The Iron Battle

"Someone's got a new toy it seems...But smart as ever it would seem." Ghislain's eyes reacted so his original plan was correct that Hayden would burst through. Everything according to strategy as he weighed the odds of that working again. He caught his breath and instead of trying to avoid completely while he did leap back reishi based threads flung up behind him holding on to the most solid object, the entire thing they fought in itself. Ghislain managed to avoid a direct hit but still took a hit none the less. His arm was broken in several places as he laced strings around it carefully. He felt the shattering of the Dark Matter shell he wore pretty much just from the shockwave. His blut defense did help him survive as he felt the vein begin to repair the arm. He could still move his fingers as he coughed a bit for a moment. Having been knocked backward by that tremendous force was taxing. His digits slowly brought themselves together as he prepared something large. Ghislain would experiment with something untested now with little experience. This energy of Hayden's he would take a small amount in.

His eyes blinked as he coughed his breath shooting out a blast into the sky quickly. It wasn't strategic he had no choice in the matter. The reishi crossed energy with the Death Matter was almost too much too soon. He'd not considered it's quick generation. "Very well, let me introduce you to an old friend.And let's see who can take a bigger ASS KICKING!" Ghislain cursed a bit but this wasn't the same man from so long ago. Who didn't believe in that, by god his pride wouldn't let him just fall over and give up. His hands even though his left arm was sore from being broken and the pain was immense. He focused on the task at hand energy began getting sucked in quickly. It was a gravity based Dark Matter move that was coming but something was different. He put Death Matter in as the orb reached its the pinnacle of the Dark Matter Sun. He began to notice the unstable nature as he felt the frequency of it.

The energy pulsed uncontrollably in its nature, this blast would destroy a large city. He wouldn't be able to control it or stop the energy, he had but one choice. He would control the release of the 50 megaton attack he'd improvised. His brow began to set as the explosion happened. His muscles tightened as his hands moved to send the energy outwards and around him. Sending the Blast of massive force mixed with Death Matter, Gravity, and Dark at Hayden. Ghislain's body wasn't going to be unphased from this failure to use it. He was slammed through the solid net into the wall cracking the structure from the sheer force. His pain was intense it felt like multiple problems going on internally. How much energy had he used up and did he have enough to push this into the next stage? Damn this and everything else he wouldn't give this man a failed fight twice. Not in this life or the next he straightened his figure up as he gripped his Regalia. Ghislain didn't have the best pain endurance. But his focus was extreme as his pride made him unwilling to surrender.

He shot threads out at Hayden's from where ever he was of Dark Matter and Gravity. They have laced with Quincy Reishi as well a substance which didn't seem to react well to Hayden's energy. Ghislain was starting to understand something special about Reishi frequency. It was a picky mistress and his body ached as he gripped his rib cage. Screaming pain echoed through his mind and body, but his pride ignored them both. Immense focus on his part as he kept walking despite his injuries. Ghislain was going to prove one thing here, that a Quincy would always keep their pride. So he would make a strategy and do that move again. Could he use his Hiernyaku was the first question? The injuries he sustained were pretty bad. It was unlikely high-speed movement was in his future. Well, he did have another skill he could use as Dark Matter formed beings alongside him. He needed a moment to process as he leaned against the wall for support.

So from what I understand Hayden's energy is some kind of unstable molecule that explodes or rapidly destroys anyone who uses it. His body's obviously an exception to it, so is there a way to neutralize it? The answer is unlikely yes as it seems unstable as my Dark Matter. So when the two meet the force is unstable, unless. What if I change how it works and set my matter to be a conductor instead of a process of that. Was the train of thought that began to go through Ghislain's mind. Surviving the blast had made him painfully aware of the problem. That blast wasn't at full power due to its immature state. His knights drew black blades and walked towards Hayden. Ghislain gripped his arm pretty sure his own injuries were worse. In this form, it wasn't going to be any good, however. He would need to transform into his other form to try it one more time. His knights would fight Hayden in his stead for the time being. They were quick enough to keep up with him.

