Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August 7, x791.
*Vroom~~~~~!* x 2
A few miles outside of magnolia, two people riding two-wheeled magic vehicles, one black and violet, the other black and white, sped along the road. However, the one riding the black and white vehicle suddenly slowed down before skidding to a stop.
Shortly after the man riding the black and violet magic vehicle did the same, coming to a stop a few yards past the first. He then took off his helmet, revealing the person to be Alfonzo.
"Is something wrong?" Alfonzo asked while shaking his head back and forth, his dreads swinging along with his head movements.
"No, not at all." The woman, Retsu, replied as she took off her own helmet. "Rather, I think we've gone far enough."
Alfonzo could only smile wryly at that. Especially because he had a good idea of why Retsu asked him to go for a ride with her. And when he saw the wide, manic, somewhat psychotic smile on her face, his wry smile only deepened.
"I guess I saw this coming." Alfonzo said while shaking his head lightly. "But is this really necessary, Master Unohana?"
"Necessary? Of course not." Retsu replied as she dismounted her motorcycle. Then, after placing her helmet on the motorcycle's seat and pulling her Zanpakuto from the rack on the back of the bike, she continued. "But I believe this will let me have the one thing I've wanted for a long time. Someone who can push me to my limits in a fight to the death. Even more, someone who won't hold back. To be honest, I thought I found that person a long time ago. But because of my weakness, he subconsciously held back during our fight. And that left me unsatisfied."
"And what makes you think I'll be able to satisfy you?" Alfonzo asked while dismounting his own motorcycle.
"Just a feeling." Retsu replied, her smile still as wide as ever. "Now, I think that's enough talk. We should hurry before it gets too late. We don't want the girls to worry, do we?"
As she finished speaking, Retsu began walking away from the two parked motorcycles. Meanwhile, Alfonzo shook his head again. Then, after thinking of a way to stop this, and failing miserably, he followed behind her.
A few minutes later, Retsu came to a stop a distance away from the motorcycles. She did not want to damage her motorcycle right after getting the maintenance done, after all. She then turned to face Alfonzo. As she did, she drew Minazuki from its sheath.
"After seeing you fight in the Grand Magic Games, I doubt a warm up will be needed." Retsu said as she threw her sheath to the side. So, why don't we just go all out from the start? [Bankai, Minazuki]."
With her release command, Retsu cut her left palm with Minazuki's edge. Then, an impossible amount of what appeared to be blood dripped from her palm, along the blade, and fell to the ground, creating a vast sea of blood in nearly an instant. At the same time, Minazuki's blade, which was the size of a normal nodachi, thinned, the missing mass of the blade mixing into the blood on the ground.
"*Sigh* I'm not looking down on you, Master Unohana." Alfonzo said as he drew Riot and Bedlam from the strap on his lower back. "But I don't go all out for just anyone. You'll have to make me go that far. But the question is… Are you strong enough?"
As he spoke, Alfonzo took a fighting stance with his arms out to either side. At the same time, his magic power flared.
"[Run Wild with Destruction on Your Fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in Your Hands. Riot, Bedlam]." Alfonzo said, chanting his own release command.
In the next instant, the tonfa in Alfonzo's hands liquified before covering his hands, wrists, and forearms. However, unlike his usual fighting style when releasing Riot and Bedlam, he had no intention of fighting barehanded, as he had no doubt that Retsu's exquisite swordsmanship would be able to cut through his hands if he was not careful. Instead, the liquid metal covering his hands began to bubble before a pair of short swords, one white and one black, formed in his hands.
"This is the first time I'm using these after seeing those [Projections]." Alfonzo said to himself as he twirled the two short swords in his hands. "Honestly, they're not bad. I should use these more often."
Yet, when Retsu saw the weapons in Alfonzo's hands, she frowned.
"Alfonzo, are you looking down on me?" Retsu asked in an irritated tone. "You dare to wield swords when I've never seen you use them before?"
"Oh, I guess you haven't known me long enough to, huh?" Alfonzo asked after a moment of confusion. "My original fighting style was meant to be used with dual short swords. But since I'm against killing when not necessary, I always used a pair of sticks about this long. So, I'm actually quite good at fighting like this, you'll see."
*Boom!*
Then, without giving Retsu the chance to respond, Alfonzo shot forward, his speed breaking the sound barrier and sending the blood covering the ground around him flying in all directions.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
Yet, before Alfonzo could completely close the distance, Retsu swung her sword three times. The first was a powerful downward slash. The second was an upward slash. And the third, a swift horizontal slash.
