Bleach Rebirth of the Guardian Chapter 56, a Bleach + High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D Crossover fanfic

Here is Chapter 56 I hope you all enjoy, thank you to Aroneden and Mattock345

Things were going to hell, and once again Issei found himself on the front lines. 'Issei, you are going to be our mobile defense, provided you can hold your Balance Breaker.' Rias's voice echoed in his head as she set them in overlapping zones of defense. If you could, you help your neighbor, but only if he could not get there first.

And fuck, there were so many of the damn things. They had little cohesion of form or intent. But numbers had a quality all their own. And Koneko was having issues, she was amazing at fighting one on one, or small groups. And with her speed, strength and toughness pushed even further than her Devil-given abilities, she was a monster.

But she was a blunt tool, with no crowd control abilities that extended further than ten to fifteen feet around her. Even then he doubted she could do that punch explosion thing too many times. He arrived just as she headbutted a Hollow hard enough to shatter its mask as she hurled the ones grabbing her or biting her off her body.

Her skin showed no signs of damage, but her clothing was showing a lot of it...like a whole lot. She was fighting with a skirt so torn her blue panties were completely visible and a Hollow had bitten her chest in an attempt to rip out her heart, broke his teeth, and came away with half of her shirt and bra missing. So she has one...well, one tiny A-cup boob having out in the open. All in all, not much of a distraction for him, though he was smart enough not to say that part out loud.

The boosters on his back fired, his green aura gauntlet growing as he Boosted its power. It grew to about the size of a huge dragon's claw. He swept it across the mass of monsters, the talons ripping them to shreds. The palm sweeping them away, contact with it setting the Hollows on fire, green flames that consumed them with what looked like considerable agony.

Koneko gave him a nod and hurled herself past the smaller Hollows, some of them were struck and burned by the electricity lashing around and off her body. And a larger leonine Hollow roared so loud that Issei knew his helmet was the only thing keeping his ears from bleeding. Koneko's whole head lit up with blue tribal markings and seemed to just ignore the sound completely.

The Lion-thing lunged, its jaw ratcheting open further than it should have been able to, and came snapping down on Koneko for a titanic crunch, only for the Neko to suddenly speed up, leaving a trail of lightning behind her and punching a hole clean through its body. It exploded in blue energy, consuming some of the smaller Hollows around it. Issei spent a few more moments clearing out the little ones until he felt she could hold her area for a little while and boosted off to the next area, bypassing Kiba who seemed to be having a great time, his extending blade letting him fight at close and medium range. His third eye was open and glowing the color of molten metal. His perfect, youthful body sliding past, through, and around the attacks. His golden hair whipped around his face and he grinned his almost painfully white teeth gleaming in the light from his third eye.

Twilight's wounds were always lethal to the lesser Hollows, even a slight scratch would ignite them like matches. He was a blur of motion, death incarnate, and even as Issei approached a lance of red hot energy shot out of his third eye transecting several Hollows and causing them to explode. So all Issei needed to do was make a quick pass and clear out a few, to lighten his load for a moment, and striking past Akeno and Asian who had things well in hand, lightning reigned around her as the Queen of the Peerage lived up to her name as the Priestess of Thunder. A black wing matched by a blue wing was spread out wide and proud for all to see, even then, mixed in with the dancing electricity were bolts of fire, shafts of ice, not to mention the buffeting gusts of wind making her oppai dance in the most amazing fashion. However, the most terrifying and more important part was that she was projecting it all over her assigned area of Karakura, transforming that part of the world into a pure hellscape of destruction. None of the small Hollows seemed to be able to exist for more than a few seconds, the larger ones were just blown to pieces over a short amount of time. The huge ones, however, seemed to be able to. Through the chaos, Issei couldn't tell whether it was stalking forward, or back, its feet only a dozen feet above the thick fog cloud. "Boost." The word sounded all around him as his boosters ignited with powerful green fire.

He prayed that Akeno would have the control to avoid hitting him and was rewarded in that faith as the elemental hell seemed to bend around him. Focusing his Aura Gauntlet into a smaller, more condensed form he extended both his arms as he picked up speed. "Boost, Boost,Boost,Boost." His speed became greater, his red armor shrouded in green power. "Dragon Rush!" Issei howled as he slammed into and through the Gilligan's head, hearing the ugly crunch and feeling nothing but satisfaction.

He flashed out of the elemental hell, noting Asia behind Akeno, her hands on the woman's back and a blue glow instead of a green one glowing. He just caught sight of Rias and Xenovia, noting that neither woman needed his help and was about to make another pass around when something hit him. It was moving so fast, a hand closed around his head and suddenly he had no idea where they were. Japan was flashing under him so fast it was just a blur. He struggled to make his arms listen to his thoughts and if he had not been armored it would have been impossible for him to move against the wind force pressing on his body. He got a hand up, pressed it into something solid, and wheezed. "Dragon Shot."

It was not his strongest one, but it did blast his attacker off him and his boosters fired to help him stabilize. He could not see Karakura anywhere, in fact, he could not see much of anything but hills below him. What he did see was his attacker, and his mouth kind of dropped open. Because unlike the other Hollows he had been fighting, this one was humanoid and...voluptuous. Large oppai, curvy legs, Hartman hips, thick thighs, strong arms, and quite the ass from what he could see. She had black hair which she had apparently taken the time to do up in a sort of ponytail. If that had been it she would have been one of the more distracting women he had seen in a while, after he stopped counting Ichigo's girls.

But that white mask on her face was pretty scary, somehow feminine, with softer curves and a more elegant set of eye slits revealing yellow eyes boring a hole through him. Her mouth was a set of human-shaped teeth that ran across the whole mask which was a little offsetting as was the hole where her belly button would have been if she were a human.

Her body was covered in what seemed to be a skin-tight, curve-hugging green fabric, torn on parts of her arms, legs and even a tantalizing strip across her left breast was missing showing creamy smooth skin beneath. But because there was no fairness in the world her wings were disturbing, the outer area covered in the same green cloth. But the inner part of the wings, the ones facing him at least, was all visible muscle fiber which moved in a rather disturbing way along with each beat of the wings.

'Well, at least she has nice tits.' He thought.

He felt her gather power into her hands watching the crimson power take shape and….shrink. He blinked as she seemed to be holding six shurikens of red light. "Your Soul," she said and Issei gulped, taking a step back, "It feels...familiar."

"Uh, we have never met before," He offered, "I think I would remember you."

"Was that his voice, it has been a long time?"

Who the hell was she talking to?

"When did I hear it last...oh right, when he ran his blade through my back."

"Sounds like a dick," Issei replied.

"I'm sorry...what?"

"Uh," Issei bit his lip, his hackles raised in trepidation ready to move at a moment's notice. The boosters on his back glowed a deeper green. "Sounds like a...very bad person?"

"He was a jealous weak little man...and your Soul feels the same as his."

*gulp*

"Your voice sounds the same as his."

"My voice is distorted by this helmet." He replied.

"Perhaps you should take it off then and let me see."

"Um," Issei would never admit to anyone how close he came to doing just that, "Lady, I am stupid, but not that stupid."

"Huh," she tilted her head, "Guess not."

He almost missed the flash of red light and even then he only barely managed to leap out of the way and miss being directly hit by it. The explosion made his armor glow with heat and send him spinning. He caught a glimpse of the Hollow appearing in front of his tumbling body and hurling two more of those shurikens. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as the explosions hit and detonated against his armor and fuck it hurt. He was pretty sure his ears were bleeding as he slammed into the ground and was sent skidding with enough force to take him up a hill and still launch him skyward.

He activated his boosters and righted himself, drawing in power and boosting it with his Sacred Gear. The last three shurikens were flashing towards him when he unleashed the Dragon Shot. "Boost." The ball became a beam of green energy and for a heart-stopping moment, the Shurikens seemed to pierce the blast.

A heartbeat before they cut through there were three explosions, the heat of which flared uncomfortably. But that was not what worried him, no that was the glimpse of a foot crashing into his helmet like a truck. He saw stars and slammed into the ground, bounced through a tree, and crashed into a rather large rock.

