Down From The Throne

The Dynamic Duo
"Stupid flying chicken...!" Gaikou didn't feel right- interrupting a battle between two rivals wasn't a good thing at all. "Fine, fine! But I'm cooking you..." She focused on the battle...noticing that Toyotomi was just about to attack Ahatake with his massive blade, she launched a holy arrow forward- striking the demon in the armpit, pushing it to the side.

"The blazes what that!?" Toyotomi looked around; confused. "...Did something just hit me, or was it my imagination..."

Ahatake made a large gasp, finally taking a breath as the attacks let up. His entire body was racked with pain, even though he'd managed to fend off the strikes with his blade, his arms felt damaged, as if the muscles were getting torn. He looked up into the hole that shows the sky. How far had Toyotomi beaten him down into the ground? He groaned, sitting up, and made a leap out of the hole he'd been crushed into, landing shakily on his feet. "About damn time...Gaikou."

"Well, this is totally against my code-" She paused. "But I suppose if that stupid flying chicken keeps trying to take my eyes out, it can't be helped." She sighed, as she aimed her gauntlet towards Toyotomi, firing a volley of holy arrows towards him.

Toyotomi raised his shield to defend himself from her attack. "A Destruction Monk now? I thought you guys were wiped off the map."

"That honestly doesn't sound like a bad thing right now." Ahatake glared at Gaikou, his tone laced with bitterness. "Is that how you treat allies, Gaikou? I'm getting killed out here and you can't even lend me a hand? What the hell kind of treatment is that!?"

"It's just that in a manga, a hero must fight the rival by himself! It's always been like that, and it hasn't changed!" She called out to him, annoyed. "If I interrupted that, it'd break formula!"

Ahatake cast her a look that showed he obviously believe she belonged in a mental institution. "Are? You? An? Idiot?" He asked, walking over to her, slamming his fist down on her head. "This isn't a manga! This isn't a story! This is real and he can kill us!"

"But you're not supposed to mention stuff like that!" Gaikou snapped back- to somebody else, she looked like she was high on bath salts or something. "If you mention that, then who knows what'll happen-"

"I'm still here, you know." Toyotomi tapped his foot on the ground, looking on in bemusement. "What exactly are you blabbering on about?"

"Don't even ask." Ahatake snapped back, gripping his sword. His body was rocking with pain, and to be honest, he'd love nothing more than to collapse on the ground and fall unconscious. But he wasn't done yet. His conviction wasn't so weak he'd fall now; he'd end this! "Gaikou, I need you to assist me here! Together, we can topple this bastard!"

Gaikou nodded, "Right, right." She aimed her gauntlet towards Toyotomi, charging up reishi before releasing it in the form of a myriad of crossbow bolts. "Now, out of nowhere!"

Toyotomi, however, raised his shield once more, deflecting the shots nonchalantly. "Thanks for wasting my time." However, what he didn't notice was that a single arrow managed to make a small hole on his shield. "Tch...! Such pests." Toyotomi turned his attentions now to Gaikou. Her attacks like power, but they could prove annoying. He motioned for the knight to raise his, and as it was prone to do, it followed his orders, raising the large blade high into the air before swinging it straight down towards Gaikou.

Gaikou used Sparrow Leg in order to evade Toyotomi's attack- vanishing in a flash of azure, zooming around to the man's other side. For a second there, she thought she saw a blindspot...and fired....Only to be repulsed back. "Nope!" She called out to Ahatake, "You'll need to keep looking! This guy seems like an end-game villain with his powers, not a starter!"

"She's right..." Myōbu lamented their circumstances. "His Shikai is infamous for being more similar to a Bankai in it's form and execution. There hasn't been a Shikai like Banbutsu Sōzō in the history of Soul Society."

Toyotomi knew she was right. His power was unequaled by Lieutenant's in the past and present of Soul Society. This power was his birthright, and he would use it to sweep everything away! The entity, surprisingly, began to make spiral motions, its sword now swinging around like a ceiling fan; rising up and down to slice everything into ribbons. Nearby buildings were erased from the force of the wind, and even Myōbu had to steady herself and catch a hold of Mokin. Ahatake, on the other hand, was blown clear back into a wall, unable to maintain his balance in such a pained state.

Gaikou herself rushed over to Ahatake's side once more using Sparrow Leg- it seemed that this lumbering titan wouldn't go down so easily. Taking a moment to hesitate, Gaikou's expression changed to something far more serious, as she withdrew a unique-looking seal which seemed to be spiked, as she declared, "Here we go..."

Toyotomi cast the seal a wary look; if the girl was drawing it out now, she must be placing her hopes in it. "What is it...some Quincy artifact? I won't give her the chance!" With surprising speed, the entity's sword came crashing downward towards Gaikou, Toyotomi intent on preventing her from using the seal in her hand.

Gaikou immediately utilized Sparrow Leg again- dashing out of the way as to prevent herself from being squashed flat. "...Ahatake, buy me some time." She paused, immediately going on, "Because this is hard to get open!"

"Dammit, I can barely even move!" Ahatake snapped at her in irritation; and suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Everything seemed to freeze — whether time was really freezing, or his perception was being altered was beyond him — and he turned to see the spirit of Katenare; covered once again in only her bandages.

"You aren't worth much, are you?" She asked him, sounding rather irritated. "Someone of his level is giving you trouble? And I'm supposed to call you my wielder?"

