|
Post by Tenpi Kishou on Mar 6, 2010 19:10:21 GMT -5
Tenpi Kishou walked through Rukongai as he had almost every night for the past one hundred years, patrolling. He knew that there were plenty of other shinigami assigned this job, but he couldn't help but feel like his presence was needed. As he walked out of the 1st Division barracks and towards Rukongai, he smiled. Tonight, everything felt right, slight clamoring from the bars that he had decided to renounce and lights off in all barracks. It wasn't until the hell butterfly popped up in front of him that he noticed the silence. Something was out of place and as the hell butterfly barked its short message to him, his blood ran cold. "Civilians dead in District 34, fatal injuries caused by hollow."
His brain didn't have time to even try to recognize the voice because his feet had burst into a flame beneath him, rushing towards District 34. His mind punished him almost immediately, telling him the myriad ways he could have stopped this from happening. After over three hundred years on the job, Kishou still couldn't stop blaming himself for every single death. Maybe that's why he's always been so good at his job, even with his constant immaturity and silliness, he could never accept seeing other people hurt.
As he reached District 60, he heard the noise that could always stop him in his tracks without fail; the sound of dimensions being torn through like moth-eaten fabric, the sound that meant death and destruction.
The gaping maw of a garganta stared at him as he waited for whatever was on the other side to reveal itself.
|
|
|
Post by Hattori Kihashi on Mar 8, 2010 16:56:08 GMT -5
Even with his reiatsu masked a bit, it was a good day for bloodshed, as any Arrancar would agree that was on the scene of this surprise attack; no no, this massacre. Shinigami blood painted the streets and the landscape, although for a surprise attack, they were performing fairly well actually. Holding his sword in his iconic reverse-grip in his left hand, he marched into the district he'd almost wiped clean of Shinigami. A few stray Arrancar that had picked up his trial had decided to follow him into battle. He approached a squadrant of Shinigami, and as the leader went to release his zanpakuto, a simple use of Sonido landed the Cuatro Espada right in his face, his hand formed up tight. He thrust his hand forward and impaled the man on his arm, the squad behind him cowering in fear. He opened his palm as a swirling crackle of red energy began to form, and he laughed maniacally like a psychotic as he shouted the name of their execution method. ''CERO!''
The blast erupted from his palm and swallowed up three of the squadrant, burning their bodies into nothing but charred corpses. He withdrew his hand from the corpse and shook it once or twice, then slicked back the bangs on his face with the blood of the man he'd just killed. ''Be glad you served some purpose, Shinigami.'' He spat toward the bodies, obviously harboring no respect for the dead. He ordered the Arrancar in his unit to disperse before ripping open a garganta in front of him and stepping through, appearing in another district. Wasting no time, he dropped to ground level. He stepped forward and brought his zanpakuto with him in a fierce swing as two Shinigami charged him down, cutting down the first. He bent backward with surprising agility and watched another blade sail over his head, then bent back up and quickly delivered two cuts to the open opponent. He watched him drop and turned on the balls of his feet, sensing a reiatsu that was worth caring about.
He pointed to the Shinigami, whom had at least Fukutaicho-level reiatsu. He flicked his sword clean of blood, offering a spatter near the two bodies of the men he'd just killed. ''Where have all your decent warriors gone, Shinigami? You're all practically cannon fodder out here. I've already been to one district and mopped up all your rabble over there; i'm beginning to get bored of all this.'' He pressed his free hand to his forehead (which was still a bit stained by blood from slicking his bangs out of the way) and offered a small chuckle as he shook his head. ''Have all the half-decent Shinigami been slain ever since your old Captains were killed?'' It was clear his main intention was to egg this Shinigami on until he couldn't stand it; if that didn't work, he'd just have to make the first move himself. His reiatsu was disguised to around the level of a Vice Captain currently, indicating he hadn't been fighting with his full effort.
|
|
|
Post by Tenpi Kishou on Mar 8, 2010 17:10:09 GMT -5
"Half decent?" Kishou smiled even as his heart faltered at the thought of his old teacher. "If all you're looking for is half decent, you've come across the wrong shinigami."
With a sigh, Kishou unsheathed his zanpakuto and smiled solemnly. He looked at the battered bodies around him and couldn't help but be a little sad. With all of the blood that spattered his compatriots' faces, he couldn't tell if any of the deaths were from his squad. But they were all shinigami and therefore they were all worth mourning. He looked up into the arrancar's eyes and saw nothing but blood-lust and hunger. "I'll make you regret this."
