Rukia was on her guard. She took a step back, her gaze taking in the dead body of Scarlet as it just laid there in blood, her eyes widened slightly as she noticed that the blood was bubbling. Something in the bit of her stomach told her this wasn't normal, and that something was going to happen. But she couldn't let her realization be noticed by Liltotto, her zanpakuto chilled with ice, turning her back to the Quincy. Rukia expression stayed cold and emotionless.
"Well....shall we begin? I'm getting bored over here." Liltotto spoke taking one step forward. "You better not just be all talk..."
Rukia clinched her zanpakuto tightly. "I'm more than just all talk. But perhaps we should take this battle some place else."
Liltotto raised an eyebrow up, but she sighed. "Alright fine, I guess having more space would do..." She glanced around for a moment before jumping up to a fallen building, she pointed her thumb behind her. "Let's go that way, there's a clearing that hasn't been touched yet by us...I can't promise no one from my team will show up to aid me..."
Rukia watched as Liltotto took the lead. She went to follow behind her, but she looked back at the bubbling blood on the ground. "I've got a bad feeling all of a sudden....but, getting some distance from this area seems like it will help." Rukia had cold feet, not just because of her powers. But whatever was happening to or with Scarlet's blood. It sent a chill down her spine, she glanced forward and continued to follow Liltotto.
Liltotto stretched out her mouth as the stretched out maw trailed behind her. "Try to keep up....I do hope you entertain me..."
Rukia scoffed under her breath. She held onto hope that Ichigo would arrive on time to help them. But she also was a bit worried about how Kotori and Kenpachi are going to do in their own fights.
~~~
Kotori ran, her boots pounding on the shattered pavement, the faint sound of Meninas tailing her from the shadows a constant, unnerving presence. She knew Meninas was there; the subtle shift in air current, the almost imperceptible flicker in the periphery of her vision. Kotori was leading her away, away from Rukia, away from the immediate vicinity of Scarlet's body.
"If Scarlet is going to regenerate... she needs to do it fast.." Kotori mumbled to herself. her lips pressed into a thin line. She needed more time. If Scarlet didn't revive soon, then all this would be for naught. Kotori glanced back quickly, discerning nothing but shifting shadows. Meninas was good, perhaps as good as Kurumi at blending into the darkness, but Kotori possessed a different kind of perception. The world around her pulsed with spiritual energy, and the Quincy's presence, however muted, was a discordant note.
She turned a corner, ducking into a dilapidated building whose roof had long since caved in, leaving a gaping hole to the sky. Streaks of moonlight cut through the dust-filled air, illuminating jagged rebar and precarious ledges. It was a maze, a perfect place to force an ambush, or to be ambushed.
Meninas watched from the deeper gloom of the shadows, a faint smirk playing on her lips. The girl was running, but not blindly. She was heading into a confined space, a place where Meninas had the cards played out in her favor, she began to play out every event in her head. Oh the things she could do to Kotori, silently. Meninas stalked Kotori, unaware of what she was going to do.
Kotori, took a steady breath. She wished she had enough time to use her spirit powers. But she needed something to give her that time she needed to do so, or something to use to help make her stronger. She clinched her left fist tight as she cursed under her breath. If it wasn't for the battle with Bambietta, she would have enough energy to do so. But she had to make do with what was around her.
Kotori tightened the muscles in her legs, her breath hissing quietly through her teeth. Energy conservation was critical, but survival was paramount. Her gaze swept over the fractured concrete floor. She spotted a vertical support pillar nearby. This war against Quincy's and Shinigami had done a number on Soul Society. The pillar looked like it wouldn't last much longer, which gave the Flame spirit an idea.
She took another step, deliberately placing her foot on a loose cluster of rebar and gravel. The slight, echoing scrape of metal on stone was exactly what she needed.
Meninas heard the noise and recognized the sound of faltering footing. "Sloppy." She thought, a sneer widening her lips. This girl was trying to bait her, but Meninas didn't care for subtlety. She didn't need complicated tactics against meager opponents.
With a rapid burst of Hirenkyaku, Meninas closed the twenty-foot distance in a sickening blur of pink and white. Her fist shot forward, propelled by the raw, terrifying strength of 'The Power,' aimed squarely at where Kotori's head should have been. The air shrieked around the momentum of the strike, powerful enough to cave in a bank vault.
But Kotori wasn't there.
She had anticipated the direct approach. As Meninas launched her attack, Kotori pivoted, using the explosive kinetic energy of the incoming blow not to block, but to propel herself sideways, crashing into the compromised pillar. She didn't have enough Reiryoku to generate flame, but she had enough force left to push.
The worn concrete groaned, then gave way.
The pillar snapped, and the entire section of the second-story floor above them, already precariously balanced, shuddered violently. A cascade of pulverized concrete, jagged wooden beams, and hot, metallic dust rained down instantly.
