(Chapter 4)
(Yammy vs Renji, Rukia, and Chad-Las Noches)
At this unexpected turn of events, all Chad, Renji, and Rukia could do was stare up at Yammy's now monstrous form that was towering over them.
"Who said the numbers of the ten Espada, went from one to ten? Our numbers go from zero to nine!" Yammy exclaimed proudly.
"His reiatsu! It's overwhelming me." Chad told Renji as he felt himself beginning to tremble and lose his balance.
"I feel so heavy." Rukia added as she momentarily stumbled, followed by Renji.
'What can we do against an opponent of this caliber?' Renji thought to himself as Yammy raised his massive fist.
"I am the only Espada whose number changes when I've reached my full strength. I am the Espada Cero, Yammy Riyalgo!" He shouted, bringing his giant fist down.
"Run! We can't let his attack connect!" Renji yelled frantically to Rukia and he grabbed Chad and used Shunpo.
The giant's fist connected to the ground, which began to shake violently, resulting in a massive shockwave of wind and sand to shoot out towards the three as if the terrain was a raging sea.
Though his enemies had escaped direct impact, they had no chance to escape the wave of wind and sand that followed. They were hit dead on; sending them all crashing into large pieces of ruble that now littered the sand covered battle field.
"Like I said before, you are all I get to use this power on?!" Yammy sneered.
Being sent crashing into the ruble was indeed pain full, but the three were well enough to rise again.
"Rukia, Chad, you ok?" Renji shouted while getting up and running over to Rukia.
"Yeah, but don't worry about me, how are we going to get near enough to fight him? Can we fight him? I've never felt such terrible spiritual pressure." Rukia answered worriedly.
"He's coming…" Chad interrupted as all three of them felt the ground shift and tremble beneath them. True to Chad's words, Rukia and Renji turned to see Yammy walking towards them and due to his massive stride, he was coming at them fast.
"I won't be much help. I can barely stand when he's near. Where are the captains?" Chad said.
"If they felt this Espada's reiatsu, they should be here. We have to figure something out until they arrive… if they arrive." Rukia stated quickly. They had to think quickly, Yammy didn't have to walk far to reach them.
"We have to attack him together, I'm sure we could hit him." Renji said, trying to regain his momentarily lost balance. The ground shook beneath their feet, making it difficult to stand.
"Ha, what's this, I thought you would at least be able to a dodge an indirect hit." Yammy barked his eyes glaring down at the three. "I suppose I expected too much from you."
"We can do this together." Rukia said, slightly unsure of herself.
With that said, Renji began glowing red, his reiatsu increasing exponentially.
"We can't wait for him to do that again. Let's try to hold him off until the captain's come, we can at least try to do that." Renji shouted.
Yammy glared at those words.
"What's that? Hold me off? HA! Don't make me laugh!"
"BANKAI!" Renji roared.
Within moments the giant Baboon King Snake reared its head.
The Snake might have been large but it was in no way near as big as the Zero Espada, barely coming up to his knee. Yammy sneered and raised his hand once more.
Rukia, releasing as much reiatsu as possible, quickly jumped in to lend support.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia yelled while holding her Zanpakuto upside down and creating a large ice ring below the rising arm.
Yammi wasn't affected at all as the large column of ice shot out of the circle and incased only a fraction of his hand; he simply raised his eyebrow and with a flick of his wrist, the ice shattered. Pointless.
Rukia quickly began chanting again, this time Chad ran up to Yammi's right leg.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"
A large ice beam shot out of her blade and crashed against the Espada's abdomen, incasing a rather large portion of Yammi's stomach.
"Chad NOW!" Rukia shouted. Chad suddenly shot up on to Yammy's knee before jumping up once again to reach Yammy's ice incased stomach.
"Got it!" Chad shouted. His left arm became covered in his newest white armor and without hesitation, cocked his fist back.
"La Muerte!"He shouted as he punched the Zero Espada as hard as he could.
Upon impact, the ice shattered against Yammy's skin before crashing into the ground.
