CHAPTER 36 The Rescue
** Not going to spend to much time on the fights here as our teams' main goal is to get Byakuya back . . .
The shinigami rescue team quickly moves towards the Strigoi lair.
"So we're all good with the plan? We can't just bust in there, not against these guys." states Renji, noticing the looks on some of their teams faces.
"Agreed. We can't let our emotions get the better of us." warns Yoruichi.
Zaraki suddenly stops and so does everyone else. He turns to everyone.
"Plans easy. You've got the best chance of getting the Princess out of there with your speed." He says looking at Yoruichi. "Ukitake and I'll cover ya. Everyone else (he looks at the rest) you guys deal with the fuckers who try to get in our way."
"Isane must stay out of the forefront completely. She'll need all her strength." states Ukitake. Zaraki nods; dread has been filling his stomach since Ukitake and Yumichika spoke to Byakuya.
"Someone should stay with Isane as well." adds Yoruichi.
"Yumichika stays." quickly orders Ukitake remembering Byakuya's words in the fog. Before Yumichika can protest Ukitake turns to him
"You've had contact with Kuchiki Taicho, it may help him."
Yumichika doesn't buy it but acquiesces, . . . for now.
"So everyone aside from Yumi and Isane keep moving forward and kill as many of these bastards as you can. The three of us (indicating Yoruichi and Ukitake) will go inside. We don't leave without Kuchiki." orders Zaraki.
"Hai!" reply all and they move out.
Closing in Ukitake calls out "When I get a chance I will create an opening for you and Yoruichi. I will follow behind you if I can." the two nod.
"Don't forget about the suppression fields! This is no time to be hiding anything!" Renji calls out to Ikkaku who gets the hint thinking today's turned into show and tell.
Inside the lair . . .
Chaos reigns as Gabriel has been rendered unconscious and the protection barriers have been severely weakened and some destroyed.
"Prepare to take Gabriel to the Realm. You know where to wait for me. I'll be there as soon as I can." Hugo orders the bodyguards as he finishes pouring some of his blood down Gabriel's throat.
"You're not serious!?" utters Larik.
Hugo stands and rounds on Larik as he covers his wrist.
"Do you even realize what just happened Larik?!" Hugo's eyes are dark with fury. "Somehow these shinigami scum have broken our barriers. Deciphered part of what our markings entail. All of it for all we know!" he yells.
"How could they have?- - - FUCK!"
"What is it?"
"It's Gabriel's whore shinigami. The guards said they saw the red light crash out of the room and the doors have been torn open."
"What in the name of gods is he?!" utters a furious Hugo. "We have lost the advantage and many of our men have suffered injuries; we are in no position to go one-on-one with the enemy." He turns and issues more orders via their communications system as he views the surveillance monitors.
"Will Gabriel recover?" asks Larik.
"Yes, what happened was not fatal and the blood will waken him but he needs help that we can only find at home."
"We cannot all go back Hugo, you know this. Or do you wish to condemn us all to death over Gabriel's stupid obsession!" half growls Larik.
"I will get Gabriel the assistance he needs. You do what you must, to get as many of our men out of here and back to the Greywind territory. I will meet you there."
Larik in that moment wishes he could kill Gabriel. But there is no time to waste plus, Gabriel's obsession with the shinigami taicho has just given him the ammunition he needs to usurp his leadership.
"Go then, I will handle things here." he turns to the screens and Hugo walks towards the door but before reaching it calls out
"Larik!"
Larik looks over his shoulder.
"Kill our shinigami prisoner." orders Hugo.
"With pleasure."
Meanwhile . . .
The rescue team is on the move when the Strigoi lair comes into view from atop a cliff. A dense forest and a wide river breaks into a view of a stone mountain from which the red beam is emanating. They can all feel an energy humming in the atmosphere.
"Isane, Yumichika don't go beyond the river." orders Yoruichi.
They move in fast and are met by a group of clones.
