Hey guys! My laptop is working faster than expected! But nonetheless, here's an extra long chapter to make up for the wait! Thanks Scotty's for the review on 'A Little Message', made me laugh :D Thank you to everyone else who is reviewing, FuzziBunniez, purpleanime, Illidan the Half Demon and new reviewer, galerian57! Thanks everyone, please keep reviewing!
DaY tHRee
Love skidded backwards, his left sleeve torn to shreds, blood dribbling down his arm. In his other hand was Tengumaru, a large, black cudgel covered in white spikes making it resemble a cactus. On of his lens was cracked and he was breathing heavily. Suddenly, something flew at him from the dust ahead and he dived to the side as a golden whip slashed the floor where he was standing. Looking up, he watched as Rose emerged from the dust, his Hollow mask fully formed over the top half of his body, his shikai, Kinshara in his hand.
'Rose! Hear me! Break free of that damn Hollow!' Love cried frantically, Rose disappearing, Love's eyes widening in shock as the man was beside him, grasping Love's face with his hand. Aikawa felt the cold stone floor come crashing into the side of his face and he coughed, tasting blood. Rose placed his foot on Love's head, a sickening crunching sound being hear.
'Damn it…Rose…' Love whispered, the man letting out a horrific cry from beneath his bird like Hollow mask.
Meanwhile, Kensei and Urahara were in the middle of the room, the thick smoke and dust making it near impossible to see. Kensei choked, pulling his mask over his face rapidly, Urahara squinting to see and shouting to be heard over the sounds of explosions and scraping metal.
'Can you sense him!?' he roared to Kensei the man shrugging back.
'If he's out cold I doubt it!' came the reply. 'Hachi!' they kept shouting out when all of sudden, Love came flying past them and disappeared into the smoke once more, the sound of him crashing into a far away wall being heard. Muguruma was ready and he instantly intercepted Rose, grappling with him and casting him to the floor. He prepared to charge a white ball of energy on the edge of his knife when Rose vanished. Kensei removed his mask and span round, Urahara locking blades with Rose.
'Kisuke, move it! I'm gonna deal with this, right now!' Kensei shouted at the top of his voice, bringing his knife around his chest. Urahara opened his eyes in shock and twisted his sword away from Rose and faced Kensei with it.
'Bankai!!!' Kensei exploded, green and white light tearing up around him in a torrent of light but suddenly, Urahara had brought down his sword on Kensei's hand, the man dropping his knife, the light vanishing. 'What the hell are you doing, are you insane!?' he boomed, but Urahara turned to face him, an entire half of his body cloaked in a menacing shadow.
'Don't use Bankai in this room please, Kensei-san. The sheer force of it will destroy everything. We'll all die. So I thank you for not using it.' he said darkly, Kensei nodding reluctantly. Finally, they returned to searching for Hachi, Love leaping back into battle against Rose.
'How are you handlin' it, Love?' Kensei snapped, Love swinging his mighty weapon downwards at the Hollow.
'Never better!' he laughed, the dust and rock flying up as he pulled his zanpakuto from the ground. He grasped his face and tore away from it, his Hollow mask fitted to his front. It was like that of an Oni demon with small, horn like stumps on it's forehead. Love dashed at Rose and they clashed, sparks flying again and again. Kinshara coiled itself around Tengumaru and Love was cast aside, the man rolling across the ground before landing in a heap. Rose began to charge another Cero and Love vanished, reappearing on the ground in front of him. He reached up and grabbed the charging Cero before shoving it into Rose's face, the explosion racking the building as a big ball of red light erupted around Rose, electrical sparks shooting off of it as Love dipped backwards away from the blast, tearing his mask from his face.
Shinji was listening to the commotion from the foyer, standing with his back to the bodies of the three women. He rubbed the back of his head and felt his shoulder for a deep cut wound, the blood warm on his fingertips. He felt for his sword but noticed it was lying on the ground by the door to the other room.
