Chapter Forty-Eight

Las Noches: Under the Desert Dome

Zommari's many eyes stared at the intruding Soul Reaper. He was surprised to see someone so young enter the fray, with his tiny stature and boyish face. The Espada quickly recalled everything his master had told him about the Thirteen Court Guard Squad captains. "Toshiro Hitsugaya, I presume?"

"Correct. I can see Aizen informed you well."

"Toshiro…" whispered Orihime from behind the wall of ice Toshiro had put in front of her. She remembered the last time she'd seen the young captain, when the Squads' treachery had been revealed to her, Ichigo and Halibel. "Why are you here?"

"A just question." Zommari's body turned until he was facing the Soul Reaper. "I did not expect the captains to join the battle." His many eyes swirled around to find anyone else appearing but only found Toshiro. "You came alone? How foolish. Hmm?" The two normal eyes on Zommari's face narrowed when he noticed a key detail missing from Toshiro's person. "You wear the Shihakusho but no Haori?"

Orihime was also confused when she noticed that Toshiro was missing his captain's jacket too. After all of Toshiro's demands to be treated with the proper authority, he seemed out of place without such an important symbol to him.

"I returned it to its rightful owner," Toshiro said. He pointed his zanpakuto right at Zommari. "I'm here as myself, Toshiro Hitsugaya and not as the captain of Squad Ten."

The tiki shields lazily rotated above Zommari's head while he took in Toshiro's words. "I see. So you disobeyed orders and used Halibel's Fraccións to come to Hueco Mundo. A noble sentiment. But one must wonder…why?" The dark Espada swept an arm out to the others, to the felled Kisuke, the pinned Nel, the controlled Uryu, Dondochaka, and Pesche, the thrashing, gnarling Yoruichi, the unconscious Rukia and the frightened Orihime. "Did you come all the way to help them? Those that the Soul Society had deemed enemies? Traitors, Quincies and Hollows?"

Toshiro accusing eyes scanned over the scene. When they passed by Orihime, the girl gulped from the icy gleam in his turquoise orbs. "No. I did not come here to help Ichigo Kurosaki or Tier Halibel."

"Oh?"

Keeping his sword steady, Toshiro's white spiritual pressure flared. "I'm here to do my duty as a Soul Reaper and rescue the Human, Asahi Kurosaki, and return her to her parents."

Silence filled the desert. Espada and Soul Reaper stared each other down as they both knew a confrontation was inevitable. The tense silence was broken when Zommari threw his head back and began to laugh, his deep voice booming across the dome. "Ahahahaha! What foolishness!" Calming himself down, Zommari brought his tiki shields to his side. "I can see now that Lord Aizen was not using hyperbole when he said your youth betrayed your foolishness. You will not be rescuing anyone. Instead you came all this way to become my pawn and die."

Zommari's eyes lit up again. Orihime's blood ran cold at the idea of the young Soul Reaper under Zommari's control. That would only make a bad situation worse. "Toshiro! Look out! If he marks you, he'll take control of you!"

The yellow eye on the Espada's right side pulsed and threw its attack at Toshiro. The child calmly held out his sword and summoned a wall of ice to protect himself from the attack. "I've already figured out your trick. You mark anything your eye looks at with that sun mark. That lets you control people. But it looks like you can't control the natural elements. Your tricks mean nothing to me."

"So confident, or should I say arrogant?" The Espada gestured to his empowered body. "Once, you may have been right. But as you can see, with Ichigo Kurosaki's spirit energy fueling my Mejorada Resurección, my eyes control all."

The ice wall in front of Toshiro created icy spikes that threatened to pierce his body had he not jumped out of the way. "Damn!" He landed on the sands and swung his sword. "Guncho Tsurara!" A volley of icicles shot at Zommari, who calmly blocked them with his shield. The Espada didn't lift a finger as he turned the desert, still under his control, against the young captain.

A giant hand of sand emerged from behind Toshiro, slamming down on him to crush him. Orihime screamed the boy's name while Zommari watched silently. But a pillar of ice shot up and Toshiro appeared in his Bankai form. "Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru." Hovering above the Espada, Toshiro pointed his sword at the man's face. "Sennen Hyoro!" A ring of ice pillars appeared around Zommari, trapping him in an ice prison. Even with this impressive show of force, Zommari calmly countered back.

