SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 10 out, this is Chapter 11 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Pairings: Ishida/Hasu, minor pairing Hitsugaya/Karin
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.
Chapter 11: Mayuri's Bankai! Sawatari: Clash of the Demon
"Baura." Sawatari tapped his cane on his Doll.
"Boss, is he our opponent this time around?" Baura asked.
"That's right." Sawatari replied. "He's different from those weaklings that we've been fighting up until now. He's a Gotei 13 Captain."
"Okay." Baura noted. "It seems that I'm going to have fun today."
"Is that one of those Dolls things you all use?" Mayuri inquired.
"This is my Doll, Baura." Sawatari declared.
"What's so funny?" Baura demanded when Mayuri chuckled.
"That was rude of me." Mayuri stated. "I was just thinking that the Bount are truly interesting after all. Do you know what the source of a Bount's power is? It springs from Soul Society's ancient technology."
"So, what's your point?" Sawatari asked.
"Because of something as simple as a single failure, it was decided that the techniques were too dangerous so they had to be sealed away." Mayuri explained. "Such a pity. Even I don't have all of the data on it. That's where you come in. This is just one method, but I was wondering if you would become subjects for my experiments?"
"What did you say?" Sawatari demanded.
"In all honestly, I was originally completely uninterested in the Bount." Mayuri admitted. "But I've developed an interest after learning a few things about you. Now I truly believe that I would like to conduct some research on my own. Don't worry. I'll be sure to make it as painless as possible. I'm even willing to forget that you manipulated me into reviving that Quincy's power."
"It's unfortunate, but I have to turn you down." Sawatari replied. "Our goal is the destruction of Seireitei. We must eliminate anyone who gets in our way. Baura."
"My, it can't be avoided them." Mayuri sighed, the two adversaries prepared for battle. "If that's the case, then..." he flared up his Reiatsu. "I'll make you deeply regret this."
"Nice Reiatsu." Baura complimented. "However, the level of your Reiatsu is irrelevant now." he dived into the ground.
"I've heard the reports." Mayuri stated. "You're a burrower, right? You're only able to appear from wide flat surfaces like walls or the ground. Putting the real world aside, trying to fight me like this is merely a waste of time. Rip, Ashisogi Jizō." he summoned his Shikai. "Now hurry and come out." he Shunpo-ed onto the wall. "I'm right here."
As if on cue, Baura appeared behind him, diving straight for Mayuri, who jumped back to dodge the attack.
What's with that? Mayuri frowned when Baura vanished into a portal in mid-air. "I hadn't heard about an ability like this." he jumped into the air to avoid getting hit by Baura who had emerged from underneath his feet. "Don't underestimate me." side-stepping Baura, he struck the whale-like Doll with his Zanpakutō. Snorting with his blade hit the wooden-like scales, the 12th Squad Captain was flung into a nearby wall with a swipe of Baura's tail.
'I've got you!" Baura went in for the kill, Mayuri side-stepping the charge and losing an arm in the process.
"So you just barely dodged." Sawatari noted, Baura emerging from the ground. "You didn't know? Since coming to Soul Society, we Bount have absorbed a large amount of Reishi, increasing our strength. Baura's alternate dimensions are no longer restricted to just the surface of the Earth. The air here, filled with Reishi, is all part of Baura's dimension."
"There is nowhere for you to run." Baura declared.
"This is all you've got, despite calling yourself a Captain?" Sawatari mocked. "How boring."
"My, now you've really done it." Mayuri tsked, injecting his severed arm with a regeneration serum. "How irritating." he regrew his limb. "I'll make it so that you can't talk anymore." he pulled out his left ear cone to reveal a scythe-like weapon attached to a rope ligament.
"Baura." Sawatari instructed, the Doll raising its scales to block out the tossed scythe.
"Don't be so sure that I'll fall for the same trick twice." Mayuri continued dodging Baura. "He keeps hiding in his alternate dimension whenever he moves from one place to the next." he observed Baura diving into the ground. "He always appears whenever he's about to attack and eats whatever is near his target. In that case..." he lured both Sawatari and Baura into a bigger square. "This place is perfect." he landed in the middle of the square. "Now come out." he tossed eight explosives into the ground in front of him, causing the tiles to explode to create a cloud of dust. "I've found you, Bount." his eyes narrowed, spotting the clear shape in the midst of the dust cloud and tossed his scythe at his target. "The moment you leave your alternate dimension, you must eat anything that might be in your way." he reined Baura in. "It's easy for me to figure out where you are with so much stuff in the air. Rip, Ashisogi Jizō." with Baura held in place, he closed in and stabbed his Zanpakutō into Sawatari. "You're finished. What?" he gasped when Baura threw him off. "Seems like the cut was a bit too shallow." he noted. "After coming so far, I should be able to finish him quite easily. Oops," he correct himself. "I can't finish him off if I'm going to conduct experiments on him, now can I? I guess I'll just have to keep it at a level that doesn't kill him."
"I wonder if it will go that smoothly?" Sawatari taunted. "It would be troublesome if you forgot that we Bount are invincible in a world that's overflowing with Reishi. What?" he gasped, when he realized he could not absorb Reishi like before to heal his wounds. "How... that's impossible! This is..." he then realized his arm was paralyzed.
"Who is going to grovel here, huh?" Mayuri growled, kicking Sawatari off Baura and stepping on his injured arm. "Ashisogi Jizō has the ability to paralyze the opponent wherever he is cut." he stabbed his trident-like Zanpakutō into Sawatari's injured arm, deepening the wound. "It selectively disrupts the nerve signals sent to the limbs. On top of this, it only steals your ability to move." he deepened the stab. "Unlike normal paralysis, the pain does not disappear. Don't move." he warned Baura. "It seems that my Ashisogi Jizō works well against you Bount. This is yet another new discovery." he pulled out his Zanpakutō. "Now then, let's continue this in my research lab. There's no point in trying something." he cautioned.
