BLEACH: Flight of the Dead Gods IC

[Taion]

"Really, you think I'm stupid? Theres a reason why I release it..." He watched the blue ring close in and he raised his sword. "You see my zanpakuto can control fire. That means that I'm not hindered by it. My zanpkuto can absorb flame and use it against my opponent." He smiled and watched the sword pull in the flames. "Anyway, I digress. My reason for releasing it is," His sword glowed with a purple aura now "you never know what your gonna fight against. Scorch!" His brought his sword down upon the ground. Cracks appeared in the ruins beneath him and small flame started to jet up. Saseru smiles. "This is your end." A large crack appears beneath his opponent. Huge flame shot out of every crack. The older one was engulfed in flame. Saseru knelled down. His arms were burnt but he didn't care. He watched as his as opponent burned to death. "Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!" Thats right didn't expect that did ya?"

[Andx]

"And that would be the power I didn't know about." Sanako thought as the mud from Shizuke's zanpakuto began covering her left leg and right arm. She wasn't sure what all the mud did but she had a feeling the limbs in the substance wouldn't be all that helpful until they were cleaned. As she still had her right leg at full use at the moment, Sanako flashed stepped away to put a bit of distance between herself and Shizuke.

 

"Now let's see if I can't get this stuff off." Sanako thought. She pointed her left hand at her left leg. With any luck a weak kido would be able to force it off.

"Hado no. 1, sho!" Sanako said. A large force pushed out on her leg and began pushing the mud off. It didn't seem it could get everything and repeated blasts would only hurt her leg further. She tried one on her right arm to the same results. She did still have one option.

"Yamada! We can take him but you'll need to get the final blows in!" she called out to her companion. With her still free left arm she grabbed hold of her sword. She then took hold of the sword's sheath and held the sheathed blade out sideways.

 

As Sanako stood like this her bright purple reiatsu began flaring. She could feel it fighting with the mud that had began covering her. If she could get her power high enough it should come clean off. So there was one thing to get her power higher.

"Glide! Cisne Corrumpido." Sanako declared. She was releasing her resurrecion. Her power surged even greater than it had previously. The sheath of her sword disappeared into her signature purple reiatsu. Her zanpakuto faded into black energy that went somewhere even she wasn't sure about. Black feathers began forming all around her body and her clothing seemed to disappear into them. Once they had covered her, several stripes of purple feathers started forming as well. Sanako's head took on a swan like appearance including the beak. Her hair was now gone. Two large wings formed on her back and her fingers became very long, very sharp, metallic talons.

 

The release complete she noticed no mud covering her, though if it got her again she wasn't sure what she would do. With the changes to her body finished her reiatsu stopped coming out so heavily but it was still definitely higher than it had been before. She then held out both hands. All ten talons began glowing a dark purple. She slashed out at the air.

"Rezo sin Setido." she said. Ten long waves of purple energy launched out in various directions, some hitting the ground, others way off to Shizuke's side, though two were in line to hit him.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Yamada's eyes widened at his allies release. He zoned out for a moment thinking how elegant and graceful it was, while still being deadly.He admired Sanako's release, until the talons that replaced her fingers started glowing. He knew this could end badly for him, and began to pay attetnion. Then he saw the waves, and dove down to avoid them, though he landed in more mud. It was probably better than being hit by a Ressureccion's special ability, or so he figured. He got up, caked in Mud, and having trouble moving. "Alright, Sanako, I got it! Please hurry, and give me the signal." He held his katana, Fuegave, with his one free arm, and hoped it would work out. He didn't want to use his powers yet, but at least he had his preffered ability ready to go.

[Hydra of Ages]

Satoru's eyes scanned the two who were attacking them analytically. He sighed slightly as his allies rushed into battle so quickly, and in some cases, arrogantly. He glanced around briefly, making sure that there wasn't any kind of help from the one they had came to find, and slipped his long blade away from his cloth belt. He flicked it towards the opponents expertly.

