Disclaimer: Bambietta Basterbine and all related characters belong to Shueisha.

Bambietta Basterbine was alive once more, yes, but not entirely well. Once she had been a confident young lady, proud to a fault, willing to throw herself into battle at a moment's notice. Now, however, she was staying out of the fight, leaving it to the shinigami who had brought her back to true life.

"As Nodt would find this hilarious."

Thoughts of Sternritter F in the back of her mind, Bambietta began to stand at last. Her Wandenreich uniform was in complete disarray, damaged and torn thanks to the previous battles. To Bambietta that was entirely unacceptable, not to mention just a tad bit embarrassing. She looked around her and took notice of the deceased and departed, cringing at the thought of what she was about to do.

"Eww."

Crouching down, Bambietta grabbed hold of one of the deceased shinigami, taking notice of how their body was beginning to fade away, the unmoving figure's spirit dissipating back into the cycle of death and life. Bambietta knew her facts well enough, that it was a slow process but she could not wait for it to complete. To the sternritter in question it was unsightly for her to parade about in her current state of undress.

"I'm so-" Bambietta stopped herself as she lugged the corpse into one of the nearby barracks, questioning why exactly she had even begun to say what she had. She had never been one prone for apologizing, even when deep down she knew she needed to, and to apologize to one who had been her enemy? To one who was no longer alive to even hear it? To the Bambietta Basterbine that had arisen within the Soul Society through the shadows of the Wandenreich only a short while ago it would have been unimaginable.

However much had changed in such a short amount of time. Now Bambietta was staring at the face of the dearly departed shinigami, taking note of the look of abject horror that was permanently etched onto the woman's face. Bambietta's own was dispassionate and unmoving, but while her eyes did not waver, her heart and soul did. She herself had been exactly as this woman was just minutes ago, a corpse with no future to speak of.

"I am sorry." An exasperated sigh slipping out from between her lips, Bambietta began to take from the dead shinigami her uniform, slipping the black garb over her own tattered uniform. The Quincy tightened the white belt around her waist, completing the outfit. Bambietta then slipped her hands underneath her long hair, directly above the back of her neck, and gently lifted the long locks from out of the kimono. The mop of disheveled hair fell down upon Bambietta's back, her 'transformation' complete.

She looked down at herself now, trying to rationalize how she could ever dress as one she had considered a blood sworn enemy. That was when she noticed it, the red stains that were practically engraved into the shinigami's uniform. Bambietta's eyes widened for a moment, her hands trembling. They came up to her mouth then, as if she was fighting the urge to vomit in disgust.

"Calm down. Calm down..."

The quincy spoke to herself then, in ragged bursts as she slowly regained her composure. She looked down at the battered and broken shinigami, the woman left in only her undergarments now, and Bambietta knew she could not allow her to be left like this, dead or alive. She took a quick inventory of what the barracks had to offer and noticed a row of medical blankets and tarps lining the far wall. She took one then, draping the cloth over the dead. Bambietta felt a trace amount of hesitation as the blanket began to cover the shinigami's face but she saw it through until the end.

"Why the hell should I care?"

Bambietta had killed before. Hollows, shinigami, and even quincy. Her blade, her arrows, the Explode, they had all touched so many shinigami in the recent battles. Why then was she feeling guilt now of all times? This one was not even one of her own victims! The internal questions began to wear at Bambietta's mind, sparking the flame of her temper. Her eyes narrowed as her lips curled back, a slight smile forming.

The thought of finding an unwilling subject, to destroy him or her on the spot, began to play across the mind's eye of the quincy. Yes, a little violence would make her feel all the better.

Then did the smile suddenly drop into a frown of sorts, Bambietta's eyes closing. "What the hell am I?"

Bambietta stepped out from the barracks, walking slowly as she came back out into the light. Despite the ever-present sun of the Soul Society, she felt as if she was wrapped in the darkness still. She had found salvation in Yhwach's cloak when she had been just a child so long ago. She had lived the majority of her life in the shadows of the Soul Society, hidden away within the realm that Yhwach had crafted for his brethren. Thus did Bambietta have to wonder if that was all there was to her life, the corruptive shield that was the darkness.

"I can't fight. I won't fight." Her voice was nothing but a whisper. "But I'm still willing to find pleasure in killing?"

Bambietta found herself back where she had started, surrounded by the death and destruction that the war had wrought.

"I am so fucked up."

