(ooc This is my challenge thread to prove I can handle a 1 tier. I'm challenging Jun's kyo Blaze with Jensen Reinhart.)

It was a dry, warm day. A man of 5'11, with a muscled build approached a small town in the south east of england. His long brown hair flowed behind him as he walked against a light wind. He had bright blue eyes, that reflected his experience and age if a person looked close enough. He wore his usual clothing, rather than his shinigami uniform, and his zanpakuto, Celestia was at his hip, but hidden by his most noticable piece of clothing, a long great coat, that stopped just below the knee.

He walked casually towards the town, not in any hurry to arrive at his destination. His mind was in other places anyway, drifting trough the memories of the last few months. As he crossed a bridge over a shallow river, Jensen instinctively moved to the side of the road as a lone car passed, but otherwise he did not react. He just kept moving, his eye's on the town ahead, taking in the stonework of the castle that dominated the landscape. This castle was an important landmark to Jensen. He hadn't lived there by any means, but he had served the lord that ruled there.

This town, in what would have once been the capital of west mercia over 2000 years ago was the resting place of his family, and himself, most likely. It would be a strange thing, walking up to his own grave, thats if the old grave yard was even still there. Unlikely, considering how much the world had changed. A change he had grown used to, having something to cherish again.

As Jensen neared the town, something began to feel off. the air around him felt strange, as he began to pick up a reiatsu signature. His own was could be felt by anyone who could sense, he was not using a gigai after all. He prefered not using it, and without it he would have been able to walk right into town unnoticed. But right now, at the appearance of this new presence, Jensen pushed all thoughts of his past aside, hand reaching for celestia, ready to fight if he had to.

The stonework and historical sites have stayed maintained for thousands of years, and continued to draw audiences around the nation. Little did anyone knew, that castle was going to be erased from history and area turned into a fiery hellhole. A garganta opened inside the castle. Immediately, his reiatsu could be felt. The arrancar literally could not hide his power even if his life depended on it. That's how much excess energy he had. The five foot ten red head in armor, though his stomach wasn't armored and black clothing was underneath the red armor, stepped out. He had a very long, white scarf as well, the ends trailing behind him and hiding his human lower jaw hollow fragment and hollow hole. He was starving. And the nearby town has plenty of souls to devour, few of which could be potentially tasty. But first, they needed to be cooked. But first, Kyo Blaze thought for a moment. Wondering if he should blow up a few things first to send people in a frenzy. His zanpakutou was a spear, with a two and a half foot long spear blade, and small pike on the opposite end of it.

He thought it would be a good idea. Though unbeknown to him, it would be a bad idea. He pointed left index finger at the town, seeing through a small window. An orange ball charged at the tip of the finger and was fired. His cero. It made a bigger hole in the building and went into town, destroying several buildings. The arrancar rested his spear on top of his right shoulder and walked in front of the newly made hole. Kyo took a big breath of air. "Nice day for a Barbie-Q!" The red head grinned at the prospect. Though that effectively revealed exactly where he was to defenders, if any.

Jensen found the source of the reiatsu. It was coming from the castle, although from that distance he could not tell if it was an arrancar or hinrichten or what. He could sense quite far, but he couldn't really distinguish different reiatsu. He shrugged and shunpo'd a little closer, intending to take a look. He was on the outskirts of the town when he felt the reiatsu serge, and a cero tore trough the stone work of the castle, shooting down into the town, and causing an explosion that wiped out several buildings.

Jensen stopped, staring in disbelief as the shock wave blew past, blowing his hair back. He could here the screams of the innocent, the cries of injured people as all hell broke loose in the town. It had been so sudden that he had taken a few seconds to react, looking up to the castle, where he could see a figure standing in the breach. He wanted to do something to help the people, but there was no point, as no one in the area that he could sense could stand up to arrancar.

Jensen gripped the handle of his sword, pushing down his building anger. He rarely angered, but that single act of unnecessary violence was more than enough to set him off, if he were the kind of man who allowed his anger to control him. Jensen pushed off the ground and shunpo'd forward. Jensen would have justice for the dead, if it killed him.

Shunpoing forward he rushed the arrancar as he drew his weapon, aiming a vertical slash up the monsters chest, before bringing his blade down to throat level and thrusting his sword for the arrancar's throat, to drive him back into the building. He landed on the edge of the building, staring down the spear weilding arracar, with blue eyes. There was no hint of amusement, the arrancar would be wise to back off a little, as Jensen was ready to attack again, without a moments notice.