It was only the Rook protection from Ichigo and the armor which kept him from blacking out. Then it was his training that made him roll to his feet, arms up waiting for another attack.

He saw faint blurs of red and his boosters flared, making him soar straight up, some instinct, probably from Ddraig, had him jinking from side to side and was rewarded with two flashes of red that were still a little close for comfort.

Issei's vision cleared in time to see the woman just appear in a burst of static, her leg already in mid-kick, but he turned flashing her with his boosters, the green energy scorching her mask and making that green cloth looking cover smolder.

She did not so much as grunt, her wings flapping like a hummingbird and zooming after him.

The old him would not have thought to keep this fight over relatively uninhabited land. Or be able to keep half an eye on the area and dodge any area with people. Unfortunately, this was Japan and there were a lot of people.

"You're going to have to fight."

Issei growled back. "I know." Ahead of him, the Hollow appeared with the sound of static and her body kept blurring, in fact, he was seeing, like, six of them. Or rather, one moving so fast she looked to be in multiple places.

"Oh shit," He breathed, "That's really fast." Then at the same time, they all seemed to produce a bone-white Kusarigama, a the Kama or small hand sickle connected by a chain to a spiked ball about the size of Issei's fist.

"That's not good."

'Issei!' Rias's voice filled his head. 'What happened?'

For a moment the boy hesitated, this really seemed like something he could use help on and he knew Rias would send someone if he asked...but they were protecting the people of a city and...and he was the user of the Boosted Gear, the Red Dragon Gauntlet. 'Hollow pulled me away, I will deal with it shortly and return.'

'Issei.' There was concern in her voice, and Issei swallowed his fear.

'I got this Buchou.'

'...Understood. Issei, if you need help, ask, that is an order.'

Issei shivered as he felt the command wash over him….and do nothing, it did not latch and he felt no compunction to follow it. He had no time to consider that development as the spiked ball came for his face. "I got this," He whispered, more to himself than anyone, "I got this."

Rias bit her lip as the link was cut, she knew her Pawn, she had spent time with him, worked with him. She knew his worried voice but glancing around all she could spare was Asia and that would not accomplish anything.

She looked over to Ichigo and saw him battling hundreds of Hollows, all rushing at him with an insane degree of disregard for their lives. Sona and her Peerage were hard pressed as well, so she went into overdrive, thinking through her problem, who could take up who's slack. "Mom, look out!"

Rias moved to the side, drawing in the power of Ruin around her like a shield, something hit her and hit her hard. It dug into her shield of Ruin and she heard a screech of pain as her power burned whatever had struck her. Still, the force knocked her through the air like a pinball, and she only stopped when Koneko's small form caught her and arrested her progress.

A roar followed her and she, along with her whole peerage, felt it as it blew back any skirt the girls were wearing. A silence as loud as the roar for its oddity followed, and all around them, the Hollows retreated. Moving as if bystanders watching an explosion from a safe distance, Rias gazed upon what had caused this and felt her heart pick up a little in fear. It has nothing to do with bravery, it was the simple ancient fear of seeing a powerful predator. It was about the size of a tiger. Standing on all fours with a lean body giving it a sleek look, its bone plating shimming with any light that reflected off its surface. White and black striped fur grew between the plates. Its paws were large and razor-sharp talons, its mouth open, drool coming out from the rows and rows of needle-shaped teeth. Gold cat-like eyes burned with hunger as it took them all in, a long tentacle rising from the base of its tail, tipped with a blunt, almost mace-like construct of white bone. It has ridges like a real mace and judging from how far it had thrown her, there was considerable power behind it.

No words left its maw as he roared again, and the Hollows surrounding them moved in an agitated fashion, moving up and down to form a sort of wall. It was almost like they were trapped in…the Hollow let out a roar and orange light shot out from his body in all directions, where it hit the Hollows it refracted around them, hitting others around them. With a thrill of terror, she realized too late It was trapping them inside with it.

Each Hollow acting as a battery for a massive spatial distortion, a colosseum almost like...no exactly like the Roman one.

The field they stood on was light of a sort, bisecting reality under them. Rias knew it was called Negation, knew it isolated those within from their current dimension and it was relatively invincible.

The Hollows' tail twitched and swayed as her Peerage gathered close to her. It's grumble of hunger and killing intent enough to trigger the primal fear of the predator that existed within everyone.

"Buchou?" Kiba sounded utterly calm. "I will engage it, give us an idea of its abilities, better me than anyone else because we don't know if we can afford to get hit by it."

Xenovia nodded. "I will do so as well, I am almost as fast and two targets will make him split his focus."

Those words jump-started her mind, giving her a point to plan around. "Kiba, Xenovia be careful, Koneko you keep it back if it comes to us, Akeno we will provide ranged support on my mark, Asia stay back, stay small, we are going to need your healing."

"Yes, Buchou." They all intoned.

"What do you want us to do, Sir?"

Fully thirty squads of Death Guards lay hidden, watching the battle unfold before them. No orders had come to them and it looked like none would. At least from Soul Society, the absolute chaos of Hollows was going to make anything coming from Soul Society difficult.

There was no overall commander and that meant thirty different leaders. Given how everything had changed so much, none of them knew if their orders stood. So they waited and watched, doing nothing, saying nothing. Watching the abilities of their opponents and more than a few grateful that they were not facing them yet.

However that seemed to be changing as a figure in black hurtled towards them, many noticed that she was missing an arm, the stump quantized by heat. She landed hard and only barely kept standing. One of their number moved to apply medical Kido as the women spoke. "I have new orders." She hissed.

Behind her, the hellscape of Hollows surged with elemental energy on a scale none of them had ever seen. "We will have to pick our moment, but Rukia Kuchiki must be eliminated and anything on her retrieved." She pointed to the right half. "You will be given with the capture of Yuzu Kurosaki.'' She gave them a quick overview of her location. "I will give the word when to move, for now, we will move as close to the battle as possible while remaining outside of it. No engagements, surprise is our only option." She let out a breath. "Move."

Sona stood among thousands of marble-sized balls of water, her fingers moved as if conducting an orchestra. Within two hundred yards of her, a zone of destruction existed for any Hollow. Even as she looked one fell towards the fog, its body riddled with small holes.

Outside of that range she gathered water into baseball-sized orbs and shot them put with enough speed to bore through solid stone. Each shot was careful, often aimed at the larger Gillian's. The secret to how it killed those was the amount of water compressed into those balls. Once inside the Gillian it exploded like a bomb, shattering heads and body parts, wherever it hit.

She made sure to keep herself stationary and a little higher up than the others in her Peerage. An easy target for any Hollow with a Cero ready to fire. When they did so she would manifest enough water to absorb and contain the blast. These effects would have been hard for her before her Awakening. But now it was only a strain, furthermore, she was not alone.

Tsubasa was focusing her efforts on the larger ones, she was excellent at eliminating those. Even now she grabbed an elephantine Hollow by the tusk, tore it off, and rammed it through its eye. So far the smile on the Rook's face has only faltered when the guest arrived. Said being was a freaking Archangel and the Messenger at that.

There had not been time to ask what the hell was going on, only that an Archangel had apparently intervened to protect the Kurosaki siblings. Which…was a good way to get her boyfriend on your side. The Hollows swarmed thick near them, the presence of three strong Spiritual Beings acting like that foul Hollow Bait.

But none of them got close, Sona would not allow it, not while her power twisted like a torrent inside her. The Archangel had brought the Kurosaki Siblings to Inoue, then vanished down into the mist where flashes of Light could be seen as she turned her power to the defense of the mortals. None of the Menos would venture down there, and the Gillians seemed to avoid it, but the Hollows with Intelligence seemed to sense the easy prey and were the hardest to kill quick enough.

Still, her extended defense of her Knight left Inoue free to unleash her shields or healing wherever she saw fit and her friend was beside her, very new to power, but willing to put her body on the line to protect Orihime. Those gloves of hers had proved devastating in dispatching the Hollows. A single punch seemed to set off a reaction in the Hollow which caused the area hit to explode, often killing the Hollow when it did. The girl did not seem to know how she was doing it, but that was not important right now.

