Red is the Loveliest of Colors

Sekkou sat hidden in the shadow of a water tower in some god-knows-where town in the Real World. He was hiding from a low-level Menos that appeared intent on chasing him down. Sekkou breathed slowly and evenly so as not to alert the Menos to his presence. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Shinigami. This one looked tough- was wearing an arm band over his arm and had a long metal toothpick in his mouth. Clearly the band signified something, but Sekkou wasn’t sure. Regardless, he was going to leave the Menos to that Shinigami.

Sekkou felt a gathering of spiritual pressure. He chanced a glance around the side of the water tower. The Menos seemed to be gathering reiatsu in a red sphere in its mouth. Sekkou watched the ball slowly grow until- a strange noise emitted, and the sphere seemed to grow in size impossibly fast. Sekkou turned his attention back to the Shinigami. He’s finished…thought Sekkou. The Shinigami seemed unperturbed- Sekkou thought he heard him say something, but over the roar of the blast, he was unable to detect exactly what. Regardless, out of nowhere, a blue, shell-shaped shield sprung from the ground and took the blast full-force. Sekkou watched the Shinigami step out from behind the shell and say in a carrying voice, “Such a weak Cero…but I suppose it’s ta be expected from a low-level Menos like yaself.” The Shinigami seemed to appear with impossible speed in front of the Menos- he sliced it open like it was nothing.

Sekkou pressed his body against the water tower to further hide himself. This Shinigami was not to be trifled with- even his insatiable hunger was not enough to override his caution. He watched as the Shinigami opened up a gate of some sort and exited the town, back to Soul Society, presumably.

Sekkou considered what he had just seen. The blast that the Menos had shot off had been very powerful- it would certainly give him an edge against fellow Hollows. Sekkou discerned that there were no significant spiritual pressures nearby, and so decided to embark on a goal to produce a Cero of his own. He raised a finger and began gathering spiritual energy at the tip. A red ball of it began to collect. It was slow going…but Sekkou knew the reward would be worthwhile. “Cero…” he muttered, and released the ball. The resulting Cero was hardly impressive; it only blasted a hole through a brick wall about 2 meters in diameter.

Practice makes perfect…thought Sekkou. He raised a finger and tried again. This time, the spiritual energy cam a little easier, though it still took considerable effort. The resulting Cero from this try obliterated a small section of road- and also alerted a Shinigami, based on the reiatsu Sekkou felt. Time to go…he thought. Sekkou opened up a Garganta to return to Hueco Mundo.

aproved .5 to kidou

Sekkou stepped out of the Garganta into the Real World. It was definitely safer to practice his innate Hollow abilities here- here it was harder to spot his admittedly pathetic Ceros and Balas. In the open desert of Hueco Mundo- suffice it to say that it was very easy to spot even the feeblest Cero. He felt good- just before taking the trip through the Garganta, he had consumed a fellow Hollow and was now in tiptop shape, ready to take on any problem life could throw at him.

He found a dingy basketball court that was surrounded by vandalized cement walls. It would be a good place to practice his Cero and Bala attacks. He faced the north wall and gathered reiatsu around his right fist. “Ha!” He solidified his reiatsu and fired a Bala at the wall. It shook under the impact, but the Bala itself only left a slight crater in the wall. Incensed, Sekkou began firing Bala after Bala at the wall with his right hand. He looked like he was conducting an orchestra or something- Sekkou’s hand swished through the air at high speed sending Bala after Bala into the north wall until finally…BOOM! The wall cracked all over the place and crumbled.

Sekkou would have smirked if his mask would allow it, but of course it didn’t. Now for Cero. He pointed a finger at the south wall and began gathering spiritual energy there. A red sphere of energy hovered just in front of his index finger and seemed to expand as more and more energy gathered. Sekkou released the Cero when he felt that he could not contain the energy held there any longer. The Cero was slightly larger than the one he had fired before from the water tower, and it blasted a hole through the south wall.

Sekkou began laughing to himself. If he kept on practicing like this, his power would be unrivaled.

“What’s so funny, Hollow?” Sekkou turned to see a Shinigami staring at him with his katana drawn. He looked young and inexperienced, yet he had somehow snuck up on him. Sekkou resolved to be more careful in the future.

