Chapter 25: The Battle for Hueco Mundo Part 1
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Wandenreich, Bazz B XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bazz B carefully looked around a corner and saw several sternritters having a conversation. Their company included Cang Du, Nianzol, Mask de Masculine, and Berenice who all seemed anxious about the invasion to come.
"It looks like most of our forces are ready for the invasion. How do you expect it to go?" Nianzol asked with a lisp. The group was silent for a moment as they watched the Soldat, Wandenreich foot soldiers, hurry past them hauling equipment to the gate.
Despite his double tongues, the shaggy and black-haired Nianzol appeared to be lisping less than usual. Bazz B knew that he only did that when he was serious or concerned about something.
Mask proudly pumped a fist over his chest as he looked over the group, "I expect a swift and glorious victory! With our full might, we will overpower these cowardly hollows and show them that we are the strongest!"
Cang Du narrowed his glare at the burly wrestler looking man and scoffed, "I highly doubt it will be that easy. The hollow king is a lot stronger than most of you are giving him credit for."
"True enough, Cang Du, but we're not the ones who will be fighting him. I expect that matter will fall to our lord Yhwach or the elite sternritters," Berenice interrupted.
"Yhwach isn't even at his full power yet. He won't even be able to leave the Wandenreich for very long. We're in for some serious trouble if the hollow king proves to be stronger than our elite knights," Cang Du sighed.
Berenice looked at him as if he was insane, "Did you hit your head recently? Do you actually believe a hollow is on par with our superiors? Lord Lille or Lord Gerard would make quick work of any hollow if their full power was required. That is not even counting Haschwalth or our glorious God-Emperor Yhwach himself."
"I believe we're being a bit impulsive with this attack. The hollows wiped out three sternritters without much trouble it would seem. We don't even know how they did it or how many of them are even there. They could have dozens if not hundreds of powerful arrancars for all we know," Cang Du replied.
"That is absurd. Perhaps a dozen arrancars and a horde of lesser hollows, but hundreds? Are you daft?" Berenice shook her head condescendingly.
"I'm just being practical here. The Shinigami would not be so terrified if they didn't consider the hollows a major threat. You saw how easily a few Vasto Lordes tore apart their Seireitei? Imagine an army of those monsters. We need more intel before we jump the gun here. Personally, I think Yhwach is making a mistake rushing into this. We should at least wait for his powers to fully recover," Cang Du said unhappily.
"You will not spew that foul heresy to me! I suggest you adjust your disposition if you intend to stay in the good graces our glorious Wandenreich! Lord Yhwach is conquering the hollows before they become a major threat. If we do as you wish and ignore them, they could actually swell to the absurd numbers you fear." Berenice hissed.
"I don't fear them...but I'm just being practical here. If Yhwach is all powerful at his full power then what would us waiting matter anyways? Unless he's worried about White..." Cang Du remarked.
His point was undeniable which caused Berenice to glare at him hatefully. She gritted her teeth, "One more word out of you and I'll report your treason to Haschwalth!"
Cang Du said nothing else as he simply started to walk away.
Mask shook his head at him, "He's always been a skeptical nay-sayer. I would not think twice about it, Berenice."
She shrugged at him, "Regardless of what he thinks, I anticipate that this invasion will be an overwhelming success. Even in the worst-case scenario, we do have the hollow king's sister to use as leverage against him."
Bazz B shook his head at her statement, 'Not if I have anything to do with it.'
"Where is the girl anyway?" Nianzol asked curiously.
"With Candice and the other females, I believe," Berenice answered with a clear tone of dissatisfaction.
Nianzol carefully examined her expression and cocked his head, "Something bothering you?"
Berenice nodded her head, "Yes…I don't like that new girl being in the company of fools like Candice and Bambietta. She was much better under Bazz B's oversight."
"From what I've heard he's practically abandoned her recently. Strange huh?" Nianzol noted.
Berenice shook her head, "No it is not strange. It's suspicious. Things were fine until Candice got involved. That green haired bitch is still nothing but a troublemaker."
"Please go and say that to her face. I would love to see how she takes it. Wasn't she the one who gave you a good thrashing last time?" Mask chuckled before walking off and leaving Nianzol and Berenice.
"How impolite…" Berenice hissed as she glared at Mask's retreating form.
Nianzol sighed, "You seriously need to stop being a bitch to everyone if you expect to gain any respect around here."
"I don't need respect, I need obedience!" she replied curtly.
"People don't obey those they don't respect…I'm just saying maybe you should ease up a bit Berenice. Nobody is going to respect your position unless they fear you or they like you. Considering how strong some of the others are, I think you're better off going with the latter choice," Nianzol explained. His weird speaking made it difficult to fully understand him, but the words were at least clear.
Bazz B locked his gaze on Nianzol like a predator, 'The others are all gone now. I need to kill him…but only if I can separate the two of them.'
He took a step closer and crouched by the corner waiting for his moment of opportunity. Unfortunately, he accidentally made a loud noise as his boot squeaked against the ground.
Berenice finally seemed to notice Bazz B's presence and turned towards him urgently, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
"It's just me," Bazz B announced calmly as if he had just arrived. He casually walked around the corner to show himself to the two other sternritters.
Berenice sneered at him, "There you are. I haven't seen much of you since the girl first came here. I thought you were her mentor…I find that rather strange considering she no longer takes lessons from you."
"Candice and Bambietta did what they do to all the new girls that come here. It's not my fault that Yuzu fell for it like the rest of them," Bazz B shrugged.
"A likely story…I have some questions that I would love for you to answer," she began with a wicked grin.
Bazz B tensed up somewhat fearfully as he knew Berenice had the power to force the truth out of anyone. He did his best to hide his concern and quickly thought of an escape from the situation.
Luckily fate was on his side as Candice walked by in the other direction of the corridor with Yuzu at her side. Berenice immediately took an interest in them as they passed, "Ah, there's the girl now. Mind if I ask you a few questions, Candice?"
Candice appeared to be walking as fast as she could to avoid Berenice which caused the inquisitor to go after her. Bazz B noticed Yuzu look back at him during their passing.
He didn't bother acknowledging her as he was now solely focused on Nianzol who was all alone.
The dark haired sternritter turned towards Bazz B shaking his head, "Berenice is still as overbearing as ever. I don't know what she hopes to learn by interrogating everyone before the battle."
Bazz B walked up next to Nianzol and sighed, "Who knows…but I think her not being a part of that crazy femritter gang speaks volumes about it. I mean if those psycho bitches don't want her around, then you know she's trouble."
"I think it's more out of fear. The femritters are very secretive…especially ones like Giselle and Candice. They don't want Berenice learning their secrets. I'm pretty sure they keep secrets even from each other. Meninas told me she doesn't feel comfortable around Giselle and Liltotto apparently doesn't like Candice," Nianzol said as he watched them turn the corner.
