Duel at Dawn.

((For Arawn on the VC Sabrina only.))

Junko had immersed herself in the life of a Rukongai Vigilante. On the run from both Shinigami and Gang Leaders alike, Junko was stuck on a tedious middle about the breadth of a fishing line. She couldn't do anything without stepping on toes. 3 days. It took her less than an hour to earn the ire of the gangs, killing 2 members, taking their food, and quickly scarfing it down. Gangs had the only supply of food in the Rukon district, they were the only ones who needed it. The vast farmlands beyond Rukongai was beyond Junko's reach, as she managed to land in a haven for security. That was probably her fault though. District 73, a low down, scum filled district that was hardly beyond calling a simple swamp. The homes were built on stilts, and the people had an abundance of water, but the gangs would destroy houses for their daily "protection" fee. Junko dispatched of some collectors before they had the chance to forclose.

Junko however, Junko was relentlessly pursued by the Vice Captain she had engaged near the Senkai gate. Junko knew her name was Sabrina, but that was all she knew about her, that and her Shikai's sound based qualities. Junko was constantly ducking in alleyways, her armor sinking into the swampy soil. It wasn't ideal. By the methodical killing of gang members, Junko had obtained the food to be beyond starving, she was fresh, renewed, ready for action. Her armor was formed, light plates of reshi steel over chainmail. The chainmail weighed junko down, but the weight was conforting, immensley. Junko looked almost like the noble Crusader she once was.

Her intent was to kill, no matter how prettied up it was, it would be a gruesome bloody death. For somebody.

The plan was to show up at the headquarters of the search party, and kill the vice-captain that was there. It wouldn't give her the repreive she needed, but she would gain the space she needed to slip out of the district. This Vice Captain hounded her like a dog. The shinigami had hell butterflies, and they would instantly call for reinforcements upon her sight. Being swarmed by 20 or more shinigami wasn't something Junko could take and come out alive.

Junko could take the situation into her hands, right now. She was walking in the middle of the street, surely she would be spotted, and she was walking toward the camp. Surely that would provoke a response from the Lieutenant.
Hopefully she wouldn't get swarmed.

Pursuit squad headquarters

Sabrina sat in the middle of a modest room with a small stack of papers before her. The shinigami had taken an abandoned house as their base while they tried to track down the criminal Junko Tenshi. After reporting to her captain she had taken the task of capturing the rogue herself. She had enlisted the aid of the rest of her squad. With twenty hand picked shingiami they had set off into Rukongai. Sabrina had hoped to catch up with Junko quickly, but Rukongai was the ideal place for someone to hid. The numerous amount of people alone made it hard to find someone. Then came the sheer size of the districts. Still they managed to keep on her tail. Every move she made they barely steps behind. If they kept the pressure up she would get sloppy and make a mistake. And then they would have her. Idly Sabrina thumbed through the papers before her. It was all the information Seireitei had on the fugitive. Junko had been so kind as to mention her former rank. Sabrina made sure to make the most of it. There wasn't much to see inside the folder, it was surprisingly light on information. She had read it over many times almost memorizing it completely. They had gotten more information in the past 3 days of tracking Junko down.

The lieutent shingiami closed her eyes. The moments of silence were rare, so she had learned to appreciate them. As she sat there she listened to the sounds around her. Perhaps it was due to her zanpukto, but she had developed good ears. She could hear air as the passed through the building. The clamor of the people outside in the streets, and the heavy foot falls of the shinigami running towards her. A quick sensing of the person's spiritual power confirmed it wasn't an attacker. The sound was all wrong. Sabrina turned in her chair before the man had a chance to enter the room. It took a moment for him to catch his breath, but eventually he composed himself and stood at attention.
"Ma'am! The target has been sighted!" he said finally. "It looks like she's heading this way." Sabrina hid her surprise. Perhaps this was the moment that they were waiting for. Junko was tired of running and was now coming at them head on. She nodded.
"Fine, tell everyone to be on alert. Evacuate all the civilians from the area." Sabrina remembered the woman's fire abilities. Any kind of battle would cause some collateral damage.

Junko slowly drew her sword, she could feel shinigami again, having all six senses back up and running was nice, it made her feel empowered. Surely the Vice captain would come. If she wouldn't then a few good buildings would get burnt down. Shit... not just a few buildings, she had lived here long enough to realize that there wasn't enough water to keep the buildings from burning. The entire district would burn.

'I can't fight here then. I need SOMEONE on my side, even if they are mere peasants'.

Junko knew the power of peasants, the crusades had taught her that much. She could lead an uprising full of peasants. Thousands, tens of thousands would die. But the peasants would win... Mabye...

The captain's ablities had massive area of effects. Capable of KILLING tens of thousands. Perhaps a peasant rebellion isn't in order. It was surely doomed to fail.

Junko kept walking, thinking of the future, but suddenly, the immediate future, the best way to keep colateral damage down was to fight in the sky. high above rukongai, it would be quite hard to damage the district below.

Shinigami kept their distance, for good reason too, Junko's very presense was making souls fall unconcious, so she was given a wide berth through the slums. She was only 2 blocks from the supposed headquarters, perhaps the vice captain would run, perhaps she would stay, but junko would be entering detection range in a few steps. Judgement was calling.

