Chapter 3
Insanity Held by its' Strings
Sasori found himself face-to-face with his opponent in a slightly lit-up, incredibly wide hallway. His opponent was a tall and thin male Arrancar. He had shoulder-length pink hair with bangs on the right side of his forehead, with two thin lines that were missing hair on the left side of his head and amber eyes. The remains of his Hollow mask took the form of rectangular-framed glasses, giving him a scholarly appearance. His Hollow hole was located on his glans. His clothes differed from the original Arrancar uniform. Instead of a normal jacket, He wore a long shirt that covered his entire torso up to the top of his neck. He had three stripes on his uniform, each that started at his collar with two that ran to each side of his chest and one down the middle. He wore the regular pants with a slight length that was taken away. He also wore white gloves. His face wass the only part of his body that was exposed in this uniform.
"So who may I ask are you?" Asked Sasori.
"About time someone broke the ice," Answered Szayel with a slight grin, "I'm the 8th most powerful Arrancar of the bunch, try to wrap your simple brain around my name; Espada #8, Szayel Apporo Granz. I don't think knowing your name would be necessary since I will kill you before you know it."
"I'll say my name anyway," Replied Sasori, unaffected by Szayels' threat, "I am 'Sasori of the Red Sand', Puppet Master of the Akatsuki."
"You fight with puppets?" Asked Szayel, "Interesting indeed, for a mere Human."
"And knowing my talent interests you?" Asked Sasori.
"You see, I'm a Scientist of Hueco Mundo, my Home," Explained Szayel, "And I've been rather bored dissecting and experimenting on weak hollows and the like, so to hear something interesting that I could perform my skills on, well, it's ok, not as thrilling as a Soul Reaper though."
Sasori glared at the mad scientist. "I don't know what a 'Soul Reaper' is, but luckily I've been revived with the skills prior to my death," said Sasori as a red scroll slipped from his right sleeve and into his hand, "Because you'd make an interesting Puppet, if it hadn't been for my death, I would've collected 2 more marionettes for a grand total of 300. Given the circumstances of the battle, I'll have to settle for Puppet Number 299."
"What are you going on about?" Asked Szayel with a look of boredom on his face.
"I mean that, once I'm through with you," answered Sasori, "I will void your corpse of all your organs and bones, drain it of blood, clean it, trick it with fancy weapons, and string it up, I will have made a new Puppet out of you."
Szayels' eyes widened as if he was surprised, but laughed with a hint of madness after a moment of silence. This confused Sasori. "You? Make a corpse doll out of me?" Asked Szayel, "On the contrary, it is I who will make a doll out of you with my powers!" He drew his Zanpakutō, a katana with a greyish-blue handle and gray sheath, and its tsuba was similar to the nucleus of an atom. Instead of directly wearing his sword at his waist, Szayel Apporo had two frilly light-purple strings tied to his waist that held the blade by its' scabbard at two points, which allowed him to carry the sword at thigh-height. "Be warned," warned Szayel, "I'm no good at fighting, but it matters not! Against a dumber opponent, this will be mere childs' play!"
"Don't count on it!" hissed Sasori as he unraveled the scroll he held, revealing the kanji for "3". In a small explosion of smoke from the scroll, Szayel could hear clattering sounds within the cloud of smoke. The smoke soon cleared out to reveal his most favorite work of art; A rather tall puppet with semi-long, black hair that was tied in a short pony-tail. It wore a fuzzy-collared cloak and it had sharp teeth. It was none other than the corpse-puppet of the Third Kazekage, a Leader of the Hidden Sand Village while Sasori was still a citizen there. The Third Kazekage was known to have been the strongest of his Rank as the Villages' Leader. It gave a blank glare to Szayel as Sasori strung it up with Chakra Threads.
"Begin!" Boomed the voice of the Cloaked Figure.
"Meet the result of what I do to a corpse!" Shouted Sasori as he launched the Puppet at Szayel. The Puppet revealed several blades covered in drizzles of a purple liquid. Szayel saw a gimps of the strange liquid dripping from the surfaces of the blades.