Momo and Ruruko fought as a unit, clearly, the time they had spent together had forged powerful bonds of trust and understanding. Momo did not have an area of specialties like Reya and her wind spells. No, that was unfair, she did not have an elemental specialty, her focus was on the arcane in and of itself. Her biggest talent was anti-magic, the countering, unmasking, and reversing of magic. Skills that did not have any effect in this fight.

However she was not a one-trick pony, Sona would never allow any of her Peerage that weakness if she could help it. Bolts of arcane force flashed out from her right hand, either blowing holes in her attackers or knocking them back. Her other hand glowed with purple light, arcane runes spinning around her wrist. With telekinetic power, she shoved, pushed, crushed, and threw the monsters. All the while three blades of Arcane Force danced around her body cutting and slashing, only visible because of the blade-shaped distortions in the air. Ruruko, for her part, moved like something between a martial artist and a breakdancer, spending as much time on her hands as the right side up. It was something a human would find impossible to make work, and a Devil would find difficult. But her Pawn endured the effort and time to make her desired path work. While she might think that her study and practice had been private, Sona had observed her on many occasions, the scrapes and bruises, the slip-ups, the mistakes, and that was not even counting how she had to make that work while flying, figuring out how to do so backward, or upside down. Learning to keep her bearings in fast, brutal aerial combat.

Sona watched Ruruko flash by her, body tucked into a roll, building up speed and momentum, her wings held close to her body. A heartbeat before she would have hurtled past a Gillian her wings snapped out. Unfolding and bulging as it caught the air like a sail. Arresting her forward momentum and focusing all of it downward. Her heel landed right on the top of the white mask.

The thing shattered apart and the Hollow with it. Furling her wings she let herself drop and built up speed snapping the wings out to let her glide with minimal loss of kinetic energy. She zipped by Momo, hitting several of the Menos with a spinning kick. Momo waved her hand catching her friend in her telekinesis and hurling her at a large feline Hollow, which let Ruruko drive her foot clean through its skull.

Over with Tabsuki, her Queen whirled among the monsters, her Naginata severing all in its path. Even as she did that, her Queen wove defensive magics around herself, pure force as she had been instructed. She let the Menos attack futility against her defenses. Killing larger ones and letting the numbers of the smaller ones build until she killed them all with an elemental attack.

Reya was fighting next to Karin Kurosaki, Ichigo's sister had refused to stay back once her injuries had been treated. She did however agree to stick near them. Reya was bending the very air around them, her spells making the wind take on a blue tint. Her spells were exponentially stronger than they had been and seemed to affect the Hollows a lot more than they should have.

Reya had surrounded herself with an orb of wind to guard her body. It had the effect of sucking in all whom she did not exempt from the spell. The ability to exempt people in spells like that was crazy and almost certainly an effect of her bond. The Menos that hit the orb was shredded to pieces and Reya was flinging out Crescent-shaped blades of wind. Like her own water bullets, Reya took her time and aimed her deadly projectiles.

Karin Kurosaki moved within that storm, her black blade as deadly as her Brother's. Her movements, however, were conservative and any prolonged conflict seemed to tire her greatly. But when it seemed she might be overwhelmed, Reya or even Sona herself would provide the momentary support she needed.

It would have been a boon to have Mother with them, but she was also turning her power to defend the mortals, something about how they were being crushed by the energy the battle was unleashing.

Sona rotated her field of water droplets, each one moving, going from still to the speed of bullets in flight, several of the winged horrors just disintegrated as hundreds of holes were blasted through them. But a large ursine Hollow just powered on though, the droplets cracking armor plating or penetrating flesh to little effect. With her right hand, she gathered water to the top of her finger, just as the Hollow opened its mouth to unleash a blast of red energy. With her other hand, she made a clenching motion and all the water around her snapped towards the blast, expanding to the full volume of liquid contained in each drop. It smothered the blast, the water glowing a hellish red, some evaporating from the heat. This, it seemed, had been the plan as from below her a form shimmered and a lizard-like Hollow fell out of camouflage and leaped towards her, jaw gaping wide.

From above a dozen more winged Hollows, sensing a weakness, dove to attack her, ready to rend and tear her flesh. Sona smiled and made a grasping motion with her hands and twisted as if hurling some invisible force. She pulled all the water in the air around her and created even more through the Power of Imagination. Enough water to fill a lake rushed towards her from all angles, sweeping her attackers along with it. Sona spun as the water dragged the Hollows along its course, helpless in a circular dance around her. Clapping her hands together, her fingers began to glow, tracing words in the air at inhuman speed. "Let the heavens rage and the fallen earth cry: Four Gods Lightning." The incantation glowed white as she ended it and four bolts of lightning shot out in the cardinal directions.

Electricity danced in the twisting waters, muffling the cries of the monsters as they died and disintegrated. Sona moved through a complicated series of hand and arm gestures, splitting the water into four separate large disks of liquid only a centimeter in width each spinning fast enough to cut diamond. She needed no words or even glyphs, for this water was her element, and ever since she had killed Kokabiel her skill and power over it had only grown. She spun one last time, sending the disks flying, her mind's eye keeping a string of Devil Power attached to the weapons and guiding it through the ranks of their attackers.

That was when something opened a Portal in the center of the fight, far too close to Inoue for Sona's comfort. It was human-shaped, its upper body black as night and covered with an almost skeletal-like pattern of armor, it made the shape of abs and musculature. Looking almost artistic in its design, a mane of red fur ran from its head all the way to the small of its back. Its mask was a smooth white with two bull-like horns coming off the top, small black markings appearing under the eyes. Now its mouth was visible but its yellow eyes glowed with something Sona could not quite place.

Its lower body, powerfully muscled legs covered in white fur ending in hooves with toes a bit longer than should have been comfortable. There was a large bulge in the area of its crotch, but like its lack of mouth, there was nothing there beyond that. It simply walked onto the battlefield, no speed, no effort, its hands at its side, The Bull-masked head tilted back and forth to survey the battle with little in the way of interest or even understanding.

Sona moved her hands and two of her disks of water came spinning towards it, the creature did not move, did not do anything really, it just looked at them and when they came within five yards they hit something, or perhaps something hit them. The water exploded. Thousands of gallons raining down on the fog.

The Hollow looked at Sona and its eyes narrowed. "Well," Sona murmured, "This is disconcerting." With a flick of her wrist, she brought down the third disk between the Hollow and Inoue's group expanding the water into a wall. The last disk she pulled to herself coating her in water, the Hollow content to approach slowly, and Sona noted that while the other Hollows were still fighting her Peerage, they had all ceased their attacks on her.

She took a quick breath and relayed orders to her Peerage to account for the current circumstance, ending with an order to protect each other and let her deal with this. That said she raised her hand forming several powerful water bullets and stared into the eyes of the Hollow. "Ready." She told herself.

Things were shifting from bad to apocalyptic at a truly stunning pace, enemy Soul Reapers, an army of Hollows, three, no, four Vasto Lorde Hollows, an attack on his baby sister…they were going to pay for that...and last, but not least, an Archangel was doing something around here and he was in her debt…

On the bright side, Zangetsu-White was back and both of the women at his side were helping him make short work of the Adjuchas. One downside of them evolving as they had was the lack of the Gillian's sheer bulk. An assault by them would have rendered Mori less than effective with her seemingly endless kunai. So far she had stayed back hurling them with unerring accuracy at eyes, exposed joints, wherever it would cause the most harm when it exploded like a grenade. The one time some of the Adjuchas got close she pulled out a chakram with four extendable blades, dispatching her attackers with terrifying ease, hurling the weapon around her like a star of death, catching it in the middle on the handle while somehow avoiding the blades. Retracting and extending the blades as needed when she used it like a knife.

Rukia, for her part, well, it was clear she had been practicing and practicing hard. Perhaps she had been doing so ever since Aizen was defeated. Her arms and legs, often hidden by her robe, had never been weak. But they also had never been lithe and muscled like a dancer. The way she held her blade had never been quite as sure, her movements had been elegant, but now it was effortless.

