Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ringo's psyche was shattered when she was still in Ky's hands. Memories of the day she was raped and killed repeated in her mind like she was watching a Blue-Ray copy of it on a giant, high-definition LCD TV. As she was being molested, her humiliation reached its peak and she just wanted to die right then and there, closing her eyes, waiting for it to end and for the sweet embrace of death to take her.

A while later, Ringo felt herself being lifted by a pair of warm, loving, and gentle hands. The feeling she before had disappeared and the deep sense of doom and hoplessness faded away with it. What is this...? Diid I die...? Did I get my wish...? thought Ringo and slowly opened her eyes. She turned to see what just happened and immediately saw her nii-nii, carrying her away from the monster that did it to her. It was true, she did get her wish. She was whisked away from her suffering by the arms of death, the arms of a shinigami, the arms of her dearest nii-nii.

As they slowly walked, she slowly began to return to her normal state and when her nii-nii put her down, he began to clean her up. He was always like that, looking out for others more than he did himself, but when he had kissed her on her forehead, she just couldn't hold it in any longer. Her eyes began to water, not out of despair, but out of joy. When she died, nobody saved her and she was left to wander the empty world before she came to the soul society. This time was different as if fate gave her a second chance to replay the traumatic event that happened to her, but this time, there was someone to save her from her suffering. She was happy, extremely happy, that it happened and that it was her nii-nii, keeping his promise to always protect her, who was the one who saved her.

Seeing Rakey cry in front of her and wipe away her tears, Ringo did the same to Rakey before she stood, giving her a silent, heart-felt smile as she walked away. Next, she was approached by another of her saviors, squad 6 captain, Ryan. He leaned in to her and generously offered her to escape, but Ringo declined saying, "Captain Ryan...thank you. But if you don't mind...I would like to stay here...and fight with nii-nii. I may not be able to be of much help, but I want to see this through until the end. I...want to be at my nii-nii's side like he was at mine."

Standing up on her own two feet, she was still mentally, physically, and emotionally weak from her ordeal, but she felt that she was able to continue on right now because of her nii-nii, who gave her strength and who was with her when she needed someone the most. Reaching out her hand in front of her, Oninoteki flew from the ground and right into her hand. She smiled faintly as she looked at her nii-nii's strong figure in the face of such adversity, fighting not just for her sake, but for the sake of women as well. He was a true gentleman. Even as her surroundings turned scary, her eyes were still focused on her nii-nii. It didn't matter what it was or whom she faced, but as long as she has her nii-nii, there was no doubt in her mind. If nii-nii is with me, I will continue to fight. Just to be with him.

Putting her lips of the flute head, she played her flute in order to empower nii-nii with more than the strength he already had. This time, she would support her nii-nii with the power she had gained. It was for this moment that she wanted to show him how useful she was now. She wanted to show him that she was deserving to be called his sister.

Ky only smirked when Ryan put a gun to his head. As a powerful and wealthy businessman, Ky had his share of attempted kidnappings and assassination attempts from rival companies and jealous, power0hungry staff members, so taking a gun to the head was kind of like second nature to him. He was about to mock Ryan about his feeble attempt at trying to taunt him, when Ky got the one thing he had wanted all along. He heard Geheimnis crash to the wall behind him before he was greeted by a very familiar voice, Xeion's voice, but felt a strange energy emanate from him. Turning his head back, he was only met by his afterimage and was was now right front of him with his female shinigami captive, whom was revealed as Xeion's sister by himself, now in Xeion's hands. Ky knew that Xeion's Overdrive was already active. For the second time in his life, Ky witnessed Xeion go into Overdrive as the first time happened when Ky almost died during a mission and Xeion went into Overdrive because of it, wiping out the thousands upon thousands of hollows that came after him in just a split second. Since that day, Ky had a strong desire to fight that version of Xeion back then just so he could assess the gap in power between him and Xeion.

