A/N: Ugh, this fight scene almost killed it for me lol. I'm not the least bit confident in half of my fight scenes but I tried a bit more with this one since there had been such a lead up with it. Hopefully I pulled it fairly well although I'll admit sometimes it seemed to cross into extremes. Maybe?

It was a horrific scene that churned in what was left of her stomach.

The sword-like arms shot forward at the given opening and impaled through the vulnerable tissue of his body; ripping through his chest and shoulders as blood expelled itself from every injury and pieces of tissue draped over the curved blades. One of the arms tore through the front of his left cheek and escaped out of a new opening just behind his ear, near the base of his neck.

The initial attack lasted just seconds and yet… it felt as though it ran through her eyes in slow motion.

They weren't going to end like this…

It wasn't going to be the ending.

Somehow… she knew what she had to do; she knew a way. It was suicide maybe but she was dying anyways.

Fingers grabbed for her sword once more and ripped it from where it had been buried into the dirt as she pushed herself painstakingly forward. The Hollow was distracted… this was her only chance to finish this whole mess; to finally reclaim this battle once and for all.

Maintaining some form of energy and strength, she pushed herself into a run as she forced herself onto a nearby boulders and leaped; kicking herself into the air, she planned her next execution down to the very last motion with what part of her brain still functioned through the pain. Fingertips released her sword from her grasp and flung it downward towards the creature; watching and listening as the blade pierced the top of the Hollow's head and ruptured through one of its many eyes. A heavy shriek followed quickly afterwards as it tossed its nearly non-existent head back; it's massive jaws torn open as bloodied gums revealed some missing teeth and the mutilation of the eyes that had once lined its mouth. Forcing herself to curl into a small form, she fell easily towards the open trap and managed to extend one arm out just enough to take grasp of her blade before she disappeared into the creature.

The sheer amount of raw pain that tore through his body like salt in water nearly slaughtered what sense he still had connections to. The roaring of the Hollow was barely able to pass through the ringing of blood in his ears; his body barely able to recognize the feeling of the bladed arms as they ripped themselves free.

It was just one sudden, obvious moment of weakness that tore the last bit of balance from his body.

The heavy jolt resulting from hitting his knees into the ground was enough to force his injuries open even more; the heated pain was like a short-lived wake up call… it reminded him that he was still alive and he was still conscious.

Despite the damages and the pain… he could still fight.

At that last minute though… he had detected a faint reading of her energy before it disappeared completely. Where could she have gone? What exactly was she-

Oh Gods…

The second shriek from the creature only seemed to push his second-hand theory as a sharp burst of energy erupted from the creature; only this time, it didn't belong to the Hollow.

It belonged to her.

The Hollow continued to shriek and howl as its heavy body thrashed about in an attempt to rid itself of the invader inside of it; its energy was sharply dropping now; lowering itself from the critically high-level it had erupted into before.

She couldn't poison it before because its outer skin was able to reject the attack; however, its more vulnerable insides could do little to protect themselves. She was poisoning it from the inside out.

That crazy bitch…

But it could be finished off now… that was the important thing.

It was taking every last bit of his reserved energy to force himself back up; fingers attempting to keep a tight hold on his already damaged sword… it would hold though… just for this last attack. Trying to settle out and focus on what remained of his senses, a quick blurred survey of the Hollow's position helped him categorize his next few moves before he moved in towards the distracted creature.

The edge of his blade followed the thin membrane that coated the back of its front leg; slicing through the vulnerable tendon like it was paper. Almost instantly… the leg collapsed forward as its entire muscular structure was cut of its support; forcing its body to fall in towards one side.

The tip of his blade impaled through its already split chest before he moved down the length of its torso; quickly-timed motions allowed for him to avoid the nearby thrashing as he pushed the sword in deeper and further into the body above; tissues and skin peeling apart and allowing thick intestinal lengths to collapse down around him. The sound of the ongoing disembowelment and the dropping of organs from their protective membranes almost made up for the sheer torture the entire battle had been on them.

Ripping through the abdomen finished off the dying Hollow as it gave into its last fight of thrashing and convulsions before it fell forward; its massive body somehow managing to impale itself onto the fallen tree-line around it.

