The Blocked Gates (Pre-Determined Participants Only!)

It all happened so fast... There was barely time to register what had just occurred, let alone devise a plan of action... The next thing Kurama knew, a large green cero blast was being fired directly at him... Instinct took over...

He flash-stepped out of the way, barely escaping the blast that sent several of his fellow Shinigami flying across the desert sands. He watched as the arrancar did battle with the captains, 'Better them than me.' he thought. 'I'd just get in the way...' Ri and Saroki were slaughtering as many hollows as they could, others beginning to follow their example, but the students mostly were just going to end up as targets. Or worse... Casualties...

There had been a large gap created in the waves of oncoming hollows. In the distance he could see a number of creatures actually heading away from the shinigami. There was only one thing he could imagine that hollows would turn down a feast of shinigami for, and that was a crowd of unarmed innocents... The human world...


"Students! On me!" Kurama sprinted forward, zanpakuto in hand, heading towards the mass of hollows only a mile or so away. It was a risky move however, splitting the easy targets from the protected group, but they were already outnumbered, and honestly the students were only a liability to the officers of the Gotei 13... Several hollows noticed the easy targets, now leaving the protection of the captains and lieutenants. They sprang forward, ready to tear a young girl limb from limb. She fired off a few low level kido, but the hollow had taken her down before any real damage could be done. Kurama cursed under his breath, "Faster! We have to move faster!"

A few seconds passed as the students sprinted along the tops of a dune, hollows on their tail. A large collection of spiritual pressure began to weigh the students down, and the sixth seat officer soon realized why. Another arrancar appeared, this one not nearly as experienced as the one who'd begun attacking the captains, this one was unnumbered and crazed with rage. He swung wildly at Kurama, unable to connect with his flesh do to Kurama's experience with agility. Even though this was true, he was being worn down very quickly by the amount of spiritual pressure now on him. The arrancar jumped back and began to charge up a cero blast, one of the standard red variety.

Kurama called out his zanpakuto's name, releasing it with the simple phrase "Bow before the Frozen Sage!, Kurounin Aisu!" With that, the blade transformed from its sealed katana form to a nodachi or, what some refer to it as, a large nihontō. The blade shimmered an icy hue of blue, casting an odd chill over the area. The cero was just about to go off, leaving him with only another second to get off the following words, "Aisu Shaddo!" Around three dozen long shards of ice appeared around him, responding to his every movement. He quickly motioned to block with his sword as the blast fired towards him, more as an instinctual defensive gesture than an actual planned happening. The ice reacted to this movement, creating a wall of shielding, concentrated in a small enough area to hold the attack from killing their owner and large enough to block the whole of the attack.

The shards were destroyed as the blast was reduced to nothing, a light snowy powder floated around them. The arrancar first shocked, then smirking as he saw the now lack of ice shards. He charged forward again, hoping that the shinigami used all of his energy to block that attack, when in reality the energy inside him was only growing with the determination to defend these students. The shards of ice began to reform once more, restoring themselves with Kurama's overflowing spiritual energy. The lack of water around them made it difficult to do this, and surely he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, but hopefully he'd be able to distract the arrancar until the students were about to reach the portal to the human realm or backup arrived...

The fighting began to break out all around them. Kuro was pleased that Kurama had taken the students out of harm's way. It seemed that they were also planning to continue the mission and back up the living world. Saroki, Ri, Kaoseu, and all the others were doing their best against the hordes of hollows. As the arrancar began to rain balas down on their position, Kuro tightened his grip on his blade.

"Concentrate, Seishou-sejin!"

Kuro's blade flashed golden, turning into a black and gold ninja gauntlet. His reiatsu disappeared from the surrounding area as his zanpakuto condensed his overflowing power, containing it in his body. The red jewel on the palm of his gauntlet began to shine with a bright light as it filled with the power in his left hand. Kuro began to fire off dozens of short, concentrated blasts to intercept the Arrancar's balas. The opposing attacks collided and peppered the sky above the battle with tiny explosions. Kuro saw the arrancar overhead and the one that was going after Kurama and the students. He decided that he'd have to face this one alone and let Kaiyo help out Kurama.

"Kaiyo-san! I'll take care of this arrancar here. You protect the students from that other one over there!"

Kuro didn't like giving orders to Kaiyo. She'd been a leader in the ranks much longer than him, but there was no time to think about that right now. Kuro shunpoed into the air at lightning speed, headed straight for the arrancar. He extended a blade of energy from his gauntlet, forming a golded katana that grew from his hand in a way that allowed him to wrap his fingers around its handle. With this new weapon, he swiped at the arrancar's midsection as he came upon it. He was sure that one attack wouldn't take him out, but it would get his attention and stop his attacks aimed at the ground.

(ooc: I wonder if Jacques remembers Kuro's shikai from their previous battles before he was an arrancar. Jacques has changed too much for any initial recognition to be started by Kuro. )

Draze and the students scattered as various projectile attacks pounded their way into the center of the group of shinigami. Thus, barely no-one heard the "Students! On me!" over the din of battle, and as Draze was horrified to see, only 4 of the original 16 students made their way to Kurama before he sprinted off into a deepening hollow in the lines of the approaching Hollow army/rabble. Draze didn't know whether the other students were dead, injured or merely trapped amidst the battle.
The only thing Draze could think of was how to stay out of those three catagories. Even now, following in the wake of a high level shinigami, Hollows still pressed in.
"Hado 4, White Lightning!" Draze yelled, pointing over his shoulder at a Hollow chasing the group from behind. The lightning speared the large Hollow, who was barely fazed at the attack. Suddenly it sped up, and made a leap. This close, Draze could see it's tiny Hollow mask, perched atop a round bulbuous body wih tiny arms and legs. The legs whirred at high speed as it ran, kicking up a veritable cloud of dust. Now, in mid-jump, Draze realised he would be flattened if something wasn't done.
Nothing could be done.
Holding his zanpakuto above him, he stopped dead in his tracks, and made a wild slash at the falling Hollow.