"Keep going! Isane and I will hold them back. We'll be waiting for you." calls out Yumichika. The others nod.
"Ready Isane?"
"Hai!"
The two move quickly and with killing precision. The rest move on towards the river's edge where they encounter two strigoi and a smaller group of clones.
"Ikkaku, Rukia, we get the others past the river!" orders Renji.
"Hai!"
As Rukia kills a clone she senses something is off with the clone but is distracted by a sudden change in the air, her eyes widen.
"Their raising their suppression fields, go quickly" she yells to the three captains. As they shunpo away she blocks the clones chasing after them with Sode no Shirayuki's shikai.
Renji and Ikkaku waste no time "Bankai! Hihio Zabimaru!"
"Here goes nothing . . . Bankai Ryomun Hozakimaru!"
The force of the wind between the two bankai's almost takes Rukia off her feet. She leaves the Strigoi to those two and continues to engage the clones.
Ukitake, Yoruichi and Zaraki cross the river and eventually come onto an open field where they see various clones and four Strigoi coming towards them.
Ukitake uses kido attacks to distract the incomers.
"The air's getting heavier!, their suppression fields are being raised!" calls out Yoruichi.
Ukitake releases Sogyo no Kotowari's shikai and absorbs one of the suppression fields being raised.
Zaraki drives head on into one of the Strigoi and despite feeling the burn of the suppression field, he positions both hands on his zanpakuto and strikes up and into the Strigoi, slicing it in half.
Ukitake uses his blade to absorb the fallout of the falling Strigoi.
Yoruichi is taking down clones and headed towards a Strigoi when Ukitake calls out
"Zaraki, Yoruichi, prepare yourselves!"
Ukitake releases the fallout from Zaraki's opponent together with the suppression field he had absorbed straight at the two Strigoi blocking their path. At the same time the tags on his zanpakuto shimmer creating a tunnel-like pathway of reitsu towards the lair.
Yoruichi summons her shunko to break past another suppression field being raised and to get to the tunnel. Zaraki gets past the field with brute strength.
As a Strigoi goes to follow the shinigami, the tunnel closes leaving Ukitake to face two very angry Strigoi.
Yoruichi and Zaraki don't stop and don't look back and as the reitsu tunnel ends they find themselves at the side of the Strigoi lair. They can hear various alarms going off and there are various clones walking around mindlessly.
"Failed experiments?" wonders Yoruichi to herself.
"Let's go!" orders Zaraki.
"Wait! your reitsu, it's to strong. These clones haven't noticed but whomever's inside might." Zaraki quickly dampens his reitsu.
"Now!" she whispers and they enter the lair.
Moving in the shadows, they make out a series of tunnels once they are past the entry.
"Left, towards the red beam." whispers Yoruichi.
They move and a few times they hide as Strigoi run past them. Zaraki fights all his instincts to attack knowing they need to get to Byakuya first. The amount of activity inside leads them to one conclusion.
"Fuck! They're leaving. We need to find him, now." states Zaraki. "You getting anything?"
Yoruichi desperately reaches out, hoping to feel something but . . . nothing.
They hear voices "Hugo's getting Gabriel out of here, through the back. Larik's in charge now."
"What about the prisoner?"
"His death has been ordered but Larik wants to do it himself. Leave him in our Leader's chambers for now."
"We should take care of him first."
"Larik will have your head. Besides he's at the east wing and we need to take care of the lab first."
Zaraki and Yoruichi waste no time moving east.
Outside . . .
The fighting on all fronts is fierce.
Rukia has gone on ahead after killing the last clone, leaving the two Strigoi to Renji and Ikkaku. She crossses the river and reaches a field where she finds Ukitake engaged in battle against two Strigoi. She calls upon her zanpakutou and joins Ukitake in his fight.
Renji is lying on his back, breathing heavily after having defeated his opponent. He then feels a suppression field fall in the direction of Ikakku's fight. Reaching out he senses Ikkaku and smiles. He hopes Rukia is fine; she had moved on ahead to aid the rest of the rescue team.
