Back down in the dungeon, Nel and Dalv were in the midst of a fierce one on one fight.
"Lanzador Verde." Nel said calmly as she hurled her lance at Dalv who brought around a massive sledge hammer and hit the tip of it, causing the lance to continuously spin into the hammer's head from the momentum. The lance then returned to Nel's hand as she charged at him.
Dalv reared the sledge hammer over his head and slammed it into the ground, causing the ground to buckle in a fast moving line towards Nel who quickly leapt into the air with her lance reared back.
"Muerte Verde." She said calmly as her lance started to glow green. She then thrust it forward and a beam of energy in the shape of her mask flew from the tip and headed straight for Dalv. Dalv quickly fired a Fleche Vent at the beam, resulting in an explosion. The blast didn't stop them however as the two quickly clashed once again.
Nel Sonido'd to one end of the room as Dalv fired another Fleche Vent at her. She quickly opened her mouth and sucked in the Fleche Vent, causing Dalv's eyes to widen in surprise. She then lunged forward, firing a Cero Doble at him. The Cero Doble proceeded to blow a massive hole in the wall. For a moment things were silent as Nel carefully surveyed the area, looking for any sign of her opponent.
"Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side." A familiar voice said, causing Nel to pause in surprise. She noticed that sticking her head out from the edge of the large hole in the wall was none other than Rangiku Matsumoto.
"Matsumoto?" Nel asked confused as Rangiku flash stepped inside.
"Well who did you expect me to be?" Rangiku asked curiously.
"Is this some kind of trick?" Nel asked as she pointed the tip of her lance at Rangiku, who was comparatively shorter at the moment.
"Huh? Oh no-no-no-no. Captain-Hitsugaya-and-I-were-trying-to-find-out-where-you-all-were,-we-found-Chad-Orihime-Uryu-Tatsuki-and-Yoruichi-down-stairs-but-we-couldn't-find-the-rest-of-you.-Then-I-see-this-big-Cero-burst-through-the-wall-and-well-here-you-are!" Rangiku explained quickly. It took Nel a few moments to register what had just been said.
"Oh. Uh, thank you Lieutenant Matsumoto." Nel said.
"Oh please, call me Rangiku. You know some time the two of us need to go out shopping or heck you can just come by my place and help me get rid of some old clothes. I'm pretty sure that I've got stuff that'll fit you!" Rangiku said as Nel quietly looked down at her chest size, then at Rangiku's.
"Having only that school uniform so far is getting kind of...I don't know…embarrassing." Nel said as Rangiku put her arm around the Tercera Espada's waist (which was at Rangiku's shoulder in height).
"Well then we've got some major shopping to do when this is over." Rangiku said as Nel gave a nervous smirk. They then heard a muffled voice coming from underneath the rubble say…
"Je Suis Vlad!"
Suddenly a large pile of rubble exploded in a rain of rocks, and beneath it, stood on all four legs, a massive white bone armored beast, reminiscent of an Ankylosaurus but with a large sledge hammer on a whip like tail appeared.
"Rangiku, stay back." Nel said calmly as she raised her lance over her shoulder again.
"Lanzador Verde." She said before hurling the lance straight at Dalv's Fondre form. Dalv quickly ducked his armored head under his body like an armadillo as the lance struck the thick plating on his back. Suddenly his tail whirled around and smacked the lance back towards her. Nel barely managed to Sonido out of the way as it smashed into the wall behind her. The lance then just hung in the wall.
"Face it Arrancar, there is nothing you can do to stop me!" Dalv snickered as Rangiku groaned.
"Oh come on. Why is it that every time you men get a lucky strike in or the tide turns in your favor, you suddenly decide to blow your own horns?" Rangiku asked as she drew her Zanpakuto.
"What is this? Another one of you mangy Soul Reapers?" Dalv asked curiously.
"I am Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of Squad Ten." Rangiku introduced.
"Rangiku, he's too powerful for you. Please, back away before it's too late." Nel pleaded as she struggled to pull her lance from the wall.