His sword rose and fell in seconds as Kishou flash stepped to the arrancar's left, swiping his upper arm. He could feel the power of this arrancar, this monster that had torn apart his allies without caring. He would live up to his promise no matter what.
|
|
|
Post by Hattori Kihashi on Mar 8, 2010 17:33:13 GMT -5
Vicente watched the man unsheath his zanpakuto with a sigh he could only expect would be regret; ah, maybe he was actually figuring out he could have done something to save his comrades. This was good; he'd be able to use that as fuel to fight with. When one had a motivation and not just a want, the fight always meant much more than winning or losing and that always made the fight that much more interesting. Putting one foot in front of the other, he dropped into a defensive stance with his sword in front of his body. He stared the Shinigami down, and within seconds, he was gone. He focused instead on hearing where the Shinigami would show up and murmur of his reiatsu as it blinked out and back in to the area. The Espada would rotate sharply as his zanpakuto collided with the Shinigami's, and he found himself caught in a dead lock.
Perhaps there were some disadvantages to being the jack of all trades, after all! But the good part about being so was that he could use his average abilities to supplement his other average abilities, making him versatile and able to adapt. He raised his hand quickly and charged a Bala in his palm, and fired it at the Shinigami. He expected him to avoid, so right after firing it, he quickly formulated another plan. He fired the Bala to his front, so he used Sonido to flit from view and appear a small distance away from his opponent. He observed the Shinigami's reponse to the Bala, giving himself a bit of breathing room, before he whirled his zanpakuto quickly and snapped his hand down on it back into his reverse grip.
With the signature electric sound, Sonido had been used to enter the melee once again. He came out of it using a heavy horizontal swipe against the Shinigami on his right side, opposite of where he had been attacked before. ''I'm impressed, Shinigami! You're one of very few that even survived this long. Don't you go dying on me anytime soon; i'm actually having fun for once!'' He offered a bit of a laugh at the situation, actually being amused in combat. It hadn't happened often on this night of bloodshed due to most of the Captains handling other Espada, so he was mainly cutting down unseated members all night. To him, this was a form of refreshment.
|
|
|
Post by Tenpi Kishou on Mar 8, 2010 18:03:16 GMT -5
As expected, Kishou flash stepped once as to avoid the bala, smiling at his enemy's quickness. There was a disturbing precision to his attacks, to the point that it felt like even his mistakes had purpose. He traveled to where he heard the crackle of sonido, but his block was too high, resulting in a shallow cut going straight down his stomach. There was silence, other than the slight gasp that issued from Kishou. He was surprised, afraid, and excited all at the same time, but his smile didn't fall.
"Shaberi, Hissori Arashi." he said without hesitation.
He knew when an enemy could destroy him, and this beast was just minutes away from doing so. Kishou pointed two fingers towards the arrancar and laughed, almost barking "Hado #4, Byakurai." It was obvious, even to someone who hadn't seen much kido, that each finger was issuing a different attack. The forefinger shot something straight and unwavering, but his middle finger's beam of lightning curled and curved sharply and constantly. With his right hand, he released a heavy diagonal strike across the arrancar's chest, his anger obvious.
His brain was clear for once, this is what true battle was to him, life or death. The straight beam vanished into thin air, as did Kishou. He rose into the air and anticipating the movement of the arrancar's energy, he had his electrical thread appear right behind him. He was channeling the tactical genius of Yamamoto Genryuusai, the original so-taicho and his greatest teacher.
|
|
|
Post by Hattori Kihashi on Mar 8, 2010 19:31:14 GMT -5
After the Sonido, the Espada actually had expected his attack to be blocked and countered; this opponent was showing a fair degree of promise. He was impressed that he managed to dodge the bala, but he saw the guard of the Shinigami was too high to avoid his sword blow entirely. He felt his blade meet flesh and he watched the small amount of blood release into the air, the fabric at the stomach of his enemy becoming torn at the blade's deadly bite. Vicente did love the sight of blood and it distracted him a bit, long enough for the Shinigami to invoke his shikai. Unsure of what the shikai would grant him the ability to do, the Cuatro Espada used another Sonido to put a bit of distance between he and his opponent to better observe his ability before swinging recklessly. He studied the form of the zanpakuto.
