THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED AS OF 3/12/13
I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, this chapter fought me the entire way. It should also be the longest yet, so that's good right?
Also, I know have a picture of Robin on my profile, so check it out if you want.
And, All Japanese words and such will be translated at the end notes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Enjoy
The 10th squad captain sped to the warehouse, companions close behind. He dimly took notice of the heroes trying to fight off the hollows, but ignored it. He had a feeling, if he could take care of whatever was in the warehouse, the battle would become easily won.
He noticed in surprise that the beasts seemed to be almost melting off of the walls of the building. They had to briefly fight their way through the emerging hollows to reach the roof. As he took out the last monster, he looked back to check on Robin.
Had to make sure the kid stayed where he was supposed to, right?
He caught a brief glimpse of the boy sitting down on the edge of a roof.
He signaled for the two woman to enter through a skylight with him. He slowly opened the glass, wincing when it creaked, and looked inside. It was still well lit, but much dimmer than outside.
"Be on guard." The others nodded. "Let's go."
They jumped through the opening and landed quietly on the supporting rafters, looking down at the scenery below them.
The first thing they noticed, was a giant machine backed up against the wall farthest from them. It had two large, glass looking cases connected to either side of the top of the machine. A conveyor belt led out from the right side, and what seemed like small bombs and pellets making were their way from that, into a crate.
Hitsugaya tried looking at the contents of the glass containers. The one on the right seemed to be filled with some kind of gas. He noticed, as more gas entered the chamber, it would at first be some type of color:blues, reds, purples, greens, blacks- and would float to the top of the container, before slowly turning gray-white and sinking to the bottom.
His face contorted in surprise when he saw what was contained in the glass to the left.
A hollow, obviously too large to really fit in there, cried out silently. He could see green gas in the hole where it's heart used to be, but that was sucked out into a thin tube connecting the two chambers. That gas was soon replaced by more.
He thought for a moment, the strange fog outside and in town coming to the forefront of his mind. Could that be where the fog came from? The hollows? But how?
More confusion set in as the hollow suddenly thrashed and writhed in the case, before suddenly turning completely to green fog and disappearing through the tube. As he watched the gas travel, something in the shadows caught his attention. A figure cloaked in darkness. Or at least, that's what he thought it was. For a moment, he swore a pair of golden eyes looked straight at him; And then it was gone. Before he had a chance to think on the occurrence though, some one distracted him.
"Captain...Did they just..." His second in command whispered, stunned.
He simply shook his head and shushed her. As he watched again, a voice rose from the darkness.
"How pathetic. Another died. Maybe the next one will live to fight." A figure stepped into the dim lighting-two actually. One walked tall and straight, holding itself with dignity; while the other moved as though it were previously some kind of limp rag doll.
"Load the next one. We need to supply the children out there with enough play things to last a life time." One of them said, his voice sounding like rusty, turning gears.
The other, the taller one, scoffed. His shoulders rising slightly with the action.
"I am simply doing what my master bids of me, fool. You have no command over me." He walked towards a corner though, and did something odd. He yanked at thin air, acting as if he were throwing something aside. And low and behold, something was thrown.
Two smaller hollows yelled as they hit the ground, backing up at the sight of the figure as he stepped into the light.
Rangiku gasped next to him, and Rukia murmured something about Kido.
Hitsugaya could hear the other man tapping at the machines controls, causing it to light up briefly. He fully took in the appearance of the taller male. The figure was tall, with dark blue hair and white clothes. Familiar clothes. Toshiro tensed when he saw the mans' face. White bone reached down from the middle his hairline, split on the center of his nose and curved around the bottom of his eyes, ending in long, sharp points.
"Arrancar." Rukia frowned. "What's it doing out here..?"
The Arrancar walked to the two hollows, grabbed them each by the arm and tossed them straight at the now vacant glass.
They went through like it was nothing.
The three watched as the process repeated again, but saw that it ended differently. Both hollows seemed to grow, smushed against the glass now and instead of dissolving entirely into gas, they simply fell out, onto the floor.
The vapor that remained, Black and red, was sucked into the tube again.
"Go fight outside." The Arrancar ordered bluntly. The two beasts made their way to the wall, and melted through it.
"What could they be trying to do...?" Hitsugaya murmured.
"I don't know, but I think it's about time we stopped them." Rukia replied, readying her sword. The others nodded, and on the captains signal, leaped to the floor.
The Arrancar, who had just finished loading another two, tensed and growled when he saw them. Surprise lingered on his face before it was schooled back into neutrality. The other figure-he was wearing the outfit of a deranged scarecrow-backed into the shadows with an angry grunt.
"Soul reapers." The Arrancar addressed them, "To what do I owe the displeasure?" He looked haughtily at them.
