Well this one didn't take me so long. Probably because one of my all-time favorite characters is in it. And not to mention we now get to see the fourth in action, awesomesauce.
Merry Christmas everybody!!
It was like living one of her less bizarre nightmares. Isane felt helpless as she watched the flash of steel sweep through the air, the gleaming edge of her sister's sword set to carve her in half. It was only quick reflexes and nimble movements that saved her as she dodged away from the weapon. Like enacting some kind of vicious dance is what it felt like as Isane twisted, spun, and ducked from the deadly edge of her sister's zanpakutou. "This isn't real, it can't be!" She shouted as she bent backwards, watching the sword pass only inches from her face. "There is no way you can be Kiyone!" Taking the lull to draw her own blade Isane immediately blocked a series of strikes while countering as best she could… already wishing she'd paid more attention to the art of kendo back at the academy.
Kiyone had never been very skilled in attacking, but her defensive skill was exceptional; more so than even a typical third-seated officer. Isane remembered this fact a little too late as her own sword was almost wrenched from her grip by a simple parry. Though she retained her hold, the window was already exposed. Kiyone kicked out and caught her sister right in the stomach. The blow almost folded Isane in half as she was sent skidding across the floor for a few meters. It took her only a moment to get back on her feet and just in time to block a downward sweep. They were face to face now, both fighting to push the other back.
Despite her predicament, Isane could not help but look down slightly. Something had caught her eye before, but the furious duel had been too fast for her to get a better glimpse. It only took that gap of attention, that lapse of awareness the arrancar took advantage of and struck. The blow against Isane's side sent her flying into one of the nearby pillars. Slumping to the floor she covered the new gash, blood already beginning to seep through her fingers. It was deep… very deep. The pain alone forced an anguished grimace from the lieutenant as she forced herself up again, trying her best to heal as much as possible before she was forced to fend the aggressor off once more. But… maybe she could buy some time... even if only a few seconds. "Who are you?" She gasped… the pain intensified as she stood up straight.
"Don't you recognize me?" That same sweet voice… it wasn't going to work a second time.
"You're not my sister. You think I wouldn't know my own sibling?"
"What, don't believe your own eyes?" The tone had changed, Isane could tell. The voice was wavering.
"Yes, I do… Kiyone is left-handed… and her sword isn't pink." Without even retorting the arrancar struck again, but this time Isane stopped her dead in her tracks. "I may not be the bravest, or the most talented healer, but those who use my own sister's face to trick me don't deserve my good graces… espada."
"Well now, those are fighting words." The imposter grabbed onto the sword holding her back, squeezing until blood began to drip from her palm. "I thought you were against wounding others?"
"Even those sworn to the service of aid must draw their sword in earnest one day."
"That's poetic… but also the reason I can't stand you people. You never stick to your own damn ideals!" Suddenly pulling her blade away the arrancar slammed the pommel into Isane's stomach, instantly knocking the wind right out of her. The vice-captain wasn't even given the chance to recover before Kiyone spun around, her leg swinging to land a powerful kick right into her adversary's sternum. Driving Isane back into the pillar she was held there by the arrancar's foot. She gasped in pain as the imposter slowly twisted her heel into the sensitive bone beneath it. "You say one thing and do another… feign honor while moving about like assassins and murderers. It sickens me to even think I share some of the same powers as you!"
The arrancar let her foot drop, but only long enough for Isane to fall away from the pillar before delivering a punishing roundhouse to the woman's shoulder. The blow was followed by the wet crack of bones breaking as the lieutenant flew straight to the other side of the hall and impacted against the wall. The kick alone had inflicted such force the stone behind Isane crumbled and cracked when she fell away from it. "And in the end, you cannot even stand up for yourself." There was no response. "Or even keep yourself from getting killed. Honestly, what idiots cannot even gauge their own opponents before challenging them? So then, what will you do now, shinigami?"
"Dash, Itegumo!"
