DOWNFALL
By
Greg Wong
Chapter 19: Howl
"Bleed, Minazuki."
As the release command left her lips, Retsu's zanpakuto began to weep, and then transform into, thick green liquid that dripped towards the earth. Before it could hit the ground it evaporated into a pleasant-smelling gas that drifted about unaffected by her and Kenpachi's raging spiritual energy.
Soon, she was enveloped by the mist, and she reached a hand out in a gesture, even as she mentally summoned Minazuki. The thick mist coalesced into a denser cloud, before it began to take shape.
Her shikai formed after a few more heartbeats. But, instead of the benign, faintly ridiculous-looking flying manta ray, something else stepped forth.
It was vaguely humanoid, with shoulders hunched with powerful muscles and paws that ended in thick, sharp talons. It's rear legs weren't quite long enough for upright bipedal locomotion, so the green beast settled for an ape-like knucklewalk that kept its claws from scraping on the ground. Its skin was green, just like the manta ray, but instead it was covered in thorny scales and protrusions, not the smooth skin of its other form. It had a single jaundiced eye on its bulbous head, and the mouth that seemed to be grinning all the time held the same expression... only now with fangs the size of her forearm. The entire creature was near four meters tall.
Minizuki's combat form lumbered forward, snuffling, until she pointed her finger at Kenpachi.
"Kill him," she whispered, and felt her stomach shuffle a bit at the command.
Bellowing, her shikai charged.
Yachiru yelped as something caught her sleeve. She twisted and planted a foot into the Arrancar's elbow, bending the Hollow's arm. She moved her arm in a broad motion, and Boobycar's grip loosened. She darted forward, aiming an open-handed strike at the Hollow, but Boobycar had responded just a bit faster, and there was suddenly a fist in her face.
This was going to hurt, wasn't it?
And then she was on the other side of a house. Said house had a big hole in its walls, and, yes, it had hurt. She grimaced and she rolled back to her feet. This Arrancar wasn't like Fluffy way back when. This Arrancar wasn't all that slow—slower than Fluffy, sure, but fast enough—and she could freaking hit.
You know what? So could she.
Boobycar came barreling through the house they had just wrecked, and she flash-stepped forward, driving a fist into the Hollow's stomach. There was a big whuff of exhaled breath and then it was the Arrancar's turn to go blasting off again.
She couldn't do this all day. Well, she could, sure, but then she had to help out the rest of the squad. The Arrancar had managed to drag her away from the rest of the squad amid the ambush. While most of them were silly and totally singled minded about finding things to hit with their zanpakuto, they were okay. She didn't want to see them get killed off or anything.
Which means she had to take out Boobycar and get a move on. Humph. Normally Kenny did this kind of thing for her, but Kenny wasn't around, was he?
Hmm? What was that crackling sound?
"Yah!" she cried as something orange and round and glowy came sailing at her face. She twisted her body, and the Bala missed her by a centimeter. She heard something explode behind her. Couldn't turn to look, of course, since Boobycar was back for round two.
This time the Hollow had a zanpakuto out, a big double-edged sword that didn't look like fun. She ran her hands along her sash and felt for the lanyard tied to her waist. Ah-hah. She yanked on it, ducking underneath a swing, and felt her zanpakuto's hilt slap itself into her hand. She pulled on the quick-release knot so that the wheeled sheath could fall away, and drew her blade in a smooth motion.
She and Boobycar's blades clanged into each other.
"Hi," she said with a grin. "So yeah, you've got ginormous melons. Doesn't your back hurt?"
The Arrancar just replied with a snarl, pushing down. Okay. Strong. Strong enough? Maybe. If she could annoy Boobycar enough, she could end this quickly.
And then a boot was coming up to her face. Uh... or not.
She turned just enough so that it didn't break her neck, but, dang that had hurt. She blinked and shook her head. Ooh, birdies and stars in her vision.
She groaned and got back to her feet. the only time she'd been hit this hard was when she'd lost her grip on Kenny's shoulder just Kenny had done his maniacal "gonna-chop-you-up" swings at some Hollow. She'd done an impression of a cannonball... right into a tree. She'd shook it off pretty quick, since, you know, she was made of rubber, but it had still smarted something fierce at the moment of impact.
The kick was slightly worse. Not enough to put her out of the game, but enough to piss her off. And blood tended to fly when was pissed off. Hence shy she let Kenny do all the legwork.
But, again, no Kenny here today.