"Believe me, the displeasure is all ours" Rangiku replied. Their enemy scowled.
Hitsugaya, not one for fooling around, cut straight to the chase. "Are you the one causing the hollows to be seen by the humans?" He demanded to know.
"If I were to answer yes?"
"We would ask you to surrender."
"And If I did not?"
"Then it seems we would have to kill you." His voice took on a deadly edge at the end.
The dark haired man pulled out his sword with a flourish and laughed. "I accept your challenge."
Suddenly he was right in front of the captain and yelling to the hidden man.
"Keep the machine loaded while I take care of these pests!"
Hitsugaya parried the sudden attack and struck with his own, spinning around his back and slashing down. The other, though, vanished before it could hit, appearing behind Rukia and attempting to strike her down. She blocked and retreated to the captains side.
For a couple minutes, They attacked and parried with him, each side knowing they were only testing the other out. Eventually though, the fight got serious and the shinigami released their Shikai. They had long since learned that Arrancar were enemies not to be taken lightly.
Toshiro sidled up to his lieutenant. "I need you to distract him for a couple of minutes while I work on a strategy. Back him towards the machine." The woman nodded and set off, attacking the other straight on and striking where she could, but every blow was blocked. They slowly moved their fight towards the large machine, where hollows were still being converted and sent to battle outside.
"Rukia!" He called her over. "I have an idea." He whispered to her for a moment and she nodded. "Let's finish this quickly. Rangiku!" The woman took that as her que to back off, and the other two sped to their opponent, flash-stepping around him and crossing paths with each other, leaving a small trail of ice in their wake.
They circled him a couple times, occasionally striking at him to keep him in place, and only stopped when there was a considerable wall of ice surrounding the Arrancar.
They halted at the only opening and readied their swords.
"Ah. An ice wall. Very smart; However," The shinigami let loose a barrage of ice from their swords. "That's not quite enough to trap me." He simply jumped into the air, easily dodging the attack. But he was taken aback when he saw the smirk on the white haired boys face. He quickly looked at the ice and almost yelled in anger when it hit the machine, freezing it to the core. Scarecrow let out a string of curses and desperately tried to free the contraption, with no success.
"You should pay attention to your surroundings during a battle." The captain smirked, "Especially when you're trying to protect something."
The Arrancar took a moment to compose himself before floating back to the ground.
"...I see. It appears I have misjudged you, my friends. Most would be solely focused on the opponent. I also seemed to have forgotten your names."
"We never told you them." Rukia growled.
"Well then, allow me to introduce myself; The few that know me, call me Duce. And if I may ask, what do they call you?" His voice was calm and even, but he couldn't hide the rage in his eyes.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th division of the 13 court guard squad." Toshiro glared at Duce.
"Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of the 10th division."
"Rukia Kuchiki, Lieutenant of the 13th division."
"Ah. Such high ranking officers in my presence. But if my information is correct, you did not come alone."
The three stiffened. If Duce hadn't known about the three of them previously, how did he know about the others?
"I believe there are three others? Two red heads and...a boy with black hair? Could he be a newbie?" Duce was hitting the nail on the head, but how?
Scarecrow made a noise of surprise in the background accompanied by a cracking sound, but it went unnoticed by the fighters.
"Who gave you this information?" Matsumoto demanded to know. A wicked smile cracked across Duce's face.
"I never once said I was the only Arrancar here, now did I. My partner left when you touched down in our humble abode, and has been watching the action outside ever since."
They stiffened slightly, but knew that Ichigo and Renji combined should be able to take care of this 'partner'.
Duce was silent for a moment, and they watched as his jagged smile grew larger.
"Actually, I think she has taken quite a liking to the boy. I wonder how long he'll last."
Toshiro's head jerked back towards the entrance, as if he could see the Robin from his position.
"Bastard!" Rangiku hissed, leaping at Duce.
"Hey now, I'm not the one attacking your friend. No need to be angry." He dodged, idly holding his sword at his side.
"No need!-" She almost yelled. Worry was coursing through her veins now. Robin was no where near strong enough to battle an Arrancar! He'd never fought something at such a high level! They had to finish this one off, now.
All three went into the offensive, attacking Duce at once and trying to subdue him. Their efforts seemed to be having minimal effect.
The battle dragged on for what seemed to be forever. He almost always matched them, blow for blow, using his weapons to the best of its abilities. At one point they had heard something akin to a scream, from above them. But it lasted only a moment before cutting off abruptly.
It sounded a lot like Robin.
Too much.
"Was that-" Rangiku stumbled slightly, looking at the roof.
"I don't know." Hitsugaya gritted out. Mild panic fluttered in his stomach before he forced it down. There wasn't anything he could do right now but finish as fast as possible and get outside. He just hoped that wasn't Robin. He hoped that Renji or Ichigo were protecting the kid. And if it was the younger screaming bloody murder above them;
Some one was going to have hell to pay.
