If he wants a fight, well now he's got one

[joinmyreunion]

The Palace felt quiet. A number of the Arrancar were out on a mission with Aizen; only the weak, or the unpredictable, had been made to stay behind, but that number had not, apparently, included Grimmjow. Kadaj and Tayuya had been left to their own devices without him and Yylfordt around.

Three days ago, they'd had a quiet conversation. Kadaj hadn't done much talking, just nodded, and then later in the day had crept into the laboratories down the wing of the Palace that Orochimaru had made his own. Kadaj used to go down there a lot, three years ago. He'd stopped just after the Arrancar arrived. He'd fallen out with Orochimaru once and for all shortly after that.

He emerged from the labs a couple of hours later, showered, and then went into the underground training facility. He didn't come up again for a couple of days, although there weren't really people around to notice, except Tayuya, who went down to check on him a few times.

He'd slept when he came back up, and then went to look for Nnoitra, one of the Arrancar who had been judged too unpredictable to head off to a freshly made Necrohol. He found him in the kitchen.

Kadaj made his way over; an unusual intent certainty in his expression, and spoke quietly. "Want to let off some steam?" His manner was all wrong to be an invitation to spar, but that was what it sounded like, at first.

Comments

[snakeface]

All of that work, all that effort and time, and what was Nnoitra's arrancar defence actually worth, in the end? Orochimaru smirked, but had to move the sword when Nnoitra replied with a bala blast.

He swung for Kadaj this time. Perhaps, if he did sufficient damage to Kadaj too, or at least his zanpakuto, he could bring this to a swift end.

[joinmyreunion]

For a moment, Kadaj looked horrified. Nnoitra had lost arms, which was bad enough in itself, but then he kept going, and Kadaj....

Well, if nothing else, Kadaj had to respect that level of commitment to a fight, and also to insanity.

Then Kusanagi came for him and he ducked out of the way, avoiding the swings rather than trying to deflect them with Souba because he couldn't be sure what effect Souba taking damage would have on the stigma, or the plan.

He retreated a few steps, evading another swing, and then darted under the sword, and towards Orochimaru, taking the opportunity to strike, and make this a close range battle again.

[prayingmantis]

When Kusanagi moved away from him, even if it wasn't a direct effect of the bala, Nnoitra relaxed slightly. He watched as Kadaj moved in towards their opponent, blades flashing. Getting in close to avoid the levitating sword looked to be a good method of limiting Orochimaru's liberal use of it, even if it wasn't one that would work for him. Orochimaru would have to be careful to not accidentally catch himself with his own sword. It would limit his ability to fight back effectively. Good.

The distraction gave him a brief respite, but it was long enough for Nnoitra to focus. What he needed to do didn't require too much in the way of direct Chakra manipulation. It was partly a magical response and partly a physical reflex. Or, at least, it was a concentration of energy that his Hollow largely dealt with instead of him.

He snarled wordlessly as the reason for his pause played out. A bright gold glow radiated from him. A more intense concentration of Chakra emanated from the ends of his severed limbs, stemming the bleeding. From the wounds, new arms sprouted in place of the ones that Orochimaru had hacked off. There was barely a seam where the new replaced the old and each new digit was tipped with a claw as sharp as the ones he already had.

His defense was good, but it wasn't all he had in his arsenal.

[snakeface]

Orochimaru snarled as he barely succeeded in avoiding Kadaj's attacks, retaliating with a kunai, and then just managing to block the next strike with it, too.

He saw Nnoitra recover from his damage too, and his upper lip curled.

He recalled Kusanagi, swinging at Kadaj with it to force him to back off, and then cleared back himself. If they were going to press the issue, then Orochimaru was going to teach them a lesson they wouldn't soon forget.

He concentrated his chakra and changed, using his eight branches technique to transform into a giant white serpent with eight heads, and eight tails.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj was forced back out of the way again. He was prepared to close the gap again, but Orochimaru widened it further and then....

