Chapter 24 – Down To A Fine Art
Saradii launched herself at Zeo with a panther-like pounce and slashed with her sword. Zeo sidestepped away from the attack and then made a quick stab aimed at Saradii's head. Saradii jumped away to her left to dodge, with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Another good strike. Second time you could've killed me and it's only been a few minutes. Well done, I like that. That's the kind of fighting I enjoy. It is what I deem art at its finest!"
Zeo turned completely to face her and he gave her an intense glare. "You insult my captain and now you talk about art? I have no idea what's wrong with your head, but I wonder if you're even sane."
"Sane? What kind of good artist is sane? If you're sane you can't see the beauty of art. You see, that's what our squad stands for. We recognise war as a certain art form that needs to be expressed properly. By 'expressed properly', we mean it should be fast and furious. You see, a sudden massacre would leave such an impressionable scene behind, rather than seeing the look of despair and grief permanently engraved on their dead faces, don't you agree?"
"I see your point, you are very insane," said Zeo, completely baffled by what he heard.
Saradii burst into laughter, "You agree then, that's good. So don't you think my partner, Aerro's, idea that pain and suffering etched into the faces of millions is an idiotic form of art?"
Zeo looked at her, confused, but said nothing. "No answer? Then you must agree. In that case, let's not waste more time." Saradii shot towards Zeo, quicker than before, and slashed at Zeo's neck. Zeo ducked and backed away.
"What's the matter now? And I thought the fight was heating up." There were a few seconds of silence before Saradii's spiritual pressure suddenly shot up. "Then let me be the one to heat it up. Burn Down, Fenix!"
Izuru slashed at Aerro who blocked and held Izuru in mid-air. "Do you even know what true despair is?" Izuru asked, clearly irritated by Aerro. "True despair is knowing you can't do anything whilst you watch your friends killed. That is the battlefield, that is true despair! Why don't you understand what horrors await on the battlefield?"
Aerro pushed Izuru off and then let out another laugh. "Oh, I do understand. I understand perfectly well what the battlefield is like, what it's capable of, what it does to people. And all of that is what I deem art!"
Izuru charged out again with an angered face. "You're insane!" he shouted. Aerro ducked and flipped back with a fluid movement that almost emanated elegance.
"Am I insane? I don't know. But I do know art! War has always been an art, ever since the very beginning when things started to kill each other. That's what it means to live. The thrill, the beauty! Whether it's the gashes or craters in the ground or the pain and anguish imprinted on the faces of loved ones. Art can only exist if these exist. Do you not see the beauty of such terror and pain?"
Izuru shook his head in denial and irritation. "How can war be art? Why are you so blind? Why don't you see that war is nothing but death? I've repeated myself many times - fighting will only lead to despair. This can't be art. War is not a laughing matter, it kills people, it drives people insane, and it will kill you! Can't you get that through your stubborn brain?"
Aerro laughed harder this time, with a tone of provocation. "Oh I know everything you just told me. And what I want to know is why you can't accept that this is all but a form of art. A beautiful, yet dying, form of art. Why do people fear death and suffering? Why do people avoid such beautiful things? There needs to be more pain in this world!"
"I see, so that's what you really think war is. That's fine," said Izuru and swiped his sword through the air, threateningly. "Then there's nothing for it. We'll settle this the only way possible, with our swords." Izuru moved quickly and slashed at Aerro who moved back smoothly, almost like a dance.
"What's the rush?" Aerro replied. "I've barely begun my lecture of what true beauty is. Even you will agree with me after you hear this."
Izuru attacked again, "Save it. I don't have time to hear an arrancar speak, especially when he doesn't make sense."
"I see. If that's how you see it, then you leave me no choice. I'll just have to show you this beautiful world of art."
Izuru charged swiftly, "Enough of this nonsense!" He slashed again, and hit nothing but air.
Aerro appeared behind him and laughed. "Too slow," he said and slashed Izuru's shoulder.
As soon as Rangiku and Nesikk appeared in a deserted part of the sky, Rangiku attacked. She swiped at Nesikk, but he drifted away and dodged her attacks. She followed up her attacks and repeatedly slashed at him. But somehow, his seemingly sluggish movements were able to evade her attacks perfectly.
"Chill out my friend, why don't we just relax for a bit?" Nesikk said calmly. "The other fights are far from finishing. How's about we just relax and chill for a bit?"
Rangiku paused for a moment, "Usually I would join you, but I don't think I can this time. It's a shame, but I don't have time to relax." She attacked again.
She flash stepped in front of Nesikk and made a quick swipe at his neck. Nesikk yawned and tilted his head backwards just enough to dodge Rangiku's attack. She pulled back her blade and stabbed. Nesikk straightened up and dodged. She then moved her blade up and slashed horizontally again, but Nesikk bent down for another close dodge. She followed again with a downward slash and Nesikk sluggishly span away, with Rangiku's blade barely missing him.
