Shinigami
Administrator
The determination of this Shinigami is a sight to behold with every action he takes giving the hellspawn no time or room to breath. The strength, power, and brutality of the Tenth Division Captain seems unstoppable as before he can even finish his sentence he is upon him once again. The man summons up spires of crystals at his arms, a luminescent glow radiates from them before a violent spin is made by the Shinigami launching a vast amount of crystal shards, far too many to count. If the crystals had been launched in a straightforward manner this would have been no issue to deal with, what made it troubling was the fact that his spinning placed these innumerable crystals in his blind spot as well. To solidify the disparity the Sinner should be feeling is that the Shining Commander himself seems to be hurdling in his direction, the Commanders goal for launching this attack is unknown and for the most part, meaningless.
The chains of hell are not easily broken or shattered. If that were the case they would have been removed long ago. These very same chains are an extension of a Togabito’s body; they move and control them freely. Their restraints double as a means of attack and/or defense. Looking into the emerald depths of certain oblivion the masked man does the one thing he can think of to ensure his survival and it all starts with a flick of his wrist. These once invisible chains show themselves winding and twisting up from his feet until they quickly surround his body from head to toe and with a flick of his opposite wrist they tighten. Now mummified its vision is obscured but survival has now become certain as these nigh indestructible chains take the brunt of the emerald hurricane that now sparks and ricochettes off the encased man. The Commander's sharp Reiatsu was unknown to the man but it would take a force greater than that to sever these chains.
Encased in the very same cocoon that he had used to crush and terrorize the fullbringers earlier. The Togabito attempts to regain his advantage. As the crystalline shards shred and terrorize the interior of the barrier, the Togabito looks through the links, trying to lock his eyes upon the Shining Commander. A flurry of green emerald and shining light makes this all but impossible, as the small shards cut and tear at the cracks between the chains, embedding themselves deep into the Togabito’s limbs before exploding like hollow point bullets. Yet despite this struggle, despite this pain, the Togabito still remains resolved, its eyes frantically scattering about.
However, the moment it witnesses the form of Kagayaki, it is far too late for its invisible hands to wrap around the man. Instead, the Commander’s momentum carries him, appearing from the mist of crystals and reiatsu like a ghost, seemingly familiar with how to utilize such phantom-like stealth. Kagayaki collides with the mummified Sinner and causes him to fly backwards, rebounding off of the barrier. The chains may be strong and they may have saved him from being cut to ribbons but he was not spared from the impact from the Commander. Through the chains blood sprays out, internals damaged from the sheer force, both from in front, where he took Kagayaki’s devastating blow, and from behind, where his own hands failed to cushion him from the impact against the barrier.
The Togabito was truly locked in Checkmate. Unable to utilize its abilities, unable to see, unable to defend itself completely, and unable to escape. It resists all of these inevitabilities until the very end. However, the shattering impact of Higen’s strike was enough to rupture the organs it had attempted to protect. Within the chains, blood splatters throughout, contrasting red against the emerald green. After the Sinner rebounds off the barrier, it falls limp to the ground, the chains surrounding it now unravelling. What is revealed, is the tattered and torn remains of a broken creature. It’s limbs are completely shredded, held on by ribbons and bone. Its chest is concaved, its back broken, resulting it laying in an unnatural twisted mess. However, the mask remains intact, blood pouring from its seams.
A pool of the creature’s blood forms atop the barrier's floor. The red liquid reveals the Sinner’s secret ability, its invisible hands now rendered visible as they are encased in blood, leaving their imprints upon the floor. What is left inside of this emerald prison, is a complete and utter mess, both of a Togabito, and of the blood, chains, crystal shards, and hands, that are scattered and littered about the floor. All the Togabito is able to muster is a bloodied cough, one final...
”A-.....chem..”
The sun shines down on the ruins of the city. Though smoke rises from the spires of broken buildings, melting asphalt, and the relentless Hell Gate, it is otherwise a beautiful day. The freshly risen sun shines bright across a clear blue sky. It is a breath of fresh air, a sign of life, of peace. Those who were able to survive the night to see this day are finally able to relax, the threat at last having reached its end. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, The Shinigami can breathe a breath of fresh air. The time for strife was over, now is the time for recovery, for peace.
