Preparing for the Apocalypse (Sal)

Ryouta had requested of the humans a chance for him to spar with Norongachi in an environment where they would a) not attract attention, b) not cause too much damage if they were to fight at their full abilities, and c) where they would be unobserved by the humans. They had complied, though Ryouta had his doubts about whether or not they would with demand c. A battlefield for the two of them had been arranged on a nondescript, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. It was an area roughly the size of a football field, surrounded by typical island flora. He stepped out of the chopper, accompanied by a pair of guards wearing the suits of armor that the humans wore. Despite Ryouta's insistence that he could get to the island much faster by himself than by vehicle, the humans had stubbornly persisted. Most likely so that they could get a gauge on his power and prepare for any treachery. He had been told that Sal was resourceful enough to get to the island on his own, and apparently trustworthy enough to as well.

Ryouta would have to make sure that these guards did not report back to their superiors about his powers, and also ensure that there were no electronic bugs around to record his and Sal's coming spar. "Weep, Reifujin Arashi. Aisu Kan'oke." Water seemed to arise from nowhere, wrapping around both guards as well as the helicopter, and instantly freezing, rendering both motionless. Ryouta did have the consideration to leave their heads free though, so they could breathe. "I apologize, gentlemen, but this is just to ensure part C of the terms we agreed to has in fact been complied with. Hakufuku." His kido spell knocked out all three humans (the guards and the pilot) without harming them. Now he just had to deal with any electronic equipment. That wouldn't be too difficult.

He used his Zanpakuto's abilities to draw clouds over the island, making it so overcast there was no way the humans' devices would be able to get a signal out. They might still record, but that was not a problem. Ryouta could just destroy the surface of the island later to get rid of all traces of his power. For now, this would suffice. Now, he just waited for Sal to arrive.

The air was warm, too warm for Sal's tastes, but the breeze playing across the ocean below him helped keep him cool as he sped toward the meeting point with Ryouta.

He had to admit that he was looking forward to this practice session, he rarely depended upon anyone and didn't relish the thought of going into battle with someone whom he hadn't vetted before hand. It would be interesting, there was more to the Scientist than met the eye, of that he was sure.

He spotted the chopper descend onto the tiny speck of land in the vast ocean and moved faster towards it. When he arrived an eyebrow rose upon his forehead when he spotted the frozen, and terrified looking, Red Dawn personnel.

Sal shook his head and smiled as he approached the Captain. "Decker's gonna flip his lid when he hears about this." He said but his smile let it be known to the Reaper that he approved of his methods.

"You're calling the shots here Doc, so whats the game plan?" Norongachi asked.

Ryouta sensed Sal coming before he saw him, and raised his hand in greeting when Sal approached. His smile was thin-lipped and cool, but genuine. "You cannot imagine how little I care about that human's opinion of me," Ryouta said. "While he may be competent, respected here - well let it suffice to say that I have yet to be impressed by him." Ryouta's hand rested on the hilt of his Zanpakuto, which lay over his sheathe's opening. It seemed as if he had frozen the humans, and then resealed his Zanpakuto to await Sal. His foot squelched slightly in the wet sand they stood on as Ryouta made to flash step toward the center of the island.

"We are going to spar for a bit. I think it would be beneficial for the both of us if we understood the depth of each of our abilities in the coming conflict," Ryouta said. That said, he flash stepped until he reached the island's center, which had been cleared for them.

"Based on your personality, I would guess that your Zanpakuto is a combat-type. Let's see what you two are capable of," Ryouta removed his hilt from his sheathe, revealing that the blade was gone and he had not resealed it. With one swift movement, he formed a blade of ice that sprouted from the hilt, and simultaneously sent a wave of water toward Sal. It was a sloppy attack, that was certain. But Ryouta had no intention of actually harming Sal with the attack. The attack's true intent was to cover the battlefield with water, making any surface a possible epicenter for a coming attack.

"As long as he does his job and doesn't get in my way he's useful." Sal responded, looking down at the wet sand under his feet. He hated sand, had done since he was a kid, it got in awkward places...

"I agree." Was all Sal said and then followed Ryouta to the center of the Island at his own pace, arriving a few seconds later.

While Sal was mildly offended at the stereotype but he couldn't fault the logic behind the Captains deduction. Claidheamh Mor was a combat Zanpakuto although the menacing Lord of War would have gone as far to say that he was *THE* Combat Zanpakuto. Even Spirits have an ego.

The spray of water came quickly, a swirling jet of crystal clear liquid, and Sal unsheathed his Zanpakuto and with a pulse of his spiritual pressure accompanying the slash it was dispersed.

"Sound the Funeral Bell, Claidheamh Mor..." Sal said and his blade began to glow, the heat rising from it creating a visible distortion in the air around him. Across its white hot surface cracks began to form, hairline fissures of red that cross crossed the metal and then they ruptured outwards in a hail of shrapnel and fire. A new blade rose from the ashes of the old, the flaming Claymore that had become so synonymous with him bursting to life from the Hilt that warped and changed as Ryouta watched.

