Chapter Ten: Choo!Choo!
Disclaimer: Bleach and Final Fantasy VIII and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by Tite Kubo and Square Enix respectively.
A/N- Merry Christmas… or at least merry belated Christmas, and a very happy New Year. This chapter was another pain to write, but it got done so yay! Also there is a special homage to one of my all time favorite t.v. shows, can any of you find what it is… by the way
Happy Birthday Yoruichi-san… and Urahara
Soi stepped out onto the bridge last as she followed behind Yoruichi. They took their places near the door that would lead them out to the train's roof.
"Ok does everyone remember what they will be doing?" Yoruichi asked as they all settled down.
"Yes ma'am!" Chorused the SeeDs as they stood to attention and got serious about the mission.
"Whoa… and here I thought these guys were a bunch of no good lazy bums." Whistled Kukaku as she saw the change within the group, she looked to Yoruichi and saw that she too was impressed.
"Good then lets head up to the roof. We will be catching up with the President's train soon." Yoruichi turned to the door and opened. A rush of wind blasted into the cabin whipping everyone's hair in different directions.
"Ok guys move out!" Soi shouted over the whistling of the wind. The others saluted and headed out the door and up the ladder located at its side. Soi offered a curt nodded to Kukaku and headed out the door and up the roof.
"Good luck guys… damn we're going to need it…" Kukaku whispered as she scratched at the back of her head.
"Soi, over here!" Yoruichi shouted over the roar of the wind. Her wild mane of purple hair whipping about her face as Soi made her way over cautiously.
"Ok we're almost in range of the President's train do you remember the plan!" Yoruichi shouted trying to be heard over the wind. Soifon nodded her head to show she did remember and was ready to go. Hitsugaya also nodded while Renji and Rukia both shouted that they too remembered what to do.
"Good because we just ran out of time!" and indeed they did the President's train was parallel to them, well the last car was.
"Alright it's time! Toshiro you lead Renji follows! Then it will be Rukia and Yoruichi, I'll be last! Now GO!" Hitsugaya wasted no time in carrying out his orders and jumped across to the other train. He slid a few inches as he landed, but other than that he was unharmed. Renji was next across without any incident. Rukia walked over to the edge of their train and gulped as she saw the rapidly moving landscape moving before her. She also noted the distance between the trains. She took a few steps back and shook her head.
"I-I can't do it! It's too far!" She cried out in fright as she collapsed to her knees.
"Damn it Kuchiki now's not the time to get performance anxiety!" Shouted Soifon in annoyance, "Yoruichi you go ahead I'll get Rukia!" Yoruichi nodded and jumped to the other side gracefully.
"Alright Rukia you need to get up you're wasting time… time we really don't have, now get up and jump to the other side!" Soi yelled as she pulled the other woman up. Rukia was still too scared to jump, she knew that if she tried she'd never make it… at least she thought so. Soi was about to give up and leave Rukia to her own devices, but Renji came up to them and pulled the short woman onto his back. Soi was awestruck. The red head had jumped back for Rukia.
"Come on Rukia we have a mission to complete!" He offered a smile to the girl and then to his captain. He then ran at full speed and jumped onto the other cart, Rukia screaming bloody murder all the way. Soi just shook her head and followed after the redhead. She reached the edge and jumped.
It was an amazing feeling; it almost felt like she was flying, the ground moving rapidly underneath her. She landed on the other train with a roll and stopped in a crouch one knee touching the cool metal, while her other leg was stretched out in front of her.
"Wonderful landing Little Bee!" Yoruichi shouted as she clapped. Soi stood up with a blush, and wiped imaginary dust off of her shoulder.
"Ok here's what we'll do. Renji and Rukia will take the disrupter and disable the carts then we head after them and disconnect the President's car from his escorts. Hitsugaya you'll be my eyes while I'm down there putting in the codes to unbuckle the cars and Yoruichi you'll be the one giving me the codes! Alright let's get this over with!" Soi took out the disrupter from the inside pocket of her jacket and gave it to Renji who took it with a nod. He grabbed Rukia's arm and dragged her after him to do their job.
