Welcome to Gaia! ::

The Bount had only a fraction of a second to react as the carmine man disappeared. 'He'll have to be on the left side. He'd be stupid not to be..' He moved even as he thought the words. It was only by a stroke of luck that he managed to get both kama to the same side, though only one had the proper angle to deflect the attack all together. Blume let out a grunt as he felt the Red Man's sword smash against the shaft of the kama in his left hand, leaving a nasty bruise running up his arm with two deep lacerations; one on either side of the bruise. The other sword, however, was deflected enough so that it left only a thin cut running along the Bount's stomach. "Well that's unfortunate..." He muttered under he breath as he clenched a hand over his wounded arm. Turning upon Fefnir he glared over at him. "I am glad that you finally decided to take this seriously Mr. Kamashiro. I'm afraid if you hadn't, I'd have been forced to destroy this place completely and I never wanted that. Neither do you, I hope." He smiled, a bright blue light engulfing his hand as he turned a near by tree into pure reishi, absorbing it to heal his battered arm.

"I'm glad you're so comfortable releasing all that energy. You see, the more power you expend to strengthen your ally, the more I can absorb through the Sun's Reflection. See this flame? The one dancing in the wind?" He asked as he lifted his kama up so that the flame at the end was clear. It had morphed from the small flicker of a candle to the bright, hard flame of a torch. "In short, that bit of flame reflects the amount of ambient energy I've absorbed just from standing near you three. And the moment I take it into by body..." With the grin of a devil the bount brought the flame to his lips and inhaled. In that same instant the ground cracked, his own power jumping yet again with another large spike. Just beyond him he could feel Schmeid grow stronger still. "Do you get it yet, Mr. Kamashiro? Why I am ranked as the second in command; only behind The Shadow because of his age? I am a limitless* being." With a twinkle in his eye he nodded and, using Blitz, followed the Captain Commander. Blume crossed the blades in front of him for a frontal assault, side stepping at the last moment to avoid retaliation.

The suit of armor merely watched as the behemoth of a man ran at him. It was a daring stunt, and had the suit of armor had an IQ any where near that of a child, it would have grabbed the man by the thigh and swung him into the nearest collection of rocks. As it were though, the shinigami's blade swept cleanly through him, leaving flames licking up at it's helmet. "Nothing more than a fly. Buzz buzz, little fly. Cleave him! Tear him to shreds!" As the armor turned, the upper half began to slide slightly to the right but no sooner had it started did a blindingly bright flash of orange erupt from the cut to seal the imperfection. Then, with a speed that should never have been possessed by the metal man, the armor ran at the one known as Zeb. "Kill the whelp. Smash him into the ground!" With a massive swing the beast brought the broadsword forcefully into the earth, creating a sizable crater that was made that much more impressive looking as a spire of metal came shooting out of the ground.

[Sorry there isn't more Fangs. I couldn't think of something to post for you...

*limitless is an overstatement. Please don't scream at me....]

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Ugh... Just kill 'im olreddy.

No, he's giving his exposition. The rules say I have to listen, and THEN kill him.

Wot rules?! If ee's gonna letchu kill 'im, then kill 'im!

It's, uh... what are they called again? Unwritten rules? Yeah, unwritten rules. It's just understood implicitly that you let the bad guy give his exposition. That way anyone around can see that he's a douche and is getting what he deserves. It's like... Karma, or something.

I seem to recall a guide that warns explicitly against such notions.

Hey, his funeral, huh? I'm not going to warn him against it because he thinks he's invincible now. Pride before the fall and all that. What's he even talking about right now, anyway?

Somthin' like ow' ee's nickin' ol yer energy.

Also he ate fire.

An ee ate some fire, yeh.

Someone ought to call the Ringling Brothers. They might give him a job.

Are you going to finish him now?

No, no, I think he's getting to his point...

The boy certainly had a way with words, or at the very least an infatuation with them. "I am a limitless being," he droned, and much to the surprise of the red man, seemed to actually believe it. Mostly, when someone claims to have no limitations, they're bluffing, but in this case, he actually thought he had no absolute peak, that there was nothing he would not do, and nothing that could ever possibly bring him down.

Fefnir stifled a laugh.

Then came the response. "Welcome to the Seireitei, class is now in session..." The bount moved, and through the lens of Ocular Shukuchi was quite visible as he dashed in a straight line to the Captain's front, his strangely designed weapons out to either side and prepared to strike. "No talking, please. Be prepared to take notes..." The blows came from either side, and while they moved, what had been two swords melted themselves into a smaller shape, sharply tipped gauntlets of gold over red meshwork extending to the red man's elbows. The armored hands flew into position, and with a large upward spike of power and force, each limb with two fingers extended stopped the movement of the shafts.