The sand under him began to bubble and glass, cracking under his weight, as the flames sped across his body like a rampant monster and wreathed him in its destructive energies.

He didn't wait for Ryouta to adjust to the new situation and with a thought a lash of fire scorched across the distance towards the Captain.

Let me out, his spiritual pressure rivals ours when combined! Stein railed in Ryouta's head. Even the playing field!

Ryouta silenced his inner Hollow with a thought, saying aloud, "Heat-based? Interesting," as well as sending a torrent of cold water to counter the lash of fire directed at him. He wasn't about to stay in the same place however. That would just be foolhardy. "Hado#12: Fushibi, Bakudo#26: Kyakko, Bakudo#38: Spider's Web," Ryouta whispered as he flash stepped to the side, extending his right arm and blade as he did so, sending blades of ice toward Sal as he did so. At the same time, his left arm was weaving an invisible kido net that would trail behind him.

Ryouta made several more flash steps, and at each one, sent a different attack in Sal's direction - a blast of water, of superheated steam, more ice blades. All of this to set up a trap to be used later in the spar if need be/opportunity arose. Ryouta's final flash step carried him full circle, and also completed the invisible kido net he'd woven around Sal, which Ryouta himself stood outside of.

The net was really a masterpiece, on par with something the Captain of the Kido Corps would be capable of doing. In fact, it was not so much a net as a sieve, though with the addition of Bakudo#38, a sieve that was constructed of very sticky fibers. Fibers that would snare up physical attacks, if even for a brief moment. In his left hand, Ryouta held an invisible cord of kido net that connected him to the whole trap.

"Come Sal, we both know you are more adept at melee combat. Come at me!" It was spoken like a challenge, with just a hint of a mocking tone to it, something Ryouta had learned in the 2nd Division. Ways to make an opponent do exactly what you wanted them to do.

Oh you're a devious one, Stein said in Ryouta's head. Maybe you don't need me for this fight after all.

Sal cranked up the heat around his body, the jets of water, blasts of steam and shards of ice being repelled by the omni-present flames that danced and crackled snapping all comers before they could cause harm.

He watched as Ryouta sped around him, and raised his eyebrow at what was evidently a rather cunning plan. The only small flaw being that for just the briefest of moments Sal could feel the Kido being cast. It was only unfortunate for the Captain that Sal had been around Kido users in the midst of battle and had learned to recognize the signature of spells being used.

Granted this didn't tell him which spells were being used, for all he knew the entire island could implode if he moved so much as an inch. He would just have to the spring the trap.

Sal rushed forward at Ryouta, sword poised to strike, the flaming aura trailing him like a comets tail and was utterly surprised that when he got within a certain distance the ground before him suddenly burst into flames, carrying on in a circle the fire raced in either direction blackening the sand as it went.

He stopped and watched this bizarre effect and then turned to the Captain.

"You used flammable Kido?" He said and then with a chuckle closed the distance slashing at the Scientists neck and turning with the momentum of the stroke flicked his leg up in a spinning kick at his chest.

Ryouta's smile deepened as Sal's flames consumed his kido net, ostensibly rendering it useless. "Why yes, Sal, I did..." Ryouta's back bent over backwards as he dodged both the cut aimed at his neck and the kick at his chest in one smooth motion. Just as quickly he snapped back up and countered with a pair of quick stabs at Sal's shoulders. "I used to be 2nd Division, you know. I was the Vice-Captain then..." His stabs were not meant to connect, only to allow him enough room to flash step past Sal to the other side of the flaming circle.

"Hado#58: Tenran!" His spell summoned a widening tornado blast of wind that whipped up the flaming ashes and remnants of Ryouta's kido spell and threw them haphazardly at Sal's face and body. Ryouta reasoned that Sal's flames could not burn the ashes that it had already burned - at least, not as effectively. Of course, this attack was again, not meant to do any real damage. It was a ruse, like a lot of what Ryouta did.

Well, not so much a ruse as a set-up. "Bakudo#12: Fushibi." Another kido net was summoned up by Ryouta - this one wholly visible but with another key difference - it was soaked through with water, making it inflammable. The net was picked up by the powerful winds that Ryouta had created and flew towards Sal, connected to Ryouta by similarly soaked strands of net. "Bakudo#62: Hyapporankan." Ryouta sent a hail of short rods directly after his net - they weren't aimed at Sal to pin and restrain him. Instead, they were aimed at key points of his net so that it would spread out as wide as possible and be pinned into earth upon falling over Sal, who Ryouta fully expected to be at least momentarily blinded by the ashes thrown in his face, which was really all the time he needed, being an extremely adept user of kido.