At the Gates [OPEN]

[Hibiki Shimizu]

Hibiki braced his legs, preparing himself for the next wave of attackers with a stoic look on his face. The air began to rumble and the Captain didn't move from his spot, merely observing in all directions and trying to see what newest disturbance was now at hand. A loud crash rocked the entire battlefield near the gate, which left a good sized crater and a large number of thugs flying into the air. Amidst the screams and shouts of the frightened criminals, Hibiki sensed another presence briefly. It was a considerable spike in reiatsu, but only for a moment, and the Captain assumed it was the same source of power that sent all the thugs in the air off flying in different directions.

And then, appearing before Hibiki and the sparse number of shinigami at the gate, a mysterious pink-haired woman arrived on the scene. The Captain of the Eighth Division made sure to keep his stern watch on the woman despite his immense number of suspicions. This woman. If she can move with that speed and attack with such power... Hibiki continued to watch silently, his trident securely at in the grasp of one of hands, as the woman dispatched another unlucky thug with incredible ease. "Organization...wait, what?" the Captain whispered upon hearing the woman's strange request. I'm not sure what to make of this. Its certainly an unexpected turn of events. Hibiki looked past the woman and towards the horde of thugs behind her, none of them making an apparent move now. "Identify yourself, woman." Hibiki commanded, his stalwart eyes focusing intently on those of Furiko's, almost in a threatening manner.

But as soon as the Captain could respond to the pink-haired woman with that single order, the Sayomi forces moved into attack. This time, a much larger wave of soldiers poured into the open expanse between their frontline and the Western Gate. Hibiki used shunpo to appear just behind the woman, now facing the approaching horde as soon as he saw their first signs of movement. "For now...I will deal with these cretins. I'll interrogate you later," the Captain concluded with a sigh. He straightened out his arm that was holding his weapon, and brandished the item clearly for all to see. He then spun it around a few times, a ring of fire gradually forming in the path of the weapons rotation. In mid swing, Hibiki caught the end of the trident with his free hand and forcefully brought the weapon out in a horizontal slash. The resulting effect was a spinning ring of fire that cascaded through the enemy ranks of Sayomi clansmen, burning its way through all it touched.

"I-impossible..." Akinori muttered as he was being dragged off by a group of Eighth Division shinigami, fading in and out of consciousness. Never before had the proud warrior been defeated in battle and especially never by a woman. If he had the consciousness to spare, he would be positively infuriated by such a fact. The regiment that arrived at the North Gate was successfully holding back the tides of Akinori's mercenaries. Some of the force, either from discouragement or loss of their commander, was now fleeing or peacefully surrendering. A large number still resisted, but it was far less of a group than it had been a few moments before so the shinigam reinforcements were suited well to deal with that small threat.

"Sheesh! This guy heavy or what?" one of the shinigam complained while slightly struggling to hold up Akinori under one of the man's arms. Another shinigami from Squad 8 was doing less complaining and merely nodded in agreement. "So...*pant pant*...we uhh...we taking this guy to where...exactly?" Just then, a explosion of powerful reiatsu boomed around the two shinigami and their captive. The force was powerful enough to knock both men off their feet and a small distance backwards. Akinori though - he was standing up. Standing up with a visible glowing aura of violet energy around him, his eyes still fainted but his mouth contorted into a wicked smile. "I can't LOSE!" the commander roared, unsheathing a hidden blade from under the folds of his wolf pelt cape, another explosion of energy shaking the area around the Northern Gate. "NOW! CURDLE! CHINOTE!" The dagger that the purple shihakusho-adorning commander know held glowed in a golden light that nearly out shown his own aura of malevolence. When the light passed so did the immense explosions of reiatsu. The two shinigami that had been escorting Akinori to the Squad 8 dungeons now remained on all fours, totally perplexed by what was happening. More so, they were unable to move.

"What is this?...Its a-as powerful...a-as..." the first shingami gasped as he tried to keep his cool. Then, the two squad members burst into a spray of blood and were nothing more. Akinori was standing over the two deceased men, his hands now weapons themselves. Sharp claws like razor blades protruded from the gauntlets he wore on both hands, fresh blood dripping down almost every part of them. "Time to get to the real fun. Now, where'd you go, princess?" the commander muttered, using shunpo to disappear from the scene.

Everything's...so dark...so dark...so dark... Hinonori moved one finger then an entire hand. He felt the cold ground around him, crumbling and broken but didn't dare open his eyes. That woman... he thought, his heart racing as more adrenaline pumped into his body. That witch...THAT WITCH. The blonde-haired commander continued to repeat the phrase over and over again in his mind, absently and very slowly stretching one hand across the rubble of the crater he was lying in. When his fingertips met the desired object his mind was searching for, an unspeakable rage sparked within his chest. A rage that was potent, it brought the once-thought-to-be-defeated commander back to his feet, yelling in one defiant shout, "TTTTTHHHHHAAAATTTT WIIIITTTCCCHHHH!!!"

