Dark Moon Pt 1: Death and Rebirth (Orgoth)

It was late in Bogata. Shadows shifted and spun in the night, as a hollow stalked its prey. The woman was completely unaware she was being hunted. However, so was the hollow. Before it could spring its trap two tentacles wrapped around its face and neck, and pulled it from its hiding spot, towards a smaller hollow. The great beast stuggled to free itself, but it was to weak to resist the being it was being dragged towards.

And then the smaller hollows cloak flapped back, and sharp teeth could be seen under a dark haze. And then the larger hollows head was gone with a snap. The smaller hollow watched the woman walk away, as it let the other disintegrate uninterested in the creature that could be food. It Sniffed the air, and began to follow the woman, but lost her as she entered and underground club.

Kain watched the building with interest. Waiting for her to come back out. People came and went but no one noticed the hollow there. Its stomach grumbled but I would not eat these humans. He had at first eaten some, but as he slowly regained himself he realised he didn't want to do it anymore. hollow made just as good dinners as humans. The air brought a smell of something that caught his interest, and he looked up, wondering who was coming.

There was an air of fate in Bogota tonight. The Colombian capital was shrouded in malice upon the arrival of the young Shinigami. He had shoulder-length purple hair, striking blue eyes, and he strode with purpose down a hot and humid street. This was what Scott Rollins was trained for, after all. He was just on his way back to Soul Society when he had received word of suspected Hollow activity in the city he now walked in. He used Kidou to contact Jensen, his acting-Captain while Riku Tomoshibi was afflicted with temporary amnesia, and let him know that he was pursuing the lead before he returned. It would be the last time he spoke to him.

Scott stalked down the street, keeping his profile low and remaining alert for anything unusual. His search led him to a nightclub. The thumping music punctuated the shouting of people attempting to be heard over such a loud background. Scott stood against a wall in an alley across the road from the club. This was the place, he just had to bide his time.

The presense he sensed was down in the street. He watched the purple haired man who hid in the shadow, trying to stay concealed. He failed. Kain decided to ignore the man for now. Some time passed, and the woman he had been following, had been protecting, returned from the club and was walking down the street away from him. The hollow followed after her along the rooftops. She turned down a side street.

A few feet down it, she was jumped by a human. A mugger possibly, or a rapist. He attacked the woman, causing her to scream. kain did not care what his intentions were, he would die regarless. He dropped down behind the man silently, tentacle wrapping around his throat, and arm holding the knife. He wrenched the man away from the woman and snapped his wrist. Now the man was screaming, as he was yanked towards Kain's chest. And then his head was bitten off, and the hollow spot it out throwing the body aside.

Kain looked at the woman, who instead of thanking him screamed even louder, then turned an ran the opposite direction. The hollow watched in confusion. It seemed he'd been following the wrong woman. The one he though he'd been following, would have easily ripped that man appart. Confused, he slapped the mugger/rapists' head around on the floor. Then he remembered the shinigami, and jumped onto the roof, leaving the corpse before the man arrived.

Scott waited to see if anything would happen. A young lady emerged from the nightclub, laughing with a bunch of friends. The lady bid goodbye to her friends and headed down the street. Scott watched her as she left, thinking that a girl as young and defenseless as her would be ideal prey for any would-be attacker who fancied his luck. Or worse. He saw a hooded human follow the lady down the street. Scott knew he shouldn't get distracted from his mission, but he knew protecting her was the right thing to do. It's what Gráinne would have done. He stalked after the humans as they traveled down the road and turned down a side road. Scott was about to intervene when the man attacked, but he was beaten to the punch by somebody else.

An Adjuchas-class Hollow dropped down and seized the man. The woman screamed, and Scott surged forward, calling out his Bankai. "Bankai: Arekuruu tamashī!" His clothing was replaced with a blue jumpsuit and an armored chest-piece, and his hair stood on end and turned bright golden. He grabbed the lady and brought her down the street. He let her go, yelling a command to her. "Run! Now!" The young woman complied and fled. Scott turned to the Hollow, who had just finished pulling the man apart. Scott drew his sword and stared the Hollow down. "Prepare to be destroyed, Hollow!"

