The War of Four: Dark Revelations

The Foreboding Journery, Imminent Danger Beyond the Horizon!
When meeting up with the convoy, Daisuke began to get a real sense of why a lot of the Soul Reapers unaffiliated with the Gotei 13 dreaded being assigned to guard the prisoners. There is such a...dark presence hanging around them. Not just around the ones who are known bloodthirsty psychopaths or known criminals, it was also the ones who stared at the wall with a blank empty expression. Most of these prisoners weren't fit to be in the Maggot's nest because of their murderous brutality or their unusually high intelligence, some cases a little bit of both added with mental instability.

Most of the prisoners were kept on large carriages with thick Sekisekki armor plating around the hull, with a good majority of the inmates bound tightly in straightjackets with the same Spirit binding mineral chains wrapped around their ankles and segmented into the interior of the carriage. However, with the rarity of the said mineral, only half of the more actively hostile inmates were kept in the more secure ones while the more docile were kept in reinforced carriages with simple chains and bindings. One of them, held Shidai Kagai, though strangely enough...the name held no real meaning to the Warden who was in charge of the transportation.

"Strange," Daisuke said as he trotted alongside the carriage that moved itself with steam power, having a slow yet steady speed as it moved through the forest lands towards the Land of Yūrei, "why doesn't anyone seem to know the name Shidai Kagai? If a mastermind criminal could know of the entire release and exchange of so many prisoners, how come we don't even know who the man is?" He looked over to his Captain in query as he spoke his thoughts.

"It's just how close criminals can connect to one another, Daisuke..."

Hachiro took in a deep breath through the nose, breathing in the smell of the air and looking up at the sky. Above their heads and dominating the sky was a number of five Dragonbirds, each of them operated by a lone pilot. The straight flight path that they took as well as their hovering directly over the convoy presented a rather eerie and intimidating visage. It would certainly make any enemy force think twice before assuming this particular convoy to be an easy defense. This, as well as the mass group of foot mobiles from the 9th Division, would make it seem as if they were a force going to war instead of simply defending a convoy.

"We and they are on different sides of the coin..." He continued to say, switching his gaze over to Daisuke. "Enemies are unable to connect with one another outside of aggression, hatred, and violence. They do their best to distance themselves from each other, even though they insist on finding new ways to destroy one another. Birds of a feather, however, are bound to know each other more closely... even if it is by something so simple as a name."

"Do you think the Inner Circle posed the invitation to the masses?" Ryōken asked Hachiro out of curiosity, walking alongside him as he crossed his arms in posture, "it would make sense to use a lot of second rates to slow or weather us down before they initiate their own forces...the promise of a fortune could drive a lot of desperate fools to attempt to take on the convoy, no matter how prepared or equipped we are."

"They may, they may have not..." Hachiro agreed. "But to tell the truth, I don't think who initiated the message matters more than the actual tactic itself. In all cases, we need to conserve ourselves while in this and be mindful of our resources. Otherwise, we'll end up expending ourselves in that situation and leave ourselves vulnerable to the real attack."

"That means we'll have to take them out fast and hard, not waste too much time on the lackeys, huh?" Daisuke translated in a blunt verbage but kept a calm disposition about his own features, pocketing his hands in his special black high collared overcoat.

"More or less," Ryōken shrugged, faintly tapping his Zanpakuto's hilt as he continued walking, "though if any of these second rates are using firearms, that's probably going to be putting us in a bad position to keep the convoy both secure and protected."

An amused grin came across Hachiro's face. "What's the matter, Ryō?" He teased, chuckling a little. "Can't handle a little gunfire?"

"After what that V-14 group did to the 10th Division? I'd rather not risk being blown to bits without a few barriers around a moving convoy, but that's not going to happen, is it?!" Ryōken said a little exasperatedly, remembering himself having to explain the damage and carnage that the acclaimed mercenary organization inflicted on Captain Takuji's men and on the realestate of the Southeastern Rukonagi District.

"Who knows?"

After those haunting words, Hachiro let out a nonchalant laugh and switched his gaze to the surroundings, gazing at the several separate squads serving as sentries for each vehicle holding the prisoners in check. "As I've stated before, my men are always well-prepared for the unexpected. What happened to the 10th Division is nothing that my men can't adjust to. I can assure you that they can be just as reliable as any barrier that the Kidō Corps can conjure up. And besides..." He jerked a thumb towards the vehicle that they were walking beside. "We have a trump card on our side, remember?"

What he was pointing to was none other than Sakura, who had chosen to sit on the top of the carriage. One leg was shifted over the other, her hands placed in a relaxed manner on the roof. All in all, she was acting like this was nothing more than a normal trip from one location to another, with even a casually innocent expression on her face to boot.

Ryōken stroked his chin, smiling lightly as he pondered, "Well, when you put it that way...the only reason we'd be in any trouble is if she wanted to watch the battle instead of participating in it...but she does love to participate!"

"She probably is seeing this as a vacation, that Sakura-chan," Daisuke joked, chuckling at the look she was giving off, treating this as nothing more than a stroll through the proverbial park.

"Considering her status? She's probably seen this a million times over..." Hachiro said. "In fact, I'd bet she'd be able to take on the bunch of 'em by herself if she could. So it's a very good thing she happens to be Daisuke's girl, eh?"

"You're making it sound like I'm pulling her strings or something," Daisuke frowned at Hachiro, a vein protruded from his forehead as he glared at his Captain, "for the record, we have something special, not an arrangement where I can call her to vaporize whomever we need to defeat. She's coming along cause she wants to, that should be good enough for everyone, least of all you people..."

"Hey now, kiddo," Ryōken held up his hands defensively on behalf of both himself and Hachiro, "Hachiro-san's got a point. Since she decided to come along, she might as well take point instead of enjoying the scenery, just saying. She did say she was already involved and didn't mind getting any deeper..."

"That's what concerns me," Daisuke said as he looked at her briefly before looking ahead in a pondering stare, "she deflects with blunt, casual conversation or crass behavior when something's bothering or disturbing her. Before all this happened, it looked like she was seeing ghosts in her mind or something. I dunno...maybe since she's a Hankami, she has some sort've precognition of what's going to happen..."

"You think she would tell us if that were the case?" Hachiro inquired, raising a slight eyebrow.

"She's like an ocean of emotions," Daisuke shrugged as he answered cryptically, "sometimes its plain as day to see what she's thinking or feeling at a moment, like the calm tide washing on a beach. But other times, she has seven dozen masks intricately layered with every kind've emotion or feeling you can think of to keep herself secret and safe. For all I know, she probably wants to go cause it has to do something with her brothers..."

"I really hope its not the one who defeated the Monitor," Ryōken scratched the back of his neck uneasily remembering the collosal clash between the two Hankami sibblings in the post-apocalyptic world the Plinian Eruption temporarily created, "I think we can all do without something that overkilling dramatic."

"Agreed..." Even Hachiro winced a little at the mention of the clash. He had been told about it courtesy of Daisuke, and to be honest, every little detail something he was sure to give nightmares had it been anyone else that had been told the story. It was certainly not enjoyable to hear that he had been literally assimilated into the force of the landscape itself...

"We really don't need to-" Daisuke began to say, when all of a sudden a distant pulse of presences broke the airspace above them. Locking his eyes upwards, he then saw what looked like a large compilation of a number of bat-like creatures heading downwards. Except, that when he focused his vision, they appeared to be humanoid...and veering off in non-like bird patterns, and opening fire on the Dragonbirds while a spearhead detachment headed for the center of the platoon, opening fire a number of Kidō bolts towards the company of armed Soul Reapers, "crap!"

"Incoming!" Ryōken shouted out as he used Flash Step to avoid a stray bolt, reappearing ontop of one of the carriages, drawing his Zanpakuto and deflecting a few of the stray shots from the non-Sekisekki armored transport.

It was the first attack that made the first casualty.

The projectiles that had been fired tore straight through the wing of their target. The animal in turn let out a screaming cry, flapping its lone wing helplessly as it descended towards the ground. The pilot panicked, grasping onto the feathers and bracing himself against the body of the fallen beast. His mouth yelled into the radio earpiece for all to hear. "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, DELTA 5 LOSING ALTITUDE!! I'M GOING DOWN--!!"

That was all that he could get out before the Dragonbird crashed into the earth with a shockwave, nearly sweeping the foot-mobiles nearby off of their feet. Somehow, even against the pressure, they managed to keep their balance just in time to see the birds attack them. Quickly, they unsheathed their blades and barely deflected the projectiles that approached them until they swept over their heads.

"AMBUSH! TWELVE O' CLOCK! SKY HIGH!" One of them shouted, pointing a finger up towards the sky to emphasis the statement.

"No shit, genius!!!" Another one snarled back. "Any more new news you wanna share with us?!"

"Men!!!"

Hachiro's voice rang loud and clear over the battlefield as he turned to face the subordinates nearest to him. He swung his arms out, and between his gloved fingers spawned several Kiriken swords. He held them between the crevaces like claws, brandishing them in a dangerous and threatening fashion. His stance, the way he seemed to tower over the other soldiers, and his voice was enough to get the attention of nearly every troop within the area - even as they were fighting.

"These scoundrels have allowed themselves to cross the 9th Division in the hopes to release the plague we have contained!!" He declared, a feral smile dawning his face as he crossed his arms in an X-formation. "They dared to think that they could be the ones to bring us down to our knees!! To that end, I give you these orders!! Do not let them through our defenses!! Show them no mercy!! Show them what the power of the Soul Society is truly capable of in the face of its enemies!!"

Upon emphasis of the statement, he hurled one handful and then the other.

Both of the blade groups hit several of the targets, the energy spilling blood over the battlefield. In turn, the corpses that lost their life also lost their altitude and fell. They crashed into the ground, uprooting the very earth in a geyser with the power of the descent.

"ATTACK!!"

That display was enough to spur them all on.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!!!!!"

Letting out a battle cry, the 9th Division soldiers charged and leaped, using their Flash Steps to leap into the fray against the bat-like attackers. The result was nothing short of chaotic violence. Heads flew, and so did arms and limbs as the two sides collided. However, it was becoming clear that despite their large numbers, it was not enough to handle their experience.

On the carriage, Sakura had not allowed herself to move. A slow grin came across her face as she looked over to Daisuke. "You really need lessons from your Captain when it comes to charming women like me, Daisuke-kun..." She said in amusement, allowing herself to stand up on the carriage. Her stance practically exuded anticipation and excitement, her hand grasping and unsheathing her own personal blade in a slow and deliberate manner.

The bat-garbed attackers screamed and yelled in confusion and outrage as their numbers were over a course of a few minutes cut down to half. Their bolts hardly striking the Soul Reapers swift movements, as their Flash Steps overwhelmed their constructed aerial design, barely able to fixate their bayonettes to ward off some of the aerial driven Reapers away from their wings and their persons.

A particular wing of nearly a dozen dipped out of the tree line, aiming to attack the carriage Sakura stood on, firing in a clear-sounding rap-a-tap cracking sound of auto-firearms, exuding a number of projectiles with enough power to cut flesh but not steel itself. Low-grade penetration and power in exchange for spray fire, a tactic used by lesser organized groups.

However...

Shft!

Daisuke appeared behind Sakura before he allowed her to engage or be caught in the stray bolts aiming to catch her and the carriage. His eyes blazed as his Zanpakuto became engulfed in sparks as he spoke aloud the release call, with a fiery passion that thirsted for the death of enemies daring to attack his comrades.

"Blaze Eternally!"

Swing-SPRACK!

"Kyōi Abāta!" With a powered swing, he sent a unspoken form of Jigoku Dangan, the highly pressurized pyrotechnic warhead flew towards the lead man, moving at such unparalleled speeds he couldn't veer course when it made impact.

BRACK-BOOOOOOOOM!

Following up with a violently earthshaking explosion of flames that caused all of their cries to be silenced by the magnanomiously explosive display of power, creating a buffeting shockwave and wind that seemed to cause a few of the bat-garbed criminals to veer off course and crash or land in the midst of very pissed 9th Division members, sealing their doom with a series of sword strikes and blood spurts into the air.

Ryōken fought as well, using a series of swift Flash Step movements to appear at a anticipated area where a bat-soldier would appear, swiftly cutting them down through their torsos, limbs, or even the wing, sending them sprawling at high speeds to the point where they'd be incapacitated or killed upon impact. At a group of incoming attackers firing at him, he showed a cold, dispassionate look as he expertly flourished his blade with one hand to parry the shots while keeping his body still.

His left hand glowed a bright blue as he prepped a spell, his eyes flashed widely as the soldiers passed over him. Outstretching his hand at the passing over enemies, he then called out, "Sokatsui!"

SPRACK-BRRRRACK!

A discharge of a wide blast of incinerative blue-tinted spiritual energy caught them all in the backs, causing their packs to explode as well as burn them alive within the air, causing them all to be caught in a series of their own individually instaneous expirations of their lives.

The Dragonbirds, having pulled out of evasive maneuvers and were now sweeping back in a coordinated attack pattern, was certainly not showing less mercy.

When the four remaining birds swooped in, they unleashed their own burning blaze via the fires that erupted from their mouths. This, combined with Ryōken's Sokatsui spell, made for a literal hell for the opposing force as they were caught in the intense heat. The screams of agony from the victims were outclassed by the screams of battle fury from the 9th Division members as they fought off the enemy assault.

And speaking of Hell...

With a Voom of the Haya movement, Sakura vanished from her spot on the carriage and leapt into the fray. Her face was livid, her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. The twisted smile that she had always carried into battle was now plastered onto her face, her sword flashing as it moved towards its targets. Her speed was untraceable, and her strikes hit with terrifying accuracy. With each and every passing second, she was cutting down squadrons of enemies... and she wasn't even exhausting herself.

"YOU DARE TO STRIKE DOWN THE QUEEN OF HELL?!" She snarled out. "PREPARE TO RECIEVE YOUR RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT, YOU FOOLISH MORTALS!!!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!!!"

Hachiro let out a ferocious yell, already doing the same. Although obviously slower than Sakura, it was clear that he was crushing their forces with just as much ease as she was. His two Zanpakutō blades cut cleanly through spines, torsos, heads, limbs and wings alike. The glow from his reflected glasses as well as the faux slasher's smile on his face was enough to produce an intimidating aura that rivaled Sakura's, despite the the obvious power differences. Out of the defense group, they were proving to be the straight-up monsters of carnage.

And, within minutes of its conception, the battle was over.

Pock marks of stray projectile and shrapnel fire lined everywhere. Flames from explosions, Kidō, and Daisuke's Zanpakuto, with the occasional corpse that was left intact only because a fatal fall or a swift death by Ryōken's clean lethal strikes of his own.

Daisuke vaulted over a carriage, looking to the highest seated officer whom began checking the carriages and their own numbers, "Report, I want to know the state of the carriages' containment and our casualties."

"Lieutenant, we have no fatalities within the 9th Division, but we do have a handful of wounded, some are incapacitated to the point where they can't fight at full capacity. We're keeping them in the emergency carriage we keep for supplies and Medevac until further notice. One of the first casualties for the Dragonbird squad was officially declared KIA, he was dead along with his steed when they hit the ground. The rest of the Dragonbird squad is officially within capability of continuing their aerial support," he then looked over at the carriages with a relieved look, "and the carriages remained intact, thanks to the Captains' swift reprise and the woman who's escorting with us."

"Good work, 13th Seat Kagura," Daisuke said with a pleased smile, clasping him on the shoulder before pointing to the rest of the compilation of the 9th Division members, "why don't you get some rest before we continue. We're scouting out the new terrain for possible ambushes and ways to skirt the enemy in the meantime."

"Thank you sir!" Kagura bowed before taking off to join some of the men, laughing and joking as they huddled together around the armored carriages they've been ordered to keep posted nearby.

"Ah, that felt great!!"

Slinging the blood off of her blade, Sakura let her body shiver in ectasy briefly before sheathing it. Although the slasher's smile had lessened considerably now that the battle was over, it was still prominent. She placed a hand on her hip, letting her other arm hang by her side as she approached Daisuke. "I gotta admit, I don't think it's been a while since I got to cut loose like that. Hope another batch shows up soon, because my fingers are already starting to itch..."

"Certainly far from the lady of war, aren't you?" Hachiro remarked, putting on a smile of amusement as he approached the two. It earned a chuckle from Sakura.

"Sorry, old timer. Try being a lady where the fires burn at their hottest. I guarantee any of the earthly women here would fall just as hard as me."

"Still the reveler in the blood gushing, eh, Sakura-chan?" Daisuke asked with a knowing smile, walking up beside her as he wrapped an arm around her and whispered, "keep going on like this and you'll end up taking away our Captains' dignity with all the kills and carnage you create."

"Dignity?" Sakura whispered back, leaning to him in order to increase the effectiveness of her whispering. "Did you see the way he was acting out there? I might as well have been following his lead! Besides..." Her smirk turned a little devious. "You didn't seem to be too much better than I was. I could feel you getting hot under the collar a mile away."

Daisuke felt himself blush. Not at the notion of her teasing tone, but at the fact his Captain and his peer were watching with innate amusement, with a definite for the latter and presumption for the prior. "Y-Yeah, well, my comrades' lives were on the line as well as the mission. Holding back isn't my forte, after all...blame my Zanpakuto!"

"Hey love birds!" Ryōken spoke aloud with immense, teasing pleasure, "why don't you share what your topic of choice is? I know Hachiro-san and I would love to know your dirty gossip, don't we?!" He nodded and winked over to Hachiro as he crossed his arms and raised a brow at the two, further causing Daisuke to simmer and hotten under the embarassing corner he dug himself into.

Unfortunately, Sakura was not so embarrassed.

"Oh..." She drawled, grinning coyly as she hugged Daisuke tighter to her. "We were just talking about how naughty Daisuke-kun was being... I'd go into details, but..." She closed one eye in a wink. "I don't think he would like me bragging..." All of this was enough to make Hachiro chuckle a little at the double-meaning, clearly finding as much funniness in it as Ryōken did.

"..." Daisuke could remain silent as the ridicule caused him to blush a hot red coloration across his neck and face, rolling his high collar high enough to hide his face as he began walking away, muttering under his breath about girlfriends and Captains siding against him.

Ryōken stopped laughing enough to arch a brow as he felt...a sudden presence from afar. More like a bad feeling in the back of his mind and in his gut. Turning around, he looked up a cliffside overlooking the forestlands and the path the convoy currently is taking. Narrowing his eyes at the far off peak, he almost swore he saw...something, watching them. He shook his head before seeing Daisuke walk off, calling after him with his left gloved hand halfway cupped near his mouth, "Where you going, Lieutenant?! Running away from your duty?! HAHAHAHA!!"

"...?"

This wasn't lost to Hachiro and Sakura, either.

Both of them turned their heads towards the location in where Ryōken had looked. Sakura allowed herself to walk to stand beside the senior Captain and frown, her eyebrows furrowing. "You sense it too, don't you...?" She asked quietly. "There's something more that's going to be coming our way very soon, and it's going to be more than simple goons swinging their clubs around like Neanderthals..."

"Nervous?" Hachiro inquired, smirking a little when Sakura snorted at his question.

"Don't be ridiculous, old man. Or did you already forget who I am?"

A deep chuckle escaped the Captain's lips. "Good to hear, good to hear..." Folding his arms behind his back, he allowed himself to turn away from Sakura. "It's nice to know that even from the depths of Hell lies undominable spirit." With that being said, he walked off to leave her alone, presumably so that he could direct his subordinates and assert control over the situation at hand. After all, he was a man of morale...

As he walked away, Sakura closed her eyes, lowered her head, and folded her arms across her chest. "...is this how you want to play the game...?" She muttered. "Playing snake in the grass when it comes to the likes of me? You should know better than that, you cowards..." She raised her head up towards the spot once again, a dangerous glare in her eyes and a sneer on her face. "But fine. I'm a very patient woman when it comes to my prey. I'll be glad when you step forward... so I can send you straight to Hell. Don't disappoint me..."

With that being said, she turned on her heel and walked off, as if she was aware that there was someone watching...

The Sounds of Rolling Thunder...
"It seems that the initial assault from their side failed..."

Angelika calmly stepped away from her perch on the cliff-side, lowering her sniper rifle to a holstered position in her arms as she approached the encampment. A lit cigarillo was in her mouth, and her trademark business-like expression was on her face. She, serving as one of the scouts, had a front row seat of what had happened while the rest of the strike team had taken to hiding. The secondary scout, Yusuke, would be infiltrating the area more directly.

"Their defense is quite tightened." She continued to explain. "The forces' offensive seemed to be made up of amateurs more than anyone else. So it's no wonder that they allowed themselves to get torn apart so easily as they did. It makes it very clear that we're not dealing with simple cannon fodder here, especially with the presence of two Captains and a Lieutenant backing them up..."

"They're a migrating force of scavengers who take on any job, no matter the risk or their own prepared state," Shinshin spoke as he leaned against a tall boulder a few meters away from where she scoped out the convoy, speaking from experience, "they are -or were in this case- called the Demon Bats. Originally they were known far and wide from Aether to Tendan as some of the most experienced and dangerous sabateours, arsonists, and freelance mercenaries. Now...with the state of the common criminals these days, they were reduced into nothing more than a band of desperate thieves and fools. They must've sent a good portion of ill equipped and untrained recruits from their ranks in a scheme to get rid of them as well as possibly strike it rich. Obviously, they weren't expecting Captains and Lieutenants to be guarding the convoy."

"Considering the information that got spreaded was also a trap for a good portion of the amateurs, they deserved to get their asses roasted, chopped and who knows what beaten down," Hyōryū smoked her own cigarette, as she squatted near a heavy armored case where she kept a great deal of her weaponry and kits for the other armsmen to deal out to, "glad we have one less competitor now..."

"And there's only more to come..." Anton added, sitting right beside Hyōryu with his arms folded across his chest and a rather laid-back look on his face. "Who knows what other mercenaries other than us that have been attracted to such a generous offer?" A slight frown came over his face, and he let out a heavy sigh. "And considering that, I can make a pretty good guess on who's going to be coming up next..."

Woosh!

In a flash, Yusuke had appeared in a crouched position on the ground right beside Angelika, almost as if he was kneeling. But all the German woman did was turn her head in order to look at him. "How's the inside of it look, Yusuke?" She asked coolly, sheathing her sniper rifle and placing her hands within her coat pockets.

Yusuke let out an exasperated sigh. "I gotta tell you, boss lady. Sneaking through a crowd like that is a doozy!" He complained, rising up to his feet and using hand gestures to emphasize his words. "They've got real good security down there. But they also've got a handful of guys who got real messed up in the fighting. I guess the bat things weren't too bad if they a least manage to incapacitate a lot 'em..."

"Kidō firearms can do that," Hyōryū said nonchalantly, breathing out a breath of smoke into the air, holding the cig away from her mouth as she did so, pondering aloud, "even the most hardened, trained swordsmen can fall under the immense firepower they hold, if gathered in great enough numbers anyways. Reason why we were able to take out so many Soul Reapers when the 10th ambushed us is cause the destructive protential they hold. Those guys are better instructed though," she said as she sucked on her cigarette, closing her eyes as she concluded, "it'll take some well aimed shooting instead of spit-firing like we can get away with sometimes, right Oliver?"

It was here that the blonde gunman could finally be noted.

He sat, leaned up against a large ammunition reserve construct strapped to his back. It was about twice his size and seemingly many more times his weight. Beside it sat a lesser, but considerably massive anti-tank rifle with what looked like a scope attached to it. The two constructs were connected via a flexible munitions belt made to transfer the rounds from the reserve to the weapon itself. This provided the user with the freedom of not having to keep reloading when dealing with standard cannons such as what Oliver had. In his holsters were two brand new pistols sheathed in his waist holsters.

But he didn't even acknowledge Hyōryū. His eyes were overshadowed by his bangs, his arms folded across his chest. A cigarette of his own was lit, and he was moving it around in his mouth from time to time. But throughout the entire trip, he had remained stoically silent - a sharp contrast to his usual attitude when in the face of missions. It was only now that it could be acknowledged by his teammates.

And...to tell the truth, it was unnerving Anton greatly, although he wasn't showing it on the outside.

"Uhhhh," Oliver's feminine counterpart looked equally unnerved, as she leaned over to Anton and whispered, "he's not still bummed about losing his guns, is he? I don't know why he gave me back my Jackal when I offered it as a present...he should've known he couldn't shoot at something like that without expecting the a backlash, right?"

Anton shook his head sagely, looking over at the man. "I don't think it's more than something so simple as guns..." He answered readily. "After all, weapons that are broken can be easily be replaced. For someone like Oliver, if he has his fists, his legs, or even his teeth, he wouldn't care if even his best weapon was broken. But you do remember what happened, don't you?"

A frown came over his face. "That thing was able to reach into our minds and pluck out our secrets as easily as carving through butter. I didn't pay too much attention, since he didn't go into detail with me... but I can guarantee that's one thing Oliver's not too happy about. Can you blame him, having your own sins poured out for everyone to see?"

"Its not the fact that sins that are put on display like a mockery for some child's joke," Shadō said in a chiding, yet collected tone as he wasn't too far away, with his hat off and his cloak folded neatly to one side with the said article of clothing sitting atop of it with his Zanpakuto resting sheathed by his other side. His long hair cascaded down his neck and back as he held a meditating pose, his eyes closed and his body radiated a soothing aura in contrast to his sometimes menacing tones perspirated int battle, "there a some people who are simply angered by the revelations to those around them of their vices, shortcomings, failures and their lost goals. Others are callously indifferent, choosing to accept the cold hard truth that there is an inevitable day when your secrets will be shown from behind the dark veil we wish to keep covered. For others, like Oliver-san, unfortunately have a heavy ladened guilt over his own past sins and shortcomings, much moreso than most men can't or ever should endure..."

Hyōryū looked at her usually dark, withdrawn companion with a new light. Despite all the countless times Oliver spat at, ridiculed, and often jeered openly at the man, Shadō never seemed to take it seriously or personally, for very long. She never knew herself to be empathetic, but after the...that day...her eyes have been opened to people in a new way she couldn't ever describe, not even to herself.

"Have you always known about him, Shadō," Hyōryū asked in a curious yet cautionary low tone, with a serious look in her eyes, "or is it that you feel like you share a similar pain that you can feel what he's lost?"

"That is not for me to decide," Shadō said without gesture or hesitation, breathing in and out before opening his eyes half-liddedly at both Anton and Hyōryū, "I may be akin to a Demon, but I'm not heartless. Whatever secrets Oliver has bound within his soul and heart, are his and his alone to bear its own burdens. It takes a real man to acknowledge his own weakness...but it also takes a stronger one to ask for help. Oliver, I'm afraid, is not ready for help yet."

Anton's expression changed to one of solemnity as he regarded Shadō thoughtfully. "Knowing it's Oliver... I doubt he knows what asking for help even means..." He said, passing a glance over towards the blonde. "The guy's always been too prideful and too stubborn when it comes to people assisting him with his own problems. He'd probably take what's troubling him straight to the grave rather than actually telling us about it."

During the exchange, Angelika allowed herself to remain silent out, her own serious expression present on her face. As much as what they were saying were true, there were other matters at hand. Conversation and consolation could wait until later. Oliver had insisted that he was fine enough to complete the mission. Why was it necessary to worry about how he was acting, if that was the case? She cleared her throat in order to get their attention.

"As happy as this conversation is, I'm afraid I'll have to interrupt." She said firmly. "There's no telling when the next wave will come, and I'm not interested in risking one of them getting to the target first." She took in a breath, pausing before continuing to explain the situation. "Oliver and I will provide ground-to-air as well as artillery support from this location. The rest of you will move up and move from position to position. Any targets you see are to be eliminated upon sight. Understood?"

"Yes boss, whatever you say..."

"I'll leave at your command..."

"Pardon me," Shinshin raised a hand towards his sister disciple, his calm composed gaze was riddled with seriousness, "what if the Inner Circle comes? How are we to proceed should they make this difficult?"

At this, Angelika put on a small smirk as if amused by the question. "A squad of Daitenshi led by Shou and Genesis have decided to lend their assistance to us." She said coolly. "He's been keeping close surveillance himself in case they decide to interfere." That made Anton blink in surprise at her.

"Wait... the Daitenshi decided to help us?"

"Shou presented us with another loop-hole. Since the Inner Circle has openly involved themselves with "demonic" forces, the Daitenshi are clear to treat them as prominent targets for termination. He's made it quite clear that he appreciates being with us again..."

"That's certainly a wide loophole," Shinshin crossed his arms, his eyes looked over in the horizon towards the convoy, "but that doesn't really explain what we are supposed to do with the additional participant in the convoy's defense..."

