Truth beyond the lies...

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Thread description: Plot related Specific users: None
Special conditions: Arrancar resu. Forme (permitted)
Special conditions2: Shinigami shikai (permitted)
Objectives: Investigate the ancient chamber / confirm the whereabouts of the hogyoku shard(s)

Somewhere in a deserted area in the middle of Hueco Mundo, a sand storm blew across a large dune which collapsed revealing a hidden ‘chamber’ leading underground. It’s been long deserted, and is now falling into ruin. Inside can be heard the far off sounds of water droplets falling into shallow pools, and well as the eerie whirling of the wind through the dimly lit halls and passages. Recently, a number of powerful hollows have been spotted wandering the chamber’s once deserted halls. There have also been reports of a hogyoku shard possibly being hidden deep within the chamber.

"Altri-chan!" Everything happening too quickly Loki rushes forward,catching Altria before she hits the dark water.Holding her carefully and shunpo-ing back near Uriko and Kyuri he puts her down gently."Crap..this is nuts.Are you ok?" Looking back at Destadi he swallows harshly,looking worried but determined.We have to fight that?This is insane.Damn Arrancars..I knew you can never trust one! Whispering quietly,"How do we get Shiro's soul out?"

Breathing harshly she sways slightly but remains standing.Through the tears in her top at the back a black and red tattoo of a winged shape shows beneath the blood welling up from slashed claw wounds."Thanks Loki-kun..I'm f-fine." Diverting her reiryoku to the wounds she stops the bleeding,hastening healing process.Frowning she holds up a hand glowing silver,reaching back to hold it at the back wound. 'This is..a foreign substance was injected..there was a kanji for poison on his arm..that must be his power..the question is..what does it do?' Smiling grimly she murmurs,"I'll find out soon enough.." Glancing at Loki hearing his question her lips set into a determined line."I don't know..yet.But he needs to be stopped first." Ignoring the throbbing pain in her left shoulder and back she points her blade down at her feet,"Kiero,Mugetsu." Glowing pale silver she suddenly disappears,teleporting behind Destadi and striking out in a flurry of quick blows.

Taken a bit off guard, Destadi is hit by one of altria's jabs, though the blade bounces off of the white bony part of his arm. "eh? what was that? come on..." he flicks his tail and sweeps Altria's feet out from under her. He throws a punch at Altria before she hits the ground, and flicks his claws out at the last second stabbing her below the collar bone. the force of the strike sends her off the ledge. He throws Altria a taunt. "If you gonna attack someone, actually come at me like you mean it!"

"Shine as one with pale light, and glow as the moon! Fuyuha Tsukiryu!" (lit. winter's blade)
Uriko shunpos behind Destadi and slashes him across the back with a double black and white helix blade. A freezing mist comes from the blade as in contacts Destadi.

Taken off guard Destadi gets pushed off the ledge, "wha?!" he hooks the edge of the ledge with his claws, and flips himself back up. "damn... the was kinda cold girl...." He pounces at Uriko with claws outstretched.

Uriko flinches and raises her blade defensively, and blocks Destadi's attack. "ee...... no!!"

Blade only bouncing off the bone she growls in frustration.'Damn it,he's all bony.The only real soft striking spot is the abdomen..maybe lower arms and upper legs areas too..tch.I need to pour more reiatsu into Tsuki to be able to cut that bone...and there's Hierro too..tch.'
Suddenly having her feet swept out from under her Altria hits the ground with a hard thud,a pained sound escaping her lips as the wound on her back gets jarred further,sharp rocks digging into it,"Nghh!!" His punch is stopped by a shield made of some strange,extremely hard substance rising from the black circle beneath her but the stab goes through.Flipping in the air after being sent off the ledge she skids to a stop on the ground.Coughing Altria lifts a hand to the stab wound,stopping the bleeding there.
At his taunt her reiatsu flares brightly,darkening a bit more.Gasping silently and cringing as sudden pulse of pain races up her neck and to the right eye,which from amber yellow is slowly bleeding into bright,glowing red,she rubs it harshly.'Ahh..what is this?That hurt,damn it..not again.Not now!' Blinking a few times to clear black edges around her vision Altria narrows her eyes, glaring at Destadi coldly.'If I use that?..But..I need to hold him still..just for a moment..'

