God Yet Lives

*Yesod now has a big hole in his chest. His last action is to have his shadow, & all of the shadows he's connected to, turn into spikes & launch themselves at Noctis. This plan is thwarted when a sinkhole suddenly appears under Noctis & she falls into it. The shadows above her evaporate, revealing a Zanpakuto, which then itself crumbles into dust.*
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*Hod manages to get the shaft of his scythe in the chains, at which point it grows ice spikes, & he breaks out of the Kido, sending a wave of ice at Lilith, who defends herself & Euryale with a Severing Void.*

E"She did it."

L"Damn it. Just seconds too late."
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S"I would have preferred it if the dress had been given the fate it so richly deserves."

A"How do we get down to the next level?"

S"Through the clouds, I suppose. Until now, we've seen nothing that obscures our path, beyond a few odd platforms."

"Geronimo then," Mortal said, hopping off the side.

Sab looked over the edge after her, "So, was she being rash, or should we follow? I can't tell sometimes."

--

Noct threw two Lanzas at Hod before crawling out of Euryale's shadow, "Did you miss me?"

Sab's eyes suddenly dilate as bright lights sparkle in front of her, causing her to fall into a deep sleep. She is then dragged off the platform at high speed and Mortal finds herself circled by a spinning length of fabric.
"Yo, Mortal." Kira's says smugly as he appears from his invisibility with Sab asleep on his shoulder, "You'll be coming with me."

The trio appears on a massive circular structure centred by a giant pole. As soon as they appear Kira flies a hundred metres away from Mortal, and dangles Sab in front of him by her neck with Kido chains with his Zanpakuto drawn.

E"More than the ground I walk on."

*Hod narrowly deflects both of them.*

Hod<My Captain...what did you do to him?!>

*Hod makes an attempt to get to Yesod, but finds a wall in front of him.*

L"He got what he deserved. And so will you."

*Angered, Hod slashes the air, sending ice spikes at all of them.*
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A"Mortal! Sab!"

S"They can't hear you, you know."

A"We have to rescue them."

S"Nah."

A"The heck do you mean 'Nah'?!"

S"Noah just released himself. We should go meet him."

A"Who the Hell cares about that guy?!"

Mortal let out a long sigh, "I was just going to kill you, but now I'm going to tear you apart, fiber by fiber, keeping you alive for as long as I can. Also, are you really THAT stupid? Using someone as a hostage like that is retarded. As soon as you try to kill her I'm going to rip you in half." Mortal cracked her neck and released into her ressureccion, "But, there is no use posturing. Put the sheep down gently, and lets get to the part where I punch your face into nothingness."

--

Since Hod seemed to just be attacking wildly, Noct flooded him with Lanzas, much the same way she did against Aamon. At the same time she sank into her shadow and popped out of one of Lilith's bushes, out of the way of Hod's spikes.

"Really? A slow assed bitch like you is going to close this gap," Kira stops to incline his blade slightly and cast a Severing Void in front of himself, "Before I can kill this lil' sheep? Trust me though, i don't want to kill the girl. I just want you to do something for me."

"I'm slow, I admit that. I'm also an arrancar you dipshit. I can rip open a hole and walk out of it right behind you," Mortal said, beginning to walk towards Kira, "I'm not going to do anything for you, because I don't think you quite understand the position you're in. There is not a scenario in this where you walk away free. Kill her, I'll come after you, let her live, I'll come after you, beg for mercy, I'll still kill you, fight to your last breath, and I'll remind you that you're not on my level."

*Lilith dispels the spikes with a flaming Tenran, but not before they take out most of the Lanzas. Hod strafes to avoid the rest, & Lilith fires a Cero at him, which he also blocks. Euryale holds out a hand. An orb of globular, pulsating red-orange energy forms in front of it before firing out at Hod, greatly surprising him. He blocks this too, but most of his Zanpakuto is destroyed.*

Noct popped out of the forest and threw a lanza at Hod.

"In the time it takes you to open a garganta I can be gone and flying far away," Kira says lightly, trying not to sound nervous, "And all I want from this situation is a promise which I think you can easily make... I will give the girl back to you, unharmed, if you promise to fight me without your Segunda Etapa."

Mortal dropped into her Segundo, just to spite him, "No. And, once again, you killing her changes nothing. You'll just piss me off, and I'm already pretty upset."

