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>>47488661
What is an “inner hollow”? Rosa is the personification of your former selves' rage and memories, and by all accounts has always been with you in some fashion even if you were not aware of her. Yoruichi's hollow seems to be some manner of primal instinct that she herself has struggled to describe, but with whom she was able to reach a tacit agreement. It has to be “tacit” because according to her Raijūsenkō is incapable of speech, and although it can understand when Yoruichi speaks to it she confided in you that it “barely listens”.

Apacci, Halibel, and the rest are another situation still. They seemed perfectly able to channel their “hollow” abilities into swords, and in doing so began to take much more clearly human form. Even before they did so it's your understanding that the hollow evolutionary process moves increasingly towards that sort of form as one progresses to Vasto Lorde. Forget “inner hollows”, sometimes you have to wonder about those processes that affect “regular” hollows.

But this handful of shinigami apparently have never progressed beyond 'basic' hollowfication. What about them is different, or is it merely a question of opportunity? And what does this mean for your nephew Ichigo, and his future?

>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Ask what happened to them during the hollowfication incident?
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

>>47488711
>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?
That order.

>>47488711
>>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?

>>47488711
>Question the Vizards: why haven't they advanced beyond hollowfication?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.
>Explain the situation with Rosa, see how they react?

>>47488711
>>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

shock & awe 'em

>>47488711
>Ask what happened to them during the hollowfication incident?
>Most shinigami understand demonstrations much more readily.

Might help on narrowing down on where it all went wrong. Aside from the fact that Hollowification happened in the first place.

>writing

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>>47488711
“I kind of assumed that was just how it worked,” you admit with a shrug. “I mean your inner hollows are a part of you, I just assumed that everyone who ended up in our situation would come to terms with it. Find a way to coexist and cooperate.”

“No?” Shinji replies. “Why would we wanna coexist with somethin' like that!?”

“So you didn't even try it?” you ask

“Of course not!”

“Well,” you insist, crossing your arms in front of you, “it IS possible. I managed it first, then Yoruichi followed more recently. Her inner hollow's a bit... hard to work with, from what she's told me.”

“She told you about her inner hollow?” Rose asks, scratching his hair. “That's bizarre. I'd never even think to tell anyone about mine.”

“Maybe that's part of it?” Love suggests. “The attitude towards 'em?”

“I'm not so sure,” Lisa sighs, gesturing at Mashiro with her thumb as the green-haired vizard stares straight at Apacci's chest. The arrancar for her part is doing her best to ignore the scrutiny. “Mashiro over there got her hollow under control almost immediately, and can keep up hollowfication much longer than the rest of us. If she can't do it...”

Shinji frowns in contemplation. “You think it's somethin' unique to us?”

Lisa shrugs. “I can't say for sure.”

“Like I said,” you interrupt before Shinji has a chance to continue, “it's possible for two of us. Hachi, please reinforce your barrier.”

Hachigen turns to Shinji, who nods in affirmation. “Miss Kusajishi, how many layers should I add?”

“How many are up now?” you ask.

He looks thoughtfully into the distance for a moment. “After repairing the damage you caused, seven.”

“Raise another seven.”
>1/2

>>47489056
>“Raise another seven.”
Here we go

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>>47489056
Hachigen's brow furrows. “...is that necessary?”

You draw Tenkotsuki's blade in your right hand, resting your left on Kobara no Tachi's hilt. “If it is, do you want to find out the hard way?”

“Point well taken,” he admits quietly as he sets to work doing as you asked.

“Prohibit, Tenkotsuki,” you declare, feeling a familiar surge of power as your first zanpakuto releases. Then, you turn your attention to the second.

“Raze, Kobara no Tachi!”

The release of spiritual pressure is sufficient to blow over anything nearby that hasn't been nailed to the ground, including the basin Ichigo has been washing dishes in which upturns in a massive splash of dirty water and silverware. He stares down at the mess with the same stupefied expression of a man whose car has just broken free of its parking break, rolled down a hill, and careened into a china shop.

Seven spectral tails of white reiatsu wave idly behind you as if carried aloft by the release of power, and you're aware by the way the vizards look at you that your eyes have darkened as well.

“This is the cooperation of which I speak,” you explain in a deeply resonant voice, holding out your double-edged sword to illustrate. “My zanpakuto are a part of myself... why should I reject them?”

“And you say you did this by cooperatin' with your hollow?” Shinji asks, his eyes narrowing.

“That's right,” you nod. “It's not hollowfication, but resurrecìon. More like an arrancar than anything else.”

>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.
>Other?

>>47489195
>>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>>47489195
>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>>47489195
>>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>>47489195
>>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>>47489195
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?

>>47489195
>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?

>>47489195
>Explain to them that Rosa may be an unusual case?
>Ask them how they managed to survive the night of the hollowfication incident?
>Suggest that if asauchi could be provided, one of them could try.

>forgot to say, writing

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>>47489447
The power that flows through your body right now is... different somehow that it normally is. It's not that it's stronger per se, but you can tell that it's much more violent than the other times you've used this double release. When you stop to think about it, it's probably because that son of a bitch Kensei's here. In a sense he's the ultimate reason for Rosa's rage, from which she was literally created and which sustains her now.

It would be so easy to end his existence right this very instant. Like strangling a poor, dumb animal too frightened to...

“Miss Kusajishi?” Hachi interrupts in as polite a tone as he can muster, snapping you out of your oddly murderous train of thought.

“Hm?” you reply, turning slightly to face him. “What is it?”

“Your spiritual pressure is causing damage to my barriers at an alarming rate,” he explains quietly. “If you continue at this pace...”

“I see,” you tell him with a nod, sealing Kobara no Tachi and sheathing Tenkotsuki. For once, it's almost as if Rosa resists letting you seal her... she really wants Kensei dead, and Tenkotsuki is probably focusing on making sure she can't manifest of her own accord and do the deed herself. So you seal Tenkotsuki as well, allowing her to focus fully on the task.

You get the sensation she's grateful for you consideration.

“Rosa, my inner hollow, has been with me my entire life,” you explain thoughtfully, trying to take your own mind off that murderous intent not wholly your own. “She is rage personified: the rage that without her I might be incapable of feeling. By accepting that her feelings and memories are an inescapable part of me, I was able to forge her into a second zanpakuto. Losing hollowfication to do so was a sign of trust, and I've never regretted it.”
>1/2

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>>47489527
“It's like what we arrancar do,” Apacci adds, patting the sword on her own hip. “This thing may not have its own soul, but it's what you could call the “hollowy” part of me. I accept that no matter what I do lookin' like this, those hollow abilities and instincts are mine too, and so I use 'em to fight. Doin' that means I start to go back to the way I was before.”

“How's it actually different?” Mashiro asks, suddenly pushing FAR too deep into your personal space. “Does it do anything cool?”

“It does,” you reply cautiously, not wanting to reveal its precise nature. “Same as Yoruichi's... well, same in principle, I mean.”

“You're not gonna tell me?” she pouts. “Come on, we're friends!”

