Recon (Open)

The sky wavered on the edge of the city. A black line tore serene skyline and opened like mouth. There was blackness where the sky parted and in that void stood two figures. One looked like a man, but with the nature of the portal it would be safe to say they weren't human. The second figure was not even humanoid. It jumped from the open maw onto the street below. Definitely not human. The creature was horse like in appearance with a large horn protruding from it's skull. The other figure didn't follow. He had done his part in opening the garganta. Nothing more was needed of him, but to return to retrieve the beast later. The gate to the world of hollows closed as quickly as it had opened. The beast didn't bother to look back. Moldale took a deep breath then snorted. How long had it been since he'd come to this place? A decade? Perhaps more? His task as spy of Heuco Mundo kept him busy. Still it had been awhile since he'd ventured to Karakura. This place was always a hot bed of activity. A breeding ground of all things spiritual. Shinigami frequently patrolled it daily, and strangely powerful humans lurked the streets. Making a literal buffet of tasty treats. Dangerous and yet exciting. Moldale wasn't here to hunt, he was there to scout the area. Well that was the story he had told the Espada. Truthfully he was looking for Stratus. The gray hollow had been gone for awhile. Quite uncharacteristically long. Moldale wasn't about to say that he missed the bumbling fool, but he felt the dolt had potential. It was possible that the lad had died, but for some reason he doubted it. Pushing those thoughts aside he sniffed the air and looked at the amber sky. Dusk. The sun was retreating and the night was about to begin. Keeping his senses sharp the horse like hollow galloped down the street.

Junko was simply relaxing...

For a moment. The hollow had just dissolved from her blade, and she took a deep blade. Junko was on leave, but hitching a ride to Japan was probably not the best idea... unfortunately, it was the only place she could go.

Junko decided to put this time to good use and get used to her spiritual body again. Junko felt old... perhaps old enough to abuse her shikai.

Not yet though, The Hollow that was not just dust in the air had fallen with a single duck and a single strike.

And then a few blocks down, she saw a hollow gallop down the way... Junko ran after, it was outpacing her, but she used shunpo to keep up...

His heavy hoofs tore up the pavement as he darted down the road. It was difficult for him to not destroy the ground in his passing. He wasn't completely used to this new form. It was much heavier and thankfully larger than his previous state. He recalled how less intimidating it was being barely 4ft high. Now he was twice as tall and wide as he'd been before. A smile came to his lips at the thought of his new stature. The smile faded as he sensed the spiritual pressure of something behind him. Had he been so deep in thought that he'd missed the shinigami? Moldale chastised himself for the unneeded preening. He skidded to a halt, and with a surge of power leaped skyward with it's four powerful legs. There was a sharp hiss form the wind as his frame tore through the air and landed many feet away just as the shinigami flash stepped. The horselike hollow had landed on top of the building not far from his launching point. He wasn't about to engage the enemy directly without knowing what he was up against. From the look of things it seemed to be a woman. That didn't mean much. Women shinigami were as strong as men, sometimes stronger. The fact she was chasing him meant she had some confidence in her abilities. Moldale gave a snort; it wasn't like he was a pushover himself. The horns on his body started to spin rapidly. He then whipped his head in the woman's direction and a high pitched wail erupted from the drill like weapons. The air shook as if a hurricane had hit and the windows of the buildings suddenly exploded raining glass upon the woman in the street. Car windows also cracked and shattered and their alarms began to wail thinking it all planned by a crafty thief.

There were screams from the people in the buildings as windows broke. Even more a ruckus as other glass like objects, broke mysteriously. Moldale slammed his tail into the roof and tore a whole into the building big enough for his whole body. One thing he did miss about the smaller form; no need for big holes. He kept digging tearing through the thick concrete like it was styrofoam. The screams of the people on the floor below him were silenced as he body landed on them. No time to eat, he thought as he eyed the gory mess. With a shinigami around he had to be careful. He dropped down to the 4th floor of the building.

Flash steps came to Junko like walking, she was tougher than before, she could feel it... Even out of practice, she was able to keep pace with the hollow who was rampaging through the streets. The crumbled streets at least. Junko kept to the sidewalks, the middle of the street was ripped to shreds, her sword in her right hand, her boots gripping the concrete firmly, she made another flash step and blinked.

Junko saw the hollow, and moved to the wreaked center of the street. Stepping over rubble she centered her self "ready". But all the spinning of the horns and the whipping couldn't prepare her for what happened...

