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Hand over hand he climbed. Not a string of safety gear kept him from plummeting to his death as he quickly scaled the face of the canyon. He veritably flew up the rock, his hands finding holds faster than the most expert of rock-climbers. His feet barely touched against the wall to balance himself before he hauled himself up a few more feet. It was a good warm-up. Rock climbing used almost every muscle in the body. It wasn't like he was in any danger anyway. If worst came to worst he could simply thicken the reishi beneath his feet and stand on the very air. He had been told another tournament was being held. Apparently Blume would also be participating in this one, it would be interesting if they would finally get to fight each other rather than The Shadow himself. He took in a deep breath and flung himself the last dozen feet over the edge.

Landing on his feet adroitly he surveyed the area, his eyes roaming the barren canyon top. He looked up. No, no one there either. His last tournament he had been surprised when his Shinigami opponent had dropped from several thousand feet up, he later learned that man soon became a captain, and he had held his own...and he hadn't access to the skills he had now either. Seemingly out of nowhere, and as he was in the middle of nowhere it made sense, a gust of wind sprung up and stuck him, forcing him to step forward to keep his balance. He smiled before straightening and steadying himself, this would be interesting.

Gaius walked to the middle of the rocky 'platform' and sat down. He would wait calmly for his opponent and then tear him into small bite-sized shreds. Within a few moments he had a thick cushion of air-reishi surrounding him. Slowing the strong gusts of winds to mere eddies brushing against his skin. He wouldn't likely be able to do such a thing constantly in the heat of battle, but it prevented a minor annoyance while he was waiting for this Lerato. With a quick survey of his own internal energies he took stock, Brutus was restless, wanting to devour the entire canyon, and possibly reverse global warming. Zund waited patiently, knowing soon he would be blowing s*** up. All the while his precious ARMS sat calmly in his mind waiting to be called back into existence. Satisfied all was well he set a small portion of his attention to monitoring the surrounding area for his Lerato's approach, while the rest of his consciousness dove into memories of his first years on Earth.

Gaius smiled calmly rising slowly from his trance-like state. He hadn't been able to feel the presence of the Shinigami himself, but feeling the opening of an interdimensional gate was childs play. He knew the man, or woman if he was being fair, had arrived, and needed simply to wait. He sat calmly striving to memorize and keep in mind every inch of terrain of the canyon top. Where the edges were, small stones and protrusion on the surface, and a myriad of other seemingly insignificant points.

He stood up slowly, drawing himself up to his full height, though three inches shorter he seemed to somehow still look Lerato evenly in the eye. He put his hand out in front in a gesture of greeting and asking for a friendly handshake. "My name is Gaius Septimus, I am a Bount and a Raven. What you likely smell is sulfur and phosphorus from my recent alchemical awakenings, I probably still have some of that disgusting orange goo clinging to me. However before we begin I am required to be sure you are knoledgable of a few matters. First, as a Raven I havn't fed on a live human in hundreds and hundreds of years, I purify hollows much in the same way you do. And secondly while I do use a Doll it is not a toy or something to be underestimated. You could quite easily die from it. Now, would you like to begin?"

Gaius' enormous musculature rippled in anticipation, he had no doubt the man had more speed than he, but he had yet to meet a Soul Reaper who was stronger. He was going to enjoy this fight, his reiatsu signature was slightly reminiscent of Kiisho's, the man he had fought all those months ago. Well, here was a slight gamble, "Your Zanpakutou has an affinity for the element of electricity I beleive? Always fun to test myself against, Mirouni almost caught we with it several times after he released his Shikai, now that was a tough fight."

((Eh, doesn't have my usual flow to it but I'll get better once we get going, I guarantee it haha.))