Her shoulders sagging, Bambietta looked towards the shinigami who had assembled to invade Yhwach's newfound territory, the other remnants of the sternritter by their sides. They were all slowly pouring into a building, one Bambietta recalled was a Twelth Division laboratory from the layout of the Soul Society she had studied days ago. She knew that she should join them, that she would have done so without hesitation in her quest for battle, for the escape granted by violence, but that Bambietta had died what felt like a lifetime ago.

"You!"

Bambietta's gaze fell upon the back of Giselle Gewelle. She was unaware and unguarded. It would have been the perfect chance to strike down the one who had betrayed her trust. One usage of the Explode and revenge would be Bambietta's to own and cherish. She hesitated however, remembering her conversation with Momo Hinamori. Bambietta forced her gaze away from the others and began to walk off.

"Fight his Majes- fight that bastard or fight no one," she whispered underneath her breath. "It's as simple as that."

Collapsing onto a pile of debris, Bambietta leaned forward and let her head hang low as her arms rested atop her knees. She could not do it, she could not fight against the traitorous god emperor that she had pledged her life to so long ago. He was a monster no doubt, but Bambietta knew she was no better. However, she also knew that was not stopping Giselle from joining alongside the shinigami.

"I just can't do this anymore. Everything I fought for, everything I am is... is..."

Bambietta's head slumped further then, her forehead very nearly touching her cloaked arms. She shut her eyes, trying to make sense of what she had become in death and life.

"Where the hell is everyone?"

Bambietta raised her head then, catching sight of a shinigami with a pair of black sunglasses. The man was running across the battlefield, yet he was still looking directly at her as he approached, his breath betraying that he was a little winded. Bambietta could see that his arms were very nearly behind his back, no doubt a sign that he was carrying something. Perhaps equipment for the Shinigami to enter the Yhwach's new home.

"Hey!" the man shouted again. "I asked you a question!"

Bambietta began to question the sense in dressing as a shinigami but she was willing to offer this man an answer nonetheless. "They're all going to take the fight to Yhwach." Bambietta nodded her head towards the laboratory, still more Shinigami entering it. "You better hurry. They're probably going to leave any second now."

"Much obliged," the man answered, just about to turn and take off in a hurry.

"What's your name?" Bambietta was unsure of why she had asked, particularly since she had just advised him to hurry. She tried to convince herself it was a case of knowning thy enemy, but she was unsure if she even had one in the shinigami anymore.

"You're kidding, right?" the man asked, his attention returning to Bambietta. "You take a hit to the head or something during all the fighting, kid? I'm the lieutenant of the Seventh Division, Tetsuzaemon Iba."

"Seventh Division?" Bambietta watched as the lieutenant turned away from her and began to head towards his allies. The disguised quincy's eyes widened in shock then as she took notice of what the shinigami was carrying on his back. It was a wolf, one who looked fairly familiar to Bambietta. The beast was unmoving, its eyes closed as if it was sleeping. Bambietta blinked a few times, stopping only as her eyes grew large with shock and realization. "Doggy?"

Tetsuzaemon turned around the, glaring at Bambietta through his shades. "What did you say?"

Bambietta stumbled on her words then, unsure of what she was truly seeing. "Why are you bringing that poor animal into battle?"

"He's not an animal!" Tetsuzaemon's voice exploded then, trace amounts of spit entering the air as a result. "You will show the proper respect to Captain Sajin Komamura!"

"Your captain?" Now Bambietta was even more confused. The coat of fur was similar to the shinigami she had initially encountered during the first invasion but it still did not make even the tiniest amount of sense to her. First he had been a hybrid of sorts, then he had confronted her during the second conquest as a complete human being, now he was a simple wolf?

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. These are trying times." The lieutenant looked ashamed for a moment. He said nothing, his gaze averting slightly. The wolf moved its head in its sleep, propping its lower jaw on Tetsuzaemon's shoulder. The lieutenant was about to speak again when suddenly the wolf yawned slightly, its nose beginning to move as it sniffed at the air. "Captain?"

Komamura's suddenly growled, his eye snapping open. The wolf stared intently at Bambietta, snarling as he did so. The beast struggled then, giving Lieutenant Iba cause for concern.

"Captain Komamura, what's gotten into you?"

Tetsuzaemon struggled with his devolved former captain but the wolf proved too much for him. He lost his grip and in turn did Komamura make his way to the ground and begin to approach Bambietta slowly, his growling growing more and more sinister.