The world exploded, the wail pierced her ears, glass rained down on Junko who was still covering her ringing ears... But that soon took the back seat to the thought that crossed Junko's mind, "The sky is falling..." Junko didn't have time to shunpo away, to do so would be to move at several hundred miles an hour through a not so metiphorical glass rain... That would probably kill her...

So junko did the unsensible thing. She picked up one of the pieces of rock and held it above her head... Glass shattered at her feet, and nicked at her face, her legs, her arms and fingers, but even one dangerously close to her eye, But she survived teh onslaught, bloodied and worse for wear.

Junko picked up her sword, she had stuck it in the ground to pick up the piece of concrete, which had several pieces of glass embedded in it... She taunted at the hollow, who had seemingly fled from its perch on the building and moved into the building, "That it!?"

As junko's hearing returned, she could hear car alarms, which from the mass destruction, and the hearing problems, it was probably some sort of sonic powers when it spun its horns...

Junko readied herself for the next assault, this time ready to shunpo out of the way...

The hollow dug down to the further into the building. Now he was on the second floor. He could feel the shinigami in the street still. Good. The drill on his tail began to spin. Faster and faster the drill went until the speed was so high it almost looked like it wasn't moving at all. The only hit of it's motion was the low hum. He grinned then spun while extending his tail spike out. As the drill hit the wall it tore through it like butter. The tail continued it's path cutting down the wall with ease. In a matter of seconds he had cut down the wall facing the neighboring building. He quickly moved to the wall facing away from the street.The building groaned as it's structural stability was so rapidly diminished. Lifting his head the spikes on his forehead and chest extended pushed upon the ceiling on the floor above. More spikes grew from his back and rose to grant him further support. With a grunt he braced his legs. His tail lashed forth again and tore into the third wall. The building groaned once more as he became the only thing holding the other floors from collapsing. Another grunt and pushed with all his might the stones moved and shifted. Moldale pushed again and the building lurched forward. Tons of rock now tumbled forward to crush the woman standing in the street.

Junko steadied herself, her heart just wanted to activate shikai and set the block ablaze to watch it burn with the hollow in side it.

But no, she has to be reserved, because another shinigami might come and see her... particularly more alive than she is supposed to be. "Oh, now a building is falling atop me", Junko thought to herself. She stared as the moon light becames nothing but a memory, then her memory kicked in, Shunpo'ing to the left of the falling building, every movement at the high speed travel felt like a fresh stab wound because of all the glass embedded in her body... She stopped 10 feet to the right of the falling building, but as rubble hit the ground is sent blocks of concrete flying at her, just like the glass... Junko wasn't expecting it, and was hit several times by flying rubble, but this time her armor protected her, the rocks bouncing off her breastplate and boots, with a lone rock impacting her thigh.

When the dust settled, she was filthy with the rubble's dust. Not only that but she was feeling the pain from the damn glass, blood rolled down face from her brow, and glass embedded inside her armor she could feel it cut at her every time she moved. She looked for the hollow again, and it was still in the building, probably thinking she was dead. But no she wasn't dead yet... "Honoo, Fenikkusu no Tenshi!!!" Junko yelled, her face contorting with pain, as her armor warped, grinding cuts into her skin, and her blade changed, a maroon red was the flames colors... Her wings spread, a pristine white, and she was ready to go anywhere, as she started the process of calming her mind...

There was the thunderous clamor as the building fell. This sound was accompanied by the screams of those still alive in the building as they faces their final moments. Moldale hoped that the shinigami's was also rushing to a close as the building dropped and sent shock-waves through the ground. It was like a small earthquake that weakened the surrounding buildings. What few windows that hadn't broken due to his sound attack, now shattered adding to the debris in the street. It would seem he had underestimated the size of the building slightly. Before it slammed into the street the top half of the apartments hit into the structure right across the street. The impact wasn't enough to even stop the falling giant, there was no way it to withstand the momentum. At best it only slowed the descent as the falling building cut into it. The front of the apartment across the street was torn down as if a wrecking ball had taken a big bite from it. Moldale gave a cough as he retracted his spikes. The air was filled with smoke from the fall. A mild distraction, he tried to focus on the shinigami. As the building fell he thought he felt it vanish, but now he could feel it again stronger than ever. It would seem he was right, the shinigami has some skill. Managing to dodge the building was commendable. Still it wasn't something goo for horned hollow. He gave a grunt as he one more launched himself upward and landed on the next structure. The smoke was still in the way, but he caught a glimpse of her through the haze. The soul reaper's appearance had changed; a large set of wings now adorned her back and some quite strange armor.
"Well that isn't good." He muttered to himself as the drills on his body began to spin. Once again they gave a high pitched whine as their speed reached an insane level. "Guess gotta take the more direct approach." He flicked his head at the woman's location and released a shock-wave of sound. The air rippled as the sound rushed forward dispersing the smoke as it went. But Moldale wasn't done, the drills kept turning as he released another burst, and then another.

