The War of Four: To the Victor

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Deploy the Big Guns, Return of Sinister Forces!
CLANG-VWHOOSH!

"Hehehehehehehehehahahahahahahaha!" Jamie couldn't help but release a demented laugh, as his claymore struck against Oliver's weapon, as he pressed on his assault, with a maddening rush. Now covered in blood, Jamie's physical and spiritual power had been bolstered to an even higher plane before the start of the battle. Whether it was a mental awareness or something to do with the darkness he sealed within his soul.

"MAKE. ME. FEEL. ALIVE. BROTHER!" Jamie shouted as he raised his blade and slammed it against his sibbling's defenses, harder, and more ferocious than the last one. It was dead set in his mind that he would kill Oliver. And everyone he was associated with. This would be his final testament he would have in life...before his own ended in a wake of Hellish flames!

Each and every strike would be met with just as much ferocity and power courtesy of Oliver. As their blades continued to bang against each other again and gain, Oliver still wore his expression of fury as he met Jamie blow for blow. The increased power of his enemy's strikes was enough to start pushing him back, digging his feet into the ground as he fought relentlessly. But it wasn't enough to break his stance or throw him off-balance. At the same time, Jamie was making it pretty hard to regain an offensive of his own.

It wasn't long before his back was against the wall, and he found himself within another sword lock. He glared hard into Jamie's murderous and insane eyes as if trying to find some trace of humanity still within them. But it was as if every reason that Jamie would've had to kill him had vanished. In that gaze, he could only see a monster wanting to kill. He knew that if he didn't stop this soon, there would be nothing left at the end.

He had to end this.

"James..." He said vehemently, struggling against the opposing blade as best as he could. "I know that you can still hear me, somewhere in that decaying skull of yours. I'm going to give you one last chance to walk away from this, keep yourself breathing while you still can. You may have slaughtered dozens of people, both innocent and guilty... you may have become a genocidal terror of Aether... but you're still breathing! You still have a chance to live, just like I did! Are you really wanting to throw it all away, just for the sake of killing me?! Are you really willing to exchange that for killing my comrades and taking your own life?! Is it really worth it?!"

After grinding the blade further against Oliver's sword, he felt his eyes widen a fraction more, and his eyes regain some consciousness. Retracting from his carnal mindset of murderous intent, Jamie could only snarl audibly, as he renewed the flames upon his blood-charred claymore, "You don't understand, Ollie! I have nothing left to live for! Even if I was to survive this battle, how am I supposed to live after this?! Aether wants to crucify me for my crimes! The Inner Circle will eventually dispose of their rabid dog, soon enough. Aizen and that Quincy pal of his don't seem to be much different. Don't you see?! I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO LIVE FOR!"

VOOM!

The flames began to discharge with intensity, blasting away the wall and intending on scorching Oliver's body, as his red eyes widened to renewed angered heights, as he pushed with both arms, using all of his strength to end his young brother's life, "YOU HAVE EVERYTHING I DESIRED! AND YET YOU ARE AS TAINTED AS I AM! WHY?! WHY CAN'T THAT BE THE SAME FOR ME?! YOU STOLE MY LIFE, OLIVER!"

Instinctively, Oliver shut his eyes as he felt the flames threaten to consume him. His own spiritual pressure billowed up in response, throwing the fire away from his body even as it continued to spread throughout the area. He clenched his teeth and bore a snarl on his face as he put forth all of his weight into the lock, shoving himself away from the wall and pushing back against Jamie. "Because you're too caught up killing people, that's why!!" He growled back. "This doesn't have to be an option for you anymore!! Aether may have warped us to their liking, but we still have our minds, don't we?! We chose to become nightmares breeded from their ranks, chose to kill all of those people!! With our own two hands, we carved our respective paths!! I never took anything from you, damn it!! The only one you have to blame for not having what you wanted is yourself, and no one but yourself!!"

Then, with a particularly viscious parry, he would blow the flames away and send his brother skidding back a tremendous distance. His eyes widened, and he let out a loud battle cry as he threw himself towards the other man. He would unleash his own attack, swinging his sword again and again at his brother in feral yet experienced efforts to cut him into pieces.

"There's too much blood on my hands, Ollie! I can't go back to being the brother you looked up to," catching each blade with an expert swivel of his heels upon the ground, Jamie did his best to counter the ferocious series of counterattacks as he spoke in rebuttal, "you may have blood on your hands, but I bathed in it! Consumed it! Annointed myself a devil in the eyes of all! Don't you see?!"

Catchaing one of the slashes, he swung it to the side, before Bonnie came out of his left sleeve and into his hand, firing it rapidly towards the undefended Oliver with a slasher smile once again donned upon his blood soaked face, "I AM A DEVIL WHO GLORIFIES MURDER AND SLAUGHTER!"

It would only be quick reflexes that would pull the blonde from certain doom. He broke away from the sword lock, performing a dive-and-roll maneuver to evade the shots fired in his direction. As he landed in a crouched position, he didn't allow himself to turn to face his brother right away. "So that's your answer?" He whispered, closing his eyes and allowing himself to stand back up. "That's going to be your choice? Good. Now I know what choice I can make." He allowed himself to spin around, taking a free hand off of his sword to point a palm at his adversary.

All he would have to do was say two words.

