CaughtInTheRiddle

Naruto: Revival

@CaughtInTheRiddle I see you peeking in here pretty consistently. Are you interested in joining, or are you just looking in here to laugh at our bad writing?

@Odin

I have been lurking, perhaps going to join. Just thinking up character ideas.

Marvel AU - The New Avengers

Thankies ^_^

Marvel AU - The New Avengers

Mind if I reserve a Character Slot? Will work on the CS today :3

D&D Beginner [Searching Group + DM]

Are we going 5e?

D&D Beginner [Searching Group + DM]

@CaughtInTheRiddle Was clarifying, or at least restating, my stance. That's all. ^~^

@Ermine

All good! Sorry if that sounded kinda rude, haven't slept much these last couple of days and the way I've been wording stuff has been a little off!

D&D Beginner [Searching Group + DM]

@CaughtInTheRiddle I have a Discord account, but I believe some people prefer the forums for things like ensuring everyone who wants to join has equal access to the information. Also, my free time is limited, so I would not be able to participate in many live sessions / discussions. Skype is better for me since I can use it at work.

@JBRam2002

I didn't mean to do the actual game on Discord, but just to use it as a general chat room :)

D&D Beginner [Searching Group + DM]

I'd be keen to join in with you guys.

I play it with a group of friends in RL, but post-by-post shouldn't be too bad.

Have you guys heard of discord? I can make a group server on that where we can actually have a chat room instead of a forum like this.

【Bleach: Souls Adrift】

Arina Kawagana, Sannouske Kenpachi, Xiang Yue and Akio Kanai

Part II - Enter, Hiroshimoto Masumata

Mal's abandoned body continued to decay and as it did the caustic reiatsu in the air gradually lessened. The body had only dissolved a small portion of its size.

Sano, initially stood tall from Mal's attack, body unflinching from the events that transpired before him. Blood slowly slid down from his ears, his eardrums ruptured causing him to hear most things as inaudible sounds. Sano knew he could have dodged that if he hadn't been so reckless but he didn't care in the long run. What he truly cared about was the fact that hollow seemed to have gotten away before their very eyes. He almost angrily took a step forward before he felt Arina's touch, something he knew exclusively. He looked back at her out the corner of his eye, analyzing her body to make sure she was okay. Most important to this whole moment was the fact they lost their hollow. The mission was a failure and people were too hurt to really go on except for Sano. He didn't need the sound to keep him in the fight as long he had his gut, could see, smell, and feel then he felt like he could fight for days.

At least that's what he had thought, before it hit him. A wave of intense nausea and disorientation...followed by a harsh rattling of his skull and every bone of his body. Muscles would tense and relax, spasming uncontollably. However, he wouldn't retain consciousness long enough to feel any of that unpleasantness, no before he even truly realized what had hit him, he was knocked out cold.

Although Arina’s hearing had mostly returned, the ringing in her ears hadn’t subsided and she was sure than any form of raised voice would give her a splitting headache. She had regained her balance and had pulled herself up, using Sano’s hand for leverage. Her blue eyes scanned the Kenpachi for a moment, looking for any signs of damage, and aside from blood in the ears, there appeared to be none. So when he dropped, her arms shot out to grab him, only for her to fall along with him. She managed to soften his fall slightly and when she hit the ground her hands gripped his shirt as her irises scanned over him again. He wasn't dead but he was far from alright. She had wondered how she and the others had come out from Mal's attack virtually unscathed, and as Sano's unconscious form lay beneath her slightly trembling hands, she found her answer. He had absorbed practically all the damage from the attack.

She closed her eyes for a moment before calling out to her Lieutenant, "Xiang, take Sano with you. He needs a medic."

Xiang sighed. People she didn't want with her. On the bright side, he was knocked out cold. With a flick of her wrist, a rope grabbed him, and also put him on her trampoline. She turned to her captain.

"You'd better do the Gotei 13 proud captain. If not, someone else will have to take your place. I'm catching up."

She nodded at Kanai.

"Take care of my captain."

With that bit of cheer, she left in a Shunpo.

