Chapter 2: Against Dragons and Gods
Taking into the sky, all of Las Noches saw the figure of Lobos, their Cero Espada, engage in battle with the gigantic red dragon that appeared from seemingly nowhere. For many of the Hollows, their presence alone had begun to crush them into the white sands. Aizen himself was incredibly confused and anxious. The Dragon had barely noticed the beings beneath it as it flew across the sky without a care, only to see a flash of light in the corner of its eye as a man moved through the air at high speed, coming right at it.
Lobos had fired a bright green cero at the enormous dragon. The sky was lit up by an explosion of a truly massive size unseen since the "Tsar Bomba" in the human world. Wind had battered the walls of Las Noches and even though they were miles away, the shockwave threw many of the weaker Hollows back. They watched as the Cero Espada stood in the air, watching the Dragon, who had come out of the explosion relatively unscathed. But the attention of the giant beast was now solely on Lobos. Thus began an aerial battle between man and Apocalyptic Dragon.
Despite the new form he had achieved. All the spiritual pressure he could muster. He was actually losing. Something he hadn't experienced in Hueco Mundo yet. The Dragon's breath of flames that superheated the air and burned everything near it to ash was bad enough. Add on its colossal claws striking at him and Lobos would admit, he was in trouble. The Dragon wasn't slow, for his size. But he remembered a lesson he learned back in life, that size doesn't make you slow. Dodging the swipes of the massive red claws and gouts of super hot flames with sonido, he began to probe the Dragon for weaknesses by firing hundreds of balas all across its body while he continued to move. But, it would do no good as the Dragon soon hit him out of the sky with a swing of its tail.
Smacked across the burning white dunes, Lobos managed to properly correct himself and get back on his feet. His body ached and despite being a spiritual entity, he felt his bones ache in protest when he remained standing. Blood was running down from his head, all the way to his chin. Taking three deep breaths, he got ready to take to the skies again and fight. He was stopped, though, upon seeing ceros and hado spells flying at the Dragon, who shrugged them off like it was nothing. The Espada had gotten their bearings and were launching attacks from atop the dome of Las Noches. This sent him into a panic, as the Espada had virtually no chance against this monster. He felt it on a deep instinctual level, that none of their powers and abilities can even scratch this beast. Taking to the sky again, he summoned his weapons.
His zanpakuto, which he had gone without naming, was brought out. Two curved dual blades of white with black grips. There was a light green vein of lightning coursing through them both. He made the Dragon flinch with a full powered flourish of his blades, hitting it right in the temple and drawing its attention back to him.
"Come on, you fat gecko.. I am not dead yet!" Shouted Lobos as he picked up speed and began to swing away at the Dragon's impossibly tough scales, moving all across its body in his pursuit to find a weakness.
It was just as futile as before though, the Dragon bellowed and had promptly sent Lobos crashing into the dunes once again. The roar had effectively knocked out any Adjuchas level Hollows in a ten mile radius as well. The Espada were all pressured to their knees and could barely form ceros any more. Aizen, Gin and Tousen were shocked as they too were pressured in place and could only helplessly watch as the Dragon faced Las Noches, a light building within its maw.
Kneeling on the molten sand below, Lobos was struggling to get up as he witnessed the Dragon, ready to destroy Las Noches with its overwhelming power. A feeling of helplessness and despair hit him. It felt familiar. The impending destruction of everything he held dear, once again. It was an old, familiar feeling that came crashing down on him.
'Hey, don't go blaming yourself for this. I chose this life.. I knew what I was getting into. I've seen so much darkness in our fucked up world. Trust me..' Hearing an old memory of his, of a woman that he felt meant the world to him.
He picked himself back up and faced the Dragon once again.
'Not any more.. No more.." Lobos' voice echoed across Hueco Mundo.