It took them thirty seconds to disable the sensors located on the second to last car. Rukia signaled Soi's group that it was safe to cross. Soifon leapt to the car that previously housed the sensors without alarms going off. Hitsugaya and Yoruichi right behind her. She also noted that Renji and Rukia were already moving onto the next car's sensors.
"Hitsugaya the cords please!" Soi shouted as she held out her arm for the climbing equipment. Toshiro quickly pulled his backpack from behind him and set it out in front of him. He opened the top and dug around for the pulley and cords. After a short search he pulled out the required items and handed them over to Soifon. She nodded her thanks and set it up within seconds.
"Hurry guys we only have ninety seconds left before the first check point!" Yoruichi shouted worriedly as she looked down at her watch.
"Che… that's plenty of time." Growled Soi as she jumped off the side of the train, cord securely buckled to her belt. She reached the lower half of the train where the release mechanism was located and proceeded to take off the cover protecting it from the harsh elements.
"Ok I'm ready give me the code!" Soi yelled up to the purple haired woman as she concentrated on the buttons before her.
"Right the first code is X5-452-X5-494! Hurry Soi we only have thirty seconds left!" Yoruichi warned the young woman as she tried to find the correct keys.
"Jeeze it's nag, nag, nag with that woman! We're going as fast as we can Ms. Worry-Wart!" Suzumebachi growled annoyed.
"Now's really not the time Suzumebachi!" Soi complained as she punched in the correct code, with only fifteen seconds to spare. The latches came undone and the rear car's separated from the front cars just in time. The rear cars started to slow down just enough as the cross section came up and allowed the Black Cat's train to swoop in and latched onto the rear cars of the President's train.
"Yes!" was the collective exclamation as the first part of their mission came to an end.
"…What was that?" Questioned the man laying on his back. He was dressed in a white jacket outlined in black, with the collar upturned. A black sash was worn in a manner similar to a matador around his waist. He was also wearing white gloves on his hands which were over his eyes. He was tall and slim his hair was dark and wavy, reaching his shoulders done in an unkempt fashion and parted down the middle. He also had a faded goatee.
"… oh well whatever it was can be taken care of by someone else. I'm going back to sleep." With that Coyote Starrk turned over on the couch he was laying on with his back facing the world.
"Hurry we need to move there's only two minutes before the next checkpoint!" Yoruichi exclaimed as she helped pull Soi up from the side of the train. Hitsugaya grabbed the climbing tools and the three then proceeded to the next section of the train. Once they were on the President's roof they spotted Renji and Rukia on their stomachs watching the President sleep through a side window.
"Man he's a lazy bum…" Renji said to Rukia who giggled into her hand.
"This will be a piece of cake." She then looked over her shoulder and the other group.
"Since I don't hear any sirens I assume the first part of the plan was a success." Rukia asked as Hitsugaya set up the equipment that would let Soi climb safely to the bottom of the train.
"Yea it was easy." Soifon replied nonchalantly, "Did you disable the other cars sensors?" She then asked the redhead. Renji just lifted a thumb up while continuing to watch the sleeping man.
"Yes Captain!" Rukia decided it was best to answer, instead of offering such an unprofessional response like Renji.
"Good, keep an eye out. We only have a minute left before the checkpoint and we really don't need any problems at this point." Soi then turned and walked over to Hitsugaya and the rope. She reattached it to her belt and then walked over to the side of the train.
"Alright let's get this over with! Be prepared to give me the codes for the release!" She then jumped over the side, and quickly made her way to the control panel. Like before she removed the protective covering and then shouted up to Yoruichi.
"Ok I'm ready!"
"The code is X5-599-X5-493-XXX… wow that's a long one." Yoruichi said as she finished reading off the long code. She looked down to the watch strapped to her left wrist she noticed that their time was almost up. She watched as the forest sped by into a clearing, and there up ahead was the next crossroad. She rushed over to the side of the train and hauled Soifon up as she started to come up.