After that, the fight continued, but after what they heard, Duce seemed a little...happier. Smug, almost.
The shinigami hated the severe limiter on their powers that was imposed by the Seireitei. And since they were just supposed to be gathering information in town, they couldn't use their Bankai. If they could, the battle would be much farther along.
It wasn't too much later that something changed.
As Toshiro was about to release another whip of ice, Scarecrow screamed.
"Duce! The machine! The machine! Get back!" The mask clad figure ran past them, ducking behind some crates.
They looked at the ice covered machine in time to see it explode.
The first thing to go was the left chamber that contained a still-living hollow. After that it was the gas chamber, which exploded with such violent force that it almost knocked all the beings in the room backwards.
Ice shards, glass and metal shot towards them and Hitsugaya jumped in front of the woman, creating his own frozen barrier. Duce yelled as he was hit full force with the deadly pieces.
Next came the gas, some of it still containing it's original color and the shinigami almost choked on it, unable to bring any clean air to their lungs. The fog continued out and away from the warehouse at an alarming speed, right into the battle field of heroes and shinigami.
Duce roared as the three continued choking on the fumes. He emerged above the smoke, his sword now split into two, long chains with a pick ax on the end. He was covered in cuts and scrapes, his hair mussed and slightly dirty.
"Do you know how long that took to make! How HARD it was to create correctly! It was still salvageable while frozen! Now we'll have to start ALL OVER!" He roared in fury, a new fire in his eyes and calm facade dropped. "My master will be furious!" He panted slightly after yelling so much and breathed deeply, not at all minding the gas.
"Y-your master?" Rukia coughed. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed.
"Yes." Duce sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He was here earlier, actually. Left about the same time as my partner." Duce seemed to be reclaiming his calm composer.
the figure in the shadows? Hitsugaya thought.
"But enough of that," Rukia barely blocked his attack before she was thrown back by the chain. "Let's get back to business."
As the fighting continued, Hitsugaya could only hope Robin was faring well.
-0-0-0-
Robin looked at the scene below him, partly in relief, and partly in disgust. Relief, because he was still alive. Disgust, because what he looked at made him slightly sick; As the hollow lifted it's clawed hand, he saw what was left of his gigai. It lay in an unrecognizable puddle of blood, bone, and meat, Spread in different directions. Robin made a gagging sound and let loose another shaky sigh, running a hand through his hair.
It was a miracle to have gotten out of the body at all. At first he had been stuck; only part-way out of the thing. Renji had told him about problems like that, and his experiences with it. He had managed to get out in a last act of power, but not without injury.
Robins left foot had been caught under the crushing force before he yanked it free. He was sure most of the bones were broken. He winced, leaning more to his right, and looked at the teens below him.
They looked at his 'body' in anguish and shock. One of them-with a strange 'S' symbol on his shirt- roared and launched at a Hollow, grazing the arm. The others reacted similarly; taking off with war cries and attacking what they could.
Robin looked at the destroyed gigai again, two brief thoughts running through his head. 'Man that's realistic', and 'The science divisions going to have an aneurism over this'. Before looking up. A hollow stood on all fours not far away, staring at him. It was about seven times the size of a normal human, with grossly enlarged claws and feet. Judging by the blood on one of the sharp appendages, that one 'killed' him.
Robin growled and reached up, taking hold of the necklace sitting on his chest and ripping it off. The silver chain dissolved into nothing as the object grew slightly larger in his grasp. The object was somewhat like a boomerang, but curved in two directions with razor sharp sides. There was a rounded section it the middle that shot outward in two needle-like points. His friends had nicknamed it 'Tsume'. The black and silver weapon glinted in the light. Robin flicked his wrist in the direction of the hollow; path of the weapon only traceable in the sound left in it's wake, high pitched and whistling, like a small bird. He caught the blur a moment later as it rounded back, hand in the air to receive it.
As he watched, a long gash appeared on the beasts mask, and it screamed, disappearing a moment after.
Revenge now taken care of, the boy turned his attention to the costumed teens. He made his way over, taking out the smaller hollows that got too close to the heroes. He wished he could take out the larger ones, but that wasn't going to happen without his sword. Which he didn't plan on using unless absolutely necessary. The first hollow before had been anger and dumb luck.
Robin was making way to the water bearing meta human, who was just given a nice slash across the chest, when a sudden violent energy flared up behind him and sharp metal dug through his shoulder. The boy cried out in surprise and pain, throwing himself forward, off the blade, and turning to his attacker.