Or at least he prayed they were as he spoke the word to release his form. "Queen, release." His body turned dark as his skin chained into Dark Matter. The consuming of his being as his cerulean eyes turned red. He guessed he had about one more shot at this as he moved his tired from a bit from the wall. Bringing both hands together he carefully began to channel the power of the sun. While the knights fought Hayden regaining when destroyed to fight him. His brain would lack the focus to restore them in a moment as the Death Matter flooded in. He poured it out as it came within his body. Not allowing it to stay even a second so not to poison himself. Being accurate enough to remove all as the sun grew much more massive. The Dark Matter acted instead as a bonding agent as he changed its makeup. He released the Gravity Sun upon Hayden now. He watched as the matter moved towards his leader. It was massive and growing larger, it's size didn't stop.

The Death Matter was consuming and growing the explosion would be massive. He had no say in this as he watched it fall upon the figure of Hayden. The gravity made it pull objects towards it and headed after the man. His knights would be completely absorbed as though nothing as he felt his frame want to fall he tied strings to his body making it remain upright. "I won't go down yet, I need to see this with eyes wide open." He said calmly as he breathed heavily using his intense focus to push on. Ghislain had come so far and the answer seemed so close to him. He felt weak due to using that energy having to go this far he had enough energy in him for a single move. One final tactic if he could get close to Hayden. For now, he would remain still and let the strings do the work they were meant too. His blut was fine still surprisingly as he felt the explosion. It sent him slamming against the wall hard again he'd almost broken through as it felt like a gigaton of force had slammed into his body.

He wasn't sure on the exact scale of power that had been released, but if Hayden walked through he was definitely was much stronger than he was previously. Even at this distance, Ghislain had taken damage from the attack. Only time would truly be the judge of the outcome of the Iron Battle.

Now things were getting interesting for the male. Ghislain was smart enough to not take the direct attack of Hayden’s fist, but it was obviously he had sustained some critical damage from the frailing arm. But within a few moments it seemed he held some semi control of the once broken limb, whatever he was doing seemed to be a useful ability in this instance. Perhaps Ghislain held some secrets that Hayden had not already known, but that didn’t mean Hayden own focus was broken- in fact it seemed to rev him up even more.

Ghislain would begin to draw energy towards himself obviously preparing for another large attack, prompting Hayden to wonder just how far he was going to take it? He was obviously pushing his body to the limit something which made Hayden amused, but the gap in power was starting to show. While Ghislain held more years under his belt the lack of experience as a front liner was beginning to show, the technique and general way in which he fought was placing him at a disadvantage when fighting someone like Hayden. The time Hayden has devoted to his craft simply outmatched Ghislain, something he was sure damage the pride of the Quincy. But it was that damage which could result in this amazing display in power; it was beautiful.

As death matter tugged at his mind making him sense the visible discomfort it felt from trying to be used by someone of such an inexperienced nature. This was interesting. While normally he would fight tooth and nail to not allow someone to touch his energy, this was an exception as the Quincy needed to push his abilities to the brink. It was this very reason Hayden let a smile grace his calloused features, his lips curling into a smile as his stance began to shift. It was at this point he placed two hands on his Zanpakutō, fully ready to accept whatever was about to be produced.


Very well. As the orb of unstable energy began to grow and compound on it’s self Hayden eyes were immediately able to deduce that this thing wasn’t by any means stable. It was like a conglomeration of clay and gunpowder, only held together by glue and a short fuse. The attack exploded prematurely between Ghislain and Hayden causing an assortment of effects as it’s energy sprayed the arena, coating it in both dark matter and death matter. A mistake. But before we could highlight that we must deal with the force generated by the explosion.

Hayden’s body would remain firm as he had sufficiently braced himself against the ground, his Mask handling most of the damage which was generated by the attack. The stark difference between Ghislain and Hayden in this instance was Hayden held the benefit of his mask being able to absorb the majority of the impact with the rest of the force smashing into his flesh. However the burned skin and torn flesh would soon be mending it’s self at supersonic speeds due to both the large amount of death matter in the attack and his own natural reserve.

You see when you use a death matter attack against the user it was like throwing water on water, while the kinetic and explosive force generated harmed him, the key factor of death matter was it’s ability to grow and convert substance to itself. Hence why Hayden was both being harmed and damage by this onslaught, it was an interesting show one which could easily damage someone of a different fortitude. Perhaps it held the potential for a cooperative attack within the near future. But for now Hayden was bracing his body as he was forced back from the raw magnitude which was generated.

