A/n: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. Yes, people. I am still alive. If we have anyone to blame then its the devilish thing known as writing my original story once again. So I focus on four separate stories when I'm not working or watching my episodes. This and MoI, then my original stories Sacred Stone and Among the Cursed. So far, Among the Cursed has been hitting me with a bit more inspiration than the others, but Hidden World has not left me yet.

Warning: Swearing, violence and grammar errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach - that is all... But the following OC characters are all mine :D

Chapter 35: The challenge of the fastest

A chuckle escaped Tahani's lips when she sensed the espada's reiatsu. Compared to the arrancar that she had fought over a month ago, this was the real deal. Another chuckle was let out of her voice box at the thoughts of her battle. This was an excellent chance for her to prove on her development.

"So Espada, how are we gonna do this?" The woman questioned, raising her zanpakuto to point it towards Zommari who hadn't even blinked. Creepy. "Am I gonna smash ya into the ground without worrying, or am I gonna pretend that I can't fight someone at yer level?" At first, it looked like that the espada had not heard her words. She assumed that he was considering, but when he let out a cool sigh and closed his golden eyes, Tahani couldn't help but tilt her head.

"You are much more conceited than I expected," He stated with a frown, "I will make your death quickly and painlessly." Zommari vanished into thin air, making a dark sneer form on Tahani face as she jumped from her spot to dodge a sword from behind. She landed the ground smoothly, narrowing her eyes in satisfaction as Zommari raised himself to give another look towards her. "Apparently you can back some of those words up, but do not let it cloud your judgement!" He vanished again and this time Tahani had decided to block his attack.

Even though Tahani was acting fully confident with her fighting abilities, she could feel the strength and the heavy reiatsu that the espada was producing. The smirk stretched on Tahani's face as she let out a yell of excitement and pushed Zommari off her blade.

"That can't be all ya have!" Tahani rushed forward with her next attack, preparing to slash him when he disappeared. She widened her eyes and raised her head, noticing that the espada had appeared in the air and was about to hack her down before she got a chance to move. Instead of worrying, Tahani lifted her zanpakuto and planted her feet into the ground, blocking the attack.

Hearing the ring of zanpakuto colliding made her smirk in delight. This espada was strong and he was definitely going to get her moving. She shot up her reiatsu and pushed the espada away again, pushing herself off her feet to distance herself away from the opponent. In the corner of her eye, Rukia's limp figure had caught her attention which brought the fourth seat back to seriousness. The smirk that she had dropped into a look of seriousness and it was an action that was clearly noticed by the espada.

"I wanna know something Espada," Tahani uttered as she spared a look towards her unconscious comrade, "Did ya engage a battle with her?"

Zommari stopped his actions, joining Tahani into looking towards Rukia, "No, however I was going to finish her off before you came storming in."

The smirk grew back on her face, taking her eyes off the Kuchiki to face Zommari, "Finish her off, eh?" She wasn't sure if Rukia was still alive, but if she was then Tahani had to be sure that she won this battle. Both of their lives were going to be on the line, "Well, sorry for the random question - let's continue this!"

Tahani used shunpo to appear behind the espada, letting out another yell and tried to attack but he had instantly dodged with sonido. She followed his reiatsu, widening her eyes at the speed and used her blade to block his attack.

Holy crap this guy is fast! At the sound of rushing feet, Tahani tilted her head towards the direction and her eyes widened at the sight. Blood spilled in the air as Tahani jumped back, skidding on her feet and giving an unbelieving look towards the two Zommari's in front of her. She clenched her jaw at the feeling of her blood trailing down her right arm; it wasn't major wound but the fact that it had completely caught her off guard. Maybe Zommari was right when he said that she was being a bit too cocky.

"I should mention that I am the fastest of the espada," The Zommari duo spoke in sync; both of the figures had eyed Tahani as she took a stance again with the same smirk growing. "This is my Gemelos Sonido – I create a clone by increasing my steps, you should think of it as a game of magic tricks." After a moment of watching her, one of the espada vanished into thin air and Zommari narrowed his eyes, "I can sense your ability, it appears that we are almost equals – but you are only masking yourself with that arrogance... I can see that it's a part of your nature, when you struggle you only cover up your defeat with that superiority, however that ends for you today."

