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Rayfs Onee shouheki kicked in as his captain ordered him to protect the group and he smiled. "I hate retreating form a battle however this is quite unfair and I figure we'll fight you next time when odds are evened." Rayfs grin was almost a taunt to the group of arrancars and vizard before he walked through the portal behind his captain and it dissipated behind the group just as the barrier had.

((Bandit: If you'll forgive me, I was counting Rahvir, Saizo, and Naniyori, the top three, as the "Highest Ranking" members as they were listed in Tra'al's forum. If those aren't really higher ranks, then yes, please forgive me.))

Xzavior smiled at the Frenchman. "Alright, lad, what is this skill you seem so fond of? Why should we let you in on our little 'club' if you will..." He said, a wide grin playing across his lips. Tra'al was always in need of more members, and this boy was already seeming like he would be an asset. Xzavior's 6 katanas floated back into their sheaths, their flames dying out. Xzavior brought a hand up, caressing the short bristles on his chin, in a thoughtful gesture. This boy showed potential. Rahvir would think highly of Xzavior if he were to recruit someone useful.

Xzavior smiled. "Quite an interesting resume, i must say... You're in, Van. Welcome to the fabulous organization, known as Tra'al!" He said, holding out a ahnd, in a friendly gesture. "Of course, you will be required to seek council with our leader, Rahvir. I'm in charge of tra'al until he gets back. He got caught up in a tournament. He has much more will than i do. I got bored and left..." Xzavior said, with a chuckle. "It will be a pleasure, having you on our side..." Xzavior said, truthfully. This man's powers seemed helpful, at least.

504 lines. Cashing 500...