Szayel smirked as he blocked the slash attack from the Puppet. "What kind of pitiful offense is that?!" Mocked Szayel as he pushed the puppet back, "Really, what is it with you all? Attacking on the first move! Try to show a little defense!" he vanished and appeared right behind Sasori using Sonido. "Then again," chuckled Sasori, "You may not be too bright enough to even put a defense up." He then ran the blade of his sword through Sasoris' chest from behind. This shocked Sasori, making him gasp softly.
"It's all over," Chuckled Szayel, his smile soon faded as he saw the body leaking sand, "What?!" He pulled the blade up as the fake Sasori scattered into a pile of sand.
"How's that for defense?!" Shouted Sasori from behind the Puppet as it held its' left arm to reveal several sealed plates, those plates emit small clouds of smoke that reveal multiple similar arms that thrust themselves at Szayel. Szayel gasped and used Sonido to evade the arms. The arms collided into a wall.
"Not bad," sighed Szayel in relief as he smirked widely, "Too bad I already found out the weak point in your attacks!"
Sasori gritted his teeth, knowing that he'd been found out.
"The reason why you use toys to fight for you is because you suck at combat! About as much as me!" Laughed Szayel, "But there is a difference between us; I outrank you in brains and technique!"
While he was talking, he noticed that a couple ropes attached by Kunais were launched at him, in which the ropes quickly tied him up. "What the-?!" He muttered. The ropes came from two tubes amongst the arms.
"You talk to much, Loud Mouth." Chuckled Sasori, "What were you saying about outranking me in brains and technique?" Another tube pushed its' way through the arms and expelled a purple cloud of gas.
"What is it with you and purple liquids and gases?" Asked Szayel, "They're some sort of bacteria, aren't they?"
Sasori nodded. "Very perceptive of you," sneered Sasori, "That smoke, along with the liquid that you saw on my Puppets' blades happens to be a poison of my own design, anyone poisoned by this formula will die between 2 to 3 days, starting with a powerful numbing sensation, followed by agonizing pain." The ropes then began to reel Szayel in. The Espada was getting closer and closer to the smoke.
"Don't take me lightly!" Chuckled Szayel as he swung his sword, cutting the ropes. He used Sonido to avoid the gas and landed next to Sasori. "You're wide open!" He chattered as he swung his blade. Sasori swung his arms as the Puppet detached from its' left arm and blocked Szayels' blade with its' several blades. "Lucky you." The Arrancar huffed.
With a flick of Sasoris' wrist, the Puppet revealed a buzz-saw from within its' left sleeve to replace its' lost left arm and swung it at Szayels' head. Luckily for Szayel, his Heirro, Iron Skin, provided a good defense against the buzz-saw. Szayel still flinched as sparks flew. The buzz-saw was soon dull from the friction as Sasori jumped back with the Puppet at his side. "Time to make this quick." Said Sasori as he weaved a hand sign by placing his flattened right hand over the back of his left fist. The Puppets' mouth soon opened and a black, grainy material expelled and floated away from the Puppets' mouth, making an ominous sound.
"What's that?" Asked Szayel with a surprised look in his eyes.
"The Third Kazekages' Ultimate Technique;" Sasori answered, "The Iron Sand! Since I use human corpses as puppets, it gives me access to their capabilities, in this case, I can use the Kazekages Magnetic Style to manipulate this iron sand before me."
"Magnetic-?!" Uttered Szayel, holding his sword close, since it was made of metal, he had to be careful not to lose it to its' magnetic pull, and there was only one way to keep his sword from being taken. "Sip," commanded Szayel as he swallowed his entire sword, blade first while the inside of his mouth glowed, "Fornicarás"! ("You Will Fornicate").