She creaked her neck and fixed the Arrancar with a stare. Boobycar was standing a couple of steps of, warily. Probably hadn't expected her to bounce back so quickly. On top of that, she was starting to learn how to read an Arrancar's aura. Unless she was totally wrong—and, heck, it was possible—the swirling purple and blue pyramids meant the Hollow was surprised and pretty angry, to boot.
With no warning, the Arrancar charged forward, snarling. She braced herself to meet the attack.
Her shikai was kind of heavy, after all. She grasped her zanpakuto tightly in a two-handed grip.
"Brawl, Kokuyoibara."
Renji started as the grip on his hand loosened, and the eyes of the woman he loved glazed over.
This couldn't be real. Right? Any moment Rukia would jump back up like she always had. Any moment. Any moment.
He heard a choking sob from across Rukia.
And then he realized it. Rukia was... Rukia was...
He looked up. Kaien was staring down, and he could see a tear splash down to the ground next to Rukia.
And then he found himself, ten meters away, beating the crap out of Kaien.
The idiot. The Squad Thirteen had been manipulated by some doe-eyes from a dead person... and now the person he cared about was dead. Dead. Dead!
He rammed a fist into Kaien's face, and followed that up by one into the gut. He had the other guy pinned against a wall, and he was going to keep on doing this until Kaien's face was damned mush.
Another punch, and then he stopped. Kaien was no pushover. Hell, Kaien was more powerful than he was. And the other lieutenant was just standing there, just taking it.
He'd left lots of bruises, but he could still see a tear roll down the other lieutenant's cheek.
Kaien had loved Rukia, too. If Kaien was even feeling a quarter of what he was feeling right now...
He... he wanted to hit something. To start punching something hard and solid until his hands broke. Let the pain distract him from this other pain. Anything. Anything else. And to get him away from this blinding rage. Aaroniero was dead, both skulls split open, so nothing going there. Kaien was in front of him, and it had been Kaien's blind stupidity that had gotten Rukia killed.
His fist clenched. He had to get out of here. He thought about this anymore, and he was going to murder Kaien.
And he was pretty sure Kaien would just let him.
Ugh.
He rocked a bit on his feet. Some spiritual pressure had just slammed into him. Powerful energy. Hold a second.
He suddenly remembered why he, Rukia, and Kaien were here, in the Rukongai. Hueco Mundo was attacking. They had gotten here to act as reserves, until the damned Espada had attacked and everything had gone to hell.
He felt something boiling hot in his chest again, as he looked towards the east. Arrancar had killed Rukia. There were more in that direction. More than enough that he could dive into them and let his mind go numb from battle reflexes. So he couldn't think about right now.
Kill. Kill them all.
He stalked over to his zanpakuto and picked it up from the ground. He turned to face Kaien Shiba.
"Stay here," he spat. "That's the least you could do."
He couldn't tell if Kaien had heard him, since the other lieutenant was still staring at nothing, unfocused, and weeping. Part of him wanted to do the same, just sit there and cry. But...
He had things to kill.
"Bankai!" he roared. "Hihio Zabimaru!"
His blade seemed to explode, lengthening and thickening and growing a fanged snake's head. The mouth at the end opened and let out a screeching howl.
Huh. He noticed he was also screaming. Just one big, wordless bellow of pain and rage. His spiritual pressure was buckling some of the buildings around him.
Rukia has said that she had loved him.
Still screaming, he flash-stepped up into the sky and started heading east.
Momo couldn't be completely sure, but it looked like the Arrancar had multiplied.
She shook her head and turned to one of the analysts. "These numbers have been cross-checked?
"Yes, Lieutenant Hinamori. We've done our best to filter out the immense energy from Unohana and Captain Zaraki, and the data suggests that there has been a net increase in spiritual energy not explained by the arrival of Seireitei reinforcements."
"Thank you, Ninth Seat," she said to officer distractedly. Okay, so there were more Arrancar, somehow. But why, and, more importantly, how? Captain Aizen had reported that the entry Garganta had been neutralized by kido. So how?
Think, think! She was here, seeing the bigger picture. The information derived from the raw data would be, ultimately, up to her. But what parts? What was important? What wasn't? What was true and what was misinformation from the enemy? What conclusions could be derived from the data. Which hypotheses should be rejected and which should be presented to the battling captains?
It was too much. Too much was on her shoulder! She was just a lieutenant!
"Ma'am!" she heard a voice call. "New data in. The Arrancar reishi is shifting position!"
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and took a few slow, deep breaths. Yes, she was only a lieutenant. Captain Aizen had known that, yet had still ordered her to take this responsibility. And Toshiro had agreed.
