I own none of the right to bleach, that goes to Tite Kubo.
Shattered Blades
Natsuko: child of summer
Fuyuko: child of winter
Ōmaeda, Rangiku and Hisagi had been pulled away by the poisonous looking Oni who had already managed to knock out Ōmaeda even after he had released his shikai. The remaining two captains and a lieutenant had yet to begin their blood filled battle.
Byakuya and Kenpachi along with Yachiru, who still clung to his shoulder, now stood facing two twin Onis who merely stood looking at them, one with the look of complete disinterest and the other with increasing excitement.
"Oh, look Fuyuko! We've got two more toys to play with!" The bladed copper haired Oni squealed.
"How exciting Natsuko, I don't think they'll last long though. The others didn't." The steel haired Oni looked bored as she touched her stiff hair instantly turning it into long flowing locks. The other twin did the same simply looking put out as she twirled a piece of hair round her eerie black finger.
"But they look strong and they're captains too!" Natsuko pouted as she continued to play with her hair, eyed up the two captains who also look completely uninterested.
"Remember what he said? He said that they're nothing, they can easily be whipped from existence and are merely pawns under the control of 'that thing'." Fuyuko sneered, causing her hair to turn back into the cruel blades that it once was.
"Humph! But look what happened to him, he got taken down by these pathetic beings and now we have to go break A—" Natsuko sighed and again copied her twin, turning her hair into shining copper blades.
"Looks like you guys think you're tough enough to fight! Let's see how strong you are!" Kenpachi roared his chipped and worn-down blade ready a fight, "Yachiru!"
"Yes Ken-chan," the pink haired lieutenant called happy as she clung to his back peering over the top at the Onis.
"Sit this one out, I'm going all out." He told her.
"Okay Ken-chan, have fun!" Yachiru called happily jumping off Kenpachis shoulder and then proceeded to sit on a rock ready to watch the battle.
Now ready to fight Kenpachi charged towards both the Oni bringing his nameless zanpakuto up for a powerful strike. Both Oni merely hopped out the way looking unimpressed by the attack. Even after that they made no attempt to attack either of the captains.
"Such a brute would never be able to take on both of these enemy's as once." Byakuyas cold voice called to Kenpachi mockingly.
"And a stuck up noble like you can? You know we never got to finish that fight in Hueco Mundo, why don't we finish it now?" Kenpachi challenged turning back towards Byakuya, holding his blade with two hands.
"A fight is something that would last longer than two seconds, therefore this shall be no fight." Byakyua said coldly as he dropped his zanpakuto into the ground, "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
Multiple big swords appeared from the ground and then made the quick transition from solid blade to deadly elegant pink-bladed petals. They began swirling around Byakuya in a gentle whirlwind ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"I hope you guys aren't going to ignore us, after all we have decided to go all out!" Natsuko whined slightly shaking her head, making light high pitched noises as metal scraped against metal.
"Tch, looks like we'll have to finish this afterwards, I call the steel one!" Kenpachi called to Byakuya as he launched himself at the steel haired woman. The strike was deflected with a sheet of steel that was the woman's hair. It had curved round Fuyuko at the last second protecting her completely from Kenpachis heavy handed strike. Jumping back Kenpachi prepared for another assault.
"Oh so you're going to battle me? Well I advise you don't go easy on me, others before did that and well, let's just say they were barely an appetiser." Fuyuko grinned as she licked her lips, accepting Kenpachis challenge. Reaching behind her head Fuyuko pulled at a strand of the flowing steel hair and brought it in front of her morphing it into a guard less steel katana.
"Alright! Let's fight!" Kenpachi ripped off his eye patch, the monstrous spiritual pressure that was his became unleashed. A maniacal grin spread across his face as well as Fuyukos and they both charged at each other eager to fight.
"So, does what mean you're going to fight me?" Natsuko pouted at Byakuya who was currently glaring in the direction of Kenpachis destructive fight.
"For the protection of the Seireitei I must eliminate anyone who poses a threat." With a glance and the single flick of his wrist Byakuya sent a shower of blades raining down on the childish Oni. The blades crashed into the ground where the Oni was, conformation that they had hit their target.
"Well that wasn't nice. You should've waited until I was ready!" Natsuko complained from behind Byakuya, "Why don't we start again? I'm ready to play now!"
Kenpachi and Fuyuko
"Good thing you're not a pushover! This is gonna be fun!" Kenpachi ran at Fuyuko bringing repeated slashes down on her, which in turn were blocked almost effortlessly with her thin katana. She retaliated with quick slices from multiple directions, occasionally using her metal hair to whip round and catch him in the back, but those attacks were also blocked by the unstoppable Kenpachi.
