Chapter 6: Wrath, Part B

A/N: Remember, this was originally part of the last chapter. That was a very long chapter. _

With no further ado, the end of the penultimate chapter of SabreWolf.

Byakuya couldn't go with the group for this fight. This was something he needed to do alone.

He waited for them to leave his sight, and then he began preparing furiously.

His sword was taken from the base of the bronze sakura tree. His sheath was knotted at the sash on his waist. His shoulder bag was filled by the young, skittish healer with simple salves and bandages. His horse was saddled by Ganju, and then Byakuya bypassed the group with a wide left.

After a long ride at a brisk trot, the mansion's distinct aura began closing in on him, making the horse wary. He tethered his mare two hundred yards from the mansion, and began making his way inside. The rest of them wouldn't arrive for at least another hour, assuming they would get lost. And knowing Kenpachi, they probably would.

Ichigo slid into a fighting stance. If this was how things were going to go down, then so be it.

Szayel jerked his hands wildly, and Grimmjow leaped at Ichigo. Claws flashed past Ichigo's face, and his right eye was only spared because of a very well-timed flinch.

That's when Ichigo realized that Grimmjow would actually kill him, given the chance.

"Snap out of it!" he hollered at the teal panther, whose fangs grazed his knee. He ducked, fell to the ground, and barely avoided a massive clawed paw to his torso. He kicked, and managed to catch a glancing blow to Grimmjow's ribcage.

"Go, go, get Renji!" Ichigo pleaded with Ulquiorra, Hitsugaya, and Kenpachi. He knew he couldn't hurt Grimmjow. His allies, particularly Kenpachi and Ulquiorra, could kill the were-panther. The three of them made to help him, but couldn't hit Grimmjow or Szayel without hitting Ichigo.

Grimmjow wheeled around, snarling at the hit. Ichigo pushed himself to his feet, and that's when Shiro finally decided to help.

The twins bent backwards at the waist in a limbo move, ducking under Grimmjow's outstretched paws and bared fangs. They tapped a playful punch against his furry belly as he passed overhead.

Then they began a whirling, furious dance. Shiro knew how to twist, contort, bend. They stayed just out of Grimmjow's reach, tapping him with teasing punches and kicks. They pushed themselves away by vaulting gymnastically over Grimmjow's head, sliding between powerful legs, pulling off flips Ichigo never knew his body was capable of.

Szayel didn't lose his cool. He suavely reached down, and twisted a knob on his mechanical glove.

"Now that we're done playing, I can start to show his true powers," Szayel grinned.

Grimmjow growled in pain, and lashed out. With lightning speed, four parallel lacerations appeared on Ichigo's back. Grimmjow's claws had scraped from his shoulder blade to his hip, cutting him to the bone.

And then, just as sudden as the slash, Grimmjow stopped. He still snarled, but something had changed in his eyes. He shuddered, lifting a paw to attack, and then fought himself to put it back down.

He was fighting the poltergeist. And he was winning.

Grimmjow managed to switch back to human form, still on all fours, clutching his head and howling in pain. He shuddered, and wrenched his head up to face Ichigo.

"Knock me out," he rasped. "You'll have to knock me out." With that, he bowed, presenting Ichigo with a clear shot to the back of his head.

Ichigo hesitated. He wasn't sure if he could do that. Too light of a tap would just hurt the man he loved, while hitting him too hard would kill him. Shiro only knew how to kill, and Ichigo only knew how to love this man. They would disagree, and that only increased the chances of a mistake.

"I can do this," he told Shiro, and himself.

Normally, the poltergeist would have ignored him and done it himself, but this was different. Ichigo was pushing him aside, and Shiro decided it would be too much work to interfere.

Grimmjow shook his head, beginning to lose control again. Szayel was tweaking the knob one way, then another. He knew that nobody could fight off the effects for long.

Ichigo took a deep breath. No pressure, he reminded himself, except that one of them might die if he messed up. But no pressure.

He lifted his foot, and curbstomped Grimmjow just over the base of the skull and the top of the spine. His forehead cracked against the cement floor, and he slumped over.

Ichigo scrambled to check his pulse.

Unconscious. Still alive. He'd have a headache like a hungover teen when he woke up, but he was alive.

Grimmjow sprawled out on the floor, unexpectedly moving again. He didn't seem to have proper control over his limbs.

Szayel laughed at Ichigo's distressed face.

"Excellent. Not that you have knocked out the subject, the possessor will have total control. You have sealed your own fate, fool."

Ichigo swore as Grimmjow found his way to his feet again, eyes completely soulless now.

A tiny green-haired girl sneaked past Kurotsuchi's back, terrified of moving but even more terrified of not moving. The big werewolf on the table was looking bad, even after she'd found all the correct vials and treated him exactly the way she remembered how. She poked his nose and he didn't move. She poked his cheek and he didn't move. Then she poked the side of his neck, and he still didn't move. Something was wrong.