Orihime watched the two fighters go back and forth, the ice wall Toshiro had thrown up to protect her destroyed by one of the Ceros. She looked over at the smoldering Kisuke and was glad to see that he was still breathing. Yoruichi was still on top of him, her arm at the ready to finish him off. Likewise Uryu was still in the position he was still in, his minibow pointed at his chin. Glancing at Nel, she was confused when she saw the greenette reaching for Nnoitora's severed head…

The ice glowed purple before four massive Ceros erupted from it, destroying the ice. "Your power is impressive. But immature."

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Toshiro retorted while attacking with his eyes. But his attacks proved ineffective thanks to Zommari's Amor and the tiki shields firing Ceros.

After a minute of back and forth, one of the petals behind Toshiro shattered. A detail that didn't escape the dark Arrancars' notice. "Your power is dwindling. I am well aware of the limitations of your Bankai. I do not need to fight you. I simply need to run out the clock. Once you are unable to wield your Bankai, your chance of victory is gone."

'Of course Aizen would tell him about our weaknesses…' Toshiro mentally cursed his hated enemy. As loathsome as he was to admit it, Zommari had a point. If the battle continued to drag out he'd lose. And there was no telling if he'd throw Uryu or the Arrancars at him to distract him. And the way the white cat-Hollow kept howling and thrashing put him at unease. He would need to end this quickly then deal with it.

When Toshiro landed on the ground Zommari saw his chance to end it. True, he could just run out the clock and wait until Toshiro was vulnerable. But he regarding the young Soul Reaper with a bit of respect for coming all the way here alone and would give the captain a worthy death, even if the captain was not his equal.

"Toshiro! Look out!" Orihime shouted when she saw the pink blossom dig its roots into the ground again. "He's going to create explosive flowers around you!"

Even as Orihime warned him, Zommari's flowers began to bloom around the icy boy. Toshiro cursed when he felt the spirit energy inside them reach volatile levels. He brought up his sword to give him a barrier of ice but he knew he wasn't going to make it in time before he was blown to kingdom come.

"Lanzador Verde."

A green lance, pulsing with black and red energy, came out of nowhere and pierced the flowers. Zipping through the air, it shredded them one after the other before it returned to its masters' hand. Orihime turned and was shocked to see who it was. "Nel?"

Toshiro and Zommari turned their heads. All of the eyes on Zommari's body widened in horror when he saw Nelliel, standing in a new form. "Mejorada Resurección? But how?"

Walking past Pesche and Dondochaka, restrained by ropes of pink spirit energy, Nel stood tall in her new form. Her centaur Resurección had been upgraded with Ichigo's spirit energy fueling her. Her Hollow mask was gone, replaced by four curved horns. The fur on her equine body was darker and had extended to her top half, covering her arms and breasts with thick gray fur. Pink markings adorned her body while red and black spirit energy pulsed from the scar on her forehead and a tail of blue fur swished back and forth, burning with pink spirit energy. In her hands was a new, stylized lance, consisting of a handle and a blade of pink energy.

For the first time since he'd set foot on the battlefield, Zommari started to feel fear take hold of him. Before, the power gap between him and Nel was enough to not even consider her a threat anymore. But now? "How…how can this be? Where could you have gotten a Mejorada cube?!"

Nel ignored Zommari's outburst and took a deep breath. Ichigo's spirit energy was a lot to get used to. She slowly made her way over to Toshiro before cocking a thumb over to Nnoitora's severed head. "A parting gift from an old friend."

Looking past Nel, Zommari saw that the Hollow hole in Nnoitora's left eye was empty. "Grrr!" Zommari clenched his teeth in rage. He'd thought the cube was destroyed after Yoruichi blasted Nnoitora, or that at the very least the cube had been lost to the sands while she'd been devouring him.

Nel turned to the cautious Soul Reaper next to her. "You have no reason to trust me. But I ask that you let me fight by your side. We can hash things out peacefully afterwards."

"You're right. I don't trust you," scoffed Toshiro. "But I don't have the time to worry about that. I'll deal with you after we finish him."