His eyes slowly rose upward as he heard a crackle of energy, staring at the Shinigami's hand. He heard him recite the name of the Hado and let it rip, and, wide-eyed, the Espada raised his hand. He released a charged bala at the blast, which managed to absorb the brunt of the attack, but the spell still broke through. Holding his zanpakuto in front of his body with his other arm supporting it in an X-shaped block, he took the rest of the attack. He felt his body electrify, and his slight amount of Hierro managed to deflect just a bit more of the attack. His body was rampaged with electricity and he was thrown backward, but quickly recovered. He landed in a skid, using his sword as a brake. The Shinigami, no sooner, was upon him with a flash step, striking with a heavy blow to chest.
Kicking the handle of his sword, all the Espada could manage to do with the time available was deflect the blow to a more harmless location. The flat of his blade slammed into the Zanpakuto, causing the blade to deflect up and into his right pec and shoulder. The fabric was cut open and his blood was freed, and he let loose a low growl. His ''4'' tattoo was now visible through the cut fabric. His eyes widened at the sight of seeing his opponent land a blow, and he quickly began his descent into madness. He began cackling like a hyena, charging a Bala with one hand and using a straight stab attack with his Zanpakuto. ''Ahahahahahahaha! What's your name, Shinigami!? I need to know your name! Tell me the name of my new rival!'' After the stab motion, he would keep his Bala at the ready, prepared to jam it right into this Soul Reaper at point blank range.
|
|
|
Post by Tenpi Kishou on Mar 9, 2010 17:44:55 GMT -5
Kishou smiled widely at the sight of the "4" tattoo, his heart swelling within his chest. If this arrancar had just been a simple fraccion, this battle wouldn't have been worth it. But as an espada had killed the so-taicho, he would kill an espada. An eye for an eye, right?
As his senseless happiness set in, he began to know fear. This was an espada, one of the strongest arrancar in existence. One of the strongest beings in existence. Could he rise up against the truth that was this monster's strength? In his momentary panic, he didn't notice the beast right in front of him, charging a bala and stabbing his sword towards his gut. His left hand rose with his four fingers extended, the strands of electricity quickly releasing themselves from his fingers. He brought his zanpakuto up with incredible strength, but only succeeded in redirecting the sword into his right shoulder.
The arrancar's sword severed the cloth of his kimono and released the sweet pink flesh within his shoulder. He let out a groan of pain at the deep cut and seconds later he felt the ball of energy hit him. The strength of the bala was dampened by Kishou's counter-attack, but it added immense pain to his wounded shoulder. He was blasted backwards, landing on the ground on his feet. He rotated his shoulder and sighed, applying his left hand to the sword as well.
"I'm Tenpi Kishou, 1st Division." he said with a smirk. "I hope none of your fraccion are here to see that you just named a simple lieutenant as your rival."
He smiled and pointed his zanpakuto straight at the espada. He slowly realized that the attacks had injured him much more than he thought, his body took much more effort to cooperate. While the body was in pain, his spirit was still strong, as a ball of lightning half-formed at the tip of his sword and shot for the arrancar.
He charged after his lightning with sword high above his head, slicing the arrancar's stomach. His brain yelled at him, telling him every mistake he could make; he was an Espada's rival now, he would have to get stronger or die. He couldn't make mistakes.
|
|
|
Post by Hattori Kihashi on Mar 9, 2010 18:34:17 GMT -5
Vicente was nothing less than impressed by this fukutaicho. He hadn't had a fight like this in a very long time, and the Shinigami seemed to hold out against whatever the Espada chose to throw at him. He had remarkable endurance, and even though the Espada was fighting nowhere near his full power, with or without Resureccion, this one showed a great deal of promise. He grinned with a psychotic chagrin as he felt his sword bite into flesh once more, freeing even more blood into the air. As the sword met it's mark, he let the Bala loose, and it too slammed into that same shoulder and sent the Fukutaicho away from his current position, but he recovered with surprising efficiency. The Espada smiled devilishly and peered at the Shinigami, as if sizing him up for a moment.
''''I could care less what the other Espada think. My Fraccion are all long dead; I claim my Fraccion to have the highest mortality rate of all the sets of Fraccion! My rival is my rival; you will grow, and you will give me the fight I look forward to, or you will die a shameful, quick death.'' It was odd how he stated it. It was almost like he wanted to keep the Shinigami alive; to strike him down with shame in his heart here, to motivate him to fight him on a higher level on another day. In truth, Vicente saw a great deal of potential. He was going to cut up this Shinigami to the point where he would realize just how much training he needed, then kill him when he was at his prime in the future. Yes, that would be the ultimate thrill of all; let the Shinigami build up to that point where they become equals, then shatter his entire existence in one climactic battle. His blood was boiling already!