Hinonori let out a surprisingly powerful burst of reiatsu as he shouted. His eyes were wild and bestial, and his once perfectly parted hair was now matted to the side from all the blood and dirt. His clothes were ragged and torn, having lost their 'elegance' from the series of attacks the man had sustained from his battle with Fate. But here was a new Hinonori. "BIND! SHOKUBUTSU!" As the commander called out into loudly, a few shinigami that were nearby charged in to intercept whatever attack he was preparing. By that time, Hinonori's crater and body were now actually behind Fate's soldiers. The shinigami that charged in were all pushed violently away by a blinding green light that absorbed the area. And as the light flooded the Southern Gate, small but relentless bursts of high-powered reiatsu filled the air. When the burst energy had finally subsided, Hinonori swung his weapon through the air just as he did before his first melee with Fate. Except, now his weapon was a two-pronged spear with hundreds of spikes protruding from all around it. "Little witch, little witch, come out and PLAY!" the crazed Hinonori shouted the ground began to rumble. "Its time to get your pretty little witch head chopped OFF!" The ground beneath some of the combatants nearest the revived Commander would suddenly burst out, huge spiked roots coming out to impale a few dozen - his own soldiers or Fate's own squad members, none of it mattered anymore to the Triad leader. When Hinonori spotted Fate he thrust out his weapon and a wave of spiked roots burst from the ground once more and whipped at the Captain. "WITCH!!!"

[Fate T. Harlaown]

Everything was going well so far for Fate with the leader down for the count and her now new and ready Squad memebers helping take down the remaining memebers of this gang, Fate knew this would not take long....or so she thought until she felt a massive surge of reaitsu emmiting from where that man had fallen. Then hearing the ear-picthing shout from further away Fate knew....this man..was not as dead as she thought.

Turning around Fate rushed towards the reaitsu hoping no one was hurt as this was happening. As the sudden green reaitsu filled the area Fate sheilded her face with her arm to block the light once it faded, Fate knew she would have to fight to bring this man down for good. Once hearing and seeing the spikes emerge from the ground towards her Fate jumped very quickly into the air and gave a soft smile. Not many knew that air combat was what she was best at, it gave her more room to move as well. She turned towards the blonde-haired man as she spoke. "Well well back for more are we?" Fate held out her hand in front of her, and without a word Bardiche's staff form appeared in her hand, not even needing to use the release command as Fate then spoke again. "If you would be so kind Bardiche." Fate then flash stepping forward to the right of the blonde-haired man, a ringing sound was heard as Bardiche spoke. "Yes Sir, Scythe Form!" The staff quickly changed generating the blade of lightning made light, Fate slashed forward quickly with the edge of the scythe, disappearing half way through the attack. Fate then flash stepped again, this time appearing with the scythe to this man's neck as she uttered one more word. "Goodbye." With that, Fate brought the scythe through the man's neck...or did she?

[Kusubanasan]

Her smile grew wider when the forces behind her decided to cut off their conversation by attacking, the captain she was speaking with sensing their hostility and utilizing high-speed movement to place himself behind her and send out a ring of flames through the ranks of their enemies, an attack that Furiko quickly follows up upon by placing her arm past the man's shoulder and pointing her palm flat at the remaining enemies.

"Cero Positiva."

A bit of a shudder ran it's way through her body as a dramatic white beam of energy burst forth from her hand, sailing past through the crowd of people just after the wave of flames the captain sent and dispersing them further than before. But before the dust even cleared, Furiko disappeared from sight once more.

The confused ranks of the enemy begun to break apart as a series of unseen attacks sent score after score of soldiers into the air, continuing from place to place within the enemy formation until the vanguard was all but defeated.

A cheerful laughter was heard before Furiko came back into vision just beside the captain, her polearm resting upon her shoulder as she wove her hand dramatically at the enemy, pointing out the defeated and unconscious soldiers on the ground before she leaned over to whisper into his ear. "Furiko Kusubana, Trecera Espada. Pleasure to meet you, Captain Shimizu of the Eighth Division."

She leans off again, twirling her weapon in her hand as she stepped out forward, ready to call out their leader and defeat him so that their foes would wander off. That's when a prickling feeling in the back of her neck alerted her to the presence of something else, something mobilizing within Soul Society itself that was familiar to her. The alarm in her mind caused her to fail to pay attention when a soldier ran up to her and slashed her across the torso, failing to do any damage to her due to the hierro that she possesses.

So after casually flicking the man on the forehead to send him tumbling back into the ranks of his allies, the Espada turns her head to face the captain with a look of sincere worry on her face. "There was another force of soldiers at the northern gate that I dispatched, I defeated their leader and handed him off to some Shinigami to put in your prison... I think he got away."

If the captain would respond she'd wait for it momentarily before adopting a fighting pose, eyes peeled and at the ready for any traces of this squad's leader as to eliminate him quickly and move onto the next gate, leaving the issue of defending the inside of Seireitei to the shinigami that live there instead.

[Hibiki Shimizu]

"You can't escape that easily!" Hinonori yelled as his initial assault of plant-like attacks were dodged by the swift Captain. The commander readied his weapon under one arm and lunged out dramatically into the open air, sending forth another wave of roots to barrage his opponent. But Fate was no novice in combat, and her freedom in the air gave her more room to move around than Hinonori would've liked. His attack utterly failing again, the man turned to his side as he recognized the woman's energy emanating beside him. "Predictable!" The commander swung his two pronged spear with both hands, not listening to a word the woman said, and barely catching on that her zanpakutou had transformed yet again. Just before their weapons met, Fate disappeared from the man's sight, leaving Hinonori to awkwardly complete his attack but hit nothing. Where now?! Just as the commander felt the woman's reiatsu and was about to turn and attack he stopped by the blade that had somehow slid itself uncomfortably just below his chin. His eyes wide, he let out a small series of chuckles before slightly turning his head to look at Fate.

"PREDICTABLE~" the commander said in a sing-song tone, his skin beginning to crack and his body turned stiff. Whether or not the Squad 5 Captain decided to end Hinonori's life right then and there, it would become apparent that the form before her was not Hinonori. The tall blonde haired man eventually became a solidified statue, a hue that looked almost wooden covering his entire body. But, just as the decoy began to turn into its statuesque form, a new threat burst out from the ground just below Fate. A hand erupted from the earth latching onto the Captain's ankle with a determined grip, and soon after, the entirety of the real Hinonori emerged from underneath. "NOW DIE!" The commander hissed, for as he held Fate in place he now aimed his spear directly at her chest and lunged.