*Hod continues to strafe.*

L"Why do you continue to fight a battle you've already lost?"

*Netzach appears beside Hod.*

Hod<Because I called for reinforcements, obviously.>

Netzach<Yeah, about that...sorry, it's nothing personal.>

*Netzach draws his Zanpakuto & rams it firmly in Hod's back. Hod coughs up blood & stares back at him in shock.*

Netzach<Keter's orders were to off you when you lost your first fight. Guess she didn't really like you. Bummer.>

"So you really don't mind losing your excuse for a life partner?" Kira sighs before flashing away from Sab at blinding speed, her chain shattering and a massive wound appearing from her waist to her throat and spilling out a huge load of blood as he was still moving away.
Kira turns as he rockets away from the structure and releases a Soren Sokatsui at Sab while keeping an eye on Mortal.

Mortal doesn't even try to rescue Sab and slides her zanpakuto into the sheath on her back. As her wings pop out she notices that one of her feathered wings has begun to revert back to a webbed bat wing. Using the increased speed allotted to her, Mortal blasts off after Kira. Once close enough, Mortal throws a sphere of scales around the two of them. "I'm going to kill you in here, but not before I make you wish for death."

--

Noct launched a lanza at Hod and Netzach's feet, hoping to wound them in the explosion.

*Netzach throws Hod at the spear, so it takes the full force of the explosion.*

Netzach<Guess Yesod was right afterall: He did turn out to be a good asset to the team.>

Noct throws another.

*Netzach's hand glows white & he catches it.*

Netzach<Surprised?>

*He throws it back when Lilith's irises suddenly turn silver for a moment. Next thing anyone knows, the lanza has mysteriously vanished.*

Netzach<Odd. I should probably report that to Keter.>

Astarte stood at the edge of the platform and looked down, her hands trembling and the air around her sparking wildly.
"Who...? How did they...? Why aren't we going after them?!" Astarte glared at Senthose over her shoulder, her red eyes wide and furious. "The enemy just took them! Couldn't you, of all of us, have helped them?"

"That is weird..." Noct said, not thrilled someone caught her lanza effortlessly.

OOC: Stating for the record that Sab isn't dead. I'll let her get autohit for the sake of plot, but she is walking away from that.

Kite: <If you can't stand the heat...>

*Kite launches his wheels towards Iris, each of them becoming surrounded by a large fireball.*

*Iris charges right through them, putting up another barrier before collision. It breaks after he passes through the fireballs, however it would be hard to tell because he had already sonido'd behind Kite with his spear lunging for a backstab.*

*By the time Iris arrives behind him, Kite is flashstepping upwards. He holds his hands out midair and smirks.*

Kite: <"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!", Hadō #63, Thunder Roar Sear!>

*He fires a massive yellow strike of destructive energy down at Iris as the wheels turn and begin to ahead towards him again.*

S"I have an inkling of where they are. But Lilith and the humans are much closer to them than I am. Besides, I don't expect Mortal to fail."

A"And what if you're wrong?"

S"I never rely on only one plan."

*Noah appears before them.*

N"What happened to sticking together? And why are you all wearing black robes?"
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L"So, I take it Hod's only purpose was to kill me?"

Netzach<Nah, you're one of the ones Keter wants alive. At least for the time being. But Hod failed at his task, miserably.>

L"So now you're going to fight us?"

Netzach<Wrong again. I make my appearance one level down. Along with Malkuth, Gevurah, & Keter. Although, Keter is a special story.>
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*Hisagi is jumping around, trying to avoid being chopped up by the Metasticized Soul Reaper, who is swinging his Zanpakuto around wildly while giggling like a maniac.*

Zommari<Why do you not strike, Soul Reaper Captain? Are you using the walls for cover, to avoid my Amor? That is wise. But you are not the only one gifted with powers of destruction.>

*He fires a Cero at the walls on the other side of him, demolishing them.*

Zommari<Once this dust clears, there will be nowhere that my Amor doesn't reach.>

*Iris activates his Hierro, then turns around to match the Hado with a Cero, not focusing on the wheels at present.*

*Kite takes advantage of the recoil and backflips across the air, letting the Hado blast into the Cero and landing several yards away from Iris. The wheels' speed is suddenly multiplied as they shoot into Iris from both sides like bladed meteors.*