"There you go Little Bee, and great job you did it with time to spare!" Yoruichi praised as she hugged Soi happily.
The Presidents car slowed down enough for the Black Cats car train come up and connect to it. The Presidents first three cars passed the cross section, after they were across the rail was automatically switched which allowed the Black Cats train to slide away onto the other track. In a split second the cross section was switched back and the Black Cats train split from the last two cars of the President's car, plus the dummy car, slinging them forward to the rest the President's train. All the cars connected and it was on its way, none the wiser that the president was no longer with them.
"… It actually worked!" Renji was mystified at their accomplishment as he watched everything unfold.
"Yes it worked!" Yoruichi pumped her fist in the air as their train made its way away from the other train.
"…ahem right let's get back to the compartment, and then we can confront the President with your terms of surrender." Soi said as she turned to the front car and walked away Hitsugaya at her heel.
"Finally we have Coyote Starrk in our custody!" Kukaku sneered as she cracked her knuckles as she waited in front of the closed doors that lead to their captive. The train car was in an isolated location on an old abandoned railroad. They had earlier told Ganju to take the black Cats train, so that it would be much more difficult for anyone to find them.
"Heheh… I can't wait to see the look on that moron's face once he realizes what's going on… heheh-HAHAHA!" Her arms cam up in a sinister fashion as she started to cackle madly.
"Um… is she always like that?" Hitsugaya asked nervously as he continued to observe the crazy lady. Yoruichi just looked at her erratic friend's strange display and shrugged.
"Eh more or less, though to be honest this is actually the first time I've seen her this… happy… and it's all without the use of alcohol." Yoruichi then shrugged and turned back to Soi.
"So here's the plan. You and your group will accompany Kukaku and me as we talk with the President about his terms of surrender. If we cannot come up with a reasonable outcome we'll have to… um… we'll have to… actually we haven't gotten that far but I'll think of something should he not agree to what we want." Yoruichi coughed into her fist a red tint to her cheeks as finished speaking.
"…R-right." Soi said with a sweat drop hanging over her head as she listened to Yoruichi's half thought out plan. "A-anyway we should get in there, and get this all over with… jeeze this has been a long freaking week." Soi sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. She jumped when she felt someone knead her shoulder muscles.
"You're right… your muscles are all knotted up, but don't worry after we finish with the President I'll be more than happy to help you loosen up… Little Bee." Yoruichi whispered the last part near the short woman's ear earning her a delightful shiver and small moan of pleasure.
Soi, realizing what was happening, quickly but gently removed Yoruichi's hands from her shoulders with a blush.
"Uh… we-we should get going." Soi then ran off towards Hitsugaya and the rest of her group to tell them about the plan.
Yoruichi and Kukaku stood side to side, with Soi and her group behind them, watching the sleeping man's back. They had earlier walked through the door with the intension of quickly starting the negotiations, but had to stop in their tracks as they noticed that President was still asleep. They had tried to wake him by shouting, but it was like trying to talk to a wall… a snoring wall.
"Well now what… I don't want to get to close to him just in case… you know… he's faking it." Yoruichi said with her thumb between her teeth in a thinking pose.
"Well why don't we use our Captain over there to garner his attention." Kukaku said pointing her own thumb over her shoulder and at Soifon who stood with her usual scowl and crossed arms.
"… Hmm hey Little Bee would you please wake up our guest, we really do need to get this over with." Yoruichi grinned slyly as she saw Soifon twitch at her nickname, especially since the others were now giving the good Captain strange looks.
Soi shoved passed the two Black Cats members and made her way over to the sleeping man. Once she was over him she lifted her foot up and slammed it down on the President's back, earning a satisfying yelp of pain as he finally shot up in his seat fully awake.
"Ow… you don't have to be so ruff you know." Starrk complained as he rubbed at the pain to his back. Once he was satisfied that nothing was broken he looked up at his attacker, and the people standing behind her.
