Oh my god, can it be. Yeah, I know... late as always. One chapter a year just won't do... not at all. But i won't go into expressive detail, I did something different for that. Check out this youtube URL (/watch?v=qz2IcupFyCk) to get a bigger scoop on my absence. And so, without stalling any longer, here is the next chapter of Betrayer's Vengeance.
It was nearly over. Captains lying in seeming utter defeat. Ichigo's purpose fulfilled, and the energy pillar he and the Renovar had entered vanishing. Far from the battle, all this came as one long chaotic flood.
The technology and information division in the Seireitei were scrambling about their headquarters in a panic as they tried everything in their power to offer what aid they could to the battle. "Captain Komamura's life signs are dangerously low!"
"Captain Hinamori's are the same, we can't allocate any more spirit energy!"
"What is happening? We can't push through anymore?"
"Something is interfering with the transmissions! Whatever it is, the interference is sapping Captain Matsumoto and Captain Ise of every bit of spirit energy they have! They were right at the source of the spiritual overload, then it just absorbed their reiatsu like a sponge!" The technician's fingers flew across her console, but the more she tried the less results she received.
The flood of energy on her screen was cutting off their link with the warriors, and was gaining momentum at that. "It's feeding off the captains like a parasite!"
"Can we cut through?"
"I'm trying! It's almost like it's alive! Every adjustment is circumvented!"
"Damn it! We've already lost three quarters of the assault force, and now the captains are being crushed through simple attrition! Come on people, we have to do something!"
"Lieutenant, we just had an energy spike outside district 80 north."
"The Rukongai is not a priority, focus on the battle! Up the transmission strength, give our captains everything you can!"
"YES SIR!"
The swirling vortex of energy finally subsided, but only in appearance. The force of it was still present, and overwhelmingly so. The throne room had fallen silent, captains and arrancar alike could only stare as the repulsive form of Szayel's resurrection stepped away from where the spiral had been. "How truly priceless this day has been. To think Soul Society would be so foolish as to dump into my lap the very fuel I required." Lifting his arm, he held something at a distance, like someone would a piece of fetid garbage. "And this... I have had my fun with this."
The espada tossed Sana's ravaged form to the ground. Her legs had been ripped from her body, an arm literally twisted so many times it barely had structure, and her hollow hole had been torn wider. She was barely more than a pile of bloody meat. But still, her bloodied eyes were wide open and ragged breaths hissed from her lips. "I must admit, your endurance is commendable. Even after sealing your pathetic spiritual aura you still retain enough to survive. All for the name of what? What do you fight for, Trickster?" The only response was a growl. "Well so be it, she is useless anyway."
With a flick of his hand, Szayel dropped Sana's unconscious fraccion to her. With her only good arm the fifth caught Juna and cradled her small form. "I find no taste in finishing either of you pathetic excuses off. There is no need to dirty my hands with the blood of the weak. I have what I wanted, once again this fortress and all its power belongs to me. The only force that could possibly challenge that is gone. As far as I am to be concerned, all within its borders belongs to me."
With only a turn of his wrist for Szayel recalled the throne from the floor. The last Night Lord, the remnants of Sosuke Aizen's arrancar followers, was seated in what was once his. "With Kurosaki finally gone, there is nothing left to challenge me! For the remainder... shinigami, arrancar, it matters not. All bow, or die. There are no other options."
"I bow... to no one!" A voice cried as a bladed cord shot out straight at Szayel. He leisurely reached out and snatched it from the air, still grinning as he tossed the weapon aside. Captain Ise was back on her feet, retracting her shikai. "If Kurosaki had you held in such fear, then what holds us back from crushing you as well?" Her weapon snapped like a whip again, this time winding around one of Szayel's tentacles. It folded over and held the cord tight. The ring about Nanao's finger her weapon was connected to immediately pulled taunt, trapping her in the espada's grip.