Hibiki's heart skipped a beat when the resulting blast of energy from the pink-haired woman decimated another horde of enemies. "Eh?! Cero?!" The Captain gasped aloud, feeling the woman's energy spike again as she went and made quick work of more of the Sayomi ranks. Enough prowess to outmatch these men with such ease. Her immense spiritual pressure. Using a Cero. Hibiki swallowed hard, watching from afar as she finished her work by effectively eliminating the entirety of the Sayomi's front assault troops. The few officers amongst the large army of thugs and criminals were trying hard to control their subordinates, but it seemed that their tactfully laid out battlefield was now falling apart before them. Now the Sayomi horde was merely trying to restore their front line troops with the second wave of their standing army, but even that seemed difficult to coordinate. Hibiki felt the woman's reiatsu just beside him and only his strict combat doctrine kept his trident from sweeping around and striking her across the head.

After that devastating display of power Hibiki didn't require any such explanation that the woman was about to give - the Captain had already come to the dreaded conclusion on his own observations. "Furiko Kusubana...what an...appropriately harmless-sounding name for such a powerful individual. I admire your forthrightness." Hibiki commented in response, sighing afterward as if he were very tired. More so, he was disappointed in himself. An arrancar has infiltrated the premises of the Soul Society. I will shoulder the blame for such an incident and shoulder the right to solve this problem. The Captain remained deep in thought as the woman dispatched a remnant of the Sayomi's front line, and quieter still when she mentioned capturing one of the leaders of the enemy at the North Gate.

Above all, Hibiki Shimizu was a warrior of principle and of duty. Duty to the conceptual role of shinigami and duty to his beloved Soul Society - a truly loyal soldier. But here he was confronted with two equally pressing matters, both of which needed to be dealt with immediately. An arrancar and the Sayomi. A sworn enemy and a misguided ally. The Captain shot Furiko a stern glare and turned to regard her directly, his zanpakutou glowing a brief red hue before returning to its original sword form. "I regret to inform you that I can no longer comply with your request," Hibiki stated flatly as he sheathed his blade and drew another one from the folds of his shihakusho. "It is my sworn duty to eliminate all enemies of the Soul Society, and arrancar count among the top of that list of enemies - especially Espada. I appreciate your assistance in this...predicament today, but I must now end your life. You must understand, this is my duty to the Soul Society." With the end of that proclamation, Hibiki began to gradually raise his reiatsu, keeping a stern expression the whole time. Using shunpo, the Captain abruptly charged in towards Furiko, locking weapons with the woman if possible but making no other offensive strikes.

"Sir, Suguru has made contact with the enemy forces," one heavily armored thug reported to his master, crouched on knee and head down obediently. "Haha, its about time!" Makoto bellowed as he slammed one of his giant fists down against the arm of his throne, shaking the ground a bit. "How're the others doin'? Eh?" The Sayomi lord questioned, his gaze fixed on the scene of his soldiers being thrown around the front of the West Gate. "Well...uhh...Hinonori and Akinori's forces have both encountered the enemy. At first they seemed to be doing well, but Akinori's brigade is faltering quickly in the North. And, Hinonori's squad is having complications of their own. As far as Ryouji's troops are fairing, they've encountered minimal resistance and look to have made the most progress thus far." Makoto adorned a wide smile on his cruel-looking face, which wasn't something one would think possible for such the warlord, seeing how his forces and the forces of his allies were being slowly defeated. Something more sinister was slowly ticking around in Makoto's usually empty brain.

The brutish lord then stood up from his throne, a determined look in his eye. "Right! It was a good thing I picked that mutt up a while back, huh?" Makoto chuckled, referring to Suguru. The reporting thug, still bowing on one knee, made no response and merely nodded in agreement. "Push all forces forward. Surround the gate and suffocate those shinigami filth. He should know how to deal with them too." With another chuckle, the Sayomi leader brushed away the flap of his personal tent. It seemed now that the leader, a handful of other officers, and his personal attendants were now watching the battle from the site of a small base camp they had established nearby the overlook they were at a few hours before. Walking into the sunlight, the powerful Makoto grinned intensely at the sight of his forces combating with his most hated foes. "Get my weapon and my armor. We're leaving within the hour!" the brutish man roared to a selection of his officers that were huddled around a fire, speaking amongst themselves. They all dropped what they were doing and went to fetching their master's provisions.

Meanwhile, back at the East Gate, another powerful blast of reiatsu shook the entire area. Outside the gate, hundreds and hundreds of corpses lined the streets. Small fires raged between and across houses, rubble strewn throughout the whole sector of the Rukon. The giant siege machines that once pelted the Seireitei's gates and walls were now crumbling and silent, and an eery air fell through the streets. Two figures stood among the countless piles of dead, armor-clad mercenaries that had once been obediently bowing to their lord, Ryouji. Upon closer inspection one would recognize one of last men standing to be that exact man himself, a giant broadsword brandished over one shoulder. The other figure, a dark skinned man that wore the clothes of a shinigami, no apparent weapon in his hands.