Kyo was about to go and start gathering the meat when a shinigami came at him. He barely had to time to step back. The sealed blade nicked his chest armor, cutting straight through it. Kyo was fast, and with strong hierro, even for his level. He was also very strong as well, physically. But he was far from invincible. When the thrust came, with his left hand, the arrancar grabbed the sealed blade, it not even cutting him. The gluttonous beast smiled before throwing him into the wall behind him. "What do we have here? Some fiesty food it seems...guess you can be my appetizer..." Kyo rushed in to start his own assault.

The redhead started with his left fist, aiming for the face. Whether he dodged or took it, he would spin and try to stab the shinigami in the stomach with the small pike on the opposite end of his spear blade. Followed by a quick, weak slice to the arm and then a sharp thrust to the chest. He was a tank that maintained speed. But he couldn't hide. He didn't think. He couldn't sense a thing. And he hated water and ice abilities.

The uppercut slash cut trough the arrancar's chest armor, and as Jensen thrust, his sword was grabbed and he was thrown across the room. He had faced strong arrancar, but this one was physically the strongest, tossing the man pretty easily. Jensen twisted in the air and hit the wall sideways, bruising his shoulder. better than cracking his skull against the hard stone wall. Jensen straightened himself with a quick glance at his blade. Not so much as a drop of blood on the sword, hinting at a strong hierro. He couldn't be sure though, not without landing a direct hit. He looked at the arrancar. "You've bitten off more than you can chew, beast." He said as the arrancar charged him.

Jensen shifted his weight to the right dodging the arrancar's punch and was thankful, as his red head foe spun, bringing the pike end of his spear in for a stab. He stepped out of reach of it, and a quick slash tore across his arm, ripping his coat and flesh alike. The arrancar finished with a thrust, Jensen pushed the spear head aside, it passed him harmlessly as he brought his own weapon up and around in a diagonal two handed slash down on the arrancar's extended arm.

jensen didn't rely on strength as much as defending and waiting for the right moment to attack, such as that moment. Even if it didn't cut, the power behind the blow would hurt if it landed. Jensen took the chance to get back from the arrancar to consider his next move. As of yet he was unable to find a weakness. He decided to engage the arrancar up close, get a feel for the man's abilities, and think of something when he knew more. Rushing forward, blade rising in a vertical slash, only to come back down in a diagonal cut from shoulder to hip. Jensen stepped back, ready to dodge.

He missed the first two strikes, but grazed him with the third. When he thrusted with the spear, it was redirected by a knock to the side of the spear. A sword crashed down on his right forearm, cutting the red armor, but not drawing blood. It did lower his arm a tad and did feel it. "My hierro is tougher than that!" He backhanded the blade and man away. As Kyo was about to go after him, the shinigami did the honors for him. Jensen (he doesn't know the guy's name, just to clarify) came down with a diagonal strike. Kyo swung the main spear blade up to meet it. Sparks flew when the metal clashed. But Kyo didn't stop there. Again he spun, parrying the sword and stabbing with the pike on the opposite end five times, using sonido to keep up if necessary, and aiming at random spots of his body. He then did a diagonal left to right upward swing with the main blade, aiming at the chest. However, a weak energy wave was also fired. It wouldn't do much, even a seated officer (like upper 3-tier) could deflect it.

Kyo jumped back and rested the spear against the side of his neck with his right hand holding onto it. He pointed his left index finger at the man. And likewise charged and fired an orange cero at him. Kyo's cero was only average among his power. But it's still nothing to laugh about. Fire and flame started gathering in that same palm. But first, he wanted to see what happened with his cero....

The arrancar threw up his weapon, blocking Jensen's attack with the blade of his strange spear. Pushing jensen's blade back the arrancar spun and stabbed with the back of his spear again and again. Jensen backed away slowly, using quick two handed slashes to parry the spear point away from him. He was warry around the man's spear. The two foot blade, with that beasts' strength behind it was more than enough to cut him in half. Which the arrancar tried to do. Jensen jumped out of range as the spear blade cut through the air where he had been standing. A strange wave followed, that hit him in the chest. it hurt a little but he pushed trough it.

