Toshiro flew toward Hyperion at max speed, but the Titan vanished and then reappeared behind the young captain. He swung down his left sword, but the icy wings of Toshiro's bankai blocked the blow. The young captain quickly turned and slashed at his enemy, but the Titan disappeared again, rematerializing off to Toshiro's left.

"Die, Soul Reaper!" Hyperion shouted as he slashed at the captain. Toshiro was barely able to evade the Titan's twin blades. The Titan of Light then released his weapons and vanished again.

A split-second later, he reappeared in front of Toshiro wielding a scythe. The Titan swung the blade at his opponent, but the white-haired young man Flash Stepped, dodging the blow, reappearing just fifteen feet away. Hyperion glared at the boy through his helmet.

"Tell me, boy," the Titan said coolly. "I wish to learn more about these 'zanpakuto' that you Soul Reapers wield. Can all of you use this 'bankai' that you are using at this moment?"

"Not all," Toshiro answered. "But all Soul Reapers are technically capable of achieving it. Why do you ask?"

"Simple curiosity." Just then, the Titan vanished. Toshiro's eyes widened as he felt cold steel on his throat. "Bankai may be a Soul Reaper's trump card, but against a warrior who has five millennia worth of experience in battle, it is next to useless. Goodbye, boy." Just as he was about to cut the young Soul Reaper's neck open, he heard the woman's voice

"Growl, Haineko!" A storm of ash suddenly surrounded Hyperion's weapon. The scythe was then hacked to pieces. The Titan moved away from the captain and glared down at the female Soul Reaper. "You're not going to win that easily, Titan. I'm going to make sure of that." Rangiku swung her arm in the Titan's direction, sending the cloud of shredding ash toward him. The Titan vanished and reappeared further away, and did so repeatedly to evade the cloud.

Toshiro looked down over at his lieutenant. "I suppose I should thank you for the save, Rangiku."

"No problem, Captain!" she replied cheerfully. "As your lieutenant, you can rest easy knowing that I've got your back!" Toshiro nodded at that. Rangiku's expression then became focused on the battle. "I didn't think that I would have to interfere, but this guy clearly fights dirty. It'll take more than one person to beat him, even if that one person is a genius."

"I suppose at this point, I have no choice but to accept your help," Toshiro said in agreement. The two Soul Reapers stood in air, side-by-side, as Hyperion glared at them.

Such insolence, he thought. He then held out his hand, releasing his scythe. "I grow tired of this meaningless conflict. Your lives shall end now." He aimed his hand up into the sky as his original weapon, the flaming sword, flew into his palm. "Before you die, I will grant you the honor of knowing a secret about my power."

"A secret?" Toshiro asked in suspicion.

"Yes." The Titan pointed his blade at the two Soul Reapers. "My power is so great, that I have been forced to seal pieces of it into each of my ten thousand weapons." He paused for a moment. "From what I have seen of your zanpakuto, I can only assume that you must first call your weapon's name before you can unleash its power. My power actually works in a similar fashion."

Both Toshiro's and Rangiku's eyes widened at that, and Rangiku asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Allow me to demonstrate." Hyperion then positioned his sword horizontally across his chest, and with the edge of the blade pressing against his armor's breastplate. "Merge…" All the ten thousand weapons surrounding them then began to converge onto Hyperion's position. "Kólasi̱." All the thousands of weapons then suddenly began impaling him, completely covering his body. Massive flames suddenly enveloped all of them, and those flames slowly shrank down into the form of a humanoid creature made of pure red fire.

"This is my full power," said the voice of Hyperion. "Now, feel the wrath of the flames more destructive than all of hell." He shot his arms out, sending twin jets of flame at his opponents, who Flash Stepped to dodge. Hyperion looked over to where the two Soul Reapers. "You can flee as much as you like." He suddenly started to grow in size, with his opponents' eyes widening as he did. He soon became one hundred-foot-tall living bonfire. "You cannot outrun the light."

-o-

Translation for the curious:

Kólasi: Greek for "Inferno"

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, guys, but I got a major of writer's block for this chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. Until then, see you later.