"…I'm assuming you're not a part of my escort…" He said as he let out a lazy yawn causing the others in the room to frown at his nonchalant attitude.
"That's right Mr. President," Yoruichi spat out the title with distain, "We are the resistance group known as the Black Cats… and as long as you cooperate with us you won't come to any harm."
"… and what if I decide not to cooperate with you young lady… then what… hmm hahaha" Starrk stood up abruptly causing Soi to jump back a few steps her hand around Suzumebachi's hilt.
"Crap, be prepared for a fight Suzumebachi… it looks like this is going to get messy… and here I was hoping for things to get easier."
The man who they thought was the President started to convulse as he continued to laugh in a sinister way.
"Hahaha oh you should s-see, gah, the… the looks on y-y-your facesss haha you… you thought that t-the President would be so-so easily captured…HOW DARE YOU INSULT HIS INTELEGENCE… young lady… with so many resistance groups in District seventy-eight… it's amazing what a little false information will get you… but enough of this… I-I want to see what you had in s-s-store for me since I won't be cooperating HAHAHA!"
The sound of ripping flesh reached their ears as the man who they once thought was the President split down the center in a shower of blood and gore revealing a grotesque creature before them. Its lower body was a huge, blob-like mass resembling an incredibly bloated cartoon-style octopus, with dozens of stubby tentacles and mouth-like mask pieces. It was also purple in color. The top of the monster resembled a man's body garbed in white, but in place of a normal head, it had a large, glass cylindrical capsule filled with red liquid and two floating heads. It was so large that the roof of the train was ripped apart as it grew, forcing the group to run for cover.
"My name is Aaroniero Arruruerie, and I shall be your executioner on this wonderful day hahaha!"
The monster reached into the sleeve of his left hand and pulled out a halberd that had a blue horse-tail tassel, with a trident head and corkscrew bottom. It spun the halberd over his head and pointed it down towards the group water erupting from the tip and speeding towards Rukia. The massive attack hit.
"RUKIA!" Renji shouted in concern as he lost sight of her, "Rukia! Are you ok… shit RUKIA!" He rushed over to the spot he last saw her at, but she was not there. There was a sound behind him and he turned to see the young woman trying to perform the second dance with her Zanpakuto, but Aaroniero spun its halberd at the young woman knocking her off balance effectively stopping her attack. Renji saw one of the hideous mouths open, ready to release a deadly attack on the unsuspecting girl. Without thinking he jumped to her aide just as the blast flew from its mouth. The best the poor red head could do was knock her out of the way as the blast hit, hitting him instead of her and taking him out of the fight as he was knocked out cold.
"Renji!" Rukia quickly jumped up to her feet and rushed after her friend praying he wasn't hurt too badly. She knelt by his side and noticed the blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth and a hole in his back. She wasn't given any time to check for a pulse because one of Aaroniero's tentacles shot out towards her. Rukia closed her eyes and covered Renji's body with her own.
When no pain came she slowly cracked open one eye and gasped as she saw Hitsugaya standing over her with his Zanpakuto drawn and blocking the tentacle.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens Hyōrinmaru!" Toshiro's blade extended slightly in length, and gained a crescent-shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain. The transformation sent out a small shock wave that caused Aaroniero to withdraw the tentacle. This gave the young white haired SeeD enough time to swing his blade slashing at the gigantic beast to create an immense amount of spiritual power which overflowed from the tip of the blade creating a flow of ice shaped like a Chinese dragon right at Aaroniero freezing it in place.
"Kuchiki are you and Abarai ok?" He asked as he turned towards his comrades to assess the damage.
"Y-yes Hitsugaya… sir… though Renji is hurt pretty badly." Rukia noticed that Soifon was missing.
"Um, sir where is Captain Soifon?" She then asked her second in command.
