Psylocke: Practice

Relentless

The three soul reapers and mutant female walk into an immense flat section of soul society that seemingly goes on for miles. Earlier, Captain Komamura had offered to carry the Tenshintai, and Betsy accepted the offer. The large fox carries it under his arm effortlessly as they come to a stop inside the large unused training grounds. Psylocke watches the captain as he sets the device on the ground and she uses her telekinesis to pick it up and move it to where she is standing. Hisagi, already being used to this display, doesn't react. His two companions, however, look curiously at her display.

Komamura: 'You have interesting talents Psylocke; what would that ability be?'

Psylocke: 'It's telekinesis captain; I can move and create things with the power of my mind.'

Tetsuzaemon: 'I'd watch out for that one captain; she's got some crazy powers!'

Komamura: 'I am sure her powers will help in defeating this evil we will soon face, Lieutenant Iba.'

Shuuhei: 'I apologize for Iba's rudeness Betsy; he doesn't realize that he may need your help one day.'

Psylocke: 'I really don't mind 'is comments; Wolverine is my teammate after all.'

Tetsuzaemon: 'That little hairy guy? He's a man's man I think!'

Betsy projects her thoughts to the lieutenant of the ninth squad. Shuuhei, I think someone may 'ave a "man's crush" on Logan. Hisagi smiles in his mind and thinks back; Iba would completely deny anything of the sort, but it would definitely seem that he has a healthy respect for your friend. With the conversation seemingly ended, Komamura folds his arms and looks down at the device that is in front of the female ninja.

Komamura: 'I feel it is time to unleash this monster from your memories Psylocke. The longer we stand here idle means more time for Thanos to wreak havoc upon soul society.'

Psylocke: ''Ere goes nothing.'

She places her hand on the device and closes her eyes as she opens her mind to the borrowed memories of her comrades. Betsy sees the many battles Thor has had with the tyrant; she feels the pain and struggle that transpired between the two. The mutant pulls experience from Logan's fights with him and she is witness to the sheer power Thanos possesses as she views his memories like a mental flipbook. She switches to the jade giant's past against the titan and views wars base on strength and brutality and then quickly switches Dr. Strange's view on the mad titan. This is the most intricate and in depth memory of their opponent yet, as Stephen battles the Eternal with his calculating mind and archaic prowess instead of pure strength. She allows the copied memories flow through her and into the strange device and suddenly she can feel a mind unlike any she has felt before! She instinctually back flips several times to avoid the large alien's reach. The copy looks up into the sky and slowly turns in a circle, surveying his new surroundings. He comes back to his point of origin and looks at the quintet gathered to oppose him. He smiles a ruthless smile and takes a step forward.

Komamura: 'That is far enough you monster; I will be your opponent!'

Psylocke: 'Wait! I don't think we should—'

Her warning is cut off as the large captain rushes past her, haori billowing behind him. She sees Thanos change his stance to better suit his charging adversary. Sajin connects with a right chop to Thanos's jaw then follows it up with a left uppercut to the titan's solar plexus! He goes in for one more heavy strike as the fox draws back his large armored fist and swings hard, aiming for the alien's face! The Eternal moves slightly and avoids the attempted powerful blow. He grabs the outstretched arm of the captain and throws him over his head, slamming the fox hard into the ground with devastating force!

Tetsuzaemon: 'Captain!'

Their ally lies buried in rubble as dust rises out of the hole that Sajin lies in. Thanos turns to the other three and sneers.

Thanos: 'One down.'

Psylocke: 'Bloody 'ell; 'e's extremely strong to be able to man-handle that large soul reaper!'

Tetsuzaemon: 'My captain ain't some lightweight either; he weighs over six hundred pounds!'

Psylocke: 'From what I gather lieutenant, Thanos is in our world's class 100 strength category. In comparison, your captain may as well be weightless!'

Shuuhei: 'What a monster.'

Thanos: 'A "monster" you say? Whelp, a monster to you I may be, but my fellow Eternals and I have been worshiped as gods for thousands of years.'