At a distance from the battle site where Xzavior and the others had driven off the warriors from Seireitei, those cursed ranked shinigami that dared invade Hueco Mundo, Van pulled another wrapped candy from the inside of his white and black Arrancar jacket before letting his fingers undo the binds that kept it from him and pop it into his mouth in a careless, practiced gesture that brought an instant smile back to the pale lips of the violet-haired scientist. What a fortuitous day this was turning out to be for he and his ambitions, meeting one of the Occidio of Tra'al following a battle and convincing him that he would be useful enough for their organization to take him on as a researcher and developer that would assist them in their battles yet to come! And of course that was a promise that he would have on trouble living up to for his new friends and employers, since his scientific abilities were in his mind without an equal in this or any other world...even the famed Espada of the days of Aizen, that cursed Aporro Granz, had nothing on him in terms of ingenuity and the willingness to do whatever it took in order to achieve the most desirable of ends for all his experiments. He was brilliant beyond his own comprehension, Van thought, but only now would he have the ability to put his whole intellect to the test in order to achieve the recognition he knew that he rightly deserved. Van wondered, sometimes, if all the brilliant thoughts that came into his learned mind were to become a reality within this world, if it would not make this world a much more palatable environment in which he could live harmonically with the fellow members of his great organization. He was well aware, however, that with the greatest of intentions, it was still quite possible to create a hell beyond reckoning, but those were the types of thoughts that deterred lesser minds than his own, gentle musings that he simply had no time for! His were thoughts that deserved to be shared with the world and improved upon through repetitive experimentation and the evolution of his ideas through trial and error that could only be achieved if one cast aside his doubts and simply used his rational intellect to guide him. There were, of course, many in the human world that had disagreed with him and would always disagree with him on such matters, but that was why he found himself now in the company of such a powerful organization as the Tra’al Arrancar, whom he had sworn his allegiances to in order to continue his research. Those imbeciles who thought only of what was best for the so-called ‘greater good’ were simply afraid of greatness, and it made him sick to watch them pretending as if they cared for the rest of the general public…they were all such gullible swine to think that scientists, true scientists, would care anything about them and not the work they poured their souls into. Van Argiano had always been of the stern belief that everybody should be capable of taking care of themselves under any circumstances, be they moderately uncomfortable, somewhat dangerous, or the most perilous of situations in the world. That was an ideal that he had implored his colleagues in the world of the living to consider, though they had turned him away like the strict, rotting corpses that they really were. However, the more that Van thought about it, the harder it became to name a single person in this or any world that could ever prove to be more important to his own life and existence than he had and always would be? If he didn't care for himself and he could not handle his own life both inside of the research facility and outside of his research facility, follow his own personal ethic guidelines and own set of rules not governed by outdated scruples, how can he expect to help someone other than himself? Any single person was without question, the center of his own universe, and to let anyone tell him any different would have been a crime against nature and a crime against his or her own survival and nature. It was not an idea that was nearly as selfish or self-centered (in a bad sense) as many people thought it to be, rather, it was merely a rational first step on the long and winding path to a truly meaningful existence. That even the wisest of the human race could not fathom such logic was a testament to their stupidity that made him more than a little sick to think that he had ever been a part of it, but then, he would be given the chance to rectify the mistake that was made placing them on this Earth much sooner than any of those idiots would have suspected. That is, if they didn't take care of it themselves sooner, rather than later. Van chewed the remains of the sweet candy as the battle site faded out of view and he began to separate himself from ally and foe alike on these strange plans, his mind tossing about the rare bit of consideration that he had for humans, the few thoughts he deigned them worthy of sparing. At this point and after years of careful observation, Van could not deny that he honestly believed that humans were a race that was and would always be inclined to inevitably destroy themselves and the world they lived in completely and without fail. It probably went without saying that it was only a matter of time that they watched as the world around them crumbled into dust and rubble, but for those who would dare to disagree with him, he never truly minded simply laying the oh-so-obvious arguments out before them. Human beings, from the beginning of their time and especially from the discovery of agriculture and mining as a means of supporting their societies, have destroyed, desecrated, and chewed up without second thought or care the very Earth on which they lived and relied upon for their necessary sustenance. But for some that alone might not be enough to convince them, he knew, even if he put on a prominent display for them that it was in their very nature to use up each and every useful resource that there was available to them to make what pathetic lives they had that much easier and more convenient. Was it necessary for a human being to be completely comfortable in order to survive, or to be pampered with some great amount of power just to live another day? No, Van reasoned, of course it wasn’t, but it was in the nature of human beings to do those things in spite of those facts…he knew first hand, since he had his own vices to which he would readily admit. He was guilty as guilty of this hubris as any other human being in their time upon the Earth, and he did not feel even the slightest bit sorry for those things that he had done in order to live a comfortable and respectable (in his mind) existence. It was only natural for him and any other human to want these things, to work tirelessly in order to obtain them…human nature, as they often called it. He hated the term, but it was appropriate nonetheless. Human beings were known to kill each other willfully and often without any good reason like the betterment of mankind or to cast aside a defective ‘model’ in order to clear the way for an improved version to live on in their place...they fought simply for some god-forsaken piece of land, or over an ideal that meant absolutely nothing in their grand ends. War was merely a way that human beings tended to rationalizing and playing out their anger and an innate, sometimes learned tendency towards conflict and violence over the more respectable and necessary path of peace and discovery…an acceptable reason why they should be allowed to fight with one another without threat of repercussion should they emerge the victor. Humans fought all the time without a good reason, and yet when they should be banding together in order to bring about a change for the better they always seemed to band together only when it meant fighting against those changes because of some ridiculous ethical standard! How foolish could one be to turn away promised, better days in the face of war and conflict, when the answer lay before their very waking eyes?! Human beings simply could never agree on even the simplest of matters, things that had even become increasingly vital to the continued existence of their friends, family, and their very species. In addition, they seemed to always find ways to divide into groups, and from the very day humans were born, those groups would give them some sort of a built-in animosity towards those who were in some way different from their own group and their group’s beliefs. It was, quite simply, in their nature to hate those who were different from themselves...that was the human way. Human beings divided themselves without hesitation by color, nationality, and many other groups that kept them from the symbiotic relationship with one another they desperately needed. Even gender had become an issue amongst them, something which was, by their very nature meant to bring them closer to one another. It was a truly sickening sight to behold, watching men and women squabble when they were supposed to be the ones to bear life into the new