While those who remained recovered from Mal's attack, his abandoned body slowly dissolved into particles of reishi, dispersing into the air. Kanai and Arina would soon regain their hearing, though louder noises would continue to be a bit painful for awhile yet.

After five minutes had passed, the massive centipede's errant body finally finished dissolving, leaving only the blood of the hollow's victims strewn about as well as the damage he had wrought to the jungle gym.

However, it appeared that their luck would be turning over a new leaf, for as the seventh minute passed and they likely geared up to return to base...a shockwave erupted from the sky and two taloned hands parted it like a curtain, ripping open a kumon. Out climbed what, at first, might appear to be a Menos grande...until one looked upon its mask which differed significantly.

Glancing about, the massive hollow quickly located the shinigami and stepped fully out of the rift in the sky.

"These are the shinigami," it stated, its voice deep and resonant, its tone somewhat guttural as it echoed throughout the abandoned park. The Gillian was one story tall and by the sensation of its reiatsu...appeared to be around a lieutenant in strength. It wasn't weak...and it wasn't alone. From the very bottom of the kumon rift stepped a much smaller hollow--though it was of a seemingly similar appearance...its mask excluded, which was perhaps the most bizarre combination of plague doctor beak, masquerade mask, and pope hat that one could dream up. In a sonorous, excitable female timber, the second hollow spoke up, its form reaching only 5 meters(16 feet) in height, whereas its comrade was considerably larger, standing at 12 meters(40 feet).

The smaller of the two lurked behind its partner as they regarded the shinigami from roughly 40 meters away, though they were quite visible and not even attempting to hide their presence.

The larger one spoke up, "These are the ones we will kill, Saishi?" It asked, its mannerisms blunt, making the question sound more like a statement. The smaller female hollow, Saishi, spoke up, "Yes, they feel like the reiatsu that was on Maly so they must be! Specifically the big one!" She hopped back and forth from foot to foot excitably, her reiatsu spiking hither and thither.

The larger hollow grunted and Saishi laughed. "Gonna get 'em Kiretsu? Get us a good meal?"

The larger hollow grunted again before opening its mouth, a cero forming in an instant.

Saishi called out in excitement, "Yaaaaay, huntin' time!" So it was that the hunt--apparently--began.

It had been a few minutes since what seemed to be the end of their battle and they were preparing to head out. Arina's worries rested upon Xiang and Sano. They had been blindsided by the centipede hollow and the Kenpachi had paid the price. Although, she was rather greatful thatthe rest of the team had remained practically unscathed.

She was about to speak to Kanai when the shockwave erupted from the sky and as the kumon was ripped open, a sigh of annoyance escaped her lips, her blue eyes glancing to the two hollows as they made their presence known. She was growing tired of this mission at a rather fast rate of knots.

She glanced to the Lieutenant, suppressing her complaints as the two Hollows mentioned hunting them.

Kanai had finished his duty with removing the people from the "play ground" and entrusted Xiang with taking them to a safe place. His hearing had returned and this is hat alreted him to the precense of two new enemies. One was a Gillian and the other was a naormal hollow, or at least that is what it looked like to Kanai. The two hollows began to talk about how they where hre to "hunt" ands this caused Kanai to scoff.

"Those two hunt us, I mean I'm not one for underestimating but I am pretty sure we can take em." he said with confidence to the rest of the team that could listen.

He looked at Arina for orders but he was ready to fight, it had been awhile since he last used his zanpakuto, and this caused him to feel like a blade going dull.

"I am ready when ever you are Captain!"

Arina frowned at Kanai's words, her eyes never leaving the two creatures - slightly narrowing as a cero formed. Her hand gripped the hilt of her Zanpakuto for a moment as one of her feet stepped back. "Lieutenant, disengage," her voice was low and stern, "We're going to fall back, get back to the mansion."

While she waited for Kanai to turn and run, she drew her sword murmuring her release, incase she needed to make a quick defense.

"Bend and Shift... Collude without ends; through will I grant you form...."