"Nel, get away from the subject," Kurotsuchi hissed impatiently, and Nel skittered off.

As soon as she'd scampered out of sight, the injections and whippings began anew.

Ichigo's shirt was in bloody ribbons, and his pants weren't far from that. Even with Shiro's constant attention, Ichigo couldn't dodge Grimmjow's attacks anymore. He had gotten faster and more acrobatic as Szayel cranked up the knob on his glove, and now, he was untouchable. Ulquiorra had made a move to bat the werecat away, and had gotten a claw to the chest for his efforts. Hitsugaya's ice beads did nothing, and Kenpachi had sunk into a tired stupor after his earlier rage. Ichigo was constantly mere seconds from death, if Szayel wanted to kill him. But no, he seemed perfectly happy to stall for time and test out every last facet of his new toy.

Grimmjow raised a paw the size of a dinner plate, ready to crash it down on Ichigo's head, when suddenly, everything froze.

Byakuya held Szayel around the throat, fangs hovering over the skin. Szayel's eyebrows were raised in shock; how had the vampire gotten the upper hand so quickly? He couldn't struggle with the fangs that close to his neck, logically, so he breathed slowly and kept his scientific cool.

"Demon, if you so much as move too quickly, I'll bite you," Byakuya hissed in barely-controlled rage. "As disgusting as you would taste, I promise you would not survive the ordeal."

Szayel was almost insulted. Almost.

"Now stop hiding behind your trickery. Take off the glove."

Szayel thought about it. Was it worth dying for this technology? No. Was it worth dying for Kurotsuchi?

That was a stupid question, he realized. There is nothing worth dying for, especially not his so-called master. He wouldn't die.

The device clattered to the floor, and Szayel waited for his freedom.

Byakuya had other plans for him.

"Take us downstairs. Take me to Renji."

Ichigo cried out as Grimmjow toppled over, boneless without the controller to command his every movement. His eyes were still wide and soulless, however, because the poltergeist was unwilling to leave even an immobile host.

"Here," Byakuya said, and handed his pack to Hitsugaya. "Bandage him up. There is someone who needs me right now."

"Yes sir," Hitsugaya nodded respectfully, and drew rolls of gauze from the pack. The rest of the group didn't even have time to respond to Byakuya's sudden appearance before he was gone, still hauling Szayel around by the back of the neck.

Byakuya drew his sword, and dove fearlessly into the belly of the beast.

Ichigo rested his head on Grimmjow's heaving side, and stroked the soft fur he knew so well.

How do we get that thing out of him?he wondered to himself and Shiro, and of course the other poltergeist knew the solution.

Simple. One body cannot contain more than one soul and one poltergeist, unless they achieve perfect unity. So if I can get into his body, I'll kick the other poltergeist out. It's not that difficult, really. And besides, I'm easier to bargain with than that mindless possessor. He's just glad to have a body. He'll do anything to keep it, even listen to that scary bubble-gum headed thing and his controller. Which gave me a headache, by the way.

Poor baby,Ichigo retaliated.

Hey, do you want my help or not?

Okay, fine, what do I do?

Well, Shiro started explaining in a tone of voice one would use when speaking to a small child,I have to get out of your body and climb into his. So basically, don't do anything at all. Just sit there. You're good at that. Make sure you're making contact with the huge cat-thing. That's all you have to do.

Fine,Ichigo growled, or at least tried to sound as grumpy as he could via thoughts. What are you going to do?

Try not to kill him. Because that would hurt me a lot.

Then Shiro's consciousness left him. The sensation was not unlike peeling off a long strip of dead skin, except all over his body.

There was a long pause where nothing happened. Ichigo jumped when Grimmjow's ear twitched, as cat ears often do, but that was a false alarm.

Grimmjow bucked, nearly knocking Ichigo away from him, but he managed to keep contact by a fingertip. He grabbed a handful of fur and skin, pulled himself closer, and tried to hold Grimmjow down. He was twitching every which way, violently arching his back and throwing around his heavy limbs, having a severe seizure.

It scared Ichigo to death to see Grimmjow like this. He pinned the panther as well as he could, and tried to soothe him by talking softly.

"Grimmjow it's me, it's Ichigo. Calm down, calm down, we're going to help you. Shiro is going to help you, don't fight him." He continue in this vein for some time, until Grimmjow's body stilled again. He shifted to human form and began coughing. They were meaty coughs, thick with pain, so Ichigo helped him sit up.

It only took two solid pats on Grimmjow's back to dislodge the pink translucent blob from his body. It floated for a moment like a massive discolored firefly, and then shattered. Grimmjow fell back into unconsciousness, and Shiro pressed his presence back into Ichigo's body.

See, that wasn't too hard. I don't understand why these so-called scientists haven't figured out to use poltergeists with ethereal forms, poltergeists like me.

