Sorry for the late chapter, I had this, and the following chapter, finished about two weeks ago, but my beta reader had some personal problems. Not that I'm blameing her, I had put it off for several weeks anyway.
In the middle of one of the many parks in Karakura Town, ten combatants stared each other down. On one side, five figures with beige cloaks over their heads and shadows over their faces: on the other, stood several of the strongest known Shinigami, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Byakuya Kuchiki, Kisuke Urahara, Isshin Kurosaki, and Kensei Muguruma.
The hooded girl on the right spoke first. "Éste va a ser una lucha dura." She reached up and slicked his hair back under his hood.
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "What did that girl just say?"
"She said, 'this is going to be a tough fight.'" Kisuke raised his hat slightly.
"You know Spanish?" Isshin questioned.
"I had a lot of free time in the human world." He grinned childishly and began to count off on his hand. "I also know German, Italian, French, Dutch, Greek, Swahili…"
"Yeah yeah, we get it, you're smart." Kensei cut in with a rather annoyed tone. "No need to show off."
"Well then don't ask next time." Kisuke shot back.
"This is not time to bicker." Byakuya interrupted.
"We weren't bickering." Kisuke defended.
"Hellooooo…" The middle Arrancar leaned forward and waved one hand. "…we're still here."
Yamamoto slammed his cane down. "There is no need to delay the inevitable violence, but before we do, would you tell us why you are doing this. Surely you see you can't defeat the entire Shinigami force without Aizen."
The middle Arrancar pulled his hood back to reveal a young teenager. His short hair was a shiny white and lay flat on his head. His eyes were the same color, and his mask fragment covered his chin. "We have a warrior much stronger than Aizen on our side." He pulled out his sword. "My name is Viento. Be sure to remember it because you'll want to know who to curse from hell." Viento dashed forward and slashed at Byakuya, who effortlessly blocked the strike. Both of them went several yards away.
Yamamoto threw his cane into the air, allowing the façade to disappear and reveal his zanpakuto. "Reduce all creation to ash, Ryujin Jakka."
He caught the handle and unsheathed his sword in one smooth motion. Even with one arm, Yamamoto was a force to be reckoned with. The force of the release flapped at everyone's clothing. The hoods of the four remaining Arrancar were blown down, revealing Arrancar with similar appearance to the one who had forced Byakuya back. Yamamoto twirled the fire around his blade, and swung upward.
The ground beneath the Arrancar cracked, and the tips of flames licked at their heels. A devilish glow came from the cracks, and soon, the fire was pouring out. "Toki no Honoo." The flames responded to Yamamoto's command, and poured out of the cracks like a geyser. The flames shot forward, and engulfed everything for about a block in front of him.
Everyone heard a loud whistle from inside. "Wow, this is hot. If I hadn't been here, you would've just killed all of us." The flames began to swirl around the Arrancar, and soon, a small tornado formed. It began to decrease in size, like water flowing down a drain; the flames flowed into the palm of the red headed Arrancar. Like the one earlier, his eyes matched his hair. His hollow mask formed a paldron over his right shoulder, and extended to cover his cheek. "No wonder they call this the strongest zanpakuto in Soul Society." The flames flowed into his hand, and up his sleeve. "I am Fuego, and your zanpakuto means little to me." He pointed at Yamamoto and shot fire out of his sleeve.
Yamamoto countered with his own wall of fire. "Impressive, in all the years of my existence, there has been only one who was able to withstand the flames of Ryujin Jakka. But I regret to inform you that he did not last long." Yamamoto opened his eyes as he uttered that last sentence.
"I'm not Wonderweiss." He moved his cloak to the left, and drew his sword with his right hand. "Bring forth the flames of hell, Ardor Hacha."
His voice echoed as the blade became engulfed in flame. Starting at the handle, the flames disappeared, and soon, Fuego was wielding a dual-sided battle axe with red hot edges engulfed in fire.
The Shinigami looked up as a shadow passed over them. One of the two girls was up in the air; she had brown hair and brown eyes. Her mask fragment covered her eyes, then curved inward to cover her nose, and extended to her mouth, like an extremely narrow skull. Her sword was raised high above her head.
"Reshape the land around you, Terraformación Martillo!"
Her sword became encrusted in dry earth, it peeled away, and a large war hammer stood where the sword once was. It was silver with a slight blue shine and on the end opposite the hammer, a small but vicious spike curved down. The moment the words left her mouth, she screamed at the top of her lungs and brought the hammer down into the group of Shinigami.
"Scatter!" Isshin commanded.
"I can see that!" Kensei replied.
Just as the hammer came down among everyone, Kisuke withdrew his zanpakuto from its sheath and blocked the strike from the other girl. She had dark blue hair with purple streaks running through it, and blue eyes. Her hollow mask covered her left shoulder, and extended up her neck to cover her cheek.
