Chapter 7: Friends Don't let Friends Kill Friends.

The pain was intense but he managed to get to his feet. He stood there, swaying, trying to keep his balance before attempting to take a step. Once he did, he slipped, crashing into the ground. His body screamed in pain, and so did he, his voice echoing out across the vast, dead, reaches of Hueco Mundo. He wanted nothing more than to stop but he knew that to stop meant the end of the world, of multiple worlds. There was to much at stake, to much on the line for him to stop now. "Come on soldier." he grunted, moving again. "on your feet."


"There! See? Nel told you she knew where she was going!" Nel declared, pointing ahead at the rock face in front of them. The small group stopped, staring out at the cliff.

"I don't see anything." David finally said, voicing what everyone was thinking. "I think you're lost again Nel."

The little arrancar girl shook her head, violently throwing her teal locks around. "Nope, nope, nope. Nel is sure of it this time." she replied. "Here, I'll show you." She turned back around and climbed up over a boulder, moving towards the cliffs. Isabella stepped forward, leaning against the rock next to David.

"I still don't trust that little imp as far as I can throw her." she spat.

David sighed. "You don't trust anybody Isabella. That's why you're an officer."

"No," the Hispanic woman replied hotly. "I'm alive because I don't trust anyone. I'm an officer because I can wipe the floor with any one of you pandejos."

"Stop it you two." Anthony barked quietly as David was about to offer his rebuttal. "Something's happening."

Sure enough, they could see Nel, now a small green dot in the distance, moving erratically. David squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. She seemed to be waving her arms around and, now that it was quieter, he could hear her talking to someone, though he couldn't make out the words.

"Is she talking to someone?" Isabella asked, clearly hearing the same thing David had. "What's she saying?"

"If you'd shut up for a moment I might be able to hear." Anthony growled. There was a short silence and Anthony climbed up a little higher on the rock, leaning in towards Nel. David kept watching the girls actions, and it was a good thing he did.

A small glare was all the warning he had. He acted in instinct, a feeling of dread washing over him moments before he moved. Quickly he grabbed Anthonys tunic and pulled, rolling across his back to drag the older man out of the way. Not a moment to soon, as something split across the rock with an echoing CRACK, leaving a neat, small groove in the stone.

"Sniper!" Isabella yelled, hitting the deck herself. Ewart and Alistair took cover behind some trees, which were thankfully large enough to hide their bodies. Nel's voice was rising even higher now, and David could make out some of the words.

"-doing!? Don't shoot – friends!" she yelled. Apparently she was arguing on their behalf, but the sniper was probably not going to listen.

"We're sitting ducks out here." Isabella hissed. "Is Anthony okay?"

"I'm fine." the man grumbled, getting up to his knees and shaking his head. "Just caught me by surprise. So, anybody have a plan?"

"Yeah, kick that guys ass." Isabella snapped, hand reaching for her machete.

"That won't do you any good, unless your shikai is long-range." David pointed out. Isabella hesitated for a second before releasing the blade, grumbling in frustration. David turned to his three other companions. "I take it none of you have long-range abilities either?" he asked. They all shook their heads. "Then I'm the only one who can do anything about this." he said, grabbing his cross, ripping the chain off from around his neck.

"Think you can take him? I didn't even hear a shot and whatever he's shooting at us with isn't a bullet I've ever seen." Isabella asked, glancing at the boulder they had been hiding behind.

"Can I take him? No, probably not." David admitted. "But I know where he is, and I know that cover won't mean a damn thing. So I'm going to distract him while you four sneak in. Grab Nel if you can too, ask her what this guys problem is."

"David, I don't think that's a great ide-" Anthony began, but David was already up and moving, running across the clearing bow at the ready. "Dammit!" the robbed man yelled, motioning to the others to move out. David shot rapidly, loosing arrow after arrow at the spot on the rocks that he had seen the glare. That has to be where the sniper is. Glare from the scope on his weapon he reasoned. Quickly the cliff face was destroyed, small rocks and other rubble raining down the side, creating a dust cloud. David didn't stop running, but he was sure that he had shaken up his opponent. Now, to move closer he thought, changing direction.

Again, he didn't hear the shot. Only this time, there wasn't a cracking noise as the bullet struck rock, but a sickening squish. Pain lanced up his leg as he felt it give out from under him, sending him into a tumble across the rough forest floor. The injuries he got then, merely a few bumps and bruises, paled in comparison to the pain in his leg. He was stuck, whimpering on the ground, clutching for his knee. That's when he realized, to his horror, that he didn't have a knee anymore. Not entirely.

"Shit, shit, shit." he hissed, clenching his eyes shut, not wanting to look down at his wound despite knowing exactly how bad it was. He wasn't going anywhere, and his bow was a few yards away from him, having left his grip while he was falling. Instead, he lay curled in a ball, waiting for the next shot that would kill him. But it never came. Slowly, he began to realize there was a presence nearby. He opened his eyes, looking at his attacker.

Only it wasn't an attacker. It was Nel. She stood in front of him, arms wide as she faced some unknown force. "Leave Nels friend alone!" she yelled. "Nels friend is only looking for his other friend! Nel wants to help him because he was nice to Nel! You told Nel that you only hurt bad people, but David was kind to Nel! I won't let you hurt him anymore!" She gasped for breath, her declaration taking a lot out of her apparently.

There was another pause, nothing happening. Then there were footsteps, coming closer from the other side of Nel. Davids eyes were starting to tear up from the pain in his leg, and he could barely make out the shape of someone moving towards them.

"Nel, you have to understand." a mans voice said as the footsteps stopped. "This guy, he doesn't want to help you. We know he wants his friend back, but we can't let him. It's...it's complicated. And I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to protect him."

