Chapter 10: Growing Storm
It's a weird feeling really, when you stop to think about it Justin thought. I'm sitting here, technically held prisoner by my enemies, but because I have convinced them at the moment that I will help them, they have not only given me free reign over their headquarters, but are actively battling against my real enemy in an effort to keep me safe, with at least some of them knowing full well that I will switch sides at the drop of a hat. He smiled goofily as he turned a corner in one of the innumerable hallways that made up the base. It's like I'm some kind of secret government agent or something.
He was so lost in his musings that he almost collided with Ashido. The older shinigami had been running full tilt and if it weren't for Justins quick reflexes, they would be a tangle of limbs on the floor. As it was, Justin spun out of the way and Ashido skid to a stop a few feet further down the hall. Neither man spoke, both simply staring at each other. I guess Ashido wasn't told about me being freed Justin thought.
"So." Justin said warily, breaking the silence. "You're headed somewhere fast."
Ashido nodded slowly. Justins eyes locked onto movement and say that the brown-haired man was slowly reaching for his zanpaktou. The hilt was green; the wrappings frayed and tattered from centuries of fighting. The guard was rectangular shaped, with what had once been two neat swirl designs carved into it. Now it was chipped and scarred, one corner completely taken off. Despite its condition, Justin considered it a formidable weapon. After all, Ashido survived here for so long all on his own.
The man finally spoke up. "It seems that your friends have come looking for you." His voice was calm, but Justin could detect an edge in it. One that, along with the grip on his blade, told Justin all that he needed to know.
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't plan this." Justin said, holding his hands up. "So here's the way I see it. A group, probably four or five soldiers, has been sent to find me. The winner of this little battle gets to take me home. If they win, I'm back where I was before, only my new allies are all dead. If you win, four or five of their soldiers are dead, and they will probably have to send more to rescue me next time. So as far as I'm concerned, you guys are going to win this fight. But only, and I do mean only, if we kill each and every one of them. They can't know that I'm helping you."
There was another long pause as Ashido stared at the vizard, clearly trying to decide what to do about the situation, as well as reflecting on Justin's words. Justin hoped that he would make up his mind soon because it was only going to get harder to fight back the longer they waited.
"Okay." Ashido relented, letting go of his blade. "I'm going to choose to believe you, but don't think for a second that I trust you. Especially after finding you wandering around like this."
He turned and ran off down the hall, beckoning Justin to follow him. "You can blame your crazy group of amazons for that!" Justin barked, running after him.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared. A great cloud appeared out of nowhere, billowing out of thin air above the large clearing. Another bolt fell from the heavens, striking the blade held aloft by Ewart. Kenpachi kept his distance, not so much out of fear as respect for the game. He had battled shinigami and arrancar alike, and when it came to releasing one's full strength, there was a protocol to follow. No one ever attacked an opponent who was releasing their sword. It wasn't a spoken rule or anything. Hell, if the old Head-Captain, Yamamoto, had anything to say about it, he would probably order his soldiers to attack at the very instant their opponents were preoccupied. Kenpachi chalked it up to curiosity. He always wanted to see how far he could push his opponent, how powerful they could become before he slashed and beat and broke them down into little pieces.
A final bolt struck the sword with a blinding flash. Kenpachi closed his uncovered eye, the flash threatening to blind him regardless of whether he looked at it. He blinked swiftly to recover his eyesight as he looked in the direction of his current adversary. "Well, well, well" he said brightly. "That's quite the weapon you've got there."
Ewart was standing in the same position he had before, only his sword had transformed into its shikai form. Towering even over the giant of a man, the blade must have been at least ten feet long, and a foot wide at the base. The hilt had extended beyond the guard, reaching up to a second, smaller guard. Both were shaped slightly like thunderbolts, and the bottom one had a large red jewel in the center. The blade itself had a slight wave effect on the edge, thinning in the middle before fanning back out and then back to a point. Runes from a language Kenpachi didn't understand, nor care about covered the blade.
Ewart smiled as he easily lifted the sword with one hand. Must be lighter than the sealed form Kenpachi noted. Ewart finally spoke up. "Aye, this is my sword. Not a single one like it in the world, living or dead. His name is Stoirmaoiseanna. It means Storm of the Ages." He brought it back, gripping it with both hands below the main guard. "I say this so you will know the name of that which kills you."
