"Heh," Stabbing through Hollis had been a great victory! It pretty much assured Piedra that he defeated the Captain. The acid would run through his body, eating away at his guts, and he would have to cry out then! Piedra knew he would. But, even if he didn't, there's no way he'd be able to survive something like that. No creature could. Well, even if they could, not for long. Then...Something happened?

I was so fast and so confusion, despite feeling as if everything were in slow motion. Piedra couldn't help be feel as if he'd just woken up from a dream as a tentacle died away after he destroyed it.

"Wha-" Piedra started, he felt something. Looking down, eyes widened in horror, Piedra realized that he was...Shot! When did that happen?! Sure, Piedra wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but he was sure he had been paying attention to have avoided something or at least known he was being shot! Why? Why!? "Shut up! Just how the hell'd ya do all that!?" Piedra asked, trying to move a hand over his wound. Breathing. He felt like he couldn't get any air. Each time he tried, he had this raspy, throaty inhale that didn't make him feel any better. It was like he were under a plastic bag with short, small, hard to find holes.

[color=firebrick]Wait... Looking down, he didn't freaking have any arms!? "You sonova-" Realizing too late that his arms had been snipped off, Piedra was starting to lose his ability to stay in the air. Perhaps it was the breathing or the shock of the situation or maybe it was his fading consciousness? Whatever it was, Piedra was a moment from falling down to the ground.

"Are ya listening?"
The talking took it's toll as, rolling his eyes back, the Arrancar fell backwards towards the ground. Just like that he would have lost consciousness. Defeated.

Hollis casually holds his sword at his side as his destroyed tentacle slowly begins to regenerate. As it does, he looks around to try and find someone else to have fun with when he feels a familiar rieatsu and begins to sing a little tune to himself as he decides. A yellow charge begins to form around his left hand.


"oooooooh, Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle, lalala, i like to wraaastle.."


Suddenly, kato appears next to hollis and speaks on helping him with piedra. THe yellow charge gets bigger as hollis' arm begins to vibrate from its building power.


"Hm? Oh hello young kato. thanks for the offer but i'm afraid that one won't be causing any trouble for a good while...whoops"


Hollis holds up his hand and releases a fully powered Hadō #63. Raikōhō with the added strength of an incantation behind it directly at kato who is in point blank range. The giant streak of pure electricity would wash over his former pupil with nothing being held back. Hopefully he would be able to handle it. if not..oh well. Hollis then nods over towards Marcus.


"But maybe you could handle that guy over there for me, i'll go talk to this one up ahead.. good luck kiddo!"


Hollis then shunpos to maybe a bit closer than mid range to veloz. His tentacles begin to wiggle around again.


"Hey there pal! how are you this fine afternoon?"


The 5th division captain casually shouts to veloz, trying to strike up a conversation with the espada. As he waits for Veloz' response, Hollis looks at him, trying to get a feel for his power.



~mmmmm, this one seems quite powerful. I'd say he's at least the 4th or higher. Oh yes, his rieatsu is quuuuuuuite delicious..hmhm...I think he may be the one.lolz, the one, neo. Keanu reeves. the matrix..good movie. not 100% gluten free though..~


Hollis' tentacles suddenly stop wiggling around and are quickly sucked back into mirjains blade. Hollis' normal smirk slowly creeps into a malicious grin.

Kato smiles and flexes his hands as he receives the raw power from Hollis' Hado. "You really are exceptional, Hollis...." Kato's words could faintly be heard over the cracking sound of Hollis' shunpo. Kato steadied his blade between his eyes and pointed it at the unknown arrancar. "I hope you are ready for me, monster." With that, Kato shunpo'd his way towards the arrancar's position, holding his sword behind him every step of the way. Hollis' confidence in Kato assured him that this would be a more than capable fight for Kato.

His plan at the time was simple. All he wanted to do was wear the arrancar out with his overwhelming speed and strike at the optimal time. One swipe would be all it would take, he hoped. The last thing he needed was to waste energy on an underling. Prepared as he seemed, Kato still knew next to nothing about this monster's abilities and would have to learn by experience. He prayed that this experience wouldn't cost him his ever precious life force.

