Condemnation

[Handan]

The occasional gust of wind whistling through the narrow streets was the only sound as a dark figure strolled silently through the shadows. Even the crickets seemed afraid to chirp around the man, creating a bubble of silence that radiated outward from him. Most would associate creeping and jumping swiftly from shadow to shadow with his type, but he was different from those gross stereotypes. He seemed to live comfortably and naturally within their dark embrace, simply stepping confidently from one black puddle to the next.

His lips twisted into an amused grin as he surveyed his surroundings. It had been so many years, but here he was. He was back in the city that scorned him yet loved him. He was in the city that called him a hero and sentenced him to death.

Seireitei...

Scenes of an ancient betrayal flashed through the dark knight's mind as he tilted his head back to gaze at the stars in the moonless sky. They inspired a sort of nostalgia within the vizard he hadn't felt in quite some time. It was almost...

...refreshing.

He could almost taste the metallic tinge of his companions' blood even now, after so long. The pure elation that chilled him to the bone was so wonderful it hurt as it spread its icy tendrils throughout his body, causing him to shiver in echoed excitement.

But that was not to be this night. Forcing himself to focus, he pushed the memories aside and dropped his chin to look straight ahead once more. In the distance, his target proudly stood on top of the large hill, its ivory form reaching skyward with all the majesty of Seireitei holding it on its shoulders.

But tonight, that emblem of pride and power would crumble. A mischievous gleam twinkled in his eyes like a pair of falling stars and he shot off toward the Senzaikyuu, eager to get the night's mayhem underway.

He licked blood off his hand and felt the coppery taste flood his mouth, enjoying its taste before spitting to one side. There was a groan at his feet and his eyes flicked lazily down at the body. He lifted his foot and a refreshing crunch met his ears. He laughed.

He stood and pushed his black hair back with one hand but it fell over his face again, obscuring the alabaster mask. A grin adorned his face, lighting up his gruesome features. He looked at the castle standing behind him. An emblem of power.

To be crushed.

“Seireitei,” he breathed, his words muffled by a deep growl, low and guttural. “How long will you stand tonight?”

His boots crunched noisily as he strolled across the bloodied grounds and he didn’t bother to mute the noises. He meticulously trampled over every dead body that littered the ground towards Seireitei.

Well, it really seems as if it’s time now, doesn’t it? His shadowed lips spread with a slight grin as a distant odor of fresh blood swept passed him.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way…

Leaning back against the rooftop, he propped up into a sitting position, with his eyes gazing at the three Shinigami below with their katanas in hand. A ruckus sounded in the distance.

“It’s no use.” The words rolled into the air as he removed the needle between his lips wielding it between his fingers.

“Not against him, at least.” His fingers flickered in the air as a thump accompanied the motion. A body spilled to the ground, blood flowing. A barely visible puddle of scarlet began to dilute the sands as the fresh corpse lay motionless, with the two crying out in fear. They searched with their eyes, their senses, yet in the darkness they were unable to spot anything. The man in dark grey to laughed as he stood with a hand against a nearby building.

“Who’s there?” A loud shout sprung from the darkness directed at the man in the shadows, and a torch approached as the sounds echoed against the wall where he stood. The two guards arose and ran to his position, with three others approaching under the light.

“We know you’re there, show your self!” The chattering of the katanas could be heard, along with the shaking hands.

“I think we’ve overstayed our welcome…” Bringing in his thumb to his face, his lips moved, with a slight pause as he stepped forward through the bloody mist that sprayed into the air from the lifeless bodies that fell.

"…-ren.”

“There’s no choice but to move on ahead…”

The storm clouds that had been gathering over the city of Seireitei like a dark, foreboding hammer ready to fall at any moment opened up, releasing its liquid contents onto the unsuspecting city below. A few lightning bolts danced between the colossal bodies, illuminating an otherwise dull landscape. The vizard tilted his unmasked head backwards to look up at the gigantic mound of earth that stood before him and the ivory spire that stood on its crest.

It's getting closer...

Everything was perfect. A warm tingling of excitement washed through his body as he fingered the hilt of the blade attached to his waist. The midnight folds of his long, flowing robe rippled as a chill breeze passed by. The time had come.

With a pompous flourish, the man disappeared in a roiling sea of black, making his way as quickly as possible to the top of the hill and the inevitable conflict that awaited him.

