Chapter 25: The Big Bad 'B' Word
Hello all! I just read back through this chapter and reallised I posted the one I sent to my beta... oops. Either way, I hope you like this chapter. It... Is... AWESOME! Like seriously, I plan this to be one of the obvious pinnacles of the Soul Society arc, so please read, enjoy, and review!
Also, listen to this with Fate Stay Night Realta Nua OST Burst Up. It sounds... AWESOME!
Then stick Last Strength on when Javan starts to talk, then Demon Carving when Z shows up.
Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, except my own characters, and my occasional moments of awesomeness.
When an elderly man with a moustache means business... he means business. I have no idea if it was due to large experience, his moustache, the action of some maniacal fat nerd kid in the sky or what but when Chojiro pulled out the big bad 'B' word, I knew someone up there must have it in for me.
Seriously, I'm sure Kubo chose to NEVER mention Chojiro having Bankai in the anime just to piss me off. All for this one god damn moment in time!
My god! I was screwed! Screwed I tell you! Royally, totally, definitely SCREWED!
Screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed and SCREEEEEWWWWWEEEDDDD!
Need I explain just how fucked I am right now!
Okay Marc, deep breaths. Deep breaths. You faced Kurotsuchi's Bankai and lived. This won't be any different... even if the pressing feeling of dense Reiatsu is MUCH higher than the research Captain's ever was, despite this Bankai only just having been activated.
I was going to be fine, fine, fine, fine, even if the very release of said Bankai was shifting the sky above, churning it together into a towering spiral of darkening clouds, forcing the elements above to respond to his very will, giving the world around me a great veil of darkness, sapping all colours except for midnight black.
I would live, no doubts about it. I could, no, I will win! I MUST!
…... Even if a whole fuck load of lightning is starting to rain down around the Lieutenants form, shadowing out his form amongst the bright light, as well as scorching the near unscorchable floor.
I had to be positive. This Bankai may be amazingly menacing, but it was still not as hardcore as Tensa Zangetsu, or Sebonzakura Kageyoshi. I coul deal with this, as long as he doesn't get any stronge-
SHEEIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!
He just got stronger! He just got flaming stronger! It feels like I'm fighting with Z all over again.
Then-
FLASH! ZAP!
The obscuring thunder faded away in a final burst of light, as Chojiro's form was revealed. He was dressed in his regular western coat, although more attention was drawn to it due to the lightning insignia's scattered across its surface. He finished off his release by releasing a single, thick bolt of lightning into the darkened sky's above, piercing so high that it could have possibly breached the depths of God's domain itself!
The bolt thickened above him, extending in thickness until a large dome of pure electricity was stationed above the moustached man. His thrust ended and he brought his rapier down to his side, as it faded into nothingness. After all, he needed no blade, the sky was his weapon. Finally, a series of electrical pillars shot from the edge of the dome, pinning it to the walls of the area around us, anchoring his great Bankai to the sky above. The general impression I got of it was that we were inside a great electrical pagoda, a Bankai which was quite ironic due to its holder loving the west so.
"Koko Gonryu Rikyu." (Yellow Glittering Royal Villa Of The Stern Spirit) Declared Chojiro with great finality. He brought his attention back to the nearly quivering mass which was me. "And so now you see, my Bankai. You can feel this pressure, can't you?" I chose not to respond. "This managed to scar the Head Captain himself, back in its infancy. The pure power if it is... unmatched by all but the greatest Shinigami. I may be out of practise but I am still good enough to deal with a few upstarts like you. Because of this, I will give you but one chance to surrender."
"Surrender?" I nervously gulped. "I mean, surrender?" I shoved down that self doubt and played on my own great ego to improve the way I sounded. "It is a great offer but, I must decline. I have things which must be done."
"A shame." stated the injured man. "What of you, Nishisaka?"
Akimi gulped from her perch on the wall. She looked absolutely terrified, I am sure that she has never experienced such a great force of Reiatsu before. "I- I... well I," She turned to me, standing defiantly with my Shikai sword drawn. She seemed to try and draw forth her great courage, the courage she used to go against the wishes of her family's financial supporter. She began to protest but suddenly stopped. She gulped like she couldn't breathe under the force of the great Reiatsu and looked apologetically towards me.