"Finish me? How are you going to do that, Captain Hitsugaya…" Zommari clapped his hands and quickly brought Uryu and Yoruichi in front of him. "When you're too busy dealing with your friends."

Uryu fired a Licht Regen at the pair while Yoruichi lunged forward. Soul Reaper and Arrancar darted away from the volley, the arrows landing uselessly in the sands. "Graaaaahhhh!" howled Yoruichi while gunning for Nel. Even if Zommari hadn't been controlling her, her bloodlust and need to devour would have spurred her to kill the former Espada anyway.

"Sorry, Yoruichi. But I have to be a little rough." Nel raised an arm to throw her lance. She knew the threat Yoruichi posed. What she did to Nnoitora in his enhanced state was proof enough. She ignored Orihime's cries of protest and hurled the lance at Yoruichi. The white Hollow was faster and dodged the lance by a hair, the glowing weapon landing in the sands next to her. Her mechanical claw burning with yellow spirit energy, Yoruichi crouched and prepared to strike, paying no heed to the lance that was swelling with energy.

A bright pink explosion erupted from the lance, sending Yoruichi flying. She landed on the desert sands with a heavy thud, howling in pain. The explosion had wounded her badly, her sides bleeding and one of her back feet gone. Before she could get up to attack again, Nel restrained her with the same pink energy ropes she put on her friends.

Uryu fired volley after volley at Toshiro, the captain blocking them with his ice. "I don't know if you can hear me, Uryu. But for what it's worth…" Toshiro held his sword up and brought it down. "I'm sorry."

Orihime covered her mouth to suppress a scream when she saw Toshiro freeze her friend, encasing him in ice. Toshiro was merciful enough to leave his head unfrozen, letting him breathe and making a mental note to thaw him out as soon as they were done with Zommari.

"Grr! Useless!" Zommari had his tiki shields spin around him, creating another massive Cero. "I will destroy you all!"

Calling her lance back, Nel pointed the tip at Zommari and created a Cero of her own. The two Ceros met, causing another explosion which rocked the fortress. Nel stood triumphantly as the smoke cleared, while Zommari's expression gave away his fear. Toshiro landed behind Zommari, ready to finish the job.

"It is over, Zommari. You've lost."

With his teeth clenched, Zommari forced his lips to smile. "Have I? You overlooked one thing, Nelliel." He opened his palm to reveal his widened eye. "I kept one puppet in reserve."

"KYAAAA!"

Nel turned to find Kisuke behind Orihime, wrenching one of her arms behind her back while keeping Benihime's sword at her throat. On the man's chin and neck was Zommari's mark. "Orihime! You coward!" she spat, turning back to Zommari.

"In battle, victory is all that is important," reminded Zommari. "What will you do now, Captain?" he asked Toshiro. "Is it not the duty of Soul Reapers to protect Humanity?"

Toshiro cursed Zommari for the underhanded tactic but remained where he was.

"Throw down your weapons. Unless you want me to spill the girl's blood all over the sands." Zommari smirked. He knew he still had the upper hand. All he had to do was keep Toshiro at bay for a few more minutes until he couldn't use his Bankai, then use his Amor to take control of Nel. After that, it'd be a simple matter of forcing Orihime to revive the fallen Espadas. Zommari's plan was flawless.

Except he forgot about one other person. From behind Kisuke came a voice, its owner all but forgotten in the chaos.

"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!"

A golden rope wrapped around Kisuke's arm, yanking it, and his sword, away from Orihime's throat. Kisuke turned around to find Rukia back on her feet. Her hands glowed as she threw another rope around Kisuke, restraining him. "Nel! Captain Hitsugaya! Now!"

Cursing, Zommari decided to go for broke. "Fine then. I will destroy you all!" He stretched out his four arms and all of his eyes widened. "You will not escape my Amor!"

Orihime and Rukia braced themselves but no attack came. When they looked up, they saw ice slowly envelop Zommari's body, leaving only his head intact. "Wh-what?" To make matters worse for him, his tiki shields were also frozen, falling to the ground.

"Rukia's interference caused you to lose concentration. I used that opportunity to freeze all of your eyes. And it doesn't matter if your eyes are looking at my ice. Once something is frozen, all functions stop."