"What do you mean, black beauty?!" Hyōryū exclaimed as she hobbled to her feet, walking over to stand just to his right side as he had faced Angelika, "you mean that red haired samurai lady?! She's obviously-"

"Not a Soul Reaper," Shinshin corrected her, as he relocated his gaze to Angelika, faintly seeing a somber looking Mōka, muttering something into the palms of her hands as she shook slightly against a nearby lone dead tree that rested against the soil of the cliff, "its a daughter of Izanami, more specifically, Shou's superior, the Queen of Hell."

It was enough to make Anton's eyes widen in surprise. "You mean..." He said, abruptly leaping up to his feet at the revelation. "Not only do they have Captains and a Lieutenant down there, but also a deity of the Red Sun?!" After a moment of silence, he slapped a palm to his face. "Great. One god-like wasn't enough. They had to import another in our way!"

Yusuke gave a shrug. "Does anyone happen to know any prayer verses or something that we can quote? Maybe she'll let us go if we bow to her and tell her we're here to kill all the heathens on some religious mission." His tone made it incredibly difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic, or not. The words prompted the Russian to stare at him weirdly, but remained silent.

"Wait! Don't we have a-"

"I'll take care of her for you," Mōka said from her spot, her hands came off her face to reveal a deadly look in her eyes, as her own immense aura exuded within the small space she restricted herself to keep from being detected, "I'm the only one who can, and I've purposely made sure she's not aware of my presence yet."

"Even though she's your own mother?" Shinshin asked, it was a tone of obviousness that his own bond with family was greater than his depraved lust for vengeance, but his duty to the mission was clear enough to evoke an answer from the Dominator.

"You could say this has been...a long time coming," Mōka stood up, taking her knuckles into her left palm, cracking them audibly as a rare menacing smile stretched upon her visage, "this girl is going to be taking care of some family matters through old fashioned domestic violence. Please make sure not to get bothered by the scorched landscape in our wake...its a natural hazard when two daughters of Izanami duke it out."

It was here that Oliver raised an eye towards Mōka. But he continued to remain silent, even as he hefted himself up from his sitting position. He grasped the anti-tank rifle, unholstering it off of the reserve munitions box and holding it within his arms. Despite the heavy weight of both objects, it did not seem as if he was affected by any of it. He made his way past his teammates, prompting Angelika to speak again.

"So it's settled..." She summarized. "Move into position. When Oliver fires the first shot, that is when you engage."

"Right!" Everyone nearly said unanimously, with Mōka still holding that dangerous glint in her eyes and that rare sinister smile. This look completely seperated the hesitant and unwilling woman she was in front of her teammates and her father. This was the look of pure determination, to unfold her inner power for the world.

"Understood..." With a nod, Anton turned towards his compatriots. "All right, there's a path that leads down to a good spot to start off. Follow me!" With that being said, he took point and ran, with the rest of them following close behind. It didn't take long for them to disappear out of the sight of Angelika and Oliver, leaving the two alone to initiate the attack.

The German woman made her way beside the American as he took a position. "...are you really all right?" She asked quietly.

"...no." Was the solemn reply. "In fact, I don't think I ever was." He settled his weapon down, reaching behind him to flip several thumb locks in order to loosen the zip-line restraints. "But right now, that doesn't matter. This may not be a permanent remedy, but it's the perfect drug. After this, I know I'll just crash and burn later. But I'll deal with that when the time comes for it..." There was an eerily calm tone within his words - something that sent a slight shiver down Angelika's spine. To hear the normally eccentric man speak like a collected, cold warrior made the atmosphere feel ten times colder than it was.

Oliver settled down onto a prone position on his stomach, the box standing tall at his feet. He aimed the anti-tank rifle at the Soul Reaper encampment, first targeting the "emergency" carriage. "Now, I'm concerned on only one thing and one thing only. That's the death of every Shinigami that's stepping foot down there. You and the rest of them can have the bounty... but everyone else..."

His finger tightened on the trigger.

"...are mine."

He took the shot.

BOOM!

Two Sides of the Same Coin, Clash of Justice and Criminality!
Daisuke's and Ryōken's eyes widen as they heard the synonymous sound of a thunderous crack of a weapon being fired. Not just any weapon, but one of the highest grade Kidō rifles up to date, rated up to Anti-Armor class, just a grade below the infamous weapon that tore apart the 10th Division with ease.

The projectile burned orange and fiery, as it raced towards its intended target. The Emergency Carriage.

"NO!" Daisuke shouted out, his body moved as fast as it could, shimmering out of view before reappearing atop of the carriage as he released his Zanpakuto silently and as fast as he could. He knew if the target hit...and these injured died, then he would have more innocent lives on his conscience!

"Jigoku," he uttered, lowly as flames danced around the edge of his blade as the energy bolt was merely seconds away, slashing the air in front of him as he released his own high-powered Shikai attack, "DANGAN!"

With perfect precision and aim, the pyrotechnically condensed sphere rammed into the Kidō rifle round in mid-air, causing an immensely bright and concussive blast midway between the carriage and the road itself. The explosion rang in Daisuke's ears, and he could feel himself slam back onto the roof of the carriage as the shockwave pushed it several meters away, sending it tumbling head over heels, forcing Daisuke to deftly roll in mid air to avoid being crushed by it and the hapless inhabitants within.

"GAH!" Daisuke breathed out, feeling everything in his head spin and his body spasm slightly from the shock of being caught so close to the blast. Had it been purely fire it would only knock the wind out of him, as the flames itself would do him no arm while his Zanpakuto is active. But the Kidō slug had more potency and the knockback from it would take him a few more seconds to recover from. Time, he knew he didn't want to waste!

It was time that the source would not give him.

'''BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!'''

Hachiro's and Sakura's eyes widened in shock and surprise respectively as they saw the shots race towards their direction. The Captain only had time to scream out to the ones around him a word of advice. "ARTILLERY!! TAKE COVER--!!"

When the shots hit, everything turned to complete chaos.

All three shots had made blood splatter and bodies fly everywhere. The screams of the alive and dying could be heard clear as day, causing a smile to cross Oliver's face. He continued to lay down suppressing fire, unleashing volley upon volley on the area. However, he was careful to aim his shots; he didn't want to catch his allies in the crossfire, after all.

WOOSH!

''BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!''

Hachiro appeared in the air, a shocked expression coming onto his face as he heard the squawks of the Dragonbirds above his level. When he turned his head, he saw each and every one of them descending towards the ground. Blood spurted freely from their heads, indicated clear head-shots. "There's no doubt about it..." He whispered to himself, watching as the birds fell from grace and out of the sky. "The true challenge is just starting!!"

SHFT!

WHOOOSH!

Shinshin leaped upon them first as he was the swiftest, securing his destination via Flash Step. His body moved with a dance of impassive, disconnection as he unsheathed his sword and began parrying with the hardened warriors of the 9th Division. However, as soon as he saw their initial strikes, he could read them all like picture books. Side stepping, spinning and vaulting, he began to cut them down one by one. It was only when he killed his seventeenth that he pulled the sword out of a young man's back and pointed it at the Captain when he landed, "I'm assuming you're Hachiro Horikawa, the Captain of the Ninth Division. I'll be taking your life," his body soon exuded a dark, cold vibration throughout the air that depicted nothing but pure bloodlust, crackling and shaking the ground, air, and soil around him as violently as the strongest Spiritual Pressure would but with emotion behind it, "unless you can stop me."

Hyōryū overlooked the area, taking out a Kidō rifle and began to shoot purely for covering fire. Occasionally, she looked over to see Oliver's twisted grin and satisfaction in making the kills. She felt sorry for the poor Soul Reapers, as he was taking a prescription of violence and bloodlust to soothe his inner demons. She'd hate to be his shrink....

FLIK-TRIK-SLIP-CRK!

"HAAAA!" Ryōken roared out, as he manifested a silent, unknown barrier over the more important carriages as well as draw cover fire for his men for a few men from the snipers and high grade weaponry being used against them, "I hate damned firearms! Better off we stay in the stone age if it means that our deaths are so meaningless when brutes and thugs can get the upperhand against disciplined warriors!"

"These aren't simple brutes and thugs, Ryō!!" Hachiro called back to him, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes at the one who had finished killing the young boy and was now pointing his blade at him. "These are the ones that have managed to defeat the 10th Division, the very same ones who wrenched their way out of Captain Takuji's vice-grip. The ones who dare to kill the ones under my command are none other than the V-14!!"

He swung his blades to form a defensive stance, his feet spreading apart. "If you want my life, boy..." He growled, exhibiting his own immense spiritual power. "Then I dare you. Come at me, and feel the teeth of my swords as they cut you into pieces!!"

'''BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!'''

There was a handful of 9th Division members who had taken cover behind the protected carriages. "Damn it!!" One of them yelled out, his expression conveying nothing but panic. "That artillery fire's tearing us to shreds!! Their snipers have our positions zeroed in!!! We're pinned down here!!"

"I..." A woman that had peeked behind the corner had to jump back under cover when a sniper shot merely missed her head. "I don't know where the source is coming from!! There's too much artillery rounds pounding the area!!"

SHFT!

"As you wish," Shinshin spoke as he began to usher a flourish of expert sword strikes, moving with eloquent grace and dispassionate expert footwork and experience, matching the experienced and incredibly gifted Captain's own sword work with his own unique and artistic style.

"Rise from the Deep," the 5th Division Captain said in a somber, steadfast position as he decided to get serious with his enemies. Stabbing his blade into the earth, a surge of dark tinted water gushed out, as he pulled out a trident in its place, "Kodai Hadō!"

Leaping towards his enemies, he spun his Shikai in rapid circles, vibrating it to increase its density as he began to use his Flash Step to attract the enemy fire, batting away the gun fire while diverting away a good portion of the Anti-Armor grade projectiles with deft useage of Kidō and his own Zanpakuto's innate water manipulation and generation. He wouldn't let these men and women down just because he was intimidated by a little gunfire!

"Jigoku..."

A voice penetrated the silence, as Daisuke stood up and aimed his Zanpakuto at the cliffside, as a pyrotechnic condensed power of high proportions charged up...before being released all at once in a startling flaming spearhead of explosive death.

"HASHIRA!!!!"

The flaming stormhead surged towards Oliver's position, causing even his female partner to open her eyes wide with fear and anxiety, as she tried to back off from the cliff face, even though it would be inevitably futile.

BOOM!

The explosion was intense, but something stood in the way to lessen the extent of the damage. From out of the shadows, Shadō's form held up his hands, the energy within the fabric of the flames poured into his being, reducing a good half of its damage output. However, Shadō took a good majoriy of burns on his front, causing him to crouch down and clench his mouth down in pain, "Was a little too slow...sorry...everyone..."

"I guess that's it for the artillery support, now that they've spotted us out..." Oliver did not even flinch, even as the heat of the flames licked at his face. He allowed himself to stand up from his prone position, releasing the anti-tank cannon to completely undo his restraints. Without hesitation, his hands went for his two pistols at his side, whipping them out with the barrels pointed in the air."

"Shadō, are you still able to fight?" Angelika questioned, tossing away her sniper rifle with a frown on her face. "They'll be attempting to rush the--"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

"...area..." Angelika finished, a slightly deadpan look on her face as she heard the sound of a squad of 9th Division members war crying and moving rapidly towards the spot where Daisuke had fired the blast. She quickly snapped out of it, grabbing her own HCA-50 Pistol. "All of you, get ready to engage close-quarters. It's our turn to get zeroed in..."

"I think not!"

SLICE!

Multiple paper-thin and razor-sharp wires made of spiritual energy moved to intercept the platoon. The edges sliced through, turning that particular group into nothing more than a mess of body parts. Their murderer had a cheery smile on his face as he worked his fingers, the wire moving like puppet strings. "I got your back, boss lady!" He informed her. "Anton's already moving in with Shinshin to help him out!"

Speaking of Anton...

Ryōken managed to reach the rear of the convoy where Daisuke and the other 9th Division squad were being intercepted by a young boy with a sickeningly innocent smile on his face as he butched them with nearly invisible blade wires. Before he decided to interfere, he saw a young man rushing at high speeds towards where he knew Hachiro was engaging the samurai-looking assassin.

"Oh no you don't," Ryōken muttered under his breath as he spun his trident around, gathering water around the edge of his trident's blades before forming a large sphere of condensed, coiling water about half the size of a man. Using Flash Step, the Captain reappeared about ten meters in front of the Russian's approximated line of passing, before thrusting his Zanpakuto out, discharging the sphere of condensed water towards his opponent, with enough force to send him crashing into the cliffs had he been an ordinary man and cause a concussive shockwave upon impact, "Fuka Bakufū!"

"Give me but a few moments to collect myself," Shadō spoke, as his body became coated in a thick aura of the energy he consumed but a minute ago, his skin and body began to regenerate new tissue over the scarred ones, and his body soon became reacclamated enough to stand back to his feet, "had it been Kidō, I would have been able to divert the blast away better, but its fierce flames could not be satisfied until it met its quarry...-"

"Owwwwww," Hyōryū moaned, as her body instinctively had propelled itself away, and now lied upside down with her butt and legs hanging in front with her head and arms underneath, "who...is freaking...winning...here? Please help me...up!"

"Please help her," Shadō said as he unsheathed his own Zanpakutō, his eyes glowed an eery yellow as he then descended into the blackness within the Angelika's shadows, "I'll sieze my opportunity to strike soon..."

"Show them no mercy!" Daisuke yelled out, his body ignited into a fiery aura of Spiritual Pressure as he charged towards the child with wires, seeing them better than his lower ranked, lesser experienced comrades. His blade ignited brightly with flames as he then thrusted it forward, sending a stream of flames as he yelled out towards the kid, "Kasai Kushiyaki!"

It seemed as if the opponents had been picked right away.

For Yusuke, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw the flames rushing towards him. The voice of his enemy made his ears perk up in recognition. However, a smile worked on its way onto his face as soon as it registered to him who exactly he was facing. With a swing of his hands, he sent the razor-wires towards the flames. The wind generated from the speed he swung them scattered them and disrupted their path, missing him while setting fire to the environment around them.

Of course, it was just a little heat as far as the V-14 member was concerned.

"Yo, Vice-Captain Daisuke!" He called out, his voice pleasant and mirthful even as he called the deadly strings back to himself. They swirled all around him menacingly, deeply contrasting the rather casual aura he was giving off. "It's been a while..."

On the cliffside, Oliver almost allowed himself to snicker at the sight of Hyōryū. "Nice coordination..." He said sarcastically, walking over towards her form. "No, really, it takes a lot to end up like that. I'm impressed!" Lifting his foot up and pressing it against the side of her thigh, he applied just enough force to push her on her side. "And just for your information, the fight's just started. No one's won... yet..."

After slightly shaking her head at the display of antics, Angelika looked over the cliffside again. the Lieutenant seemed to be facing Daisuke, while Shinshin was currently exchanging blows with another. As for Anton, he had been cut off from reinforcing Shinshin by Ryōken. A scowl came over her face, her eye narrowing. "I hope Shadō can get to the car holding Shidai..." She muttered. "At this rate, this will end up exhausting more energy than necessary..."

On Anton's side, he had been taken by surprise.

"Oh, chyort voz'mi!" He growled, holding his forearms in front of his face and bracing himself. The water slammed into him full-force. But of course, he was far from an ordinary person. He had to dig in his feet slightly, and a sharp pain rang throughout both arms when it connected. But there was no visible injury, and the pain itself was nothing that couldn't be shrugged off.

Slowly he lowered his arms, fixing a stare at his new opponent. "Just how many more Captains am I going to have to fight on my own before this is over and done with...?" He muttered disdainfully, before extending his arms out. A pair of Kiriken swords spawned from his palms, and he grasped the hilts to swing his swords in a defensive position.

"So you're the one who gave Shindō a run for his money?" Ryōken gauged as he felt the Spiritual Pressure leaking form him despite his best to conceal it, stabbing the pommel of his trident Zanpakutōinto the ground as he cupped his chin in analysis, "and those are Kiriken blades, if I'm correct. They're constructs of cutting power, made by the Kidō Corps Hunter Ops to compensate their less use in Zanpakutō and more on their versatility in manipulating energy. Tell me," Ryōken raised his weapon out of the ground and held it ready in his right hand while keeping his eyes narrowed at him, "how did you learn such a high class technique? Were you trained or did you learn it somehow yourself?"

Shinshin on the other hand was talking more with his blade than his lips. So far he had managed to evenly match the berserk and unpredictable style of his adversary with his own versatile style of switching tactics and keeping his opponent guessing. One moment he would be fighting with both hands in a style similar to Kendo, then he would switch to a inverted grip on his left hand while using his right hand for grappling and swift bridge hand strikes that would equal in cutting power to his blade. Currently he now relied on a acrobatic, vaulting and leg defense style against his opponent.

"You're good," he managed to speak as he landed a good few meters away, returning his hands to a two handed grip but switched hand positions to have a different affect, subsequently a new style and art as well, "its taking all of my focus to keep that berserk nature of yours off balance by switching to a handful of styles I know by instinct and without stances involved. Whoever has trained you must have been quite the master swordsman."

"...?!" Daisuke's eyes widened and his brows twitched as his mind replayed the boy's face but with a different appearance altogether.

''He remembered a kind hearted, gentle officer within the 4th Division whom had always prided laughter, joy, and fun over work and battle. One day that boy he used to drop by to get his training wounds healed from his rigorous Zanpakuto training to achieve his Bankai disappeared, fled the Division in the night. The Stealth Force didn't even label him as a priority, as his stats in comparison to the more ruthless and cunning renegades and soul society criminals were paling him in difference, so he'd be incarcerated upon return for a full six months plus any additional community service in the Rukon Districts that his Captain would see fit. ''

But after what he just witnessed...he knew this boy was no longer the kind child he percieved him to be. That same smile, that same laughter and bewitchingly effeminite appearance that would make even men of compassionate hearts, like Daisuke, look twice at him, has now began to bathe callously in the blood his former comrades.

"Yusuke," Daisuke began to say, as his gaze shifted from shock to an angry, vehemnt look of condemnation and outrage, "what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Glad to see you're not glum anymore," Hyōryū grumbled as she glared back at him, but betrayed by a sly grin on her face, "if you keep up those comments, I might be nice to you later and treat you out to the bar of your choice, idiot!" Cocking her Jackals, she stumbled to her feet before noticing her whole top and jean shorts had been fried along with some of her combat vest, "geeze! Talk about out of the frying pan...I liked this shirt!"

"Don't get too used to it..."

Oliver allowed herself to step back, turning his attention towards the cliffside. "Right now, I've still got plenty of a fever..." He said plainly, tilting his cigarette to point upwards the sky. The smoke trailed upward to the sky. "And it's not going to go down until every one of these rats are dead. You with me..." His hazel eyes slowly drifted back to Hyōryū. "...sis?"

"!!!"

Yusuke's expression faltered into shock at Daisuke's tone, and he froze within his tracks. Suddenly, the mirth was washed away and replace by an unexplained self-conscience. The look that the Lieutenant gave him did not help matters. It was as if he was being judged by his current superior. He had anticipated more of a shocked tone than anything else in the hopes that Daisuke would carry no grudges against him.

Apparently, he was wrong.

He met his Lieutenant's gaze, his eyes wavering. It was there that his stance conveyed that of a guilty child about to be punished. "...I'm really sorry, sir..." He said quietly. "I really am. I should've just acted like I was brainwashed and forced against to fight against you and the 9th Division for the "criminal jerks that are V-14"..." His tone emphasized the quotes. "Maybe then it would've satisfied you. But, if I have to tell the truth, I stand here of my own volition, under the lead my new boss. I killed these men and women out of my free will, even if it was to defend my comrades. I betrayed the Gotei 13 and the 4th Division Captain of my own choosing and no one else's..."

A tear fell from his eyes.

"So I ask for no forgiveness from you. Your hate is my punishment and burden to bear..." He raised a hand up, the fingers pointing upward and visually dividing his face. The wires swirled and whipped around him in a defensive and offensive manner. "But rest assured, I mean no ill will towards you by doing this. I'm just doing my job."

On Hachiro's side, he skidded back from another parry, his face gritted in a concentrating scowl. Behind his tinted glasses, his eyes were narrowed. "I should be telling you that..." He remarked, raising his swords up again in a defensive manner. "Who've you been learning from that you've been able to match a veteran of seniority, hm?" His tone wasn't hostile more than it was conversational. Unlike Daisuke, he never showed contempt within his words. Any aggression made towards his opponent was always in the form of physical combat, nothing more. After all, holding grudges to him just wasn't his thing...

On Anton's side, a small smirk crawled onto his face. "I'm the one, all right..." He admitted, cracking his neck from side to side. "But if I just told you that, I'd be giving info about myself to the enemy. And I've gotta tell you... too many people already know too much about me as it is..."

"Funny," Ryōken chuckled, as he pointed his trident at him and allowed himself to move into a stance where he held it with both hands, "because I was just thinking how you're in one of those Circles I've assumed you were in," he finished vaguely, moving swiftly towards him as he Flash Stepped towards him, with a speed that undoubtedly rivaled Shindō's, as he swung his trident around as he traded off the three pronged blades on one end with the pommel on another, using the unique style of combat to get the upperhand on him while he began observing his technique and strengths midfight.

"Asuka Sakamoto," Shinshin said after a moments silence, raising his blade appropiately as he spoke, his body began to change the tone in the atmosphere, as if anger itself began to writhe the spiritrons and nature itself aroudn them, "she heralds from the Sakamoto Clan, being one of the foremost masters and practitioners in the arts of Tamajutsu," he then raised his blade upwards, sliding his feet back into a stance as his body billowed with a rich, dark aura that crackled and screamed aloud in a banshee-like cry, "and this, is one of its applications I favor!"

SHFT-BRACK!

Within an instant, his immense speed via Flash Step let loose a barrage of incredibly sharpened, swift, and brutal strikes, each one of them had immense cutting power, capable of wounding the likes of even seasoned Captain like Hachiro. He'd show nothing less than his best against him, and he decided to show a favorite before adapting later...

"You idiot!" Daisuke yelled out, waving his left arm out in front of him in a passionate emphasis, "these were your comrades! My friends! Why would you callously kill them for an employer who bears no heart warming feelings or innocence that you once had?! Was life so hard in the 4th Division that you had to cut apart those feelings to enjoy the sensation of bloodbath?!" He breathed hard after yelling at the boy, holding his Shikai in front of himself pointedly at Yusuke, as the weather began to take a turn for the worst, darkening clouds began to rumble ominously above them and the winds grew colder as the nearby combatant took emotions to a abnormally higher edge, "Answer me, Dammit!"

"You remembered my fav nickname," Hyōryū grinned slyly, as she walked over to him and pulled him by the collar and whispered in his ear, "you're definitely getting an extra bonus if we get out of ear, my brother," she winked at him before she charged her guns and leaped off the cliffside down a incline, scraping her boots along it in a stylized dramatic fashion as she let loose a barrage of rapid bursts of gun fire towards the 9th Division men, quickly driving them back and cutting a few of them down, "YEAAAAAAAAAAAH! BAM BAM, HAHAHA!"

"Angelika, its me, Shadō," a voice spoke aloud in a hushed, but soothingly calm tone in Angelika's audio reciever, "I have an update on the target..."

"Hm?" Angelika was brought out of her slight trance upon seeing the battlefield, switching her attention to the earpiece. She reached up with a finger and clicked it on so that she could speak through it. "Angelika here. Go on and speak, Shadō."

"You think I enjoy killing people?!"

Yusuke's shocked retort was shot back at Daisuke, even as the weather began to change all around them. His expression was a mix of surprise and hurt, even as his stance turned defensive. He barely registered Hyōryū and Oliver jumping into the fray nearby. "I don't!! But if I didn't kill those 9th Division, they would've surely killed my friends!! I had to do it!! It doesn't mean that I want to!! Why won't you understand this?!"

'''BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!'''

For Oliver, it was all about aiming his guns and pulling the trigger. The 9th Division members really tried everything they could, such as flanking, surrounding, and rushing him due to their numbers. However, all of it might as well have been forseen every move that was made. He was a devastating force on his own, cutting them down as easily as they came. One's head was torn clean off the shoulders. Another was split vertically in half at the waist. They simply could not lay a sword blow on him...

Until one of the 9th Division troops managed to get close enough to him.

When he tried to point the gun at the hapless target, he was slightly surprised to see his arm locked in a hold. His captor put on a taunting smirk, and he raised the other gun in order to blow his brains out. But that was when another used a Flash Step to re-appear behind him, swung his blade...

SLICE!

Pain shot through Oliver's back when the sword sliced through it, spilling blood everywhere. His attacker had a satisfied look on his face, certain that he had cut the gunman enough for him to drop to the ground. However, that was immediately short-lived.

BLAM!

Without hesitation, Oliver turned his barrel behind him and landed a particularly messy headshot on the attacker. With an upward kick, he knocked back and stunned the one holding his arm long enough to land an instant kill via a heart-shot. His breathing was hitched, and he hissed as the open air licked at his wound. However, as he looked at the 9th Division members slowly approaching him, a smile dawned on his face once more.

"So you finally managed to land a hit on me?" He taunted. "Seems that getting these guns weren't a waste after all..." With that being said, he lifted his arms up before shifting the pistol sights onto his targets in order to continue the fight.

''CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!''

When Ryōken attacked, Anton was fully prepared. His Kiriken swords moved against the trident, parrying and counter-attacking with masterful skill. His fighting style was swift and tactical, relying on ferocious jabs in order to shake his opponent's defense. Whenever a weak spot seemed available, he would unleash a strong strike in an attempt to land a crucial blow on his opponent. It was a pattern that kept the other man at bay while still managing strength wisely.

However, his mind had caught on what Ryōken had said.

"Circles...? Could he be referring to the Inner Circle?"

As for Hachiro, he found himself having to push a little harder against Shinshin.

With a powerful swing of his own, he collided one of his swords against his opponent's and channeled his spiritual energy into the attack. His teeth gritted together as he fought against Shinshin's power, fighting against the fury that was pressing against him. Inwardly, he was already starting to harbor a respect for the younger man, having heard of both the name of the woman and the particular clan. "So this boy studied under their tutelage? The V-14 certainly must have connections..." He thought to himself.

In the midst of one of his parries, he raised both of his swords over his head in a mid-swing. Yellow electricity crackled around both blades in a vicious and threatening manner, emphasizing potential electrocution if Shinshin was hit. "Tsuzuri Raiden!!" He chanted, swinging the blades down with immense force on the smaller opponent.

As all of it was going on, Sakura was sitting on one of the carriages with one shifted over the other and her hands folded in her lap. A frown was prominent on her face, her eyes looking on as the battles progressed.

"I'm going in," Mōka spoke aloud to Angelika, standing upright from her crouching perch on the boulder, skidding off it with the soles of her sandals as she walked methodically slow towards the edge of the cliff face, staring towards Sakura's direction with a single-minded goal in mind, "wish me luck-"

SHFT!

With a swift application of Haya, Mōka disappeared and reappeared just beside Sakura's perch, her feet deftly landing in a nearly graceful silence with the tips of her fingers touching the metalic roofing of the carriage. Before allowing herself or the other woman to speak, she swiftly grasped the redhead's face and held a inhumanly vice grip around it before she jettisoned herself and the woman away from the battle with a near sonic boom of speed behind herself.

It was something that had caught her completely offguard, and she even stated it to emphasize that point.

"THE FU--?!"

However, because of the hand muffling her face, she couldn't bring herself to say much else as she was forcefully taken through the air at immense speeds. If she hadn't been reeling from the shock that someone had actually dared to even touch her in such a manner, she would've gladly kicked the woman away. But as it was, she was virtually helpless against the hold.

Narrowing her eyes as her hair whipped and flourished around her, she then stopped as they reached a good two kilometers away from the battleground, and threw her directly towards the tree filled landscape. Letting her target fall with satisfaction before she let herself drop and create a large impact upon the ground that shook the earth for a few dozen meters.

"Hello," she allowed herself to speak as she graced a snarling twist of a smile towards her as she began to tread towards the Queen of Hell, "Punisher."

Meanwhile on Shinshin's end...he full well knew the risks and dangers of dealing those versed in Kidō. However Hachiro wouldn't be the first to use Kidō against him, and in such a skilled employment.

SWFT!

With a swift stroke of his blade that moved too fast and barely missed, the physical edge merely milimeters away from making contact with the deadly, sprawling lightning. However, a gale of cutting wind exited the moment he pulled his sword completely to the side, intending on buffeting his opponent away to allow him to initiate a technique of his own.

