Sudden Attack (Open)

The day was not as cheery as it could be. A gray sky full of clouds hung over the streets of the Seireitei, dampening the sunlight and leaving a dim gloom on the city. A foreboding breeze of wind whistled through the air as if signaling that not all was well. The bustling shinigami carrying on with their daily activities continued to do so until a surprising disaster struck.

A senkai gate near the edge of the Seireitei opened up, standing there bathing the area in a bright light for a few moments. Then scores of hollows began to step through the opening, flooding into the streets. They marched in a tight pack, filing out evenly from the gate. In a few minutes there were several hundred hollows massed in the Seireitei. Last to step through the gate was an unseated shinigami and a tall man dressed in white. He had shining golden hair that had a jagged and cracked white circlet adorning his head. The remnants of a hollow mask; this man was an arrancar. He closed his eyes, seeming satisfied with his group's progress. The shinigami who had come through the gate with him seemed to be coming out of a daze, his eyes widening with shock as he looked over the hollow force in the soul society. Two of the nearest hollows turned and silenced him before he could so much as scream. The arrancar opened his eyes with a sympathetic look and began to issue orders.

"It's a pity that we have to attack in such a manner, but we have our orders. Advance into the city and engage any shinigami you encounter!"

The hollows obeyed without hesitation and began a slow and steady march up through the streets. The arrancar lingered behind them, an unnoticed smirk spreading across his face as he gloated to himself the simplicity of events thus far. This day would be a day of pain and blood. How he liked the thought of that.

As the hollows first began to be noticed by the city's inhabitants, the Seireitei was quickly put on high alert. The members of the Gotei rushed about in an effort to regroup and push back the invaders. Kuro was among them, rushing toward the scene of the disturbance while members of his squad joined up with him along the way and followed his lead. "How did they manage to get this close without detection!? What are we dealing with!?" he voiced these questions not expecting an answer, since all of the other shinigami seemed as confused and anxious about this turn of events as he was. The hollows had picked their invasion spot well; they were furthest from any squad barracks and closest to the academy grounds. There was no better place to start their attack and try to get a foothold in the Seireitei. Kuro and squad 2 quickened their pace and struggled to get there before casualties began to occur.

Everything was peaceful, the breeze was soothing. Even on this day when Auryuu had so many chores to do around the squad 5 barracks. He had cleaned, organized, and assited. He had enough for the day. Auryuu was carrying some books, but dropped them down next to himself, by the outter barracks, as he sat against the white wall, cramping up his back.

Auryuu suddenly heard a commotion, that encircled his whole area. People were screaming, as some shinigami ran past him, only followed by a pack of hollow. Auryuu quickly did a leaning run off of the building jumping down the steps to the road were the hollows began to crowd infront of them. He faced them alone, as he saw some shinigami within the crowd, he tried to stop them as they were struggling to fight back."Hado 11, Passionate Blaze, Bound Lightning". A small orbish ball mixed with the lightning generating from Auryuu's palm as he lunged forward touching the hollow, as it ran through them all with a chain effect. The orange lightning eventually faded, the bright light from it disapearing from his eyes.

Auryuu rushed forward to find the shinigami, the orange light not blinding the view of the battlefield no longer, but he wished it had. He counted 13. 13 shinigami lay dead in the streets, bit, torn, and slashed to death. Auryuu quickly looked forward and looked for more shinigami, before he picked the first dead shinigami up, pulling him from the ground to his back.

Auryuu walked up at a constant pace towards his squad barracks, quickly setting the dead man inside. The whole squad was inside, most screamed or shivered as they saw the man Auryuu did not as he took a bed sheet and put it over the man, obscuring the squad's vision. One member of Auryuu's squad even pissed his pants, he was a young new member, who had not yet seen war.

Auryuu cleared his throat, "Shinigami are family, we don't leave their bodies in the street, everyone must help", he said trying to rally his squad out of the barracks.

Members stepped forward following Auryuu out of the room, now filling the streets, that were full of hollow ashe from the previous intense lightning. Auryuu continued down the path to find their origin, and provide whatever support he could.

Tenma was one of the shinigami present when the attack began. The sheer number of hollow was astounding and the attack was definitely pre-emptive. He noticed the arrancar issueing orders, but knew he couldn't do anything against him. He instead turned his attention to the mass of hollows that was attacking and shunpo'd closer to his fellow shinigami for their support. He then then looked up and raised his hand into the air, aiming at a group of hollows "Hado number 30 Green Fire Execution!" He called as the green reiatsu blasted from his hand and into the crowd of hollows, it killed a good amount. However it seemed as if they were just replaced by more numbers.

He held his zanpakuto up in the air and knew it was necassary to use his shikai "Rend your enemies to sunder! Ryu Tensen!" He called as his normally crimson and black sword transformed into a large blade with a motorcycle like gear-shift attached to the handle. He then stood ready as the hollow charged them and struck down upon the mask of one who came after him. He raised his hand with his fingers pointing outward towards a nearby fellow shinigami and called out "Hado number 20! Light Storm!" He then focused on the hollow attacking the man from behind and the ten shots of reiatsu focused the creature and killed it. Tenma then ducked under an incoming assault from his ride side and slashed at the hollow trying to assault him, he killed the creature and back stepped to avoid another attack.

"They just keep coming...We'll have to hold out until help arrives." he said as his flourished his blade outward and took out another hollow attacking a nearby comrade. He would not let harm come to those nearby him. He then turned and blocked a strike at his head with the back of his blade. He then reversed the grip on the hilt and spun the blade in a downward fashion and sliced the hollow in half up the middle. He noticed that the hollows he slew were only replaced by more charging abominations, he didn't know what they could do against them all.