"Kisei Byōki!"

Jamie would start to lose feeling within his motor neurons once what sounded like a command take effect. That would be the result of those particular neurons dissolving at an accelerated rate, courtesy of a trap having been placed earlier. It had been something plotted for Reitanmujō had Jamie not arrived to intervene, but the elder Holmes had allowed himself to walk into the same trap. It pained Oliver to have to use the technique on the madman. But he knew that by this point, he had no other choice.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!

Jamie, having anticipated a Kidō-based attack or some form of energy release, raised his gun to fire repeatedly at Oliver. However, he could only get three shots out, as his arm began to lose the strength to pull the trigger. What followed was a dazed expression crossing his face, dropping his demented smile, and one of dumbfoundment, as the sword left his grasp, clanging to the ground. Not too long after, so did the gun, before his knees hit the ground, barely keeping himself upright.

"What the Hell have you done to me?!" Jamie snarled, it was all he could do to muster the strength to churn his jaw appropiately as he felt numb everywhere.

"I've destroyed the motor neurons within your body via a colorless, tasteless gas my Zanpakutō released into the air. If I walked away right now, you'd be nothing more than a cripple for the rest of your life." Oliver answered, twirling his blade around before sheathing it. The three shots had completely missed their targets, leaving him unharmed. As such, he walked slowly towards Jamie's fallen body. "I released it during the earlier encounter with the Takuji freak. He didn't suspect it, and had you not shown up, this would have been a fate solely for him. I wouldn't have bothered to do this if you had just walked away."

By this time, he was close enough to Jamie to kneel over his form. A solemn expression had graced his face, and any anger that had written itself on his countenance had vanished. "It's a shame, Jamie. You could have joined us. Kaitlyn would have been so happy to see her uncle alive and well, and we could have had a chance to rekindle what we had. Do you at least have any regrets about what you're doing and what you did?"

It was then, at this point, all of Jamie's rage bristled into utter grief. Tears began to be shed around his red eyes, before his head hung weakly, the only part of his body he could move at this point, as he was delicately kneeled upwards. He could die from the weakest attack at this point, and he wouldn't even have the pleasure of feeling the pain before his passing. This was the uttermost disgraceful and humiliating thing for him to endure before his end.

"Kaitlyn...Genesis...Allison...you," Jamie muttered, barely audible, as he spoke aloud with clear authentic grief upon every word his tongue uttered, "you were my family. When Kaitlyn...was missing...I thought her to have joined Genesis in the next life, along with Allison. When you were gone, I was alone, and I couldn't fill anything that the void in my heart had become. I turned to Yashin, and he taught me how to use my rage, my bloodthirst, and my insanity to my advantage. I turned to carnage, and would only be warmed by the feeling of blood coating my skin, and I would only feel alive when I would cause others pain and anguish. After all this...how can I come back from this sane, Ollie? How can I ever return to the person I was before? It would be better if I was to just die and atone in Hell for my sins..."

"...I know I haven't done much for you back then." Oliver's tone held clear bitterness within it as he responded. He took in a deep breath to keep himself mentally steady, feeling a sudden warmth within his own eyes. He didn't allow himself to shed a tear as he continued to speak. "If only I had been there, I could've kept you from falling under his spell. But in this moment? If that's what you feel... then the best I can do is make your passing a peaceful one. Where you'll go and what you'll do will be up to the fates to decide."

He softly rested a palm of Jamie's forehead, closing his eyes and focusing. His brother would feel the sensation of a natural death, peaceful and painless.

"Go to sleep. You at least deserve that much from me..."

"Ollie...please...take care...of...your...kids...for...me," Jamie uttered aloud, before falling completely silent. His body fell over limply and his body grew cold, as his heartbeat began to fade to nothing, as his brain began to shut down.

Jamie Holmes, the Blood Coat, has passed away.

"...yeah..."

Once those crimson eyes closed for the final time, Oliver slipped off the bloodied coat from Jamie as he lowered the man to the ground. He would slip it on himself, not minding the fact that it was covered in both dirt and blood. After buttoning it up, he placed his hands to his gun holsters and threw away his dual pistols before taking the Bonnie & Clyde pistols to replace them. He walked over to the fallen Seelenbracher and picked it up by the hilt, allowing the back of it to rest on one of his shoulders. It wasn't simple pilfering - he wanted a memorium, a reminder of just how costly this war had been for him and the rest of the V-14. As far as he was concerned, this was the only way.

Without another word, he grabbed Jamie and slung the man over his shoulder before walking away to rejoin his comrades.

"...and that makes ten," Hyōryū says aloud as she places the final piece of Kidō detonite on a supporting pillar, deep within the inner recesses of the Seireitei's underworks. Having completed their battle, all they had to do was set up, wait for the others to regroup, and for Oliver to get up.

"How's yours coming along, Anton?" the red-headed lover asked the russian Kidō specialist, whom had his own stuff to unpack and plant.

"Shit..." Anton let out a swear as he planted the detonation charges onto their respective places, twisting knobs and flipping switches in order to render it active. He had an annoyed and somewhat haggard look on his face, wiping sweat off of his forehead. "Everything's in place on my end. All in all, though? I can't believe that we went through all of this just to place some measly charges. After this, I think I'm going to be taking a long, long nap..."

