Chapter 6: Next Level
Justin was starting to relax more. Sure, he was, for all intents and purposes, technically in an enemy stronghold being held prisoner. But, those same enemies were working against the people he was working for, who he secretly wished to destroy, or at the very least keep from realizing their plans of wiping out the people Justin really worked for, so in the end it all works out. Sorta. As of right now, though, he was pretty content with the situation.
"The hell are you lookin' at, all dreamy eye'd like that!?" Apache yelled, leaning in so close to Justin's face that their noses almost touched. "I've got half a mind to poke those eyes out, keep them from wanderin'." she growled. The woman was short, but fiery, wearing a fairly modest white uniform except that it showed off her cleavage rather nicely. A roman-style helmet adorned her head, red fur lining the top.
"What Apache means to say is that she's flattered to get any kind of attention with a body like that." Sun-sun whispered, mouth hidden behind a long sleeve as normal. She, too, wore a white uniform, in the style of a Chinese dress. Hers covered pretty much everything, except for a little leg when she walked. Her long black hair was held out of her eyes by the bone fragments that acted like a clip.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Apache yelled, spinning around and confronting her partner. "You're just jealous because you don't have a figure to show off, so you hide behind that stupid outfit!"
"Apache! Sun-Sun! Quit it!" Mila Rose shouted, quieting the others. She was much taller than the two of them, and in fact stood taller than any woman that Justin had seen, rivaling Ace in height. Her skin was dark, and she wore typical amazonian clothes, a white cloak covering her shoulders. Her mask was a sort of crown, with two bull horns extending upwards, placed on top of a large mane of wild brown hair. "We're supposed to be watching this guy. Halibel-sama still doesn't trust him, and neither should we! Understood?"
Apache and Sun-sun scoffed, each muttering to themselves, insulting the others and asking when Mila was put in charge. Justin, merely laid back against the wall, grinning. "Ladies, please, no need to fight on my account." he said smoothly.
"Watch your tongue or someone might cut it out." Mila Rose snapped, unsheathing her broadsword slightly.
"I'd honestly love to see you try, and so, for that matter, would the other guy. He's been pretty feisty lately, what with being back on his own turf and all." Justin challenged. "Hard to do while I'm tied up though." he added, raising his bound hands.
"Do not be so hasty to make challenges to my subordinates." a new voice rang out. The three women in the room immediately faced the doorway, rapt at attention. "Good morning Halibel-sama!" they all rang out at once.
Halibel sighed. "I swear, you don't have to do that. I'm going to get back at Joshua for teaching it to you, I swear." she said. "Now, about you." She strode over to where Justin sat, wasting no time and being direct. She wore a basic set of white pants, or basic as far as the arrancar uniform goes. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your preferences), that was all the former espada was wearing. Her mask fragments covered her mouth, plastering it with a sinister smile, not unlike a sharks. The bone-like material spread down her neck and out, over her breasts, covering herself, but only barely. If you looked, you could still see the number three tattooed on the inside of her chest. Since becoming queen of Hueco Mundo, Halibel had let her hair grow out more, and it hung loose past her shoulders. She knelt down in front of the captured shinigami.
"I have a few questions for you, and I would like them answered immediately." she said, making it very clear who was in charge.
Sadly, Justin was never one for authority in the first place. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to tell you shit." he replied, smiling warmly. "Ashido knows I'm good to work with you, Joshua can confirm my history, and to be quite honest, if I wanted to leave here I could."
"I find that hard to believe with how easily I got the drop on you." Halibel responded, her face not showing any sign of emotion.
"And at the time I found it hard to believe that a land-shark was going to creep up behind me and club me in the head." Justin shot back. "But, hey, if you want I'll give you round one. Want to go for two?"
Halibel was quiet for a while, and the Tres Bestias held their collective breath, waiting for what their leader would do. In the end, Halibel stood back up. "I do not think you are a threat to Hueco Mundo. I believe you truly want to destroy the ones who have taken over my home. So, we will work together."
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to say no on that." Justin said, shocking the others.
"I knew it!" Apache roared, stepping forward. "You're just like the others, to good to work with a hollow, cause you're a high-and-mighty shinigami! Ha! We don't need you! I spit on your stupid pride!"
She reared her head back, preparing to do just that onto Justin's face. Before she could blink there was a flash of light and she was flying through the air. There were shouts, the sound of blows being struck and grunts of pain. Finally, a loud clang rang out. Apache got to her feet, drawing her chakram bracelets before realizing that the battle was already over.
Justin stood in the same place where he was, the ropes that bound him slashed and curled up at his feet. On his face was a hollow mask, fully manifested and covering his entire face, as well as one of his arms. The mask was shaped roughly like a V, two horns jutting out over the top of his head. A red line streaked down over his left eye, and another crossed over both horizontally. His arms was a wicked claw, with a long spike sticking out of the elbow. In his hand, which struggled slightly from the position, was Halibel's bare blade. The former espada held on with one hand, clearly still trying to cleave the vizard in two. Justin laughed, his voice echoing.
"Pride? No, that has nothing to do with it. But I won't take kindly to being spit on. I have at least that much." he said, glancing over at Apache. "No, I just don't work with criminals."
