Okay chapter 6 and am already hitting quite the word count and only six chapters in.
okay so some action in this, not as long as the last because I have decided to save most action for the chapter after this. This will my first shot at writing action if any of you who ready this have any tip of improving how I write it please go write a head.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its original characters.
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Zanpaktou speaking"
"Zanpaktou thinking"
'Zanpaktou/kido techniques/hollow attacks/quicy attacks'
All throughout Seireitei could be heard the spine chilling screams of hollows all seeking out one thing, their next meal and currently soul reapers where on the menu.
Up on the Sokyoku Hill watching in horror as Garganta after Garganta opened all around Seireitei are some of soul society's strongest soul reapers, a bunch ryoka and currently 4 of Soul Society newest worst traitors who have probably just made history.
Aizen watched in twisted satisfaction as the ever growing horde of Hollows began their hunt within the reishi stone jungle. The Head Captain and his fellow captains along with some lieutenants starred in a frozen mixtures of anger, fear or despair as the hollows began their attack on the unprepared soul reapers. Ichigo and his group also watched helplessly in fear as the ever growing number of masked beasts attacked all over the city, if the hollows where to come after them what could they do to defend themselves, Chad was possibly the only one in any sort of fighting condition but even then their was only so many he could fend off in his current state.
Soifon and Haelen were not unaffected by the site. This place at one point or another used to be their home and now it was being attacked by the very beast that caged souls that soul reapers swore to free from imprisonment. They did not like the sight before them, yes the Seireitei possessed it's bad and corrupt individuals who have wronged them and others in the past, but it was also a place filled with a lot of good and kind people who just want to do good with their lives, who want to protect innocents from the very creatures that were attacking right now and anything else which may lurk in the shadows.
When Aizen saw all the captains and Ryoka no longer focused on him and his followers he gestured to them subtly to follow him which they responded to with equally subtle nods, and quickly began flash stepping off into the direction of the main Senkaimon of Seireitei.
The head captain and Haelen where the first to spot the absence of Soul Society most wanted and cursed at letting themselves getting distracted, even if it was by the arrival of most of Huaco Mundos population.
Seeing all of his men confused, panicked or frozen with anger Yamamoto decided it was time to get them back to work, and with that he slammed his cane on the ground, creating and echoing thud which snapped them all out of whatever thoughts they were having "focus all of you! yes we are under attack and no it is not the end so stop reacting like it is!" he shouted with a voice filled with a 1000 years of hardened authority "you are soul reapers!, soul society's strength have you all forgotten that! if this is how you are reacting how do you think your squad mates are" the old captain could see he had gotten through to them all when he saw the shocked and ashamed looks on their faces at the mentions of their squads "so enough acting like recruits straight out of the academy and go defend your barracks! and purify as many hollows as you can in the process!" ordered the ancient captain who got firm nods from everyone of his subordinates who are all now sporting looks filled with determination and resolve.
Kyouraku who had come down from his shock turned to Nanao who had done the same "Nanao I want you to go with Ukitake and help him defend his barracks" Nanao looked ready to protest but was stopped when he raised his hand to let him continue "no arguments, with his seated officers in recovery at the 4th and his recent match with old man Yama he is in no state to defend his barracks alone, and dont worry I will be fine on my own and will work double the effort to make up for your absence" he proclaimed in a serious and stern voice which left Nanao with no room to argue so she just nodded and headed over to Ukitake who had heard the whole thing.
Ukatake looked at Nanao and smiled gently at the girl "thank you Nanao I know it must be difficult for you to let him go alone, but he is right after all that has happened so far I really am not in the best of shape to go on my own" he confirmed, feeling grateful that she was going to help him.
Nanao shook her head "no it's fine, Captain Kyouraku will be fine and he is right you need my assistance more than he does, I know he will do his best to protect the barracks, and besides I don't know what I was so worried about it's just doing his paperwork and drinking habits I can't trust him with" she stated professionally until the last parts where she took on a frown and an annoyed tone of voice, with one of her eyebrows subtle twitching at the thought of captains bad habits while occasionally pushing the one side of her glasses up and down.
Ukitake gentle laughs at the girl annoyance in her captain and he couldn't blame her Shunsui is very neglectful of the boring sides of being a captain which was the paperwork and does his enjoys too much alcohol. Though may have his bad habits he does train very hard when no one's looking as to keep up his act of being a lazy captain and to keep his abilities secrets from any prying eyes, he may seem open and not have a care in the world but Shunsui Kyouraku didn't become a captain by being a simple open book to everyone who wants to read.
Kyouraku who overheard his lieutenant' talk good about him felt great and on top of the world for the few short seconds it lasted, until she berated him of his irresponsibility which pretty much knocked him down from his high pretty hard "oh my sweet Nanao how your words cut deeper than any sword could ever hope" he dramatically thought while a small thunder cloud hung over his head before he flash stepped away to defend his barracks.
Ukitake who catched the last few moments of Kyouraku small depression before he flashed stepped away, felt pretty bad for his old friend but also a little amused that Nanao could get to him like that. The white haired captain turned back to the glasses wearing lieutenant "so shall we leave I don't think the hollows are going wait for use and I don't want to leave my men to fend by themselves" said Ukitake to the glasses wearing lieutenant who firmly nodded in response before they too flash stepped away to their objective.
At the same time as that was happening Rangiku started flashing over to go help defend her barracks. She knew she would have to help and make up for her captain since he was currently in the 4th due to receiving a bad injury from Aizen at the central 46. If it wasn't for the hollow she knew she would be mulling over Gin's current betrayal, but she had to push that to the back of her head she needed to help defend the 10th from the incoming horde.
At the same time as Rangiku, Omaeda who was scared to the point of forgetting his appetite had also began his journey to go and defend his squads barracks. He was fearing the fact that he would have to explain to the whole of the 2nd why their captain was not with him.
