Seis vs V

'Ok, now it's definitely official. Nerves have been struck,' Seis thought to himself sarcastically as he felt the sudden surge in reiatsu coming from Valintine. Watching as the Arrancar's decorative bangle morphed into a feathered jian he braced himself for the follow-up attack, calculating that he had only a split second to react as his opponent vanished into thin air. Taking a gamble, he kicked off into a shunpo assisted sideflip, narrowly avoiding the razor sharp edge of Valintine's weapon as he shot past. Landing in a crouch several feet away from his previous position, his hand reflexively went behind his back under his blazer and grasped the hilt of his zanpakuto. He didn't draw it yet however. He knew there was no way he could take on an awakened Arrancar with just his bare hands, but if he was going to be forced to reveal one of his trump cards then he was going to do it on his terms, at a time of his choosing and not before.

Valintine noticed his hand. He was hiding something. That was all the information Valintine needed. "You have one...a Zanpakuto. I knew it. Draw it. Or risk an arm..." Valintine ran at him burring his movements with a sonido until he was three feet in front of him. He sonido'd around him. It seemed as if Valintine was in a full circle around him. His feathered blade held across his chest. Valintine stopped on Seis' right. He spun on his foot going to Seis' left. He planted his foot and swung his sword out and up at Seis' left forearm. Meanwhile, his left hand had crept under his planted foot to fire a bala up at Seis' chest.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Seis said as he watched Valintine's approach. Noting the strange circular movements his opponent was making, he quickly discerned the nature of the feint and concluded that he probably wouldn't enjoy being in the middle of it for very long. Pushing away from the ground with his full strength, he was able to jump clear just in time to avoid the combination attack his foe had unleashed. Once again landing a few feet away in another Pok Toi, he braced himself for the next strike, still gripping the hilt of his weapon and hoped that his opening would come soon or else this might end up coming to a very abrupt end.

Valintine rolled his eyes. He didn't care if the blade was drawn or not. It was not his body he gambled with. Valintine, quite fluidly, spun upwards and, mid spin, vanished. He reappeared sliding under Seis from behind with his head first. His blade was extended to attempt to slice at Seis. His eyes caught the hand gripping something, and he sighed inside. His left hand aimed for Seis' left arm as he loosed another bala. Others might have grown tired of Seis' determination to hide something, but Valintine couldn't care less.

'Finally,' Kicking off into the air again, Seis flipped his body in midair so that he was now hanging upside-down. This trick allowed him to easily avoid the swipe of Valintine's blade as he twisted his hips and allowed the Bala to sail harmlessly past him. Utilizing this newly created opening to execute a counterattack of his own, he used his training in kuhapdo, the Korean derivative of iaijutsu, to draw his blade in yet another blinding display of speed as he swept the wakizashi across his opponent's face.

Valintine smirked as the blade came out. Finally, here it was. Sadly, just as badly as Valinintine's attack put him at risk, Seis was also at risk. The Arrancar managed to twist his body enough to escape with nothing but a shallow scratch on his left shoulder. As he turned the charging of a cero began in his left hand. When his right hand hit the ground his pushed off to force him self into the air momentarily as he spun on a horizontal axis. When he landed it was on his two feet and right hand. He held out his left hand and launched the emerald cero at Seis from the short distance.

Seis wasn't one to be foolish enough to hang around after putting himself in such a precarious position. Going into a shunpo almost immediately after he'd made contact, he reappeared more then a dozen feet to the left of his previous position just in time to see Valintine charging up a Cero. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to gain the upper hand he used shunpo again to move beside his opponent and tried to sweep his arm and one of his legs out from under him. At the same time as he did this, he dropped down into a low crouch and tried to stab to point of his wakizashi down into his target's gut, aiming not for an instant kill like he normally would have, but instead aiming for a point near the kidneys which would only count as a mortal wound if not treated promptly.

