There Can Be Only One [Kanae, Arkin]

He calls himself "Immortal"! I can't wait to prove otherwise~ Nagoshi Kanae's meeting with Murasaki, the Gotei's current Captain Commander, had gone well. At least on the surface the woman seemed supportive of Kanae and her spoken desire for redemption. Still, she doubted the Captain Commander would be thrilled with her challenging and possibly defeating one of her precious Captains.

We have only been free a short time, Tosatsusha. We need to be careful. Ready for anything. Even after a thousand years Kanae had the utmost trust in her loyal Zanpakuto. Their reunion had been long-awaited, and it was as if they had never been separated. But they had been separated, and neither would ever forgive anybody involved or their descendants and successors. It no longer mattered to her Yamamoto was dead. Her new target was everyone.

To achieve her goals, Kanae knew she needed her Captaincy back. The one snag was the only way for her to snake her way back into that rank was by challenging and defeating the Combat Division's head, whom she knew almost nothing about. Whether it was because of confidence, arrogance, or just a complete lack of fear of death, Kanae sent a formal challenge to this Arkin to meet her at noon in the 4th's training yard. He would defend his position, or she would take it from him.

Ha! A challenge, eh? Arkin had to admit, he relished the thought of getting all the rust off his bones with a good fight, and against a former captain, no less! Murasaki had come by to give him some information about her beforehand, and at first he told her not to say anything. It would ruin the thrill of the battle, after all! But she'd been insistent, so he at least looked over the basics before tossing the file to the side.

"Well, not quite the face you'd expect from someone challenging me for captaincy, is it! You remind me of another lovely lass I know, though I can't imagine her ever coming by for something like this!"

Laughing boisterously, Arkin downed the large cup of sake he'd been holding before tossing it to the side, looking Kanae up and down for a moment. Certainly not bad on the eyes, eh?

"Alright lass, you know how these things go. Challenger gets the first blow n' all that."

But judging from the way the man's fingers were tense around the hilt of his axe-shaped zanpakuto, and how his eyes watched Kanae's every movement, it didn't seem like he had any intentions of letting her land that blow easily.

...I hate him. Tosatsusha was no fan of boisterous meatheads, and so far this Arkin fellow was giving that vibe off to a T. Kanae however chose to ignore her Zanpakuto and was instead focused on scanning the bulky man for any sign of weakness. Nothing obvious stood out to her, but she was certain the usual weak points still applied. Eyes. Throat. Heart. Any of these were worthwhile targets, and no amount of time stashed away in a prison would make her forget them.

As she responded to the man Kanae had to force herself not to lick her lips at the thought of slicing this man into a bloody pile "Oh how kind of you, Captain. I'm afraid even as audacious as challenging someone of your prestige is, I may not provide the best opponent." An extremely wide, nightmarish smile crept across her face as Kanae tilted her head over 45 degrees "I did just get out of prison, after all!"

With a burst of speed Kanae both drew her Zanpakuto and crossed the distance between herself and her target. Her arm and weapon were outstretched in front of her, with the blade's tip aimed perfectly to pierce Arkin's Hakusui, the source of a Shinigami's spiritual power, in order to end this fight before it even begins. All the while her putrid, almost venomous spiritual pressure radiated from her lithe body. Every molecule of her being was buzzing with a sick excitement.

Most men, when seeing such an expression on a woman, probably would have been a bit taken aback. It wasn't exactly pleasant in any typical fashion. But Arkin was hardly 'most men,' and he grinned himself as he felt the rush of a fight begin to course through him. Her approach was pretty good, for certain, but her speed wasn't something Arkin was taken aback by. Arkin's physical prowess was nothing short of exceptional, after all, and he grinned wide as he brought his zanpakuto to bear, practically slamming the smaller woman's more delicate blade away with the heft of his own weapon.

"Right for the kill, eh! Very good, you've got that killer's intent in ya!"

While the momentum of his axe's swing was immense, Arkin didn't need to redirect it just yet. Instead, he used the momentum of the attack to swing his free hand toward Kanae, palm open as he focused his energy into a mighty Tessho toward the woman's gut. For most people, a blow like this probably would have been enough to take them out of commission for the rest of their lives. But as far as Arkin was concerned, anyone who could have been a captain in the old days would be just fine.

Strong...! Kanae could immediately perceive the difference in strength and speed between herself and this man. She had not known what to expect from a modern day Captain, but now she was certain at least this Arkin seemed worth his salt. She felt his power as her Zanpakuto was knocked away by his own. She figured her initial attack had no real chance of defeating him even if he had been a disappointment. Luckily even though Arkin was faster, she was able to see his open palm strike coming and moved her sheath over in time to prevent a direct hit to her abdomen. The force was still great enough to send her reeling backward a few feet and cause painful shock waves throughout her left arm.

"Strong, fast, and skillful. You remind me of another Captain from my time. She was the head of the combat division too!" As she spoke Kanae replaced her Zanpakuto back into its sheath before crouching down slightly. Then, with all the speed she could muster, Kanae lunged forward and released an overhead swing with her weapon aimed directly for Arkin's head. This time however her Tosatsusha was coated almost imperceptibly in a thin layer of acid which would rain down in droplets onto Arkin if he blocked or was hit. This acid could cause minor burns at first to a man like him, though their severity would worsen over time.

"That so! Now that's quite the compliment, ya know. But I'm not satisfied with just being as good as someone from back then!"

