Here it is, the battle between Mugetsu and Apophis. I hope it's good cause writing battles is hard but hey I hope you all enjoy it :)

Thanks to plainpain for beta reading.

I own none of the rights to Bleach, those go to Tite Kubo.

'Shiro'

'Tensa

Striking Venom

Mugetsu

Mugetsu blocked one of the daggers as Apophis launched herself at him. He quickly pushed her back and flash-stepped away before she could bring around the other, which was aiming for his neck. Barely giving him time to breathe the dark haired goddess appeared right next to him, her blades glowing an eerie green as they prepared to strike. He blocked them both with his zanpakuto as the tried to crash down on him. Charging up a Getsuga Tensho, Mugetsu put as much force as he could into pushing her away. When he did, he sent the Getsuga Tensho off with her, gaining a direct hit.

He watched as the black wave of reiatsu swept her away, knowing that wouldn't have taken her down. Sensing something coming at him from behind he turned just in time to catch Apophis sending two waves of dark green at him, although after a second they didn't seem like waves. The dark green energy took on the form of two snakes as they opened their mouths and hissed at him. As they shot towards him Mugetsu danced around them from all directions using a flash-step in order to send a constant barrage of Getsuga Tenshos at them.

The ground crumbled under the repeated intense force of Mugetsu's attack, stirring up dust and obscuring the snakes from view as the barrage continued. Satisfied he'd dealt with them Mugetsu flash-stepped towards Apophis his blade raised for attack. Not expecting the attack Apophis –regardless of her speed- didn't manage to move out the way and Mugetsu managed to bring Tensa down across her body before kicking her down into the ground. Blood flaying behind her she screamed as she crashed to the floor, kicking up more dust as she did so.

Not wanting to give her time to recover Mugetsu sent another barrage at the place where he'd kicked her. Suddenly, while he's in the middle of sending off a Getsuga Tensho something collides with his side before beginning to crush his chest. Trying to gasp for breath Mugetsu lets out a pained yell and then finds himself being shaken around by whatever is holding him. With his hands pinned to his sides and immobile he drops Tensa. Struggling Mugetsu tries to think of a way to break free, when it hits him. Kido.

Aiming both his hands at the snakes head he begins to concentrate and focus reiatsu into the palms of his hands. As the amount of reiatsu increased Mugetsu chanted the incantation as quickly as he could.

"Hado#1: Sho!" He roared sending the kidos piercing through the snakes head, causing it to drop him. Mugetsu fell to the floor creating a small crater as he did. Dragging himself up Mugetsu let out a few bloodied coughs and winced when his arms brushed his sides. Looking down he noticed two very deep incisions that were likely from the snake he'd just destroyed.

"Shit," He cursed as he walked over to Tensa, limping slightly as he did.

"I see my pet left you with a lovely present," Apophis called as she appeared in front of him. "The bites are poisonous too, and of course only I have the anti-dote. Just encase someone like Beelzebub manages to use them against me."

Mugetsu deepened his scowl as he brandished Tensa, ready to attack her again. Before he did Apophis held up her hand, a smile working its way onto her face.

"Hold it right there big boy, I have a proposition for you. If you manage to defeat me, you can have the anti-dote."

"Why would you do this?!" Mugetsu growled not following her line of thinking.

"Well, truth be told I despise Shimi and Aizen. But he holds me on a leash, so to speak and I have to do what he says. I do enjoy the jobs he gives me but, my interests have changed and his leash has slackened." Apophis admitted and sneer warping her smile before her expression softened, "If you manage to kill me then you can kill him. And I want him dead. After you've killed him, could you do this one thing for me. Find my successor."

"Your successor?"

She let out a harsh laugh, "Did you really think there wouldn't be a successor to take a Gods place? I have a successor, my daughter. Shimi has her somewhere and I want you to swear you'll find her, or there'll be no anti-dote for you. So Mugetsu, do we have a deal?"

"Why would I want to do this for you?" Mugetsu growled, believing what she was asking would be a waste of time.

"Do you really want Shimi to have the power of another God on his side? Because that's what'll happen to her," Apophis stalked forwards her hair and clothing blowing in the slight wind her determined step was creating. "Do you want that Mugetsu? Another me to go after all those you care about, to kill them just like I did Rukia?"

"Bastard," Mugetsu snarled, "Fine I'll do it!"

She stopped in front of him and smiled before gripping his left hand, "Now to make sure you keep your word. Just to warn you, anyone can see this. Whether you want them to or not," Digging her nails into the palm of his hand she muttered a few words in Arabic before removing her hand. When she did green smoke wrapped its way under his skin and up his arm, before taking the form of what looked like a sword laying horizontally across two boxes which were also over a thin wavy line.

"What the hell?!" Mugetsu raged, now trying to be inconspicuous at the Academy was going to be more difficult.