world. It was a joke, really, but Van Argiano wasn’t laughing…had never been. Men and women just made him sick. Male human beings were inclined towards violence and irrationality, making them extremely volatile creatures at any point and for any reason that threatened them and theirs, while women were born with somewhat of a skewed Napoleon complex, from the day they were born feeling as if they were somehow being placed below men on the social and economic totem pole. From their very births, a natural instinct to prove they were better, coupled with a biologically induced emotional instability and an irrationality that, Van had to admit after careful observation of both subjects, far outweighed that of men more often than any woman would care to admit, governed all their lives. Really, he could have gone on and on thinking about subjects like these, but in the back of his mind he had always preferred not to waste his brilliant mind by feeding it constantly on such a series of worthless and tasteless thoughts. He did think on this subject, however, that the solution was extremely simplistic, but something that was far too unnatural to human beings to ever be successfully executed in his or any lifetime on the planet Earth. Why could human beings simply talk about their problems and work together to discover a cure for their ailments? Why was it that they could not follow a sense of morals or ambitions that felt right by everyone (and though they cared not to admit it, and though society skewed their morals so that which was immoral was often considered moral in this disgusting day and age of the Earth), and be rational about settling their differences? Rationality was and always had been the key to their survival, but as he had discovered over time and research, and as he had already reminded himself, men and women were naturally irrational beings with an obvious inability to think rationally. Their supposed ability for rational thoughts was one that tended to be used entirely too little, and went to waste in the minds of a majority of the human population. Sure, it seemed as if they, the human beings were being rational often times, but their most complex and original of thoughts were being wasted on truly irrational and generally unimportant matters. No, Van had decided a long time ago, one could not abide by such irrational logic, and if one was to evolve past the primitive age of men, they would have to hold themselves to a higher standard...truly open their minds to something the way that Tra’al had opened their minds to he and his complex researching strategies and abilities as an Arrancar. First, he had decided back then, he would always have to live by his own set of rules, and any person who wished to break free of the disgusting human cycle would need to do so as well. Doing what he wished to do, and never what hew as told he must do, was the only way to make new discoveries. This, he thought to himself sadly, was the only thing short of death that resembled any form of true freedom in the human society of today. If he did something that a person normally wouldn't do, he would do it because it was his choice to incur that discomfort or face the struggles of that path, not because anyone had told him it was something he had to accomplish. He would do it because it would take him where he wanted to be at the end of his long journey. And even better, he would never do anything the way it was suggested he go about it, and he would instead search for his own path, less restrictive path of experimentation and research. That philosophy had given him an inner content and actualization that could never be taken away from him by any other scientist so long as he was free to practice. And though it often lead to conflict with those who did not yet believe in him and his revolutionary ideas, and his experiments did not always lead to successful endeavors or discoveries, he could never look back and say that he regretted what he had done. He may regret the unfavorable outcome of his failed experiments, but at least he had taken the chance and learned something new about the subjects. And only in such a manner could he ever hope to bring about the revolutionary changes in the world that he envisioned, both for Hueco Mundo and the Earth alongside Rahvir, Naniyori, and the other members of Tra'al. If he ever accomplished what he envisioned, the Arrancar could live then as the human beings never could...and as he again found himself considering the nature of the humans as a whole, he popped another candy into his mouth and tossed about the logic that had made him give up on the human beings as a whole. Often times Van Argiano would wonder if any form of human initiated world peace would ever truly be possible, but in the end he had decided that in this world of irrational men and women, the answer was clearly and resoundingly ‘no’. Men and women, human beings as a society, were too volatile and too delusional to ever be rational enough to achieve a true peace amongst the many varying dialects and sects throughout them. Every group had their own set of ethics and "morals" that they would never fully change or agree upon with one another. And no matter what they decided upon morally, there were always the religious and other foolish issues that would divide them and place them at odds with one another. Such as…was there truly any form of life after death? Even Van Argiano could not say with any certainty beyond the world he was in right now, but he could say with certainty that it was best to live life a person’s own rules without holding back. Being honest and following a valuable set of beliefs that made sense to him had always worked in his own favor, and if any deity would not see fit to grant him a greater afterlife after a lifetime of experimentation and discovery, then that deity would not be worthy of his prayers in the first place, and, Van reasoned, would likely have a hardy chuckle at his words when they heard them. Another divider was the ever-present issue of love between human beings. But did he honestly believe in such a concept as love? Not really, rather, he believed that it was chemically possible, but that the true definition of what love truly is had become somewhat lost in today's society. Everything felt too much like the feeling of love, and human beings could not tell the difference between love and other chemically similar feelings. Simple concern was as close to love as anything, and often mistaken for it. Lust was just as often, if not more commonly, mistaken for love...and many humans had gone astray after finding the wrong answer to that question. Often humans talked themselves into believing they were in love so much that they were certain they felt it, but Van knew that it was simply a chemical imbalance that had confused them and left them vulnerable to the deceptive feelings that came with it. Then, of course, there were those like Van Argiano himself, who no matter how hard he believed had never once felt anything like love…the closest being the obsessive affinity he held for his work and for those little sweet candies within the folds of his jacket. If ever he had loved anything or anyone, it was those sweets…but that was because of another chemical reaction entirely. To Van, anything could truly be explained by what made it up, and the chemicals within…love was just one of the more interesting combinations. Morals were always a problem as well, and though Van had never truly found need to be dishonest to others, he always tended to say whatever a person wanted to hear rather than the truth to ensure it did not compromise his own personal ambitions. If something is proved to be absolutely unethical, it stood between him and his goals…and in those cases Van himself found the will to fight. He had always acted and researched according own whims, following them and doing what felt right by him at the time. If ever he had conflicted feelings, he always tended to know it had nothing to do with the patient and more so with the lack of results. He had never been good accepting failure, but he was exceptional at disregarding others in favor of meeting his own designs. Those were his own morals in action…and that was why he had been outcast as a scientist on Earth. But now, yes now, he would prove to them just how utterly wrong they were...and with that final thought in mind, Van Argiano decided he would take a short rest before moving on towards his new home of Tra'al, and popped another of the seemingly infinite stash of candies within his jacket onto the anxiously awaiting tip of his tongue. If there was one thing about the human race that he did not despise...and only one...it was the invention of these delicious candies. Smiling as the flavor rushed through his mouth again and again, he thought that perhaps when Tra'al ran roughshod over the Earth, he could forgive whoever had made these sweets and employ them in the aftermath. That, he thought, would be a fitting position for them, indeed.

