An End to Arrogance

Zommari was caught slightly by surprise as he lost sight of the Quincy. Pulling his hesd skyward, he saw his blind enemy release a single arrow flooded with intense reishi down upon him. Using his sonido, he dodged the projectile as it impacted a large explosion upon the roof of the building serving as their primitive battleground.

He re-emerged an instant later, well-away from his previous spot. 'His attacks are getting stronger, but it makes his arrows slower. I can easily dodge them.'

Just then, he felt a warped energy signature rising up behind him, and turned to find his Quincy adversary standing a few feet away, surrounded in an aura of black reishi.

'What is happening,' he wondered. 'His spirit energy feels like it's transforming.'

Fukaku Lands, feeling the power within him, and releasing it, six black bursts of energy striking out from him, going up into the sky, before changing into large, cylindrical objects, black, with a spike at the bottom of their surface. Falling, each impacts the ground with a large thud, causing the earth to shake, as chains suddenly materialize and pull tightly between them. "Ketsugō yami no hashira." Fukaku labels them, raising his bow with it's last charge, firing a black blast of energy at Zommari's current location. "Shumatsu Taiho!"

With temperate bewilderment, the Espada witnessed the tall, black stakes spike into the pavement below; surrounding them both. A strange energy seemed to encircle each one which made the 7th Espada a little suspicious.

He didn't have long to contemplate their function before his enemy resumed his attack - unleashing an arrow of ebony-black reishi at him. With such little distance between them, he threw up his zanpakuto to block against it. The Arrancar had expected to confront an attack of exemplary power, but was taken aback when arrow exploded over his blade and showered him with solid ice.

"What?!" That was the only word the Espada could utter before his entire body was frozen solid. However, another Zommari would appear off to the Quincy's left, charging to lop off his left arm which had already been injured...

Fukaku responds as the second Zommari appears, blocking the blade with a seele schneider and coming in with a quick low kick to the knee, hirenkyaku boosting his own movements, his reishi senses keen enough to feel Zommari's approach. After, he drew Jinto's zanpakuto, readying himself to block any possible attack.

As the first doppelganger was intercepted, a 3rd would appear to the Quincy's right. This 2nd clone attempted to hack off his right arm while all the while keeping a fairly calm demeanor.

Fukaku, feeling almost as though Zommari had teleported to his right, blocked the strike with his blade, generating energy under his feet in preparation for using Hirenkyaku. "optical illusions are only impressive... when the other person is looking, hollow. surely, you have more than this?"

The Espada simply ignored his strained comments; he knew the Quincy was now being pushed back and put on the defensive. With both of his opponent's arms now occupied with holding back his cloned forms, Zommari once again utilized his Gemelos Sonido to create another doppelganger right in front of his opponent, charging to drive his blade directly through his stomach...

Fukaku moved backwards with hirenkyaku, before charging forward again, blocking the strike with his now-free stolen Zanpakuto, the blade pushing Zommari's own away, before charging forward further into the now-closed off Zommari, striking forward with a strong elbow strike aimed at Zommari's chin.

3 of the 4 clones disappeared as the Quincy narrowly avoided another fatal strike, only to make a direct charge at him, deflecting his sword away with skilled precision of a martial artist, but lacking in one specific category. Zommari held a firm, collected gaze as the Quincy drove the point of his elbow under his chin, knocking his head back, but never budging him from his spot.

After a moment to reflect on the impact of the blow, the 7th ranked Espada directed his golden-yellow gaze back down on his opponent.

"You possess great skill and speed, but lack much physical strength," he said. "Quite the disadvantage against one of my stature." Just then, another pseudo clone appeared behind the Quincy, reaching to grab around his arms and lock him in a full-nelson hold, using a combination of both his own speed an strength.

Fukaku attempts to dodge the strike, a dim black charge forming on his gloved hand, dodging to the left, but getting his right arm caught by the attempted full nelson. the grip wasn't good, but the powerfully built espada's strength more than made up for that. "hkk..." Fukaku grunts, his hirenkyaku straining his muscles as the kinetic motion tried and failed to pull him out of Zommari's grip, only succeeding in causing pain to the quincy.