They were both smart men. If they agreed that she was up to the task, who was she to disagree?
She opened her eyes.
"Get me vectors on their movement patterns and try to get me an estimated plan of movement," she said to the speaker.
"Yes, Lieutenant!"
She studied the large monitor screen, constantly being updated as data flowed in. Wait a moment.
"What is the range of the Garganta-destroying kido?" she called.
"It disrupts all Garganta-type gateways approximately half a kilometer from deployment, Lieutenant," one of the technicians answered.
"Request Stealth Force scouts to comb in a one kilometer radius from the reported Garganta. Ignore the eastwardly approach." Unohana wouldn't attempt to open a new Garganta closer to Seireitei, right? Her call, and she was making it.
She frowned. Hold a moment. Unohana would doubtless detect the kido's area of affect, if for no reason that a Garganta would be unable to open within that area. The renegade Soul Reaper would know that the Seireitei would expect a Garganta formation near the border of the spell. Also, the Arrancar had their Sonìdo, which would eat up kilometers quickly. No, the Garganta wouldn't be close, even though it was intuitive that it would be.
"Cancel that!" she shouted. "Request patrols to sweep a past the one kilometer mark, and no closer."
She saw some of the analysts look up in confusion for a few moments before they went to their tasks.
She swallowed. She'd been worried that they would question the order. She wasn't Captain Aizen, after all.
The requests went out, and a few brief moments later the markers representing Stealth Force scouts began to fan outward on screen. They moved rapidly, but then slowed down as they passed the one kilometer border. Good. Captain Soifon was heeding her advice. She studied the readout, waiting for—
One of the Stealth Force icons began to flash. "Report!" she barked.
"Ma'am, a Garganta has been located! Scouts are encountering heavy resistance from Arrancar defenders. Uh... approximately fifty of the clones, and about a dozen of the regular Arrancar."
So they'd located the ingress for Hueco Mundo, and if they could collapse it, they'd cut off the Arrancar again. Or... if they could secure it, they might even be able to assault through into Hueco Mundo! But no, those orders would definitely overstep her authority. She studied the tactical screen more. The icons for Captains Komamura, Tosen, Zaraki and Kuchiki were in close contact with the Arrancar forces, with Captain Ichimaru hanging back for support. She watched the markers representing Captain Aizen and Toshiro move in flanking attack, after having penetrated the Arrancar lines to shut down the Garganta. It was more of a harassing action, though, since the tactical strike teams didn't have the manpower to become seriously engaged. Yes, yes, Toshiro and her captain were very powerful, but they had no idea on how many Espada were in the area. It was entirely possible that the two of them could get pinned down while Arrancar not already fighting the other captains could swarm in and possibly kill them. She was pretty sure that with Unohana's and Zaraki's incredible spiritual pressure being thrown around that Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnosis might be spotty, along with everything else.
She tore her eyes from the screen and got the attention of one of the Counter Reversal Force couriers. "Relay a message to Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya. Inform them of the location of the Garganta and the forces distributed around it."
"Right away, ma'am," the agent said, and departed.
Nodding, she turned to one of the squad members handling communications.
"Attempt to raise the reserve teams holding station in the Rukgonai area," she said. "Let Lieutenant Shiba and Lieutenant Kusajishi that they might be needed in a bit."
"On it, Lieutenant," the analyst said. "I'll dispatch a—"
"Ma'am!" another of her team shouted in shock. Huh? What was going on? "Multiple Arrancar power signatures have just appeared in the rear area. Reports are coming in; Squad Thirteen and Squad Eleven reserves are engaged with the enemy!"
Her mouth dropped open for a second before she regained her composure and clopped it shut.
"Enemy strength?" she asked calmly. Just like she always saw Captain Aizen do.
"Too early to tell, Lieutenant. From the looks of it, it's either a big Arrancar group, or it has some powerful Arrancar, possibly an Espada, thrown into the mix." The analyst looked unhappy. "Or both."
"Have the Squads reacted?"
"It doesn't seem like it, ma'am. With all the energy Unohana and Captain Zaraki are spitting out, and at that distance, I wouldn't be surprised if no one noticed it at all."
She thought for a moment. "All right. Send a message to... Captain Ichimaru." Squad Three was nominally the furthest back, and the squad not heavily engaged with the enemy. "Advise him of the situation, and request a detachment of reinforcements to the outer Rukon district, if he wouldn't mind. And... send a copy to Captain Aizen, as well."
How had the Hollows managed to slip in like that? Unless they had suppressed their energy almost completely, and literally not bothered a soul on the way in, they should have been detected.