Apophis grinned at him, "The mark of me, Apophis. That's my name in hieroglyphics which means you are bound to complete the task I've set out for you. If you don't complete it within the next three months then it'll turn to poison and you will die. But, this is suggesting that you'll kill me," his expression darkened, "which you won't."

Jumping back away from Mugetsu Apophis twirled in the air and landed surrounded by her own green reiatsu.

"الإصدارالكامل, أبوفيس!" She yelled her words in Arabic but Mugetsu had a feeling he knew what she was doing. After yelling the words her form became surrounded by green and he could barely make out the change that was taking place, only that he reiatsu was increasing dramatically.

'Looks like ya will need me King.'

'I guess so.'

Drawing his hand across his face Mugetsu called forth his hollow mask and felt the familiar heavy feeling that came with it. He finished drawing up his mask just before Apophis emerged from her vortex of reiatsu.

Her lower half was now that of a snake while her head had also elongated down into a snakes, with a gold trimmed hood flaring out behind it. Gold leather covered her breasts and travelled up to cover both her shoulders, arcing out into points on either side. On the top of her head was a small black and golden snake welded to her skin. The swords she'd been holding earlier had now grown black metal handles which were at least one and a half foot long. The blades were thick and were mostly positioned on one side of the handle that continued up through them, but a small section was on the reverse side, allowing for backwards sweeps to still cause damage. They were black and trimmed with gold as Apophis brought them up to her face for examination. The stiff black leather spiked vambraces rustled slightly with the movement before going silent. Around her waist was a gold belt with a piece of black material hanging from it. Her outer scales which covered her hood and tail were all black as they seemed to absorb what little light there was, as the sun was still rising. The remainder of her scales were a gold tinted green that almost blended into her greyish golden skin.

"Let's finish this quickly," Apophis hissed before charging at Mugetsu quicker than he thought possible. Barely managing to bring Tensa up to block her first strike got nicked in the shoulder by the tip of it. Cursing he pushed he sword away with a Getsuga Tensho and used the temporary distraction to flash-step behind and score a hit right across her back just before he got smacked with her tail.

Bouncing across the floor Mugetsu stuck Tensa into the ground in order to slow himself down. Tearing up the ground Mugetsu stopped in time to flash-step away from an incoming black fang shaped attack that Apophis had sent his way. Coming out of flash step right in front of her he attempted to slice across her chest but his attack was blocked by one of her blades while the other came down for an attack. Forced one up Mugetsu deflected her attack and using the disposition of her momentum he listened to Shiro as he told him how to fire a cero.

'Hold your hands out in font and collect as much reiatsu as you can. Now focus it into a small ball and fire it like a Kido right at her.'

Doing exactly as he was told Mugetsu fired a huge wave of volatile reiatsu at Apophis just managing to hit her with all of it.

'Nice try king, not as good as mine though.'

Smirking to himself Mugetsu didn't have time to reply to his hollow before something scaly wrapped around his waist and began to crush him again. Noting allowing Apophis to do anything Mugetsu quickly let loose Kidos just as he did before, gaining a hiss in pain from his attacker but also being released. The both recovered at the same time and Apophis quickly launched a series of fast attacks down on Mugetsu.

The black haired shinigami met each of those strikes with ones of his own and also managed to duck out of the way as her tail came across to knock off his head. Unfortunately the tail came back around just as quickly and whacked him in the chest.

"Nicce try Mugetsssu," Apophis hissed, "But my releassse makess me fassster and ssstronger. It alssso grantsss me the ability to entomb usss in darkness. Like thisss!"

Just as she finished talking the whole of Mugetsu's world went pitch black and the only noises he could hear were those of Apophis' movements and her occasional hiss. Taking a deep breath Mugetsu knew the only way to overcome this would be to sense for his reiatsu. But considering he wasn't very good at it everything was about to be a lot harder.

'Ichigo, your left!'

Brining his zanpakuto up Mugetsu just managed to black an attack that would've split him in two.

'Thanks Tensa, but how the hell can she see me?!'

'Most snakes have the ability to see in infrared, that is probably how. Or she attempting to sense for your reiatsu. It is most likely the first option.'

Nodding to himself Mugetsu tried to feel for her again and had almost managed it when Tensa warned him she was coming in from behind. Flash-stepping away Mugetsu felt the air get cut just behind him. As he travelled away he tried to locate her again but this time she managed to smack him down just before Tensa could warn him. When Mugetsu hit the ground he expected it to be the usual rock hard soil that covered the Soul Society, but instead it was cold and wet. When he scooped some up in his hand it felt like mud and that's when an idea hit him.

