[BitP:R] Hueco Mundo 3

[Frozen_Feet]

[Throne Room]

The man stands his ground, glaring at the howling Arrancar. He stays as still as before, and Rouga can't see his face through the mask. He can only guess whether his attempt is working.

---

[Elsewhere in Las Noches]

Lalita starts climbing up the opposite slope of the crater with, slow, delibarate depths. His remaining eye follows Cuerva closely.

The flaming hands move much faster than he does, though. They grab the "body" of the serpent, while others grab its massive beak and wrench it open. More of the flames surge inside, illuminating it from within. Lalita spits blood through his teeth into the conflagration, and the flames receive dark outlines as the blood boils and turns black as ink.

"Gran Rey Cero - Ouroboros."

As the last flames ar absorbed into its maw, the serpent rushes onwards - but at the same time, Cuerva can feel her control of it being wrestled away from her. The black outerior of the Hambre Cero burns away, and a reptilian form of blinding white fire hatches from it like some strange parasite from its host. The lizard curves around Lalita and coils around him, biting its own tail, forming a protective barrier between its master and Empress of the Dark Flight.

As Lalita makes it to the edge of the pit, he conjures three blades of similar white fire into three of his hands. He coughs blood into his remaining hand, then places it behind his back, out of the way. Around him, the lizard becomes transparent like smoke-filled glass, faint black outlines showing its limits. Other fires have died out and the heat is cooling down.

[Kuroimaken]

One way to find out.

Rouga extends his shield into massive razors around his fingers - each about the length of a spear, thick as a longsword - and claws at Hannibal's chest.

[Nicklance]

[Elsewhere in Las Noches]

Lalita starts climbing up the opposite slope of the crater with, slow, delibarate depths. His remaining eye follows Cuerva closely.

Spoiler

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The flaming hands move much faster than he does, though. They grab the "body" of the serpent, while others grab its massive beak and wrench it open. More of the flames surge inside, illuminating it from within. Lalita spits blood through his teeth into the conflagration, and the flames receive dark outlines as the blood boils and turns black as ink.

"Gran Rey Cero - Ouroboros."

As the last flames ar absorbed into its maw, the serpent rushes onwards - but at the same time, Cuerva can feel her control of it being wrestled away from her. The black outerior of the Hambre Cero burns away, and a reptilian form of blinding white fire hatches from it like some strange parasite from its host. The lizard curves around Lalita and coils around him, biting its own tail, forming a protective barrier between its master and Empress of the Dark Flight.

As Lalita makes it to the edge of the pit, he conjures three blades of similar white fire into three of his hands. He coughs blood into his remaining hand, then places it behind his back, out of the way. Around him, the lizard becomes transparent like smoke-filled glass, faint black outlines showing its limits. Other fires have died out and the heat is cooling down.

Whipping back her two arms, the inky-black serpents burst out of her palms, two of them circling around the crater, swallowing a few foolish Hollows still remaining in the scene.

Whipping her arms forward, the two Gran Hambre Ceros attempt to smash towards Lalita, coming in from his left and right.

In the meantime, Cuerva's reiatsu pressure finally reveals itself visually as inky-blackness runs down from her dress and fills the area in a part-fog and part-oily spill along the ground, spreading quickly and widely.

In less than ten seconds, majority of the District which Lalita crash-landed on has been covered by Cuerva's reiatsu seepage, permeating the surface like an oily stain on marble.

"I will enjoy this, worm..."

[Draken]

[Distrito Uno - A few moments ago]

Von Geister sighs at the incoming last ditch attack and flops to the side, sinking into the ivory of the streets like a horrendous mix of lobster and chilopod fish into water.

As he goes, the wall loses cohesion and the cero obliterates the empty street.

Von Geister's reiatsu briefly flares omnipresent, before vanishing almost entirely.

Spoiler

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For that matter, Municipal Travel is the spell in question.

Distrito Cinco

Von Geister's reiatsu rumbles underneath the streets, like the fin of a shark appearing from the waterline.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Throne Room]

One way to find out.

Rouga extends his shield into massive razors around his fingers - each about the length of a spear, thick as a longsword - and claws at Hannibal's chest.

The man begins to move... but slowly, as if thawing from deep freeze. The claws scratch at his chest, leaving behind bleeding gashes and striking sparks from the metallic layer underneath.

The man stumbles back, barely managing to lift his blade to guard against any follow-ups... but at the same time, he takes a deep breath, the mouth of his mask moving as if it's become a part of his face now. His chest bulges, and then... he lets out a loud roar, more than enough to challenge Rouga's howling. Merely the sound pressure would strike lesser beasts deaf.

The fight has just ceased to be a fight between two men, if you could ever call it that. It's a fight between two monsters now. Drool or blood that eeriely resembles molten metal trickles from between tusks of the man as he breaks Rouga's spell and prepares to fight again.