Shinshin takes a stance where the blade is held close to his face, with the blade held up and the flat end down, then thrusting towards his target. As his body radiated an angry, blackening energy around him and within the atmosphere, his blade remained stoic in the face of its target assumedly in mid-flight, as this all happened within a matter of a handful of seconds. Then, with a swift thrust, and a daunting second of silence...

"Tamashī Katto!"

SPRRAAAAAAAAACK-BOOM!

...followed by a invisible gale force of cutting power of incredible proportions, stretching in a five meter radius as it moved to intercept the Captain with a frightening pace, screaming and howling in its wake as it fires off into the horizon and cuts up anything in its wake, increasing the tempo of the rolling thunder and energy within the clouds above them.

Ryōken managed to notice the discharge in his opponent's companion's attack. The increase in moisture and electrical output began to change the battlefield's layout and enhance Ryōken's own particular choice of element. He allowed himself to smile as he knew the inevitable downpour would come, but he knew he had to make do with what he had.

Flash Stepping away, he reappeared a few meters to Anton's left as he spun his Zanpakuto around rapidly, doing an acrobatic display of spear handling as he rolled it from one arm across his back to the other, before spinning it with his left hand while smiling, "Its a shame really. We could use allies like you, but sadly, your efforts here would endanger us all..."

CLAMP!

"Fuka Jūden Yajū!"

STAB-WHOOOSH!

Stabbing his trident into the earthen soil, a funnel of spiritual energy burst into the ground deep below. The whole ground shook around them, as rapid cracks emerged underneath Anton, following a geyser of water of pressurized hydrated force towards him. However this had more complexity and character in shape. In fact, the head of this seeking waterhead resembled that of a massive sea serpent, as it aimed to clamp its maw over him while being funneled from the hole it emerged from, and intend to slam him into the cliff-face, the ground, or into the horizon, with immense force that would cause a good portion of it to crack and smash off of it, surging tons upon tons of pressurized hydrated force upon him, no matter where he'd go, it would follow for a good 500 meters.

Near Oliver's corner however...

"Jackal Mode 2..."

BRRRRAAAACK-BRRRAAAACK!

With just a handful surges of the enhanced rounds of her Jackals, Hyōryū managed to blow away a good portion of the Soul Reapers surrounding Oliver, flipping head over heels before landing expertly near his back, with her own against his as she emptied her clips as she expertly reloaded them without releasing her hold on the guns, "You holding up, brother? These Soul Reapers aren't cultist meatbags and damned fast," she then took a look at his back, saying aloud, "and you're bleeding like you got in a bad knife fight..."

"You think they are your friends?! Look at what they're trying to do, Yusuke!" Daisuke pointed his free hand while keeping his Zanpakuto pointed at him, directly at the convoy as men screamed, explosions rang out and energies clashed and pressurized the very air they breathed, "they're trying to release a criminal that's paying you a fortune to do who knows what! Do you honestly think you're doing the right thing by protecting these murderers against your own comrades?! Do you?!" Flames ignited across his blade as well across his Spiritual Pressure aura, as his voice grew to a thick, stern tone, "choose your side now, Yusuke, cause I'm about to choose mine!"

"Interestingly enough, our captive isn't in the Sekkeseki carriages. In fact, he's one in one of the least protected ones," Shadō spoke aloud as he walked within the carriage, as a number of stares of various types locked onto him as the guards inside laid dead and cleanly cut into halves, with his Zanpakuto clean of their mess as he stared at the target, "in fact...he has a strange resemblence to the enigmatic character who proposed this job to the masses..."

The World Crashing Down, The Truth behind the Invitation
It was here that Angelika's eye narrowed slightly.

"You don't think that he was the one that he was the one that sent the message... do you?"

"I..!"

Yusuke shut his eyes tight and hung his head, a few more tears escaping at the angered statements. The winds blew his hair in a violent fashion, wiping away the salt water before it even had a chance to drip down his face. For a moment, his wires faltered out of his loss of concentration. He kept this several stance for several seconds. The flames of Daisuke's Zanpakutō did not stir him out of his inner termoil.

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I should just turn myself in. I've already did too much. That would be the right thing to do, wouldn't it? That would be--"

Then his eyes opened up, as two images flashed within his head.

One of Rika...

...and one of Sakura.

"No.." His eyebrows slanted inward and downward. "I promised both Rika-chan and Saku-chan that I would make it out of this alive, no matter what. I promised that I would come back in one piece. Even if it means fighting against a former superior, I will uphold that promise. I can't allow myself to fold.. not here, not now!" Slowly, he raised his head to meet Daisuke's gaze, his fists clenching at his sides.

"No..." He spoke in a grieved, angered tone. "It's far too late to make that choice, Lieutenant Daisuke." He slowly opened up his hands, his fingers in clawed positions. "You already made that choice long ago... when you chose to abandon me. You've already made it clear that I do not belong with a group like you. This may not be the right or heroic thing to do... but it's just how it must be!!"

WOOSH!

He raised and swung one of this hands outwards, the wires coming back to life once more at his nonverbal command. "So come, come and raise your blade against me!! I'll send you straight down to Hell!!"

He would not be the only one issuing a challenge to his opponent.

Although Oliver's breathing was a little more audible thanks to the cut that he had been delivered, he gave a nod to her. "This is nothing more a scratch, sis." He answered matter-of-factly. "I'm still more than capable of killing all of these rats. Though, I'm a bit surprised that you're still unscathed. Either I'm a bit off today, or you're getting better..."

He swung out, exhausting his clips while tossing them to the side. His hazel eyes met the ones of the 9th Division troops that moved to surround the two, but did not attack. "Oh, what's the matter?" He taunted. "You're not getting cold feet, are you, soldiers? You should be a bit more prideful. You're the first red-shirts that actually managed to make me bleed. That's something that even the ones I faced as an Aethean soldier couldn't do! I'm sure if you try real hard enough, you'll be able to kill me with the next strike..."

He reloaded each one, but lowered both pistols.

"So, come on. If you're truly heroes, then don't you dare back down. If you truly mean well... then come kill the two scumbags that dare to sneer in front of you!!"

His bold words made the ones he was directly facing widen their eyes in surprise. However, when the weight of the statement settled down upon them, they allowed themselves to relax, letting out amused chuckles to one another. That was when acceptance to the challenge was voiced by one in particular.

"Ask, and you shall RECEIVE!!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!!!!"

They let out a collective roar as they charged, their swords brandished to kill. Even as he raised his pistols towards them, his slasher's smile seemed to also gleam with approval. In his mind, there was only one thought that reigned above all else.

"Just like old times..."

BANG!

On Anton's side... he didn't seem to be enjoying his fight as much as he thought he would.

He had only managed to place a shield up via a Kyōmon barrier when he was swallowed up by the current, gritting his teeth as the pressure fought against the strength of the square walls. "First lightning, now water..." He grumbled. "At this rate, I'm going to meet all of the classical elements before this is over and done with!" However, it did nothing to hinder his plans. He would use the water itself for cover as he would be swept away, until there was a perfect opportunity to attack.

And soon enough, when that time came, he made his move.

He burst from the water, the barrier instantly dissipating as he did so. The speed in which he moved allowed him to appear right above his opponent. He did not waste a second, dispelling his swords temporarily and holding his palms out. "Soren Sokatsui!!!" He chanted, expelling the wide arc of blue spiritual energy at Ryōken.

As for Hachiro, even as he was blown back, the weather raged around him, and the blast was only seconds away from colliding with him, he did not allow himself to falter. "There's only so much a blast of power can do, boy..." He muttered under his breath, quickly righting himself and raising his swords above his head once more. When the time came...

SLICE!

...he swung them down, unleashing his physical strength as well as his spiritual power into the blow. In turn, this scattered and disrupted the attack as easily as the wind itself scattered the leaves.

On the Punisher's end, or rather where she had crashed, she had taken a mood shift from seriously pondering to very, very angry.

She had managed to climb up out of the crater that had been created by herself when she had slammed into the ground. One of her hands was holding her face, but her visible eye was glaring daggers at Mōka as she approached. "How...dare you..." She spat, her mouth bearing in a furious snarl in contrast to the sadistic smile her newfound enemy herself held. "Interrupting the view I had was bad enough. But to actually lay such violent hands on me the first time we meet in years? I've given the worst of punishments for less crimes!!!"

"Sorry," Mōka said with in a sarcastic tone, as she began to circle around Sakura methodically, "blame my parents. They were really never the nurturing type, or better yet, they didn't give me a life I wanted..."

SHFT-WHAM!

"...OR ASKED FOR!" She uttered pointedly as she disappeared in a burst of expert useage of Haya, as she reappeared to land a precisely aimed kick to her gut, employing enough force to level the thick trunked trees around them to crash into the trees past them over thirty meters away.

CLAMP!

"Too slow," Shinshin used the opportunity to not gauge whether the Captain could disrupt the attack or not, as he used a deft employment of Flash Step to reappear behind Hachiro, grasping his right shoulder and proceeded to slash a powerful arc of cutting power augmented by his Tamajutsu, the same one he had nearly incapacitated Asuka with.

CLANK!

"Tozanshō," Ryōken quickly reacted as he saw the powerful Kidō head in his direction, errecting a inverted transparent blue pyramid barrier to block the immense blast's force...

BOOM!

...after the rather large, deafening blue-tinted explosion rocked the area where Anton decimated the earth and soil around, Ryōken's pyramid stood firm if not cracking upon the pressure put upon it. With a defined swing of his trident, he shattered the barrier with one fell swoop as he eyed Anton dangerously.

"That was a little too close for comfort," the Captain said in a defininingly menacing tone, as he gathered water up the length of his Zanpakuto before thrusting it with immense speed at Anton's form, "Fuka Tsume!"

SPRAAAAAACK!

Discharging a precisely aimed geyser of water with cutting currents enough to slice through steel with ease, Ryōken discharged it at his target and continued to turn his weapon's end to follow his path should he choose to avoid its pressurized, cutting assault.

Hyōryū began her own barrage of deadly projectiles at the Soul Reapers. However, as she and Oliver found out, the Soul Reapers weren't just common idiots. They are trained, hardened soldiers, who can adapt and change tactics in a tense situation. In fact, that is what they began to do as they compensated for having to be at a distance and using Flash Steps to evade the vicious barrage of gun blasts set by Hyōryū and Oliver, with only a few exceptions being caught in the blasts by parrying or being disarmed by the powerfully cutting fissures of energy.

"Hado #31, Shakkahō!" Several different Soul Reapers spoke without incantation with great affect, firing off a handful of red orbs of condensed spiritual energy, firing the destructive powers at the femme fatale and unstable gunman.

"GAH!" Hyōryū, having been busy trying to rack in kills with the now faster targets, didn't get a chance to evade one of the orbs as she shot two of them heading towards her, the last one smashing headstraight into her chest. The explosion caused her to spit out blood and saliva, as she felt herself careen backwards into the face of the scarred cliffside, only a dozen meters away from Ryōken and Anton's fight.

"That's funny Yusuke..."

VRRRRGRRRRRRRRR!

"...I've already been to Hell, and I don't think you'd like seeing what I've seen," he smiled in a menacingly way, as he disacknowledged what past he had between him and the young boy. His body embroiled with a fiery red aura of Spiritual Pressure, that seemed to cook and ripple everything around him with a hot vengeful feel to it. Raising his Zanpakuto up so he could grasp it with both hands, he lowered himself into a stance he recently perfected...out of the infamous Fire-based Zanjutsu arts his father developed.

"Nenshō Burēzu Bijutsu...Form 1..."

Swing-VRBLAAAM!

"Kōsen Tsunamiko!" (黄泉津波弧 kousen tsunami ko; Eng Lit Translation, "Hell's Tidal Arc,") Within a single swing, a violent torrent of wind circulated below and around his body, exiting into a blazing overhead fissure of flames that dove towards Yusuke in a dangerous blazing, swirling fissure that moved at a much higher rate and higher destructive pull than his prior Shikai known attack.

"..." The sound on Angelika's reciever went silent for a moment, as some clicking noises and shuffling movement was heard, before some ruffling sound of the audio mic being moved, before an eerily familiar voice was heard,

"Actually, that is precisely what it is and what it indeed sounds like," Shidai Kagai spoke in the mic, having a young yet eloquently used tongue as he spoke into the reciever with a professional disposition, "I thank you for making your way here to retrieve me. Had I tried to escape on my own, the Captains outside would've surely made it difficult and possibly prevented a prolonged exiting of this dreadful carriage."

"It seems that even in this particular situation, you've managed to keep in one piece for us..." Angelika said smoothly in compliment. "That makes it easier for us. You see, my subordinates are outside right now, distracting the much more difficult enemies and clearing a path. My subordinate can take you out of here to an extraction point not too far from here. Think you can handle that?"

WOOSH!

Yusuke used a Flash Step to evade the blast, sacrificing turning the area that he had been standing within to the hungry flames. As he re-appeared in the air, he wasted no time in unleashing his own counter-attack on his new enemy. His fingers bent accordingly, and his hands moved quickly in a manner worthy of a puppetmaster. The razor wire moved to surround Daisuke and entrap him, limiting chances of escape and increasing the chances of severe injury.

With a grit of his teeth and a swing of his hands, he moved those wires to close in on their target.

"!!!"

Anton managed to see this out of the corner out of his eye, his heart skipping a beat out of sudden anxiety. However, he also knew that was the same mistake he had made while facing Shindō - allowing himself to turn away when his enemy was attacking. Still, it didn't keep him from being nervous. What if one of these men attempted to target her instead...?

When the Captain thrust the attack towards, he braced himself.

CLAMP!

With both of his hands respawning the Kiriken swords, he moved the blades in the path of the attack. The water slammed into his defenses full-force, but he held his ground against it by digging his feet into the dirt. When he looked into Ryōken's deadly gaze, a smirk came across his face and his own eyes gleamed with amusement. "Sorry..." He said lowly. "This will hit straight home. Tsuzuri Raiden!!!"

TZZZZT!

When he swung both of his blades outwards, he unleashed a current of electricity that shot down, using the water itself as a pathway to make its way directly towards his assailant.

At the same time, Shinshin had made the first blow on his own opponent.

SLASH!

The blade tore across Hachiro's back, and he let out a "Tch!" when he felt the immense pain shoot through his spine. However, it did not stop his next movements. With a 360-degree spin, he whirled around and swung his blades in a reflexive counter-attack. All in all, it was as if that all the strike had done was alert the Captain moreso than actually hurting him...

WHUMPF!

Sakura was fully prepared for the next attack.

With an outstretched hand, she blocked the blow and grasped Mōka's angle in a vice-grip. "Gave you...?" She sneered. "I've given you everything you needed. But I was expecting something much more different from this. You've allowed yourself to grow so soft, thinking that you belong with these mere mortals. You've allowed yourself to forget who you really are. Are you that much of a coward to run away from your past? I taught you better!!!"

With that being said, she twirled herself around with the offending ankle in her hands. With a wide swing, she let go of the limb to send her daughter flying several meters away from her position.

Tap-BOOM!

Her feet tapped onto a still standing trunk, before jettisoning herself from it causing it to splinter and shater from the sheer force she used to propel herself back at Sakura. Her body moving into a headlong thrust, she then propelled her arms out in front of herself, grasping the very fabric of the air and spiritrons just before Sakura's body, and spin her body in a vaulting position over her and double kick with generous pressure against her back enough to send the likes of her staggering.

"You've taught me shit!" Mōka screamed out as she spun around and landed away from Sakura into a neutral stance, with her hands tightened into fists, "you've given me nothing but pain and suffering since the day you birthed me into this world! Had I gone the route you wanted me I would've destroyed this world and the next a dozen times over! And for what?! Heritage?! Satisfaction?! Glory?!" She then glared at her, pointing at her as she snarled, "or is it that your position of overseeing the worst of mankind skewed your position enough to hate all mortals, both spirit and living?!"

"His endurance is incredible...!" Shinshin thought as he narrowly escaped deadly blows with only a cut across his cheek, and a pair over each shoulder, before parrying them away, backpedaling away from the renewed Captain's vengeful assault, "to think that blow actually caused my mother to lose her wind...it only caused him to fight more furiously, like a wild animal who's effectiveness has increased twice over...he's going to be a troublesome one to deal with..."

"Oh hell," Ryōken said in a comically startled tone as he saw the yellow lightning crawl up the Zanpakuto, narrowly giving him time to react as he used his free hand to ignite his own Zanpakuto with a Kidō of his own, "Byakurai!"

SSSPRRAAAACK-CRRAACK!

The two lightning energies struck at mid-center, causing the geyser of water to dissipate indefinitely as well as cause a thunder in between the two of them. This caused a subsequent gust of wind to buffet between the two combatants, causing Ryōken's sandles to skid across as he breathed out a sigh of relief as well as wipe away sweat of nervousness he developed in that moment.

"Whew...that was close," Ryōken he said as he spun his Zanpakutō in one hand while keeping a more defensive position, "guess I shouldn't charge so blindly against a master of the spellcasting arts, versed in using them enough to even cause trouble for young Shindō-san..."

For Daisuke, he appeared as if he was drawn into a literal and proverbial bind, as Yusuke launched his plethora of blade strings to ensare and dice him up like he saw his own men had become.

"Left, right, up, behind...the only way to evade something like this conventionally is going down, and I'm not really thinking that's a good idea," Daisuke analyzed in midflight of the crescendo of barely visible twine capable of shredding meat with ease and capable of reducing ill equipped metalic substance to shatter. He knew trying to parry all of them wouldn't be a good idea, because at least one of the strings would get through and it would be all over...so...

STAB-SHINK!

"Hadō #1," the Lieutenant proclaimed as he stabbed his Zanpakutō into the earth as his body radiated with precisely controlled energy, about to be released all at once, "Shō!!!"

THUUM-WHOOSH!

The kinetic burst was precise and widespread, 360 degree angle to dig a crater below him as well as send all of the precisely controlled strings to fly abound, cascading wildly out of reach of Daisuke.

"SAI!" Quickly outstretching his hand to Yusuke's position, he sent a invisible binding force, intending on incapaciating his arms whom the boy prided on using those strings of his. Then, using a Flash Step of his own, he launched a bone-crunching pommel strike towards his chest, intending on driving him across the air and into the toppled carriage Oliver had shot, "HAAAA!"

"Of course," Shidai spoke as he began to dress properly, as a hidden compartment below his seat bore clothes and equipment he prepared ahead of time for his escape, "though you may want to hurry. You may be superb in your work, but once the Inner Circle arrives, I'm afraid I should accompany them out of fear of being caught in their crossairs as an enemy for coming along with you. You understand, of course?"

WHAM!

Once again, Sakura swiftly raised her arms in order to block the oncoming attack. But this time, her eyes widened in shock once she felt her opponent's legs connect with her arms. It wasn't the intensity,the power that had been put behind the kick, or even the fact that she was sent flying away because of it. But rather, it was the fact that she could actually feel the pain. It was as if she was back and fighting with Daisuke again, her inability to die ripped away from the Melody. She had been certain that it had returned to her when the Plinian Eruption had ceased to be.

"We lost our immortality...?"

Quickly, she righted herself, her fingers and soles digging into the dirt in order to stop herself from going too far away. Slowly, she righted herself back up again. Her dirt-stained palms raised themselves in a mocking shrug. "This world is going to shit. Everyone wants to run from their pain, as I have seen many times over..." She said coolly, a sneer clear on her face. "Of course, there are few exceptions... but there are none that really matter or can hope to change the path of existence. You, dear daughter, are nothing more than one of the many who choose to deny themselves. If you allowed yourself to learn from what I taught you... then maybe you would've known your place in the world. But I guess I can't ask that from a fledgling like you..."

"What's the matter, boy?!" Hachiro jeered, continuing his furious assault on Shinshin. His blades flashed with each and every swing, and his body moved to keep the pressure on his opponent. The feral smile on his face was the closest thing to genuine at that point. "Don't get soft because you managed to land one blow on your enemy!! Don't rest until he's good and dead!! Otherwise, he'll just keep coming back to put you in your grave!!"

This was somewhat of a contrast to the battle Yusuke and Daisuke were having.

"Ah-!!" Yusuke let out a surprised yell as his arms were suddenly wrenched behind him, and he couldn't manipulate his fingers. His eyes were widened in surprise and recognition of the spell. "A long-range Sai spell? How did he--?"

However, he didn't have much time to think about it when Daisuke rushed him again, intending on delivering a bone-crushing strike to his chest. It was here that he allowed his knowledge of the human anatomy come into play. He narrowed his eyes, bracing himself for the split-second moment where an opportunity would be made available for attack. And when the time came...

CRACK!

One of his legs swung up to meet the underside of Daisuke's bicep with enough force to splinter and shatter the bone underneath the muscle and skin.

"I think you're in a bit of a bind, Captain..."

Anton grinned, brandishing both of his blades in his own comfortable stance. "The very source of your power makes you a living lightning conduit..." He boasted, standing straight and tall even in the violent winds that raged all around them. "You may be different from the likes of Captain Takuji, but it's very clear I have the advantage. Just give up already before you get electrocuted one too many times... we're here for the bounty, not you."

"Jeez, you're impossible..."

When Hyōryū had been knocked back, Oliver was forced to become more defensive. As he continued firing on the 9th Division soldiers that attacked him, he retreated to where his partner had fallen. "Really hope that a simple Kidō spell didn't screw you over. I'm not interested in Anton chewing me out because of a careless mistake you made..." He muttered, keeping his focus on the battle at hand. Yet, his tone still carried clear amusement. It was obvious that despite their situation, none of the tension that would've gotten to anyone else never reached him.

"...it's nice to know I'm working with such a stable cargo here." Angelika remarked sarcastically, rolling her lone eye. "Shadō, if you can hear this, bring him to the cliffside immediately and head for the Dragonbird. Only engage the enemy if you need to. Otherwise, come straight back. We don't need to waste anymore time than we have already."

"You're right!" Mōka said in a joyful exclamation, a gleaming smile bore on her face as she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, "because our kind has denied me what I always longed for! Love, hope, aspiration, goals, and comradery! We practically want to kill each other if we stand next to each other long enough! Have you ever once considered what led to your ancestry and our race's downfall?! We became cradeled in a position of immortality and arrogance that stripped us of any indication that we used to be compared with humanity, spirit and living,"

She then started to walk towards her, her own body began to become alight with a dominating aura of power producing a blast of buffeting winds that shook the whole forestland, with her hair whipping around in a chaotic style, her body raising its limits, "I know we lost our immortality that day...but I've destroyed my own focus long ago, so I could be accustomed to them already. It seems you're new to the actual feeling of pain," she said with a sinister recognition from the last blow she landed on her mother, "allow me to show you what I've allowed myself to recognize as a benefit instead of a liability..."

WHIZ!

Moving at accelerated levels far greater than before, she coated her hands in a flame similar yet more overpowering in nature compared to the flames of Hell. A submitting power that wanted to bend anything to its will, while utterly destroying them in the process.

BLAAAAAAM!

Mōka unleashed a pillar of flames from her right fist from the high-sped release of her attack, intending on driving her back, making her fall to her knees in agony and hopefully...end her life for bearing her into the world.

Within moments of Angelika's orders, Shadō emerged with Shidai, his attire more fitting to that of a member of a Kidō corps but holding himself in a high disposition of planning and control. A smile crossed the shadowy visage of his face, that his upper half was almost impercievable to detect, "Why...this is my good fortunte to be rescued by the infamous Angelika Hartmann," bowing to her, as he held a arm in front of his chest, "a pleasure to meet you."

Shadō walked over to Angelika's side as they exchanged pleasantries, leaning over as he spoke lowly yet calmly, "We have a situation about the transportation issue. It appears that when I was moving through the shadows some distortion through the spacial fabric sent a....unpleasant vibe to the beast, causing it take off back to whence we brought it from."

"Guess I got sloppy myself back there," Hyōryū said as she winced, gripping her guns as she began firing back at the enemies, causing them to withdraw to cover and a safe distance, "but I think that's going to keep me from doing flips and somersaults for the duration of this mission...owwwww..."

"You make an excellent point," Ryōken said with a mirthfully admittant tone, tapping the staff of his Zanpakuto against his shoulder, "but then again, just handing you the convict of interest over to you would be quite the blunder to my pride as a Captain and a Soul Reaper. It would be downright shameful and out of the question, considering they'd never let me hear the end of how I lost to a boy and handed over the captive because of the fear of a little shock therapy," shrugging, he smiled nonchalantly at him as he set his eyes on Anton, "so we seem to have a little of a impasse, don't we?"

"NGHA!" Daisuke cried out in surprise and pain, swearing within for using such a non-lethal approach as this boy had no hesitation in inflicting pain upon him. The Zanpakuto flicked out of his reach, but that didn't stop Daisuke's other arm as he brought it up in instinctive reflex, as he yelled out as it held over Yusuke's body point blank, "HAAAAA!"

SSPRRAAACK-BOOM!

A point-blank Sokatsui spell was initiated from his palm, intending on injuring him for the cost of his arm and the Zanpakuto that spun and stabbed into the carriage he intended to send his opponent into in the first place, cementing it in place. The reduction of no incantation nor control saccrficed its lethality, but at point blank, the damage would be sufficient for Daisuke to cause his opponent to withdraw.

Shinshin began to redirect the flow of the berserk array of thrusts and slashes by the experienced Captain around his form, as he quickly changed tactics once again. As he moved in to clash against the two blades in the Captain's hands with one hand, he spearhanded his left hand with enough concentrated force and spirit energy shielding his skin to penetrate the gut of his opponent and swiping it aside, knowing that he'd inflict sufficient damage against him knowing how resilient he'd be.

But all it took was one leap, and Hachiro had avoided the barehanded attack made towards his person. In the midst of his flip, he twirled and spun his body around like a tornado's cycle. His blades moved with him, and so he became a pinwheel that threatened to split Shinshin's head in two. To 9th Division members who just happened to be nearby, it happened to be quite a fearsome sight to see the massive form of Hachiro move like that. It was a reminder of just how ferocious their leader could become while in the midst of combat.

For Yusuke, it was a matter of retreating and recovering.

He was quick enough to dodge the counter-attack made by Daisuke, swiftly a good distance away on the ground. For a brief moment, he shut his eyes and focused on the Sai spell binding his arms. All it took was a surge of energy, and he ripped himself free from the bindings that had pinned his arms behind his back. He worked out his fingers, his trademark wires coming to life once more. Slowly, he opened his eyes to glare at the figure of Daisuke.

"I promised them both that I would come back alive and in one piece." He growled. "If that means I have to see you as I saw any enemy, then so be it!" He spread his feet apart and settled into a stance, the wires flaring and spinning around him a defensive manner. His heart started racing, and every muscle tensed as he prepared himself to fight against his former superior once more.

For Anton, it was a matter of starting back up again.

"So you favor pride in your status over all else...?" He muttered, frowning in slight resentment. "Fine by me. I should've known negotiation was gonna be a far shot..." Slowly, he moved his Kiriken swords so that would be horizontal and parallel with one another. The gap between the swords were closed by electricity from another Tsuzuri Raiden spell jumping from one blade to another and back again. He took in a deep breath, his eyes narrowing in newfound concentration as he mentally prepared himself.

Then, he twisted both swords, pulled them back, and swung them in a rotating motion. The burst of electricity was released from its containment towards its designated target.

For Oliver, it was a fight in progress.

As soon as he knew that Hyōryū could stand on her own two feet, he rushed back into the fray. His fingers continued to the pull the triggers, mowing down his enemies with the terrifying accuracy that he had always utilized. However, despite the rate he was killing them, more just seemed to keep coming. It didn't help that most of them were lasting much longer than the usual mooks that he had fought.

Then it happened.

A sharp pain tore through Oliver's ankle, and he let out a hiss when he looked down. A 9th Division member that had a hole blown through her chest and had not yet died had plunged her katana into his calf. With a tug, she sent Oliver off of his heels and onto his back, emitting an "Oof!" from him as she did so. Narrowing his eyes, he leveled his gun at her and fired, spraying blood and brain matter everywhere. Most of it had spilled onto his suit, staining him a dark red.

Time slowed down as he looked towards the sky. His eyes widened when he saw two 9th Division members swooping down, their blades raised and ready to finish him off. He twisted his wrists, aiming his guns toward both of them.

Two sounds could be heard in that instant.

The sounds of Oliver's bullets hitting their targets...

...and the sound of metal ripping through flesh.

It was here that Angelika's eye widened in slight surprise. Quickly, she raised a finger to tap and switch her earpiece. Of course, who better to know of the situation than the pilot of the Dragonbird herself? "Nakamura." She said firmly, a frown on her face. "What is going on with the carrier?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am! I-I don't know!" The voice on the other end clearly sounded frantic. "I-I've tried coaxing him and calming him down, but I can't get him to back to the extraction spot! I don't understand what could've possibly spooked him so much! I-If you want, I could try and find another place to set up... but, if I do, then it'll take much longer to get to it than the previous one... I'm really, really sorry this happened!!"

