Disclaimer: The ideas and concepts used in BLEACH belong to Tite Kubo, as well as any regular characters. Most of the characters in this story belong to me. Thank you.
Danzig was on the offensive. He dashed at Suichi with insane speed that could barely be dodged. Of course, the accomplished assassin dodged him and whipped his chain wildly at the monster.
"Shoot, Haganerensa!" Suichi commanded. His chain shot out with speed greater than the fastest arrow and impacted with a steely clash on Danzig's head. The hit made the Hollow stumble a bit, but he was otherwise fine.
"Let's jam, monster man!" Lulao shouted. The shinigami covered their ears and he pounded on his drum. The sound pressure blasted around the canyon walls and reverberated back at Danzig repeatedly. The Hollow was hit hard by the attack and was forced back a few steps before digging his feet into the solid ground. He kept one arm up in front of his face to block what he could, but when the sound stopped he couldn't lower it in time. In rushed Shin, sword at the ready, who jumped up and stabbed into one of the Hollow's mask slits.
"Guh!" Danzig gasped. Shin was still cautious enough to draw his sword back out rather than leave it in to twist the wound, but it proved futile. Danzig's thin but solid white arm caught Shin's sword before he could pull it out. "My, that was close! Thankfully, I have evolved beyond the need for a face, or I may have died!" So Danzig, with Shin's blade in hand, swung Shin around and smashed him to the ground. Then he let go and kicked Shin across the canyon path. All that abuse and Shin was able to stand up, daunted but physically fine save some minor head blood.
"This is interesting" Shin lowed. "His greatest weakness is just a trick. I'll have to get crafty to kill this one..."
"It's hopeless" Hoji said to Shin. "Let's just surrender!" Shin glared at Hoji who smiled in turn. Now wasn't the best time for jokes, however, as Danzig continued to attack. Shin jumped up in time to dodge and Danzig's fist hit the rocky wall. Shin grabbed onto the high ground, along with the expert Suichi and the awkward climbing Hoji. Lulao sheathed his sword and jumped up, holding his position with his sword in the wall. Danzig slowly and haltingly tilted his head up at them.
"Shinigami!" he shouted. "Come down!"
"Screw you!" Hoji responded. "You come up here!"
"Hey!" Suichi shouted "Don't encourage him!"
"You can't jump, can you?" Shin asked.
"Exactly" Danzig answered.
"That's lame!" Hoji growled.
"As an 'Adjuchas' class Hollow," Danzig explained, "my abilities lie within my original form. I used to be a very heavy creature, I know that much, and I retained those qualities of weight all the way to my current form. I may be much smaller than I used to be, but I am also far to heavy to properly lift myself off the ground."
"Tch!" Hoji mockingly grunted. "Sucks to be you then! We can fight you from up here!"
"Perhaps" Danzig said. He raised up his arm at Shin, and Shin became cautious and ready. "I am grounded, but I can still fight you from here..." He held out his open palm as the Hollows in the brush at the canyon entrance watched him. A twisted, spiked column started slowly oozing out from his palm. It was as thick as his arm, covered in blue, vein-like lines and many protruding spikes that all pointed up...at Shin.
"AHH!" The small Hollows screamed in astonishment. "Danzig is so amazing!"
"He's not that great" Baruk gruffed. "If I were fighting those shinigami, I wouldn't mess around or make any conversation with 'em. I'd just kill 'em!"
"You'd die" Liera chided. "It would be over far to quickly for you to do any good."
"Says you, wench!" Baruk shouted.
"Oh my" Lierea said, observing the fight, "he's using his 'shots' already. He must be desperate..."
"Observe, shinigami!" Danzig roared. "I can fight you wherever!" The spiked lance shot out and rocketed at Shin with amazing speed. Shin dodged it, but the canyon wall that got hit exploded into a fine cloud of rubble and doom. Shin caught the wall again with his sword and heard the sharp humming whistle of the lance traveling through the air. Shin hopped across to the other wall to dodge it, then another.
"Screw this" Hoji growled, putting his sword in his mouth. "If he's just gonna fight Shin then we may as well be sleeping! I'm going in!"
"Hoji, wait!" Suichi pleaded. It was too late. Hoji pushed himself off and fell towards the Hollow monster, taking his sword back into his hands again. Danzig was about to fire another lance at Shin, but noticed the growing presence above him. So, he slowly drew out the spiny lance and gripped it with his free hand to block Hoji's cut.
