[Bitp:R] Hueco Mundo 2

[KnightDisciple]

[Cuarta Sector - Secret Meeting]

Vicente listened to Talon's idea with an impassive face. But when she was done, he smiled. It was the smile of a predator, one that had suddenly seen its prey before it, helpless to fight back.

"My my. Is that what he was running around crying about? My sources inform me he seemed incensed with you about something. I applaud anything that drives him to such mindless rage.

And your plan. Truly, a thing of beauty, I must say. Simple, in the end, which is better. So, you send these double agents to him, they strike when he is least prepared, and I make sure to strike while the iron is hot, as the saying goes. My presence will take some finesse, but I believe I actually have a way to excuse my presence long enough to accomplish my goal."

He bared his teeth as his smile widened.

"I'll make sure you get copies of the pictures. The look on his face should be priceless."

He composed himself somewhat, the smile fading to a slight smirk.

"As for the favor, that seems reasonable enough. Would you concede to allow me the right to turn down a favor if I find it truly objectionable? And I will state right away that any favor that would have me work against the interests or persons of either the Cuarta Espada, or the Ghost King, would be objectionable. As would blatantly revealing details of some aspects of my work. Beyond that, it would have to be a case-by-case basis.

If this is acceptable to you, I would consider us...what's the phrase? Ah, yes. If those terms are fine with you, consider us in business, Lady Talon."

[Draken]

[Underground Arena]

Ivaz takes the slams in stride, bracing herself when she feels him swing his arm.

After she hits the ceiling, she finds her voice to respond.

Buddy...There's so much you don't know... She grins.

Hormigueo!

Spikes sprout everywhere on her skin and launch off. At first, they sort of stay near her, like a cloud of pointyness. Then, they quickly aim themselves at Clovis and fly at him.

Hundreds of four to five inch long spikes. Each tough enough to pierce brick. All flying for him.

That's sure to hurt.

Clovis' eyes go wide, and with two swift motions he slams Ivaz down against a wall and covers his head and part of his chest with one arm.

The uncovered portion of his chest become something of a pin cushion, as does his arm, but his head and the top of his body are mostly untouched. An arm swipe later, the barbs fall broken to the floor.

"There is, indeed, much I don't know. But most of it proves of little relevance sooner or later."

The arm holding Ivaz is retracted slightly, a multi-colored light announcing to her face that he is charging another prismatic cero.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Underground Arena]

Ivaz takes but a moment to recover from the slam. And to her pleasure, she discovered she was free of his grasp.

Guess "how to treat a lady" is among those things you don't know.

When she sees him charging another prismatic cero, she quickly sonidos to the side, arms low to the ground as she goes. She fires several more bala at him as well.

[Kuroimaken]

[At Ringo-chan Apolinar's office]

A loud, yet respectful knock comes upon the office doors.

In walks a scrawny-looking Hollow, vaguely insect-like, but with enough of a human appearance to be bipedal and capable of manipulating objects.

He's just kinda fugly.

"Apolinar-sama, I come bearing a message from Sargeant Sougami for you - and my evaluation, sir."

With all due respect, the messenger places the letter atop Appolinar's desk, takes a number of steps back, and stands at attention.

The letter reads:

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"Hiya, Ringo-chan~~~!<3

Hope all's well with you.

I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be a little busy for a while, but my troops have received all my basic training. They're under instruction to mantain their daily training regimen - don't worry, if they so much as think of slacking off, they'll be going through hell as a personal courtesy of mine.

But I'm guessing you won't take my word for it, so I sent Goki-kun here as a sample of my training. Feel free to test him any way you like, don't be afraid of putting him through the wringer, he's used to it.

I'll be sending you a bottle of absynthe later.

Have a nice day!

Your pal,
Rouga"

[Steilos]

Apolinar's Office - One day, Rouga, one day...

Apolinar looks up and down at the Hollow in front of him. Face like a smashed cymbal but that didn't matter much in the force.

"Evaluation?"

