Bring Back the Apocalypse V:

Jungle Warfare

Even though he never showed it, Hisagi Shuuhei detested battle. He hated the feeling he got while fighting; the pressure to win, the obligation to kill his opponent. He knew that it was for the greater good, to defeat the hollows that he had trained his whole life to vanquish, but he still hated taking their lives. He hated looking into the eyes of his fallen foes as they breathed their last, hated seeing the fear on their faces as he ran his sword through them.

And he truly reviled the fact that he was extremely proficient at it.

So when he found himself standing next to Kira Izuru on a rooftop in Karakura Town, staring down a pair of Arrancar, he felt the familiar detestation for fighting rise slowly in his throat. He began to shake, half with nerves, half with anticipation. He didn't want Izuru to see him like this; he hated when he got the shakes before a fight.

"Kira," he leaned his head closer to his ally, whispering so that the other shinigami wouldn't recognize the fear in his voice. "I don't think it's a good idea to fight these two while they're together."

"I agree." Kira responded, nodding his head, never taking his eyes off the enemies in front of them. "I'm going to head elsewhere. Make sure one of them follows me."

Hisagi was jealous of Kira; both of their captains had betrayed them, abandoned them. Yet Kira Izuru had come out all the stronger because of it, while he slowly steeped himself in self-doubt and pity. Just like he'd done when Soi Fon left.

"No problem," Hisagi replied eventually, but Kira had already vanished in a flash of shunpo. Hisagi wondered if he'd even heard him. The giant male Arrancar barked out a laugh and followed Kira.

Hisagi was left with the female Arrancar. She looked far less petite while not standing next to the giant of a man that had just departed. Her blonde hair was pulled back into two long pigtails, both hanging down to the small of her back. She wore a white skirt with black trim along the bottom and a wide black obi sash at the top. Her shirt was sleeveless and shoulder-less, coming down to right above her belly, simply to conceal her ample breasts; her hollow hole was located over her throat. She had mint green eyes, and a pair of similarly colored bands ran across her right cheek, not unlike the black bar that Hisagi himself had over the bridge of his nose. Her mask consisted of three-fourths of a jawbone; she wore the bottom mandible as a necklace while the left side of the upper jaw was fit firmly to her upper lip. Hisagi shuddered noting the sharp and needled teeth that the jawbone contained.

"Ooh, I got the cute one."

Her sudden and ludicrous statement startled Hisagi out of his train of thoughts. He looked at her harshly, his eyes giving no clue to the world at his slight amusement. She must have seen his initial reaction, because she covered her mouth with her hand a giggled sharply.

"I didn't mean to startle you, handsome shinigami. I tend to speak my mind when I shouldn't. Aizen's always fussing at me during meetings." She bowed deeply at him and pulled out her zanpakuto, the short blade sticking out from the back of her hand. "My name is Bebel Caipirinha, fracción of the eighth Espada Hermes Inpu. I won't tell you the name of my sword…" she smiled seductively, "…unless you make me."

"Hisagi Shuuhei," he responded, smirking at his quirky enemy, "Lieutenant of the ninth division."

"Oh, the ninth division," she sighed, her voice displaying some disappointment. "I hope you're nothing like Tousen. That would make this fight extremely dull…" She charged him quickly, slashing at him with the sword still held upside-down. He withdrew his own zanpakuto to block, causing her to strike his blade and flip forward, landing on the roof behind him. "…and I hate boring men."

He spun and ran at her, ignoring her words as he jabbed and sliced. She giggled as she blocked his strikes, swiftly dodging and sweeping legs out from under him. He landed on his back as she leapt forward, preparing to ram her sword down into his chest. He threw a leg out, kicked her in the stomach, and rolled back onto his feet. As he stood, he softly spoke an incantation, finishing it as she stood.

"Bakudo 62: Hyapporankan!"

Hisagi had already formed the long staff of blue light by the time Bebel recovered; by the time she'd turned and looked at him, he'd thrown the spell, the rod breaking into dozens of smaller spears; by the time she'd raised her hands to block, she'd been struck and thrown off the roof into a nearby forest. Hisagi quickly used shunpo to catch up to her. He softly landed on a thick branch and looked down at his opponent who was pinned to the tree across from him. She looked slightly agitated, but turned her face to him and smiled widely.

"I must say, señor Lieutenant," she said with a slight giggle, "you aren't boring at all. If you weren't a shinigami, I might just fall in love with you." She flipped her sword up into the air, speaking to it as it spun. "Melt, Rocío del Sol!"

The explosion of her resurrección caused the tree on which she was pinned to shatter, splinters flying towards Hisagi, causing him to shield his face and lose track of his Arrancar opponent. By the time the debris had ceased, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around the dark forest, listening for her movements, watching for any sign of her.

"It's a shame we're in the forest, Hisagi. Rocío del Sol feels the most at home in the trees. You lost this battle the moment I landed here." He spun to look for the location of the voice, but it seemed to be coming from all sides. He gripped his sword tightly, concentrating on another incantation. A quick movement in the corner of his eye distracted him from the full kidou spell he'd been reciting, and he threw the incomplete fireball out in the direction of the distraction. The forest lit up red, and for a split second he could see Bebel's shadow against a nearby tree. It was in the opposite direction of where he'd aimed.

