Welcome to Gaia! ::

The blackness crept up from behind he barely noticed the man behind him as he soundlessly flew forward, looking down he noticed the black cloak the walls, planting his feet firmly on the floor he slid to a stop just before the flash of light blinded him temporarily and then his vision returned and he was standing within an open space. Looking up at the sky the light reflected off his white bull shaped horns, then his eyes fell towards the man across from him, slowly after his head followed. Raising an eye brow he chuckled as he never expected the other man to be so… well pretty. Though he was far away most Arrancar possessed the ability to see further than those cattle human beings. Standing there Diablo was amused to see such a pristine individual stand before him. Though in his head he calculated himself stronger than any other Arrancar under Aizen’s command something about this man dared to call Diablo a lesser being. This… Verdugo stood their looking all pretty, all high and mighty, in his throne room, like Diablo was a lesser being here. Givign a simple ”Hmph” he blurred, by kicking forward disappearing, reappearing nearly two hundred feet away from his last position closing the gap between the two Arrancar. Summoning his energy from his sword his spiritual pressure spiked to it’s maximum level as he was now ready for battle.

Kicking once again with only his right foot he pushed himself into the air above his opponent, as he blurred into the air, he reappeared at the peak of his jump one hundred feet above the ground, as he began to fall he began to punch violently at the area in front of his figure; as he did so red balls of destructive energy shot out quickly at and around Verdugo’s figure. These where Bala bullets meant to make his opponent move; most fights that he took part in started out with nothing more than an exchange of words, he didn’t want to waste time using such weak methods to intimidate a foe. After all, this was simply a test, his goal was to get Verdugo to activate his release first. Once that happened the fight would be over because Diablo would activate his, they’d fight for a while then be finished. It comparable to training he once endured when trapped within Buru’s body.

As he punched he paused after the seventh punch and charged a cero over his fist, he waited for Verdugo to move before he’d fire his attack.

This was actually the first time he’d ever let himself loose on an opponent, though he was still holding back a great deal he could sense that it’d only take a little while longer before he’d be forced to step up and use every ounce of his being to fight properly and to be successful; it would be embarrassing to lose to this person, to this pretty Arrancar. Though at this distance though, the fight would take forever, but right now Diablo was curious to see how he could match up to another with ranged attack. His whole career was distanced fighting when he knew in fact that he himself was strongest when he could reach out and grab his opponent. Perhaps it was that reason alone that kept his enemies at bay and at a distance. Except for Yuki he’d never fought anybody up close and personal. Oh but how he craved to have a good sword fight… Testing mettle on mettle…

He did not bother to reply to the mans words… At least not yet…

As the figures formed to stop the blasts he threw even more energy into his Cero, growling showing physical proof of his added effort into his attack. Sure these figured where made out of the same energy he used to grab things with his Spiritual Energy but it would have completely drained him if he used his Spirit Strangle to move his barriers. So instead Diablo played this game of attack and defend. To be blunt there where no traces of discipline in either attack; something Diablo was starting to see in his battles against both Shinigami and fellow Hollows.

Only in records where his past battles where he failed, in past battles he was restrained and only luck of the draw made him victorious… in those few short victories… What this man didn’t know was the new Diablo, he had only briefly shown Aizen his true ability… How it worked was still a mystery and it was how Diablo wanted it, for he’d only want to use his Ace card when he absolutely needed too. What was his Ace card? In the past it was his ability to completely freeze time long enough to utterly maim his opponent but now it was more complicated, it would define each of his opponents. It would also bring up a question that many could not answer… could you defeat yourself in battle? This was a common trick that many used in battle, but instead, Diablo could mirror every single strength, weakness, power and ability all the way down to the person’s tone of voice. This was proof of his past existence as an inner hollow, creatures existing within another, waiting to become the master mind. He could become any persons inner hollow… he had the power to become a nightmare itself…

As this pretty Arrancar countered his attack Diablo already knew that this fight was bound to end in his favor but to what extent would he have to sacrifice himself to win? To counter what this man said he simply glared at him as he glowed red from behind his charging Cero. As the man appeared and disappeared all around him, he kicked at the air beneath him and spun quickly and as he did such he pushed the Cero out, as he did this a ripple of destructive energy boomed out three hundred and sixty degrees around his entire form. The man would be forced to block or to dodge up or down to avoid getting hit by the attack.

