>>2337643
“And it'd work,” you guess.

>I'll handle the situation here. You pass this intel along with your Onmitsu.
>We have the advantage. We can force this guy to demonstrate his abilities, then take him out.
>We can't afford to wait. Between the two of us we can win through brute force.
>We should both use Bankai. I'm willing to bet he can only take one or the other.

>>2337661
>>I'll handle the situation here. You pass this intel along with your Onmitsu.

>>2337661
>pass the Intel Yourichi. Asap.

Happy lunar new year queen

>>2337661
>>We can't afford to wait. Between the two of us we can win through brute force.

>>2337661
>>I'll handle the situation here. You pass this intel along with your Onmitsu.

I have strong reservations about this. If RIku and Yoruichi are overcome by fear, even fear for each other, acting to save the other is most likely to break them out.

BUT...the Captains really need this intel, and it might buy back some goodwill from Shunsui. So let's roll dem bones.

Also:

>Does he really think that any of them are going to defeat you all on their own, especially when you and Riku are together?

You and Yoruichi, right?

>>2337661
>3d10, DC 16, crit 18

Rolled 6, 9, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>2337701

Rolled 5, 6, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>2337701

Rolled 3, 6, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>2337701

>>2337705
Ayy. Our first crit. This may be an omen.

Well, that was quick.

>>2337710
It really says something that with DC that low, I wasn't sure we'd actually pass it.

Sometimes our luck has been atrocious.

>>2337714
Yeah. Especially when you compare our dice rolls for the filler arcs and the sessions when HAPPENINGS occur.

>>2337725

Even during the filler arcs. We almost botched our match with Unohana and had to take a mulligan.

>>2337738
Oh... not to mention the sheer number of clutch crits.

>>2337701
“Go,” you insist quietly. “You've got a long run ahead of you.”

“Right,” Yoruichi nods. “I'll be back soon.”

Yoruichi turns to dash away, only for Äs Nödt to propel a spear towards her back.

“Who told you that you could...” he begins.

You swiftly fire a bolt of Byakurai at the spear, the two masses of reiatsu detonating each other on contact and drowning out anything else the Sternritter might have had to say.

“I did,” you observe.

And with what sounds like a single, short laugh, Yoruichi disappears into the distance. “Well, now that we've settled that.”

“You are quite quick,” Äs Nödt admits. “I can understand how Cang Du would be defeated so easily.”

“He was a lot faster than you,” you smirk.

Your foe creates several more of the thorns around his body, hovering in midair. “And what if I add to the pressure?”

You're drawn into a melee, trading blows with the quincy as he tries to compensate for your speed advantage by attacking with more weapons. However your skill with a sword far exceeds any martial training he might have to his credit, allowing you to easily parry the spears regardless of what direction they're coming at you from.

“This is not right,” you hear Tenkotsuki's voice in your mind. “This is...”

“What is it?”

Only silence greets your ears.

“Tenkotsuki?” you repeat.

Still no answer. Something is wrong here...

“Too bad,” Äs Nödt mocks you, creating several more thorns. “Too bad that weapon of yours has a mind of its own.”

Then he slings the thorns, but not at you... at the unconscious and recovering fighters sheltering nearby.

>Get between the Sternritter and the others, parry the spears before they reach their targets.
>Something's odd about those spears. Try and move the wounded out of the way instead.
>Use kidō to stop the spears before they hit their target.
>Other?

>>2337777
>Use kidō to stop the spears before they hit their target.

>>2337777
>>2337783
On second thought, in addition:

>Other?
>Draw Kobara no Tachi

I have a suspicion we're about to get really upset, regardless of what happens.

>>2337777
> get between the wounded and those thorns.
>start channeling the REEEEEEEEEEEE

>>2337789
IllSupport this.

>>2337783
We can't' use kido properly since most blocking our spell casting with fear based blockage. Better to block the spears with our body.

>>2337777
>>Use kidō to stop the spears before they hit their target.

>>2337813
Riku can still use kido.

>>2337819
It won't be as effective as having a physical shield.

>>2337819
She can indeed. It'd be a bit less efficient at the higher end of the list and they won't be modifiable.

>>2337777
>3d10, DC 18, Crit 20

Rolled 2, 5, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>2337829

>>2337777
>other: don't parry with your swords. The thorns can infect fear onto the zampakuto spirits

Rolled 4, 4, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>2337829

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

>>2337829
Now I get super nervous when queen asks for dice.

Rolled 5, 3, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>2337829
rip

Now THIS is how I expected the dice to act.

>>2337870
Lots of clutch success after a close roll and a shitty follow-up?

>>2337829
Although you may not be able to hear Tenkotsuki's voice just now, you can still fight the way she taught you. The reiatsu swiftly builds along the edge of her blade as you raise it, carefully angling it just so.

“Ōkasen!”

The arc of pale kidō doesn't slice through all of the spears, only the first one. But it does succeed in batting down the rest, knocking them way off target and sparing their targets.

“Renji, Ichigo!” you shout. “Get 'em...”

You feel reiatsu building to your side, and turn just in time to spot a half dozen more javelins aimed towards you, already in flight.

>Leave an afterimage and attack Äs Nödt from behind.
>Weave your way through the incoming attacks.
>Try and use Dankū to block them.
>Other?

>>2337920
>“Renji, Ichigo!” you shout. “Get 'em...”

Am I missing something or is Riku losing her grip on reality?

>>2337920
>Leave an afterimage and attack Äs Nödt from behind.

>>2337920
>other: use that one spell that tenkotsuki hates us using. ten ran. The nausea theoretically make her snap out of her fear... and lose her lunch. Sorry tenkotsuki.

>>2337920
>>Leave an afterimage and attack Äs Nödt from behind.
Speeeeed

>>2337927
No. Renji and ichigo are conscious people and can carry rukia,tatsuki. Chad and uryu are also conscious.

>>2337935
That would actually be pretty awesome. If Riku thinks it can work, it has my vote.

>3d10, DC 19, critical 24

>>2337920
>Leave an afterimage and attack Äs Nödt from behind.

Rolled 1, 5, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>2337967
DEAR GOD. HERE COMES THE CRACK BITCH ROLLS.

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

>>2337967
uh oh

Rolled 10, 8, 4 = 22 (3d10)

>>2337967

Rolled 3, 1, 5 = 9 (3d10)

>>2337967

>>2337974
>>2337973
goddamnit
B L U E B A L L
L
U
E
B
A
L
L

RIP in pieces crit

>>2337978
QST dice in a nutshell.