"...does fate have some sort of grudge with me...?" Angelika muttered under her breath, resisting the urge to give an aggravated sigh.

For Sakura, it was a feeling of disdain mixed with confidence.

She scowled, raising her hand up to the attack that Mōka had unleashed on her. In response, she unleashed a wave of her own fire in order to counter it. It was certainly sizable, the radius ten times the length and width of her body. She was certain that fighting the girl wouldn't be much of a problem. After all, she had mingled with the humans too closely! She had allowed herself to abandon the ways of the Hankami, accepting the feelings that would've made anyone too weak to stand up for themselves. She had to be weak!

It was such a shame when she found her theory to be proven wrong.

Mōka's attack had ripped through and overpowered hers, making her pupils dilate in shock. "What--?!"

BOOM!

She barely called off her own failed assault and leaped back in order to avoid being hit. But despite her efforts, it was clear that at least a portion of it had gotten to her. When she landed, she had the affected arm at level with her face, involuntarily twitching it. The severe burn markings were clear as day, and one could smell the flesh sizzle. Multiple beads of sweat were dripping down her face as she glared at Mōka, incredulous as to what had happened.

"She...she overpowered my flames... first him... and now her?!" Frustration was building up within her at her own thoughts. "What's happened to me?!"

"Don't feel bad, bitch," Mōka said as she began walking towards her evenly, her body glowing in a thick dark red aura, causing the earthen growth, ashes, wind, and torn stumps to twist and bend in shape, energy, and nature, "its your little gift to me as a Hankami. I'm not called the Dominator for kicks," she then swung out her hand in a swift gesture, as the ground sprouted thick gnarled roots with thorns on them that can chaff steel to climb up and wrap around Sakura's body, "I command anything within my reach of power. That is the essence of my being and my existence," she then walked just in front of her burned form, just out of arm's reach as she crossed her arms and glared at her, "do you truly believe our race has something worthwhile, when in the end it causes nothing but pain for ourselves and the universe around us? Do you even have something to live for besides your contempt for humanity?! Name me ONE thing, mother!"

"It may be competition," Shadō said, looking to Shidai's patient disposed stance, not even bothering to look at them as he onlooked at the violence below, "and if that's the case, we should immediately exctract him from this area to the nearest LZ. If I take him alone, it should only take me a fraction of what it would take on foot."

Hyōryū felt her heart slow to a crawling, audible beat. As she saw Oliver out of arm's reach, taking the blow from a nearby, nearly dead Soul Reaper's blade while a pair leaped at him simultaneously as he was knocked off balance. While he managed to land killing blows, the pair of lethal blades...tore vertical, grotesque cuts down his chest that allowed blood to spurt morbidly from his body.

"OLIVER!!!" She shouted out in a voice of pleading and desperation. Never had she ever thought she'd feel this way when she'd see him take blows like this. She never thought he'd be capable of being caught in crossfire like this. She knew she should've tied him to a stump or kept him from fighting...that look in his eyes made her convinced he wanted death today, for himself and his targets.

BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA!...

"Back off, Fuckers!" Hyōryū snarled out in a guttural cry as she let loose her lowest settings auto-fire, driving back any proximate Soul Reapers away to regroup and strategize how to take out the two gunmen. In the meantime, Hyōryū bent down while holding a gun towards her quarry, poking Oliver with a frustrated tone, "you better stop copycatting me, Ollie, or else we'll both end up deader than our targets! Can you get up?!"

Ryōken smiled as the collective of high voltage electricity raced towards him. Stabbing his Zanpakuto into the ground, he outstretched his left hand, uttering aloud, "Shō!" causing the force of the electricity to reverse entirely, sending it directly back at Anton, in an attempt to cause him to be back on the defensive as she unplucked his weapon again.

SHFT!

Moving in a deft Flash Step to race alongside him, he had a collection of water gathered along his Zanpakuto, raising it up in a fluid arcing motion before slamming it towards him via the protruding end of his weapon, imitating the form of a large serpent head, "Fuka Hasai Hadō!"

WHAM!

At near point blank, the condensed, propelled force of the water's animated head would be sufficient enough to even rattle the resilient warrior, if not send him sprawling in the air towards the cliff face yet again.

Daisuke somersaulted in the air so he could land behind Yusuke, grasping the Zanpakuto he had let stab into the carriage's damaged husk, before flourishing it with his left hand while his right hand hung limply. Looking over at his arm, he sighed, "I'd rather not do this with one hand, but I guess I have no choice," he looked over at Yusuke as he made his proclamation, his own Zanpakuto alight with flames once more as his body glowed a menacing red.

"I'm giving you one chance to walk away from this, Yusuke," Daisuke said in a hidden knowing tone as he looked at him with a stoic, yet passionate tint as his body broiled with his spiritual aura and pressure, "I don't know if I can hold back any longer against you. If you continue seeing this as a battle of the death, you won't be able to fight again as you are...you understand?"

Shinshin in the meantime slid into an instinctive stance with his blade, as his body erupted with a dark wrathful presence as the atmosphere once again began to billow and erupt with his unusual power and style of combat. Sliding the flat of his katana to his waist on his right side while holding the hilt with both hands, he narrowed his eyes at the spinning rotations of the Captain's attack...and siezed the moment of opportunity to deal a crushing blow!

"Tamashī Mikadzuki!"

SWING-SSSSCRRRAAAAA-BOOM!

Swinging his blade in such a ferociously swift manner while ebbing the unique energies along the blade in mid swing, he sent a powerful cutting force with enough power to potentially shatter the Captain's blades and cut deep wounds into him, leaving a dark blue aura in its wake while leaking a ozone scent throughout the landscape. The cut also erupted in the wake of a explosion of pressurized air, enough to blow away his opponent had he deflected or matched his counterattack.

This maneuver worked on the Monitor.

But it wouldn't work on Hachiro.

CLANG!

With a strike of his own enhanced by his spiritual energy, he parried the attack and batted the blade away in completion of the flip, skidding to a distance off. "So, this is the style that you favor?" He questioned, standing straight up and bringing his blades to a more defensive stance. "Quite an impressive stance you carry when utilizing those techniques of yours, and such immense attack power put behind each one. Even though you're no Soul Reaper, you fight as if you had the experience of an officer. Your master taught ya quite well, didn't she?"

"You're asking me to run away?" Yusuke demanded, swinging his hand out to the side when he turned to face Daisuke. "To step aside and let you kill my comrades? Do you think so little of me that you would assume I would just walk away from this as if I see it as my only choice? Well, you can forget it! I told you before, your friends already made that choice for me long ago on that very night! It's too late now!"

He sent the wires to once against Daisuke's form, forming a webbed wall as they rushed to cut him into pieces.

"Oh, fu--!!"

Anton immediately dispelled the Kidō so that he could twist himself around just in time to see the serpent's head race towards him. However, it was here that he couldn't form the barrier in time. The water slammed into him full-force, enveloping him within its depths and forcing him to collide right into the cliff-face. The concussive force was sent straight up his spinal chord, and the pain shot through his body like a bullet. The water that washed over him didn't exactly help things...

"Nnngh!!"

Oliver let out a vicious grunt as he leaped up to his feet, breathing heavily. Now his clothes were stained with a mixture of his blood and his enemies', and his blood-covered appearance now dominated everything when it came to the likes of visual attention. However, despite the fresh wounds that he had been delivered, he simply cocked his neck from side to side. "I'm fine..." He said casually, though a strained tone seeped through. "Not gonna lie, this really hurts... but I'm still kickin', no problem..."

"Good thinking..." After giving an acknowledging nod to Shadō, Angelika turned her tone back to Rika. "Set up for a secondary extraction point, Nakamura. Shadō will track your signature and meet up with you. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am! I'm right on it!" Relieved that Angelika didn't sound too angry at her, Rika quickly cut the connection after she had voiced her acknowledgement.

"You want to know what the Hankami's good traits are?"

Sakura spoke in a low, angered tone, the snarl coming back onto her face as she met Mōka's gaze. "Well, for one... it gave you that particular power... the ability to command anything and everything you wished." She said, doing as best as she could to lower her arm to her side. "It gave you the ability and mind, as much as I hate to admit it, to defy us out of sympathy for the mortal race. It gave you a role, a role to help influence existence for the better. But of course, you had to go and pretend to be something that you're not, act like you're one of them when you know that you'll never be. If you can really dominate everything within your reach..."

A sneer came to her face once more.

"...then why can't you reign over the fear of me? Of us? Of yourself? Can you tell me that, child?"

"Fear you?!"

Click-SHINK!

"You don't get me at all, do you?!" Mōka unsheathed one of her swords and deftly swung it to stop just an inch from cutting her flesh, as the edge of it grazed her skin in a uncomfortable fashion, sneering as she leaned her face close to hers, "I loathe you. I loathe my kind, and myself, for being the dark twisted creatures we turned ourselves into! You think power to control all things is a blessing?! I'd rather die ten times over as a mortal, to actually worked for my gifts and talents, than be cursed with these dark natured powers of ours!"

"He stopped the attack outright?! Those Zanpakuto...are truly resilient to withstand that kind've pressure..."

Shinshin's eyes widened as he saw his attack, a powerful one at that, stopped by the Captain's own vicious tornado spin, but managed to only push him back. But he resumed a cold, stoic stance as he stood back up and lowered the negative energies he was exuding from the stance he was using against Hachiro, "Don't compare me to your standards, Captain Hachiro. You may be exceptional when it comes to attack power, but even the greatest warrior can be overcome by skill and tact..."

Sft-shuffle...

"I guess I have to adapt to your style and compensate" he said as he radiated a more calm, assured and detached look at his opponent, "let us go again...Captain of Soul Reapers!"

Hyōryū looked at him with a arched brow before rolling her eyes, cocking her own guns and rolling her neck side to side as she raised her weapons to bear at any more Soul Reapers looking for another wave of attack, "It seems we got the shortest straw, huh, Oli-"

She was cut short as she saw the man of her heart slam painfully into the cliff's side just a mere dozen meters away from her position, causing her to bite her lip in restraint from calling out his name and taking off after his opponent, "I just hope Anton's not shorter than ours..."

Speaking of Anton...

"You should really give Captains more credit, kid," Ryōken said with a humored look as he began spinning his Zanpakuto next to himself in a blinding speed effortlessly while walking closer to his opponent, "I know my weaknesses better than anyone. But sometimes a warrior with weaknesses can turn them into tactical strategies against his enemies. You should remember that, should you survive this day..."

SFT-SFT-SFT-CRACKLE!

"I'm going to end this, Semenov-san," the Captain spoke as he created a inverted triangle, electrical display of the Kidō, sprouting a set of three binding energy beaks, before he uttered aloud, "sorry it couldn't be under better circumstances. Bakudo # 30, Shitotsu Sansen!"

BRACK-BRACK-BRACK-WHIIIIIZ!

All three beaks of binding energy discharged from the "drawn" array, aiming to pin the russian young man against the cliff face, intending on pinning him there and keep him from fighting any further. This way, Ryōken hoped he could go after the leader of this group and end this attack before any of the prisoners could be accidentally released or killed....

For Daisuke however...

His eyes locked onto the many configured threads. Moving his eyes to where they all intersected, he had to smile as he recognized it as a less than refined version of his style of combat. And as far as he could see from this exchange...he was far from that Lieutenant's prowess in utilizing the form of attack he began to use.

CLAMP-CRUNCH'!

With a wince of pain, Daisuke released a artificial tablet of accelerated healing energy from one of his molars. Within moments the throbbing pain of the snapped bone near his bicep repaired itself, and he could use the still decievingly limp arm. As the net of cutting wires raced towards him, Daisuke visibly and dramatically gathered the flames necessary for his attack, while fishing his right "limp" hand within the contents of his long sleeve, and then...

WHIIIZ-SNIK-SNIK-SNIK-SNIK-CRACK!

Throwing a weave of intricate, nigh transparent twine of his own that attached to the main connections of each of the webbed contents that raced towards him, before glowing a bright yellow that pulsated a binding energy all the way across the wired network and back towards its user.

With his free hand, Daisuke shouted aloud as he swung the network of webs and consequently Yusuke, as he raised his Zanpakuto and then swung it at high speeds, calling out, "Jigoku Dangan!!!" sending the fiery projectile of high vollatile destructive power towards Yusuke, intending on catching him in the fiery blast with enough potency to surely incapacitate him from the pain if he didn't get incinerated outright, as the fireball exploded with a buckling shockwave that sent the emergency, broken and shattered carriage reeling in the air before smashing a ways away from the path.

On Angelika's end...

"Glad to see you don't lose your cool over a few complications," Shidai said with a smile, stroking his chin while propping up his elbow in order to do so, as he continued to observe the battle and carnage below.

Shadō walked over to grasp Shidai's shoulder, before...an ominous feeling entered the atmosphere. It wasn't a bad vibe or anything of the sort. It was literally a crackling and shifting of the spacial and physical planes all around them, as if there was a battle happenning beyond the world they could see and trying to enter their own.

"That can't be good," Shadō spoke lowly as she reached his hand back to grasp the hilt of his Zanpakuto, readying himself as he saw a series of dark red electricity spawning up above in the sky, opening a rift from one world into theirs.

"Shadō..."

Angelika narrowed her eyes, clenching her teeth slightly as she saw the disruption within the sky. The wind within the area billowed even more violently than before, and if she had been looking anywhere but upward, she would've surely had to shield her face from the winds. Her tone was firm and commanding. "Do not waste any more time. Get him out of here, now." She knew that the time for interference would be close to here now. If they didn't get Shidai out of the area, they never would.

And yet, Angelika was getting the feeling that despite their efforts, that things had still not had gone as she had wished them to be.

"The universe... really hates me."

"What?!"

Yusuke shouted out the word, a look of disbelief and horror on his face as his web was tangled within the newly created one. However, he could do nothing but yell as he was yanked off of his feet and thrown away like a rag-doll. But when the blast of fire raced towards him, his eyes dilated in horror. If he hadn't been caught off-guard, then maybe he would've warded off the attack easily. But, as it was, he had to act quickly if he wanted to at least preserve his life.

He swung his hands out, a rectangular barrier wall forming in front of him just as the blast was a second away from hitting him.

BOOM!

Although the barrier kept him from being seriously hurt, Yusuke was thrown back. He gritted his teeth as his back slammed into the ground, his body continuing to skid before coming to a stop. His eyes were shut as he felt the friction on his skin, an aching pain shooting through his back. However, once he opened his eyes, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. His purple eyes rested on Daisuke, glaring daggers as sharp as he could possibly make them.

"No... I'm still not down yet...!" He growled, pushing himself up to his feet and clenching his fists. "I refuse to--!"

But that was when his attention caught onto the disturbance within the sky, and he abandoned his angry expression in exchange for shock and awe. "What in the world...?"

For Anton, he had to be thankful for not being a human.

With a Flash Step, he was able to pull himself out of harm's way and skid off to the side. He was drenched, his hair hanging down and partially over his face. Inwardly, he was continuously cursing, as it now became much colder due to the winds still blowing. "Too bad..." He declared, re-summoning his Kiriken swords to his hand. "Sometimes, you can't get what you want in life. I'm far from do--"

It was here that the disruption in the sky stopped him from wording his retort. His surprised eyes directed themselves towards the commotion. "...or we just might be wrapping this up..." He muttered, one of his eyes squinting as he looked at it. "That... wouldn't happen to belong to you, would it, Captain?"

They weren't the only ones to take heed to it.

Oliver as well as the 9th Division members that were in the midst of attacking shot their gazes towards the red electricity that was erupting over Angelika's area. Murmurs of shock, awe, and wonder rang throughout the crowd, but Oliver could not bring himself to say a word. "Boss..." He thought to himself, a confused scowl on his face. "What the hell decided to make you it's punching bag now...?"

Hachiro was the least surprised.

His eyes widened slightly, and he was quick to lower his swords in order to turn his attention to it. "Sorry, boy..." He said calmly, a frown coming back to his face and a serious, composed tone coming back to his tone. "But I think that we've got bigger problems than dealing with each other as of this minute. Somehow, I don't think that happens to be on your side..."

And the Punisher, last but not least, had turned only a glance towards it before she looked at Mōka again, a dagger-eyed glare directed towards her. But it was clear that despite everything, she was taking it into account. She leaned forward, gasping slightly as she felt the blade cut into her. However, it did nothing to affect her mood. She licked her lips out of instinct, the sneer clear on her face.

"Same difference, as far as I'm concerned..." She said vehemently. "If you don't want to believe me... then fine, keep your little mortal life. But I want you to tell me... do you think killing me's gonna make everything happier? Do you think that my demise will make all your troubles vanish? Let me tell you something, sweetie. There's a worse evil than I could ever be lurking in the shadows, and it's waiting for the moment where I stop breathing. You kill me, and you destroy the lone obstacle keeping the planes of existence from being annihilated. So..."

With a swift movement of her hand, she grasped the back of Mōka's head and pressed their foreheads together, her eyes never leaving her daughter's.

"What's it gonna be... you failure?"

On the Dominator's end...she finally withdrew her blade, before taking her mother's hand off her head, snarling at her, "You never even gave humanity a choice before deciding to whisk everything away within a moment, monster!" She then slapped her across the face, intending to draw blood before she backed up and sheathed her blade.

"Killing you when you got next to no fight in you would be a waste anyways," she muttered, stopping a good ten meters away before outstretching a glowing left hand, "but I can keep you from moving..."

THUUUUUUUM-WHIRRRRRR!!!

Shinsei energy flowed vibrantly throughout the earth and the stumps, the air itself began to form constructs of gnarled, twisted dark barked tree roots and vines, all of them twining and slithering across the Punisher's form while digging thick thorns into her body, coursing a restricting and overpowering energy into her body.

"My nature's affects should keep you paralyzed for as long as I want you there," the Dominator spoke aloud as she flexed a finger in demonstration to tighten the vines even further around her body, "you may be the queen of Hell, mother, but I dominate all other planes of existence. I guess you should be proud about that aspect about this failure..."

"Gladly," Shadō spoke, as he grasped Shidai's inquisitive looking form suddenly causing him to whirl around and about to protest before Shadō's cloak enveloped them both, descending them into the shadows below and through the realm he masters, taking him away before anything grew worse.

Shinshin's eyes widened as he felt the distortion of space warp their own real space plane. Looking over to the sky, he saw thick tendrils spike out and crack the atmosphere, ground, and abound as a thick spherical hole opened up, permeating a thick empathic wave of malice...and hatred.

"Something foul is in that thing," Shinshin said pointedly, as he stood up and regarded the now plainly spherical object bearing down upon them all, "and it means foul play for all of us..."

"Oh crap," Hyōryū stepped back as she looked wide eyed at the sphere of distorted space, "I'm going to be needing the Executor just about now..."

"Not ours," Ryōken had put his Zanpakuto upwards as he scratched his goatee, sideglancing Anton, "it'd be a bit more flashier in the good way, and not radiating with bloodlust and menace."

"Oh hell, what now?!" Daisuke swore aloud as he saw and felt the obvious distortion of space that began to expand in and around the airspace above them.

Enter the Warped Dragon, The Dark Truth Surfaces!
Stepping through the open space, a dark red veined cloaked woman step through, emanating a wrathful empathic aura that shook the air maliciously, as well as discharge more tendrils chaotically downwards with crackling and electric results. Her Spiritual Pressure itself was well above normal, and her eyes bore yellow irises upon them all.

"Gotei 13 and V-14 are all still here? Good," she said in a cold, vehement tone, before waving a hand, allowing the sphere to open and let loose a collaboration of figures fall in smoldering, beaten heaps onto the ground below, "I was done playing with them anyways..."

What lied below were the forms of Yōki, Rokotsu, Takashi, as well as another additional figure with them, each of them moaning or barely moving from the beating they took by the incredibly unpredictable and powerful figure.

It was here that Angelika's eyes widened slightly in recognition at the D.C.O. operatives. "You...!" She whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing. How did they get to this particular location? And who exactly was this new character that had bested them?

"Ah hell, Braeburn!" Daisuke shouted, his body moving within an instant as he Flash Stepped to the australian accented young operative's side, shaking him with his hands urgently, "wake up you lazy butt! Wake up!"

Ryōken took a few precautionary steps towards the inert group before stopping to see the figure "standing" above them in the middle of the air, the sphere itself stabilized but continued to warp the space around them. "You from the infamous Circle we heard so much about, miss?"

"I am," Kunō spoke with a callous, cold tone as she looked down at the Captain briefly, "but you're not my primary targets. You just happen to be here and I wanted to dispose of your reinforcements before they could pose a threat to my own handpicked subordinates..." looking up, she regarded Angelika with a cool gaze before speaking to her directly, "Angelika Hartmann, founder and current leader of the infamous mercenary organization, V-14. I'm here to put an end to you and your pitiful band of mercs and end your resistance against us once and for all!"

''WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!''

Angelika barely registered the Flash Steps of her allies as they made their way back up on the cliff, her lone eye meeting Kunō's with her own brand of contempt. "A pitiful band of mercenaries...?" She repeated coolly. "I see... you must feel terrible if such pitiful scum was able to evade your iron-grip so constantly. Where could the likes of you possibly succeed where Yashin has failed, time and time again?"

"...fuck..."

Braeburn let out a cough and a groan, weakly rising his head up. His weary eyes stared into Daisuke's, and his expression was a mixture of dizziness and pain. However, the tone that he presented was nothing more than the sarcastic drawl he commonly used when dealing with such situations. "First I get my ass trumped by that Dragon bitch..." He muttered. "Now I'm having you stand over me... I might as well just die and get sent to Hell..."

Daisuke couldn't help but laugh, saying in good cheer as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards where a plume of smoke resided, "Well I did bring Sakura with us, so if you stay alive long enough I can grant your wish, if you'd like..."

"Careful, Angelika-san," Shinshin warned her as he appeared by her side, his eyes narrowed at the declared leader of their new opposition, of both them and the Gotei 13, "she may be on the same ranking of Yashin, but there's something wholly unnatural about her aura. Don't underestimate her...-"

"That thing enjoys the thrill of the hunt far too much," Kunō spoke in a unmoved, yet disdainful tone as her body coiled with a chaotic, unknown energy pressure that seemed to ripple the visible expanse of space between them, creating a thick burning ozone scent, "I however enjoy something far more simple than that..."

SWISH!

With a single motion of her hand, a sign only Oliver and vaguely Angelika would've recognized as a wave of crimson energy flew forward in a thick blanketed mass towards the area Angelika and her collaborated subordinates stood. The energy sent a series of chaotic ribbons that hummed, whirred, and finally...

"...the Execution!"

SPRACK-BOOM!

...detonated with a highly volatile rate, destroying the upper half of the 30 meter tall cliff side, causing a implosion of the space before the recoil sent many of the pieces of debris at high rates in every single direction, one of which managed to tear a chunk out of the Sekisekki carriages, totally bypassing its usual spirit energy nullification properties.

Shinshin managed to leap out of the way of the explosion, trusting in Angelika's reaction timing as he faintly tugged on her sleeve as he used his Flash Step as the entire upper half of the cliff exploded violently.

"FUCK!" Hyōryū swore aloud as she ducked down when debris shot down as well as a mound of dirt began to rain upon them as she hugged the wall of the lower half of the cliff side in order to keep out of the explosion's path, "I'm starting to hate the Circle more than the damned Gotei 13...really, I am!"

Even the Gotei 13 reacted with fear and uncertainty as they didn't even feel the attack like normal spiritual energy manipulation or distortion should. It felt totally foreign, causing them to withdraw to the cover of the carriages, with even then the shards of hyper accelerated debris threatened to open the carriages entirely.

"What in the spirits is that?! Time Space manipulation?!" Ryōken suddenly shouted out as he withdrew with a long backpedaling Flash Step, standing next to a regrouped Hachiro while Daisuke errected a barrier around the injured D.C.O. members.

Kilometers away was a far different story.

Hachiro stood with a scowl on his face, his eyes narrowed as he took it all in. Though his clothing and hair billowed violently from the intensity of the attack, he stood like a stone wall as he glared into the attack that had indirectly dealt considerable damage to one of the carriages below. "Whatever it is..." He stated coolly to Ryōken. "It's certainly not the standard attack you see everyday. Keep on your guard, Ryōken..."

For Angelika and the V-14 that had Flash Step, it was a matter of being quick.

With a single WOOSH!, they had evaded the attack and re-appeared in a circle surrounding the enemy. Each of them had to skid a little before coming to a stop, with Angelika herself in a crouched position once she came out of it. Each of them was a distance away from one another as well as their new enemy. The circle was just barely enough to be recognized as a flanking maneuver instead of a scattered, disorganized movement. At the same time, it was clear that it was anticipated and planned.

Having regarded the entire situation in his own silent shock, Braeburn weakly craned his head to face Daisuke. "H-hey..." He said in a strained. "I can't move my body. Could you check on my teammates for me?"

Slowly, Angelika stood up from her crouched position. "You think that such a display is meant to intimidate any of us?" She asked, letting her arms rest at her sides. "We have faced things much worse than the likes of you. If you really think you can kill all of us, then I welcome you to try. Maybe, just maybe, you'll be lucky enough to succeed where your friend failed..."

For emphasis, Anton re-spawned his Kiriken swords and raised his arms up. While his palms gripped the hilts, the tips of the blades were pointed at Kunō. "I guess the Gotei 13 can wait for the time being..." He said coolly, a smirk crawling onto his face as he regarded the confrontation with his own anticipation. "This time, the Dragon's going to die in a very creative manner. Hope the members of the 9th Division aren't too squeamish..."

"GACK--!!!"

Off to the sidelines, Oliver fell into a coughing fit. Blood spilled from his mouth and stained his hand when he tried to cover it. His knees buckled, and he fell on his seat while continuing to cough violently. This was enough to pull Yusuke's attention away from Kunō and towards the severely injured teammate. His expression changed to one of alarm, and he was quick to call off the wires that he had summoned.

"Hang on, Jesse!" The boy called, vanishing and re-appearing beside the fallen man.

"Oh you f'ing liar," Hyōryū snarled in a desperate and angry manner as she looked over to Oliver while keeping a weary eye and weapon trained on the new enemy hovering above them dauntlessly, "can't believe you convinced me you could actually fight, you sonuvabitch! You have more wounds on you than what you inflicted on those Division bastards...stupid stupid stupid!"

"Fascinating," Kunō thought as she looked at her hand with mild interest as it crackled with her own personal from of Dark Energy, "to think that one hundred years off the frontlines has made me this rusty in a warm-up reflex. That simple hand gesture would've normally left a crater a half a mile wide in its wake. I guess I should calculate before acting on impulse..."

Turning her gaze to meet Angelika's and the others standing by her side, she lowered the lids of her eyes until they were near slits, as she regarded them like a hawk to potentially lethal prey.

"As you wish, V-14," the Dragon spoke as she lifted her right, black gloved hand in emphasis, calling upon other entities to appear out of the spherical, black distortion in the air, all of them having familiar yet new spiritual pressures of their own, "but I will not have these dogs of the Seireitei interrupt while I have my fun with you..."

WHIZ-WHIZ-WHIZ-WHIZ!

"Heads up!" Ryōken shouted as he deflected a elongated projectile of similar length to his own with a expert spin and backpedaling motion to avoid the other one, as the blurred form gave way to a borderline mercenary appearing individual, with a man in a white pair of slacks and a lap trench coat appeared next to him, "guess we have our own hands tied now..."

Daisuke looked as the new attackers bore upon the Captains for the meantime, allowing him to nod to Braeburn's request, checking each of the D.C.O.'s vitals and dispositions. As he went to each one, studying them thoroughly, he began to grasp the more conscious ones and administer the healing tablets kept in their respective uniforms and into their mouths, as well as administer healing "paste" onto their wounds. Making his way back to Braeburn, he spoke to him lowly,

"They're all fine, and I think Takashi took the worst of the brunt of it. It seemed that Takashi was taking deliberate blows to protect the other two, with you being no different, but it seems like none of you have life threatening states and you should be able to heal quickly. Though I'm not sure about your stamina and spiritual pressure, it'd be dangerous to administrate a spirit energy restoration tablet at this point because the stress could kill you...theoretically..."

Braeburn cocked an eyebrow, a deadpan stare fixed on Daisuke. "Well, in case you happened to forget..." He drawled, having to breathe heavily in order to speak. "I'm the same guy who carved out his throat just to open a portal to Hell for who knows how many times. I think I can take the chance of being killed by a pill. The sooner one of the D.C.O. operatives is up, the sooner we'll have more reinforcements to counter--"

Promptly, he was interrupted by the sound of two more attackers coming within the area via a rather violent entry.