"You barely have the energy to stand, and still you fight. Haven't you a mind? Years I spent testing reiatsu, perfecting my knowledge of its curves and streams, ways and methods through tireless study. I designed a device that consumes it, redirects it. As I said before, shinigami or arrancar... it makes no difference. While within my domain, you shall all BOW!" A sweep of his arm sent a purple wave of energy crashing out from the throne. Nanao was practically dragged to the ground by it, her knees cracking the stone beneath them as her eyes went wide. Matsumoto, awake but only just, quickly rolled over and covered lieutenant Isane's unconscious form as she too was smashed to the ground. Her hands and knees dug into the rock, but she kept the dark force from doing to the silver-haired girl what it did to the captain. Spiritual pressure so intense it mutiplied upon gravity itself. It was a wonder lesser beings could even survive it.
"You cannot even abide by the notion. Years and years this structure has stood, absorbing the energies of Hueco Mundo; of those who lived within it. With the Dark Hogyoku, a device of my OWN design it was given the key to completion. Only a being of such raw, unbridled power as Kurosaki Ichigo could master it. So I was forced to obey. Now... things are different. I never wanted power... but once I have it, I don't think I can easily let it go."
With a snap of his fingers, Szayel resealed Nanao's zanpakutou. All she could do was stare dumbfoundedly at the sword in her hands before a white tendril wrapped around her neck. Lifted from the ground, she grabbed at the offending limb, but it was already wound tight. "The lot of you are far lesser warriors than your predecessors. Your own even succeeded in killing me more than once. Not that such things hinder me, but it did give me time to think. To ponder the flow of shinigami energy took patience, but it most certainly did me justice. Nothing you do can even touch me now, and no one can help you." It was his intent to break her spirit, and by the look he received Szayel knew he was succeeding. "Nothing can defeat me now, much less fools like you."
"You should think twice before speaking, coward." A silky voice growled as an emerald blur shot past from behind the throne. Szayel's eyes didn't even follow as the tentacle that held Nanao was severed from his body, and the captain fell into waiting arms. Neliel caught the shinigami and lowered her carefully to the ground. "Ichigo warned against you. I above all knew your treachery was only a matter of time."
"Then what, you want to have your try at me as well? You should know how little a threat you pose." All eyes were on the pink-haired espada as within seconds his severed tentacle regrew. His regeneration was almost instantaneous. "With this much power, I could regenerate from a single cell, and you think you stand a chance? Even if I had not analyzed every iota of your spiritual signature, the thought is laughable. You do not frighten me, Neliel tu Oderschvank."
"You talk too much, Szayel." With a single sweep, Nell's sword was in hand. "I had hoped for your redemption, Ichigo gave us all that chance. But I see your heart is as black as ever... if you even have one at all. Declare, Gamuza." For a moment, the room was bathed in green energy, bright as the sun filling every corner. But, as the light died down, all there was left was laughter. Neliel collapsed to the floor, her sword still sealed and her breath ragged.
"Idiot. I've seen your release enough times. You think I couldn't stall it, or even negate it altogether? In fact, I have something even better." Another wave and a cloud of smoke exploded around Nell's body. Once it had passed, all that remained was a tiny form. Szayel just sneered as he watched the child teeter back from him, saucer eyes taking in her surroundings, then herself with growing look of horror.
"But... Itsygo... he..." the familiar lisp accentuated the result of Szayel's display. Neliel looked at herself, and found once again to be bound in her near infant form.
"He may have fixed your mask fragment, but it won't help you. Nothing can, no one is left that has even a prayer. Give up, surrender... and maybe you can all live to watch as Soul Society crumbles. And after that... well... I guess we can all use our imaginations." Turning to face the viewing screen, Szayel grinned as he adjusted the eye-piece he wore. "And do not think that simply because you are invisible, you are also undetectable... Hinimara Avarii. I know you're here. Racing to aid your companions no doubt, equally laughable." A simple finger snap and within the span of an eye blink there was yet another arrancar in the room. She was leaning against the far wall, eyes cast to the ground and arms crossed. In fact, she even appeared as if pouting for being discovered. "I am surprised you did not leap to the defense of your best friend. Isn't the fifth your counterpart?"
"You speak as if hollows should care for one another. Our partnership was one of mutual power and aptitude... not friendship. You of all among us should know this as one of the original espada." Her voice was cold, her gaze icy as it fell on Szayel. "I already know you've seen my resurrection before. I know you can cancel it out. I know if I try, I will fail. As far as I am concerned, there is little I can do here but watch."
