4...Shop till you drop...
Two ambulances parked outside the hotel. The paramedics wheeled out two stretchers and ran inside. Renji was wheeled out first.
"Dont worry Renji, you'll be fine." Ichigo smiled weakly and patted his friends shoulder.
Ichigo was helped onto a stretcher and wheeled away.
Rukia was covered by a large blanket, only her head was uncovered, her traumatised expression plain to all.
A police car was parked there as well. Byakuya ran from his car and hugged his sister.
"Are you ok? Were you hurt? What happened?"
A paramedic silenced him and sent him back to the car. He slammed the door and sat there in silence.
In the passengers seat Jushiro Ukitake scratched his white hair. "You weren't out very long. Is she ok?"
"She's fine, only a few bruises. Nothing as bad as that boy."
"Who? Ichigo?"
"Yes. He was covered in large wounds. Renji isn't looking good either. From what I could see, it looked like a shotgun wound."
Jushiro's eyes bulged. "A shotgun!?"
Byakuya nodded.
The car radio beeped and a desperate call came through. The officers listened intently. The tinny voice from the radio told them of an armed robbery at a shopping centre.
*****
KARAKURA SHOPPING COMPLEX
5 MINUTES EARLIER
Two men, both in white clothes, gazed around at the busy civilians.
One was a very large man, he stood almost a metre higher than the other peole.
The other only small, his skin toned a ghostly white. His green emotionless eyes scanned the building. Green lines were painted down his face, giving the impression that he was crying. He noticed a table near a fast food shop. It was populated by goth kids.
He slowly approached them, the same angry expression on his face.
The goths started to look at him.
A girl in heavy eyeliner and black hair with red highlights smiled at him. She walked up to him and waved a gloved hand.
The man eyed her body, dressed in a short black skirt and a black shirt exposing her slight cleavage.
"Hi! I'm Becky, want to get something to eat, you look starved." She said looking at his thin frame.
"Not really. I dont need to eat."
One of the other goths, a tall lanky boy with a large fringe of black hair, talked to the man.
"Hey, whats your name?"
"Ulquiorra."
"Wow. Thats a cool name, so where do you live?" Becky asked.
"That doesn't concern you." Ulquiorra still hadn't shown any different emotions.
"Sorry." She looked down and frowned.
"Geez dude, you dont have to be an asshole." Another goth yelled.
"I should warn you not to anger me. Otherwise you may suffer."
"Whoa! This guy's dark." One of the others stood up and approached Ulquiorra. He patted his shoulder and pushed him towards the table. "Sit down and make yourself at home." He said.
The goths all introduced themselves and talked about their lives.
One goth had a razor to his arm. Ulquiorra grabbed his hand and stopped him from harming himself.
"Hey!! What are you doing you son of a bitch!" The goth slashed the razor over Ulquiorra'a arm.
In a blur of white, Ulquiorra's hand appeared out the back of the goth. The goth was impaled on Ulquiorra's arm.
"Holy shit!!" Everyone screamed as the boy's back erupted in blood.
"You fucking killed him!!"
Ulquiorra turned on the others. Passers by screamed and alerted security.
A security guard fired a shot at Ulquiorra' arm.
Ulquiorra stepped back, holding his arm, his face still expressionless. He moved his hand away and showed the guard the bullet between his fingers.
What the...? He caught the bullet!! What the hell is this guy?
Ulquiorra threw the bullet back, hitting the guard in the head and killing him.
Ten guards formed a semi-circle around him. The guards all aimed their weapons but none fired.
A stream of bullets tore the guards to pieces.
The big man returned, now holding a chaingun. He turned the gun on innocent men women and children. He laughed maniacally.
"Ha!! They're freakin weak."
Ulquiorra tuned to him. "Of course they're weak Yammy. You have a giant firearm and they are defenceless."
Sirens outside turned their heads.
"It's time!"
*****
Outside almost the entire force gathered around the doors. Everyone with their guns drawn. They looked to the roof top and noticed a white banner hang down above the entrance.
Byakuya read the banner out loud for the others. "Espada."
The word was written in the blood of the victims inside.
All the officers radios beeped, an unknown speaker addressing them.
"I see you've noticed our name tag. We are the Espada. You shall bow down to us and our power. You may have disposed of some of our associates but we arent scared that easily."
*****
HOSPITAL
Ichigo's radio was by his bedside. He had heard the call for the armed robbery and now one of the robbers had contacted every officer by radio.
# You shall know fear soon enough. Especially the three officers who interfered before. There was the red-head, a young girl and the officer with bright orange hair. We have spoken. Now retreat or die where you stand.#
Through the radio, Ichigo could hear rapid gunshots, screams and an explosion.
"This is bad. Really bad. They've watched us and they know our radio frequency. Plus they're dragging innocent people into their twisted game." Ichigo lay back and made a wish.
I hope they don't know about my family.
*****
INSIDE THE SHOPPING COMPLEX
Becky hid under the table, several other survivors hiding with her. They had watched many people drained of their blood to write something on a large white bannner. Most of the others were dragged to the roof. They could only guess what awaited those poor people, but loud gunshots implied a cruel fate.
The white-clothed people were everywhere. One had a tall mask over their head and seemed to have multiple personality disorder as it sounded like it spoke in two voices, one a deep males and the other, a high shrill voice.