The arrancar was not finished as he raised his index finger, charging a cero aimed for Jensen. A bad idea, in an old builing like this, the arrancar could bring the roof crashing down on them if he hit the wrong spot. He waited for the arrancar to fire bofore shunpoing out of the way, as the cero tore trough the wall behind him, and ripped the inside of the castle appart. It probably took out another wall before or as it exploded. The wreckless arrancar gave him and idea.

He ran through the hole in the wall and into the hallway, looking back to see where the arrancar was, before vanishing trough a large door way. He had prior knowledge of this building, having served the lord who owned it. tHe dashed across the spacious room towards what was once a throne. The room was supported by thick pillars. Jensen slid to a stop, and pulled on his vizard mask.

When the arrancar stepped trough the door, he would charge and fire a cero, taking out on of the pillars, which would be enough to cause a small collapse that would take in part of the roof above, and hopefully destroy the floor so that the arrancar fell down a level as well as being crushed by the debris form above. Of course, it put Jensen at risk, if the whole room decided to go, but if he was lucky, he'd catch the beast off guard and he'd go down in the collapse.

(ooc, if you want you can have the whole room collapse. That would be quite amusing.)

The shinigami had skills. But his energy wave still hit him. Though he did avoid the cero. Jensen ran through the new found holes in the walls. Instead of following, he fired the ball of flame. "Hinote Cero!" A cero of flames followed the other spiritual being just as he turned around. It would melt through the walls and doors without much trouble. Whether it hit or miss, he didn't care, Kyo would walk. He was almost too relaxed. However...he got lost. He turned right, left, left, went down some stairs, went straight, found three bedrooms, two toiletries (if they can be called that), the kitchen (again, if you could call it that), and everything else except his opponent. He had travelled three floors down and was now standing in the armory.

And he frowned, his orange eyes glaring at the various old age weapons. "Well shit. Where did that meal go...meh, hopefully he'll follow me then..." Another ball of flame formed in his left palm, and he fired it upwards, melting through the various floors and through the top of the castle. Wonder if that will catch his attention? And maybe cook some tourists in the process? If there were any that is...

Before Jensen had gotten far when he was escaping trough the hole in the wall, the arrancar charged and fired a strange, fiery cero, that could have incinerated him had he been hit. Instead hit hit the wall exploding out and trough it, and lit the end of Jensen's coat on fire. He stopped and pulled it off, trowing it aside and down the hall, in trough the large doorway of the room he was preparing to collapse.

Jensen was standing there, ready to fire on the pillar when the arrancar appeared.... Which he didn't.... So either he had sensed a trap and stayed back, or he couldn't sense Jensen. He could sense the arrancar though, and the arrancar seemed to be lost... He was downstairs somewhere, possible neat the kitchens or armory. He couldn't be sure, so he decided to follow. Jensen turned to the left, and passed trough a small door into the servents waiting/prep area. There was a spiral stair case in the back of this room that would lead to the kitchens, and he was crossing the room to take it when the floor shook, and he heard screams.

He didn't see the fiery cero ripped trough, so but it felt like it passed nearby, not the throne room. past that. That felt about right. so the arrancar was in the armory. or close to it. Jensen darted down the spiral stair, down one, two, three floors, so he would was on the same level as the armory. This route the the armory was new to him, he'd never taken the stairs past the kitchen before, although he knew it existed.

Still, using the arrancar's reiatsu to track him, found his way, turning a corner as he spotted one of the two doorways. The arrancar was directly ahead, and if he turned he would see the vizard as he raised his hand and fired a cero down the hall. Hit or miss, Jensen pulled off his mask and charged down the hall after it, and slashed at the arrancar five times, right to left, left to right and so on, before getting back and prepared himself fot the next attack.

The arrancar waited patiently, tapping his foot. Suddenly, the room grew some light after his Hinote Cero. He turned around. Right into a cero, which blasted off his armor and showed some damage, but not much. His hierro was strong, but energy attacks seemed to be the best way to get through it. Kyo charged through the smoke to see the newly discovered vizard, spear at the ready. He held it defensively and blocked the small onslaught. Kyo stood his ground and pushed back on the last strike. He swung his spear, scraping the walls with the two blades on the spear, left to right. Followed by an overhead swing.

He jumped back and swung five times, firing energy blasts with each swing. That was a distraction, as an orange cero was charged and fired. In this hall, it would be hard to dodge the cero. But Kyo already had his Hinote Cero charged and fired it as well. After that, Kyo charged for a stab to the chest...

(OOC: For some reason, my combat posts are always so....short....)

