Raise your hands if you think that last chapter sucked like hell. NOT YOU, May!
May: *stops halfway* Fine then. You weren't very specific as to who you wanted to raise their hands.
Lefty: Let's…just get onto answering everyone's reviews and start the story.
May: Agreed.
Fanamaniac: School is evil and needs to be destroyed XD Well~ you'll see~ Yeah, Timid attacked Bloodlust. I was so dead in that last chapter, I kept deleting parts that I disliked. I have a feeling the same thing is going to happen here…Huh, ok, I'll change it when I remember to, or when my friend is nice enough to beta for me. There might be a bit more action as the trio tries to free the rest of the emoticlones from Bloodlust's control. Let's see how this turns out shall we? Oh, those problems were for my other story. I am so used to using present tense now…
Oh and Kitsura E. was feeling sadistic/sarcastic/dark and I gave her the suggestion that she edits my action scenes. Meaning, expect some darkness and drama in the fight between two birds my dear readers
Recap
As the Titans, Ichigo, Chad, Uryū, and Rukia continue through Las Noches, Rukia encountered an Espada that had the ability to take the form of Kaien Shiba, the assistant captain that she was forced to kill. At the cost of her life, she managed to defeat the Espada as the rest of the rescue team senses her fading reiatsu. Meanwhile, in Nevermore, Bravery, Happiness, and Innocence manage to escape from Rage and Bloodlust. As they try to figure out an escape plan, Raven herself appears, saying that she's been locked away at the farthest part of Nevermore. The three are told that the only way to rescue her is to try and convert the emotions, but the best plan is to steal Bloodlust's weapon. Immediately, after Ichigo and Robin sense Rukia's fading reiatsu, Ulquiorra appears in front of them…along with one other person. Raven.
Excerpt from Chapter 10
"Rukia!" Ichigo mutters, turning around.
"So you noticed. And here, I thought you were just a boy with a lot of reiatsu. But it seems your senses are pretty good." Ichigo turns back around and sees Ulquiorra standing at the top of the stairs.
"You..."
"It's been a while...Shinigami."
Robin spots a hooded figure behind Ulquiorra and his eyes widen when he sees the color of the cloak. "Raven..."
*ahem* ON WITH THE STORY
"Y…you're…Ulquiorra!" Ichigo realizes, remembering the Arrancar that was with Yammy.
"You remember my name. I don't recall introducing myself to you." He begins descending. "Anyway…Rukia Kuchiki is dead."
Ichigo is taken over by shock as Robin breaks the silence. "What are you talking about?" He glances up to the figure standing in front of the door. "Why won't she move?"
"Actually, she and the Noveno Espada killed each other. Her face was cut and a trident was thrust through her abdomen. She's quite dead."
Ichigo gets over the shock and argues, "That's a lie! It was just a drop in her reiatsu! Anyway, you didn't fight her, so how would you…?"
"Ninshiki Dōki. It was one of the Noveno Espada's abilities and one of his duties. He could instantly relay data about any enemy he was facing to his comrades."
Ichigo immediately turns around, surprising Robin, whom had grabbed his bo staff out of his belt. "Where are you going?" He asks, looking up at the cloaked figure. "And why won't she do anything?"
"I'm going to go save Rukia," Ichigo says calmly.
"I told you, she's dead," Ulquiorra repeats.
"I don't believe you."
"Then why don't we kill him first?" Robin asks, his bo staff extending to its full 3-feet length.
"We have no reason to kill him."
"What? But he-"
"He hasn't done anything to hurt our friends yet."
"You think not? What if I told you…that I brought Orihime Inoue to Hueco Mundo?"
Robin gets blasted by a strong gust of wind as Ichigo attacks Ulquiorra, whom easily blocks Zangetsu with his hand. "Then she didn't come here of her own free will!"
"How interesting. You came all the way here to save her, even though you weren't sure she was innocent." Robin looks up, gripping his bo staff and expecting the person at the top to make a move.
