[BitP:R] Hueco Mundo 3

[Terry576]

Von Geister frowns, the only indication o such in him inhuman face is a darkening on the tint of his burning green eyes.

"Timing, Cecilia, is everything."

Von Geister's tentacles ram on the sides of the building, their hollow tips visible through the walls, and he uses these as leverage to drag his enormous bulk into the structure.

"Yours is off. The city is under attack and already I must contend with two unruly espada turning on their peers in outright defiance of My edicts."

The first drip of blight falls from the ceiling onto Cecilia's head, the second falls nearby, soon enough blight is growing everywhere like an old infestation.

"It makes me question the utility of the freedom awarded you all, at times. Now, lets put these grim thoughts aside and turn this pent-up frustration on Genevieve's little force, shall you? I do believe I have pressing matters to tend to in my throne room."

"Time, time time... It always comes back to time, doesn't it , Spook? The time between my birth and my meeting with her. The time between my meeting with her and my meeting with you! The time it took for Chero to start talking!"
STRONG HOLLOW RIP

Cecilia's history was a bloody one - she was coated in shadows, shadows of her past and of her future. Shadows that never left her, even when she felt alone. Her shadows caressed her essence, her warped soul and twisted mind, like the gentle touch of a mother on her child.

She sighed, tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear with a frown, and her eyes flash as she stares at Von Geister, or is it through him? Her eyes eye him like he's not the king of Hollows, nor the strongest Hollow in Las Noches, but as if he's a piece of meat; just waiting for the proper predator to strike at him.

"Time time time... I don't really care for it, Spooky. I don't care for the time it takes from one spot to the next, nor do I care for the time that is needed to advance. You know some of my history - at least the beginning. Ahhhhh, but one soul, one soul, in me is far more interesting than the rest. The one whose name I bear! 'Cecilia Alejwin'... It sounds magnificent, but that name's essence is the essence of magicks and spellcraft, of Gods and Demons. It echoes across the fabric of Time and Space, into that little place in between both! I love it and i hate it, Spooks. It's a good name, and a terrible, terrible curse."
RIP TEAR RIP TEAR

She's ranting, speaking about nothing, to nothing. The Ghost King is used to her raving words - he, in fact, understands quite a few of them, despite how they dance away from sense and towards incomprehensibility. He can catch a single thing, a single gleam from this - Cecilia Alejwin is a real person. Nothing unusual for an arrancar, stealing the name of a living being, but the fact that she is so apparently a dominant part of Cecilia is rather odd, considering the madness that she holds inside of her.

"But before I go and slaughter your enemies, dancing through their bones, grasping them in the oh-so-tender embrace of death... I'd like a promise, Spooks! Protection, from her. The old promise wasn't enough, and you know that. You tricked me good back then Spooks, all those endless years ago, back when we danced under the light of the moon and ignored the work that was in front of us. I want a real promise this time, not some fake one that you use to get out of helping."

She grinned and winked at him, leaning against her sword as if it was a normal occurrence, as if he cared about her opinion, about what she wants. What she needs.

[Draken]

The ghost king of all hollows closes his eyes for a moment and sighs.

Then one of his smaller tentacles darts from behind his head towards Cecilia's forehead, its tip a thin needle made for piercing bone and hierro.

"Your terms have been accepted, your wish will be granted."

[Terry576]

"Excellent! Thanks Spook, I needed that."

She closes her eyes, and breathes a sigh of relief, her hair fluttering slightly in the wind. It was nice knowing you had an ally against an immortal she-demon (Shemon? Shedmon?), particularly one like Von Geister.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Ciudad Baja

Cuerva

Pico stops in his tracks, and his eyes widen as he feels Rouga's reiatsu cut out. A chill ran up and down his spine. Did that just happen? What could possibly make that happen? And that other Hollow...if it's responsible for that, then Pico wasn't so sure he wanted to get involved with it.

What made it worse was the sudden appearance of Cuerva. As if he needed any more reason to be unnerved, the second Primera-to-come-from-absolutely-nowhere shows up for no apparent reason.

Nevermind about that, though. Pico still had to find out what just happened. So, he ran into Ciudad Baja, alert for any threat he may come across.

[Nicklance]

Pico stops in his tracks, and his eyes widen as he feels Rouga's reiatsu cut out. A chill ran up and down his spine. Did that just happen? What could possibly make that happen? And that other Hollow...if it's responsible for that, then Pico wasn't so sure he wanted to get involved with it.

What made it worse was the sudden appearance of Cuerva. As if he needed any more reason to be unnerved, the second Primera-to-come-from-absolutely-nowhere shows up for no apparent reason.

Nevermind about that, though. Pico still had to find out what just happened. So, he ran into Ciudad Baja, alert for any threat he may come across.

Cuerva raises an eyebrow amusingly at Pico's antics as she takes a seat on a nearby boulder and waits for Rouga to regenerate.

[Draken]

"Excellent! Thanks Spook, I needed that."

She closes her eyes, and breathes a sigh of relief, her hair fluttering slightly in the wind. It was nice knowing you had an ally against an immortal she-demon (Shemon? Shedmon?), particularly one like Von Geister.

"We are always willing to help."

Oh snap, the royal We.

Incidentally, Von Geister mutates the tumor implanted into Cecilia into a Tumor Nervioso. And then he shouts at her.

"NOW GET TO YOUR JOB."

There is probably spit involved because his mouth is almost certainly larger than her torso at the moment.

With that, Von Geister slides to the ground, sinking into the floor like a fish in the ocean.

-----

Ciudad Baja

Von Geister walks out of a wall, properly sealed once again. There is a shinigami leaving his stench all over his domain, and that cannot be allowed.

More than anywhere, in the dark depths of the Lower City, the corridors, tunnels and relatively low ceilings make his presence oppressive.

[AnimeKid]

[Distrito Sies]

Kyoki slices through the body of another arrancar while Ragunaroku clothslines one that was trying to sneak up behind her. A group then tried to atack her from above on for them to land on an after image when she used her sonido. There is a small bead of sweat on her head from the sheer numbers that are. They gather around her as she narrows her eyes uncharacteristically. WHen she speaks it is no longer in her usual timid voice, if Ragunaroku wasn't trembling in excitement he would have a sh*t-eatting grin on his face. "YOu guys are really starting to annoy me. So I am not going to exert more effort on you. Instead we are going to play a game. The last one standing wins."

With that Kyoki actively enhances her Madness Aura to engulf a large area. The much weaker arrancar then grab their heads, their eyes darting around as the keep track of something only they can see. At first there is nothing. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the arrancar started tearing each other apart. Kyoki just looked at them before turning around and walking away from them. After a while the uncharacteristic scowl on her face falls as she looks at Ragunaroku and says, "That was cool right?" Ragunaroku nods as he says, "Yes that was cool. But in an actual battle you can't ask me if something you did was cool or else it ruins the effect. Now you just keep doing stuff like that and people won't call you a wimp. I mean I still will of course but other people won't" Kyoki just hangs her head down as she goes to check the rest of her Espada's sector.

(OOC: So, anyone got anything for Kyoki and Ragunaroku to do? Or mabye someone would like to play a particularly powerful enemy arrancar?)

[Frozen_Feet]

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[Distrito Seis]

Vicente's probing attack with his Cero, made from a perch that was at least 50 yards distant and on a totally different structure, was less an "outburst" and more a "tactical manuever". It had been carefully calculated to either trigger the "booby trap" (which seemed to be the case) or potentially drive out his opponent (which had also happened, but through a different medium than he exactly expected).

The enemy who somehow was located on the distinct structure chosen at random. Dumb luck, precognition, or malevolent reality warping. No matter what, he had to die.

Especially since he'd totally evaded Vicente's senses despite being in a building that was clearly not made of sekkiseki stone. Such was life, it seemed.

The air filled with a full 20 feathers scattered in front of Vicente. Then it was filled with spheres of floating and dancing darkness. Vicente didn't really mind it, though, and sent twinned Cero at his opponent that bracketed him on either side. Then he flapped his mighty wings and dashed to one side, and then below a bit, waiting to see if the barrage would subside, or what his opponent's next move would be.

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OOC: Kind of annoyed how this guy magically happened to be under Vicente despite the latter explicitly moving around as he probed at the decoy.
And that you're calling it an "outburst" despite the fact he's just calmly assessing the situation.

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I'm using outburst in it's definition of sudden and/or violent action. It isn't describing why Vicente is acting, but how he is acting. How abruptly shooting something with equivalent of a laser and a machinegun doesn't count as an outburst?

The two Ceros cut the skeleton's upper right arm and its right knee. It half-retreats, half-falls back into cover of the structure, possibly incapable of aiming at its opponent through the heightened darkness.

Out of the three possibilities Vicente reflected upon, "dumb luck" is probably closest to correct. He must've unwittingly crossed some treshold of detection, sight or otherwise. But when and where? As he correctly assessed, the building he landed on was too massive to notice an opponent through - if even his enhanced senses couldn't notice the opponent below, how had it noticed him? Clearly, something peculiar is going on.

As there are no immediate repercussions to his counter-attack, Vicente must've left his opponent's field of perception, or his opponent is biding for its time somewhere within the building. From his current position, Vicente can estimate his enemy must be underground, and through the wall. He might be able to sense his opponent more directly, but he has to get back closer to the hole in the roof to do so.

But there's another strange detail he can hear - a ticking sound, like before, coming from above him and quite a distance to his right. It's faint enough he can't clearly pinpoint it as it echoes between the buildings, but it's not coming from anywhere near him, the decoy, or the building he just stood on.

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Pico stops in his tracks, and his eyes widen as he feels Rouga's reiatsu cut out. A chill ran up and down his spine. Did that just happen? What could possibly make that happen? And that other Hollow...if it's responsible for that, then Pico wasn't so sure he wanted to get involved with it.

What made it worse was the sudden appearance of Cuerva. As if he needed any more reason to be unnerved, the second Primera-to-come-from-absolutely-nowhere shows up for no apparent reason.

Nevermind about that, though. Pico still had to find out what just happened. So, he ran into Ciudad Baja, alert for any threat he may come across.

As Pico dashes through the tunnels, halls and caverns, he can feel the oppressive presence closing in around him - The Ghost King has returned to his palace. But he can't seem to detect the Hollow that fought with Rouga - it's like it has been erased from existence.

But he does pick up a strange scent - that of sulphur and heated iron, lingering around a small passage some distance away from the throne room. There isn't much to hint it has any signifigance, but there's something oddly familiar to the stench. It's one of those paths connecting Ciudad Baja to the vaster underworld of Hueco Mundo. It should be either guarded or closed off, but as things stand, neither is given.

Meanwhile, deeper, much deeper in the tunnels and far ahead of Pico, a brazen fist smashes through a wall of sandstone-like material, and a scarred man stumbles through the opening. His breathing is labored and he has to stop and lean to his knees for a moment before advancing.

Below him, a large cavern expands to all directions. Colossal shadows shamble and sway between antediluvian fossil stalagmites and stalactites, uncomprehending of what has passed above them. Few of them moan and turn to face the source of disturbance, but the man quiets his Reiatsu and lurks away before they become more agitated. As he reaches the bottom of the cave, he doubles over and grasps his stomach. There's a strange pain just under his ribcage, and he feels like his heart has fallen to his stomach, as he can feel his pulse throbbing just behind his abdominal muscles. It may be his foe's last resort injured his internal organs - he needs to find a place to rest.

But before he can continue his journey much further, a grim presence seeps into the abyss. The man perks his ears and turns to look at the entrance he made. Something is looking for him, soundlessly screaming bloody murder for the Shinigami who dares to trespass its domain.

The man isn't the only one turning to face this surge of power. The earth quakes as dozens of massive feets shuffle and turn, red dots lighting in the dark pit as instincts of the Menos Grande urge them to face the greatest power they can sense.

Shrugging, the man gets on the move again, scurrying between the dark shades like a small bug trying to avoid being squashed under soles of people. Who or whatever looking for him doesn't know where he is... yet. But he needs to start running.

Easier said than done.

[KnightDisciple]

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I'm using outburst in it's definition of sudden and/or violent action. It isn't describing why Vicente is acting, but how he is acting. How abruptly shooting something with equivalent of a laser and a machinegun doesn't count as an outburst?

The two Ceros cut the skeleton's upper right arm and its right knee. It half-retreats, half-falls back into cover of the structure, possibly incapable of aiming at its opponent through the heightened darkness.

Out of the three possibilities Vicente reflected upon, "dumb luck" is probably closest to correct. He must've unwittingly crossed some treshold of detection, sight or otherwise. But when and where? As he correctly assessed, the building he landed on was too massive to notice an opponent through - if even his enhanced senses couldn't notice the opponent below, how had it noticed him? Clearly, something peculiar is going on.

As there are no immediate repercussions to his counter-attack, Vicente must've left his opponent's field of perception, or his opponent is biding for its time somewhere within the building. From his current position, Vicente can estimate his enemy must be underground, and through the wall. He might be able to sense his opponent more directly, but he has to get back closer to the hole in the roof to do so.

But there's another strange detail he can hear - a ticking sound, like before, coming from above him and quite a distance to his right. It's faint enough he can't clearly pinpoint it as it echoes between the buildings, but it's not coming from anywhere near him, the decoy, or the building he just stood on.

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It was a probing attack on an anomalous sound.

Vicente hovers in mid-air for a moment, making not a sound as his giant eyes narrow a bit, the darkness all around lingering for a bit yet.

He slowly swivels his head and eyes, looking in 360 degrees around himself.

Then he hears the noise again. Instead of attacking, he listens. He tries to detect if it's 1 source or many, if it's bouncing, if there's a pattern to it, and so on. He'll attempt to visually locate the source if possible, using his incredible vision. This time, he'll wait and see, rather than immediately attacking.

[Draken]

Von Geister arrives at his throne room in the Lower City, looking up to the vast shaft to the second room in the upper palace so unthinkably far above. It brings a wider smile than usual to his face.

But pride later, because there is a very dirty individual causing trouble in his palace. It cannot be allowed to pass... Shame he vanished, woeful reiatsu-concealing techniques.

But... Nothing new. And Von Geister would hardly be the Ghost King of All Hollows, apex predator of Hueco Mundo had he to fall back on such unreliable methods as reiatsu tracking, as much the tool of hunters as the tool of prey, showing when greater beasts are near. No, never indeed. There are many more ways, the stench of the intruder is but one.

The nameless creatures that hide in the walls of the throne rooms are a much more interesting method. These things that crawl out from cracks in the rocks to nibble at the cast off shells of his children's eggs and lurk in corners to hie from the parents. They are his servants as well, his hungry walls picking wisdom from their flesh.

They saw a shinigami become a hollow and then become a shinigami again, and then they saw him flee through a damp tunnel into the dry forests outside.

Von Geister follows this trail with curiosity.