Going on Patrol (Ezrachek)

"Alright. Next-"

"You die." Mika's response was interrupted by a deep voice that was followed by a powerful fist. Mika only managed to dodge the blow because of the warning given by the voice. Flipping out of the way, she landed next to Ezrachek and the kids. Outside and even down other hallways in the building they were standing in, the sounds of further blasts fired by Kuro boomed out, accompanied by the screams of pain and confusion as the rest of the bandits tried to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, Mika and Ezrachek were facing a man dressed incredibly casual, but he was exuding a reiatsu that was far stronger than the shinigami they had encountered earlier. He had uneven flaming red hair and amber eyes that were brightly lit with his spirit power. As if the reiatsu hadn't been enough, the katana he was drawing from the sheath on his waist confirmed it beyond the shadow of a doubt: this man was another shinigami. The problem with it was that his reiatsu was much higher than Mika or Ezrachek's. It was about the strong as a captain's, or just underneath it. The feeling was almost crushing. Mika brandished her blade in his direction, though she knew that there was no way for the two of them to beat this man like the one before.

Spoiler:

"Where do you think you're going." the man spoke in a slow, menacing drawl. Immediately following the words, he brought his sword up to his side to parry a blow from Mika as she shunpoed behind him and swung her blade at his arm. "Too slow I'm afraid. You won't hit me with such obvious attacks." He continued by spinning around violently and pushing Mika's blade with his own. She was thrown back by his strength and crashed roughly into the wall. She fell to the ground in pain, but refused to let go of her zanpakuto. Pulling herself to her feet, she got into stance again and prepared to fight again.

"Such a fool. You should have considered yourself lucky when you managed to beat my comrade earlier. Oh yes, I felt your reiatsus back then. It wasn't easy to beat him was it? And I'm sure you can feel it; I'm much stronger than he was. And with this, your already microscopic chances will be eliminated. Disperse, Bōrei."

Spoiler:

Its release command uttered, the opponent's zanpakuto glowed with an eerie pale blue light. Its blade shrank and bent, leaving the weapon in the man's hand when the light faded as a short knife with crescent shaped blade on the end of the handle. The man did nothing further at this point. Mika stood looking confused, but decided to take the initiative. Shunpoing at him again, she slashed horizontally in an effort to cut his midsection. This time he offered no resistance, letting her blade approach him. She was confused again by this, but thought no more of it and continued. Shock spread across her face as her sword passed right though his body with no resistance. She turned back to find him not wounded at all, not even having lost a single drop of blood. Her turn was too slow however and her back was fully exposed. His curved blade flashed quickly as he struck. Mika let out a cry as a line of her blood splashed onto the floor of the building. She sank slowly to the ground again, blood dripping down her back as she winced in pain. Looking past the man's feet towards Ezrachek and the children, she tried to warn them away.

"He's too strong. Get out of here while you can!"

Ezrachek watched the pain of Mika as she was slashed in the back by the man's blade. He was torn from decisions of helping Mika, and saving the children. As the battle raged on, he gathered the children around and gave them the directions on how to get out. He turned around to see the battle, but only saw a flash before him as the man was in front of him, then shunpoed behind him. Ezrachek ducked down, hitting the floor hard as the shinigami's blade passed just barely over the top of his skull. Ezrachek shoved a hard foot backwards, landing a hit on the man's chest, shoving him backwards. He quickly jumped over to Mika, helping her to her feet. "Sorry, Mika. Looks like I'm stuck here with you." He said as he raised her to her feet and unsheathed his zanpakuto, turning his attention to the shinigami. "Ya know, I'm not the type to run away from a challenging battle. Besides, Your buddy there, He was easy to defeat, just another victim of the White Lotus, Just like you!" Ezrachek held his blade out with one hand waiting for the man to attack. He shunpoed towards Ezrachek, as Ezrachek did a bold thing, and slid towards the incoming man, knowing that they would overshoot each other. Ezrachek, knowing that it would happen, was able to twist his back, and raise to his feet faster as he swung the blade diagonally from the top right, down to the bottom left. The man had also risen to his feet and swung his released Zanpakuto. Blood splattered on the ground as both men stared through each other. They were examining their opponent for a solid hit. Ezrachek noticed that that blood trickled down the man's face as a line of blood appeared in a cut just below the man's right eye.