Junko studied the opponent, It appeared, there was a lapse between periods he could use the sonic blasts. But the fact that she had trouble hearing, or the fact she could hear nothing but ringing and more of the shrieking... Wait... More of the Shrieks...

Shunpo to the right, 5 feet wasn't enough, the blast picked junko up and threw her back, but she tucked her wings in and rolled, then extending them again to end up flying the other way... Now she strained to not hit the building flying high into the sky, she felt a tug at her feet, which threatened to pull her into the building, but she stabilized and used shunpo to hold her self in the sky, subsequently folding her wings in.

Junko fire now took a deep breath, and bravely closed her eyes, if only for a moment, and refocused herself.

When she opened her eyes, she felt nothing, nothing but pain and the hard fact that his hollow had to die... now...

She flash stepped 3 times, in a zigzag formation, and when she finished, she had closed the gap enough, and the fire flowed from her blade at that damned hollow...

"Paji, Fenikkusu no Tenshi" flowed from her lips as her heart, cold and closed, condemned this hollow to death by pure white flames.

The waves of sound buffeted the ground. The burst of pressure caused a miniature explosion in the rubble. He managed to hit her with the first one, but it only proved a slight distraction. She moved just quick enough to avoid the second shot. It was too late to correct his aim as she flickered from left to right rapidly.
"Slippery lass." he grunted his drills still spinning. She was in the air now, the wings weren't just for show it seemed. She was coming right at him fire licking the length of her sword. Suddenly the flames changed in color; they had now became white. Something about that unnerved Moldale, and he would soon find out why. She gave a shout and pointed the weapon at him and like living thing the fire rushed to meet him. "Not good." he said as the wave of nova white flames came flying forth. The armor plates started to grow across his body, starting with his back, but he knew they wouldn't be fast enough. He reared up on his hind legs and then brought them slamming down with inhuman force. It was more than enough power to crush the asphalt at his feet and case the roof to open up and swallow him. Moldale sank into the building as the white fire hit in full. While it had been a innovative escape it was hardly foolproof. The ivory flames ate at the building. Like a living thing it snaked it's way into the whole he had used to egress the roof. The spiritual fire tore at him as he fell singeing his plate covered hide. Even the hardened scaled gave him minimal protection from the attack. Under the extreme heat some of the scales had cracked, and the rest were severely burned. Moldale spat and cursed his misfortune for meeting a shinigami so soon. It was going to be hard to infiltrate the city after causing this much of a commotion.

The burnt plates fell from his back. There were black spots on his body where the flames had touched him and the scales had failed him. Now inside the building he pushed forward. Lowering his head he galloped. It was difficult to say the least his body as high as the ceiling and and nearly as wide. Charging through the wall and out the other side, he was a unstoppable juggernaut as ripped through people and stone with ease. After four walls he had exited the building side, but broke into the next building beside it. The process not repeated itself until he reached the end of block broke through it's wall and fell out in to the street. He had kept to the top floor so it was a short drop before he landed and cracked the concrete. Going deeper into the city was a way to make her flying less effective. With all the buildings she would have a hard time maneuvering to get him.

Junko's face didn't change as the Hollow dodged, a shot at such long range was expected to dodged or taken...

The dodge suggested that it feared being hit, and that the attack would have effect... This determined the plan of action.

Junko tucked her wings to her back, although they still showed, they would impede her little with shunpo.

And thats what she used, she couldn't follow the hollow, no that's too risky, she would have to cut it off...

--

Flash step 1 was back to street level from her levitative state, flash steps 2-5 were to get her just ahead of the hollow...

Then she opened fire on the building, the ivory flames melted the concrete into slag, then she dragged her sword slowly torward the hollow's incoming stampede.