Bazz B carefully moved closer towards Nianzol as he thought of the best way to attack him. Considering that Nianzol's powers would make it impossible to hit him again without drawing attention, Bazz B took his time watching the man's movements. He only had one chance to pull this off.
Nianzol was currently facing away which gave Bazz B the perfect opportunity. He carefully inched his way closer holding up his finger. Just when he was about use a burner finger to kill the other off guard sternritter, Bambietta came around the corner. She was quick to notice the situation and look on Bazz B's face and instantly ruined his opportunity to assassinate Nianzol.
"Haven't seen you around lately, Bazz B," Bambietta announced snidely and rather loudly.
'Damn it! That was my only chance. Fucking bitch, Bambietta!' Bazz B fumed mentally as her arrival ruined his chance.
Nianzol was quick to tense up defensively as the woman approached, "What do you want, Bambietta?"
She glared at Nianzol, "Get lost two-tongues!"
"I was just leaving," he lisped before leaving Bazz B alone with Bambietta.
The woman narrowed her eyes at him as she approached, "I saw that, Bazz B…"
"Saw what? I don't know what you're talking about," he said with a stoic leer.
Bambietta rose a brow and crossed her arms, "I wouldn't blame you…I've thought about murdering that stupid bastard several times myself. Him and little Miss Twenty Questions are on my shit list."
Bazz B said nothing in response as he turned around preparing to leave.
"You're up to something, Bazz B…don't think I haven't noticed," Bambietta said assuredly.
"Even if I was, what do you intend to do about it?" he countered. Bazz B knew he couldn't talk himself out of the situation, so it was probably just best to force Bambietta to back down.
"Nothing…yet," Bambietta answered with a serious look on her face.
Bazz B was about to mouth off a threat before he saw Giselle come up behind Bambietta. The zombie woman shook her head at him as if trying to tell him not to do anything.
Giselle quickly pointed towards Bambietta and then herself with a sinister grin as if she intended to deal with the situation.
"Bambi-chan!" Giselle called out catching Bambietta's attention.
The dark-haired woman turned around surprised to see an overly excited Giselle running up to her, "Giselle?"
"Whatcha doing?" Giselle asked in an overly cutesy way.
"Having a chat with Bazz B about why he's acting weird," the woman answered.
"Bazzy-kun isn't acting weird! You know Candice blackmailed him so he wouldn't train Yuzu anymore right?" Giselle lied.
"What?" Bambietta said confused.
"Is that true, Bazz B?" Bambietta asked.
The mohawk Quincy shrugged, "I don't have time for this."
"You better not be thinking of doing anything stupid, Bazz B," Bambietta warned as the man took his leave.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said carelessly as he walked away.
Bambietta shook her head and turned towards Giselle afterward, "He's been so strange lately. You don't think he's harboring heretical ideas, do you?"
"Heretical ideas? Like what?" Giselle asked with a faux cluelessness.
"I don't know. Call it a hunch, but I think Bazz B's interest in Yuzu was because she's the hollow king's sister. He is very outspoken around here and a moment ago I saw him almost kill Nianzol. I hate that slippery bastard too, but I don't know why Bazz B would try to kill him before the invasion. Maybe he's thinking about betraying us," Bambietta deduced.
Giselle's eyes went blank and dark as she stared at the back of Bambietta's head. She quickly reformed her façade and laughed, "Bazzy-kun wouldn't do that! You're being paranoid, Bambi-chan!"
Bambietta turned around and looked at Giselle again doubtfully, "I highly doubt it's just the Candice situation. You don't suspect him of anything? That's…not like you. I thought out of anyone, you would know something about how weird he's been."
"Not like me? How is it not like me?" Giselle tried to play dumb.
"I don't know," was all Bambietta could say as she did her best to read Giselle.
The two had a brief moment of silence before a horn sounded. Bambietta looked up and sighed, "Looks like everything's ready. I guess Yhwach is calling us for one last rally before we go."
"Let's not waste any time then!" Giselle chirped enthusiastically as she dragged Bambietta along.
The zombie girl cheerfully skipped down the corridor with Bambietta she thought over the situation, 'It's a shame Bazzy-kun failed. Nianzol's powers would be incredibly useful. Hmph...it's good I didn't count on him then. I guess that means I have to go with Plan B.'
As they arrived and found their places, they could see Yhwach standing before the Quincy Army with Haschwalth and Uryu to his sides. Yuzu was standing behind all three of them looking rather uncomfortable.
Yhwach held up a hand and spoke proudly to the large army before him, "My children, today we are bringing these hollows to heel! Our assault against the Soul Society cannot commence until the arrancar threat is removed from the field. We will speak with the hollows and force their cooperation and submission to my power. I will allow our newest sternritter to talk sense into her brother, but should he or that horde of monsters deny me, then we will remove them and their petty kingdom from existence!"
"Hail to the Emperor!" the crowd shouted in unison.
"Unfortunately, I suspect the hollows will need a lesson in humility before they are willing to surrender to us. Show them no mercy and butcher the fiends with extreme prejudice. Go forth and bring the fury of the Wandenreich to Hueco Mundo!" Yhwach shouted.
The quincies all cheered in approval as the shadow gate opened and the army began to pour through.
Yhwach turned towards Yuzu and grinned at her, "I hope you were able to learn more about your powers these past few weeks."
"I was your majesty," Yuzu replied meekly.
"I do not wish to kill Ichigo, Yuzu, but I will if he forces my hand. Try to understand my position. Your loyalty will be put to the test…do not disappoint me girl," he said imposingly.
Yuzu shuddered fearfully but nodded with respect, "Yes my lord."
"Onward!" Yhwach shouted as the rest of the army headed towards Hueco Mundo.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Hueco Mundo, Las Noches XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Espada minus Ichigo and Ulquiorra were all gathered around in the throne room of Hueco Mundo. Aizen stood there in a calm silence with Gin and Tousen at his sides.
Grimmjow had his arms crossed and was leaning back in his seat with a look of boredom plastered over his face. He was tapping his foot impatiently as he looked around at the silent room. Finally, he broke the silence, "So, are we going to talk or what? I thought you said this was serious, Barragan."
From his seat, Barragan sent a sharp glare towards Grimmjow, "It is serious! But we are awaiting Ulquiorra and White to arrive first!"
"They're still not back yet, Barragan. There's no point in waiting on them. I suggest we go on and have our meeting without them. They can be filled in once they arrive," Harribel spoke up.
Barragan sighed heavily, "Very well…the meeting will commence without them."
"Is this about the moon? Nobody has said a damn thing to me about what the hell is going on! You, Shinigami, do you know what happened?" Grimmjow asked as he looked between Barragan and Aizen.
Aizen shook his head, "I can't say that I know exactly what happened, but I suspect the recent development of Segunda Etapa among a number of you has something to do with it."
"Is that was this is about?" Grimmjow asked surprised, "who all got their second releases?!"
