[BiTPR2] Bleach in The Playground: Renewed Revolution Thread I

[5a Violista]

[Mortal World]
School - Room 108

Miya nods as the two club officers speak and she registers the club meetings somewhere in the back of her mind.

She nods, before grabbing the pen and scanning the form. After she looks through all of it, Miya starts filling out the form. As long as there's no complex math or history questions, she'll fill it out just fine.


[Soul Society]


"I suppose it has been a long time," says Nicole. "I remember my history lessons. Many generations ago, my family was betrayed and exiled." Obviously, that's not true, but what gets passed down to the young depends on what the elders teach. Nicole adds, "But that was a long time ago."

As they reach the temple, Nicole looks up in awe. She's never seen something so large and white before. It looks impressive, majestic, and a little terrifying. After that initial wave of feelings washes away, Nicole returns the smile. "Judging by the way the first lesson with Kiba went, I actually might have to come here a lot." She can still remember the sound her rib made when it cracked under his fist, and it makes her cringe. "He said I passed, and that I should be at tomorrow's training."

[Dorizzit]

[The Mortal World]
Room 108

The sheet is very simple. Names, student number, a legal waiver for club activities, all very standard. When Miya finishes, Naito takes it back.

"Alright, I just need to get this submitted and you'll be all set. Is there anything else you need?"

[5a Violista]

[The Mortal World]
School room 108

No soul-selling stuff on the form? That's too bad, now Naito won't have the chance to buy Miya's soul.

She shakes her head 'no'. "Nope, there's nothing else I can think of, besides this simple question: are the martial arts meetings always just after school? Every day, I mean, or just once in a while?" Despite asking another question, Miss Tsukamoto is all ready to go.

[DiscipleofBob]

[Hueco Mundo]
[The Wilderness]


As the mortal closes in, the number of cannons capable of aiming at him decreases fast - the main cannon and those next to it expected of course, as Mikael is flying straight at them! Sand is sent flying around due to sound pressure of several barrels firing at once and the air right before the white devil's eyes is set ablaze by his missiles striking against the mortal's hand at once.

Yet, one word can be heard through the rumble, cutting through it clear and loud despite being little more than a whisper. Reduce.

And so, the collected might of the man-turned-tank's blast is dispersed through the air, as if the projectiles suddenly returned to their immaterial base nature - nothing but ill will, and no matter how great, the man's willpower alone is not enough to stop Mikael's advance.

Few smaller projectiles that missed the mortal's hand and hit him in his legs instead are more succesful, however. Mikael's is stopped on his track and falls from the air, flat on the white devil's inhuman head. Dazed, Mikael does the first thing that comes to his mind - grabs the devil's horns so he won't fall down.

Hueco Mundo
The Wilderness

This was not one of the outcomes Victor Vicente could have predicted. His most powerful Cero attack... vanished? Expressions are hard to read on the cold, emotionless tank, but there is a moment of hesitation as VV tries unsuccessfully to comprehend the situation.

Mikael has a brief but quickly fleeting opportunity as the various guns on Victor Vicente's body adjust their angles to soon fire again.

The Arena

Stepping forward among the potential candidates was someone who gave even some of the other fraccion potentials pause. Karasu, as he had come to be known, standing far taller than any normal-sized human and well above the majority of the competition, stood and waited silently.

[Dorizzit]

[Mortal World]
Room 108

Naito shakes his head.

"These meetings are only once a month. Apart from that, it's just the individual club meetings, which the others filled you in on. Also, if you have a scheduling conflict, try talking to the club leaders; most of the groups are really small, so if they have someone who is interested they often shuffle things around so the schedule works."

[Frozen_Feet]

Hueco Mundo
The Wilderness

This was not one of the outcomes Victor Vicente could have predicted. His most powerful Cero attack... vanished? Expressions are hard to read on the cold, emotionless tank, but there is a moment of hesitation as VV tries unsuccessfully to comprehend the situation.

Mikael has a brief but quickly fleeting opportunity as the various guns on Victor Vicente's body adjust their angles to soon fire again.

Mikael can hear the turrets adjust their positioning. Would the man in white really fire someone on the top of his own head? No time to dwell on that, because fortune, combined with dashing around wildly and his belief-defying endurance, have landed the wounded mortal in the best spot to strike back he could ever hope for.

For while he is not entirely sure if the man-turned-tank's eyes are any softer than his carapace... Mikael is finally in a position to put it to the test. Lying flat on the white devil's head and holding firmly to the devil's right horn with his right hand, Mikael hooks his left around the devil's temple - and rams his fingers into the devil's left eye. But he doesn't end there, no - when he feels the eye's surface on his fingertips, he squeezes his pecs hard. As long as the armadillo-man's horn does not give away, not only should Mikael stab out the devil's eye - he should be able to ram his fingers through the bone behind it as well, and into the devil's brain!

