The Torchlight Hunt, Sunset Showdown [Ignacio, Tsubine, J.]

Stepping out of the Garganta in Ichigo’s wake, Ignacio lingered in the air for a moment as the rest of the powder hunters spread out to begin their campaign of destruction. He could sense the stain of Zombiepowder on the air, faint enough to tell him that the prize he sought was once more buried deep underground but present nonetheless. Many of their companions cared only for the destruction, a greater purpose hardly needed when the opportunity to desecrate these hallowed grounds was presented, but the Black Flame Swordsman had come with a different purpose.

He crashed down into the Seireitei like a flaming comet, bathing the courtyard in which he landed in a wave of heat that made even the stonework appear to sweat. Those poor few souls that had inadvertently languished nearby were the first to be enveloped, weaker beings simply withering under the intensity whilst those capable of some resistance were given the opportunity to fight or flee before they were immolated.

From his scabbard, Ignacio’s Zanpakuto slid free and drank in the unfamiliar air of Soul Society. Tigre Garra hungering for a chance to clash against the Soul Reapers. What remained to be seen was whether those of any calibre would come to challenge him, and if they had the gumption to endure this walking inferno.

J’s intention was to say farewell to Tsubine at the west gate after their hangout, but when all hell broke loose and the energy in the Seireitei no longer belonged to just Shinigami, the shift was instant. After a single glance to Tsubine, the two were off toward an invading Arrancar that radiated heat like a small sun.

"Just fight," J replied sternly. A few good shunpo and J was in the area, a hand on his currently sheathed zanpakuto, ready, but not immediately jumping to combat.

Standing on one of the many Seireitei walls, J looked down at the Arrancar as Tsubine came to a stop in the area. He could already sense the fading energy of those unfortunately caught in the Arrancar's ability. J took a deep breath, exhaling through a shakey rage as his eyes fell upon the Arrancar once more.

"What is your goal here?"

Eyeing the first two interlopers that did not simply buckle and collapse before him, Ignacio did not waste any time in levelling his blade in their direction. His golden-red eyes met their own for a moment each as he gauged their shared intent. It was a good look, one of determination and intent, but for how long would it last before despair set in?

“To humble gods.”

That was reason enough to seek to challenge them, to prove that they could be beaten and cast down from the perch upon which they sat. He had crossed swords with the Assassin, the Emperor, and now came the Warriors. A black ring bubbled up along the length of his blade until it reached the tip, lingering there for a moment in case his opponents got cold feet. But he knew that they would not, so he took one purposeful step forwards and then slashed at the air between them.

“Karinzanjutsu, Second Ring. Swirling Radiant Incinerator.”

That black ring burst into roaring white life, launched towards the pair at roughly waist level like a saw blade made to rend them in twain. Blindingly brilliant to those that looked right at it, and unquestionably dangerous, but very much a probing question rather than an all out attempt at obliteration.

While J was a proud man, he was indeed a man. All of this anger toward the meaning behind their occupational title was ridiculous, at least to him. He also doubted it was the Arrancar’s true intentions. Either way, there would be no conversation as the fight was initiated with a saw blade of reiryoku that could have bisected them both. J pushed himself up from the ground, leaping into the air far above the saw blade, not wanting anywhere near that energy until he could understand it. The wall the saw blade attack would hit behind him was something J would make sure to observe to discover any hidden traits the energy may have.

Once his leap reached it's peak, J pointed an index finger down at the Arrancar and released a moderately powered line of blue lightning, "Hadō number 4, Byakurai." The attack acted as his opener for this battle, but also a distraction to give Tsubine enough time to get into fighting condition. J landed and readied himself for another attack, his eyes intensely focused as his senses expanded to the area around.

The ring, having pushed Tsubine out of the way, continued on its trajectory until it impacted the far wall and then pushed on further still. The concentrated heat contained within it seeming to care not for even the fortified stonework as it cut cleanly through and continued onwards. If there was anything more unique about it, the wall had not served as a suitable test subject to reveal it.

