Standard Disclaimers apply. Enjoy J.
Chapter Two: First Encounter Part I
"We have just reached South Rukongai district seventy-four." Ban's voice came over the little butterfly on Kurisu's shoulder. Kurisu halted the groups advance as he listened to Ban's report. "It looks clear. We are moving in to secure the area."
"Understood Ban. We should be there in five minutes." Kurisu responded. "Lets go." Kurisu said looking at the three other people in his group. Kurisu looked behind them as the other three members disappeared using their flash step. They're catching up…
he thought. Turning he vanished, in hot pursuit of his comrades.
Dodging tree branches with ease, Kurisu quickly caught up with the group.
"They're catching up!" Dan said to Kurisu, as they ran quickly through the forest. "Should I go back to slow them down?" Dan asked looking at Kurisu.
"No, we should reach district seventy-four before they catch up to us." Kurisu responded as he jumped over a fallen tree. "Squad thirteen should be aware of Ban's presence by now, we will engage our pursuers with them as reinforcements."
"You know, it would be easier if I just went back and killed them right? Instead of dragging this into heavily populated areas."
Kurisu glanced at Dan as the duo chased after Maaku and the Princess's retreating form. "Can you take them?" He asked watching his friend out of the corner of his eye.
"Can I? Please, these guys couldn't touch me even if I was blind, deaf, and had both arms behind my back." Dan replied with a grin. Kurisu hesitated for a second, as Ban's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Kurisu, we have a problem here…"
…...
Ban stood in the middle of the street of south rukongai district seventy four with Ginji and Shido behind him.
"What kind of problem Ban?" Kurisu's response echoed in the silent street.
"They got here before us sir." Ban said watching the two men a dozen feet away. Both were of average height and build; the left arrancar had blue eyes and blonde hair, while the one on the right had brown eyes and similar hair to match.
"There are civilian casualties." Ban said seeing several dead bodies behind them. "You will need to go through district seventy three to get around these guys."
"Understood. Do you need backup?" Kurisu asked.
"Negative. I can take care of them. I'm sending Ginji and Shido to secure your passage. I'll catch up to you when I'm finished."
"You make it sound so simple. What makes you think that we're going to just let you-" One of the arrancars started to say and suddenly found Ban twenty feet closer with his sword unsheathed. In one lighting movement, Ban decapitated the blonde arrancar with his sword. Flicking the blood off the sword, Ban sheathed it in one fluid motion. The brown haired arrancar cocked his head and looked at Ban with a smirk on his face.
"Bravo. Bravo." He said clapping sarcastically. "But honestly, you really should have killed me first. After all, I am the stronger one."
"True, but I didn't want him to get in the way of me killing you." Ban said looking side long at the other arrancar.
"You couldn't do that even if you tried." The arrancar said turning to face Ban who was several feet away. Ban looked up at the slightly taller arrancar and scowled.
"Ginji! Shido! Go on ahead to district seventy three, I'll meet you there once I'm finished with this trash." Ban ordered as he placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Trash?" The arrancar asked laughing. Behind Ban, Ginji and Shido disappeared leaving him alone in the street with the last arrancar.
"So what is your name arrancar? So I know what name to carve on your grave." Ban asked staring down his opponent.
"Name?" The arrancar asked in surprise and cocked his head to the other side while watching Ban. "Tanuma Nakata. What's yours soul reaper?" Tanuma asked.
"I am Captain of His Highness's personal bodyguard: Ban Aritoshi." Ban replied.
"I see, so you should be good then, shall we get started?" Tanuma asked. At those words Ban threw his white haori off in a blur of movement. Drawing his sword in one fluid motion, he darted in towards the arrancar who stood awaiting the attack.
Tanuma braced himself as Ban closed the distance between them in a second and lunged directly at the arrancar's chest. Roaring with battle lust, Tanuma grabbed the incoming sword with his bare left hand!