Heavy pants left his blood-laced lips as he slowly turned back towards the carcass; searching the rotting remains for any sign of energy or any burst of life. The entire environment seemed dead. It was complete, utter lifelessness.

"… Soifon?"

Her name barely sounded as though it came from his lips as he slowly forced himself back to the body; the pain felt as though it was receding from his own body now… something that would've been reviving but that wasn't the case now. After so much damage… things were beginning to shut down.

A grotesque noise erupted from the body; sounding like something moving through the soft intestines and firm tissues. Another noise followed soon after before a sharp gasp awarded the final sense of another living presence.

Hands pulled themselves through the thick cut of flesh and allowed for her slender body to fall freely towards the ground. Every part of her was soaked in blood and all sorts of other fluids; mild stomach acids partly ate at the flesh of her shoulders and neck.

But… she was alive.

He couldn't say that he had ever been more relieved to hear her now than any time before as he carried himself towards the sound of her breathing and the faint reading of her depleted energy levels. "You're insane…"

"I didn't see you doing anything." she replied in weak response as she carefully moved to force herself back to her feet; gladly taking his hand when he offered it to her. Her body shook from her dying energy and the inability to completely support itself; she felt herself fall against him for a moment and decided to give into it.

He was just as weak as she was but he couldn't bring himself to not offer her the support she needed; arms pulled her in towards his partly mangled body; never minding the sensation of the acid as it burned through his hands. In that one moment, it felt like everything had finally rolled to an end. The battle was over and they were still partly alive, probably not for long but at least for this moment.

"… Come on, we can't stay here."

His words felt as though they were barely registered as her ears still rang with the pounding of blood. Fingers were barely able to grasp onto the loose material of his uniform as she buried her head into his chest; taking in the torturous scent of blood that only seemed to coat the both of them. She wasn't sure where the hell they would be able to go before their injuries forced them down; how far they would exactly get but… she didn't want to bring it up. Pushing herself away from him briefly, she linked her good arm around his waist and tried to share the support of weight between them. "What exactly are we going to put into that report of ours?"

"I think we have enough physical evidence to substitute for a report." he remarked. "If not… I think we'll be lucky if we even remember anything after this."

"Luck would have to be on our side." she muttered as they slowly started back down the pathway. Every motion only seemed to bring a new awareness to every injury; she could feel her fractured, possibly broken, hip as it grinded with every step. It was cringing and almost unbearable but she could work herself through it.

It felt like it took days before they even managed to re-emerge back into the shattered remains of the former village; darkness still took to the horizon although the brief glimpse of light hinted that dawn was approaching. Hopefully soon. How they managed to make such a distance in the shape they were in was beyond her but she assumed the fair numbness of her body had something to do with it; the slowing pace of every heartbeat probably had something to contribute as well.

"Ever get the feeling that… we're just going to die here?"

A weak chuckle left his lips despite the sheer amount of pain it seemed to bring to his chest; the taste of metallic blood still coated his mouth but it was being to become less and less noticeable now. "I think at this point, it's progressed from a feeling to a sense of knowing."

She shared the light chuckle with him even if the small motion brought pain shearing over every aspect of her body it seemed. Open injuries were beginning to seal themselves in layers of dried blood; a few fresh streams still trickled their way down her arms and left a crimson trail to mark their path. Her left arm hung almost lifelessly at her side as the lack of color in her fingertips hinted at its ruptured veins and slashed artery- if it hadn't been for the faint grasp of energy that tried to keep it from rushing out, she would've passed out a long time ago; the jagged bone seemed to shift now and again beneath the flesh almost as if to test its elasticity.

"I thought I was going to lose you back there…"

"During which part?"

"The part where you smashed into that rock and broke every bone known to man." she answered; shuffling through footsteps as they worked themselves into the opening of the village. "… There was a sense of helplessness because I couldn't do anything to help you."

"I was pretty certain I was going to lose you a few times too… I don't think either of us would've been able to end that battle had it just been one of us."

"So maybe it was a good idea to bring you along after all."

"I wouldn't say 'good' idea but… something like that."

Maybe it was just the sheer weakness in her body or the black spots that hindered her vision.

The blood loss or the ultimate damage her spine had taken during the battle.

Her own inability to stop herself from wanting to give in to the pain.

