Who: Khamul, Ty Lee and Gin What: Taking down the wraith When: May 13th Where: Some place with an oliphaunt. And some trolls. Because trolls. Status: Complete Rating: R for violence Triggers: character death, drowning imagery, kidnapping Khamul's baby fel beast...
Ty Lee was stalking Khamul now. Despite her love for all things pink and bright, Ty Lee was perfectly capable of being sneaky. When Khamul left to answer some sort of calling elsewhere, Ty Lee was on his tail. He had to die, not just for what he’d done to Azula and her, but for the general safety of everyone.
She called Gin and told him which direction they were going, and gave him directions to follow behind. She wondered if he was already tracking her. She hoped so.
The battles had been long and hard, but Khamul scarcely noticed. He was searching. Hunting. Let the Witch King and the others battle it out. He had to find the ring.
He moved like a ghost, an aura of pure terror surrounding him. Khamul could scarcely remember his own name.
Ty Lee followed, dodging and weaving through the battle. She kept her eyes on Khamul, always watching him. She couldn’t lose him, not now. She would have her vengeance, she would protect her family.
Something screeched overhead. About three feet long, with a head almost too big for it’s body, a little dragon-like creature flew along behind Khamul. He didn’t pay the fel beast much attention, except to stop once to toss it the remains of an unlucky dog.
Awww, a little baby dragon! Ty Lee grinned at it. “Little dragon, you’ll be coming home with me, tonight.” She promised, bouncing along behind Khamul. She watched for a while, to see what Khamul would do. He was also ignoring the rest of the fight, what was he searching for?
“Baggins,” he hissed, pausing to sniff. Goddamn Frodo and that goddamn ring. He shook his head to clear it, and drew the dragon-blade. Get the ring, end this torment. That was his goal now.
Ty Lee took a deep breath when he drew his sword. She withdrew into that secret part of herself, and let her emotions go. Khamul was going down. Now She rushed after him, taking his armor into account, his robe, the sword. She took it all into account. He would be hard to damage in that stuff, but not hard to distract. She launched a kick at the back of his knee.
He was taken by surprise, hitting the ground, then springing to his feet and slashing behind him with his sword. The fel baby shrieked over head, and then Khamul shrieked. It was a piercing sound, the kind that dug into one’s bones and left only ice behind.
Ty Lee dodged the sword, keeping ahead of him. He was slower than her, old and burdened. Ty Lee was young and light on her feet. She took advantage of it when he screamed, getting in close and cutting off the chi to his sword arm. She hoped it would make him drop the blade. He’d be easy pickings without that sword.
He did lose the use of that arm, but simply switched the sword to his other hand. He lashed out with his foot, and then shadowy tendrils started to wrap through Ty Lee, and around her. She was very fast, a distant part of him thought.
She dodged the kick, scowling when he put the sword in his other hand. So he was that good, huh? The tendrils freaked her out, and for a moment she lost her cool, scrambling backward in panic. She had to stay away from them She’d seen enough hentai to know where this was going.
It might have gone that way with Azula if they hadn’t shown up when they did. Khamul strode forward, his voice hissing and inhuman. “Pest!” The sword slashed through the air as more shadows threatened to surround Ty Lee. Khamul laughed. “You’re more fun.”
Ty Lee skipped and dodged the shadows, looking around for something she could use to her advantage. One of the tables for the wedding reception was still set up, Ty Lee dashed for it, and the champagne bottle sitting in half-melted ice.
“I won’t hurt you,” Khamul said. His voice was raspy, as though it hadn’t been used in a very long time. Inhuman. “Not with my child in you!”
From his vantage point, Gin had been keeping watch, like a slender white haired and white clad ghost, perfectly still and standing on the very corner of a building. The smile hadn't left his face for a second, even though he had heard that last accusation and wondered if it was true, or meant to throw Ty Lee off from the fine and well deserved ass kicking that was getting dished out on Khamul.
He was going to wait for his moment, before he skipped in. If Ty Lee also looked as though she was about to get hentai shadow-tentacle raped, then he was ready to flash step in and stop Khamul. Otherwise, he felt she needed this. Not only for her, but for Azula as well.
He disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared down on the ground, landing soft as a feather, and within Ty Lee’s range of vision. He was reaching into his robe for his wakizashi. ...It's not the size that counts, it's how ya use it, OKAY?!
Ty Lee was heartened when she saw Gin, and enraged at Khamul. She dashed for the champagne, taking careful aim. “Let me pour you a drink.” She growled, and popped the cork at him. It wouldn’t be precise, but it might be enough to let her gain on him again. She just needed a second of distraction.
The cork hit him square in the forehead, disappearing into the blackness of the robe. It bounced back out, and the hood fell back, revealing..absolutely nothing. It was as though the wraith had no head. Or at least no visible one. One tendril, sharpened, shot towards Ty Lee’s ankle.
Damn. Ty Lee stomped on it, and pushed off to bounce over to Khamul. She had to get close. She had to get him good and distracted. Even if it meant risking him using the shadows against her.
From behind Khamul, Gin waited and watched, his smile turning into a grin. He knew that the Khamul he first met was no longer there, no longer someone who could be saved. Whatever it was, much like the Hollows that the Soul Reapers used to fight, was a creature consumed, that would seek only to destroy and consume that which was around it. Never to be satiated.
It was something dark and cold. Nothing more, nothing less.
Gin would wait patiently for Ty Lee to distract the wraith and then make his move. He gave her a thumbs up, to let her know he was ready when she was.
From the sky came something large and ominous. A full sized fell beast screeched, diving towards Gin, claws out and teeth bared. Something heavy stomped on the ground.
A troll, ten feet tall and twice as wide came crashing through a car.
The beast pulled up, twisting around and landing between Khamul and Ty Lee. The wraith grabbed on as the creature beat it's wings and soared into the air, leaving the troll to finish his opponents off.
Gin sighed like this was a minor complication. Because, sadly, that's all it was to him. Why you got to make things so difficult, Khamul? Why you do that?
"Shoot to kill, Shinso," Gin said as he drew out his soul sword, unleashing it's shikai ability, so that the blade shot out in a streak of white, slicing like a hot knife through butter as he moved the blade at the troll. Such a sad, slow, cumbersome creature. It didn't help that he'd used the same technique to slice through three large Hollows at once, slicing them in half, down the center, lengthwise. A troll was like lvl 10 beast compared to something nicknamed 'God Spear'.
Roll to dodge or play jump rope, Troll!
The Troll was...a troll. It was sliced cleanly in half, and as the mist of blood cleared, the real threat materialized. A full sized oliphaunt. It thundered towards Gin and Ty Lee, men atop it shooting a hail of arrows at them.
Above, the fel beast sped away, Khamul intent on his search for the ring.
Ty Lee knew Gin had the troll. She had to a) take care of the enormous elephant thing and b) catch Khamul. She wondered if she could do both, the elephant thing had a rider, she could take him for sure.
She took a running start and dashed for the oliphant, grabbing a tusk to climb up its head.
The creature shook it’s head, trying to dislodge her. The rider drew his bow, and fired.
Ty Lee held on tight to the oliphant’s tusk. The arrow grazed her shoulder and back, but she wasn’t going to stop for anything. She shimmied up the tusk, and eyed the harness that held the rider and his equipment in place. She couldn’t sever it with a throwing knife, unfortunately. She just had to wait until the oliphant swung its head the right way and jump for it.
The great beast turned, crashing into a building and trying to shake her off. The rider wasn’t able to get another good shot, though he tried valiantly. As she got close, he drew a curved sword. The man gave a warcry, challenging her to come at him, bro. The creature rumbled beneath them, careening around the parking lot.
Ty Lee used the building to bounce up onto its harness and scramble up its back. She was more than ready for this fight, she had a ringwraith to catch. His sword was no problem, she darted in fast, to block the chi to both his arms (no half measures anymore), and kick him off the beast’s back.
His arms slumped to his sides and he gaped at her comically. In the next second he was tumbling off the Oliphaunt, and the second after that the creature had crushed him into a paste.
Well, this was going to complicate matters. Not Khamul on his flying beast, because Gin could essentially grab Ty Lee and flash step to keep up, making it seem almost like flying. He could even stand on thin air, like he was levitating. Any shinigami or lieutenant worth anything, could do so. Even the seemingly lazy ones, like himself.
