The War of Four: Persona Non Grata

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The Extent of Your Resolve; Worthiness of Vitality
"Empresa's evacuation will spread like wildfire. No one's going to overlook the fireworks we made during the defense, especially not our enemies."

Casilda had her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the ones who would currently address her. She and they were standing within the meeting room of the D.C.O.'s main dimension, grouped together and discussing what would be the next plan of retaliation. After getting acquainted with the rest of them a bit more, they were quick to roll right into tactics and strategies. There was no time to waste, as there was the risk of the Inner Circle moving at any time without warning. Even if the supposed rest time after the assault was a few days, no one wanted to take any chances.

As of this particular time, the Primera was speaking. "The guard that were pulled out along with the citizens are a hardy breed. But their numbers are limited, considering they were drawn out from only a city. With the neighboring cities from Empresa alerted and prepared for possible invasion, though, I can at least take comfort that it'll take quite a lot if Sōsuke's wanting to take over all of Hueco Mundo. For now, the looks of things are saying that Soul Society should be the main attraction..."

"From what little intel we have on the situation involving the Seireitei, it appears that they're already starting to erect substitutes for the damaged structures around the Soul Society. Not to mention place their own monuments and imbue their propaganda within the captive populace and military," Hana declared, pacing back and forth across the 3-D layout table that currently was emblazoned red and showed various structures that were exceptionally crafted, despite being only several days after the invasion occured. Studying the Soul Society she stroked her chin as she spoke, "they also rolled in the bulk of their military power in a wide perimeter around the Seireitei, with airships with an even wider patrol to spot any abnormalities or oncomers of interest. Even the Senkaimon gates have been sealed, making ordinary access impossible and improbable..."

"There appears to be a similar invasion that had occured only half a day ago at Yūrei Ōkoku," Kukkyōna added, as he turned a sympathetic gaze to Avaron as he added, "we have lost contact with them as well. Needless to say, I believe every proximate Society, with the irrelevent exception of Tendan Dākusaido, is incapable of aiding us. All forces we will be utilizing will be what we have now."

The police commander had closed her eyes in solemnity upon hearing those words. Jūshin, Chidori, Shiro, and countless others were in the same predicament that they were. It was not pleasant knowing that she as well as what remained of her Dragonbird scouting force was the only portion that Yūrei would have within this effective fighting force. Still, she couldn't let that bother her, not with the stakes.

After taking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes to regard them all with a stern yet empathetic gaze. "It'll be all that we'll need." She said firmly. "I've grown to learn that even one man can make the difference between life and death, even on the likes of a grand scale. If it took the minds of a few to bring waste to our society, it can take a few to bring it back. We will not be the ones to just sit by while the afterlife burns to the ground..."

She was quick to switch her tone from encouraging to tactical fluidly, turning her attention to the 3-D grid. "As of now, the top priorities should be locating and securing HVIs such as the Captains left behind. I doubt the Inner Circle are above torture and interrogation to squeeze even more information out for possible use. Trying to dismiss them will result in possibly unattainable recovery for the Gotei 13, and considering the heavy casualties you all took, I doubt you have very much reserves other than what from the D.C.O. offers..."

Noriko let out a light scoff, but said nothing.

"We'll have to keep a low profile if we want to pull our guys out of there..." Qilin said lowly, keeping his tone casual and cool as he spoke. "The Horsemen, Aizen, Juhabach... there's no doubt that they'll be there to oversee everything. Even without involving the higher powers, there's the matter of the foot soldiers. Many of them have us outgunned with their technology, including Kidō guns, heavily modified melee weapons and the like. Their numbers outstrip ours, and they've proven themselves to have plenty of skill and experience over our own troops. Open confrontation with any of them would be a no-go when our injured are involved."

"We can't involve the Shinō Academy's teachers or students. They are the future and foundation of the three branches of our military, so they are considered top priority protection while they reside here, in a safe pocket dimension," Captain Hando insisted, pointing out their uninvolvement to be had in this campaign.

"It'd be more likely that we'd need to sneak behind enemy lines and distract the majority of their enemies from the real targets. If we can cripple their leaders, their men will be rendered into any chaos we can toss into their midst," Kaien Shiba added, as he observed the display himself, "but discounting that aside, the Dragons are the biggest concern of their generals. Each of them have incredible skill, and would require multiple skilled warriors of our own to defeat them, along with their subordinates."

"Its a pity we can't use the man power they have in custody within the Soul Society. While they didn't kill them, they still could be useful in battle if we're to further the seeds of chaos among them," Senna added, seeing it as an advantage.

"That would be risky, and probably fruitless," Renji pointed out, shrugging as he locked eyes with her and those around them of importance, "all those men who hadn't died are probably in a condition a fraction of what the captured Captains are. Not many of them will be combat worthy, and even if they will, their numbers wouldn't be worth putting them in a position to fight..."

"If we could possibly lure the enemy away from their positions, we could send a few squads to escort them out of the Soul Society until the battle has calmed down," Daisuke suggested out, wanting to escort as many of the Soul Reapers as they can, "significant to battle strength or not, they are still our comrades. Should they perish, we will most certainly be left with less than desired man power for any future battles of this scale..."

"So, in summary, you want to have someone serve as a guinea pig to turn resistance away from targets of opportunity..." Senkaku summarized. "For that to work, we're going to have to use combatants that will last a good amount of time against any level of strength put against them. That way, the time the actual damage teams have to get to their locations will be maximized to full effect. We don't want allies that will break under the will of Dragons and Horsemen if they are confronted by such..."

"We will also have to pinpoint and hit locations separately, if you're aiming to take out the leaders first..." Qilin added. "The Dragons and Horsemen won't stick together in one spot with the knowledge of a counter-attack. Each Horsemen will be within his or her own location, guarded by their respective Dragons. But if we're aiming to pull our guys out, we'll need to move quickly. What possible locations could they be hidden in that no one would be permitted to go normally?"

"That's what we're intending on learning, of course!" Kaze spoke in an exasperated tone, as he leaned over on his cane and looked to Qilin, then to the rest of the gathered, "as soon as we can get a few probes out towards the Soul Society, and maybe spare a scout here and there, we can collaborate a number of details for which we can track these targets of interest down-"

"Sorry we're late!"

"-here comes one of our volunteers," Kaze chuckled as he heard the voice of his long absented Lieutenant, taking Rukia and what appeared to be the Espada they've been waiting for. Regarding his uniformed appearance as hastily put on, he cocked a brow up as he inquired, "did you enjoy yourself with your company, Shio-san? Or were you cut short by our dilemma?"

"Not funny," Meikurai growled under his voice before clearing his throat as they arrived in front of the fully gathered alliance.

The moment that the trio appeared, Casilda was quick to turn her eyes on Lobo.

Though her gaze was mostly unreadable, there was a slight flicker of irritation within those eyes of hers. Although Rukia had reason to be sympathetic, the Primera was not one to overlook the fact that Lobo had went against orders for the sake of chasing someone that had been irrelevant to the situation at hand. By that alone, he would have been considered to have committed defection and treason. Had she had been Bernabe, she would've gladly made the decision of executing him right then and there.

But she wasn't her Segunda. So instead, she remained silent and allowed only her eyes to pass judgement on him.

This didn't seem to be picked up by Rukia, who was busy giving a respectful bow to the rest of them. "Our apologies for the late arrival." She said, giving a look towards Avaron in particular. The police commander seemed more than ready to forgive her, giving a dismissive wave of the hand in response.

"Don't worry about it, Kuchiki. You're here now, and that's all that matters..."

"Glad to see you could arrive to assist, de Norte..." In contrast to the attitude his superior was carrying, Senkaku's tone seemed more welcoming to the Novena. "I take it the injuries you sustained were taken care of?"

"My battle took me farther away from the rest of you than I would've liked, so I wasn't able to sense any of your presences," Lobo spoke honestly and straightforwardly, his eyes not meeting the Primera's as he looekd away in shame, "the only Spiritual Pressure I had been able to read was within the Spiritual Realm where Rukia Kuchiki and I had battled. After dressing my wounds, I narrowly infiltrated the resort before collapsing due to exhaustion and blood loss. I apologize for my weakness, all of you, for I am not worthy of forgiveness..."

"You really shouldn't put yourself down that much," Daisuke spoke out readily, causing the Arrancar's eyes to shift to his own. Daisuke beamed a smile as he gave him a thumb's up, "what's most important is that you escaped with your life, just like your comrades did. Sure you got sidetracked, but you kept yourself alive for your friends, didn't you?"

"Indeed..." Hachiro noted coolly, his arms folded across his chest. "There's no need to apologize to us. We're just glad that you three could make it as soon as you did." He glanced over towards Kaze, directing his tone towards the scientist. "Kaze. You mind explaining to him what you mean by "volunteer"?"

"I am grateful," Lobo bowed to them, glad to see his allies had as much understanding as his duelist partner to-be, but could only hope Senkaku would be not the only one to greet him with such enthusiasm. It was at this time Meikurai quirked a brow upwards, but made sure not to get on Kaze's bad side and allowed his Captain to explain.

"If none of you are aware of it, or have forgotten," Kaze pointedly rolled his eyes at Hachiro, as if blaming him for not remembering about Meikurai's abilities, "Meikurai would be the perfect scout amongst the enemy lines. His Zanpakutō, Kagami, allows him to blend in perfectly with his surroundings, no matter what amount of high tier perception or surveillance technology would prove futile. He can also lace illusions around people and objects, allowing him to send out false happenings around his environment and cloak his allies within fields of light refracting energy to keep them hidden as well as any Kidō would..."

"So if he's going to be one of the scouts, if not the only one..." Noriko inquired, quirking an eyebrow. "Then who's going to be serving as part of the teams? The Gotei 13 doesn't have much on its side who's capable enough, and risking the leadership here will just jeopardize us if they get captured..."

"Why not send some of the D.C.O. squad in?"

That was when Braeburn's voice cut in, with his form leaning against a nearby wall. His arms were folded across his chest. "We're trained in stealth, assassination and recovery." He explained, using a hand for the occasional gesturing purpose. "Sending a fireteam or squad out to the H.V.I.s would require maintaining a low profile, obviously. Since the 2nd Division's HQ got destroyed, I'm doubting the Gotei 13 itself has many reserves to go by... especially with the 2nd Division's Captain out of commission for the time being. While we do that, some of the Espada Afilado can take the role of providing the distraction. Considering they've fought in hardy and hellish conditions, they're the most capable of withstanding an onslaught. Better than the Shinigami, at least..."

He ignored the faint scowl that crossed Noriko's face, as he regarded each and every one of them from his position. "Of course, that's just an idea being thrown out. If anyone has any other ideas or advice, I'm all for it..."

"Quiet you insec-"

"Actually, Captain Sasayaki, he has a good point," Hana intervened before Kaze could hiss openly at Braeburn, looking over at the other Captains and the Espada that had gathered as well, "if we used the D.C.O. squads we have available, both Reserves and the Shadow Squad, we could be able to rescue the imprisoned non-combatants as well as set up special surprises for the enemy behind their enemy lines. That, and I think I have a far more important task selected for the Lieutenant..."

"You do?" Meikurai voiced aloud in query, his Captain also narrowing his eyes suspiciously at his protoge and current superior but dared not to say a thing and wanted to see how things played out, "what would that be?"

"The Captains. You're going to sift through all this chaos and free the Captains, as well as rejuvenate their health and Spiritual Power," Hana spoke aloud with the important task assigned to the man before her. Knowing the gravity of such a task she smiled with assurance in her voice, "you're one of the only ones that can make that particular rescue, as you have more information regarding locations they'd take prisoners of such noteworthy power and prestige, to hide them away."

This time, Hachiro was the one to notice it.

As he was shifting his gaze from one person in the room to the other, he could see the faintest of smirks on Qilin's face. Normally, it would have been assumed to have been from confidence in the plan. What kept him from assuming that was because that it was an abrupt transition from the composed and serious demeanor that he was holding moments before. This was reinforced by the smirk's disappearance fading quickly as it had come. Had he imagined it?

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he remained silent. His attention towards Qilin was brief, and he was quick to turn back to the rest of his comrades when Casilda chose this time to speak. "How many of the Espada will you need to turn attention away?" She questioned Hana.

"Four would suffice," Hana nodded with affirmation, "I'll leave the details to as to whom you would deem necessary for such an important task. You know  your subordinates and colleagues best, so I'll leave the exact persons up to you."

"Han-I mean, Head Captain," Meikurai stopped himself short, as he remembered his colleague's promotion, spoke aloud in a hesitant tone, "don't you suppose its a little risky for me to go into the heart of enemy territory? Its likely that they are heavily guarded by unknowns that could easily best me in combat. I'd wish to have some partners to back me up...or I'll most likely decline this mission indefinitely," he finished with a slight downcasting look in his eyes, holding a vague, mysterious hesitancy within them that hasn't always been present within the confident and skillful Lieutenant.

Kukkyōna himself noticed this, as he had been watching the unusual tension that Hachiro had while also monitoring everyone else's "visual signs" of emotional instability or stress. This however, looked masked to himself entirely for another purpose altogether. He could only narrow his eyes at the Lieutenant, wondering why he'd request such a demand.

"Well, considering that we're going through with my idea, you'll be accompanied by whatever D.C.O. the Captain-Commander picks." Braeburn said bluntly, rolling his eyes. If there was any strange sign Meikurai was exhibiting, he wasn't noticing or wasn't bothering to pay much attention to it. "So obviously, you're going to have backup accompany you. It's common sense..."

"If I know my Lieutenant, he wouldn't sit down and let himself get captured..." Noriko said. "There are quite possibly remnants of the Gotei 13's force still trapped within the Seireitei and on the run. They'll be keeping up resistance, and it'd be a good thing if we ran into some of them in case of assistance. So I think it would be best to keep an eye out for friendlies outside of imprisonment, because they'll most likely be expecting us..."

"As well as my Lieutenant. We should expect a sizeable resistance still hidden from the Inner Circle, despite their current hold over the majority of the imprisoned military and the captured non-combatants of the Rukonagi Districts and the Seireitei," Kukkyōna spoke in acknowledgement of Noriko's notation of the status possibly of their current MIA forces, "they should be able to reinforce our forces as they arrive."

"Then its settled," Hana nodded with finality, looking to Jōshōtsu and Shijū with a cool gaze speaking aloud to him in particular, "gather what men you can for a Stealth operation. I want you to comb the Seireitei as subtly as possible and pinpoint the locations of patrols for the IC forces as well as the Horsemen's location, and the Dragons' whereabouts. Once done, notify us immediately before heading back here to HQ. We'll launch a full offensive when we properly mobilize our men."

"As you wish, Head Captain," Jōshōtsu bowed his head respectfully, in sync with his fellow Whisper Squad Captain, as they both turned on their heels to head to their designated stations, leaving the rest of the briefing attendants to hear out their orders.

"Kaien," Hana spoke to the Sword Squad Captain with an equally serious gaze, guesturing with her hands as she spoke, "I need you to take your Deputy Squad Captain and round up all able bodied Sword and Reserve squadsmen to prepare for battle. We don't know if this dimension is secure, for IC forces might find a way to penetrate our defenses sooner or later, and we need them ready for the final push as well."

"I'll get the men prepped. Leave everything to Senna and I," Kaien said reassuringly, smiling to the young proxy Captain Commander as he looked to his Lieutenant, "right, Senna-chan?"

"Leave it to us, boss!" Saluting enthusiastically, Senna beamed a smile as she spun on her heels and waved to Rukia as the two of them left the debriefing room swiftly, "see you later, Rukia-chan!"

Although keeping herself silent, Rukia allowed a smile to cross her face as she gave a wave back to the bubbly woman. Hers was more reserved and composed than Senna's, but nevertheless expressed an equal amount of well-wishing and support.

"Renji," Hana then looked over to the senior D.C.O. Lancer operative, crossing her arms as she leaned next to the holographic display table, "I need you to gather all Lancer operatives available and pull out any of them in current operations. You are the strongest independent force within the D.C.O., and we need every fighter available for this battle."

"Right, don't know if they're going to listen to me, but I'll give it a shot," Renji said with a reluctant sigh, scratching his head before turning around and heading off as well, "if any of them happen to grab our allies in route to our location, I'll let you know, Hana-san..."

"Braeburn-san," Hana finally turned to her lover-turned-subordinate, smiling as she gave him her own orders to the capable McTavish, "I need you to go with Takashi, Yōki, and Rokotsu to back up Meikurai. Since you know them best, it'll be the easiest to form a strong team to protect one of our best standing Lieutenants."

"And the most reliable..." Braeburn noted with an acknowledging nod, sliding the balaclava over his face to mask his visage once more. His eyes shifted towards the mentioned members within the back, hanging out near the ones who weren't focused on tactics. "With them around, I assure that any ideas of needing a small army to reinforce him will be popped right out of his head." After securing his head and facial mask, he looked over towards Meikurai to give a gesturing motion for him to follow before beginning his approach to the soon-to-be escort team.

"Senkaku," Casilda herself began to give directions towards her own subordinates, gaining the attention of the Tercera. "I want you, Tierra, Genjō and Caballero to prepare yourselves. You're going to be serving as the diversion for the rescue and evacuation teams. Make sure to give it your all, for if you slip up even once, the enemy will not hesitate to destroy you this time."

"Yes, my Lady..." Senkaku gave a bow of acknowledgement. "We will make sure to hold out for our Shinigami allies." With that being said, he turned on his heel and walked away to the direction of the allies he would be bringing along with him.

"I assume that the rest of us will be taking part in the counter-attack, then?" Nicolao inquired, to which Casilda gave a slight nod.

"Most of you, anyway. But I need some to stay behind for maintenance of security and surveillance. You in particular need to do so. After what happened to you on the battlefield, I can't risk a mind like yours to the hands of the enemy..."

Nicolao gave a slight chuckle of amusement, folding one arm behind his back and another in front of him to give a more expressive bow. "Nice to understand you care so much about my well-being, my Lady..." He said smoothly, causing Casilda to roll her eyes slightly at his somewhat exaggerated formality. "But if it pleases you, I will do well to stay within your boundaries."

"Good. I leave it in your hands..."

With that being said, Casilda turned away from him to focus her attention on two particular Arrancar out of her command - Starrk and Lilynette. She approached them with a calm and composed gait, taking her time in walking towards them.

It was a good thing too.

For Starrk, unsuprising to anyone who knew him, was fast asleep. Sitting in a chair that was leaned up against a wall, of which, he himself was leaned up against, he was snoozing in a calm, relaxed manner, no snoring or anything and with his arms crossed. Lilynette, on the other hand, was sitting in his lap wide awake, her elbows on her knees with her hands propping her head up, she looked rather bored. Having been listening to the group strategize for several minutes in Starrk's place, she was eager for something else to happen.

And when she saw the Primera approaching them, she also saw her chance.

Her eyes widened and she quickly hopped up in a brief panic, shaking Starrk's knees with her hands as she tried to coax him up. "Starrk? Starrk! Wake up dammit! She's coming here right now!!" she said lowly but loud enough for Casilda to potentially hear it.

"Hrm? What...?" he lazily popped his two eyes open and groaned, leaning forward and scratching the back of his head, before raising an eyebrow at Lilynette with an annoyed look. "What now...?"

"C'mon! Look like somebody!" she continued to quietly plead. "In case you didn't notice, she is coming. Right. Heeeere~!" she finished quietly, speaking behind her gritted teeth as her eyes pointed back and forth between Starrk and Casilda.

"Who is 'she'?" he began at first, rubbing the back of his neck before his eyes glanced forward and spotting the woman of interest. Here, his eyes opened wider and he stopped all movement as she finally came to them, causing Lilynette to quickly back up from them both.

"Oh ah...it's you again...Sorry about that, I...must've dozed off for a while..." he said in a calm, and yet subtly nervous fashion.

Try as she might, Casilda couldn't help the corner of her mouth that tilted upward in an amused smirk. Despite their similar desires to sit back and relax, at least he had the luxury to easily doze off whenever he felt like it. Lilynette's efforts to rouse him didn't help her restraint, despite the fact that she had the composure to easily keep herself from laughing at him. "Sorry to have interrupted your nap, sleeping beauty..." She said coolly. "But I was hoping to talk with you about something. Is that all right?"

"Um....sure?" he replied with a blink, though he did manage to put up a slight smile. "I'm awake anyhow, so I can listen."

"Right." The smile was quick to fade off of Casilda, and her gaze held a bit of solemnity in it. She tilted her head to the side slightly, folding her arms across her chest. "Obviously, you're not someone under my command. But I'm under the impression that neither of you," She took a momentary glance to the "younger" half. "Will be sitting this one out. What exactly do you plan on doing here?" It wasn't a question of demand, but one of curiosity.

"Whatever you say, of course!" Lilynette began with an upraised fist, upside down U eyes and a big grin, holding a thumb up. Only to have Starrk's hand quickly go onto her mouth before speaking in her place.

"What she means is..." he began, standing up straight with a slight groan. "...we aren't exactly leader types. We're better at taking orders than giving them. We'll do whatever you need us to. Just don't expect us to be particularly enthusiastic about it..."

"Preaching to the choir on that one."

Casilda didn't bother to voice this particular thought out to the former Primera. "If you insist..." She acknowledged smoothly, before settling into a more explanatory manner. "When the counter-attack commences, we'll be one of the spearheads aimed towards the very leadership of the enemy forces. Considering that we're two of the only ones with comparable strength to any of the Horsemen, Aizen or Juhabach, I think it'd be very fitting. I'd like you to accompany me personally."

"Of course. I get to fight the strong ones...again."

It seemed to just be his luck with this sort of thing. He was strong, so he's pitted against the strong guys. It seemed like a fact of life that he wished wasn't real, but if it was for the better of them all, he didn't have much room to complain.

At first, he let out a slight sigh, but regained his calm, half lidded composure afterwords. "Well, if that's what you need, you've got it."

He then took a more serious and still level expression in his next statement. "Though, when I had that brief encounter with Aizen, I was only scratching the surface of his true power. If we end up going against him, there's no telling what all he'll have in store for us."

"I know..." Casilda closed her eyes briefly, furrowing her eyebrows as the memory of her near-death experience came to her. It seemed that despite his methods against her, he wasn't above using illusions in order to deceive his opponents. She had potential immunity, but obviously it hadn't worked for Tome. That alone made Starrk's note very clear. If they wanted to beat him, they would have to keep on their guard. "I'll trust you to be the eyes in the back of my head in the event that happens. I'm not aiming to give him, of all people, a second chance to blindside me."

"Good to hear." he commented as she spoke. "Last thing we need is him pulling some mind trick crap on us..."

"Starrk!" Lilynette looked up and grabbed his arm, speaking in an excited tone. "Starrk! Aren't you going to tell her about you know who? We need to tell her while we're here!"

"Who again?" he replied with a blink, glancing down at her briefly with an honest confused tone.

"Ugh!" she groaned, before looking at the Primera, speaking in a slightly louder, serious tone. "On our way to help you guys, we saw someone that might could help us along the way."

"Hm...?" Casilda raised a slight eyebrow, switching her attention to Lilynette as soon as she was addressed. Obviously, she was referring to another individual that she had yet to meet, quite possibly Arrancar. "And who would that happen to be?" She questioned.

"Oh...you mean him..." Starrk sighed with an obvious hint of reluctance in his voice, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. "Yeah, on the way over to your fight, we thought we saw someone along the way, an all too familiar face...It may not be him, but from the spiritual pressure and what appearance I could make out, I could have sworn it was Ulquiorra Schiffer."

The curiosity faded into slight skepticism right away.

"Okay, now I know that it couldn't be that..." Casilda said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The former Cuatro had disintegrated and dissolved into the air when he died, based from what was recorded in the archives. You might have just seen an imposter..." Of course, seeing Sōsuke and Juhabach alive and well after presumed to be dead was throwing off her assurance that the deceased were capable of staying deceased. Ulquiorra coming back to life, although seemingly far-fetched in logical terms, certainly wasn't an exception.

"It's true!" Lilynette pleaded, only to have Starrk's hand come down on her head to keep her planted in place.

"I know it sounds crazy..." Starrk went on, giving her a serious and yet honest gaze. "...but i'd recognize his Spiritual Pressure in an instant. No other Hollow gives off that kind of aura, not that I'd seen. I'm not sure if it's possible, but he could have reincarnated back into his Arrancar self shortly after that incident."

This time, Casilda averted her gaze away briefly, a pondering look on her face. The slight frown on her face still indicated a bit of skepticism. But when she turned her head back, that frown seemed to fade away. "Well, you know him and his capability better than anyone else..." She said. "I'll just have to take your word for it. Where is he as of now?"

"Last we saw him, he was sticking around this white tree not too too far from Empresa." he replied plainly. "I looked like he wasn't planning on leaving it either. That's probably our best bet to find him."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

Empresa. The very place occupied by enemy forces. Ulquiorra was still within that particular area, not too far from the zone of occupation. It was just Casilda's luck that he would still be there. Voicing that particular thought would have been rude at best, as she could understand the value of a certain keepsake, landscape or otherwise. But this was a state of emergency. How were they supposed to retrieve him when he willingly stayed within proximity of the enemy?

"My luck always has to be between bad and worse, doesn't it...?" She muttered under her breath, swinging her attention back to Coyote. "Sounds to me like he decided not to come with us. You sure bringing him back would be okay?"

"No. I'm not." he replied plainly, almost as if he knew the danger that would be involved with this operation. "And yeah, I understand where you're coming from. But from what i've gathered, we need all of the help that we can get for this fight. And having someone as perceptive as Ulquiorra will be undoubtfully beneficial."

Lilynette couldn't help but smile at the way Starrk was acting. After years of trying to coax him into being more active and having to be his motivation, he himself had finally gotten his own motivation. But she couldn't help but wonder, was it because Starrk had just learned to be that way? Or was it just because of Casilda...?

"You need help with something?" A voice suddenly interrupted, but within a smooth transition as the sentence ended from Casilda's mouth. It was none other than Kukkyōna Hayate, the scarlet haired man enamored with a silk-woven scarf and the Shikhakushō designed with the Hayate Clan symbol along with his 6th Division Captain Haori. His voice was smooth but sincere, in its request if he could be of aid, "I couldn't help but overhear something about Empresa...did we leave someone behind?"

"...well, if I knew that I had an audience, I would have kept this conversation to a lower volume." Casilda quipped, turning her head to look over her shoulder at the noble who had addressed them. "Did your Head Captain not have anything for you to do in particular?" Inwardly, she was a bit miffed at him for interrupting her talk with Starrk like that. Weren't Shinigami supposed to have much better manners than to cutting in between two people talking?

"My apologies," Kukkyōna bowed his head, before raising his gaze back to Casilda, "the Head Captain insisted I aid you in any form of missions that would be outside of your control or that you would need assistance in general. She's placing most of the Captains on standby, but she asked me in particular due to my...expertise...in helping other allies."

"Sheesh, you Shinigami are so rude!" Lilynette complained, hopping up on Starrk's shoulders (causing him to grunt and flinch in annoyance along the way) and raising a fist. "Can't you see we're talking?? This is special stuff. Need to know basis only! Other guys not allowed!"

She then crossed her arms, retaining a pouting expression. "Besides. How could you help us bring back someone like Ulquiorra? You know he despises Shinigami in every since of the word, right?"

"You're right," Kukkyōna nodded with admission, turning his head to look over at his son and mutual subordinate, Daisuke, "perhaps someone with a bigger heart than mine would be someone more suited in aiding you in retrieving your comrade. After all, he holds no bounds or grudges towards any race, no matter the origins or history of bloodshed involved," looking back, Kukkyōna locked his eyes with all three Arrancar, looking to all of them with equal seriousness, "after all, it was through his heart that he managed to help stave off oblivion for both the Spirit and Material world. I think at the very least, this infamous ally of yours would be...intrigued...by his character."

"That good, is he...?" Casilda drawled, cocking a slight eyebrow in inquiry. Her own conversation with the Lieutenant had shown that the man was more intellectual than she would've assumed, and she was smart not to take anything for granted. "Well, then. I guess I can't dismiss the word of a noble as a simple bluff. I trust he'll be fine with a second trip to Hueco Mundo, then?"

"He won't argue once he knows the details-"

'''AWHOOOOH! AWHOOOH! AWHOOOH!'''

"-after...wards...?!"

"Intruder alert! Intruder Alert! Sectors A-D are compromised! Initiating Code Red Procedures! Intruder Alert...!"

"What the Hell is going on?!" Hana yelled out from the debriefing room, turning quickly to the table and typing a few commands on the holo-display, "give me a layout of headquarters' affected zones, now!"

Within a few moments, the image of the taken over Soul Society shifted rapidly into what appeared to be a very large box-shaped infrastructure, hanging in the middle of a blue-black storm space. A number of the levels, primarily the middle to top ones, were showing flaring red signs and multiple signatures of hostiles within. The Alliance's forces, were under attack!

This seemed to garner everyone's attention.

Noriko was the first to voice out her reverie as she turned her attention to the flashing red alarms above their heads. "They've managed to reach even the likes of here...?" She muttered, almost to herself. It was beginning to be very clear that any place to hide was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Truly, the Inner Circle had an indescribable bound of reach if they were to penetrate even the likes of here. Or, should it have been something to be expected by now...?

Considering that the Soul Society's security had been compromised too many times, Hachiro was a bit understanding that even the D.C.O.'s pocket dimension would be invaded at any time. Therefore, he was much more responsive to the alarm of hostiles within their territory. Quickly, he clicked on his earpiece, a look of pensiveness and seriousness on his face. "All teams, this is Captain Horikawa!" He said, his tone sharp and commanding. "Get into your stations and prepare for imminent contact! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!!"

"Guess that's my cue..." Avaron muttered, reaching under the table to grab a Kidō rifle she had laid against it. As she cocked and primed it, memories of what she had been before flashed through her mind. A soldier, a cold-blooded killer, and a machine under the command of a government. Once again, it seemed as if she would be made to fight like that once again, if it meant to preserve the way of life as they knew it. Although she clearly hated that thought, she was ready to bring up arms and battle in what was to be a very bloody war. "I need to regroup with my Dragonbird squad. You know where we'll be!!" With that, she quickly sprinted away, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

In contrast to these attitudes, Qilin was surprisingly calm. He shoved his hands in his pockets as Hachiro gave out his commands, closing his eyes and exhaling a light sigh. He tilted his head from side to side to work out his neck before putting it back into its regular position. Anyone would've chalked it up to be simple mental preparation, something expected long ago. But no one would've heard his thoughts at that moment.

"Last stand. No second chances..."

His eyes slowly half-lidded as he looked at the screen, analyzing the grid carefully.

"No turning back..."

One would've sworn they saw the smile of a slasher fall across his face.

"No mercy. No mercy."

Although to a lesser extent, Braeburn found himself within a composed and controlled mood.