Ryouji was panting heavily and blood coursed down the side of his face. The elderly warrior's armor was dented and bloodied in a thousand places, and his sword was trembling in his hands. "H-how dare...you..." The elderly man groaned through heavy breaths, looking up at his apparent foe. "You are nothing...nothing more...t-than a ---" A loud ring of steel suddenly screeched out and Ryuoji fell deathly still. A spray of blood then burst out from the man's torso as he fell to the ground, defeated. The dark skinned assailant, whoever he was, now appeared to be just behind where Ryouji had been standing. He was in the same pose as he had been just a moment before, with no weapon of any kind. "In the name of my lord, I, Suguru, have ended your life. Find peace in your demise, old man." The crackling fires burning behind him, the Suguru walked towards the Eastern Gate, a bored expression set upon his face.

[Fate T. Harlaown]

"Oh really? I beg to differ!" Fate smiled as she continued casually dogding the attacks sent at her, was this the fastest this man could attack? If so he would be dead very soon. Fate then watched again as he attacked but failed due to her being in the air now, there was no way she could loose, Fate had never been beaten in airal combat by anyone and she didn't plan to start now. Fate then smiled once again as she saw the blonde-haired man's eye's widen in pure shock as to what just happend. Did he really think she was going to let him live? But then...hearing his tone and what he said..made Fate think...as she then watched the man's skin starting to crack. Fate quickly backed away from this. What's going on now? She thought.

Looking down Fate was trapped as she saw the blonde-haired man emerge from below...she could not move even if she tried to it would not work in time nor do enough damage. As the spear came crashing towards her, Fate quickly put Bardiche's Scythe Form in front of her trying to offer somewhat of protection, Fate knew none of her Squad memebers could help they were not suited to airal combat at all. Fate knew this could be it for her.

Far above the looming battle a young woman took aim at a target below, the girl took a deep breath and spoke. "Alright, ready?" The woman asked, all she got in reply was a small flash of light around her. It appeared she was aiming towards Fate...but just below her. Light pink reaitsu began to cover the young woman's body and rise quite quickly. The woman took aim once more then spoke again. "Divine...." It then became known that the girl was holding a staff in front of her a cirlce surrounding the main end, a sphere growing just in front of that, the woman then spoke once more. "Buster!" The sphere grew quickly then firing to down below.

Fate was still finding of a way to escape this but as the spear came closer it felt like everything was going in slow motion for Fate...that was until she saw the light. A mass of pink light came rushing downwards in the form of a fair sized beam, and it was heading straight for her! But inside of hitting Fate like she thought it would, it very narrowly avoided her, insted..possibly hitting the man that was below her with the full force of the attack. Fate using it as a distraction, slashed downwards very hard, using that little attack to manage to get away with a flash step. Fate then stopping to look at the beam that was still firing..but now slowly fading, looking around Fate then sensed...that...reaitsu. No way! Fate thought but as she focused more on that reaitsu...making sure her brain wasn't lying to her...and it wasn't.

As the attack cleared as well as the explosion it had made...once the smoke had cleared Fate saw someone coming down from where she had guessed the attack was sent from...and sure enough...Fate saw the one person she never thought she would see ever again let alone as an adult. "Nanoha!"

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Ooc: Hope ya don't mind me letting Nanoha in on this, she won't be here to help Fate kick butt sadly but yea. This is what she looks like now and with what Fate sees.

SPOILER: Click to show

[Kusubanasan]

"B-but why...?"

At the end of Hibiki's strike, Furiko's hand lies severed on the ground, the woman dropping her weapon and grasping the wrist with a wounded look on her face and tears in her eyes. The gaze went from the hand on the ground to Hibiki's face, and upon noticing the resolute glare in his eyes, knew full well that there wasn't anything she could do to reverse the situation again.

"All I really wanted to do was make sure Soul Society stayed in the hands of the Shinigami... There's a balance of souls that has to be maintained or else the world falls apart..." At this point the second wave of soldiers from the Sayomi begun their assault, only to be knocked down by a sudden increase in Furiko's spiritual pressure.

That's when the severed hand regrows at the wrist and Furiko hefts her weapon back over her shoulder, still displaying traits of being betrayed upon her expression as she made it a point to address Hibiki again. "This kind of thinking is why even the Vizards keep asking us to get you off their backs, you always resort to genocide as the best solution to your problems... Why can't you shinigami just accept that nature needs predators to make sure the over population issue doesn't upset the balance? Without us too many souls get created!"

She disappeared again, and more cadres of troops were launched into the air, carrying on until she left the area outright, moving on to the next gate instead so that this particular captain could handle the rest of the invasion force.

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OOC: AAAWWW YEAAAAAAAH! HIGH SPEEED REEEGEEEEEENNN! I'll let you do a Frieza/Nail thing later, but for now Furiko has to harass other gates!

[Hibiki Shimizu]

Unbeknownst to the Gotei 13, the combined efforts and goal of the Sayomi and the mysterious Triad criminal groups were all coming together just as planned. The shinigami from Squad Eight that had been sent to the Northern Gate had routed many of Akinori's troops into submission or retreat. Casualties were at a minimal number and now the ruckus was finally beginning to calm down in the northern districts. The purple armor-clad mercenaries were being rounded up and arrested, with signs of battle soon withering away into distant streets. Suguru stood atop the Northern Gate with his usual, bored expression, hands placed behind his back and shihakusho blowing slightly in the wind. "Not a trace of that arrogant man. Akinori the Claw. Did he pass onto the next life without my permission?" The dark skinned man then vanished into thin air, none of the troops below having realized his presence.