Pain struck Ezrachek hard as he felt the burning sensation in his chest as he reached his freehand to his chest, feeling the warm blood from the long slash running through his chest. Blood spilled freely from the wound as Ezrachek fell to the floor. He looked up, seeing Mika still wounded, and the shinigami stood between the two. He had distracted the man long enough for the children to escape, and now it was time for Mika to escape. It was Ezrachek's duty to lay down his life for the mission, and furthermore, another friendly shinigami. He raised to his feet, struggling against fatigue and the numerous injuries he had sustained from his battles. He knew he was bluffing, and it was certain that the opposing shinigami knew he was bluffing as well. The man laughed as Ezrachek stood up. He shunpoed towards Ezrachek and swug his blade at his midsection. Ezrachek easily deflected the hit, feeling slight pain in his arm, as he dodged a follow up attack. Ezrachek kicked the man in the chest, shoving him backwards again. "Without using Shunpo, You are slow. Slow enough for me to keep in pace with you. I wonder if you're fast enough for Kidou! Bakudo 4! Hainawa!" Ezrachek yelled out as the energy ropes shot from the palm of Ezrachek's hand, wrapping around firmly the man. He knew that he could only hold the man so long before fatigue reached him again and his Bakudo collapsed. He looked over at Mika one last time before yelling his command. "GO! RUN MIKA! GO GET KURO!" He said as he released the Bakudo, sprinting towards the man, tackling him as the two of them crashed through the wall, tumbling out of the building and into the streets where the chaotic explosions were happening. He watched to see if Mika was listening to him, but was cut off as the shinigami, slashed at Ezrachek once more, cutting a line across his back. Ezrachek yelled out in pain, as he jumped back, gaining distance from the man. He steadied his stance and his blade, ready for battle.

"You annoying little insect." the other shinigami sounded annoyed as he stared down Ezrachek. "I let my guard down because of how weak your reiatsu was, but I'm not letting you get any more hits on me." He held his curved blade high, getting into a stance for an attack, then charged forward without shunpo. Even still, his natural speed was rather impressive. He closed the distance between Ezrachek and himself in mere seconds and slashed wildly at his front. But his attack did nothing as the blade and then the man himself passed right through Ezrachek like he was a ghost. He laughed hysterically as he turned and repeated this untouchable attack several times.

"My zanpakuto allows me to render my body intangible so that enemy attacks don't hurt me. It also makes for an entertaining battle where the enemy doesn't know which attack of mine will be the one that strikes them!"

Mika had pulled herself to her feet inside the building and painfully made her way out. She found the children outside, huddled together near the front afraid of the craziness unfolding around them. Mika went over to them as fast as she could and tried to comfort them, throwing her arms around their mass and telling them that everything would be alright. Though truthfully, she didn't know if that was right. With her current injury, further battle would be difficult while protecting these kids and getting them up the valley walls. If only Kuro was there. As this thought passed through her mind, Ezrachek and the enemy shinigami crashed through the wall of the building out into the street. She was shocked as she overheard the shinigami explain his zanpakuto's ability. How could they beat an enemy like that!? She could only watch from her position with the children as the enemy sadistically struck with untouchable blows again and again, trying to goad Ezrachek into a state of hopelessness and fear.

The enemy was launching another attack with a gleeful look on his face. "This is the end of you." He laughed as he lunged forward. The pressure of the situation finally got to Mika, causing her to scream out. "Help us Captain!"

A blur moved in front of the two battling shinigami as Mika called out. The enemy's blade was stopped as it reached Ezrachek. Standing between both of them was Kuro with a golden blade of energy extended from his gauntlet. He grinned in spite of the seriousness of the occasion. "Someone call for me?" His face then went serious to match the atmosphere of the fight. "Rayone-kun, Mika. Good job you two. Now just stay with the children. There are still some remnant groups of bandits in the valley. Stay near the building and wait until I've finished this guy. Then we'll all leave this place alive together."