The woman before him laughed as he held his bleeding shoulder. She was tall, with a bust like his sister's and a skimpy white top and loose fitting, low-cut pants. Her long, pale pink hair was pulled into two pigtails that ended around her waist. Green eyes looked down at him smugly and her bone mask moved with her smirk. The mask curved around her mouth and ended in a point next to her left eye.
"Out of breath already?" She flitted behind him, patted his injured shoulder, and smiled sickeningly sweet at him. "Don't tell me your tired?" He lashed out at the stranger, who simply danced around him and stopped in front.
"Poor baby" She cooed.
"Shut up." He growled, shoulder spasming in pain as the muscles contracted. "I'm fuckin' fine."
Her smile turned predatory. She laughed. "'Fuckin' fine' eh? We'll see about that. Be ready boy-o."
Suddenly she was gone.
Robin backed up in time for her blade to come within half an inch of his neck. He caught a glimpse of her manic green eyes close up, but swiftly closed his eye and retreated to a safe distance. A small shudder of fear worked it's way down Robins spine as her reiatsu swept around him. He winced at the pressure on his broken foot. Even in the air, it hurt like hell. He dreaded setting foot on ground.
The woman's laughter broke over him. "Not bad, not bad! Most worthless shinigami wouldn't have been able to dodge that, as slow as they are these days!" She danced lightly in place. "Oh, wait, I forgot." She knocked herself on the forehead. "My partner says it's polite to introduce yourself to yer pray. Something about sportsmanship." She shrugged.
Partner? She had a partner hiding around here? The shinigami resisted the urge to search around.
"Names Nella." The newly appointed 'Nella' pointed to herself. "I'm an Arrancar who's lookin' for a good fight."
Robin almost ignored her, if not for the fact that she was an Arrancar. Well shit. He suddenly felt the need to beat his own head. An Arrancar? No way in hell he would be able to beat that! He desperately hoped Ichigo or Renji saw him soon. Otherwise, he was as good as dead.
"Well? Ya just gonna stand there and ignore me?" Nella's voice called out to him. He looked at her suspiciously, narrowing his eye. She looked back, bored expression taking over her features.
"...Robin...3rd seat of the tenth division."
He was surprised at the large smile that suddenly bloomed on her face. "3rd seat, huh? That means you've gotta have some skills. Right?"
Robin sure as hell hoped she was right.
He loosely held Tsume in his right hand and watched his opponent, waiting for her next move. He breathed in deeply, concentrating some reiatsu to his eye. He could do this. Robin thought to himself. He was going to live through this.
"Let's test this theory out!" She cackled, taking off. This time though, Robin was able to follow her movements. She was still flash-stepping at the same speed, but at least he knew where she was.
He gripped his Tsume harder. "Kaeso." He muttered. The weapon pulsed in the boys grip.
The clang of metal echoed around the battle field as Nella's sword met Robin's. She frowned at the sudden appearance of the short sword. They pushed against each other for a moment, Nella's strength clearly outdoing the smallers'. Robin ground his teeth and backed off, out of her reach.
"I was wonderin' when that would appear." She smiled again. "Now we can get shit started!"
The two exchanged blows for a couple minutes, flashing in and out of visability. What Robin lacked in strength, he made up for in speed.
They landed on the nearest roof; the one in the middle of the chaos.
He growled at her as he slashed down to meet her blade, using the force of her block to flip over her and land behind. By the time he turned she was already there. She aimed for his heart and he slashed upwards, ducking to kick her in the ribs. She dodged and spun to his backside, aiming for the head. Robin rolled under her legs and stood upside down, spinning on his hands-ignoring his screaming injuries- getting a lucky shot in her back. She grunted and tripped forward. The boy was on his feet by the time she attacked again.
"Not bad." She ground out. "Experienced in combat I see." They separated and went back at it. Nella feigned an attack to the head and instead swept his feet out from under him, landing a strong punch to his chest. Robin bit back a yell as he landed on his injured shoulder. His vision swam and the breath was knocked out of him.
"You've got potential kid. Ya got skill." She approached him. "But I can tell yer a greenhorn." Nella's shadow fell over the younger. "And unfortunately." She chuckled, "Greenhorns don't have a chance against me." She sent her sword straight through his broken foot.
Robin choked out a scream as she twisted it. They could both hear the bones crack and give way. Robin's leg spasmed and blood roared in his ears.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
"Come on. Louder. Let the others hear ya. Maybe then I'll get a real fight." She slowly dragged the blade towards his ankle, destroying the bone. When she did reach the ankle, and cut past it, his entire body shuddered.
It hurts it hurts -
For a moment, he screamed bloody murder, then clamped his hands over his mouth, effectively dropping the sword and slightly stifling his cries.
He felt sick.