He turned away from his teammates and to a different dimension, his senses picking out something familiar. It would be significant in a different way for the rest of them if they bothered to pick it out. But when he felt it, he felt a slight sense of apprehension and worry. It wasn't because of anything meager than power over him as well as his allies. It was the fact that he could identify it immediately and personally. He breathed out a sigh, remaining silent.

Among the enemy was his beloved sister, Brina McTavish.

"By the grace of Izanami..." He thought to himself, a bit of sadness flashing through his eyes. "I hope that we don't have to cross paths... not like this."

"Aw man!" Lilynette whined, leaning back and intentionally falling off of Starrk's shoulders and on the ground, crossing her arms and pouting. "Just when I thought we'd get to go out and have fun!"

"Yeah really..." Starrk mused, glancing over at Casilda. "Looks like we're going to have to wait for that trip."

Casilda didn't respond immediately.

She had her head turned away from him, remaining silent under the alarms that were blaring. Although he wouldn't see it, she had a slight expression of annoyance and bitterness within her eyes as she stared at the alarms. These bastards would never be satisfied until they razed and destroyed everything. Briefly, her fist clenched, her nails threatening to dig into her skin. As long as this continued, great injustice would be done to both Hollows and Shinigami.

She would destroy them.

As her fist relaxed, so did her expression as she turned towards Starrk once more. If she just left now, she would feel as if she left it on a bad note. Stuffing one hand into her pocket, she allowed herself to approach him for what would probably be the last time for that period. If he wasn't going to be enthusiastic about it, she could at least try to give him a reminder to keep him going. It was the least she could've done. So she did something that would surprise even her.

She stood up on her tip-toes, placed a hand on her shoulder to boost herself a little more, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Come back alive..." She said lowly, lowering herself back to the bases of her feet to walk away. "I, for one, wouldn't dare want you to fall into the fate you saved me from..."

Starrk initially couldn't think of anything to say.

Did...she just kiss him??

He remained frozen in place for just a brief few seconds, a slight tint of red on his cheeks as she left. For the first time in a long long while, he actually had a human-like interaction with another Arrancar. The sensation didn't look like much on the outside, but inside, he was going crazy. For the first time in forever, he felt like...he really had a companion, someone he could not only have around, but feel for and connect with.

Now he knew what he was really fighting for.

Going back to his original expression, he slowly walked behind her, planning to do what ever he needed to to ensure that both he and his newly found comrades make it to fight another day.

"Right behind you..."

"Tetsu-san! Meikurai-san!" Daisuke urged the two other Lieutenants to move with him, as he took the lead of moving out of the debriefing room, "let's head to the D-Level Armory! We have to keep the enemy away from our stockpiles of weaponry and tech!"

"Brae-san!" Yōki flourished around with her crimson Lancer coat on, having Rokotsu on one flank and Takashi on the other, as she beckoned Braeburn to follow her, "we're going to hit the C-Level cargo bays. It'll be perfect for our coordinated team, as well as wide enough area for our speciality in long range and mid-range tactics!"

It was enough to bring him out of his reverie, the light returning to his eyes once more. Although he remained silent, he allowed himself to nod in acknowledgement towards his superior officer's order. Then, he broke into a small sprint in order to catch up with his allies.

"Hachiro! Noriko! Let's go to the Barracks at B-Level," Kukkyōna spoke aloud, nodding his head towards the exit, "the enemy's strongest will most likely be there to tear apart any number of subordinates they can find, as well as the strongest independent fighters there..."

"They won't get far..." Noriko growled, with Hachiro giving an agreeing nod after he had finished giving out orders. One of her hands rested on the hilt of her Zanpakutō, readied to draw and use at any time. At this point, she was itching to use it on some unsuspecting I.C. operators. "Not as long as I breathe!!"

"You all go! I'll maintain contact with you here and keep updating you on the status of the base!" Hana urged everyone as she raised her hands and pointed to the exit, "move out! I don't want a single IC scumbag left alive, do you hear me?! No mercy!"

With that being said, everyone moved out towards their respective locations in order to engage the enemy, determination and resolve clear...

A Monster Among Us! Comradery vs Bloodlust!
"We're heading towards cargo bays where we're housing most of our conventional supplies and technical equipment for maintenance for the base," Yōki briefed her comrades as they sprinted down the wide corridor, as various D.C.O. operatives and Soul Reapers of many mismatched Divisions that had been rescued. Her blonde hair cascaded in a whirl as she rushed towards their destination, "hopefully they don't make too much of a mess so we can use that equipment to fix whatever mess they make out of the base..."

"If we can fix the base!" Takashi growled out as he heard the various rumblings and tremors of the violence taking place within their only sanctuary, "how the Hell could they have found us here?! Isn't this a Dimension outside of the normal parameters of transportation but for the highest of D.C.O. operatives?!"

"This stinks! Why can't the bad guys leave us alone so we can plan out their demise?! URRRGH!" Rokotsu threw a tantrum in mid-flight, shaking her fists up and down comically in enraged infuriation, "they have to play so unfair, it makes me so mad!"

Throughout the trip, Braeburn had fallen silent.

As he pumped his legs, his eyebrows were furrowed and a frown was on his face. Even in the presence of Rokotsu's humorous display of frustration, he did not allow himself to respond to it. He had learned long ago that even the toughest of security could be breached. Interdimensional travel was nothing new within the spiritual realms, so it wasn't exactly surprising that they found a way to get to it. But his mind was on other things.

In summary, he was conflicted, with the reason being his very sister.

If they met her, he was certain that she wouldn't engage them. After all, she had been the one to tell him to "stay alive". He had belief that she would rather run than strike. But what if, under some unexpected circumstance, she didn't retreat? What if they did have to fight her? He could never bring himself to raise a malicious blade towards the likes of his own blood. So he was inwardly praying that it wouldn't have to come to that, that they wouldn't have to cross blades.

She had already been forced to kill one of her own family members. He didn't want to be the second.

"Hey," Yōki looked over at Braeburn, still keeping in motion while her eyes could see the turmoil his expression had projected unintentionally, "you alright? I don't want a comrade of mine going out here to face the odds when there's something holding him back, you know?"

For a moment, only silence was her answer.

Then...

"If it is one thing I've grown to learn, it's that the McTavish have strong ties to their family." He answered smoothly, momentarily closing his eyes. "We will stand by each other, fight and bleed by one another if the time calls for it. When we are made to turn on each other, we will bite the hand that swayed us with extreme prejudice and ruthlessness. Even within the haze of our bloodlust, we will not forget what has created us, gave us life, and raised us to who we were..."

Slowly, he opened his eyes, a hardened gaze being made out of them.

"I can sense my sister within their ranks." He said lowly. "And right now? I don't think she's in the best of moods..."

"B-Brina McTavish is here?!" Yōki's eyes flared open with alarm, realizing just how massive the operation now appeared to be, "you're sure?! Wait a minute, of course you're certain, dammit!"

"So what's so bad about this chick? Just cause she's a McTavish she's...what...another nutcase philosopher who was framed for a crime she didn't commit?" Takashi asked in an incredulous tone, speaking purely out of ignorance of the past and what had truly happened.

"STUPID!" Rokotsu shouted at Takashi, causing him to sweatdrop as she glared at him, "if you don't know who Brina McTavish was to the 2nd Division's Onmitsukidō Militia, then you shouldn't ask dumb questions, Taka-baka!"

"Geeze, Rok-san, no need to be so nasty-"

"Brina McTavish was the former Lieutenant and prodigy of the Stealth Force. She was considered to the prior Captain as a member of her own family, which made it all the more painful as she was given orders from the top, to eliminate a traitor from within their own ranks. One whom of which was her own flesh and blood, Evelyn McTavish. I don't know exactly what happened but," Yōki looked to Braeburn, her eyes filled with a serious glint as she spoke lowly to him, "but if your sister comes onto the battlefield in front of us, I will not hesitate to cut her down. Family or not, she made her choice to be an enemy of all things that is freedom and purity for her own selfish ideals. Its high time you think about stepping off the fence and choosing what's more important, Brae-san, and whom you're really fighting for..."

When Braeburn heard her direct her tone to him, his eyes widened briefly in a show of angered expression as he regarded her. However, as she continued speaking, the fire in his eyes was quick to fade as comprehension sunk in. He seemed to pay more attention to the words "purity" and "freedom" more than anything else, although the last sentence was also taken to mind. She might have been truly genuine in her belief, and he could respect that. But he found such words to be nothing more than the propaganda of the Gotei 13 long ago. It amused him to hear such words spoken to spite Brina, even more so that she would declare to cut her down. But the mention of "stepping off the fence" managed to destroy whatever defensive nature he could've brought up to the surface.

So, he didn't get angry or annoyed with Yōki. He didn't scowl or snap quickly. He didn't even ignore her as a controlled individual certainly would've done to keep anything from escalating to an argument. Instead, he did the one thing that probably wouldn't have been expected.

He grinned.

It was a smirk that conveyed his humor at her choice of words. But it was also challenging, expressing the desire for his eyes to see him personally raise a sword to her and cut her down. Those two would be the most prominent out of the messages that would be read from the nonverbal expression. But even so, this would be emphasized by the chuckle that escaped his throat. After looking at his superior for a moment more, he turned his head back to forward position.

"You really should watch that tongue of yours, ma'am..." He said coolly, though there could be a bit of taunt clearly heard. "Sounds to me like you've picked a day to talk reckless..."

"Tch, you're picking a day to be insufferable, Brae-san!" Yōki rolled her eyes, briefly winking at him, before she nodded up ahead at the massive doors that would lead to their destination, "we're here!"

"About time!" Takashi crowed out, landing onto his sandal covered feet as he held onto his straw hat, looking more like a Soul Reaper than a D.C.O. agent this time around, "let's go give our unwelcome guests the boot, shall we?!"

"Yup-Yup!" Rokotsu chirped cheerfully, despite the fact she hefted her already released giant axe Shikai over her shoulder, "let's go knock some heads tog-"

However, any further cheerful commentary would be cut off, as a thunderous sound could be heard...

BOOM-WHOOSH!

...sending a large wind past the towering, bent out of shape cargo bay doors...

VMMMMM!

...and a ghastly, bloodthirsty Spiritual Pressure the likes none of them had felt in a long time. If any one of them had a particular apathetic disposition towards the legacy of the Kenpachis...this would feel entirely justified, as the ravaging pressure would feel so overwhelming, that it would feel as if it would threaten to choke the life out of any ordinary being within its vicinity.

"ether....?!" Rokotsu croaked out in finality, as she barely gulped down her breath as she felt the immense power surge from within the compound they were about to reinforce.

"What the--!!"

It was here that Braeburn abruptly stopped himself, his pupils dilated in alarm as he felt the pressure wash over him. His feet skidded in the dirt as he spun around to face the direction that the spiritual pressure was being emitted from. His hands tightened into fists, and his body tensed up. The atmosphere, thanks to the power being expunged from what he presumed to be an assailant, was thick with nothing but malice and a desire for blood. It was clear that there would be no jokes when it came to the likes of this particular opponent.

A bead of sweat fell down his face.

"Well... at least this isn't Brina we're dealing with... but if it was, that'd be another reason why I wouldn't raise my blade to her..."

"Don't just stand around like a bunch of idiots!" Yōki shouted out to all of them, before charging through the gateway, "we can't let any enemy, no matter the martial strength, continue wrecking our sanctum unabated! Let's move!"

"R-Right!" Takashi shouted out in sync with the nervous Rokotsu, as all four of them would charge on through the gatway...and then lay their eyes upon the main attacker.

Having a crop of dark blue hair ontop of his head, with a grey-like complexion that was more like that of a shark's, the aquatic humanoid looked intimidating. Standing amongst a large pile of carnage and destruction, cloaked in a distinguishable black overcoat with crimson clouds bordered along it, indicating the sign of the Takuji Elite Branch. Wielding a large bloody, bandage-wrapped blade in hand, the entity looked around at the remaining exhausted troops before sniffing the air, drawing his eyes over to the D.C.O. squad heading his way.

"Well look at that...they sent me an entree to settle after this buffet of snack-bites. How nice, hehe!" Taihen growled out with anticipation and ravenous bloodthirst, his tongue sliding out across his thin lips in a grotesque emphasis of his wanton for their blood, "I hope you can at least keep up with me! These guys were so boring, and I wasn't even able to wreck that much of this dump around me..."

"And we just keep getting paired up with the psychos..." Braeburn growled, clenching his teeth as he glared daggers at the shark-like figure staring down at them. The fact that he had managed to overwhelm so many of their operators was enough to convey he was no cakewalk. Even fighting against him simultaneously wouldn't give them an advantage against the likes of him. "Who in the hell are you, fish-head?!"

"Yeah, answer quickly or we'll make you into chopped sushi!" Takashi barked aloud in additional retort against the bestial freak's features, as well as his monsterous disposition he currently held towards those around himself.

"Hehehehehehe! Now isn't that a good question?!" Taihen chuckled gutturally, turning his spiked-tooth-filled grin towards Braeburn in particular, "I'm not entirely sure what I am. Maybe I'm the spirit of a bloodthirsty shark, given human form? Maybe I was eaten by a shark in another life time, but I managed to somehow gut out the shark with my own bones and teeth? None of it matters, you decide, but here's what you should know," Taihen pointed his blood-dripping, bandaged-sword towards Braeburn and then in a methodical turn to all four of them, "I am Taihen Takuji, the Head of the Takuji's Assassin Corps and personal adjutant to Lord Seigi Takuji. With the strength I possess I will overwhelm all in opposition to me..."

SSSSHINK...!

"...and bleed dry those that I crush under my heels!"

...BLAM-BWHOOSH!

With an insane yell, Taihen moved with undeterring, unexpected speed towards Braeburn, swinging his blade around in a billowing arc above his head before smashing it directly downwards, releasing a fraction of his Spiritual Pressure within the excess of his cutting power. The damage it created would cause an immense fissure of uproaring steel and concrete, sending dust and exuding force that would cause a deterring wind to send the other three skidding and flying back away from their comrade.

For a moment, Braeburn almost felt guilty that he had gotten the chance for regular and personal spars with the current Head Captain. His teammates had trained as hard as he had in order to fight, if not for the purpose of becoming substitutes for fallen Captains and Lieutenants. But still, the display of power and only a fraction of it at best had been enough to blow away their foundation like a Lieutenant being thrown aside by the exertion of a Captain's spiritual pressure.

Only he had been left standing.

But he couldn't waste time feeling a bit spoiled.

When the sword came down on him, he instinctively raised his forearm in order to block it.

When it connected, it didn't cut into the skin or slice off his arm. Instead, like a stone bouncing off a wall, the blade recoiled back and reverberated briefly, its blade resonating like porch bells. There was no damage left on the arm itself, other than the scratches left on his clothing. He stood firm against the winds that blew away his comrades, his hair billowing against the intensity.

Following that movement was an immediate counter-attack.

"HRAAH!"

With a yell, Braeburn pulled his defensive hand back in trade for a thrust of his other palm, repulsing Taihen away from his person. It was backed by nothing more than pure physical force, with no spiritual energy to bolster it. But it would be potent enough to blow him off of his feet and send him flying a considerable distance away from the current location.

When Taihen's immense, blood-soak-wrapped blade came down upon the Soul Reaper, he became shocked that the force he utilized wasn't enough to pulverize him. In fact, his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he was literally forced back by his new opponent, stumbling a few steps as he briefly uttered,"What the-?!"

WHAM!

Taihen felt his mouth choke out a wad of saliva as his feet left the floor and his heels grated the torn ground. Forcing himself to slow down by dragging his blade across the metalic-concrete flooring beneath him, he was only given enough time to stand back up when he was attacked from behind...

"TAKE THIS, UGLY!" Rokotsu shouted out, swinging her yellow-black axe around with a visibly daunting, high-sped slash, Taihen barely had time to move around and raise the base of his blade to counter the strike. The visible clash sent electrical sparks in the air as the force drove Taihen even further back than before.

From behind once more, Takashi raised his blade to point at his staggering form, before letting loose a swift extending thrust from his Shikai. The blade had a emerald hue as it moved with visibly lightning-equivalent speed, cutting through his cloak, as Taihen used a burst of Flash Step to move above all of his attackers, getting nicked in the side from evasion.

And if it wasn't all over, he was mistaken again, as Yōki had appeared to raise his blade up parallel to her eyes so Taihen would see her own Zanpakutō was released within the time he had been fighting them all at once. One of the spheres within her broadsword was missing, and with a slight twitch of her sword hand's wrist, Taihen would find that sphere...

WHIIIIZ-CRACK!

...rotating and slamming onto his backside with incredible force...

WHEEEEEW-BOOM!

...before sending him directly onto the ground below, causing an uproaring fissure of explosive energy and dust to rain throughout the air, effectively imbedding the enemy Soul Reaper into the earth before the squad. Rising from the dust, the sphere rotated as it flew through the air and returned to the open compartment of Yōki's Zanpakutō, clicking audibly into place.

"WHOO-HOO! Score one for the good guys!" Rokotsu fist-pumped into the air, still holding her behemoth axe with one hand as she smiled cheeringly.

"It ain't over though, but this is a good start," Takashi muttered aloud, turning around to the dazed D.C.O. operators and throwing his hand out to them, "what are you standing around looking stupid?! This whole base is under attack! Get the wounded to safety and join with another distressed area, pronto!"

"Y-Yes sir!" One of them said, and the rest scrambled for the exit, allowing the new squad of skilled professionals to take their place as they quickly moved out.

As soon as they left however, and as they awaited their opponent to rise from the earth, Yōki arched a brow as she smirked at his form, eyes shifting up and down, "I got to say, Brae-san...I knew you were in good shape but damn! You must have had a Hell of a workout with Hana-chan if you could take a swing like that with no damage!"

Braeburn was now sporting an anticipatory grin on his face, his eyes narrowed in newfound confidence. He let out a short set of laughter as he raised his fists up to a defensive position, looking over the spot in which their mutual enemy rested. "This is great!!" He declared. "Now that particular test has been cleared, I think this is going to step along nicely. Yoki? Takashi? Rokotsu? Let's waste this bastard!!" Each and every word radiated his spirit as well as the desire to commence this fight.

Then, came a blood curtling laugh from the spot of impact their opponent had made...

"Ehehehehehahahahahahahaha!" Taihen laughed aloud as he rose to his full height, his cloak torn away to reveal a matte brown D.C.O. grade armor vest, with a searing point of tearing from the combined attacks sent by his opponents. With a toothy shark grin on his face, Taihen rolled his neck around in a circle, causing a series of audible snaps to be heard, "that was great! They actually DID send someone worth killing! I thought this was going to be a typical meatgrinder assignment, but you...you're something! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

VMMMMMM-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-WHOOSH!

"I might have to get serious around you kids, ehehehehehe!" Taihen cackled madly, as his eyes glowed blue and his body oozed crackling neon blue Spiritual Power, as the pressure cracked the atmosphere and the force created a crater from which all the combatants within his proximity lowered slightly at the sudden decline in landscape. With crackling fissures of energy running amok the enlarged cargo bay, it appeared as Taihen was truly releasing a good portion of his true power before his opponents.

"Th-This is the real deal, huh?!" Takashi shouted out in acknowledgement of the sheer density of power sent by their opponent.

"Why are ugly guys so strong?! UGH!" Rokotsu protested at the feeling of such power, never having felt it since the time they fought 666 on the bridge all those years ago.

"I can't believe he didn't get crippled from an attack like that!" Yōki snarled aloud in partial frustration, partial anticipaton for the elongated battle ahead of them, "same as last time, Brae-san! You take point and the rest of us will follow!"

"That's a little more of his spiritual power..." Braeburn thought to himself, settling into a readied stance. He couldn't help but stumble a little at the release of power that leveled the ground Taihen had crashed. He squinted his eyes in concentration, trying to sense the depths of the man's power. From the attitude he was exhibiting alone, he was still holding back somewhat. That was fine by him - this looked very promising, and he didn't want to rush what was going to be an impressive battle.

Upon Yōki's command, he threw himself forward...

WOOSH!

...only to vanish out from in front of Taihen, re-appearing a few ways above and behind him. A leg was in the process of swinging towards the head, with his kneecap having the potential to crash into the jaw. The physical power put behind the attack would be enough to send his enemy's head flying from his shoulders like a ball from a cannon.

"I see what you did there," Taihen spoke lowly, as his face seemingly caved in from the immense force, quickly shimmering away into the aftermath of a deftly employed Flash Step's afterimage. His left arm already grasping his free retracted ankle, he swung his blade up to parry the anticipated lunge sent by Rokotsu, causing the blade to scrape against the barbed-like material from beneath the bandage-wrapped weapon. While still holding onto Braeburn's ankle, he then acrobatically backflipped over the lunge sent by Takashi's blade, before deftly throwing Braeburn's body towards him, intending on colliding the two D.C.O. agents together as he backstepped from the last enemy, "you use the first guy as a rushing tactic to set me off balance, making me lose concentration off of the leader's attack, from which her Zanpakutō! From which I see once again one is missing," Taihen noted, as Yōki appeared shocked at the perception their enemy had, as he turned around to swing his blade towards the anticipated rotating discharged sphere, "and then get hit by the flying ball-"

CRACK!

"?!?!" However, instead of meeting the rotating crimson-energized sphere he expected, a thick aura of explosive energy was also wrapped around its high-intense rotating form. The force was enough to send him back across his heels, even with the Spiritual Pressure he exerted, until the aura itself discharged a violent crimson explosion...

BOOM!!!

...enveloping his person in a large ten meter width blast of explosive power, before the sphere itself spun around and began to strike at him from different angles, keeping him distracted with its ferocity to get the others to recover from the entity's attack.

Prior to that movement, Braeburn had found himself within a predicament. He gritted his teeth in slight frustration as he saw his kick get caught, and because he was in mid-air, it seemed as if he had been rendered helpless. But with a kick of his other leg, he struck the wrist holding his ankle captive. This had prompted Taihen's grip to loosen immediately and allow him to lunge away before he could even start to be hurled at Takashi. Thrusting his hands out to meet the ground first, he landed in a handstand before flipping and twisting to a standing position in masterful acrobatics.

"--and then everything explodes." He finished smugly, settling into a stance. "Right?"

"That was close!" Takashi spoke aloud, as he noted the enemy's skill, "guess this guy isn't as dumb as he looks, is he?"

"Wouldn't that go the same for you, Taka-baka?"

"SHUT UP ROKOTSU!" Takashi yelled back at the cheeky Rokotsu, even as Yōki continued her barrage of attacks from her single sphere, discharging blasts of energy intermittenly as she kept rotating her weapon kept up its attack indiscriminately upon her target. However, something didn't feel right. Not wanting to voice it aloud, she let out a gasp as she could feel the structure of her opponent remain steadfast, despite how many times he was struck by her sphere. Even the explosions were knocked away from his skin by the subtle discharge of Spiritual Pressure from his pores, and slowly and surely began to evade his weapon's attacks. Then, he swung his blade around towards his enemy's projectile, uttering lowly...

"Shred 'em up!"

WHAM-CRACK-PHEW!

"SHINKAI!"

Within the last series of barragwe

"That tickled," a voice called out, as a shark skin-barbed blade slammed into the rotating sphere, sending it off course and crashing into a large stack of crates and parts. The force rivetted the entirety of the cargo bay, and Taihen smiling as he exposed his crude looking weapon, "this is my Zanpakutō's true form, Shinkai! Along with being hard enough to repel most concussive and sharp materials, it controls one fundamental element..."

WHAM!

"Ōtsunami!"

WHOOOOOSH!

By slamming his blade into the earth beneath him, a thunderous blast of water was created. Moving in all directions, the wave grew up to the size of ten stories and spread out to cover everything within its reach. The force that would immerse the enemies beneath his high rise point would be enough to send them off course and possibly result into crushing contorsions and injuries.

Within the wave of water, a number of crimson orbs were generated. These orbs themselves were condensed and high-powered Shakkahos, kept within the waves like depth charges...

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

...exploded remotely to send his enemies further off course and across the vast cargo bay, along with the gaseous and liquid alike, sending Takashi sprawling into his backside against a large crate, Yōki head over heels, before landing onto her feet while heaving her breaths, and Rokotsu landing head first into the ground itself.

Getting hit and submerged into a tsunami was bad enough.

The Kidō bombs just made it worse.

BOOSH!

"AGH!" Braeburn found himself being blown back, forcefully maintaining a stable from within the air. When he touched down to the ground, he skidded on both his hands and feet, his gloves providing partial protection against the friction. As soon as he skidded to a stop, he regarded Taihen with eyes of apprehension. The enemy's Zanpakutō was a water type, and right now, he had soaked the cargo bay within the liquid. Right now, it was clear who had the advantage here.

When he spoke up again, it was towards his teammates. "Talk to me, are you guys all right?!" He questioned, having felt the pressure of the wave itself. Thankfully, he had managed to withstand the force of the attack without any serious problems or issues.

"THAT...HURT...OWWWWW!" Rokotsu screamed out, thankfully used her axe as a brace for most of the pressure thrown her way and keeping her head from being too damaged from the fall. Standing upright, she couldn't believe that the Soul Reaper before her had generated so much moisture when they were within a climate controlled facility.

"Hardly felt a thing...ow!" Takashi muttered out, brushing off the wood and metalic parts from within, sighing as he felt a slight crick in his back from the attack. Twisting his body around, he audibly snapped it back in place, allowing him to sigh in contentment, "yup! Still good!"

"Barely felt any damage, but my head feels dizzy," Yōki grumbled as she held onto her head in emphasis, looking straight towards her enemy with a visible glare, "but that man...monster...whatever he is, is strong! He took a full barrage of my attacks and found time to study the pattern in which it moved. He even managed to anticipate its flight trajectory and had enough strength to send it off course," raising her blade up, her indented crimson sphere luminated with Spirit Energy and flew back into the hollow spot of her blade, clicking into its passive stance to allow Yōki to change strategems, "this man is just toying with us. He's surprised about our power, but that's the only reason we keep landing attacks upon him. Its as if his power is barely being tapped into at all...!"

"Yeah, that's what they tend to do on the first date..." Braeburn said sarcastically, the alarm receding now that he heard that they were okay. He straightened himself up to a standing position, keeping his eyes on the target. "When he expelled his energy the second time, I could sense that he was holding back. He's taking his time, having fun and trying to drag it out as much as possible." At this, he allowed a small smirk to cross his face as he slowly clenched his fists. "It's only natural..."

"And yet, we're not giving it our all either," Yōki said with a smile, looking over to Braeburn she winked at him as she spread her feet out on the wet, room-filled puddle that was created as she readied her stance, "we're just beginning to fight this guy, isn't that right?!"

"Damn straight!" Takashi shouted out in a calvalier tone, raising his blade to the ceiling before turning it down in emphasis, "this bastard's going down!"

"I wanna cut him up so baaaaad, now! HEHEHE!" Rokotsu said with an eery, sadistic glee as she spoke in her passive sing-song tone of hers. Her body radiated a fiery spirit rivaling the rest of their own, as she couldn't wait but feel excited to fight seriously against such a strong opponent.

"You'll have to beat me to it, then..."

WOOSH!

And with that being said, Braeburn launched himself at Taihen with newfound vigor, his eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched together...

Hilarity and Despair, the Tragic Comedic Reunion!
Had it been any of the other Dragons, there would've been certain to have been a voice.

Kunō had relayed malevolence and hatred. Daigomi had treated it like a game that he was winning. Yashin was sadistic and bloodthirsty, looking to enjoy a hunt. It could be something that could've been assumed with each and every one of the Dragons of the Inner Circle. But if one assumed that, then it was clear that they didn't know their enemy as well as they should have. Thus was demonstrated with Brina as she walked down an area occupied by what her enemy referred to as the D.C.O.'s "Sword Squad".

Just like all of them, any and all attempts to slow her and her escort down had proven to be futile.

WHACK!

A single hand...

POW!

...a single finger...

SLICE!

...or two. That was all that was needed to fell each and every one of the agents that had attempted to ambush her. She moved quickly, striking down each and every one of them before their blades could even begin to reach her. Although her hand was quick, her gait was calm and collected as she continued to walk within the home of the D.C.O. In terms of honor, this was the cruelest thing that could've ever been done - the refusal of even acknowledging her enemy's presence. She held a calm and cool expression on her face - a clear indication of how effortless each and every one of her movements were.

When those within her section were down, she raised her bloodied hand and waved her index and middle finger ahead of her - a gesture for her escort to keep moving forward.

"Well, when you said you were going to clear a path, Brina-san, I didn't know you were going to stain it with blood in the process," Choku spoke with morbid humor, as he used his right forefingers to push the bridge of his glasses up his nose, causing it to reflect an eery refraction of sinister light as he looked around, "satisfying and gruesome in one passive gait. You are a poetic inspiration to all of us..."

"There's nothing satisfying in the way these warriors are killed," Valeur spat, but kept his voice low none-the-less as he followed their assigned leader. Having observed all the deaths and mortal injuries their enemies sustained while none of them had to raise a finger, in contrast to their assignments to other Dragons, he found it all the more cruel to his honorable enemies, "no acknowledgement, no even-standing ground between opponents, no farewells given. This is the epitome of dishonorable death. To be forgotten, alone, and not even regarded as a being of prowess or individual worth. There is no Pride in this form of warfare. No pride can come of this at all..."

A dark chuckle escaped the lips of Tenshina, although he observed the slaughter with a chill running down his spine. "Not that it matters much..." He added in his own comment, keeping both hands within his pocket. "The Shinigami aren't much for pride either, even when it comes to keeping the peace. They kill the residents they're supposed to protect to keep the balance, kill their own without hesitation. You saw how the Head Captain was out there. War isn't made to be pretty or honorable. As far as I'm concerned, all of these bastards had this coming to them..."

SNAP!

Brina wasn't the only one actively taking part in the murder, for there were those finishing off ones attempting to escape or fight again.

After crushing the throat of another hapless member with her bare hand, Kameyo tossed the body aside like a useless piece of trash. "These soldiers were not prepared for our arrival. This was an error that could have been overseen, but overlooked by the enemy." She said. "This may be a rather... immoral...practice to use even in the midst of war. But they only have themselves to blame for the lives lost here..."

"Tch!" Valeur turned his head to the side, looking away of such distasteful execution employed by the one he believed to be a shining gem in his heart. Perhaps she had more stomach than he did, or didn't care about manslaughter on such a scale, but he didn't have to like it.

As the bloodbath continued, Choku pressed a switch in his analysis lenses and began to take in account the number of slain and their current ranks, "Well, if it means anything, these are supposed to be the weakest of the aledged "Sword Squad" of their DCO. If there's any real high-ranking combatants, like the ones we've faced, we have yet to cross their paths-"

And an untimely event would bring Choku's cautionary words to life...

SSSSHRK-BOOM!

