Bleach – The Heart of the Matter

By Tayla Drago

A battle to be going on in a bowling/arcade/restaurant for many lives were in grave danger, even the B-Last Band members and crew people for Alucard to fight through the Lillie's vines to try draining them. Same with Urahara, Tessai, Yoruichi, Jinta, Ururu, Ririn, Kurodo, and Noba to do the same back outside; along with Sonia, Hayame, and Kon 'in Ichigo's body' to stop the rest back inside the building. So many vines of this deadly flower monster who works for Dracula! As for the other six saving the lives into hiding to face against Dracula's six powerful monster armies now 'well seven once since Urahara beaten Executioner' for these matches I'll try to make them a bit short, okay? There almost like the boss fights in Castlevania Legends from the Game Boy game.

Time for the fourth round being Orihime Inoue vs. Medusa. After saving the people by getting out from the bathroom windows, one of Dracula's monsters has come for her as this one loves pretty things to turn into stones for her to keep with her and to have as part of her treasures forever with one look in her eyes. So don't stare into them too much! Not only she can do this type of ability and make a lot of snakes come out of her hair, Medusa can also fight with a sword and shield to be quick with her snake-like lower body she has. Orihime with the help of the six little friends of the Shun Shun Rikka mix in with the Belmont powers with hers – fighting, defending, and healing up to do them all at once.

Medusa only attacks with a sword and she is fast and swift. But if that someone stays in the spot in the room where Medusa cannot reach them and attacks at distance, she will not pose any trouble. When she is defeated, her severed head flies away in a nod to her appearance as a disembodied head in some games, and to the Medusa Heads enemies.

"Oh my…You look very pretty, little princess." Medusa said while looking at Orihime all over. "By the time I'm done with you, I'll be having another beautiful statue to collect who are pretty like I am. Isn't that wonderful?"

Orihime tries to be strong for everyone else to keep Medusa to fight with her and not hurt anyone else.

"So you want me in your pretty collections because you are pretty like I am?" she asked to be friendly to her enemy a little. "Aw, that's nice of you to say to me, thank you. For someone who works for Dracula, you sure have good taste."

Medusa then pulls Orihime close to her.

"I do, thanks for noticing. Now I just need to know how should I make you pose like when I turn you to stone?"

"What…?"

Orihime didn't like the sound of that for Medusa to squeeze her from her snake-like body to think of something to pose Orihime to become a statue type of stone, while she was enjoying her fun. Having trouble getting out of this mess, she better think of something quickly or she will lose some air by getting squeeze to death!

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this too tight for you? My bad…!" Medusa does it again. "I get a little carry away when I like something I must have like yourself. So you either do a nice body pose for me to turn you to stone like so…" she does one to rat to become stone before Orihime's eyes to witness Medusa's powers. "Or you fight with me to beat you up but your face or hair in battle to try turning you into stone when you're knock out cold? You better tell me now before my tail gets a good grip on your body."

For Orihime trying to pull her way out of Medusa's grasp, six of her friends appear to help her out, power up and ouch; for Shunou, Tsubaki, Ayame, Baigon, Lily, and Hinagiku give Orihime all she must fight off against Medusa for good. For she tries pushing her way out of this mess first.

"(Shunou…Tsubaki…the others…you guys will help me? Okay then, if it'll beat Medusa.)" Orihime had enough strength to push herself out of Medusa's tail. "Sorry, but I choose…not to become your treasure!"

For Orihime uses her shield to push Medusa back to break free to see something to come flying at each other, looks like they try to attack at one another, but who was hit? From Orihime having her shirt ripped a little to almost getting cut by a sword of the monster's doing, a close call.

"Hmm…Not bad, cutey pie. I'm going to have a lot of fun to add you to my beautiful collection one way or another."

Since Medusa attacked Orihime a little on her end, she was struck too from her snake hairs to fall out from Tsubaki's doing to save Orihime's life. Now the snakes 'and part of Medusa's hair were mad'. For her to be ready to fight all out, stone powers, snake movements, sword, and shield ready to go. Same with Orihime to be ready to fight for her friend's sakes and Ichigo's too.