When Xeion turned around to face him, Ky's heart began to beat faster and faster even more when Xeion teleported them to his world of nightmares. Ky had never felt such a powerful sense of fear in a long while as to the fear he felt right now. He was surprised that it wasn't the same world he went in called Wonderland. Instead, Xeion teleported them to a place he called "Red Garden". Ky knew from experience that everything was not as they seemed as he learned in Xeion's Wonderland the hard way. Ky only stared wide-eyed at the man before him as he transformed into his Overdrive state which was somewhat different from his attire on his last Overdrive and now looked more like a ninja than a knight. Ky, however, didn't care. He got what he wanted and it was now time for the "real" battle to begin. The one before was just in preparation to lure out the sleeping monster deep inside Xeion.

"It has been said that he who is capable of pure and unconditional love can also hate as much as he loved. It seems that fact is true for you, Xeion," said Ky, shaking with fear and excitement. Getting up, Geheimnis approached Ky and fused with him almost immediately with his armor now completely red as well which indicated that his Overdrive was ready as well. "Everything I did, everything, was all done so that I may anger you. I wanted to see if I am able to best you while you're like that. Ever since that day, I've always wanted to fight you like that, and now, I have my chance."

An alchemical circle appeared beneath his feet, Ky smiled as red light engulfed him. The ground shook wildly as something big emerged from the circle. A gigantic, mechanical head peered out of the light, followed by seven more that looked just like it before its big body came out. As the light faded away, there stood a gigantic, mechanical creature, made from pure orihalcum, and stood at 500ft tall. On top of its middle head, Ky stood, with a smile on his face while he looked down as Xeion. "You know, Xeion, I never had a nickname for you, but after that day, I think I do now. Xeion Kuchiki, Raven XIII, the hero of a massacre and saved my life, I bestow upon you a glorious gift. A nickname. It means total slaughter which you, my friend, are easily capable of. Let it be known, that on this day, Xeion Kuchiki will now be also referred to by one name. Genocide!" announced Ky as the mechanical beast he rode on roared loudly like a beast, hungering for battle. "And what better way to celebrate your new nickname is by proving it in battle? Xeion, I believe you've met my hydras. Now, let me introduce to you the mother of all hydras. Today, you will be having Yamata No Orochi as your opponent! Hehehe...hahaha...HAHAHA...MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" laughed Ky as the earth beneath him trembled once more with the giant beast each and every step. "Come on, Genocide, show me the power you used back then! Show me the power of your namesake!"

((Yay Xeion! xD [random glomp] Okay sorry, couldn't help it... now serious business can be had.))

Katsumi was relieved to see the actions of an unknown Shinigami and Xeion's subsequent actions that freed Ringo from Ky's clutches. Xeion then walked over to each of the girls and gave them each a kiss on the forehead, symbolizing his feelings of remorse towards causing the situation [or at least that was how he saw it]. Katsumi smiled a bit as he kissed her forehead, wanting to convey to him that it wasn't his fault and he had no reason to feel bad, but she didn't know exactly what to say.

Xeion then used some sort of technique to not only change his form into something more powerful, but also to transport the small group in the room into another realm.

Katsumi knew that from here on out, Xeion would be fighting Ky with his full efforts. She looked and saw that Rakey seemed to be heading out while Ringo had decided to stay. She sighed, unsure of which course of action she ought to take herself. On one hand, leaving would ensure her safety as this fight was clearly going to become increasingly intense. On the other hand, she couldn't simply leave two of her friends in such a situation.

I suppose I'm staying, she thought to herself, standing next to Ringo to convey this to the others without words. If only I had some sort of support technique like Ringo-san does...

((Aww, you guys are so sweet! *huggles Rin-chan and Kat-chan, and Rakey-san* whee ))

Xeion felt his power rise when he heard a song from behind him. Looking back, he saw Rin-chan, playing a flute, which was probably the reason for Xeion's increase in power. Xeion smiled slightly, his sadness fading fast, and was replaced by determination to not let his sister down again. She was a strong girl -- all of them were. Facing up to Ky up to the best of their abilities. That itself was an achievement already. "Guys, you don't have to do this...," murmured Xeion, but saw the determination in the eyes of three of his close friends, one being his sister and the others being his new and old Arrancar friend. He was happy that they were willing to stay with him and watch until the very end. "Thank you, everyone."

