Spoils of the Hunt [OPEN]

Gray had been waiting for an opportunity to fire the cannon at Lance, but with the hostage there, he couldn't bring himself to. She was an innocent bystander, maybe even another prisoner like them. If he attacked her too, he would be no better than the ones who were holding them captive. And unlike Ophelia, he had no idea what a Togabito was, even though he had already encountered two of them in the last two weeks. So when the Vasto Lordes did shoot the Cero at Lance and his hostage, Gray was shocked, "What are you doing?!" He shouted, knowing that there was no way he could stop the Cero in his current position.

After the fact, Gray was surprised to see that the hostage was still okay after getting hit by the Cero. It looked like she was tougher than she seemed. There was something oddly familiar about her Reiatsu, but right now, that wasn't a big concern. Seeing that there was little chance of being able to use it, Gray was about to abandon the ice cannon, when he suddenly felt saw a large blast of light shooting towards Nikolai. Still shouldering the large cannon, he turned towards the source, just in time to see Daxel firing a Cero at himself and Ophelia as well. He remembered Daxel. He was the one who had brought him here, after all. I'll fix this asshole. Gray thought, already knowing what to do in response.

There was no point trying to dodge the Cero now, so Gray took on a firm stance and fired the cannon towards the oncoming Cero, and the Arrancar behind it. Given that the cannonball was made of highly condensed solid ice, and the momentum at which it travelled, it was highly likely that it would blow right through the Cero, which had only been a quick fire, and still fly towards Daxel. Gray himself nearly flew off his feet from the recoil of firing the cannon, but he was used to it, and so he did not fall. This only served to illustrate just how much force was behind the shot.

After it was fired, the cannon disappeared. Usually, it could be used multiple times, but Gray was nearly out of Reiryoku. At the most, he could only make another one or two objects, if he was lucky. It was apparent that Gray's physical injuries weren't anything to scoff at, either. He was covered in non life-threatening cuts from Daxel and Lance, and blood was still dripping down his face from when Lance had thrown him around on the ceiling. But he wasn't going to give up. This fight was past the point of no return. There was no point surrendering now, they would only be killed, or worse. The arrival of Daxel did disadvantage them a bit, but they still had the advantage of numbers, and Lance couldn't last much longer against Nikolai. Glaring fiercely at Daxel, Gray began to form an ice sword in his right hand as he waited for the Arrancar to attack again. "Bring it."

As the Cero released from her mouth, Ophelia could hear Gray's alarm. He did not know yet what she was? She would have to straighten this whole thing out before there was a misunderstanding. Anything out of place in the middle of this fight could have dire ramifications for all of them. Nikolai urged them to grab the hostage and run, but Ophelia knew that was not an option. Finally, it was Lance's claims to her merits as an innocent that sealed the deal. This ends now.

"Listen to me!" She shouted, so all of them could hear what she had to say. "That woman...is not innocent. No matter what this man might say, it is impossible for her to be innocent! She is a sinner from Hell, can you not feel it in her aura?! Regardless of whether or not she is a hostage in this, she has already willing committed acts so atrocious and evil that she was damned to Hell for all eternity. Do you really want to save that kind of person?!" She turned specifically to Gray. "You remember the man we fought together when we met? She's the same as him! Both of them were punished just the same! They are even more guilty of evil than most Hollows!"

She turned back towards Lance and his human shield, who had apparently managed to survive the blow of the attack. Ophelia would have to conserve energy if she wanted to make it out of this alive. She drew the cleaver sword that had appeared at her back when she transformed into a Vasto Lorde. The blade was unfamiliar, but none the less, a part of her. Though she was not terribly skilled with it yet, it would have to do. Before she could make an attack at the enemy before her, however, she heard the very familiar sound and feel of a Cero flying towards her back. Instinctively, as one is liable to do when they have spent the better part of their life avoiding the ever-present threat of the Menos in the forest beneath the sands, she dodge rolled out of the way, just in time for the blast catch her in the shoulder. It stung and burned, added to her already rather rattled body reeling from Lance's earlier onslaught, as well as the lightning rod she had apparently been used as. At the very least, the water had all drained away leaving mere puddles, mostly because she was almost out of Reiryoku.

The barely evaded Cero continued onward, threatening to hit Lance and his "hostage" if they were at all close enough. Ophelia placed herself in a defensive stance as the battle just became more complicated. They were running out of time.

Now Gray knew why the hostage's aura felt so familiar. She was the same as Xavier, and the one known Koonuwari, whom he had fought even before the latter. Sure, they had both been complete and total assholes, but this one seemed different. Maybe it was because she looked frightened. She was being held against her will, and used as a shield. It wasn't right, no matter what she was. "None of that matters right now!" Gray said to Ophelia, still keeping his eye on Daxel. He knew from experience that the Espada were quite fond of sneak attacks. Then again, the three prisoners were doing a good job of destroying the place; the Arrancars probably wanted to put them down, and fast.

