milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The boy is outside again, out back beyond the lake. He likes to be well away from the main bar when he trains, so that none will notice him swinging his sword, positively glowing with energy. A light blue aura surround him as he leaps and swings, his body covered in sweat as he goes over exercises and desperately wills himself to achieve that which he desires.

Day after day he's been out here, training as best he can by himself, all for Bankai. All so he can be strong again, strong enough to protect those he cares for. It sounds corny, he knows, but it's true. That's the only reason he fights. Not for more power and not for a love of fighting, but so that he can be strong enough to do as he has always wanted. Protect people.

So again today he came out, made his way out across the grass until he was almost out of sight, rocks and trees and the like hiding him well enough. He's not totally hidden, and his entire body is glowing brightly, but he doubts anybody will bother him anyways.

...or not.

[ooc: Plot-locked, so sorry.]

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When the light fades and the dust settles, Ichigo is still standing, but looks a bit different. His clothing has changed a bit, and his sword has become a small, thin black katana. But most of all is his demeanor. He's just...arrogant. There's no other word for it. He oozes power and confidence, his sword in one hand as he turns to smirk at her.

"Just when I'm on top of the god damn world."

"Oh, really."

She doesn't sound terribly impressed. Or look it.

What, his arrogance bugs her, is all.

He feels it's well deserved.

"Yeah. 'Bout time too. Been training for this for forever. It's been pissing me off. How come you aren't happy for me, huh?"

"I'm happy, I'm happy." She eyes him. "... been training for what, exactly, a shinier sword? I never know what's going on with you and your weird-ass world and training."

She's friendly, though, just ... amused.

"Training for Bankai. Full release. The guys I'm going to be up against back home are way too strong for me to fight as I normally am. But with Bankai, I can level the playing field."

Well, in his opinion anyways.

"Makes me crazy strong. It's a real rush."

"Huh. Well, cool."

She tucks her legs up under her and leans back against the tree-trunk, peacefully lazy.

"It's all glowy and shiny, too. That's pretty cool."

His body is tingling with energy, his mind crystal clear despite the incredible rush he feels. It's like his every sense has been sharpened to an extreme, and it's a feeling he enjoys. And now that he's able to feel it without being in the middle of a fight for his life, it's made all the better.

But of course, such a thing cannot last without trouble brewing. It's the story of his life. Good things don't last.

He senses it all at once, the air becoming electric and heavy with an alien presence. Many of them. None in sight, but he can tell they're close. Just beyond the veil, so to say. Preparing to tear through. Countless Hollows. And Bankai or not, power surge or not, he does not want a friend nearby when an army of Hollows come bursting in looking for a yummy Death God that is simply oozing reiatsu.

"Steph. Run. Run away very fast." His eyes aren't on her as he speaks, but instead flicker about, wondering where the first will emerge. The urgency in his voice is evident.

The thing with being trained by Batman is, of course, than you can tell the difference between deadly urgency and kidding around, even if it's in the middle of a lazy afternoon and you've been dozing against a tree for hours.

Of course, the other thing about being trained by Batman is that disobeying orders is practically required of Robins.

She's on her feet in a quick movement, a rock scooped up in one hand (she's really gotta start wearing her belt again - too much getting caught weaponless lately!) - but she's not running.

"I'll fight. Vector?"

"Don't be stupid. And as for where they're comin' from..."

There is a pause, a brief one as things begin to take motion and he can pinpoint their locations.

"...everywhere."

Before the word is out of his mouth holes are opening up in the air. Dark tears that lead only to a world of darkness, and out of these black portals, Hollows emerge. Generally only one comes from each hole, but there are dozens of holes. All around them, on the ground, in the air, Hollows of every shape and size. They crawl and walk and fly, they ooze and screech and hiss. Some have scales, others have skin like leather, others seem to be made of goo. Some have four limbs, eight limbs, too many limbs or no limbs. The only things in common is the hole where their hearts used to be, and the masks. They range in size, some as big as cars and others bigger than houses.

And more and more portals continue to open and close, the creatures around them, a few above them, all watching and waiting for a signal only they can hear. Ichigo can only grip his sword tighter and move closer to Steph, set on protecting her even if she doesn't need it or want it, his back to her but all his senses strained in case anybody makes any sudden moves. Or in Steph's case, stupid moves.

Because you never know with girls.

"...the fuck," Steph mutters, raising her ... rock, moving back into a fighting stance. She's not - well, okay, she is stupid, but she's not that stupid; she'll stick with the guy with the sword, thanks.