"I did," Harribel said coolly.
"Me too," Starrk added.
"So did I," Barragan said last.
The blue haired Espada looked both surprised and somewhat annoyed, "Fuck really?! Damn it…I didn't make any progress with it. Tell me you fuckers are here to give us the secret to unlocking it then, right?"
"That is one of the purposes of this meeting. I cannot speak for the others, but my Segunda Etapa was the result of an inner battle with my soul. It was a barren cosmos with a shattered moon…I made the moon whole and my powers were awakened," Barragan explained.
Harribel looked at him surprised, "Really? I had a similar experience…but I ended up fighting myself. I had to fly to the moon over an endless chasm."
Barragan turned towards her curiously, "Hmm...did the Hueco Mundo's moon gain more light and become fuller after you achieved your Segunda Etapa?"
"Yeah…it went from a thin crescent to a bigger crescent after mine," she remarked.
"Then you must have gotten yours before me. The moon became half-full after mine," Barragan replied.
Starrk's eyes opened more widely as he looked between them, "I guess I was third then…the moon went from half to nearly full after I achieved Segunda Etapa."
"So let me get this straight…you three achieving Segunda Etapa is what made the moon change?!" Grimmjow gawked in disbelief.
"I didn't think so at first, but considering how the moon's changes align with each of us achieving second release…I believe it's the only real explanation," Harribel noted.
"Where the hell is Ichigo at? Maybe he knows what's going on. Did he achieve his Segunda Etapa too?" Grimmjow asked seriously.
"Last I heard, Ulquiorra and Ichigo went out to investigate something in the desert. Both of them did achieve Segunda Etapa though," Aizen interjected.
"Are you kidding me? What could possibly be out there that was worth their attention?!" Grimmjow demanded with annoyance.
"Ichigo told me he had been having dreams about the ancient Espada and some key called an oken…maybe he wanted to go looking for it?" Harribel added.
"Dreams about the ancient Espada and the oken? How interesting…" Aizen remarked as he put a hand to his chin.
"What do you know of the ancient Espada, Shinigami?" Barragan asked Aizen seriously.
Aizen shrugged, "Not much I'm afraid…though I do know what an oken is. It's a key to the soul palace."
"Zangetsu had a key to the soul palace?!" Barragan said shocked, "why would he possess such an artifact?! What else do you know about this?!"
"Nothing sadly…but I do know where Ichigo is. He and Ulquiorra left to go investigate the giant pit in the Outskirts of Hueco Mundo. From what Ichigo said before leaving, Ulqiorra heard rumors that the hollows around there saw an arrancar…" Aizen said calmly.
"An arrancar? Was it a natural one?" Wonderweiss spoke up curiously.
"It's hard to say, but I imagine Ichigo went to go find out," Aizen replied.
"So, we just have to sit around in the palace and wait until he decides to show back up?" Grimmjow groaned.
"He's bound to come back soon. Ichigo would not leave us for very long. He knows the Quincies could arrive any day now," Zommari interjected.
"Well this sucks! I guess since we're stuck waiting around, how's about you guys tell me how to achieve Segunda Etapa," Grimmjow said as he turned his gaze towards Barragan, Starrk, and Harribel.
"It's hard to explain, Grimmjow…from what it sounds like, we each had to go into our own souls and unlock it somehow," Starrk said casually.
"I'd love to hear how that worked out for you and her then" Grimmjow said as his gaze trailed towards the adult looking Lilynette.
"Seriously, I thought nobody else was ever going to ask. What happened to…her!?" Nnoitra pointed at Lilynette with a wide, disbelieving eye.
"It was a side effect of our Segunda Etapa," Starrk replied with a passive voice.
Several of their eyes trailed towards Lilynette who was more mature looking and uncharacteristically quiet for once. None of them had bothered to bring up her new appearance until just now.
Before anyone could say another word, a frantic arrancar came barreling into the throne room. The Espada all looked up surprised to see Ggio.
The feline arrancar spoke seriously, "There's something coming towards Las Noches!"
"What do you mean something?!" Barragan asked seriously.
His fraccion looked somewhat frightened, "Well your majesty…umm, it's an army. I don't know what they are, but they're all wearing white! I saw them when I was out in the desert. I ran back as fast as I could!"
"The Quincies…it would seem the Wandenreich have finally made their move," Aizen spoke up with a calm smile.
"I didn't expect them back so soon!" Grimmjow roared.
"We knew they would come back with an army…but I wasn't expecting it to be this soon either," Nel said somewhat worried.
"What do we do without White here? Should we fortify in the palace or go engage them in the open?" Zommari asked.
"I would not let them reach the palace unless you want to see it get leveled," Aizen said casually.
Barragan stood up with furious eyes, "We are hollows! We will not hole up and wait for them to come to us! I say we crush these arrogant fools for daring to set foot in Hueco Mundo!"
"You sure it's a good idea to engage them without Ichigo here?" Lilynette finally spoke for the first time. Her somewhat deeper voice caused alarm for a few of them.
"He will return soon. I say we go and deal with this matter immediately. I for one am rather eager to test my Segunda Etapa in battle," Harribel added.
"Let's go kill them all!" Nnoitra exclaimed with joyous fury.
Wonderweiss looked around the room and spoke up, "I'll go slow them down. I'm bringing Hooleer with me."
"We'll be right behind you!" Grimmjow said with bloodlust.
"Gather the army! Gather your fracciones! We will show these invaders what happens to those who challenge the might of Hueco Mundo!" Barragan bellowed as the Espada all got up and filed out of the room.
Gin looked over at Aizen concerned, "Do you think they will be able to fight this Wandenreich Lord Aizen? How powerful is it really?"
"We shall see soon enough," was all the brown-haired captain said in response as he calmly exited with Kaname following him.
Gin frowned as he now stood alone in the throne room, 'This might actually prove to be a good thing. If their two armies can diminish each other, then there's a good chance it will spare many casualties whenever the victor turns their sights on the Soul Society. Aizen doesn't seem concerned though…I wonder what he's planning. I know he's wanted his own Oken for a while…if Ichigo manages to find one, things could get really bad.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Hueco Mundo Desert, Quincy Army XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The large army of Quincies all marched forward through the desert with determination and purpose. They had been marching for a while now, and many were beginning to get very anxious.
"You're the one with firsthand experience in this place. Where do these things even nest at?" Berenice asked Bambietta as the Sternritters all walked closer to the middle of the formation next to each other. The rank and file troops were surrounding them and were all scouting ahead in multiple directions. Their army was quite massive as the drumming march and pattering of sand echoed across the barren landscape.
Bambietta sent a crude glare towards her, "It's a palace in the middle of the desert. We won't miss it."
"I highly doubt we'll even see it before a swarm of them show up. Hollows are extremely territorial. I have no doubts that they already know we're here," Bazz B spoke up.