((From Grande pg12))

Abel finally got to the area of the next training exercise. "Lucius... you need to learn Negacion... It'll be helpful in case this group gets attacked that the both of us know how to use it to get our partners out... they may be weak now... but they'll help against the weaker enemies." He said. He didn't know if any of the others followed him or not... but he still needed Lucius to know Negacion.

Yggdrasil followed Abel around and then they stopped in Muchos once again. "So... we're here again." He said. "Well... this could be nice. So Siegfried." He said as he turned around. "How are you? And don't be so worried... they won't attack you... somehow I got myself a couple of bodyguards..." He said shrugging not knowing the promise of power is what kept them loyal.

Lucius looked at Abel. "I think I should learn Negacion... I am not under your control... remember that... we are equals... you are just a fighting partner." He said as gently as he could without being too offensive... though it was very offensive. "Anyways... what is it exactly?" He said. "I know of it... but I don't know everything I possibly could to know how to learn it effectively." He continued.

Siegfried looked at Yggdrasil who seemed to be talking to him. "I'm good I guess... I just want to get out of here as soon as I possibly can... this place make me feel uneasy... it's like we're being watched... and I don't like it to much." He said. "And these two are your bodyguards... no wonder they listen if you ask them to do something... I was curious why they listened to you... but how to keep them to listen is a little unclear."