"Hmm?" The arrancar's eyes went wide as a spear of ice shot out right at her. She drew a fist back and met the projectile with a solid punch, instantly shattering it. The moment she did the shards of the spike burst, enshrouding the imposter in a cloud of snow-colored mist. "What the hell is… ah… AH!" The moment she took the vapor into her lungs an icy burn filled her whole chest. The arrancar fell to her knees, taking shorter and shorter gasping breaths.
"I am not the one who is so sadistic as to use the image of a sibling to gain the upper hand! My own sister is not some tool of war!" Isane emerged from the dark side of the hall where she had been thrown. Her left arm hung limp at her side, blood dripping from her fingers. But, in her right, her shikai was leaving a trail of icy mist in its wake. "So, I cannot in good conscience allow you further use of such underhanded tactics." The arrancar just hissed as she tried to stand, but was brought down as she tried to take a breath. Rolling onto her back she began to claw at her throat and chest, desperately trying to take a even a hint of air into her unresponsive lungs. "Try as you will, my zanpakutou already has its hold on you. The ice particles you inhaled have already begun to target the water in your cells, freezing every ounce of liquid each carries. It creates icy spears like the one you blocked, but once broken it envelopes my enemy in a frozen cloud. The ice need only touch the skin for the cloud to begin its fatal work. Such a disgraceful weapon for a healer, but one I carry none the less."
Isane approached until she was standing directly over the imposter. Lifting her sword over her head she looked down into Kiyone's face. "Should my sword pierce your skin and touch your blood, it would freeze everything… instantly. This is my shikai's power; running rampant like an infection to turn the whole body to ice. Once under its influence, no one can ever escape." Stabbing the weapon down Isane pierced the imposter and didn't stop until she felt unyielding stone fight back against her. She immediately turned her head away, not daring to watch as even the liquid within the arrancar's eyes froze. She didn't want that image in her mind… she didn't need that nightmare.
Drawing her blade out she backed away as quickly as possible, bile already rising in her throat. Falling to her knees Isane retched as she threw up, shaking violently as she emptied the contents of her stomach. Tears were streaming down her face as she forced herself up. She couldn't get Kiyone's face out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Even if it had been a trick, her mind still told her she had just frozen her own sister's heart into a solid mass; never to beat again. Finally catching her breath, Isane felt the strength draining from her. The adrenaline was wearing off, and as she dropped back to her knees she felt the tears coming of their own accord now.
That's when she heard it. Clapping… the sound echoing through the hall as its steady rhythm came at a slow beat. Again and again it filled her ears as Isane looked for the source. She found it… whether or not her eyes were lying again. There was the espada, the woman with the big "4" on her neck. She wore a stoic expression on her face… but still she clapping as well. With a frantic turn of her head Isane stared at the frozen body… it wasn't an arrancar, or even a woman. It was the very man who she thought had escaped only a few minutes before. "But… but…"
"As I said, shinigami. Pushed hard enough, none of you stick to your ideals. Your precious code of ethics mean nothing; and that is why I despise you all so much. You're all nothing more than hypocrites. You preach and you prance, flourishing yourselves to all as if it was worth something. Put in the most desperate of situations though, and you are no different than us. You will kill, it doesn't matter what your vocation is… you will always kill."
"You monster!!" Isane screamed as she was on her feet, her zanpakutou already glowing as it prepared to attack.
"Itegumo… an interesting ice-based ability. Most interesting." An ice spire suddenly formed in front of the espada and shot right at Isane. She tried to use a flash step to get out of the way, but the edge of the spike caught her arm and spun her through the air to collapse in a heap on the ground. "I have to say, it is one of the more elegant zanpakutou I have had the pleasure of witnessing. But, like you… it can be made to believe what isn't real." As she tried to stand up again Isane just watched as Itegumo suddenly resealed to its base form. Before she could speak a word in response she winced as the arm that had taken the most recent blow, the very one that was already broken, began to show signs of forming frost. The shikai's icy power was already infecting the skin of her arm and spreading very fast.