"Soi-ch… ahem Soifon had to get our employers out of harm's way… though with the way that black haired chick was screaming obscenities about not wanting to miss out on the fight… it may have just been time wasted, time we could have used to keep Renji from harm-" Hitsugaya was stopped as pain shot through his torso and blood raining down on Rukia. Her eyes widened as she saw the crystalline tips of the halberd protruding from Hitsugaya's back through his front.
"… oh…OH GOD!" Rukia screamed as the monster swung its weapon to the side flinging the wounded boy to the other side of the forest and straight into a tree.
Hahaha you all thought you could DEFEAT me! Hahaha I think it's about time I killed all of you!" Aaroniero raised the halberd up high over Rukia and the prone body of Renji.
"DIE!" Aaroniero gleefully screamed as he brought his weapon down. This time Rukia couldn't take her eyes off of the deadly blade coming down on her.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing! There is a fight going on and you dragged me away from it… I should kick your ass just for assuming I couldn't take on something as ugly as stupid looking as that thing!" Kukaku shouted over Soi's shoulder, since she was currently slung over it like a sack of potatoes. Which was pretty funny to Yoruichi since Soi was about a foot taller than the young Captain. She couldn't help the smile making its way to her lips as she watched poor Soi try to get the other woman over her shoulder to stay there while they made their way through the thick underbrush of the forest. Kukaku brought up her knee aiming for Soi's face. Soifon saw the attack coming and dropped the loud mouth to the ground. She rotated her shoulder as she tried to get the stiffness out.
"You BITCH I'll get you for that!" The black haired woman yelled as she spat out the dirt that got caught in her mouth after her fall.
"Ah quit your whining already… I couldn't let you stay there. As a member of SeeD it is my duty to make sure my employers stay safe at all cost… so sorry no fighting for you." Soi said snidely as she turned to face the loud woman.
"Cha… whatever I could have kicked that thing to kingdom come and back." Kukaku huffed as she crossed her arms over her big bust. Soi looked to Yoruichi, silently asking if the eccentric woman was all there in the head. Yoruichi simply held up her hands and shook her head in a 'don't get me involved sort of way.'
The young Captain then turned back to the way they came from. She was worried for her team and she wanted more than anything to be there with them right now, but she had to make sure no harm came to her employers. She sighed as she turned back to the two other women with her. She froze in shock as she came face to face with Yoruichi.
"Little Bee," Yoruichi said softly as she saw the worry in Soi's eyes, "You should go help your friends… they may need it more than us… I mean I'm real thankful you're all worried for me and all, but the bitch and I can take care of ourselves." Yoruichi pointed a thumb over her shoulder towards Kukaku who was still sulking. "And even though it may not look like it the Shiba over there has some pretty impressive moves… and as much as I don't like to brag I have some pretty amazing moves of my own… hehe maybe I could show you a few when you get back." Yoruichi grinned at Soi's blush; she placed her hands on the shorter woman's shoulders and gave a reassuring squeeze.
"Now go help your team." With that she brought Soi in close for a quick good luck, or what she thought as good luck, kiss and spun the sputtering Captain in the direction of the fighting and pushed her forward.
"Get going! We're going to need you guy again, since we never achieved independence." Soi looked over her shoulder and nodded as she raced off towards her friends.
"And here I thought she would forget about that." Sighed Suzumebachi as Soi raced to reach her comrades.
"Quite Suzumebachi… we'll help them with their mission no matter what."
Yoruichi watched as Soi's form disappeared into the shadow of the night. She turned and let out a startled gasp as she nearly bumped into her friend's large bosom.
"Well, well,well… it seems that someone here has a crush… and since I know it's not me… so spill Shihōin." Kukaku smirked as she waggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
"Eh… hehe um there's nothing to tell." Yoruichi chuckled nervously her hand scratching at the back of her head. She turned quickly and walked to the other side of the clearing.
"Right… I'll get it out of you sooner or later." She then flopped onto the ground bored.