"Captain Komamura, that's enough!" the lieutenant shouted, unsure of how much of the man was left in his superior. "Please, for my sake, for Captain-Commander Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto's sake, get ahold of yourself!"

The words seemed to tug at the wolf's heart as Komamura hesitated for a moment. The growling subsided but still did the wolf bare his fangs as he came closer and closer to Bambietta.

"What did you do to yourself, Doggy?" Bambietta asked softly.

"My captain, he..." Tetsuzaemon hesitated for a moment, his voice trailing off. "He sacrificed everything to fight the quincy. His power, his pride, his honor, his very way of life. And this is the end result."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bambietta said under her breath, her gaze directing at the wolf that had once been a man of sorts. "You threw your life away and now look at you."

The wolf got closer then, the growling returning to the low rumble it had been moments before. The sight and sound made Bambietta's skin crawl, the quincy very nearly jumping out of her borrowed shinigami clothes. Still she did her best to stand her ground.

"It's alright," Bambietta replied to the animalistic action, stretching out an open palm towards the approaching beast. Her voice lowered then once more. She should have been nervous of the wolf's approach, the former captain of the Seventh Division no doubt still remembering her on some instinctive level. She should have been, but Bambietta was unafraid nonetheless. "Would killing me help you find peace, Doggy?"

The wolf hissed a little then, the former captain's mouth full of fangs growing ever closer.

"I've died once already," Bambietta whispered still, knowing that Komamura's keen hearing would no doubt catch the low register of her voice. She glanced down with shame, trying to look the wolf in his eyes. "What's one more for the road?"

Despite her inner feelings, the quincy's arm was shaking, each and every outstretched finger trembling as Komamura came within biting distance. His fangs were completely on display now, saliva ever present on each one.

Then did the wolf's eyes suddenly stare intently into Bambietta's own dull pair. It lasted for a moment, then another and another. Then, as if on cue, did Komamura's lips move down, covering his fangs as the growling was replaced by a sudden whimper.

"What?" Bambietta was unsure of the wolf's sudden change of heart, the captain-turned-beast suddenly moving his head underneath her open palm. Bambietta could feel Komamura's fur brush against her gloved finger tips and she looked at his own eyes. The quincy began to wonder if the light within the dark eyes was born from nothing more than sympathy and sorrow.

Bambietta let the palm of her outstretched hand touch down upon Komamura's head, rubbing slightly between his ears. "I'll never understand you, Doggy. How could you do this to yourself? It's a fate worse than-" Bambietta was on the verge of saying it, a phrase that left her blood cold. "That fight left us both better off dead, didn't it?"

Komamura whimpered again, the wolf's eyes glancing away from the quincy.

Bambietta was unsure of what to make of it all. She was pretty sure animals were attuned to people's feelings, sometimes better than most actual humans were with each other, but what could Komamura have noticed that had changed his mind from attack to pity? Whatever the case was, Bambietta was not taking it well.

"Doggy, I..." Bambietta crouched down by the wolf, wrapping her arms around him. She bit down on her lower lip as she felt the wolf rest his head on her shoulder, Bambietta closing her eyes for the moment. "You deserved better, Sajin Komamura."

Tetsuzaemon Iba was left in complete confusion by the scene. He brought up one hand, scratching at his head. "Did I miss something?"

Bambietta said nothing for a moment, holding Komamura close. Then she looked at Tetsuzaemon, staring at the man with a quiet concern. "Hasn't your captain fought enough for one day? Hasn't he sacrificed enough for this war?"

Tetsuzaemon knew that the woman before him could not see his eyes, not through his sunglasses, yet still he diverted his gaze away from her. "You don't understand. The captain, he wanted..."

Bambietta felt it then, a slight exhalation from Komamura, the wolf whimpering slightly. The quincy did not know what was coming over her now, her thoughts focused solely on the opponent who had soundly defeated her in battle.

"He'll die up there if you bring him."

"I know. I just-"

Bambietta snapped then, her own anger surprising even her for a moment. "The whole point of fighting is that you don't want to die! That you'll be killed if you lose! If you throw your life away in battle, what's the point in winning?"

The disguised quincy's breath caught in her throat for a minute, realizing that, under the cloak of her deceptive uniform, she was all but yelling at a superior officer. In response she said something she never thought she would to a shinigami.

"My apologies. I spoke out of turn."

Bambietta lowered her head then, resting her chin upon Komamura's head as she glanced down at the pavement. She waited then, for the lieutenant to chastise her for speaking against a superior or worse. Perhaps he would suspect her status as a quincy thanks to her disrespectful outburst, perhaps even realizing she was the one that his captain had fought against.