"Only if that nap includes both of us, after a long, long, long drink," Hyōryū spoke in approval of the notion, as she inspected her explosive devices, walking around from pillar, maneuvering to be standing behind Anton's weary form,  wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering in his ear, "we're going to share that drink, alone, in a dark room and do the f'ing deed, right?"

A smirk crawled across Anton's face. "Oh, don't you know it..." He drawled, allowing himself to lean back and turn his head. His lips would meet hers in a swift and teasing kiss before he pulled away. "The only thing that could ever beat the fireworks we'll put on... is the fireworks you make..." At the end of his statement, his voice became a purr, and he nuzzled her neck in order to emphasize his tone.

"Good, now kiss," Mōka said flatly, as she appeared behind them all of a sudden, with the rest of the group in tow having arrived, "and make it nice...and slooooooow..."

"THE FU-?!" Hyōryū bellowed out in shock, turning on her heels and falling straight onto her buttocks, as she grew hot red in complexion, while snarling at the other female leader of V-14, "W-W-WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Omigawd, that was f'ing hilarious!" Karitori cackled just behind Mōka, as the others joined in with nervous to verily amused chuckles of their own.

Anton wasn't too prepared by the sudden appearance of the rest of the team, either. Usually, he would have been much more alert than that in the event that the enemy attempted to ambush them. But apparently his exhaustion had dulled his senses a bit too much. So when he heard the voice of their half-deity boss behind him, he couldn't really be blamed by the demonstration of clumsiness on his part.

He stumbled after Hyōryū abruptly pulled away from him, tried desperately to stop himself as he lurched forward and ended up doing so when his forehead collided with the pillar set to detonate. The good news was that he hadn't touched the bombs. The bad news was that he was now stumbling around like a drunk, courtesy of the force his head had collided with the concrete of the pillar. As he roamed around, he wore a rather dumb grin on his face and his eyes were swirling around within their sockets. He would only get a total of five words out.

"Beep, beep... I'm a cloud!"

Then, he unceremoniously collapsed on the ground.

Naturally, Genesis and Yusuke were the first to follow after Karitori, laughing at their teammate's misfortune. The Daitenshi had even taken the courage to add in her own insult to injury. "Well, don't let us interrupt you! We were just getting the popcorn!" She crowed, the grin of amusement all too clear on her face.

"Mommy," Yusuke added in his own two cents. "When I grow up, can I be a cloud?" This promptly caused the two to fall over in their laughter, holding their sides from the ache it was causing them. Even the ones who had the decency to try and have respect for the interaction between the two couldn't keep themselves from snickering at the intervention.

"It--" Rika held her face in one of her hands, her head hung down. Although it looked like a gesture of exasperation, it was clear that she was struggling not to laugh and fall onto the ground herself. "It...it really isn't that funny! Stop laughing!"

"It really--" Shou had to slap a hand to his mouth and turn away, trying to speak through his own sniggers. "It really isn't... especially when it's one of the more volatile members of V-14 that you're laughing at..."

"I..." Asuka seemed to be the only one who was able to keep a better composure than the rest of them. "I was going to ask if you two were all right, but... I can plainly see that your respective encounter hasn't taken much out of you, has it?"

"Such loathsome acts in the middle of the battlefield." Shinji muttered disdainfully, fixing a glare of irritation at Hyōryū and Anton. "How would you be if there were an enemy sneaking up on you? You would've been cut down without a moment's hesitation..."

C-CLICK-CLICK!

"I swear I will murder all of you if you don't shut up!" Hyōryū snarled out, her guns primed and her body's aura comically granted her a menacing portrayal of imminent doom for all of them.

"Ooooh, I'm so scared of your pee-shooters! Help me, help me! HAHAHAHAHA!" Karitori insisted, accepting the challenge of being shot at by the infamous pair of Kidō guns.

"That really wouldn't affect me, you know that right?" Mōka dryly stated, despite the red-head's furious mental state she withheld.

"I don't think she's bluffing," Shadō murmured to the others as his face dripped with comically nervous sweat, as he slinked back the farthest flank away from the laughing comrades who continued to mock her, "I'd stop if I were you..."

"I'm just glad she asked me to stow away the Executioner, otherwise this would be a problem," Zaii muttered to himself in a knowing tone.

Yajū just kept chuckling, "Its not like any of us could get hit by her pee shooters. The only ones who could at this point is this guy," shaking the tired Kenja, before nodding to Rika, "and the dame over there."

Kenja sighed, hanging his head at the thought of being shot at so soon, "I'd rather not be dragged into this, actually..."

"Okay..." Shou took in a deep breath, finally steadying himself enough to speak. He stepped forward beside Asuka, raising his hands up in a placating manner. "It's very nice to know that you two seem to be very much in one piece. But," He took a look around, quirking a slight eyebrow as he surveyed the area. "Where's Oliver? He was with you two when we separated."

That was when a familiar voice would cut through the air.

"Where could Ollie be, you say?"

Immediately, Anton shot himself up in alarm, climbing back onto his feet in an instant. As his head spun in the direction of the voice, his eyes fell upon what a shocking sight.