The expected gathering of Shinigami guards was collected around the base of the Senzaikyuu, just as was expected. Even halfway up the hill, the dark knight could sense their presence, even picking out how many there were and where they were situated.

As he ran, a covering of alabaster began to spread across the top of his head. It began around the bridge of his nose and radiated out to either side until it reached his temples. The bone-like substance then flowed smoothly up over the top of his head and his eyes turned a bright shade of yellow in the instant before they were engulfed by the mask. It continued flowing over the top of his head as three bony tendrils shot forth from the mask at the base of his skull, twisting around each other as they extended down his back. At the same time, an additional extension of the mask slid down his left temple along his jawline, ending just as it reached his chin.

The transformation was complete. His time to strike had come.

With one hand on the hilt of his zanpakutou, he fixated his attention on the nearest reiatsu signal. Conveniently, it was also the weakest so it made a fine target. He adjusted his bearing slightly to bring himself atop the hill right in front of his target and disappeared in a final burst of shyunpo.

The bloodbath was about to begin.

The smell of blood arose from behind—a dissonant stench which he neither admired nor detested as he made his way towards the prized tower, the Senzaikyuu. There was no surprise to it. Though now as he stood before a flame-lit gateway, he wished he had waltzed in rather than choosing a hindered approach.

“Who are you? Show yourself!”

The armed Shinigami stood before them, a few dozen, a battalion or two. Before him a large man stood, possibly the squad leader. He glowered with his grotesque features.

“Sorry, but I’ll pass on the offer. Though I don’t mind having a little… fun.” His voice was low as he spoke behind a layer of darkness, which blanketed the features of his face. The large Shinigami began to charge towards Vizard, running in a bulbous fashion as he yelled before stopping and blinking.

“Huh, where’d h-?” The words disintegrated into a garble as blood filled his mouth, a void in his chest expanding as the vizard’s hand found itself through the large man, blood dripping from his fingers. With a loud crash onto the ground, the katanas of the remaining Shinigami drew forward.

As they neared, his unshaken hand reached for his Zanpakutou, cutting in an arched fashion before returning the metal to its rest again. Swiftly he moved forward across the bridge towards the foot towering structure with the signature of an ally up ahead.

Hot, sticky crimson fluid sprayed into the air as the vizard drew his blade, tracing a sizable gash across the midsection of the first guard. His voice caught in his throat as he became aware of the wound, making his death that much quieter. The masked man gently lowered the now-lifeless corpse to the ground as he scanned the area for his next target.

Swiftly and silently, he moved across the grassy hilltop toward a small group of three guards standing around near the bridge connecting the Senzaikyuu to the Soukyoko Hill. Leaping into the air above them, he landed in the middle of their group and swung his blade in a wide arc behind him. The three unsuspecting guards fell to their knees and collapsed as blood spilled forth from their sliced bodies.

Just then, a number of guards from different places around the building began shouting. The sounds of clashing swords and death-screams filled the air as all the remaining guards sprung into action. A wide open lane was left for him to rush to the entrance of the prison, since many of the guards who had been in position near him rushed off to either side to defend against whatever was coming around the other side.

He hopped quietly over the fallen guards behind him and spun around to run as quickly as possible toward the exposed entrance.

"Hey, you!"

A cry came from over his right shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a number of guards running at him. A soft pounding came from his other side, and he saw a couple more rapidly approaching.

Of course it couldn't be that easy... He readied his sword and waited for the groups to converge upon him.

“So this is what they call security for a prison. Pitiful.” His eyes fathomed into the sky, a few moving shadows in the distance edging away from where he stood. There was a certain antiquity in standing by the tower, knowing that soon it would be reduced to a similar state of a beacon which glowed brightly in the night.

Before long, the crowds of guards with their long pikes were upon him. The two who seemed to be leading the groups in their charge extended their weapons, looking to impale him from both sides. However, he did not give them that pleasure as he leapt into the air at the last moment before the sharp points pierced his sides. In order to prevent themselves from impaling each other, they quickly raised their weapons and halted their charge. The other guards who had been following them had to come to a quick stop as well, though it was not clean by any means. Each cluster stumbled over each other, giving the vizard plenty of time to work.

Landing in the exact spot he had just left, he spun around in a circle with his sword extended, knocking the weapons of the first two guards to either side. The pikes clattered loudly to the ground and the two men who previously held them scrambled to avoid the second coming of his blade.