Another wore a white eyepatch , always followed by a blonde man with a black eyepatch.
Some seemed to have authority over the others and gave orders. Two of them, Ulquiorra and an elderly man gave orders to everyone, they were obviously the leaders.
I thought he was just like us! I wanted to be his friend, but he's not one of us...he's a monster!!
All the ...Espada, Becky remembered the name they kept saying. The Espada had all left giving them a chance to escape.
"Come on!!" She whispered. The survivors all ran for the front doors. A black man dressed in white stood before them.
"I'm sorry. You may not pa-"
Several bullets smashed the glass doors and hit the Espada. Shards of glass shot into him. He collapsed and lay still.
On the other side of the door three policemen stood still their weapons drawn.
An officer wearing sunglasses held back a large dog on leash. The dogs tag read : Captain.
The other officers gestured for the hostages to get out of the building.
As they swarmed out of the building, they were instructed to duck down.
The two men in eyepatches had appeared near the doorway and both brandished machine guns.
The man with the black eyepatch had an Mp5, while the man in the white eyepatch held two assault rifles, one in each hand. He laughed maniacaly and opened fire.
Eight of the twenty survivors were mown down by the insane man.
The three officers looked at each other and nodded. One of them spoke into their radio.
"Send him in."
An armoured truck opened its back doors and Zaraki Kenpachi emerged from inside. His tall spikes of hair scraped against the roof as he walked out. His mouth curved up high in a creepy grin. He turned around and brought out two Uzi and fired into the air.
"I'm finaly gonna be able to have some fun!"
Without bothering to find cover, he ran blindly at the two assailants.
Four more survivors were shot down and Becky was hit in the leg. She dragged herself behind a marked car with the others. She leaned out and saw the tall police officer stand still.
"What's your name dumbass!?" The man in the white eyepatch asked. He scratched his straight black hair.
Zaraki still stood in silence.
"My names Nnoitra, Nnoitra Jiruga. There I said mine, now you tell me yours."
Zaraki didn't respond.
Nnoitra's grin faded and his face creased into a scowl. He fired at Zaraki, the bullets sinking into his body.
Zaraki dropped one of his guns and collapsed to one knee. He grunted in pain.
Nnoitra strode over and swung his leg back, ready for a kick. As his leg thrusted forward Zaraki smiled. "Joking." He caught Nnoitra's leg and flipped him over.
"Nnoitra!" black patch yelled. He ran to help his friend but Zaraki aimed an Uzi at his face.
"Dont interfere!" He fired, point blank into the young mans skull.
The officers cringed. "He's a freakin' animal!"
"Of course he is. That's why he's on our side." A bald policeman stated.
Zaraki pistol whipped Nnoitra.
Nnoitra bashed the butt of his rifle into Zaraki's nose. Blood spurted out followed by a loud 'snap'.
Zaraki's nose was bent at an odd angle and he bled from his mouth and nose. He spat out several teeth and cracked his nose back into place. He grinned with his now bloody teeth. His tongue snaked out and lapped up the blood.
Nnoitra stared wide-eyed.
What the hell is this guy?! First he deliberately injures himself just to trick me, and now he's drinking his own blood!!
"Nice shot. Now it's my turn!"
Zaraki thrust his fist into Nnoitra's jaw, striking his teeth. Zaraki drew back his hand and noticed shards of white embedded in his hand.
Nnoitra turned his head and spat out nine broken, bloodied teeth. He grinned with what was left and back fisted Zaraki's left temple. He then reached for his gun and let loose half a magazine into his opponent.
Kenpachi stumbled back and reached for one of his guns but Nnoitra shot his hand.
"Fight me bare handed!! See how tough you really are!!" Nnoitra spat.
No fear showed on Kenpachi's face, only the same large grin.
Zaraki strode confidently towards him.
Nnoitra emptied a magazine and then loaded another. He then let loose another volley of bullets.
The grin on Kenpachi's face slowly lowered. He gazed down at his body, riddled with holes and bleeding profusely. The nerve's in both arms were severed and the bones in his legs were full of bullets. Unable to move Zaraki frowned. "Damn. I guess a gigai cant take as much punishment as I thought."
Nnoitra aimed the barrel of his weapon at Zaraki's forehead. He placed a finger on the trigger and slowly puled it back. The trigger fully retracted and nothing happened. "What the hell!!" Nnoitra stared at the barrel now snapped in half.
Yachiru Kusajishi laughed. She stood behind Nnoitra. She unholstered her tiny firearm and shot Nnoitra in the back of the knee.
He fell to the ground, landing on broken glass. He winced and then saw the pink haired girl stand above him.
She glared into his eyes. They burned with anger and she was biting her lower lip.
"You hurt kenny!! Now he can't fight. Now he can't have fun!"
"FUN!!! You think almost dying is fun!?"
The girl nodded. "To Kenny, war is as important as air. He relishes in it...and so do I!"
Nnoitra's eyes bulged. What the hell is this bitch thinking?! And what the fuck is she doing in the police force?!
"When Kenny is having fun, I'm just as happy as he is. Our emotions are mutual."
"What!!??"
"Since we share feelings, I know Kenny will feel good when I kill you!!"
Nnoitra was sweating severely. This girl was nuts. She was only a toddler but she scared him more than anything he had ever encountered before.
"YOU PSYHCO BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"