>after having been delayed, writing

>>2338044
You leave an afterimage to be realistically impaled by several of the flying spikes, but use a hirenkyaku to move around Äs Nödt's side. But instead of attacking immediately you release your grip on Tenkotsuki's hilt and give her a push from the side, using the only kidō she despises.

“Tenran!”

The whirling gust rips at the Sternritter, bouncing him off the ground as he's taken completely by surprise. But sadly, it doesn't seem to snap Tenkotsuki out of whatever those spikes seem to have done to her, as you'd hoped it might.

“Damn,” you grumble. “So what's the play...”

You can't hear Tenkotsuki's voice anymore, and you're not sure whether Äs Nödt's ability would have the same effect on Rosa if you were forced to trade blows with her instead. Which leaves you in the unenviable position of having to rely on what for the time being is an 'empty' zanpakuto and by your standards 'middling-level' hadō.

But the upside at least is that Tenkotsuki's condition can't really get much worse if she's cut herself off from both you and your blade. So you can parry these spears all day long if you have to.

“Tenacious,” the Sternritter comments idly. “You may run however long you like, but your own fear will always be stalking you, like a predator waiting to strike. You will have to face it sooner or later.”

“Later, if you can't manage to hit me,” you smirk, batting away one more spear.

Then Äs Nödt finally manages to surprise you.
>3d10, DC 20, crit 24

Rolled 5, 9, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>2338084

Rolled 8, 4, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>2338084

>>2338084

Rolled 9, 5, 6 = 20 (3d10)

>>2338084

Dead god the blueballing

>>2338107
Ey! Don't jinx it man. Be happy we don't fail.

>>2338084
He completely disappears for an instant.

No... that's not right. His body blurs, then you pick up that blur again as he passes you on your left.

Although his speed was enough to surprise you, he's clearly underestimated your own ability to respond. His eyes, the only part of his face you can see, widen as your blade shatters the thorn of dark reishi that he was about to try and impale you with. You swiftly shift your grip and slice across his upper chest, right in line with his shoulders.

“You slow-played me,” you realize with a frown. “Nice try, Sternritter, but you'll have to do a lot better than setting up a cheap shot to put me down.”

Äs Nödt looks down at his chest, touching it lightly with his fingertips where blood has trickled down his previously clean white uniform. “I see, so you really are the type who thinks of themselves as fearless...”

“... good.”

“Come again?” your frown deepens, as you carefully take a defensive stance with Tenkotsuki's edge held out away from you.

“I could not ask for a better opponent for this,” he practically shivers with anticipation. “I will enjoy watching you collapse under the weight of the fear that you deny...”

“Vollständig: Tatarforas.”

Reiatsu pours out of the Sternritter as he releases his 'ultimate technique' and... oh. Oh god.

His lower jaw hangs from his skull by a few decaying sinews, but what's worse is that the rest of his body soon follows the example and grows, for lack of a better word, disgusting. Blood pours from his eyes and rolls down his cheeks, and sutures form a line down the front of his gaunt body... like he's half Ulquiorra, half Frankenstein's monster. A star circled with barbed wire sits behind his head like a Satanic halo.

“It has already begun...”
>3d10, higher is better. Best of four.

Damn people, save some 20+ rolls for the rest of the fight!

Rolled 8, 3, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>2338138

Rolled 1, 7, 10 = 18 (3d10)

>>2338138

Rolled 1, 8, 4 = 13 (3d10)

>>2338138

Rolled 4, 8, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>2338138

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

>>2338138

>>2338138
In case write-ins help Riku cope?

It's not about being fearless. In fact, being fearless is arguably a form of cowardice, because if you fear no loss, then what risk is there to you?

The real secret is acknowledging the fear, but not letting it control you. Use it like any other emotion, but don't let it overshadow everything else.

>>2338153

Also aaaaaaahhhhh so close

>>2338138
“Man, I can see your ribs!” you protest. Then you feel it... something deep inside, welling up from the pit of your stomach. The creeping uncertainty, doubt, and aversion that other people, the ones with normal thought processes, would call 'fear'.

“Oh, so I do have that after all?” you admit, almost amused at it. Your hands are shaking, your breath is rapid, and your pulse pounds through your body. “It isn't just love and rage, huh? Who'd have thunk?”

“How are you still functional?” the Sternritter demands angrily.

“That's giving me a lot of credit,” you shiver uncontrollably. “Kinda struggling just to keep talking.”

“Well then,” your enemy grimaces... rather grotesquely given the state of his face. “I can fix that for you.”

He generates a wall of thorns behind his body.

“Die.”

>You can still do this... even if you're being MADE to feel fear, you can fight in spite of it.
>There's one solution to fear you can think of: add a different emotion. Like... maybe rage.
>“Rosa, tap out!”
>Other?

>>2338173
>Quote Dune

>>2338173
>other:REEEEEEEEEEE

>>2338173
>There's one solution to fear you can think of: add a different emotion. Like... maybe rage.

>>2338173
>>“Rosa, tap out!”

>>2338173
>>You can still do this... even if you're being MADE to feel fear, you can fight in spite of it.

>>2338173
>There's one solution to fear you can think of: add a different emotion. Like... maybe rage.
>“Rosa, tap out!”

>>2338173
>You can still do this... even if you're being MADE to feel fear, you can fight in spite of it.
>There's one solution to fear you can think of: add a different emotion. Like... maybe rage.

Rage is a good emotion! Show's you're unhappy with the state of affairs and want to change them. Very proactive.

>>2338173
>>You can still do this... even if you're being MADE to feel fear, you can fight in spite of it.
Fight or flight, and Riku sure as hell ain't fleeing.

>>2338173
>>There's one solution to fear you can think of: add a different emotion. Like... maybe rage.

I better hear doomguy's theme playing.

>>2338173
>SPITE AND RAGE POWERS, ACTIVATE
>3d10, DC 17, crit 22

Rolled 10, 3, 9 = 22 (3d10)

>>2338242

Rolled 10, 3, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>2338242

Rolled 3, 1, 7 = 11 (3d10)

>>2338242

Rolled 4, 8, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>2338248

>>2338242
Welp. Trip 1 time.

>>2338248
AYY RIP AND TEAR RIKU. RIP AND TEAR.

>>2338242
>>2338248

It's...it's so beautiful...

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>>2338248

>>2338248
Damn, rip strange fear dude

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>>2338242
>>2338248

>>2338242
“Well, looks like you got me,” you struggle to speak. “But I have just one question... before we finish this.”

“What would that be?” the quincy replies menacingly, the words shaking you to your core.

“Since when were you under the impression... that making me afraid was a good idea?”