---

[Distrito Seis]

Spoiler

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Whipping back her two arms, the inky-black serpents burst out of her palms, two of them circling around the crater, swallowing a few foolish Hollows still remaining in the scene.

Whipping her arms forward, the two Gran Hambre Ceros attempt to smash towards Lalita, coming in from his left and right.

In the meantime, Cuerva's reiatsu pressure finally reveals itself visually as inky-blackness runs down from her dress and fills the area in a part-fog and part-oily spill along the ground, spreading quickly and widely.

In less than ten seconds, majority of the District which Lalita crash-landed on has been covered by Cuerva's reiatsu seepage, permeating the surface like an oily stain on marble.

"I will enjoy this, worm..."

Lalita doesn't reply to the taunt. He's focused on making his next move. If the black snakes had come straight at him, he'd be in more trouble - but now their curved path gives him much-needed time to react. Cuerva can see the reptilian barrier around him start to revolve ever faster. Simultaneously, the flaming warrior draws a line on the air with one of his blades, tearing a hole... just as the pelican beaks turn for him, he lunges through. The reptilian creatures shrinks and vanishes with him, as if it ate itself and its master too.

The starving Ceros go unfed once more.

In the Void, Lalita takes a second to check his left ankle. But he isn't planning to escape yet, or maybe he doesn't believe he can. Instead, he climbs on the back of the transparent dragon and lets it carry him upward in the blackness - and at the estimated spot, he plunges two of his blades through the fabric of reality.

Cueva can hear them coming towards her back as the air itself shatter like a pane of glass. She can still bring the serpentine Ceros around to pursue her enemy, but right now they'd likely hit her too.

Spoiler

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Please tell if there's anything out of the ordinary for him to see.

[Steilos]

The Ciudad Baja

A swearing portal of seawater opens up in the General's office as the man himself gives the damn thing a kick, his mood at least eighty times fouler than before. How long had it been, anyway? Thankfully he felt his meditation at the top of the seabed hadn't been a COMPLETE failure, but he'd have to look that up later - something was happening up above.

Apolinar sprinted up the steps to the overcity and saw first hand what was transpiiring.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Then he hears the roar from down below.

"What the HELL is going on here!?"

[Kuroimaken]

As if to answer Apolinar's curses, one fairly bloodied Goki-kun walks into Apolinar's office.

"Apolinar-sama! It's a good thing I finally found you. Las Noches is under attack! The legions are in disarray and the enemies keep on coming! We need you immediately on the battlefield, sir!"

Don't worry. It's not HIS blood.

[Steilos]

The desk explodes into splinters as Apolinar hits it apocalyptically hard. "WHAT!? WHO!? WHERE!?" he roars, before calming down a little. "Need MY help at dealing with an invasion, do they? I trained them better than THAT! PAH! Whatever, I'll be a few seconds. Goki, was it? If you're here... where's Rouga?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Darned if we knew, sir! The invasion force's too massive! I came searching for you because, quote Rouga, 'if I am not around, then Ringo-chan is the one who has to lead you. We are under HIS command, after all'." Goki-kun noted. "And... it's private Saltamontes, sir. Rouga-san only calls me Goki-kun because of the fact I haven't died from his training despite being the weakest of his Legion."

[Kuroimaken]

[Throne Room]


The man begins to move... but slowly, as if thawing from deep freeze. The claws scratch at his chest, leaving behind bleeding gashes and striking sparks from the metallic layer underneath.

The man stumbles back, barely managing to lift his blade to guard against any follow-ups... but at the same time, he takes a deep breath, the mouth of his mask moving as if it's become a part of his face now. His chest bulges, and then... he lets out a loud roar, more than enough to challenge Rouga's howling. Merely the sound pressure would strike lesser beasts deaf.

The fight has just ceased to be a fight between two men, if you could ever call it that. It's a fight between two monsters now. Drool or blood that eeriely resembles molten metal trickles from between tusks of the man as he breaks Rouga's spell and prepares to fight again.

---

[Distrito Seis]


Lalita doesn't reply to the taunt. He's focused on making his next move. If the black snakes had come straight at him, he'd be in more trouble - but now their curved path gives him much-needed time to react. Cuerva can see the reptilian barrier around him start to revolve ever faster. Simultaneously, the flaming warrior draws a line on the air with one of his blades, tearing a hole... just as the pelican beaks turn for him, he lunges through. The reptilian creatures shrinks and vanishes with him, as if it ate itself and its master too.

The starving Ceros go unfed once more.

In the Void, Lalita takes a second to check his left ankle. But he isn't planning to escape yet, or maybe he doesn't believe he can. Instead, he climbs on the back of the transparent dragon and lets it carry him upward in the blackness - and at the estimated spot, he plunges two of his blades through the fabric of reality.