 

"Toll. Seimitsu." he said calmly. Mist seemed to swirl from his hand down the sword, until it covered the sword entirely, reshaping and reforming it into a slightly different weapon. The wide blade that was common for Japanese weapons became a smaller, slimmer form more seem in ancient European weaponry, while the hilt became a great half-shell, protecting his hand from assault. The sword had become some strange sort of rapier, with an extraordinarily long blade.

 

He flicked the weapon expertly infront of him, causing the tip to almost smoke at the tip as it blurred the edges of the air it swing through. This blurring remained even after the attack completed, a slight fuzziness in the land.

 

He cut the air several more times, as mist was released from each slice, obscuring the immediate area in a sort of fog. After a few moments, he had summoned a decent fog bank around himself.

 

'Now.' he thought, glancing towards the two enemies that were occupied at the moment. 'Where to start?'

[Umbra]

(I'm not a big fan of God Moding, and Taion, you're being borderline. Assuming you've hit, or even killed, and NPC like these two without a serious fight is BAD.)

 

Naoki smiles. "The end? That's where you're wrong, drifter. This is only the beginning." The flames beneath the ground suddenly cools off, and the claw-like blades light up. "It would seem like you don't understand my Zanpakuto's power. It sucks in everything it can, devouring it... and hungers for more. It controls anything it can taste. Your fire is nothing but a candle in the wind." He launches into the air, claw shining brightly blue, towards Saseru.

 

Shizuke was struck directly by a wave, but manages to raise a shield just in time for the second one. You hear him laugh. "How impressive! The master's gonna be pleased with us when we bring you back!" He turns his gaze to Yamada, who's covered in mud still. "Bad move from you, drifter. You're not gonna live long if you impale yourself on the wolf's fang." He flickers his Zanpakuto, and suddenly the mud pushes Yamada upwards, flinging him several meters into the air. Around twenty meters above ground level, not far from where Naoki and Saseru are fighting, the mud stops pushing up and just keeps him afloat, trapping his arms and legs. Shizuke smiles again, and looks at Sanako. "Back to you, then." Flash-stepping to mere inches ahead of her, he conjures even more mud.

 

EDIT:

"So, the last of them has decided to join in." Naoki eyes Satoru, his wise eyes focusing on the newly released Seimitsu. "You seem far more interesting than this little brat. I think the master would be pleased the most if you were to survive."

Quickly flash-stepping away from Saseru's reach, but with the glowing claw intact, he lashes out at his new target.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Yamada gritted his teeth, knowing this was his last chance, although he had wished to not unveil this power for later. He gripped Fuegave with his left hand, and yelled his release out, as loud as he could, feeling desperate. "Blaze away! Fuegave!" Red Reiatsu came out around Yamada when he yelled his power out. It freed him from the mud, and formed around him in a sphere. When Yamada was set free of the Reiatsu ball, he had bony covering over all of his body, except for a "V" shape on his chest up to his head. The bony parts had red, vine-like patterns all over Yamada's body, and they seemed to radiate with a crimson color. His hands had turned into talons, and his feet became three toed talons, with onei n the back to accompany the three. The most notable features now were his wild, ragged, wild, shorter, and blonde hair, red eyes, and bony wings like an eagle's connected with reiatsu and fire. He was suspended in the air by the wings that had just appeared, free of the mud. Then he spoke. "Kid, I'll kill you. You didn't think ahead, did you? I was sure you'd have been briefed." With that, he used Sonido, and appeared behind him, shooting his hand forward with fingers in a stabbing form.

 

OOC: You said arms were trapped, not hands. So, I went with it.

[Umbra]

Mud forms around Yamada's hand as it is less than an inch away from Shizuke's otherwise rather unprotected back. But rather than pushing him back, instead the mud enhances his blow and he is able to land an overwhelming hit in the Observed's back, sending him flying towards Sanako. Still writhing from the pain, he turns around mid-air towards Yamada... and smiles.

