Into Purgatory: Duquins Journey

You wake up in what appears to be a city, a large city with a garden at its center. Upon arriving to this world, you'll notice your zanpakto has chains wrapped around it. These chains are called the Chains of Purgatory. These chains keep you from drawing your zanpakto and creating unnecessary harm to those that are in this world.

You look up and notice that the clouds aren't moving. It's almost as if time has stopped for you here. Upon further inspection of this world, you'll see the figure of a man, dressed in dark garbs, keeping his true appearance hidden. He holds out his hand to you, but for what, to fight, to guide you, just what is his motive of holding his hand out to you. From here, you decide what he's up to. If you chose to fight, you won't be able to use your zanpakto, only hand to hand combat, and you don't know this mans abilities. If you chose to let him guide you, you will be guided to another part of the realm, you'll know quite well.

Standing on a beach before a gate one moment but suddenly in the next Tenju found himself standing in a very familiar place. Crimson eyes shot wide open in shock as Tenju found himself in the middle of the fake inner world his soul had prior to unlocking his shikai. What did being here mean? Had his hollow found a way to seal away Mugen No Ryu again? Was this why Tenju couldn't feel his spirits presence? As Tenju's mind began to swirl with thoughts his hand reached for his zanpakutou to find it sealed with chains. As the initial shock died away Tenju closed his eyes and calmed himself, were this the work of his hollow Tenju would still be able to use his zanpakutou. The chains probably had something to do with the strange changes in reality around him. That is if this even was reality, perhaps this was an illusion created by Rosso?

Either way Tenju felt he had to move forward and that is when he opened his eyes and took notice of the dark figure extending a hand to him. First a cryptic gate keeping old man and not a stranger shrouded in darkness inviting him to follow. Tenju had no reason to trust this stranger however he would not cower from the darkness, "An invitation?...He who fears the dark is consumed by it. I accept." Tenju stepped forwards with determination one hand still on his zanpakutou gripping the hilt tightly with Mugen No Ryu in mind as he thought to himself, "I don't know where you are friend, but I'm going to find you."

"So, you accept my invitation do you?" The shrouded man asked. He put his hand back into his sleeve and stood next to him.
"Now, as I take it you've figured out what this place is, am I right?" He asked him. His eyes could be seen through the light of day. They looked to be a shade of amethyst, or maybe purple.

It wasn't until now that Tenju looked up and noticed the clouds weren't moving as if time itself had stopped, "I've figured out where this isn't. This is not my true inner world, Mugen No Ryu is nowhere to be found and the air is still. This is a replica of an illusion." Tenju stepped towards the rock where Mugen No Ryu meditated while before Tenju shattered the fake world that held him back. "I'm guessing you know who I am, so who are you? Are you the one who has set up this charade?"

[You cant shatter this world]
The man turned and looked at him. "Yes, I know who you are, remnant of the shinigami, hidden deep within you is a dark power, that you must learn how to tame" He said. He almost sounded philosophical. He then raised his hands up and put them on the hood. He pulled the hood down and under the hood, was a man who almost looked like the 2nd division captain, Daemon Spade.
"Don't worry, before you start asking me questions, the reason i'm in this form, is because this is the man who learned more about you, and even got face to face with your inner darkness"

Spoiler:

Tame his dark power? Tenju was under the impression he already had even if that was far from true. He broke the fake world his current location mirrored and finally bonded with his zanpakutou, that meant he had won against the hollows influence...right? Tenju turned to face the man and was surprised to see a familiar face however the figure soon revealed that it was merely a form taken to suit the situation.

"So you can change form at will? Or do you change depending on who you meet?..." A simple question of curiosity but not the one that was really resting in Tenju's mind, "and more importantly, how do you know about my...problem and why do you care to help me with it?"

"My form changes depending on who I meet" He said to him politely. He took his right hand and slowly shifted it over his face. It changed from Daemon, to Suzaku, to Haji, then it changed to Mike and back to Daemon. "My appearance just changes from views from your past and from certain people that are in that past, which is why i'm in this form now"
He crossed his arms slightly and looked at Duquin again. "I know about your problem because with this face comes the memories and I know all about your inner hollow and how you've tried to tame it" He said. "My job is simply to help you further tame it so it doesn't break lose, because it will indeed come back in the future"

This figure before him was seeming more and more impossible by the minute however considering the situation Tenju had a feeling this was unfortunately very real. When the ominous figure gave an equally foreboding warning that the hollow would return sooner or later Tenju squeezed the hilt of his zanpakutou a little tighter, "So your job is to help me but who do you work for? Also if I let you help me will I be able to get Mugen No Ryu back? It's taken a long time for him to find someone he can trust...Now that I have the honor of being that person I don't want to spit on the faith he placed in me. I must reunite with him as soon as possible."