Yet when Tetsuzaemon spoke it was not with either irritation or suspicion. No, what left the man's lungs then was a heavy sigh, as if he had at last understood the burden that sat atop his shoulder. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe our part in this war has already reached its conclu-"

The lieutenant's words were cut short then, several bursts of blood splattering away from his chest as he was thrown to the side by a sudden force. Bambietta watched in surprise as the shinigami crashed to the ground, Komamura growling once more.

"Target is wounded but termination is undetermined."

Bambietta recognized the voice well, its inhuman and mechanical tone a clear indication. Still did she turn to face the attacker and found herself staring at a fellow quincy.

"Sternritter K," she whispered, "BG9."

The robotic quincy stood atop the rubble that had once been a building, its right arm having formed into a gatling gun that extended well past the cloak that covered its frame. Bambietta had never been quite sure how a purely mechanical being had become a quincy but she had never been one to question Yhwach's methods or madness. She had more than enough of the latter on her own.

Now, however, that question was nipping at her thoughts once more. BG9 had always been nothing more than a series of questions for any other quincy, Berenice Gabrielli especially.

The machine's armored head turned to face Bambietta then, its voice the same as before. "Sternritter E, Bambietta Basterbine. It appears that the reports of your demise were greatly exaggerated. Just as my own were." The machine then turned its view towards the laboratory that the shinigami and few quincy had entered. "Come. We must prevent any intrusion upon the sacred land that His Majesty has claimed as his own. I will not fail the sole justification for the sparing of my existence."

Bambietta said nothing then, her thoughts dwelling on vague memories. She could have sworn that she had heard Giselle and the others speak of BG9, how it had been captured and destroyed by Yhwach and Haschwalth for falling in battle. However, Bambietta's memories from her undead state were a foggy and untrustworthy thing. Now she was especially believing that.

BG9 turned to face her again, an eye glowing within its mask. "Did I not make myself clear, Sternritter E?"

"I'm done fighting. I can't do it anymore."

"Unfortunate." BG9 turned its full attentions on Bambietta, raising the gatling gun towards her. "Then your services are no longer required."

"Bakudo number one, Sai!"

BG9's upper limbs suddenly twisted behind its back, the gatling gun's bullets tearing into the debris underneath the machine's feet. The sternritter collapsed then, the precarious ground beneath it giving way.

Bambietta watched as her fellow quincy fell out of view, her gaze shifting to the side. She saw Tetsuzaemon Iba then. The shinigami was standing unsteady, one hand at his bleeding chest while the other was pointed outwards.

"You're a quincy, aren't you?" the lieutenant asked with a hint of anger buried in his voice. "Well isn't that just great?"

Then did the shinigami collapse, leaving Bambietta unsure of why he had bothered to save her. She was about to approach him, to make sure he was okay, to ask him what he had been trying to accomplish, but it was not to be.

"Foolish shinigami." BG9 burst forth from the rubble, landing beside the wounded lieutenant. "Twice has your kind made a mockery of me today but it ends now."

Bambietta began to move then, intent on returning the unexpected favor that the shinigami had just granted her. The Explode began to come to life, her schrift at the ready. Then, quite suddenly, did she hesitate.

One face, then another and another, played across her eyes. She recognized them not by name but by the manner in which they had died. In the manner in which she had killed them. Each image split down the middle, revealing one after another until BG9's mechanical visage was left. Man or machine, he was a Quincy and Bambietta hesitated at killing another.

"I can't..."

"Threat level minimal," BG9 said with an uncertain ease as it cast its gaze away from Bambietta. "Returning to termination, then will the future targets be dealt with accordingly as per His Majesty's designs."

Bambietta cursed her helplessness. Her body ached for battle, her thoughts yearned for it, but her shattered heart, beating as it was, held them both back. However, another would not be restrained so.

With a snarl that ascended into a howl, Komamura ran forward, his legs taking him away from the hesitant Bambietta and towards his own endangered lieutenant. He leapt for BG9, the robotic quincy turning quickly to face its latest attacker.

"Doggy, no!" Bambietta screamed, knowing that a mere wolf had no chance against a sternritter. She pulled back her outstretched hand then, her teeth gritting tightly. "Why do you keep throwing your life away?"

BG9's free hand swung out rapidly, its fingers locking tightly around the throat of Komamura in midair. The wolf's attack was stopped instantly, the captain-turned-animal growling and whimpering in protest, waving his forelimbs and hind legs in protest.

