Chapter 25 - Of Mice And Men
Ikkaku's huge spiritual pressure suddenly surrounded him in a whirlwind of mist. Only a few seconds later, it expanded outwards and upwards into a huge tornado.
Yumichika stood, still watching as Ikkaku's Bankai formed. "Well, I had feeling you'd have to show it sooner or later," he said to himself with a smile.
"What the hell is with this guy?" shouted Felnn over the sound of the winds whilst shielding his face from the sheer force of Ikkaku's spiritual pressure.
"Such raw power, where did this come from?" asked Cezza who with Felnn and Luro, backed off from Ikkaku.
There was a roar like that of a dragon coming from where Ikkaku was, before the tornado of mist around him finally died down. Ikkaku was now holding two huge monk spades attached together with the blade of a guan dao, which hovered behind him emanating power.
"Big deal, so he's got a larger weapon, makes no difference. Come on Felnn, we can take him," said Cezza arrogantly and nodded to Felnn.
Felnn looked at Luro for confirmation, who also gave a nod. "Alright, let's go, high and low," said Felnn.
Ikkaku's grin grew even wider as he saw the two approach. Cezza rushed in first with a slash at Ikkaku's neck. Ikkaku anticipated the attack perfectly, dodged, and struck Cezza by a swing from the blade in his right hand. Cezza moved before it hit him, but with the sheer power behind Ikkaku's swing he was blown back. Ikkaku span around and swung his other blade at the oncoming Felnn, who tried to attack from behind, but just like Cezza, he was blown away before he could reach.
Ikkaku laughed, "Come on already. I said this should level the playing field, not make me so much more superior. Or have you all already reached your limits?"
"Damn, he's strong, I'll give him that," said Felnn.
"I hate to admit it, but we won't beat him like this," said Cezza.
"I guess we all agree on something," commented Luro. "I think it's our turn to level the playing field. Ready guys?" The other two nodded at him. "Then let's get started."
Ikkaku raised an eyebrow and watched.
Felnn swung his sword about menacingly at Ikkaku, "Finally, about time. Here I go, Pounce, Guepardo." Felnn's spiritual pressure enveloped him for a few seconds, and once he came into view again his appearance had changed. On his forearms he gained large bony claws. He also had grown a tail which whipped about behind him, and there were now fangs distinctively growing out of his mouth.
"My turn then," said Cezza. "Laugh, Hiena!" There was a high pitched laugh, and a second later Cezza's resurreccion was complete. His upper body grew broader and more muscular. His fingers now had claws and fur had grown on his upper body, but leaving his stomach bare. Like Felnn, he also had fangs in his mouth.
"All part of the plan. Collide, Carnero!" said Luro. There was a small flash of light, which engulfed him for a few seconds as his outer appearance changed. There was another flash as the light disappeared, and he appeared with protective bone armour around his head shaped like a goat's skull. His horns had extended out, but were now shaped more like an antelope's rather than a goat's. His arms had also changed, they've grown broader and covered with bone armour. "And now we're ready to move onto the next plan."
All the while, Ikkaku watched with pleasure as his opponents gained strength. "The stronger they are, the more fun they are to kill," said Ikkaku, and he moved towards the three. "Plans, huh? Well, I'm just here to have some fun!"
Ikkaku reared up his huge blades and swung with incredible power at the three arrancar. Luro jumped back before Ikkaku had a chance to attack, and Cezza moved out of the way just enough to escape, but Felnn had froze completely. With the utter power of Ikkaku's strike, he sliced through Felnn's body like a cleaver through tofu.
"Well, one down already. Too easy," he laughed. But during that second when his guard was down, Cezza came up behind him and grabbed both his of arms. "This again?" Ikkaku asked, "It won't work twice." Ikkaku tried to break free of Cezza's grip, but for some reason he couldn't. Cezza's strength had increased too much, so Ikkaku couldn't writhe free from him. However, Ikkaku turned his attention back to the Felnn he had attacked which had vanished like a ghost. But another Felnn suddenly appeared in front of him.
"What's the matter? Did you see a ghost? Or should I say an afterimage?" smirked Felnn, and launched into a barrage of kicks into Ikkaku's stomach and face. Cezza let go and slammed his fists down on Ikkaku's head, sending him smashing into the ground.
"I think it did work," said Cezza arrogantly, "Twice!"
Ikkaku slowly got back onto his feet. "You just took me by surprise, that's all." He jumped back up and attacked swiftly. He swung one of his blades down at Cezza, who held out an arm and grabbed Ikkaku's blade with his bare hand. Ikkaku swung down his other one but Cezza raised his other arm and blocked that too, holding it steady. "Pretty strong Hierro you got there," said Ikkaku, impressed.
"Why thanks," said Cezza, trying to sneer, but couldn't as he struggled to hold off against Ikkaku's strength. Cezza arms started to bend slightly due to Ikkaku's continued pressure but just when Ikkaku thought he'd won, Cezza opened his mouth wide and screamed out "Reir!" Sudden waves of energy blasted out from Cezza's jaw and slammed directly into Ikkaku's chest.
"What the hell is this?" screamed Ikkaku, as he felt pain in his chest and his arms weakening. Cezza didn't answer him, he pushed Ikkaku's arms away whilst continuing his attack and then kicked him in the chest sending him flying back. Cezza closed his mouth to stop his attack but then opened them again to fire a cero which hit Ikkaku with deadly accuracy.
Ikkaku hung loosely in midair for a split second, before Felnn launched himself out of nowhere and stepped on him, ramming him straight into the ground.
"My turn!" shouted Luro and Felnn and Cezza jumped out of the way as a Cero charged up between Luro's horns. Ikkaku tried to get out of the way, but couldn't make in time as he felt the full power of another Cero hit him.
