A Means to an End

Ken watched as a white haired, spectacled man made his way up the stairs of the coliseum and to the section in which he sat. Ken's guards moved forward to check the man out, but Ken dismissed them, he had a feeling of who this man was. Ken slowly stood before taking off his aviator frames, slipping them in his inner jacket pocket. He smiled a bit, "Now, You must be Sir Armond La'Crow Silverblood, the famed Vaizard Leader." Though Ken wasn't sure, from his reiatsu he could tell he was entirely stronger than the two who fought within the coliseum. He extended his hand to shake Armond's. "The invitation you sent explained that you had urgent business to discuss, do you mind filling me in?"

Tai made a motion as if she was giggling as she watched Chevalier's response to her actions to his first attack on her. Her body twitched a bit as it was still facing away from Chevalier and his attack. A second copy and the true copy of her reappeared behind Chevalier. She tapped on both of his shoulders with her index fingers in a playful manner as she smiled. She raised up her legs, preparing to spring off his back into the air. From the corner of her eye, she felt and noticed that another male she had no knowledge of appeared and started to speak with her cousin.

'Utsusemi, that confirms that,' Chevalier thought to himself as his blade passed through Tai's afterimage. Sensing her reappearance behind him a moment before she tapped him on the shoulders, his gaze hardened, 'Tapping both shoulders in lieu of a back strike, most likely aimed at confusing prior to attack... best defense, ignore and counter.'

Deciding to play into what he believed was a trick, he doubled himself over at the waist, and felt her feet scrape along his back. Indicating a near-miss and that his assessment of her next likely move had been right. As she did this, he flipped both his sword and saya into a reverse grip and thrust them through the space between his arms and torso at his opponent.

When she had a near miss spring off Chevalier's back, she turned her body in the air and laid her back completely against his own when he thrust his sword and saya through the space between his arms and torso. She slid her back down to a crouch and darted away from him to reappear still behind him yet she faced him this time. She motioned him with her hands to attack her again and to not hold back on her. She smiles as she wanted to get this fight over and done with. She was more interested in knowing what this male as well as her cousin were talking about.

She was just screwing with him, that much became blatantly obvious when she locked herself against his back and then darted away without a follow up attack. What was she playing at by doing things this way, wasn't she supposed to be driving him towards the edge to provoke his inner hollow? Regardless of that however, the last few exchanges had given him some potentially valuable insight and he wasn't about to waste that just because his opponent couldn't get serious. So far she had seemed to prefer back and flanking attacks, or basically moving on any area from which she felt a counter was unlikely. She also seemed to be relying heavily on her considerable speed and acrobatic talents over any particular unarmed fighting style, which in a way made things just a bit easier. In the end all unarmed styles behaved in a similar manner, it was just a manner of seeing past the fancy stances and other techniques that were used to conceal the technique's raw form from view. In this case however all of that fluff was gone, it was merely a manner of keeping a watchful eye and an open mind.

Taking a quick scan of the area as he tucked his sheath back into his belt, he began running towards his target before vanishing in a shunpo. Reappearing right in front of Tai he brought his left hand up and pointed it at her gut, “Hado 1, Sho.” Not waiting to see the results of his kido strike he vanished again, this time reappearing along the path the vizard would most likely take should his hado connect and brought his blade across in a two-handed slash. If his timing had been right then the Sho should carry Tai right into his attack, but he was more then experienced enough to know that things didn't always go the way one wanted them to and he was already formulating probable contingencies in case this didn't work.

She watched him carefully as Chevalier placed his sheath back into his belt before he started to move towards her. She smirked slightly as she waited for him to get closer to her. She wanted to know what he could do. After this spar between them and if Chevalier has survived the final battle against his Inner Hollow, then he would have successfully become a Vizard. One of her kind. A brethren. She lets herself get hit and shoved by his Kido. She had a plan in store for him and it'll guarantee to drive him to the edge. She smirked as she made her hands to be like a tiger's claws the way she had them scrunched up. She looked right at Chevalier as she suddenly spoke mentally to him. "Hehehe. Nice hit, but it's weak to me. Try harder Chev-Kun!" Her voice rang out in his head as she turned her body much like a cat would as she dodged his two-handed slash and aimed a slash towards his neck and collarbone region with both of her hands. She was indeed playing with him earlier, but now she was getting serious and more deadly.

