Past Force

Vittoria's eyes snapped awake; she quickly surveyed the area, noting that nothing was of particular note. It seemed like everything was normal as always; which was very good. The zaniness of the current universe was almost too much for her. Hopping out of bed, Vittoria sighed.

Although spending time with Clarissa was always fun; she did miss Gunha quite a bit. It was like a hole in her heart that she couldn't mend, no matter how much she tried. Nevertheless, she quickly got dressed and headed to the dining room, noticing Clarissa cooking already. "U-Uh…How about some breakfast?" Clarissa's tone wasn't particularly comforting because she didn't know what to do.

Vittoria smiled gently and sat down, while wondering out-loud, "What exactly did you and that dragon woman talk about, hm, Gai?" Naturally, there was no response from Gai, who was either ignoring her or just sleeping as he usually would. "...I hate when you never answer me."

To be honest, Vittoria couldn't really understand Gai's thought patterns; it felt as if whenever she talked to the Mototsu-Seishin hybrid, she was at a keyboard. Most of the keys on said keyboard were buttons which ticked him off if pushed, and the only way to not irk him significantly was to leave it be.

Vittoria did nothing but stare at Clarissa- or rather, the frying pan which she held as she flipped eggs impatiently, hoping to quickly chow down on whatever the hell she was cooking before trying to find Gunha. Vittoria actually thought to herself, why was she so eager to find Gunha when she hated him, anyways? Even she realized a drive was so unlike her, she wanted to say sorry for overacting. It kept nagging at her in the back of her head, maybe it was a sign of maturation? …Nah. Probably not.

Soon after breakfast (Tasty bacon and eggs!), Vittoria set out to find Gunha. She was dressed in her usual attire—which looked like even a light breeze could blow it off—and she had the burning eyes of determination that Gai once had. Wandering through the streets of Naples, Vittoria walked past many happy couples; she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy at this. "Happy couples..."

Then...something caught her eye.

It was a crimson streak fading in the distance. Well, fading and re-surging, continuously. An ominous presence could be felt, coursing through the air—it was dark and foul; though not like Vittoria's cooking, it felt pure evil. As if an evil shadow was consuming the current vicinity, it crept closer and closer. Vittoria froze up; it was unlike anything else she'd ever felt before, and it was sure as hell she never wanted to feel it ever again.

Before she could react, the crimson streak shot towards her; the figure was hard to discern; but it charged with the force of a wild beast, kicking the asphalt. It looked only at Vittoria, with a swirling, black killing intent. Naturally, Vittoria wasn't unprepared. She drew her blade, and immediately readied it in a defensive stance. The beast swung his current weapon down at Vittoria's head. She blocked it safely with her sword, but she was astonished when she identified what the weapon was.

"An iron pole —!?" Vittoria was now worried. The beast held the iron pole, over two meters long after being cut down, with two hands like a spear, putting a terrible pressure on Hōōtenku. But the surprising point was that this weapon was nothing but an iron pole.

There was no way Hōōtenku will have troubles against a piece of metal you pick up on the roadside. Yet…. "Wh... at?" Holding up, Vittoria couldn't believe her eyes. The iron pole in the beast's hands was being tainted in black. Black lines were spreading and multiplying like the veins of a leaf, invading the iron pole.

The starting point was the two hands. The black lines were spreading on the entire pole like a spider's web from where the black gauntlets are holding it. That was the beast's special power — the spiritual power muddled with bloodthrist and hatred, possessed only by this being. The iron pole was receiving it by permeation from his hands.

"You can't mean...!?" Vittoria was astonished.

"When this fucker takes something, it becomes his Zanpakutō." Gai butted in. "The Zanpakutō of a spiritual being doesn't need to manifest through a blade. Sometime, it can be a type of Zanpakutō that manifests through a "unique ability". This is what this guy has."

Vittoria now understood the frightening lure as Gai continued, "Even ordinary scrap iron becomes full of the immense spiritual power fit to compete with even Bankai once it comes into the guy's hands."

The second blow, the third blow – the beast pressed Vittoria back with impressive throws of his spears, while Vittoria was merely defending herself. Vittoria's right hand that was resting on the hilt had no strength in it, and the wound dealt by Kurenai's Gaikaōtori started to hurt. With only her left hand wielding her sword, Vittoria could barely fight, but faced with the torrential attacks sent by the eerily calm yet bloodthirsty beast in front of her, she could only defend. She could not find a chance to retaliate, and gradually became disadvantaged.

Vittoria was about to collapse. The wound on her finger cost her the maneuverability of her sword. Vittoria was keenly anxious because of that. Of course she was aware of how dangerous her situation was. The fight with had also become a stalemate. In the current situation – she didn't have any strength to fight anymore. The foe, on the other hand, mercilessly and ferociously attacked. Although the foe continued to throw his iron 'spear' in a way as rough as a beast, the skill of the throws were nonetheless accurate and precise.

It was not the vigor of the foe that pressed Vittoria down, but his intensely fierce barrage gave her no way to retaliate. No matter how bad the wound on Vittoria's hand might be, she didn't even have a chance to strike back. On top of that, although the beast's weapons were strengthened with spiritual power, they were still twisted remains of an iron pole.

Vittoria called, "Who the hell are you? You're not a Shinigami! Are you an Quincy!? What the hell are you, an Arrancar?!" Naturally, the foe ignored Vittoria question, but threw the iron pole following his piercing vigor. The strike could be called as an absolutely exceptional feat. The ferocity of the strike appears to hit Vittoria's short stature and…

"...!!" However, the thrown pole did not hit Vittoria. The two meter iron pole was split down the middle, and fluttered from the air to the ground. It was the beast's fake Zanpakutō, with enough strength to compete with Vittoria's legitimate Zanpakutō. What broke this fake Soul-Cutting Sword with ease was a streak of flaming red light that glimmered through the darkness.

Vittoria was astonished; in front of her was a mysterious figure. They had a somewhat short stature and were androgynous; naturally, their figure was obscured by a large white mantle and hood; they had spiked boots and armoured-gauntlets. "I must apologize for being so late." Even though Vittoria couldn't see their face, it was obvious they were smirking.

The beast attempted to attack the figure; though...something just happened. Light orange energy amassed around their gauntlet, before they unleashed an uppercut at the speed of light, blowing the beast away with one attack. Vittoria wasn't sure what just had occurred, but for a second there, the temperature rose exponentially. The figure turned to Vittoria, who could only respond, "Just what is it that you know?"

The figure laughed dissonantly and rebuked, "Everything you've been dying to know!"