Lifting her left hand, the espada showed off Suzumebachi in all its glory as she continued to approach. Despite the pain wracking her body, Isane felt a spike of panicked fear flow through her veins at the very sight of that terrible weapon. Just knowing what it did was half the reason she feared Captain Soi Fon so much. It made her own weapon look pleasant in comparison. "I assure you of this, shinigami. You may call us monsters, villains… hollows even. But, in every meeting our two sides have ever had… yours ALWAYS struck first. Even a healer such as yourself dealt the blow to begin this battle. In all my life I've never started a duel, but I have always finished those that I was forced to engage in. It is this principle I live by, and one Ichigo enforces with an iron fist."
It took all Isane's strength just to remain standing as the espada reached up with Suzumebachi's stinger. She touched the cold metal of the poisoned weapon to the vice-captain's cheek and looked directly into her eyes. "If it meant anything to you, I would apologize for forcing you to endure what you did… but it would be wasted words. At least I need not use the weapon you seem to fear so much. I still have one left." The final blade shot into her grip from the sleeve of her right arm. The espada held it back as her other hand wrapped around Isane's neck. "Perhaps this too is familiar? Grow, Hozukimaru!"
The zanpakutou extended itself as the whole length was consumed by a white light. Isane just stared at the naginata as it completed its transformation. Ikakku Madarame's weapon… one he had not returned with after the "ambush" at Karakura only a few days before. Did this espada collect every blade she could get her hands on? Isane felt almost ill at the though as she could do nothing but watch as the woman drew the long staff back, aiming the bladed portion of it. This was no doubt the power she had been warned about. "I would close my eyes if I were you."
"No..."
"… Brave girl." Isane expected to watch the blade strike forward, impale her through the heart for the quickest end. She expected the gloating laugh of the fourth espada to be the last sounds to ever enter her ears. She did not expect a massive arm to enter her vision and nearly knock the arrancar's head off. The huge fist smashed into the espada's cheek and Isane was free in an instant. The sheer unbelievable strength of the punch had sent the woman flying with such force that she had made a hole in the far wall. It had all happened too fast to really comprehend… but Isane was simply glad she was alive.
Her legs buckled and she fell forwards… waiting for the cold stone to cushion her. Again, her expectations were ended as the same gigantic arm quickly moved under her and picked her up off the ground. Looking up Isane stared into a mass of orange fur and big, but gentle eyes. "... Captain… Komamura?"
"Are you hurt?" His thick, weighty voice was the most blessed sound poor Isane could have wanted to hear.
"I… I am fine…"
"And a bad liar. I will take you from the battle, this is no place for a healer." There was a sound like a thunderclap as a huge chunk of stone was hurled through the air. Captain Komamura drew his hand back again and met the boulder with his fist, growling to himself as the whole thing exploded. "I see I did not strike the arrancar hard enough. A mistake that I will not make again. Vice-Captain Kotetsu, can you move on your own?"
"It won't matter… she'll still come after me… she did for the others... She did for him." Her eyes drifted back to the frozen corpse.
"Kotetsu… can you move on your own?"
"… I… I can, sir."
"Then go, and be quick." Letting Isane stand on her own, Komamura took hold of his sword but did not draw the giant weapon out. Better to wait and see, a useful tactic in any situation. He watched as the espada emerged from the shadows. She cracked her neck as several lines of blood were visible on the side of her head. The legendary resilience of powerful arrancar had not been understated.
"You know… it's been a long time since someone's hit me that hard. It actually hurt." Saijin just stepped back into a combative stance as he saw the espada's sleeves split apart, turning themselves into streamers leading off the woman's shoulders. Her arms were lined with black cloth, almost like a second skin it looked like. But, attached to her right was a large gauntlet. It covered her whole forearm, and rose halfway past the elbow. It was made of some sort of gleaming black metal… fashioned into the form of a skeleton held to the limb by the ribs... if that is what they were. "Been a long time since I've had a good bout. You're a big boy, this should be fun." Giving Hozukimaru a twirl she held it behind her as she pointed the stinger on her opposite hand at the captain. "I'm sure you consent to a duel since you just tried to cave my skull in. What do you say, fuzzy?"
