SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 15 out, this is Chapter 16 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 16: Life and Revenge! Ishida, the Ultimate Choice

"For me to have forgotten the false hope and endless suffering you have caused must be because of the Jōkaishō." Kariya realized. "But it's all over now. For the Bount who heeded your words and decided to live subserviently, and Soul Society which used for for its ends, with my own hands, I will blast it all to oblivion." powering up two wind tornadoes in his hands, he fired one at Ran'Tao, only to have the fallen Shinigami vanish into thin air. Kariya turned to see Ishida had used Hirenkyaku to to get Ran'Tao to safety.

"You're.." Ran'Tao gasped. "The Quincy."

"Kariya, I'm your opponent." Ishida declared.

"Kid, what are you talking about?" Kariya chuckled and easily side-stepped the arrow Ishida shot at him. "What?" he was stunned when Ishida took him from the back, firing off another arrow at him.

Amazing. Ran'Tao was shocked as she helped the weakened Tula to her feet. That Quincy has completely mastered his battle accessory.

"What's going on?" Kariya questioned, dodging the arrow. "Didn't that thing reach its limit in your battle against Yoshi?"

"This old battle accessory was made to help Quincy with weak Reiryoku." Ishida explained. "It force the Reishi to gather and then amplifies them. In other words, the Reishi will gather even if the person using it doesn't do anything. Up until now, I had been attacking by simply adjusting the energy output. I had definitely reached my limit of doing things that way. The air would become devoid of Reishi and eventually the accessory would go out of control. However, there is one other way to use it. For the most part, I can use the accessory as an amplifier and then use my own powers to focus the Reishi. When I do that, the amount of stress on the battle accessory decreases so that I can still fight, even in this condition. I was able to realize this by experiencing a battle that brought me clear to my limits."

He had said that he was using the tool because he lost his own Reiryoku. Ran'Tao mused. It's amazing that he has been able to make it so far in that condition.

"What's so funny?" Ishida demanded, hearing Kariya's laughter.

"Why are you helping the Shinigami when you have so much power?" Kariya inquired. "Aren't the Shinigami and Quincy supposed to be enemies?"

"Don't misunderstand me." Ishida corrected. "I'm not helping the Shinigami. I'm here in order to stop this pointless fighting."

"What bravado." Kariya snorted.

"Yoshino risked her life to defeat you." Ishida reminded. "She told me this: she told me you hate the Bount as well as the Shinigami. That powerful hate will eventually lead the destruction of the Bount. Yoshino knew; she knew that your actions were meaningless to the Bount. But in the end, no one was able to stop you. It may already be too late, but even so, I will stop you."

"I wonder if you can." Kariya countered.

"I can." Ishida insisted.

Kariya released a gust of wind in retaliation, Ishida's arrow easily cutting through and hit the roof Kariya was standing on.

Using Hirenkyaku, Ishida circled Kariya, firing off a series of energy arrows, Kariya's wind barrier blocking off the arrows, only to have several of them stab his chest and thigh. "It's over!" the archer went for the final blow.

"Don't underestimate me." Kariya retorted, letting loose a wind blade, which Ishida barely managing to dodge. "The Reishi in Seireitei are of much higher quality than the ones in Rukongai." he forced Ishida to the ground, the surrounding Reishi healing him. "It means that your attacks are meaningless as long as I have this power.

A crack in the battle accessory? Ran'Tao realized, seeing the Quincy Bangle was about to break apart.

"It seems that you can't completely eliminate the strain on that bow." Kariya noticed the same thing."

"It's not a problem." Ishida replied. "I just have to defeat you before this bow falls apart."

"Can you do it?" Kariya challenged. "I have all the Reishi in Seireitei."

"That goes for me as well." Ishida reminded, firing off his charged up arrow. Using Hirenkyaku again, he fired off another wave of energy arrows at Kariya, who used his wind tornado to deflect the attack.

"It seems your powerful arrows take a while to get ready." Kariya noted, skidding to a stop on the ground. "Inversely, there's very little power behind the rest of your attacks. On top of that, it seems that you don't have that much time left." he spotted the cracks that had started to form on the Quincy Bangle.