Gathering spirit energy to both hands she quietly whispers kido incantation, "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end," holding the spell ready in her left hand she prepares other one in her right,running through the words quickly,"Limit of the thousands hands .Sacred hands of unreachable darkness, shooting hands of the invisible sky.A path that drops light,wind that stirs up embers,do not hesitate to gather,look at my fingers.Light bullets,eight bodies,nine articles, tome of heaven,diseased treasure,great wheel,gray turret.Aim you bow faraway and disappear brightly."
Teleporting close to Destadi she intones the first spell while he's being engaged by Uriko,"Bakudō #75-Gochūtekkan." Five incredibly tall and thick pillars which are connected to each other by chains drop down from the air,pinning Destadi down.Grabbing Uriko and teleporting further away to avoid upcoming blast Altria smiles maliciously,nothing but angry hatred in her eyes along with fleeting glimpse of something darker,pointing her blade at him she immediately releases the second kido,throwing a taunt back, "Is this meaning enough for you,trash? Hadō #91-Senjū Kōten Taihō!" Several spears of light fire towards him,the culminating explosion exceedingly devastating.
Wincing at another wave of pain she suddenly starts to cough,wiping away red from her lips.'Ngh..it hurts to breath..I hope that bastard didn't nick a lung..I have to prolong using Mikazuki for as long as possible..one time only..there's that poison he injected me with to worry about as well..it must be slow acting since I haven't dropped dead yet..whatever it does..Mikazuki should be able to clear..so I must hold off till last possible moment where I can't even fight anymore..Uri-chan can heal too..but it takes a moment..I doubt he would stand by idly and allow it..while mine is instantaneous..'

Suddenly being pinned and then having taken the full force of Altria's kido, Destadi is sent flying from the explosion. He lands in one of the dark pools of water in the far corrner of the room causing a large wave to splash up. a few bubbles rise to the surface of the water, before becoming still.

Expecting to feel sharp claws rake her across her body, Uriko gasps when Altria suddenly pulls her out of the way of the kido explosion. She lowers her swordand relaxes a little when Destadi sinks down into the dark pool. "... ahhh... that... was scary......." she pauses shivering, "I t-thought.... for a moment t-there....... ahhhh.." she shakes her head, trying to rid herself of the thought. "...I'm..... not sure.....this fighting thing...... is really..... my place....."

Kyuri carefully moves Shiro and leans him up against a wall to him out of the way of the fight going on. She stares at him shaking her head, ".....'Niisan....." seeing that he safetly out of the way, Kyuri turns and walks over to Altria and Uriko. "..... I'm not losing my brother again..... He's the only family I have...." sensing movement the pool Destadi landed in, Kyuri makes a stance, "...... And I'm going to make sure Tiger-freak understands that after I beat the crap out of him!!"

upon reaching the bottom of the dark pool, Destadi sonidos propeling himself upward. He bursts out of the water creating another large wave and lands on a nearby ledge. He coughs a few times and growls, "rrrg... That was most unpleasent....." His eyes narrow, obvious displeasure showing in his cat-like eyes. "ok..... let's see how you deal with this...." a misty bluish haze envelopes him, and spreads through the room. (note: the blue haze is a paralyzing miasma, breathing it in will cause your movements to slow steadily...)

Wrapping one hand around Uriko's shoulders reassuringly she smiles a little forcefully,trying to ignore throbbing pain coming from her wounds while watching the pool of water intently,not at all convinced that was it."It's alright,Uri-chan.It's not easy to face something like that in battle..but you went right into the fray.Fighting and going even if you're scared proves your place here more then anything.Besides,we couldn't survive battles without our medic present." Glancing at Kyuri she frowns,wincing once more."Mh..No one is losing anyone..we will get his soul back.But you have to be careful Kyuri..if something happened to you Shibu would be sad..." Watching Destadi carefully once he emerges Altria covers her mouth with one hand,trying not to breath blue mist in though it's futile as it spreads through the room.Raising her reiatsu more to try burning whatever it is out of her system she flinches as another pulse of pain races from her neck to the eye. 'Nhh..what..not again..' Trying to breath in little she cough,wiping away more red.Face setting into determined line Altria uses Mugetsu to teleport behind Destadi again,raising black swords from the shadow circle and striking out at him again,this time aiming for soft spots.'Must act quickly..before whatever this mist does comes into effect..'

Destadi jumps forward and turns to face Altria, while at the same time attempting to avoid the shadowy swords. He dodges most of the strikes, but a few manage to stab him through the adbdomen, and lower legs. He grits his teeth when the blades sink deep into his abodmen and lets out a somewhat pained growl. He pounces up and stabs his claws into Altria's midsection while at the same time slaming her into the wall. "tch.... vexacious worm..." he digs his claws in deeper, injecting more paralysis poison into her before throwing her of the ledge at Loki; then lunges at Kyuri striking out with clawed talons.

Seeing Destadi coming towards her, she has a cold hard stare and then swings her bell around like a whip, and slams it into Destadi. The bell makes a loud BONG upon smacking Destadi and sends him through a ledge and into a wall.

Alarmed by the blue mist filling up the cavern Loki pulls down his goggles switching them on.Clicking through few modes and doing a quick analysis of air composition he curses loudly."It's a paralysis substance.Everyone,try to cover your mouths with cloth and take small breaths." Trying to breath in as little as possible he looks around, trying to find the other exit that should be around,according to the wind felt before.There has to be another way out or tunnels in the structure leading outside,then I could force this miasma out with strong blast from Rai or kidou.But an exit point needs to be found first or it will just spread faster.Damn it,where are you?At this rate we'll all get affected and be done for. Scanning the room he notices something and moves to investigate.But seeing Altria suddenly being thrown his way Loki shunpos,sliding in order to catch her.Shunpo-ing further to the back of the chamber where there's still some clean air he holds her gently,"Altri-chan,are you alright?You're pale as a ghost." Noticing her newest injury Loki swears softly."Altri-chan...you have to pull back some.Don't throw yourself into the fight like that,you'll get killed! Look at how injured you're already.You need to use that healing shikai technique of yours and heal."

Cringing when Desta's claws sink into her midsection she gasps breathlessly at being slammed into a wall,wound on her back opening anew.Pained sound escapes her when his claws dig in deeper,Altria closes her eyes tightly at being thrown, fully expecting to hit the ground.Getting caught by Loki instead she winces."Ahh..t-thank you..again..I-I'm..okay.." At his words about pulling back she only shakes her head,eyes burning with determination,"I can't do that Loki-kun...I will not lose another loved one..I have to get Shiro's soul back..will get it back..no matter what it costs.." Looking at Loki she forces on a smile to reassure him," Don't worry..I'm fine..I'm saving Mikazuki for an emergency..and this is not..as bad as it looks.." Starting to stand up Altria suddenly doubles over in a coughing fit,sinking to one knee.Blood blooms on her lips. 'No,damn it..he did nick a lung after all..' Wiping away red and trying best to ignore stabbing pain with every breath she takes Altria breathes in slowly,frowning as a tingling sensation spreads through her body.Fingers twitching she notices her left arm has become slightly numb.Remembering Loki warning about paralyzing mist she wonders if what Destadi injected her with was a paralyzing poison as well. 'Nhh..what to do..maybe I should use Mikazuki after all..I wont last long like this..and..it feels as if my body is slowly going numb and heavy..if it's only paralyzing I could prolong it more but what if it's something worse? ' Glancing at Loki she focuses on his goggles,"Loki-kun..could you..scan me with them? And see what foreign substance was injected? I need to know if it's paralysis or..something worse.."

Saddened when she mentions lost loved ones Loki gently nudges her closer. "Altri-chan..of course we will get back what that deceiving sonnova bastard stole. But you don't have to do it all alone.We'll do it all together." Helping her stand up his face creases with concern when she suddenly starts coughing up blood. "Altria! You have internal injury!You must heal yourself." Taken back by her request he thinks for a moment,nodding. "Yeah..sure. Wait..that freak injected you with something?" Glowering 'I'm gonna murder him' Loki switches to biometric mode,carefully studying Altria as her image lights up with different colored light, each one representing something. "..Looks like..same thing that's in the air..but slower acting.So yeah,it is paralyzing substance...and you got a double doze of it,not counting what was breathed in..are you feeling effects already?Can your ability heal this?Or do we need Uriko-chan? This needs to be cured before it gets worse..Hold on,let me switch to reiryoku mode here.." Clicking a switch Loki lets out a strangled cry and scoots back,eyes wide and face ashen."A-A-Altria..?..W-why..is your spirit energy l-like that?? The black color mixed in..it's not..yours..all wrong.."

'So it is paralysis..but it's futile to cure it as long as this miasma is in the air..' Jumping when Loki suddenly cries out and scoots away from her as if she just grew a beak and a Hollow hole Altria looks at him in confusion."Like what?..What do you mean?" Taking a moment to close her eyes and concentrate on her spirit energy Altria draws out more of it,biting her lower lip as once again pain races from her neck and to the right eye.'Nh..why..does it keep..on doing that?..' Concentrating further she opens her eyes abruptly,shivering and looking slightly scared.'..what..no..no..I must have..imagined it..yes..' Shaking her head she flexes her fingers trying to drive the numbness away while dispersing reiryoku into stopping her bleeding back and midsection.Lost at what to tell Loki she settles for a shrug,hiding her own fears,"It just..sometimes does that..nothing to worry over..or freak,ok." Stumbling up slowly and managing it this time Altria quietly whispers,"Loki-kun.. find a way to get rid of this miasma.It's useless for me to heal myself or anyone else just to get affected again..and it's effect could be deadly in this situation.We need full power and speed against him.I'll go help Kyuri and keep attention,find a way.You're the brilliant inventor here,neh." Smiling reassuringly she uses Mugetsu to teleport to Kyuri,making up that way for slowed speed. 'Kuraitsuki can protect me to some extent since it doesn't rely on my commands and reaction,shielding by itself..and using Mugetsu I can make up for slowing.. but this numbness and heaviness is spreading..not much time...find a way,Sparky.' Glancing at Kyuri she motions at the bell shaped zanpakuto,"That was impressive,Kyuri-chan.But..are you feeling effects of this miasma yet?"

Kyuri pulls out a purple bandana and quickly ties it so it covers her face. She then takes a deep breath and exhales, "Nope... I'm fine.... I held my breath until i could get my bandana..." She stares at Altria's wounds and uses a healing kido to heal her major injuries. "Sorry... Healing isn't my specialty.... but that'll have to do..." She turns to face the direction Destadi slammed into the wall and waits, staying on guard in case he tries to pounce again.

"Good idea." Riffling through her pocket she pulls out a handkerchief,tying it around her face as a makeshift mask.Breathing a little easier as the kido heals up her worse wounds she nods gratefully,"It's alright,thank you for that.I can heal fully but.."lowering her voice she adds quieter,"I want to hold off until this miasma is gone.Otherwise,it's useless." Facing in the direction Destadi is in she keeps on guard,a shield rising from the shadowy circle beneath her feet in anticipation of attack.