She stepped inside of a claw, severed the offending appendage, and split the white mask in half in the same motion. With a short side step and a nudge of her shoulder, she sent the disintegrating body tumbling past her so she could engage another as quickly as possible. She was only covered by her violet flame which only seemed to teasingly cover her hips and chest. It was a sight he would have teased her on and enjoyed, but they're just was not enough time, nowhere close to enough time.

Ichigo moved forward in a golden flash, coming to a stop at the end of the Hollow horde, there was a heartbeat before most were cut in half, bursting into golden flame before disintegrating. He was just about to make a decision on who to support when he felt it. "Fucking hell, why?" He shouted at the tearing space. Though perhaps tearing was the wrong word, this was more controlled than that, Space opened to reveal the void as a figure stepped out.

He was humanoid in shape, with red fur on his wrists and ankles, something that struck Ichigo as familiar. He was built and muscled with powerful legs, feet with claws rather than toes, arms that were shaped in a similar way to Ichigo's own, like a swordsman. His whole body was white save for a single pattern of black stripes across his right arm. His mask was oddly shaped, it left room for visible human ears. Pieces of it around the jaw seemed to be missing, leaving a sort of hinge-like appearance. Large teeth punctuated by fangs on either end of the mouth were set in a rictus grin. Small slanted yellow eyes glowed in the eye holes, and two horns only eight or so inches in length rose up from just above the eyes.

His waist was covered by a tattered shinigami robe….and a Zanpakuto, or something that looked like one, belted at its waist. Long grey hair fell down to between its shoulder blades and the oddest thing of all, its Hollow hole, set in the middle of its chest...it looked like a thick thread had been sewn into the flesh around it and though the body, pulled taut, making the hole distend into a more oval -like shape. Almost like he had been trying to sew it closed. Ichigo felt his power as it lashed out against him. It was a great deal of power, more than most Captains, but that seemed to be normal for the Vasto Lorde, plus Ichigo knew first hand that more power did not mean you were going to win.

"Mori, Rukia," he said calmly, "Focus on the other Hollows." The petite Shinigami looked like she was going to argue, but he gave her a look and she got it. She needed to wait until all her power was back.

Mori bowed slightly and retreated, but not before whispering. "I will not be far."

The Vasto Lorde noted the two retreating and nodded its head. "Given what I can see of your forces you cannot afford to lose even one.'' His voice had an odd, English accent. "While my army is filled with cannon fodder, losses that you are inflicting upon them cannot be sustained.'' He waved his hand and many of the Menos and Gillians began to retreat, tearing space and fleeing to Hueco Mundo. "Tell me, what possessed you to pull my army here, to a place where there is so much food?"

Ichigo held his ground. "I did not pull your army here."

"Really? Then why is the air filled with the stench of Bait?"

"That was not me or my people."

"No? You have the stench of Quincy upon you, everyone I can smell has that stench upon them."

"That," Ichigo said after a moment, "Is a long story."

There was a roar like that of a dragon and the Hollow before he tilted his head. "You have an Espada….things make sense now?"

"What?"

The Hollow laughed. "It seems I have not given Tier enough credit, I thought she was too busy with consolidation to strike at me."

"What?" Ichigo said again.

"To use Quincy, Soul Reapers, other Espada, Aizen taught her well, or perhaps he is still in control."

"I have never met Tier?" At least not anywhere outside of his dreams.

The Hollow's eyes burned. "This is going to set us back…" Its glowing eyes looked around him. "Though this place is filled with enough in the way of food and recruits." Ichigo tensed. "So we will have to take it from you."

"I...did...not...bring...you...here." Ichigo snarled.

The Vasto Lorde withdrew its Zanpakuto. "You smell as if you are telling the truth and perhaps you think you are." He gestured. "But I don't believe in coincidence."

Ichigo felt a burn in his chest at that word, Coincidence...his eyes opened wide. "You did this." The Hollow blinked confused, but Ichigo was not speaking to him he spoke to the being within him. He felt the affirmative, simple and direct and he spoke the next words through his teeth. "This puts everyone I love in danger, we are going to have words over this."

Instead of an affirmative, he was simply given knowledge, it felt odd that his mind was becoming used to perfect absolute knowledge. Something that happened so fast and clean there was no opening to exploit, no shock or surprise, perfection did not allow that. He saw a path of light through the darkness, he could not see very far ahead and the path itself was winding, with small branches that if stepped upon would have the whole world fall into darkness.

He saw three branches each pertaining to what could have been, a path where Yuzu was captured and Karin was killed. A future where Ishida managed to detect and neutralize the Hollow Bait, but because of that Tier and her attempt to set up a stable kingdom in Hueco Mundo failed and their potential as allies was snuffed out. A third path showed a war, a war that sparked other wars, and a world in flames. But that was not the path he was walking. Threads, so many threads followed him, and the White God would pull on a few of them every so often, just a single weak tug was enough to set things into motion.

What he was living was events that were going to happen in one way or another, but here, in this place, a small tug had got the attention of Michael, who had sent Gabriel with a Message for him and Serafall. Because of that, she had been there when his Karin had been in danger because he was here Yuzu had awakened and that connection had allowed her to pull part of him to her defense.

Because he was here, because he had Aizen, he was able to use most of his powerful allies to protect Kaurauka and strike at a building army that was at its weakest. An Army he would have had to fight later in much more unfavorable circumstances. So many little things, his dates, his words, his small actions, all added up to a point where a few more steps on the right path could be taken.

"How do you know all this? You can't see far enough ahead to know we would fight this army."

Ichigo was shown the branching paths, which you could see all the way to the end...every single one of them ending before a monster who devoured the world.

"You can see the future of paths we did not take?"

Affirmative and he saw in every path that he did fight the army of Vasto Lorde and Hollows, only they had many more Vasto Lorde...

That all happened in his mind, there was no time spent, it just happened and was done. He was still mad, still angry that those he loved were in danger. But he understood why this had come to pass, that despite this even being orchestrated, it had been done so in a way to give him the most advantages and protect those he loved.

The Hollow moved and Ichigo responded with a defensive strike, blades clashed and there was an explosion of gold and violet.

"Now." Yuki hissed and the Death Guard moved as one, Rukia was alone for the moment and the guardians of Yuzu and Karin were distracted, it was the best shot they would have and if not, well, she would make sure she did not survive it. Better to die then...be punished for failure. She has seen the horrors Lady Aura had made. They moved as fast as possible just as most of the Menos and Gillians seemed to be retreating. "Split." She ordered.

Nel gave way before her attacker, making sure to sway to the side as air pressure created by the fist gave him much more reach than she had given him credit for at first.

Step by step she led him up and away from Karakura. "Is this the prowess of the Espada, is this all we feared?"

Many of her former comrades would have taken exception to the implication, Neliel was not one of them. She just shook her head and looked upon the Vasto Lorde like one might a child.

He made a short Sonido to reach her and struck out with a powerful kick, Nel twisted her blade to a guard, laying her arm flat against it, a heartbeat before the impact. She leaned into it and just like she expected the force behind it was immense. It launched her up like a bullet and he attempted to use Sonido to catch up and hit her again. But it did not seem to be his strong suit as he was just short of his goal. She heard a roar over the wind as dragon-like wings shot out of his back and he hurtled after her.

Nel, for her part, just let herself ride the momentum, the clouds were dark and heavy as she passed through them, soaking her quite thoroughly. Had she been mortal she might have frozen to death as she left the cloud layer and found herself under the sun's light once more.

"Good." She slowed herself and waited, the cloud below her boiled red as a Cero that looked like crimson dragon's fire blasted through it. Nel opened her mouth and inhaled the cold wet air and the flaming Cero. The torrent of energy entering her and burning at her belly. Rather than fire it back she used the other function of her Ability and diffused the blast.

Right on the heels of that attack, the Hollow flashed out of the clouds, roaring loud enough to vibrate the clouds below him. Nel waited until the last second before fleeing, staying just ahead of him. Tantalizingly out of reach, the variety and vehemence of the insults thrown at her were quite amusing. The crescendo of which involved an anatomically improbable usage of her backside and a Gilligan.

The clouds fell away and she looked far down and saw the endless blue of the ocean. Nel came to a dead stop turning, lowering her body, and gripping her sword hilt and sheath.