However, instead of Retsu's sword, three slashes made of the blood-like substance in the surroundings rose from the surface and flew at Alfonzo from three different directions, front-left, front-right, and behind, respectively.
*Zap!*
However, instead of moving to block or dodge the incoming attacks, Alfonzo coated himself in violet electricity. Then, as each blood slash approached, an arc of electricity shot out of the cloak, striking each attack, cancelling them out with little difficulty.
"Good!" Retsu cried excitedly as she saw how easily Alfonzo dealt with her three probing strikes while tightening her grip on Minazuki's hilt.
*Clang!*
In the next instant, Alfonzo was standing in front of Retsu, his lefthand drawn across his body, the sword in his hand primed to deliver a slash towards the shorter woman's neck. Then, with lightning speed, Alfonzo swung the blade in his left hand. However, Retsu, showing off her mastery of the sword, gently positioned her blade to receive the blow, the clang of metal meeting metal echoing through the surroundings.
Proving her mastery even further, Retsu quickly adjusted the grip on her hilt, pulled her hands to her left, and raised the hilt above her shoulder. As a result, Alfonzo's slash ran downwards toward the tip of her blade.
*Swish!*
Then, in the same motion, once Alfonzo's short sword cleared her blade, Retsu raised the blade high before delivering a downward slash even faster than Alfonzo's. However, thanks to his incredible reflexes, Alfonzo was able to step forward and make a quick quarter turn. As a result, the blade passed less than an inch away from his back.
At the same time, Alfonzo reversed the grip on the blade in his right hand. Then, he jabbed it to his right, the tip of the blade aimed at Retsu's right shoulder.
Quickly pulling her right foot back by half a step, Retsu narrowly avoided Alfonzo's stab. She then adjusted the grip on Minazuki's hilt and slash diagonally upwards towards the center of Alfonzo's back.
In response, Alfonzo dropped down, barely avoiding the edge of Retsu's blade. He then whipped his right leg at Retsu's knees, intending to disrupt her balance.
Yet, just before Alfonzo's leg came in contact with hers, Retsu vanished from where she stood with the use of the [Flash Step]. An instant later, she reappeared above Alfonzo with Minazuki's tip pointed down at his head.
"I guess we're done with just swordsmanship, huh?" Alfonzo muttered as he was once again cloaked in violet arcs of electricity. "Fine, let's kick it up a notch, then."
*Zap!*
*Shunk!*
Just as his words ended, Alfonzo also disappeared from where he stood. In the next instant, gravity pulled Retsu down, and Minazuki's blade was driven into the ground.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Supersonic Dismemberment]." Alfonzo chanted after reappearing several yards away.
With his chant, Alfonzo released the two short swords he had been wielding. The two swords then started spinning to either side of him. As they did, they were both covered in electricity, the speed at which they spun increasing exponentially.
*Boom!*
The two swords were then shot forward at several times the speed of sound, both blades aimed at Retsu's shoulders. And were these attacks to land, it was definite that at the very least, Retsu would lose her arms.
However, with Retsu's experience, even if the two attacks were moving faster than the naked eye could see, she was not helpless. Putting her exquisite footwork to use, Retsu twisted her body causing both blades to soar past her chest and back without causing any harm.
Though, thanks to her quick movement, the braid hanging in front of her chest flew up with her movement. Because of that, as one of the swords soared past her chest, the trail of superheated air it left in its wake burned away the tie that kept her braid in place, causing her braid to unravel and spread out.
Unbothered by the loss of her hair tie, Retsu slashed her sword several times in Alfonzo's direction.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
With that, the same number of blood slashes were sent flying towards Alfonzo at high speed. However, instead of coming from near Retsu like they did last time, they started only a few feet from Alfonzo, giving him little time to defend or dodge.
Because of that, instead of trying to block or dodge, Alfonzo used his [Metal Magic] to extend the liquid metal coating his hands and forearms so that it covered the entirety of his arms. He then lowered his stance, minimizing the area that could come in contact with the slashes. Then, he crossed his arms, making sure to cover his face, neck, and chest as he hardened the metal.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*
Once again, the sound of colliding metal echoed around the area. On top of that, thanks to the force of the strikes, Alfonzo was sent sliding backwards, his feet carving trenches into the blood-like substance covering the ground. Though, they were quickly filled in, the sight of the ground underneath lasting for less than a second.
In the next instant, just as Alfonzo lowered his arms, Retsu reappeared in front of him, her blade held aloft above her head and ready to cleave him in two.
*Clap!*
Yet, as Retsu swung her sword down, Alfonzo quickly brought his hands together in front of his face. When he did, Retsu's sword was brought to a complete and sudden stop between his hands.