"Don't you get it? Orihime was marked as a traitor because of you!" Ichigo blames Ulquiorra.
"And that was the plan. Otherwise, our plan would have failed."
"You bastard!" Ichigo curses.
"Now do you have a reason to fight me?"
The two of them separate and Ichigo stands in front of Nel and Robin. "You two stay back. Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way."
"Wait, Ichigo!" Ichigo turns, but staggers as someone swiftly darts past him. An abrupt Sonído and whoever it was disappears, but quickly reappears again, swinging their dark, black sword down at Robin. A loud clang sounds as Robin deftly swings his bo staff to barely block the attack. Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise and worry.
"Robin!" Robin ducks as the attacker tries to behead him.
"No time!" Another swing. "Just beat him!" A dodge. "I'll take care of this one!" Ichigo hesitates for a moment before nodding and turning back towards Ulquiorra. Robin grunts as the attacker successfully manages to land a hit, resulting in a small cut. He kicks the cloaked attacker back and jumps back into a defensive stance as the figure slides across the rough terrain before regaining their balance. Robin gives the figure a calculating glare, "Who are you and why do you have Raven's cloak?"
Then he notices the four glowing red eyes under the shadows of the hood. They cackle darkly. Robin narrows his eyes and sharply throws a birdarang at the figure, but they lazily deflect it with a simple twist of their sword. The figure cackles again, and gives him a crazed look promising death, "Who's Raven?" The figure tilts their head to the side condescendingly as their feral smirk widens in pure glee, " The name's Arella Katsue, asshole." Robin flinches as he hears Raven's voice underlying the raspiness and darkness.
Robin growls, "Then show yourself! I'm not going to take your word for it until you take off that hood!" Arella merely scoffs and charges at Robin, bringing her sword up with deadly accuracy. He dodges at the last moment and kicks her back as he flips over her. Going along with the momentum, Arella tucks and rolls before jumping up and slashing her sword, hoping to slit Robin's throat. He ducks, but using his momentary lack of defenses, Arella kicks him in the gut and twists around to slam him into the ground as he doubles over. Robin coughs up blood as he painfully tries to breathe. Arella saunters over and crushes her foot against his chest, smirking in pleasure as she hears a few ribs crack in response. Robin grits his teeth.
She presses her foot on his chest, making him wheeze. "Looks like you were too weak. No wonder you left me to die out here in Hueco Mundo!" she seethes. Robin's eyes widen.
"What are you talking about! I don't even know you!" Robin argues. "You have Raven's cloak, but you claim to be someone named Arella Katsue!" He adds as he twists his body to unbalance her before pulling his leg back and sweeping her feet out from under her. He gets up and grabs his bo staff, risking a glance at Ichigo's battle with Ulquiorra just as Ichigo sent a Getsuga Tenshō at Ulquiorra. Arella, taking advantage of Robin's momentary distraction, punches Robin in the face and sends him skidding across the terrain before he regains his balance. He curses himself for losing focus as he spits out the blood in his mouth and ignores the stinging pain starting to bloom across his cheek. He just knows there's going to be a massive bruise there later.
"You fool, letting your guard down like that," Arella mockingly criticizes as an explosion rocks the room causing clouds of sands to swirl around in twisters. Both of them turn towards Ichigo's fight, despite the previous statement and see that Ichigo has fled with Ulquiorra right on his tail. Robin doesn't want to leave Ichigo to fend for himself and making a split-second decision, decides to chase after the two.
"Forget about her! I have to go help Ichigo!" is his last thought as Robin materializes his mask and disappears from view. Robin reappears to find smoke billowing out of a pillar and uses Shunpo to enter the room. He reappears behind Ulquiorra just as he is about to attack Ichigo and transforms his staff into a sword, slashing at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra easily ducks and sends a round-house kick at Robin, sending him flying to Ichigo's side, making Robin's mask shatter.
"You both have fought long enough. Give up," Ulquiorra prompts, but he is stopped when Ichigo's stabs him with his Tensa Zangetsu.
