Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Gundam Seed
Chapter Seventeen
Los Noches
Shani, Orga, Clotho ran through the corridors of Los Noches, heading towards Ulquiorra's Domain, when they felt the boss's spiritual pressure drop.
All three of them stopped. "The boss." Shani said fearfully. "If she dies..."
They all knew what would happen if the boss died. The big Boss would lock them back up. Back in those black cells.
"I'm not going back! I'm not going back!" Shani frantically shouted over and over again.
"Shut up dumbass!" Clotho yelled, interrupting Shani's mantra. "She's not dead!"
"That's enough! Leave him alone Clotho." Orga said. "All we have to do is grab the girl and bring her back to boss and have her heal the boss as good as new."
"What about the one who took her?" Clotho asked angrily. "We just gonna let them go?"
"Of course not." Orga replied. "It'll only takes one of us to take the girl back to the boss. The others can play with them."
Elsewhere
Chad had made it only a few feet when Keigo appeared in front of him.
"Hey Chad!" he greeted. "Where're yah going?"
"Keigo." he said. "I was going to go help Ichigo, but now I'm gonna save you."
Keigo groaned. "Not that again. I'm growing really tired of that. I don't need your help or for you to save me."
"It doesn't matter Keigo. I'm your friend and I'll help you even if you don't want it."
"Friend?" Keigo said bitterly. "And exactly what kinda friend were you? Or Ichigo for that matter? As soon as you guys got your powers, we became nothing to you. Because we didn't have powers of our own."
"That's not true Keigo." Chad said. "We didn't tell you guys because we were trying to protect you. Not because we thought you nothing."
"It doesn't really matter any more Chad." Keigo said. "The time for talk is over."
Keigo pulled out his kamas and spun them in his hands. Chad raised his arms and transformed them back into their armored forms.
"Hmm...An armored left arm and a new right arm. Let's see what they can do." Keigo said before throwing both of his kamas at him.
Elsewhere
Uryu and Pesche ran through the seemingly endless corridors of Los Noches. Uryu had felt both Rukia's and Ichigo's spiritual pressure drop to near nothing. Chad was some distance off while Renji was fairly close.
The two of them entered a rather large, square room with a number of large, randomly placed pillars and a doorway on each wall.
"Hello Uryu." Mizuiro said as he emerged from the hallway on their left. "Who's that weirdo?"
"Weirdo? I'm Pesche Guatiche. Of the Great Des-"
Mizuiro fire a bala at Pesche's feet, startling and interrupting Pesche.
"Sorry. I hate to interrupt people but you are way too annoying."
"Annoying?! I'm not-"
Mizuiro fired at another bala.
"Sorry again. But please stop talking or I will kill you first."
"Mizuiro." Uryu said as he drew his bow. "Why don't you save us all some time and surrender. You're no match for me."
"So arrogant." Mizuiro said as he shook his head. "You disgust me Uryu. Particularly your annoying habit of sparing your opponents. I told you the last time we met that this isn't a place of mercy. Mercy is something that only the weak possess and the weak can not survive here."
Uryu didn't say anything. Instead, he fired the two fastest arrow he had ever fired. Arrows aimed directly at his soul chain and soul sleep.
Mizuiro countered by firing a pair of balas. The balas and arrows impacted each other, canceling each other out.
"Trying to destroy my soul chain and soul sleep, Uryu?" Mizuiro said. "That's an absolutely dirty trick. And the most gulling part about it, is that you think of it as a mercy. A mercy! Taking away a person's purpose for living, then leaving them alive. And they call arrancar monsters. No one here is that cruel."
"I don't need to defend myself from you for doing that." Uryu said.
"Such arrogance. I'm going to enjoy destroying that arrogance before I kill you." Mizuiro said as he raised his hands.
Mizuiro fired a barrage of balas at him. Uryu dived out of the way, rolled and fired a barrage of arrows at him. Mizuiro ducked behind a pillar, dodging the shots. A second later, he emerged, firing more balas. Uryu leaped behind a nearby pillar, before firing another barrage of arrows.
The arrows destroyed the pillar but Mizuiro sonidoed away before they hit.
Mizuiro reappeared some distance behind him and fired a pair of ceros at him. Uryu dodged it with a Hirenkyaku. He reappeared to the left of Mizuiro and fired more arrows.
