Raw power were the only words that BG9 could identify with Tia. Since the initial strike, the robot was thrust into an unending flurry of blocking and dodging the Espada's strikes. Her large weapon was deadly on its own, but combined with her enhanced speed BG9 was at maximum capacity in calculating where to block with his tentacles. Each blow from her felt like a finishing strike, nothing held back.
Tia could see that BG9 was keeping up with her at surprising pace. The powerful processing core of The Knowledge was reacting with precision to shield its body from fatal attacks. Even with her power-up, BG9 was not going to go down easily.
Very shortly into their clash, she sensed a familiar spiritual pressure spike in the distance: Ichigo had reached Nel and the others. Her best friend had been restored to her true form once more. Tia was not alone in noticing.
"Do you believe her restoration will be of any use?" BG9 stated, referring to Nelliel mid sword clash. Their two versions of Tiburon were pushing against one another, Halibel emitting reiatsu flares from its opposite end like a jet engine to increase her downward swing. "She will die, along with you."
With a yell, Tia kicked BG9 in the knee and slammed him across the head with the broadside of her weapon. The reiatsu scarred the side of the robot's helmet, leaving it black and white. In quick retaliation BG9 stabbed at her with Gamuza, adding a mass of thrusting tentacles along with it to force her back briefly.
Tia opened up her hand emitted a whip of reiatsu from her palm. She dodged backwards, throwing her new weapon towards BG9's feet. She ensnared her target by the ankles and yanked it to her. BG9 pointed its Tiburon at her, water forming in the weapon as she drew him closer.
"La Gota."
Three pointed arrows of water struck Tia in the chest and sent her further backwards. She had never been hit by her own attack before, and damn did it hurt. When BG9 stole her Resurrección, it had not been weakened upon its theft.
She recovered quickly. Her Hierro was much stronger than it had previously been, upgraded by the Hogyoku. No blood had left her body since the duel began. With Sonido, Tia placed herself far behind BG9. She threw the whip over her head and spun it rapidly, channeling her reiatsu into it. A whirlpool of energy hovered over her, and she was going to give it to her opponent.
"Desgarradora Ola Azul!"
The reiatsu struck BG9 in the back, its tentacles unable to shield it completely. The robot fell to one leg, but quickly pivoted to face Halibel with Gamuza aimed at her.
"Lanzador Verde."
Nelliel's weapon came right at her, the same way it had just a few days earlier. But the result would be different today.
Tia stood in the air calmly, watching it approach at lightning speed. To her, however, it was in slow motion. When it was at the exact point where the tip of her Tiburon could touch the lance's tip, she swung her blade up to meet it. She cut right down the middle of it, the spear splitting in two and flying into the desert behind her. Miles away, they struck something and exploded in a burst of pink.
This was only a distraction, however. BG9 held its Tiburon high, water surging from the blade's gills in large volumes and gathering above it in the sky. The robot unleashed it at Tia, the torrent surging rapidly. In a situation like this, she would resort to using Hirviendo to boil the liquid and flow it away from her. Instead, she was going to play like the robot and steal it.
A simple raise of her right arm froze the water in place. It sat incredibly still, not even dripping to the ground below. With a slight whisk of her left hand the tidal wave twisted around and retaliated against its creator, faster than it had left it. BG9 was just as familiar with her techniques, and used Hirviendo to save itself from the counter-attack.
"Your new form still grants you control of water," BG9 observed, red eye glowing in the surrounding steam, "It seems we will reach a stalemate if we continue to use the powers of Tiburon."
"Stalemate?" Tia raised an eyebrow, insulted, "Since when did you think we were on equal terms in controlling water?"
Her Tiburon pulsed with power, and a larger whip than her previous one emitted from its pronged opening. Ascending higher, Tia then dropped altitude and lashed the weapon into the sand.
"Dientes de Tiburón!"
Several large geysers of boiling water shot from the earth, the sand softening and turning the battlefield into a field of silt. Streams of hot water rushed towards BG9, the robot preparing a counter attack. It could have no chance, as a geyser suddenly erupted from beneath its feet.