((It's cool, I have a feeling in a few posts we shall both be back up to our prime condition for posting lol))

Gaius smirked, finally, a shinigami who was honest, respectful, and he didn't seem to hate. His last opponent had been a complete and utter d***.
"Eh, something can be said for a little salt-and-pepper in my opinion. I completely understand, I don't really control my Doll or Meister. They tend to have their own opinions on how matters should proceed." He unsheathed his own blade, a beat-up looking roman gladius, much heavier, and much shorter in comparison to Lerato's own blade. The large sapphire on the pommel gleamed brightly in the light. It wouldn't allow fighting in nearly the same way a katana or other such weapon would, and the sheer ferocity and weight behind each strike had caused his opponents to make mistakes in the past. He turned it end over end, checking for dings in the steel. "Yes, it was a close match towards the end, his mastery of Kido almost had me several times. I've also fought Asuma Haruka many times, I believe he also used to be a Captain of the Seretei."

Gaius swayed the the side slightly, the bolt rushing past his ear. "Hasty aren't we?" He bagan calmly walking towards the man, twirling the small blade in his hands, and in his hands, it seemed to weigh almost nothing. Once slightly out of striking distance of his opponents longer blade he executed a short, and relatively slow Blitz, letting his opponet see a very visible blur of his movement, and he closed in. Chest to chest, almost touching his arms reached around the Shinigami, if he managed to close them and squeeze for any length of time this would already be over, with Every bone in Lerato's torso and arms shattered. Gaius' body carried enormous power in it's short frame. And either way, he was curious if he could fool an enemy into thinking he could do no more than brawl. It had been many hundreds of years since he had seriously wrestled.

"That is saddening, he is damn good with that over sized blade of his." Gaius listened as the man incanted and had the Kido pegged down within the first few words. Blue Fire? Ok. He prepared it in his mind and as his strike missed, right as the blue ball of condensed flames began blooming into existence. "Vulcan's Shield." In a flash of reiatsu and alchemical energy around the contours of his body, a small bracer formed of simple metal instantly formed on on forearm. A bare instant later as the Kido began crossing the short distance between them, it expanded, snapping down and expanding into a large tower shield, covered in sharp edges easily large enough to completely cover Gaius' large frame. The explosion washed over the edges, some portion likely rebounding back on Lerato at such a close range, its sharp lower edge dug deep into the dirt keeping him firmly grounded.

Then as if nothing had happened, as soon as the storm of energy had ceased, Gaius was standing once more, a simple innocuous bracer covering his forearm. "Really? I actually quite enjoy the wind." Gaius stood for a moment and calm as could be smoothly removed the blue jewel from the pommel of his blade and set it on the ground, "Just in case." He looked down fondly at the blade, "Little old missie here? Yeah, she's been through alot. Around two-thousand years of combat. She and I have been through just about everything you can go through. But death? No, we have defeated it far too many times. I can visit Soul Society and even the Sereitei any time I wish, why would I need death to go there? No, as it is I will still likely outlive all those inhabiting the great white walled city now."

Then he was gone, or to be more specific, almost any one of marking his presense, of noting his exact location, was useless. The wind sent his scent((hehe, homonym!)) over the entire area, its loud roaring also covered the slight sounds Gaius would make as he moved. Lastly, the sense shinigami so often relied on when in combat, his reiatsu was completely drawn in, to the point where he simply wasn't there according to anyones sense of reiatsu. He began walking straight towards the Shinigami once more and swung his blade, an instant before it connected with flesh he Blitzed

He appeared to the side and slightly behind him. "Please Lerato, make this fun!" He was giving the young man one last chance, one last free give before going all out, before nothing would stop his endless full power assault. His gladius drove with vast force and speed toward the very shoulder his opponent wielded his katana with, his dominant side. It was certainly blockable, but the angle and force would make it a near and awkward thing.

All of this took mere moments, Lerato would have time to react, time maybe to release his Shikai, incant a Kido, or possibly two if he were quick. But Gaius was only about to finally become fully serious. He was sending a message. This is War. This is Combat. This is my area of expertise, my forte. Show me yours.

((I've typed this up twice now haha. First time my cat shut off the PC just as i was clicking 'submit' and the second my mom exited the page when I left for Drivers Ed. very irksome.))