"You did not even sense my arrival. Who are you to challenge me, arrancar?"
"You know what… fine. I'll bite with your ridiculous customs… annoying as they are." The arrancar jutted a thumb at her chest as she puffed herself up. "My name is Sana Suriasona, the Fourth Mas Espada. And you are one hell of a big man… that is of course if you ARE a man."
"I am Komamura Saijin, Captain of the Seventh Division," he said as he actually let go of his sword's hilt. The move brought a smirk to Sana's expression, he was confident enough to not use it.
"Well, this should be entertaining. My little collection has run short, I need some new swords. Yours will do just fine."
"Then come and take it."
"Goading me? Well, put your blade with your mouth is, fuzzball." Komamura shot a wide-eyed glance to his shoulder as Sana drew her foot back, using him as her own platform to land a powerful strike to the captain's head. He hadn't even seen her move. "Especially if you can't keep up!" It was Sana's turn to be surprised as Saijin vanished, already towering over her as his massive fist smashed into her back. Flying like a missile the fourth blew straight through one of the pillars, catching herself against the far wall, splashing blood against it as she did. "He's stronger than Grimmjow… not good." She hissed to herself before launching back into the fray, spear raised to strike.
She struck, but the attack did not reach the desired target. Sana just stared as the captain gripped the shikai's shaft… and opening her to him yet again. Taking the moment to attack first she delivered a powerful kick into the captain's head, but it didn't even move him enough for his eyes to break their concentration. Sana's expression twisted in pain as Komamura's fist planted itself into her chest. Blood splattered from her mouth as she went flying, slowing herself down only just enough to not break all the way through the receiving pillar.
This was going nowhere, and Sana knew she couldn't beat this man by using hand-to-hand. She was strong… but he was a physical power like none other. Every blow to him felt like hitting Ichigo when he was ready for it; and that hurt. The bones in her feet felt like they were ready to crack, and her spine burned from the punishment already received. She would have to resort to other means of combat. Namely her weapons… all of them. Digging herself out of the pillar Sana shot through the air, blades at the ready. She had almost total confidence that he could block this predictable attack… but she needed him to draw that giant sword at his belt. She needed to learn its name. If it meant going in against a clearly superior opponent again… so be it. If she had to, she would use the very powers that had made her an espada.
Sparks flew as Hozukimaru was blocked by Saijin's zanpakutou. Spinning herself Sana struck her opponent across the cheek with the pole's other end before planting another kick into his chest. Again the blow drove him back, but he remained on his feet. In fact, he didn't even look phased even after she'd hit him as hard as she could. "You don't go down easy, do you big guy?"
"I have fought more powerful enemies than you, Suriasona."
"Oh I'm sure you have. I'm sure your long history is rife with battles, dangers… fears. But me make this perfectly clear… you've never fought the likes of me." The vacant eyes of Sana's skeletal gauntlet began to glow bloody red. "You don't know what it's like to be trapped in a nightmare… unable to awaken because you're already awake." The darkness of the far sides of the hall was beginning to grow, the light fading away as the shadows continued to increase in size to the point they covered the floor in an inky carpet. "I can do so much more than toss my weight around. Fool your eyes, trick your mind... but those won't necessarily work on someone like you. A different method must be used." The darkness now flowed up Sana's legs, covering her within it before she simply melted away into the expanse of murk. "So let me ask you, Komamura Saijin… what do you fear most?"
