BLEACH: Fragments

[Umbra]

OoC-thread: http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/228919-bleach-fragments/

[b]Karakura Town[/b]

The Senkai gate closed behind Hakyou and the five Vizard that the Gotei 13 had given him. It was far less than what they needed against the Black Reaper, but it was everything they could muster. Everyone who was capable of even standing up against the beast they were about to face were either facing the rebellion in Rukongai, or standing right behind him. They had practiced for this battle for the last two months - merely the blink of an eye in Seireitei, but more than enough time for the Black Reaper to ravage the town in the real world. According to the reports he had heard, more Hollows had appeared in Karakura Town than ever. Without a Shinigami to monitor the town, the Hollows had set off a chain reaction, causing more and more deaths and more and more Hollows spawning.

"You know why we're here, Shinigami. We need to find the Black Reaper, and eliminate him. He has probably shrouded his reiatsu, so it won't be that easy. What do you suggest we do?"

[Dad]

Hadou took a knee as he gazed over the horizon of the scarred Karakura. The air still reeked with death, and the foul feeling of hate began to fill him. "There's only so much we can do, Captain. If the Reaper [i]is[/i] indeed hiding his reiatsu, we'll need someway to draw him out; bait. But what could we use?" With a firm grip from his right hand, over his sheathed zanpaktou, Hadou began to ponder the Black Reaper. "If it is like a Hollow, it will prey on souls. But I can't draw myself to sacrifice a wandering soul for the sake of this mission," he said quietly. The air began to thicken with intensity and anxiety. He had only recently been involved in the court guards, and he was already facing their biggest threat. His head jumped from excitement to fear, to worry, and back to excitement. He had to keep his cool, or be killed in the line of duty for doing something foolish.

[TotalObelisk]

Oharue casually followed the rest out of the gate as it closed shut behind them, letting out an unimpressed 'hmph' at the sorry state the town was currently in. She clasped both hands behind her head casually, leaning back slightly as she observed the damage.
[b]"Well this place gone ta hell,"[/b] she muttered.
She stifled a yawn as the other shinigami discussed the Black Reaper and possible ways to find him.
[b]"Obvious, innit?"[/b] She cut in [b]"We go chopping his hollow mates up and when he shows his ugly mug we cut it clean off."[/b]
Clearly, a few sparse months of training and preperation had done little to the young shinigami's ego.
[b]"I mean c'mon, if this guys so tough why's he tryin' ta hide from us,"[/b] she continued [b]"He's chicken."[/b]

[Umbra]

Hakyou nodded.
"You'd think that, yes. If he's that strong, why would he hide himself? Why just not take care of us the moment we appear? By now, he should've learned of our presence. Make no mistakes; the Black Reaper may not be an Arrancar, but he is still intelligent, even for a Hollow."
The black-haired Vizard, whose physical body appeared to be around twenty, observed their surroundings. They had appeared in the "back streets" of Karakura, the rugged district that had seen little care even before the Black Reaper's emergence. There were many fleeting reiatsus around them, none of them strong enough to be the Black Reaper, but sufficient to draw his attention to them.
"Let's find ourselves a Hollow."

[Shadow Zero]

Viral stepped through the Senkaimon same as everyone else and wrinkled his nose as they arrived. The town that one Shinigami had given so much to protect was now a place of death and despair, something that he was sure everyone could feel. When Hakyou asked what could be done to find the Black Reaper, Viral remained quiet for a few long moments giving the situation some thought as others voiced their own views on the situation. The suggestions of killing a few of the hollows had some merit, especially since killing a hollow with a Zanpukuto caused hollows to pass on and go to the Soul Society as they once were before becoming hollows as long a they had not done heinous deeds in life as well.

"Killing off a few hollows has some merit, although I suspect that the Black Hollow will only send out some of his stronger henchmen instead of facing us himself. I mean, we don't know exactly how strong he is at the moment, only that he is stronger then most if not all of us here. If that is so, then that would, to his mind, make us unworthy of his notice. Personally, I think we'll end up having to spread out and search for him for a long time before we are able to locate him."