"Well I... I... I surrender." she finally admitted. "Even with full reserves I could do nothing in this situation. I'm sorry Marc, but we can't do anything in our current states. Perhaps we should accept our punishments, then opt for dishonourable exile or something. We should still be able to achieve our ultimate goal as long as our Zanpakuto's are not sealed."
"I can not guarantee the continued existence of your Shinigami powers," admitted Chojiro. "But you should have better chances if you give up now."
I sighed deeply. A hopeless two on one fight has now become a hopeless one on one fight. I would love to give up and be admitted to a cell but the chance of losing my powers was too much to gamble on. Better to fight the hard fight, then try to break out of his Bankai when I have the chance. I could seek shelter with Yoruchi until I needed to make my move.
"I thank you for your gracious offer, Chojiro, but I must decline. My Zanpakuto is vital to my future plans. I can not take the risk of losing it." I gave a faked cocky grin. "Besides which, I would like to test myself against a power such as Bankai. I will happily hand myself in if you defeat me."
"Very well then." responded my opponent. "This is at your own risk." he turned to my ally. "Do not interfere. You will be taken into custody after Mr Solus has lost."
"Sorry Marc." said Akimi again with a small frown. "You're on your own."
"So it seems." I positioned my blade into a more useful position, then prepared to move quickly. "Give it your all Chojiro, hold nothing back."
"Indeed, I look forwards to seeing your self improved Kido's."
We stood adjacent to one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. As it so happened, Chojiro acted first.
With a single wave of his hand a great bolt of thunder was thrown down from above. I acted.
With a burst of speed I charged forwards, my blade poised to deliver a powerful cutting attack when prompted. Two more bolts flew down in front of me, blocking off my rout to attack. I leapt back, narrowly avoiding the first blast as it impacted with the floor. I leapt back a second time as two more shocks were aimed directly at me from the far edge of the dome, shooting towards me like the previous projectiles but with more power behind the shot.
I launched a fast Tamashi Suurasshu at the attack, then fired a hasty Raikoho to block the thunder. Using it as a smokescreen to hide my actions, I leapt back a few more times. I needed to reach the edge of the bridge. There was no room to dodge in my current position.
Chojiro saw what I was doing and countered.
"Dodo To Shita Kabe!" (Regal Wall) Multiple bolts launched down behind me, acting as a temporary makeshift wall.
I cursed, then charged forwards again. I guessed that it required concentration to keep up the wall, thus I needed to distract him quickly. And what better a distraction than a sword in a gut?
"HADO NO 74: SORA YAKETSU YONA ARASHI NO KEN!" I roared, summoning the full powered wind Kido to my other hand. Wielding both swords, I surged forwards like an unstoppable rhino.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
More bolts shot down, like heavens judgement.
"YAAAARRRGGGHHHH!" I swung an I swung and I swung! Either Fumetsu No Tamashi cut them away by coating itself in my Reiatsu, or Hado No 74 decimated the thunder. Bankai was good, but it would still think twice with a Hado No 74, especially since I had used it so much that I was able to minimise the activation cost to such an extent.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I swung, then released. The roaring sky sword shot forwards like a pointy bullet, cutting the thunder in half as it passed. That was how sharp it was.
"NOW!" The blade prepared to detonate.
"Dodo To Shita Kaminari Taiho!" (Regal Lightning Cannon) snapped Chojiro as he removed his previously constructed wall. A bolt surged from above, gathering in his grasp. With a sufficient flick, the bolt was fired forwards, gaining a power up from being in its holders grasp. It extended, then expanded into a wide burst of yellow so pure that you could hardly bare to look at it.
"MARC!" yelled Akimi, obvious concern in her tone.
I ignored her. BANG! I detonated my signature Kido, then move my sword into position as I continued to run forwards. Held loose at my side, the blade pointed low, ready to swing upwards. This was one of my trump techniques, a little side project Hachi helped me with.
