Fight Night Forever: Ad Es Caelum [Yuuto, Ulquiorra]

The Roar of the crowds. The blare of the lights from above. The chill of cool night air.
And of course, the battlefield that would be the stage between these two powerful beings. That seemingly endless grassy field surrounding the pale white arena dead in it's center. Even without the presence of the combatants, there was still a powerful energy about the arena as if in anticipation of what would soon be taking place there.

'Hello and WELCOME to our next Fight Night Match! Here we have come to the Final Match scheduled for this evening. Representing the Gotei Thirteen is the Lightning Devil himself, The Ferocious Master of Flash! Captain Yuuto Hisakawa!'

The Crowd erupted as a spotlight shone in the man's direction, highlighting the entry of the fighter. A bellow of excitement and recognition from the shinigami. As well as the intrigue and anticipation that built up from the Vandenreich members in the stands. He was a man well known, after all.

'And of course, Representing the Vandenreich in this bout! You've seen her before. The Stoic Stalwart Stunner! The Arrancar known Near and Far! Give it up for Ulquiorra Cifer!'


Ulquiorra herself paid no real mind to the cheers that rose trailing her name. She'd garnered attention in her matches. Though she had often ended her fights prematurely, hers was such an incredibly controlled and precise style of fighting that it had been difficult for many, both crowd and opponents, to gauge her true strength. And as such, having her pitted up against a Captain of Yuuto's calibur had drawn quite a lot of interest.

Striding out and toward the center of the arena, those dark green eyes would be fixed front and center. Focused on the man she would be fighting, adorned in a tailored sleeveless balck turtleneck and asymmetrical thigh-length half-skirt and black shorts. But every bit of how she carried herself made her seem that much more sharp and focused.

When at long last the two of them met at the center of the arena, Ulquiorra would gently bring her forearm to her waist, and bow slightly at the middle in a formal greeting.

"I've watched your matches thus far. I hope you'll enjoy a reprieve from such restraint"

Her eyes did not move, and yet she was very aware of the motion of the man's hand settling over his weapon, but her body did not shift. There was no stance, no preparation, her frame was completely open as she watched the man before her closely. In much the same way that Yuuto scrutinized her, she did the same to him as well.

"I have made note of the shifts in your spiritual pressure as you have been fighting. Your motions, your tactics, as well as how you have responded to peril. I have a rough approximation of your spiritual energy." She noted placidly, reaching up and pointing in Yuuto's direction, her other hand shifting as she watched the man closely. Coming to point directly at the center of his chest.

"Given this. You should be capable of surviving this attack."

A statement followed almost instantly by the loud, deafening roar of a Cero. That placid arena quite suddenly thrown into a howling bright display of viridian energy tearing toward the center of Yuuto's chest. A beam unlike many other ceros, it was narrowed down and concentrated, with a higher pressure that made it faster, more deadly, aimed ti slam straight into Yuuto's chest, and clean through if left unimpeded. At least for any normal man. But she had made note of the man's own spiritual energy, and she was confident that he would survive the hit if he were to brace his reiatsu in response. Even if the backwash alone from her attack would turn the arena around him to glass. All the while, those dark eyes would remain locked onto her opponent. Intent, and keen on taking in what information she might glean from his response.

It was only natural that she be interested to see how close her approximation had been.

A shift. Those bright greens shifted the slightest ammount as she watched him sidestep. And that finger swept to the side, that stream of energy suddenly sweeping sideways in a slash, aiming to burn it's way across Yuuto's chest, and though her eyes locked onto where he was a moment before, her Pesquisa still tracked his motions.

He was fast. Tremendously so. But not, presently, faster than Kurosaki. No doubt by merit of the man still holding back. All the better for her. As Yuuto closed the distance, her other arm shifted, catching and gauging their motions. Her hand remained at her side, and for all intents and purposes, it seemed he had simply struck her completely without her notice, but for a man of Yuuto's talents, he'd have noticed the shift in her attention to his strike. Choosing not to block, but tracking his motions all the same. The impact causing her to slide back, her soles scraping into the ground before she slid to a stop, her frame having barely shifted as she brushed off the spot she'd been struck, and perhaps Yuuto would suddenly realize the danger behind her. Her regenerative abilities were something purely reported by Kurosaki. But to any other normal individual? They never got the chance to even know of such a thing. She was incredibly durable, a durability that was only supplemented by her hierro. He would need a fair amount of effort if he wished to see her Regeneration at work.