It would allow Hayden to weight his own options for attacks, he needed to pin Ghislain down as the moment he did that this fight would very quickly be over. After all in a range fight Hayden was at the disadvantage as he was a in your face fighter and Ghislain was offered more advantages at range. Thus it was at this time the once damage Vizard would stand at his full height as the smoke cleared, the burn marks which once glazed his body and missing flesh was gone. Ghislain may not have none of Hayden’s regenerative abilities but they where some of the strongest in the world. His neck beginning to rotate as the cracking bone was heard indicating that he was still ready to fight.

The world would see the storm cloud above beginning to funnel onto Hayden’s Zanpakutō before enveloping his arms as well. His sword beginning to raise above his head as his eyes looked at the ‘Knights’ which now began to walk towards him. He had no intention of fighting these mere copies of the man he intended to battle, these where simply fodder in which he could reveal one of his developed Zanjutsu techniques. Hayden body would crouch slightly lower than usually, his blackened eyes with crimson pupils would lock on the clones before he let out a roar his arms slashing his blade three times.

“Continuss Tempestas!”

As he let the name out the storm would leave his Zanpakutō sending out three mini tornados which eventually grew in size before being the size of a two story house, the earth around them beginning to lift and tore apart as they spun far above the speeds of any normal tornado. Unless the knights could withstand rotating speeds of Mach 3 they would begin to be lifted up and attempted to be tore apart, these three storms spinning in a triangular formation acting as both a shield for Hayden and a way to neutralize the threats before him.

This was the power of someone which a intune connection with their Zanpakutō, who had mastered the arts of Zanjutsu. While Hayden was a strong man and a very fast one some might forget that he was deeply intune with his Zanpakutō and Hollow nature. When it came to the adaptability of the man and his own internal compass he rarely falter from it nowadays. It was the testament of an extremely strong will power and man who had forged his own road through blood and steel, to now reside among the top percent of fighters within the world. It was time to display how far he had come in these next section of actions.

So as the storms raged on, he would disappear as his shunpo took him in a full arc around them in order to meet Ghislain from the side. While it was more of Hayden style to come directly at him, it was one of the few moments one might not want to enter into what was effectively a triangle of death. His Zanpakutō in the back left position, his sword tip just barely above the earth as he witness what Ghislain Was doing all this time: Building a bigger bomb using death matter again. Fuck.

This was going to be a big fucking blast. That was the low down of it, Ghislain might not quite understand the forces he was working with. He was taking the literal incarnation of death in this world and trying to bend it to his will. On principle alone the ethereal force might simply wish to blow back on him to kill him and claim his soul. But that would not happen as to his own credit he held a much stronger control over this mass of energy. What was more impressing was he had managed to get into the air and was sending the orb of death right at Hayden, something he had to react to now lest he wanted to sustain a large amount of damage.

He thought it was time to finally give Ghislain something worth fighting, so as the mass of energy began to Gather Hayden would close his eyes as his Zanpakutō was positioned in front of his body. He focused as he let out a breath into the air, the world despite it's shaking beginning to fade into nothingness for him. If Ghislain was giving his all then Hayden had to meet him half way, thus he was showcasing his new and improved shikai no one had seen till this point.

“Vovin Ol’e Iaiadix.”

As he said this he would exploded in a cascade of Olive energy one which would be blinding to look out, the barrier which protected the world around them would begin to warp before stabilizing as it grew to match the new level of power Hayden was releasing. The crimson energy would extend all the way into the clouds as the explosion of the energy Ghislain had produced shook the world around them, seemingly to engulf both Hayden and this new level of power he had obtained. But that was not the case. As the energy cleared Ghislain would see a male clad in medieval style armor, his Zanpakutō barriered in the ground somewhat with one hand on the blade as the helmet focused on Ghislain. Undisturbed.

Shikai:

Hayden would remove the Zanpakutō from the ground as smoke poured off the armor as he had just tanked a gigaton of pure force and energy walking away seemingly undamaged. This was due to the special ability of the armor he now wore, despite augmenting his physical capabilities and it had the unique ability to convert the damage his armor received to raw energy he could utilize while also protecting him. While the intial ability of his shikai was to grant him with an enormous reiatsu boost Ghislain would feel this as it seemed that Hayden’s body was almost overflowing with raw energy. Almost.