In the very back of their large marching formation was Yhwach surrounded by his elite guards, Haschwalth, and Uryu. Yuzu was closer towards the front and looked afraid.
"Where are they? I don't like this…it's too quiet," Liltotto said concerned.
"Make no mistake…they're out there. Lying in wait for an ambush no doubt. Keep your guards up!" Robert Accutrone said sternly.
Bazz B was walking next to Giselle and stole a glance over at her trying to read her expression. She seemed to have a goofy, careless look on her face, but upon seeing his, she turned towards him with serious eyes.
"Too bad you didn't prepare properly, Bazzy-kun. It's going to make this a lot harder. I won't be able to help much until I get a few zombies," she said quietly with a wicked smile.
"Pfft…not like it will matter much. I hope your sabotage went well," was all he said in response.
"Don't worry, Bazz B, I had a backup plan. Hold off on doing anything until I give the signal alright?" Giselle giggled quietly.
"What are you planning?" he asked seriously.
She looked away, "You'll see…"
Bambietta turned to look over at the two of them talking. She had no idea what they were saying, but now her suspicions were beginning to take root even further, 'What the hell are they talking about? Bazz B and Giselle never talk quietly…especially not to each other.'
Yuzu felt her heart pounding and drumming painfully as she began to imagine the battle. 'I don't want to fight…this is going to be terrifying. We're all going to fight and kill each other. I…I can't do this. Ichi-nii, please save me.'
Candice noticed Yuzu's fear and put a hand on her shoulder as the group continued marching. Yuzu looked over at her fearfully as if Candice was about to punish her for showing fear.
Much to her surprise, the lime haired woman had a look of reassurance.
"Candice-san?" Yuzu said her name uncertainty.
"You're right to be afraid, Yuzu…the only people who don't fear war are idiots and crazy people. You're neither of those," Candice said empathetically.
'That's hardly reassuring considering how none of them look worried at all,' Yuzu thought as she looked around at many of the other Sternritters.
"Are you?" was all Yuzu could think to say.
"Am I what? Crazy or stupid?" Candice chuckled.
Yuzu frowned, "I didn't mean it like that…I meant are you afraid?"
"I know what you meant." Candice said shaking her, "you're wondering if we're all crazy."
"I don't think you're crazy, Candice," Yuzu said softly.
The lime-haired woman looked at her and shook her head, "You're a fool if you actually believe that."
"Hold!" one of the point Quincies shouted, "we have contact!"
Everyone present immediately tensed up with adrenaline as swarms of lesser hollows leapt from the cover of nearby sand dunes flanking the Quincy Army.
The rank and file troops close to them were torn apart with relative ease, but the weak hollows were easily dispatched with focused effort.
"On the horizon! We have contact! We have BIG CONTACT!" one of the front troops shouted fearfully as a large line of gillians covered the horizon. The gillians were surrounded by many lesser hollows who all charged forward between the gillian line like a swarm of rabid beasts.
As the massive swarm of lesser hollows ran towards the Quincies, the gillians all charged ceros and fired beams into the Quincy army forcing the lesser troops to disperse and panic slightly. The wave of ceros did some damage to the quincy soldat ranks, but the defensive powers of several sternritters negated most of it.
"Soldats, Open fire! Purge the unclean!" Robert Accutrone ordered. He stood near the front and had his pistol brandished.
"Are you kidding me?!" Yuzu overheard one of the Soldats say fearfully as even more gillians and lesser hollows covered the horizon.
As the large line of gillians advanced closer, the front line soldats of the Quincy army all drew bows or guns and started opening with barrages of holy missiles. This slaughtered many hollows in the advancing swarm, but did little to negate the colossal horde as a whole.
From the center, Candice looked around confused, "Where the hell are the arrancars? These are just lesser hollows. Are they hoping to wear us down with these creatures?"
"There likely isn't that many of the arrancars, so I have no doubts they're probably hiding behind this horde of theirs. Slaughter enough of the nest, and eventually they'll have to come out," Driscoll Berci said amused.
All the fighting immediately stopped when a deafening roar drowned out the landscape. The Quincies watched with confusion as the horde of hollows immediately retreated to the line of gillians.
As the swarm of lesser hollows fell back to the line of gillians, the quincies immediately noticed a colossal hollow unlike any they had seen before. It was the Menos Guardian, Hooleer. The colossal hollow opened its jaws and immediately threw up countless more gillians much to the front line quincies' horror.
None of the sternritters appeared overly concerned about it except for Yuzu whose face was full of fear. The mere sight of the terrifying monsters in the distance was enough to make her tremble. She took some solace in the fact that the Soldats were afraid of this sight too.
From the top of Hooleer, a lone figure jumped down. He had blonde hair and purple eyes and was quickly identified as an arrancar by several of the quincies.
"There's one of them now!" Bambietta spat.
"He's the one leading this swarm I'd wager!" Candice added.
"What the hell are we waiting for then? Let's kill him!" an overly ambitious Jerome Guizbatt exclaimed as he charged forward towards Wonderweiss.
"Wait don't charge in yet, it could be a trap!" Bambietta shouted.
Jerome didn't listen as he continued and charged ahead alone.
As Wonderweiss stood at the front of the hollow horde, he held up his hand channeling a large purple cero over it. The nearby gillians all mirrored his actions channeling red ones in their mouths. Each one was focused on the overly ambitious sternritter who charged ahead alone. The wave of ceros all fired towards him a moment later. Jerome powered through the multiple ceros as he activated his Vollstandig with premature haste.
He unleashed a deafening roar as he came ever closer towards Wonderweiss.
Much to everyone's shock, his roar was cancelled out as Wonderweiss unleashed a shrilling shriek of his own. The sound was utterly terrifying to Yuzu and many of the Soldats. After the blinding devastation of the ceros and the countered shriek of Wonderweiss, nobody could clearly figure out what was going on.
When the blinding flash cleared, they all saw Jerome standing still. It took them a moment to realize why he stopped as they saw another arrancar directly in front of him with an arm through the Sternritter's chest.
The newly arrived arrancar had spiky blue hair and a feral masculine appearance. Jerome couldn't react in time as Grimmjow quickly tore his arm out of the sternritter's chest and replanted it into his throat. Grimmjow brutally bit the quincy on the neck a moment afterward tearing out his jugular vein along with a chunk of flesh. Jerome tried to activate his blut vene, but was already dying as Grimmjow began to butcher him.
Now covered in blood, Grimmjow threw down the corpse of the first dead sternritter and stared down the Quincy army. They could only watch with disdain as the blue haired arrancar began to laugh like a maniacal madman.
"He killed Jerome through his Vollstandig?! How?!" a worried looking Liltotto exclaimed to several of her nearby sternritters.
A lot of them appeared somewhat uneasy from Grimmjow's intimidating laugh. Yuzu was utterly horrified by it as she stared at Grimmjow petrified.