Hachiro's eyes widened when he felt not one, but two presences drop down towards him at immense speeds. He tilted his head upward, both of his blades swinging up to meet two opposing swords that threatened to cut him in two. The weapons banged together with a visual display of sparks as a result. With an outward swing, the senior Captain managed to parry both of the strikes and send his two opponents back. He lowered his weapons, and both of them readied theirs in preparation to continue.

"--that!" With as much strength as he could muster, Braeburn pointed outward towards the situation.

"It seems that I'm going to face plenty of brats before this is over and done with..." Hachiro grumbled, glaring at the two. "And who exactly might you four be, if I may ask?!"

The male of the two that had attacked him quirked both of his eyebrows in surprise, as if not expecting his enemy to speak. However, he managed to recover quickly. "If you absolutely have to know... the name's Tenshina." He answered readily. "Don't know if that'll matter since we're gonna be killing each other in a few seconds..."

"Kameyo Takaki." The girl introduced herself with a stoic and controlled tone, her red eyes staring with a unreadable gaze into Hachiro's. "Captain Hachiro Horikawa, you have been selected for termination due to being an undesired element of interference. Prepare yourself." This made Hachiro smirk in anticipation, and he raised his blades defensively once more.

"Very well!" He declared. "I'll give you a warning of my own. What you face down is the will of the Gotei 13! Your deaths will not be easy ones if they are by my hand!" To emphasize this fact, he slammed his blades together to form an upside down cross. The shadow produced over his face did not stop the glow of his glasses or the showing of his teeth, presenting an intimidating visage. "So don't let down your guard, even for an instant, if you wish to survive!"

As Oliver was being healed by Yusuke, he lowered his blood-splattered hand and looked up at the situation taking place. For once, the smile had been replaced by a scowl, but the calm (or as calm as he could manage while in pain) tone was still clear. "Not like it matters..." He grumbled. "Everyone's doing the fighting for us. We might as well be better off sitting on the sidelines as we are. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, these are nothing more than paper cuts..."

"Don't lie to me, bastard," Hyōryū snarled at him, poking his forehead repeatedly with a comically angry vein popping out of her browline, "those freaking swords don't inflict paper cuts, genius! They cut your flesh, snap your bones and bleed you dry! You're chest looks like irrigation canals for your bloodstream to leak out of, you stupid, death-wishing-idiot!"

Daisuke sighed, reaching into Braeburn's own pouch before handing the pill to his mouth, shoving it in to allow him to swallow it, raising his body slightly upright in order for the physical action to occur, "Here's hoping you can be of use to us...," Daisuke muttered lowly, really wishing the stubborn young man wouldn't talk him into doing things like this.

"Huh," Valeur looked over at the threatening visage of the Captain, raising both spears up to rest on his shoulders as he shouted over to Kameyo and Bokujin, "hey! Can you switch with us?! I'd rather fight that vicious warrior than this polite gentleman, no offense," he momentarily bowed to Ryōken, earning a slight comically deadpanned confused look from him, before he looked to Choku, "objections?"

"Tch," Choku pressed his hands up to his glasses, saying, "I'd really don't care one way or the other. Our odds are going to be tough either way, considering they're both the rank of Captain and considerably strong, resilient, and skilled in their own ways."

"I'm not an appealing opponent? That hurts," Ryōken joked, while keeping his trident to bear in the event that the whole routine was nothing but a sham or a hoax to catch them off guard.

For the collaboration of V-14, Kunō now felt confident in taking the fight to them.

BZT-SHIMMER!

Within an instant, the Dragon disappeared, her body warping out of visibility and out of all sensation. As if she had no existence within this plane at all.

"What is thi-?!"

BZT-WHIZ!

"is-!!!" Shinshin spoke aloud with a utterance of alarm, as one moment he was speaking, and the next, the woman of immense irregular power was standing next to him, holding out her gloved right hand towards his back, emitting a wave of energy...

BRACK-WHACK-BOOM!

...that sent him hurtling away with immense force across the trail, smashing into several carriages like a ping-pong ball, barely able to right himself on the grass twenty meters away, wincing and wheezing in breath. Inwardly, he couldn't register the attack at all and felt a frightening dawning that this woman could move without being sensed or anticipated. This...was an opponent he did not prepare for...he just hoped the others could match her strength with their adaptive skills.

"That's more like it," Kunō spoke lowly with a satisfied tone, turning her gaze to the other warriors and bristled with the a crackling, electric-like energy aura as she prepared to physically engage them in combat, "now who's next?"

In the midst of the battle that was about to commence, a new voice rang out in the sky.

'"HOW...DARE YOU?!"'

Instantly, Oliver was shot away from any reply that he was about to make, his eyes widening and his pupils dilating in recognition. He, as well as most of the others, snapped his head up towards the sky. "Well, what do you know...?" He muttered quietly. "I think he was keeping an eye on us this whole time..."

Within an instant, a figure could be seen dropping from the sky and slamming into the ground, dead center in the middle of the battlefield. Cerulean blue eyes glared in a cold fury at Kunō, and teeth were gritted in a feral snarl that seemed almost inhuman to be on anyone's face. His knees were bent, and his arms were bent back. His hands were open, fingers set in a clawed position. All of this conveyed a stance of someone ready to kill... and Kunō just happened to be the victim.

"Your organization may have committed the crime of being involved with demonic forces..." He said, pouring forth every bit of his anger into his words. Blue flames circled around him like a hurricane's winds around the eye of a storm. "But to draw a sword against my master as well as the rest of my comrades is a crime that I won't stand for!! For that, you accursed wench, I will grant you a death that will last until the end of time!! Prepare yourself... KUNO SHIRU!!!"

Kunō's hood flew off, billowing her cloak and hair with a stoic, yet callous stare at the enraged entity appeared before her. Regarding the Daitenshi before her, she raised a hand to brush her bangs away as she regarded him, before speaking aloud, "Tell me, dog of the Hell-queen," she narrowed her eyes as she spoke aloud enough for all to hear nearby, "would you be so defending of a woman responsible for atrocities outweighing ours, would you reconsider your allegiences? Did you even consider why she has such a cold, yet withdrawn personality? Do you know what war she has caused that has left certain individuals berift of family, friends, and mentors?"

Daisuke's eyes suddenly locked onto the woman, as she began to verbally regard the woman lightly motioning her left hand in emphasis towards Angelika. He knew he should think before acting, but he had to know. "What could she possibly have done...that could sway your enemies against each other so casually?"

Kunō's expression changed from one of casual irritation, to one of elation, as she turned her indifferent gaze to Daisuke's, allowing a small smile to elongate her jawline, "Ohhhh, this is too good to be true. One of her greatest if not finest examples of the tragedy she committed and turned an elightened man into a victim of grief and remorse for his own shortcomings...! Ehehehehahahaha!"

Daisuke's eyes twitched in irritation, concern, and then query as he slowly began to realize something was not right. It sounded like this woman knew too much about him, about his past, and about who she was fighting to his comfort.

"WHAT the hell are you talking about?!" Daisuke stepped away from the D.C.O. operatives, subsequently Braeburn's side, drawing his Zanpakuto in a demanding tone as he pointed it to her through the distance, "what is she responsible for?!"

Kunō, still bristling in a electric energized aura, turned her face to look past the enraged Daitenshi to Angelika, asking her aloud in a now amused tone, "Should I say it, or should you? After all, he might strangle you with his bare hands when he doesn't get an answer immediately..."

Now everything within the battlefield had become a tense stand-off.

And now, much to the surprise of her subordinates, there was an emotion within Angelika's eyes that would've never been seen before in any circumstances - fear.

"...no..." She whispered, regarding Kunō with shock. "There's no possible way you could know about what happened. I erased all of the records the Circle recorded of it before I left! I was sure I did!!" It wasn't fear at the possibility of retribution, but rather the simple fact of the memory having been brought up. Her hands were shaking now, and for the first time, she was starting to lose that calm and calculated attitude she always wore. It was certainly an unsettling thing for Oliver, Anton, and Shou to see.

"Nazi...?" Oliver muttered quietly, knowing he could not be heard.

"I'm sorry! I don't think he can hear you," Kunō said in a mocking tone, gesturing to the Lieutenant who had now made his way within only a few meters away from the enemies he was fighting only a few minutes ago, with a new enemy who had a secret that only she and the V-14's leader knew about. The reason for his grief, and his pain of loss and sorrow. He could remember only one instance that ever happened in his life.

"The Mourning War," he spoke aloud, in a deafening tone that struck chords for Ryōken's mind as well as every Gotei 13 member there, consequently including Braeburn's near incapacitated form only a dozen meters away. Narrowing his eyes, Daisuke glared at Angelika's shivering form, "that war was supposed to be a disaster, a happenstance of catastrophic mutation among hollows...but that wasn't the case, was it?!..."

"What did you do?!" Daisuke yelled out demandingly, his body quaking and his mind told him to stop before he got too close to the truth, while his gut and bones demanded for the answer he desperately wanted to know.

Silence.

Angelika was rendered completely silent. Her bangs overshadowed her eyes, and her breath patterns became irregular. She knew that all eyes were on her now, with her subordinates' gaze radiating curiosity and her enemies' gaze exuding varying degrees of judgement and contempt. Daisuke's and Hachiro's gazes were the least kind, with the Captain regarding her with an anger that Shou had displayed towards Kunō just moments ago. However, unlike Daisuke, he seemed to keep himself contained... for the moment. But she had no idea how long it would last. She knew that they had all fallen straight for Kunō's trap.

Shou seemed to realize this, as well.

"Kachō..." He reasoned, slowly shaking his head back and forth. "This is a trap. I don't know what she's talking about or what either of you know, but if you say anything, then she'll have the advantage--"

"No."

The tone in her voice made him stop cold, his eyes dilating and a short gasp escaping his lips. There was no longer the calm and serene tone that he had been used to. Instead, it had shifted into the tone of a woman who had seen the horrors of war, a woman who had been subject to a thoroughly horrifying experience. It frightened him to know that Angelika was capable of speaking in such a manner, and so he was forced to keep quiet.

"I... I should have known I would have to face this... eventually..." The woman said bitterly, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "Those of the Gotei 13, and those of my allies... it is time that you learn a secret that I've withheld to this point." With her hands folded behind her back, she looked more and more like a condemned prisoner ready to face punishment. At the moment, there was no difference between that comparison and what was happening now.

"In years long ago... I was one of the Dragons within the Inner Circle." She began to explain. "Back then, I was young and headstrong. I held little regard for the lives of others, and I always ran on the belief that the strong live and the weak die. I was always ready to trample over and crush the will of those I saw as potential enemies... even those who would never raise up a sword or gun against me. Because of my nature and the Circle's, I found myself easily serving them with a zealous radicalism that could only be found within the cults of Red Sun. It's something I'm not proud of now... but it was the backing of my ability to complete that fateful mission..."

She had to pause and mentally prepare herself.

"The Inner Circle's scientists developed a new means of biological warfare. Through experimentation with genes, they ended up creating a virus capable of manifesting itself through spores. They first tested it on a captured Hollow, with the result being that it was both empowered and controlled by the virus itself, but still alive. Unlike the Shinigami that were affected by it, however, the Hollow remained perfectly healthy up to the point that it was eventually killed by Inner Circle agents to contain the virus. Further experimentation led to the creation of the Hive Mind, a mutant, sentient carrier that could spread the virus to the extent where it would be able to wipe out entire civilizations. All it took was open air, a bit of spiritual power to stir it up, and a massive room for it to settle up in..."

"Y-you mean to tell me..." Yusuke was now looking at Angelika with horrified realization. "You--?!"

"I infiltrated the Soul Society of Japan and planted the sample..." Angelika's hands began to shake again, and her voice began to lose its composure once more. "I'm the one who spread that virus throughout the Seireitei. I'm the one responsible for the millions of lives lost. Every man, woman, and child that had been subject to that horrible torture... all of it was done by my hand, under the orders of the Inner Circle... so if you were still looking for the perpetrator... if you had some suspicion already..."

Slowly, she spread her arms out to motion to herself.

"Here she is. Here I am. So what will you do...?"

Silence.

That was the best word to describe the horrifying dawning and realization what was assumed as a natural disaster or a freak of nature within Hollowity was nothing more than a sick twisted scientific experiment on new types of Bio-warfare. The one thing that no one wanted accepted, had indeed happened, and they never questioend its source, considering how perfectly melded this virus was with the Hollow, it almost made it look like the Hollow created the virus itself!

"All those people...tainted...slaughtering each other," Ryōken thought with a bitter aftertaste, his eyes looked over to those he knew were affected by it the most, "Hachiro-san...barely kept his sanity when infected himself. Braeburn McTavish was perpretrated as a war criminal and left to die within that sad excuse of a battle. Many those who still wear headbands honor the moments where they took part in their own way in that horrible war. And Daisuke..." he then locked his eyes on Daisuke's shivering form, the boy's outstretched arm dropped with his Zanpakuto shakily in his grasp as he began to contemplate what was spoken, "I don't know anyone else who had stronger ties to comrades than he did...and believed that they died for the right thing, when it was all just a sick experimental war...on his friends..."

Daisuke began to breathe erratically as he began to compile the long list of things he tried to keep buried within the recesses of his mind. The same things he tried to keep from grieving in front of Sakura, in front of his Captain, in front of everyone.

"Lieutenant Sousuke!"

"You don't need to address me by rank all the time, Daisuke-san..."

"B-But you're my superior off-"

"Just call me Sousuke for now. When you get a rank equal or higher than me, you can say my rank whenever you like, but for now we're just comrades..."

"Really? But...I've only known you for such a short period of time..."

"There's no reason to be so formal all the time, Daisuke. Just because you're a Noble, or better yet a Soul Reaper, there's no reason to be yourself around your friends, okay?"

"Y-Yes Lieu...I mean Sousuke! I'll do my best!"

"Haha! That's the spirit...Daisuke..."

"Nggh!" Daisuke began to clench down on his teeth, as tears began to weld up in his eyes behind tight shut lids, and his body began to exude a faint sense of grief and despair within his body, inadvertently raising his Spiritual Pressure. Sparks began to combust around him as he gradually changed his disposition from sadness and heartache...to outright rage and vengeful anger, "grrrrrr...NGHRRRR!!!"

"Sousuke!"

"Nghrrrr...I guess I was a bit sloppy on saving you. Guess I deserved that one..."

"No! Nonononono, I-I'm getting help-"

"There's no time...ngh, kaff! L-Listen to me-"

"Shut up! I'm getting you help, Sousuke! You're going to live-"

"Shhh...there's no need to go to the trouble. My comrades safety and lives are more important than a fool who rushed in without thinking..."

"Don't say that! You saved my life, and everyone here! You're a hero-"

<p style="text-align: center;">"Not me, Daisuke...you...you were the one to save your men...save for me, which I-I...t-take full responsibilty for..."

<p style="text-align: center;">"Sousuke...d-don't leave me! How am I going to call you Lieutenant now?! How am I going to be your equal if your're not here?!"

<p style="text-align: center;">"You...kaff, kaff, kaff! Ngh! You, are my equal..."

<p style="text-align: center;">"What are you-"

<p style="text-align: center;">"Take...this...as a testament of my Will...that I'll see...you through...to the very end...of your days..."

<p style="text-align: center;">"But I-"

<p style="text-align: center;">"Never...abandon your men, Daisuke! Never lead them astray! N-Never...lose...your..."

<p style="text-align: center;">"Sousuke?! Sousuke! SOUSUKE!"

<p style="text-align: center;">"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, AUUGHNYAAAAH-"

"-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Daisuke roared out, his body fully emblazoned in a pyre of spiritual power that sent a residual shockwave of flames and energy around him, forcing Kunō to raise a energized distorted barrier that kept the flames from touching her, and his comrades to cover their eyes from the intensity, brightness, and weight of his spiritual pressure's exertion. Something exuded outwards that was never seen by his comrades nor his superior: Wrath.

SHFT-CRACK-BLAAAAM!

Daisuke whizzed with a unpredictably fast Flash Step, moving straight towards Angelika, appearing right above her, with his Dai-katana's flaming Shikai above his head, slamming it down with enough pyrotechnic force that it caused a fireball to ignite spontaneously and blast anything nearby Daisuke and Angelika, intending to burn her to ashes with one strike.

It all happened so fast.

The eyes of the V-14 members, and even Tenshina's eyes, dilated as Daisuke switched from fuming in his own rage to unleashing it all on the one that had caused him pain. None of them had expected him to attack with such quickness and power, not even Shou. Even as he recovered from the shock, however, he knew that he would not be able to stop Daisuke in time. He was just too far away and the Lieutenant had moved first.

When the sword came down, the blaze that had been released from the blade was enough to make Anton shield his eyes from the brightness and the intensity of the heat. "Shit--!!!" He hissed, his tone expressing both shock and anger. "Shit!! This just had to go to Hell right off the bat, didn't it?! Things just have to take a turn for the worst, don't they?!" Needless to say, he was very unhappy with the situation at hand. What he didn't voice was the clear concern he had for Angelika, now that she had seemed shaken by her own words. Under normal circumstances, he was sure that she would've been fine.

But now...

"That... that little shit...!!"

Anton's fury was overshadowed by Oliver's enraged exclamation. It seemed that the whole thing was enough to snap him out of his trance-like state - something hinted at by the fact that he was now swearing again. However, he knew that despite his own desire to help his boss, Yusuke was still healing him. He knew that he was unable to move, now that the adrenaline had worn off from the previous battle. But it didn't drive away the helpless feeling that shot through him. Now, he found a second person that he desperately wanted dead, and at that moment, he would've given anything to put a hole in his head.

This feeling was magnified when he saw Angelika re-appear near the side-lines.

She had not made it out unscathed.

Her coat had been completely incinerated in the blast. The blue gi's front had been ripped open to expose what was left of her chest. The fire had burned the flesh to the point that teeth of her ribcage was exposed, the bloody bone pointing outwards. Her entire body seemed like it was on the verge of collapse due to the immense pain that was shooting through her body. But the most terrifying thing of all was the haggard breaths that wheezed from her mouth, the agonized and horrified expression on her face as she regarded the Lieutenant that had delivered the gruesome wound. All of it was enough to make Tenshina shiver in disgust, a hand racing up to cover his mouth.

"O...oh, sweet God...!!" Was all he could mutter.

"Instaneous 3rd degree wounds bordered by 2nd degree burns," Choku analyzed aloud with morbid interest, his browline wincing at the sight his augmented lenses allowed him to see, "I'm surprised she has enough will power to dodge that attack, let alone stand alive after a glancing blow..."

"No woman, no matter her sins, does not deserve to look like that when they are executed," Valeur said in a berift, partially angered yet bitter tone, "it would have been better to die than to come out of that appearing as she is..."

Ryōken couldn't help but swallow at the display of sheer anomosity Daisuke protrayed. Never in his service as a Captain nor his time he knew sweet, tender and protective Daisuke to have this much hatred and wrath bottled up inside himself. He could only know it stemmed from the grief and the lonliness of being without his peer, his friend, and his superior.

"Boss!" Hyōryū shouted out in horror at the sight Angelika was displaying. Even though she was only a handful of meters away from running and gunning to her aid, the sheer weight and maliciousness within that Lieutenant's Spiritual Pressure, kept her pinned against the wall, causing her to struggle for breaths, "d-don't die...on us...please..."

"Face me!" Daisuke snarled at Angelika, as his overcoat itself had been burned away by the intensity of his own Spiritual aura and fiery technique, leaving a sleevless kosode uniform and a kama skirt with specially woven black leggings that revealed his sandaled feet. His body continued to radiate a wrathful, angered aura as he walked towards Angelika with a broiling, emblazoned Zanpakuto as he called out to her only a few meters away, "I'll make you suffer a thousand fiery deaths over and over again for the horrors and tragedy you've committed! Killing my comrades, my family, my best friend...will be the last regret that will cross your dying thoughts!"

There was only two people who seemed to be unfazed by this.

The first one was Kameyo. She had taken to lowering her weapons completely, regarding the entire situation with a stoic expression on her face. Out of all the people, she was possibly the only one to feel nothing. The tension in the air, the emotions, and even the reaction of her colleague wasn't enough to reach her. She was regarding the entire thing as if it was something natural, that Angelika nearly being incinerated was something that was bound to happen. Sadly, in a way, that comparison seemed too close to the truth. Maybe that was why she was being so unemotional towards it all...

The second one was Hachiro. He stood with a frown on his face, his own blades lowering to the side as he watched Daisuke challenge the wounded Angelika. His eyes were narrowed, holding no sympathy for the woman. After all, many men had been killed under his command courtesy of her hands. Inside, he held a vengeance that rivaled Daisuke's, and he wanted nothing more than to slay the one who had caused such a travesty to befall the Gotei 13. However, he also knew that Kunō had deliberately provoked Daisuke into attacking Angelika for a reason. She wanted him to get rid of the thorn in her spine, with her not lifting a finger. He understood that this was nothing more than a trap set up so that the Inner Circle would come out on top once again. In addition, he couldn't help but feel that the V-14 leader knew much more than they did when it came to the Inner Circle. If Daisuke killed her, he would most likely be killing any chance they had of finding out more.

That alone sent the option of stopping his Lieutenant from slaughtering her. However, he also knew that Daisuke would not be so easy to be put off. Once he was like this, there would be no stopping until his target was dead. It would be a futile move to attempt to reason with him at this point. So he simply stood, watching both the hunter and the quarry with a serious and solemn expression on his face.

"This is where you live or die, Angelika Hartmann..." He said, watching as Angelika's knees trembled and threatened to buckle. "What will you do?"

"...I'm really going to die like this, aren't I...?"

As Angelika struggled to keep herself from falling, she noted that her vision was turning hazy. She collapsed to her hands and knees, the ponytail undoing itself and causing her hair to fall over her face. Hot blood spilled on the dirt and grass, the liquid steaming as it touched the ground. Her visible eye shut itself, tears spilling down her face at both the physical and psychological pain that his attack and the memory of it brought up.

"...I'm going to die, by the hands of this man and this man alone. I bet the Inner Circle is laughing at this moment right now, not having to lift a finger as their nemesis falls to the ground like a dying animal curling up on the road. What... what a horrible way for all of this to end. But I guess I had it coming, didn't I...?" She would accept her death with dignity, no matter how horrible or agonizing it would be. She waited for Daisuke to come and strike her down, silencing her forever.

But it wouldn't happen.

Her eye shot open and her head snapped up when she heard a VOOM movement. What she saw was Shou's back facing her, his two blades out and ready. With a voice that was quiet and almost inaudible, he spoke to her. "Kachō... I'm not sure how you carry yourself after performing such a horrible act on humanity... but I don't care. You're the one who showed me meaning to my life, the one who saved me from having it ended prematurely. It is time I showed you the same respect, even in the face of righteous vengeance. I will protect you with my very life, if that's what it takes."

"..S...Shou..."

If Angelika had anything else to say, she was interrupted when Yusuke used a Flash Step to appear beside her. "Boss lady...!" He pleaded, alarm and concern on his face. Out of the V-14, he was probably the only one who hadn't shown hostility towards Daisuke for his actions. "Hang on, we won't let you die!" With another Flash Step, he had moved her from behind Shou to the side of his other comrades. "Just try to remain calm. Here, I'll lay you on your back."

"Daisuke Hayate!!" Shou declared, meeting the wrathful gaze of Daisuke with his own determined stare. "The one who had subdued Her Majesty with the voice of a thousand hurricanes. The one who was able to subdue the very flames of Hell! Your intentions are just... but it doesn't mean that I'll stand by and let you kill my old master. If you wish to take her life..." He swung his swords in a gesturing, challenging manner. "Then you will have to take mine first!!"

Shinshin observed all that happened from afar, gauging his options as he watched them all settle their differences and begin a new type of battle. Seeing the Dragon not move yet keep a protective field around her, he knew it would be foolish to engage her in combat alone, as well as start a renewed conflict that coud escalate into a full-blown out three way battle that could leave plenty of casualties for all sides. So he opted to reach for something within the folds of his kosode...

WHIZ!

...and Flash Step to Angelika's side, handing something to Yusuke, "This is a accelerated healing pill. This will regenerate all loss tissue, mend bones and restore health to the internal organs. She can't take more than one, so try to administer this first before you do your initial first aid..."

With Daisuke's eyes now locked onto the interrupting stare of this now proclaimed protector of the monster who took away his former life, he felt himself simmer. His eyes glowed as he growled gutturally, making his choice absolutely clear, "Fine! You'll die first for defending that monster!"

"BAN-KAI!"

VRRRRBOOOOM!

Daisuke's body became engulfed in an even more fiery, wrathful current of flames, blocking out any view of his form as the fiery pillar current blasted into the storm clouds, causing them to buckle and crackle with even further intensity, allowing a series of lightning cracks to echo in Daisuke's power wake.

"Gyakushū Kyōi Abatā," Daisuke said in a declaring tone, as his fiery cloak flourished fluidly around him as his own hair dawned a fiery visage, holding a fiery katana in place of his elongated large Dai-katana. Looking with a menacing glare towards Shou, he looked dispassionately about this man's fate or anyone's. All he cared...was sending that monster to the lowest pits of Hell for her atrocities!

SHFT-CLANG-FWHOOOSH!

With a sudden, accelerated movement via augmented Flash Step, Daisuke swung his blade towards Shou's chest in a diagonal swing, exuding a geyser of flames in his wake that dwarfed the firebomb he used against Angelika just a minute ago. Following up with that action, Daisuke proceeded to initiate a series of fiery-laced swings of his new Zanpakuto agaisnt his opponent, intending on searing his limbs off so he can move towards his real target.

"...well, that's not completely random at all!"

Yusuke squinted an eye when Shinshin had appeared beside him with the pill, finding it awfully convenient that the man had such an item on his person. However, he didn't bother to question it. Instead, he relieved Shinshin of the pill and held Angelika's head up. The capsule was in between his free hand's two fingers. "You still with us, boss? Here, swallow this. It'll make you all better... according to what Shinshin said..."

Thankfully, Angelika had not lost consciousness (although at that point, she would've been glad to do so due to the torturous pain). Her expression was that of confusion and surprise, as if she hadn't expected help to come to her. However, she allowed herself to open her mouth and for Yusuke to pop the pill in. Once she swallowed it, she had to shut her eyes and jerk her head back as its effects kicked in. In several seconds, the ugly wound had mended itself together with no sign of her having been burned at all.

Oliver was quick to stand at her side, grasping one of her hand between his own like he would've done for a wounded or dying soldier for support. Her other arm was covering her exposed chest. "You all right, boss?" He asked quickly, a mix of a casual tone and concern in his voice. "Gotta admit, that would even shake me up."

"...I wish I could say that I was..." The bitter tone had returned to Angelika's voice, and she turned her head off to the side. "Why did you let me live...?" Her lone eye turned itself towards Yusuke. "After all... you too were a part of the Gotei 13 when the incident happened, weren't you...? And yet, you were the one of the first to rush to my side..."

"Boss..." Yusuke's tone was saddened as he spoke, and it seemed like he had been ready to speak the words. "I can't speak for all of us. But I would never hold a grudge towards anyone, even if they committed the worst against me. There wouldn't be any point to it, and it would leave no one happy. Plus, it'd only make that mean lady happy if you died, and that's something none of us want!"

On Hachiro's side, he silently looked on as Shou fought back. He stared as the Daitenshi used his bare hands as a means of defending against the Bankai-level attack, the palms connecting with with the burning blaze. As a result, the fire scattered in different directions directly in front of him. The Captain looked on as both of the combatants exchanged blows, with Shou attacking with a lethal quickness that rivaled Daisuke's furious style. For the moment, it was anyone's game.

Without word, he turned himself away from what would've been his Inner Circle. "If you're still willing to fight me..." He spoke coolly to Valeur. "Then allow me to sort out a few things, if you will." He started walking, straight towards where the V-14 were positioned. His blades were still lowered, but lowered at his sides.

"As a Knight and a gentleman, I will honor my opponent's final wishes," Valeur spoke with a nod in a distinguished, polite tone as he watched Hachiro walk towards V-14 with blades lowered.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Choku asked Valeur incredulously, looking across at Bokujin and Kameyo in emphasis before pointing back at a patiently observing Kunō, her cloak billowing and flourishing within the violent buffeting winds that was caused by the two extraordinarily powerful entities clashing against each other, "I don't know about you, but chivalry is the last thing that Dragon appreciates. We should strike now while our enemies are dazed and off balance..."