Falling. Falling.

It was a clear loss. One that Piedra was completely unable to deny. Bordering on consciousness and unconscious, he faded for a moment. Reality sank away and all the was left was a calm, cool darkness that made all the pain, humiliation, and numbness vanish. Piedra could very well suffer terrible complications with one lung damaged and physical strain and pressure on the other, however, that was not a problem by the time he hit the hard, rough ground. The dirt was thrown upwards as his armless, apparently lifeless body laid there a fallen rag doll thrown away unwanted.

A breathe. A gasp. It was likely unheard by Kato and Hollis as they played their kido games, though Piedra was definitely breathing. The hole in his chest was mended. It as not gone and it wasn't necessarily healed, but it was fixed to the point that breathing was not a problem. His ressurection faded away, leaving the red haired, lightly tanned, lightly muscled Arrancar. His clothes were tattered, though when his red skin turned into that warm human tone, one could see the red mark that remained in the very place where Hollis had fired his white lightning through him. The skin looked raw, as if it were bruised or burned or sensitive, and it created a sort of starburst injury on his chest.

Coughing, Piedra started to stir. His head moved from side to side.
Light. Light was breaking through the darkness of his unconsciousness. Some bright, warm, stunning brilliance that was both annoying and alluring. He wanted to ignore the light, the sounds, the feeling, the flashing memories that rammed into him to tackle his formally relaxed psyche. He couldn't though. The rising spiritual pressures were pillars of fire, erupting and stabbing through the darkness. He could feel them as if they were being absorbed right into his flesh and the warmth from them was enough to bring him from light unconsciousness to being practically alert. It was coming. It was raging. A blazing tower of flame was too large. It's heat was so hot that Piedra was going to be burned. He'd be burned. Burned.

Piedra's eyes opened with a start. Bright eyed, sweaty, heart erratic, and slightly frazzled, the Arrancar tried to make sense of what he quickly opened his eyes to see. From reflex alone, and from shere luck of very good timing, Piedra kicked off the ground. With his back on the ground, his kick made him perform a backwards almost summersault in which he landed a few feet away from Kato's diving attack. Kato would miss, just bearly, as Piedra landed a few feet away.

"Gueh..." Flinching, Piedra looked like that landing hurt. The center of his chest was burning and it felt like his ribs were melting. They may as well be close, considering what he'd done subconsciously to save his own life. Piedra was breathing heavy, not only from the strain of all the pain, but it was still difficult to get a breath. The hole in the lungs was gone, the damage calmed, and his life wasn't in danger from Hollis' clever trap, however, Piedra was in no way, shape or form in excellent health. Piedra was still, unfortunately, missing a few important items.

Shit this hurts! It feels worse than burnin'. Where'd this brat come from anyway? I can't use Rompealmas like this...Or maybe I can...Damn. This is gonna be freakin' messy...Shit this hurts! He thought, his eyes not giving away the pain he was experiencing. His gaze was tired and somewhere between frustrated and curious, but they were sharp. They watched Kato carefully, looking at the Shinigami as if they were watching an exposed weakness that they didn't want to lose.

"Don't...Ya get cocky jus cause I ain't got no arms," Piedra said, his voice low and hoarse. He definitely wasn't in the best of shape, but, well, he had no choice but to stand now didn't he? Woken up by Kato's fierce determination, raging power, and his own pain, Piedra wasn't going to just lie down and be killed. Even if he had no arms and lost his legs....Piedra was going to live. He would survive. That was how he lived his entire life. This was a pretty bad situation but, Piedra had the survival instincts and experience that this Shinigami couldn't ever imagine. Piedra fought harder, longer, and against worse odds for his entire life. It was with this will that Piedra would find a road to his own survival. Even if that meant Kato would have to die.

