My Ticket Outta Here [Private/Arashi]

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Where her reiatsu senses had failed her, her regular old normal senses had succeeded spectacularly. With a whooshing noise, Nessa flash stepped over to the rooftop where Arashi was face down after having dumbly tripped and knocked a bunch of crap over. It hadn't been an easy step and Nessa tottered a little upon reaching the other side. Her steps had gotten a lot further recently but that was pushing the limits of her ability. She could sense reiatsu on him but in all honesty she had no idea how strong he was. On the other hand he felt like a shinigami to her, and so she was a little on edge. She hadn't heard a single word from Soul Society in months. Gage had been her only true connection to the spiritual in this intervening time. She was desperate for news; important news as well as selfish news. At this time she hung back, her gauntletted arms folded over her ample chest, staring down at him with her remaining eye.

"Heard loud and clear I'm afraid." she told him with a slight frown. He had significant enough reiatsu that he wasn't bothered by her. She couldn't measure others' strength with great accuracy but from baseline comparisons this guy felt like... He felt like he was strong. Like at least Taicho level. Nessa had no idea how strong her own reiatsu was, but Arashi would have had her on her knees with passive pressure alone before she had become a visored. "I need to ask you where you and I stand now, fellow shinigami. Are you and the rest of the Gotei 13 wont to be hunting me?" she said, stressing the fact that she still identified as a shinigami, despite the underlying hollow reiatsu Arashi would be able to detect.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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Nessa paused as this goofy idiot spoke to her through the bucket on his head. Man what was up with this dude. The more he spoke, however, the more the wheels turned in her head. He wasn't here on orders... The way he spoke. It sounded as if this dude was a rogue shinigami. She prickled. Vanessa felt confident that she would be able to tell if he also were a visored, but he didn't seem to be. She had to tread carefully here. There was every chance that this guy was a traitor to Soul Society if he were skulking around here not on duty. He seemed to be keen to hide his identity too, and to get her to shove off, as if he were... Up to something.

It was then that she saw him lean down to pick up his sword. Her eyes tightened, and as he reached down, she flash stepped forward, exiting the step with the intent to push him away from his weapon. Picking it up after having been quite rude was clearly an aggressive action and Nessa wanted to ascertain what exactly was going on. He seemed like some kind of imposter or something and she was feeling incredibly mistrustful. All the same she didn't want to hurt him, hence going for a shove instead of an attack with more bite.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she snarled savagely.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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So this guy really was determined to take possession of his zanpakuto was he? Not exactly that she could blame him, but all the same, if he would stop being an asshole... But no. Despite reassurances that he wasn't her enemy, he continued to just keep being a dick. A shinigami in the human world was there illegally if they weren't on duty and this guy 110% wasn't on duty, she could work that much out. Which meant that he was either a rogue, or sneaking out for some kind of joy or thrill or perhaps even nefarious purposes. He continued to chastize her, as if anything wasn't Soul Society's business. The way he spoke confirmed that he wasn't with the Gotei 13 or their allies, so he was a rogue shinigami. Nessa's eyes lit up. It appeared that this guy... They were going to fight. This was an opportunity. If he was a rogue, and she could capture him, there was a possibility that if she returned him to Soul Society, she would somehow be able to put a good word in for herself. Kind of like a bounty hunter, seeking redemption.

"That's a pretty bold claim." she said, whipping around. God damn this guy was fast! He was so fast relative to Nessa that if she wasn't careful a shunpo like that could put her in a very compromising position. "I just wanted to know where you stood, guy. And here you are, being all difficult. That might make a girl think you weren't a good guy." she said, stressing the last two words as he had done earlier. She smirked. A lot of people probably wouldn't consider Nessa a good guy, especially not at the moment. She accompanied the words by creating a small ring of reiryoku around Arashi's ankle, and flipping sideways into a kick aimed straight at him, while she pulled the ring towards her in an attempt to trip the guy up. She didn't have time for guys and their incessant trash talking. It was just wasted breath to her.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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Dammit! He managed to matrix backwards using her technique and now he had grabbed her leg. She'd felt a solid impact, however, which must have hurt at least a little. She reacted instinctively when he grabbed her, the danger sirens flashing in her head. She had to do something to escape because at the moment, she was at his mercy. As he bust out some Bond one-liner about not being a good guy, Nessa cast a kido which was a specialty of hers; Hado 53.