'C'mon guys, wrap it up in there.' he thought, reaching for his sword when his eyes widened and he whipped round, twisting his body downwards to avoid a swooping kick, a Hollowfied Lisa tearing past him and smashing down upon the floor, roaring ominously, the mask forming over her face. She span round and threw kick after kick at him, the man weaving to and fro, side to side to avoid her, her leg progressively kicking faster and faster until she finally struck him on the chin, the man choking as he spat blood, the girl screaming at the top of her voice as she reached for the mask, attempting to tug it off.
'She's fighting it…!?' Shinji thought to himself, wiping a trail of red from his chin. Taking his chance, Hirako lunged for his zanpakuto but Lisa was already there, her eyes lost again in the deep black sockets, a low rattle escaping her breath and she kicked his weapon away, the man cursing. She went to stab him with her hand but again she attempted to pull the mask from her face, this time it was beginning to harden. Her eyes could be seen through the mask again, straining to keep her humanity as she uttered low cries for help, Shinji standing, his eyes wide in horror.
'I…I've never seen this before…this situation…they've always been fighting and we've been fighting to survive. Never yet have any of them turned back to normal…this is the worst thing I've ever seen. It's a horrible feeling, knowing you can only watch!' Shinji stammered, his eyes quivering at the sight of the girl. Then, as he had woefully expected, she quickly returned to being a normal Hollow and pounced at him, her hands extended like claws. Shinji was ready but suddenly a foot came crashing round and slammed into Lisa's side sending her flying through a nearby wall and vanishing into the thick smoke.
'M…' Shinji gasped, looking up at the girl who pulled her bug like mask from her face, a broad smile on her face as she threw a fist up into the air. '…Mashiro!?'
'!' she squealed happily, punching the air rapidly, her vibrant, green hair bouncing up and down.
'She…she just pulled her mask off? Unlike Kensei, she doesn't even look like she met her Hollow, let alone fought it. How the hell can she be so well synced!?' he thought but Mashiro was now looking out of the door, her eyes solemn as she watched the smoke drifting in, the sounds of battle escaping the archway.
'How's everyone been?' she whispered, clutching her hand close to her heart. Shinji shook his head before sighing.
'You don't know the half of it…' but he looked up suddenly as he heard Love cry out in the smoke. Inside, Rose had cast love to the ground, the man's zanpakuto spiralled away from him.
'Stop it…Rose…you aren't the type of man…who'd slay a comrade…when he lies on the floor…you'd fight with more honour than that…' he wheezed, blood escaping his lips, one of his glasses cracked. However, Rose was now almost fully Hollow, just as Love had been. He had enormous white wings which spurted from his back, his Hollow mask flowing down his hair and latching with it to seem like a cape. Kinshara had fused with his hand with the same white sludge that had taken him over. Unleashing a terrible cry, Rose raised his whip and transformed it, the shikai vanishing back into a blade, the end shimmering, poised to kill. With another, final shriek, he brought his sword down hard upon Love. Sparks flew however, as Kensei stood over him, blocking the attack. Rose tilted his head, confused.
'Yo. Done already?' Kensei chuckled to Love before pulling his mask down his face and lashing upwards, Rose choking as blood exploded from his chest and he stumbled backwards. 'I know you may not like it, but you gotta use your mask.' Kensei instructed Aikawa, the man looking away in disgust.
'I already did…it was enough…to make me realise I never wanna…use it again.' he spat, seemingly angry with himself, clenching his fist as he lay there on the ground. Kensei lashed out, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him close to his face, his teeth bared.
'Now you're gonna listen to me and you're gonna like it! You may not like this, but don't you're the only damn one who doesn't! You're a captain, whether you're in Soul Society, Shinigami uniform or not, and you gotta take the crap when it comes!' he snapped, Love looking at him shocked. 'That's your friend there wearing that damn mask and you're just gonna lie there and let him stick you with his sword? Bah!' he spat, throwing Love back down. Kensei turned to Rose, who was becoming impatient. 'Guess I'll do this.' he began but Love was already standing and he made it past Kensei.
'…Thanks, Kensei. Guess I was still reelin' from this whole mess. Seeing Rose like this shook me. But you're right. He's my friend and I'll be the one to face him, until the end.' Love nodded before darting back into battle, slamming his sword against his fallen friend's. 'I reckon it's time to end this, huh Rose?' he sniggered, a red explosion engulfing the two of them at once.
