Kris: Hey guys! BIG THANKS to all who reviewed, I really appreciate it :) Glad you're all enjoying it so far. Sorry for not updating this sooner. Had exams, and then I was in Fiji for a bit. But now I am on holidays for over a month, so updates will be more regular. I also penned a fair bit while in Fiji, so all that needs to be done is type it up. Heres chapter two~
Chapter Two: Over the Hills and Far Away
"Heads or Tails?"
"..."
"Which one?"
"No."
"You've got to pick one."
"Grr…"
" 'Grr' is not an option, Grimmjow-san. Come on, Heads or Tails?"
"Bite me."
"That's the type of attitude that makes Aizen-sama sad! He wants us to learn to cooperate on this camp, so what a better time to start than now?"
"…"
"Heads or Tails, Grimmjow-san?"
Grimmjow exasperatedly sat up in his seat by the window. "Oi you! Nnoitra!"
Nnoitra glared across from his seat by the door. "What do you want, Jaegerjaquez?"
"Do something about your fraccion!" Grimmjow raged, indicating to the young male across from him, who had some sort of coin cupped in his hands, ready to toss.
"Psshh…" Nnoitra looked away. "If it's bothering you, then do something about it yourself."
Grimmjow groaned and placed his hand to where his mask remnants should have been. Looking around the small compartment (number six, as Grimmjow had made sure of), to Tesla, Nnoitra and Ulquiorra, he noted they were the same. These gigais made them look just like humans (well…apart from Aaroniero, who still had that weird tank thingy), as they concealed all mask remnants and hollow holes. And it stank. The train had only been gone half an hour, and already Grimmjow wanted nothing more than to smash his way out of the stupid locomotive, and be on his way home. But then he remembered he had no home to return to, no thanks to recent events. Sighing as he relaxed back into his seat, he made a mental note to try and locate something to gag Tesla with. At least that would make this journey somewhat more enjoyable. Somewhat.
"Greetings again, my Espada!" Aizen's voice echoed on the intercom they'd come to hate, for the umpteenth time in the so-far short trip.
Grimmjow and his compartment mates groaned, as did several others who were boarded on the train. The intercom system was too much of a novelty for Aizen it seemed, as their master simply couldn't resist the temptation of gracing the train's travellers with his absurd proclamations every few moments.
"I would like to inform you of our dinner options, as I am sure many of you will soon grow hungry and want food."
"What? I heard food!" said Nnoitra, suddenly snapping to attention, Grimmjow doing the same.
"Lets see, what's on this evening's menu…" Aizen's voice sounded again. "For entrees: deep fried cashews in mayonnaise and sweet and sour mustard sauce. For dinner: eggplant curry with a mix of lentils, vinegar and chilli. And for desert: banana and pickle custard with added soy sauce, mushrooms, and whipped crème."
The guys in compartment no. 6 shuddered. It seemed that human girl had rubbed off somewhat on their leader.
"And now for a sing-along! Join in everybody! Ten little Espada went out one day~!"
This seemed to be the breaking point for Ulquiorra, who had so far managed to keep his cool, silent and stoic composure. "SHUT UP!"
But sadly, his efforts were useless.
"Over the hills and far away~"
"Come on, seriously," sneered Grimmjow. "As if anyone would actually sing along to-"
"Mother Aizen said 'Come back, come back!'" a muffled voce came up the train's aisle way, before Yammy opened the door of compartment six. "But only nine little Espada came back."
"Yeah, which means the tenth ones buggered off somewhere or died," said Nnoitra. "So scram!"
"Master Nnoitra…" Tesla said in a small voice, giving his superior a slight nudge. "Remember why we're here."
"Well I don't give a shit," replied Nnoitra. "Especially since this is Yammy we're talking about."
Yammy took this as an invitation to self-invite himself into the compartment, causing audible groaning from its occupants (including Tesla).
"Yammy…don't you have somewhere else you can sit?" asked Ulquiorra who was EXTREMELLY close to actually being seated in Grimmjow's lap, due to the bulk of Yammy which had just seated on his other side.
"Yes and no," replied Yammy. "I never really decided on a fixed compartment, so Aizen said I can just sit wherever."
"So you're going around bothering whoever you find?" Grimmjow asked, wincing as Ulquiorra's bony butt pressed into his thigh.
