Breaking Rust [Fantasia, Andrew]

The three-pronged attack may have seemed rather dangerous at first, but Andrew was showing just how quickly her efforts could be stifled and battered away, spawning Shinigami magics to blast the trio away before their full attack could be executed. Powerful winds emanated out from the still steel of the boy's sword, shrieking loudly as gusts wildly shook the loose cloaks of the girls back like capes, before they were removed entirely. They were sent flying in the powerful currents of the wind and before cascading slowly to the ground on the street a great distance behind them, but the Fantasia's themselves were not so flimsy. Even as the small hurricane blasted away at her, kicking up dust around them and battering at their bare skin, they remained steadfast, using their superior might to resist the wind spell. At the very least, they were forced to close their eyes, and they were prevented from performing the rest of their assault, but the effectiveness of the wind soon fell out. When the atmosphere finally settled again, they all opened their eyes and found themselves still yet in dangerous proximity to the young boy, which was far more worrisome for him than it was to them. They all grasped their swords with both hands, rose them into the air, and all simultaneously leaped at him bringing their weapons down with executing force. Any normal sword would merely shatter under such overwhelming force, and crumple the poor victim to the ground with the concussive force of the impact alone. Even if the attack were dodged and the three swords smashed into the ground, a small crater in the asphalt would be created as an explosion of debris and dust flew out fiercely for several yards, the dislodged pebbles moving at speeds fast enough to slash through clothing and flesh.

All the while this was happening, there were two other mimics of Fantasia on the outskirts of the fighting area, one holding the other in great care. This spice was dangerous, and there was simply no way she could fight in this state with the blindness it had caused. That left one thing for Fantasia to do left, and that was to bring relief to her fallen comrade. She seemed oblivious to the loud cacophony of the fight behind her, as she reached up to the Fantasia in her arms to caress her cheek softly. She received a soft smile, followed by another fevered cough; but that would be her last as the mystical force holding her together would dissipate. Before the injured one had a chance to cough again, she would illuminate the area with a light blue glow, her physical body becoming energy again. She sparkled with incomparable beauty for a short time, before finally, her form dispersed into nothingness. The squad of five was cut to four, but there were no regrets left in the heart of Fantasia as she stood up and turned around. The area was now covered in a large cloud of dust, caused by the massive impact her clones had created. She reached her left hand out and called mentally to the signature of her fallen blade. The weapon would hum with power before scraping across the ground and taking off toward her. The handle flew into her hand with a light smack, and once again she was armed and ready to fight.

...While dust obscured her vision, Fantasia knew there was another way to see the boy, as she tapped into her latent ability to sense spirit ribbons. While her capabilities to sense Reiatsu were subpar, Andrew was so close by that she could detect the faintest tell of him. She bent her knees slightly, and launched forth into the smoke at high speeds, barely tapping the ground with her toes for a millisecond with the speed she was moving at. It was no flash step, but it was comparable as Fantasia soon found herself close enough to the boy to see his form within it. Her Claymore was already cocked back for the swing, and she would slice diagonally with a loud cry from his left shoulder to right hip in her attempt to cleave straight through him. If he chose to block against her absurd strength, he would most definitely feel his legs buckle under the force before Fantasia decidedly would kick out with her foot into his stomach. If he wasn't already gone by evading, this kick would certainly send him tumbling through the air and into a nearby building. By now as well the other three would catch up to join by the other's side, lining up to make four. They would emerge from the cloud of dust, looking to see where the young boy had gone by each looking in a different direction. Even with just four, they made a formidable force, not to be taken lightly in the slightest.

This was his first mistake. Despite the boy acknowledging Fantasia's strength, he chose still to fight back sword against sword, trying to match power for power even still. The three clones swung at the same time and Andrew brought his weapon up to intercept, and he would soon regret it as overwhelming force came down upon him. A loud clang sounded through the air and bit back at the cloud of dust with a shockwave of collateral force. The three duplicates of Fantasia together rather easily forced him down despite the resistance, his knees cracking into the asphalt street as he bowed to the attack. Rather hastily the boy looked for something, anything to utilize against her. He reached for his spiritual energies and pulled them into the cool steel of his blade, causing it to glow white hot and catch on fire. Just about when the three ladies were going to reach his face with their greater strength, he started pushing back as though the coat of flame was strengthening him. More in surprise than anything else; the trio leapt back into the debris and were obscured by the film of dust again, slightly shocked by the sudden blaze. Andrew would feel the huge burden lifted from him and allow him back to his feet, but upon standing again he would realize his actions were regrettable. Had he simply dodged the attack then he would have been unscathed by their exchange. However, he took the hit against all odds, and his legs would be rather damaged from being crumpled into the ground like that—especially his knees.

There would be cracks in his bones, blood and bruising upon his flesh, and an ache that flared with his movements. His arms which held his blade up while he was nearly crushed, now their strength abandoned him and made his weapon heavy in his hands. He was damaged; he had to face to consequences of fighting such an opponent head on where she had the advantage, and he would. Fantasia would not let up irregardless, unbeknownst of whatever injuries her opponent had taken, and this is when she would attack. She charged into the cloud with only her footsteps to alert her presence milliseconds before her silhouette vaguely materialized within the dust. There would be an even slighter amount of time to react to her diagonal swing to him, especially with those injuries. Probably knowing he couldn't take another head-on attack like that right now, he narrowly dodged shimmering steel by inches with a messy dodge. He didn't, however, react fast enough to the pitch of her heavy boot. Fantasia felt her foot impact something soft—Andrew's stomach—and send his body flying out of the smoke unceremoniously. The sound of nearby crashing told her that he had smashed through the outside wall of a building with such force, no doubt worsening his condition.

