Chapter 68

Tensión III – The Finale

Aaron stopped in his tracks. He then whirled around, staring off at nothing in particular. His odd behavior garnered Hiyori's scorn.

"Are we going or not?" she spat. "In case you've forgotten, your sister needs our help."

"You…don't feel that?"

"Feel what? What are you whining about now?"

For a moment, Aaron could have sworn he felt Sasune's energy disappear.

No. For as dumb as he is, hewouldn't be taken out. He'd never lower his guard enough for that.

Aaron shook both his head and the vile thought out of his mind.

"Oy, mutt. Quit spacing out already."

"Ow!"

Hiyori kicked him in his rear end, making his eyes water. He got another dose of pain when Nel Tu began laughing directly into his ear.

"If yous scared, Aawon, Nel will protect you!" she proclaimed with pride, patting her chest.

Aaron gave her enthusiasm a frail laugh. "Is that right?"

"Just stay here already…"

Hiyori's random comment threw him for a loop. "Come again?"

She sighed, adding, "You're still hurt from getting you ass kicked by that last punk. I'll go ahead and see if I can track down your sister. Why don't you say here and lick your wounds or something?"

"No," said Aaron at once. Hiyori rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm serious! Look, it's bad enough we're split up from the others. I don't wanna make it seem like I'm having you guys do all the dirty work. She's my sister. Let's go already. We're wasting time."

He moved ahead without confirmation. Watching him go, Hiyori clicked her tongue.

"…Wasn't I just saying that, idiot? God, he's annoying sometimes."

Of course, her ire didn't stop her from smirking slightly.

#

"Aa-aaaaaa-ah! Uryuu! What a pinch!" cried Pesche Guatiche. He fell to his knees and began freaking out. "I should've know someone so weak wouldn't stand a chance! Why couldn't I have followed that Aaron guy instead?"

There wasn't little doubt in his mind Sasune was no longer among the world of the living. Loly's Cero had reduced him to ash. That led him to quickly and carefully look all around. Maybe Sasune was done for, but he still had a chance to escape. Nodding, he would just have to slip away while no one paid him any mind.

"And where do you think you're going?"

That plan went out the window when Menoly Malia barred his path. Her furious expression not only made him shriek but informed him she meant business.

"H-Hey!" Menoly cried when he began running for his life. "Get back here, you freaky bug…thing!"

"Well…that looks interesting. Think I'll stay over here. Ow…"

Sasune wasn't as dead as Pesche thought, although he certainly felt like it. Coughing, he shoved some rubble and dust off of himself before slowly climbing to his feet. He thought it a miracle he managed to deflect most of the Cero at the last moment.

"Yeesh. I like upping the tension as much as anyone, but I kinda cut it close there. Not to mention…"

Grabbing at his aching left leg, he saw he hadn't come out completely unscathed.

"Great. Time to play the 'sprained or broken' game. …Why is that idiot playing around with that chick at a time like this?" he wondered while watching a screaming Pesche flee from Menoly like a headless chicken. He had half a mind to shoot his Arrancar acquaintance.

"Why won't you die already?!"

Of course, he remembered he had bigger fish to fry when Loly Aivirre launched one of her lengthy arms at him yet again. He rolled out of the way, ignoring her limb erroding a huge hole into the wall. Instead, he winced and squeezed down on his leg again.

And the winner is…sprained, I think.

"Oh? You've gotten slower," noted Loly. She smiled and added, "I guess your shitty luck had to run out at some point."

"Why are the pretty ones always so crazy?" Sasune said under his breath. "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Is there any way we could—"

"Drop dead!"

Sasune took Loly's reply as a hard 'no' when she whipped both of her arms at him in a furious chorus. He backpedaled, feeling each blow came closer than the last.

"A little help here, Pesche?!"

"Kind of busy, Uryuu!"

Pesche tripped onto his mask but manage to spring back up right as Menoly brought her fist down for the kill.

"Huh? What are you doing? Just use that Infinite Slick of yours!" Sasune suggested.

"…The who and what now?"

"T-The Infinite Slick! You know, that nasty crap you shoot from your mouth!"