His body then swelled to an enormous proportions and released spiritual energy, which covered his immediate vicinity in a fine mist that slowly cleared away as he transformed. The lower half of his body became a multitude of purple tentacles with the similarities of a sea anemone. His feet extended from under the tentacles, which were then replaced by a layered dress-like garment. His upper torso became a segmented and form-fitting gray garment, with white sleeves that extended from the elbow and down to a wide opening at the wrist that revealed a purple interior. Three small, dark purple extensions spanned upward from the elbow, while four long, dark purple strands that looked like falling drops hung from the underside of the sleeve itself. His hands turned white, and his fingertips became slightly elongated and purple. His hair gained various purple drop-like strands as well. His Hollow mask took the form of a headdress that formed a thin band across his forehead, as well as what appeared to be half the bottom structure of his Hollow mask "glasses", which was attached on either side of his head by fan-like coverings. His left eye gained purple markings that took the shape of four lines on the top and bottom. He also grew four large, gray branch structures on his back, two on each side, which formed a shape similar to the wings of a butterfly. Each branch had twelve equally-spaced red strands that resemble falling drops.
"So you saved your sword by combining with it," observed Sasori, "How disturbing it is to see my opponent become even more flamboyant..."
Szayel smirked with a crazy look in his eye. "No matter," Laughed Szayel, "The show must go on! Allow me to deliver the final curtain!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Hissed Sasori as he waved his hands, in which the particles of Iron Sand form multitudes of spears, the Puppet then revealed its' right peck, opening a compartment that glowed blue. At the same time, the needles then flew at Szayel.
Szayel grinned as he bit his thumbs to the point of bleeding and held his hands together, charging a special Cero (Zero), a "Doom Blast" that Arrancars are capable of using, in his case, a Gran Rey Cero (Grand King Zero), a Cero that requires the blood of an Espada to use. As the Gran Rey Cero charged, it took on a bright pink color. He then launched the attack at the needles.
Sasori saw that the attack passed through the needles, destroying them. He made an effort to evade the rest of the attack with his Puppet, jumping far away to the sides. While Sasori was distracted, Szayel unleashed a massive amount of liquid at Sasori and the Puppet of the Third Kazekage.
"What the-?!" uttered Sasori, "What is this?!" The liquid quickly oozed out of both opponents, in which formed a near identical copy of both Sasori and the Third Kazekage Puppet, glaring at the originals. Both copies retain the same eye-liner as Szayel as a personal touch. Szayel merely used the Gran Rey Cero as a decoy to avert Sasoris' attention before Szayel could unleash his sinister plan.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Szayel asked, "My Fornicarás can create "Carbon-Copies" of anyone I masked in its' liquid, you'll have to fight yourself and your Puppet now~!"
Sasori glares at Szayel, then at the fakes and flicked his right pointer finger, two large blocks molded from Iron Sand came at both fakes, crushing them both between the blocks. "All too easy." He huffed.
"You think?" Mocked Szayel as the same liquid oozed from the creases of the blocks that soon formed multiple Carbon-Copies of both Sasori and his Puppet though the liquids droplets. Sasori was surprised.
"Don't take me lightly!" Laughed Szayel maniacally, "Defeating my Carbon-Copies only allows them to multiply! You're done for!"
Sasori tried his best to fend off against the fake Puppets with his own, though the Puppets also copied the Originals' techniques. The Original Third Kazekage was soon defeated and torn to bits. Sasori glared at Szayel for the cruel trick.
"Now to finish you off in my personal favorite way." Chuckled the Espada as he snapped his fingers. The moment the Carbon-Copies heard it, they dispersed, never to be seen again.
"What's all of this about?" Asked Sasori, knowing that something wasn't up.
"I merely wish to perform my most powerful technique now that you're defenseless without your Toy!" Chimed Szayel as he expanded his wings at Sasori, engulfing him. Sasori tried to struggle, but couldn't. Just as he was capture, he was soon released onto the ground.
Szayels' wings soon retracted and spread. One of the droplet-like extensions of his wings soon expanded and popped. Out of it came a tiny doll-like item that landed in Szayels' hands. "And speaking of 'Toys"; what do you think of this?" He asked as he held it up for Sasori to see, who slowly stood up.
"What is that?" Asked Sasori.
"This Doll here is here to replace you, of course." Chuckled Szayel.
"Replace me?" asked Sasori.
"Yes!" Answered Szayel amusingly.
"How?" Sasori asked.