"I don't…give up." Ichigo looks up, smirking. "You're the leader of the Espada, right? So if I beat you, then this war's as good as won!" Ulquiorra stares at him, contemplating over something.
Then Ulquiorra grabs Tensa Zangetsu, beginning to shred a part of his shirt. "I see…That's unfortunate." The uniform tears away, revealing a number.
The number 4. "Four? What the hell?"
"That's right. I'm the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer. I'm ranked Fourth…among the Espada." In that instant, he impales Ichigo in the chest with his hand. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you can't defeat me. And even if you somehow manage to…there are four other Espada left that are stronger than I. No matter how many times you get back up again, there can be…no victory for you…" He pulls his hand out and looks down at Robin as Ichigo collapses. "Looks like I overestimated the both of you. You're not as strong as I thought. This is the end for you…Leave this world immediately if you can still move. If you can't, stay there and die. Your quest…ends here, Shinigami." He turns around and pauses momentarily. "Arella will finish you off, human." Ulquiorra turns back around and stares at Robin, his expression blank and emotionless.
Robin struggles to stand, but only manages to get to his knees, " Wait...I thought there are only 10 Espada...If you said there are four more Espada, then...is there one ranked 0?" Ulquiorra gives him a disinterested glance and seems to debate whether to tell him or not.
"No, two of us just share one number," Arella answers for him as she appears beside Ulquiorra. Robin pushes himself to his feet with his bo staff and ignores the twinges of pain brought with that simple motion.
"Tell me, who are you?" Robin growls, knowing that he shouldn't waste any more time."
Arella ignores him and turns to Ulquiorra, "Do I really get to kill him?" before coldly glaring at Robin, her eyes shining with bloodlust. Ulquiorra merely nods before he Sonídos out the room. Robin and Arella both snap their heads toward each other and Robin grimaces at the thought of fighting a bloodthirsty girl.
-Nevermore-
Bloodlust continues to fly over the skies of Nevermore, using a black disc which is her scythe. She looks around, hoping to find the three. "Their robes don't even blend into the environment! Bravery might be a bit difficult, but if they found Innocence then it wouldn't be too hard! So where the hell are they?" Bloodlust continues scouring the surroundings and spots Rage. She descends and hops off her disc, letting it revert back to her scythe. "How's our dear bird?" Bloodlust asks.
"She's weakening." Rage breaks into a grin again. "Once we get those three, there will be no more doubt. Now that we've got Intelligence under our control, Raven's lost most of her reasoning. But we have to stop Bravery. She may not be Intelligence, but she's the reason why Raven's still resisting our control." Rage punches a nearby tree, cracking it and leaving a flock of ravens flying away.
"We'll get them soon enough. Trust me. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got something I need to do…" Bloodlust trails off with her bloodthirsty grin plastered on her face.
"Heheh…good luck…Remember, slow…and painful…" Rage reminds Bloodlust. She nods and envelops herself in a black mist, disappearing. Rage turns around and says, "Now then, time to go find that idiot trio…"
-Robin vs. Arella-
Robin narrowly ducks her sword when she suddenly freezes as if something pulled her back. He stands there warily in a defensive stance, not knowing what to expect, but not willing to take a chance and lose a limb or something. Suddenly, Arella's sword changes into a long scythe and Robin sees a hollow mask begin to form across her face. Soon, her mask fully forms and her entire face is covered in the stark white mask with red streaks across it. Her mouth is still uncovered and Robin notes that there is a bloodthirsty grin adorning her face. "Well, little birdie...seems that you still don't know who I am..." Her voice grows darker and more distorted as she speaks and Robin can't detect a trace of Raven's voice anymore.
Robin narrows his eyes and throws several ice disks at Arella only for her to slice them all to pieces as dark energy forms around her. Robin takes a chance and shouts, "Raven! I know it's you! Stop it!"