---

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou AKA Seireitei Main Hospital

"I suppose it has been a long time," says Nicole. "I remember my history lessons. Many generations ago, my family was betrayed and exiled." Obviously, that's not true, but what gets passed down to the young depends on what the elders teach. Nicole adds, "But that was a long time ago."

As they reach the temple, Nicole looks up in awe. She's never seen something so large and white before. It looks impressive, majestic, and a little terrifying. After that initial wave of feelings washes away, Nicole returns the smile. "Judging by the way the first lesson with Kiba went, I actually might have to come here a lot." She can still remember the sound her rib made when it cracked under his fist, and it makes her cringe. "He said I passed, and that I should be at tomorrow's training."

"Time is a... relative concept. Not a long time has passed since Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the man who founded Gotei, still walked among us. The man who, as you might have learned, was largely responsible for the banishment of your house."

The elderly person leads Nicole past the waiting lobby and into a small room with a mahogany desk, three chairs, one pretty comfy looking therapeutic couch and a window shaded by blue curtains. There's a quill in a green crystal bottle of ink on the table, with two neat piles of paper on both sides of it - the one on the right seems to be a bit taller. There are shelves on the walls, carrying small vials of substances in all colors of the rainbow.

"Here. Take this and drink it. Then sit on the couch and make yourself comfortable", the elder advices (or orders?), then fetches two vials from the shelves, mixes them up in a third, empty one, and lastly gives the mixture to Nicole. A stench reminescent of bitter almonds emanates from the vial.

[CMOTDibbler]

[Soul Society] Kenpachi's Quarters
Dosan thinks for a moment, then pipes up.

Is there any way to consolidate the space we need to cover? Like minimizing division's areas? It'd be a bit crowded, but easier to protect.

[Mortal World] Higure's Classroom
Higure raises his eyebrows.

...Huh. Apparently my students are more experienced than me. Clearly I need to get out more. Well, I know vaguely what these things are. They're called Hollows.

[Hueco Mundo] The Arena
Azmus, after glancing at the newcomer, turns to Lagoshta.

The test is to prove your worth to me. I still make the final decision. Anyone else? No? Good. Anyone want to volunteer to go first?

[5a Violista]

[Mortal World]
School - Room 108

"Okay," says Miya, as she flashes a smile. "That's perfect. Thank you so much." She's pretty sure she'll never get a scheduling conflict. It's not like she has anything else to do, besides study, make dinner, and work out. However, she pockets this information in her mind, just in case the clubs decide to schedule practice at the same time.

She takes a step towards the door out. "I should be going home now to make dinner, in case my father returns from work early." Of course, she doesn't expect him to arrive until after midnight, but one can always hope, right?


[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

"Wow. He must have been ancient." It's weird imagining such a man so old. Old people can't be evil. That's just nonsensical. Maybe he wasn't so vile, after all.

Suou Nicole follows the elderly woman into the room. She stares at all the vials, wondering what they all do, especially the green ones. Green's her favorite color, by the way.

The girl nods to the advice, and grabs the vial given to her. After smelling it, she decides it probably tastes pretty bitter as well. (Can't they ever make medicine taste like fruit or sugar or something?) Holding her breath, she tries to get it down all in one gulp (horribly failing, requiring her to take a breath before swallowing the rest), and quickly sitting down on the couch.


[Hueco Mundo]
The Arena

Lagoshta falls silent and steps back.


Baatar, the shirtless muscled bear guy, takes his place and steps forward. "I'm first," he says in his deep voice that sounds more like growling than a voice.

[Dorizzit]

[Mortal World]
Room 108

Naito throws Miya a mock salute.

"I don't have anything else I need from you. I hope you find the martial arts scene here to be to your satisfaction."

Standing up, Naito stretches, then walks towards the mats on the ground. With a sigh, he begins to gather them up to haul them back to their storage closet.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Sitting on the couch quickly turns out to be the correct solution, because a couple of seconds later Nicole can feel strenght leaving her limbs, leaving her unable to move anything but her eyes. Worse, once the potion reaches her stomach, it feels like it's turned into a bunch of live eels squirming inside her and slowly working their way along her spine to her brain.

"This might feel a little unpleasant", the elderly person says, still smiling, reaching to feel Nicole's ribs through what remains of her clothes, painfully applying pressure on the fractured parts.