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Harribel was struggling to move as she was pressured into the top of the dome of Las Noches. She had convinced the other Espada to come with her outside to assist Lobos against the foreign beast that intruded in their world. It quickly shrugged off all of their strongest ceros and pressured them down with just its overwhelming presence. As she watched it build up some overpowering energy in its mouth, aimed at them, her thoughts went to Lobos first. The man who helped train her Fraccione, her friends. They had quickly become something like a family. For the longest time, she would find herself watching him. As if she saw something in him that resonated with her. She hoped he would at the least, live after all of their deaths. She didn't bother closing her eyes and watched as her death approach. Her last thoughts of him and the family they built over the years.
That was soon interrupted by words dripping with conviction and the sky darkening with heavy clouds hanging over the sky. A storm had begun to take form, the wind was screaming as it flew into them all at ever increasing speeds. The Espada felt another presence now, one that made itself known all over Hueco Mundo. The darker sky blotted out the moon and they saw flashes of lightning across the clouds, making their hair stand on end. The Dragon didn't register this until a lightning spear collided into its head and briefly blinded them all. The Dragon had fallen down with the deafening sound of a thunder clap.
On the scorching sands where the dragon landed, several lightning strikes had crashed into the Red Dragon repeatedly. Drawing a real roar of pain as it looked up into the sky and saw him within the depths of the storm. His appearance had totally changed. He wore an open coat that went down to his lower legs. It was dark blue and made of scales and it had a white fur collar around it. His gauntlets were clawed and connected to the coat. It too, was made of blue scales and white fur. His chest was bare and covered in pale green eel tattoos that glowed and sparked. His pants were the same black cloth and his feet were bare. The only thing different about his face was the absence of the hollow mask and his sclera were black and his eyes were glowing the same pale green. On his head were black scaled wolf ears and wyvern horns.
"Segunda Etapa.." Ulquiorra whispered as the Espada all looked to the Cero Espada with mixed reactions.
Aizen was glaring at the display with intensity. He knew the amount of Reiatsu being thrown around here was sure to attract the Shinigami. Something he wasn't ready for yet. Though he figured their involvement was better than destruction by this foreign entity that intruded upon them for whatever reason. Lobos now summoned several blades made of compressed spiritual energy and lightning while aiming down at the Dragon.
"Espada Luminosa"
He spoke and commanded the hail of lightning blades fly into the dragon, detonating like consecutive ceros across its body. It soon flew right back up to him with a few notable injuries and hit Lobos with a point-blank, super compressed fire breath that took on the form of a laser that shook a great deal of Hueco Mundo and threw the Hollow through numerous sand dunes. It began to attack Lobos closely now, both clashing with claw and blade. Lightning against fire. It tore the very skies asunder and its affects were not only felt in Hueco Mundo..
-[RD department, Soul Society]-
Two Shinigami in lab coats were rushing down the halls of the twelfth division, they both burst open the door leading to the eccentric Captain Kurosutchi's lab. Both were panting and had looks of great alarm as they gulped upon seeing the annoyed face of their Captain turn to them, mid experiment.
"I told you fools! Not to interrupt during my experiments! What is it!?" Kurosutchi barked out as Nemu waited behind him with her hands folded in front of her.
"S-Sir.. I-It's just that.. The energy and activity in Hueco Mundo…" One of them nervously tried to relay the information but the sheer nervousness stopped all of it from leaving his lips.
"Hmm..? Hueco Mundo? Something interesting is happening there? Bah.. probably just some Vasto Lordes having a dispute" The Captain waved it off.
"No, sir! Space is collapsing there… an absurd amount of Reishi is swelling in a significant area of Hueco Mundo. It'll soon break into the Human world and Soul Society if it continues!" The reporting Shinigami finished with trembling hands.
"What..?" The Captain's interest peaked. Not due to any concern about the Human world or even Soul Society.
His expression was one full of scientific curiosity, bordering on madness.
"Let me see the readings" The Captain quickly moved to the observation section of Squad Twelve and looked at the instruments that observed all three worlds.