"Baura, do it." Sawatari gave his Doll the go-ahead.
Opening its mouth, Baura ejected all the dust particles it had swallowed earlier at Mayuri.
Mayuri managed to jump into the wall to avoid getting swallowed by the dust wave, only to find Baura had taken the opening to escape with Sawatari.
Near the grounds of the Senzaikyū...
Baura reappeared from the ground.
"So then, how long will it take for him to feel my Reiatsu and come here?" Sawatari wondered.
"I'm already here." Mayuri cut in. "You were really slow in getting here, weren't you?" he appeared at the staircase.
"It can't be." Sawatari was shocked. "He's so quick."
"I could have finished you off the moment you reappeared, but I'm glad I didn't." Mayuri noted.
"How did you know where I was?" Sawatari demanded.
"I guess I have no choice." Mayuri sighed. "If you really insist, then I can tell you. There's a report from when the 10th Squad Lieutenant fought against you, stating that she was able to follow your movements by using the Bakudō: Kakushitsuijaku. In other words, even though you try to hide yourself in an alternate dimension, it's possible for me to follow you as long as I have such Reiatsu data. And in the real world, Kurosaki Ichigo was able to chase you by using Mod Souls that could locate your Reiatsu. And so, I invented this thing." he pulled out his Bount locator. "This is an amateur sensor that doesn't work if it doesn't have all the data it needs. It won't be able to tell me where all the Bount are, but I've already finished putting in my data on you. I worked hard to gather information from that group who went to the real world. That last fight of ours gave me the opportunity to finish collecting your Reiatsu data, allowing me to finish this device."
"Were you targeting me from the very start?" Sawatari inquired.
"Did you think that it was mere coincidence we were able to find each other in this vast Soul Society?" Mayuri chided. "After having absorbed so many souls and aging as a result, your body is optimum research material. Now then, all conversation ends now. Now, won't you come to my research lab? I'll learn more about the Bount as I study you. There's no point in trying to escape. My device has thoroughly memorized your Reiatsu pattern."
Sawatari suddenly burst out laughing. "It's not me who have been forced into a corner, but you. Baura!"
Opening its mouth, Baura fired off a Byakurai attack it had absorbed from the earlier fight against Matsumoto.
"He's absorbed all of the Reiryoku that the Shinigami have attacked us thus far." Sawatari explained as Baura fired off alternate Shakkahō and Byakurai blasts at Mayuri who ran to dodge the attacks. "Baura." he ordered, both of them giving chase after Mayuri, the combatants having taken the fight to lower grounds. Said Doll closed its mouth on Mayuri's exposed arm.
"Shit." Mayuri cursed, stabbing Baura with Ashisogi Jizō to free himself.
"This makes our pain even, I guess." Sawatari noted, the smoke clearing to reveal Mayuri had lost his entire arm again.
"You lowlife Bount." Mayuri hissed.
"I won't be able to stand up against him if he heals himself again." Sawatari realized. "I must finish him off before he uses that medicine again. Go, Baura."
"You bastard." Mayuri muttered. "Lowly experiment materials shouldn't act so cocky. I can't forgive you any longer. Bankai: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!" he manifested Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō. "Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō releases a deadly poison from its mouth that's made from my own blood. There's nowhere you can hide.
"Baura, swallow that poison." Sawatari injected the rest of his Reiryoku into his Doll when Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō released the poison.
"Don't get cocky." Mayuri spat. "I had thought about letting you live as my research subject, but that's over with. You're going to die here."
"Like I'll die in a place like this." Sawatari retorted. "I broke my clan's rules and absorbed countless numbers of living souls. As a result, my body has become like it is. But for the sake of power, I could not cease to absorb living souls. I did that in order to become leader of the Bount. It isn't Kariya."
Still absorbing the poison stream, Baura charged forward, biting Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō's head.
"I am the most worthy to become leader of the Bount." Sawatari declared.
"I wonder." Mayuri droned. "Go, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"
At his command, the caterpillar-like Bankai impaled its retractable blades into Baura's underbelly and forcing the weakened Doll off.
"Die!" Mayuri roared, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō charging in and ramming its blades into Baura. "I believe I said that there is nowhere to escape to." he reminded the defeated Sawatari. "It seems that you had the desire to become leader of the Bount, but going by the looks of it, that seems impossible."
"Wait," Sawatari pleaded. "I'll give you information on the Bount."
"What an eyesore." Mayuri sighed. "I no longer have any interest in you." he added
Overwhelmed by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō's poison, Sawatari dissolved into dust.
Omake: Kon-sama's Ultimate Shinigami Illustrated Guide
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto are running through Seireitei.
Kira: Captain Hitsugaya.
Matsumoto: Kira.
Kira: The Bount have broken in, haven't they? Where should the 3rd Squad stand guard?
Matsumoto: I forgot to notify you.
Hitsugaya: (Twitches as Kira sweatdrops) Matsumoto, you... it can't be helped, Kira. The 3rd Squad will guard the Northern Wall.
Kira: Understood.
Hitsugaya: (Casts a look at his Lieutenant) You didn't forget to notify any other Squads, did you?
Matsumoto: Of course not!
Scene cut to Ikkaku and Yumichika lounging in the 11th Squad barracks.
SailorStar9: In the next chapter, Ishida and Yoshi begin their battle, and Ishida realizes that the Quincy Bangle he is using does not allow him to properly focus his power. When Ishida is able to properly use the accessory and fire a powerful arrow, Yoshi is able to block it by changing the form of her doll Nieder into a fan. She then transforms her doll into a jian and knocks Ishida to the ground. Now that's done, read and review.