He scowled, backing way off; not wanting to be directly in front of Orochimaru when he started looking for something to attack in this form.

"Get the heads!" He called to Nnoitra. It was their best shot.

He, meanwhile, backed up a few further steps and raised Souba ahead of him.

[prayingmantis]

Typical. The bastard would turn himself into a many-headed snake powered by pure nightmare fuel, wouldn't he? Nnoitra narrowed his eye and clenched his teeth as he ran at his multi-headed freak of an uncle, sweeping up his weapons as he made the dash. The severed hands relinquished their grip on the shafts as he swung at him. Them.

Nnoitra didn't need any encouragement when it came to hacking away at the heads. Call it revenge for that earlier slight. He made sure to keep two of his arms free just in case Orochimaru somehow managed to remove any of the ones he was wielding the weapons with.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj held Souba's grip in both hands, at arm's length, and exhaled slowly through his nose.

"Bankai!"

He'd been alone, a brief few weeks ago, when he'd attained it. A large part of him had wanted to run upstairs and tell everyone, and share his delight with Grimmjow, and Tayuya, and Yylfordt, and Gin....

And he hadn't, because if they knew then he'd lose this chance. He'd lose the advantage it gave him. So he'd sat on the information, and waited; if he was going to battle Orochimaru, it would be on his own terms, and he was going to keep his cards close to his chest to make sure it was on his own terms.

When the dust stirred up from the burst of chakra had settled, Kadaj was holding two swords; one in each hand. Souba bore two blades in shikai, but she was two whole swords in bankai.

She wasn't all that changed, either. Kadaj's clothing altered, giving him a long, black leather coat, and his hair was longer this way, too. That was something Kadaj considered one of the embarrassing side effects that he'd just have to get used to.

He shifted the left hand sword into a backwards grip, and then raced towards Orochimaru, to join Nnoitra in taking off Orochimaru's heads.

[shoottokill]

In the shadow of the doorway to the training facility, an observer lurked.

He surveyed the clash through narrowed eyes, a smile on his face even with nobody there to see it. He had been drawn to the scene by the reiatsu surging from the area. Three people, each of them powerful, were doing battle. Had he not been familiar with the individuals responsible for the spiritual energy he might not have roused himself to watch, but how was he to resist? Given the players, it was obviously about revenge. That was the only possible reason for these three people to fight.

For members of Khamja to war against each other wasn't unusual. Power attracted power and with power came egotism. Egotism begot arrogance and a surplus of arrogance often led to a need to prove that it wasn't just empty conceit. Conflict was usually the result.

This, though... this... wasn't simply overblown posturing. This fight had a purpose. It had been planned.

Kadaj, fighting alongside Nnoitra? Two volatile individuals united against a common enemy? That wasn't an accidental alliance.

Nnoitra hadn't masterminded it, either. While there was little doubt that he had it in him to seek help of his own volition should he consider it necessary to achieve an end, this couldn't be his work. His quarrel with Orochimaru was too personal, too old. It touched too many raw nerves. For him to seek help would mean exposing them. Admitting weakness. Accepting it.

No, this was Kadaj.

He'd obviously waited until the Palace was almost empty to mount his campaign. Bided his time until there were fewer potential observers before seeking the aid of somebody he wouldn't usually bother with. He and Nnoitra were not usually well disposed towards each other, but the enmity between them was mild. Situational. Even so, he'd approached him for this task knowing that they shared a desire to take out a common enemy. An enemy that Kadaj clearly couldn't eliminate alone. That he'd admitted that fact was unusual in and of itself. That he'd sought common ground with somebody he generally had no inclination to spend any time with was more so. It was not so much humility as ... maturation.

He was getting sly. More than that, he was finally putting his brain before his pride.

