I can see my house from up here (Renji)

What are you thinking about right now Andrew?

I don't know if there are any vasto lordes pulling the strings, but this whole thing feels like they are actually testing out weaknesses and if they find just one hole then they can let the floodgates open up and go to town on everyone.

He didn't say anything at first, but then he turned to look at him again with a calm expression on his face as he spoke to him with a serious tone. "Name's Andrew Takahashi, I was a third seat of the fifth division when my hollow decided to come kicking down the door and try to take over. I am now a member of the vizard corp as a lieutenant colonel of sector two." He then turned to look out into the distance as he spoke while imagining the roars of each hollow that decided to tempt fate that day. "I wasn't taking a head count, especially since I was more focused on the many rows of teeth that were more than happy to take sizable chunks out of my body. Also if you want to get a better idea about the outskirts of Saburo consider this: imagine everything you see in Karakura and then take it away. Remove all traces of a defense system, take away the flying city and replace it all with for the lack of a better word a warzone, especially within the outskirts. You name it, you'll find it: ruined buildings, barely a soul out at night, I wouldn't even be surprised if the hollows I faced were scavengers." He then turned to look the lieutenant in the eye as he spoke. "I do have a question for you though lieutenant: I noticed you asked me more in regards about where I was. Do you even step outside of Karakura?"

Though it looked like Andrew had been trying to pick a fight, but his tone used more intuition than emotion. He made it a point to explore as much as he could so that he wouldn't have a Rip Van Winkle incident and have everything around him would be too alien. And he wondered if the red haired lieutenant even had a chance to understand the lay of the land. He then looked up at the shield as he spoke to himself in a curious manner. "Testing the fences to find weaknesses..."

He chuckled some "Come to think of it no I haven't" He said in response to weather or not he'd been outside of Karakura Town "They've not permitted me really or summoned me anywhere but here" He chuckled a little, Looking back at the barrier with a smirk "This barrier here, It ain't got no weaknesses...This was put up by some of the best Kidō Grandmaster's in Soul Society" He said with a slight smile "And if I'm not mistaken even the Head Captain had a hand in making it, So if they're trying to find a weakness in this barrier, They ain't gonna find one that I can assure you"

With that he stopped as his eyes began shifting around "There's still one left..." He muttered as he grabbed the hilt of his Zanpaktou and pulled it out only slightly as he tried finding where the hollow was, His eyes still frantically searching around as he tried pin pointing it's location "Be on your guard Andrew, This ain't a normal hollow and it ain't yours" He said in his usual serious tone. How could this hollow have stayed hidden for so long? And where the hell was it? Whatever the case he had to act quickly, The only problem with that; He couldn't find this damned hollow.

Be it man or machine, eventually things break down.

Paraphrasing the words of Murphy when it comes to combat again I see.

Nothing is absolutely perfect Tetsu.

Much like the buildings of old, areas such as mountains and cliffs, to even a barrier built by the Kidō Corps, things eventually wear down. The only thing in his mind that would be considered a variable would be the source of the wear and tear. Andrew looked up at the barrier again, imagining to himself that the barrier needed to use a lot of energy if enough hollows or even arrancar smash into it repeatedly. And if they could be able to figure out how the pattern worked out with the Kidō corp then all they would need to do is figure out the best window of opportunity to break the barrier down completely. Of course while he had been thinking random things about the barrier he seemed to have a thousand yard stare to show that he had been in his own little world before snapping back into reality when the lieutenant started to talk about the last hollow standing.

Using the hollow to maintain a focused mind, he then started to think about what this hollow could be. More than likely it was an unassuming creature. The hollows he normally fights are ones that usually are armed to the teeth. But a hollow that even a shinigami would not even think twice about wasn't completely out of the question. Or possibly this one would be very good with camouflage. In that case all he needed was his spice to make the hollow's outline. Looking around, he started to nudge different areas with the handle end of his club like spoon as he spoke. "I think we should stick together on this. I don't really care if I get credit, but if this hollow is as dangerous as you say it is then separating is the last thing we should do."

The male nodded "Yea, It's been searching for an opening that hasn't been presented, Whatever it is, It's powerful...I didn't sense it until just a few moments ago while thinking about how long this barrier would hold if every hollow and Arrancarr smashed at it..." While he didn't want to doubt the Kidō Corps and Yamamoto, He knew it wouldn't last long if all the Arrancarr's fired a Cero at it at once, Though he doubted an attack of that magnitude would actually come, It wasn't out of the question considering the size and level of the hollow attacks. He pulled his Zanpaktou out and as he did it changed into it's Shikai form without him even needing to speak 'Where oh where has the little hollow hidden...' He wondered as he stayed calm, Sensing around for it but everytime he got a lock on it, The thing vanished and moved again "This thing is switching between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living, Everytime I get a read on it, it vanishes..." He extended his arm out and swong it around, seemingly wildly and with no sense of direction but, This was Renji...Even Renji didn't attack without meaning.