The shinigami had already spotted Junko. They had spread out to search for her in a slow spiral formation. When she had made her appearance they were sure to keep their distance from her. There was not telling if she would attack them or not. Their second reaction was to report it to the Lieutenant. They quickly followed the woman's orders to move the residents away from the possible battle zone. Thankfully this was an easy task. Most of the area was abandoned already. At the same time many of them evacuated once the shinigami moved in. There were a few that took the shinigami's presence as security from bandits. For the first time in months they slept easy without fear of being robbed or attacked. Imagine their surprise as they were suddenly escorted from their homes by the very same shinigami. In a matter of minutes four shinigami moved the last tenants from the houses around them. The remainder of the her group were placing themselves about the area. They would be the net should the rogue decided to turn and run.

Of course Sabrina knew this wasn't going to happen. She had taken her measure of the woman at the gate. It was obvious that she was a fighter. Why come this far only to run? The woman's behavior at the gate had only been out of necessity. She probably had run knowing that the odds were not in her favor. But what now? After three days was she confident enough to continue the fight where they had left off? It wasn't possible. Junko would need more than skill to take on the twenty shingiami hunting her down. Sabrina sighed. She remained sitting in her chair in the back room of the small building. Her weapon was sitting on the table. In one swift motion she stood up and tucked the weapons into her belt. Her hand dove into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
"Everyone into positions." she spoke into the device. "Make sure you close off all avenues of escape. We're not going to let her slip by." She exited the small make shift office to the main room of the building. There were two shingiami waiting for here. The rest were already circling around outside the building. The two men looked at the Vice captain and nodded. Sabrina returned the nod and stepped confidently through the door out into the street. A moment later the two shinigami joined her outside. Each of them took up a position on either side of Sabrina. The young woman stood with her arms crossed on her chest right outside the building.
"I see her, ma'am." the man on her right spoke. She could already see the figure approaching, there was no need for him to say anything.
"Be ready." was all she said. She could feel the others around them gradually moving in as Junko got closer. The net was tightening. There was not way for the woman to evade them this time.

Junko tapped her foot, waiting for the encirclement to get tight enough so that they could all be entrapped by the flames, and not close enough for them to dash out and kill her. It was probably about 50 feet, or behind the closest houses and shops. They were foolish.

'Halt your advance, or you die' Junko shouted, her voice resounding off of the deserted streets. Junko drew her sword, causually, licks of flames spiraling from the scabbard as the sword cleared it. The ambient temperature around Junko rose, dirt and dead grasses littered the streets. Junko certainly didn't have the upper hand.

'More to the point, this district would die.' Junko continued. A fireball appeared in her hand, she had cast the kido in the silencet that followed the original order to halt, 'Now that you have so convientently evacuated the residents of this area, there is no fire brigade, so now, who is going to stop this district from burning up?' Junko threw the fireball into the closest shop, instantly setting it ablaze, the dry tinders catching oh so easily to the reiatsu fed flames Junko had created.

'Lieutenant, I challenge you to a duel, one on one, no interference, to the death. In the mean time, the twenty or so shinigami should be putting out the flames that threaten to engulf this district.' Junko was taking a gamble here, 'Or, you can let an entire district, perhaps more, of Rukon burn in the search of a lowly 7th seat.'

Junko jumped, a powerful pulse of reiatsu following her as she did so, a dry heat that fed the flames. She rose 10, 20, 50 feet into the air and stopped, she waited for this Lieutenants response. Junko shouted to the ground, '15 seconds before the this fire becomes a blaze.'

The shinigami tailing Junko froze. They had been briefed about the woman, they were anything if not cautious. Their leader had taken the time to reiterate that point to them several times over the course of their search. It was at this point that the woman lived up to that warning by threatening the whole area with fire. Sabrina had been wise in ordering them to clear the area to protect the people. But now the whole area itself was at risk. The woman was going to destroy everything. They stood still in their tracks as the Junko made her demands. It would seem she wanted to fight with their lieutenant. All that destruction just for a battle with their vice captain, what was this woman thinking? She was as crazy as she was dangerous. Here words only reinforced their belief that she needed to be captured and brought to justice. Still they waited, they looked at Sabrina waiting to for her response. Would she give in to the made woman? What choice did she really have.

Sabrina stood stoically in front of the building listening to Junko's ultimatum. She was curious to the other woman's fixation on her. It seemed odd that she wanted fight her. Was their interrupted fight hanging over her head? Was it pride that drove her? Sabrina could only raise her eyebrow at it all. She would not negoatiate with criminal. There was not need to think the matter over. A part of her had hoped to end things peacefully. But it wouldn't happen. Junko had come here for a fight, so she would have one. "Sieze her." was all she said and the two to her sides vanished. The first man had short dark brown hair and green eyes. He appeared on Junko's right. The other man had jet black hair falling past his ears. This man appeared on Junko's left.
"Spread your wings, Rukh!" said the dark haired man as his sword pulled free of the sheath from the left.
His weapon blossomed into what appeared to be a large bird wing. He wasted no time in rushing at Junko and performing vertical slash at the woman.

