Act 11: A Black Knight

After Whitney and Von had left, Galahad was once again alone in their warehouse hideout. Whenever they left he was normally left behind as he was simply to conspicuous to be allowed to roam about in broad daylight. His foot steps echoed quietly as he walked aimlessly about the empty building, clanking hollowly with each movement. All of a sudden, he stopped. Pausing briefly, he was certain he could hear the sound of more echoing footsteps, quieter than his own and coming from somewhere else in the large building.

After listening to the sound, Galahad could tell that it grew and shrank in volume, meaning it moved closer and farther away as it travelled around. This clinched it. Had it been in one place constantly he could have dismissed it but if it was moving around it could only mean one thing. Someone else was there. He was not alone in the warehouse as he had thought. Lifting his great blade from the crates beside him he stepped forward, opening a large steel door which creaked as it slid open. Stepping into the hallway beyond, he could hear the footsteps more clearly and set off in their direction with a will.

Galahad moved without stealth, bounding along with loud crashes as his feet met the metal floor of the upper levels. He didn’t care much for stealth as his size made it difficult and on top of this he was certain that whoever else it was in the warehouse, they already knew he was there. As he climbed higher and higher, it became obvious to him that the intruder was on the roof.

Hauling himself out of the window, Galahad gripped the building’s exterior and dragged yanked hard, sending himself into the air and then down again, landing on the roof with a bang. Staring from his end of the roof, he could see a man in a black suit at the other end of it, his wavy brown hair hanging onto his shoulders lightly. All was quiet for a moment as the pair remained still but with clicking footsteps the man slowly turned around to face the knight, revealing his face which bore the eyes of a hollow and wickedly curving horns sprouting from each temple. “Hello.” Pluto said calmly, striding slowly across the roof.

Galahad raised his sword cautiously, sensing the powerful reiatsu which emanated from the espada. As Pluto neared him, the knight only became tenser and then suddenly things erupted. Pluto placed his hand lightly on Galahad’s shoulder and the knight leapt away, taking a swing at his enemy who simply pulled his zanpaktou as though from nowhere to block the swing with a loud clang. Pluto swiftly sonidoed backwards, dodging a second overhead chop from the knight which cleaved into the roof in his absence.

Galahad’s heavy body let loose a grating metallic screech, springing forward at Pluto and thrusting with his blade, attempting to stab him. Pluto simply sidestepped and lightly touched Galahad’s chest with his fist. Grinning widely the espada muttered the word “Bala.” With a bang, Galahad was thrown backwards, bouncing across the roof and leaving dents in it. Getting to his feet a large hole in his torso was revealed but it quickly sealed itself as he drew iron filings from the roof to repair it.

“I had a feeling you were the one that could do that.” Pluto said with a laugh. “I have an underling or two that do something similar.” Suddenly, Pluto was behind Galahad, placed there by an artful sonido. “Of course, none of them are made of metal. Galahad attamped to spin around, his sword raised in surprise but was too late, Pluto’s cero tearing through his legs as his detached torso clattered across the roof once more. His broken legs quickly repaired themselves as the knight stood up once more, shaking as he got up. Raising his hand suddenly, iron spikes burst forth from the roof beneath Pluto. Springing into action, Pluto leapt over them, airborne as he shot towards the knight. Galahad took this as his moment to strike. Swinging his sword, a series of clicks were heard and multiple blades detached themselves from it, flying through the sky as they spun at Pluto.

A dull thunk was heard as each blade made contact, but none of them had touched Pluto. An inky black darkness had sprung from him, erupting from his suit and forming a wall in front of him which the blades had harmlessly sunk into. “You cannot win.” Pluto told him with a slight smile, leaning to the side of his dark barrier. The substance de-solidified and its burden dropped down, clattering on the rooftop as they came to rest. Pluto stepped forward and swung his hand forward, striking hard into Galahad’s abdomen, striking just above his left hip.

The knight shuddered, his blade slipping from his grip, the same black substance erupting from around Pluto’s hand in the hole it had broken in Galahad’s armor. Pluto flashed the charismatically evil grin that so many had seen before as black tendrils erupted from his suit, jabbing into the knight’s armor and holding him back, stopping him where he was. “You’ve gathered a lot of souls for me up in that horde of yours….” Pluto said with a tight-lipped smile. I hate to do something like this to such an efficiently unwilling servant, but I’m afraid you’re my only viable method of reaching the horde.

The knight struggled fiercely to little avail as his armor began to turn black, spreading upwards like an infection from the hole that Pluto’s arm protruded from. Metallic groans came from the suit of armor, expressing its rage and anguish. “You know those noises are quite becoming of you.” Pluto told him. “I’ve never killed someone that did not possess a mouth before. I’m not sure if I prefer your pathetic groans to screams of anguish or not.” Galahad’s arms inched closer as he tried to reach Pluto’s neck and a peculiar sound came from him. “DIIIIEEEEEE…..” he groaned.

Pluto’s looked somewhat surprised. “Well this is quite the development. The last I’d heard, you weren’t supposed to be able to talk.” The black tendrils restraining the knight pushed his hands back and away from the espada’s neck, not permitting them to get any closer. The blackness from his hand had almost engulfed the suit completely now. Galahad grew weak, his efforts at fighting back becoming weaker and weaker. “Whit-……ney……” he groaned. “Oh my this is almost sad.” Pluto told him with a grin. “Crying out for your companion as you slip closer and closer to death. How very noble, thinking of her rather than of yourself at a time like this.” The blackness closed in around Galahad’s head as Pluto muttered “I always enjoy a tragic hero.” In a rush, Pluto’s body shot apart into the dark substance again as it rushed into Galahad, entering the armor through it’s eye slit.

Galahad’s armor was suddenly alone on the roof, toppling backwards without Pluto’s tendrils there to hold it up. The metal had turned completely black, dark as night as Pluto had pushed his dark energy into it. It remained still for a while before twitching slightly. It’s fingers moved a bit and gradually, its limbs began to twitch back to life. The black armor rose to its feet and the blue plume of reiatsu stemming from the back of its helmet became black like the rest of the armor. A dull echoing laughter could be heard from within the hollow shell as it walked across the roof before disappearing over the edge, Sliding down the outer wall to climb back in through the window.