Ezrachek buffeted from each deep attack that the shinigami had hit him with. He was cut up to pieces, but he stood regardless, refusing to die in this battle, refusing to back down, refusing to lose. He looked up in a horrifying gaze as the man struck with his final blow, bracing himself for the blow, when he saw a slight blur in front of his face. Captain Kuro had actually came to save him. Ezrachek lost power of his body and fell flaccidly to the ground, smacking his skull on the ground.

He rose reluctantly to his feet after a few seconds, still dizzy from the impact, as he listened to Kuro's orders. Ezrachek rose to his feet and swayed slowly until he gained his equilibrium. He walked slowly over to the children and where Mika was standing. The pain was burning inside him and he couldn't stand much more. He looked up at Mika, panting from the pain. "I do-don't suppose you can m-m-make it to the classroom again? I left my bag with supplies in there, and I need medical bandages." He struggled with the words as he spoke them softly. He waited for Mika to get back with the bag as she tossed it down towards him. He caught the bag and grabbed the bandages from his back, placing them softly on the wounds. He then took the wrap that he had and wrapped his entire torso.

Reluctant to stay away from a good fight, Ezrachek made his way back to the battle scene, where he saw Kuro and the other Shinigami. He stood there as he unsheathed his Zanpakuto, waiting to see if there was a possibility of him getting back into this battle.

Kuro and the enemy silently stared each other down for a long period after Ezrachek made his way away from the fight. The other man seemed to be trying to make sense of the situation. His confusions were made apparent when he finally broke the silence.

"She said Captain...but your reiatsu is even lower than the guy I was enjoying myself with before you got here. They willing to just make anyone a leader these days? Guess all the stories about the strong Gotei are just a bunch of -" his sentence was cut off as Kuro disappeared from sight and reappeared behind him with shunpo. "What the hell!?" he screamed as Kuro swung his formed blade at his midsection. But even with Kuro's superior speed, he didn't manage to connect his hit before the enemy activated his zanpakuto's ability again, causing Kuro's attack to sweep through his body without leaving a scratch. Kuro's ability had however startled the man.

"How the hell do you move so fast with such a near nonexistant reiatsu!? What trickery are you pulling?"

"Someone with a zanpakuto like yours shouldn't accuse others of trickery so quickly. There's no trick here, just a side effect of my zanpakuto. It compresses the spirit power in my hand and body. As a result, less power flares up to escape my body and be felt by others when my zanpakuto is released."" Kuro just finished talking when the man shunpoed in an attempt to make a surprise attack. Kuro read the movement and held up his blade to parry the strike which came completely tangible, proof that the man was longing to rid himself of such a high level opponent as quickly as possible. Kuro calmly threw the man off of himself and glanced in the direction of his squad members and the children. "What are you planning to do once you are finished with us?"

"Isn't it obvious? This bandit camp is ruined. I have no use for it or the weak bastards you've killed. I'll kill everyone here and go and start a new following somewhere else. Bandits are always eager to follow someone strong who can give them power and influence."

"By everyone, do you mean those children as well?"

"Of course. Those brats had it comin'. Always whining all night and day. I'll make sure to give them something to really cry about before I leave this place."

"Oh boy...he's done it now." Mika said matter-of-factly as she, the children, and Ezrachek watched the fight. "By threatening innocent children in front of the Captain, he's just forfeited any chance of making it through this battle alive that he previously had."

Mika's statement was mostly speculation on her part, based on what she knew of Kuro's kind and just personality. But she was also absolutely correct. A barely noticable look of dedication flashed across Kuro's face for a moment before he spoke with a voice that was somehow calm, but also dripped with malice. "Is that so? Then I have only one response........Bankai."

Kuro's power spiked as a yellow pillar of energy shot up into the sky around his body. It cleared in an instant to reveal Kuro clad in a black and gold shinobi attire with his shikai duplicated in the form of an additional guantlet and two power compressing boots. He extended blades of energy from both of his hands and shunpoed forward to strike at his foe, who immediately made himself intangible to avoid injury.

"Even with your bankai, you still can't touch me Mr. Captain. I'll just stay untouchable until your power runs out. Then it won't matter how strong you are."

"No...you are going to die. And all you can do is watch and wait for that moment to come." When he finished his statment, Kuro folded his hands in a meditational looking stance. Slowly, the seven rings on the sash that decorated the front of his bankai began to fill up with golden color starting from the bottom one and working their way up. The enemy was unnerved, thinking Kuro's move to be a bluff.