"Maul and ravage, Migoi!" The second man said as the flat of the blade rested on against his fist. His blade glowed brightly and the light shifted to his right fist. When the light faded a three bladed claw was on his right hand.
The second man made his move in concert with the first. He pulled back his hand swung the 1 foot claws horizontally at the woman. They hoped to sandwich the her between their two attacks. Sabrina had already taken her hands down. Her right hand rested on the hilt of her own zanpukto.

Junko counted backwards, 13, 12.

If this Lieutenant didn't fight her one on one as the plan was, she had a plan, against all of the shinigami, she would need to shikai, clear a hole with her flames, and cut her losses.

Against a few, she could probably kill them. Bakuto 21, into a flurry of spells should take them down, even if they are shikai users...

Against the Lieutenant, It was a whole different strategem, she had to fight defensively, wait for the opening, creating one against a Lieutenant would be quite hard, mabye even impossible. There is an opening though, in every fight there is at least one. But sometimes it is only one, Junko would have to make sure not to miss it.

But then she saw two shinigami vanish, it was the second scenario, how dissapointing.

They closed, their shunpo was slower than Junko's, a feat that she didn't think was possible... Or mabye she was just stronger... But it was still shunpo.

"Bakuto 21 Sekienton" Junko was englufed by a red cloud of smoke, and she shunpo'ed behind one of the men, she couldn't tell them apart really, and tried to stab him in the back, all the while chanting a new kido, "Let my energy flow and cut my opponent to ribbons. May his remains be scattered by the winds. Hado 27 Reshi Blade!" That was the blade she intended to stab her adversary with, her Zanpaktou was held in a defensive position, her arm punching out to impact the man with the instrument of death.

The two men thought they had the fugitive cornered when she unleashed a spell. They thought they had gotten the jump on her, but they were sadly mistaken. Everything went read as the bakudo took effect. Sabrina couldn't see anything from below the great crimson cloud, but she could feel that the spiritual pressures were still there. For a second she thought Junko had used the smoke to evade the two shinigami and attack her direction. Instead it was just a diversion for her to better combat the two. But for Junko to use a smokescreen was perhaps a mistake on her part. As the man that made the his overhead slash a mighty wind flowed from his weapon. It was more than enough to disrupt and blow away the red smoke that clouded him. He stared blankly at the empty air before him and his equally confused partner. The other man had blindly finished his attack, but had struck nothing.

"Sergi, duck!" the second man shouted. Sergi didn't bother to turn, he did as he was instructed. So focused on the missing target he had barely heard the woman's words behind him. He lurched forward at the waist as Junko drove the newly formed reishi blade at his back. His movement only avoided a critical hit from the weapon. Rather than impaling the young man it cut a gap from his side up to his shoulder as he tried to bend out of the way. His companion stood on the air several feet away, but that didn't seem to bother him. He jabbed his right hand forward as three purple blades extended from the metal ones on his fist. As these purple blades traveled they grew wider than the metal base. In the half second trip they grew five inches wide. He twisted his hand angling the three blades Junko's chest. During this time Sergi retreated to the other man's side his hand firmly grasping his weapon while his other hand held his side. The black shinigami robe was darkened by his blood flowing from the very open wound. From the ground Sabrina frowned. When the smoke cleared she had seen Junko behind Sergi, but it was too late for a warning. She could step in, but the fact that Junko wanted to fight her made her pause. Her subordinates were capable fighters and yet she didn't want them to get injured on her behalf. It was a strange situation indeed. In the end she decided to stay her hand. It was true that both men were capable fighters, but they were also competent fighters as well. If they didn't think they could handle the woman they would retreat. They were trained to know better than to to take such a risk. Be it against a hollow or any opponent. There was no shame in retreating, it was something that took courage to do. The same courage kept Sergi fighting even with his injury.

Junko had fought rats that had better reflexes than these two shinigami. They were clearly a pair, used to working together. Seperate the pair, and potential synergy from strategies will be broken up. Right now she had them where she wanted them, on their heels, As they were a pair, keeping them from executing combos would be essiential. Junko followed up her attack with another flashstep, continuing to her left, her back momentarily to the Lieutenant, but it was an instant, and Junko flashstepped again, and the men had their backs to her, or more accuratley, their feet. Junko was below them, and she attempted to relieve a few limbs from the pair with a wide arc of her broadsword, her Reshi blade being held in close for defense.

Her intent was to disable, not to kill. the feet of a person were replacable. Heads wern't. Junko's broad arc came crashing in, the glean of her polished armor glinted off from the sun, perhaps giving away her move, but they only had an instant to react, they would need it.