"But you promised Nel!" she screeched. "You promised Nel that you were one of the good guys! And David is a good guy too! So why..." she stopped, her words broken up by sobs. "why are you trying to hurt each other!?"

The man didn't reply immediately, instead just standing there in silence. Finally, he spoke. "Please move Nel."

"NO!" She shouted back.

"Nel." David wheezed, struggling to look up. Through his blurred vision, he could see her turn to look at him. "Nel, you have to go." he said. "Get out of here, and don't look back."

"Nel doesn't want to go!" she cried, jumping on top of David. "Nel wants all of her friends to stop fighting and to get along! Nel doesn't want to be alone anymore!"

David heard a noise, a kind of clicking sound. He glanced up, past Nels mass of teal hair, and saw the man who she was talking to. He was tall, probably the size of Ace, only skinnier, with black hair in a clean short cut. In his hands was what looked like a sniper rifle, only much more streamlined. All along the barrel were small holes, possibly for ventilation. Instead of a scope, there was a small round glass. And it was pointed right at Davids head. "I'm sorry Nel." the man said.

He moved to pull the trigger, but he stopped. A look of confusion passed over his face and he tried again, his whole arms struggling in place. Slowly, in a jerking fashion, his arm lowered, pointing the weapon at the ground. "What the hell!?" he yelped, body shaking in place like some weird kind of seizure.

David stood, much to the astonishment of both Nel and the sniper. He reached out a hand and his bow floated over, almost lazily. He caught it and glanced at his opponent. "You know, in Los Noches there are all kinds of things left over from when the Vanderreich were stationed there. Books about the quincy and their abilities. This happens to be one of the more complicated ones." As he spoke, white lines appeared over his body, as well as the other mans. They were more like threads, floating off into the air in places. While they only covered Davids injured leg, they were all over the other man, wound tight, keeping him in place. "Ransotengai."

"I've heard of this." the man said. "Quincy use spirit strings to manipulate their limbs, let's them move even if they've been paralyzed. Though I've never heard of it being used to tie up an opponent before. Who are you?"

"My name is David. I'm working to destroy the current corruption in Seireitei." David replied. "Who are you?"

"Classified, but I'll at least give you my field name. I'm Joshua." the man replied.

"Well then Joshua, let me tell you this. Ransotengai is incredibly hard to maintain on someone who doesn't want it. So pretty soon, you're going to be set free. But I do not want to cause Nel any more harm than she has already gone through. So let's compromise." David suggested.

"I'm listening." Joshua said.

"She doesn't want to see anyone else hurt? Fine. Just give us back Justin and we'll be on our way." Something flashed in Joshuas eyes, something that David didn't like the looks of. "Me and my companions will go, nobody gets hurt."

There was a long silence, during which Nel looked back and forth between the two men, concern etched on her face. Finally, Joshua spoke up. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea. Okay, let's-"

"What was all that ruckus out here a second ago!?" a new voice boomed. David turned to look, letting his guard down and breaking the spell. Quickly Joshua reacted to his new found freedom, snapping his rifle up and putting it to the back of the Quincys head. "Don't move." he hissed.

The one who caused the distraction jumped down from the cliff, another person at his side. The smaller of the two jumped up and ran forward, tackling Nel and pulling the little girl into a tight hug. "Nel-chan! It's been forever!" Yachiru squealed, tightly hugging her friend.

The other man stepped forward, revealing himself to be Kenpachi Zaraki. "So like I said, what's going on out here?" he asked, eying Joshua and David.

"Everything's under control Zaraki." Joshua said in a calm, neutral voice. "I was just talking with my new captive here."

Kenpachi moved his gaze to the younger man, recognition flooding his eyes. "I remember you." he said. "You were at Los Noches with the old man. So tell me, did that kid live? The one I sliced up?"

Before David could answer, a shadow raced across the rocky floor, leaping up at Kenpachi. There was a loud clang, as sword met sword, and Kenpachi blocked the attempted assassination. He looked down almost lazily at Isabella, the woman struggling to keep her guard up against the larger mans sword. "And another one. How many do you think there are out here? Enough to keep me entertained?" Zaraki asked, face splitting into a lethal smile.


All was quiet at Los Noches. The large structure looked abandoned, not a single light or any sign of movement from the inside. Of course, Chad already knew that it was abandoned. He had checked that building himself multiple times. There was nothing left there except for dust. And yet, here he was, looking over the white sand of Hueco Mundo at the derelict headquarters of Sosuke Aizen. He sighed, getting to his feet and stretching. He had been crouched on the dune for a long time, and his muscles were sore from misuse. He turned over to the group of Suicide Squad members he had brought with him. "We're going to have to check it again." he said.

They all groaned. One of them, a stout man with long black hair and piercings on his lip spoke up. "That place is enormous. Even if the three of them are in there, how are we supposed to find them? It's a wild goose chase, all of it!"

Someone in the back stood up, his white coat making him stand out among all the black robes of the squad members. He strode through the ranks until he stood beside Chad, his white hair ruffling in the wind. "We were ordered to find the fugitives and bring them back to Seireitei. If there is a chance that they have taken shelter in the wreckage of Los Noches, then we will have to act on that chance. Any objections?" he asked.

The black haired man snorted. "Look, Captain Hitsugaya? I'm glad we don't have to hide from our own side anymore, but no offense. Why are you here? We can take care of our own, we don't need you."

Toshiro turned his icy blue eyes on the man. "I am a captain of the Gotei 13. These men have taken on others of my rank and lived to tell the tale. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"And again, no offense, but every man in the Suicide Squad is on par with the strength of a captain." the man replied. "So, why are you here?"

Toshiro was quiet for a long time before turning back to Los Noches. "We move in an hour. Be ready." he said before walking down the dune.