Reluctantly, Shuuhei opened the heavy metal and concrete door and stepped out into the oppressive, suffocating heat and humidity of the Colombian jungle. Just as a few hours previously, it was like walking into a wall of hot steam or some gargantuan hot towel. Almost immediately, the Vizard felt beads of sweat forming and rolling down his face, neck, back, and chest. "I give it no more than five minutes until I'm completely and entirely drenched," thought Shuuhei, mildly annoyed at having to go out into this borderline uninhabitable mess of a weather system once again. Today, though, what he wanted to do meant nothing. This was something he was going to have to do. Just a few hours ago, he had entered what turned out to be a meeting of Vizards, mainly ex-Gotei, who, like Shuuhei, had made up their minds not to return to Seireitei. As it had turned out, the Gotei had some new leadership, and it was likely that Vizards would be accepted among their ranks moving forward. Even so, Shuuhei had no intentions of returning to that corrupt, prejudiced, and horribly inefficient organization, and the other Vizards were of like minds. Thus, despite having gotten off to a mildly rocky start, the meeting had gone quite well. Now, he was to be evaluated.

Shuuhei walked out into the deceptively wide clearing in the jungle surrounding the strange concrete building, looking about him all the while. He could just faintly make out the break in the vegetation up ahead that indicated the location of the narrow path through the jungle. Though it was so near, it was highly unlikely that any human would find this hideout by accident. Even for Shuuhei, it had been quite the challenge to locate. Even now, he found himself surprised and amazed at how simple yet effective this hideout was. Yes, jungles were notoriously good hiding places, as they were out of the way and rather dangerous, with the added bonus of the thick foliage preventing any sort of observation from the air. "I never would have thought that simply hiding in the jungle would be such an effective way to keep out of sight... all the trouble they used to go through in Soul Society to hide things only to have them found soon after... maybe simple is better after all," thought Shuuhei as he continued toward one of the edges of the clearing for his evaluation. Just in case this "evaluation" was what he suspected it would be, he wanted to be sure that the building would not sustain any accidental damage.

Finally having reached what he deemed to be a safe distance from the building, which was about a hundred meters off, Shuuhei stopped. Already, the small beads of sweat that had arisen upon exiting the building were now small rivulets, trickling down his body and slowly absorbing into the fabric of his Shihakusho. Looking up at the position of the sun in the sky, he was able to tell that it was just about the time that he had been instructed to wait outside. Folding his arms, he looked forward, mentally preparing himself for anything that was to come.

Ika had plans to kill two birds with one stone and maybe even another bird if he could get the hat trick. For now though he waited for the man to appear in front of him and soon enough his wish would be granted. Shuuhei didn't keep Ika waiting and that prompted a small smile to form on Ika's face as he greeted him. "Well it's wonderful to see you've arrived on time and I'm sure you expect me to be your combat proctor but.. that isn't entirely true. To be honest, your opponent will be arriving any minute now and I'd say he's pretty close to your current level of power. The rules for both of you are simple, nothing higher than your Shikai and no masks. I wanna see what both of you can do in a combat context so this'll be a nice test for both of you."

Ika stepped back with his hands still firmly lodged in his pockets. "Vulcan, come out now. You're up." As Vulcan appeared Ika would continue. "Shuuhei, you get the first move. Good luck to both of you."

A test, great. Vulcan was pretty sure he told Ika he wasn't the best student but the former Cero King still felt the need to put the Vizard through one. Another thing he remembered was how he told every single person he met how he enjoyed his piece and quiet, yet again someone seemed to have forgotten about it. Or they simply didn't care, which in Ika's case made sense. From a distance the young Seraphim listened as the man he chose to follow explained everything to the newcomer. If he recalled correctly his name was Shuuhei and the one showing up in their not so secret passage. Anyway, the moment Ika called for him Vulcan stepped out and made his way over. 