Meninas cursed, her perfect attack dissolving into defensive fury. She struck upward immediately, not to halt the debris, but to shatter it into smaller, more manageable pieces so it wouldn't entangle her. Each block she punched exploded into dust motes, yet the volume of falling ruin was relentless.
Kotori scrambled deeper into the shadow of the collapse, using the unstable environment as cover. The momentary sensory overload was her lifeline.
"Now..." She thought, fighting the burning sensation in her lungs from the dust. "Now I need time to plan.."
But as she hid, something insidious settled over her. It wasn't the physical threat of Meninas. It was a cold, pervasive dread that seeped into her bones, making her muscles seize despite herself. This feeling was far worse than the exhaustion from fighting Bambietta. This was the residue of Soul Society's suffering.
The building itself seemed to groan, not just from the structural damage, but from a deeper, spiritual malaise. The shadows pooled unnaturally beneath the rubble, taking on impossible density. Kotori's perception, usually so bright with the flow of spiritual energy, suddenly saw the world tinged with monochromatic despair.
Fear.
It was the lingering stench of that specific brand of terror unleashed by As Nodt. Though the Quincy was nowhere near and was battling Kenpachi, As Nodt's horrifying energy had saturated the very foundation of the destroyed city. Being trapped in this close, volatile space, low on energy and panicked, made Kotori a perfect conduit for the necrotic Reishi of The Fear.
A phantom chill raced up her spine. She saw a flicker in the darkest corner, it wasn't Meninas, but something spectral. Was it a hollow? No, there was no possible way for Hollow's to get in without being noticed. It was the distorted visage of her own deepest anxieties, the constant worry over Shido, the terror of losing control of Efreet, the isolation of being a Spirit.
The physical threat of Meninas, who was now clearing the last of the rubble and scanning the darkness with predatory efficiency, suddenly seemed less terrifying than the existential dread consuming the air.
"I have to move." Kotori urged herself, but her limbs felt heavy, weighted by the psychological attack.
Meninas located her target. The spirit was frozen, her eyes wide, staring at nothing. Meninas grinned, sensing the opponent's vulnerability. The debris had been annoying, but ultimately effective, forcing Kotori into a paralytic state.
"That look." Meninas purred, her voice carrying easily through the dust-filled air. "Is the look of a soul who realizes she's already dead."
She started to approach, stepping carefully over jagged steel. But as she did, Meninas, who was physically sturdy and mentally disciplined, felt a slight, strange disturbance. The air around Kotori wasn't merely thick with dust; it was thick with feeling.
Meninas paused, a flicker of irritation crossing her face. This was pathetic Reishi, the detritus of a messy battle, but it was clinging, sickly, like grave dirt. She knew that these ruins held death, despair, and the lingering, suffocating power of the Sternritter who specialized in reaping those emotions.
"As Nodt." She thought, dismissing the feeling with a mental shake. "This was his mess." She hated messy battlefields.
She raised her powerful right arm to strike, confident that Kotori was too paralyzed by fear to react.
However, Kotori's panic had begun to override her spiritual paralysis. The fear was too much, too overwhelming. It triggered something in her battered body, a feeling of a surge that bypassed her emotions. It wasn't the controlled inferno of Camael, but a desperate, white-hot spark of defiance.
A single, small drop of sweat or perhaps blood, sticky from the exertion, dripped from Kotori's left fist and landed on the dust-covered concrete. And then, the air went still and quiet. The fast beating of Kotori's heart, stricken with fear, pounded in her chest. Thumping against her rib cage like a drum.
~~~
As Nodt's chuckle was a dry, rasping sound, like bone scraping against stone. His grotesque form shimmered, and the stream of blood from his eyes thickened, dripping onto his gaunt chest, only to dissolve into the black substance covering his forearms. "Fear… it is the most primal of emotions. Even the bravest soul knows it. You merely suppress it, deny it, but it lurks. It coils. And now, it will unravel you."
Kenpachi's grin didn't falter, even as a faint, icy tendril seemed to brush against his mind. It wasn't terror, not in the sense most knew it. It was a thrill, a sensation that made his blood sing with anticipation. He had never felt this kind of pressure before, this insidious whisper that promised unimaginable dread. It was magnificent.
"Oh, you're good!" Kenpachi roared, his spiritual pressure flaring like an untamed inferno. He spun, his massive zanpakuto, Nozarashi, tearing through the air where As Nodt had been a mere instant before. The ground beneath them cracked and ruptured from the sheer force of the miss. "Come on! Don't just stand there and talk about it! Show me this 'fear'!"
As Nodt appeared twenty feet away, his movements were fluid and unnervingly silent. The power of fear that was blended in the background, had came towards the two at full force. It slowly took shape behind As Nodt, forming grotesque, distorted faces that writhed in the air before him, their screams piercing the very fabric of reality – screams only Kenpachi could hear as they stabbed at his psyche. But Kenpachi, in his own twisted way, found music in their agony. He lunged again, a whirlwind of destructive power.