What complicated matters was that there was an oversized elephant that Ty Lee as on. Hopefully there weren't any animal lovers watching, because Gin extended Shinso, moving the blade toward the rampaging beast's front two legs.
"Hold on! I’m hittin' the brakes!" Gin cheerfully called out to Ty Lee, so she could have some time to compensate. He hoped.
Ty Lee braced herself to tumble off the oliphaunt. She realized she couldn’t use the thing to catch Khamul, it was anything but subtle. Plus she had no idea how to steer it.
Gin was by Ty Lee's side in an instant, flashing her a impish smile. He needed her to stop Khamul's powers, so he had his opportunity to destroy him. Oh, if only he had known Ty Lee when he made his final move against Aizen. Things could've ended so differently.
"I think we better get after Khamul," he told her, before the beast crashed to the ground. He held out one hand to her. "The landing's gonna be a bitch, so grab hold."
She took his hand, readying herself for whatever would happen next. “I’m not worried about landing.”
"That's good," Gin cheerfully replied, pulling her toward him, wrapping one arm around her waist, and flash stepping them off the oliphaunt and onto a nearby rooftop. It was going to take several leaps to catch up to Khamul, and Gin was still trying to work out how to do that, with a passenger. "Well this' gonna be interesting."
Ty Lee just held on, trusting Gin wouldn’t drop her. Even if he did she could probably land with only a couple broken bones.
Ty Lee was tough and determined, rightfully so, so Gin found the nearest, darkest concentration of spiritual power, and began hopping toward it, using rooftops, light poles, the tops of vehicles and statues to follow. It was almost like flying!
"I guess we're gonna haveta do this the hard way." He was utterly conversational. Ty Lee wasn't heavy at all so it wasn't a huge effort on his part. And even IF he ever complained some girl was heavy, he was liable to get slapped upside his head. He was smart enough to avoid that. "Gonna have to throw you onto him, I guess, an' let you do your thing."
“Okay. I’ll be fine. It shouldn’t take me long to block his chi.” Ty Lee took a deep breath, and focused. “I’m ready when you are.”
"Gotcha. Good luck, huh?" Gin caught sight of the wraith and with one mighty leap, seemed to disappear from one spot and reappear in another, using thin air to propel them both upward toward the retreating figure. With another leap, he caught up and deposited Ty Lee onto the fell beast's back. It was, essentially, like a decoy to divert attention, because Gin hung back, knowing he had to wait to make his move when she had finished working her magic.
Khamul reacted immediately, jabbing his elbow back towards Ty Lee's face. His other arm had recovered somewhat, and he twisted on the back of the Fel Beast as it suddenly barrel rolled and dove towards the earth.
Ty Lee dodged the elbow and grabbed on to Khamul before the beast rolled. She held on to his armor for dear life. If she blocked his chi now he’d kill her, and that would be all kinds of bad. She had to get him off the fel beast, or get control of it first.
The wraith shrieked again, trying to send pure fear through the girl. He snapped his head back towards her face as the beast rolled and twisted through the air. It skimmed the ground and shot straight up, before looping over and shaking wildly.
Ty Lee was afraid, oh yes. She was also mad as hell, and she wouldn’t be intimidated. He’d scared her once, but now she was determined. This was the end game, and fear easily fueled anger. She climbed up his armor, knowing it would be hard for him to reach backward. She chi blocked his legs, holding on to him for dear life.
He fell off the beast, grabbing for the reigns and holding on tightly with one hand. Shadows ran up Ty Lee's legs, and around her neck, and then started to pour down her mouth and nose like an icy liquid.
Ty Lee coughed and gagged, but she was determined. She climbed around his legs, linking her own legs around his hips. She couldn’t talk, but she could give him a manic smile as she (finally), got through the entirety of the chi blocking sequence.
Khamul’s grip on the beast loosened, and then it was gone entirely. The only thing he could do was take Ty Lee with him. His hood flapped loose, everything beneath the robe completely invisible. The shadows pulsed, and stopped, though they didn’t retreat from the girl’s lungs as the ground rushed up towards them. Khamuls arms flopped uselessly.