He scans through the letter, filled with oh-so-funnyohgodgoingtosmashthatarrogantbastardsfaceinar gh. Keeping himself composed, he crumples up the letter and throws it away, standing up as he does so.

"I see. Well, soldier, there's a few things I evaluate my troops on. For a start, don't move a muscle."

With that, he's suddenly blurring straight for the unfortuate, in a deadly charge that... stops inches from the Hollow's face, the end of his newly- forged rapier resting neatly a hairsbreadth from its face. Apolinar watches the Hollow closely for its reaction.

[nothingclever]

Edward, Decima Sector, Searching for Prince Athos
Edward finished tending to Genoveva's souvenir and handed it back to her. He bowed and left to find prince Athos figuring she wouldn't tell him anything easily. He thought about seeing Pico next, but he might be hiding away somewhere after his defeat. Besides Edward might coincidentally run into him along the way.

[Kuroimaken]

An order's an order, and though there's a little involuntary trembling on the soldier's part once he halts, Apolinar can see that he's forcing his expression into a rigidity that's almost worthy of a DNA test to confirm if he's not Keanu Reeves' long-lost thrice-removed ugly cousin.

Even that minor trembling is forcibly halted before his knees started knocking against each other. The soldier's breath seems to be caught in his throat as well, his face VERY slowly but perceptively growing bluish.

[Steilos]

Apolinar's Office

Apolinar looks very closely at the ugly thing in front of him, seeing every single little quiver... before sheathing his sword.

"Orders mostly obeyed, minor trembling and... Blue already? Exhale! At ease!"

Apolinar paces around the Hollow. "Fear. You were afraid, I could tell. Unacceptable. Soldiers within my army are expected to be more afraid of their commanders than their enemies - but they mustn't show that fear. Like you did today.

"But a mere tremble can be worked on, can be fixed. Just don't expect career advancement till you do. Now..."

Apolinar produced an eggtimer out of his pocket. "Do ten laps of this building without Sonido. If you don't get back before this eggtimer runs out" he draws his blade again, "You die. Are we clear? then GO!"
After the hapless soldier is gone, Apolinar begins to collect various bits and bobs from around the place, opens the windows and prepares to throw them as soon as he spots Goki.

[Kuroimaken]

"Goki-kun", as he's been named in Rouga's letter, doesn't respond to Apolinar's comments. Instead, he sets about for the task he's assigned. Though he clearly doesn't use sonido, his powerful grasshopper-like legs allow him to move around the building as requested. It might take a lap or two before Apolinar manages to spot him again. When he does, and the objects are thrown, he deflects and dodges the majority. Some of them hit, but don't impede his movement in any way - or at the very least, he doesn't allow them to.

[Draken]

Edward, Decima Sector

Athos can be found sitting in the foyer of the palacio of the decima espada, waiting for the new decima to fraking show up.

He does not look happy.

----

Clovis

Clovis swings his arm on the way of the balas and releases a very wide cero prismatico at the things, engulfing them in the crackling energy, once more with all but the blue hue dissipating into the surroundings while that color assumes control of the cero.

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I swear, the stupid dice keeps rolling 5. Sigh... Like a prismatic spray, that is potential petrification (or at least some stiffening) along the pain.

[Steilos]

Apolinar's Office

As much as he hated to admit it, Goki wasn't doing all that bad. At all. Barely a tenth of the sand was gone by the second lap. Rouga might actually be competent.

...He was going to have to check to see if someone slipped narcotics into his drink again.

Office pranks that end in bloodbaths aside, Apolinar has too busy hurling things at Goki to worry about such minor quibbles. Here too, Goki did well (Apolinar refused to add the -kun on goddamn principle - this ain't some Japanese cartoon) with avoiding most of the objects - and shrugging off those that hit him, to Apolinar's approval. As well as frustration.

Apolinar hefts another object up to the window while-wait.

"How... How did the kitchen sink get here?" After looking at it and at Goki, he just shrugs and lugs it at the insectoid Hollow before sitting in his office and awaiting Goki's arrival. He should be finishing his last lap right about now...