The Fake Daemon nodded his head. "If we make this work, then you will be able to weild your zanpakto again young one" He said to him. He extended his right hand out and a small crack formed next to him.
"Now then, I will unchain your zanpakto, but you are not allowed to use your bankai in this battle and neither is the man coming out of here" He told him.
The crack continued to grow, and a man, dressed exactly the same as Duquin, only the whites of his eyes were black, and his eyes were a dark blue. His attire was a gray color with a black sash wrapped around his waist. He was standing in the same position as Duquin was.
"This man, was formed to mirror your darkness" He said. "He looks a lot like the inner hollow, now, go to the center of this world, and fight him"

[If you want to you can play as him, but draw it out, do not make it end so quickly]

((I would rather not control this being, it is not my real hollow although if it's made from his darkness then it will probably be a manifestation of anger and pride. Also, Tenju doesn't have bankai but I'm going to rp assuming you meant to say shikai ^^))

The man never answered the question on what he was however at this rate Tenju couldn't care less about the origins of the mysterious changeling. A path to Mugen No Ryu was laid out before him, now all he had to do was move forwards. The limitation on Tenju's shikai was a given of course, without Mugen No Ryu how could Tenju draw upon his power? The chains around his zanpakutou would be wrapped in black flames akin to those his shikai produced before burning away to ashes freeing his zanpakutou to be wielded once more.

Tenju would close his eyes for but a second before opening them wide and unfocused on any one thing opting instead to see everything with equal focus. This would allow his peripherals to be at their best while also giving his face the calm yet alert expression of a wild beast stalking it's prey. Tenju would draw his zanpakutou swiftly causing the remaining ash to burst away from him due to the sudden outward force of reiatsu, "Do you know how I stayed alive so long against powerful hollows without my shikai?..." Tenju spoke aloud addressing neither the mysterious figure nor the clone before him but rather the world itself, "...It's because my fighting instincts have yet to meet their match..."

[I did mean to say bankai -_- i wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. You can use your shikai, just not your bankai]

"Who are you talking to?" The clone asked. He put his hood back on and jumped back onto one of the buildings behind him.
"Now then, Manifestation of Anger and Pride, use this power within you to your advantage, and fight this shinigami" He said.
The eyes on the clone glow a bright red. Lightning seemed to flash from its eyes. *From Regai* He grabbed his zanpakto swiftly and held it outward towards Duquin. It said not one word. It charged at Duquin, power collecting into the zanpakto as he made sure he would connect with his zanpakto.

((Then why even mention bankai? xD Tenju doesn't have one))

Tenju lowered his stance and stood his ground as the doppelganger charged at him without a sound, "Is this how I looked when I charged at Michael?" Tenju thought to himself just before the wild copy slashed it's zanpakutou and Tenju rose his own defensively. As the blades clashed Tenju could feel the hatred flowing from his opponent as well as the pride it had in it's own power. For that split second Tenju took in those feelings and felt a vast emptiness behind them, this manifestation was truly anger and pride incarnate. There wasn't much time to ponder this however as the dark Tenju proved to have monstrous strength.

Reiatsu sparked as the two blades clashed and the force of the blow knocked Tenju backwards and off his feet momentarily before he regained his center mid air and landed on his feet skidding backwards through the grass. Tenju lowered his stance again and prepared himself for the next attack by dashing forwards himself looking to meet the dark clone head on in the next exchange.

[I was never told you didn't, so how could I assume you had it or not?]

The clone began to let out a loud laughter. The laughter sent off sound waves that destroyed the windows in the vicinity.
"Whats wrong?" He asked. "To weak to finish me off or something?" He jumped back and held his zanpakto out in front of him. What began to form was a sort of Cero. But it was different somehow. It wasn't the normal cero, it was full of hatred and pride and it was all being aimed at Duquin.

"My, looks as if the clones gone out of my own control" He thought to himself. "I'll just see how Duquin will manage this fight, if he wins, he'll be let out, I just hope he doesn't learn who I really am between now and then"
The man continued to sit atop the building, watching the battle ensue beneath him.

((Sorry it's been so long >.< I am lucky to squeeze this post in though. Hope to be able to post fluidly again soon))

The dark clone's words fell across Tenju's ears like rain on a mountainside, they were insignificant, fated to only flow away with time. As the cero began to charge Tenju did not falter in his charge choosing to instead face the blast head on. Pouring his spirit into his zanpakutou Tenju roared as he let his blade come down in a powerful slash to meet the cero. Hate and rage flowed from the beam as Tenju's zanpakutou collided with the mass of reiatsu, pouring those emotions into his soul followed by an after wave of pride. Tenju grit his teeth as the powerful emotions didn't stop coming, it was like being smacked against a tidal wave of pure aggression however he refused to give in and go berserk. "Never again..." Tenju whispered to him self as his eyes opened wide, confidence and instinct flaring a bright red glow in his crimson irises. With another shout of effort Tenju would try and out last the cero releasing all the reiatsu he could into his blade, "Never again will I let myself be controlled by something as weak and hollow as anger and pride!"

((I'm not sure what level of power the cero has, please feel free to post the results of the clash and inflict any necessary damage you feel should be done to Tenju.))