Despite his battle locked poker face, Chevalier’s ears shot up in surprise as he heard a feminine voice in his head which most certainly did not belong to the spirit of his zanpakuto. Did that mean that Tai was capable of mental communication, and if so was she also able to read his mind or was the link only one way? He didn’t have much time to worry about that though, as it seemed his last combination had finally provoked a serious response from his opponent.

‘Counterattack… total evasion unlikely… best chance, minimize damage and reevaluate,’ fully extending his arms into his slash so as to buy himself a little breathing room, he bent his torso as far backwards as he could manage while in mid-air. He could feel her nails scraping along his torso as his body rode out the inertia of his maneuver, but the wounds she left were far shallower then they would’ve been otherwise due to the increased distance between the two of them and being forced to deal with the materials of both his kimono and scarf. Continuing with his flip, he tucked in his legs and felt his tail brush against something as he completed the loop. Maybe if he was lucky Tai was allergic to cats and the furry appendage had just brushed under her nose, but then again that happy coincidence was fairly unlikely.

‘Now while she’s committed, break her rhythm,’ he thought to himself as he felt his sandaled feet make contact with the floor. Flipping his weapon around again in an attempted feint he then pushed off from the floor again in a lunge. He was hoping to catch Tai flat-footed in wake of her last attack, but he knew that was unlikely… no one who had demonstrated this much skill thus far would leave themselves open like that… especially if they were taught by two former commanders of the 2nd Division. This was merely an attempt to buy time and further analyze his opponent’s style.

Tai smirked some as she knew that he did indeed hear her voice within his head. She made a sneezing motion when Chevalier's tail brushed right under her nose. She wiggled her nose a bit as she studied his tail for a moment before she looked back to him. That was indeed unexpected. She landed on her tip toes on the floor after her strike back at him. She reached out and pinched the back of the blade with her thumb and index finger. Her other hand aimed straight at him as she fires a massive wave of ice capable of freezing its targets and surrounding area right at his gut without a word.

Ken turned his head slightly away from Armond, brushing some hair that had gotten into his eyes out of the way while he slyly began to spectate. He didn't want to show rudeness by turning his attention away from Armond, his host, but he also was intrigued by the battle going on below. He smiled a bit as he watched the woman's alluring movements. She seemed to be very intelligent and acrobatic, easily evading and predicting the counter attacks that this man was putting up against her. As time went on he seemed to be getting agitated by the playful manner in which she fought with him, seeming to get more serious with his strikes and counters which were also very impressive, even using some of that illustrious "kido" Ken had heard so much about.

As did he get serious, the woman also got serious. She evaded a powerful two-handed slash by the man before executing an attack aimed for his neck and collarbone. By now, Ken's attention was fully on the fight at hand. The man was able to evade the attack, not seeming to be shocked by her sudden switch to offense, which was impressive as well. Expecting that anything could happen within a fight, even if it was seemingly a spar, and being prepared both mentally and physically for it was a quality that all warriors needed, and this man seemed to have excelled greatly in that. Ken wondered how the woman that had fascinated him so much would react to his counterattack, and she did not disappoint, firing off a massive wave of ice in a matter of moments towards the man. Ken smirked as he saw this, she was magnificent. His gaze then returned back to Armond with a smile, "These two, who are they?"