There were pretty evenly matched and Kenpachi was finding it nearly impossible to get any attacks though her defence. It would've continued that way had it not been for Fuyukos lax in defence at a certain moment.
"Owww! You bastard! That really hurts!" Natsukos cry reverberated around the arena for everyone to hear. The reason for the cry was a small cut on both her left arm and cheek. Her opponent saw no reason to stop and continued his gracefully deadly assault. Fuyuko however, had turned to see what was wrong with her twin with a panic stricken expression on her face. The distraction was at the wrong moment for her and Kenpachi managed to land an almost fatal blow on her.
The rough unnamed zanpakuto came down heavy on her torso, ripping down from her shoulder to her waist leaving a trail of blood in its wake. The cut wasn't deep enough to show bone but it was deep enough to cause severe pain and leave a big handicap. Screaming from the burning pain in her right shoulder Fuyukos eyes filled with rage as she charged at Kenpachi. Steel haired blades stood on end curving towards Kenpachi and an angry white haze coated them. Cries and moans howled from the coated blades, it was the cries of all those she had eaten in her long lifetime and they were now mere shadows of themselves filled with nothing but rage.
Kenpachi stood there with a grin on his face, happy now that she was taking him seriously. He wondered if the blades would cut his skin, a feat only a few had been capable of. He raised his sword and blocked as many of the blades as he could, a few made it through and they cut into his shoulders and between his ribs. The girl in front of him grinned and flicked her head up. The white coated blades ripped up. Some scrapped against his bones sending vibrations though his body while other simple tore through flesh leaving a trail of blood behind them. The wounds didn't faze Kenpachi not even the amount of blood that was creating a pool on the floor. They only made Kenpachi more eager to fight. But the girl wasn't interested. she was too busy running over to her twin who now lay in a heap on the floor in a puddle of blood. Around her lay the shattered remains of her copper bladed hair. The blades had the same white coating on them as her twin, but it was beginning to fade just like her life.
The next event that occurred surprised both captains but would only make things more interesting in the fight that was yet to end. A brilliant white light had enveloped both figures hiding them both from view. A blast of spiritual pressure was emitted from inside the white light creating a plume of dust that making it even more impossible to detect what was going on.
The dust soon cleared and from it strode one lone figure. A lone angry figure.
Byakuya and Natsuko
Byakuya shunpoed up towards the ceiling and away from the voice behind him, narrowly avoiding an assault to the head in the process. Natsuko chased him snapping two blades from her mane and throwing them at him with deadly accuracy. Using the palms of his hands Byakuya directed Senbonzakuras blades at the oncoming projectiles knocking them off course.
"Humph! What about this?" Shrieked Natsuko as she aimed all her hair forwards and launched multiple copper fragments at him. These like the ones before them were easily knocked away. As Byakuya launched barrage of petals towards her, not expecting the fragments he'd sent astray to boomerang back towards him with such malice.
"Hadō #73 Sōren Sōkatsui!" Byakuya shot a powerful blue blast at the oncoming fragments, completely destroying most of them with others managed to sneak their way past the monstrous blast. Only a few got past the kido spell catching Byakuyas face, arms and torso in the process leaving small shallow cuts.
Byakuya turned to face the child-like Oni and instantly shunpoed to her bringing together the tiny blades of Senbonzakura into a normal sized zanpakuto and stabbing her through the chest before she could react. He missed her heart by inches but that didn't matter, the girl would have little energy to keep on battling and even less combat capability due to her wounds.
Natsuko screamed as she fell from where they had been battling in near the top of the cavern. The screaming got the attention of her twin who started fighting Kenpachi with even more determination than before. The screaming stopped as she hit the floor and her anger grew too. A cruel white substance coated all of her mane turning the warm copper blades into a harsh angry orange. The stubborn Oni pulled herself up, but before she could initiate an attack on Byakuya she was halted.
With a swipe of his hand pink petals cascaded down on the recovering girl. She didn't stand a chance when those petals started towards her. The crashed into the side of her head with such force it snapped through the strong metal that was her hair. To add to the damage the side of her body was ripped through in the collision sending blood spraying onto the shattered blades of her hair that lay on the floor.
He opponent was down, his part was finished here and he needed to move on to Kurosaki. The wounds he had gained weren't that serious. Even though blood drenched one of his sleeves while some ran down his face he could feel the wounds slowly sealing over.
