Evening stroll (open)

Rammus wrote on the note pad that he, CREATED LIFE. IF IT WAS NOT S ANNOYING HIS CREATION WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT... PS, I THINK I WAS SMASHED AT THE TIME. He after everyone had a chance to read, picked up a strange energy signature. Bount... little traces of it. He kept his guard up, making sure to keep an eye looking behind him. Also to the anguish of Ezrion, Fluffy started barking again.

The Bount's facial expression became a mixture of shock and horror, which quickly switched to frustration and annoyance until finally one of the men clamped the dogs' mouth shut with his hand, threatening it to shut up by the looks of things. And thank goodness for that! What the hell was that thing?! Ah well, at any rate at least Zan was relatively sure that the beings below him were not totally human.

If the dog had originated from this area, and a kick from one of these guys had sent it flying to wear Zan had been...well, then that meant that at least one of them was probably a Shinigami, because they probably weren't Bounts, and somehow the Bount guessed that they weren't Quinceys either. So that left Arrancars and Shinigami. And since Arrancars looked...strange even in human forms, that left Shinigami. Of course, now the issue was were they normal Shinigami, or were they Vizards? The girl though, seemed to be a human, at least that was Zan's opinion.

Zanmato of course knew about the Vizards from spying on the city of Karakura Town for so long and having observed them putting on masks and gaining hollow powers, especially Ichigo Kurosaki. He knew that even the weakest of their number was a powerful opponent, and the strongest of their number rivaled some of the greatest powers seen amongst the Hollows. Of course, that still didn't mean that he was at all worried about combat. First off, the chances that they would even know that he was a Bount were slim unless they had advanced sensing capabilities, and secondly, he alone could outmatch virtually any Captain or Arrancar known to him so far, with the exception of a rare few. In other words, he would be fine even if push should come to shove.

With these thoughts in mind, the Bount stood up and jumped down the side of the building, landing like a cat on his feet and making very little noise, still keeping his Spiritual Pressure under wraps. No use inviting trouble right?

Zanmato looked up and stretched for a while before speaking in cool, deep tones to the two Shinigami (or were they Vizards?) and the one human.

"Good evening. Would anyone like to tell me what in the hell that little...thing is?"

The Bount looked at the three faces, as if looking for an answer written somewhere in ink in their expressions.

Miyu stood up and walked to Ezrion. Putting her hands on his trying to let him lose his grip a little. 'Your hurting it' she said. Miyu now knew that the puppy could not be killed but still, it was an living thing. Miyu turned her head when she heard the voice of someone new, seeing someone standing not far away from the tree. Miyu decided to keep her mouth shut and just watch first for what was going to happen.

Ezrion's mouth curled up into a sneer, and he clenched his hand tighter after Miyu tried to pry his grip loose. He heard it bark once more and snickered, as he shook his head. "I warned you, you annoyance!" He shouted as he ripped the muzzle right off of the dog, both halves of it's jaw hanging from his hand, it's tongue lolling loosely where it's mouth had once been. He turned to face the new male as he asked them what fluffy was. He sighed.

"Nothing but an annoyance."

Rammus only let out groan as Fluffy healed yet again, but actually shut up. He wrote again on his note pad and handed it to Miyu, I DO NOT THINK IT KNOWS PAIN was what was written. He turned his eye to the newcomer and took a swig of vodka that he removed from his pocket. He shook hsi head and chugged it, then threw the empty flask away. He spoke and when he did, " I find this... wierd. " He did not like the fact that this guy seemed to come from the very direction the Bount spirital pressure came from. Still, the actual mathematical chances were low. He raised his hand and tore off his eyepatch, his eye underneath it opening and scanning everyone nearby. The girl had high spiritual pressure for a human and was obviosly special. Ezrion was teh same as ever, fierce. He could sense nothing from the man... except residue from hllows and the bount he initially sensed. He was even more wary, but he would wait.

Unlike what he would normally have done if an animal had been killed so mercilessly in his sight, Zanmato Jishaku actually sighed in relief as the awful barking sound ceased abruptly when the animals' entire mouth was pulled off at once, rendering it incapable of barking, at least for now. Facing the shinigami who had done the deed, the Bount simply smiled.