Luro then shot towards Ikkaku with a clenched fist, aiming for a killing blow. But just as he was within striking distance, he sensed that Yumichika had finally moved. As if in response, Yumichika forced him out of the way and slashed. Luro blocked Yumichika's blade with his broad arms but was pushed back.
"Luro!" shouted Cezza, and was about to go after him, but Luro shouted back "Finish him! I'll deal with this guy."
Yumichika smiled at him, "You'll deal with me, will you? I'm glad you see this my way, so let's take this somewhere quieter."
Luro smiled back, "Fine," and he and Yumichika vanished straight away.
"Oh great, I thought that other soul reaper wouldn't butt in," said Cezza.
"No matter, we don't need Luro. This guy's nearly dead anyway, let's finish him already."
There was loud laugh and Ikkaku jumped up. The dragon crest on the big blade behind him was fully lit up in red, and his spiritual pressure had risen again. "Finish who, might I ask?" he laughed.
Felnn and Cezza instinctively backed away and readied themselves. "We can take him, he's still weakened," said Felnn.
"No, I'm not weakened. I'm finally awake!" shouted Ikkaku and charged. He swung his right blade with tremendous strength and aimed for Felnn, who moved quickly out of the way and retreated.
As soon as Felnn had moved Cezza fired a cero which scored a direct hit on Ikkaku. For a moment, there was no sign of movement inside the smoke cloud from the explosion. But then Ikkaku shot out of the smoke, relatively unharmed apart and seemed to be enjoying it. He charged straight for Cezza at the speed of a bullet and, still with a ridiculous amount of strength, slashed at him. Cezza held up his left arm to block, but Ikkaku sliced straight through. Cezza screamed in pain and fell back even further.
Felnn froze up in fear and Ikkaku moved to him next. He hacked down straight away and Felnn snapped out of his fear just in time to avoid a fatal blow but was still cut on his arm. He clenched his teeth and used sonido to appear behind Ikkaku. He slashed down with his claws against Ikkaku's back and dug into the flesh.
Ikkaku barely flinched. "Was that it? Then you're finished." Ikkaku span around so fast that Felnn couldn't react, and was sliced in two.
"Felnn! No!" shouted Cezza, who was still clasping his wound. Ikkaku turned back around to face Cezza with a maniacal grin. "You… you're insane!" Cezza screamed and ran for it.
Luro moved swiftly and engaged Yumichika in a hand-to-sword combat match. Yumichika watched Luro's every move and was able to easily block or dodge every one of his attacks.
"This guy's slower than I expected," he thought as he parried a punch and attacked back, but Luro moved back out of Yumichika's reach before attacking again. "I can keep up with him, so this should be a glorious victory."
Yumichika made a swift move and flash stepped back to leave some distance between the two. He waited, and just as Luro was about to attack him, Yumichika flash stepped again and appeared behind him. "I've got you now," he said victoriously and slashed. But his blade connected with only air.
Yumichika heard a whisper in his ear, "It's the other way around." He turned around, but was too late, and was punched to the ground. He jumped back up immediately to avoid a second hit.
"How repulsive do you look? I can't believe I let those hideous hands touch me," sighed Yumichika.
Luro jumped up and struck Yumichika, who instinctively blocked but was forced back. "Looks have nothing to do with the battlefield. The one who will win a fight is not the one who dresses the best. It's the one with the best strategy." Luro punched with his other arm and sent Yumichika flying upwards.
"How did he get so fast? He was slower than this before, I am sure of it," thought Yumichika as he desperately tried to regain his balance. Luro caught up and struck Yumichika in the face. "Causing your enemy confusion, and therefore leaving them off-balance, is one of many strategies that can be used to weaken the enemy," he said.
Yumichika crashed into the ground again and jumped back up. He found his balance and then flash stepped at Luro. He appeared behind Luro, but before he was able to attack, Luro turned and smashed Yumichika's sides. Yumichika was then rammed into the ground yet again.
"You have no chance in this fight. Once the enemy is wounded, widening the wound is only a matter of time, and then the battle is won." Luro landed gently on the ground in front of the fallen Yumichika and stopped. "You're more than wounded, this fight is over. I'd rather not kill, if you can surrender peacefully."
"This fight is over?" laughed Yumichika, "Who do you think you're talking to?" he carried on as he struggled up on his feet. "You don't understand what it's like to be in a strong squad like mine do you? I'm nowhere near lost. For me, to lose is to die. And I'm not ready to die yet." Suddenly, a different spiritual pressure started to emit from Yumichika, as his eyes turned green and his sword started to glow.
"What's this?" asked Luro, as he prepared himself.
"You were stupid to stop your assault. You only gave me time to recover and now I'll show you true beauty, beyond anything you've ever seen before. Split and Deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku." The glow of his sword changed and took a rope like form. There was a flash, bright enough to make Luro shield his eyes, and Yumichika's sword was able to wrap itself around Luro.
"What the hell is this?" Luro asked again.
Yumichika smirked. "If you were more beautiful I might've let you live. But you're too dangerous to do so. This is my Shikai, and your end."
There was a scream, and then silence.
Ikkaku's face turned from a grin to anger. "You dare to turn your back on the enemy!" he streamed out. "You coward! I will crush you!" Ikkaku rushed at Cezza and grabbed him by his collar. "So, you dare to run from a fight? You piss me off!" Cezza was shaking with fear but he couldn't escape Ikkaku's firm grip. "You coward! There is no place for the fainthearted on the battlefield! Begone!" Ikkaku yelled out. He threw the helpless Cezza into the air and sliced him in half. "I show no respect to cowardice," he spat, and walked away.