A Dangerous New Foe (Open)

Kuro emerged from the senkaimon in a hurry as he made his way into Karakura town's park. He had received word of a massive hollow attack taking place there at this time. The report had been correct. The park was swarming with the beasts. Kuro grabbed his zanpakuto and began to cut them down one after the other. He hoped that others would come to fight these off too, regardless of what they were. An invasion of this size was a threat to everyone. The sky mirrored the situation on the ground, dark clouds rolling in and slowly beginning to block out the sunlight. A heavy wind was starting to blow across the park's clearing, foretelling the possibility of a storm approaching. Feeling that one at a time was too slow going, Kuro focused his spirit power and drew back his left arm with his zanpakuto clenched tightly in his grip.

"Concentrate, Seishou Seijin!"

He brought his arm forward the instant his blade finished transforming, releasing a blast of energy that cut through ten hollows easily. He continued his efforts unaware of a lone figure high up in the sky watching the fight from a vantage point over the park. "What a fine looking specimen...he could be worthy of being my next test subject. But I guess I should withhold that decision until I see what he's really capable of."

It was a lazy day in the mansion, isaac was sitting on the coach with his feet propped up on a table."hah"isaac sighed as he stood up and walked to the window when something caught his attention a surge of reiatsu emminating from a nearby park"what could it be, its like i sensed this power before"isaac said as he grabbed his vest and ran out the door towards the source of the reiatsu.

Upon arrival isaac saw a mass of hollows and one lone person fighting them"well looks like im going to help him out Zeige Dich, Dalrag"isaac shouted as he ran to the closest hollow and punching his fist through its mask as issac hit Dalrag appeared grabbing two hollows and crushing them in his grasp.

As isaac closed in on the person he noticed it was the shinigami he met a while back, it was Kuro. As isaac punched another one in the face he shouted to kuro"long time no see" isaac said as he tossed a hollow towards an oncoming one.

"Huh?" Kuro was startled by the familiar voice as he smashed the mask of another hollow with his zanpakuto. Looking through the mob of enemies, he saw a welcome sight fighting the hollows on the other side of the group: Isaac the bount and his doll Dalrag. Kuro shunpoed through the hollows cutting down a large number of them with an energy blade he extended from his gauntlet. He reached the area where Isaac was fighting and began to cooperate with him and his doll. He blasted a hollow that was jumping for Dalrag's head and voiced his appreciation for their timely arrival.

"I was beginning to think that nobody'd show up to help me with these things. The surprising part is that there was nobody fighting them when I showed up. A group of this size wouldn't be here with no reason. Something must have drawn them here."

Kuro continued to ponder the mystery of the hollows' motive while he continued to fight alongside the bount. At the same time, the watcher in the sky maintained his position as Isaac showed up. "A bount...unexpected, but it does not matter. His power isn't strong enough to get in my way. And in fact, his being here will allow me to meet the shinigami sooner than I had planned."

"the only reason i came was i felt a surge in reaitsu"isaac said as he grabbed another hollow and twisted its neck."thanks for the savedalrag said as he levitated a rock and flung it at a hollow sneaking up on kuro."so you ..."isaac was interupted by a bird like hollow swooping down to grab him as it came in reaching distance dalrag grabbed it and tore it into two, as he did that something caught dalrags attention a lone figure in the sky"is that a friend of yours"dalrag asked kuro as he pointed to the man in the sky.

"I've been discovered...oh well." The man aimed one palm down at the battlefield below. "Hado #31: Shakkaho."

"Is who a friend?" Kuro asked as he followed Isaac's indication. What he immediately saw was a powerful orb of red spirit energy descending down on them. Kuro managed to shunpo forward, grabbing Isaac on the way, and escape the resulting blast as the orb made contact with the ground. A large number of the hollows and Dalrag were not as lucky. The seemingly small orb had exploded into a fierce blast that incinerated the unlucky hollows, scorched the ground, and did some decent though not lethal damage to the stone doll. If the orb had made direct contact though, Kuro felt that even the large doll would have been annihilated.

"That was a hado #31..." Kuro stated as he watched the caster now lowering himself to the ground. "...but the amount of power packed into it...just who is this guy!?"

The man was of a similar build to Kuro, dressed in a white robe attire that seemed to be a cross between shinigami and quincy design. He also had a strange visor on his face, perhaps a device to help him see things further away. He didn't look immediately dangerous, but Kuro's guard was as high as ever. His appearance was too coincidental, and the power he'd shown in that kido was a good example of how strong he was.

