[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Rukongai

[Shinigami]

Central ———————————— travelling to ———————————— Southern Rukongai
The Kuchiki had given in, but knowing well of their stubbornness, there was no telling as to just how he would act once she let him go fully, so while releasing him, the muck had formed around his broken fingers and held them in a way which would allow him to work as if nothing hadn’t happened. The zanpakuto spirit had her eyes on him at all times now, so even if he had decided to cross her amid the new threat, the black mass would encase him just the same, and may perhaps just rid of him altogether.
Swinging from building to building, and gliding across rooftops, Yasu had swallowed the last morsel of food she had scooped up to once again replenish her energy and caught sight of the beast that wreaked havoc against the Southern Rukongai. Another short burst of energy and she was flying through the skies, eyes on the area where the other shinigami had gathered.
However, her journey was cut short. Landing nearly just outside of the southern walls, dangling as if she were hanging off of the web, she squinted. Only a few miles ahead of her, Yasu could see the ground caving in on itself, and while she wanted to save the destruction above ground, the cause lies far deep within the soil. The breakdown of the field below had the area quaking far more than it should, and it disturbed Yasu to no end. Just what did the group ahead of her do? Maybe in the order of things, that they worked together in favor of the opposing party: an accidental mishap that was costing the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of souls.
“Haah…”
I can’t touch it. Not directly. I don’t even know if I have enough left in me to force it out, but. Her
Yasu screamed in frustration and pulled at her hair, but the call from her spirit made her stop. Slithering out from the mass on her outer skin, Odei had appeared and created a wave-like motion with her hand and then clenched her fist. Yasu could only observe and ponder as to how long it could hold for. The beast below was eating away at everything and anything in its way to get closer to them. It was closing in, and she clicked her tongue in distaste. She’d have to work her hardest today, and Soul King be damned if she didn’t get rest after this if there even was an after.
“Hikouzaka Buchi!”
Kicking it into high-gear, Yasu had forced herself to shunpo to get there instead of using the swiftness of her Shikai and own personal prowess. The first immediate sense of duty was to save who she could. So with that, Yasu extended her arms in front of her and screamed at the top of her lungs. For the falling residents that weren’t able to run in time, to reach their hands out as she leaped through the air to get to the most disastrous area. In a desperate attempt for survival, hands shot out near immediately at the command and found a sticky substance latching onto them from fingertip to elbow. While the structures fell, Yasu had a hold on as many as she could before tossing them as gently as possible from the chaos. The wild cries and watery thanks to the King were heard, but Yasu had yet to relax. She'd gone even so far as to dive into the hole far enough to catch those deeper than most. Reaching out towards the skies with an abundance of souls in tow, they both launched back up before anyone else could fall victim. They too were placed among those who had managed to escape the zone before the fall. Happy with their safety, it wasn't over. There was still the underlying problem that lies far beneath the dirt.
In fear that those falling through would feed the beast further, that second skin she wore broke off of her and embedded itself into the ground. Between the mental link of her and her spirit, they both knew how to work in sync. Having enough room and time to do this simple, yet taxing task, the substance began pooling inside of the ground just a few feet deep. Forcing her way down and amassing a large amount of much similar to a marsh was rough, considering she was much more suited to a quicker execution of things and smaller instances. Allowing the build-up of things had sweat beading down the side of her face, and her breath run ragged. Yasu had used her Shikai to create a new sort of surface layer to replace the sunken one, making it soft enough to absorb anything else that fell and be solid enough to keep anything from piercing right through. Had anyone been caught, they’d have been washed up onto the nearest patch of solid ground in a wave as if water were carrying them to shore.
Meanwhile, the broken structures were tossed haphazardly to the side as junk. The marsh safety blanket was thick, and she had hopped down, gliding as if she were on the ice around the area. This was the best that she could do as of now. For what other information did she have left to go off of other than make no contact whatsoever? While those other shinigami arriving would take the citizens somewhere safer, Yasu was left at a bit of a standstill. Her expressions scrunched up into that of a person who was stuck in a very difficult position. Slicking her pink locks back, and out of her sight, hopefully, she would be met with some aid. This was all she could do for now.