Pesche looked even more dumbfounded than the Quincy. "N-Now isn't the time to talk nonsense, Uryuu! I could use some actual help here!"

"I'm the one who needs help, you bastard!" an exasperated Sasune hollered. "Infinite Slick! You were slinging it around earlier like it was going out of style!"

Suddenly, Pesche snapped his fingers. "Are you perhaps talking about my patented Infinite Slick?"

"…"

"An excellent idea! I'm glad I thought of it!"

"…I'll shoot you. I swear to God I'll do it!"

Pesche stopped on a dime, alarming Menoly. She braced herself when he took an offensive pose. However, she raised an eyebrow when nothing happened.

"W-We may have a problem, Uryuu," said Pesche. He let out another scream when a vengeful Menoly aimed a kick at his head in hopes of decapitating him. Scrambling behind a pillar, he noted, "I believe I have run out of Infinite Slick!"

"…You can run out? How in the hell is it 'Infinite' then, you imbecile?!" cried Sasune, who really did want to strangle Pesche. Loly apparently wanted to do the same to him given she launched one of her tentacles at him like a spear. It moved just as fast, though his burst of Hirenkyaku was a hair quicker. "…Yikes."

He wasn't as swift as he had hoped. Hurriedly tearing off one of his sleeves, he tossed it to the floor and watched as Loly's poison ate away at it. It was a grim reminder of how close he had come to biting the big one.

"Finally done running?" his satisfied opponent asked upon noticing his chest heaving up and down. "This isn't even fun anymore. Hurry up and die already."

"Honestly, that doesn't sound so bad…"

Not that he expected anything from Pesche Guatiche in the first place, but Sasune growled upon realizing he really was on his own against a maniacal Arrancar.

"Quit…running…y-you bug…freak!"

Menoly too gasped for air, clasping her hands on her knees. Covered in sweat, she groaned and no longer had any urge to chase Pesche around.

"How in the heck is he faster than my Sonído?!"

Sasune couldn't help but wonder too. He doubted it was a coincidence.

That Pesche guy, he's—

"Got you!"

Loly really thought she had when she turned both of her tentacles on him. However, she got quite the shock when the Quincy blocked with a glowing, red sword. He swung his Seele Schneider for the fences and managed to shoved his foe back.

"Huh? A sword…?" she uttered.

"I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use this." Sasune twirled his blade around his finger, curling his lips. "Especially since I stole it from that man. Oh, well. Desperate times call for yadda yadda."

"Are you a Shinigami after all?"

Sasune sighed. "Yep, I knew you'd say that. Look, I'm gonna spare you all the exposition and supposed dramatic build up and just tell you that this is an arrow. I'm a Quincy. We don't use tacky swords."

"Am I supposed to care? You still look like some two-bit Shinigami to me."

"…"

In an instant, Sasune loaded his blade into his bow and fired. The swiftness of the attack caught Loly off guard. She only barely managed to deflect it.

"What…?"

She wasn't sure she actually did once she got a load of something seeping out of the cut the Seele Schneider made. It took her only moments to realize it was her energy. Without thinking, she jumped back to a safe distance.

"Now who's running?" said Sasune with a toothy grin. "I'd watch your step if I were you, little lady."

Loly took heed of a silver tube laying at her feet.

What is that?! When did he even put that there?!

"A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed! Gritz!"

Sasune thought himself rusty at using Quincy spells until seeing how effective his was. The silver tube shot up and in front of Loly's quivering eyes. A pentagram surrounded her and then solidified, trapping her within a metal prison.

"K-Kidou?!" her anguished voice said from inside.

"No!" Sasune slapped his hand over his face. "I'm a Quincy! Quincy! Q-U-I-N-C-Y!"

"I already said that I don't care, idiot! What in the hell is this?!"

"A prison for a naughty girl. Consider it a time out."

Loly had other ideas. The Gritz didn't hold up at all against her poison, and she burned a hole right through it. One of her tentacles raced out of it and toward Sasune.

"Seriously?!"

He was too shocked by the turn of events to react properly, hence why the limb nailed him right in the stomach and sent him rolling across the ground.

"Bastard! What in the hell is this?!"