"Ah, it's not as bad as I thought. I don't even need to rearrange anything. You'll be good as new in a couple of hours. I'm going to catch some coffee now. I'll send my Vice-Captain to check on you as soon as I find him. Try to relax." And then the elder, still smiling, leaves paralyzed Nicole alone on the couch. Alone, with the "eels".

Just before the door closes, the hapless girl can hear the elder's voice echoing from the corridor: "Please tell Nanoha-fukutaichou to check in at reception room 36."

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Shigure on a rare moment of free time is quick to receive the summons as a practical swarm of Hell Butterflies swarm just out of reach of his hands as he tries to bat them away, other requests or summons put on hold for the more pressing meeting. He trudges his way from his quarters to the Temple, a cup of steaming hot tea in hand yet untouched, making a polite bow once past the doors. "You called, Honorable Grandmother?" he mumbles with a yawn, holding out the cup of tea with another polite bow once he's finally found the elderly Captain.

[Frozen_Feet]

Zheng Li Lin, the venerable Captain of Medicine and Logistics, blinks at the tired greeting of the Vice-Captain. "If times were not this turbulent, I'd order you to sleep more. You look awful", the Captain states solemnly, then beckons towards the reception room with the bamboo cane. "There's a young girl resting there. New member of the Pack, it seems. I gave her a draught to mend her broken bones. The green one. I need you to watch her in the case the sedative effect fades early. I don't want her running around in a psychotic fit, screaming there are eels inside her brain."

The Captain moves to limp past exhausted Nanoha. "I'll rejoin you as soon as I get a good cup of coffee. Dismissed."

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Shigure glances down a little at the cup of tea, frowning though nods. "Of course Honored Grandmother. I will watch the patient until you return and restrain her if needed. It would be nice to have some rest, but you must worry more about that then me." he insists, trying to slip into the room and close the door with a low bow before taking a seat near the paralzyed warrior. "How are you feeling?" he asks in a tired drone, watching Nicole carefully. "I guess you can't answer can you, yet anyway. I am Vice Captain Nonoha, I will be taking care of you until the Captain returns. Please do not try to move, the side effects will subside in time."

[5a Violista]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

This is a pretty disturbing feeling, like a bunch of slimy parasites climbing up her insides. It feels gross.

Nicole just wants to scream. She can't...she can only stare, screaming as loud as she can with only her eyes. Did she ever mention she hates the feeling of slimy animals, ever since that time where she got lost in that forest? No? Never mind, though - you can see her unpleasantness in her eyes.

The teenage(-looking) girl watches helplessly as Shigure walks in. If she could, she would snap at him "How do you think I'm feeling?". After that, she would profusely apologize, realizing it's not at all his fault, and she would notice he looks as tired as she feels, so there would even be a bit of empathy in the pleasant conversation they would have.

But she can't. Suou Nicole can only focus her mind on Shigure's face as she tries to distract her own thoughts from slimy slithery slugs and eels and snakes.


[Mortal World]
School Room 108

With a laugh, Miya says, "Okay, I will. See you later." She leaves the room, and starts her long walk home.

Unless she runs into a famous martial artist, a rogue hollow, or run-of-the-mill thieves, she successfully returns home without incident, and figures that she had a nice day.

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Shigure slowly sips his tea, slowly relaxing with the short break from work he's been allowed. The swarm of butterflies continue to flap about him wildly though it seems he's learned to ignore them completely as he seems almost to melt into the chair with a sigh. "If I were allowed, I'd take you to one of the medicinal springs we have around the temple. I used to frequent them back before my promotion, scantily clad people running around helps the healing process you know?" he mumbles, pulling out a hand rolled cigarette. "Mind if I smoke? Blink twice if you don't." he continues though doesn't seem to heed wether Nicole is fine with it or not as he lights the cigarette up.

"If I didn't think the paralytic would wear off soon I'd go and get you some menthol salve. You're one of the Pack yes? Remind me when you are ready to leave to prepare you some namman muay for your next...training session." He stands slowly, moving over in a shuffled to inspect the young woman, his fingers pressing against her ribs and sides. "How did you get so badly damaged anyway. Not a hollow attack or there'd be more blood. This was the work of someone who didn't want you dead. But still brutal."

[AnimeKid]

Mortal World Higure's Classroom

Tamaki' raises an eyebrow as he says, "Hollow's huh? Seems like an apt enough classification. Though by how you talk about it it seems to be a standard name rather than one you created yourself. Is there some reference to them in texts or something?"