You'll have to ask them yourself, Ichigo said halfheartedly. Then all of his attention was turned to Grimmjow, who was draped over his lap.

Will he be okay? he worried to himself, and again, Shiro answered.
Yeah, he'll be fine. He sounded really horny though, so watch out when he wakes up.

Typical, Ichigo groaned.

Szayel slid the key into the pigeon-crap grey door's keyhole, and unlocked it with a soft click. Byakuya motioned him away from the door, and the demon happily complied. The door opened slowly, and the first thing Byakuya saw was not Kurotsuchi or needles or rusty medical equipment or the rows of yet-untested souls, even though all of these things were in plain sight.

Byakuya saw Renji's face. He had cried until he had no tears left, the dampness of his cheeks evidence to this. He had coughed out blood until he had coughed up lung tissue, red still trickling off of the table. And he had bitten his lip almost clean through, the blood from this wound mingling with the blood from his shredded back and his shredded lungs.

The most terrifying part of his face was his eyes, which were still open, but glazed over. Byakuya couldn't tell if Renji was dead or alive in that moment. And he saw red because of it.

The cool, calm vampire lord threw away all of his calm and his cool, ready to do whatever it took to bring Renji back with him.

Kurotsuchi saw only a blade flying toward his head, and slapped it from the air just in time.

"Byakuya, I thought he was only a slave," Kurotsuchi mocked him. "You were so eager to sell him to me at first. What changed?"

Byakuya lunged at the maniac, intent on doing as much bodily harm to Kurotsuchi as possible. However, the scientist was very slippery, and stayed just out of Byakuya's grasp.

"Did the untouchable vampire grow a heart? For a mutt? Look how far you've fallen, Byakuya," he sing-songed and danced away from the enraged lord.

Byakuya caught sight of Renji's torn back, heaving in pained gasps.

Renji was still breathing. There was still a chance. Kurotsuchi became unimportant to him in that instant, and he lifted his sword from where it had clattered to the ground. The bindings on Renji's arms and legs were cut easily enough.

"Are you trying to save him? As soon as he was injected with the first soul, he wasn't meant to survive. You can't save him, he's bled out too much. He'll die in your care."

"Better he dies in my care than yours," Byakuya hissed, and hoisted Renji over his shoulder to make his escape.

Ukitake's breathing was shallow, and his skin was pink with fever. Shunsui held the man loosely, cradling him in his lap.

He'd slipped into unconsciousness less than an hour ago, and by the looks of things, he was never going to wake up.

Kenpachi insisted he was fine and hunkered down in Byakuya's dining hall to eat twice his weight in food. Little Nel had followed him back, and she and Yachiru were playing with his twitching tail. Ichigo refused to leave Grimmjow's side until the werecat had been looked over, given some painkillers and a healthy dose of magic, and placed in bed. Then he stopped fretting long enough to have his back looked at. It was torn to the bone in places, and subcutaneous tissue gleamed white under the blood. Hitsugaya instructed him to lay on his stomach, and administered a shot.

Ichigo's eyelids drooped, and Hanataro, the meek healer from down the hall, began stitching him up. Within minutes, neat rows of black tracks trailed across his back. They were dressed with clean cotton strips, and then Ichigo was left to rest.

Byakuya refused to let go of Renji, even when Hanataro and Hitsugaya began treating him. He sat on Byakuya's lap, slumped over, his chin on Byakuya's shoulder. Byakuya soothingly stroked Renji's fiery hair, timing the petting with Renji's labored breathing. There was blood everywhere: soaking Renji's torn pants; dripping off of Byakuya's clothes; seeping into the floor. His old, scabbed-over wounds had torn open on the trip home, and he was back to bleeding to death. His skin was already pale, like a china doll, and he was just as fragile.

Every so often, a deep breath would become a hacking cough, and blood would dribble down his chin.

Hanataro toiled away for two hours, trying to put Renji's back together again. He sewed the skin back together, layer by layer, healing as much with his magic as he could.

He had run out of surgical thread by the time Grimmjow awoke. The werecat limped up to Byakuya's bedroom to survey the damage. Renji's breathing was becoming weaker all the time. Byakuya refused to meet anyone's eyes. Grimmjow looked at his feet. Hanataro left the room to try to find more surgical thread, and Grimmjow followed him out.

"How bad is it?" Grimmjow asked when they'd entered the stairwell.

"I don't know..." Hanataro said, barely whispering.

Grimmjow snarled. "Tell me, is he going to die? I can take it!"

Hanataro looked scared, holding up his bloody hands in defeat. "H-he-he's starting to get cold," he squeaked, "I don't think...I don't think he's going to..." he trailed off.

"He's not going to make it?" Grimmjow supplied, clenching his teeth in barely controlled rage.

Hanataro shook his head.

There was a loud bang when Grimmjow punched the wall.

A/N: Don't kill meeee D':

Now that most of the cast is torn to shreds or dying, this would be a good time to review and make me write faster. :P