"Whatcha waitin' for..?" Just as hoarse as before, and spoken just as low, the provocation was almost a whisper. Despite it's low volume it was soaked in Piedra's characteristic confidence.

Thea simply stood from atop the hill her eyes had diverted from the fight of one of her kinsmen to a lower form, it was Piedra and he looked rather roughed up she shook her head with a disappointed face her mind giving only a few thoughts, Tch...Fool..Always too cocky for his own good her mind barked before sonido'ing in, her calm eyes gazing on that of the shinigami before taking up piedra and turning to sonido away

a moments time passed and she was far out of the battle zone after a few sonido allowing the male to rest here as she sat down, sighing only once more and shaking her head.

It all comes crashing down

Bang, Crash, SMASH....crackle...crackle

The noises were hardly enough to wake the sleeping woman on, it wasn't until the smell of smoke cause her nose to twitch honing her ears in to catch more of the noise reigning in from the outside of her room. A soft groan passed her lips before she pushed her body up causing the black of her hair to fall curtain in front of her eyes as she lifted tired hands to wipe the eye-snot from her eyes. What was going on outside her room? She wondered as she stretched her torso to its full length straightening her arms up in the air. Her shoulders gave a respective popping noise, thought hardly audible over the commotion happening outside.

Dressed in fox orange pajama pants she stood slowly to her feet before padding over to the door to tell the idiots outside her room to practice in silence or answer to her teeth. Before her hands were able to touch the slot in the door to open it, however, it was broken down causing her to jump back in surprise. In her now broken down doorway stood four shinigami of the fifth squadron she had been boarding at. They pointed blades and fingers her way causing her head to tilt softly to the left side with curiosity.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked with a pout of her lips as she strode towards her opponents, "What is going on?" she asked holding her hands out to disarm her assailents. One was quick to grab her wrist and twist it around her back and placing a blade to her throat pressing the cold blade tight against bronzed skin. She smirked slightly as dangerous Orange eyes had slitted with holding herself back from slitting her holders throat. After all she had a cover to keep up. It seemed now though the Reancar had made their moved. The mans next statement had her fully aware of what had happened. She was late for the attack. Heh, looks like they've made their move finally.

"Izanami Hiromi! You are under arrest for treason of contract set down by you and the arrancar. You promised a time of peace, and this attack proves to us your betrayal and our foolishness." the man in her ear pushed her forward after tying her hands behind her back. She allowed herself to stumble as her hair fell before her eyes once more, and the actress once more pulled tears to her eyes as she looked at the men.

"How do you think I could be responsible for this?! I haven't been in contact with the arrancar for months! How would I know anything about this? Come on guys, haven't we become friends" she asked with begging eyes as she made her way past the other three into the hallway of the quadron as they stood in the room. They gave her unbelieving eyes and she realized that her act had truly been up. To which she shrugged her shoulder and ran a long nail across the ropes that bound her freeing her hands before putting them through the throats of the shinigami around her.

Lifting her hands to her lips she licked her nails of the blood and shrugged her shoulders, "You should have just let me go" she said to one shinigami still gasping for air as she crouched down next to him and pushing her face closer to his. her hair getting wet in his oozing blood leaking in a pool around him. For a moment her eyes had looked sad that this day had come, but as she reminded herself that this is what she was she closed the eyes of the men around her in respect and collected her things from the room she had claimed and changing into the red kimono she was known for. Still having bare feet she returned to the outside world and lifted her nose to the air as the ruins of soul society began to form. After stuffing her fan into her sash she jumped off to find the sword everyone seemed to be dying to get to. Maybe run into a few faces she hadn't seen in awhile.

Landing on top of a building she looked around her once more before allowing herself to fall to a more quite part of town. Although she was sure it wouldn't stay like this for a long time she would need a moment to collect her thoughts as the traitor she was, and how she would play her way to the sword.

Ready to fight. He felt all the pressure on his back as he stood there awaiting the Shinigami's next move. Sure, he wasn't in the best conditions, but Piedra had courage. He would use that courage to fight anyone and it the odds weren't even a factor!