The hollow was partway into ripping the man appart when the shinigami appeared and grabbed the screaming woman, pulling her to safety. Then the man turned to Kain shouted that he would kill him. In response to his request for Kain to prepare himself, the hollow hissed, his cloak pulling back and two black swords of ice appeared in his hands, while a long icy Javalin appeared in each of his tentacles.

"Your making a mistake Shinigami but I will show no mercy if you continue to insist on trying to cut me down." The hollow said. Though his cloak was back revealing his form undereneath, a black haze concealed most of him, making it very difficult to see his face, or the massive mouth filled with razor sharp teeth in his chest. The hollow waited, and if the man attacked he would throw his four Ice Javalins that would pierce and explode on impact with the force of a bala each.

Scott was unconcerned by the threat of the Hollow. he stood before it, golden aura pulsing. When he spoke, his voice was level. He had determined that the Hollow was roughly equal to himself in power. This was going to be tough. "I'm afraid I must insist." Scott suddenly lunged forward at shunpo speeds and dived through the barrage of ice spears, avoiding them all. He began barraging Kain with blows to the head and ears. 4 hits in total, from varying angles. He then jumped back and called out. "Hado #89: Masenko!" and fired a preliminary Masenko at the Hollow. The yellow beam fired out of Scott's hands towards the Hollow.

"Its your life." He responded. The man charged him and the hollow casually parried his strikes like they were nothing. The shinigami fired a hado but the hollow shot a tentacle out and wrapped it around a fire escape, pulling himself up and out of the massive blast's way. The attack shot down the Alley and exploded inside a building, causing it to rupture and collapse. The hollow looked at the shinigami, confused, the leaped at him, swords slashing for his throat.

Kain used a second tentacle to swing and flip himself, landing behind the shinigami. With a growl, a blast of ice shot from his hands at the man, cold energy seeking to destroy and freeze him. It left a chunk of ice where it hit, and if it happened to miss the Shinigami, Kain would shatter the ice shard and send hundreds of razor sharp pieces of ice after the shinigami. He looked at the destruction the man had caused. "You must hate hollow, if you would happily sacrifice hundreds of people to try to kill me." He said, pointing towards the collapsed building where people screamed in fear and pain.

Scott winced when his attack missed and impacted on a building behind the Hollow. "Crap-baskets." He bowed his head. He had once again allowed his emotions to get the best of him and acted without thinking. He decided a more considered approach was required here, in order to try and prevent any more civilian casualties. He watched Kain lunge at him with his swords. Scott parried the swords deftly. Kain then flipped over Scott and attempted to hit him from behind with a freezing attack. Scott dive-rolled aside to avoid it, and was promptly showered with razor-sharp ice shards. Scott used his Explosive Wave to not be riddled. It created a 5ft radius sphere from his body, made of pure energy that blocks anything up to a cero in strength, along with doing that much damage to anybody inside it and repelling them.

Scott was fuming, but he kept his composure for now. "Enough talk, Hollow." Scott lunged forward, sending a half-dozen Energy Shots(bala) Kain's way. He then swung his blade up and Kain's body, attempting to claim some tentacles. Four slashes.

The hollow deftly dodged the array of bala sized energy attacks despite the confines of the alleyway. The shinigami came in close and Kain blocked and parried, and though he took a slash across the chest it was just a graze. Kain's swords morphed into hooked blades and he attempted to catch Scott's sword in them. If he did, he'd use the brief opportunity he had the shinigami still to assail him with rapid blows from his six tentacles. if he failed to catch the blade he instead ducked and spun on the spot, slashing at Scott's legs to force him back, then as he shot up, he threw both swords at the man's face.

He sailed into the air and landed on the rooftop either way, throwing down a cold blast of energy at the man, and also 4 more explosive ice Javalins. Then he moved to the centre of the roof, using his sensing to track the man and find him if he didn't come up directly in front of kain. When he did appear the hollow nice present for him. As soon as Scott attacked kain, he would call down a hail of ice balls that explode on impact with the force of a bala each, in a thirty foot radius around Kain.