Iba was picking up his now barely conscious but seriously wounded wolf faced captain. He would first take his captain to the 4th for treatment and rush over to the 7th to proceed in its defence. With his captain injured he will have to work twice as hard in order to keep his squads barracks safe "but then again what about the fourth they don't really have any fighters amongst their ranks, not even their captain is know for fighting" Iba frowned at that fact and wondered if he should stay around in order to help defend.
Hisagi who was feeling very betrayed by his captain began his journey to go and defend the 9th all the while imaging the effects that the news about their captains betrayal will have on the squad "I will tell them after all this hollow mess is over, at least that way their moral won't fall during battle" he reasoned before picking up his pace.
The head captain turned to his lieutenant "Chojiro I order you to return to the 1st and defend it with your life and I want you to also send a message to the 12 division, I want you to ask in that message if they possess a counter to all this hollow bait that is infesting the air" ordered the ancient captain to his old friend and loyal lieutenant who simply nodded in understanding.
Before leaving Chojiro had one question on his mind "um sir what will you be doing in the mean time?" asked the curious man.
Yamamoto's eyes hardened as did his grip on his cane while his spiritual energy literally began heating up "am going after those lowly traitors, they are not leaving here unless they are ashes being carried by the wind!" he stated more as a fact then a threat before flash stepping in their direction before anyone could even think to stop him.
Seeing his captain already gone out of his range Chojiro decided to follow his captain orders and begin making his way to the 1st where he will be organizing the troops, and send the message to the 12th requesting a means of cleansing the air of the hollow bait. With his objective in mind Chojiro paid his farewell to the hills remaining occupants before making his way to the 1st and flickering away in a flash step.
So left remaining on the hill was Soifon, Haelen, Yoruichi, the Kuchiki siblings, a slowly recovering Renji and finally Ichigo and his group. Not a bad party really.
Orihime who at some point had been asked by Rukia to help heal her brother looked to be having a real uphill struggle with healing the pair of captain level soul reapers, she was beginning to sweat and her breathing was growing laboured from the struggle of healing the pair. Suddenly she started feeling some of her energy come back and was feeling a pleasant warm sensation originating from her upper back.
When Orihime turned to see what was causing the feeling she found herself coming face to face with none other than Soifon, her cloak was now removed showing her black and gold patterned haori. Soifon hands were placed on Orihime's back with her palms glowing with a warm soft green energy.
Orihime quickly recovered from her confusion on seeing the girl behind"um hi Soifon isn't it?" she asked and got a nod with a small smile attached "um may I asked what are you doing?" she asked again a little nervous of what the woman may be doing to her with that green energy.
Hearing the girl nervousness Soifon thought it best to ensure her that she didn't have any negative intentions"oh don't worry red this is just a kaido, a kido which is made for healing, what it's doing right now is that it's replenishing your spirit energy, I thought since you were beginning to look a little tired that you could use my help in keeping supplied" she explained in a honest tone which quickly put orihime's nerves at ease and since she could feel her energy returning she knew the grey eyed woman wasn't lying to her.
As Orihime proceeded with her healing of Ichigo and Byakuya, Soifon could see that the red-headed girl was having an easier time healing the captain than she was with Ichigo. Soifon focused her senses on the boy and quickly felt the problem "hey kid with the black sword" called Soifon to Ichigo which got his attention.
Ichigo stared at the stranger who went by the name the name Soifon at bit annoyed that she called him kid but decided to let it go "what is it?" he asked with a voice that held a bit of annoyance and his usual scowl in place.
Soifon pointed to his blade for a sec before quickly placing her hand back on Orihime's back which go a small relieved sigh from the girl "is that your Bankai?" she asked curiously, he nodded to her.
Ichigo was expecting to get some snarky comment on his Bankai like he did from Byakuya and was just waiting to bite back at the girl "is it a compression type?" she asked seeking more detail. Ichigo looked at the girl a bit confused by the question, he knew his Bankai compressed his power but he didn't know that it was a type or that their was categories for Bankai's.
Soifon sighed she could see that the boy doesn't know much, and she could also see Byakuya looking also as confused for some reason "well from the look on your face I can see you don't know what has happened to your spirit energy thanks to that Bankai of yours" stated Soifon with a tone not really giving anything away about her thoughts on the young man's Bankai.
Everyone who was in hearing range of Soifon grew interested about what she had to say on Ichigo's Bankai. Ichigo himself was really curious, he really would like to know abit more about his Bankai he really didn't have much time to learn everything about what Tensa Zangetsu was truly capable of or how it fully worked.
Soifon seeing she had everyone's attention all of sudden decided to start explaining "well kid you're Bankai their is a rare type of Bankai which only a few ever get to wield" she said gaining everyone's interest further "it's a compression type which does not just take your spirit energy and simply increase it but in fact also condense it down into a more potent type" this had everyone accept Haelen and Yoruichi in awe at the statement on Ichigo's Bankai, even Byakuya's eyes widened a little at the new information, he didn't think for a second think it was something rare.
Ichigo was practically over the moon on the reveal of his Bankai "yes my Bankai is awesome wait..." Ichigo's head began to slowing turn to face Byakuya carrying a shit eating grin on his face as he did so "and you said my Bankai wasn't even a real Bankai hahaha! well look who possess a Bankai rarer than mister all noble captain over here" taughted Ichigo in a tone so full of smug you would think he might choke on it.
Byakuya couldn't think of any come back and just decided to huff and look away just making Ichigo's face splitting grin grown to a new dangerous level, his bad mood from being so brutally beaten by Aizen begin to wash away to the back of his mind.
Soifon looked at Byakuya a bit surprised that he would ever say something like that or have no knowledge on the existence of such rare Bankai's, but she decided the leave it and further explain "but don't get carried away kid it's also because of this that with it comes risks, you see your body is gonna have to get use to wielding the power of you Bankai internally since a good amount of that compressed power goes into your body from the feel of it, furthermore it is also your responsibility to find out the full extent of what your Bankai can do, since I have heard that these compression types always have some secret abilities to them that you will have to work to find out" explained Soifon who words shocked Ichigo.