The Hollow landed, and let out a roar. The student was beneath it! Squished into the desert sands! Now he could absorb the reitsu through his stomach area, as he had done to so many victims before.
Wait...had he landed on a tree? Something sharp was stuck between him and the ground...

With a desperate, animal cry, Draze worked his blade in deeper. A squelching sound, followed by a release of pressure on his body from all sides, signilled the death of the Hollow. Working his way up, he climbed through the Hollow's corpse, even as it dissolved around him. With a gasp, he alid down the Hollows side, landed, then turned to keep running. He needed to find the group again. If he was left behind, he would die, and who knew how far ahead they had gotten.

Oh wait, there they were.

The 3 students had huddled, and one, the oldest, had pulled them all into a reverse huddle. There, they fended off Hollow after Hollow with combined Hado 4 spells. just ahead of them, Kurema battled a small, savgly powerfull Hollow, that Draze could sense from even his great distance. It's reitsu was like a small sea before him, ans swirled across the desert sands with a whip-like tendency, snaking back and forward violently.

he ran to join the group of huddlers, preparing kido as he ran.

Jacques watched with some amusement at the little explosions that resulted from the Shinigami Captain sending up balls of his own reiatsu to deflect Jacques's Balas. Please have the courage to come up here and face me alone, thought Jacques. I would hate to have to come down to you.

Jacques's wish was granted, the Captain came flying up at him and aimed a mighty slash at his midsection. Jacques backflipped over to avoid it, in an attempt to both dodge and land a kick, but failed to do so. He landed a few feet away and slid a bit, and then straightened. Looking down, Jacques saw that the Captain's sword had torn through a bit of suit, and removed a bit off the tip of his tie. "Bad form, Captain..."

His gaze focused on the Captain's Zanpakuto. I've seen that before...could it be? That weakling is a Captain now? Jacques snorted derisively. "Tch..." Jacques dropped his spent cigarette and replaced it with another, lighting it with a small flare of reiatsu. "My name is Jacques Kyoukan. And you...Kuro Akarui- you are a Captain now. As I recall, I did not find you particularly difficult to defeat when we last met. And now you're a Captain. Forgive me if I do not tremble in your presence...but frankly, I think that I will be able to defeat you before I finish this cigarette."

"In fact...I am fairly certain you will be unable to get me to reveal my own Zanpakuto. I do not know if you have ever fought an experienced Arrancar before, Captain. But you will find that you are out of your depth!" Jacques sonido'd forward. Because he would be fighting hand-to-hand, Jacques needed to remove the advantage in length that Kuro's blade presented him by getting in close. Jacques's sonido carried him to the left of Kuro, but still in front of him. Jacques's right hand shot out aimed high at Kuro's throat in an attempt to crush his windpipe while his left hand stayed low but wary in case of a retaliatory blow.

Kuro flinched in shock that this arrancar knew his name as it introduced himself. He had only revealed his name to a few hollows in battle before, and most of them were dead. The only one that he'd failed to kill that should know his name was....

"No....it can't be....Niiro Sekkou!? You're that lizard!?"

Kuro had met and fought this hollow at many stages of his development as a shinigami. By Kuro's memory, they'd fought three times in the past. All three had ended with Kuro in bad shape, especially the last one. He stubbornly thought to himself that Sekkou would have been in the same position if hollows didn't have that annoying ability to rapidly heal wounds by just consuming souls.

Kuro was annoyed by...Jacques's overconfidence. Kuro was not the same as he used to be. In addition to being a captain now, he had trained hard and gained a variety of new skills. His old rival was in for a surprise if he underestimated him. Seeing Jacque's begin his approach, Kuro quickly dissolved his blade so he could use his other abilities if necessary. At the same time, he shifted his position to the left so that Jacque's blow at his throat would miss slightly. Following this escape, Kuro darted out his own left hand, releasing the power in his gauntlet to fuel a quick and heavy palm thrust at Jacque's side under his right shoulder. Afterward, he shunpoed back from Jacques and called out to him.

"It's true, I did have to retreat from our last encounter. But don't forget that I had you in pretty bad shape too before your fracions helped you out. I had to fight by myself while protecting an injured squad member. So don't try to intimidate me by saying I'm weak. I'll show you just how powerful I've become in these years and make you use everything you have if you want to live! Ban-Kai!"

Kuro's gauntlet hummed with energy for a split second and a pillar of golden light flashed into the sky with Kuro at the center. The light faded to reveal Kuro clad in his bankai, a black and gold ninja outfit with a black sash on his front decorated with seven hollow rings. He now had an additional gauntlet and two boots that had the same properties as his shikai. Standing in the air above the battling shinigami and hollows, Kuro concentrated hard and filled the bottom most ring on his sash with shining golden color. He grinned at his adversary.

"You don't want to use your powers. So let's see how that works out for you."

Jacques's was a little disappointed that his attack missed, and even more so disappointed when Kuro's palm thrust hit him in his right side. It sent him sliding backward with the air forced out of his lungs, but Jacques was able to quickly gain his composure. "Not bad..." said Jacques thoughtfully. "You are much quicker than you were before."

As Kuro shouted out all these things to him that culminated in his Bankai, all Jacques could think was, Why are all Shinigami so melodramatic? It is so irritating. He sighed in annoyance and straightened his suit, which had rumpled a bit as a result of Kuro's blow. It had winded Jacques, but because of his abnormally tough Hierro, he had avoided serious damage. It was doubtful there would even be a bruise.