Cueva can hear them coming towards her back as the air itself shatter like a pane of glass. She can still bring the serpentine Ceros around to pursue her enemy, but right now they'd likely hit her too.

Spoiler

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Please tell if there's anything out of the ordinary for him to see.

Should've gone for the arm. But that'd be unsportsmanlike.

On the plus side, the wolfman does not drool. If he did, it'd probably be acid or something.

...makes one wonder why his Ressurreccion resembles that form, considering his other powers.

In a clear effort to repair his previous mistake, Rouga aims a lunge for his shoulder. For all of Hannibal's power and strength, his proportions are still human - whereas Rouga has gained quite a bit of mass from his transformation. If he gets a clean hit in, he could well dismember the Vizard. No - even a scratch, given the size of those claws, could make it difficult for the man of steel and magma to move his arm again, at least as long as the wound lasts.

[Steilos]

"Probably off being worthless somewhere, heh...

Should've gone for the arm. But that'd be unsportsmanlike.

On the plus side, the wolfman does not drool. If he did, it'd probably be acid or something.

...makes one wonder why his Ressurreccion resembles that form, considering his other powers.

In a clear effort to repair his previous mistake, Rouga aims a lunge for his shoulder. For all of Hannibal's power and strength, his proportions are still human - whereas Rouga has gained quite a bit of mass from his transformation. If he gets a clean hit in, he could well dismember the Vizard. No - even a scratch, given the size of those claws, could make it difficult for the man of steel and magma to move his arm again, at least as long as the wound lasts.

"...Yep, total wuss that one. Now where the HELL was I!?"

Running out of the door in a blur, he disappears behind the office building. There are a few prangs, crashes, thuds and thumps before he visible once more in the courtyard.

Atop a 7-foot flaming mechahorse that Salitmontes might just remember.

"ALRIGHT YOU SCUMBAGS, LISTEN UP!" he bellows. "LAS NOCHES IS UNDER ATTACK! I WANT HALF OF EVERYONE STILL DOWN HERE UP ON THE SURFACE RIGHT NOW! THE REST GO WITH LIEUTENANT SALTAMONTES AND SEE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN HERE!" before looking up at the newly-minted Lieutenant Saltamontes with a glare and a growl. "Yeah, you're promoted. On the basis that you're the only on who bothered to tell me this crap. Don't screw up."

And then he is gone once more, his impromptu warhorse thundering across the Baja with the stragglers in desperate tow.


Las Noches, The Gateway to the Ciudad Baja

Standing atop a building after a mighty leap, the steed let out a screaming, metal-on metal neigh and reared backwards, flame pouring out of its nostrils. Doing his best to maintain the impression of control, Apolinar points his halberd towards the walls and lets out a war cry that would be amazingly epic if it weren't drowned out by the absolute chaos. Still, the men could see him...

[Kuroimaken]

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!" Lieutenant Saltamontes replied as he valiantly leaped right into the thick of things, decapitating a half-dozen Hollows in one fell swoop.

...and this is the WEAKEST guy in Rouga's legion. Huh.

He follows up with a Cero. Then two, then three. He's mostly aiming where the forces of Las Noches haven't engaged yet, but still...

"Alright maggots! ZEROSHIKI JINKEI YOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIII*!!!"

At the command, those in Rouga's legion lined up to the sides and top of Saltamontes, making up a veritable wall of Hollows. They begin to simultaneously charge Ceros of all kinds.

"MOKUSHIROKU HASSSSSSHAAAAAAA**!!!"

And then they start firing their Ceros like a bloody chaingun. They're cutting a swath through the enemy forces, but there's just so much of them it doesn't feel like they've made a dent. Nevertheless, they keep on firing.

Spoiler

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*Zeroshiki Jinkei Yoi: Type Zero Formation Ready
**Mokushiroku Hassha: Launch Apocalypse

[KerfuffleMach2]

Kyoki and Ivaz had managed to fight their way through the invading Arrancar to find the location of Von Geister's battle. Unfortunately they only got there in time to see the final few moments of the fight. Looking thoguh Kyoki got a true taste of Von Geister's power and even the power of an Espada.

"Sugoi! Von Geister-sama just blasted that Espada out of the city! That was incredible I can't believe I got to see that with my own eyes!" Ragunaroku was also in awe as he says, "Whooooo! That was a explosive! Von Geister-sama is made of pure win and awesome! I wonder if he was even taking that guy seriously. I bet he was all like, 'bi*ch please!, and then smack! Right in the kisser and it is a home run!"' As he finishes his statement he turns to a crowd of Arrancar that he been coming up behind them and fired a large purple Cero at the whole lot taking out most of them. He had to leave some for Ivaz after all.