The Hollow dodged the bala-sized shots and Scott closed to melee range. He blocked and parried most of the strikes, though one did graze him on the chest. He then utilized hook-blades and attempted to catch Scott's blade. Scott could not avoid it and he promptly received a lashing with the tentacles. Kain then sailed upwards and landed on a nearby rooftop. Scott pursued him, avoiding the cold blast and also barely dodging the ice javelins. The road below took a pasting. Scott reached Kain as the Hollow called down a storm of bala-sized hailstones that leveled the building he was standing on. Scott was caught in the storm and did his best to cover up.

Upon the storm's completion, Scott suddenly lunged forward at Kain. He slashed downwards at him from point-blank range, firing off a Crescent Wave in his face that is equivalent to a Gran Rey Cero in damage. He then followed up while the Hollow was occupied with that. He shot forward and attempted to grab a tentacle and if he succeeded, he would spin rapidly and release him with enough velocity to send him crashing into the pavement below. If not, he simply spun and slashed 3 times, then fired a Force Blast in Kain's face to repel the Hollow for now.

Kain was also forced to dodge the ice balls which did a number on the rooftops around hi and also the Shinigami himself. The man fired a blade of energy at Kain who was caught by surprise given the quick recovery, and the blade hit his arm as he side stepped, cutting it off. A tentacle snatched the rogue limb firmly, lust as the shingami caught him by another. Kain looked at him, and sighed. This would hurt.

The shinigami lept into the air spinning him and then launched kain right at the ground. His tentacles reached out to try grab onto a pole or bar but there was nothing nearby for him to grip. The hollow shot down into the street with enough force to smash a crater into the ground as he hit it, and launching up a cloud of smoke. The hollow staggered to his feet as the smoke cleared, and he held the severed limb to the stump, and the flesh nitted back together, though the arm was still useless, given the bone would take allot longer to reattach..

The hollow let out a sudden powerful roar and launched a massive blast with the power and speed of a gran rey of cold energy into the air at the shinigami. Given its nature and the lack of other thigs to hit, if it did hit the shinigami he would be encased in ice. If that was indeed the case, Kain would manipulate that ice into the ground as fast and hard as his manipulation could manage.

Scott managed to take Kain by surprise and connected with his energy attack, slicing through the Hollow's arm at the shoulder. The Hollow caught the arm in a tentacle, just as Scott grabbed hold of a different one and swung rapidly, sending his foe hurtling into the ground. The impact left Kain sitting in a large crater. The Hollow then stood up and held the limb to the stump and began reattaching it, though he seemed to not be able to regain full use of it just yet.

Scott was suddenly surprised by an attack from Kain which hit him, and hit him hard. The blast froze Scott solid. He put all of his strength into breaking free, when the ice block began to hurtle towards the ground at dangerously high speeds. Straining his muscles to the max, Scott managed to break free just in time, but was unable to slow his descent enough to avoid hurtling into the ground, much like Kain did previously.

Scott stood up in his own personal crater, and jumped back up on to street level. He clutched at his ribs for a second. He was sustaining quite a bit of damage, but at least he was dealing some too. Scott made a decision in a second. He sped towards Kain, remaining guarded for any counter-attack by firing Buster Cannon(Cero) attacks at the Hollow. Then, upon reaching his target, Scott would then attempt to slice across the neck area of the Hollow. Then, he would try to send Kain skywards with a back-flip kick. If that connected, he would put both of his palms towards Kain, and swiftly form a large sphere of yellow energy, which would erupt in a large beam a split-second later. The beam would hit with the power of two Gran Rey Cero.

Kain nearly had the shinigami but he escaped the ice last second. He still hit the ground, but the disired effect was lost. The man climbed up and fired a barrage of attacks that all missed. Was he even aiming at this point? Reaching kain he slashed and the hollow formed a sword of black ice and parried it upwards, using his not useless arm. The man followed up with a backflip that launched the hollow up with force, and followed it with a blast of energy. Kain flipped in the air and formed a lance. Throwing the ice lance straight into the blast, it would explode on impact with the energy.

The result, of course, was that Kain was caught in the blast, but not directly. He was sent flying from the blast and crashed into a building. The hollow dragged himself from the rubble, a sharp piercing pain in his torso. The shinigami probably didn't fair much better, but Kain was to pre occupied with a two foot long bar that was currently shoved through his rib cage.