From her vantage point on the ground Sabrina watched the battle intensify. The two men weren't an exclusive pair. They were just very well trained. Still there was some advantage in knowing each other enough to compensate for the others' shortcomings. Their lieutenant had hand picked them to accompany her for this task. As part of the 1st Division they had trained like their lives depended on it, sweated buckets, and swung the sword til their hands bled. Although weak they strive for excellence. Sabrina quickly reflected on the the two men's abilities. Sergi's weapon Rukh controlled gusts of winds. He normally used them to increase the speed and power in his swings. Abby, the other man, could make Migoi extend allowing abnormal range. She had thought both would be more than suited to combat Junko's flame powers. Rukh would douse the flames, while Migoi would be able to reach past the fires. That had been the plan, but it would seem that the target wasn't employing her shikai just yet. She found herself curious to know why, as well as how she'd handle the duo.

Abby's thrust missed as the armored woman flickered away. It would seem they had underestimated her. But it looked like she was doing the same. Vanishing from sight a second time they kept their wits about them. This time there was no smoke screen to add to the effect of her shunpo. Abby was the first one to feel it, the emergence of the woman's spiritual power. The reishi blade was a giveaway once she flash-stepped again. His blade still extended he merely flipped forward out of range of the attack. The 8 foot claws followed his motion, the went down and behind him slashing at rogue beneath them. Sergi took a page from Junko's book and vanished as the blade arced at his feet. Still holding his wound he reappeared behind Junko. A heavy gust of wind came up behind his sword as he swung horizontally at the woman's back. Even weakened the added push made up for the lack of power coming from the single arm attack. The 4ft wing shaped blade hissed as it cut the air.

Junko soon regretted the decision to fight here. The shinigami dissapeared, both of them. "Damn they're fast" Junko watched her sword swing helplessly out of range of the man above her, his flip about to slice her up with his reshi claws, and the winged sword one disappeared. Junko felt a presense show up behind her, and she was left with one of two options, right or left. Junko chose left, diving sideways and righting herself to vertical and spinning to face the pair of them, her sword coming around slashing at the person that was behind her, their swords colided, and Junko shunpo'ed back out of range of the pair, perhaps 15 feet away. "Your turn!" Junko said with an eerie grin on her face, perhaps because of the rising flames coming from the district below...

The district was burning. There were flames leaping from building to building. It only took a little bit for the fire to gain a foothold and then expand across the wooden homes. From house to house it moved like a living creature. A creature that hungered to swallow everything and then eventually die itself. It was a savage and brainless beast that now lurked in the district and it grew with every passing moment. As it ate and fed smoke started to rise. The overall temperature increased ever so slowly. It was already a warm day in Rukongai, the fire made it less bearable. Thankfully the area was clear of civilians. While the town burned there wasn't a single soul to feel it's horrible wraith. Sabrina watched it all stoically. Her mission was to capture the fugitive and to minimize the loss of life. With the people saved she had no intention of letting the group surrounding the area getting occupied by quelling the blaze. Let the homes burn, they were only things. Things could be replaced lives were much more precious.

Up in the sky

Junko's two combatants weren't impressed by her bravado. The first attack they had underestimated her. Now they were more than prepared to use their full powers against her. Call it foolishness, but they had truly thought she would go down quietly. Sergi's hand held over the wound the woman had imparted upon him. There was more blood flowing and he could already feel a slight chill even with the heat coming from beneath them. His had was wet with the crimson liquid, but he did he best to keep the pressure on it. He couldn't afford a prolonged battle and he knew it. Abby knew this as well he quickly recovered from his flip and retracted his blades. They would need to press the woman, they wouldn't allow her to win so easily. With a grimace Sergi pulled the hand away from his injury. The red hand pointed two of it's fingers at Junko.
"Bakudo #11: Dust wind." The burst of sand came to life in front of his hand. Just as it barely manifested his swung his blade with his other arm. The moving cloud of sand became a dust storm instantly when the strong gust from his blade hit it. The mass of wind and sand shot at the fugitive. Abby had vanish just as the spell had completed although his whereabouts were soon known as he appeared above the cloud just as it reached Junko's location. The purple claws grew quickly as he slashed directly at Junko's head. Panting Sergi was doing his best to focus his waning energies. His hand returned to his wound as he gripped his blade tighter with his other hand. Gritting his teeth he shunpo'd behind the cloud as his companion made his attack. "Hado #3: Crimson Strike." This time he aimed with his sword hand. The ray of red light pierced the sand veil and hopefully Junko as well.

Junko backed off, her failed attack had left her momentarily open, and she narrowly avoided being beaten by these chumps. Junko's reshi blade wore off, good for what it was worth, but the men didn't seem to want to use Zanjutsu against Junko. Good too, because 2v1 isn't favorable, even if she is better than them individually. She realized that she was getting casted at abit too late to do anything about it, a blast of dust in her eyes blinded her. She felt more reiatsu building up as well, but she didn't know what it could be, some sort of kido? Was it a shikai ability! Junko couldn't move, that would comprimise her position, and allow the pair to strike her down with relative ease.

Junko resorted to her somewhat unused kido. "Hado 18 Smite!" Junko said, her off hand casting the spell, a large octagon appearing infront of her hand, and she threw it at the stronger of the two energies. She felt the attack colide with hers, and was relieved when she wasn't greeted with the sensation of pain. Junko rubbed her eyes, the water from tears carrying away some of the dust in her eyes. "Wait, wern't they both equal just a short time ago?" One was loosing energy, quite quickly it seemed. She peered through her watery eyes, her vision being blurred, but no longer she blinded. She blinked the tears out of her eyes, she called out to the men, "If you continue, I'll start fighting, although you two are quite good dancers." Junko said, a wicked grin on her face, ready to live up to her boasting if the situation called for it.