Ivaz was also in awe of the Ghost King's raw power. She had never felt this much of it before. It actually left her speechless for a moment as she realized that this is what she would have to face if she was to get the control she wanted. And she may be full of herself, and a little over-confident...but she knew that, for now, Von Geister was way out of her league.

Ragunaroku's colorful commentary brought her out of her dazed state. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked to him with a smirk. Von Geister strikes me as the kind of man that takes any challenge to his authority seriously. She then turns to face the crowd as well. She grins, then starts swinging her arms, tossing Balas all over the place. Her preferred ranged attack.

[AnimeKid]

Kyoki nods to Ivaz as she acknowledges her point as she got that kind of Vibe from Von Geister as well. As for herself well, she truly didn't know how powerful she was or her potential. She had spent most of her life away from Los Noches and other arrancar. She didn't expect to become a fraccion on the first day. However she did know that Von Geister would crush them. Kyoki looked from their vantage point to the city. There were still tons left from the invasion force. It would take a while to defeat them. She then turns to see another wave of arrancar comes towards them. She her eyes seem to gain a killer edge as she says, "Annoying."

She then draws her sword again as they come forth. She gathers reiatsu into the blade and releases it as she slices horizontally. A thin wave of purple energy shoot forth to slice the entire wave in half at the waist. She starts gathering energy again as she says, "Well even so, this invasion is rapidly starting to grate on nerves I didn't even know I had. I just hope now that Von Geister-sama is finished that it will rapidly start dying down. It would be interesting if there were actually strong people fighting, but killing these mooks is starting to lose its charm."

Ragunaroku then stops his blasting to look at Kyoki in shock. "Kyoki...Did you just actually say somthing cool?" Kyoki lowly says with a sulky face, "You say that like I'm not cool normally." With another slash another wave of arrancar are eradicated.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Ivaz looks to Kyoki as she stomps an Arracncar's head into the ground.

You're getting annoyed by this? Man, I haven't had this much fun in ages! I mean, come on! When have you been able to kill this many beings without any repercussions? I love it! She lets out a cackle, the grabs and Arrancar by its ankle and swings it a couple of times over her head before launching it and watching how far it goes.

[Steilos]

An Arrancar lands screaming next to Apolinar but he is too busy trying to work out which side is which to notice. Finally getting his act together, he begins screaming an endless flurry of orders, taunts and threats for the troops to get themselves into gear. After forcibly reorganising a decent chunk of them, Apolinar lands his steed in front of his impromptu regiment and points his halberd right at the invaders.

"On my order... CHAAARRRRGE!!!"

The Arrancar comply, running towards the enemy with their weapons lowered before smashing into them all as one, immediately launching into the tactics they had been trained to do. Covering each other, providing supporting fire and actually working together dominated the field as they began ripping through the enemy ranks. Proper military tactics and arrancar generally didn't mix well, but the General had nevertheless managed it.

Speaking of the General, he didn't just command from the back, no. He rode his mecha-steed right into the masses of enemies, letting it flame, stomp and kick to it's crazed steel heart's desires while he cut down invaders left and right with massive swings from his halberd. Ivaz could probably see him from where she was, if she cared to go over there and check it out.

[Nicklance]

[Distrito Seis]


Lalita doesn't reply to the taunt. He's focused on making his next move. If the black snakes had come straight at him, he'd be in more trouble - but now their curved path gives him much-needed time to react. Cuerva can see the reptilian barrier around him start to revolve ever faster. Simultaneously, the flaming warrior draws a line on the air with one of his blades, tearing a hole... just as the pelican beaks turn for him, he lunges through. The reptilian creatures shrinks and vanishes with him, as if it ate itself and its master too.

The starving Ceros go unfed once more.

In the Void, Lalita takes a second to check his left ankle. But he isn't planning to escape yet, or maybe he doesn't believe he can. Instead, he climbs on the back of the transparent dragon and lets it carry him upward in the blackness - and at the estimated spot, he plunges two of his blades through the fabric of reality.

Cueva can hear them coming towards her back as the air itself shatter like a pane of glass. She can still bring the serpentine Ceros around to pursue her enemy, but right now they'd likely hit her too.

Spoiler

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Please tell if there's anything out of the ordinary for him to see.

During that split second which Cuerva is literally fogging the place with her inky-black reiatsu and Lalita is slipping through the Void, his reemergence from his hiding spot with a shattering through like breaking through a pane of glass greets him with an inrush of that black fog.

And at the moment when his blades plunge down onto Cuerva, she gives a gasp of surprise at the sudden assault. Lalita's left ankle feels like it is on fire. And he can feel the resistance of the dark reiatsu that constitutes Cuerva's dark dress. He can feel the penetration of his weapons through her tougher Hierro.

And he can definitely see that after his blades manage to plunge down all the way to the hilt when "Cuerva" dissolves into a puddle and cloud of inky-black reiatsu.