"This is my sword!" Danzig announced. "I call it Punzante Muerte! It rips through everything it touches." Hoji hit the ground with his sword still in the down-ward cut position as Danzig prepared to slice down with his malicious club.
"OH!" the Hollows watching shouted. "His weapon is amazing!"
"It just reeks with power!" another little Hollow shouted.
"Calm down, little ones" Liera calmly ordered. "Danzig only uses his ability as a weapon when he has determined a situation to be too difficult to settle with just his hands. This means he is nearing the end of his rope." The little hollows shifted mood right then. They no longer cheered senselessly, but refocused their scorn on the shinigami who threatened their brother's life.
"Fight me, shinigami!" Danzig roared. "Fight me and die!" Hoji continued to back-peddle away from Danzig who occasionally shook the ground with his swings. Hoji jumped up and bounced off the walls a few times before settling behind Danzig. Hoji took his sword behind him with one hand and pointed an open palm forward with the other.
"Senkou no..." he incanted. Danzig caught the incantation and darted to the side, avoiding whatever mediocre spell Hoji had to throw. "Shikyo!" The lightning arced to the side and slammed Danzig into the face of the rocky wall. A steaming mark was on his side as the bright red light started to disipate from the air. Hoji didn't rest on his laurels, however, as he dashed forward with Shin coming behind him. They both intended to thrust in the same, mirrored manner. Danzig got up, clutching his masked face, and dodged them with incredible speed.
"He's too fast!" Suichi yelled from above.
"Well, yeah!" Hoji shouted. "He's heavy, of course."
"Well, that doesn't make sense to me!" Lulao shouted from his own perch. He was now sitting on his own sword, perfectly balanced on the handle.
"His body is very heavy" Shin explained. "That's how he swings so strongly. He is able to somehow shift his weight around, making his front much heavier than his back, which also allows him to move rapidly."
"He can flash step too" Hoji added. "I think that has more to do with his Hollow powers than anything else, though."
"Very good!" Danzig roared in appreciation. "I've never met anyone who could figure me out so quickly, and while we're fighting no less! You're good, murderers of Hollows, but you're still weaker than I am."
"Oh?" Shin grunted playfully. "You'd be surprised what strength we've been holding back..."
"That's right" Hoji growled. "When we want to fight seriously, we do. And them people often die. Since you're a Hollow we had to hold back to assess you strength."
"But now I'm quite moved" Shin said "by your personal plight. Come at me," Shin offered, drawing his sword over to his side with one hand and clutching it with both. His spirit pressure suddenly rocketed, smashing the loose rubble and debris from the fight. The air became heavy, so much that even Danzig wavered a bit from the suddenness. "I'll let you meet your brothers in Hell..."
"Guuu" shivered the little Hollows. "Is he in danger yet?"
"Let him die!" Baruk arrogantly shouted. "Less hassle for us to keep up with him!"
"Don't be so brash" Liera said. "If he dies, who will protect you from the shinigami?"
"They won't find us, will they?" a little Hollow asked.
"I believe they already have." Liera answered. "At least, that one with the eye patch has..." Lulao was glaring down at the clearing. His specially honed sense of hearing from using his own weapon in battle so much had picked up on them long ago. Now that he couldn't fight the monster present, he concentrated on how he would end the little ones down in the woods.
"Lulao!" Suichi shouted. "Why aren't you helping us!?"
"This ain't my fight" Lulao defended. "Hell, it's not even yours. This Hollow's out to avenge his fallen brothers, he doesn't care which shinigami he kills, as long as he gets one." Suichi glared at him with disdain, a fighter not fighting, and focused back on Shin and Hoji. Hoji retreated to the cliff wall again leaving Shin and Danzig on the battlefield alone.
"This should be fun" Shin growled.
"I'll splatter you, shinigami!" Danzig threatened. Shin flashed forward, kicked off of Danzig's chest and spun in the air. Danzig swung and Shin's spiraling sword deflected the club into the ground. Shin landed perfectly on his feet and jumped onto Danzig's weapon. The Hollow pulled it up, and Shin with it, with the intention of slamming it into the ground behind him. Shin flashed off onto the wall, still holding his sword with both hands, and darted ahead into Danzig's side. His sword barely cut into his steely skin, but the force was enough to push him away from his planted club. The resulting motion twisted his arm out of its socket.