Rather than have his extended claws dig into the meaty flesh of Junko, they met with something else. The dirt storm was meant to blind and disorientate the target, but it would seem that she had enough sense to launch a kido to avoid the attack. The purple block flew from the haze as the shinigami's claws came down. Both the purple object sparked as they met and clashed against one another. But it was over in a second as the extending claws cut into the cube. Cracks appeared as the energy blades were driven deeper as the block pushed forward. The momentum was only enough to stop the advance of the three claws for only a second. Abby gave a grunt as he pushed his hand and sent them cutting through the block, shattering it. The quickly crafted bakudo was already fading the woman was quick to spout a challenge.
A glance at his companion was all he needed to spurn him forward. Sergi held his side and his blade, unwilling to surrender. If he wasn't to quit neither would he.
Taking a deep breath he readied himself for what was to come next.
"Do it Sergi, give her everything you got!" His claws retracted to their normal metallic length as he then shunpo'd forward.

In less than a heartbeat he was standing less than a foot than the woman. Abby had a grin on his face. His weapon was smaller than hers making it ideal for close quarter combat. Without a thought he gave her grinning face a headbutt. As he drew his head back from the blow he was already sending his knee up to the right side of her abdomen. His right hand was already on the move bringing his metal claw point up between them. The purple light returned to the metal tips and shot up like lightning bolt at the woman's neck. Dodge them or not. These purple blades vanished nearly as fast as they were created. Instead of maintaining the blades he quickly retracted them to maintain the small advantage the shorter weapon held. He meant to press her and keep her on her toes. His next attack was a simple jab with his left and a thrust with his right should she move back any further. Give her no quarter, no room to breath. Meanwhile Sergi took his partner's hint and sheathed his weapon. He kept his eyes locked on the two combatants as he began to focus his energy. A light blue glow engulfed him as he held his palms together.

"Water, what gives life to those who I seek to end, Lightning, what Creates the fire in my hand, Combine, and deliver your judgment upon this soul." As he spoke the glow brightened Sergi a green ball of light grew bigger and bigger between his hands. Soon the orb was half the size of his slender frame. As it grew bigger he raised it over his head and held it like Atlas held the globe. The soft blue glow as now dwarfed by the bright green ball of light. Sergi looked pale as he pushed his energy into the spell. Abby could already feel the attack had neared completion.

Junko grinned, they seemed to be responding well to her taunt. She wondered what sort of combo strategy they would come at her with. The pair attacking all out would be nice, as it would end the fight quicker, but they seemed smart enough to avoid that suicide attack. A nod went between the two, and a grin matching her's was in her face. Heads colided, leaving Junko stunned, she gritted her teeth, taking the blow, and antoher, she recovered just enough to see a bladed attack coming toward her neck, in which she finally moved her arms enough to block, but it was a feint, another blow glancing against her armor. "Damnit this guy is good!". Junko struggled to find room to fight, considering dropping her sword to fight hand to hand to that guy, but that was suicide...

Junko took too many blows, her armor taking them with her, but this man had her beat as far as hand to had was concerned, she was hard pressed to keep vital attacks from landing. And what was his partner doing, his spiritual energy was rising as well, infact, it was freakin huge! Fear widened her eyes to bulging, she caught a glimpse of the attack that was to come. No attack came from Abby, he had already shunpo'ed away. "Shit." Junko thought, as her body was engulfed in green light.

Junko's armor was designed to stop physical attacks. It does its job well. Even stopping light spiritual attacks too. This wasn't light. The armor burned away, plate and chain, the reshi it was made of scattering to the wind, leaving Junko exposed to the blast, almost instantly after it engulfed her. Her body was practically destroyed, the kido burning away everything down to the skin.

When the blast stopped Junko smoke still rose off of Junko, everything from the waist up had been destroyed, her skin a ragged patch of burns and cuts, her face was a deep red, not a natural one either, it was heavily burned, her hair was burnt at the tips, the stark black contrasting to her white hair. Junko still stood though, blood trickled from the corners of her mouth, trickling down to her chin, and the fact that she wasn't decent, but she was alive...

"Honoo, Fenikkusu no Tenshi." Junko said the incantation to her shikai, her mind was focused, A state of Paji reflecting on her flames, and the armor reformed over her scarred body, the burns only adding to the wealth of scars that were a holdover from her decade of imprisonment. Wings glowed behind her, before solidifying into the real mccoy. Junko raised her head, her eyes flashing against her white flames, before she disappeared, in the same way the Abby had just moments before, appearing before the Kido user, her blade attempting to pierce his heart.