Upon looking at Hueco Mundo's readings, his smile deepened. His interest growing as he saw an energy reading that wasn't spiritual in nature. The readings were coming from two entities he could presume were fighting a cataclysmic battle in Hueco Mundo for whatever reason. He checked more of the instruments and started to fiddle with them. Looking onto a screen, he saw two figures battling. One was a gargantuan dragon. The other was human looking. He frowned, noting the human looking one was a Hollow. He rubbed his chin and quickly flash stepped back into his lab, going through hundreds of filing cabinets that lined the room.
"Where was it…? Soul types.. Ah, here we are" He pulled out an old file folder with the name 'K. Urahara' written in the front of it. Scoffing, he opened it and began to skim the hundreds of pages within.
"The soul is too powerful for Vasto Lorde.. The kind of soul…" The Captain mutters as he stops at a page full of intricate drawings and strange writings labeled 'Epics'.
"Heroic souls..? What does morality have to do with… wait.."
He read further, about the heroes that lived long ago. The ones who didn't go to Hueco Mundo or Soul Society. They wielded weapons of legend and accomplished great feats. They wielded magic and tore apart the earth and sundered the skies with their power. Dragon slayers, Emperors, Witches, Mages, Beastmen. All legends of humanity he had disregarded as stories humans tended to make up. He still didn't believe such legends. His mind lingered on the lore of the 'heroes' mentioned by Urahara Kisuke but quickly snapped back to the individual battling the dragon in Hueco Mundo.
He needed to see this for himself, but he still had his obligations as a Squad Captain of the Gotei Thirteen. He quickly made his way over to Genryusai Yamamoto in a hurry. He needed to get the briefing over with and see this spectacle for himself before either destroyed the other or space collapsed.
Unknown to anyone though, space in Hueco Mundo was already collapsing from the amount of power colliding and clashing. The barriers that divided the worlds of Hueco Mundo, the Living World and Soul Society and all those in parallel existence to the three worlds, was thinning considerably. Cracks in space was sent out past these barriers as the wild, raging energies of lightning magic fused with spirit energy and draconic flames were blasted out into other universes. A window was created in certain areas of said universes. The windows showed an intense battle between two Sovereigns.
-[Underworld, disclosed location]-
"Is that Great Red..? Grayfia, call the other Satans. I think we may have an emergency situation on our hands" The Crimson haired Devil who was gripping the arms of the chair in his study said as his wife and Queen nodded seriously, disappearing in a flash as he watched, biting the nail of his thumb down.
"This is exactly what I needed… I'm about to have a sister today and of course this has to spring up.."
He sighed. He was going to miss the birth of his already beloved baby sister. He felt it was his duty- No, his right to be there for her birth. He totally wasn't going to be a siscon when she grew up and called him 'Onii-chan'. At his thought, he almost squealed like an overly excited teenaged girl before clearing his throat and bringing his full attention back to the window of the monstrous looking beings. He debated calling Azazel and Michael or not, since he knew he may need all the help he could get if this window was some premonition of having to deal with Great Red and that strange man fighting the dragon.
-[Laboratory room, disclosed location]-
A full group of people with varying heights and unique appearances and clothing were watching a window depicting a man fighting a colossal Dragon in size and power. With one girl in a white uniform in front. She observed the battle with confusion as the people behind her and the little white creature on her shoulder watched silently.
"Who.. is that? Do any of you know him? The Dragon..?"
The ginger asked the crowd behind her as one mature blonde woman with emerald-colored eyes, dressed in blue regal attire with silver gauntlets and greaves. She looked at the Dragon in slight familiarity but shook her head. Looking at the man, she made a slight humming noise as she turned to the girl who asked.
"Master. The Dragon almost looks familiar.. But it is different. It's a Dragon God, I suspect. The man is.. a spirit. From the looks of it, he is a Heroic Spirit, like us. Though I don't believe any of us recognize him..?" The Blonde turned to the group behind her. Nobody spoke up about him, though some wild speculation was tossed around.
"Perhaps he is a Dragon given human form? Umu! I see scales and horns upon him" Another blonde spoke up from the crowd.
