I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.
Old Rivals
"There you are," Kurai called out as he slowly floated down in front of three female Arrancars.
One had long green hair, a white robe with long sleeves that reached far past her hands, and a piece of a mask that simply looked like two curved feathers on the right side of her hair, one with short blue hair, red around her left eye, a tight white shirt and a white skirt, and a mask that ran straight over the top of her head with a single spike extending from the front, one with dark skin, wavy brown hair reached down her back, a mask fragment with a round part the size of a quarter on her forehead with three finger-like parts reached around the sides of her head and over the top, a white skirt, with a black belt with an amethyst buckle, and a tight white top that only barely covered her chest, and the last with messy blonde hair cut short with two loose ponytails, a white top with long sleeves that turned into fingerless gloves at the end, with black gloves underneath, a high collar that hid her nose and mouth with mask fragments just barely showing on her cheeks, and the bottom of the top reaching only to cover about three fifths of her breasts. This one also wore a white skirt with a black obi belt that hung low on her hips with a part of the skirt reaching above the belt in front but the rest ending somewhere behind the belt. This one wore her sword across her back just below her shoulders in a light pink sheath.
"Stay back!" the one with the brown hair shouted.
"It's alright Franceska," the blonde spoke up.
"But Lady Halibel," the one with the green hair began.
"It's alright," Halibel repeated. "He and I are old acquaintances."
"That's right," Kurai nodded. "In fact, I'm probably one of the very few people that can say I survived fighting her, but only because she let me."
"You fought Lady Halibel?" the one with blue hair gaped.
"Yes Emilou, he did," Halibel nodded standing. "So, I take it you're hear to defeat me?"
"Defeat you?" Kurai snorted. "In the sealed form you're in now, you're at least twice as strong as you were the last time you kicked my ass, right? No, I doubt I'll last ten minutes against you."
"No one can defeat Lady Halibel," the one with green hair stated.
"Now now Cyan, let's not challenge Lord Starrk or Yammy," Halibel smirked. "That's the kind of trouble I don't need."
"You're not actually going to fight this thing right?" Franceska asked. "We were watching his fight along with that other intruder's. This thing can use Bala."
"I know," Halibel nodded. "He doesn't know why though."
"You do?" Kurai asked.
"If you can give me enough of an exercise, I'll tell you," Halibel stated. "Better yet, defeat me, and I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Sure," Kurai grinned, nodding just as he felt a Spiritual Pressure behind him and turned to look.
There was an Espada, judging by the amount of power it had, attacking Ichigo while Ichigo was weakened from his fight with Grimmjow, which he had won with relative ease, considering how it could have happened. This one wielded a massive axe with two opposing crescent moon shaped blades, one facing away from the grip and one facing back toward it.
"That's Nnoitra," Halibel stated. "He's obsessed with proving he's the strongest person around."
"My Captain is the same," Kurai grinned. "They would enjoy fighting, I think."
"Stop!" Halibel suddenly shouted.
Kurai looked back to see the three Arrancars Halibel was with leaping at him, all planning to kill him. Before they reached him, he spiked his Spiritual Pressure to max fast enough that the resulting concussion threw the three back past Halibel, who seemed unaffected by it.
"You've grown quite powerful," Halibel noted.
"Now show my yours," Kurai grinned. "Even if just for a second."
"Very well," Halibel nodded spiking her own.
Instantly, all three of her subordinates were thrown into the wall with enough force to crack it and Kurai was launched away from the building by the concussion then the wind. He skidded to a stop finally as he reached an excess of a hundred meters from her, the wind still bad enough that he had to squint. Then, Halibel stopped and he stood up straight, opening his eyes and sighing.
"I'm so fucked," Kurai breathed as Halibel flew over to him.
"Unleash your Bankai and we'll begin," Halibel stated.
"As much as I would love to start off as close to half your power as I can get, when Aizen betrayed us, he attacked me with the same attack that cost me our fight, only his worked," Kurai stated. "Haruko shielded me from it but was only in Shikai, so she was left comatose by the blast. All I have is my sealed state and a shikai form that I would have to control. For that reason, I won't be using anything except my sealed form. If Haruko wakes up during our battle, however, I'm going to use my Bankai and will destroy you."
Halibel nodded and drew her sword. It had a purple grip and the blade, while short, was only the outer part of the blade with the middle hollow and the edge sharp all the way around, despite it being shaped somewhat like a cleaver.