Grabbing Lalita's right ankle this time from below, Cuerva uses the Espada like a club and whacks the offending worm onto the ground. Now both his ankles are on fire as the right ankle shares the left in missing a chunk of flesh, and any regeneration ability Lalita has seems to work at only a fraction of their power.

Wasting not a second after the first assault, Cuerva materializes a spear from the blackness and plunges it down on Lalita's abdomen with her left hand, and firing a really point blank Gran Hambre Cero right at Lalita with her right.

The crater just got a lot wider.

Spoiler

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There is no drastic visibility change in the immediate vicinity, just feels as if Lalita is wearing dark sunglasses. Oh and the longer he stays in this crater-wide and growing area of influence, Lalita's regeneration ability will decrease gradually to nothing.

[KnightDisciple]

Lalita wasn't the type to just lie around in the middle of a fight, but it was likely he'd need a moment to catch his breath, especially with both ankles wounded. Of course, maybe he was hallucinating.

Because for all that Cuerva now had avian features, she hadn't been seen shedding feathers, and yet here were at least a half-dozen pitch-black feathers lazily touching down on the ground around him...

Then someone turned out the lights in a sphere that stopped just short of Cuerva herself. No sound, no warning, simply blackness out of nowhere. Even with his flames Lalita would be lucky to see his own hand 2 inches in front of his face.

Hopefully he'd figure out what was going on before the two Ceros that were lancing at his torso struck; they were pitifully narrow, for Ceros, but they seemed to carry potent energy nonetheless. Which meant they packed more energy in less area. Probably bad for his health.

In all the energy flying and surging around Las Noches, it seemed that another participant in this fight had shown up, as Vicente appeared at another part of the crater's brim, calmly firing two of his Cero at Lalita (who he could see without trouble). He stood there, a humanoid bird in his Resurrección, wings folding back after releasing his feathers.

Only his voice made any real sound.

"Forgive my impertinence in joining the fight, Lady Primera, but the Septima Espada wishes to lend his aid. In taking out the sand-eating trash who dares think he knows better than us."

[KerfuffleMach2]

An Arrancar lands screaming next to Apolinar but he is too busy trying to work out which side is which to notice. Finally getting his act together, he begins screaming an endless flurry of orders, taunts and threats for the troops to get themselves into gear. After forcibly reorganising a decent chunk of them, Apolinar lands his steed in front of his impromptu regiment and points his halberd right at the invaders.

"On my order... CHAAARRRRGE!!!"

The Arrancar comply, running towards the enemy with their weapons lowered before smashing into them all as one, immediately launching into the tactics they had been trained to do. Covering each other, providing supporting fire and actually working together dominated the field as they began ripping through the enemy ranks. Proper military tactics and arrancar generally didn't mix well, but the General had nevertheless managed it.

Speaking of the General, he didn't just command from the back, no. He rode his mecha-steed right into the masses of enemies, letting it flame, stomp and kick to it's crazed steel heart's desires while he cut down invaders left and right with massive swings from his halberd. Ivaz could probably see him from where she was, if she cared to go over there and check it out.

A wave of Arrancar attacking other Arrancar? Of course Ivaz would notice!

If not for the right reasons.

Hey! You're stealing my kills! Ivaz points and shouts to Apolinar, who is clearly in charge there.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Throne Room]

Rouga wasn't exactly small compared to the man in the first place, though. His slash connects and knocks the man to the side - but Rouga might notice he feels suspiciously light. He rolls over his other shoulder, ending up standing. It seems he anticipated the strike and dived to the side, turning what could've been a turnpoint in the fight into a mere grazing wound. Rouga can see another patch of the strange, metallic layer through his torn skin.

The man swings his sword in a wide arc - but midswing, it changes from a sword into a long lenght of chain, shooting past Rouga's shoulder and threatening to wrap around his neck if he lets it hit.

---

[Distrito Seis]

Lalita belongs to the caste of Arrancar who traded away all of his short-term healing ability for raw power when he tore of his mask. As such, effects of Cuerva's aura, save for the sudden dimming, go entirely unnoticed.

Lalita freezes for a split-second as the pain surges through him. Such sympathetic link had been completely unexpected. He snaps out of it as Cuerva grabs his other ankle.

Now he knows what to expect, though. The pain may be real, but pain never killed anyone. And Cuerva is fighting a man who's set himself in fire to keep fighting.

With one of his blades, Lalita parries the spear of blackness. He plunges the second towards Cuerva's palm as she charges the Cero - as it fires, the white-hot blade cleaves it from the beak so it can't snap shut around Lalita. Halves of the Hambre Cero collide on both sides of him, disintegrating the ground around. Lalita grits his teeth as he fights against the pressure, half rising, half falling into a kneeling position. He thrusts his third blade towards Cuerva's throat...