"Hmmm…I think I'll go see what Barrigan's up to."
"GOOD. Go and bother him and don't come back here."
As Yammy left the compartment, the other four Arrancar sighed in relief, enjoying the peace.
"Seven little Espada went out one day~"
Well, almost.
When the song finally came to an end, Grimmjow and the others cheered out of joy the damn thing was over. Aizen however, heard the cheering and misinterpreted it as encoring, much to the Arrancar's dismay.
"Will he just stop?" groaned Lilynette from compartment no. 8, as Aizen began his own rendition of 'Pop goes the Weasel'. "If he's trying to strengthen our relations, its not working…this is probably only driving everyone mad."
"I agree," noted Starrk who was trying to get some shuteye. "Its bothersome."
Lilynette sighed and looked out the window. "I'm going to the bathroom," she said. "Change of scenery."
Starrk grunted in response, as she left the compartment and began down the hallway. She reached the ladies bathrooms, just to the right of the commander compartment and pushed the door open, only to see that Apache, Mila-Rose and Luppi were already in there.
"These bathrooms are the only place where you can't hear Aizen's voice…" Mila-Rose sighed.
"Then I'll take my time," Lilynette said, closing the door on Aizen's muffled rendition of 'Old McDonald'.
"I wonder what this camp will be like…" Luppi pondered, as Lilynette entered a cubicle and began drawing on one of the walls with a pencil.
"I dread to imagine," Apache said, as she fixed her hair in the rainbow-bordered mirror. "Oh and by the way Luppi, are you able to use all the facilities of the ladies room?"
"Depends," Luppi answered, slotting a few coins into a sanitary distributor and collecting the goods that came from it. "Either way, I best be off. Ggio might wonder where I've gotten to."
"See ya then," Mila-Rose said, as the other Arrancar left the room.
"What the heck?" Lilynette's voice came from the cubicle. It seemed she had finally lifted the toilet lid. "There's a goldfish swimming around in there!"
"…Poor thing," Apache said.
Mila-Rose only dreaded the imminent camp even more.
Meanwhile in the outside world of the train, Aizen continued his 'Old McDonald' sing-along.
"…Will he…stop singing…about farm animals…?"
"Gee Nnoitra," Grimmjow laughed. "Almost sounds like you're scared of 'em."
"Shut up, Jaegerjaquez."
"Is an Impunscrouge even an animal?" Tesla questioned as Aizen began a new verse.
"No," admitted Ulquiorra. "Aizen's just run out of animals, so he's making some up. That's why this song has been going for so long."
The sing-along continued extensively for another half hour, before even Aizen got tired of it, and it ended.
"Finally," sighed Ulquiorra, glad that the torment was over.
"Now I'm bored," whined Nnoitra.
"Then why don't you give out neighbours a visit," Ulquiorra suggested, indicating across to compartment no. 5.
"But Szayel, Zommari and Aaroniero are in there," Nnoitra whined.
"So?" questioned Grimmjow. "Those guys are the lowest ranked Espada. Even Yammy could defeat them once he goes post release."
"I don't care," Nnoitra squirmed. "They might be the lowest ranked in strength, but they're the highest ranked in creepiness."
"I dare you to go in and say Hi."
"Why don't you do it, if you're so keen?"
Grimmjow stood. "Only if you do it first."
"Not before you do it," Nnoitra said, standing as well.
"Is that so?"
And before anything else could be said or done, the two Espada were out in the hallway, trying to force one another into compartment no. 5.
"Should we try stopping them?" Tesla asked Ulquiorra.
The quarto shook his head. "Just let them be."
Gin entered the men's room only to see that Luppi was already in there, washing his hands in the sink.
"Hey," Gin smiled.
"The men's room isn't as nice as the ladies," Luppi reported. "You should go across the hall for a nicer experience."
"I would," said Gin. "But Halibell's in there…and you know what she's like…"
"Mmm…she doesn't trust me," Luppi said, lifting the goods he bought from the ladies room out of his bag. "I don't know why…"
"Maybe because she's not sure if you're female or not?"
"Hahaha! You're funny, Gin. But any case, if we want to go into the ladies room and use their facilities, we'll have to wait until Halibell is out…"
"I hope you're not discussing anything inappropriate," an ominous, whiney voice sounded.
"…What?" Gin and Luppi searched around for the source of the voice. It wasn't in any of the cubicles.