"I do not wish to use my Ressureccion for the likes of you, but I will if I must. First however, I have a different strategy in mind," Jacques smiled thinly before he was surrounded by a thin smokescreen. The smokescreen cleared to reveal...Saroki. It was Jacques's Hollow ability that allowed him to mimic the appearances and even the voices of others. "Do you have the balls to kill me, Kuro Akarui?"

As Saroki, Jacques Sonido'd behind Kuro with a low kick aimed to buckle Kuro's right knee. From this position, he sprang up in an attempt to drive his shoulder into Kuro's spine, and follow up with a series of quick short rabbit punches aimed at Kuro's shoulders, biceps, and triceps. The reason for this was because Jacques wanted to strain Kuro's muscles- he wanted to make it painful for Kuro to attack.

Ri ‘s detachment of volunteer had made a front against the hollows and were slowly pushing them back giving the captains space to fight the Arrancars. Ri however had taken the strongest from his detachment and made a vanguard that had ignored the drawn battle lines and were in the centre of the horde.

Ri was barely visible, he shunpo’d from hollow to hollow only stopping to destroy their masks, he’d counted twenty six kills but had lost count but safe to say he was making a dent in the hollows ranks. This hit and run style of fighting was a common technique and most useful for crowd of hollows.

Ri landed beside his vanguard as they formed a circle and guarded one another as they fought off the seeming unending wave for hollows. Then a echoing screech reached Ri’s ears, he turned his attention to the west and saw massive hollow, a Zonzain and not just one.

“Stay together and keeping fighting” Ri ordered his Vanguard who all nodded or grunted in acknowledgement. Ri could see a vast amount of lower hollow between him and the Zonzain and knew an easy way to clear a path.

" Ruler of the winds arise! gáircas! Ri chanted as he tossed his zanpakuto to be caught by a roaring wind that gathered around him and brought with it asky blue blade.

“Buile an Cas ,double” Ri said as he swung his blade horizontally left to right then back right to left creating two intense blasts then flew straight into the hollow horde and cut through them like a knife through butter.

The first strike took care of the lower hollow in the way but when it reach the Zonzains , the zonzain easily blocked it but the second attack came through at full power and cut right through of the Zonzains masks killing it.

“This should fun huh gáircas” Ri said speaking to Zanpakuto as he charge down the path to the Zonzain that he’s just made for himself.

“A true test of our power” Gáircas replied in her stern feminine voice. Ri prepared to launch into the group of Zonzain .He knew that the fight had just begun and Ri loved that fact.

Kaiyo's eyes quivered as she entered Huceo Mundo, the amount of spiritual energy that had been let loose around them was definitely not good. The rumbling through through the crowds like wild-fire, the calm before the storm. The first monster appeared, bloody strong as well. Kaiyo held her ground, quickly analysing the suited hollow. The rest of the horde followed, slicing through their numbers like they were soft butter. This could have gone better. Kaiyo's mind was all but too distracted until Saroki yelled, snapping the girl back into action as the first green short fired into the ground behind her. The white sands of Hueco Mundo spread like a sheet over the ground upon the first impact.

Kaiyo's smile dropped, nodding slightly at Kao, 'Then stay on me' she uttered in an uncharacteristically cold tone. Kaiyo unsheathed her blade in an instant, throwing around her body weight as she flash stepped around the bala's, catching the edge of a few with her blade to deflect them in another direction. Kaiyo didn't reply to Kuro, considering he knew the hollow, fighting with his Bankai would be easier without having to worry about her being in the way. The short Captain vanished from sight for a moment. Flash stepping first to the huddled Shinigami around the growing number of attacking hollows. Kaiyo skidded to a halt high up the sky, 'Shinigami to the ground!' she yelled. The vast numbers of hollows seemingly lead by her larger spiritual energy. Kaiyo stood motionless in the air for just a second longer, waiting for the hundreds of hollows to lead up to her. The girl spun round her Zanpaktou, digging it into the air where she stood as she yelled, 'Light the sky. Tenrai Zenpyou...Chouwa no Tomoshibi'. The Captain's Zanpaktou exploded in a burst of golden light, her reiatsu engulfing the area around her as her shikai covered her for a second, long enough for the attack to happen. A large radius, high up in the sky appeared, glowing like a wafer thin disk of gold, underneath the hollows, before exploding upwards. The thunderous crash happened almost instantly, roaring loudly as the golden lightning reached up, seemingly endlessly to the clouds.

Kaiyo waited until the light faded, the sky cleared, at least for a moment of all the hollows that had attacked. The Captain glanced down to the group of shinigami, 'Get ready for the next wave!' she ordered down to them, flash stepping away, almost as quickly as she had come. Kaiyo had hopefully given them all enough time to get ready for the next attack at least, hoping they'd have better chances once they were ready, the second time around. Kaiyo's white Haori fluttered wildly in the air behind her as she sped over to Kurama. The man was battling a seemingly small hollow, but with enough power to definitely pack a punch.

Kaiyo appeared in an instant next to Kurama. Her shikai still released, the two ribbons flailing sporadically under the pressure of the area as the girl lunged straight towards the Arrancar. The beast with all too much power, and a lot less finesse that the first guy, yet the power was still there none the less. Kaiyo moved past the arrancar, finishing her strike on the opposite side to Kuruma. The girl didn't care much for giving Kuro the strongest fight, but she cared a lot more about protecting the other Shinigami, especially seeing as so many had already died. 'Yo' she smiled lightly, looking past the arrancar to Kuruma, a man who she had in truth, never even seen before.

Saroki clashed into the sea of hollows, slashing her zanpakuto into the first hollow she saw, one down, Saroki then jumped up into the air. Sending a powerful kick down upon another hollows mask, two down; Saroki pushed off of the hollow and performed a backflip, as she did she sliced yet another hollow open. Three down.
Saroki could feel her own bloodlust building up with every kill, the anticipation was killing her. Her aura was changing, to something more...Sinister. The girl was letting out reiatsu like a wild fire, she was overflowing with energy; Her movment grew quicker, and quicker, untill she was probally three times faster than her normal speed.

