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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 4, 2024 23:23:14 GMT -6
Nemu felt a white hot pit grow in the middle of her stomach that seemed to twist her insides. She felt her face twist into an expression of distaste. All of the disgust she had felt before had now become rage. She pushed off of the ground, launching herself at Szayel so hard the concrete beneath her feet crumbled and buckled. She raised her left fist and focused her energy there, lashing out with a blow so hard it snapped Szayel's wrist back as he attempted to catch her fist. Nemu's fist collided with his chest and he was sent flying back into one of the fluid tanks, bursting through it in a mighty crash of glass and rush of liquid, the tank exploding out like fireworks.
"You speak too much. I need you planting seeds in my head less so than the shopkeeper," Nemu said in a deathly calm voice, though her fists clenched at her sides as she walked up to the destroyed tank, the fluid that had been inside flowing across the floor, soaking her tabi, which she ignored. Once she was close enough to the espada to touch him, she reached down and grabbed his ankle from where his legs dangled out of the remains of the shattered tank. She squeezed hard until she heard his bones grind together. "Where is my master's research materials? Tell me and I will show you the mercy my father did not. This time I will make your death swift."
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Post by Szayelaporro Granz on Nov 4, 2024 23:41:55 GMT -6
Kicking free of her grasp, Szayel coughed, coughing up flecks of blood as he struggled out of the shattered tank, his expression caught somewhere between annoyance and utter disdain. His wrist throbbed from where it had snapped, the dull ache matched only by the sharp pain in his ribs, where her punch had landed. But despite his injuries, his smug grin remained firmly in place.
“Oh, really, Nemu… did you have to be so barbaric?” he drawled, wincing theatrically as he shifted his weight, gingerly testing his wrist and flinching with each movement. “Honestly, such brute force—no finesse, no elegance. I thought your ‘beloved master’ had higher standards.” His gaze flicked to her hand still gripping his ankle, tightening with each second. His smirk faded briefly, replaced by a glint of genuine annoyance.
But then, with a flash of his own Sonído, he twisted, wrenching free and bringing his foot down in a sharp kick to her shoulder that sent her stumbling back. He followed up with a flurry of strikes, each one deliberate, landing with jarring force. She absorbed each hit, her stance holding steady, but he could see the cracks forming, her determination beginning to waver. He struck her side hard, sending her skidding across the blood-soaked floor.
As Nemu pushed herself up, Szayel inspected his cracked wrist with a grimace of disgust. “Honestly,” he muttered, brushing his fingertips gingerly over the bruised skin, “do you realize how much it costs to maintain this level of perfection? You’ve completely ruined my wrist and left me drenched in this… filthy tank fluid.” He sneered, shaking his hand as though flicking off something revolting.
He cast a disdainful look back at her, eyeing her with faint contempt. “As much as I would love to keep this little exchange going, I’m afraid I have better uses for my time than trading blows with a glorified wind-up toy.” With a smirk, he turned his back to her, his voice echoing with haughty finality as he began to leave. “As for your master’s precious research? It’s not here. You’re welcome to comb through the ruins, but don’t expect to find anything worth salvaging.”
He paused briefly in the doorway, casting her one final, pitying glance. “Do tell your dear captain that his little project was a disappointment,” he taunted, smirking with satisfaction. “And that his doll will never be anything more than an empty shell.” With that, he vanished into the shadows, his laughter fading as he left her alone amidst the wreckage.
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 5, 2024 15:20:40 GMT -6
Nemu quickly righted herself and ran through the lab back to the front entrance, not even bothering to cast a light kido to see. She knew the path by heart. She threw the doors open, raising her hand to her eyes as the moonlight of Hueco Mundo became blinding for a brief moment. She tried to pick up on the Octava Espada's reiatsu, but it had disappeared completely. She looked back at the lab behind her. There was nothing left inside. Not even any bodies. There was no use in staying. Somehow, she had to find out where the arrancar of Las Noches had scattered to after its destruction. Surely they hadn't ventured out of Hueco Mundo, but the sands were vast. Even the Forest of Menos had a lot of land to cover. She had no idea how long it would take to cover every square foot of land.
Nemu raced through the forest, trying to pick up any slight remains of Szayel's reiatsu. She had to find him. All she needed was a single thread to follow. A single hint of his spiritual energy to follow him straight to wherever they were hiding. Or to at least give her a lead on where to start.
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Post by Sada Teruo on Nov 5, 2024 15:47:31 GMT -6
Shibungoretsu rang out, silently slicing through thick tree trunks in front of the Shinigami woman. The trees fell causing the woman to stop. Then came the crack of his whip against the air seconds after the whip returned to his hand. From the ground, Kagawa looked up at the woman. The woman looked down at him.