It was pure chaos. So powerful was the element of surprise when it came to an ambush. There's not time to think and the enemy is in shambles. Stratus smiled as the battle unfolded around him. He had joined the mass of hollows by hiding his signal and sneaking into the large force. There had been the rumor of an army attacking the shinigami fortress he had only wanted a free ride to Soul Society. If the plan had been successful or not he was just going there to make a meal of the souls. But now that things were going so well, he was tempted to join in on the mayhem. Still with this large of a force it was hard to get to find an enemy. As the hollows flooded the streets the resistance they met was usually overwhelmed well before Stratus could reach them. Perhaps he could scout ahead, that would be fewer beast in his way. It was good idea, but he hesitated. Moldale had told him that his powers were still complete from his recent transformation.

Things are different now, you need to train yourself." Stratus recalled the horse like hollow words. But he was tired of being cooped up in that cave training. True he couldn't command his tendril when he wanted, but even without them he was more than capable of fighting. He wanted to destroy something he wanted to go on a rampage and now he had the chance. Despite that thought what really made him pause was the other words from the older hollow had imparted upon him.
"When you get stronger, you run into stronger opponents. Those shinigami have people as strong as those you met in Las Noches. If you cause a big ruckus you might find one of those monsters coming for you." It had sounded like a parent telling a child the boogeyman would get them if they're bad. Still Stratus recalled fighting a man of titan like strength and barely walking away with his life. He quickly reminded himself that was a long time ago well before he had changed. Things would be different if he fought that man now, he wasn't a coward. The damage caused by that man had been extensive, it taken quite a few days to recover from that battle. . Angered by the memory he issued a low growl as his energy started to leak out. Those hollows close to him moved away quickly from Stratus as if burned by a fire. With a powerful jump he left the ground and landed on the line of buildings. From up high he could see the direction of the hollows were marching, running along the rooftops he moved to the front of the legion of hollows.

A group of eight shinigami had taken position on the street as the hollows funneled at them. There were flashes of light as the shinigami cast spell after spell at the mindless mass of creatures. The attacks angered the monsters and so they charged recklessly at the waiting force. Stratus smiled as he jumped from the building into the middle of the group of shinigami. The ground cracked as he landed, there with four soul reapers standing behind him and the remaining four stood to his front. They had formed up ranks like a firing squad to alternate fire of kido. There could only stare dumbfounded at Stratus' sudden appearance. Exploiting their surprise he struck first; he raised his right hand high above his head. He brought the hand down swiftly in a simple chopping motion. While simple, the power he possessed made the strike more than lethal. The hand cut through the unfortunate shinigami like an axe. Stratus cut through the man's shoulder diagonally to his hip. The attack shocked the shingiami, but the most surprised was the man as he was ripped in half. The dying man only managed a gurgle before half of him fell forward and the other half backwards. Two of his black robed brethren ran to his side, the last one only stood there trembling in fear. With one attack he had taken his will to fight. From behind he could hear words, the ones behind him had recovered quicker than the ones in front. One was shouting something as he spun around. Two had drawn their weapons and one had her hands pointed at him. Stratus had seen such a stance before; those damn spells. His left hand shot forward and grabbed the woman by her face. The other two that had drawn their weapon tried to help as the creature's nails dug into her skull. Her screams were muffled, but there was not doubt the pain she was in. Frantically she pounded on the hand that held her. The companions slashed at his wrist, but their blades glanced off the armored claw. The fourth one was about to say something when the wave of hollows pushed into the area. The man screamed as the reptile creature bit into his head. While that hollow enjoyed it's mean three more fell upon the two that tried to free their comrade. Having broken their line the hollows now came in great numbers. Stratus raised arm up as the other hollow finish the remaining shinigami.

(ooc: The board is still open for newcomers, but I'm bored, so I'm posting again. )


The mass of hollows suddenly halted their advance as a massive reiatsu slammed down on them. Then as suddenly as it made itself known, the reiatsu receded. A glowing beam of spirit energy shot down out of the sky, raining down on the front line of the hollows' advance. The unfortunate hollows roared in agony as they dissolved into thin air. The rest of the hollows looked to see where the beam had come from. In the instant it took for them to get them in their sight, Kuro and five other members of squad 2 came down from above, cleaving another line of hollows away from the front of the group. Kuro's zanpakuto was released into its shikai form, a glowing blade of yellow energy now extended from it after having sent the beam down. Three shinigami who had almost been overrun by the hollows suddenly had hope on their faces at the sight of a captain joining the fight. Kuro scowled and struck out with his blade again, cutting another hollow as he began to direct the shinigamis' actions.

"Fall back and regroup. Support any other shinigami you see without worrying about what squad they belong to. Stay in groups and use the narrow streets to your advantage. Lure the hollows into a bottleneck and minimize the number of them that can attack you at once."

"What about you Captain?"

Kuro smiled grimly. "I'm going ahead to crush this group's morale." He followed this statement by jumping back for some room and dissolving his energy blade. Charging his gauntlet with more spirit power, he thrust his hand forward and fired another beam of energy down the street through the hollows. Their group was unsettled by this move, but did not retreat. The instead pressed forward to try and stop Kuro from repeating that move. He responded by growing another blade from his zanpakuto and began to press back at them, slashing his way down the street. This was only one of the several streets that the hollows were using, but once he was done with this one, he could move onto the others if needed. He only hoped that the other streets were being assisted by other shinigami so that the Seireitei wouldn't be overrun so easily.

Kuro's actions had not gone unnoticed. First feeling the massive burst of reiatsu, the lead arrancar had risen into the sky and was looking for the source. He saw Kuro's beam shoot down through the street and wipe out several of his soldiers, causing him to grin in anticipation. "So that must be the captain from Hideyoshi's report. He certainly does look powerful...but I wonder how strong his heart is." The arrancar began to move over the ranks of his force, heading in Kuro's direction in order to stop the Shinigami's rising resistance.