"Ah... your words speak truth... but your actions speak otherwise!" Whirling around, Szayel held up his hand as three white blasts nearly struck his back. As if surrounded by a bubble, the cero incognito pushed against the barrier, slowly but surely digging through the defense. "What is this? You have been holding back, dear Hinimara. You are in resurrection right now, aren't you? You have indeed learned a trick or two from your 'friend.' What a deceitful little farce."
Another finger snap and a blinding flash filled the room. The leaning form against the wall melted away as a tall, winged outline appeared kneeling over Sana's mangled body. Her head shot up, still only a silhouette as the three beams of energy curved around Szayel and punched straight through her torso. The light faded, and Hinimara's true form faded back into view. What little remained of her chest smouldered, her own attacks doing their deadly work on the wrong target.
Not even flinching, Hinimara launched herself forward, her body no longer incorporeal as the cero attacks had shown. All Szayel needed do was lift his hand and the espada stopped in her tracks... floating in mid-air. "You are as much a fool as the others. I already said, none of you even stand a chance. I know your every power, your every weakness. You most of all harbor a dark secret, and the greatest weakness of all. Let's see what's behind that mask of yours, shall we?"
His hand entering Hinimara's hollow hole, the only opening in her chest not smouldering. Szayel took hold of something and, amidst a shriek of pain from his victim, pulled his hand back out. A simple wave of his fingers sent the espada hurtling back against the wall. She struck and bounced off to slam down to the floor on her knees, still somehow partially upright. But, while everyone watched, her resurrection began to melt away, cracking and splintering in the process. Like a liquid of pure white it fell away from her, revealing normal skin beneath. A few seconds passed, and the ravaged body of a normal arrancar was left where once was the powerful angel.
Fighting once again to her feet, the espada spat a mouthful of blood as she teetered. She took one step and stopped, looking down at shaking hands as there were only three perfectly circular holes smoking in her chest. The hollow hole had closed. "Ah... so that's what you were hiding." Hinimara's gaze followed the voice up, her face twitching as if fighting to understand.
What... did... you do?" The woman's eyes rolled into the back of her skull as she collapsed. She landed beside Sana, facing towards where the captains had fallen. They both stared at her, bewildered looks upon their faces.
"I gave you what you wanted. I removed this, and returned you to your original form. That has always been your wish, has it not?" Szayel held up the glowing shape, seemingly made of pure white light. After a few seconds it solidified into a solid object; a mask with a cross cut into the center. "Though I fear I may have also removed the regenerative factor that was keeping you alive. What better to die in the body you were born in? It's oddly poetic."
All eyes were fixed as Yadomaru Lisa, in her true form, laid still. Blood dripped from her eyes, nose, and mouth as all that held back the damage to her body failed. "Now... if there are no other distractions. I do believe I have one last task set before me." The Night Lord placed his hands on the arms of the throne, and the entire fortress began once again to grind to life. "With the final step of Kurosaki's ignorance, our own agenda has reached fruition. How the simple-minded, no matter the ferocious power, can be aimed to whatever goal I desire. That is the very reason I designed this great machine you call a Fortress."
The captains couldn't even move, totally drained of their power. A dying espada, another revealed as a woman already thought long dead... and a child. None able to even lift a finger. Hope it seemed had finally faded. Szayel had considered every angle, prepared for any eventuality. He had had decades to ready himself, and his time had finally come. No one was left standing.
-BOOM!- The thunderous sound of the throne room's doors being launched from their hinges shook all with a vicious force. The stone doors, each so thick and impossibly heavy only an espada could open them alone were sent like pebbles skidding and rolling all the way to the far wall where they punched through to fly out into the desert beyond. Standing where they had been, a familiar man cackled as he approached the hopeless scene. "Hey! Jackass! Forget somebody already?" Grimmjow's snarl of a voice echoed through the great hall as he stomped inside. One hand was in his pocket, the other held his zanpakutou ready. "You know... I have hated a lot of people in my time. Ichigo once even... but you. Pink-headed, arrogant, snot-faced, four-eyed, pathetic excuse for an arrancar. Try picking on somebody with a pair, you son of a bitch."
