Invasion's End
Coyote Starrk hated his job.
He couldn't imagine that anyone who worked in the fast food industry actually enjoyed their line of work, what with the constant smell of grease-soaked food of questionable origins assaulting one's senses, mess after mess made by careless teenage customers that needs to be cleaned up, the stench of overflowing garbage bins filled with half-eaten food that was starting to rot, and a never-ending stream of obnoxious, self-entitled customers who treated them like slaves.
No, he could not imagine that anyone actually liked working in a fast food restaurant.
On the other hand, Burger World was sounding pretty damn good right about now...
Starrk ran like a madman, jumping over piles of debris and trying to stay one step ahead of the murderous togabito hot on his heels and swinging a stolen zanpaktou at his head. He dared not turn around and defend himself because the togabito, Cain, could not be hurt. So far, every time Starrk had hit the Damned, he had been the one to feel it rather than the merciless killer at his heels.
Yeah, he was really starting to miss Burger World.
"Shunsui, hurry it up in there!" called Starrk to the other man who was supposed to be helping him.
"Working on it," came the oh-so-casual answer. "I think you need to focus less on me and more on running."
"I'm thinking I need to re-evaluate my friends!"
"That's rather hurtful..."
Starrk didn't bother responding as he felt the tip of the zanpaktou swish right by the back of his head, missing him by mere inches. He felt a few long strands of his brown hair fall away and he grimaced, knowing that had been too close.
"Keep him busy," Shunsui had said earlier. "Think of it like a game of tag."
Starrk made a mental note to punch the other man in the face if they survived.
In theory, Shunsui had a plan of some sort; there was something in Yamamoto's dilapidated office that might help them defeat Cain, something that could turn the tide in their favor and he had gone to find it while Starrk was left with the unenviable task of keeping Cain busy.
The togabito, of course, could obviously see they were up to something, had heard them yelling at one another, but he clearly wasn't concerned with their machinations, and why should he be? He was immortal, invincible, and had the annoying ability to reflect any and all damage back at the person who dared attack him. Stab Cain, and you'd be the one to feel the blade piercing your gut; try and decapitate him and it would be your own head that came tumbling off.
It was a power Starrk envied; if he had such an ability, he could win battles without ever breaking a sweat. Hell, he could win a fight while taking a nap if he wanted!
Of course there would be drawbacks to such a power, especially without some way to turn it on and off at will; it would likely reflect the good things in life as well, such as a lover's touch.
The thought of never enjoying Keiko's soft hands again quickly made Starrk stop envying the power.
But Cain had brought such misery upon himself and as such, the arrancar had no pity for him.
"You still alive out there?" came Shunsui's voice from inside the office.
"No thanks to you!" Starrk shot back.
"You're being very negative about this..."
"That's because he's trying to kill me!"
"Don't be so overly dramatic..." admonished the shinigami. "Hey, Yama-jii keeps a bag of peppermint candy in his desk; who knew?"
"Shunsui!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm still looking; don't lose your head."
"NOT. FUNNY."
"I don't know what you two idiots think you have planned, but you're just wasting your time and mine," scowled Cain as he finally closed the gap and grabbed a fistful of Starrk's hair. "I've indulged you long enough; time to die, primera."
Starrk didn't even bother trying to turn around, reaching behind him and swinging blindly with his own zanpaktou and severing the hair, pulling free just as Cain swung his own blade. Starrk ducked, glancing up just in time to see the blade pass through the space where his neck had been a split-second earlier. He paled a pit and darted forward, intent on increasing the distance between himself and Cain by as much as possible.
"Shunsui!" he called out again, hoping that his friend might finally discover his own sense of urgency.
No answer.
Starrk glanced towards the barely-standing office, wondering what the hell the hold up was; was whatever the hell Shunsui was seeking in there or not? Was this all simply an exercise in futility?
"Shunsui!" called Starrk again, a note of panic creeping into his voice.
Still no answer.
"Seems your friend has abandoned you," said Cain, laughing cruelly at the twist of fate. "You came to help him, and in turn he leaves you to die alone..."
It wasn't true, it couldn't be true; sure, shinigami and hollows had been feuding since time immemorial, but Shunsui wasn't one to abandon a friend, was he? He wouldn't just leave Starrk alone, even if Starrk was a hollow...
But if that were true, then where was he? Where had the Captain disappeared to?
Starrk slowed his running, his own doubts weighing him down.
"Just give up and die," said Cain as he too slowed, perhaps smelling defeat on his prey. "I'll make it quick."
Starrk whirled and defiantly met Cain's blade with his own, digging his heels into the ground as he pushed back against the togabito's assault. Even if he had been abandoned, giving up wasn't an option, not if he ever wanted to see Lilynette or Keiko again.
"I think he knows me better than that..." said a voice from behind Cain.
*CLICK!*
The figure behind Cain slapped some sort of red collar around the togabito's neck and quickly hopped back out of the way as the berserk Damned whirled around, aiming to cut the other man in half at the waist.
"...at least, I hope he knows me better than that," continued Shunsui, looking over at Starrk. "You didn't actually believe him, did you?"
"Of course not," Starrk lied smoothly. "I know you're too lazy to run away."
"Good answer," nodded Shunsui as Cain tugged at his new collar. "Insulting, but good."
"What the hell is this?" roared Cain angrily.
"What the hell is that?" asked Starrk conversationally.
"Nifty little device, actually," Shunsui explained. "It interrupts the flow of spiritual energy, effectively rendering lesser shinigami, hollows, and other spirit beings who may be hostile powerless. Doesn't do a whole hell of a lot against people as strong as we are, but it can disrupt the energy flow enough to suppress or water down their latent abilities."
"And you think this can stop me?" sneered Cain, ceasing his attempts to break the collar as he moved in on Shunsui, murder gleaming in his dark eyes
"And you think it can stop him?" asked Starrk.
"Well, that's the idea," answered Shunsui before shrugging. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?"
"STOP IGNORING ME!" bellowed Cain in rage as he charged the shinigami, swinging wildly.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" asked Captain Kyōraku pleasantly as he dodged the reckless attacks with relative ease. "Kind of rude of you to keep interrupting our conversation, you know..."
A quick flashstep put the Captain behind the togabito, standing side by side with Starrk. Shunsui looked over at his friend.
"You want the first shot?" he offered.
"You mean you want me to be the test dummy to see if this works..." drawled Starrk slowly. "No, no thank you."
"Doesn't seem fair to make me do all the work," sighed Shunsui as he stepped forward. "But fine; if that's the way it has to be..."
Cain was positively livid now, face red with rage, veins throbbing in his forehead. His white-knuckled grip on the stolen zanpaktou tightened until tiny drops of blood could be seen seeping through his clenched fingers.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you two," promised Cain, grinding his teeth. "More than I enjoyed killing my brother, more than I enjoyed watching fools kill themselves while attacking me back in Hell... Go ahead, take your shot; I'll give you one to show you how completely useless it is!"
"How generous..." murmured Shunsui. "Let's hope I can end it in one."
"Let's hope you can't; I want you to suffer," answered Cain bitterly as Shunsui finally attacked, swinging his main-hand zanpaktou down at an angle across the togabito's chest, going from right shoulder to left hip. The large, curved zanpaktou bit into Cain's chest and then...
"Damn!" hissed Shunsui, stumbling backwards as his own chest began to bleed profusely, a long gash engraved into his skin, his black shihakushō and white haori quickly sponging up the blood. "Damn it all..."
"And that's why I didn't want to go first..." said Starrk, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder and leaning over to inspect the wound, poking at it lightly. "Are you okay?"