"Boss, new guy. How you doin'?" He remembered a popular TV show back in the day had some similar catchphrase so he figured he'd try it out himself. He listened and nodded to show he understood the rules as he readied himself to start their spar. "Ready when you are" he'd say to Shuuhei, it would be his move after all.

As Shuuhei had expected, he was met out in the jungle clearing by the being who was indisputably the leader of the small group of ex-Gotei Vizards he had encountered in a very much on-purpose-by-accident way. He already knew from their meeting just a few hours ago that this particular Vizard, who went by the name Ika, was quite powerful. His Reiatsu alone had demonstrated that much. "There's no way they're actually planning to have me face him, even as a test... well unless their intention all along was to kill me, but I somehow doubt that," Shuuhei reasoned as he assessed the situation. Even if it was only to be a training match, against someone this strong, Shuuhei would be overwhelmed in very short order even if his opponent were holding back. He knew this fully well, of course. In that case... what would happen? He listened intently as Ika explained the situation and began to speak about exactly what form this "evaluation" would take.

"...your opponent will be arriving any minute now," Shuuhei heard Ika explain. That, at least, was some comfort. Most of the Vizards in that room had been reasonably close to his own level of power, meaning that in the likely scenario that he would be facing off against one of them, he would be able to put up a decent fight at the very least. This particular sparring match, it seemed, would have some rules. As Ika explained, no release more powerful than Shikai would be allowed, and neither would the use of the Hollow masks or powers of either of the two. This was certainly beneficial to Shuuhei as well as whoever his opponent was going to be, as the risks of serious injury or death usually tended to increase when more advanced releases or masks were being used. Aw... That's no fun," said a somehow sinister-sounding female voice from deep within Shuuhei's soul. This, of course, was the very Inner Hollow whose power he would be barred from using in the coming sparring match. "Don't worry... There will be plenty more chances for you to have a little fun," Shuuhei replied mentally.

"Vulcan, come out now. You're up," Shuuhei heard Ika say. He turned to the direction in which Ika had turned, just in time to see a yet another Vizard approaching. Ever calm and calculating, Shuuhei was sizing up the newly arrived being long before any fighting began. "It's really close... but his Reiatsu is just a little stronger than mine. I won't be able to win by power alone here... I'm going to need some brainpower as well," Shuuhei realized. At least, according to Ika, Shuuhei would be allowed to take the first move. He was certainly going to make sure he took full advantage of that.

Now, at long last, the other Vizard, who it seemed went by the name of Vulcan, approached, just as Ika stepped back. "Ready when you are," said Vulcan to Shuuhei. The phrasing was rather informal for Shuuhei's taste, but that was of course not the main issue at the moment, so he brushed it aside, focusing on the now imminent combat situation. As his hands traveled to the hilts of the two swords that made up his dual Zanpakuto, he noted that this "Vulcan" did not seem particularly concerned about the battle. Was it because this was only a sparring match with little to no actual chance of death or serious injury, or was there more? "I do not particularly enjoy fighting but... I will not deny that it is necessary at times, and thus we should always be prepared for it," said Shuuhei as he now grasped the hilts of both his swords. As the first wave of pre-combat adrenaline washed over him, the Vizard's vision and other senses seemed to sharpen. It was as if his fingers could identify each individual thread on the tsuba of the two swords at his side. Now, both hands locked tightly around the hilts, his muscles finding that familiar grip they had formed countless times over the last 530 years.

"I do not believe we've been formally introduced. My name is Yamada. Yamada Shuuhei," said Shuuhei addressing Vulcan, giving his name in the traditional Japanese style, with the family name first. "It's good to meet you," Shuuhei finished. By now, he had developed a reasonably usable battle plan, one which he put into use immediately after he finished speaking. A small smile crossed his face as he said a single word: "Muyubyou." For about a second, a thin halo of dark blue Reiatsu shimmered around him, then disappeared. To his opponent, it would appear as if nothing had changed. Deep within Shuuhei's soul, however, something... or actually, two things, were stirring from their sleep. "You two ready?" he asked mentally. "Of course," came a calm voice in the Vizard's mind, followed immediately by a much more aggressive one saying "The real question is, are YOU ready?!" It seemed that both of the spirits that made up Shuuhei's Zanpakuto and gave him his power were prepared to fight as well.