Nella looked at the battle field. It had indeed paused. The hollows looked in her direction, enticed by the notion of easy shinigami pray. The super zeroes were looking around in confusion, probably having sensed the kids cry rather than actually hearing it. Except for one boy, who was floating off the ground and putting a hand to his ear. Maybe he had super hearing? She chuckled, not really caring, and signaled the Hollows that it was her pray. They resumed their attack.
The other Shinigami were nowhere in sight.
While she was looking away, Robin managed to force out something besides pained cries as the blade lazily made circles in his leg. "...Gy..ak..u.." He gasped. His sword dissolved and reformed into Tsume. He gripped it tightly in his hand.
She smirked and turned back to Robin. His two friends would be here soon, she was sure of it. Then she would get a real fight. Even if the kid was cute, no more kiddie scuffles.
She touched the bruise on her back and refused to wince. Brat packed a pretty good kick though. She would make idle torture/chat until they showed.
"So, kid. This is what, yer fifth time on a human world assignment?" She brought up the blade a little more and the Robin choked.
"Fir..st" He gritted out. She whistled.
"Well how do ya like that. First time out and yer already facing down someone from the big leagues! Of course this is also your last mission but..." She shrugged. "I digress." Robin muttered something.
"What was that?" She asked, leaning closer. He muttered again. "Yer gonna have to speak louder if you want people to hear you, bird boy." She leaned a little closer, near his mouth.
"Well how do you like this?" He mimicked. Something about his tone of voice made her jerk back. Fast enough to bring her head to the safety zone, but not fast enough for her hair.
He quickly had one of the fair pink pigtails in a vice grip. He yanked on it, dragging her closer. His hand snapped out and chopped the hair at it's source, even managing to give her a nice gash across the head. After that she was shocked and her balance of gravity was off. Robin used this to his advantage and shoved her as hard as he could. She toppled a few feet from him, leaving the sword in his leg.
Robin bit down a scream as he pulled it out, feeling nauseous as a piece of muscle came out with it. He threw it as far from them as he could, straight off the roof.
This all took place in a span of five seconds.
Nella screamed from her place on the roof. She had yet to get up, but he knew she was just stewing in her fury. And he did not want to be there when she was done.
"Kaeso" He muttered. The sword was in his hand split second. He used that and the newly appeared sheath to drag himself up and run.
The roof was slick with his blood and made it even harder to stay up. Eventually he decided to just jump into the sky, trying to ignore the pain each movement brought his crushed leg. His shoulder seemed like nothing compared to it.
He turned his head and saw Nella dash for her sword. She looked furious.
He cursed and tried moving faster. All that earned him was the feeling of the earth spinning beneath his heels.
He looked for his opponent and just managed to sense her. He swung around, clashing their swords and almost dropping his scabbard.
"I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!" She screeched. She grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. His eye widened in surprise and she threw him away from herself. "I was gonna make yer death fast ya know. After yer friends came. But now. It's gonna be slow and painful. I'll make ya wish you were never born!" She roared.
The world lurched as Robin spun away from her, seemingly unable to catch his balance and keep up a steady platform in the air. When he finally stilled, he doubled over slightly and tried to keep breathing. He knew she was ranting about his slow and painful demise, but it was getting harder to hear. Black gnawed at the edges of his vision. He realized his shoulder was still heavily bleeding, his leg even more so. Robin only had so much blood in his body to spare.
He could already feel the symptoms of blood loss setting in.
"Time to get serious..." He muttered to himself, half jokingly. It was something he should have done awhile ago. No more panicking. Just calm.
He took a deep breath and stood straight, pointing his Zanpakuto at the enraged Arrancar. Calm concentration took over his features as he spoke.
"Soar, Myokatori."
The calmness he had anticipated fell over him as his weapon changed. A black static enveloped the sword and his other arm. The wind picked up in a frenzy around him. As the static disappeared, his Wakizashi had become shorter-previously 24 inches, now 18-and darkened in color. The hilt turned into a detachable Tsume, minus the middle points, that didn't cut him, even when his hand rubbed against it. A sleek metal gauntlet reached almost to his elbow and ended just above the wrist, looping around his thumb and middle finger. Three small bird-like objects half stuck out of it, ready to be shot at any moment. Both near black weapons glinted slightly red in the light.
Reiatsu poured freely from him.
Nella paused in her anger, surprised at the sudden change in demeanor and power. Before, the boy had radiated fear and pain. Now, he looked calm and calculating; his body was relaxed and steady. The amount of spiritual pressure itself seemed to be trying to push her back.
A maniacal grin took her for a moment. It seemed the fun wasn't over yet. But the blood dripping into her eye reminded her of her previous anger, which came back with a vengeance.
"You still think ya have a chance against me! Yer Shinigami crap won't do shit for ya!" She screamed, launching forward.
This time, Robin stood his ground, watching her with a calculating eye and Myokatori held at the ready.