"Thank you. That sound was beginning to give me a headache of epic proportions. And now, for a proper greeting. My name is Zanmato Jishaku, or simply Zan for short. Would you three mind telling me yours?

Suddenly, the Bount felt as though someone were staring at him and looked over at the shinigami with the long red hair. The man was apparently studying him with some intensity; normally this would make someone feel uncomfortable, but in this case Zan just felt a bit amused. Now why should he be found so interesting?

"Tell me what you think after you're done with your analysis please, I'm dying to know.

Then, to Zan's immense displeasure, the little dog regenerated and began barking again! The Bount took the dog from the Shinigami and threw it in the air. Very high into the air in fact. He then took a deep breath and jumped after it. Reaching the dog, he grabbed it and threw it through the windows of a nearby building, feeling very satisfied as he heard more and more crashes that occurred as the purple monster went through more buildings. Landing, the Bount gave a satisfied sigh.

"And that should be the last of him for a while."

Miya stared at the purple puppy that was now ripped apart. how cruel..... But then it began to heal again. Miyu heard an voice she had not heard before. Looking at Rammus who had gotten of his eye pat. Then the new guy began to talk. And fluffy ad become an trowing object again. Miyu didn't say a word. She began to feel kind of scared. Wanting to run. She felt like something bad was going to happen. Maybe she was wrong. Well she just had to find out.

Ezrion turned to the new male as he introduced himself. "Of course introductions. I am Ezrion Alexander, nice to make your acquaintance." He said, a kind smile on his face. As the male threw Fluffy into the air, throwing him through various buildings Ezrion instantly became wary, and stepped back, sensing nothing from the man. He looked over at Rammus and wondered if he found any traces of the man, and waited, tense, unsure of whether or not the male, Zan, was a threat to any of them.

Rammus looked over at the man and after watching him attempt in futility to get rid of fluffy introduced himself. " Rammus Triggon. Though for finding out that my eye was anylizing you is good. Means you have some intelligence. " He waited a second as Fluffy came back and quicky rammed a foot into it, sending it through a building also. " Ezrion. My scan was complete. Now he has the ability to completely supress his Rietsu to 0%. Unusual. He is not human, nor Quincy. Arrancar or Bount is the only option left. I see no fragment of a mask, or a hollow hole. Meaning Bounto. " He said roboticly.

Zan learned the names of the two Shinigami, but not the name of the female that had been speaking to them earlier. Just as he was beginning to look in her direction to request her name again, he noticed an expression of fear present on her features. What was she so afraid of? Then Ezrion took a step back with a wary look on his face. Shortly afterward, Rammus Triggon finished his analysis, and he gave his result. And to Zan's slight surprise, he guessed it right on his first try.

There was no drastic change to the Bounts' position, only a slight tensing and then relaxing. His eyes opened a little wider then returned to their natural positions, he took a deep breath and smiled a different sort of smile than the last time. This one was filled with mocking amusement. Soon his torso started to move in a quick and repetitive manner; he was quietly laughing to himself!

"Well now Rammus, I am impressed. Most normal Shinigami don't realize my secret until after I've told them or until I'm about to devour their souls. You actually used my stealth against me there. I guess that throwing your dog through that window made it obvious but still, impressive work. As I said, much better than normal Shinigami. But then, neither of you are normal Shinigami are you?"

At this point, Zan's grin became dark, predatory, and perhaps even malevolent. This was the Bount that made even Hollows fear the darkness which is rightfully theirs to call the advantageous ground, and to whom Kariya had entrusted the future of the Bounto. He was not afraid of anyone, be they Shinigami, Hollow, Quincey, Bount, Human or Vizard, and every battle was simply amusement to him. The situation was becoming more and more tense by the minute, and this was his favorite kind of moment. The calm before the storm...if a storm was about to come, that is.

"Well now, I suppose that the only question to answer now is simply this: You've discovered that I'm a Bount. What is your next move?"