Daisuke began to understand this man's lengthy, if not considerable combat prowess. Capable of using his bare hands to deflect flames from which are currently nothing in comparison to the flames of Hell, he's able to deflect the damage not to mention keep from drawing his own Zanpakuto. Which disturbed Daisuke even more that a rogue Soul Reaper, of a Hellish origin, sided with this...abomination against all moral standings!

Daisuke then raised his blade with one hand and slashed overhead, using the vibrant flames coming from them as a distraction as he spawned a second replicant Zanpakuto blade in his left hand, gathering a sheen of condensed flames...

SIIING-FWHOOOOSH!

...sending a crescent rising arc of flames that towered up to 10 meters in height, before he used Flash Step and appeared behind Shou again, slashing with his opposing Zanpakuto blade, commencing the special burning sword style technique his father taught him.

"Nenshō Burēzu Bijutsu Form 5, Kunshuen Shūkaku!!!"

BLAAAAAM!!!

The two converging flames, if not halted, would've clashed together to form what would appear to those watching a fiery effigy of two monarch wings, carved out of the vibrant manipulative flames Daisuke created, creating a zero hot point with with Shou at its epicenter.

All that was keeping those flames from hitting each other was the palms of Shou's hands.

When the crescents neared each other, he swung his arms out so that his hands would meet them directly. A hiss escaped his mouth as he felt the heat burn his palms, the pressure from the fire felt in full force. But he did not allow himself to falter, using his own element in order to counter it. Slowly, the red flame from Daisuke's attack shifted, a blue tint gracing the outline. This lasted only for a brief moment before both crescents were forcefully dissipated, leaving behind only the furious winds of the storm around them.

In sacrifice, however, both of his arms had been incinerated and reduced to ashes.

But of course, this would do nothing to him.

"What's the matter, Phoenix...?"

With a horrible wrenching sound, new arms ripped from the stumps that remained. Muscle reformed, bones shifted back into position, skin regenerated, and even the clothing that had been lost had been restored. He kept them spread out to his sides, his cerulean eyes closed and a smile dawning his face. "Her Majesty told me that you had wings that could enlighten even the darkest of caves and feathers capable of purifying even the darkest of hearts. But now, your wings rot and fester just like hers. When did you allow yourself to fall from the sky so quickly?"

With his trademark fast-speed movement known as Tahitita, his form re-appeared over Daisuke's head and hovered threateningly. From the sleeves and cuffs of his clothing, chains moved and extended, bending and shifting themselves. All of these chains raced towards their target at high speeds, promising death by impalement.

"...it's fine..."

Kameyo looked on first at the fight before settling her gaze on the Captain that was walking away. "It doesn't matter if a little bit of time is wasted." She said. "Their fates will be the same, whether we rush or take our time. There's no need to make haste..."

Oliver's eyes spotted the Captain slowly making their way towards them, widening in surprise and apprehension. "Hey, snap out of it!" He snapped, his eyes narrowing and his his hand tightening on his pistol. "One of 'em's coming our way!"

Hyōryū blinked widely as she saw what she considered the most terrifying of the Captains head their way. Raising her own guns, priming them to maximum output in the even he had any funny ideas, the only thing blocking her path was a swift and stance-standing Shinshin, raising his sword in defiance to the Captain's advance.

"That will be far enough, Captain," Shinshin spoke in a cool, factual voice that didn't hold any menace but moreover a promise of confrontation, "I have no personal quarrel with you as this is just a contract, but should you draw nearer, I will indeed make it personal."

"Stop speaking in pointless rhetoric, murderer!" Daisuke spoke aloud, as he himself could see the callous mocking look past the mocking glare gazing upon himself what he truly was, his own blazing eyes looking onward with righteous, daunting hatred, "if you're going to kill me-"

Flick-WHIZ!

"...then hurry up and kill me!!!"

Propelling himself downwards to avoid the chains that sprung from the man's coat, he threw his left sword towards the Daitenshi, racing in a near blinding speed for even him as it emblazoned in a coat of fire towards its target. However, whether it stabbed its target or not...

KR-BLAAAAM!

...it would ignite sponaneously in a rigorous display of pyrotechnic condensed power, creating a deafening shockwave throughout the air that rained fire all around the battlefield, pock marking near the Fullbringer hit squad of the Inner Circle as well as Ryōken, causing most of them to take cover and evade some of the fiery "shrapnel".

Daisuke distanced himself from the enemy by soaring down low to the ground and then straight back up, being a good 10 meters away from his intended opponent, holding his right hand's blade loosely as he readied to take on his enemy renewed.

Hachiro, however, was unphased. In fact, even as the battle raged on, a toothy smile crossed his face. "Such spirit, even when your leader's on the ground like a helpless turtle..." He said tauntingly, though the underside of his tone carried some respect for their actions. It's no wonder why Captain Takuji's so interested in the likes of your capture. However..."

Then, in a move that surprised Oliver and Yusuke visually, he retracted his swords back within his coat.

"As much as I'd like to fight against people who've already considered themselves worthy opponents of my men, it's not of my interest right now. Lower your weapons, scoundrels... I'm only here to speak to your leader."

Shinshin hesitated for a moment, realizing that this man's nature of combat seemed to be able to quickdraw those weapons as easily as they are stashed away within the confines of his Haori sleeves. Knowing he hadn't revealed his own last resort blades, Shinshin cautiously lowered his own katana and sheathed it promptly. Backing away till he was near Angelika's right, he kept one hand holding the hilt while the other laid dormant on his other side, "Speak quickly, for I'm afraid our mutual enemies will eventually tired of our squabbling..."

And through the flames...

"Hmph..."

With a swing of his arms, Shou literally blew the flames away with his chains, which retracted back into his clothing. "You'll defeat this murderer, won't you?" He whispered, the smile having faded away. "You'll destroy this abomination that stands and mocks you before your very eyes, won't you? It's the only way you can take what's rightfully yours..."

SFT-WHIZ!

Daisuke reappeared Shou, already anticipating that the initial sword's combustion wouldn't work. Leaving an solid clone of flames for Shou to gaze upon, the real Daisuke was directly above him at a 70 degree angle to behind him. Slashing the air space with incredible, blinding speed, he sent a powerfully condensed projectile, one with nearly half of his Bankai's Jigoku Hashira's yield, but with nearly three times the speed. Its name is...

"Jigoku Dangan!!!"

It was a violent and certainly explosive move.

BOOM!

From where he stood, Anton had to shield his eyes once more as the flames enveloped Shou's person completely, the heat and the brightness briefly getting to him. The Lieutenant was certainly being aggressive. But as Shou had formerly been a member of Alpha Team, he could tell the Daitenshi was allowing himself to hold back. The refusal to draw his blades against a Bankai-level attack and the ability to counter with only his bare hands told that much. But why? Why didn't he just simply kill the man and be done with it?

To be truthful, he couldn't feel that was his primary concern, what with the Dragon standing a distance in front of him. After all, she had stirred up this soup and was now hiding behind a barrier while her subordinates did the dirty work. As all the others were guarding Angelika, he was the only one left standing and able to challenge Kunō. It would be a long shot, but he knew that there was no other alternative at this point. So he swung one of his swords out in a gesturing motion, his voice calling her out.

"Hey, bitch...!!"

It was a good thing he decided to conserve his energy.

On the D.C.O.'s side, Braeburn could only watch in his own silent horror and fascination as Daisuke attacked with newfound ferocity. He couldn't blame him - the Mourning War was nothing more than an experiment conducted by the Inner Circle, at the expense of innocent lives. The woman who had planted the seeds was not too far away. But he knew that striking her down when it was clearly the Dragon who wanted Daisuke to do the same would be walking into a trap... and he had no idea what that would mean for all of them.

For now, he decided to help out his teammates. Now that his energy was slowly coming back to him, he moved over to shake each one of them. "Oi! Guys! Come on, wake up, if you're still breathin'!"

"...anyone else happen to lose their drive...?"

Tenshina's voice was slightly shaken as he watched the battle commence. The knowledge that the Inner Circle - the very organization that he worked for - had performed an act so terrible that it shook him to the very core. His enemies had suffered a mass genocide, and he was simply supposed to kill them and act like nothing happened? Suddenly, he found himself questioning where he was and who he was at that moment. Had Choku been right all along...?

On Hachiro's side of things...

WOOSH!

The senior Captain appeared in their midst within an instant, making Oliver and Yusuke recoil as they spun around to face him. However, he paid them no heed, slowly moving to kneel down as he looked into Angelika's weakened, but confused gaze. His eyes were narrowed, and a scowl had once again formed on his face. It prompted the German woman to ask one thing.

"If you're here to denounce my actions... then don't bother. Your subordinate did all of that when he burned me..."

"I'm not." Hachiro spoke, a cold edge lacing his tone as he glared into Angelika's lone eye. "I would rather not waste my breath on the one who took the lives of many of the good men under the service of the 9th Division, as well as the best Lieutenant I've had the honor to work with. Matter of fact, I find it the better option to pin the group of you to the walls, let you hang for my men to spit on just as you spit on us." He ignored the slight growl coming from Oliver as he spoke the harsh words.

"But...?" Angelika, however, was visibly unmoved, and her tone was controlled as she pressed him.

"But your henchman is right about one thing..." Briefly, Hachiro glanced over towards Kunō's subordinates. "We both share a mutual enemy now, and that is the Inner Circle. Now that we all know that you were once apart of their ranks, I can say that you know much more than you've ever let on to us or the ones under your accursed service. But in addition to that..." Slowly, a small smile crossed his face as he looked back to Angelika. "You've showed me that even in the worst of scum, there lies the will to survive. That is something I can't help but applaud you for."

Slowly, he allowed himself to stand up tall once more, turning his attention to the battle between Shou.

"There will be a time when one of our sides will fall..."

SHING!

A bundle of Hell's chains burst through the flames and wrapped themselves around Daisuke's leg, taking advantage of the close proximity and the cover of the fire. With a swing and release of those chains, the target was sent flying at immense speeds and a good distance away from the location. Once they performed that action, they swung around to blow away the blaze that had enveloped Shou, revealing a charred and horribly mutilated form. However, within seconds, all of the burn wounds were restored once more, returning the man back to his former glory.

"But for now, this Inner Circle is nothing but interference. We, and only we, shall be the ones to bring you to your knees. You, and the ones that follow you, will fall by our blades alone! There will be no one else who will take that right away from us! So, for both our sakes, I hope that all of you are able to continue breathing until that very moment arrives!"

"Braeburn-san?" Yōki asked in a weary, yet firm tone as she got up onto her hands and knees, faintly noticing the clashing Spiritual Pressures and bright explosions happening around them and in the distance, "how...what happened...?"

Kunō narrowed her eyes as she could tell the affects she wanted didn't go precisely the way she'd hope. With the Daitenshi temporarily occupied, the Dragon was free to act upon her own accord without any real anticipation from her enemies. Her subordinates however...she could feel their uncertainty like off tune notes in an orchestra, causing her to glare towards their direction.

"Engage the Captains and the mobile Deep Cover Operatives," Kunō ordered in a smooth, commanding voice through their audio recievers they were able to hear clearly, "I'll handle V-14..."

Valeur looked to Bokujin, answering in a low yet bitter, "Affirmative,...Lady Kunō..."

"Power hungry bastards and bitches I tell you," Choku spoke as he activated his Fullbring, stalking over to the fallen D.C.O. agents that were now on the verge of recovering, "I'll handle the D.C. operatives, the rest of you can have the Captains. Problem with that?"

"Well spoken," Shinshin said lowly, yet in an approving tone, letting his hand off the hilt of his katana as he briefly shielded his eyes from the bright explosions of flames within the sky, "now if we could only defuse the battle above, we can conserve our strength on the Inner Circle..."

Daisuke felt himself clench his teeth tightly, creating a buffet of flames around his form to brace for the inevitable impact as he smashed headlong through a line of trees, causing a rumbling exhaust of splinters, dust, and then flames. As flames began spreading across the tree lines, creating a heavy smokescreen in affect, everything was still for a while. Before a rumbling roar of outrage was heard...

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!"

FWOOOSH-CRK-CLAK-SNAP!

...followed by a great compilation of the flames that were spread, surging forward as if it was alive and aiming to consume Shou within its fiery embrace, as its gait was a good 10 meters as it funneled towards him. But the strangest and more terrifying part had yet to occur. As it drew closer, the pillar of flames seemed to morph and transform before Shou's eyes. Magma-like crust formed a solid armor barrier around the flames themselves, and appendages stretched out from what looked like a hand that would equal the size of a Kushanada's, reaching out with untold strength and speed to wrap around his whole body.

Standing below, Daisuke was in a stance his Zanpakuto was in when enraged against the Monitor for beating them so effortlessly. His hand outstretched, with the pillar of flames surging and coursing from his right arm, as the true nature and power of his Zanpakuto began to manifest through his rage. The ability to create a physical, synchronized construct of flames in a avatar format against his opponents.

Clenching his hand around the air, causing the magma-skinned collosal hand to pressurize and instigate searing, crushing force upon him as he held him there in a pyrokinetic grasp, his eyes bright red and glaring at his opponent who made judgemental accusations. Who went out of his way to protect the likes of her.

"...why do you look at me like that, Phoenix...?"

Despite the multiple beads of sweat falling down his face as well as the fact that he had to use his Hell chains as a brace to keep himself from being crushed, Shou's expression conveyed genuine confusion as well as strain as he stared into the eyes of the one trying to kill him. "Surely, this is not the look of what you regarded her Majesty with, the one who saw light even in the midst of everlasting darkness. My master's actions were nothing compared to the destruction of humanity for the sake of creating a utopia, and yet you look down on her with extreme prejudice. Why would you regard the one with regrets with more contempt than you regard the one without?"

Then, his energy was summoned again.

'''BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!'''

The chains that had been bracing him shifted, impaling the construct's palm and digging their way through to the shoulder. When it reached that point, it was as if a reaction had been set off. From directly in front of Shou to the shoulder, a set of bright-blue fire explosions raced up the arm. The immense force carried behind each one was enough to blow apart the arm and free the Daitenshi from captivity. Without hesitation, he swung his arm up to unleash his chains on the upper body of the monster that Daisuke had created in order to repeat his actions.

As Hachiro finished speaking the words, a small smile slowly crossed Angelika's face. This was matched by the wondrous look that Oliver himself was giving the senior Captain that now stood by his side, as well as the completely surprised look given by Yusuke. For her personally, it was somewhat of a burden that had been lifted off of his shoulders. Though it was certainly no word of forgiveness, it was enough to relieve some of the guilt she had within her for the moment. "Very well, Captain Horikawa." She said smoothly, allowing herself to sit up.

"You needn't worry about the subordinates of that pest..." Hachiro declared, slowly walking away from the group. "The Captains shall take care of them..."

"Hey, pops!"

Oliver was quick to stop him, reaching out to place a hand on the man's shoulder. A scowl was on his face. "What you said is the same for you." He warned him. "Don't die until we can put a bullet in your head ourselves!" With that being said, he released his hold and stepped back in a gesture of relent.

"Good luck, sir!" Yusuke added in, genuinely supporting the Captain himself as well as his efforts.

And while facing away from them, Hachiro smirked before continuing to walk to his former spot.

"...damn it..."

Tenshina sucked in breath while Kameyo simply closed her eyes and turned away from her subordinate. "This just had to be the time that I really feel like the heartless asshole here..." He muttered bitterly, swinging his sword to the side and looking at Ryōken. "Guess we're just going to have to take this with a grain of salt. Sorry, Captain, but we've got jobs to do and you're still a target."

"Indeed..." Kameyo added. "Regardless the circumstances, we are Inner Circle soldiers and will see this through to the very end. Prepare yourself, Ryōken Aizen..."

"Oh, god damn it..."

Upon seeing one of the Inner Circle members stalk towards them, Braeburn looked down more urgently at his fallen teammates. "No time to explain. Come on, get up, we've got a hostile coming right this way and he looks just about ready to cut us to pieces!"

Scrrrrraaaaape!

"Now now, no need to be alarmed," Choku said in a nonchalant tone as he pressed his left forefingers up to his glasses, raising them to create a menacing glint as he scraped his Fullbring sword across the dirt towards them, "I won't kill you if you just stay down. I might not even dismember you if you don't struggle-"

"Unleash the Storm," the blonde agent spoke, as she unsheathed her Zanpakuto while rising in a surprisingly swift manner, within a flash of red light her Zanpakuto transformed to its broader and longer form, with rotating crimson spherical constructs, "Sukārettosuringu!"

This caused Choku to stop his advance as he looked onwards with surprise, causing him to backpedal and scrape along the earth in a very fast, nearly indecipherable momentum as Yōki stood by Braeburn's side, asking him as she stood steadfastly, "Are you able to fight without hindering yourself, Brae-san?"

"Bakudo #4," Ryōken had already began to run in a swift manner with his left hand hidden behind his back, before vaulting over the female and lashing out with a yellow rope of binding energy to tie her arms together, "Hainawa!" Landing behind her, he swung his Zanpakuto around in a flurry before lunging out to thrust his trident in a series of strikes at Bokujin, not wanting to give him the opportunity to strike or land a blow, having done his homework on Fullbrings and their unpredictable results on their opponents.

Valeur then charged towards Hachiro, holding both of his spears in either hand, rushing in before swiping out in front of himself before leaning the tip downwards and then thrust forward with his other spear. Using the two weapons in tandem with expert footwork and agility, Valeur pressed his unique style to the limit against his opponent, wanting to gauge his enemy's tactics and styles before he decides to release either of his weapons' true forms.

Kunō smiled, as her body became alight in electricfied energy of unknown origin, before moving in such a blinding blur not even Shinshin could follow her movements. Reaching before the said samurai-esque man, she discharged a shockwave of kinetic force towards recovering Angelika, Yusuke, and Shinshin, intending to send them flying back into Oliver and Hyōryū's path.

Daisuke on the other hand...

"Don't talk to me like you know me!" Daisuke roared out, sidestepping away with a jettisoned blast of flames to avoid the surge of holy element flames towards him. The flames that was used by the holy element however, were strangely...cold, to Daisuke's Bankai senses. As if they were designed to snuff out flames of contempt, malice and anger.

Daisuke's eyes narrowed as he reached out with his free hand, the flame-kinetically controlled construct billowed into a tendril of flames that surged out and collected the unusually formatted tongues of fire. As soon as it made contact, Daisuke felt roiling pain, as if his own mind and body was ripping at itself. He swore he could hear his ears pop as well as parts of his extended arm snap flesh, bleeding out from the stress.

But then...his whole body became encompassed instead of a burning dark red coat of fire, but in a soothing almost comforting coat of blue flames. Looking at himself, he suddenly began to dawn what was happening...and what he was about to do, over his vengefully clouded mind, "Oh hell...what...what was I...was I...," Daisuke dropped to his knees, as he began to cry aloud in grief as he remembered the terrible memories that were brought up and the justified horrible acts he aloud himself to commit, "I'm so sorry....so sorry...Sousuke...I'm such a fool!"

That was when Shou knew.

His job was done.

For a moment, he looked on silently as Daisuke sobbed. His arms were lowered at his sides, and the chains had receeded back into his clothing. This was a moment in where he couldn't help but feel sympathy for his foe. His own gaze conveyed a slight weariness at the sight, and he was almost tempted to say something. But he doubted that the last thing the man would've wanted was pity from an enemy. There was nothing to do but let him sort out that demon on his own. He had his own business to tend to, after all.

This was where his attention snapped to the battle that raged outside of their perimeter. His head snapped towards the others, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"Grrk--!!!"

Yusuke could barely react to the sudden attack that Kunō had made towards him and his teammates, his eyes widening in shock and his mouth agape. Quickly, he summoned a defensive web of his trademark razor wire for the kinetic energy to slam into. In exchange, he had to dig his feet in as he skidded back, his heel nearly buried into the ground. "Boobies! Jesse! Keep Boss Lady protected!" He called out. This lady was certainly going to be a tough one to deal with, even in the midst of his teammates. But Hachiro told him to live through this, and he had made his own promise!

So, alongside his teammates, he unleashed a counter-attack.

He unleashed his wires when Kunō got close enough, using them to flank and surround her. His fingers were like clockwork, constantly moving and trying to adjust to her movements and reaction. At the same time, Anton had noted that the woman had seemingly forgot about him in her onslaught. It made for his own opportune moment.

"Rikujōkōrō!!!"

Six rods of light were summoned to back up Yusuke's maneuver, aiming to pin and pinpoint her where she was.

The third point conveyed mixed feelings.

Tenshina was starting to regret being humble towards the Captain that had relentlessly attacked them.

Quickly, he raised his sword up in order to block the attacks, finding himself having to continuously retreat under Ryōken's wrath. His eyes narrowed and his teeth were gritted in a scowl as he blocked and countered whenever he found it appropriate. Their blades clanged together in a vicious display of metal and sparks, and the Inner Circle member was starting to feel comfortable being able to engage evenly with such an opponent.

That was only one of two reasons why he smirked, parrying the next and batting the offensive edge of the trident away from him.

The other was that split-second moment which Kameyo had used to attack his open guard.

In the rush, Kameyo had allowed herself to evade the rope with astounding reflexes. But because the Captain had not bothered to check, her movement and his own opened up that window of opportunity for the female Inner Circle member. Her eyes half-lidded in slight disdain for his recklessness. But with a boost of her legs, she was right behind him. Her sword swung, aiming to slice deep through his back.

For Hachiro, he found it to be a bit of a tactical dance when it came to fighting Valeur and countering the spear attacks directed towards him.

As he unsheathed his blades and swung them accordingly, he found himself having to stick to the defensive. Valeur's weapons were longer than his swords, so he couldn't allow himself to go on the aggressive too much. Still, he grinned at the challenge as he batted and parried away each blade. His feet moved accordingly, carrying himself in and out of his opponent's guard with controlled skill. These Inner Circle henchmen would be quite the opponents...

Valeur found himself smiling with enjoyment and anticipation. Forgoing whatever unspeakable acts V-14's leader admitted in doing in the name of the current employer of his, all that he became focused on was the present clash of steel of his spears and the Captain's swords. Had Valeur been dealing with a single sword opponent, then he would use his dual style to his advantage and toy around with his enemy with the many advantages he would have against him. However, that isn't the case for the experienced and ruthless experienced Gotei 13 warrior.

CLINK-CLASH!

Spinning his right crimson spear around, he then siezed an opportunity to preform a acrobatic feat, as he stabbed his left handed spear into the ground and lifted himself up in the air sideways. Propelling himself in a arcing motion around to kick out at Hachiro's left sword arm to dislodge one of his weapons while using the other foot to kick his right wrist to free the other weapon. Simultaneously, he swung his right spear to skid the swords towards his intended path of his limbs actions, before twirling it around to allow him to thrust it downwards towards his enemy's sternum.

For Ryōken, it was all a ploy to lure the other Inner Circle member in to begin with. For as he appeared completely defenseless against the Fullbringer, the moment the blade cut towards his back, through his Haori...

BZZT-SPRACK!

...a rainbow-like barrier sprung to life, repelling the blade entirely with no harm against Ryōken's person save for his Haori's tear.

The Captain smiled, as he thrust out at Bokujin once before bringing back his triden'ts pommel through the tear she created and towards her chest, using enough force to send her backwards and away from his person. As he used Flash Step to distance himself from the two combatants, he held his Zanpakuto attentively at the two warriors, sighing in a good natured tone, "My my, you two sure know how to give an old man a run for his money, don't you?"

Kunō saw the incoming strings as if they were strapped with neon blaring lights, not to mention allowed the other man to distance himself but instead retaliated to bind her as well. As the six rods raced towards her in sync with the considerably sharp lines of thread, her body pulsed with crackling energy...

SWISH-SWISH!

...raising both of her hands in a decisively swift mannerism...

BRAAAAACK-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-BRACK!...

...all six of the binding rods shattered before reaching her person, and the threads themselves snapped into hundreds of segments as a distortive shockwave of chaotic cutting energy of her own swung out, intending on catching Yusuke and Anton.

SHFT-CLAMP!

Shinshin's blurring form grasped Yusuke and rushed him away from the destructive currents in the nick of time, as his Flash Step moved him to the top of the crumbled remains of the cliff side itself. Panting slightly from how close they were both from death, he asked the young boy in his left arm, "Are you alright, Yusuke-san?"

"I'm fine..."

A bead of sweat fell down Yusuke's face as he looked at the destructive results of the attack that had nearly killed them. "But we might not be if this keeps up..." He whispered, watching as Anton himself swerved out of harm's way just before he could be cut apart by the energy. "She snapped my wires like toothpicks and she broke that spell as if it was nothing! At this point, I don't think if any attacks are going to work on her!"

In response to the statement, all Tenshina did was regard the Captain with an annoyed glare as he readied himself again. He briefly registered Kameyo after she had moved back from the attack and leaped to land beside him with her sword raised. Now that the battle had begun, he personally did not see any reason to carry out conversation, particularly considering the fact that the two had attacked without warning. That, combined with where he stood, had rendered any good mood of his completely silent.

All he wanted to do was kill this man so he could head back to HQ and contemplate what had been said. He needed time to think.

Hachiro did not evade the melee attacks made by Valeur. Instead, he shifted them so that both of the legs would make contact with both of his forearms, having to lower his body to the ground in order to ensure that the move would work. He swung his arms out to the left in a melee parry aimed to leave his opponent off-balanced with his tremendous physical strength. Then he twisted his blades so that they would point at an exposed point of Valeur's body, thrusting the killing edges towards his heart.

For the senior Captain, acrobatics made for more vulnerability.

Valeur underestimated the tenacity his opponent had, and now he might nearly pay the price for it. With a sharp pulling motion, he took his free handed spear he used for the maneuver to begin with and swung it around, parrying the lethal blows narrowly away, scraping the edges of his shoulder pauldrons instead. With him still in close quarters, Valeur spun himself away in a dancing maneuver before swinging out both of his spears in a retalitory motion, before righting himself back into a series of thrusts and swings. He knew he'd had to play it safe against a Captain-class opponent, for their skill would surely equal or rival his own if he played it too cocky.

Ryōken swung his Zanpakuto in a dramatic motion, as he then uttered aloud, "I won't go easy on you two!-"

SNIK-CLANK!

"Fuka Jūden Yajū!"

A surge of energy poured forth into the earth, shifting and liquifying as it poured considerable amounts of moisture within the ground below. Following it, a thunderous earthquake movement happened below both Kameyo and Bokujin, with a large serpentine body of water that moved to strike at the two, aiming to clamp them within the crushing jaws it retained and slide them bodily across the earth until they smashed into something considerably durable before drenching them with weighted moisture.

"That goes without saying," Shinshin said lowly as he stared at Kunō, the energies coursing within and around her seemed totally unnatural compared to other entities within the Spiritual Realms or the World of the Living, "it almost seems like her energies don't dwell within this world. Unlike Spiritual Energy, the basis of nearly all life within the Spiritual Realms, this energy is foreign as if it was purposely summoned from elsewhere. Though its old, I don't believe it to be the other two sources of spirit-typical energy, but it does have a akin feeling of being semi-sentient in nature. That said," he gritted his teeth as he spoke admittently, "I don't think any physical or spiritual weapon can harm her as long as she controls that power...!"

Kunō didn't hesitate to attack Anton. With a swirling motion of chaotic energies around her, she disappeared from space just like before, within a bright flash of red light-

VRRRRR!...

...

...RRRWHOOOSH!

...and reappeared directly within Anton's personal space, in front of him, moving at accelerated speeds exceeding a Flash Step. Instead of halting when reaching a destination, she continued to keep at that pace while attacking. Each fist felt like a concentrated block of titanium was moving at the speeds described, and continuing to move over hundred times, following his path until stopping with a earth-wrenching reversal of speed, sending a shockwave in affect of finishing her attacks.

"Dark Force Barrage, One Hundred Fists of the Titan!"

Choku in the meantime, had to deal with the wrath of two recovered operatives...

"Iron Pen," he uttered aloud, as the full paragraph that was written on the ground before them glowed to light, having the script in a form of Latin, "written work enact!"

SPRRAAAAAACK!

Within a glow of blue light, the ground shifted, molding and turning into a series of metalic hands that rose and struck with equally resilient swords, numbering in the dozens as they swarmed over Braeburn and Yōki.

"Hōden!" Yōki uttered aloud, discharging three of the spheres simultaneously, sending the energy coated-rotating streaks of light-coated mechanisms at the swords, parrying a good dozen of them before cracking and blowing through, returning to orbit around her body as she awaited the other wave to be dealt with by her companion...

He did not hesitate to deliver.