"Hadō #53 Fumetsu Hishūran!" she cast, extending her one of her gauntlets forth as she did so, her arm becoming wrapped in flames. It wasn't the strongest Hado but it was deceptively fast, and at this range, with about a meter between her gauntlet and Arashi's chest, it would be basically impossible to avoid. After the kido had been launched, she was slammed into the ground, the force of the spell causing to bounce backwards through the air from the impact, letting out a gasp of air, before being able to stop using another reiryoku technique. Her robe had been torn in several places and she had a couple of scrapes and some nasty bruises but was otherwise unharmed.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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It had worked. He had taken the kido at point blank, chest on! He didn't seem to be too bothered, which was frustrating, but he gave her no time to dwell on it. He disappeared, and Nessa's eyes went wide. He had already showed her his dangerous levels of speed, and so she immediately began casting. This was a kido that she often tended to use on opponents who loved to come up close with their Flash Steps. Without hesitation, she began to cast.

"Bakudo #68!" he was already behind her, she was able to tell by her subpar reiatsu detection ability. If she followed through she wouldn't be able to put up a more comprehensive defence, but it was the best she had. "Hibikiwaru!" as she cast, she felt the impact on the back of her skull, pain lancing through her head as the pillar of energy exploded outwards from her, it would electrocute Arashi, and send him flying backwards with an explosion. The impact on Nessa, however, would send her flying back down towards the roof, flipping as she went down and crashing down hard, and passing straight through into the room below. A family was sat around eating dinner and Nessa had just completely fallen through their roof. Their dog, a Shiba Inu began barking at her, and there was a commotion, however after a split second, the whole lot of them passed out, the sheer force of Nessa's passive reiatsu sufficient to render them unconscious. She leapt back out onto the roof, trying desperately to sense for Arashi.

This guy was strong. She realized that she might have no choice but to use her mask. Her mask currently had a limit of... eleven minutes. Would that be sufficient to defeat him? She wasn't even sure, but one thing she did know was that she was just going to keep taking a beating, due to the incredible difference in their speeds. That knee to the head was still ringing out now. On the other hand, she couldn't use her Kido while masked. Was it enough of an advantage to warrant that? She needed to diversify her techniques more, that was certain. Furthermore her shikai would be all but useless. Did that mean... Did she need to activate her bankai? Already... And this guy hadn't even used his shikai. No, that was too much of an escalation. Arashi hadn't gone in for the kill, so neither should she. He was definitely some kind of rogue and if she could, she would take him back to Soul Society... Or if that proved impossible, at least she would try and get out of this alive.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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He hadn't spotted her. Perfect. Nessa began enchanting, casting from her hiding place. She had spotted him and had a pretty good grip on where he was. It was time to start really pulling out the stops. She had just the Hado for the job, but she had a trick up her sleeve that would even catch out this guy. She cast the spell quietly, while she was still reasonably distant. "Dipolar tension, strike out. Burning streams fall from the maw of the great winged serpent, decimating all with thunderous potential." the Kido formed upon her gauntlets, before she launched herself up, a shunpo carrying her into the air, as she seemed to launch the kido from her hands. "Hadō #88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" she cast, shouting the name of the kido however... It never appeared. Indeed, instead of appearing from Nessa's hands, shooting towards Arashi, it appeared a mere 10 meters behind him, and blistered towards him at half the speed of a Bala, the full incant Kido more than ten times faster than standard. She also added a second layer of potency to the kido, making it even stronger.

"That's pretty rich given that you were the one that kicked me into the building, dumbass. What's a rogue shinigami doing hanging out in Karakura town anyway? Unless... Don't tell me you're the one who betrayed the Soshi so you could ride on that stupid monkey's dick?" she asked him spitefully, her eye narrowing. She doubted that he would be taken out, even by a Hado as strong as that one had been.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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She let out a triumphant hiss of breath as he wasn't able to react in time to completely stop the kido, and it blasted him in the back the sizzling arcs of reiatsu lightning searing his flesh. She looked at him, her one eye hard and flinty. She raised her hands into a fighting stance, her gauntlets clicking with motion in the night air. It appeared that she had struck a nerve, not just with her kido but also with her comments. So this was the guy. Well. Perhaps she was in a position to administer a little payback then. She thought of Blodeuwen standing up to all the people she'd been informed had been there that day and her lone ally, this asshole, turning on her. She didn't get along with her ex-commanding officer but she respected her, and more importantly, she was loyal to the shinigami. It pissed her off to no end that someone would willingly throw away something that Nessa would give anything in the world up for.