Shibungoretsu shifted in shape, taking its own form...Narakau. Hazy purple eyes glowed as Kagawa stepped back into the shadows of the forest. Not Kagawa...Sada Teruo. The echoes of his laughter bounced around the forest. "How wonderful..." he whispered. Like his laughter, his words seemed to be coming from multiple directions. "I have been craving the blood of a Shinigami...I supposed you will do. Well...Do you even bleed?"
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 5, 2024 20:45:06 GMT -6
Nemu threw her guard up and raised her fists, ready to fight whoever was coming after her next. However, as she casted her gaze around, she saw no one. She felt no one. She only heard a disembodied voice she did not recognize. Nemu moved quickly towards one of the massive trees and placed her back to it so no one could sneak up on her. "Who are you? I do not recognize your voice. Show yourself."
Sada appeared before her, his face splitting her guard. His poison flowed from his mouth as he looked at her with wide eyes. The Shinigami shunpo'd back and away from him. Sada grinned. "Well...Do you actually bleed? When I tear your arm from your body, will blood pour out? How does your flesh taste?"
Nemu, startled, put a great deal of distance between her and the... hollow? She wasn't sure if he was a hollow or something else entirely. But she wouldn't be put off guard again. Whoever--whatever--he was, she doubted he would be so easily deterred like the Octava Espada. "Devour me at your own risk. I assure you it will not end well if you choose to do so. But you are in my way. Begone."
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Post by Sada Teruo on Nov 7, 2024 12:54:06 GMT -6
Teruo inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the woman. He licked his lips at the scent of her. He could hear the faint ticking of her inner workings. It put a grin on his lips. "I won't dull my teeth on your metal, dear. But, I will tear you apart. And, leave what happens to be left of you to the wind." Teruo hazy purple eyes glowed brightly as he crept back into the shadows of the forest.
"I think, Dear Dead One...I will take my time with you..."
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 7, 2024 14:20:01 GMT -6
Nemu, for the first time since her creation, thought that maybe this was what fear felt like. Tasted like, as an acidic taste pricked the back of her throat. She found her fingers trembling. She had no idea what kind of creature this man was, but her instincts told her that he was no hollow. He was no mere Espada either. He had to be something much worse. She knew, even though she could not feel his reiatsu what so ever.
With a sharp inhale, Nemu took off through the forest, hoping that she could somehow outrun him. Her mind raced as she thought through her options. She could stay in Hueco Mundo until she retrieved her master's research, as he ordered her to, or she could return home and report her findings to him. Surely he would not expect her to take on a being stronger than an Espada on her own...
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Post by Sada Teruo on Nov 8, 2024 13:16:41 GMT -6
He let her run. Teruo let her get far enough away from her as she thought was safe...Then, he moved. In the blink of an eye Teruo came in front her left side. His step carried him beneath her as she jumped and rolled. But, his nails caught her leg at the knee. He dug his nail into the side side, tightening the hold he had on her knee. Teruo yanked the woman from the air with ease.
Nemu hit the ground so hard every puff of air was forced from her lungs, the earth splintering beneath her. Not giving herself time to catch her breath, she immediatley spun in his grasp and snapped her free leg out to kick him square in the side of the head. She put the full force of her strength in the kick, even as his nails dug deeper, shredding through fat and muscle until they reached bone.
Teruo grinned, feeling the weight behind her kick. He closed his fist around what remained of the woman's head. He reached for the broken limb beneath his hand, and ripped it free from the woman's body. Teruo threw it behind him as he began to motion toward the woman. "Is that all you can manage?"
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 8, 2024 13:57:13 GMT -6
Nemu let out a scream as her leg was forcefully separated from her body just above the knee, almost to mid thigh. She wasn't going to win this fight. She already knew that. The most she could hope for was to get away and get back to Soul Society. She wasn't going to roll over and die.
"I will not... go down without a fight." Nemu gritted her teeth and reached into the wound on her thigh, clenching her jaw so tight she thought her teeth would crack. She dug around in the bloody flesh until her fingertips touched a small vial. She lept forward on her intact leg with all her speed, throwing a punch with the vial still in her hand. The glass container cracked, splashing the contents of the unknown drug into the man's face.
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Post by Sada Teruo on Nov 8, 2024 14:14:58 GMT -6
Teruo shook his head, inhaling loudly through the nose. He swatted at his face, feeling the poison from the vial eat away at his flesh. He covered his face with his hands for a moment. Just for a moment. Teruo laughed loudly as he cocked his head back before turning it to look at the woman. He face was without a blemish, as if the poison had done nothing.