‘Impressive, she’s light on her feet as well,’ Chevalier thought to himself as Tai evaded his attack, his eyes laughing slightly as she “sneezed” although his expression remained unchanged. Watching her other arm come up as she caught his blade, he could hear Kuromira’s voice in his mind, “You know she has you right? You can’t dodge kido at this range… I can though I you’re interested…”

Shaking his head slightly in an attempt to stall for time he quickly assessed the situation and came up with a counter of his own. Pivoting on his heel, he turned so that his body was perpendicular to that of his opponent and unleashed a back kick in the direction of her abdominal region. At the same time he did this he also pulled back hard on his blade in an attempt to throw Tai off balance and slapped his other hand down against the base of his hilt, “Hado 11, Tsuzuri Raiden.”

Armond only caught him looking at Tai once. And once was enough. He saw the look that graced his irises. The look that spread over his face. The look that danced on his lips. He smiled and turned his eyes back to the fight before speaking. "Watch where your eyes wander, monsieur. I would hate to see my cousin have to leave, and have blood on my lovely stadium seats...Not that it would be the first time." He chuckled. It was odd that Armond could make such a comment and yet have no weapons on hand...at least any visible weapons.

He looked at Ken again. "But yes...I am Armond, leader of the Vizards. If it is protection you seek, then this place is for you. If you want an Alliance then that is fine too, but details will need to be worked out. If you want both, then we can work something out still." Armond continued to watch Tai. He analyzed every one of her steps. His eyes glanced to Methias. He used a simple hand gesture to signal him to come over.

Methias simply watched as Chevalier and Taimatsu started to battle. He was impressed, to say the least. The young woman had definately taken hold of the hand to hand abilities Armond had possessed. It made him think of how he himself was originally taught these ways, before eventually learning his personal fighting style of Systema. While Armond's style allowed for a stronger attacking front, aswell as effective counterattacks, although Methias' style allowed him to use the full strength of the opponent, aswell as his, against them in the much more devastating counters. On top of that, the fact the users of this art were capable of countering almost any attack coming at them, even in many against one situations was key. Two arts that were incredibly effective in their own rights, but which was stronger? If it came to a hand-to-hand between the two, Systema would definately have the advantage in the hands of a well trained warrior. But alas, having the advantage doesn't always mean victory. Armond himself could vouch for that.

Methias knew that eventually, Tai would get overpowered by the male Shinigami. Why? Simple. Even though he couldn't use his Zanpaktou's released state, his Kidou was top notch, and he was a previous Captain. This alone gave him a massive Reiryoku level which would mean he had more longativity. Folding his arms across his chest, he continued to enjoy the series of counterattacks, and effective movement. It was a specticle, a treat for his eye's to behold. Even better, the fact that Armond's cousin wasn't too bad to look at was definately a plus. However, Methias knew he couldn't think such thoughts of such a woman. He knew hat would happen if he did, namely, he would be swiftly slapped round the face by his best friend.

Looking up, Methias noticed another being, humanoid, with bodyguards. He was talking to Armond, almost a little too comfortably, it seemed. Disrespect? Doubtful. Perhaps he saw them two as equals? Not a chance that they were, but alas, anything with a brain could be considered foolish, and pitiful. Shrugging, he simply moved back to the fight, before seeing a wave of ice, capable of freezing most targets in place shooting towards Chevalier. This was the first time he had seen the young lady fire any form of attack, apparently from her Zanpaktou, although he wasn't too sure. Methias was never one to consider Kidou his strong point, instead focusing on his other attributes in order to cover for his weaknesses. No Kidou, but he was definately faster, stronger and more intelligent in his combat than most Shinigami. This was why he was such a frightening fighter. Against Chevalier, he had only to test him. If the fight was serious, who knew how it would have ended. Chevalier could have pulled out his Bankai, but the secrets of Methias' were still completely unknown to the world.

And then Armond beckoned him over. Simply nodding, he placed his hands in his trouser pockets, casually making his way over to the two making conversation. The person he did not know was definately as toned as Methias himself was, clearly making a point of training his body. This man was also covered in scars, seemingly from battle, showing that he had his fair share of experience. Judging by the sheer amount, however, Methias had come to the conclusion that not many a human could have taken such abuse and still been fully capable. Something would have likely had gone wrong, be it a disability, or some form of mental malfunction. Due to this, the only logical answer was that this being was a Bounto. Or 'That creature that is little more than a Hollow', as Methias saw them.