"I've been better," wheezed the Captain, swatting Starrk's hand away from his injured chest.
"T-that's not possible..." breathed Cain in disbelief, prompting both men to look over at the togabito.
A deep chest laceration was clearly visible, from the right shoulder down to his left hip, oozing blood. Cain raised his left hand to his wounded chest, tracing the path carved into his flesh gingerly, slowly working the fresh blood between his dirty fingers as if confused.
"Well, how about that?" asked Shunsui with a grin. "It really did work!"
"Kind of," amended Starrk, pointing to the shinigami's own chest.
"It's a start," shrugged the other man. "I'll take what I can get at this point."
"So hurting him still hurts us, but now hurting him also hurts him..." mused the arrancar thoughtfully. "Yeah, great plan."
"You're still going to die," promised Cain with a snarl. "Hell makes its prisoners tough; I may be hurt now and I may walk away from this fight with new scars for the first time in over ten thousand years, but I will walk away alive. You'll only kill yourselves!"
"We can spread the damage out over two people," Shunsui explained casually. "I eat half, he takes half, and you take one hundred percent. So no, we'll walk away battered and scarred, bleeding from a hundred cuts, but you will just go back to where you belong."
"I love how your plan involves getting me to hurt myself..." Starrk observed dryly.
"Sorry, but it's the best I could come up with on such short notice," apologized Shunsui. "I'll make It up to you later and buy you a drink."
"You'd better buy me a whole damn jug after this."
"Of course," agreed the shinigami with a grin. "And to show you what a good friend I am, I'll even help you drink it."
"Ass," sighed Starrk, trading places with the injured shinigami and allowing his injured friend to take a breather as the togabito wiped his bloody hand across his face, giving him a mad and demonic appearance.
"If I'm going to go back to Hell, then I'm taking you two with me!"
There were five things Yachiru Kusajishi loved most in the world, more than absotively, posilutely anything.
The first was Kenny, of course. Kenny had been there for as long as she could remember. Since she was even tinier than she was now, Kenny had taken her everywhere, taught her everything she knew; how to eat, how to play, and how to nap. He was her papa in every way but name, and she would always treasure him close to her little heart.
The second thing she loved most of all was Byakushi. He was the prettiest thing in the history of ever, even more than Yumi was, and he always had something good to eat! What made it even better was the fact that Toshi's Lieutenant, Big Boobies, kept saying that he was "on the market"! As soon as Yachiru had heard that, she had begun saving up all of her pennies; she figured that once she had the money, it would be a matter of making Kenny go to the store and buy him for her, and Byakushi would have to make her his Princess.
It was the greatest plan in all of forever and Big Boobies had smiled really big when Yachiru had told her.
The third thing she loved most in the world was anything pink and sweet. Pink was the best color anybody could think of, and candy was super good, and anything that was pink and sweet was mega-super-wayout wonderful! Sometimes she ate so much sweet stuff that everybody looked like they were going super-slow, and nobody ever saw her, even when she was standing right next to them and jumping up and down and up and down and up and down, which was really neat!
And her fourth favorite thing? Well, that was Kenny's pocket, which was just big enough for her to curl up in. Yachiru loved to pretend that she was in a fort, or a hole in the ground. The best part about Kenny's pocket was how she could peep her head out when he was fighting, which meant she could see everything up-close!
And the very last thing she loved in the world, the one thing that, even if the other four things disappeared forever and ever and ever, was just that.
Watching Kenny fight!
Yachiru watched as the hairy man and Kenny slammed into each other again, hopping up and down with her tiny hands held high in excitement. "Yes!" she squealed. "Yes, yes, yes!"
Baldy was looking at her with his one unswollen eye and said something about weird little kids, but she paid him no mind, instead focusing upon the wide smile on Kenny's face.
Kenny was having fun!
Kenpachi Zaraki spared a glance in the direction of the happy cheering, his wide, psychotic smile widening a little at the sight of his greatest fan. He blinked hard, using his empty sword hand to wipe blood and sweat from his face.
This...was the best goddamned fight...ever!
No matter what he did, no matter what he threw at this Damned invader, the bearded man met it with gusto and gave it right back, and then some.
Near immediately, they had both discarded of any clothing on their upper bodies. For nearly thirty seconds, they had circled, each eying the other's scarred torsos in open admiration.
And then, they had charged each other.
His eyepatch, the one thing that kept him from flexing his spiritual muscles all the way, had been cast aside within the first five minutes.
Wolf the Quarrelsome merely roared in acceptance of a challenge.
Ten minutes in, the kendo techniques that had sat rusting in the corners of his mind had been shaken of dust and cobwebs,
The Celt had met this with a prayer to some woman named Eire and charged forward.
Twenty minutes after that, Kenpachi Zaraki actually began to maneuver around his opponent instead of merely planting his feet and waiting.
The barbarian had beaten his fist against his chest and, red-faced, told his opponent to "stop running like a wee rabbit and fight like a man!"
And so, Zaraki had assumed a stance and stood firm, meeting and parrying blow after blow of the massive war ax with his own nameless, notched blade.
Blow.
After blow.
After blow.
Time ceased to have meaning. An hour or a day, a day or a century, it didn't matter.
Zaraki swung down at the shaggy head. The shaft of the ax blocked it, and a booted foot lashed out and caught him in the side. He reciprocated with a punch to the face.
Wolf gave a wild roundhouse with his huge weapon. His opponent swerved just out of range and attempted to stab him. Leaning forward, he gave a savage bite to the offending forearm, feeling a piece of skin tear off in his mouth.
Pain was completely ignored. Their bodies were throbbing masses of bleeding gashes, mashed fingers, busted lips, broken noses.
They didn't care. It was bliss, testosterone-driven, red-misted, near orgasmic bliss.
And then the unthinkable had happened.
Wolf the Quarrelsome had pulled some strange, flippy movement with the butt of his ax handle, and the battered sword flew out of Kenpachi Zaraki's hand and sailed into the black shadows, somewhere in the ruins of what had been buildings.
The demoniac Shinigami didn't give two shits for the buildings.
He did, however, give two shits for his lost weapon. As useless a zanpaktou it was, it still made for a good sword, and not even the most notorious Kenpachi since the First had disappeared was foolish enough to believe he could beat someone almost as good as he was without a weapon.
The thought, however, was intriguing...
He turned to the invader, conscious, in a roundabout way, of Yachiru's cheerful warning to him that he should start getting serious.
It was at this moment that he realized something...
He was being serious, as serious as he had ever been. Kenpachi Zaraki had only ever been this serious with a handful of other people in his entire life...but none of them had challenged him.
The Old Man and Yachiru Kenpachi had been those people, and both times, he had been the one to throw the gauntlet. Never had someone come to him, asked for, no, demanded a fight, and actually managed to hold their own when he had gone full throttle.
Wolf the Quarrelsome, however...
He was a different story altogether. Kenpachi Zaraki was an adept at sensing reiatsu levels, and this guy was exactly even to him in terms of strength.
And now, the twelfth man to bear the title of Kenpachi faced a man who could go toe-to-toe with him...and he had no weapon.
Wolf the Quarrelsome smiled wickedly at him, and Zaraki felt a twinge of something he hadn't experienced for a long while.
Fear.
And that made him smile.
This day just kept getting better and better!
Hell, it wasn't even his birthday!
"Well, now..." growled the Irish berserker, accent thick around broken teeth. "Seems like you've got a bit of a problem, eh, boyo?"
Zaraki laughed and twisted his neck side-to-side, enjoying the accompanying crackle. "Yeah, well...whatcha gonna do, right?"
Wolf merely stared at him.