Saroki was killing hollows left and right, and before she knew it, she had killed one hudred and thirty-four.
And that's when she heard it. Niiro Sekkou. Orders didn't mena a damn thing now, she had a fucking score to settle with that bastard. And she wasn't about to let him get away. Saroki flash stepped as fast as she could up towards Jacques. Her speed much, much faster than before. And thats when Jacques transformed...Into....Saroki?
This, confused the girl, to say the least. But it still didn't matter. She shunpo'ed behind Jacques, her energy overflowing, she sent a mighty slash down upon Jacques, hoping it would hit, she made sure to aim carefully; As she was worried about hitting Kuro instead. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL SEND YOU TO THE FIREY PITS OF HELL!!!!!!!!!" Saroki's voice shot out with extreme intensity.

Jacques's barrage of blows was uninterrupted by him feeling an angry, hate-filled reiatsu behind him. It was interrupted, however, by a heavy blow from behind that sent him flying down toward the ground. To Saroki, it would feel like she was hitting her blade against an incredibly tough, hard and steely surface; she might even feel the vibrations of her blow shake her arms and rattle her jaw such was the strength of Jacques's Hierro.

Jacques seemed to skid through the air as he tried to slow his descent, eventually managing to come to a halt 20 feet above the ground. He Sonido'd back up into the air so he was level with the two Shinigami; as he did so, the disguise around him melted away and he appeared as an Arrancar again. He looked both of them in the eye and turned around to reveal his back. There was a thin cut across his back where Saroki's blade had bit in; a superficial wound, really. It wasn't even bleeding...and then it was gone, completely regenerated.

He looked at the two Shinigami with an expression of extreme distaste on his face. "Ah yes...I remember you as well. You were even weaker than this one. And you failed to hurt me even with that enraged blow. Why? Because we are worlds apart in power still, girl." Jacques paused, and then held out his right hand. From his right sleeve, a butterfly knife popped out and landed in his hand. He expertly flipped it open to an attack position (the blade was 6" in length).

"I will give you a tidbit of information that will make you excuse that pitiful blow, and perhaps even give you the false hope that you might succeed here...hahaha. I am sure you have noticed that my Zanpakuto is shorter than most. It would appear that it is not quite useful in a battle situation. True. But you see, it is a tradeoff of sorts. The first part of the tradeoff is that although my blade is quite short, all the reiatsu particles that make it up are so densely packed together that it is more or less indestructible, and capable of cutting through more or less anything with ease. The second part is that I traded blade length for increased Hierro strength. You cannot hope to cut me girl...though I am sure you will try."

I am going to kill you in a single blow, girl... Jacques met Kuro's gaze now. Will you be able to stop me, Captain Kuro? Can you watch your friend die while the last feelings she ever experiences are pain and hate? What are you willing to sacrifice? Jacques sniffed derisively... and then he Sonido'd past her in the Arrancar equivalent of a Senka maneuver; as he passed her, he aimed a single stab at the center of her spine.

The whole time Jacques was talking, Kuro kept concentrating on his power levels, taking advantage of the extra time he'd been given by Saroki's distraction. Slower than the first ring, the second and third rings began to shine just like the first had. Kuro's overall concentration of power in his body was rising, and that would give him an edge when the fighting got intense.

Kuro's face was calm now. He had composed himself as he concentrated, ridding himself of the anger and annoyance that would have likely caused him to make a mistake if he'd attacked. He was in his best condition for battle now; quiet and observative, taking in the details around him and waiting for the opportunity to make a move. He stared back at Jacques as the arrancar met his gaze and began to threaten Saroki. Though his face didn't change, his eyes flashed for a second with an understanding of what was about to occur. Jacques was the same as he'd always been: a dirty playing bully that spoke down to everyone else, drowning in confidence at his own power.

Kuro watched Jacques closely, especially his feet. The instant he saw movement signaling the arrancar's sonido, he shunpoed to Saroki with the power in his body guided to his bankai's boots. The concentrated energy carried his shunpo much faster than before, allowing him to reach her several split seconds before Jacques and his attack. Letting a small grin come to his face again while remembering and relating to their previous battles against Jacques and his gang, Kuro wrapped one arm around Saroki and shunpoed again to a spot about 20 yards from where she'd been standing. From this new spot, he took his arm that was not around her and fired a beam of golden spirit power out of his gauntlet at Jacques's back. If it hit him, the level of concentration should have been enough to make him feel it, even with his hierro.

"Thank you Saroki-san. Your distraction gave me the chance to further prepare to fight him. Now let us take down this enemy from our past together and make our squad proud."

Kuro released Saroki and waited for Jacques's next attack. Knowing him, he'd probably try a feint attack at Saroki to try and draw Kuro into a trap. Kuro was ready.

"Oof!" The air was forced out of Jacques's lungs a second time as he was hit in the back by Kuro's attack. The accompanying explosion caused a little smoke to obscure Jacques for a moment, and when it cleared, the entire back of his suit, jacket and all, had been blasted away. One could see some painful looking burns in a sort of bullseye pattern reminiscent of Lyme disease where Kuro's blast had struck. "Hrmph," Jacques turned around. "You've ruined my suit."

Our squad...thought Jacques bemusedly. So she is his subordinate...that is very useful information. "Girl, that is so disappointing of you, you know. I would have thought that the passage of time would have resulted in something significant. Kuro there is a Captain...but you, you are still relying on others to protect you. You are a useless burden that I could easily defeat if your big brother wasn't there to protect you. As it were...well, he had the courtesy to show me his Bankai. Which is not particularly impressive, I might add. I thought Bankais were supposed to be large and awe-inspiring. But I suppose..."