"Chad, Rukia, out of the way!" Renji yelled.
The baboon king, which had been circling Renji, shot out towards Yammy by separating its numerous segments.
"Go! Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji shouted as the snake let out a terrible roar. "Hikotsu Taiho!"
The great snake opened its wide mouth and shot out a dense blast of concentrated spiritual energy. The red blast surged towards Yammy's abdomen and hit it directly causing his upper body to be engulfed in an explosion.
"He wasn't trying to stop us. Did he even see us as a threat?" Chad asked as the smoke began to recede.
"Did it work?" Rukia questioned.
A loud booming laugh erupted from above the three fighters causing their eyes to widen.
"Did it work, you say? You honestly didn't expect me to be fazed by such a weak attack?" Yammi asked in amusement, and with a swipe of his hand the smoke blew away revealing a completely unharmed Espada.
"It didn't even scratch him." Chad commented weakly. He had used the last of his strength to attack Yammy, and now he had nothing left now.
"It must have done something." Renji said in denial as his hand tightened on the hilt of his Zanpakuto.
"The captains should have been here by now." Rukia said to herself.
Right now the only possible chance for survival they had was for the captains to intervene. Unluckily, they were not able to hold off Yammy long enough for the captains to arrive.
The giant suddenly raised his foot and once again pounded it into the ground; regrettably Renji, Rukia, and Chad were much too close to the colossal Espada to escape this time.
This time the shock wave hit them point blank.
'This… can't be.' Renji thought a second before being hit.
"How did he become so powerful?" Rukia shouted. Chad said nothing as the inevitable happened.
The ferociousness of the attack made the three fighters feel as if their entire bodies were suddenly crushed, he had defeated them within moments. Once again they crashed into the random bits of ruble that lay around.
Unable to move, they were forced to just lie helplessly as Yammi approached.
"Once I'm done with you, I'll take care of the punk that killed Ulquiorra." Yammi told them.
Without warning, Yammy's tail whipped around in front of him, it raised high above the three fighters. Their eyes widened as the tail came crashing down. Renji, Rukia, and Chad had the same thoughts running through their minds. 'How… is this possible?'
"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." A voiced rang out across the battlefield.
Out of nowhere an infinite number of petals shot out above the fighters and condensed into a thick column which then shot out towards the incoming tail which was mere feet from the three.
The column of flower petals did their job, successfully crashing into it and halting Yammy's tail from reaching its destination.
Yammy's eyes widened and turned his head to where the voice had come from; he didn't have to look far.
Byakuya Kuchiki suddenly appeared via Shunpo, standing on the top of a half destroyed building. Within seconds he was joined by another captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi who was followed by his lieutenant Nemu, fourth division lieutenant and seventh seat, Isane and Hanataro.
"Looks like we came just in time." Isane said. Suddenly she, Hanataro, and Nemu felt weakened as Yammy's spiritual pressure began to affect them, just like Chad, Rukia, and Renji.
"What a fascinating Arrancar. Hueco Mundo truly is a treasure trove." Mayuri said to himself while staring at the monster before him. Unlike the weaker Shinigami, Yammy's reiatsu appeared to have no effect on him or Byakuya.
After Byakuya was sure Rukia wouldn't be crushed by Yammy's tail, he noticed the zero tattoo on Yammy's shoulder. It was no wonder, his spiritual pressure didn't even compare to those they had fought previously. The reiatsu emitting from Yammy was incomprehensible.
"What is that thing, an Espada?" Isane asked. Hanataro was too frightened to speak and Nemu remained quiet.
"Just a future specimen." Mayuri answered uncaringly, seemingly ignoring everyone but the Arrancar before him.
"Lieutenant Kotetsu, Hanataro, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, get Rukia and the others, then get them as far back as possible." Byakuya ordered.
"Captain?" Nemu asked towards Mayuri.
Mayuri nodded. "Go Nemu, I guess Kuchiki needs only my help, we will deal with the Espada alone. He said. With that said, the three Shinigami took off towards their injured comrades.
