A Means to an End

The Coliseum. A place where the boys are separated from the men. Where people can come and throw their money to the wind and hope that their chosen fighter wins. Where men and women alike may fight to kill. Where fights mean something. All those who enter must go through tiers. There have been some modifications made from the earlier Coliseum of the Roman Era. Now, they have a basement with a virtual space for fights in various locations during various times. Armond love the Coliseum. He smiled as he stood in the center of it all. He closed his eyes. His reiatsu flowed clear here. It was eerily clear. Armond was at peace right now. He could hear all the cries of the warriors who fell here. He could feel the spill of blood. He could see the people that filled the seats. It was glorious. He opened his eyes and looked around for a moment. He was meeting some people here. He had business to do, as usual. He sat down in the chair he brought and sighed happily.

Things were going as planed. His numbers were growing. Soon they'd have a full house. It was only a matter of time. Once it happened, they'd make their mark on the world. Armond knew that the Arrancar were up to something. He would have to talk to some of the leaders to find out what they wished to do about this. He'd want to meet up with Markus and Paul soon anyway. Chevalier was nearing his time. He would need to confront his Hollow soon, or become a slave to it. Time was working against them though. So that time would have to be today. Armond would see to that. His newest, and family, member of the Vizard pack was Tai. She was supposed to be meeting him here today soon as well to help him out. He loved Tai. She was the baby of their family. Not literally, but she was the little cousin of Armond and Enrya. He looked around and let out another gentle sigh. He was dressed in nothing but black silk pajama pants, and gladiator style sandals. He tapped the air to his side. A Garganta opened up in front of the chair. From it's angle, Chevalier would walk out and be standing in front of his chair.

Upon entering the Coliseum Chevalier’s ears pricked up slightly in agitation. The aura of death in this place was overwhelming, even now he could sense the presence of those who had come to this place before him reverberating from the walls, and it was not a feeling he was entirely at ease with. Given the nature of what he had been experiencing the last few days, death was the last thing he wanted to be thinking about right now. It just struck too close to home at the moment for him to be truly comfortable, especially after the recent near-miss incident at the Knight’s training grounds.

Gently touching down as he passed through the Garganta he bowed in polite greeting to Armond, “Sessha is pleased to see you again… given the nature of our last meeting it is probably safe to assume that you know why This One has come, yes?”

Tai was running at full speed to where the Coliseum was, it didn't take her too long to get there as she was indeed fast. It was only a matter of seconds after Chevalier entered that she too entered the area. She bent over some and was silently panting some before she stood back up and smiled brightly and cutely while she waved to both males. She moved to Armond and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, nuzzling his chest like a kid would do to their older sibling. She then turned back to Chevalier and winked cutely as she smiled. She was dressed in a steel blue silk corset with a sweetheart neckline, silver button front, and silver lace-up details. A black satin skirt with black shoes with slim but straight high heels. The only piece of jewelry she wears is a blue and silver-tone flat bubble heart-shaped Venetian glass pendant on a three-strand silver-tone Venetian glass bead choker.

Armond looked at Chevalier. He just smiled at him. The smile was knowing, innocent, and coy. Oddly though it was void of emotion. He then waved at him idly, and looked to the side sensing another reiatsu. "Ah. Hello, my darling cousin." He stood and hugged his cousin tight to his body. Letting go, he watched her interaction with Chevalier. "She can't speak, but that is as good as I have seen her give a hello to a stranger. Feel special. And yes, I know why you are here. Sadly we-" His phone began ringing. He picked it up. "Perfect...Stand by for a Garganta." He closed the phone and looked at Tai. "Tai, would you terribly mind opening a Garganta about five miles off of the east border of the Souls Society in Egypt? We have a new guest coming..." He smiled and looked at Chevalier. "Time is against us. You will leave here one more time after today...assuming you live. We are going to force you to realize your Inner Hollow. Right now, it's still a child. It's still growing. After each encounter it will grow in strength until it will confront you. That is what we are going to do..."

Tai smiled and made the motions as if she was chuckling, but no sound came from her lips as she did. She blinked some as Armond's cell went off and he spoke into it before he put it away. She smiled widely and nodded as she stretched out her fingers some. She waved one of her hands then made some intricate hand motions to allow a Garganta to appear where Armond told her specifically to place it. The other opening was a few yards away from her. She then put her hands down and moved to the Garganta, leaning into it just enough so her head was through as she waited to see who was coming.

