AN: Hey all. I'm back again, but probably not for long. In other words, I'm not going to write this in one sitting. Though, it will make no difference for you guys anyhow, so its all good. I've planned out this chapter, but I still don't know whether the fight will finish here or not. Hopefully. I want to get on to some other new interesting stuff as well. Thanks for the reviews last chapter. Actually, I appreciate them more than the reviews I get for the 'popular' chapters, like those business trip chapters. It's because the people who review for these chapters are the ones who are really liking the story, not just the fluff. Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

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A Summer Job: Battlecalm (Part III)

- - -

"Hey, don't you think we should probably step in now?"

"No."

"That's funny, I always thought you would be the type to rescue a damsel in distress."

"Ah, if only Tatsuki would look like a damsel in distress, then I would save her."

"You're right. She's coping quite well. Did you know of this, Kisuke?"

The man shook his head. "Nope. Abarai Renji must have done something pretty wild to get her power to awaken."

"Pretty…wild?"

The talking cat tried its best to imitate a human expression of bewilderment.

"Yeah. Didn't you ever wonder why Tatsuki's power didn't awaken at the same time as Chad or Inoue?"

"Well…wasn't it just because they had come in contact with hollows?"

"Partly. But since she has been around Ichigo the longest, her power is more like his, though obviously there are some differences." The green-coated man placed his hand in the bag in front of him, munching on its contents.

"Oh. I see, so what you are saying is that, her power needed to be awakened the same way as Ichigo?"

"Mm."

"Contact with a shinigami?"

"Correct. Close contact."

"You are a dirty man."

- - -

"How do you like this, trash?"

Tatsuki tried to stop herself from staring so openly, but she couldn't help herself. It wasn't every day that a person transformed in front of her…into something like this. Well, heck, it wasn't everyday that she met a guy intent on wiping out most of Karakura.

Yammy, the arrancar, didn't seem to have any trouble standing now, and his grin was cocky. Which probably meant, this form was powerful. She had watched the transformation; as soon as the words were out of his mouth and his sword out of its sheath, he had stabbed it into his right hand.

From there, it had grown, with his right hand now resembling a giant, evil-looking hammer. His other hand was similar, minus the hammer. Across his forearms was a blue metallic substance that looked as thick as steel, but the most unusual thing about his appearance was that he had small holes, with their diameter being about 1 or 2 centimetres all the way through his forearms.

His legs from the knee down had changed to that strange blue substance, and his once shaking leg had stopped. It was almost as if he had donned armour on his forearms and legs. And, judging by the size of the hammer, it looked dangerous.

But, Tatsuki thought, eyeing the hammer, with a hammer that big, there was bound to be some drawbacks, and in that case, it would have to be its weight. Surely carrying around something that big would have to be heavy, and that would mean his swinging time would be slow at certain points.

That would be the time she would attack. In karate, she had been trained to fight against people with weapons, but they were normal weapons, like swords, or knives. She really hadn't been trained to fight someone with a gigantic hammer.

"You look stupid."

In fact, he really did, according to any human standard. But these people weren't human, she thought as she readied herself. It was obvious, as soon as that hammer hit her, it was over for her. Besides, that other attack that she had taken at point blank range was having its effects on her. She watched as he pulled the hammer arm back, and was surprised when it came down at an extremely fast velocity.

Rolling to the side, she barely dodged the brunt of the attack, feeling the ground shake and moan underneath her. Looking back to where she just was standing, a massive crater had appeared.

"Next time you won't be so lucky."

Shit.

How could that guy move such a gigantic thing at such a fast speed? Didn't these kinds of people follow the laws of gravity? What made it worse was that her reaction time was getting slower. If she were to win, she would have to do it now, while she was still feeling a bit more energetic.

I just need to get behind him.

Feinting left, she sped around to his right, before he could turn back. Jumping up in the air and executing a perfect kick was no big deal for the karate master. But even as she jumped, she could see his body twist around slightly, and she could see that he already knew where she was.

She kicked off his still-turning back to change her trajectory, and flipped back a few metres. Which was just as well, as the eerie whistling sound of the hammer came flying through the space that she had occupied just a moment ago.

"Didn't I tell you? Human hits can't do anything."

Shit! How the hell does he move so fast with that massive weight on his arm?

"I bet you're wondering why I can move so fast with this weight. Can you see these tiny holes in my arm? They decrease this hammer's actual weight by 50, allowing me to move quickly, also with a dangerous weapon."

The holes are going right through his arm! Then where is his arm?

"My zanpakto release temporarily changes my forearms and legs from the knees down into pure steel. The holes in my arm reduce weight, and thus I can attack as fast as I want."