Arella continues to stand there, mocking him," Make me," she smirks, "Besides, why should I? You're the one that told the rest of our team to leave me here to die. If it weren't for Aizen-sama, I'd be dead and your lovely plans would have been completed." As she speaks, she begins to tremble with anger. "Well thanks to him, your plans didn't! And now, I'm going to get my revenge." She leaps at him with inhumane speed and manages to deeply cut Robin's arm before he can dodge. He hisses in pain as she stores her scythe in a different dimension.
Robin is reluctant to attack her and instead shouts back, "What are you talking about? I never left you here to die! Aizen's lying to you!" He grabs her arm, surprising her. "Snap out of it Raven! I know you're stronger than this." His masked eyes look at her pleadingly," The four of us are your friends, Raven. We'd never leave you to die! Aizen was the one that kidnapped you!"
After the initial shock, Raven growls at him and knees him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Robin doubles over, but Raven grabs his shirt and yanks him up so that they are eye-level with each other. Raven narrows her eyes and spats, "What are you talking about, idiot? You four were never my friends. You only used me and after my father took over the world, you feared me." She harshly enunciates the next few sentences, "Unlike you, Aizen-sama accepted that part of me. He didn't fear me!" She abruptly releases her grip on Robin's shirt and side-kicks him, sending him through several pieces of rubble before landing by Ichigo's side. Robin blinks the blood out of his eyes wearily and sees Raven standing above him with her hood lowered.
He notices that her hair is longer now and that her mask is concealing her four demonic red eyes. His heart twinges in sadness as he notes that her eyes are filled with the desire to kill. As she places her hand over the left side of her face, her mask fades partly to reveal the number 3 over her two left eyes. Robin's eyes widen in shock, "You're...stronger than Ulquiorra?" He can't believe what he's seeing even though it's right in front of him, "There's no way that can be Raven...What the hell did that bastard do to you?"
The mask abruptly covers her face again as she frowns and lowers her hand, "Are you implying that you thought I was weak? That must be another reason why you ditched me here, isn't it!" She kicks him in the stomach and suddenly grabs his face with both hands. She stares him in the eye and demands, "Answer me, you bastard!"
Robin merely places one of his hands over hers, "Raven...what's wrong? What did Aizen do to you?" Raven's eyes flash in anger and betrayal and she slaps his hand away before opening her palm. Her dark scythe materializes into her hand and she shakily raises it up, intending to end everything with that final blow.
Robin is too weak from not defending against Raven's attacks and, closing his eyes, he softly speaks, "Raven...I know you." Raven's scythe pauses an inch away from Robin's throat. "Aizen must have tricked you using one of his mind games - just like Slade. But you beat Slade." Robin's eyes snap open and he winces as he tries to push himself up. "If you can beat him, then you can beat Aizen." He hesitatingly places his hands over Raven's and when she didn't pull away, he softly continues speaking, "Come on, Raven. I know you can do it..." Her hands lower and the scythe disappears. "That's it...please, let me help you."
Raven suddenly smiles at him, but Robin immediately senses that there is something wrong. "Wh-" A sharp pain sudden erupts in his chest and he gasps as he glances down and sees a long, jagged dagger deeply imbedded in the center of his chest. "R-raven..." She shoves him back against the rubble.
"I don't need help from someone like you. Only Aizen-sama can help me." Walking forward, she mercilessly yanks out her dagger and blood immediately begins to gush out of the wound, darkening his red shirt. "Eh, sucks for you, but this is my favorite dagger so I would rather not leave it behind though it would have made a nice message for the others."
Robin can barely hear her voice over the ringing in his ears and he struggles to gasp in air, but only manages to choke himself further with blood. "R-raven..." She glances at him before turning around and striding away.
"One bastard down, three more to go." A feral grin spreads across her face and her eyes flash in bloodlust as she turns into a raven and flies out of the pillar, back to her room. Robin weakly raises his arm towards where she disappeared, but shakily drops it. As his raspy breathing slows and his vision blurs, he thinks he can hear a voice calling his name. "How nice. Dying while thinking you're going to be saved." The darkness takes over completely.