"That was quick." he muttered as the woman flickered into view and torched the building. It was nice to see senseless destruction, but he was surprised that woman was so quick to destroy the building. There had been people still inside, and she has snuffed out there lives without even the slightest bit of hesitation. Not that Moldale cared for the humans' lives, it was just that such action spoke volumes about the person he was fighting. This was a person he couldn't take lightly. It only took seconds for the white flames to engulf the building. Stone, glass, and metal melting as if made of cheap wax. He could feel the heat even from the distance he stood. "Guess she's serious about taking me down, and the whole city with it." The woman shinigami now leveled her blazing weapon at Moldale and he clicked his tongue. "Well, I haven't spent these years sitting around playing dominoes, let's have a go." he grunted as his horns spun rapidly and he pumped his reiryoku outward. The air became thicker as his heavy pressure flooded around him. While his horns hissed he whipped his tail into the ground weakening the earth around him. He thrust his head forward and releases a wave of sound. Unlike the previous attacks this different. Coupled with his reiatsu the sound wave was much thicker and solid. It was similar to the bala he had seen the Espada use. Still nothing quite so explosive, it was merely solidifying the air for a greater impact. He launched another flying wall at the woman and created plates on his body. Moldale stood his ground as he prepared to take the woman head on.

Junko cut off all escape, now was her chance to take this damn hollow down...

She felt the response of the hollow, attack back... Perfect, Junko amped her reiatsu up, so that it competed with the hollow's rise in power... the air started to heat up, anything flamable burst into an ivory flame, but being in the middle of the city that wasn't much and she braced herself,

And fired back...

the area in front of her erupted in a sea of white light, and for a moment it seemed as if it was working, she smirked and felt relieved that her plan was finally coming to fruition...

And then it all got turned around... Her flames tinged yellow, and the second wall ploughed through her fire, which was now amber tinted, and her own flames swept back over her, singing her self, but she used her wings yet again to keep from slamming into the buildings behind her simply making fly back a couple yards...

Junko deactivated shikai... now appearing slightly younger than she did before, her armor warped back into its usual form and her blade fused back into a solid core...

She flood flowed freely from her body now... seeping through the bandages wrapped underneath her platemail, her skin tinged red, down the legs, down the arms, even from the cracks and joints of the plate the crimson water flowed, not only that, but she was also blackened from her own fire... This damage was mainly superficial, nothing key or life threatening except loss of blood from the numerous cuts and scrapes from the glass.

Now she was out of shikai, but she still have quite abit of fighting power left, her reiatsu still was ranging in a fairly conservative manner, Junko would just have to do this the old fashioned way... With this thought, she started walking torward the hollow.

The heat increased around the hollow as he stood in the street. The shinigami's power ramped up even higher than before. Just how powerful is this girl? he grunted as he readied another shot. The world around him exploded into a sea of infinite whiteness as the woman now released the nova flames once more. Inwardly Moldale shuddered. He had felt the bite of the fire before, and wasn't too keen on feeling it again. The added flames made the whole area feel like a large sauna. Even for a hollow the heat was quite unbearable. The first shot had collided with the woman's attack and was destroyed instantly. Just as the second attack hit the flames suddenly changed, what was once white now became yellow in tint. Moldale didn't notice the change in color, but he did noticed the second attack push back the fire.

It was the second time the flame's color changed, this time Moldale did notice as the heat had decreased as well. The fire died completely as the woman can into view. The wings were gone now, and the sword has shifted as well. Was she giving up? Highly unlikely. After such a display he was curious why she was suddenly putting the fire away. It could be some kind of ruse to get him to lower his guard. Moldale kept his drills spinning.
"Shall we make a go of it?" he snorted as she walked in front of him and then slammed his horns into the ground and released a shock wave. The result was like a stick of dynamite had gone off underground. The pavement was launched forward by the direct burst of ultra sound. The surge large rocks was sent lurching forward like a tidal wave. Moldale kept his tail burrowing down beneath himself in moments he had created a small narrow shaft behind him. Swiftly the tail went about making another.

Junko smiled as the hollow talked... It was Adjuchas class... Something she had only read about... Now time to kick its ass...

"Honoo, Fenikkusu no Tenshi!" she yelled, and her wings sprouted and propelled her above the wave of rock, although a flash step also helped. She finally had the ability figured out... It was obviously sound, but the properties of sound were weaker in open air, and stronger in the air, hence why he fought tunnelling throuhg buildings, to maximize teh effect.

If he would fight on the ground, she would fight in the air...