He had even, evidently, kept the fact that he had achieved bankai quiet. That showed dedication to his plan. He had deliberately withheld that information -- a feat of remarkable willpower in and of itself -- in order to give himself his best chance against Orochimaru. The less he knew, the fewer things he could plan ahead for. Clever, clever. He had obviously thought every aspect of this encounter through ahead of time in order to give himself the best chance up to and including his own power and the limits of it. Even approaching Nnoitra was a well thought out and integral part of his plan.

This wasn't a war, that much was clear. It was an assassination.

The unseen smile widened.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra, like everybody else, had no idea that Kadaj had managed to achieve bankai. He paused for a moment as he heard the command and turned his head to look at him as soon as the flare of chakra and agitated sand had dissipated or dropped.

Huh. It changed him as well as his weapon. That was interesting, but not interesting enough to keep Nnoitra's attention off his opponent for more than the scant few seconds it took him to take in that fact.

Grinning, he returned to the task of hacking at Orochimaru's many serpentine necks, surprisingly coordinated considering the number of arms and weapons he had to keep track of. He had no doubt that they could win. Nothing that Orochimaru could pull had a chance at beating them now.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj leapt, using a little chakra concentration to boost himself higher and slicing viciously at the neck of one head. Orochimaru retaliated, coming in to bite Kadaj, who defended with his right hand sword, and struck again with his left.

It was clear he had a preferred hand, but practice would solve that particular problem. In the meantime, the considerable boost to his defensive and offensive capabilities was showing itself.

He succeeded in removing one of the heads, and took a brief moment to check how Nnoitra was faring before he set to work on the next. He had to make sure not to stay still, and keeping track of eight heads, and eight tails, was difficult. He couldn't afford to take a hit now.

[snakeface]

Orochimaru hissed and snapped. He tried to pluck Kadaj out of the air when he jumped with his fangs, but the little rodent was too quick, and too quick to defend.

He tried the same with Nnoitra, too, or coiled to crush him. The eight branches technique could level a city, he should not lose to two insignificant little brats.

[prayingmantis]

As soon as any part of Orochimaru's sinuous, mutated and many-headed body came at Nnoitra, he hacked at it with one of his scythes. He wouldn't allow himself to be crushed -- literally or figuratively -- by him. Never again. He was going down.

Today.

He adjusted his grip on all four of his weapons so that they could be wielded and used to slash at him from any angle. He no longer needed to turn for the hooked blades to bite into flesh. With a growl he swung one blade upwards as he brought another down. It kept Orochimaru busy if the attacks were consistent, vicious and constant.

That was an asset when, in his unarmed hands, he was focusing his Chakra for another Elemental attack.

[joinmyreunion]

Having a multi-armed opponent on your team had its benefits. A smirk crept across Kadaj's face as he worked. While he could tackle one head at a time, Nnoitra wasn't so limited. More of the heads were having to focus on his ally, which left Kadaj with less to deal with at any one time.

It helped. It really helped, and Kadaj took the opportunity to use sparkstrike with his offhand blade, and efficiently removed another head with it.

The really good thing about the current situation, Kadaj reflected, was that the better they did, the easier it got. Every subsequent strike was easier than the one before.

Kadaj couldn't quite hold in a laugh.

[prayingmantis]

Many allies would have been distressed or angry at more of the focus being on them than their partner, but Nnoitra liked it that way. This fight's purpose might not have been to prove his strength, but bettering a tough opponent felt good regardless of that fact. His desire to kill his uncle may have transcended his usual blood thirst, but a good fight was still something to be enjoyed, no matter the importance.

His Chakra focussed, he laughed as he discharged it as Thunder at Orochimaru, drowning out Kadaj's unsettling laughter in the process. Wasting no time, he took advantage of the pain coursing through Orochimaru and attacked him again, aiming for two heads at once as he thrashed.

[snakeface]

With a seventh head removed, Orochimaru surged forward, appearing out of the snake's mouth. He glowered at Nnoitra, and at Kadaj, annoyed and aggravated to have been pushed this far by such pathetic individuals.

Kadaj had planned everything, he realised. Kadaj and Nnoitra together, perhaps, but Kadaj....