Shuuhei frowns at the titan's boastful words and nods in the seventh lieutenant's direction. The shaded man also nods as they team up to take on Thanos in unison. They draw their swords and charge the much larger foe. Through the din of battle, Psylocke can not hear Lieutenant Iba, but suddenly a rush of energy engulfs his zanbakutou and it changes into a large falchion-like blade! He swings his sword down hard against the mad titan who deflects the blade with the back of his gloved hand and kicks the soul reaper with enough force to send him flying back several yards. He turns his attention to the tattooed soul reaper and fires off a blast of cosmic energy. Hisagi flash steps and avoids the blast and he reappears on the side of Thanos by his arm, and as Betsy looks on, she hears her man of interest speak while quickly touching his foe's huge arm.

Shuuhei: 'Bakudo number 1: Restrain.'

Before the titan can react, his massive arms uncontrollably knot behind his back and he falls to one knee!

Thanos: 'What do you think you are doing boy?'

Hisagi doesn't answer; or rather his answer comes in the form of another kidou spell.

Shuuhei: 'Bakudo number 4: crawling rope.'

As Thanos attempts to stand and break his invisible bonds, yellow glowing rope appears out of nowhere and ensnares the large behemoth, trapping him even further! Shuuhei then stabs the subdued titan in the shoulder, under his golden armor, and speaks once again.

Shuuhei: 'Reap, Kaze—'

Before the lieutenant can finish the summons for Kazeshini, Thanos yells out and instantly breaks all of his bonds, striking Shuuhei and sending the soul reaper through the air twenty meters! Thanos looks down at his superficial wound and wipes the blood from his costume. Glaring, he looks up at the last remaining combatant, and rumbles;

Thanos: 'Three down.'

Psylocke steals a glance to where her friend has landed and notices him stirring. The lone mutant closes her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief before turning to face the Eternal. She frowns at the memory that she has manifested and focuses all of her energy into her right hand, forming a mental katana. He smiles wickedly back her, seemingly unfazed by her show of power. He calls out to her as he starts to walk towards her.

Thanos: 'Come little girl; show me how powerful your hate is.'

She starts to run towards him and forms a telekinetic shield to block a blast of energy from his eyes! The mutant flips over another blast of cosmic energy fired from his hand and comes within his reach. He takes a mighty swing at her head which she avoids, and slices at his mid-section, opening him up and spilling blood!

Thanos: 'Wench!'

He attempts to pulverize her with another punch but she narrowly avoids it by augmenting her natural reflexes with her telekinesis, slipping under his blow. She comes up inside of his reach as she forms her psychic knife; and with all of her might, plunges the totality of her mutant telepathy into his brain through his chin! She pauses that way for just a moment; letting her energy sink into the Eternal's nervous system. All of a sudden the mad titan looks down at the smaller woman and smiles again at her, perfectly unaffected by her onslaught!

Psylocke: 'O' no…'

Thanos quickly grabs her by the throat and lifts her roughly into the air. He brings her in close so her face is only inches away from his and speaks;

Thanos: 'Then there were none.'

She grimaces at the stench that emits from the maw of the Eternal as she sees his eyes start to glow red. As he is about to unleash his devastating eye-blasts on her at critically close range, the mutant telepath catches Shuuhei's mind just behind her captor. You will not harm her!

Shuuhei: 'Reap, Kazeshini!'

Twin sickle-like blades rip deep into Thanos's kidneys as Hisagi unleashes his Shikai on the unsuspecting Thanos! The monster drops his prey and turns to face his recovered adversary. When he does he sees the first opponent he dropped standing behind the tattooed soul reaper. Hisagi crouches and as he does, Komamura draws back his mighty fist and roars.

Komamura: 'Heavenly punishment!'

As the large captain brings his fist forward, seemingly out of nowhere, an enormous black armored hand reigns down onto Thanos's location! The area is instantly consumed in chaos as dust and debris and rock fly everywhere. Luckily, Psylocke recovered just in time and rolled out of the way; otherwise, she would have been struck by Sajin's attack as well. The giant disembodied hand moves away from the large crater that Thanos kneels in. With his costume ripped in several places, the titan looks up at the captain of the seventh squad.

Thanos: 'Very good, dog.'

He goes to stand up in the crater and as he does, Komamura growls;

Komamura: You will die where you stand!'