"My, my...you sure are a twitchy one my dear Captain. I have to admit, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to escape my spell or not. The fact that you did makes me all the more interested in you and your possibilities. But we'll have to see how well you fair in a fight with me personally to make the final decision of whether or not you're accepted."

Kuro did not like the tone of voice this guy was using. He sounded like some mad scientist, talking like all of this was some big game or experiment. "Isaac, I'll need you to let me handle this guy for the most part. But if you see an opening..."

"Oh don't get your hopes up about that Captain." the opponent interrupted. "Your bount friend is going to have his hands full with the remaining hollows." Kuro noticed that he was right. Behind Kuro and Isaac, the hollows not caught in the hado blast were beginning to regroup. "I couldn't have my test with you interrupted by outside help after all could I?"

"Dammit..." Kuro muttered under his breath as he saw that they had been out maneuvered. All freedom in this fight was gone. They had to play according to this guy's rules now. The strange man pulled out a medium sized zanpakuto, confirming that he was a shinigami too. Kuro cursed under his breath again and shunpoed forward, beginning a battle that would end badly.

Isaac was waiting for a response when suddenly kuro grabbed him and somehow transported away from a huge blast and dalrag was caught in the middle of it."yo dalrag are you alright"isaac shouted at the partially destroyed golem."yah, you can handle him ill gladly take care of these hollows"isaac said as he cracked his knuckles."ive been wanting to try this new ability dalrag learned"as isaac said that the remaining body of dalrag shoved his arms in the ground and started to absorb the iron in the earth, as he was finished dalrag was in a splendid new iron body."so whatcha think, but its not over with just yet"isaac said as he snapped his fingers returning dalrag into the bracelets, but they werent stone like they became metal bands."im gonnaa fight these ones on my own, but im going to make a shield from it"isaac said as he snapped his fingers again, but instead of making dalrag come out the iron bracelets started to engulf his body making armor covering his whole body, but it wasnt bulky it was slender so he could move in it."well you have fun with that guy, ill take care of these ones in the meantime"issac said as he turned to the hollows and ran at an oncoming one grabbing its head and throwing it at another one. But as he did that one snuck up on isaac bit down on his shoulder"hahahaaha"isaac laughed as he saw the hollow release and scream as it saw its teeth crack into pieces"how do you like my ultimate shield"isaac said as he grabbed its head and twisted. Isaac turned to see what kuro was doing before fighting off the other hollows.

Kuro's opponent seemed a bit surprised by his swift attack. He almost didn't get his zanpakuto up in time to parry Kuro's initial thrust with his gauntlet. The energy fueling Kuro's strike made the foe skid backwards, but no visible damage was apparent. Kuro scowled, getting more worked up than he normally did in a fight. There was something not right about this guy. His level of power and his behavior made Kuro feel very uncomfortable.

"That's right. Try and work out all the angles. More than coming at me blindly, you're trying to investigate me at the same time. It shows you have responsibility, but I'm afraid that you'll have to forget all that if you want to win." The man's smile grew larger as he held out his zanpakuto. "I am Tekeru Seo, and I will make you my new subject. Brace yourself, Towaraitokani."

A release command!? Kuro leaped back as Takeru's zanpakuto glowed with a grey light. The light soon faded, revealing his blade to have transformed into a grey shield that covered the length of his forearm. It was ovular in shape and was decorated with a yin yang crest on its surface. Extending out from its edge at Tekeru's wrist were three sharp blades, each about a foot in length. Kuro didn't think that it looked too impressive at first glance, but one could never tell what a zanpakuto was capable of by just looking at it.

"Let's continue...Byakurai!" Takeru flung out the kido with his left hand while advancing on Kuro brandishing his new weapon. Kuro side stepped the spell and shunpoed up in front of Takeru to take the initiative. As Kuro thrust out his gauntleted hand again, Tekeru raised his shield and blocked the blow. A loud bang rang out as the weapons collided, ending the clash in another stalemate. Kuro didn't stop there. Leaping up into the air, he fired a blast of energy from his zanpakuto down on Takeru, hoping that he could overwhelm the shield and cause some damage to him. Takeru's smile only grew larger as he held out the shield to meet the blast. Kuro's face broke out into utter shock as his attack was completely absorbed into the enemy's weapon. Takeru laughed from behind his defense, amused by Kuro's failed attempts to injure him. "Not good enough I'm afraid." Kuro came back down to the ground with the shocked look still stuck on his face. The crest on the face of Takeru's shield was glowing slightly after it had absorbed Kuro's attack. Takeru himself seemed utterly ecstatic from Kuro's confusion. "Oh my goodness! The reaction of my opponents when they first witness my abilities...the feeling never gets old."