“I refuse.”

“You're no fun, Riku. Even after all these years.”

You merely shrug off her concerns. “The difference doesn't seem to just be the fact that Rosa was already a distinct part of me before that night, because Yoruichi can do it too. So tell me... what happened to you that night?”

“You were there,” Shinji observes.

“I was mostly unconscious,” you counter. “I missed a lot of the finer points.”

“Well, I'm no good at stories,” Shinji sighs, scratching at the back of his neck. “Hiyori, you tell her.”

“Hell no!” Hiyori shoots back. “I'm not gonna do it just because you're too old to remember the details, moron!”

“You're too loud,” Shinji replies. “Guess I shoulda known better than to ask you to tell the story, shoutin' it at her's just gonna ruin Riku's ears before you're even done. Moron.”

“What was-” Hiyori begins, cocking back her arm.

“Urahara Kisuke used a small gem-like object to stabilize us,” Lisa explains succinctly.

“You coulda made it more interesting, you know!' Shinji moans.

“Well we certainly didn't contribute anything,” Lisa sighs. “Stop acting like you got cut out of a story you were never very important in.”
>2/3

>>47489705
>“Stop acting like you got cut out of a story you were never very important in.”

Ouch.

>>47489705
You struggle to suppress a laugh at how Shinji visibly deflates at Lisa's remark. He mutters something about thinking he wasn't unimportant, but you can't quite make out the precise words.

>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?
>Other?

>>47489743
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>>47489743
>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>>47489743
>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?
>Did he explain anything about this gem?

>>47489743
>So what happened then?
>Do you think what Urahara did was the difference?

>>47489743
Just wanna thank you for running, this is my favorite quest on /tg/ even if i only read it.

>>47489861
Good to have you along, anon.

>writing

>>47489743
>Did he explain anything about this gem?
>Other?
"Ichigo, did Urahara mention or use the same gem on you?"

If not, at least we have a control group that isn't Riku.

>>47489743
“So you think maybe whatever it is Urahara did to you is what made the difference?” you press quietly. “I mean, there are no other alternatives that any of us can think of.”

Next to Ichigo, Rukia mutters something borderline inaudible. If you couldn't feel her reiatsu there you might have forgotten about her.

“What was that?”

“I said that if it was Captain Urahara that stabilized these officers,” she repeats more loudly, “I have no doubt he knows the precise answer to that, ma'am. I get the distinct impression he does nothing by accident. Perhaps in a 'mistake', but never an accident.”

Fair... he's always maintained his own quiet concerns about you and your 'true' nature, as well as the ongoing situation with Yoruichi's hollow powers. And though he never seems to share his concerns with anybody, it strains credulity to believe that he never acts on them.

“Did Urahara mention anything about this to you Ichigo?” you ask. Your nephew shakes his head.

“It's news to me.”

“He may not even know what it does,” Hiyori admits in a much quieter voice than usual.

Shinji turns to face her. “You know I get that you don't like the guy...”

“That's not it at all,” she interrupts, not even going out of her way to insult Shinji this time. “Captain Urahara's a scientist. If he doesn't know the answer to a question, he creates a scenario where he can learn the answer. It's just what he does.”

“Hang on,” Love jumps in from atop the nearby rock where he's been sitting, listening. “You're trying to tell me Kisuke was the one experimenting on us? That's... pretty far out there, Hiyori.”
>1/2

>>47490144
“That's not it either,” the snagglytoothed vizard sighs, growing increasingly irritated that nobody seems to get what she's saying. “What I'm trying to say is that Captain Urahara may not have known for sure what that rock would've done to us... and that might have been part of the reason he used it. He STILL may not know quite what it is, and helping stabilize us mighta been a happy accident or somethin'.”

>Hiyori may be right. Kisuke's intently interested in all of us, and I'm not sure I trust him.
>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?
>Other?

>>47490161
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>47490161
>>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>47490161
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>47490161
>>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>47490161
>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>>47490161
>I think Kisuke means well. He just has his own way of doing things that I might not approve of.
>... "stabilized" how, exactly?

>writing
>also cooking, so it may be delayed a wee bit

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>>47490161
“What do you mean 'stabilized', exactly?” you ask, puzzled at hearing the word come up a second time. “That makes no sense, you don't 'stabilize' something that's already been broken down.”

“What do you mean what do I mean?” Hiyori demands, back to her usual self. “Look, it's not like I know what happened, he just said we'd been stabilized. That's all I know, moron!”

Stabilized... so that implies the stone Urahara used that night on Aizen's other victims didn't affect the infectious agent involved, nor did it change their state back towards being “more shinigami”: it stopped them from changing, presumably in either direction? That almost sounds too specific to you, as if there has to be something more to it than that. An object that influences infections, sure. You could believe Urahara had something like that. An object that influences hollow and shinigami characteristics in a hybrid being? Possible, but it seems like a stretch even for him. But an item that halts an ongoing transformation between two states of existence? And then there's Hiyori's notion that it was a sort of “experiment” itself.

Is it possible that he only thought he knew what the Hōgyoku did, and if so... what does it really do?

“So it stabilized you,” you repeat. “Meaning, it stopped you from changing.”

Shinji seems to realize precisely what you're hinting at. “So you mean he's the reason we're stuck like this?”

“Stable doesn't mean “healed”, Shinji,” you remind him. “It's entirely possible that the lack of progress you've made in either direction is a result of the method Kisuke used to save your lives. Yoruichi and I subdued our initial hollowfications on our own, meaning we're not stuck the way you are.”
>1/2

>>47490532
It seems that the "vizards" are struggling to process the implications to your statement. Whether they choose to view Kisuke as their savior or as the one who doomed them to live out their lives firmly stuck between two forms of being, at home in neither, is up to each of them individually.

>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Call Yoruichi, hint that Kisuke may be up to something.
>Say something else to one of the vizard?
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?
>Other?

>>47490591
>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?

>>47490591
>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Tell her to punch Kisuke for us also
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?

>>47490591
>Say something else to one of the vizard?
>Other?
"If you want to revert back to a shinigami, I think one of Ichigo's friends got something that might do the trick. If you still want to harness your hollow side, it's up to you."

Lotta "ifs" on that one though.

>Talk to Ichigo about his training?
New training under Riku supervision now.

>>47490591
>>Call Yoruichi, hint that Kisuke may be up to something.

i love throwing ol' hat & clogs under the bus

>>47490591
>Call Yoruichi, catch her up on these developments?
>Talk to Ichigo about his training?

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>>47490591
>writing

>>47490591
>Kensei, you better remember what you did back in 1789. As much as I tolerate being next to you, she and I are still angry about it.

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>>47490746
“Oh, and Kensei?” you ask before stepping away to make a call and let the vizard come to terms with the situation.

“Yeah?” he grumbles, still rubbing his nose where you hit it. Dried blood over his upper lip is a reminder that not too long ago it was broken. “What is it?”