With a single step forward Hayden would point his Zanpakutō at Ghislain was the three tornados he had made were beginning to die down, but they would remain for two additional posts. As he pointed they would begin to move their way to Ghislain intended to trap him within their maw, or at least cut off one of his Avenues of escape. This would either force Ghislain to be trapped within the triangular features of the hurricane or fight him at close quarters, now that they were only mere meters from each other.

Thus Hayden was charging at Ghislain one last time, his Zanpakutō raised to run him through. The tip of his Zanpakutō was lowered to only stab him through the shoulder but he would definitely see an overall strength and speed increase in Hayden. This was the level of power Hayden had achieved since they last met, it was one of pride for the man but while Ghislain fought honorably in Hayden’s eyes he also thought the gap in experience and technique was showing. But if Ghislain could pinpoint those flaws and improve them, to finally bring his style in the new age: He’d be a monster.

He was about ready as he watched the events unfold. Everything seemed to be playing out according to plan. He was successful on the second attempt. That energy was poison and something he didn't understand any further. He leaned against the strings feeling a couple ribs broken trying to mend themselves. His Blut was trying to fix the internal damages done. But Ghislain's tactic was playing at perfectly. He had but one final move in mind for Hayden. King wasn't it, he was leaning on the move he had planned for the man. Explosions were pointless at this point entirely. He needed to injury and at least do something about Hayden as he exhaled softly. Something trembled in the ground, he could feel it moving. What was this sensation he could feel the ground? What was the feeling he felt around him? Was it because his body was in such a state? The Knights were destroyed and blown away falling in bits on the field around everywhere. The Dark Matter clung to the dirt. He could feel them from here and sense everything. It was then an olive flash of light came from Hayden's position.

It appeared the leader went into Shikai from what he could tell. His eyes studied the form as he wondered if it would make his strategy ineffective. His body wasn't in shape for a long fight but if he used the threads he could. He gritted his teeth focusing as strands of string inserted themselves into his body supporting his broken arm. And cracked ribs as he prepared to fight for as long as he could. He spits blood on the ground as he knew a fight with Hayden prolonged would be his end. He'd used a lot of energy, but he could take in the Reishi energy around him. It wouldn't be a fast process but he could do that and rebuild. A drop of blood fell from his lips as Hayden came closer. Focusing intensely on it that was when it would happen from every possible angle. One thousand stands shot from the ground of dark Matter coming from all angles. From behind Ghislain, they shot towards him as well. One thousand in a total shot at the figure of Hayden.

Clutching his rib he pushed off the wall as he'd finished preparing the last attack it seemed. He put his hand out pointing it at the location Hayden would be next. It was time to show off one of his last tricks for his leader. Beginning to Focus as hard as he could on the goal on the mind. The strings would all attack Hayden and hold him still for a second he hoped. They were powerful enough to punch through most things. This required focus and a lot of thought. No energy formed on the inside and no display was made. Ghislain was about to use something that his leader didn't know. In fact, no one knew he could do it but him. It came out without warning in a small size of a pebble practically. A red shimmering shard shot towards the form of Hayden. Ghislain had done something to it special as it shot from his index finger at the leader. Blut Bullet was the name of the move he'd just used. An external power to create a blut based weapon.

But this bullet was special as it had a special layer of Gravity around it along with something special. If the bullet made contact it would slam into a portion of Hayden and do something entirely expected. Its power was to pierce almost anything. The substance was far harder than a diamond and perhaps even beyond that. Ghislain's bullet could pierce the armor but would suffer less power due to its impact being absorbed normally. However, in this instance what would be absorbed wasn't the Gravity nor the Bullet force. But a front layer of dark matter layered around the bullet. But Ghislain had focused hard on this bullet of his blood. It was radioactive and nuclear in every sense of the word. The moment it went inside Hayden the Gravity would pop and cause the effect of a fifty-caliber bullet hitting something. But Hayden would just heal it off right away with no trouble. Ghislain may have been some back line strategist who fought rarely against the strong. But he had no intention of showing anything but his best.