A few ways off from them stood a man in a coat, with the coat's hood covering his head. His eyes and hair were covered within the shadows, but the malicious smile that decked his face would be as clear as day. In one hand, he held a Seelenbracher that rested itself on his shoulder. In the other hand and other shoulder, he had a body slung with the rear end facing the group. For a moment, Anton could've sworn that the voice was a bit off. But there was no mistaking it for anything else.

It was Jamie.

"Why," The man continued speaking, nodding his head to the corpse he was holding. "He's right here, of course! Unfortunately, he seems to be quite deader than a doorknob. But don't worry, because you all will be following him soon enough!" This was followed by a mirthfully insane fit of laughter before he stopped himself. "Now that your particular question is answered, I think I have one of my own for you." He lifted the Seelenbracher off of his shoulder before stabbing the tip into the ground challengingly.

"Who dies first?!"

"How about you?!" Hyōryū snarled, her comically enraged fury transformed into righteous anger, as she aimed the guns and dialed the laser sights to lay upon Jamie's form.

Everyone seemed to settle into a fighting stance at once, fully alert and very much alarmed. If this man could kill Oliver, someone of renowned infamous fighting power and newly reacquired spiritual power, then he would be someone not to be trifled with.

However, it was Mōka's deadpan sight that broke the air, as she blankly stared impassively at the figure, "Oliver, please drop the act. That...really was in bad tastes...and that's saying something, coming from you."

That was all that would be needed to break the tension within the atmosphere.

An aggravated groan, familiar and much more positive for the rest of the V-14, would be emitted from the shadows of the man's hood. "Leave it to the fucking half-breed to spoil all my fun." He growled, releasing the hold he had on his Seelenbracher. The newly freed hand grasped the edge of the hood. "Seriously, couldn't you at least pretended to be alarmed and wary?"

The hand promptly pulled it off, exposing the sight of blonde hair and blue eyes that was currently directing a glare of annoyance at Mōka. The sight was enough to make Anton balk a little, prompting him to shift his gaze to the body that he was carrying. "Wait... if you're alive, then..."

"Yep." Taking that as an opportunity to show the body, Oliver knelt downward to heft it off of his shoulder and place it on the ground. There in full view would be his red-haired brother, with his malicious crimson eyes eternally shut in what seemed like an expression of peace. "The Blood Coat is nothing more than Aether's nightmare now. For those of you who weren't here, it turns out that he really wasn't on our side. The assistance he provided during my rescue was nothing more than a side effect of him softening up Aether's defenses for the Inner Circle's ambush. He was acting as an agent of Yashin the whole time."

As Oliver explained, Genesis would slowly pick herself up from the ground in order to look at Jamie's body. She had fallen deathly silent, her palms clasped together in front of her mouth. In a rare occasion, she was showing genuine vulnerability. When Oliver and Allison started to pay attention to Kaitlyn more than her, Jamie had been the one to take up their place. He had been a kind and loving uncle, regardless of the perilous obstacles that had gotten in the way of his and their life. Seeing him dead and lying on the floor as he was tore her up inside. When she blinked, she could feel a few set of tears drip down her face.

"Uncle...?"

"Wait a minute? Jamie was one of Yashin's thugs?!" Shito asked incredulously, causing even Karitori to blink, knowing full well that he was responsible for granting them many mods and upgraded weapons during their time spent in his hideout.

Now, not only was he a turncoat whom had worked with the enemy all along, but laid dead at their feet. Mixed emotions flew up, and people were wondering exactly why the man had helped them at all, even if it was to further his cause for his employers.

"Strange," Mōka narrowed her eyes, her gaze drifting to Jamie's deceased body, "though I smell much death from him, I don't sense genuine malicious intent or evil. His soul must have passed on without being grasped by Hell's Will. I wonder why?"

A dark smile came across Oliver's face, and he tilted his head to the side slightly as he heard the inquiry. "And here I thought you would've been around the world and back..." He said sarcastically, grasping the hilt of the Seelenbracher and lifting it so that the tip was poised over the man's chest. "Apparently, you don't know the difference between an evil person..." His grip tightened, and the smile was quick to fall off of his face as he finished the sentence.

"...and an insane one."

Then, he stabbed the blade into the corpse's chest, calling upon the Seelenbracher's powers. Immediately, the body would be ignited with orange flames that swallowed it within a timespan of milliseconds. Those flames spread across the ground, but would not burn any of their feet within the small radius it had expanded within. The time of burning only lasted for several seconds before the flames disappeared, leaving the ashes of a skeleton behind. Oliver pulled the Seelenbracher so that it would be resting on his shoulder once again, shifting his free hand within his pocket as he looked at the group.

"There. I would've buried him when we got back to the surface. But I don't know just how vengeful Aether can be when it comes to people like him. They'll probably keep pursuing him, considering they had been looking for me even after so many years." He let out a little scoff. "At least I can have a little laugh knowing they'll be on a wild fucking goose chase..."

"I...think he would have appreciated sentiment," Shinshin spoke aloud with a tone of respect for the man who passed on. Despite the evil he intended to wreak, he had helped them all in the end.

"The...bastard should have just shot himself, to save us the trouble," Hyōryū sniffled, holstering her guns as she tried to stifle the tears rising to the surface. Despite him being a serial killer, he wasn't half bad. He gave them sanctuary, helped them get Oliver out of the city in one piece, gave them weapons and mods.