“Please remember this: there is a part of me that is literally born out of rage,” you tell him. “That being's rage can be traced directly back to what you did to our parents. Though I may tolerate your presence, a part of me will never be capable of truly forgiving you.”

Before he gets a chance to respond, you've already moved on and pulled out your denreishinki.

“Yoruichi, it's me,” you greet your wife curtly. “I've found the exiled officers and Ichigo. They're fine.”

“I saw that,” she chuckles lightly. “What's next for that nephew of yours, a skirt?”

“I'm working on it,” you reply. “Listen, Kisuke hasn't been straight with us.”

“I should hope so,” she jokes. What'd he do this time?”

“When he assisted the vizards he didn't heal them, or change their condition in any way,” you explain. “They seem to be stuck at the point we were initially, unable to either reverse their condition OR expand on their own hollow abilities. When he said he 'stabilized' them, he really meant exactly that.”

There's a pregnant pause from the other end of the line. “Dammit, Kisuke. Of all the things to lie about...”

In her voice there's a rare trace of disappointment. She's not shocked that Kisuke would keep something important to himself, or even that he might be doing something following his own rules. It's the tone of someone who's been here before, emotionally.

“I'll give him a crack over the head and get to the bottom of this,” she tells you. “You look out for Ichigo, okay?”

“That's the plan,” you reply. “Call me when you need me.”
>1/2

>>47490995
You can't say “I love you too”. Not in the presence of other people. But at this point in your lives, she knows what you mean when you say “yeah, you too”.

After hanging up you leave Apacci to chat with Mashiro, and join Rukia and Ichigo.

"So we were talking," Ichigo sighs, rubbing his head. "I've started to get the hang of this whole hollowfication thing, but from the sound of it Hirako was wrong when he told me we were the same."

"My mom mentioned something about the day my parents met. My inner hollow..."

>It's more like my own, I think.
>I don't know. I can't even speculate.
>His name was Kaien
>Other?

>>47491085
>>His name was Kaien

more glorious knowledge bombs

>>47491085
>His name was Kaien

>>47491085
>His name was Kaien

>>47490995
>His name was Kaien

>>47491085
>His name was Kaien Shiba
>A shimigami turned Hollow
>Why he turned hollow? Blame Aizen. Again.

>people going for the blacked out mystery box
this is gonna do something shitty isn't it.

>>47491085
>It's more like my own, I think.

>>47491085
>>His name was Kaien

>>47491158
Probably yeah. I kind of like Ichigo the way he is more or less.

>>47491158
That option wouldn't have been there had it not been for lucky dice and wise player agency (choosing shiba instead of the other family choice for adoption) back in the early sessions.

>>47491158
we essentially know the answer because we played smart enough to know. all the other options indicate we wouldn't have known the truth had we not played smart.

>>47491085
>His name was Kaien
>He was a good man

>writing

Best cat

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>>47491306
“His name was Shiba Kaien,” you inform Ichigo, prompting Rukia to stare at you in disbelief. “Or at least that's what your father and I have always suspected. The former head of our clan who went missing decades before your birth.”

“How is that even possible!?” Ichigo demands loudly, grabbing you by the collar. “You're telling me my hollow was a person? Like... my uncle or something? Thant's insane!”

“That's Aizen for you,” you observe, grasping Ichigo's wrists and pulling them off of you. “You have a problem with it, I suggest you take it up with him.”

“You still didn't explain how it happened,” Ichigo repeats, calming down slightly. “I want to know, Riku. I want to know the truth.”

“I suspect your mother has told you what she knows,” you reply. “She was infected by a hollow that was basically engineered by Aizen to do exactly that. Being a quincy, her body began to reject the hollow presence and nearly underwent soul suicide.”

“That is what happens when two 'opposites' meet,” Rukia explains, pulling out a sketchbook to illustrate. “Hollow and quincy reiatsu are incompatible: one will always destroy the other for some unknown reason, or so I was instructed.”

“We don't really know the reason,” you add. “It's just one of those things you accept and move on. Men a lot smarter than I am have gone insane pondering details like that too closely.”

“In other words,” Rukia continues to draw, “when your mother began to hollowfy her soul would normally have been erased.”

“I get that,” Ichigo insists dismissively. “What I don't get is why my mom and inner hollow are rabbits.”

Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
>1/2

>>47491563
Fucking Rukia. I have lost my sides yet again due to her.

>>47491563
>Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
lewd

>>47491563
>Rukia glares daggers at him. “Every time until you like it.”
She's truly learned from the best, Brings a tear to my eyes.

>>47491609
>Riku makes that comment

>Rukia was not seen again for months, but they say the blush on her face was hot enough to melt steel beams

>>47491563
"So there you have it," you sigh. "The truth as I know... or rather, as I suspect it to be. Isshin gave up his powers as a shinigami to help balance the hollow reiatsu stuck inside your mother's soul, and when she gave birth to you both a fraction of your father's power, your mother's, AND the hollow were passed on to you. Your parents didn't want you to know, because it's when you've just started down the path towards developing spiritual powers that you're the most vulnerable."

"Better that you never gained those powers at all... but here we are."

"Yeah," your nephew repeats. "Here we are."

>Show me what your hollowfication can do.
>I know someone who can train you further, someone other than your parents. Would you like to meet her? (Bambietta)
>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.
>I know someone who can tell you more about your hollow powers. (Apacci)
>I think I may know someone who can help us confirm the nature of your inner hollow...
>Other?

>>47491664
>>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.

>>47491664
>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>>47491664
>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>>47491664
>You're going home, young man. You and your family have a lot to discuss.
tack on that should he wish to learn more about stuff we know people...

>>47491664
>Show me what your hollowfication can do.

>>47491664
>So... Which side of your powers would you like to develop? Which side interests you the most?
>I've got someone who can hook you up on learning your quincy side, someone who can help you develop and control your inner hollow better, or you can go it alone and improve on your own. So what's your choice?

>>47491803
>"I want it all."
>Ichigo I asked you a qu-
>"I want it all!"
>Listen to me you little shi-
>"AND I WANT IT NOW!

Kids these days with their music.

>writing
>3d10, DC 6

Rolled 3, 6, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>47491884
boom
qwe ded

Rolled 6, 10, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>47491884

>>47491896
WOO!

Yeah baby!

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>>47491896
dayum girl. you still got it.

Rolled 3, 2, 6 = 11 (3d10)

>>47491884

Rolled 2, 5, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>47491884

Rolled 7, 3, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>47491884

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>>47491896
Awww yisss

>>47491930
it's 3d10, not 3d6 anon.

>>47491946
ohh sorry

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>>47491896

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>>47491896

>>47491978
I might have to find time to draw Riku doing pacha's meme gesture sometime.

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>>47491884
Now then, to see where we stand.

“Ichigo,” you demand, quietly but firmly. “Hollowfy and punch me in the face.”

He looks at you, aghast. “What?”

“Do it,” you insist in the same even tone.

“Okay then,” he mutters, raising his hand to his forehead and concentrating spiritual energy there.

You cross the distance between you in an instant and hit him in the gut.