His strategies may have been outdated and completely void for this thing. He fell against the wall using it for support as he put his hand out.A crimson blade began to form with two layers of power forming around the Blade of Blood. Ghislain's eyes narrowed slightly as he wasn't sure the degenerative effects of nuclear powers would even work. But that bullet should have hurt him. Now he would go down swinging and do what he could here. No point in extending energy to other things as he sighed softly it seemed he was out of options in this regard. He had a trump card still in his pocket to use. Hayden walked into the first trap he set. There was something even greater that Ghislain could do. He still had access to his stolen Bankai. Activating that would heal his injuries while he fought Hayden. For now, he could get by with what he had. Slowly he began to build up his defenses now. This battle's climax hadn't begun yet as far as he was concerned it had just begun. His body ached but that was partly from using Reishi threads to support his broken bones in place.

The intense focus was overcoming the pain at this point. Focus on giving Hayden a fight like no other on this earth.

Ghislain refused to lose to Hayden, at least not without a struggle. It was an admirable feat of the quincy to never accept things as they were. Hell it was a trait of humanity as a whole including Hayden despite his shinigami nature. It was the reason these two could face off with such epic determination that each of them where going to edge in terms of what they could do, Ghislain held up by only strings and his raw determination to falter. It was why Hayden felt it so important to show this world why he was the leader of the Vanguard and Vastime, if Hayden could not back up his claim to the throne then he should step down.

The determination of Ghislain shown through as he forced his broken body to do as he commanded, a volley of string like entities emerging flying towards Hayden with ruthless intent. They were very much keen on ensuring the male and while normally he could combat them head on, it was time to showcase some skill rather than brutal strength. He had already done that and his body was beginning to feel the wear and tear, despite his mind obviously to it his Phantom Brain, the Deus Ex Machina, was currently instructing him of his vitals which were operating at peak performance. It was also why he was afforded the time to react to the strings long before they reached him, be them a million or one he had a way to circumvent them.

As he stopped on a dime, his heels digging into the earth his right hand would outstretch towards the closes storm to him. The massive tornado had died down to that of only mach 1 speeds but still nothing to shy about. His hand seemed to command the storm as it tore apart the ground moving in front of Hayden acting as a shield as the wires would be forced to be thrown around within the storm wrapping around themselves and overall becoming like a ball of wires from the high wind speeds. It was a easy counter to the mass threat that loomed from them one which allowed his mind to see the very faint outline of what appeared to be a concentrated energy of Ghislain.

From behind the wires the bullet would fly towards Hayden at the speed of a large caliber sniper rifle bullet. Considering both Hayden’s focus and speed all it took was a simple turn of the mid torso to dodge something like that, the reason being it was launched in a rather predictable arc. If he intended for the bullet to prematurely exploded the impact would be absorbed by the armor thinning it out ever so slightly as it empowered Hayden even more. Ghislain might’ve known by now Hayden was almost unstoppable in this armor but that didn’t mean he was allowing Ghislain to just wear out his energy reserve so easily. It was time to punish the mistake Ghislain made.

Hayden would take off towards the right side of the arena hiding behind the wall of tornados which hid him, his hand still out stretched as he closed it into a tight fist. It would be at this moment the storms would begin to converge on Ghislain as they now roared at slightly under mach 1 speeds but would still do a number most likely. Seeing as he was pinned to the wall and the storms now had the time to converge on him at all locations their combined might would seek to rip him from the wires. The crunching of bone and tearing of flesh would be a likely outcome for the male if he did not seek some sort of defense or he could surrender either was good. But. If Ghislain could outlast the storms for one more post they would disappear along with them progressively still getting weaker.

“What now Ghis…”

The Tornado was going to hurt a hell of a lot if he didn't move soon, his eyes narrowed. It was about time to reset this entire damn battle. He brought his digits to touch a Cross he carried as he channeled power into it. The entire arena changed instantly as he fell into the water and the maidens of the spring four or five came towards Hayden now. Hayden wasn't injured at all but Ghislain was and in some pretty lousy condition. Spiritual pressure began to restore in his body as he soaked in the water. "Don't have long, this water will damage me if I'm not careful. I need to come up with one hell of a strategy to fighting him. The tornados are still outside, the water can't move and nor can the Bankai in place." He said to himself staying in thought as Hayden would have time to think on that as Ghislain emerged from the waters healed. His body was mended as he stepped out of the waters dripping a bit. Exhaling slightly as he went away from the tornados and gained distance. "Sorry about that Suijin, I didn't mean to call you into a battle...But it seemed I had forgotten something important about the battle."