"Ah but there's something you overlooked when facing him Nel. Roar Haineko!" Rangiku shouted as her Zanpakuto disintegrated into ash and quickly created a large crowd around Dalv. She then quickly swung the hilt around a few times, causing Dalv's eyes to widen and small spurts of blood to spray out from between the armored plates.
"Armor like that always is weak at the joints! Excellent thinking Rangiku!" Nel exclaimed as Dalv roared. His tail then extended up into the air over his head and proceeded to slam into the ground in front of his face, sending a large wall of rock towards Rangiku. Rangiku watched frozen in horror as the wall flew towards her until it suddenly shattered mere inches from her face. She opened her eyes to see Nel's lance in its master's hands.
"Cero Tercera." Nel said calmly as she created a Cero, fired it, sucked it back in, created a Cero Doble, fired it and sucked it back in again.
"What's this?!" Dalv asked as he instinctively rolled into a ball just as Nel fired the massive Cero at him, causing a massive explosion that could be seen by the forces outside.
Halibel saw the explosion from a distance and froze in surprise.
"Neliel." She said softly.
Back in the dungeon, Nel's Resurreccion had vanished and she had reverted to her usual form. She then dropped to her knees and then onto her belly from using such a strenuous attack. Rangiku looked around but didn't see anyone but her and Nel. Rangiku then knelt down to Nel's side and rolled her onto her back.
"I'm sorry." Nel said quietly as Rangiku arched a confused eyebrow.
"Sorry for what?" Rangiku asked confused.
"I'm sorry for threatening you back in the Soul Society." Nel said as Rangiku's eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh that? Eh forget about it, I already had until you brought it up." Rangiku said dismissively.
"But still, I owed you an apology." Nel said as Rangiku glanced away from her for a moment before a cheeky smirk swept her face.
"I know what will put that smile back on your face." Rangiku said as she raised her arms over Nel as if about to inflict great harm upon her. Nel blinked in confusion.
"W-w-w-what would that be?" Nel asked confused. Suddenly Rangiku's hands ran straight up Nel's shirt and to her arm pits which she immediately started tickling. Nel immediately disintegrated into laughing fits as a result as she squirmed around.
"What the hell was that?" a voice asked, causing both women to fall silent. Nel quickly leapt onto her feet with Gamuza in hand as Rangiku held Haineko in hand as well. They watched in dismay as Dalv slowly pulled himself onto his feet. His Fondre had vanished and his armor was broken and shattered in various places as well.
"You may have succeeded here Arrancar but I'm still going to get the best of you." Dalv growled as he reached for his sledge hammer. As he did however, he froze with a painful grunt. He looked down to see the tip of a massive sword shaped like a shark's tooth sticking out from his front.
"No…you won't." Halibel said as she pulled the blade from Dalv's back, as he immediately started crumbling into dust.
"Tia." Nel said with a weak sigh of relief as she sheathed Gamuza and started to stumble towards the Tres Espada.
"Neliel. I apologize for my tardiness." Halibel said as she quickly helped Nel stand up.
"Ichigo?" Nel asked as Halibel helped her walk.
"I don't know, but I can tell that he is in the middle of what may be the final battle here." Halibel said as she and Nel Sonido'd away but with Rangiku flash stepping away to a different location.
Earlier…
Back on the balcony, Ichigo and Karin had just released their Bankai's as they stared down the twin Premiere Gardeur.
"Your efforts are in vain. You cannot get past us in time to stop our plans from coming to fruition. The gates to the King's realm will soon open and the LeBlancs will rule over all!" the twins said in unison.
"How can she when we have this?" Karin asked as she patted Sanctus Curator at her side. The twin Gardeur's eyes immediately widened in horror at the sight of the Zanpakuto and then quickly lunged at their opponents. Karin took a savage swing but missed and was dealt a painful blow through her left shoulder instead.
Karin cried out in agony as the Gardeur twin grabbed the sheathed Zanpakuto and quickly hurled it over the railing.
"NO!" Ichigo yelled as he quickly moved to try and grab it but was blocked by the other twin.