"You're rather quick." She noted, and raised her hand up into the air, energy crackling at her fingertip, as the air pried itself apart all around them. Space twisting as Garganta pried themselves open above her hand, as well as all over the arena, and suddenly that brilliant cero was broadcast all around him. A web of pathways, all of which pointed from that cero toward Yuuto's position.

Energy burst upward into that bottleneck of open dark maws, followed by an explosive cascade of that cero being split apart, only to flood the area surrounding Yuuto with destructive energy, a beam which while split into narrower streams, lost none of it's potency as it scorched the Arena, burning away at the ground as she promptly established her response to that speed of his with a massive area of attack. Those eyes locked onto his frame, most curious to see his response to the surprise tactic.

The attacks were not scathing, hardly aiming to take the man out. No, these were probes. A probing attack, and adjustment to see if he could react to her simpler countermeasures. And then, a high-speed cero over a wide area pushing him to use some of that tremendous speed of his. All as those dark eyes watched his every move. Adjusting. Learning. As if pulling him apart with her gaze alone. Curious to see how modern shinigami compared to Kurosaki.

Dark eyes remained front and center, even as Yuuto prepared himself. Ah, he was shifting. That surge of energy at her fingertips crackled, and as he suddenly burst forward, something would slam out with obscene force. Aiming to rip clean through his shoulder with full force. Her eyes didn't move, but her pesquisa picked up the motion. And rather than a Cero, she suddenly shifted her mode of attack. A Bala. An attack near instantanious, aimed to blast out and rip a chunk clean out of the man's shoulder. She may not have been faster than him, but she was not going to allow his advantage in speed make a fool of her. If he followed through with that strike, Ulquiorra would narrow her eyes. Her body twisting in a sudden and vicious strike. A straight, high speed kick aimed to slam into the man's chest and create a bit of distance. He was moving fast, but currently, he was not moving faster than she was capable of doing so. And as he finished executing that strike, following the kick to his chest, she vanished with a sonido, rapidly closing back in, chasing him in the event that he'd actually been shoved back, to follow up with a vicious thrust of her open hand, intent on forcing the man to raise that weapon to block, or suffer her fingers sinking into his other shoulder.

"Martial arts. You're a swordsman. But I must advise that so long as your weapon is within it's sealed state, you will not be able to meaningfully injure me. Your have done well holding back for this tournament. But I have made note of your spiritual pressure. You are impressive, but so long as you continue to hold yourself back. I think you'll find yourself at a disadvantage." She noted flatly, flicking her wrist, as the section of her sweater that he'd sliced from her wrist was peeled free and flung to the ground.

She could taste it. The strength that he was hiding just behind that careful control of his. And she sensed something else as well. Something that he was suppressing. A certain flavor to his spiritual energy that was ALL too familiar. And in that moment, as soon as she had scented that aspect to his spiritual pressure. She had decided that she would not be holding back. Memories that had been cemented into her very bones slowly began to boil to the surface. And she could not help but wonder.

Was this man something akin to Kurosaki?
Just how dangerous was she?
And why was her heart racing? An excitement that crept in slow, spidering hot tendrils to soak her nerves in electric tension. An anticipation of a fight that she had not felt in so very long. She felt, of all things: Eager for this fight. Enough that she, without even realizing it, had already begun egging him on. Pushing him to escalate this fight.

Regeneration of his own.
Interesting.
The sudden explosive burst of energy punching through the man's shoulder promptly followed by the flesh knitting itself back together certainly was intriguing. Her eyes constricted, pupils narrowing slightly as she briefly shifted her eyes to that wound, and then back to Yuuto as he ate the kick she'd executed to his frame. And following up, as she lunged in, she found him snaring her arm. And in that instant, energy instantly crackled at the tips of her fingers. But did not fire.