A ruthless flashstep ended eventually. Auryuu's flashstep had been cut off abruptly by the site of a handful of shinigami, defending the 6th squad barracks, but they were soon becoming overwhelmed. Auryuu shunpo'd infront of one of the younger shinigami, to intercept a small ogre like hollow. Auryuu added a swift slash to the equation equalling a nasty decapitation, that would've made the younger boy scream. The blood sprayed out, as Auryuu turned around blocking the boys vision. He felt some drops hit the surface of his uniform and was apalled by it. His blade was satified with the cut, Auryuu could sense the emotion of pride begin to increase. Nenshou had always loved killing hollow.

The sounds of wails and swords were existant in the mid day air. The boy shaked as his eyes looked extremely avoid of calm. Auryuu turned his back to another member battling a hollow, who had been fighting it violently with his zanpaktou before killing it as Auryuu spoke. "Take care of your member", he said to him as he sprinted further into the heart of the invasion. He passed hollows on the way accompanied by more shinigami. The walls that seperated the parts of seireitei, where now being used by shinigami to stage ambushes from overheads as the hollows flushed out the street of spiritual life. It was a grim sight to see, but Auryuu let the emotions slide away, as he continued to slice and dice through the hollow's unorganized forces.

Eventually Auryuu made it to a crossroad, secured by a group of shinigami held out at a square formation. He passed through easily as the shinigami guarding the gate he faced quickly allowed him in. As the opened the large tent, many people lay inside of the depressing expanse. People lay bed ridden as squad 4 members stood by them most of them doing obvious healing to different patients suffering from different conditions. The 12th squad members lay around as they constructed the tent, and stored many protective doo-dads, that could probably benefit the shinigami in some way.

Although he had blocked out the other spiritual powers there were some that made themselves known. The first one was the monstrous reiatsu of the one that had brought all the hollow forward into Seireitei. That one felt much like the arrancar he had met in Las Noches, but it wasn't one he recognized. Who he was didn't matter, Stratus was happy to cause some mayhem. If things got too hairy he had a way to get himself out or just lay low until he could escape properly. It was the second spiritual power that worried him. That worry was punctuated by the explosions he saw on the front of the assault. There was no doubt the owner of the higher power was the cause. He was glad he had decided to hang back as more and more hollows stormed by. They were in a frenzy with each kill they fought harder and harder advancing over the shiningami with little resistance.
They weren't even bothering to feed off the shinigami anymore. The dead lay where they were they may and trampled by those pushing forward.
It was a waste. Stratus sat and watched the procession as it moved calmly eating one of the shinigami he had slain.

More explosions, but the hollows didn't waver. They were like fanatical zealots. So eager to kill with little care of their own existence. Stratus shook his head in disgust. He wasn't that stupid. There was another explosion and Stratus shuddered and dropped what remained of the bloody torso. It was time to move, but he wasn't about to go that way. Just as he thought about which way to go he felt the power from when he first arrived. The ringmaster was on the move. Stratus was curious what this creature was capable of. With a grin he jumped from his perch on the building's edge and landed on the one across the street. Not many of the hollows bothered to climb the buildings and the flying ones took down any shinigami clever enough to try and hide there. Moving along the rooftops he moved to a greater vantage point to watch the show as it unfolded. As he settled in he could feel the pulse of spiritual power of several shingiami putting up resistance. They were successful it seemed and that along got Stratus' interest.
"What's a show without a snack?" he snickered and set off in that direction. Killing such shinigami would fun and when he was done he would get the watch the arrancar take on that powerful shinigami. He found himself laughing in glee as the moved closer to his new prey.

As Kuro continued to hack his way through the mass of hollows, a new reiatsu made itself known to him. He looked up to see an arrancar bearing down on him with a bright red rapier. He held up his formed blade to block the blow as the enemy crashed down on him. The other hollows seemed to take this opportunity to rest in their advance, retreating back to a safe distance and watching the situation unfold between their leader and the captain. Kuro himself could tell that this man was like the arrancar he'd met in Karakura Town recently, but this one was stronger. He pushed back from him and pointed his arm at the arrancar, his formed blade pointing directly at his heart.

"I am Kuro Akarui, captain of the Gotei 13's second division. It's obvious what you're doing here, so I won't ask for that. I will, however, ask for your name."

The arrancar put on a shocked face. "I'm impressed that you would have such manners as to ask for the name of a foe like me. I had thought that shinigami viewed all us hollows as scum to just annihilate. I am known as Demetrio."

Kuro was taken aback once again by the level of civility that this arrancar displayed, just like Hideyoshi had in Karakura. But this one's actions didn't give the same honest feeling of honor that Hideyoshi had. Kuro couldn't place it, but something about this guy seemed sort of phony.

"I don't see your kind as scum by default...but I can't stand the actions you always take!" Kuro shot forward again, wielding his blade as he advanced. His attack glanced off of Demetrio's chest as he attacked, leaving him momentarily exposed. Crap...I forgot about arrancars' hierro. I should have concentrated the power in my blade more. Kuro's slip up didn't go unpunished, as Demetrio followed with a quick thrust of his blade. Kuro managed to shift to the side enough that the stab didn't injure him fatally, but he did receive a nasty puncture through his right side. Demetrio followed up with more attacks, dominating the pace of the fight and keeping Kuro on the defensive. As Kuro wondered how he could gain the upper hand, a sudden pain shot down his back. Taking advantage of his focus on Demetrio, one hollow had snuck from behind him and attacked his back. As Kuro turned to face it, a bala flew over his shoulder and caught the hollow in the mask, dissolving it on the spot. Kuro shunpoed further away from Demetrio, staring inquiringly at the arrancar.

"Why did you destroy your own soldier? You could have taken the opportunity to injure me more."

The arrancar held his blade out in front of him. "I don't believe in sneak attacks, nor two on one battles. I apologize for the cowardly acts of my follower and he has been dealt with accordingly. Now I shall offer you assistance to make the stakes even again. Spread your influence, Ángel Negro."