He was gone by the time she reached him, appearing above her and attacking vigorously. She blocked and they exchanged blows in rapid succession. At one point he backed away and rapid fired all three shuriken at her. He controlled them with his reiatsu and they whirled around Nella, causing her to yell in frustration.
He took this time to catch what little of his breath he could.
Robin could tell she became reckless when enraged. Her fighting became sloppy and her defenses weak. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, angering an extremely powerful beast. But if he could drive her over the edge enough to create that one fatal opening...He might just make it out alive. It was his only chance.
He wasn't putting his sights on winning. He'd be lucky to survive this ordeal.
Nella screamed as one of the shuriken dragged a cut around the front of her stomach.
"Damn...little... Birds!" She screeched, finally managing to bat one away, then another. Robin called them back.
He was the first to attack this time. Flitting and dancing around her, not landing a hit, but not letting her either.
"What? Can't keep up with the greenhorn?" He asked. She yelled and lashed out at his location of but a moment ago.
"Can't keep up?" He landed a punch to her ribs and disappeared.
"Getting old?" He taunted, appearing in front of her for a moment, hands behind his back and smirk upon his face. He was gone again in less than an second.
"I. AM NOT. OLD!" Her words were rough and high pitched, transforming into a scream at the end. The kid was like a fucking humming bird! Too damn fast!
"Getting angry?" He asked, laughing. It was working. Her attacks were sloppy and uncoordinated. He took every chance he got to get another hit in.
"I DO NOT GET ANGR-" She stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening as if a realization had graced her with it's presence.
Robin realized that it had. She'd figured out his plan.
"Angry." She finished. "I do not get angry." Her tone was much calmer and more gleeful. "Good strategy, birdy. But my partner warned me about things like this." She tutted and wagged her finger at Robin, who had stopped nearby. "Says I have anger problems, he says. Said people with some brains might try an take advantage of it. I see what he means now."
Her face turned deadly. "But I won't let it happen again." She gripped her sword with two hands and pulled in opposite directions. Robin was surprised and horrified when the sharp weapon split into two. Nella looked at him, spinning both in her hands. "Feel honored Robin. I'm using both swords now."
She launched at him, and he barely blocked one, while the other slashed his arm. It was difficult to block both like he was.
The battle continued after that, but Robin could tell he was on the losing side now. If his body wasn't screwed over and he still had enough blood to be considered healthy, then maybe, maybe, he would have a chance at surviving. But as it was now, he was lightheaded and air couldn't seem to enter his lungs fully. Not to mention pretty much fighting double the Nella at this point.
His vision blurred and spotted, body becoming stiff and harder to move as the fight wore on. Blood followed his trail through the sky, making it easier for Nella to follow his movements. He was making more and more mistakes.
It was one such mistake that allowed Nella to grab his injured ankle. He bit back a yell. She gripped it harder, digging in with her claws and spinning him around, before letting go and watching him fly towards the nearest warehouse.
Robin hit the brick wall with a loud 'smack'. He gasped and choked, unable to form a real sound. He dropped towards the ground and barely managed to catch himself before hitting it. He dimly reasoned that hitting the ground now would be a very bad idea.
He floated up, past the height of the warehouse and forward, looking for the woman with blurring and static vision.
His sight cleared after a moment and he found his target waiting far from him and smirking.
Did he really fly that far?
He frowned at Nella and floated higher. Above her. He caught a brief glimpse of the battlefield; He noticed the other teens had formed a defensive circle, with about three of them in the middle. They seemed to have just finished some kind of call. They looked ragged and worn out. Injured.
A laugh brought his attention back to his own fight.
"Don't give out on me now!" He didn't answer, instead glaring at her. "Well fine then! I suppose it's time to end it." She yelled over to him. Robin stiffened.
"Bye bye birdy." She said, then opened her mouth wide. For a second, he thought she was going to yell something at him. But then a light began to form in it. The ball quickly grew in size, gathering power.
Robins sluggish mind raced to remember just what that was.
As it fired, he remembered.
A Cero.
Shit.
It was on a direct course for him, bright light blinding and traveling too fast for him to really do anything.
It was his instincts that saved him.
His body suddenly went totally lax and he couldn't stay in the air. He dropped like a stone and just barely missed the Cero, the seer energy of it causing his pants to singe and legs burn slightly. It pushed him towards the ground faster, shooting over him and into the distance, disappearing. He didn't see Nella's expression, too busy trying to get his body to move. The muscles, which were tense and tight for so long demanded to rest. He couldn't move and couldn't stay in the air. All he could do was watch the sky as his his vision became darker and darker.
Was he going to die?
He'd only been alive for two years!
Damn...
Surprise flickered over him when he realized that the stars, as dim as they were, had stopped getting farther away. Wasn't he just falling...?