"Tamashī Piramiddo- Junsuina Rifurekuta!" (Soul Pyramid- Pure Reflector)
The said technique came about from asking Hachi about a certain pyramid like barrier Kido he knew of. (The one used during the False Karakura Town arc. My memory of those episodes were vague but even I remembered Hachi's legendary fight with Grim Reaper wannabe) With some assistance he helped me incorporate the main features of it into a self formed Reiryoku construct, a final shield as it were. A VERY final shield due to the sheer cost of Reiatsu it requires to form. I can only use it once a day due this, or else I risk losing all of my Reiatsu for the remainder of any fight I use it in.
Anyway, I used it. Gripping my Zanpakuto with two hands, I slashed it upwards, diagonally, tracing Reiryoku as I did so.
SLASH! I continued the path of the cut, moving its direction to create a second diagonally frontal facing strike.
CUT! SLICE! The final two cuts were made, a crude unfinished pyramid was formed in front of me. I looked up, the pure electricity approaches quickly. I had seconds at most. NURRRGGGGHHHH! I poured both concentration and spiritual energy into completing the technique, filling in the frontal facing pyramid, solidifying it with my own hastily formed power. Then with the last second or so, I quickly expanded it using my remaining allocated Reiatsu.
I now held a large blue pyramid, the point facing towards Chojiro.
"TAKE THIS!" I pointed my blade forwards, keeping my construct between myself ad my foe as I charged through his attack. Due to the shape of my technique, the lightning surged around it, being blocked when necessary and diverted away when appropriate.
As my foes technique ended, mine was but beginning. Second step now.
"Tamashi Piramiddo- Fujun Supairaru!" (Soul Pyramid- Impure Spiral)
I thrust forwards, releasing my construct. Not just releasing it. Twisting it. Changing it. Distorting it.
It became edgy. It became dangerous. It became a missile.
"What!?" said he. I smirked, Chojiro mush have been surprised. My altered shield met his hastily enacted second barrier... and pierced through.
"Oshitsu No Kaminari, O No Te!" (Royal Thunder, Hand Of A King) He just had time to call forth a single bolt into his left hand. He then single handedly matched my attack. I called forth my remaining reserves and chanted. I prayed that my final attack, a Hado No 80, would defeat him.
"Calm as the ocean, raging like the fire. Rough like the earth, smooth like the air." I concentrated my spiritual energy into both hands, having discarded my Zanpakuto to have both hands ready and willing to mould the Kido. "Shake in terror as the burden of thy lords opposition drags you down, separating thee preconceptions of thou strongest power!" Only the unaltered version for now, my chances of success greatly decrease if I end up cutting my arms to shreds. "Let the heavens rain, and hell flood over!" the intangible red mass of fire in my hands sharpened and pulsed as it finished forming.
"Hado No 80: Ochita Akenomyosei!" (Fallen Morning Star)
The shape was clear now, Chojiro saw too, gazing in disbelief at the amazingly unstable Kido I had formed. "Im-impossible!" impossible it was...nearly. I held a churning, intangible, shifting and expanding, flat star in my hands. The red matter was comparable to that of a five sided shuriken unable to stay in the same shape for more than a millisecond. This Kido was so dangerous due to its constantly shifting form, it required impossible focus to prevent it self detonating in your hands by being unable to keep its shape stable, cutting your hands to shreds in the process.
But I did it, with a healer like Hachi helping me I managed to get the dangerous Kido working. And dangerous it was, like Hado No 74,it would eventually detonate. Unlike Hado No 74, where all the detonating power is applied to the point and explodes outwards, Hado No 80 would take all the power and apply it purely to its edge, cutting all it meets into an impossibly sliced wound, shredding the nearby area of the wound, guaranteeing amputation nine times out of ten.
Truly it was a terrible Kido, unsuitable in use for combat due to sheer unreliability. Because of this, the Kido never quite caught on in the upper ranked members of the Gotei 13, so it fell into non usage as better and more safe Kido's were suggested.
I smirked, then using all my upper body strength, I threw it at Choiro's chest. The star flew towards its target as a reddish blur, turning dark as it surged through the air like the corrupted shooting star it was named after.
"YARRGGGHHHH!" roared Chojiro in desperation, pulling the very wrath of god down from the sky to try and stop it, applying as many lightning bolts as it took. "Dodo To Shita Kaminari Ransu!" (Regal Lightning Lance) The pure power distorted the air as it tried to destroy the projectile.
