Death Valley

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

Neppa followed Fuyu through the maw, noticing that it wasn't much, if at all, different from the thing that Angela used the few days before to save his and the other Captain's lives. Stepping out he was greeted with the pleasing heat of Death Valley, California. Pleasing might not be a word that most would describe the heat as, but Neppa had an affinity for high temperatures. You know, fire Zanpakutou and all. He quickly noticed that Fuyu had taken out his weapon, so it would most likely be a good idea to do so as well. Since it didn't seem like this would be too good of a place to leave a gigai laying around and Fuyu didn't leave his, he would just have to try and fight in the gigai. He hadn't had much practice forming his Zanpakutou in this form, but he could do it.
Lifting up his left arm, Napp extended it out at Fuyu, palm open. With a little bit of glowing red energy, the Zanpakutou with chain and glove appeared into reality, seeming to burn into reality, forming with a red-orange glow then turn normal color. Like if you were watching a video of something burning in reverse. With the Zanpakutou formed, Neppa drew it from the sheath and took a normal stance, holding the Zanpakutou in both hands, tossing the sheath to the side.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

Neppa's look of ordinary unhappiness turned to more of an annoyed unhappiness. With a toss of his sword into the sand, Neppa cut the chain around his wrist, sliding off and onto the ground, shortening to about a foot. With a little bit of force, he removed himself from the gigai. Back as a soul he was wearing his gi, hakama, and custom haori with the high collar. Grabbing Netsujyoubi up, the chain regrew and wrapped around Neppa's left wrist. The black clothing warmed up Neppa more so, making him feel much, much better. With a quick look over of his gigai, he did a quick jump over to Fuyu via Shunpou, appearing two feet from him, Netsujyoubi slashing from the lower left to the mid right.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

Just as Neppa suspected, Fuyu was gonna stick with the magics. With a few short dodges, he was clear of the first two strikes. The third looked like it would be the worst since the incantation was spoken along with it. He needed to get close, and he was sure that he'd easily be overpowered if he just threw another Kidou at it. With that being the case, maybe a personal ability would suffice.
Sheathing Netsujyoubi, Neppa jumped up at Fuyu as he launched the strike. "Light 'em up, Netsujyoubi!" he shouted, drawing forth his Zanpakutou in a flurry of sparks, the blade changing as it was draw. With added energy, the flames caused leaped off the blade and converged into a flying disc of flame. The Flame Wheel careened and crashed into the Kidou, dispelling each other with a flash of light and heat.
Neppa quickly followed behind it and threw Netsujyoubi out before him as a preliminary strike. Catching the blade or the chain would cause problems as they were hot enough to give second degree, or possibly third degree, burns after a few seconds. Whether Fuyu stayed or moved, he would withdraw the Zanpakutou back to himself and wait for Fuyu to make his move.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

Neppa suspected that Fuyu would probably use some sort of Kidou to counter, and a lower one was a nice choice to try and piss someone off. But Neppa knew this man's previous rank well, being more or less a mirrored version of himself. As the blade was deflected to the side, he spun and grabbed a length of the chain with his right hand. His spin was faster than his sword was moving, therefore wrapping a length partially around his back, but bringing the blade back around to strike Fuyu again.
And then Neppa felt it. That raw power that he would need to defeat the enemy. The taboo power that he would use to show the stubborn otherwise. With Fuyu creating his mask, Neppa knew that he was halfway to his current goal and that the next part would be all the tougher.
As Neppa spun and drew closer, the blade would be some seven feet from Neppa and spinning to strike Fuyu in the upper chest and neck area. Depending on how Fuyu reacted will determine Neppa's course of action after he would retract the blade from a miss, block, or counter.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

As Neppa grabbed Netsujyoubi and heard the sounds of the charging Cero he knew something would have to be done quick. He was close enough to strike Fuyu, but the attack could deal some decent damage. He couldn't hope to Shunpou out of the way, he wasn't fast enough for that. He could sidestep it and use a Bakudou, but that could mean he could get hit by some of the blast. Lastly, he could try and cleave through the Cero with a Kidou-Zanpakutou channel, though that would have disastrous effects if it didn't work completely. The sheer amount of force he could put behind the attack was quite a bit, but the amount of finesse Fuyu had would simply mean he could pour more and more energy into it.
So Neppa did what he does best: brute force. Swinging his sword up, he did an overhead swing into the Cero. But, he forced his reiatsu into the blade, igniting it bright and hot, and himself, hoping to cancel some of the attack out.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

The Cero that flew instantaneously at Neppa quickly made him realize exactly how much he was outclassed in this exercise. But in the end it just gave him a taste to what he could possibly achieve. To get it, he would have to do everything he could to get it. But there first was this Cero barreling towards him. He couldn't take it, at least he shouldn't, but he had to do something. He had an idea, one that he didn't like, but he decided to go with it.
Neppa quickly raised a hand. "Bakudou #81: Dankuu." A glass like shield quickly appeared and the Cero impacted right where Neppa was. He didn't put much energy behind it, cracking almost instantaneously, but it was enough to withstand the the length of the Cero. With the end of the Cero, the Bakudou shattered, showing that Neppa had moved.
While the shield blocked the attack, Neppa had used Shunpou to move around the shield and behind Fuyu, swinging Netsujyoubi by the axe blade for Fuyu's shoulder.

 

[Aku Kami Kurayami]

Neppa pushed harder as Fuyu caught the blade. If the mask gave him that much strength from what he used to have, it would make Neppa much more of a threat. Rather than finishing the swing when Fuyu let go, Neppa brought it back to himself and took an open stance with Netusjyoubi in one hand. As Fuyu released his Zanpakutou into his Shikai, Neppa shielded his eyes momentarily from the light and then retook his stance. With Fuyu switching from his mask to his Shikai, Neppa felt like he was on a little better footing.
The ice attack that came straight for him wouldn't be too much to worry about as Neppa slashed a Flame Wheel, bisecting and melting it. He saw Fuyu as he brought the sword down with the Flame Wheel and continued turning, raising up his left fist. As he did so, he moved reiatsu into his fist, igniting it much the same as Fuyu's was, but with a red-orange fire seeming to come from the tattoo. Rather than punching Fuyu's fist, he barely missed to the inside of Fuyu's attack. This caused the chain to wrap around Fuyu's fist as Neppa pulled Netsujyoubi up for a strike. Grabbing the chain with his left hand would lock Fuyu's wrist in Neppa's grasp and pull him into the oncoming downswing. Unless he pulled his fist back, he would get struck in the shoulder.