Valintine smiled. So far, things were going perfectly. Seis' reaction time and skill were interesting. Valintine felt Seis appear, and noticed the leg before he felt it. By shifting his body weight over to Seis' side just a bit, Valintine was able to control where he fell. He chose to fall so that he turned to Seis. As he swung his right hand as fast as he could at Seis' legs. As his right hand did that, his left hand moved do smack the blade the threatened to pierce him away. If his own jian hit, then it would bite deep into Seis' leg, and it would probably be an annoyance and possibly a hindrance, but he wouldn't be killed by it.

His opponent was clever, Seis had to give him that. He had managed to turn what should have been a disadvantage into an advantage merely by twisting his hips slightly in order to better control his fall. Truly a masterful stroke on his part, but still not enough to thwart someone who had been trained to specialize in fighting those of his kind... not yet at least.

Bringing his free hand around in a sweep, he chopped it into Valintine's right wrist and gently guided the Arrancar's swing up and away from his body. As he did this he changed the angle of his thrust, turning his blade so that it's edge was facing his opponent's hand as it moved to smack the offending weapon away and drawing it back in an attempt to slice open Valintine's hand as he blocked. Once this was accomplished he pushed away with yet another shunpo, reappearing about a dozen feet away as he waited for his opponent to make his next move.

Valintine wouldn't play the fool. He forced his body to react to his command not the outside influence of Seis. He forced his sword arm back down. Their blades clashed and Valintine's hand got away with a knick. Valintine looked at the man as he moved back. Valintine stood and rolled his neck with a smile. This man was really interesting him. He wondered how much power was in that body of his. No matter, he'd either see it or he wouldn't. At least now he knew there was a zanpakuto in there. He stood straight with the blade at his side, ready to strike at any moment. But he wouldn't move. Not just yet, he was going to watch.

Twirling his blade like a gunslinger, Seis repositioned his grip on the weapon so that the flat of the blade was running up along the back of his arm as he shifted his stance to minimize the profile he presented to his opponent. This fight was certainly keeping him interested, but now that he'd drawn his zanpakuto he was going to have to work extra hard at trying not to reveal too much. The temptation to unseal his weapon was proving to be greater then he'd expected, but the longer he was able to keep his opponent in the dark the better. He still had denibility for as long as he kept the weapon sealed, it wasn't as if non-shinigami blades were completely unheard of after all.

Cocking his head to the side again his semi-cocky lopsided smirk returned, "So have you learned everything you were hoping to yet? I know I've picked up quite a bit that hadn't made it into your file..."

"I've learned a thing or two, and there is a lot that isn't in my file..." He stood there though with eyes void of reality and fantasy. They were just eyes. They did not see the walls, the floor, the world around them. They only saw Seis, and through this they showed one thing. Defiance. It was not a defiance of losing, or of winning. It was just defiance. His body was relaxed as well. Most would define this as cocky, some would say he was stuck up, or arrogant. But it didn't matter. Valintine knew what he was, and he didn't care what other thought of him, so say what they will. Wagging tongues are silenced in time.

"That's probably true enough, probably should get someone to work on that," Seis said as he shifted his weight slightly. He wasn't sure what to do next, whether to press the attack or wait to see what else Valintine had up his nonexistent sleeves. Normally he wasn't one for hesitation when his target was standing right there in front of him, but then again this wasn't any normal opponent. This one man was both the strongest Fraccion and the head of the Exequias, two powerful entities housed in one body and thus a double threat.

Finally coming to a decision after only a split second's hesitation he launched himself into a quick flash step, reappearing mid-lunge with his left arm fully extended and poised to strike at his target's windpipe as he used the speed of his shunpo to enhance the force his strike. As he did this he also moved to try and hook his leg behind that of his opponent and pull the support out from under him while using his other arm to bring his blade across in a backhanded swipe at his gut. It was a complicated triple combo which had served him well in the past, but against this adversary there was no telling what would prove successful. Best to just play things by ear and see where they led...