An iai strike was fairly easy to see coming, even if the actual direction of it wasn't, and Arkin had already prepared to defend against the next incoming blow rather than try to capitalize on her weak points. Let the lass get in a few good hits, you know? As his axe came upward and blocked the weapon, however, he felt the burn of acid falling upon him. Rather than wince, however, he simply gave a wink to the lady attacking him, though the eyepatch he wore over his right eye might have made the gesture a bit harder to notice.

"Ho! Now that's an interesting trick, little lady! I suppose I should return the favor!"

As Kanae's acid fell onto Arkin's skin, it found little purchase to burn further through his body, as rather than blood oozing from beneath his skin, burning golden ichor came to the surface, igniting as it touched the air. This acid of hers was certainly potent, that much was immediately apparent, but Arkin wasn't some weak man. He was the son of the storms, after all, and the skies above darkened as his expression changed to a wide grin.

Pushing back with his zanpakuto this time, he immediately swung toward the former captain with impressive strength. This time, however, a bolt of lightning crashed down from above as he did so, striking the head of the axe moments before it would have cleaved into Kanae. He still had plenty more in his arsenal, but Arkin was willing to play this at the pretty lady's pace. Made things more fun.

Arkin's friendly and sportsmanlike attitude was beginning to nauseate Kanae and Tosatsusha alike. He should be doing his best to kill her in brutal fashion, as so many Captains before him had done to challengers of their own. Instead, to Kanae, it seemed this man was trying to take it easy. Please just release me and let slaughter him! For old time's sake! But she knew she probably should not immediately go all-out and actually kill him, lest she draw the ire of other Captains and Murasaki. Though even should she release Tosatsusha, this man was proving capable enough to be troublesome either way.

Kanae noticed the strange gold liquid leaking and evaporating from his burns and expressed her discontent with his strange physiology "Hmph. I prefer when a man bleeds crimson." When Arkin moved to bring his axe down upon her, Kanae swiftly rolled to her right to avoid the impending strike that would have most certainly injured her far too much for her liking. As she did she placed her weapon back in it's holder before rapidly withdrawing it and attempting a horizontal slice across his stomach. Like before, her Tosatsusha was covered in a layer of acid that would spatter across Arkin's body and the surrounding ground. The lightning worried her, but in Kanae's eyes she just needed one hit to land to incapacitate him

"I hate to disappoint, lass, but that would make me just a man!"

As Kanae swung again, the horizontal slash fairly telegraphed for someone of Arkin's capabilities, he once more brought his zanpakuto to bear and blocked the swing, acid spraying onto him as it, too, came into contact with the burning ichor that slowly flowed beneath his skin, barely more than a drop or two actually leaking past his skin. As he was wounded, however, the jovial smile on Arkin's face seemed to fall, and he stared down at the former captain with what seemed to be an intense disapproval.

"Is this all you've come here to challenge me with? You're wasting my time."

All at once, Arkin kicked forward with one foot, shoving his zanpakuto forward and fully intent on simply throwing the axe into the woman's skull if she didn't avoid it. If she was so intent on fighting just for the sake of this challenge, then Arkin wouldn't keep taking it so easily, nor would he continue to humor her current efforts.

After all, did this woman who hadn't even released think she stood a chance against a man in an eternal bankai?

In an instant Kanae sensed an overwhelming power radiating off her opponent as he simultaneously dismissed her and put closer to his real strength behind his attack. As if he had grown to tower over her, she felt the honest difference between them for the first time. Seeing her impending doom in the shape of his axe Kanae released her own power, causing both herself and Tosatsusha to begin emitting a faint neon green light from their forms. Though still at a significant disadvantage, Kanae's Shikai at least prevented her from having her skull split in twain by allowing her to block his axe with her Zanpakuto and it's sheath as she retreated. With a swift Flash Step backwards, Kanae both limited the force she would have to defend from as well as create a space between herself and this monster.

At her new position Kanae took stock of the situation. She looked down at her hands and noticed blood seeping through her fingers Probably from my palms from blocking that attack, she surmised. Then, turning her attention back to Arkin, she questioned the man about his sudden surge in power "Tell me, how could you increase the force behind your attack so much without any changes to yourself or your Zanpakutō? What sort of trick are you employing?" Even as she spoke she did not expect a truthful answer, after all why should he give away the game so easily? Then again, she thought, he seems sporting enough to not bother hiding the truth.

As the axe was blocked, it fell to the ground, making a rather audible thud as the ground shook slightly from the weight of it. Rolling his shoulders as he walked forward, Arkin picked up the weapon effortlessly, wholly unconcerned by the change in Kanae's energy. It seemed like the woman had gone into shikai, considering this certainly wasn't a captain-level bankai. That much, at least, he felt fairly confident in. Then again, he'd dealt with Murasaki's bankai before, and hers didn't change anything about her energy at all, so he couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility that she might be more dangerous than she appeared.

"You bored me."

Gripping the axe in his hand tightly, ice began to form on the blade of the zanpakuto, and he bolted toward the woman as he swung the weapon overhead, as if using a sledgehammer. At the same time, lightning once more shot down to the ground below, empowering the axe further as it rocketed toward the woman.

However, he was fully aware that she was faster than him. The idea that he would actually be able to simply cut her in two with this was pretty far from Arkin's mind. That was why he was fully prepared to simply arc the momentum of his swing if Kanae dodged, in order to throw the axe after her in whatever direction she evaded. These slippery sorts didn't tend to hold up to a firm offense, so that was exactly what Arkin would do.