As the pair of Espada snatched their Quincy opponent, they each attempted to strike a blow across his back; hoping to inflict some severe damage to him.

"I grow tired of this." Fukaku says, putting his arm backwards, Ice spiking outwards from his hand, spikes of ice going in every direction, one pricking his other arm slightly, moving outwards by four feet, striking out of a cone shape, creating an icy, deadly attack. "Toketsuken."

Releasing his arm, the Espada vanishes in a sonido, attempting to avoid the icy barrage coating the Quincy in a suit of frozen armor.

"You're becoming rather irritated," said Zommari in his base voice. "Your attacks are becoming more erratic with every move. Your mind has begun to ponder if whether or not you lack the necessary skill to win this fight. There is no shame in it. Many Hollows have attempted to claim the seat I hold in Las Noches, yet all have fallen before the captivating uniqueness of my abilities."

"I see." Fukaku says, adjusting his cloak slightly. "I really have given you too much hope, then, hollow." Fukaku says, pulling down his hood. "your ego has inflated even to the point that you believe yourself capable of defeating me. A cruel trick on my part." Fukaku said, breaking open a capsule, as a mist began to surround him, blocking sight, sound, and, for Zommari, even the ability to sense reishi. "I'll rectify that with my next move, hollow, so that you properly understand the enormity of your mistake in challenging me, even if you understand only for a few moments before your own death."

Zommari didn't flinch as the capsule was broken open; confident under the notion his skill far surpassed his opponent's. Although, he did not consider this as boastful, it merely seemed a potent fact given how desperate the Quincy was starting to act; besides, his opponent spoke out of turn himself after thinking he could win the battle blindfolded and with simple speed tactics. Yes, it was clear to him which of them was truly arrogant.

As the mystic cloud billowed around them, Zommari kept his cool.

"Your continued underestimation of my powers has already caused you to receive multiple wounds," he reminded his adversary. "Yet still you stand on the exaggerated opinion that you are somehow better than me. You Quincy share in the same arrogance as the Shinigami it seems."

Fukaku merely glared, as the mist soon hid him, and his reishi, entirely, Fukaku far enough away that such could be true. "Well then, it seems we've got an impasse to handle... I need to do something he can't dodge so easily... aha!" Fukaku thinks, readying a seele schneider for use...
Charging, Fukaku comes directly from the front of Zommari, readying his blade, but moving incredibly fast, running with Hirenkyaku-enhanced speed. as he moves in to strike, suddenly, there appears not one Fukaku, but four, on every side of the espada, striking with a seele schneider at the same time. "Tod von acht seiten." Fukaku says, completing his sword stroke.

The Espada barely had a second to react as the Quicy suddenly came charging through the mystic dust with a glowing blade in his hand. He twisted away from his first strike, taking only a graze to his left arm.

He's used this mist to hide his spirit energy. More than that, he's also defeaned my other senses; I couldn't hear his approach or see his body.'

Just then, 4 more glowing swords rushed at him from each direction, surprising the Espada at how the Quincy's technique appeared to mimic his Gemelos Sonido.

"This is impossible!"

A small river of blood spurted into the air...

Fukaku stepped back into the mist lightning-fast with Hirenkyaku, disappearing into the mist once more, as he took a slight bit of his own blood, from his wound, and mixed it with a single arrow he materialized. Readying his bow, he prepared to fire, the arrow becoming long and bright yellow in color. "Blitz gott stange. Prepare, hollow, for your death." Fukaku said, the mist dissipating just as he fired the arrow. the arrow moved impossible fast, at a speed matching that of a captain's hirenkyaku, intending to stab through Zommari and end the match - with a clear victory for Fukaku.

The golden arrow split the suppressing cloud in half before erupting; releasing a tower of energy into the sky and scattering the corpses of his deceased subordinates along the roof.