"Well, ladies and gents?" Oliver questioned, after a moment of silence. He placed his free hand on his hip as he looked at the group in general. "I'm sure that all of you've set your charges by now. It's high time that we get the fuck outta here and blow this place to kingdom come." He turned away from the group, beginning what would be a walk towards the exit direction. "I don't know about you all, but I'm just about ready to go on ho--"

However, he would feel a feminine hand grasp his, immediately feeling the jolt of foreign spiritual energy that he had sensed within their former compatriot. His eyes widened slightly, and he looked over his shoulder to see that Genesis had been the one to stop him. Her eyes were overshadowed, hiding any possible expression from him. Her voice, in unusual contrast from the rough and rowdy tone she had used many times before, would be quiet and subdued as she spoke to the rest of the group.

"You guys go on. We'll be there shortly."

"Oh, okay," M ōka nodded with understanding. Turning to the others, she made a commanding gesture towards the exit, "let's go boys! I may survive it, but I'd rather not watch you all get blown to bits when we set these off."

"Oh har-har!" Shito rolled his eyes at the joke of M ōka's deified endurance in comparison to the others.

Shadō briefly locked eyes with Hyōryū as they saw the look Genesis and Oliver had. Nodding to each other, they left wordlessly, knowing what kind of talk it would be and probably the last time they'd get to speak it to each other.

Before long, all of the V-14 company left, leaving the two alone in the middle of the underworks of the Seireitei.

For the most part, Oliver could only stare in bemused silence. Why had Shou's subordinate suddenly decide to reel him back in from what seemed to be a private talk? They hadn't really talked much, even in their respective time working as colleagues against the Inner Circle. He kept his surprised look as he turned around so that he could look at her fully. "All right, Miss Gangster. What the hell's with--"

"So." Genesis would stop him short, her subdued tone carrying a bit of bitterness as she raised her head up. "How long has it been? A year? Ten? Hundreds? Time seems to really fly by when you aren't allowed to pay attention to it. Good thing that dead souls like us tend to age like wine, even in such a long time, huh?" She spread her arms out in a gesturing motion to herself. "I knew you wouldn't have recognized me right away. After all, I have been ripped apart and put back together so many goddamn times. It's surprising that I still recognize myself, having been shot in the head and left to bleed out in that alleyway and all..."

That was enough to break the annoyed look Oliver was giving her. His eyes widened, and his ears twitched as they picked up the familiarity within her tone and voice. Several years ago, there had been a girl he knew that spoke and acted just like her. He couldn't mistake her for anyone else, despite the radical changes she had gone through in terms of visage. He took a hesitant step forward, finding one of his hands reaching out to her as he spoke her name.

"...Jean?"

What he didn't expect was her fist colliding into his face.

"AGH!"

The man involuntarily dropped the Seelenbracher and let out a sharp yell as he was sent careening into the wall. Genesis would storm towards him as he slid down to a sitting position, her eyes narrowed and her mouth contorted in a fierce snarl. "You've got some nerve calling me that, Dad!" She snapped. "Before, you couldn't even pay a second's worth of attention to me, and now you're acting all overjoyed to see me?!"

"What are you--" Oliver only managed to push himself off the wall before Genesis launched a kick to his knee-cap, causing immense pain to shoot through his leg. He was forced to fall down to one knee, unable to do much against her as she continued to rage at him.

"You and Mom spoiled that bimbo of a sister, treated her as if she was the queen of fucking England!" She followed this up with two vicious haymakers to his face, forcing him to stagger and stumble back. She wouldn't stop there, raining blow upon blow upon him without mercy or restraint. "Sure, you may have met my basic requirements. But hell, whether it was our birthdays, serving dinner, or just helping us build up for our future lives, it was always her that feasted like a sultan, while I had to settle for scraps like a beggar on the fucking street! You gave her everything, and at the same time, it seemed like you never wanted me to exist at all! What in God's name was I to you, huh?!"

One of her boots would find its way to his groin, meeting it with immense force. Naturally, this elicited a much louder scream of pain from him as he fell to his hands and knees. Genesis would back away for the moment, glaring at his form. "I became a party-goer. Went through nearly all of those damn clubs back at the Rukongai, got drunk as Hell, and I even got to get up on stage to do a little pole-dancing now and again." She scoffed, throwing her hands up into the air. "That's the life I had to live just to get some form of attention from anyone, even if it was from guys who only wanted a piece of my ass. I wonder how's that gonna fair on your conscience, knowing you let your daughter become some street-whore?"

"Jean.." Oliver reached his hand out towards her again, a pleading look on his face as he attempted to calm her down. "Come on. You don't understand--"

"The Hell I don't!!"

He would be interrupted by Genesis's furious scream and a boot crashing into his face, nearly crushing it inwards. He crumpled to the ground, clutching it as he felt a few teeth come loose from his mouth. He could still hear Genesis's voice screaming out to him, letting out all of the fury she had kept inside of her for so many years. "A lifetime of neglect from my parents, and what do I get in the end?! A bullet through my goddamn skull, that's what!! But that's not all, kiddies!! I had to suffer an eternity of torture, running from those giant horned things that kept trying to eat me!! I had to keep it together even as those other Daitenshi kept killing me and bringing me back to life, just so they could do it again!! If the Punisher hadn't found me, I would've long lost my mind!! And it was all thanks to some neglectful parents who were too lazy and selfish to tell me what's wrong from what's right!!"