The dark haired man was surprised that everything was going so smoothly as he landed strike after strike on the woman. It would seem she wasn't expecting such a direct attack either. As planned he pressed his assault. She was on the rope just a little bit more. One more strike and things would be perfect. Striking again and again, before he shunpo out of the way.
"Hado#30: Midori Hi Jikkou." Sergi grunted as he did his best to contain the swelling energy of the larger green sphere. As he spoke the last part the spell was complete and large orb ruptured. Emerald light spilled from the ball of energy heading right for Junko. She took the blast head on. The sky lit up with the discharge of energy struck the rogue shinigami. Got her. Abby said mentally as the burst of bright green light slowly faded and energy diminished.

It was then that they saw the aftermath of the attack. Junko had survived the onslaught, but not unscathed. Her body was still smoking from where the energy had touched her. It was hard to see from his vantage point, but she definitely looked hurt. They way she stood there after the attack made it seem it was a critical injury. Sergi didn't look much better he had put so much reiryoku into the attack. With his injury it was a miracle that he was still standing. The effort must have agitated his wound as his hands were holding where the woman had struck him earlier. For a moment there was a pause in the tension that had held them as they battled in the air. Abby took this chance to confront the fugitive.
"It's over, surrender now_" His words stopped as the woman's spiritual energies flared. A heat washed over them greater than the fire spreading below. Instinctively Abby and Sergi looked away as the white flames took form over the woman. In the second that it had occurred she was now covered in new armor. Large wings came from her back. It was a sight to behold. As stunning as the vision the angelic being was before them, she was still an enemy. Abby raised his hands ready to push forward once again. But Junko had beaten him to it. She had made the first move. The white blaze vanished and reappeared. Without a moment's hesitation she thrust her weapon forward.

Abby should have expected the attack after Sergi unleashed the kido upon her. Time seemed to slow down as the woman's weapon pushed into the other man's chest. There was no way the other man could have muster even the tiniest bit of energy to shunpo away after his last attack. It was taking everything he had to keep floating in the sky. There was a look of utter shock as the burning blade drove it's point home. Already weakened, the explosion of pain was like a rush of adrenaline. Every part of his body felt suddenly alive as the death stroke hit.
"SERGI!" the other man yelled and darted across the sky at Junko's unprotected back. He thrust his right hand forward and his purple blades stretched out in front of him. Abby and his blades suddenly stopped as Sabrina stood in the air between them and the winged woman. Her blade drawn, she had caught all three of the purple talons against the flat of her weapon. Sabrinas eyes locked with Abby's.
"He's lost and so have you." she said simply and turned her head to watch Sergi's last moment's on the end of a blade. "I will avenge both of you, go, take care of the fire below." Abby stood there a moment before the claws faded. He hung his head as the tears fell from his face. Very slowly he descended from the sky.
"I'm sorry Sergi, I was strong enough." He muttered. Soon only the two women remained floating some distance apart.

Junko finished her shunpo, her foot solidly planting on the air before this man. She plunged her pronged blade into the man's chest, a sickening sound from blade piercing flesh, and his accompanied cry out in pain jolted Junko. Her flames faded, a thin line of blue flames rode between the prongs of her blade now. Her head hung low, and if you looked close enough, you could see the faintest of tears rolling down Junko's cheek.

She started to pull the sword out of the man's body, using her boot to shove him off the tip of the blade, she kicked, and the man plummeted to the ground, a grand cremation would be given to him by her flames. Junko turned to the Vice-Captain, who she had just heard say, "I will avenge both of you".

Junko's flames flared up red, Junko's voice, hoarse and dry, "You should've fought me in the first place" Junko said bitterly. "I don't enjoy this, not anymore... I challenged you so we could minimize bloodshed." Junko had no more to say after that, she took a deep breath, returning to Paji. She folded her wings across her back, although given the setting, they would probably be needed.

Junko shunpo'ed foward, her speed augmented by shikai and Paji, she was hauling ass. Junko appeared behind the lieutenant, out of sword's reach, and said, "Kaen Houshaki", Flames roared out of her blade, the same flames that destroyed part of the 11th squad's barracks, the same that forced Kaiyo-taicho to use her own shikai.

"An interesting choice of words Madam Tenshi." Sabrina said to herself as the Sergi was crudely removed from the end of the woman's weapon. She had said that she did not enjoy killing and that her challenge was to reduce bloodshed. What a contradiction. If she really wanted to minimize bloodshed she could have just surrendered peacefully when she had come through the gate on that day. She wanted blood, she wanted carnage. It was a bloody path the woman walked and a bloody end that awaited her. This was the way of the warrior. How fitting that she was a user of fire. For it was something that best represented the fugitive. A violent blaze that would consume all and then die. A savage creature that knew only tear at everything around it until there was nothing left. Sabrina nodded to herself. It was her duty to stop this woman, to end the raging flames.
"Sing thy song, Lyrianna." She spoke and her zanpukto began to glow as the change took place.