Ichigo looked at Tensa Zangestu and wondered "so there must be more to my Bankai I have yet to discover, I did kind of rush it and haven't had much training with it" pondered Ichigo deciding that when he gets back he will practice and find out what secrets his Bankai possess. Ichigo then started processing the other piece of information Soifon revealed to him "she also mentioned needing to internally adjust to my Bankai, if I remember that thing said something about my bones being under pressure….huh I sure hope that guy doesn't come back again" as Ichigo thought on the last bit his grip began to tighten around Tensa's hilt from growing tense at memory of that thing inside of him.
Soifon seeing Ichigo had gone into his thoughts gave cough to get his attention back which it did, she did spot his slightly fearful look but decided to put any question away for now "and that brings me to the final part of this topic, because of you now denser spirit energy you're giving red over here a much harder time healing you than if your were not in Bankai" she informed the spiky haired sub soul reaper who looked to over to see Orihime still breathing heavily.
Realizing he was the one causing Orihime problems Ichigo released his Bankai and watched as black flame like spirit energy covered him and Zangetsu for a moment before dissipating and leaving behind Ichigo back in the normal set of shinigami robes still with one sleeve missing, and back with his big meat cleaver like blade where was once the black katana of his Bankai.
Soifon and Haelen who was a few feet away from the group tending to a groddy Renji whistled when they saw Ichigo's Shikai"Kukaku was not kidding when she described the thing as being as nearly big as him" studied the pair impressed at the size of the blade.
Orihime let loose a huge sigh of relief when Ichigo undid his Bankai "it was like trying to heal through a wall" she thought amazed by how difficult it was to heal him. Orihime was also beginning to feel worlds better thanks to fact that her energy was returning faster than she was burning it now, thanks to Soifon spotting the problem and further restoring her power.
Over with Haelen who was nearly done with restoring Renji's spiritual energy and closing up his various wounds was brought to the attention of someone standing near him. When he looked up he found himself being stared down at by Yoruichi "may I help you miss Yoruichi" asked Haelen in a polite tone, though he could guess why she was looking at him like that, and he doesn't think it is because of the mask either.
Yoruichi frowned at the man she didn't know how to react to him, he turns up here with Soifon, performs some never before seen Bakudo and was currently healing Renji like an expert, what really had her most curious was his connection with her old prodigy "who are you? and what is your relationship with Soifon?" she less asked and more demanded to know. She was worried she doesn't know what this man might have done to Soifon and with the skill he has shown, who knows what he might be capable of doing.
Haelen laughed a little at the woman's demand, which only seemed to turn her frown into a straight up scowl "straight to the point I see and here I was expecting some teasing from you like Soifon would described in her stories of you" commented Haelen.
Yoruichi was surprised to hear that Soifon told this man stories of her, she didn't know whether to feel happy that she did or worried that maybe some intel on her skills had been leaked to a possible threat.
Seeing the mixed feelings on the woman's face the masked man decided the clear things up "dont worry all the stories she told me where about her times with you and dont panic, I don't plan on becoming your enemy any time soon if that's what you're thinking" ensured Haelen trying clear up the tension between him and dark skinned woman.
Yoruichi breathed a sigh, deciding to believe him for now "ok but what is your relationship with soifon?" asked Yoruichi curious on what this guy is to her little bee. Soifon never let many people close to her, she always kept herself at a distance never really telling her much about herself, so it was strange seeing her little bee interact with some so openly and smoothly like she did with the masked stranger.
Seeing that Renji wounds where now closed and that his spirit energy was now also stable, Haelen stood back up onto his feet and turned to the dark skinned woman "me and soifon are in a beautiful relationship" spoke Haelen in a frank manner. His words made Yoruichi turn pale and become slack jawed as did others who overheard ever the ever stoic Byakuya's mouth open a little in shock, it had that much impact.
Orihime who was the most shocked of all, though she had different thought to everyone else "this girl is dating an alien super hero amazing!" she assumed in amazement and thought of the many beautiful adventures they had in afterlife space.
Soifon at the time face palmed along with Suzumebachi "god dammit dad! I asked you not to do this" she thought annoyed at where he was planning on going with this.
As everyone was ever speechless or annoyed in Soifon case, Haelen continued on with his little declaration "yes me and soifon in are in.." he began as he placed his palms together "the beautiful relationship of..." he brought his connected palms over his head and parted them leaving him standing in a Y shape "FATHER AND DAUGHTER!" he declared with maximum enthusiasm as rainbows, confetti and sparkles went of in Haelen's background.
Those who didn't know Soifon stared dumbfounded at his words and looked at Soifon with sympathy especially Ichigo knowing what it's like having a crazy dad. Orihime thought Soifon had the coolest dad ever. Yoruichi and Byakuya on the other hand stared in shock at the mans declaring to be Soifon's father and were having trouble processing it.
Yoruichi was gonna try and dig further into what the man meant by being Soifon's dad, but stop when she saw the green lenses and lines of his suit turn silver and saw him stiffen and then laugh a little with what she could only guess was excitement for something.
Soifon seeing the green of her father's suit turn silver knew what it meant but had to check "dad" she started carrying growing excitement in her voice "is it time?" she asked. When he turned to her she could tell he must have the biggest smile on his face under that black mask.
Haelen looked at his daughter feeling massively happy he would finally get to see her with his own eyes, no longer having to see her though lenses, he would finally be able to touch her for real, feel the sun on his skin once again, feel the cool air in his lungs and be able to do stuff he hasn't been able to do while in it "man I hope she takes me back Soifon isn't the only one who hasn't gotten any in loooooooooooooong time, god I wonder is am still any good at it" he thought at the end getting slightly depressed at remembering his dry spell, really long dry spell at that.
Soifon stared at her dad still not getting any response yet "um dad hello, OI!" she shout at the end which got his attention "is it time now?" she asked a little annoyed that she had to repeat herself.