The air around Kenpachi grew heavy, thick with unseen horrors. The ruins of the Soul Society seemed to melt and distort at the edges of his vision. The collapsed buildings became towering, skeletal giants, their hollow eyes fixed on him. The ground beneath his feet turned slimy, like a carpet of living, putrid flesh. Yet, Kenpachi merely laughed louder, his eyes blazing with feral glee. "Is this all you've got? Pitiful!"
"No, this is merely the appetizer," As Nodt hissed, his voice a chorus of whispers and growls. His barbed wire wings, barely visible against his back, pulsed slightly, and the shadowy figures around Kenpachi doubled, tripled, becoming an impossible legion of fear-incarnate. Every nerve ending in Kenpachi's body screamed, not with pain, but with the primal knowledge of impending, inescapable doom. But it was a scream that Kenpachi had learned to interpret as an invitation to dance.
This didn't bother Kenpachi, he simply laughed it off like it was nothing. His face twisted into a devilish grin. "Come now, you can do better than that, right?" His voice took a serious and cold tone, yet it also had a hint of sadistic pleasure. With a primal roar that tore at the very fabric of the fear-infused reality, Kenpachi launched himself forward. His zanpkauto, lowed with an ominous reishi, not merely reflecting the surrounding horrors but seeming to absorb and transmute them into raw destructive power. He didn't aim for As Nodt directly; instead, he cleaved a wide, devastating arc through the legion of shadowy figures. They weren't solid, yet Kenpachi's reiatsu-infused attack ripped through them as if they were tangible flesh and bone, each blow sending echoes of silent, soul-wrenching screams through the psychic landscape. The ground, now a writhing mass beneath him, buckled and tore with each heavy step, as if the very earth shuddered under his glee-fueled rampage.
As Nodt, for the first time, showed a flicker of something akin to surprise behind his pupilless eyes. His grotesque form stiffened. This was not how fear worked. Fear was meant to paralyze, to break, to drive one to madness, not to fuel an opponent like a roaring bonfire. "Impossible," he hissed, his voice now a single, strained growl, lacking the previous chorus of whispers. His barbed wire wings flared, and the shadowy legion around Kenpachi didn't just multiply; they solidified. Their distorted faces, previously ethereal projections, now bore tangible teeth and claws, their forms denser, their screams no longer just psychic but audible, a cacophony of agony that ripped at the eardrums.
The new wave of fear-incarnates slammed into Kenpachi, seeking to engulf him. Their spectral arms, now solid and cold, wrapped around his limbs, attempting to restrain him. The putrid flesh beneath his feet oozed, trying to ensnare his ankles. The skeletal giants in the background leaned closer, their hollow eyes burning with an infernal light, attempting to crush him with their sheer oppressive presence. The air grew impossibly cold, stealing the breath from his lungs, not from lack of oxygen, but from the sudden, profound terror of absolute nothingness.
Yet, Kenpachi merely strained, his muscles bulging, Nozarashi held tight in his grip. His feral smile widened until it looked less human and more like a predator's snarl. "Now this is a challenge!" he bellowed, his voice echoing with defiant mirth. With a furious surge of reiatsu, he shattered the physical manifestations clinging to him, sending splinters of tangible dread scattering like glass.
~~~
Meanwhile, at the spot Scarlet's body was, her inky black blood continued to bubble, the bubbles popped as steam rose from her blood. Slowly, her lower body jumped up to its feet. The bitten and torn flesh began to wriggle and squirm. Scarlet was regenerating her missing half, but the air changed. The air had gone cold, a feeling of dread blew through Soul Society. Then, with a bellowing roar, and a sickening squelching. Scarlet's upper body had fully regenerated, her body covered in her own blood. A look of malice and malicious intent filled her crimson red eyes.
The Grimm girl panted. Her breathing was rapid and fast, but eventually slowed down. A twisted smirk played along her lips. She sniffed the air, the scent of Rukia was strong and the scent of Liltotto was also strong, however. Scarlet didn't seem to care, with a slight chuckle under her breath, she spoke. "I must say, you've done a fantastic job...." She began to wander around before leaning against a crumbling wall. "But sadly, you won't be taking over as pilot....Not anymore."
It was clear that this was Primal, she had taken over control of Scarlet's body. "It's a shame you decided to get a hair cut. But what can I do?" She chuckled again as she closed her eyes. "Now then, who should I go aid? Or better yet, should I partner up with the Quincy's? Hmm....so many choices, wouldn't you agree?"
The air was silent, the distance sounds of battle echoed. "Hm, you know what...." Scarlet spoke with a lustful tone. "Maybe I'll go aid that girl....what was her name? Oh yes, Kotori....I'm sure we can use some sustenance..." With a silent chuckle, Scarlet headed off towards the faint scent of Kotori and Meninas and where they were at. "Don't you worry, when I see White Queen. I'll be sure to give her your regards."