The hollow staggered towards the shinigami's last known location, slowly using a tentacle to pull the rebar from him. He was healing, but not fast enough for his liking. He managed to yank it out as he spotted the shinigami, and trew the bar to the side. He was breathing heavy, staring at the man, and about to attack, when he felt it. Kain paled. Something very bad had just arrived.

Scott fired the attack, but was not prepared for the Hollow's response. The attack hit something before it reached Kain. Well before. The explosion went off in Scott's face, the force of it planting him much deeper into the ground than his last crater. The dust settled, and Scott crawled out of his new crater slowly, his body wracked with pain from head to toe. His face was bloodied, and he had many broken ribs. There were lacerations all over, and his energy was fluctuating. This had not gone well at all. He somehow raised himself to his feet and began scanning the area for Kain. He spotted him, walking slowly towards him, looking almost as beaten up as Scott was. But then, the Hollow stopped. There was a distinct look of fear on his face. Scott knew that couldn't be good. He soon felt the reason for Kain's fear. There was an energy spike nearby, and it wasn't friendly.

The Vasto lorde stood on the building above the hollow he'd chosen to have for dinner and the shinigami who would also make a nice snack. Kain spotted him and moved backwards towards the shinigami. "As fun as this has been, if you don't want to die, we need to work together." The Adjuchas said as the dark hollow before them dropped into the streetm, grinning. Then he lunged towards Kain, slamming a fist into the hollow's chest, driving him back. The vasto lorde Spun on his heel aiming a kick at Scott's face, as Kain recoved and came back at Sen sword blurring as he slashed.

The vasto lorde backed off slightly as he parried the slashes with his hands. He then shot a palm forward towards both scott and Kain and sent out a blast of red energy at both that Kain dived away from. The Adjuchas countered with an ice blast, and the Vasto lorde Sneered as he knocked it away.

Scott looked up to see what Kain saw. A Vasto Lorde-class Hollow was sneering down at them. Kain moved closer to Scott and told him what the Shinigami had been thinking already. "Agreed." Scott prepared himself as best he could. Even at full power, the two unlikely allies would probably still be at a disadvantage here. There was no telling what the odds were now, with Kain and Scott having kicked seven bells out of each other already. The new enemy dropped down to the street they were on, and began the attack.

Sen lunged forward and sent Kain backwards with a punch to the chest, then swiveled and struck Scott with a heel kick to the face, which he could've dodged had he been fresh. Scott spun away and landed on the hard ground. He stood and just about dived to the side to dodge a red energy ball that came at him. He saw what he perceived to be an opening when Kain began to engage again in melee combat. Scott shot forward and aimed a trio of strikes at Sen's back. He then spun to another attack vector and aimed another trio of strikes to Sen's head and ears.

Sen spun and blocked the triple strikes with his hand, however kain slipped a sword passed his guard and into his side. In response, the vasto lorde grabbed the hollo's blade and pulled him closer, the caught his wrist and swung him at the shinigami, letting him go to fly into the man. The Adjuchas managed to right himself with his tentacles, only to be kicked in the chest by the vasto lorde. He flew backwards probably over the shinigami.

Sen launched out long thin spikes of energy at scott, aiming to penetrate him all over. He threw his hollow lance at kain, but missed barely, the Adjuchas was hurting but he still reacted quickly. He threw himself upwards and began to pelt the man with ice javalins. "Shinigami do that thing you did again!"

Scott did not manage to land a blow on the Vasto Lorde, with his strikes being casually flicked aside. Kain managed to get a hit in though, puncturing their foe's side with one of his swords. However, it seemed to only make the Vasto Lorde angrier. He grabbed Kain by the wrist and attempted to throw him into Scott. The young Shinigami back-flipped in an attempted dodge, but Kain righted himself anyway. The Vasto Lorde then simply hit Kain with a stiff thrust kick that sent Kain flying over Scott's head.

The Vasto Lorde fired numerous thin, needle-like energy beams at Scott, who reacted instinctively and activated his Reflect Bounder Mk II. A shield of energy appeared in front of Scott and reflected the attacks back at the enemy. The shield would remain until 5 posts pass or it gets breached, whichever came first. Scott then heard Kain yell to him as he peppered the Vasto Lorde with his own attacks. Scott nodded. The first time he tried this, Kain dodged, and it caused massive damage to the surrounding area. However, the new enemy was distracted, improving the chances of hitting him. Scott added some punch to the attack by using the full incantation. "I'll never forgive you! This ends now! This is for Piccolo, Gohan and anyone else that has been lost! I will avenge you all! Hado #89: Masenko, HA!" The large yellow beam fired out menacingly at the Vasto Lorde.