"Have you had the explanation of an Arrancar's sword?" Halibel asked and Kurai shook his head. "They are different from the Zanpakuto because they are our former hollow powers sealed into the form of a sword. We release our swords to reclaim our former hollow powers but in a much stronger form. If we lose a part of our bodies while in that released state, a piece of our power is forever lost to us, weakening us. We can reseal our powers into sword form to return to our normal form if we wish or, if we are weak enough but not fatally injured, as Grimmjow was after fighting Ichigo, it may reseal itself."
"I see," Kurai nodded. "I'm going to guess by your Spiritual Pressure that you're an Espada."
"Not just any," Halibel smiled reaching up to unzip her top.
Kurai looked away as she did.
"Don't worry, I'm still decent," Halibel promised.
He risked a glance and sure enough, her newly uncovered mask did cover her, barely. Her mask was a skeletal mask over the lower half of her face, then covering her neck and upper chest with two pieces reaching down to cover her nipples. On the inside of her right breast, she had a tattoo of the number three.
"You're the third Espada?" Kurai gaped. "I'm a dead man. Although, I have to ask, how do you eat with that mask?"
"I can retract the teeth enough to eat when I need to," she stated. "Since you can't use anything but your sealed Zanpakuto now, I won't unseal my own. And I'll hold back."
Kurai nodded then thought of something.
"How come when we first fought Grimmjow, and apparently right now with Ichigo and Nnoitra, we couldn't cut them with our swords?" Kurai asked.
"It's an Arrancar technique called Hierro in which the Arrancar's Spirit Energy condenses, hardening our skin until we can withstand even released Zanpakuto, in some cases," Halibel explained. "It's strength is dependent on the Arrancar's Spiritual Pressure, the stronger the Espada, the stronger the Hierro. Nnoitra's is especially strong, however, leading him to claim he is the strongest, despite only being Espada Five. I'll keep mine inactive for our fight."
"All Arrancars have Hierro?" Kurai asked.
"Technically, but only the Espada are actually strong enough to use it, as you no doubt have surmised by reflecting on your fight with Rudbornn," Halibel stated.
"I thought as much," Kurai nodded just as a very powerful Spiritual Pressure spiked from near Ichigo and Nnoitra. "Is that...Nel?"
"Nel?" Halibel asked. "You mean, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck? You brought her here?"
"You know her?" Kurai asked.
"Not personally," Halibel stated. "She was the Third Espada before me. Nnoitra disliked her so he attacked her, and with another Espada's help managed to land a blow on her head, cracking her skull and probably removing her memories. Then he threw her out of Las Noches and I was turned into an Arrancar not long after."
"I see," Kurai nodded. "Makes sense I suppose. Anyway, shall we begin?"
Halibel nodded and Kurai flew forward, slashing at her. She blocked it, throwing a punch much too fast for him to avoid. The blow hit and he rocketed away from her, eventually sliding to a stop and groaning, holding his side and feeling a broken rib.
"I think I may be a bit over my head here," Kurai sighed.
"Sorry," Halibel winced. "I'm not used to holding back. I used a bit more power than I intended."
"Well the more you hold back, the less rewarding my victory will be," Kurai grinned. "By all means, show me what you can do."
Halibel watched him for a moment before nodding. Kurai held his hand out and fired several Balas at her but she split them all in half, both halves fizzling out as they passed her. Then, she appeared in front of him, slashing down at him.
Damn! Kurai thought blocking her sword only to be blasted into the ground below. Yeah, definitely over my head.
He pushed himself up then leapt to the side as Halibel crashed down where he had been. Kurai lunged forward, slashing at her rapidly. She blocked his attacks, stepping back with each one. After several moment, his zanpakuto spun into the air and Halibel rested hers on his shoulder.
"Death number one," Halibel stated. "Go get your Haruko."
"You remembered," Kurai grinned walking over to his Zanpakuto and picking it up, turning back to Halibel.
"Of course," Halibel nodded. "As I told you, you were one of the hardest fights I had up until that time. And even since then."
Kurai smiled and nodded then sprinted forward again. He slashed at her, her sword meeting his with a musical ring before he spun past her holding out his hand.
"Hado Eighty Eight, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!" Kurai shouted, his blast hitting her in the back and launching her away.
She flipped over and slid to a stop, looking down to inspect her top. The part that was supposed to cover what amount of her torso it did had been shredded with pieces of it lying along her flight path. The sleeves were mostly intact, ending just below her shoulders. She smirked and held her sword up, yellow Spirit Energy filling the hollow portion of the blade. Then, she thrust it at him like a stab and the energy shot out at Kurai, keeping the shape of the blade. Kurai held up the skull, the blast exploding against it and launching him. He managed to land on his feet and slide to a stop, glancing at the shield which had survived the blast unscathed. He sighed and charged forward, slashing at Halibel. She blocked the slash then spun, slashing at his other side. He ducked under it then stood, slashing at her again. This time, when she jumped back, his sword carved a very shallow scratch in her stomach.