Although his sword had sealed itself back up when they were defeated by Kunō, it wasn't enough to hinder his fighting prowess. Within an instant, he had grasped his sword in both of his hands, clicked the blade..

WOOSH!

...and had disappeared from his spot.

SLICE SLICE SLICE SLICE SLICE!

Within a series of Flash Steps, Braeburn had literally cut his way through the steel-like substances with ease. The halves of the ones struck collapsed to the ground, and each pair let out heavy thudding sounds as they fell. A smirk crossed his face as he readied himself once again, tilting his head to the side. "You really should've just stayed where you were at, mongrel..." He said tauntingly, pointing his weapon at Choku. "Now that we got that oh-so-generous reward courtesy of your boss, I'm feeling quite enthused to give it back to you ten times over..."

"Fu--!!"

'''WHUMPF! WHUMPF! PO-POW PO-POW!'''

Even as Anton barely swung his arms out to block, he might as well have been trying to catch a flying bat with his teeth. The relentless blows ended up breaking his guard, and so he had to deal with her fists plowing into his chest, stomach, and even his neck. Blood spewed out his mouth, he nearly lost his consciousness, and with the final blow, he had been sent flying a good distance away. He landed with a pained grunt and a moan, skidding across the ground.

"This... is not my day. At all."

WOOSH!

In his stead for a counter-attack, Shou's chains were once again unleashed on Kunō's position. The blue fire trailed the metal, promising both impalement and incineration by his hands.

"Oh, no you don't..."

In response to Ryōken's movement, Tenshina grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands, lowered the blade, and swung upwards at the head of the beast. A gust of wind was unleashed, hitting the serpent's head and splitting it. However, the wind would continue to move down the body of the beast, effectively disrupting its foundation and scattering the water.

Meanwhile, Kameyo had used that particular attack as a distraction. With another boost of the legs, she had gotten herself right beside Ryōken again with her second sword out and ready. She attacked, both of her blades whirling in a storm of relentless and furious assault. But in contrast to her aggressive strikes and swings, she kept that serene and blank look on her face the entire ordeal. It was almost as if she was a machine instructed to kill instead of someone with a mind and emotion.

"Tch!"

Quickly, Hachiro reacted by completely pulling up his own assault and performing a retreat. He resheathed his blades within the sleeves of his coat, bending his fingers inward. Within the crevices of each hand, a set of Kiriken swords formed. He wielded them like throwing daggers, crossing his arms and brandishing them in a threatening manner. Then...

WOOSH!

With a Flash Step, he had appeared over his opponent. When he hurled the swords, they fell like rain all the way down and aimed to shred the man into pieces.

"Bleed and Shatter..."

Valeur spoke lowly as time seemed to draw to a crawl as he enveloped his red spear with a bright pulse of indenpendant Spiritual Pressure, doing the same with the yellow spear. Once the Kiriken blades were all around him in a near perfect 360 degree by 180 surface degree angle, he then stabbed his spear upwards, creating a vibrant surge of bright red energy that seemed to dissipate and break the bonds of spiritrons the Kiriken blades were made of, before finally launching into a metorite-like attack towards Hachiro as it intended to burn him up with the volatile energy,

"Saeculum Ac Frangebatur Hastis!"

"Oh you've got to be joking!" Ryōken spoke aloud in a dramatic fit if dismay, before being rushed by the female companion of the two opponents.

"She's got such a docile, transparent face you could put it on a porcelain doll," Ryōken thought in a nervous, jocular fashion as he backpedaled as he was put effectively on the defense. The series of aggressive strikes spoke more of a machine-like movement rather than instinctive skill and mastery. For all he knew, she could've trained for hundreds of hours a month or been brainwashed to know all of these things already. However, he had little time to play around with a mere doll.

WHIZ!

Moving back with an exceptionally well timed Flash Step of his own, he then thrust out his Zanpakutōas blue-tinted electric energy gathered of exceptionally high density and concentration. His eyes lit up with a strange intensity as he uttered aloud,

"Hadō#75..."

WHRRRRR-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRACK!...

"...Byakurai Arashi!" Discharged from his Zanpakutō came dozens upon dozens of high penetrative bolts of searing electrical energy, each of them capable of cracking through highly dense barriers and scorch through flesh instaneously, blanketing nearly the whole horizon perpindicular to Braeburn and Yōki's that would almost fool a experienced soldier as a storm of Quincy arrows flocking towards the other Inner Circle combatants.

Choku chuckled as he merely swiped out his blade in a figure eight pattern into a visual cross formation, the letters ligthing up and expanding to a good three meter radius to either end, up and down, left and right. Pressing up on his glasses with his middle finger, he chuckled out, "Let's see how you handle these!"

SWISH, FWOOOSH!

Within an instant, hundreds of needle-like blades discharged towards the two, forcing Yōki to send the remaining spheres on defensive as the others charged and clashed with the storm of blades that seemed to be funneling the air's energy and wind towards them. It was like trying to walk upstream a torrential river for Yōki, she didn't know what stress it was like for Braebrun at all...she just hoped he'd get out of this in one piece.

Kunō leaped away with a deft agility, swinging her arm around in a arc, sending a sheet of distortive spacial energy that repelled and pushed back the holy element as well as the cursed chains that were sent her way. Scraping her heels against the earth, she regarded the Daitenshi with amusement. "So the angry Lieutenant decided to curl into a ball and cry instead of finishing you off? Pity...I was hoping you'd kill each other," she raised her left hand up, red currents of chaotic energy formed and intensified, until creating a distinctively elongated blade, "do you want to challenge me next? You know that type of attack won't work on me..."

In response, Shou gripped the hilts of his swords before drawing them out, holding them defensively in front of himself. Once again, he called his chains back to him and dissipating the flames. His eyes narrowed as he brandished his blades. He knew that this was certainly going to be a challenge to him, considering the power she wielded. "Good..." He said vehemently. "Shoving my sword down your throat seemed like a better option, anyway."

VOOM!

He used his variant high-speed movement technique to re-appear in front of Kunō. One of his blades were swung down, aiming to split her in two from the head down.

It was here that Braeburn was thankful for the practice that Hana had put him through.

With a combination of his Flash Step as well as his enhanced leg strength, he allowed himself to push forward. The storm of needles were certainly difficult to deal with, and he found himself having to spin and twirl his sword in order to deflect the projectiles that he couldn't dodge without consequence. With Yōki taking some of the heat off of him, his job became much easier to deal with.

WOOSH!

It was only seconds before he re-appeared off to Choku's side, his blade swinging in a vertical arc in order to begin his own attack on his enemy.

Kameyo acted with reflexes that could've only belonged to someone having faced this situation many, many times.

WOOSH!

She took to the air, the projectiles racing past her and barely missing her feet. Once she reached out with her senses, she could recognize the nature of the spell as well as its properties. Against the likes of them, they had no particular defense to it and could only hope for evasion. She made it a mental note not to get cornered by such a move.

Tenshina, however, was having less luck.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Unlike Kameyo, the male did not have the reflexes Kameyo did. With a Bringer Light movement, he barely managed to get out of the way in time. However, he could feel one of the bolts singe his thigh, making an intense pain shoot through that leg and his lower torso. Beads of sweat fell down his face as he stood in the air, looking down on his opponent. No matter how many times he went through it, he was never going to get over barely avoiding death.

"He just had to have an attack we couldn't counter..." He growled to his partner, before letting out an aggravated sigh. "So much for getting this over with quickly..."

"One attack won't mean much..." Kameyo said simply. "If you know how to avoid it, then it only becomes costly for the one that is using it. All you have to do is stay alert."

"His attack is breaking up the spiritrons in mine?"

WOOSH!

Hachiro furrowed his eyebrows as he vanished from the air in order to evade the attack, landing on the ground with a resounding thud. "That's quite the attack in your possession there, boy..." He commented, raising his blades up back to a defensive stance. "Just where exactly have you acquired such unusual energy from?"

"Its the base trait of my Zanpakutō's Shikai, Saeculum Ac Frangebatur Hastis," Valeur explained, raising his red spear in emphasis, "this red spear allows me to loosen and split the bonds between spiritrons, allowing me to potentially rip anything of any make within the Spiritual Realms asunder, though I've yet to utilize that trait on a living being made of spiritrons like yourself," he added with a promising tone, a canine predatorial smile crossed over his lips in anticipation, spinning the other spear behind him, "this other spear is a bit more crafty, and I'd hate to spoil the surprise it has within its make..."

Ryōken was having a less than pleasant situation. In his mind he already began to map out a series of strategies to counter these limber and talented youths. He could already tell they are Fullbringers, so their base energies are depleting both stamina and spiritual energy by keeping their Fullbrings active, so its possible he could utilize his own substantial prowess in both fields to wear them down. However, as long as they have active Fullbrings, they can nullify theoretically any mediocre affect he has against them. He'll have to unleash his all if he wants to end the fight quickly and get back to the matter with V-14 at hand.

"Damn, I'd wish I had Daisuke backing me up with that flashy Bankai of his," Ryōken chuckled as he began twirling his Shikai beside himself easily, "it'd sure make things a lot easier to deal with these two...of course Ryōken doesn't get that luxury, now does he? Nooooo, he has to do things the hard way and plan out something to outwit the spry and intelligent fighters he's got on his hands, now doesn't he? I sometimes hate my job..."

Using a deft multiple burst pattern of Flash Steps, the Captain moved towards them as he gathered spiritual energy and water along the edges of his trident. Slashing out in random bits and turns at the two Fullbringers, he then darted past them, and then swung back in a elongated arc...

"Fuka Tsume!"

...swinging out a pressurized, cutting current of water that acted like a elongated jetstream from his weapon as he intended on cutting them apart as well as compliment his fast arrays of twirls, thrusts and slashes from a safe distance at the two opponents simultaneously.

CLANG-SCRRRCH!

"You're a real hot head, aren't you?!" Choku asked incredulously as he saw Braeburn literally pass through the storm of blades as if they were nothing and then attack him head on, clashing against his Fullbring blade and forcing him to scoot back from the strength the other man possessed, "I'm guessing that girl over there says that to you every night, huh?"

Scraaaaape!

Writing a number of hyeroglyphic letters along the expanse of his horizontally aligned blade with his left hand, he then caused a turbulence to form in between them. The lighters alight, he then had gained a surge of strength and pushed him backwards with ease, allowing him to twirl around and kick out with a jettisoning force of air waves behind it, intending on sending him sprawling away or at least distance himself.

"..." Kunō looked blankly as the Daitenshi charged and aimed to cut her in half vertically. She responded with a swift instinctive slash up to his blade, a crackle of chaotic distortive energies met his sealed Zanpakuto within an instant...causing the blade to shatter upon impact!

Following up, Kunō followed up with a dark energized punch to his gut, the energies swathed in the same that made up her blade so it would keep any retaliatory strikes from dismembering her limb from her body as she counterattacked, intending to show the futility to the Daitenshi's powers.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!!!"

Oliver could only stare in angry shock as he watched the battle commence - or more importantly, Shou's blade as it smashed into pieces upon impact. His shocked look mirrored the Daitenshi's as he was forced to leap away from the attack. "This makes three opponents so far that can apparently fuck us up simply by waving a hand towards us!!" He snarled, his hands gripping both of his pistols tightly. "What would I not pay for an enemy that isn't some souped-up piece of crap?!" With that being said, he raised his pistols straight towards the back of the woman's head.

"No!"

Angelika's sharp voice snapped him out of it, and he froze up immediately. His surprised eyes turned towards her, but she simply shook her head. "At this point in time, drawing her aggression towards us would only end up killing us." She said grimly, a scowl on her face as she watched the battle. "You already saw what she had did to Anton and how easily she countered Saruwatari's attack. What do you think you could possibly do?" She allowed herself to turn around, dropping both of her arms.

"Well--"

Oliver's retaliatory statement was cut off when he saw Angelika shed her gi, his eyes widening in comical shock at the sight of her unclothed back. "W-wait a minute, what are you doing?" He asked, one of his eyes squinting. "This... this isn't exactly a good time for a strip-tease, if you didn't happen to notice." However, he turned his head off to the side, muttering under his breath. "Even.. if you've got some really good curves.."

"When the Lieutenant cut me, he undid my bindings." Angelika said bluntly, keeping her back turned to the two of them as she inspected her gi. "And I prefer not having to fight when I'm topless. I don't care how much you enjoy looking at my curves."

"Gah-guh-gee--!!"

The blunt and somewhat coy tone at the end of the statement left Oliver spluttering, clearly embarrassed that he hadn't whispered quietly enough. However, she ignored it. "Do any of you happen to have a knife on you?" She asked. "It'd be quite cumbersome to work with my katana..."

"Hup!"

Quickly, Braeburn allowed himself to hop away from his opponent and land right beside Yōki, a smirk of amusement clear on his face. "You guessed wrong..." He answered readily, readying his blade in a defensive motion. "The girl I'm with would've already kicked your ass and your Dragon Lady's back to next year. So consider yourself lucky you had us as opponents instead..."

It was here that Tenshina had to consider himself lucky that he got the former song and dance.

"HYAH!!" With a yell, he swung his sword in order to summon the ability of his Fullbring to play. The burst of wind once again undid the construct of water that had been directed towards him, scattering it in separate directions. "I see you're a bit confused when it comes to my powers..." He spoke out, the smirk slowly coming onto his face. "Allow me to give you an explanation. You see, one of my most favorite abilities that comes from my Fullbring Choso is the ability to "change the setting". I can pull on the soul of anything of my choosing, whether it be the soul of your water in order to make it harmless... or...!"

He swung his sword, and suddenly the wind around Ryōken was gaining intensity. If one looked from the outside, they would see a massive sphere being formed out of the wind cycles Tenshina was controlling, its size getting smaller and smaller. The Captain himself was the epicenter of it.

"...the soul of the wind to rip you to shreds!!" He jeered, his smirk growing wider as he watched the winds close in on his target.

"Well, I can say for sure..." Hachiro slowly readied his blades so that the tips would be pointing directly at Valeur. "That if you wield such deadly power, then this won't be an easy fight for me. And that's just the way I like my opponents to be. Come! Let's see those powers come to life!!" On emphasis, he exuded an immense amount of spiritual pressure in the area in a threatening and intimidating fashion.

Valeur's body became emblazoned in a orange haze as his own Spiritual Pressure rose to the point of being on par of Hachiro's, both of his spears glowed their individual colors subsequently. A smile lit his face as he pointed his red spear at him, saying aloud, "As a gentleman and a knight, its my obligation to give my own name to those I know of theirs, as well as their reputable status as commendable warriors. I am Ser Valeur des Vents, and I am your opponent, Captain Hachiro Horikawa!"

WHOOSH-SLASH!

Cutting a large swath within a burst of a Flash Step of his own, surprisingly boosting his speed to match the Captain's, he aimed to cut a energized fissure of spiritronic breaking power towards Hachiro, intending on breaking apart his weapons and his body if hit spot on. Following up, he then thrust out a glowing yellow spear intending to catch him in midstride. Valeur will give nothing but his best against a Captain of Hachiro's caliber...of course, he'd deliver!

"Wind huh?" Ryōken sweatdropped at seeing the wind bear upon him in this type of intensity. Swinging his Zanpakuto around in a arc that twirled and carried all over his body, a beginning of surging energy began. A wind began to circulate and build on its own around the Captain, clashing with the cutting swathes of air space before pushing out, dramatically turning into a viciously powerful twister that continued to expand according to the practitioner's will,

"Fullbringers may have incredible power over matter and energy by tapping into its base essence. However," Ryōken glared at them both as he stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground, as the twister discharged into a wide radius shockwave of air pressure to hit everything within its path, and send it consequently careening away, "the time you've spent mastering your powers in comparison to mine is measured by the distance between the moon and the sun! Continue this fight and I assure your deaths will be reached to you, Dogs of the Inner Circle!"

Even as the wind flew out, Choku instinctively raised a hand to finger-script a space where the wind would curve around enough so it wouldn't harm him. Hissing, he felt the pressure override this command and send him flying through the air, directly towards Yōki and Braeburn. Using it to his advantage with moments to spare, he swung out in a series of written words, lashing out in a series of snakes come to life intending on snapping their jaws upon Braeburn and Yōki as he vaulted behind them.

"Underestimate us, and you'll-GRRRK!"

WHAM!

"Sorry," Yōki spoke aloud as she cut down half of the serpents by just causing the three spheres in front of her to vibrate enough to send cutting currents for them to be shredded by. Turning around, she smirked as one of the spheres orbiting her targeted him the moment he touched the ground, "my Zanpakuto is a projectile-based one. Meaning, if you're standing still, its going to target you."

Choku hurtled head over heels across the ground, spit flying from his mouth and his glasses shattering from the force utilized. He barely landed on his hands and feet, still capable of regarding them as the sphere flew back into position, "I think...it was...bad judgement...on my part...taking you two...alone...stupid me...," he commented in wheezes as he smiled with bloodied gums and teeth.

Hyōryū, unaffected by most of the craziness happening around her save for the fact that their enemy was beating them effortlessly, turned to the antics Oliver was having with her boss. This caused her to slap Oliver across the face, narrowing her eyes at him, "You don't get a treat for being a perv, Ollie!"

Flick!

"Here you go, boss," she said, taking out a knife from her boot and giving it over to her commander, periphereally noticing the Dragon regarding the Daitenshi with amusement.

"You look confused, Son of Hell," she said with a small smile, before raising her hand up, causing a crackling crimson arc to eliptically orbit her palm, "you should've activated your Shikai. Without any Spiritual Pressure to reinforce its form, Zanpakuto will indefinitely shatter against Dark Energy. Its a matter of physics rather than a measure of overpowering force," she then began to walk around her target, like a predator around a cornered prey, "c'mon...you can't possibly believe you can win this fight, can you? The Inner Circle has been on the rise for power for more years than you've been a Daitenshi. The Hankami know this! Accept your fat-"

CRACK-BOOM!

"I'll have to disagree on that notion!" Mōka shouted out defiantly, appearing dramatically via orange bolt of lightning from the sky, exerting a wave of Shinsei energy in her wake that would be all too familiar to Shou and almost familiar to his supeiror's yet incredibly controlled and...commanding.

This action caused the Dragon to jettison away from being caught in between the two, immediately erecting a barrier around her person and her eyes narrowed upon her, "Dammit!"

Slowly, Shou allowed himself to stand on to his own two feet, his eyes widening in slight surprise when he saw the familiar figure land. He found himself looking at the back of her form, with both of his weapons lowering. He instantly recognized the signature, allowing himself to relax momentarily in the face of his ally. He didn't know where she had been all of this time, but it wasn't enough to keep her from showing up just in the nick of time.

The reactions were various in the face of her allies, who were regarding her with surprise and positive anticipation. The enemies, however...

"Oh, fuck..."

Tenshina and even Kameyo had to turn a shocked eye as the Hankami appeared within the battlefield. Suddenly, the male Inner Circle member was regarding the entire situation in a much more negative manner. "Uh..." He muttered, a bead of sweat falling down his face as he glanced from their Captain opponent to Mōka. "D..don't suppose this is an appropriate time to call it quits now, is it...?"

"Calm yourself, Tenshina," Kunō spoke aloud, raising her hand up before charging a great deal of Dark Energy into the air, swathing it amongst the whole battlefield...

VRRRRRRRRRR!

...slowly but surely sending the Inner Circle Dogs back where they came from.

"Wait-!" Valeur in mid-swing felt the wave of crimson energy enrapture him, slowly taking him away, "NO! Let me stay and fight! Let me-!"

"Tch," Choku smiled even as he coughed blood, waving back at the D.C.O. members, "it seems like my time is up...I'll catch up with you chaps later...cyah!"

"My mission isn't to fester with you vermin, nor you Hankami," Kunō spoke aloud as her own body became emblazoned in crimson arcs, slowly but surely becoming brighter and brighter. She turned her face to look at Angelika, glaring menacingly at her, "but I will not rest, until everyone of your subordinates, deserter, will die alongside you, Angelika Hartmann!"

CLAP-BOOM!

And as suddenly as the Inner Circle came, they left within a flash of light, leaving the others to their own actions and plans.

And now, the V-14 and the Soul Society were left on their own accord.

There was a tense silence as the two groups slowly registered each other's presence. As Angelika finished slicing and wrapping her newly designed bindings around her chest, she twirled the knife in her hands as she turned herself just in time to meet the hidden gaze of Hachiro. The senior Captain, however, decided to sheathe his blades back within his sleeves instead of make any move of attack directed towards them. It was a nonverbal move of ceasefire, now that both sides were addressed with an enemy that was targeting both of them.

"Good..." Hachiro's voice spoke gruffly. "You actually cared to listen to this old man and survived." It brought a slight chuckle of amusement from Angelika as she met his gaze evenly.

"Don't commend us. We weren't doing it for you..."

"I wouldn't imagine you doing anything for free, Ms Hartmann," Ryōken said in a recovered, yet serious tone as he walked towards Hachiro's side, sealing his Zanpakuto and sheathing it back into its elaborate scabbard, "but now you see the trouble we're both in, I think its fair if we could instigate a proposal between us..."

It was here that Braeburn allowed himself to notice Daisuke, his eyes widening in shock.

"He was... crying?"

He had not known the Lieutenant to even be able to despair like he was doing now. Even from their distance, he could sense the feeling rolling off of him like a tide rolling onto a beach. It unphased him slightly as he looked upon the other man's form, squinting one of his eyes out of instinct. Had the fight really shaken him up that much...?

"Daisuke?" Yōki asked aloud to Braeburn, feeling the same feeling that began to cause the skies above to finally begin on the verge of releasing the mountain of moisture it stored throughout the violent battles, "what's got him so worked up?"

WOOSH!

Yusuke had also allowed himself to notice. With a Flash Step, he allowed himself to re-appear and kneel beside his former superior. His gloved hand placed itself on the man's shoulder and squeezed it slightly out of a comforting, sympathetic motion. That feeling was mirrored in his own expression as well as the look that he was regarding Daisuke. "Sir..." He said quietly. "It is demoralizing for such a strong-willed man to shed tears like what I would. Why do you cry so...?"

"!!!"

Off to the opposite of his comrades, Anton had finally recovered enough to stand and look upon Yusuke and Daisuke with surprise. Was the V-14 operative actually trying to help his enemy? This was the same one who had radiated murder and hatred for their leader, the one who had dealt that grievous wound to her. Was he insane? Or was he simply trying to be nice?

"Anton!" Hyōryū shouted out, seeing Anton stand up made her feel awashed with relief. Dropping her guns where Angelika was leaning priorly to their enemies exit, she skid to a stop before looking up at the beaten and injured man. With a foreign feeling wash within her fiercely, tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the blood on his face and the way he held himself. Leaning her head against his chest, she wrapped her arms around him, she simply whispered, "you big idiot...don't ever do something so stupid like that again, you hear me?!"

By this time, Daisuke's Bankai dematerialized. The stress and the loss will to fight caused his hot-headed Zanpakuto seal itself back into the long dai-katana form, stabbed into the charred earth around him. It was at this time, when the skies above them began to rain, and rain hard it did. Daisuke felt Yusuke's hand on him, and he flinched. Looking up at Yusuke, he could still tell that despite the lives he's taken in response to the attacks made upon him...he was still looking out for those he cares about.

"I remembered," Daisuke turned his face away, his face still wet with tears now mingling in the rain that now began to soak him, "I remembered that day at its worse. Seeing the perpetrator wasn't just a hollowfied monstrocity but a soul that entered criminality by choice, just made me broil with an unknown hatred and despair I've never had. I wanted her to suffer like I did...like Braeburn had...like my Captain...and all those who had to bear the weight of the millions that died to that brutal, unnecessary war. But," he then clenched the earth, gathering mud that seeped between the cracks of his fingers as he clenched his eyes tightly, "when I touched the blue flames that devil created...I could practically feel Sousuke's disapproving voice shatter my anger. I felt my whole being...cleansed in one of the most painful ways possible, while retaining knowledge of the monster I could become, and what I nearly had just done...," bowing his head down, Daisuke could only utter in a grief-stricken tone, "forgive me, Yusuke. I have no right to judge you for the side you've picked, when all I've done is show the worst that the Soul Society is capable of..."

Sibbling Rivarly, The Four-Way Standoff of Izanami's Children!
"..."

For a few moments, Sakura stared at her daughter with what seemed like an exasperated look on her face. Then, she gave a heavy sigh and hung her head. "...it's always bondage. Buried alive could be one. Chopped into pieces is another. But it always has to be being tied up like some sort of Christmas turkey. While this may be incredibly kinky, I'm not into the whole incest thing, okay dear?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Mōka was about to comment when she felt something warp space within the sinister, yet nonchalant laughter. Not in the same sense to the presence she felt by the battlefield she left her comrades at, but as in the whole sensation of the forest changed. Looking over with widened eyes, she gasped in short breaths as she saw a long silver haired man...a entity she could never forget the face from, being one of the few beings in their kind that had caused their civil war and downfall to near extinction.

"Y-You-!"

"That really hurts my feelings, Senkoku," the Reaper spoke as he walked out of the shadows of the devestated forestline they created, passing the Dominator a few meters from her flank directly towards the Punisher's bound form, placing a hand against her cheek while whispering, "after all...the passion we had together transcended any meaningless morals mere mortals placed upon themselves."

"...okay, maybe I had an exception..."

The woman had to roll her eyes a little at the sudden entrance made by the man. However, a coy smile crossed her face once his hand rubbed against his cheek. Her eyes gained a more amused and seductive look to them as she regarded the Reaper. "What...?" She muttered, her voice slightly teasing. "Did you suddenly decide you wanted to relive all those years ago? Please, not in front of my daughter..."

Far off two kilometers away, the faint traces of the unusual energy ripping apart the fabric of spacial fabric in real space was felt by all three Hankami. However, to the Reaper, his disposition seemed more elated than surprised, as he hummed along with the reverberations the energy's pressure made.

"I highly doubt, dear Senkoku, that your tramp of a daughter would mind considering her own fatherly origins," the Reaper said as he looked over at Mōka, whom wore a facial expression crossed between disgust and loathing.

"Another reason why I despise our depraved race," the Dominator muttered vehemently though didn't dare walk a step forward with him standing near her. The few times he ever crossed paths with her, she knew better than to underestimate or perturb him farther than she could get away with. After all...he wasn't renowned as the Reaper for nothing.

Placing a hand over the branches, vines, and thorn-laced brush that constricted and held Sakura in place, the Reaper began to emanate a Shinsei energy of his own, with a origin that began to cause the living energy to wither and lose its life essence.

"Even the most powerful kings and gods feel death when it closes in upon them," the Reaper said with a pleased, sing-song tone that bordered ecstacy and menacing, as the entiriety of the Punisher's trappings disintegrated into ashes and withered, dead plants, devoid of the energy that once seeped into it, "and that goes the same, unfortunately, for the Hankami."

The removal of the bindings was like a remedy for the worst sickness.

The Punisher exhaled a soft, audible breath as she felt the thorns removed themselves from her body. The energy that had literally invaded her body leaked out, and the influence it had over her faded away completely. Even her burned arm didn't feel as bad because of the feeling of rejuvenation. The smile once again stretched across her face, and she tilted her head back momentarily to take in a deep breath. Despite the short time that it had happened, she might as well have just come out of a long-term imprisonment of her own.

That feeling was enhanced tenfold when she lowered her head and met Mōka's gaze. She allowed a mocking laugh to escape her lips, spreading her arms out in a "come on" motion. "Oh, what's the matter, dear?" She taunted, clearly enjoying the lack of action from the other woman. "I thought you said you could command all within existence! Aren't you going to do the same thing to him what you did to me? It'd be so easy for you, Ms. Dominatrix! Go on! If you truly can command anything within reach of your power, then order us to vanish from existence forever!"

She allowed herself to lapse into a momentarily silence. With the seconds that ticked by, her smile slowly turned into a disgusted frown. Her eyes that had previously gleamed with amusement now shifted, and she was now regarding Mōka with an annoyed glare. She lowered her arms to her sides, slowly clenching her fists.

"You're nothing but a coward, a fraud, a failure, and a weakling." She spat. "Even a monster like me had the decency to face the problems, torture, and pain head-on. I accepted who I was, what I was born from, and what I am now. You, however, are continuing to run away and blame it all on us. You have a mind that's capable of expanding and understanding, as well as a body that carries immense power. Hell, with what you are, you could've had the power to change that fateful day when our race turned against itself. But what did you do? You ran! You chose to block it all out, laying the blame on even the ones who were only forced to fight. You took refuge within a criminal band, with people that are just as twisted and fucked up as I am, if not even moreso. How can you even expect to get what you wanted that I didn't give you...when we face each other so similarly?"