Valintine dissected this attack as it unfolded. His mind worked quickly to figure the best solution within only a second or two. Shunpo plus attack. Uncommon? No. Block? Can't. Counter? Risk injury, avoidance slim. Dodge? Capable. How? Three attacks. Upper, middle, lower. Dodge one dodge them all. Yes? Possibly. How? Lower, followed by middle and upper. Execute? Yes." The thought process of Valintine allowed him to think and perform all within the same timespan it would take most others to just realize what was going on. He bent his body back, timing it with the sweeping leg. His hands touched the floor just as the leg met his feet. That was the trigger signal for Valintine. He pushed off with his feet and avoided losing balance as well as the blade that narrowly missed his stomach and the hand that never saw his throat. Valintine went into a handstand and then pushed up with his hands and entered a sonido. Within the sonido he came right back down on a diagonal line and passed Seis, as he moved past him though he turned and sliced at his back from right shoulder to left hip. Regardless of if the attack hit or not, Valintine would appear up in the air about fifty feet behind Seis.

Slightly surprised by Valintine's actions Seis once again had just a split second to react to his opponent's movements. The problem was that his last attack had required a lot of commitment, the Exequias commander's quick actions had left him slightly off balance and thus open to attack. Making a prediction based on past experience and what he would do in a similar situation, he brought all of his weight forward, using his semi-compromised balance to his advantage by tipping himself over and landing in a position similar to a push-up as the tip of his opponent's weapon scraped along his back. His quick thinking and even quicker reflexes had prevented anything worse then a shallow cut, but that didn't stop it from stinging like a bitch as he rolled back into a low crouch and accidentally scrapped said wound across the harsh floor.

Leaping into a shunpo he quickly recovered the lost ground between them, reappearing behind his target and executing a snap roundhouse kick which he then followed up with a quick slash of his sword, using the inertia from the kick to enhance his speed and bring his weapon around fast enough for his opponent to hopefully still be stunned from the sudden impact. Given how "well" tricks like this had worked throughout the match so far he really didn't expect much in the way of success, it was more of a stalling tactic on his part while he tried to formulate a new strategy based on the information he was getting on his opponent's unleashed form. But he also had more then enough experience to know that luck could surprise you sometimes, so until he came up with something better tried and true kung-fu moves were the weapon of choice.

Valintine felt the blade just barely scratch Seis. That was good enough for him. Valintine was thinking that either Seis was distracted by other thoughts, or just tiring out. From the looks of things though, Valintine was leaning more with just distracted for a moment. The partial Shinigami had vanished once more, and Valintine predicted it would be behind him. So far the majority of his attacks were. His body reacted a half second before he caught the reiatsu signature of the male. Valintine countered the kick with one of his own. However he counted the kick with his left foot leaving his sword arm lagging. When the slice came, it bit into Valintine's arm a bit, but he got his sword up and stopped it from sinking further. Valintine pushed his enemy off him, shoving the sword and the leg away. He then sonido'd back and remained there watching Seis with calculating eyes.

Grunting slightly as his opponent once again countered his attack, Seis eyes narrowed as he watched Valintine once again settle back down into his more passive analytical mode. The fact that he was doing this well against an unsealed Arrancar was not lost on him, but it wasn't all that impressive either considering what he'd be trained to do. He knew at this point however that the equation wasn't going to change very much unless he did something drastic or his adversary did something stupid... the former was much more likely then the latter obviously...

Twirling his blade around again and returning it to it's 'at rest' position along his arm he said, "I think we've reached the point of diminishing returns, we've both gotten a fair idea of what the other can do in their current states and we seem to have hit a stalemate. I probably should stop things here, problem is I'm having way too much fun, so here's what I'm gonna do... I'll give you a little taste of what you've been champing at the bit to see, and in return you'll promise to keep whatever happens in this room after this point between just the two of us, got it? If you don't... well let's just say that the consequences won't be pleasant... for either of us, deal?"

Valintine arched an eyebrow at Seis. The male continued to speak and Valintine neared his goal of this entire battle. It was pointless to argue this topic. Valintine and Seis were getting nowhere in this fight, and it would only get boring from here. Might as well do everyone a favor and just move on with this. Valintine sighed and rolled his neck. Besides, his form was more like a rebirth. Valintine would be healed of all wounds from the start. Could the same be said for this man? No. It was impossible at his current level. Albeit, Valintine still had suspicions. "Fine. Do what you must, and I'll do as I must."