With Demetrio's release phrase uttered, his body was enveloped in a golden light. When it cleared, his appearance was much more angelic. Four large feathery wings now grew out of his back and his body was clad in a red knightly armor. He flapped his new wings and rose a short distance into the sky over the street they were fighting on. He pulled his wings in for a moment, then stretched them out to their fullest extension, shouting loudly, "Heaven's Influence!" A bright light shone out from his body, landing on Kuro and every hollow behind the arrancar. As it shone on him, Kuro was filled with an immense feeling of relief as the pain from his wounds faded and they slowly disappeared. This was an unusual ability for a hollow to have, and even more unusual for one to use on an enemy. In his amazement to the turn of events, Kuro missed Demetrio's face slipping for a second into a twisted display of glee knowing that his plan was working.

A musky smell mixed with the smell of blood as Auryuu paced around the small fortress that was guarded heavily outside from the hollow's ambush. Shinigami of distinction sat at a table conversing with eachother as the lower shinigami helped bring in the injure to be treated and hopefully healed by the squad 4 members. It was a base of operations of sorts. It harbored extensive hope for soul society's survival and yet the sounds that came outside diminished that. The hopeless gazes of the shinigami also quite hindered Auryuu's morale.

He was unsure. What should he do? In all actuality his powers were meaningless to the stronger hollows, but maybe together a shinigami force could most likely critically wound the enemies attack force. The idea came to him to form some kind of unit, but he wasn't sure who he could afford to take from this bastion of healing and planning. He raised his voice to something closer to a yell as he now was located in the middle of all these shinigami. "Listen up! If we don't do something we'll end up like them, but before that the remaining shinigami will suffer that fate first! Anyone willing to lend their sword come with me!. Auryuu walked proudly near the exit as he watched the swarm gather. They were shaking with fear, well atleast most of them. Some had determination beyond belief in their eyes and were ready to sacrifice their lives.

He would lead them regardless of his rank through the enemy line. To weaken and kill the enemies that invaded the home of the shinigami. His fear faded with the building feeling of attachment with soul society, even though he was still just as confused as anyone else.

And so the shinigami sallied forth. Stratus could see their movement from his perch on the building. He wasn't far from their little outpost, but he had to stop as he watched the various fights below. It would seem the shinigami had routed most of the hollows but at a cost; so many of their own numbers lay dead and wounded. In the other direction the hollows advance had stopped only because the two large powers were duking it out. It would remain a stalemate until one of the two emerged victorious. He watched as the shinigami rallied and started to move out.
"We can't have that." Stratus snickered as slime gathered in his palms. His own power suppressed he was almost invisible to those man feet below. He stretched the slime and in a flash infused it with his spiritual power. The end result was a glowing emerald spear. The hollow wasted no time in taking aim at the advancing group. They were no more than two blocks away. He literally only had one shot. With a mighty heave he launched the volatile weapon at his enemies.

"Which way do we go first?" The man to the right of Auryuu asked. He was a young man his dark brown hair clung to his forehead by sweat. His right hand never left the handle of his zanpukto securely fastened at his hip. "There has to be_" His words suddenly cut off by a green javelin piercing through his stomach and exploding. Fire, blood, and razor shards of crystal sprayed all those standing around him. Another shinigami screamed in horror his face painted crimson. He had just barely graduated the academy. So great was his terror he didn't noticed that he had been hit by the shards of emerald. The pain set in quite quickly and he fell to his knees sobbing. There were others not so fortunately. The explosion's shockwave had sent them flying into the walls on either side of them, the impact alone shattered several bones and the shrapnel didn't make any more pleasant. Others were burned by the sudden flash of fire it had created. They now lay on the ground cradling their faces and arms screaming through the pain. Within second the group of brave shinigami was almost decimated. Those not paralyzed with fear ran for their lives; their duty and courage forgotten. Stratus laughed and launched himself onto the street below intercepting one such coward. The young woman stopped in shock as the landed right in front of her. The surprise faded and she remembered what to do. She grabbed for her sword as Stratus' right hand enveloped her face his other hand grabbed the arm before it could free the zanpukto. He pushed with his right and pulled hard with his left tightening his iron grip. There was a sickening crack as bones and muscles tore punctuated by the woman's muffled scream. The woman's arm fell limp at her side as Stratus removed his hand covering her face. Tears streamed down her flushed face as her cry of pain became uncensored. The hollow laughed and kicked the woman backwards into the group. She flew for several feet and knocked wall and lay there either dead or unconscious. The chorus of screams and cries of pain delighted the hollow, he strode forward in anticipation of the meal before him. The ill formed group was done; whatever fighting spirit they had was gone like many of the lives the simple attack had taken. Sudden and rather swift the counterstrike had ended. What little hope they had mustered was shattered. Those shinigami too afraid to move could only wait for their demise while silently count down the seconds they had left to live.

Demetrio was back on ground level again, having lowered himself after using his healing ability. Kuro was still on his guard, but had to admit to himself that he was a tad grateful to the arrancar for his sense of fair play. It seemed to be a trend with these new enemies, just like Hideyoshi had returned Mika's zanpakuto to her before he started to fight. But regardless of the respectful feelings between them, this was still a fight to save the Seireitei. Kuro constructed another blade of spirit power on his gauntlet, making sure to use enough energy this time to give it the power to inflict a wound on the arrancar's body. When he was ready, he charged forward, aiming to drive the blade through Demetrio's neck. His sword disappeared when he went into his released form. Now I have a chance to attack! But as Kuro came upon the foe and started his attack, a massive feeling of regret suddenly invaded his mind. This wasn't right. He shouldn't be fighting this person. Much less should he be throwing such a savage attack at an unarmed target. Kuro didn't understand where these feelings were coming from, but he halted his advance and jumped back again, only to feel excruciating pain as the claws of another hollow raked his back once more.