Gritting his teeth as the sword cut his flesh, Tanuma lifted the sword out of its trajectory, making it miss wide over his shoulder. Ban's eyes went wide in shock as Tanuma drew his own sword with his right hand and brought it up out of its sheath to cleave Ban in two.
Ban acting on instinct, jumped straight into the air following the ascending arc of his opponents sword, flying over Tanuma's head in a summersault, leaving Tanuma's sword to slice empty air. While Ban was in midair, he forcibly extracted his sword from Tanuma's iron grip and which caused a small trickle of blood to flow down Tanuma's wounded hand. Jumping back to put distance between Ban and himself, Tanuma watched his opponent with interest.
"First blood to you Captain. But I'm afraid that is the only blood you will draw from me this day." Tanuma said flexing his wounded hand. Ban placed both hands on his sword and smiled at Tanuma.
"I plan on finishing this quickly. I just don't have the time to waste on trash like you."
"There you go again, calling me trash. It's not nice to name call Captain."
"Only if it isn't true." Ban countered.
"Oh really? The battle has just begun and you seem so sure of the outcome." Tanuma said raising an eyebrow. "Fine then, I guess it's up to me to show you who the real trash is here." Tanuma said raising his sword. "Let me show you my Resurrection form, Devour: Zetsumei Tourou! (Death Mantis)"
"I really don't have time for this." Ban said as Tanuma was surrounded in a cloud of smoke.
"You know, that really is beginning to get annoying." Tanuma responded as he exploded from the smoke. Ban followed Tanuma every step of the way as he examined his new form. He's slightly taller than he was, and he has two weapons instead of one now. He's wielding kamas, lovely, Ban thought as he blocked his opponents overhead swing with his sword.
Shoving his opponent back, Ban noticed his opponent was now almost fully covered from head to toe in white body armor.
"Well, it is good to see that your spiritual pressure has gone up slightly. But if that is all you have, then this is going to be very short." Ban said dodging Tanuma's swiping kamas. Reversing his katana, Ban sliced upwards on one of the exposed arms of his opponent.
The blow connected with a thud, as his sword became lodged in the arrancar's thick armor.
Tanuma shifted one of his kamas into position and sliced downwards, intending to split Ban's head like a melon. Ban released his left hand from his sword and grabbed Tanuma's wrist, stopping the kama an inch from his head.
"You're not doing half bad soul reaper." Tanuma said gritting his teeth, an inch from Ban's face. Taking his hand off his sword, Ban connected with a crushing uppercut to Tanuma's stomach. Ban heard a whoosh of exhaled air as his opponent staggered back. Grabbing his sword out of the arrancar's arm, Ban viewed the other man with contempt.
"Considering that you have already gone into resurrection, and I haven't even released my Shikai yet, who's the one not doing half bad?" Ban asked mocking his opponent.
"That's funny, that's funny." Tanuma said raising his hand, pointing it directly at Ban's chest suddenly. "CERO!" He shouted as a red lance of energy shot out of his hand at his opponent.
A blur of movement made Ban take his eyes off the cero for an instant-
The cero slammed into Ban exploding the surrounding area into dust and debris.
"Ha!" Tanuma yelled in triumph. As the dust started to clear, Tanuma's eyes widened in shock. Standing before him were now two figures.
Ban looked at the man who stood in front of him. Wearing similar clothing as him, the man wore a haori with the symbol of Squad Thirteen. His long white hair was almost down to his waist, and his green eyes pierced the brown of the arrancar.
Tanuma saw the man point his right sword at him and a red blast fired out of its tip. The blast covered the distance between them in less than a second.
"Wha-" was all Tanuma could say before the blast hit him.
The resulting explosion rocked the street as more debris went flying into the air. Ban coughed once fanning the dust away from his nose.
"I don't remember asking you for your assistance Captain Ukitake." Ban said gazing at the man in front of him.
"For the record he wasn't helping you, he was helping me." A man said directly behind Ban.