... when the darkness falls. Neither the feathers or the sudden blacknes are unexpected, based on Cuerva's other powers. But the two Ceros coming from his side do catch him by surprise. Due to his sudden motion and the utter chaos at the bottom of the pit, they don't hit quite where Vicente intended, but hit nonetheless - one pierces elbow of Lalita's third arm, rendering it useless, and the other goes diagonally through his chest and bursts out of the shoulder of the same arm.

Reinforcements? Well, then it's time to retreat. Lalita slips his fourth hand, to this point kept out of the way, from behind his back and grabs the flat of his left foot, slipping a tiny black cube inside his Hollow hole.

But it's still a second before the folding of space will hide him away from existence. He needs a distraction to keep his enemies from killing him in the interim.

That distraction already exists, though, and it has enough autonomy to do what's needed even without senses of its master guiding it. The glass-like reptilian emerges from Void and jumps at Cuerva's back, trying to grab her wings withs it claws and bite her head off. At the same time, its body coils around the two fighting in the crater, forming a barrier between Vicente and the bottom of the pit.

The owl-like Arrancar can see the snaking thing starting to glow with a threatening white light, however...

---

[Elsewhere in Distrito Seis]

The crowd of lesser Hollows is slowly being grinded to dust by the counter-attack of the Ciudad Baja garrison. But like their Mistress, the truly powerful insurgents have stayed away from the thick of the battle to wage hidden battles against targets that matter. One of them is sneaking around the crater, behind the lines of Ciudad Baja forces. He'd not bypassed them, though - he'd always been there, hiding in the shadows since the start of the invasion.

He'd been drawn to the site by a curious trail of vanished Hollows. He'd observed a few of his "allies" suddenly captured or incapacitated by a shade-like being. So far, the creature eluded his grasp, but now, it's conveniently made itself visible.

On the brink of the crater and middle of the open space created by the Primera and Decima figthing each other, there's little way for even Vicente to remain unnoticed.

The insurgent in the shadows materializes a bright blue dagger in his hand, then flings it straight towards the brand-new Septima...

[Nicklance]

[Distrito Seis]

Lalita belongs to the caste of Arrancar who traded away all of his short-term healing ability for raw power when he tore of his mask. As such, effects of Cuerva's aura, save for the sudden dimming, go entirely unnoticed.

Lalita freezes for a split-second as the pain surges through him. Such sympathetic link had been completely unexpected. He snaps out of it as Cuerva grabs his other ankle.

Now he knows what to expect, though. The pain may be real, but pain never killed anyone. And Cuerva is fighting a man who's set himself in fire to keep fighting.

With one of his blades, Lalita parries the spear of blackness. He plunges the second towards Cuerva's palm as she charges the Cero - as it fires, the white-hot blade cleaves it from the beak so it can't snap shut around Lalita. Halves of the Hambre Cero collide on both sides of him, disintegrating the ground around. Lalita grits his teeth as he fights against the pressure, half rising, half falling into a kneeling position. He thrusts his third blade towards Cuerva's throat...

... when the darkness falls. Neither the feathers or the sudden blacknes are unexpected, based on Cuerva's other powers. But the two Ceros coming from his side do catch him by surprise. Due to his sudden motion and the utter chaos at the bottom of the pit, they don't hit quite where Vicente intended, but hit nonetheless - one pierces elbow of Lalita's third arm, rendering it useless, and the other goes diagonally through his chest and bursts out of the shoulder of the same arm.

Reinforcements? Well, then it's time to retreat. Lalita slips his fourth hand, to this point kept out of the way, from behind his back and grabs the flat of his left foot, slipping a tiny black cube inside his Hollow hole.

But it's still a second before the folding of space will hide him away from existence. He needs a distraction to keep his enemies from killing him in the interim.

That distraction already exists, though, and it has enough autonomy to do what's needed even without senses of its master guiding it. The glass-like reptilian emerges from Void and jumps at Cuerva's back, trying to grab her wings withs it claws and bite her head off. At the same time, its body coils around the two fighting in the crater, forming a barrier between Vicente and the bottom of the pit.

The owl-like Arrancar can see the snaking thing starting to glow with a threatening white light, however...

---

[Elsewhere in Distrito Seis]

The crowd of lesser Hollows is slowly being grinded to dust by the counter-attack of the Ciudad Baja garrison. But like their Mistress, the truly powerful insurgents have stayed away from the thick of the battle to wage hidden battles against targets that matter. One of them is sneaking around the crater, behind the lines of Ciudad Baja forces. He'd not bypassed them, though - he'd always been there, hiding in the shadows since the start of the invasion.

He'd been drawn to the site by a curious trail of vanished Hollows. He'd observed a few of his "allies" suddenly captured or incapacitated by a shade-like being. So far, the creature eluded his grasp, but now, it's conveniently made itself visible.