The guards behind them, however, immediately picked up the slack and rushed forward with their weapons extended, all the while foolishly yelling. Parrying the first strike, he stepped to one side and spun a half turn, guiding the first man's weapon into the second's, locking them together for a brief second. That brief second was all he needed to continue spinning and slashing at their midsections which had become exposed in the midst of their confusion. Blood leaked out from their bodies as his blade passed easily through their flesh, spilling to the ground to stain its grassy surface. Likewise, the two guards fell to the ground in shock from their wounds, still clutching their weapons tightly.

Rather than worry about the remaining two guards on either side of him, he leapt toward one of the two guards whose weapons he had knocked away at the outset of their confrontation. Swinging his blade horizontally, he was rather shocked to hear the loud metallic clang of his blade impacting with the shaft of the other guard's weapon. He looked down to see the previously jumbled man holding his weapon in both hands with a big grin on his face.

Then he realized that the other three guards who were still standing had surrounded him with their weapons held in the air, poised and ready to strike at a moment's notice. The uncertainty of the situation hung in the air for a few seconds, silent and waiting.

And then, it broke.

The vizard lifted his left leg and kicked off the weapon of the guard he was struggling with and spun halfway around, swinging his blade to deflect the pike of the guard immediately behind him which was on a direct course for his heart. As soon as the weapon was away from its deadly path, he grabbed onto its shaft and flipped forward using it as support, bringing his right leg down on the crown of the guard's head with a sickening crack.

The guard fell limply to the ground and the vizard landed on his feet directly behind the fallen man. He didn't remain on his feet for long, though, as the weapons of the guards to either side of him swept his feet out from underneath him. He fell backwards onto the ground, his mask-covered head landing squarely on the fallen guard's stomach. A warm trail began to weave itself down his legs as a result of the guards slamming the pointed sides of their weapons into his flesh, enraging him.

As the guards approached for a follow-up strike, he pushed his body upward into a handstand on the lifeless body beneath him, kicking both legs up and out to deflect their weapons. The two guards were knocked off-balance and stumbled back a few steps as he kicked into an upright standing position once more. Without a word, he dashed to the guard on his right, delivering a hard elbow into his midsection, knocking the air forcefully from his lungs. As the man doubled over, he spun around with his blade and cleanly removed the man's head from his body.

Even before that victim's body fell to the ground, he sprung into action against the other of the two stumbling guards. Sheathing his blade momentarily, he slammed his palm heel into the shaft of the weapon on which the guard was attempting to maintain his grip. However, that effort proved to be unsuccessful as the weapon easily came loose under the force, spinning smoothly into the vizard's hands. As soon as he was steady with the weapon in his hands, the masked man drove the weapon into the guard's stomach, impaling him.

The vizard sensed the final guard behind him, charging toward him with his weapon lowered as the man with the pike in his stomach fell to his knees. Gripping the hilt of his zanpakutou with one hand, he spun around and deflected the weapon, its sharp point passing harmlessly by him. He continued spinning to face down the final guard who similarly turned to face him, twirling the long weapon in his hands.

"What the hell are you here for, vizard?" the guard asked in a cracking voice, screwing his face up in rage and terror at the loss of his comrades.

"You'll see," the vizard whispered into the wide-eyed guard's unsuspecting ear after shyunpoing to his side. In the next instant, a torrent of blood sprayed into the air as the vizard quickly thrust his blade into the man's back and removed it, staining the ground as the man fell limply to the ground.

As the air finally fell silent for a few moments, he slid his blade across the folds of the final fallen guard's uniform to clean the blood off of it and then slid it smoothly back into its sheath before turning once more to the entrance.

This time, standing in front of the door was a single dark figure looking over at him passively, awaiting his arrival. This was his first time seeing the man, but in spite of this being their first personal meeting, he knew exactly who the man was from the feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Walking calmly up to the man and trying to still the waves of excitement coursing through his body, he nodded his head slowly to the new face.

"Inoue..." he said simply before the two of them turned to enter the ivory prison.

”Did you have any trouble reaching this point? Let’s finish this quickly.” His eyes glazed over the man, gesturing with his arm towards the interior of the tower. Running ahead of the man, he passed the cells with his gaze coursing over the desperate individuals that were contained within. Some pressed themselves against the bars, shouting in vain with curses and pleads, yet most ignored them.