Haelen laugh a little embarrassed about spacing out at a time like this "yes yes it is, since I'm done you must have been done some time ago" said Haelen to Soifon who nodded with her smile transforming into a smirk.
Soifon got up and started walking over to her masked father all the while thinking "yes finally I can get rid of these restraints and let loose oh! and finally get to see his face, I have waited for this day for so long I just wish their was less hollows around they are a real mood killer sometimes" thought the young woman who was finding it hard to not bounce around like a hyper kid.
Once Soifon was in front of Haelen she decided to ask the order of things "so who goes first me or you? since their are hollows everywhere one is gonna have to guard the other" she said stating her view of the situation.
Haelen didn't need to think that much on the matter"you" he said while he poked her on the forehead lightly "your suit is a better model to mine, so your release from it will be more efficient and far less destructive in comparison to mine" explained Haelen to Soifon who nodded in agreement with his points.
The rest of the people looked at the pair confused at what they were talking about but the mention of destruction had them on guard.
Before Haelen or Soifon could continue with their discussion Rukia interrupted them "hey what are you two talking about suits? release? destruction!? what does all that mean?" she asked frantic about what the pair where talking about.
Seeing that they were causing some panic amongst the group with their talk Haelen steped forward in order to explain as best as he could"well as you can see with me for example am wearing this well strange suit " everyone except Orihime nodded in agreement on the strange part "yeah well I don't where this because I want too, am wearing it because I couldn't take it off without their being problems" he said making the seriousness of it as clear as possible.
Yoruichi who was looking on with an unreadable look stepped forward "what kind of problem are we talking about? and what does Soifon have to do with this? she does not look to be wearing a suit at all" asked the dark skinned woman while gesturing to Soifon.
Haelen turned to look at the Yoruichi before speaking "you're wrong she does have suit but not one like mine and I would not ever dream of putting her into one of these horrid models, you see what I'm wearing is a very, very old model and what Soifon has on is one of the newer ones which is without a lot of the bigger and smaller problems of mine" explained Haelen to the group, but could see that they were still lost on what he was talking about.
Haelen sighed not wanting to have to go into long detail about this, plus with the hollows attacking this wasn't the best time to start presenting to them about his super awesome workout suit, not his model the new one "okay I would love to explain to you all more about this but we really don't have time to go into detail, so here is what's going to happen" he said getting all those who may have been in their thoughts to refocus"I will erect a barrier for Soifon here to release in, then I will erect a second barrier connected to the first, everyone who is injured or weakened will get into that one, with you all in the same spot I won't have as much of a problem defending you all" said Haelen who got some unsure looks from everyone until he spoke again this time bone chilling sweet "is their a problem with my plan?" he asked everyone and received frantic synchronized "no" from everyone, which pleased him greatly.
Yoruichi who came out of her brief spout of terror spoke up "wait" she said getting Haelen attention "am not injured much so am okay to not go in the barrier, so I will help you defend" she declared with a stern voice which left no room for arguments.
Haelen looked over to Soifon to see what she thinks, she turns to look at Yoruichi "sure go right ahead Yoruichi am sure these hollows will be no problem for you" she said feeling confident in her old mentor's strength.
Yoruichi grins and nods to Soifon happy she wasn't treating her like some delicate piece of jewellery. Haelen just shrugs and walks over to a sizeable part of the hill to start building the barrier upon. "okay the first barrier" thought Haelen as he placed his palms on the floor which began to glow with silver spirit energy which shot off to the left and right in a straight line for a dozen meters before stopping to then shoot straight forward, when the lines of silver energy had reached their destination they stopped and shot towards each other and connected forming a perfect silver glowing square.
Once the square was formed the four points of the square began to glow brighter than the rest. Out of those four points erected four lines of energy that stood for about twelve feet, from the tips of erect lines come more lines of silver energy which then began connecting with the tips of the other polls of energy until it formed another perfect square.
Once the skeleton of his barrier was finished Haelen began completing it by filling in all the empty spaces with solid golden spiritual energy. All sides of the now cube line barrier where smooth flat solidified energy, but the top of barrier was different in the center was a circle which had deep triangular grooves going to the centre giving it the appearance of some sort of vent.
Seeing his first barrier Haelen turned to Soifon "okay Soi bee it's ready for you, come here so I can unlock your suit" requested the masked father to his daughter who nodded.
As Soifon walked over to her father she undid the yellow sash and took of her black and gold haori leaving only the chest of her torso covered in that bandage like material. She then proceeded to hand her haori over to her father "here I don't want to run the risk of damaging it" she explained to her father who nodded in understanding and was happy that she valued it so much.
When Haelen took Soifon's haori with his left hand for safe keeping, he lifted his right hand and outstretched his first index finger which began to glow silver with spirit energy, quickly the energy began to mold and solidified into a shape. When the silver flame like energy died down it revealed attacked to the end of Haelen's finger was a glowing silver key.
Seeing the key was done Haelen turned to Soifon and began to move the key towards just below the centre of her rib cage to where her Soul sleep was located. As his hand approached a golden marking began to appear over the area of her Soul sleep it was shaped like the stinger marking on the back of her haori with a key hole glowing in the centre "ahh it's been awhile since I have seen this seal, I still remember when she requested to have it look like Suzumebachi's stinger " Haelen began recalling the memory of that day.
Flashback
Haelen was strolling down a hallway heading to the place he knew Soifon was. It had been a few years since he had taken the role of her father and was quickly adapting to it.
After her body was fixed he had began training her in how to use and control her newly discovered strength and potential. To say he was impressed by the strives she has made in just the few short years would be an understatement. She was quickly beginning to master the 99 hado's and bakudo's and was on her way to learning barriers and seals.
Her connection with Suzumebachi was growing stronger and stronger with each passing day and now with her body and power being at the level they should have been to begin with, that was also being reflected in her zanpaktou.
