tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; January 27th, afternoon/early evening
Rating; PG, might go higher for violence
Characters; Matsumoto Rangiku and Darth Bane
Summary; He's looking for a fight. She need some exercize
Log;

Even though Rangiku didn't feel her best, she'd told the newcomer she'd join him in an isolated area of the forest for a fight. Haineko rested, tied along the small of her back, but the spirit was quiet. Still, she knew that silence well. Her hand reached back a little, a single finger stroking over the hilt of the zanpakutou. The touch was all the zanpakutou was waiting for...

'The fox won't be happy when he finds out you've come here... and what for.'

"I know," she murmured softly to the blade. Her hand continued the contact with her soul's partner while she searched the energy of the area. Her opponent had mentioned he could 'feel her' with something called the Force. She couldn't help but be curious if it was anything like reiatsu.

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Emerging from behind a tree, Bane set his feet and folded his arms, sizing up his opponent from behind. "Such a pretty little thing," he said with a hint of amusement. "When I initiated my challenge I expected someone more... robust to accept it. That Durden creature perhaps, or one of the Arrancar."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and grinned. "Unless of course, you are more than you appear?"

She didn't turn to face him. She didn't need to. Her reiatsu tugged at her, telling her that he was there. "I thank you for the compliment, but you should know I'm not just a pretty face." With a grin, she finally turned around, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm one of the forces directly opposing the arrancar. Matsumoto Rangiku, Vice-Captain of the 10th Division." With great care, she bowed to him, but her eyes never left his form.

Bane nodded his head in return and un-crossed his arms. "Arrancar, Vice Captain, 10th Division; these titles mean nothing to me. As I'm sure the title of Sith Lord means nothing to you." His grin disappeared as he shrugged of his cloak and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. "Perhaps this will be a learning experience for both of us." With that he pressed the activator, and the blue-white blade of energy snap-hissed into life.

"Perhaps."

Haineko was naked in her hands now as she watched him with his own blade. The energy blade wasn't something she'd seen before, but it didn't matter. Haineko rumbled a silent question to her as she dropped into an easy defensive stance.

Recognizing her posture as defensive, Bane slowly began to circle her, blade held easily to one side. He studied her stance, and at the same time he stretched out with his senses to feel her aura. This one was no stranger to combat if her stance was any indication, and despite the fact that her source of power was different, he could still sense that she was strong.

He stopped pacing and, gripping the lightsaber with both hands, he charged in and launched a cut at her side. There was no real power behind the swing, Bane only wished to see if his blade would cut through hers as it had with so many mundane swords before. Bane hoped she parried and it did not, otherwise this fight would not last very long.

She watched him move, the eerie sensation of being hunted coursing down her spine as he circled her. She didn't turn to keep him in sight, however, trusting that her senses would tell her if and when the attack would come.

There.

Haineko swung down and around, meeting the blue blade without a sound. In her mind, Haineko hissed, complaining about the heat, but otherwise, the blade held. She twisted her arm around, sending Haineko in a wide arc as soon as the attack on her side was neutralized.

[ooc:Feel free to have him let loose on her if you like. ^_^]

Bane hopped away from the swing, the tip of the sword brushing against his shirt. He smirked and gave the lightsaber a quick flourish, then stabbed it forward in a straight thrust, again fully expecting a parry.

OOC: We'll see, for now he's just enjoying himself. ;)

She flashed out of sight, the shunpyo step too quick to be seen. She flickered back into sight behind him, grinning, Haineko held loosely at her side.

Bane's smirk disappeared as his opponent's Force presence blinked and reappeared behind him, something he hadn't anticipated. He stumbled forward and lowered the blade to his side, turning to face her. "Interesting trick," he said. "You should have taken advantage of it when you had the chance, now I can anticipate it." Bane raised his lightsaber and held it before him in a two-handed grip, and as he did he let himself slip a little deeper into the Force, using it to enhance his reaction time and reflexes. "Shall we continue?"

"Not a trick." She bowed her head to him, her blade rising in a salute. "Such things are common with shinigami. We're not exactly human." She flashed out of sight again, this time headed straight for him, Haineko poised to strike at his wrists, aiming to disarm him.

This time Bane's surprise wasn't quite as complete, though predicting where the Shinigami would end up was difficult. He took a quick step back just as she reappeared, aiming to disarm him. He deflected the attack down with his own blade, then lunged forward with a headbutt aimed squarely at her nose.

She met the headbutt with her forearm, deflecting it away, but she felt something strain under the skin. A muttered incantation called fire to her hands, and she sprung just far enough out to throw the red flames at her opponent.

Bane lost his balance slightly and stumbled again, then felt the Force warn him just as a pair of fireballs came hurtling his way. He managed to deflect some of the flames with his lightsaber, but the rest caught him in the arm and the face, angry burns erupting where they impacted. Bane yelled in pain and rage, using that anger to fuel his power as he charged toward the girl. He feinged another two-handed swing at her side, then at the last moment he let go of the blade with one hand and thrust the other hand forward, attempting to throw her back into a nearby tree with the Force.

Even though her kidou hit the target, there was no smile on her face. She was deep into the fight, the spirit of her blade and her own merged into a single fighting soul. She turned, blade blocking the apparent attack, only to be pushed back.

Rangiku hit the tree hard, breath gusting out of her lungs. She shook her head once, as if to clear it, then jumped into the lower limbs of the tree, pausing for a moment to catch her breath.

Bane was not about to allow this one a respite, not after that little fire trick. He leaped forward and launched a cut at the tree's trunk, the white-hot blade slicing through it with ease. Then he reached out and gathered the tree in Force energy, yanking it to the ground.

