(Back in time…)
Ruka watched helplessly as Raine rushed off to find another entrance, Kano leaped from the tall wall, and followed closely behind him in hot pursuit, leaving Ruka and Tia Harribel alone, standing there.
Tia's hair swayed gently with the wind, staring menacingly at Ruka, like a predator about to pounce.
"You're subordinate seems to be desperate to defeat Aizen…" She finally said… Ruka glanced at her.
"What he desires is none of your business… Let us concentrate on what I desire… I desire access to the inside of this wall…" Ruka said, running her fingers over the hilt of her zanpakuto…
"That will not be happening, sorry, I'm afraid I shall defeat you before you get the chance to…" Tia said confidently, her mouth hidden behind the collar of her robes…
"Then what must be done, must be done…" Ruka wrapped her hand around the hilt of her zanpakuto, the sword burning within her hand as she pulled it from it's sheath, reflecting with a soft orange glow…
"Good, someone who gets to business finally, I have no time for small talk." Tia still stood there, sword un-drawn, hands at either side of her.
"Are you not going to draw your zanpakuto?" Ruka asked.
"I do not believe it is necessary…" Tia responded.
Ruka jumped towards Tia, as Tia rushed out of the way, to the opposite side of Ruka's direction. Ruka swung her blade, barely missing Tia by millimeters, chopping a few strands of her blonde hair… Ruka rushed forward again, this time taking Tia by surprise, she stepped out of the way, as Ruka changed direction and came from Tia's left, successfully tricking Tia, and slicing a gash into her left arm… Tia glanced at Ruka, a glint of anger shimmered in her deadly eyes.
"You were able to cut me, I'm surprised… but you will not do as well once I have drawn my sword…
She reached behind her back, grabbing the long hilt of her zanpakuto… She drew it slowly but carefully, releasing it from its sheath, and spinning it around her finger from a ring at the end of the pommel.
It was a broadsword that was hollow on the middle, with the edges of a normal sword… Energy flowed through it, as she clashed her blade against the sunset blade of Ruka.'s zanpakuto…
Ruka stepped back… Tia lunged forward, jabbing her blade towards Ruka's stomach. Ruka disappeared and appeared behind Tia, thrusting her blade, but being blocked by Tia's broadsword. Tia zoomed forward, Ruka responding and blocking, striking. Sparks flew everywhere… scattering amongst the sand as the blades clattered against one another. They were almost an even match, both of them like graceful dancers as they fought, with extreme precision and technique. Tia spun, and struck Ruka at her side, cutting right at her hip.
Ruka screamed in pain, and looking up, darted forward once again. Tia floated into the air and dodged the oncoming attack.
"You are no match for me, Captain-class Shinigami…" Tia muttered to Ruka, staring at her with confident eyes…
"You are too proud of yourself…" Ruka responded. "You will die like the other Espada who lay out there…"
"They are nothing… they lack power… the power that only I can harness…" Tia's mouth remained hidden behind her robes. Ruka held her zanpakuto in a defensive stance… Ready for whatever strike Tia had next to unleash on her…
"They lack power," Tia continued… "You shall experience the full caliber of my power!" She moved at an extra high speed, striking and swaying, stinging with her dangerous blade, going into a complete frenzy of merciless attacks. Ruka dodged several, trying to keep up, but finally getting the hang of her attacks, she caught up to the speed, striking and defending. Tia shoved her; throwing her backwards into a giant room surrounded by pillars, light streaming in where the wall was broken from where Ruka had been pushed in…
Ruka stood up, her neat pony had been undone, and her light-brown hair was now flowing freely with the wind that brushed in… Her haori was torn near the right hip, and she was fairly worn… Tia Harribel stood in front of the hole, her stance ready, her sword pointed straight out towards Ruka… She sighed, as if she were ready to say something… She drew back her sword, it's silver blade collecting spirit energy as the blade began to glow a bright yellow within the hollowed portion of her blade…aiming at Ruka, and she called out:
"Ola Azul! (Blue Wave)" A projectile of pure blue energy rushed towards Ruka like a ribbon-like wave… Ruka dodged it in time as it crashed against the pillar behind her, causing dust to fog the room, and chunks of debris to spray everywhere… The room illuminated with a blue glow…
"You believe you can stop me? We haven't even reached the climax of the battle yet!" Ruka held her zanpakuto in both of her hands. "You do realize that once I do this you will be finished!"