"Ahhhh… hm… what should we do about this..? This isn't exactly a normal occurrence huh..?" The ginger scratched her head, sheepishly as the mature blonde stared intently at the man battling the dragon.
"Let us watch his battle for now, Master.. I want to see what happens" The mature blonde suggested.
"Well.. we haven't gotten any kind of warning.. Okay, lets see how this goes"
She agreed as they watched the man cover himself in lightning and slash the dragon hundreds of times with his enhanced dual blades. Thunder sounding out every time like a constant explosion. The man and Dragon slid across from the other with battle crazed smiles and prepared their next attacks.
"I wanna summon.. I wanna summon.. I wanna summon.." The ginger girl drooled as a tanned, white haired man sighed and wiped her mouth with a hankerchief.
"Good grief, Master" He sighed as he looked at the man's weapons, tracing them in his mind as a new addition to his world was added. Blades sparking with lightning and he widened his eyes upon seeing the history of the blades and their wielder.
"He is.."
-[Hueco Mundo]-
"A goddamned monster.." Lobos panted as he growled the words out and floated in the air.
He was about five hundred feet from the gargantuan red Dragon now. Their fight had gone on for about an hour now and while he did get quite a few good hits in, the same could be said for the Dragon. He succeeded in his goal of bringing the Dragon away from his friends and the other denizens of Las Noches. Now, he needed to drive it away or kill it.
Both seeming unlikelier by the minute due to the intense look on the Dragon's scaley face. As if it couldn't get enough of the fight. He too, had been secretly enjoying the battle. He felt a rush of nostalgia and the desire to release his full power on a worthy opponent. Though he put priority on killing or driving the beast away as he took a deep breath and gathered his energy for a familiar but different feeling Hollow technique.
Pointing his arm forward and opening his palm to face the beast, a super dense energy began to condense in his palm, going from his usual light green, to deep purple as it compressed to an extreme degree. It changed as soon as it manifested. From afar, it looked as if he was going to fire a Cero. Harribel and the other Espada, particularly Aizen had their eyes widen as they watched the area in front of them change drastically. As if Lobos had summoned his own reality right there, miles of land began to become filled with tornadoes and twisters from small to massive F5 scale and beyond. Lightning of a deep purple was flashing non-stop in the black, angry clouds. His Cero had changed form and a deep purple colored light shone in his hand while his blades were sucked into it. It had taken form of an Odachi made of purple lightning and a scale like material that looks incredible sharp. Looking at the display, the Dragon started to laugh in a deep, raspy voice.
"I never knew this boring world of empty souls would be home to a worthy opponent.. Come, Human soul! Give me a challenge not even that Infinite brat could!" The Dragon bellowed and unleashed the most powerful flames Lobos had ever seen.
Time seemed to stand still for Harribel as a wave of superheated death came her friend's way. Before she could even voice her terror, though, he struck. A loud crack of thunder had resounded and even knocked many of the Espada back, barring those below number 4. He had moved too fast to see but what they did see, was a giant bloody gash across the Dragon's abdomen and a badly charred Lobos, who had decided to cut a path through the flames that would surely have reached Las Noches. Both had knocked down to the sand with serious wounds. An ugly jagged scar on the massive Dragon and deep burns that covered a majority of Lobos' body.
"Interesting guy… kuhuhuhu… This world was never intended for you… So I'll do both you and I a favor.."
The Dragon's body glowed with red energy as he shattered the space around him. The cracks of the shattered space coming closer to Lobos as he tried in vain to move back. It was for naught though, as it spread faster than he could move in his injured state. He took one last look at Las Noches, specifically Harribel and sighed in relief to see them still standing. Then, he and the Dragon disappeared into the space outside theirs. The Dimensional Gap.
-{Atop Las Noches]-
"LOBOS!"