Mizuiro turned and fired balas, canceling the attack.
The two of them stood there for a moment, staring at each other.
"Is it over?" Pesche nervously asked from behind a pillar.
Both of them ignored him.
"Not bad Uryu. It seems I will not be able to beat you with balas alone." Mizuiro said as he drew his sword.
Uryu drew one of his Seele Schneiders. "So it seems."
"En garde."
The two sonidoed/Hirenkyaku and struck.
Elsewhere
Domain of the Fourth Espada
Ulquiorra was nearing Orihime's cell. He had felt the end of Kurosaki's and Tatsuki's battle. They had fought to draw. Though Kurosaki might as well as lost. No doubt, Tatsuki's Fraccion were currently dragging every nearby medic to her location. Probably not because they actually cared about her, but more due to the fact that if she died, Aizen-sama would likely lock them back up. The one thing they feared.
Once she was healed, Tatsuki would no doubt finish Kurosaki off and likely present his corpse to Aizen-sama.
As he neared Orihime's cell, Ulquiorra heard muffled shouting. No doubt, Menoly and Loly were tormenting the human girl. Ulquiorra didn't care, as long they weren't physically harming her.
Ulquiorra rounded the corner, only to find a gaping hole where the door to Orihime's cell was.
Suddenly, Menoly and Loly were thrown through the hole and hit the wall.
"Finishing move!!" a voice that he identified as Clotho's, shouted.
Ulquiorra, already knowing what was about to happen, sonidoed in front of the hole in the wall, intercepting the heavy, spiked ball on a black cable that was coming towards the two arrancar. Inside the room, he could see Shani, Clotho and Orga standing the room. There was no sigh of Orihime.
"What's going on here? Where is the girl?" Ulquiorra asked as he held the spherical breaker in one hand.
"Ulquiorra-sama! Thank you for saving us from these psychos." Menoly said as she and Loly stood up.
"Where is Orihime?" he asked again.
"We don't know." Loly said. "We were walking by when we saw the hole in the wall and found these three lunatics in here."
"Lairs!" Orga shouted. "We found you two here!"
"You're the lairs!" Menoly shouted back.
"Enough." Ulquiorra said, silencing the arguing arrancar.
Ulquiorra knew who was lying. Shani, Clotho and Orga, whether it was because of their psychosis or some other reason, were incapable of lying. Which meant that Menoly and Loly were lying.
He turned to the two females. "Where is Orihime?"
"We don't know." Loly frantically said. "We told you, we found these psychos here when we got here."
"You are lying. I want the truth or I will allow them to continue what they were doing."
The girls' faces paled. "Alright." Menoly said. "We were in the cell when the girl was still here."
"Why?" Ulquiorra asked.
Menoly mumbled out something that sounded like, "Playing with her."
Ulquiorra knew what that meant. They had been torturing the human. Against Aizen-sama's orders.
"What happened to her?" he demanded.
"Grimmjow came and took her." Loly said.
Ulquiorra knew at once what the ex-Espada was planning. Grimmjow wished to beat both Kurosaki and Tatsuki, to prove he was stronger. He let go of Clotho's zanpaku-to. Clotho pulled it back. Ulquiorra turned to the three Fraccion and said, "Grimmjow is taking her to Tatsuki's Domain. He wishes to fight Tatsuki and Kurosaki. I will go get her."
Ulquiorra started to walk towards the Sixth Espada's Domain. "Shani, Orga, Clotho, do what you want to those two, but do not kill them and lock them up when you're done. I will deal with them later."
Ulquiorra heard the three chuckle darkly while Loly and Menoly screamed as he walked away.
Elsewhere
"Not bad Chad." Keigo said as pulled back his kamas again.
Chad just stood there, his arms raised in a defensive stance. He had blocked every shot Keigo had thrown at him. But Chad had a feeling that Keigo was playing with him.
"Let's see how you handle something a little faster." Keigo said before sonidoing away.
Chad quickly drove his left elbow behind him and into Keigo's stomach.
Keigo stumbled back a few steps and coughed up a little bit of blood. "You've gotten faster." Keigo commented. "Good. At least now you're a bit of a challenge. But you're..."