They were about to give up their search, when Tousen came down from a loose board in the ceiling.
"If you're discussing anything sinister, I shall have to report to Aizen-sama," he said.
"Aww, no fun Kaname," Gin frowned. Tousen always spoils the fun.
Luppi was more concerned about something else. "What were you doing in the roof?"
"Keeping watch for Aizen-sama," replied Tousen. "Making sure everyone's behaving."
"But you can't see," Gin pointed out.
"Maybe that's how he got in the roof…" Luppi suggested.
The two were saved from Tousen's imminent wrath by the timely arrival of Grimmjow.
"Gahh! Finally somewhere Aizen-bloody-sama's voice can't be heard!"
"I hope I didn't just hear what I thought I heard, Grimmjow," Tousen said darkly.
"Ah shit, not you…"
Gin and Luppi used this as a diversion to make their escape.
"I hope you all liked the 'Old McDonald' extravaganza!" Aizen declared through the intercom, ignoring the various groans that followed. "I now have Ggio in the room with me, ready to assist me with the next song!"
"Please shut up," said Starrk, who had just been awoken by Aizen's latest proclamation.
"Nnoitra and Grimmjow have been fighting in the hall," Lilynette said as she entered their compartment. "Slamming each other against the wall and stuff. But they're having a break, 'cause Grimmjow has to pee. I'm not sure what they're trying to do, but I don't think Aizen's noticed."
"He's been to busy having his own fun to notice anything like that," Starrk responded.
"Grimmjow will be back soon," Said Lilynette. "Wanna come and watch with Ulquiorra, Tesla and I? Its kinda funny to watch."
"I'd rather not," Starrk said, trying to get into a more comfortable position. "Its loud enough in here as it is…if I could just break this compartment's intercom speaker…"
"You're no fun, Starrk," Lilynette said, pouting as she left the room.
"Thankyou very much for your time, Ggio," Aizen said, smiling. "It was a pleasure intercoming with you."
"No, thankyou Aizen-sama," said Ggio, smiling with a sparkle in his tooth. "I had lots of fun. Now I better go and find Luppi, so I can tell him all about it."
And with that he was off, out of the commander room and up the train's hallway.
"Hmmm…now, what to do next," Aizen wondered out loud, reaching for his Women's Weekly magazine.
Just as he was about to share its contents with the rest of the train however, there was a knock to the door.
"Come in," Aizen called.
"Umm…Aizen-sama…" Gin's head popped in the door.
"What is it, Gin?" Aizen questioned. "If its you, you know you don't need to knock. Would you like to have a turn singing into the intercom as well?"
Gin shook his head, and looked around nervously.
"Is something troubling you, Gin?" Aizen asked kindly, inviting him into the compartment. "Because you know if something is, I'll always be here to listen."
"There's something I need to tell you, Aizen," Gin said, quickly looking around the room, before closing the door behind him. "Its about Tousen…"
"Oh?" Aizen said, as Gin took a seat opposite him.
"I think Tousen…might be a ghost…"
"Are you sure?" Aizen asked.
Gin nodded sagely. "I saw him floating once."
"Well Gin…I'm not sure if this is true, but you are convinced then I trust you to keep an eye out for any ghost-like behaviour."
"Yes Aizen-sama. Thankyou Aizen-sama."
As Gin left the compartment, Aizen sighed and shook his head. It seemed that his Espada's terrible relations were even having psychological affects on his beloved Gin. Tousen? A ghost? Come on, he had never heard of anything more preposterous. Although…when it came to ghosts it was usually someone no one would suspect. That's how the stories went, at least. Aizen sighed and returned to what he was doing beforehand—reading his Women's Weekly magazine to his Arrancar.
"I swear…" Halibell said, sitting in compartment no. 3 with her fraccion. "If that guy tries hitting on me one more time, he'll have another thing coming."
"Barrigan's an old creep," Sun-sun nodded.
"I can hear you, you know."
It was then that the four ladies realised the old guy was hiding under one of the seats and had been there all along.
"Oh blast, my cover is blown…"
If Halibell were a Shinigami, she would have gone Bankai then. Barrigan is lucky she isn't. However…
"OUT!" Halibell yelled so loud, it drowned out Aizen's voice on the intercom, which was reading about how Julia Gillard swaps rings from one hand to another to stop it hurting when she needs to write, making people think she's engaged.