Then he began to chuckle.
Zaraki, after a moment, began to snort himself.
Their sounds of amusement built, until they were both bent over, roaring with laughter.
"Man...this is great, ain't it?!" choked out the Captain.
Wolf guffawed. "Last time I had...this much fun," he gasped, "I slit open a man's stomach...tied his guts to a tree...and made him walk around it!"
Zaraki's eyes bugged out as he slapped his thigh. "Bullshit!"
"Oh, aye, I did it! He squealed like a wee piglet!"
Some distance away, Ikkaku Madarame eyeballed the two men laughing like old friends. He then turned his head to look at Yachiru, who was staring at them as well, a puzzled look on her face. "Um...are they telling jokes, Baldy?"
He shrugged. "Hell if I know, kid."
Slowly, the laughter began to subside. Finally, the two madmen faced each other, smiles still playing about on their lips.
"So...you gonna go get that crappy knife, or what?"
Zaraki shrugged. "Nah...don't really need it." He raised his fists. "Let's see how I do without it."
Wolf frowned. "Well, that's no good. I'll rip you apart like a pike on a minnow, I will..." He looked down at his ax, hefting it in one hand. "Ah, feck it."
He heaved it over his shoulder and threw it. The black metal of the blade and haft shone in the moonlight as it buried itself in the wood of a freestanding wall some yards away.
A wall that Ikkaku happened to be sitting against.
He stared at he ax, not an inch away from the side of his head.
He swallowed. Hard.
Zaraki widened his grin even more, the gap where his left upper canine should have been wet with blood.
Wolf responded with a feral smile of his own, mimicking his foe as he raised his own fists. "Seems more fun this way, don't it?"
Zaraki responded with a thunderous haymaker to the man's chin. "Goddamn right it does!"
Wolf returned with a straight right.
And so the fight went.
The minutes passed, and neither seemed ready to give up. Yachiru squealed in delight as she watched another tooth fly out of Kenny's jaw. "Oh, wow! Wow! Wow!"
"Will you shut up, brat, I'm trying to watch!"
She responded by launching herself at Ikkaku's head and gnawing on it.
And beyond them, the fight continued.
Soon, any semblance of form or technique vanished as it turned into an iron man brawl. Almost in coordination, like a choreographed scene in a play, the two men stood, closed-stanced, alternating punch after punch.
The Kenpachi would punch with his right to Wolf's face.
Wolf would respond with his own right to Zaraki's face.
Zaraki would then lash out with his left to the other man's chin.
The berserker would strike with the same fist to his counterpart's chin.
Over and over, this cycle continued...and neither one seemed to slow down or weaken. Indeed, it was almost as if they gained speed and power as the time stretched on. Punch after punch, strike after strike, they slugged it out.
And then, almost at sub-sonic speed, they both hit each other full in the face at the same time.
They both flew back, hitting the hard dirt simultaneously.
And the laughing started again, albeit weaker and not nearly as loud as before.
"Holy...shit..." Zaraki rasped. "Never...fought...anybody...this...long..."
Wolf nodded, though the motion was less like nodding and more akin to rubbing his wild black hair in the dirt. "Aye...sure...and I never...found...nobody who could...keep up...with me..."
The Kenpachi struggled into a sitting position, leaning an elbow on his knee. He spat another shattered tooth to the side, examining his broken knuckles. "So...ready to start again?"
Silence followed.
"Hey..." He lifted his drooping head to look at his foe, who had scrabbled to sit up himself. "Ya...ready yet? Lets...keep going..."
A chuckle. "Sorry, lad...I wish...I could...but I'm done..." The Kenpachi's lionish yellow eyes snapped open and he stared at the other man. Wolf was staring at his hands with a strange, almost remorseful look on his bearded mug.
"The hell...you talkin' about?"
And that was when Wolf the Quarrelsome smoldered and then burst into flames.
Zaraki blinked. "What the..."
Wolf lifted his burning head. "You should be proud, boyo. Nobody else, and I mean nobody," and he held up a fist, "has ever beat me in a fight." The flames started to lick at his beard and flyaway hair.
"But you just did."
Zaraki started to get up, but his knees wobbled beneath him and he sat down again. "Aw, this is stupid! We didn't even finish!" He looked around desperately, searching for something to quench the Hellfire. "We haven't killed each other or anything! Don't quit on me now!"
Wolf smiled dangerously. "So, that's how you feel, eh?" The fire was now enveloping his whole body, tongues of flame reaching into the night. He pointed to the weapon in the wall across the clearing. "Tell you what; keep the ax." He stood up. "I'll be back for it someday...and I'll take it from you and kill you with it, see if I don't!"
The Kenpachi blinked, then his smile ripped across his face again. "Alright...but you better come back!"
Wolf the Quarrelsome raised a hand in farewell, even as his body began to crumble into ashes. "Stay strong, lad; won't be no fun if you ain't!"
As the berserker faded, the cinders blowing in the wind, Zaraki nodded. Then, he slowly got up and made his way over to his subordinates.
Ikkaku stood at his approach. "Nice, Captain!"
Zaraki grunted as he pulled the black axe from the wall, hefting it experimentally. "Yeah...good fight..."
Yachiru hopped onto his shoulder, heedless of the blood and dirt. "Yaaaay, Kenny! Kenny won, Kenny won, Kenny won, Kenny—"
"Will you pipe down, you little brat?!"
Blocking out the sounds of his Lieutenant and Third Seat bickering, Kenpachi Zaraki, twelfth of that title, lifted the battle axe to his shoulder and began sauntering off.
Thus ended the best battle of his life. Not only did he have a great time, he'd scored a sweet prize, too.
Damn ax would look good over his desk in the office.
Now, he thought, all he had to do was recover his sword...
"Yachiru, which way did my zanpaktou go?"
An immediate answer piped up. "To the left!"
"Really, Kenpachi? You're trusting Yachiru with directions?"
"Of course Kenny is! I'm the bestest direction person ever!"
"I guess we aren't counting all the times we've gotten lost because of you. Face it, Yachiru, you suck at—STOP BITING MY HEAD, DAMMIT!"
Zaraki sighed. Maybe he would just use the ax for a while...
If Renji Abarai really had a plan, then Ashido Kanō certainly could not see it.
The behemoth form of Zabirmaru's bankai, for all of its great power, lacked the speed to be any real threat to the battle-hardened, polearm-wielding togabito the two shinigami were currently facing unless Ashido played the role of decoy and provided a distraction, and so far that hadn't been panning out so well.
Time and again Ashido would dart in and engage the Damned, this Oda Nobunaga, and keep him busy for several agonizingly-long seconds while he waited for his Captain to make a move, but Renji did not seem inclined to seize the chances being given to him; instead of attacking Nobunaga from behind or above, more often than not the great bone serpent would come screaming in from the front, almost as if Renji wanted the togabito to counter.
But that was ludicrous...
...wasn't it?
They had been working together for a year now and Lieutenant Kanō had yet to fully understand what went on in his Captain's head even on the best of days and the most normal of circumstances; Captain Abarai's methods were bizarre, unorthodox, and often reckless. He did not share his plans readily and instead seemed to trust that Ashido would catch on and simply go with it.
It was frustrating.
But...it usually worked.
The hooked end of the polearm caught Ashido's black shihakushō and yanked the Lieutenant off of his feet and to the ground. Nobunaga tore his weapon free of the fabric and raised it high like an ax, preparing to split the downed Soul Reaper in two, but skull-headed form of Zabimaru came rushing forward and forced the togabito to dive out of the way as Ashido pressed himself flat against the ground, letting the giant weapon hurtle by, missing him by mere inches.