[KerfuffleMach2]

Clovis

Clovis swings his arm on the way of the balas and releases a very wide cero prismatico at the things, engulfing them in the crackling energy, once more with all but the blue hue dissipating into the surroundings while that color assumes control of the cero.

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I swear, the stupid dice keeps rolling 5. Sigh... Like a prismatic spray, that is potential petrification (or at least some stiffening) along the pain.

Ivaz brings her arms up, crossed in front of her head and chest, to take the hit of the cero. The claws on her feet dig into the floor, keeping her from being knocked back by it. She grits her teeth as it hits, the pain definitely present.

When it passes, she quickly lowers her arms and keeps her gaze on Clovis. Her arms are smoking from the impact, and some energy burns are present. She doesn't seem bothered by them, however.

So you only things of relevance, huh? That's gotta be a great life. She tries to make a fist with both hands. Only the right one cooperates.

She quickly goes into more sonidos, moving in an erratic pattern, heading for Clovis. If she manages to get close enough, she'll go to tear her claws into his torso, then sonido away.

[Kuroimaken]

That last one, he slices in half.

By the time he arrives back at the door... he doesn't so much as seem winded. It takes him a couple of seconds to reduce his rhythm, sure, but the Hollow hasn't even broken a sweat.

"Private Saltamontes reporting, task complete, SIR!"

And then he awaits further orders.

It might occur to Apolinar that with the way he dodged, the trembling earlier wasn't fear.

It was a suppression. He trembled because he was fighting the reflex to dodge Apolinar's attack. That's why he didn't try to defend himself either.

All in all, for a soldier of his rank, Private Saltamontes looked fairly competent so far.

[nothingclever]

Edward, Decima Sector

Not the least bit worried about his mood, Edward approached Athos and handed him his letter. "Hey there, here's a message Lalita asked me to deliver to you. Could you be a pal and tell me where Pico is?"

[Draken]

Athos

Athos takes the letter.

"If you end up seeing him before I do, tell him if he doesn't show up soon I might just bend some rules and call an interin for this cesspit."

-----

Clovis

Ivaz manages to dig her claws in and draws blood, but just then, Clovis unleashes his aurora estroboscópica once more, engulfing the room.

In different words, something shifts slightly in the room, Ivaz might not notice, but a faint reiatsu leaves the walls.

"Ok. That is quite about it. Showtime's officially over."

Clovis clenches his fists and shoots them towards Ivaz, the flashing lights likely making it impossible for her to perceive the attacks until they land.

The fists keep striking after each attack - successful or not - it soon becomes obvious that he is trying to pummel her down.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Ivaz

As soon as the aurora estroboscópica was released, Ivaz started moving fast, darting in circles around Clovis, moving in what seemed to be completely random directions.

She knew he was going to try something while she was blinded, so she was going to give him as little chance to hit as possible. And she also activated her spikes again, as a defensive move.

Many of the punches he throws miss, since she's moving around so much. But, some do land on their target. His fists are likely to take damage from the spikes, but not as much as she gets from the punches.

One of the ones that land creates a snapping sound as it breaks her leg. This slows her down, but the nature of her resurreccion is keeping her from feeling most of it now. But, she'll definitely feel it later.

[nothingclever]

"Alright." Edward zipped over to Apolinar's residence and presented him with his letter. "Hey there buddy, Lalita has a letter for you," he said cheerily, paying no attention to the other hollow.

[Draken]

Athos whips the letter open, reads it over once and then crumples it down.

"Freaking wretched barebones newplaces always hide away to lick their wounds and leave the job to us. Father should just make those monkeys into the soldiers they might as well be and leave administration to those of us who cared to do it."

------

The punches stop once Clovis decided he's had enough of the spines.

Then Ivaz will hear a blast in the wall next to her, probably indicating that she just narrowly evded a bala.

Mirroring his target, Clovis shifts his offensive into a barrage of balas, much faster attacks than his punches, if lacking somewhat in flexibility with their trajectory.