Three times he swong before Zabimaru came back, Three times each time. Always nothing was hit but he kept going, Swinging like he was aiming at something, Or trying to anyway "Where are you" He muttered and finally, Zabimaru stopped as it clearly hit something but...It didn't actually hit anything, It was caught. though with quick thinking he retracted Zabimaru and a large finger fell as a hollow scream was heard, The energy from it vanishing almost instantly after, Once Zabimaru was completely retracted he closed his eyes and sighed softly as he began to concentrate on finding this thing

"Vanishes huh...?"

What is the plan here?

Play a little game of mouse trap.

As Andrew explored the area with the lieutenant, he had been sprinkling his spice into various locations. Though he had his own random thoughts about the barrier, at the moment the barrier was now on the back burner. He wasn't going to use a considerable amount of spice like when he made the tornado. Instead, he was going to use the spice's heat against the hollow and if the creature is not armored and hits exposed skin, there was a chance that it could make its appearance known with a spice burn on some random portion of his body. He watched as the lieutenant's sword cut off the hollow's finger, making him think that the hollow might not be very strong but instead be a very slippery opponent. Luckily for Andrew he was very patient. As the vizard looked around, the spice began to accumulate in his hands again and slowly took form of a pair of chef knives as he continued to look around cautiously. He hoped the hollow would hit one of the mounds of spice that he sprinkled around the area so that he knew where to hit next. Andrew began to breathe slowly, working on slowing his mind down so that he could focus on the task at hand. He had too many ideas going on through his head and this was something that there was no need to over think. The only thing he needed to focus on the hollow and take it out of the equation.

Renji remained quiet as he concentrated on trying to find the hollow, His arm holding Zabimaru's hilt and his arm extended, His eyes shot opened as he turned around to Andrew "GET DOWN!" He shouted as he swong his arm around, Letting out a battle cry as Zabimaru extended outwards and came hurtiling towards Andrew. A loud hollow scream was heard as an invisible arm barreled down towards Andrew from behind, Aiming to smash into him and send him crashing down into the ground far below. However just before the arm hit Zabimaru cut into the hollow's arm and caused him to let out a painful cry as he stumbled back, Becoming visible for just a moment as the blade was grabbed and yanked. Unfortunately, This caught Renji off guard and he was pulled towards the hollow, He tried pulling Zabimaru back but by the time his arm had moved the hollow's fist had smashed into Renji's chest and sent him right through the barrier and crashing into the ground of the floating city. Zabimaru's blade still lodged into the hollow's arm as he let out a dreadful scream and came charging at Renji again.

Zabimaru flapping around in the wind and giving the position of the hollow away, Which caused Renji to grin "Andrew! Aim just above Zabimaru!" He cried out, Since Zabimaru had lodged itself into the beasts shoulder, His head was very close to where it was so hitting it's mask from behind while it wasn't looking should be an easy task for the Vizard....Or so Renji hoped, If Renji had been any good with Kidō, He might've been able to use Geki or something on the hollow to paralyze it and make it easier but....He was always bad at Kidō and very rarely ever even bothered thinking about using it, Since it usually backfired and blew up in his face. Renji stood and braced himself, He knew he'd probably have to stop this hollow without his Zanpaktou, And he had to keep it still if Andrew was to get a good shot. And so that's exactly what he did, Renji braced himself and planted his feet firmly into the ground, Extending his hands out he raised them and the hollow's face smashed right into his hands, Though the force wasn't enough to even crack the hollow's mask. The loud roar of the hollow becoming present. The only bad part here was the hollow was still mostly invisible, And because of that, Renji was grabbed by the arm with Zabimaru in it and had his entire torso squeezed. Causing Renji to cry out in pain as he tried dislodging himself from the hollow, Hoping to buy sometime for Andrew to kill this thing before it killed him.

Looks like the lieutenant has just saved my bacon. Time for me to return the favor.

Andrew glared angrily at the hollow as he slammed the handle's tip of his spiked spoon into the ground. He aimed his spoon at the hollow's mask before slamming his fist into the curve. The reiatsu in his body continued to burn brightly, slowly transferring from his body into the spoon to create something that Renji would immediately recognize: Kidō. The incantation he had stored away activated to create the tell tale sign of the ruby red sphere of shakkaho. He launched a pair of spheres with one targeted at the arm that held Renji and the other along the head of the hollow. He knew that it wasn't going to be much, and hopefully it would help weaken the hollow's grip. But Andrew wasn't just thinking about freeing Renji. He clenched his fist tightly, the spice sprinkled from his hand but started to solidify and create three knives that he kept between his fingers as he fleshed an idea inside of his head. A light of inspiration was clear in his eyes as he had a wide grin on his face. As the knives started to build up in reiatsu while feeding off his innate flame, he threw the first knife where Zabimaru was lodged deepest in the hollow's shoulder. The other two knives he saved as he kept one in his left hand and the other in his mouth while he kept his spoon in his dominant right hand.