“You're barely holding your sword,” Äs Nödt observes. “What makes you think it was a mistake?”

“In the words of a wise man, fear leads to anger...” you tell him, your body still shaking. “Raze...”

You can feel the explosive surge of power as you release your resurreccion, and you return Tenkotsuki to her sheath for now, currently sealed. Alongside your fear, you feel another emotion... one just as powerful and base but far more familiar.

With a shout the Sternritter slings a thorn at you, far faster now that he's fully released his own powers... but you catch the thorn in your left hand.

“Not going to work again,” you sneer, clenching your fist and shattering the spiritual weapon. “The fear isn't gone... I've just got something else to focus on.”

“WHAT!?”

“Pure, undying rage,” you respond, leaving a burning gash in Äs Nödt's chest as he steps away from you, stopping in a crouch.

“Now it's time for you to face your own fears,” you tell him.

The only question is, now that your head is clearer... how do you want to do this?

>Rosa is pure rage, use her blade to cleave this Sternritter to pieces and burn the pieces into dust.
>Rosa's your hollow powers... you wonder if Ulquiorra's the only one who can make a cero spear.
>Äs Nödt mentioned he has a fear of Hell. He showed you your fear, now you can show him his.
>Other?

>>2338318
>Show him Hell's Mark on your hand.
>Other: RIP AND TEAR RIKU. TEAR OUT HIS HEART.

>>2338318
>Äs Nödt mentioned he has a fear of Hell. He showed you your fear, now you can show him his.

>>2338318
>>Äs Nödt mentioned he has a fear of Hell. He showed you your fear, now you can show him his.

>>2338318
>>Äs Nödt mentioned he has a fear of Hell. He showed you your fear, now you can show him his.

>>2338318
>>Rosa is pure rage, use her blade to cleave this Sternritter to pieces and burn the pieces into dust.
Äs's to ashes...

>>2338318
>>2338326
Adding something.
>other: Tell him the story of how you went to hell...and became it's queen.

>>2338318
>Rosa's your hollow powers... you wonder if Ulquiorra's the only one who can make a cero spear.

>>2338318
>>Äs Nödt mentioned he has a fear of Hell. He showed you your fear, now you can show him his.

>3d10, DC 19, crit 22
>Taking best of four under these conditions, because it's such a surprising plan that there's no conceivable way Ass Noodle could be expecting it

Rolled 5, 1, 3 = 9 (3d10)

>>2338376

Rolled 1, 4, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>2338376

Rolled 1, 7, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>2338376

Rolled 5, 10, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>2338376
Time for us to fail.

Rolled 7, 9, 7 = 23 (3d10)

>>2338376
it's still a shitty DC. And we're probably gonna fail this one.

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>>2338384
HOLY SHIT. ZAMBIE SATAN JESUS BE SHITTING HIS PANTS

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>>2338384
>>2338385

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>>2338384
CLUTCH

>>2338384
>>2338385
>This is not Hell, this is the future he chose
>writing

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>>2338385
This clutch!!

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>>2338400
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA6ZAlPcovg
First thing, you have to reduce his mobility. He's proven that he can be a fast son of a bitch if he puts his mind to it, and that will ruin what you have planned for him. Oh, he's going to regret telling you his deepest fears for the rest of his pathetic existence... however long that may be.

“Hyapporankan!” you roar, slinging a single silver rod towards your foe. The rod splits into a storm of long projectiles, which shatter against a similar storm of thorns raised to block them. But the display is a ruse... obviously.

Äs Nödt uses the flashes and bursts of reiatsu to disguise a hirenkyaku, thinking to stab you in the back. But he finds your elbow in his wrist the moment he strikes, and instead of your blade he finds one more silver rod impaled through the center of his chest.

“This will hardly...”

“Kuyō Shibari!” you interrupt, kicking off the ground to get a few feet of breathing room in case the nine back orbs of the 79th-ranked bakudō somehow can't hold him long enough. They spring into existence in reverse order this time, with the first one erupting from the reishi of the Hyapporankan like it's a Roman candle. He roars in pain as the flickering orbs actually burn his skin... a side effect of using the spell with Rosa's abilities?

A question for another time.

“You showed me my fear,” you growl angrily at Äs Nödt, making a series of arcane gestures with your free hand. Gestures you don't entirely understand yourself, but which make an old mark on the back of your hand glow slightly. “Now, you're gonna regret telling me about yours.”

“You think you can send me to Hell!?” your victim jeers, hiding his growing apprehension as he strains against your bakudō. “You're even crazier than our Daten told us you'd be!”

“I'm not sending you anywhere,” you inform the Sternritter with a wicked grin as you open the portal behind him. “I'm taking you myself.”

With a powerful flying kick, you knock Äs Nödt into the aperture and snap it shut behind you.
>1/2

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>>2338444
>“I'm not sending you anywhere,” you inform the Sternritter with a wicked grin as you open the portal behind him. “I'm taking you myself.”

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>>2338444
When Riku says 'Go To Hell' she really means it.

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>>2338444

>>2338444
Through the infinite space and emptiness of the vast and uncaring universe you tumble, disorientation becoming your only guidance and terror and rage your only company. You can't help but let out a small laugh at your own cleverness.

This is gonna be great.

Far below the rectilinear structures and avenues of the First Circle of Hell rush up to meet you, stalked by the ever-vigilant Kushanāda.

“What is happening!?” the Sternritter demands, his voice gripped by a sudden tension.

With only the odd Kushanāda taking note of your passage you crash through into the second layer of Hell, an inarticulate shout Äs Nödt's only response.

“Is it raining, is it snowing, is a hurricane a blowing?” you respond, that wicked grin still plastered across your face as you plunge through the water and out into the third layer, high in the air, submerged, then in the air again.

“Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing,” you continue, falling faster and faster past gouts of flame towards the pools of glowing yellow acid below, your tone mounting like a madwoman's ranting. The pools flash by as the air is filled with ash at the passing of the Fourth Circle. “Why, are the fires of Hell glowing? Is the grisly Reaper mowing?”

“Yes!” you shout as you crash through into the deepest circle of Hell itself, falling at breakneck speed, looking into your victim's wide, terrified eyes. “The danger must be growing, for the rowers keep on rowing!”

Äs Nödt is simply screaming now as the ground rushes up to meet you. “And they're certainly not showing any signs that they are slowing!”

With a resounding crash you arrive.

“We're here,” you announce, rising from the crater you excavated into the volcanic rock. “The deepest circle of Hell itself.”

