Chapter Forty-Four

Las Noches; Szayelapporo's Palace
Kisuke vs. Szayelapporo

The Eighth Espada's body pulsed with black and red spirit energy. Kisuke fought the revulsion at the sight of the scientist's thin body undergoing its grotesque metamorphosis. Unlike their last encounter, Szayelapporo's form evolved past its first released state with the power of his new Mejorada Resureccion, unveiling his new and improved body in all its horrible glory.

"Ahahahahahaha!" cackled the mad scientist, Ichigo's energy like a drug surging through his veins. "Such power! I'd no idea that Substitute was so potent! Halibel really picked a winner. Ahahahaha!"

Even Kisuke felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face as he beheld Szayelapporo's new form. The spiritual pressure was enormous, befitting his terrifying visage. Naked from the waist up, Szayelapporo had given up his clothing in exchange for four long magenta-colored strips of flesh attached to his chest that extended behind him, teardrop-shaped globes at their tips glowing with energy. At the center of his chest was a large hole brimming with black and red energy. His lower half had changed just as drastically. His legs were more canine than human, arching back from the kneecaps up and covered in white fur. The man's feet, however, had become those of a bird, purple talons scrapping at the ground beneath him.

Szayelapporo's waist was covered by a pair of white wings. Behind him was a carapace that extended outward like a pair of wings with six long tendrils with large black eyes at the tip of them. Underneath the carapace a long whip-like tail flittered to and fro.

Kisuke gripped Benihime and took a stance. "So that's your precious Mejorada Resurección, eh? An ascended release state."

"Correct. I'm glad that even in the face of terror you still maintain your senses," smirked the wicked scientist. He gestured to his pale-white body. "This is the power of an Espada at his most deadly. I'm quite curious to see the fruits of my own labors. For too long I've let others be my experiment. I forgot the delights of using my own body for my research."

The scientist disappeared with a burst of Sonido, dodging Kisuke's sword strike by a hair. His black tail swung wide and hit Kisuke in the side with blinding speed. The blow knocked Kisuke back hard. He was sent flying and hit the wall hard enough to leave a large hole. Reeling from the hit, Kisuke tasted blood in his mouth.

"Hmmm, my reflexes and speed increased beyond my initial projections. So tell me, Kisuke Urahara, did you ever dream a fellow scientist would be able to evade you and counterattack fast enough to slip past your defenses?" When Kisuke refused to answer, picking himself up and wiping off the blood on his lips, Szayelapporo pompously continued. "I thought not."

"Anyone else tell you that you talk too much?" Kisuke noted, popping his shoulder back into place.

"Oh, all the time. Although it's hard to hear them afterwards after I'm done stitching their mouths shut."

"Goodie." Kisuke held up his sword. "Scream: Benihime!"

From Kisuke's sword came a red wave of energy. Szayelapporo watched it come closer before sighing. The shopkeeper watched as the Espada batted away his attack with his bare hand, his energy attack landing useless far away from the man.

"My Hierro has also increased its toughness, as you just helped me demonstrate. I dare say no zanpakuto will be able to cut me so long as I'm in my Mejorada state. Which means I've nothing to fear from your Shikai or any of its attacks. So?" Walking forward, Szayelapporo narrowed his eyes. "What's next? Surely the great Kisuke Urahara has something else up his sleeve?"

Again, Kisuke said nothing. Instead he jumped into the air and readied his next gambit. "Shibari: Benihime!"

The empowered Espada found himself ensnared by a net of red spirit energy. "Attempting to restrain me while you concoct your next gambit? Surely you can do better than that."

But Kisuke didn't need to buy himself time. He stabbed at the end of the net with his Shikai. "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi."

A string of red orbs formed along the net covering Szayelapporo, creating a chain of explosions that engulfed the deviant scientist. Yet even with this technique Kisuke sensed no change in the Espada's spiritual pressure. He frowned as the man emerged confidently from the smoke without a scratch on him.

"A good effort, but fruitless nonetheless. I am beyond the powers of your Shikai. Surely someone as intelligent as you can see that you've lost this fight the moment I ascended to this perfect form."

Kisuke remained silent, hefting his sword on his shoulder while glaring at the man before him. "As a scientist, I don't believe in the concept of perfection."