Loly finished climbing out of the metal prison. Once she did, her mood brightened at a cringing Sasune clutching the burning patch on his stomach.

"Oh? I mean to burn right through you. What did you do?"

Sweating like a stuffed pig, Sasune thanked the heavens he managed to block most of the blow with spirit energy. He really would have had a hole in himself otherwise.

God, this hurts! I'm dead if she hits me again!

"Ugh! You're a cockroach!" Loly whined. "Do us all a favor and die already!"

Sasune, huffing and puffing, could offer no retort. The searing pain kept his mouth shut.

I need to end this already…

"Pesche! Quit screwing around and—"

Sasune saw he was wasting his breath. Even now, Pesche busied fleeing from a visibly flustered Menoly.

"God, how fast are you?!"

"You'll never claim my virginity that easily, fair maiden!"

"Oh, I am gonna rip out your heart, bug!"

"You're already breaking it with such foul language!"

"Right, no Pesche," mumbled Sasune bitterly. "Arrows don't work. Can't use Sprenger either. She'd never sit back and let me set it up."

Wincing in both pain and indecisiveness, he happened to take a peek at his Sanrei Glove.

"…Well, there's always that."

The answer to his prayers had been staring him right in the face the entire time. He laughed like an idiot and wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

Should I? If I use it now and then have to fight another of these Arrancar, I'll be a sitting duck.

After some brief deliberation, he shook his head. He would end up dead if he chose to hold back.

"Done praying to your Quincy god or whatever?" said Loly with a smirk.

"…"

"What's the matter? Nothing smart to say? No new tricks? Not going to shoot at me some more?"

"…"

"How dull. You really are irritating, but this isn't any fun if you're just going to let me kill you."

Not that Loly wouldn't relish the deed. With that in mind, she thrust both of her tentacles at him again. Gritting his teeth, Sasune held his ground, leading Pesche to grow wide-eyed.

"Uryuu! What are you doing, Uryuu?!"

Sasune, right as he would have been skewered, placed his fingers on one of the prongs on his Sanrei Glove's and snapped it.

"W-What in the…?!"

A tremendous burst of light swelled across the area. It came alongside a burst of energy, one that almost blasted Loly away.

"Are you kidding me?!" she hollered, hanging on for dear life. "Where did all this power come from?!"

A pillar of light burst upward from where Sasune stood. Once it faded, Loly felt she must have been hallucinating. Certainly, it couldn't have been the Quincy who once again stood before her. She couldn't recall giant, shimmering wings extending from his back, nor a glimmering halo hovering over his head. He held out his hand, and streaks of light darted all around it until forming a massive bow. Speechless, Loly looked around and noted feathers falling everywhere, feathers made of pure energy.

What?! His spiritual pressure…isn't it the same level as an Espada?! T-There's no way this idiot could be that strong!

The sweat drizzling down her face appeared to disagree.

"Right. So far so good." Sasune reached into his pocket and slipped on a pair of glasses. "You look a little shaken over there. Would you like me to fill you in on what's going on?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a 'yes.' We Quincy can attain a powerful transformation by breaking our Sanrei Gloves. However, it's normally a one-time thing. The user should lose all their powers once their transformation wears off. This is called Letzt Still.

"However, my Sanrei Glove is…a bit different. You see, I can 'break' mine as many times as I want, and it will never be destroyed. I have to thank Ma for that. I don't know what sort of black magic she performed on this glove, but she turned it into the ultimate Quincy weapon. This transformation is known as Vollständig."

Loly swallowed hard. Just standing near Sasune felt taxing, like his burning power would eradicate her on the spot. Though confused, she grew far more incensed.

"How?! There's no way you should have any energy left after taking a hit from my poison!"

"Yeah, you're right about that. Look again though."

Sasune pointed at one of her tentacles. When she checked there, she only found the same cut he made earlier with his Seele Schneider. However, she just about had a heart attack when she noted her energy pouring out of it and straight into Sasune's energy wings.

"Get it now?" he remarked. "This is your power I'm borrowing. You really are quite strong, you know. Maybe if you were facing my brother, you'd have won."

"M-My power?! That's impossible! How would you—"

"Vollständig is a transformation that gives me complete control of spirit particles."