---

He was half way to his goal when he felt it. The sudden fading of a previously substantial amount of reiatsu. One with which he had acquired a familiarity with in the years of late. Kenpachi Sano's. Thus, it was mid shunpo that the shinigami snapped his body about to face his east, simultaneously flexing the muscles of his legs prior to initiating yet another series of shunpoes. Doing so with a frightful boom as he momentarily shattered the sound barrier, now moving at roughly twice his previous rate. A wave of his hand prior to the action being the only expresion of his desire for the others to press on without him.

As he darted through the air, his heart began to race. Filled with both worry and concern. Hence every step grew fiercer, every stride harder, until he himself became all but the most subtle of blurs. A single thought filling his equilibrium as his subconscious guided him to the reiatsu's origin point.

Arina.

His concern only deepened when two more reiatsu signatures suddenly appeared in the vicinity. Their feel all too familiar.

"Hollows." The word rolled of his tongue with an air of disgust, causing him to only further his efforts in speed as he drew nearer to his destination. Especially given that one of them had begun to gather a voluminous amount of reiatsu in the last moments of his trip.

Alas, it was like some sort of otherwordly specter that he suddenly phased into existence before the group. Chest rising and falling in heavy pants as he stood, angled, betwixt Arina and the two hollows. His materialized zanpakuto firmly within his right palm as he extended his sheath back in her direction. Adopting an openly protective stance. Intent on recovering his breath, a brief backwards glance was all the greeting he could spare.

A flash of worry went through Saishi's mind as another reiatsu signature appeared, but it was too late to analyze it as a moment after she noticed and the figure appeared, her partner unleashed his cero. Of course, Kiretsu had noticed too, and in doing so he bit down on the cero as it released. What would normally be a sphere of fast moving energy, erupted into several hundred thin beams, that blossomed out and forwards in the direction of the shinigami.

Saishi hopped happily, establishing a connection between the shinigami and Kiretsu, signalling him with a specific flare of her reiatsu. Then the two would be violently pulled towards one another and likely into the piercing, burning beams of energy that Kiretsu had released. However, none of it really touched him--though if anyone was looking it would appear to--as his ability allowed him to travel through most things he could react to unharmed so long as they weren't composed of reishi or kishi. As he traveled he kept a small pocket behind him open, which Saishi had hopped into, hitching a ride on his back--thus hidden from view.

Together, the two of them could track and react--respectively--to most things thrown their way. Of course, little did they know that the man who had just arrived was going to be a tough adversary for them both.

Having arrived on edge, Hiro's senses were in full swing. Instinctively fuelled by the rush of battle. Alas, he wasted no time in identifying and absorbing his opponent's reiatsu as the tethers formed. Redirecting them towards the sheath of his zanpakuto as it consumed the would be links. While he was unsure as what the hollows intentions were, he knew better than to simply allow an opponents reiatsu to make contact with his being.

For good measure, he began to then collect all ambient reiatsu via the sheath. Concerned for the repercussions of having Arina fall prey to whatever they had attempted.

Arina had one thing in mind as she stood in between the hollows and Kanai, and that was to keep them at bay until the Lieutenant could get out of harm's way. So when a new arrival seemingly appeared out of nowhere she was rather taken back. She would have vocalised that she had never been more happy to see him, but that would have been a lie considering there had been one or two occasions in the past where she had been more relieved and ecstatic to see the man, and this was no time to bring that up.

Her blue eyes stared wide at him as he took a protective stance in front of her and her form faltered for a moment, “Hiro…”

She breathed his name as if she hadn’t spoken it in years, relief washing over her body as she relaxed slightly in the Captain's presence. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to go up against these hollows by herself, but now he had made an appearance, she liked their odds.

Her attention snapped back to the situation as her eyes narrowed on the cero as it was released, but scattered, causing it to rain down on them in hundreds of beams.

“Jigoku Shōheki (Infernal Barrier).”

Arina’s voice was low as she murmured the incantation, stepping closer to Hiro and stabbing her scythe into the ground, causing the ribbons to shoot up and merge together into a sphere around the two of them. The outer shell would harden and act as a makeshift barrier in attempt to shield them from the blast.

Once again, her blue eyes would glance back to the Division Seven Captain, “Thank you for coming.”