"Stop talkin' ya giving me a headache," Tahani interrupted with an annoyed scowl forming on her face, "Ya calling me arrogant when ya saying stupid things like saying we're equals." She narrowed her eyes in determination, "It doesn't matter what level we are right now – we still need to release our zanpakuto!" Zommari gave her an odd look, before he used sonido again to appear beside her. Tahani had already seen the attack coming, slashing the espada's chest almost instantly. She chuckled in delight as the blood escaped the blade, but she quickly blocked the next attack that was behind her, realising that the first Zommari she had attacked was nothing but a clone. "So, these clones bleed too? I've gotta give props to that."

"You act like you have won this, because that arrogance is going to lead to your death," Zommari uttered as he held onto Tahani's blade with his own. The words made Tahani frown briefly, pushing back with the strength she had, "I can make more than one clone." Realisation dawned on the raven haired woman as she felt five blades dig into her body. Before they could do anymore damage, she pushed herself into the air and flipped over them. Once she landed on the ground, she fell onto one of her knees and her wide eyes gazed throughout her body. Even though she had a cloak covering her body, she could see the crimson spots where the espada had attacked her. "I can create up to five clones with Gemelos Sonido."

Again, Tahani was lucky that the wounds were not major and she was fast enough to dodge them. She growled in annoyance at the thoughts of fighting someone with a clone. But it was no big deal, if they are clones in front of her then she slash them all down before she gets to the real one. This was fun – she hasn't had a good fight in a while and now that she was colliding swords with an opponent (slightly annoying but powerful). An amused chuckle came out, which made the espada narrow his eyes.

Was it Tahani? Or was it that the calm opponent that she was fighting had a hint of annoyance. She squashed the thoughts away before smirking with pride, "If ya gonna start playing with ya tricks, let me participate the right way." Her hand grasped onto the cloak, before she ripped it off her body as she showed off her reiatsu with the cocky smirk growing. "I'm gonna show ya... the power that I've been gaining for the past month," Without a command, Aisutaiga formed into the duo daggers which gave Zommari a surprised expression.

Before he could question, Tahani appeared in a flash and tried to slash his face with a wide smirk but he had blocked the attack. Just as he had blocked, a clone had appeared behind Tahani and tried striking her but Tahani used her other dagger to block him. Another two clones appeared on Tahani's sides and prepared to dig their blades into Tahani's ribs but she only chuckled at the approach.

She spun her body, digging both of her daggers into the Zommari's beside her before she stabbed the slightly surprised clones through their chests. As soon as the clones vanished, Tahani gave a cocky smirk towards her opponent and let out a calm chuckle, "Is that all ya got? Besides it's getting kinda boring with the same thing going on here." Once Zommari disappeared to make another clone Tahani rolled her eyes with another chuckle, "Come on Espada, ya too-" She suddenly whipped her head in another direction with eyes wide and in horror. A faint reiatsu in the distance was falling gradually and it was enough to distract her. That was Renji! What the hell is happening with him? I can't sense it too well but I can tell something is wrong!

"You should be paying attention to your fight instead of looking the other way," Zommari uttered in front of her, which made the woman widen her eyes in realisation.

"Crap-!" She was unable to block the blade from hacking into her right shoulder, but before she could even worry about the wound she raised her daggers to block the attack from another Zommari. These clones may be weak and annoying, but they were consistent and Tahani couldn't help but feel annoyed that they kept coming. But she hasn't lost yet. Before another blade could come in contact with her, Tahani dodged the attack and put herself some distance away to glare at the ground. This espada is right; I shouldn't be worrying about Renji but focusing on my fight... And besides, Renji had promised that he will survive, so there's nothing to fret about.

"What's with that expression?" Zommari inquired, looking towards her without a change in expression, "It seems that you have shown something other than arrogance."His eyes locked in with hers, making the woman feel slightly uncomfortable with the fact that he still hadn't blinked, "You're showing concern for something... someone that has intruded in Hueco Mundo with you."

"Shut up!" Tahani snapped with a smirk, trying to cover up her feelings. The last thing she needed was some enemy reading her like a book, "Do ya really need to talk about how arrogant I am? Who cares about having arrogance and let's fight damn it!" She charged towards the arrancar, lifting the blades in the air and poured her reiatsu into her zanpakuto.

"It's that arrogance that will lead to your loss," Zommari stated as he used sonido to appear in front of the raven haired woman. They collided blades and the contact made both of the fighter's reiatsu to shoot up through the roof. A clone Zommari appeared beside Tahani and she pushed herself away from the first to attack the second, slashing into his chest before she put her hands together and let them flash red dangerously. Zommari noticed the flash; his eyes narrowed at the new sight and looked towards Tahani who sneered.