 

[Shinigami]

The ground shook with Earth sundering force as the Kōtotsu collides with the ground. Dozens of homes collapse beneath the weight of the monster, only to slowly fade into an array of iridescent particles drawn towards the very thing that caused their destruction. Free from the confines and boundaries of its home, or rather prison, the Kōtotsu travels on in a linear path 一 it is a path that would cause it to pass through the Southern most walls if not stopped.
The citizens of Rukongai in its various districts fled wildly, fear and panic guiding them along their respective paths of self preservation. Their efforts fell in vain as they fell in droves, consumed by the sweeper as it passed through, sparing nothing that stood before it. Save for the broken ground there existed no signs of destruction in its wake, only an eerie nothingness, an absence of debris, of people.
As it traveled its body would swell, growing proportionally larger...faster. The difference in size was hardly noticeable, everyone's concern far too focused on their own survival, while others afar off focused on its imminent arrival.
In the far distance, upon the southern wall a single inconsequential speck can be seen. Up close those who gather would know this was none other than Captain Kojima of the Ninth Division. The first perhaps, amongst the captains to notice the disturbance. Despite being afar off it takes little effort for him to notice the colossal monstrosity railroading towards them. Its path clear, little to no signs of it changing present within its trajectory.
The lone Captain takes to the skies, his form soon eclipsed beneath the massive limb conjured. He exerts much strength, the appendage striking the very ground causing the earth to once more shudder as its sundered yet again, this time at the Captain's hands. The chasm formed holding the diameter of a large building, and seemed to extend deep into the ground. A pit trap for the single minded entity?
Soon others came to join the Captain, concurrently wisps of black bled and streaked along the ground of the Rukongai, sweeping through the various districts not yet victimized by the passing of the sweeper. Those who had yet to leave, those who were in the process of fleeing, and those paralyzed by fear began to disappear outside of their will or knowledge. From the tallest structure in the district just before Captain Kojima's trap were three figures wrapped in black from head to toe. One used a peculiar apparatus, gazing at the scene from a distance 一 a distance that growing shorter at an alarming rate. A bead of sweat drips from his brow, he swallows hard. It is still unknown if it was saliva he swallowed, or his own fears and apprehensions at what he was witnessing.
"Prepare to transmit."
He speaks, keeping his eyes and focus trained on the brown behemoth. One of his colleagues quickly withdraws a small blade, his assigned Tsūdentō. He stands at the ready, prepared to relay the message, a message that would be concurrently shared through all active Tsūdentō, alerting the other Onmitsukido, and the Fifth seated member of the Second Division known to keep hers handy at all times. It was uncertain to the others if their Captain troubled himself with such a tool or not, he always seemed privy to everything they said or did somehow. Regardless, even if he didn't the information was certain to make it to him.
"Nearly 400 clicks. Approximately 60...no, now 70 mph...speed still increasing. Now approximately...16 meters tall...17 meters..still growing. Every-"
He ceases speaking. The trio do not question why, they feel it simultaneously. A spike in spiritual power behind them, its weight and strength far beyond something they regularly experienced. They move as one, vacating their perch, retreating closer back towards the wall.
Bankai..
The ground becomes flooded in ivory, wooden roots work to widen the expanse of the chasm formed by Ninth Division's Captain. The Kōtotsu continues on its preset path and finally it collapses into the man-made trap.
Success
However the end result was hardly a thing worthy of praise or relief. The creatures plummet...stops. The arrival of another shinigami appears, and secures their hard worked victory, widening the scope of its prison, forcing the massive 'train' to fall deep within the pit of black. All is still. All is quiet.
And crisis once more befalls the Soul Society.
The ground splits and caves in, both people and buildings are consumed, swallowed into the unfathomable depths of the earth..never to be seen or heard from again. Lives lost..thanks to the joined hands of three shinigami.
The creature had not been stopped, its path not deterred. The trio had only ensured it could continue its journey, continue its feast now uninterrupted. Lurking in the shadows, the agents in black quickly resume transmitting, updating their colleagues and superiors in the Second Division and Stealth Force of the issue at hand.
"THE KOTOTSU IS NOW UNDERGROUND! I REPEAT, THE KOTOTSU IS NOW UNDERGROUND, IT WILL SOON BE UNDER THE SEIREITEI!!"
The panic and urgency in the voice of the messenger could not be hidden. His training in controlling his emotions is momentarily lost faced with this decisive catastrophe.