As she spoke, a smirk quickly took his lips. relief washing over him as he confirmed that, for the most part, she was alright. However, he did not waste words on the pleasantries of greeting an old friend. Even as his anger swelled upon the notice of the injuries she hid all too well. Instead, he elected to voice his intentions. Eyes trained upon the barrier now erected between the attack and them.

"Together." His tone was stern and yet gentle. As if to both ask and command at the same time. His head nodding to the barrier as to show his intention to force his way through. A flash of reiatsu erupting before him as a myriad of spiked balls materialized upon the barricade's inner wall.

The shinigami then stabbed his sheath into the floor next to him. Taking his zanpakuto in both hands as he focused his senses, tracking the movements of the hollows intent on seeing them to harm. Maintaining his composition only out of necessity as his eyes narrowed, and the enemy arrived.

Arina didn't have to be told, after close to a century of being with the man, she had learned to understand him, even when he spoke so few words. Her eyes met with his once more as she silently nodded her head, waiting for him to get into place before she lifted the scythe out of the ground and slashed it upwards, chanting something as she did so, "Akuma Mori (Demon Lance)."

As she did this, the barrier would shatter and the tendrils of shadow would morph into four lances. She would wait for his command before bringing the scythe down and releasing them at the hollows, two at each creature.

A signal which came in the form movement. Having raised his katana above his head, Hiro's stance grew wide. Arms risen and poised to strike as he entered into a Jodan No Kame sword posture. Another breath later and the man's reiatsu exploded. Momentarily shrouding him in a crimson aura as he brought his blade to bear. Intent on utilizing the force of his strike to amplify the speed of Arina's lances, which had now enveloped the metal spikes - hiding them within.

The beams struck the barrier, and as it was dispelled they continued to be scattered around them, slamming into the ground and pulverizing it, sending dust and debris into the air, obscuring their vision. Kiretsu, despite looking like a big lumbering oaf, and despite his being the brawn of the pair, was still intelligent enough to attack with more than one purpose in mind. His partner on the other hand, who was the brains of the bunch was having trouble, as it appeared that her ability did not work on the newcomer...at all.

She gritted her teeth and retreated, signaling Kiretsu, who in a flash threw another volley of ceros, creating a number of debris clouds, one to each side excluding in front of them. Saishi retreated into one of them and plotted her next move while Kiretsu held their attention. With Saishi having retreated Kiretsu knew things were likely to fall on him for the most part--it wasn't likely to end well, even he knew that much.

They'd need to stall. In the interest of such he charged two ceros in his mouth, grabbed them with his hands and then began charging a third, waiting for the shinigami to make their move as he ceased approaching, instead hiding his presence within the massive cloud of dust and debris his cero had kicked up. Hopefully they could get out of this alive.

A shadow loomed a bit in the distance, watching atop a building,completely obscured. Despite its reiatsu and visibility being obscured, it talked to itself, almost reassuringly.

"If your comrade is being defeated, you should see it as an opportunity. Rather than standing in the way, you should stab the enemy in the back. And if the enemy is so far above your level that you cannot even manage that... then you should let your comrade die. That is our way."

It didn't move yet to join in one side or the other.

Arina didn't even need to look at Hiro to know what he needed her to do, her ice blue eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the two hollows disappear into the dust they had created with the cero. And with one swift movement, she brought her scythe down in a swinging motion - releasing only two of the lances, aiming them forward. As they detached, they would launch forward, but crash into the ground, filling the entire area with a cloud of dust, engulfing the two Captains.

Then, without a word, she stepped back and to the side, her arm brushing against Hiro's due to the close proximity. She had no intention of being seperated from the Division Seven Captain, and this way, she could still recieve any silent signals he might give her.

With his body tense, its entirety flexed in anticipation, her touch brought with it a sense of comfort once long forgetten. Bringing with it a renewing clarity as his eyes combed the storm of debris and dust. Allowing the shinigami to feel as if his body had suddenly grown lighter. So it was that he then closed his eyes and once again focused his senses. This time training them upon his own reiatsu - or rather the spikes comprised if it as he suddenly expanded their size. Causing them to burst free of the two entrenched lances which housed them within. Sending several hundred spikes cascading across the entire battlefield like the shrapnel from a duo of bouncing bettys.