She couldn't afford to muse too much however, as he had released his shikai. She began casting, anticipating that he was about to administer some revenge. "Bakudo number thirty nine, Enkosen!" she said, as he entered his step. She was fully prepared to turn around and guard from him using the shield and as such she was pretty surprised when he appeared straight in front of her. There was no way she wouldn't prepare beforehand, which meant retaliation was impossible. No, Nessa could only defend from Arashi's attacks. Regardless, the bolt of lightning launched itself at her and she was only just able to bring the shield up to soften the blow, when it hit her.

She was sent reeling backwards, her entire body arching in pain as the crackling of the electricity caused muscle spasms, the plasma dancing across her skin. She had been launched back towards the roof they had previously been on and she was knocked to the ground where she twitched slightly, before getting back to her feet.

"You know, given that you betrayed my Soshi just so you could get buttfucked by a monkey and his retarded hollow friends, I can see why you're being such a rude piece of shit." she said, angrily. She couldn't keep up with this. "You must be a real piece of work, you know that?" she spat. She had to pull out all the stops here. She wasn't sure if she was ready to use either of these things in battle yet. But she had to try. "Bankai... Awai Shiroi Hasu Yōsei." she said. As she did so there would be a huge release of reiatsu, rolling out from Nessa. It was like a viscous liquid, black with a semi-transparent navy outline as tendrils of it reached out from her. However, her zanpakuto... Would not appear to change at all. Her gauntlets remained exactly the same, the only difference being the release of energy. It was a trick she utilized in order to attain the increased power of her Bankai without revealing its true form.

"I don't know if I can defeat you... But you must be returned to Soul Society, in order that justice may be served for your crimes." she said, her hair rustling under the wind of her spiritual pressure. "And so I have no choice but to do everything I can." she said. She formed a heart shape with her fingers in front of her face, a couple of stinging burn marks having made it all the way up to her chin. As she did so, a thick shroud of reiryoku covered her face, forming in a swirl before it coalesced into a large, spiked heart. There was a smashing sound, like a thick pane of glass fracturing and she ripped the heart formed from her fingers apart and the reiryoku solidified into the shape of her Hollow Mask.

"Even this heinous power." she said, her voice rattling as she and her Inner Hollow spoke in tandem.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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Nessa's guard went up as Arashi closed the distance between them rapidly, she instinctively stepped backwards about thirty metres, her general reaction and speed having increased fourfold relative before. She was still slower than him by an appreciable amount but she wasn't quite in instant death territory any more. Clearly this guy didn't want any actual deaths on his hands, it would draw the attention of Soul Society too much. Which was partly what Vanessa wanted. She wasn't sure if they knew that she had regained her spiritual powers, it depended what that little dummy Moeru had decided to do once Hidane had scared him off. Arashi appeared to be quite hurt, he had stabbed the ground and then fell to one of his knees. Nessa frowned. This was the guy whose betrayal had swung the battle against the Soshi. She didn't like her commander personally but she admitted that Blodeuwen was the strongest person she knew by some ways. Either she'd taken a really lucky shot or there was something else going on. Nessa wasn't able to sense any of the changes in reiatsu that had occurred due to the fact that the mere presence of her bankai caused all reiatsu to become completely indiscernible and undetectable.

"I'm not interested in ending anything. I just want you to see justice. The power of hollows is terrible and shouldn't be used lightly. Outnumbered and outgunned... You just decided to join the strongest side in the moment, right? A true shinigami would show more spine!" she yelled and as she did so, she punched the air, unleashing a deadly, but condensed wave of reiatsu that sped towards Arashi at the speed of a cero. See if she couldn't match the front and back sides of his body now. As she did so she would appear behind and above him, preparing to drop kick him, however as she exited her step, the dragons would appear, going too fast for her to do anything about. They bit down on her though through sheer force of will she was able to avoid more than cursory bruising, tensing her muscles, her condensed spiritual power making her skin hard. She wasn't able to move however, her arms each bound at the shoulder. A cero would begin to form at her mouth, hopefully Arashi would be busy enough dealing with the Keijutsu that he wouldn't notice, the red energy slowly collecting. Nessa's cero was painfully slow. It was a power she hated, so she never used it, but it would be useful here, to unleash as a last resort.