One thing was sure, however; Andrew was quite durable. He still stood even after all of that, as each Fantasia could see now. The smoke was gone and the four stood side by side by side by side, watching. They didn't have to search for him, as he stood in full view through the crevice in the wall, covered in dust and hesitant to make a move for himself. That was fine, as it meant Fantasia could continue going on the offensive and withering him down further. To further increase her odds, however, Fantasia could tell now that she had enough power to create another clone. It gave away which one was the real one, but one of the girls' swords began to glow a dull hue, brimming with energy. Every time her weapon got close to Andrew it would steal away some of his energy, weakening him. Yet that energy did not just disappear, but assimilate into Fantasia's Claymore until enough was collected to juxtapose. The blonde held her sword upwards, causing her weapon to glow even more brightly in the gleam of the sun. That's when suddenly a mist of blue and white began to form from nothingness beside her, solidifying into physical matter. Within seconds, a fifth Fantasia was standing among them, as the shine of the Claymore was consumed. Another clone had been created, to replace the one that had just been lost seconds ago. What would it mean to the boy, seeing how easily the girl could create more with just a few swipes of her sword?

He had not time to think, as the five rushed forth toward the building. Andrew was effectively cornered into the building and Fantasia made haste to take advantage of that. Now, he would think; with this one narrow hole into the building, he would only have to fight one at a time, right? The powerful girl quickly shattered that illusion as on either side of him, the walls were smashed out of the way by two clones each, while the fifth of them charged directly at his fore. He would quickly find himself surrounded on three fronts, dividing his attention vastly. A flurry of sharp metal would fly at him, each Fantasia swinging or stabbing at him in a different angle. He would quickly find himself in bits and pieces if he did not act, and yet with such overwhelming odds and such hindering injuries, could he truly fight back anymore? He had to pull some crazy tricks out from underneath his sleeves, or Fantasia would win. Simple as that.

Under pressure.

There was no light response to this; Andrew was backed up against the wall and pitted against lions in a pit. If he tried to continue fighting as he was he would only be punished further each step of the way. The level of power he was on right now simply did not cut it, leaving one choice. As the five doppelgangers of Fantasia closed in on their prey, the boy would release his Shinigami's pride, in the form of his Bankai. Bankai, which the little lady had been told was something usually only achievable by Captain-tier Shinigami. It brought her the slightest pause as she considered this. Was she really that strong already? Was she really going toe-to-toe with someone with a Bankai? Fantasia had always wanted to become stronger to achieve her ultimate goal in slaying all Hollows and other evils from the dark depths... but she hadn't realized how far she'd come in so little a time. She would never be so confident to have consider herself this strong already... though whether or not she could match up to him was left to be determined. As he only just released his Bankai, Fantasia witnessed the transformation as the Reiatsu of his swirled around him and altered his very appearance.

As the monochromatic flames subsided, Andrew was left standing with newfound strength—his body would be revitalized by the stunning energy, no longer inhibited by the injuries caused only seconds ago. His ratty old clothing became new unblemished cloth in the form of a chef's uniform, complete with a hat and giant cooking utensils. They were cooking spoons suspended on his back like swords, ready to be unsheathed at any moment to swat someone over the head with. While they seemed to be magically inscribed with japanese characters, Fantasia did not notice the minute detail as she was all too taken aback by the rest of his evolution. As it turns out, that mere second of delay would cost Fantasia a lot, as it gave Andrew the time he needed to utilize one of his abilities with an incantation of its name: Barely catching the sight of cascading spice before it happened, she would realize what was coming. With her hive mind complex, the entire squadron of females would act at the last second, violently twisting on their heels and facing away from the incoming blast of spice. This maneuver, however, did not prevent the vigorous force from smashing into their backs and sending them flying straight back out of the building fanned out in five different directions.

It did seem like Andrew had just begun to turn the tables, finally taking control of the fight back. Fantasia and her clones would all hit the ground with a loud thud and tumble backwards several meters before coming to a rest, kicking up plumes of dust all the way. There was no time for rest, however, as they all jumped to their feet with their swords at the ready just in case he followed up with a swift attack. No such thing, as Andrew was still inside the building and granting them a small breather before the next exchange. During this time, Fantasia felt a pulse of energy as she winced in pain—she felt her spirit splitting once again as a result of the damage she'd taken. Her form was distorting this way and that, trying to be in two places at once until her energies finally gave form to another physical copy, bringing the total amount of clones from five to six just like that. The ability used here was Repercussion, which would cause Fantasia to create clones whenever she took damage. The greater the injury caused, the more clones that were spawned... however the small battering she received from Andrew was only enough to make for one duplicate.

Not enough.

Fantasia rose her sword up into the air and cried out loudly, shouting a rallying call to her comrades in arms. She was a general, commanding an army; an army of clones. She may have started as merely one, but every moment she spent in a fight would increase the number of soldiers she had at her sides, and backs, and fronts. She may have seemed like one person, but anyone who believed that did not truly know the girl. As she unleashed her battle cry, her sword began to glow again with her own light blue spiritual energy, glowing brighter until it couldn't be contained anymore. It released this energy in four different directions around her, firing spectral missiles into the ground among her current contingent. They were like seeds, and when they impacted the ground with a light blast, they erupted into fully-fledged figures. Six became ten in an instant; ten Fantasias whom had no differences between one another. Each looked exactly the same, had the same energy signature, and even retained the same scratches and stains on them as the one they were modeled after. Now having doubled her strength in numbers, the real Fantasia lowered her sword from high up in the air to pointing out straight in front of her. Her eyes were dead set on Andrew with his newly-activated Bankai, and she yelled her command as a true general would. ''CHARGE!''

And in a stampede her small army ran forwards, a chorus of roars sounding their approach. They held their swords up, and to glory they rode...