He paused for a moment, extending his hand as an alabaster material quickly manifested onto his hand. He placed the mask upon his face as he brought his fingers into a fist and slammed it against the wall, causing dust to arise.

“You are free to go. Take whomever with you.”

The man grinned, bowing towards the Vizard before running the circular track of the structure and creating a few explosions of his own.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," he called after the other vizard as he ran into the building. Quickly, he began running into the building to catch up with the other man.

The inside of the Senzaikyuu was in almost as much of a frenzy as the exterior as the two vizards progressed through the tower. Many times along the way, he saw the other vizard stop and open the doors to various cells, approaching the prisoners within. It didn't take a genius to know what the man was doing in there, and an evil grin darkened the features that were exposed beneath the mask.

Seeing another locked cell to his left, he thrust his blade through the locking mechanism beneath the handle on the door, tearing the device out of the wall and allowing the door to nonchalantly swing open.

In the dimly lit chamber on the other side of the door, five shadowy figures could be seen huddled together in the center of the floor, obviously terrified by the screaming and crashing that had filled the air since the assault began.

Slowly walking over to them, the vizard picked the first form and extended his mind to it. Seeking its deepest, darkest emotions, he prodded into the recesses of the man's mind. Finding nothing of any value therein, he pointed to the man.

"You, go," he instructed with disappointment in his voice, gesturing toward the door.

The next two provided similar outcomes, and he began to lose hope. Turning to the smallest form of the group, he extended his mind once more. As he locked onto the young girl's mind, a victorious grin lit up his face.

Such anger...such rage. She absolutely despises the people who put her here. She hates the shinigami who put her here unjustly. She's...perfect.

Using his emotional manipulation, he focused his attention entirely on that aspect of her mind. Amplifying and drawing that anger and hatred to the front of her mind, he could see her trembling with fury.

"We are here for the same reasons as you. Accept your hatred, and let it become you," he spoke softly and rhythmically.

Throwing her head back, the girl's shaking body let out a terrifying scream that echoed through the hollow stone body of the Senzaikyuu. As she screamed, a pale mask materialized across her face, blanketing it and smothering the terrified and angry visage beneath.

As the mask completely materialized, he released the hold he had on her mind and helped the now-silent girl to her feet.

"Tell me your name," he instructed her.

"My name is Echo," she replied quietly.

"Good. Stay close by to me in case anything goes wrong."

The masked girl nodded silently and assumed a stance next to him, looking in at the remaining figure in the room.

"What the hell did you do to her?" the frantic man shouted as he scrambled to his feet. "You monster!"

"So much hatred," he grinned, extending his mind once more toward the final inhabitant of this particular cell. "Would you like to join us as well?"

"Never!" he shouted as the link was formed between the two individuals. The vizard yanked and tugged on the darkness that lived deep beneath the surface of the other man. At times, the darkness swelled and almost came out, and other times, it shrank away, nearly causing the vizard to lose his grip on it.

The man was fighting the darkness, he realized.

Deciding instead to bring this man a different fate, he waited patiently until the darkness swelled once more and gave one final pull when it finally did. As a result, dark energy swirled around the man as he fell to the ground, writhing in agony. His body contorted in numerous painful-looking positions as it was consumed by the darkness.

The two vizards merely looked on as the former shinigami went through his agonizing transformation. After a few minutes passed, the darkness receded, revealing a pristine alabaster mask atop a dark, rippling body. The man had become a full hollow, his punishment for attempting to fight the darkness within and losing.

Stepping aside from the door, the male vizard gave one final directive before releasing his hold on the other's mind, telling it there were plenty of souls downstairs for him to consume. The hollow couldn't resist such an offer and immediately ran out the door and down the stairs.

Turning slowly, he placed a solid hand on the girl's shoulder and exited the room together with her. Standing across from them was the other vizard he had entered the building with, waiting patiently to continue to the support structures

With another nod shared between the three of them, the vizards continued on their way.

Observing the tact of the Vizard, he nodded in acknowledgement of the two.

“The supporting columns are at the top. There are two below that I’ll attend to, and I’ll leave the other two above in your hands.”