Sen recoiled for Kain's barrage of attacks and let out a roar, followed by a blast of fire that tore through the ice attacks and nulified them. He lunged at Kain who jumped back, throwing more, envoking the Vasto lorde's rage and keeping his attention. He charged a blue orb in his hand as the vasto lorde attacked, and brought the ice blast up to meet the vasto lorde's punch, exploding and freezing both their arms together. However Kain easily slipped out, and fired a second blast with his other hand at Sen's foot, freezing a leg solid.

Taking hold of the ice he pulled the piece on the vasto lorde's foot into the ground, while dragging the one on his arm away, spreading him out, giving scott time to fire his attack. Then he jumped out of the way as the yellow beam of energy shot at Sen, and wiped the vasto lorde away. The attack smashed into the building but the explosion wasn't as bad as before, since Sen would have taken most of the damage.

The Adjuchas let out a sigh. "Don't think me a coward, shinigami, but I'm getting out of here before he gets back up. You sho-" A Foot  collided with the side of kain's head, and the Adjuchas was sent flying into a building. Sen looked at the shinigami, skin charred, face filled with rage. "Not good enough, fools." He growled, lunging at the shinigami he unleased a barrage of fist and foot strikes at the man.

Scott fired off his attack, strengthened by the full incantation. Kain did his part in it too, fixing the Vasto Lorde in place with ice until the attack hit. Scott shielded his eyes from the explosion. The building behind took a bit of a pasting, but not as much as the first building due to Scott actually scoring a hit this time. Also, any innocents will have evacuated by now, minimizing any civilian collateral. Scott doubled over in pain from his damaged body, breathing heavily. He saw Kain approaching him, equally damaged and drained. Kain was in the middle of suggesting that they both flee, when he was cut off by a swift, hard kick to the side of his head. The Adjuchas flew through a building nearby, collapsing it.

The now enraged and physically mangled Vasto Lorde charged at Scott, growling threateningly. Scott was driven back by the sheer ferocity of the blows, blocking and dodging only about half of them. Out of instinct, he activated his now-recharged Explosive Wave and combined it with his Force Attack. If caught by it, Sen would be hit with a Cero worth of damage by the first attack, then be force-blasted backwards a couple of yards by the second. Scott looked at Kain struggle his way out of the wreckage of the building he was blasted through. He knew they had to stop the Vasto Lorde. He was too dangerous to be left alive, so all other concerns were now secondary.

"Hey! I need you to get up! I'm try something I probably won't survive. You'll need to finish this." Scott used a message kidou to send word to Gráinne what was about to happen. He had refrained from alerting her earlier, because he didn't want his love to come to his rescue again, and in doing so risking her own safety. The message told her where Scott was, and what he was about to do, as well as a goodbye if, as he suspected, he didn't survive.

Then, Scott Rollins stood up fully, and mustered his remaining strength. He Shunpo'd directly at Sen and chambered a punch. But just before he got there, he entered what he called Ascended Bankai. Due to his inability to reach Toukai, Scott had put considerable training into getting maximum energy output from his Bankai. This was the result. Scott's body grew almost two feet in height, his skin became slightly redder due to increased blood flow, and his muscle size increased to the point of impracticality. Scott’s hair grew and spread in different directions, bursting free of his hair-band. His aura no longer flowed upward, but flailed outward, with surges of bio-electricity becoming more frequent and prominent. The result was an almost incomprehensible increase in strength and durability, as well as greater spiritual pressure output. However, there were rather large drawbacks as well. His speed and physical stamina were reduced to what they are pre-Shikai. If the punch connected, which it was very likely to given his velocity upon throwing it, it would send Sen crashing through anything behind him.