 

[Shinigami]

| Traveling from Southwest Seireitei ---------------------------------------------------------------> Rukongai |
Plumes of fire escaped the mouth of the creviced ruins formed from the Seireitei’s unforeseen destruction. The amber light cast’ the green of his mane into a darkened auburn, creating a silhouette from his figure in the process. Those far and between would see the titanic Captain, rested in heroic posture upon the crumbling debris that had formerly been the outermost part of the South/Southwestern wall that protected the Seireitei just hours before. He completely forgot about the hollow incidents of before, as his eyes caught gaze of the scalded ruins of the Rukongai. Among said ruins, a plethora of signatures, some recognizable some not, but they all ultimately became eclipsed by the parasite that was the Kototsu, consuming everything in its path. Young Maho’s figure came into view, a small blip in the distance, but the giant appendage that formed above him was of an unmistakable composition. That’s him, for sure..
As it pressed downward into the terrain, its power became more noticeable, cratering the earth beneath to create a massive hole that acted as a small delay to a seemingly inevitable fate for the Gotei 13. Lieutenant Ueki’s efforts only further assisted in the matter, and for a moment it would seem as if things were under control. He peaked over his shoulder, looking for the glimpse of aqua-colored hair to confirm Shizuka’s arrival; nothing yet. He couldn’t sit idly, but the amount of plausible options was slim, limited, next to none. Unless.. No. His mind instantly wandered elsewhere, a spell of self-instilled fear consuming him in the briefness of the moment before dispersing into a cloud of thought and doubt. It would eat through his shikai, undoubtedly. He and Maho combined couldn’t absorb energy faster than it, it was impervious to physical attacks or anything of the like. Hell, even if they could destroy it that alone was troublesome. They needed it to fulfill its purpose, they needed it back in the Dangai.
Its continuously growing size was another problem evident even further by the trembling that ensued after its descent. It was beneath them. No.. it was headed right this way! He stood there, gauging the entirety of the situation, thinking about those who possibly struggled to escape its wrath out in the districts, those who needed help. Whenever Arashi and Shizuka arrived, that would be there designation. The Kototsu would have to be handled a different way, the two of them would only contribute to its size, their less analytical brains instinctively leaning towards trying at its destruction. Soon, he would be noticed there. Soon, they would look to him for a plan, for something. Soon, they would look to him for their safety. What would he do as the window of opportunity dwindled before them? How many would perish before the Veteran Captain would act?

 

[Shinigami]

One by one a small grouping of shinigami approached to aid him. The Kōtotsu barreling forward undisturbed for some time, until the short-lived 'success' of Maho's plan. One by one, they each attempted to aid him, disturbing the reishi comprised soil until a massive hole erupted beneath the dimensional being. Wide enough for its large body to plummet into an unknown abyss. However, This plan although quit witted was not foolproof, this Maho could sense. Before long the elongated walls became too narrow for the growing creature which continued to move forward, however, the truth was realized at that moment. One which would be critical to successfully defending the soul society. Around them, the ground began to cave inward at numerous random locations about the Rukongai district. Telegraphing each collapse in structural integrity, one could discern the creature's trajectory, although even a fool could if they had been here long enough. Straight ahead it went, out of immediate view but very much so still a massive threat.
"THOSE WHO HAVENT GIVEN UP ON STOPPING THIS THING MOVE NOW! FOLLOW MY LEAD. THE REST OF YOU, SAVE ANY SOUL YOU CAN AND CATCH UP TO US! ANYONE SKILLED IN KIDO GET A MESSAGE TO ANY SHINIGAMI ON THE WALL. TELL EM TO SET A PERIMETER!"
His voice sounded off like a massive gong. There was urgency in his tone, despite his composition. Instantly he was off, soaring in the direction the beast had been moving. His face turned into a stern scowl. A slight misjudgment had created another disastrous situation. Still, if he had to justify it, falling into the depths would be a far better death than having something like a Kotetsu. Maho would have to do everything he could, even if it meant failure.
He had the agility to keep pace with the beast, retaining a record of it with his sensory. To accelerate he began garnering a large amount of reiryoku, focusing it around him into a potent and focused beam of reiatsu. With each passing second, he took position over the entity. Not enough! I need to go faster!
His eyes closed. it was a shame he hadn't brought his cigars with him. if onl-
He swiftly reached down into his pocket. Loe and behold, a single half-smoked cigar previously extinguished at the tip remained. He thrust it between his teeth and bit down hard. Anyone observing would feel his spiritual pressure rising far beyond the legal limit. This was a life or death matter. He released a miniature spark of flame. The cigar's tip was ignited, then Maho drew all of its contents, in a single drag. His lungs filled with smoke, his pupils dilated, and the pit of his chest was filled with heat. There was a moment of pause, the energy around him dissipated and then, a grand flash of flame engulfed him. Around his free arm, the black metal like substance molds around it, encasing it for what's to come.
Like a blow torch, his spiritual energy fans out violently at first, the kido energy sending a sensation of pure strain surging through him
he endured.
His velocity more than doubled, like a comet, he roared through the skies of the Seireitei. Beyond, he detected the energy of Yasu, with a glance, he could tell she had saved a number of the citizens not already lost. The underground Kōtotsu was coming right for her. He was far too far away to call out to her, he could only hope his soul could be heard. This one's coming to you...Yasu Chan..Higen san!"
Below, the large hand formulated by Maho's Zanpakuto followed him, far beneath the earth, even beneath the Kokotsu's path. All three were parallel to one another, From here, they were about 200 miles off. He needed more energy...more heat...more fire. The blaze erupted in response to his efforts like a blazing sun heat engulfed the skies. From his body, it appeared transparent, nearly white, but its value shifted to a deep blue than an orange hue. His skin burned, he grits his teeth and focused all of his mind and body to the current task. He manages to maintain a consistent 40 meter's ahead of the beast, then 50, then 90, then 100. further and further he pulls away enduring an unimaginable burning to accomplish just this alone. Then...
He abruptly disappears.
A large black hand, its thumb raised high into the sky replacing the large orb of flame. Below the ground, Maho has replaced the extension of his Zanpakuto. Now several hundred meters below the crumbled and fractured earth, his hands flow like a cyclone, coming together at his core. His eyes close, his breathing calms despite the anguish he faces. He enters a state of complete focus. Here in this underground cavern, the Captain of the 9th division makes his stand. He tracks the incoming threat, meter by meter it approaches overhead, still growing, still absorbing. He recalls what he had learned in his previous exchange. The Kokotsu cannot be touched by an individual or their Zanpakuto. It can absorb spiritual energy and reishi and grows as it does so. But when it was dropped into the hole, its movements were stopped almost entirely for but an instant. Without a solid 'foothold' it could only carry itself using its current momentum. There in that minor detailed, lay a chance!
"IPPAI KINZOOOOOOKU; ATSU MODO: SOOOOOOOKOOOOOOTSU" (Lit. Full Metal; Heat Mode: Double Bone)