Szayel's eye twitched as his face twisted in rage. His hands squeezed into fists as he turned to fully face this newcomer. "You DARE insult me? I could crush you in a second! You who cannot even deal with a single shinigami captain think you can admonish ME? I AM GOD HERE!" His expression of rage was turned by slight confusion as howling laughter filled every corner of the throne room.
Grimmjow had turned his head up in guffaws as he took another step forward. "A god? You? Wow... what a dork. You think because you have a big battery, arrogance, and a fancy vocabulary you can just flaunt like a peacock? Didn't the last god of Hueco Mundo get killed off by a big fat guy? I mean, come on. The tenure sucks. Now... I think it's about time someone kicked your ass." The second mas lifted his sword up in the ready, but his eyes suddenly turned down as something tugged at his pant leg.
Gwimmdow... dun do it... pweaz." Nell's face was pointed up at him, tears pouring down in cascades. "He's too stwong. I dun want you to die... pweaz dun go." For that moment, that single second... Grimmjow's guard fell as he kneeled. His free hand came from the pocket to reach for the small child, for Neliel in a form he had not seen her take in years. In that single moment, Szayel pounced.
He did not use the power afforded him, or the abilities of his resurrection. He aimed his clawed hand at Grimmjow's head and charged. The sonido burst let him cover the ground in a fraction of a second. There was nothing standing in his way, even one as strong as the second espada would die from such a blow. The final obstacle would be removed, and things would be as they should.
The flash of white that filled his vision did not come from anything more than the skull-crushing blow that nearly collapsed his face in on itself. Flying backward, Szayel's tentacles were ripped from the ports in the floor as he bounced and skipped to a halt an impressive distance from the scattered warriors. With a snarl he leapt to his feet, expecting to see Grimmjow's smile and fist held up... he didn't. A look of absolute shock found its way to Szayel's features, even before he could suppress it. Though the shock quickly gave way to rage.
Standing there between him and his intended target was Sana. She stood tall, offending fist clenched as she simply cracked her neck. "I was wondering when you'd do something stupid. I should have cursed at you if I'd known it would rile." The Night Lord's eyes shot to where he'd left her mangled torso, but saw only the little Juna. The diminutive fraccion sat cross-legged while watching like a schoolchild in lesson; her body not even showing hint of injury. "I have to admit, you really did hurt me. But to think you would just toss me aside without a care... insulting. You actually make me miss the company of shinigami. They don't always underestimate their opponents."
"How..." Szayel's expression immediately hardened as he answered his own question. "High speed regeneration. It isn't possible, your organs were in shambles. Nothing can repair so much, and in such a short time. You are not even in a released state. You think this illusion can trick me? I have had enough of these facades!"
"Was that pain just an illusion? Was my fist hitting your beloved face a trick?" Sana tore off what little remained of her last sleeve, dropping the ragged fabric. "You gave me all the time in the world while you prattled on about how amazing you are, and all the distractions were just seconds more it took to put myself back together. You think I am an espada because of my looks or a few childish pranks?"
"It doesn't matter! You have no more chance than any of the others! I know everything in this place, have seen all there is! There isn't an arrancar or shinigami power I cannot unwind. I know your tricks, and knowledge is control. It always will be!" Despite the twisted grin, Sana knew what he was hiding. He had not been expecting this, and he was afraid. She smiled back at him, but her own expression held no malice. It was an honest grin as she took hold of one of the zanpakutou that had fallen from her sleeve before.
"I believe you refer to my skill in using the swords of my enemies. Yes, I can use the weapons of shinigami..."
"And that power is useless here!"
"Then so be it. I've made up my mind. Poor Neliel had held a branch out for your redemption and look what you did to her. Her kindness is what kept me from tearing you apart all these years. I have never been able to stand you, Szayel. Your very being sickens me. Now... you have outlived your usefulness and Neliel is in no position to stop me." That sweet smile she held only compounded the viciousness of her words. Sana meant business in the most bloody, ruthless sense.
"And you think you can? You are just like the others, resurrection or not, you will fall." In the blink of an eye, Sana's mirthful face turned to steely determination. Her legs spread, arms held apart and ready. The very aura of battle exuding from her. The time for talk was rapidly coming to a close.