Humans, as she has come to understand, could be anything from amazing to worthless. Her time in this world, free of the Hunger for Souls, had given her a chance to truly try and understand this world. Humans had taught her much, their internet, their libraries, and themselves. She has fought one of them, watched him match her, felt his power, and had seen him teach that same strength to her Ichigo.

There were a lot of things you could learn by watching, by facing, and the man himself had been more than forthcoming with how he did it. She had learned right at the beginning that the way he did it would not work for her. Her body was too different, but that had not been the end. The breath took many forms, often because people could not master it one way, but were able to do so when it was molded to their strength.

Just as he had done, Nel had learned her own way to breathe and she was still creating it, a wondrous process that made her happy to be alive. Her body, perhaps because it was an Espada, or perhaps because of Ichigo, or both, had incorporated what she had made into her power itself which had some fun results she could not wait to try out on a real being.

The Hollow roared his wrath. "You unclean filth, you are no Hollow, you are nothing more than a mutt."

"I am shocked you know that word," Nel replied blandly, "But for the sake of politeness, I am Nel, the Third Espada and you are?"

"Drogon the Pure."

"Ouch," Nel said, "What made you add that title to your name?" She smirked. "I bet you got your ass kicked by one not so pure." That got him, he rushed at her, running on the air with the force of a train. She let out a breath and green fire seemed to leak from either side of her mouth. "Chivalry, From One." Green fire began to swirl behind and around her, taking the form of a knight on a horse, its sword drawn. Drogon hesitated and Nel moved. Her base from this attack was based on Iaido, a powerful draw and strike. For her, it was meant to mimic the power of a knight's sword blow on the back of a charging horse. "Palamedes." She named the attack and the two Hollows passed each other like bolts of lightning.

Drogon roared in pain as blood splashed out of a smoking slash in its side and Nel made a face of disappointment. It has been a good attack, but that armor of his was of a quality she has never faced before. So much of her attack force had to be spent cutting the armor deep that she only got a few inches of the blade into his flesh. There was a squirt of white as it regenerated followed by a molten glow as the armor did the same, leaving only a white line where it had been cut. "What was that?" He hissed. "Some bullshit Espada power?"

"No," Nel shook her head, "I learned that from a human, one who, I think, could beat you."

"Fucking Bitch!" He was on her, his swings like sledgehammers, though never quite wild, he was easy to piss off but far too experienced to let that mess him up very much. Her blade left a trail of green fire as she dodged and parried, nicking him several times enough to cut the armor, but it never left a gap long enough to take advantage. He kicked at her and she kicked back, their legs clashing and causing a shockwave powerful enough to knock both of them backward. The echo and force like a bomb going off.

Nel glanced down at her leg, noting the already forming bruise, and shivered in delight at the pain. This was the reason why she avoided battle when she could...she enjoyed its effects too much. To her amusement, Drogon's armor seemed dented inward and it was not healing, the Vasto Lorde did not seem to notice, but that was something. Slashing and Piercing damage got healed but Bludgeoning...Nel slipped her sword back into her sheath, clenching both fists as she raised them to a defensive stance.

"You," The Hollow whispered, "You dare show me such contempt?"

Nel ignored him, she had been privy to Ichigo's fight with Sona's Father and had seen how a breath could be used in an unarmed style. Thus she had created variations in her way to allow for such a thing, just in case. Drogon just stared at her, looking for the trick, the misdirection...and there was a trick.

Green fire leaked from her mouth with every exhale, and that more than anything seemed to be throwing her opponent off...after all he could not sense it. "What's the matter?" She teased. "Scared of little old me?" She paused and he did not take the bait. Shrugging, she tossed her head, letting her green hair flutter in the wind. "I suppose it's all I can expect from a coward."

He attacked and Nel blocked the jab, feeling the rough armor tear at her iron skin. His left cross hit her on the chin at the same time her fist impacted his chest. Her head snapped back, her fist ached, but she had dented his chest armor inward five inches. The pain was glorious, and she slammed her head forward fast enough to give a mortal whiplash.

Drogon copied her and their heads collided with the force of a thunderbolt. And Nel's grin only grew wider as they both fell back, losing altitude in the moment of stunned pain. Nel recovered fist and used that moment to her full advantage. "Chivalry: Form 6, Gareth." She felt the fire inside of her running down to her leg and foot as around her the green flames took the shape of a knight bringing down a two-handed axe. Her heel slammed down on his chest, the same spot where she had struck him before. Something broke and shards sliced into her foot, spraying blood around her.

Drogon's body shot down as if out of a cannon, hurtling towards the sea. Nel watched for a moment, feeling the pain and all the nice feelings it brought her. There was a reason she tried to remain controlled during combat. When holding a sword it was easy, it centered her mind. But this, brawling, with her flesh breaking upon the strongest armor she had ever faced. Well, she had never been joking when she called herself a masochist.

There was a burn from her bond mark, and it flooded her body. A white substance shot out of her wounds, hardening and falling away to reveal pale white skin. "Regeneration." She murmured. She had given it up for greater strength when she became an Arrancar...but her Master had given it back.

Nel smiled showing her teeth. "Thank you, Master." He did not answer and she could sense he was busy, but the words had been said and that was important. There was a sonic boom as she shot down after her opponent. He was just pulling to a stop when shamed into him with Form One. Unarmed it took the form of an elbow strike, though her flame still took the shape of a knight on a horse, letting it power the swing. Nel wondered if anyone could see it but her, and decided it did not matter.

The eruption of water reached nearly one hundred feet and briefly, she stood over Drogon's fallen form on the seafloor. Cero gathered into her fist, the green fire taking the shape of a knight with javelin raised for throwing. "Chivalry: Form 5, Bedivere." Her hand opened into a spear-like shape and she thrust it down towards a joint exposed by her pounding.

He got his arms in the way and her knife hand strike slammed into his arm, the shock of pure pain that ran through her body as both the armor parted and her fingers broke, delicious in its intensity. The Explosion of Cero threw her back and up, turning the seawater around her into burning steam in a pillar of white that would have cooked a normal human alive. Nel came to a stop just above the ocean surface watching as the water rushed to fill the gap. She looked down at her broken hand and with a pragmatic twist moved her fingers back into their general shape. The regeneration took over the rest, she would need to control herself in the future. It would be too easy to just luxuriate in the pain.

There was a roar so loud she could hear it from under the water which rippled and bubbled before a dark shape exploded out of the water. Drogon's arm was healing, but its armor was gone and did not seem to be coming back. The skin under it was cracked like a desert and black as the void. Little bits of white color could be seen in the cracks. To make up for her exuberance in causing herself some pain, she fell back into her old habit. Her expression was calm and aloof, all emotion or visible sign of such falling away behind that mask.

She did not say anything as the Vasto Lorde fumed. "What is that power?" She tilted her head as if to say, she had told him already. "You're lying, I refuse to accept that answer." Well, that seemed like his problem. Nel rushed him, now with a weakness to exploit, she let him strike her across the jaw just so she could dig a grip into his upper arm and tear away more of his armor, ignoring the molten edge as it now seemed to be trying to reform. Drogon howled as she tore away a chunk of his flesh and armor, wrapping his hand around her neck and squeezing and solidifying the fact that Nel was going to need some serious alone time after this battle or she would have to find a way to steal herself an Ichigo, either one worked. "Chivalry: Form 6," She forced out as the hand squeezed harder, "Gareth." Her leg flashed the fire behind her taking the form of a knight unleashing a double-headed axe in a brutal upswing. Her foot rammed into the area between his legs denting the surprisingly weak armor there, so far inwards that only her heel was outside its body.

Drogon made a sound like a squealing tire on a bus as she wrenched her broken foot out, grabbed his weakened arm, and bore down on it with the last of her breath and all her Espada strength. With his focus elsewhere, it gave in a horrendous sound of straining metal breaking bone and cries of agony. The hand released her and Nel retreated to give herself time to heal. It did the same for the Vasto Lorde, but his regen did not seem to undent his armor. Which was the whole point of breaking her body on him in the first place.