A Threat. That she might have immediately followed up with a Bala to blast his chest open. But of course, she abstained, and simply delivered that warning to the man. She could almost clearly sense that he considered simply ignoring her. But the look in his eyes showed her words found purchase. And as the both of them were suddenly separated, thrust away from one another, Ulquiorra allowed her hand to slip back down to her side. Continuing to stare calmly toward the shinigami as at long last, he brought his zanpaku'to to bear and began to recite the unleashing of his Zanpaku'to.

One that was Wholly and properly different from any Zanpaku'to that she herself had quite witnessed. The theme and energy coming off of the Zanpaku'to was clear, and as he brought that weapon to bear, and as he expressed that Warning of his own, she shifted ever so slightly. Watching as that ring swiveled forward and he murmured the name of the attack.

That sudden explosive burst was unleashed, and suddenly the arena was engulfed in that brilliant concussive explosion. The whole are ano doubt shuddering from the force of the attack as both concussive force and shrapnel saturated the space for Ulquiorra to contend with. Her hand having raised in response to the attack. And she found those eyes widening so very slightly as she found the force coming her way to be overcoming her Hierro. A brief instant in which by sheer physical strength and the might of her hierro, she held back that attack, before blood tore across her palm, and the attack washed over her. The air shuddering from the blast before finally calming.

The cascade of rubble and dust would peel away after but a moment, and in it's wake, Ulquiorra would be rising, peeling herself from her crouch where she'd been forced to drop slightly to brace from that attack. A bright red rip clean across her palm, bits of shrapnel embedded in her frame, and with deep cuts running along her arm, which had taken the majority of the attack. Those dark green eyes piercing in Yuuto's direction as she peeled a ffew slivers of stone from her side. Her outfit had been thoroughly trashed. Shredded along the side she had blocked the attack, while holes were left in it, showing the scuffed flesh beneath.



"I would have to disagree. Your Shikai coincides exactly within the expected parameters." She delivered flatly. A flex of her wrist before those wounds, suddenly, and almost instantly, vanished, as if swallowed up, leaving that smooth pale flesh across her body, brushing some residual debris from her frame. "While a shinigami may hold a vast amount of power within their zanpaku'to. There are expected limitations to the release of that power. If you would allow me to hazard a guess. This is merely the Shikai, correct?" She ventured, that placid, cold voice unerring in the face of the damage she had taken. He was faster. Stronger. And significantly so. And yet those deep green eyes held neither concern nor energy. A contrast to the slow electric crackle that was currently running through her nerves internally.

"Though I will concede that you have reached a level with which I am unable to contend to fully in my current form, A Shikai is still merely a Shikai." She made note, her hand snapping to her waist before peeling her weapon from her waist and holding it out before her, those dark eyes locked onto Yuuto as she spoke.


The air within the arena was almost instantly saturated with an explosive release of energy from the Arrancar as the reiryoku about her sword twisted around her frame, that tarnished and perhaps no longer decent outfit of hers burning away as she transformed. Like an outfit she never had the occassion to wear, her resureccion enveloped her, and blotted out the arena with the thick, dense presence of her spiritual pressure. As Succenly Yuuto would be assailed with the weight of her spiritual pressure bearing down on him from every direction at once. Occluding the woman's exact spiritual location so far as his reikaku might be able to discern.

"But by all means. Please surprise me."

And at long last, as the dust cleared, she stood before him in her released state. Her sheer spiritual pressure weighing down on him with a sensation that would feel akin to Bankai. And as she stared down the shinigami, she could not help but feel...incomplete. A slow, creeping itch across her entirety as she gauged her own power. And she became abundantly aware of her own restraints. Whatever had been done to her, this was .... lesser. And for even a simple instant, she pondered if this was intentional on Szayel's part.

No matter.

She had every intention of ripping that strength back. And then some.