“Never said I was going to make it easy” you observe as he wheezes. “Again.”

Your nephew tries again to call out his mask, but again you punch him before he can complete the action. This time you hit him squarely in the face.

“Faster,” you order. “You won't have time to waste dicking around like that in battle.”

A third attempt is also thwarted with a kick to the side of the head, which follows a punch that Ichigo managed to anticipate and dodge.

“Quit messing around Ichigo, call out your hollow.”

A fourth attempt is met with a kidō chain that wraps around his ankle, slamming him to the ground.

“Ichigo, I'm getting annoyed now. Seriously, quit wasting my time and hollowfy.”

On the fifth attempt Ichigo roars as he releases his Bankai, and then manages to hollowfy much quicker. A punch strikes you squarely in the chest, breaking all of your illusory double's ribs as you sidestep faster than Ichigo can see. However he seems to realize what you've done, as he immediately turns to glare at you from behind an almost plain porcelain mask. Its only adornment is an estigma pattern on the left side, with three curving marks in deep blue like.
>1/2

>>47492207
... like the blades of a trident.

>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...
>I need to take you to Urahara. As much as I hate it I need to confirm something.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.

>>47492240
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.

>>47492240
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.

>>47492240
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
>If you're still interested in getting stronger... there's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to at a later time.

>>47492240
>That's enough, Ichigo. Time to get you home, I need to talk to Isshin anyway.
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.

>>47492240
How does Apacci feel about teaching people? She's developed a knack for teaching since we put faith in her teaching others the modified Pesquisa technique. Does teaching help her shrink her hollow hole?

>>47492240
>>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...

>>47492240
>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...

>>47492400
Fairly good, actually, and yes. It did, for a while. It seems more tied to distinct events.

>writing
>dice+1d13, second roll only, no DC

Rolled 8 (1d13)

>>47492497

Rolled 9 (1d13)

>>47492497

Rolled 13 (1d13)

>>47492497

Rolled 4 (1d13)

>>47492497

>>47492515
NINTH DIVISION! IT'S A SIGN!

>>47492515
um.... Our own division? Someone from our own division sending a message?

>>47492515
Alright, now I need to dive into the older version of my notes to figure out what that roll means. I THINK I know...

>>47492240
>There's a pair of instructors I'd like to introduce you to...
>I've seen all I need to. Your mask confirms it, your hollow is what remains of Shiba Kaien.
Plus, it's kinda creepy how much like him you look

>>47492535
oh dear.....

>>47492535
Ichigo for our new commando, with Rukia showing him the ropes?

>>47492535
recruitment candidate?

>>47492574
>Rukia showing him the ropes?

lewd

>>47492574
>>47492645
Like the opposite of that.

>>47492678
...hollow Rukia?

Mirai's dead

>>47492692
Does that mean she took a hot injection of hollow-juice?

Ichigo, you're supposed to court her, first.

His spiritual power in this form is actually impressive: clearly above “average” for a Captain, but you're not sure in this form whether he could defeat Gin and Yoruichi would probably pound him into the ground like a blonde tent peg using both Shōsōtō and Raijūsenkō. Despite that, you can feel that he still has more untapped potential, strength that he currently isn't using.

You raise a single hand, signaling an end to the exercise.

“That'll do,” you inform him. “It was enough to settle my mind about it: you've grown a little stronger, Ichigo. And I now no longer doubt the identity of your inner hollow.”

“So you figured something out?” he asks, wiping the mask away in a burst of black reiatsu.

You nod thoughtfully. “The estigmas on your mask resemble Nejibana, the zanoakuto used by Shiba Kaien. I'm taking you home, Ichigo... you and your parents have a lot to discuss.”

“No kidding,” your nephew replies.

As you get ready to leave, most of the vizard don't seem particularly concerned. Hachigen gives you a gracious bow, and Lisa seems to quietly acknowledge you. Mashiro would probably want to see you off if she were still awake. But out of the rest of them, most seem distracted or else a bit standoffish. The one exception is Love.

“Here,” he tells you, pressing a note into your hands. When you unfold it you see a series of numbers. “It's all of our cell numbers. You know, just in case.”
>1/2

>>47492893
You offer the former Captain a faint smile. “Got it. I'll be sure to put these someplace safe.”

“They seemed pretty suspicious of us,” Appaci mutters as you exit the barrier. “Like unfairly so.”

“I'm not sure it was unfair,” Rukia sighs. “They have a long history that gives them plenty reason for suspicion.”

“I don't know what to think,” Ichigo admits. “It's more like they just don't like much of anyone, so it's not just you guys.”

“Thanks,” Rukia grumbles.

Apacci gives you a sidelong glance, addressing you from the corner of her mouth.

“We're being watched.”

You've been able to feel it since you left the barrier, that someone is concealing their presence to follow your group in secret.

>Speed up, see if you can lose whoever this is that's following you.
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.
>Slip back to the Seireitei?
>Try and reverse the situation, see if you can't spy on the spies somehow.
>Other?

>>47492928
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.
Riku ain't having anybodys shit today.

>>47492928
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.
Oh, Espada. Neat.

>>47492928
>Try and reverse the situation, see if you can't spy on the spies somehow.
>>47492955
If it is, canon 9 was Aaroniero, right? Creepily fitting

>>47492928
>>Try and reverse the situation, see if you can't spy on the spies somehow.

>>47492928
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.

>>47492928
>Try and reverse the situation, see if you can't spy on the spies somehow.

>>47492928
>Try and reverse the situation, see if you can't spy on the spies somehow.

>>47492928
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.
Rude indeed.

>>47492928
>Turn and confront them. Sneaking around after a Captain is rude.
Enough with the cloak&dagger, Fist, meet Face.

>>47493007
We're absolutely not following canon. For one thing there's thirteen of them, and for another they're not ranked according to power.

>will start writing soon

>>47493124
Surprise! It's that sea monster we didn't manage to kill way back when

>>47493198
it better have some scars that we'd recognize.

>>47493124
You lead Ichigo and the others away from town, towards the hills rather than back towards the Kurosaki clinic, and unsurprisingly your tails follow suit. Eventually, after walking partway up a steep path, you come across a more or less open field well away from any living humans. It's here that you stop and turn to stare straight at where your unwanted company is watching you from: above and behind at about a low, some hundred and fifty meters away in a stand of old trees.

“Hadō 63: Raikōhō!” you snarl, stretching out your left palm and discharging a large bolt of lightning. It crackles through the air, casting short-lived shadows all around you before dissipating. The speed at which your stalkers are forced to dodge means they can no longer focus on hiding their presence, and they become painfully obvious.