"You have now officially failed in your mission Soul Reapers. Bow in repentance and brace yourselves for a slow and painful death." The twins said in unison as Ichigo growled angrily.
"Ichigo." Karin grunted from behind him as she clutched her bleeding shoulder. Her dragon had vanished but the shoulder pauldrons and gauntlets remained.
"Karin." Ichigo said worriedly as he turned to look at her. She then coughed up blood before looking at him square in the eyes.
"Getsuga…Tensho." She said as the dragon reformed around her. The twins raised their swords as they prepared to strike. Suddenly…
"Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
A massive dragon of ice flew in and incased the twins in a large block of ice. Toshiro then flew up over head and stared down at Ichigo and Karin.
"ICHIGO! Use your Getsuga Tensho on her NOW!" Toshiro shouted.
Ichigo didn't even bother asking questions and unleashed a Kuroi Getsuga at her. Karin quickly closed the dragon wings as the Kuroi Getsuga crashed into them. They remained closed for a moment before they opened up, revealing a glowing black orb with red aura in Karin's empty left hand.
"Thanks Ichigo." Karin said as she closed her hand around the orb and instantly her shoulder wound healed as if by magic.
"My Bankai allows my dragon wings to absorb energy based attacks and either turn the attack back on my enemies or use it to heal my injuries as well as provide me with additional strength. That's what Hekireki Megami and I learned before coming here." Karin said as Toshiro landed next to her.
"Ichigo, hurry to Yuzu. I saw her at the top of this tower. Karin and I will deal with these two." Toshiro said as Ichigo nodded. Toshiro then quickly tossed something to him. It was Sanctus Curator.
"Thanks Toshiro. Hey Karin, was that the ace you had up your sleeve just now? The ability to absorb energy attacks?" Ichigo asked as Karin smirked.
"Nope…this is a little something I got by accident as a result of gaining Soul Reaper abilities." Karin said as she raised her hand over her head with the palm facing her forehead. Instantly small pieces of a white substance started gathering under her hand as she moved it down over her face. When her hand moved away Ichigo's eyes widened to see a Hollow mask on her face.
"Move it Ichigo! Toshiro and I have these two!" Karin's filtered voice barked through her mask. Ichigo smirked and nodded before flash stepping away just as the twins started breaking free of their ice prisons.
"It's time to get down to business!" Toshiro yelled as the twins glared at them angrily.
"Je Suis Elise and Ursula!" the twins said in unison. Instantly they exploded in a burst of blue light. The light faded to reveal a massive two headed dragon.
"A fight between three dragons…this should be interesting!" Karin said as she and Toshiro quickly lunged their swords forward, creating dragons of ice and electricity that quickly flew towards the larger dragon. The LeBlanc Dragon roared before unleashing a Fleche Vent from both mouths at the dragons. Toshiro's dragon caused the beam to explode on contact and stop while Karin's merged with the stream and traveled up it and into the LeBlanc Dragon's mouth, causing an explosion. The rest of the beam impacted against Karin's wings.
When the wings opened again, Karin absorbed the Fleche Vent just as her mask started to crack and break apart but the sudden surge of energy caused the damage to repair itself.
"Thanks for the extra time with my mask." Karin taunted as she and Toshiro flew up into the air.
"It seems that as long as you have that mask, our powers are at a near equal level." Toshiro said as they appeared over the other two.
"Then let's hope they keep providing me with energy, otherwise you're going to have to start shooting things at me." Karin said as Toshiro nodded in agreement just as the twin dragon took flight and started flying straight at them. Toshiro and quickly flew to the other side of Yuzu's prison tower, putting it between him and Karin. The twin dragon's heads quickly veered in opposite directions towards one or the other, causing them to crash into and through the tower at the point where the necks joined together.
"They're in one body but they're acting independent of each other." Toshiro said to himself. He then realized a weakness in their strategy.
"Karin!" Toshiro shouted as both of the twin dragon's heads turned to glare at him. They then quickly turned and lunged towards him. Toshiro quickly shielded with his wings as they flew straight at him, only for Karin to suddenly appear and deliver a powerful blow across both their faces, causing them to start falling towards the ground.