As the explosion sent ripples of energy out into the air he blurred from spot to the ground directly beneath him, he landed on all fours and crushed the ground beneath him. Looking up he growled deeply like a savage beast. Breathing heavily he began to let his rietsu flow out of his body. It was pure black energy, raw rage, raw hate… Standing slowly the ground beneath him began to shake violently as his spiritual energy crushed the area around him. Looking back up a wide smile was seen smeared across his face as his eyes glowed white. All he could do was laugh, he hadn’t let his rage, his hate consume him like this since Buru RIki had dominated the body, the fight no longer mattered to him, the damage attained or the threat of loss no longer mattered.

Roaring the large cracks that extended from his body began to crack deeper and longer until eventually the ground around him gave out and large pieces of concrete where thrown into the air. Slowly they spun around his entire form; within the cracks in these boulders, green light emitted. Showing his control over raw energy. He called out in a loud mocking tone, ”Be silent comrade-sama…” just as he spoke he threw his fists together, ”And be witness to what I can really do in battle…” For a moment all sound was gone, and then there was an explosion of energy as he began to float off the ground, he continued to charge his energy, black fire was within the middle of the spinning boulders. The sound returned with a deafening blast of raw energy, it was enough to pull the breath out of any being as he did such the boulders where launched like meteoroids in every direction.

This perfection, this beast hadn’t released. He was simply taking his absolute form. Like chemotherapy to a victim of cancer, Diablo had simply suffered a physical identity failure. When he took physical shape as his soul combined with the Orb of Distortion he simply took the form of the last victim he had taken over as an Inner Hollow, but now he was able to create his own look, his own appearance. Sadly for Verdugo, Diablo had mistakenly tricked the man into thinking he had released Ressureccon.

Though being able to think quick on the battle field was a key element to have, it also was key to have the natural ability to read your oppnenent and to dance with them upon the field of battle. During his time as a mortal human, he had concurred many battle fields as an aggressive and blood thirsty Samurai. His only objective in the battle field was to destroy anything that opposed him. Man or beast… It wasn’t battle that killed him as a mortal but the politics of the mind, confusion, anger, and hatred. Since his death he had vowed to never let his mind get in his way again during battle. In battle his mind was free from thought, like an animal chasing it’s pray; simply going through the motions.

’My mind is clear now…’ For a moment his mind went blank, and his expression softened. He was serious now, his mind was free from thought…

Loosely observing Verudgo, his body already began to come in sync with his every movement His heart even began to beat the same rhythm as his opponent, he could feel the pulse of rietsu, it was almost erotic a person could say. Diablo was beginning to let himself slip into the mind of an animal, a beast, the inner hollow that he was. No other being could honestly say they were in perfect harmony within another person body, he was that one lucky Inner Hollow to kill and to free himself from his prison. Though his opponent moved, he followed, though he attacked, Diablo still moved in for the kill. Perfect harmony… Perfect synchronization…

The attack simply brushed past his opponent, the bala also just screamed off into the distance, craving for a target, but it would never find one… Diablo watched the man with an expressionless tone, it held no emotion, no anger, no sorrow, and not even a trace of happiness. Though the markings on the toothy mask explained otherwise his face beneath held no emotion; slowly the mask began to crack and crumble to the ground, along with the chain that wrapped around his right arm. It too began to rust and turn to dust. Tilting his head slightly as he observed the man he reached up to the top of his head, his fingers reaching into his flowing hair that looked like flame… Then he made a fist, and the sound of bone breaking was made. He grunted as he began to pull down, he pulled himself down into a crouch, this was his release…

”Mascara de Espejo…” (Mirror Mask) His voice was deep but emotionless just like his face, and the last portion of his cracked mask blew away like dust, revealing the menacing face beneath. His eyes glowed white, but still held no emotion, then within a heartbeat, another mask formed over his face. It had no eye sockets, no nose, no mouth, and no design of a face, it looked like a reflective plate wrapped over his face. It reflected back his opponent’s image perfectly. The strange thing was, that bent glass distorts the image, but his image wasn’t distorted by the convex mask. His lowered in front of his crouched Bushido (Samurai) stance.