Harribel actually screamed out, eyes widened in horror as her friend and companion disappeared with the Dragon. Like a Hero out of the old tales he told her and her Fraccione about in the long travel they had endured together. The emotional outburst caught some of the Espada's attention, but none chose to say anything. Too awed about the display of extreme power shown to them all. Aizen calmly stood up, but in his mind, he was anything but calm. He left immediately, lest the Espada saw him in a moment of weakness and lose respect for him. Though, he had nothing to worry about. All of them were staring at the dissipating area of extreme storm that was slowly returning to the calm of Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra had stepped forward and bowed his head in its direction before speaking.
"He is our Sovereign. I cannot say why he chose to put his life on the line for us…. But I feel.. what I believe is called gratitude.. and respect for him" He said and walked away. Shocking many of the present Espada.
Some stayed atop Las Noches, watching the power of the storm dwindle. Whether it was out of respect, awe or grief. Nobody said a word until the end, when Harribel stood up.
"Please return to me.." She said in a soft whisper as she too, returned to Las Noches. Never noticing the tear that hit the roof's exterior as she left.
A legend would be born that day in Hueco Mundo. One of a Hollow Lord so powerful, he changed the everlasting skies of Hueco Mundo. His battle permanently changing a massive area into a field of electrified glass. They would call him "The Thunder Sovereign"
-[Dimensional Gap]-
Dragon and Soul were hurled into the multi-colored infinite expanse of the Dimensional Gap at extreme speeds normally impossible. Impossible for things of mass. But due to its mastery of the Dimensional Gap, the Dragon, Great Red, was making the Dimensional Gap's space to fold and twist in on itself. Thus making them launch out at incomprehensible speeds before, suddenly they stopped.
"Kehehe… This is your stop, Human Soul.. Think of this as thanks for making me have such a good time.. And of course, this scar you gave me" Great Red grinned at the last part.
"What is this.. What's your plan? You didn't bring me here for no reason.." Lobos made himself stand upright and looked the Dragon in the eye.
"Don't be so wary… I'm giving you a second chance. A better life. But I suspect you'll choose the same path you chose in your first life, Hero" The Dragon mused to himself.
"Hero..? What are you-" He was cut off by an enormous claw pushing him out of a new opening in the Dimensional Gap.
"I'll come to you again for another fight.. Be ready, Human.." The Dragon's lips parted and made a sinister, toothy grin.
-[Kuoh City]-
Lobos was sent flying into the blue skies of Kuoh City. Smacked right out of the Dimensional Gap and forced away from the friends he made in Hueco Mundo. He stabilized himself and screamed out in frustration and anger.
"AAAAAAGGHH! God fucking DAMMIT! What is happening!?" His voice and anger making the skies of Kuoh darken as a storm had started to take place.
"We're going to need you to calm down and come with us" A new voice appeared behind him. Lobos turned and saw three men hovering in the air before him. All had wings of differing appearances. All looked ready and willing to kill him.
"Why should I-Oh, God…"
Seeing his power effecting the very populated City below him, he restrained his Spiritual Pressure before sighing and getting his composure. He now noticed all three men had been radiating different energy signatures. One, looked black and reminded him of pure destructive energies. One, looked grey and had a mix of light and dark energies. The last, looked white and radiated a gentle at the moment light energy that seemed the opposite of the black. Lobos looked confused at this, having never encountered these kinds of beings before. He knew they weren't human just by the energies within them alone.
"I witnessed your fight with Great Red.. I must say I'm very impressed.." The Black energy one with very red hair stepped up and said, trying to de-escalate the situation with a strained smile.
"How..? I can feel it.. I'm so far from Hueco Mundo now…" Lobos said melancholically.
"Ah.. Space was torn from your battle as a point of origin. In fact, I'd bet more worlds than ours have seen it… The tears and spatial quakes went quite far.. But that's besides the point. I need to know who you are and what you intend to do in our world.. See, we're about to broker peace and you.. a wildcard has just shown up. I'd hate to think you'd interfere"
The red-haired man asked with a quickened pulse at the thought of the meeting going South. He had seen the man fight Great Red on equal grounds and that thought terrified them all. Though, he figured by the mixed look on Azazel's face, that the Fallen Governor wanted to know what the man was, given his unique appearance.