The snake twisted, turning and re-directing all of its momentum back at the dodging togabito. White, boney jaws, large enough to swallow a man whole, snapped at the Damned, gouging into the stone street and devouring multiple rock tiles as Nobunaga continued to dodge.
Ashido carefully rolled to his left, crawling out from under the belly of the serpent and wondering once again what Renji's plan was.
Across from Ashido, Nobunaga narrowly dodged the gnashing jaws one more time and jumped astride the massive vertebrae as Zabimaru sailed by. He raised his polearm menacingly, preparing to drive the blade down in between the links of bone and sever the cord of spiritual energy that held the weapon together.
"NO!" cried Ashido, hoping up on the serpent's spine and running towards the togabito at full speed. He couldn't allow Nobunaga to destroy Zabimaru or—
Zabimaru bucked suddenly, throwing the Lieutenant off and to the ground as Nobunaga's polearm plunged in between the vertebrae, piercing the flow of spiritual energy that held the bankai together. The serpent cried out, a great, bellowing roar that echoed across the city as the red glow of spirit energy faded and the boney segments began to fall to earth like broken toys.
...and yet, Renji had a strange smirk on his face.
Was this...was this what the Captain had been wanting? Had he been trying to get Nobunaga to do this all along?
But why?
It made no sense to Ashido; with Zabimaru broken, what hope did the Captain have for victory? Time and again Ashido had risked it all to prevent Nobunaga from delivering such a death blow, but now...
"It's over, shinigami!" declared Nobunaga, standing tall among the ruins of Zabimaru. "Without your monster, you have no hope!"
The togabito rushed Captain Abarai eagerly, his stolen haori fluttering madly out behind him as he charged...
...and Renji rushed forward to meet him, wielding nothing but the broken, boney tail-tip/hilt of Zabimaru as a weapon.
Renji dodged a wild swing from the polearm, arcing his back as he leaned away from the deadly tip and allowed it to sail across his chest harmlessly. The danger passed, he stood back up and clubbed Nobunaga across the face with the broken tail fragment, dazing the togabito and forcing him to stagger backwards.
Ashido could only conclude that his Captain had finally lost it.
Still, even if that was indeed the case, he had an obligation to help.
"I'm not finished with you yet, Damned!" challenged Lieutenant Kanō, rushing to his Captain's aid. Nobunaga smacked Renji across the face with the butt of his whirling polearm before spinning around to block Ashido's zanpaktou, a feral grin of arrogance etched on his face.
"You're both fools!" laughed Nobunaga, batting the Lieutenant's blade away. "You couldn't even defeat me with your pet snake and you still wish to fight? I had no idea Soul Reapers were so stupid!"
He whirled back around just as Renji recovered, dragging the tip of his polearm across the Captain's chest.
Renji did not stop.
He pressed forward, bashing the hilt of Zabimaru upside Nobunaga's face again and forcing the togabito to take a step back again. The Damned kicked Renji in the gut with all his might, sending the Captain tumbling back across the ground and out of the fight for a few seconds before turning to face Ashido once more.
Ashido spared a quick glance at his Captain, to make sure he wasn't seriously injured...
The grin was back.
Renji made a brief, jerking motion with his head, indicating something. Ashido frowned, wondering what the other man had in mind...
He followed Renji's gaze to the remains of Zabimaru, specifically the great skull.
The stark-white head of the beast lay in two pieces, a lower jaw and an upper, the great fangs pointing up towards the sky.
Ashido gave a brief nod before he turned his focus back to Nobunaga.
He understood.
...partially, at least.
His nameless zanpaktou came up to meet the shaft of Nobunaga's polearm, each man digging their heels in as they pressed their weapons against one another, each trying to gain leverage in a battle of strength versus strength.
Ashido could not afford to lose.
He grit his teeth, digging deep and giving a roar as he began to slowly force Nobunaga back, one step at a time...
...right towards the open maw of Zabimaru.
Ashido didn't understand why his Captain wanted the togabito herded over to the skull, but he had no choice but to trust the madness brewing inside Renji's head. Nobunaga had missed the nonverbal communication between the two shinigami earlier, had been too confident in his impending victory to pay them any attention and with any luck, that arrogance would be his downfall.
Nobunaga took another step back, resisting Ashido's blade with all of his might. He adjusted his stance and buckled down and the Lieutenant could not force him to step back any more; the Damned had lost as much ground as he was willing.
Time for a new strategy, then.
Ashido relaxed, letting Nobunaga win the test of strength and shove him backwards with a mighty heave. The shinigami stumbled backwards before regaining his footing and quickly somersaulting over the togabito, but Nobunaga had clearly anticipated such an answer and he thrust his polearm skyward to skewer the shinigami.
But just as he had expected the somersault, so too did Ashido anticipate the counter.
He twisted his body in midair, allowing the blade to piece his side and carve a shallow, non-fatal wound into his abdomen. He hit the ground hard, making a show of being gravely injured as he crawled away from the seemingly-triumphant Nobunaga slowly.
"And so it ends..." said Nobunaga, shaking his head as he advanced on his retreating quarry. "I expected so much more from the both of you..."
"You spend a lot of time gloating," remarked Ashido as he passed through the space between the two separate pieces of Zabimaru's skull. "Are you so pathetic that you need to make such a grand show of reveling in even the tiniest of successes?"
"Big words from a wounded animal that's about to be put down," said Nobunaga, drawing closer. Ashido ceased his crawling on the other side of the skull, clutching his side and grimacing as if too weak to continue any further.
And Oda Nobunaga came to a halt in between the two jaw fragments, looking down at Ashido with that cocky grin once more.
"You've barked your last, little dog," he said condescendingly as he raised the polearm up to deliver a finishing blow.
"I don't think so," declared Renji off to the side, forcing Nobunaga to look in his direction. The Captain flashed another blooded grin as he waved the broken tail tip at the confused Damned. "Sayonara, Nobunaga!"
The massive boney jaws suddenly slammed shut, acting like a massive bear trap as the familiar red glow of spiritual energy began to chain its way through the severed bone links, reforming the great beast once more. The serpent rose into the air, Nobunaga still trapped inside the jaws. For a moment, the Lieutenant could only stare in shock at Zabimaru, confused that it was whole once more.
Still, despite his confusion, the Soul Reaper couldn't help but admire his commander's cunning; contrary to what others might say, there really was a brain inside that wild mess of red hair after all.
"Is he dead?" asked Ashido, getting to his feet slowly.
"Not yet..." answered Renji as the tip of the polearm slid out of Zabimaru's mouth. Inside the skull, Nobunaga worked frantically to pry the massive jaws open.
"You think this will stop me?" he screamed. "I'll be out of here in moments—"
"Lieutenant, I need you to put a muzzle on that for me," said Renji simply. Ashido grinned as he turned to look up at the beastly skull and the togabito trapped within.
"My pleasure, Captain," he said, holding his arms out, flat of his palms facing the serpent. "Bakudō #63, Sajō Sabaku!"
Winding, golden chains materialized in the sky, shooting forward and wrapping themselves around the great serpent's jaw. The glowing links of energy began to tighten, cinching the mouth of the beast shut as Renji nodded in approval.
"That'll do," he said softly, stepping forward. He looked up at the impressive creature that was his bankai, sorrow reflecting in his face.
"Sorry about this, Zabimaru," he whispered before steeling himself, the look in his eyes becoming hard and merciless once more as he raised the tail-tip into the air. The crimson links of energy that made up Zabimaru's spinal cord began to glow brighter and brighter, with tiny shafts of scarlet light coming out from the jaws where Nobunaga was still attempting to pry himself free.