Her physical power, skill and appearance have of course been the most noticeable changes out of everything. He still couldnt get over how much she matured "kids they grow up so fast" he thought amused by how true it was "and given how she has been acting I may need to take her to the world of living so she can fulfill some of her…cough!...needs" he decided to note down, he has come to notice that Soifon's spirit energy has been a bit frustrated and that sometimes she would zone out and blush often and munbal stuff about boobs and curvy figures to name a few "cant blame her for acting like that, she's practically going through a second puberty only this one's probably more intense and harder to control than the first time round" mused Haelen feeling a little sorry for her.
Haelen stopped outside of one of the many bathroom doors in Dragons Mouth, he could sense Soifon was in their. Haelen knocked on the bathroom door and spoke "hey Soifon you in their?" he asked knowing she was in there but decided to asked any way.
A few seconds later Haelen got a replied "yeah i'm in here, what do want? am kind of trying to enjoy my bath in here" came the slightly annoyed voice of Soifon who was not appreciating being interrupted.
Haelen hearing the tone decided he would make this quick so she could get back to enjoying her bath "well my little honey bee I am in the middle of forging your suits seal and was wondering if you have any particular look you would like it to have" he answered sound excited about it. He enjoyed making stuff out of spiritual energy especially art and Haelen saw his seals as a work of art, even if they didn't look like the prettiest of things in the world, if it worked flawlessly then it was piece of art to him.
After he made his purpose clear he could hear some mumbling coming from the other side of the door "she must be talking with Suzumebachi" whispered the masked man to himself.
After few more minutes of waiting for a reply he finally got one"yeah could you make the seal to look like a stinger, you know like Suzumebachi's" requested Soifon sounding pretty happy about the idea of having it look like a stinger.
Haelen thought it over for a second and liked the sound of shaping the seal to look like Suzumebachi's stinger "yeah sure why not sound like something that would suit you both, well okay am going to go do that enjoy your bath sweetie" he said happily before beginning to walk off.
As he was walking away he heard Soifon"thanks dad and Suzumebachi thanks you as well!" spoke Soifon loudly from within the bathroom.
Haelen smiled under his mask and flared his spirit energy to let her know he heard her before flash stepping away to go start work on the seal.
Flashback end
Haelen chuckled at that memory,because later that day Soifon made him swear to never interrupt her again during a bath if it wasn't for anything less than 30 vasto lordes turning up at their door, or the head captain himself, or yoruichi appearing or all of they above but he didn't listen.
Haelen came out of his reminiscing and looked back at his little girl "are you ready?" he asked her and she nodded giving him get go all the while showing a smile filled with excitement and anticipation. The masked father chuckled at the look of excitement finding it adorable on her face.
With no further adue Haelen stuck the silver key into the seal and gave it a quick twist, and when that was done the seal and the key bother both began to dissolve away into spirit particulars fading into the air. When the seal was fully removed Soifon dulls grey eyes began to shining golden yellow with her spiritual energy and she began to gain a wavy aura in the same vivid yellow.
Everyone who was close to her began to feel her spiritual energy spike and increase slowly but intensely, along with that also come the sweet of scent of honey that began filling the air. Yoruichi, who has know Soifon for years never once thought that Soifon could possess such intense spiritual pressure "is this really Soifon's" she thought amazed by what she was sensing and fact it was still rising.
As Soifon's energy kept rising everyone was beginning to feel its pressure on them and some began to sweat because of it's sheer unbearable weight, gone was her calm green gentle aura, this was the true nature of her power and it was seriously beginning to shift from pressing to crushing.
Ganju knee began to buckle under the painful weight of her spiritual pressure, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before, not because of it weight or how it was beginning to suffocate him "gah! what it with this spiritual pressure 'huff!' it feels like a thousands sh-sharp needles are piercing me al-all over guh!" he grunted between growing strained in breath and with painful grunts.
Everyone who was either not of a level able to cope painfully moaned in agreement with Ganju's description of Soifon stinging spiritual pressure. Everyone their could tell with certainty that Soifon spiritual energy may look nice and smell nice but her pressure was everything but nice to experience, and with her pressure still rising these needle stings where shifting to nails.
Spotting that her power was beginning to take effect on the hills occupants Soifon knew she'd better get into the Barrier before her energy began to either hurt the others any further or attract too many hollows "come on dad I better get in before my energy causes too much trouble" she stated hastily before walking to the barrier and waiting for her father open it up.
Seeing Soi ready to enter the barrier Haelen stretched out his right black covered arm and flicked his hand lazily. When he did that the side of the barrier Soifon was standing at opened up at an operate size for her to walk through. When Soifon step through the the missing section of the barrier it closed up behind her and she sat down in the middle of the barrier taking a meditation pose, she began letting her breaths come in and out in an even steady rhythm.
Seeing Soifon secure and seeing and sensing no hollows too close by yet Haelen started to get to work on the second barrier. He walked up to the front side of the gold and silver barrier and placed his right open palm on the glowing wall, as he did a silver sheet of solid spirit energy appear over the gold one and he began to step backwards. As he walked backward the silver wall of energy came with him, and with the silver wall a connecting box began to form out of the golden one only this one was a reverse colour scheme to the first.
As the experienced soul reapers watched the construction of the new barrier all were amazed by the sight. None of them had ever seen a barrier being made in such a way "Tessie and Hachi would just love to meet this guy his skill with Bakudo's and barriers is something I have never seen before" where the thoughts of a certain dark skinned woman as she watch Haelen finished the barrier.
"Incredible, Barrier's are a branch of Bakudo not many have mastered and even then I have only heard of a few who can make barrier like this on their own and at such a smooth and fast pace, but I have never heard of someone using one barrier to create a second one conjointing barrier" studied an amazed Rukia as he thoughts extended "I wonder if his skill in Hado's is as good as his Bakudo's?" wondered Rukia before refocusing her attention back onto the masked man.
Haelen nodded at the barrier seeing it was done and turned to the group "okay all injured into the silver barrier and dont worry about being so close to Soifon this barrier will protect you from her spiritual pressure and any hollows that will come to attack, and believe me they will becoming" ordered Haelen as he opened up the silver barrier to let the injured in.