"Criminals? The hell do you mean by that?" Mila Rose asked. She had been thrown back across the room, after her first strike severed Justins bonds.
"I mean exactly that, are you deaf?" Justin barked. "You four, Grimmjow, Loly and Menoly, all of the remaining members of Sosuke Aizens army. You are, without a doubt, the most wanted people in Seireitei history. We've sent agents all over Hueco Mundo trying to find and eliminate you. And I don't want you going into this thinking I'm on your side."
"Then whose side are you on?" Halibel asked, putting more weight on her sword, causing Justin to give some ground.
Justin giggled lightly to himself. "I'm on whatever side is going to keep me alive." he said. "Which at the moment is your side." He let go of Halibels sword, and neatly moved out of the way of the resulting strike. Halibel caught herself before she fell, straightening up and giving Justin a curious look.
"I've fought your kind before." she said, staring at his mask, his yellow and black eyes.
"Not exactly." Justin replied, the mask crumbling off of him. "And as I said, I just want you to know the score. I'm not going to go out of my way to back you up, and I don't expect you to do the same to me. And if it all ends and I get my orders, there will be no hesitation. Clear?" he asked, glancing around.
The women were silent, and the tension in the room rose. Then, finally, Halibel moved to the exit. "I can live with that. For now." she said as she left. The others followed after her, but Apache gave one last glare over her shoulder at Justin. The vizard smiled as he flipped her off. I think I'm going to like this place Justin thought.
Nick and Shauna arrived at Triana's room shortly after what Nick assumed to be nightfall. Honestly, he had no idea, and it was starting to get old. Regardless, he knocked on the door and paused, waiting for an answer. When he got none, he knocked again, listening for any kind of movement inside. Again, nothing. "Maybe she's somewhere else?" Shauna suggested.
"Nah, she's in there. I can sense her." Nick replied. He shrugged. "She's probably asleep." He said as he kicked the door down, a loud BANG causing Shauna to jump. That was nothing compared to his sisters reaction.
"What the FUCK!?" she yelped, jumping out of bed and fumbling for her zanpaktou. "Come on, I'll kill ya all!" she yelled, still half asleep as she stumbled forward, swinging her still-sheathed blade wildly. Nick caught it and ripped it out of her hands.
"Put that down would you, are you trying to kill someone?" he asked, poking her in the forehead. "Sit down, I need to talk with you."
"Nick?" she asked drunkenly, staring out through her wild and unkempt hair. "The hell do you want?" she groaned, laying back down on the bed, not even bothering to sit up.
"I need to talk to you about your zanpaktou." Nick said, putting the blade in question on her lap. This seemed to catch her attention, as she sat up and looked at the purple blade.
"Why?" she asked, as Shauna sat down at a chair on the other side of the room. "It's not like it's busted or anything. Hell, it works just fine."
"See, that right there is what I want to talk about." Nick said. "How did you learn your zanpaktou's name?"
"What do you mean how? Same way everyone else does. I talked to it until it talked back and it told me its name." Triana said, like she was explaining basic math to a twenty-year-old.
"You keep calling it an "it". Why?" he asked.
"Well, that's what it is genius." she snorted. "It's a sword. A weapon. It lets me blast people that are annoying me all the way over there." She gestured at the far wall, apparently still mostly asleep.
"Okay." Nick said, suddenly turning to Shauna. "How did you learn your swords name?" he asked.
"I asked her." Shauna replied matter-of-factly. "It wasn't hard, like some of the others made it sound. One day I just asked her and she replied."
"Aha! There! See the difference Triana?" Nick asked, turning back to his sister. His face fell when he noticed that she was sound asleep, still sitting up. "Wake up dammit!" he snapped, clapping his hands in front of her.
"Whoa, I'm up, I'm up!" she yelled, shaking her head. She turned to look at Nick. "So what do you care about my sword? Don't you have two?" she asked, clearly not getting the point of the conversation.
"Yes, but that's not the point." Nick sighed, deciding to be more direct. "Look, Shauna refers to her zanpaktou as a she. My zanpaktou, Shirohana and Kurokosa, are both he. Now why is yours an it?"
Triana looked down, trying to think through her cloudy head. "Well, I've never bothered to call it anything else." she answered.
Nick nodded. "That's going to change as of right now."
Triana scoffed. "What are you, my teacher? Go teach someone else." she muttered, waving him and Shauna away as she tried to lay back down.
"No, dammit, pay attention!" Nick roared, grabbing her arm and pulling her back up roughly. "I'm trying to keep you alive, don't you get it? Right now, you two are all I've got for allies. And sorry if it's tough to say, but you don't make the cut. None of us do. The only one who can stand a chance of surviving the war coming is Ace, and he might not even be able to."
His speech seemed to have knocked the sleepiness out of Triana entirely. "Alright, well what does that have to do with knowing if my sword's a guy or a girl?" she asked.
"I think I get it." Shauna piped up. "But Nick, I don't know if it's going to work."
"It has to work." Nick said forcibly. "It's the only way out of this for all of us."
"Okay, you two want to fill me in? Because I'm totally lost here." Triana muttered.
"It's bankai." Shauna answered. "Nick wants us to learn our bankai."