Kuro spun around and clove the attacker in two with the blade on his gauntlet, but found that other hollows that had previously been standing back and observing the battle between him and Demetrio were now moving in waves, surrounding him and attacking with precision to take advantage of his blind spots. No communication seemed to be taking place between them, but their moves were still so perfectly coordinated. Kuro began to tire from the masterful execution of the continuous attack. One hollow resembling a giant mantis swung at him with a bladed arm, threatening to do major damage. Kuro saw, and had time to react. Taking his gauntlet, he started to swing a heavy counter slash that would kill the mantis before its attack reached him. Before his counter could strike however, a powerful feeling shot through his mind and body. STOP! Surprised by the feeling, Kuro had no resistance to its command and his gauntleted arm went slack and ceased its attack. As a result, Kuro took the mantis's attack with no resistance, receiving a flowing slash wound down across the front of his body. He was also flung backwards onto the street floor from the physical strength of the mantis. He wasn't dead yet, but if the hollow had been any stronger, he easily could've been. A sound caught his attention, causing him to wearily turn his head towards it. Demetrio was laughing. An insane laughter that completely contradicted the peaceful behavior he'd been showing before.

"You're a sad sight Captain-san! Much too naive and trustworthy to be a soldier in a war! You really thought that you could afford to give an enemy respect in the middle of a fight? And even more foolish, you trusted me to give the same to you? Your stupidity has cost you this fight, as well as your life. But don't worry, it won't be by my hands. The rest of my puppets can do it for me! Attack, my minions!"

Kuro understood now. His head was clear and he was piecing it all together. That hesitation he'd had when attacking Demetrio before, as well as the feeling that made him stop his attack agains the hollow were Demetrio's abilities. But the question was how had he come under his control? And why wasn't he still? Kuro decided not to bother with that, as he had the rest of Demetrio's soldiers coming at him now. With his wound, there was only one option available that would allow him to stay on top of things.

"Bankai!" he shouted as he pulled himself to his feet. A pillar of golden energy flashed high into the sky as Kuro was enveloped in a light that disappeared after a split second. He was now dressed in a black shinobi outfit with decorative gold trim. The foreboding breeze that blew through the streets caused a sash stretching down the middle of his torso to flutter as the bottom most of seven hollow rings on it lit up with a bright gold color. Kuro flexed both of his arms, each now donning a gauntlet on both of his hands, and focused his spirit energy in them for a brief moment. Satisfied with the energy level, Kuro released the power in a dual energy stream fired at the advancing hollow force. Demetrio shielded his eyes from the bright display, cursing Kuro's continued resistance. When the blasts were done, Only Kuro and Demetrio were left standing on the street.

"My bankai, Kakusha Seishou-Seijin. Now we can take this fight to the next level."

Auryuu soon sensed another strange source of energy flare up. He looked around and before he knew it the man to his side was impaled and with half a squeal dead. Auryuu jumped backwards being pushed to the ground from the explosion as he looked around to some of the other injured shinigami whom of which suffered various injuries from the strike. He soon stood up only to see a strange hollow swoop down it's motives became clear as Auryuu turned his gaze to the young woman being targeted.

A scream echoed as Auryuu failed to get there. He had already took a determined charge to save her, until he witnessed his last moments, as the ferocious hollow killed her with no remourse. While killing her, it had just prooved it's worthyness of being killed from Nenshou. "YOU BASTARD", Auryuu sensed the anger in his zanpaktou's voice as it echoed in his head.

With a swing of his sword it grew an intense yellow that consumed the sight of the sword only flashing intense reiatsu to all who stood there. He didn't have to say anything to show his hate, but you could sense it in his voice as he spoke his words. "Blind with Rage, Nenshou Jokai Ranpu!". The battle's noises were eventually ignored around him, as he felt passionate about killing his enemy. For this one he would spare no sympathies.

He look the hollow in the eyes maintaining a medium sized distance. He raised the now revealed golden knife. The color of his soul defined with the bright light that illuminated from the sparkles of his blade. His legs movement seemed to spark again as he moved them closer taking a few steps in to dispatch this enemy. But just then, he felt an enormous spike of energy. He knew it to be captain level due to his earlier fights with Kaiyo and Kaoseu.

The hollow stopped his approach as one of the shinigami rose. Good, he didn't want things to end so quickly. It was always more fun to see them struggle. Stratus did his best not to snicker as the lone shinigami stood to face him. The boy was brave or just plain stupid to even try, but he wasn't about to tell him that. Let him come, let him die cursing his own idiocy. The shinigami shouted something and his weapon began to glow. Despite himself the hollow tensed. He'd seen this before. So many battles with shinigami and he'd experienced many things. Their weapons could change. He still like a statue as the man's blade glowed and shifted forms. A second later he gazed at the new weapon the shinigami held. It was now shorter than the original sword and was shiny. Such a change would be laughable if not for said expierence Stratus had. The size and shape didn't matter, what was important was what it could do. He'd tasted the burnt of many attacks from the strange swords he wasn't about to jump head first at this one.

Being cautious he reached out with his senses. The power of the shingami hadn't changed too much from the weapon's transformation. But again that might not mean anything in the big picture. That being said he could feel the surge from the arrancar and the shinigami that were fighting. The amount of power was staggering. Something told him that neither of the two combatants was using everything they had. Still it would seem thing were heating up. Stratus didn't want to sit and waste time on the little sprout before him. If he was going to miss the show might as well have some fun with the little pup. The hollow grinned as he stretched he is left arm out to his side. A strand of slime shot from his palm and instantly crystallized. His fingers locked around the jagged 3 foot emerald blade.
"Shall we make a go of it, boyo?" he laughed, eying the shinigami before him. His right hand still at his side suddenly opened wide and shot a wave of slime at the shinigami. The burst of green sticky liquid fanned in the air in a wide arc at this opponent. A thin sheet of slime to entangle his prey as he moved forward to skewer the man with a vicious thrust from his weapon .