Chevalier blushed slightly as the new arrival winked at him, he’d never been very good at dealing with playful members of the opposite sex, and he was well aware of the Silverblood family’s reputation. As Armond introduced her he bowed again in greeting, “Sessha is pleased to meet you as well Tai-dono.” He then waited for Armond to finish his call and explain the purpose of their meeting again this soon before continuing, “It has already grown fairly strong since This One’s last encounter with you… if confronting it is what is necessary to continue then that is what Sessha will do. Since time is against us let us begin, what is required?”

Tamaki was ready to leave everything behind. He walked through the Garganta eyes closed as he took a deep breathe. He saw someones head poking through the Garganta but didn't want to say anything. He was excited to leave the his boring life as a captain behind, he he was finally ready to be a vizard. He felt mutliple reiatsu's from the garganta as he entered and thought a party was going on. He entered the garganta and the first person he saw was Tai. He wanted to greet her but he looked down and walked faster. He ran into armond by accident and Rubbed his head. "Sorry" he said as he stared at armond for abit. He nearly almost forgot who he was. "Oh yeah...armond" he said as he rubbed his head again. He looked at the people in the room. He stared at tai because he never saw her before.

"Don't be rude, Tamaki. Introduce yourself to my cousin Tai." He chided Tamaki, and looked back at Chevalier. "You'll fight Tai. After each encounter you face with your Hollow, you will be allowed a one hour rest. And then back to training. You are not to use your Shikai, period. The point of this is to put you in situations where you can do not but wish for aid. Stressful situations are what help the Inner Hollow to grow. Tai, start with him if you please." He turned his back to Chevalier. ]"By the way. Try not to die. You seem to have met him before, so four times should do it. When you have reached four, let me know. I will handle it from there..." He looked at Tamaki and waited for him to introduce himself to his cousin before starting with him.

"Sorry where are my manners, I am Tamaki Yukashi, Ex-Captain of the 6th division" He smiled slightly as he stuck his hand out to shake Tai's hand. He thought it over and felt it rather wierd to say ex-captain, but he got over it and he felt and unease in his zanpakuto as it began to shake. He ignored her and left his hand out waiting to shake Tai's. He felt akward being in the presence of Armonds Cousin. hopefully he will get over and they could be good friends. Good friends would be nice, but awesome friends would be better. He could here his zanpakuto telling him to stop but the followed the path in which he thought was right.

Tai blinked as she looked at the male that came from the Garganta. She closed it once she was sure that no one else was left within. She turned towards Tamaki and smiled as she waved to him. She looked to Chevalier and Armond before she nodded her head. She reached behind her and pulled out her zanpakuto but stopped when Tamaki was holding his hand out to her to shake. She looked as if she was chuckling before she relaxed and reached out her hand as well. She grabbed his hand, but instead of shaking it, she pulled him towards her and brought him into a hug. She then let him go and handed Armond her zanpakuto, before she moved to a safe area where she and Chevalier can spar until he was a Vizard like herself and Armond. She was going to face him with just her body as the weapon.

Armond whistled as he accepted her weapon. "I trained her myself. For your sake, her time in the Fourth Division dulled her Hakuda. If not, then you certainly will be pushed to your limit..." He chuckled and looked at Tamaki. "Want to be a Vizard you say? Very well then...Tell me why you want to be one, Tamaki Taicho..." He purposefully didn't state that he was an ex captain. He saw no reason to. He wanted Tamaki to be a Vizard, but there was still room for error. He doubted Tamaki could mess up up at this point though. The odds were one in a million.

Barely a couple of days had passed since Methias' spar with the Rogue Shinigami, Chevalier. The man who wished for the power of the Hollow's, and was willing to accept the risk's it carried with it. Their spar of course had some toll on Methias' body, but that was nothing on what he himself had felt against his inner beast. His mirrored self, his inner hollow. The remnants of such a fierce battle still lingered in his mind like the happiest day of his life, yet the total opposite. The agony, the pain, the fear and the rage. Such an explosion of emotions could never be forgotten, no matter how much the person they were inflicted upon wished to forget. He remembered how every movement became a struggle, before eventually overcoming the bastard that so badly messed with his mind.