Szayelapporo responded with a gloating sneer. "I suppose you wouldn't. But then again…" His eyes narrowed while he stepped forward towards him, his footsteps echoing like thunder across the room. "Failure is all the great Kisuke Urahara has ever known." When Kisuke's eye twitched, Szayelapporo knew he'd struck a nerve, goading him into twisting the knife more. "Lord Aizen told me everything about you. You were, after all, one of the greatest threats to his plans outside of the Head-Captain. And while you are certainly a capable man worthy of being considered a threat…I'm not that impressed."

"Despite all your accomplishments, your failures are the ones that everyone remembers. You failed to stop Lord Aizen one hundred years ago. You failed again when you sent Ichigo Kurosaki to retrieve the Hogyoku you hid away inside Rukia Kuchiki. And if you were really as great as you make yourself out to be…Yoruichi Shihoin would never have fallen into my clutches." Seeing Kisuke grip his sword even tighter, Szayelapporo reveled in his taunting, convinced he'd already won the fight. "You just stood there as she was taken from you. For all your abilities, all your knowledge, all your wisdom…you are helpless before your betters. Tell me, Kisuke Urahara…" Szayelapporo tapped his temple while grinning from ear to ear. "How does it feel to be stupid?"

"You're quite chatty. And here I thought Mayuri ran his mouth a lot." Kisuke held up his Shikai and summoned his shield again. "Kirisaki, Benihime." From his shield burst a barrage of energy blasts right at Szayelapporo.

The barrage was too close and too wild to dodge but the Espada had no need to evade. His tail flicked about and batted away all of Kisuke's energy attacks, Szayelapporo yawning from the futile effort. "Well, this has become boring. It's time to bring this little show to its conclusion." The tail behind Szayelapporo that kept whipping about suddenly stabbed the hole inside the Espada's chest, spirit energy surging from it. "Allow me to show you the full power of my perfect form!"

Cursing, Kisuke brought his sword up and swung at Szayelapporo's neck but he was too late to stop the man from unleashing his deadliest move.

"La Vida Lujuriosa!"

The teardrop globes at the ends of Szayelapporo's appendages started to swell with spirit energy. In the span of only two seconds the four globes swelled up and exploded, destroying the palace around them in one fells swoop.

As the dust settled Szayelapporo emerged, standing amidst the rubbed unharmed by his explosion. "The destructive capabilities exceed even my expectations." Looking around, he saw Kisuke lying on his back, his Shikai in pieces. "I see. You used that shield just at the moment of detonation in order to prevent yourself from being blasted to smithereens. But it looks like your zanpakuto could not handle my power." Szayelapporo clapped in glee. "Thank you for preserving your body for me, Kisuke. I appreciate the gesture of goodwill. It's always so annoying to put a subject's pieces back together."

Walking over to the unconscious Kisuke, Szayelapporo reached out and grabbed the man's leg. "Come along now. My lab survived the explosion and-"

POP!

Out of nowhere Kisuke Urahara suddenly exploded like a balloon that had a pin shoved into it. "What?!" gaped the confused Espada.

Then he heard a whistle from behind him.

The Espada gasped when he saw Kisuke, perfectly unharmed, sitting on a piece of rubble. His Shikai was intact and he had a sly smile on his face. "Yoo-hoo. Did you miss me?"

"You-" Szayelapporo's eyes widened as his memory reminded him about Kisuke's newest invention. "Your Gigai!" His hands balled into fists. "You made the switch when I transformed. That's why your attacks seemed so weak!"

"Good guess. You were being so dramatic I didn't want to interrupt you while I looked for the door to your lab. Although give yourself some more credit. My Gigai moves with the same skill and strength as the genuine article. So I was able to gauge your new transformation's abilities against my Benihime."

"Heheheh…" Szayealapporo threw his head back and cackled with mad glee, his laughter echoing across the dome's desert. "For you to deceive me to that level, I take it back, you DO impress me, Kisuke." Crossing his arms, the Espada merely smirked at the shopkeeper. "But if what you just said is true, then you know your zanpakuto is useless against me. And no trick of yours will work on me while I've in my ascended release state."

"True. But then again…" Kisuke's eyes glinted with malice. "I don't intend on ending you with cheap tricks." He held up his sword. "Bankai: Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame."