The little rat.

He summoned Kusanagi again, out of his throat, and lunged.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj straightened up, taking a couple of steps back as Orochimaru appeared. He raised the sword in his left hand, pointing its tip at Orochimaru, and concentrated.

Chakra surged around him again, flaring upwards, and then dying back.

"Drop that sword," he said, quietly.

[snakeface]

Orochimaru froze, unable to move. It was like every limb, every muscle had frozen solid. He struggled against it, but it was like trying to move an arm that was dead.

Against his will, he found himself removing Kusanagi from his mouth, and letting it clatter to the floor.

Against his will, he dismissed his jutsu, and landed on his feet on the floor, completely defenceless.

"What is this?" He struggled to get even those words out, fighting against a grip on his jaw and tongue that he felt slacken to allow him to talk.

[shoottokill]

As Kadaj and Nnoitra hacked away at their common opponent with no small measure of glee, Gin watched. They were enjoying themselves, it seemed. Perhaps revenge really was as sweet as they said. He smirked as Orochimaru's monstrous form was cut back until he had only one head remaining. He didn't so much as flinch when his normal form emerged from the last snake's mouth or as he summoned that infernal sword of his.

He noticed, at that moment, that the actions of the two fighting him diverged somewhat. Nnoitra stood ready, each blade pointed at Orochimaru, while Kadaj stood confidently to face him, sword raised. He wasn't doing that simply to retaliate or attack, as Nnoitra was. It was clear from Nnoitra's manner that he was merely readying himself for the next wave of attacks.

Kadaj, however, obviously had other ideas. His reiatsu pulsed and he issued Orochimaru with a command -- a command that, although grudgingly and with no small amount of struggle, was actually followed. It wasn't merely suggestion that made Orochimaru remove Kusanagi from his mouth and cast it aside, that much was obvious. The way Orochimaru seemed to be battling with himself made it clear to Gin that he was no longer in control his actions -- Kadaj was.

Gin's eyes went wide.

Oh, he knew that the true power of Kadaj's Zanpakutō wasn't purely physical -- he was aware that he had access to at least one magic-based ability in Shikai. Kadaj had told him so himself. He just wasn't privy to the nature of it. Due to this, since being made aware of Kadaj even having achieved Bankai, Gin had harboured some doubt that Souba's new abilities were entirely of the melee-type. That it gave him the ability to actually control an enemy was rather ... extraordinary.

He canted his head as he watched Orochimaru put an end his own jutsu.

Not having been present for the entire battle, Gin had not played witness to Orochimaru's infection. The black ichor that he was trailing with every step had not escaped his notice, however. It was some kind of Status Affliction, that much was clear. Perhaps that was the type of magic that Souba could perform. Many Zanpakutō were Elemental if they were magical at all. Poison-types were rare. Was the unpleasant fluid that Orochimaru was leaking the result of that being put to use? Did it have any relation to what Kadaj was doing now? Did it simply weaken the enemy so much that they couldn't defend against him or was that the form that the marionette strings took..? He couldn't be sure, but not knowing the reason didn't change the effect.

So, the boy that had been brought into the midst of one of the most dangerous Clans in the world to act as a puppet was now the puppeteer.

How beautifully ... poetic.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra leapt back as Orochimaru burst from the snake's mouth. He gritted his teeth as he watched him manifest that fucking sword again. He doubled his grip on his scythes and steeled himself for the next wave of unblockable attacks from that damned blade.

Then Kadaj's reiatsu flared.

In the silence that followed, Kadaj's quiet voice sounded unsettlingly calm. Nnoitra turned his head sharply in his direction when his words registered. He wondered, briefly, if the kid had lost his mind, but then ...

Then Orochimaru did as he was told. He pulled out the sword and dropped it and then, inexplicably, ended the jutsu he'd been using.

Nnoitra lowered his scythes slightly as he stared at his uncle. Surely he wasn't giving up. He'd never give up. Orochimaru must know that if he let his guard down the two of them would kill him.