Kiego sonidoed again and reappeared on his right. "Still..."
"Not..." A second Keigo said from his left.
"Fast..." A third Keigo said from behind him.
"Enough." they said as one.
They all sonidoed and attacked. Chad felt six separate blades slash across his body. The four blades on the sides, he blocked with his arms, while the two that came from behind cut into his back. The cuts were shallow but painful.
"See Chad. You can't beat me. Why not surrender Chad. Who knows maybe Aizen-sama will let you live in his world once he wins."
"He won't win Keigo."
"Maybe, maybe not." Keigo said. "But that's not why we're here."
"No it's not." Chad said as started running at Keigo, charging an El Directo as he ran.
Keigo smirked and sonidoed to intercept him. But that's exactly what Chad wanted. At the last second, Chad used his own high speed move, catching Keigo completely off guard. Chad reappeared behind him and attacked. Slamming his fist into Keigo's back. Keigo screamed as he flew forward, skidding across the white sands.
Keigo groaned as he picked himself up. "Damn...That hurt. I have to admit, that was a surprise Chad. So, what'd you call that move?"
"I haven't thought up a name for it yet."
"Too bad. You're never gonna get a chance." Keigo said with a grin. "Time for round two!"
Keigo sonidoed. Chad raised his shield arm. The kamas struck the shield, but it held. Chad punched at Keigo with his left hand. His fist impacted Keigo's face, sending him flying.
"Ow...Okay, now I'm getting annoyed." Keigo said as he got up.
Keigo sonidoed again and reappeared in three different locations around him, charging a cero.
"Last time I did this I keep on moving between the same three spots and attacked you three separate times." Keigo said. "This time however, I can only fire one cero at you. But the question is, where's it gonna come from?"
That was the question. Three different directions. Three different sides he could be attacked from. Chad did the only thing he could. He moved into a defensive stance and braced himself for the attack.
"Bang!" the Keigo on his left said before firing the cero.
Elsewhere
Uryu wasn't fairing all that well. Though they were both about equal in terms of skill with a sword. Mizuiro had one major advantage. He could fire his ceros and balas with one hand, where as he needed both hands to fire an arrow. This meant that Mizuiro was able to fire a bala every time they crossed swords.
Which he did just about every time they crossed swords.
Fortunately, he managed to Hirenkyaku out of it's path every time. Unfortunately, anytime he tried to fire off an arrow, Mizuiro would attack with his sword.
Uryu found himself, slowly being beaten back. If he couldn't come up with a plan to disable Mizuiro, he would lose.
Suddenly, an idea came to him.
"Pesche!" he shouted as he parried a sword swing.
"What?!" the odd hollow asked.
"Do you have any of your Infinite Slick ready?!" Uryu asked as he swung his sword at Mizuiro.
"Sure! Why?!"
"What are you two babbling about, Uryu?" Mizuiro asked. "You think that weakling can save you?"
Uryu smirked. "He's not going to save me, he's going to help me defeat you."
Uryu lunged at him, attempting to stab Mizuiro. Mizuiro blocked the attacked and rised his free hand to fire a cero. But before he could, Uryu drew another Seele Schneider and stabbed it through his hand.
"AAAAARGH!!" Mizuiro screamed in agony as back off and tried to pull it out.
Uryu stabbed Mizuiro's sword arm with the other Seele Schneider and grabbed him. "Now Pesche! Spray him with all you got!"
"But you're-"
"NOW!"
Pesche complied and sprayed all of the Infinite Slick at the two. At the last possible second, Uryu preformed a Hirenkyaku and avoided being hit with the Slick, leaving Mizuiro to get covered in the Slick.
"Gah!" Mizuiro shouted in disgust as the two Seele Schneiders slowly slid out of his wounds.
"What?! What is this?!"
Suddenly, Mizuiro lost his grip on his sword.
"It's called Infinite Slick." Uryu explained. "Though it really shouldn't be called Infinite. But that's a whole other thing. Basically, it's a chemical substance that completely removes an object's friction."
"What?!" Mizuiro shouted in disbelief.
Mizuiro took a step forward...only to slip, lose his balance, fall on his face and slide across the ground in a comical manner, cursing as it happened.
"Pesche, how long does you're Slick last?" Uryu asked.