A pale, lanky arrancar with blonde shoulder-length hair dodges straight into a tree, while his much larger companion slams into him from behind. The tree and arrancar alike go down in a tangle of limbs. Much less graceful still is an arrancar with a pencil mustache and a goatee, who wears a red sash: he flat out trips over his own feet and slams face-first into the dirt the same moment you get a good look at him, his backside pointed skyward in possibly the least dignified display possible. His other companions seem to fare better: a dark-haired girl with poofy sleeves and a hoop skirt lands in a low crouch in the middle of the path, and a large man with an even more extravagant orange afro falls firmly on his feet behind her.
>1/2

>>47493462
The final arrancar rises from one knee, not so much as a speck of dust on her close-fitting white uniform. She has long teal-colored hair with what a mask fragment like the skull of a ram on the top of her head. Across the bridge of her nose is a wide, brightly-colored estigma.

“That could have gone better,” she exclaims, needlessly swatting at the hem of her top to 'clean' it of any dust. “Dordoni, did you trip again?”

“No,” the arrancar in the red sash mutters through a mouthful of dirt. “The young lady only scored a glancing blow, nothing more.”

“You so totally tripped!” the lanky blonde arrancar exclaims, leaping to his feet and pointing emphatically at his downed companion. “And trust me, I know what 'tripping' looks like!”

“Please make it stop,” the arrancar with the orange hair mutters. “Madre del dio I apologize for whatever I did to deserve this, just make it stop.”
>2/?

>>47493477
>>47493462
It's Nel and the 3 amigos!

File: neliel_tu_oderschvank_by_(...).png (104 KB, 500x318)

104 KB PNG

>>47493477
The dark-haired girl with the poofy skirt rises to her feet, sizing your small group up. "Well, it seems like we've caught something interesting after all... three shinigami and an arrancar? I'm itching to know more!"

"Hold for now, Cirucci," the arrancar with the ram's skull mask orders. She seems to be the senior ranking member of their group... she certainly strikes you as the strongest at the moment. "Our orders were to observe the disturbance and report. Not to engage."

"We can report back once we've killed these clowns!' Cirucci insists. "We're going to have to fight them sooner or later anyway."

The blonde arrancar, whose mask fragment appears vaguely insectile, approaches his leader and greets her quietly.

"Lady Neliel," he begins, "she does have a point... we have them outnumbered, and you know how the other Espada consider hesitation."

"I hate to be driven by thoughts of the other Espada's reactions," Neliel sighs, "but you may have a point, Pesche. It could mean trouble later."

"Hey," you interrupt, still a little gobsmacked at the display of ineptitude. "Are you gonna... you know. Do something?"

"Attack us, talk at us," Appaci agrees, similarly taken aback. "Anything, really. I'm not too picky."

"You're right of course, I'm being terribly rude," Neliel coughs once into her fist. "I am Neliel tu Odelschwank, Espada number Nine. These are my subordinates, the Privaron Espada and my own Fraccion."

"I have no grudge against you, but I'm afraid we will have to take your lives."

>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>Fine. We'll deal with your subordinates, and the first to finish their battle will fight with you. Sound fair?
>"Fallen Espada", huh? Give me all three.
>Other?

Also, in the event of pushing for a fight:
>Kill all
>Kill some
>No kill playthrough

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>No kill playthrough

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>Captain Kusajishi of Squad Nine.

>Kill some
Kill who we have to disable who we can. They fight it's their own stupidity.

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>No kill playthrough

>>47493692
>>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.

>>No kill playthrough

>>47493692
>>Fine. We'll deal with your subordinates, and the first to finish their battle will fight with you. Sound fair?

>No kill playthrough

How is Nel at number nine when she three in canon?

>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>Captain Kusajishi of Squad Nine.

>Kill them only if there is no choice.

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.

>No kill playthrough

I'm curious as to why Aizen sends the least psychotic members of his organisation to kill us. He knows Riku too well to not realise that she would try to make them see reason.

Test of loyalty, perhaps? Either they kill us, and they've proven themselves capable of following orders, of they don't, and at least their betrayal is out in the open where it can't do much harm.

>>47493784
>How is Nel at number nine when she three in canon?
Nigger you blind?
>>47493124

>>47493813
>I'm curious as to why Aizen sends the least psychotic members of his organisation to kill us.

That is the opposite of why this group was sent.

Goddamn.

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>So what convinced you to stay loyal to Aizen?
>Fallen espada huh? I guess that means Aizen considers you guys unworthy of "his grace"? He's a dick to be honest. I know the man personally.
>no kill playthrough

>>47493784
see>>47493124
>>47493722
>>47493760
>>47493782
>>47493784
>>47493813
>Fighting a numerically superior force while not being able to use our full power due to hitting our allies with it too.

We're not going to be able to bankai, I'd rather not kill but nerfing ourselves like this is more or less how Ikkaku fights.

>>47493813
>>47493827
This is a chance to do diplomacy and recruitment!

>>47493818
Well shit, guess I am

>>47493692
>If we're gonna fight, can we take it to ghost mexico? there's alot more room there.

>>47493692
>You seem nice. Leave now while you have the chance.
>Captain Kusajishi of Squad Nine.
>Kill some

Yea how about we don't play favorite's. While i would like to not kill them the fact is we may not have much of a choice when shit gets real, we have people to protect after all.

>>47493692
>"Fallen Espada", huh? Give me all three.
>No kill playthrough
Don't you remember what happened to the last group to attack us?

>>47493692
>writing
Any ideas you'd like to use to persuade Neliel not to go through with this? You could also just roll, but without a modifier from a solid plan/argument it'd be a hell of a steep DC.

>>47493995
one she's breaking orders, Two is both of us went all out we'd be killing a LOT of innocent bystanders because he subordinates could not control their murderboners, Three Aizen used menoly and Bambietta as throw away troops, can she be sure he's not doing the same for her? Four If it does come to a fight We won't hold back. We will kill those who put the world and our allies in danger. Five, we will get reinforcement well before she does, we have allies in the area, she does not.

>>47493995

I'd argue that even if she is victorious, she'll lose may of her subordinates. If Aizen couldn't take us down, then her odds are awful slim

>>47494038
>Two is both of us went all out we'd be killing a LOT of innocent bystanders because he subordinates could not control their murderboners

I don't know why Riku would assume Nel cares about that.

>>47493995
If Aizen couldn't kill us does she honestly think she and her friends can.

>>47493995
Another thing is recruitment process, treatment and relations between arrancar and shimigami in general. How many times has Aizen treated them in a friendly manner or given orders to them not under the threat of death?

>>47493995
We can tell her what happned to Menoly and Bambietta and how Aizen decided anyone turned into POWs isn't worth spending the resources saving (essentially declared dead)

>>47493995

Why is Aizen sending out people who are not suited for the job, to either scout or investigate?

Aizen is not a fool or an idiot but twice he sent out two groups of people who's true purpose has been to get them out of his hair and perhaps do some damage, not do actual information gathering.

There was one time that someone matched up well with the job, that was Ulquiorra.

His idea of readying his army seems to be purging those who may either be harder to control or can think for themselves.

>>47493995
If they were to betray Aizen, they don't have anyplace to run and hide. Fortunately, Riku knows a place (that Aizen himself didn't know of its existance) where they can lay low in safety.

>>47494230
“Former Espada, then? So this time he sends the ones with the most to prove.”