~/~
Byakuya willed the tiny pink blades to back to him, leaving the broken and torn body of Natsuko laying on the floor barely breathing. Her sister appeared at her side, watching as the life left Natsukos broken form. Suddenly white light enveloped the two creating dust in its wake as their spiritual pressure flared. The dust soon cleared as it fell towards the floor revealing a single form. There was no body on the floor, the space where Natsukos body lay was bare and there was no sign of her twin.
Both Byakuya and Kenpachi turned their attention towards their new opponent who was exactly like Natsuko and Fuyuko had they been one person. The body they had taken was not without injury. Not even a transformation could erase the fatalities Natsuko had endured. Down the left side of the body deep cuts were etched and the blades remained shattered on the left side too.
"This is for Natsuko!" The form screeched its hair standing on end in a colour that was darker then night itself. It charged towards the captains its bladed hair curled forwards and a single sword held in its right hand ready to strike. It was a final attempt by the twins who knew they shouldn't fought like this from the start. Maybe then they would've had a chance. But now they'd never get the chance to save him from the prison the shinigami kept him in, nor would they have the chance to thank him for saving their family from annihilation.
The captains readied themselves; Kenpachi raised his zanpakuto as he held it in both hands and Byakuya braced his onslaught of blades as he waited for the right moment to strike.
The Figure reached them. The captains were too quick for her as the initiated their final attacks. Kenpachi left a huge gaping wound down the right side; his attack had smashed through the will broke katana she had been holding leaving only a stump in clutched in her had. Byakuya had then blown her backwards with the force of his assault not only creating small cuts in her skin but combined with Kenpachis attack he'd managed to separate the twins sending them flying fowards in opposite directions.
They landed a few meters apart at the base of two rocks. Both of them were covered in blood but it didn't look any different, after all their blood was black. They tried to crawl towards each other, over the shattered blades that had been their hair. They never made it as they had to stop because of the agonising pain and they soon let out blood filled coughs only managing one last word each.
"Fuyuko…" Natsuko coughed out, the wound near her heart had taken its toll as she slumped forwards. Small childish tears escaped her eyes soaking the floor before coming to an abrupt stop as she was left cold and lifeless.
"Natsuko…" Fuyuko sighed a single red tear escaping her eyes before they closed forever.
The two captains watched as twins turned to spirit particles, which floated over their heads in the direction of the exit disappearing into the darkness. Byakuya and Kenpachi were then promptly joined by Toshiro and then by the other lieutenants including Yachiru who resumed her place on Kenpachis back. Even Ōmaeda had managed to regain consciousness right as the battle ended.
They were all tried and believed that they had succeeded in their mission. That was before they felt a sudden rise in Ichigos reiatsu as it became more twisted and hollow like. It eventually stabilised and was now like that of a vasto lorde. Suì-Fēngs reiatsu was barely there, as if she were either dead or on the verge of death. But that wasn't possible; she was a captain and commander of the stealth forces. How could she get taken down when they weren't?
"Do you think…?" Toshiro trailed off not wanting to admit what had happened.
"Yes, he has lost it all. We must now do what we were sent to do." The ever dutiful noble Byakuya said as he shunpoed away. Even with his arm shredded among other injuries he was attempted to take on a fully reformed Ichigo, he was mad. But there were seven of them and they would be more than a match for the vasto lorde. Everyone started after Byakuya ready to complete a mission they had hoped would never need completing.
Tracking the reiatsu of Ichigo they arrived at what remained of a heavy wooden door. It was blown outwards, pieces scattered everywhere in any direction. Through the door way they captains saw the hollow Ichigo deal fatal blows to the students he'd befriended only hours beforehand. None of the captains cared at that moment for how they'd gotten caught up in this fight, they only cared about stopping a mindless hollow that would surely kill anyone Ichigo was every involved with. They started through the doorway just in time to see a thin black blade protruding from an Onis chest. Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the room but it was cut short as small cracks started appearing in the mask. The captains froze not wanting to dispose of him if Ichigo was able to regain control.
I suppose the ending is the same, but there was no point in changing it seeing how it has to be the same :P
Only one more chapter till we find out what happens to Ichigo, I wonder if you guys know who the guy they keep referring to is? Post a review if ya think you know :P
I guess you'll find out soon though
Heres a quote I might use in the chapter with Ichigo:
"You are tainted. The stain shall never wash out. The sun will never shine upon you again. Tainted...broken little toys..."
I wonder if anyone recognises that from a certain game... XD
Thanks for reading, next time it'll be the lieutenants against the poison dude who had yet to get a name in, Poison Conflict.