The Eighth Division Captain didn't cringe nor plead in an apologetic gesture when he severed the woman's hand. Of course, it wasn't intentional, but deep inside Hibiki knew this Espada could contend with that simple strike he had sent her way. Likely her flowing tears and look of betrayal were some kind of ploy, but to what end, the Captain wasn't certain. "Like I have explained, such is my duty." Hibiki said as he took a step back, his sword at the ready. She then went on to explain that her only reason for intervening was to make sure the Soul Society was kept in balance. "A ludicrous excuse. To think that the Gotei 13 would fall to mere thugs and ruffians. That's quite illogical." Hibiki cast his ever-stern gaze out to his side, noting that the next wave of Sayomi troops had finally organized themselves into battle formations. About time.

Though, a sudden shock of spiritual pressure made the Captain turn back to the pink-haired Espada. It was a terrible power, that much was for sure, but Hibiki stood his ground. He watched on with a stoic glare as the arrancar's hand began to reform before his very eyes. Instant regeneration? Not what I was expecting, but I knew she wouldn't go down so easily. The Captain prepared himself for combat once more, jumping back a few meters as he held out his zanpakutou. He listened to woman's woes about the hardline views of the shinigami and the balance of the worlds. It made sense to the Captain, but he still couldn't sympathize. "You are correct - nature needs predators to keep the balance. But just as their are strong predators to stalk the weak prey, there must be protectors willing to relinquish the predators. Without that, the predators will hunt the prey until there is none left. And then what happens to your precious balance? It is ruined. I'll say it one last time: it is my duty to eliminate all foes that stand before the Soul Society. But just because it is my duty does not make it just. I merely strive to make it as just an action as is possible."

The Captain's words didn't seem to get through to Furiko though, and with another insane amount of power, she ripped through the debilitated Sayomi ranks. Captain Hibiki relaxed from his defensive stance, his eyes trailing the path of which the mysterious Espada had fled. When she passed beyond his gaze and his senses, Hibiki looked to his sides, realizing that he was now surrounded by an entire battalion of mercenaries. "Heheh, kill em' boys! Take his head as a trophy!" one of the thugs yelled and soon all the soldiers closed in on the Captain, an agreeing battlecry following their attack. "Solidify, Chikyu," the Eighth Division Captain muttered as his blade transformed into a buckler set on his left wrist.

"Hahahahah---!" Hinonori's insane laughter was cut short as he blinded by a beam of bright pink light and as he was caught in the beam of the same blast of energy. His spear came up in a weakened lunge and just barely managed to cut Fate across the shoulder, but the commander was sent barreling right back into the ground. He smacked into the earth as the beam of energy barraged him for a good while, letting the Squad 5 Captain have enough time to escape his grasp. As the strange beam of pink energy subsided, Hinonori jumped back onto his feet, his ornate armor chestplate falling off. There was a deep gash in his left shoulder and a huge amount of blood around the wound, apparently from having taken the brunt of that last energy attack. "Wh-what do you think your doing, eh, witch?!"

The commander looked at Fate and used shunpo to charge in right in front of her, swinging his spear wildly. It seemed he didn't even care who had launched that last attack towards him. His attacks were a bit more sluggish now, probably from all the wounds he had sustained from fighting the powerful Captain, but he was still just as dead-set on killing her as always. Pure adrenaline and madness were all that was powering the commander now. "JUST DIE ALREADY!!!" he cried after a few lunges of his spear, vanishing and then reappearing just to the side of Fate with his weapon pointed towards the woman. A huge collection of spiked roots erupted from the ground and snapped out at the Captain, trying to grab her and hold her still or just outright impale their foe.

[Fate T. Harlaown]

Fate could not belive what she was seeing...all those times before...even before she became a Captain...she..had looked for Nanoha over the years but found nothing and now this? Talk about a sudden apperance.....it's a good thing the blonde-haired man was distracted...she needed to regain foucs...but at the moment that would be impossible...as thoughts rushed in Fate's mind. Why now? What made Nanoha disappear in the first place? Why was she appearing now? Too many questions..Fate shook her head she was in the middle of a battle for kami's sake! Turning she saw the blonde-haired man in quite a lot of pain...and by the look of it he would not last much longer, remebering what she came here to do, she had a squad to run and no matter what was happening...with or without Nanoha she was still a Captain. As he charged forward and started attacking Fate could see his attacks becoming slower as she seemed to dodge them easier than before. Fate just hoped he didn't have another trick left in him.

Seeing Fate again and how far she had got made Nanoha smile, no matter what happend or however far they were, she knew this was the Fate-chan she wanted to remeber....not....the wild side she once knew and fought. Although it was in more ways than one that they had both grown...even now with Nanoha having a bankai after so many years she never used it. All she wanted was for Fate to stay safe...so she could help her this once right? It would not hurt....Nanoha hoped anyway. Nanoha quickly flew high into the sky, she could also guess Fate knew what was coming next as she began to gather reaitsu around her staff for her last attack.....and...maybe...her last chance of seeing Fate.

Fate quickly saw the man coming...yes he was getting quite slow by this point. Fate flash stepped back, then seeing more spiked roots Fate quickly tried to cut down those that where around her, then moving quickly behind the blonde-haired man slashing forwards, but again before the scythe's edge hit Fate disappeared once again this time below the man with a small smile. "Bardiche." A ringing sound could be heard as Bardiche spoke. "Yes Sir. Barrage Form!" Fate's staff quickly disappeared leaving her with two black and yellow pistols ready, Fate could sense Nanoha's reaitsu high above...all she needed to do was lure him and that was it. "If you want to kill me then you better come fight me!" With that Fate dived down into the chaos once more down onto the ground, she knew she would need distance here but overall this would work...she knew it would.