His attack strikes at dense earth beneath with all of his physical strength
He strikes
With all of his spirit
He strikes
His hands extend at the palms several feet giving them more range and an extended surface area. the physical force generated by this technique is tremendous, sufficient enough to displace the dense column of stone beneath where the Kōtotsu would be moments later. From above ground, extraordinary flashes of orange and red hues can be witnessed illuminated the world underneath. A scorching spire of flame, pressurized, erupts through the surface. It is focused enough to remain in a single area worrying about what little collateral damage could be spared. His arm extends unnaturally, widening at the palm with each passing moment, rising this column of stone from under the Kōtotsu like an elevator platform or ramp, making short work of the already threatened structural integrity of the ground around them. Like a rocket, it carries itself and the beast, despite its otherworldly momentum, skyrocketing upward. There is enough Reishi comprised land here that even if it were to absorb it at an accelerated rate, by the time it is to reach the ground above, there would be enough between him and it to protect him. When it finally surfaces, the slab of stone thrusts several meters into the sky, to the point it begins to tip backward.

Large slabs of stone and debris are discarded into the air uncontrollably. With enough spiritual energy working in tandem with his spiritual pressure, not even the speed of the supernatural entity can defy his will, or so he believed. Hopefully, it would land on its back or come plummeting back into the deep. Maho was unsure how this would fare, but he had to do something. This performance creates another large hole in the earth opposite to the one that is created before. one that was made in part by the large chasm the beast creates. It had to be wide enough to encompass his 250-foot wide frame. He had enough forethought for it to occur over what can only be described as large acres of farmland. For the most part, there are no large buildings or very many souls to injure, at least in this immediate stretch.
"Its up...to the rest...of you...heh..."
His arms ache, his body stings with the fresh feeling of burnt flesh. He winces with one eye closed. His teeth grind together to cope with the pain. Soot and sweat cake his entire body. He can say nothing else and really...there is nothing to say. Only success or failure remains. And there the dragon plummeted into unknown depths too singed to be of any real help. If Maho was to fail, would anyone else step in to assist him?
Deep in his conscious, a voice speaks out to him though soon enough that voice calls upon deaf ears.