"Oh, your physical strength is greater than I thought." Retsu said, her manic smile spreading from ear to ear. "Minazuki is complaining about how you almost broke her just by clapping her between your hands."
"Well, I aim to please." Alfonzo said with a smirk. "So, are you enjoying yourself?"
"Quite a bit, actually." Retsu replied. "I don't remember the last time I was able to fight with all my strength."
Hearing that, Alfonzo sighed internally, relieved that Retsu would probably not go all murder hobo to get the fight she wanted. Unfortunately, that relief did not last long.
"Even so, I want to see your full power." Retsu said as she began putting even more force into her blade. "And if I don't get what I want, I'm not sure what I might do to get it."
"*Sigh* I guess I was relieved too soon." Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone. "But you know, if I go all out, this isn't going to be fun for you, right?"
"That's for me to decide." Retsu replied sharply.
"*Sigh* Fine..." Alfonzo sighed in resignation.
Then, just like Retsu, Alfonzo put more strength into his arms, once again stopping Minazuki in its tracks. A moment later, he stepped back with his left leg, twisted his waist, and tensed the muscles in his upper body. Finally, he let his waist uncoil.
*Swoosh!*
With that, Alfonzo sent Retsu flying, using Minazuki's blade to throw her into the distance. Yet, that did not seem to bother Retsu, as she twisted in midair before landing softly.
Looking up to the place where she had just been speaking with Alfonzo, Retsu saw him standing there with his hands raised over his head, the liquid metal coating his hands and forearms no longer in place. Instead, he held both of his tonfa aloft, the long ends crossed together, a clear sign that he had reverted from his partial release state, or [Shikai] as she knew it.
"Just remember, you asked for this." Alfonzo said softly, though his voice carried well enough for Retsu to hear.
Hearing that, Retsu's smile widened even further, a feat that Alfonzo thought impossible before actually seeing it.
"[Ban… kai]." Alfonzo said solemnly.
*Voom!*
Immediately, Alfonzo's magic power skyrocketed to at least ten times its normal amount. And even from where she stood, Retsu could feel the pressure it was putting on her. Yet, instead of stepping away, she tightened the grip on Minazuki's hilt, prepared for the full power battle she had dreamed of for longer than she could remember.
At the same time, Riot and Bedlam melted down into a ball of liquid metal that expanded to cover Alfonzo's entire body. And as the seconds passed by, the ball shrank, eventually forming the outline of a 9' tall humanoid with black, red, and violet coloring with its arms spread to either side, palms turned up to the sky.
"We are Upheaval." Alfonzo said, his voice a combination of his own, Riot's and Bedlam's.
"Oh my." Retsu said, her eyes glued to Alfonzo, palpable excitement radiating from her. "I can feel it… Such power… It's tingling all over my skin. Now, show me just what this power can do."
"As you wish." Alfonzo replied.
In the next instant, Retsu found herself held off the ground, a massive hand wrapped around her neck with a pair of glowing white eyes just in front of her. What made it even worse was the fact that Retsu was not even to perceive how Alfonzo moved in the slightest.
'What?' Retsu exclaimed internally. 'How could he be so fast? I couldn't even follow his movements.'
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Just as that thought finished, the sound of the air being torn apart nearly twenty times over exploded. In the place where Alfonzo stood before, there was a crater glowing red from the heat generated by the electricity used to propel his movements. ON top of that, all the blood-like liquid that covered the ground in that spot had been completely vaporized.
Even so, Retsu's honed combat instincts kicked in without her own conscious thought.
*Clang!*
Despite being so caught off guard and being held nearly two feet off the ground, Retsu's sword swung with power and precision, aimed to remove the arm that held her. Yet, when Minazuki came in contact with said arm, it rebounded harmlessly, the reverberations of the impact drawing blood on Retsu's palm.
Though, with Retsu's ability to heal herself, the injury did not last long at all. In fact, it did not even slow her down, as she continued to swing her sword rapidly at Alfonzo's arm and vital points, doing her best to free herself from his grasp.
*Ting!*
Yet, Alfonzo just allowed the slashes and stabs to land without defending himself, the strength of the metal that formed his body and a layer of compressed magic power rendering all of Retsu's attacks useless.
Well, until Retsu aimed at his manhood, that is.
With speed that surpassed even his own wildest imagination, Alfonzo moved his free hand and clamped Minazuki's blade between his fingers before it could make contact, despite knowing that it would not be able to harm him with is current defenses.
"What the hell are you doing, woman!?" Alfonzo shouted, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his back from the scare.