Immediately, Xeion saw their foreheads shine as the number 'XIII', his own Raven's Mark, appeared on the place where he had kissed them. The ground beneath Rin-chan, Kat-chan, and Rakey-san began to glow as a line made from pure, white light, traced itself on the ground toward Xeion. The lights reached him and engulfed him, thus adding more to his power. "Soul Link has been established," he said with a warm smile. With his kiss from before, Xeion secretly made a contract with their souls to do a specific duty, in this case it was to fight Ky and reclaim their lost honor. A Soul Link happens when the souls Xeion has made a contract with resonate with Xeion's desire, thus, giving him the power of the hearts of the souls he's made a contract with as his heart also begins to resonate with the hearts of his 'clients' thus giving him, the 'contractor', more power in a phenomenon called Soul Resonance. The closer his heart beats to their desires, the stronger the resonance. With the power of the resonance he felt now, he felt happy, knowing that his friends and sister wanted to stay by his side up to the bitter end. Now, it was just a simple process of channeling Rin-chan's, Kat-chan's, and Rakey-san's desires into physical form.

Xeion looked at the gigantic, eight-headed mechanical serpent before him. It was intimidating, fearful, powerful. Each step it made shook the earth. However, it didn't shake Xeion's determination nor the hearts of his three comrades. "Even if Yamata No Orochi stands before me, Ky, my will shall not falter! I fear not your monsters nor anything you can conjure up because, this time, I won't fight alone!" Xeion shouted. The Raven Marks on Rin-chan's, Kat-chan's, and Rakey-san's foreheads shone as pillars of light enveloped the three of them, piercing the dark sky of the World of Nightmares and parted the clouds, revealing a clear and sunny sky above. From the three pillars they made, three objects came out of them. From Rin-chan's pillar of light, a beautiful mirror emerged and shot up and floated a few inches above Xeion's head. From Rakey-san's pillar of light, a magatama necklace made up of five magatamas, each magatama representing the imperial Chinese elements, emerged and grew to a size of a man as they shot up to Xeion and began revolving around clockwise behind him. Finally, from Kat-chan's pillar of light emerged a beautiful sword. Letting go of the eighth Dragon Slayer lance on his left hand, the sword flew from the pillar and placed itself on Xeion's left hand.

"The sword, Kusanagi, represents valor. The necklace, Yasakani no Magatama represents benevolence. The mirror, Yata no Kagami represents wisdom. With these three items given to me by the hearts of my friends, I, Xeion Kuchiki, do solemnly swear, to fight with all the strength I have by their names. Ringo Amai, Katsumi Himura, Rakey Lamilton, I pledge this battle to thee!"

As the pillars of light dissipated from the three girls, so, too, did the gloomy presence the World of Nightmares produced. Instead, it was replaced by a beautiful meadow, under a clear, blue sky and a gentle wind blowing by. The darkness around them disappeared and was replaced by the chirping of happy birds. It was like a slice pf paradise. "Their hearts have changed the World of Nightmares into a world of dreams. Ky, Yamata No Orochi, welcome to Izumo."

((It's nii-nii's pawnage time! WOOT! >///<

(hits Ky on the head with hammer) that's for molesting me, you pervert guy! D<))

Ringo nodded at Rakey. "Yes, we should."

Ringo then felt her forehead glow and saw that the same was happening to Katsumi and Rakey as a roman numeral XIII appeared on both of their foreheads so Ringo assumed that the XIII also appeared on her. For a while, she stopped playing her flute and allowed whatever it was to happen. Nii-nii called it soul link or whatever, so it must be good for something, right? Ringo could only hope so.

A big pillar of light then engulfed Ringo and she felt something go out of her. When the light faded away, she saw that the entire place had been transformed into a beautiful meadow with clear skies and assorted flowers. It was very beautiful and Ringo couldn't have imagined that such a place had existed. Now looking at her nii-nii, she stood in awe by what she saw. He had changed into a much cooler version of him than before like a superhero from those early morning kiddie shows on cartoon network.

Ringo smiled. "Go, nii-nii, you can do it! We all believe you can!" shouted Ringo in support of her nii-nii before taking up the flute once again and playing so that her nii-nii's power would increase even more which would help him in his battle. At the same time, sound waves began to gather all over the three of them, forming a protective barrier which shielded them from harm that may come from the fight between her nii-nii and the giant creature that Ky controlled.