"Go ahead and try, but I'm not afraid of you!" she calls out to her six friends for help. "Here we go! Tsubaki! Shunou! Lily! Ayame! Baigon! Hinagiku! Shiten Kōshun (Shield of Four Heavens' Resistance), I reject!"

Incoming from another stone beam attack for Orihime shields herself and fire the blast at Medusa to shield it away and destroying half of the mirrors in the bathroom instead. From one of them for Medusa looks away from all of them 'it was like she hated to look at herself' for Orihime to see this right away. She then charges at her by using the sword for Orihime makes her shield to block it.

"So, you have some fighting in you, huh? Okay, then put them up." Medusa started to swing her sword at Orihime. "Both you and your six fairies won't stand a chance against me! I won't hurt your body too much nor your face, but I can still cut down to take you out!"

Scary, Medusa's has some long and very rubbery legs and unsightly hair with snakes coming out of it. She's difficult if Orihime tries to know on what to do to her. And what's worse, she has trouble jumping over Medusa while they were sparing in sword to…body-like weapon for Orihime I guess. What can she do now? My guess, is Orihime must stay in the right corner, tries crouching and shielding from time to time, and use her attack mode when Medusa comes near. Very easy that she's been doing fine so far thanks to her powers to aid her throughout the entire fight.

"Yeah! I'm doing it!"

But that's when a lot of snakes come at Orihime to shield herself again, allowing Medusa to create another sword made of stone to make a quick move at the girl to hack and slash to make lots of cuts all over Orihime's body. Screaming in pain, that must've hurt, using her shield…it breaks on the poor girl for the snakes to hold her down allowing for Medusa to cut fast on Orihime many more times.

"Thank you, babies, now hold her down so I may weaken the pretty one a bit more!" Medusa kept on slashing away. "I can still turn you to stone than forcing this one you to. It's your call…Because either way, I'm enjoying my fun time fighting."

No! Poor Orihime…to be fighting alone without anyone of her friends, Sonia, or Ichigo by her side to never end Medusa's hellish nightmare! Even from the very beginning she has been through so much pain 'other than the lizard event when they kidnapped the girls all over town'…

Orihime and her brother, Sora Inoue, were raised by a drunken father and a prostitute mother, who always argued and beat their children. Fearing that their parents would kill Orihime, in the March that Sora turned eighteen, he ran away with Orihime, who was three years old, and raised her on his own from then on. For nine years, Orihime and Sora lived in harmony even though Orihime was bullied in school because of her unusual hair color. One day, Sora gave Orihime a pair of hairpins. However, Orihime refused to wear them because she said they were childish. That day, Sora died, and Orihime began wearing the hairpins every day since. After Sora's death, Orihime prayed for him every day. A year after Sora died, Orihime met Tatsuki and befriended her and the amount of days she prayed for him diminished. After entering Karakura High School, she stopped praying for him and instead talked about Ichigo before she left and when she returned from school. She wanted to show Sora that she was happy and that he did not have to worry about her.

Since Sora's death, Orihime has lived by herself in Karakura Town, receiving financial support from a distantly related aunt living elsewhere.

That explains how she got a place to live in and such…So sad, huh? Orihime has been through a lot to save everyone else a few times, but getting saved more than one time; now for her to make it through this much for Medusa was about to turn Orihime into stone, she better think of something to fight back and to heal up a little 'while using some of her abilities carefully'.

"(No! I must fight back…! I must…I won't lose to her…Not like this! I want to become stronger)" Orihime tries to get out of the frozen stone to be getting back up on her legs. "(Come on…!)"

Medusa's eyes kept on staring at Orihime's eyes to complete her collection to turn her into stone from every second to be happening.

"Now then…my collection will slowly turn you into stone. Lovely…Any last words?" she asked while making fun of her enemy.

Orihime then started to glow up to power up a bit more to break the stone spell off her body. For it was there, that it started to break little by little.

"No…! No!" Orihime breaks free.

"Huh?! But how?! There's no way for any human being can get out of my spell!"