"Impressive," Halibel smiled. "You're getting faster as we fight. It would seem fighting Arrancars has an interesting effect on you."
"Can you use a Cero without releasing your sword?" Kurai asked backing away a large distance.
"Would you like me to?" Halibel asked.
"Yes please," Kurai grinned. "Bakudo Eighty One, Danku!"
He formed twenty between himself and Halibel and she smiled before nodding holding out a hand.
"You sure that's enough?" She asked as he nodded. "Cero."
She formed and fired the Cero in under a second, the blast hitting the first Danku and shattering it instantly. Two seconds later it was halfway through and finally slowing down. Kurai waited as one by one his shields shattered until the Cero reached the last one. He raised his arm, forming an El Escudo just as the last Danku shattered. Then, the El Escudo shattered on impact and Kurai was blasted, flying backward as his blood splattered across the ground. Halibel watched him for several minutes before turning to return to the others.
"Where are you going?" Kurai groaned pushing himself up. "I'm still alive."
Halibel looked back, seeing him standing at the end of the trail her Cero had made. He wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth just as an Arrancar that was with Nnoitra released his Zanpakuto and began to beat the life out of Ichigo.
"Your friend isn't doing very well," Halibel noted. "Maybe you should give him a hand. We'll finish this another time."
"No," Kurai growled. "Ichigo will be fine. We're finishing this."
"Kurai, don't be blinded by your desire to win, Ichigo is dying," Halibel stated.
Kurai looked toward them as the Arrancar threw Ichigo then walked after him, Ichigo's Zanpakuto lying on the ground behind the Arrancar.
"I know," Kurai stated. "He's got nothing left. But the new arrival does."
"Who?" Halibel asked just as the Arrancar threw the finishing blow at Ichigo.
Halibel turned in time to see a tall man with spiky black hair, a worn Zanpakuto and a Haori with the number "11" on it arrive and block the attack.
"That, is my captain," Kurai grinned. "Kenpachi Zaraki. Captain of Squad Eleven. I am the Third Seat."
"What a coincidence," Halibel smirked. "I can sense others too."
"So can...he brought her," Kurai breathed looking toward where he had sensed Renji and Uryu fighting an Espada. "Mayuri you bastard. If she...sorry, I got distracted."
"Would you like to take a break?" Halibel asked.
"Not yet," Kurai said shaking his head. "But I'll be watching the fight over there. If I seem distracted..."
"I won't use it to my advantage," Halibel promised.
Kurai nodded and charged forward, slashing at her. Halibel blocked it, then spun, driving her elbow at him. He ducked under it then straightened up, slashing upward at her. She leaned back, avoiding the blade by centimeters before Kurai spun, slashing at her as she jumped over the slash, he hit her with a Bala. She flew out of the opposite side of the smoke, skidding to a stop, barely, and looking down at the remains of her skirt, which barely reached a third of the way down her thighs.
"You really are determined to remove my clothes aren't you?" Halibel snickered.
"Well if you were easier to damage than your clothes it wouldn't be a problem," Kurai grumbled, standing and sighing.
Halibel laughed and shook her head. She raised her sword, charging another blast of Spirit Energy. Before she could fire it, Kurai sensed Mayuri's Bankai and turned, seeing the massive thing pouncing on something. He turned back to Halibel in time to instinctively slash the blast, destroying it instantly.
"How...I see," Halibel nodded. "You're progressing quickly. Your Arrancar abilities are awakening."
"The speed is thanks to your Cer..." he stopped mid sentence, turning to look back toward Mayuri's battle where he could sense something was wrong with Nemu. Her Spiritual Pressure was dropping fast.
And Mayuri's Espada enemy's was rising just as quickly. After a moment, it stopped, the Espada having returned to full strength while Nemu's had almost completely vanished and was still dropping. She'd be dead in seconds.
"I can't make it," Kurai breathed.
"No you can't," Halibel agreed. "Szayelaporro Granz, the eighth Espada, is a truly cruel person. He delights in toying with his enemies but the ability he just used is the one he prides the most. He can take control of his enemies and be reborn from death by absorbing their life force. It can't be stopped once begun."
"No," Kurai growled. "But I might be able to save her. I don't suppose-"
"Go," Halibel said waving a hand. "I'll wait for you to get back."
Kurai nodded then turned, using Flash Step to try to get to her before anything worse happened, if that was possible.
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