Wolverine: Practice
Danger
Wolverine is led by his companions Jushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyoraku to the massive training grounds of soul society. The two captains stop a few yards ahead of Logan and turn to face the mutant. Wolverine sits down the Tenshintai and as he props it up he leans against it, resting his elbow on the device's shoulder. The short man looks around at his surroundings and sees a vast stretch of land that goes on for miles and miles! He lets out a low whistle; impressed with what he sees.
Wolverine: 'Kinda nice place ya got here fellas. So what's this "Seki Seki" rock Yamamoto was goin' on about?'
Ukitake: 'It is a stone that neutralizes spiritual energy and is extremely resilient. Here; I think it is better I show you what it does instead of telling you.'
As Wolverine and Kyoraku look on, the captain of the thirteenth squad holds out his hand and points it at a piece of rock jutting out of the ground twenty-five yards away.
Ukitake: 'Hado number 4: Byakurai.'
Suddenly, lightning shoots from his fingers and strikes the rock. Logan, expecting to see the rock explode in a cloud of dust and debris, instead witnesses the rock absorb the energy! Jushiro lowers his hand and turns to the shorter man.
Wolverine: 'What was that just now; "way of destruction", "white lightning"? I didn't know ya could shoot lightning out of yer hand bub.'
The white-haired soul reaper smiles sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck.
Shunsui: 'It's called kidou and a lot of soul reapers can do it Logan. Normally there's an incantation that needs to be said before you can use a skill but us captains are pretty good at it.
Wolverine: '"Demon arts"; it's like the magick Dr. Strange uses. I'm a hands on type o' guy myself, but hey, if it helps I'm all for it.'
Ukitake: 'It will definitely help against a foe like Thanos I think. Well, let's see what your memories and experience of Thanos looks like Logan-san.'
Wolverine: 'Alright fellas; I wasn't really given any directions on how ta use this thing but I'll give it try.'
He positions the Tenshintai in front of his body and puts his hands on the objects shoulders. He thinks about his battles with the mad titan and shudders inwardly. The guy's a beast; alright, here goes nothin'. He exhales and closes his eyes as the device takes form and grows before the gathered men. Wolverine opens his eyes just in time to see a huge golden hued gloved fist aiming for his head!
Wolverine: 'Damn!'
He dodges the assault by back flipping out of the alien's reach and landing in a crouched fighting stance near the two captains. The soul reapers stand amazed at the sight of the mad titan who stands menacingly a few yards away. He is large and has a strong jaw with inset glowing red eyes. His skin is of a purple hue and his eyebrows are covered with pointy gold guards and he wears a skull-fitting hood that also has gold ear guards. Set upon his shoulders and covering his massive chest is golden armor that comes to points over the shoulders. Covering his hands and feet are large weighted gloves and boots that are also gold in color. The color of his costume is blue and skin tight over his muscled body. Thanos looks at the short mutant and the two men that are on either side of him and smiles sadistically. The manifested memory of Thanos speaks;
Thanos: 'If it is not the X-Men's Wolverine; who are your friends? Do they know they are about to die?'
With that he raises his hand and fires off a blast of green energy that crackles as it meets the air! The two captains, surprised by the amount of power that the titan wields, flash step away to a safe distance to try and assess their adversary. Wolverine dodges by rolling out of the way and when his feet once again hit the ground he charges the nihilist with a roar while unsheathing his claws! As he engages the much large villain, he hears the two captains talking.
Ukitake: 'We need to help our new friend out with defeating this man!'
Shunsui: 'He looks like he's doing fine, doesn't he Jushiro? Let's give him a minute to see how he fares.'
Shunsui's long time friend looks at him with a determined look and then glances over to see how their new comrade is fairing. For the most part Logan has been able to avoid major damage and the damage he has received has already healed or is healing. He dodges another blast of energy and leaps up to slash at his opponent's face only to have his arm burned by red energy that is shot from Thanos's eyes! Logan lets out a growl of pain and anger and then counters with his left fist but this attack is halted by Thanos's large hand, blocking the strike. The titan then punches Wolverine hard in the face with a glowing fist, sending him through the air fifteen yards! He gets to one knee and spits blood from his mouth as he looks at his opponent.
Wolverine: 'Damn, even my memory of him is strong. Ya two done gossipin' like a couple 'o school girls or are ya just gonna stand there an' let me have all the fun?'