"D-Dammit…!"

Loly slowly but surely found herself growing winded. Panting, she dropped to her knees and could no longer see straight.

"You see, the moment you allowed my Seele Schnider to touch you, you lost this battle, Loly Aivirre. While this has been fun, I really have to get going now."

"What was that, bastard?!"

Power or no power, Loly refused to be made a fool of. She shouted at the top of her lungs and charged toward him. So long as she still had her Resurrección, she could still win. Watching her, Sasune sighed before aiming his bow.

"It's not just your power either. Everything in Soul Society is made up of tiny spirit particles, and the same goes for here in Hueco Mundo. This entire world is under my control."

His surroundings began to break down, his power converting them into raw energy that fed into his wings. Loly swung both of her long arms at him, only to grow shocked at him vanishing on the spot. He reappeared directly above her and fired and arrow. Loly caught on to him in time and went to swat the projectile way. Instead, it hovered in place. That led her to swipe at Sasune instead. He disappeared again, but not for long, popping up all over the place. Each time he did, he left another stationary arrow.

"W-What is this?! How can he even move that quickly on that damn leg of his?!"

"Ransoutengai," a voice from behind replied. Loly turned around in a hurry but hit nothing but air again. "I can control my limbs via spirit energy even if they're shattered to dust. Wow. You Arrancar really don't know anything about Quincy do you?"

"Shut up!"

No matter where Loly whipped her head, she couldn't find Sasune. Even more alarmingly, hundreds of arrows now surrounded her. She froze, unsure of when they had even got there.

"T-This…this isn't happening!"

"I'm afraid it is." Sasune, hovering high above her, uttered, "Stark Regen."

The arrows struck in unison.

"Loly!" cried Menoly once she finally saw how dire things had gotten. "Hold on, I'll—"

"I believe you were chasing me, madam!" said Pesche, who wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Let me go, dammit! Loly!"

"You're making so much noise," noted Sasune. He squinted down at the settling smoke. "…I think all of us know it would take more than that to kill Miss Aivirre."

Indeed, the clamor of someone struggling to breathe issued from the haze. Loly's bloodied arms, which had taken the brunt of the damage, flopped onto the floor. She could no longer feel them. The fact she could stand at all astounded Sasune.

"Damn…it…!"

Wobbling around and looking on the verge of passing out, Loly manage to hang on by spite alone. The same couldn't be said for her Resurrección. It unraveled from her form and returned to its sealed state as a Zanpakutou. That didn't stop her from holding up her blade and waddling forward. Blood dripped from every inch of her, yet, she pressed forward.

"Hey, you really will die if you keep moving!" cried Sasune.

"Save it! Your stupid face has been pissing me off ever since we had the misfortune of meeting! L-Like…like I'm losing to some reject Shinigami!"

Her mind might have been willing, but her flesh wasn't. She collapsed at long last. The reality stung her, though being unable to move hurt her pride a lot more. The most she could do was snarl like a rabid dog as Sasune approached her.

"Just kill me!" she bellowed, her words clearly being a demand.

"Loly!" a charging Menoly shouted. "Hold on, I'm—"

Sasune put her rescue attempt short, firing several arrows that pinned her to a wall. She wrenched at them but couldn't free herself.

"D-Dammit!"

She wasn't sure what upset her more—Sasune stopping her with ease, or him making no attempt at her life.

"Good girl," he told her, lowering his bow. He then shifted his attention back to the fuming Loly "Kill you, you say? No thanks. That isn't really my style."

"Excuse me?!" Loly roared. She looked on as Sasune's transformation ended, and he began walking away. "Y-You can't be for real!"

"I'm afraid I am. As the victor, I can do with you whatever I want, and I have no interest in taking your life."

"What kind of moron are you?! That isn't how this is supposed to end!"

"Wow. I'd be a millionaire if I had a dollar for everyone person I beat who ends up saying that." Sasune stroked his chin before adding, "If you wanna die so badly, do it yourself after I leave. I don't really care. Like I said, I have no interest in killing you. If that really pisses you off so badly, you're free to seek me out in the future for a rematch. Until then, little lady…"

"Nice one, Uryuu! Real smooth!"