A shadow cast down over Szayelapporo. When the transformed Espada looked up, he gasped in absolute shock. "What…what is this?"

Hovering over Kisuke loomed over a giant woman with fiery red hair styled in loops, dressed in a revealing red robe. "This is my Bankai. This…is Benihime."

"What kind of creature is that?!" Szayelapporo turned his attention back to Kisuke. "Answer me!"

"Isn't it obvious? Or are you not smart enough to figure it out yourself?" taunted back the shopkeeper.

"Huh?" went the Espada when Benihime's hands surrounded Kisuke. "What in the world is that woman doing? Is it a being made of Reishi? No, I would have sensed it. No, it could only be-"

"The physical manifestation of my zanpakuto," finished Kisuke, emerging when Benihime lifted her hands. At first Szayelapporo didn't notice anything different. Then he noticed the line of stiches along Kisuke's face, hands and chest. "My Bankai isn't like Ichigo's. It's not meant for direct melee. On the other hand…"

Kisuke disappeared with a burst of Flashstep. When he appeared behind Szayelapporo, Kisuke swung hand. "Argh!" screamed the pink-haired man when his left hand dropped to the ground, blood spewing from the severed stump. "How? My…my Hierro should have-"

"You have bigger issues," Kisuke coldly told him. He slashed Szayelapporo's chest, drawing more blood. When the man staggered backwards Kisuke pointed a finger at him. "Hadō #1: Shō."

A burst of energy came out of Kisuke's finger, knocking the maimed Espada backwards. Szayelapporo cursed as he tripped over some rubble and tumbled backwards. When he opened his eyes, he gasped in horror when he saw the giant Benihime looming over him. "What…" He brought his remaining hand up to fire a Cero at the creature but screamed instead as he saw his arm start to come apart. "Ahhhhhh! What is this?!"

"Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame has the power to deconstruct and reconstruct," explained Kisuke, sitting back down on the rubble as the giant's hands slowly reached for the screaming man. "I used it to reconstruct my body to be powerful enough to slice through your Hierro after gauging its toughness using my Gigai. As for you…" Kisuke took off his hat and showed the Espada his murderous expression. "Halibel warned me about your little rebirth trick. So I'm not going to kill you. Instead…I'm going to do something far worse."

"ARGHHHHHHHH!" screamed Szayelapporo as he disappeared from sight, covered by the giant Benihime's hands.

"You know, you made a lot of mistakes. You kidnapped my best friend and experimented on her. You rubbed it in my face. You took my student's spirit energy and weaponized it in a way that I wouldn't even dare. And you had the gall to insult my intelligence." As the giant finished her work, Kisuke stood up and walked over to it. "But you know what your biggest mistake was? You pissed me off."

The giant disappeared from sight, leaving only Szayelapporo in its wake.

"Guhhhhhhh…" groaned the drooling Szayelapporo. His body was covered in stiches. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, as if Benihime had turned his top half into a literal straitjacket. The man didn't budge as Kisuke stood in front of him, mumbling to himself while drooling incoherently.

"I took the liberty of restructuring your brain. Luckily for me, Halibel informed me that an Arrancar's High-Speed Regeneration excludes vital organs like your brain. You'll never hold a coherent thought in your head again. But then…" Kisuke's nose rankled when he saw a puddle start to form around the kneeling Espada's legs. "I doubt you can hold anything anymore." He leaned forward and whispered one last thing into the brain-dead Espada's ear.

"Now who's stupid?"

Sheathing his sword-cane, Kisuke picked up Szayelapporo's severed hand and walked away, heading into the tunnel that lead into the man's lab. Eyeing the door, Kisuke found a hand scanner and pressed Szayelapporo's bleeding hand into it, tossing his grisly trophy aside once the doors opened. "Yoruichi!" he called out as he entered the lab. "Sorry I'm late! Are you-"

He stopped dead in his tracks in the entrance of the lab. The place had been smashed to pieces. The vats had all been shattered. All of Szayelapporo's machinery had been smashed. And the pieces of his unfortunate test subjects lay scattered all over the floor. Eyeing a severed hand, Kisuke walked over and found two huge blood stains on the floor.

And at the far end of the lab was a massive hole in the wall that led out into the desert.

"Well, least she's okay. I think…"

To be continued