"Both your Shikai and Resurrecíon... I guess I will have to tune this up a little!"

He slams Nukarumi into the asphalt, putting an abrupt end to his airbound travel. You suddenly see a ring on his right hand, with an emerald embedded into it. "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but you all deserve it now." As the ring flashes in green and a light spreads across his body, he lets out a laugh.

"Spread. Cárcel Verde!"

 

As the light fades away, Shizuke has changed greatly. He is more or less the same size as before, possibly a bit taller. He seems more... tree-like. His skin is covered in what seems like bark, and his feet are rooted to the ground. "Come at me, drifters. But be wary." He raises his left hand, readily holding Nukarumi in the other. "Time is not on your side."

[Andx]

With very little time to react Sanako flash stepped out of the way, flapping her large black wings as a way to help speed up the move. She didn't need to get caught up in Yamada's attack and she didn't need the Observed slamming into her. As she got away, Shizuke then proceeded to release his own resurrecion. He took on a strange tree like appearance now and his shikai still seemed to be around. In truth, Sanako had never thought to use both her resurrecion and shikai at once. She would probably find it necessary before much longer in this battle. Sanako decided keeping some distance between herself and the attacker would be wise. Rushing in on him had forced her to release her resurrecion when she probably could have gone longer without it had she not been caught in the mud.

 

Sanako wasn't exactly sure how to go about attacking. Her resurrecion's special ability had successfully set up its sphere of influence around Shizuke, unknown to anyone other than Sanako, but that wouldn't help her attack. Instead she turned to kido. Sanako extended both hands. One hand began glowing red as a cero began forming in it. The other had nothing at the moment. She began speaking softly though it was still audible.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hado no rokujuu san, Raikōhō!" she said. With that a blast of yellow lighting fired out from her right hand. However her attack wasn't quite finished.

"Cero!" and with that the large red wave fired out as well. The two projectiles launched out at Shizuke, crossing paths as they did so, and would eventually strike roughly the same area on the Observed.

[Guest Tainted Black]

OOC: What? I never used my Shikai. Don't tally points for something I did not do. I used the Sword, Hihanone, but I never said Bask in Radiance, Hihanone.

 

Yamada looked at his mud covered hand, knowing he had better get it off. Red light began seeping through the mud as cracks formed. He put his mud-drenched hand up, and positioned it at Shizune, joining with Sanako in attacking. "Cero!" HE yelled, as the red blast shot out, freeing his hand of the mud. With that, he just stared at where he had shot. HE was not ready to unveil his strongest ability, no matter how beneficial it would be on a tree. Instead he used a Sonido to appear next to his ally. "So, what do those waves actually do?" He asked quietly, not wishing to be heard and spoil the attack's ability. Instead, he drew Hihanone as he waited, pondering if he should release it, or not.

[Taion]

"Hey, who said I was done with you?" Saseru's sword stopped burning and shrunk back to its original size. "Ya know, throughout my life I've been underestimated. Ever since I was born. Anyway, everyone who has underestimated me has died or has been fatally wounded." He smiles. Anyway come on Satoru lets kill this guy. "Burn La Quemadura." Saseru turns red and horns jut out of his arms and two appear behind his temples on his head. The whites of his turn black and his pupils turn blood red and skulls form on his shoulders and knee caps. He crouched in a runners stance. He looked at the fog surrounding Satoru. He couldn't see anything through that and he really didn't want to enter it. He sighed and swore. "Well guess I jumped the gun there." At this rate there was no knowing if he ever would be accepted by his fellow Observed. Thats why he only cares for himself now. He looked at the fog. Even though he was about to do something extremely stupid, he shot of the ground at an incredibly fast speed and disappeared into Satoru's fog.