“Nossing that would concern ze likes of you, Shinigami.” Sekkou’s French accent seemed harsh coming from his mouth. “I ’ave no time for ze likes of you. Be gone or I will obliterate you!”

The Shinigami gripped his Zanpakuto tightly. “No, I must kill you.” He jumped high above Sekkou to bring his katana down and slice Sekkou in half.

Amateur…thought Sekkou. He brought up his right hand and began swishing it through the air again, sending a barrage of Bala at the Shinigami. The Shinigami screamed as the Bala knocked him flying. Sekkou was annoyed that his power was not sufficient to rip apart the Shinigami with sheer force- but he figured that that would come with time. His index finger came up to point and follow the falling Shinigami. Red spiritual energy gathered at the tip until- Sekkou’s Cero obliterated the low-level Shinigami.

Shame…thought Sekkou. He could’ve made a good meal. He approached the remains- they were still smoking. “Hahaha.” He laughed. Sekkou bent. The flesh was still intact in some places. He shrugged and began to gorge himself on the burnt flesh.

+1.5 Kidou

Sekkou and his companions stood at the edge of a storage area filled with steel industrial storage units. According to Sukauto, it was sometimes frequented by Academy students that would be led by senior students. In other words, they would be easy targets for Hollows as cunning as Sekkou and his companions were. Sekkou planned to practice his Cero and Bala skills against the Academy students. He hid alongside one of the large storage units, using his chameleon-like ability to turn invisible against the steel gray exterior. Kougakusha and Sogekihei hid on top of a couple of the storage units, and Sukauto and Bakuhatsu hid in the shadows of the units.

They waited in silence until the blue light of a Senkai gate alerted them to the presence of Shinigami. A small group of Academy students stepped out- they were perhaps twenty in number. One of the students began giving orders; presumably he was one of the senior students. The students split off into ten groups of two- Sekkou nearly chuckled and gave his position away; it was like they were trying to make this easy.

Anyway, as the students went off in different directions, he felt the reiatsus of his colleagues go off, and saw several explosions as well as Balas explode all over the place. Pandemonium. A pair of students ran past him. Sekkou became visible again and breathed smoke all over them. The smoke caused them to cough and close their eyes, temporarily incapacitated. Sekkou pointed his index finger at the cloud and began charging a Cero. He let the menacing energy gather at the tip of his finger until he could no longer control it, and then fired the energy blast into the cloud. He felt rather than saw the Cero hit the two Shinigami and severely injure them.

Sekkou swooped into the cloud and grabbed their charred bodies, stuffing both into his mouth. He jumped up on top of an adjacent unit and then camouflaged again. He glanced around and saw his companions battling with ease. Sogekihei was far on the edge of the storage area, picking off unsuspecting students with Balas. Sukauto was running pretty much undetected among the units and clubbing enemies to death with his overlarge fist. Kougakusha had lost the pods on his back, but he was surrounded by four strange spindly things that stood on three legs and fired reiatsu pellets and the occasional Bala at anyone that approached. Bakuhatsu was blowing things apart with his explosives and causing general confusion.

Sekkou nodded in satisfaction. Now he just had to find that senior student he had seen before. He spotted him running to aid a pair of students that were being overwhelmed by the superior speed of Sukauto. Sekkou raced to beat the senior student to them, and just barely came in behind the student, who raised his sword and slashed at Sukauto, who nimbly jumped aside.

“Stand back,” advised Sekkou. Sukauto jumped high into the air. Sekkou formed a gun with the fingers of his right hand and began firing Bala after Bala into the narrow alley that the three Shinigami were in. His Balas easily caught the two Academy students and sent them flying, unconscious, into the storage unit at the end of the alley. The senior student seemed more familiar with the idea of dodging, and managed to dodge the flurry of Balas for a good thirty seconds before he ran directly into a Bala that seemed to come in from a strange angle. “Sogekihei…” breathed Sekkou.

He shrugged. A kill was a kill, after all. Sekkou picked up the dazed student and bit him casually in half, savoring the iron-y taste of his blood, and then shoved the rest of his body in. For good measure, he fired several more Balas into the two unconscious students before stuffing them into his mouth as well.