"Gah!" BG9 usually never showed signs of pain, but this attack was too much for his pain desensitizers to handle. Free-falling and prone, its single eye watched as Tia formed a Gran Rey Cero in her hand before vanishing.
Seconds later, she was inches from its face.
The blast could not be blocked. It was too sudden for BG9 to register and calculate a retaliation, and for that the robot was hit at point blank range and sent into the ground, a metal meteor. A muddy tower of silt marked where it made contact, brown goop raining on Tia. She wiped her face clean, eyeing the caving crater for signs of movement.
Not even that attack had killed the monster. She was powerful, but BG9 was durable as all hell. She could see its red eye glaring at her from within, silt dripping down its cracked helmet. The machine's cloak was gone, it's whole cybernetic Hollow body visible now. Inside its head was a mass of wires, crackling with green reiatsu as they processed the hybrid's next move.
"You have dealt significant damage to my outer helmet encasing," BG9 stated, its tentacles wrapping around to form a mini gun in place of the absent Gamuza. The armor around its shoulders and chest opened up, missiles armed and ready to fire. "That is unacceptable."
Reishi bullets and rockets flew towards Tia. She deflected the rapid fire with her weapon, using her smaller whip to slice the missiles from a distance. Not a single shot landed on her body.
As soon as the hail fire ceased, a green pillar of flame ascended straight into the sky from the crater. Tia gazed down through the smoke and saw a pair of reishi turbine engines hovering around BG9and a five pointed star right above its head.
"I may not have a Resureccion of my own," the robot said, "But The Knowledge itself is still a Quincy creation, and this power is my birthright. I will now eliminate you through the use of my Vollstandig."
Tia knew of Vollstandig: the ultimate Quincy technique, the peak of their power. She had never faced a Quincy in this state all by herself before, but knew to stay alert even in her current form. The ones she had been told about by Urahara were difficult powers to counter.
She braced herself, but BG9 was already upon her. Green reishi shot from its turbine wings as the robot met blades with her again. BG9 was much faster than before, and she could see the power surging through the lines of its wiring. The two flew up higher and higher into the sky, high above Las Noches, parrying each other's blades at speed invisible to the human eye. From down blow, all one could see where two specks of green and yellow clashing into each other.
BG9's tentacles were forming all sorts of weapons in hopes of dealing damage to the Espada. Human pistols, axes, grabbing claws. The Knowledge was going through its entire catalogue of collected information to find the tool best suited for every single attack. A few gunshots did manage to hit Tia, but she shrugged off the pain. She had not bled yet.
Tia needed to halt the onslaught for a brief moment to collect herself. She increased the reiatsu in Tiburon so it would overflow, resulting in a booming pulse blast that shoved BG9 away. It took advantage of the distance, and arced back at her with a cleaving halberd formed from multiple tentacles. Tia went to block with her gauntlet, but three more stabbing tentacles were coming in from her other side. No matter what she did, she was getting hit.
"Aigh!"
The halberd was blocked, and the tentacles finally pierced through her Hierro. Three large gashes were left in her torso, the Hogyoku filling the wounds with reiatsu to mask the pain temporarily.
Tia was aware she was not invincible, and Urahara's warning was repating in the back of her mind. If she pushed herself to her limit, if she fought for too long, the Hogyoku would drain her life energy to keep fighting. Too long of a battle would kill her. Taking damage would only shorten her time window. She had to end this quick.
"Those wounds would be considered fatal," BG9 stated, "But I can see there is a power within you keeping you alive. Upon your demise, I will dissect your body and discover it."
Halibel glared at the robot. "Not going to happen."
"We shall see."
A burst of bright green appeared in the center of BG9's eye. A small same colored orb manifested in front of its body, a laser beam connecting it to its optic. It was growing at a superb rate, tentacles on BG9's back firing more energy into it.
"This is Gottes Geist," BG9 stated, "God's Mind. The collected power of all abilities I have collected knowledge on, condensed into a singular definite source. This is the ultimate power of my Vollstandig. It will cost me the use of that knowledge, but according to my calculations you have become too significant of a threat to utilize any other tactic than this. You may attempt to evade, but my built in homing device will track your every move."