High above in the air was Nanoha still gathering reaitsu she spoke. "Can you do it Raging Heart?" She asked with a smile as a flash of light was her answer. "Good." Nanoha answered to that. She then heard her zanpakuto speak again. "Divine Buster Full Power. Master." Nanoha nodded, knowing this could be the last time she helped Fate like this, she gave a soft sigh. Knowing Fate-chan she would have a lot of questions....and...most likely not get any answers but still. Nanoha lifted Raging Heart above her head the reaitsu now charged fully. "Divine....." Nanoha then quickly pushed down her staff, onto the blast. "BUSTER!" And with that the massive blast was released.

Fate managed to sense Nanoha's reaitsu but just barely in time for her starting the attacl. This would not be easy she thought, Fate managing to keep her distance while shooting at the blonde-haired man. Good thing she drilled her Squad on battle moving in case of enemy attack the group she had with her knew it all to well if she gave the signal which she would in 3..2....1. "Battle Plan B, MOVE!" Fate shouted, her Squad memebers doing as best they could to quickly distract the targets then all of them disappearing up onto the Gate. Fate had 10 spheres ready behind her as she shouted, but not before Bardiche. "Photon Lancer." Fate then shouted. "Fire!" With that shout Fate disappeared from the battle feild leaving the blonde-haired man and his men left there. Fate appeared on the Gate as well in front of her Squad, bracing herself for the impact.

Both Fate and Nanoha then seeing the beam launch the same as before but then expanding on itself 5 times that to cover the battle feild area. Fate had to raise her reaitsu quite a bit just to stop getting blown back, she never knew Nanoha had become so powerfull maybe moreso then herself....? Fate didn't know as everyone watched carefully as to what would happen next.

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OOC: Awww come on? You all really thought Nanoha would not help Fate-chan? But yea...this kind of thing with helping will be very very rare. So umm yea enjoy! XD

[Kusubanasan]

"Hey now, don't blow up your own town."

While the blast did succeed in essentially turning whomever her opponent was fighting into sticky paste upon the ground, when it moved further past him and toward the town, an observant person would notice a figure in the distance struggling against the large-scale beam.

It wasn't so much that the beam was large that it was instead filled with so much spiritual pressure that the struggling figure began to sink into the ground due to all the pressure. The longer she resisted it, the larger the crater underneath her feet got until at last the beam's energy reserves ran out and revealed the person that blocked it.

Curious and frightened townsfolk looked out their windows and cheered for the fact that their lives were not ended prematurely, excited to herald their savior until that particular person turned begun releasing her spiritual pressure. Anybody who knew how to read them would know very well that it's the spiritual pressure of a hollow, and therefore cause to run back inside the house.

"What kind of people are soul society even hiring anymore!? I can't believe you'd use such an attack that'd injure your own people!"

The pink-haired woman swept her hand horizontally though the air, obviously pissed off about the attack that the two shinigami had utilized to destroy their attacking army. Her polearm weapon appears in her free hand and she immediately takes stance, her face arranged into a glare as she started up into the eyes of the two women who fired the attack off in the first place.

"If I have to teach you a lesson about humility I will! Don't ever do something like that ever again!"

[Hibiki Shimizu]

She's mocking me! How dare that little witch...! Hinonori thought angrily to himself as Fate dodged all of his plant-based attacks. The Captain had used flash step to quickly disappear and reappear all around the commander, but Hinonori barely managed to notice the woman had changed her weapon yet again. That's no ordinary zanpakutou! He focused p rimarily on Fate still, not meaning to even glance towards the threat of Nanoha who was charging up yet another attack. "Attacking from afar, huh? Cowardly witch!" Hinonori growled as he dashed about the battlefield to evade Fate's shots, just barely being able to keep up. Occasionally the commander erected a pillar of roots to stop the impact of some of the closer shots, but at his distance from Fate he could make no forward attacks.

"Dammit!" Hinonori cursed under his breath after a few minutes of being assaulted by Fate's ranged weaponry. Enough! I have to kill her now! Before I-I... The blonde haired commander stood his ground and swiped away the next incoming bullet of energy, but just as the dust cleared his foes were no where to be seen. "What?!" he gasped, looking to his sides quickly before turning his gaze back to the top of the gate. Upon the structure stood Fate and her shinigami, and around the Captain were several more of those dreadful spheres of energy. Before Hinonori could utter a word of dislike for his adversary the combined attacks of Fate and Nanoha's burst out with incredible power. The beams of energy swelled around the whole battlefield, increasing in range drastically, as scores and scores of Hinonori's soldiers were wiped out in an instant. That dammed little witc--- As the blast reached the commander he did nothing to evade such an attack, knowing that his shunpo couldn't save him at that point. Reluctantly, the man accepted his death and was burned away by the intense energy. As Furiko would appear on the scene, Hinonori was nothing more than a charred corpse, standing in a upright with perfect posture. Slowly the remains of his body crumbled and floated away on the wind.

Another group of thugs fell to Hibiki's feet as a spray of blood shot up into the air around them. "Pathetic," the Captain sighed as he heard the sound of frightened footsteps from behind. The expected sword swing came down towards Hibiki, aimed directly at his right shoulder. But, before the swing could connect, Hibiki pivoted to his left and ducked into a crouch, swinging his own deadly weapon at the stray thug. The fluid exchange of battle was short between the two, but Hibiki felt like the entire scene was going by in slow motion. As he straightened his posture laxly the Captain was now nearly shoulder to shoulder with the Sayomi soldier. "Where are you?" the Captain asked calmly to the thug as the ruffian's stomach soon escaped the confines of his torso in a spray of blood. Hibiki rose his left arm and the buckler around his wrist soon exuded a ring of blades around the entire rim of the object.