It failed. My Kido won. It cut through everything in its path, even godly thunder like Chojiro's.
"GAAAGGGGHHHH!" desperation fuelled the lieutenant as his approaching death arrived.
KAAAAASSSLLLLLLAAAAAHHHHHH!
The star tore his left arm apart from the elbow below, as Chojiro threw himself to the side in a futile effort to survive such an attack.
"GGGAAAAA... GRRAAAAGGGGHHH!"roared Chojiro, his regal composure lost as he stared at his bloody stump from the floor of the bridge, as blood splattered the floor below.
I collapsed to the ground, sweat dripping from my face and neck. I looked at my own hands. Ragged cuts laced my lower arms, while deep notches had been engraved into my palms. It hurt like hell. Like hell, but I was a lot better off than Chojiro, that was for sure.
I panted and panted and panted. I was drained, completely and utterly. The last move was my final gambit, I would be unable to fire a weak Byakurai at this point, forget about putting up a counter attack. If Chojiro continued onwards, I would lose. I would die.
"Marc?" interrupted Akimi, gazing with such amazement at me matching a Captain, marvelling at the pure destructive potential I had packed into that attack. Then she saw my hands... and Chojiro's arm. The looks of approval turned to disgust. With good reason to as well, that stump wasn't pretty to look at. I hoped I would never have to fire that at a human target ever again.
In fact, I swore not to ever use it on a human target ever again. If that had hit Chojiro head on...
I shook my head. That didn't even need thinking about. If I used that Kido on a vulnerable human I would be as bad as Z. If I used a technique which caused the same amount of damage as his attack... I wouldn't be able to live with myself as a person.
I panted, unable to speak due to sheer exhaustion.
Finally, one of us rose. Me?
It wasn't me. Of course it frigging wasn't.
Chojiro, using some form of medical Kido to limit the bleeding and cauterise the wound, rose from his position on the floor to gaze at me with great loathing. What had once been mild threat at most had now become a serious threat to him. I could not be allowed to live now, was what he thought. Things had gotten serious.
"Marcus... D... Solus. You... you! This... this was... how? How could you activate... such an unusable... Kido? You... you are a threat. If this had been any other lieutenant... you would have won! You could have... marched past them and completed your goal. You cannot be allowed to live."
"Wait... what?" demanded Akimi, speaking my exact thoughts. "What the fuck do you mean?! You said you wouldn't kill him!"
"You shall die now."
"NO!" yelled Akimi, trying to desperately free herself from her own Kido.
"Silence!" snapped Chojiro. With the wave of his remaining hand, a single shot of thunder was fired at Akimi. Akimi fell silent. "You shall live... you are not a threat." Akimi seemed to only be unconscious. At least one of us would get out of this alive.
I prepared for the end. I focused all my efforts on remaining conscious. I decided that I would jump into the pit below. Perhaps I would survive the fall.
He gathered a strong bolt from the sky with his remaining hand, then pointed it at me, like Zeus scolding a naughty Hercules. He threw it before I could jump.
"GYYYAAARGGGGHHHHH!" I called out in immense pain as it hit, the voltage of the attack surged through my system, throwing me backwards across the bridge. I rolled a metre or two, then stopped just before the steps.
I could see him marching towards me through half shut eyes, through darkening vision, a bolt in hand, ready to finish me off.
I admitted my mortality then. I wished to live... but I think I accepted that I should have given up when I had the chance.
I thought of Akimi, Kasumi, Daichi, my fallen comrades. At least they would live.
"MARC!" snapped a voice in my head, Javan, it seems. "Damn it Marc! You can't die, you son of a bitch!if you die, so do I!" I felt Reiatsu flowing into me, familiar power, Javan power. "Our contract may have ended, but I still need you to live, its too soon to die. Accept my power you stubborn bastard! Don't leave Akimi alone, don't let Z remain unpunished! There is too much you must KNOW!"
I felt it flood into me, power, enough hastily granted Reiatsu to form maybe one more powerful attack. One shot then.
It wouldn't matter. I had nothing, I was falling unconscious. Nothing to be done. I couldn't even... I couldn't even concentrate enough to manifest my FUCKING Zanpakuto!"
"DON'T GIVE UP! KEEP TRYING!"