"Well Shunsui, if you hadn't jumped in the way of the cero I wouldn't have had to intervene." Ukitake responded to the man.
"Oh, so that's what he was doing." Ban said face palming himself. "Well, I guess for what it's worth Captain Ukitake, thanks."
"What are friends for?" Shunsui asked patting Ban on the shoulder.
Ban nodded his head once and looked back to the settling dust cloud. "Indeed, but the time for pleasantries is not now. The rest of my group is currently going through district seventy three. Do you mind going over there and helping with the escort?"
"Not at all." Ukitake responded smiling at him.
"Yea, but I take it we aren't going to be told exactly why we need to go and do this, huh Ban?" Shunsui asked looking at him cocking his head.
"You know, you really shouldn't carry on a conversation on the BATTLEFIELD!" A yell from across the street snapped all three of the men's heads in that direction. A figure darted out of the dust towards Ukitake. Out of the corner of his eye, Ban saw Shunsui disappear.
He suddenly reappeared in front of the arrancar who had a look of shock on his face. Rolling his eyes, Ban flash stepped in front of Shunsui. The bloody Tanuma raised his kamas over his head, readying a crushing strike.
Ban raised his hand, "Shakkaho." The fire blast slammed into Tanuma at point blank range, shooting him across the street and through a building as he disappeared from view in the rubble.
"What exactly do you think you are doing Captain Kyōraku?" Ban asked looking sidelong at the other captain.
"Well, I uh…"
"I'll take care of this Captains. The more pressing matter is my associates; they have the Royal Princess with them."
"The-" Shunsui began.
"-Princess?" Ukitake finished looking at Ban.
"Yes, we are escorting her highness to the Seireitei. I'm here on a priority one mission. We need to get her to the head captain immediately." Ban said looking at the two captains.
"I see." Ukitake responded nodding and looked at Shunsui. "Shunsui! We should go now."
"Right." Shunsui responded and looked at Ban. "Don't take too long now." He said tipping his straw hat at Ban and disappeared.
"Ban." Ukitake said dismissing himself and vanished.
"Well, that was a good hit. If I do say so myself." Tanuma said. Looking back, Ban saw Tanuma leaning against the wreckage of the house he had gone through. "So, you're one of the guards for the Princess?"
Ban turned to face the arrancar fully. "What of it?"
"I just want you to know," Tanuma said walking out into the street. "I've got orders to kill all the guards. And take the Princess to Lord Aizen."
"Really?" Ban asked tensing his muscles, preparing for an attack. "Because from what I've seen so far, you aren't doing a good job of it."
"I wasn't even fighting at full strength. I was waiting for those two to get out of here so I could show you my true power." Tanuma said.
"What?" Ban asked widening his eyes in surprise.
Tanuma smiled as something on Ban's left made him raise his sword in reflex. A second Tanuma was attacking him! Ban blocked the new Tanuma as the first one charged in for the kill.
"All of heavens wrath rain down in judgment: AREKUSANDAA!" Ban yelled. From miles away people could see the explosion from south rukongai district 74. They would describe it as a column of white fire ascending into the air. But the strange thing was that there was no sound accompanying the explosion; just a bright white light that was abruptly extinguished.
Ban stood in the street in the middle of a dozen foot wide crater. There was no sign of Tanuma.
"So much for true power." Ban said holding a giant white great sword on his shoulder. Looking around, Ban examined the area for any remaining signs of Tanuma's spiritual pressure. "Humph. He couldn't even stand up to my first attack." Ban grunted as his sword returned to its original katana form. Ban sheathed his sword and dusted off his shoulders, his black clothing covered in dust. Looking around he rolled his eyes upon finding his haori in tatters. Of course…
Turning away from his haori, Ban looked off into the distance. He disappeared suddenly, leaving the crater and district seventy four completely devoid of life.
…...
Thanks for reading, chapter three should be coming out! If anyone wants to beta part II, I would appreciate it! :D