Though Andrew was not second division fast, but he did perform a running start before slamming his spoon into the ground to use the force of the spoon's impact to lift him higher in the air before his weapon fell on the ground. Pulling the knife out of his mouth, he landed on the hollow's shoulder and slammed both knives into the mask of the elusive monster. He had tried to keep a stable footing, but he slipped and fell to the ground. While falling though, the smile remained as he snapped his fingers. The knives' explosive powers activated, creating three breaching explosions in the process.

Renji looked up as he saw the pale red light, And though Renji was horrible at Kidō and didn't know many...He knew 1 or 2, He knew such a puny spell wouldn't do much to him nor the hollow...But two, Would be able to free him. "Hadō 31, Shakkaho!" Though because Renji was always horrible at Kidō, The spell wasn't very stable and just as the first hit, The second exploded right where Renji was, Forcing the hollow to release him and stumble back with a loud roar. Renji landed on his feet and grinned up at Andrew, Giving him a thumbs up.



Renji looked up at the hollow as he reared his hand back, Flinging it at Renji who did the exact same, Yelling loudly as he did, Their fists collided and caused a small shock wave to send out from the impact, Though Renji was far stronger and able to drive the Hollow back. It was at this point that the knife landed into the hollow's shoulder and shortly after, Two knives fell into the hollow's mask. Though because the hollow was stumbling back some Andrew would have slipped and only a few moments later, Both knives exploded.

Zabimaru dropped to the ground and without a moments hesitation was quickly grabbed by Renji who swong his arm behind him then flung it upwards at the hollow, Screaming out a loud battle cry as Zabimaru ripped right through the Hollow's severely cracked mask, Chopping the head in half before it vanished completely. Renji smirked as Zabimaru slowly retracted. Panting some he was a bit scratched up from the two shakkaho's colliding at the same time and him being in the middle of them, His clothes slightly torn from the event that had just transpired. He slowed his breathing and smiled over at Andrew, Sheathing his Zanpaktou as he gave Andrew a thumbs up "Good work kid, And quick thinking..."

Renji sighed softly and looked around "Wooo wee..." He said with a grin "That sure as hell was fun" He winced a little as he moved his right arm and shook it a bit "Man...His grip was tight, Didn't think I'd escape with an arm left" He joked with a chuckle. To be honest, He shouldn't of gotten caught right there. That hollow wasn't as strong as Renji, And Renji could've evaded easily with Shunpo, But his mind was distracted by what Gin had said...and he'd been distracted that entire time until the two Shakkaho's came out, Of course by then the fight was nearly over.

Huh, so that happened...never saw that happen before.

When Andrew had been in the academy, he spent a lot of time training with Kidō and normally he had seen those who had not been successful watch their incantations fade away into nothing. But to see someone not only be unable to perform Kidō effective but to also have it backfire to hurt the shinigami, that was something he never thought could happen. He kept his eyes on the lieutenant, poised with his pasta spoon tightly gripped in his hand. It was set up with enkosen, so he was ready to quickly give support before throwing another spice tornado once more. Thankfully the plan he set up was coming up successfully. Though Renji gave him a thumbs up, Andrew's eyes were fixated on the hollow. His mind was still very much active, hoping to not need to use his hollow mask. Though Renji knew what he was, he preferred to not use it unless it was absolutely necessary. He watched as his zanpaktou delivered the final blow, the hollow vanishing as the mask was completely destroyed.

As Andrew watched the hollow vanished, his whole body began to relax. He picked up his other spoon while taking a deep breath and exhaling. He was relieved that the hollow had been stopped he could finally relax. His bankai began to dissolve into what seemed to be salt and pepper once again, surrounding Andrew in a circle as he turned to look at Renji. He gave him a friendly smile once more as if the hollow fight had not happened as he spoke again. "Glad to help out Lieutenant," he said while smiling. There was a clear sense of relief in his voice as he then sheathed his zanpaktou.

Renji let out a soft sigh as he closed his eyes. He removed his hand from his Zanpaktou's hilt as the other remained on the scabbard, or Sheath, He looked around to make sure it was safe before looking over at the young male. He'd seen the young males face when Renji's Shakkaho had backfired, And gave a little smirk "Surprised huh?" He asked "That my Hadō backfired?" He sighed and chuckled a bit "Never was one for Kidō when I was in the Academy and often times my Kidō backfires on me, But it can always have some interesting results like that and Shakkaho is a fairly low level Kidō so it's all good I suppose" He shrugged some as he looked up "Still...."

Renji shook his head as he tried to imagine why the hollow's would be attacking in such organized groups "So Gin was right...." He said aloud, Though mostly to himself. He began walking forward a bit before stopping next to Andrew "Tell me something...When did you become one?"