Ahatake gritted his teeth. He hadn't exactly got on with this woman before, and apparently she could just manifest whenever she damn well felt, rules of the universe be damned by the looks of it, to give him a talking to. "It's not like I'm willingly try to lose. It's difficult to fight something that large, and my body hurts so badly I can barely stand up!"

"Ah yes, that..." She sighed, and the hand on his shoulder went from "warm" to "hot", and the heat only increased. "I'm going to lend you a hand here. You obviously can't manage, and you dying would be a sore point for both of us; you aren't the best wielder, but it sure beats fading back into nothingness."

Ahatake's body began to heat up, and a massive aura of nothing but flames surrounded him, erupting around his body in a furious aura. "What's this....my spiritual energy...it's absolutely overflowing."

"That's right." She smirked, placing a hand on her barely concealed hip. Ahatake noted her body markings were now emitting a faint glow. "This is only a fraction of our shared power; you're not ready for everything. But it should be enough to buy some time. Now go!"

"Right!" Ahatake agreed, and he noticed time was starting to move again. "Thank you, Katenare!"

"Oi, call me 'Sexy'!" She berated him as she faded from his view. Within seconds, everyone's eyes, even Gaikou's, were on Ahatake now, his flaming aura emitting a stunning heat and glow.

Gaikou immediately stopped paying attention to Ahatake; she was more focused on opening her capsule in order to unleash a can of whoop-ass on this Toyotomi dude. "Alright, it's open..." However, nothing happened...yet. "Oh, come on. This isn't fair."

"How boring." Toyotomi sneered- with a single hand motion, he immediately ordered the knight surrounding his body to slam down with it's massive sword upon Ahatake- while he began to move it's shield towards Gaikou, not willing to take any chances.

Ahatake, however, dodged the sword with ease, his speed remarkable as he appeared next to Gaikou, pushing her away from the shield. He then made a leap, running along the demon's outstretched arm once more, grinning madly. "I don't know what's happening to me, but I like it! My body feels completely pain free, it's like every wound has been healed, and my spirit energy is overflowing from my body! I feel incredible!"

"Good for you." Gaikou snarked at him. "Shut up and fight the bastard while I work this out." She continued to poke and flip things on the capsule, trying to incite a reaction in it.

"Dammit..." Toyotomi attempted to raise the shield in order to try and defend himself, but it was too late.

"So he can bring the shield back..." Ahatake thought to himself. That would certainly be annoying, but he could work around it. He dashed forward, his speed increased to remarkable levels; and was face to face with the head of the Shikai once more. His blade erupted with a powerful flow of flames and he swung, releasing a blast of pure fire that contorted into an arrow-shaped point. He'd never seen that before, but he didn't care. "Hit the mark!" He urged it on.

"Guh." Toyotomi spluttered for a second- Ahatake's blow had hit the mark indeed. The flame had melted the armour of the demon's face away- simply leaving two big, glowing eyes staring at Ahatake. "Just get out of my sights!" They seemed to let out a powerful pulse, sending a volley of lasers towards Ahatake's location.

"Shit...!" Ahatake braced himself, raising his blade up and using it's flat side as a shield to deflect the majority of the lasers; several, however, slipped straight through his guard, connecting with his legs and torso and causing him to double over in pain. "Gaikou...! Anytime now!"

"Here it is!" A violent eruption of spiritual energy surged forth from the container, illuminating the skies a powerful violet colour. All were left in awe of this magnificent sight- as Toyotomi looked upwards in shock,

"Quincy, could do...this?"

Gaikou adjusted her glasses so that her pupils weren't visible- adding an air of intimidation to her. "That's right. Now, Quincy Secret Silver Tube Technique: Surging Destruction!" The spiritual energy shot forth as it was changed into a single form- an enormous spear of purple energy, shooting towards Toyotomi...

"Impossible!" Toyotomi raised his shield up in front of him; the spear collided with the shield in a furious clash, before quickly overpowering it, shattering it into several pieces before it ripped through the entity, making it's way towards Toyotomi...where it was quickly met with another wall, which it shattered, exploding as it collided with Toyotomi himself, causing the entire area to erupt in a blast of spiritual energy.

"Is...is it over?" Ahatake asked weakly, before he simply collapsed, falling unconcious.

"Yeah, it is..." Gaikou wiped her forehead- which was copiously sweating. Her reishi gauntlet fell off of her hand as the capsule evaporated into thin air- she collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.

Toyotomi, however, had simply fallen unconscious from the sheer power of that last clash.

"I'd normally suggest killing him..." Myōbu looked at Toyotomi warily. "But his Shikai is large enough to attract attention; in fact, I can feel several spiritual energies headed this way, it's more than likely the Relief Division. Besides..." She jerked her head at Ahatake. "Your boyfriend is bleeding out, we really should retreat for now and heal his wounds, and yours."

Gaikou nodded; barely concious herself. She felt herself slowly nodding off; as if she were about to sleep. "Uh...huh...get him fixed, I'm going to just sleep for a bit. And you should unlock a new sword form so you can guard us or something..." With that, she passed out.

"Come on, Mokin." Myōbu quickly slung Ahatake over her shoulders; Mokin made commendable effort to pull at Gaikou, somehow succeeding in dragging her along. "God, this body is a pain..." She groaned.

"Mokin, let's retreat to the sewers. I can heal them in private there." Myōbu sighed; things were only about to get worse from here on out.

END