-Orihime's Room-
Loly continues throwing Orihime around the room. She and Menoly had appeared earlier because no one was there to watch her. Loly, jealous and angry at her, decided to take revenge on Orihime. She grabs Orihime's hair while laughing gleefully. "Look at you! You really think a human like you can defeat an Arrancar?" Orihime looks down at her with a calm and brave face. Loly feels a strange feeling crawling up her spine and curses at her. "You little…don't look at me like that!" She punches Orihime in the face again and Menoly warns her to stop making so much noise. "Shut up!"
"Loly…" she warns again. But before she can say anything else, the door is broken down by someone surprising the two female Arrancars. An Arrancar appears out of the room and the two stand there, shocked. "G…Grimmjow!"
The teal-haired Arrancar smirks and says, "Hey. So you snuck in here while Ulquiorra was out, eh? So, having fun? Huh?"
He strides over and Loly manages to ask, "What do you want-?" before he ruthlessly kicks her in the stomach, knocking her and making her crash. Menoly charges towards him, charging up a Cero, but he stops her and blasts her with his own Cero. After effectively vaporizing her, he calmly walks over to Loly. "Y…you do realize…that…A-Aizen-sama will get you for this. You're just a-" He interrupts her when he grabs her leg. Then he puts his own foot on it and begins pressuring it. "Hey…what are you-? No! Stop! Stop! No! Stop! Please don't! I won't tell anyone!" Her pleas go unheard as he rips off her leg, leaving her to scream bloody murder. "Y-you're dead! I hope Aizen-sama kills-" He kicks her in the stomach, making her stop.
"You fool. Aizen doesn't care what I do to you." He walks over to Orihime and she questions him. "For my left arm."
"What?" she asks. He grabs her and pulls her up. "Why did you-?"
"Why? You think I came here just to help you? Don't be silly! I've repaid my debt to you. We're even. And now you will do something for me," he smirks.
-Renji and Beast Boy-
With the two of them cornered, things were starting to look hopeless. But Uryū and Starfire appeared and killed one of Szayel-Aporro's many fracción. "Well, you're not very tough, but there certainly are a lot of you."
Szayel-Aporro stares at Uryū and Starfire for a moment before commanding them, "SILENCE!" The fracción stop yelling and he continues, "Our guest has something he wishes to say. So let's hear him out."
"That's very kind of you. Sorry to get right to the point, but I need to confirm one thing. Are you an Espada?"
"Yes, I am the Octavo Espada…Szayel-Aporro Grantz," he introduces himself.
"Octavo…the eighth. What a relief. That doesn't sound too scary."
"No, it doesn't. But don't be fooled. I'm still stronger than you. By the way, who are you two?"
"Uryū Ishida…a Quincy."
"My name is Starfire," she replies, her starbolts charging up.
But Szayel-Aporro's interest is towards Uryū. "A Quincy! You're that unusual being that fought Sanderwicci! First a Bankai user! And now a Quincy! What luck! Yammy would be howling with joy!" Uryū jumps off and disappears momentarily.
He reappears behind Szayel-Aporro, surprising him. "You're right. That's just what Yammy would do. And to have someone like you in my sights makes me want to howl too." He aims his bow at Szayel-Aporro and fires it, letting it pierce his neck.
-Arella/Raven-
She phases through the wall leading into her room, surprising Apache. She reverts back to her usual form and walks over to her bed. "Where's Ulquiorra?"
"He went back ahead of me. He left me to deal with the leader of the Titans." She smirks, looking out the window. "And I dealt with him alright. Now I just need to kill three more…"
Apache stares at her in disbelief. This is the same girl that refused to step down against Aizen when she first arrived here? This was the one that Halibel somehow combined with momentarily? What did Aizen-sama do to her? In Arella's mind, Bloodlust had left control of her and is continuing her search throughout Nevermore.
-Nevermore-
The trio hides in the cliff face as Happiness treats Innocence's wound on her leg. "We have to hurry. We don't know when Rage and Bloodlust are going to appear. Hell, the other emotions might show their faces too. We have to hurry," Bravery mutters, peeking out of the small hole they had crawled through.