“That's right, señora,” the arrancar with the mustache replies calmly as he finally gets to his feet and draws his sword. “We are those who are no longer considered strong enough to be recognized as Espada. The ones unfortunate enough to remember the view from the top.”

“You don't seem so bad,” you admit as your hand finds Tenkotsuki's hilt. “I hope you'll reconsider letting this come to blows... because once it does, it won't end well for you.”

“Not a chance,” Cirucci grins, producing what looks like a yoyo-like flail attached to an uchigatana hilt. “The only way any of us leave is in victory or death.”

“I wish you wouldn't talk like that,” Neliel chides her subordinate.

“I am Ninth Division Captain Kusajishi Riku, and if you insist I will oblige,” you inform the hoop-skirted arrancar.

“Prohibit, Tenkotsuki. Raze, Kobara no Tachi.”

For the second time today your reiatsu sweeps through the world around you, snapping branches from trees and forcing several of the clumsier arrancar from before to cover their eyes to keep the dirt and dust out. You lock your pitch-black eyes with Neliel, addressing all your future comments to her.

“Win or lose, I can't guarantee I won't kill any of your subordinates by mistake,” you inform her with a menacing calm, your voice echoing in resonance with Rosa's. “Don't throw your lives away like this.”

“If it is their pride on the line,” Neliel replies with an equal calm, “then I have no choice. I don't like it, but it's their decisions to make. Not mine.”

>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.
>Split the fight three ways. Allow your companions to deal with this as they see fit.
>Split the fight three ways, and you expect at least one prisoner.
>Other?

>>47494211
Aizen has never really had a great grasp at effectively utilizing his arrancar.

>>47494280
>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.

>>47494280
>>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.

>>47494280
>>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.

Shut 'em the fuck down

>>47494280
>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.
>Bind them first, arms to the side and legs to the floor, then use Tesshō to bash their heads until knockout.

>>47494280
>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight

I assume that it's ok for us to go all out here without it messing with the stability of the area... cause usually there are limiters and shit... right?

>>47494319
I think Aizen might have been a speciesist? Like even if Arrancar were no longer driven by instinct, he still saw them just as hollows to use and discard. The way be didn't give them any intel in canon and how no shinigami died seems to indicate this.

>>47494280
>>Take the three down yourself. Maximum show of force to dissuade them, or else wound them so badly they can't fight.

>>47494448
>I think Aizen might have been a speciesist?

no shit, it's not like he wanted to transcend to another species because he hated hollows and shinigami, oh the power must have been a nice bonus though.

>>47494448
He did literally say that "a soul that has become a hollow no longer has value", in response to Yamamoto's accusations of sacrificing Wonderweisse's higher faculties for selfish reasons. He's almost as bad as the Wandenreich.

>writing

>>47494562
Also, 3d10. DC 6 because the Privaron Espada are kinda dumb and are jerking around rather than releasing.

Rolled 1, 4, 10 = 15 (3d10)

>>47494591
ded.

Rolled 8, 10, 3 = 21 (3d10)

>>47494591

Rolled 7, 3, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>47494591

Rolled 1, 8, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>47494591

>>47494479
Nah he had some regard for the shinigami, given he pulled his punches when he cut everyone down, and was only gonna kill Yamamoto.

File: halibel_and_neliel.jpg (648 KB, 1599x900)

648 KB JPG

Theirs not enough art of these two together.

File: Cirucci.jpg (28 KB, 640x480)

28 KB JPG

>>47494591
You hear Rukia behind you placing a call, requesting a spacial freeze be put into place around your present location... good. Saves you the trouble of worrying about such things. Instead you can focus purely on the task at hand: dismantling these so-called “Privaron Espada”.

“Stand back,” you order. “I'll do this myself. Nobody else needs to dirty their hands.”

“Sure,” Apacci agrees immediately. “I've pretty much got no interest in three suicidal morons anyhow, so if that blue-haired weirdo tries to make a move I'll handle it.”

“Weirdo?” the bug-headed arrancar demands loudly. “How dare you call Lady Neliel a weirdo!?”

“You be quiet,” Ichigo scowls. “You're the biggest weirdo of the bunch!”

“You come over here and say that!”

Releasing his Bankai is enough to send the arrancar scurrying behind his larger companion.

“That's what I thou...” Ichigo begins, before Cirucci slings her weapon at him.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGUdFiTmCWw

However if she thought that was going to work, she's kidding herself. You step in and catch the rapidly-spinning wheel in your left hand before slicing the cable that connects to it with a single stroke of your blade. It took a brief burst of shunkō to keep the weapon from slicing your hand, but the shocked expression you receive from Cirucci is more than enough to make intercepting the weapon like that worth the effort.

The shock disappears as you wind up with your whole body and sling the disk down at Cirucci from above, and she's forced to use sonido to avoid being crushed by her own weapon. She tries to make a counterattack, charging a cero and aiming it at where you'd normally land only to find your blade slicing deep into her back.

“That won't work,” you chide her. “Try something else, miss Privaron Espada."
>1/?

>>47494802
Next it's the turn for pencil-mustache to step in, forcing you to backpedal rather than finish off your wounded opponent.

“I didn't ask for your help, Dordoni,” Cirucci glares sharply at him.

Dordoni merely laughs, rushing you with a sonido of his own.

“I don't care!” he insists. “To fight this woman at her full strength... that is what I desire! She has not used Bankai yet... so perhaps she is not taking us seriously?”

The orange haired arrancar joins the fray as well, throwing punches with an unusual pronged weapon that you're forced to bob and weave to avoid. Nasty arcs of energy between the two prongs in each fist tell you that getting hit by one of them is likely to sting.

You avoid him with a quick hirenkyaku, and slash deep into his right side. The effect of Rosa's release rips the gash wide open, dropping him to his knees. Dordoni, who tries to use the moment of your strike as an opening, is also taken off his guard when you counterattack with your sheath. The muscles in your left arm strain before you hear the telltale sound of shattering ribs.

Dordoni's body slams into a large tree and reduces it to splinters with a satisfying crack.

"That's it?" your voice echos, carrying an unintentionally sinister tone. "If this goes on any longer, you'll all die."
>2/3

>>47494823
“You thought that you were fighting from an advantage?” your voice echos softly. “That's wrong. Even now, you're not fighting one on one. You're fighting three on three.”

“Then it is a fair fight,” the orange-haired arrancar replies as he rises to his feet with a new look of grim determination. His side bleeds freely, and he makes no attempt to stop it doing so. “If that is how you feel about it, I can use this without reservation.”

“My name is Gantenbainne Mosquede, and my zanpakuto... is Dragra.”

“To think I'd fall so low as to need this...” Cirucci mutters, standing as well. “Unacceptable, a total embarrassment. As if I needed any more reason to kill you or die trying.”

She grips the hilt of her weapon tightly enough that her knuckles turn white, visible even from here. “Rip, Golondrina!”

