. Several thousand years ago, when we were mere Adjuchas, I, my brother, Barragarn, and several other of my siblings stumbled across this weapon inside of a cave. The way out was shut, and the blade demanded a wielder, less all of our souls be devoured. I myself took upon this burden, for the sake of my siblings."

The Vasto Lorde then prepared himself for more combat. "But even with this sacrifice, the foolishness of my fellow Lousinbairn's eventually got them all killed. Now, the blade is permanately welded to my soul. It is similar to a Zanpakuto, if you will, but it is not as peaceful or beneficial. For every soul this foul weapon devours, more of my own soul is devoured along with it."

Sōdai narrowed his eyes as he listened to the tale weaved by his opponent. Whether it was a form of challenge the Vasto Lordes preformed by telling him truthfully, or a mere weave of deception, mattered not to him. What he did know is that it was the principle behind his weapon's abilities that he could now comprehend. It allowed him to know precisely what the nature of the weapon was...and why more Hollows wielded them besides Caius.

SHINK!

"We have a weapon of our own that applied the same principle your blade does," Sōdai spoke in a low, knowing tone as his crimson-black eyes locked onto the empty red orbs of his Hollow counterpart, stabbing his black gnarled pole pommel into the sand before him, "they were called the Bakkōtō. Semi-sentient weapons that grant immeasurable amounts of Spiritual Power to the user in exchange for Life Force. If used too frequently, the user would succumb to madness and eventually be devoured whole by the weapon itself. I find it curious...that you've remained calm this whole time when your weapon should be driving you to the brink of insanity, Caius Lousinbairn."

"Perhaps I have succomb to insanity, and my soul is so deprived that it cannot be seen." Caius continued still. "Or perhaps this weapon functions differently from Soul Reaper to Hollow, that much is uncertain. It is impossible to judge a Hollow based on their actions, just as it is to judge a Soul Reaper based on their actions. If this weapon were to be in your hands, there is no way to judge how it would function with you."

"I can judge your weapon without equal, actually," Sōdai spoke with an even, disgusted tone, "I can see every filament, every weave of Spiritual fragment that weapon is composed of. Those souls are very self aware, but they cannot be heard. The sword itself is a personalized harbinger of an isolated Hell, forever being tortured for their power being surrounded by prison of malicious and greedy existence. It feeds off of you slowly and with great anticipation, as it uses the souls you've imprisoned inside the blade as its main course while you are its last meal. It shows that beyond that blade, you have no control over your actions. There is no Tradition in that, nor is there Pride. You are being used, by both your King and your Weapon. It sickens me..."

CLAMP!

"...TO NO END!!!"

Sōdai yelled out, in the first time of showing any indication of real emotion. His righteous yell followed by his body crouching down, slamming his black glove onto the ground, causing an uproar of violet-black Spiritual Energy that ominously lit the entiriety of Caius' surroundings, both the ground and the air...

CRRRRRRRK-FOOM!

...before creating the fully powered, silently deployed Kidō that stretched to a grand height that nearly created the mass and size of a skyscraper. Its destructive, shredding potential was said to be capable of ripping the spacial fabric within its confines itself. The black towered Kidō is known as Hadō # 90, Kurohitsugi!"

Caius' reaction couldn't be seen, for the massive tower of Kidou had already enveloped him by that time. It appeared as if he would be finished.

Wrrrrrrr...

However....

''"Short sightedness often ends in a horrible end...Takuji Sōdai..." ''Caius spoke beyond the tower, but his voice was now a mere hissing sound, and it was followed by the echo's of several different sounding voices, as if there were more than one person in the column. "And now...WE will punish you along with all of your kind!!!!"

TC-CRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGROROOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

The tower was then shattered completely, followed by a massive billowing wave of sonic power that would fling even one of Soudai's calibur back.

What followed however, was a most horrifying sight.

Caius was no longer present, but now replaced with a demonic appearing being. Armored form, along with several organic appearing veins and muscles along his body, a dragon shaped mask, concealing all but his now shining yellow eyes. Two massive wings sprouted from his back, and power radiated from him that would succeed even a Head Captain's.