"Why are we hiding from the other emotions?" Innocence asks.
"Because Bloodlust has brainwashed them into thinking Aizen is the good guy. The more we get captured, the weaker Raven gets until she's completely Arella Katsue. And that's a bad thing because we won't see the same old Raven anymore and then she'll help Aizen destroy the world. Understand?" Happiness asks. Innocence nods and Bravery suddenly flinches. "What-?" Bravery stops her before turning back to the entrance.
She makes a quieting gesture with her hand and pushes herself back, forcing Happiness and Innocence to the back. "Rage just passed by…You guys stay here. I'll keep watch," she whispers to them. They nod and she crawls a bit closer to the entrance. She looks over to where Rage had gone. "Who's she talking to…?" Bravery pushes herself forward about 3 more inches and spots Bloodlust in front of her. She presses herself against the wall and tries to listen in to the conversation.
"Good, now we just have to deal with three more Titans. Doesn't matter if those three manage to get Intelligence back from us. We've figured out a way to keep Raven under our control long enough," Rage agrees. Bravery can tell that Rage is practically grinning maliciously from the news.
"Wait a minute…Three more Titans? Does that mean…Bloodlust killed one of them?" Bravery grits her teeth, forcing herself not to lunge out and force the answer out of them. "Just have to wait a bit more. I might gain more info."
"It wasn't that hard. He refused to injure me because I'm his precious little Raven," Bloodlust mocks him. "So, after throwing him around a bit, I stabbed him in the heart with the hidden dagger." Bravery's eyes widen in disbelief.
"No freaking way! She actually killed Robin?"
"And the more we kill, the more she's sure that they really did leave her for dead. Hahaha…once those damn ants are dead, we will be able to assist Aizen-sama in the war against the Soul Society," Bloodlust says confidently.
"And if we can't find Bravery and the other two in time? It's Bravery that's allowing Raven to resist our control. She'll be the emotion that we kill when we have the chance," Rage reminds her.
"Trust me, she'll come. After all, she needs my scythe to release the rest of the emotions…isn't that right…Bravery?" Bravery flinches, not expecting her to know about her location. "I know you're there…along with Innocence and Happiness. Just get out here and fight me. If you beat me, then I'll give you the scythe." Bravery closes her eyes and crawls out of the hole as she hears Happiness and Innocence phasing through the rocks. She gets up, glaring at the two emotions that caused this whole mess.
"Do you really swear that you'll give me the scythe when I beat you?"
"Hahaha, I love your optimism. It's if you beat me, Bravery," Bloodlust reminds her.
"Shut up, Bloodlust! I don't need to hear that from you!" Bravery lunges at Bloodlust and materializes her own weapon into her hand, a 2 ½ feet broadsword. She swings her broadsword at Bloodlust, whom easily blocks it with her scythe. Bloodlust kicks Bravery in the stomach, making her stagger for a minute. Bloodlust then uppercuts Bravery and looks over to Rage.
"Looks like I'm not going to need my scythe after all. You watch after it, Rage. I'll take care of her." Rage nods and she tosses the scythe to Rage. Bloodlust turns back to Bravery, whom just stood up.
Bravery clutches her broadsword, waiting for her opponent to make a move. "What? Too scared to come at me first? Don't get so cocky!" Bravery begins.
"Oh please, I was expecting you to make the first move. I mean, from what Rage told me, you're the 'attacks first, ask questions later' type of person. Did you, perhaps, mature after this?" Bloodlust mocks. Bravery growls, but keeps herself from charging at Bloodlust. For once, Bloodlust frowns at this unexpected action. "What the hell is going on? Why isn't she attacking?" Just as Bloodlust wonders about it, someone punches her in the face. "What the hell?" She asks, looking at her assailant.
It's Happiness, wearing Rage's cloak, and she's holding the scythe in her hand. "The plan…actually worked!" Happiness begins.