Something orange entered his vision. Worried brown eyes followed soon after.
"Ichi..go?" He asked haltingly. It seemed even his tongue was too tired to work. He was happy though, that Ichigo had caught him. Maybe he wouldn't die.
Robin struggled to stay conscious.
Ichigo looked at the state of his friend in shock. He finally manages to reach the kid and he's half dead. Although, if the fight had gone on half as long as he though it had, then Robin had pulled off quite a miracle by surviving this long.
He took a moment to asses the boys injuries. When he moved to create a better hold on his legs, Robin winced and his leg gave a violent twitch. Ichigo shifted him to look and the leg, feeling anger and worry scorch his veins when he did.
The pant leg had been cut to tatters blood pored from the appendage. There were holes in his leg and foot, bone visible and strips of muscle hanging on weakly, along with slight burns to the exposed tissue.
A snort caught his attention and he looked up, spotting a pink haired Arrancar with blood running down her face. Cuts adorned her body here and there. Not nearly as bad as the boy though.
"I see one of you idiots finally arrived. Why didn't cha come earlier? Didn't ya hear him screamin?" She asked, floating closer.
Ichigo growled. Of course he heard Robin. It was impossible not to for the short time it was out. But the damn hollows just kept popping up like rabbits. When he took one group down, another took it's place; almost like someone had opened a dose of hollow bait.
"Well it's a little late for a rescue, I think. Earlier, I would have been glad to play with ya, but now the little bastard right there's got my full attention. So if ya'd just leave us be until I'm done..."
"Never." He spat back. Nella's face twitched.
"Well then it seems we have a problem." She held her swords at the ready. "And I doubt ya can fight very well with him in your arms."
Ichigo frowned. She was right. He couldn't very well fight with an injured kid like this. And there was no way he was about to throw Robin over his shoulder so he could fight one handed. That would only injure the other more.
A laugh interrupted his train of thought. Nella was fast approaching and he couldn't do anything to stop her. He dodged her first attack, and the ones following. She seemed to be aiming straight for Robin, almost acting as if Ichigo was simply an annoying insect.
At one point, she appeared right in front of them. Ichigo turned his back as she slashed, earning himself a nice gash from shoulder to mid-back.
He hissed and tumbled forward, Robin groaning in pain from the action.
"Sorry..." He winced. He needed to set the other down somewhere in order to properly defend him, but they were high above the rooftops. He wouldn't reach one fast enough with Nella on his tail. So what could he do?
The Arrancar was fast approaching. Ichigo decided to take a chance and let loose and violent torrent of reiatsu at her. She was surprised enough for it to take effect, knocking her back far enough to give them about a minutes peace.
"Robin, sorry to ask, but can you float? Just stay in one spot? I can't keep you safe like this." He just needed a couple minutes to battle.
Robin, who was just beginning to grasp the tattered tailcoat of a second wind, nodded. "Yeah...Yeah, ok."
The red head slowly let go. Robin managed to stay air-born, only floating an inch or two down.
Ichigo took a moment to collect his breath and grab Zangetsu. He whirled around and blocked an attack from the furious Nella.
"Still got enough strength to stay up, huh?" She didn't take her eyes off Robin as she spoke. "If you can do that, why don't ya come fight me again? Unless yer too afraid." She taunted.
Robin didn't react; choosing instead to ignore her. He knew bait when he heard it, and only a dumbass would fall for it while in a condition like his.
Ichigo began forcing the other back, only turn back when she would get around him. It was like trying to rally in Yachiru while on one of her sugar highs; almost impossible.
But slowly, very slowly, he managed to create a great deal of distance between her and the injured boy.
Nella herself also noticed this. She growled at him.
"I'll give ya one more chance to move, Shinigami."
He ducked one strike and blocked the other, practically hissing at her.
"Not a chance."
Nella stopped attacking then. She backed away from the other and stared at him coldly.
"Have it your way, then."
She lifted a hand to the sky and screamed something he couldn't make out. For a moment, nothing happened.
She lowered her hand and attacked again, all the while keeping a smug smile on her face.
Just when it seemed nothing really would happen, the ground rumbled.
The sky above them tore open, a black claw-like hand reaching through, then another. As the face appeared, Ichigo looked on in astonishment, then looked a Nella.
"You.."
"That's right." She smirked as half the best exited the sky "I summoned a Menos Grande." The evolved hollow fully exited the hole, causing the ground to shake as it landed. It looked towards the battle field, then to the distant lights of Karakura town. "And another's on it's way."
His eyes widened.
"I think the town's caught it's attention. Who knows what could happen if it were to descend on the peaceful little place."
She looked at Robins small figure in the distance. "Now, what'll ya do. Protect the boy? Or save the city?"
