With that in mind, Kensei makes his first move. He immediately closed the gap between him and Mercer with his shunpo.
He just placed himself in front of me in a blink of an eye, very impressive. Mercer commented with the sudden attack as he immediately flipped on his back to avoid it. He then motioned his left foot into an upward kick, aiming at Kensei's jaw while trying to give himself a little distance from him by adding a little mass on that leg.
Kensei immediately dodged that upward kick with the blunt of his wakizashi. As he does, the edge of the sword was forced near his face, prompting to propel himself back a few feet from where he once stood.
What's with that kick of his? That was too strong for me to parry with my sword, I nearly cut myself in the face. Better dodge it next time
Mercer gets himself back on his feet and makes his first move. Adding biomass to his legs, he propels himself head-first towards Kensei and delivers a right hook, shifting the additional biomass from his legs towards his right arm. Kensei parries it this time with his right arm, but the force of the punch drags him a few meters back.
This guy is something else. They pack quite a punch for such a normal attack like this.
Kensei notices his parrying arm was slightly out of place. He shifted his sword to his left and slammed his shoulder into a wall with enough force to set it back into place, wincing in pain in the process. Mercer immediately noticed his dislocated arm and relaxed himself, much to the latter's surprise
"Pretty gutsy for you to relocate your arm in the middle of a fight. I'll give you credit for that" Mercer complimented the injured captain
"Shut up, why did you stop?"
"I want you to come at me with your sword until you can hit me with your best shot. Perhaps I will stop underestimating you." Mercer dared him with his arms held sideways in the air, as if he lets himself in an opening
Veins bulge visibly in Kensei's forehead. He just got ticked off at what Mercer just said.
"So you were toying me the whole time, thinking I was an easy one?"
"By the looks of it, Yes"
The answer was very blunt but straightforward. There was no sugarcoating Mercer's words. He had just underestimated the 9th Division Captain from the very beginning.
"Well then, If you want to die a painful death, so be it" Kensei declared
With his right arm injured, Kensei readies himself with his wakizashi. Just like earlier, he uses shunpo to get close to Mercer once more, this time with only his left arm
"That attack again?"
Rather than going through with the same attack, he notices Mercer readying himself to dodge it once more. With that in mind, he lets him get into that dodging stance long enough that his body couldn't react in time to his next attack.
An opening
Crap, I won't make it in time Mercer noticed his mistake a second too late
Or so it seems…
Kensei uses shunpo once more and appears behind Mercer, keeping the same attacking stance a millisecond before, as he went through it. However, Mercer moved his body to the right side, narrowly avoiding the attack. He then shifts himself into performing a leg sweep, knocking Kensei off his feet as he immediately stood up.
"Was that it?"
"I've got more tricks in my sleeve you scumbag" Kensei retorts as he rolls himself up on his feet
"Whatever can you do with one good arm?"
"More than what I could do with both"
Kensei took a leap backwards and held his weapon at shoulder length and chanted a short incantation
"Blast away, tachikaze"
Mercer uses his new vision for a moment and sees the white light gradually gathering around Kensei. Just then, he just remembered a key point in their conversation…
'Your leaking spiritual pressure says otherwise'
Spiritual…pressure…
The beings that emit light…the light swirling around him…
The spiritual pressure from within them, and I can clearly detect them with my vision. So that's what this new power is all about
He finally realized the significance of the new vision he had obtained. Nevertheless, it was a concept to be discussed for another time. For now, he had to focus on his opponent. He notices the air current gathering around Kensei and deduces that his spiritual pressure is rising up. All of a sudden, the pressure shrinks into the wakizashi until it transforms into something else; a combat knife with a bronze guard, light purple hilt-wrapping in the center of the hilt, a gray leather grip, and a small ring on the guard's blunt side.
"Since you are an invader from another dimension as you say, this is my zanpakuto in its shikai state. Let me soften you up before showing you how my shikai works, you leather-hooded bastard"
"I am not into giving any swords weird names, but I'm too eager to learn with what you're about to teach me" Mercer mockingly gave his rebuttal
Kensei threw the combat knife up in the air. He then uses shunpo once again to close the gap between both of them. Though he was able to move his right arm normally once more, he could only limit himself with just hand-to-hand combat, which happens to be his forte.
He delivers a left uppercut into Mercer's jaw, which he easily avoided. He then leaps towards him and performs a right-handed superman punch on Mercer's face, which he sideswipes as well. As he landed from his feet, he shifted into a right elbow attack, barely touching him. Though the successive combo attacks by Kensei barely reaches Mercer, he's slowly able to push him back, barely giving him time to create a chance to break away from him.
Just keep on trying to hit him with fists, even if it won't connect. As long as the opportunity presents itself. Kensei had thought to himself
"Pesky guy, what are you trying to achieve with all these pointless blows?" Mercer irately asked as he easily dodges all those successive blows that Kensei delivered to him
"Just like you said, I'll give you something to stop underestimating me with"
Mercer noticed that Kensei's attacks are slowly connecting to him by each blow, yet when the one that connects comes into play, he just holds back cautiously. It's as if he was very determined to land a single fluke while avoiding to land one. That was very contradicting for Mercer to even think.
Come to think of it, why would he throw his knife into the air?