Barrigan quickly made his exit.
"Honestly, that guy…"
The girls didn't have peace for long, however. A loud THUMP was heard right outside their compartment.
"Nnoitra and Grimmjow again, I assume?" Halibell questioned.
Mila-Rose opened the door slightly. "No actually," she said in surprise. "Its Wonderweiss and Gin."
The other three quickly came to the door to catch a glimpse of Wonderweiss fly-kicking Gin across the hall.
"It seems he's mad at Gin for entering his and Tousen's territory," observed Sun-sun, watching as Tousen stood in the door way of compartment no. 2, observing as Gin got his ass handed to him.
Suddenly, the doors of the commander room burst open and all attention diverted to Aizen, who stood in the doorway frowning.
"Wonderweiss," he spoke. "Stop jumping on Gin."
Wonderweiss obediently ceased his bouncing and scurried back to Tousen's side.
"The two of you must now be punished," Aizen said, glancing at Wonderweiss and Gin.
"But Aizen-samaaaa…" Gin whined.
"No buts, Gin. I don't care if you're part of my upper committee, I wont tolerate your bad behaviour. Think of the bad example you're setting to the Arrancar. For this, you are to spend forty-five minutes up the back of the train in the unoccupied compartment no. 7. As for you Wonderweiss, you are to come into the commanding compartment with me. And the rest of you, back to your compartments."
Some time later, Nnoitra stuck his head out of compartment no. 6 He looked up the hallway. Nothing. Down the hallway. Nothing. He quietly slipped back inside the compartment, just as Grimmjow came out of the men's room. Now was his chance.
As Grimmjow drew within three steps of the door, Nnoitra made his move. Swiftly, he flung the door open and launched himself at the Sexta, who wasn't taken by surprise. In fact, it seemed he was expecting it. Quickly, he turned in Nnoitra's grip, shoving the spoon-like Arrancar into the door of compartment no. 5.
"You're not getting away that easy, Jaegerjaquez," Nnoitra said firmly, pulling Grimmjow close. "If I'm going in there, I'm taking you with me."
"Don't touch me!" snapped Grimmjow.
"This is part of my plan to force you into compartment no. 5."
"Your plan sucks!"
"Well you spent far too long on the toilet!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
The two's arguing was quickly silence however, upon the opening of compartment no. 5's door.
"Would you two brutes please turn it down?" Szayel said in an irritated voice. "We're trying to have a conference in here."
"Uhh…what?"
Nnoitra and Grimmjow briefly glanced the other two in the compartment, whom were wearing odd-looking clothing and top hats.
"Although…" Szayel said with a creepy grin, eyeing the current positions of Grimmjow and Nnoitra. "You two can keep on doing whatever that is you're doing. I'll keep the door open so I can watch."
It was then that Nnoitra realised he was still clutching Grimmjow close to him, in effort to keep him from escaping. Quickly, he pushed Grimmjow away. Right into Szayel, who didn't mind the contact at all. Grimmjow however…was less than impressed.
"GET BACK HERE!" he raged, chasing Nnoitra up and down the train's corridor.
"GRIMMJOW AND NNOITRA," Aizen's voice boomed through the intercom. It wasn't a shouting voice though, proving he had accidentally amplified the device's sound settings, as if it weren't loud enough already. "YOU ARE MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE. YOU ARE BOTH TO GO TO THE BACK OF THE TRAIN NOW, FOR A TIME OUT. YOU NEED TO LEARN TO STOP BEING NOISY! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO REST AND RELAX, SO STOP RUNNING AROUND LIKE A HERD OF DRUNKEN ANTOLOPES!"
"Oh for the love of all things good, SHUT UP, AIZEN! You're the one making the most noise," Starrk's voice came muffled from back at compartment no. 8.
Either Aizen didn't hear, or he pretended not to. "NOW, TO THE BACK OF THE TRAIN, YOU TWO."
"How can you see us, Aizen?"
"I AM AIZEN, I SEE ALL."
Nnoitra and Grimmjow grumbled, cursed and gave each other wedgies as they headed to the train's rear.
"Well this sucks," Grimmjow said boredly, as he sat back to back with Nnoitra at the rear of the train, ten minutes later.
"Its your fault," said Nnoitra.
"How is it my fault?"