Viral was being somewhat analytical in this situation, something that he had taken to doing when going up against an enemy that was stronger then him, and he was sure that he was right. He was equally sure that if they split up, they would likely end up increasing the chances of getting killed before fighting, but it was the quickest way that he could think of to finding the Black Reaper and attempting to finish the fight before it could drag on and take a huge toll on them all.

Hakyou then declared that they shold find themselves some hollows and Viral placed a hand loosely on his zanpukuto, taking a step forward to demonstrate his willingness to act. The sooner they got underway, the sooner they were likely to run into the Black Reaper, although Viral was unsure as to just what they would do when they did.

[Andx]

The group of Hakyou and five relatively new Vizards had arrived in Karakura Town. Their mission was simple, to find and destroy the Black Reaper. Though doing that was much easier said than done. Shinobu upon stepping out began scanning the area, just wanting to get a better feel of where they were. Hakyou quickly asked for suggestions as to how to go about finding the Black Reaper. It's reiatsu would likely be hidden. A few ideas were raised. One was to use a soul to bait the hollow out of hiding however as Hadou brought up, it would require the use of an innocent soul and that was something no one was willing to do. The other idea was to kill enough hollows to draw it out of hiding. That's what the group decided on. If he were to be honest, Shinobu felt the bait plan perhaps using one of their group was a wiser course of action but the idea was to come out of killing the Black Reaper alive. The group decided on finding hollows to kill to draw the Reaper out. Whatever Shinobu preferred, once reiatsus started flaring many hollows were sure to come and find them regardless, better to not endanger any one of them more than necessary.

Then an idea came up that Shinobu was not fond of. One of the group, named Viral, stated they'd need to spread out and search in order to quicker find the Reaper. He had to know how dangerous that was but Shinobu felt it was better to voice his opinion on the matter to make sure it didn't happen.
"True, splitting up would help us find it faster. But at what cost? Assured death for the person first to find it. The idea is to kill this thing. Most of us here aren't on captain level, and even our captains have as of yet proved ineffective in the effort to destroy the Reaper. We'll need to fight it together when we do find it. Splitting up just lets the beast kill us off one by one and then we'll be stuck at a point where even if the remainder of the group engages it there won't be enough strength to fight. I believe it's better we stick together. Even without the Reaper's appearance there are plenty of hollow that should they swarm one shinigami would hill him or her." Shinobu said. His tone hadn't been confrontational, making it clear to Viral he was not trying to make his idea sound foolish but rather he was voicing an honest opinion.

[Umbra]

Hakyou nodded.
"Our friend from the thirteenth division is right. Anyone of us facing the Black Reaper on our own would be foolish, and most likely result in that person's immediate death. We cannot afford to lose anyone."
He looked to the skies, as if spying for an unseen enemy.
"Then again, maybe killing a few Hollows won't be enough to draw him out. We would have to find someone who knows where he hides, and extort that information from them. Right now, we're capturing, not ki-"
A loud shriek suddenly echoed throughout the town, shattering windows and tipping over trash bins. One of the faded reiatsus that Hakyou had sensed earlier suddenly flared up, and overwhelmed everything around it. [i]It's coming closer![/i] Hakyou drew his Zanpakuto, immediately releasing its Shikai state. The blade curved, morphed and extended until he held a longbow, almost as tall as himself, in his right hand.
"He's noticed us! Ready yourselves, Shinigami!"

Somewhere in town, far from where Hakyou and the newly-transcended Vizard were, the Black Reaper smiled. Speaking directly to his adversaries' minds, he cast out a threat.
[i]You wish to challenge the Dark Avenger, the Shatterer of the Sword, Shinigami? Then come at me. You will face me soon enough... if you survive Paindrinker, of course.[/i]

[TotalObelisk]

Oharue let out a low grumble as the rest continued to discuss tactics and the like, none of which appealed to her. Although she was all for splitting up if only to get away from the possible endless discussion of how to deal with the Black Reaper.
[b]"If id'a known bein' a shinigami meant more talkin' and less fightin' I wouldnt'a bothered,"[/b] she muttered under her breath.
She heaved an irritated sigh and reached behind her, gripping her own Zanpaktou.
[b]"Well standin' here talkin' ain't gonna help,"[/b] she said aloud [b]"Hell, that's why soul society is in such a friggin' mess in the first place."[/b]
Before she could continue, the vizard carried on talkin but was interrupted however as a deafening shriek echoed through the town, cutting her off.
[b]"Sunnova..."[/b]
A voice echoed throughout the town, or seemed to. One that managed to drain Oharue's confidence indefinitely the more it spoke and only once it had passed did she find herself able to speak up once more.
[b]"Hey, err....The hell's a paindrinker?"[/b] She asked, a genuine note of worry in her voice this time.