Running down the staircase, the vizard flash-stepped his way to the bottom and observed the columns in a curious fashion. They were like tree trunks, with an impressive diameter and would suffice their objective. Standing at a distance, he brought his hand to his Zanpakutou, creasing the column as his lips moved with a similar phrasing.

“Sashisuranuku Shinzui.”

Before him a thunderous crash spewed dust as an obsidian spear crashed through the thick material, splitting it into two and testing the structural design of the prison. The walls shook, as did the floors of the upper levels before reaching a standstill. There was an odd tilt in the Senzaikyuu as he made his descent to the upper levels that the two Vizards had gone towards.

Finally arriving at the top of a long stretch of stairs, the vizards saw the large pillars standing before them like unmovable titans just daring them to try their best. The tendrils extending down the dark knight's back quivered with excitement at the challenge they seemed to be presenting him.

As calmly as possible, he walked away from the other vizard, proceeding to one of the pillars that was marked for destruction to bring the tower down. Casually, he held his left hand out a couple inches from the smooth stone surface of the pillar and began gathering energy in his palm. The energy swirled in between the two surfaces, building up pressure until, finally, it could no longer be contained. The energy shot forth in a narrow beam, forcing itself through the pillar, splintering the stone as it traveled through.

Bending down slightly, the vizard examined the hole created by the attack. He was very pleased to see that the energy managed to pierce fully through to the other side of the pillar and straightened up, dusting his hands off.

After taking a bit of time to recuperate, he placed his right hand close to the pillar in a similar fashion and began gathering energy there as well. The energy exploded forth once again, and another tunnel was formed through the pillar. He grinned at his handiwork as he examined it once more.

However, it wasn't going quickly enough. He suddenly became inexplicably angry at the slow method with which he had chosen to destroy his target. Once more gathering shadow energy in his hands, he formed a highly compressed sphere. As he felt the energy desperately clawing to escape from its form, he stepped back and hurled the ball at the pillar. Upon impact, the sphere exploded, disintegrating half of the pillar around where the tunnels had been formed.

Not satisfied with only half of the pillar being destroyed, he formed another sphere and threw it at the pillar. This time the remainder of the structure shattered into nothingness, leaving a large gap between the bottom and top portions of the column.

The two pieces hung precariously separated for a few seconds before the immense weight of the top portion tore it from the ceiling and it crashed into the stump that was left beneath it. As the two pieces collided, they remained upright for a few seconds, seemingly defying gravity in their sturdiness. Forming one final ball of dark energy, he hurled the projectile at the top of the pillar in front of him. It barely touched the structure, but the instant it did, it exploded, propelling the top of it toward the outer wall of the building. The two massive objects collided, and the swiftly moving pillar of stone managed to splinter the outer wall of the building.

He took a deep breath and gathered himself together before moving on to the other pillar. Once more, he went through the motions, using the same abilities to bring the second column down in a similar fashion.

Combined with the efforts of the other vizard, the top portion of the tower began to lean in the same direction as the fallen columns. It sounded as though the heavens themselves were raining down on top of them as the dark knight looked skyward to see the structure tearing itself apart under its own weight.

And all he could do was smile, pleased with his work.

[Tenshirou]

Tenshirou peered over his paperwork, sighing very slightly. “You’d think Junichi-san would leave directions on where to put this stuff.” Without another word he chucked the large stack of papers into the furnace and picked up his notepad that kept all the high points of the documents. He wasn’t one to lose out on important information. Opening the filing cabinet located in the wall, Tenshirou sorts through the folders and places the notebook in the folder for that year. Looking over his things, he closes the cabinet which hid in the wall of the room and breathed out contently. Dusting his hands off, Tenshirou smiled to himself, “Well, that’s that for the day.”

From his window Tenshirou could hear a sudden commotion, voices barked out orders while battalions scrambled by. Tenshirou poked his head out of the window and looked down while he muttered, “Fuu… I wonder what’s going on…?” Was there some sort of emergency drill going on? Or some training exercise for the new recruits?

In that same instant, the door to the Ninth Division’s officer’s office slash lounge, slammed open. A heavily breathing Ichigou, the perpetual newbie and generic shinigami gripped the side of the door and looked at him, “T-Tenshirou-fuku taichou!”

He craned his neck towards Ichigou while still leaning against the window sill, blinking very slowly, “Er, Ichigou-kun, you’re not supposed to be in today. I told you guys I’d be handling the paperwork so I don’t have time to play with you guys today.” The furnace in the corner bellowed briefly, as if to accentuate his point.