Hyōryū winced at the sight that befell her, from the shadows.

While she had thought about giving the two space, she kne with something juicy was going to go down between father and daughter, it was going down now. Hearing what she said though...made her tear up inside. She could only think one thing, "This girl...she lived my life, once upon a f'ing time. Dammit, Ollie! Why did you do that to her?!"

She wasn't alone, however.

Shadō had came to ensure both his female partner, and Shou's subordinate, wouldn't cause any lasting damage to either Oliver or the prior temperamental Daitenshi. Despite the tenuous situation, he knew that she wouldn't cripple or kill Oliver, and would only hit the point of pain of which he could tolerate it and not breach it.

Unaware of the two presences hiding nearby, Genesis reached up to grasp the front of Oliver's shirt and hauled him up so that she could glare into his eyes. "And now, after all the Hell that you've put me through, I get a front row seat to the murder of the only relative who bothered to give a fuck about me!! I got to watch him just burn away into nothing more than ashes, just like that!! The first time I've seen him in years, and you took him away from me!!" She shoved him down onto the ground, her eyes dilated with rage. But now, the first sign of tears could be seen from her eyes.

"Are you happy now, asshole?! Did you get what you wanted?! Because thanks to you, I don't think I have anything left now!!"

Following this was a silence thick with tension. Genesis had to fight back her tears as she glared down at his bowed form. She knew some form of defense or rebuttal would be launched in response to her tirade. But she wasn't going to have any of it. There was no excuse for neglect, leaving her out like she was some mathematical error in an equation. Whatever pathetic excuse he could've had was just waiting to be shot down.

But then, Oliver spoke.

"Neither do I." His voice was hoarse, weakened and weary. He pushed himself up so that he was on his knees, looking up at his daughter. "I wouldn't have killed Jamie if he hadn't felt that death was the only way to repent for what he did. I wouldn't have killed you if I had just manned up and shouldered the burden meant for both of us. But I didn't. It's cost both me and you so much in our lives. If I can't even have something like this... I understand."

"What are you--" Genesis cut herself off when Oliver struggled to stand back up, her body tensing up. He walked slowly towards her, the haunted look in his eyes sending a chill down his spine. "Stay back..." She said, her voice tinted with alarm as she took a few steps back herself. "Stay the fuck back, damn it!! I'm serious!! I'll snap your head right off if you don't--!!"

But before she knew it, he was right in front of her. She shut her eyes, expecting some sort of physical retribution for her aggressive attacks on his person. Beads of sweat were forming down her face as she waited for him to strike her, return all of the pain that she had inflicted on him. But they would open back up when she felt his arms wrap around her in a tight, affectionate hug. She would feel him rest his head on the top of hers, gently nuzzling her hair.

"But it would mean so much to this old man if you did this for me." He said softly, closing his eyes with a solemn and pained expression on his face. "Words just aren't enough to express it, but... I'm sorry for everything I've done to you and everything I didn't do for you. I had so many chances to be a better father to you, and I never took them. But starting now, you will have something to live for as long as I'm breathing. Jean... can you ever forgive me?"

"L-let...!" Genesis weakly struggled in his grip, her eyes shutting tightly. Although she still had anger within her voice, it was rapidly fading away under the genuine misery of his words. She could feel her eyes burning as she struggled to keep the damn from breaking, struggled to keep herself angry at him. "Let me go...!" But it wasn't long before she stopped herself, too emotionally exhausted to keep it up. She fell against him, burying her face within his chest and allowed herself to sob.

"Sssh..." Tears were now falling down Oliver's face as well, but now he held a small smile on his face. He used one hand to gently rake his fingers through her hair to comfort her. "That's right... just let it all go... let it all out, kid..."

Hyōryū grasped a hold of Shadō's shoulder, speaking with a hidden monotone, as her bangs covered her eyes, hiding her expression, "Take me back to the others. I've seen what I wanted to see..."

Shadō nodded wordlessly, grasping her shoulder, before swallowing them both within the shadows and retreating back to Mōka and the others.

It would only take a few more minutes before Genesis allowed herself to calm back down. With a final sniffle, she gently pulled away from him and wordlessly raised her fingers to snap. He would be enveloped in a blaze of blue fire, and all of the injuries that he had suffered at her hands would be healed by the flames. After the last scratch had been healed, the flames would subside. She let out a sheepish chuckle, gesturing towards him. "Can't leave any evidence. Your pals might grill me if they knew I had beaten you up..."

That caused Oliver himself to chuckle a little, walking over to pick the Seelenbracher back up and rest it on his shoulder. "I don't even think they'd care. It's not exactly uncommon for me to get as much punches in the face from them as I do the enemy." He gestured towards his head towards the direction that the rest of them had gone. "C'mon. They must be getting impatient waiting for us." He started to walk away in that direction, with Genesis briefly running to catch up to him and walk beside him.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't tell Sis I called her a bimbo. I really didn't mean it."

To say that ground zero of an apocalypse looked horrific, would be an understatement.

The battlefield around Senkaku and Mukurō was barely contained to a square mile, as barriers were errected by other parties to keep their battle as enclosed and cut off from the others as possible, to decrease the chances of the war ripping apart the Soul Society's structures any more than it already has.