"Yo soy Raya, te matare," she spoke.
"Me gustaría ver que suceda." Kisuke replied to her. "Awaken, Benihime."
Kensei removed his zanpakuto from his pocket and blocked the strike from the boy with light blue hair and eyes; his mask fragment was a headband.
"Nice strike, but there's no need to drag this out, I can tell your strength is well below Espada."
Before his opponent even responded, Kensei dived under his opponent's blade and slipped his knife between the Arrancar's ribs. Kensei lifted up, and then slammed his opponent down, twisting the knife for good measure.
"Nice try." The Arrancar grabbed the blade in his chest, and shattered it into frozen pieces. "I am Hielo. That was very observant of you to notice my clone's lack of energy."
Kensei turned around and blocked a blow. "You don't get to the rank of Taicho by underestimating people." Kensei gathered blue energy in his blade and engulfed his opponent in a blue blast.
Isshin covered his face to protect his face from debris that had been kicked up. Quickly, he drew his sword and slashed forward to strike the girl, who blocked it with the hand of her axe.
She pushed Isshin off, and swung her hammer to the left.
Isshin braced his left shoulder, he was well aware that he couldn't block it with his sword, or avoid it in time. The hammer impacted, and sent Isshin flying into a nearby building.
Yamamoto was the only one that had not avoided the strike. He had no need to, and now he waited for the blast to clear. Just as he expected, Feugo was still waiting for him with his axe perched on his shoulder.
"Well, now all your friends are gone. What do you say we begin?" He lifted his axe and pointed it at Yamamoto.
Faster than most could perceive, Yamamoto loosened his haori and allowed it to hang from his waist. "I have but one rule youngster, do not, under any circumstance, underestimate me, especially because you can counter Ryujin Jakka. If we Shinigami relied solely on our shikai abilities, we would've died out long ago."
Fuego rolled his eyes. "I know who you are, and I know what you can do, so spare me the lecture."
"So be it." Yamamoto allowed flames to flow freely from his blade.
"That's what I like to hear."
Byakuya pushed his opponent away from him and slashed back. But Viento back flipped in the air and avoided the strike. "Just what I'd expect from the famous head of the Kuchiki household." He stood up and ran his tongue along the edge of his blade.
"Hado 61, Rikujokoro." Byakuya calmly stated.
On his command, Viento was rendered immobile, with his tongue still on the blade no less. Byakuya walked up and placed the cold steel of Senbonzakura against his opponent's throat.
"Damn you." Was all Viento could manage.
"Small talk only leads to death. I've long since abandoned the habit of conversing with my enemy." Byakuya pressed the blade hard enough to draw blood. He removed his blade and placed it near his shoulder, ready to swing.
Just as Byakuya tightened the muscles that would move his blade forward, a fierce wind stung his cheeks and forced him to cover his eyes as leaves blew at his face.
"Sorry, even if you do end up winning, I won't go down without a fight." The wind swirled around Viento and tore off his Kido prison. He held his blade up and began to spin it at high speeds, forcing the winds into a torrent around him. "Blow everything into oblivion, Lanzador Torbellino." The glade glowed yellow, and in a flash, became a staff.
Byakuya placed his sword squarely in front of his face. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." The blade glowed pink and dispersed into a thousand miniscule blades. The blades swirled in a hypnotic pattern. Byakuya eyes shot wide open in surprise as the blades disappeared in a massive gust of wind. "What on earth?"
Viento spun his zanpakuto to over his head, and then started spinning it all around his body while gliding on his heels. "The great winds are at my command." He slowly began to increase the intensity of the winds around him.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes in concentration, and mentally battled the whirlwind that slowly formed around them, and blade by blade, he was able to overcome the now deafening winds. He held the hilt in front of his face, and forced the blades to reform. "It seems that you have succeeded in countering my release."
"Why do you think I attacked you? Because I am the bane of Senbonzakura!"
Byakuya grunted in a way that almost resembled a laugh. "You are sadly mistaken if you think I can be so easily rendered defenseless." Byakuya disappeared in a burst of Shunpo, and left a large gash across Viento's back before he realized what happened. "I am one of the foremost experts in both Kendo and Hoho, more importantly, all Shinigami are trained to fight as if they didn't have a zanpakuto. It was a mistake to think you can kill anyone just by disabling their abilities."
Viento turned and swung his staff at Byakuya's head, but he easily blocked it with his right forearm, Viento then aimed a punch at Byakuya's face, and Byakuya once again blocked the strike by maneuvering the staff into the path of the strike. "Damn you!" Viento withdrew his staff and back flipped away.
"Foolish child, run now and I will spare your life, but if you choose to remain and fight, I will have no choice but to take your life." Byakuya place the tip of his sword at the mouth of his scabbard, ready to either sheath it, or strike.