Junko took a breath, and whispered... "Paji..." and the Ivory flames licked off the edge of her blade, straight at the hollow....

Just as he thought the shower of rocks would strike the shinigami she transformed again and took flight. The Moldale clicked his tongue in frustration. He already knew his sound attacks didn't have the power to bring her down, and unfortunately his spikes couldn't reach her while she hovered in the air. For a moment entrained the thought that she'd stay on the ground and fight. But once he did attack she flew away out of reach.
"Wait a second." he muttered to to himself "Why did she put the wings away?" Now that he thought about it, he'd only hit here once with the solid air. Had it caused that much damage as to make her lose the transformation? Not only that, but the flames had changed color at that time too. As he looked at her winged form, he noticed the flames weren't white like before. Living as long as he had Moldale had encountered many shinigmai, and he had seen a few that could transform their weapons. These changes in shape granted amazing abilities, but they weren't invincible. There was always a weakness or some kind of limit. The trick was figuring it out before the shinigami killed him. It was apparent that this was the case with the woman, her ability had a weakness. Either it had a time limit or she couldn't hold the form for very long. The white flames were obviously not normal. The was proven by the flames of here weapon now changing color as he pondered the nature of her weapon. As the weapons pointed towards him he snickered.

"It seems you're a one trick pony." he scoffed as his body rose into the air, his tail pulling free of the freshly dug hole. Amazingly enough the horse like hollow hadn't jumped at all. A thick spike had grown from the bottom of each of his four hooves as the flames roared at him. He rose off the ground just as the white fire hit the ground where he had been. It was like he stood on ivory stilts above the ground. He quickly remembered how the flames had destroyed his armor last time and two large spikes shot out from his left and right flank. Quickly he released the spikes from his feet letting them be consumed by the white inferno below. The two large spikes drove into the building on either side of him holding him in the air. It almost liked like he was impaled by a giant toothpick as he was suspended there. He eyed the shinigami girl. "Come on lass, show me something good."

OOC: Over 2 month old thread, going to end it.

It would have been impossible for the woman shinigami to have heard his taunt, but she was still quick to comply. Junko's sword rose to aim at Moldale's new position. There was a roar as the white flames erupted from it's tip. The horse hollow gave a whistle as wall of white flame raced to meet him. Even at this distance he could feel the intense heat and spiritual power coming from the abnormal fire.
"Ask, and you will receive." Moldale muttered as the powerful blast drew ever closer. He was already sweating from the heat there was no denying that this white fire had enough force to take him out. The sound of the buildings burning and the crackle as everything in the fire's path was incinerated almost instantly. He gave a defiant grunt as he released the twin spikes that kept him aloft. His heavy frame dropped like a rock as the fire moved closer. From each of his hooves a large spike grew, they each screeched as they began spinning at high speed. The fire was only 5 feet away when four drills slammed into the pavement. The holes he had drilled with his tail just moments ago had weakened the integrity of the street just a a little bit. With his body dropping from high up and the spikes on his feet going full power the asphalt gave quickly under the pressure. Gravity alone was enough to crack the thick stone, but addition of the drills he tore through the stone completely. Moldale passed through the thick rock into the sewer below. The city had a large network of sewer tunnels, wider than his body. As he made it through the rock he landed into the putrid dark waters. The tainted water was cool on his skin after being subjected to the white flames. The impact of his splash sent some of the dirty water upward just as the flames finished their journey. Fire and the muddied waters met and the smell was horrible as the sewage was burned. The foul odor was missed by Moldale as he let the water's current sweep him away down the dark tunnel as the white fire made it's way down the hole. Thankfully it was only a minute portion of the intense fire. Like a living creature the flames snaked their way down the tunnel and hit the rushing water. Steam erupted where they met and the tunnel was filled with the smell of burning feces and urine. Moldale had barely gotten his head above the water when he was now buffeted by the wave of scorching steam, his gasp for air was cut short as the hot vapor hit his lungs nearly choking him. The heat was painful on his skin, but it wasn't as strong as the flames that had birthed it. He was pulled from the source of the blasted steam as the waters pushed him further. He did his best to suppress his spiritual power. With any luck the shinigami hadn't seen his little escape act. Even if she had it would be hard for her to track him from underground. He was used to digging and tunneling he could move more covertly this way than on the surface. Moldale spit the foul water from his mouth, of course this was the first time he'd swam in a sewer.