"I need your help no more than you need my help." Byakuya countered calmly when the Shinigami left. He knew this was one opponent he could not face at half strength so he was slightly relieved he was back at full power, due to Isane's healing.
"If that's the case… you can leave now." Kurotsuchi said while pulling out his Zanpakuto. Byakuya simply ignored him.
"AHHH! Captains! Perhaps you can offer me a proper warm-up?" Yammy shouted happily.
"I see no reason to answer you." Byakuya stated as his Bankai returned and began circling him.
"Specimens shouldn't ask questions." Mayuri agreed.
"So you wish to fight me, just you two?!" Yammy laughed out
Suddenly they all felt a huge amount of spiritual pressure coming their way and Yammy let out a mighty wail.
Both Captain's looked above them; Yammy's tail had been cut clean in half.
"Great the barbarian is here." Mayuri commented dryly. Byakuya just kept his eyes on the Espada, sizing him up, his Bankai circling around him faster than before.
Zaraki silhouette appeared within the dust as Yammi spun around to see who had landed the blow.
"Looks like you beat me. It doesn't matter; I'll still take him by myself." Zaraki said while smiling manically, he was still badly damaged from his previous fight, but had refused to be left out of this one even if it meant he had to work with other captains.
"Go Kenny!" Yachiru yelled still hanging upon his right shoulder.
"Don't make such outrageous claims." Byakuya said simply. All three captains knew the truth when they first felt the Zero Espada's presence. His reiatsu and size was so outrageous that it would be impossible to fight the creature alone.
"Barbarian." Muttered Mayuri.
"What was that?" Zaraki said, facing the Squad Twelve Captain.
"What do you intend to do in your weakened condition? You'd merely be in the way." Mayuri stated.
"I have to give him some handicap." Zaraki said, his grin widening.
"I see you still haven't stopped speaking utter nonsense, even when the odds are greatly stacked against you." Byakuya commented.
"Your one to talk, seeking help from the twelfth division captain." Zaraki replied with a shake of his head as all three began to walk towards the giant.
"I'm tired of waiting." Yammy snapped, furious that Zaraki had cut him. Without pause his fist struck the ground in front of the captains and once again a shockwave shot out.
Byakuya and Mayuri eyed the shock wave uncaringly, while Zaraki swung his blade down; successfully disrupting the wave.
"Yachiru." Zaraki said as the sand whipped around the captain.
"I know." she replied before jumping off Zaraki's shoulder and taking off to be with the others at a safer location.
With a wave of his hand, Byakuya's Bankai began moving again and shot out towards Yammy's head.
"Don't get in my way, either of you; I'll have no problem cutting you in half!" Zaraki made clear while running towards the goliath.
"Again, speaking as if you had authority over us." Byakuya said.
"Do not cut him up too badly or else the dissection will take me all the more longer." Mayuri called out to his fellow captains.
"You guys are definitely stronger than the others." Yammy admitted before raising his hand and intercepting the petals barehanded. Zaraki jumped onto the Espada's shoulder and sliced at Yammy's neck; a deep cut caused the Espada to roar.
"Bankai." Mayuri voice suddenly rang out, while releasing a large amount of reiatsu.
The baby's mouth on Mayuri's Zanpakuto's hilt suddenly opened wide and began to produce a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape with a grotesque golden baby's head with a silver halo hovering around it.
Since Mayuri had to disable the poison to stop the other from getting killed, the usefulness of his Bankai was limited.
"Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo."
Extendible blades immediately shot out of the Bankai's chest as it charged Yammy, while the distracted Espada reached for Zaraki who was now trying to cut his chest, this allowed Byakuya's petals to surround the Espada's head and limit his vision.
Just as quickly, Mayuri's Bankai made contact; Yammi's Hierro was pierced, albeit not enough to cause major damage. The Espada grunted before bringing his hand down and crushing Mayuri's Bankai like it was nothing, the retractable blades shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.
Mayuri seemed not to mind.