[Dad]

The shriek pierced Hadou's ears like a knife to butter. "I dunno, but it sounds pissed," he said laying a hand on his zanpaktou.

The earring in his left ear sort of quivered as he did reach for his blade. "What's say we go bring the whining bastard a little more attention then?" Drawing forth his unreleased sword, he lay a second hand at it's very tip. they need not worry about splitting up or hunting down the Black Reaper much longer. At this rate, he would find [i]them[/i]. And as much as Hadou agreed on the five versus one Black Reaper tactic, if a shrill could spike his own reiatsu that high, Hadou had no idea what they would be facing later. No one did. "Focus," he whispered to himself. "Confidence promotes strength, strength is found in self, but self alone is not enough. Find strength in numbers, and dominate," he continued to himself still. "Alright then, let's do this," he finally said aloud, with more boastful tone.

[Shadow Zero]

Viral heard what anyone who spoke against the idea of splitting up had to say and nodded silently. These were things that he had thought of as well, and if he was honest with himself he would feel a lot better if he stayed with the group. [i]Seriously, this place feels worse the Hueco Mundo. Just what is that guy doing here that makes it such a hellhole?[/i]

Oharue was complaining about the lack of fighting, and although Viral wished to have no infighting, he knew one thing about those who sought a fight. "Oharue, there'll be a fight to be had soon enough." As Viral finished speaking, an ear-piercing shriek rent the air, suddenly enough that if not having been in many fights up to this point, Viral would have jumped a good few inches off of the ground. As it was, he still couldn't help closing his eyes in momentary annoyance at the sudden hollow shriek. Then there was the voice of the Black Reaper, speaking directly into their minds and telling them that they would fight him soon enough, if they could survive something called Paindrinker.

Viral saw Hakyou release his zanpukuto into its Shikai state and decided to follow suit. Drawing his zanpukuto with his right hand, he raised it in a half circle motion by his left side, stopping with the point of the blade facing towards the sky. "Subeteno sakusei wo hakai shinasai. Muchitsujo no ha." Virals zanpukuto turned into a two edged sword with one half being white and the other half being black. Not wanting to be caught unawares, he swiftly lowered his blade in the direction that he had thought he heard the scream coming from, unleashing a wave of grey energy as he did so. "Kougenjin."

[Umbra]

The approaching reiatsu grew stronger and stronger by the second, intensifying as it did so. As the shriek faded away, the ground beneath them began to tremble. The spiritual presence seemed to be all around them; above, below, to every side and even in the air itself. Hakyou raised his longbow.
"Be ready for anything, Shinigami. The Black Reaper's servants-"
His sentence was cut short by the Paindrinker's appearance.

It walked out of an alleyway about twenty feet ahead, staring directly at them. It had been a little girl sometime before it died; the thin body and face suggested even a skinny little one. Her face could have once been cute, framed in by light-brown hair. However, that was where the human stopped, and the Hollow began. The girl's arms and legs were extended, reaching about nine feet long, and all four limbs ended in sharp claws. Her skin was dark as the night itself. She smiled at them, a horrifying grin.
"You'll never reach the Black Reaper! We will make sure, yes we will!"

Hakyou raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean by 'we'?"
The hollow's smile simply widened, as it spoke between its teeth.
"You'll see. [i]Come out, sister. Show these Hollow-wannabes what real horror is.[/i]"
The ground trembled even stronger, and the Vizard almost lost their footing. The houses that already hadn't lost their windows now did, the glass breaking and shattering onto their porches and the street below. The street itself began to crack and split as the trembling intensified, and soon a sizable rift had opened up before them. Hakyou looked around.
"Take care, Shinigami! We may have found a bit more than we bargained for!"
The hollow smiled.
"[i]Come forth![/i]"
What happened during the next few seconds would stay in the Vizard's minds for a long, long time. From possibly every single opening around them - windows, alleys, storm drains, and most notably the large cracks in the street - hundreds of fleshy tentacles, almost as thick as a tall man's shoulderwidth, surfaced. They were drenched in some sort of liquid, dripping from them onto the street below - as they made contact, the street started to fizzle and melt. From the opening in front of them came a horrible, guttural roar. The female hollow laughed.
"We are Paindrinker! Now, we will feast on your suffering!"

