Chapter 25 – On the verge of madness
"Do ye? Well that matters not to us." Sai dashed between Rukia and Takada "Go!" he commanded. Takada turned his head and looked on inquisitively "you think you re a big man don't you?" he said while Shoguu sauntered right to engage Takada's sword arm.
Rukia fell back to Iroha's side, while she gauged her new opponent. Iroha wasting little and time shot forward like a bat out of hell, catching Michail off guard.
Michail struggled to hold off the forward sweep from Iroha's blade, which forced him to an odd angle. He lost his centre of gravity as he fell to earth Iroha gave chase, followed closely by Rukia who pushed herself forward to intercept from below.
"CRAP! Bakudo no nii juu ichi senkeinton!" Michail shouted, he breathed out a dense red smoke that engulffed him as he fell.
"IROHA MOVE!" she ordered, however Iroha had other things in mind
"Tsugi no mae, HAKUREN!" she forcefully aimed her blade towards the cloud of smoke.
"tategami no yajuu…kadou*!" Iroha pointed his blade to the cloud as well, a vortex of fire formed from the hilt to the tip of the blade and expanded. In a swift thrust he released the vortex.
"You people bother me…"Michail said as he finally caught his balance
"Bakudo no hachi juu ichi, danku" A translucent barrier appeared between him and the two attacks which met with the kidou with a loud crack.
The original smoke cloud dissipated with the shockwave of collision.
Takada looked on at the fight which was unfolding not too far away from his location
"hmph, weakling where were we" Takada sneered "let's begin"
Takada charged forward,
"Shoguu catch!' Sai threw the weight of the chain to Shoguu wrapping it around his bo, he caught on instantly.
Takada picked his target on the fly and went for the more seemingly vulnerable one, Shoguu. He hardlined towards his quarry, sword in hand. Just before he made contact Shoguu darted out of the way leaving the bo in mid air.
Out of nowhere the staff erupted and began to swell, leaves, roots and a tree began to reach to the earth below. It planted itself firlmly as Takada looked on wide eyed.
"what the hell" Takada stopped in his tracks, Sai saw his opening and took it, he shunpo'd around the tree several times, pulling the chain taught; that was now embedded in the massive stem.
"you people just don't learn do you" Takada said exasperated by this point, putting his sword parallel to his body, blocking the chain from trapping him and tying him to the tree.
Shoguu appeared from above with sharpened Purple Heart tonfa, he came in hard and fast, piercing Takada in both shoulders.
Takada to the surprise of Sai and Shoguu took the blows without a sound, forcing Sai back at the cost of his body and opening up the wounds in his shoulders. He pushed forward the chain and allowed himself to fall.
Off in the Distance
Meimyaku and Koguma looked on from the distance as showers of fire, ice and sparks flew from the ongoing fight.
"I don't believe I'm just standing here while this is going on" Meimyaku muttered to himself.
"All a necessary task, one only can see the truth as an outside observer" Koguma said trying to sound wise
"You've improved, you use your brain now I see" Michail chuckled while trading blows with Iroha.
"You laugh now"
Almost like a tag battle Iroha jumped back and Rukia took his place keeping Michail occupied, Iroha disappeared from Michails view. Each began to make attempts at disarming the other, both in vain; when from below a pillar of fire shot upwards engulfing both combatants.
Another ball of flame appeared in the sky close to the skyward bound fire pillar, from that Rukia and Iroha emerged unscathed.
"That was a close call" Iroha stated, as he began to relax and let his guard down, he felt a cold hard object pierce his stomach.
He looked down to see Michails golden claymore through his abdomen.
*Cough*
He brought up blood, as Rukia looked on in shock;
"How did you? When did you?" she sputtered
Kicking Iroha off his blade and watching him fall to earth he explained,
"My sword, the illusion blade…it nullifies zanpakuto powers remember…"
Rukia now on the spot felt the panic rising, panic she hadnt felt since the initial invasion of hueco mundo.
Michail raised his sword like an executioner's blade, as Rukia looked on with a stupid blank expression of shock and panic on her face.