"...now."

The boy slid himself to the side and out of immediate reach, as if that would deter the fastest man alive. What are you, superman? No, I'm the Flash, now shut it! As I was saying... With the hints of his movement, direction, and speed all slowed to a crawl, the boy was easy to, quote, 'predict'. Fefnir dashed along with the veritable child, and when his move seemed finished, delivered a strike with the blazing hot gauntlet on his right hand, sharp fingers all held tightly together for a small entrance wound just beneath the right set of ribs. If it hit, the next step was to spread his fingers and grasp the ribs above, cutting off any easy retreats. Not to mention, the burning lungs, diaphram, internal organs et al which were certainly not easy to repair.

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Whoever writes in BLOOD,
_____Does not want to be READ
____________But LEARNED by HEART...

The feeling of heat and anger had been nagging her in the back of her mind since she first arrived in the soul society three ago. It was a feeling she had long forgotten, one that had nigh been erased from her person and made her softer because of it. The memory of the monster she had been pulled at her being, eating at her soul all the while pulling her towards the source of hot anger radiating from her old stomping grounds. A reiatsu so powerful all but forced her, like a magnet of opposite polarity, back to the Seireitei. She could feel that same monstrous memory reflected upon this force. Over the past few days she had been circling the wall that surrounded the massive complex, getting ever closer and closer. She knew she couldn't avoid the encounter for long. Today when she awoke, the power finally called to her, screaming in the back of her mind she was unable to ignore it. He was fighting now. She had to go to him. She vaulted over the wall with ease and raced through the varying squads and grounds she once knew so well to find the center of that demonic reiatsu. Someone she knew so well so long ago had become vary strong, and vary cold, in her absence, this was the force that called to her so feverishly.

She could feel Fefnir's Shukuchi, both ocular and true miles away, like a white hot flame in the center of so much ambient warmth. She knew he would see her long before she actually stopped moving, as was his style. It would make for a rather dramatic entrance if the leader of the Seireitei suddenly stopped dead in his tracks with a look of awe on his face, this thought made her smile softly. Once upon a time that smile would have been a cold smirk, or an arrogant sneer, it was a real sign of exactly how much she had changed over the years. Shunpoing with the speed only achievable by years and years of practice she raced against her old student, to the raging battle and nigh appeared between the two combatants. Years of familiarity with him told her where he would be and what means of attack he would use. He would appear in front of Blume, and go for the kill. Moments before the flamed claws would reach it's target, she stopped moving, and appeared directly in front of her long time friend and protege, literally inches away from both combatants.

Yukimaru was back.

She stood between the two fighters looking directly at her old student, Fefnir Kamashiro. Dressed in street cloths, she looked nothing like the fierce fighter that she once was. People who only knew her by reputation and her stoic expression might not even place her for one of the most terrifying people in existence. Even as she stared down the leader of all the spiritual world, her expression was softer than it once was, as if it's murderous intent had been lost over the many long years in the human world.

"Hello Fefnir... Just the man I wanted to see."

A calming sensation washed over her with another rather distinct memory as she spoke and smiled up at the red judge. Until this point she had been holding in all of her spiritual pressure, doing her vary best to avoid detection. To avoid being found before she was absolutely ready. This made her skin cold to the touch, like living ice... Like her long ago lover. Now she let some go with a contented sigh as the calm recollection spread to her furthest limbs. It was not much power, but enough to make her warm to the touch again. To anyone brushing against her it must have felt akin to a corpse coming back to life.

Rage. Disappointment. Hurt. The emotions flooded his mind one by one. It was easy to see the man looking down on him, pitying him. He gave off a snide confidence, as if being a shinigami made him more proper. 'Who are you to look down on me?' "You are nothing like me, you filthy swine!" His damaged pride spoke for him before he could even begin to regain his composure. This man, so like his father, stirred a pain deep within his soul. How could he not? This man, this Fefnir Kamashiro, could never be like him. “You are nothing like me! You, who grew up pampered. Who lived with a silver spoon in his mouth. You know nothing of the pain I’ve endured.” His voice rose to the loudest it had ever been, fueled by a combination of angst and contempt. He could never know what it was like to be abandoned, to feel as if there was no reason to life. Blume's entire existence was based on a mistake that took place in this realm. A mistake made by these filthy monsters who refused to so much as accept their involvement and to guide those they created. Who was he to feel bad for just another Bount death. "You are nothing but another one of them; another pawn in their continuing game. You only created us so you could hunt us down at your leisure. You hunt us down like monsters, but look at yourself! You fancy yourselves Gods, yet play with the lives of men as if we were nothing but dice." A lone tear twinkled at the end of his eye as he barked his pain. The loss of two ribs, the burn of scorched innards, none of it was as merciless as the loneliness that forever plagued his soul.