Seeing the barrier open all but Yoruichi entered since she was planning on helping to defend the group alongside Haelen. Before everyone was in the Barrier Haelen asked Chad to take care of Soi's haori, which Chad nodded as he way of saying 'ok'. Once everyone was in the dark skinned woman turned to the mask man ready to try and get more out of him while their was still time "so...tell me what is happening to Soifon? why is her spiritual energy rising like this? what have you done to her?" demanded a worried Yoruichi whose voice took on a bit of bite by the last question.
Haelen turned to the goddess and gave a small soft laugh at her worry "calm down what's happening to Soifon is nothing harmful, in fact what is happening to her is the completely opposite" he stated calmly. Yoruichi looked at him a bit skeptical and Haelen saw this "okay let me explain the Soifon you see in that barrier.." he said while he pointed over the said barrier "is not how Soifon really looks" he stated in a voice which spoke it like a fact and not like something that didn't sound ever the slightest bit crazy at all.
What he said confused the woman and didn't make sense to her "what do you mean not how she really looks? she looks just like I remember" pointed out the woman still confused on the nonsense he was stating.
Haelen smirked under his mask "well yeah she does and isn't that funny" he spoke in a humored tone "that over the last hundred years she has barely even changed at all" when he said that Yoruichi face to a look of deep thought "well thats not true she has changed a lot and the girl you see in that barrier over their is the process of removing her suit and her's is much different from mine" described Haelen in the biggest knowing tone ever, which only served to make Yoruichi frown in frustration at him just dragging out his explanation.
"So what does that mean, quit beating around the bust will you!" demanded an annoyed Yoruichi.
Haelen hummed taking a moment to think on how best to explain "well my suit puts me in this strange outfit, but Soi's well you see it puts her in a younger and weaker version of her own body and that is why she looks like she has barely even changed" stated Haelen nonchalantly and shrugging his shoulders completely ignoring the disbelieving and shocked look currently etched on the Shihouin womans face.
Yoruichis head snapped back and forth between the barrier Soi was in and the masked man trying her best to comprehend what she had just heard. It was preposterous to the woman no one could just make a suit that puts your into a younger version of yourself "well no one should be able to turn into a cat either but I can" thought the cat woman now beginning the calm down by reminding herself that she could transform into a different species.
Seeing that the purple haired woman had calmed down Haelen decided that question time was over "okay we are done with questions, I can sense hollows coming this way so prepared yourself Yoruichi" ordered Haelen with a tone that left no room for arguments.
Even though Yoruichi wanted to ask more she too could feel the fast approach of the hungry beasts heading their way. So she steeled herself to protect the barrier and all those inside from the masked creatures coming their way.
Suddenly reaching out of a tear in space a giant purple hand came out aiming to grab both of Haelen and Yoruichi in one swoop, but the pair quickly jumped out of the way leaving the hand to grab at nothing but air and dust.
As Haelen landed he quickly found himself under attack from another sizeable hollow trying to believer a hard palm swipe at him with its massive open hand, quickly reacting he jumped high above the creature avoiding the swing and delivered a damaging punch to the hollows face nearly destroying its grinning mask, forcing it to retreat back to hueco mundo due the the nearly destroyed.
As he landed he didn't have time to stay still as he was one again under attack by a frog like hollow that kept trying to spear him on its tongue, which possessed an spear like point at the tip of the tongue. Performing well timed dodges, evasions and a rare flash step or two Haelen was a abal to catch its tongue in a stronghold, using both of his arms to keep the slimy tongue pressed to the side of his body before calling out 'Hado 33 Sokatsui!' which unleashed a wave bright blue flame upon the masked frog like creatures tongue, the spells flames travelled up to and in the Hollow's open mouth making it unleash pained screams and thrash about about before before dying and turning into spirit particles.
After that Hollow had been purified more had already shown up and some where about to try and attack the Barrier but didn't get the chance to lay a claw on it, before Yoruichi had flash stepped in front of them and performed a flurry of precise punches and kicks aimed at mostly their makes crushing them on impact turning them into particulars to be carried by the wind.
Haelen was impressed with the woman's skill and could clearly see why his daughter admired her and fell for her.
Haelen spotted some stray hollows who didn't go after the barrier but instead where coming after him with starving looks in their yellow glowing eyes. Taking the initiative he flash stepped in front of the first beast crushing it's mask with a strong right hook which this time fully destroying the mask and killed the Hollow, well purified but you get it.
In the other hand a glowing red orb of compressed spirit energy quickly formed, he then aimed the orb at a hollow who decided to roar at him leaving its maw wide open, 'Hado 31 Shakkaho!' he called out before firing it straight into the beast's mouth which exploded inside turning the beast's head into nothing but a flaming dust cloud where it head once layed connected.
Seeing two hollows close together Haelen saw to take advantage of their closeness and aimed his two brightly glowing index fingers at the pair and called out 'Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro' and with that six flat beams of light shoot of from his fingers, and slammed into the pair hollows and bound them uncomfortable together, helpless to whatever was to come next.
Appearing before the feet of the pair 14 foot tall hollows, Haelen aimed both his hands individual first index fingers in line with the hollows bottom jaws while both said fingers began to glow with blue sparking energy 'Hado 4 Byakurai' he spokequietly while two streams of pale blue lightning pierced through the bottom and then shot out of the top of the hollows individuals craniums making them scream in pain before dying and fading away.
Yoruichi in the mean time was dealing with all her hollows by using her mastery of hand to hand combat and far superior speed to punch, kick and beat the hollows quickly to death by taking advantage of their most greatest weakness mostly their masks. They could not hope to stop her assaults.
Inside the Barrier the group where watching amazed by the growing light show that was Soifon. Her body was literally covered in intense shiny yellow spirit energy and she was currently just a silhouetted in the centre with a pair of even brighter shiny eyes.