Such an attack would have spelled defeat for the Espada, had he not taken to the air far above the mist of abolition. Blood fell from his arms, legs and chest, and his breathing was slightly labored.

"Damn him! He uses tiny gadjets to hone or augment his powers," he noted. "How cowardly, but I suppose I left him with no other choice. Perhaps it's time I revealed to him the futility of his efforts."

Fukaku appeared above with hirenkyaku, readying his bow. "Running will only result in a slower, more labored death. put down your blade, repent your arrogance for daring to stand up to a quincy, and I'll allow your suffering to be cut short swiftly." Fukaku said, standing confidently in front of the espada, a glare on his face. "You've only yourself to blame for your defeat - for your own arrogance, that you could stand evenly with a quincy. the wax has melted from your wings - prepare for the plunge."

Although he had been injured by the Quincy's last technique, Zommari knew this battle was far from over. And in spite of how nauseating it was to see this human wear such a confident expression on his face, he decided there was no need to express any botheration; he would simply let the truth speak for itself.

"I admit that your last attack was rather imposing. You almost dealt me a fatal blow," he confessed to his blond-haired adversary. "But if such a technique has escalated your ego enough into thinking you've gained the upper hand in this battle, then you have sorely underestimated me, Quincy."

He would let those words stew in the Quincy's mind for a moment as a grin gently curled along Zommari's bulbous lips. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and proceeded to excrete a massive, red Cero beam. Even with his speed, the Espada concluded he would not manage to completely evade the blast...

Fukaku held out his hand. "Such arrogance..." He scolded, the black pillar to the left of him suddenly racing to his hand. No longer a pillar, what he held seemed to be a black spear. As the blast came towards him, he put it into his bow, the cero almost reaching his finger as he fired, leaving a tiny burn on the middle, outward part of his right hand, as he fired the spear, the cero suddenly pushed back, while the spear itself grew larger. "Yami no yari." Fukaku muttered, as the cero was pushed back by the now thrice as large spear, heading towards Zommari.

Zommari's large, golden eyes swelled upon witnessing the Quincy's counter-attack. How could he possibly possess the reflexes necessary to counter against a nearly point-blank Cero, he wondered.

"These attacks of his -- they aren't techniques that belong to the average Quincy," he denoted. "And his spirit energy grows more warped and violent with each attack he makes! Just what the hell kind of human is this?!"

The ebony projectile raced toward him, while simultaneously devouring his Cero. A gasp hung in the Espada's throat as he could only watch in terror. The dark spear proceeded to swallow the Arrancar, erupting into a column of black energy surrounded by marine shards of electricity spiraling up into the heavens. It seemed the battle was finally over...

But as the dust and debris of energy faded away, Zommari was nowhere to be seen...

Fukaku, feeling his spirit energy go, wasn't entirely convinced that Zommari was defeated. "Where are you, hollow?" Fukaku asked, broadening his senses. "You should know by now that it's useless to run..." Fukaku said, readying his bow, trying to find his unseen opponent.

Having used Gemelos Sonido, Zommari had escaped the blast which would have, again, proved to be his undoing; although not as fully as he had hoped. Slumped forward on the rooftop of another building, several yards away from the previous one they had been fighting on, the Espada clutched his left side, which bled profusely down his body.

"Damn him," he muttered. "How could he possibly still have enough energy left to inflict such damage on me?! He's just a Quincy! A regular human! I can't lose to someone who has not even mastered their own fate!

He heaved a few exhausted breaths and felt beads of sweat trickling down his face. He would end this battle and show this man the true natue of his power.

"Quincy," he called up in fury, alerting his opponent to his location, "Know that it is due to your arrogance that I must crush you like the bug you are. I shall instill in you a world void of your understanding and you will realize the full ramifications of choosing to challenge an Espada!"

With that, the Arrancar held his blade out across his body in an inverted grip, then slowly lifted each finger away one by one until the sword was just floating there in front of him...