"Hikotsu Taihō!" roared Renji as one last burst of energy, brighter than the others, went shooting through the spinal cord towards the head.
The bone cannon fired, but with the serpent's jaw bound shut...
Zabimaru's head exploded into ten thousand tiny bone shards with Nobunaga's last, pained scream echoing across the morning sky. A burning haori bearing the insignia of Squad 5 wafted down from the heavens, the flames devouring the white fabric as it descended. Bits of skull rained down as the massive vertebrae came crashing to earth, their impact thundering across the division. Nobunaga's polearm cartwheeled through the air, tumbling end over end before coming to a rest with its blade jammed into the dirt.
Renji fell to his hands and knees, gasping as the destroyed Zabimaru began to revert to a normal sword, the bone fragments turning back into tiny slivers of steel.
"Captain!" cried Ashido, rushing to his commander's side. "Are you okay?"
Renji coughed, turning his body and sitting down on the ground. He looked at the broken sword hilt in his right hand sorrowfully.
"I'm fine..." he said at last, "but Zabimaru..."
"If Zabimaru is half as stubborn as you are, then it will be fine," Ashido assured him. "It will recover. It will forgive you."
"Yeah..." said Renji, a faint smirk playing at his lips. "They're going to be bitching about this for a long time, though..."
"Let them," said Ashido, helping the Captain to his feet. "Just remind them that their sacrifice secured the victory."
"And they'll never let me forget that..." muttered Renji as he dusted himself off. "Whatever... That's one invader down, but I think it's time we go find the leader; you game?"
Ashido gave a faint grin, now confident in their abilities as a team, even if Renji was certifiably insane.
"Lead on, Captain."
Boji was confused.
When he and his tribe had agreed to follow Kokutō and escape Hell, he had been under the impression that they would be an unstoppable force sweeping through the city. The thought had been appealing to the Mongols; to be able to loot and pillage at will once again, to be feared by all... It had been a gift from the ancient warrior gods!
But this...this was no gift.
His entire body ached. He was no stranger to pain as pain was life, but this was...different. He'd been stabbed before and indeed, he felt like he had been stabbed in several places now: left thigh, left shoulder, right forearm, right foot, left ankle, and the right side of his stomach ached where he had almost been pierced again, the weapon or whatever it had been had grazed the skin with enough force to tear some flesh away.
And the darkness...
He could not see the stars above anymore. He could not see the light from the many fires burning across the city. He could see nothing.
Behind him, he heard his men groan in pain: Orin, Ghen, Kidu... They didn't sound any better than he felt and he twisted his head as much as he could to look back at them, but all he could see was the darkness.
He pulled, trying to free himself from the bonds that held him, but he could not. It felt like...steel rope? Was such a thing possible?
Possible or not, that was what the objects piercing his flesh felt like; cold and strong like steel, but with the general flexibility of rope as the bonds moved slightly, but not enough to let him free himself. He moved his left arm as much as he could, grimacing against the pain in his impaled shoulder. He grabbed the steel rope-thing and tried to pull, but it would not come loose; whatever it was, it was securely anchored at both ends. He tried to let go of the rope and drop his hand back down, but quickly found that he could not release his grip.
The rope or cable or whatever it was appeared to be very sticky as well, and his hand was now firmly attached to the strand. He tugged on it, but it was painfully clear that his skin would come off before the adhesive would release him.
A sadistic chuckle flooded his the darkness, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
"Girl!" he spat bitterly, knowing it had to be the smart-mouthed, silver-haired wench from earlier.
The ropes began to vibrate, as if someone were climbing along them slowly.
"Welcome to my parlor," the girl repeated as she neared, "said the spider to the fly."
Spider? Was that what this was? Some kind of hellish spiderweb?
The vibrations on the rope ceased and a brilliant light flickered to life a couple of feet in front of him, a magic glowing sphere of some sort... What did the shinigami call their magic? Kidō?
The girl casually attached the kidō ball to a free strand of the web that was simply dangling down from somewhere up above, illuminating the immediate area for Boji. The Mongol looked around, noting that he had been right about the steel rope as countless metallic strands could be seen running everywhere, crisscrossing throughout the area, piercing his flesh and creating a little dome that blocked off the view of the night sky and the approaching dawn.
The girl sat perched on one of the sticky, silver strands of metal directly in front of him, but her movements didn't appear to be hindered in the slightest.
Then again, why should she be affected by her own powers?
She grinned malevolently as she held up her clawed gauntlets for Boji to see, pure sadism gleaming in her ice blue eyes.
"Jūkyō," she explained, "the 'Ten Terrors.'"
She gestured to the web around them.
"Jūkyō's spirit is a spider," she said. "You know, just in case that wasn't obvious at this point."
"Spider have eight leg," said Boji.
"God, your grammar is terrible," sighed the girl. "But yes, spiders only have eight legs." She turned her hands, facing her palms inwards and hiding her thumbs. She wiggled the eight visible fingers and the long, slender blades attached to them.
"Eight legs," she said before turning her hands back around to show her thumb blades, "and two fangs."
Boji squinted his eyes in the dim light and he could see a greenish fluid slowly oozing its way from the tips of the serrated thumb blades. He swallowed hard, already knowing what it had to be.
"You do know how spiders kill their prey, don't you?" asked the girl, grinning as she reached forward to put her hands on his shoulders gently. "Their venom liquefies the victim from the inside out. Very painful. Very slow."
She drove her thumbs into Boji's shoulders and he felt the venom enter his system, felt it burning its way through his veins.
"I don't actually eat my prey, of course; that's just disgusting," said the girl conversationally. "Jūkyō would probably be happier if I did, but...ew. Anyway, while the venom does its magic, why don't you sit back, relax, and enjoy the screams of your friends?"
She grinned once more before reaching up and squeezing the ball of light between her fingers, extinguishing it and leaving the Mongols trapped in the terrifying darkness once more.
Boji felt the web vibrate again for a few seconds, indicating movement, but he couldn't discern which direction she was headed in.
And then the vibrations stopped.
Did she stop moving or was she able to move that stealthily when she chose?
For several long moments, nothing happened.
The waiting, though... It was agonizing for Boji; he was trapped, his men were trapped, he knew it, they knew it, she knew it, and all they could do was wait for the end...
But nothing.
No sound. No movement. No sign of the mad girl.
He heard Kidu breath out a long sigh of relief behind him, obviously thinking the girl had fled.
*SHLUNK!*
The sound of metal piercing flesh reverberated through the small, enclosed space, followed immediately by Kidu's anguished scream.
The scream continued, but the other sounds changed; the sound of bones breaking, of bones being sawed, the swish of quick slices, the wet sound of muscles and skin being ripped and torn, the splatter of liquid hitting the ground below... Boji felt a splash of warm fluid hit the back of his head and begin dripping its way down his neck and he knew all too well it was Kidu's blood.
"Witch!" Boji raged at the girl before he felt a sharp, burning sensation in his gut. His natural reaction, his body's first impulse, was to double over in pain, but the web held him firmly and he could not move. He coughed and this time it was his own blood that came out, dribbling down his chin.
The venom was destroying his insides.
The screams gradually came to a halt and there was a brief flash of light somewhere behind Boji, a burst of heat, and he knew Kidu had been sent back to Hell.
"That's one..." said the girl in the darkness. "Now, who's next?"
Silence again. The web didn't move.
"Eeny, meeny, miny..."
*SHLUNK!*
Orin began screaming.
"...moe."
Boji listened to his comrade scream, unable to turn to help him, unable to do anything but listen. He opened his mouth at one point to demand the girl stop, and three of his teeth fell out.