Suddenly the energy around Soifon began to rotate and expand until it looked like she was in a yellow tornado that was piercing through the top of her barrier, which was also pushing up the triangular grooves of the circle that seemed to be acting as a vent for her energy. Because of her energy acting this way Soifon was no longer visible to the anyone anymore.
After Soifon's energy reached this new level more hollows began arriving at the hill, rips could be seen forming in the sky showing Menos and Adjuchasbeginning to arrive, attracted in by the growing beacon that was Soifon.
Haelen and Yoruichi were not pleased by the sight, things were only going to get harder and knew they would have to start doubling their efforts in order to defend the others.
Most of the lower hollow's began to back away at the feel of the Adjuchas turning up, not wanting to be in their area the lower hollows began to disappear or run off to somewhere else leaving more room on the hill, but a bigger problem to be dealt with.
"well well what do we have here a group of pathetic soul reapers and only two seem to be in any form fit for fighting" came a spiteful and arrogant voice from up above. When everyone looked up they saw riding on top of one of the front and centre Menos was an Adjuchas.
This Adjucha looked like a praying mantis with a tail, he was dusty drown in colour, his mask also resembled that of a mantis, his big bug like eyes glowed blue but despite that still showed hate and hunger. He was also not alone following him were also some weaker looking adjuchas also riding atop the mindless Meno's head's who were making the tear bigger, there was nothing really special seeming about these new arrivals mostly either bulky or skinny in appearance.
Yoruichi flashed quickly over to Haelen side "so do you think you can close that one up like the last one" she asked hoping it was possible. To her dismay he shook his head in 'no' "so we are gonna have to fight them and given how it's looking it may not go as smoothly as the last batch given they have Menos's with them now" she said assessing in exasperation.
Haelen who was not taking his eyes of the new arrivals decided to respond "your right this wont get any easier, so think of it as a good test of your skill and besides this shouldn't be any problem for the ex-captain of squad 2 right ?" he goaded.
Yoruichi looked at the masked man blankly for a second before her cat like grin grew on her face "haha you're right it won't, i'm not gonna let these pests so much as lay a scratch on that barrier" declared the ex-captain of the 2nd with renewed vigor and never wavering grin.
The mantis Adjusta over heard their little conversion and was not liking the way they speaking "hey! who do you think your calling pests you lowly soul reaper! I will show you lot who are the really pests now!" declared the now very enraged high level hollow. The mantis Adjusta ordered the Menos he was riding on to start forming a cero and have it aimed at the occupants below.
Seeing what the Ajusta was panning Haelen quickly had the right technique in mind to give them the advantage "Yoruichi get ready to attack after I dealt with this cero" ordered Haelen who got a nod from Yoruichi who has seen enough of his skill to not question that he must have way of neutralizing the cero in time to give them the element of surprise.
As the cero was nearly done forming the crazy Adjuchas had one last thing to say "see you in hell soul reaper! hahahahah!" shouted the insane hollow while it laughed up a storm at the thought of the soul reapers deaths. Not so shortly after the Menos let loose its red beam of death upon the group below.
Seeing the quickly approaching red blast coming straight for them Haelen decided to enact his move and put his hand together with his two inner index finger folded over each and his pinky's and first index finger's staying erect, while pointed his arms in the direction of the incoming beam and called 'Bunkatsu Hakai no Tonneru!'.
Before the quickly approaching Cero formed a wide blue cinclender connected to three smaller cylinders which angle in three slightly different direction and all curved back into the direction of hollows. When the Cero hit the wide blue cylinder it traveled into the tube and come out in three smaller but not less powerful beams, the beam that came out of middle tube shot right back to its creator and the other two would hit anyone standing close.
"fuck" thought the mantis hollow seeing that one of the divided beams was coming straight at him and had no choice other than to jump off the Menos he was riding on top of, but also since their was two other beams blocking him from jumping to the sides he had no choice other than to jump down below. When the hollow was on his descent he was stopped from having a graceful landing when he was hit with great force to side of his head and was sent crashing and screaming to the hard ground, where he skidded for a bit leaving a small and shallow fissure in his wake.
As the hollow's world stopped spinning from the blow he received he started hearing the sound of something cracking and little taps of something falling to the ground. When his focus was fully regained the pain from the blow started making itself known on his face, he could only guess that his mask must have been damaged by who ever hit him "I swear who even did this is gonna suffer!" thought the bug like hollow in pure rage.
Almost as if hearing his thought a voice called out from in front of the hollow "well looks like you're more hard headed than I first thought" spoke the taunting voice of Yoruichi as she stood before the hollow arms crossed and grinning like a cat.
The hollow growled furiously at the woman who was mocking him "so that's the one who hit me how dare she I will make her suffer" "YOU HEAR ME I AM GONN-!" the Ajusta class hollow never got the chance to finish its declaration before a thin pale blue beam of jagged energy shot clean through his head, leaving it only a moment to look over to where it originated from and standing their with his finger smoking and pointing in his direction was Haelen. The bug like hollow last thoughts before dissolving into spirit particles was "you know this doesn't feel too bad actually, it like a huge weight has been lifted of my gut I feel…..I feel free huh ha".
"Yoruichi!" shouted Haelen sounding abit angry at the woman who flinch a little at his tone "now is not the time for taunts or toying around! if you were staying focused you would have noticed that not all the adjuchas were not killed in that explosion!" scolded an annoyed Haelen.
Yoruichi could not help feeling embarrassed by how she was being scolded like a that, she had not been berated like that since she was little girl, when her parents would tell her off for being reckless or losing focus on important things. Recomposing herself Yoruichi refocused on the task at hand "sorry that was stupid of me" she admitted taking a blow to her pride as the words left her mouth.
Haelen sighed but said no more as he focused his senses on the signatures that were coming from up above. When the dust began to disperse from the tear it showed that the Menos had taken most of the brute force, but the adjuchas didn't get of totaly unscapthed some had either burns, where bleeding in areas or had cracks on the bone parts of the bodies, masks included.