Kenpachi barked a quick laugh as Ewart sped forward. "And here I thought you were different from the white-haired brat I tangled with earlier" he spat, moving to block the strike that Ewart threw at him. Because the weapon was lighter now, it was much easier to block. Despite the ease with which he deflected the blow, Kenpachi was launched back, a loud shock wave crashing through the air around him like a clap of thunder. Skidding though the sand, Kenpachi managed to keep himself upright as he glared curiously at the weapon. "Like I said," Kenpachi muttered, grinning despite himself, "that's quite the weapon."
Ewart lifted the blade slightly, eying Kenpachi over its gleaming edge. "Stoirmaoiseanna is a thunder blade. I do not need to strike you physically in order to attack. With every touch, it resonates, releasing its power in a clap of thunder." To demonstrate he reached down and lightly tapped a rock with the tip of the blade. A small, sharp, crack sounded through the battlefield and the rock shattered apart. "You cannot block this blade. This blade cannot block you. Every time our swords clash, another shock will burst through you." Ewarts cold grey eyes locked onto his opponent. "You can feel it can't you? The first blast has already injured some of your vitals."
"If I gave a damn about my vitals in a fight I wouldn't be where I am right now" Kenpachi chuckled. "I'm Kenpachi, the strongest swordsman. There's nothing in a fight but the winner, and the loser. And I'm never the loser."
Isabella walked cautiously through the many corridors of the enemy stronghold. After finally getting away from that giant monster and his little pink brat, she had decided to continue on her mission. Hopefully the weaker enemies were inside, hiding like cowards. She shook those thoughts from her head. I could have taken the big guy she thought. I only left him for Ewart because I wanted to. Yeah, that's it. I'm going to find one of these arrancar and take them down all on my own. I've just got to find an easy one.
She rounded a corner and found herself face to face with not one, but three arrancar women. One was tall, dark-skinned and wore what looked like an Roman outfit with a Viking helmet, long brown hair billowing down her back. Another had a Chinese dress that showed off her legs, and was hiding her mouth with one of the sleeves. The third, the one leading the charge, had her own helmet, this one with a Greek Mohawk doing down it, alongside a sleeveless top and a pair of long pants.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Apacci snapped, leaning forward and leering at the shinigami. "You're not one of our guys, unless Ashido is out recruiting stinking shinigami again."
Isabellas eyes narrowed at the "recruiting" part of her statement, but didn't address it. "It's none of your business what I'm doing here" she growled. "Just know that I'm on a mission and if you get in my way, I'll kill you." She grabbed the hilt of her machete to emphasis the statement.
Apacci eyed the sword apprehensively before shrugging. "Fine, whatever, do what you want" she said nonchalantly. Her companions both stared at her, Sun-sun actually uncovering her mouth to gape at her.
"You can't be serious?" Mila Rose asked, looking from Apacci to Isabella then back. "You're just going to let her walk away after that? What's gotten into you?"
Apacci shrugged once again. "She's not worth our time. Come on, let's go see what all the fuss is about outside." With that, she walked around the stunned Isabella and continued down the hallway. Mila Rose and Sun-sun hesitated before following, the large amazon shouldering Isabella when she passed. As their footsteps traveled farther down, Isabella chuckled.
"Guess they really are a bunch of idiots" she said, continuing down the path.
There was the faintest sound of static coming from behind her. That was her only warning before Apacci's leg swung into view, kicking her roughly in the head and knocking her into the wall. The crater that was left on impact was enormous, and when Isabella got to her feet, she was bleeding from her forehead, into one of her eyes. She drew her sword, but had to roll out of the way as a cero blast ripped into the wall where she had just been, incinerating it and leaving a gaping hole. Isabella got back into a battle stance, ready for the next attack.
"Did you really think that we'd let an enemy wander around our house unopposed?" Appaci snapped, grinning.
"I have to admit Apacci, this is well thought out for you." Sun-sun murmured behind her sleeve. "Even I thought you were actually that dumb."
"What's that you bitch!?" Apacci roared, turning on her companion. "I'll tear you in half!" She hadn't noticed that Isabella had taken the opportunity to strike, taking advantage of Apacci's exposed back. A swift blow from Mila Rose struck down the shinigami woman before her blade could reach the arrancar.
"You really are stupid if you leave your back open to the enemy" Mila Rose chastised.