Demetrio cursed the new development of their battle as Kuro revealed his bankai and effortlessly annihilated his group of hollows. The captain was fighting seriously now. And with his nice facade thrown away, Demetrio was sure that he wouldn't get a cheap attack through Kuro's defenses like before. Kuro watched the arrancar stress over what his next move should be while waiting patiently. His foe's plans being thrown into disarray and causing them to pause while thinking of a new course of action worked in Kuro's favor. Instead of following the enemy's example and trying to out think him, Kuro devoted his time instead to calmly focusing his power. This caused the second ring on his sash to light up, increasing the concentration of spirit power within his body. This did not go unnoticed by Demetrio, who was forced to reluctantly resume the fighting, knowing that the rings lighting up on Kuro's outfit couldn't be good for him. He had to keep Kuro distracted and prevent him from further activating his bankai.

Demetrio started by launching himself straight forward with a sonido, sped up even more by giving himself a boost with a flap of his wings. Charging a bala in his hand, he released the blast as he came upon Kuro. To his amazement, Kuro saw the attack and moved one of his hands to fire a concentrated blast at Demetrio's hand as he attacked with his bala. The resulting explosion from the two attacks' collision sent both of them sliding back from each other. Demetrio was surprised again as Kuro recovered from the blast quickly and shunpoed with a speed that he could not follow. He had failed to notice Kuro's bankai also had him outfitted with two shinobi boots that had the same functions as his gauntlets. This had allowed him to fuel his shunpo with the concentrated spirit energy his bankai was producing in his body, producing greater bursts of speed than before. Kuro's movement placed him right behind Demetrio as he formed blades of energy on both of his palms and slashed down in a cross chop from both of the arrancar's shoulders. The attack greatly injured all four of Demetrio's wings as well as left terrible wounds on his back.

"Damn you..." Demetrio gasped as blood flowed from his back, splashing onto the Seireitei street. Kuro was standing in front of him again looking, to him, rather smug. He only saw one way of turning this fight around now. He'd have to put Kuro under his influence again. The only downside was that in doing so, he'd heal the wounds that his controlled minions had inflicted on him earlier. That would force him to have to finish the fight in one blow. But he didn't see much difficulty in that. He'd just have to be creative with his manipulation. He initiated his plan by sonidoing closer to Kuro with a feint of stabbing at him with his sharp nails. Kuro read the attack like he had before and moved to counter attack. Demetrio halted his feint and let loose a stream of light that was more concentrated than the burst he'd shone over the street before. Being bathed in the light, the wounds on Kuro's back and front closed up as the same good feeling hit him like before. He shunpoed away from Demetrio and took a position staring at him from down the street. The Arrancar grinned painfully as he was rewarded for his effort. "Time to finish things foolish captain."

OOC: Kicking Spire out of the thread.

The shinigami saw the wave of slime and shunpo'd sideways out of it's way. He didn't know what the hollow had shot at him, and wasn't about to let it touch him. Thankfully that dodge saved him from the follow up thrust of the monster's blade. Grasping his zanpukto tightly he raised his empty hand and aimed at the hollow's now exposed flank.
"Hado#5: Kakyuu!" he spat out and a ball of flame shot from his palm. Stratus hadn't expected the quick reaction nor the follow up attack. He turned his head just as the sphere of flame was already upon him. At the last moment he raised his hand to block the projectile. The ball exploded and the red flames splashed the hollow.

Auryuu smiled as the attack hit, but the grin faded as quickly as the flames from Stratus' body. His spell while successful wasn't as powerful enough to truly harm the hollow. Bypassing the chant had allowed him to strike his target, but the power was cut in half. Stratus shook the rest of the flames from his body like a dog would shake off water. Parts of his body was smoking, but there weren't many burns at all.
"Oh?" The hollow said in a low growl as his armor rattled; the tentacles were anxious. That had hurt, so he wanted to make sure the shinigami felt ten times the same pain. "So you got some skills do you?" As he spoke his right hand gathered slime. It only took a small amount of energy to solidify the ooze into a glowing ball. Stratus threw the unstable gemstone directly at the shinigami with a laugh. Once again Auryuu shunpo'd away. He wasn't going to let the hollow hit him that easily. A sound strategy, but he had forgotten what had happened not long ago; the explosion that decimated his group. The glowing rock hit the wall where the shinigami had just been and detonated. Fire and shards of sharp crystal shot out multiple directions. Auryuu's simple side shuffle wasn't enough to avoid the blast. The shockwave knocked him over as the hail of razor crystal peppered his arm. Being knocked to the ground saved him from the fragments from ventilating his skull, but not from the hollow that took this time to pounce. With his ears ringing and the flash of the explosion nearly blinding him he had failed to noticed that Stratus was no longer in the same spot. The hollow had raced forward at the downed shinigami. The creature raised his weapon as he advanced.

Kuro breathed an easier sigh of relief with his wounds now healed again. He stood limp and lazily as he watched Demetrio with cautious eyes. Everything was completely clear now; Demetrio's influence stemmed from the healing light. There could be no other reason for him using that ability on him again. But such an ability had an obvious flaw. Kuro was fully healed and ready to fight back. But this didn't seem to worry Demetrio, who was still grinning through the mask of pain he felt from his back wounds.

Kuro took a slow step closer to the arrancar. Then another, and another. There was no need to rush things. His mind was full of that fuzzy feeling again that insisted that he shouldn't be attacking this person. But he didn't stop. The distance between them began to shorten ever so slowly. When Kuro was almost on top of him, Demetrio grinned even wider than before. "That's close enough Captain. I now give you your final order."