Even as her foot straightened and healed she bit her tongue, drawing some blood, and began to form a Cero. It absorbed her blood and took on the color of royal gold, Drogon could only look up as she released her. "Gran Rey Cero.'' A lightning bolt of green with enough energy to twist the fabric of space-time around it surged towards him. It lashed through and around his body like a snake coiling before it detonated with the light of a new sun. Nel shielded herself as best she could and endured the light and heat, it faded quickly as explosions tended to do, the rippling of space-time calming just as quickly as it had been disturbed. Though little cracks into the Void between worlds could be seen here and there.

Drogon had looked better, His dented armor had not been able to reflect the energy as well, the pieces she had torn off had allowed him to be hit directly by part of the blast. He was a dripping molten mess as most of his armor ran like wax, his right arm was gone, his left leg twisted beyond recognition, his wings and tail gone. But his yellow eyes glared hatred at her. "I suppose Aizen's pets would have to at least be this strong," He said, "But now it's my turn, Evolución Extrema (Extreme Evolution)."

A hurricane of wind buffeted her body and that was not counting the explosive rise in Spiritual Power. The shock wave hammered a depression in the ocean, its resulting salt spray covering Nel and anything else that happened to be miles around. A plume of steam shot out in all directions, only the shadow of something huge being visible.

There was a massive intake of breath followed by an exhale like the bellows of the world's largest blacksmith. Thick forelegs slammed down, covered in sharp, rough scales of white and grey, the main body of the thing was thicker than her height. Its height was a towering thirty feet, its length nearly eighty-five feet long. Its long serpentine neck ended in a craggy sharp snout. Huge slitted eyes burning yellow, teeth the size of her arm visible from its peeled back chops. Its wingspan was over a hundred feet, its body was covered in black, grey, and white markings as the sharp scales covered almost every patch of skin. A long tail with a large black ball like protrusion on the end swayed like a cat's tail.

"See this Espada!" Its voice caused actual pain. It was so loud, the vibrations making Nel's teeth rattle. "This is power, this is the true end of the Hollow!" Its eyes glowed molten. "A destroyer of worlds."

Nel leaned back and laughed. "Destroyer of worlds? Please, you and your kind hid from Aizen and my Master is the one who defeated him." Drogon roared in anger and Nel felt her ears bleed for a moment before the regeneration took effect. "Still," A grin so wide and so real split her face that the Vasto Lorde took a step back. "I get to fight a dragon?" Her heart was beating so fast, the excitement was going to make her stupid if she did not get a hold of it. "I have been spending weeks reading about Knights as they save damsels, rule kingdoms….and commit adultery and kill each other for stupid, mundane reasons. But the most fun part is they get to kill dragons." She drew her blade. "Now, I get to become one too."

"You, slay me?" Drogon shifted which made his whole body seem to ripple. "Does the arrogance of the Espada know no end? Your Aizen had powers that ignored physical prowess, he was born lucky, nothing more. You, his pet, his creation, you are nothing compared to me, you are Hollow who took the easy path to power. You did not work, you did not suffer, and in the end, compared to me, you are nothing."

Nel just smiled. "I think I am going to try and beat you like this, with this sword." She took a firm grip of the hilt in its sheath. Unlike when she had seen Ichigo do something like this, there was no one around who the Vasto Lorde could threaten, to make her unleash her power.

"Arrogance, I will crush that." No, it was not, Nel had an instinct, a storm unlike any other was coming and it would require strength. She, like everyone else her Master loved, would need to grow stronger, to get ready for what was to come. This was a chance to do just that, to push herself, her body, her skill, and her breath to the absolute limit. Against a being that could and would kill her if it got the chance. "Enough of this, you die, then the people with you, the hovel below them, and anyone else I can find."

Nel moved as its foreleg snapped at her, talons the size of her legs extending. She slipped in between them, running up the leg as Drogon opened its mouth and actual fire spewed out. That was not something she could eat. She tensed her legs. "Chivalry: Form One, Palamedes." It felt like fire flowing through her veins, the speed of Sonido mixing with her breath, her legs, her feet, creating a movement faster than anything she had tried before. The True Form One, was a draw and strike, using the draw itself to create more power for the strike. Emerald Fire took shape around her, a green horse and a greener knight, a curved Arabian blade, its user letting the horse empower the strike.

Nel outran the flames, her blade striking at the crease between Dragon's massive arm and larger body. The sound of screaming metal filled her ears, as the blade bit almost six inches past the armor, but she did not have time to see the effect as she hurled herself to the side, to avoid the tail mace. Striking at the thinnest area of the tail and leaving a scar on the scales.

That was when things got weird.

A large eye opened on the ball-like protrusion, following her movements, and the tail snaked after her in a fashion impossible for an actual tail. It was fast too, lashing out like the world's largest and fastest boxing god. Actually leaving after-images of itself. Nel focused her breathing, which heightened her strength, speed, agility, endurance, and, most importantly, her reflexes.

Drogon spun its wings sending out great blasts of air she had to avoid as well, the force strong enough that water spouts were forming in its wake. The Vasto Lorde spun faster than a creature of its size should have been able to, not quite as bound by gravity as a mortal creature might. Its neck extended by almost seventy feet as it lashed out at her, just as fast as its tail. Nel twisted and the green fire that followed her blade scored a deep scar on the scales above its jaw.

Then the Vasto Lorde did something truly impressive: it used Sonido. Its massive body vanished from sight. For a moment Nel reacted as if a normal-sized Hollow had done that and jinked to one side, only for the massive body of the beast to slam into her and remind her that this thing was huge. The sheer displacement of air from something that large moving that fast was destructive all on its own. Her whole body ached from the impact and she was knocked skipping across the top of the water like a stone, only for a bolt of hellish fire to follow after her like a ball of plasma. She managed to stop her momentum and get a knee under her, sweeping her blade in a defensive strike snarling. "Chivalry: Form Two, Lacan." The green fire took the shape of a shield in time with her strike and the bolt of fire hit her blade. For a moment it seemed like it would power through her defense, but after that moment it deflected up and over her body, detonating several hundred yards behind her. The torrent of steam that washed over her as thousands of gallons of seawater were vaporized was a welcome cover.

Staying low she ran just above the water, as several more bolts of plasma fire flashed all around her, the Vasto Lorde no doubt using his Spiritual Sense to get an idea of where she was.

Nel moved in a zigzag pattern, each bolt of fire thickening the mist around them, she moved with Sonido at the last moment, appearing above the mist and right in front of Drogon's open mouth, a bolt of fire already forming. Nel focused her breath and her Spiritual Power, shrouding her blade in that fey light. "Chivalry: Form Seven, Tristan!" Her blade strike unleashed an attack as fast as a Bala, a lesser form of Cero, faster but less powerful. This Breath stuff had shown her ways of utilizing her natural abilities as part of its Art.

The blast took the shape of a hawk leaving her sword and trailing green fire, it flashed into the open mouth and into the building ball of plasma. Nel used Sonido to escape as the twin forces detonated inside the Vasto Lorde's mouth. Its head distended for a moment as it looked like it was about to simply explode, but pieces of armor on its sides and flanks blew off and energy vented out of holes blasted out of the monster's body.

That should have been crippling, but given its size, and the fact that it was a Vasto Lorde, the damage, while nothing to sneeze at, was not crippling, not yet at least. That attack had the speed of a Bala, but it had enough power inside of it that at the point of impact it was akin to a Cero, but without the sustained damage.

Drogon roared as he took to the skies, his powerful wing beats hurling water spouts at her, around her, everywhere. Far above the sky was darkening, their clash of arms rippling out into the world, changing the weather itself. Her opponent did not seem to care as he twisted his body and Nel was forced to weave in between the water spouts, the salt spray filling her mouth and soaking her to the core. Drogon gained his height, and loomed over her, wings spread wide its mouth open. The holes in his side were healed, though the armor seemed to be regenerating a lot slower than in his human-shaped form.

Again the Vasto Lorde did not use his Cero, he did not even mix it in with his plasma fire, though Nel suspected that was what was supposed to happen with this attack. No fancy Breath was going to stop this, but Nel did not have to rely on that. It was her way of hurting him, but she was still an Espada and she did not need to match this thing's full power. Opening her mouth she drew in her power and gathered a Violet Cero to her lips, focusing its power until it was a blast only a bit wider than her shoulders.

