Human names used:
Raivis Galante: Latvia
Taurys Laurinatis: Lithuania
Ivan Braginsky: Russia
Alfred Jones: USA
Arthur Kirkland: UK
Feliciano Vargas: Northern Italy
4th Seat Raivis Galante of Squad 12 sat at the monitor, which displayed a large map of Toronto. The Soul Reaper Institute of Technology, which had become synonymous with the name "Squad 12" in the past century, had been assigned the task of monitoring 3rd Seat Williams' investigation in the World of the Living.
At the moment, he could not believe his eyes. Two Menos taken down within two minutes! A feat like that would maybe have been expected of a captain or lieutenant, but a 3rd Seat? It was unbelievable.
"Hey, Taurys! Come over here!"
An incredibly tall, dark-haired man wearing a white lab coat over his shihakusho walked over to peek over Raivis' shoulder.
A look of curiosity grew on his face. "Is this the 3rd Seat from Squad 10?"
Raivis responded with exaggerated nodding. "Yeah, but he's something else! This guy just took down two Gillians with barely any hesitation!"
Taurys lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" He snorted. "Sounds to me like Squad 10's starting to patch themselves up. From the looks of things, he might just be their next captain." After a moment of thought, he opened his mouth to start speaking again just as a shadow loomed over them.
"Hm? What is all the commotion over here?"
Their eyes widening immediately, the two officers snapped to a position of attention, turning around to face a silver-haired man whose height dwarfed even that of Taurys.
"Reporting in, Captain Braginsky sir!" they shouted simultaneously.
The man sighed and waved it off as they settled out of attention. "Yes, yes, just go on with what you were saying."
Raivis, oddly shaken by his captain's sudden appearance, began to explain the situation to him.
"Ah, I see. So Squad 10 has a captain in the making, yes?" The silver-haired man smiled, but Raivis had been in Squad 12 for long enough to know that it was only a show of manners. A quick glance at his eyes would prove that there were no true intentions behind that smile. This was just his captain attempting small talk to make sneaking up on them seem less weird.
"Yeah, I guess." Raivis rubbed the back of his head, when the captain's eyes suddenly widened. Turning back to the screen, he saw the crimson dots on the map of Toronto. A small squeak escaped his lips.
"Taurys," commanded the captain, going into overdrive, "send a Hell Butterfly to the Head Captain immediately! Inform him of the current situation." After a second's pause, he added, "Request to lift the Gentei Kaijo as well. Go, now!"
Trembling, Raivis slowly clicked on the glowing red dots on the screen, staring at their power gauge.
Oh shit.
Matthew had never been so confused in his entire life. Neither had he been so after his death. The only feeling that reigned over his confusion was the darkest of them all.
Fear.
Slowly, the Garganta widened to three times its width. The shadows inside it began to solidify. The forms emerging were humans- but at the same time, they weren't. As he noticed the gaping holes in their chests, he came to realize this immediately. Are they hollows? he thought, but immediately thought better of it as he saw the swords slung on their waists.
Zanpakuto.
They have Zanpakuto.
The one in the center had long, fiery red hair, a partial bony mask on that mimicked a crown, and glowing yellow eyes. On the left stood a woman with short, purple hair and another half-mask that mimicked an eagle's beak. Finally, on the right stood a skinny man with black hair and a mask covering his mouth that mimicked an oversized, sadistic grin.
Their very presence chilled Matthew's soul. What the hell are they? Hollows? Soul Reapers? Are they Vasto Lorde?
"Are you the one who killed those two Menos?"
He came to his senses as he realized he was being spoken to.
"Eh?"
"Pay attention, campesino. Are you the one who killed those Menos?" spoke the red-haired man in the middle. His nose was pointed high and he pointedly refused to look at Matthew. Something told him that this guy was bad news.
"Yeah… what of it?"
The man smirked. "Wrong answer."
At first, Matthew thought he had blinked. That would be a reasonable explanation as to how he failed to see the red-haired man's attack coming. Then he realized that it was not so.
Hollow, Soul Reaper, or otherwise, this man was far beyond any power he had ever seen.
The next thing he knew, he felt a searing pain cut through his torso, from his hip to the opposite shoulder. The red-haired man was only a foot away from him, one hand in his pocket and the other one lingered above Matt's shoulder, where it had cut through his flesh. Blood spurted out as he fell to the ground.