[Steilos]

Apolinar's Office

This was positively infuriating. Rouga was an undisciplined layabout and there's no WAY he could pull a stunt like this. Regardless, Goki stoof in front of him.

"Hm... Reeavulation of previous test combined with aptitude shown indicates initial assessment of minor fright was incorrect." he mutters to himself whilst writing in his pad, the hourglass still half full. He gets up and addresses Goki.

"Not bad, not bad. Beats most of the soldiers we have from basic, that's for sure." he begins, but is cut off by a knock on the door. When he comes back he has a letter in his hands, his face carefully expressionless as he puts the letter on his desk.

"Well, that's the some of the most basic qualities out of the way. Fearlessness and stamina as well as agility are all excellent traits a soldier can have. But I want to see you actually fight. That is what soldiers do, after all." Apolinar idly motions a soldier up to the office from his window.

"You two will spar until blood is drawn. Try not to kill each other, soldiers are hard to come by these days." the general says as he lets the two arrancar go at it.

@Kuroimaken

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The guy I brought up is basically your common garden grunt. You have full permission to have him do whatever you want, all I ask is that it looks cool.

[Kuroimaken]

"You mean again, sir?"

By the time Apolinar had finished saying "you two will spar until blood is drawn", he would notice a slight blurring in Saltamontes' form.

The other soldier flew at Private Saltamontes almost as soon as Apolinar was done talking, only to fall at his feet when he realized he was suddenly completely robbed of his strength.

By then, the soldier looked like he'd just infuriated a cat; there were thin scratches at several spots on his neck, arms, shoulders and torso. The majority of them ran along the locations of major veins and arteries.

"What the fresh hell...?"

When he tried to move again, one could clearly see distinct marks of blunt force trauma to a half dozen spots on his body - legs and arms mostly.

"As requested, I've spared his life, sir. Not that I expect him to live with the fact he was already dead before you finished your sentence."

@Steilos

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The slow-motion recap: he punched the guy from where he was standing on air pressure alone, making the scratches in a similar manner with claws formed the instant he attacked.

[Callos_DeTerran]

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[Primera Sector]

The princess unleashes a mental scream of rage as Boabone carries on, charging another crackling yellow cero in her hand.

"I said. Let. Me. GO!"

The energy released from Carina's hand blasts through the webs, a fair bit of wall, and, with all luck for her, her captor's body.

Primera Sector

"Is something the matter with the gues..?!" The suspicious, but still polite, question is cut off in mid-stride and replaced by a loud howl of pain as the yellow cero consumes the wall and hits something behind it. 'It' turns out to be an entire room full of the twisting and snaring black threads, about a quarter of which are connected to what looks like the pale shell of a woman that's lacking any sort of internal components...that's been half blasted away by a cero.

The entire mass convulses and twists inwards upon itself, seeting and coiling even as the shell is thrust towards Carina so the empty eyes can stare the other in the face.

"Ahh! This one had almost completed a new shell! The guest has undone much work!"

================================================== ======

Rouga didn't really expect this. Hollow abilities seemed to take the most varied shapes and sizes, but time manipulation? This was something new.

But it felt weird. While Rouga didn't exactly have much experience with time manipulation, what he could tell was that if his foe really had stopped time... Then Rouga would be seeing his decapitated body right about now. And then there was the fact everything seemed to remain in place, with his opponent not moving. From his standpoint... the enemy should have already struck.

He couldn't readily tell what was really going on. But he knew he couldn't just stand where he was, unless...

...unless his moving was exactly what his opponent expected.

In so thinking, Rouga closed his eyes, and waited.

Rouga

The endless moment drags on and on as that infernal clock continues to ring and ring, until suddenly...it stops and Rouga's view abruptly swings back to the present...including the looming pair of crocodilian jaws snapping shut over one arm, belonging to a reptilian creature that was undoubtedly Tick-Tock. Beady red eyes seethe with murderous satisfaction, even before the guttural voice sounds.