It was time. Shuuhei diverted his Reiatsu to two different places: he allowed some of it to begin flowing toward his left hand and into the blade of his wakizashi, but slightly more of it was diverted into his right hand. If things went as planned, this wold help him with a small surprise he was planning for later. Shuuhei's Shunpo was somewhat lacking for a being of his level, but he decided that the best thing to do here would be to start things off quickly and go all in from the beginning. Using Shunpo, he burst forward, heading directly at Vulcan with all of the speed he could muster. In the same motion, he drew both of his swords. The wakizashi, its blade now beginning to glow with Shuuhei's dark blue Reiatsu as it was poured into the weapon, went behind Shuuhei's back, concealed from view for now. The golden-bladed katana would most likely be Vulcan's main concern, as it was with this weapon that Shuuhei slashed outwards as soon as the blade was fully out of its sheath. Its target was the center of his opponent's chest, where if it landed, it would deal a sword wound that would likely sting quite a bit, but would not be a significant problem for someone of Vulcan's level.

It seemed that everything was in order and Ika was going to get to spectate a fun battle after all. A small smirk formed across his face as he stepped back, Shunpoing into a nearby tree so he had a place to sit and spectate whatever might happen. It seemed that Shuuhei was a bit apprehensive, he was probably feeling a bit gun shy considering he hadn't been involved in this type of thing for several years and to be fair, Ika couldn't blame him. There was a period of time where Ika's combat aptitude had faded a bit due to lack of use, he had separated himself from the Gotei and saw little practical reason to focus so hard on training and bettering himself but now?..

Now he knew better, and these guys would need to know better as well. They couldn't afford to get weak and sloppy in combat, that was a surefire recipe to get killed out here and so they were going to fight it out. As the old saying went, iron sharpens iron.. Vizards sharpen Vizards.. Something like that.

(Skip me for a bit, good luck both of you!)

He wasn't sure whether his opponent was talking to him, himself or someone else. "Probably the nerves" he thought out loud before giving the man his name. "Seraphim. Vulcan Seraphim. Nice to meet you as well." Fact of the matter was that they'd be spending an awful bit of time together now that it looked like Shuuhei would be part of their little group, so it only made sense for them to get to know each other. First impressions weren't really his cup of tea if he took the previous ones for example, nevertheless it wouldn't really hurt to remain friendly around those he'd be hanging around with. Anyway, enough small talk as they had a spar to attend to.

It was strange, yet amusing how whenever anyone tried to use the element of surprise they'd always go straight forward. This would be no different for Shuuhei as the man attempted to Shunpo towards Vulcan in the hopes of landing a hit. Unfortunately for his opponent Vulcan decided to demonstrate what it truly meant to become a master of Shunpo as the Vizard himself would suddenly disappear only to reappear a couple of meters from his original position. Ending up five meters behind and slightly to the right side of his opponent's back he figured now it was his time to use the so called element of surprise. 

Once Vulcan noticed Shuuhei's back was turned towards him and the man's body in an unstable position due to attempting his sword slash, the Seraphim capitalized on the situation as he launched a stream of fire directly at his opponent's unprotected and left open back. Manipulating his flames in a way that the second before they would hit he'd ignite and cause them to explode, leaving possible 1st degree burns. 