The ground made a harsh collision point but this far in… there was little resistance to it. The lingering echo that followed every struggle of a heartbeat sounded easily in her broken chest; the faint curl of broken fingertips against the cold ground barely noticeable to her already deaden nerves.

She had gotten Captain Byakuya's message earlier.

To be honest, it seemed a bit rushed and forward but she didn't doubt the words he passed on to her. He wasn't sure if the mission had been a success or not but… he remarked that there was a possibility of resulting causalities. At first, she had assumed it was the villagers and was mentally preparing a list of teams to send out for medical evacuation… And then she finished his note.

Both Captain Soifon and Captain Tousen were rendered in critical conditions.

He almost doubted that they would survive the trip back to the city but alerted her regardless.

She ushered all of her available Division members and sent out messages to the ones who were currently off-duty; she wasn't going to take any chances… although she wondered exactly how bad their injuries really were. The message had been delivered a few hours ago and since then, her Division had been on edge. The waiting part was almost the worst as she ran everyone through their procedures and assured them that things would be easy to take under control.

She only returned to her office for a brief moment to look over something.

"Captain Unohana!"

The sudden shout pulled her attention away from her work and to where her silver-haired Lieutenant stood in the doorway; the look on her face was all she needed to know.

"You need to come see this…"

Nodding softly in return, she started out of her office and almost collided with another figure in the doorway. The dark-haired Division Captain had blood marked down the front of his uniform and held a fairly… concerned expression on his face- something of which surprised her.

"Captain Byakuya… how bad are they?"

"To be honest, I'm surprised they made it here in one piece."

That wasn't the least bit promising.

She stepped out into the slightly winding corridor down to the emergency area she had specifically set up for this… occasion. She tried not to undermine the Captain but… it was difficult to image what kind of injuries they were looking at here. The first step into the room was all she needed.

Pale fingertips hung lifelessly over the edge of one of the gurneys; crimson droplets slowly rolled their way downward and splashed into the ceramic floor underneath. The bend of her former elbow was broken and the chiseled end of a bone stuck cleanly out of the jagged flesh; her arm was twisted at a disproportionate angle as fresh cuts lined down and tore through the thin muscle of the limb. The once nimble skin of her slender shoulders had almost been eaten away by some form of… acid or something as the painful, blood-red muscle throbbed underneath the skinned portions.

The Second Division Captain had seen better days as the unbalanced level of her chest and ribcage already noted at severe damages; part of her ribcage had been pushed so harshly against the skin that it tore freely and was dressed only by the remaining shreds of her uniform. Her abdomen had been split clean in several places- she was surprised her stomach wall hadn't already ruptured and spilled out. Thank Heavens that it didn't though.

White lips were coursed so heavily with blood it was a wonder how she had even managed to breathe; fresh trickles of blood still made their way out of the corners of her lips.

"Where do we even start…?"

The words from her Lieutenant were barely heard as though she had only intended to ask herself that. She could only imagine what they would find upon closer observations. More torturous injuries that pushed the brink of the human body?

"Her heart rate is dropping!"

"The blood pressure's too low!"

"I- Captain, there are heavy injuries to the spinal area… and direct damages to the spine itself; how is this even possible?"

It felt like it was a rush of panic as the emergency team whisked about trying to clear anything and everything from her lungs to the blood that continued to flood freely from her mouth. She would have to wait until stats were stabilized before any major procedures could start; she couldn't operate on someone with a weak heart or flooding lungs.

"Captain, he stopped breathing!"

She turned at the different calls; eyes settling unfortunately on the Ninth Division Captain.

Even from an distant perspective, she could see the multitude of bones that were broken and shattered beneath his skin; the rush of discoloration around one shoulder said previous separation; the jolted shape of his chest spoke of complete sternum breakage and the obliteration of his ribcage; part of his arm had been broken and then reset back into place. And just like the Captain before, it seemed impossible to find an inch of flesh that wasn't split apart and punctured to the point of where he almost appeared to have been split nearly in two.

Part of his face had been ripped clean through; dark flesh peeled apart to reveal shredded muscle and shattered bone.

It was almost difficult to remain calm.

"Do report to Captain Yamamoto about this; tell him we'll be working around the clock."

"Should I tell him in advance to set up funeral procedurals."

"Not yet, Captain Byakuya… not yet."