As the foe finished his sentence, a new powerful feeling shot through Kuro's mind. Stab yourself in the heart! He stopped walking and slowly raised his left hand, the blade of energy still extended from his palm from when he'd attacked Demetrio's back. His wrist twisted and aimed the blade at the left side of his chest. His eyes seemed empty and unfocused as he progressed and carefully took aim. Demetrio appeared to be in ecstasy at the sight of the happening. His confidence in his victory was leading him to burst out in maniacal laughter.

But it was all misplaced. Without warning, Kuro's opposite hand shot parallel to the ground aiming right at Demetrio's chest. Packed with the concentrated power of Kuro's bankai, the gauntlet released a destructive blast that caught the enemy unprepared. Demetrio was blown back and Kuro resumed his walk in his direction to close the distance between them again. Instead of sadistic pleasure or confidence, the only look pasted on Demetrio's face now was that of absolute fear. If he didn't do something soon, he would die here.

"Y-you bastard! How did you resist my influence!?"

As Stratus' weapon came down something slammed into him. So strong was the impact that it knocked the stunned hollow off his feet and sent him flying. As he took this unscheduled flight he turned to look at what had hit him. It was a large purple block of energy.
"How the hell?" he questioned as he tumbled through the air before crashing into a wall many feet away. The block hitting him had hurt more than the landing had. He probably had his armor to thank for that. Still it was enough force to partially embed the hollow into the wall. Everything had suddenly went black for the hollow. Stratus had landed back first with his head slightly tilted back. His face was now inside the wall. With a jerk he freed his arms. They hadn't been so deeply pressed from the impact. Raising his hands slowly he dug his claws into the stone and pulled his mask free from the wall's confines. It didn't take much for the armored hands to break through the hard rock. A moment later he shook his head and a small shower of dust and rock fell. His sight restored he looked back at the now fading purple block.

While Stratus had been temporarily stuck in the wall a new group of shinigami had moved forth. Several of them had bandages and still fresh stitches as they ran to hell Spire from the ground. Five brave souls willing to fight even while injured.
"Are you all right?" as one of the men assisting their downed comrade. He had a blood stained bandage covering his left eye and part of his face. His shaggy brown hair slightly matted with blood. The man beside him had holes in his uniform and bandages covering his right forearm.
"That's isn't going to hold him long, we gotta get you out of here." The man was right as Stratus had now completely freed himself from the wall.
"Light him up!" the remaining three shinigami stood between Spire and the hollow. As the man standing in the middle had shouted the trio raised their hands in unison. There was a large flash as all three launched a burst of red energy from their hands. The three beams converged on Stratus' location and exploded violently. Smoke temporarily hid the hollow from view, but seconds later he was still standing where the kido spells had hit him. There were burns on his armor, but he looked unscratched other wise. He gave a hiss of anger and charged at the group. The two men had successfully gotten Spire to his feet and were now checking on the others around him. Even though they knew just from looking there was little chance for other survivors.
"Hado #17: Smite." Said one of the trio behind them and another purple block launched down the street at the advancing hollow. Stratus growled and met the battering ram head on. The two collided and stopped. The purple energy pushed at him, but he dug his feet in to the ground pushing back. As they sat in a deadlock the man in the far right began to chant.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."
The final of the three, the man in the middle, turned to the others and quickly spoke.
"Get out of here quickly, we'll try to cover you retreat." Even as he said this Stratus growled even louder. His claws dug into the magical construct like he had dug into the wall. With a scream he tossed the offender up and over his shoulder. The shinigami that had cast the spell was shocked releasing a small gasp at surprise. His pale face got even paler as the hollow stared at them. It was then the man on the right raised his hand once more.
"Hado #33: Sōkatsui!" A tidal wave of blue filled the street. Stratus raised his hand before his face as he was consumed by the energy.

The explosions of the shinigamis' spirited counter attack rocked the street upon which Kuro and Demetrio were standing. Kuro's face was completely blank of expression now. Every step he took closer to his opponent was stiff and directed with full intention and dedication. His progress was slow but direct, giving him the appearance of a stalking emotionless zombie. The sight of him, combined with his failure to influence him just before, was robbing Demetrio of any fighting spirit he'd previously possessed.

"Stay away from me!" he shrieked in protest as he extended his hand and rapidly fired a barrage of balas in Kuro's direction. The blasts were hasty and inaccurate, the majority of them sailing past Kuro on either side and proceeding to blow holes in the Seireitei walls and buildings at the end of the street. The few shots that actually presented any threat were quickly dealt with by responding blasts from Kuro's gauntlets, which he calmly brought up parallel to the ground, adding to the zombie look with both of his hands held out in front of him. Demetrio's nerve failed him completely and he painfully turned away from Kuro, still labored by the wound Kuro's earlier attack had put on his chest. Casting a fearful glance back, he sonidoed down the street trying to put more distance between himself and this unpredictable captain. He was the worst possible match up for Demetrio, taking time to analyze the fight rather than stubbornly pressing forward and leaving himself open for traps and deceit. And that wasn't the worst of it. Demetrio had put together why Kuro seemed so calm and empty all of a sudden: he was keeping his mind and power completely focused so as to not be influenced by Demetrio's skills anymore. Only a foe of extremely high skill with spirit power manipulation could offer such a hardened resistance to his ability, and Kuro's demonstration of adapting and putting up such a defense so quickly showed that he was one of the best in that field.

Demetrio reached the edge of the Seireitei where his forces had first started their attack. Looking back, he didn't see Kuro following him. He slumped against the giant outer wall of the city and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd rest here, then get back to the battle, making sure to avoid fighting Kuro personally. He'd have to make use of a large number of his soldiers to wear him down and finish him off when he grew fatigued. His confidence began to slowly return, his smile even beginning to play across his mouth as he schemed his revenge. As he thought of more and more gruesome ways to get back at Kuro, a couple of stone shards rained from above, bouncing off of Demetrio like little pebbles. He looked up, and the relief he'd been feeling turned immediately back to dread. Kuro was standing on top of the wall looking like he'd been standing there all day, not out of breath or anything else to suggest he'd had a hard time beating Demetrio to this location. The arrancar could only bring his gaze down to try and follow the quick movement as Kuro shunpoed and zoomed down to ground level, using one hand to pin him to the wall and extending a reiatsu blade from the other which he cruelly dug into the open wound on Demetrio's chest. His voice was as bland as his face now, the majority of his focus centered on keeping himself immune to the arrancar's tricks as he negotiated.