Ty Lee pushed off of Khamul’s body. She needed air, but she also needed to land away from him, so Gin could do his thing. She managed to put distance between them, and then she purposely blacked out, so her body would be limp when she hit the ground. It was all up to Gin, now.
Shucks. Time to save the girl too. He felt like a real cowboy, hailing from Osaka, Japan.
He moved quickly to step in and loop one arm around Ty Lee's waist, because no way was he going to let her go SPLAT after she did all that. With his free arm extended and grasping onto his wakizashi, he said loud enough to be heard over the wind, "Bankai. Kamishini no Yari."
The blade shot out in the blink of an eye, dead-center through where Khamul's chest was. As the blade retracted, it left a sliver of itself within the form. All it required was one hand to Khamul's chest to activate.
One more leap before the ground decided to say hello. Gin seemed to disappear, with Ty Lee in tow, popping up in front of Khamul's face, his grin ear to ear as he touched a fingertip to where the sliver was. He whispered "Kurose" under his breath, causing the sliver to trigger the cellular breakdown that would - he hoped - start to erode Khamul from the inside, out.
Did he feel bad? Yeah, he did. But it was only for what Khamul was, before, and not what he had become, now.
The world darkened in a one block radius around them, before all the darkness started to pull into Khamul. He thrashed and writhed, and the shadows tried to expel the sliver. They very nearly succeeded, but then Khamul let go. A laugh bubbled up from somewhere within him. His voice sounded distant to his ears. "Thanks."
His eyes looked past Gin, to the amber irises that awaited him.
The cellular decay accelerated, consuming Khamul in a burst of light.
Gin's smile faded a little as he looked to take one step forward, crouched down as he held onto Ty Lee, and the pair disappeared before they could both hit the ground. There hadn't been much time, and Gin had only slightly slowed the descent for the both of them, since he wanted to stay in closer and make sure that Khamul really was gone.
...then again, maybe there had been a glimmer of the man left in there, after all. Drowning in all that darkness and hating it, but unable to stop it.
Even so? As he stopped on a rooftop, the white robes fluttering only slightly and then perfectly still, it didn't mean he hadn't hurt Ty Lee or Azula, and that was something he couldn't stand. He might not have very many scruples since he was a killer, but he couldn't stand men hurting girls, especially someone like Ty Lee, who had been taken advantage of in the worst way possible, to set up someone Ty Lee loved. That just ain't right.
He patted one hand on Ty Lee's face, to try to get her to come to.
"Aww c'mon. Rag doll dunnit suit ya none," Gin was saying, hoping the hentai shadow tentacles hadn't clogged her lungs up. No way did he want to do a soul burial on her, after all she had done so far. He had it in his mind that Azula would be piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssed if that happened.
Ty Lee gasped as air was allowed back into her lungs, and she jerked upright, rolling out of Gin’s arms. She coughed and hacked for a couple minutes, then took big gasping breaths of air. She looked around, hoping she wouldn’t see a black robed figure sneaking up on them. Nothing, just an intense war between humans and the dark beasts that had attacked. She sighed, relaxing. “Always a pleasure to work with you, Gin.”
"Not a problem and, hey, ya ain't dead...even if it looks like everyone else's up to their ears in a big ol' mess." He imagined he might have to stealthily help out, since it was there and stuff. But after that? He was going on a roadtrip for food and fun, and was thinking of someone he was going to invite. Getting his mind off this might be a fine idea, even if he covered up any darker thoughts with his usual mask of a smile. "Ya probably need ta check on Azula, ne? If ya want, I'll pop ya on over there so you ain't gotta navigate through this mess. Least I can do."
...before he leveled a city block, while cutting off some trolls at the knees. He'd try to refrain.
Emphasis on try.
“That would be great.” She stood, giving Gin a big hug. “You’re the best, Gin. Have fun with all this.” She pointed her head at the battle, a big smile on her face.
"Nah, no big. Happy ta help," he told her. "I feel like a superhero accountant, now. Kinda bad ass an' nerdy."
She got a big hug in return, before he helped Ty Lee get back to Azula, asap.