Back to back is good; she shakes out her arms and bounces lightly on the balls of her feet, trying to keep count of which ugly thing is where.

"Go for the masks, yeah?"

He shakes his head, even though she can't see it. "Not good enough on these guys. You break their masks, you just see their faces. They're beyond saving. Break the mask, but break the head too. It's the easiest way, apart from cutting them in half. But it doesn't matter. You are not staying. I am getting you the fuck out of here before I deal with these things."

He glances over his shoulder at her, noting the rock with an almost confused look before he realizes she intends to use it as a weapon.

"...yeah, you are not fighting with a rock. Let's get you to safety."

Of course, he doesn't really have time to explain how because, though Hollows continue to appear, one moves suddenly to his left and her right, a small(ish) one that lunges forwards, jaws wide open, arms outstretched.

"Through that?" she demands incredulously, taking aim with her rock, eyes narrowed.

(...yeah, the best way to get Steph to do anything really isn't to tell her it's for her own safety.)

The lunging one is almost within reach of her boots. - Lucky she's wearing shoes; luckier, although not unusual, is that it's her Robin boots, which are all sorts of awesome for kicking monster ass in. "Three o'clock!" she snaps, and lets fly with rock and fist.

Rock and fist both meet air, although the rock does continue on to whap another Hollow in the shoulder. The reason for this would be because Bankai has a funny way of making Ichigo too fast to track with the human (or generally inhuman) eye. So when he heard movement and the words "Three O'Clock", he took the liberty of slicing the monster in two, causing it to dissolve into nothing before it could reach them.

Though his glare is probably not on par with the likes of Batman, Ichigo does a good job of trying to intimidate her. "You are leaving." He's gone then, doing that whole Speed Demon thing again and moving as a blur of black. He knows what direction the bar is in, and so cuts a nice wide path through the mob for her with his sword. This involves about eight or nine Hollows dying, but they were sacrificed for a good cause. Namely, Steph not being eaten.

He's at her side again in an instant, grabbing her arm as the Hollows pause and try to figure out what just happened. They're normal Hollows, after all. Not Captains, and as such, are not nearly on the same level he's on at the moment.

"Now get out of here!"

"Don't be - eight o'clock! - don't be stupid!"

She kicks another rock up into her hand and hurls it at a different monster, and takes a couple of steps back towards the forest - away from the Bar. Because - yeah. It's a Hero Thing. Actually, mostly it's a Steph Thing, not to know when you're outclassed, but it's also a Thing not to leave a friend alone in a fight.

...Yeah, she's not leaving.

Rocks are not very effective against Hollows, though it does crack the mask. This one also meets a swift end, and he turns to her before any more dive for them. "I am getting you out of this fight whether you like it or not, you idiot, so if you won't leave, I'm gonna have to do something you're not gonna like."

Two more Hollows are destroyed, and then he whirls on her, delivering a swift blow with his unoccupied hand. It's a strike he's used a few times before, a martial arts move that strikes a nerve and leaves one more or less paralyzed for a good time. He doesn't hit her hard, but it should keep her out of the battle for a short while.

Before she can hit the ground he scoops her up, escaping through the opening he made earlier. He can't escape, can't leave them alive, but at least now all the Hollows are in front of them.

MAYBE THE REASON YOU DON'T HAVE MANY FRIENDS IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A COMPLETE AND UTTER DICKHEAD! Steph doesn't scream, due to not having control over her vocal chords. Or limbs. Or anything. FUCK!!!

Who does he think he is - Cass? Steph can't quite believe he just did that.

Her eyes, mute and furious, promise him DEATH.

A quick glance at her reveals she is unhurt, but apparently not happy.

"Sorry."

He frowns and surveys the sight ahead of them. There's a lot of them. Easily forty or fifty now, but less and less are coming through at least. Still, he can't put her down, and he can't be racing around with her. Which leaves him with one option that he really doesn't like.

Ichigo sighs and readies himself, black energy wrapping around him now instead of the blue sort. It's not like last time, but he doesn't power up long (they are running towards them, some spitting acid and whathaveyou) before he swings the blade horizontally and cries out, "Getsuga tenshō!"

