As Soifon led Second Squad towards the battle, thoughts were racing around in her head. Does she have no honor? And Sanjiro... at the very least he was a loyal subordinate when he served under me... but that's a price we all have to pay... and some pay more than others.
Soifon sensed the release of two nightmarish spiritual pressures as she and her Squad drew nearer to the mountain. That has to be the Vasto Lordes... I can't quite see from this distance but it must be their Resurreccion forms. Soifon looked over to Captain Komamura, and signaled for them to split up. Second Squad would be playing more of a supporting role here, working from the shadows to split up Kari and the Vasto Lordes. Hmm? Wait, there are only three of them! Where is the other Vasto Lorde?
Over on his side, Komamura had also noticed Anton's mysterious absence. Kurotsuchi would have mentioned it this morning; and he's never wrong... he has to be hiding somewhere. As Seventh Squad approached the mountain, Komamura noticed smoke rising from a crater. The Vasto Lordes- no, a bit too big to be from a Cero... "Some skill in magic", huh. Yamamoto, this looks to be the work of someone with "average skill" in spells... Komamura chuckled, in spite of himself. At least he gave us a warning.
As Seventh Squad arrived at the blast crater and maneuvered around it, the Vasto Lordes began to move down the mountain. Mai was skipping down, laughing hysterically. I think her logic is to be illogical, and that's her advantage... Leo was using Sonido, though, and Komamura drew Tenken and prepared himself. "Roar, Tenken!"
Komamura smashed his fist down, but Leo moved inside the giant's attack and Sonido'd towards his Squad members. Komamura aimed a kick at Leo to cut him off. Leo turned to face the massive boot, but he didn't have time to stop it. Komamura took in the look of pain on the Arrancar's face. I think I missed low on that one... But that didn't stop either Komamura or Leo for long. Leo raised up his claw-like hand for a Bala, and Komamura thust his palm forward to block it; too late he saw Leo was actually aiming for members of his Squad. The giant's hand connected with Leo at the same time the Bala decimated his Squad members. Komamura risked a quick look and saw the shinigami who were hit had almost been flattened.
He looked back and saw Leo was only a handful of feet away. Komamura swung Tenken at him but Leo used Sonido to dodge, only to find he also had the giant's sword to deal with. Leo ducked it, but was treated to the most powerful hair cut of all time; Tenken swiped off the top of Leo's mane, giving him a balding clown-like look. Roaring as he swept in, Leo clawed at Komamura with a wild fury. He couldn't connect all the way but on several strikes he grazed Komamura's front. The Captain fought back just as hard, and the two traded bone-jarring blows. Tenken made the difference: with a sudden impact the giant's fist ground Leo into the dust.
That won't quite be enough to stop him... Sure enough, the Vasto Lorde was back on his feet, albeit a little more slowly. Before either of them could move a howling, blood red Cero cut between them and into the shinigami of Seventh and Second Squads. Mai followed after it like thunder, and began wreaking havoc among the two Squads with her wrist blade.
Leo recovered from the distraction first, and scored a vicious clawing punch to Komamura's chest. Komamura retaliated with a thundering left cross, and followed that up with a punt kick via Tenken. Leo went flying dozens and dozens of feet over to the blast crater. I think I'll have to go for it. Komamura held up his sword and growled, "Bankai!" In a fiery release of spiritual energy the giant appeared and stood up behind him. Leo began to fire a Cero, and Komamura brought his hand down in a hammer-fist strike. The golden-white Cero and the giant's fist collided with an enormous explosion, and when the dust settled Leo was nowhere to be seen.
He's nearby, though. The crater? Shaking out his sore left hand, Komamura ran over. Leo was facedown, struggling to pull himself up using a slab of rock. Then Komomura jumped down and firmly planted his boot in the crater. A few brief moments later Kokujo Tengen Myo'o's boot emphatically crushed Leo flat.
From her viewing spot in the clearing on the mountain, Kari saw the earth shaking stomp that defeated Leo. That HAD to hurt... Kari sighed. Man-Slayer was roaring to be let into battle, but she was still tired from the effort of using Fourth Wall Imprisonment on Anton. Leo... and Mai is still out there. All those shinigami and Leo... dead. What did I do to start this? I tried my best... Kari lifted Man-Slayer, but held back from using Avenge. I think that's another Squad coming out from Kusajishi... I'll wait until they're here...