[Dad]

"So this is Paindrinker," Hadou spoke softly. Drawing his zanpaktou, he whispered to it. "Sobieru to Wakeru. Yuuki." The sharp blade gave an eerie blue glow, as it began to divide itself into four separate blades on one hilt. The point that was there became flat, and the overall blade, rounded. Finally, a series of pings, about fifty-two of them, as the spikes grew on the inside of the four newly split blades. The appearance of a multi-armed, spiked club, the mechanical Yuuki was more to be feared than it appeared. "Tentacles. This should prove to be interesting. A chance to hone our skills before we face the Black Reaper. Nonetheless, let's do away with this bastard quickly. Besides, I like the five-on-two odds of this battle. What say you Hakyou, all of you?" Yuuki whirred, spinning violently at high speeds, and flexing it's four arms.

[Shadow Zero]

Viral looked over at Hadou and nodded once. "Let's get this over with." Viral jumped forward, lashing out at the nearest tentacle with Muchitsujo no ha's white half of the blade. afterwards, he jumped back and swung his sword a few times, each swing unleashing a Kougenjin that each went screaming at one of the many tentacles surrounding them. "Paindrinker, we'll show you why we are not to be trifled with." Viral had become completely serious, his carefree nature having been sealed away inside of him for the moment. For now, there was nothing but him, his enemy, and the kill. Had he not been so carefree, he could have easily ended up in the Eleventh Squad. "Well, what are you all waiting for? This thing won't kill itself, you know."

[TotalObelisk]

Oharue glanced about as the tentacles popped out from practically every source available around them, effectively surrounding them within a forest of writhing tentacles. A satisfied smirk crossed her face as she watched them writhe about.
[b]“Tentacles? Is that it?”[/b] She jeered [b]“An’ here I thought this would be a challenge.”[/b]
She grinned as the other shinigami engaged the writhing mass before them.
[b]“Now yer talkin’ my language!”[/b] She said, preparig to release her own Zanpaktou [b]“kanojo subeteno sakusei no sekai soshite ikken, Inoshishimusha!”[/b]
At her command, the blade was engulfed in light and appeared to become pure energy with lightning crackling from it. Oharue drew it from its scabbard and held it out one side, twirling the blade in one hand as the blade morphed, becoming a long thin shaft with a blade at the end. The light dispersed and the lightning began to collect around the weapon’s blade as it continued to spin through the air.
[b]“Take this!”[/b] Ohaure yelled triumphantly, bringing the blade round and aiming it at the nearest mass of tentacles.
Upon command, the lightning that had gathered around the blade shot forth, hitting the mass and spreading through it for a few feet, causing the tentacles to writhe in pain as the electricity sent caused their muscles to go haywire. Seeing her opportunity, Oharue dashed forwards, swinging the blade round as more lightning sparked into life around the blade and swung it straight for the paralyzed tentacles.

[Umbra]

As Viral's blade connected with the tentacle, they were both halted in their movement. The tentacle started shaking violently, desperately trying to rid itself of the flame that seemed to spread through it, splashing the liquid onto the approaching Vizard. Viral and the others felt the liquid burn through their robes and on to their skin. In her alleyway, the hollow laughed.
"This pain! This suffering, so meager yet so delicious! I must have more!"

Oharue's lightning connected with the tentacles, causing some of them to retreat a few feet back, but within moments they returned back just in time to catch up with her blade. Before Oharue's eyes, the wounds her blade made simply healed up, covering her blade in the thick liquid. Again, the Hollow laughed.
"Now that's more like it, sister! Strike at them! Make them fear us!"