...as a violent blue blast of energy enveloped the path before Brina and her men. The energy stemming from Kidō, coming from the palms of a descending, black coat enraptured Soul Reaper, whom he was followed upon by his Deputy Captain and his Reserve Sword Squad member, whom is also part of the Lancer Corps.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Dragon, but you and your subordinates kill no more!" Kaien spoke resoundedly, but held a canine grin of anticipation and revelling to the conflict to come. With a pair of steely gray eyes that hinted a spark of blue within them, as well as a subtle aura of daunting Spiritual Pressure about his presence, the man whom was revealed by Brina's associate, Daigomi Bandai, stood before her now.

Senna stood by her stoically, her eyes glaring upon the squad of executioners and the woman whom was believe to have been responsible for Captain Tensai's hospitalization and current recovery. For this, Senna couldn't forgive any of them, no matter their standings within this battle. This is a matter of surival, not principle...

"So you're the one who helped give Daigomi so much trouble... Kaien Shiba, if I'm not mistaken?" Brina asked rhetorically, a corner of her mouth curling upwards in a smirk. "I'd be surprised at the appearance of you and the former Memory Rosary, but I've begun to realize that maybe the dead just don't know how to stay dead..."

"....you really had to open your mouth, didn't you, Brainiac?" Tenshina said sarcastically. ""Oh, we have yet to meet up with the superiors of this bunch!" Well, I hope you're happy, because there they are!! What's next, are you going to..."

As he continued his tirade, the member accompanying both Senna and Kaien had positioned herself so that she would be latching onto Kaien's shoulders with both of her hands. Considering that she was quite short, she could easily perform the feat and still keep herself off of the ground. She looked at each of them with her own scrutiny, though it wasn't as intense as the gazes of Senna and Kaien were. Her focus was on the one who was ranting at his friend. She puffed up her cheeks, tilted her head back...

"Ptewie!"

...and promptly unleashed a spit-wad in his direction.

SPLAT!

With impressive accuracy, it connected right into one of Tenshina's eyeball.

He froze immediately, stopping his tirade and trading his annoyed expression for one of shock and surprise. Then, after a few seconds...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!!!"

He started screaming, a hand slapped onto the affected eye. He started staggering around aimlessly due to the severe agitation. "MY EYE!!! THAT LITTLE SHIT JUST SPIT IN MY EYE!!!" He screamed, falling to his knees. "WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES THAT?!"

"Whoo~!" The small girl cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "I got a bullseye!"

"Good job, Yachiru-chan," Kaien spoke with an approving tone, smiling as he raised his hand up for her to high-five in reward for her accomplishment, "I think you broke a record with that distance of spit-balling!"

"W-What kind of superior applauds such behavior?" Choku sweatdropped in sync with Valeur's shock of the comedic take-down of one of their comrades. The fact not only had she been out of their senses, but the accuracy of which she could use a simple spit-wad showed an incredible mental perception for weakpoints. Choku, despite his barely contained chuckling at the hilarity and increduality of the situation, knew to be wary of her. Bending down, he tried to help up his writhing friend along with Valeur on either side of his arms, "are you alright, Bokujin-san?"

"Ahem," Kaien cleared his throat, before locking hsi gaze back to Brina, the leader of the group he intended to stop, "I wouldn't exactly be offended if you referred to the method of my...rebirth...is seen as immoral. But for the matter, I'm here to stop life from being taken rather than encourage it. I'd rather not see an enemy who practices in such dark deeds to discuss ethics with the likes of you, Brina McTavish..."

"A mass of germs and bacteria just landed itself into my eyeball, courtesy of an archer's spit-take. What do you think?!"

Although even the likes of Kameyo couldn't help but deadpan stare at Tenshina and the "wound" that had been inflicted, Brina simply kept her gaze onto the three targets even as Yachiru slapped a hand against Kaien's triumphantly. "That's fine and dandy..." She said, retrieving both hands from her pockets to fold her arms across her chest. "I'm fairly certain none of us came here for a discussion, so let's skip to the point."

As Tenshina was starting to recover from the spit-wad thrown in his eye, Kameyo walked to stand beside Brina. Her crimson eyes stared passively at the three, but one of her hands was unsheathing the blade secured at her waist. With her other hand, she reached behind her to unsheathe the chokuto holstered on her back. She lowered them to her sides, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "My Lady," She whispered, earning Brina's glance. "Let us kill them. It is unfit for a person of high stature to have to keep dealing with filth like this..."

"Here," Choku reached into his coat pocket, he handed him a small bottle that had a tear-drop logo on it, "these are eyedrops I use to relieve pain in my own eyes. Maybe a drop or two would help that eye out and clean it up, hm?"

"What's that I hear?" Kaien arched his neck to the side briefly as he overheard, or rather, read the intention behind Kameyo's speech through the movement of her lips, "Perhaps you'd like a demonstration, young lady..."

However, any form of display of power would be suddenly halted...by an unexpected and unintentional arrival...!

CLAP-BOOM!

Within a emerald flash of light, nearly blinding anyone whom was before the small scorched space that separated the group of warriors, a sudden visage appeared before both groups. While Valeur blinked away, and Choku's lenses automatically shielded his eyes from the sudden flash of light, Kaien and his two associates had to blink away the momentary brilliant flash that had came and went as suddenly as the uninvited guest...

"-tcha tell you not to interrupt a mate who's spe-" a mid-ranting of a tall, burly man whom smelled of alcohol and appeared out of uniform in comparison to those around him. Blinking away the flash of light that had consumed his own vision, he suddenly realized he wasn't with everyone and saw that he was present amongst an anticipated battle, "oh sonuvawallaby! What the blasted outback Hell did that cyborg send me?! Eh?!"

"...or...not...?" Kaien stopped his entire provocational speech as he was suddenly interrupted by the Kidō-Transportation arrival of a strangely familiar entity. If not by face, then by reputation and files, he knew had heard of this conspicuous man somewhere...

"The heck is he? A hobo hermit?!" Senna spoke under her breath incredulously as she blinked with comically enlarged eyes, her jaw twitching at the hilarity of such an interruption just after her comrade induced a comical fit of pain to one of their enemies.

"He looks like a punk rocker!" Yachiru quipped, after raising herself from hiding behind Kaien to keep from being blinded. "And he sounds like an Aussie!"

When Brina and Kameyo lowered their arms from their faces upon the light's fading, they were most certainly surprised by the sudden appearance of the newcomer. Kameyo was naturally subtle about it, her eyes widening in the slightest manner. However, Brina's apathetic demeanor was shattered upon seeing his form, her eyes widening and the underside of her eye bent inwards to fully express it. Tenshina was too busy planting a few drops within the affected eye in order to pay immediate attention to it. But once he did, the only reaction he expressed was a few blinks of the eyes.

"Well, uh..." He said, almost to himself. "Did we happen to call for any extras? I've never seen that guy before, and he doesn't look like he's from the Deep Cover Ops..."

The response from Brina would most likely shock them all.

"Uh... Uncle?"

"U-Uncle?!" Choku choked out, as he blinked in response, moving his head back and forth between the two, clearly no seeing the resemblence, "th-this is your uncle?!"

Valeur could only blink, planting a hand into his face to slide it down as he almost about had it with all the surprise entries. It was almost expected, considering all of the "unexpected" debuts of reputable and unrecognizeable entities as of late, now was becoming more and more expected to happen in general. Perhaps he'd add it into his strategy to expected "unexpected" arrivals from now on...

Kaien could barely restrain laughter of increduality. He heard the report of Jack McTavish, the Wallaby, whom happened to be the estranged uncle of one Braeburn McTavish. He should've expected him and the other Crimson Knights to have reappeared sometime again, seeing as dynamic entrances were their thing, but why here? It seemed almost too coincidental, but Kaien shrugged it off, "He's with us, Yachiru-chan. Senna-chan. He's Jack "The Wallaby" McTavish of the Crimson Knights. Believe it or not he's a reputable fighter and an accomplished bounty hunter..."

"You sure about that?" Senna asked incredulously as her eye twitched at the man's nearly vulgar appearance, despite his physical endowment, "he sure doesn't look like it..."

"'Allo ladies and gents!" Jack flashed a dashing rogue smile towards the Soul Reapers, saluting with his forefingers halfheartedly before scratching the back of his head, "sorry about the late act, but my boss got a little whanked when he found out you split town. As we traced the scent your magician Cap'n left in the pale outback, we accidentally went sideways in the middle of a loop-to-loop, timey-wimey...ah, well, we got separated when we just got here, is all!"

Jack then sniffed the air, and found himself blinking in surprise. Looking over at the group of somewhat intimidating entities to his left, he couldn't help but lock his eyes onto Brina's. With a big, wide grin of surprisingly pearly teeth, Jack leaped over and gave his niece a big, bear hug as he shouted in glee, even spinning her around as if seeing her for the first time in ages, "My Dandy Bree! Its really you! Oh how I missed your soft mane and lovely scent! Its been forever, ya silleh shielah!"

"Oh, fu--"

"Ah--!!"

A startled yelp escaped Brina when she was swept up in Jack's strangely affectionate embrace. The sudden movement had simply shocked Tenshina and Kameyo even more, although neither of them bothered to change their expressions. On the other side, however, Yachiru cocked a skeptical eyebrow as she watched the supposed uncle of the Dragon wrap her up in a bear hug without any concern for who she was. "You sure he's with us?" She asked, peering in suspicion. "He seems to be very happy seeing that psycho lady..."

"Do I look like a horse?!" Brina complained. "Don't say things like that, it's creepy!" Nevertheless, she didn't bother fighting the welcome from her uncle, despite how bittersweet it was.

"He's...definitely a lunatic," Choku concluded as he heard what he spoke to her as well as his mannerisms. Pushing the bridge of his glasses up once more, he spoke lowly in a cautious tone, "but he feels...dangerous...none-the-less. I shouldn't let my guard around him..."

"Oh? Sorry about that," Jack spoke apologetically, but kept up a friendly demeanor as he set her down onto the ground and backed up a foot. Once again, he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck as he regarded her, "I haven't seen you since you graduated from dem Jap's Academy into the service. Before then, I used to call you that as a wee lass...but you're a full-blown Shiela now, and I should dignify you with proper names," his eyes suddenly drew to a serious gaze as he looked her dead in the eye, "after all, you are the one who murdered my brother's wife. That's something I can't forget, Brina. Not for as long as I live. Its why I am here, after all..."

"!!"

Brina's eyes widened in surprise, only needing a second to comprehend what he was talking about.

Brother's wife...

Her mother...

Evelyn.

The way he spoke kept her from feeling outright shock at the last words he spoke. There was the simple fact that he had gotten word about it, of course, considering she assumed that the 2nd Division naturally restricted information about the incident from circulating. But that only took up a portion of her surprise. The larger part of it stemmed from the fact that it seemed as if he didn't know the full story, the details that only she had gotten a chance to learn. To her, it was something to be relieved about. In a situation like this, the man only needed to know what was on the surface.

So, she did the only rational thing in order to maintain the flow of the situation - feed the deception.

Her expression slowly transitioned from surprise to amused as she looked at him, a small chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh, so you're here for her?" She repeated. "Because from what you're telling me, I thought you were only here due to an accident. But apparently, fate has decided to smile on you today. Yet, I can't help but wonder. Would you really raise a blade to your own blood so easily? And in addition to that, do you really think you're capable of lifting a candle up to me?" Her eyes narrowed into slits as she met his stare.

"The dreaded Tiger Snake, Evelyn McTavish. Captain Sui-Feng. Sazuke Tensai. I've torn them all down and broke them to their basic building blocks. I don't know what kind of mistakes that you've made in your life, uncle... but challenging me may be just your gravest one yet. So I'm giving you one and only one chance to walk away with your life and person intact. I could care less about family. Anyone who dares to cross me will be terminated with extreme prejudice."

"You're a bad liar, Brina," Jack allowed himself to smile a bit menacingly, if not knowingly, as his eyes looked into hers, "you caught your mother by surprise. Your mentor didn't use her full mettle, and from how I hear, it was the Shiela Tensai that pummeled you to the point of wailing like a baby. Only your deranged joey-boyfriend kept you from death's door. And besides," Jack's body slowly began to seep a violet-red aura of Spiritual Power, slowly but surely rising as he spoke, "I know you were a wee Shiela back in the day, but my brawns is more than a match for your moxy. Anytime..."

VMMMMMM-CRK-CRK-CRK!

"...anywhere!" Jack's body suddenly bristled with a powerful force of Spiritual Power, so much so that it would've exceeded his own brother when he was within his prime. Causing the others to cover their eyes, if not look away entirely as the power weighed down and intended to push everyone way, if not draw only his neice towards him, with the sheer intention of forcefully boxing them away from the others.

"Nnngh--!!"

Tenshina gritted his teeth, finding himself throwing his arms in front of his face in an attempt to shield his face from the oncoming winds. His ponytail billowed and whipped around violently, and even the digging of his feet into the ground couldn't keep him from skidding back a little. "Jesus Christ, this is ridiculous!!" He thought to himself. "None of us could take this guy with that kind of spiritual pressure!!"

"Th-This is bad! Maybe we should take our fight with these Soul Reapers elsewhere!" Choku suggested hastily, as he looked at the deranged, if not completely unexpected power-filled uncle of their superior's, "I rather not get caught in a crossfire of a...volatile...family feud, right?!"

"It wouldn't be right to step in between her and this man's quarrel. With your permission, Serah McTavish, I will dispatch your enemies in another location so you may have this man's wish of a proper battle," Valeur spoke in an eloquent, if not cautious tone.

Kaien on the other hand remained silent. While his eyes flared in shock of the man's immense power, the fact he could sense a great well still remaining within his inner being surprised him even more. A non-Soul Reaper spirit containing this much Spiritual Power was nearly unheard of...but then again, he heard of worse surprises.

"Permission granted..."

Although Brina's smile was soon to fade upon the moment Jack started speaking again. Although her hair was billowing in the intense winds and pressure generated, she stood stubbornly like a stone wall. Her blue eyes seemed to glow brightly as she slowly raised her fists up to an idle fighting stance, continuing to regard Jack with narrowed eyes. "I entrust their deaths to all of you." She said. "I will kill this one myself. The Horsemen might like a few heads of the officers on their tables..."

"Just try..." Kaien thought as he gripped the hilt of his blade, narrowing his eyes to the Dogs of the Inner Circle. With a sudden whooshing motion, all of the combatants moved with incredible speed and fury, quickly separating from each other respectively and moving to an alternative location.

Leaving the two McTavish's alone...

"Its been awhile since I've tangoed with you, lassie," Jack spoke with a grin, his fists balling up as he spread his legs out into a fighting stance, pulling his arms close to his sides, "this will be as damn nostalgic as it is a whopper, Shiela!"

This time, Brina didn't allow herself to respond. For a moment, all she did was remain silent and allow the tension to take over the area. The silence was deafening, dominating what was soon to be their combat area. Although her stance was casual and comfortable in comparison to Jack's, she was fully prepared to attack and defend at a moment's notice.

It wasn't long before that silence was broken.

Breaking Blood Chains; Time To Feed The Monster - Part I
WOOSH!

With a Flash Step, she reappeared without warning to Jack's front. Her arm crashed into him and presumably his guard. From there, she proceeded to unleash a relentless stream of fists on him, using her close proximity to lessen his chances of blocking effectively. Despite her barely increased muscle mass, each blow would carry a considerable amount of physical power behind it. Even as she moved aggressively against him, that reserved and composed look still remained on her face. All that could be seen was concentration as she fought to overpower and overwhelm him.

And yet, it appeared he kept up with her.

With a dazed, almost soothing look in his eyes, his body moved with unimaginable speeds throug his limbs to parry the first blow and the blows that followed. Strikes that visibly appeared to make contact seemed to be absorbed and dispersed, and the counterstrikes utilized by his arms and legs themselves seemed to get stronger with every passing second. And within one moment her strike almost connected...

SNATCH-FWT-CRACK-WHOOSH!

...he grappled her arm, moving underneath her guard as he spun around her to move into her blindspot, twisting her left arm that had extended around into a near breaking point while snapping his elbow into her spinal cord, then moved her into a circle in the air, and threw his forehead into her facing nasal cavity, intending on doing some damage to her within the fluid and relentless counterattack.

Pain.

When he moved around her, Brina clenched her teeth together as she heard the bone with her arm emit a painful pop. But even as the burning sensation shot through her arm, she did not allow herself to falter. Even as she was lifted off of her feet, she was ready to deliver a counter-attack of her own. Still, she could not help but briefly think over what she had just experienced. Every blow of his seemed to increase in strength little-by-little, a clear sign that the progress of undoing his restraints.

Then again, she was doing the same.

POW!

Before she could be spun around, she swung her free elbow behind her. The bone of it collided with his face, and the force not only made him release her arm, but also send him back several meters. With a reflexive spin, she threw herself after him. She wanted to pressure him, leave him no ground and shatter whatever defense he had. She was going to put all of her effort into winning this fight and crushing her opponent. Failure wasn't an option.

"Not again."

Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she charged.

"Not ever..."

Even as the elbow slammed into his face, his body slid back intentionally as his palms swung out, bracing himself to throw back into the fray. While no visual cracks or external damage was shown by the attack, it did stun him and made his vision blurry enough for her to move away from him before returning to the fight.

Jack knew he wasn't dealing with an ordinary opponent. The sheer tenacity, the killing intent feeding her aura, felt like this battle was much more personal than a simple commanding order. There was no impassion but passion in her attacks. While disconcerting, Jack allowed his grin to expand a little, as he knew this battle should be taken to its fullest.

As she would swing another barrage he initiated an unknown form of Fast-Movement technique before her eyes...

SHFT!

...disappearing deftly before her eyes, before reapping a good dozen meters away. But instead of attacking, it appeared he held a large bottle of some form. While ordinarily, it would be custom for him to release his immense Spiritual Power's reserves deep within his form. But this particular brand of whisky had the title, "Tendan Spill," on its exterior, and if anyone would know what that would mean, it would mean one thing: the strongest liquor known throughout the Spiritual Realms to date.

"Bottoms up, Shiela!" And with that, he unplugged the cork and began gulping down the entirety of the bottle's contents, filling his body with its mentally unstable elements and bodily changing chemistry mix. With this done, who knows what could happen?!

"...?"

Oh, if only she took a better interest in foreign culture.

Brina quirked a slight eyebrow as she watched Jack guzzle down the alcoholic drink, though making sure to keep her guard up. She knew better than to assume that he would have done anything to inhibit himself in any way. If anything, it was something to bolster him, to give him an advantage over her. So whatever it was, she had to stay alert. She remained silent, waiting for the effects to kick in.

SMACK!

After releasing his lips from the bottle itself, Jack quickly developed a drunken, glazed look over his eyes. Hiccupping, his cheeks flushed red, and soon nearly his whole body turned into a dark shade of red to depict his drunken state, "H-Hey there...sheila...HIC! W-W-Whatcha doin' over dar...? He he he he....come to Uncle Jackie and give him a big kiss on the smackerooooooooo..."

PLUMP!

After puckering his lips disgracefully and confoundedly, his body fell straight onto his back with a loud thud, and an emitment of pain followed by a series of giggles could be heard by the man. It clearly looked as if Jack had really lossed it...!

"..."

This disgraceful display was enough to make one of Brina's eyes twitch.

"Or, maybe that was actually something to make him shut down completely."

It simply did not add up. The seriousness he had displayed before contradicted what he was displaying now. Wasn't he here to avenge Evelyn in whatever way he planned? Certainly, he wasn't going to do that nearly passed out on the floor. Brina's immediate thought was cast aside in favor for these more pondering ideas. She was no fool. Whatever he was doing was some sort of trap, and once she let down her guard, she would fall straight into it.

"Do you really think I'm that foolish, uncle?"

Slowly, she raised one of her fingers.

TZZZT!

A single Byakurai spell was shot at his prostrate form, aiming to burn a hole through him from the feet up.

WHIZ-CRACK!

Instead of striking what Brina would percieve would be her stationary, prone uncle, would actually be a afterimage, as his body rolled a meter to his left, and firmly planting his thumb into his mouth, suckling it like a child. Muttering incoherently, he gave her a sideways glare of annoyance, as if he thought it was rude to fire a death-bearing bolt of destructive spirit energy at him.

Another twitch.

"Okay, no."

TZZZT-TZZZT-TZZZT-TZZT-TZZZT!

Brina began to unleash a stream of Byakurai bolts at Jack in follow-up of the single one she had fired, concentrating her fire but making sure to keep them spread out just enough to make it harder for him to dodge.

Countering, Jack began rolling across the ground back and forth, curling and wiggling almost like a worm in motion of his drunken-state dodges. The speed was nearly incomprehensible, and hard to follow, even as the streaks of lightning blasts tore chunks out of the D.C.O. wall and flooring, creating a cloud of dust in the wake of so much firepower in such a rapid discharge.

Then, Jack spoke within the midst of the final shot, slurring his words out, "You're being a baaaad girl, little Bree-Bree! Hehehe...bad girls need to be spanked...spanked...spanked-"

WHOOSH!

In mid-sentence, Jack's form dove low to the ground and fast, moving with an indescribable blur of speed as he moved to pass directly underneath Brina's spread legs. As he reached halfway, he swung out his arms so his elbows would connect to the backsides of her knees, intending for her to go down just as he would fully pass by...

FWHOOSH!

...before propping his hands onto the flooring behind her and donkey kicking her hindquarters with unprejudiced force, intending to send her form careening into the ceiling where it would meet the high-rising walls, "IN THE ASSSSSSSS!!!!"

"Wait a minute..."

Although the collision with the backsides of her knees was enough to make her fall over, Brina was quick to react to it.

With a boost of her feet, she initiated a back flip over Jack before the donkey kick could connect with her body. As she sailed over his head, her eyes regarded her uncle with slight surprise as she realized what he was doing. This did not change even as she performed a stream of back flips and hand springs away from him. Once she got to a considerable distance away, she stopped and readied herself once more.

"Now I see what he's doing. This is the style of Zui Quan, way of the drunken fist. Irregular movements, unpredictability and the general assumption that he's left vulnerable. I'm starting to realize why he's regarded as so dangerous..."

As Jack finished his kick, his body flipped upright, though staggered drunkenly as he did so. An eery grin was plastered on his face as a glint of killing intent could be seen projecting from his eyes, his reddened skin seemingly crackling with a ominous rise of Spiritual Power. After a few slurring words, she'd know he was serious, "Hey Dandy Bree? Whya...movin...so sloooooow?"

SHFT!

Within the end of his sentence his body vanished with an irregular form of a Fast-movement technique, appearing vividly before her eyes full in stature. As he staggered to her left, his right hand moved with unprecedented speed to gouge her eyes out, while his left hand simultaneously moved to hook punch her in the gut. However, it wasn't the devestating strength behind the punch that was dangerous, but rather...

BOOOOM!

...the large exhale of unexpected destructive energy that would enrapture nearly the entirety of the corridor, scorching its durable plasteel material and cracking the metal within the air like popcorn as its crimson energy billowed to explode violently at the end of hallway, reverberating with an immense shockwave of aftermath force.

At first, it seemed to work.

The last action that could be seen from Brina was her throwing her hands up to meet his before the blast was unleashed, enveloping her within its crimson light. Her spiritual signature seemed to vanish within the massive flow of power that swallowed her whole - a sign that she had been completely annihilated by the attack. That moment seemed to have sealed Jack's total victory.

That is, until the smoke cleared.

Brina was shown to have stopped both of his hands from reaching her, his fist caught in one hand and the other grasped firmly by her other. Her form was virtually unscathed, save for some slight scratches on parts of her face and torso. All in all, she was still standing formidably against him despite the power that she had witnessed and experienced. The vanish of the spiritual signature had been courtesy of Brina's own volition and a result of her precise energy control.

"H-Huh?" Jack's voice came out, blinking as he saw Brina still intact. From at first it appeared as if he felt her disappear, but then reappear just before his very eyes, without a scratch on her. Jack snickered as his eyes glinted with mischief and hidden menace, "you're still there...hehehehe!"

Then, the next attacks struck...!

SHINK-SHINK-SPLURCH!

...as Jack's fist suddenly generated and discharged a arm-wide pike of shredding energy to pierce through her hand, while his outstretched hand generated a barrage of sharp energized projectiles, blackening and disintegrating the durable material at the far end of the corridor and flooring, intending on shredding her with the unanticipated counterattack.

Time slowed down.

Brina's eyes widened briefly as she picked up the sudden spike within both of his limbs, the volatile spiritual energy making itself clear for only a millisecond. It was only thanks to her quick perception and reflexes that she was able to formulate a counter to his aggression. When the threads of the attack formed, a flash of white emitted from her palm for a brief second.

And when the attacks would manifest...

BOOM!

...all of Jack's energy would be used against him in an explosion of his own reiatsu. The direction of radius would be kept away from Brina to leave her uninjured, while the full force of it would be unleashed on her uncle's position. He himself would be blown several meters back, with varying injuries dependent on how much he had used. At this she lowered her arms and stared at him dispassionately.

"Out of all the people in the world to avenge her, what do I happen to meet?" She said coldly. "A stinking drunkard named Wallaby. She must be so ashamed, knowing that the ones who defend her honor fall so horribly..."

WHUMPF-KABOOM!

With the immense recoil of energy being thrown back upon him, Jack spun wildly back before crashing into the wall from the haphazard blast of ricocheting energy. The shockwave billowed an substantial gust of wind, sending the cloak of the Dragon's cloak, sending a cool aura about the easy takedown she used against her own uncle. That is, until a belly-aching laugh could be heard from the hole...one filled with both lamenting and taunting...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Its what you deserve, Dandy Bree!" Jack walked out, wobbling out with surprisingly little damage shown other than his jacket and jeans shredded from the force of his own attacks, and a few scrapes showing blood on his skin. His eyes stretched incredulously as he spoke aloud in an unusually cruel tone, "you were a downright disappointment to all of us! If there ever was a black joey amongst the pouch, that'da be you! Going out of your way to follow a sheila's orders without question, despite how whanked it was! Killing your own mum and going bitch-psycho like a half-cocked wanker! You don't have an ounce of your daddy's pride...and I bet not an ounce of your momma's respect, for what you've done, sweetheaaaaaaaart! HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA...!"

Despite him partially being wrong in some regard, Brina felt a slight snarl being made out of her lips. Her fists clenched tightly as her ears picked up the words, and the urge to deliver a fist to the teeth within that open mouth of his became briefly at its strongest point when she heard him laugh. It was a spiteful, sadistic laugh - something that she never would have expected to hear from her own blood.

"You deluded fool..." She whispered venomously, holding a bit of condescension within her tone. "Those things mean nothing in the midst of combat and are easily dismissed in times of war. In the end, all that counts is being on top, no matter what the means to achieve that position. Apparently, you have been sheltered for far too long to understand that. But don't worry, I will show you the full extent of what you have been deprived of for so long. Anyone who dares to cross me will be terminated..."

She tensed her legs.

"...with extreme prejudice!"

BWOOSH!

Then, with immense physical strength overshadowed by her build, she launched herself at Jack in order begin a new assault on him.

Jack's laugh immediately cut, and his demeanor changed as he heard his niece's tone. When he heard the killing intent, the anger, and the raw seriousness ebb from her being, he knew what had to be done even before she launched herself upon his form.

"Bout time you showed your true power, Brina," his voice became disturbingly clear, as his stance shifted slightly to the side, his eyes glazing over with an intense burning brightness mirroring his unconscious resolve to kill, "guess I got no choice but to pull out my wild card. Let me show you why..."

SHFT-FWAP-WHAP-CRACK!

"...I forced your daddy into using his Bankai against me!" He spoke in excess of the following movements he did. With a slight electrical flow through his spiritual network, powering his muscles and speeding his synapses indefinitely, Jack's body moved with both unprecedented speed and unpredictable maneuvers. As she would lunge towards her, he would appear as if he would fall in two directions away from her area, while his body had moved below her lunge, throwing the weight of a double elbow thrust towards the weak points of her knees.

Rolling around her body during her brief lapse of being attacked, his body shimmered away and out of sensation and sight, reappearing above her, swinging pivoting kicks to either side of her waistline where her defense would be weakest, before slamming two knifehand strikes simultaneously towards her neck, intending on delivering critical damage. All the while, the force used would be immense, pointed, and concentrated into the key vital nerve endings for maximum damage.

A simple flip in mid-air had been made to avoid the double elbow thrust.

One arm had been bent and lowered in order to block one of the kicks.

But the other half of the attacks had managed to make their way through.

WHAM!

She let out an audible grunt when the other kick managed to score with the corresponding him, making her lean briefly in that particular direction. One eye was shut in reaction to it, opening once again once she attempted to regain her balance. However...

POW!

...she was stopped abruptly by the knife chops that collided with each side of her neck. She staggered back a few steps, her eyes shut and her head bent back a little as she made to regain her steps. Inwardly, her mind was working up a storm, taking in the newfound release of power Jack was exerting.

It was within the staggering movements, that Jack launched a devestatingly swift punch to her gut, twisting it as he utilized both force and Spiritual Power within the single strike. Within its final twisting movement, Jack projected a column of sheer destructive force, intending on sending her across pinwheeling like a ragdoll, as well as rip up the surface of much of the surrounding environment from the strike he utilized.

But he wouldn't stop there.

He moved with a relentless pursuit of her form, whether or not the punch did the intended affect, as his body moved in criscrossing and bending movements of unpredictable speed and directions. With a mixtures of blurring movements, afterimages, and Fast-movement employments, his array of knife-hand strikes, palm-heels, hook punches, and elbow and knee attacks would come in with the same ferocity and power as he had shown before.

All the while, his eyes would be glazed over by a burning fire of Killing Intent and pure Instinct. His aura crackled with ferocious and nearly overpowering Spiritual Force. His true potential was unleashed and committed into killing her...or breaking her to the point of submission.

POW!

WHAM!

THUD!

In summary, Brina had changed from attacking aggressively to being on the brunt end of Jack's ferocious attack. Not one hand was lifted in order to counter the attack, his speed and power seemed to have a dominating effect on her. Fists, palms, elbows and knees crashed into her without mercy. Knife strikes seemed to pin and stun her long enough for the full weight of Jack's wrath to crash down upon her. It surprised her to know just how ferocious the man really could become, even against her own blood.

"You have really became a monster, haven't you, dear uncle?"

CRASH!

A final blow sent her skidding face-first to the ground, her body leaving behind a small ditch as it was grounded into the floor. When she stopped, she remained deathly still. There was no movement, no sign of life and no indication that she was going to get back up again. But her fingers slowly dug into the dirt as they clenched into fists once more.

But within this state, Jack had no morals or obligations to allow his enemy to get up...especially one he loathed so much.

WHAM-BWHOOSH!

Jack's feet slammed directly onto her back, employing a great deal of force and pressure, so much so that the indentation of which her body laid prone cracked out a good extra ten meters, sending a gust of air-popping wind that further wrecked their chosen battlefield. Jack would then keep jumping up and down onto her back, intending on breaking her further, indenting her with more and more force with every jump he landed upon her backside. It appeared that Jack had no mercy to show towards her, and no intention of stopping till she was a bloody piece of crushed meat underneath his boots.