Nesikk let out a fake yawn and said "Come now, if you can't even hit me why don't you just stop and chill out like I said?" Rangiku let out a sigh of frustration and backed off. Nesikk moved himself into a comfortable position and started to smoke his tomahawk pipe. "Ah, nothing like smoking a pipe on such a lovely day, right?"
Rangiku lowed her sword a bit, "Are you always this annoying?"
Nesikk inhaled quickly a few times and blew out a wisp of smoke. "What are you talking about? I'm not here to annoy people, I just want to relax and enjoy my time. Doesn't everyone?"
"We're in the middle of a war! Enjoy yourself when you're dead!" shouted Rangiku and flash stepped in front of him to attack again. This time, Nesikk waited for a millisecond before Rangiku's blade touched him, and vanished with sonido. He appeared a few metres back, in the same position.
He took another puff off his pipe and sighed. "Close one that was, wasn't it? Can't get any closer than that," he said lazily.
"Stop messing around!" Rangiku snapped.
"Loosen up, you're getting too excited," said Nesikk, with a tired smile.
Rangiku's expression became more irritated. "Would it annoy you if I did the exact opposite of what you said? Because I've had enough of your lazy attitude, I hate it." She held her sword out in front of her horizontally. "Growl, Haineko." Her sword turned to dust, which flew at Nesikk with great speed.
Nesikk let out a sigh after a long yawn, and vanished with sonido.
He appeared to the left, still lying down so Rangiku redirected the dust at him. He stretched out his arms and made a lazy twirl to let the dust pass him. But Rangiku smirked, as the dust exploded, and sent a shower of it at him.
He quickly disappeared, but couldn't react as quickly when Rangiku appeared before him and slashed. He avoided injury, but Rangiku managed to shred his clothes slightly.
Nesikk stopped suddenly and looked at his ripped clothes. For the first time, he seemed to be annoyed, the relaxed Nesikk had suddenly changed. His eyes became bloodshot red and he glared at Rangiku.
"You did not just rip my clothes!" he screamed out. He then exhaled sharply, and emptied out his pipe as he calmed down. "If you really insist, then fine, I'll play with you." His spiritual pressure shot up and Rangiku readied herself. "Choke, Fumaras." He started to twirl his tomahawk pipe around as his spiritual pressure flowed out around him. Smoke started to stream out of the pipe, enveloping him. The smoke then settled around his and Rangiku's feet, and his tomahawk pipe had now extended into a long poleaxe.
He let out a chuckle and held out his poleaxe in a threatening way, "Smoking keeps me calm, you see."
Hikari moved her left arm around, as though she was a conductor of an orchestra, and directed her blades at Vhjak.
Vhjak tried to get close to her by dodging and parrying her blades, but was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of them. With no other way to go, he turned back and kept his distance.
"You're an odd one aren't you? Showing all of your power off already? You're just telling me what I need to beat you," said Vhjak confidently, with his eyes twitching at the end of every sentence he spoke.
Hikari ignored his remark, but frowned at his odd facial features. He had a scar that was in the shape of a cross on his left cheek, and a relative amount of uneven stubble that looked as though he couldn't use a razor properly. His hair was medium length and very messy and his clothes looked as though he'd been through many hardships in them, as they were torn in many places.
She then shouted, "Should you really be that far away from me? I was formerly Captain of Squad Five, who specialise in Kidou. In other words, long range attacks." Hikari moved her right arm in an arc, "Hadou Fifty-Four, Abolishing Flames." A blast of purple spiritual energy shot out at Vjhak.
Hikari didn't hesitate and attacked again in quick succession, "Hadou Fifty-Eight, Orchid Sky." A huge gust of wind whipped up, directed at Vjhak. He just had enough time to direct her first Kidou away, but was blown away by the second attack.
Vjhak span around in the air and steadied himself in the air. His eyes twitched again, "That's nothing!" he shouted.
Hikari didn't hear him as she was already casting a third Kidou, "Hadou Eighty-Nine, Burning Darkness." A ring of black fire appeared below Vjhak, and before he could react he was completely engulfed in it. "Let's wrap this up. Hadou Ninety, Black Coffin!" A black box formed around the flames, Hikari directed her blades towards it and they struck through the box.
Hikari waited, and when there was no sign of movement or sound, she released her attacks.
Surprisingly, Vjhak was still up on one knee. Blood was pouring out of the many stab wounds and cuts, and he looked completely and utterly messed up.
"Well, that hurt," he said with a smirk and slowly stood up, ignoring the pain of the many swords still stuck in him. "I can see you're quite serious. Then I guess I really shouldn't be pulling any punches." He raised his sword up to the sky and a tornado stirred up around him, engulfing him. "Wipe Out, Tormenta!"
Hikari was overwhelmed as a huge, powerful storm sent her blades flying. The blades that were in him were forced out and blown away. Hikari shielded herself from the storm and could barely stand her ground. She sensed something move amidst the gales but before she could do anything, pain filled her body and blood gushed out from a huge gash in her stomach.
Unable to stay airborne, she plummeted out of the sky.