How much time was passing? Seconds or minutes? Perhaps hours, but certainly not days. No, if days were passing certainly the sun would have shown it, right? Why were the grains of sand in the hour-glass falling so slowly now? Was it because of the energy now coursing easily through his veins, or could it have been because he was starting to realize he had a motive for coming here that had been hidden even to himself. Just as the bount opened his mouth to further question the shinigami, a woman slid into view. 'Who is she? How does this woman, so soft and care-free looking, know a monster such as this Carmine Devil?' "Who in the ********-" The aggressive nature of his Mark was beginning to overwhelm him, forcing itself into his very being. For what it was worth though the man in red man didn't seem particularly fond of her. Time and time again he struck, and time and time again she shot him down with little more than just a casual motion of her petite body. More time passed, each second unrecognizable when compared to the others until at last Fefnir reached past the woman and seized him by the throat, apparently fed up with her game.

The shinigami's tightening grip slackened just as the darkness on the edges of Blume's field of vision had started to close in. Taking a deep breath Blume pushed back without a spare thought. Tumbling to the ground the bount rolled away to gain his sight back and when he did he found a sight that cut him deeper than a blade ever could. The monster who was so willing to end the lives of men had something he never could. Someone who cared. Someone who was willing to jump in front of the two of them, the captain commander of the shinigami, and a limitless being originating from within the race known as Bount. Even now, in the throws of death, he could feel the wounds of his past rip open. Even now, he could feel the pain of his father viewing him as dirt. of his mother ignoring him, and her resentment for him after his fathers death. "You son of a b***h!" He cried, rolling forward onto his knees. "Quit ignoring me you filthy b*****d!" His voice cracked, his tone having shifted slowly from pained to hysterical. Two images blending together perfectly; the first of the shinigamis and a woman, while the second portrayed his parents.

*Planting one hand firmly on the ground he started to draw upon the reserves of the alchemic energy that swelled deep within his chest. 'I'll teach him to ignore me. I'll teach him to never turn his back. If he's so easily swept up by that woman I'll get rid of her first!' Orange sparks were the first sign that something was happening deep within the earth’s crust. He wasn't sure how he did it; he had never used the alchemic power of the bount organization this much before, but he could feel somewhere in the back of his mind that the metallic ore deep within was slowly shifting, forming a thick bar of the finest metal imaginable. As he pulled his hand away from the surface of the soil he could feel the end closest to him take shape into a molded hand grip and watched as the rest took form into a baseball bat that was easily twice as long as the average, and weighed upwards of a hundred and eighty pounds. Had it not been for the added strength of the Soul Society and the influence of his Mark the bount would have been lucky to lift it up to shoulder height, but as it was he wielded it as if it were no heavier than a soul slayer to it's respective shinigami. Moving at a Blitz-like speed he charged forward and to the left of the woman, swinging the massive bat as hard as he could towards her back.

[* Yes, it was meant to look like FMA and the alchemy does follow some of the same basic principles such as the energy he omits focusing the ore deep within the earth to form his ideas. No circle needed though, ect. The theatrics are loosely similar though.]

“Ungh.“ The boy was too caught off guard by the sudden attack for his grunt to meet much resistance. A firm pressure. A powerful swipe. That was all it took to lift the bount’s right leg up into the air, the momentum from the attack easily throwing off his center of gravity until he finally had to concede to the unrelenting motion, spinning into a 180 gainer aerial flip. “Dead.” The single syllable word echoed endlessly within the confines of his mind, bouncing from one side of his skull to the other as he turned over in the air. This night seemed to be dragging on much longer than it should have. These two beings; an unknown woman with the feeling of a black widow, and a man dressed in red to judge the sins of the damned, should have fallen long ago. After all, who were they to stand before him? The woman had yet to even acknowledge his existence, and the man… the man ignorant enough to place them on the same level. The idea was ludicrous. ‘A limitless being does not fall to those below them.’ “No matter how strong they think they are!” As he finished his rotation and brought his left foot to the ground a spire of glimmering metal shot from the ground and sped towards the two shinigamis as if it were a heat seeking missile.

“Madam,” Blume started with a sneer, “I don’t mean to come off as rude, but who in the bloody ******** are you?” He growled, eyes shifting between the two shinigami with a clear resentment. “You walk in, interrupt my fight, and yet you feel above blessing us with your cursed name?” He snapped, a surge in energy crushing the ground underneath him. “Well? Hurry up! I don’t have all day to learn your name, you feeble little wench; or perhaps you’re having a hard time because you’re only running on half your cylinders… No matter to me… I’ll just get one of your underlings to tell me. Surely they’d know who their commander was running around with.” The boy grinned. Little did he know that he signed his own death warrant as he let his mouth flap in the wind. He had lost it, cracked under the pressure of his own power. Without the guidance of an elder, he was slowly becoming consumed by his own hatred -his own fear- at an alarmingly quick rate. Despite the boy’s newly enhanced speed it was clear that he sauntered, pronouncing each and every step so they reflected the pride so inherit in his being.