However, before Piedra even had to worry about how many cuts he was about to receive, he felt a familiar presence beside him. Before Piedra could utter a word that presence snatched him up and the two of them vanished in a characteristic sonido. Who was it? It took Piedra until they stopped moving to actually realize.

"Wait...It's you!? This is...Backwards!" Piedra lamented, leaning his head back as if someone had just hit him with a sign that said 'Fail'. Piedra was rescued by the Espada known as Thea Leblanc and Piedra would honestly prefer the current character roles were reversed. Piedra had only rarely been embarrassed in his life, but each time he was it was often due to Aluze, an Arrancar associate of his. Now, here he was, having been carried here by a gorgeous Espada. So wrong! Piedra's cool points were quickly burning themselves up. What if someone saw!?

Piedra remained standing, "You know! I had perfect control of that battle! I was about to win! Easily too! I didn't need any help or anything," His eyes darting about hoping to catch a listener or two. Although he said it proudly, Piedra was still breathing heavily and, well, he didn't have any arms. It took Piedra a moment to re-remember this and he groaned, "This sucks! Right when another Espada appears that I've never seen...Say, Thea, let me borrow one of your arms?" He asked, not giving thanks after she saved his life or even noticing how really banged up he was. Just standing was demanding a great deal of effort on Piedra's part, but a guy like him didn't need to show that outwardly. He'd pretend to be just fine if for no other reason than to keep up appearances...Not that his was very impressive at the moment.

While the fighting ensued within Seireitei, it was no doubt that the surprise attack had been successful, even if only because the Hollows themselves had made it in. The damage they had actually inflicted was just extra; the achievements of Hueco Mundo today were tremendous. Today they'd done what hadn't been done for thousands of years, perhaps never. An alarming sum of Hollow reiatsu flowed freely through the entirety of Soul Society as more and more Hollows spilled through the many Garganta now open in the sky. And as more Hollows appeared the Garganta started coming lower, mostly small ones forming close to the ground where basic foot soldier Hollows could enter.

But the barrier that had protected seireitei had apparently been an issue as some Hollows could not enter - many swarmed outside of the now closed barrier and a large sum of their forces were stuck. As if to answer this, several giant Gillian class menos fell from the sky, powerful ones with unique masks a cut above the standard lumbering Hollow. They continuously bashed their fists against the massive barrier for several minutes until it finally cracked, and then a blast of ceros shattered a huge hole in the glowing field around the fortress-city. Other squads of Gillian had appeared in other locations performing similar attacks, but this had not been to make pathways for the Hollows who were stuck outside simply because the Garganta portals they had used were inadequately placed. A huge black gash in the air rippled forth in front of the largest hole in the barrier, expanding to a colossal size as white-clad soldiers bearing zanpakuto began to march forth, donning hellish masks.

An entire army of Arrancar. None so powerful as to rank among the Espada or Fraccion of course, but a formidable force, perhaps a thousand warriors from Las Noches itself here to do battle. Their footsteps were perfectly synchronized and kido spells launched at them by the shinigami protecting the outer fringe were deflected by their own barrier which was formed of their own reiatsu. Every uniformed footstep made a loud clap noise that echoed throughout seireitei; The Arrancar had arrived in full force. Although, in truth, this was but a fraction of their army.

However, the Gillian who had been tasked with destroying the barrier suddenly stopped as their brethren poured through the breaches and the cracks. They were all just looking up, and everything seemed just a little bit brighter... above, the sun's glow grew warmer. And if you looked closely it appeared almost as though it had grown... yet, minutes later, it's light grew much brighter until one could see that it was not the sun generating this light, but a separate body of fire shooting down from it. On Sokyoku hill, a Shinigami eventually saw it and pointed upwards, screaming. "Wa-waaah! It's an asteroid! Take cover, everyone!" He cried, flailing as the Arrancar he had been dueling also looked up. His mouth gaped open and his hollow-zanpakuto fell to the ground.