Yammy suddenly shouted as loud as he could, a sonic wave emitted from his mouth and blew away Byakuya's Bankai. With his vision restored he grabbed Zaraki and threw the captain into the ground, hard enough to create a rather large crater.
"Damn, he's strong." Zaraki said when he got out of the crater and dusted off his already battle damaged clothes. Mayuri and Byakuya appeared beside him and they watched as Yammy's "injuries" began healing instantly.
"Before me are three captains, and this is all you can do?" Yammy asked angrily.
"It's his size that stops him from taking too much damage, but to think he took on and defeated two Bankai's within seconds of each other, not to mention appear unaffected at all. This Espada truly interests me." Mayuri said as his face broke out into a wide grin.
'He's also giving us time to recover from his counter. What's he planning?' Zaraki thought.
"Nevertheless we should try to finish this fast and find a way back to where the other captains are fighting." Byakuya said.
All of a sudden the petals of his Bankai, which had scattered onto the sand, combined once again, this time charging back to Byakuya. The infinite number of petals began condensing into a single sword as Byakuya's spiritual pressure began reaching its peak.
The other 2 captains merely waited for him to charge up his strongest attack as the sand whipped around them.
"Very impressive, but you will find no victory here." Yammy said while laughing. He was positive that they would be unable to defeat him.
"Shukei: Hakuteiken." Byakuya said as he poured his entire being into the attack. Pure white wings formed on Byakuya's back along with an equally white halo. He tightened his grip on the white sword… ready to attack.
(With Rukia and co.)
"Hi! Hi!" Yachiru shouted happily as she arrived with the others, a large smile on her face.
"Lieutenant Yachiru. So then Captain Zaraki has joined the other captains." Isane said. Both she and Hanataro were working hard to heal Rukia, Renji, and Chad, while Nemu injected them with a small amount of regenerative serum that her captain had given her.
"He sure is! He wanted to take on the big hollow by himself, but the other captains wouldn't let him." Yachiru sighed as she sat down next to Nemu and stared at the battle that was happening far off in the distance. All that could be seen was Yammy's body.
"Captain Kuchiki… is fighting with… the other captains?" Renji panted, he winced when Isane applied pressure to his ribs.
"Yes, both Captain Kuchiki and Captain Kurotsuchi met up after their perspective fights with the Espada. We were going to find Captain Unohana, but we all felt that Espada's spiritual pressure... Both captains realized before arriving that it would be futile to attack such a creature single handedly, but I'm guessing they aren't really working together, just fighting the same guy. Of course Captain Kuchiki had me heal him." Isane said, focusing on healing the Shinigami.
When she, Hanataro, and Nemu showed up, Renji, Rukia, and Chad had every single bone in their bodies broken. Luckily for them healing bones was one of the easier medical practices with kido. Their skills, along with Nemu's injections, made their recovery go all the swifter, within minutes they were nearly healed.
"He's now fighting three captains and from what I can feel they aren't causing much damage, he wasn't even affected by their sudden appearance." Rukia said weakly. All of them began to look worried.
"Don't worry. With Kenny there, that Espada won't stand a chance!" Yachiru yelled while suddenly jumping up.
"Where is your captain?" Chad asked Hanataro, who was healing him.
"I'm not too sure." He said quietly.
"Before I took off to find Ichigo, she said she had some business to attend to." Chad replied.
"Have you heard from Ichigo?" Renji asked. Hanataro shook his head.
"We haven't had contact with him at all, nobody has." He said.
"But don't worry. We all know Ichigo will be here soon to help out the captains. Then that Espada will really be in tro-" Hanataro was suddenly interrupted when they felt Captain Kuchiki's reiatsu flare up.
"Brother…" Rukia said as they all looked towards the battle. Next to Yammi they could see pure white energy forming.
"I fear that that the Captains underestimated the Espada." Nemu spoke for the first time since arriving there. The others couldn't help but feel a sense of dread come over them…
(Yammy vs Byakuya, Zaraki, and Mayuri)
Byakuya stood, with his fellow captains, before the Zero Espada in his most powerful form.