Standing by Armond, Methias simply stared at the other man, a cold glare in his eye's. "Armond. If this man is what I think he is, I want no part in this conversation." Methias said at once. It was clear that Methias hated these beings as much as he hated Hollow-kind. Was it that he believed their way of living to be immoral? Damn right it was. They were only little more than those beasts that he had once dedicated his life to destroy. Without moving his eye's from the man, he simply awaited Armonds reply.

Rein had been wandering for a while before he finally went to the coliseum. He wanted to know that place around a little better, after all it was an ancient place with many stories, in the end he forgot about the time. He walked into the coliseum noticing the fight that were happening at its center and his leader Ken with his bodyguard sitting at a little distance from him, just a few rows below, watching the whole fight while talking with someone.

He went to the row right behind the one that they were and seating there "Sorry i'm late, i got lost. Its really hard to find a place like this" he said joking before noticing the white haired guy with glasses, probably Armond, who was talking to the leader with another man standing along him.

Ken smirked at Armond's reply. " A man who's words pierced like a sword", it seemed this description of Armond was correct as well. Ken laughed a bit before nodding his head, "You're right, I apologize for my rudeness. Becoming easily distracted is a fault that I've been working on." He smiled and listened on to Armond's next point of alliance or protection. Ken nodded at this, "Hmm, the prospect of an alliance sounds promising, though this hardly seems like the place to discuss such matters. Perhaps when you are finished here we can discuss such things elsewhere?" As Ken finished his question, Armond began to wave over another individual, inviting him over into the conversation. The man made his way over and began to look at Ken with a icy stare, before stating that he didn't wish to speak to him. Ken smiled, "It's fine." he was aware that many races did not particularity approve of the Bounto, the opinions of outsiders were none of his concern. If they held negative viewpoints then so be it, it was only when they infringed with his goals and the growth of his people that he acted.

Ken soon felt an all familiar presence arriving from behind him. "Well, it's about time...". Ken looked back to see that Rein had finally arrived. He gave him an explanation to which Ken began to laugh, mostly because he could sympathize with it. "Well, you're just in time to meet Sir Armond. Armond, this is Rein, the Bounto Guide. "

Tai took the abdominal back kick, smirking some as she did. “Heh. Nice kick Chev-kun. I sensed you were close though, stop wasting time and dominate your Inner Hollow.” She spoke mentally to him as she let go of his blade when he pulled back hard on it. She did a few back flips, but as she did, small particles started to come from her palm, fingertips, and his sword where she held it before and it only got closer to him. Soon he would feel the effects of being poisoned as she started to move around him at high speeds.

Feeling the release of his blade Chevalier used his kick as a push-off to launch himself into another shunpo, landing a few yards away from his opponent as he turned back around to face her, ‘Stop wasting time and dominate your Inner Hollow… if it was that easy would Sessha be here right now?’

She claimed that she had sensed his momentary slip, but was that because of some subtle change in his reiatsu or had she also been able to hear Kuromira’s voice a moment ago? While the answer to that question was of some degree of concern given the current situation, it was not quite as high a priority as the kido Tai seemed to be currently using as she made her escape. The name of the technique escaped him at the moment, but he remembered it’s effects all to well, which just left the question… when had she started using it and how long had it been since he’d been exposed? Both answers were something he lacked, which was unfortunate, as they would most likely be deciding factors for this round of the match.