He tracked each and every one.

With his ears, he listened for movement. Ready to judge distance and location. With his nose, he smelt for the stench of a hollow. Determined to discern the presence of his foes. However, it was only after idly deflecting a few dozen spikes which threatened the two captains, that he felt for any vibrations within the ground. Searching for anything that might betray the movement of the brute.

Upon returning his blade to his side, he then pressed his free arm ever slightly against Arina's. Returning whatever affection lay hidden within the fleeting embrace.

D&D Beginner [Searching Group + DM]

Heya, I'd be happy to go through some stuff on PM if you'd like to have a bit of a chat about stuffs!

【Bleach: Souls Adrift】

Arina Kawagana, Sannouske Kenpachi, Xiang Yue and Akio Kanai

Part I

As the shinigami arrived, they'd find themselves looking out upon a large park. Overhead there was a massive rift in the sky. The smell of death hung in the air as if in spite of the rain which should have drowned it. The air prickled with the vicious reiatsu of hollows, and there was blood here and there on the ground.

It was not a pleasant sight.

Xiang arrived first, following the kido to the location. Looking around, her face soured. As stoic as she was, her heart wasn't ice.

"This is why we're shinigami...."

As annoyed as she generally was with the other shinigami, she knew this was the exact reason they existed, why they were so needed to the world. Even the kenpachi had his use.

Sighing, Xiang looked around to see if the blood trails led to the hollow. She likely had her work cut out for her, considering capturing things alive was her specialty. The harder part of the mission was not killing the hollow. She had to admit looking at the blood, even she wanted to get violent.

The trails were everywhere, but there was only one reiatsu signature of note in the area, and it was in the direction of what looked like some kind of rough shodden climbing tower. Most of the blood was streaked across the ground as if it had been dragged in that direction, but that didn't mean there was a small quantity of blood elsewhere....

Kanai arrived soon after Xiang and took in the monstrous sight, the blood, the smell, it all was no surprise to him, when left unchecked this is what hollows do, what they bring. He looked over at Xiang after her comment and smirked, it was funny she said that considering she gave off the vibe that she hated the rest of them, at least her head was in the right spot.

He looked around at the blood trails but had yet to see a body, and Kanai knew he was not the only one who felt that presence in the distance.

"How should we move forward, and handle the elephant in the room?" he said with a frown as he crouched and gestured towards the tower.

Arina had arrived almost in stride with Kanai, narrowly missing a pool of blood that would have soaked her feet. A small frown graced her features as her blue eyes scanned the area before landing on her comrades. Her stomach churned slightly and she could feel the rising sickness in the back of her throat - scenes like this had been happening more often than not lately. Her expression, however, remained completely nonchalant, with no hint whatsoever that the scene had bothered her. The only give was a slight step backwards, towards the warmth of Sano - which was not unusual for her regardless. As the days progressed, she strayed from his side less and less.

She hadn't acknowledged Xiang's comment, but she placed a hand on her hip as Kanai spoke, her eyes glancing upwards to the tower for a moment before shifting back to Sano for his orders. He had taken over command of the group, so she'd allow him to continue as this mission's Captain.

"I grab it, you chain it. Simple as that." Sano replied to Kanai with overflowing confidence, "Question is where the hell is it?"

Sano was anxious as ever to find the hollow. The reiatsu pulsating from the direction beyond the hill antagonized him to no end. It was a tense day for the Kenpachi and just thinking how this was a competition now dug under his skin. First he would need to work with that backstabber Xiang and then he'd have to beat Daigo, the man he wanted to stomp into the ground more than any hollow. The leader of the group took point, unfazed by their surroundings, as he strolled over the hill before them.

As the group traversed the hill, odd scuffle marks became apparent, taking the form of something long. Something that largely dragged itself along the ground, or at least near it. The blood stains always accompanied the 'tracks' and after a minute they passed over the hill to reveal...a playground of which the climbing tower was apart. There was a slide, monkey bars, a raised structure, which connected to the tower, and of course...a jungle gym, which was a mess of bars that a child could climb among.