"Hado thirty-one," Tahani began as the espada finally realised on her intentions, "Shakkaho!" Like she predicted, the kido blew up in both of their faces which sent them flying back. Before she could crash into the ground, Tahani flipped in the air and landed on her feet so that she could charge again. A cloud of smoke had covered Tahani's vision of him, but it meant that he couldn't see Tahani either. She sneered in excitement, wiping away the soot covering her face and jumped into the smoke to cut into flesh that was in front of her. As the smoke cleared, she saw that she had clearly stabbed one dagger in Zommari's forearm and the other was into his opposite shoulder.

He hissed in pain, prepared to cut Tahani with his zanpakuto but she pushed herself off and gave herself the distance that she needed. Zommari had his top burnt, revealing the hollow hole on the right side of his chest but much to Tahani's surprise – he was still calm. Calm even after getting burnt by untrained kido ability without the chant – what the heck was she fighting?

No – Tahani paused at herself when she watched Zommari push himself back up collectively. There was no way he was completely calm, when she saw his eyes narrow earlier, Tahani could tell that something was running through his mind and it wasn't the cool attitude. A smirk expanded on her lips as she wiped the rest of the soot off her face, "Now what did ya think of that espada? Imagine the burning sensation ya feel as my blades hack into ya skin. As long as I have Aisutaiga's doubling speed and the burning daggers – I'll be able to enjoy a nice fight."

Zommari stared at Tahani for a brief moment, before his eyes narrowed as he had decided on his next move, "I already told you shinigami that your arrogance is going to lead to your death. Since the arrogance is simply you, I am forced to humiliate you." He allowed his zanpakuto to float in front of him horizontally before clasping his hands together with a bracing stance. Tahani tilted her head at the action, however she realised his intentions once she heard his next words. "Suppress," His head twisted unnaturally and it made Tahani cringe in disgust. What kind of arrancar just twists their heads like that? Just thinking about gave her the shudders, "Brujería!"

Tahani's eyes widened as the zanpakuto bent in the shape of an edged spiral, with a thick white smoke covering his body almost instantly. The smoke transformed into a strange liquid and revealed his next form. Now Zommari's entire body was covered with unblinking eyes and the lower half of his body is replaced by a pink structure that looked like a pumpkin.

The reiatsu! Tahani thought with astonishment, but she suddenly felt nervous when he removed his hands away and revealed the two hidden eyes. He raised his hand and faced it towards Tahani, the golden eye flashing purple before Tahani used shunpo to get safely away from whatever technique he prepared. She had expected a powerful cero blast, but when nothing had happened she raised her blades in front of her face. Now she has to find a way to cut into his skin and kill him before he really does something stupid.

"Do you not understand what had just happened?" Zommari asked after a moment of silence. He turned to face Tahani, who's eyes narrowed in annoyance. So he did something. She just wasn't sure on what he had done, "It had looked like I used a technique but nothing has happened... do you want to know why?" The espada showed his hand and Tahani realised that the pupil of his hand had been dilated. "It's because I've already used it on you!"

Now that Tahani realised, she saw a black marking covering her right forearm. It looked some cheap drawing of the sun, but that was the least of her worries. When she tried moving her arm, something had made her unable to move it –in fact she wasn't even able to twitch her arm.

"What the heck is this?" Tahani growled, trying to move her arm out of the immobility. This was definitely a cowardly way to fight, what kind of fighter uses some stupid tricks to stop a decent fight?

"It's simple," Zommari responded as he made a hand motion, "Your right arm now belongs to me." Tahani's eyes widened as her arm went against her will, slowly edging near her throat. She glared at her opponent in annoyance, clenching her jaw as she tried fighting back. "There is no resistance," He stated when he noticed that Tahani was struggling with her arm, "I have gained the sovereignty of your arm by looking at it with my eyes. It's an ability that I call, Amor." Aisutaiga's blade was getting dangerously close now and Tahani felt like she was running out of options.

Pushover! The scolding voice of her zanpakuto made Tahani suddenly look towards her other dagger. Tahani's eyes remained wide for a brief moment, before she nodded in acceptance and sneered cockily towards the espada's direction which only made him stiffen in irritation.

"Ya think that's gonna stop me, espada? Ya gotta have to take control of my whole body before I end up dying!" With her left blade, she tightened the grip that she had on the hilt and pierced her right arm with her own zanpakuto. When she felt it, Tahani let out a cry of agony, realising that this had been the first time that she had ever experienced the burning of her zanpakuto. The blade was digging into her nerves and in the next moment, Tahani could no longer feel her right arm. It had dropped the dagger and hung beside her body uselessly as Tahani panted from the previous pain. Hopefully I can run into Orihime any time soon...