The Sternritter stands motionless, gazing out across the tortured landscape. Then, he manages a strained laugh. “This... this is hardly as bad as I had imagined.”

“Wait for it,” you smirk. “It gets so much worse.”

>Just wait here. The Kushanāda must have noticed your presence.
>Back to fighting. See how this jackass handles his own worst fear.
>Try to summon the Kushanāda yourself. You've got shit to do.
>Other?

>>2338557
>>Try to summon the Kushanāda yourself. You've got shit to do.

>>2338557
>Back to fighting. See how this jackass handles his own worst fear.

>>2338557

>Other: Go full Skullclad.

>>2338571
Not an on-demand form, just to be clear.

>>2338557
>>Back to fighting. See how this jackass handles his own worst fear.

>>2338557
>>Back to fighting. See how this jackass handles his own worst fear.
>While our hosts approach i'll keep you entertained.

>>2338557
>Back to fighting. See how this jackass handles his own worst fear.

>>2338577
oh. In that case... I'm changing my vote to
>Just wait here. The Kushanāda must have noticed your presence.
>other: Time for a story. a story of how you became queen of Hell.

>>2338557
Did. Did you just Willy Wonka him?

>>2338557
Seeing a Sternritter who's renown for inflicting primal fear reduced to screaming in terror as Riku sings a Willy Wonka song as they fall through Hell has never been so awesome.

>>2338593
Maybe a little.
>3d10, higher is better, best of four again
>Ass Noodle's jimmies are super fucking rustled

Rolled 3, 8, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>2338595

Rolled 8, 8, 6 = 22 (3d10)

>>2338617

Rolled 3, 9, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>2338617

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

>>2338617
That was glorious. Now here's hoping we don't fuck things up.

Rolled 8, 7, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>2338617
>Immediately tell your foe what your deepest fear is upon starting combat
>She uses it against you
>howcouldihavepredictedthis.jpg

>>2338622
nice.
>>2338630
HOLY SHIT. Azzy Nodice is super terrified.
>>2338621
Good thing this was linked to my post and not Queen's post.

>>2338617
Yeah, by my own rules the 25 is your fourth properly linked roll.

>>2338642
>Äs Nödt's wild ride into hell: the thread

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>>2338617
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgJ1heSrskY&t=216s
“So, whatever your name was,” you continue cheerfully, raising your sword in anticipation of another pointless exchange of violence between you and the quincy. “Do you know the difference between fear and anxiety?”

The Sternritter's response is both thoughtful and eloquent... is what you would say if either of those things were true. Instead he just screams inarticulately, summoning wave after wave of poorly-aimed thorns.

“That ability won't kill me,” you tell him, your blade nearly severing his left arm at the elbow. “The difference is that fear is a function of one's survival instincts. It's not a bad thing, it keeps us alive... all you have to do is put that instinct to use.”

“My soul is one-third hollow... harnessing my survival instinct comes as second nature to me. Just as I gather fear is a deeply-ingrained aspect of yours?”

“What... what are you saying?”

You chuckle. “I'm saying you shouldn't have told me about your own worst fears like an idiot.”

“See this?”

You hold out the back of your hand to the Sternritter, who scoffs. “What of it?”

“This is why Hell doesn't frighten me,” you explain.

“Enough!” he shouts, showering the stone around you with thorns. “I'm sick of your talk! I'm sick of your holier-than-thou attitude! Just die already!”

With an earth-shaking rumble, the very thing you've been hoping for arrives: the Kushanāda.

“What... what are these things!?” Äs panics, filling the nearest Guardian with thorns... which after pushing the giant back on its feet for a moment, appear to have done nothing.

“They have no fear, Äs Nödt,” you observe. “They are the Kushanāda, the guardians of this place. You could call them 'devils' I suppose... though you'd be wrong.”

“Captain!” the Sternritter cries out, turning his hideous face to you. “It isn't too late, we can still escape if we work together!”

“And why would I do that?” you ask spitefully, as one of the skeletal titans reaches down towards you.

“What are you doing you madwoman!?”

But to his shock, you simply hop into the Kushanāda's palm. The titan lifts you up to its eye level.

“I... what... you...”
>1/2

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>>2338686
>But to his shock, you simply hop into the Kushanāda's palm. The titan lifts you up to its eye level.

>“I... what... you...”
I am DIAMONDS

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>>2338686
The Kushanāda stares at you.

You stare back at it.

You hear a low rumble, almost like... like a sigh?

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOfDsDWBGNw

“Am I getting backsass from a kushanāda?” you realize aloud. “Oh, hell no!”

You hear the rumble again. “Oh, what, did I offend you?”

The Guardian continues to stare at you. “Don't give me that look, you and I both know he'd have ended up here either way. I just... helped him along a little.”

There's another low rumble as one of the nearby kushanāda stomps its foot against the ground, almost as if in protest.

“Okay, fine,” you admit with a sigh, “so I was also making a point. But the guy's an asshole!”

The kushanāda whose hand you're in rumbles. “Alright, I promise I'll avoid doing this again in the future.”

It stares at you. “No, I can't promise I'll never do it. I'm not going to lie to you, I really enjoy the poetic justice of it all, you know?”

The kushanāda rumbles again. “Yeah, I'm a romantic. What can I say, my wife loves it.”

“What is even happening!?” the quincy far below you demands angrily. “How are you conversing with that... that thing? And why aren't you afraid of that either? Don't you know we're in Hell?”

“Yeah, kind of obvious really,” you observe. “Hard to miss all the brimstone and giant skeleton beasts.”

“Then why...”

“Because Hell and I have an understanding,” you summarize. “I'm a nice person.”

“But... but I...”

>Best of luck, Sternritter. And remember... you earned every minute of this.
>Stick around for a moment, make sure the kushanāda do the job properly.
>Send him off yourself, in style. The Riku-Rosa way.
>Other?

>>2338742
>Stick around for a moment, make sure the kushanāda do the job properly.
>Other: pat the kushanāda on the head or give it a kiss on it's bony cheek when it actually does it's job properly.
KEK. I did not expect this.

>>2338742
>Best of luck, Sternritter. And remember... you earned every minute of this.

Hell is just other people.

>>2338742
>>Send him off yourself, in style. The Riku-Rosa way.

>>2338742
>>Stick around for a moment, make sure the kushanāda do the job properly.

>>2338742
>>Best of luck, Sternritter. And remember... you earned every minute of this.

>>2338742
>Other?
Since you are imposing on their turf, it wouldn't hurt to follow the kushanada's lead on how they want to resolve this

>>2338742
>stick around and make sure it does its job properly.