Turning his stern gaze over his shoulder, the Captain noticed that another wave of Sayomi troops had surrounded him now. "So, they're attacking in greater numbers? How strategic." Slashing his bladed shield through the air, all of the thugs that had encircled the man then took a step back in caution. WHERE is this commander of theirs? I can't sense any considerable reiatsu amongst any of these lowlifes. Soon disappearing from his surrounded position, Hibiki dashed off into the ranks of the enemy, a melody of clashing metal and terrified screams of agony following his path. The Eighth Division Captain was now more hurried than usual and he had decided there was no more time to waste against the mere fodder of his true enemy.

Waves of soldiers either threw down their weapons in surrender or were skillfully debilitated by Hibiki's swift shield attacks. With each passing moment more and more of the Sayomi ranks began to finally realize the prowess of a Gotei 13 Captain. At last, when Hibiki had made his way through half of the Sayomi lines, there was already an opening of soldiers waiting to greet him with a surprised look of awe. A large shadow cast over the Eighth Division Captain, as the hulking, smelling, vile form of a man known only as Makoto stomped his way towards Hibiki. "Its about time you showed your ugly mug. I was beginning to wonder how long you were going to wait. 'Does he want all his soldiers to die? Or perhaps just a nice, even half?' I said to myself. I presume it was the latter?" Makoto responded with a wide smile and a bellowing chuckle. "Today we take back what is rightfully ours, you condescending bastard."

[Fate T. Harlaown]

Fate and Nanoha watched as the army and their leader were turned to dust...it was only then did both Fate and Nanoha see that due to Nanoha's lack of fighting for a while she had hit her target slightly off...Fate's eyes widened as she knew what was coming...last time Nanoha's aim was off...she destroyed half a city and that was when she was young. "Bardiche!!" Fate then released a flash of her reaitsu from which some of her own shinigami fell to their knees in pain from the ammount, even though Fate had long sheath her shikai back into it's sealed form. Fate was about to rush forward when she saw someone in the distance stopping the blast, Fate was thankful for that at least...last time she endured a blast from Nanoha when they were young Fate had become unconcious shortly after stopping it....and that was something she didn't want to happen again.

As the dust cleared Fate felt a blast of reaitsu from the person who seemed to block the blast...it was hollow. By this point Nanoha had landed next to Fate, placing a hand on her shoulder. Fate quickly remebering about her reaitsu spiking she quickly reined her reaistu in surpressing it as Nanoha let go of her grip. Fate looked down at the pink-haired women then speaking. "Why are you here, Espada!?" Fate knew that kind of reaitsu from anywhere that of the Espada...but what number? By the feel of it a very powerful one....Fate hoped this would turn out alright....she hoped.

Fate then turned to Nanoha and spoke. "Nanoha can you get my Squad back to the barracks you should be able to tell were it is by my reaitsu signautre, if anyone asks just say that I sent you." Fate smiled...she didn't want anyone hurt..more so Nanoha she had waited all these years to speak to her and no Espada would ruin this. "But Fate..." Nanoha began speaking but Fate just shook her head then Nanoha nodded once...she knew it was best...it was so like Fate-chan to protect everyone else and not herself...Nanoha smiled towards Fate once before disappearing with the rest of Fate's Squad towards the barracks and out of harms way.

Quickly Fate then turned to face the women below her she was an Espada no doubt about that. Fate said nothing as she heard the women speak about the attack they had launched only a few moments ago, Fate knew she would be questioned and possibly punished for her actions but at that moment she didn't care she had found Nanoha or rather Nanoha had found her and that was all that mattered to her. Ignoring her speaking Fate then gracefully jumped down from the Gate landed not to far from the women who appeared ready to fight as Fate spoke. "Shall I assume that you wish to kill me? Or is this all just a game to you Espada? Reguardless you shall die here." Fate readied herself in a offensive Haduka stance, she knew she would have to fight now but she was ready for it....

[Jachimaru]

As the battle at the Seireitei's gates continued on, a senkaimon opened in the sky near the South Gate, as it opened, two figures emerged; both were obviously Arrancar. The man who stepped out of the gate first had a mask covering all of his face, and wore tight-fitting dark clothes. As the other man stepped out, a maniacal grin on his face, the other held his arm out to stop him from going any further. The second man had mask remnants covering the sides of his face and wore tight-fitting, generic Arrancar clothing, a tattooed "1" on the right side of his neck. The masked man simply watched the battle unfold as the Shinigami who was already at the scene take out a large portion of her enemies with the help of an ally who quickly vanished. At the end of the attack was an ally of the masked man; the Trecera Espada. The masked man motioned for the other man to follow before slowly walking down into the crowd of left over people.

He emitted almost no reiatsu, only enough for him to be recognized as an Arrancar not even worth a Captain's time. The other man on the other hand emitted an intense amount of reiatsu, causing the weaker troops, both Shinigami and Triad, to fall to their knees helpless, as he laughed darkly. The two continued walking until they reached Furiko and the Shinigami. The masked man stepped between the two and turned to face the Espada, giving her a friendly nod, keeping his back to the Shinigami with no worries. "I just wanted to let you know that it's about time to come back home for now. Of course, you can finish up here. If you need any help, I've brought Koga with me. I know you two don't get along very well, but I needed him here to test something out anyway." the masked man said in a calm and kind tone as he waved the other man over. "Go break down the barrier above Seireitei. Away from where those Pluses are trying to break in. Don't let anyone in or out if they try, and if you run into a Shinigami, don't kill them. We want as little casualties as possible here." he said as he waved the other Arrancar away.

