Nobody
Member
The Second Division had steadily been becoming a Sauna, the temperature within the barracks grounds was and has been rising at a steady pace. The places those strange birds had crashed into continued to sizzle even now, fumes wafting into the air. Cazador remained in place, his hand still resting against the Bankai tree. His flame-like coat continued to rage as it flowed around his body like a wildfire, the area Cazador was touching sizzling and bubbling underneath his touch. As he stood there he seemed to be paying no actual heed to the shinigami lying on the ground now absent of legs, or of the young Lieutenant, chunks of his body missing from the Negación bars that passed through him, ridding him of at least one arm, chunks of leg removed having forced the young man to the ground. Then there was the Captain, the owner of the Bankai Cazador stood before, crumpled beneath the stress of the dire situation, of his own short sightedness and failings.
"Hmm? Now what is this?"
Having stood in silence for so long, Cazador's head cranes up, watching as the many holes riddled in the tree begin to close themselves. His hand remains fixed in place against the tree, the Espada having noticed another peculiarity, this one from within. 'How intriguing. Is this the doing of the Shinigami here? No, none of them seemed capable of this.'
The Captain's voice pulls the Espada from his thoughts. Unlike his peers, Cazador is not a warrior. He has never sought battle, craved fighting, he is a man of science above all. The interference with the Soul King's blood flowing through him does not alarm him. Instead he is intrigued, curious as to not only how this was accomplished but who accomplished it as well. He finds himself annoyed, the uncouth Captain having disturbed him from his pondering.
Cazador stares at the Captain, and for a moment he says nothing, the fumes from his body continuing to drift freely into the air. After what felt like a minute, the Espada huffs angrily.
"So now you wish to speak? HMPF! With such barbarism and lack of hospitality I shouldn't even bother with the likes of you!"
His flame-like coat flares up further, reflecting the anger and annoyance of the arrancar. However, it soon dies down a bit, Cazador's head turning one way, then the other before finally looking back towards the Captain.
"Tsk, I suppose as a true gentleman I ought to indulge you, to demonstrate to you barbarians what civility looks like."
As he speaks, annoyance is still laced within his voice, within his every word. Regardless, Cazador prided himself as a gentleman just as much as he prided himself as being a brilliant scientist.
"The others came under that woman's orders to wreak havoc and kill as many of you as they could. I however came here to study and tour."
His free hand raises in the air, palm upwards as a golden bar is generated, just like the ones he had used against them when attacking. However, unlike before he does not move to fling or throw the bar, allowing it to float suspended in the air above his hand.
"As you might have noticed, these bars are meant to emulate one of your Kidō spells. I find Shinigami Kidō to be absolutely fascinating! A type of pseudo-science the likes that we Arrancar do not have."
He closes his hand, the bar fading away with its demonstrative purpose having been fulfilled. The Captain will undoubtedly notice that, the Espada's tone has shifted, losing its sharpness as he begins to prattle on, mentally shifting gears as he dons the air of a lecturer.
"What is it that prevents Arrancar from using and accessing Kidō? Then there are the Gigai you shinigami use, then there's those little phones you all use too, I've heard its used to track our kind in the World of the Living. You Shinigami are just treasure troves of curiosity and ingenuity! How could I not want to come to such a place? Interact with such individuals capable of these things!?"
The more he spoke the faster he spoke, the louder he got as he gleefully expressed his wonder at Shinigami and what they had access to and had created. Then, the air around him shifts once again.
"So, you can imagine my displeasure when I come here so cordially, only to be met with insult, violence, and ignorance. One of you met me and actually spoke with me, I thought at least he would be a man of reason. But he was a sheep, attacking merely because you lot attacked as well!"
He practically spat out the words, every one of them laced with venom, cutting sharply. His anger was palpable, the air around them suffocating. This was not a result of the man's anger, nor was it something psychological like killing intent. It was not just the Captain, the others by now should be able to feel it as well, those that were alive and remained within the Second Division barracks or have been within it during the duration of Cazador's resurrección. Eyes, nose and throat would feel an uncomfortable burning sensation.