Covering himself in mud Mugetsu knew that it should make it harder for Apophis to see him. When he was finished he tried to locate Apophis which after a few seconds he managed. She appeared to be trying to search for him but because it was dark and she couldn't see him, it was very difficult. Grinning to himself Mugetsu flash-stepped right at her and even though she sensed it at the last second she was too slow in evading. He stabbed her right through the heart and as he did a sharp nick was felt in his side and the darkness around them began to disappear.

Her form returned to normal before she spoke, "So you beat me, who would've guess?" She coughed up some blood to the side before looking back at Mugetsu, "Remember our deal or you'll die." With her last ounce of strength she pulled out a small black vial from the crown on her head and handed it to him. When her last breath left her the whole of her body turned to gold and black dust that disappeared into the wind. Now holding nothing but air Mugetsu willed his zanpakuto to demateralise and as it did he fell forwards slightly. The poison was beginning to take effect but and he had to drink it, with much effort as his muscles weren't responding Mugetsu pulled the top off the vial and downed the whole bottle.

Gagging at how terrible it tasted Mugetsu doubled over, because as it ran through his body it felt like he was being burned from the inside. The sensation only lasted a few seconds but it felt like longer. Mugetsu let loose a sigh as he flopped over onto his back, the wounds on his side his mask falling away from his face as the wounds on his side refused to heal.

'I can't heal your wounds king! It must've been an effect of the poison that wasn't cured with the potion,' Shiro growled from the mind scape giving Mugetsu a small headache.

'Damn it! Can you heal any of them?'

'No!'

'Okay! Jeez don't bite my head off, it's not my fault!'

'If you'd dodge them then you wouldn't be having this problem!'

'Be quiet, both of you! Ichigo you'll just have to be careful today, don't strain yourself too much as you don't want to start the bleeding after it's clotted.'

'Fine, but what do I do if someone notices?'

'You got carried away in training with Beelzebub this morning?'

'Sure, but I'll change the name if they ask for it.'

"Mugetsu!" Beelzebub called cutting over the internal conversation that had been happening. The Fallen hadn't escaped his battle unscathed either, but he was slightly better off than Mugetsu. He limped over to Mugetsu as he lay on the floor exhausted from the battle he'd just had.

"Looks like she got you good," He chuckled as he examined Mugetus's wounds. "You never stop surprising me though, not even Ra could defeat her and he's one powerful bastard. You should be proud…" He trailed off when his eyes noticed the mark on Mugetsu's shoulder, "You didn't! Don't tell me you made a deal with her!"

"I had to!" Mugetsu argued, "I needed an anti-dote!"

Rubbing the side of his face in frustration Beelzebub calmed himself, "What was the deal?"

"I've got to go rescue her successor in three months or I die," Mugetsu said flatly as he scowled up at Beelzebub. "She said Shimi's got her so I'll just ask him when I kill him."

"I doubt he'll tell you just like that, but you can try. If not maybe Grim can get something out of him," Beelzebub shrugged before calling, "Iris!"

"Yes Master Beelzebub!" Iris chirped as she appeared next to Beelzebub.

"You got anything for his wounds?"

"No, I'm sorry but that's not my area, Master," Iris held her head in shame, "You'd need a Shaman for that."

"Don't worry Iris, I'm sure he can handle it." Beelzebub looked up at the sun which was quickly rising over the horizon, "Time for us to go though, it's almost eight and everyone will be up soon. We won't be coming with you, we need to go find Grim and now that Apophis is dealt with we can get onto that. Come Iris."

And without another word Beelzebub and Iris disappeared in a flash off Hell-step leaving Mugetsu still lying on the floor, covered in blood and mud.

~/~

Beelzebub's Battle

Beelzebub hell-stepped out the way as two sickles cam in his direction appearing behind Mot in an attempt to strike him down, except Sek also charged out him and knocked Beelzebub off course. Growling Beelzebub raised his short swords and coaxed the two minions in to attack him. As predicted both launched themselves at Beelzebub and using his two swords and blocked their attacks before sending a wave of black and gold energy at them.

Beelzebub smirked as both minions were pushed back and allowed him to jump behind Mot in order to slice him across the back. While he was doing that Sek's sickle was thrown at his legs and wrapped around them. Sek pulled at the chain pulling Beelzebub over before he could do much damage and just as quickly Mot descended upon him and tried to stab Beelzebub through the heart. Fortunately for Beelzebub he moved just in time and instead of being impaled through the heart he was instead caught in the shoulder.

When the blade made contact Beelzebub kicked out at Sek and then bringing his left hand across he managed to stab Mot in the side. With a hiss from both the minions Beelzebub was free just in time to see Mugetsu kicking Apophis into the ground. Grinning he charged at the two minions who were brandishing their weapons as him, tongues flickering into the air. As he ran at them he sent a mimic of Mugetus's Getsuga Tensho at each of them before hell-stepping past Sek's right side, slicing through it as he did. Black blood oozed from the wound when suddenly Beelzebub was kicked in the side by Mot.