[Umbra]

Shizuke smiles as the projectiles collide with the bark - and are stopped short. "I thought I told you this already! We were chosen for this mission because of our powers! We contain and control!" Instantly, your projectiles - the Raikōhō and the Cero - shrink to the size of a head. They seem to stiffen, as if they were covered by a coating. Beneath this coating, you make out movement... and just before the cocoons explode, you understand them. From the cocoons sprout a yellow-green powder, carried around the battlefield and attaching to your arms, legs and clothes. "Carcel Verde's power controls all of your energy attacks and converts them into spores. These spores attach themselves to you, and drain your energy." You feel a pulse running through your body - not enough to weaken you, but enough to be felt.

 

"Oh, child." Naoki shakes his head at Saseru. "It's not a matter of underestimation, it's simple understanding. By controlling only one element, you will never be more than a rank-and-file Observed."

Suddenly, Naoki realizes something. After entering the fog, he feels as if an overwhelming pressure pushes him down. He curses under his breath. "You're clever, you know. You have potential." He speaks to no one in particular, but his words are meant for Satoru. Holding his Zanpakuto steady, he flickers it slightly and the fog barely clears around him. He huffs loudly. "So dense... this is my limit."

[Hydra of Ages]

Satoru calmly observed his enemy from a safe vantage point, physically not farther than about ten meters away. Of course, the way that Seimitsu's mist bore down upon reiatsu and the senses of an Observed, he may as well have been ten times that, for all his enemy could tell.

 

He noted Saseru enter his fog bank with a mild sense of relief. Though his fog was a potent illusion and instrument of energy suppression, it could hardly be called an impressive offense. Unfortunately, his mist wasn't entirely under his control- While he could see through it and ignore its disorientation effects, the same could not be said for the allied Observed. Even now, the mist was retroactively trying to leach power from the Resurrecíon, building up the bank but undoubtedly dampening Saseru's offensive capabilities.

 

He decided to make use of the extra mist by constructing a mist-duplicate of himself, within the sight range of the enemy. It was a perfect replica of himself in all ways, minus two- having no physical substance or reiatsu, it had all the weight and potency of air. In normal conditions, this would render such a duplicate entirely useless, but in the little realm of his fog bank, where identifying specific reiatsu was all but impossible, it was quite potent.

 

He grimaced at the small vacuum of mist allowed by his opponent's own shikai. That would be problematic- getting too close would likely distort and shatter his illusions. He'd have to be slightly more cunning than running directly at him, then.

 

"Naoki A., I presume." his body-double said. Bending his voice to fit his duplicate's throat was child's play. "You seem to be more experienced than your partner, so I assume you recognize that at the moment, the advantage is mine. You are within the grasp of my shikai, and I have an ally hidden beyond your sight." he said briskly, not particularly amicably nor vitriolic. Satoru tried not to put too much emotion into anything when he was working towards a particular end- in this case, defeating Naoki and surviving the encounter. He highly doubted his opponent would balk at such a threat; after-all, his mist was entirely useless as an offensive instrument, and his 'ally' was subject to the same set of restrictions his enemy was. Still, he figured he may as well try a diplomatic approach.

[Andx]

Sanako quickly stepped in front of Yamada as the spores came flying at them. She took the bigger portion of them as a result. From anyone's perspective, it was a foolish thing to do. The spores showed up rather well on her dark black feathers.

"So Kido isn't going to work anymore. Hand-to-hand is the only option." she thought. She flapped her large wings in an attempt to keep more spores from coming towards her and Yamada.

 

"It's funny you should mention the power Yamada." she said quietly. Her breath was starting to get a bit heavy. "Let's just say that if anyone, I don't need to worry about the energy drain." she said. She then took a step forward toward their opponent. Her talons glowed again with the dark purple light.

"Rezo sin Setido." she said. The ten waves fired out with not one even close to hitting Shizuke. She could tell she had expanded the area of effect by quite a good bit. She could already see all of the reiatsu that had been surging off Shizuke's body when he released his resureccion. It had already converted. Seeing that she slowly began to let the converted energy slowly flow into herself, it would counterbalance the spores effects.