>>2338742
“I leave you alone for five minutes, and it literally all goes to Hell,” a familiar voice in your mind sighs. “My dear, you have to start learning to care for such things yourself.”

“Tenkotsuki!” you greet your Zanpakuto cheerfully. “When did you get back?”

“A few moments ago,” she informs you. “I severed our connection the moment I felt that quincy attempting to influence my mind. My apologies.”

“No, no,” you assure your partner. “It was partly my fault. I should've been more careful about what I was cutting.”

“You're welcome,” Rosa grumbles.

“I thought we weren't going to get all buddy-buddy?” you grin as the kushanāda close in around Äs Nödt.

“Please, Captain!” he begs. “Please don't leave me here! Forgive me, I'm begging you!”

“No pride,” Rosa sighs. “How disappointing.”

“I forgive you, Äs Nödt,” you declare.

“Oh thank god...”

“But my forgiveness doesn't matter here,” you continue. “That's literally the point of Hell. My advice? Just give up.”

“But... you can't...”

“Oh, but I can,” you shrug. “And I'm going to. Goodbye, Äs Nödt.”

After a second or two of screaming, all that remains is the squelching sound of flesh being torn apart at the joints and the sickening crack of bone. The kushanāda carries you several long paces across the blasted landscape, and a rift opens in front of it.

“Thanks for the assist,” you bow politely, before stepping through the Hell portal.

You briefly wonder where you'll come out...

>>2338821
And on THAT rather ominous note, give me 3d10. I'll be taking the fourth roll only.

Rolled 6, 7, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>2338826

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

>>2338826
This is where we screw up on dice.

Rolled 1, 3, 9 = 13 (3d10)

>>2338826

Rolled 10, 8, 7 = 25 (3d10)

>>2338826

>>2338843
Well that's certainly a well above average roll. Hopefully that still means good things.

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>>2338843

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>>2338843
DAYUM. we portal right into Masaki's and Kanae's holding cell. that is a NICE ROLL.

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>>2338843
The sights that greet you are mostly white tiles, smooth porcelain on the walls, with smooth black metal in vertical dividing walls. The sound of water falling... then abruptly the sound stops.

A vaguely familiar black and white face turns to face you over one of the dividing walls.

“This is rather awkward,” Kurotsuchi Mayuri admits, pulling up the front of his hakama. “Allow me one second to make myself decent.”

“Yeah,” you agree, quickly finding a spot on a nearby wall to stare at instead.

After a few moments, you hear Kurotsuchi sigh. “There. Thank you, Captain.”

“So tell me, is there even a single reason why I shouldn't kill you right here and now?” you ask, your hand finding Tenkotsuki's hilt.

The former Captain looks at you with an unflappable calm. “I can give you two, if you follow my meaning...”

>>2338906
OH GOD NO!

>>2338906
And with that, it's time to say goodnight. Next weekend: will Kurotsuchi lead Riku to Masaki and Kanae? Or does he intend to sell her out to Aizen? Why IS he even here?

All that and more next time! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and keep an eye on Twitter and/or Discord for updates, whichever is your jam.

>>2338906
>we just walked into a Kurotsuchi taking a piss in the bathroom.
very awkward indeed. Mayuri. very awkward indeed.

>>2338911
Thanks for running, that was a pretty good fight with As Nodt, and I liked in last thread that we were able to take advantage to Ulquiorra's lack of any discernible reason to be working for Aizen.

>>2338911
>Why IS he even here?

Apparently he hasn't yet come up with a more efficient method of sloughing dead skin off.

My god this is one of the most viscerally satisfying threads ever. When it came down to it, we absolutely aced all of the best rolls.

We drew on enough rage to make the Hulk proud, we overcame this guy's entire shtick, and then we turned his greatest fear on him by sending him to Hell itself.

Plus, the implied sass from the guardians was pretty funny too. Not as funny as them spitting us out right next to Mayuri taking a piss. Not only is that funny, but we're about to either get some significant concessions out of Mayuri, or we're about to kill him right now.

Either way, we win.

Man I am going to be smiling for days over this perfect thread.

Taking suggestions for an omake some time this week.

>>2346552
Harribel visiting a daycare in the living world

>>2346552
Aizen’s subordinates hear that Riku made the Fear piss himself in terror.

>>2346552
The adventures of sadbat and the tale to find the meaning of a life

>>2346552
The giving tree, now with a walking bat formerly tree.

>>2346552
The gods placing bets on who will win.

>>2348530
ooh i like this one.

>Omake: Winners and Losers

“She was victorious after all,” Ares booms, watching the screen in front of him in mild surprise. “You chose wisely, sister... I always hated that about you.”

The large man, with his dreaded mohawk and trimmed beard, passes a small bag to his laughing sister. The contents jingle slightly as she takes them.

“No sense in sulking, brother,” Artemis chides the war god, “at least you got to see an interesting fight.”

“I do not understand,” he persists, watching with a subdued sense of amusement as the sternritter Äs Nödt is torn limb from limb and devoured by the guardians of Hell. “Using such primal fear should have made him impossible for any other mortal to stop. So why this woman?”

“Her body is home to an aspect of the august Inari Ōkami,” Artemis reminds Ares, a serene smile on her face as she watches one of her very favorite mortals fill her role in splendid fashion. “Or have you forgotten that kami can work that way?”

“Just because I wield a spear does not make me a spear,” Ares counters, scratching at the stubble on the side of his head idly. “The primal terror should have made her weaker.”

“You bought into that quincy's hype?” Artemis sighs, shaking her dark head. “Mortals are more like animals than even you give them credit for. And when you have a predator cornered... mistakes have already been made.”

“These mortals are always so unpredictable. Do you believe that this one will somehow remain consistent in the face of her trials?”

“We could always bet on it,” Artemis jokes.

“You have already taken what is mine,” Ares grumbles. “Find someone else to fleece with this pet mortal of yours.”

“No one else is willing to make a wager on matters so serious,” Artemis laments, rising to her feet. “I hope these trials continue to amuse you at least.”

Ares takes one more look at the screen and grins, approving of what he sees there. “Yes... I think they shall.”

>updates resume tomorrow, 10am PST

>>2338906
You are Captain Kusajishi Riku, and you've just stumbled out of Hell and into a bathroom: a bathroom where you found the former Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri. In exchange for not being immediately pummeled, he's made you an interesting offer.

“Let's say I don't follow your meaning,” you reply, just as calm and collected as Mayuri when he told you he could give you “two reasons” to let him live. “Speak clearly and precisely.”

“You and the other fools came here for the quincy women,” Mayuri summarizes. “Though I may find your purpose rather dull, the sooner you accomplish it the sooner you can be on your way.”