On the brink of the crater and middle of the open space created by the Primera and Decima figthing each other, there's little way for even Vicente to remain unnoticed.

The insurgent in the shadows materializes a bright blue dagger in his hand, then flings it straight towards the brand-new Septima...

When Lalita's blades attempt to hack through Cuerva's Hambre Cero, the energy beam goes over and past the weapon like a river through a tree stuck in the middle of its course. As for why it appears that Lalita could affect the previous Hambre Cero was of course just a matter of will for the Primera. As perhaps the only being in Hueco Mundo with such extensive control of her Gran Rey Cero, creating the illusion of firing a living being as a beam of energy is easy enough.

But yes the beam does seem to split into half, but no one can really control how an ink-like beam of energy reacts when it decides to split on the whim of its mistress. The beak does break but the resultant spill of Cero energy still hits Lalita's shoulders. A fortunate thing for him perhaps, as a direct hit at this range would cause even greater problems.

With the multiple arms that Lalita has, no doubt he can achieve more at the same time, but his thrusting blade is stopped short by the screeching and crowing darkness that weaves itself around Cuerva and the tip of Lalita's blade is slowly pecked away as the blackness chips away at the offending weapon for daring to touch Cuerva.

As for that white-glowing glass serpent. It finds itself energetically drained and spirit-particle-eaten. But the distraction works, Cuerva had to spin and unleash an outward blast of her reiatsu to blow away everything that attempts to get close to her.

[Steilos]

The Battle for Hueco Mu- oh who are we kidding all the important people are way above these schleps

Apolinar pretends not to notice Ivaz's yell as he continues to kill invades. However, he does it in that way. Y'know, the way in which it is apparent that he is merely pretending to not notice. Either way, as he sends his halberd through another one's face and yanks on his steed's reins, causing its breath of fire to arc across a whole bunch of assailants at once, it is clear that Ivaz will have to do more to get his attention.

[KerfuffleMach2]

The Not-Quite-So-Important Battle

Ivaz stamps her foot out of frustration. Stupid ass, ignoring me. I'll show him. Ivaz disappears in a Sonido, making her way to Apolinar. She'll stop mere feet in front of him.

Hey! Big head! You're stealing my kills! Go find somewhere else to play!

[Steilos]

It's Something To Do, I Guess

Ah. That'll do nicely.

"No! YOU go somewhere else and BE USEFUL!" Apolinar shouts, continuing to whack at the surrounding enemies as he does so. "Standing around WHINING isn't getting ANYTHING done!"

Apolinar lets his steed take over killing duty for a few seconds as he glares at Ivaz. "Besides, if you were that worried about your kills being stolen you should've killed them FASTER!"

[KerfuffleMach2]

A Fight Within a Fight

Ivaz's eyes narrow. Her mouth turns into a snarl. In fact...I think she just growled a little. Clearly, she's upset.

Oh, so that's how you wanna play it? Excuse me for enjoying the little things. Like seeing if you can kick somebody's head clean off their shoulders.

She looks like she'd love to punch Apolinar in the face a few times. Hard.

You're just jealous cause I can do all that killing without needing a horse to help. She grins at him. Then proceeds to destroy an Arrancar that charged her. It gets messy.

[Steilos]

Yo dawg...

The feeling was mutual. Except maybe Apolinar wanted to throw a few kicks to the face as well. And maybe even a stab. As he leapt off the horse and let it rampage freely amongst the invaders, Apolinar slices a passing foe's head in half with a looping slice before landing flat on his back on another one. With the force of a freight train.

Getting up from his ruined foe, Apolinar growls in return.

"I don't have time for this...! Are you going to make something of it or not?"

Stab, chop, maim.

"Because I have more IMPORTANT things to do than to sit here bickering!"

[AnimeKid]

Enter the Moderator

Kyoki had followed after Ivaz with her own sonido, moving in short rapid fire bursts rather than a continues use. She landed beside Ivaz as she listened to the two arrancar bicker like children. She then gets in between them as she says, "Would you guys please cut it out? We have enough annoyances on our hands with the enemies."

Ragunaroku who just reached his hand into an arrancars chest and withdrew his still beating heart says, Yeah I mean geez these guys are weaklings and there are plenty of 'em. So quit buggin' out Ivaz. And you big, tall, and ugly can just can it. Taking out this guys takes no effort what so ever. Heck I'm pretty sure that your putting more energy into bickering than you are into fighting. So shove your self-righteous attitude straight up your *ss. I mean just who do you think you are buddy! Besides we have this sector covered plus we were here first. So why don't you take your fancy *ss army and go cover some of the other sectors that don't have any support!