The arrancar's face twisted into a mean grin, and Tatsuki had to stop herself from stepping back. Earlier on, she had thought she had some kind of chance. Throughout the battle she could feel the amount of spirit power flowing from him, and knew unconsciously, that, if she released her maximum amount, she could probably beat him.

But now…with the transformation, she noticed that his spirit power had risen significantly. There was no way that she could possibly top that. She still stared him down though; it gave her a false sense of strength that she needed.

"You…what did you do to my leg before?"

She kept looking at him. She didn't actually want to admit that she had pretty much no idea of the logistics of that strange attack.

"I don't know the exact details, but I'm sure the end result was something like... this."

Yammy lifted up his leg, and brought it crashing down to the ground. Well, what would have been the ground, if it wasn't for Renji's leg. Tatsuki blinked once, as if unwilling to comprehend what just happened. The leg looked sickeningly flat.

"Is that an angry expression?" The arrancar bared his teeth again, and raised his foot once more. He bought it down, but found that he couldn't bring it to reach the ground.

Tatsuki was kneeling under his foot, holding it up with both hands.

Yammy felt himself being thrown up and backwards. As he fell towards the ground, he saw a blur approach him from underneath.

- - -

Urahara folded the popcorn packet neatly on his lap. "He sure knows how to get someone angry."

"Hmm…" the cat next to him mused. "Do you think she might actually win?"

Urahara turned and looked back over to the fight, where it seemed like Yammy was getting beaten up from all different directions. From an untrained fighter, it would seem as if Tatsuki was winning. By a large margin.

Urahara's eyes narrowed.

"She's going to lose."

- - -

Tatsuki jumped back, and the red mist that seemed to be covering her eyes slowly lifted. Yammy lay in a heap, bleeding from various locations on his huge body. He slowly stood up, still with that mean grin plastered on his face.

"I told you before, human hits don't do shit."

He placed his feet apart, and put his left hand in front of him, as if punching to the left.

"This is how you hurt someone."

He raised his hammer-arm behind him, the spirit power so concentrated that it was visible to the naked eye. "Hagane rei" (1)

Tatsuki's eyes widened as she saw the hammer arm slam directly into his own left arm. Instead of rebounding off, she saw the hammer continue its path forcibly. His left arm lit up in little dots as she saw the spirit power forcing its way through the small holes in the metal.

As they emerged from his left arm, Tatsuki quickly gathered all her spirit power in her hands to deflect the shooting bolts of spirit power. Other than increasing its speed, compressing and firing it under high pressures would concentrate the spirit power, which would most probably make it fatal. But she knew she had enough spirit power to deflect all the bolts that came her way.

- - -

Yammy looked on triumphantly. The stupid girl had tried to deflect the spirit power he had sent flying her way. She had deflected it, of course, but she had failed to see the hidden steel shards that had come from his hammer. True to its name, not only did the technique Hagane Seirei, fire out bolts of concentrated spirit power, but with his added hammer throw, bits of steel was forced through the small holes as well, creating a deadly combined spirit and physical attack.

He said nothing as he watched her stand up shakily. Blood poured from the holes made by the steel shards.

"Stop, arrancar."

He walked over to her, grabbing her shirt front in a huge fistful. "I've had enough of you. Playtime is over."

Tatsuki feebly raised her hand in front of her, trying desperately to reach out to touch his neck.

If I can just touch his neck…

"No you don't." The arrancar placed his hammer arm in between his neck and her outstretched arm. "I'm not going to get hit by that move again."

She grabbed onto his steel arm, and released her built up spirit power.

"Hmm...You would have probably done some major damage if my arm wasn't made out of steel. Too bad."

Yammy shoved her to the ground, blood splattering everywhere. "Say goodbye to your friends."

Shit. How could I be so stupid?

The last thing she saw was his retreating back before she blacked out.

- - -

"Come on, lets get Tatsuki."

"Are you going to take care of that arrancar?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He should be dead...right about now."

Yoruichi turned around just in time to see the large arrancar fall to the ground. Hurrying over to where Tatsuki lay, she looked at the teenager.

What kind of powers does this girl have?

- - -

AN: Ah, dammit. I was going to wrap up everything with this chapter (I mean, like after they are all recovered and stuff – and explanation of all techniques blah blah) so I could get back to Ichigo and Rukia…but I suppose you guys will have to wait for one more chapter, while I completely wrap it up…Ah, at least the fighting is over. That was stressful. I suck at fighting.

Review, and sorry that I haven't updated lately. With school out it should be the case. Though I have been so busy lately its not funny. Maybe I should just go to school…haha. Yeah right.

(1) Hagane rei – um…probably directly translates to Steel Spirit. No idea about the grammar and all. Sorry! I don't really like using Japanese in my fanfics, but it sounds stupid when people have an attack in English. Doesn't give it that exotic feel.

EDIT: Thanks to Daughter of ether, who gave me the correct translation.