“You're offering to help us get to them?” you ask.

Mayuri shakes his head. “Of course not. I'm offering to bring them to you.”

“How?”

“There is a device Aizen Sōsuke had me help perfect,” the former Captain explains. “I take it you are familiar with negacion?”

“I've seen it used a few times,” you nod, following along.

“We have made it usable in sealing away a living being,” he tells you. “At first it was of limited use, however with my improvements it should serve admirably.”

>So your plan is to sneak them out using this tool and meet us. So what's our role?
>I don't like this. You're basically asking us to sit on our hands in enemy territory.
>Before I say anything I need to know why you're doing this... ALL of this.
>Other?

>>2355504
>>Before I say anything I need to know why you're doing this... ALL of this.

I'll give things a few more minutes to get rolling, cause damn.

>>2355594
>Before I say anything I need to know why you're doing this... ALL of this.

Hi king! i kind of stopped following the past few months, it didn't feel like your heart was in it. Looking forward to claymore quest though, i'm thinking something fresh will do you wonders.

>>2355504
>Before I say anything I need to know why you're doing this... ALL of this.

Alrighty then, disclaimer. If the participation just isn't there tonight, then I'm going to change up the update schedule to one or two posts a day until next week.

>writing

>>2355624
To be fair, it's midday on a saturday, most folks are probably busy, out on the town doing something.
It'll probably pick up in the evening.

>>2355624
Sorry. I just got out of work.
>>2355504
>>Before I say anything I need to know why you're doing this... ALL of this.

>>2355638
Also the thread is in page 6 and doesn't bump. Randoms might not see it.

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>>2355624
“Okay, I'm gonna have to call a time out,” you insist, crossing your hands for emphasis. “What the hell are you even doing here, Kurotsuchi?”

“Urinating.”

“You know what I mean,” you grumble. “What are you doing with Aizen in the first place? What's your angle?”

Mayuri scoffs at the accusation. “Must I have an angle?”

“Must? No,” you admit. “But we both know you do anyway.”

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRZ-zlw9D8A

“I came here primarily to get away from the oversight of the Central 46,” Mayuri explains, wagging a long-nailed finger dismissively. “Without them I can study the fundamental differences between the types of souls that exist in our world, and come to a better understanding of how they came to be.”

“Aizen Sōsuke is simply a means to my ends, Captain.”

“And so you're helping us because... I'm guessing not altruism?”

“Captain, you wound me,” Mayuri tells you dramatically. “Aizen Sōsuke is simply a man who is infatuated with his notion of a perfect world.”

“Now, can you imagine an entire world that is perfect? The practicality of such a goal is questionable in and of itself because we ourselves are imperfect beings: to make a perfect world we would have to be removed entirely from it, and no one would be left to experience or appreciate that perfection!” he exclaims, palms held out in front of himself as he explains his thoughts to you... for the first time, with no sense of misdirection or obfuscation.

Then he clenches his fists, glaring down at them in obvious disgust. “But if one were to conceive of a method to force perfection onto the world in spite of ourselves, what would that leave?”

Your expression darkens. “I can imagine a few things that would have to go... free will. Pride. Ambition.”

“The truth of the matter is,” Mayuri glares, “I despise the very notion. If something is truly perfect, then that's it. The bottom line becomes that there is no room for imagination, no space for intelligence, or ability, or improvement... a dead end. The world Aizen desires in his heart is nothing more than the image of perfection. Pretty to look at, but lifeless as a photograph in a frame.”
>1/2

>>2355697
So I'm guessing Mayuri wants to have the freedom to do SCIENCE things but has to work under Aizen's perfectionist ideals which grinds Mayuri's gears internally, since knowing that if/when Aizen reaches his goal of "PERFECT WORLD" All of Mayuri's work will be all for naught.

>>2355697
“I, for one, would rather die than live only in the most technical sense of the word,” Mayuri continues. “So when Aizen Sōsuke approached me during my time serving under Urahara Kisuke, looking for an informant to keep track of the only man he considered his intellectual equal, I took it as an opportunity.”

“An opportunity to do what?” you ask, not quite following the train of logic.

“To see his plans for myself,” he insists. “Aizen Sōsuke's abilities are formidable, yet he himself is no more 'perfect' than you or I. And the imperfect techniques of an imperfect being must themselves have their fatal flaws.”

“And you believe you found one?”

Mayuri frowns. “Listen well, for you will never hear such an admission from me again... but I am uncertain.”

“Which means you may have something?” you press.

“Not on my person of course,” he sighs, rolling his eyes. “When we meet again, you are to take my work directly to Urahara Kisuke.”

You raise an eyebrow. “I thought you hated Kisuke?”

“Passionately,” Mayuri confirms. “However I do have faith that he will understand how to weaponize what I have created.”

>What is it you created (requires a roll)?
>Deal. Need a distraction or anything?
>So we're supposed to just... wait?
>Other?

>>2355740
>>Deal. Need a distraction or anything?

>>2355740
>Deal.
>Would you like me to send any specific word to your daughter?

>>2355740

>>2355755
supporting

>>2355740
>>Deal. Need a distraction or anything?

>>2355740
supporting this: >>2355755

>writing

>>2355796
“You have a deal,” you nod once. “So I assume you need us to provide a distraction?”

Mayuri shrugs. “I really can't tell you what to do or not to do. But it could possibly be useful to me, and to yourselves by extension.”

“So if that is what you wish to do, I really can't stop you.”

“One thing... is there anything you want me to say to Nemu?”

“Hm?” he asks, seemingly distracted. “You mean that thing I created?”

“No need for the act,” you sigh. “I'm being serious here.”

“If you must indulge in such sentimental nonsense,” he grumbles, “then the information should be going the other way, shouldn't it?”

>Nemu is... serving as an effective Lieutenant and a capable assistant to Captain Urahara.
>She's fine for now, but she could use something from her creator... father... figure. Anything.
>Your DAUGHTER is coping, about as well as an abandoned child can be expected.
>Other?

>apologies for the delay, technical issues on my end

>>2355898
>>Your DAUGHTER is coping, about as well as an abandoned child can be expected.

>>2355898
>Your DAUGHTER is coping, about as well as an abandoned child can be expected.
>other: If it helps with your bashfulness and reluctancy, then imagine me as a voice recorder.
>other: Speak now or else she might start seeing Kisuke as a replacement father figure.

>>2355898
>Your DAUGHTER is coping, about as well as an abandoned child can be expected.
>She's fine for now, but she could use something from her creator... father... figure. Anything.