With Medusa freaking out for her to strike, allowing for Orihime to shield herself to then attack back to break both the shield and sword out of her hands. She then electrocutes the snakes to make her head to be in pain to lose control, and then tries to use her long body-like tail, Orihime grabs it with her bare hands to throw her 'as she was kind of powerful to lift Medusa up' and then hitting hard to the ground.

"It looks like your spell only works on those who are weak, not enough spiritual power to save their lives you've took from them, but I did. And now you think your powers are no match for me, that was your down fall to lower your guard in the end. Giving me a chance to do this!" Orihime fight back with the help of her friends within her. "Now, everyone, charge!" she gives the first kick at Medusa's face. "From Sonia's powers and mine mix in, I also learn some fighting moves from Tatsuki herself! It's time to put the moves to the test a lot more now, take this!"

Orihime gives it her all to give Medusa a beat down from kicks and punches 'mix in with the Belmont powers and her other ones', she was winning. To fight for the lives to save, the friends she has made, for Sora's spirit to watch over her, and her lover Ichigo which kept this girl to fight a lot more now…And with one attack from all six of her Shun Shun Rikka of a shock wave hits Medusa hard to the stomach to go down with one more move to do.

"Dirty trick…!" she panics to see Orihime to hold up a broken mirror piece in Medusa's face for her spell to use against her body now which causes to turn herself into stone. "Ah! No…! No! Damn it all! I knew I should've destroyed all of those mirrors before I came in here…! Curses! Now I'm about to become a beautiful stone statue from my own powers…!"

Seems to be working for a painful end for Medusa to be beaten for Orihime to see this happening.

"(It is sad to see her suffer so much…And yet, I don't feel sorry for this one. I guess that's what people call this, their just deserts.)"

Looks like Medusa couldn't stop the spell for the snakes to be turn to ashes, she lets out one painful cry to do something as she dies and to go out so 'beautiful-like' in her selfish ways.

"If I'm going to die, fine! Then I'm taking you with me, bitch!"

Medusa was no more for her attacks to make her entire body turn to stone, she was gone…only to make herself fall to be crushed in to tiny pieces to fall on top of Orihime, look out! A big fall to land on her to use some of her shield to put up. Painfully, to not get crush to death…Orihime was all right to hit her back hard to still be walking to use the rest of her powers to slowly heal the rest now for her six friends to worry about, but she tries to stay strong the way her friends were right now while they were still fighting their battles. Even for Ichigo to be thinking about Orihime after his own battle that he just had.

"(Orihime. Please, please be okay.)"

Saying her name to himself as Ichigo was worried about Orihime for she feels him out too as she gets out of the pile of stone rubble right away.

"Ah, man! That was close!" she said to clean herself up from the dust on her clothes. "I think the cuts hurt more than the fall, but I'll be fine now." Orihime tells the other six the same thing. "Really you guys, I'm fine! See? I'm fine. But just in case, I will heal myself up while finding the others…I sense some of them upstairs so up I go."

For Shunou and Ayame to see how well the battle went on…

"That was something. That's our Orihime for you."

"Thank goodness she's okay."

Same with Lily, Hinagiku, and Baigon too…

"More like freakin' scary for a fight that she had to do!"

"No kidding!"

"In the end though, we save the day the say the least."

And Tsubaki to still care to not admit it at all 'what a softy'.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. She didn't die so that's all that matters. Now let's go, she still needs us, remember?"

For them to agree there, Orihime slowly walks up the stairs to try finding the last two fighters to be facing off the other two monsters of Dracula's, as four were already been killed. So this is getting better little at a time, you know?

"(What a battle…I never felt so much stronger before, it kind of felt great.)" Orihime smiled. "(Now the sooner I find the others to help them out, the better we'll all go join back with Ichigo and Sonia who are trying to stop those plant things…I won't stop now, we've come this far to save so many lives against Dracula! We will keep on fighting!)"

You can say that again, Orihime! Girl power! For she can do a lot more to saving lots of lives like she just did from the lizard thing to be herself still for Sonia to know and so did she. With two more to go and Hayame soon senses something, Sonia and Kon tries stopping the other vines for her to fly somewhere to feel someone she knows of who was in danger she needed to help, Uryu…How will he and Renji turn out in their battles?