WHAM!

Merciless.

WHAM!

Unnecessary.

WHAM!

Brutal.

WHAM!

Torturous.

This was no longer the kind and goofy uncle that she had come to know and accept. This was nothing more than someone focused on completely destroying and annihilating the presence of another. He spoke no words and possessed no emotion, dealing only pure violence. It was both amazing and horrifying to see Brina's body endure the constant pressure being forced onto her form. The only sign of pain were the muffled grunts she emitted as well as her twitching fingers every time he smashed into her. Once again, it seemed like Brina would meet her fate at the hands of a physically stronger foe...

But, then, the unexpected.

WOOSH!

On the next landing, Brina would vanish from underneath Jack before he could connect with her, resulting in him obliterating the ground that replaced her. But this time, her spiritual energy had once again vanished. For a moment, there was nothing more than eerie silence that permeated the area. Then, after the atmosphere of the situation had sunk in, Brina's laugh began to sweep through. It was a poison to the already war-torn setting.

"I believe you said something about me using my "true power", right?" She asked patiently. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to correct you on that. You see, I've only barely begun to tap into my reserves while you've already pulled out your so-called "wild card". I'm sorry... but to this battle's end, you will never see my full strength. That is only reserved for the one I want to end my life. You, a mindless killing machine, are most certainly not that one..."

Jack stood absolutely still.

After standing back to a staggering erect posture, his instincts began to reach out with his naturally heightened senses for the location of the voice. Shifting back and forth on the balls of his heels, Jack rolled his knuckles around within tightened and relaxing fists. With eyes that moved back and forth, he smelled the air and even licked his lips in anticipation.

Then, he flexed his body's physical muscles, and in turn...

CRRRRRRK-VMMMM!

...sent a vibrant pulsation of Spiritual Pressure to rock through the corridor, touching every fabrication of the battle scarred and war torn material they had marred through the course of their battle. And then, he felt the irregularity that his Spiritual Pressure would course over and around, allowing him to pin-point the exact location of his enemy.

With a sudden smile that curled onto his face, his body moved with once again, unprecedented and unexpected speed towards his prey. Moving with power and purpose, Jack approached Brina's blindspot, using both palms to strike at both sides of her head, with the intention of sending a vibrant imploding affect of Spiritual Power, killing her within an instant of the internally coursing force he directed at her brain.

This time, Brina did not fall.

POW!

The sound was equivalent to a gunshot, reverberating through the massive space they were in. Following after that was another tense silence, with only the whistling of the wind. But what would to have been assumed to be Jack's killing blow would be actually a move that would show complete transition of the battle's status. Brina's head would remain untouched by Jack's hands. But there would be another brutal injury inflicted.

Brina's elbow had connected with Jack's throat, partially marking a depression into his neck. The power of the blow no longer held what it had upon Brina's very first attack. Now, even the immense durability of the male McTavish was rendered void by the newfound strength she had placed, enough to nearly shatter the larynx and top of the trachea. Temporary loss of breathing would occur. But despite it all, she had a calm and somewhat annoyed look on her face as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"You can't even hear me now, can you?" She said with a hint of resentment. "It's what I thought. You had to throw away your own mind just to fight me at your fullest extent. From the start of this fight, you couldn't even muster up the resolve to kill me. You had to rely on your precious beverages and alcohol to talk for you. There's nothing left behind but an animal, nothing less of an inner Hollow when it possesses from a Visored's body. You'll never kill me..."

She parted her elbow away from his throat, turning herself around and walking a few steps away from him.

"Not like this."

The Honored, The Honorable and the Pragmatic - Part I
SHFT-SHFT-SHFT!

"This looks like a good corridor to dance in," Kaien said with a smile, his hand already unsheathing his blade as his other two opponents stood a good ten meters away from him. Grasping the hilt of his sheathe in both hands, Kaien settled into a Kendō stance, his body brightly emanating a neon-blue glow of Spiritual Pressure, reverberating the area with his magnanimous and substantial power for display for his two particularly dangerous enemies, "shall we get started?"

"We shouldn't take this man lightly, dead man or not, Serah Tenshina," Valeur spoke lowly, as he grasped both handles of his spears, meticulously and purposely unfurling them from their respective, tubular sheathes, before bringing them full to bear in rapt anticipation of the coming battle. Looking briefly to the side, his yellow left eye looked towards Bokujin's, "this Spiritual Pressure is just a fragment of his true power, and his stance speaks volumes of a trained swordsman and warrior. We should outflank him, and make sure he has to let his guard open to counterattack..."

"No shit..." Tenshina grumbled, flipping his balisong knife and transforming what would possibly been a harmless weapon into a sharpened katana. He leveled it to the side, keeping it readied as he looked at Kaien. "It was already was a pain bringing down that Yajū guy, so I know that this has to be seven times worse." He didn't bother to mention the attack on his person by Renji, considering that he had decided to retreat before another fight could even start.

"At least you an ally by your side," Valeur spoke with confidence, smiling as his hands gripped his spears tightly in acknowledgement of his commitment to the battle at hand, "I will not forsake a comrade. Not as long as I draw breath. Remember me that way, Serah Tenshina..."

And then, they took off...

Valeur moved with both great dexterity and precision. Utilizing the advantage of having two mid-range weapons against Kaien's, he moved slash and thrust in a simultaneous, synchronized series of attacks. The only countering in doing so is that his strength was halved in using both weapons with one hand, whereas Kaien's substantial Kendō stance allowed him both fluid movement and powerful counters to each and every thrust made by the spears' attacks.

But this left him open to Bokujin's own choice of attack...

TSEW-SET!

A Bringer Light movement would bring Tenshina directly within Kaien's blind spot, his sword poised for a lunge. A smirk came across his face as he thrust the blade at his enemy's back, aiming for a killing blow. The faster they could get this over with, the better, after all...

"Got you!" Valuer thought with a smile, as he slashed his two spears in a X swing while his comrade attacked him from behind. With the simultaneous attacks coming from either side, it would be madness to try and counter both blows and not come unscathed...

SHFT!

CLANG-CLANG!

...which was why it should've been expected, as Kaien disappeared from their midst with a sudden and deftly timed Flash Step, causing both combatants to strike their weapons against each other, sending them temporarily off balance. What was more surprising, was the fact Kaien appeared directly in the same place after avoiding the initial attacks, his body already perpindicular to his two opponents.

Swinging a blade towards Valeur, he created a concussive gale of pressurized air, forcing the latter warrior to cross his spears in front of himself instinctively, causing him to be forced back. The heels of his boots dug into the durable material with incredible vigor, and managed to shrug off the superheated air with a double slash of his spears, glaring heatedly at his enemy.

Simultaneously, Kaien had swung out his left palm towards Bokujin's direction...

BLAAAAAAAAAM!

...sending a silent, yet completely controlled Sōkatsui spell towards the Fullbringer, an incredible pillar of white-blue destructive Spiritual Energy funneled to take over his form within an instant, also aiming to send the versatile and skilled warrior a good distance away from his vicinity if not harm him in the employment of the Kidō technique.

"!!!"

Tenshina's eyes widened in shock as he saw the attack approaching, only having time to raise his sword up. Once the blast connected with him, all he saw was a brilliant bluish-white that pushed against him, trying to overwhelm and destroy him. He could feel his feet skidding in the dirt as he fought against it, taking him away from Kaien. Although it felt like an eternity, he only moved so far back before he was able to counter-attack.

"HRAAH!"

With a yell, he swung the blade and blew away the blast. Its energy dissipated into thin air as he did so. A bead of sweat fell down his face as he looked at Kaien, gripping his sword tightly in one hand. "Who am I kidding? Yajū might have well been a baby compared to this guy. He was the one who blew Daigomi away. If not for those freaky regeneration ability of his, I guarantee that he would've been killed..."

A ghost of a smile came across his face as he slowly raised the sword to a defensive position. "Still, I've got Valeur working with me this time. Together, we can kill this guy, no problem!"

"This is going to take a bit," Kaien spoke aloud in affirmation to their skill, as he looked side-to-side at his opponents, seeing them virtually unscathed from his own counterattacks, "I might actually have to push myself to defeat the two of you..."

However, Valeur had no intention of letting the battle drag out...

SHFT-SHFT-SHFT!

...as he used a trio of Flash Steps to move in a triangular movement to move around to Kaien's blindspot, he began thrusting out with one spear, trying to get through his seemingly impenetrable defenses while keeping his other arm free for defense and counterattack. And it appeared to be working to a degree, as Kaien began using his sword hand to parry the series of attacks and moving in tandem with the knight-errant's thrusts and attacks, though appeared visibly unphased by the calculated ferocity of the attacks.

And, within a moment, Kaien dropped his sword guard low...

SNATCH-WHOOSH!

...and grasped Valeur's spear, pulling him directly past his backside while making sure to roll around so sword's pommel would move into his guardless zone, slamming it into his backside as he past by. While it visibly looked as if Valeur himself got caught in the deft grappel-counterattack, his body shimmered upon physical contact...

SHFT-WHIZ-SLAM!

...having released his hold of his own weapon in mid-pull, Valeur utilized a well-timed Flash Step of his own, flipping around in mid-air as he reappeared, using his own spear to initiate a stunningly powerful thrust towards Kaien's body. The only unfortunate thing as when the spear moved into cutting range, is that Kaien held onto a familiar cousin to the weapon that his own Zanpakutō. As when the spear finally thrusted, Kaien deftly crouched and swung Valeur's own secondary spear in a counter slash, sending his thrust off course, to stab into the ground past him.

SHFT-SNICK!

Only thanks to another brief application of Flash Step, Valeur was able to narrowly escape the counter-thrust of Kaien's own katana, grasping the rear of Kaien's newly acquired weapon, and swinging a kick that would scathe his cheek, causing Kaien to backpedal away from his opponent as he reacclamated himself, as well as try to draw his attention back to his other opponent.

It would be here that Tenshina decided to try his hand.

TSEW-SET!

A Bringer Light movement once again brought him in close range of Kaien, his blade swinging as soon as it came close. Once he swung that one time, he threw himself into a flurry of aggressive but precised swings. His wrists twisted with reflexive quickness, and each swing flowed into another quite naturally. His teeth were gritted and his eyes were narrowed in concentration as he attacked, trying to take the heat off of Valeur. Inwardly, he was annoyed that his partner had allowed himself to release his own weapon to the enemy so easily.

Then again, he had done it in the fight with Takashi...

Kaien spun on the balls of his feet in a high-sped spin to face his newly acquired opponent. Flowing through the motions, Kaien began parrying the seires of aggressive and accurately timed thrusts of his opponent. There were times where Bokujin's blade nicked his uniform and even cut a few of his hairs, but all of them were out of reach for surface contact as they were skillfully countered by Kaien's swordplay.

The sparks flew, the resounding and nearly deafening sound of metal crashing against metal reveberated the air, and the cool intensity between two skilled warriors echoed between each other as they fought to a near standstill. That is, until Kaien swung his left, free, hand out in a surprising Karate-style thrust, twisting it and vibrating it simultaneously to allow the force of his arm to send the blade off course and intend to slam into Bokujin's face with prejudiced force.

"What--"

POW!

Surprised by the unorthodox attack, Tenshina couldn't move out of the way in time. The palm struck its mark, and he was once again thrown back from his enemy. He staggered back several steps, retreating back to a safer distance.

However, it was only following this movement that Valeur grasped onto the spear imbedded into the floor that he pulled it up while letting a simmering flourishment of manipulated, concentrated Spiritual Energy dive through the flooring and back upwards where Kaien's feet would be...

BLAAAAM!

...causing a yellow, fan-like projection of incinerative Spiritual Energy to crackle and blast to life, appearingly to have caught Kaien's body at first within its superheated gale.

CRK-SHFT!

Unfortunately, following this, Kaien's coat was left behind in the sudden and surprising blast of energy to be incinerated in place of his own coat-less form, appearing a good dozen meters away from the two opponents via Cicada style Flash Step.

Holding a serious stare towards the two, while keeping his blade levelled towards them, he could only measure their full potential was being released from his brief bout with them thus far. His mind began to devise his next strategy, as the two competant warriors of the Inner Circle did in turn...

"So..."

Tenshina was the first to speak to Valeur, his blade steadily raised as he regarded his enemy. He had regained position and was now standing beside his partner. "Any ideas you'd like to share on beating this guy...?" He questioned, keeping his voice low in an attempt not to let Kaien hear him.

"He's strong, but it appears he doesn't favor fighting multiple opponents at once. If you've noticed early on, he tried to attack us both at once, giving us the impression he can fight both of us at ease," Valeur spoke after feeling a bead of sweat travel down his usually untouched forehead, sliding down the bridge of his nose before falling to the battle-worn ground beneath his feet, "but if you had noticed, he can barely keep up with us. Either he's holding back, or he doesn't want to have a single opening for either of us, probably with no knowledge of our abilities. But we're going to have to kick it up a notch before he gets any funny ideas, otherwise he might concoct a strategy to pick us off one at a time," Valeur looked to Bokujin, as he kept Kaien in his peripheal vision, asking lowly, "anything you think you can do to unsettle the environment to give us an advantage over him?"

"What can't I do?" Tenshina snorted, almost as if the very question was an insult. "Just tell me what you want and we can finish this off before we both know it..."

"Do what you do best," Valeur spoke with a grin, spreading his feet as he raised his spears in a parallel alignment for his legs, "and I'll do what I do best...close encounters!"

"Rankle upon the Seas and the Heavens..."

FWHOOOSH!

"...Nejibana!" Kaien spoke aloud in declaration, his blade spinning as it turned golden with spirit energy before turning into a magnificently designed trident. Within the transformation, the blue-furred trident appeared in his hand, and a large wave of water circled around him, acting almost like a barrier. With his eyes narrowed and glistening with seriousness, he spoke lowly as he renewed the battle, "Let's dance!"

Sleeping Beauty, Will You Remember Me? - Part I
SHFT-SHFT!

Having arrived within another similar corridor, Senna and Kameyo, shimmered into existance within the vast open space of the particular section of the D.C.O. headquarters. Senna's eyes glistened with a similar serious edge her own superior had, not to mention gritted her teeth in resentment for Kameyo's wanton manslaughter of her comrade.

However, before she began, she inhaled...and exhaled, calming herself as she closed her eyes for the coming battle. Then, when she opened her bright hazel eyes, she smiles brightly before bowing her head politely to Kameyo, "My name is Senna Kasumiōji, Deputy Captain of the Sword Squad. I'll be your opponent right now. May I ask your name and your rank in return?"

If Senna had not took the time to calm herself, the air within the area certainly would have been filled with negative attitude.

The polite and seemingly positive aura Senna was giving off was a stark contrast to Kameyo's - or lack of. Her red eyes stared at the woman with a naturally piercing gaze, though her face held no expression. She held her blades readied at her sides, keeping them readied in an almost idle position. She tilted her head to the side slightly when Senna asked of her name and rank, almost curious as to why the woman would bother asking that.

But if anything, Kameyo wasn't rude.

"Kameyo Takaki, Dog." She said simply, meeting Senna's hazel with her crimson. "And I will be your murderer today."

"Wow, so much for trying to cheer up the atmosphere," Senna thought dryly, as she looked blankly at the woman with a keen interest. Unlike the others, she had no emotions within her eyes. It was like looking into the eyes of a Mod Soul...or a machine...manufactured for the sheer purpose of murder and destruction. She looked empty. Emptier than even a Hollow. As if she didn't live at all.

For this reason, Senna couldn't help but frown a little. Propping her hands into fists onto her hips, she almost gave a pouting look to Kameyo, "For someone who says it like that, it almost sounds like a chore rather than something you'd enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I don't take the slaying of life casually, I just find it...weird...that you have no attachment in this battle. Don't you have something you're fighting for? Some reason why you do the things you do? From what I've gathered of your companions, they all have the look of people who fight for something or do the things they do, but you...you look lost," Senna couldn't hold back the sadness in her voice, her eyes somehow had a penetrating look as she looked into Kameyo's impassive stare, "where are you right now, Kame-chan?"

Silence.

A flicker of confusion and a bit of her curiosity crossed Kameyo's expression as she picked up the new words. Of all the things that her enemy could have said to her, she would've never expected those choice of words. Why would an enemy be curious as to what her reasons and intentions were for even picking up a sword? Why would an enemy be interested in something that should have been considered pointless? She couldn't understand it.

"You are a very curious woman, aren't you?" She questioned, no hint of mockery or taunt within her voice. "We are on the edge of crossing blades and yet you want to understand my reasons for what I do, who I... fight for? It is natural for the words of your enemy to fade away from memory in due time simply because of the fact that you oppose each other. Therefore, whatever words I say to you will be eventually lost, even if I am to remain alive. But if you're so curious, I will ask you this first. Will you remember what I say to you, up until your eventual demise?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Senna looked up towards the ceiling, as if really thinking hard about the matter. After but a few seconds, that felt like eternity, Senna smiled sheepishly as she shrugged, saying honestly, "Well I can't promise I'll die so easily, but I'll promise to remember your words as long as I live. Is that alright?"

A nod was Kameyo's response, and she didn't hesitate on beginning.

"Before I joined under the service of Lady McTavish," She said, her voice quiet but perfectly heard in the silence of the area they were in. "I was nothing but an isolated orphan and a serial killer that roamed Rukongai district number 66. I was an outcast, bullied by both the residents of the schools and my own family. Before I killed them, they knew me nothing more than meaningless and a mistake. Before I became introduced to the Inner Circle, I was... worthless, and dysfunctional."

She slowly closed her eyes. "That was how Lady Ninaru found me. She took interest in my ability to terminate the lives of others. She took me in, gave meaning to both my name in my life. She gave me friends and comrades that have stayed beside me no matter what - something that I never would have gotten had I continued to live the way I did. She molded me, helped me put my talents to use, make me realize new things I was capable of. All of them have earned my loyalty, my heart and my sword ever since..."

She slowly opened one of her eyes. "You may think that I'm lost, that these eyes do not show interest within this battle. But that is only because I have learned to realize there is nothing to be interested in. My motivations for fighting are always kept deep inside of me, out of the way so that I won't be blinded by emotion. Outside of that, yes... this is nothing but a chore that I carry out because of my orders. How can anyone else not say the same, once they have made a living out of slaughter and bloodshed?"

Senna allowed the words to soak in, so that she would remember every sentence spoken. She couldn't help but feel lower lip curl inwards, her upper row of teeth biting down as they quivered in near uncontrollable shivers. Her body began to shake and her eyes began to well up with tears. As she sniffled and began wiping her eyes, she laughed in a bittersweet tone,

"I'm sorry, I'm not meaning to sound like someone who pities you. I'm just a little...saddened...we hadn't gotten to know each other sooner. Cause I know that all you really needed was a friend. Someone to hold you when you felt down and someone to laugh with you to cheer you up," she smiled as she wiped away her tears, locking her eyes with Kameyo's as she spoke sincerely,

"I know I am a warrior, someone who's pledged to fight in the name of peace and order. But...I do it for more than that. I fight to help people I know who are feeling the same pain I would feel if I felt alone and isolated. I fight for my friends, as well as myself. For I know winning a battle in of itself is meaningless...unless you have something more worthwhile than simple means to an end, you know?"

"She... feels remorse for not being a figure within my life...?"

Although still composed, Kameyo could not help the confusion from crossing her face as she watched Senna shed tears. Her lips were parted slightly, and she opened the other eye to fully express what she allowed herself to of her bewilderment. Because of this, she couldn't bring herself to say much of anything. The opponents she had faced had no interest, no empathy and only regarded her as a threat that needed to be destroyed. This one was someone new, a high official still able to feel considerable empathy towards even her enemies.

"Valeur..." She thought to herself in contemplation. "Were you also thinking like this, when you watched me kill those D.C.O...?"

"I know it would be wrong of me to ask you of this, but please," Senna spoke with a serious, almost pleading tone as she placed her hands over her heart in emphasis, "walk away. I don't want to fight you. Not because I pity you, nor am I a coward, but...I can't rob someone of what life she has yet to live, when I've lived so much of my life already. It wouldn't be fair at all. So please, just walk away..."

And the funny part?

Kameyo was seriously considering that option.

Unbeknownst to her, the hands that gripped both weapons started to shake a little. Her face slowly shifted from confusion to shock as she heard the words spoken to her, a growing pain stemming from within her own heart. With only bare words, Senna had delivered a staggering blow to what should have been perceived as her enemy. All of it was because she never had an opponent who was willing to sympathize with the remnants of her past - no - someone who valued life so much that she would beg for an enemy to walk away because of it.

Even the enemy found value in her vitality, to some extent. That was something that absolutely couldn't be overlooked.

"...no." She spoke after a moment of silence, her expression turning to that of solemnity. Her eyes were wavering a little. "You are still young, as I am. You have too much ahead of you in order to die pitifully in this fight. You and your merciful words have swayed me well enough. It will be disobeying the order of Lady McTavish... but I retract my earlier words of murdering you." This was followed by the sheathing of her chokuto onto her back. It seemed like she was really backing out of a fight.

Until,

"But," She continued, making her face return to the passive one she had been donning. However, even as she raised her remaining blade to Senna, there was a subtle flicker of life within those crimson eyes of hers now. "I have become curious. I want to understand the extent of your mind, how you can think in such a manner and still have the power to be a veteran within the battlefield. So not out of a desire to exterminate, but a desire to know... I wish to fight you, until one of us cannot fight anymore. And if that happens to be you, I will show you mercy as you have shown me. Will you grant me this... Senna Kasumiōji?"

Senna blinked in slight surprise. She couldn't tell at first but she felt sincerity coming from the other woman's mouth. With a slight smile, Senna nodded in affirmation, feeling as if she could trust her. She wouldn't be looked down upon if she refused to show her strength just now, "I can do that. I will show you just how much strength I have gained...to ensure the people I love and the lives I cherish are safe, because of it!"

VMMMMM!

With a slight flourishment of vibrant Spiritual Pressure, as a golden hue surrounded her body, a magnanimous blast of wind exuded her being. With an uncanny manifestation of autumn leaves in the Spiritual Pressure's wake, the billowing wind had a strength to it that would be hard to stand firmly against. And then, Senna attacked...

WHOOSH-CRACK!

...as her body moved with a sudden silence, as her movement almost went unnoticed as she unsheathed her blade deftly within the midst of a Flash Step employment, while swinging her blade towards her shoulder with incredible pressurized force and cutting precision. A bright fire burned in her eyes that showed anticipation and almost, joy, that she could fight without fear of purposely slaying the girl in front of her. She felt vibrant, alive, and as colorful as her aura projected.

The moment after Senna moved, Kameyo unleashed her own attack to counter the one made her way.

Their blades would make a cross as they clashed, their clashing powers resonating from the point of collision. Throughout it all, the crimson-eyed Dog kept her gaze focused into Senna's own. Her passive expression did not change, in spite of the powerful swing that she had unleashed against her opponent. As she battered the blade away for a countering thrust of her own, she couldn't help but note the manifestation of leaves that formed from the energy Senna exhibited. In contrast to the aura she gave off, this girl seemed so...

Alive.

Messianic.

Holy.

Youth and Experience! A Battle of Wits and Steel! Part I
SHFT-SHFT!

Choku couldn't help but feel his luck was the worse off among the collaborative pairings of opponents. Just after reappearing  within a deft employment of Bringer Light, he saw the young and child-like D.C.O. operative appear within a deft Flash Step of her own. Seeing the accuracy of which she managed to spit a wad of viscous liquid to hit a target at that distance (even if Bokujin was unaware) was no small feat. Not to mention she had a certain...unsettling...aura about her. As if she placed a mask of innocence over the face of a demon...

Shivering, Choku cleared his throat to knock him out of his euphoric state and redirect his attention at the child-aged opponent he had to face. Grasping the pen at the crook of his right ear, he whispered lowly, "Iron Pen," causing it to light up with emerald energy before transforming into a European broadsword, engraved with a series of latin words at the mid-section of its metalic form. Raising it to an en guarde stance, Choke spoke lowly to his opponent, "I don't intend to hold back because you look like a child, Soul Reaper! Prepare yourself!"

What he would see would be an unorthodox way of approaching such a challenge.

Yachiru, instead of standing up to face him down, would be found sitting Indian-style on the ground with her hands gripping her ankles. She was glaring at him with a pouting look on her face, regarding him with scrutiny only a child could give to an adult. She made no move to draw her own blade, despite the move her opponent made to raise his own. His declaration was met with her silence for a brief moment. Then, after she was sure that the atmosphere sunk in, she swung her head to the side in a huffing motion.

"No!"

"W-What?!"

Choku's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and nearly fell over from shock. Much to his chagrin, even as he pressed the bridge of his glasses back up, growled slightly as he began observing her. He had no idea why she suddenly lost her energetic self, nor why she spoke in such a way. Is she really nothing more than a child...?

"What do you mean, no? Are you not one of the Elite Soul Reapers, tasked with the objective of destroying the enemy?"

"No!" The girl said, turning her head back towards him while still sporting that annoyed expression on her face. "I'm Yachiru Kusajishi! You could've at least asked who exactly you were fighting before you did anything. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" She followed this with a contortion of her lip into a pouting expression. "Now, you tell me your name!"

"T-This girl's annoyed that I didn't go through formalities?! Ugh, why couldn't Valeur fight this girl instead of me?! I'm no good with fighting fair and crap...!"

Sighing, he couldn't help that the girl's vendetta was his own rudeness of wanting to get the battle over with. In all honesty, Choku would've rather helped Valeur and Bokujin fight the D.C.O. Captain, but unfortunately got intercepted by the tike.

Clearing his throat while straightening his tie, Choku reacclamated himself to renew the fighting spirit within himself, as he tried to appease his enemy. Taking a humble bow, Choku spoke aloud, "My name is Choku Kanshin. I'm one of the many Dogs, as you might put it, that is contracted with high-risk missions for the Inner Circle. One of which is to allow them to attain world dominance, as I had always believed they would, by slaughtering their enemies. Now what is your name?"

This seemed to satisfy the pink-haired girl - at least, to an extent.

Her expression brightened up, and she lifted both of her hands to point index fingers at her face. Her eyes were squinted shut and a smile was present on her face. "Yachiru, like I said before!" She said. "Nice to meet you!" In an instant, she was on her feet with her hands at her sides, regarding him curiously. She blinked a few times, tilting her head to the side as she looked him over.

"Hmm... now that I know your name..." She began, pondering for a moment. Then, she seemed to have come to a particular thought, for she snapped her fingers in an expression of epiphany.

"I'm gonna call you... "Glasses"!"

C-CLINK!

Ironically, Choku felt his vein protrude so violently he felt a fragment of his left lense crack under the pressure of his own irritable rage bursting out from within. The hilarity and increduality of the sheer choice of name, not to mention how irrelevent himself giving her name felt all the more reason for Choku to absolutely hate the little brat before his eyes.

"G-G-Glasses?!" He finally sputtered out, his voice barely restrained, even as his teeth grinned out in a borderline maniacal fashion, mirroring the glare that glowed behind his bright lenses, "why the Hell would you call me that when I just gave you my name, pra tell?!"

The innocence of a child knew no bounds.

Yachiru put a finger on her lip in pondering, oblivious to Choku's growing anger. "Well, I thought it was fitting! Unless--" She cut herself off, frowning and shrugging. "Eh. You're right. I could've probably thought of something better..." She folded one arm across her chest, using that arm to prop the one with the hand holding her chin. She was legitimately putting effort into thinking of a good nickname for her enemy, despite the seriousness of the situation and what she was supposed to be doing.

"How about Choker? No, that doesn't sound good as "Glasses" does... "Suit"? Eh, no, that's too boring..."

VMMMMMM!!!

"THAT'S IT! YOU DIE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Choku shouted out, as his body became enraptured in a thick, electric aura of his own Spiritual Power, as his Spiritual Pressure shifted and cracked the hallway from giving way of his unrelenting anger, pouring forth from himself. Scraping the ground with his blade, he charged towards her with incredible speed, reaching her position within a heartbeat before he slashed his blade out...

CRACK-BOOM!

...while simultaneously Fullbringing the sparks from his blade to transform the air pressure in front of his blade's path into a instaneously released firebomb, exploding in a brilliant flame with the pure intention of blowing her away within a single attack.

It was here that Yachiru finally allowed herself to pay attention to the battle at hand.

Her eyes widened as she saw Choku rush her, quickly pulling out her arms away from her front. But that was all that she could do before Choku's firebomb enveloped her person within the embrace of the flames. The hissing and crackling of their tongues would be the speech of the setting as the attack unfolded and expanded itself. The child surely could have not seen that coming.

Or, didn't she?

As the fire and flames parted, a sword held by one hand could be seen blocking Choku's from its target. The fiery tongues slowly parted, revealing Yachiru's form to her adversary. Despite the point-blank attack that had been delivered, no form of damage had come to her person. Her demeanor had not changed, even as she looked into his eyes.

"Oh, that's right, I have to kill ya." She muttered, as if she had forgotten that simple fact. "Sorry, let's start now..."

CLANG!

With a swing, she batted both Choku's sword as well as his person away from hers. A bright smile came across her face as she lowered it, indicating her enthusiasm at the fight to be.

"What the Hell?!"

Choku's pupils dialated as his eyes widened, as he felt the power projecting from the small child-like figure. Immediately, his lenses began picking up the strength parameters within her Spiritual Pressure, as well as trace its residual origins. Within moments as Choku backpedaled to a safe distance away from the monster in a little girl's body, his HUD brought up a series of data files and a mug shot of Yachiru herself, only as her "younger" Lieutenant self.

"Yachiru Kusajishi, former Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, now a Deep Cover Operations agent within the Lancer Corps. Well well well," Choku spoke aloud, not letting up his Spiritual aura as he smiled in an almost anticipatory glare towards her, "now I see. I've always wanted to fight a monster. Let's see if the stories about your strength is as accurate as your former Captain's, Yachiru!"

SHFT-SHFT-SHFT!

SING-SING-SING-SING-SING...!

Choku immediately set off in a series of high-sped deployed Bringer Lights, his body shimmering visually in and out of sensation, sensory and visually disappearing even before the veteran warrior. Having approached her vicinity, he began to appear in and out Yachiru's reach, swinging and thrusting her blade towards her form, making sure not to give her an opporunity or an opening that he'd be aware of, while constantly scanning her aura for sudden movements or displacements of Spiritual Pressure.

''CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!''

Yachiru did not employ the same means in order to defend herself. Instead, she allowed nothing more than her blade and her wrist to do the talking. Every time Choku appeared near her, she lifted her blade up and parried the opposing sword away from her person before he darted away again. Her smile had faded into a lopsided frown as she defended herself. In any other case, this would've been seen as a tactical maneuver in order to overwhelm and usurp the enemy.