Even as he was speaking, he was releasing Spiritual Pressure bit by bit. Desiring to keep a careful leash on it however, he only allowed it to rise to the level of say an average Captain ranked Shinigami. One might have called it a sample...another might have called it a warning.

Miyu tried to calm her self. There was nothing to be so afraid of right? The look on her face was replaced by question. A bount? what was that? How much of those shinigami and hollow like people where there? Then Miyu figured that she was the only one who had not introduced her self. She waited until the bound was done speaking. 'Ah! sorry for not introducing my self. I'm Miyu' she said to the bount making a smile. Not moving away from where she was standing.

Ezrion listened to Zan's words taking a step closer to Rammus, waiting to see if he deemed it necessary to attack him. He stood non-threateningly, and relaxed, but he was prepared to strike at a moments notice. He turned to Miyu and whispered to her. "Miyu, if things end up getting out of hand, leave, flee, we don't need you getting in the way and getting yourself hurt, or worse." His eyes never left Zan, but he directed his whispered warnings to the girl not too far off, hoping that Zan didn't hear them.

Rammus did not react to the power increase, simply noted it. He reached into his pocket and removed a brown cloak which he put on over the lab coat. " Civilians should move away. Threat will be supressed, locking out out possibility of civilian casuaties at current power level. " He raised a single hand. " Hado Number 1: Shō. " This knocked Miyu far back, about a block. " Bakudo Number 73: Tozansho. " This closed off the area in an inverted pyrimad with no humans inside it. Next came another Bakudo, " Bakudo Number 61 and 73. " These kido would trap the bount, making it near impossible for him to move. Even if he was over double captain strength. Also there was almost no pause between any Kido.

Zanmato Jishaku had indeed heard Ezrion's warning to Miyu, but had pretended not to. After all, he was in agreement with what the Vizard was saying; this was no place for a human, not even a Special Human. Besides, she had not done anything to deserve an untimely death, and she was not even part of Zan's list of things to eat. However, before the human could run, Rammus raised one hand at her after pulling out a brown coat and saying that the 'threat will be suppressed.' The Bount tensed himself and prepared to move. Normally when someone only raised one hand it was not a good sign for whomever the palm was pointing at.

Sure enough, the Vizard used a spell that knocked the human some ways backwards, about a block. Zan hesitated for about the time it took to blink, unlocking a little bit more of his power and removing one of the limiters that he kept on his speed...then was gone, moving at an incredible speed in order to catch Miyu before she could land on some hard surface; the ground for instance, or a tree, or a building or something ridiculous like that. And it was a good thing that the Bount moved away when he did too, for the area in which he had been standing was suddenly covered by a large inverted pyramid.

"Well, I have no idea why I expected anything else from Shinigami, even if they were Vizards. Very well then, I accept the challenge as a test of my worth! And as for you human...Run."

Suddenly, Zan's shadow snaked out to be in front of him, then it branched out in several shadows, which each sought out nearby shadows to assimilate into the main one. The first to be touched were the shadows of the buildings and those of the light poles that happened to be nearby. Luckily for him, there was a moon out tonight and no clouds, so a nice illumination provided plenty of shadows for him to make his own.

Now prepared for battle, the Bount assumed a fighting stance and began to prepare for one of his more powerful techniques. This was going to be fun!

Miyu was knocked far backwards and they to be cached by Zan so she would not knock against something. She let it all just happen.. When finally on her feet again she realized what was happening. Why where they fighting? They didn't even know each other. There was no reason to fight. At least that was what Miyu was thinking. She was a little confused of who's side to be on becouse they all had not treated her bad. And she was not going to run like an scared rabbit. Even if they all told her to. It seemed like it was going to be dangerous. But still.. Maybe this way Miyu could find out who's side to be on and help. After all she could heal... "why are you guys fighting?'' she asked zan. Looking over at him she saw something happening to the shadow.