"Toshiro! My mask is starting to crumble again!" Karin shouted.
"Hado thirty three! Sokatsui!" Toshiro shouted as he fired a massive lightning bolt at Karin's closed wings, repairing the damage to her mask.
"I've got to increase the time on this thing!" Karin sighed as her wings opened back up. This time however her mask had two additional stripes on it, making a total of seven stripes.
Suddenly the twin dragon turned around with a roar as Reishi particles started flying towards two large scars across the faces of the two heads, repairing the damage.
"Looks like they were Bounts in life. Damn it, this is going to be harder than I thought." Toshiro cursed.
"They said they were the Premiere Gardeur. I'm guessing that's number one in French." Karin said as Toshiro groaned.
"This is definitely going to be harder than I thought." Toshiro said as Karin shook her head.
"Not necessarily. According to what I've heard, their weak spot are those blue glowing holes on their bodies. If we destroy them, then they'll die." Karin said as Toshiro nodded.
"That's true but have you actually seen their Core?!" Toshiro asked as Karin sweat dropped.
"Good point." She replied as a small crack appeared on her mask. Toshiro quickly used Shakkaho to repair the mask.
"It also seems that even with your ability to absorb energy attacks; your mask's time limit at the moment is still limited to a few seconds. It's falling apart by one second sooner with every repair made. We're going to need to finish this fast!" Toshiro said as Karin nodded and aimed her sword at the twin dragon.
"Then let's use a trick Nel told me about. Kuwabara-Kuwabara!" Karin shouted as a massive bolt of electricity shot from the end of her sword just as both heads unleashed a combined Fleche Vent.
The bolt of electricity merged with the shot and then split down the center to travel into their mouths and down their throats. Suddenly a burst of yellow light was seen from underneath the creature on the chest. They looked and sure enough, there was the core.
"There it is! Let's do this! Hado thirty three, Sokatsui!" Toshiro shouted as he repaired her mask for one last time and they both launched straight at the twin dragon. Releasing electrical and ice dragons of their own at the two heads to keep them distracted as they flew underneath and grabbed each other by the left hand as they spun around in a single barrel roll with their swords raised towards their target.
For a brief moment time seemed to slow down and they looked into each other's eyes just as they drove their swords into the twin dragon's core, sending a powerful burst of electricity and ice throughout the massive beast. The two heads roared in agony as large cracks of glowing blue light appeared all over their body until they finally exploded in a brilliant blue flash.
Toshiro looked down as the light faded to see that Karin wasn't there holding his hand. He looked down to see Karin, unconscious with her mask finally shattered and her dragon form missing, in a freefall back towards the castle below. Toshiro quickly flew down and grabbed her with his free hand and then carried her down to the balcony where the battle with the twin LeBlancs had begun.
"Toshiro?" she asked weakly as they drifted slowly down.
"Hmm?"
"Did we win?" Karin asked as Toshiro smiled and nodded.
"Good." Karin said as they finally landed. Rangiku then appeared on the balcony in a flash step but paused as she saw Toshiro and Karin together.
"Toshiro…one day, I want to be in your squad…even if it's for a little while. Will you promise me you'll make that happen somehow?" Karin asked as Toshiro smiled.
"It's a promise Karin." Toshiro replied. Karin smiled back as they slowly leaned forward and kissed for the first time as Toshiro's Bankai slowly melted away.
"You know…that was better than the first one." Karin said weakly as their lips separated with a smile causing Toshiro to chuckle.
"That was because you were wearing your mask at the time." Toshiro replied as Karin chuckled.
"I love you Toshiro Hitsugaya…I love you." Karin sighed with a smile as she drifted into a blissful state of unconsciousness in her love's arms.
"And I you Karin Kurosaki…and I you." Toshiro said as he gently laid her down on the ground and used his Captain's Haori to cushion her head.
"You can come over here now Rangiku!" Toshiro said as she hurried over to him.
"Well Captain? How was your first kiss with a girl your own age?" Rangiku asked as Toshiro's eyes widened, his lips curled, and a vein on his forehead about to burst.