But in Yachiru's case, she saw it as nothing more than a fly darting around one's head. It was annoying, and it didn't leave much of a good impression for her. "Come on," She complained, continuing to swing her blade and intercepting each and every assault made towards her. "This isn't going to very fun if you keep buzzing around me like a bee!"

"Her reaction timing is impeccable! Not to mention her skill with a blade is on a completely different level than those others, I presume. She is truly worthy of the title Yachiru: Eight Thousand Styles. I wonder if she is as powerful as her predecessor's namesake..."

Choku analyzed as he hade struck his blade out for what would be the 32nd time. What appeared to have been a barrage at an attempt to penetrate her nearly unbreakable flow of defense, Choku had never intended on defeating her by sword play. In fact, it was only by his luck that she was taking it easy on him, for he intended to play dirty, and make sure she couldn't fight against him.

SHFT!

His form shimmered away within the last "annoying" strike he made upon her blade's edge, appearing a good ten meters in front of her. Raising his blade to be parallel to his chin, a line of letters glowed upon its surface, and he spoke aloud, "Iron Pen isn't designed to be the foremost powerful weapon in battle. It is designed to tip the scale of battle into the wielder's favor. And since you favor sword combat so much..."

C-C-CLICK

"...let's see how powerful you are..."

CRAAAACK!

"...without it!" Choku's blade glowed brightly in emerald rays, the letters mimicked the shape across the face of Yachiru's blade. Within only moments, the blade itself cracked wherever the letters appeared and then became brittle, before shattering altogether. With a wide smile, Choku allowed himself to laugh aloud as he pointed his blade towards her in a taunt, "what will you do without your precious sword, Soul Reaper?!"

"...huh?"

The cracking sound made Yachiru blink a few times... before she realized what the cracking sound was.

She stared dumbly as her sword fell into pieces, lowering her hilt to her side. For the longest moment, all she did was look at it, pondering her predicament. Occasionally, she would switch her gaze from Choku to the shards of metal and then back again. Once again, she was seriously taking in a taunt as a legitimate question. It took quite a long time before she gave her answer.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Absolutely nothing."

Then, she plopped herself down on her knees and looked down at the pieces of her blade, sticking her tongue out as she attempted to maneuver each piece to its current form. If anything, she was treating the now broken blade as nothing more than a puzzle game. She looked up at Choku, smiling innocently. "Wanna help me put this back together?"

C-CRK!

Another fragment webbed onto the surface of his left lense, as he suddenly felt his fury shift in between incredulous outrage and sudden confusion. Once again not composed any longer, he couldn't believe at how...innocent...she acted before her opponent. It was as if this whole battle was a game to her, and that putting her blade back together was no big deal.

"W-What the Hell are you?! Aren't you even aware that I just broke your Zanpakutō?!" Choku shouted out at her, waving his blade in emphasis, his brows filled with protruding veins as he growled out impatiently, "you can't physically put your weapon back together! You didn't even bother releasing it into its True Form, so there is no way you can use it in battle now! Are you even a Soul Reaper?!"

Yachiru pouted once again, placing her chin in her hands as she looked at him. "Well, I was just asking, Mr. Grumpy..." She said, almost in a snide manner. "Don't get your underwear in a tighter knot than they already are. Matter of fact, I think you should loosen up a little! Why are you acting so mad when you should be enjoying yourself? I bet your friends are probably doing that right now, having fun with Senny-chan and Kai-chan. So why aren't you?"

"Because, stupid brat, war isn't fun! Its horrible and cruel, not even the least dignified or honorable. Unlike my noble-based comrade, combatants don't live by a code. They fight dirty and they cripple their enemies. You should learn that there isn't joy in fighting, kid,"

Choku huffed, raising his blade towards her as he finally worked up the nerve to approach her in a slow, methodical pace, "you had some fine Captains turned against their will to fight against their own. You were attacked without warning twice now. You should understand by now that we don't fight by your rules. We are a manifestation of what you would call evil, even though you hold yourselves upon a hypocritical pyre of self-righteousness and blind devotion to what you would believe is lawful and good. We are going to change things,"

Choku's lenses shined menacingly, as he stopped a mere three meters in front of her, holding his blade out to hover close to her neck, "and I won't pretend I'm having fun when I say I will kill even children to accomplish my objectives. Fighting in a war, is something I loathe, Soul Reaper. It isn't fun, it isn't nice, and it isn't done till you can't fight any longer or when you can take a break. You die. You kill. That's it. I thought you would understand being from such a simplistic philosophy such as the 11th Division. I guess your Captain wasn't such a great leader if he couldn't even teach you those fine principles of kill or be killed, stupid brat!"

"Then why were you smiling and laughing a moment ago?" Yachiru inquired, tilting her head to the side. She didn't bother to pay attention to the blade, looking directly into Choku's menacing gaze. "Why did you say that you've always wanted to "fight a monster"? Why did you smile and laugh when you broke my Zanpakutō?" She paused for a moment of silence, allowing that particular question to sink in before continuing. "You're lying about one of those things, if not both. If you really loathe war and killing so much... then why are you even here?"

"I'm playing the part, you see, to preserve my life," Choku spoke admittedly, shrugging his shoulders as he held the blade at the proximity it was to his target, "for you see, I know things about my organization. I'm too deep within its crevices. One wrong move and they'll dispose of me if my enemy doesn't do it for me. I ridicule you so I can look like I'm fighting you for real. I disabled you so I wouldn't have to waste time with you. I only fight because my comrades are fighting. If I sit this out, not only would this be a death sentence for myself, it would be cowardly. I lied and I laughed because I'm playing the part of your adversary," Choku raised his brow as he drew his blade closer to her neck, "isn't it appropiate when a soldier goes into battle, they forgoe all feelings of happiness and desire when you fight? I'll kill you, only so that I don't have to wait and hear the cries of real warriors when they die giving their all. Do you understand?"

"...I understand."

For the first time within the battle, Yachiru's voice had gained a solemn, bitter and somber tone. Her curious and child-like eyes had slowly narrowed into a murderous and angered gaze. It was as if his choice of words had triggered something negative within her, appealing to a more negative sense. "All you want to do is preserve your life, huh?" She repeated his statement, her hands slowly clenching into fists. "Shame on me, Glasses. I thought that you were going to be a fighter, someone who's really committed to fighting against another. That's what the 11th Division learned, too; to enjoy battle, war, and bloodshed. To us, it is nothing more than a game, a sport that we officially carry out. We are genuine from the moment we step in to the day we die. But you? You're already a coward and an idiot who's only blinding himself. So I'll ask you again."

WHAM!

Then, the unthinkable.

Yachiru had shifted from a sitting position on the ground to a standing, tense position in front of Choku. One of her elbows had buried itself into his stomach with immense collision, practically sinking into his body. She glared up at him, continuing to speak in that low and somber tone. "Why are you even here? You're far too weak and pitiful to be even be considered a recruit in this war. You don't have what it takes to fight, kill and be killed. You do not. Belong. Here."

WHOOSH!

As his eyes had barely comprehended what occured before his eyes, even as he felt caution from the sudden shift in his opponent's emotional disposition. He felt his body hunch over, before his heels graded against the ground below him, his mouth spewing saliva and his eyes nearly rolling up to the back of his sockets. What happened was almost the equivalent of someone slapping him across the face while kneeing them in the gut.

As he came to a stop, a good ten meters away from the surprisingly strong girl, he gritted his teeth as he coughed up air back into his lungs. His head hung down and his eyes overcasted, his hands gripping tightly as he snarled, "Don't you dare look down on me, you little bitch! You have no idea what Hell my life has been like! No idea at all!" Choku raised his eyes to face her again, the pretense of attempting to talk her out of fighting long cast aside when her limb had made contact into his gut, "I may hate war, but that doesn't make me weak! I may despise violence, but it doesn't mean I can't fight! I will not have a snot-nosed brat talking down to me as if she knows better!"

SHINK-SPRAAAACK!

"Go to Hell!" Choku shouted out, as he thrusted his blade out into the air, sending a dozen words that were lit aflame, hurtling towards Yachiru at incredible speeds. Within a fraction of the distance they travelled, they all tranmuted through the atmosphere and formed an incredible bolt of lightning, crackling and discharging towards her location, with the sheer intention of annihilating her, "if you want to have a fight with me, you'll get one!"

Yachiru stood still, facing down what might as well have been a lightning spear race towards her location. Her eyes were overshadowed by her bangs, and she didn't seem to be paying attention to the attack at all. But it would soon become clear that she wouldn't even need to lift a finger. Her spiritual pressure would do it for her.

She finally allowed herself to release it, catching the lightning bolt and dispelling it with a loud crack. The pressure quickly spread throughout their proximity, howling continuously like the winds of a storm. The area began to shake a little, for even it seemed somewhat phased by the power within. Part of it even gained color, carrying the form of a massive and angry cat face. When she raised her head back up, her eyes were a dim but noticeable red.

"Oh, I know a lot better than you do, Choku-chan..." She said lowly, the anger showing on her own face. "I don't put on an act because I'm afraid that my superiors will kill me any time they wish. I would actually raise my sword up against them if I thought them to be wrong, just like Ken-chan did long ago. But you? You're just dancing for your leaders like a dog dancing for some Kibbles. I'd rather die on my feet. You? You're living on your knees with each and every second that passes."

WOOSH!

POW!

Without warning, she unleashed another brutal attack. She threw herself at Choku with a Flash Step, the top of her head colliding with tremendous force against his forehead. It would be enough to rattle the brain and skull within, as well as induce a severe concussion equivalent to shell shock.

Darkness.

For a few moments, all Choku saw was complete darkness as a white flash crossed his vision. It almost seemed like the violent smash to his head had sent him into unconsciousness, even if it was brief. A brief spurt of blood exuded from a large gash created by the impact Yachiru induced upon his skull's surface, even going as far as splitting the frame of his glasses and sending them into opposite directions. . His back arched, and it appeared it was over. And then...

BLINK!

"I'm...no...dog!"

SNATCH!

Choku's eyes widened within an instant, as his consciousness reemerged, and his body flooded by a burst of Resolve and adrenaline. His eyes glowed vibrantly blue as a hand deftly swung out and grabbed Yachiru by the hair, and his sword arm swung around, swinging with with the sheer purpose of not "writing" but of slaying his enemy...

SHIIIIINK!

...and swung his sword, he did, even as blood from his own wound splattered across his face and dripped onto his nice white suit. The swing held every fiber of his impressive strength he possessed and the speed he withheld as a swordsman and a Fullbringer. The arc of the direction his blade swung through would cut deep across her chest and up through her left shoulder diagonally, if not split her in half immediately.

"Time to end this game...once and for all...!"

"!!!"

This time, Yachiru was surprised.

She let out a brief and pained yell as she felt his fingers yank at her pink locks, the rest of her body falling back to a normal position from the horizontal one she had taken when in flight. But it was nothing but a minor pain at best, one that didn't deter her from the battle. What she focused her attention on now was the shift within Choku's eyes and the sword that had descended on her form. A corner of her mouth curled upward in a ghost of a smile.

With one of her hands, she reached out and caught the man's wrist before the blade could reach her.

POW!

With the other, she delivered what was to be a final blow - an uppercut that would snap his head back and punch him away from her with immense force. Time seemed to slow down as they would drift away from one another for the last time. But Yachiru allowed a final message to escape her lips.

"If we meet again... I want a real answer. Okay...?"

Enter the Predator, Battle of Instinct and Skill!
SLIT-SLICE-SPLURCH!

"GUAH!" Another D.C.O. operative coughed up a fountain of blood as his abdomen and throat were cut open simultaneously, falling to the ground in a writhing heap as he desparately clung to life. That is, until the sharp end of the rapier blade stabbed into his heart, silencing his pleas.

"H-He's a monster!" One of the D.C.O. agents shouted out, as they all attempted to stand their ground in the face of their adversary. Tenshi Chinokatsubō walked over casually towards the remaining squad, as a good dozen or so agents, either dead or seriously injured. He smiled toothily as he eyed his prey, making purposely slow steps to approach them and extend their fear-induced suffering.

"That's it! Go on! Fight or run, I don't care! In the end you'll all end up being cut to delightful pieces by me! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tenshi laughed aloud, even as the squad barely held their ground as their enemy approached them.

And just like that, the cavalry would arrive.

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

"Not on our watch!" The voice of Tetsuyo called out, with the source re-appearing from a Flash Step movement. He had his sword out, readied within one hand and gripped tightly. His eyes were narrowed, staring down at Tenshi with clear defiance. Following up his arrival would be the appearance of his respective Captain, who re-appeared beside him with his own sword readied. His stance was more comfortable and relaxed than Tetsuyo's, though they both held the same amount of readiness. "You want to cut something up? How about you try something your own size?!"

"And you're just where we expected to find you, Tenshi..." Qilin muttered, shifting his free hand in his pocket. "Chopping down weeds and pretending that they're full-grown trees. I'm starting to see that I'm going to be coming across this situation quite a lot from here on out..."

"So the birds have come out of the cage? I was wondering how long I'd have to rattle it in order to get your attention," Tenshi spoke nonchalantly, as he redirected his attention to hsi enemies. His silver eyes narrowed towards the Captain in particular, allowing himself to smile, "I heard you took quite a beating recently. Are you sure you should be fighting in your condition, poor Captain?"

"Nice to see that even the enemy's worried about my well-being..." Qilin said, a smile crawling onto his face. "But rest assured, Tenshi, that I'm quite durable and resilient when the time calls for it. I'm in fully capable condition to fight again. Thanks for asking, though..." He twirled his sword around in his hand once before lifting it to point at Tenshi, the tip pointing at their soon-to-be enemy.

"You actually think you can take me on? Don't get me wrong, I think you and your Lieutenant can make me try a little, but you aren't Jūshin Igen," With a smile he held his own blade to vertically divide his visage, his silver eyes glistening with a mixture of bloodlust and anticipation, "you won't be able to keep up with me. Once I get serious, that is..."

Tetsuyo couldn't help but grit his teeth slightly at the boasting words. "Then you'd better get serious quickly!" He said, gripping his sword in two hands. Unlike his encounter with Kōjaku, he was fully prepared to fight with his Captain against the menace. But as he was talking, he didn't notice Qilin slowly lifting up his blade in a readying position. "Underestimate us, and you'll--!"

SWIPE!

BOOM!

"--die?!"

The Lieutenant's gaze snapped wide open as he saw the area where Tenshi was standing explode, courtesy of the pressure of his Captain's swing. A cloud of dirt and a mass of debris flew away in a massive and widened geyser. He was forced to shield one hand with his face, his hair and clothing billowing against the winds generated. But even as he did so, he could hear Qilin speak. "You're right. We're not Jūshin Igen..." He said in agreement, folding his free hand behind his back. "And you're about to find that particular piece of information out soon enough."

It was within the span of the Lieutenant's words that Tenshi had noticed the Captain's slow movement with his sword. Widening his eyes a fraction, he realized that the Zanpakut ō was released and was projecting its own Spiritual Pressure. And that left him a narrow margin for escape...

'' SHFT! ''

...having used a high-class variant of Flash Step that was relatively silent, and allowed him to close the gap between him and his two enemies within a fraction of a heartbeat. Within the instant of the Captain's follow-up rebuttal and the aftermath of the explosion, Tenshi moved.

SHIIIIINK!

FWHOOSH!

Moving his right hand with a fluent, precise movement, his Zanpakut ō arced in a diagonal curve towards his Captain nemesis' chest and shoulder, intending on inflicting a great wound with both the pressure from the release of such cutting power and the exuding Spiritual Pressure he laced within the edge of his blade. Likewise, he also swung out his left hand towards the Lieutenant, discharging a silver sphere variant of the Kid ō Haien technique, intending on catching the enemy's subordinate into an all-consuming fireball and cause panic to ensue between the two of them.

Both of them moved with quickness and purpose.

The smile was quick to fade off of Qilin's face as soon as Tenshi threw himself at the two of them. As he swung his blade to meet the opposing sword, Tetsuyo raised and twisted his blade so that it would be pointed at the top of Tenshi's hand when it approached. As the energy was gathered, the Lieutenant brought down the sword upon the flesh. The blade would pierce straight through his hand and continue to go down to dig itself within the ground for an immobilization move.

Qilin batted the blade away from his person, using two hands to knock Tenshi off of his balance. Then, with a fluid motion of his arms, he brought the sword over his own head before swinging down in the initiation of a Kendō strike. More specifically, it was the Ryōdan technique, where two hands would be used to back the power of a strike. It would split Tenshi down the middle and possibly crush would remain of that.

It was within his realization of his opponents' use of deft counters and attempting maiming of his body that he had charged in thinking they'd be quick, easy kills. With a flash of silver light emanating from his irises, he inwardly declared within the span of the two movements his opponents were making to rectify his personal error.

SSSSSHHHHHFT!

As his body pulsated throughout not just the soles of his feet, but his legs and body itself, Tenshi propelled himself  around his opponents, moving with such high velocity and dexterity, it would've appeared to his opponents that he was sliced in half and his hand torn to shreds. Within that movement, he appeared behind both of their backsides, slashing outwards in a horizontal movement, intending on sending a fissure of spiritually released force imbued with his own innate strength.

"!"

Although Tetsuyo would be a bit more stunned by it, Qilin simply narrowed his eyes in the slightest manner.

"Break!!"

WOOSH!

With Flash Steps, they broke off from their position in order to avoid getting cut in two, re-appearing a sizable distance away. When he re-appeared, Tetsuyo had fallen into a crouched position as he studied Tenshi intently. "This is going to be a tough one..." He muttered, a bead of sweat falling down his face. He passed a glance towards his Captain. "Try not to die this time, Qilin..." He muttered, putting on a slight grin.

"Oh, ha ha..." Qilin rolled his eyes in slight annoyance, but also in humor. "I'll make sure to remember that. You worry about yourself, Lieutenant..."

"This will be fun," Tenshi spoke with a smile, showing his pearly white menacing teeth as he cast a faint glare with his silver eyes. Like a snake encountering rival predators, his aura resonated a deadly silver transparent hue as his Spiritual Pressure brimmed powerfully to the surface throughout the atmosphere. Inwardly, he wanted to proclaim his dominance as the Alpha Predator of this battle.

"Illuminate the Void and Hide all Creation..."

C-CRK-CRAAACK!!!

"... Kyūrekikei!" Within a single utterance, Tenshi's Zanpakut ō transformed into its Shikai state, and subsequently shattering the blade its sealed form possessed. Now spreading across the atmosphere into transparent fragments, Tenshi's Zanpakut ō gave off an unsettling Spiritual Pressure as its wielder smiled widely before them both, "C'mon then! Show me what you got!"

"Be careful, Tetsuyo..."

Qilin's voice held a serious edge to it as he looked towards his Lieutenant. He gripped his sword a little bit more tightly within his hand, readying it to a defensive position across his chest. "His Zanpakutō is light-based. Any visual senses of the enemy are rendered useless. In conjunction with the ability to hide his own spiritual pressure from detection, he'll be a ghost to deal with. Stay sharp."

"Right!" With a hint of trepidation at those words, Tetsuyo gave an affirming nod. With a sudden shift of his body, he moved his unarmed side towards Tenshi and thrust out his index finger. "Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō!" A small orb of flashing light overtook the tip, and soon after the last letter was enunciated, six wide rods of light materialized around his target. They moved in with swift speed, flanking all possible sides in order to prevent escape.

WOOSH!

As for Qilin himself, he took point a distance above Tenshi's head, pointing a finger at the top of the cranium. An unspoken but enhanced Sōkatsui spell, the same one he had used on Kōjaku, was fired on his target's position. The width of the energy threatened to swallow the man whole.

Everything seemed to slow as Tenshi noticed the orb of light being sent his way. Widening his smile a fraction, he already knew how this song and dance went. His senses also picked up the movement of his enemy above him, already preparing to release a destructive Had ō towards his body. Without even having to raise his head, he moved with purpose and synchronization...

BLAAAAAAAM!

...as the wave of incredibly destructive, white-blue energy would intend to envelop his person, an X-shaped disc of golden light shimmered just above his head and then encased his whole person. Strengthened by his Zanpakut ō, Tenshi utilized a third of the Bakud ō's binding energy into a powerful current of flowing barrier energy. This allowed the S ōkatsui to roll over the man-sized barrier, like a bucket of water over a tower.

Simultaneously however, Tenshi also sent the other two pairs of golden binding rods in different directions. With two of them extending exponantially towards Qilin's direction, intending on squewering him from two sides, the other pair streaked out into a six meter by six meter column of golden, hard light energy, intending on pummeling the Lieutenant with the force of a freight train.

This was the result of Tenshi's most practical and dangerous light-based ability: Tenkan.

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

Both Qilin and Tetsuyo moved to avoid the attacks directed their way, with Tetsuyo having to roll out of his Flash Step in order to evade the speeding mass of light. They both ended up on opposite sides of Tenshi, with the Lieutenant facing the front and the Captain facing the back. The latter narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the display, contemplating and strategizing their next move.

"So, he can manipulate sources outside of his own being as well as generate them..." He thought to himself. "Tetsuyo's right. This isn't going to be an easy victory, that's for sure..." He settled into a stance, gripping his sword with two hands and preparing himself once more.

"You obviously don't know how capable I am, Captain and Lieutenant, if you're being so cautious. What happened to all of that bravado I heard earlier about me dying by your hands?" Tenshi spoke aloud as he saw the two of them stare seriously and ready themselves for another bout. In light of this, Tenshi reached into his black shirt trappings and revealed a red rose, and then spoke aloud, "As a token to you both for making me serious, I shall leave a rose for your beautifully aligned, shredded corpses for when I'm finished," placing the stem into his mouth to hold his rose aloft, Tenshi's body glowed a luminiscent aura of silver Spiritual Pressure, sending eery ripples Killing Intent throughout the atmosphere as he assumed a serious stance, "let's begin!"

And then he took off...!

SHFT-SHFT!

...and his form appeared nigh simultaneously to the backs of both Captain and Lieutenant, both appearing and feeling of Tenshi's presence and deadly form as they both lashed out their blades in their respective stances. The one for the Lieutenant was a swift vertical slash towards his backside, projecting a transparent and super-focused blade of light to cut through nearly any form of defense and split him in a perfect half. The one for the Captain was a series of high-sped thrusts, sending a series of vibrant flashes, in sync of his hilt's movements, of hyper-cutting blades his direction. The intent was to overwhelm him with the dozens of disorienting flashing attacks while tearing him to pieces.

A split within foundation and formation could be classified an attempt to separate the duo.

Qilin immediately broke into a steady dodging pattern, thrust himself aside as the invisible blade stabbed at him. Likewise, Tetsuyo quickly raised his free arm in front of the path of his own attack. Both of these movements seemed like pointless delays, with Tenshi's relentless attack ready to close in and overwhelm them. The Lieutenant was in particular danger due to the enhanced cutting properties of the sword that threatened his life. But with every movement, there was a purpose and a reason. This was no different.

Abruptly, Qilin swung his free hand and caught his entity's offending wrist, while Tetsuyo calling out the name of a Kidō spell.

"Seki!"

The "blade" would richochet off of the orb that was created at the focal point of the swing, and that entity would be thrown back as well as paralyzed for a brief moment. This gave Qilin his cue; with immense force and speed, he lifted and hurled his particular entity towards the other one. Tetsuyo was quick to leap out of the way before Qilin's toss neared him, allowing the two to collide with each other. But the Captain wasn't done there.

SLICE!

With a single swing, he launched a wave of immense and physically induced pressure on the two with the intent on destroying them both simultaneously.

Tenshi knew he had to act quickly to the sudden improvisation by the Lieutenant-Captain duo.

While the look-alike stumbled back, the Tenshi that was tossed head-over-heels disappeared with a sudden whirling motion he used from the momentum within the air, leaving the other impression of himself to face the onslaught of cutting force. The cutting wave would bring it bear upon it and shatter what would appear a vibrant manifestation of light, temporarily intending to blind the Lieutenant and stun the Captain least proximate to its area.

SHFT!

Tenshi reappeared in the air to the Captain's right and the Lieutenant's left. Taking his hilt to rear back all the way to his side in a Iaidō stance, his rose still in place within his lips, even as he spoke foreboding words that would initiate his attack...

"Tenharai!"

SSSSSSSSHHHHIIIIIIIING!!!

Within a single sweeping motion of his blade, an enveloping mass of hard light was sent over the entirety of the corridor of which the two enemies of his were occupying. Sending enough sheer mass and force, he intended to crush them into the ground and scald them with super-heated light particles he projected within the mass of blinding and high-sped and powered light itself.

It was very fortunate that both of them had been prepared not to rely on their visual senses.

It would be Qilin who would perform the countering action to the omnidirectional attack, shouting out the release command for his Zanpakutō as the brunt of the attack slammed into his and his Lieutenant's defenses. "Climax, Aijin!!!"

And then...

BOOM!

An explosion, powerful and resonating, consumed the entirety of the light attack that had threatened to kill him and Tetsuyo. Though the radius of the attack was comparable to Tenshi's, it only blew his Lieutenant back from it. The man let out a slight grunt as his feet landed onto the ground, his legs bending temporarily under the gravity. Slowly, he raised himself up with one of his arms shielding his face. "Jesus..." He muttered, the power of the attack sending a shudder down his spine. "He always pulls this whenever releasing that thing. Just hope he doesn't get me caught in it..."

However, it was within this explosion that another wave of attacks were brought forth...

SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK-SHINK...!

...as the light created from the magnanimous explosion suddenly gave birth to dozens of light-blades, all of them discharging at bullet pace and intending to shred and squewer their targets, as the wave of light projectiles aimed to kill them within another surprise attack.

Surprise was an element that could destroy even the most skilled of fighters - hence the reason why Tetsuyo's face was quick to pale upon sensing the mass of disturbances heading his and way.

"Oh, shit...!!"

Sucking in his breath, he raised his sword and began twisting his wrists every which way in order to deflect each and every piece of the light that was sent his way. Each piece bounced off of his defense, resonating through his arms and throwing his guard off-balance. He was doing his best in order to keep himself in the game, doing his best to fight against the wrath of his enemy. But in the end...

SLICE!

...some of the blades manage to skewer his left arm, and he gritted his teeth as he felt the cutting teeth tear cleanly through. Knowing that he couldn't take any more without severe casualty, he pulled back with a Flash Step to a safer area. As he skidded back to a better position, the pain within his arm increased, and his blood was leaking from the holes onto the ground underneath his feet. His teeth were gritted, and he looked very apprehensive as of the moment.

Qilin, however, seemed much more prepared for it.

WOOSH-WOOSH-WOOSH!

With a series of Flash Steps, he maneuvered his way through the storm of illuminated rain. His body weaved in and out of the path created, his movements deliberate and quick. Throughout it all, he had a smirk on his face. "Look who's hiding from who, pal!" He taunted, gripping his sword tightly in one hand. He had a lock on Tenshi's senses, using that to push through to his objective. He couldn't let this man gain the upper hand.

WOOSH!

With a final Flash Step, he was behind his enemy with his sword descending downwards on the man's head.

It was within this moment that Tenshi did something unexpected.

As he saw the pattern of Qilin's movements, he knew it was only a matter of time until he approached him. And judging by the man's preferred style of combat, Tenshi already knew which direction his opponent was going to come from before he even arrived.

So as Qilin's blade swung down towards Tenshi, his body moved again with the same extranomically burst of speed he used to get away from Qilin and Tetsuyo earlier. Swinging around as the blade was half way to his skull, he extended out his left hand towards the blade...

SNATCH-FZZZZT!

...and used a clever combination of Seki and Geki, shielding the base of his palm as he grasped the blade and then sent a binding current to the blade and around Qilin's sword arm. While there was a moment where Tenshi's palm had split open from the intensity of which the blade was moving, he held it perfectly still, as well as had his opponent directly where he wanted him.

"Sayōnara!" Tenshi shouted out as he swung his right hand towards his opponent, letting it halt directly towards his opponent's midsection...

SSSSSSSSRK-VMMMM!

...before releasing a voluminous blast of incinerative-based light particles, intending on burning the surface of his body to a crisp if not badly scald him with the intense firepower he intended to have his opponent feel from the power he employed.

"Kōryoku!"

"Oh, no you don't--!!"

BOOM!

Prior to the thrust of the hand, Qilin mirrored Tenshi's move by thrusting his own hand out, timing it to move simultaneously with the opposing arm. As the explosion was released, he unleashed a Haien spell in order to counter and cancel out the attack. Normally, using such a spell at close range would have resulted in both combatants being wounded. But Qilin was skilled enough to turn all of the explosive power onto Tenshi, making good use of its property to incinerate anything that the purple orb hit. But if that wasn't enough, there was another deadly surprise waiting to rear its head.

Tenshi was holding Qilin's sword.

BOOM!

Another explosion, much more powerful than the Tenran spell but placed to a lesser degree than the initial attack he had used, enveloped Tenshi and made him its epicenter. The shockwaves made Qilin's hair and clothing billow violently, but her still maintained a smirk on his face. "Sorry, Tenshi..." He said. "But it's just far too early for us to say goodbye to each other. This has only just begun, after all..."

As the combined blasts rocked Tenshi's form, his passively active Shikai barrier that enveloped his person absorbed only so much. His body was thrusted into the plasteel landscape, causing an immense explosion of force and artificial earth. But through the haze of smoke and steam, Tenshi's arms could be seen radiating painful scars from the blast of both forms of attacks sent by his adversary, but his torso and head barely scratched. He exhaled with a smile, his face raising to meet Qilin's gaze as he spoke.

"You are certainly full of surprises, aren't you, Qilin-kun? Its no wonder you're recruited from both sides," Tenshi smiled a predatorial smile, with a glint in his eyes filled with knowing of the man's true nature hovering in the air before him, "the infamous Spirit Smith and Dog of the Inner Circle, also a Captain of the fractured Gotei 13. I hope you get as much entertainment from this as I am, for this will be the last time we will placate the Soul Society's chance of winning," raising his left hand up to his face, a dark red and silver glow began to gather around his hand as he prepared to release a sinister power, welling to the surface from within, "and I'll prove that...by killing you!"

SWHOOP-VVVRRRROAAAAAR!!!

Within a single instant, a towering crimson-white pillar of enormous Spiritual Power emerged from his core, sending the energy to smash directly into the ceiling, carrying a magnanimous shockwave that would rip the surface off most of the ceiling and walls, as his dominating and chilling Spiritual Pressure flooded the entirety of what would almost be an entire kilometer of the base's level.

Exuding with a rich aura of damning Spiritual Pressure, Tenshi reappeared out of the column of energy, showing that his attire and appearance had changed. A vertical split of what would be seen as a white and black shakespearian mask, with a red eye and yellow eye within the white and black halves equally, Tenshi's outfit showed an array of split colorations to depict the vertical halves his mask showed.

A smile could be heard within the sadist tone that Tenshi spoke aloud, even as he swung his blade at nightmarish speed, "Now the real fight begins, Two-Face Qilin!"

SSSSSSSSHRK-BOOM!