 

"Now Yamada, if you wouldn't mind taking the main offensive. I need a minute to get back on track. I'll support you where I can but it wouldn't be smart for me to rush in at the moment." Sanako said. In order to keep the flow of energy into herself from being noticed, she had to keep it small and it would take a bit to make up for the spores' effects.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Yamada was going to dodge as much of the pollen as possible with Sonido, but Sanako had jumped in front of him, and taken the brunt. "Why did..." He began, but let it go. As he watched, Yamada wondered why she had used her ability, but none of them had hit the Tree Man. He figured it was nothing of consequence, as it was her power. "Alright. I can do that." he said, with a grin. He thought, he thought, before warning Sanako. "You might wanna get away. My power is not environment friendly." he said before using a Sonido to add some distance between himself and Sanako.

 

With the distance added he let his ability lose. "Ardiendo!" He called, and Fire erupted out of his skeletal wings. When the eruption died out, he had full fledged eagle-like wings where they had once been skeletal. The wings were made of fire, and were significantly larger now, almost disproportianately so. The vine patterns on his skin were glowing a glaring crimson. "So, tree man," Yamada began, "Do you like fire?". With his last word, he held his hand out, and a large stream of fire came out. He chuckled as he elaborated. "You can absorb energy, not fire."

 

He ceased his flamethrower, and closed more distance between him and Shizuke, Flying towards him on his wings. He stopped about ten feet away, and let his sphere of influence take effect. He knew the tree would wilt with him near. His prescence could burn things within 15 yards, and he was at about 1/5 of that distance, take a little. Then, he continued his flamethrower, now coming out of both hands, ceating two seperate streams. "Burn, baby!"

[Umbra]

Naoki shifts at the sound of Satoru's voice, and immediately shifts towards it. He nods. "One could say that, I guess. The advantage is yours; you know my position, whereas I do not know yours. I am at the limit of my Zanpakuto's powers, while you have barely started. But, as my brother pointed out a matter of moments ago, you seem to have forgotten something." He flickers his Zanpakuto to the right. "We were chosen because of the abilities of our Zanpakuto and Resurrecíon. The master does not intend to kill you, merely to weaken you so that we can bring you to him." He smiles. "And as such, we shall fulfill his wish." The fog draws closer to him until it surrounds him completely - or so it would seem. "I have understood this weakening mist of yours, drifter. It drains the reiatsu of whatever enters it. But what do you do with what does not enter it?" Using his Zanpakuto's power, Naoki creates a void in the mist - no wider than a finger, which stretches out towards Satoru's body-double and runs straight through it.

 

Shizuke smiles as the flames collide with his body. "I may not be able to absorb fire itself, but the heat that gives it strength!" The fire brushes off his skin, leaving no mark but a cover - hundreds upon hundreds of tiny cocoons, ready to burst at any time. Shizuke turns his gaze towards Sanako. "Your reiatsu is growing, even though you are covered in my spores... impressive, but futile. Carcel Verde, the green prison, creates cocoons through energy such as reiatsu and kidou, and releases it in the form of spores. The more energy these spores are fed, the more they will absorb... and sprout. You become the host for my power." As Sanako looks down on her skin, where the spores have attached, she can see large bulges beneath the surface. The spores... are growing. Shizuke laughs, not without a hint of madness. "It's the cycle of life."

[Taion]

"I can't see a thing." Saseru lifted his finger and a small flame appeared on his finger. It didn't help much. He made the flame become bigger and brighter but it still failed at helping his vision. He made the flame disappear. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He thought about randomly slashing around until he hit something but he could hit Satoru. His stupidity has gotten him into worse situations but this was different. First he couldn't see and second his enemy could absorb his attacks and throw them back. "Hey Satoru where is he?" He looked around more to see a denser part of the fog. It looked to be humanoid but he wasn't sure. It could be his imagination. He drew his sword and cautiously moved towards it. Small flames came out of the eye sockets on the skull of the head. It was kind of like a head light that the miners of this world used. He inched closer until he could feel strong spiritual pressure radiating from the fog. He positioned himself in his fighting stance and moved a bit closer. He noticed the darrk figure was not far away anymore. He took a deep breath and charged.