Tia Harribel did not seem interested, but her eyes did glint with a slight hint of fear for what was about to happen…
"Burn… Suzaku!" Ruka's zanpakuto engulfed entirely into flame, revealing two golden glass-like katanna's in either hand, with orange silk hilts, connected by a golden chain. She held out one of her katanna's a whirlwind of flame bursting from the tip as it collided with the awe-struck Tia Harribel… the flame pushing her outside and smashing her against a giant column. The flame wrapped around the column, crumbling it under the extreme heat and pressure. Tia was covered in heaps of debris and flaming hot chunks of charred stone… the sand around the column had melted to glass from the extreme heat… Tia climbed out, charred and covered in scars… her hair was slightly more messy and shaggy than it had been before, her braids slightly frayed…
"You have brought this too far, shinigami…" She growled, as she stepped forward from the rubble. She stood straight, holding her zanpakuto tightly in her hand, she reached her hand to the zipper of her Arrancar robes, and pulled the zipper down. The bottom half of her face was covered in a hollow-fied mask that resembled a skeletal jawbone of a shark's with razor sharp teeth. The hollowfied mask continued down to her breasts, like ribbed armor, covering up until just where the peak of the breast was, revealing most of her chest…
Ruka's eyes widened… "Raine would have loved to see this…" She thought in her mind.
"Destroy…" Tia began… "Tiburon (Shark)" a crash of a giant wave of water splashed around her like a cocoon, she began transformation… when the water cleared off, her clothes had been removed, and had been replaced by an armor of Arrancar hollowfied bone… her mask no longer covered her mouth, but still covered her breasts, and continued down as long spualders on her shoulders. Two prongs extending far beyond her back resembled shark fins, and the blade in her hand resembled that of an enlarged shark tooth with gills on the side… her boots were long and elongated, covering up until above her knees…
"Ruka…" Tia looked towards her, her mouth straightforward and emotionless… "You will witness the true power of the Trecera Espada…"
Ruka was awestruck, but holding her two flaming zanpakutos firmly in her hands… ready to pounce at any given moment…
She had to be aware. She had to win this fight. She had to burn the enraged shark with the flame of the fiery phoenix…
Ruka swung both of her blades, striking the giant blade that Tia Harribel wielded. Fire blazed from her zanpakuto, Tia Harribel ran backwards, keeping distance between the two opponents. Ruka threw one of her katanna's fire circling around it as it charged towards Tia like a torpedo… The chain extending, Tia dodged out of the way, only to be followed by the chain as the katanna pierced her left leg, allowing the chain to wrap around her, squeezing Tia as she was wrapped tightly within the chin's grip, the katanna still pierced in her leg…
"Burn…" Ruka said, as the chain slowly began to glow with heat, catching on fire, and burning Tia Harribel, who at last resort screamed… "Cascada!"
A giant rushing surge of water blasted straight towards Ruka, smashing Ruka against the wall with its great tsunami-like force. The water surged out from the building and began to cover almost half of the entire floor of Las Noches.
Ruka's zanpakutos were reduced to steam. "Great, out of all my opponents I had to get the one with water…" She mumbled to herself.
"You do realize your bound to destroy almost all of Las Noches…" Ruka said, analyzing most of the damage Tia had done…
"It is worth the punishment, I am determined to defeat you…" Tia stated blankly.
"You are too arrogant…" Tia's cockiness was beginning to annoy her …
Ruka held out both of her zanpakutos straight out, fire beginning to circle around them, as it collected more and more, charging as heat began to collect into the blade itself… A giant tornado-typhoon of flame burst forward, straight towards Tia, the entire place engulfing in flame, the room glowed bright orange as the flame neared Tia.
"La Gota!" A giant burst of water, in the shape of a shark tooth, burst forward and smacked against the tirade of flame, both of them battling for dominance, the two attacks twisting and turning in midair until they disappeared into steam…
The steam drifted throughout the room in puffs of clouds… Tia stood on one side, Ruka on the other, staring at each other until the steam cleared off…
"It's beginning to seem more and more like we are an even match…" Ruka said. "But I hope you do realize that I have only released up to Shikai level… I cannot wait to see how well you would put up with bankai…"
Tia's eyes widened… "That is not your full power!?" She stepped back…
Ruka grinned. She had the upper hand in the battle now…
"No… this doesn't even come close to what I am capable of doing… Allow me to show you…" She smiled.
"Ban-Kai!"
MORE COMING SOON :D