Within the arc of his blade's path, a stunningly enhanced velocity of incinerative, red-white light particles blasted into the partition of the corridor which Qilin hovered at. The force and explosive quantities within the energy released would be so instaneous and powerful, it would dive through the corridor and into some of the room behind it, showing just how much power his attack had increased within an instant.

"!!!"

There were two things Tetsuyo was shocked by.

One, obviously, was the sudden flow of spiritual energy that Tenshi had exuded in both the release of the spiritual power and subsequent attack. The power put into the attack was enough to make several beads of sweat fall down his face, apprehension washing over him as well as the pressure the Visored was giving off. For a moment, it was enough to make him fear for Qilin's life as he watched the two fight it out.

The second was Tenshi's statement. Had anyone else been there, they would have surely been suspicious or confused by the choice of words. But even then, they would also be uncertain if Tenshi was just saying things in order to faze his enemy. But Tetsuyo, the one closest to the Captain, knew just how frighteningly true those words were. This was only confirmed by the slow and silent grin forming on Qilin's face, even as he raised his sword up to prepare himself against the attack.

Despite the varying emotions each of their tones took, it almost seemed like they were mirroring each other right now.

With another Ryōdan swing, the blast split in two. The immense power of the blast did serious damage to the environment around him, ripping up both structure and even foundation as it was cut. "So, you've finally decided to pull out that mask of yours, eh?" He questioned casually, staring into the Hollowfied eyes of his enemy. "Good. This gives me that more of a reason to enjoy this. I shall ensure that this battle..."

VWOOM!

"...will be your best one yet!!"

A pillar of his own spiritual energy, indigo in color, rose up to a massive pillar that seemed to stretch ten times his size in width. Steady shockwaves of power could be felt by the Lieutenant, who had to fight in order to keep himself from being blown off of his fight. Illuminated eyes locked on to their target with anticipation, and a black blade rose up to point at Tenshi challengingly. "Come at me... my brother nightmare..."

Seniority and Intellect, A Battle of Four!
"We have reports that a suspected target area is just up ahead of us. Keep your weapons prepared at all times, you two."

"Oh, I intend to. I'll cut the bastard into ribbons..."

Meanwhile, a group of three Captains were approaching another target location. Two, identified as Hachiro and Noriko, were the ones that had been speaking to one another in the case of the two lines. The third was Kukkyōna. They approached their target with great haste, although close enough to be able to walk there without worry of being too slow. Presumably, all of them had their swords out and ready as they headed forward.

"Can you feel that, Hachiro? Noriko?" Kukky ōna asked in a rhetorical sense, as he knew full well what they all were feeling. They could feel an unwholesome devouring sensation emanating from the atmosphere, that subtly began to grow in strength with each step taken forward, "there's only one Spiritual Pressure emanating from the enemy. Meaning, this subtle power...is on par with the Head Captain's. This won't be an easy fight..."

"We'd be lucky if it was Juhabach or Aizen..." Noriko remarked, pursing her lips together. "It has to be one of the Horsemen, just waiting for someone to come and knock on his or her door." The grip on her sword tightened considerably, for punctuation of these words. "Whoever it is... I'm going to make sure they regret even stepping foot within the Soul Society."

"Easy, Noriko..." Hachiro said calmly, though his own expression was rather stern. "As far as we know, this is only one of the Horsemen that we've encountered. It may be better for him to be taken alive for information instead of killing him outright, if it's possible..."

A light snort came from Noriko. "Yeah... if it's possible..."

"We fight to drive off or kill intruders. It would be fortunate if he surrendered, but I doubt it will be possible," Kukky ōna acknowledged both of his compatriots' comments as his form finally flourished into existance. Appearing a good dozen meters away from what is assumed the enemy would be. Within, sounds of steel, screams, and explosions could be heard from within, "he's already starting to make my blood boil for commiting this atrocity...!"

Indeed, the open wide barracks doorway was filled to the brim of incapacitated and dead men alike. Standing within the epicenter of all its destruction showed a dark helmeted, cloaked, and colorful noble garbed man. Holding a golden pommeled, immaculately christined sheathe of violet and gold, and a gold crown guard, this man's sword elongated out into a 5 foot gait, dripping with blood from the countless victims he claimed.

A grated voice of dark personifcation bore through the helmet as it spoke in a magnified tone, "You all are quite entertaining. Never had I found such a group of talented individuals that I wounded more than I killed, and there's still so many of you. I will enjoy gutting each and every one of your precious insides as I continue this little game of mine."

It was here that the point of Noriko's personal rage reached its limit. The sight of the bodies of both the barely alive and the dead sparked a wildfire within her heart that couldn't be quelled. Hearing the voice that spoke to the ones that were still living made it all the more magnified. Her heart was racing viciously, almost as if it too was pleading for the blood of the intruder to be spilled. Once she stepped foot into the doorway, she allowed her voice to bellow out in a roar that would've chilled the blood of any lesser man or woman.

"HORSEMAN!!!"

With a sudden stop in posture, the entity halted any speech and movement. It then turned its helmeted visage to gaze upon the one whom shouted gutturally, if not filled with murderous vigor, standing far away from his particular area.

Also within this moment a number of D.C.O. agents began to stare in shock and surprise. Even in this moment, a group of them started cheering aloud, "Its the Captains! They're here to turn the tide!" Within this bittersweet arrival, a good portion of the soldiers cheered aloud in a sudden burst of charisma that one shout from Noriko had unintentionally employed.

"Squadsmen!" Kukky ōna spoke in a commanding tone, as he too took a step up towards the battlefield, "you've done a commendable job. Your next assignment is as follows: gather the wounded and dead alike immediately and bring them for proper treatment away from here! We will handle this one for now!"

"You heard the Captain! Get these men out of here!" One of the officers shouted to his men, causing the rest to start a series of shimmering Flash Steps. Grasping their injured and fallen bretheren alike, the D.C.O. agents quickly dispersed and started to retreat out of the room, allowing the Captains to face their enemy.

As the last of them cleared out, Hachiro allowed himself to step forward to cover Noriko's flank. He leveled his dual swords in a defensive position as he regarded their soon-to-be opponent. "So it seems like one of their leaders did decide to come to this humble abogue..." He commented, a wry grin crossing his face. His glasses seemed to glow with a menacing visage, his two cutting edges gleaming within the dim light. "Hope you enjoyed the scenery..."

"...because it's going to be the last thing you end up seeing!" Noriko finished, gripping her sword in two hands and raising her blade over her head. In conjunction, Hachiro raised up both of his swords over his head. When they swung down, a combined wave of physical pressure exerted from the swings rushed at the hostile entity. It was big enough to consume the entire corridor, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.

Wordlessly, Kukkyōna assumed an immediate Iaidō stance, before unsheathing his blade in a strong-armed stroke. His pressurized blast of destructive force collesced with the other forces, causing it to form an immense powerful blast, causing the air to inadverdently light into fire as a aftermath excess of the combined attack, causing a fissure of pure destruction to head towards the entity.

The Horseman, however, had other plans.

Within the wake of such incredible power, Kyōaku swiftly raised his left hand towards the destructive fissure, forming a spark of blue flames within its epicenter...

CRACK-BWHOOOSH!

KABOOOM!!!!!

...before unleashing a torrential column of Hadō energy, rooted from the Kidō technique, Sōkatsui. The destructive energy collided with the fissure of cutting power and volatile energies, causing an immense explosion that ripped apart the entirety of the large enamored barracks, ripping into each bordering room and pierced the ceiling above it, with barely a safe flooring to walk upon.

Up above through the vast hole within the barracks, a large dome-like space, reserved for intense combat simulations. The place above, is known as the Thunder Room. Getting its name from the unusual walls and ceiling that absorb damage of both physical and spirit energy natured. It also housed an incredible series of light-based panels within the damage-absorbant walls to project any environment and atmosphere to the combatant's desire. It even had the capability of creating limited projections of well documented and known combatants.

However, within the nigh demolished barracks, Kyōaku stood with a hand outstretched, steaming from the ferocity of the spell he unleashed. Staring impassively, or at least, for the Captains' could see, the Horseman retracted his black gloved left hand, and spoke in a bland, unimpressed tone, "Was that supposed to be my executing blow? Or are you just warming up?"

Noriko's wavering eyes glared daggers at the man as she lowered her sword, gripping it tightly within her two hands. Hachiro, in contrast, bore a frown as he studied the Horseman with solemn eyes. They both understood that they might as well have been fighting against the Head Captain himself, what with the man's spiritual pressure. Nothing could be held back against him, not if they wanted to kill him. Anything less would result in not only critical failure, but possible death as well. That prompted Hachiro to slam his swords into an upside-down cross and call out the release command of his Zanpakutō.

"Divide, Conquer and Devour, Jinrui no Ken!"

Upon that release command, both blades of his weapons split up into spherical fragments the size of a fist, floating around the trio and keeping close to their master. To the eye, they looked virtually harmless as they floated around silently and almost aimlessly. But a master would know better.

"Sear the open Air with your Malevolent Gaze, Burn the Earth in your Wrathful Dance, Steam the Ocean in a Vile Game, Laugh in the Ashes of your Own Flames! Yaketsuku Tsuinzu!"

Kukkyōna proclaimed, as he crossed his two identical Zanpakutō katanas into an X stance above his head, before scraping the cutting edges together, bringing it down into a brilliant projection of flames surrounding the metalic bodies themselves. Within its gait, a pair of flaming tassles would be adorned to the pommels, and the blades would hold a constant exuding aura of fire around them. Next to his son's, his Zanpakutō held the most volatile and destructive force within the element of fire in any Zanpakutō withint he Soul Society.

Noriko's action was more aggressive.

She threw herself at Kyōaka, calling out the release command of her own Zanpakutō.

"Terminate Without Discrimination, Kōsentekina!!!"

It would take the form of a halberd with a blue grip within the middle and a tooth-like blade, the bottom of the staff having a blue sphere at the bottom of it. She gripped it with two hands as it neared him, swinging down with immense force. On the outside, it looked like a simple physical attack at best. But its blade would have enough power to slice through even the likes of mass-powered defenses and barriers. It would slice through the Horsemen with ease, and Noriko had to keep herself from doing damage to anything other than that particular target.

Seeing his opponent rushing towards him, Kyōaku thought up several ways to handle his opponent with the least bit of effort. He knew it would be stupid to try and match that attack, as it could potentially harm him or leave him open for the other two notably seasoned combatants to take him on. However, it didn't take long for him to enact a practical and non-violent approach to it.

SFT-VMMMM!

With a swift flourishing movement of his left hand, once again, a sudden enveloping field of binding energy would enrapture her form. Within the direct motion of his hand, her body was enraptured in a red field before being thrust away by a powerful force od kinetic force, redirecting her attack to strike a location ten meters to his left. In doing so, he was able to analyze the exact cutting power...

SSSSHEEEOW-BOOM!

...and widened his eyes hiddenly in seeing a extranormal fissure of cutting power dug a superheated trench into the barracks itself, cracking and shattering hundreds of meters away. He now knew it would be unwise to let his guard down for an instant against that one in particular.

"That man moved Noriko with such ease, he only used a single hand to do so," Kukkyōna mentally analyzed his opponent, gripping his Zanpakutō tightly, but didn't allow rage to rush him recklessly as his rival and compatriot had. He knew he had to wait to find the oppertune moment to strike and when he will, he will strike without mercy.

Inwardly, Hachiro had to wince.

To see Noriko hurled aside like that was something that spoke volumes about the man's strength. But it provided a potential opportunity for him to unleash his own personal attack, although it was a small window at best. He swung his hands forward, launching all of the spheres manifested towards Kyōaku with fast, but predictable speeds. It wasn't until that they neared him that Hachiro allowed a small grin to cross his face.

SHFT!

When they came to close, they vanished abruptly. Some would be moving far away, keeping a circling pattern around their targets. Others would be moving closer to him, restricting him and possible evasion. All that could be detected out of the spheres now where the multiple wooshing sounds made as they swept over and past. It was a rather paranoia-inducing and heart-pumping scenario to be in, had it been the common enemy.

Then, the ones closest to him decided to switch paths. They launched themselves towards him, carrying the power to rip through his body like bullets through human flesh.

Kyōaku was able to keep track of them, thanks to his specially designed helmet. Keeping track of each and every projectile with his senses alone wouldn't have allowed him to depict their flight movements. As soon as they flown towards him, he reacted accordingly.

TFFFT-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Pivoting on the heel of his boot as he gracefully moved out of the path of the most immediate spheres before his Zanpakutō parried the others with substantial power and precision, knocking them away from his immediate person, before standing back erect onto his feet.

It was within the wake of his attacks, that Kukkyōna made his own move...

SHFT-SHFT!

Moving in two directions simultaneously, Kukkyōna slashed a magnanimous arc of flames towards Kyōaka's front and back as he moved to take him on with his specially fire imbued sword style...!

"Nenshō Burēzu Bijutsu: Kunshuen Shūkaku!" Kukkyōna uttered solemnly as he skidded away from the blazing, monarch-wing-shaped blast of superheated flames, causing a enlarged blast that stretched to twenty five meters in each direction, blasting everything in front and behind the Horseman's gait.

However, even this seemed not enough...

"That was close," Kyōaku spoke aloud, his body encaused in a box-shaped golden barrier large enough to hold a man within. Cracked and steaming, it looked to be on the verge of shattering entirely, "had that been a notch stronger, you could've harmed me. You three are probably the most dangerous Captains of the thirteen, besides your Head Captain. This might turn out to be very interesting," he spoke aloud in keen interest. Jumping into the air, his barrier dispersed and his form shimmered up into the Thunder Room, beckoning them as he flew upwards, "let's take this in a more expanded area, hmm?"

"Ngh..."

As she pulled herself up to her feet to see the man ascend into the Thunder Room, Noriko clenched her teeth inside of her mouth. There was a scowl on her face, her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. One hand gripped the staff of her halberd tightly, but before she could immediately pursue him, Hachiro's voice spoke to her.

"Easy, girl..." He said, raising a hand out towards her but keeping his eyes on Kyōaku. "Patience. We don't want to do anything stupid..." Slowly, he allowed himself to float upwards, using reishi under his feet as a mobile platform in order to ascend after Kyōaka. "Let's go!"

Upon joining the others in the rapid ascent, Kukkyōna noted the currently barren, blue and black-bordered plasteel mega-dome of a room currently displaying no images. According to his knowledge of the Thunder Room, the images were to be created via empathic-touch desire by simply touching the plates. As he looked towards his opponent, he did note that none of the combatants had touched the ground. At least, not yet...

"I've heard about this infamous training ground your Deep Cover Operatives use so much. It looks quite magnanimously spacious, if not currently bland," Kyōaku spoke aloud, as he allowed himself to gracefully land onto the unspoiled landscape flooring, causing it to ripple and the entire room to shift, as it began to reconstruct into a setting of Kyōaku's desire, "let's make this a bit more nostalgic and welcoming, shall we?"

SSSSSSHOOOOOM-CRACK-CRACK-BOOM!

Within a few flashes of light and the sound of thunder echoing the room, an entirely new scenery welcomed them. What appeared to be the burning ruins of the Soul Society in the background, along with the sounds of agony and suffering heard by captured Soul Reapers, it was the perfect depiction of defeat and the Inner Circle's victory. They would all find themselves placed directly upon the Sōkyoku Hill, with Kyōaku looking over the horizon with his enemies a good twenty meters behind him, and the sensation of the base be all but vanished from their senses and minds.

"Can't you feel it? This is the sensation of pure peril and despair, melded in with my own ambitions coming into fruition!" Kyōaku began monologuing, reaching out his left hand to the burning, aesthetic horizon before gripping it during his speech, "centuries of meticulous planning. Thousands of Fullbringers recruited. Tens of thousands of mercenaries organized into one of the most technologically advanced and disciplined forces the Spiritual and Material World has ever seen! No more aristocracies will exist! No more pretentious ideals of Order and Democracy will endure! Only one law will exist: Obey, and you shall prosper. Defy us, and you will be punished," turning his head around to look at the three of them, he bowed halfway as he introduced himself properly, "I am the Third Horseman, Kyōaku Hōritsu. And I will be your guide to the next life, Captains of the fractured Gotei 13!"

It was a chilling setting to be in.

As Hachiro took the time to survey his settings, a chill was sent down his spine. He clenched his teeth slightly, his hands slowly clenching themselves into fists. He had been here before, with the previous scenario different from the last one. Back then, not only had so many ended up getting killed, but he had nearly been taking over by the parasite unleashed by the Inner Circle. Now, once again the oppression of their kind would rise up over them and take hold over so many lives. It couldn't come to that now.

He took a step forward, his narrowed eyes staring at the helmet which guarded Kyōaka's face. "Fractured, we may be. But we're far from out..." He said lowly. "The Inner Circle haven't won until the last of us takes our final breaths. As long as there are as few as only one of us, we'll keep fighting until we drive you back and destroy you. Not one soul would dare stand by and let you destroy the lives of so many innocents."

"I'm going to personally enjoy this..." Noriko said coldly, brandishing her halberd in a dangerous manner. "Today, the men of the 11th Division got slaughtered like animals because your organization decided to push its reach. We're going to make you regret ever stepping out of the shadows you've called home!"

Breaking Blood and Chains; Time to Feed the Monster! Part II
SPLUURCH!

"G-Gaugh...hack!" Jack uttered out as he felt his throat cave in and a violent series of vomiting gestures followed with a pool of blood pouring out onto the floor, and his body falling to his hands and knees. Barely able to stay conscious, it was within this one fatal moment that Jack was able to realign his conscioussness and his drunken mad state wore off. Tears began to roll down his face, even as he coughed up his own blood, "I-I'm so sorry...I couldn't do it consciously...Harry...Evey...Burnside...Bree...I'm not that kind of man. I-I can't strike down my own, not like this...HACK!"

SPLUURCH!

Within another vomiting deployment of the life force dwelling within his body, he couldn't help but turn his blood-soaked jaw and look up with a saddened expression to Brina. Broken, weary, and defeated, he left his fate in the hands of his daughter. If he was to go join his father and his brother's wife, he would accept it. He wouldn't beg or fight it any longer. His time has come...

Brina had long since lost her sense of mercy.

She placed a foot to the back of the man's throat, applying pressure and shoving his face down into the floor. "It's a real shame, uncle..." She said softly, though the venom could clearly be heard within each biting word she spoke to him. "I gave you only one chance to walk away, to not have to do it. I tried to be merciful. But it seems that everyone that crosses me seems to want to push that envelope, thinking that I'm still the weakling that I was all of those years before. I'll make sure you die a slow and painful death..."

"Wanna bet that?!"

The new voice that hit her ears made her eyes widen in surprise, and she only had time to twist herself around and throw her arms up in time to block the kick that slammed into her, the amount of force surprisingly throwing her back. Pain resonated through her body as she skidded back, but she stopped herself before she went too far. It barely crossed her mind once she set eyes on her assailant, who lowered his leg back to the ground.

"B...Braeburn?!"

"Brina..." The brother said coolly, passing a glance down at the wounded man before looking at her again. "I suppose I was right for assuming you'd come here..."

"That you, Burnside? Hehehe, kaff, kaff, kaff!" Jack trying to laugh with bittersweet joy, even as he coughed more blood up. He bowed his head to hide his messed-up face, and to hide the humiliation of his own defeat to his neice and his nephew's sister, "I must...kaff...look pretty pathetic right now. Please excuse that...I meant right...I really did...but some things you have to do yourself, you know?"

"Ssshhh..." Braeburn was quick to silence him, kneeling down to his level. "Don't talk, Wallaby. Just rest. My teammates will be here soon enough to resuscitate you and get you out of here." In his peripheral vision, he could see Brina approach him with a calm and slow gait. He didn't panic, however. After all, he knew his sister well enough to know that she wouldn't attempt anything underhanded.

"That's an entrance..." Brina said smoothly, folding her hands behind her back as she watched Braeburn rise back to his feet. "I was starting to think you wouldn't be able to make it..."

"Be glad I got here first..." Braeburn said, frowning slightly under the mask as he looked at her. "Had any of my other teammates got here, they would've tried to stab you in the back. They're not exactly obliged to mercy towards any enemy, after all..."

"And you didn't because...?" Brina inquired, cocking a slight eyebrow. Naturally, it made Braeburn scoff a little.

"Woman, who do you think I am, Tensai?" He asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You told me to stay alive for Mom and Dad. I think that in this situation, what comes around goes around, don't you think?" He spared a glance down at his uncle. "Even if... you did do this to my uncle..."

There was a hint of bitterness in his tone, and Brina looked genuinely surprised. She raised her hands up defensively, taking a few steps back. "There was nothing else I could do!" She insisted. "I tried to give him a chance to back out, but he refused! After he drank that "Tendan Spill", he lost all sense of rationality and forethought! Had I tried to show mercy, he would've fought me until the bitter end. This was how it had to be..."

"You're too kind, Burnside...kaff...kaff...kaff! And for the record," Jack weakly pointed at Brina, his head nodding as his face was continually planted on the blasted floor, "she's right...I totally drank that and I went wonkey. My groove is off the dune and I can't tell if I'm up, down, left, or right...me dashing side takes over during that point, y'see? KAFF KAFF KAFF!"

"Damn it, uncle!" Braeburn was quick to turn on him, a slight scowl formed underneath the mask he was wearing. "I told you to shut your trap! You're not in a condition to be running it right now!" He once again stooped down beside him, moving him so that he'd be out of his own pool of blood. "C'mon, stay awake..."

"You know..." Brina allowed herself to speak quietly as she watched her brother. "I couldn't help but pay special attention to how you said the word "teammates". It almost sounds like you're becoming close friends with them..." This made Braeburn raise his head up and cock an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. Don't think it concerns you, considering we're supposed to be official enemies now."

"Tell me, Brae. Have you ever stopped and wondered what exactly your friends are fighting for?" The question garnered his full attention. "They've shown themselves to be loyal towards the Soul Society and its people, yet we try to remain as loyal only to our own blood. You know what difference in opinion can do to bonds that are forged. Sooner or later, they will find this as a reason to stab you in the back, just as they have done before. Both to you, and to me..."

As she spoke, Brina's calm demeanor started to be tinted with a somber sadness. He could feel the empathy within her words, the concern for his well-being. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, lowering his head and refusing to speak for a moment. Of course, that moment was only brief.

"Speaking of that..." He said, raising his head up to look at her with inquisition. "I couldn't help but wonder, thinking about you the whole time we were separated for who knows how long. Haven't you ever stopped to consider just why Captain Sui-Feng gave that order to you? Why she ordered you to execute Mom, despite the possible repercussions? What did you learn through all these years?"

"What did I learn?" Brina repeated, pausing for a moment to think. "Well... the funny thing is, the 3rd Seat asked me that right before I left Soul Society. Back then, I was too consumed with rage and grief in order to even bother with it. But now that my mind has been cleared, I have an answer for that. I realize that she was under orders, that she had no control over what had to be done. If she went against her higher-ups, she would've surely lost favor and her position. It wasn't something to put at risk at a time like that..."

Slowly, she averted her gaze away, and the somberness began to make itself a bit more clear. "But even if that weren't the case, I... I don't think I could've held that grudge against her. I had told her personally that I saw it as nothing more than a hobby, but now that I look on it... maybe that was nothing more than a lie I fed to satisfy both her and myself..."

"Then why?" Braeburn questioned coolly. "What was keeping you from loathing her to the end of existence? She made you murder our mother." His eyes narrowed slightly at this. "And you're saying that you couldn't have held a lifelong grudge for it?"

SHFT-SHFT!

"Funny," the voice of Suì-Fēng projected through the air, as if she had been there throughout the entirety of the conversation, as she leaned against a wall directly to Braeburn's right and Brina's left. Her eyes were narrowed and eyes filled with conveyed skepticism towards Brina in particular, "that is the one billion zeni question, now isn't it?"

Tome, simultaneously arriving as silent as Suì-Fēng, standing just in the opposite direction of the other two, but held his hands in his pockets as his fur-outlined sleeveless jacket barely ruffled by his entry. With his ocular shades intact, Tome just held a simple sneer as he looked down at Wallaby, tapping his left foot as he looked down on him, "Stupid asshole! What gave you the idea that you could engage a target I didn't specify you to acquire, huh? I told you to reendevous with helpless squads, but nooooo! You had to go off and get sentimental on me, didn't you?!"

"S-Sorry boss...won't happen again-"

"No free booze for a month, you hear me?!"

"D-D-Dammit...you're so cruel to a broken man, boss..."

"Who do you think I am? I'm most certainly not a Clad Spandex Hero, and I am your employer! For losing a battle I didn't order you to have, NO ALCOHOL OF ANY KIND FOR A WEEK!"

"D-D-Dammit..."

Had it not been for the appearance of Suì-Fēng the "twins" certainly would have paid attention towards the Arrancar and his somewhat humorous comments. Instead, they shifted their eyes towards the first individual that had spoken up. Brina's eyes widened in slight surprise upon seeing the woman once again, and she took a slight step back despite the distance between the two. She didn't allow herself to speak, only taking in the appearance of her former master with slight awe.

But even so, Braeburn beat her to the punch.

"Well, if it isn't Mrs. Cat-Fetish..." He wasn't slow to start of with a jeering tone. "Where in the blue hell have you been? Just conveniently walking around and decided to drop in on a little family time?"

"I actually was in the process of mopping up what's left of the resistance here on this Level," Suì-Fēng spoke admittedly, shrugging her shoulders, but didn't let herself off the wall as she looked back to Braeburn as she settled her gazes to them, if not briefly to Tome past them, "but then I felt the odd resonation of teleportating Spiritual Pressures. I ran into Tome when it happened and we both were navigating around to see which remaining areas were needed the most. We happen to stumble upon this area," Suì-Fēng  then locked her eyes back at her former pupil, speaking coldly, "and as I recall, I do have a small score to settle with you, don't I, young one?"

To this, Brina remained silent.

She regarded Suì-Fēng with a weary gaze, letting her arms remain limp at her sides. The surprise had long since faded into a subtle display of remorse. She could probably assume sight of the broken body that had been Sazuke had drove her into it, despite her having not paid much contribution to that other than the scathing words. But then again, the master had found equal interest in both of them. It was natural that she would take the side of the bird who was most hurt, even if it was by the other.

Why did it have to be Sazuke? Why couldn't it have been someone she could learn to appreciate, someone who wouldn't have been so damn insubordinate? This question seemed to spark the anger that began to override her somber aura, her eyes slowly narrowing into slits as she looked at her former mentor. She exhaled a breath, her hands slowly clenched into fists. Had it been a close friend, Brina would've been more understanding. But as of now, all Suì-Fēng was doing was standing between her and her most loathed enemy.

"And what score would that happen to be, small and meager as it is?" She questioned, keeping her voice calm and controlled.

"You killed my subordinates. I cannot condone that action,"  Suì-Fēng spoke sternly, her teeth ground against each other as she struggled to control herself as she spoke, "I could've forgiven you turning on the Soul Society. I would've understood if you came after me in revenge, and I would've welcomed it. But why...why would you target your comrades and very own subordinates? To what? Sate your lust for blood in the wake of your pain? You selfish, self-absorbed child!" Suì-Fēng snarled out, pushing her back away from the wall before pointing at her with righteous anger, "I know what really happened, and I have to say, the way you acted is completely out of line! Do you know why Sazuke loathed you so much? She hated how damned selfish you were, and how your arrogant high-stance kept you from believing anything else! It made you so fixated on revenge you went out of your way to slaughter soldiers who followed your command and admired you! Sazuke places her duties and the lives of her soldiers far above her own well-being, something that a mentor of my own did so long before I realized what comradery even meant!"

To the end, Brina remained silent.

From start to end, the anger within her body language had faded little by little as she listened to the words spoken. Her expression conveyed nothing but a subtle and composed emotion of somberness. She took in every word without the feeling for retaliation. At least part of what the woman was saying was true; the slaughter of the Onmitsukidō had been unwarranted and most certainly unnecessary. She could have left without giving off any warnings, any blood on her hands. But she had killed them all without so much as a second thought.

When Suì-Fēng finished spoke, there was a silence. Then, Brina allowed herself to speak.

"...tell me, master. Throughout all of your career as the commander of the Onmitsukidō, have you ever lost yourself? When all sense of rationality, thought, and morality are pushed out the door, courtesy of a tragedy that befell you? When everything is swept away and replaced by the desire to destroy whoever you felt committed the sin against you? At that point, your emotions become your demons, and whatever angels that you had on your shoulder are pushed to the ground and stomped under your feet. No, there was no desire for revenge or bloodlust when I killed the men and women under your service. They died like lambs being torn apart by a hungry wolf."

She tilted her head to the side slightly. "You sew that seed when you gave the order. You could have done the job yourself, forsaken the desire to test my loyalty against my own family. You could have prevented the deaths of those soldiers. But you didn't. You just walked on by and pretended that there was nothing wrong. You betrayed me on your own volition twice, and you have the audacity to damn me? And I thought you comparing me to the likes of Aizen was outrageous..."

"How dare you-!"

"Hold a sec, Cap'n!" Tome interrupted unexpectedly, as he took a step forward to look at Braeburn peripherally before locking his lense-covered eyes at Suì-Fēng. A sense of seriousness came over Tome as he looked over at Brina, "this girl interests me. And I'm getting the slight disposition from your body language that you don't want to fight her. Am I wrong?"

Suì-Fēng's eyes widened a fraction of how perceptive the Mercenary Guild Master was, before turning her gaze away. After momentarily sideglancing somberly at Brina, she spoke with a sigh, "No...I don't..."

SSSSZT!

It was within that moment, the Hōmonka mark upon Brina's neck began to vanish and left Brina's skin as pure as it was before being pierced. Suì-Fēng's true feelings about her supposed rematch were shown clear to everyone else.

"Thought so," Tome said with a toothy grin, looking over at Braeburn and nodding to his fallen subordinate, "you there. If you don't want to get caught in between a real battle, I want you to take your sorry excuse of an uncle to a place where medics are present. If he can be resuscitated in time, he might be worth something later..."

"H-H-How cruel..." Jack sobbed, his tears comically began mingling with the pool of blood that smeared onto the cracked corridor floor below.

Ping!

And just like that, what she presumed to be a brand that would exist for the rest of her life was gone within the blink of an eye.

Brina's eyes widened in surprise, a hand reflexively reaching to the spot where the mark had been made. Her gaze fell upon Suì-Fēng, regarding the woman with disbelief. Was she really going to do this, defy potential orders that she had to eliminate the enemy? Surely, she had more devotion to the Gotei 13 than that. But then again, if she really had wanted to kill, she would've done away with the introduction and just out-right strike the kill spot created. Was this done out of pity?

Or maybe, just maybe, did the Captain see a possible light within her again?

The surprise was lifted from her face, and she allowed a small yet genuine smile to cross her countenance. It was subtle at best. But it was all that was needed to convey a message of gratitude.