The separate body of fire was now massive, twisting and spiraling and condensing. It grew smaller but the flames spun around it fiercely. As it came closer it was apparent that it was no asteroid and massive spiritual power radiated from it's core.... was this Ryuujin Jakka, the legendary fire zanpakuto? No, this was a different kind of power. Something was unusually cleansing and potent about this particular energy. It was so cleansing, in fact, that all who felt it would experience an indescribable feeling of irritation, almost like bleach on skin. Then, it hit.

Flames roared all over Sokyoku hill. Dozens of bodies were blown off the cliffs Hollow, Shinigami and Arrancar alike, and the mass of flames had struck close to Sokyoku itself, which had been strange considering it had been headed towards some buildings only moments before impact. Even the dirt was burning. Fire was everywhere, circling, growing, devouring... corpses and living men alike were eaten by the star-like heat. Everything near the ancient weapon was ablaze, and the flames pushed outward, driving the soldiers of both sides alike away from Sokyoku. The height the flames reached out to was unnatural. They moved in such a way that seemed conscious and destructive, claiming as many lives as they possibly could. The death toll rose sharply; roughly fifty Hollows had been killed, while other numbers remained uncertain, as the staggering burst of the flames in the explosive collision had greatly reduced visibility at the time. But many had died and their ashes blowing in the wind was all that remained... perhaps not even that, as those hungry flames voraciously scorched everything in reach, covering an area of nearly a hundred feet around Sokyoku itself. They seemed drawn to the Zanpakuto.

Then, from where the core of the flames had been, a black silhouette emerged from the death and the ashes. It was masculine, huge, and staggeringly tall. A giant had risen there... and in an instant the flames condensed around him, rising to a height of nearly several hundred feet, matching and then surpassing the length of Sokyoku as they continued to rise at the cost of their width. The figure could now be seen clearly through the much dimmer flames.

He was a white haired man, of tan skin and old age, but still some resemblance of his youth, and a fearsome mass of powerful muscles rippling across his mostly exposed body. He wore an old-style shinigami uniform from what had to be ancient times, as not even the royal guard captains still wore the particular design. The hakama were less defined and there was no sash, just white laces around the sides of the hips, and they were far looser and baggier, while tight around the waist. Most of the garments however were torn, ripped, tattered, dirty, and most of all, faded. It was a miracle they themselves had not burned; but it was then apparent that this strange man was the source of the flames.

His head rose, sending chilling eyes up the gigantic Hollow-killing weapon in front of him. The fires that coated his body eventually slowed down and the gaze in his clear orbs was one of reverence, passion, and respect. His lips quivered as the flames finally shrunk down to nothing, leaving only his incredibly powerful body, those strong, tanned muscles rippling with excitement. His face was tough and aged, yet still contained a glimmer of handsomeness. Slowly, five thick fingers outstretched towards the pillar-like pole of the tremendous skyscraper sized halberd, and the surface of it glimmered like fireflies as it recognized the hand of it's true owner. A tear fell from the man's eyes as he smiled sincerely and squeezed as much of his huge hand around the impossibly-sized weapon.

"Sokyoku...." He spoke, his old-style haori blowing behind him. The white fabric was surprisingly well preserved considering the shape the rest of his dilapidated uniform was in. However, as some shinigami approached, the symbol on it's back shocked them. "The captain commander?" exclaimed the asteroid-fearing Shinigami who had been shouting earlier. The white-haired, ancient Shinigami slowly rose his hand, performing an impossible feat of strength. He was literally lifting Sokyoku - and with barely much of a grasp at all! His head turned behind him sharply, gazing at the Shinigami with dangerous eyes. And yet, while his crystalline eyes had a fierce look to them, there was also the unmistakable feeling that this man was somehow greatly heroic, and he released a vibe of zealous intensity and charisma. "Yes." He replied, to the half-conscious question. "I, your leader, have returned. I will protect you." He promised. It was then apparent that even though the flames had burned some of his own, no Shinigami had actually been killed by the flames, while they had been utterly fatal to all else. The Shinigami he spoke to should have been killed by them for certain! "I am Shunketsu Soeki! Captain Commander of the Gotei Thirteen!" He roared, lowering his massive shoulder and hurling Sokyoku into the air with a thunderous echo of vibrating metal from it's blade. "And this is my Zanpakuto, Sokyoku!" He proclaimed as well. The impossible statement ran contrary to what nearly every Shinigami was taught, and yet, the weapon responded to him like no other. Every action it had been used for in the past had been the voluntary work of it's spirit, yet it seemed this man could command and wield it effortlessly as it floated above in the air, sending gusts of wind down as it spun slowly above. Sparks began to rise from the entire zanpakuto.