The kumon overhead snapped shut rather suddenly, causing a rush of air to blow some leaves from the surrounding trees, and to rustle the blood stained grass, dirt, and woodchips. Through the wind, in relative clarity, they could see an incredibly long insectoid hollow, which had coiled itself within the jungle gym's many bars. The bodies of children, and some adults--mostly women--could be seen hanging from or impaled by some of the bars where they had been bent away from their original positions, so as to be broken and used as meat hooks, as it were. As the wind died down they would hear a rather disturbing sound.

It was the sound of whimpers, sobs, and subdued wails coming from what would have first appeared to be human corpses. The reality was far more gruesome...as aside from a select few of the women and children, most were still alive, either being eaten as the hollow picked them apart with its mandibles and many limbs, or waiting to be eaten.

Stopping, the hollow glanced up, its long centipede's body slithering and scuttling up from the jungle gym, as its head reared up like some great snake, its 6 red eyes peering at them. It wiped blood from its mouth and 'face' with its mandibles as it spoke. "Ah, shinigami. Strong too. Tasty, me thinks," it said, its speech somewhat clipped. Its gaze seemed to linger much longer on the two women of the party.

However, it identified the leader as the musclebound man, causing him to look at him. "Hmm. You will be wanting me to pay for this?" It gestured at the still living, suffering, humans it had impaled and draped over and through the jungle gym. "Mal thinks he will not be doing so," he said, answering before any chance for the shinigami to respond revealed itself. "Anger. I think I will leave. You clean up," its mandibles twitched, as did one of its eyes. Mal had remembered that he couldn't smile again.

Xiang's eyes widened in anger at the scene. Shinigami were suppose to stop things like this from happening! Her anger though wasn't directed at this beast, it was thoughtless hunger. It was at the Junsei who had expelled them from the Seireitei. If it wasn't for them, they wouldn't have this problem.

A deranged smile came to her, one of cruelty.

"Oh, no. You don't have enough blood in your body to pay for this, or nerves to feel the pain. However, you need cleansing more than any other hollow I've ever seen. Make it rain, Okami."

Her blade transformed as she drew it. She focused on Mal, waiting for it to make a move. It it would try to escape, she would stop it. If it wasn't, there was a certain Kenpachi she was sure would appreciate hacking it to bits otherwise.

Flames sparked around Sano's feet, outward into his surroundings. The heat raising to the point it was visible in the air. Suddenly flames erupted like a wildfire all around him, making sure to not harm his allies. His rage was something of legend and this beast would see it first hand. The horror before his eyes could not be denied and his mind only raced on saving those that could be saved. These hollows brought about a special hatred, one that could only be staved by the death of this one. Unfortunately its reiatsu gave off a hint of its strength meaning they would need to catch.

"ARINA! KANAI! Save those that can be saved. Once you get them down, Kanai, get them to safety and Arina will rejoin the fight." Sano commanded the captain and the lieutenant, "Xiang, they said we had to capture it but the Commander never said it needed to be in perfect condition. Let's show it how 11th division used to do."

There was a pure moment of silence before the sound of Sano's leg muscles could be heard as he bent down, earth cracking under his feet. Sano couldn't shunpo to save anyone's life but, he did have one trick under his belt known as his Super Dash. Sano shot forward like a bullet, breaking the sound barrier at the mere start of his dash and rock flying everywhere behind him.

"COME ON, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Sano bellowed like a lion in the jungle with fist cocked and ready to slam the hollow into the earth below.

Arina’s face hadn’t changed in the slightest - in fact, it brought her slight comfort in seeing the bodies; bloody paste was slightly more unnerving for her. Her blue eyes stared up at the centipede for a moment and she felt her skin crawl before she looked back to the Hollows victims - some of which were still alive. With a small sigh, she rested her wrist over the hilt of her Zanpakuto as she listened to the Hollow speak.

The scene didn’t seem to anger her too much, unlike her comrades, but then again - she was used to such violence.

She took a large step sideways, away from Sano as he all but exploded and she found herself standing beside Kanai as the Kenpachi ordered them to help the survivors. Her blue eyes glanced up at the wailing people and she couldn’t help but whisper something to the Lieutenant,

“It’d be more of a mercy just to end their misery…”

Her voice was low, but she allowed everyone in the group to hear her words.