"It has your likeness of course," Explained Szayel, "And I will use it to destroy you, and it shall take your place in this wretched world!" He then flicked the dolls' head. Oddly enough, Sasori felt a flicking sensation on his head, he was surprised and confused.
"You felt that, didn't you?" He asked, "Then how about this?" He poked the dolls stomach, causing Sasori to flinch, he now knew what Szayel was up to!
"That's right, I have control of all your senses!" Cackled Szayel, "And now for the fun part!" He then twisted the top half of the doll off, causing Sasori to flinch.
"What?" Asked Szayel, then realized the reason behind Sasoris' reaction, "Oh! Don't mind this, the Doll was meant to come apart like this, it doesn't mean I could split you in half, oh no, it's what's inside that counts!" He then looked into the cup of the bottom half and realized something surprisingly odd. Now, usually, the Teatro de Titere (Puppet Theater) spawns a Doll that takes on the likeness of an Opponent, which includes trinkets that are shaped like organs and tendons. But what he found wasn't many trinkets, but only one! A Purple Cylinder with a Kanji for "Scorpion" on it withing the Doll. Szayel was shocked.
"What is this?!" Asked Szayel with aggression, "Where's your stomach?! Your lungs! Your Tendons! Where are your other human parts?!"
Sasori sighed and chuckled. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag," muttered Sasori as he unbuttoned his garb, took it off, and cast it aside. Szayel was horrified to see Sasoris' true appearance before him; A circular tablet with a label was seen on his left peck with the Kanji for "Scorpion". In place of his intestines was a thick cable coiled around a pole, allowing him to use it as a stinger and retract it if necessary. The coiled coil was dripping a familiar, purple liquid, that being Sasoris' signature poison. Attached to his back was a scroll holder, containing four scrolls that stored extra armament. Sasori also had a pair of poles attached to the back of his hips, each equipped with five large blades that could spin like a propeller, granting him both an equipage for greater speed and a monstrous close combat weapon. He had contained a holster on his back with 4 red scrolls in it. His once half-close eyes are now wide opened. "It's been a while," Uttered Sasori, "Since I last used myself..."
"What..." Growled Szayel, "What are you?!"
"Suffice it to say," Chuckled Sasori, "I would describe myself as a human being who could not become a complete puppet, I am an unfinished puppet, whose lifeless frame still contains a beating heart at its Core. I am neither dead, nor am I alive, and speaking of 'Core'..." He unleashed his stinger-cable at Szayels' wrist which held the doll, scraping him with no sign of blood and forcing Szayel to flinch and drop it. Sasori quickly retracted his cable.
"You've shown me too much of what you can do," Said Sasori, "Now it's time to die!" he held both his hands out with extended two pipes from his palms. The pipes them blasted flames at Szayel, who only had a limited amount of time to dodge with Sonido. He was slightly singed.
"What's wrong?" Asked Sasori with a crazy look in his eyes as he kept blasting his Flamethrower at the Espada, "Not going to fight?"
Szayel tried to evade the flames, and seemed to have had the evasion advantage.
Sasoris' First Scroll on his back dispersed as the flames from his pipes stopped blasting out after a few minutes. He then paused for a moment and then thrusted his pipes forward, expelling streams water from them.
"Water?" Asked Szayel, as one of the streams passed Szayel while Sasori twisted both of his wrists at a 360 Degree Angle, a cut was formed on the Espadas' cheek, he then gasped, "High-Pressured Water!" As Sasori tried to aim to strike Szayel, Szayel kept using Sonido to dodge the attacks.
Sasori kept Szayel at bay and distracted. After he stopped pumping water, and the Fourth Scroll on his holster dissipated, Sasori launched his stinger-coil at Szayel while he was distracted, striking itself against Szayels cut cheek, then it wrapped itself around Szayels neck. Szayel soon felt his body slowly going numb.
"DIE!" Shouted Sasori as he reeled himself in with the blades on his back-poles spinning, in an attempt to slice and dice Szayel. The Espada vanished with Sonido in time to evade Sasori, forcing the Human Puppet to land on his feet. He turned to face Szayel, panting and frustrated, kneeling down on one knee.