That thought suddenly came to mind. He had only one good arm thanks to Mercer's uppercut earlier, and that sword transformed into a combat knife, which makes it a very handy weapon against Mercer. If he was very desperate to defeat him, he would've thrown the knife towards him like a dagger. Instead, he just threw it upwards and shifted to hand-to-hand combat.
Unless…
That suddenly hit Mercer. However, it was already too late.
I knew you would find out, and I'm counting on that realization to give myself an opening
Kensei finally finds himself an opening, allowing himself to deliver a gut punch to Mercer, sending him flying a few meters away. He then catches the combat knife he threw minutes ago by the handle, and slashes the air across him. Mercer was still reeling from the gut punch he received when he subconsciously activated his reiatsu vision and looked at Kensei. He could see another bright aura coming straight at him, and from the looks of it, it wasn't Kensei who's coming straight at him; he just stood there maintaining his guard. Rather, the bright aura was so malevolent that it was directed to kill. He had no choice...
All the luck from your enemies shall be directed back at them…
He had to…
For it is necessary to maintain…
He already stood guard…
The Balance
A small explosion quickly enveloped Mercer.
Kensei finally eased his guard as he looked at the small damage he had made in the landscape during the battle.
"That should teach you not to badmouth Soul Reapers like us" he declared as he turned his back from the smoking rubble
"Whelp, we have been invaded by angry quincies that I thought were dead, so I hope they don't mind the damage done—"
"Well, what do you know? You can slash me from a safe distance and blow me up to smithereens"
Kensei turned around to see where the voice came from. It was Mercer, emerging from the thin smoke crossing his hands like he was to call a substitution. He was paling from shock as he saw the latter emerging from the clearing smoke unscathed, save from the singed sleeves of his leather jacket.
What the hell is he!?!? He just blocked my air blades with his arms and came out in one piece like it was nothing at all! That air blades was too much to blow a huge Hollow to pieces! Could it be that he is a…
"If you think I'll stop underestimating you just because you grazed me in the arm, you have another thing coming. A deal is a deal." Mercer cut off his train of thought with that threat
"Then I guess there's no holding back" Kensei muttered as he grasps the knife firmly in his hand
There's no telling whether he is an unknown Arrancar or one those Bankai-stealing quincy earlier. If this man ever runs amok in Soul Society then we're screwed. I have to take this risk
BANKAI
An explosion of wind suddenly erupts around Kensei, causing a dust explosion. The ensuing explosion forces Mercer to cover his face. He then uses his vision to see what was happening; large amounts of reishi swirls around a small part in Kensei.
That must be his 'shikai' or whatever it is called.
As the dust cleared, he can see Kensei wielding a very different appendage around him; a pair of large knuckle blades which he holds in each hand. Both blades have a curved silver edge, which tapers off to an outward point on either side. Segmented purple bands wrap around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arches behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.
Tekken Tachikaze
Mercer was very confused with what he said, which can't be helped given that he is from another world. Still, he has questions that need to be explained as to what just happened right in front of his eyes.
What's 'bankai'? What's 'Tekken Tachikaze'? Why is he wearing heavy apparel like that? Where's the knife?
The knife…
'This is my zanpakuto in its shikai state'…
A sudden realization hit him once again. The small part where the reishi were gathered was not any of Kensei's parts; it went towards his zanpakuto, the combat knife itself. From what he surmised, the second he yells out 'Bankai', that transformation happened. Once again, he had finally learned another knowledge about the world he had ended up into right now, however he has no time to idle away at that newfound knowledge. He has to unwillingly fight against an opponent he had never met before.
"Thank you for teaching me how your powers work. Now I'll show you mine" Mercer said with a grin on his face.
And with that statement, Mercer shifted his biomass into both of his arms, transforming it into Hammerfists; a larger, more monstrous variant of his hands shaped into fists. In his world, he is capable of using it to clear out a huge crowd of Gentek soldiers and the infected, and can destroy armored vehicles, from APCs to heavy tanks. Everything that happened right in front of Kensei rang a death flag within him. At the sight of his transformation, all he could ever do was to be shocked at the sight of what he became. The only words he could ever mutter was…
"What the hell are you?"
He's not an Arrancar— he's not even a Hollow! This man is clearly an enemy that needs to be dealt with at all costs.
His fists were slowly trembling—
Calm down, this isn't you Kensei. You have already survived getting Hollowfied by Aizen. You already survived that retarded arrancar brat. This is just like that time, I just need to hold him off until anyone arrives.
Kensei pounds his fists to each other thrice, stripping away any traces of fear he had felt just now.
"In the name of the 9th Division, and of all Soul Society, I'll hold you off and finish you right here and right now, EVEN IF IT COSTS MY LIFE" he declared to Mercer.
Without hesitation, Kensei lunges at Mercer with the knuckles in hand. At the same time, Mercer gives himself a huge dash at Kensei, preparing to use his Hammerfists against him. The two combatants were so focused on each other that, unbeknownst to them, a crimson aura was released above him, slowly forming into a shape of a balancing scale tipped to the left.
Mercer was within reach when a vision suddenly hit him; It was Kensei, lifelessly kneeling down with his left arm completely blown off as Mercer walks away from his corpse
NO, NOT LIKE THIS
He shifts his biomass back to his body, slowly decreasing the power of the Hammerfists. At the same time, the scale slowly tips to the right.
Come on, come on, come on, make it stop!!!!
The two fists landed on each other. A huge blow of the wind blasts from the battleground.