"About an hour."
"Okay." Uryu said as he pulled out two Seele Schneiders.
Mizuiro came to a stop when he hit a wall. Mizuiro tried to get up, only to slip and fall. Uryu planted the two blades on both Mizuiro, just past his feet. He drew two more and planted them just past his head. He then pulled out four small containers, filled with his spiritual energy. He used a Hirenkyaku and planted one about six feet above each blade. When he did, a beam of reiatsu stretched out from the containers to the swords and to each other. Creating a cell. One that fed on the reiatsu in the air to sustain itself. It would last indefinitely until he released it.
"It looks like you weren't able to...What was it? Destroy my arrogance and kill me." Uryu said as he picked up the two Seele Schneiders from earlier and started to walk away. "Don't worry Mizuiro. Once I rescue Orihime, I'll come back and get you."
"Arrogant bastard." he heard Mizuiro cursed.
Mizuiro watched as that arrogant quincy left. Uryu was a fool. He was far from beaten.
Once the quincy and that hollow was gone, he licked his arm. Sampling that substance that coated his body. His mind quickly analyzed the substance and came up with a counter agent. Mizuiro applied the agent to his body, nullifying the 'Slick'.
Mizuiro stood up. Now to break out of the cage. He poked one of the walls of his cage. He received a mild shock. He fired a cero at a wall. Nothing. He wasn't about to break any of these walls any time soon. Not without releasing his zapaku-to anyway. Which he couldn't do as it was outside the cage.
Mizuiro glanced at the ground beneath his feet.
'I wonder...'
He backed into a corner and floated a few inches above the ground and fired a cero.
The ground exploded, leaving a large hole.
Mizuiro smirked. The arrogant fool didn't realize that his cage didn't cover the ground.
Now the quincy would pay for his foolishness.
Elsewhere
Domain of the Sixth Espada
Grimmjow dragged Orihime into a new chamber. This room was heavily damaged. There were cracks in walls and the floor, one of the rows of pillars that lined the walls were completely destroyed and there was a big gaping hole in the wall.
Grimmjow picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Then he jumped out of the hole.
When they reached the ground, Orihime heard the sounds of a little girl crying, but couldn't see who as her head was behind Grimmjow's back.
Grimmjow set her on the ground and undid the bindings on her wrists. Orihime turned around and saw a sight that instantly brought tears to her eyes.
Lying on was Ichigo and Tatsuki. Both had numerous cuts all across their bodies as well as the other's sword through their chests. The crying was coming from a little green haired arrancar girl, who was trying desperately to remove Tatsuki's sword from Ichigo's chest.
"Pathetic." Grimmjow growled as stepped towards her fallen friends.
Grimmjow grabbed the little arrancar and without even a glance tossed her to the side and then pulled out the swords from Ichigo's and Tatsuki's chests.
"Heal them. Both of them." Grimmjow ordered.
"What?"
"Do you have a hearing problem or something? Heal them. I won't fight half-dead opponents."
Orihime, seeing on other option, complied with his orders.
"Soten Kishun. I reject." Orihime said, summoning Shuno and Ayame to heal Ichigo and Tatsuki.
She been healing them for all of a minute when Orihime heard the familiar static buzz of a sonido. She and Grimmjow turned around and saw Ulquiorra standing there.
"What are you doing Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asked in his usual monotone.
"What does it look like? I'm gonna fight and kill both Kurosaki and Arisawa and regain my number."
"I can not allow you to heal Kurosaki. He is an enemy. He must be destroyed, not healed."
Grimmjow smirked. "I thought you might say that."
Grimmjow suddenly lunged at Ulquiorra and grabbed him by the collar of his coat.
"Do you honestly believe that you can beat me Grimmjow?"
"I can. But I'm not here to fight you." he replied as he pulled some out of his pocket and slammed it into Ulquiorra's chest.
"What-" was all Ulquiorra said before he was pulled into a black hole and disappeared.
"That'll hold him for a couple of hours." Grimmjow said. "Hurry up and heal them, girl."
Orihime resumed healing her friends. Their injuries were severe. She found it difficult to heal Ichigo's wounds in particular but Tatsuki wasn't that much better.
"Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened.
Next Chapter: The Release Forms will be revealed.
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