Jacques held up his butterfly knife. "I should return the favor. Estar Despierto...Diablo Divina!" (cue awesome spanish music) His Hollow mask melted up over the top of his head to form a sort of demonic lizard like helmet. The mask extended down to his shoulders and down his arms. It went down his back and wrapped around his torso. Wings sprouted from his back, and he gained a whip-like, prehensile tail. And then, he seemed to be surrounded by a large quantity of white fog, completely obscuring him from sight. The fog seemed to ominously conceal him from sight before spreading out and covering an area around them in the air in a circle about 50 feet in diameter. It was still fairly dense, though it was possible to see Jacques occasionally through the fog.

Kuro and Saroki would notice that when the fog touched them, they would feel slight burning, tingling sensations, but it wouldn't be enough to physically damage them. "I am the Divine Demon of Hueco Mundo!" Jacques voice sounded weirdly from within the fog. "Acero Reiatsu!" A section of the fog swirled away to reveal a straight path between Jacques and his opponents. Then the fog came back and formed hundreds and hundreds of razor sharp flechettes that threw themselves at high speed toward Kuro and Saroki. If the flechettes flew past them, they would boomerang around to encircle the two in a whirling tornado of deadly blades.

Saroki's eyes widened, she didn't even land a permanant scratch. He could regenerate his own body, just what the hell was he? He was on a totally different scale of strength compared to Saroki. And the fact irritated her to no end.

Saroki could sense Jacques'es movments, he was fast, alot faster than Saroki, even in her most powerful state. And speaking of her current power level, she was cheating, to put it blunt. Although it might not have been obvious at the first look, she was pushing her body and spirit beyond the limits she had set for herself.

Meaning, even though she was stronger and faster, her body was decaying, unable to sustain this amount of reiatsu at once. Saroki switched her zanpakuto into her left hand, reversing her grip in a nano second, then attempting to counter Jacque'es butterfly knife, but, before she could block, Kuro grabbed her and pulled her to safety.

The girl froze. Looking to Kuro, her eyes showing extreme disappointment.
"Hey, Kuro. I don't have much time at my current state. I'll die if this for more than three minutes."
Saroki's voice shot out with, rather strange calmness.
"I can't waste any time, every split second counts at the moment..."
Her voice mimiced her last comment.
Saroki looked towards Jacques, her eyes now showing patience.

"Shut up, hollow."
The girl said with bitterness.
"You, at you're current state. Are at you're last stage of evolution, you're most powerful; But...When I reach captaincy..."
Saroki's voice trailed off to silence. And then...
"I'll be 10x more powerful than you!"
Saroki's eyes met directly with Jacques'es. Her eyes full of determination and resolve.

Don't listen...Saroki-san....Even though he is right on many things...You are not weak...

...You need more time...You're potential is unrivaled by any being...You just need time....

The voice shot out through her mind.
Saroki took in three deep breathes. Calm yourself, Saroki....
She thought to herself.
And then, "Acero Reiatsu!"
Jacques had transformed into his ultimate form. And had already executed a deadly attack, hundreds of flechettes started to fly at her and Kuro.
Saroki nodded to Kuro, confirming her trust in him; Saroki condensed her reiatsu into her body, shunpoing head-on straight into the sea of flechettes.
(Cue awesome awe inspiring music)
Saroki cut down hundreds of flechettes, a few cutting her, but she countered the majority. But as she traveled deeper into the onslaught, she found that she couldn't block all of the tiny darts.

Saroki presisted though. Saroki was starting to get cuts all over her body, and despite them not being too much of a problem, in great numbers, she could potentially lose her life through blood loss.
Saroki stoppped in mid shunpo, letting the flechettes hit her, she focused. Condesning her reiatsu into her body. A moment later, she was ready.
Saroki released her reiatsu, creating a large sphere of dark reiatsu that engufled her. This knocked away the flechettes as she shunpo'ed faster towards Jacques.
But they were starting to break through, and soon, her supreme control of reiatsu was usless.

It didn't matter though, Jacques was close enough to her.
Saroki shunpo'ed up into the air, infront of Jacques, preparing her assault.

Kuro listened to both Jacques and Saroki with patience. These long pauses in fighting for talking gave him good opportunities to increase his bankai's power level. As the other two shot back and forth at each other, and as Jacques revealed his resurreccion, Kuro's sash lit up two more of its rings, making the total 5 out of the seven. Just a bit more...

Kuro was startled as Saroki charged straight into the swarm of flechlettes. He began to reach out as she shunpoed at the attack, but held himself back to return her trust. It bothered him that he could do nothing to stop the flechlettes from getting her. He had nothing in his skills that could do so without putting Saroki in harm's way as well. He instead chose to wait for the right moment.

He saw his chance when Saroki approached Jacques from the front. Using his compressed power in his boots, he propelled himself faster than any shinigami he'd seen before. In mid-shunpo, he extended a short blade of concentrated energy from his left gauntlet. He passed Saroki when she was only a few feet from Jacques and slashed across Jacques's front with a senka-like attack similar to what he'd attempted on Saroki earlier. Kuro's aim was to open a wound in Jacques's hiiero that Saroki could attack.

Some of the swirling mist that still was present around them swirled around Jacques and molded itself around his entire body except his wings, forming a dense armor in addition to his Hierro. "Balanza del Dragón..." he said. Jacques moved his hands in front of Kuro's blade mid-swing as if to say, I could have blocked this, but then moved them away and allowed the blade to hit him directly in the stomach. Seemingly as a result of the blow, a huge burst of white fog obscured everything from sight for an instant.

cue spanish theme Kuro's short blade was point first in Jacques's abdomen. The point had gone in perhaps an inch in length, and there were cracks webbing out from that point. "I don't think so," said Jacques. All around them, the white fog hardened into the inside of a sphere with sharp looking spears protruding from it. Jacques stood with his back against one side- essentially, preventing escape. Jacques brought his fingers together. "Cero!!!!"