He could feel the beast within him clawing at the back of his consciousness, looking for any opening it could find to slip in and take over like he had earlier. He was going to have to find a way to finish this quickly or else Tai was going to have a much closer encounter with his Inner Hollow then either of them had bargained for. That left him with very few options, he was going to have to accept exposure to the toxins she was producing as an inevitability and press on despite the side effects. Extending his right arm and holding Shinoyuki perpendicular to his body, he began running towards his opponent at his full speed, throwing in several momentary shunpo bursts to add a pseudo-weaving, evasive type element to his charge in a bid to mask his eventual angle of attack as he approached. This technique was similar in nature to the one he had used during his days with the 7th Division and the one that had earned him his alias oh so long ago. His final shunpo had him landed in a crouch right in front of his target, spinning his weapon back around into a reverse handed grip he brought it forward in an upward swing aimed to slice Tai from the crotch upward, and placed his free hand against the back of his blade to add extra speed and force to the blow. He knew that she would be more then fast enough to prevent the attack from being lethal, he merely wanted another opportunity to gauge her reaction times and see how she would react to something unexpected. Turn about was fair play after all…

As she continued to move around him at high speeds, she stopped using the Kido that would poison him as she had used enough to cause some real damage to him. One way or the other, she was going to force him into using his Inner Hollow once more. The only problem was the time, the longer he would waste time and hold back, the more danger he would be in due to the effects of the poison. “Chev-kun, you do know that now you are being timed. The longer you hold back and not use your Inner Hollow, the more danger you will be in due to the poison’s effects on you.” She told him mentally in a voice that was a bit annoyed but still light. She smirked as he started to move towards her. She smirked even more when he made an attack against her finally. She leaned her whole body back, causing his blade to just rip her clothes from the crotch upward. The attack didn’t ruin her undergarments she wore under her clothes, but now with every move she would make, they would be seen by everyone. “Bad kitty!” She said within his mind as she raised her palms and had them inches from him. From both of her palms, she fires a gigantic electricity blast of spiritual energy resulting in an truly enormous explosion right at close range at him. The explosion would propel her backwards, allowing her to flip and land on her feet as she faced him again.

What she was saying was true of course, but that didn't make it any easier for him to accept. In his mind she had no idea what she was asking of him, which of course was completely untrue. Tai must have gone through this same process during her transformation, so she was very well aware of what she was asking him to do.

Keeping his gaze locked in on his opponent as she evaded his strike, he couldn’t help but be slightly surprised by the end result, even if it didn’t show on his face. Feeling something warm running down from his nose that left a salty taste in his mouth however, he knew that she must’ve had some unforeseen effect on him… maybe an attack he hadn’t seen or something? He didn’t really have time to process that info however, as Kuromira used the momentary slip in his concentration caused by the chain of events to slip in and once again assert control.

His eyes darkening as Tai’s hands came up to form her kido, he made a sound that was similar to that of a hissing cat and then vanished in the resulting electrical explosion. He reappeared a moment later behind his prey in a flash of prismatic afterimages, his clothing still smoking slightly from her attack and half of his face enshrouded in a burst of dark spiritual energy as he brought his weapon down in a blinding flurry of blows. Now awakened, his Inner Hollow’s speed was far above average, even compared to that of a normal vizard… the same feature that was now affording him the prismatic trail in his wake, also reducing his air resistance and thus even further enhancing his already considerable speed. She had challenged his inner demons, now how was she going to react to their having accepted her call?

As Ken awaited Armond and the new arrivals response,e he slightly darted his eyes to the side, still wishing to continue and spectate the rest of the fight. While they had been speaking, he could feel the reiatsu's of the two combatants steadily rise. Watching from the corner of his eye, he watched as they continued to go back and forth with each other. As he continued to watch, he began to feel a faint disturbance in the reiatsu of the male. It felt, dark. The man seemed to have started to be affected by something, before lashing out against the woman, attempting to slash her upwards from the crotch upwards. Ken was disturbed by this, the entirety of their fight had seemed like a simple spar, but now it seemed that they were getting deathly serious. Ken breathed a sigh of relief as the woman was able to evade the dodge, only suffering damage to her clothing. He blushed a bit as he caught a glance of her black undergarments, blushing a bit more when he noticed the minute see through aspect they held. He quickly turned his attention back to Armond, realizing that he had been "distracted" once again, but hopefully he hadn't noticed.