Actions taken:

Just as Shuuhei had expected, he felt no resistance as he slashed outward with the blade of his katana. A faint whistle sounded as the razor-sharp golden blade cut through only empty air, causing no harm to the other Vizard before him. The main problem was of course that this other Vizard, who Shuuhei had confirmed mere seconds ago did indeed go by the name of Vulcan, was no longer before him. As it turned out, Shuuhei's second biggest weakness happened to be one of Vulcan's strengths. The fellow Vizard seemed to have reached a much more advanced level of Shunpo than he had. An instant before the blade of Shuuhei's weapon would have made contact, Vulcan seemed to almost disappear, moving at speeds that Shuuhei could only barely follow. "Follow" was not even an adequate description, as his experience was akin to what a human might perceive in an attempt to track the movement of a speeding vehicle on the highway. In a blur, the other Vizard dodged the sword stroke with very little effort and then moved forward, speeding past Shuuhei to take up a position behind his back, approximately five meters away.

"Not good," Shuuhei realized, as his brain began to register just how problematic the situation was. Swinging a Zanpakuto, though not a particularly difficult task, involved the manipulation of a significantly heavy object in a position that often had awkward effects on the swordsman's center of gravity. This was the situation Shuuhei now found himself in. See, the ideal thing to do here would be to whip around as quickly as possible in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the counterattack that was surely coming. However, the attempted sword strike had left him mildly off-balance and unable to do so immediately. There was no choice. Shuuhei held out both arms in an attempt to get his balance back, revealing the wakizashi that had been hidden behind his back, which was now glowing brilliantly in a dark blue color. By the time Shuuhei came to a stop and regained his balance, his opponent's counterattack was already en route. At such close range and at the speeds at which the two Vizards were fighting, there was less than a second to react. Caught in such a situation, even an average Captain of the Gotei would be unlikely to escape entirely unharmed. Shuuhei, of course, was at the level of a somewhat above-average Lieutenant, meaning he was about to be in for a rather uncomfortable experience.

Just before Vulcan's attack connected, Shuuhei felt a burst of heat approaching, indicating to him that he was most likely about to be struck by either a burst of flame or some type of electric-based attack. This was going to hurt... but the situation was not all bad. The wakizashi he had hidden behind his back was now coated in a cone-shaped bullet of dark blue Reiatsu, and this was what he had truly intended to allow to happen. Having just regained his balance, he decided to begin the process of turning to face his opponent. Of course, there was no chance of making it in time to avoid the attack, but he knew he needed to redirect his focus to his own counterattack. In his peripheral vision, Shuuhei saw a burst of flames ready to strike his now exposed back. He braced himself as, a fraction of a second later, the flames exploded outward. Searing heat washed over the left side of the Vizard's back as he began to turn, and he could tell right away that he had suffered first-degree burns across a decent portion of his back. The injury was painful, but not debilitating. After all, he had suffered the most minor form of burns, an injury that would be only mildly problematic even for a human, let alone a spiritual being such as Shuuhei. Then again, this was only a spar.

Five meters. It was a much greater range than Shuuhei had intended to fire off his counterattack at but... it would still do. The attack he had in mind was rather quick. Besides, should it fail, he had one more trick up his sleeve before it would be necessary to completely form a new strategy. However, Shuuhei thought it was reasonable to expect that since Vulcan had just used quite a fast Shunpo and fired off an attack, he would need maybe a half second to a second to recover and re-adjust before transitioning into his next move, and it was this, the tiniest of openings, that he hoped to exploit. Gripping the hilt of the wakizashi, whose blade was now completely covered by the Reiatsu projectile that Shuuhei had been charging this entire time, he swung the weapon at full speed toward Vulcan. "Juudan!" he exclaimed, the name of the technique ringing out as the conical Reiatsu bullet, now at its full size of two feet in length, burst towards his opponent, speeding forward like a miniature missile. A slight but noticeable look of pain crossed Shuuhei's face in the same instant as the technique's recoil vibrated through his left arm like that of a high-caliber firearm.