A Cero at this range, and within such an enclosed space...was Jacques insane? Surely he would be damaged by this as well- then again, he did have that armor. And Hierro. It would take sharp eyes to notice this, but just before he fired the Cero, Jacques dissolved the bit of sphere he was standing in front of, so that when he fired the Cero, he flew out of the enclosed space, thus escaping harm.

Saroki shunpo'ed behind Kuro, waiting for his attack to finish, then, she unleashed her assault.
The girl shunpo'ed behind Jacques, slashing down at his back, then shunpoing to his right, thrusting her blade towards Jacques'es ribs, then, shunpoing behind him once again.
Attempting a slice from below. Saroki then shunpo'ed infront of him, on eye level. Her eyes met with his, if only just for a split second, her right hand held her zanpakuto in a reverse grip, her left hand pressing down against her right shoulder, as if to support her slash. Saroki's eyes were full of hatred towards Jacques, but something else could be seen within her eyes...It was different from hatred, madness, or anger...It was something completely different, yet, frightening.

Saroki charged her attack, if only for five split seconds, it felt like a minute to her. She filled her zanpakuto with her own reiatsu.
"TAKE THIS!"
Saroki's voice shot out with intensity as she sliced upwards with her zanpakuto. Her aim directed towards Jacques'es chest/left shoulder.

Once Saroki was finished with the attack, a seemingly bone-like shell appeared all around her, she was inside a....Sphere? Made from Jacques'es reiatsu? The idea was crazy, reiatsu didn't normally take a physical shape.
Saroki shunpo'ed backwards, realising that she was backed against the wall.
Her eyes franticly looked around. Knowing that she was probally screwed;
"Shit shit shit!!!" Saroki didn't notice the exit behind Jacques, but, another idea came to mind. She reverted back to a relaxed expression. Her eyes wandered towards Kuro.
"Kuro..."
She paused for a moment, probally a bit worried about Kuro's reaction to her plan.
..Kuro..I'm going to give it one final attack...I don't know whether or not it will kill me...But..."
Saroki's voice trailed off, as she looked back at Jacques and his Cero.
"...I'm sure you would be able to bust you're way out of here, but...It would have costed too much reiatsu, and you'd end up losing..."
She paused, yet again.
"..I would....Gladly...Die for my Taicho...."

Saroki didn't wait for Kuro's response. She held her zanpakuto with her right hand, infront of herself, the tip pointing towards Jacques. Her left hand grabbed her right wrist, supporting it for the massive amount of power she was about to release.
Must...Protect....Everyone.....Must....Protec...t......Ever....y.....one........ Saroki's thoughts trailed off to nothingness, as her reiatsu overflowed. She closed her eyes.
You know what'll happen to you....Right?......This is foolish....
Saroki grinned.
Hm...Perhaps this is foolish...But....I want to protect everyone....
Why do you want to protect everyone so much?
Because....
They taught me something more important...Than all the power in the world....
Kuro...
Kaiyo....
Ri....
I'll give my life...So that....One day...They may smile, and laugh again...

That's quite a resolve, you have.
Akugou chuckled a bit, as if Saroki was being childish.
Very well then, I shall lend you my full strength, but, only for an instant...I'll never do this again, got it?
Yeah....Let's do this....Togethor.....

Saroki gripped her zanpakuto as tight as she could. A vast amount of reiatsu gathered up into her body and zanpakuto, even so that maybe even Kuro, and Jacques could feel the intensity of her resolve.

Saroki opened her eyes, as her reiatsu began to take some of the properties of flames; Saroki concentrated on her iron resolve, her reiatsu growing with every passing moment, but now...Her body was starting to decay, as she was going way beyond her limit. Thin pieces of skin started to rip off of her body and become one with her reiatsu. It grew worse and worse, and a few moments later, a few of her veins popped, sending the blood flying into the air. The blood joined her reiatsu in a orderly stream, her face still remaining unchanged, though.

Saroki could feel it, this was her final destination, anymore time and she would faint. Saroki shunpo'ed towards Jacques, her speed faster than ever, almost matching with Jacques'es; Soon she was face to face with Jacques, still in mid shunpo.
"I will...Protect............EVERYONE!!!"
Cue music.
Her voice shot out as she attempted to ram her zanpakuto straight into Jacques'es chest. Even if the Cero was fired, she wouldn't stop.
Saroki twisted her blade around in mid strike, if she was able to impale him and his hierro; Saroki's strike would let off a ungodly amount of reiatsu, and the pure power of her attack would likely pierce his hierro. Even so, it wasn't 100%

Kuro dissolved his energy blade as Jacques enclosed them in the sphere of his Reiatsu. He saw Saroki begin her furious assault on him, but felt that it would not be enough to stop him. Concentrating his power further, he lit up the sixth ring on his sash and thought about using his power to fashion a barrier to try and block the cero. Saroki-san........

As Jacques was about to fire his cero, Kuro noticed the hole in it he made for his escape. (He's observative ) Shunpoing forward with his concentrated power, he grabbed Saroki's blade and pried it away from Jacques's chest. Next, he guided his power into all four of his limbs. With his left gauntlet, he delivered a powerful palm thrust into Jacques's body while he pressed forward with a strong shunpo to push himself and Jacques out of the sphere. With his right gauntlet, he poured power out of his hand and used it to shape a thin barrier between him and Jacques. When the cero was fired, Kuro was sure that he wouldn't escape unscathed, but Saroki would be okay. She had pushed herself far and as her captain, Kuro couldn't let her take a cero right now. As he pushed Jacques away from the sphere, he called back to Saroki. She wouldn't accept being taken out of the fight, so he had to word it the right way.

"Saroki-san! Get to the members of squad 4 and get yourself patched up so you can get yourself back here to help me!"