"Let me tell you something, Szayel. You have had enough time to speak your piece, now is mine. When I finally relented and allowed Ichigo to turn me into an arrancar, I did so with an oath. I was never to use my resurrection unless absolutely necessary; when there was no other choice. Just as the original espada were forbade from their own releases within Los Noches, he warned me from mine. I may be the fifth espada, but we were never numbered by power. We are numbered in order of which we became espada. It is a date, not a rank." She pulled the sword in her hand from the stone and pointed the tip at Szayel, staring down the blade right into his eyes.
"But... this is your..." His voice broke as he stared at the gauntlet one tentacle held. "This is your zanpakutou!" He shouted, shaking the arm-piece like as if proving a point. Then it hit him, visible realization marking over him like a bad taste. Just another trick. That's all she was, tricks and tricks and more tricks. When one unraveled another took its place. For all his boasting, he still fell headfirst for her illusions.
"Szayel Aporro Grantz. If we had numbered ourselves as like the originals... I would be wearing something entirely different." She showed off the large 5, and her eyes widened in an almost manic gaze. "There is only one espada who has ever truly been my better, and knowing you fell for every trick I played proves it. For all your self-proclaimed superior intelligence, you always were incredibly dumb." She lifted the zanpakutou in her hand to point straight up, grabbing her shoulder as she did so. "Curse, Scura Volpadea!" And then... there was only fire.
The force of the spiritual release spread like a shockwave even beyond the fortress, tearing over the desert sands like a hurricane. Bits of stone and debris rained down, shorn from the buildings like paper through a shredder. Rising high from the roof of the fortress to pass beyond the clouds was a pillar of flames. A raging inferno swirling like a tempest. When it finally died down and collapsed in on itself, the entirely of the air was littered with ash.
Back in the throne room, no one spoke. What eyes could turn stayed fixed on the creature standing in a crater blown into the floor. She stepped out, but instead of feet canine paws found purchase on the stone. Thick tails twisted and flitted behind her lithe form as Sana lifted a hand and flexed her fingers, showing off the curving talons. "I want you to know... I hate this form. Too many bad memories. But if it is what I need to use, then so be it."
The last Night Lord glared menacingly at the visage of deadly beauty before him. She was taller, her hair longer, the jacket replaced by a sleeveless vest to show off her muscular arms and vicious claws. But it was her face he couldn't break from. The ear-like fragments were gone, there was no sign remaining of a hollow mask at all. Her eyes, burning with an inner fire, were cutting right through him. The tattoo-like marks falling from them to her cheeks seemed to glow, and the similar marks along her arms did so in the same fashion. Her very essence radiated energy hot as the sun, but he was not about to be deterred. "You think this changes anything? You think I can be turned just from a show of simple spiritual force? Resurrection or no, you cannot change what fate has given me."
"You're right, Szayel. Nothing has changed, it never did. Grimmjow, Juna... remove the wounded from here, please. I don't want to cause any further harm." The static buzz of sonido jumps came several times, and in seconds the room was vacant but for two. "It has come to this, and the fight you started all those years ago will find its end."
"I will kill you. You think I can't? You think just because you are in your true form you stand a chance? No force of strength or cunning can stop me! I am a god!"
"That's where you're wrong, Szayel. I'm sorry, but this has to stop here. I've been hiding my real spiritual pressure for so long it's burning me from the inside out. You said that even from a single cell you could regenerate. Well... I guess that means I can't leave anything behind." Her arm slowly raised till her fist aimed squarely at Szayel's heart. A very placid expression still painted Sana's face, so much that it disturbed even her target. "Goodbye."
Her fist opened, fingers spreading as a torrent of fire so massive it hid the source blazed without hesitation from Sana's hand. There was barely enough of a moment for Szayel to raise his arms as the inferno engulfed him. From the outside, from as far as the fortress could be seen, the explosion of flames caused by this attack could be viewed as it tore half the structure to pieces. With a single blow the entire fortress was shaken to its core.
It took only seconds, and soon the great machine in all its entirety began to collapse. All from a single blow. Sana Suriasona had awoken.