"It doesn't matter how much you power up your bankai, you still can't touch me!"

Kuro didn't respond, instead choosing to continue to focus. Slowly, over the course of many minutes, the rings on his sash began to glow. Ring five, ring six, and finally...ring seven. Upon the filling in of the final ring, power burst from Kuro, like a stem errupting from the ground. The power slowly unfolded from itself, forming the beautiful appearance of a shining gold lotus flower comprised of spirit power. This image only stuck around for an instant before it massed itself together again and surged back into Kuro's body. He looked at his enemy with a face of absolute confidence. "My experience with my zanpakuto has made me very good at controlling and detecting spirit power. I was able to tell after striking your intangible body multiple times...your zanpakuto is indeed strong, but has a dire weakness. Its ability works by loosening the bonds of the spirit particles that form your soul. This allows physical objects to pass through you...but also leaves you vulnerable to my bankai's ultimate ability."

To demonstrate, Kuro held out a hand and concentrated. The foe let out a scream of understandable agony as specks of glowing spirit power detached themselves from his body and began to make their way towards Kuro. He cried out for a few seconds until the specks ceased in their desertion of him. Kuro at this moment shunpoed with an extra burst of speed, fueled by the power he'd guided from his body into his boots. He drove an energy blade on his guantlet through the man's stomach, causing him to cough up blood. "To escape the pain of having your soul ripped apart by my ability, your only choice was to make yourself vulnerable physically again. As soon as my bankai was fully activated, there was no way for you to win." Kuro withdrew his hand and blade, leaving the man to crash to the valley floor dead. Kuro turned back to the others as he resealed his zanpakuto. Walking over with a bright smile now that the most dangerous foe had been dealt with, he clapped a hand down on the shoulders of both Mika and Ezrachek. "We're almost done. Let's get these kids home now."

Ezrachek watched the entire battle unfold infront of his eyes. It was an amazing sight. Ezrachek fell to the floor quickly when he felt the extreme power being released from Kuro's bankai. He watched closely, examining the scientific capabilities of Kuros bankai, which almost seemed like a weapon of a Quincy in the way that it absorbs the particles. As the battle neared the end, Ezrachek watched with relief as he saw the shinigami fall down cold and dead. He stood up holding a strong stance as Kuro neared his two partners. Ezrachek felt a heavy hand from Kuro being placed innocently onto his shoulder, right where he had received a deep cut from his battle with the man. Pain surged through his body as he fell to his knees, panting and breathing very quickly. Ezrachek regained his composure and walked with Kuro and Mika to the children. He smiled at the children's faces, not letting them see how painful his wounds were. They moved the children back to a safe place and gathered around to talk. "So, Cap'n. What next? We go home now?" Ezrachek asked curiously as he looked at his captain, eagerly waiting for this whole day to be over and for him to go get healed by squad 4.

They had made good timing so far, having scaled the sides of the valley to end up back in the forest surrounding it. Kuro allowed a momentary rest before continuing. It was short lived as he encouraged everyone to keep going.

"We'll get these kids back to their village, then we'll start back towards the Seireitei. I know it's been a tough few days, but we're almost done."

At Kuro's encouragement, the group passed through the forest without much time. The children were eager to get back to their parents anyway. When the forest cleared and they reached the barren wasteland, Kuro led the way back to the village they had reported to. The sun rising high in the sky by the time they arrived, but the streets were still barren, as the townspeople had no way of knowing the bandit problem had been dealt with. Kuro and his group paraded into the town and immediately bee lined for the inn where the group of villagers had informed them of the situation the night before. Kuro knocked on the door a few times before it slowly opened up, revealing the keeper and the many other villagers inside. Kuro grinned and proudly directed their attention to the kids standing on the street. "We're back." What happened next could be described as chaotic.