Then he spoke.

Nnoitra's eye widened. He looked back at Kadaj as Orochimaru voiced the question that he couldn't spit out.

[joinmyreunion]

"Reunion," Kadaj answered, lowering his sword slowly. His shikai command had been 'Join my reunion'; it had only made sense once he'd achieved bankai, and this was the first time he'd ever used it. Keeping a grip on Orochimaru felt strange, and took a little concentration. It probably wasn't a technique he'd like to go and use when he had multiple opponents, not yet, anyway. In time, it would have its uses.

"Geostigma is the invitation," he said, adding, "this was over for you the moment it started." The moment Kadaj had hit him with it. All he and Nnoitra had to do then was to stay alive.

"Your will is mine, now. How does it feel to have someone else take control of your body from under you?" He asked, with more than a trace of vindictive glee.

[snakeface]

Orochimaru felt something he hadn't felt in a long, long time, under the arrogance, and the indignation, and the overwhelming loathing of being reduced to this, a helpless body turning traitor against him, he felt fear. At some point, without his noticing, Kadaj had become... this.

He struggled against whatever force Kadaj was exerting as his tongue rolled out of his mouth, extending almost to its full length. He struggled, too, against the hand that slipped into his clothing, locating a kunai, gripping it to slice.

"Kadaj," he protested, his voice strained.

He got his answer when his arm moved, sharply, slicing his tongue off. Pain shot through Orochimaru, but Kadaj wouldn't even let him cry out with it. He could feel the sweat forming on his own brow as he fought against himself.

[shoottokill]

Ah~ ... so he was right. The black sludge was part of the game.

So very clever. And what a bankai for Kadaj to have, of all people. He was a once-impulsive child prone to fits of rage and tantrums over the slightest thing. He used to be a boy who would pick a fight with anyone who looked at him wrong. And yet ... he had a slow-burning little technique that took patience, planning and control. It was no wonder he'd needed to mature to use it.

Gin's smile widened as Kadaj put his new abilities to use. made Orochimaru cut off his own tongue. It was about time somebody did that. It gave him the creeping shivers knowing he had that coiled up in there somewhere all the time.

The end was inevitable for Orochimaru, and Kadaj was obviously enjoying himself. Like a cat playing with a mouse he taunted him, keeping the shadow of death hanging over him and drawing out the moments before the killing blow. It was cruel and malicious, but it was no more than Orochimaru deserved.

[prayingmantis]

It took Nnoitra a moment to process the new development.

Kadaj was in complete control of Orochimaru. He wasn't giving up, he just didn't have a choice. He was powerless against Kadaj's technique. There was no defense, no escape, nothing he could do about it.

"Hah!" He laughed, not bothering to hold it back.

It warmed his shrivelled heart to see the bastard at somebody else's mercy. He watched, rapt, as Orochimaru brought his hand up to sever his tongue with his own kunai. The spray of blood didn't faze him, nor did the unpleasantly wet sound it made as it hit the floor. Kadaj's own vicious amusement didn't bother him, either.

The only thing that marred his delight was the unfortunate lack of a scream.

[joinmyreunion]

"Hey, Nnoitra," Kadaj sounded relaxed, and slightly unhinged, "any requests as to what else he should cut off?"

A cruel smirk crept across Kadaj's face as he maintained the control. It felt strange to control someone else's body. He could feel Orochimaru struggling against him, uselessly, but he was still struggling, and when he made Orochimaru move he could feel that, too.

He couldn't feel the pain, though. He was glad of that. It meant he could enjoy this.

[snakeface]

Orochimaru grunted with effort as he tried to stop his hand moving down to slowly press the point of the kunai into his own crotch. Kadaj was out for revenge, and so was Nnoitra. After his tongue, he'd expected this to come next.

The sharpened edge pressed in, hard, a slow stab, and Orochimaru bit back a groan of pain.

Kadaj wasn't making him hold that one back, however.