"Amazing. Simply amazing," thought Ky as he watched at how the powerful Raven before him grew even more powerful. The three girls behind him acted as supplementary units which augmented Xeion's already phenomenal power levels. He was even more surprised when the three girls, via the stream of light which shot up to the sky and changed the surrounding area into a somewhat serene and peaceful place, produced three items which flew to Xeion's aid and made him more formidable than he already was. Even while riding the orihalcum Yamata No Orochi, Ky could feel a spine-chilling sense of fear. He knew this was going to be an intense battle, and if he wasn't careful, then it would cost him his victory and not to mention maybe lose a limb or so.

Xeion announced the names of his weapons as well as what virtues they represented as well as the name of the place they were now fighting at. They were all interconnected and related with Yamata No Orochi which made Ky think back to the tale of Susano-O and Yamata No Orochi. Ky was well-versed in Japanese mythos, living in the country for so long, Ky literally had years to spare and studied the culture quite thoroughly. Ky smiled as this battle was slowly becoming a modern version of that very story which he remembered reading so long ago.

The story went that after Susano-O was banished from heaven, he descended to the human world in a land called Izumo. Once there, Susano-O wandered around the land until he was met by a married couple who were in trouble. After speaking to them, Susano-O found out that a giant, eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent, the Yamata No Orochi, had been taking theor daughters and eating them for the past seven years with their last daughter, the last sacrifice for Yamata No Orochi's hunger, to be sacrificed on that present year. After hearing this, Susano-O agreed to aid the couple and confront the Yamata No Orochi. Transforming their daughter temporarily into a comb, Susano-O disguised himself as the daughter and allowed himself to be taken by Yamata No Orochi. Once they were safe, Susano-O revealed his identity and battled with the monster while trying not to bring harm upon the comb he wore. After a long, arduous battle, Susano-O won and successfully slew the Yamata No Orochi, saving the married couple's daughter and bringing peace back to the land of Izumo.

This very story inspired him to name his Overdrive ARMS as Yamata No Orochi, the powerful serpent which struck fear in the hearts of men and devious enough to convince a married couple to sacrifice seven of their eight daughters to it. Little did he know that Xeion himself would be able to summon such weapons from the hearts of those around him and fashion them in such a way that it would mimic the sacred items from the tale. But Ky wouldn’t just let the story repeat itself. This time, he was determined to see Yamata No Orochi’s modern incarnation prevail over Susano-O’s modern incarnation. Yamata No Orochi would defeat Susano-O and Ky would do everything he can to see it happen.

Fusing with Yamata No Orochi, its pure orihalcum body began to turn bloody red, similar to Ky’s Overdrive color. Yamata No Orochi’s powers grew exponentially to meet Xeion’s own increase in power level. After fusing with it, Ky spoke using Yamata No Orochi’s voice which was kind of a mix of speaking in a deep, scary voice through a microphone while the sound system was tuned to produce echoes. “Well then, Genocide, or should I call you Xeiono-O since we’re all getting in the spirit of the fight between Susano-O and Yamata No Orochi? Regardless, shall we begin? I’ll assure you…in this new Izumo…it shall be Susano-O who will fall this time!”

Seven of Yamata No Orochi’s heads opened their mouths and let out a powerful, laminar stream of energy, each shot the size of Ky’s Blitzkrieg Cannon, all aimed straight at Xeion after which all of Yamata No Orochi’s heads charged at Xeion with their mouths wide open, each one big enough to swallow Xeion and the three girls behind him whole.

A loud crash rang through the halls as Sin burst through the wall into the scene, his expression grim and his brilliantly sapphire blue zanpakuto raised vertically in front of him. But he was different now; he had arrived with the intention of bringing at least one shinigami within an inch of his or her life. It did not matter to him who. All he knew was that there were far too many people littering the halls of Las Noches. While he did not care much earlier, no matter where Sin went after leaving the battlefield he could not get the ringing of combat out of his head. Not just the actual noises from the bloodshed... but the actual lust for violence that Sin, and every arrancar out there, had locked up (or not so much) within their very being. It was a primal instinct, a natural tendency that gave him drive. Even still, those emotions were lost upon the surface, as Sin always maintained that cold, emotionless complexion. Always.