Most of the Menos were struggling to stay alive, they were wobbling around some knocking into one another and roaring in pain at the damage a lot of them received, like nearly broken masks, sections of themselves missing making blood spill everywhere and possible burns but was hard to tell due to all the black that covered them.
One of the injured Adjuchas who looked like a tall bipedal lizard, even posing a tail turned to one of his fellow hollows who looked like some sort of spider who was also injured before speaking "hey man I think we should retreat things don't look to be going in our favour" he spoke worried but got no reply "hey! did you hear me!" he turned and looked at the spider hollow and saw that it was growling raggedly and was now spewing out a stream of silva from its cracked masks jaw "what the hell is wrong with him" whispered the lizard like hollow to himself.
As the lizard hollow looked around he could see the spider was not the only acting this way, about half of the total eight of them were acting in a similar way to the spider hollow. Before any of the sane hollows could do anything the crazed ones leaped off their Menos heads and down to the surface Sokyoku hill.
Yoruichi flash stepped back to Haelen side once there the pair waited for their next opponents, and they didn't have to wait long because in that moment four ravid looking hollows landed on the hill all looking possessed by starvation giving the way they were acting. Spotting the way the hollows where looking at them Haelen didn't waste a second before taking action "Yoruichi dont bother trying to talk with these ones their ravid" informed Haelen to the dark skinned woman who simply nodded also spotting the hollows behaviour .
One of the Hollow roared and charge in after the pair running on all fours. Seeing the big hollow charging in for an attack Haelen quickly acted by using his spirit energy to create 'sajo sabaku' which shot of from his finger and quickly bound the hollow front legs together making it fall over with a loud thump on it front.
Seeing the hollow vulnerable Yoruichi quickly flashed into the air and performed a axe kick on the hollow's unguarded face which destroyed the hollow's mask, the hollow gave out one last scream before dissolving into a thousand of tiny particles. Yoruichi didn't have time to celebrate her victory over the hollow before another one of the ravid Adjuchas tried to snag her up with his large hand, but failed when she quickly flipped over its hand landed on its forearm, jump off it to deliver spin kicked to its masked face which caused it to topple on to it's back roaring in pain over the feeling of it very injured mask.
Not one to leave a job unfinished Yoruichi leaped up into the air cocked her fist back charged it with her spirit energy upon her decent up the hollow below. Once she was near the hollow face she launched her fist forward giving out her own roar, the impact not just crushed the hollows already damaged mask into pieces but also broke the ground below the hollow head.
Meanwhile the last two hollows where attacking Haelen but were also failing in catching him as he was either skillfully dodging them, jumping of their range or disappearing in flash steps. Having had enough of this Haelen lept over a sluggish swing from one of the Ajusta and delivered a bone crushing punch to the beast mask shattering it on impact.
Sensing the last Hollow charging at him from behind Haelen flash stepped in past it's guard at the last second he laced his right fist with his silver spiritual energy and smashed it into the hollow abdomen. The strike was so devastating that the creature's midsection was blow completely away in an instant leaving the up half of the hollow suspended in the air for a few seconds probably not even realizing what just happened, before hitting the ground lifeless.
Everyone witness to his last move where amazed by hit feet in strength most were beginning to assume he was just skilled in kido and didn't know much in terms of close quarter combat, those thought were quickly put to rest but his last move. "where did Kukaku find this guy!, oh am hoping he hasn't taught Kukaku how to punch like" thought Ganju who was having a cold sweat by the thought of being punched in half buy his short tempered big sister.
"Well thats them taken care of and Soifon should hopefully be done soon" chirped Haelen feeling pretty happy that all the Adjusta and Menos were gone even the ones in the tear had run off back to Hueco Mundo at some point leaving the sky clear.
Haelen was about walk back over to the barrier when his sense yelled at him to move, so acting instantly he jump out of the way,just then a blur zipped past him and aimed for Yoruichi who saw it coming and too responded the same way as Haelen. When the pair jumped they made sure for it to be near the barrier so that they stayed close and would be more ready to stop any attacks from getting through.
When the blur stopped some distance from them it revealed to be a hollow but this one was very different from all the rest that came before it. This new hollow was humanoid in form standing at about the height of your average male, it was sporting white bone like armour covering it all over but looked to fit perfectly enough so that it didn't hinder its movements, it's legs look perfectly similar to a mans but the arms where a different story ,in place of where its hands should be where a pair razor sharp claws each bladed finger the length of daggers, made of the same bone like material as the hollows armour, it possessed a hollow hole on the left side of its chest, its masked look to resemble that of sickly smiling wolf possessing sharp teeth around the masks mouth and came sticking out to form the snout, coming out of the back of the mask was a mane of thick spiky dark blue hair and finally the eyes of the mask held no menacing light they were just black sockets not revealing the hollow eyes.
Yoruichi stood absolutely shocked at the creature before her, she had only seen pictures or heard descriptions of them never actually seen one face to face, kisuke once told her he saw one once about over a decade ago but never fought it himself "Haelen do you know what that is?" she asked hoping he wouldn't confirm her thoughts.
The masked man nodded to her question "yes I do" Haelen spoke looking intensely at the creature feeling large worry at its arrival, but it only grew worse when he sensed signatures approaching from behind the armored hollow and upon arrival revealed to be Adjuchas, upon feeling their spiritual pressures were clearly stronger than the last ones "it's a Vasto Lorde and he looks to not be alone" spoke Haelen gravely.
Before them appears one of Hauco Mundos most feared rank.
End Of Chapter 6
Bunkatsu Hakai no Tonneru meaning Tunnel of Divided Destruction: A technique which is use to take in and either redirect or return attacks, not much is know about the variation of what kind of attacks it can in and then return and to what level either, but what is know is that it can take on a menos level Cero with ease.
Okay end of the chapter please tell me what you thought of it so far, what you like? what you didn't? so forth.
sorry for any spelling and grammar failers
Next Chapter: A Queen Bee's Freedom