Energy flooded from the weapon into her body as the blade inflated and the handle lengthened. With the rush of power came the sound of chimes slowly sounding as if caught in a light wind. It took naught but a second for the transformation to be complete and the large weapon hung in the pony-tailed woman's hand. She held the great blade with ease despite it nearly being the same size as her body. Junko's white flames returned and the other woman tensed. She had noticed the shift in color, and could only guess at it's significance. An attack was coming, but what she didn't know. It quicker than anticipated. The winged woman moved faster than she had a moment ago. Such frightening speed at that. It had only taken a fraction of a second for her to move behind her. No small feat in the slightest. She half turned her body, half seeing the motion. Sabrina didn't have time to be amazed as a fire in the middle of Junko's zanpukto flared to life. The Lieutenat twisted her own weapon so that the golden ring on the handle lined up with the billowing flames.
"Forte!" With under a foot between herself and the flames the cone of sound sprayed from the large ring. The fire was fanned back as if hit by a gust of wind. Sabrina normally used the attack for offensive, but in this case it did work as defensive measure. She hummed gently feeding the ring more sound to keep the sound going. A decent defense, but not a perfect one. While burst did fend the flames, it didn't affect the sweltering heat that came off the intense fire. Although it hadn't touched her, she could feel herself being roasted. The smell of burning hair and fabric filled her nostrils

If things kept on she wouldn't last long. She shifted her focus and shunop'd away. With her gone the fired overran the space she once occupied. Sabrina noticed that she was indeed sweating even from the close proximity of the white fire. Already she has surmised that the extreme heat was a property of the white flames. The fire on the ground was nowhere as hot as the attack had been. If they had touched her it was possible that she'd been reduced to ashes. There was no way to be sure. It was only a guess, but one she felt best not confirming. Her shunpo had taken her above and to the right of Junko. There was still some distance between them. This time Sabrina took the offensive. Resting the large blade over her shoulder she moved forward through the air. As she drew near she swung the blade up and over in a fierce overhead chop at Junko.

Junko felt this lieutenant move, the sound vanishing, leaving an echo in her ears. Her reiatsu and Junko's clashed with the meeting of fire and sound. Thats all the last few seconds entailed, the reiatsu of both Junko and this vice-captain clashed, and the intensity of Junko's reiatsu forced her back. The move she had seen before, the air bent around it, the screaming of that blade she could still feel in her bones as it was trying to blow Junko away, That ability was far from lethal, at least in this setting.

The Lieutenant seemed intent on settling the fight with sword play, and Junko quickly figured out the course of action she needed to take. The force behind the sword would be something Junko couldn't just straight up take, and that could lead up into another attack. Junko could dodge, shunpo'ing away, but that would leave her on the back foot. So if defense nor running was an option, then the choice of attack was clear.

As the vice captain closed, Junko brought her sword close, she pivoted on her left foot, turning to face the Vice captain, and with her sword held close, and the tip facing the Lieutenant, another gout of white hot flames shot out at this holder of prestigious rank. Perhaps that would end the fight in itself.

Her method of attack seemed sound, as she came closer and closer. There was little time for the opponent to react. Or so she thought. Junko's body shifted and she turned. Sabrina watched as the fugitive's weapon came around. She knew well what facing the tip of that blade meant. Already she could feel the heat radiating off the armored woman. She had noticed how hot the air felt around Junko.
"Forte" The handle vibrated in her hands and the ring at it's pommel screamed once more. As the burst of sound exploded from the ring. Her whole body jerked as the force from the ring pushed out. She twisted her body and kicked the air. It was all just enough to shift her out of the path of the tongue of flame that shot from the fiery zanpukto. The lieutenant spun in the air like horizontal like a top. She came to a stop kneeling on the air below Junko. She didn't pause to think about the narrowly avoided roasting. Instead she thrust herself at the opponent.

"Hado #1: Sho" she uttered pointing her free hand at the winged maiden. A simple push spell aimed at lady's leg. At the same time the her huge weapon came directly at the Junko's zanpukto. She attempted to bat the blade aside. She could not do as her companion's claw could do, but the length of her weapon did give her some measure of advantage. Not by much. The opponent used flame at range, it wasn't wise to stay too far back. Close enough to be trouble, but far enough to be safe. A gentle balance she'd have to maintain. She had already pulled back her weapon from the thrust and now did a quick slash with the wide blade.

Junko felt her cheeks tug backward, surely another "Forte" attack, the sound rebuffed Junko and her flames turned aside, and the Lieutenant dissapeared from Junko's sight. There was no time for confidence, no matter how much it seemed that Junko was indeed winning. The attack came from below, Junko's flames still spewing from her pronged blade. She felt her leg slip, her balance thrown off. Junko's eyes whirled, trying to combat whatever attack was coming next, both hands grabbing her Zanpaktou, as the opponents larger blade meant that she may need to use both hands just to hold on. The widened blade did strike Junko's own, Junko gripping tightly to her sword to keep from it being lost to the fires below her. This threw Junko further off balance, and the following slash it Junko straight in the gut, the armor disintegrating under the force of Sabrina's Zanpaktou, and left Junko with a vicious gash on her right side.

Junko regained her balance, the lieutenant was still in a backswing from the slash, and it was time to press the attack. Junko flash stepped the distance, a mere meter to the lieutenant, but the measure of control it took to keep from slamming into sabrina took effort. Junko led with a slash, trying to sever one of the lieutenants hands from her body.