"I'm aiming for the center of his chest." Byakuya said calmly, indirectly telling them to attack the same spot. Both captains caught on within seconds.
"Gotcha." Zaraki said. Though it wasn't his style to fight with others, he could feel his energy draining. His previous battle had taken too much out of him. He would never admit it to them though. This fight was way too interesting.
"He'll probably stop you before you can get close enough for you to hit him in that form." Mayuri said simply.
"Which is another way of telling me you have a plan that would give me an opening?" Byakuya inferred.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mayuri said while reaching into his Captain's robe and pulling out a remote detonator.
"What's that? Are you going to use a bomb?" Yammy asked, highly amused.
"A bomb? Just a regular bomb? Don't insult me Espada. When you smashed my Bankai the blades also shattered. You haven't realized this, but the tiny pieces of the blades have been attaching to you since then and are now covering your body. When detonated they will release a strong acidic compound." Mayuri said almost as if he was excited.
"I grow tired of this. Even if what you say is true, it will have no effect." Yammy shouted before his fist charged with red electricity.
"I can't believe I have to use this twice in one day." Zaraki gripped his Zanpakuto with both hands.
Looking at the Espada's charging attack, all the captains stood their ground.
"Bala" Yammy's voice boomed. His massive fist shot out towards the captains and hit the area they were in within seconds. The blast was so massive it would have been impossible for the captain's to escape in time.
Yammy was about to shoot another one when suddenly his entire body was covered with explosions. He yelled out as acid began to burn his skin. It was a nearly useless tactic but had done its job.
Mayuri was able to distract the Espada, giving Zaraki and Byakuya an opening to attack.
Yammy saw both captains charging but it was too late. Byakuya hit the Espada's chest with all the strength he could muster, the blast of his attack shot right through the Espada's massive body.
The moment all his energy hit the Espada he flew out of the way just as Zaraki jumped up and, while using kendo, sliced the exact same spot Byakuya hit. The resulting explosion engulfed Yammy's chest.
Yammy yelled out as the captains power finally broke through. Blood began flowing out of the wound in his chest like a water fountain.
The Espada clutched his injury in pain as the captains once again appeared next to each other.
"That may have been a good combination attack, which I'm sure could have taken down weaker opponents, but he only has a slight injury." Byakuya said trying to catch his breath he had expected his attack to at least cause more damage. His energy was almost spent, along with Zaraki's.
Yammy suddenly began laughing.
"You punks are good. Captains are indeed strong…but this is nothing." Yammy said, his wound already starting to heal.
With speed the captains didn't think was possible for the Espada's size, he opened his mouth and released a cero so massive it eclipsed the ceiling of Hueco Mundo.
A cero that none of the Captain's had seen before. A pitch black cero devoid of all light. A cero of immersurable power... And it hit all 3 Captain's before they could react, and even if they could, the sheer magnitude made it impossible.
The destructive force would have been no different than if a meteor had desended from the sky and had crashed down. A massive explosion and in its wake...
"So that was a captain's strength," Yammy asked as the explosion begun to die down. "I'm not impressed." He finished, his eyes locked on the three captains.
Every single bone in their bodies, broken.
"You're still alive? Even afte taking my Cero Oscuras head on... Hm, I guess I didn't take you seriously enough. Allow me to correct my mistake."
"Getsuga Tensho!"
Unprepared for any such attack, Yammy was hit full on by a black blast of concentrated spirit energy. The attack had hit his face full on causing him to yell out in pain. He immediately looked down.
Ichigo Kurosaki was standing on the edge of the crater that held the beaten captains. To his right was Ishida Uryu, thanks to Orihime healing them. Both looked as if they hadn't seen battle yet…both at full power.
"I see, you used your Getsuga Tensho to offset my Cero Oscuras, saving those captain's lives. You punk... Ulquiorra should't have lost to someone like you. I'll enjoy crushing you."