The Reiatsu projectile, meanwhile, rapidly closed in on Vulcan, aiming for his stomach this time, where if it connected, it would explode with force equal to a Hado in the mid-30's, such as the ever-popular Soukatsui, probably causing moderate abrasions and slight bleeding. "Let's hope this works," thought Shuuhei as a wisp of smoke rose from the wakizashi's blade.

---------------------------------------------

Actions:

Spoiler:

Vulcan figured his attack, although handy but not very lethal, wouldn't be enough to end the spar. And it seemed the former Fraccion to the Septima Espada guessed right. His flames connected and inflicted 1st degree burns, but he expected a Vizard allowed in by Ika should be more than able to endure that amount of pain. His eyes on Shuuhei's back as he witnessed another weapon made Vulcan believe his opponent might have another trick up his sleeves which is why he anticipated the next move. Releasing and surrounding himself with fire, his protective aura would allow him to tank whatever it was Shuuhei threw at him. He didn't have to wait all too long before finding out what it was exactly as some sort of bullet-like projectile made its way towards Vulcan.

He could already see it, his new colleague probably thinking something amongst the lines of "what is he going to do, just stand there?", yep that was exactly the Seraphim's plan. If he were to be defenseless the projectile would surely inflict great pain but since his aura protected him from the damage Vulcan didn't feel a thing. He wouldn't really call it his signature move, but it had proven its worth a couple of times in the past already. The Vizard hardly enjoyed the thrill of battle but he was starting to have some fun. It was then that he realized a move Ika used on him the first time they met, so he figured might as well try it out himself.

Extending his middle and index finger towards Shuuhei, sending energy that would lock his hands behind his back using Bakudō #1, while using his other hand to cast Bakudō #26 to render both his physical as spiritual presence invisible. The guessing game could begin as Vulcan assumed his opponent started to get nervous considering not knowing where the Seraphim was, unable to feel or sense him all the while his hands were suddenly forced behind his back. Using the confusion created by his actions, Vulcan then made his way over to Shuuhei, his presence still invisible. His hand on his own Zanpakuto as he immediately unsheathed his sword once he ended the kido, slashing through the tendon of Shuuhei's right leg, followed by another slash aimed at this lower abdomen as he would be standing slightly to his right side.

Actions taken:

To Shuuhei's dismay, his plan, which had already been somewhat disrupted by his slight underestimation of his opponent's speed and proficiency in Shunpo, did not seem to have the desired effect. Though he had released his Juudan at only five meters away, a range at which dodging or even having time to make any sort of attempt at a defensive maneuver should have been highly improbable, it seems that this was exactly what had happened. The only possible explanation was that the other Vizard had somehow known just by looking at Shuuhei's wakizashi, which had of course become visible when he stretched out his arms to regain balance, that the attack was coming. In that case, what happened was entirely plausible, though still rather unlikely. Perhaps some luck was involved as well. After all, there were people who were simply lucky enough for their predictions to be correct during battle and thus only rarely take hits.

In any case, what happened next completely disrupted the original plan Shuuhei had decided upon. As the projectile generated by Juudan sped toward Vulcan, a wall of flame leapt up around the other Vizard. It seemed to cling tightly to his body, like a halo or an aura, or maybe some type of fire armor. A fraction of a second later, the projectile created by Shuuhei's Juudan slammed into the flames, detonating as planned in what should have been a decently destructive burst of crackling, dark blue Reiatsu. Instead, it ended up being completely harmless, the blast being absorbed by Vulcan's strange, fiery aura, mitigating any damage that would have been done. Luckily for Shuuhei, however, producing this fire aura took a second or so, similar to most techniques, save of course the fastest and most advanced ones, and he planned to take advantage of this. Immediately upon seeing the projectile detonate, Shuuhei darted up and diagonally forward, this time using Shunpo the best he could for an added burst of speed. Done correctly, he would skim just over the top of Vulcan's head, maybe five feet from him at his closest approach.