Seis smirked, "Good...Dageki, Wǔ fēng." As he said this his spirit pressure spiked dramatically. A small whirlwind enveloped his blade while it was still hidden behind his arm, covering it's transformation from wakizashi to dao in the process. Bringing his newly awakened weapon out from behind his back with a twirling flourish, he extended his left leg out in front of him and dragged along the ground as he moved, shifting his stance so that he was now presenting his opposite side to his opponent. He then quickly pulled his extended leg back in and up, bending it at the knee so that his foot was now about level with his opposite thigh as he extended his sword arm out with a quick slicing action. These movements allowed him to stir up enough air currents to execute one of his favorite attacks, the final slicing motion being the release mechanism for the Kūshū. A crescent shaped blast of razor sharp air currents which he had just launched at Valintine's legs.

Spoiler:

Cooldowns:
Kūshū - 2 rounds

Valintine looked at the blade. He had been amongst Arrancar for so long that he nearly forgot Shinigami didn't do a real transformation. He looked at Seis and from the first slash he saw it clear as day. He used Sonido to avoid the wind slashes. Suddenly he didn't feel like releasing. He could keep up with this man's attacks if they were wind based. His performance may have been increased, but that didn't make his attacks impossible to avoid. Valintine smiled. "The wind is a hard enemy to beat. But I've been around the block a few times...the wind is no more my enemy than heat to a fire. It doesn't benefit me, nor work against me. It just is something that comes with me...Of course you can hurt me with it, but I have studied the flows of the wind for centuries..." Valintine was not boasting as much as informing. Valintine pointed his blade at Seis. "Trust me...I'll release in due time, but I'll save you some trouble and allow you to get a few good hits in..."

Seis shrugged, "Ah well... it was worth a shot," he paused for a minute as the unintentional pun dawned on him and smirked as he continued, "Problem of course with fighting the wind is that not only is it nearly invisible, but it's also constantly changing, much like water. Even the great and powerful mountain must eventually yield to the wind's will eventually." Twirling Wǔ fēng's hilt around his finger a few times to build momentum again, he quickly dropped down into yet another Pressing Stance and tapped his blade against the ground, sending out a Kage Bakudan in the process. The thin wave of air traveled along the ground like a bullet, ready to explode the second it made contact with it's target.



Cooldowns:
Kūshū - 1 round
Kage Bakudan - 3 rounds

Valintine had built a theory from his first attack. His blade worked in a similar way to Valintine's as he moved a product was created. In his case wind, in Valintine's case feathers. To test this theory Valintine looked at Seis as he moved his blade. He mimicked his movements leaving a trail of feathers and then using sonido to get back. He saw a small opening burst through his feathers and smiled on the inside. He was sure of it now. Valintine didn't move though. The explosion happened as it hit his feet. He flew back and rolled with the shot as he moved along the floor. He got up and shook his head a bit as his ears rang. He smiled at Seis. Things were going to get interesting real soon. He straightened up and rolled his shoulders. He had to admit, that was a good shot.

'Ok, 'cause that isn't creepy at all,' Seis thought to himself as he watched Valintine mimic his moves and then get back up after getting hit with a grin on his face. He'd known that his creator's fraccion had a thing for knowledge, but the way he almost seemed to be getting off on being knocked around by Wǔ fēng was just a tad bit unnerving. And that was coming from someone who'd thought he'd seen just about every type of personality an Arrancar could have displayed by now, let alone all the crap he'd seen during his time trapped in that other dimension.

Hoping to follow up on the opening he'd created he proceeded to slip into a walking kata, his blade twirling around his body in a series of flowing movements as he built up energy and slowly advanced towards his target. It only took a moment or two for him to acquire the amount of potential energy he was looking for, and once he had it he vanished into a shunpo again. Synchronized with his reappearance just out of reach of Valintine he brought his blade across in a wide horizontal sweep, making it look like he was using the Kūshū and releasing yet another blast of wind, this time at almost point blank range. He knew that his opponent was trying to study him, just like he himself was doing back, it was time to sow a little disinformation in regards to the exact limits of what his weapon could do.