The air was lukewarm and uncomfortable, as bathing mist of solidifying frozen water particles and steaming fissures of superheated molecules would constantly coalesce within the atmosphere of the ruined landscape. Any ground had become blackened, cracked, glassed, and unearthed during the collision of unnaturally destructive forces.

Mukurō clashed once more with Senkaku, streaking an immense blaze of white-orange discharge of incinerative energy upon him, while focusing the cutting blade's edge towards the reinforced skin of his enemy. Neither of them have yet to make the defining killing blow, let alone a scathing one. He intended to be the first to implement it!

The opposing weapon would meet Senkaku's as the Arrancar raised it to intercept. In the wake of his swing, a veil of ice was created to counter the surge of superheated energy. It would carry enough force to hurl Mukurō away and enough potency to negate the offending attack. However, it would not last long in the fluctuating temperatures, melting and evaporating within the heat created by the man's Bankai. His Hierro did not keep him from experiencing the brunt of discomfort caused by the unstable environment.

But even as he fought, he had yet to show any signs of discomfort. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were locked on the enemy in an intense notion of concentration. The small frown, ever since the release of his Resurrecion, had not left his face. All in all, he had fallen completely silent aside from the occasional grunts of exertion as he fought against his enemy. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing more to say.

There was no more hoping for an enemy to hold mutual respect for him and his abilities. There was only a burning hatred for the condescending view the Dragon possessed concerning him and his kin, although it didn't show on his face. He hated the fact that Mukurō could hold such a view and be able to get away with it as he was. He despised the fact that the man was able to take the power of his Segunda Etapa and push it back with a simple release. Right now, there was one thing he wanted above all else.

He wanted this man to suffer.

With a boost of his wings, Senkaku threw himself at Mukurō to clash blades with him once again. His attacks were aggressive yet coordinated and precise. He battered away at his opponent's defenses, using his fury as a means to fuel each and every attack he made.

Mukurō used his own armor plus his swordsmanship experience to clash evenly with the Arrancar's fierce blows. Every clash caused super-heated energy to be sifted with sub-zero, hyper-crystalizing force, producing billowing shockwave of lukewarm mist with each weapon collision. Whenever Mukurō would be thrown off guard, he allowed the weapon of his enemy to pass right through him, causing his body to shift into smoke, before re-solidifying upon his counterattack with his powerful blade.

"Ngh--!"

Whenever that happened, Senkaku found himself having to retreat right away in order to avoid getting hit. Mukurō's maneuvers were making it increasingly hard for him to tell whether or not he was about to get a critical blow or not. He had barely avoided getting cut after being caught off-guard so many times, making it next to impossible for him to finish the fight. Now that he had a mouth, he pursed his lips and clenched his teeth as he skidded away.

"Damn it... I can't touch him with that cursed armor on. At this rate, this is going to tip into his favor!"

SHINK!

"Seirō!" Mukurō stabbed the blade into the ground upon punctuating the technique verbally and lowly. Within an instant, fifteen meters of earth glowed underneath Senkaku, before a mighty tower of white fire erupted from it, exploding high into the sky, widening and stretching to the size of a skyscraper, towering within the Soul Society's skies.

For a moment, it looked as if Senkaku was consumed. He hadn't made a move to evade the attack and had instead crouched downwards. His massive wings wrapped around his form as the fire consumed him, and his spiritual pressure billowed outwards in order to keep himself from getting incinerated. At the same time, he was hiding himself within the inferno to keep his enemy from detecting him. Still, the intense heat kept him sweating and making it more difficult to wrack his brain for a solution to the problem.

"Maybe it would be better if I just gave up." He thought to himself, frustration and self-loathing taking over once again. "I've failed to get anywhere or any step closer to defeating this... monster. No matter how high I ascend, he's able to keep up with me every step of the way. I need this to end..."

"You also need to heed to the Primera's wishes. You're not going to accomplish that just by accepting defeat, are you?"

His eyes would snap open at the firm and reprimanding voice of Hermosa within his head. He let out a soft gasp at her words, but she would continue speaking to him. "Just because there are enemies capable of fighting against you doesn't mean that it's okay to lie down and let them take victory, especially at such high stakes! If you want this to end, you'll have to stop relying on brute power and start using your head!"

"But... I've used everything in my arsenal to topple him." Senkaku protested. "Nothing's working!"

He heard a slight scoff in response. "Not everything. I've been using our senses to get a better view of the environment around us while you fended him off. Tell me, what have you noticed about it all?"

"What are you trying to get at, Hermosa?"

"If the two powers created by our Segunda Etapa and his Bankai cancel each other out, then why does the environment around us look so war-torn? The powers haven't nullified each other out. They're still clashing against each other, gaining only brief control of the area before the other side takes over. His power is prevalent... but so is yours. This may be your only opportunity to finish him off."

"How? His smoke tricks are rendering my attacks futile! He'll phase straight through anything I throw at him!"

She would chuckle at his negativity. "It seems to be a rather useful tool to have, I bet. But there's a little something that I picked up over the years. Whenever a gas such as smoke is cooled down, it condenses and turns into a liquid. If your sword passes through him while the ice-type spiritual pressure within you is channeled into it, it should cause a reaction. You do that, and you may just take a major chunk out of him the next time he does it."