Hakyou, and the three Vizard who had yet to engage in the battle, brushed off the liquid from their robes and arms. He tried the best to heal the poison with Kidou, but only managed to isolate it to where it was. Shaking off the temporary pain, he raised his longbow. "Danmaku no Bakuyakuya!" Raising his left hand, a string of purple light appeared on the bow. As he let go, a burst of purple light was released from the bow, splitting into dozens of arrows that dug deep into the closest tentacles' flesh. The female Hollow let out a sharp shriek, and laughed loudly.

[Dad]

Hadou smirked at Viral's remark. "When you're right, you're right," he said in agreement. Paindrinker was quite irritated, lashing a single, sharp tentacle directly at Hadou's chest. But on command, Yuuki began to spin, and as the tentacle drew closer, it was sucked into Yuuki like a vacuum, and was torn into hundreds of chunks. But of course, the beast wasn't so ignorant to fall for the same tactic, so instead of directly aiming for Hadou, several tentacles harped themselves around him. "Wakeru," Hadou uttered, and the arms of Yuuki began to open wide. As the tentacles synchronized their attack, Hadou began to spin clockwise as Yuuki began to spin counter-clockwise. The result was a vortex of pain for the many tentacles of Paindrinker. The tentacles lashed into the vortex, only to be ripped apart by the high-spinning, bladed, open arms of Yuuki. And as Hadou stopped on a whim, the many tentacles that surrounded him fell back to the earth below. Unfortunately, there were still hundreds, if not thousands more. And Paindrinker was not a sympathetic foe.

The chunky destroyed tentacle managed to splash more gunk onto Yuuki, not to mention the shredded tentacles which rainded down more goo from Paindrinker.

"What the hell [i]is[/i] this?" he roared. He hurredly wiped the remains from his robe.

[Blake]

Brushing off the liquid, Kazu began mutterring quietly about the liquid messing up her robes, as well as the pain. "Damned Hollows. Let's see how this Paindrinker fares against this! Miwaku, Gokaikiba!" Kazu called out, her blade transforming. It was now a log chain, with a sickle and handle on one end. The sickle seemed to give off a slight glow with the Reiatsu that Kazu had charged into it, and Kazu began to spin it at her right side. She was spinning the weapon in the air around her, to keep the tentacles away. "What is this thing?" She called out to her allies, flinging thethe sickle itself at a nearby tentacle.

[Shadow Zero]

Like the others, Viral quickly attempted to wipe away the liquid that was splashed on him by the Paindrinker. He was not able to get rid of all of it in time to keep from suffering burns, however, and winced at the pain that was now inflicting some small areas on his arms. "Bastard!" Viral, more then just irritated by having been burned, swung his sword continuously, unleashing no less then fifty Kougenjins. Forty five of the Kougenjins hit the tentacles, slicing off most of the tentacles that were above ground and causing them to part company from the rest of themselves very close to the ground. The other five Kougenjin head straight for he girl. [i]She has to be the source of all this trouble. Kill her and the rest will be easy enough.[/i]

[Umbra]

(Currently disregarding Shadow Zero's post, as it contains an unexplained ability and some rather overpowered use of said ability. I expect this battle to last for a while; cutting off "most of the tentacles above ground" isn't really something you're capable of doing in a single sentence.)

As some of the tentacles were chopped up by Hadou and Kazu, the hair on the female Hollow's body stood on end. She screamed in what seemed to be equal parts pleasure and pain.
"Wonderful, sister, wonderful! But I think you've suffered enough right now! I shall drink from them, for now! Surround them, sister!"

With a surprising speed, the entire tentacle swarm [i]moved[/i]. Withdrawing momentarily into their holes, all tentacles shifted a few steps toward the direction the six Vizard had entered through, coming out of the windows and storm drains behind them. They were now surrounded by tentacles on all sides. The female Hollow appeared up on the roof on the building next to them, grinning. "Her flesh is mine, and my flesh is hers, to command! The glands that produce her acid, her Hierro, contain some very unstable chemicals, you know. It's only while the process is still going that they stabilize. Tell me, Shinigami. What do you think will happen if, say...", she nodded at the chopped-up tentacle pieces lying on the cracked street, "... a few of those glands were chopped off fro-"
[b]BOOM.[/b]

The resulting explosion cracked the street open even further, widening the already existing chasm and sending the Shinigami flying backward, toward the wall of tentacles behind them. Hakyou, realizing what was going on, pointed his Zanpakuto backwards and drew another arrow. "Danmaku no Bakuyakuya!" Half a dozen arrows shot out from his bow, burying themselves a few inches into the tentacles. He closed his eyes. "Bakuhatsu!"
[b]Boom.[/b]
The six arrows he implanted exploded, halting their flight mid-air and simply causing them to tumble down to the street. The tentacles he fired at withdrew temporarily, but were replaced within moments.