But Ignacio’s opponents had launched into action, splitting up to divide his focus and testing him in different fields at once. If perfectly executed it could have been quite devastating, but they were not quite in sync yet. The aerial attack came first, a bolt of blue energy shooting towards him, whilst the man on the ground recovered from his attempted block and then threw himself haphazardly into a Shunpo. Shifting his stance, Ignacio’s blade dropped low as he braced for the spells impact. Then, just when it seemed it was about to strike him, the Arrancar sliced upwards in a single perfect arc and the attack dissipated around him.

Had Tsubine been there to strike at that exact moment, he would not have been capable of twisting his sword-arm to partially deflect the incoming slash. Instead, Ignacio evaded a partial dismemberment and instead allowed his opponent to slice into the layers of Hierro that encased him. It was a cut, yes, but as the sword retreated it brought with it a blast of scalding hot air that had been trapped there waiting to escape. Then, the Arrancar disappeared.

Appearing in the air at the same level as J, the buzz of Sonido ringing out, Ignacio intercepted his airborne opponent before he had the chance to launch another spell. His blade still raised high from having cut the lightning, he chopped downward with a single clean blow with enough force to send the Shinigami back to the ground and then further still.

It was J’s focus that allowed him to follow Ignacio, also a combination of experience and reikaku prevented him from losing the arrancar. As Ignacio appeared in front of him, J’s instinct brought his hand down to his zanpakuto and he pulled it from his sheath in one fast movement. At the same time, J leaned back and away from the attack, so the blade hit the blade of his zanpakuto, not his body.

The strength of Ignacio’s swing hitting his zanpakuto, combined with J’s imbalance from leaning back as the sword came down, forced the man down to the ground. J’s body hit hard, the street stones cracking beneath him as he landed.

“Damn it…” J mumbled, taking a short moment while Tsubine first attacked the Arrancar to recover. He quickly got to his feet, fully drawing his zanpakuto now. A brief glance toward the wall the saw blade had hit and J saw nothing of note, beyond the fact that the blade went clean through. “Cut them down, Zuijin,” J called on his shikai, cubbing Ignacio his first enemy for the duration of this war. He realized he was going to need the boost of power it provided.

Unlike Tsubine, J did not find that much pleasure in battle. Sparring? Yes. Real, life and death battling? No. He found battle a necessary thing when protecting your loved ones, the innocent, and all of that sort of shit. It wasn’t a thrill to him. This is one of many areas he and Tsubine differed. Shunpo’ing forward, just after Tsubine’s weird axe-flail was tugged back in hopes of catching him off guard, J closed the gap between himself and Ignacio, performing a swing meant to cut him in two.

Yes, J remembered the heated air and what it did to Tsubine. As he reached Ignacio and attempted to cut, he used a second shunpo to give himself a burst of speed that would, hopefully, get him away from the air and enhance his cut.

His attack was successful in levelling the playing field, so Ignacio made to follow J back to the ground as the axe-headed flail came up to meet him. They had both released their Shikai, striking now with an added vigour that gave him some comfort that they were taking this seriously, but if they thought this would be enough to stop him then they would quickly find themselves mistaken. Tigre Garra flashed once, two simultaneous strikes deflecting the axe as his blade darted back across to parry away J's spirited strike and limit the damage to little more than a gash to his side that seeped blood for a moment before sizzling to a stop.

The Shinigami moved too fast for him to retaliate, though, and darted past him at such speed that no burst of blistering heat caught up to him or even followed in the wake of his strike. Ignacio had already moved on to the next strike, though, choosing to worry about this evasive gnat later. Tsubine was bringing his chain back to catch him again, and his sword was in a poor position to intervene. Dodging was a possibility, but instead, he went for a certainty and lunged into the attack to grab ahold of his opponent's weapon and tether them together. Cuts along his lower arm were the price of this move, but it was a tradeoff he elected to make.

Tsubine would get his wish of drawing the Arrancar's attention, as Ignacio sailed towards him using his own returning strike. Tigre Garra ignited in flames as he brought the weapon around for a wild pair of swings intended to cut an X-shaped pattern into his opponent's bare chest, but, whilst it required an answer lest his opponent desire immolation, that was simply the smoke and mirrors to the true danger. His other hand soon released the chain and wiped across his injury, coating his hand with blood as the wound finally began to cauterise. Then, as his sword drew back, he thrust that bloodied fist forward and bathed his opponent in brilliant golden light for just enough time that they might realise the glimmering Gran Rey Cero that he was calling forth.