Ah! Never mind the how. They had to figure that out, after this battle was over
Nodding to herself, she turned back to the readouts, studying them closely.
"All right," she said with as much strength and confidence as she could muster. "Team Four, I need you assisting..."
Captain Aizen and Toshiro were relying on her. She wouldn't fail them. She couldn't.
That couldn't be right.
Byakuya frowned as he felt a surge of spiritual energy come from the east. He could barely make out anything in the dusky gloom, especially with Unohana and that madman Zaraki throwing out the brilliant light of their reishi, but from what he could make out, something huge and sinuous was moving towards them rapidly.
Hmm.
He clutched the hilt of Senbonzakura and made a beckoning gesture with it. A moment later the glittering blade shards of his shikai swirled around him, called back from their attack on the Arrancar.
The power being emitted by the battling Unohana and Zaraki was practically stifling to the rank-and-file Soul Reapers, and even he had to admit that fighting near it for too long started to make him a bit uncomfortable.
Well, he would not admit it out loud, save to Hisana, and perhaps Rukia and Renji.
But, in any case, it was madness to have the Squads in too close when engaging the Arrancar, who, he noted, seemed to be weathering the spiritual assault better than the Soul Reapers. In fact, they were working in rotation, moving Soul Reapers out when they were tired or were beginning to be overwhelmed by the reishi maelstrom. Right now he was letting his unit recover while Tosen and Komamura locked blades with the Hollows.
He squinted towards the east, letting his senses drift. He did have an acute awareness of spiritual energy, and even with the violence being unleashed by Unohana and the Squad Eleven captain, he could just barely make out—
Wait. No. That had to be wrong. The oncoming force of spiritual pressure had the same signature—smell or taste, if one wanted to apply an analogy—as Renji's, but boiling higher than he had ever felt. It was significantly higher than when Renji had first unleashed bankai and had fought against him in an effort to protect Rukia.
Hmm. The huge form had moved closer, and he could barely make out the distinct outline of Hihio Zabimaru. So it was Renji, only... stronger, somehow.
That also begged the question is why. He had requested Lieutenant Shiba to relay orders to his own lieutenant. Renji was to stay in the Rukongai and act as a reserve force.
And, as an added bonus, he would have two strong lieutenants keeping watch on Rukia. Which made him wonder—a bit angrily—as to why his lieutenant had abandoned his post.
He heard a faint tinkling sound near his left hand. Hmm? A hell butterfly, fluttering about in distress in reaction to the massive battle going on. He extended his hand, and the little message insect settled onto his fingertips. Ah. A high priority message from Captain Aizen's lieutenant. Sounded urgent. There were—
There were Arrancar in the Rukongai.
He felt a chill settle onto his heart as his eyes flew open and focused on Renji. Arrancar raiders? Then why was Renji here and not there?
He turned to the side.
"Fourth Seat."
"Yes, Captain Kuchiki?"
"You have command until I get back. Coordinate with Captain Komamura and captain Tosen."
"Yes, sir."
With that, he turned back to his oncoming lieutenant and flash-stepped forward to meet the young man.
"Renji," he said tightly as the other Soul Reaper drew nearer, "what in the world are you—"
And then his lieutenant simply blew past him.
He stared. Had Renji just...?
He had.
Grimacing, he gathered his energy leveled a hand at Renji.
"Bakudo sixty-three, Sajo Sabaku."
The golden chains flashed out and lashed around his lieutenant. Ugh. Renji was straining them to breaking. He sent more reishi into the spell and moved forward, maintaining pressure to make sure Renji didn't get closer. He was going to have answers, damn it.
As he closed, he could still see Renji straining to break through the kido, making snarling noises. He'd never heard his lieutenant like this before.
"Lieutenant Abarai," he said in an utterly serious tone, "what are you doing here?"
"Going to kill them all," Renji snapped angrily.
"We have things well in hand here, lieutenant. I need you back at the Rukon to—"
"SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he heard Renji scream.
Well, enough of that. He let his spiritual pressure spill out in an intimidating gesture.
"Renji, I don't care what has gone on between us, concerning Rukia or otherwise. You are still my lieutenant, and you—"
"SHE'S DEAD!" Renji howled.
For a second, everything around him went quiet. Like the battle had just disappeared. He could only hear the words that Renji had probably not spoken. He hadn't heard what he thought he heard, had he?
"What are you talking about? Who is—"
"RUKIA IS DEAD!" he heard Renji roared... and then he felt his lieutenant's spiritual energy surge again, shattering the binding spell. Renji wheeled on him and grabbed the front of his shihakusho and jerking him closer.