Lucius' Learning:
Negacion (16/25 lines)

Siegfried's lines: 329 + 16 = 345
Abel and Yggdrasil's lines: 282 + 16 = 298
Lucius lines: 67

He wasn't entirely certain what possessed him to head back to Muchos after he had made the long trip out to the darkest regions of Grande in order to study the transformation of the Menos Grande Adjuchas into the feared lords of Hueco Mundo, the Vasto Lorde, but Van had felt compelled to move from the area he had previously occupied in order to come back to the site of the battle that he had come across where Xzavior was successful in warding away the shinigami. In the back of his mind, however, Van had to admit that he was more than a little disappointed by the fact that he had been unable to further study the abilities of that shinigami captain and the vice-captain with him, since they were obviously skilled enemies that he could learn a great deal from in order to plan for future battles against the emissaries of the Seireitei who would dare set foot onto the sands of their land. Those ones were rife with confidence and strength, bold enough to brave the endless dark of Hueco Mundo by their own power, or perhaps it had been sheer foolish pride and misplaced faith in their own abilities that had lead them there, but either way that made them at least moderately interesting test subjects for the scientist to keep his eye upon...sadly, Xzavior had driven them off far too soon for his liking. Oh well, perhaps he would have another chance soon he thought as he came closer to the familiar reiatsu of the four warriors that had recently made a similar trek to his own back to the area known as Muchos...perhaps they would show him something else interesting, since the transformation into a Vasto Lorde had provided him with so much useful data. Yes...they might have something, and his contemplative mind ached and hungered for more knowledge to gorge upon and process to his black heart's content. Thinking of that, the scientist popped another candy into his mouth from the folds of his Arrancar jacket and stepped forward, offering a half-hearted greeting to the warriors who seemed to be training the Negacion technique...a rudimentary skill with its uses, he had long since deemed it...though he himself had never really deemed it important enough to waste his time learning. He cast that thought aside as he went to the fellow Arrancar and decided to voice the question that was on his mind, smiling in that same snake-like manner that he always seemed to smile. "It's a small world, is it not?" Van commented offhandedly, knowing they would be aware he had followed the faint trail of their reiatsu to this place, "are you planning to go somewhere? It's rather boring down here, so if you are, would you mind if I tagged along? I need some new material for my research..." It was true, just not the whole truth really...but was he actually going to tell them that they were just as much a research specimen to him as any human or hollow? Of course not, and his perfectly trained poker face, now in a smile, didn't reveal a thing except his excitement at the possibility that he might learn something interesting from them.

Smirking a little as the four decided to allow the scientist to join them on their excursion to Earth using the garganta portal, Van only really heard that he was permitted to accompany them and that they were leaving immediately to head out to their destination, so with a single thought that having Xzavior join them would make things a little more interesting the scientist moves towards the portal and stepped into the blackness. He wondered idly if the Psionic had made a link with his mind yet so that he would be capable of hearing the thought that he was permitting him to listen in on if that was the case, thinking it a very interesting technique that the telepathic warrior was capable of using to better understand the warriors that he fought against and alongside. Perhaps something like that could be added to his own arsenal via some sort of scientific modification to his own body, which would allow his mind to grow at a rate fast enough in a directed pattern that would make such an evolution within him possible...he was sure he could come up with a sound theory for doing so, but obtaining the chemicals and cells necessary to stimulate the growth was a problem to which he had no answers at the time. It would have been more simple if he were to introduce something directly into the brain of the subject, but it was a personal rule that Van would never do anything that could directly influence his own hyper-intelligent mind in a fashion that could potentially have degenerating side-effects...his mind was far too valuable for such a thing, and as much as he hated to admit it there was a horrible lacking of test subjects available to him that were worthy of being considered for an experiment of the mind. And if he couldn't test his theory before putting it into practice, he certainly wasn't going to try it on himself to obtain a result. His body was the result of countless hours and years of successful experimentation, the fruits of his labors introduced into his body only after the theories and drugs themselves had been tried, tested, and proven time-and-time again to be one-hundred percent fool-proof. And this was a brand new idea that he would only tamper with at a later time, perhaps with the assistance of Xzavior himself if he was the bold type. Well, it was really no matter to him now...he had other ideas and experiments in mind as he let the portal close behind him and moved to emerge on the opposite side of the garganta.