However, there was one key difference between Methias and most Vizard. He himself had only one encounter with his Inner hollow before beginning to understand and being able to use its power. In that one encounter, he had his battle, and he won. All those rumors from his childhood were apparently coming true. Within his grasp held the power to destroy, or save. But Methias, he was no destroyer. He was a savior. He looked out for those he could, and was willing to sacrifise his body in order to let someone he cared for live another day. Selfless, one might say. And it was true. As long as other people were happy, he was. It was just in his nature.

Even so, Methias felt Armond may have used a bit too much of the legendary items power on him. It was his first time using it, afterall. A single shard of the Hogyoku, if too much of its power was used, it was probable that the person it was used on would accelerate the rate in which the Hollowification process took place. Even so, however, he won against his Inner Hollow, which is more than he could say for some. Many had died, or were taken over by the beast, and very few had survived. At this moment of time, there were only three who had passed, and they were Methias, Armond, and that terrible being known as Armond's cousin. Damn woman. He had no idea why, but Methias knew she could communicate, yet she often chose not to speak to him. Had he done anything to offend her? Probably, he himself hadn't a clue how to speak to her. But alas, the issue of communication was key. Time would surely cause them two to bond, but as things were now? Lets just say it was better if they stayed out of eachothers hair.

Today, however, was a day that was solely about the Vizard's to be. Chevalier, and Tamaki. Both had potential, although Methias personally prefered Chevalier to the other one. Perhaps it was the age gap, who knew, but Chevalier was definately the more powerful combatant, atleast in his opinion. The event of the night was to take place in the Coliseum, one of Armond's favorite places within Italy, the land of the Vizards. Within this land, Methias sat within his chair in Armond's manner. He had recovered from the battle that had recently occured, less than a week ago, with nothing more than a scar down his back. Today, however, Methias was in considerably more casual clothing. A white shirt, buttoned up, although the top three buttons were undone. The collar, however, was definately not neat. It stood upwards, although it made him look that little bit more attractive. His toned chest could be seen through the unbuttoned shirt, making it clear he cared for his appearance. Wearing black jeans and white trainers, he looked as if he could have been an ordinary twenty year old man, if it wasn't for the fact he had the darkest of red eye's. Moving down to his feet, he tightened up his shoelacers, double-knotting the laces in order to prevent them from undoing. Then moving to his feet, he peered around once more in the area he was lingering in, before grabbing hold of a pair of gloves from the table. Using his right hand to place on the first, he shoved his left into the glove, his fingers being revealed throught the top. Reflecting the light on the back of his hand, the black color helped give away the material they were made of. Leather. Doing the same to the other hand, he pushed his hand forwards, a black emptiness opening up before him.

Garganta. An ability of the hollows, and something that had passed on to him upon going through Hollowification. An amazing ability, it literally tore open the dimensional fabric that seperated the worlds, revealing a tunnel of torrential energy. Focusing, he began to calm the energy, revealing a pathway between here and his designated location. While most Garganta's could only be used to travel from world to world, he had figured out how to use such an ability to travel from one area to another within the same realm. This allowed him to travel about quickly and efficiently, with hardly any energy usage, and complete effectiveness. This was definately one of Methias' most prized points. He had an incredibly keen intellect, capable of figuring out how to make an ability even more incredible. Stepping through, the entrance closed behind him, as he continued through an emptiness, the torrential energy swirling all around him. Most would find this strange, but after using the ability for so many years, it didn't occur to him that this was weird in any way. Infact, Methias considered this place the purest of all the realms. No taint, no hatred. Simply a pure neutralness which seperated the worlds. It was beautiful, really, but before he could even consider dwelling on it, the exit had revealed itself before him, opening up directly beside Mr. Silverblood.

Armond Silverblood, Methias' best friend in the whole world. The man who single handedly saved his life as a child. This man was a great man, and Methias had dedicated his life to serving him. Yet it appeared Armond didn't really want this, instead simply cherishing his company, the feeling of an everlasting friendship being completely mutual between the two of them. Methias felt sure Armond saw him as close to his heart as his very own family, a feeling that could warm up even the coldest of hearts. Stepping out, the casually dressed Vizard looked around the Coliseum. A place where some of the greatest human battles had ever taken place. They had simply used what was available to them, and trained their bodies in such a way that it seemed almost backwards to someone who had lived his life as a spirit, and never as a human. Yet he couldn't help but harness such deep respect for those who had perished there. They were true warriors.