He was about to ask Armond another question before he felt a burst of dark reiatsu and a cat-like shriek. Ken then turned his head fully to the fight. This reiatsu, it was that of a hollow, but it felt wild. The male seemed to have undergone a transformation into a hollow. It was more than obvious that this man was also a vizard, but why was his hollow so untamed compared to the reiatsu he could feel from the others? This spar...had it been training for this? To tame the hollow that they bear inside of themselves? Ken cracked a smile, "Interesting...I was always curious in how you Vizard actually acquired your powers. Seems it isn't just given to you, but you must actually tame that hollow of yours...."

She turned her head some as she sensed someone behind her. As she looked, she smirked as her eyes flashed in amusement. It seems that Chevalier finally did what she wanted. He finally allowed his Inner Hollow to take over. Now all he had to do is defeat his Inner Hollow one last time. She smirks as she started to summon her mask finally. She takes the index nail of one of her hands and makes a marking of a Treble Clef in the middle of her forehead between her eyes. She then removes her hand away from her face, while this is being done, her mask is already finished being summoned on her face. Her mask looked like a hand-painted black & white eye mask with musical notes and gold glitter decoration. Gold lace surrounds the mask and black satin ribbon ties are attached. She used her wrists to stop his blows with his blade, slight marks from his blows were made on her wrists though as if she was merely scratched. Her red eyes were now golden slits like that of a snake as she looked at him and smirked much in the way that her Inner Hollow would have done. She opened her mouth as she aimed a cero at Chevalier.

The energy burst enshrouding his face soon dissipated in a small swirl of black cherry blossoms, revealing a smooth bone-like partial mask whose single T-shaped eyeslit seemed to be glaring at it’s target with the cold gaze of a killer. The blood colored claw mark beneath it only adding to it’s bizarre, almost tribal look, despite the mark’s tear like appearance. Even in this partially awakened state there was no mistaking what this mask was… this was the outward manifestation of Kuromira and the secret to the Vizard’s power.

Unfazed by the fact that Tai was charging a cero, Kuromira took advantage of the momentary opening it provided to shift his stance slightly. Turning on his heel, he spun himself around behind his opponent in a flurry of prismatic afterimages and then halted himself when he and Tai were back to back, activating his shikai in the process. Glancing back over his shoulder, he reached back with one hand and moved to grab ahold of his foe’s hair with the intention of pulling her off balance and realigning the path of her attack. At the same time as he was doing this, he used his other hand to stab backwards with his zanpakuto in an attempt to gut his target.

These actions alone would’ve been more then enough to prove that Chevalier was no longer in control, even without the added benefit of the half-mask he was now wearing. These were the motions of a ruthless killer, what some would even call the ideal warrior… not of one who was merely concerned with subduing his foe with as little harm as was feasible. It was also proof that things were about to get interesting…

Armond understood where Methias was coming from. He had some choice opinions on the Bounts. Armond shared some of them. He didn't enjoy knowing he could be a weapon for them. A slave. He was already a slave once. That life style didn't suit him. He chuckled at Ken's desire to speak somewhere else. "This is MY land. This is area is no different for discussing business then is my home, or the Bladed Cafe not three minutes walking distance from here." He looked up at Methias and thought for a moment. He dropped it though and looked back at the fight as he felt Tai getting serious. It was always amusing to him to watch her get into the fight. She had a spirit that Enrya and himself had long before this war started. Watching her fight made him happy, but he'd die before he showed it or spoke of it. No, his face was a wall of apathy. Nothing showed but a clear and deadly emotionless void. He looked to Ken. "What is on your mind?...

"Well this sure is your land, but that doesn't mean by itself that anywhere is a good place for some more specific talks mister Armond, if you understand it" Rein said before sitting and settling down, stretching his self while starting to focus his attention in the fight as he noticed the sudden change on the shinigami way of act, acting and attacking in a more fierce and wild way completely different from before, like it was another person.
"Sorry that you can't come out here Drauf, that fight is really turning awesome" he said looking to the ring on his middle finger and then turned his eyes back to the arena.