"Call off your forces and get out of the soul society. I'll spare your cowardly life for today if you do that much. If you refuse, it'll only bring about a total annihilation of your army as I kill you and proceed to clean up your underlings. There will be heavy losses on my side, but the battle will end in absolute defeat for your side. Make your decision now. I won't wait while my comrades are still fighting and dying."

Demetrio's face broke out in complete shock. Despite the tricks he'd used against this enemy, Kuro was still thinking clearly of the big picture instead of wanting personal revenge on him. Such selflessness pissed Demetrio off, but he had no time for that right now. He had no more cards to play. If he didn't accept these terms, he would die. And such a result was unsatisfactory by the standards of both his boss and himself.

Demetrio stumbled backward as Kuro removed his hold on him and gave him the space to work. Stretching out his hand, he opened a garganta at the edge of the Seireitei. Opening his mouth wide, he charged a cero and fired it up into the sky where it shone out like a giant signal flare. "Retreat!" he roared over the din of battle as he leaped over the carnage and got his hollows' attention. Some didn't want to obey, the hunger for strong souls tempting them to defy orders and keep fighting, but Demetrio was aware of Kuro's constant pursuit of him to ensure he stuck by his terms. Any hollow who ignored the order was quickly hit by Demetrio's golden light and given a manipulating order to head through the garganta. Soon the fighting all through the Seireitei was coming to an end as the hollows began to shuffle back towards their exit. Kuro saw one group of shinigami giving chase to the hollow ranks, preparing to attack.

"Hado Number-..." they were quickly silenced as Kuro placed himself in their line of fire.

"Don't attack those who aren't fighting back. This battle is over, we've won." Kuro stood by to make sure the group didn't try anything else as he watched the hollows leave. Demetrio was among one of the last to make his escape.

"I won't forget this Captain Kuro. The next time we meet, you won't be so fortunate." With that, the arrancar joined his forces and entered the garganta. Kuro sighed, relieved that the fighting was over and looked out over the decimated streets.

"Tell everyone to regroup." he ordered the shinigami he had stopped before. "We have to tend to the injured and start cleaning this place up." The streets looked like a spread of chaos, the walls and walkways littered with blood and corpses. Cracks in the stonework could be seen in every direction. As Kuro looked out over the results of the day, raindrops began to splash out of the gray sky overhead. The battlefield quickly became saturated as the storm symbolized the feeling in the hearts of all present. This day would not be forgotten. The sacrifices suffered by the gotei would make sure of that.

The hollow's world was reduced to the color blue and intense heat. As the cobalt flames licked at his body and thrust him backwards he screamed in defiance. With the pain as his focus he pulled his own spiritual power forward in defense. It was too late to employ his slime. If even one micro-litre were to come out of his skin he'd be burned both on the outside and inside. The fire surged and he tried his best to dig into the ground for traction. Of course the flames ate away at the ground as well which only helped knock the hollow further back. Little by little he felt the growing pressure on his body. He silently wondered now much longer he could stay within the swirling maelstrom. Although there was only the roar of the energy he could hear the sound of his armor cracking. This was no average shinigami magic. For it to be this forceful. The other shinigami he had met must have not been trying hard enough. Still it was no time to be dwelling on such things, his life was in jeopardy.

More power he thought to himself and dug deeper into his energy reserves. The spiritual power flowed from him like a damn bursting. As the power came to his call the heat of the fire seemed to lessen. Despite this he was still being pushed backwards. His legs muscles tensed and he drove his feet into the crumbling earth. Finally he was no longer being pushed. Just as he was ready toe weather the storm the blue flames ended and he stood in the empty street. When the attack had hit he had raised his hands in front of his face. When he lowered them he saw that all around him the buildings were charred and broken. The area directly behind him was free of burns. Stratus had deflected the flames around him with his last effort. At great cost it would seem, the hollow himself was covered in burns. There parts of him that were the blue flames still clung like a leech. The rest of his body was still smoking. As he patted the fire down he noted the long cracks in the armor. Anger welled up in him, those bastard shinigami would pay.

Looking up the the street he saw the focus of his affection. The shinigami that had cast the spell was crouched on the ground those next to him held him. It would seem he had used up all his power in that attack. Stratus grinned and took a step forward. It would seem things were going to be very mess for the wounded men. As he took the fourth step the hollow froze. He would have continued advancing if not for the sudden surge of spiritual pressure. Slowly he raised his head skyward to see a lone shinigami standing on the air. In his hand was a huge blade. It had to be the size of a menos. Stratus stood spellbound by the mammoth weapon. He couldn't understand the shinigami's words, but those on the street vanished in seconds before the man cast the large weapon downward.
"Oh shit!" was all Stratus could manage as it impacted and everything went white.

Spoiler:

Stratus' eyes fluttered opened slowly, but then fell back closed. He felt so tried, so weak. Still it felt like someone was carrying him away. He forced his eye open again and saw the wreckage around him. Buildings almost completely leveled by the strange attack. He wanted to see his savior, but he couldn't turn his head. All he could see was the ground. The hollow might just be carrying him off to eat him. Honestly he was too tired to care. Even if Stratus had been able to move he wouldn't have seen his rescuer. There was none. His body batter and broken was suspended by his tendrils. From the distance it looked like a large spider moving through the rubble. Slowly it carried it's master's body through the portal and to safety.