"I heal faster than any of you can hurt me." Teruo licked his lips. "But, I'll let you live a little longer, as that was a good effort." Crouching down with his forearms resting on his knees, Teruo's grin grew wide. "Make your next move."
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 8, 2024 15:54:06 GMT -6
Nemu's eyes grew wide as she watched the skin melting drug do absolutely nothing to him. When her master had tested it on his subjects, they were dissolved within seconds, barely enough time for them to scream. And there he was, as if the drug were water.
Still, she wasn't going to give up.
Nemu lashed out with her drill hand, spearing him straight through the throat, blood bursting everywhere like a balloon. Her rapidly spinning hand and arm ground away at his flesh like it were nothing but animal meat, only for his skin to then regenerate before she even had a chance to withdraw her hand, leaving her arm trapped inside his body. She tried pulling her arm out, only for him to catch it in his hand, squeezing so hard she felt her bones snap.
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Post by Sada Teruo on Nov 8, 2024 20:04:23 GMT -6
Teruo laughed as he pulled the woman's drill from his throat. He kept a firm hold on her arm as he reached forward and grabbed her by the throat with his other hand. He pulled her toward him, dragging her on the ground. Teruo spit a mix of his blood and salvia in her face and watched as his own poisons worked as intended.
Nemu screamed as the fluids he spat in her face seared into her flesh and burned her eyes. It felt like flames licking over her face. She scratched and clawed at his arm, trying to release his hold on her throat. Strangely, though her face burned, her vision never went anything other than blurry, as if the acid-like blood and spit were also somehow... healing her. Prolonging the effects like a cycle of searing and healing. Through her blurry vision, the man's face warped into that of Szayel, his wicked smile sneering at her. Had she been hallucinating the whole thing? Did the Octava Espada drug her with something? He had to have used her father's research to find a poison or drug that worked on her. Maybe she was still inside the empty lab, helpless as Szayel did as he pleased.
Szayel stuck out his disgustingly long tongue and leaned forward to lick her cheek. Nemu thrashed around, scratching and clawing at his face and kicking out with the one leg she still had. "LET ME GO!" She shrieked with a sound she had never heard come from her own mouth before.
Naraku began to scream at his side. Then, it's screams shifted to the laughter of the Octava Espada. Terou laughed as he released the woman. She pedaled backwards in fear. He crouched down and watched the woman fight the nothing surrounding her. He licked his lips at the sight of her.
"Yes..." he whispered. "I smell your fear, Dear Dead One..." Teruo watched as Naraku shifted in form, taking his own. It clawed at the woman as she screamed and even fought back at times. Pieces of flesh, metal and clothing flew through the air for a moment. But, soon the woman stopped screaming and Teruo had grown bored.
"Naraku...Leave her to die." Teruo rose to his feet and turned his back to the broken woman. "If you happen to survive, Dear Dead One...Remember me and all the pain I've gifted you. Thnen, come back to me so that I may finish you." At that, both Teruo and Naraku disappeared.
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Post by Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi on Nov 9, 2024 17:33:30 GMT -6
Nemu laid on the ground in a pool of her own blood, barely conscious. Her entire body was in such pain that she could barely register where her injuries were. She knew for a fact that her leg was gone and her hand drill had been torn off. Her vision was still blurry at best and her face was on fire from his acidic blood. With as much blood as there was on the ground, she had to have significant damage to her torso. She could see blurry red chunks scattered across the ground that she thought looked vaguely like the metal parts of her body that her father had modified her with. He had ripped out her body modifications. That would explain the blood.
But wait... who had attacked her? She could barely remember. She vaguely remembered the Octava and... another whom she had never seen before. She didn't even know his name. But then the Octava... had he come back? She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember why she was here. Where was she? The only reminder was the vast trees and the low groaning howl that took her several minutes to realize was a Gillian Menos.
That was right. She was in the Forest of Menos. She had come here to find her master's research. She needed to get back. She needed to return home so he could heal her.
Nemu moaned in pain and reached out her intact hand, clawing at the ground and pulling herself forward to where she saw her sword that she rarely used. It's main purpose was traveling through the senkaimon. She crawled the several feet that felt like miles to the sword, pushing herself further with her two good limbs and her bloody stumps until she was close enough to grab the hilt. Nemu lifted the sword with a violently shaking hand and tried to picture where she was going. Where was she going? She couldn't remember. It was all so foggy and she felt like she would black out from the pain and blood loss at any moment. She couldn't remember feeling such agony before. She needed to get help so the pain would stop.
She turned the hilt of her sword and miraculously the sliding doors of the Senkaimon appeared. Nemu dragged herself through, unsure of where she would end up. Moved
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