*CLASH*
The blade came down, but not to meet Rukia's body, instead was it was met with the steel of Meimyaku's blade.
The general looked down at who had blocked his death strike and smirked;
"Haven't seen you in a while, where have you been hiding?"
A clearly shell shocked Rukia came to her senses and looked on bewildered as to who the person who saved her was. She soon remembered Iroha who was now once again face down in the dirt; she shunpo'd away as fast as she could leaving the general to this new individual.
"So you plan to get in my way as well?! You can suffer the same fate as the ones you fight to save… Meimyaku"
He disappeared, reappearing behind an unaware Meimyaku; his effort was soon cut short however, by the much physically stronger General Koguma.
"You raise your blade against my blood Michail?" Koguma trembled grabbing Michail by the throat, before planting his fist deep into his gut.
Meimyaku watched with as much awe as Rukia did moments ago at what was unfolding before him.
Michail's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he spat up clear fluid, wetting Koguma's uniform.
Sensing another body coming in fast he drew his enormous horse slaying sword from off his back and swung backwards, pivoting and striking an equally strong force in Takada.
"What the hell are you doing Koguma?" Takada asked flying back from the force of the blow
"The Machiavelli is important to me but more so is my family and neither you nor anyone else will harm it" he said menacingly.
From a distance Sai and Shoguu looked on looking worn beyond comprehension after their struggle to survive against Takada.
"They just keep popping up don't they Shoguu, this doesn't look well for us…"
"Indeed, however…looks like that new one just protected Meimyaku." Looking around at Sai as Koguma and Takada traded blows with each other.
"Perception is not always reality my friend" Sai said trying to sound sagely "They are both Machiavellian generals if we can take them out now then there will be less pains in our asses later"
"Given how much trouble they have been giving us, can we really take them out I'll go to Rukia and inform her" Shoguu said just before shunpoing low in the sky towards the fray, where Rukia stood spectating, though with the look of a deer caught in headlights.
"I'm almost out of gas…Tenkuhaja lend me just a bit of your; STRENGTH!! TENMA KOFUKU!" as he pelted his chain to earth.
At the same time Shoguu summoned a seemingly endless dome of wood cascaded upwards sealing all exits, followed by the sing of chains rising fast into the air creating a tangled web trapping both Koguma and Takada.
"RUKIA, SHOGUU NOW!!!" Sai screamed
Shoguu rushed in with a large pointed spike encasing his arms, piercing Takada just below his diaphragm.
"Little man…you have to do better than that…" Takada menaced, freeing his arm and hitting Shoguu with an almight smack around his head with the hilt of his sword.
As Shoguu fell, Rukia dove in and forced Sode no Shirayuki between Koguma's ribs. Koguma released a small yelp, showing much tolerance for pain he writhed in Sai's metallic web looking to free himself much as Takada did.
Meimyaku, looked on dumb founded, "what…what…what the hell are you doing…he was HELPING US"
"Forgive us, he is a General after all he cannot be allowed to live… Rukia turned her attention towards the two Generals
Tsugi no mae…Hakuren…"
Koguma ceased to writhe instantly as his body froze from the inside out and a wave of ice burst from her zanpakuo. The wave took Takada with it just as Meimyaku released an ear splitting howl, Rukia looked on in despair at the pain she had caused
He disappeared from sight for a brief moment. She scanned the area for his presence, when she located him her face widened once more.
Sai fell to the floor infront of Meimyaku, eyes rolled back much like Michail, and pouring blood out of his mouth.
Looking back Meimyaku, now took aim at Rukia, before she could guard herself she was run through by his cold blade.
She looked back at her attacker and made an attempt to mouth something but failed as she plummeted to earth. Meimyaku's rage was absolute, as he scanned for Shoguu, but could not find him. he went to the ice structure where Takada and his brotehrs body were, and broke it.
*HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA*
"It's about fucking time" Takada spluttered while inhaling at the same time.
Gently freeing his brother's body from its entrapment, and draping it over his shoulder, Meimyaku told Takada one thing
"Take me with you"