 

[Shinigami]

One after another Shinigami began to show up to offer some sort of aid be it for those who lived in the Rukongai or to aid in stopping the Kōtotsu. Those who aided Captain Kojima in an attempt to stop the thing seemed to go a bit overboard as Tenzen didn't even factor in the thought of his allies making a massive hole in the Rukongai losing more innocent lives in the process. He watched, wide-eyed, as the Kōtotsu plummeted to the depths below, it was slowed for but a moment before catching its stride once again, charging underground. Tenzen decided to act on Vice-Captain Nibui's words now that his observations were done, something that he shouldn't have done, to begin with. With so little info on combating a Kōtotsu he felt the need to at least perform a minor observation on it, he knew full well what the being was, and its purpose in the Dangai. He was able to glean some information on it and a possible method to seal its movements or even stop it entirely. Anything that comes into physical contact with it is absorbed or thrown through time and space, however, there are two things that are coming into contact with it and not facing these consequences the air and time itself. If it were absorbing the air everyone in the area would have difficulty breathing and if it could absorb time something would have been noticed by now. He poked the bottom of the Kido barrier that held Captain Kojima's Haori within, after the poke the box would float on its own allowing him to leave it behind for the time being. As he started to move Captain Kojima began to yell.
"THOSE WHO HAVENT GIVEN UP ON STOPPING THIS THING MOVE NOW! FOLLOW MY LEAD. THE REST OF YOU, SAVE ANY SOUL YOU CAN AND CATCH UP TO US! ANYONE SKILLED IN KIDO GET A MESSAGE TO ANY SHINIGAMI ON THE WALL. TELL EM TO SET A PERIMETER!"
Before he could say or do anything the Captain was gone, moving after the Kōtotsu using every bit of his speed and more. Tenzen took off after him while still following his order on sending a message to the Shinigami on the wall, not having any sort of ink on hand he would draw his Wakazashi and slice his hand, using the blood from his own hand to draw the needed symbols on his arms and hand. Having to do this on the move he opens up his Shihakushō and draws the symbols that are usually placed on the ground on his torso instead, once done he holds his hands in front of him, performing all the necessary hand movements and begins the incantation, "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns, and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly through the heavens. Bakudō #77. Tenteikūra."

Root like extensions grow from the box and begin to glow as the incantation is being done and once finished the spell is active, it connected to all Shinigami of the Seireitei, not just the ones on the wall. Normally his social awkwardness would make the words bottle in his throat but this is no social event and so the words leave his mouth without fail. "ATTENTION ALL SHINIGAMI ON OR IN PROXIMITY OF THE SOUTHERN WALLS! SET UP A PERIMETER AT ONCE! THESE ARE CAPTAIN KOJIMA'S ORDERS! ALSO!" He hesitates for a moment, unsure if he should utter his next words but he shakes it off. "IF WE COULD SOMEHOW POISON THE REISHI IT'S CONSUMING WE COULD POSSIBLY KNOCK IT OUT! IT'S ONLY A THEORY!" He exhaled and deactivated the spell, he wondered if his thought would reach Division 12 in time for them to work something up. Still no closer to Captain Kojima he begins to regret stunting his own Shunpo skills, he started to wonder if it was time to start working on it again. He was starting to sweat by this point, pushing himself to move faster than he is accustomed to and before he knew it he would bear witness to Captain Kojima's next gambit, rocks and boulders shooting out of the ground and yet another massive hole was formed. But the hole was the last thing he was focusing on, he forced the thing back to the surface. Good, he can work with this. Pushing himself a bit more he moves to position himself under the rock pillar made by Captain Kojima. If everything based on contact is absorbed or knocked away then perhaps a more indirect form of contact was needed just like Captain Kojima used the earth around him Tenzen decided to use the air. Removing his Zanpakutos from his waist he holds them both vertically in front of himself and lets them go allowing them to levitate on their own. He taps both of them on their hilts to make them spin clockwise and in turn, causes them to spin like a fan.
Hadō #58. Tenran!

He grabs the hilts of his Zapakutos and generates a powerful tornado-like blast from each one that conjoins halfway up and forms a singular powerful tornado-like blast. As it nears the pillar of rock a white pulse of Reiatsu emanates from Tenzen's body and into the Kido, using Kido Displacement he "hides" Bakudō #8. Seki within it and the moment it made contact with the rock pillar it triggers. Like the rocket boosters on a shuttle, it aims to boost the speed and force of the rock while Tenran follows up with additional force. Tenzen hopes that by adding to Captain Kojima's attack that they could generate enough force to slow and send the Kōtotsu into the air.