As he kept an eye for the espada to return, Saijin watched as dozens of figures began to rise up out of the hazy black fog. They were completely covered in thick ooze, and the only features about them were their bright red eyes. None of them made a sound as they lifted swords of their own. Saijin just growled, waiting for this new trick to develop. Were these illusions… or was it something else? These things had some spiritual aura… even though it was extremely weak. "One bright morning in the middle of the night…" The cacophony of dulled voices resounded from every oozing thing that now surrounded the captain. "Two dead boys got up to fight…" A nonsensical rhyme… Saijin had heard it spoken before… but where? "They drew their swords and shot each other…"
They were coming closer, most dragging their swords behind them limply. While his instincts cried for Saijin to strike first, that hint of reason told him to not touch these things. Something wasn't quite right about any of them. He would wait until the last moment if he had to. "The deaf policeman heard the noise… so he went and shot those two dead boys... but you cannot kill the dead… we cannot die twice." Dozens of the blackened creatures leapt, charged, and angled themselves in from all directions. Blades dripping the noxious ink as they readied to strike.
With a strong arm Saijin swept his sword out, catching almost half the creatures in its wake. As the halves of over a dozen of the monsters fell away they dissolved back into the darkness… but almost immediately rose again, whole once more. "We cannot die twice… we cannot die twice… we cannot die twice." They spoke those same words over and over again. Those familiar words… where had he heard them? While the captain's mind was still focused on combat, that hint of a voice in the back of Saijin's head could not be denied.
Then, that voice became a roar. He remembered now, though many years had passed since…
"So… this is your decision, Kurosaki?"
"This war has to end before it falls onto humanity as a whole. It's our job to protect humans… it always will be."
"Sacrificing yourself cannot be your last resort. By leaving, you risk never being able to return."
"Well then, I can certainly say I'll miss the council of the giant, eh Saijin?"
"I just don't see the sense in this… at all. You have been a champion of Soul Society for many years. You often leave the Seireitei to see to those outside in the Rukongai and you are beloved by all those you visit. But now you leave all that behind… all for a conflict still contained almost entirely in Hueco Mundo?"
"It's a civil war, Saijin. It's spilled out of the desert five times now. Every one of those turned into a major conflict for us and for them. This has to end. But… you're right, it doesn't make sense either. Sort of like an old children's rhyme back in the human world. 'One bright morning in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. They drew their swords and shot each other. The deaf policeman heard the noise so he went and killed those two dead boys.' I think that's how it went…"
"That makes NO sense."
"Well at least one thing we can both be sure of. If I was one of those boys, I wouldn't be afraid of anything."
"Why is that?"
"You can't die twice. If you're dead, why would death scare you? At least that much is a deceitfully comforting thought. Just don't let it eat at you once I've gone. Goodbye my friend; maybe we'll see each other again some day."
Saijin tore one of the black things from his arm before its blade could strike and swept another wave of them away, sending the pieces once again back into the abyss from which they came. He had chuckled at Ichigo's words back then… but they had always troubled him afterwards. From what he knew, you could die twice. You could perish in the human world, and you could pass on a second time from the spirit realms. He had always pondered what second meaning Kurosaki could have had. "You can't die twice." Those words… they had to be the key.
As yet another wave of the monsters dove in, Saijin lowered his sword. He let them grab onto him, scratch at him and try to pierce into his flesh with their blackened blades… weapons that weren't even there. Knowing that you could die twice… and NOT knowing what could possibly come after had always troubled him a great deal. Ever since that day that Ichigo had left it had been an itch in the back of his mind he couldn't shake. One that never made sense because it wasn't supposed to.
This wasn't just an illusion… this was his own uncertainty. A dark, abysmal hole in one's mind that refused to let go. The parting gift of the ex-captain of the fifth division. The curse of not knowing… and the very step to overcoming it. "I shouldn't fear what is already dead. If these things cannot die again, what danger do they pose to me? A clever, but childish game this is." Though the monsters still clawed and grabbed at him, Saijin just ignored them as he marched forward. They weren't real… there was only one thing to worry about now. Whatever was hidden within the darkness, controlling it behind the scenes. He had to find the espada. "I see the puppets, but where is the master?"