"You arrogant bastard!" Viento slammed the end of his staff on the ground and placed his hand forward, as if reaching for Byakuya, he then gripped his hand tightly, as if holding on to a leash: Byakuya felt a slight pull in the pit of his stomach. "Let's see you fight without any breath." A leash of air suddenly became visible between his palm, and Byakuya's throat.
Byakuya's senses, which had been honed to a fine blade over the years, warned him of an attack, and without a moment's hesitation, he disappeared in a burst of Shunpo, and launched a stream of blood into the air.
Raya jumped to avoid the release of her opponent's shikai. She covered her eyes as a bright light surrounded Benihime. "Benihime seems particularly violent today. I wonder why that is."
"Cállate, hijo de puta!" Raya roared.
"Now that was uncalled for." Kisuke responded in mock pain.
Raya sneered and put her sword level with her waist, and placed one palm on it. "Saca el poder de los cielos, Voltaje!" She drew her hand along the flat of the blade and surrounded herself in a light blue cloud of reiatsu. Moments later, she reappeared holding a naginata. The blade was like a long, four-sided spike, with four small ones protruding from the cross guard.
"Esto debería ser divertido." Kisuke held onto his hat to stop it from blowing away. "Sing, Benihime." Kisuke swung his sword upward, launching a bright crimson energy blast at his opponent.
Raya met the strike head on and stabbed her weapon straight into the blast. Within a second of the tip making contact, a blinding light came down from the sky, completely countering the blast. "¿Cómo te gusta eso?"
Kisuke paused in thought. "Muy intersante." He poked one eye out from under his hat. "Tiene razón. Éste va a ser una lucha dura."
Kensei landed on the wall and prepared to jump back for another strike, his opponent did the same on the opposite wall. The blast had only injured his forehead, and now, he was striking with a vengeance. "Die Muguruma!" Hielo jumped forward with fire in his eyes.
"Sorry, not going to happen." Kensei dived past his opponent and delivered another gash along his ribs. "I'll admit, your one tough bastard, but you aren't a very good fighter."
Hielo sneered in anger. "Slow down the world around you, Endotérmica tridente!" He held his sword up and it instantly became a gleaming blue trident.
Kensei swung his knife by the ring. He gripped the hilt, and slashed forward, sending a gust of severing winds.
"Hmph." Hielo sneered. He rotated the trident in a circle, allowing the tip to graze the ground, and the moment his blade left the ground, a wall of ice appeared. "Now we're on equal levels."
"Far from it." Kensei slid his hand over his face. Hielo was forced back as an overwhelming burst of reiatsu erupted from Kensei. "This fight is over." His echoing voice struck fear into Hielo's heart. Kensei Shunpoed behind Hielo, and imbedded his fist in his back.
Isshin moved a slab of concrete to the side as he wiped a streak of blood of his forehead. "Damn that hurt." Isshin moved his shoulder around to make sure it worked. He removed his zanpakuto from the ground where it had landed and climbed out of the rubble. The tell tale sound of Sonido tipped of Isshin, and before his opponent even appeared, he was gone using Shunpo. The building Isshin had crashed into was leveled. He reappeared three building down the street.
A young girl appeared at the foot of where the building once stood."You're fast, Kurosaki. I'm Tierra."
"I'd say 'nice to meet you,' but then I'd be lying." Isshin wiped a stream of blood from his mouth.
"That is true for me also." She turned and swung her hammer down. This time, her hammer did not shatter the road, it simply stopped the second it touched it.
Isshin felt a subtle rumbling under his feet. He realized to late what was happening, and as he jumped away, a large earthen hand burst forth from beneath his feet. Isshin destroyed it with a quick slash from his zanpakuto. But then spikes appeared from the stump of the hand, and extended all the way to Isshin's landing spot. He looked up as a shadow appeared over him, and Tierra stood with her hammer already heading toward his skull. Isshin panicked as he realized his situation.
"Die." Tierra called out with a calm voice.
Just as he was about to be sandwiched, Isshin sneered smugly. In an instant, he was disappeared, and Tierra gained two new slashes along her back. Isshin reappeared above her and brought his sword down in the same manner she had swung her hammer.
Tierra was no match for the former captain, and she crashed into the street with enough force to shatter every bone in her body.
Isshin dodged to the side as spikes of earth shot out at his face.
"Nice strike…" Tierra rose from the smoking crater with no damage from the crash, although the sword strikes on her back and the deep gash on her right shoulder was still apparent. "…but I turned the area I landed in to a cushion of soft sand. I also began to form armor as soon as I touched it." He held her arm in front of her and allowed the top layer of skin to peel off. It quickly closed up as though it were her own skin.
Isshin looked at his wrist, despite his lack of a watch. "I know it'll be overkill…" He muttered more to himself than to Tierra, "…but the sooner I defeat you, the sooner I can help someone else."Isshin dived down to the street and kicked up dust upon landing. Tierra stood motionless as the debris literally avoided her.