Soi head Rukia's scream and a crash as she ran back to the battle in the abandoned clearing. She stopped in shock as she saw what was before her. Renji lay in Rukia's arms wounded and unconscious. Rukia was on her knees staring up at the monstrosity before her in shock the monster lifting up its weapon for a final strike and Hitsugaya… her best friend and second in command lay sprawled a few meters away bleeding away from a deadly wound to the chest and back. His breath was labored as he fought to get to his feet and help his friends, only to fail and fall back to the ground with a pained yelp before falling unconscious himself.
"That bastard!" Soi thought venomously as she flash stepped in front of Rukia as the blade made its way down.
Rukia watched stunned as a figure appeared before her to stop the second attempt at her life that night with a loud *clang* as two blades met. Soifon stood over Rukia and Renji's prone forms as she held her blade over her head horizontally keeping the halberd at bay. She glared up into the glass container with the two heads.
"You bastard… I'll make you pay for what you've done here." Reiatsu built up through her body, and when enough energy was gathered Soifon released it knocking the halberd away. The force was so strong it managed to actually dislodge it from Aaroniero grip, while forcing Aaroniero's massive form to be pushed back a few feet.
"What the hell was that little girl!" Aaroniero seethed as he regained his bearings. Soi was surprised herself since she had no idea what happened either, but she would worry about that later. At that moment she had to fulfill the monster's death wish for harming her friends.
"Sting all enemies to death Suzumebachi!" and at her command her sword transformed into the deadly gauntlet and stinger.
"Ha… hahaha you think you're going to beat me with that tiny needle HAHAHA that's rich that very rich." Aaroniero sent out several tentacles at Soi. In a simple pivot she grabbed the scruff of Rukia's neck, as well as Renji's, she flash stepped to the other side of the clearing well before the tentacles hit the ground. She then flash stepped right in front of Aaroniero human body, her feet lightly touching the purple flesh underneath.
"If that's as fast as you are… then I'm happy to say you're dead." With that several hōmonka burned their way onto Aaroniero revoltingly massive body. He screamed in pain as the death marks burned their way to the surface of his body where they finally turned black to signify their completion.
"W-what have you DONE!" He bellowed as he looked down his body in shock.
"Those are called hōmonka; they are the first step in a two step technique that will be a guaranteed death known as the Nigeki Kessatsu… as you can see I've made sure to add a few extra, just for the added pleasure of causing you pain. So tell me which one you want me to aim for…" Soi pointed at Aaroniero head Suzumebachi's deadly tip gleaming in the moon's light.
"You…you I'll get you for this!" Aaroniero shouted as he brought up his tentacles, each one aiming to get Soifon.
"Pathetic" She whispered as she disappeared from his sight, after he noticed burning to his human body where a hōmonka appeared over his chest, both arms and legs, and back. The two heads within the capsule gasped in shock.
"Damn you… Damn you to HELL!" Aaroniero's tentacles raced towards the Captain who reappeared at his right leaning against a tree. The tentacles hit, but only hit the tree she had been leaning against.
"It's time to end this pointless fight…" Aaroniero heard from behind him which was accompanied be a painful stab to the back. Soi watched as Suzumebachi's poison took affect eating away at Aaroniero's body, while he desperately clawed at himself in agony.
Soi flash stepped to Hitsugaya's body she removed her jacket and used it to place pressure on his wounds. She looked over to Rukia and saw she saw that the other woman was performing a low level healing kidou. It wasn't anything impressive, but it did get the blood to stop flowing from Renji's injured back. She said her own silent incantation and began repairing as much of her friend's wound as possible.
"Kuchiki-san heal as much of Abarai's injury as possible without draining yourself. We'll head back to the Black Cat's base for better medical attention." Soi said as she finished stanching Toshiro's wounds, she carefully lifted her friend up his head resting on her shoulder.
She looked over to Rukia and saw that Renji lay slumped on her back. It would have made Soi laugh, seeing as how Renji was two feet taller than Rukia with the tips of his feet barely skimming the ground.
"Alright let's get out of here. We should be able to find Yoruichi about a mile away from here." Soi said as she headed west to where she left both her employers… hopefully they stayed in the same spot.