It lasts but a moment.
The sound of a grating static rips through the air, as a pathway which should never exist rips through the fabric of reality. Above, space begins to tear open at the seams, creating a void of black. This mouth-like tear screams out, its voice vibrating through the Shinigami’s very bones. Then just as suddenly, the silence of the day returns. Only now, the peaceful sun-lit day is replaced by the imposing form of a Garganta, which dwarfs the city in comparison to its size.
It had appeared without warning, as Garganta tend to do. Higen, who had witnessed a Garganta of similar proportions open in the Rukongai just moments prior, would be encased within his own barrier, likely his attention focused on the freshly deceased Togabito. While Yu, focused on maintaining his barrier to Hell, would likely only be thinking of the casualties that would surmount right now from a Garganta’s Invasion. Was the Human world about to be ransacked by Gillian? Or worse…by their Arrancar masters? Could it be that the Espada have reformed? That the God King has returned, or a new one risen to the title? The spiritually attuned souls that remain in the vicinity, such as Shoumetsu and Martin, are sure to have their necks craned as they look upward, awaiting a relief to their suspense.
Why had this portal arrived, why here? Was there another that had formed in Karakura, where the other Togabito was currently fighting Lieutenants Omoni and Jinnosuke? Was this perhaps related to such a fight? The more intuitive might now begin to wonder, why exactly was the togabito here, why did it stay idle, why did it engage so many? Was its purpose to stall, to distract, or was it to defend the gate? If so...what for? Could it be that the arrival of this garganta was what the Togabito were waiting for, what they were here for in the first place?
Two gates of utter evil, bridge the gap between the realms of the living, and the tormented dead. One in the heavens, composed of darkness, and one on earth, composed of hell fire.
As above, so below.
No invasion arrives. The stillness of the garganta bares down on those who are burdened with anticipation. No hands of Hollows, masks of Arrancar, nor power of the God King comes through. No, the being that formed this gateway is one outside of the purview of both Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. What's worse, is this shadow figure appears to be in some sort of league with the denizens of Hell. Yet, it cannot be of Hell itself, or else how would it summon such a massive Garganta, and not appear forth from a Hell Gate like the other Togabito? What was going on? This Garganta was clearly kin with the one that had manifested in and destroyed the Rukongai. That one had absorbed within it the entirety of the Soul King’s Blood. So what, in the Human World, could this one be after?
Gurgggggle
A new sound emanates from the void of darkness, a thick, guttural, gurgling. It is the sound of rushing water, only….slower...heavier. Finally, from the black, red begins to form, and drip. Directly beneath the Garganta, droplets of thick red liquid begin to rain down onto the city. A precursor to something much more devastating, the rain of blood flows more rapidly, its fall grows thicker, stronger, until finally, the Garganta’s contents become revealed. A torrent of steaming blood rains down from the heavens, pouring from the garganta, an open wound in the sky.
The waterfall of blood collides against the city below. It hits like a tsunami as it spreads throughout the city. A tidal wave of crimson, it pushes out in all directions across the city. Buildings drown along with their occupants, entire skyscrapers collapse from the force. As sirens begin to blare throughout the entire city, citizens run through the streets in a futile attempt to escape their own fate. No one is safe, and nothing is sacred, as this torrent of blood carves through the Human’s World.
Those that are spiritually aware fare even worse. The steaming blood is not so destructive simply from its abundant quantity, but from its very properties. Being the Blood of the Soul King, this is no mundane miasma. It holds within it the power to absorb Reishi, or rather, to reclaim it once more for the Soul King, converting it back into his blood. This means that weaker concentrations of reishi, such as pluses, roaming hollows, some quincy, and fullbringers, are all consumed by the substances, incapable of escaping its wave.