[Andx]

"Things definitely not going well here. These sprouts need to go away, soon." Sanako thought as the situation changed. The fire attack had done almost nothing against their opponent. He was too strong. Anything they could hope to do, he had a counter for. Every strategy was meaningless as it wouldn't affect him in the end anyway. He was truly suited for the task he had been charged with.

"There's nothing I can do right now. I doubt fighting up close with him is smart, and all of my kido is useless. Think.... think! There has to be something!" Sanako thought.

 

That was when she got it. There was an option. If one was to win against an invincible opponent, one had to first get him vulnerable. It just so happened that Sanako could not only weaken Shizuke, but practically cripple him; at least if luck was on her side.

"Before I worry about hosting your power, you should be worrying about hosting mine." Sanako said so Shizuke could hear her. She stepped forward and grabbed what looked like the air. Suddenly a shining purple sphere was visible and it stretched far around the battlefield. Sanako's arms began flowing with her reiatsu and the energy seemed to be moving into the sphere. A mass of Sanako's reiatsu was accumulating above Shizuke's head.

 

"Allow me to demonstrate the true function of my power!" she said. At once the reiatsu began forcing its way into Shizuke's body. What was there to defend or absorb? Nothing, it was merely moving into his body, it was no attack. To Yamada this must have seemed like madness. She was directly feeding her reiatsu into her their opponent. Still it continued. After a bit the flow finished, a large amount of reiatsu had moved into Yamada and Sanako's breath was quite heavy now. The sphere was transparent again.

"Have fun with that. You won't get to enjoy the surge of power long. At this moment that reiatsu is overwhelming your own. Before long you won't be able to access your own powers. And don't get too surprised when your mind starts freaking out. Your entire body is flowing with my power now and that will excite your nerves' activities three fold. Before long even moving will be too much. So like I said, have fun with that." Sanako said.

 

As she spoke her resurrecion's special ability was taking affect inside of Shizuke's body as she had describe. Of course using the technique she had left her with next to nothing. And somehow she was still in her resureccion. That wouldn't last long. In fact, Sanako was depending on an unwilled sealing of her power. It didn't take long. Almost after she finished speaking her powers sealed themselves. All at once her resureccion form seemed to fall off of her and she was once again in her regular appearance. It had made her a decent bit bigger than she actually was. And as Sanako had hoped the planted spores seemed to be coming off with it. As her powers sealed her zanpakuto reappeared as did the sheath. The sheathed blade fell to the ground and Sanako was quickly on her knees, and then her arms, attempting to stay conscious. Still she managed to get energy for a shout.

"Yamada! Get him now! This is our only chance! Kill him while you can!" she cried out. Yamada may have been shocked by the events so Sanako had to be sure he would get into action immediately. She could only hope her gamble had sealed the fight in their favor. At the least she knew Yamada might have a chance against Shizuke now.

[Umbra]

Shizuke sighs, his breath heavy. "This power... overwhelming. Well played... drifter." He lets go of his Zanpakuto, sealing it away. "I suppose... this is the end of it all. Carcél Verde's last ability... my only option. " With great effort, he reaches out his arms towards the two of you. A barely-there smile appeared on his face. "Florece. The spores inside you, drifter... they were not destroyed. Only condensed. They will remember me." Suddenly, you sense he has been completely overpowered by Sanako's reiatsu; he has none left of his own. He opens his mouth, and a wide cone of spores shoots out through it. Writhing through the air like a snake, it flies toward Sanako. Shizuke falls to his knees, and turns his head toward the cloud of mist. "Brother... when I say the word, you know what to do. I've done enough."