For a moment he stayed perfectly still... then he closed his eyes slowly and took a... Very. Slow. Breath.

The idle banter and trivial combat was like buzzing in his ears... and it was all... so very... loud.

"Repudiate..." He paused and took a long breath, bringing the blade down a bit and closer to his body. "Rey Zafiro.*"

The transformation was instant, not flashy in the slightest. A flash of light to hide the undergoing changes, and an instant wrenching push on the rest of the inhabitants of the room as Sin's spiritual pressure jacked up, though most of the denizens in the room would be unaffected just by the release.

What was revealed was the dazzling, impressive-looking figure that Sin had become through the power of his zanpakuto spirit. The spike on his right ear had become a full-fledged spoon-like horn which represented his former appearance as a hollow. The bone-like structure had encased his entire torso, arms, and legs, and dyed a deep blue. At his arms, strange mechanisms spanned from his elbow joint down and out jutted semicircular arm blades, with spikes also protruding from his ankles for an added edge. To top the image off, his hollow hole appeared through the cloth on his stomach, and from that general focal point behind Sin's back there floated six jagged sapphire spikes, three on either side, spanning outward like wings.

The wind seemed to pick up for a moment, swirling his clothes; however, moments later the area around Sin became even more drearily still. Sin said nothing; he didn't have to after all. The message was painstakingly clear: he was right there, waiting.

But that didn't last long. Sin pulled a disappearing act all of a sudden, and out of thin air came up to the closest person to him and slashed in an "X" formation with extended arm blades. While not very fast for an Espada, Sin could still fool any shinigami below vice captain rank, and at the very least spot a Captain in the act of shunpo. The point was to make his violent intents perfectly clear.

((I decided to be creative and leave my post "open-ended." I didn't specify where I was or who was closest to me, meaning that whoever decides to fight me can insert his or herself in the situation and counter. I mainly did this because I don't know who the heck is here right now.))

It wasn't that Ky didn't expect Xeion to avoid the destructive beams, he just didn't expect him to avoid it the way he just did. The unbelievable strength that his shield possessed was more than enough to deflect his attack like that with ease. Ky, however, noticed that in that single display of protective might, one of the jewels on the mirror itself broke. "Aha, I get it now! The jewels on the mirror act in conjunction with the shield. Each jewel represents how many times Xeion can use that shield ability of his. If he breaks all the jewels on the mirror, he can't use the shield any more!" shouted Ky in his mind.

With the deflection of Yamata No Orochi's attacks, Xeion countered with his lances as they met Yamata No Orochi's heads. Ky knew that, when fighting someone of Xeion's caliber, it was wise to think of everything he threw, small or big, as something dangerous and capable of inflicting more damage than what they suggest. In accordance with that belief, Yamata No Orochi closed its mouth and tilted its heads upward in order to avoid direct confrontation with the lances as they scraped against its orihalcum scales, creating a powerful spark as the shot off elsewhere.

As the heads double-backed, Ky saw that Xeion was now attacking Yamata No Orochi's body. Ky felt each and every one of his powerful blows. Even more surprising was that Xeion's attacks actually made scratches on the pure orihalcum, the strongest metal known to mankind and considered as a metal of the Gods, capable of lasting an eternity without losing its luster, body of Yamata No Orochi. Responding to it, Yamata No Orochi raised up its eight tails and sent them all towards Xeion, attacking from behind him so that it would catch the shinigami off guard. At the same time, Ky thought that he would also play on Xeion's strong desire to protect others to make sure that Yamata No Orochi's eight, powerful tails were able to find their mark as well as possibly waste another one of those jewels on Xeion's mirrors.

With one head facing back to the three girls, it opened its mouth wide and shot a powerful laser at them. It was much slower, but much more powerful than the ones that were fired before, so this gave Xeion the time he needed to focus his energy on finding out a way of aiding the three in time, focus that would be wasted on that rather than on sensing the incoming tails from Yamata No Orochi that were just behind him.