Ichigou shook his head, trying to catch his breath, “I-it’s not… it’s not that!” He points out towards Senzaikyuu, “The Senzaikyuu… it’s being assaulted!”

He raised a brow briefly before heading towards his desk and grabbed his weapons. “Are you serious?”

Nodding tiredly, the newbie for the Ninth Division slumped against the door frame, trying to catch his breath. Tenshirou glanced over to Ichigou while he slipped his swords at either of his sides, “What about Nigou?”

Ichigou continued leaning against the frame, coughing, “She went to alert any of the other available divisions. After I’m done here, I’m supposed to head over to help with the fire brigades.”

Nodding, Tenshirou glanced over, “Good, stay out of trouble. If you run into Nigou, make sure that she goes with you, the fire brigades are probably under staffed as it is.” The vice captain paused for a moment, “How many incidents are occurring?”

Ichigou looked tired but replied, “As we know of, four.”

“Anyone else dispatched to Senzaikyuu?”

Ichigou shook his head, “I don’t know sir, I’m fairly sure they’re sending more people…”

The tone in his subordinate’s voice didn’t instill much confidence in the vice captain. Tenshirou brushed away such thoughts and pointed towards him. “Rest here till you catch your breath, then go immediately to help the fire brigade as you were asked. I want you to alert any available personnel to scramble on your way there and tell someone of at least a seated rank that I am heading to Senzaikyuu and am requesting any available back up of at least Vice-captain level strength.”

Ichigou nods slowly, asking while he covered up a cough, “W-why Vice-Captain level…?”

He looked to Ichigou as if he’d simply spontaneously appeared out of thin air, the blue haired shinigami replied, “Because if they’re able to take down Senzaikyuu, then they’re not ordinary.”

Ichigou nodded grimly and suddenly sat up, “Ah, I just remembered! The people assaulting Senzaikyuu, I heard they were called Visors… or something…”

Tenshirou’s face went slack while he sighed. “Vizards. Great. Nothing normal here…” Tenshirou looked back at Ichigou while he pulled his scarf over his shoulders and moved it to cover his mouth, and pointed, “In addition to my request for back up, tell whoever it is that we’re facing Vizards and to use extreme caution. Please, please remember to tell them it's Vizards.”

"Y-yes sir..."

Tenshirou took half a step out the door and looked forward, asking, “Any orders concerning fighting them?”

Ichigou looked lost for a moment while trying to recall what he’d heard, “I think… I think you’re supposed to use whatever means are necessary sir…”

“Peachy…” said the shinigami to himself. “Get going when you’re done resting.”

With that, Tenshirou disappeared into shunpo leaving a blast of air in his wake. Charging through the halls of the Ninth Division headquarters, Tenshirou shot through to the ground level below and rushed out the doorway. His speed picked up while he headed towards Senzaikyuu, thinking over possible battle strategy; however because of his time spent with Junichi, in the back of his mind Tenshirou wondered silently just what exactly was wrong with the Army of Masks at this point.

He wasn’t even sure if it was even the Army of Masks or some new faction, and if he were heading to a possible assault with the Army of Masks, he had the off chance of running into his former captain. Eyes narrowing slightly, his hand balled tightly into a fist, his arm shaking. Adjusting the wristband on his left wrist, Tenshirou snapped his arms outward while his sleeves overtook his hands and concealed them with their folds. Charging quickly towards the scene, Tenshirou vehemently hoped that he’d run into some back up on the way there... because when there was an assault of this magnitude, it was simply a declaration of war.

[tengen]

....@__@

A hell butterfly fluttered through the barred windows of his small prison-like room. Its wings silently fluttered, making no sound, and through the moonlit sky it landed on top of the table, its wings flapping rapidly in excitement and urgency. Kenzo, who was awake at that hour doing maintenance of his zanpakutou, looked up with a dirty rag on one hand and the sheath of his sword in the other one. Despite the chill atmosphere at night in Seireitei, he was sweating – little beads on his forehead.

….He probably was too unconditioned in the fact that a little exercise and movement meant sweat and tiredness. He casually glanced up at the site – not a common one as eighth seaters were rarely relayed messages of trivial importance (they were insignificant beings in the Gotei’s structure and merely served as fillers). Fortunately, Mai had always gave him tidbits of information which were related to the interests of the Tenth Division as well as the Gotei itself.