"Do you ever stop talking?" Tia asked, raising a single finger at the robot. A black hole began to form at its tip, crackling yellow lines emitting from the distorted matter.
BG9's orb had grown larger than its entire body now. Now at its maximum size, it was ready to fire. "Now, Espada. You shall perish."
It was coming straight at her, a swirling mass of green. She could sense her own power within, as well as Nellie's and many others The Knowledge had stolen over its existence. If this hit her, she would die.
That was not going to happen.
"Cero Oscuras, Ultima Vacia."
The black and yellow Cero, enhanced by the Hogyoku's power, flashed from her fingertip, the entire landscape painted a golden shade as it collided with Gottes Geist. It bored a hole straight through the Quincy power, the orb exploding on impact. The Cero did not stop, however, and continued towards its actual target: BG9.
The hybrid had no chance of dodging, the beam too fast to register. It pierced a large hole in the center of its chest, the missiles still within bursting, adding to the fatal damage. BG9 hovered in the air for a few moments, gripping the gaping wound in its body.
"Illogical…" the robot mustered out as it fell straight to the earth below, landing with a thud on top of one of Las Noches's pillars.
Watching her opponent fall, Tia could feel a familiar essence return to her. She looked at her weapon, its reiatsu now a brighter shade of yellow. When BG9 used Gottes Geist, it truly had released the powers it had stolen. Tiburon – her full power – was back where it belonged. It could only mean that Nel's Gamuza had retuned as well.
She descended down to where BG9 had landed. There was no way she could say this was over until she destroyed the body. Tia found the robot in a pile of rubble, on hands and knees. It was too beaten to stand, its Vollstandig no longer active. BG9 looked up when it detected her walking at him.
"It is over, BG9," Tia said calmly, "You are outmatched. Surrender, and die like a warrior."
"You!" BG9 stated angrily, its calm composure gone, "I do not understand where you draw that power from, but it is irrelevant! My calculations were perfect! You should be dead!"
Tia held her hand out, summoning a blade of reiatsu in the shape of Tiburon's sealed state to execute the robot with. "You don't get it, do you? You aren't perfect. Nothing is without flaw. Even a machine like yourself is capable of failing. If you weren't so blind to your own arrogance, then you might have made sure I was actually dead. The things might have ended differently for you."
"Arrogance!? It is you who are arrogant, Espada! I will stand victorious! That calculation, I assure you, is definite!"
Suddenly, a large black shadow formed under the robot. It began to meld into his body, drawing it in. Tia's heart dropped when she realized where BG9 was going. She knew the Wandenreich had used shadows to conceal their empire in, and apparently BG9 had retained the power to travel to the shadow space!
As fast as she could, Halibel swung her blade at the escaping BG9. She slashed through the shadow, but it was too late. The Sternritter was gone.
There was only one place she knew it would go.
Tia jumped off the ledge of Las Noches and vanished with Sonido, in the direction of her friends. Even though BG9 was wounded, he was not powerless. If Ichigo was there facing off against Rudbornn's army like she had sensed, then the chances of him having activated his Bankai were high.
And that would give BG9 a very deadly advantage.
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
Ichigo's signature ability cut down another one of Rudbornn's copies, his forest now reduced to only 3 trees. The combined speed of Kurosaki and Grimmjow was too overwhelming for Chelute to handle. They were singling out each copy, the Espada chipping away at the shields while the Shinigami went above and behind, cutting the preoccupied Arrancar down. They were chopping him down faster than he could produce more seeds.
Rudbornn had faced Ichigo's Bankai briefly years ago. Now, it felt like a completely different blade. The large cleaving weapon could fire off golden Getsuga Tenshous at a moment's notice, unblockable and too fast to dodge. Kurosaki's speed and physical strength was unmatched, zooming around the battlefield from one tree to another with Grimmjow.
Their partners were gaining the upper hand as well. The moment Nelliel had felt the full power of Gamuza return to her, she had performed Resurrección, and proceeded to charge through the Calaveras with her lance. Her Ceros were even more devastating than Grimmjow's, and her calm demeanor allowed her to be much more precise with her abilities. Well-aimed Ceros blew holes in the soldier's lineups, and with the Tres Bestias and her brothers firing Ceros of their own the army was starting to wear thin. Ayon had made a well-enough recovery as well in, its super-speed regeneration granting it more play time.