Before she could fire off her cero from her mouth, she closed it, but the cero was fully charged in her mouth and the next time that she would open it, it would fire out instantly. She now just had to wait for the perfect timing to do so. She smirked some and her Inner Hollow’s eyes shown through her mask, flashing dangerously and in a mischievous manner. It showed to those who were matching such a spar that she did indeed have a plan in store and so far everything was going to plan within her mind. She leaned backwards as she felt her long black as night hair being pulled and pushed off the ground so that now she was upside down and the front of her head was facing the back of Chevalier’s. Only then, did she open her mouth and let loose the cero that was hidden within, causing a lot of dust to come up with such an impact at so close of a range. This way, she completely missed the attack from his Zanpakuto. The downside of this was that her breasts that were concealed within the black bra she wore that was a bit see through started to almost pop out of said bra, but she paid no mind to it as she was totally focused on this battle.

She then twisted her head after firing off the cero, making Chevalier let go of her hair and landed on the floor about 20 meters away from Chevalier who was hidden within the cloud of dust. She smirked yet again, but this time it had a dark intent. Her hands makes movements as if she was playing an imaginary guitar, using one of the two abilities that came with her use of the mask. Her reiatsu started to wrap around Chevalier's body and started to squeeze and crush him much like a boa constrictor would. This would cause damage to his reiatsu as well as his physical body. While this was happening, she started to look as if she was laughing.

Kuromira’s gaze narrowed as he felt the shifting of Tai’s position, looked like she still had some tricks up her sleeve after all. Left with little time to do anything but look up as she passed overhead, he was quickly enveloped by the blinding light and ensuing dust cloud of her attack. Kicking off from the ground into a shunpo enhanced back flip he was able to carry himself clear of the blast zone before being fully overwhelmed, having only caught the leading edge of the attack. Reappearing against the far wall a moment later, his skin was lightly scorched from the cero and the upper half of his kimono was now nothing more then smoking rags, although his hakama was still mostly intact. He locked his eyes back onto his target and hissed again as he felt some unseen force begin to close in on him.

Bringing his sword up so that the blade was pointing skyward and perpendicular to his torso, he focused all of his energy into the weapon as it was drawn in towards his body. Right as he was about to be fully restrained by Tai’s technique a series of brightly glowing molten blue cracks formed along the surface of his weapon. At the same time as this was happening, the remainder of his shinigami robes began to inverse in color, the white portions becoming black and vice-versa. There was a loud crackling sound as the icy shell which had formed around Shinoyuki shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, breaking the telekinetic hold and whiting out the entire arena area of the coliseum with a small blizzard.

Now free of his restraints, if only temporarily, Kuromira pushed off from the wall in a shunpo, reappearing only a couple of feet from where he sensed his target and bringing his weapon across in a horizontal slash intent on beheading his opponent. Chevalier however would have nothing of it. Reasserting at least partial control of his body by using the momentary slip in blocking him caused by summoning Shinoyuki’s bankai, he brought his free arm up and grabbed a hold of the mask which was obscuring almost 2/3 of his face. Pulling on it with all of his strength, Kuromira gave an animalistic howl, almost like the sound made when someone stepped on Chevalier’s tail, as pain coursed throughout his entire body. There was another flash of reiatsu as the mask was torn from his face and dissolved into a flurry of dark cherry blossoms, the snow vanishing a second later as Chevalier fully reasserted control of his body and resealed his weapon.

Landing in front of Tai, he seemed to wobble on his feet for a second as the world spun around him, the strain of combating his Inner Hollow working in conjunction with his renewed senses informing his tired brain of the abuses it had just been through and overwhelming his system. Dropping down on one knee, he leaned on his zanpakuto for support and then gave Tai a weak smile before once again noticing the disheveled state she was in and feeling a fresh spurting of blood come from his nose. Looking away as he felt his face heating up in embarrassment, his vision began filling with the haze of fatigue, and with a slight mewling sound he lapsed into unconsciousness. The combined strain of the battle, his injuries, and beating back Kuromira proving too much for his system to handle at the moment.