Cooldowns:
Kūshū - 0 rounds
Kage Bakudan - 2 rounds
Kaze Shèjí - 2 rounds

Valintine looked at the movements. His eyes tracing the way they went. He caught the first unfamiliar motion, but he recognized the second. His Blade instantly came up and stood at attention. He caught the jet of wind which took him by surprise. He lost some ground as he was pushed back, but he managed to outlast the blast. He arms were sore from that back he shook it off. He looked at Seis again with defiant and dead eyes. "You covered the real attack with a known form...interesting...I've seen quite enough for now...As promised, I'll stop playing and get serious. Just remember you asked for it..." Valintine stood up straight and relaxed his body. The wind in the air seemed to pick up on what was going on and move to Valintine.

He held his blade in front of him and let go. It hovered alone in air as he outstretched his arms to the side. As he spoke the blade moved in a full circle, the feathers never falling. "Reavivar...angel..." As he spoke the name the wind in the aera exploded with force and spun around Valintine causing a massive tornado to be born. The feathers circled the tornado until fading inside of it. As they vanished, lightning began to launch itself out from the tornado in every directions and in continuous blasts. Getting hit by one would surly leave a nasty mark and cause knock back damage.

A green light emitted from the base of the tornado and rose up to the center. The green light got brighter and brighter until eventually the tornado burst sending a large air current in every direction. Valintine stood there in air looking down at Seis. His wounds had all healed up perfectly. His attire had taken a drastic change. Part of his mask reforms. A visor forms over his eyes. The eye-hole of the visor is a thin opening that reaches from one eye to the other. It is thin and colored emerald green, like his reiatsu. The visor reaches to his ears, and covers the top of his nose. The visor, however, is able to come up to sit atop his head. It has no special effect if it's up or down, just a unique feature. His hair extends to his shoulders as well, and seems to get lighter.

His torso is changed in terms of physical features as well as clothing. His shirt rips away and is replaced with a black sash. The sash wraps around his wrist, elbow, behind his neck, and mirrors the previously mentioned locations on his other side. There is a good two feet of sash before and after his wrist. Also, he gains large white wings on his back. Oddly enough though these wings do not break, they cannot bleed, and they cannot be damaged. The wings, should they be hit, would split apart into hundreds of feathers, and then reform.

His lower half is covered by multiple layers of black and white cloth that wraps around his waist and down each leg. The cloth only shows small sections of his skin. His feet are bare, however, this doesn't seem to bother him. He just looked at Seis in this new form and waited. No blade was visible, but that also didn't seem to bother Valintine.

'Well this could prove problematic,' released Arrancars were always more trouble then they were worth in his opinion. Their transformations were always more flash then substance and but the abilities it granted them were definitely a pain in the ass. Somehow he doubted it was gonna be any different in this case, but there was only one way to find out.

Dancing around the battleground in a series of flips and rolls as he evaded the deluge of energy raining down on him as a result of Valintine's transformation he began formulating a quick plan of attack. His opportunity came as the tornado around his target burst. Using Wǔ fēng's ability he was able to part the massive gust, creating an opening just large enough for him to pass through safely as he leapt into the air. Quickly recovering lost ground he moved up into his opponent's face, executing a double snap-kick as soon as he entered range. Now that he had in theory gotten Valintine's attention again he made his move. Using shunpo he moved over to his opponent's left and reappeared poised to bring his blade down in a vertical cleave. As soon as he appeared though he used shunpo again to move back to his previous position, causing him to appear to be in two places at once for a single second in time thanks to the illusionary distortion effect inherent in flash step type techniques. Hoping this distraction would confuse his opponent just long enough for the opening he needed he finished his strike, bringing his blade down in an attempt to rake the Arrancar's chest.