Kuro took a deep breath and focused to keep himself calm. He felt that he had to if he wanted to win this fight...or at least survive. Once he felt ready, he charged Takeru again, keeping his eyes on his opponent's face to watch his movements. As Kuro formed a blade of energy on his gauntlet and brandished it against him, Takeru raised his shield in a challenging stance to meet Kuro's attack with the blades on the shields edge. A furious match began, with the two of them attacking and blocking repeatedly in various spots around the park clearing. After clashing their blades several times at one point, they follow each other as they both tried to shunpo to a better spot against their foe. Kuro quickly found out that he was indeed faster than Takeru, his shunpos and his attacks all being completed slightly before Takeru's could. But Takeru's annoying shield proved to be an unbreakable defense, always managing to move in just in time to prevent a fatal strike. As Kuro brought forth his latest attack, Takeru revealed an additional ability from his shield. The yin yang crest shone brightly before fading to its original appearance and the blades on the wrist side of the shield began to shine with a powerful black spirit power. Takeru swung his weapon down and the black power was released from his zanpakuto in the form of three blades of reiatsu that met Kuro's attack and burst with a devastating force. Kuro was sent flying back through the air and skidding back in a crouched position as he hit the ground. Before he could recover or even stand up, a powerful Raikōhō kido was fired at the ground right in front of him, causing another explosion that sent scraps of the ground flying along with Kuro.

Completely winded and struggling on the ground to pick himself up, Kuro slowly managed to look up at Takeru. The foe was watching him with that annoying analytical look of a scientist, continuing to talk what sounded like words of encouragement, but only served to annoy Kuro further. "That's right, get back up. You can achieve so much more than that my good sir. You're slowly starting to wake up, your attacks getting more sharp and merciless."

Kuro couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. "How do you know me and what has you convinced that I'm so strong?"

Takeru stopped smiling and his face became much more serious as he stared down at Kuro's figure. "I have been investigating you for some time. Ever since a few years back when I happened to see you in action in another land. I had gone there to gather data on the bount I had determined to live there, but you arrived and fought him before I had the chance."

Kuro shivered remembering the day that Takeru spoke of. A bount in the forests of North America had almost claimed his life with its powerful doll and its overwhelming ability. Kuro had barely made it out alive. "Not exactly a performance I would expect to impress someone as strong as yourself." he replied to Takeru while pulling himself up on one knee.

Takeru's smile returned. "Maybe not at first. Your normal style of combat that mainly serves to deter the opponent almost cost you your life. But the potential you displayed at the end...it made my heart race. The merciless strike you made at the bount and the way you calmly walked away while his own doll attacked him, that side of you excited me because it showed your inner strength. I will help you to rediscover that power and keep it with you always!" Takeru's power began to focus again like he was casting another kido. Kuro was too worn out to take evasive actions against it and was forced to just watch as his foe chanted a spell that he'd never heard of before. "Great spear of the heavens, descend on this locked soul and help it to find the truth. Pierce into the closed abyss and reveal its darkest secrets to the world. KoMiyaKagi!"

A black needle of spirit power appeared next to Takeru with a length equal to his arm. He brought his hand back with his index and middle fingers stuck out, immediately bringing his hand forward again to point them at Kuro on the ground. The needle shot forward with a speed greater than any kido Kuro had seen before and flowed into his chest over his heart. The feeling of the spell entering his body was heavy and excruciatingly painful, but no physical wound was visible on his chest. After a few moments of unbearable pain, the feeling disappeared and left Kuro feeling no worse for the wear. Takeru smiled even further however and turned to leave. "We'll meet again my precious subject. You'll thank me for this one day." At some signal missed by Kuro, all the remaining hollows in the park began to disappear into miniature tears in space heading back to their home world. Takeru himself opened a gargantua and left Kuro and Isaac in the scarred empty park with no clue as to what was going on.

as isaac was tearing into the hollow horde he felt the man release that sword of his"i would love to fight that guy, but it turns out i have my hands full here"isaac said as he grabbed two hollows by yhe heads and slammed them together crushing there masks. Isaac grabbed another hollow with a long horn like blade by the leg and started to swing him around killing other ones around him then breaking the hollow weapons neck. as isaac dropped the hollow the other ones started to retreat leaving isaac with no more combatnent"why are you leaving, you cowards"isaac shouted as his armor vanished turning back into the bracelets."so who was that guy"isaac said to kuro as he picked up his broken sunglasses and putting his vest back on.