"MAAARRCCC! DON'T DIE!" called out Akimi, having forced herself awake, I could sense tears in her eyes from her speech.
That's right, Akimi! That name... it gave me power... determination.
Akimi.
Kasumi.
Daichi.
They were what I had to live for. They were my friends, my family, my allies in this world. Could I leave them alone? They would seek Z even without me there, could I let them go off while I died?Could I give up knowing that they would continue without me, only to fall by that bastards hands?
The answer is NO!
No, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no,no ,no, no, no, NO!
My true nature in Undying Soul after all, I can't die yet.
So if I can't die, I MUST live and to live, I MUST win!
Win? What could win? I could win.
I pushed myself onto my knees, as the sound of approaching feet came closer.
THINK MARC! FOCUS!
Let's focus, shall we?
Let's do an attack. The strongest attack. Fuck self damage. If blows up on me, so be it. Hado No 80 altered is my only hope, my own salvation. If I must live, then Chojiro MUST loose. But how?
Let's focus. Jump though that imaginary circle. Gather my energy...
FUCK!
I keep slipping away. I can't focus. I can't bloody focus enough!
What about my Zanpakuto? No. I can't use it.
I can't visualise it, I can't call it forth.
I can't FOCUS!
He keeps walking forwards, that electricity threatening to destroy me when he reaches me.
Think of everyone else, I need to win!
How should I do this? I need focus to make my blade, which I lack. I need a blade to win.
Kido then. No. for that I need control.
I have no control.
My Zanpakuto controls. Reiatsu. It controls Reiatsu... or Reiryoku. Whatever the fuck it is, it controls it. Manipulates it. Shapes it. Moulds it.
Control... control... control.
I need my Zanpakuto to control Hado No 80 altered, but I can't summon it.
Control.
Control.
Control.
Wait a minute... CONTROL!
If my Zanpakuto controls all my own Reiryoku which touches it, what about myself? That Zanpakuto is a physical aspect of my soul, of me. Isn't that what they say? That a Zanpakuto is formed from the Soul of the wielder, that it fundamentally is the wielder.
Therefore, I control the Reiryoku which touches that blade. Meaning, that blade is me.
I am the blade. The blade is me.
Who says I need to use a Zanpakuto to control my own power? I AM my Zanpakuto, my Zanpakuto is me.
I think of my Shikai. The energy I summon through it, the controlled energy which I throw, which I shape, which I manipulate. I think of my Shikai.
I think that mantra over and over again, as Chojiro slowly limps towards me, as Akimi cries, unable to act.
'I am the blade. The blade is me.'
I force it, I gather that dark blue energy of mine and I force into shape. I gather it and I condense it and I DO IT FUCKING RIGHT!
The small shuriken of doom forms in my hands, a small mass of shifting destruction, died dark blue instead of red, by my own power, dark as my resolve to win, even if I must use a technique I vowed never to use not one minute ago.
The next step. The step which turns an impossible to forge amputator into an impossible to forge shredder.
I repaeated the step to forge the shuriken, focusing on the image of my friends, of Z's smug face, of Akimi's tears. Three times I did this. I effectively replicated the shuriken I made previously, forging three identical, if not imperfect, copies. It wasn't perfect, it was a failure compared to the one time I pulled it off under Hachi's tutelage, but it would have to do.
I did it though, even if the extra shuriken were flawed. I did it, ignoring all the damage I was doing to myself in the process.
I made four impossible cutters overlap and move through one another at different angles. One horizontal, one vertically, the other two crossing over in an X shape, giving the impression of a vague sphere. I made a projectile which would tear apart anything it encountered with the sheer amount of cutting edges.
I pretty much made the Rasengan of the energy projectile world. I made Naruto fanboys across the world fume in anger at not havinng thought of it themselves.
I smiled.
"Wh... what?" said Chojiro in confusion. He saw the Hado No 80 Altered, remembered my comments on altered Kido, then saw what I had done.
"TAKE THIS!" I called out, using my remaining will power to struggle to my knees, then I threw it. I tossed it in his direction, watching as it arced towards him with unearthly accuracy.
He barely threw himself to the floor, not even trying to block the attack. I smirked. Exactly as planned.