Kuro secretly hoped that he could finish Jacques off before Saroki had to fight him again.

((Random i know... but aside from fighting endless hordes of hollow...))

((Play me and read the whole post...))

Kuroi had a third eye on the battle raging with the arrancar... not literally of course, but he kept it in his awareness as he sliced and diced through anyonomus hollow... most of which were weak... Kuroi occasionally shunpo'ed to a hollow's mask to slice it open... He was only distracted when Saroki charged with the massive energy... which was buffeting him but his attention was quickly routed when a group of oportunistic hollow tried to jump him... Kuroi flew up and yelled

"Hado 20 White Crawl"

Kuroi put its effect in the middle of a group of hollows essentally disabling them... Kuroi shunpo'ed away from where his battle had raged... and was hovering in the air on the ground slightly out of the battle 'zone' Kuroi Shunpo'ed 3 times in a 2 as a distraction in a zig zag and the final closing the distance to behind the arrancar...

"Water, what gives life to those who i seek to end, Lightning, what Creates the fire in my hand, Combine, and deliver your judgment upon this soul. Hado 30 Midori Hi Jikkou!!!" Kuroi saw the small ball form on his palm and as he was reciting the incantaions he poured more and more energy into the ball where he had to contain it with 2 hands, Kuroi fired... the beam at the arrancar to hopefully give one of the captains an opening to get an attack...

Though he would have liked to do something about Kuro changing his movement, Jacques decided he would rather fire off the Cero. Jacques's green Cero exploded from his hands with devastating force. It did not seem to be able to be contained within the small space that Jacques had created, and in fact, it seemed to rebound within it shoot out through the small opening. A huge explosion rocked the area where he and Kuro had been standing.

As the smoke cleared, you could see that Jacques had surrounded himself by his wings, which had taken the majority of the blow. They looked ripped and torn, with burns marring all the wounds on them. He moved them apart to show that his torso had not been harmed at all by his Cero. It was at this point that a blast from below, having traveled through the white fog that surrounded them slammed into Jacques, sending him spinning away from Kuro (whom I have no idea how the Cero affected him). Jacques came to a halt and saw that the hit had left a smoldering mark on his chest, but he was otherwise unharmed, thanks to the qualities of his Energia Mundo.

He looked down and saw the Shinigami who had done it. The fool had signed his death warrant. "Is this how they teach you to fight in Soul Society? 3 against 1? No wonder our races hate each other- you have no honor to speak of! And your ranks are filled with pathetic weaklings!" As he spoke, Jacques's white fog surrounded his wings briefly, and then parted to reveal fully regenerated wings. As the wounds had been largely superficial, he could regenerate them quickly.

Jacques stood stock still and raised his hands, flaring his wings out as he did so. In response, the white fog rose up and formed into hundreds of four foot long, lethally sharp looking spears. "Be impaled and die!" He sent half of them flying toward Kuro, a quarter of them toward the weakened Saroki, and another quarter of them down at the insignificant Shinigami below.

Ri had been behind the lines devastating the hollow horde but he didn’t seem to be putting a dent it there overall number but that was something he neither noticed or cared about. The Shinigami front was doing well but he could see Meno class hollows in the distance and knew that could soon change the tide of the battle.

Then suddenly Ri stopped fighting as did the hollows around him, all had been distracted by the sudden increase in Saroki’s power, it was immense. Ri shunpo’d above the horde to avoid being attacked well he watch in awe.

He watched as Saroki began her strike, Ri’s mind had zoned out of the battle below and instead was focus on Saroki’s fight with the Arrancar. Ri stood in awe of fight, he never felt such a clash of pressure of this magnitude before.

The Green cero exploded for a moment Ri twitch ready to join the fray but saw Kuro step in a guard Saroki. As the Arrancar prepared his next attack, Ri knew Kuro couldn’t hope to guard himself, Saroki and those below him.

Ri sped toward the fight using shunpo the best he could, as he approached Saroki he pointing his right hand down aimed at the spears heading for the Shinigami below. Gathering his Reiatsu in said hand he fired “Hado thirty two yellow fire flash” He called and then immediately Shunpo’d a few stepped in front of Saroki.

“Buile an Cas” Ri roared as he swiped his blade through the air and sent a near invisible blade threw the air to collide with the on-coming attack of spears. His attack and the spears collided with a result of an explosion stopping both of them. Ri glanced down and saw his Hado blast had down the same with the other group of lethal spears.

Ri panted heavily, he was losing his Reiatsu quickly by using it to increase his movement and attacks to guard the injured Saroki but he hadn’t a choice. Ri turned his head to the side and smiled broadly at Saroki.

Ri couldn’t of seen from far away but up close she look destroyed , missing section of skin , cuts on the rest and drenched in blood. He could not fight an Arrancar but he could protect Saroki at least.

Saroki frowned at Kuo, even though he saved her, he also negated her attack towards Jacques. So, it had all been for nothing, and all she was doing now was dragging her teammates down. "I....Idiot...." Saroki mumbled. She could barely stand now, and even then, Ri came rushing to her aid. And once all was said and done, she dropped from the air. Plummeting to the ground.

Saroki felt her vision weaken, and her senses going completely numb. She opened her eyes just a bit, trying to examine the area for a 4th squad member. She wasn't aboout to beg for help, but, she wasn't about to turn down some healing. Right now she was blood soaked, pieces of skin missing, for God's sakes she looked like she was already dead!

The girl hit the gray sand with a mighty thump. She looked up towards the fight above her, making little to no noise what so ever. Her vision faded, and came back repeatedly.

Kuro was happy that everyone was working as a team. His hastily made, thin barrier had been breached by the cero without much resistance. It had only served to protect him from impacting the actual cero. The resulting explosion however had majorly scorched his clothes and burned him in several locations. It had also winded him as the force of it breaking through his barrier had hit him in the gut. He was grateful for Kuroi's attack that had given him time to catch his breath. But at the same time, it seemed to piss Jacques off.