Kain managed to crawl out of the wreckage. He forced himself to his feet, and nodded in recognition of the man who was about to potentially sacrifice himself. Kain would not let it be in vein. The Vasto lorde backed off as the man let out a blast and stopped to watch him send a message. Reinforcements would be to slow. this would be over and sen gone before anyone knew what had happened here. "Oh how noble of you to sacrifice your life. It will be a waste, i promise. Your soul will fade into nothingness and be forgotten." Sen said, mockingly. The man came at with alarming speed readying a fist, but he wasn't worried, he'd already gauged the warriors physical strength. There was little he could do to sen with a punch.

That was, until he grew in size considerably. Sen actually hadn't expected it and didn't have time to react, the punch taking him clean in the jaw. The force actually rattled his bones as he was sent careening into a building with a crash. And then Kain shot post Scott, and barraged the building with orbs of cero powered ice. He fired ten, each shaking and collaping more of the building, creating a pile of rubble that burried the vasto lorde.

Kain stopped, panting for breath... Was it over? He took a step towards the rubble, and it exploded up and outwards, a blast that would consume both kain and Scott. Kain leaped but was sent flying. He crashed through a window. Landing in a heap, he was sure he was done. There was no getting back up from that, he though. But somewhere, Kain found the strength. He didn't want to die here, like a dog. he managed to get to his feet, and make his way to the window. He seen scott appear from where he'd gone. And then sen was there, pulsing black energy, his entire body glowing with power. "Shinigami, run!" Kain shouted, he moved to intercept but was so weakened he only cleared half the distance as Sen drove a fist towards the shinigami's chest as scott reacted to Kain's shout.

Scott connected with his modified punch, sending the Vasto Lorde careening through a building. Kain then shot past and leveled the rest of the building on top of their foe. The building was reduced to rubble and there was no movement. Kain approached the pile of debris and surveyed it for a moment. Then, Scott picked up a spike in power. "Get away!" But it was too late. A blast erupted from the rubble, sending debris everywhere. The power of the blast sent Kain flying through another building, but Scott simply covered his face, his vastly increased strength and toughness meant he was unmoved by the blast, though he sustained a bit of damage.

Scott uncovered his face and saw Sen standing before him, pulsing with dark energy. Scott heard Kain's shout of warning, but it was too late. Sen lunged at Scott, aiming a fist at the young man. Scott attempted to dodge, but his new form severely restricted his speed. He was unable to avoid the attack. Sen's fist drove through the Scott's chest-plate and into his chest. Blood erupted from Scott's mouth and he gasped in pain. However, he still had enough where-with-all to know that an opportunity had just presented itself. He grabbed on to Sen's upper bicep with an unbreakable grip, and pulled the Vasto Lorde closer, driving the fist out through his back. He then gathered all of his power, and unleashed his Super Explosive Wave. Sen would be engulfed in a burst of high-intensity energy. A Gran Rey Cero's worth, to be precise. When the attack ended, he felt Sen's struggling weaken. He called to Kain. "Now! Finish it!" Scott knew this was their last chance. He thought of Gráinne, and how he wouldn't get to see her again. His last consoling thought was that at least they had won back their home, and Gráinne would live in it. Scott smiled at this, his vision darkening. The world fading away.

The vasto lorde was faster then scott, and his fist pierced right through the man, breaking through his ribs and bursting out his back. Kain watched, dismayed. He would die next. However a flicker of hope filled him, as Scott siezed the vasto lorde's arm with an unbreakable grip. Sen tried to escape but his strength was not enough to escape the dead man. Scott let out a powerful blast of energy, and then Kain was upon Sen. Tentacle's lashed out and wrapped around the vasto lorde's limbs, pulling him towards Kain, towards the mouth in his chest, and with a powerful snap, he bit of Sen's head as the vasto lorde screamed.

Kain savored the taste of raw power as he scarfed down the soul, felt it filling him. Tentacles shot out and wrapped around the shinigami as he fell, lowering him more gently to the ground. Kain knelt down beside him, and pulled back his hood, revealing a human face. He took Scott forearm, grasping it. "You are an honorable warrior, Shinigami. Had we met sooner, I'd have been proud to call you a friend. No, a brother.." He smiled a reassuring smile as the man died. Gently, he reached out and closed the man's eyes, reaching out he pulled scotts sword from where it lay and placed it in his hands. "Your fight is over now." He said. The Adjuchas stood and opened a gartanta, disappearing into it as something awoke inside his soul.