As he reached the apex of his jump, Shuuhei noted the gesture the other Vizard was making and almost wanted to laugh. "He's going to use Kido on me?!" thought Shuuhei, mildly amused. Shuuhei, you see, had always excelled in Kido, his Academy instructors noting his proficiency in this area of Shinigami arts almost from day one. Though it appeared he was planning to use one of the single-digit Bakudo spells based on his gesture, but Shuuhei did not plan to sit around and find out. Now, it would hopefully be Vulcan's turn to have his plans disrupted. Still... what Shuuhei had in mind was going to require quite a bit of energy, so the chances of him losing this spar would increase quite significantly if this plan should fail.

In the same instant, Shuuhei extended his right arm, palm facing the top of his opponent's head. He seemed to still be protected by the fire aura, so what he did next was not likely to be as dangerous as it would otherwise have been. "Hado number 54: Haien," he said, unleashing a flattened, boomerang-like burst of purple flame toward the top of Vulcan's head at nearly point-blank range. Should it connect with its target, the purple flame would explode into a significantly larger burst of more normal-colored flames. Of course, this particular Hado could only be used against one specific part of the opponent, and in this case, that part happened to be the head. Against an unprotected opponent, this would be seen as going for the kill, but Shuuhei suspected that a strong enough attack could cause this flaming aura to dissipate, and this was the goal of the first attack. He also hoped that just maybe, the shock value of aiming for the head would serve as somewhat of a distraction. However, there was no time to wait around and see if it had worked. Already, Shuuhei was preparing his next move. "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" said Shuuhei under his breath, taking advantage of the distraction he hoped his earlier Hado had created. By now, he was landing behind Vulcan, firmly on his feet with the first two fingers of his right hand pointing at the other Vizard.

"Bakudo number 61: Rikujokoro," he said, watching as six beams of yellow energy closed in on Vulcan rapidly. He hoped that given the possible distraction caused by his earlier use of Haien, this full-incantation Rikujokoro would be difficult to evade. If the spell hit, the beams of glowing yellow energy would slam into the other Vizard quite hard, probably knocking the wind out of him as well as binding his arms firmly to his side. The action had taken quite a lot out of Shuuhei, however, and he stood where he had landed, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his visibly distressed and tired face. This absolutely needed to work, or else there was going to be serious trouble for him. "Come on, let me handle this!" came the voice of his Inner Hollow. Shuuhei responded with a firm "NO," as he stared ahead, tightly gripping his twin swords as he waited for the dust and smoke to clear so that he could view the outcome of his actions.

--------------------------------------------------

Actions:

Spoiler:

It seemed his opponent was of the stubborn kind, the type that needed to witness the difference between them the hard way. Earlier during their spar it should already been made clear that Vulcan's speed was leagues above his, yet Shuuhei deemed it wise to try and use Shunpo almost as if he'd be the only one moving and the young Seraphim would just be standing still. But if it's a battle of speed he wanted, a battle of speed he was going to get. Simultaenously with the projectile's detonation and at the exact same time his opponent would try and Shunpo his way over, Vulcan would simply abandon his plan of using Kido and used Shunpo himself as he'd disappear at high speed, ending up at where Shuuhei was originally standing. 

Having swapped places and having demonstrated how much faster he was, the art of speed and agility being one of his specialties, Vulcan decided time had come for him to call upon his Zanpakuto. "Blaze, Moeru Hanaken." His blade would separate into 1.000 flower petals of which 500 would be send Shuuhei's way while the remaining 500 petals would simply fly around its owner in case he needed to protect himself and to keep his opponent from getting closer. Using 250 of the petals to attack from the left side, the other 250 from the right, the Vizard was aiming to crush and potentially rip his opponent to shreds. It had already been made clear who was the faster one, and more importantly, who was the slower one, so unless Shuuhei's real name was Houdini he'd have a hard time avoiding the incoming attack.

Actions taken: