The air is thick with spiritual pressure, the chilling presence of Yhwach's spiritual pressure, was a suffocating blanket of dread, emanating from the distance. Kotori and Rukia had stumbled their way through the ruins the massive spiritual pressure pounding down on them like a ton of bricks. The Flame spirit winched as she fell flat on her face, Rukia steadied herself against the rubble of the broken buildings and walls.
"D-Damn it." Kotori groaned. "What the hell?"
Rukia slowly made her way over to Kotori as she reached out to her. "Come on....grab my hand."
Kotori slowly got up, she extended her left arm up as her hand was inches away from Rukia's hand. "A-Almost...." Their fingers brushed against each other, and for a moment Kotori had almost grabbed Rukai's hand, but the spiritual pressure once again beat down upon the two. Kotori cried out in pain as she fell once more onto the ground, this time Rukia had also done the same.
Then, like a candle lit fire, the spiritual pressure was gone. Like someone had blown it out, Rukia and Kotori got up to their feet, dusting themselves off. But not a word came out of their mouths, the two hurried to the location Kotori's gut feeling had told her where Scarlet was at, and she was right. But by the time they got there, the sky had darkened and then Liltotto's stretched out mouth opened wide and clamped down shut over Scarlet's torso, tearing her in half. Blood sprayed into the air as Scarlet's blood rained down, her lower body falling over as her blood began to pool under her body.
Kotori stood there, frozen. Rukia watched in horror as the gruesome scene unfolded before her eyes. Her stomach knotted as she felt sick, Kotori knew she shouldn't care what happened to Scarlet. She knew something like that wouldn't keep her down, but Kotori's blood boiled with anger. "You are going to pay for that."
Meninas glanced over seeing the two, she tilts her head and puts a finger up to her lower lip. "Oh? Did you know her? Oh well, she's dead now. You should've been here quicker to save her."
~~~
After As Nodt summoned his Reishi Thorns, Kenpachi took notice of the arrows floating around As Nodt's head. Kenpachi chuckled as he spoke. "Finally, I was starting to get bored over here!" he grinned widely as his grip on his zanpakuto. "Now, shall we begin or are you still going to just stand there?"
"You lack fear, do you not show it?" As Nodt asked with a slight hint of curiosity in his voice. "Perhaps, I will be the first to see that fear that lies within you..."
Kenpachi scoffed. "Fear is something that only slows you down. I don't show it, I give it."
As Nodt chuckled under his breath at what Kenpachi had said. "Getting cocky are we? Fine...we'll just see how well your assumption is..."
The air of Soul Society was a ragged, bleeding wound. Shattered buildings and collapsed homes, filled the landscape and the distance background, their elegant architecture twisted into grotesque, skeletal fingers. Dust, thick with the scent of pulverized stone and lingering Reiatsu, choked the desolate streets where once vibrant life had flowed. Dead bodies and blood decorated these fallen buildings and streets.
This was both true and from the power As Nodt was using. The bodies of the dead, shirked and yelled out in agony and pain. All aimed towards Kenpachi, however. Kenpachi smirked as he chuckled. "Now that's more like it, you have to put more effort into your skills...but you're still not good enough!" With a roaring blow, Kenpachi roared and rushed towards As Nodt and swung his zanpakuto. Not bothered by the illusions of his dead comrades, As Nodt threw his Reishi Thorns at Kenpachi, the arrows grazed past him, cutting his face and his clothing.
As Nodt, stepped back as he staggered from the cutting blow from Kenpachi, his eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't let this overcome him. He punched Kenpachi in the gut but the blow didn't even seem to faze him. Kenpachi grinned widely as he looked down and then at As Nodt, his one singular eye glaring at the Quincy's eyes.
"I'm getting bored here! Show me what you're really hiding!" Kenpachi barked as he slammed his forehead against As Nodt's.
"Impossible!" As Nodt choked, his power faltering, the illusory horrors around them began to dissipate as his control wavered. "Everyone has fears! What... what ARE you?!"
Kenpachi raised his zanpakuto up over his head. His massive Reiatsu a physical pressure that crushed the remaining vestiges of terror. He brought his sword down again, this time with more force, aiming for a finishing blow. "I'm Kenpachi Zaraki." he stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "And I'm getting tired of this."
Before Kenpachi could strike down As Nodt where he stood. As Nodt chuckled. "No you're right, this is getting tiresome...!" He yelled. The frustration radiating from As Nodt turned lethal. He realized, with profound horror, that Kenpachi Zaraki was fundamentally broken in a way no normal soul was. The Captain did not lack fear, he actively sought the very thing that would allow him to feel it—a superior opponent.
"Then I will show you." As Nodt vowed, his posture straightening, his energy spiking dangerously. "I will show you the inescapable terror that awaits you!"
As Nodt activated his Vollstandig. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, replaced with a Wandenreich emblem, his body split opened as his inner organs bloated out and worked its way upwards, before the split was stitched back together instantly. His appearance became grotesque and horrifying. A Heiligenschein in the form of a star encircled by barbed wire appeared behind his head, a stream of blood pouring from each eye, and a cloak with a line of stitches running down the middle. His wings are barely visible and resemble circles of barbed wire attached to his back. The cloak is very tight-fitting, revealing As Nodt's gaunt torso. His forearms are covered in a black substance, completing the transformation.
The seen before Kenpachi was one only a mother could love, but he grinned widely. Finally, he had a worthy challenge. A opponent that would scratch that itch of his.
"Ah! There we go!" Kenpachi roared, kicking off the ground with destructive force.
As Nodt moved and avoided Kenpachi's attack, he chuckled. "You can't reach me, that fear you speak of not having...it's slowly creeping into your very core."
~~~
Liltotto looked at both Kotori and Rukia, her stretched out mouth munching and chewing on Scarlet's upper body before her mouth returned to her body. She swallowed the chewed up remains of the Grimm girl as she spat out a tooth.
Kotori's eyes widened, her crimson red eyes shrank in horror. She swallowed a dry lump that had formed in her throat, she knew at any given moment. Scarlet would rise up from the grave, but she needed to buy time for the Grimm girl. She glanced at Rukia, giving her a small knowing nod. The air chilled and cold as Rukia's zanpakuto began to frost with ice.
"Let's take care of these two." Meninas spoke as she slowly took a step back towards the shadows. "I'll take care of that girl." She was referring to Kotori as she was going to leave Rukia to Liltotto.
Kotori watched Meninas, she saw as she slowly disappeared into the shadow. She realized this Quincy had the same power as Kurumi. Using the shadows to her advantage, she was glad that the Quincy didn't have Kurumi's other ability to stop time, still. She needed to keep her guard up, her eyes gazed towards Rukia. She spoke softly under her breath. "Try not to die on me..I've got a dance to do with that one. I've had my fair share of dealing with someone who can use the shadows."
Rukia nodded lightly. "Right...same for you, don't die." Her grip tightened on her zanpakuto. "I'm the Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, Rukia Kuchiki. I won't forgive you for what you've done!"
Kotori took a step back, her eyes glancing towards Scarlet's dead body. The blood under her bubbled slightly, the flame spirit bit her lower lip. "Come on Scarlet, any day now..." She mumbled to herself. She was a little distracted but not for long, she remembered what Meninas said, she turned on her heels and ran off. "You want me? Come and get me!"
Meninas stalked Kotori from the shadows as she tailed her. She was wondering where she was going, but it didn't matter, if they were going to a bigger area with more space or not. She'd see to it that Kotori died.
"Well, lets get this over with." Liltotto spoke. "Try not to bore me, Lieutenant..."
Meanwhile, unseen by watching eyes and those who had fallen by the hands of the Quincy's. Deep within a dark void, sitting in the darkness was Scarlet, she was surrounded by the ruins of Beacon academy, Ozpin's tower had fallen over like a tree that had been chopped down. With a cracking and crumbling sound, the tower collapsed in on itself as the ground or in this case a vast black ocean of water rippled underneath Scarlet. The Grimm girl stood up slowly, her eyes scanning the void and the destruction that was around her.
"This is....my mind..." Scarlet mumbled to herself. "But....why is it?" She stopped as she heard feet running across the water. She turned around, her crimson red eyes scanning the area behind her, but she didn't see anything. "Who's there? Show yourself."
Just as things were seeming to become brighter. Scarlet heard a voice, two voices...hers and Salem's. "There you are."
Scarlet spun around, seeing herself. In her Grimm hybrid form, the form she would take after consuming Salem. But why is she? No she shook her head, this was all in her head, steadying herself. She spoke. "What do you want?"
The figure in front of her chuckled. "You've come back to me....where you belong."
Scarlet was growing impatient and irritated. "What do you mean? Came back to where I belong? Primal? This doesn't make any sense, you're me. I'm the one in control. Not the other way around."
The figure, now dubbed Primal. Chuckled under her breath, before speaking in Salem's voice. "You cling to me, because you can't stand the despair..."
"Despair? What are you on about?" Scarlet asked clinching her fists tight. "I don't recall ever clinging to you..."
Primal turned around. "The despair of knowing that, you will never be like me." She spoke in Salem's voice. "Just relax, and let the darkness consume you. This disease called hope, you desperately hold onto, is eating you alive...The world of suffering was born on half baked ideals..."
"That hope, I hold onto. Isn't eating me alive. I hold onto it, to prove that I can accomplish what I set out to do, and that is to stop White Queen." Scarlet spoke.
Primal chuckled. "Is that what you think?" She turned her head and chuckled once more. "You're reaching out to a goal, you cannot grab...face it, you are...and always will be, in my shadow."
Scarlet scoffed. "If that's the case, then...I will endure that suffering and learn to make your shadow my own strength.."
"Really now?" Primal asked. "You just don't get it do you?" She gestured around their surroundings. "This, is all my doing...our doing." She took a step forward toward's Scarlet. "You and I, we are one of the same. So let your monster out, let me run free."
Scarlet chuckled. "Oh? And how do you expect me to do that? My mother isn't here for me to consume." She crossed her arms and smirked. "So I hate to be the burden of bad news, but you're shit out of luck."
Primal grinned. "You're proving my point, clinging onto me...as a source for the change in appearance...but I am you, you are me..." She reached out and placed her hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "We are one of the same." Her grip tightened on Scarlet's shoulder. "Let me take control, and you will show this world and those after, what terror looks like."
Scarlet winched in pain, she couldn't break free from Primal's grip. She tried to shrug her off, but couldn't. Primal grinned widely as her strength pushed Scarlet down. Submerging her into the water below, Scarlet gagged. Her eyes widened as she was drowning. Drowning in her own mind, her vision was becoming blurry.
"Sleep, for I am in control now..." Primal spoke as she stepped over the rippling spot Scarlet was drowning in. "May you never wake up again...."