Drogon unleashed an avalanche of near liquid plasma, akin to a volcanic eruption meant to hit her no matter how she dodged. Nel fired her Cero, the smaller concentrated beam piercing the oncoming death and leaving a hole in the attack. It hit Drogon and refracted off his scales, the blast split into hundreds of small beams that shot off it like disco ball light. But that had not been the purpose of the attack, no, Nel threw herself through that hole before it could close, feeling her skin redden from the pure heat, and shooting out of the plasma before it could close around her.

"Chivalry: Form Five, Percival." The green fire around her coalesced into her sword, taking the shape of a Unicorn's horn. Percival had been an interesting person to read about while looking for inspiration, this attack was a way to concentrate as much power as she could into a single point, while keeping accuracy high. It was an aimed thrust meant to strike at weak points, no matter how small, with maximum force.

She was not charging thus she was able to twist and out of the way of one large clawed hand and thrust her sword at a small point on Drogon's neck. The blade bit deep, driving almost a foot into the creature's body. Nel tore it out, twisting the blade to cause more damage before dodging the Vasto Lorde's extending head as it coiled, looped, and lunged for her in its snake-like manner. All the while, Nel had to watch as the wound closed. That distraction cost her, as Drogon brought his tail into the action and the wrecking ball on the tail's end slammed into her so hard her bones cracked. She hit the ocean like a bomb and had to dive down as far as she could when crimson hellfire plasma followed her wake.

This was not going well for her, even as she felt her body regenerate all that meant was she could fight longer against an opponent with so much mass, that regeneration made it almost impossible to really hurt him. She let the dark waters flow around her as the plasma burnt itself out far above. Closing her eyes she let her mind flow back to her fight, facing down that amazing human, watching his blade turn...red. "Why is the blade red, is that something important?"

"It is, more than that I will not say."

That man had learned his skill from both Mortals and Angels, she focused on that memory, watching his body, the way he took in Breath, the effort, the focus, putting that with her memories of the training he was giving to Ichigo. As she watched, absorbed and in her own time, by herself, practiced long hours of the night where she did not need to sleep, spent in the sky, moving a blade in the moonlight.

He had used his techniques to create that red blade, but he had also mentioned his blade to be one of poor quality, so the blade, the breath, the training, the focus, that all come together. What was more she had been bonded to Ichigo back then, and those wounds Vasco had inflicted had not healed for the whole fight.

"The Red Blade is a gift that only someone who understands what it means to be human can use. Do you know what it means to be human Neliel Tu Odelschwanck?"

Nel did not know that voice, a still small voice speaking in her ear, but right now she did not care. That question puzzled her because she was an Arrancar, she had never been human or at the very least did not remember being human. "I don't know." She said, bubbles of air flowing out of her mouth.

"I don't believe you, Nel." The words were fatherly, loving. "You are not one of my creations, but I have watched you ever since you became part of his life."

"Who are you?"

"Do you understand what it means to be human, I know you do."

"Do I?" Her mind ran over her new life, this new place, her time among Devils, humans, and others.

"To me, you have the most human quality of all."

"What is it?" There was no answer and Nel just lay there in the dark, what could she possibly have that would let her understand being a human? She was stronger, faster, relatively immortal unless someone offed her. She had the power to raze a nation to the ground, the strength to dominate and devour most who she wished. Yet she had done none of those things, she was not cruel and would never be. But…she went over all she had seen about humans, from the internet, from which she learned many things including that they were the horniest creatures in existence. She went over videos, tv shows, everything, and yet there was nothing. She was Ichigo's familiar and he cared about them so…so she cared about them. Just as with Pesche and Dondochakka, she had no reason to care about them. They were a weakness, but they were so much more than that, they were her companions, they had taken care of her. She cared about them, she cared about every single person her Master loved. She felt warm when looking at Inoue, felt anger and fear for Asia when the Vasto Lorde tried to kill her.

She had led this creature away from the city because she feared his destructive power if unleashed upon it...and perhaps the most important thing of all. The thing which mattered the most. "I'm in love." She said

"Love." The voice said. "Love is the most beautiful thing of all and just as humans are the best at hate, they are also the greatest at love. You love him, Neliel Tu Odelschwanck, you are human enough."

Drogon looked down, still able to feel his enemy's presence. He hovered in place, waiting, the rain beat down, as the clouds opened up. As the world protested his very presence, it was an intoxicating feeling.

"Come!" He growled, "Come and die!"

That was when the ocean turned green, water bubbled as Spiritual Power vibrated it down to the atoms, and lightning from the clouds began to strike the sea. From the depths a green figure rose, Drogon prepared himself to see the so-called Resurrection of the Espada, but was disappointed when the creature's base form came out of the water. Its back was facing him, the number 3 prominent on her bare skin. In its right hand was its blade, and its power kept rising. All the released power swirling around it like the water spouts that roared all around them.

As he watched the number 3 turned red, crimson red, and seemed to split apart, crawling across her back like flames taking a new shape, an odd symbol he had never seen before, a rose, a necklace, and a five-pointed cross held in a circle. It turned and looked up at him as the green power began to flow into it. With a flick of its wrist, it pointed at its Zanpakuto. "You're in trouble now."

Its voice was light as if a weight had been lifted. "What?" He growled back.

"You're in trouble because I just realized something important."

"That you are weak and pathetic?"

"Nope." Her voice was almost childlike. "I'm in love, really truly, in love." She laughed. "And that makes me human enough."

Its blade turned crimson red as it moved, there was a lance of agony in his right side as the Espada struck at the part of him where his armor was broken. He did not even bother to growl at the pointless nature of the attack, letting his head extend like a snake and chase her, but something was different, about how it moved. It was not faster, it was not slower, it was just more simple, more elegant, avoiding his mighty tail and snapping jaws as if it was reading the future.

As Drogon pulled its head and tailback he realized something, his body was trying to regenerate, he could feel the slight drain on his power. But nothing was happening, if anything the lance of agony was growing slowly.

"What is this?" Drogon breathed. "What have you done?

The Espada did not answer, It just looked at him and smiled before pointing its blade at him. "So be it," Drogon growled.

Her whole body was on fire, the world looked different, her lungs were heaving as air and power flowed throughout her body. She could see Drogon, see through his scales, she could see his organs spread throughout its body. They were larger of course but situated behind layers of muscles and his scales. There was also the damage, her little stunt with his fire and her cero. Its throat was having trouble healing, its constant fire blasts were suppressing its regeneration. Also, its lungs were hit, those had a lot more trouble healing, a Hollow's regeneration came with a weakness. The brain, the heart, the lungs, those important organs did not regenerate at anywhere near the rate of everything else. Damage them hard enough and they would fail. If they failed, a Hollow would die. It was why the organs in Drogon were relatively small, far more efficient than others of his kind. It was why they were so protected, it should have been invincible to other Hollows, it should have taken all her power to have a chance at landing a killing blow.

But there was a new weakness, far rarer among Hollows…the ability to cancel that healing. Nel shot down, her crimson blade held in both hands. The world was slower, Drogon was slower, though, to be fair, she was not moving any faster. She weaved between a flurry of plasma bolts, a trail of green fire following her movement.

As she closed the distance, Drogon's head and tail extended and came at her as its mighty body turned, wings sending dozens of water spouts everywhere. Nel's human-size worked to her advantage, she had the raw power to ignore the suction of the water spouts, the speed to avoid the gnashing teeth and swinging tail. Lastly, she could see and react, whatever was going on with her eyes working around her, behind her head, outside of her normal range. Not quite sight, per se, but a perception she had never experienced.

It was a new world of possibility as she slid by the striking maw and put a long slash through its exposed neck. It was still hard, still tough, but the crimson blade sliced through it with greater ease than before. Drogon roared, its neck-snapping away and retracting, a large wound dripping blood, visible and open. Nel swept her blade in a defensive strike, the green fire forming a shield the angle perfect to deflect the mace-like end of its tail.

