A forest fit for a king

A forest fit for a king.

It had been years since Ika had been to this place, the Menos Forest was a location he'd been to once or twice, the Gotei used to periodically send soldiers in to cull the population but in recent years those squads weren't usually coming back. In fact, the last man to make it out of this forest was Kokoro and that man was.. not a man at all.

And so despite Ika's usual cocky tone and demeanor he was entering this woodland arena with some measured level of respect, he felt the trees growing around him as the Hollows began to cast their glares in his direction, he could feel the teeming wildlife and multitude of spiders under foot. He could see the white shitagi's and swords ordaining the webs of satiated and proud hollows whom appeared as arachnids upon a first glance. As he entered further into the forest, the webs and foliage grew denser and some Hollows even saw it fit to take a stab at him, to take a shot at their new king and they would all find themselves dispatched in short order until he arrived at a clearing. In this moment, he felt eyes at his back and could see the visage of one of the two queens of the forest peering at him from the front. "I'm so glad we could make this meeting work. I'd heard you two ran in tandem, you've probably heard that adage.. two birds, one stone.."

Ika kept his eyes forward, annoying the presence at his back as he clamped his teeth down on the cigarette now firmly held between his teeth. He covered the end with one hand, snapping with the other to light it, using a small slight of hand trick to slide his Zanpakuto into his opposite hand as he took a slow drag off the cigarette. "So are you ladies available to talk or.. do I need to wear you out a bit first."

The moment he stepped into their land was the moment the two women would be alerted to his presence. He had to have known that they oversaw every minute detail of the forest they presided over whether their own territory or not. They ruled together, yet they still held their own separate kingdoms. The line between them was fairly prominent, however that didn't stop Selica from feeling the immense danger approaching from the spider infested woods across from her own. The plants were not hers, but they were still attached to her own being. Every step he took was another step that she refused to accept. What was he thinking? How dare he approach their forest let alone enter it?

Selica would grin taking her tongue to her bright red lips before making her directly into the path of destruction. With the flick of her wrist, a sizeable clearing would be made as roots slithered across the ground taking the rest of the body with them. A clearing in the form of a circle with a rather enraged, attractive goddess of a woman standing on the opposite end of where the reckless individual would enter. Eyes as green as the forest leaves would pierce the man like daggers, especially as he began to speak so nonchalantly. "If it was words you were looking for, you certainly wouldn't have brought them to us. Seems like all you want is trouble, but I don't mind. You should know better than to enter our forest taking a blade to the very things we love. How disgusting. Even after you were well aware of what happened the last time someone came her desecrating our home," Selica would sneer at Ika knowing that her counterpart wasn't to be very far behind.

As her blood boiled, Selica would raise a bone covered hand in Ika's direction firing off two blasts comparable to the size of basketballs at half a cero's strength each. She was sure this attack wouldn't nearly be enough to harm him, but he would certainly understand how she felt.

Ability:

Women were never Ika's strong suit.

The first girl was talking, the prettier of the two frankly, though that might have been his weird childhood crush on Poison Ivy talking. She was angry, clearly annoyed that he had A. Decided to show up in her forest and B. didn't seem too phased by her presence in it. She only loosely occupied his attention once she had finally launched her attack, two meager blasts which only prompted Ika to raise a card in their direction, enveloping both in an instant before he would blow it out with a light breath, only to reveal another card behind it in short order. He raised an eye at her for a moment, before turning his attention to the much more irritated spider woman at his back. She had made some similar comments while hanging upside down from her tree, launching some bala which were treated about as haphazardly as the plant girls attacks were. A small side-step here, he used a card to split one of them in half as it got close and then immediately turned his back to the plant girl.

"So spider lady, you must be the boss around here. My name is Ika Mazi, and I'm here to conscript you and every half competent hollow in this forest. If your friend is any indicator, that list may not be very long." Ika would turn his head briefly, casting a wry and flirtatious wink in the direction of the plant lady before continuing his diatribe, blatantly impervious to the attitudes of both women. "This conscription I speak of is not optional. You will assimilate and follow my orders, or you will serve as sustenance for a Hollow smart enough to get with the program. You pathetic isolationists have spent enough time hiding behind your walls, I want to wipe the Gotei out head on and you are going to help me."

While Ika's form looked sloppy, he stood prepped and ready in the event that either of the women would make another move in his direction. The next time they came with an attack, he wasn't going to respond with the same measure he had before. In another time, he would have probably hoped this wouldn't call for a violent display of force. He'd barter with them, try to talk them into falling in line.

This was not that time, and that was not his mood. This was their only and final warning, now to see if they would heed it.