With an exaggerated sigh, Blume leaned up against a near by tree which instantly started to thrum with a slight vibration, just the smallest hint of a glow banishing the shadows into the void. “Do you remember when a told you that I am a limitless being, Fefnir Kamashiro? Do you wish to see just another of the reasons why I spoke the truth?” As he spoke the steady thrum and glow of the tree he slumped against spread like wild fire, leaping from tree to tree until a large swath of the surrounding wood emitted an eerie aura. A crooked smile broke across the bount’s lips as he raised his hand and push up his glasses. “So long as I am in the Soul Society, I have nutrition. So long as you insist on pumping out so much reiatsu, I have energy to spare…” His laughter came off snake-like; a mixture of a hiss and a cackle as the section of trees and brush burst into a brilliant bluish-white light that proceeded to make it’s way into both the bount’s nose and mouth. The resulting flare in spiritual pressure was as different as a trickling faucet is to a fully-powered fire hose.

[Editted. Basically a brand new post.]

'...about to ******** die...' 'without breaking a sweat...' '...taught me...'

The closer the carmine devil got, the more the bounts blood boiled. There was something about him that was both infuriating and calming. 'What the hell is he talking about?' Blume had barely registered what it was Fefnir had said before the Captain Commander had started yet another assault. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, everything sped up to normal time. The man's message broke through the fog and Blume nodded. Unfortunately the Red Man's words had taken a split second too long so instead of avoiding the blow altogether, Blume was given the sweet treat of a gauntlet ripping into his soft, giving liver. Thankfully the two men were close in stature, making it easy to look into Fefnir's eyes. With a grimace, and a curt nod, Blume ripped the gauntlet out of his own stomach, gritting his teeth against the pain, before he jumped backward and disappeared in a flash of high-speed blitz.

Two miles off in an ever growing pool of his own blood lay Blume. "Well," he panted, spitting out the occasional mouth full of blood, "he'd better get here soon..." Blinking against the fascinating dots that now plagued his vision, Blume couldn't do more than sit and wait. Blume let loose a small broken chuckle as he waited, letting time chew itself away. A thick coat of dirty red covered his hands before seeping into the hungry soil. "Who would have thought that I'd pass away while laying here like a coward..." The words escaped the confines of his lips as little more than a snide whisper. "Come to me shinigami. Come to me, and finish what you started all those years ago." Planting his hands firmly on the grass in front of him the bount drew in enough power to turn the soil surrounding him into pure reishi. 'This'll stop the bleeding, but there's no way in hell it'll keep me standing for long...' The more he thought about it the more daunting the captain commander and his companion appeared. "How can there be such a gap in their power..." He growled more to the listening earth than anything else.

'You should just be glad the man is kind enough to spare your life after what you said to the girl. You really should work on your manners, you know.' Despite having heard the Dolls voice just earlier that same day it felt as though it was being spoken by a stranger. "Shut up, Haupt... If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. You should have looked deeper into the Shadow's memory to see the extent of the shinigami's powers." 'Don't put this on me. You know as well as I do that I can only search out the hidden abilities that are at the forefront of your opponents mind. Nothing else. And, incase I have to remind you, I was against coming here in the first place. We could have easily lived out our lives in secrecy on earth, but you insisted on barging in here, abusing my power, and threatening the lives of honest men.' The dolls voice was cool, but held an edge to it that clearly showed his disapproval. "...your power..." Out of all that was said that small snippet was all the bount had actually registered. "That's it." With a dangerous look in his eye the bount stood, turned to where he was sure Fefnir would come from and centered himself.

"You're going to help me..." Blume's voice broke, a touch of his shattered soul seeping into his words. 'You realize if you do this, you will doom us both to oblivion.' "No... no I am a limitless being. A god amongst men. I shall never succumb to the void of death..." 'Really? And here I thought you were but a child with a nasty case of hubris.' "Shut up and obey me. Zeige Dich!" Reluctantly the doll began to melt from the bount's sword, swirling in a dark carbon pool before pulling itself up to meet with Blume's gaze. "As you wish... Master." The words had never seemed so cold, filled with hate or despair. In a flash of light the Doll was gone, absorbed into his master's being but before he had been totally assimilated a single sentence floated in the air around them, "I hope it was worth it."

[Count Down to implosion. Posts: 3]