Mai was running wild through Seventh Squad, tearing and ripping without even looking twice at her targets. She didn't need to... But as she swung at a shinigami, she felt a prick on the back of her shoulder. Heehee! That tickled, what was that? Mai spun around, just in time to catch Soifon's arm as it came in for another strike. "Heh, I thought I sensed someone sneaking around." Soifon attempted to hit Mai with a low kick, but Mai smiled and hopped over it; and as she came down Soifon whipped up the kick and hit the Vasto Lorde right on the jaw.
Mai flung away Soifon. "Heh, so you hit me. Very, very, unimpressive." Soifon didn't wait for Mai to gloat, and began attacking her with a series of kicks. Mai chuckled as she blocked them, and even countered with a few kicks of her own. "I've been fighting unarmed for ten times longer than you've lived, little shinigami. You should feel lucky if you manage to get in another hit."
"That's all I'll need," She said as she used an outside block against a high kick from Mai.
"Oh? Heh, you're not like the shinigami-dog. You'll need more than one hit for me."
Soifon gave Mai an up-close view of Suzumebachi with a lunging thrust, which was blocked. "My zanpakuto, Suzumebachi, has the ability to kill in two strikes-" Soifon slipped a stab of Mai's wrist blade, and kept up the tight back-and-forth rhythm of their fight- "-and if you look at the back of your shoulder, you'd see a crest on it." Soifon caught Mai's right arm, then quickly kicked at her instep, inside of her knee, and solar plexus. Mai reeled back from the combo, but as she stumbled back she kicked up dirt in Soifon's face.
The cheap trick worked, and Mai kicked at Soifon's kneecap before Soifon cleared the dirt out of her eyes. As Soifon stumbled, Mai floored her with a punch to the bridge of her nose. In a flash Mai was over her, and dropped down onto Soifon's lower stomach, driving the breath out of her. "Tsk tsk, 'two hits'? Hehehe, you don't survive as long as me without knowing how to side step a Cero or two, shinigami." Mai laughed as she playfully struck Soifon across the face repeatedly. Then suddenly she stopped laughing. "And there's no way I would let you kill me."
Oddly, Soifon thought of Segato. "I assume that means you're afraid to die, then." Mai's glare turned deadly serious. "Or at least, afraid to die for Kuraka." Mai reared back and stabbed at Soifon, taking her through her left shoulder.
"Liar! Don't you dare tell me Kari-dono isn't worth fighting for!"
Soifon bit down on the pain and said, "Death is meaningless, and if you fight for love it's all you'll find." At that Soifon reached up and stabbed Mai's shoulder- Suzumebachi reaching the same point as its previous strike.
Mai looked shocked as the crest appeared on her shoulder. "NOO! Kaaaarrri-" But then the Hornet Flower Crest flared out, and Mai Shiruna vanished.
Mai's last scream echoed up to Kari. Mai? Kari checked the battlefield again, and found a drastically reduced number of shinigami. She fought as hard as she could, for me... and the shinigami, weren't they fighting to take me back? We all tried our best, and what did it lead to? Kari's eyes watered. Who's the rabbit now, who's the stepping stone in the other's path? Who- that looks like the Captain-Commander... Kari lowered Man-Slayer; she didn't have the heart to use Avenge now, though Man-Slayer's urge to was intense. Yamamoto was nearly at the base of the mountain now, and Kari went down to meet him.
He stood silent, his fiery spiritual energy surrounding him. "...I never imagined I would meet Man-Slayer in battle again..."
"M- M- what? I've never faced you before, and I found him in a cave! How could you know Man-Slayer?"
Yamamoto drew Ryujin Jakka. "It first came to my attention when I heard you carried your own zanpakuto to Shino Academy. I thought nothing of that, until I heard of your use of its Bankai recently. It has been a great many years since it has been wielded."
"By who? I think I have a right to know, Yamamoto-san."
"It was wielded by a man named Jiguro Yamamoto..."
Kari's head was spinning. His brother...? Kari looked down at her mother's scarf, and saw the edges of it were smoldering in Yamamoto's spiritual energy. And who would... who would carry on my mother's... With a sob, Kari began to swing Man-Slayer at Yamamoto.
Genryusei Yamamoto calmly deflected Kari's attacks. He had seen enough battles to know what this was. Gradually, the force behind her attacks lessened, and then Kari fell forwards crying into Yamamoto's arms.