[TotalObelisk]

Oharue gave a triumphant cackle as her blade sliced through the tentacle flesh, however no sooner had it torn through the wounds sealed back up, completely unaffected.
[b]“Eh?”[/b]
She took another swipe at the writhing mass, producing more of the same result, all the while splashing the strange liquid they gave off across her blade.
[b]“Why…Won’t…These…Things…DIE!?”[/b] She growled between each swipe.
A few droplets of the liquid poison fell on her exposed hand and she leaped back, yelling in pain and attempting to rub it off.
[b]“What the f*ck is wit’ these things,”[/b] she growled under her breath.
No sooner had she said this than the tentacles shifted, repositioning themselves to surround the group.
[b]“Oh hell,”[/b] Oharue muttered.
She looked up as the hollow appeared on the roof above them, apparently enjoying this whole thing. After another jeering taunt at the shinigami, the hollow displayed another of its abilities as the severed tentacles on the floor exploded. All of a sudden, Oharue’s word was turned into a mass of chaos and confusion as she was thrown forwards, getting to her feet steadily as she tried to make out the rest through the clearing smoke.

[b]“This hollow is one big hax,”[/b] she muttered, brushing dust off her robes [b]“I’ve had more than enough of this.”[/b]
She gripped her weapon in both hands, holding it out in front of her.
[b]“I’ve been waitin’ ta give this a try,”[/b] she said [b]“BANKAI!”[/B]
Oharue and her weapon where engulfed by a flash of lightning which dispersed after only a few seconds to reveal Oharue and her weapon in State; Oharue’s armour now covering almost her entire body and her zanpakto had become two huge bladed weapons, each with a stripe alone the side, connected by a stream of lightning to an orb that floated behind Oharue.
[b]“Say hello to Ikkitousennomusha!”[/b] she said proudly [b]“You’re in for it now ugly!”[/b]
Oharue leaped into the air sending a blast of lightning at the wall of tentacles that moved to block her, causing them to retreat before she threw one of the massive blades straight at the paindrinker.

[Andx]

Shinobu hadn't exactly jumped off to begin fighting the Pain Drinker. However things moved very quickly. As the others severed some of the tentacles liquid was sprayed that began to burn on contact. As he had not been in the middle of fighting he had time to try and brush it off before it could do too much to him. The whole while the girl was laughing as either the tentacles or some of the group was damaged. Shinobu had tried to figure out an effective way to fight without the liquid spreading and he figured he might be able to help in that effort. Right before he prepared to release his zanpakuto two large explosions went off in rather quick succession. It happened fast enough that Shinobu had barely been able to tell if the hollow or Hakyou had been responsible for either or both of the explosions. Shinobu got up and prepared to release once more. The tentacles never seemed to stop appearing and as some were destroyed or injured others appeared. Finally feeling he couldn't stay out of the fight for much longer, Shinobu released his blade.

"Yami no honoo ni idakarete kiero. Jouha Messhouen." he said calmly as he held his blade out. His reiatsu, a bright purple in color engulfed the weapon and after a second he held two weapons. One a katana, with colors like fire that even seemed to flicker like an open flame, in his left hand and in his right hand a short sword, dark purple and black in color. The short weapon barely seemed to have physical form and was coursing with energy. Both weapons at his side, he held the short blade upside-down, meaning that it pointed backwards, almost like he didn't yet mean to use it. An occasional flame could be seen coming from the katana where it would then fade into nothing.