It seemed that, as expected, the blasts had no effect on the intruder, yet Selica was much more surprised when she noticed the object within his grasp. He managed to fend off her attack with a simple card trick?! One card for both of her pure floral energy balls and another for Nakita's bala. Just what was this man thinking? He came to fight them with some measly playing cards, but would quickly turn his back on the plant woman. Immediately, her being would fill with rage at the offensive gesture of him turning away from her. How disgraceful! How inconsiderate! She would grit her teeth blinded by fury at the unacceptable manner he was treating her in.

His words added fuel to a fire that could swallow the Earth whole as it burned mountains to the ground and dissipated oceans of water in moments. The boss? He thought that Nakita was the boss of her? Selica would let out a rather crazed cackle at the weight of what he was suggesting. "You think that either of us would help you?! What makes you think I follow anyone's orders?! You think this bitch of an insect rules over me?! This whole forest... is under MY COMMAND!" In her blind rage, Selica would release into her ressurection allowing for just what she needed. The ground under Ika would begin to rumble before large spikes the size of trees would emerge from beneath his feet forming into trees the taller they became. Three trees would erupt from the place he was standing within a matter of just moments. Obvious to her partner at this point, there was no reasoning with Selica, especially after the audacity of his rude ass.

As the trees formed from the ground and the women prattled on about their endless monologues Ika would only be able to muster a small and less than thrilled sigh before Shunpoing forward to where the plant Arrancar was situated. As she spoke, he placed a card between her teeth. She would feel the heat in her mouth, the light burn of the flames as they hissed from the still lit card as he looked her over intently, a sheepish grin attached to his face. "You know I always like a girl who knows how to wear a gag. Easily my favorite type of woman if I'm being honest, probably says some things about me that shouldn't be said but.. no point focusing on that."

Ika would give her cheeks a light pat and follow it with a wink. "Be a dear and hold onto that. Any sudden moves might turn that pretty head of yours into fertilizer, and while I certainly value the irony of that I don't know that it's the best use of those pretty lips of yours. Returning my attention to spider bitch and.. fuck."

Ika turned around and noticed that she was gone, seemingly having disappeared into the forest around him. "You know.. this is quickly becoming a bigger nuisance than I intended. You can show yourself in the next five seconds, or I'm going to burn this shithole down and every Hollow in it. The choice is yours." As Ika said this, he began to concentrate some fire in a circle and cycled it between his two cards. "Five....."

Of course, as Selica was screaming and exploding with anger Ika had something more sadistic in mind. A card placed lightly between her teeth as her tongue retreated at the slightest sign of burning. Her forest green eyes pierced into his own gaze as he spoke to her. He teased her with the words he spoke, but for some reason, she began to blush through the madness. He made her look like a fool and he insulted her openly. However, there was something rather charming about his tricks and the way he moved without flaw. He would pat her cheeks and wink at her, which would bring her back to the moment at hand. Again, he would turn his back on her! Although, he did say her lips were pretty and Nakita most certainly was a spider bitch.

Selica’s anger was as burning red as her own hair and her mouth. She could feel the heat radiating against the top of her mouth and tingling against her lips. It stung, but it was rather exciting. No. No. She didn’t have time for that. How was she going to get rid of this card? From what he had mentioned, it was bound to explode. The sight of one of Nakita’s children would bring up a rather grand idea. Beckoning the spider with her finger, the creature would crawl over to her and climb up her leg. Selica had to admit that she hated the feeling of such insects crawling along her body, however she would never harm someone else’s child. As the creature made itself close to her hand, Selica would raise her palm up towards her mouth, at which point the creature would know what to do. The small being would take hold of the card ingesting it before quickly leaping from her palm and scurrying away. She had to say her mouth was much cooler, but would certainly need time to heal.

Selica would watch it run off before shrugging to herself. Her eyes would focus back on Ika noticing he was indeed not giving her the same respect… again. He even threatened to destroy their home. Her children. Their children. The only place they could belong satisfactorily. Thorn covered vines would slither up from behind Selica towards Ika aiming to strike from behind. Her vines moved meticulously and slowly, until they were in a suitable position. At this point, they would strike aiming to wrap around Ika’s neck and legs in hopes of immobilizing and killing him.

To say Ika was a bit annoyed with the current state of play would be a gross and frankly obnoxious understatement. The two women were going to do their damnedest to be as irritating and slow to give in as possible, so Ika was going to have to oblige their trickery. As the girl shot her thorn growths forth, Ika would simply Shunpo towards the spider lady while aiming a slash across her stomach with the card in his left hand. He would turn around, casting a card in the plant woman's direction that would scatter into 3 smaller cards that would deal bala damage and second degree burns on impact. He turned his attention back towards the spider lady, Shunpoing around sporadically to avoid the webs as he cast a cero level card towards her and prepared to return to the middle of the two annoyed and frankly obnoxious women.