Ezrion tensed again, watching the events unfolding as he slowly drew his blade, before sighing. "You missed, now WE are trapped in here, and he's out there with her." He turned to Rammus, and sighed again. "Any other bright ideas, you demented drunkard." He looked back over at Zan, and saw his shadow moving, collecting other shadows to itself, and that gave him a very bad feeling. He sighed once more and held his blade straight forward in his right hand, going straight to his second best style. He slowed his breathing and prepared himself for battle.

Rammus did not move, or could not be seen. He was invisible, gone from sight. The Inverted pyramid also dispersed, seeing as his attempt to lock him in there with him failed, his attempt to catch the bount did not. He was trapped by six rods and multiple black holes surrounded him, rendering him completely immoble. He was then behind the trapped bount without revealing himself he spoke, " Do not do any more violent actions. Or I will destroy you. " Referring to the shadows.

Since his physical and spiritual presence was completely hidden, he had no problem abou the bount hitting him. Since he never stayed in the same spot after moving. Also he moved making almost no noise, but he did not yet attack. Not until the bount tried to, then since he would not release the kido, he was unable to move.

" Girl. We are supressing a threat. "

The Bount did not move, not that he could have even if he had wanted to. However, through the eyes of Stolz, he realized what had transpired. He had completely disregarded the other two Kido spells while trying to keep Miyu from hurting herself! If he could have moved, he would have facepalmed himself. Kariya was probably rolling around in his grave at this very moment in fact. The thought of his master laughing at him made Zan feel just the slightest bit...upset.

The spells restricted his movement, however even if he couldn't move, he could still speak and he spoke to Miyu first, then to the Vizards; one of whom had disappeared. Joy.

"Not sure if you've noticed yet Miyu, but these two are Shinigami and I am a Bount. To answer the question, they are fighting because they see me as a threat. I am fighting to stay alive. If I could shrug, I'd be doing that now by the way. It's as simple as that. They hold an ancient prejudice against my kind for crimes uncommitted, and I, though I hold virtually no grudge against theirs, do see them as a threat to my very being because of this fact. That serves as an answer to your question. Now, permit me to ask one of my own; why are you still here? Oh, and by the way Shinigami, if you're going to kill me...at least don't make me want to barf with your empty threats. I will now proceed to form a defense around myself because being paralyzed makes me...uncomfortable. From here I shall proceed to unleash a bit more of my power and eventually I will simply break free of your spells, or I'll fight you standing still. Either way, don't act like this is over just because I can't move. And while we're on the subject, I'd ask that you release me pretty soon."

Suddenly, the ground beneath the Bount exploded into a mass of branch like shadows that went in several different directions, especially especially up, directly above Zan's head, where a great number of tendrils gathered before exploding downward in the shape of a cone. This cone dug into the earth and formed a protective barrier that would keep out anything that tried to enter within about fifteen feet of the Bount. And if anything was inside of this cone, it would soon regret it. Gathering more tendrils, Zan unleashed more from every direction at once simply by extending tendrils from the cone itself; every two feet a new one formed that was itself about as thick as a blade, and they all rushed toward the Bount, coming to within an inch of skewering him. And then they stopped. In this way, the Bount had created both a great defense, and a great counter offensive if anyone had been within about fifteen feet of him as there had been simply no room to for anyone inside the cone unless they were present along the very wall of the shadow structure, which itself would be futile as they would not be able to move around for risk of cutting themselves against the tendrils. And simply judging by the levels of the Vizards, trying to cut through the tendrils would be useless, as they were all as indestructible as a Captain's Bankai at least, if not more so, as they gained power as Zan himself unleashed more. At this point, the Bount began to concentrate again on preparing his technique and also released some of the limiters he had placed upon himself, unleashing more and more of his vast spiritual pressure. The entire process had taken about as long as Rammus' Kido spell barrage. In other words, a matter of a few seconds.

Miyu listened to the bount but when she saw more shadows she began to feel more scared. Stepping backwards showing fear on her face. She turned around and started to run. But not watching the ground she tripped falling on the ground. The only thing that was in her head was that she did not want to die. Completely frozen on her place she looked backwards to see what was happening behind her. Miyu tried to calm her self down but then saw her knees where bleeding a little from the fall. Moving her hand a little in the air made some blood fly up in the air. She stood up turning to where the bound and vizards where. Not really sure what she should do next. She took a deep breath moving her fingers. The blood flying in the air where slowly formed into needles.