"There's two of them now…it won't be long before the rest are here," Bazz B said cautiously.
His lack of bloodthirst had many of his peers confused as they expected him to be the one to jump the gun and charge.
Haschwalth glanced over at Yhwach from the back and spoke calmly, "That was a surprising kill…Jerome died too easily."
"He was weak…that hollow is undoubtedly one of the strongest ones in Hueco Mundo. One measly casualty is hardly a matter of concern," Lille spoke up callously.
Yhwach said nothing as he simply stood back and watched.
"Where's their king? I was expecting him to greet us," Gerard spoke with a clear tone of disappointment.
"Allow me to address these creatures, your majesty. I will ask them where White is," Haschwalth said calmly as he walked to the front of the army.
As he reached the front, the rank and file troops parted for him to pass. Many of the sternritters minus the elite guard followed him to the front as well. Upon arriving to the front, the sternritters were able to stare down the two arrancars in the distance.
Right as many of the sternritters came to the front however, they saw multiple figures walking and appearing at the front of the hollow horde. At first it was just a few, but before long countless arrancars now stood opposed to them.
The sheer volume of the hollow army began to swell as countless other hollows of lesser varieties began to enclose the Quincy formation on flanking sides.
Berenice looked over at Bambietta disbelievingly, "You didn't tell us there were THIS many of them! How is it possible for this many arrancars to exist?"
At the front of the hollow army, the Espada all walked over towards Grimmjow and Wonderweiss' sides. The eight figures present looked over the Quincies with hateful stoicism.
Haschwalth examined the Espada for a moment before finally addressing them, "Present your king, hollows…we would speak with him!"
"Fuck you!" Grimmjow roared as he picked up and tossed the butchered corpse of Jerome at Haschwalth's feet.
Yuzu let out an audible gasp as the mangled body thudded next to her. She bravely looked over at the Esapda despite her complete fear, 'I can't believe He killed him so easily! He tore him apart like some kind of animal. This is…this is wrong! Are those the hollow leaders?!'
Barragan stepped forward oozing with hatred and spoke with loud authority, "Who are you to so brazenly invade Hueco Mundo and demand and audience with the High King?! You will all die for this transgression! We will annihilate this pathetic army you have brought to our world! Your blood will stain the sands red and your corpses will feed the swarms below! You have a grave mistake coming here!"
"Ichigo is not with them it seems…" Uryu said to Yhwach standing in the back.
Bambietta was still in shock at the sheer number of hollows she was seeing. Her eyes trailed over the vast number of arrancars, who appeared mostly human. Her eyes landed on Neliel before long, whom she recognized immediately. Nel locked glares with her almost as soon as the two saw each other.
Haschwalth stared back at Barragan without any fear, "I will give you the offer we had intended for him then. Surrender to the Wandenreich. Swear your loyalty to Yhwach…and your lives will be spared. Resist and you will be purged!"
Szayel stepped forward with a wicked grin on his face and looked at Barragan, "Primera…it's ready."
"Good…hold off on it. Only deploy it if necessary," Barragan replied darkly.
"I would advise against any further hostilities unless you wish to go extinct. You can't win a war against us," Haschwalth calmly threatened.
Zommari looked through the Quincy crowd in an attempt to locate Ichigo's sister. His eyes finally caught a young teenage girl with honey colored hair and fearful eyes.
'Is that her?' the man wondered.
Barragan simply began to laugh at the Quincy as he shook his head, "You're awfully mistaken, you arrogant fools! You have no idea how powerful we are! Hollows, slaughter them all! Bring glory to the Espada and to your High King! ATTACK!"
The moment his statement was finished, the hollows all charged. The initial charge easily tore through the Quincy frontline as the vast army of hollows attacked the Quincy army from three sides.
Rudbornn Chelute had a massive number of clones engaging in direct combat with the Quincy Soldats. With the added help of gillians and other lesser hollows, the rank and file Quincy troops were not faring very well against the horde of enemies. Only the help of the Sternritters seemed to negate them to any degree of success
During the clash, each arrancar tore through resistance until they came face to face with opposing Sternritters.
Neliel Vs Bambietta
Neliel wasted no time going directly after Bambietta whom she had a personal vendetta against. The teal haired Espada charged in and delivered a powerful punch towards the dark-haired Quincy during the initial clash.
Bambietta could barely react in time as she turned to block Nel's attack. The Espada's strength was much greater than Bambietta was expecting and it easily broke through her guard and sent her to the ground.
Bambietta manifested her reishi sword and barely managed to parry as Nel's Zanpakuto swung towards her throat. The black-haired Quincy struggled against Nel's superior strength and glared at her seriously, "If it isn't the arrancar slut herself!"
"You made a mistake coming back here! Ichigo warned you! Now you're going to die!" Nel said seriously with a callous expression.
Bambietta ignited the area around them with a massive explosion forcing Nel to jump back. Bambietta formed a second reishi sword as she stood opposed to Nel, "You weren't strong enough to stop me then, and you're sure as hell not strong enough to stop me now! I'll put you down for good, hollow!"
Barragan Vs Gremmy
The furious Primera easily cleaved his way through several lines of Soldats sending them flying away in pieces. None of the sternritters seemed particularly eager about getting in his way as Barragan was heading straight for Haschwalth. The man had surprisingly retreated to the back next to the elite sternritters. Barragan's advance was stopped unfortunately as a lone, hooded figure crossed his path.
"Well well well, I finally get to fight an arrancar!" the individual exclaimed happily. He had blonde hair and a youthful appearance. His happy and smug expression was enough to piss Barragan off on principle.
The primera gripped his axe tightly as he glared at the Sternritter, "You're a fool to get in my way! Die!"
With a powerful swing of his axe, Barragan cleaved towards the blonde sternritter. His attack was stopped however when a massive shield appeared out of nowhere and blocked it.
Barragan growled in annoyance as he ripped the axe free and stared the Sternritter down with hatred, "I don't have time to play games with the likes of you! Rot Arrogante!"
A tremendous dark cloud of energy engulfed the area as Barragan transformed into his initial Resurrección. The Skeleton King growled with hatred as he advanced towards Gremmy. A moment later the ground began to rise around them creating some type of pillar arena that stretched into the sky.
The proud Sternritter beamed at Barragan smugly, "Are you the strongest hollow here? That's good because I'm the strongest Quincy!"
"I will erase you, brat!" Barragan hissed.
Grimmjow vs Bazz B
After fighting through an initial clash, Grimmjow locked on to a noticeable Quincy with a pinkish red mowhawk. The blue haired Espada growled as he immediately went in for a swift sword swing. Bazz B swiftly ducked and jumped back firing off a burner finger.
Grimmjow wasted no time firing off a cero to counter the flame blast causing a massive explosion to erupt. The blast hadn't even cleared before Grimmjow came in with strong swing of his Zanpakuto.