"No!" Rudbornn shouted, continuously dropping Calavera seeds from his branches, "I will not let you defeat me!"
"You're not going to have a say in the matter," Ichigo replied, rushing towards him. He formed two Getsuga Tenshous at once, then launched them simultaneously at Chelute. "Getsuga Jujishou!"
The cross-shaped attack met the Arrancar's living shield, but it was too powerful to be blocked. Rudbornn took it completely, and was brought down to two remaining clones.
"Damn you, Kurosaki!" Chelute roared. He could feel his strength weakening with the death of each copy, and his skull fruit was growing at a slower rate because of it. The end was inevitable.
Kurosaki crossed his blades together, preparing another Getsuga attack, when he saw something rise out of the shadow below one of the Rudbornn's Grimmjow was currently attacking. A red glow emitted from its head. "Grimmjow, look out! It's BG9!"
"Say what?" The Espada glanced below him, the Sternritter eyeing him calmly from behind the Calavera shield.
"Worry not, Espada. I do not wish for your power."
A green cero blasted through the living wall and into Grimmjow, pushing him away and towards Kurosaki. BG9 observed Ichigo and saw his Bankai.
Perfect.
"Now," BG9 aimed his glowing eye at Ichigo, "Your Bankai is… what?"
Something was wrong.
The calculations rushed through its processor, re-evaluating equations that had been solved prior. They were still correct: BG9 could still accurately measure the power of Kurosaki's Bankai. But why could he not now claim it?!
This was illogical! It was the only individual capable of stealing Tensa Zangetsu! Why could BG9 not take it?!
Arrogance.
Tia' word ran through its cybernetic mind. Had the robot overestimated its own power? Was it not as strong as it believed itself to be?
NO!
That was illogical! It was unacceptable! The Knowledge was never incorrect!
Rage and desperation took over.
Suddenly, tan reiatsu began leaving Rudbornn, siphoning towards BG9. The bull's extra copy disintegrated into pure reiatsu as the final one reverted back to its unreleased form. The remaining Calaveras began to change shape, their skull-like masks reforming into visages that resembled the Sternritter's barred helmet. Their swords twisted and melded into rifles, embossed with Quincy crosses. Stunned, Chelute look at his accomplice in disbelief. "No! What are you doing?!"
"I apologize, Rudbornn," BG9 stated, "But there must always be a contingency plan. Now… Grow-
The Quincy could not finish the command, a pain surging through its lower torso. It looked down, and saw a yellow trail of reiatsu leading to the horizon line, a larger yellow glow coming closer with every second.
Nel watched the newcomer approach, and smiled as she saw her best friend coming to finish BG9 off. The Tres Bestias noticed as well, and raised their weapons high.
Halibel was moving at near supersonic speed, focused entirely on the robot. Her heightened senses allowed her to pinpoint the Sternritter's location from miles away, and she launched her spearing attack the moment it had started to steal Rudbornn's power. If it had released Arbol, it might had claimed victory after all.
She pulled on the whip in her palm, and sent BG9 hurtling through the air in her direction. The Sternritter could not move, its systems locked up as it attempted to try and repair the extensive damage to its central endoskeleton. Around the battlefield, the Calaveras began to freeze up and slump to the ground, their current master's power deactivating and ceasing their sentience.
"No!" BG9 shouted, stabbing at the whip with the few tentacles it could generate, "Let me go!"
Her hand reached out, talons enveloped by large curved reiatsu. With one final pull, she brought BG9 right to her and shoved her hand into its head. Yellow energy blasted out from the back of its cranium, her fingers locked tight around its flickering eye.
Tia stared at her opponent. BG9 was looking back, its body locking up and shaking. Was it afraid to die?
"Please!" the robot begged frantically, "Spare me! I do not wish to die again! If you keep me alive, I can be of use to you! I can be reprogrammed! I will serve you for all eternity! I can change! Please, don't kill me! My knowledge is unmatched! Do you really wish to rid the worlds of that?!"
She paused for a moment, studying BG9. Perhaps this thing could change for the better. If it could learn, it could adapt.