Damn…
"Haha! I told you to pay attention, campesino. Maybe if you had, you would not have missed it like you did." The arrogant smile on the red-haired man's face shone with cruelty. He sighed. "I had hoped that you would at least pose a challenge, campesino, but you went down so fast that the Garganta has not even closed yet." He turned away from Matthew. "Pathetic."
Damn it… thought Matthew as his vision began to fade. His thoughts jumbled themselves together. Blood leaking from his wound, he laid on the ground. Through the shambled mess, one train of thought won out.
I… I don't want… to die again!
His leg budged slightly. The red-haired man stopped moving.
Move…!
"It is useless, campesino. It will only hasten your death."
Damn it!
He couldn't say how or when he stood up, but the next thing he knew, he was back on his feet. His zanpakuto was slippery with his own blood, but he somehow managed to hold onto it.
The red-haired man sighed. "I am a generous king. I am trying to make things easier for you, campesino. Just let go."
Matthew knew this guy was saying something, but he couldn't understand it, and he had a feeling he wouldn't care even if he could. He just gripped his zanpakuto tighter.
"S…" he began. "S-Snarl… Winds of the North."
Wind swallowed his arm for a moment, and dispersed as a medieval flail appeared.
"You are brave, campesino, I will give you that." He stuck his hand out behind him, his palm opened. "For that, I shall give you a quick death." An orange ball of light began to gather in his hand.
A Cero… thought Matthew, his thoughts trailing off again.
"This is the end. Goodbye, campesino."
Matthew closed his eyes and braced himself for the fatal impact.
But it never came.
Two seconds, three seconds, he waited. Still, no impact came. Cracking open his eyes, he saw the back of a captain's haori, adorned with the kanji for the number "five."
Immediately, he knew who had saved him.
The man stood with a claymore pointed directly at the red-haired assailant. Clearly, he had blocked the Cero with the tip of his sword.
The red-haired man was outraged, and the other two were in shock. "Oi! Who the hell are you?"
Captain Alfred Jones of Squad 5 smirked and looked him in the eyes.
"A hero."
At the same time as he said this, more upper-captain-level spiritual pressures appeared. Matthew recognized all of them: Captain Arthur Kirkland of Squad 3, and Captain Kenpachi Nguyen of Squad 11.
"I… I'm saved," he muttered, and fell backwards into a pair of arms. Looking up, he recognized Captain Feliciano Vargas of Squad 4.
"Don't talk," Feliciano muttered. "Let me heal your wounds-"
His eyes grew large as a shadow appeared behind him. It seemed that the red-haired man's accomplices had chosen to no longer keep quiet. The black-haired man raised his sword.
"I dunno who the hell you are, but you'd better scram!"
As his blade swung down, it was intercepted by a halberd shortly before the black-haired man flew backward with a kick to the jaw. Lien twirled her zanpakuto and scoffed.
"Sorry, guy. But we Soul Reapers aren't the kind of people who stand there and let a comrade get their ass kicked."
Even though the mask covered his mouth, Matthew could tell that the black-haired man was sneering. "Who said he was getting his ass kicked?"
Matthew directed his attention back to Captain Jones and the red-haired man, who were now clashing. As far as he could see, they were about evenly matched. Turning his attention back to the woman with the bird mask, he saw Captain Kirkland duking it out with her. Glancing up, he looked at Captain Vargas while being healed.
"Captain Vargas, sir… what… what are these people?" he spoke in a hoarse voice.
Feliciano breathed out sharply. "They are called Arrancar. They are hollows who removed their mask in order to gain Soul Reaper-like powers." The captain glanced back up at the fights raging on. "Judging by their strength… I would guess that they were all Adjuchas-class Menos before becoming Arrancar."
As if to accentuate his point, both Captain Kirkland as well as Captain Jones simultaneously crashed into the ground, and Lien flew into a building.
From Captain Vargas' description, Matthew could easily tell that all of these Arrancar underwent a massive power-up during their transformation.
How can our captains possibly win?
A/N: Arrancar! The Gotei 13's in for it now. I wonder how they're going to pull through this one.
On a side note, the word campesino is Spanish for "peasant."
Please review!