"So that I couldn't control you anymore, you dug your own blade into your arm to freeze your nerves – it's clever... however this lowers your chance of defeating me." Zommari commented, before he eyed Rukia, "Or your other shinigami comrade... When I had got you the first time, you were actually unaware I had used a second eye to steal the sovereignty."

Wait... "Bastard!" Tahani looked towards Rukia who had a sun marking over her head. She scowled in annoyance, quickly snatching up the dagger she had dropped earlier and charged towards the espada with a war cry. If there was one way to get rid of the stupid curse, it was to kill him there and then. Instantly the unconscious Rukia jumped in the way, her body in no condition for her to fight however it was enough to make her move like a puppet. Tahani let out another curse as she dodged Rukia's katana, only blocking the blade whenever it was too close for comfort. "If only I was in this situation a few years ago," Tahani grumbled and jumped away from Rukia with a serious stare.

There was no way that she was going to be able to fight Rukia. Rukia had charged towards Tahani, trying to attack her again with the katana and Tahani immediately shunpoed behind the Kuchiki. If Tahani could try freezing Rukia's movements like she did with her arm-

Tahani widened her eyes when a blade slashed her thigh. The last thing she expected was for the controlled Rukia to be going for Tahani's leg. With a groan, Tahani had to distance herself away before she collapsed onto one knee, dropping the dagger in her hand and keeping an eye on Zommari in case he had any funny ideas. She heard a faint sound of feet heading in her direction, and Tahani looked up to meet Rukia's dull eyes.

"Whatever relationship you have with this shinigami is enough to make you unable to harm her," Zommari declared as Tahani glared at his direction. What a coward, he was too wimpy to fight himself and used unconscious comrades.

"Damn it..." Tahani growled, narrowing her eyes as Rukia neared her. He's right... If I did harm Rukia would Renji ever forgive me? She has already failed Laria; she doesn't want to fail Renji this time.

"Ya gonna need the all the strength ya can get to protect her," She looked back with a cocky smirk, noticing that the duo were staring at her with shock. The lieutenant had pulled out his zanpakuto and kept his eyes locked in with hers, "It would be just like ya wanted."

Why did Tahani have to be stuck with this dilemma? She shouldn't be the one deciding her next move over here but having a real battle with a real opponent. Just as Tahani looked up, she recalled the moment she had with Renji when they had spoken about Laria. The reason she came here was to give Aizen a beating and in order to do that... she's gotta use it.

"Espada..." Tahani uttered softly which gained the attention of the espada. "Is ice an object?" She didn't meet her opponent's eyes, but she could tell that he had gotten confused by the question. "Allow me to answer it since I'm being considerate – ice is merely water which is frozen and that is what I am." She picked up the dagger, and gave a stern look towards Rukia dull eyes. "But all ya do is boast and complain about arrogance, but ya the biggest hypocrite that I know because ya the most arrogant opponent I've ever met!" Her eyes hardened as she stood onto her feet again, "My friends that have been with me this entire time know me better than a pathetic little espada like yerself! Espada, ya the arrogant one because ya don't realise that I am from the eleventh division and cut everyone in my path, even if they are a friend!"

Zommari's eyes widened with horror, before he commanded Rukia to attack. Tahani's blade headed towards Rukia's left shoulder as she let out a loud cry of determination.

As the blade sunk into flesh, blood floated in the air.

-:-

Meanwhile, Laria was walking in Soul Society with a calm expression on her face. As soon as the wind swayed in her way, she suddenly halted with wide eyes and looked towards her suddenly shaking hand. It had only been recent when the shaking started in weak tremors but now, it was enough to get her attention. Panic flashed through Laria, feeling truly horrified since Tahani had left to Hueco Mundo.

Judging her hand, it clearly meant that Tahani was actually battling someone with enough power to risk her life. It was only a matter of time until it had happen – but it still nerved the brunette at the thoughts.

"Tani... nee...sama..." The brunette whispered with distraught, looking towards the sky with a concerned frown forming on her face. "Tani-nee-sama, what's going on?" When the world gave her no reply, Laria narrowed her eyes and tightened the clenching of her fists, "Don't worry Tahani – they're coming soon."

A/n: BWAHAHAHA... sorry... I'll show myself out.

05/04/15*

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