Bazz B immediately focused his Reishi into a flame sword over his arm and parried it. Before Grimmjow knew what had happened, Bazz B held up two fingers and delivered a flame swirl towards his flank.
The attack managed to hit Grimmjow, but wasn't nearly as effective as Bazz B was hoping for. The Espada snarled at him with malice as he held up his Zanpakuto, "You fuckers are all going to die! Grind Pantera!"
Nnoitra vs Mask de Masculine
Nnoitra easily butchered his way through a line of enemies until a masked man intercepted him. Nnoitra was stopped in his tracks when a powerful punch sent him flying a considerable distance away. The masked man landed in front of him and clapped with an enthusiastic face, "Bravo, arrancar! You look mighty indeed. I take it you are one of the Espada yes? I look forward to crossing fists with one of your strength!"
"You're going to regret picking a fight with me you dumb fuck!" Nnoitra said angrily as he stood up with hate-filled eyes. He brandished his massive crescent shaped scythe axe as he slowly walked forward.
"Now there's no need for unpleasantries. I look forward to testing your strength against my own hollow!" The masked man beamed joyously.
"We'll see about that you stupid looking asshole!" Nnoitra growled.
Berenice and Nianzol Vs Barragan's Fracciones
Ggio was currently leading Barragan's Fracciones and was quick to locate enemy Sternritters. Poww and Findor were right behind him with Nirgge, Abirama, and Charlotte further back.
Berenice looked around, "There's a lot of them."
"Move in!" Ggio commanded as the various arrancars all charged the sternritter duo from different angles. All of their attacks missed however as some unseen force misdirected all of them away.
"What the?!" Ggio gasped as all six of the arrancars missed and nearly tripped.
"You can't hit me, hollows, so don't even try," Nianzol noted as the six arrancars all got up and ran in for another attack. Once again an invisible force redirected all of them.
"This isn't good! What do we do Ggio?" Findor asked seriously.
"Do you honestly think you can win?" Berenice asked them which caused the arrancars to all stop and look at her somewhat disturbed.
"Where is the hollow king?" Berenice asked them.
"We don't know…he's not back yet," Ggio couldn't help but answer.
"Where did he go?" she asked.
"I don't know," Ggio answered again.
Berenice sighed, "Well they're useless…"
"We're going to kill you!" Ggio said seriously.
"We'll see about that," Berenice boasted.
Cang Du Vs Grimmjow Fracciones
The stalwart sternritter easily cleared his way through multiple hollows as he attempted to attack Hooleer, but he was blocked by a pack of arrancars that all varied in appearance.
Shaw Long spoke up as Cang Du stopped, "You are quite the fool for overextending this far."
"Like I'm worried about some weaker hollows…all of your leaders charged past me. I doubt you guys are a match for me." Cang Du said callously.
Ylfordt sighed as he looked over at the Sternritter, "We should kill at least one or two of these guys for Grimmjow. He's going to be disappointed if we don't kill enough of them."
"This guy doesn't look that tough," Di Roy said carelessly.
"Don't let your guard down…Grimmjow told us not to underestimate these guys," Eldorad spoke up.
Nakeem said nothing but his silence was enough to suggest that he was wary of Cang Du.
"So…five on one huh? I see hollows don't have honor. Granted you guys look weak so I doubt it'll help you at all," Cang Du said carelessly.
"You're going to regret underestimating us," Ylfordt said calmly.
Wonderweiss and Hooleer vs Robert Accutrone
Wonderweiss remained with Hooleer and coordinated the line of gillians to continuously fire barrages of ceros into the enemy army. Their attacks were almost like mortars in a sense as they blew away chunks of the massive Quincy army.
Hooleer continued to create more gillians and assisted in protecting them from Quincy counterattacks. Several sternritters each made attempts to attack Hooleer, but were stopped by Wonderweiss protecting him and the artillery line of gillians. Other arrancars eventually forced the various sternritters away.
With the arrancars and other sternritters preoccupied with each other, this only left Robert Accutrone to assist and command the front line Soldats. He essentially took the role of a Commissar as he forced the Soldats to advance. One tried to run away and retreat, but was immediately shot by the Sternritter.
He glared at the surrounding troops, "No retreating! I said Advance! If I don't see you doing your job, I'll kill you myself!"
The moustache Sternritter fired his pistol into countless enemies as he slowly advanced the Soldats forward. They were having great difficulty and high casualties against the army of Rudborrn clones and lesser hollow swarms.
However, with focused effort, Robert Accutrone finally managed to lead a company of them into Hooleer's range.
"Men open fire on the big one! We need to stop these gillians from barraging our ranks with ceros!" Robert Accutrone commanded as he shot two gillians dead and pressed forward.
The Soldats were finally having some success against the hollow swarms, but upon getting in range of Hooleer, the Menos Guardian immediately stomped on many of them.
Robert Accutrone charged an energy blast over his pistol as he tried to shoot Hooleer in the head.
His attack was negated however when Wonderweiss dove in front of it and shrugged off the blast. The sternritter stared down the blonde arrancar, "Men keep your efforts focused on the big hollow! I will deal with this one!"
"As you say sir!" one of the Soldats nodded before the various platoons and dispersed into tactical positions.
A moment later, Robert Accutrone saw a pillar rising out of the ground which was no doubt the work of Gremmy.
Wonderweiss noticed it as well, but didn't say anything about it.
Robert Accutrone gave it no more attention as he focused back on Wonderweiss with determined eyes, "Die creature!"
As his pistol fired, Wonderweiss charged.
Luppi vs Pepe
Luppi effortlessly tossed away Soldats with his armored tentacle appendages. He was already in his resurrección and wasn't meeting with much resistance. Every time he was about to reach a Sternritter, they were intercepted by another arrancar.
Finally, he came across a dark-skinned Sternritter on a floating disc of some kind. Luppi practically gawked at how silly it looked to him.
He immediately burst into laughter upon seeing the goofy looking fat man sitting on it who was wearing sunglasses and a tank top.
"What the hell?! HAHA!" Luppi laughed as he keeled over in pure amusement.
"Are you one of the Espada, arrancar?" the fat man asked with a dumb grin.
"Bwahahaha!" Luppi kept on laughing as he could barely believe this man was a Quincy.
"What's so funny?" Pepe asked somewhat annoyed.
Luppi didn't say anything as he immediately recollected himself and focused all of his tentacles in front of his hand. From the tip of each they all converged over his hand creating a large cero. He wasted no time firing it in Pepe's direction.
After the cero cleared the fat man was nowhere to be seen. Luppi looked around confused, "Where the hell did he go?"
"I'm over here, cutie," Pepe's voice sounded from behind.
Luppi looked shocked by the sight of Pepe behind him. Luppi stared at the fat man annoyed, "You're faster than I expected for some goofy looking fat guy."
"And you're far too rude for such a cute looking arrancar girl," Pepe countered.