"You're the one who dared me to go in there."
"You're the one who was bored and dared me to go with you."
"You were the one who suggested it in the first place."
"No, that was Ulquiorra."
"Oh yeah, my bad. It was."
Said Quarto Espada was currently walking up the hallway toward them.
"You suck, Ulquiorra," they said in unison.
"Grimmjow-san, Nnoitra-sama try not to get into any more trouble that you already are," Tesla said, paced slightly behind Ulquiorra.
Nnoitra rolled his eyes. "Do us all a favour Tesla, and stop trying to be a good boy."
"I-"
Thunk.
"What was that?"
The Arrancar all glanced around to where they thought they'd heard the eerily noise.
"I think it came from that storage compartment…compartment no.9…"
All eyes turned on the large storage compartment behind them. It took up the entire last section of the train, and seemed a whole lot bigger that any of the other compartments. From what they knew, no one was using it.
"What could be in there?" wandered Grimmjow.
"You guys heard it too?" Lilynette asked, coming out of the nearby compartment no. 8. "Its been going on for the past while…"
"It's been even more persistent than Aizen," agreed Starrk, as he too came out into the hallway.
"We think its haunted," stated Lilynette. "There's something scary in there, I bet."
"Hmm…," said Grimmjow. "Well in that case, there's only one way of finding out…"
"That's right," nodded Nnoitra.
"It will be a bit dangerous," admitted Ulquiorra.
"And risky," added Lilynette.
"But it will be worth it," concluded Starrk.
"We must send Tesla in to investigate!" they all said at once.
"Right!" nodded Tesla, before "Wait...what?" he stuttered, "But why me?"
"'Cause you're the only non-Espada type," Grimmjow answered.
"I was gonna say because he's a prude," Nnoitra said helpfully. "But I guess that's as good a reason as any."
While the Arrancar began to instigate a plan, nobody noticed Gin sneak out of compartment no. 7 into their compartment no. 6 in order to avoid the obnoxious thunking sound. As for Aizen, well…it seemed he had forgotten his precious intercom was still on and was now talking to Wonderweiss…in a very loud, creepy way…
"Okay," Tesla said bravely. "I'm ready to go."
He had a rope tied tightly around his waist.
"Be sure to pull me back in if anything happens."
"Oh Tesla, so brave," Nnoitra said admiringly.
"What was that, Nnoitra-sama?"
"I said hurry up and go in, ya dumb kid."
"Right! Here I go."
And in he went.
"He should be back out within a few minutes, and be able to report to us," Starrk said, as he fed the rope through the door while Tesla ventured deeper into the creepy compartment.
A few minutes went by in calm silence.
"Ahem…" Ulquiorra coughed suddenly, trying to sound inconspicuous. "Yammy at 12 o'clock."
Grimmjow cursed. "Don't make eye contact…Drat, he's coming."
The Arrancar all cursed their luck as Yammy waddled up to them. Luckily however, Ulquiorra's amazing skills at looking inconspicuous paid off and Yammy got bored and walked away before he even reached them.
"Woh…that was close," Ulquiorra said, whipping sweat from his brow.
Anything that was about to be said was momentarily forgotten, due to a sudden scream and thump from inside the compartment.
"Tesla!" Nnoitra nearly shouted.
Starrk and Grimmjow pulled on the rope, until they towed in Tesla, who appeared to be in a state of shock.
"Tesla, speak to me!" Nnoitra said, shaking his fraccion. "What did you see?"
Tesla gave no response, and Nnoitra dragged him into Starrk and Lilynette's compartment for safekeeping.
"We need to find out what's in there," Starrk said, sternly.
"I'll go in," Grimmjow said bravely.
"As will I," said Ulquiorra, becoming the other half of Grimmjow's elite squad.
"Good," said Starrk. "Because I honestly couldn't be bothered going in there."
"We'll hold the rope for you," Lilynette said to them helpfully.
Grimmjow took hold of the rope and Ulquiorra grabbed a torch. Together they pushed the doors of the creepy compartment open.
They were going in.
Kris: Oh the suspense! It's killing me. Not really. Sorry if the chapter seemed kinda jumpy, this was half written at midnight. Once they get to the campsite, the story becomes more solid.
I shall have chapter three up for Christmas. Once again, please review your thoughts, and enjoy your holidays everyone!