"Got ya! Crime is waltzing into the Queen's garden and stompin' on her roses! Off with yer arm!" Tick-Tock cackles before abruptly seeking to start spinning, just like a real crocodile's death roll, except most crocodiles probably don't do it at sonido-level speeds. Even if Tick-Tock's teeth couldn't penetrate Rouga's skin (and they hadn't, yet anyway) this could hurt like hell...

================================================== =

Genoveva

The Primera remains largely ignorant of Edward as the other Espada finishes patching up the haori, giving a short nod when he finishes and blazes out. Still she looks after him for a moment before casting a look at Yaago.

"Go see if an' fools tried ta replace Arcelia or Lalita...Ah feel sumthin' dun at da provin' arena place earlier. Ah wanna take a nap." Genoveva says listlessly, giving a wide yawn as she saunters over to her bed and plops face down on it.

[Kuroimaken]

"...baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaka!"

Rouga was waiting for something different. Tick-Tock may have altered his perception, but there was one thing with a rhythm he couldn't control: Rouga's breathing.

His scent was very characteristic and not particularly easy to mask. Not that he even bothered to do that.

So when he went for the arm, Rouga spun around with unlikely grace and nimbleness for someone who was supposed to be in a daze. He had enemy position, and that was all he needed. He expanded the Hierro around his arm as a veritable wall smashed towards Tick-Tock - with the wolfen Arrancar adding his own Sonido to the mix. Not particularly fast, but enough to give his opponent the mother of all headaches...

[nothingclever]

Lalita's Secret Quarters
After being so completely ignored by Apolinar, Edward decided to forget about delivering the last message himself. Instead he returned to his palace and gave the letter to a carrier pigeon which he instructed to seek Pico out. Charlotte and Clarice filled him in on what had transpired in his absence. Then Edward went to see Lalita. He barged right into whichever room he was in and stared him down sounding humorously peeved. "How are things?"

[Frozen_Feet]

[Secret Quarters]

Lalita has been laying half awake on a bed, next to Canguro, naked and barely covered by a blanket. He's been thinking of what to do and when to visit Athos, so he could start planning what to do with his likely short-lived reign. Hopefully, the prince has send him a list of duties he's expected to fulfill.

All that fades from his mind when Edward barges in. In split second, Lalita is on his feet, pointing a palm blazing with crimson fire at the intruder. When he recognizes him, the flames die out as quickly. "Oh. It's you", Lalita says plainly and lowers his hand. He reaches to tug his half of the blanket to preserve his modesty.

"I'm sorry to say this, Master, but I find your sudden entrance to be most impolite", he complains. "I believe this safehouse has a door. Couldn't you at least knock?"

[nothingclever]

"I find your treatment of my cute little servants quite rude. It sounds to me like you're begging for a beat-down," said Edward with a poker face.

[Frozen_Feet]

Lalita looks at Edward, unblinking. "And?"

[nothingclever]

Edward sighed. "Do you really want one? I'd like to be nice to you, but it seems pretty darn obvious you're deliberately pushing my buttons right now. I'm happy you're moving on up. I like your ambition and I want to support you, but you're being pretty obnoxious at the moment. I'd like us to still be friends. You're not just going to tell me that you've been using me the whole time and you secretly hated my guts from the moment we met are you?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Lalita lets out a defeated sigh. "Master, are you honestly telling me you couldn't wait for Miss Canguro to get dressed before asking something as unimportant as that?"

[nothingclever]

"No, I'm telling you it is important and I didn't feel like waiting. Y'know I actually find this funny so I'm being nice to you. Do you really think if you provoke me you'll win? What's the point of calling me master then? If you're still going to do that I guess you're acknowledging your place is beneath me unless I choose to have you at my side." Geez, since when was Lalita this much of a prick?

[Zerkai]

Canguro's eyes shot open as Edward barged in, moving to sit up and cover her chest with a pillow, not looking very pleased with the intrusion. She kept silent though as she listened to the two of them talk to each other, looking from one to the other in turn.

"Master Edward, this isn't really the best time... and I swear if you two end up fighting I will just Cero everything." She stated flatly before she started gnawing on the end of her pillow.