Luppi deadpanned at him, "Umm…I'm a guy."
Pepe seemed shocked by the reveal, "O-oh…my mistake."
"You thought I was a girl?!" Luppi demanded angrily.
"Well you do have soft and gentle features…and that laugh was rather girly," Pepe said slowly.
"If anyone here looks soft, it's your fat ass!" Luppi said angrily.
Pepe formed a heart shaped symbol out of his hands, "It matters not! Soon you will see why everyone adores the great love guru!"
A moment later Pepe fired a heart shaped beam out of his hands towards Luppi. The arrancar easily dodged it and looked at Pepe annoyed, "Man…why did I have to fight the lame one?"
Dordoni, Circucci, and Gantenbainne Vs Driscoll Berci
Neliel's fracciones all stayed together as they fought their way towards one of the Sternritters. They were quickly met by a colossal dark haired sternritter with a beard. He instantly formed a lance out of reishi and attempted to impale Cirucci first as she was the closest.
She managed to evade his attack as she jumped back and swung her whip like Zanpakuto towards the holy lance. She managed to deflect it slightly, but the lance was quickly retracted as the massive sternritter went in for another jab.
His attack was stopped when Gantenbaine managed to grab his wrist and force his arm down. Driscoll Berci easily backhanded the afro-haired arrancar off of him and tried to stab him.
Gantenbaine quickly recovered and dodged the attack thanks to a precise counterattack swing from Cirucci which managed to knock the sternritter off balance.
Dordoni took this time to flank the sternritter and delivered a powerful punch to his face sending him to the ground.
His success was short lived as Driscoll easily recovered and kicked Dordoni back.
"What a bunch of weaklings!" Driscoll laughed at them, "I can't wait to crush you three!"
Apacci, Loly, Menoly, Sung-sun, and Mila Rose Vs Candice, Meninas, Liltotto, and Yuzu
Ichigo and Harribel's Fracciones all stayed together in one large group as they wiped out Quincy foot soldiers with relative ease. It wasn't long before they were intercepted by another group of women however.
Candice was currently leading Meninas and Liltotto. Yuzu looked like she was almost shell-shocked by what was happening and was currently being dragged along by Liltotto.
"Arrancars!" Candice said aggressively as she fired a bolt of lightning in their direction.
"Get these Quincy bitches!" Apacci shouted as she dodged the lightning blast which was directed at her specifically.
"There's five of them Candice," Liltotto announced as she looked over the arrancar girls who moved in closer.
"You're stupid for attacking Hueco Mundo! You're lucky the High King isn't here right now, or your entire army would already be dead!" Loly boasted proudly.
"I-Ichigo? Where is Ichigo?" Yuzu asked in a distant distracted way. She seemed utterly out of her mind at the moment as the sound of battle all around them had the young teenager in a state of traumatic shock.
"She knows his name?" Menoly said confused as she looked over at Yuzu.
"Ichi-nii…help me," Yuzu said to herself.
The femritters all looked a bit concerned at how Yuzu was handling the situation. It wasn't surprising considering she was an innocent girl, but her distress irritated Candice.
The lime haired sternritter shouted at her, "Get ahold of yourself Yuzu! Your brother isn't here, and the hollows are trying to kill us! Snap out of it or you're going to end up dead!"
"Brother?!" Mila Rose gawked at the notion.
"That's Ichigo's sister?" Sung-Sun remarked with disbelief at Yuzu.
Apacci stared at Yuzu for a brief moment, "She does kind of look like him…her hair's a bit fairer though."
"Why's Ichigo's sister with them?" Mila Rose shook her head confused.
"There's no way that's his sister! She's a Quincy! Ichigo is an arrancar! That kind of thing can't happen!" Loly announced.
"Loly's right! This has to be some kind of Quincy trick! Don't fall for it!" Menoly added.
The five arrancar girls all wasted no time going directly into their resurreccións.
"We're outnumbered," Liltotto stated the obvious.
"Calm your nonexistent tits, Liltotto…we can handle them! Make sure Yuzu doesn't wander off or die!" Candice said as she and Meninas stepped forward.
"You got it…" Liltotto said with a clear tone of displeasure.
Zommari vs As Nodt
Zommari was quick to notice the large group of femritters squaring off against Ichigo and Harribel's fracciones. His main concern however was seeing Yuzu, Ichigo's sister among them.
'I need to get White's sister out of here,' Zommari thought urgently as he tried to rush over and help the female arrancars.
Unfortunately, he was unable to progress when a sternritter in a long trench coat cut him off. The man had long black hair, black eyes, and some type of scary looking mask on his face with spikes on it.
Zommari knew he wasn't going to be able to get past this Sternritter as thorns erupted all around him. The creepy and lanky looking man walked forward slowly, "You will know fear, hollow…"
Harribel, Starrk, and Lilynette vs Royd and Lloyd
The second and third Espada members both charged through the enemy army towards the back where Yhwach and his elite sternritters were. They were unfortunately cut off halfway there as two bald quincies blocked their path.
They each had a third eye tattoo on their foreheads and stoic expressions. Starrk sighed heavily, "Guess we gotta fight these guys first."
"What a bother," Harribel nodded in agreement as she and Starrk stared the two bald sternritters down.
From the distance, the elite sternritters appeared particularly interested in the three of them and in Barragan's battle happening further away.
Harribel seemed to notice this as she glanced over at Starrk, "Try to avoid using Segunda Etapa. We're going to need it against those guys in the back."
"Those must be the Quincy leaders," Lilynette noted as she looked past the two bald quincies and towards the elite sternritters.
"What kind of arrogance is that? They're not even fighting us themselves?" Harribel said displeased.
"They'll have no choice to fight once we get rid of these two," Starrk said with an unusually serious tone of voice.
Yhwach, Haschwalth, Uryu, and the Elite Sternritters
From the distance Askin looked over at Haschwalth, "Man I like this promotion…it's kind of nice not having to bother with fighting."
"You don't have to fight weaklings…but I highly doubt those are weak hollows," Lille said as his gaze locked specifically onto Starrk in the distance.
"Looks like Gremmy is fighting the old guy. I'm guessing he's the second in command," Askin noted as he glanced over towards the pillar like arena where Barragan was now fighting Gremmy.
"It would seem so," Lille noted as he glanced over towards the pillar and saw them fighting.
"It's a shame the hollow king isn't here…I guess having his sister talk with them wasn't much of a use after all. Although at least that gives her a chance to fight," Gerard spoke up.
"We'll see about that. Where is the girl anyway?" Haschwalth asked.
Lille looked through his sniper rifle and quickly located her, "She's with the other female knights. She's standing back at the moment…pfft."
"Haschwalth-sama, is it okay for Yuzu Kurosaki to be on the frontlines like that?" Uryu asked somewhat concerned.