“I, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, acknowledge you, woman,” the pencil-moustache arrancar bows slightly. “Win or lose, you are to be my final opponent.”

“Whirl, Hiralda!”

When the dust settles, your opponents are transformed. Gantenbainne's shoulders and neck are protected by a wide arc of armor connecting to his spiked fists, while Dordoni has several horns on his limbs that seem to be generating whirlwinds with... bird beaks. Okay, that's new.

Cirucci has two oversized arms, a tail, and wings with vibrating blades on them.

“They're vibrating fast,” Rosa informs you.

“How fast?”

There's a short pause while she calculates.

“1,255,000 times per second,” she replies. “It varies a little in intensity from second to second.”

“You coulda just said “really” fast,” you sigh.
>3/4

>>47495049
>“They're vibrating fast,” Rosa informs you.
>“How fast?”
>There's a short pause while she calculates.
>“1,255,000 times per second,” she replies. “It varies a little in intensity from second to second.”

Firstly, holy fuck.

Secondly, Rosa HOLY FUCK how did you count that?

>>47495049
This may not be so easy. Individually there would be no problem, but each Privaron Espada has a different set of abilities to be aware of, and you'll need to keep track of all three.

It's possible to beat them yourself, but it may prove to be more than you bargained for. One misstep could cost.

>Call in Apacci and Ichigo?
>Focus on one first, take them down that way?
>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.
>Other?

>>47495104
>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.

>>47495104
>Other?
Release.

>>47495104
>>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.
kido, kido and more kido.

>>47495104
>>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.

Blitzkrieg.

>>47495104
>>Call in Apacci and Ichigo?

>>47495104
>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.

>>47495120
Anon, We ARE released, Quit being dumb.

>>47495104
>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.
Best defence is no enemies left.

>>47495104
Slap one of the with a powerful binding Kido. They should not be strong enough to break free

>>47495104
>>Call in Apacci and Ichigo?

No need to get ourselves laid up again on a poor roll

>>47495104
>All out assault: hit any one of them that's open.
>Other: Misdirect their attacks to hit each other. Lure Cirucci's blades to cut Mosquede's arms, guide Mosquede's fists to Dondoni's legs and Dondoni's legs to Cirucci's wings

>>47495229
PRetty sure they're going to hit each other regardless, Since I highly doubt they've worked together like this before, Because, Y'know Arrancar, Not the friendliest bunch to each other.

>>47495104
>dice+3d10
>DC5
>Espada don't fight well together AT ALL, and as canon demonstrated with Byakuya v Zommari kido really tips the scale

Rolled 8, 6, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>47495397

Rolled 2, 4, 4 = 10 (3d10)

>>47495397

Rolled 3, 5, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>47495397

>>47495409
Winner winner, chicken dinner.

File: Kusajishi Riku 4.jpg (19 KB, 599x322)

19 KB JPG

>>47495409
Damn
>>47495397
Called it.Riku!

File: espada jobbing so hard.gif (1.78 MB, 420x236)

1.78 MB GIF

>>47495409

>>47495397
“Good,” you muse quietly. “Now I can stop holding back as well.”

Cirucci is the first to strike, slinging those razor-sharp blades at insane speeds towards you in a loose spread. They're easy enough to dodge, but you find yourself beset by Gantenbainne as he pummels you with a series of rolling punches. Some you block, but one or two you take as you try to avoid multiple attacks. Your body's more or less reflexive defenses take a lot of the pressure off, but they still hurt like hell and after a few blows you find yourself battered by a giant beak.

“Is that all, Señora?” Dordoni crows, only to see that you've parried the strike with your blade.

With a roar you slice the beak in two and slice into the arrancar's chest, the distance between you rendered meaningless by the speed of your hirenkyaku. The cut itself is too shallow, probably because of Dordoni's powerful hierro, so you add a roundhouse kick to his head for good measure by following through with your momentum. Before you can finish Dordoni however a new volley of vibrating “feathers” separates you, very nearly cutting Dordoni in half in the process.

“Hey, watch where you're throwing those things!” Dordoni shouts. “Are you crazy!?”

You grin to yourself. You have these three all figured out: Cirucci's weakness is that she has trouble firing those feathers “across” her body, and can only detach one wing worth of them before switching. It also takes some time for her to recover them once they've been loosed. Gantenbainne is remarkably slow by your standards, and Dordoni's Giralda is rather fragile. It's also the bulkiest of the three, which makes his sonido the slowest while released.

All you have to do is wait for the right moment, which comes just as Cirucci begins to recover her feathers.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GheBtkD7TQ
>1/?

>>47496117
In her greatest moment of weakness you strike, hirenkyaku instantly giving way to a flat thrust straight for her chest. When she instinctively pivots you bend into a slash and shear clean through your true target: the right wing, still loaded with its lethal feathers.

“SHIT!” Cirucci screams in fury as you deliver a powerful kick to her solar plexus that sends her reeling towards the ground.

With a loud roar Giralda's beak grabs hold of Tenkotsuki's blade, as if to hold it in place, while the second grabs hold of your left shoulder in a vice-like bite. Gantenbainne lowers the visor he wears over his forehead, which you had assumed was just a part of his mask, and begins to charge a massive blast.

“Tenkotsuki?” you mutter. “Would you do the honors of incanting our rebuttal?

“With pleasure,” she responds cheerfully, before beginning a familiar series of seemingly-disjointed phrases.

“Ōkasen!” you shout, the blast from Tenkotsuki's blade freeing it so that you can hack off the beak gripping your left shoulder. You brace your left palm for the spell Tenkotsuki has incanted, and begin shouting its name just in the nick of time.

“Rugir del Dragón!” Gantenbainne roars, the burst of burnt orange energy taking on the shape of a massive dragon's head. But your blast is stronger still.

“Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!” you cry, the force of your own spell nearly bowling you over. The resulting explosion causes the earth itself to shudder and crack, enveloping the hapless arrancar as you turn to deal with his partner.

A second time your blade bites too shallow as you pass by low on his left side, sliding its edge over his ribs, and this time Dordoni grins and bears it as he draws in Giralda's beaked cyclones. He means to strike himself as well as you if need be, but thankfully Cirucci has that covered.
>2/?

>>47496133
With a wicked grin you tug on a kidō filament you took a split second to attach to Dordoni's shoulder, and with a massive burst of shunkō-boosted strength you spin him in place as a series of rapidly-vibrating steel blades pummel him from behind. His eyes go wide as his own ally's attack unexpectedly shatters his resurrecìon, and gouges deeply into his body in a cloud of blood.

Even as Cirucci curses her own mistake and releases her “wings”, which clatter to the ground, you find Gantenbainne practically on top of you. He only manages to get off a single rib-crackingly powerful hit in on you before you wrap him in Sajō Sabaku: the winding golden chains take him completely off guard as Cirucci lashes out at you with a tail tipped with a bright pink spearhead of vibrating energy.

“Riku, shield!” Rosa shouts inside your head, and you pull hard on the spell you bound Gantenbainne with to use one of Cirucci's allies as a shield for the second time in seconds. This time Cirucci stops short... which is a mistake.