I never wanted to use Hado No 80 on a human again... so I didn't.
I used it on his Bankai.
The shuriken like fallen star curved upwards, then shot towards the centre of the dome.
I prayed to god this would work. If a Bankai is destroyed it can never be used ever again, unlike Shikai which will fix itself after being broken. I remember reading that.
If this worked... Chojiro would never be able to lift a weapon again.
CLAAASSHHHH!
The dome met the impossible attack, meeting its onslaught of strikes head on, crackling as it tried to use all of its electrical power stored in there, brought in from the clouds above, to try and destroy it.
CRACK!
"YYEESSSSS!" declared Javan, momentarily forgetting our conflict to see the result of my Kido. I had cracked the Bankai. The Bankai remained perched in the sky, a series of shattered pieces which quickly faded away.
I had FUCKING done it! The Bankai was down for the count.
"Impossible!" declared Akimi.
"I know, right." I smugly responded, not realising that I had must have pissed Murphy off or something.
"Futile." spoke Chojiro, as I fell to the floor once more, energy spent.
I saw why he said that. As I looked, the dark clouds above regathered the power necessary to create the dome, then re-FUCKING-made-it!
"I was... scared." he declared, rising once more, his hand gripping his bloody stump. "If that... hit me... I would have lost. Dead. Instead, you targeted my Bankai construct, which unlucky for you... can repair itself as long as the dark clouds remain in the sky... and for as long as I have Reiatsu." He strode forwards once more, arriving at my fallen form. "And now you are a dog with no more new tricks. You've lost."
I looked up, defiant to the end.
"NNNNOOOOOOO!" spoke Akimi distantly, as if I could barely hear her.
"Goodbye... Solus."
His fist lightning covered fist slowly plunged towards my heart-OH-MY-GOD-I'M-GONNA-DIE It plunged.
I shut my eyes, praying for saviour. I didn't want to die. I WANTED TO LIVE!
CLANG!
Silence. Ominous silence. I don't know what I expected.
I expected pain. I expected hurt.
I expected numbness or something.
I didn't expect this.
I wasn't...dead.
I opened my eyes... to see a saviour I did not expect.
A man.
…...
A man sheathed in a darkened cloak, like a poisoned knife would be sheathed in a ragged pocket.
…...
A man who wore armour like a knight, yet had nothing noble or chivalric about him.
…...
A man who had blood on his hands, both in a literal sense and sometimes a literal sense.
…...
A man who wore a notorious mask.
He stood before me... kneeling in front of me... blocking the attack... looking straight into my eyes!
He stood, he turned to Chojiro.
From the floor I saw him stumble away. His hand was bloody somehow. His knuckle looked wrong. It looked like he had punched a wall.
A wall... or a suit of armour.
"Good afternoon... Chojiro Sasakibe."
"What... how... who?" garbled the western lover in confusion.
"I believe that before... I introduced myself... as Z." He turned back to me. "I am afraid that I can't let you kill Marc, not just yet."
"You... you're that man who killed an academy student all those years ago." pointed out Chojiro.
"Is that all I'm known for?" Z seemed almost upset. "I would have preferred it if you counted a few of the other deaths I have caused as well. I like my notoriety, it would make it easier for littleMarc to remember me."
"What... the... FUCK... are... you DOING here?!" I finally managed to croak out.
"So you don't want to live?" asked the bastard almost FUCKING pleasantly.
"So you... are Z." whimpered Akimi, finally having met the man responsible for the death of two of her friends. I don't think he was what she was expecting.
"You're working with Z, aren't you Marc!" Chojiro began to laugh. It looks like he's finally lost it... or the blood loss is getting to him. "It all makes sense! It was all planned... wasn't it? From the academy onwards... you already had it all planned. I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you killed Captain Aizen! Yes... this was all planned!" that comment was amazingly ironic. It was all planned, just not by me. Chojiro began to laugh again. "THAT'S IT! YOU BOTH MUST DIE NOW! TRAITORS AND KILLERS THE LOT OF YOU! Dodo No Kanikawi, Ten No Ame!" (Regal Lightning, Heaven's Rain)
From above the, air crackled with the sheer amount of electricity being generated. The dark clouds were temporarily replaced by pure yellow.