He pushes up his glasses reflecting the light off of them as he continues, "I'm just curious because you said that in terms of first hand experience we have encountered them more than you. Or do you have some sort of ability that helps you gather information?"

Soul SocietyCombat division

Naijeru rubs his chin in a contemplative manner. He was a charismatic man, but not much of a tactician. He did use to be a pirate after all. His expertise was usually on sea battles and avoiding the law. "Well, maybe we could use specific squads for certain areas? Like if there is a wide open area we send in two people who have a wind and fire zanpakuto respectively? Or if there is an area with a lot of choke points we send in an earth manipulator?"

[DiscipleofBob]

Mortal World
Classroom

"Hollows?" Kenzan's brow furrows at the word, not quite understanding its meaning. "So what exactly are they? And how come most no one else seems to see them?"

Soul Society
Kenpachi's Quarters

Dosan thinks for a moment, then pipes up.

Is there any way to consolidate the space we need to cover? Like minimizing division's areas? It'd be a bit crowded, but easier to protect.

"That would mean that the Divisions themselves would have to be willing to cooperate. Last I checked, they didn't really care what we thought. Even less now that we don't have Kenpachi."

Naijeru rubs his chin in a contemplative manner. He was a charismatic man, but not much of a tactician. He did use to be a pirate after all. His expertise was usually on sea battles and avoiding the law. "Well, maybe we could use specific squads for certain areas? Like if there is a wide open area we send in two people who have a wind and fire zanpakuto respectively? Or if there is an area with a lot of choke points we send in an earth manipulator?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, except that we don't have that many members left capable of Shikai. And of those that are left, we have very few members with anything more than a physical Shikai."

"For the time being, at the very least we'll need to consolidate some of the Squads. Focus purely on a defensive line. At least until we get some intel or orders to go on the offense." Kiba points to Hiju and Eiganjo. "You're going to need to combine and coordinate your squads to make sure we have enough people to cover Seireitei. Hanare, we need to figure out the best way to position your squad to provide artillery cover no matter where the enemy strikes next."

"More importantly than distribution and tactics, we need to somehow step up training without exhausting our guards. If anything was proven by the last attack, it's that we need to be stronger. But the last thing I want is an army constantly fatigued from training. That goes for all of us. Serireitei is counting on us to defend it, even if they won't acknowledge us as anything else." Kiba awaits responses from his officers. Sometimes it was hard to tell if he was giving orders or looking for suggestions, what with Kiba being a little socially stunted even for a member of the Pack.

Hueco Mundo
The Wilderness

Mikael's hand reaches down to poke an eye out, only to find a dense hide similar to the rest of the beast. It's not clear whether Victor Vicente is blinded, but it feels like punching through steel. As if the mask on the front was merely a hood ornament.

The smaller turrets finish their readjustment, angled to fire at Mikael without hitting the main body should they miss.

At the same time, Victor Vicente speeds forward on his treads over the bumpy dunes, putting Mikael through a bucking rodeo. He ramps off a dune and is about to go head first into the sands, attempting to crush Mikael as well as blast him off with the smaller turrets.

The Arena

Karasu continues to face Azmus, despite his potential opponent. The large, black blade of his scythe grinds along the ground as he wields it casually in one hand. He makes no visible reaction to Baatar unless the gauntlet is thrown.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Hueco Mundo]
Wilderness

Mikael squeezes as hard as he can, but to no avail. The devil's eyes are no less armored than the rest of its body after all. The mortal hangs desperately from the horn of the trashing beast, until a shot from one of the cannons makes his hold slip. Mikael is send flying to the side in a low arc, hitting the ground and rolling in the dirt limp like a rag doll before stopping.

"Hmmm." Lying flat on his back, arms spread wide, Mikael ponders what he should do. White sand covers his body, glued in the inky black substance that supposedly is his blood. He might be able to move, but doing so seems to have little point, as he's out of ideas what to do about the rampaging man-beast. He'd let it come to him for a change.

Pain is slowly making room for exhaustion and cold numbess. That can't be a good sign. On the other hand, he's feeling oddly calm. Te fight has gone on long enough that the wonder and terror of the situation have abated. Maybe that's what approaching death does to you?

It makes him mildly annoyed, though. His first time meeting and fighting someone presumably of his own kind, and he'd lost. What an unsatisfying manner to end his days.

Wait, how long has he been laying on the ground? It doesn't seem likely the white devil would leave him alone for this long. Has the constant throwing around messed Mikael's sense of time? Drowzily, the mortal turns his head to look at where the beast was raging last. Maybe he could get a cheap shot in by playing dead? In his condition, at least the "playing dead" part would be easy to achive.