" 'Bastardization of a Shinigami'? You are probably quite correct. Yet in my many years on earth it has proven to be the b*****d son who rules the kingdom, who bests his 'trueborn' brother. It is the mangy poorly bred mutt who out races, out fights, and out smarts his purebred brothren." For once he was unable to hear the utterings of the incantation coming from his opponent. The combination of his own voice, the roar of the wind, and the quiet manner in which he spoke made it impossible to discern the Kido being utilized. He was able to pick up on the swelling of energy and reiatsu in his opponent, so Gaius was aware some nasty surprise was on its way, but what, he did not know.

He had a bare moment of warning as the yellow flash of energy snaked its way around his body to twine around his arms before tightening in an eerily familiar action. He strained against it for a moment, his massive musculature managing to stretch and fray the bindings slightly. But that was all he needed. With a twitch of his wrist and a quick thought his razor sharp shield, designed and constructed to guard against nigh on anything expanded instantly from the bracer. It strained for less than a few milliseconds, it's edges digging into the Bakudo. Then it was free, the force in it's activation tore through the energy binding his limbs, sending bits of frayed energy off in every direction. A large portion fell behind him, its ends crackling with energy before fading into oblivion.

But it had taken to long, he had in no way been expecting a response from that position in such a way, Kiisho may have been much more powerful and dextrous in his use of the sorceries they practiced, but Lerato was much more imaginitive, combining them in such a way. The Hado lanced into him, shooting through his body, scorching and shocking his insides, spasming his muscles, and giving off an electical aura from his skin as it coursed about before exiting into the ground below. Damn that was painful, it hadn't done a great amount of damage but it felt like he'd just been kicked in the chest, hard. He coughed attempting to bring his body back under control. "Damn, nice one, havn't seen that one used well in years, and when i say years I speak in the hundreds." Already, while he spoke, his body immediately began condensing the ambient reishi in the air, and pulling it inside to repair the widespread, if slight, damage the Kido had caused. The tightness in his chest was already easing. If he looked closely Lerato would likely be able to see a faint blue light seeming to be drawin into Gaius. He smiled, he loved regeneration.

"No. War, is not meant to be fun. War is horrible, war is a catastrophe. But batttle? A simple fight? A simple spar when compared to other conflicts? No, that is specifically for entertainment." Suddenly he was standing several yards away, back where he had dropped the blue jewel. "Have you ever fought a Doll Shinigami? Here is your chance for some experience in the matter. Ziege Dich." He smiled as the gem immediately began glowing, its surface frosting over and giving off a cold mist. "Say hello to my oldest friend, Brutus."

Almost more quickly than could be believed the gem stone doubled in size, becoming more rounded, its edges dulling. A crack appeared in the surface, almost as if it were an egg trying to hatch. As it did a massive pulse of freezing reiatsu and air shot through the air. Flash freezing what little moisture there was. Killing the small amount of plant life that managed to survive up here. A small root left the crack in the jewel and drove into the earth. Within seconds dozens of roots were in the ground, almost constantly more pulses of freezing temperatures were leaving the Doll, quickly lowering the temperature to almost -20 degrees. The wind stopped. The large and sudden output had frozen the surrounding air. However within minutes hot air would come back once again, mix with cold from Brutus, and create a storm with winds, hail, and lightning. All beyond what could be reasonably expected, or controlled in the slightest.

Less than ten seconds after it's release Brutus was nearly fully grown. A fantatic monolith nearly two stories tall. With a root system expanding throughout almsot the entire plateau and still growing, a mass of vines and branches above ground covered in icy armor and deadly thorns. The trunk split revealing a small hollow. The last of the water in the air condensed into a large winking mask. The jewel occupying the space of the open eye. The armor surrounding the trunk was the thickest of all, sheets of ice thicker than walls overlapped eachother, thorns the size of swords jutted out at random angles.

A loud sound almost identical to that of glaciers breaking rumbled out, shaking the earth and air with its volume. "Brutus says hello." A massive length of vines and branches came together for a moment, forming an arm, and shortly after a hand. The fingers spread and it waved at Lerato.

(( crying crying crying crying I had en epic post all written out...it's sheer level of epicnousity almost made me cry...I pressed submit... and I was then told it was an invalid request...I had to log in...Tears, began to fall.))

((Ok here goes, lets hope this one works.))