"And how do I know he's just going to let me?"

"His tactics have been rather effective through the course of the fight, and they nearly ended up killing you. Somehow, I doubt he's going to just surrender such an advantage at this point. Just keep pushing him to close-quarters. Your time will come, and when it does, don't hesitate to take it."

"...right..."

The end of the conversation would follow with an outwards spread of his wings, blowing away the white flames and allowing them to wither within the fluctuating temperatures. Slowly, he stood back up to glare at Mukurō. "Is that all you are capable of, Shinigami?" He questioned, his voice as cold as the ice he controlled. "I thought I was supposed to be nothing compared to the likes of you, a worthless piece of Hollow scum in need of culling. My head's just waiting to be cut off and mounted on whatever wall you have." Slowly, he approached his enemy and raised his sword threateningly. "But then again, I'm starting to think that you're just not cut out for slaying a "creature of darkness" like me, after all. Go home, little boy, before the Boogeyman eats you."

Mukurō didn't have words to cleverly rebuttal, nor did he act composed. He acted upon instinct and rage.

"RRRRRAAAAH!" With a mighty yell, Mukurō moved as much speed and power as he could muster to close the distance between himself and his prey, swinging his blade overhead with immenese pressure, slewing a fissure of white flames to bear upon his body and cut him in half, and leave his body to be burned to ashes.

This was a window of opportunity that Senkaku would've never expected.

As Mukurō lunged, Senkaku could see the chance Hermosa was hinting at. There was a sudden fluctuation, and he could feel the temperature change to the blistering cold that had made up the power of his release. He pushed his body one step forward once his enemy was close enough, swinging his own blade in parallel with the opposing one. It would carry the ice-type energy within the blade as it flew towards its target. Upon initial visage, it would seem like the blades would simply collide. But the eyes of Senkaku saw otherwise. Although Mukurō's attack was threatening, it did not hold the coordination and timing that he had seen prior to this moment.

Within the eve of their swings, they would move past each other before standing completely still. At first, it didn't seem like there had been a connecting blow from either of them. But then, Senkaku allowed himself to speak once more.

"Run."

That was when a gash, wide as Mukurō's shoulder length and running down past the breast. A mixture of his smoke and blood would spill from the wound, indicating just how critical the injury was. "Run far away from here and don't you dare turn back. Meet Rey Dorado, tell him that the Tercera comes for him next. This is the only act of mercy I'm going to waste on the likes of you... disgusting parasite."

SPLURCH!

"Nnnngh," Mukurō grunted aloud in pain, barely propping himself up from falling to his knees, as a spurt of blood spattered out of his black armor and poured upon the damp ground. Without taking a second thought, he knew that he had been beaten. He could call upon other armors, but now that he had been dealt a critical blow, he had no chance of beating the Tercera at the level he was now.

With a dark chuckle, Mukurō began to sink into his own shadow, speaking in a exiting speech of farewell, "We'll finish this another day, Senkaku Ningensei. Your kind will all meet the same fate as you will, upon my victory of you, Tercera Espada Afilado!"

After he vanished completely, there was nothing but silence.

Slowly, Senkaku closed his eyes and focused on himself. As he reverted back to his orginal form, the instability within the environment ceased to exist. Hermosa would escape from him like a portal, stepping out through his body and hopping onto solid ground. As she did so, he would completely regain his former features prior to the battle's start. He took in a deep breath, tilting his head towards the darkening sky.

"Hermosa."

"Yes, sir?" The female Arrancar turned to face him, her hands folded behind her back as she looked at him.

"As much as I despise that... tick as well as the leeches I fought before him, he made me remember something very important. All this time, I started to forget that there is no such thing as honor or integrity in the likes of combat or war. I'm no longer looking for that one adversary anymore, as I know it doesn't exist... at least, not in this lifetime. From now on, each and every one of the enemy is nothing more than ants meant to be crushed under our heels. I want to see their world burn before their very eyes the same way they burned the face of Hueco Mundo."

"...that..." The contempt and malice within Senkaku's tone was unnerving Hermosa - something that could be shown by the hesitant tone within her own voice as she spoke to him. "...that sounds like a rather malevolent viewpoint to have. Are you sure you'll be okay carrying that belief with you? After all, you were about to call the Segunda out for saying the very same thing."

"Bernabe had the right idea." Senkaku answered simply, sheathing his blade. "He's always had the right idea. That's why that although the enemy regards me as the second strongest Espada, he will always be much stronger than I will." With that being said, he turned to walk away from the combat area and deeper into enemy territory to reinforce their allies. "Come on. We have a tyrant to overthrow."

"R-right..." Hermosa was quick to run to his side and fall in step with him, preparing herself for further battles ahead.

---

For Daisuke's group, the battle with Asumu had taken a dark turn.

Three of the Lancer's Bankai had all been stolen in one single movement, and were now within the Quincy's disposal whenever he chosed to summon them. They were tired, wounded, and had all just lost three of their strongest powers.

All of this, at the hands of just one Stern Ritter.

"It's unfortunate that you three trained so hard to master these Bankai." Asumu calmly mocked in his ever so resonant tone, holding on of the medallions in his hand and glancing at it idly. "Because if I want to, I can turn them all three against you at once. Do you still think you would last?"