Yumichika clears the forest to find Renji lying on the ground. After their encounter with the enemy Isane had told Yumichika to go on ahead and help the others while she disposed of the clone corpses. Now walks up to the dying strigoi and calls upon Ruri'iro to absorb what's left of the monsters spiritual pressure. Renji turns to watch as a lovely, bright petal blooms. Yumichika takes the petal that forms and walking to Renji places it near his mouth.
"Just a bite."
Renji looks at the petal suspiciously and then at Yumichika who watches him patiently. Renji takes a bite and almost instantly feels a tingling, and though not healed he feels somehow refreshed.
He blinks in surprise "Arigato Yumichika."
Yumichika nods and holds his hand out to help him off the ground.
In another part of the forest Ikkaku is leaning on his staff with a serious injury to his shoulder, the Strigoi dead on the ground. He turns at a noise behind him and sees Renji and Yumichika.
"You got him." says Renji.
"He was a tough bastard."
"Injuries?" asks Renji.
"My right shoulders fucked up for sure but I've got my left still." he grins evilly.
Yumichika rolls his eyes and holds out the ½ petal that's left.
"What's that?" asks Ikkaku.
"It'll help."
"This more of your zanpakuto's hidden magic?" Ikkaku asks sarcastically.
Yumichika's eyes harden and handing the petal to Renji, he walks towards the river's edge.
"Eat it or I'll shove it down your throat." orders Renji.
"I'd like to see you try." replies Ikkaku with an edge.
Renji's reitsu flares "We take any and all help if it means getting Kuchiki Taicho back, you got that Ikkaku!" he half growls.
Ikkaku's eyes narrow but he grabs the petal from Renji's hand and eats it. His eyes widen at the effect.
"Baka." says Renji as he moves to join Yumichika.
Inside the lair . . .
Zaraki and Yoruichi have gone through various tunnels and now reach a long closed off hallway. They feel a vibrating, dark energy in the air.
"This has to be the place." states Yoruichi.
At the end of the doorway are two large wooden doors. One door is off its hinge and there is a hole burnt into the other door. They approach steadily with caution; the air thickening with every step. They cross the doorway and are struck by an unnatural darkness and a suffocating pulse of violence in the atmosphere. The smell of blood and sex fills their nostrils as they step forward. Yoruichi uses kiddo to throw some light on the room and their eyes take in a sadistic scene: a large wooden bed with hand cuffs attached to the head board and ropes tied to the foot of the bed, various knives and instruments thrown around the floor near a side table; tangled, bloody sheets and a large pool of blood on the mattress.
"Shit" curses Zaraki as he moves quickly forward and around the bed . . . nothing.
"Fuck!, anything?" he turns to Yoruichi.
"I can't feel him."
Zaraki moves towards the wall, feeling his way with his hands.
"I can't sense anything in this place." states Yoruichi, feeling light-headed as her senses are completely dulled.
"There's a tunnel here, hurry."
She follows Zaraki into a tunnel, which is dimly lit by a fading light. About 20 feet into the tunnel they see a figure on the ground.
They hurry and are taken aback by what they find: strewn on the ground with limbs spread in awkward positions like a rag doll is a filthy, half-naked Kuchiki Byakuya.
Yoruichi cannot suppress a cry of outrage and quickly gets on her knees, frantically checking for vitals.
"I can't feel anything. No, no, no . . . Byakuya! Come on, please sweety, please." tears are forming in her eyes at the broken body before her. Byakuya is covered in bruises, cuts and blood.
Zaraki can see Yoruichi is losing control. Uncharacteristically calm, he gets down on his knees next to her and places his hand on her shoulder
"Calm down woman. The energy in here is screwing with you. Try again."
Yoruichi looks up at Zaraki whose dark eyes are fixed on Byakuya. She takes a quick breath and scans his body again, talking softly as she does so
"There's so much damage, some type of interference in him as well . . . Wait!" she puts her head to his chest. "There! it's weak, too weak but it's there." She looks up at Zaraki with concern.