"Of course it worked!" Bravery exclaims, appearing behind Bloodlust. "I might not be as strategic as Intelligence, but I know when I shouldn't just rush straight into the battle!"
"When did you bastards get Rage?" Bloodlust asks, materializing a simple katana out of thin air. She hears footsteps and her eyes widen. "No way! When did you start helping them, Intelligence?" Bloodlust growls as Intelligence takes off Bravery's green cloak.
"They found me a few minutes prior to hiding in the cliff there," Intelligence begins as Innocence appears behind Happiness's leg. She stops momentarily, handing the cloak over to Bravery and putting on her glasses and yellow cloak. "They managed to break me out of your control and Bravery gave me a brilliant idea of how to get the scythe. It was pretty risky, by the way, but we managed to get Rage unconscious long enough to take her cloak and pass off as her. That was Happiness, by the way."
Bravery growls and swings her katana at Intelligence, but she merely side-steps to Bravery's side. She materializes two sax knives into her hands, waiting for Bravery to give the order. "Bloodlust, give it up. We've got you cornered and we have the scythe. You've got no chance against us," Bravery threatens.
But Bloodlust laughs mirthlessly with her eyes closed. She stops, and her katana disappears. "Me? Give up? Against you fools? The day will come when I do that! No, Bloodlust will never give up to the likes of you." A black aura begins enveloping here. "And…I never said that was my real scythe."
Her words shock the three emotions present there and the scythe begins emitting a glow. "Drop the scythe, Bravery!" Intelligence commands. But before Bravery can do anything, the scythe explodes and envelops them in a harsh light. When it clears, they open their eyes. Bravery looks around and curses.
"Damn it. That was some bad luck, wasn't it, Intelligence?" Not hearing a reply for a few seconds, she turns around. No one is there, not even Happiness. All that's left are Intelligence's glasses, and a pool of blood on a small scrap of Innocence's cloak. "No…Bloodlust…you bastard…DAMN IT!"
-Robin and Ichigo-
As the two lie there, deceased, Nel peeks out of the rubble. "I-Ichigo? R-Robin?" Not hearing their reply and seeing Ichigo's lifeless eyes, her eyes begin tearing up. "I-Ichigo! I-Ichigo! Robin!" She falls down the rocks and starts crawling towards them as she cries. "You can't die here! I-Ichigo!" She is stopped when a foot slams down in front of her.
"Move it, brat," Grimmjow demands.
"S-sexta Espada…G-Grimmjow-s-sama…"
He walks over to Ichigo and kicks him over, looking at the hole Ulquiorra inflicted on him. "Tch, just as I thought." He spots Robin's head looking down at nothing and grabs him, dropping him besides Ichigo. Then, he pulls out a cloak and Orihime falls out.
"I-Ichigo…and…Robin?" Orihime recalls seeing the teenager when she first came to the Vizards' hideout.
Grimmjow sits down on the rubble and commands, "Heal them. But heal Kurosaki first."
Loly and Menoly, whom Orihime healed before she left with Grimmjow, are standing with their backs to the wall as Ulquiorra enters the room. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Ichigo! Ichigo was trying to protect me and he got hit by a Cero! Ichigo was trying to protect me, but then he got kicked really hard! I-I kept getting in Ichigo's way!" She pauses as Orihime continues healing the two of them with her Sōten Kisshun. "A-and…Robin! He was fighting the new Espada! I-I couldn't do anything to help him! I-Ichigo would have been ok if I wasn't there! It's all my fault! Please save them!"
She begins crying hysterically and Grimmjow yells, "SHUT UP!" She flinches and turns towards him, fearfully. "Shut your goddamn mouth, you brat! Say another word and I'll blow your damn head off." She nods and he continues, "He'll recover even if you're not screaming. So be quiet and quit screaming.
