Out from the new day's mist I have come.

[shoottokill]

Of all the things Gin had thought the day would bring, that was not one of them.

Ulquiorra's appearance had been a shock, even to him. He had been covered in fur, skinnier than usual, and taller... though that may have just been the strange, almost birdlike structure of his legs and feet. He had known that his release was winged -- that was down on the few papers he had elected to cast his eyes over -- but the rest ... no, that hadn't matched up. Neither had the reiatsu.

The Arrancar were something else where Chakra was concerned. Partly hyur and partly Hollow, they had the capacity to be extremely powerful, especially since those working on the Arrancar project had made especially sure to harvest only the best Hollows they could get their filthy little hands on. If Gin recalled, they had even gone as far as seeking help from some of Khamja's more unusual Jyllandi associates to obtain them.

Ulquiorra's had been a problem. With the exception of Stark's and matching Nnoitra's, Murciélago had gone through more potential hosts than any other, killing those it refused to bond with. Everybody had been surprised when the thing had latched onto such a dour little candidate. Some had been angry. Nel had been angry.

And then he returned from an excursion in a form nobody had ever seen. Even Aizen had come out armed and unsure whether he was himself. It had, of course, been possible that it could have killed the Ryoka and used the boy's memories to return to the Palace and kill everybody that had wronged it, using Ulquiorra's form for the job, but ... no. That hadn't happened. Instead, Ulquiorra actually had power over the form. It wasn't a takeover, or a case of Oversoul.

In Gin's opinion, there was little chance that it had been the first time the subject had come up between the two of them and that could mean only one thing. Ulquiorra was keeping secrets. From his dear Aizen-sama. That was both a turn out for the books and a very interesting development. Could it be that Ienzo-san was having an effect on Ulquiorra and his supposedly unshakeable loyalties? Gods forbid.

Ulquiorra had been called into Aizen's office shortly after the Ryoka that sat top of Gin's list of those not to push very far had relieved him of Ienzo's broken little form. Whatever had transpired there, Aizen had gotten some extremely interesting intel on what had happened.

"Will you go with Ulquiorra to where Ienzo was attacked?" Aizen had asked him.

When asked why him, Aizen had confided that what they had faced was far beyond Ulquiorra's capabilities, with or without the additional help from his rather dark passenger, and that they were both lucky to be alive. It was, Aizen told him, a Weapon. Weapon with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence. The type of creature that only really cropped up in books on mythology or the sort of hokey conspiracy pamphlets that seemed to suggest that some of Spira's oldest monuments had been built by aliens.

Who was he to refuse? How many times did one get to see a legend first hand? If that was what it was, anyway.

And that was how Gin had ended up in an ominously swirling Garganta with his customary smile temporarily on hold.

Well, even he had limits.

Comments

[shoottokill]

Gin watched Ulquiorra, half disappointed that he didn't simply trot over and boot the thing, but that wouldn't be Ulquiorra, would it? No, he had to go and use one of the two projectile weapons the Arrancar get. Tch.

The thought, and the disappointment, were both pushed from his head at the moment that Ruby Weapon screamed. The sound was awful. It almost reminded him of that gods awful alarm Kuja had in place at the palace to warn of an incursion.

When it emerged, he stepped back and looked up. And up. And up... and... well. That was a little bigger than he'd been expecting. He wasn't entirely sure of the scale he had expected, but this went off the charts.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," he said, a grin on his face as the ground beneath his feet shook and the monster's reiatsu flooded out.

It didn't make him bend, or bow. It was just something he knew was there. Uncomfortable as one may expect an eldritch beast to be, but nothing he couldn't handle. He pulled his sword free of its scabbard. Nobody would be saying that was bigger than they thought any time soon, that was for damn sure.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra kept his hand on his sword. His instruction had been to guide. Aizen-sama did not believe Ulquiorra had the strength to take this enemy down, and as much as Ulquiorra despised it, he was inclined to agree.

There was a mark where lanza del relampago had hit. A patch where the surface was darker then the rest. Nothing more.

Perhaps it had merely healed. Perhaps it was invulnerable to Hollow attacks. Ulquiorra didn't know, and he lacked the scientific curiosity required to try and find out.

His instruction had been to guide Gin here, and that was what he had done. The rest was up to Gin. If Ulquiorra had to retreat once more, he was ready to do so. If he was required to leave Gin behind in order to do so, he was prepared for that, too.

He watched as Gin drew his sword, though 'sword' was an overestimation of its size. The Weapon loomed, dominating the surroundings with its presence. It would have looked like a disturbingly mismatched fight, but Ulquiorra was at least aware that the size of Gin's weapon was not indicative of its power or ability. The shikai states of Gotei Captain's weaponry was generally a matter of record. Some Captains, however, were more discreet than others when it came to their respective bankai.

Gin's sword excelled at bringing down Hollows of size. Still, it did not seem like it would be enough to take on something like this.