Ezrion did not move from his position, as he had no clue where Rammus was, and he didn't want to get in his way. So he held his ground and smirked. "I'll let you handle this one my friend, don't make me regret this." He called out loud enough that Rammus should hear him, wherever he was. He then noticed Miyu over on the ground, and his brow creased, wondering what she was doing, and wath it was that was floating in front of her.

Rammus watched in silence as the cone surrounded the bount. Which nearly killed the girl, but not. He reach into a small pocket on his breast and removed his zanpakuto. He looked at the blade while his eye scanned the shadows. They were made of Spiritual energy, so hollowfication could do the job, but that might backfire. So he decided that a Concentrated energy blast would be suitable. No, Reinforcments would do better here. So he reached towards his fake eye and from it burst twenty replica's.

" Ezrion. Charge up Nova Cannon. "

Though he was invisible his floating arsenal of eye's could be seen. All of them directed straight at a singular point in the defenses. One after the other they barraged the defense with concentrated blasts of energy, Very quickly there was nothing protecting him and twenty extremely powerful Cero like attacks focused in on him. A twenty first thrice as powerful as the rest also focused on him coming from the blade of Rammus. Directly after this, twenty large and powerful fireballs were sent straight at him.

The Bount saw the tiny army of eyes and felt the heat as they unleashed their bursts of energy against his defenses, tearing through them slowly but surely. Suddenly, the buildings nearby were covered by shadow tendrils, upon which eyes were beginning to open and mouths were starting to grin. From one of these tendrils a hand appeared that reached into the cone as it was being destroyed and yanked the Bount out of it. The spikes disappeared at the same time that the hand was entering as Zan did not want to be skewered with his own powers.

This hand pulled Zan onto the top of the building, upon which the Bount stood erect, as he had been standing this way when the spells had reached him. Looking through the eyes of his shadows, he saw his cone finally disintegrate under the furious onslaught of the vizard.

"Well, what do you know? I might have underestimated you two after all. Intriguing...Hmm...well as much as it would amuse me to fight like this, perhaps I'll just get to work on escaping this battle hmm?"

So saying, the Bount continued to concentrate...if he could survive for a few more minutes, then...

And speaking of survival...the Bount again created a barrier around himself, though this time it was larger by about ten feet and shaped like a pyramid. This too he filled with spikes, though this time he allowed himself three inches instead of one. Last time had been a bit too close!

Miyu decided to be on the side of the two vizard males. She didn't understand a thing of it all but the thing she knew was that something about the bout she did not like. She watched the bount as he seemed that he had completely forgotten that she was still there. He began talking again. This was her chance. Miyu moved her hands forwards making the red needles fly to the bount at an really fast speed just before he was gonna make a new barrier again. When she had done that she put her hands on her knees using more blood to make a small shield her self. She did only use a little to make her self not lose to much blood. She was scared of how the bount would react.

Ezion watched Rammus and heard his instructions, and began to charge up his Nova canon, his right arm slowly starting to glow. He then noticed what Miyu had done, and moved to intercept her, blocking her from Zan's sight. His right arm was glowing quite brightly now, and was steaming, thankfully he had transfered his Zanpakuto to his left hand, and was just waiting now for the change to complete. He looked back at Miyu, and smiled lightly. "Everything will be fine. You got that?"

Rammus yawned as the Bount pulled himself away. He was simply prolonging the inevitable. He raised his arms and began to recite the incantation for a powerful hado. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!" He could hve preformed it without that, but it would not be as powerful. "Hadou Number 63: Raikōhō! " Energy Crackled i the air and a massive wave of yellow energy blasted at the shadowy pyramid. The explosion would have been devastating, and it was, but thankfully it harmed barely anything around the pyramid.

Underneath his breath he was slowly speaking, " Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens. " He was also still invisible, the eyes floating around to spaced out to use the to pinpoint where he was.