(ooc some people do better at combat, some at social. I'm better t combat...)

Jensen was very surprised the arrancar had not felt that coming. Sensing seemed to be part of his weaknesses. He took the attack head on, and it ripped away his armor. It seemed slightly more effective than hitting him without shikai, considering he just blocked all of Jensen's attacks, Before slashing att him. The slash drove Jensen back into the hall as he blocked it, and was followed by a down cut. He raised his sword, putting one hand on the end to make it easier to hold the guard. The arrancar followed this up with a volley of energy waves. Jensen blocked all but the last, that pushed him farther down the hall, and left him open for an attack.

The follow up attack came in the form of a Cero. In the small hallway it would be hard to avoid, and the last doorway or alcove he could duck into was to far down to make it in time. His only option was to throw his arms up to protect his face and chest and hope his hierro could take it. The cero hit as he was regaining his balance and he was forced down the hallway. As the power dissipated he was glad to find he had held up to it. It still hurt, but his hierro was strong. Not strong enough to take a direct hit from that arracar's weapon, but he could atleast withstand Kyo's cero.

Still the arrancar was not done, as he fired another of his fiery cero's. Jensen was lucky, as the cero had forced him down the hall, and past the alcove. He trew himself into it, watching as the cero passed, before stepping out. He had been ready to step back in incase of a follow up, but Kyo charged him, driving his spear for Jensen's chest. He used a two handed blow to force it aside, and followed up with a slash up, from groin to chest, before stepping past, and turning with a slash for the back of Kyo's neck.

He backed off towards the armory ready to run if he had to, and led the arrancar towards the room. When there was space between them, and both were in the room, Jensen place the sword across the vambrace on his right arm. "I wanted to wait, until you released your ressurection, but i guess i'll have to get serious first." He said, and followed up with, "Pulse, Celestia!"

Jensen's reiatsu flared up as his sword became a flail with a long handle and a heavy flanged ball on the end of a chain. his hand was protected by a basket hilt. the vambrace became a dark steel gauntlet, with clawed fingers. It served as a weapon as well as a defensive tool. Rushing foward he launched a pulse wave, a heavy short ranged wave of reiatsu designed to push opponants off their feet and drive them back, dealing mild damage. Hit or miss, Jensen used the chance to get behind Kyo, and swung low for the man's left knee, before bringing it up and over in a heavy down swing on the arrancar's shoulder, then quickly prepared to defend.

His stab was parried and an attack to the groin was made. Extremely tough heirro or no, he's not gonna let someone take a chop to his balls. He kicked the blade away, which only gave Jensen the momentum to spin behind him and slash at his neck. Sparks flew as the blade scraped against the iron skin, cutting his scarf and clothes. The man backed off and retreated. Kyo turned and followed. When the vizard stopped, so did he. And the man released his shikai. Kyo's grin widened. Excellant. He charged at the arrancar. And Kyo met him. Only to be pushed back by a blast of reiatsu or something. He was able to stay standing, but he was pushed back a good three dozen yards, the two ends of the spear scraping the walls as he slid back.

The vizard used this opportunity to get behind him and swung the flail at his knee. Kyo lifted his leg and kicked it with his foot. But that didn't work out too well. The guy got a strength increase that caught him off guard (which you failed to mention his boosts, so forgive my slight metagaming here...), which in turn flung him through the wall. And a spike on the flail also pierced his foot. He flipped back on his feet, though his foot now leaked crimson. He came at him again, this time with an overhead swing. Kyo went for the gut in a swipe with the main spear blade at the same time, right to left. The flail hit him in his right shoulder. He felt and heard something snap as the strike dug into his shoulder. His heirro helped some, but shikai could penetrate it. Good thing he can withstand a lot of damage before going down.

Jensen gave himself some distance after the exchange of blows. "So it seems your shikai is one hell of a weapon...let's turn this into a literal Barbie-Q! Turn the bones to Ash: Kasai Espueleto!" His spear glowed orange as he spoke, then fire and flames surrounded him. The stone floor melted, as did the rubble around him. Suddenly, a skelatal claw followed by a skelatal creature was lunged at the man. The wall behind the vizard also melted and stabbed at him in a molten pike.

(OOC: For new appearance: http://www.riseoftherevolution.org/t1240-kyo-blaze )

(oh sorry about that. And no worries, although thats not really metagaming.)