"DIIIIIEEEEE!" He roared, pulling his only hand into a fist and thrusting it downwards.
Z gave a small chortle, raising one hand in front of him. "This attack will fail. You will fail."
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every single jolt of power in this Bankai construct was went towards the two of us, from any and all angles, a machine gun of thunder.
Then something amazing happened.
Z, with the essence of confidence, smirked. He spun in wild and energetic movements, a twirling dance of pure controlled bursts of power as he deliberately threw himself into conflict with Chojiro.
SLAM! He swung his arms in an X movement to deal with a particularly nasty lightning bolt. From the pores on his armoured arms, small explosions detonated outwards, scattering the bolts.
SLAM! He spun, his elbow met the next shots, sending off small bursts of power from that single point on his elbow, shattering the thunder.
SPIN! SLAM! His torso shielded my fallen form.
SLAM! He palmed forwards, sending out an explosion of such power that it dwarfed the great rush of flowing currents and voltage.
SPIN! SLAM!
SPIN! SLAM!
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
Again and again Z moved with the grace of a striking cobra, with the same deadliness of a trained assassin. Every move analysed and calculated, no wasted effort. It was rather humbling to see the man I hated fighting at full power.
Time and time again he stopped the barrage of Chojiro's Bankai.
Again and again the prick shielded me.
Until finally-
It ended. The barrage stopped, as the spiritual power fuelling the Bankai faded. Chojiro fell to the floor, starved of power, not a drop left after his attempt to overpower the masked killer through sheer amount of attacks.
He overcame the storm though, Z sailed effortlessly into calm, open waters. The target I sought to kill was stronger than I initially expected.
"Why!" cried Chojiro in anger. "Why can't I kill you?!"
"Because I will allow but one person to take my life." he gazed at me. "He will not die until I allow it."
Chojiro rose, his endurance was commendable.
"Give up." declared Z. "Your fighting was impressive. You will live if you leave now. I have n reason to destroy you."
"If I leave... then Solus will escape." He glared at me, still on the floor, spent of energy. "My pride will not allow that killer to escape!"
Z laughed. "Wrong, yet again. Neither of us were involved in Aizen's supposed death. Our so called alliance is also wrong."
"YOU LIE!" snapped Chojiro.
"Piss off." I snapped tiredly. "As if I would work with this douche."
"I still will not allow you to escape!" Roared the proud lieutenant.
"Then don't." retorted Z. "Have a time out, a tactical retreat. You will have your chance to kill him..." he pointed at a non existent watch on his wrist. "...On the day of execution, he will be there. When that day comes, I will not interfere. On that day, you have the chance to kill him."
He picked my weak form of the floor, then slung me onto one of his shoulders like I was a small bag of potatoes.
"What... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MARC!?" demanded Akimi (Who was still stuck to the wall. I could see her due to my new position on his shoulders)
"YEAH, YOU BASTARD!" I declared, wishing I could hit him sooooooo much right now.
"Nothing, little Marcus. We are going on a trip, you and me. To a place where we will not be disturbed."
"LET-GO-OF-ME!" I demanded, weakly trying to move his arm.
"Rukia's execution." reminded Z as Chojiro slowly walked away. "You will have your chance then."
"I said," I reminded "WHAT THE HELL ARE YO-"
WHACK!
A single chop was all it took. A whack to the neck, a slight pain, then I felt no more as I slipped into appreciated unconsciousness.
AN- Wow... oops. Looks like I accidentally sent out the version I sent to my beta by accident. My bad... (Fakes laugh)
Seriously though, this chapter took AGES to do. SERIOUSLY! I managed to finish it all right, it was simply the long beta time (Or lack of beta this chapter) which caused such a longish wait.
I hope the quality of the chapter makes up for it. It was pretty much 5000 words of badasserry... and I promise that this is not going to be the most epic fight of this fic. I have many other awesome things planned... many others. MWAHA HA HA!
Anyways... review and stuff. More reviews not only gives me motivation to write, it also makes my day! :)
Well, until next chapter, check out The Reaping Of Heroes on my profile if you want to read more Bleach stuff, it will be awesome, even if it is still in the early bits of it. Undying Soul out.