"Now, my dear Captain I have a question for you. Have you not once wondered what the power of my resurrección was? Have none of you pondered upon it or been curious during this whole little song and dance?"
As he speaks a quick survey of his surroundings would show various members kneeling, grasping at their throats as they choked, and wheezed strange lesions appearing spotted on their flesh. The legless shinigami who lay helpless and unconscious, ignorant of what was going on and powerless to do anything about it like his comrades also held these strange grotesque lesions along his flesh, as did the young Lieutenant. It is perhaps a sight that would cause the Captain, who like them had also been battling in their division turned petri dish or hazard room, may find the need to inspect his own body when-
CRRrckkk
The sound of wood violently splintering overhead could be heard, chunks of wood scattering and raining down. The holes of the tree had been healed and closed and now, new damage marred the great tree. Just like with the struggling shinigami, strange lesions could be found spotted along the length of the tree, grotesque in appearance and swelling by the moment, a strange discolored liquid oozing down from the recently burst lesion like mutated sap.
"The name of my resurrección's power is called Gripe Aviar. Have none of you truly noticed the shifting of the temperature? Questioned the fumes that have been flowing into the very air around us?"
Cazador's hand from the moment of contact with the Bankai construct, has remained in contact against it. His free hand begins stroking his chin as he questions the Captain. While it was strategic to withhold one's hand in combat, to keep their abilities hidden and their opponent's guessing, psychologically pressured Cazador was after all, not a combatant.
"My body and breath releases these fumes you have been seeing. Anything that comes into contact with these fumes, that breathe it in, or come into contact with my body or my reiatsu are instantly infected. With what you ask? A special polymorphic virus. Lesions begin to form on whatever is infected, and these lesions will begin to swell and grow using one's spiritual power as nutrience."
Cazador begins filling the Captain, the only one present perhaps capable of even hearing him, on what his power is. There is no hint of deception in his voice.
"Furthermore, anything that is infected acts as a carrier, becoming a medium to transfer this virus to other people or things. That means anyone and anything that comes in contact with my fumes,, my reiatsu, me or anything I have infected will also become infected."
From this explanation, Cazador's actions up to this point become clearer. Why the birds he generated were sent crashing into walls, buildings and the ground as well as the leaves from the Captain's bankai rather than actually aiming for any individual with them. This also explains why he approached the Bankai and simply touched it as well. This information meant that since the Espada had entered his release state, the entirety of the Second Division barracks and those within it had been compromised. However, he said anything in contact with something infected also becomes infected. Elsewhere within the Ninth Division, the tree bankai of one such shinigami finds grotesque discolored lesions covering its body not unlike the present Captain's, lesions that are quickly spreading. By causing the two bankai to become combined at the root, it has ensured that the infection within the Captain's Bankai, passes into the other Bankai as well. The tree feeding off the ambient reiatsu finds the power it is gaining is in turn, feeding the ever changing virus, accelerating the growth rate of these lesions to the brink and then the inevitable point of bursting. Fumes and the strange discolored liquid oozing out mirroring what was taking place here in the Second Divison.
"You shinigami's zanpakutō have souls do they not? How does it affect you Shinigami when its soul has been infected I wonder?"
Cazador has revealed his hand, explained a large portion of his power leaving out only other minor abilities as well as the end result of those infected by his resurrección. During this he has not made a move to launch any sort of attack against them, even in their compromised state the Espada does not capitalize on it. Like a scientist he merely explains and observes, as if watching an experiment. With this information now at hand, what will the Captain do? What could he do? Then what of the other shinigami who's bankai was also now compromised? Something they had perhaps not accounted for when fusing their bankai with the Captain's, how would it shift the tide of battle elsewhere? So many new factors were now in play, birthed from a single choice.