*PING*

The large blade chimed as it hit against Junko's weapon. The same note it had sounded not long ago when they had first met at the gate. Such a simple sound and yet like a small melody. Sabrina didn't need to look as the top ring on her large blade began to glow with a faint blue light. She could feel the energy building from the vibrations sent through the blade from touching the enemy. The lieutenant shingami didn't stop from this minor victory and continued with here attack.

*PING*

Her efforts were doubly rewarded as she managed to hit a second time. Sabrina's weapon sang with the now familiar note. The strike was strong enough to fracture the other woman's armor. She had been worried that it gave Junko an advantage, but it seemed her zanpukto was capable of penetrating it. Still he didn't allow herself to any praise for the successful attack. One or two strikes weren't going to end this battle. Of what little she did know of Junko she knew the battle would not be an easy one. The look in the woman's eyes was as fierce as the fires she commanded. Was is hatred that fueled those flames? As these thoughts fluttered through her mind the second ring on her weapon had lit up. Now two rings upon her weapon were pulsating with soft blue light. The energy resting in them resonating with every fiber of her being.

The second strike had sent her opponent reeling, but she was quick to recover. Too quick. Her own recovery was too slow as Junko brought her zanpukto down to slash at her wrist. With ease the sharp blade pierced the skin and cut into the bone. It would have succeeded in severing the left hand if not for the handle of her own sword. Blood was already flowing from the deep gash. Sabrina stifled her scream performed a backhand swing at her attacker before shunpoing away. After giving herself some space she quickly examined the wound. It hurt as bad as it looked. The other weapon had cut through skin and muscle and the blood was flowing freely from the wound. It was a miracle that she had retained her grip on the weapon. She ripped her sleeve and made a make shift bandage. The black cloth became darker with blood. Sabrina transferred her zanpukto to her right hand. She flexed the fingers of her left hand. Painful to move, but she couldn't make a proper fist. The Lieutenant looked at the fugitive, and grimaced.
"Bakudo #10: Hōrin." The orange tendril shot from Sabrina's hand and snaked it's way at Junko. It came from the left, but then shifted it's course to completely miss her. But then it circled around and back at Junko to attack from the right. Sabrina charged straight at the other woman thrusting her weapon low as the rope attempted to ensnare it's target.

Junko was to off balance, too distracted... to focused on the topic of the best way to send her own pronged sword through this lieutenant's face. Junko was loosing to him, a thought that was too familiar to her, and started a dash, amplified by short steps of shunpo was supposed to send him to his grave. Her hair trailed behind her, a wisp tinged by the red of the fires below. Her armor, the dull steel sheen echoing her own apathetic state. The white flames between her blades pure, no remorse or regret.

An orange tendril, flicking past her, she ignored it. It had missed, how could it hurt her now. This man had seconds to live. He returned the charge, a salutation to his death. Her eyes echo'ed off of her own white blade, seeing that it would strike true. Her arms, heavy under armor, made the thrust. A quick twist sideways to avoid the man's blade, then the thrust!

An orange tendril, wrapped around her waist, and the man's own blade, stuck in through one side of her, and out the other... Blood pumped out in tune to her own beating heart. Pain hadn't arrived yet, but in the that span of only a second, she had all the time in the world.

Shock registered in her eyes, her shikai started dissolving, her armor casting a glow, but instead of morphing back into what she had before, it simply floated away, the reshi lost from Junko's hold. Another heart beat, blood had reached the edge of the blade, spilling over to the ground... nearly 100 feet below. Fenikkusu's flames turned a deep shade of blue, nearly black. This marked the first time she had felt this in a very long time...

Fear, fear sent her nerves into action, pain rushing to her mind. The screaming endings of nerves as they brushed against the metal blade. Her eyes betrayed her fear, and she locked eyes with the lieutenant... This would be the last person she ever saw...

Another heart beat... Junko's shikai had dissolved fully, her own sword, mere inches from the lieutenant's face, dropped 10 stories to the ground. A cry met her lips, the woeful last breath of someone who knows their own end.

As her last act, she pushed herself off his blade with her free hand, blood trailed out of her body as she flew toward the ground, toward a rather tall inferno...

Irony it seems, would have a hand in this bout, dying in the hands of the very blaze that she created...

The vice captain blade dug into the rogue. For a moment she shocked at the inevitable outcome. She had wanted an end that didn't involve the loss of life, but it was either her or her opponent that would fall this day. Sabrina watched as the body plummeted towards the ground into the very fires that Junko had created. Down and down it fell until it was lost in the rising blaze. It was sad to see such a spirited shinigami die, but there was little else she could do. After crossing blades with the warrior she felt a kind of respect for her. Perhaps given time she could have reformed the criminal, but there was no way to know for sure. If anyone else had been sent for this duty it would have been the same regardless. A pain went through her wrist were Junko's blade had cut her deeply. If she had not used all her strength it would probably be her down there amongst the flames. Slowly Sabrina nodded her head. Her zanpukto glowed bright blue then reverted to it's smaller form. She shook the blooded weapon clean before returning it to it's sheath. A sad day indeed. A life lost and a district in flames. She could do something about the the latter, but the former was beyond her control. She signaled for her companions as they would need to alert the fire brigade to quell the raging inferno before it spread further.