>>2355898
>>Nemu is... serving as an effective Lieutenant and a capable assistant to Captain Urahara.

>>2355898
>>She's fine for now, but she could use something from her creator... father... figure. Anything.

>>2355898
>Nemu is... serving as an effective Lieutenant and a capable assistant to Captain Urahara.
>She's fine for now, but she could use something from her creator... father... figure. Anything.

Emphasis on needing a fathercreator figure, or does Mayuri want Kisuke to be one for Nemu. I bet he doesn't.

>>2355989
Here's a suggestion that I wrote-in in here:
>>2355926
>other: Speak now or else she might start seeing Kisuke as a replacement father figure.
Care to support?

>3d10, DC 19, crit 22, best of three

Rolled 5, 7, 7 = 19 (3d10)

>>2356013

Rolled 10, 4, 8 = 22 (3d10)

>>2356013
Papa Mayuri! papa!

Rolled 7, 10, 2 = 19 (3d10)

>>2356013

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>>2356034
Well done anon

>>2356013
“Your daughter is coping well enough,” you tell the former Captain, choosing your words very carefully. “She's taken a liking to working under Captain Urahara.”

“Has she now?” Mayuri asks, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

You've got him hooked, so now you reel him in.

“Yeah, she really seems to look up to him,” you add. “It's actually kind of cute, you know. Especially whenever he praises her for a job well done.”

“Is that so?”

You nod quietly. “Now, sure you don't have anything you want me to tell her?”

“I want you to remind her,” Mayuri begins, tasting his words carefully, “that she is the last of her line, and that as such I expect her to continue to exceed my expectations.”

“That's it?” you ask.

The former Captain nods. “That is quite more than needs be said. Now go, before all this sentimentality makes me sick.”

“Right,” you nod. “I'm sure you won't have trouble finding us.”

“With your track record I would tend to agree,” he nods back to you.

The bathroom you popped into seems to be out in the empty stretches of the city, inside a building that appears to have been designed as some sort of archive. There are many individual rooms, each closed behind a metal door with a small rectangular window, which in every case has been frosted over by a temperature difference between the slightly-heated corridors and their interiors.

“Where the hell am I?” you mutter, having taken your leave of Mayuri several minutes earlier.

>Investigate some of the rooms. It'd be interesting to know what Aizen and company have been up to.
>Find a window to get out of. You want to rejoin Yoruichi... unnoticed, if possible.
>Getting back to Yoruichi would be good, but why wait to start a commotion? You can do both things at once.
>Other?

>>2356130
>>Investigate some of the rooms. It'd be interesting to know what Aizen and company have been up to.
I wonder why they'd need cryogenic storage...

>>2356130
>>Investigate some of the rooms. It'd be interesting to know what Aizen and company have been up to.

>>2356130
>>Investigate some of the rooms. It'd be interesting to know what Aizen and company have been up to.

>>2356130
>other: prepare a modified Hado. a modified #96 (Itto Kaso) bomb set to detonate in X minutes when we make our escape. You can cast it using the same principles as you did when we mastered casting Hado #99.

>>2356130
>>Investigate some of the rooms. It'd be interesting to know what Aizen and company have been up to.

>>2356130
>“I want you to remind her,” Mayuri begins, tasting his words carefully, “that she is the last of her line, and that as such I expect her to continue to exceed my expectations.”
That's a very meandered way to tell a daughter "I'm proud of you."
Mayuri seems want to be the father figure his daughter wishes him to be yet can't quite say it in the most straight fashion.

>writing
>>2356195
Remember, this is a guy who in canon was mortified when his subordinates learned that he'd given Nemu a name.

>>2356195

He's not winning Father of the Year, but he's doing better than I would have expected. I honestly hadn't expected any of this development from Mayuri.

>>2356205
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1knTDTaCHus&t=12s
You decide to take a peek at what could be hiding in this building that requires refrigeration on this scale... and the first room you step into tells you immediately what kind of experiments Mayuri has been performing that would only be possible with a complete lack of oversight.

It's basically a meat locker the size of a small office building.

“What... the fuck?” you gasp, fighting to keep your hand from covering your mouth in shock.

“This is...” Tenkotsuki begins, also struggling with the concept. “Arrancar, hollow, quincy...”

“They're just hanging from meathooks!” you protest.

>3d10, DC 18, critical 22

Rolled 9, 10, 8 = 27 (3d10)

>>2356228
this.... WE MUST DESTROY THIS PLACE. NOW.

Rolled 4, 7, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>2356228

Rolled 3, 1, 10 = 14 (3d10)

>>2356228

>>2356228
“They've all been drained of blood,” you realize, taking a look at each of the corpses. All of them, save for the regular hollows, have been treated with the same basic butchering practices: at least to the extent that they were sliced open with a Y-incision and their throats were slit from one branch of the carotid to the other.

It's when you inspect the pattern of their uniforms that you're truly shocked.

In addition to the hollows there are quincy, identifiable by the fragments of their preserved uniforms, and the arrancar which bear mask fragments and occasionally a hollow hole still visible. But there's a third type of humanoid present as well, each of which visually indistinguishable from the other, all apparent copies of the same male subject. A male subject whose facial features seem vaguely familiar...

“It's him!” you realize breathlessly.

“What do you mean?” Tenkotsuki demands, not following your leap in logic.

“Mayuri... made clones of himself to experiment on,” you explain. “He needed shinigami test subjects for whatever he was doing, and he was the only one available. This way he could do procedures to the clones that would almost certainly be fatal.”

“That man disgusts me the more I hear about him,” Rosa grumbles. “Sure we can't kill him?”

“Not now,” you admit. “We need him.”

>But we CAN blow this place to kingdom come on our way out.
>But we may have to eventually.
>When all this is over he dies. Quietly, just never to be seen again.
>Other?

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>>2356230
Jesus fucking Christ anon, I hope you roll this well when going against Aizen.

>>2356295
>>But we CAN blow this place to kingdom come on our way out.

>>2356295
>>But we may have to eventually.

For now I suspect we're going to have to tolerate Mayuri, much like Yamamoto did.

Though not as leniently. Unlike the old man, we have Urahara as our second mad scientist. He is....somewhat more trustworthy than Mayuri.

I will shed no tears if we do blow this up as we leave, but Mayuri is likely to be a spiteful bastard about it.

>>2356295
>>But we may have to eventually.
As much as I'd like to blow everything up, that would draw attention to Mayuri, which could complicate things assuming he isn't doing some kind of triple-cross

>>2356308
You could vote for him just disappearing when all is over. That would also be an acceptable outcome to me.