"The poison seems to be working just fine, eh?" Chuckled Sasori, "I happened to have infected the cut on your cheek when I sent my cable at you. When I poison someone, it would take 2 to 3 days to die."
Szayel growled as he tried to counteract it. "It's useless," assured Sasori, "Only one being was able to counteract my poison, and it's an extremely difficult formula. Even I had to be careful when mixing the ingredients for this special poison, and I came up with the original formula myself. One mistake during the mixing would ruin it all." Szayel cursed in secret, failing to cure himself.
"But against you," continued Sasori, "I'll have to end it now." Sasori used a Chakra Thread to fish out the Second Scroll in Sasoris' holster and unveiled it in midair. Multitudes of shadows busted out from the opened scroll as Sasori opened a compartment in his right peck. Hundreds of Chakra Threads flew out of the compartment, stringing up the shadows that flew out of the scroll. The shadows revealed to be multiple puppets, one could say that there were 100 altogether, wearing red. They were all in different shapes and sizes, wielding various weapons.
Sasori sighed and face-palmed himself. "This is the second time in a long time a nobody has forced me to do this," Sighed Sasori, as he freed his face from his palm, glaring at the weakened Espada, "But I know we're short on time, and I can't keep the rest of the Organization waiting...meet the very Army I used to crush an entire Nation; 'Secret Red Art; Performance of a Hundred Puppets'!"
Szayel was shocked, and impressed, then he noticed a glimmer amongst the ruble cause by Sasoris' rampaging fire and water techniques. "It's over!" Shouted Sasori as he sent all 100 Puppets at Szayel, who quickly bent downward to grab whatever glimmered. As soon as he picked it up, he used Sonido to outmaneuver the 100 Puppets. Sasori soon made them split into groups which caught the Espada off guard. As soon as a group of the Puppets made contact with him, they crashed into him causing a cloud of dust and debris.
Sasori smirked and walked towards the horde of Puppets as soon as the dust cleared off. "This is the perfect way to redeem myself for losing to a brat and hag indeed." He chuckled softly. But then he head something crack, and felt it ache. His eyes widened as he looked down at the source of the crackling sound and the aching sensation; His Core had cracked and started leaking fluids, which surprised him even more. "Wh-what…?" He uttered, "H-how…?!"
Szayel, who was pinned amongst that majority of Puppets while the minority had their blades pointed at him. He panted softly from the impact as he held up the item that was glimmering before; It was the Trinket from the Doll, the only trinket that resembled Sasoris' only organ, crushed to pieces. "Look who lost the chance at redemption!" He laughed maniacally.
"N-no…!" Sasori uttered as the Chakra Threads from his compartment faded, causing the Puppets to drop dead like aged birds from the clouds. His Core fell apart slowly, piece by piece. His Core was once again destroyed. His only chance at redeeming himself was ruined by a stranger. Sasori fell back into the rubble with his eyes still opened.
Szayel slowly got up with a slight chuckle. It then turned into a loud, maniacal laughter of victory and madness. He then threw up and fall to his knees, with the poison still running through his system.
What an insane battle! Sasori had the edge in battle experience and armory, but Szayel thwarted everything else with his Carbon-Copy and Teatro de Titere. Carbon-Copy thwarted the Third Kazekage Puppet with numerous fake Kazekage Puppets as Teatro de Titere allowed Szayel the opportunity to destroy the only organ in Sasoris' body; His Core. As strategic as Sasori was, Szayel basically practices his brain power daily. It was a battle of Science vs Art, with Science reigning supreme. Had Szayel not had the Teatro de Titere, he would've lost in the end.
Speaking of being poisoned, since many of you might ask how he could've stood his ground while being poisoned; Szayel is a brilliant Scientist, there was no doubt in my mind that he could easily slow the poisons' circulation down through his sheer knowledge of the Arrancar Anatomy.
Feel free to Review! The next battle will be coming sooner or later, depending on how busy I am. It also depends on whether or not the Research becomes highly difficult for the next battle x.x;