heavy is the Hole in my heart

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Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Nessa entered total panic mode, her eyes going wide and her pupils contracting to pinpricks. He was able to block her reijutsu, and now he had her at his mercy, bound. Her cero wasn't charging fast enough, and as soon as she had gathered the energy together, a punch with enormous spiritual power behind it came straight towards her face, punching straight through the Cero, and connecting with her mask, which splintered into dust. She was thrown backwards, arcing gracefully through the air, finally rolling to a halt some distance away, her broken nose bleeding profusely. She groaned, her body ached. How could he be so strong? She wasn't good enough... She had to train harder, and become stronger. If she even survived. In all likelihood this guy was going to try and kill her now. She tried to get to her feet but couldn't, her body gave up on her and she collapsed.

---

Her mind spiralled. She found herself awaking inside her inner world. The corridors, all a deep blue, were shrouded in a waist-deep mist. Yousei was nowhere to be seen. She wandered forward, almost forgetting the fight that was happening. There was a chuckle from somewhere deep down the halls. She raised her fists. If she wasn't careful, Yousei might get the drop on her. She rounded a corner and saw her hideously disfigured zanpakuto spirit standing there with a grin on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Vanessa asked, cautiously.

"You lost." the spirit responded. She frowned.

"What of it?" she asked. Was this going to be an attempt from her inner hollow to take over?

"You're not supposed to lose... If you lose... You're mine." Yousei responded. Predictable. Vanessa scoffed, flicking a ribbon of blue hair back over her shoulder. If she had to fight here, now, she would. If she thought Arashi would kill her as is that was one thing, but if she began to hollowfy, he would definitely put an end to her.

"The mask was supposed to make me more powerful. That was the trade-off. Instead it just stopped me using my kido, and didn't even catch me up to half of this guy's speed. What was I supposed to do!? You won't fare any better either." she said angrily. Yousei's eyes flashed with anger at Nessa's criticism. She clearly hadn't expected that. She was no longer feeble human!Ness. She was self-righteous, angry, proud shinigami Vanessa, and she wasn't willing to let her hollow-spirit take even an inch.

"Well you've been blocking yourself off from your true hollow power... Your Cero, for example. It is pitiful... Don't blame me for your own fear, your own inadequacy!" Yousei yelled, and leapt at her, bringing her arm down in a chop. Nessa blocked it, and proceeded to grip Yousei's arm and fling her into a wall. She flew head over heels and bounced off of the wall, the spirit aiming a kick at the shinigami. Nessa grabbed her once more and swung her around, sending the mist swirling as the spirit skidded backwards across the floor.

"No. I'm not "giving in" to such a sordid power. I'm the victor. I killed the hollow. I am the queen of this world and you are my subject. Instead, how about this." she said, before flash stepping and exiting behind the spirit. Nessa grabbed her from behind and locked the spirit's limbs in place, a single finger pointed into her back. "You pipe down, and start throwing your full power behind what I want instead of this half-baked half-and-half bullshit."

"Go fuck yourself." Yousei said, struggling against Nessa's restraint. Nessa smiled, and began whispering in Yousei's ear.

"Dipolar tension, strike out! Burning streams fall from the maw of the great-"

"Okay fine, fine, you bitch!" Yousei responded at the thought of having her abdomen blasted out by the kido. There was a crackle of electricity, but as soon as Nessa stopped incanting the energy faded away, and Nessa kicked the spirit to the floor, and stood over her.

"No more cero. No more mask. I'm done. Lend me your strength, without all this bullshit. Like the old Yousei would have done."

"The old Yousei is dead."

"And I can kill you again."

"..."

"Help me. Help me and we both thrive. You want what I want. The way things are, we're both being held back. Purify me of this power."

"There is... One thing I can do." her spirit looked up from the floor, her glowing eyes peering out from under her fringe. "You will lose your mask... But... Well, your zanpakuto. I can give you... A Segunda Etapa." Nessa blinked.

"A Bankai: Second Release?" Yousei nodded.

"But it's too late now. Wake up. Escape. Escape and when you are safe, I will tell you the words to activate it." Yousei said. Nessa nodded.

---

Her eyes flew open, mere seconds had passed. Was Arashi still there? She couldn't detect any thing, not that that was much of a surprise.

heavy is the Hole in my heart