"I did say if this continued I'd have to get serious, pity neither of you value your lives.. Bankai."

As Ika said this and his Reiatsu heightened, he gave his neck a quick crack before turning back towards the plant lady. "So.. I think I'll kill the pretty one first."

Selica would groan rather lividly as Ika yet again managed to avoid her attacks. He was so quick and precise that she just wasn't able to get a grasp on him. Just how much more powerful was he? It was enough to make her growl aloud furiously, especially as he would throw a few cards her way. If they were anything like the last one, she knew better than to let them hit her. Selica would utilize her Sonido to dodge off to the side, while producing a shield strong enough to withstand the blast leaving her a bit warmer than she would like to be. Her forest green eyes stared at him with all intent to kill, until she would hear what he had to say.

Bankai?! His reiatsu was enough to freeze her in her tracks, but only for a moment. He was definitely stronger than Nakita and Selica both. He was on a completely different level. How were they going to manage fighting him off? Could they do such a thing? All his attention would turn on her and she would find herself entranced again by his words. Her face was red from being so angry, but also from the sound of him calling her pretty. She couldn't help it. Selica knew she was quite beautiful and used this to her advantage, but her ego took a hit every time she received a complement. It strengthened her view of herself. A man so charming noticing her beauty was something she just couldn't take. However, she still had a job to do.

Knowing that he was fully released to a point that she hadn't managed to reach. Well, Selica had to do everything she could in her power to challenge him, even though it probably wouldn't go well in the slightest. As he turned to face her, large spikes the size of trees and thorny vines alike would attempt to capture him in place. If she could impale him or just catch him for even a moment, maybe the two would have a shot at hitting him with some sort of attack. Although, it didn't seem that Nakita was too keen on helping her for the time being. Well, at least Selica was attempting to protect their home, unlike some selfish spider bitch was.

Techs:

As Ika finished his sentence he jumped into the air and threw a card down towards the wall of thorns and vines beneath him, letting them explode in a flurry as he perched himself atop a nearby tree branch. "Oh you must have misheard me dear flower, I said the pretty one."

Ika would blow her a kiss, giving a wry wink before Shunpoing back towards the spider lady's location having long since given up on a ranged gameplan. He airwalked towards her, card in hand as he aimed a vertical slash at her chest, then Shunpo'd forward trying to split her in two horizontally. The flames from his previous card usage would already begin to envelop the forest, as Ika would use his Reiatsu to fan the flames around the area which would kill many of the spiders and smaller Hollows roaming around. "I've got very little interest in allowing this to go on much longer.. apologies for the rushed ending, but this is your last chance to surrender before I turn you and the rest of this miserable forest into cinders."

"No no no no no no," Selica would whisper to herself in disbelief at the sight before her. How could he? How could he be so cruel? Of course he didn't understand. He was just a heartless shinigami that couldn't dare feel what they were feeling for their home. She wished he would just drop dead. His words were nothing to her and wouldn't even get a slight reaction at the horrific sight she was facing. With the most defeated and disgusted expression, Selica would kneel down sitting on the backs of her calves. "Just stop," Selica would say placing her hands on the dirt in front of her knees. "Leave them alone. You're hurting them. Just stop. Whatever it is, I'll listen. Just hurry up and go away," Selica wanted to cover her ears, but she knew she would still be able to hear the destruction and agony. She just wanted to save them. Her children.

Sometimes a show of force was needed in order to coerce more stubborn individuals into cooperation, and that was exactly what had happened here. With a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye Ika would snap his fingers, immediately returning the once raging infernos around him to smoke and quickly fading Reiatsu. Slowly but surely left hand would return to his pocket, and his right hand would return to his mouth with a cigarette ready for him to savor. "Very well then.. I suppose I can avoid turning this place into an ash-filled wasteland. You two will serve under me in the coming conflict, your soldiers will work alongside me as well. The Gotei has had their go at things for far too long while you Hollows have sat idle, waiting for them to exterminate you at their earliest convenience."

Ika would narrow his eyes on the two injured and scared women, taking a drag off his cigarette before staring out into the distance. "By the end of my conquest, I want the Gotei brought to their fucking knees, left to suffer the same indignity and fear they've inflicted upon others. Are we clear? Are we in agreement? Any questions? No? Good."