"Oh shut up Rose, I can handle this on my own." Apacci growled, though in her head she was thankful of her backup.
Isabella swore as she dragged herself up from the floor. "Three opponents, huh? Well that's not exactly the fight I was looking for, but if you think having more of you is enough to beat me, you've got another thing coming puta! Lash, Azote del Sol!"
Justin and Ashido heard crashing high above them. They were still near the bottom of the compound, heading up to the exit. They hadn't run into anyone yet, which was concerning to Ashido. I know Halibel was down here earlier, so her or at least her pack must be nearby he thought. And Grimmjow can be anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already in the fight outside. The older man turned to Justin. "We should hurry."
Justin shrugged. "Naw, I thought we could take a break, maybe get a drink, shoot the shit, what do you think?" Ashido gave him a concerned look before he sighed. "You really need to work on picking up sarcasm man. I think hanging out with wanted criminals and being alone in a forest of hollows for a few centuries has broken your funny bone."
They continued on their path, moving up to the next level. When they arrived, Ashido stopped suddenly, putting a hand out to block Justins path. "What, I thought we were hurrying?" Justin asked, looking around the room. It was dark, most of the lights taken out. There was one, swinging lazily in the middle of the room. There was a table blocking off most of what the light was hitting, but when Justin looked closer, he could see an arm sticking out from under it. It was bloody.
"I don't like this." Ashido muttered. "Either one of my side had a fight here and we didn't hear it,"
"Which is unlikely considering who is on your side" Justin interrupted.
"…or one of yours did this and that's one of mine." Ashido finished. There was a pause before Justin sighed.
"Well, we're not going to figure it out just standing here. Come on." He drew his sword and wandered into the room, slipping slightly as he did. "Watch your step, it's a little sticky there" he called back to Ashido as he continued towards the light and the arm. Ashido took a minute to wonder what the other man had gone through to be so unaffected by death before reminding himself of his own circumstances. Pressing on, he joined Justin at the light. The other man reached up with his sheathed sword and stopped the lamp from moving, which gave both men a clear view of the bodies.
There were two of them, both female. From what they could recognize, one was a blonde with a tomboyish short cut and the remnants of a hollow mask over her right eye, covering it. She wore a chocker necklace and fairly average clothes, a jacket and pants. Next to her was another woman, this one with long black hair in pigtails. She too had a mask, similar to the others but covering her left eye. Her outfit was much more outlandish, showing off a lot of her figure, just barely covering her chest, and a miniskirt. They lay in a pool of blood, clearly dead from the savage wounds they had. The black-haired girls stomach had been cut open, her insides carved up. The blond was missing both her arms and her legs, which were laying next to her in a neat pile. The scene was absolutely abhorrent, causing both men to back away in disgust.
"Who the hell… what the fuck did this?" Ashido asked, covering his mouth.
"I don't know, but those two aren't with me." Justin muttered. "Yours?"
Ashido nodded grimly. "Loly and Menoly. Halibel picked them up after the war with the Wandenreich. They were never great fighters, but for someone to do this to them." The man turned away, collecting his thoughts.
Justin frowned, looking back towards the bodies. "Ashido" he whispered, his tone suddenly tense. "Their blood is still wet. I slipped in some of it back by the entrance."
It took Ashido a moment to realize what exactly the vizard was saying. "Whoever did this…" he said slowly.
"Could still be nearby." Justin confirmed.
Just then, the door to the room was slammed shut. The lights all came on at once, revealing more of the grisly scene. They were in some kind of living area, a large round room with chairs and couches as well as the table they stood near in the center. Almost every surface was covered in blood, from the walls to the floor and even a bit on the ceiling. Sitting across from them was a man that Justin recognized as one of the other captains in Julius' army.
His clothes had once been prim and proper, a three-piece tailcoat suit paired with dress shoes and white gloves. A bowler hat sat on his head and he gripped a diamond-tipped cane between his hands. He was also covered in blood, his clothes and face splattered with it. He grinned widely at the two men, revealing that even his teeth had splatter on them. "Hello my boys. I'm so glad you could make it. My name is Alistair and these lovely ladies and I were making a wonderful symphony. Their screams and wails were just wonderful, absolutely wonderful, music to my ears." He stood, gripping his cane with one hand. "I was wondering if it wouldn't be much trouble for you two lads to help me write another."