The pain of the impact ran through her arms and chest, but she used it, letting the kinetic force push her into a spin and coming down on Drogon's scaled wing, cutting a huge gash in it, making it billow like a sail. She then danced under its biting jaw and between its plasma fire. "Chivalry: Form Six, Gareth.'' The fire formed into a two-handed axe as she used her demigod-level strength to cut open a foot-deep gash across the Vasto Lorde's belly. Blood fell from it in a fountain and Drogon curled inward in a protective gesture. "Chivalry: Form Ten, Gawain." She Breathed. It was kind of funny actually, Gawain had been a dragon slayer in his myth and the inspiration for this form had been based on that myth. For her, it was a series of attacks aimed at the neck, belly, and groin, for her a symbolization of striking at the neck, belly, and wings of a dragon. "Revision." She whispered before using Sonido and appearing in front of the creature's mighty maw. Or rather on top of it, her feet landing on the snout, its large Hollow eyes going crossed to focus on her. Her blade came down in a flurry, three blows in the space of a heartbeat. Both of its eyes burst and the final strike cut deep into its nose, she hurled herself off of it as it went berserk. Its scales changed color, the scales went molten, its wings went wild, a Cero of incredible size seemed to be sucked into its maw.

The world was screaming, hundreds of waterspouts were tearing their way through the sea, to her surprise, it swallowed the Cero, and Nel could see the energy flowing and breaking apart inside of it, each scale leeching off a portion of its power. Her mind ran through what that could mean and came to one solution. "Chivalry: Form Twelve, Galahad." She stood still and sucked in a breath, the fire gathered around her, the green flame a flickering inferno.

With a roar to break the heavens, and actually tearing holes open to the Void between worlds, Drogon detonated. Each scale became of projectile powerful enough to break a city, they exploded in all directions and many came for her. Nel let it all fall away, sinking into a state of focus. There was a purity to it as her blade moved and it seemed as if the green fire devoured the attacks even if it was just her deflecting them. Around her was a Zone as pure as Galahad, where no enemy could cross unfought.

Nel felt something like exhaustion start to creep into her body, the Breath was incredible, but the crimson blade and the see-through world were draining her. Perhaps because it had been made for humans there was a cost to a Creature of Power like herself. That or she just was not good at it yet.

Drogon looked naked without his scales as the Void opened wider for him to flee. "Chivalry:" The green fire flashed back into and around her body. Her green hair seemed to dance like flame itself. "Form Thirteen," She set her stance, a low runner's start, blade held out like a lance. Inside her the fire flowed to every part of her body making it glow green. The flame reached the Crimson blade and became red. She reached for Ichigo's power and the new golden light of Getsuga Tenshou joined the mix, the colors mixing together into an olive color. Her whole body tensed as she focused all her might, her will, her Breath, her Power into this single strike. When she moved it was to an explosion of fire so loud that Drogon's blind face turned to the source, even as its body fled. Nel was like a green meteor, the fire taking the shape of a knight on a horse, its deadly lance lowered, perhaps her most favorite image of all. Drogon let out a sound of terror as its instincts screamed a warning.

That warning was a second too late, no sound came out, there was a hole in his chest large enough to split him into four pieces. "Lancelot." Nel finished, sheathing her blade. The Vasto Lorde exploded in a ball of green radiance as Drogon's very power caught fire and was consumed.

Nel looked up at the light and then fell onto her back smashing into the sea to just let herself float for a while. "One down." She whispered. "I got him, Master"

Hope you all enjoyed it.

A lot of people noted that Aizen has little reason to use what Ichigo told him to mess with his….friend and they are right. Aizen is making so much progress, before this he only knew what a friend was in the sense that he read it in books. He is doing so well, any psychologist he did not send running away screaming would be so proud.

Comments of the Week

Rage Generator

Gmachine3825

Awesome chapter and I can't wait to see where this goes. One note though I don't know how relevant it is. In terms of vasto lorde power I think you're making them out to be slightly stronger than they are. Don't get me wrong they are insanely powerful but the two Lordes we saw were outliers. Barragan especially was not just a vasto lorde but THE vasto lorde, the first to ever achieve the power. And ulquiorra was openly stated to be an extreme outlier. Granted I don't know much about tier but I don't think she was a VL. The scientist arrancar was also one and he was a jobber to show Kurotsuchis power and was lower ranked than a former adjuchas.

I did not know that about Barragan, neat, still I have decided to make use of them so they have been altered to suit my story. Still thanks for the info.

Guest

Any chance of Soifon in Ichigo's harem? I think it would be funny to see Soifon fall in love with Ichigo while trying to "protect" Yoruichi from him.

I don't think so, sorry, I just don't see it in the context of this story

Naga Druid

The fight is excellent and hey, Gabriel-chan is here! Now she can meet her new dad! ...heh, that is going to cause ... fascinating issues.

You know, I never thought it quite like that but…Well Ichigo is not the new God so he is more like….hmm would is he. A vessel of her dad, an adopted son? I am not sure.

Omake

Zathol

OMAKE!

"Brother, HELP ME!"

WOOSH!

Yuzu opened her eyes only to see...Her brother sitting on top of a white version of...himself?

"Big brother?"

"I'm here little sister." / "Neigh"(translation: Let's kill these fuckers for hurting our sister!)" Said both her brother and the white version.

Big brother, why are...you riding a white you?

"He's my horse."

"Neigh" (Translation: I'm the horse. I tried a job change but got rejected.)

"...My brother is so cool!" Her eyes sparkled despite the pain in her legs. 'My brother came in on a white steed! and because he didn't have a real horse he made one of himself with his ghost devil powers. Wow devils can really do some amazing things with their powers of imagination...why didn't he just imagine a white horse though...Oh! I know! Because even a horse isn't as cool as her brother! Kyaaaa! So cool!'

Both Ichigo's puffed up their chests. Yeah, they were cool. Getsuga Tensho cool.

They all hear a distant scream of annoyance that sounded like it came from their sister, Karin.

Karin a distance away felt her sister fall a bit deeper into her brocon feelings...least she knew she was most likely safe and most likely rescued by her brother. Well at least she was rescued by an angel! ...this angel hasn't met her brother yet either...she should probably prepare herself for a angel sister in law as well. she sighed ignoring the look from the angel. Goodbye normal life.

END!

Omake of the Week

Rage Generator

Ichigo: /Shit, things are getting bad fast. What can I do? Who would know what to do? Urahara? Too far away and he may not be prepared for this. Damn it, if only I had a master strategist in my pocket… wait. I do have one!/

*Bring! Bring!... Bring! Bring!...*

*Kat-cha!*

Aizen: "Moshi-Mosh, Aizen-desu."

Ichigo: "Aizen, I've got a bad situation here and I need your help."

Aizen: "Well, I'd like to help, Ichigo, but my hands are literally tied right now."

*Ichigo smash!*

Aizen: "…or not. It's good to be able to flex my fingers again. Alright, Ichigo, what have you got for me?"

[Ichigo reveals an entirely new side to the supernatural and explains his understanding of the interactions between Devil power and Reiatsu. Incidentally, when recounting the events that led to this situation, gives evidence that strongly suggests that Soul Society has betrayed him]

Aizen: "Looser bindings and entirely new species, powers and interactions to consider. How did you know it was my birthday?"

Ichigo: "It's your birthday?"

Aizen: "No. Only nobles really have birthdays in Soul Society and I was not a noble. Everyone else is usually too busy surviving to remember what date their souls entered Soul Society."

Ichigo: "…oh"

Aizen: "Back to the issue at hand, let's see how you can get out of this… difficult dilemma."

…

Ichigo: "Thanks for the help, Aizen!"

Aizen: "Thank you for giving me something new to think about. Let me know how it goes."

Ichigo: "Sure"

[Ichigo hangs up]

Aizen: "…Alienating their greatest asset like this... I knew Soul Society's – or more accurately, Central 46's – incompetence would let me escape in a short time, but this exceeded even my greatest expectations. I set a very low standard, and yet they still failed to achieve it. Maybe I shouldn't have killed them off – if they had been in charge Soul Society during the war, I would've beaten them easily. But then again, winning that war wasn't the main objective. I'll need to account for some of these new variables, but so far… It's all according to keikaku."