He sensed it perhaps a quarter second before it struck, like the sun's rays on the back of the neck... a heat of danger. Komamura shot to the side as a slender arm burst through the black haze, golden stinger shining as it missed its target. There was the sound of a flash step as Sana disappeared again. She reappeared, driving her leg down to strike at the captain's neck, but he again dodged before the blow could be delivered. The fact she put herself too close for comfort was written over Sana's face as she used the spear to vault herself out of range of the much larger man's punches. It wasn't far enough as Saijin charged, his powerful arm already impacting against the espada's center mass. Her eyes went wide as blood poured from her mouth, the sound of cracking ribs audible even to the assailant. "Is that your power, arrancar? You can call upon meager illusions to make the uncertainties and fears come alive for your opponent?"
The arrancar twirled about, striking away Saijin's hand and slashing at him with her staff. The spear's blade dug a deep gash through the captain's shoulder, but he did not relent. She was wounded now, he had a chance to end things before they could escalate even further. Even as she slashed at him again, opening a bloody cut in his arm he finally knocked the weapon out of the way. Though it remained in her hands, it was no longer in a position to use without an awkward swing… and that bought Komamura more than enough time to get close. Very close.
Wrapping his big hand around Sana's neck Komamura just held her aloft as he looked right into her eyes. "Did you think you were fighting someone brought down so easily by such trifles? You are more foolish than your predecessors to trust so earnestly in such devices."
"And you're stupid to trust your eyes, big boy." The voice had not come from the woman in his hand. As the darkness surrounding him faded away Saijin just looked with apprehension as it all converged into a single figure. The inky black took form as Sana cracked her neck again, using Suzumebachi's stinger to push some stray bangs out of the way. "Too trusting of your eyes." How could she be there when she was already in his grip? Slowly gazing back to his hand, Komamura stared right into Isane's bloodied face. Hozukimaru fell from her grip and clattered to the ground. It only just occurred to him, for the few short moments this girl had been attacking him he hadn't thought to look at her off-hand… or the fact it had not born the golden stinger. Sana had switched places at some point… but when? The more disturbing question was why had Isane even attacked him?
Her eyes opened suddenly as she grabbed the hilt at her side, drawing out Itegumo and raised it high. Saijin let go and backed off before the blade could strike. The lieutenant dropped to the ground, but didn't stumble. She stood straight again, her movements stiff and rigid. Almost as if she was moving on mending bones… and they were mending very fast. "Did you think all I did was cast simple tricks, controlled pathetic hallucinations?" Sana's sickly sweet voice was filling the hall, echoing much louder than her tone would have suggested. As if like Kotetsu's shadow the espada seemed to just appear from behind her, wrapping her arms around the girl's shoulders as she gave the captain a sly grin. "I do so much more than that. I don't use illusions… I don't even trick the senses like you think I do. I make your mind believe what isn't real, I make your eyes see what isn't there. Comparing what I do to paltry gimmicks is an offense. What I do is art."
"… You control the mind itself."
"Such a crude and simplistic explanation. What do you think, Isane? How would you put it?" The girl seemed to think a moment before showing the same grin as Sana.
"The power to turn the mind and soul against one another. To make conflict where there should be none."
"Now hear that, big guy? That's poetry if I ever heard it. But, as you have seen… my power has limits if I don't have that final bridge. The pathway to the soul itself."
"The zanpakutou." Saijin's hand was already unconsciously gripped the hilt of his more and more tightly. "You use the zanpakutou spirit to control both weapon and user. That's why you can wield that which does not belong to you."
"And how many secrets they carry about their masters… it's almost embarrassing the tricks they teach. Would you like to see one?" Placing her toe beneath Hozukimaru Sana flipped it up and grabbed it with a flourish as she moved away from Isane. "It took a lot of practice to figure this out, so I hope you appreciate what I'm doing here." Gripping the naginata's pole with both hands Sana's spiritual energy began to swirl about the whole room, visibly surrounding her in an orange aura of power. The spear was already glowing as a spiraling wind grew from the center towards both ends. A shining light beamed from Sana's eyes as she grinned wide, the spiritual release reaching its pinnacle.
Then, she spoke the one word Saijin would never have thought to hear from an arrancar. For all his battles with their kind till now, the one thing he had never even considered possible.
"Bankai!!!"