In a burst of howling flames, his reiatsu rose from him once more - flaming reiatsu - which sizzled heartily with a staggering bloodlust. The hunger for fresh Hollow blood was unmistakable. "I will never leave you again, my home! Let the purge begin once more; the crusade starts today. Let's do this just like before, Sokyoku." He announced with an air of inspiring leadership, which actually seemed to improve the morale of the surrounding Shinigami. However, the Arrancar previously blown off the cliff had reached the top again by now, and drew their swords. There were roughly thirty charging in a straight line, ignoring the returned Captain Commander. Then, with a metallic noise like the operation of massive machinery, Sokyoku's halberd edge swooped down. Afterwards, there were only three Arrancar soldiers, and a large portion of the cliff itself was hurling down into the ground with the burning masked corpses. By the time they reached the ground, they were nothing but a contorted mass of ash and cinders that made a soft 'poof' against the ground, merging into the dust of the wind from the large neatly sliced slab of rock's impact into the city beneath the cliff of Sokyoku hill. By now, the other three soldiers were fleeing, but one of the simple Shinigami foot soldiers bravely assaulted and killed him whilst the others stood in awe at their new leader.

"I haven't done this in so long." He spoke, chuckling heartily as the flames reached blinding brightness and gigantic size. The other shinigami moved backwards quickly to avoid their expansion, but could not cease to watch the returned hero's brilliant flames growing. They formed a mass above Shunketsu, and Sokyoku howevered away towards Rukongai, swinging and swooping whenever a cluster of Hollows drew into it's reach. Slash after slash, it steadily eradicated waves of beasts and minions. But the true terror was the fire that was now above Shunketsu... it was a massive, sun-like orb, shining brightly as a huge ball of fire. He then rose a dusty, powerful old hand, and as he did the fire rose upwards sharply into the atmosphere, leaving only a small amount of flame on Shunketsu's body. Once again, everything seemed brighter, as it looked as though there were now two suns in the sky. He outstretched his trembling fingers to expose his palm, holding it forward as though he were about to press down on something.... the ball of fire soared high above where the thousand-soldier Arrancar army was now, as the soldiers suddenly froze and stopped their march. It took a moment for them to look up, but eventually they broke formation to stare at the mass in the sky. It grew closer, but stopped, bathing the area above the small army in tremendous yellow-orange light. Then, that palm finally lowered. As if in synch with his hand the mass of fire then fell steadily to the ground as the troops scrambled away but none were fast enough. The ground shattered and rose against the force of gravity as the massive star-like ball of fire struck the earth, the intense flames swallowing every soul caught in them. The sun shaped mass sunk about a fifth of the way into the ground, before it condensed and then rapidly erupted into a massive explosion, eerily resembling the devastating release of a hydrogen bomb. The scalding hot wind that blew out from the dome of fire smelled of ashes and death. And it came with such force that many Shinigami had parts of their uniforms blown from their bodies; roof shingles were torn away, flag poles and statues were torn from the earth, and plants were ripped out of the soil and flung miles away. When the flash from the tremendous attack finally vanished desolation was all that remained from where it had touched. And the ashes of a thousand men and some hollows was all that filled the massive crater left behind from where it had struck. All else had perished; fortunately, almost no buildings had been in the area, as it had struck the fringe of seireitei. The army had been unable to come any closer before they were wiped out by the blazing god-like warrior.