"Time I got in this." Shinobu said. Shinobu needed something hard to connect his blade with to activate its power. As most of the group was facing the girl and the tentacles in front of them, Shinobu turned behind to a nearby building. He swung his blade and ran the length along the material of the wall. Sparks flew off the blade a good distance landing mostly in front of the group. Once they landed they became small orbs of fire that hovered a few inches off the ground. On their own they wouldn't be able to do much against the tentacles though. So Shinobu began the second step to his shikai's power. His purple reiatsu began flowing off his body and out to the battlefield. Given time they would coat the fireballs in light. Shinobu stood in place, ready to defend himself should he be attacked. Now he had to hope the others would distract the hollow long enough that he could finish his power's preparations. In a tight situation like this they needed strong attacks on the fly so Shinobu was well aware of the danger of a power such as his that required preparation.

[Shadow Zero]

Viral watched as Paindrinker and the mysterious girl took out their separate tasks. The tentacles all around them moving as the girl urged them on. [i]As I thought, they are either the same entity or are closely tied together. In that case, I'll attack the girl.[/i] The girl had been exclaiming about their pain as though she could feel it herself, and had not as of yet entered the battle. Viral would change that as he charged his blade with reiatsu. "I'll slice you apart."

At the same time, Shinobu seemed to be preparing an attack that looked as though it would help turn the tide, and although Viral could not be sure of it yet, he decided to help protect Shinobu with his own quick attacks until he was ready. [i]Kougenjin![/i] As Viral spoke the name of the attack within the walls of his own mind, he jumped up into the air so that his own height would be closer to that of the girl. Viral waited until he was at the peak of his jump before swinging Muchitsujo no ha three times. "Yu, tei, TROW!" Each swing was accompanied by a shout from Viral, and as he finished his attack, three blades of gray energy as half again as tall as he was went flying at the girl that seemed to be directing Paindrinker, and who Viral suspected was a part of it, and he feel to the ground again before landing, charging Muchitujo no ha with reiatsu yet again.

[Umbra]

The Paindrinker smiled.
"So, one of you has decided to use Bankai already? If this is as strong as you go, I might as well have some fun with you before I br-"
She laughed in pure, unrestrained pleasure as Oharue's lightning struck the tentacles, spreading down the acid liquid and essentially electrocuting a large part of the hollow's body. Her voice went higher and higher, the mad laughter rising in pitch until it was almost unbearable. Overcome by laughter, however, she didn't notice Oharue's blade until it was far too late to dodge. With an audible crack of bone, the sword penetrated her ribcage and went through her tiny body. The edge broke through her back, and she stopped laughing as she coughed up a large clot of blood. Looking down at her chest, she grabbed the blade with her right hand.
"Clever, Shinigami, very clever, but it won't get you far. One's pain is one's gain, you know! Hurting me only makes sister more angry!"
With a single movement, she pulled the blade out of her chest and threw it onto the street, merely a few feet from Oharue. The wound started to heal up almost immediately.
"Sister... forget what Brother said. These Shinigami will die he-"
"[i]I will slice you apart![/i]"
Without her noticing - as she was distracted by Oharue's assault - one of them had launched into the air. Slicing through the air, she saw three surges of energy rush through the air at her. She tried to move, but her body wasn't as reactive as it would have been if she wasn't injured. She tried to rush to the side, but only managed to dodge one of them. The first crashed into her chest, ripping up the partially-healed injury with another gush of blood. The second was far more successful; connecting with her elbow, it cut the limb off in a simple cut. She cried out - but in pain.

Hakyou couldn't believe what had happened. Not only had his new recruits struck two blows in less than half a minute, but the entire swarm of tentacles was retreating. The Hollow had commanded her "sister" to kill them, but instead the tentacles fell back. He looked at the Paindrinker, standing on the rooftop and looking down on them. He didn't like what he saw in her eyes. She had just been abandoned by her ally, but her eyes showed something entirely different. Determination. Confidence.
[b]Tremble.[/b]

Far beneath them, the Paindrinker stirred. Something terrible was happening to Sister-On-The-Surface, something very terrible. She felt power surge through her entire body, far more than anything she had ever felt. She was still numb from that last one sting; some of her fingers wouldn't move at all. That wasn't a problem - she had many, many more that would replace them. The only thing that mattered now was that Sister-On-The-Surface was in pain, and shouldn't be. Her words still rung in the Paindrinker's mind - [i]These Shinigami will die here[/i] - and decided to carry out that command to the fullest extent. Drawing back her fingers into the soil, she moved upward.