As Orihime continues healing Ichigo's and Robin's wound, she muses over their wounds. "There's an incredible reiatsu engulfing Ichigo's wound. And Robin's wound seems like a simple dagger wound, but there's something in there that's keeping me from healing him. The process is slow for both of them. I can't reject it! Who on earth did this?" she asks as Ulquiorra inspects the rubble.
"It was Ulquiorra," Grimmjow replies.
"Who did this?" Ulquiorra asks.
"Grimmjow…" Loly states, fearfully.
"It's a habit of his. I don't know if he notices it himself or not, but he has this habit of stabbing enemies that catch his eye in the same spot where his own hole is." As Ulquiorra leaves the room with an unreadable expression, Grimmjow stands up from his seating place. "I'll teach him what happens when you try to seal someone else's prey…" he vows.
"Did…Ulquiorra do this to Robin too?"
"No, it's a dagger wound. The one that did it was that new Espada. She's the one that did this to him."
"But…isn't the new Espada…Raven?"
Before Grimmjow can answer her question, Ichigo's hand twitches, the light returning in his eyes. "Nel? And Orihime?"
"Ichigo…" Orihime mutters happily.
"Ichigo!" Nel exclaims, climbing onto Orihime's shoulder.
"Shut up!" Grimmjow stomps his foot. "If you've got time to cry, use it to heal him faster!"
"You're…Grimmjow? What's Orihime doing with you?"
"You keep quiet and let her heal you! I want you at 100% when we settle this once and for all!"
"Grimmjow! You're making me heal him just for that?" Orihime asks, shocked.
"I told you to shut up! He was dying, and I let you save his life! So shut up and heal him! And hurry it up! Ulquiorra's gonna come back here when he figures out what's going on. So before he does-" The sonic boom from a Sonído surprises Grimmjow, Orihime, Nel, and Ichigo. Grimmjow and Orihime look at the figure standing behind Grimmjow. It's Ulquiorra, with an impassive look on his face.
Behind the two of them, next to Ichigo, Robin's hand begins twitching and the light in his eyes begin to return.
Lefty: *hops up wearing a Santa hat* Merry, merry Christmas, readers! ^^
May: Merry Christmas everyone.
Tayuya: *shivering* M-merry C-Christm-mas…
May: …You're fire. Why the hell are you cold?
Tayuya: D-don't j-judge m-me
Lefty: *sneezes* May…are you dropping the temperature on purpose?
May: Perhaps.
Lefty: …*facepalm* You can make it snow after Tay leaves and I put on a coat. I am NOT going to freeze to death because of my OC.
May: Weren't there some questions that you wanted to ask your readers? Or do you want me to ask them?
Lefty: *not listening* Now I have to go get my coat. Be right back, readers.
May: …I'll ask the questions then.
1) Do you guys want the JLU (Justice League Unlimited) heroes involved with the Winter War?
2) Can you guys think of any other emotions besides the ones listed on Teen Titans Wiki and Bloodlust? If they are made-up emotions like Bloodlust, please tell us what cloak color they have.
And one of Intelligence's knives can shoot out dark energy, but only if she says the incantation. The other one is just an ordinary sax knife. You can tell the difference. The one that can shoot dark energy is two inches longer and it has a red ribbon at the bottom of the hilt.
Lefty: *comes back* YOU ASKED THEM THE QUESTIONS? AND YOU GAVE THE DESCRIPTION OF INTELLIGENCE'S SAX KNIVES? You evil OC!
May: …You learned that about me…NOW? Get with the times, Lefty!
Lefty: Forget you! *leaves angrily*
May: -_-"…
Tayuya: Now that was a stupid move on your end.
May: Shut up…This will blow over by the end of the next chapter.
Tayuya: Yeah…sure…Believe that…
May: I bet that this will blow over by Friday the 13th. Especially if something good happens at the banquet.
Tayuya: How you wish that…Wonder if any of her friends want to go…
May: None of them said anything. Besides, they DO have to pay 20 bucks.
Tayuya: Right
May: *sighs and pinches bridge of nose* We'll just leave her alone for now…Oh and Merry Christmas, once again, readers! *bows*