"All right, up ya go...!"

Braeburn gave a slight grunt as he pulled Jack's arm over his shoulders before wrapping an arm around his waist and hauling him up. He looked over at Brina, furrowing his eyebrows. "Hey, sis!" He called out, earning her attention. "A while back, you told me to stay alive for Mom and Dad, right? Well, I'm holding you to do the same! I can't keep a promise to someone who's dead, after all!" Although his tone was a bit jocular, there was also genuine insistence for her survival.

Brina couldn't help but smile a bit wider, giving a small yet visible nod. "Yeah... I only promise to try..."

After giving a nod back, Braeburn quickly turned around and began to race out of the area. Complaints of "God damn it! After all this time, those bogans still aren't here?! You'd think that they'd be a lot faster than..." could be heard, eventually fading away into silence as he distanced himself from the group.

"Don't die," Suì-Fēng spoke aloud, before her voice became disembodied as her form disappeared with a faintly registered Flash Step, "until you two resolve things..."

As everyone finally vacated the premises, Tome walked over to stand in front of Brina herself, taking his hands out of his pockets long enough before crossing his arms over his chest. Looking at her in the eyes, his smile only grew wider as he nodded with unknown affirmation, "Yes...yes you'll do nicely," Tome then repocketed his hands in his pants, before speaking aloud, "Brina was it? I just want to remark that you're too good for the likes of the Inner Circle..."

"Oh, really?"

Now, with all of the present company gone aside from what she assumed to be a new opponent, Brina addressed Tome with a somewhat interested tone. Her expression, in humorous contrast, held almost comical disinterest. "Out of all of the remarks that I've gotten thus far, that has to be a new one..." She said. "What would make you say that?"

"I mean you're not like all of the other cowardly snakes and sick psychos of this acclaimed Facist Organization! You choose your targets not because of personal, sadistic satisfaction, but out of principle and purpose. While the prior isn't always a bad thing, too much of it will make you a mindless thug or a sicko wearing a cheap get-up to appear charming, you know?" Tome winked at her, allowing a hand to reach up and pull his shades down a notch so his violet-slit irises could see into Brina's, "I think you'd make an excellent addition to my Guild. What'd you say? Ditch those losers and become a top notch Bounty Hunter?"

"Sorry..." The girl said softly, raising one of her hands up. Her fingers abruptly straightened out, with her palm facing Tome directly. The only thing that could be seen from behind the hand were half-lidded eyes. It was a ready and prepared rejection of what seemed like an attempt to recruit an enemy. But despite this, there would be implications behind her next choice of words, something that would possibly cue the man in to possible intentions.

"I work alone."

TSEW-BOOM!

With that, she unleashed a single pulse from her hand at Tome. A tunnel of destruction would be left in the wake of it, causing the material of the area to fall apart and crumble into piles of dust. The shockwave causing Brina's hair and clothing to billow violently, and there was even a flash of light that had occurred briefly before fading away.

But Tome's senses were far more advanced than Brina would take him granted for.

Within an instant before the pulse of energy would be released, Tome clapped his own palm against hers, creating such a magnanimous counter-wave. The power yield from it would be so magnanimous, that despite the force of destruction that cracked and shattered the remaining structure of the corridor behind Tome, the blast he projected would be nearly blinding in nature, rippling the metal before briefly igniting in flames before turning into ashes in its aftermath.

This movement, would be intended to throw Brina off balance as well, allowing Tome to smile with glowing red eyes in emphasis, "Let me make myself clearer: That wasn't a choice. You refuse my offer, you're nothing more than a competitor that needs to be terminated. Its part of the deal being part of the Black Blood Sect. If you walk away, you'll just keep making bad business for my organization and my allies. But if you become a member of my Guild, however, then I can say you're no longer a competitor, you see what I mean?"

"!"

Indeed, Brina was momentarily taken aback by the sudden movement that Tome made.

She was forced to dig her feet in, skidding only a little bit back as she was pushed by the incoming force. She had to bend her knees temporarily, her form moving closer to the floor before it stopped and was allowed the opportunity to stand back up again. Those reflexes would lessen her chances of getting in any surprise attacks on him like she had done to Jack. This battle would most definitely be harder.

She regarded him with an unreadable gaze, reaching up to gently push strands of her hair out of her face. "You honestly think that death intimidates me?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Didn't you just say yourself that I was "too good" for the likes of the Inner Circle, that I wasn't one of the "cowardly snakes" or "sick psychos". Then you should know that I'm not one to give in to measly threats. If this isn't a choice, then I guess you'll just have to "terminate" me... if you can, that is..."

"Just laying out the facts. I'd hate to pass up a valuable asset," placing a hand up to his chin, rubbing it in thought, he then gestured his hand out in emphasis, "tell you what. It'd be a little redundant to fight out of sake of duty or desire, so...how about we make this interesting? How about a wager?"

Brina couldn't help but cock a slight eyebrow at this. "I'm listening..."

"If I win this little dance we're going to tango, you join the Black Blood Sect. Now I know what you're thinking, as you just said you work alone. Well, that's fine with that gang, as long as you participate in what's called a Meet every so few years and make sure to share intel and some resources with your fellow leaders of the Sect. You go about your business as usual and just make sure not to affiliate with competition, and things are good," Tome pressed his shades back up the bridge of his nose, allowing them to flicker a brief glimmer of dark crimson before leaning his head to the side and raising  a brow, "sound good?"

"Is this moron serious?!"

Brina nearly allowed herself to express her disbelief at the statement as she looked at Tome. He was still expecting her to switch sides for a wager, in the midst of a war? She could easily chalk it up to extreme confidence within his power. But surely, he had to realize that she was a trained soldier and assassin. Interrogation, intimidation and assault didn't frighten her. Was he running low on soldiers? Or was he attempting to respect the wishes of Braeburn and Sui-Feng by sparing her? She was almost tempted to snort at the last possibility. But instead, she allowed a sultry smile to cross her face as she looked at Tome.

"I hope you realize that there's virtually nothing to keep those terms binding, fool. What makes you think I'll even consider this?"

"Cause I know how this will play out. You don't like siding with losers. So why don't you side...with the ones...with the best seats," Tome began speaking aloud, as he began walking towards her, a serious glaze came over his reddened eyes, as his feet moved in purposeful strokes, and the smile kept up his indiscernable motives, "in the-"

SSSSSSHFT-BLAAAAAM!

"HOOOOOOUSE!!!!" Tome finished, as his foot came up with a vicious snap kick. Though, it wasn't just the kick that came towards her jaw. It was an overwhelming force of destruction, following the perfectly deployed limb, harnessing incredible physical power that ignited and shattered everything in its wake. The force would rend asunder the very air in front of Brina, as well as tear a deep ten meter deep trench into the earth and flow all the way into the wall behind her.

His leg would connect with her forearm as it raised up, both reflexes and quick timing coming in. The force utilized by the attack was enough to make her temporarily shut her eyes tightly, but it didn't hinder her any. With a jolt of that arm, she pushed away his leg and began her counter-attack. She threw an experimental set of punches and kicks his way, not putting up a completely aggressive assault but still making sure he would stay on his toes.

"You must be quite sure of yourself if you think you know about me..." She said coolly, even as she continued the assault.

With a widenning grin of excitement, Tome began to swing his body left and right, avoiding the set of probing kicks and punches with ease while keeping up his conversation with her. All the while he never took his hands out of his pockets, "You're not that hard to figure out. You value your own ideals and purposes moreso than those of simpletons within societies. But, then again you'd have to do the same if you stick around with these chumps if things go according to their plan. You're not someone who likes being bound to the senseless laws and orders of superiors who feel full of themselves..."

SNATCH!

Within a thrust of her arm, he moved forward and looped the space between his arm and his right side, catching it by the elbow firmly as he got within her personal space. Within that moment of time, Tome swung a vicious knee strike towards her unprotected left side while shouting out, "You deserve freedom to make your own choices, and seek out your own sense of Justice, Brina McTavish!"

POW!

Once again, the offending limb would be blocked by Brina, who gritted her teeth as the bone of his knee struck her guard. She wrenched her arm free, leaping back and allowing herself to retreat back several steps back. That was a belief that she held close to her heart, and Tome had hit that mark pretty good. Even as she showed no change in expression other than a slight furrowing of her eyes, she knew that he understood of his accuracy. That, in combination with his behavior and skills, would make for a very formidable adversary.

She settled into a stance.

"Termination... with extreme prejudice..."

The Honored, A Battle of Honor and Pragmatism! Part II
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Within a matter of a few swift gestures, Kaien once again pressed the attack upon the two skillful warriors. With each swing of his trident, the small waves became collosal ones, and each thrust sent a pillar of overwhelming pressurized water towards his enemies. The end result, was despite the lethality of Valeur's twin spear Zanpakutō, he couldn't cut through the sheer power behind the Spiritually Empowered water sent his way, and he couldn't wound him with his other spear with the incredible power keeping him at bay.

On the other hand, it was all Kaien could do to keep the two warriors from getting in close. He had never found such a compatible pair in such a long time, and their powers were nothing to be snuffed at. Even though he was using high tier spear techniques in sync with his various Kidō and Shikai abilities, he knew if he let up for a moment, they would take advantage of the opening. The whole corridor was flooded, wet, and all but Kaien was drenched in the waters sent billowing about.

It was hard to say whether or not Tenshina was having an easier time.

Like what he had done with Ryūketsu, he was using his powers to forcefully separate the waves that approached him and Valeur whenever he could. Then, he threw himself at the man and swinging his blade to batter against Kaien's defenses before retreating again. He was pushing himself to stay on the offensive, determined to break his enemy and take his life. Unlike what any of his other comrades would've had, he did not bother to hide the snarl that was on his face. His eyes were narrowed, and his pupils were considerably shrunken as he attacked and retreated against Kaien.

As much as he hated to admit it, the man was a truly strong enemy. Even with Valeur's help, there was no ground that could be taken easily, and what little ground they had was ripped away to force them back into a stalemate. But even so and despite partial frustration, he could not keep the feral smile from crossing his face as he fought, attacked and countered. Although his movements still held nothing but aggressive tact, he had come to the point where he would occasionally shout at his enemy.

And unlike Choku, his feelings were genuine.

"You two are the toughest I've fought in a long time," Kaien spoke aloud in admitance, a eager smile adorned his own face as he began spinning his trident with his right hand, causing the titanic waves the renew their swirling formation, even as he eyed the pair of dangeorus fighters, "I might have to work a little harder..."

FZZZT!

"...in order to crush you both!" Kaien spoke in a sudden surge of bloodthirst, his eyes briefly becoming illuminated with a blue light and his body became electrified in dense, nearly overwhelming Spiritual Power in comparison to his earlier display. This caused the waves to sudden triple in size, flowing up high and towards the two fighters before him.

But Valeur wasn't unprepared, despite momentarily widenening his eyes at the sight and sensation of such incredibly dense Spiritual Pressure. Thrusting his red spear forward, he applied some of his own Spiritual Power as he rushed to the base of the wave of water, piercing its thick Spiritually laced foundation, allowing him to form a brief gap and opening within the titanic wave. And with this, he thrust his yellow spear timely...

CLANG!

BWHOOOSH!

Meeting the incoming thrust of Kaien's trident, momentarily stopping his attack, before he was engulfed in a sudden jetstream of pressurized water, forcing him back into the folds of the magnanimous wave, sending him chaotically spinning away within the folds of the water.

Tenshina's eyes widened in alarm, even as he moved to evade the waves as best as he could.

"Valeur!!!"

Instantly, he rounded back on Kaien and stabbed his blade into the ground. The material of the floors rose in walls around the target, closing off with a ceiling at the very top. The result was a box formation serving as a sort of temporary entrapment for the Captain. But he knew that he had little time before his enemy broke out and attacked again. He had to be quick.

The "floor" underneath Kaien's face would rise upwards with sudden and immense speed, grinding against the surrounding walls as it moved to the ceiling. The pressure would crush the body into the closest the human body would ever come to resembling a pancake.

Even as the floor began to compress upwards, a sudden and vibrant rise of astound power built within block-shaped death-trap. Within only moments, the compression halted, and the pieces of the wall and ceiling began to crack and groan under immense pressure. It was only within a few more seconds that a series of fissures broke through, sending powerful bursts of water, until...

BWHOOOOSH!

...a powerful jetstream of water came towards Bokujin, with Kaien's Zanpakutō at its epicenter, as his body rode with the violent pillar of water towards him, intending on crushing him within an instant as his aura of overwhelming Spiritual Power and volumious moisture shielded him from any ordinary attack.

But, the unexpected happened....

SSSSSSHIIIIINK!

...as Valeur wrenched his body from the indented wall he was smashed into via the earlier wave, he threw his red spear with uncanny accuracy and force, narrowly going over Bokujin's neck near the right side of his face, and spearing through the force of power Kaien generated, and momentarily going through his guard...

SLIT!

...slicing through the surface of his left shoulder, derailing the full momentum placed towards Bokujin's person, but still held its entire power, causing the area of which Bokujin's proximity to be smashed to pieces, and shattered for nearly a dozen meters in a wide radius, nearly causing the reinforced walls to buckle from the enormity of the hydration's pressure.

It was a move that Tenshina was safely assumed to have saved his life in the nick of time.

As the waters raged all around him, he briefly raised his free arm to shield his face from the splash of the rapids. Had he been a lesser man, he would've surely fell victim to fearing the destruction around him. But he was a trained soldier, an experienced combatant. The waters that ripped apart the surroundings would not be enough to turn him away from his goal. So it wasn't long before Tenshina swung his arm back arm, tensing his legs up.

"Forward..."

TSEW!

With a Bringer Light, Tenshina threw himself forward at Kaien. His blade was thrust towards the man's neck with the intention of starting off another round of sword-to-sword combat, if not piercing the throat. He let out a yell as he struck, his determination and resolve pushing every muscle and bone within his body.

"Forward!!"

Kaien's attention turned solely to the incoming threat of the tenacious Fullbringer. Despite the shoulder wound, the Sword Squad Captain swung his trident around to intercept the first thrust, derailing its trajectory, long enough to turn around and thrust his own weapon with fast and furious resolve. Then, as he saw Tenshina thrust once more, he slammed the mid-section space of his trident into the blade with one arm, while thrusting out his left arm in unison, roaring out aloud,

"Sōkatsui!"

VRRRRROAAAAAR!

...sending a geyser of blue flame-like energy, that dominated the space that Bokujin was within, intending on burning his body severely, if not destroy him utterly within one single blow of destructive Hadō Kidō.

Under normal circumstances, that would have surely killed the target.

Kaien's attack overshadowed Tenshina's form, giving off the impression that he was destroyed. The blade's attack had been stopped in its tracks, leaving Kaien himself safe from harm. But it was only a brief moment of pause before the Sokatsui blast began to flow erratically, its rhythm being disrupted and scattered within both of their proximity. It took only a few seconds...

WOOSH!

...before Tenshina's blade shot its way out of the blast, aiming for Kaien's chest in the path of a diagonal swing.

With a free hand, Kaien responded with lightning reflexes. With bared teeth in concentration, as both of his limbs were not close enough to intercept the mysteriously dangerous blade. Even as his body began moving backwards with incredible reflexes, he exerted a powerful propulsion of Shō from his front, sending a thundercracking blast of kinetic energy to force his enemy and his attack away while simultaneously skidding a good dozen meters away.

Breathing out in exertion, Kaien chuckled with a feral grin on his face, despite the situation he was in, "This is probably the most fun I've had in a battle to the death in so many years. It feels...almost like I am really alive...even though what I am. I thank you, Inner Circle," raising his trident to point towards Bokujin and the returning form of Valeur, standing next to him stoically to retrieve his other spear, "for bringing me such powerful warriors to test the limits of my abilities!"

"Damn it!"

The reaction speed of his opponent wasn't too pleasing for the likes of Tenshina, who was thrown back skidding. He stopped beside Valeur with his knees bent, instinctively standing up and readying his blade defensively. But once he laid eyes on the other man's expression, he couldn't help but feel a little bit surprised. Slowly, a smirk began to cross his face. "Glad to see you're enjoying this..." He remarked, swinging his sword off to the side. "But you really think you can keep it up? Your armies have been picked off like ants on a sidewalk, and you're on your last legs. As far as this situation is concerned, you might as well be experiencing a fleeting pleasure!"

The smile, that Kaien held so vividly, had a sudden turn to a serious thin-lipped snarl. His eyes took upon a glowing, blue-eyed glare, as energy crackled around his irises eerily, and his body began to take upon a vibrant blue aura of its own, "You think this is over, eh? You must have little experience fighting Soul Reapers of the Soul Society. We tend to be at our strongest when backed into a corner. When our numbers are few. And our patience...has waned to its limits!"

SSSSSRK-VVVVMMMMM!!!

Kaien's body suddenly erupted into a powerful gale of Spiritual Power, causing the decimated corridor to bend and contort around him, with its most proximate material turning into ashes and dust within its wake. Kaien's gaze seemed magnified and his aura seemed to be omnipresently overpowering. It was both a foreign sensation apart from normal Soul Reapers, and one all too much similar of it. With coursing tendrils crackling across the great expanse of the decimated corridor, as well as vividly snapping from his bright blue aura, Kaien was shown holding up his left wrist, showing what looked like an ornate bracelet.

"During my Rebirth, I was granted an monsterous amount of Spiritual Power. It was so powerful, that I needed a particular seal to keep it from going out of control, and allowing me to master it over time. After nearly two centuries of training..."

SNAP!

"...I've gained a pinnacle far beyond what I have imagined!" Kaien spoke aloud within snapping the restraint bracelet off, his body ceasing its eruption in the wake of a vibrant wave of water-based Spiritual Power, blowing back everything in its wake, and halting the erratic and chaotic energies all at once. The only thing left, was the inconcievable force of Kaien's harnessed Spiritual Pressure, as his body merely ruffled and mildly sizzled from the bottled intensity.

"This is the true origin of my Resolve, in defeating my enemies," Kaien spoke solemnly, his eyes locking upon the two opponents, as his tident bristled with its energies along with his body. He began a slow and purposeful walk towards his enemies, "and crush them beneath my heel, so I may pick up my fallen comrades once more!"

Needless to say, Tenshina wasn't singing the same tune now.

"What the fuck--?!"

This time, he had to raise an arm to his face and dig his feet in, even as they skidded back under the immense pressure. Eventually, he was forced to collapse to one knee just to keep his balance as Kaien came ever so closer to them. Maybe he was being a bit over dramatic, and he certainly couldn't bring himself to see how Valeur was faring. The roar of the spiritual pressure would certainly have drowned out his voice, and thus he was forced to switch to radio.

"Valeur?! Talk to me, how are you holding up?!"

"I am fine, Serah," Valeur spoke resolutely, only betrayed by the dozens of beads of moisture clawing their way down his neck and browline. With his red spear held in front of his form, he could see a distinct rattling within his arm as he held it up, "my Shikai has...absorbed...and dispersed the majority of the initial wave of Spiritual Pressure. But...I doubt I can fight effectively...in the face of such advers-"

SHFT-SNATCH!

"-NMMM?!"

WHOOSH-BLAAAM!

Within an instant, Kaien interrupted Valeur's speech with a single hand, grasping his enemy's face before thrusting him across the air and towards the opposite end of the corridor. The force was so great, that it took a second before a voluminous wave of concussive force was exerted by Kaien's arm thrust, and Valeur would smash into the opposite wall once more. But this time, to the point that the wall itself nearly collapsed and his body was imbedded too far in to be seen.

Kaien then turned around, swinging his scythe with such precision and force, that it might as well been an elongated sword. Within the pivoting rotational movement, a burst of hydrogen gas exuded from the edge of his blade, detonating with enough prejudiced force to ensure a maximum damage yield to his enemy. Such was the true potential of manipulation moisture within the atmosphere being revealed now. All the while, Kaien's eyes glowed a overcasting blue-white, as if he appeared an entirely different person.

And for one of the few times that he would allow himself to show it, Tenshina's expression conveyed nothing but shock and horror.

"Oh, God."

He only had time to throw his arms out in front of him.

BOOM!

The explosion was enough to blow him back and high into the air, scalding his skin and causing fragments of his clothing to peel off. He lost his grip on his weapon, his arms and legs flailing wildly as they tried to get some sort of hold on something. But his consciousness had temporarily shut down, refusing to allow him the strength he needed to flip back onto the fight. His ponytail flew apart, and his brown hair was flying about wildly in the path of his flight. He could only think of one thing...

"Sorry, Lady McTavish..."

When he landed, he tumbled across the floor like a tumbleweed before coming to a stop, lying face down with his brown hair strewn about his head. His eyes were closed, and his body was still.

Sleeping Beauty, Will You Remember Me? Part II
Contrasting natures collide.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Two young girls, born from the same Society but walked two radically different paths in their lives, fought not with their lives on the line...but for their ideals and their curiosity of what they might withold be thrust out into plain view. To see their resolves and their truest heart collide in a melodious, graceful clash of steel and fists.

FWHOOSH-FWHOOSH-FWHOOSH!

Cracks within air pressure rattled the "arena" of their choice, billows of pressurized wind cascaded to and fro from the edges of one combatant to another. A brilliant aura of autumn leaves cascaded the air, and constantly flourished with every ear-rattling movement and clash between the two young warriors. Emanated from Senna's Spiritual Pressure, its unusually soothing sensation also radiated from her very being, as a being with a heart of gold. A pure maiden enveloped within a terrible conflict, created by her opponent's masters, the Inner Circle.

CLANG-CRRRRRK!

And it ended with a fierce sword-lock struggle between the two girls, as a bright smile and light kept beaming from Senna as her teeth grinded in effort and concentration against the other girl. It was almost like a competition or a game for her now, rather than a fight for blood and death. The sparks crackling from her blade against Kameyo's only burned her heart of yearning for the girl's friendship even more, an unusually heartwarming sensation projecting from her own soul even as she fought.

In contrast to the cold and dead aura Kameyo had exerted when fighting Shadō, she seemed more passive even when crossing blades against Senna.

There was little change within her expression, her gaze staring at her opponent with an almost unbreakable serenity. But her movements, unlike the previous fight, were much less aggressive. She wasn't moving in the manner of a machine wanting to kill, but rather a simple swordswoman sparring with a partner. Even in the midst of the swordlock, she simply pressed against the offending blade to keep a hold on her own defense. As she looked into Senna's eyes, her mind was lost in thought.

"Could there really be foes like this in times of war?"

CLANG!

She parried it away, only to unleash a set of swings back at her opponent.

"What could possibly keep this woman from feeling the predicted hostility? What could keep her light-hearted in the face of the one who killed her comrades? Senna... you are a rather curious person..."

Senna then preformed a series of evasive maneuvers, her body moving in a graceful dance to avoid the series of thrusts and slashes across the air. Even then, Senna couldn't help but feel joyful at testing her own limits with someone she wanted friendship with. After all, she wanted to prove why she was the Deputy Captain of the Sword Squad...

SHFT-SHFT-SHFT!

Senna preformed a trio of Flash Steps, appearing behind Kameyo's guard, while spinning her Zanpakutō in a clockwise formation. It was only within a whisper that she halted the flow of her Zanpakutō within an inverted grip...

"Tenran!"

BWHOOOOOSH!

...discharging an enormous, extranomically growing twister towards Kameyo, intending on sending her spiraling across the expanse of the elongated corridor with incredible force.

Adjustment to the attack, impossible as it may have seemed to anyone else, came naturally for the likes of Kameyo.

With a pivot, she swiftly turned around to meet the massive blast of wind. Her sword was swung, scattering the horizontal tornado with what seemed like no effort. The winds roared around her as the blade disrupted their flow, but they were rendered harmless to her person. It was a display of immense physical prowess and a sign of just how much of her life she had placed into being of service for the Inner Circle.

With a single foot, she pushed herself towards Senna and continued to attack. Her sword was swung again and again in aggressive motions, holding only enough restraint not to kill the other woman outright.

Senna moved in a beautiful rhythmic series of evasive gestures once again, allowing her feet to glide upon the air and ground as if it was made of glass. When a blade slash moved towards her face, she bent her neck and back in unison, stabbing her blade into the ground and lifting one foot with a high-powered kick, followed by another one, before jetisonning herself into the air upright.

"Hyapporankan!"

SSHFT-SHFT-SHFT-SHFT-SHFT...!

With a smooth slash of her own left hand, she sent a series of binding octagonal, violet-white columns of binding energy towards Kameyo, separating and scattering to cover nearly the entirety of the corridor. Though they didn't hold the critical impact that a full-powered Kidō would, she made sure to send enough of them in high-speeds to catch her off balance.

WOOSH!

Thus, it was simply evaded with multiple and coordinated Flash Steps. When she came out of it, Kameyo skidded off to the side and straightened herself back out, flipping her sword to a defensive position. Her gaze immediately locked back on to Senna, readying for another assault. Such an attack would not phase her.

What happened next would.

SSSSSRK-VVVVMMMMM!!!

"What...?"

Passive crimson eyes widened as she felt Kaien's spiritual signature go off. Her head instinctively snapped her head in the direction of where she felt the surge. She could feel the very aura of what she assumed was a power spike from where she was at, as it was too strong to simply not be noticed, too sudden to have been there for a long extent of time. A hint of bewilderment crossed her face, and a bead of sweat fell down her temple. This had not been what she had initially sensed upon their first confrontation. This was something completely different, something that presented a clear threat.

"K-Kaien?!" Senna gasped as she allowed herself to drop to the ground as she felt the unbridled force of Kaien's "True" Spiritual Power grace the atmosphere in a startling, quaking manner. She could already feel the ebbing static from the enormity of its Spiritual Pressure, and the ferocity of Kaien's Resolve in committing himself to the battle. For all she knew, the two young men who went to face off against him could be...!

"Kame-chan!" Senna spoke aloud in alarm, her eyes filled with shock and caution, even as she spoke aloud with compassion, "go help your friends! They may be seriously hurt right now and they need your help! Go! NOW!"

But then it happened.

First Valeur's spiritual signature plummeted.

Then Tenshina's.

Kameyo's heart almost stopped cold right then and there. Within a time of only seconds, Kaien had dispatched them as effortlessly as he would an insect. There was no resistance, no struggle from any of them before he had done it. This time, a small sliver of dread had fallen across her face, although she managed to keep it subtle. With that in mind, she was almost tempted to flee and comply with Senna's demand.

Then she remembered just who exactly Senna was at that moment.

"...you would let me leave to see to my comrades without consequence from me or your own allies?" She questioned.

Within an instant, Senna Flash Stepped over to Kameyo's front and grasped her shoulder's sleeve, gripping it firmly as her fear-filled eyes expressed her concern,

"You idiot! When Kaien is like this...he holds no quarter! I can't stop him when he's released this power!" Senna spoke aloud as her body quaked within tune of her shouts, "take your friends and leave this place! If he knows you're alive, he will not be merciful! GET YOUR FRIENDS OUT OF HERE, KAME-CHAN!"

The emotion behind each and every word was all that needed to be in order for Kameyo to confirm her own personal safety. She would not get stabbed in the back.

WOOSH!

With a simple Flash Step, she abruptly left without word. Her presence as well as her person had vanished, leaving Senna completely alone. As she made her way to her fallen comrades' location, she reached out with her senses. To her relief, she could still pick up their faint signatures. Either Kaien had been ignorant, or he may have been merciful. If it was the latter, at least some part of fate was smiling down on them.

"I won't forget this..."

She glanced over her shoulder, despite the fact that she was well out of visual detection.

"Senna Kasumiōji."

Enter the Predator, A Battle of Instinct and Skill! Part II
The ongoing battle between Tenshi and Qilin was nothing short of brutal.

Despite the obvious advantage Tenshi held within his current Hollowfied state, as well as the further enhanced abilities of his dangerous Zanpakutō, Qilin shown to be a quite capable and versatile combatant, having withheld his own powers of their fullest potential up to this point.

SHEEEOOOOW-VMMMMM!

Within the excess of a massive Cero, Tenshi billowed its energies out and dragged its path of fire across the corridor in an attempt to catch the swift and nimble Qilin. Funneled from the point of his finger, Tenshi kept his hollowfied eyes on the man's movements and would attempt to evade it and follow up with any counterattacks towards his own path.

"Ha ha ha ha..." A soft chuckle, hidden in the roar of Tenshi's attack, escaped Qilin's lips. As he faced the oncoming Cero, he slowly lifted his sword upwards to meet it head on. When it connected...

BOOM!

...a chain of explosions came from the point of connection to the source of the attack, using the Cero as a pathway between Qilin and Tenshi. The power produced from the combustion was enough to make Tetsuyo shield his face even as he sat a good distance away. He had long ago taken to sitting out of the fight, knowing that he was only going to make himself a bulls-eye. He would have been annihilated for sure.

"C'mon, Captain... you can do this..."

Within the mass of the enormous explosion, Tenshi redirected its light-creating energies along with his own Zanpakutō. Knowing that creating a barrier over such an enlarged space would be difficult in comparison to doing so when he fought Jūshin. So, he decided for an alternative approach.

As he allowed the explosion to accelerate a back-stepping Flash Step, Tenshi spun his hilt in a circular motion, causing the billowing large blast formed by the explosion into a wide net of light particles. Creating a silver orb that would enrapture Qilin's position, he then enhanced its integrity to survive most practical sword techniques or exhales of Spiritual Pressure, and then continued to compress it upon the Captain, ensuring to crush him into dust by the very light formed by his greatest weapon.

"You can't win this time, Qilin! You're enraptured in the absolute light! There is no escape, and not even your precious Kidō or swordsmanship prowess can rescue from this fate," Narrowing his red and yellow eyes respectively, Tenshi smiled behind his mask, twisting his hilt to increase the pressure being put upon the swiftly shrinking spherical light prison, "breathe your last breaths, traitor of the Soul Society! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

In response, Qilin simply gripped his sword in one hand and let his Zanpakutō speak for him.

When the sphere's inner walls were clear enough, he swung at its walls with a single stroke. When the metal clashed with the light, the prison that seemed it would have crushed him gained a sudden spike of energy within its foundation. The sudden surge would disrupt the flow of energy that made up the light sphere, rendering it too unstable to maintain form.

Therefore, it was blown outwards at a rapid rate, shattering in the friction of the winds.

"A laughing buffoon, cheering as soon as it seems like his fight has been won..." Qilin said coolly, looking at Tenshi as he lowered his sword. "A hyena crowing over a kill it didn't commit. Is this truly the same man that fought the leader of Yūrei Okoku's government? Because all I see is a deluded tool, used solely by Lord Aizen himself. It's a shame, really... I was starting to have high hopes for this, but I guess I really can't win all of the time, can I?"

Biting down upon his own teeth, Tenshi could only grasp the hilt with an audible tightening as he glared heatedly upon Qilin. How could his attacks, Hollowfied and all, held no potency against Qilin's techniques? They were simply explosions, one for which he could countlessly exploit! Then again, this was a powerhouse Captain he was dealing with, more durable than most he's fought with.