Ichigo was at a loss of what to do now. Sure, he could take care of the Menos fast enough. But the few minutes he's distracted would be enough for Nella to kill Robin.
Dammit! Where was help when he needed it!
He couldn't very well count on Renji, since he left the other with a hoard of Hollows to help Robin. But what about the others?
Whatever was in that warehouse couldn't be taking that long to- His thoughts were interrupted as the sky opened again.
Two clawed hands started stretching the rip.
Panic surged through Ichigo's mind. His body responded, almost as if on it's own, and shot forward, past a smirking Nella and straight to the beasts.
Nella chuckled and made her way towards her prey. Even from here, she could see he was staring at his friend.
The one who had pretty much left him for dead.
Robin looked at Ichigo as he left to defeat the two Grandes. He watched Nella approach from the corner of his eye.
He didn't blame Ichigo for going to defeat the Hollows instead of fighting the Arrancar. It was a Shinigamis duty to take down the dark monsters, no matter the cost. He had only seen pictures of the Menos Grande in books during school. They were larger than he'd imagined, but not quite as scary seeming as he'd been lead to think. He hoped Ichigo would defeat them and remain unharmed.
He decided to take one last look at the heroes before Nella arrived.
They had split into groups of twos and threes, watching each others backs and trying to stay alive. They were worn down and beaten. The most they were able to do was knock the Hollows back, maybe bruise them a little.
He felt worry for them. How much longer could they really last?
He slowly ran a hand through his hair, just realizing that his eye patch had gone missing. Just another one of the many things gone wrong on this mission.
Robin knew The Arrancar was fast approaching. However, an eery calm took over. He wasn't going to show fear.
He wouldn't be afraid of death.
It was a slight surprise when Nella's hand wrapped once again around his neck. He stared at her blankly while she attempted to throttle him. He simply stared at her with a blank face.
After another moment of no air reaching his lungs, her grip slackened slightly.
"What, you done fighting? Don't care about death anymore?" She shook him angrily.
"Come on! Don't ya care about living? Fight back!" She growled, punching him in the gut. The only reaction he had was to lose some air and grit his teeth.
"Let me see yer fear! Beg fer mercy! Beg for your pathetic life!" She yelled.
In his mind, he was yelling that he did care. He wanted to live. He didn't want to lose everything he'd just gained. The thought of never seeing his friends again, never bugging his captain-admittedly, also his best friend- never getting hugs and being fussed over by Rangiku, never training or pulling pranks with other Shinigami, never laughing or talking with them again; The very thought terrified him. Made him sick to his stomach.
Nella squeezed harder, effectively closing all air ways.
His vision blurred again, swirling into darkness and he swore he saw something that made him want to cry. He saw all of his friends, laughing and talking together, being the people he loved. Kira and Momo, Hanataro, Rukia, Shuhei and more...All of his friends...
At the front stood the five he was closest to. Ikkaku, Renji, Rangiku, Ichigo, and Toshiro.
Then they slowly disappeared until all that were left were the front five. Then three, then Ichigo and Hitsugaya. And slowly...
Just Hitsugaya.
The captain looked at him, that rare smile softly dancing across his features, before he too, faded to nothing.
No...! He thought.
Suddenly his airway cleared and the real world slowly came back into focus. Robins vision cleared and he saw the Arrancar staring at him in irritation.
"It's no fun when you don't fight." Her grip on his neck was very loose now. He could probably slip out, but that would most likely just get him another choking...
"I see yer Zanpakuto turned back into this weird thing." She idly chatted. Myokatori had indeed changed back into the necklace, cool and comforting on his skin.
Her choke-hold tightened again and she tugged at it experimentally, then started to viciously rip at it and try to get it off, to no avail. The more she yanked, the stronger it became. Robin winced as the metal dug into his battered flesh.
"Damn sword!" She almost screeched, then began muttering. "I could always cut his head off and take it..." She looked around. Her gaze landed on the losing heroes. "Or..." She looked back at Robin and smiled. "It's a Soul Reapers job to protect the dead and when needed, living, right?" When he didn't answer, she shook him around some.
"..Ye...ah.." He forced out.
"Well then. It looks like I'm switching my target from you," She pointed to Robin. "to them." Her finger moved toward the ground, aimed at the heroes.
More specifically, two men that were back to back. One dressed in yellow with reddish hair and the other with a brown leather jacket and black hair.
Before Robin could even begin to comprehend what she's meant, Nella was gone; speeding towards them.
Robins eyes widened. Mind stalling for a moment.
She was going to kill them, because he didn't play the situation correctly.
yayyyy chapter.
how'd ya like it?
Tsume-Claw
Kaeso-Hatch
Gyaku-Reverse
Myokatori- Dark Reaping Bird
The next chapter should be out relatively soon.
Polls still on my profile :)