"Shunketsu: Heavenly Palm Descent." He spoke solemnly as he opened his white-blue eyes slowly, clenching his shaking hand into a fist and then releasing it. Slowly, the tired arm returned to his side, and he was breathing heavily. Although Shunketsu had not done this in many years, he had still managed to perform his signature move, a marvel of Shinigami power and a symbol of the Purge, his endless war to wipe out all Hollow-kind. Hopefully no Shinigami had been caught in the blast. The sheer discharge of the attack had forced many Garganta portals shut, and Hollow numbers were now significantly smaller than Shinigami numbers. "Here's my first order since returning... hear it well. Finish them off. Carry out the Purge." Shunketsu commanded as sparks glazed off his bronzed form. The wind had blown the dust off his body and clothes. But the Shinigami behind him did not respond instantly, and simply gazed in awe until a spurt of fire roared from his feet, startling them; in the instant that followed, they charged off to battle with renewed vigor. How could they lose with such a leader here to inspire them? The display of power had been almost alien; some might have even thought the Spirit King had performed the attack himself if they had not seen Shunketsu. But the ones who had witnessed him would spread word quickly, as Hell Butterflies and second squad members would carry the important war-time message.

Shunketsu outstretched his other hand now. The one he'd used to control the Heavenly Palm Descent was still tired, and as if to respond instantly, Sokyoku turned and began slashing it's way in a path towards Shunketsu now. Piles of hollows were flung into the air in neatly chopped pieces with every swing, like a scythe harvesting wheat; the masked warriors were flung hundreds of feet above into the air with every swing like helpless weeds, powerless to fight back. As Sokyoku finally reached it's master, the dissolving remains of several hundred Hollows were left in it's wake, as well as a savagely carved landscape. It would have been worse if the flames had been in use upon the Blade, but they had not appeared. The pole set itself upon the ground next to Shunketsu now, upon his open palm, and he held it tightly with what looked like love. The entire weapon glowed bright white, before shrinking down into a bardiche-shaped halberd; the zanpakuto's sealed form, proving that Shunketsu was it's true wielder.

He gazed out to the battle abroad, making note of the strange masked warriors. They bore mask fragments and Hollow holes and were unmistakably the kin of the Hollows. One such Arrancar slowly crawled to Shunketsu's feet, obviously injured by one of the flares of flames. The entire lower half of his body burned savagely, which was mild in comparison to the mass cremation Shunketsu had just performed. The green haired Arrancar weakly reached out for one of Shunketsu's bare ankles, to which he looked down upon the half-dead creature and spat on him. The hand fell weakly. It wasn't a person to Shunketsu. It was just an enemy, a foe, a plague. He smashed the blunt bottom end of his halberd's pole into the weakling's skull, ending the Hollow and leaving a splatter of blood on the parched rocky ground that shattered against the impact, leaving a small crater. The mask remnants on the green-haired corpse's face were shattered, it's visage disfigured and smeared away by the impossibly effortless force of colossal impact. Shunketsu neatly rolled the corpse away from him with the pole, setting it up in front of him as he kicked it into the oblivion below to join the other piles of ashes as the flames swelled across the warped body, leaving naught but ashes in mere seconds. "Let the Purge begin yet again!" He joyously proclaimed, raising his now much more feasibly sized halberd-zanpakuto.

After waiting for several seconds for the espada to reply, Hollis becomes bored and decides to just fly over to the hill himself, hoping the arrancar would follow. As he shunpos along, Hollis notices a very familiar rieatsu just on the way. Since veloz seems to be lagging behind, hollis decides to check out this rieatsu source for a brief moment. He finds himself at the top of a building located in a bit more secluded part of the battlefield. A ruby red kimono gently flutters against the wind as it tries to hold onto the beauty that owns it.

"Oh, well hello Iza, i was wondering when you'd arrive.."