The place now? It was clearly slowly becoming victim to its age. There were cracks in all ancient wonders, and this was no exception. Even the greatest of things could never be perfect. Looking around at each person there, his initial prediction of the people there was infact proven correct. Every person he imagined would show their face did, that being Armond, Taimatsu, Chevalier and Temaki. Nobody else was in this place, after all, it was now only a tourist attraction, and was no longer getting significant use. Nodding at Chevalier, he moved past Temaki and stood by Armond, before sending a light wave towards Tai. Methias was looking forward to this spectacle, and couldn't wait to see how each would cope with the situation at hand.

Tamaki looked at armond as if he asked him a million questions that all where the samething. "The reason i want to be a vizard, is because..." He looked around the room at everyone then back at armond, "The reason why i want to be a vizard it because I fill that my true power is being sealed away by an unwelcomed force. I need to unleash it and this is my only oppurtunity. After talking to gemini about Vizards and Espada's, i wanted to join a new race, but i figured out from a previous mission I was on that the Arrancar are cold blooded people and i could never fit in with that. I want to be with the vizards because i feel welcomed, because you guys are strong and because your potential is something that attracts me alot", Tamaki's blue eyes focused in on Armonds, "This is why i want to become a vizard. It is like you guys are just beginning your lives, and you are going to live for ever, and plus. I want to get rid of the espada, no race like that should ever exist, no matter who they are. It is showing a disrupting the peace and killing them will bring the peace together. I will follow the path with less bloodshed and i believe this is that path" Tamaki looked at armond hoping he said everything right.

Chevalier nodded his ascent, “If that is what is required then so be it. Sessha has already encountered his inner hollow two or three times previous so we should be ready to proceed to the next stage soon. And thank you for the warning, This one will make sure to keep that in mind.”

Raising an eyebrow as Tai passed Armond her weapon, he followed her over to the area she'd selected for them to train. Was this girl seriously powerful enough that she was capable of engaging him with only her bare hands even with the restrictions that had just been placed on him, or was she just being overconfident? There was only one way to find out and that was to actually fight her and see her skills for himself.

Taking his preferred iaijustu stance, he locked eyes with his opponent, “Whenever you're ready Tai-dono...”

Tai looked to the side some as she saw someone appear by her cousin's side that wasn't there from before. It was Methias. She smiled slightly and nodded to him in silence as she raised one of her hands and waved back to him good naturedly. She didn't know why at times he was mean or rude to her, as they barely speak or are in each other's company as it is. She turned her attention back to Chevalier as she sensed him get ready for the spar between them. She smirked slightly as she got into a low fighting stance as well. She made a movement with one of her hands for him to come at her first and make the first move to start this spar off.

So she wanted him to make the first move, he could do that if that was what she wanted. Pushing off from the ground with his feet, he launched himself towards Tai's position. Once he got within reach of his target he led things off with a thrust of his sheath. He then began to spin on his heel, using the force from his turn to draw the blade from the saya and come around in a blindingly fast horizontal slash. Would this girl be fast enough to dodge his attack, and if so how would she respond after doing so? Considering who she served with he could make a couple of educated guesses, but it would be interesting to see what she came up with.

Tai's smirk grew a bit as Chevalier made the first move just like she wanted. She stayed within the low position as he launched himself towards her. She didn't move an inch until his unsheathed blade were inches from her. She duck down, bringing her body almost completely flat on the floor underneath her, seconds before the blade did it's slash horizontally in where she was before. She struck out her hands, aiming for his kneecaps as she rolled between his legs and stood up behind him. She turned around to face him, sending a kick to the upper part of his body.