Kyoki seems to be blushing at the obscenities that spill from Ragunaroku's mouth as the cuts her wrist once again and and throws a copious amount of blood into the air. Dozens of large needles are formed and then start raining down on the enemies and avoiding allies. Many arrancars are pierced through their skulls as the needles skewer them and then unsheath themselves and find new targets. "Ragunaroku your not really helping."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Fight-ception

Ivaz glares at Apolinar for a moment, and is about to respond when Kyoki and Ragunaroku cut in. Which brings more glaring.

...you guys all suck. She flips everybody off, then turns around and proceeds to tear an Arrancar apart with her bare hands.

[Terry576]

Sabas cuts the first Cero short before it can do any serious damage to his surroundings, apparently having anticipated Cecilia's disappearance. Still charging the second Cero, he turns to look at his tower. Remaining silent, the Quinta creates a ripple in his Reiatsu. Immediately, Arrancar and Hollows begin leaping out of the structure, using Sonído, airwalking, or natural flight to escape. The tower is soon entirely devoid of inhabitants, barring any that Cecilia decides to detain. Additionally, Cecilia will find the tower to be poor fodder for her shadow steps; the interior is well illuminated and has few areas of shadow, with some floors lacking shadows altogether.

Sabas himself simply walks out to the middle of the courtyard, sits down with his legs folded, and waits.

"I do not fear you, Sexta."

"Fear me? You don't need to fear me, Five. Every Hollow in existence fears me. Right Chero?"
KILL RIP TEAR FLESH SOUL BREAK

Cecilia is insane. It's well-known among the Espada - her madness extends to everything she does, from her Fraccion to her actions.

And yet she is never challenged.

Her madness compels her to throw cakes at the other Espada, dance in the streets, and cackle maniacally as she draws mustaches on her subordinates while they sleep.

And yet she is never challenged.

She is renowned for her deranged acts, for her wishy-washy nature, for her inability to sit still. She's one of the most questioned on why she has a position - she never does anything.

And yet
STAB SLICE CUT
She is
FIGHT YOU
never
DEATH
challenged.
GOD
"C'mon Five! You're supposed to be the smart one! What am I? Chero knows. You should know, Five! You've seen my form! You know Chero's full name! Translate it, and ask yourself..."

A pair of massive, blood-red eyes appear before the Fifth Espada, as the world slowly vanishes around him, delving into the darkened pits of Cecilia's mind.

"What am I?"
HOLLOW KILL HOLLOW KILL HOLLOW KILL
She laughs, a full, dancing melody, with an overlay of insanity mixed in it."I ask myself that every day! I have to remind myself every time I walk around! What. Am. I?"
SHINIGAMI
"Chero always says he knows."
SHINIGAMI
"And if she can protect me from her... Then I guess I know what I am right now too!"
SHINIGAMI
Cecilia's mind tips the brink of madness, and the blood-red eyes view Sabas' soul. Fears dance through her mind, and she faces them with a grin.

And then the world breaks into insanity.

"Can you face yourself, Five? Can you face your feeeaaaar~"

And Sabas Fortuna's worst nightmare appears in a black abyss of death.

[Steilos]

Enter the Moderator

Kyoki had followed after Ivaz with her own sonido, moving in short rapid fire bursts rather than a continues use. She landed beside Ivaz as she listened to the two arrancar bicker like children. She then gets in between them as she says, "Would you guys please cut it out? We have enough annoyances on our hands with the enemies."

Ragunaroku who just reached his hand into an arrancars chest and withdrew his still beating heart says, Yeah I mean geez these guys are weaklings and there are plenty of 'em. So quit buggin' out Ivaz. And you big, tall, and ugly can just can it. Taking out this guys takes no effort what so ever. Heck I'm pretty sure that your putting more energy into bickering than you are into fighting. So shove your self-righteous attitude straight up your *ss. I mean just who do you think you are buddy! Besides we have this sector covered plus we were here first. So why don't you take your fancy *ss army and go cover some of the other sectors that don't have any support!

Kyoki seems to be blushing at the obscenities that spill from Ragunaroku's mouth as the cuts her wrist once again and and throws a copious amount of blood into the air. Dozens of large needles are formed and then start raining down on the enemies and avoiding allies. Many arrancars are pierced through their skulls as the needles skewer them and then unsheath themselves and find new targets. "Ragunaroku your not really helping."

Alright FINE, I'm leaving

Apolinar turns a glare like an exploding Cero onto the two random interlopers. "I take my 'fancy *ss army' where I please, you insignificant little-"

He stops to kill a random Arrancar that happened to be nearby, rather drowning out his reply. Good, I couldn't really type it out anyway.

"There's only a very select few I answer to and it isn't any of you. But if you insist you had this sector completely covered with just the three of you..." He sprints towards his steed, leaping on top as it incinerates a whole bunch of Arrancar. "I shall go cover somewhere else, since you are doing such a fantastic job here."