“Hadō 4: Byakurai.”

Your fingertips press into Gantenbainne's gut, and thanks to Tenkotsuki's quick work the spell blasts a tiny hole through him and hits Cirucci in the chest. The look of shock hasn't yet faded from her face by the time you stab her from behind.

Their bodies hit the ground at about the same time, and Cirucci's release form disappears almost immediately. She balls up her fist and curses powerlessly as her reiatsu fades with it: those two strikes hit her Hakusui and Saketsu, effectively imitating the Senka technique Byakuya is so fond of.

She may survive, but her life as a warrior ended today at your hands.
>3/4

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Riku is scaring me, guys.

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>>47496202
You walk back to your friends, using a drip-style flick to clear the mingled blood of the Privaron Espada from your blade and trying to ignore what must be at least one cracked rib from Gantenbainne's last gamble punch.

"That was..." Apacci frowns while Rukia merely stares in wide-eyed silence. "Pretty brutal. Even by my standards."

"None of them will die from that," you reply in a loud voice, as much for Neliel's ears as for Apacci's. "Though I wouldn't say I'm doing them a kindness. They may have preferred death to what I did to them."

Ichigo merely frowns in the direction of the only 'true' Espada here, who tears her gaze away from the spectacle of her utterly defeated subordinates to stare at your group in concern.

"You cut them down without any mercy," she mutters, completely astounded. Her hand quietly finds the hilt of her zanpakuto, but she doesn't yet draw it. "Your eyes... your reiatsu... your fighting style are all more like a hollow than a human. How can you fight like that? What drives you?"

"Aizen is a threat to everything I cherish," your voice echoes in response. "If you fight for him you are my bitter enemy, and a threat to the life and world I love. That's all."

"Now then Neliel tu Odelschwank: will you fight, or withdraw?"

>>47496428
And on that note... that's all for this weekend. It's 3am here and I'm officially DONE. Archive is up, and thanks for turning out!

Next week I'll be traveling, and the weekend after that I may be out as well. So keep an eye on twitter while I try and figure out when I want to run.

Shadows of Zeon MAYBE tomorrow, depending on how my sleeping and packing go. I'll do what I can but no promises.

>>47496428
wow. Nel is scared shitless. As is our nephew, Rukia, and hollow-daughter. their thoughts?

>>47496506
Thanks for running.

>>47496428
>>47496510
Honestly surprised Dondechaka and Pesche haven't peed themselves.

So how bad off are we?

>>47496428
So how did Rukia, Appaci and Ichigo react to that/ Their opinion on Riku at the moment.

>>47496510
Nephew thinks it was a little excessive. Then again he was the one who ended Dordoni in his release with a single cut, so he doesn't get to say what qualifies as "excessive". The whole one-cut shtick spoils him rotten.

Hollow-daughteru has never seen Riku get QUITE that brutal, but respects the fact that if you want to beat three fighters that strong you absolutely can't pull any punches. Aiming for nonvital strikes sure but absolutely NO HESITATION ALLOWED.

Rukia's kind of in shock. She rarely gets to see her Captain fight, and a lot of her impressions of Riku's true ability were obtained secondhand. Seeing it live is a whole different experience that she wasn't really prepared for.

>>47496428
Thanks for the thread

>>47496506
thanks for running!

>>47496428
>>47496506
Poor Nel just got a wake up call. Oh well, nobody to blame but herself.
Night QoD. Ta for the thread.

>>47496428
Well on the bright side, if we ever see it as necessary, Orihime can probably restore their powers since she is terrifying.

>>47496428
>"You cut them down without any mercy," she mutters, completely astounded

Things such as honor, chivalry and possibly even respect get tossed aside when you are fighting a war of extermination.

Aizen has shown what he will do to win, in both his past and current actions.

And Nel somehow finds someone who takes their enemies completely seriously and responds properly shocking?

>>47496594
what about Nel?

>>47496428
>"You cut them down without any mercy,"
I feel like that's unfair, like it it was without ANY mercy then they'd be corpses. Would have probably only had like DC 2.

>>47496594
>Rukia's kind of in shock. She rarely gets to see her Captain fight, and a lot of her impressions of Riku's true ability were obtained secondhand. Seeing it live is a whole different experience that she wasn't really prepared for.

The last serious live action for Riku other then recently was WW2 before Rukia's time and Riku was not as strong then.

>>47496680
Nel's pretty naive

>>47496594
Well given that Riku was part of the second squad it shouldn't really surprise Rukia that much that Riku hits hard and fast without hesitation, thought still seeing it in action first hand is something completely different.

>>47496787
Nel doesn't understand that wasn't even our final form.

>>47496653
Gobsmacked. Yes it was a Captain, but it was a Captain who wasn't even using Bankai first of all. More stunning to her was that it was pretty much emotionally neutral. Riku warned them off, but wrecked the Privaron Espada without hesitation after her warning was ignored. And though she conducted herself in such a brutal fashion, she chose not to kill. NEARLY killed Dordoni though, and that could still go the other way.

>>47496855
So how worried is she now that's she's ostensibly fighting an arrancar of unkown strength, and Shinigami? already in Bankai, and the person who did all that, with only her fraccion?

>>47496985
enough that it quivers her (currently non-existing) fuzzy goat tail.

>>47496985
Very. It's not a good situation for her, but then again she knew that when she agreed to become the "custodian" of the Privaron Espada.

They were basically deployed as a Strafbattalion, and Nel was sent to determine the terms under which they were to do their job.

>>47497179
>They were basically deployed as a Strafbattalion, and Nel was sent to determine the terms under which they were to do their job.

3 strong, LT level fights, put in a position to be thrown away really. Perform or die.

Nel is kinda suited for, but in a lot of ways the biggest difference between Aizen's troops and the Shinigami may come down to leadership.

There is not much reading to be done in HM, and I am not too sure if many Arrancar will read Sun Tzu if given a chance either.

>>47497179
Strafbattalion... Can we entice them to defect to our side?

Oh yeah, thx for running King.

>>47497401
Given we at minimum permanently crippled one? Probably not.

>>47497507
Let's introduce them to Orihime then, after we Catch'em All. :3

>>47497559
so long as we get some security on that bitch, don't need Aizen getting wise and sending sad batman to nab our white mage when no one's looking

>>47497401
I'm guessing our best case scenario is capturing them like with Bambi. Nel at least might listen to reason eventually. 'specially if we give her some time alone with Ichigo~

>>47498089
This isn't the Nel we know from canon. This is pre-amnesia SSQ Nel we're dealing with and Spoon bug hasn't fucked her over, so she may have different ideals than canon Nel.

That said we can use the idea to convince her to be a turncoat. the fact that her position isn't one that benefits her entirely. She's taken it upon herself to be the "custodian of the Strafbattalion" which isn't a glorious one. It could be interpreted that Aizen assigned her to the post because she's next on Aizen's list of undesirables.

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>>47495432
...fucking dropped.