But, she decided it wasn’t her decision to make; and as Sano burst forward, she stepped into a Shunpo. She went for the children first, silently wondering if they would survive the blood loss they would suffer when she pulled their impaled bodies off the bars.

Kanai stood there as the Hollow that identified himself as Mal with an indifferent look on his face. Deep down his heart
went out to the poor humans but that feeling was overshadowed by his hate for hollows and his rising temper. He was ready to fight the monster infront of them, but Kenpachi ordered him and Captain Arina to help the civilians since they were still alive.

He turned towards them with the captain as Kenpachi "jumped" into action. He heard her statement, along with everyone else, and agreed completley. What kind of life would they live even if they did some how surivie after being saved?

"I agree but orders are orders." he said but a little louder than her.

Right after she went for the children, Kanai stepped in motion with her, using Shunpo to grab the older parents and some elderly and take them to cover far away from the fight. The whole time making sure to pay attention to the fight going on next to them as well.

The centipede stirred as the shinigami moved and began talking, but it didn't move significantly, its only action seeming to be that it uncoiled its bulk from within the tangles of the jungle gym bars. "Hmm, yes, anger. Haha. Should have left early. Oh well," it then emitted a single clicking sound, but it was inconsequential, doing nothing. It was what they couldn't hear that was the problem, as it began creating an inaudible hum. Imperceptible from their locations the metal bars of the jungle gym began to vibrate. "Well, come then, little one," it said not to either lieutenant or female captain, but to the musclebound Kenpachi.

Come forth the man did, leaping into a tremendously fast dash, with fire wreathing his form. Of course, Mal had begun pregenerating, as he liked to call it, creating a hardened shell of flesh and chitin over the entirety of his body, making it dense rather than thick. As the shinigami got halfway to him, he opened his mouth, and as he was right in front of him...he screamed. It was a sound both within audible and inaudible frequencies. It was mostly focused into a cone that erupted at point blank like a sonic boom with no shockwave. The power of the sound would be enough to rupture the Kenpachi's eardrums and cause him intense pain throughout his entire body. Anyone nearby, such as the poor pretty captain and the male lieutenant would be hit with a wave of crippling pain and feel like they were going to throw up as nausea took over--the liquids in their ears being vibrated and thus destroying their balance completely. The one female who had released her zanpakuto and stayed far away would feel it too, as she would be within the cone as well--though the distance would bleed away much of the attack's strength. Nonetheless, she would be briefly unable to act.

Then the Kenpachi's flames engulfed Mal. Again he wished he could smile as he used his reiatsu to enhance his defense. This in tangent with the armor and his regeneration staved off the flames, though they forced him to close his mouth. Following right after the flames was the Kenpachi's fist, which struck him soundly in the side of his face. He moved with the blow, rather than against it, letting it send him flying backwards--though to anyone watching it would appear as if he was thrown by the man's strength well and proper. Speaking of which, it had cracked portions of the chitinous hide which covered the entirety of his body, causing fissure like cracks to run down the entire left side of his face and 'neck.' Again he wished he could smile as his mandibles stretched out, appearing to flail about due to the strength of the Kenpachi's punch, before they sliced the air just in front of his path.

Xiang collapsed from the pain, her ears bleeding, though her eyes never left the hollow infront of her. There was no way she was going to shirk the part. She hoped the captain didn't issue orders, because there was no way she was hearing any. She just needed one opening, one chance to bind it. The only problem would be kenpachi killing it, but one thing at a time. Her opportunity came as he punched it flying backwards. Immediately Xiang punched the ground.

"Bakudo #80, Kagesa(Shadow chain)."

She cried out to no one, she couldnt' even hear it, only hearing ringing. It was rather irritating. Immediately, chains shot up out of the creatures shadow, atttempting the chain its many legs, and bind it it belly up onto the ground. As soon as it was cast, Xiang chanted.

"Kōjutsu Eishō: (After-spell chant)
Iga, rise, hunt from the shadows,
strike, seal, return to nothing."

She, and her ears hated this hollow already.