"Oh, do not fear for that, I know what I have done. I have made this fun." The loud grinding sound began issuing out once more, starting and stopping rather suddenly with inconstant intervals. It was almost as if Brutus were chuckling, or as close as a frozen plant could come to such a thing. The lightning was striking him. Coursing through his body before exiting into the below. There was a slight warming of his tissue where the energy entered and exited, but without internal organs to damage, electrical impulses to foul, muscles to spasm, or liquids to rapidly vaporize and expand to cause damage, the exact occurence that happened to trees on Earth. No serious damage was done. This was likely do to a few things. One of which being the natural lightning lacked the "super" the uniqueness, the extra power and quality that it needed to profoundly effect a being made of spirit particles. The other being that Brutus was damn tough. He was just about as close as one can get to being indestructible. His icy armor plating and extensive regenerative abilities easily made up for his inablity to move about.

Gaius smiled looking up, "I really don't give a damn about any of that. If it's lost its lost. If it continues as if nothing had happened, then so be it. I don't know, and frankly I don't care." He snapped his fingers, "Brutus."

Another loud sound came from the giant trunk of icy plant flesh as its roots strained. Behind Lerato an enormous piece of the rock that made of the plateau they stood on cracked and began rising. Turning as if on a hinge. The massive piece of earth was about to fall upon the back of Lerato's head, a mass of twisting and twining icy tendrils supporting it, ready to finish the attack if necessary. Lerato would have plenty of warning of this attack occuring, but the most obvious would be his sudden protection from the wind and hail from behind him, he would literally be in the calm of the storm for several moments as it fell.

"As you've pointed out, I'm barely a person, if one at all." Gaius stood for a moment, letting the slab of rock come closer and closer. With a smile he spoke again. "I think I'll let you see my second ARMS now. Jupiter's Ring." A quick static flash of the aura from before, from the moment his shield had entered the fight. A simple, unadorned metal band was on his finger, he held out his hand as if to stop the boulder with a simple gesture. And, in a way, he did. As his hand raised the boulder began glowing bright blue, parts of it turning to pure energy before being pulled straight into Gaius' new ring. The boulder kept on coming on, but for every inch it tumbled forward, the ring dissolved and absorbed the inch that would collide with Gaius. It took only seconds, but the ring on his hand glowed so brightly it seemed as if it were a second sun.

His face became slightly haggard and grim, accelerating the absorption that quickly to a good amount of effort, it was generally a good deal more gradual for things of such size and magnitude.

He Blitzed forwards once more, using the flashes of the lightning to add somewhat to the feeling that he simply dissapeared. He gave no outward sign of the thoughts running through his head, what he knew Brutus was doing.

And in fact he was correct, the system of roots, the mass of roots, that Brutus had used to shift that earth was falling on Lerato in a wave. There we scores of them, some thick, some thin, some large, some small. But all were lethally cold and carried an endless number of pricking thorns on their surface. If they managed to get a hold of him the battle would be over. Noone could survive that much cold and poison, not even for an instant.

Gaius had been planning a simple assault on the man, striking quickly with his blade and shield and using the charge in his ring if necessary. But when he saw the energy building in the man and his Zanpakutou he knew, just like all plans, something would disrupt it. With the motion of the Shinigami's arm and the arc of blue energy that followed it, he knew it would be bad to be hit by it, even with his regenerative powers.

He halted his forward charge and momentum as best he could, creating a small cloud of ice crystals and dust from his feet. His shield arm perpendicular to the ground, the ARMS snapped out. It took the vast majority of the attack. The electical energy rebounding around inside the confines of the shield before dissipating safely. Two tail ends on each side escaped the maneuver but they would provide relatively little force or danger. One of which flew off into space, the other struck one of the Doll's main large roots, fracturing and weakening several inches of the armor. It wasn't severe but it was one small c***k in the beast's defense.

As a last ditch at regaining the momentum he had had, and keeping Lerato distracted he brought back his arm, recompacting the shield simultaneously. His sword arm, along with the brightly shining ring, drove forward in a lightning quick thrust towards his opponents gut.