"MATSUMOTO!!!" Toshiro shouted angrily as Rangiku screamed and ran off with Toshiro in hot pursuit with the unconscious Karin slung over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.
End Chapter 54.
The Black Wrangler: Behind the Scenes…
The camera clicked on again and this time it was Kaname Tosen on the screen. Curiously though the camera wouldn't stop swerving in seemingly random directions before returning to settle on Tosen.
"Hello readers. To ensure that the quality and moral content of this story is above reproach, I Kaname Tosen shall now ensure that justice indeed survives here." Kaname said as he picked up a five inch thick brail book and opened it up.
"Thy name is Justice. A compilation of Justice pamphlet excerpts from the Seireitei newsletter by Kaname Tosen. (Ahem). Justice is a-." Kaname started reading but the camera then turned away and started moving around the hall.
"Woaah." A young voice slurred from behind the camera. It was Wonderweiss holding the camera. He continued on before stumbling into the practice hall where some of the cast were having a game of Mega Twister (1). So far Luppi was beating everyone by using his Resurreccion's eight arms/legs. The other players, albeit somewhat disgruntled, were Grimmjow, Tatsuki, Isane, Ggio, Kiyone, Yuzu, and Uluru. Jinta and Karin were arguing back and forward over some unknown issue. While Yumichika stood at the top of the scaffolding with the Twister spinner in hand.
"Hough." Wonderweiss slurred.
"Left hand green!" Yumichika called as everyone scrambled to the green spots. Luppi just smirked and put one of his eight arms on a green space. Grimmjow finally collapsed and caused a domino effect against Yuzu, knocking her over.
"Damn it. Sorry Kurosaki." Grimmjow grumbled as he dusted himself off and helped Yuzu off the floor.
"It's okay Grimmjow. Its twister, that kinda thing happens." Yuzu said as they walked off the mat but Grimmjow paused for a moment and then quickly swung Pantera at Luppi's arms, cutting through three of them and causing Luppi to collapse onto the ground.
"HEY! THAT'S CHEATING!!!" Luppi roared.
"And using your Resurreccion ISN'T?!" Grimmjow asked angrily.
"Are you saying that I'm a cheater?!" Luppi asked angrily.
"If the sleeves fit! Oh look, they're too long!" Grimmjow yelled as Luppi's eye twitched and a vein on his forehead started pulsing.
"Oh you DARE mock me?!" Luppi yelled as Grimmjow grinned challengingly at the former Sexta Espada.
"Ooh." Wonderweiss cooed as he suddenly caught sight of a butterfly that had gotten loose and started following it around trying to catch it.
"Wait…what's he up to?" Yumichika asked from off screen.
"Huh? Oh Wonderweiss, what are you doing?" Yuzu asked as she hurried over with Isane and Uluru close behind.
"Pretty ladies." Wonderweiss slurred as he turned the camera towards them.
"Come on Wonderweiss, let's find Mister Tosen." Yuzu said as the camera shook frantically to the left and right.
"Why not?" Isane asked.
"Ice! Ice! Ice!" Wonderweiss repeated frantically.
"Ice? You mean Rukia or Captain Hitsugaya?" Isane asked as Ggio, Grimmjow, and Luppi groaned in unison.
"No that's Wonderweiss talk for "justice." He means the blind bat is in one of his justice rants again." Ggio explained.
"Looks like the kid's just as sick of it as we are." Kenpachi said from off screen as he entered the practice hall. The camera then panned around to come face to crotch with the tall Soul Reaper Captain. The camera then panned up to see Kenpachi staring down at him with Yachiru on his shoulder.
"I've got an idea to help make things more amusing." Grimmjow said as he snatched the camera from Wonderweiss's hands and turned it to face him.
"This is going to be fun." He said with a sinister grin as he switched the camera off.
To Be Continued…
(1) – Mega Twister – Basically what you get when you push four twister mats together in a square so you can have an even bigger game of it with more people. I was fortunate enough to have Yumichika's job as the spinner the one time I played it.