Seeing a hell moth, it was certainly not sent by Mai – she would have directly approached him. Batting it a glance, the black creature jumped from the tabletop where many odd accessories and tools lay and a single sad lamp with a half burned-out bulb, and slowly fluttered towards the back of his hand. It settled down, and then relayed the message through contact – a message of utmost importance, so it seemed.

Attention…at the current moment the Soul Society is under attack from an approaching party of Vizards. They have slit up into a group of four –we have detected their presence and they have began to do destructive deeds which jeopardizes the safety of Rukongai citizens as well as fellow shinigami themselves. At the four locations – Gargantua, Senzaikyuu, Shinzui Clan House, and also Central 46. All shinigami of considerable strength whom are available are being contacted at this moment and assigned roles to defend against this situation. Matsumoto Kenzo, 8th seat of 10th elemental division, you are ordered to hold back and defend the Senzaikyuu from further damage; the secondary objective is to capture the vizard members or defeat them.

There was a moment of silence. “Eh….there are Vizards attacking?” the shinigami said, unsure of the details. However, one thing was sure – he had looked out the window and saw columns of smoke rising out from the distance. While he had initially discussed this as a rather large fire accident, it seemed to connect to him that it was probably the Vizard’s doing.

Correct. Time is valuable – report to the Senzaikyuu, at Soukyoko – immediately. That is all. Tenshirou should assist you in terms of defense.

With that the butterfly flew away, back outwards towards the moonlit sky. Kenzo looked outwards – Eh….they chose a particularly bright night for an attack – how interesting.

Hastily he scribbled a note and tacked it to the wall so Mai could see it if she happened to stop by – with that he reassembled his sword, a quite tedious task considering he had taken it apart for maintenance – and hurriedly got his gear. He sheathed both zanpakutou, donned his white longcoat and wore his gloves; at the door he tied his shoelaces and was out the door in a quick-paced jog, heading towards the behemoth Soukyoko hill which loomed over all the other buildings within the Seireitei. From what he was used to – a cylindrical ivory-colored tower – there was now a hazy blanket of dust and smoke – although Kenzo could not sense that there were objects ablaze in that direction.

Never the less, it took him a record time to approach the site, which was all too familiar to him – where once Soukyoko fights were held weekly to boost Gotei morale in the early eras of the Gotei 13’s rebirth. Kenzo appeared from the shadows and spotted definitely unique signatures, and saw them for the first time – masked figures which was a hybrid of shinigami and hollow.

“Eh…you wouldn’t mind not completely destroying that thing, hmm?” he called out, noting the debris in which was the result of the proud tower once standing.

[Handan]

He sat upon his throne of crushed men and drew lazy circles in the air with a finger. Senzaikyuu had fallen and burned before him but he cared not. The destruction wasn’t enough to quench his angry thirst. A broken skull fell at his feet and he kicked it away, watching as it rolled to a stop before crumbling apart.

“Is this the best you have to offer?” he hissed and slammed his fist into the mound of bones.

“Do you have no men, Shinigami? IS THIS THE BEST YOU HAVE?”

He snarled and pelted the closest head at the wall, smashing it completely. His reiatsu peaked and he stalked towards the other two.

“Are they idiots? The tower is destroyed! Where are their men to defend it?” he whirled and pointed. “Inoue! You said they’d come! Where are they?”

A pause and then an insane grin adorned his face.

“I spoke too soon,” he breathed raspily. “Here they come.”

He turned before crouching and rushing forward on all fours, leaping with both arms swinging at the 8th Seater’s face.

“Only one?" he laughed. "So slow! So slow! I could have killed you all by now if I wanted, stupid Shinigami!”

[Tenshirou]

Tenshirou headed towards Senzaikyuu and in moments he pulled out of his shunpo and was jogging up to the scene. He blinked very slowly as he saw one of the Vizard troops crawling around on all fours, his eyes switched to a deadpan expression. “Ugh that just reminds me of Rancor…” anything crawling around with what appeared as more than two legs usually reminded him of the Hollow.

Without another thought, Tenshirou snapped his left hand over the hilt of Tenjou Inji and drew the weapon. Utilizing the command bypass, the sword elongates itself while he draws, constructing the large nodachi style weapon by generating light particles around the blade while it’s drawn. He swung the sword over his head and channeled his force into the blade for a brief moment, then pulled the sword downward; cutting a minor vacuum then suddenly unleashes a blast of raw zangeki.