He signaled the rest of his colleagues with a short Cero into the sky. They gathered quickly, and Sekkou tore open a Garganta. It was time to leave before Soul Society sent more adept Shinigami.

+1 to kidou

Sekkou appeared alone via Garganta in the middle of a cemetery on a lonesome hillside where for some reason, one felt as if one was near the ocean. It was very late, and no moon was in the sky. He had learned that humans thought this place to be “haunted” as they called it. To him, that meant an excess of Pluses…and also perhaps a Shinigami patrol.

He looked around and savored the feel of all those Plus reiatsus around him. He spent an hour hunting down wayward spirits and devouring them. Sekkou was just about to leave when he felt a more significant reiatsu. He bared his teeth and looked around carefully. It was no Shinigami reiatsu- it was the reiatsu of a fellow Hollow. And it wasn’t familiar, meaning it was most likely hostile.

A Hollow that resembled a hammerhead shark in terms of its mask revealed itself and roared at Sekkou. Sekkou responded by sending a Bala directly at its open mouth. The Bala exploded with considerable force and sent the Hollow flying backward. It came charging back with its jaws gnashing furiously. The Hollow leaped at him and tried to bite his neck.

Sekkou turned his body and stepped to the side to dodge the attack. As the Hollow flew past him, he fired a Bala into its body. This second Bala sent the Hollow flying away from him a second time. The other Hollow roared in rage and charged at Sekkou, and then jumped high in an attempt to attack him from above. To Sekkou, this move was laughable. He pointed his right finger up and began firing Balas at high speed toward the falling Hollow.

Sekkou’s Balas slammed into the Hollow over and over again, sending it tumbling head over heels…up. Sekkou continued this until he felt that the enemy Hollow would be too disoriented to notice its imminent danger. He began charging a Cero at the end of his finger, and then released it as the Hollow fell within range. His Cero ripped through the enemy Hollow; it fell with a limp thud to the ground. Sekkou ran over to it and began gorging himself; he savored the feel of his power increasing.

ooc: kido please

+1.5 Kidou

Sekkou slammed into a concrete wall hard enough to crack it. He growled up at the Hollow that had thrown him into it. It had a mask that resembled a rhinoceros, and it was literally bulging with muscles on top of muscles. It was also exceedingly stupid, as Sekkou had found out earlier when he had thrown a chunk of rubble at it and it had just stood there and took the blow. However, this stupidity appeared to be inversely proportional to its constitution- so far all the things Sekkou had thrown at it had been shrugged off. Sekkou hissed in annoyance.

If physical attacks won’t work…perhaps other attacks will…Sekkou thought. He fired a Bala directly at the rhino Hollow. When the smoke from the Bala cleared, the rhino Hollow was revealed to be relatively unharmed; it only had a small circle of ash on its chest to show that the Bala had hit. However, Sekkou noticed that it had slid backward several feet. That gave him an idea. He raised his finger again and began raining Balas at the Hollow, pushing it back until it went through a concrete wall of the skyscraper behind it.

Quickly, Sekkou began climbing the skyscraper as fast as he could. As soon as he got to the top, he began charging a Cero at the tip of his finger. The gathering of reiatsu would most likely alert the rhino Hollow to his whereabouts. He was right; the Hollow appeared above the roof and came charging at him. Sekkou smirked inwardly and fired his Cero at it. His Cero took it over the edge of the roof. He hurried to the side and watched it start to fall. “Just to make sure…” he muttered to himself. He jumped over the edge and began charge a Cero as he began to fall. As it reached its full potential, he fired it. The blast tore into the enemy Hollow and sent it spiraling down at high velocity into the pavement, sending up a large plume of dust and debris.

Sekkou landed next to the severely injured Hollow and planted his jaws around its neck. He ripped out its throat; the first taste of blood was sweet and incensed him into a feeding frenzy. Sekkou’s shook as it absorbed the power.

ooc: can i get 1 intel point for this so i'm at 10 for it, and then the rest to kido? thanks

approved + 1 Kidou. Sorry bud, this is a kido training spot only .