>>2356295
>>When all this is over he dies. Quietly, just never to be seen again.

>>2356295
>>But we may have to eventually.
I doubt he's the type that'll stop experimenting. He'll find a way.

>>Other?
Simultaneous Haien on the bodies. At the very least, give the corpses a somewhat dignified send off. It's close enough to a cremation given the circumstances so to speak.

>>2356332
>>2356295
supporting the Haien cremation burial.

>other: Write a note on the wall with your sword that reads: "I tidied up your fridge and made some space. You're welcome you sick bastard. - R"

So it seems "we'll tolerate him in the same sense the Old Man did" wins, but I can't get a clear sense of whether destroying the samples is the favored option.

10 minutes, link back to this post
>Yes, all of the Haien.
or
>No Haien for now.

>>2356349
>>Yes, all of the Haien.

>>2356349
>>No Haien for now.

>>2356349
>>No Haien for now.
don't tamper with shit we can do this later

>>2356295
>When all this is over he dies. Quietly, just never to be seen again.

>>2356349
>No Haien for now.
We can use this as evidence against Mayuri when we finally get around to bringing him in for proper punishment by the c-46.

>>2356349
>>Yes, all of the Haien.

>>2356349
>No Haien for now.

>>2356349
>>No Haien for now.

The no crowd has it.
>writing

>>2356342

Damn, missed the run-off and Haien idea, I'd have voted for this. Very cheeky.

Ah well, one person wasn't turning this tide. If we're gonna be subtle though, we should either remove all traces, or steal stuff, or leave a message that makes it clear he may be tolerated, but there are limits.

>>2356404
“We may still have to kill him some day,” you admit. “But for now, we tolerate him the way the Old Man did... except from further away.”

“And we're not gonna...”

“No,” you interrupt Rosa with a sigh. “I don't know what they call it where you're from, but where I'm from we call things like this 'evidence'.”

Instead you leave the building through the first window you find, and reach out your hands to your sides. “Hey, Tenkotsuki? Give me a hand with this.”

“Hadō 31: Shakkahō!”

The massive red orbs of reiatsu form in the air in front of you, and then you lower your arms. The orbs remain suspended in the air where you created them, and even after turning around and walking the other direction you can feel them there.

“Good,” you nod to yourself. “This should work just fine.”

Several minutes later the distance becomes too much for you to maintain the orbs' cohesion, and two massive explosions rock the entire district around the archive building you just left. Dozens of weaker warriors swarm to the site, including one reasonably strong arrancar.

“Interesting...”

>See if you can get a quick look at the arrancar using kidō.
>Head straight to Yoruichi, get her caught up to speed.
>See if there's anything else you can blow up along the way.
>Other?

...Damn, I totally forgot we were gonna make a distraction. Blowing up Mayuri's stuff would have totally counted. Rargh.

>See if there's anything else you can blow up along the way.

Voting because explosions. Pretty much no other reasons.

>>2356486
>>Head straight to Yoruichi, get her caught up to speed.

>>2356486
>See if there's anything else you can blow up along the way.

>>2356486
>>Head straight to Yoruichi, get her caught up to speed.

>>2356486
>>Head straight to Yoruichi, get her caught up to speed.

>>2356486
>>2356486
>See if there's anything else you can blow up along the way.
>other: If possible, modify Hadō 31: Shakkahō to be timed charges to maintain speed at irregular intervals while going at a most around-about route.

>>2356486
>See if you can get a quick look at the arrancar using kidō.

>>2356486
>>See if there's anything else you can blow up along the way.

>3d10, dc 17, crit 23

Rolled 3, 10, 4 = 17 (3d10)

>>2356558

Rolled 4, 10, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>2356558

Rolled 3, 2, 5 = 10 (3d10)

>>2356558

>>2356558
>will be back to write in a few minutes have to take care of something

>>2356558
If one explosion worked that well... then it stands to reason that multiple explosions would work even better. So you spend a good fifteen minutes setting off more blasts here and there, each carefully arranged to make it seem like their locations are totally random so as to throw even a keen observer off the shortest path between you and your wife. Then, once the quincy and arrancar are in total disarray, you make a beeline for Yoruichi.

“I see you've been busy,” she greets you with a quick embrace. “How's our mutual friend?”

“In Hell,” you explain succinctly. “Ran into Mayuri on my way back, says he's going to help us get Masaki and Kanae.”

“Really now?” Yoruichi asks, clearly unconvinced. “I'll believe that when I see it.”

“He made a good, internally consistent argument,” you admit. “I think he's genuine about wanting us back in Karakura town as fast as possible, if nothing else.”

“Then I suppose it works to our ends to trust him that far,” Yoruichi sighs. “Damn it all, to think we'd be relying on that man to save us some time...”

“Well, time is certainly...” you begin, only to be interrupted by a familiar, loathsome voice in your head.

“Attention invaders,” Aizen's voice greets you. A glance at Yoruichi confirms she hears it too. “You have done well to survive this long, however I will sadly be too busy invading Karakura town from this point onward to watch the rest of your battles.”

“Damn it all...” Yoruichi grumbles. “Did we at least stop him from invading the Seireitei directly?”

“However, the way I see it you have a choice now: to either continue in your mission to save Ishida Kanae and Kurosaki Masaki, or to return to Karakura town for the climactic battle. Either way, it is your decision to make... and do not concern yourself with the opposition if you remain. I will not be taking my full force to Karakura town.”

“Schutzstaffel, report to the Gate immediately,” Aizen finally orders, “for the invasion of Karakura town. The remainder of our forces shall serve as the rear guard. That is all.”

“Then we need to hurry,” you decide. “We've gone from short on time to out of it.”

“You have no idea how correct you are.”

The new speaker stands confidently several yards behind you: a dark-skinned arrancar with a row of tiny bone spikes arranged like a mohawk atop his bald head. There's something rather... 'monastic' about his appearance.

“I am Zommari Rureaux,” the arrancar declares. “Introduce yourselves and draw your swords, shinigami. I will be your opponent.”

>>2356767
And I'm fading fast, so this is where we have to end for the weekend. Thanks for turning out, and see you all next time!

Twitter handle is @QMKingofHearts, as always, and the discord is always open. I'll post on both when I've confirmed my schedule. I'll also try for one last omake some time this week.

>>2356777
Have a good one it was fun as always.

>>2356777
Thanks for the run. Sorry 'bout taking part late in the session.

Really fine balancing act you did with Mayuri regarding his character and motivation. Definitely polarizing in regards to what he brings on one hand, and his methods on the other.