Staggering backward Beelzebub endured another round of blocking a barrage of attack from the duo. Avoiding their chains and blades Beelzebub got in a few small cuts and received a few of his own. To break out of the cycle Beelzebub sidestepped Mot's attack and grabbed him arm before swinging him into Sek, sending the pair rolling along the floor. Glancing up he briefly saw Mugetsu fire two Kidos right through a giant snakes head.

Hell-stepping towards Sek and Mot Beelzebub sent another round of mimicked Getsuga Tenshos at the minions. Dust kicked up as the barrage made contact with the floor, tearing up dirt and obscuring the pair from view. Standing above the cloud of dust Beelzebub sensed for the spiritual pressure of the minions when suddenly it flared below him and a giant green and gold snake launched itself at him. Beelzebub move out the way just in time to avoid being bitten by its head but didn't move in time to avoid the trashing tail. When it connected with his chest it knocked the breath out of him and sent him crashing into the floor. As he fell he caught a glance of Apophis activating her final release and a frown crept onto his face.

After hitting the floor Beelzebub groaned as he turned himself over and rolled out of the way of another attack by the snake. This time it flared out it's hood in which the edges were blades and the managed to clip his back and wings. Growling Beelzebub decided it was time to end it. Covering his blades in his reiatsu and charging up a fast hell-step at his feet he waited for the snake to rear up for another attack.

As he expected the snake reared up, faring out its hood as it did so and was about to strike at Beelzebub when he acted.

Letting loose the hell-step Beelzebub position one blade above him and the other at his waist and aimed for just below the head of the snake. He dodged under the snakes head and dragged his blades through the tough body. Thanks to the blades being coated in his reiatsu they managed to rip through the tough body and sever the bones at the back. Blood sprayed back at him as he put more effort into dragging the blades through. Noticing that the head was now severed his blades exited the snake as it dropped to the floor in three different sized pieces.

Landing lightly on the floor and slightly out of breath Beelzebub turned to see the snake morphing back into the two minions it had been in the first place. Both of them were torn up but Beelzebub had little time to take note of their injuries before they disappeared into gold dust. With a relieved sigh Beelzebub let go of Mugetsu's powers and allowed the short swords to disappear in to crackle of purple fire. Turning around he saw a black box disintegrating around Mugetsu and Apophis and began to walk towards them, noticing that one of the minions had got him in the leg. Snarling to himself he continued to limp towards Mugetsu, calling out his name when Apophis had disappeared.

~/~

Present Time, Mugetsu

"Damn you Beelzebub!" Mugetsu growled, annoyed that the Fallen had just left him. Groaning Mugetsu pulled himself up suddenly feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He'd killed Apophis, he had avenged Rukia and even if it turned out Shimi had been making her do all those things Mugetsu had little remorse for her.

Looking around Mugetsu realised that he didn't have his disguise band. But before he could panic his eyes set on it lying a few feet in front of him on the floor along with his Academy uniform. Grabbing them he didn't put them on but instead looked around for somewhere where he could wash himself. His eyes suddenly set on a place where light was reflecting off something which he could only guess was water. Grinning to himself Mugetsu managed to flash-step over to it and discovered that it was indeed water.

Placing his clothes on the edge he dropped into the water and began cleaning himself. The cool water was welcomed by his body as he took a few minutes to relax and sink into it. He could hear nothing and he found it strangely calm as he allowed himself to think over what had happened over the course of the night.

The dreams he'd been having were the main part of his concern, it reminded him that Shimi was looking for him even if he wasn't putting much effort into it. But then there was the fact that even though Iris had freed him from the haze he'd been under he couldn't help but feel down and angry about what he'd seen. His friends had always counted on him and he'd always sworn to protect them, but then he'd done something like that. He'd done the opposite to protect them. He'd hurt them. He'd killed them and then he'd just moved on. But he had to. His friends were safe now and he wasn't going to turn into a monster and kill them. The only thing he had to watch out for was Shimi and his accomplices.

Suddenly his thought's drifted to Apophis and to the possibility that maybe not all those who worked with him did it of their own free will. Maybe he had others in a similar situation to Apophis. The thoughts caused determination to course through his body. If he were to defeat Shimi then all these people would be freed of his control and nobody would have to suffer any more for the sake of his revenge on Mugetu.

Dunking his head under the water Mugetsu quickly washed off the dirt and blood from his face and then proceeded to pull himself out of the water. Shaking himself off to dry himself as much as possible Mugetsu then pit his uniform on along with the band and began a slower flash-step back to the Academy.

So that's Apophis dealt with and Beelzebub's off to get Grim, I think Harribel will appear in about two chapters but it depends how much I cover in each one so I'm not gonna say for definite.

الإصدار الكامل , أبوفيس - Full release, Apophis

Next Time: A Crippling Day