Rangiku jumped free, her blade in her teeth and she called lightning to her hands. Before she hit the ground, the energy leapt from her hands, streaming towards him. As soon as the energy was done, she was fast behind it, Haineko back in her hands.

Bane watched her flight from the tree and where she landed, and saw the crackling electricity form in her hands and come his way. Now this is something I'm more familiar with, he thought to himself as he reached out his hand and caught the lightning, gathering it into a ball and dissipating it into the air. He sensed her presence directly behind the bolt, no doubt she thought she could surprise him by obscuring his vision. But now he was fully immersed in the Force, and he could sense her without having to see her. His lightsaber hummed as he brought it up to clash against her sword, using his brute strength to knock the weapon aside. Then he extended his fingertips, unleashing a quick burst of his own Force lightning at her torso.

The lightning caught her full on in her stomach, burning away part of her robes as Haineko spun from her grasp. With a grimace, she bounced back away from him, muttering under her still short breath. Before the blade hit the ground, she flung a hand out to it and murmured, "Unare, Haineko," releasing its shikai.

The metal of the blade melted away into diamond hard ash, speeding towards Bane. Rangiku settled in a low crouch several yards away, willing the ash harder and harder as it surrounded her opponent.

Bane watched in confusion as her sword dissipated into something resembling ash and then surrounded him before he could quite react, and through the Force he could sense that it was hardening. Is she trying to imprison me or simply crush the life out of me? he thought to himself as he watched it work. In either case, he had to act before it happened. He tested the ash wall with a saber cut, though as he suspected the ash simply reformed behind it and continued hardening.

So Bane did the only thing he could think of to do. He extended a hand and, concentrating all of his fury at this little girl who presumed to defeat him, he wrapped her neck in Force energy, closed his hand into a fist, and brutally crushed her windpipe with enough force to cut off her air and hopefully break her concentration.

Rangiku closed the ash in tighter, the particles slicing at his skin as they moved closer. She'd just begun to coalesce the thought to have Haineko's ash moved to choke him when her own air supply was cut off. Blue eyes went panic wide as she clawed at her throat, invisible bands tightening around it as she struggled to loosen them.

The ash didn't falter, though. Haineko was trying to protect her mistress now. Slowly, Rangiku dropped to one knee, still scrabbling at her throat.

Perhaps this sword has a mind of its own, Bane thought as he watched it continue to close in on him despite its master's plight. He felt small shards start to dig into his skin, and he knew he had to do something fast. He released his hold on Rangiku, gathered himself in the Force and blasted forward through the not-quite solid wall of ash. With a primal yell of rage he charged toward the kneeling form of the girl and aimed a vicious cut at her neck.

The moment she was free, she was down, gasping frantically. Haineko coalesced, this time as a large gray cat, and sprang in front of her mistress, hissing at Bane. Teeth bared, she faced him as she tried to allow her mistress the time she needed to recover.

Stopping short of his cut, Bane stared down the grey cat as it growled at him. His lips upturned in a sneer as he growled back. This girl had scarred him and tried to kill him, and he was not about to let a magic cat stand in his way. In the blink of an eye he had his lightsaber deactivated and replaced on his hip, and then, channeling all of his hatred into his hands, he unleashed a torrent of Force lightning at the cat and the gasping form of the girl behind it.

With a yowl of rage, Haineko was on him, claws digging in as she tried her best to keep him away from her mistress. Rangiku was up now, but slower than before. The lightnight caught her in the back, sending her down again, but no lower than her knees. She groaned under the power, but stayed as upright as she could.

Bane snarled as the creature leaped at him, and he suddenly found himself wrestling. He grunted with pain as its claws dug into his skin, and he tried to think of a way to incapacitate this thing made of ash. He stuck both of his hands into what would be the creature's belly and pushed, not just with his arms, but with the Force as well, a blast aimed to dissipate the creature long enough for him to get to the girl.

Haineko was scattered back to ash, this time drifting to the ground harmlessly. Rangiku was back on her feet, back smoking from burned away robes and charred skin. Her stance was defensive, but shaky. With a silent command, she tried to call Haineko back to her, staring down at one of the small piles of ash littering the forest floor.

With a growl, she launched more fire at him, her Limit breached and reached. Her eyes glowed as her hands kept calling fire to them.

More fire, Bane thought as he snapped his lightsaber to his hand and ignited it. He dove sideways out of the way of the flames and brought his blade up to deflect some more, but she wasn't letting up this time and some of the fire caught on his clothing, igniting it. Fine then, he thought. He brought his blade up, then dove forward under a particularly nasty fireball. He tucked his body and tumbled forward, at the end of his roll extending his 'saber out in a thrust aimed at her heart.

Not again.

She knew she wouldn't be able to get completely out of range fast enough, so she dropped back down to the ground and rolled free, keeping the flames burning around her hands.

Seeing her roll to the side, Bane quickly got to his feet and charged at her, feinting a cut to her right and then swinging the blade around from the left with a quick spin.

She followed through with a roll just in time to see his blade. There was no way she could get away this time...

With a choked off sound, maybe someone's name, she closed her eyes.

Bane stopped his spin with his blade held straight out at his side, and smiled with satisfaction as the girl's limp form collapsed at his feet. He lowered his weapon and turned her over with his boot, revealing the charred ruin her throat had become. "I hadn't intended for this fight to be lethal, but thank you for giving me the excuse to make it so," he said to her lifeless body. He checked to make sure the pile of ash a few feet away wasn't rising to exact some kind of vengeance on him, and then he collected his robe and retreated to another part of the forest to lick his own wounds.

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