At this rate... Ran'Tao looked at the Jōkaishō crest in her hand.

"What's wrong?" Kariya ran to dodge Ishida's renewed attack. "Your attacks are getting weak." getting behind the archer, he kicked him back to the ground. "It's over, Quincy." he closed in for the final strike.

"Kariya!" Ran'Tao barked, assured that Seireitei's Commander-in-Chief had recovered enough to stand on her own. Activating the sealed chest, she took in the excess Reiryoku and shot towards Kariya.

"What is this Reiatsu?" Kariya winced. "You!" he raised his hand to strike, but Ran'Tao was a step faster when she stabbed him with a retractable pick.

"Now!" Ran'Tao shouted at Ishida. "Hurry up and shoot. Don't worry about me and shoot. Right now, I am just using Jōkaishō's power to temporarily increase my own Reiatsu. I can't hold out for long."

"There's no way I could do something like that." Ishida breathed.

"Shoot!" Ran'Tao insisted. "Don't let the Bount commit anymore sins against Tula-sama."

Left with no choice, Ishida powered up his final arrow and let it loose. "Ran'Tao." he managed to catch the Shinigami before she hit the ground.

"What about Kariya?" Ran'Tao asked.

"He's still alive." Ishida replied.

"You intentionally held back, didn't you?" Ran'Tao realized.

"It's okay." Ishida assured. "I'm going to finish him now."

"Well, that'll definitely put a wrench in your plans." Hasu pointed out, seeing the gathering Reishi surrounding Kariya. "Oh no..." she breathed when the Reiatsu Ran'Tao absorbed started to go berserk. "A backlash from the Jōkaishō?"

"Ran'Tao, hang on." Ishida hurried forward. "This battle accessory should be able to absorb the Reishi that are going out of control."

"You can't do that." Ran'Tao hissed. "Your battle accessory should be near its limit. Use your remaining power to defeat Kariya. Don't worry about me. I used that power knowing that this could happen. More importantly, hurry up. At this rate, Kariya will recover. Now is your only chance. Quincy, please... protect this world Tula-sama loves. "

"Ran'Tao, I can't just watch you die." Ishida made his decision. "Tula... Hasu, she loves the Shinigami who reside in this world more." absorbing the excess Reiryoku, he discharged the souped-up arrow into the sky. "That was my limit." he sighed, the Quincy Bangle shattering completely and causing him to lose his temporal Quincy outfit.

"Did you think you can escape?" the recovered Kariya questioned. "It seems that you lost your greatest chance to defeat me. And here you had just saved yourselves. This is as far as you go." he charged up a wind sword. "Die!" he shot the tornado towards Ishida.

Said Quincy watched wide-eyed, gawking as Hasu, in Tula mode, placed herself between him and the hurricane, a Reiryoku blast from the Command Staff dispelling the hurricane, just as Ichigo arrived onto the scene.

"Brats." Kariya growled, both brother and sister standing side-by-side.

Omake: Kon-sama's Ultimate Shinigami Illustrated Guide

Kira: For the Bount to have made it this far... we need to readjust our security setup.

Unranked Shinigami guard: Lieutenant Kira, we've captured something suspicious looking.

Kira: Is it a Bount?

Unranked Shinigami guard: At any rate, please come and see.

Hisagi: You're...!

Kon: (Twirls on the swirl chair in the 3rd Squad's office) Yo! I've kept you waiting, haven't I? The greatest sidekick has arrived.

Kira, Hisagi: (Unison sweatdrop) He came here, too?

S

ailorStar9: In the next chapter, Ichigo uses his Bankai and begins to fight Kariya. Ran'Tao reveals that there are multiple Jōkaishō scattered throughout the Soul Society that will detonate when Kariya uses his Jōkaishō, and Tula orders the Gotei 13 to sealing all of the Jōkaishō. Meanwhile, Ichinose arrives and attacks Ichigo, but turns his sword on Kariya, claiming that he did not join Kariya to watch him destroy the Soul Society. Kariya kills Ichinose, and reveals Messer in the form of a sword of wind. Now that's done, read and review.