He draws his sword and slices at the air; at the same time he finishes his gesture, another giant hand comes down hard, mimicking the fox's attack. The humongous sword strikes Thanos with devastating force that again sends rock and debris flying in all directions! Sajin holds his sword in place and the puppet arm does the same as the dust and debris settles. Moments later, Thanos is revealed underneath the sword, bleeding heavily out of a large gash through his right shoulder! As he braces the sword with his right hand, he charges and fires off an energy blast out of his left hand directly at Komamura. The fox is surprised at the fact that his adversary can stand, let alone have the energy to go on the offensive. Before the captain can react however, the blast strikes him hard in the chest, sending him crashing into the ground! Weakened, but still able to stand and fight, Thanos exits his crater and walks menacingly towards the recovering soul reaper. Just then out of nowhere, Lieutenant Iba emerges and attacks the titan with his zanbakutou! The shaded soul reaper slashes at the Eternal's back and then comes across his leg, spilling blood in both places. The villain turns around and when he does, Psylocke notices that the great wound that the captain inflicted is now nearly healed!

Psylocke: 'What do we 'ave to do to beat this mad man?'

The mad titan once again engages the second soul reaper he faced earlier and punches Iba hard in the face with a glowing cosmic-powered fist, sending the man flying again and when he hits the ground this time, he doesn't get up. Psylocke focuses her mind and then unleashes a barrage of telekinetic projectiles at her foe! Staying a safe distance from the nihilist, she smashes him with a block of solid thought. She follows it up with two hammer-like objects forged from her mind to pummel her foe! With all of her might she wages a one woman war on the despot and everything she throws at only seems to slow him down. Sweating and breathing heavily from her exertion, she forms a giant battering ram and hurls it at her target. It catches the titan directly in the gut, sending him back thirty feet! She falls to one knee, nearly drained of energy and through blurred vision, she see the man rise! She once again hears Shuuhei's voice as he speaks out; this time from over head but behind the behemoth!

Shuuhei: 'Bakudo number 62: Hundred stepped rails!'

As he says this a glowing rod forms in his right hand and he lets it fly at the turning Thanos. Right before it reaches its mark, the rod breaks off into numerous smaller projectiles, striking Thanos all over his thick muscled body and slamming him into the ground! Before he lands, Hisagi uses more kidou on the prone titan.

Shuuhei: 'Bakudo number 63: Winding binding chain!'

Similar in look to what he had used before to restrain the beast, this new spell wraps Thanos in thick chains from his neck down! Thanos looks at the kidou user with a fuming hatred.

Thanos: You tried something like this before and it did nothing but buy you time. What do you hope to gain by prolonging the inevitable?'

Shuuhei says nothing as he flash steps to where Psylocke is and scoops her up in his bruised and bleeding arms and then speeds off to another location. Thanos follows his movements but then catches Komamura out of the corner of his eye and turns to the battered captain. The fox raises his gloved hand and points it at the downed titan.

Komamura: 'Bone of a straggling beast, spire, crimson crystal, disc of steal. When the wind shifts and the emptiness ceases, let the clash of lances resonate through the relinquished castle. Hado number 63: Raikoho!'

Instantly and brilliantly a massive wave of glowing yellow energy speeds towards the Eternal! The force slams into the villain with earth-shaking force, destroying the surrounding area and sending an enormous cloud into the air! Before the smoke clears Komamura unleashes his Shikai once more on the spot where Thanos lays. He brings down the giant's sword, tearing the area asunder once more in a devastating display of pure power! After a few quiet seconds he sheathes his zanbakutou and the wind slowly blows the smoke and dust away from the destroyed area. Lying in the thirty meter deep crater is the smoking Tenshintai; lifeless and unmoving. The fox closes his eyes and lets out a slow huff. Shuuhei and Psylocke flank his right side and his lieutenant appears on his left. Iba jumps into the hole and retrieves the device for Kurotsuchi's research and the look at each other in silence. Psylocke is the only one that knows what each man is thinking, though, she doesn't pry on this occasion, letting them have a private moment as the walk back in silence together. Whether in a moment of exhaustion or just wanting to see what happens; Betsy stumbles and is immediately caught in Shuuhei's strong grip. She blushes at her clumsiness and moves into his body as he puts an arm around her for support. They walk like that for a while; neither one, it would seem, wanting to break the contact.

Editor's note: Wow, finally another chapter! Sorry this one was a little behind; I've been busy with work and stuff. Continue reading and I hope the story's still interesting! I have a lot more to go, so sit back and enjoy the show!