Before Gray could do anything else, he saw the others getting surrounded by strange purple orbs. Soon enough, he was as well. He contemplated ducking under them, but they were too close. It probably wasn't the best idea to touch them, since they were flaming, and the newcomer, whom Gray was facing away from and couldn't see, seemed very sure that these orbs were the game-finisher.

He heard a crashing sound, which was most likely Nikolai being thrown into a wall. This meant that he had probably been hit by the Cero from Daxel, which was by no means a god thing. Gray couldn't turn to look in his current situation, though. He had seen Daxel get bombarded by his attack, as well as a blast of lightning, which meant that Nikolai wasn't out of the game after all. It was a funny thing to see, after the Espada had strode into the dungeon looking fairly confident, but the amusement didn't last too long. Seeing Daxel fly towards him in released form, he knew that the Arrancar was going to try a melee attack. This would undoubtedly make contact with the orbs that surrounded him, and Gray didn't feel like sticking around to find out what would happen afterwards.

There was nothing Gray could do to help Ophelia out in this instance without setting off her orbs. Besides, she had already proven that she could take care of herself; she probably already had a plan. The second that Daxel swung his scythe, a bright green light burst from under his feet, and he disappeared momentarily. He reappeared a good ten feet away, still facing Daxel. Speaking of the Arrancar, it didn't look as if he was going to have a good day. Since he had set off both Gray and Ophelia's bombs, now the others would quickly be drawn towards the the source of the explosion, where Daxel was currently standing.

Seeing the orbs starting to float to Daxel, Gray knew something big was going to happen, and started backing away more. He didn't want to use the last bit of his Reiryoku for a shield if he didn't have to. As it was, he didn't even know what was going to happen when the bombs all met at their central point. They did look volatile, though. He could only guess that they would cause an explosion or reaction of some sort, given what had happened with his.

It wasn't completely unexpected, but it did happen quicker than anyone could have anticipated. The orbs exploded simultaneously, causing a chain reaction, resulting in a fair-sized explosion. It was a given that everyone in the room would be rocked by it, given the proximity. Gray himself was thrown flying backwards by the blast, and didn't stop until he hit a wall. After that, he slid down the wall and stayed on the ground, partially because he didn't want to get hit by any flying debris, and because he was so exhausted.

After the blast subsided, he shakily got to his feet, staring around the room and trying to see through the smoke, to see what ha happened to everybody. Coincidentally, he was practically right in front of the doorway, where the other orb had been previously been placed to block their path. Gray wasn't going to leave without the others, however.

[OCC: Sorry for controlling your attack, EReal, but I read it so I would know how it worked and shiz. Plus, it's part of the plan to end this thread. Plus, it wouldn't have made sense to wait until your post for the explosion. Now, it's Setsubou's post, but after that, we wait for Kizo to post as Zelena. Nobody except for Setsubou may post before Zelena enters.]

As one of the biggest Ceros she had seen yet smashed into Nikolai's armor, Ophelia could see her hope of escaping shatter like the metal that coated his body. Gray had to have been running low on power now, and he was dead set on rescuing the woman who had to have been deceiving them. Neither Nik nor Gray seemed to take her warning to heart, and now it was going to cost them all the chance they had. Two more Arrancar had arrived to assist Lance, and another really powerful one was responsible for seemingly taking the strongest of their team out of the fight.

That was it, they were done for. The explosion of the Gran Rey Cero knocked holes everywhere, and sent Ophelia flying against a wall. She roughly slammed into the surface, her mind reeling from the impact already. It occurred to her then, what started all of this. Ophelia was the first one to break out of her cell. Why did she need to escape anyway? If they were going to kill her they probably would have done so rather than lock her up. It was never a good idea to attempt an escape to begin with, and she had been too blind to realize it at the time. Now Gray would likely...

"Gray!" Ophelia shouted to get his attention for what she believed would be the last time. "Sorry I got you into this mess. I'm kind of stupid like that huh?" Her statement was said softer than the yell she used to catch his attention, but hopefully he would hear her, and just maybe, he would forgive her. Daxel's onslaught tore into her back, her sword having been forgotten in the explosion. At the same time, the reckless attacks occurring all around her had triggered the wrath of the power unleashed by one of the new Arrancar. The orbs surrounding Ophelia detonated, knocking her out cold. Then the second wave came, generated by all of the explosions and causing a chain reaction. The ensuing blast swept away her body, managing to be carried all the way over to the opposite wall of Gray. There, she fell into a slump, lacking the awareness to right herself.