"Shut up..."

The Dominator hung her head so her bangs covered her eyes as her hands balled up and body bristled with underlying hatred and frustration.

"It hurts...why does it hurt so much?! Mother! Make it go away! Make it stop...!"

"You don't know me! You never once tried to understand me!" She began to say in a low guttural tone, as her body began to glow alight with a vengeful aura, beginning to twist the wind and radiate pain, anguish, and loathing in everything it made contact to.

"I can't sleep at night...I feel so cold and hot all at once! I can't sing or laugh like the children of mortal world does. Why? Why do I have to be like this?!"

"The Children of Izanami are born into a pit of pain, torment, anguish, and you just accept that?! Do you know that the Children of Hankami are given an even greater pain?! You have never once given me love, happiness, or comfort! Things I craved and desired, needed!" She shouted in a nearly murderous tone, as her eyes began to bear down on her with a searing pain and wanton for her, even now as she loathed everything about herself and her mother, she wanted that precious comfort.

"I....hate....life. I want to die, but I can't. I want to feel pain but its not possible. So I will break that curse, and feel the same pain that was taken from me, and earn my place among those who've I been segregated from, earn myself as a true being rather than a unjust god among mortals..."

"Why can't you-"

WHIZ-SLAP!

"I've had enough of your prattle, pathetic wench," the Reaper said in a unrepetant, irritated tone as he moved with such speed and intensity, the Dominator was too lost in thought to counter it. As her face tilted to the side from the backhanded motion, her body lifted up and flew back with the excess of a collapse of air pressure. As the sheer force initiated, while effortless for the elder Hankami, was little more than lifting a pebble to a mortal, sending the younger second generation Hankami a good fifty meters away from the two of them.

"Tch..."

The Punisher looked on in disapproval as her daughter flew away from her, placing a hand on her hip. The indirect force generated from the Reaper's attack blew her hair slightly, but it wasn't enough to make her flinch. A sadistic smile crossed her face, and she raised her injured arm up. From the fingertip to the bicep, her flames spread down the injury. In its wake, her skin and nerves were restored to their former glory, the muscle and sinew no longer visible. It was as if the injury never happened.

"What...?" She asked casually, working out the fingers on the previously affected arm. "You finally decided to kill her? If you did, go ahead. Who's stopping you?"

However...

The air shifted around the Reaper as soon as the two were temporarily alone. His casual, almost appealing atmosphere he usually exuded to seduce the sisterly deity has now turned silent and...cold. A rare disposition of being withdrawn from a emotionally appealing, addicting personality into a rare sense of one thing: menace towards the Punisher.

"You certainly know how to put up an act well, Senkoku," the Reaper said, as he turned to stare at her with a menacing stare and a elongated, yet fake smile, "considering you're the one becoming tainted by mortal hands, I'd say you're the one being hypocritical..."

TK-SHIIINK!

As a scabbard materialized within his left hand, he unsheathed it audibly within his right hand as he turned towards the Punisher with a stationary stance with a menacing look, "Tell me...does that Soul Reaper child please you more than I did? Are you planning his demise utterly, or are you becoming so weak that you can't even fend off your own daughter?!" He raised his blade so its long, pointed edge rested along the center of her forehead as he smiled and narrowed his eyes at her, "you've really become a wretched creature, moreso than your daughter, Sakura Kojima."

This sudden change in mood was certainly a surprise.

The Punisher's eyes widened as the edge rested itself against her forehead, the shift in demeanor causing her to freeze for a moment. Although she herself was good at wearing masks when the time needed it, the Reaper had just bested her in that department. For a moment, she felt a tinge of fear stir up within her - the reasoning behind why she had frozen up for a moment. The fact that the Reaper had considerable power equal to hers if not greater started to become a point that had started breaking at her skull.

...for a few seconds.

Slowly, her mouth contorted into a small smile. "Reaper, dear..." She said coolly, almost as if she was amused by the threatening aura the Reaper had taken her. "I thought we went over this." Gently, she raised her hand up and grasped his sword wrist, pulling it down to her neck. It was perfect for a self-decapitation if she wanted it. "I've been a wretched creature all of my life. You telling me that's not going to hurt my feelings or crush what has already been broken. It's a road that's old and worn-out, and you're not gonna get anywhere riding over it. Secondly..."

That was when her eyes narrowed, and her coy tone took on more of a mocking, taunting one.

"That "boy", as you put it, has given me more pleasure than you did. But it runs much deeper than the flesh, you see. I've watched him swing his sword in the face of what had been deemed to be unstoppable. I heard his voice quell the anger of even a thousand soldiers. Even in the face of my wrath, my anger, and my scorn, he pushed on in an attempt to find a light within my being. He was the one to show me that there was something that was still left within humanity, something that could still be salvaged from the remnants of this shitty world. Thanks to him, I understand my role as the judge of both the physical and spiritual worlds... something that you've always kept me from."

As she continued to speak, a scowl slowly started to form on her face.

"My eyes are open now, and you know what I've seen now? I've realized that a mere mortal had enough balls or guts than you or that failure for a daughter ever had." She growled, her lip curling slightly in a sign of clear defiance. "Kill me if you want, Dāku, but that fact will still remain. You will still be nothing more than a pile of shit. You will still be a coward lurking in the shadows, never once coming out for fear of the sunlight burning your walking carcass. I don't need you anymore, you fucking piss-ant. As far as I'm concerned, you and her aren't even worth my vomit. So I'm gonna ask you the same thing I asked her. What it's gonna be?"

Meanwhile...an equally evil, twisted figure began to find an elation in the Punisher's changed disposition towards him all of a sudden. He could practically taste that fear when he first drew his blade to her skin's edge, and then he rolled his eyes in ecstacy with her foul tongue striking a chord to every pleasure sensor within his brain of not being his puppet any longer, but a true adversary.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" The Reaper laughed aloud as she finished her speach, before narrowing his eyes to dangerous slits as he spoke in a low, pleased tone, "now that's more like it. The whore has finally broken the trance that was placed on by my own presence. I assure you, when I'm done with you..."

SPRAAAAAACK-BOOM!

"...I'll be hanging your head in front of his eyes by your hair as I stab his heart, to savor his agony and despair!" He proclaimed as the blade placed at her neck lit with vibrant Shinsei energy, discharging a fissure of cutting power unparalleled as it barreled towards its target, intending on finishing her off within one single blow.

CLAMP!

Before that blade could chop off her head, a wrist grasped the Reaper's wrist and stopped the attack within its tracks. Under the grasp, the Shinsei energy was dispelled, leaving only the blade behind. This caused the Punisher's eyes to widen in surprise, and she turned her gaze towards a face she would've never thought to see. That very same face had a casual attitude about it, despite the situation at hand.

"W-what...?!"

"Hey, sweetie." The Nihilist drawled, a slight smirk crawling onto his face while his gaze was locked on the other man. "Don't mind me, I was just in the neighborhood. How you doin'?"

"Unhand me..."

CRACK!

"...worm!" The Reaper acted on impulse when he saw the Nihilist. Violently. Kicking out to the Nihilist's gut, he intended to distance the powerful sibbling of his back a good distance, in order to regain his stance and positioning between him and the Punisher.

The Nihilist was quick to counter that very movement.

WHUMPF!

The Nihilist lowered his free arm, the forearm blocking the strike made by his darker counter-part. His grin stretched even wider as he looked into the Reaper's eyes. "What? No talk? It's been a while, Reaper..." He said in mock complaint. "The very least you could've done was grace me with a "Hello" or something instead of a kick. Don't you have any manners?"

BOOSH!

Then, with a thrust of his arms, he threw the Reaper back a considerable distance away. It was a rather harmless motion other than the obvious throw-back, the force not enough to throw him off his balance. He lowered his arms back to his sides, prompting the Punisher to take a look over him. His attire was not that of his yukata, but rather something more modern and casual. He wore a black vest overcoming a white shirt, as well as black pants and dress shoes. All in all, he looked ready to go to some formal meeting rather than engage in a fight.

"...what the hell are you doing here?" She said gruffly, earning a shocked look from him.

"What? I don't get a hello or even a kiss from you, either? Sheesh, I'm beginning to feel like I'm not wanted..." Rolling his lone eye, the Nihilist turned back to face the Reaper. "I told you! I was just in the neighborhood and I couldn't help but overhear this conversation going on. I was gonna turn away... but then this guy just had to go and bitch-slap my daughter, while she was having a BSOD moment! Then he was gonna chop your head off! I couldn't just stand by and let him do it! Neutral as I try to be, I'm not the type of guy to just let family get screwed over..."

He turned his head to look over his shoulder, a cheeky grin crossing his face.

"Even if you are the beloved of a... lesser guy..."

That was enough to cause a blush to spread across a shocked Punisher's cheeks. "W-wha--?!"

"Yeah, I know all about you and that spikey-haired hot-blood." The Nihilist interrupted her. "And I have to say, you have grown some terrible tastes. Don't even bother giving me the speech, because that didn't change my mind either."

"Grr...!!"

Tap-Tak!

The Reaper was quick to right himself up despite being thrown aside by his biased, lazy brother, using the tips of his fingers to push himself back onto his feet, causing his hair to flourish around himself as he locked dangerous, pale blue eyes upon the Nihilist.

"What are you doing here, you sack of swine sap?!" The Reaper snarled at him, his sword radiated a menacing energy as he began walking towards him and the Punisher, his menacing Shinsei pressure weighed so heavily in the air that every step he took closer caused all the foilage and shattered trees to wither to a dead, marred state, "this isn't your affair, nor do I have the patience to deal with the likes of you, fool! Leave now before I disembowl you!"

"...it's not?"

The Nihilist's smile slowly faded into a frown as he regarded the other man. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to stop you right there and call shenanigans..." He said coolly, placing one hand in his pocket. "Because of you, I had to take part in the slaughter of nearly my whole race. Thanks to you, I had to make myself a sole survivor of my race. That's worth an eternity's grudge right there. The only reason why I wasn't hunting your head for so long was because it's just not my style, and Senkoku would be pissed if I happened to kill off one of her favorite screw-toys. But..."

He gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "Now that she's over that phase, I'm free to do as I wish. Maybe if you hadn't threatened either of my girls the way you did, I just might would've let you off this once..."

"Ohhhh? Let me off, will you?" The Reaper spoke in an amused tone, chuckling in a menacing, guttural tone as he raised his blade to point at the Nihilist from his stance about five meters away from him, "you think after all these years that I've stayed at the level I was during the war? Delude yourself no more, Nihilist, for your days as being on top of the familial pyramid of our race is over. Chaos always is succeeded by Death, after all," he smiled widely as his body emanated a vicious, death-like aura around himself that made his hair billow and twist in the air, a sickly black-violet coloration donned on the edges of his being.

Little to everyone's knowledge, the Dominator was seething in anger and vengeful spirit. Once she was slapped aside by the Reaper, she began to contemplate how she'd fight off the both of them in the event they were to unite against her. However, as she tuned her senses into what was really going on, she realized that would not be the case. Much to her chagrin as well as fortune her illegitimate father intervened and looks as if he'd stage off against the Reaper himself, leaving the Punisher to onlook in her own frustration. Which left her open to attack...

<p style="margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;">SNAP-SHIIIIIIIINK!

The blade discharged out with a fluid motion, the chain elongated as the blade itself charged towards its target, cutting through a few trees along the way with frightening cutting power as it intended to strike at the Punisher from the twenty meters of distance seperating her and her enraged daughter.

And needless to say, not only did it shock both the Punisher and the Nihilist, it enraged the former.

"You stupid fool!!!"

With that shout, she swung her hand out towards the blade that threatened to harm her. A burst of heat was unleashed, connecting into the chained blade and disrupting its path. However, she had to leap to the other side of the Nihilist in order to ensure that the weapon wouldn't swing and hit her by accident. The girl had been very close to tearing a new hole through her stomach, and she wasn't too keen on letting her newfound enemy gain any headway.

"Geez..." The Nihilist squinted an eye and arched his brows as he looked over at the crouched form of the Punisher. "The fact that she attacked you instead of Reaper really says something about who's the worst of the two evils."

"Shut it, asshole." The Punisher growled, slowly rising up to her feet. "I don't remember you being a very good father figure for her, unless you were somehow managed to do it behind my back!"

SNIK-CLICK-SHIIINK!

Oddly enough, the chain seemed to move with grace and precision, despite the distance between the user and the targets. The blade snapped and swung back, intending to cut both the Punisher and Nihilist with one rapid swing. A stream of overpowering flames also crawled up at a terrifying rate right up to the blade, allowing it to create a cutting fissure of flames to disallow the counter the Punisher used last time. This action made it very clear she hated them both equally, and the fact they were so close in proximity, only made it a better counterattack.

"...are you kidding me?" Was the deadpan tone of the Nihilist as he saw the flaming chain race towards not only the Punisher, but him, as well. It proved that their initial encounter didn't actually present a docile attitude.

With quickness pushed by the speed of the attack coming towards him, he drew his sword and swung it out. The tip slid into one of the holes that made up the chain, causing it to stop at the hilt. He gritted his teeth as the flames licked the hand wielding the blade. However, unlike the Punisher, he had resistance to her abilities. It was a game of rebel vs dictator when it came between him and his daughter. "Hate to be the one to tell you this, Mōka... but..."

Abruptly, he yanked on the chain with immense force, consequently pulling her from her "sniping" spot.

"GET OVER HERE!!!!!"

The Dominator couldn't supress a grin as she knew one of the two would grasp her elongated weapon. As she felt herself pulled with incredible force towards him, she flipped her body head over heels until she unsheathed her sword and gathered dominating flames around her very essence, as well as the other blade. Once she was within reach, she slashed outwards with a searing fissure exiting from its wake as well as a cutting edge of her blade, while sheathing the chained blade back to its hilt.

It was here that the man couldn't help the scowl that was crossing his face.

The Nihilist wasn't one to lose his cool in any given situation. But the fact that Mōka seemed to be keen on killing them, the fact that the Reaper was still standing there had apparently been wiped from her mind. He had come here to protect them both, but apparently one of them hadn't appreciated his efforts enough to keep from attacking him. The gesture of ungratefulness was enough to spike a suppressed anger inside of him. As far as he was concerned, the girl was acting just like a child throwing a tantrum.

He may have not been good at being a father.

But discipline was something he was all too prepared to give.

With a swing of his free hand, the Nihilist caught the offending wrist before the sword could reach his flesh. But instead of a delaying grip, he allowed his fingers to clamp in a vice-grip on her wrist. Then, with a toss of his sword, he clamped that hand onto her throat. With a summoning of his own chaotic energy and the use of his physical momentum, he slammed Mōka into the ground with unforgiving force. His power was enough to disrupt the flames on her essence as well as her weapon, causing them to vanish. However, it did nothing to solve the burns he had on his palms courtesy to being milliseconds late.

However, he wasn't in the mood to care about it.

He swiftly moved in, pinning her with his body so that she couldn't throw him off. With a vice-grip still on her throat and wrist. "Do you have any idea how stupid and childish you're being right now?!" He snarled, his once calm eye once giving off a look of fury and contempt. "This isn't the time, not when there's a worse enemy standing right in front of us!!! What in Izanami's holy name do you think you're doing?!!"

Mōka coughed out, feeling her head spin as if the whole weight of a skyscraper pressed her into the ground. The indentation caused an uproar of earth of a radius 15 meters, as her body plummeted a good foot or two into it, with the Nihilist's body ontop of hers. Wincing, she opened her eyes to bear a vicious glare at her, "You know..., what mom said about the incest thing...I'm not really into it either...-"

SHFT!

However, it was too late to reconsider. The Reaper siezed a delicious opportunity to erase a headache, along with that spoiled wench of a daughter. Moving at incredible speeds, the Reaper slashed the open air in a vertical drop, that would guaruntee either instant severence of the two pinned beings' torsos or injure them...

BRAAAAAAAACK-BOOM!

...as an excess Shinsei energized fissure of cutting power was ejected with enough gait and size that it appeared as if a skyscraper bore down to cut them in half in a sword-energy-like form. A vicious grin bore on the Hankami's face as he executed the move, "You're too slow, Nihil-san..."

"...I knew I should've just stayed in bed today."

It had been in the back of the Nihilist's head that the Reaper would've decided to attack when he was distracted. His teeth gritted, his lone eye narrowing towards the blast as it raced down to his direction. Releasing Mōka's neck for a moment, the Nihilist swung his palm out in order to counteract the blast. When the Reaper's energy met his prepared circular barrier, the force made him hiss and recoil just a little. He had to put his strength into subduing Mōka and keeping them both protected at the same time, and trying to fend off both Hankami was an ordeal even for the likes of him.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to win the struggle from where he was.

WOOSH!

With a Haya movement, he pulled the woman out of there, re-appearing in a standing position with a hand now placed on her shoulder to support her. A bead of sweat fell down his face as he considered what just happened. Thanks to his emotional daughter, they both had nearly ended up killed by possibly the most psychotic out of the Hankami survivors. Although he knew that was directly because of her, he couldn't help but think that if maybe he had shown a little bit more parental guidance, the situation wouldn't have happened.

Maybe now was a good time to start. It was better than nothing.

He took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he stared at the Reaper. Out of his periphreal vision, he could spot the Punisher on the opposite side with her arms folded across her chest and a solemn look now on her face. "Mōka..." He said lowly, still very much angry over what had transpired. "Just what is it that you want? Do you want to live on? Or do you want to die here?"

"I hate...all of you," v spoke in a weary, sad voice as she looked up at Nihilist, "I wish you'd all atone for the sins you've cast upon mankind, both in for them in the living and in spirit. There was no divine decree that gave us permission to use them as servants, tools, or resources for our own convienance. There was no justice in the blood that we spilled tens of thousands of years ago, and it was only our own undoing and arrogance that caused our deaths and near exctinction. Izanami and Izanagi are fools who decided to punish each other and their children. There is no divinity in that. That's purely human depravity running through the highest of powers, so don't try to invoke her name as if she's akin to that of the highest of gods as if she's above our race's transgressions, father," she then spoke in a hiss at the Punisher, with slit bearing eyes, "so don't you dare tell me that your job and the way our kind has run things is damned natural, mother!"

The Reaper chuckled as he patiently watched them all sort their little endeavor out, also seeking the next opportunity to actually land a blow against his dear brother and sister. Not to mention his charming niece, whom he'd like nothing better than to impale her for the prior sibblings to watch in despair as he would drink her blood and savor her dying gasps. He licked his lips in anticipation for the possibility of comitting the atrocities against them both...

"I didn't ask you that."

The Nihilist turned his gaze once again to Mōka, leveling a stern glare at her. With one of his hands, he slid to caress her face and make her meet his gaze. "The people I saw with you were your comrades, weren't they? They were people you fought alongside, people you fought for, and people close to your heart. If they knew that you died here, miserable and self-loathing, what would they think? If you fall like this, all you're doing is giving them a reason to reject you. If that's really what you think atonement is, I'd rather remain a sinner forever. I'd rather die by a blade than allow myself to keep crying in the gutters like you are. Is that what you really want, Mōka Komori?!"

It was here that the Punisher allowed herself to step forward, adding her own piece in. "What you've told us are things we already know, sweet-heart..." She said coolly. "We've survived, we've endured the worst of what existence could throw at us, and we've come out as mere shells of our former selves. Atonement is something that we've all wanted to reach. But I'll tell you something right now. Death is not the way to it. If you think it is, then you might as well consider yourself just as worse as the piss-ant that just nearly killed you and your father."

She swung out one of her hands for passionate emphasis. "If you really think it's so bad, then why don't you start doing something about it?! Live alongside the ones who have endured and help us reform ourselves!! Do not point your sword at the ones trying to redeem themselves from their self-inflicted Hell. But instead, point your blade at the ones who threaten all of us!! Just like humanity has shown itself to have a chance at redemption, so do we!!"

"Fuck both of you!" Mōka snarled out at both of them, raising her middle fingers up in emphasis as she began to walk backwards away from the three of them, "if you wanted atonement so badly, why didn't you try to find it in actually being parents, you assholes! Don't try and act condenscending when this is a fight you all have brought on yourselves, cause I can care less what happens to the lot of you," she then turned around as she hissed in a sickened tone, even as a tear crawled down from her left eye off her cheek, "because all I want from you now is you to die!"

CRACK-FWOOOSH!

With a singular crouching stance, she then jettisoned herself from the area like a rocket into the sky, before allowing herself to take flight and soar away, creating a sonic boom synomous in her wake. She could care less about their idiotic teaching methods. She wanted them to fight her, and all they wanted was to prattle on about how worthless and stupid she was. In her mind...they'd never change.

As soon as she left however...

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Reaper couldn't help but contain his laughter, a sickening and pleased tone erupted from his throat as he had the undesirable pleasure of listening in on their dispute. Raising a hand to slide down his face in incredulous emphasis, "deserve redemption?! You honestly believe the Hankami race deserves that priviledge?! None of you, not even that sickening piece of garbage Melody are innocent, deserving of something as divine as redemption. The only redemption that you'll be granted is through fire and ashes," raising his blade towards the two of them in particular, smiling a thin smile with eyes lowered into slits, "and I'll be more than honored to give that form of redemption you desperately cling for..."

"...Mōka..."

The Nihilist had a palm covering his face, hiding his expression. Suddenly, being here had seemed like one of the worst moves he had allowed himself to pull. What had been a simple effort to help both his former lover and his daughter had turned out to be something that struck a chord within him. Never before since the Hankami Civil War had he felt so helpless. She had been right. Maybe if he had been a better father... maybe if she had been a better mother... their daughter wouldn't have grown up to be what she was. This wasn't a hatred of all Hankami speaking. This was a hatred and resentment born from the care that they hadn't given her. Every word spoken was just a cry for help and the proper attention from him and the Punisher.

As for the Punisher, however...

"What did I tell you?" She muttered, using a jabbing finger for emphasis. "Fail. Yure."

With that being said, she turned herself to face the Reaper, one of her hands gripping the hilt of her sword. The smirk had returned back to her face as she pushed the thought of Mōka from her mind to focus on her opponent. However, her gaze still remained on her former lover. "Hey, cyclops! You're not gonna BSOD out on me too, are ya?" If he was, she wouldn't be one to complain. It would be more meat for her to incinerate.

However, he was quick to lower his hand to the side, taking in a deep breath to compose himself once more and looking at the Punisher as she stared him down. At the very least, there was still at least one other person on his side. As long as he had that, he couldn't lose himself to his own demons. Now wasn't the time, especially considering that a long-time enemy was standing in front of them. The only thing he could do now was raise his hand, telekenetically calling his sword back to his possession.

"I guess it really is too late to be a father, then..." He said in bitter resolution, a small smile crossing his face. "And I'm not even sure that we can reform ourselves at this point in time. But I guess that doesn't matter now, does it?" He swung out his sword for emphasis, allowing himself to glare at the Reaper with newfound contempt. "Reaper! If you really think that death is the only way for atonement for us, then come kill us! Put us out of our misery once and for all!"

The Reaper just chuckled as he scraped his left hand's nails across the surface of his sword, causing black, broiling smoke that wreaked of death and the darkest tainted Shinsei energy, "Gladly, brother!"

SPRAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEE!!!

With a thrusting motion, a pulsation of Shinsei projected out a large black cloud smog that swarmed over the two, effectively hiding his own presence. From out of the corner of the smog, collosus-head sized grotesque mouths latched out in a attempt to snap their bodies apart and crush them between their faceless, lipless, and tendon-elongated teeth. They surrounded the two Hankami like a pack of pirhanas, attempting the devour them with sheer numbers as well as ferocious appetite.

They reacted appropriately.

SLASH!

The ones that had attempted to eat them were met with blades channeled with their respective energies, with the chaotic energy of the Nihilist and the blazing fire of the Punisher. It was just enough to repel them away, and gave them time to meet up at the center. Their backs pressed against one another, their swords held in one of their hands respectively. The Punisher herself had to wrinkle her nose in distaste at the maneuver the Reaper had used against them.

"It's always the hide and go seek route with these assholes!!" She growled, raising her sword up. "When all of this is over, this place is gonna burn to the fucking ground!! You with me, Nihilist?!"

"Mhm..."

With that being said, the Nihilist raised his own sword up in conjunction with hers. Both of them pointed towards the sky in that moment, their respective energies ringing around the blades. Then...

SWING!

BOOSH!

When they swung down to unleash their power on the cage that surrounded them, a massive mix of purple and orange raced upwards to the sky. The shockwave radiating off of it could be felt for miles, and the width was approximite to a tornado's.

The Reaper chose that length of time that the living smog would distract the two of them to distance himself accordingly. Hindsight, he chose wisely as the two sibblings of his combined energies and created enough force that being too close to it would've been...unhealthy for himself. Being nearly a good twenty meters away, his mere pulsation of power created a barrier to repel the shockwave itself, though it caused his feet to dig into the earth and give way to meters of trees behind himself.

Grasping his blade in both hands, a concentrated and condensed form of Shinsei energy that seemed to pull the air into it, creating a maelstrom of destructive currents. Placing himself into a stance he used against the Monitor, during that fateful duel, this form of energy would strengthen it exponantially, and he would revel to see the two of them bleed all over or scatter before its might.

"GOD..."

SWING!

"...SLICER!"

CRAAAAAAACK-BOOM!

The sheer force of the cutting power distorted the spacial fabric in front of himself immensely, cutting a swathe of nearly a good quarter of a mile in excess as well as ignite the very atmosphere high up in the sky as it split up and over, as it tore into the energized tornado current being controlled by the two Hankami's, intending on splitting it in half, destabilizing its energies back onto its users, and them slice the two in half by the monumental feat of swordsmanship and energy releasal.

As the attack was facing the Nihilist, the two decided to switch sides.

With a swift and coordinated pivot, they spun around so that they were in each other's spots while still back-to-back. Grasping his sword tightly in both hands, he allowed himself to swing and unleash his own devastating attack, complete with his very own trademark smirk.

VOOM!

His own energy unleashed, although not as big as the Reaper's sizable strike, was more than enough to counter the power unleashed behind the God Strike. The two powers collided, massive shockwaves radiating off of the collision and making the trees around them rip from their roots just to blow away. It would be a moment before they would cancel each other out.

And in that moment, the Punisher struck.

VOOM!

With a Haya movement that made her re-appear over the Reaper's head, she swung her own blade at him. From the metal, a crescent of fire was unleashed. However, as it progressed towards him, it began to morph and shift into a creature of its own - more specifically, a dragon's head and a serpent's body. The dragon's maw opened wide, ready to engulf the Reaper in its burning blaze. The width and length matched that of a skyscraper, having enough power to set an entire forest's length of land ablaze.

"Temper, temper," The Reaper spoke aloud as he felt the Punisher's presence, as well as her signature attack funneling towards her prey, subsequently his person, "you're always predictably the first to counterattack, Senkoku..."

VRRRRM!

The Reaper's form became enshrouded in a ghastly aura that sent a reverberating shockwave that shook off the initially charging flames of the Shinsei created dragon heading towards him, slashing out his sword in a swift strike with one hand. The energy fissure midway transformed into a ghastly, blood-soaked scythe that ran up the middle of the dragon's maw and cut it in half, as well as seperating the pillar of flames that soaked in a ring of fire purposely around himself.

"Mhmhmhmhmhm," the Reaper chuckled behind smiling lips, as he gazed upon the Nihilist and the Punisher, his blade shining and his aura bathed in a delicious crescendo of chaos and death that surrounded him, "brings back memories of the past, doesn't it? That glorious war...where hundreds to thousands of us filled the skies with death, fire, chaos that reigned upon the pitiful mortal world! We nearly destroyed the whole universe in the war I waged against all of you cretins! Instead, one of my most hated enemies had to go and live," shaking his head his body became coated with the black smog as his presence began to disappear, sheathing his sword as he turned his back and headed into the flames, "such a pity. I wanted to fight you one on one, but I want to do it properly. Being interrupted by women seems be a curse for both of us, right Nihil-kun HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"...you're actually pulling back?"

Ths sudden withdrawl of both the power and the sheathing of his sword caused the Nihilist's eyes to widen in surprise. He lowered his sword, but he didn't lower his guard. After all, the man did have a habit of striking when one had let their guard down or was distracted with something else. He never would've thought that the one who wanted to hunt them down would allow himself to back off and let them go for another day...

This doesn't suit well with the Punisher.

"What the fuck?!" She snapped, landing and fixing a glare at the disappearing form of the Reaper. "You started this fight and now you're gonna run away?! Get back here!!" She raised and swung her blade, unleashing another jet of flames at their opponent. Inwardly, however, she had a feeling that it would once again prove to be ineffective. It didn't stop her from trying, though.