All around them, the streets and buildings started to crumble. The Paindrinker laughed.
"This isn't what I expected, sister, but it is oh-so-perfect! Swallow them whole in this turmoil!"
The crack that was already in the street before them now widened at an alarming rate, spreading down the street and through the crossroads ahead. Several buildings on the next block simply [i]fell[/i] downward as their foundation gave way to the collapsing earth. Looking around them, Hakyou noticed that Shinobu was still preparing his technique. An idea sprung forth in his mind.
"Everyone, to Shinobu! We don't have much time!"
Using Shunpo, he arrived in an instant, and immediately started chanting.
"The clouds move swiftly through the night sky, covering the reflective eyes of the moon. On their shoulders will we stand! Bakudō #55, Fuyō Sekkai!" The concrete that Shinobu was standing on rose from the ground, creating a circular platform almost six feet thick and ten feet across. It rose until it was level with the building the Paindrinker was standing on, about twenty feet above ground. The street below them was rapidly cracking, with pieces falling down into the black abyss beneath.

[TotalObelisk]

Oharue let out a yell of triumph as her blade struck the hollow in the chest, causing it to cough up a considerable amount of blood.
[b]“Booyah!”[/b] She said gleefully as she landed back on the ground [b]“How’d you like me now you ugly piece off…”[/b]
She was cut off however as the hollow tugged the blade free and tossed it back down. The blade landed feet away from Oharue and she raised her free hand, the lighting connecting the blade acting like a lasso as it was drawn back into her grip. When she looked back again, the hollow’s wound was already healing.
[b]“Goddamnit,”[/b] she cursed, preparing for another attack.
She had barely gotten off the ground however when Viral launched his own attack, sending three blades of energy at the hollow, striking it in its fresh wound and arm.
[b]“Hey!”[/b] Oharue called out [b]“I called dibs on little-miss-masochist up there!”[/b]

Of course, the attack had proved more successful than Oharue’s and the tentacles around them had begun to retreat, withdrawing into the cracks and windows around them. Oharue glanced around, slightly confused by the tentacles’ retreat, but she wasn’t complaining. She looked back up at the hollow girl, preparing to strike once again until the ground beneath her feet began to shake. She looked about as the hollow began to laugh once more, cackling and jeering at the prospect of their demise. Before Oharue could react, the tremors became worse, the cracks in the street began to widen and whole buildings collapsed as their foundations where destroyed.

The command came from Hakyou to retreat alongside Shinobu as he finished his spell. Oharue wasn’t going to argue and deactivated her bankai, returning it to its shikai state as she cleared the distance between herself and the still chanting shinigami in a short bound.
[b]“This had better work,”[/b] she muttered.

[Shadow Zero]

Already being close enough to where Shinobu was, Viral had not needed to move. However, as the six by ten foot area that they were standing on rose into the air, Viral rose Muchitsujo no ha above his head and grasped the hilt with both hands. He then heard Oharue complaining that she had called dibs on the girl and responded saying "Oh, sorry, did you really? Ah well, I might as well continue my attack now that I've joined the fray, eh?" As Viral finished speaking to Oharue, he charged reiatsu into the blade to be unleashed in a single swing as opposed to a three swing combo, causing the reiatsu in the blade to flare until it reached twice the length of Muchitsujo no ha. [i]Kougenjin![/i] As Viral once again spoke the name of the attack in his mind, he gave the Muchistujo no ha a single downward swing. The blade of energy unleashed now looked like a fang of energy instead of a blade of energy, and moved three times as fast.

As the attack was unleashed towards the girl, Viral use Shunpo to get behind her. Upon completing his movement, Viral unleashed a quick seven move combo that would hit the girl with the black side of his sword three times and the white side of his sword four times, causing poison and a burning sensation to be inflicted upon any wounded areas of which would spread slowly and steadily throughout the girls body, ravaging her from the inside out. Having completed his assault, Viral used Shunpo to once again appear closeby to Shinobu and the others, now feeling somewhat winded, but still able to fight. [i]I'm out of practice, it used to be that I could use six fully charged Kouegnjins before feeling like this. I'll need to do some more training the first chance I get.[/i]