"Threat nonexistent." BG9 tightened its grip, fully intent on snapping Komamura's neck before returning to the downed Shinigami. "Resistance is meaningless."

"Stop it," Bambietta pleaded, her lips trembling. "Stop throwing your lives away like they mean nothing! Fight! You have to fight to live!"

Bambietta's voice was cracking, her emotional state continuing to unravel. She could see the life slipping away from the wolf's body, yet then she heard a voice from a time long since passed moving throughout her mind and memories.

"There are only two kinds of fights that matter. Those where you fight to protect yourself and those where you fight to protect others. Any other reason to fight would be uncivilized."

"Poppa, I..." Bambietta's face went blank as she stared at the dying Komamura, the memories continuing to assault her.

"The fundamental difference between them is that in the first case you must fight to live. If you die, it was all for nothing. But in the second, your life is secondary in importance compared to those you are protecting."

It hit Bambietta Basterbine then, what her parents had tried so hard to etch into her soul when she was so very young. She had grown to understand his lessons, but only to an extent. The darkness had touched her, corrupted her, and in turn corrupted his teachings. She had fought to live, fought to survive, fought only for herself.

A slight wind moved past Bambietta as she stared wide-eyed in a trance, her life collapsing and rebuilding in an instant. Then and only then did Bambietta's eyes narrow, her face slipping into a determined scowl.

"I... I will..." The Quincy's fingers curled into the palms of her hands, shaking as they did so. "I will fight. Not for myself, but for..."

BG9 could hear the ranting of Sternritter E and in response did the machine glance at her slightly, all the while keeping a tight grip on Komamura's collapsing windpipe. "What's this?"

Bambietta knew it, understood it, but she could not bring herself to truly say it. Not yet. Her fighting spirit had been roused, her stubbornness finally at the forefront of her emotions once again.

"I, Bambietta Basterbine of the quincy, have no one in this world to fight for but me and me alone!"

Without any further hesitation, Bambietta focused her very being on BG9's gatling gun, her power infecting the weapon. The Explode did as it was instructed, causing the malicious weapon to burst apart, its remains clattering to the ground below.

"Analyzing..."

Bambietta did not give Sternritter K a moment to even fully react. She quickly called upon the energy around her, drawing on the very spiritual make up of the Soul Society itself. The particles gathered beneath her feet and, with a step of the hirenkyaku technique, she was gone. However, it was not for long, as she appeared in the next instant before BG9, pulling Komamura free from his loosened grip, the surprise of the Explode having been responsible. Another flash then and she was reaching for Tetsuzaemon.

"Analyze this!" Bambietta said, raising up one middle finger towards BG9.

Then she grabbed the shinigami, vanishing with him and leaving BG9 by itself.

"Bambietta," the quincy hissed, its voice ringing with a hollow irritation.

The situation was grim, Momo Hinamori knew that much. The trip to the the palace of the Soul King was not going as smoothly as she had hoped, a scary prospect, since it was being orchestrated by the efforts of both Kisuke Urahara and Captain Kurotsuchi.

"I hope everything will be all right," Momo said softly to herself, the lieutenant worried for both the realms of the living and the dead as well as the one person she cherished most. She had not seen Toshiro Hitsugaya since the second invasion had begun, leaving her to hope that he was not among the casualties.

"Hey there, Momo! Long time no see!"

Directly in front of Momo appeared a woman dressed as a shinigami, one who gently laid down Lieutenant Iba and a wolf. Both appeared to be worse for wear, their breathing pained and ragged in its execution.

"You, you're the quincy," Momo whispered, staring at the familiar face. "What did you do?"

"Got attacked by Sternritter K. Doggy and Shades here got hurt. Heal them up and get to the Yhwach. I'll hold the sternritter off. Okay? Great! Thanks! Bye!"

Then did Bambietta disappear in a flash once more, leaving Momo to shake her head in disbelief. "I thought you said you couldn't fight?"

The corners of her lips tugging upwards slightly, Momo knelt down beside Lieutenant Iba and the wolf and began to call upon the power of a healing kido. Her hands began to glow green, the light illuminating both the man and beast, alleviating any discomfort they felt.

Meanwhile, across the room, the three remaining Quincy were staring at space where the scene had just transpired.

"That shinigami," Bazz-B said under his breath.

"She was so damn bitchy," Liltotto added on.

"I don't know," Giselle finished. "I thought she was kind of cute."