He could feel his own body dying, bit by bit. He felt his skin thinning and breaking, his fingernails loosening and falling off. His eyes began to burn and something wet rolled down his cheeks and he wasn't sure if he was crying in fear and pain or if it was blood, courtesy of the venom that was slowly dissolving him from the inside out. All he could do was pray for a swift end but as the minutes passed and Orin continued screaming, it became painfully obvious the girl did not care about making it quick or merciful for anyone. He heard Ghen whimpering fearfully, knowing he would be the next victim dissected, but as for Boji...
He knew. He understood now. The girl would not come for him. She would not come to carefully slice his skin off and cheerfully pull his muscles and tendons apart. She would take her time with Orin and Ghen, would make Boji listen helplessly as they died, all while the toxic venom slowly chewed his body apart.
Kokutō had promised them freedom, but had instead delivered them into an even worse Hell.
"God...damn...you...Kokutō," he rasped, blood and teeth dropping from his mouth with every hate-laced word.
But no one could hear him, least of all Kokutō himself, wherever he was. No, no one could hear him over the sounds of Orin's screams, Ghen's sobbing, and the girl's grisly work.
Outside the web, Takk and Satsu just looked at each other as they listened to the muffled screams coming from within the web. At the base of the structure, a red pool could be seen seeping out through the tiny, imperceptible spaces between the webs.
"I-I don't even want to know what's going on in there," Satsu whimpered.
"Welcome to the horror show, indeed," muttered Takk, recalling Haname's release command.
Several long minutes passed and the sky begin to lighten, the darker blues of night fading way to the brighter colors of the dawn. How long had it been? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Thirty? Takk couldn't tell, but he felt a twinge of pity for the men trapped in Haname's web.
The last of the screams finally faded away and the web began to crumble away into dust, as if it had never existed in the first place. Haname Shiba stood in the center of a disturbingly large pool of blood and ash, flexing her claws before recalling her zanpaktou into its sealed state as a pair of punching daggers. The gore-soaked assassin calmly slid the sealed weapons into its scabbard at the small of her back and walked over to the two twins.
"You two idiots okay?" she asked, her concern sounding surprisingly genuine.
"Yeah..." Takk said slowly, his throat dry. "We're...we're good here."
Haname gave another one of her predatory grins, nodding in satisfaction as she sat down right between the two brothers, her blood-heavy robes making a disgusting squishing sound as she sat down. Excess crimson fluid began to seep out from around her, creating a tiny pool.
"This has been a great night," she sighed happily, nudging them with her elbows. "You know, we should really do this more often."
Takk just gave her a nervous smile, nodding to placate the assassin.
Satsu simply fainted.
Haname paid no attention to either man as she stretched her long legs out and leaned back against her palms, watching the morning sun creep up over the distant horizon with a contented smile on her blood-streaked face.
"Best Halloween ever."
Most of the time, Lilynette hated her small size. She hated not being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the adults around her, she hated comments about her size in school, she hated looking at the world around her and feeling so damned puny...
But tonight, tonight she was thankful for her small size and the speed that came with it.
Tesla Lindocruz, the boot-licking servant of Nnoitra Gilga, had released his zanpaktou and transformed into a beast of monstrous strength, but he had no speed and he could not land a solid blow on Lilynette.
Considering he could likely end the fight with one hit in his current form, yes, Lilynette was extremely thankful for her small stature.
The hulking, bipedal warthog-ish thing that was Tesla lumbered about, swatting at Lilynette with his oversized hands, snorting in frustration as the lithe girl deftly rolled out of the way, making sure to stick her tongue out mockingly for good measure.
Of course, she couldn't even hurt him anymore, which meant her own chances for winning had dropped to somewhere so far below zero that she didn't care to think about it.
She'd hit him with her equally-small zanpaktou more than a few times, watching as the blade harmlessly bounced off his thick, leather-like wart-covered hide. With Tesla in this form, she no longer had the strength to pierce his flesh or do anything more than annoy him, but Lilynette was positive that if she could keep him busy long enough, surely Starrk or Nel or someone would come save her.
Well, save her and that wimpy shinigami cowering in the corner. What was his name again? Hamtaro? Yeah, that was it; Hamtaro.
As long as Tesla continued to chase her and ignore the petrified kid in the corner, everything would be just fine. Lilynette grinned smugly; she could keep up this pace for hours if she had to. Playing soccer with Karin and her friends had helped her build up her speed and agility and while she never dreamed those soccer skills would help her in a fight, she was now grateful for the long hours of playing and practicing.
Even the games that they had actually lost to those high school kids.
Stupid high schoolers!
Well, first things first; keep Tesla Wart-Face busy, save the shinigami, then go home and beat up the high schoolers.
Again.
She hadn't taken too well to losing to begin with and had bloodied a few noses before Karin and the others pulled her away and dragged her off down the street "to safety."
Safety for them, maybe.
Stupid, wimpy high schoolers!
She hopped back from an open handed slap-smash that impacted the stone street, shaking the ground violently beneath Lilynette's feet. She stumbled slightly and Tesla moved to capitalize on it, swatting at her again, but the younger hollow did a back handspring, a move she'd only recently learned from her idol Nel, and narrowly dodged the oversized hand once again.
And once again, she found it appropriate to give him a raspberry as she landed.
"If you won't stand and fight, maybe your little friend will," rumbled Tesla finally, turning away from Lilynette and slowly heading towards the shinigami.
Uh-oh.
"Not a chance, fathead!" called Lilynette, throwing caution to the wind and leaping for Tesla's exposed back, her zanpaktou raised to stab him through the back of his neck.
And then...
*WHAM!*
Tesla spun with a speed that belied his great size, backhanding the smaller arrancar viciously. Lilynette went sailing through the air, crashing into a stone wall that adamantly refused to budge under the brutal impact of her tiny body. The stone shuddered and cracked but remained upright as the wounded girl slid down its surface to the ground, knowing that a few of her bones were now broken.
Her zanpaktou had been knocked from her hands by the surprise hit, sent flying off somewhere beyond her blurry sight. She coughed, wheezing painfully as she did and clutching at her chest.
"This is why you should not strive to be like Neliel," Tesla scolded her, snorting behind his pig-like mask. "Your concern for others makes you soft and weak, makes you vulnerable. You could have run away. You should have run away."
"I..don't...need a...lecture...from you!" spat Lilynette defiantly as she got to her feet, body quivering as she braced herself against the wall. "I'm no coward! I don't run from people in need!"
"And once again you spit in the face of my generosity..." said Tesla, moving closer. "I would have let you flee, Lilynette. Because of the camaraderie we once shared in Los Noches, I would have let you flee."
"Bite me!"
A hoofed leg shot out and kicked Lilynette brutally, this time plowing her through the stone wall completely. She sailed back several meters and hit the ground, skidding to a halt amid the rocky debris.
She didn't move.
"Finally dead?" asked Tesla.
For once, there was no smart-mouthed answer to be had, only silence.
"As weak and foolish as your mentor," said Tesla, turning back around to face the shinigami.
"No..." muttered the scrawny male fearfully, eyes fixated on the dead child-like arrancar behind Tesla. "You...you killed her!"
"And you're next, little one," promised Tesla. "This is all your fault, you know; if you had just given up and died at the start, none of this would have happened."
"M-my fault?" he echoed. "No! That's not true! You did this!"
"We'll just agree to disagree as I break every bone in your body," growled the menacing warthog.
"G-get...away...from...him..."
Tesla stopped, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder at the living dead girl who had somehow found the will to get back to her feet.
"Well, this is unexpected..." he said finally, turning back to face Lilynette.