---

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

The door of the reception room creaks as the elderly Captain sneaks back in. "I recall telling you I'd rather not have people smoking indoors. Mortal scientists have proved it's not good for our patients' well-being. Or yours, for that matter", Li quips, smiling slightly. "How's our patient? Is she coming to yet?" Shigure might notice his captain is carrying a stack of papers in the hand not holding the bamboo cane.

"I figured this would be a splendid chance to rid ourselves of some of the paperwork that keeps piling up. These are some of the new orders from our fresh Commander-General. Non-classified, of course, so no-one has to kill her for hearing us. Well, at least no immediately, I reckon Internal Security has more urgent matters to take care of." Li hands the stack of papers to Shigure. "Shall we?"

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Shigure looks at the smoldering cigarette longingly for a moment before putting it out with a sigh, glancing at Nicole with a shrug. "She's not started screaming yet. She's a bit overdue if you ask me." The paperwork puts an instant frown on the tired Vice Captain's face though he dutifully starts to page through them when they're handed to him. "I love paper work honorable Grandmother. Shall I leave you to your patient?"

[5a Violista]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Sadly, Suou Nicole doesn't have the opportunity to answer Shigure's questions. Maybe if he asked her again when she wasn't concentrating so hard, she would answer. However, he could deduce what happened easily-enough.

Doubly unfortunate, she doesn't even bother to spy on their non-classified paperwork. As the Captain and her Vice-Captain start discussing and handing the paperwork, Suou slowly brings up her legs towards her chest, and tightly squeezes herself into a fetal position. "Make it go away," she finally whimpers, blinking twice.

Since Tebryn commented that Shigure started to inspect Suou's injury, I just remembered that I had forgotten to give her a proper description. The rib is definitely the worst injury she has, and the only one that won't heal naturally in one to two days. She has several bruises, also from first day training. Besides that, all the other wounds are fairly superficial. (Speaking of blood, her feet are torn up from walking so far barefoot, but that's nearly healed already; she has a cut on the palm of her right hand with the blood still moist, but that one is obviously self-inflicted, judging by the positioning; also, her hair is matted together with week-old dried blood.)


Hueco Mundo
The Arena

Neither does Baatar make a visible sign of aggression against anyone else, yet. That's what honor is - not attacking someone before it's time. He waits.


Valentina sits up, noticing the interesting part will start soon.

[CMOTDibbler]

[Soul Society] Kenpachi's Quarters
Dosan frowns, out of ideas.

Sir, I'm open for training whenever you need me. I'm experienced, and can help newer recruits, if needed.

[Mortal World] Higure's Classroom
Higure laughs a little, looking embarrassed.

Not a text exactly... My, ah, sword told me.

He draws Untaidake from her sheath and sets her on his desk.

Oh, and apparently Hollows are like ghosts. But ones that were unable to move on.

[Hueco Mundo] The Arena
Azmus looks down the line of recruits. Seeing no one stand up to fight Baatar, he points to one at random, an average sized arrancar named Greven.

You. You're up. Both of you step into the circle, and when you're in the middle, you can start. First one to be incapacitated or be knocked out of the circle loses. Whenever you're ready, gentlemen.

Greven trots eagerly to the center of the circle, turning to face Baatar and drawing his katana.

Come on, big guy. Let's go.

Greven smiles mockingly at Baatar. As Baatar reaches the center of the circle, Greven swings at Baatar's left shoulder.

[DiscipleofBob]

Hueco MundoThe Arena

Stepping forward among the potential candidates was someone who gave even some of the other fraccion potentials pause. Karasu, as he had come to be known, standing far taller than any normal-sized human and well above the majority of the competition, stood and waited silently.

The Arena

Karasu continues to face Azmus, despite his potential opponent. The large, black blade of his scythe grinds along the ground as he wields it casually in one hand. He makes no visible reaction to Baatar unless the gauntlet is thrown.

[Hueco Mundo] The Arena
Azmus looks down the line of recruits. Seeing no one stand up to fight Baatar, he points to one at random, an average sized arrancar named Greven.

You. You're up. Both of you step into the circle, and when you're in the middle, you can start. First one to be incapacitated or be knocked out of the circle loses. Whenever you're ready, gentlemen.

Greven trots eagerly to the center of the circle, turning to face Baatar and drawing his katana.

Come on, big guy. Let's go.

Greven smiles mockingly at Baatar. As Baatar reaches the center of the circle, Greven swings at Baatar's left shoulder.