He investigated the Shinigami's wounds as he stood, letting his words sink in. The deep cut to his shoulder just about matched the Espada's own, and surely the Bala should have done more damage. He then remembered the Shinigami's tactic to cushion the blow; this Kishou had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, didn't he? A good survivalist, even. Vicente just adored that in a good opponent. He could tell the Shinigami's body was becoming taxed from his wounds, and the 4th couldn't exactly blame him. They had dealt fair wounds upon each other, and so far it had been a good bout, but Vicente had full intent on ending it here and now; well, rather to postpone it.
He noticed the ball of lightning form at the tip of Shinigami's sword. With a growling sneer, he lifted his zanpakuto like a javelin and hurled it right at the lightning, intending to use it as a lightning rod. He clasped his two hands together as the blade absorbed the electricity, also becoming an obstacle for the Shinigami to dodge. The red energy crackled beneath his palms, and with an electric buzz, Sonido had been put to use once more. Appearing a good fifteen or so feet away from the Shinigami, he thrust both palms forward. ''CERO!''
|
|
|
Post by Tenpi Kishou on Mar 10, 2010 21:03:04 GMT -5
Kishou stood and listened, but fear was no longer in his thoughts. The espada would let him live, and he would value his time to train and grow. He made a promise to himself that the next time he met this espada, he would have his bankai. He decided that at this point, he wouldn't release the second stage of his shikai, it was best to keep some things a surprise. Just as Kishou hadn't seen a bit of this espada's power, he wouldn't know any of the tricks Kishou had up his sleeve.
All this came to mind as Kishou felt the arrancar's counter-attack coming for him, the power of his own electricity bearing down upon him. From just out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gleaming red energy of the arrancar's cero destined to meet his body. With a single slick slash, Kishou knocked the arrancar's zanpakuto out of the air, absorbed the electric ball with his zanpakuto, and faced the cero. He smiled, stabbing his scimitar through it and releasing his electricity once again in the arrancar's direction.
He smelled the burning flesh before he even felt the cero, the energies had mingled with his shoulder wound and made him feel like his very body was being cooked. He refused to let himself scream, though every fiber of his being told him to do so, he could feel each individual molecule of his body demand surrender. So, he did. He fell to the ground with a shroud of unconsciousness slowly falling over him. But before he could allow that to happen, he had to have one question answered.
"Espada... so that I may know who I'm looking for when I come to Las Noches for your head." he said, surprised that his cockiness hadn't been beaten out of him. "What is your name?"
|
|
|
Post by Hattori Kihashi on Mar 19, 2010 11:06:10 GMT -5
It was nothing more than pure defiance at this point in Vicente's mind. The shinigami he'd taken his interest in for now had been beaten but he simply refused to accept it for a few more moments. The cero blasted outward as the Shinigami reacted quickly, re-absorbing the electricity that Vicente's own zanpakuto had absorbed and firing it right back at him. The Cero he fired blasted away the very first of it, but not much else; surely the wounds delivered by the Cero would be serious from the Shinigami's suicidal tactic, but most of it did manage to arc around the sides of the blast. The electricity did give him a fairly good shock; he felt his body spasm, stolen from his control, as the electricity caused a moderate pain throughout his body. He could almost laugh as the electricity assaulted his nerves, just because he got to watch his finishing blow connect with all the force he wanted it to. He failed to not be surprised once more as the Shinigami actually stood there and took it. He didn't even get carried off of his feet by the Cero, which once more showed his great endurance. After the blast had rocked the fighter's body, the Espada smiled as he watched the energy almost seep out of him. He simply fell to the ground, speaking, not moving any other muscle. Vicente approached the downed warrior as he spoke, and for once in a long time actually gartered a bit of respect for a Shinigami's efforts. A whistling of wind cut through the air as his zanpakuto, previously having been deflected, pinwheeled toward the ground and stuck into it tip-first. As he passed his sword, he plucked it from the ground and slid it into its scabbard seemingly on reflex, not even looking where he was sheathing. ''My name?'' He grinned as he stared down at the Shinigami; oh, it took so much to not just take his head here and now, but he wanted to see just how cocky he was when he faced a true Espada's release. ''Vicente Cervantes, Cuatro Espada. I suggest you train with every fiber of your being; you don't want me getting impatient.'' With that, he turned his back to the Shinigami as he saw his eyes get hazy. He slipped into a deep unconsciousness as he opened a Garganta, looking behind him to already see a supposed medic scoop up the unconscious man and carry him off for treatment. He stepped through, all the chaos he'd cared to deal had been dealt. The portal closed behind him. --THREAD ENDED--
|
|