Shunsui: 'I like to see how my opponent fights before I get involved.'
Ukitake: 'This is a training exercise Shunsui; let's see how we fare against such a strong creature.'
Shunsui: 'Couldn't we just ask Thanos to leave? Katen Kyokotsu doesn't really want to fight right now.'
The titan turns to the two beings in white coats and sneers at them.
Thanos: 'As you can see that mutant is powerless to stop me alone. What can you possibly offer in way of strength?'
Ukitake: 'I will fight you, monster.'
He draws his zanbakutou as he disappears to then reappear in front of his much larger adversary. Thanos catches the blade and tries to grab Jushiro as well but the white-haired captain flash steps away before his gloved hand can reach him. The titan turns and fires a blast of energy at Ukitake and the captain outstretches his hand and says;
Ukitake: 'Shakkaho!'
A ball of red energy meets the green blast in mid-air and the area between the two is instantly engulfed in flames and smoke! Suddenly the smoke is cut away by Thanos's eye beams and the thirteenth captain is almost taken completely by surprise!
Ukitake: 'Bakudo number 81: Danku—ungh!'
As Jushiro finishes the incantation Wolverine slams into him to protect him from the attack from Thanos! The assault never reaches the two men however, due to a clear rectangular barrier that is smoking and very much cracked from the energy that just rocketed into it.
Ukitake: 'Were you going to use your own body as a shield to protect me Logan-san?'
Wolverine: 'That was the idea, yeah. What the hell is that thing?'
Ukitake: 'It's another form of kidou called "way of binding". This spell can block high level kidou and I had a theory that it would work on Thanos's energy as well. It held, but barely.'
Wolverine: 'Well come on; even though this is just practice, this guy seems ta be playin' fer keeps!'
Ukitake: 'You're right Logan-san, let us end this.'
Just then the captain of the eighth squad appears next to them and chimes in.
Shunsui: 'Not finished yet? Oh man; well Kurotsuchi did say he was monitoring us, so I guess we should try and take this serious.'
Wolverine: 'Ya mean ta tell me ya think this is a game? I can promise ya bub, Thanos is the real deal and even if this is just a mock-up of him, ya shouldn't be so calm.'
Thanos has seemingly been patient with the three, letting them talk amongst themselves for a time, but now he has turned to face the trifecta.
Thanos: 'You three; I have grown tired of your presence. Face me one by one or all together, it makes no difference to me how you will meet your end.'
When he finishes his challenge, he clenches his fists and they start to glow and the atmosphere around them crackles with energy. Shunsui draws his katana and wakizashi simultaneously and rushes the alien! As he closes in on Thanos, the titan glares at the soul reaper and all of a sudden Kyoraku drops to his knees holding his head!
Ukitake: 'Shunsui!'
Wolverine: 'Thanos must've hit 'em with a psionic blast! I told ya he's one scary S. O. B.'
As Thanos prepares to let loose his cosmic energy on the immobile captain, Jushiro moves in front of his friend and holds his zanbakutou in both hands.
Ukitake: 'All waves rise now and become my shield; lightning, strike now and become my sword, Sogyo no Kotowari!'
Suddenly his single katana splits into two separate swords! Attached at the base of each hilt is a thick long red cord that has five silver charms that hang from it. The swords are slightly thinner than normal katana and they have an extra blade that extends backwards towards the hand. Thanos smiles at the defender of his victim.
Thanos: 'Fool.'
He releases his stored energy directly at Jushiro and Shunsui and as the force reaches Sogyo no Kotowari it vanishes and instantly the captain of the thirteenth squad fires the exact same energy back at Thanos with much stronger force and velocity!
Thanos: 'What?'
He barely gets his hands up to block the onslaught and the energy strikes him hard and the resulting explosion sends him flying back several yards! With Thanos's concentration broken, Kyoraku is free from the telepathic assault. He stands up rubbing his temple and with the back of his hand, wipes a drop of blood from his nose.
Shunsui: 'I gotta be more careful.'
Ukitake: 'Are you alright?'
Wolverine: 'Now ya see why ya can't go easy on him? Ta hell with yer pride and let's kick this guy's ass.'
Shunsui: 'Why do we have to fight such a strong opponent?'
As the smoke and debris clears from where Thanos landed the three can see him emerging from the rubble. Other than his arms smoking and the air smelling like ozone, he is otherwise unscathed.