"Now, Furiko, if you need any help taking out this Shinigami just let me know. And as you know, killing is off limits." he said, before turning to the Captain. "We may be Espada, and you may be Shinigami, but we're only enemies because your people made that decision. We had no choice in the matter. Your leaders are afraid of beings that can rival their own power, so they deem us enemies and monsters. But it doesn't have to be that way; it's your choice. As for this 'fight', why can't it just be a friendly sparring match?" the masked man said before he began walking towards the Eastern Gate, curious of the events taking place. "I'll be back if you need me or when you're done with the recon. I'm a bit curious to see what's going on, so I'll check it out." he said, as he disappeared with Sonido.

When he got to the gate, the man noticed the troops there had met little resistance with the Shinigami, noticing that no high-powered spiritual energies had been through recently. He walked next to the elderly man who was obviously the leader before looking up at the large walls. "It's going to be very tough to break through that. But I guess it's good that you've yet to meet much resistance like at the other gates." he said in a calm tone. If any attacks had been aimed at him, he would have simply used his sonido to take to the air before returning to the man's side. "Perhaps you should have used my resources. A single, high-powered, battering ram is much better than whatever Pluses may have on them." the man said as he motioned to the man known as Koga; who would be ramming into the Seireitei's barrier at that very moment. Unless he was attacked by the army, the masked man would simply stand and watch as they attempted to enter the Seireitei.

[Shachiho Koga]

As Koga appeared in Soul Society along with the masked man, he fidgeted; trying to keep under control, since the masked man would easily take him out if he didn't act as he was instructed. However, it didn't take long before he was released of his 'chains'. When the moment came and Koga was ordered to break down Seireitei's barrier, he grinned and laughed maniacally before taking off above the Seireitei. When he reached the barrier, just above where the mercenaries and gang members where aiming at, he took out his sword and held it in front of him. "Flutter, Polilla!" he said with a laugh as his form changed and a burst of spiritual pressure broke apart any ammo from the siege weapons nearby him. It didn't take long before the now insect-like Espada began charging into the barrier at an incredible speed, using his wings to shield himself from the damage. After a few charges, the barrier began to crack, and more and more with each hit; causing the Espada to laugh maniacally as he rammed into the barrier. If anyone tried to stop him, he would simply swat them away with his wings, sending what would be a typical Shinigami to be sent crashing to the ground at a fair speed.

[vilmentevendados]

"Well, they've all arrived a bit earlier than expected," an analytic voice pondered from atop of the Rukongai's many low-set buildings. "I always forget to include margin of error. No matter, their timing is impeccable. They've all come at the pivotal interval." The figure, cloaked in a heavy ragged attire, rose one arm across its chest and grasped tightly on its opposite shoulder. With one fast pull the cloak flapped through the air and was tossed to the side, revealing the true identity of the enigmatic entity. The figure stood tall, wrapped in thousands of bandages, and a wearing a mixed outift akin to that of arrancar. A jutting piece of skull surrounded the figure's left eye and rounded around back to its head, its other visible eye looking bloodshot and extremely perceptive. "Koga of course...but I wouldn't have guessed Furiko would make her way here. Interesting. And none other than the big boss himself? Very interesting!" With that series of observations, the Segunda Espada vanished from the rooftop he had been standing upon.

A few moments later, after the Cero and Koga had left the Southern Gate, Vilmente appeared some ways behind the Trecera Espada. "Why, what a pleasant surprise, meeting an old friend in a place like this!" the Segunda interjected to his Espada comrade, his eyes peering and low. He could have been smiling under those ragged bindings of cloth, but more likely than not he was observing not only Furiko, but also the shinigami Captain in the background. "I wasn't expecting you all to make such a dramatic entrance. But bravo, to both parties! The fireworks have been superb all day!" Vilmente's voice boomed loud enough for Fate to hear across the small scene of battle, his tone seeming just as mocking and controlling as ever. "But oh, don't mind me. Go on with your battle, really. I'm just here to watch until this play-date is over! You girls don't go destroying each other, you hear?" the Espada assured with a whimsical wave of his hand, disappearing without another word. Of course, their battle isn't the only one I can see at once. He reappeared just to the side of the giant gate, relaxed and propped up against the wall. It wasn't like Vilmente to be so openly boastful by appearing so abruptly in the middle of events, but he was overly confident that neither the shinigami Captain nor his comrade could do anything to stop his prying mind. Furthermore, he had emitted very little reiatsu up to that point, only enough to make it seem as if he had the energy of a lowly fraccion. "And so the pieces have moved into position," The Segunda whispered, crossing his arms and waiting to watch the fight between Fate and Furiko.

[Kusubanasan]

"Why would I kill you? I just have to teach you a lesson about restraint!"

There might have been a battle were it not for the sudden appearances of multiple spiritual pressures, one of which the Espada recognized immediately as the 1st, Shachiho Koga. There wasn't a being in Hueco Mundo who didn't recognize that oppressive and dangerous spiritual pressure as well as the massive killing intent that went along with it, the Espada could only shudder in place as a more calming voice called out to her, the voice belonging to none other than the Cero Espada himself.

"You came...?" She asked while her superior went ahead to explain that he brought Koga along if she needed any assistance with her current situation. But not before telling the espada to go break down Seireitei's barrier before offering to help with this situation himself. But before the trecera could answer, he was already on the move, giving the captain in front of them a bit of a lecture before disappearing from the area.

That's when a third presence arrives on the scene, that being her direct superior Vilmente. Of course he seems relatively calm and amused by the whole situation, prompting a bit of a sigh from Furiko as she rose her weapon again and faced Fate once more.

"My apologies for all the interruptions, but I really do have to fight you for awhile and get a feel for how you fight. Please please please don't involve the villagers in this!"

OOC: Gawd I hate myself for this post.