"We are, the Shatten Dos Todes!!!!!!!"

"Th-This Spiritual Pressure?!"

Sōdai's eyes saw what would be described a hurricane of Spiritual Power released all at once. Seeing all the individual strands being intertwined and forced out, he knew what had transpired. By the time the physical form had been revealed, Sōdai's brow dropped a few beads of sweat, at seeing the form before his eyes.

"So...are you the real Master behind the weapon known as Caius Louisenbairn, Shatten Dos Todes?" Sōdai asked with a slight eager smile, a trait he once shown during his own youth back during the War of the Quincies of Old. His grip tightened on his scythe, his Bunkō-shin grew up to its full mass, with two sets of heads and arms facing in opposite directions to allow maximum ability of combat and defense.

''"Caius...? Caius is no weapon...he is a tool, a means to an end..." ''The being began as it slowly walked towards the Soul Reaper, undetered from the previous Kidou spell. "We are the spirits of old, the first to ever be enraptured by the blade's grasp...we desire vengeance...!"

"For what? Your misguided actions have caused your own personal Hell, not the Soul Society," Sōdai spoke in an almost taunting tone as his smile was retained, despite the trepidation of facing such a force to be reckoned with, "you're nothing but a collection of fools who brought this upon yourselves and your kindred. You're no better than Ultharon, you pathetic creatures..."

Zzz....wa-BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

Within a mere instant of finishing his sentance, the being vanished, and reappeared directly in front of him, slamming it's foot into the man's protected chest with such force, that even his avatar would potentially shatter like glass in the wake of it's incredibly powerful thrust.

"He's fast...!"

"NGH?!?!" Sōdai found himself on the recieving end of a powerful force that sent enough kinetic power that it cracked the Bunkō-shin's chest, discharging a large inertia of buffeting winds to be condensed and strike his black Kidō armor. Skidding across the sand several meters, he didn't hesitate to follow up with his own counterattacks.

"Strike a nerve, did I?!" Sōdai shouted out, not relenting as his Bunkō-shin both extended elongated spears, twirling around in a 360 degree spin as he himself charged, intending on using the saw-like motion to force the entity back, while he swung his Shikai with a powerful cutting strike towards the entity's torso line.

SNATCH!!!

However, the being caught both spears mid-route with it's arms. Within the center of it's face, a black sphere of energy, surrounded by a dark blue outline quickly formed.

"Cero Oscuras!!!!"

BOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!

It then released the beam of unbelievable power upon Sōdai and his avatar up close.

"Danku-!"

CRRRRRRRRRK!!!!!

Within an instant of seeing the sphere form, Sōdai summoned the high level barrier he mastered employing. Having errected just a few moments before the Cero took full mass, nearly half of its powerful, searing and surging energies managed to be diverted away from his Bunkō-shin as well as his own person. However, the barrier soon cracked before shattering from the enormous power output, before stripping the Bunkō-shin's body to the "bone", revealing little muscular make-up to its power.

"HM!"

SLICE!

However, during the falling moments of its discharge, Sōdai managed to slice upwards, cutting through the remaining force of the fissure, as well as intending on cutting through the entity's chest. He wanted to land a lethal blow on the beast, anything to cause it to stumble to confirm that it can be killed.

''"Hehehehehehe....." ''the being, who's voice was personified in that of several differnet ones as usual, merely chuckled aloud for the man to hear. Beyond the smoke, the entity was hardly scathed by the assault. "Pathetic mortal. You cannot possibly hope to cause us harm while in that pitiful Shikai state of yours! You'll have to swallow that pride and come at us full force if you truly wish to have a chance at victory!"

BOOOOOM!!!!!!

It then released another larger, more powerful Cero Oscuras upon the Soul Reaper from it's right finger tip.

SHFT-ZZZT!

Sōdai narrowly avoiding another blow of the powerful grade Cero, he skid across the sand directly behind his opponent. With blood seeping down his left arm, as part of his Kidō armor had been ripped off, along with half of his Bunkō-shin's form, Sōdai looked stoically firm upon his enemy. Raising his left arm, he clenched his fist, confirming he could still use it, before looking to the entity.