 

While still reaching out towards Satoru's voice, Naoki feels a faint reiatsu approaching him from behind. How did he...? Then, he recognizes it, only a moment before the fiery eyes come forth in the thick mist. The young one. I should have known. His movements were becoming sluggish, not only because of the fog but also from exertion. He had no choice but to release the fire. Flickering the claws somewhat to the right, a wall of fire blazed up in the direction of Saseru's reiatsu, somewhat buffering his fire-based attacks. Faintly, he hears Shisuke's voice, and nods. His brother is in great peril, that much he can understand. But to use Ketsuen's power... he must be desperate. A smile flashes past his face. Or maybe everything is already in motion.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Yamada grabbed Hihanone, and was about to attack, when he saw the spores. He threw Hihanone at the lying form of Shizuke, hitting him just above the neck, before yelling "NO!". Yamda used a Sonido into the path of the spores, and began firing at it with his streams. He also used his own reaitsu to increase the size of his wings, effectively making more heat. As he continued, each of his wings grew to about the size of his body at the moment. He let the fire stope going, for a moment, and appaeared in front of Sanako, wings in front of him in all their fiery glory, as shields. "You idiot!" He snapped as the heat from his wings went forward rather than back, "You could've killed yourself!" He moved his wings apart just enough to shoot some more fire at them.

[Andx]

"I won't argue the point." Sanako said weakly after Yamada yelled at her. She noticed the anger seemed like it was more concern than actual anger. It was odd to have anyone else care about her in any fashion. Sanako would have said a bit more but speaking used too much energy. She was on her knees and her arms her head facing the floor, just trying to stay up.

"These stupid spores are still here. He's practically dead but they don't seem like they'll be going away. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me later." Sanako thought. Her vision was blurring and she could have sworn she was close to passing out.

 

Almost instinctively she reached out her right hand for her zanpakuto. It was a few feet in front of her. As she moved her right arm she fell face down onto the ground with no energy left to support herself. Still she managed to get hold of her sword and she pulled into herself. It was a sort of comfort she needed if she was going to be passing out. With her sword near she found she wasn't quite out but she wasn't going to be moving much for a bit. Not until her power returned at least.

"Sorry Yamada. I'm done for now. Sorry to cause you trouble." she thought. With that she closed her eyes and rested, though she was still just barely conscious, reassured that Yamada wouldn't let anything happen to her while she was out of action.

[Hydra of Ages]

Satoru frowned when the finger of nothingness pierced his illusion, rendering the pierced portion nonexistent for a few seconds. The duplicate would have stayed otherwise integral (large sources of light were really the only things that would cause it to unquestionably dissipate), but he decided to allow it to fall apart back into the fog it was made from anyway- an illusion unmasked as an illusion was useless anyway.

 

His opponent released a major blaze of flame outward toward Saseru, Satoru noted, as it was stripped of a chunk of its power in transition. He smiled as even more fog entered his little cloud, saturating it to it's usual maximum amount.

 

'Looks like illusions won't quite be enough.' he registered, brandishing Seimitsu as its point released more mist into the air. Though its primary purpose was to confuse and disorient, it was still a sharp blade by any standard, and faster than most. Built for stabbing strikes and easily hidden, it was almost as if it was designed for strikes from hidden positions.

 

He waved the blade, creating another mist construct. This one was a large, terrifying reptilian creature, with six sets of eyes and three jaws atop eachother. It howled and pounced at Naoki; Satoru, intending to use this as his distraction, took the three-o-clock position with regards to his construct, and Saseru at the 7-o-clock position. He thrusted forward, staggering his attack to hit a few seconds after the 'reptile' would have pounced him.

[Umbra]

Shizuke frowns. "There is no other option..." He looks at the fog, still surrounding Naoki. "My brother has his own fight. I can't keep relying on him... forever." The roots withdraw from the ground, and Shizuke takes a few staggering steps towards Yamada and Sanako. He smiles, but weakly. "I know when I've lost a fight, drifters. I will not pursue you... after you've gone. For now, our fight is over. The flower... will bloom once more." Before your eyes, Shizuke's left arm starts to wither away, shortly followed by the leg.