He saw... something in Renji's eyes. Incredible rage mixed with impossible grief, earth-shaking anger and heart rending sorrow.
He felt his stomach drop. No. It couldn't be...
"Espada and a strike force got behind us, in the Rukon District," Renji said to him, voice shaking in fury. "It would have killed us all, but Rukia got to it first. And then she died. She's dead!"
With another mindless howl, Renji shoved him backwards before charging back towards the Arrancar forces.
He blinked. Renji's rage and grief were too real to be a mistake. The message from Lieutenant Hinamori corroborated Renji's report. And that meant Rukia was...
He'd promised Hisana, his lady wife, that he would watch over her younger sister. That he would allow no harm to come to her.
He had betrayed Hisana's trust.
Rukia Kuchiki was dead.
His mind went blank. He recalled calling back the countless blades of Senbonzakura back to the sword hilt, reforming the sealed zanpakuto. Then he reversed the grip, let loose his spiritual pressure, and let the katana drop straight down.
His hands were shaking.
"Bankai," he heard himself say. It came out as a snarl. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.
"Scatter."
Nanao frowned as the sky seemed to erupt with glinting steel. That was Captain Kuchiki's bankai. Scowling, she moved her arms, switching between her shikai's screens. Ugh. Still couldn't get a good view of what was going on between Unohana and Zaraki. She could vaguely make out something... large moving around in the haze of reishi, and occasionally the figures of the two battling Soul Reapers, but other than that, nothing.
Unohana had obviously goaded Captain Zaraki into battle to generate this wild spiritual pressure which in turn helped mask the Arrancar movements from the Soul Reapers. Problem was Unohana would be in a lot of trouble if this wore on too long.
She flipped through her viewscreens. None of the Arrancar had released, which was good. A few minutes ago she had caught sight of some Squad Twelve forward teams creeping forward to deploy the reishi-dampers. She hadn't actually seen them used yet, since there was too much interference for her shikai, but she didn't like to chance it.
Gantenbainne, Cirucci, Ukitake, and most of the combat escort forces were heavily engaged with the Seireitei forces, and simple weight of numbers would start to push them back, Unohana or not.
Wait, what was that? She'd seen something flickering in the screen that was monitoring their rear area. Aizen and Hitsugaya had withdrawn after their destruction of the Garganta, as their light tactical unit would be hard pressed if the Arrancar enveloped them. After that little debacle, the Arrancar not actively engaged with the Soul Reapers were securing the rear areas and flanks while she tried to figure out how they were going to get out of this predicament. Unohana was, so that meant something. But if all Unohana was planning was dancing with Zaraki, then this would be a horribly insufficient rescue effort.
Which made her wonder what was happening back there. She pulled in, zooming, and saw...
She frowned. A team of about ten Soul Reapers had broken through their rear guard and were rapidly moving towards their center. Huh. She gathered up her energy, ready to fling kido spells through her shikai at the enemies. But hold a moment.
Something was strange about how the Soul Reapers were moving. They were plowing through the Arrancar in front of them, mostly Calaveras, but they seemed to be...
There was a flash of crimson and violet, and the Soul Reapers were washed away by a pair of incredibly powerful Ceros.
Ah.
She shifted the angle of her screens, and she saw Dordonii and Wonderweiss break into the rear area, followed closely by Tia and Luppi. A heavy force of Calaveras and Numeròs followed them. Hmm. Fighting must have been fierce to break through here, since Dordonii's clothing had several torn and slashed places, though she assumed the Segundo Espada's Hierro had stopped the worst damage. She could see a dark discoloration on the back of Wonderweiss' head, beneath the Arrancar's blond hair. Looked to be a serious bruise or abrasion. Tia and Luppi were in similar condition.
She manuevered her shikai out of the way and flash-stepped over to Dordonii. The mustachioed Espada bared his teeth in a grin.
"Señorita Ise, I trust we are not too late?"
"You trust right," she replied curtly. Seeing as how Ukitake and Unohana were otherwise occupied and Shunsui—er, Kyoraku—was nowhere to be found, it was up to her to get the Hueco Mundo forces coordinated. Hopefully, the Espada, any of whom wouldn't have any difficulty crushing her like a bug, would listen in a battlefield situation.
She waved her hand, and her shikai changed configuration. Instead of the two dozen screens orbiting her, they formed a single plane, each showing a different angle of the battlefield. She rapidly appraised the reinforcing Arrancar of the situation.