"AHH! Damn you, shinigami!" Danzig roared.
"Hmm" Shin grunted. As soon as his feet made contact with the ground he rushed again, this time he came in through the air just at Danzig's face with his sword high overhead. "Goodbye" Shin lowed. He crashed his sword down into Danzig's mask, cracking it along the border of his perfect slice. Danzig used his good arm to punch Shin in the gut and then throw him and his sword away.
"You must be an accomplished swordsman" Danzig growled "to pierce my skin. No matter. I shall end you and your brethren here." Danzig took his limp arm and forced it back into socket with a nasty pop. Then from both his hands came new clubs that he took in similar grip. Shin got up from his dusty crater with a slouching posture and pointed his sword at the monster from within the cloud. His blade shone brightly in the dark chasm with a killing intent that echoed from Shin's very soul.
"The end is far away for me" Shin said, taking his sword in two hands once more. "Death is very unbecoming of a warrior like me." The dust suddenly blew away. All around Shin was a clear apace where the ground was smooth from the blast of wind. Danzig's heart shifted, a deep sinking feeling within his bleach-white body.
What is this? Danzig asked himself. This feeling of nothingness, this hopeless pressure inside me. Could this be fear? Fear of death? An experience that so many before me must have felt...yes. It must be. Shin exploded forward and slashed hard into Danzig's doubled-up guard. The heavy Hollow was pushed back from Shin's stroke and had only a portion of a second to recover before Shin advanced again. This time, a thrust that broke through the block and cut deep into Danzig's flesh. Shin took his sword, twisted it in the wound, and sliced a streak of blood out. And this pain, the pain of death? An inevitable event that can't be avoided no matter what!? Is my fight impossible after all?...no...
"I refuse to be pointlessly killed!" Danzig shouted. He kicked at Shin, who completely dodged and landed in his already heavy leg. To rid himself of the threat of another kick, Shin took his sword high and swept the Hollow's leg away. The sound was painful for everyone to hear, not excluding Danzig to feel. The blood started to gush out as a new leg began forming when Shin cut off both of Danzig's wrists. Instantly, two menacing lances grew from the stubs. "I shall smash you!" Danzig announced. Shin flashed up with a foot to his slited face and kicked off of it, ramming Danzig's head into the canyon wall even more. Then, Shin blasted forward with his foot barely touching the ground and kicked once more in the still fresh wound he made. The hot blood soaked the sole of his sandal.
"You're death will not be for nothing" Shin said. Danzig looked down at him with his silent eyes, just to see Shin slicing off his arms at the shoulder with one instant movement. "You have given me hope, monster, that more strong fighters shall emerge in this world from your own." Danzig allowed his body to become limp and fell to his knees. Shin's sword tapped lightly against his skinny neck, with Shin standing over him ready to draw back and swing. "Tell you brothers to find more fighters, more Hollows to kill me. Believe in yourself and your race, and succeed death!"
Danzig was silent for a moment. Knowing his brothers, his partners waited in the brush and watched him with no hope left, he refused to answer his killer. But he had an answer. We shall meet again, Shin Danzig told himself. Shin's blade went up with both hands aiming at his neck. I shall not regret this meeting, and because of you I will become stronger, no matter what... Shin's sword fell with amazing speed, slicing straight through the Hollow's neck and igniting a fountain of blood upwards. Shin stood silently for a moment, the body of his fallen opponent drifting slowly to the side. Suichi, Hoji and Lulao dropped down to the ground cautiously. The blood stopped and the body, like those before it, dissipated into nothing.
"Let's go" Shin said. He sheathed his sword and started walking. Hoji stared at the corpse a moment longer and followed, Suichi holding his gaze the longest.
"Gevlav" Suichi started "is just through this pass, right?"
"Yeah" Lulao answered. "Just go on ahead for about a days hike and you'll be there."
"What about the other Hollows?" Suichi asked. Lulao turned back to see the scared creatures ducking back into the woods.
"I'll take care of 'em" Lulao answered. "You should get moving. Who knows how many more they'll send..." Suichi nodded and dashed off. Shin and Hoji were walking along, their swords sheathed and arms crossed, glaring ahead at the opened path. Suichi joined them wordlessly as they walked through the gorge to Gevlav, not a word spoken at all...
Punzante Muerte: (Spanish) Biting Death