The energy cut into the ground, spreading to a two foot width while stretching to a height of ten feet, the unusual energy blast firing from the edge of the blade and headed towards the mid-section of the leaping Vizard, the sword’s blast energy heading towards him from the right.

With his blade smoking, Tenshirou snapped the weapon downward, resealing the sword then sheathing it. He didn’t expect the attack to hit, just get him away long enough to allow him time to confer with the person already on the scene. He’d seen the man before and mostly remembered him through association with Jinsoku when he was a vice-captain. The former Captain of the Tenth and currently the most powerful eighth seat in all of Seireitai: Matsumoto Kenzo. Though they hadn’t met before, he was fairly sure they had the same thought at the moment.

He brought his right hand to the back of his head, scratching while he approached, his weapon still smoking from the release of the zangeki. “Man… you’d think they’d pick a better day for this,” he said, appearing a bit annoyed, “I’ve been sorting out Division junk all day and now this?”

Stopping a few feet from Kenzo, Tenshirou looked towards the Eighth Seat, “Heya,” he said with a wave, “Sorry I didn’t get here quicker, I’ve only been here a couple of times so I had to follow the path of destruction here.” He made a motion behind him, “which apparently is the long way around.”

[Handan]

The cut hit something intangibly solid in midair before blowing harmlessly past. He stopped and ducked his head before turning to look at the intruder, a smirk playing on the edge of his lips before he gaped on surprise. The man, incredibly, amazingly, stopped in the middle of a fight for idle conversation.

“Not only are you late,” he hissed as he jumped away from the 8th seater, his voice dripping with disdain, “you are a completely incompetent soldier in battle. Is this the best the Gotei has to offer?”

He leaned back on his haunches and licked his bloody mask. His eyes alit with madness.

“Where is the fight? The challenge?”

His hands hit the ground and he leapt at the vice captain and launched a fist at the man's face.

"Yare, yare," the dark knight sighed as he observed the exchange between his fellow vizard and the two shinigami who had arrived upon the scene. "He's quite the excited one, isn't he?"

Pushing off from the leaning position against the wall of the tower he had previously assumed, he strolled slowly toward the man who had first appeared for the structure's defense.

"So you're here to stop us, ne? A bit late for that, I would think. I bet it just makes you fume inside, doesn't it? You Shinigami despise us, don't you? You just can't stand the fact that we're able to accomplish things with such small numbers while your padded ranks sit idly by and watch things go down, can you?"

A malicious grin tore apart the vizard's features as his ominous amber eyes twinkled in the muted moonlight. Just as he had done so many times before, he poked and prodded the man's psyche as he stared him down. The whirlwind of emotions and thoughts mingling together in a chaotic concatenation within the man startled the vizard enough to break the bond.

"So, you wish to fight, do you?" he sneered as his blade sang its lament into the cool night air once he recomposed himself. "Well then, since your friend here is a bit preoccupied, I shall suffice for your entertainment this night."

[Tenshirou]

Tenshirou, obviously a little annoyed just listening to the Vizard sighed briefly before replying, “Hey, you’re no prize yourself Kamen-kun.” Murmuring briefly, kidou wisped around his ankles, channeled force working their way beneath the soles of his feet. He pushed backwards with a full burst of shunpo, he merely moved three or four steps backward from his previous position and was letting the punch from the opponent lose much of its force.

Immediately following, Tenshirou forced another shunpo, cutting the distance between himself and the enemy, moving inside of the being's extended arm and funneled the shunpo through his figure towards his left waist. Using his shunpo to create the motion, Tenshirou snapped his right hand over the weapon at his left and performs a short range battou jutsu. Using his left foot to propel his motion through his form, instead of drawing the sword out fully and slashing, he instead swung the end of the hilt for his weapon upward towards the Vizard’s chin with enough force to possibly send the being into the air as well as shatter the jaw should the attack connect.

The force of the remainder of Tenshirou’s shunpo blasts outward in rings as his foot had shattered the floor beneath sending small amounts of debris outward from his form. His daishunpo remaining in effect, the maroon eyed Shinigami didn’t appear the least bit worried, though he wouldn’t take these guys lightly either.