"You missed me, cutie-pie," her voice called out. "Let me tell you about my resurrección's abilities, Lieutenant Shuuhei." Her voice was taunting him as he searched for her reiatsu. "In these trees, I can become invisible. I merge with the trees, flowing seamlessly from one leaf to another. I can control the trees, the vines, the roots." As if to prove her point, one of the nearby branches snapped out and wrapped around his arm. He glanced over at it quickly but before he had time to react, the branch began to burn his skin. He raised his sword to cut it, but the branch released him. She laughed through the trees as she continued. "That was my favorite move, Hisagi! Why do you look so pissed? Do you not like my Tímido Flores?" He grabbed his arm and rubbed it where the plant had constricted his skin. It had begun to swell around the burn.

"There's no hope of you seeing me, my adorable enemy. And don't bother searching for my reiatsu; while it tickles me in all the right places, it will do you no good." His teeth clenched as she continued her speech, her voice giddy with lustful excitement. "I've already told you that you've lost."

Hisagi felt the fear sink lower into his stomach. It was worse than when he'd been attacked by giant hollows in the real world; when he'd lead the training unit that was rescued by Aizen, when he'd received the trio of scars along his face. It was worse than the time he'd fought Yumichika; he'd been scared out of his wits when his fellow shinigami had suddenly began sucking the life out of him with his zanpakuto. It was even worse than his fight with Findor Carias last week; being surrounded by jets of water strong enough to cut through metal. So he did what he always did when he became frightened. Hisagi Shuuhei closed his eyes and let the fear consume him.

"Reap, Kazeshini."

Immediately after his zanpakuto transformed into the pair of scythes he detested so much, he threw the one in his right hand at the nearest tree. The sharp blade sliced seamlessly through the foliage as Hisagi yanked the chain that it was connected to, calling it back. As the first blade was reclaimed by his right hand, he slung the scythe in his left hand forward. Several trees fell at its touch. He pulled the chain and threw his right blade. He managed to swiftly cut down half of the forest by the time his opponent realized what he was doing. A branch reached out and wrapped around his left leg. He recalled a blade and swiped down at the deadly vine, leaping out of the forest as he did so. He was above the forest when he summoned forth the soukatsui spell; a wave of blue flames erupted from his outstretched hands, crashing into the woods, pummeling down the trees.

Hisagi did not wait for the smoke to clear as he flew down into the wreckage of the forest. He could feel her reiatsu now, and he threw his blade into the dust where he felt she was. His blade struck something he couldn't see as he hit the ground in the middle of the ruined woods, waiting for the smoke to clear. His eyes strained against the low visibility as he recalled his scythe. When it reached his waiting hand, he saw that there was blood on the blade.

The fog soon cleared and he got a look at his opponent's new form for the first time. She looked primarily unchanged, but her arms had turned into long white vines with dozens of tendrils at the end in place of fingers. He saw a long gash running along her torso, obviously caused by his Kazeshini. She was breathing heavily, panic in her eyes at the loss of her advantage.

He threw one of his blades at her but she managed to leap out of the way. As he pulled the chain back, she ducked down, the blade sailing harmlessly over her head as she slammed her fist into the dirt. Hisagi jumped up from the ground, but the speed of the attack overwhelmed him and the white tendrils of her hand wrapped around his waist, burning his flesh as he was dragged back down to the earth. The fingers slammed him into the ground and released him. He struggled for breath as she rushed at him, planting her foot solidly into his ribcage and sending him flying across the field.

He managed to land on his feet, but he'd had the wind knocked out of him completely and he was dizzy from the lack of oxygen. He could see Bebel's white figure approaching rapidly, but his vision was blurred. He threw his blade out at her but she leapt deftly to the side while continuing her sprint towards him. His vision cleared just in time for him to yank his scythe back at her. She dodged, allowing the blade to once more fly over her head.

Too bad, cutie-pie, Hisagi thought as he threw the second blade at her before he'd retrieved the first. Bebel's eyes widened in surprise, telling him that she hadn't expected him to release both of his scythes. She leapt from her crouch, the second blade missing her. But Hisagi had already retrieved the first blade and thrown it at her; the timing was immaculate and she didn't have the time to dodge this blade. It raked across her gut, her resurrección shattering as massive amounts of blood spilled from the wound and she fell back to the earth below. He approached her quivering form, picking up the pair of scythes he had released from his hands.

"I'm sorry, my adorable opponent. I guess I was too exciting for you." He looked right into her frightened, dying eyes as he spoke. He couldn't help himself; he hated the look but needed to see it. Otherwise the victory didn't seem real. He looked around, making sure no one could see him before he returned his gaze to the dying woman. He whispered an incantation while she struggled to get up. He finished it and turned his back on her, naming the spell as he walked away. "Hadou 90: Kurohitsugi."

He didn't even watch as the black sarcophagus rose from the ground to take Bebel Caipirinha's life.

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author's note

alright kiddies, i lied. i busted this chapter out real quick today and figured you loving readers would appreciate if all the fraccion fights got out of the way. also, make sure that you read all four of these chapters before you read the next one. it all ties into chapter 15.

i had a lot of fun writing for these characters; it was very refreshing to escape plot and the budding relationship that soi fon and grimmjow are trying to keep afloat. creating those arrancar was a ton of fun too- i got to play with some spanish, which is always a fun replacement to english.

thanks for all the reviews i've received thus far; you all know who you are (grinja, black wing). but this last trio of chapters hasn't gotten too many, so let me reiterate: review. i haven't even started on the conclusion chapter-- so the more reviews i get, the more encouraged i feel to write, and the sooner you get to see what happens next. if i don't get any reviews, i might have to go out after work tomorrow and drink a lot to forget the pain of reviewlessness. and that'll suck for youse guys cuz i'll sleep in my car instead of driving home and writing.

keep that in mind,

jta.

jungle warfare - estradasphere