Sasune frowned at Pesche saying such a thing while hiding behind a pillar. "Yeah, you can come out now, coward."

"I call it 'strategic watching and waiting.'"

"Okay, coward. Let's just go already. We still have a princess to save."

"Not to mention finding our dear Nel!"

"Who you lost, by the way."

"Hey, you don't see me making fun of you for losing whoever it is you came here for, Uryuu!"

"My name is not Uryuu!"

The two disappeared down a corridor, still yelling at one another. The odd display left Loly that much more bitter about her defeat.

"How could such an imbecile be so strong? …It's really not fair."

#

"I didn't ask for your help! Who told you to butt in?!"

Luppi Antenor busied screeching at the air. The person walking in front of him clearly wasn't paying him any mind. Rather, Arashi hummed a sweet tune as the two trekked the expansive halls of Hueco Mundo. Given his injuries, Luppi moved at a far slower pace. Arashi either didn't notice or didn't care, striding quickly.

"I'm talking to you, woman!" Luppi roared.

Arashi stopped at long last. She faced the Sexta Espada with a wide smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, her tone sugary sweet. "Did you say something, my dear?"

"I'm not 'your dear!' What in the hell was that back there?! Did I not get your permission to engage the intruders?!"

"Oh, is that what you call what happened back there? You nearly died, Luppi."

Luppi could almost see red. Trembling in a blind fury, he held himself back from killing Arashi on the spot.

"I saved you," she continued, patting her chest. "You're welcome, by the way."

"What?!"

"I just can't stand the thought of my precious Espada dying."

Luppi grew as rigid as statue when Arashi suddenly threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly.

"Is this a game to you?!"

His declaration echoed across Las Noches. Finally, Arashi stopped smiling. She stared Luppi head on, the glint of anger in her eyes draining his own.

"Are you an Espada or not, Luppi Antenor?" she snapped.

"…What in the hell did you just say?"

"I asked you to take care of the intruders, but you couldn't even do that much. I swear, you Espada are nothing but trouble. What exactly did Sousuke Aizen see in you unruly creatures?"

That was the final straw. Something within Luppi snapped, and he drew his Zanpakutou.

"Bitch! I'll—"

Without warning, blood flew out of his mouth. He started wheezing as he gazed down at the hand piercing the center of his chest.

"Y-You!"

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez grinned like a fiend. "Yeah, me."

"W-What the hell is this?!" Luppi cried, turning to Arashi for answers.

She pointed squarely at him, stating, "I have no use for weaklings in my ranks. If you value that Sexta position so poorly, perhaps I should give it to someone far less careless."

So, he had been set up. Luppi's anger reached an all-time high. He roared at the height of his voice and managed to pry himself free from Grimmjow.

"No!" he howled, clutching his wound. "The two of you are the only ones dying here! Strangle, Trepa—"

He never got the chance to release his blade, not after Grimmjow blew him to smithereens with a massive, blue Cero. As his ashed rained down, his killer smiled that much harder.

"Now then," he said, scowling at Arashi, "I'll have my number back."

Arashi gave him a roaring round of applause. "Yes, I suppose I'm in no position to argue. You've done well, Grimmjow."

"Don't get confused, woman. I didn't do that for you."

Giggling, Arashi answered, "Of course not, Mister Sexta Espada. While I can restore your rank,I'm afraid I can do nothing about your poor arm though."

"…"

With his hand in his pocket, Grimmjow sulked off. Him doing so got a frown out of Arashi.

"I can never read that guy…"

#

Izumi's head snapped up.

"…What? They killed one of their own guys?"

She pressed her fingers against her head, assured her senses must have been playing tricks on her. After all, it made no sense for the Espada to go after one another. Then again, she would never claim to understand their motivations. It wasn't any of her business anyway. She rested her weary head back into her lap on that note.

Being the Arrancar's prisoner still scared her half to death, but she slowly began to realize she was in no immediate danger. Arashi needed her alive for some reason. The most that happened were attendants checking in on her from time to time, probably to make sure she hadn't escaped. Otherwise, she spent most of the time sitting in her room and being bored to tears. The only entertainment around, if she could even call it that, was gazing out of her barred window at the seemingly infinite night sky that hung above Las Noches.