Hollis says with his usual devilish smirk and lifeless yet inescapable eyes. He already prepares to leave since there's no point in him continuing a conversation. After all, he's come to know the curvy arrancar quite well since she has been staying in his barracks for the past few months. One would think someone in hollis' position would be furious with someone like izanami considering the current situation and her obvious betrayal. But instead, it seems as though the shinigami still regards her as closely as he does any other member of his squad. Why exactly would Hollis be so friendly with someone who has just betrayed him? Is he under the perhaps under the influence of the tempting seductresses spell after spending so much time with her? Or maybe he just hasn't connected the dots. No, that can't be it, not from the way he's acting. From the looks of things, Hollis has been expecting this.


"anywho, ive gotta go so, see you later.. oh, and don't go to sokyoku hill, there's going to be some..turbulence over there pretty soon. I wouldn't want you scathing that beautiful face of yours.."

And with a playful wink, Hollis shunpos away just as quickly as he arrived. Normally he'd stay to converse with the woman but there's no time. Besides, he'll be seeing her again soon. The 5th squad captain continues to shunpo and soon finds himself in mid-range of the hill. He stops to gather his thoughts and raises his rieatsu a bit to try and lure veloz to him. From what he can tell the espada knows battle, and hopefully the thought of a good one will bring him over.


"come on pal, hurry it up. If this is going to happen i need your power..."


Just as Edwards prepares to get closer to the hill, a tremendous pressure overcomes him. IT is so heavy that it begins to make his knees tremble, not out of fear but because of the pure physical force it is putting on his body. After a few seconds however, he adjusts to it and regains his stature.


"he....has arrived..."




After an eerie silence, flames erupt from the hill and push away everything in close range of sokyoku. Hollis stands perfectly still as his smirk turns into a full blown smile and he reveals in his excitement over what is happening. Over the past six months or so, Hollis has been doing a bit of digging trying to find something that would stir things up in soul society. After 'asking' for a few sacred documents from certain members of the central 46, he found just the thing. He read on these aged documents about how there was once a captain commander who was so powerful that he would wipe out armies of hollow and vasto lorde single handedly, but that is not quite what interested Hollis. The most interesting part is the fact that this ancient shinigami was sealed after his power grew too great and he began to bring disorder to the soul society. This, is exactly what Hollis was looking for, a catalyst for chaos, the owner of the sokyoku. and so, after learning of this wild card shinigami, Hollis began his secret plot to set him free. The instructions were mostly on the documents. A few sacrifices, a seal breaking kido placed at all corners of the seiretei, those were the easy parts. The hard part was the final condition, gathering enough energy to unseal and resurrect the captains body. That's when the opportunity of war presented itself.The arrancar decided to offer up one of their own to live in soul society as a sign of piece. Hollis knew this was probably a ploy to gain information which would beneficial to the espada, so beneficial in fact that it would allow them to break into the soul society and start a war. Everything has come into place perfectly . Although hollis definitely did not start the war by any means, he certainly did his best to help instigate it. He even went as far as allowing himself to be kidnapped to give the soul society more incentive to start a war themselves. The only thing left was to create enough direct energy over sokyoku to bring fourth shunketsu by fighting veloz, but from the looks of things that part will not even be needed. After shunketsu yells, 'let the purge begin', Hollis shunpos directly in front of the self proclaimed captain commander. A bit of debris from the body that was just destroyed lands on hollis' shoulder and he casually brushes it off. His numb, colorless rieatsu and spiritual pressure give off no feeling or aura and is only outmatched in its lifelessness by his voided, blacks dolls' eyes that glare at the large grey haired shinigami with an unwavering callousness accompanied by his mocking smirk. Hollis wipes his hand on his haori and extends it to shake shunketsus'.


"Well goodness gracious you.are.looking.chipper old bean. how've ya been? How has being sealed treated you? oh, look at me gush, maybe i should introduce myself. I'm 5th squad captain Hollis Edwards...its a pleasure to meet you.."