Hueco Mundo
(The Arena)

Perhaps Karasu was not clear in his intent. He rarely was. But the tall, mute arrancar apparently does not like to be ignored. Before the two can truly clash, Karasu dashes between them, scythe and wings ready. Two against one? And they're flanking him? He appears to accept those odds just fine. Karasu tightens his grip and raises his scythe to deflect the coming blow from Greven while watching to see what action is needed for Baatar.

Hueco Mundo
(The Wilderness)

The tank-arrancar circles around and aims its cannons at Mikael, attempting to play dead on the ground. Victor Vicente was not hoping for a corpse, he was hoping for a spirit. One that could become a mighty hollow to serve under him. But now he questioned that motive, whether his opponent would be worth trying to control if he gave Victor Vicente this much trouble.

Another barrage of Ceros should do the trick. If that didn't work, he'd simply have to run Mikael down the old-fashioned way. The cannons take a moment to adjust their aim as they charge up...

Mortal World
(Classroom)

Kenzan blinks a few times. The ghost-thing made sense... sort of. Why other people apparently couldn't see them. Why they seemed so monstrous. There were a lot of questions it raised, but Kenzan didn't know anything about ghosts, so he couldn't really comment on what would be normal for that or not. It's the other thing that confuses him more. "Your sword... told you?" At first Kenzan thinks it's some kind of samurai-lingo or jargon, rather than an actual talking sword. But he's still trying to wrap his head around the concept.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Hueco Mundo]
Wilderness

Mikael blinks as he watches the giant armadillo-man wheel around inch by inch and re-aim its cannons with comical slowness. He can't help a slight giggle escaping his lips as he crawls back up. Each movement feels like it takes an eternity - Mikael's body feels heavy as lead, and several times he feels as if he's already moved his limbs, only to notice they haven't budged.

Wait, he's heard of this phenomenom, or at least something similar to it - sleep paralysis. That moment when your mind is already awake, but your body is asleep and incapable of responding. But if that's the case, what exactly is his mind awakening to? Or is he simply hallucinating as his spirit is trying to flee his dying body? All things considered, the latter doesn't seem that implausible of an option.

As he rises up, Mikael catches a glimpse of his right arm. It has... seen better days. Curious, the mortal lifts it before his eyes, even as the white devil's cannons keep shifting towards him.

At first, Mikael thinks his hand and arm are merely covered in blood, but on a second look, it's obvious all skin has peeled off it, leaving only exposed muscle, or exposed bone in the case of the tips of his fingers. White dust is stubbornly clinging into the wet surface. It occurs to him cleaning up the wound will be one hell of a task once the battle is over, provided he can make it.

Wait, the white devil still hasn't fired? Mikael glances at the cannons, noting that they are pointing directly at him, but it seems the white devil is still in the process of creating his ammunition. Odd... why isn't he hearing the voice? It occurs to Mikael that if things truly are moving as slowly in relation to him as he is perceiving, then the sound might simply not have reached him yet, or perhaps it's been distorted to such low frequency he is unable to hear it.

Oh dear. He can see the first barrel firing. But the projectile is moving towards him barely faster than a thrown ball! If his body could just keep up with his mind, dodging it should be a trivial matter! But even though Mikael feels he is speeding to the side, his body keeps lagging behind, as if it is an anchor that's he's forced to pull after him. But even more curiously, the harder the mortal pushes himself to get out of the way, the slower the projectile seems to move! When it is but mere inches from his face, it seems to have almost stopped still.

"Liiku! Liiku nyt, perkele!", the mortal shouts in his mind, but his lips have barely opened when he's already ended his sentence. Slowly, like a continent changing its place across untold aeons, his head tilts to the left, the projectile missing him by just half an inch. A century seems to pass before Mikael feels the shockwave of it speeding past him.

But it was merely the first one. Mikael can count them from the air. Unfortunately, the barrage is so vast that even if can dodge them all, he will still be caught inside the blast radius. The mortal's mind screams in rage, because he can see it right there before him the place he must get to, but his stupid body stubbornly refuses to get him there. Frustrated, his mind turns back to the projectiles - one of them is just slightly before him, black dart flying through the air like a distant falling star. As he observes it, the mortal gets an idea. Carefully, he reaches forward with his left hand, wrapping it around the black dot as if catching a fly in midair. The projectiles obviously have some sort of physical substance, so if he can match its speed and movements...

Of coure, to the white devil, events hardly seem to pass at such tranquil pace. All he sees is the mortal stand up, trying to dodge, and then getting violently thrown aside again by the shockwave of multiple black projectiles hitting the ground next to him. Again, the mortal bounces and rolls in the dust, like a rock thrown across surface of the water, before stopping next to small dune. He ends up curled into a fetal position, trembling from pain... no, that's not right. He's trembling because he is giggling madly. The white devil can hear the mortal's faint, raspy voice echoing through the air.

---

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

"Oh no, I don't want you to go anywhere. We seldom have time to discuss at our own leisure these days, and I'm going to remedy it right here and now", the Captain states to the weary Vice-Captain. "This is a query I received from, *ahem*, Sparrow-soutaichou. It's about all the people who've gone missing in the Rukongai in the past few weeks. I'd like to know what your opinion is..."

The elder's sentence is cut short by Nicole's feeble whimpering. "Ah, it seems our patient is recovering!" The Captain shifts around to fit in Nicole's line of sight. "Don't worry, the hallucinations will wear out within a couple of hours. Your rib will fix as well. It is, however, imperative you don't move around much, or the bone might heal wrongly. You will be ready to resume practicing with your new acting Captain next morning."

"Just take this as a lesson to not get yourself so badly hurt again", Li finishes with a smile.

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

Shigure waits until the Captain finishes with her patiant, using the time to look over the documents before finally giving a shrug. "I wasn't even aware until today. Is this not something the Internal Divisions should be taking care of? Or must we find the corpses to bury ourselves?" he mumbles as he pinches his nose. "More of a mess then we need with the wounded. It's probably linked with the attack on the Scarlet Garden. Has any investigation been sent in to look into criminal activites? Have any Shinigami gone missing? Perhaps a Hollow got loose and snuck past the radar. There's a myriad of answers it could be."

[Frozen_Feet]

Li turn to look at Shigure. "Oh, there are myriad reasons why it could have happened. The Science Institute, I think, passed a statement claiming that it was due to personnel reallocations. They certainly have something shady going on at the moment. But that's not what I wanted your opinion on, nor something we can safely discuss in the first place."

"I want to hear your opinion on our new commander. Granted, I'm not sure if you've even managed to catch a glimpse of her yet. She hasn't chosen a Vice-Captain yet as far as I know."

"The sole reason I'm not in a Captain's meeting right now is because that would mean leaving our flow of new rectruits unsupervized, and we can't afford that. But I'm not sure we can afford two-thirds of our high command being forced to abandon their post to explain..."

Li's voice trails off. "... come to think of it, wasn't Kiba-san supposed to be in that meeting? Suou-san, do you have any idea why he was fighting you instead of attending it?"

[5a Violista]

[Hueco Mundo]
The Arena

Valentina sits forward in her seat. Wow, this just got interesting. Was that on purpose? She glances at Azmus, trying to read him. "Azmus, you sly dog. Just what are you planning?" she asks under her breath.

There's now a small chance that she'll lose the bet.


Baatar Baabgai was just going to grab Greven and throw him out of the ring. But, no, this winged hothead just had to jump in the way. Baatar growls at the new opponent.

The bear of a man steps forward, while ducking, to throw a crushing punch at Karasu's foot. His other gauntleted hand remains free to grab any readied counterattack.


[Soul Society]
Temple of the Ho-ou

pleasestopandgoawayandpleasestopgoaway -- she thinks with all her might. She doesn't move, afraid it'll take longer to heal if she so much as stretches her legs.

But something catches her attention! Shigure mentions the attack on the Scarlet Garden. Maybe they know something about it! Unfortunately, they don't say anything else about it, but Suou's rather lucky that she started paying attention then. Otherwise, she would have had to ask to repeat the question.

"Well, you just said it was a Captain's meeting. Kiba's not a Captain, he's just the Vice-Captain, isn't he?" Nicole wrongly assumes there's a Captain.

[CMOTDibbler]

[Mortal World] Higure's Classroom
Higure stutters, embarrassed at how silly that sounds.

Essentially, yeah. This sword isn't really a sword, it's like... an extension of my soul, I guess. Or my grandfathers. I inherited it from him, and, well...

Higure explains a paraphrased version of his backstory:

Spoiler

Show

Higure was born in Japan, but grew up in Minnesota, USA. His family was rather strict, as well as rich, so Higure got the best education possible, getting his bachelors in physics at 23. That same year, Higure’s grandfather, who was still in Japan, died. Higure went to his funeral, and was given a odachi, along with a note. The note said that the sword was called Untaidake and that his grandfather wanted him to have it.

When Higure got back to his hotel room, he examined the sword, unsheathing it. As he felt the edge, he accidentally cut himself on it, which teleported his consciousness into Untaidake's spirit realm, a castle courtyard. He was met there by Untaidake, a giant green scorpion, who explained the wakizashi held great power, and Higure's grandfather wanted Higure to have it. Higure accepted, and without warning, Untaidake stung Higure, injecting him with a serum that transferred part of his ancestor's power into him.