But now, it was groveling. It felt no guilt for what it had done. No matter what reprogramming it went through, there would always be an underlying memory of what it once was. A machine constructed to kill.
Something that had to be put down.
"I'm sorry," Tia apologized, her eyes glowing with yellow energy, "I know what it's like to be afraid. It hurts… But you tried to kill the ones I love. The moment you did that… you sealed your fate."
Tia closed her hand into a fist.
BG9 fell limp. Its single eye, The Knowledge itself, its very existence, shattered into dust within her grasp. Tia let go, and the body of BG9 plummeted to the sands of Hueco Mundo below.
"She did it," Ichigo said with a smile, watching from a distance as BG9's body descended, "It's all over."
The entire group had gathered together, the Tres Bestias returning Ayon to its sealed state as their arms. It was a hard fought battle. They were tired and bruised, but they were victorious.
Grimmjow stood before the last adversary. He glared at the wounded Rudbornn, whom he had stopped from fleeing in the last few minutes of chaos. A number of the Espada's Garra de la Pantera darts were lodged into his back, and Chelute was bleeding profusely. "Coward. Running away from battle."
"Iam no coward," Rudbornn rasped, his voice weak, "BG9 betrayed me in stealing my power. I was promised Hueco Mundo to rule over, and it stole my power. I allowed myself to be deceived… I was running to take my own life. Alone. I have no honor left, and no one deserve to witness a fool's death."
Nel arrived, standing beside Jaegerjaquez. "You lost your honor when you turned against us. I wish it had not come to this, Rudbornn… But, as one last act of respect, we will leave you here to die with no witnesses. Do you accept?"
"…Do not bury my body."
"We will not."
"Good… Damn it, Nelliel. Damn it all…"
With a bow of her head, Nel placed her hand on Grimmjow's shoulder. "Let's go."
Grimmjow glared at the fallen Arrancar one last time. The two Espada's walked away from the Exequias leader.
Rudbornn stared up at the black sky until his eyes closed, forever shut.
Feeling the sand on her feet, Tia sighed in relief as the Hogyoku's power returned to its core and reverted her to her base form. Her eyes instantly focused on the battlefield, scanning for green hair. The moment she spotted it, she started running.
"Tia!" Apacci shouted, waving her arms over her head. Mila and Sung-sun stood by her, and pulled her arms down. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
"We'll get our turn," Sung-sun said.
"She's right, "Mila followed, gesturing over at someone else, "Can't you tell who she's going to?"
"Wha- oh. Yeah. That makes sense."
After she was done praising Pesche and Dondochakka for their good work, Nel grinned widely when she saw that Tia was only a dozen feet away. "Tia! I'm so glad you're-
She froze the moment Halibel's arms wrapped around her, not believing what had happened. Tia tightened her grip on her, pulling her in tight.
"I'm so sorry," Tia's whispered, eyes welling with tears, "I should have treated you so much better than I did. If you had died… I'd never forgive myself for that. You're my best friend, Nelliel. I love you."
"I knew that all along," Nel said, feeling herself start to cry as she hugged Tia back, "You just show it differently than most… I love you too."
The two friends embraced each other, minutes adding up. No words left to be said. It didn't matter to them. Nothing did. They had each other.
Ichigo and Grimmjow stood side by side, just watching the whole scene. "Well, looks like my job is done here. We worked pretty well as a team, don't you think Grimmjow?"
"Hmph."
"Really? That's all you have to say?"
"What's done is done. I just feel like kicking your ass now."
"Sorry, not today. Orihime's cooking my favorite tonight. I'm not missing it for anything."
"You'd ignore a perfectly good ass kicking for a battle?!" Grimmjow snapped as Ichigo reached into his pocket. He pulled out two metal rods and shoved them into the sand. With the press of a button and a recording of the shop keeper's incantation spell, Urahara's Insta-Garganta created a black hole in the air, just high enough for Ichigo to walk through.
"You should come try some of her food sometime. She's a lot better than she used to be."
"Fat chance! The next time I see you, you're dead!"
Ichigo laughed as he stepped into the portal. "Sure thing, buddy. Sure thing."