He decided to change tactics, and rely on his guile rather than his confidence within his own powers, however grand they may be.

With a smile, after a few seconds after Qilin spoke his jeering comment, Tenshi could only chuckle as he shrugged, looking to Qilin, "That's a lot of black to swallow, when you yourself serve masters no better than my own. Unlike the pretension of your leaders, Aizen aspires for dominance over all known things! They rely on treachery within black hearted souls like yours, whereas Aizen simply asks those he deems worthy to follow and then enacts his plans. You're no more a tool for machinations of greater beings..."

SSSSFT!

"...than I am!" Tenshi spoke aloud suddenly behind him, as a formation of light particles formed behind Qilin and emanated the same sensation and presence as Tenshi did as well. That one moment in which his visual copy made the distortion and feigning motion of surprise attack, Tenshi struck as well...

SSSSSSSHINK!

...slashing out a infitestimally vertical slashing fissure of light-bent, cutting particles that dug a powerful trench into the wall, ceiling, and floor in the alignment of the space Qilin hovered. This cutting power was greatly enhanced to the point it dug and cracked through the durable corridor wall and into the following corridor behind it, creating a blinding flash of light in excess of its power and origins.

He was attempting to trap the Spiritsmith again.

WOOSH!

This time, he used a Flash Step to avoid the attack made. He re-appeared down to the ground, skidding to a stop. Once he did so, he gripped his sword with two hands and swung, unleashing a wave of physical force at both of the copies. His eyes had furrowed slightly, and the trace of a scowl had formed on his own face. "Tell me, Tenshi..." He said. "Just how much have you come to understand about me? My titles and my name have all that graced your lips, yet there is nothing beyond that. Is that all you've come to know?"

SHFT!

Reappearing back upon the floor, Tenshi stared down Qilin with bitter irritation. Having witnessed this power, even as he countered his very attacks with poise and without showing of signs of hesitation or weakness as he had done with Kōjaku or even Jūshin. Both had unquantifiable powers in their own rights, and yet this man stares him down should be nothing more than a nobody!

"There's nothing much to say about you, other than that you're a weapon craftsman of many fine tools for killing and that you're one of the oldest, long-running spies for the Inner Circle," Tenshi spoke aloud in a bored tone, his body leaning against the wall as he spun his Zanpakutō's hilt around in an idle circle, but never let his eyes leave Qilin's, "but I don't know you personally, nor do I care to. What I'm curious is why you're so persistant with the guise of a hero? You're working for the very people who are aiming to smite the Soul Society you aspire to pretend to be a part of. So why...why are you bothering to keep a skin that should've been shed the moment your armies arrived upon the doorsteps of the Seireitei?!"

"Because they haven't fulfilled their end of this war yet."

Slowly, Qilin turned towards Tenshi and allowed his blade to lower to his side. His free had was gestured in an explanatory tone, and it was here that he turned his tune from taunting to sincere and somewhat empathetic. "...Lieutenant Daisuke Hayate..." He said softly. "Captain Taiyo Ikidori... Gina Tachibana... Hachiro Horikawa. There are many more that deserve to be listed, but the trait I'm most curious about is what lies behind each of their eyes. Having known them personally, I've gotten the chance to see them up close. Do you know what I saw?" He paused for a brief moment to let the words sink in. "Determination. Hope. Resolve. So much more. Even under these circumstances, they haven't cast aside those traits, as tempting as it is to do so. Even as the Inner Circle closes in on them, that has not changed. That alone tells me that maybe, just maybe, they deserve to survive and fight on."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "You, however? You and the rest of them are far different. All it took was a turn of the table by Jūshin and you were screaming like a child. A turn of the table by you, and you're laughing as if you've already won. I can't help but wonder. Why do you always seem so desperate to avoid the possibility of loss? Why are you so scared of something so simple as defeat...?"

Tenshi's eyes widened briefly upon hearing the resolve and clarity Qilin had within his voice. Despite knowing of the role he should be playing, his act had no definition that he believed him to have. It was calm, collected, and interested. The genuine certainty that there was more to the enemy than meets the eye, was all Tenshi couldn't understand why Qilin held it.

And yet, he himself decided to humor Qilin...

SSSFT!

After a brief gesture to his face, his attire reverted to normalcy and his mask vanished in a dark red dispersion of Spirit Energy. Looking back at Qilin with cool silver eyes of his own, he spun his hilt around as he spoke, while still leaning against the wall,

"You seem pretty curious about my reasons, as well as the reasoning behind the enemies you're fighting. While I could consider this an act of betrayal to your true masters, you're no comrade of mine, so I won't make a fuss about it. If you want to know my reasoning for being the way I am, well, not many ask, so I'll humor you with my tale of how I've become whom I am.

I grew up, like many of your self-righteous "heroes", in the gutters of society. I was found by an errand boy of the Onmitsukidō Militia. While he had been apparently trying to deliver an important message, he found out he couldn't deliver it without my help. With promise of shelter and food, I helped him along. When I returned with him to the Militia base, I found out that they punished him for seeking my aid and after severely beating him, they threw him out and wiped any records of his involvement with the infamous Onmitsukidō. After they tried to detain me for setting foot illegally within the Seireitei, I began to outmaneuver their most top subordinates. My fear of becoming prey from the failure of another incompetant man drove me into keeping myself from beind harmed or captured for several hours. It wasn't until I met the infamous Commander-in-Chief of the Militia, that I impressed her enough to insist upon my enrollment within the Shinō Academy.

Every since then, I've been trying to keep on top, for fear of becoming the man that made false promises to me, I began to understand the concept of success and failure. If I was defeated, I would be cast aside and struck down. I would achieve victory by any means, and that was true even as my time in the Academy. There were many fools I misguided in order to achieve my victory, even if it meant their downfall, or their unexpected defeat. My talent for inflicting many ways of death and keeping myself one step ahead of those less capable of achieving their goals, earned me the rank of a Seated officer within the Onmitsukidō, proving to my superior of what I was capable of.

As my missions grew bolder and more dramatic, I began to enact themes of the Material World's theater in honor and nostalgia of each act of murder and killing I displayed for each person I would reap their life essence. I began to be seen as too good at my job, and slightly unbalanced, so they began questioning even their own judgement of having such a winner among them. They were determined to make me their lesser, and I was suddenly given less and less important tasks and slowly isolated from all of their other more aspiring colleagues.

After I decided to enable their demises, I decided to become my own victor and become the best this world, both Spiritual and Material has ever seen. Life is all about the strong live and the weak perish. Its an idealogy I can willingly accept that best describes Hollowity. They commit cannabilism just so one of them can evolve into a higher state of being. The citizens of this world and the living are no better! Survival of the fittest is the only law I respect and  the only thing that matters to me!" Tenshi declared aloud, holding his hilt up to his sternum, before a defining and well enamored silver blade of light particles formed, glowing in brilliance on par with that of diamonds.

Though Tenshi was still an enemy at the minute, Qilin gave the respect of listening.

Throughout the entirety of the speech, he regarded the man with silent observation. His free hand had folded behind his back, and his sword was lowered almost completely. There was nothing on his face but curiosity, almost akin to that of a child's when hearing something intriguing. He even tilted his head to the side slightly as the words were fed to his ears. He did not dare speak until he was sure that the last word had been said. By then, Tetsuyo had ventured a bit closer upon seeing that things had seemed to cool down between the two.

"Is that so...?"

Then, Qilin lifted his sword to the side.

With a small hissing sound, the form of his Shikai regressed back into the standard katana form it normally took. He flipped the blade around, slowly sheathing the weapon back within the scabbard secured on his waist. "Then I guess you still have a long way ahead of you..." He said in a smooth, yet somewhat upbeat tone that was matched by the grin on his face. "There's no reason for me to kill you if you're trying to become the best. So I will see just how far you go to get there."

"Does that mean," Tetsuyo began hesitantly, but Qilin was quick to cut him off.

"Yep. The rest of the I.C.'s most likely finished with their line of work and are pulling out. We'd better regroup with whatever's left of the defense force, as well..."

"Tch! Such a disappointment," Tenshi released the densely packed light particles and allowed it to revert to its sealed form. With a swift flourishiment with the signs of a skilled swordsman, Tenshi sheathed his blade with a slow, ominous click as he looked to the two set before him, "oh well...despite what you said, at least I can go watch the climaxes of the remaining battles. After all...there's still one friend of the Primera's who's yet to make her move until now..."

Seniority and Intellect, Battle of Four - Part II
Weary breaths.

Scratches and scrapes.

Weapons gripped tightly within their hands.

Varying degrees of contempt for the enemy that stood in front of them.

This was the condition of the three Captains that were currently standing against Horsemen Kyōaku Hōritsu in their efforts to repel the Inner Circle assault. They had fought tooth and nail against him, trying to bring him down by whatever means necessary. They had earned a very difficult fight, something justified due to the status and power of the man they were facing. Certainly, if they had been facing down their own Head Captain, there would have been no difference.

Only, the Head Captain had succeeded in subduing a total of four Captain-class enemies in a short time span. What was to say that this man wasn't capable of doing the same?

"My, my, my. You three are exactly as I expected to be," the hollowed voice spoke out from Kyōaku at least, as he observed the three of them, taking a few breathers once again after a violent bout with him. The even more scorched landscape of the burning facade of the Seireitei was just a testament of what only part of their full potentials were capable of. Taking a few steps forward, Kyōaku intended to see which of the three would reignite the flames of battle once again, "now...are you going to surrender while you still have dignity as true warriors? Or are you going to keep fighting and snarling like dogs?"

"You expect us to surrender," Noriko growled, stubbornly keeping her weapon raised. Her arms had a burning coursing throughout the muscle and bone - a sign of her own aggression in the fight. Her hands clenched the staff tightly. "When you've killed so many of us? I didn't know you Horsemen were trained to be comedians."

"You should understand." Hachiro breathed, shifting his reformed blades into a defensive position across his chest. Both of them were changing and flowing with many different colors, the indication that he had not sealed his Shikai. "If you acquired so much information about us, then you ought to know that we won't bend our knees just because an enemy said so. True warriors fight to the very death!"

"There is no shame in admitting defeat. But, if submitting to a life of darkness and imprisonment is defeat, then the only honorable thing is...TO FIGHT!!!" Kukkyōna spoke aloud in a resounding tone, his body ebbing with a fiery Spiritual Pressure aura as he raised his blades to point at the 3rd of four enemy leaders.

"Then it can't be helped I suppose," Kyōaku spoke in a resigned tone, as he raised his blade towards the three of them, his own body lighting up within a faint pink-silver aura of ominous Spiritual Power. It began to slowly but surely grow in mass and sensation, until the entirety of the war-torn simulated city began to quake and crackle under its pressure. One could faintly see a faint pink glow behind the pitch-black helm, as his murderous intent flooded the atmosphere and he spoke a dreaded sentence to seal their fates...

"Rise and Fall...!"

VMMMMMM!!!

"...Amaterasu!"

Within a brilliant pink-silver light, his black bladed rapier transformed into a beautifully jewel-enamored broadsword, stretching out and holding a good five foot length and a golden cross guard. It hummed with a radiant tune through the air, and shined brilliantly, as if crafted by the purest of deities themselves. And held in the hands of this man...it held an overwhelming certainty of evil intentions.

"Come see the difference in power between us, Captains," Kyōaku held his blade in a Kendō stance, awaiting his opponents with far more attention than he had over the past bouts he's had within their skirmish, "I will cast aside all faith you have within yourselves and believe nothing but the despair I will sow within your minds!"

"Steel yourselves." Hachiro was the first to speak out, a tentative and cautious voice reaching out to the ears of Noriko and Kukkyōna. His eyes took a moment to look over the blade, his ears perking a little at the humming sound the blade emitted. It was a rather eerie and dissonant sound to hear, especially after being near the release of such terrible energy. Though the sound was somewhat peaceful, the menace that overshadowed it was enough to unnerve him, if only for a moment. He knew that his comrades were most likely feeling the same way. So he was taking the time to keep themselves in check. "This is where the real fight begins..."

"I intend to..." Noriko said vehemently, raising her halberd over her head before swinging down.

PLOOSH!

At the command of her swing, a fissure resulting from the physical force unleashed and the cutting power of her Shikai. Merged geysers of dirt made up the visage of the energy as it tore a ditch towards its target. The buildings beside them were shoved aside, crashing and colliding with ones nearby those. Foundations crumbled, and so did the structures unfortunate enough to get caught in the attack.

"Commendable," Kyōaku muttered as he witnessed the vast destructive capabilities of Noriko's Zanpakutō once again. As the destructive fissure grew closer, he raised his blade to be parallel with his upper torso, allowing the cutting force to grow closer and closer. Within just a hair's breath of arriving...

WHISH!

...Kyōaku swung his blade into the howling energies...

BWHOOSH!

...and seemed to collapse them in on itself, totally nullifying the attack altogether, as if it never had enough power or force to even move Kyōaku. Lowering his blade, he raised his left hand out in a "come-on" gesture, almost retaining an arrogant posture without ever showing his face, "your Shikais will do no good against me anymore. You'd be lucky if even your Bankais are capable of defeating me now. C'mon. Show me this resolve of yours, Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13!"

"W-What just happened?" Kukkyōna thought with shock, as he saw the entirety of Noriko's substantial attack just seem to vanish into the winds themselves. What technique had caused this power to seemingly vanish or revert into nothingness?!

Naturally, Noriko found herself growling lowly at the demonstration of power displayed by Kyōaku, though she was just as surprised as Kukkyōna was. Earlier before, he seemed to be alert the first time she had unleashed that attack against him. But now that he had his Shikai out, all it took was one swing to dispel the attack. A simple-minded individual would have assumed it to be an increase of power. But she knew better.

Hachiro, as aware of it as Noriko was, wasn't quick to stop and stare.

In the movement of Kyōaku, he had taken to using Noriko's attack as a distraction for his own. To his enemy's six o'clock, multiple spheres of what had been Hachiro's Shikai descended upon his form, carrying enough power to rip through his body. But once they neared him, they would reveal a deadly surprise of their own.

BOOM!'

All of those nearby spheres combusted, their released power combining into an explosion that swallowed up and literally disintegrated each and every one of the nearby structures into ash. Although Hachiro managed to keep his eyes on it, his voice was directed towards his two compatriots. "Now isn't the time to zone out, you two!!" He reminded sternly. "Start hittin' 'im!!"

That was enough to shake Noriko out of her stumped stupor.

WOOSH-WOOSH-WOOSH-WOOSH-

She vanished, falling into a series of rapid Flash Steps. Each and every time she appeared, she swung her spear to unleash the devastating cutting power multiple times upon Kyōaku's location. It was a bombardment of strength and power, bringing almost all of the immediate area into more ruin than what it was.

Kukkyōna pressed his own initiative as he felt the presence of their enemy remain, even without seeing the excess of the explosion's aftermath Hachiro created. He rushed through, taking his blades and began to sling forth large fissures of flames, forming large phoenix birds that spanned a good fifteen meters from each wing to its body, streaking down with indescribable speed towards its prey.

Even as the mist cleared and what looked like a tower made of diamond-like substance stood solid and true before the destructive wave created by Hachiro's exploding spheres. It shattered upon command, and was further ripped apart throughout the atmosphere as the cutting waves Noriko created and blasted into smaller fragments as they nearly dissolved into the wind.

However, as the fragments of diamonds seemed to flourish into the wind, moving at all sides of the group's plane of standing. Then, the substances shifted and changed into a particularly high conductible material, transmuting nearly unseen and unheard, before the series of flashes formed within the sky...

CRRRRACK-FWHOOSH!

...before all of the prisms of conductible crystals formed a net of electrical energy around the trio of fighters, before condensing into a large forked web of electricity that spanned nearly all sides of their spectrum, intending on electriying them with ferocity and without mercy.

All of this done, without the single emanation that Kidō spell was cast...

Nearly.

But not fully.

And thanks to this, Hachiro was able to act.

Willingly, he released his reconstructed blades and willed them to dissipate, leaving his hands free. He swung his arms so that a palm would be pointed towards the ground, while his other arm with its palm out was across his chest. Within this movement, an orange barrier surrounded the three - even Noriko, who was a bit over their heads in her recent Flash Step. It was the creation of a Hako Okuri spell, formed and shaped accordingly to their close positions. As the lightning struck his barrier, it cast a light that silhouetted their forms. Hachiro's glasses, within the midst of this temporary silhouette, seemed to give off a menacing appearance.

He extended both hands forward, summoning the energy needed for a counter-attack. Blue electricity covered both of his hands in visibility, racing across each hand with a zealous and seemingly unstable nature. The barrier, as a sign of his immense focus, was kept up around them even as he summoned the energy for this particular Kidō spell. At the range they were at, it would've seemed a foolish move, as Kyōaku would've had enough time to either dodge or block. But, then...

PING!

With a brief flash of light, the barrier encompassing the trio was teleported right to Kyōaku's back, and within a split-second, what would have been a predictable attack was now targeted at the Horsemen's blind spot. Within a hair's breath, Hachiro dispelled the barrier and released the full power of his attack - Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō.

BOOM!

The size of the electrical blast was enough to loom over what would've been the very buildings around them, illuminating the area in a bright cerulean blue. From her position above them, a shocked Noriko could only look down at Hachiro as he unleashed the attack. However, her expression quickly changed to a bit of annoyance, which was conveyed in her shout towards him.

"You could've at least warned us before doing that, Horikawa!!"

Hachiro would've snorted if he wasn't so concentrated at the moment. "What? And give him ideas?!"

"I didn't sense any movement or fluxuations within his Spiritual Pressure. Did he get hit by that technique?" Kukkyōna queried aloud, as his eyes peered through the orange barrier that he was enraptured within. The column of smoke was thick, and the ashen-filled landscape that used to be the eastern side of the Seireitei was now embroidered within red-yellow tongues of electrically induced flames.

At least, it appeared that way.

"Very impressive, Captain Horikawa," the dreadful voice spoke out within the atmosphere, even as the smoke cleared to show a fire-laced landscape surrounding what appeared to be Kyōaku's full intact form. The fire danced around him in a menacing, harmonious orchestra of destruction, and reflected off his polished black helm, to radiate the fires of destruction around him. The only sign of contact the Kidō had upon him, was the recesses of his cape and his collar, "you almost had me with that Kidō technique. The fact you found my blindspot in just a short amount of time is remarkable in of itself...however, when you're going to use Kidō..."

SHMMMMM!

"...you should use something more potent than a Kidō of that caliber," Kyōaku's Spiritual Pressure flooded his surroundings within an instant, dousing the flames and throwing away the ashes within a single movement. The pillar of smoke was cast aside to reveal an intricate series of circular runes hovering near his backside. His left hand snapped his fingers, and sent the intricate series of instantaneously activated barriers away, and left him within the ashes of failure from his opponents once again, "try using an X-Level Kidō. You might actually do some damage next time..."

There was only one thing good about the attack - it showed that the Horseman wasn't as invincible as they initially thought.

Hachiro exhaled a breath as he straightened up, regarding Kyōaku with a hardened gaze. "Cheeky little bastard, aren't you?" He said, a corner of his mouth curling to a smirk. He was only a little surprised at the fact that his Kidō had been defended against so easily, considering Noriko's first attack on him. "Then again, I suppose that's to be expected, considering who your allies in particular are..."

SHINK!

"I will carve your name onto the skulls of your comrades, Captain Horikawa!" Kyōaka spoke aloud in his grated tone, as he stabbed his immaculate blade into the "lake" of ashen earth surrounding his proximity. Taking his left foot back, he settled into an aggressive stance...

WHOOSH!

...before slashing his blade across the ashen earth, sending a geyser of it along with the enormous cutting fissure he deployed towards his enemies in the skies. The curious thing that happened though, as when the ashes and wind were thrusted towards the Captains, they weren't just dust particles...but thousands of fiery enraptured diamond projectiles, with enough penetrative power and density to penetrate the orange-hued barriers protecting the Captains and span nearly fifty meters of the skyline around them.

Kukkyōna narrowly used Flash Step, feeling precaution was necessary in avoiding any attack the Horseman sent his way, and it was justified as he saw the white-fiery ground propelled meterorite shower that was sent towards his prior location and his comrades. How did his enemy do it?!

"...you would think that the noble would have shown a bit more pride than that."

Noriko, however, didn't seem too pleased that the man had immediately moved away from the attack. In fact, even as Kyōaku's blast raced towards the two standing in its way, she scoffed lightly. Had it not been for the roar that had closed in on them, she would've gladly belittled her rival for even performing such an act. Instead, she grabbed the staff of her halberd with both of her hands, looking down at the spearhead of the blast. The next counterattack would interrupt the flow and rhythm of her enemy's power, and the resulting damage would provide room for an attack towards the actual enemy.

When it came close enough, she raised the halberd over her head high, let out a loud yell and swung the blade.

PLOOSH!

"NNNGH~!!!" This time, it was Hachiro who was taken by surprise. He shut one eye and grit his teeth as the ground seemed to explode in front of him. A gash within the Earth though the natural smokescreen had formed, running deep into the ground and probably would have been capable of hitting Hell itself, had Noriko been aiming that for. The smokescreen spread like a sandstorm, enveloping the combat proximity very quickly in a haze.

None of this would derail Noriko from continuing the attack. She allowed herself to fall from the air in an elegant front-flip, spinning her weapon of choice with one hand as she did so. She regarded the field of vision where she would've seen Kyōaku had it been cleared with a hardened glare of her own, her pupils dilated and a furious snarl on her face. The constant spinning of the weapon seemed to have drawn in a wind around the weapon itself, and it could be felt spinning in currents with the halberd. After a second's notice, she pulled back that arm and let it fly in a pinwheel towards her designated target.

"DIE!"

PWOOM!

Within seconds, the spinning halberd had gathered enough wind power to generate a miniature tornado that would've dwarfed the buildings in size. It raced towards Kyōaku with tremendous speed, ripping through ground and structure and leaving nothing behind but fragments of what used to be.

Kyōaka eyed the monstrous cyclone heading towards his direction. His cape flourished violently in sync with the destruction that was happening around him, but his form stood firm and stoic before it. As the winds closed in on his position, his arm moved too fast for even the Captains to see, causing the cyclone to collapse on itself and return into the heavens.

But it wasn't nearly over.

Once in the skies, the clouds seemed to rumble ominously, quaking and shaking the very air currents riding along the planes of which all of the Captains stood upon. Within what seemed like eternity, a loud crackling sound raged out...

CRRRAAAACK-WHOOSH!

...and a cyclone materializing out of pure electricity compressed and blew down towards the three Captains collectively. With monsterous winds and electrical powers that raged towards them threatening to crush, shock, and throw them into a halestorm of destruction, it seemed to dwarf the entirety of their skyline view, and flashed inevitably to their doom.

Kukkyōna swung out his blades towards the lightning force, gathering flames between the space of his identical katanas, forming a sphere of fire. Then, he let loose a pillar of flame with a mighty shout...

"Hai-Fū Taihō!"

VRRRRROAAAAR!

...sending a roaring blast of compressed, focused, and released pyrotechnic energy towards the overwhelming force of nature heading their way. It was within this moment, that his eyes were lit of resolve and the determination to live through this. He just hoped his comrades could collesce their techniques with his and somehow ward off the majority of the blast heading their way.

Luckily, the two weren't far behind him.

Hachiro was immediate to follow up, considering Noriko would have to wait for her halberd to come back to her. He swung his hands out, calling the orbs that were his Shikai to materialize and circle around the massive tornado in an attempt to help suppress it. In the vibrant bluish-white of the lightning, each and every individual bead could be seen with clear detail as they restrained the cyclone. The Captain gritted his teeth as he fought against the attack.

That was when Noriko's weapon came back to her.

SLICE!

With a single swipe of the halberd, she created a split within the electrical tornado and caused it to scatter. The electricity spread outwards in the form of lightning that rained down upon the area.

Within the moment of breaking apart, the lightning blast offered the perfect sensory and visual cover for Kyōaku's next move.

SHFT-SLICE!

Within a single movement, Kyōaka appeared before Kukkyōna and synchronized a instaneous slash from his blade upon arrival within his Flash Step. This attack was barely registered until a geyser of blood flew from Kukkyōna's chest, causing him to reel backwards before stumbling across the air, as Kyōaka moved around and flourished his blade in an indescribable brilliant arc...

SHINK!

...aiming to cut a similar gash open upon Hachiro's torso and another aimed specifically upon the base of the halberd's most vital point. The point of which where the metal of the blade met the staff itself. Kyōaka didn't aim to severely wound the girl, but cripple her most primary form of attack and eliminate her as the biggest threat of the three, if they could keep fighting after the injuries he would project upon the three.

It was a quick and precise maneuver - one that almost took even Hachiro off guard.

But fortunately, his Shikai, though not within a sword state at the moment, was quick to help him.

PANG!

A sphere slammed into the blade just as it came within a hair's breath of Hachiro, passing by with enough force to knock the wielder off-balance. Consecutively, this kept what would've been the second attack on Noriko's blade out of play and allowed her to make her own attack. Without hesitation, she swung the halberd upwards in an attempt to cut the man in half from the crotch up. While naturally it was an attempt to kill him, it was also an effort to shatter the helmet donned around the man's head.

If they couldn't kill him, they had to at least find out his identity...

Kyōaku's movement was as instaneous as the slash the Captain made from her halberd. Even as he avoided the city-trenching fissure that was created by the vacuum force that caved in nearly the whole Seireitei, sending a mountain of earth and established burning wreckage into the crack of earth that was made within the materialized world they battled in.

Within the next few movements, it appeared as if the attack missed entirely.

SHFT-WHAM-BLAM!

As Kyōaku moved with a nigh invisible momentum, Kyōaku's blurring form could only be slightly registered as his speed exceeded theirs briefly. A hand thrust into Noriko's abdomen, imbuing it with a powerful shockwave of Shō-laced energy that would send her careening away, and a violent slashing force sent towards Hachiro, intending on sending a disassembling wave of degenerative energies towards him, disposing of him immediately.

But within the midst of these actions...

C-CRK!

...his helmet appeared to shift vertically in a perfect line...

C-C-CRACK!

...before the helmet was split in a series of sparks and searing circuits, revealing the dazed face of a young man, sporting dark brown hair and a pair of bewildered eyes, as his prized invention was split in half and sent falling to the ground far below.

WHAM!

Noriko let out a yelp as she was struck in the stomach, her body flying away from the combatants. It was enough to knock almost all of the wind out of her lungs and prevent her from recovery. She skidded on her back, leaving a trail of dirt and dust behind her as she did so. But, compared to Hachiro's consequence, she had gotten the least of the receiving end.

SLICE!

All he could do was bolster up his reiryoku to provide a sufficient defense, for the speed had briefly overtaken him. The blade slashed him from the left side of his face down, earning a plentiful spill of blood as a reward. The force was enough to jerk his head downwards, his expression carrying nothing but shock as he felt the blade run through his flesh. From the front, it would've looked as if he had been cut in half. But as his body was forced away from Kyōaku due to the force of the attack, it was clear that was not the case.

From that moment on, there was nothing but silence. With a form hunched over slightly and a hand partially holding the gash delivered to his torso, Hachiro allowed his remaining eye to drift up to the man's revealed face. The surprise was evident, and it was clear that at least he of all three of them had seen that face from before. He closed his eye, a smile slowly crawling up to his face. "Well, well... the Horseman's face has finally been revealed for all to see. Hasn't it..."

The lone blue eye looked up to meet Kyōaku's.

"...Augustus Excelsior?"

Lunar Requiem, A Long Awaited Conflict! Part I
While the majority of the Inner Circle's forces and allies alike were being pushed back, there were a few remaining rogue elements that were still causing trouble.

One of those such elements were Yashin's Hantā, having explicably engaged particular targets of interest to keep the other Inner Circle commandos from suffering their impending and inevitable wrath, as well as kill any interesting persons of note. One of the newest acquirements to the Hantā's ranks was none other than Rana Zolinder herself.

Carving a path through steel and blood, the newly annointed vessel of Yashin Shiyōnin's wore a specially crafted uniform depicting her new alleigiance. Wearing forearm braces fastened of special Kidō metal fabrications, as well as shin guards attached to metalic boots, and a spirit-chain-mailed grieves interweaved with her natural hakama skirt and newly acquired cloak. With black and red colors bordering upon each other, and a finely crafted rapier in hand, her red ponytail scorched the air in sync with her crimson eyes, as she sought the one object of her manslaughter rampage: Cortez Selestino, the Primera of the Espada Afilado!

Halting a brief moment, Rana allowed herself a brief exhale, as she could detect the fluxuation within her Pesquisa that could none other be the Primera herself. Turning her head towards her direction, she spoke aloud, "And here I thought the leaders of endangered sovereignties should be hiding? I am pleased that is an incorrect notion, for it would be a waste to hunt you down when you're naturally drawn to me," raising her blood-soaked blade towards her, she snarled out her next words gutturally, "Primera!"

To be honest, Casilda would've simply walked right by Rana had the latter not spoke up when she did.

Abruptly, she stopped within her tracks, her eyes widening in surprise and recognition of the voice. Her head turned just in time to meet the eyes of her old foe, and her body slowly turned to face the woman. She held that look for a moment, while mentally scolding herself for allowing that particular enemy to slip out of her mind. Of course she was going to be alive. But now, she was working for the very enemy that aimed to destroy their race?

No, not work for. She remembered the words of Lobo very well. She was being controlled to an extent, her rage used as puppet strings for the Inner Circle. Slowly, her expression regressed to a calm and casual demeanor. "Well, well..." She said coolly, taking a few nonchalant steps forward. "I really wasn't expecting you to come back, Rana. After the invasion of Hueco Mundo, I was hoping that Aizen's forces would have destroyed you before you sought me out again. But I guess my luck's just a bit rotten today..."

"I've been too busy to meld with your deranged lot, Cortez!" Rana spoke out venomously, lowering her blade low enough just to make it conventional for her to take a few measured steps towards her enemy, "they're well beyond saving. If I allow them to be purged, however, and wait patiently for the next generation of Hollowity to emerge from the shadows, I will then lead them to a beautiful, more elegant paradise than the false one you promised them!"

"Lead?" Casilda couldn't help but laugh softly at the declaration. "Don't kid yourself. A leader would stand and fight with their brothers and sisters to the bitter end, not side with their executors. A leader By doing this, all you're allowing yourself to do is betray your own kind. How can you expect to be a leader under those circumstances, hm?" She gripped the hilts of her dual swords, slowly drawing them out and brandishing them defensively.

"Regardless, I'm not under any obligation to let you do as you please. You may have been an enemy before, Rana. But now, you're nothing but a lowdown traitor." Slowly, her eyes narrowed into a hardened gaze, glaring daggers at her challenger. "And I really, really don't take kindly to the ones who'd turn against their own for their own personal gain. So come, cut me down if you can. This time, I'm not going to give you a chance to run away."