Mashiro watched, not even flinching as the two captain's reiatsu erupted from the doorway. Shinji was breathing heavily behind her, the girl turning to face him. Suddenly, she was hit aside by an enormous black and yellow spear, a bell chiming on the end of it, the arrowhead top catching Mashiro's stomach and hauling her around in the air before throwing her to the ground.
'Lisa - !?' Shinji gasped, turning to see the girl emerge from the rubble, her shikai in hand, her Hollow mask fully formed upon her face, a diamond like design with a slit in the shape of a cross covering it. She darted towards Shinji, the man activating his zanpakuto. Lisa thrust her weapon forwards, but it didn't connect as Shinji was actually behind her, the woman growling menacingly as he slashed her back with his blood, flowing into the air. However, the wound sealed instantly, white slime oozing out of the gash, hardening into rock solid protrusions which began to cover the rest of her body. Suddenly, there was a faint whooshing sound and people began to appear around them, Lisa roaring horrendously as began to transform. Holding out her hand, her nails extended into claws but her arm was quickly locked in a box of orange light.
'That's - !?' Hirako choked, watching as Hachi appeared in the doorway, the large man panting heavily as he held his hands out, a orange glow emanating from his huge palms.
'Is…everyone alright…?' he whispered hoarsely.
'He's repelling the Hollow for now…it's making him weak…will he be able to hold Lisa?' Shinji thought to himself, his eyes glancing over to the girl who was slowly being ever encased further in the glowing box.
'I may be able…to reverse the Hollow transformation within her…and make it…easier for her…to break free of it's grip…' he said slowly, his chest moving deeply in and out, sweat trickling from his pink hair down his cheek. Shinji was about to speak up when Lisa shattered one of the boxes, orange shards flying everywhere, sparkling in the air. She swivelled and aimed a hand at Mashiro, who was slowly awakening.
'Mashiro!' Shinji roared but he felt another gust of wind and Kensei's muscular figure was standing in the way, one of his hands clasped around Lisa's, the other holding Mashiro gently. He was angry, his lip curled up in a snarl. The sound of cracking bone could be heard as he began to clamp down his fist, Lisa shrieking, her Hollow gargling as more white sludge began pouring from her mouth.
'Back off!' Kensei bellowed, casting her hand away. Lisa cried out again but in a flash Urahara was next to her, his eyes hidden beneath shadows, time slowing to a halt as he strode past her. Spinning her shikai round furiously, Lisa, who was rooted to the spot due to the orange boxes coating her legs, launched her weapon straight at Hiyori, Urahara opening one eye, a dark look on his face.
'I don't think so.' he said softly, a blood red, triangular shield appearing in front of Hiyori, Lisa's zanpakuto slamming into it. The moment it touched the shield, the sound of a firework went off and a blast shot up Lisa's arm, blood erupting from it as she was engulfed by more of her Hollow. As she lifted her head up to scream, a look of determination shot across Hachi's face as he began to move his fingers until they interlocked one another. Everyone looked on as Lisa began to fall backwards, the white sludge and hardened sections being forcibly pulled from her.
'You'll kill her, Hachi!' Shinji cried but Urahara placed a hand on his shoulder.
'No. He is going to stave off the transformation as much as possible. That way, Lisa can defeat it easier.' Kisuke reminded him, Shinji nodding. Lisa screamed and screamed, her eyes changing colour, Hachi's face scrunched up and sweating as his arms began to tremble. Finally, Lisa's screams stopped.
At the same time, Rose lunged for Love, the man swiftly moving to the side, his friend's clawed hands cleaving away a chunk of the man's shoulder. Instead of grimacing however, Love simply laughed it off.
'Got ya.' he grinned and he reached out with his hand, Rose stuck with shock. Love grasped the mask and began to tear it from Rose's face, the creature unleashing a bloodcurdling cry. As the mask began to crack, the man slowly raised his hand and dropped his zanpakuto, Love shocked.
'Do…it…Love…!' came the small voice of Rose. 'I've gained enough control…tear it!' he shouted, Love bringing his blade into the side of the mask, millions of cracks appearing in it as a light flooded the entire room.