"I told you...I won't...let you...hurt him!" panted the smaller arrancar, her body shaking. She took a step forward, collapsing to a knee as soon as her foot touched down upon the ground.
"You're in no shape to be making threats, Lilynette," Tesla reminded her condescendingly.
"Shut up!" she yelled, standing up once again on wobbly legs. "I...I won't...lose...not to you! I-I won't...let you...hurt anyone!"
"Perhaps I should give you the same treatment Master Nnoitra gave Neliel; that should put you in your place," sneered the massive, muscular beast as he towered over the wounded girl. "If you want to be like Neliel so much, it is only fitting, after all..."
He raised a massive fist into the air.
"Or perhaps I should simply crush you like an insect..."
Lilynette trembled, her broken body unable to move, unable to run or defend herself. All she could do was wait for the end and Tesla knew it as well as she did. She shut her eyes tightly as the fist began to move, plummeting down with frightening power...
It smashed into the ground, leaving an impact crater a full meter and a half across in the stone street.
Lilynette blinked in confusion, realizing that she was somehow still alive and now five meters away from the other arrancar, despite having been unable to move on her own. Her confusion only grew when she realized that there was a pair of arms wrapped around her protectively, arms wearing the familiar black of a shinigami's shihakushō.
"N-Nel?" she asked hopefully, turning her head to look at her savior.
The woman holding her was most definitely not Neliel.
Short, silver hair with long braids framing a kind face, a Lieutenant's armband... "W-who are you?"
"You're safe now," said the shinigami with a soft, comforting smile before looking up at Tesla, her expression hardening into one of anger. "And you! You should be ashamed of yourself, beating up on children!"
"Spare me the self-righteous lecture," snarled Tesla. "If she wishes to fight like a man, she can die like a man. And if you wish to interfere, then you can die along with her."
"I think my Captain disagrees with you," said the shinigami coolly, giving a faint nod of her head in Tesla's general direction.
"You invade our home, attack my officers, and try to murder a child..." said a voice behind the arrancar. "I cannot forgive these transgressions."
The warthog-like arrancar turned, glaring hatefully at the woman approaching him; long, dark hair tied in a braid the ran drown her chest, a white haori, and a long nodachi-like zanpaktou... He did not recognize her as anything but a Captain and a female, and he bristled at the thought. A woman had no place in war, least of all in a command position! Master Nnoitra would be incensed were he here and as Nnoitra's loyal servant, Tesla had a responsibility to put this arrogant bitch down!
Cold, ice blue eyes glared at Tesla with a menace that gave him pause for a split second, a terror creeping up his spine that he'd never felt before. Something was wrong with this woman...he got the impression there was something much darker lurking just beneath the surface, a sadistic creature of nightmare the likes of which was too dreadful even for the harsh deserts of Hueco Mundo...
"Normally someone as pathetic as you wouldn't even be worth my time..." said the woman, her words laced with pure venom. "But since you see fit to bully those weaker than you, you have earned my ire."
The arrancar bristled at the nerve of this insolent woman, using the indignation to push aside his feelings of trepidation. How dare some weak female insult him!
"Who do you think you are?!" roared Tesla in defiance, the last of his fear finally crumbling away. She'd gone too far now, had to pay for her insolence—
"Your death," whispered the woman in his ear...from behind.
He'd never even seen her move!
He went to turn, to squash her like an insignificant bug, but something was horribly, horribly wrong; he fell forward, confused...
His legs were still standing right where he had been, but...
"B-bitch..." he gasped as his severed torso burst into flames, disintegrating as it hit the ground. His lower half fell to its knees before a bright flash of hellfire consumed it, leaving only faintly-glowing ashes in its wake.
Lilynette gulped at the overwhelming display of speed and power as the dark haired woman snapped her long zanpaktou to the side, slinging the dirty blood from the blade and then sliding it back into its long scabbard in a single smooth motion. Her icy blue eyes turned to look at Lilynette and her terrifying face suddenly softened, becoming much warmer and more matronly as she approached.
"Isane, go tend to Hanatarō, please," she said softly, smiling gently.
"Yes, Captain!" said the other woman, withdrawing her arms from around Lilynette and moving away, leaving the arrancar alone with the killer Captain.
The older shinigami knelt down to be eye level with Lilynette, a kind smile still on her face.
"You're pretty banged up," she observed softly. "Have a seat and I'll patch you up."
Lilynette couldn't budge save for a tremor of fear going down her spine.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you," promised the shinigami. "I saw everything; you risked your life to protect one of my officers. I could never hurt someone that selfless and brave. Please, sit down and relax."
Lilynette swallowed once before obediently sitting down, keeping a nervous eye on the dangerous woman. The Captain gave a comforting smile as she held her hands up and a green glow appeared, instantly soothing the pain in Lilynette's aching body. She could almost feel her wounds slowly repairing themselves.
"I am Retsu Unohana, Captain of Squad 4," said the woman pleasantly before nodding towards the other two shinigami. "This is my Lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, and my seventh-seath, Hanatarō Yamada. What's your name?"
"Lilynette Gingerback," said the girl, the tension and fear finally draining from her beleaguered body.
"It's good to see you again, Lilynette; I wondered what happened to you after Karakura," said the woman with a warm smile. Lilynette cocked her head in a questioning manner and the woman's smile widened a tad. "That's right, you don't remember, do you? I was the one to treat you after the battle there."
"I...what?" stuttered the confused girl, prompting a light, good-natured laugh from Captain Unohana.
"I had just come back from Hueco Mundo and treated as many of our own wounded as I could when an arrancar with red hair just appeared in front of me," she explained as she worked on the small arrancar's wounds. "He begged me to help his friends, his 'Pack,' he called them, saying that they were no threat to us and that they just wanted to live in peace and when I agreed, he picked me up over his shoulder before I could change my mind and ran to their location... He was fast, so very fast...I'd never have kept up with him on my own...I suspect even Lady Yoruichi would have a challenge holding pace with him! He brought me to you, a man with long, brown hair, and a blonde-haired woman..."
"Starrk and Tia," blurted Lilynette.
"Those are their names?" asked the woman. "Well, the three of you were unconscious and in pretty bad shape, but I did the best I could before leaving to go take care of the rest of my comrades. I've always wondered what became of you all."
"We...we live in Karakura now," answered Lilynette hesitantly, still not entirely sure how well she could trust the Soul Reaper. "We have ever since the war. Everybody has a job but me, and I go to school and play soccer with my friends and we all live normal...ish. But when Nel came by and told us you guys were under attack..."
"You came to help us," finished Unohana for her. "You came to save your former enemies. That's very noble of you."
"Yeah..." said Lilynette shyly. "I didn't do a very good job, though."
"You did fine, Lilynette," Unohana assured her. "And I know for a fact that Neliel will be very proud of you. I'd certainly be proud to have an officer like you in my squad."
"Y-you would?"
"Yes, I would," nodded the other woman. "As it is, with the Seireitei short-staffed at the moment, I do believe I have a temporary opening for an honorary Soul Reaper, if you're interested in helping me."
"Hell yeah!" cheered Lilynette enthusiastically before clamping a hand over her mouth belatedly. She removed her hand and gave a sheepish, apologetic grin. "I mean, Yes, Ma'am!"
Unohana just chuckled lightly.
"Well, let's get you patched up and then we'll go see who else we can save."
"Your turn."
"Again?"
"Shut up and go hurt him."
"Hurt myself, you mean..."
Starrk sighed as he traded placed with his partner once again, letting the tired Shunsui lean against the pile of debris that, up until five minutes ago, had been Yamamoto's office. The shinigami groaned as he settled against the stone, shedding the blood-soaked pink haori he usually wore over his white Captain's haori.