((Sorry, I couldn't think of a better answer...))

[Hueco Mundo] The Arena
Greven, surprised by the crow arrancar's action, loses his grip on his sword, letting it fly back behind him, straight toward's Lagoshta. Lagoshta ducks, wide eyed, then charges Greven, who also ducks, leaving Lagoshta's lunge barreling straight towards Karasu.

Azmus, flashes a smile to Valentina, then turns back the other arrancar, who are glancing between him and the fighting.

What are you waiting for?

With that, the remaining four arrancar draw their various weapons and charge into the melee.

[DiscipleofBob]

Mortal World
(Classroom)

"I, uh.. huh..." Obviously it wasn't anywhere close to the answer Kenzan was guessing. We went from strange white-masked monsters, to ghosts, to a talking sword, to giant green scorpion in a castle. Kenzan was willing to believe most anything at this point, but even this was stretching it. Regardless, there was the obvious question. "So... what happens now?"

Soul Society
(Combat Corps)

"We all need to train. Both ourselves and our recruits. But at the same time we can't be always pushing ourselves as we're used to doing. The last thing we want is to get attacked again and be tired from fighting each other." Kiba thinks about how he personally needs to find a way to step up his training. While he excelled in raw power, he still could not even use Shikai, despite knowing the name of his broken Zanpakuto. A few weeks ago he would not have given any thought to this, but now if he was going to lead the Pack he had to step up. "If anyone knows of any fast-track training regiments, now's the time."

Hueco Mundo
(The Wilderness)

The smoke has not even cleared yet, but Victor can still hear the raspy voice. Unsure of whether he was hearing the still-yet-miraculously-alive wonder, or finally his spirit, Victor charged forward, his tank treads accelerating as they approached. If he still lived, Victor would run him down until he stopped. If his spirit was separated from his mortal form, Victor would ensure that the chain was broken, and perhaps still try to salvage something from this fight.

Hueco Mundo
(The Arena)

With a large flap of his wings, Karasu ascends about ten feet. With any luck, the arrancars Lagoshtar and Baatar should collide into each other, making them easy prey as Karasu swung his massive scythe overhead on whatever prey awaited below as he and his scythe descended.

At the same time, the ensuing melee required more than just his blade. With one flap of his wings Karasu shoots several spiney missiles which unfold as they attempt to hit the targets below.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Soul Society]
Temple of Ho-ou

Li looks sadly at Nicole. "Kiba is our acting Captain. His predecessor had an... unfortunate accident."

---

[Hueco Mundo]
Wilderness

As the white devil rumbles towards the fallen mortal, a figure crawls on one knee inside the dust. Oh rats, it seems the mortal is still stubbornly clinging to life. As the devil gets closer, it can see that Mikael is grinning madly with his eyes wide open... oh wait, that's not it. His teeth and eyes are merely exposed because his lips and eyelids have been torn off. Mikael's left hand is pulled back, as if he's preparing to... punch the devil? Such a laughable gesture! How could such a miserable wretch punch through the devil's armor, when he couldn't do so previously.

But wait - something's odd. As the devil rolls closer to the mortal at ever-increasing speed, it might notice that Mikael's closed is trembling violently, as if something alive was struggling inside it with all its might to get free.

To Mikael, the advancing wall of white doom seems to move slowly like an iceberg detaching itself from a distant glacier. Inside, he is laughing as he (in his perspective) slowly extends his left arm towards the horned head of the devil. "<Hee? Ah 'a'na'ed tho chatshhh un>", he mocks, unable to pronounce the words correctly. But the next word cuts clear through all the rumble and clatter: Improve.

To the devil, Mikael seems to take a wild swing towards it, much before his fist has any change of connecting with its head. But at the same moment, the mortal opens his fist, and just before the devil's threads crush him underneath, a black sphere blooms into existence just before the devil's eyes, rapidly expanding to fill its whole field of vision. The air wails as if a million lost souls were screaming in unison.

[Tebryn]

[Soul Society]
Temple of Ho-ou

Shigure nods, keeping his eyes on the papers before him intently. [COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]"You'll forgive me Honored Grandmother but I've not had time to weigh in on the new Commander though any new management will feel stifling to how we operate. New rules and obligations to work around and figure out how to circumvent so that we can do our work." He seems to have no opinion on the Captains meeting either, merely shrugging about the terminology and titles. "Beating up new recruits is important too, it would seem."