"Tia, I'll need you to break back through the Soul Reaper flank and get us a clear line of withdrawal back to the Garganta. Could you make due with a quarter of the Calaveras?"
"Humph. We'll just need a fifth," the female Hollow said. Tia turned to the two Fracciònes flanking her. "Emilou, Cyan, gather up the clones."
"Yes, Mistress," the two Arrancar said before departing with the boom of Sonìdo.
"Dordonii, Luppi, Wonderweiss. So far we haven't been broken since Unohana and Zaraki are throwing around all that reishi, which means the Soul Reaper captains can't get close without the people under their command suffocating, but that'll change when they get tired of playing around and rush in with their bankais. We need to initiate a fighting retreat as soon as Tia opens a path for us."
"With so many of their captains here, we should focus on a strike here," she heard Wonderweiss say. "We counterattack, and we'll plow them under. The Soul Society will lose captains."
She shook her head. "That's assuming you'll all be able to fight at full strength. Kurotsuchi's moments away from deploying his damping devices, and I have no idea how these will affect you."
"We already know how they'll effect us," she heard Dordonii disagree. The three of us were hit by it the last time we were here!"
"That was when they were in an unfinished state," she countered. "I have no idea what improvements and tunings Kurotsuchi has done between then and now. Please, trust me on this."
The Espada exchanged glances with each other, then nodded.
"We've had no reason to doubt your judgment so far, Señorita Ise," Dordonii said to her. "Where do you need us?"
She nodded, sighing inwardly. "Ukitake and Cirucci will need to be reinforced at—"
And then an earth-shaking rumble interrupted her.
"Oh, come on!" Yachiru snapped as she swung at Boobycar. Her released zanpakuto—a massive black maul, one end backed by a sharp spike—whiffed and basically demolished a rickety house. Oops.
The Arrancar snarled something and took a swing at her with her broadsword. Not very nice. With a grunt, she dragged Kokuyoibara back into line and deflected the zanpakuto off the maul's shaft.
Boobycar was off balance. Twisting her body, she angled the hammer up and punched the Hollow straight in the face with its top edge. The Arrancar stumbled back, knocking down another building. She sighed. The property damage was going to be ridiculous.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as something... screamed. Not a pansy scream or anything, or any of Kenny's battle roars. It was pure rage, pure grief, and it sounded like... Renji?
Then a wave of powerful spiritual energy washed over her. She cocked her head in the energy's direction. Yep, that was Renji's reishi. But why—?
"You're Kusajishi, aren't you?" she heard Boobycar growl as the Hollow climbed out of the wreckage of the house. She frowned. Humph. She had been contemplating screaming Renji, and how she was distracted. Yeah, yeah, she was easy to distract—ooh, shiny!—but still.
Pouting slightly, she turned to face the Hollow. "Ooh, someone did their homework. And who are you?"
The Arrancar's eyes narrowed. "I am Franceska Mila-Rose, Fracciòn to the Tercera Espada Tia Hallibel."
Oh. So that explained why they were knocking each other around like ping-pong balls. If an Espada was so-so comparable to a captain, one of these Fracciòn thingies would be somewhere around a lieutenant.
Which was major ickiness. She might be put out by Kenny refusing to take her along, but she did have a job as a Soul Reaper lieutenant. It kind of included keeping her people safe and whomping on Hollows.
She shook her head as her train of thought got derailed by Boobycar snarling.
"Devour, Leona!"
Uh ohs.
Renji vaguely remembered yelling at his captain. And yelling at other captains. And yelling at lots of other people, too. The only thing he distinctly remembered was lashing Hihio Zabimaru forward to tear and rip into the Arrancar forces. He was careful not to have his bankai chomp down on other Soul Reapers, but he wasn't being all that careful, either. Troops were being flung and battered aside as his bankai screamed into the Arrancar ranks.
It was tough, though. Someone—or someones—was throwing an incredible amount of spiritual pressure around, and normally Hihio Zabimaru would have sealed itself from the stress.
Normally. Watching Rukia die to save his and Kaien's sorry asses didn't qualify as normal. Normally Rukia wouldn't have said she loved—
He moved his arm, whipping his weapon towards the right. A clone and a normal Arrancar tried to get in close and stab at Hihio Zabimaru, but his weapon's jaws were too fast as it bit down and shredded them.
Not enough. He hadn't killed nearly enough of them. They all had to die.
Another movement of his arm shot Hihio Zabimaru forward to plow through another knot of Hollows. He noticed that he sort of... nudged Captain Komamura's bankai out of the way when he attacked, but he didn't pay attention much. Too occupied with Arrancar at the moment.