As she expected, Isshin ran out of the dust with his sword poised to strike. She put her arm up the block the strike, but she wasn't prepared for what came next.
"Getsuga..." His blade connected with her rock skin, "…Tenshou!"
The only thing Tierra felt as she was consumed by the attack was everything above her elbow turning into a mess of muscle and bone.
Yamamoto and Feugo forced each other back once more. Neither one of them had been hit, but Fuego was noticeably out of breath. Of course, this was to be expected when one faces the strongest Shinigami in history. "You're ability is well beyond that of your age."
Fuego blew at a loose strand of hair. "Arrancar age differently than Shinigami."
"Oh, how so?" Yamamoto questioned.
Fuego rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We age quickly at first, a necessity considering the environment we grow up in, then at then we age at the same rate, before leveling off at slightly slower than Shinigami." Fuego shot open his eyes as he checked his ally's reiatsu.
"So you've finally noticed." It was more of a statement than a question. "Truth be told, I could tell that none of them were anywhere close to the Espada level. I estimate a fifth seat could defeat them. You are the exception of course, seeing as you are fighting on equal ground with me."
"You figured it out huh? I guess you only look like a senile old man." Fuego tossed his axe in the air, and allowed it to embed itself in the ground behind him, then he casually leaned on the handle. "You absolutely correct, my 'siblings,' are indeed well below the level of Espada. That's because I am the main body and they are separate pieces of me." He gripped his Arrancar mask and it to the side enough to reveal a zero tattoo. "We are ALL the Cero Espada. But not even I'm that strong. At the most, I'm Fifth Espada material. But that is where we are unique." He stood back up and lifted his axe. His voice echoed five times over and the very sky above him darkened. "Reconstitute and reform, Guerrero De Los Elementos." Immediately, Fuego was engulfed in a tornado of fire, and four more could be seen that corresponded to their elements. "When we become one again, we are invincible." The tops of the tornadoes slithered to connect with Fuego's.
Yamamoto didn't bat an eye the entire time. "An impressive ability." His allies appeared behind him in bursts of Shunpo. The only notable injury anyone had received was Isshin's bruised shoulder.
"What happened?" Kensei demanded. "I was just about to finish that runt off!"
"Yelling at your allies won't solve anything, lest you intend to annoy our opponent to death," Byakuya calmly replied.
The tornadoes burst, and where they fused, stood a fifty foot tall monster. The right arms consisted of hellish flames, and the left was made of ice with a shoulder spike that extended above the head. The torso was covered in brown earth, and wings that seemed to be made purely of cackling electricity sprouted from their back. Where there would normally be hips and legs, there was only a whirling tornado, obviously a part of the whole being. The head was nothing but a blank slate. The hollow mask fragments fit together like pieces of a puzzle, leaving a white, uncaring head, the only sign that had been separate beings were the lines where the mask fragments meet, and even those were slowly closing up. "This is the power of the Cera Espada." It was as if all five voices spoke at once, although Fuego's voice was obviously the dominant one.
The being did not move a single muscle. Using only its mind, it forced the ground beneath the Shinigami's feet to collapse in on itself. Fuego placed its right palm forward and flames burst forth, a blast of air traveled with it.
Kensei appeared in front of the group, and vainly tried to counter the attack with his own.
The flames didn't even slow down. The only reason they did not die then and there was because Yamamoto launched his own attack. "Such power."
Fuego did not take a moment to respond. With speed that should have been impossible for a being its size, he appeared behind the group of Shinigami and fired a cero from its face with such massive power, that they were all but helpless.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Isshin countered. The blast successfully blocked the attack. In fact, it continued on, and forced the cero back into Fuego's face. The combined force of the cero and Getsuga Tenshou knocked Fuego off his feet.
Kisuke dived down. His sword overflowed with reiatsu. "Shibari, Benihime." A blood red net flowed from his blade, and with a simple slash, Kisuke pinned Fuego down. Kisuke landed by the corner of the net. "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi." He placed his sword on the net, and small crimson orbs formed in a domino like affect on the way to Fuego, and when they finally connected, the blast completely engulfed the Cero.
Such a display of skill would have left anyone at awe. But it did little to stop the Espada. They all heard a sinister laugh. "Is that all you've got!" The explosion was blown away by a gust of wind, revealing the Espada to be unscathed. They only sign of damage was a large crack across his mask, traveling over where the eye would be, as a result of the cero. "This is going to be easier than I thought!"
Sorry if the quality of this chapter isn't up to par, I find it difficult to coordinate any scene with several characters. Also, I just want to say that this: Fuego in this form IS strong enough to fight Genryusai, but no one short of Aizen could fight five captains, so they will put up a good fight.