Heal And Tow [Arata]

The butterfly heralded the arrival of what seemed like a counterflash of light; the black bauble night had become was broken by a saturating confusion of pressures. The boy? The blast hadn't hit him - from what Seikatai could tell, it hadn't hit either of them. His eyes heard the texture of a million aromas congeal within instants, spit back the peculiarly colored smell-sound that pressed Substitute-Shinigami against his skin. A new arrival. 

"..."

Seikatai watched as the Hollow's beam of sour light went crooked in mid-air, was jerked like a kite in a tornado towards the new Substitute only to exploded in a sickly crosshatch of brightness. What kind of power is that? The new Substitute seemed unfazed; his clothing seemed to suffer the worst of the attack, and sizzling in a chemical symphony of indescribable flavors were the telltale clicks signifying cells re-knitting themselves. The young man was already healing himself, at least, on a microscopic level. It meant his body was used to the process, primed for it. It was his affinity.

"Fourth Squad..."

Seikatai tried to say as the bubble of water wrapping the child semi-solidified, attempting to probe the frail biology and safely suspend it in stasis. It came out like

"Ffffffuvuvvuswaaa.."

as five more beams of green light fanned out from the Hollow's position like fireworks, then converged to scorch the patch of ground where--

---Seikatai and the boy no longer stood.

The projections had moved so slowly Seikatai nearly risked running his fingertips along the edges as they flew. Something had happened to his body, an acceleration so sudden he wasn't sure if he'd been hit by a different attack that had knocked him through the air. His mind assessed his functionings; his lactic acid was being converted into adrenaline by an infusion of foreign spiritual particles. Interesting. The Fourth Squad Substitute must have used some technique that could enhance his speed. He tested his arm by gently tossing the human boy towards the new Substitue, hoping he would have some way to at least stop the poison's progression. Even secured within Seikatai's bubble, the black-green sheen tainting his flesh was still spreading. The boy didn't go flying thousands of meters, so Seikatai felt safe in assuming his strength hadn't also been increased. Most likely, an attempt to help me dodge some of this things attacks. I probably look like I'm in pretty bad shape.

"Keep it distracted. I'll back you up."

Seikatai's grip on his Zanpakutou tightened, and for the briefest of moments he considered releasing his Shikai - but no, a shuddering of fear ran through him so hard that his grip relaxed immediately. No...I...I can't. I'm...afraid. CRASH. A large tree had been thrown in a high arch, tossed by one of the scorpion-Hollow's too-many-limbs as it danced, head swaying back and forth between the two Substitutes. 10 meters to the Fourth Squad Substitute's left, and 30 meters from the Hollow shifting in a dizzy waltz in front and between them both, Seikatai placed his Zanpakutou at his back, and removed Gangusuta's hilt at his side.

Gangusuta's blade sprang forth, a blue-white gloam, and as the Hollow fired a stream of tightly packed bullets of energy at them both, Seikatai swerved among the Fourth Squad Substitute's position and his own in a blur of wild swings that deflected the Bala from their intended targets, rending the spiritual energy with flushes of dense wet reiatsu. The Hollow eyed Seikatai with anger, and then glanced at the new Substitute and what seemed to be an aura of pressure containing the young man's form, wary but starving, and hunger-brave. It looked at the child and a wave of black sparks convulsed the air; the Hollow's face seemed to cinch in on itself, a grin. The mask on its tail chattered its teeth, then turned upside down suddenly as the Hollow swung it towards both Shinigami, and a new mist - something heavy and white that stank of alcohol and raw sewage - spewed forth in a cone like shape that threatened to engulf them all.

"What the..."  Seikatai tried, instead saying "Wuwwaa".

The Squad Four Substitute's body quaked a slim distortion that prickled against its own spiritual energy, then doubled on itself, visibly imposing a strange new form. The young man seemed to age right before Seikatai's eyes, or at least, to embody some alternate version of his old appearance, followed by a bright expulsion of reiatsu. An overwash of senses told him instantly; this guy is strong. Seikatai noted the thought in his own head, would remain vigilant to further assess just how strong the newcomer was, as he heard an unfamiliar incantation spoken in a low drawl.

"Reverse your fate, Sohan."

And then...

...Cold. 

Dampness. Like rain falling on a body already frozen. Something close to sadness laid down on Seikatai with a weight that somehow made him doubt its presence, and warped the golden glow of whatever technique coated the Squad Four Substitute's body into the sound of thunder. Seikatai watched the man's Zanpakutou split, aggravate itself apart, swerve bizarrely into perfect circles, razor edged rings held in his grip with a lazy expertise.

The incoming white wave of the Hollow's strange power grew swollen and fat with some noxious foreboding; but it was met by the Squad Four Substitute's own release. Seikatai noticed only the flashing that indicated movement, smelling the transfer of something liquid, hearing it pass along the curvature of blades. He felt a spike in the human child's reiryoku and felt the resistance of something solid funneled through the bubble of his own energies.  He's already healing the kid.  A black cloud the size of a building pooled out of the ringed-weapon like gore, scarring the air. It met the Hollow's poison mist with a crackling that seemed to erode it, and Seikatai felt an immediate release to the indescribable pain in his face as the atmosphere finally settled. 

His skin was...knitting itself back together. The Squad Four Substitute's hand touched his forehead, seemed to bypass the flood of Seikatai's reiatsu altogether and force the shattered fragments of his face back to congruence. He moved his jaw.  Tested his voice.

"You have my sincere thanks."

Seikatai? 

His Zanpakuto spirit spoke into his thoughts suddenly, rigid and ever-questioning. Hurried. Alarmed. What---

A compound crack of noise, and the Hollow was before them both. Directly in front of both Substitute Soul Reapers, bearing down, grinning a drip of saliva that sizzled the ground when it hit, then oddly seemed to float back up as a clear mass into the nose of the Hollow's mask, unnoticed by it. The same accursed light as before; its energy built and its mouth opened, and then the Cero it had been charging simply stopped itself and the hollow shook; just its head.  A sickening sound, a wet tearing, the clunk of something solid being struck hard, but reverberating out, from its mask.  The creature took a step back.  It looked up at the sky.

Its head seemed to collapse into itself a fraction of an inch; its mask dented in, then expanded. Its mouth hung open where it was, a look of stupid confusion plastered on, no words - only a pathetic and permanent clearing of the throat, like one who has forgotten how to speak precisely as he starts to. Its eyes rolled around in the way that indicates 'something isn't working right', and then Seikatai held his hand up to its face in much the same way the Squad Four Substitute had touched him. A drop of blood floated out of the Hollow's nose and came to rest hovering above Seikatai's fingertip. It spun in place fiercely, splashing everything but its master, before revealing itself to be an even smaller drop of water. It seemed to be drawn into Seikatai's skin as it disappeared. The Hollow's body collapsed onto the ground, twitching, incapable of doing anything else.

Seikatai held up the wooden bokken that was his sword's sealed form to the Squad Four Substitute, indicating it and the incapacitated beast.

"Like this, my Zanpakuto isn't really suited for cutting things. If you'd be kind enough to send it on its final way."