He sent his bankai careening into more and more of the Hollows, even as he heard someone yelling at him. Was it Captain Komamura? He didn't know. Or care.
He flash-stepped towards the ground, hitting hard enough that the impact created a shockwave that staggered some of the tightly engaged Soul Reapers and Arrancar. He heard more shouts. Maybe his name. Didn't care.
Red hot pain on his left shoulder. He wheeled around just as the female Arrancar reared back for a more powerful follow-up strike. He stepped inside arc of the swing, blocking the blade with the hilt of Hihio Zabimaru. The Hollow hissed something and tried to step back, but he moved with her and clamped his free hand to her throat. The Arrancar tried to choke something out—a release command, maybe—but he stopped that by squeezing harder.
And with a twisting jerk, he snapped the Hollow's neck.
He let the dissolving body drop, and he noticed that the Soul Reapers who'd seen were staring at him, wide-eyed. He scowled at them before sweeping his bankai in another screeching attack.
Some of the Soul Reapers were running towards him, yelling. Sounded like they were telling him to stop. Hell with that. He took a step forward, but stopped as a swirl of metal shards flowed into his way. Behind the splinters he could see his captain, just standing there.
Through the swirling metal he could see... nothing changed about Byakuya. The man was just standing there, motionless. He grit his teeth at that. What the hell kind of brother was that? To not care that Rukia was dead? Or maybe his captain simply didn't believe him? He—
Then the metal shifted again, catching the moonlight and illuminating Byakuya's face. He'd been right. Emotionless.
Almost.
He could see a faint trembling on Byakuya's lips, a slight shaking in the older man's hands. And he could see a deep, murderous fury in Byakuya's eyes.
He and his captain just stood there for a few moments, staring at each other. Then the veil of Sebonzakura Kageyoshi lifted away as Byakuya nodded coldly. The captain swept a hand outwards, and a razor-sharp wave crashed down on the withdrawing Arrancar.
He bared his teeth. He wasn't going to be going at this alone, then. Great. He moved his own arm, and Hihio Zabimaru slithered forward.
Until Captain Komamura's bankai stomped down on his zanpakuto, pinning it.
Shuhei blinked as he saw Kokujo Tengen Myoo plant a foot on Renji's bankai. He hadn't expected that reaction. Something did have to be done, though, since Renji's inexplicable attack was throwing their ranks into disarray and opening them up to more casualties. The Arrancar were shocked by the sudden attack, and the Thirteen court Guard Squads could capitalize on that and push forward quickly if it weren't for Unohana and Zaraki's battle. The immense energy—there were no signs that it would be dying away anytime soon—was still too strong for most of the troops to get closer. They were basically performing a holding action until enough of the captains could get organized enough for a simultaneous strike that would be enough to kill Unohana. Renji was just making it harder.
He frowned. Wait, no, scratch that. He could make out the glittering mass of Captain Kuchiki's shikai or bankai sweeping over the Arrancar, too.
Now he knew something was wrong. When Captain Kuchiki was as... reckless as this, there had to be—
"Shuhei!" he heard his captain shout.
He jerked instinctively, and Ukitake's blade hissed by his face close enough for him to see his reflection in the steel. Before the renegade captain could attack again, Captain Tosen had intercepted the swing and forced it away. Something large and silver blurred, and Ukitake flash-stepped away as Captain Ichimaru's bankai drove in.
He nodded in thanks to Captain Tosen and brought Kazeshini—in its murderous shikai form—back into a defensive position. He almost couldn't believe that a single Soul Reaper could be holding out against himself, Tetsuzaemon, and Captains Tosen, Komamura, and Ichimaru, but there you had it. Granted, he thought he could see Ukitake tiring, growing a bit more sluggish, but not winded enough for the five of them to get an advantage.
Oh, enough thinking.
He flash-stepped forward, throwing one of his scythes forward. Ukitake deflected it, but that gave him time to close in. His other blade struck out, just as Tetsuzaemon closed in from the opposite side.
Ugh! Ukitake spun quickly, knocking Kazeshini away and turning to meet Tetsuzaemon. The rogue captain blocked the attack, and countered. The other lieutenant didn't quite dodge the strike, and he saw a shallow cut on Tetsuzaemon's arm. He tried to take advantage of that, but Ukitake sent a flurry of slashes at him which he just barely blocked. Then a boot rammed into his stomach and he went tumbling back. He rolled into a crouch, gasping.