"What?"
"I fear any kiddo even healing kiddo may cause more harm than good. Isane will know better. "
Zaraki immediately removes his Captains cloak and places it on the ground. Yoruichi quickly strips Byakuya and uses his raggedy clothes to wipe him down. Both shinigami cannot help but notice all the blood down Byakuya's legs and the dark bruises on his thighs. Tears leak from Yoruichi's eyes as Zaraki wraps Byakuya up tightly in his cloak and lifts him up off the ground. He weighs no more than a feather.
"No matter what, you get him home." states Zaraki as he places Byakuya into her arms.
"What are you going to do?" noting the simmering rage in Zaraki's eyes.
Suddenly they hear various footsteps approaching.
"I'll get you out of here. What I do after that is my business!"
Yoruichi nods and Zaraki moves in front of her as a Strigoi walks into the room
"Time to die gorgeous, but not before I get a g – " the Strigoi's words are cut short as Zaraki's blade enters his stomach
"You'll get nothing you sick bastard." And he slices up and out. The Strigoi falls to the ground . . . dead.
They move out into the hallway, retracing their steps and run into a group of Strigoi heading towards them. Amongst them is the blond Zaraki faced in the woods.
Larik sees Zaraki and another woman with what he assumes is the shinigami prisoner in her arms.
"Stop them!" orders Larik as he retreats.
Zaraki pulls out his zanpakuto.
"Go and don't stop!" he says to Yoruichi and then lets out a chilling laugh as he runs head on into the Strigoi.
Yoruichi flash steps her way around the confrontation. She finds her way through the tunnels and desperately steps out into the night air, which is full of fighting, blood and chaos. She feels disoriented from being inside the lair and is forced to stop as a Strigoi blocks her way.
Suddenly Rukia appears "Go!"
"Zaraki's still inside." Yoruichi calls out as she takes off again.
"Got it!" yells Ikkaku and heads inside the lair.
Ukitaki sees Yoruichi flash-stepping towards the river and orders a retreat.
"But, we can get these guys." yells back Renji.
"Our mission was to get Byakuya. Plus, can't you feel it? Something is building up in there. We must retreat!"
"B-but Zaraki Taicho and Ikkaku!" cries Rukia.
"Go Kuchiki!" orders Ukitake, eyes hard. Rukia, Renji and Ukitake leave.
Back inside the lair . . .
Ikkaku manages to find Zaraki who is finishing off a Strigoi. Zaraki turns to Ikkaku with murderous eyes.
"Taicho! It's me, Ikkaku!" stepping back a few steps.
Zaraki's eyes narrow and then he yells.
"West! fucker is going west!" and shunpo's away. Ikkaku follows.
During this time, Hugo has managed to activate a portal and sends the bodyguards to keep watch outside the room. Hugo can feel the lair coming apart due to the destruction of various protection barriers, which have compromised the entire structure.
"Where is he?" demands a harsh whisper. Hugo turns to see his brother is conscious and kneels down to him.
Gabriel grabs Hugo by the lapels of his shirt.
"Where - is - he!" he demands, eyes full of anger and madness; blood trickling from his mouth.
"You have been seriously injured, the barriers are broken and this structure will soon fall. We are under attack and must leave now."
Gabriel pushes Hugo away and stands shakily turning red eyes upon him.
"I will not leave without my prize!" he yells hoarsely and turns away; the sounds of fighting not far off.
Hugo grabs his brother by the arm
"Is that whore worth your life, brother?" they lock eyes and then Gabriel turns away. As he does so Zaraki enters the area and the two of them now lock eyes.
Zaraki sees RED. Gabriel smiles evilly.
Zaraki moves and Gabriel no longer resists his brother who pulls him into the portal.
As Zaraki's sword comes down, the portal closes and Gabriel's wicked voice resonates in the cave.
"He is forever mine. Till we meet again my pet." followed by evil laughter.