Villagers screamed with excitement and poured out of the inn. It seemed that many of the ones that had been staying in the inn were the parents of the kidnapped children. Kuro figured it must have been their way of supporting each other through the stressful time. The noise created by the reunion caught the attention of the inhabitants of the other buildings, who also came running out into the streets, glad to be free of the fear of the bandit oppression. The streets were suddenly alive with the sounds of cheering, laughing, and crying. Kuro took a position on the side of the road, leaning against one of the buildings and watching the scene unfold. Mika joined him against the building, letting her head droop to the side and rest against his arm. They were proud of the work they had done to free this village. Their mission was a complete success. Kuro stood up suddenly and stretched a little.

"Oh well. We've done what we came to do. Time for us to go back to our home. Let's go guys." He made a move to leave, but as he moved away from the mass of people, he felt a tug on the back of his robes. He turned his head in confusion, wondering if he'd caught the robe on something. To his surprise, one of the children they'd just brought back, a little girl, was standing behind him with a handful of the bottom of his haori in her grasp. He gently tugged back at it, but the girl was tenacious and refused to let go of him. He turned around and squatted down to eye level with her. "You're back home now. We have to go to ours now." The girl shook her head and still wouldn't let go of his haori. She opened her mouth and spoke only one word.

"Flo-wer."

"Flower?" Kuro repeated, confused as to what she meant. "You want a flower?" his question received another head shake from the little girl, who then proceeded to lift her other hand and point at Kuro.

"Flower." she recited again, jabbing her finger forward to emphasize what she meant. Kuro was still confused by all of this and tried to make sense of it. He thought back over the chain of events that had taken place with the kids. Then it became clear; this girl was remembering his bankai ability's activation. He smiled and replied, "Yes, that was a flower you saw earlier. But my name's Kuro. What's yours?"

"She doesn't remember her name." the voice behind the girl caused Kuro to look up and notice the inn keeper standing there with his wife and daughter. "She was only a new arrival the day the bandits took the children away. She doesn't remember her name from when she was alive and hasn't found a family here yet."

"That's too bad." Kuro remarked with a sympathetic look on his face. "I hope everything works out for you little one." He made to get up and leave again, but the same tug on his robes stopped him again. The girl just wouldn't let him go. He got down on the ground again and locked his gaze with hers. The standoff continued for several seconds, during which Kuro thought of the girl's situation. It reminded him so much of his early days. In the end, he couldn't resist her. "How would you like to come back to the Seireitei with us? We can get you a new life started there. Would you like that?"

The answer was obviously yes as the girl broke out into a beaming smile and threw herself against Kuro's chest in as tight of a hug she could manage. Kuro laughed at the position he'd gotten himself into and slung her up onto his shoulders as he finally got to make his way towards the town entrance. Mika walked next to him, teasing him about his new charge. "You just can't say no to a pretty girl can you? She's gonna have you wrapped around her little finger."

"Give it a rest." Kuro said back flatly. "I couldn't just leave a little girl alone out in this wilderness. We both know what that's like." He decided to change the subject before they got lost in painful memories. "So what am I going to call you?" he asked the girl. "It has to be something memorable...and cute." He thought hard for a moment. "I know. Your name should be Hana. It's perfect considering how we first met. What do you think?" His response was a cry of happy laughter and two small arms wrapping around his head as they walked out of the town and back towards the Seireitei, laughing as they walked.

Ezrachek laughed at the whole events, feeling remorseful, knowing that he never really had this feeling that they were experiencing. His human life was a struggle of life or death and constant war. His life in Seireitei started immediately with the academy, where he constantly struggled with his training, making sure he secured his spot as the top of the class. He then immediately went on this mission after being accepted into the 2nd division. He shrugged off the remorse and decided that it would be best that he just focus on the good feelings in the environment now that they had saved the district. Ezrachek walked back to the Seireitei with Kuro and Mika, rubbing his pained shoulders after carrying a few kids along the width of his shoulders into the town.

He wanted nothing more than to go home and cleanse himself of this blood that laden his whole battle from the two battles that he had heavily involved himself in. He walked happily along side the three of the people, and was confused at Kuro's comment. "Wait... Hana? What relevance does that have to this mission or how ya'll met?" Ezrachek asked, knowing that what came next was inevitable. Everyone broke out into laughter, all four of them laughing together as they finally met the gates of the seireitei. Home. Finally this nightmare was over and they could all go back to their normal lives.

[OOC: Thread is over now right?]

ooc: yes it's over. good work.

[OOC: Thanx]