No, she supposed she could also keep a nervous stock of the ongoing battles.

Looks like Konoka and Sasune are still alive. My brother too. I don't know how they're doing it, but…

For the briefest of moments, a flicker of hope welled up within her. She shook the idea out of her head on the double. Certainly, her friends' luck would run out at some point. She knew the Espada's overwhelming power better than anyone. Trembling, she knew it would just take Aaron or one of the others running into the wrong person and the wrong time, and then—

"Hello, Miss Pet."

Izumi opened her mouth but lacked the strength to shriek. When Nnoitra Gilga had entered her room, she couldn't say. The huge man crouched down to her, his sneering face being uncomfortably close.

"Y-You!" Izumi backed herself into a wall, though that didn't stop Nnoitra from inching closer. "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

Nnoitra paused. Then, he began laughing up a storm.

"Get a load of this one, Tesra. Trying to tell me what to do."

Izumi sensed and then spotted a figure standing in the doorway. The blonde-haired man glared at her, a look so intense that it almost stung.

"I suggest you watch your tone, human," Tesra warned. His irate tone matched his expression.

Izumi found it hard to pay him any mind with Nnoitra staring right at her. He didn't seem to need to blink.

"Can I…help you with something?"

She shuttered when Nnoitra suddenly slammed his hand dangerously close to her quivering head.

"…Guard the door, Tesra," he told his Fracción, who nodded. With that out of the way, he went back to sneering at his prey. "Don't think I've forgotten what happened earlier, Miss Pet."

"I-I had nothing to do with it! I never asked to—"

Nnoitra shut Izumi up by placing his long fingers over her mouth. She began flailing about, but he put a stop to that too by lifting her up high. The terror flooding her eyes was as sweet as honey to him. She kept taking panicked glances toward the door but only saw Tesla.

Are you kidding me?! Now that creepy Ulquiorra guy isn't anywhere around?! He was stalking me better than my own damn shadow before!

"Looking for someone?" said Nnoitra. "I'm afraid Ulquiorra ain't gonna bother us. I made sure of that."

Izumi had no clue what that meant, and her cracking nerves didn't want to. Her only concern was what Nnoitra planned to do next. Of course, she wasn't going to let him. Opening her hand, she fired a Cero that hit him square in the face. The brief flicker of joy she felt faded alongside the scarlet smoke. Nnoitra, other than now glaring, was no worse for the wear.

"…So, you think you're a Hollow, woman? Then, let's see if the inside of you is the same as us."

On the verge of tears, Izumi prepared to fire another Cero. However, she shrieked when a blast from someone else nearly blew her head off. Nnoitra glared back at Tesra.

"Did I ask you to protect me?" the Quinto Espada snapped.

"Forgive me, Master Nnoitra. I wasn't certain what else she was capable of."

"She's a woman. There ain't nothing to worry about. Besides, there ain't no being in the universe who could threaten me. Remember that."

Slightly unnerved, Tesra bowed apologetically. Izumi winced not only because Nnoitra returned his attention to her, but since he clamped down on her jaw that much harder.

"Now then, Miss Pet, where were we?"

Tesra turned his head away at the sound of ripping. Dropped to the floor, Izumi shielded the front side of her now torn outfit. It didn't take her long at all to realize what Nnoitra meant saying he wanted to see her 'insides.'

"N-No! Get back! D-Didn't that Arashi lady tell you not to—"

"Shut up." Nnoitra drove his foot into her gut, holding back enough so as not to kill her. Even so, with his strength, he sucked just about all the air out of her lungs. She couldn't fight back, which made hoisting her up by her hair a simple task. "You're a woman, right? Why don't you make yourself useful then while you're here? Believe it or not, but it's boring as shit around here. I've been ordered not to take care of the rats scurrying out there trying to save you, so I guess you'll just have to keep me company."

This couldn't be happening, Izumi thought. Her first thought was to cry out for help. Nothing issued from her dry mouth, however, nothing but whimpering as Nnoitra moved closer. His strength was too much; no matter how she pushed, shoved, and flailed, she couldn't escape.

"N-No! No!"

END