"Huh..?" The man blinked owlishly at the implication that he'd want to stop peace talks.
"No! Of course not.. I.. get the feeling I know war very well.. Probably why I died.. I'm a Hollow. A human soul that had its soul chain eaten away.. I guess I had a lot of grievances when I passed" He scratched his head and sighed.
"Wait.. a soul..? Souls here get put into the cycle of reincarnation, sent to Hell, Heaven or multiple other places.. The world won't let you just exist here as-" The Angel spoke up in concern before he saw Lobos' body fade into motes of light, starting to disappear and carry off into a specific direction.
"What….. is… ha… ahh…. It's so… gentle…. Lymsie.. Are you waiting…?" Lobos started to close his eyes as he was converted into a massive amount of spiritual energy and pressure that took off into the sky of Kuoh.
"He was.. a Heroic Soul.. I hope he finds all the happiness he deserves.." Michael cupped his hands and lowered his head.
"Wait, what!? How can you tell, Brother?" Azazel got close and asked, his eyes lighting up in excitement.
"The massive quantity and quality of his energy. The purity of it as well. As the one who looks after Heaven's system, I've seen my fair share of Heroes accepted into Heaven. I can tell. He was a Hero of renown in his life" Michael cupped his chin now, thinking.
"But where is he going now..?" Sirzechs asked as he looked to the sky.
"He belongs to no Pantheon so.. perhaps he was reincarnated inside a newborn?" Michael furrowed his brow.
"Dibs" Azazel suddenly said with a huge grin. Much to the dismay of the other two.
"Not fair, Ash Crow… I think he'd make an excellent piece for Ria-tan!" At the mention of his newborn sister's name, his face filled with joy.
"If.. he does choose to. Let him make his own decisions. Wait until he grows at least… Azazel.. No kidnapping him from his parents.." Michael warned with a threatening smile.
"You're no fun, Mikey.." Azazel sulked as the Angel and Devil sighed in resignation.
"Let him live his life as a healthy baby bo-"
-[Himejima shrine, 10 minutes later]-
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"It's a girl! The Fallen doctor said as he pulled out a healthy baby from Shuri Himejima's womb. Baraqiel was crying tears of happiness as his wife was gently given the baby in a soft swaddling cloth.
"She's beautiful.. Shuri. What will we name her..?" Baraqiel gently rubbed the crying baby's cheeks lovingly.
"I'm quite partial to Akeno.. No edgy Fallen names, got it?" She 'smiled' at him and said, prompting a furious head nod.
"I like it.. Welcome to your new, strange family.. Akeno" Baraqiel smiled and put his arm over his wife.
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A/N: APOLOGIES for being so damn late.. geez. So, I was forced to stay home due to my sister's class getting an outbreak of Omicron. THEN my shift was changed for 2 damn months so I was busy and unable to write. Really had to get back in the DxD groove too.. So that was a pain! Anyways, thank you for reading! Point out any inconsistencies if they crop up.. Ask questions.. That kinda stuff!
Now for reviews..
Plums- So I told this in TNF author note but I'll say this again. I want to add to the niche of genderbend-yuri with action adventure. Maaaaaybe a decent plot instead of like.. "Dood in Akeno'z body acts like a gurll and marriez dood" OR "Akeno fucks Rias and gets le Harem" Nothing wrong with the last one but I wanna put in a story instead of like every erotic fic on AO3.
So YES. This is a yuri, genderbend, action, adventure. I wanna add to the niche because I can. Oh and to the reviewer Iarmmason? Thank you. I mean it. Your advice was needed. Not gonna stress too much about all that now and do the story as best I can but how I wanna do it.
Also do you guys know when Akeno became a Devil? When Kiba, Koneko and Gasper did? Feel free to yell that shit at me in the reviews along with how I may have been cringey this chapter.