"ISHIDA NOW!" Ichigo yelled. Within a second he had vanished via Shunpo, while Ishida pulled out his bow.
"Licht Regan." The Quincy yelled and shot a continuous volley of thousands of Quincy arrows. Although Yammy was unaffected by them, it did buy Ichigo time. Before arriving, they had decided that Ishida would distract Yammy, while Ichigo rescued the captains and placed them in a safer location before fighting the Zero Espada.
(With Ichigo)
After just moving Mayuri, and Byakuya, Ichigo went back to move the last captain.
"You're helping me this time?" Zaraki asked while coughing up blood.
"I had my own fight, you know" Ichigo explained as he helped Zaraki up and Shunpo'd out of the crater. Ichigo had helped all the captains up against the some ruble so that they were sitting down, closer to Yammy than Ichigo would have liked, but the captains wanted to stay.
"Get your girl over here and heal us." Zaraki said.
"Can't, if she's this close to Yammy, she wouldn't be able to handle it." Ichigo explained. Zaraki groaned in annoyance, the captains were in serious pain.
"You have my gratitude…Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said weakly.
"I guess I owe you one, I'll reward you by not turning you into a science experiment." Mayuri coughed.
"Hurry up back to your friend, the Espada is getting agitated." Zaraki said.
"Maybe he needs to fight someone stronger than three captains." Ichigo said before making a clawing motion with his hands, across his face, his hollow mask starting to form.
"I'll have Orihime heal you soon." Ichigo's now demonic voice echoed
"He won't be alone long" Zaraki said tiredly. Byakuya nodded
"Yeah, it appears she's going to enter the battle."
"My, this will get interesting." Mayuri stated seriously.
(Yammy VS. Ichigo)
Ichigo appeared next to Ishida instantly.
"Did they have any ideas on a way to defeat him?" Ishida asked, slowly stopping his volley of arrows. Ichigo shook him head.
"We have to be quick." Ichigo said. "We can't give him a chance to regenerate."
Yammy's hand came crashing down on both of them; they were barely able to avoid it.
"He's quick for his size." Ishida said, Ichigo nodded and swung his Bankai.
"Getsuga Tensho!"
Yammy easily intercepted the Getsuga that was aimed at his head with his hand, but the attack left him bleeding heavily. In no time he had healed himself.
"We need a plan, or else we're screwed!" Ishida snapped. Yammy's tail whipped around and slammed it into the ground, causing Ichigo and Ishida to lose balance.
Ishida quickly shot off several arrows at Yammy's head only for it to bounce off.
"Let's get closer to him and limit his mobility." Ichigo suggested. They were going to move when Yammy's hand swiped. Ichigo quickly charged his Bankai with his Getsuga and with his new found speed, cut his hand clean off at the wrist.
Yammy cried out in anguish, even as it already began to regenerate.
"Don't you Shinigami get it?! In Hueco Mundo, I am invincible!" Yammy shouted after a moment.
Ichigo raised his hand and was about release another Getsuga, but was interrupted when the sound of someone using Shunpo appeared behind him. Ichigo's eyes widened as a gentle hand touched his shoulder. 'How did they sneak up on me?' Ichigo thought worriedly.
"I apologize for being late; I was securing a route out of Hueco Mundo." A soft female's voice whispered to Ichigo.
Ichigo slowly turned around and saw the most powerful woman in all of soul society smiling at him.
After countless years of avoiding the front lines, Unohana Retsu had entered the battle.
"You can put your weapon away and go take care of your friend Kurosaki-san. I will be along shortly."
The Humble Captain Unsheathes Her Blade!
(Author's note)
Technique Meanings
Japanese / English Meaning / User
Some no mai, Tsukishiro / First Dance, White Moon / Rukia
Tsugi no mai, Hakuren / Next Dance, White Ripple / Rukia
Hikotsu Taiho / Baboon Bone Canon / Renji
La Muerte / The Death / Chad
Shukei Hakuteiken / Last Sight, White Imperial Sword / Byakuya