"Goodbye, Zommari." Nel pointed her lance at her former comrade. "You lose." Her body crackled with power, her lance lighting up.

"Lanza de Luz Gamuza."

A blast of spirit energy erupted from her spear. His death coming right at him, Zommari could do nothing but scream. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Toshiro dashed out of the way before he was caught in Nel's blast. The Arrancar's might was chilling to the Soul Reaper. Seeing how powerful Nel was, he wasn't sure if he could take her in a fight. When the dust settled, everyone looked to see what'd happened to Zommari. Even Nel was shocked at her increased power when she saw that she'd blasted the top half of Zommari away, his lower half falling from the flower it rested on and landed uselessly on the sands in a heap of blood. "So, this is Ichigo's energy merged with the Espadas. It's…scary…" she confessed. 'And intoxicating…' she quietly added to herself.

With Zommari's death, the sun marks from everyone faded. Uryu gasped as he came back to reality, only to find himself encased his ice. "What the hell?! What happened to me?"

"Huh?" Both Pesche and Dondochaka blinked as they came back to consciousness. "Master Nel? What happened?"

Still unconscious, Kisuke fell to the ground, his sword slipping out of his hands. While Rukia untangled him from her rope spell, Orihime wasted no time in healing the fallen shopkeeper. Though she was freed from the Espada's control, Yoruichi continued to howl with bloodlust and pain from her missing foot.

Sealing his Bankai, Toshiro approached Uryu and quickly let him out of his ice. "You were controlled by that Espada. It's over now. He's dead."

"What are you doing here?" Uryu asked before he took notice of everyone else. "Wait a minute. Orihime? Rukia? What happened to Kisuke?" Uryu noted Nel's appearance. "When did you get a Mejorada Resurección, Nel?"

"I plucked the cube out of Nnoitora's head and put it in my Hollow hole," explained Nel, who shifted back to her normal sealed state.

"Um…Nel? I've been wondering, where's your Hollow hole?" asked a curious Orihime. Smiling, Nel leaned forward and whispered the answer into Orihime's ear. Everyone wondered what the answer was since it made Orihime blush.

Uryu then noticed the writhing Hollow on the sands. "Is that…" he saw the purple hair and put two and two together. "Yoruichi?"

"That Espada experimented on her. Turned her into that. We were able to calm her down but we need Kisuke for that," Rukia told him.

Toshiro remained silent. His first instinct was to kill Yoruichi and put her out of her suffering. But he noted the mechanical parts as well as the bizarre mask on her face. "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Kisuke said he might be able to fix her, but he needs the Hogyoku. Then he can-"

"No." Toshiro shook his head. "The Hogyoku is too dangerous. And it's dangerous in Kisuke's hands as much as it is in Aizen's. It needs to be destroyed."

"Aizen said Kisuke wasn't able to destroy it," pointed out Rukia.

Looking over at the unconscious shopkeeper, Toshiro crossed his arms. "Can't? Or won't? I've often wondered about that." Seeing the cautious looks everyone was giving him, the boy decided this wasn't the time for such discussion. "We'll discuss this later. We need to focus on saving Asahi."

Uryu pushed his glasses up. "First things first. Captain Hitsugaya, why are you here?"

Sighing, Toshiro sheathed his sword. "I…came of my own volition. I couldn't just sit by while the Head-Captain and the others punished Isshin and his family for doing nothing wrong. The Head-Captain has elected to arrest Isshin and imprison him and Ichigo's sisters."

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.

"That's absurd!" Rukia knew that the captains could be harsh but this was too much. "Isshin hasn't done anything wrong and Ichigo's sisters are completely innocent in all of this."

"I know. Which is why I raced back to Karakura Town to warn Isshin before Soi-Fon could arrest them. I asked Halibel's minions to open a Garganta to send me here to help Ichigo rescue his daughter." He looked around and scowled. "We're too exposed out in the open. We need to find Asahi and get out of here."

"Speaking of which…" Nel looked up at the dome. "We should go help Halibel and Ichigo, if we had trouble with the Espada then-"

Everyone's eyes widened when they felt two spiritual pressures dwindle down to almost nothing, like two candles about to go out.

"Ichigo!"

"Halibel!"

To be continued