Thanos: 'You can not win, mortals; I am your fate!'
Shunsui faces the seemingly invulnerable opponent and puts his two sword together in a cross position.
Shunsui: 'Flower wind rage and flower god roar, heavenly wind rage and heavenly demon sneer, Katen Kyokotsu!'
As he says this he drags the sword pair across each other and instantly is concealed in wind and energy! As the energy dissipates, Shunsui now holds two large Chinese scimitars; one slightly shorter than the other, just like his original swords were. Attached to both hilts are long blood-red tassels that blow in the wind. He looks over at the advancing alien and smiles.
Wolverine: 'Ya coulda just started out with kinda power guys. It woulda made this a hell of a lot easier.'
Shunsui: 'He's so grouchy, Jushiro; I think I liked him better when we were drinkin'.'
Thanos: 'So, you think that just because your swords have change in shape and size that you can now contend with my power? You are but insects compared to my might!'
He points to Jushiro and speaks.
Thanos: 'Do not think that I do not know what you did with your swords. Your left sword siphoned my attack and then redirected it out of your right one. But that's not all is it? My blast was meant to hurt your ally, but when it struck me I felt much more intensity then I had given it. You can strengthen and redirect an attack; I may just keep you around to learn your technique before killing you.'
The soul reapers look at each other then to Logan who just shrugs and has a look as if "I told ya so". Shunsui steps a few feet to the side and spins his swords in opposite directions and as he does so, gale force winds form from his blades and encircle Thanos!
Shunsui: 'Bushogoma.'
Ukitake: 'Hado number 11: Tsuzuri Raiden.'
As he says this, electricity engulfs his swords and he rushes the nihilist! Just as Jushiro gets within striking distance of Thanos the wind that was swirling around him dissipates and the captain comes down hard with both swords slashing at Thanos's torso! The electricity courses through the body of the titan but it doesn't seem to have as much effect on him. The white-haired captain does manage to slice through his chest armor and cut into the mad titan's muscled body, spilling blood. Enraged, he punches the soul reaper away only to be met by Wolverine, and this time the feral mutant strikes home with two well placed strikes from his claws into Thanos's bicep! With his free hand, the titan blasts Logan away from him with another dose of high energy plasma. He looks around for the other man but can't find him. Out of the corner of his eye he spots the hatted soul reaper below him! He turns to see how that's possible and as he does, he is run through the mid-section with one of Shunsui's scimitars! Thanos looks down at the bleeding wound and then back at the soul reaper who is emerging from Thanos's very shadow!
Shunsui: 'Kageoni.'
Ukitake: 'Bakudo number 61: Rikujokoro.'
Before Thanos can react to the attack by Shunsui, six bright lights slam into his mid-section, paralyzing the titan where he stands! Bleeding from his chest, stomach, and bicep, Thanos speaks;
Thanos: 'This can not defeat me! I have destroyed countless universes and yours will be crushed under my foot as well—'
The replica of Thanos convulses and in a fizzle of energy reverts back to the Tenshintai! Shunsui adjusts his straw hat and pulls one half of Katen Kyokotsu out of the device. He powers down his swords and sheaths them once again. Ukitake does the same and his two swords once again form into one. Wolverine wipes his mouth and dusts off his hands.
Wolverine: 'Any questions?'
Shunsui: 'Well we beat him; I wonder how the others are fairing.'
Ukitake: 'We did not beat him cleanly I'm afraid. I have a feeling the real thing is goin to be even more troublesome.'
Shunsui: 'We can't worry about it now; let's head back and see what the results look like.'
Wolverine: 'Ya can count on the real thing bein' tougher. He's a genius and a master strategist; I wouldn't put it past him if he knew what we were doin' right now. But yer right, let's head back an' see how we did; maybe that freak of a scientist can cook up a way ta beat this guy.'
They slowly walk back the way they had come to report back to the others and captain Kurotsuchi. The three walk in silence and think over their mock battle. Even though they defeated the device, all three sustained what could have been life-threatening injuries if this trial had been the real thing. That does not sit well with any of them and they now have new resolve about their opponent.
Editor's note: Sorry this chapter is so late, I've been kind of busy but I have plenty more story to come so stay tuned! Thanos is a real mother lol, and again, I hope I do these characters justice. Let me know what you think. Happy reading!