The entourage in front of the Hell Gate would take the brunt of the tidal wave’s force. Two hundred feet of viscous red liquid comes barreling towards them, smashing through buildings and debris with ease. A direct impact upon the Shinigami would result in catastrophic injuries from the momentum of the wave alone, let alone the damage caused by its Reishi absorbing properties, or the high possibility of them drowning, incapable of swimming through such strong currents. Without proper preparation, they are likely to die, even more so the regular human, who’s spiritual awareness would do very little to protect his very mortal body. Fortunately, Captain Nakamoto is proficient enough in Bakudo to likely be able to form a secondary barrier around them. While Martin may only hope that the Seireitei’s Angel was more lenient towards oppositional souls than that of the Shining Commander.
A master in bakudo, Captain Yu’s Dankū barrier serves its purpose well. So long as he is able to maintain it, the translucent lens of the Dankū kido does not crack or crumble. It holds itself, vacuum sealed, against the Hell Gate. While Shoumetsu’s Shikai, which attracts his blade towards whatever it magnetizes, allows him to utilize the hell gate as an anchor point, so long as he can maintain his grip on his blade. While Higen’s own barrier, a product of the artifact he keeps concealed upon his person, is also capable of withstanding the reishi converting effects of the Soul King’s Blood. The emerald barrier, after all, is not a product of Higen himself, but the combined efforts of the master’s of the Kido Corps. Therefore, the majority of the group remains protected, while Higen ensures that the Togabito’s corpse remains entrapped within the barrier.
However, this also means, that Naruki is unlike Karakura, where the open maw of the hell gate worked to drain the flooded city of the Soul King’s Blood. Here, the hell gate remains sealed, the drain therefore clogged. Here, the blood remains, and stagnates. Naruki drowns in an ocean of blood. A stagnant body of water two hundred feet deep. The only thing that can be seen of the city are the very tops of the remnants of its tallest buildings.
Within the depths of this crimson ocean, Higen’s Barrier remains strong. Its emerald green light able to reveal one crucial detail. The walls of the barrier had entrapped the Togabito, but like anything else, were incapable of severing its chains. That means that the black chains of hell were simply pinned within the walls, and still connected the Togabito to the hell gate. However, the chains outside of the barrier are now entrenched in the blood. The Sinner’s chains rattle within the red waters, muffled, and then silent. As the black iron links begin to erode, rusting, until they rot away into nothing at all, completely dissolved. Amidst this chaos….the Togabito is freed.
Then, the Garganta closes as suddenly as it had arrived, folding in on itself until black once more gives way to blue skies. As though in response to this, the wrought iron doors of the Hell Gate come to life. The doors begin to close, their strength only increasing as Yu’s barrier struggles to keep them sealed. It seems futile, as cracks finally begin to form within the clear platform of Yu’s Kido, before the entirety of the spell shatters, and the doors slam shut. On each side, a skeleton, permanently affixed to each door, moves through the blood, and reaches across to grab the other's ribcage, pulling themselves shut tight. Then finally, a familiar black chain spawns from behind the gate, and wraps itself around Hell’s entrance repeatedly, until this too pulls tight, permanently sealing the thing shut. With this, the closed gate erupts into flames beneath the ocean, boiling the crimson ichor that surrounds it, until the gate utlimately burns away from existence, leaving not a trace.
In the end, Naruki is rendered an open and festering wound. Flooded in red, Higen’s domain becomes a cesspool of blood. No easy mess to clean, countless lives were taken this day, and the blood of this catastrophic event is not simply contained to the city’s borders. Rather, it rests upon the hands of all those who had come to the World of the Living today. It stains the pristine white Haoris of Captain Nakamoto, and Captain Commander Kagayaki. For eternity, this nightmare will stain the minds of all who have witnessed it, and continue to flood their thoughts and dreams. They may have been able to hinder the Hell Spawn’s plans, preventing it from receiving an aspect of the Soul King. But at what cost?
What is left, is a scar on the human world, and a scar in the pride of all races. Hell had delivered a crippling blow, had revealed its hand and played its cards, while the rest of existence were forced to question what game they were even playing.
...How very interesting.