"And you call me overly-dramatic," said Starrk, decking Cain across the face with a right cross. Cain reeled from the impact, his eye blackening as a bruise began to form and swell. Likewise, Starrk stumbled back a bit, his own eye swelling shut and making it difficult to see. "...did not think that one through."
"Well, at least you didn't stab yourself," said Shunsui in what was supposed to be some kind of reassurance. The shinigami peeled his red-stained white haori off now, carefully wrapping it around his bloodied waist and cinching it tight.
"That's not a stab," commented Starrk, blocking a wild swing of Cain's blade with his own zanpaktou. "That's just a little cut."
"If it were any deeper, my insides would be my outsides," countered Shunsui.
"Yeah? Nothing compared to what you did to me over Karakura," Starrk pointed out as he stabbed Cain in the right thigh, grimacing as he did so. "Remember that one? I sure as hell do!"
"How many times do you want me to apologize for that?!" asked Shunsui. "Come on, man, let it go!"
"Don't want an apology," Starrk clarified. "I just want you to quit bitching about getting a tiny papercut."
Starrk parried Cain's stolen sword and quickly thrust his own blade forward, slicing into the togabito's wrist and severing the tendons. The sword tumbled from Cain's grip, followed shortly by Starrk dropping his own sword.
"You know, you're complaining as much as I am," observed Shunsui. "And that? That was just brilliant."
"Shut up and get over here," growled Starrk, limping away from the togabito that simply refused to die. He slapped Kyōraku's shoulder. "Tag, you're it."
"Already?" muttered the shinigami, stumbling forward. "I'm getting too old for this."
"I'm getting too beat up for this," said Starrk. "You could just do that little game thing from Karakura, the one that really hurts."
"Yeah, no," said the Captain. "Not trying to kill myself if I can avoid it. Also, let it go!"
"Just a thought..." shrugged Starrk as he picked up Shunsui's discarded pink robe and ripped a long strip of cloth from it to bandage his leg.
"Hey!"
"I'll buy you a new one," promised Starrk. "If you don't die."
"If I don't die..." repeated the Captain slowly. "You know, I'm really starting to think he won't die unless one of us does."
"Not it," quipped Starrk.
"Yeah...that's what I thought," came Shunsui's dry reply as he stood up straight and rolled his aching shoulders. "You do know CPR and basic first aid, right?"
"CP-what?"
"I can already tell I'm going to regret this..." sighed the Captain, shaking his head. "But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and all that jazz."
The Captain stumbled forward towards Cain as fast as his battered body would allow him, taking advantage of the fact the togabito was now disarmed and crippled. The large, curved blade of the right half of Katen Kyōkotsu pierced Cain's stomach, easily sliding through flesh and organs and out the other side.
Both men coughed up large quantities of blood. Shunsui raised his left-hand sword up, preparing to bring it down into Cain's collarbone, but the wounded togabito shot his hand up and caught Shunsui's wrist, squeezing it so tightly that the wounded Captain was forced to drop the weapon. Both men stumbled back away from each other, the scimitar-like Katen Kyōkotsu sliding out of Cain's stomach as easily as it had entered.
With a roar, Cain lunged forward on unsteady legs, thrusting a spearhand into the jagged hole in Shunsui's stomach, further damaging his insides. The Captain shuddered violently and Starrk hobbled forward on his injured leg, yanking Cain away from his friend and hurling the togabito into the dirt several meters away.
Shunsui collapsed, breathing hard and going pale as Starrk also went flying through the air, his movements mimicing Cain's.
The togabito stayed down, unmoving, but Starrk pushed himself back up to his feet and slowly limped his way over to Shunsui's side. He knelt beside the injured shinigami and rolled him over onto his back, taking the tattered remains of the pink robe and wrapping it around his wounded stomach tightly.
"N-now that's a stab," panted Shunsui, giving his friend a goofy grin for a second before wincing in pain. "Jesus Christ, that really hurts!"
"You could have killed yourself, idiot," scolded the arrancar.
"Well, that was kind of the idea... I kill him, I almost die... It worked, didn't it?"
Starrk looked over at the togabito laying in the dirt.
"I think so, but..."
Cain began to stir once again, slowly getting to his feet.
"Y-y-you've got to be k-kidding m-me," wheezed Shunsui, clutching at his wounded abdomen. "H-how is he still moving? I c-can't..."
"You're a tough bastard," Starrk told his friend. "He's tougher."
"D-damn it..."
"You're a tough bastard," Starrk said slowly, smiling at his downed comrade. "Tough enough that you'll survive. I'll finish this."
The primera stood up, taking a shaky step away from the wounded shinigami and towards the undying togabito.
"I'll make sure I finish it," he said. "If I don't..."
"S-Starrk, don't go there."
"Tell Keiko goodbye for me. Tell her that I really care about her. Tell her whatever she needs to hear to get through this," said the arrancar softly. "And Lilynette... Tell her I love her and that I'm very proud of her. Make sure she's well taken care of... I'm sure Nel will take her in, or Ichigo's family..."
"S-S-Starrk," repeated Shunsui, struggling to sit up. "Don't do anything s-stupid... He's...a-almost...dead.."
"He's going to be all dead in a minute," promised the arrancar solemnly.
Cain sneered at him, beckoning for him to come forward.
"I'm fine right here, thanks," said Starrk. "I've never tried this without releasing my zanpaktou before, but..."
He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching inside for the fabric of his soul, grabbing hold of his considerable reiatsu. He pulled on it with his mind, stretching it, straining it, tearing it...
A single ghostly wolf appeared at his side as he fell to a knee, gasping. The ghost wolf was his most powerful attack; semi-sentient, mobile bombs, each forged from a fragment of his soul and immense reiatsu and each packing more power than a cero blast.
"Not...enough..." he panted, reaching inside once more. He tore off another fragment of his soul, and another...
Three ghostly wolves fanned out to protect Starrk, who opened his eyes to find himself lying face down in the dirt.
It hurt, tearing his soul... It was easy to do when in his Resurrección, when his spiritual energy was at its max, when it was overflowing to such an extent that he had a hard time controlling it, but when it was condensed into a lesser form, like now... His throat was dry, parched. His very essence was screaming in pain inside his skull, but he shut the noise out; this had to be done. Cain had to be stopped. He pushed himself up to his feet, shaking as he did so; damage done to the body was one thing, but damage to the soul...
"It's over, Cain," he rasped. "No more."
"You think your little dogs scare me?" sneered the togabito defiantly. "I've murdered hundreds of Hellhounds with my bare hands!"
"Starrk!" cried Shunsui. "Don't...don't be stupid!"
The arrancar simply raised his open hand, gesturing towards the togabito.
The three wolves charged ahead, lunging at Cain and sinking their fangs deep into his flesh.
Starrk shuddered as he felt the teeth tearing into his own body, bloody fang-marks appearing on his body despite the absence of any actual teeth, but he stubbornly remained on his feet.
"Don't do it!" shouted the injured shinigami desperately. Starrk glanced back over his shoulder, giving his friend a pained smile.
"See you on the other side, amigo."
The ghostly wolves began to glow intensely, a bright, vibrant blue that lit up the last few dwindling shadows of night. Starrk closed his hand and Shunsui shut his eyes, unwilling to watch what came next.
But he could still hear the sound of the explosion and the screaming all too clearly.
...
..
.
Author's Note: Yachiru and Kenpachi's segments were donated by ziggy so props there. Wolf is a fun character...too fun to write off entirely. It's possible we might see him again someday.