It appeared as though both men had most of their reserved power around their head, Diablo’s power was located within his head because the Orb of Distortion existed just below his brain. Diablo simply watched from behind his mask, not moving, observing his opponents every move, waiting for him to take on a more suitable fighting stance. In reality if this was a fight between two warriors, Diablo would have killed him already and wouldn’t have waited for his release; but the objective of this fight was to reveal their best of the best to the Lord of Las Noches.

Diablo simply huffed as the man’s words slightly amused him, perfection was an opinion, not a state of being; but Diablo was never one to argue. He’d let this man live in an illusion; in a way they all did… Aizen was after all… the master of lies, the master of illusion.

Blurring from view once again he appeared twice the distance away, allowing the man a huge girth so that if his ressureccion was giant Diablo wouldn’t get in his way. Had stopped in a slightly awkward stance but then lowered back down into his previous stance, still watching his opponent. He let one thought to be formed in his mind, ’Not once have I ever seen true perfection… there is always a flaw…”

His eyes never left the man’s gaze, but returned no emotion, no reaction; once the fight began he would allow himself to dance with this stranger, to feel out his every movement, to taste the essence of his spirit. Then the man smiled, it was a signal that he had confidence, something that Diablo always watched for in his opponents, confidence, not anger, not the arrogance that many fighters had where they seen themselves better than their opponent. This man was ready for a real battle that was his cue. Diablo began to charge, his legs pushed once against the ground, but he didn’t let his body slip into the Sinodo but rather, just pushed himself forward using his Spirit Strangle to keep him afloat and moving forward.

As the mans clothing began to change he still continued to close the distance between the two, he wanted to make this battle something to remember; but already he could feel that the fight was going to be cut short. Diablo knew that the war outside was raging on without him, though he wanted to finish this fight first he knew that Aizen wouldn’t want two valuable assets to destroy each other. Until then, he’d wait until and outside force stopped their dance. For now he was content within the heat of battle, each simply pumping themselves up for battle.

FLASHBACK:
Diablo was sitting atop the dead corpses of both his fallen comrades and his fallen enemies. He held firmly onto the leg of a freshly cooked checken leg. His face dirty from battle, soaked in both swet and blood, bruised and scared. This battlefield was completely finished, he and nearly twelve other soldiers from the army he blonged to survived, though eight of them where propped against their own spears and ijured and waited for the healing squads to come. Standing from his make shift throne he still consumed his fresh meal and loomed over a fellow comrade, both his his legs where broken, this warrior would never see another battle, and he griminced as the pain continued to throb through out his entire body. Looking down to him he simply shook his head and knelt down beside him. The man forced himself to look up at the masked Samurai, his face represented the lord of the demons, a wicked and petrifying smile designed on it’s bull shaped head. Diablo (known then as Hogosha) chuckled to himself as he forced the chicken into the mans open mouth. He choked but his voice was muffled, Hogo, reach forward and grabbed the mans throat and squeezed as hard as he could, the man continued to choke of the chicken leg but he made no sound. Looking down upon him his voice was cheerful and mocking, ”Our payment is measured on how many of us survive, if fewer of us lived, the better the pay. But since you are no longer able to fight… Samurai-sama…” he chuckled as the man died, ”Because your legs are broken you’ll live on your pay in retirment, useless to your family. Don’t worry, I’ll take your wife and children as my own…” He took his chicken back out of the mans mouth and took another bite out of the still warm meat, and slid his index finger and middle finger over his eyes to shut his lids. ”I’ll take good care of them for you… Samurai-sama…”

BACK TO REALITY:
Infinity rose his arm, and Diablo blurred from view followed by a deep static ‘whoomf’ sound. He re-appeared direclty infront of him; Infinities face reflected perfectly back at him, his face was only a half inch away from the mans. Diablo paused his hands hovered over Verdugo’s hands, ready to grab his wrists and paralize him in place. Then Diablo used his Espiritu Estrangular in an attempt to freeze him in place.