[spira_npc]

The Weapon took the measure of its quarry. Then it thrust its fingers into the ground and drove its tentacles through the earth until they erupted behind them again.

It would not waste time in destroying them this time.

[shoottokill]

Gin weighed his options.

He'd heard what it had done to Ienzo. Aizen told him what to expect and what to watch out for. If it put its hands into the ground, it would attack from behind. Well, there it went, putting its hands into the ground...

"Shoot to kill," he said, turning on the spot. "Shinsō."

Shinsō's blade extended and he swung it in an arc, severing the tentacle-like fingers of Ruby Weapon's hand all at once. They fell heavily to the sand, writhing alone for a moment before they fell still.

"Now then," he said, turning back to it. "I think it's about time we got down t'business. Bankai."

[tozasemurcielago]

Gin was quick.

Ulquiorra watched the Weapon thrust its fingers into the ground again, felt the ripple in the rock beneath his feet as it passed through, and then erupted behind them both. It had done the same thing to himself and Ienzo, but he hadn't been prepared for it, then.

Gin was already prepared, and Ulquiorra's eyes widened as he cut the protruding tentacles in one sweep. Ulquiorra had struck them, and damaged one, but not severed it.

He had not anticipated that Gin was this far above his own ability level.

He continued to watch in silence as Gin unleashed his bankai. He expected power. He didn't expect a power so high that even with his mask out, Ulquiorra felt his knees tremble and his breath catch uncomfortably.

[shoottokill]

Gin got the feeling that, when the tentacles were buried in the sand, Ruby Weapon's main body was unable to move, or act. With the arms disabled, it undoubtedly had other weapons in its arsenal. He'd be very surprised if it didn't have some sort of Cero-like attack it could employ to catch enemies out of tentacle-range, so he decided not to take any chances.

That, and he wasn't into being showy where Aizen's favourite little minion was concerned, not that he had anything to worry about from him. He didn't miss his eyes going wide.

Finishing an eldritch menace quickly was in everybody's best interest.

"Kill it," he said, holding his sword close to his chest, "Lance of Deicide."

Gin's blade extended ahead of him, faster than he wagered even Ulquiorra could see. It stretched out, finding no resistance as it pierced the monster's red carapace at what would be roughly groin height on any normal bipedal creature. With a flick of the wrist he wrenched the sword up, bisecting it bilaterally.

[spira_npc]

It shrieked as its tentacles were severed, and moved to charge its ray.

The centre of its chest had barely begun to glow when the next blow came and the Weapon was pierced, and split.

It froze, stilled in every sense until a noise that was something like a faint scream and something like escaping gas emitted from it, and it collapsed and disintegrated.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra didn't see the movement of Gin's sword. He saw it, short in Gin's hand, held pommel to his chest, then it was extended, faster than Ulquiorra could detect, and had pierced the Weapon.

Gin cleaved it neatly in half in a single movement and Ulquiorra watched as the Weapon broke down.

Its reiatsu faded steadily away into nothingness, as if the thing had never been.

He removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and slipped it into his pocket once more.

[shoottokill]

Gin watched it disintegrate. No Pyreflies erupted from it like they would have from something living, or a Hollow. It simply broke down, hissing like something deflating, or melting in the sun.

"Bye bye," he said, cheerfully.

It was a strange thing. It wasn't like anything else he'd seen. He doubted it was like anything anybody had seen, come to think of it. There were stories of gods, and the creation of creatures, and all sorts of other nonsense, but he hadn't considered it anything more than superstitious mythology until that had shot out of the ground before his eyes. Maybe there was something more to the stories, maybe there wasn't.

"Well then," he said, sheathing his Zanpakuto, effectively putting his Bankai, and the associated reiatsu, away. "Time to go."

[tozasemurcielago]

The lift of Gin's Bankai took an almost physical weight off Ulquiorra. The Hollow considered Aizen-sama its adversary, and wove machinations Ulquiorra had no interest in following with that as it ends goal. It wished, one day, to claim Ulquiorra, but it had always been clear that Aizen-sama was its enemy, that it intended to one day face him.

This was Gin's power. Ulquiorra had never witnessed the full scope of Aizen-sama's power, but for him to hold Gin as an ally, not an equal but powerful enough to be of use, and this was but a glimpse of that?

Murciélago had a reassuringly long way to go before it was in a position to challenge Aizen-sama himself.

Ulquiorra only murmured when Gin spoke. From anyone that wasn't Rozarrian born, such a response, or lack of one, would be considered rude. He pulled the Garganta back open without bothering to wave his hand to do so. The terrain was still rich with the lingering chakra of the fight, both Ulquiorra's, and now, though much less dramatic, Gin's. With the Weapon gone, Hollows and beasts were likely to investigate to see if there were remains to be scavenged, and new prey to be had.