Armond listened to the male speak. His words seemed true enough but was this the only reason? He supposed it was reason enough but he hoped there was a bit more. Nonetheless, he had answered his question to satisfactory level. Armond willed the Hogyoku to respond to his wishes. He wanted Tamaki to be a Vizard. He wanted his body to be hold amazing power. With a bright flash of light it was done and over in a quick few seconds. Armond smiled at Tamaki. "Now...come at me. Same conditions as Chevalier. You may not fight me with your Shikai. So be extension, no Bankai either. Just your Zanpakuto. Is that clear, Tamaki?" He smiled at the boy coyly.

Tamaki looked at armond. He nodded his head, he looked at iruka and then turned away from her. "I am ready; The rules are clear to me now, Inorder for me to become a vizard..." Tamaki took out iruka, "...I will need to battle you, Am i correct, did i miss anything?" he said as his eyes never seem to have left armonds. He felt iruka shaking forcebally trying to go into shikai, but Tamaki overpowered her power and sealed her down tight. Tamaki clecnhed the handle of iruka as if trying to hurt her.

Armond nodded and took his seat. He sat there, gloved hands placed on his lap, and smiled. "You got it boyo. Whenever your Inner Hollow interferes I will not hold back, so after each encounter you will be a bit sore. But we will take a break after each one. Now then. I suggest you attack first, and make it count." Armond smiled.

Tamaki, crouched down abit but he took a few steps backward before doing so. He made the blade of his zanpakuto point backwards behind him and the handle pointing in armonds direction. He ran at him with immense speed, but it wasn't his regular speed, it was abit slower, but he purposely did that. He sliced his sword out making the tip of the zanpakuto's handle being placed in left hands palm and holding the handle with his right hand. He ran at Armond getting ready to make the first move.

‘She’s fast,’ Chevalier thought as he watched Tai drop down almost parallel with the floor and make an attack at his knees. The problem with iaijutusu was that it left you wide open for a counterattack should your opponent manage to evade your initial strike. Realizing this Chevalier had developed two variants of the technique, one as a more offensive version and the second as a more defensive variant. In this particular case he had opted to use the offensive version as a means of testing his opponent’s reaction speed, and now he was going to have to pay the price for the results of his little test.

Unable to evade in time, he relaxed his legs and rolled with the force of her blow, allowing his body to shift so that he was now lying on his stomach in mid-air. Throwing his arms out to catch himself as he hit the floor, he then pushed off with a burst of shunpo, reappearing a second later behind Tai and coming down with a slash aimed at her exposed back.

Ken made his way into the stands of the coliseum and took a seat, two of his Bount bodyguards escorting him as he did so. He was towards the middle of the stands, not too high as not be able to a lot that was going on, but not too low as to not be randomly injured by anything that was going on downwards. He went into his jacket pocket and pulled out a letter. He had been invited here by a man known as Armond for a meeting, but when he had arrived at the House of Masks he was informed that Armond was busy with something at the coliseum. He and his guards had been offered rooms to stay in and relax until Armond had returned, but Ken turned it down. He had never been "out and about" much in his life, this would give him a small excuse to look around the grand city of Italy, especially the fabled Coliseum of old. Ken took the invitation and passed it to one of his guards, he wouldn't be needing it anymore.

He watched the fight that seemed to have been going on well before he had arrived on the ground level of the coliseum. There were four people present and they all seemed to be quite powerful in their own rights. Ken was impressed, but he was more impressed with the woman that he saw, and not just for obvious reasons. She moved gracefully as she fought, reacting at the drop of a dime to the movements of her enemies. "I wonder who she is..."

Armond smirked at Tamaki charged at him. His body was relaxed and still. He analyzed the move with a critical eye. He didn't miss a thing. He then sensed the final member for today. He side stepped Tamaki's strike and looked to the stands. The Bount known as Ken Ishimaru. He looked back and Tamaki and held his hand up. "I hate testing people myself. I prefer words to fist." He looked at Ken and motioned for him to come down. "Ken. Do me a favor. Fight Tamaki. Don't kill him. But don't go easy on him either. Pressure him. Force his Inner Hollow to meet him, and when I say stop stop." He smiled. "It shouldn't be anything you can't handle. I promise, we'll talk about business afterwards." He walked to a wall and leaned against it calmly.

(( I am not going through here and doing editing. So disregard anything about Tamaki. He went Espada. Funnzors. Anywho, current situation is as followed:

Tai is fighting Chev. Armond is watching, and went up to the stands to talk with Ken. ))