The chains rose up and snatched at his legs, and again he wished he could smile. He'd been stopped a moment before creating a kumon, but it didn't matter. With his mouth closed he had managed to internalize a measure of sound, which he now passed into his limbs. As the chains were pulling him to the ground, all of his legs suddenly severed and he whipped his head downwards, creating a vertical kumon, before shutting it to sever the rest of his school bus length body. Out of their view, Mal chittered happily and regenerated, scuttling away within his path to make his way to Hueco Mundo. He would give them something to fight, but it would not be him...they weren't ripe enough yet.

---

Meanwhile, the deafening silence would be broken only by the whimpers, cries, screams, and groans of the poor humans who had unknowingly been pulled into all this. Corrosive hollow reiatsu lingered in the area.

Kanai fell to the ground, the pain from the screech caused him to double over and grab his stomach. At the same time his ears started to bleed, he looked up and saw Kenpachi land a blow, and it sent the hollow flying but that was not enough to take it down. Kanai knew it must be strong to survive a direct hit from one of his punches.

He started to stand but wobbled, and kept his eyes on the fight, Xiang tried to chain him down, but "Mal" as it called itself, escaped with ease.

Kanai looked over at Captain Arina, to see of she was okay, then looked at the crying humans, he still had to make sure they were okay. So he got his bearings and stood fully while the hollow escaped. He started to un-inpale the surviors.

"Captian, I will un-stick them and you can take them to safety."

As the lieutenant began his work, the immensely long insectoid body began to decompose into reishi, which drifted up into the air before disappearing. Due to its sheer size, it would take several minutes before it was entirely gone.

Arina had a child in her arms when the Hollow screamed - she had been holding the child in a strange way as to not get his blood on her Kimono, but as the sound hit her ears, her body immediately froze and she dropped the child on herself as she raised her hands to her ears. The child was now in her lap, bleeding out on her, and she was completely and utterly disorientated. Her thin fingers grasped the clothing of the child to push him off of her and as she tried to stand, she sank back down to her knees - the world was spinning and her ears were ringing, and she could feel the blood trickling out of them. She raised a blood soaked hand to grip the side of her head as she cringed in pain.

She heard the muffled voice of Kanai ask her if she was alright... or that might have been the ringing in her ears, but she came to the conclusion that she wasn’t deaf - but she wasn’t far off either. Trying to blink the dizzy spell away she opened her mouth to reply, but she decided against it as she crossed her legs and took a moment to regather her thoughts.

Her eyes darted around the area, looking to all her comrades making sure they were alright - and it did occur to her that Sano could be gravely injured, being hit point blank by the attack. She drew in a breath for a moment as she pushed herself to her feet, stumbling slightly. She looked to the child who was now dead, and to Kanai who was asking for her help.

“Xiang, take over for me. Try your best to contain their bleeding.” she couldn't hear herself so she assumed Xiang couldn't hear her either.

And with that, she unsteadily made her way to Sano, ensuring he wasn’t dead or dying. As she approached the Captain, she lost her balance once more and sunk to her knees beside the Captain, frowning at herself. She would have asked him if he were alright, but it was unlikely any use as she still couldn't hear much. She reached out to grab his shoulder and inspect him, looking for any serious damage.

Xiang, being closer, still was unable to hear her captian, only ringing, but got the gist from her emotion, and gestures. It was fairly evident in how she didn't immediately snap 'Lieutenant Yue." Sighing, she looked at the humans, most of whom had no idea what was happening, who couldn't even see them. Xiang flared her reiatsu to knock them out, as it would be better for them. Silently, she moved her hands for Bakudo, creating a trampoline of reishi for them all, to softly carry them to the nearest member of Squad 4 (NPC)... back at the mansion.

She spoke to her comrades, accidentally shouting:

"I'll be back"

Realizing that might not work, she created a rope with bakudo, and tapped Kanai, spelling out TAKING THEM TO MANSION.

The floating trampoline moved with Xiang, away from the site of horror. She wished her specialty included Kaido for once. All she was good for was hunting down other shinigami. To bind her comrades to ensure order. What did they have to displine if they weren't even strong enough to kill one hollow?

"Damn Junsei...."