It would of shocked most when a female appeared standing next to him wearing a full dress her eyes looked upset as he looked him over. He'd returned to his Bishop release form after being the water. It had turned off his Voldstandig's release form back a couple stages. Ghislain focused his mind on that energy beneath the earth pulling it into his body. His reishi began to replenish at a rapid rate as he felt it restoring. Reishi and the energy existed here it seemed, or perhaps he was mistaken. Something would need to be done about that armor. Cracking his frame a bit his eyes cooled a bit as he glanced at the tornados. They were an issue and made of that bloody substance as well. He raised his repaired arm as the arena began to fill with something black. Energy began forming in the tornado formed arena. Ghislain's mind was repaired and he was thinking clearly now that he had a soak in that water. "Sorry Suijin, but I'll need your help in combat here..I'll stay around here till he goes to the next level." He thought to himself and the woman nodded turning into the water she faded away

"Sorry about the wait Desmond, I've finally found my resolve for something.." There was no need for techniques or special skills at this point. He'd forgotten that fighting had changed in this area. He'd been stuck in the past far too long and the path to evolution sat with Hayden. He would begin fighting in a new fashion now. Feeling the changes happen quickly within his resolve. He'd had to move into the water, the ladies summoned with the bankai did help him escape. Transporting him to the water quickly and getting him healed. Now the question was how did he handle dealing with him. Hayden was indeed very powerful as he tapped his foot on the ground. He guessed it was about time to begin taking things to the next stage.

How to proceed with this fight as his eyes looked around at the tornados. They were made of the real world with that foul energy mixed inside them. His energy was restoring rapidly by taking the energy of the earth itself. This fight had only just begun as he watched the tornado blow away the black fog a bit. So the winds over there were clocking in a pretty face. He gave her a nod as he raised his hand glancing at the tornados. He began thinking about how they would function. Death Matter mixed in with earth world magic was the problem here. Hayden was in the area so an idea struck him. He'd restored a pretty large amount of power. Why not hit Hayden and his stuff with one move now. A large box formed around the Tornados and Hayden and in an instant, the entire area was smashed with a huge amount of gravitational force. It was as though he'd put the squeeze on all sides as the entire ground began to shatter and crack beneath the force of the crash before it happened.

The area Hayden was in imploded with dust as the tornados and Hayden were crushed by the gravity move. Using his bankai as a supportive measure was enough for him. Now the next stage would begin soon as he was sure his friend had not the same gift he did. Ghislain began restoring his energy as he prepared for movement. Monk Step would be needed in this situation and perhaps something else. Defeating Hayden wouldn't be easy it would be about conservation of his resources at this point. Fighting was so different from the old days now. People would release right away and try to kill them. He'd seen Captains Bankai at the start of fights in some cases. That had cost him some energy indeed to perform the feat of crushing a storm from every single angle and its wielder. The Maidens had left the area before hand as he stared around the area now. The battlefield still held the form his bankai gave out. She'd turned the healing effect for now as she knew he would need her help to fight this one.

No more massive attacks or leaving yourself open to a battlefield like an idiot. He'd not even remembered Suijin against Mana. What an idiot he was for this his eyes stared as his hand trembled. His pride wouldn't let him do that again to her. His focus became iron as he stared at Hayden now preparing to really begin the Iron Battle. He'd shown a poor display to that watching and for that he was sorry. Pistols began to form constructed fo Dark Matter in both hands as he was ready now to live up to the Quincy name. It was time to truly show these people a battle they could remember. Absorbing energy from the earth would take time and a lot of it to get back to max. Holding each pistol in his hand he prepared for the next situation. Desmond Hayden he owed for waking him up from that sleep. Yhwach put him into a slumber in more than one way. Desmond was stronger with his conviction in someways he acknowledged. But this time he would show Desmond his conviction in full. He prepared his defense and offense now for the Iron Battle's Second Coming.