 

As the reptile pounces forward, Naoki takes a step to the side. The mist is getting thicker every second; if it continues like this, he won't be able to aid Shizuke. Then, it would all be in vain. Stuck in his thoughts, he doesn't even react to Satoru's faintly increasing spiritual pressure. Only too late does he notice the sharp blade moving towards him in a stabbing fashion.

 

The blade stabs through his back, cutting organs and muscles as it passes through. Naoki coughs up blood, which runs down his chin. He turns his head toward Satoru. "There you are, illusionist. I've been looking for you." Reaching down into his shirt with his unarmed hand, Naoki takes out the pendant he carries around his neck. It is a ring, made of a metal so dark that it almost seems to suck in all light around it. He smiles. "I hoped I wouldn't have to use this... with this much reiatsu around, it could be devastating. But I guess I have no choice. Drain. Araña Blanco." His eyes turn completely black as he is launched into the air, hovering about twenty feet above and bleeding severely from the wounds on his back and stomach. His limbs and head retract into his body, and within moments he is nothing more than a torso. His Zanpakuto moves to between his shoulders.

 

Then, the true transformation begins. A pair of long legs shoot out from where the limbs used to be, for a full eight new legs. Where his head once were, an elliptical jaw spreading from shoulder to shoulder opens up. His body is covered in pure white exo-skeleton. "Fase primera. Trago." Satoru and Saseru feel an incredible wind, a pull, drawing them towards the great jaw. The mist is sucked in entirely, clearing out the area and drawing at Seimitsu's power.

[Hydra of Ages]

Satoru swore loudly as his opponent changed, morphing into a massive beast rather than the relatively normal humanoid he had been before. Acting quickly, Satoru shoved his blade into the earth in order to prevent him from being dragged into by the great maw.

 

'Seimitsu is useless against this thing.' Satoru recognized quickly, and quickly sealed Seimitsu again, the blade becoming shorter, though broader as it changed into the Japanese-style weapon. Luckily, however, it seemed to wedge easier into the ground, which let him keep his balance.

 

He glanced breifly over at his pocket, where a small tooth sat, waiting.

'I could release Réquin. But could it do anything at the moment?

he recognized quickly that his hollow form wouldn't be a quick fix.

 

'Best leave it for later, when I'll still have the advantage of surprise...' he added.

[Guest Tainted Black]

Yamada knew it was over. He took the rest of his Flames on his wings, and condensed it into one large fireball around his hand. "I'll end it quickly." He said, flatly, firing the large flaming orb at what was left of Shizuke. As soon as the ball had gotten 5 feet away from him, his Ressurrecion ended, and Fuegave fell to the ground. At least ninety-five percent of his Reiatsu had been in his fiery wings, and with it gone, he was almost out of commission. He fell to his knees, panting hard, as he focused. He had to get his weapons, and take care of Sanako while the other battle continued, or they would be sitting ducks. He had managed to walk over to Hihanone after he had picked up Fuegave, and put it in his sheeth. He began to walk back to Sanako, but fell down once on the way there. "I should probably crawl..." He thought, not wanting to over do it. When he got to her, he sat still next to her, and awaited her waking up. He had a few bandages and such, and tended to her wounds as best he could. "She'd best wake up soon."

[Taion]

Saseru watched as the monster sucked him and his comrade in. He planted his feet into the ground and stuck his sword into the dead earth. He grabbed his sword and held on as best he could. It was no help though, as the wind was too strong. Agh, I'm tired of this! Your so annoying!" As Saseru raged flames shot out of the eye sockets on the skull on the top of his head. "I am the Embodied Flame!" Flames covered Saseru's body. Saseru noticed that the flames on his body were being sucked in as well. He was now using this as a strategy. "Hey Satoru, lets kill this guy!" He reared back and prepared to lunge at his opponent with his flames. He knew that his opponent was vulnerable while doing this. Or so he thought. "C'mon, lets get this over with." He reared back on his tip toes and prepared to attack.