His flail dug into the arrancar's shoulder, followed by a low cracking sound. At the same time the arrancar countered him, slashing for his gut. Jensen intercepted the blade with his gauntlet, and the blade slid down, cutting across his thigh. He grimaced and jumped back from the arrancar, as the arrancar spoke, he was engulfed in flames. Then as Jensen watched, a skeletal claw burst forth from the flames. He raised the gantlet to block the slash and could geel the heat coming off the arrancar. He also noticed now, than the stones around the arrancar were melting. The steel gauntlet protected from the attack, but he instictively pulled back from the heat. As he did a pike lanced from hehind.

Jensen did not see the pike as it lanced into his shoulder and threw him forward, causing him to cry out. It didn't go deep as he reacted to the contact of the sudden heat and stepped forward, but it hurt like hell as it cut into and burned his right shoulder. The wound was sure to hinder his defense, as he used his flail in his left and gauntlet in his right hand. Jensen was trapped in a building of stone that was slowly melting. He needed to escape and get outside and preferably into the air, and away from anything the arrancar could use to attack. Luckily for him, the arrancar had ripped a whole up trough the builing, meaning he wouldn't have to risk a fighting retreat in the small hallways.

But first, Jensen would need to distract the arrancar and force him back. Moving forward, he whipped the flail around and aimed it for the arrancar's hip, let it follow trough before bringing it back and up towards the arrancars face. He followed up with a pulse wave to push the man back, and threw a heart piercer to distract the arrancar. Once done he quickly retreated while the wave did its work, jumping up towards the roof of the castle, floor by floor, until he was out.

There was no chance the arrancar missed him escape, and Jensen was floating just above the hole. He knew it left him open for a cero but he shouldn't have to much trouble getting out of range. He even called out, to make sure the arrancar knew where he was. When the arrancar began to climb towards him, he rook aim and fired a cero down on his foe, before ripping his mask off.

His attack had some effect. But so did his earlier strike. His collar bone and shoulder were cracked, a tiny trickle of orange goo showed around the cracks. The injury would hinder that arm's movement. His own strike to the stomach hit the guy's thigh. Shame. Now the flail headed towards his pelvis, one of his two areas that can be harmed by a mere shikai. Kyo kicked the flail away, his strength and speed being doubled. In addition, his arms, legs, tail, and spinal section between the chest cavity and pelvis could block even bankai. Another strike aimed for the face. The arrancar jumped back and fired a couple of fire balls. Only to have them deflected by the same type of pulse wave that was used earlier. He was pushed back, but not as far as last time. Did it have a specific range?

The vizard wasn't quite done. He threw some kind of dagger at him. Zuh? Kyo just laughed, touching the wall, melting some of it, and swinging it around, forming a makeshift shield. The viscosity of the melted stone blocked it. He let it fall and watched the vizard escape. Kyo walked to follow, and laughed. His voice sounded pissed off, and was deeper too. "You cannot win by merely escaping like that!" The skeletal foe got on all fours and started pumping his power throughout the castle, essentially melting it all from the floor he was on and up. Not counting the stone he was currently on top of.

The melted stone twisted up and continued up and would continually try to drown the man in lava. However, Kyo could not move from where he was. Not without relinquiashing control of his personal lave lake in the air...

Jensen watched in shock as Kyo got on all fours and began to melt the castle from the armory up. wooden support beams burst into flames as they were consumed by by the melting rock began to advance towards him. He was starting to believe he was in over his head as a wave of lava lashed up at him. Jensen shunpo'd up to avoid it. He needed a plan fast, he couldn't dodge forever, and leaving now wasn't an option, he knew exactly where this wave of lava was heading if he did. The lave rose up around him and tried to catch him again, and again he dodged.

The arrancar hadn't moved, Jensen could sense that much, and he would have to If Jensen broke line of sight. As far as he could tell from earlier, this arrancar couldn't sense him, so tracking him wiith that lake of lava would be hard if he couldn't see him. But there was a chance that if he lost interest in the vizard he would drop the lake on the town. Jensen shunpo'd down and fired a cero towards the Arrancar, giving him a general idea of where the vizard was if it wasn't blocked by lava. He shunpo'd again as the lake shifted towards him and fired another, from farther back.

As he shunpo'd up, lava splashed and hit him across chest. It burned like hell and threw him off concentration. He still fired a cero, leading the arrancar and his lava farther away from the town. But the severe burns had him distracted. He fell back from the lava ready to move, and waited to see his foe's reaction.