Ukitake moved laterally, and then Captain Tosen was again moving, crashing into the white-haired Soul Reaper. He heard some muttering, and then a golden chain wrapped itself around Ukitake's forearms.
"Sajin! Now!" he heard his captain yell.
He turned instinctively. Captain Komamura's bankai still had Renji's pinned. The giant drew back at its arm, and then began to heave forward.
Wait. Oh, no!
"Captain!" He screamed. "Watch out!"
He watched as Captain Tosen turned, almost too slowly, to see the massive sword of Kokujo Tengen Myoo whistling towards him. Just in time—barely—his captain flash-stepped out of the path of the blade.
"Sajin!" he heard his captain cry hoarsely. "What are you doing!"
"He's not responding to my commands!" the Squad Seven command replied with a snarl. "And he won't seal!"
Horrified, he saw the massive bankai ponderously turn to the Soul Reapers ranks.
And drive a massive sword strike down into them.
The Cero would have blown Yachiru's head off if she hadn't gotten Kokuyoibara in the way to block most of it. So instead of messily killing her it just sort of knocked her through some about three and a half shacks.
Franceska tried to finish off the job by blurring up and trying to whack her head off as she slumped in the wreckage, but she binded the released Arrancar's blade with the head of her maul and tugged the Hollow off balance. Damn. Boobycar had turned the tumbled into a roll, and they were right back where they had started. She shot back to her feet just in time to sidestep a bala. She let the maul droop slightly as she raised a hand at the Hollow.
"Shakkaho!" she barked, and a red fireball of her own streaked at Franceska. The Hollow dispersed the hado attack with a slash of her own sword.
She leaped forward, smashing down her zanpakuto in an overhand swing. The Hollow didn't dodge it cleanly, and Boobycar stumbled from the glancing blow. She leaned back and away as Franceska punched out.
This was getting kind of ridiculous. Boobycar's release had obviously have Franceska stronger and faster. She was taking some nasty licks, and if she made a mistake bad things could happen to her face. Or pretty much any other part of her body.
Instead of trying to recover Kokuyoibara from its swing, she just bulled forward, ramming a shoulder into the Hollow. There was a big whuff of exhaled air as Franceska stumbled back. She followed up the body-check by ramming her shikai into the Arrancar's face, again forcing her opponent back. She whirled around, building up momentum for a punishing blow to the head, but it was deflected as Franceska threw a punishing strike right into the path of her attack. She stumbled back. So did the Hollow.
They sized each other up for a second, and then... ah! Boobycar had aimed a vicious backhand at her torso, and only with a last minute shift did she avoided.
But... Ah. Not the follow-up swing. She clutched a hand to the gash on her flank as she staggered back..
"Just give up already," she heard Franceska mutter. "You're going to die, little Soul Reaper.
The released Arrancar began to stalk forward. Ow. This hurt. Oh, heck with this. She had to finish this, or she really would die.
"Dying to a Hollow isn't on my to-do list today," she said through gritted teeth.
Bobbycar stopped walking, cocking an eyebrow. She had an opening. Do or die time. Had to make Kenny proud, and stuff.
She drew up every last bit of reishi she could muster and charged forward, swinging her zanapakuto as fast and as hard as she could. Franceska tried to block.
Too slow. The maul crashed into the Hollow's arm, and she heard an audible snap as Kokuyoibara smashed through Franceska's Hierro and broke the Hollow's arm. Boobycar's sword dropped, and the Hollow stumbled to the side turning. Using the momentum, she turned another full arc and again rammed her maul into the Hollow.
This time, instead of pissy little arm bones breaking, it was the Arrancar's spine. She heard Franceska howl as the Hollow took a nosedive into the dirt.
Panting, she lifted her zanpakuto up and rested it on her shoulder as she slowly stepped towards the Hollow.
"You're just a Soul Reaper," the Hollow spat between the pained gasps. "How are you able to do this?"
She thought for a second. Good question, sort of. What kind of answer did she have? Had to be dramatic and loud and stuff.
Or...
For some reason she thought of the first time she had met Kenny, literally toddling in bloody mud as Kenny had killed a dozen men that had ambushed him. She remembered giggling at the red mess, and then snuggling into Kenny's blood-spattered clothing. She remembered becoming a Soul Reaper—officially—and running along helping Kenny kill Hollows while she wasn't much more than a kid. Wow, now that she actually thought about it, it was kind of messed up, wasn't it?
She gave a little laugh.
"How?" she said. "I had a poor upbringing."
Then she levered Kokuyoibara up and over, punching its spike into Franceska's chest.
Notes updated