As Jacques fired off his attack of spears, Kuro noticed Ri arriving to give Saroki and Kuroi support. But his hado had not been enough to stop all of the spears aimed at Kuroi from such a distance. Kuro flash stepped like mad, weaving through the larger swarm of spears aimed at him. (ooc: lol, didn't you think of using balas on me like this a while back in the c-box?) Thanks to the speed of his bankai, he managed to avoid any major wounds, but by the time Jacque's attack was over, he was covered in minor scratches around his outer frame from narrow misses. Kuro had flash stepped closer to Kuroi's position and fired blasts of energy from both of his gauntlets to destroy the remaining spears heading for him.

"Ri-san! Help Saroki-san get to the squad 4 members. Get yourselves looked at. Everyone else, concentrate on those hollows and don't interfere with this fight!"

Kuro had to make this order. His spirit power was great, but the truth was that the more rings he lit up on his sash, the faster his stores of spirit power were used up. This was due to his bankai condensing his power, making him pack more energy into every flash step and attack. Dodging all those spears and destroying those aimed at Kuroi had used up a large amount of what he had left. He only had one move left that could give him an edge now, but it was his first time using it in practicle combat other than solo training. Even he didn't know how distructive he'd get after this. He folded his hands in a meditative way and concentrated his power to the highest degree he could, lighting up the final ring on his sash.

Kuro's bankai glowed as his power shot out behind him and shaped into the sillouette of a blooming golden lotus flower. This image immediately collapsed and rushed back into Kuro's body as the air began to swirl around him.
Insert Epic Music Track
The swirling air began to shine with trails of spirit particles grouping together and heading for Kuro's suit. His stores of power began filling up beyond their normal levels and his limbs began to feel strange. They felt heavy, but light at the same time. His eyes glinted brightly with gold power for a second as his body felt refreshed.

"Jacques-san, I noticed earlier that armor that you formed around yourself. I just hope that it's able to withstand all the power of Hueco Mundo."

Without another word, Kuro guided this new power into his boots and left gauntlet. The level of concentration and amount of power was so great, that the ends of his limbs shone almost as brightly as a charging cero. Kuro flash stepped the fastest he'd ever gone, thinking to himself that even Yoruichi couldnt've gone this fast before. His step took him just past Jacques's right side, leaving Kuro standing behind Jacques's right shoulder. Spinning on the spot as his flash step ended, Kuro drove his left palm forward at Jacques's back with a smashing blow that was packed with the energy he'd absorbed from the air.

Kuroi saw the massive amounts of spears, and a generous amount aiming for him...

"What a genius idea Kuroi, Go off and attack the strongest one here..."

Kuroi thought as he planned to dodge, Kuroi saw Kuro blow the spears away, Kuroi had to do something, he couldnt just stand here in aw and watch them fight... Kuroi decieded shunpo over to Saroki-san's postion, Kuroi had fell on his face but he rose to his knees next to Saroki, and began healing, this was the one thing that he didnt regret about 4th squad... Kuroi only planned on healing until the 4th squad members got over here, but knowing them they probably were occupied with other injuries... Kuroi Said to Ri, who looked pretty banged up as well, "We cant move Saroki yet... give me 5 minutes... Kuroi continued his healing kidou as he cut the top half of his shinigami uniforme off... revealing the grey robe he always wore beneath it... and halted the kidou for a moment to rip it into bandages... he then bandaged and then proceded to healing Saroki...

The Arrancar which Kaiyo struck down with ease lays down on the sand in a pool of its own blood barely breathing. The sound of static causes the Arrancar to look up in to the air. As it does so, the Shinigami could feel a great spiritual pressure above them, and of course no less than forty feet above them hovered yet another Arrancar wearing a leather coat with a fur collar and holding a massive blade on his shoulder.

Spoiler:

The fallen Arrancar extends his arm towards the other and pleads, "Help me Cerberus!" Cerberus chuckles as the Arrancar pleads for his aide... "You're a disgrace, just die." Cerberus extends his right arm towards his fallen comrade and fires a Blue Cero, vaporizing the Arrancar's body completely, but not before one final scream of terror and pain could be heard from it.

Cerberus looks down at the Shinigami and speaks with a much softer tone of voice. "You can all run off... I only want to fight with that one there." He then looks on past the lower ranking Shinigami towards the Captain Kaiyo and says in a much angrier tone of voice, "HEY YOU! CATCH!" Cerberus lifts the massive hunk of metal from his shoulder and swings it horizontally towards Kaiyo, releasing it mid swing causing it to spin rapidly towards Kaiyo. It would require a great defense to deflect such an attack. The sheer strength the Arrancar used to throw the blade, and its own natural weight would give it enough momentum to tear through the toughest of defenses.

Marly's approval

Kaiyo smirked lightly as the first arrancar dropped, the gir's eyes turning panic as she sense Saroki's reiatsu dwindling greatly. The short girl was about to run over to find out what the hell was going on, when it happened. Of course it bloody would, Kaiyo's luck had never been so great, but seriously? She would get the bloody one with a damn big weapon.

The girl sighed in annoyance as the Arrancar yelled catch. Kaiyo couldn't stop it, and she only had a split second if she wanted to dodge, dodging would be better. The girl flash stepped around to the monsters side, still holding back in her proximities. kaiyo skidded through the air slightly, watching in annoyance as her Captains Haori split in two, and drifted along through the air. Kaiyo had been just a little too slow. The girl held her stance, her Shikai blade still glistening with a buzzing current that flowing along the blade ridge. 'Fine, but at least tell e your name first'
. Kaiyo spoke in a serious tone, she liked to know who she was killing.