After being slammed into the wall, Destadi claws his way out from the ruble and onto the remains of the broken ledge. His stab wounds bleed terribly forming small red puddles under him. He glances over at Altria and Kyuri and let's out a pained growl. "rrrrrrrrrgg..... highly persistent little thing aren't you.... Lady Altria..." there's a loud cracking sound when Destadi resets the lower part of his right arm. "ah... much better... can't do much with a broken claw now can you?" he smiles while licking the blood from his left claws. The wounds in his abdomen heal quickly due to his regenerative powers, as well as his right arm. Seeing that his wounds have healed, he stands and faces altria. "heh... I'm surprised you're still moving.... what is it that drives you so? rage? hatred? force of will?" he pauses and smiles slyly, ".... love perhaps?" he chuckles evilly and runs his tongue across his lips, "how sweet......" he flexes his claws in anticipation, hoping for Altria to fall for the taunt.

At his taunt her eyes narrow into slits,reiatsu darkening further and rising with a low boom,dark tendrils wrapping around her.Ignoring stabbing pain in her right eye as it finishes turning red Altria summons shadow swords from the circle once more and flickers out of sight.Popping up at his side to strike out at his soft spots before disappearing again and appearing at his other side,striking,then appearing at his back and striking there,repeating the pattern while varying points of appearance twelve times in matter of seconds before finally appearing up front to strike out at his chest. "What drives me,you will never understand.But you have one thing right,I am persistent.I wont lose him for a third time,no matter what.I'll hunt you to the end of the earth if need be,to get back what you stole."

Not expecting Altria's reactions to be almost instant, Destadi finds himself unable to dodge any of Altria's strikes. Large wounds open up in Destadi's midsection, causing blood to spill to the ground. Coughing, he winces painfully, when the stab to his chest cracks the hard armor but causes the blade to bounce off. He staggers back and coughs again this time blood comes trickling out of his mouth. "heh... heh heh...... ouch..... that hurt..." He regenerates the wounds in his abdomen and the cracked armor before leaping back farther away from Altria. "chase me? til the world's end?" Destadi laughs as if that was a joke, " Until I die and say goodbye.... no one will even catch me.." He smirks then rushes forward on all fours, then vanishes and appears again before vanishing and reappearing again. He reappears behind Altria and kicks her high into the air, he sonidos up after her and strikes Altria repeatedly for all sides with his claws. Each swipe injects more of the paralyzing poison as well as more open wounds, Destadi digs his claws into Altria's shoulders and flips her through the air before slamming her into the ground. Smirking Destadi lands near one of the pools, "heh..... A strong will leads to a strong heart..... a strong heart leads to recklessness...." he pauses and licks his claw, " and recklessness..... leads to death."

Figuring where the tunnels created by time are at last Loki clasps Raijin tightly,beginning to spin him,"Hadō #58-Tenran!" A tornado like blast sweeps through the chamber,blowing the miasma away and out through the unseen tunnels,clearing the room. Making a quiet victorious cheer Loki turns to inform Altria only to see her attacked by Desta. Shunpo-ing to her Loki kneels down,heart filling with horror. "Altri-chan!!" Rage clouding his perception he rises,releasing his zanpakutou.His golden reiatsu climbing up high and exploding all around Loki's zanpakutou changes into a large golden hammer blade crackling with high electrical current running through it. Kicking off weights strapped to his legs Loki shunpos to Destadi at triple his usual high speed,bearing down all the weapons weight in a smashing high attack that is made more deadly by the blades current."Bastard!You're gonna pay for that."

Looking up to see Loki's hammer sword bearing down on him, Destadi attempts to move out of the way but due to the increased speed of the attack is unable to. Feeling the high voltage pass through him, he let's out a roar similar to that of a lion's. He's pinned under the blade for a long while, before struggling to push the blade away. Managing to push the blade up high enough, Destadi rolls away panting and wheezing with difficulty. "hurf... hurf... hurf... a-augh.... can't.... do....... this...... anymore...." Destadi digs claws into the ground, pushing himself up but only managing to stand using all fours. He wheezes and looks up slowly at Loki, smiling slyly. "Psyche...." Six long tendrils suddenly shoot out from along his back, and jab Loki in his shoulders and sides. (note: the tips of the tendrils inject a poison that induces a lethargic-like sleep.)