"You're nothing but a pawn in Ultharon's grasp. It pains me to have to resort using my most sacred weapon against you. But since I have none to worry about being caught in its grasp, I have no reason to hold back anymore," Sōdai spoke lowly, raised his scythe upwards, before slamming its pommel into the alabaster grained sea beneath his feet.

BWHOOOSH!

A thick, black smog discharged with red colorations mingled within it, before Sōdai whispered the word,

"Bankai..."

BRRRRRROAAAAAAARRRR!!!

A sudden syphoning vortex of ghastly Spiritual Power discharged into the heavens, while twisting, turning, and funneling around in a blackened-crimson whirlwind, with enough concussive force to blow back the sea of sand in huge waves. The volumes of the sand's seemingly unbreakable matter seemed to crumble and disintegrate around him, blackening in stark contrast to its usual hue.

SHOOOM-SSSSSSSSSSSSFT!

What came afterwards was a sickly, black smog that stretched out, wafting the battlefield they were partaking in. Emerging from a thick form of the smog came a rippling figure. Garbed in roiling, black-crimson cloak of eternally burning flames, Sōdai's hair flourished in an upraised, ominously menacing manner. His Tamenkyōme eyes shined a bright red, with barely a hint of black within them, as his Bankai's nature controlled his visage.

Raising a black, bone-armored arm out of the black-crimson flames that spewed black smog from it, came the blood red edged scythe blade, curved to an almost morbid appearance while a blackened spine grip handle protruded from the hilt, with a defined human skull resting at the base where the blade connected to the handle itself. Not to mention the blade protrution that came out of the pommel itself, Sōdai appeared as if he personified death itself.

"...Shūdan Satsushobun!"

''"Well now..." ''the being, or beings spoke aloud as it readied itself, seeing the Bankai and taking a reasonable guess that it was indeed very powerful. "This is what the true manifestation of your soul is? We can't wait to devour it for our own."

Return of the Prodigal Child, Rise of the Champion!
"He-He's so strong!" Ichigo thought, as his legs quaked just to hold him upright. With his upper Bankai garbs shredded off, with just his skirt below his bleeding, scarred, and burned torso, it was all that kept him to stand and hold his blade before Ultharon.

Nelliel, likewise, barely could herself upright with her blade held outwards. Her beautiful black-bordered white uniform was also shredded, burned, and slashed, with only a small strip to cover her bountiful breasts. Sweat drenched her face, and her own blade was being held with all the willpower she could muster.

Kōsei heaved and puffed, as his body had been barely scratched, but held a number of burn scorch marks on his person. Sweat also drenched his muscular frame, and his breathing almost came out as wheezes.

All three of them combined made some of the most fiercesome fighting powers of their side...and they still couldn't beat him?!?!

In front of them, their enemy was hardly scathed.

He held his arms to his sides, his fingers spread out as he let out a low and menacing chuckle as he casually walked towards the three warriors. "This...this is all that your leaders can send against me? How pitiful..."

He then looked at them each in respective order. "You, a true blooded reject, who has been forsaken by the very people that he swore to protect. You, a half-breed with no where to run and no one to turn to in your time of need. And you, a high bound noble, devoid of his most precious bonds, and too weak to avenge them."

He then held his right arm all the way out to his side, and his left arm hanging back down to his side. "I'm almost inclined, to kill you all right now just to get this overwith, and turn this war around."

VRROAAAR!!!!

"DON'T COUNT US OUT YET!" Ichigo shouted out, his body, while still battered and bloodied, took a defiant step forwardm his body brimming with a slight rejuvenated burst of Spiritual Power, flaring out brightly and magnamoiously in comparison to before, "I will not let you destroy everything...I hold...precious! I will not stop...I will...not run...I will...DEFEAT YOU!"

Nelliel looked over in sync with Kōsei, both of them shocked that Ichigo had the will to fight, let alone had enough Spiritual Power to make a difference than before. It was both enthralling and...terrifying to see someone so weak become enraged to the point where physical injuries didn't matter.