Like the last time he used such a move, a crescent move shaped blast erupts from the blade, but it's different this time. Black as ink and far larger, this blast roars towards the horde of Hollows, ripping all that it comes in contact with to shreds. Two thirds of the enemy have been destroyed, but at a price. Ichigo keeps his eyes closed, but he knows what would happen if he opened them. Already the inky darkness swims in his eyes, revealing that he has been corrupted. The move was not his own, but rather one belonging to his inner Hollow. Using it hurts him, and using it too many times can and will lead to him losing control.

For the first time in weeks, he feels something deep within him stir.

'Not happy' is a mild way to put it. She's white-hot furious. But there's really not much she can do about it.

She's currently visualising smashing his teeth in.

Possibly with an aeroplane.

From a height.

Put me DOWN, you big IDIOT, and for fuck's sake go FIGHT PROPERLY! she's mentally shrieking when he finally lets loose. She's too blindly angry to notice anything wrong about him just yet.

He opens his eyes but doesn't look down at her, the inky blackness only covering about a fourth of his eyes and settling at the bottom. He's hoping from her angle she can't see, but he does have more pressing issues.

The Hollows have been reduced now to about a dozen or so, and though they hiss and gnash their teeth in frustration, they keep their distance. A few moments later they seem to sense something, turning their heads skywards, sniffing the air with anticipation. Suddenly, they raise their arms to the sky and make a terrible, screeching cry, like a flock of banshees. It's not as loud as one would expect, but it certainly pierces the air and chills the spine in a very...unique way.

Especially because Ichigo has seen them do that only once before. And it was not good news for him then either.

She might be able to help him. Or run back to the bar and get some more magic users and so on out here. You know, things like that.

If he hadn't PARALYSED HER.

She can't even move her freakin' neck to look up at him, or - no, wait, was that a finger-twitch? Was it - augh, no, dammit, it wasn't.

Ichigo, you stupid IDIOT!

He's not quite telepathic enough to catch that.

He does, however, watch with a sense of dread as the shriek stops and the remaining Hollows flee in a similar way they came. Basically just running for their lives. And for good reason.

Because high in the sky, way way up there, the sky is cracking. And not just a little crack or two. A lot.

If he's going to be stupid enough to knock her out of the fight, he can just bloody deal with it himself.

"...mphurgh!" she manages to make herself say.

It could be loosely translated as "For fuck's sake, put me the fuck down and do your stupid hero thing, and I'm gonna give you such an arse-kicking when I get my arms back, you ---"

Actually, what follows would demand fairly specific translations. We'll leave it up to the readers' imaginations, shall we?

~~We have readers?~~

He's still a bit too busy to care much for her feelings in this. She can yell and shriek and beat him bloody later. He just wants to make sure they're both still alive to do such things in the very near future. Because as he watches two massive pale hands suddenly push through the cracks in the sky, he knows that the time for screwing around and feeling bad for Steph is over. He needs both hands for this.

Rushing over to a nearby tree, he sets her down (not too carefully, since he figures she can take it like a big girl and not be any MORE angry) and leans her back against the tree so she can at least see things unfolding. She probably won't be paralyzed for more then ten minutes longer or so at best, and it'll start to wear off slowly soon. But he has enough time.

Behind him, more hands push through, many sets working together to tear open the sky and let in the behemoths that eagerly wait on the other side.

...Yeah, she's gonna kill him.

Steph has never taken kindly to being treated 'like a girl'.

The freaky giant hands in the sky are occupying her attention though, now that she can move at least her eyes enough to watch.

... And she's scouting the ground nearby for more rocks, too.

Fucking hell...

The hands pull harder, the opening they make grows wider and wider until...a face appears. No normal face, of course. A masked face, though this Hollow mask is a bit different. It's quite plain, except for the nose which is very long and pointy. The sheer size of it, however, is what is immediately most evident. As the thing starts to step through, black cloak covering its entire body and only white (and pointy) boots barely visible beneath it, it is clear that this creature is far larger than any Hollow before it, towering over even skyscrapers. No hands can be seen now, no doubt hidden within the dark billowing cloak. Its eyes are the eyes of a Hollow, like all Hollows, and they remain firmly locked on Ichigo, who has moved a short ways off from Steph.

Even as he evaluates the situation, more Menos Grande step forwards. Two, three, four...more and more come, and only when six of the colossi stand before him do the cracks heal and the hole close.

He knows how bad this situation is. And he knows how downright terrible it is to have Steph nearby. So he wastes no time, rocketing forwards through the air. He's...well, flying is perhaps not the best word for it, but he's not touching the ground and he's still moving forwards, so...he's flying. Walking on air, one could say. Walking very fast. As in, zipping.