"She'll be fine. A bit of fighting would do that meek girl some good. Only get her if she's in danger of dying. I want her alive," Yhwach spoke for the first time as he kept his attention focused on Lloyd and Royd facing off against Starrk and Harribel.
"I'll get her if she's in danger," Gerard spoke up.
"Good," Yhwach said as his gaze locked onto the battle unfolding.
Giselle Vs Szayel
In all the chaos of the clash, Giselle managed to slip through the fighting and reach the body of Jerome Guizbatt. She laughed wickedly to herself as she channeled her own blood into his corpse causing the skin to darken slightly with a greyish hue.
Giselle cheered as the dead sternritter Jerome rose from the dead as her personal zombie. "One down…now let's see if I can find some more," she said to herself gleefully.
Due to Jerome being zombified after death, he appeared to have little awareness and drooled mindlessly. Giselle looked around at the various battles breaking out, 'No casualties yet…where's Bambi-chan at? Hmph fighting that same arrancar again. I guess I can get the loser. Bazzy-kun is fighting that blue haired one. I doubt he'll kill an Espada anytime soon. I can't see the other girls…oh well. I guess I'll just hold back for now. There's bound to be some casualties sooner or later. Plus, the longer this takes, the better chance we have of Yhwach running out of time.'
The moment that thought crossed her mind a storm of reishi bullets sprayed in her direction causing countless bullet holes to fly through the zombie girl.
She immediately fell to the ground as the sight of BG9 and a pink haired arrancar came into her line of sight.
"Excellent work, BG9! I knew you wouldn't hesitate when the time was right!" Szayel beamed proudly as he walked up next to the cybernetic android-like sternritter.
Giselle immediately stood back up much to Szayel's surprise.
"Which Sternritter is she BG9?" Szayel asked the quincy.
It was only then that Giselle noticed a strange collar around the android's neck which looked like it was primed to inject hollow blood into him. It didn't take Giselle long to figure out that fear of Soul Suicide was forcing BG9 to follow the arrancar's orders.
"Sternritter Z: Giselle Gewelle…the Zombie. Powers include necromancy, hemokinesis, fleshcrafting, regenerative healing, and osteokinesis. Primarily role and battle factor is support…Sternritter Z is highly dangerous if ignored.
Giselle immediately healed her entire body and looked over several of the bullet holes, "Aww! You ruined my outfit!"
"I apologize for that…I assumed you were going to die from the attack or I would have been more courteous," Szayel chuckled at her.
"Where's Ichigo-sama at?" Giselle asked with an unusual and calm cheerfulness.
Szayel seemed a bit confused by Giselle's lack of malice or concern over the battle.
"Ichigo-sama? I am surprised you know White's true name and would address him with such respect," Szayel remarked as he adjusted his glasses.
"He's awesome! I really like your king," Giselle remarked with a girlish pose. Her hands were currently folded in front of her chest as she closed her eyes briefly.
Szayel couldn't help but laugh, "That's unusual to hear from a Quincy."
"Arrancar, Szayel Aporro Granz, terminate conversation and reconsider battling with Giselle Gewelle. She is one of the most dangerous and powerful sternritters outside of the elite guard," BG9 warned the pink haired scientist.
"Yes yes, I got that impression BG9. Quite the unusual girl if I must say. If memory serves me right, she was the one who attempted to manipulate White with her blood. It would seem your powers are ineffective against hollows. What a shame for you," Szayel noted.
Giselle gave him a dopey looking expression, "You're pretty smart arrancar. What's your name?"
"I am the great and fabulous scientist, inventor, and scholar...Szayel Aporro Granz!" the pink haired arrancar introduced himself with stylish enthusiasm.
"Nice to meet you Szayel-chan! Do you know where Ichigo-sama is?" Giselle asked again with eager eyes.
"The High King is currently on his way here…although I doubt you will live to see him arrive," Szayel said coolly.
"BG9, be a dear for me and get rid of her if you would. I can't very well have a sternritter resurrecting her dead friends, now can I?" Szayel motioned for BG9 to attack.
Right as BG9 raised his minigun, the Zombie Jerome roared loudly and charged at him. Giselle used the dead sternritter as meat shield to tank the minigun as it fired.
She chuckled at Szayel and shook her head, "You're just a bag of fun, aren't you?"
'I don't have time for this…but if I manage to win, I can get BG9 as a minion,' Giselle thought as she watched Zombie Jerome aggressively attack BG9.
Aizen, Tousen, and Gin
The traitor Shinigami captains all stood in the very back and watched the battle. Gin looked over at Aizen curiously, "Aizen-sama, should we help at all?"
"You two go and assist whoever needs it. I'll go and make sure Yhwach is preoccupied until Ichigo arrives. We don't want too many casualties if we can avoid it," Aizen stated as he calmly made his way forward.
Tousen immediately blinked away as he attempted to find enemies to fight.
Gin remained still for a moment and frowned, 'I didn't realize there were this many powerful quincies. It's good the hollows are fighting them, because I doubt the Soul Society would have been prepared for an attack by an army of this size.'
The sly Gin looked around the battle, 'I suppose helping them kill Quincies can't be all that bad of a thing to do.'
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Merry Christmas you lovable readers of mine. This update is long overdue, but hey what else is new right? If you're lucky I might update again before next Christmas. Although now that I have most of the war stuff all planned out, the updates should come quicker. I kind of had some writer's block about how to write the war, but things are mostly laid out for the next big stretch, so hopefully I won't be a neglectful author for too long.
Sorry for the cliffhanger in this chapter, but this one is here for a reason because I wanted to ask you readers something before continuing. So…originally, I planned to write out long and detailed epic clashes and fights for every battle in the war, but seeing as how this and all of the future battles are going to be on a massive scale it would probably take me six chapters a piece to cover individual battles with everyone's detailed perspectives and what not. You can probably already see the dilemma just based on all the POVs in this chapter alone. My question is would you like a more expositional coverage of this and future battles, or gritty details for every encounter and POV? Maybe somewhere in between? Or would you like expositional coverage on minor characters and heavy focus on the big important battles? (Such as the Espada battles and the Femritter vs female arrancar stuff). I'm probably going to go with that last one, but I'd like to know what you guys want.
Keep in mind this story is only a bit over halfway done based off of my current plot timeline, so there's a lot of stuff to cover. Also, I know someone is probably going to think this battle came too soon and that there's a bunch of stuff I'm not covering, but remember…this is only the first battle of the war. So, don't expect too much just yet.
A lot of the various matchups for this battle took a bit of thought for me to decide on. A couple were suggested to me by several people which I decided to do. I'm sure a couple of them were expected such as the Nel vs Bambietta and Bazz B vs Grimmjow ones. Feel free to speculate on how the battles will go. Some are obviously going to be one-sided, and others might surprise you when you read them next chapter. Some will even change...kind of like how real battles in war are. So expect lots of fighting and action. Anyways, thanks for reading as always. Also take a guess on what Giselle is going to do.